El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-03-28

! portfolio Of war. To jackson went
Eaton with shy suggestion that he
was inclined to marry Peggy of the
tavern, Peggy of the pretty eyes and
saucy speech
Would you marry her if you were in
nv placer" asked Eaton of Old Hick-
DRY.
i.Whv. yes" said the man of New
Orleans. IF you love the woman and
she viii have you, marry her by all
Eaton. who was more of soldier
than a diplomat, hesitated a few min
utes before proceeding further. Then.
lightly and as tenderly as a man in
love could do he referred to the fact
that Peggy, by her indiscretions Of
speech, her tavern training and her
general environment, had been the
subject Of much talk, and that this
would grow into political gossip if
Eaton should marry her and she be-
come the wife Of cabinet minister.
Marry her" said Jackson, "and that
viii end the gossip.
Foolish mani Eaton and Peggy
O'Neal went before a clergyman and
were made man and wife. Their honey
moon was barely over before the
storm broke upon them and upon
Andrew Jackson.
Jackson Makes GIaring BIunder.
Never was woman more bitterly as
sailed in official circles The wives,
the daughters, and the women rela-
tives of cabinet ministers and of high
officials generally refused to meet her.
Jackson. who knew how to handle
troops, but not much about how to
handle women, blundered frightfully.
He ordered the members of his cabinet
to order their wives and daughters and
relatives to open their doors to Peggy
O'Neal He felt in a degree responsible
to her and to Eaton. He felt a great
Z T6r0ncrhn11F his
whole married life the irregularity in
connection with his marriage to Rachel
DCnelSOn had been a source of grief to
him and to that good woman. He had
nothing but contempt for man or wom-
an who would aSperSe the character OF
a woman without irrefutable proof of
wrong doing. Pure himself in mind
and morals, he believed all others pure
unless he had good reason to believe
otherwise. And he liked Peggy. She
was so saucy. so clever, so winsOme
he couldn't help it. He and Mrs jack
son lived while he was senator in the
O'Neal tavern. Big, fat, mOtherly
Aunt Rachel had taken pretty Peggy
to her heart and had mOthered her,
as she mOthered nearly every one who
came within her sphere. Any one
Aunt Rachel loved had the admiration
and the good wishes of Andrew Jack
son; and, besides. the first Mrs. Eaton
was related to Mrs. Jackson. Jackson
relatives. As Peggy O'Neal had be-
come the wife of general Eaton, Peggy
Eaton, therefore, was his relative.
1t is one thing to tell women what
to do, and another to get them to do
it. Those of JacksOn's cabinet min
listers who We're married smiled at the
president and told him that they had
no influence with their wives or
daughters where such a question as
that of Peggy O'Neal was at issue.
They were willing enough to meet the
lady, but that was as far as they would
or could go.
Jackson Sits Malicious RumOrs.
And then came more trouble. From
the reverend Z. S. Ely
wrote to the president, whose intimate
friend he was, warning him Of all the
dangers to him politically, in what by
now had come to be nationally known
as the Peggy O'NeaI affair Ely went
into particulars. He had made a trip
to Washington to see the president !
but had been unable to gain audience !
on account of the large crowd at the
-hite house. He told the rumors that