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Once there came a traveler,
Just at theclose of day,
Unto my door, and said to me:
“Let me rest here, I pray,
Beneath thy roof—l’ve journeyed far
Am hungry, weak and cold,
Wilt thou bestow a little food
On me? I have no gold
To offer thee.’’ With earnest speech
He plead his cause, and though
His garb was mean, I could not bid
The stranger further go.
For Woman’s Work.
An Incident in the Life of Aaron Burr.
HE brilliant, popular, unscrupulous Aaron Burr, having in a
duel mortally wounded his great rival, Alexander Hamilton,
lost, to a great extent, his political and social influence. His
boundless ambition, fretting under inactivity, prompted him
to embark in wild attempts to found an empire over which
T
he should be absolute ruler. What land he designed to con
quer must always remain a mystery, as not one of his followers
was in his confidence, but all joined him from mere love
of adventure. Blennerhassett, a rich Englishman, who owned and had
settled an island in the Ohio River, advanced money to aid all Burr’s
enterprises. His connection with this political adventurer was his
ruin. He was finally indicted for treason, but released without a trial,
and left the United States, almost in poverty.
In the year 1806, the Territory of Mississippi was a remote settle
ment, with very little communication with other portions of the Uni
ted States. It was surrounded by warlike Indian tribes; it was not too
far from the Spanish settlements for invasion, and had been the thea
tre of many insurrections and political changes. So, when undefined
reports of some impending calamity flew from mouth to mouth, the
Territory was filled with vague alarm. At length, when the new year
opened with the coldest weather ever known in that part of the world,
bringing much distress in its train, the whisperings became distinct.
It was asserted on authority, which everyone believed, that Gol. Burr
was coming down the river with a flotilla of boats, and one or two
thousand men.
Instantly the air was full of wild rumors and the country in a ter
ment; some said his object was the dismemberment of the Union; oth
ers that he would seize New Orleans and hold it as a base for his mili
tary enterprises in that quarter; others, still, that he was bent on the
conquest of Mexico.
When Col. Burr did in January actually arrive with nine boats, the
Governor of the Territory, much alarmed, addressed the following mys
terious letter to the senior officer of the District: “Business of the first
importance requires your presence at headquarters. Repair here at
midnight. Let not suspicion even conjecture where you are bound.
The fate of the country may depend on my movement."
The authorities, firmly believing that these boats were only a kind of
advance guard, and that Col. Burr had a large force behind him, deter
mined to oppose his passage down the river ; and a delegation was sent
to warn him of this fact.
He sneeringly ridiculed the idea that he entertained any views hos
tile to the country. He asserted that he was simply on his way to
Ouachitta to colonize his lands. Pointing to his boats, he asked,
“Have those boats anything military in their appearance ?”
Truth to tell, the young men who were with him looked more like
soldiers fit for a desperate undertaking, than like quiet agriculturists.
And so the Commissioners thought, notifying him that troops had been
assembled to oppose his further advance. Col. Burr said he was per
fectly willing to submit to the civil authorities, and asked for an inter
view with the Governor, the next day. The Commissioners agreed to
this and took their leave, much impressed by his grace, fine manners
and talent. ... . , ,
When the Governor arrived at the rendezvous, without any delay,
he proposed that Col. Burr should surrender unconditionally to the
civil authorities,and that his boats should be searched, and all the arms
found,turned over to the government. Fifteen minutes were given him
in which to make his decision. If at the expiration of that time he de
clined the terms, he should be returned in safety to his boats, and then
the troops would be ordered out to capture him and his party. Col.
Burr submitted to these requirements, was taken to Washington, the
capital of the Territory, for his preliminary trial,and released on bond,
to appear at a certain time before the Supreme Court for a final trial.
-A. GEB.
Though poor my purse, and scant my store,
For Charity I pray;
That I may never from my door
The wretched turn away.
Full well I know, ’ tis hard indeed
To storm Life’s troubled sea.
Hath He not said, “If thou dost give
(Thou givest unto Me,)
A cup of water in My name
Thou shalt be surely blest;”
And when the day of reck’ning dawns,
“Enter into my Rest?”
Rose Heath.
WOMAN’S WORK.
One of his bondsmen was an old comrade in arms, whose friendship
had been tested in that bloody war “that tried men’s souls.”
He was a wealthy planter, living near Natchez, and Burr was his
guest while waiting for his trial. At this time he played the role of a
persecuted man, and his splendid intellectual attainments and courtly
manners won for him much sympathy and attention from certain
wealthy citizens of the town.
When he became” domesticated at the home of his friend, he found
that another comrade of his, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, lived
near, at the foot of the Half-way Hill. Between the houses of the
two veterans there was a foot-path shaded by evergreens, over which
graceful vines ran riot, all commanding a charming view. This be
came Col, Burr’s favorite promenade. He noticed a small vine-clad
cottage near the summit of the hill, and inquiry elicited the informa
tion that it was owned and inhabited by a widow and her only child, a
young lady celebrated, far and near, for her wondrous beauty. A few
acres, two or three negroes, and her house, were the widow’s only re
mains of a large fortune. Years before, her husband had sold all his
property in Virginia to obtain money to buy land and settle in the
Territory of Mississippi. On his way there he had been robbed and
murdered by the notorious outlaw, Joseph Hare.
Col. Burr’s acquaintance with the inmates ot the cottage grew out of
the fact of their being Catholics. He called there by appointment, to
meet one of his agents and correspondents, the Abbe Viel, a Jesuit
Priest, a man of wonderful intellectual ability. From that day he es
tablished himself in the house on a friendly basis, and exerted himself
to captivate the two ladies.
Madeline, the fair daughter, had already been wooed by some of the
young planters in the neighborhood, but her heart had remained un
touched.
Col. Burr became a daily visitor at the cottage; and his charming
conversation, his airs of a martyr, his polished exterior and magnetic
glances, won the maiden of the Half-way Hill. As she listened to
the witchery of his conversation, night after night, she learned to love
him with her whole heart. Her aged mother was delighted with the
turn affairs had taken, as she admired him only a little less than did
her daughter. Both the ladies, indeed, came to look upon him as a
demigod.
This pretty idyl soon came to an end.
Col. Burr made up his mind to forget his bond and escape from the
Territory. With the connivance of his host, upon whose favorite
horse he vas mounted, he began his flight one stormy night in Febru
ary. Haste was very necessary, but he halted at the widow’s cottage,
to give his version of his running away, and to urge Madeline to ac
company him.
She refused most positively to do so, unless the marriage ceremony
was first performed. Loath to have his will or his whims crossed, he
implored her to yield to his wishes, exerting his high gifts to the ut
most, to break her resolution. He promised marriage at the first con
venient opportunity, and spoke eloquently of the great fortune and
high position with which he could endow her; and even hinted at im
perial honors. It was in vain; and as the faint light of a wintry dawn
appeared in the east, he did not dare to linger longer. Baffled in his
wicked attempt, he could only promise to return; and he carried with
him the solemn pledge of the beautiful Madeline that she would be
true to him in his absence. He rode away in the storm and darkness,
and she never saw him again.
As time wore away, many a gallant young Mississippian laid his
heart and fortune at her feet. She gently, but firmly, declined all such
offers, and lived upon the memory of the manly beauty and superior
endowments of her far-away lover. She haunted the woods where he
most loved to walk, and looked lovingly upon the prospect where his
eyes had so often admiringly lingered.
At length rumors reached her of his trial and his guilt. In her
heart she called these things misfortunes, attributed them to the vin
dictive persecutions of his political enemies, and became more devoted
to him than ever.
News travelled slowly to the Mississippi Territory, but in process of
time, Madeline heard the story of Col. Burr’s flight from the United
States, of him being driven from England, being an outcast in Paris,
lacking the common comforts of life —shivering with the cold and star
ving for bread.
From the gay capital of France, he wrote Madeline a short, formal
note, releasing her from her engagement, stating that he would never
return to the United States, and that she had better enter a convent, if
she should outlive her mother. Was she at last convinced of the true
character of Col. Burr? Who can tell? But the sequel of the story
points that way. No high-toned woman can continue to love where
she has ceased to respect.
Two years later she accompanied some friends to Havana, where her
beauty produced a great sensation. Some of the most prominent peo
ple in Cuba sought an introduction, and her hotel was fairly besieged
with visitors. If she appeared upon the balcony, a dozen cavaliers
were standing below, to catch a glimpse of her; when she rode out in
her volante, it was escorted by several highly connected gentlemen; and
she had the honor to be feted by the Governor-General himself. Her
visit to Havana was one long social triumph. At night there were
balls and serenades; during the day visits and drives, which only ceased
when the sweet evening bells rang the Angelus.
All this homage did not spoil the fine character of Madeline, and she
returned to the vine-clad cottage at Natchez, the same modest, content
ed woman she had ever been.
Here she was visited by a wealthy English gentleman, whose ac
quaintance she had made in Havana. He was the head of the largest
commercial house in that city; she finally gave him her handin mar
riage, and —was happy ever afterwards? “Deponent sayeth not.”
CLIO.