The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume II

PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR 61 that of her husband, and is, of itself, so full of interest, that it can- not be omitted without material injury to the narrative. I doubt whether the reader will not find her story the more exciting of the two. Her situation at the time General Long left her at Na:t•:hez was one of peculiar anxiety. In a few days after his departure, she became the mother of her second child.-This materially increaser! the pang of separation; which soon became so intense and imiupportable that she resolved, when her infant as yet, was not a fortnight old, to follow her husband and share his destiny, in despite of her foeble condition and against the most solemn entreaties of her friends. He was in a foreign country-in the midst of peril-with no home but the camp and no safety but his sword. 'l'o follow him undcF snch circumstances, and in her situation, looked like self-immolation-a holy sacrifice of life at the shrine of affection; and to attempt such a jour- ney, through a wilderness of .savages, in a distant land, with her two little children and no human assistance except a small negro girl, displays a resolution and fortitude unrivalled in romance, and which nothing but the tenderest and deepest feelings of the human hl'art, could inspire.-. She started on the twenty eighth of June.-Mr James Rowan, the friend of her husband, and a wealthy merchant of the place, hearing that she was about to embark, came to the river bank to see her off and bid her farewell. •He found her in tears. And well might she weep; for she was not only leaving the home of her happier days, but she was going, she knew not where, on a long journey in a strange land, with ruined health, almost destitute of means and without a friendly hand to aid her on the way. 'These things weighed upon her heart; but the burthen was quickly lighted by the generous Rowan. It was impossible for this excellent m&n to see the dews of affliction in the eye of beauty, without wiping them away. Unprepared as he was for such a trip, he nevertheless stepped in the boat, and with those elevated principles of benevolence and generosity which belong only to the virtuous and brave, he proffered to see her on her jour- ney as far as her sister Calvart 's, in Alexandria, where suitable arrangements could be made to convey her with comfort and safety to her husband. In a few minutes they were gliding down the river. The journey to Alexandria was protracted and distressing. The weather was bad-accomodations worse-and the boat finally stopping on "the route, a messenger had to be dispatched to Alexandria for means of conveyance. After much delay, a courier made his appear- ance with a couple of horses. Mrs Long and her servant girl mount- ing one of the animals; and Mr. Rowan the other, with the little daughter, Ann, behind him and the infant in his arms, they completed the balance of the route, exhausted with fatigue and drenched in rain. The boat with her trunks and other effects, arrived in a few days; bearing the unwelcome tidings of the death of the young man who had been despatched with the horses. He died of fatigue and exposure. The trip from Natchez to Alexandria comsumed nearly twenty days. Mr. Rowan, after waiting a week at Mrs Calvert's for an opportunity of returning to Natchez, took his friendly leave of the hospitable family-not however, until he had supplied Mrs

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