Page:Republican Court by Rufus Griswold.djvu/208

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THE REPUBLICAN COURT.

the most romantic chapters in the history of American private life. Burr in Albany lived with a pretty and tidy widow, and rarely dined or passed an evening abroad. Near the end of July he finished important business which had detained him in the courts, "received thanks, and twenty half joes," with promises of more of both commodities, and returned to New York. He had been married to Mrs. Prevost, a charming woman, the widow of a British officer, in July, 1782. For several years he lived in the house at Richmond Hill, now occupied by the Vice President. His interest made it necessary to reside more near the centre of business, and he removed into the city. Mrs. Burr did not go into society. I do not find her name in the lists of dinner parties, nor is she often referred to in contemporary letters. She loved "My lord," as she playfully addressed her husband, and was always perfectly content in his presence, or inconsolable by the presence of others for his absence. Although his whole life from boyhood had been steeped in profligacy,^[1] and his amours were as well known as those of any hero of scandalous history, he seems really to have loved her with much of the tenderness she felt for him. While he was in Albany he wrote to her, "Multiply your letters to me; they are all my

↑ It is unnecessary to refer here to the extraordinary vicissitudes of Burr's subsequent life; but that it may not be suspected that his infirmities are too strongly stated, the following remarks are transcribed from his memoirs, written by his most partial and most faithful friend, Mr. Davis: "It is truly astonishing how any individual could have become so eminent as a soldier, as a statesman, and as a professional man, who devoted so much time to the other sex as was devoted by Colonel Burr. For more than half a century of his life they seemed to absorb his whole thoughts. His intrigues were without number; his conduct most licentious; the sacred bonds of friendship were unhesitatingly violated when they operated as barriers to the indulgence of his passions. For a long time he seemed to be gathering and carefully preserving every line written to him by any female, whether with or without reputation, and when obtained they were cast into one common receptacle — the profligate and corrupt by the side of the thoughtless and betrayed victim. All were held as trophies of victory, all esteemed alike valuable. How shocking to the man of sensibility! how mortifying and heart-sickening to the intellectual, the artless, and the fallen fair! Among these manuscripts were many the production of highly-cultivated minds. ... They were testimonials of the weakness of the weaker sex, even where genius and learning would seem to be towering above his arts."

[1] It is unnecessary to refer here to the extraordinary vicissitudes of Burr's subsequent life; but that it may not be suspected that his infirmities are too strongly stated, the following remarks are transcribed from his memoirs, written by his most partial and most faithful friend, Mr. Davis: "It is truly astonishing how any individual could have become so eminent as a soldier, as a statesman, and as a professional man, who devoted so much time to the other sex as was devoted by Colonel Burr. For more than half a century of his life they seemed to absorb his whole thoughts. His intrigues were without number; his conduct most licentious; the sacred bonds of friendship were unhesitatingly violated when they operated as barriers to the indulgence of his passions. For a long time he seemed to be gathering and carefully preserving every line written to him by any female, whether with or without reputation, and when obtained they were cast into one common receptacle — the profligate and corrupt by the side of the thoughtless and betrayed victim. All were held as trophies of victory, all esteemed alike valuable. How shocking to the man of sensibility! how mortifying and heart-sickening to the intellectual, the artless, and the fallen fair! Among these manuscripts were many the production of highly-cultivated minds. ... They were testimonials of the weakness of the weaker sex, even where genius and learning would seem to be towering above his arts."

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