Memoir of John Howe Peyton Part 28

To his son John, he communicated his intention of bringing Mrs. F. to adorn his establishment.

"Sir, she is" said he, "the finest woman in Kentucky--the pride of the 'blue gra.s.s' district. I hope you will, notwithstanding her youth, treat her with deference and respect, and yield her the love she has a right to expect from my son!"

John, with a quiet but knowing smile, a.s.sured the General of his determination to accord affectionate respect to whomever he might choose for a wife. The old soldier was delighted and ordered Powhatan to be led to Mrs. Fauntleroy's. "Sir," said he to his son, "the Whig party has disgraced itself and Mr. Clay's district, and I must part with my favorite horse Powhatan, who has no equal in the Commonwealth. I have just ordered him to be delivered to Mrs. F. and am about to call, will you accompany me?" The son consented, and when they arrived they found Mrs. F. and two lady friends admiring the splendid animal.

"Madam," said the General, addressing the pretty widow, "I have come to pay the wager I have lost--Powhatan is yours."

"But General," interposed the lady, "I believe the wager was conditional. It was the horse or anything else I might prefer on your estate, was it not?"

"Right you are madam," said the General, "but I can never allow you to select an inferior animal, and I have none that approaches Powhatan."

"You have a very superior biped on your estate, General," replied the blus.h.i.+ng widow, "your son, John, whom I have already promised to accept instead of Powhatan."

The astonished General, defeated for the first time, summoned his fort.i.tude, and after recovering from the stunning effect of the widow's speech, rose and in his blandest manner bade the party adieu. To his son he said--"Sir, you will remain and do your duty."

The General never entirely forgave his daughter-in-law her practical joke. In after years he used to say, "Lilley is the finest woman in Kentucky, but she always lacked taste."

COL. HENRY PEYTON--A HERO OF 1776.

INTERESTING LETTER FROM JEFFERSON TO C. PEYTON, OF ALBEMARLE.

We publish below an interesting letter written by the ill.u.s.trious Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, to his connection, the late Craven Peyton, Esq., of Monteagle, Albemarle county, Va. Craven Peyton was one of the first gentlemen of his day in Virginia, but his tastes were social and literary rather than political, and he pa.s.sed a long and useful life in the quiet of his plantation, loved and admired by all who enjoyed the privilege of his friends.h.i.+p and partook of the elegant hospitalities of his old Virginia home--one of the stately mansions and most extensive landed estates in Virginia. He married Miss Lewis, a niece of the President, and left among other issue a son, Charles L. Peyton, of Greenbrier, now surviving at an advanced age, and a daughter who married an esteemed townsman, William C. Eskridge, Esq., the father of William Peyton Eskridge, of this city. Craven Peyton was a nephew of the Revolutionary patriot, Colonel Henry Peyton, whose third and last son, old enough for military duty, was killed by a cannon ball from the British fleet during the siege of Charleston, S. C. He fell into the arms of the late Lieut., afterwards Gen. Porterfield, of Augusta, who immediately communicated the sad intelligence of his death to his father. Col. Peyton, when he heard of it, was struck dumb with grief, but in a moment recovering his equilibrium and self-control, exclaimed, "_Would to G.o.d I had another to put in his place._" Such was the stuff of our Revolutionary heroes. Col. Henry Peyton was the father of Miss f.a.n.n.y Peyton, wife of Chancellor Brown, and great-grandfather of the late distinguished and still lamented Col. John B. Baldwin and Mrs.

Alexander H. H. Stuart:[30]

[30] From this branch of the Peytons are also descended Mrs. J. M.

Ranson, of Jefferson county, W. Va., Captain William L. Clark, of Winchester, Va., Mrs. R. T. W. Duke, of Albemarle, the late Judge J. E.

Brown, of Wythe, Mrs. Hunter McGuire, of Richmond, Mrs. Robert Gibson, of Cincinnati, and many others of worth and distinction in Virginia, the South and West.--R. A. B. in Richmond Standard.

Monticello, August 12, 1821.

_Dear Sir_--Instead of answering your letter yesterday, I desired the bearer to tell you I should see you at Monteagle to-day, being anxious, also, to see my sister before I set out for Bedford, whom you mention to be still unwell. I accordingly mounted my horse just now to visit you, but found him so lame I was obliged to turn back. With respect to the fodder I had, on Mr. Bacon's suggestion, searched for and found the account of it, which he had given me, at the time and I had forgotten; that, therefore, is right and there can be no difficulty between us. I have not yet learned from Mr. Estor Randolph when he will be able to make me payment. The moment he does I will transmit to you. I have not yet urged him, because I know he is a most anxious man always to pay a debt and that he will soon inform me. With respect to ----, if he ever becomes a sober man, there will be no difficulty of reconciliation on Anne's account, but as long as he is subject to drink, his society is dangerous and we shall reject it.

I shall be glad to know the exact state of my sister's health; and pray, if she needs it, that Dr. Watkins may be requested to attend to her, and to place it on my account. I shall not stay more than a week in Bedford.

Affectionately yours, Craven Peyton, Esq. TH. JEFFERSON.

OLD LETTER OF COL. JOHN L. PEYTON.

TO HIS UNCLE, MAJ. T. PRESTON LEWIS.

s.h.i.+rley, near Staunton, Feb'y 28th, 1858.

_Dear Uncle:_

I was much gratified to get your letter, brief as it was, a few days since, and was surprised to hear that you had been so long and so seriously indisposed. I hope by this time you have entirely recovered, and if not, I must renew my suggestion and invitation to you again. My suggestion that you ought to leave Was.h.i.+ngton for a time, and my invitation that you should pa.s.s that time in the fresh air and quiet comforts of my house at s.h.i.+rley. By coming and staying a month or two with me you might be permanently improved in health, and it would not, as you seem to apprehend, increase your expenses, or cut off your salary in Was.h.i.+ngton. Gov. Floyd, under the circ.u.mstances of the case would not hesitate to grant you a furlough. The pleasure I would enjoy from your society would be very great, and my wife asks me to a.s.sure you that nothing would give her more pleasure than to have you come.

The weather here is charming, and spring-like, which is something unusual at this season, but is what we expected after the vile "spell"

we have had for the past five weeks.

Staunton has been quite up in the books this winter between lectures, concerts, auctions, exhibitions and other pastimes and amus.e.m.e.nts.

Among the eminent strangers we have had lecture here, was George D.

Prentice, of the "Louisville Journal." I did not hear his lecture, but dined with him one day while here at Judge J. H. McCue's, and confess I was not much impressed which is still further evidence of the soundness of the opinion I formed when travelling west in 1848, namely: The farther I went west the more convinced I was that the wise men came from the East.

Few persons left here for Richmond on the 22nd, and those who did were so worried by the great crowd that they saw little, and enjoyed what they saw, less.

Everett's[31] oration surpa.s.sed any antic.i.p.ations I had formed of it, while Hunter's fell far below the public expectation. What can compensate a man for falling below the public estimate on such an occasion! It almost drives a man to believe every effort a mockery--and that he is apt to reap by his efforts not fame, but despair.

[31] Edward Everett's Oration on Was.h.i.+ngton.

Crawford's statue of Was.h.i.+ngton is said to be the finest specimen of the kind extant, by the side of which that hobby-horse concern, Mill's Statue of President Jackson, in Was.h.i.+ngton is a miserable failure. The "horse" of Crawford is agreed to be above praise, while that of "Mills,"

in front of the President's house is said to be a ewe-necked tacky, a mealy-mouthed, wall-eyed brute, who looks as if old Jackson, in the language of a Tennessee poet:

"Had placed on him a bridle and a saddle, Then on his back had leapt astraddle."

and had been ever since fastened there by iron rods, which are said to run up the horse's hind legs, keeping him on an equipoise, and forever facing the White House.

Among those who were attracted to Richmond was Howe, but what, (if any) impressions were made on his mind, is not known, as he has since observed a severe silence.

I was not surprised to learn of the rage for fas.h.i.+on and extravagance in Was.h.i.+ngton. It is always so with the _parvenues_, whether in Was.h.i.+ngton or on 5th Avenue. The "new-rich" have no other way of bringing themselves into notice and contempt. They const.i.tute a beastly crew, who change their principles much oftener than their linen. I cordially partic.i.p.ate in your feelings of disgust for such a gang.

Betty joins me in affectionate salutations. Hoping to hear from you soon, I am dear Uncle, as ever,

Your affectionate nephew,

Thos. P. Lewis, Esq.,} JOHN LEWIS PEYTON.

War Department, } Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C. }

LETTER OF COL. JOHN LEWIS PEYTON.

A DISPUTED POEM--PROOF THAT THE EARL OF DERBY DID NOT WRITE THE POEM TO GENERAL LEE.

Staunton, Va., December 3, 1877.

_To the Baltimore Gazette:_

In your paper of the 30th of November you introduce the following lines, with the remark, "_On the fly-leaf of the copy of the Iliad given by the late Earl of Derby to General Robert E Lee were the following verses_:"

The grave old bard, who never dies, Receive him in our native tongue; I send thee, but with weeping eyes, The story that he sung.

_Thy_ Troy has fallen--thy dear land Is marred beneath the spoiler's heel; I cannot trust my trembling hand To write the grief I feel.

Oh, home of tears! But let her bear This blazon to the end of time; No nation rose so white and fair, None fell so pure of crime.

The widow's moan, the orphan's wail, Are round thee; but in truth be strong; Eternal right, though all things fail, Can never be made wrong.