From Henry VIII To Lola Montez

by A G Mogan

  Sam eventually used his education to teach school a few months in the year to the children of the white settlers. Houston was so taken with the pursuit of education that he decided to learn Greek and Latin. His mother did not care much for education as she was taking care of Sam’s six brothers and three sisters, so she found Sam’s decision more than a little foolish. After a while, Sam gave up his yearning for the classics and decided to leave home and drop deep into the forest beyond the sight of any white man or woman.

  Sam was happier than he had ever been in these clearings. The Indians admired his woodcraft and admired his skill of chasing the wild game amid the forests. From his copy of the "Iliad," he would read to them the thoughts of the world's greatest poet.

  Nearly forty years later, Sam had made his home in Washington and his life was very different from the one he lived in the forest. At this time, a commission of more than forty untamed Indians from Texas arrived under the charge of several army officers. They desired to meet Sam Houston.

  All of them ran to him, clasped him in their brawny arms, hugged him and called him "father." Beneath the copper skin and thick paint, the blood rushed, and their faces changed, and the lips of many a warrior trembled, although the Indian may not weep.

  It was easy to see by the expression on Houston’s face that he had a lot of love for the Indians and he also possessed the sternness of a warrior. There was a struggle between civilization and the savage at his feet. We needed no interpreter to tell us that this impressive authority was gained in the forest.

  His family had been distressed at the thought of Sam living among the Indians, but they were relieved to see that he was safe after a time and they left him to his own devices. Eventually, he came back from the forest and joined civilization once again. He pursued his education once again; he learned the fundamentals of law and entered upon its active practice. When he was just thirty-six years old, he had won every office that was open to him, ending with his election to the Governorship of Tennessee in 1827.

  Then came a strange episode that changed the whole course of his life. Until this point, Sam had never felt love towards a woman due to his physical activities in the forests and his exceptional intimacy with Indian life. In Nashville, Houston came to know for the first time the fascination of feminine society. As a lawyer, a politician, and the holder of important offices he could not remain aloof from that mysterious and unknown feminine influence any longer.

  In 1828, Governor Houston, forced to visit the homes of "the quality," traveled to different parts of the state and introduced to wives and daughters as well as to their sportsman sons. It was while he was on one of his official journeys that he met Miss Eliza Allen, a daughter of one of the "influential families" of Sumner County, on the northern border of Tennessee. At first glance he thought she was charming, responsive, and quite beautiful

  Houston was pleasantly surprised to meet a girl who not only had refined tastes and a wide interest in reading, but who was also graceful and full of humor. He and Miss Allen began to see each other and no one was surprised at the news that they were engaged to be married.

  In January of 1829, they were married while surrounded by friends of all classes and ranks, for Houston was an associate of Jackson’s and was vastly popular in his own state. It appeared as though Houston had a very impressive future ahead of him - he seemed to have before him a brilliant career and he had won a lovely bride.

  Only a month after his marriage, he met a friend and, taking him out into a strip of quiet woodland, said to him:

  "I have something to tell you, but you must not ask me anything about it. My wife and I will separate before long. She will return to her father's, while I must make my way alone."

  Houston's friend grabbed him by the arm and gazed at him with horror.

  "Governor," said he, "you're going to ruin your whole life! What reason have you for treating this young lady in such a way? What has she done that you should leave her? Or what have you done that she should leave you? Every one will fall away from you."

  Houston grimly replied:

  "I have no explanation to give you. My wife has none to give you. She will not complain of me, nor shall I complain of her. It is no one's business in the world except our own. Any interference will be impertinent, and I shall punish it with my own hand."

  "But," said his friend, "think of it. The people at large will not allow such action. They will believe that you, who have been their idol, have descended to insult a woman. Your political career is ended. It will not be safe for you to walk the streets!"

  "What difference does it make to me?" said Houston, gloomily. "What must be, must be. I tell you, as a friend, in advance, so that you may be prepared; but the parting will take place very soon."

  The next few months passed uneventfully and then an announcement was made that he Governor's wife had left him and had returned to her parents' home. The rumors spread rapidly; everyone was talking about the news. Friends of Mrs. Houston begged her to tell them what happened, while Houston’s supporters worked to spread tales of his wife's coldness and of her irritability. Everyone was divided and it seemed as though the Governor’s separation was the talk of the town, despite the fact that it didn’t concern any of the people doing the talking.

  Things were so divided that if Houston had appeared near the home of his former wife, he would have been lynched or pierced with bullets. At the same time, if friends of Houston’s had met upon any of his enemies or defamers in Nashville, they would have been torn to pieces as those friends believed that Houston could do no wrong.

  Despite all of the anger and the pleading on both sides, neither one of them would reveal any further information about the end of their marriage. The former wife never uttered a word of explanation and Houston was equally discreet. There were occasions throughout the years when he would sometimes drink a little too much and become loose with his tongue, but even during these more vulnerable moments, he never said a single word about his wife.

  Unfortunately, the mystery of what happened between Houston and his wife is not one with a resolution; there are no facts in this regard, just a lot of conjecture. One popular theory is that Miss Allen was in love with someone else and her husband forced her into a marriage that she felt she could not tolerate and that Houston left her after discovering the truth.

  But there is no evidence to support this. While the former Mrs. Houston did remarry, it was only after several years and it was to a man who she did not know at the time she separated from her husband. Had she been in love with another man, it is likely that she would have married the man she truly loved after the divorce.

  Another theory was that Houston treated his wife very harshly and she could not tolerate his untaught manners and extreme arrogance. However, she had known him prior to their marriage, so if his manners had offended her, she would have known already and may not have married him in that case. There is also no evidence to support his excessive arrogance. After his Texan campaign, he sometimes showed a rather condescending idea of his own achievements, but he does not seem to have done so in these early days.

  Still, some have attributed alcohol as a possible reason for their separation. But again, it is fair to point out that this theory is inconsistent with what we know about Sam Houston. Later in life, he became very fond of spirits and drank whisky with the Indians, but during his earlier years, he did not drink very often. It doesn’t seem possible that his wife left him because he was uncontrolled with his drinking.

  Although his abandoned wife never spoke of him and shut her lips tightly when she was questioned about him, Houston was not so reserved. Even though he never gave any direct clue to the mystery surrounding his marriage, he never forgot this girl who was his bride and whom it appears he always loved. He never stopped to let a vein of self-reproach run through his words regarding his former wife.

  I should choose this one paragraph as the most significant. It was written immediately after they had p
arted:

  “Eliza stands acquitted by me. I have received her as a virtuous, chaste wife, and as such I pray God I may ever regard her, and I trust I ever shall. She was cold to me, and I thought she did not love me.”

  And again he said to an old and valued friend at about the same time:

  "I can make no explanation. I exonerate the lady fully and do not justify myself."

  Miss Allen seems to have been a sensitive American type that was so common in the early and the middle part of the last century. Mrs. Trollope has described it for us with very little exaggeration. Dickens has drawn it with a touch of malice, and yet not without truth. Miss Martineau described it during her visit to this country, and her account quite coincides with those of her two contemporaries.

  This was a time when women would describe themselves in many ways; they were the type of woman to read L. E. L. and the earlier novels of Bulwer-Lytton. These women had an unwholesome attitude towards life and this was becoming more and more prevalent on both sides of the Atlantic.

  In circles with ideas such as these, a new concept of womanhood was emerging. It was considered unwomanly to eat a substantial dinner, women who gossiped or talked of anything except some gilded "annual" or "book of beauty” were condemned, and women started to eat less and less to remain thin – some ate little more than jam, pickles and saleratus biscuits. These women had the strangest views of life and an almost unnatural cowering from anything that contradicted men.

  Having lived the solitary life of the woods, Houston was a natural and wholesome man. It was odd for him to meet girls who were raised to be completely different from him and what he was used to; these girls were dainty, graceful and coy. To mate with Houston was to combine a man of the forest with a very sheltered woman.

  Houston assumed everything and his bride shrank from everything. Both of them were so shocked at the other that they were almost repulsed. It is possible that she thought he was just the sort of bully who lurked in every man and he had to come to the realization that his wife would not match his passions, which led him to believe that she did not care for him. There were thousands of couples who made the same mistake upon marriage — the mistake on one side of too great sensitiveness, and on the other side of too great of passion.

  This episode is one that can explain many things in human life. As far as Houston was concerned, these ideals had a direct effect on the history of our country. A proud man, he could not tolerate the slights and gossip of his associates. He resigned as Governor of Tennessee and ensured there would be plenty of mystery surrounding his departure by leaving at night.

  Houston had come to long for his old Indian life and the next time he was seen was in the land of the Cherokees, who had long before adopted him as a son. He was dressed in buckskin and armed with knife and rifle, and served under the old chief Oolooteka. He was a brave defender of the Indians.

  After discovering that some of the Indian agents had abused the men he defended and thought of as family, he dressed in frontier attire to travel to Washington and protest. William Stansberry, a Congressman from Ohio, insulted Houston, who responded by leaping upon him like a panther, dragging him from the Hall of Representatives, and beating him severely. He was arrested, imprisoned, and fined; but his old friend, President Jackson, decreased his imprisonment and advised him not to pay the fine.

  After returning to his Indians, he made the decision to embark on a new adventure and he traveled to Texas, despite all the dangers that awaited him on the long journey. Houston discovered an unrefined American settlement, composed of scattered villages extending along the uncertain frontier of Mexico. Already, in the true Anglo-Saxon spirit, the settlers had formed a rudimentary state, and as they increased and multiplied they framed a simple code of laws.

  Eventually, there was a clash between them and the Mexicans. Moses Austin headed the Texans and they had set up a republic and asked for admission to the United States. Mexico regarded them as rebels and despised them because they made no military display and had no accurate military drill. They were also hated by their ragged clothing and the fact that they often laughed and tried to "take on" almost any number of Mexican regulars.

  In February of 1836, the intense Mexican, Santa Anna, led a force of several thousand Mexicans across the Rio Grande. History shows how they fell upon the little stronghold at the Alamo, now within the city limits of San Antonio, but then an isolated mission building surrounded by a thick adobe wall. There were less than three hundred American men.

  The odds were overwhelming, but the Americans were ready to respond to the attack. They managed to drive the assailants back with their rifle fire, but they had nothing to oppose to the Mexican artillery. This battle lasted for several days, and finally the Mexicans breached the wall and fell upon the garrison, who were now reduced by more than half. The attack at the garrison lasted for an hour and at the end of it, every one of the Alamo’s defenders, including the wounded, was put to death. The only survivors of the slaughter were two negro slaves, a woman, and a baby girl.

  When Houston learned of this horrid attack, he immediately jumped at the chance to join the forces in combat. He was made commander-in-chief of the flimsy Texan forces. He managed to rally about seven hundred men, and set out against Santa Anna with very little equipment; the only thing exciting his soldiers was the fury they felt at their loss of men. The aggressive forces came face to face near the shore of San Jacinto Bay, not far from the present city of Houston. Slowly they moved upon each other, when Houston halted, and his sharpshooters gathered the Mexican battle-line with terrible effect. Then Houston uttered the cry:

  "Remember the Alamo!"

  Swiftly, he led his men in a charge upon Santa Anna's lines. The Mexicans were scattered as by a mighty wind, their commander was taken prisoner, and Mexico was forced to give its recognition to Texas as a free republic, of which General Houston became the first president.

  This was the peak of Houston's life, but that is not to say that his final days were uneventful. Long after his marriage with Miss Allen, married an Indian girl and they were quite happy together. There is not much know about her beyond the fact that she was a very beautiful woman, who was a half-breed, and she had the English name of Tyania Rodgers. In 1840, he married a lady from Marion, Alabama, named Margaret Moffette Lea. He was forty-seven years old, while she was only twenty-one, and much like his prior marriages, it did not last. These marriages prove what has already been written of the possible cause for his inability to make a woman happy.

  Texas entered the Union in 1845 and Houston served in the United States Senate for thirteen years. In 1852, 1856, and 1860, it was noted that he was a possible candidate for President since he was a Southerner who opposed any movement toward secession, However, his career was almost over, and in 1863, while the Civil War, which he had struggled to prevent, was at its height, he died.

  * * *

  10

  Leon Gambetta & Leonie Leon

  The French Republic endured for over forty years and within that time, it has produced one extraordinary man. This was Leon Gambetta. There were other remarkable man in French political life during the first few years of the republic, but they belonged to an earlier generation. Gambetta became important only when the empire fell.

  His friends lavished him with praise, while his enemies loathed him. It is said that Gambetta was able to live a life of about fifty years during the short decade in which he had a significant political career. It wasn’t that long ago that the French government placed his body within the Pantheon, a building that contained memorials of heroes and heroines of France. We may not be able to justly critique his political motives, but we can recall his one great romance, which many will remember long after they have forgotten his political victories.

  Leon Gambetta a southern Frenchman, what his countrymen call a meridional. There were many differences between Frenchmen from the south and those from the north. Frenchmen of the north had Viking blood running t
hrough their veins and as such were more likely to be fair-haired and blue-eyed with calm speech and the ability to remain self-controlled. The Frenchmen of the south, also called a meridional, generally has Italian blood and they are often descended from the conquerors of ancient Gaul; the meridional is impetuous, passionate, and extremely hot-tempered.

  Gambetta, who was born at Cahors, was French only on his mother's side, and his father was of Italian birth. It is said also that somewhere in his ancestry there was a touch of the Oriental. Regardless of his ancestry, he was considered one of the most southern of men in southern France At any rate, he was one of the most southern of the sons of southern France, and he showed the advanced maturity that belonged to a certain type of Italian. He had already been admitted to the French bar at the young age of twenty-one and he had started to make a name for himself in Paris due to his fearlessness and his fiery spontaneousness of his speech.

  Towards the end of the reign of Napoleon III, Gambetta saw his opportunity. The emperor was weakened by disease and was somewhat of an idealist at this time; he had already given France a greater freedom of speech than it had enjoyed while he was more virile. This lessening of control gave his opponents more courage to attack him and his empire. There were manipulators in gathered crowds that gave lectures that would have resulted in imprisonment just a short time before. In the National Assembly, the opposition tried its best to obstruct and defeat the policy of the government.