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THE MEMORIES OF FIFTY YEARS:

Containing

Brief Biographical Notices of Distinguished
Americans, and Anecdotes of
Remarkable Men;

Interspersed with Scenes and Incidents Occurring
during a Long Life of Observation Chiefly
Spent in the Southwest

by

W. H. SPARKS

Philadelphia:
Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger.
Macon Ga.: J. W. Burke & Co.
Stereotyped by J. Fagan & Son.
Printed by Moore Bros.

1870

TO

MY BROTHER AND NEPHEW,
THE HONORABLE OVID GARTEN SPARKS,
AND
COLONEL THOMAS HARDEMAN,
OF MACON, GEORGIA.

This Volume is Dedicated

BY THEIR AGED AND AFFECTIONATE RELATIVE, TRUSTING
THEY WILL ESTEEM IT, WHEN HE SHALL HAVE
PASSED TO ETERNITY, AS SOME EVIDENCE
OF THE AFFECTION
BORNE THEM BY

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

In the same week, and within three days of the same date, I received
from three Judges of the Supreme Court, of three States, the request
that I would record my remembrances of the men and things I had known
for fifty years. The gentlemen making this request were Joseph Henry
Lumpkin, of Georgia; William L. Sharkey, of Mississippi, and James G.
Taliaferro, of Louisiana.

From Judge Sharkey the request was verbal; from the other two it came
in long and, to me, cherished letters. All three have been my intimate
friends--Lumpkin from boyhood; the others for nearly fifty years.
Judge Lumpkin has finished his work in time, and gone to his reward.
Judges Sharkey and Taliaferro yet live, both now over seventy years of
age. The former has retired from the busy cares of office, honored,
trusted, and beloved; the latter still occupies a seat upon the Bench
of the Supreme Court of Louisiana.

These men have all sustained unreproached reputations, and retained
through their long lives the full confidence of the people of their
respective States. I did not feel at liberty to resist their appeal: I
had resided in all three of the States; had known long and intimately
their people; had been extensively acquainted with very many of the
most prominent men of the nation--and in the following pages is my
compliance.

I have trusted only to my memory, and to a journal kept for many
years, when a younger man than I am to-day--hastening to the
completion of my seventieth year. Doubtless, I have made many mistakes
of minor importance; but few, I trust, as to matters of fact. Of one
thing I am sure: nothing has been wilfully written which can wound the
feelings of any.

Many things herein contained may not be of general interest; but none
which will not find interested readers; for while some of the
individuals mentioned may not be known to common fame, the incidents
in connection with them deserve to be remembered by thousands who knew
them.

These Memories are put down without system, or order, as they have
presented themselves, and have been related in a manner which I have
attempted to make entertaining and instructive, without being prolix
or tedious. They will be chiefly interesting to the people of the
South; though much may, and, I hope, will be read by those of the
North. Some of my happiest days have been passed in the North: at
Cambridge some of my sons have been educated, and some of my dearest
friends have been Northern men. Despite the strife which has gone far
toward making us in heart a divided people, I have a grateful memory
of many whose homes and graves were and are in New England.

Would that this strife had never been! But it has come, and I cannot
forego a parent's natural feelings when mourning the loss of sons
slain in the conflict, or the bitterness arising therefrom toward
those who slew them. Yet, as I forgive, I hope to be forgiven.

There are but few now left who began the journey of life with me.
Those of this number who still sojourn in our native land will find
much in these pages familiar to their remembrance, and some things,
the reading of which may revive incidents and persons long forgotten.
In the West, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, there are
many--the descendants of those who participated in events transpiring
fifty years ago--who have listened at the parental hearth to their
recital. To these I send this volume greeting; and if they find
something herein to amuse and call up remembrances of the past, I
shall feel gratified.

To the many friends I have in the Southwest, and especially in
Louisiana and Mississippi, where I have sojourned well-nigh fifty
years, and many of whom have so often urged upon me the writing of
these Memories, I commit the book, and ask of them, and of all into
whose hands it may fall, a lenient criticism, a kindly recollection,
and a generous thought of our past intercourse. It is an inexorable
fate that separates us, and I feel it is forever. This sad thought is
alleviated, however, by the consciousness that the few remaining sands
of life are falling at the home of my birth; and that when the end
comes, as very soon it must, I shall be placed to sleep amid my
kindred in the land of my nativity.

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
REVOLUTIONARY TRADITIONS.

Middle Georgia--Colonel David Love--His Widow--Governor Dunmore--
Colonel Tarleton--Bill Cunningham--Colonel Fannin--My Grandmother's
Bible--Solomon's Maxim Applied--Robertus Love--The Indian Warrior--
Dragon Canoe--A Buxom Lass--General Gates--Marion--Mason L. Weems
--Washington--"Billy Crafford"

CHAPTER II.
PIONEER LIFE.

Settlement of Middle Georgia--Prowling Indians--Scouts and their
Dogs--Classes of Settlers--Prominence of Virginians--Causes of
Distinction--Clearing--Log-Rolling--Frolics--Teachers Cummings and
Duffy--The Schoolmaster's Nose--Flogging--Emigration to Alabama

CHAPTER III.
THE GEORGIA COMPANY.

Yazoo Purchase--Governor Matthews--James Jackson--Burning of the Yazoo
Act--Development of Free Government--Constitutional Convention--Slavery:
Its Introduction and Effects

CHAPTER IV.
POLITICAL DISPUTATIONS.

Baldwin--A Yankee's Political Stability--The Yazoo Question--Party
Feuds and Fights--Deaf and Dumb Ministers--Clay--Jackson--Buchanan--
Calhoun--Cotton and Free Trade--The Clay and Randolph Duel

CHAPTER V.
GEORGIA'S NOBLE SONS.

A Minister of a Day--Purity of Administration--Then and Now--Widow
Timberlake--Van Buren's Letter--Armbrister and Arbuthnot--Old
Hickory Settles a Difficulty--A Cause of the Late War--Honored Dead

CHAPTER VI.
POPULAR CHARACTERISTICS.

A Frugal People--Laws and Religion--Father Pierce--Thomas W. Cobb--
Requisites of a Political Candidate--A Farmer-Lawyer--Southern
Humorists

CHAPTER VII.
WITS AND FIRE-EATERS.

Judge Dooly--Lawyers and Blacksmiths--John Forsyth--How Juries were
Drawn--Gum-Tree _vs._ Wooden-Leg--Preacher-Politicians--Colonel
Gumming--George McDuffie

CHAPTER VIII.
FIFTY YEARS AGO.

Governor Matthews--Indians--Topography of Middle Georgia--A New
Country and its Settlers--Beaux and Belles--Early Training--Jesuit
Teachers--A Mother's Influence--The Jews--Homely Sports--The Cotton
Gin--Camp-Meetings

CHAPTER IX.
PEDAGOGUES AND DEMAGOGUES.

Education--Colleges--School-Days--William and Mary--A Substitute--
Boarding Around--Rough Diamonds--Caste--George M. Troup--A Scotch
Indian--Alexander McGilvery--The McIntosh Family--Button Gwinnett
--General Taylor--Matthew Talbot--Jesse Mercer--An Exciting Election

CHAPTER X.
INDIAN TREATIES AND DIFFICULTIES.

The Creeks--John Quincy Adams--Hopothlayohola--Indian Oratory--Sulphur
Springs--Treaties Made and Broken--An Independent Governor--Colonels
John S. McIntosh, David Emanuel Twiggs, and Duncan Clinch--General
Gaines--Christianizing the Indians--Cotton Mather--Expedient and
Principle--The Puritanical Snake

CHAPTER XI.
POLITICAL CHANGES.

Aspirants for Congress--A New Organization--Two Parties--A Protective
Tariff--United States Bank--The American System--Internal Improvements
--A Galaxy of Stars--A Spartan Mother's Advice--Negro-Dealer--
Quarter-Races--Cock-Pitting--Military Blunders on Both Sides--Abner
Green's Daughter--Andrew Jackson--Gwinn--Poindexter--Ad Interim--
Generals by Nature as Civil Rulers

CHAPTER XII.
GOSSIP.

Unrequited Love--Popping the Question--Practical Joking--Satan Let
Loose--Rhea, but not Rhea--Teachings of Nature--H.S. Smith

CHAPTER XIII.
INFLUENCE OF CHILDHOOD.

First Impressions--Fortune--Mirabeau B. Lamar--Dr. Alonzo Church--Julius
Cæsar--L.Q.C. Lamar--Texan Independence--Colquitt--Lumpkin--What a Great
Man Can Do in One Day--Charles J. Jenkins

CHAPTER XIV.
A REVOLUTIONARY VETERAN.

Tapping Reeve--James Gould--Colonel Benjamin Talmadge--The Execution
of Major André--Character of Washington--A Breach of Discipline--
Burr and Hamilton--Margaret Moncrief--Cowles Meade

CHAPTER XV.
CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT.

Governor Wolcott--Toleration--Mr. Monroe--Private Life of Washington
--Thomas Jefferson--The Object and Science of Government--Court
Etiquette--Nature the Teacher and Guide in all Things

CHAPTER XVI.
PARTY PRINCIPLES.

Origin of Parties--Federal and Republican Peculiarities--Jefferson's
Principles and Religion--Democracy--Virginia and Massachusetts
Parties--War with France--Sedition Law--Lyman Beecher--The Almighty
Dollar--"Hail Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle"

CHAPTER XVII.
CONGRESS IN ITS BRIGHTEST DAYS.

Missouri Compromise--John Randolph's Juba--Mr. Macon--Holmes and
Crawford--Mr. Clay's Influence--James Barbour--Philip P. Barbour--
Mr. Pinkney--Mr. Beecher, of Ohio--"Cuckoo, Cuckoo!"--National Roads
--William Lowndes--William Roscoe--Duke of Argyle--Louis McLean--
Whig and Democratic Parties

CHAPTER XVIII.
FRENCH AND SPANISH TERRITORY.

Settlers on the Tombigbee and Mississippi Rivers--La Salle--Natchez
--Family Apportionment--The Hill Country--Hospitality--Benefit of
African Slavery--Capacity of the Negro--His Future

CHAPTER XIX.
THE NATCHEZ TRADITIONS.

Natchez--Mizezibbee; or, The Parent of Many Waters--Indian Mounds--
The Child of the Sun--Treatment of the Females--Poetic Marriages--
Unchaste Maids and Pure Wives--Walking Archives--The Profane Fire--
Alahoplechia--Oyelape--The Chief with a Beard

CHAPTER XX.
EXPLORATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

Chicago--Crying Indians--Chickasaws--De Soto--Feast of the Great
Sun--Cane-Knives--Love-stricken Indian Maiden--Rape of the Natchez
--Man's Will--Subjugation of the Waters--The Black Man's Mission--Its
Decade

CHAPTER XXI.
TWO STRANGE BEINGS.

Romance of Western Life--Met by Chance--Parting on the Levee--Meeting
at the Sick-Bed--Convalescent--Love-Making--"Home, Sweet Home"--
Theological Discussion--Uncle Tony--Wild, yet Gentle--An Odd
Family--The Adventurer Speculates

CHAPTER XXII.
THE ROMANCE CONTINUED.

Father Confessor--Open Confession--The Unread Will--Old Tony's
Narrative--Squirrel Shooting--The Farewell Unsaid--Brothers-in-Law--
Farewell Indeed

CHAPTER XXIII.
WHEN SUCCESSFUL, RIGHT; WHEN NOT, WRONG.

Territorial
Mississippi--Wilkinson--Adams--Jefferson--Warren--Claiborne--Union of
the Factions--Colonel Wood--Chew--David Hunt--Joseph Dunbar--Society of
Western Mississippi--Pop Visits of a Week to Tea--The Horse "Tom" and
his Rider--Our Grandfathers' Days--An Emigrant's Outfit--My
Share--George Poindexter--A Sudden Opening of a Court of Justice--The
Caldwell and Gwinn Duel--Jackson's Opposition to the Governor of
Mississippi

CHAPTER XXIV.
THE SILVER-TONGUED ORATOR.

John A. Quitman--Robert J. Walker--Robert H. Adams--From a Cooper-Shop
to the United States Senate--Bank Monopoly--Natchez Fencibles--Scott
in Mexico--Thomas Hall--Sargent S. Prentiss--Vicksburg--Single-speech
Hamilton--God-inspired Oratory--Drunk by Absorption--Killing
a Tailor--Defence of Wilkinson

CHAPTER XXV.
A FINANCIAL CRASH.

A Wonderful Memory--A Nation Without Debt--Crushing the National
Bank--Rise of State Banks--Inflated Currency--Grand Flare-up--Take
Care of Yourself--Commencing Anew--Failing to Reach an Obtuse
Heart--King Alcohol does his Work--Prentiss and Foote--Love Me,
Love my Dog--A Noble Spirit Overcome--Charity Covereth a Multitude
of Sins

CHAPTER XXVI.
ACADIAN FRENCH SETTLERS.

Sugar _vs._ Cotton--Acadia--A Specimen of Mississippi French Life--
Bayou La Fourche--The Great Flood--Theological Arbitration--A
Rustic Ball--Old-Fashioned Weddings--Creoles and Quadroons--The
Planter--Negro Servants--Gauls and Anglo-Normans--Antagonism of Races

CHAPTER XXVII.
ABOLITION OF LICENSED GAMBLING.

Baton Rouge--Florida Parishes--Dissatisfaction--Where there's a Will,
there's a Way--Storming a Fort on Horseback--Annexation at the Point
of the Poker--Raphignac and Larry Moore--Fighting the "Tiger"--Carrying
a Practical Joke too Far--A Silver Tea-Set

CHAPTER XXVIII.
THREE GREAT JUDGES.

A Speech in Two Languages--Long Sessions--Matthews, Martin, and Porter
--A Singular Will--A Scion of '98--Five Hundred Dollars for a Little
Fun with the Dogs--Cancelling a Note

CHAPTER XXIX.
AMERICANIZING LOUISIANA.

Powers of Louisiana Courts--Governor William C.C. Claiborne--Cruel
O'Reilly--Lefrenier and Noyan Executed--A Dutch Justice--Edward
Livingston--A Caricature of General Jackson--Stephen Mazereau--A
Speech in Three Languages--John R. Grymes--Settling a Ca. Sa.--Batture
Property--A Hundred Thousand Dollar Fee

CHAPTER XXX.
DIVISION OF NEW ORLEANS INTO MUNICIPALITIES.

American Hotel--Introduction of Steamboats--Faubourg St. Mary--Canal
Street--St. Charles Hotel--Samuel J. Peters--James H. Caldwell--Fathers
of the Municipality--Bernard Marigny--An Ass--A.B. Roman

CHAPTER XXXI.
BLOWING UP THE LIONESS.

Doctor Clapp--Views and Opinions--Universal Destiny--Alexander Barrow
--E.D. White--Cross-Breed, Irish Renegade, and Acadian--A Heroic
Woman--The Ginseng Trade--I-I-I'll D-d-die F-f-first

CHAPTER XXXII.
GRADUAL EXTINCTION OF THE RED MAN.

Line Creek Fifty Years Ago--Hopothlayohola--McIntosh--Undying Hatred--A
Big Pow-wow--Massacre of the McIntoshes--Nehemathla--Onchees--The Last
of the Race--A Brave Warrior--A White Man's Friendship--The
Death-Song--Tuskega; or, Jim's Boy

CHAPTER XXXIII.
FUN, FACT, AND FANCY.

Eugenius Nesbitt--Washington Poe--Yelverton P. King--Preparing to
Receive the Court--Walton Tavern, in Lexington--Billy Springer, of
Sparta--Freeman Walker--An Augusta Lawyer--A Georgia Major--Major
Walker's Bed--Uncle Ned--Discharging a Hog on His Own Recognizance
--Morning Admonition and Evening Counsel--A Mother's Request--
Invocation--Conclusion

THE MEMORIES OF FIFTY YEARS.

CHAPTER I.

REVOLUTIONARY TRADITIONS.

MIDDLE GEORGIA--COLONEL DAVID LOVE--HIS WIDOW--GOVERNOR DUNMORE--
COLONEL TARLETON--BILL CUNNINGHAM--COLONEL FANNIN--MY GRANDMOTHER'S
BIBLE--SOLOMON'S MAXIM APPLIED--ROBERTUS LOVE--THE INDIAN WARRIOR--
DRAGON CANOE--A BUXOM LASS--GENERAL GATES--MARION--MASON L. WEEMS--
WASHINGTON--"BILLY CRAFFORD."

My earliest memories are connected with the first settlement of Middle
Georgia, where I was born. My grandparents on the mother's side, were
natives of North Carolina; and, I believe, of Anson county. My
grandfather, Colonel David Love, was an active partisan officer in the
service of the Continental Congress. He died before I was born; but my
grandmother lived until I was seventeen years of age. As her oldest
grandchild, I spent much of my time, in early boyhood, at her home
near the head of Shoulderbone Creek in the county of Green. She was a
little, fussy, Irish woman, a Presbyterian in religion, and a very
strict observer of all the duties imposed upon her sect, especially in
keeping holy the Sabbath day. All her children were grown up, married,
and, in the language of the time, "gone away." She was in truth a lone
woman, busying herself in household and farming affairs. With a few
negroes, and a miserably poor piece of land, she struggled in her
widowhood with fortune, and contrived, with North Carolina frugality
and industry, not only to make a decent living, but to lay up
something for a rainy day, as she phrases it. In her visits to her
fields and garden, I ran by her side and listened to stories of Tory
atrocities and Whig suffering in North Carolina during the Revolution.
The infamous Governor Dunmore, the cruel Colonel Tarleton, and the
murderous and thieving Bill Cunningham and Colonel Fannin, both
Tories, and the latter natives to the soil, were presented graphically
to me in their most hateful forms. In truth, before I had attained my
seventh year, I was familiar with the history of the partisan warfare
waged between Whig and Tory in North and South Carolina, from 1776 to
1782, from this good but garrulous old lady. I am not so certain she
was good: she had a temper of her own, and a will and a way of her
own; and was good-natured only when permitted this way without
opposition, or cross. Perhaps I retain a more vivid memory of these
peculiar traits than of any others characterizing her. She permitted
no contradiction, and exacted implicit obedience, and this was well
understood by everything about her. She was strict and exacting, and
had learned from Solomon that to "spare the rod was to spoil the
child." She read the Bible only; and it was the only book in the
house. This Bible is still in existence; it was brought by my
grandfather from Europe, and is now covered with the skin of a fish
which he harpooned on his return voyage, appropriating the skin to
this purpose in 1750. She had use for no other book, not even for an
almanac, for at any moment she could tell the day of the month, the
phase of the moon and the day General Washington captured Cornwallis;
as also the day on which Washington died. Her reverence for the memory
of my grandfather was idolatry. His cane hung with his hat just where
he had habitually placed them during his latter days. His saddle and
great sea-chest were preserved with equal care, and remained
undisturbed from 1798 to 1817, precisely as he left them. I ventured
to remove the cane upon one occasion; and, with a little negro or two,
was merrily riding it around in the great lumber-room of the house,
where scarcely any one ever went, when she came in and caught me. The
pear-tree sprouts were immediately put into requisition, and the whole
party most mercilessly thrashed. From that day forward the old
buckhorn-headed cane was an awful reminder of my sufferings. She was
careful not to injure the clothing of her victims, and made her
appeals to the unshielded cuticle, and with a heavy hand for a small
woman.

It was an ill-fashioned but powerfully-built house, and remains a
monument to this day of sound timber and faithful work, braving time
and the storm for eighty-two years. It was the first framed house
built in the county, and I am sure, upon the poorest spot of land
within fifty miles of where it stands. Here was born my uncle,
Robertus Love, who was the first white child born in the State west of
the Ogeechee River.

Colonel Love, my grandfather, was eccentric in many of his opinions,
and was a Puritan in religious faith. Oliver Cromwell was his model of
a statesman, and Praise-God Barebones his type of a Christian. While
he was a boy his father married a second time, and, as is very
frequently the case, there was no harmony between the step-mother and
step-son. Their jarrings soon ripened into open war. To avoid
expulsion from the paternal roof he "bundled and went." Nor did he
rest until, in the heart of the Cherokee nation of Indians, he found a
home with Dragon Canoe, then the principal warrior of the nation, who
resided in a valley amid the mountains, and which is now Habersham
County. With this chief, who at the time was young, he remained some
four years, pursuing the chase for pleasure and profit. Thus
accumulating a large quantity of peltries, he carried them on
pack-horses to Charleston, and thence went with them to Europe. After
disposing of his furs, which proved profitable, he wandered on foot
about Europe for some eighteen months, and then, returning to London,
he embarked for America.

During all this time he had not heard from his family. Arriving at
Charleston he made his way back to the neighborhood of his birth. He
was ferried across the Pedee river by a buxom lass, who captured his
heart. Finding his father dead, he gathered up the little patrimony
left him in his father's will, should he ever return to claim it: he
then returned to the neighborhood of his sweetheart of the ferry; and,
being a fine-looking man of six feet three inches, with great blue
eyes, round and liquid; and, Othello-like, telling well the story of
his adventures, he very soon beguiled the maiden's heart, and they
were made one. About this time came off the battles of Concord and
Lexington, inaugurating the Revolution. It was not, however, until
after the declaration of independence, that he threw aside the plough
and shouldered the musket for American independence.

That portion of North Carolina in which he resided had been mainly
peopled by emigrants from Scotland. The war progressing into the
South, found nearly all of these faithful in their allegiance to
Britain. The population of English descent, in the main, espoused the
cause of the colonies. With his neighbors Love was a favorite; he was
very fleet in a foot-race, had remarkable strength; but, above all,
was sagacious and strong of will. Such qualities, always appreciated
by a rude people, at that particular juncture brought their possessor
prominently forward, and he was chosen captain of a company composed
almost to a man of his personal friends and acquaintances. Uniting
himself with the regiment of Colonel Lynch, just then organized, and
which was ordered to join the North Carolina line, they marched at
once to join General Gates, then commanding in the South. Under the
command of this unfortunate general he remained until after the battle
of Camden. Here Gates experienced a most disastrous defeat, and the
whole country was surrendered to the British forces.

South Carolina and North Carolina, especially their southern portions,
were entirely overrun by the enemy, who armed the Tories and turned
them loose to ravage the country. Gates's army was disorganized, and
most of those who composed it from the Carolinas returned to their
homes. Between these and the Scotch Tories, as the Loyalists were
termed, there was a continual partisan strife, each party resorting to
the most cruel murders, burning and destroying the homes and the
property of each other. Partisan bands were organized by each, and
under desperate leaders did desperate deeds. It was then and there
that Marion and Fanning became conspicuous, and were respectively the
terror of Whigs and Tories.

There were numerous others of like character, though less efficient
and less conspicuous. The exploits of such bands are deemed beneath
the dignity of history, and now only live in the memories of those who
received them traditionally from the actors, their associates or
descendants. Those acts constitute mainly the tragic horrors of war,
and evidence the merciless inhumanity of enraged men, unrestrained by
civil or moral law. Injuries he deems wanton prompt the passions of
his nature to revenge, and he hastens to retaliate upon his enemy,
with increased horrors, their savage brutalities.

As the leader of a small band of neighbors who had united for
protection and revenge, Colonel Love became conspicuous for his
courage and cruelty. It was impossible for these, his associates, as
for their Tory neighbors and enemies, to remain at their homes, or
even to visit them, except at night, and then most stealthily. The
country abounds with swamps more or less dense and irreclaimable,
which must always remain a hiding-place for the unfortunate or
desperate. In these the little bands by day were concealed, issuing
forth at night to seek for food or spoils. Their families were often
made the victims of revenge; and instances were numerous where feeble
women and little children were slain in cold blood by neighbors long
and familiarly known to each other, in retaliation of like atrocities
perpetrated by their husbands, sons, or brothers.

It was a favorite pastime with my grandmother, when the morning's work
was done, to uncover her flax-wheel, seat herself, and call me to sit
by her, and, after my childish manner, read to her from the "Life of
General Francis Marion," by Mason L. Weems, the graphic account of the
general's exploits, by the venerable parson. There was not a story in
the book that she did not know, almost as a party concerned, and she
would ply her work of flax-spinning while she gave me close and
intense attention. At times, when the historian was at fault in his
facts--and, to say the truth, that was more frequently the case than
comports with veracious history--she would cease the impelling motion
of her foot upon the pedal of her little wheel, drop her thread, and,
gently arresting the fly of her spool, she would lift her iron-framed
spectacles, and with great gravity say: "Read that again. Ah! it is
not as it happened, your grandfather was in that fight, and I will
tell you how it was." This was so frequently the case, that now, when
more than sixty years have flown, I am at a loss to know, if the
knowledge of most of these facts which tenaciously clings to my
memory, was originally derived from Weems's book, or my grandmother's
narrations. In these forays and conflicts, whenever my grandfather was
a party, her information was derived from him and his associates, and
of course was deemed by her authentic; and whenever these differed
from the historian's narrative, his, of consequence, was untrue.
Finally, Weems, upon one of his book-selling excursions, which simply
meant disposing of his own writings, came through her neighborhood,
and with the gravity of age, left verbally his own biography with Mrs.
McJoy, a neighbor; this made him, as he phrased it, General
Washington's preacher. He was never after assailed as a lying author:
but whenever his narrative was opposed to her memory, she had the
excuse for him, that his informant had deceived him.

To have seen General Washington, even without having held the holy
office of his preacher, sanctified in her estimation any and every
one. She had seen him, and it was the especial glory of her life. Yes,
she had seen him, and remembered minutely his eyes, his hair, his
mouth and his hands--and even his black horse, with a star in his
face, and his one white foot and long, sweeping tail. So often did I
listen to the story, that in after boyhood I came to believe I had
seen him also, though his death occurred twenty days before I was
born. My dear, good mother has often told me that but for an attack of
ague, which kept the venerable lady from our home for a month or more,
I should have been honored with bearing the old hero's name through
life. So intent was she in this particular, that she never liked my
being named after Billy Crafford (for so she pronounced his name) for
whom the partiality of my father caused him to name me. Few remain to
remember the horrors of this partisan warfare. The very traditions are
being obliterated by those of the recent civil war, so rife with
scenes and deeds sufficiently horrible for the appetite of the curious
in crime and cruelty.

CHAPTER II.

PIONEER LIFE.

SETTLEMENT OF MIDDLE GEORGIA--PROWLING INDIANS--SCOUTS AND THEIR
DOGS--CLASSES OF SETTLERS--PROMINENCE OF VIRGINIANS--CAUSES OF
DISTINCTION--CLEARING--LOG-ROLLING--FROLICS--TEACHERS CUMMINGS AND
DUFFY--THE SCHOOLMASTER'S NOSE--FLOGGING--EMIGRATION TO ALABAMA.

The early settlement of Middle Georgia was principally by emigrants
from Virginia and North Carolina. These were a rough, poor, but honest
people, with little or no fortunes, and who were quite as limited in
education as in fortune. Their necessities made them industrious and
frugal. Lands were procured at the expense of surveying; the soil was
virgin and productive; rude cabins, built of poles, constituted not
only their dwellings but every necessary outbuilding. Those who first
ventured beyond the Ogeechee generally selected some spot where a good
spring of water was found, not overlooked by an elevation so close as
to afford an opportunity to the Indians, then very troublesome, to
fire into the little stockade forts erected around these springs for
their security against the secret attacks of the prowling and
merciless Creeks and Cherokees.

Usually several families united in building and living in these forts.
As soon as this protection was completed, the work of clearing away
the surrounding forest was commenced, that the land should afford a
field for cultivation. While thus employed, sentinels were stationed
at such points in the neighborhood as afforded the best opportunity
for descrying the approach of Indians, and the watch was most careful.
When those employed in hunting (for every community had its hunters)
discovered, or thought they had discovered signs of the presence of
the savages, scouts were immediately sent out to discover if they were
lurking anywhere in the neighborhood. This was the most arduous and
perilous duty of the pioneers, and not unfrequently the scout, or spy
as he was usually termed, went to return no more. When seed-time came,
corn, a small patch of cotton and another of flax were planted, and
cultivation continued under the same surveillance.

The dog, always the companion of man, was carefully trained to search
for the prowling Indians; and by daylight every morning the clearing,
as the open lands were universally termed; was passed around by a
cautious scout, always preceded by his dogs, who seemed as conscious
of their duty and as faithful in its discharge as was their master. If
he reported no Indians, the work of cultivation commenced, and the
sentinels repaired to their posts. These were usually changed whenever
the slightest sign of Indians anywhere in the country could be found,
lest their posts might have been found and marked, and ambushed at
night. Yet, despite this prudent caution, many a sentinel perished at
his post. The unerring arrow gave no alarm, and the sentinel slain,
opened an approach for the savages; and not unfrequently parties at
labor were thus surprised and shot in full view of those in the fort.

Occasionally an emigrant brought with him a slave or two: these were
rich, and invariably were the leading men in the communities. Those
from Virginia were more frequently possessed of this species of
property than those from the Carolinas, and, coming from an older
country, had generally enjoyed better opportunities and were more
cultivated. A common necessity harmonized all, and the state of
society was a pure democracy. These communities were usually from
twenty to fifty miles apart, and about them a nucleus was formed,
inviting those who sought the new country for a home to locate in the
immediate vicinity. Security and the enjoyment of social intercourse
were more frequently the incentives for these selections than the
fertility of the soil or other advantages. One peculiarity was
observable, which their descendants, in their emigration to the West,
continue to this day to practise: they usually came due west from
their former homes, and were sure to select, as nearly as possible, a
new one in the same parallel, and with surroundings as nearly like
those they had left as possible. With the North Carolinian, good
spring-water, and pine-knots for his fire, were the _sine qua
non_. These secured, he went to work with the assiduity and
perseverance of a beaver to build his house and open his fields. The
Virginians, less particular, but more ambitious, sought the best lands
for grain and tobacco; consequently they were more diffused, and their
improvements, from their superior wealth, were more imposing.

Wealth in all communities is comparative, and he who has only a few
thousand dollars, where no one else has so much, is the rich man, and
ever assumes the rich man's prerogatives and bearing. All experience
has proved that as a man estimates himself, so in time will the
community esteem him; and he who assumes to lead or dictate will soon
be permitted to do so, and will become the first in prominence and
influence in his neighborhood, county, or State. Greatness commences
humbly and progresses by assumption. The humble ruler of a
neighborhood, like a pebble thrown into a pond, will continue to
increase the circle of his influence until it reaches the limits of
his county. The fathers speak of him, the children hear of him, his
name is a household word; if he but assumes enough, in time he becomes
the great man of the county; and if with impudence he unites a modicum
of talent, well larded with a cunning deceit, it will not be long
before he is Governor or member of Congress. It is not surprising,
then, that in nearly every one of these communities the great man was
a Virginian. It has been assumed by the Virginians that they have
descended from a superior race, and this may be true as regards many
families whose ancestors were of Norman descent; but it is not true of
the mass of her population; and for one descendant from the nobility
and gentry of the mother country, there are thousands of pure
Anglo-Saxon blood. It was certainly true, from the character and
abilities of her public men, in her colonial condition and in the
earlier days of the republic, she had a right to assume a superiority;
but this, I fancy, was more the result of her peculiar institutions
than of any superiority of race or greater purity of blood. I am far,
however, from underrating the influence of blood. That there are
species of the same race superior in mental as well as in physical
formation is certainly true. The peculiar organization of the brain,
its fineness of texture in some, distinguish them as mentally superior
to others, as the greater development of bone and muscle marks the
superiority of physical power. Very frequently this difference is seen
in brothers, and sometimes in families of the same parents--the males
in some usurping all the mental acumen, and in others the females. Why
this is so, I cannot stop to speculate.

Virginia, in her many divisions of territory, was granted to the
younger sons of the nobility and gentry of England. They came with the
peculiar habits of their class, and located upon these grants,
bringing with them as colonists their dependants in England, and
retaining here all the peculiarities of caste. The former were the
governing class at home, and asserted the privilege here; the latter
were content that it should be so. In the formation of the first
constitution for Virginia, the great feature of a landed aristocracy
was fully recognized in the organic law. The suffragist was the landed
proprietor, and in every county where his possessions were this right
attached. They recognized landed property as the basis of government,
and demanded the right for it of choosing the lawmakers and the
executors of the law. All power, and very nearly all of the wealth of
the State, was in the hands of the landlords, and these selected from
their own class or caste the men who were to conduct the government.
To this class, too, were confined most of the education and learning
in the new State; and in choosing for the Legislature or for Congress,
State pride and the love of power prompted the selection of their
brightest and best men.

Oratory was esteemed the first attribute of superior minds, and was
assiduously cultivated. There were few newspapers, and the press had
not attained the controlling power over the public mind as now.
Political information was disseminated chiefly by public speaking, and
every one aspiring to lead in the land was expected to be a fine
speaker. This method, and the manner of voting, forced an open avowal
of political opinion. Each candidate, upon the day of election, took
his seat upon the bench of the judge in the county court-house, and
the suffragist appeared at the bar, demanding to exercise his
privilege in the choice of his representative. This was done by
declaring the names of those he voted for. These peculiar institutions
cultivated open and manly bearing, pride, and independence. There was
little opportunity for the arts of the demagogue; and the elevation of
sentiment in the suffragist made him despise the man, however superior
his talents, who would attempt them. The voter's pride was to sustain
the power of his State in the national councils, to have a great man
for his Governor; they were the representatives of his class, and he
felt his own importance in the greatness of his representative. It is
not to be wondered at, under these circumstances, that Virginia held
for many years the control of the Government, furnishing Presidents of
transcendent abilities to the nation, and filling her councils with
men whose talents and eloquence and proud and independent bearing won
for them, not only the respect of the nation's representatives, but
the power to control the nation's destinies, and to be looked upon as
belonging to a superior race.

There were wanting, however, two great elements in the nation's
institutions, to sustain in its pride and efficiency this peculiar
advantage, to wit, the entailment of estates, and the right of
primogeniture. Those landed estates soon began to be subdivided, and
in proportion as they dwindled into insignificance, so began to perish
the prestige of their proprietors. The institution of African slavery
served for a long time to aid in continuing the aristocratic features
of Virginia society, though it conferred no legal privileges. As
these, and the lands, found their way into many hands, the democratic
element began to aspire and to be felt. The struggle was long and
severe, but finally, in 1829 or 1830, the democratic element
triumphed, and a new constitution was formed, extending universal
suffrage to white men. This degraded the constituent and
representative alike, and all of Virginia's power was soon lost in the
councils of the nation. But the pride of her people did not perish
with her aristocracy; this continued, and permeated her entire people.
They preserved it at home, and carried it wherever they went. Those
whose consideration at home was at zero, became of the first families
abroad, until Virginia pride became a by-word of scorn in the western
and more southern States. Yet despite all this, there is greatness in
the Virginians: there is superiority in her people,--a loftiness of
soul, a generosity of hospitality, a dignified patience under
suffering, which command the respect and admiration of every
appreciative mind.

Very soon after the Revolution, the tide of emigration began to flow
toward Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia. Those from Virginia who
sought new homes went principally to Kentucky, as much because it was
a part of the Old Dominion, as on account of climate and soil. Those
from North Carolina and South Carolina preferred Tennessee, and what
was then known as Upper Georgia, but now as Middle Georgia; yet there
was a sprinkling here and there throughout Georgia from Virginia. Many
of these became leading men in the State, and their descendants still
boast of their origin, and in plenary pride point to such men as
William H. Crawford and Peter Early as shining evidences of the
superiority of Virginia's blood.

Most of these emigrants, however, were poor; but where all were poor,
this was no degradation. The concomitants of poverty in densely
populated communities--where great wealth confers social distinction
and frowns from its association the poor, making poverty humility,
however elevated its virtues--were unknown in these new countries. The
nobler virtues, combined with energy and intellect, alone conferred
distinction; and I doubt if the world, ever furnished a more honest,
virtuous, energetic, or democratic association of men and women than
was, at the period of which I write, to be found constituting the
population of these new States. From whatever cause arising, there
certainly was, in the days of my early memory, more scrupulous truth,
open frankness, and pure, blunt honesty pervading the whole land than
seem to characterize its present population. It was said by Nathaniel
Macon, of North Carolina, that bad roads and fist-fights made the best
militia on earth; and these may have been, in some degree, the means
of moulding into fearless honesty the character of these people. They
encountered all the hardships of opening and subduing the country,
creating highways, bridges, churches, and towns with their public
buildings. These they met cheerfully, and working with a will,
triumphed. After months of labor, a few acres were cleared and the
trees cut into convenient lengths for handling, and then the neighbors
were invited to assist in what was called a log-rolling. This aid was
cheerfully given, and an offer to pay for it would have been an
insult. It was returned in kind, however, when a neighbor's
necessities required. These log-rollings were generally accompanied
with a quilting, which brought together the youth of the neighborhood;
and the winding up of the day's work was a frolic, as the dance and
other amusements of the time were termed. Upon occasions like this,
feats of strength and activity universally constituted a part of the
programme. The youth who could pull down his man at the end of the
hand-stick, throw him in a wrestle, or outstrip him in a footrace, was
honored as the best man in the settlement, and was always greeted with
a cheer from the older men, a slap on the shoulder by the old ladies,
and the shy but approving smiles of the girls,--had his choice of
partners in the dance, and in triumph rode home on horseback with his
belle, the horse's consciousness of bearing away the championship
manifesting itself in an erect head and stately step.

The apparel of male and female was of home-spun, woven by the mothers
and sisters, and was fashioned, I was about to say, by the same fair
hands; but these were almost universally embrowned with exposure and
hardened by toil. Education was exceedingly limited: the settlements
were sparse, and school-houses were at long intervals, and in these
the mere rudiments of an English education were taught--spelling,
reading, and writing, with the four elementary rules of arithmetic;
and it was a great advance to grapple with the grammar of the
language. As population and prosperity increased, their almost
illiterate teachers gave place to a better class; and many of my
Georgia readers will remember as among these the old Irish preachers,
Cummings, and that remarkable brute, Daniel Duffee. He was an Irishman
of the Pat Freney stripe, and I fancy there are many, with gray heads
and wrinkled fronts, who can look upon the cicatrices resulting from
his merciless blows, and remember that Milesian malignity of face,
with its toad-like nose, with the same vividness with which it
presents itself to me to-day. Yes, I remember it, and have cause. When
scarcely ten years of age, in his little log school-house, the
aforesaid resemblance forced itself upon me with such _vim_ that
involuntarily I laughed. For this outbreak against the tyrant's rules
I was called to his frowning presence.

"What are you laughing at, you whelp?" was the rude inquiry.

Tremblingly I replied: "You will whip me if I tell you."

"And you little devil, I will whip you if you don't," was his
rejoinder, as he reached for his well-trimmed hickory, one of many
conspicuously displayed upon his table. With truthful sincerity I
answered:

"Father Duffy, I was laughing to think how much your nose is like a
frog."

It was just after play-time, and I was compelled to stand by him and
at intervals of ten minutes receive a dozen lashes, laid on with
brawny Irish strength, until discharged with the school at night.
To-day I bear the marks of that whipping upon my shoulders and in my
heart. But Duffy was not alone in the strictness and severity of his
rules and his punishments. Children were taught to believe that there
could be no discipline in a school of boys and girls without the
savage brutality of the lash, and the teacher who met his pupils with
a caressing smile was considered unworthy his vocation. Learning must
be thrashed into the tender mind; nothing was such a stimulus to the
young memory as the lash and the vulgar, abusive reproof of the gentle
and meritorious teacher.

There was great eccentricity of character in all the conduct and
language of Duffy. He had his own method of prayer, and his own
peculiar style of preaching, frequently calling out the names of
persons in his audience whom it was his privilege to consider the
chiefest of sinners, and to implore mercy for them in language
offensive almost to decency. Sometimes, in the presence of persons
inimical to each other, he would ask the Lord to convert the sinners
and make the fools friends, first telling the Lord who they were by
name, to the no small amusement of his most Christian audience; many
of whom would in deep devotion respond with a sonorous "Amen."

From such a population sprang the present inhabitants of Georgia; and
by such men were they taught, in their budding boyhood, the rudiments
of an English education;--such, I mean, of the inhabitants who still
live and remember Duffy, Cummings, and McLean. They are few, but the
children of the departed remember traditionally these and their like,
in the schoolmasters of Georgia from 1790 to 1815.

At the close of the war of 1812-15, a new impetus was given to
everything throughout the South, and especially to education. The
ambition for wealth seized upon her people, the high price of cotton
favored its accumulation, and with it came new and more extravagant
wants, new and more luxurious habits. The plain homespun jean coat
gave way to the broad-cloth one; and the neat, Turkey-red striped
Sunday frock of the belle yielded to the gaudy red calico one, and
there was a sniff of aristocratic contempt in the upturned nose
towards those who, from choice or necessity, continued in the old
habits.

Material wealth augmented rapidly, and with it came all of its
assumptions. The rich lands of Alabama were open to settlement. The
formidable Indian had been humbled, and many of the wealthiest
cultivators of the soil were commencing to emigrate to a newer and
more fertile country, where smiling Fortune beckoned them.

The first to lead off in this exodus was the Bibb family, long
distinguished for wealth and influence in the State. The Watkinses,
the Sheroos, and Dearings followed: some to north, some to south
Alabama. W.W. Bibb was appointed, by Mr. Madison, Territorial Governor
of Alabama, and was followed to the new El Dorado by his brothers,
Thomas, John Dandridge, and Benajah, all men of substance and
character.

For a time this rage for a new country seemed to threaten Georgia and
South Carolina with the loss of their best population. This probably
would have been the result of the new acquisition, but, in its midst,
the territory between the Ocmulgee and Chattahoochee was ceded by the
Indians, and afforded a new field for settlement, which effectually
arrested this emigration at its flood. The new territory added to the
dominion of Georgia was acquired mainly through the energy and
pertinacity of George M. Troup, at the time Governor of Georgia.

I have much to record of my memories concerning this new acquisition,
but must reserve them for a new chapter.

CHAPTER III.

THE GEORGIA COMPANY.

YAZOO PURCHASE--GOVERNOR MATHEWS--JAMES JACKSON--BURNING OF THE YAZOO
ACT--DEVELOPMENT OF FREE GOVERNMENT--CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION--SLAVERY:
ITS INTRODUCTION AND EFFECTS.

The grant by the British Government of the territory of Georgia to
General Oglethorpe and company, comprised what now constitutes the
entire States of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, except that
portion of Alabama and Mississippi lying below the thirty-first degree
of north latitude, which portions of those States were originally part
of West Florida.

The French settlements extended up the Mississippi, embracing both
sides of that river above the mouth of Red River, which discharges
into the former in the thirty-first degree of north latitude. The
river from the mouth of the Bayou Manshac, which left the river
fourteen miles below Baton Rouge, on the east side, up to the
thirty-first degree of north latitude, was the boundary line between
West Florida and Louisiana. Above this point the French claimed
jurisdiction on both sides; but Georgia disputed this jurisdiction
over the east bank, and claimed to own from the thirty-first to the
thirty-sixth degree of latitude. There were many settlements made by
Americans upon this territory at a very early day,--one at Natchez,
one at Fort Adams, and several on the Tombigbee, the St. Stephens, at
McIntosh's Bluff, and on Bassett's Creek. These settlements formed the
nucleus of an American population in the States of Mississippi and
Alabama. The lands bordering upon these rivers and their tributaries
were known to be exceedingly fertile, and proffered inducements to
settlers unequalled in all the South. Speculation was very soon
directed to these regions. A company was formed of citizens of Georgia
and Virginia for the purchase of an immense tract of territory,
including most of what is now Mississippi and Alabama. This company
was known as the Georgia Company, and the territory as the Yazoo
Purchase. It was a joint-stock company, and managed by trustees or
directors. The object was speculation. It was intended to purchase
from Georgia this domain, then to survey it and subdivide it into
tracts to suit purchasers. Parties were delegated to make this
purchase: this could only be done by the Legislature and by special
act passed for that purpose. The proposition was made, and met with
formidable opposition. The scheme was a gigantic one and promised
great results, and the parties concerned were bold and unscrupulous.
They very soon ascertained that means other than honorable to either
party must be resorted to to secure success. The members to be
operated upon were selected, and the company's agents began the work.
Enough was made, by donations of stock and the direct payment of money
by those interested in the scheme, to effect the passage of the Act
and secure the contract of purchase and sale. The opposition denied
the power of the Legislature to sell; asserting that the territory was
sacred to the people of the State, and that those, in selecting their
representatives, had never contemplated delegating any such powers as
would enable them to dispose by sale of any part of the public domain;
that it was the province of the Legislature, under the Constitution,
to pass laws for the general good alone, and not to barter or sell any
portion of the territory of the State to be separated from the domain
and authority of the State. They insisted that the matter should be
referred to the people, who at the next election of members to the
Legislature should declare their will and intention as to this sale.

On the other side they were met with the argument, that the
Legislature was sovereign and the supreme power of the State, and
might rightfully do anything, not forbidden in the Constitution,
pertaining to sovereignty, which they in their wisdom might deem
essential to the general welfare; that the territory included in the
grant to Oglethorpe and company was entirely too extended, and that by
a sale a new State or States would be formed, which would increase the
political power of the South--especially in the United States Senate,
where she greatly needed representation to counterbalance the
influence of the small States of the North in that body. These
arguments were specious, but it was well understood they were only
meant to justify a vote for the measure which corruption had secured.

The Act was passed by a bare majority of both branches of the
Legislature, and the sale consummated. Before the passage of this
measure, the will of the people had been sufficiently expressed in the
indignant outburst of public feeling, as to leave no doubt upon the
minds of the corrupt representatives that they had not only forfeited
the public confidence, but had actually imperilled their personal
safety. Upon the return to their homes, after the adjournment, they
were not only met with universal scorn, but with inappeasable rage.
Some of the most guilty were slain; some had their houses burned over
their heads, and others fled the State; one was pursued and killed in
Virginia, and all not only entailed upon themselves infamy, but also
upon their innocent posterity; and to-day, to be known as the
descendant of a Yazoo man is a badge of disgrace. The deed, however,
was done: how to undo it became an agitating question. The Legislature
next ensuing was elected pledged to repeal the odious Act; and upon
its convening, all made haste to manifest an ardent zeal in this work.

At the time of the passage of this Act, the Legislature sat in
Augusta, and the Governor who by the Act was empowered to make the
sale was George Mathews. Mathews was an Irishman by birth, and was
very illiterate, but a man of strong passions and indomitable will.
During the war of the Revolution he had, as a partisan officer, gained
some distinction, and in the upper counties exercised considerable
influence. Many anecdotes are related of his intrepidity and daring,
and quite as many of his extraordinary orthography. At the battle of
Eutaw Springs, in South Carolina, he was severely wounded, at the
moment when the Continental forces were retiring to a better position.
A British soldier, noticing some vestiges of a uniform upon him,
lifted his musket to stab him with the bayonet; his commander caught
the weapon, and angrily demanded, "Would you murder a wounded officer?
Forward, sir!" Mathews, turning upon his back, asked, "To whom do I
owe my life?" "If you consider it an obligation, sir, to me," answered
the lieutenant. Mathews saw the uniform was British, and furiously
replied, "Well, sir, I want you to know that I scorn a life saved by a
d----d Briton." The writer had the anecdote from a distinguished
citizen of Georgia, who was himself lying near by, severely wounded,
and who in one of his sons has given to Georgia a Governor.

General Wade Hampton, George Walker, William Longstreet, Zachariah
Cox, and Matthew McAllister were the parties most active in procuring
the passage of the Yazoo Act. That bribery was extensively practised,
there is no doubt, and the suspicion that it even extended to the
Executive gained credence as a fact, and was the cause of preventing
his name ever being given to a county in the State: and it is a
significant fact of this suspicion, and also of the great unpopularity
of the Act, that to this day every effort to that end has failed. No
act of Governor Mathews ever justified any such suspicion. As Governor
of the State, and believing the sovereign power of the State was in
the Legislature, and consequently the power to dispose of the public
domain, he only approved the Act as the State's Executive, and
fulfilled the duties assigned to him by the law. But suspicion
fastened upon him, and its effects remain to this day.

The pertinacious discussions between the parties purchasing and those
opposed to the State's selling and her authority to sell, created
immense excitement, and pervaded the entire State. The decision of the
Supreme Court of the United States was invoked in the case of Fletcher
_versus_ Peck, which settled the question of the power of the
State to sell the public domain, and the validity of the sale made by
the State to the Georgia Company. In the meantime the Legislature of
Georgia had repealed the law authorizing the Governor to sell. This
decision of the Supreme Court brought about an amicable adjustment of
the difficulties between the Company and the State, with the
Government of the United States as a third party.

The excitement was not so much on account of the sale, though this was
bitter, as of the corruption which procured it. The test of public
confidence and social respect was opposition to the Yazoo fraud. Every
candidate at the ensuing election for members of the Legislature was
compelled to declare his position on the subject of repealing this
Act, and, almost to a man, every one who believed in the power of the
State to sell, and that rights had vested in the purchasers and their
assigns, was defeated.

James Jackson, a young, ardent, and talented man, who had in very
early life, by his abilities and high character, so won the public
confidence that he had been elected Governor of the State, when he was
ineligible because of his youth, was at this time a member of
Congress. He made a tour through the State, preaching a crusade
against the corrupt Legislature, and denouncing those who had produced
and profited by this corruption, inflaming the public mind almost to
frenzy. He resided in Savannah, and was at the head of the Republican
or Jeffersonian party, which was just then being organized in
opposition to the administration of John Adams, the successor of
Washington. His parents had emigrated from England, and fixed their
home in Savannah, where young Jackson was born, and where, from the
noble qualities of his nature, he had become immensely popular.

Talent and virtuous merit at that period was the passport to public
confidence. Had it continued to be, we should never have known the
present deplorable condition of the country, with the Government
sinking into ruin ere it has reached the ten o'clock of national life.

His Shibboleth was, that the disgrace of the State must be wiped out
by the repeal of the Yazoo Act; and _repeal_ rang from every
mouth, from Savannah to the mountains. Jackson resigned his seat in
Congress, and was elected a member of the Legislature. Immediately
upon the assembling of this body, a bill was introduced repealing the
odious Act, and ordering the records containing it to be burned. This
was carried out to the letter. Jackson, heading the Legislature and
the indignant public, proceeded in procession to the public square in
Louisville, Jefferson County, where the law and the fagots were piled;
when, addressing the assembled multitude, he denounced the men who had
voted for the law as bribed villains--those who had bribed them, and
the Governor who had signed it; and declared that fire from heaven
only could sanctify the indignation of God and man in consuming the
condemned record of accursed crime. Then, with a Promethean or convex
glass condensing the sun's rays, he kindled the flame which consumed
the records containing the hated Yazoo Act.

Jackson was a man of ordinary height, slender, very erect in his
carriage, with red hair and intensely blue eyes. His manners were
courteous, affable, and remarkable for a natural dignity which added
greatly to his influence with the people. He was the model from which
was grown that chivalry and nobility of soul and high bearing so
characteristic of the people of Southern Georgia. In truth, the
essence of his character seemed subtilly to pervade the entire circle
in which he moved, inspiring a purity of character, a loftiness of
honor, which rebuked with its presence alone everything that was low,
little, or dishonest. Subsequently he was elected Governor of the
State, bringing all the qualities of his nature into the
administration of the office; he gave it a dignity and respectability
never subsequently degraded, until an unworthy son of South Carolina,
the pus and corruption of unscrupulous party, was foisted into the
position. Strength of will, a ripe judgment, and purity of intention,
were the great characteristics distinguishing him in public life, and
these have endeared his name to the people of Georgia, where now
remain many of his descendants, some of whom have filled high
positions in the State and United States, and not one has ever soiled
the honor or tarnished the name with an act unworthy a gentleman.

The Revolutionary struggle called out all the nobler qualities nature
has bestowed on man, in those who conceived the desire and executed
the determination to be free. The heroic was most prominent: woman
seemed to forget her feebleness and timidity, and boldly to dare, and
with increased fortitude to bear every danger, every misfortune, with
a heroism scarcely compatible with the delicacy of her nature. To
this, or some other inexplicable cause, nature seemed to resort in
preparation for coming events. In every State there came up men, born
during the war or immediately thereafter, of giant minds--men
seemingly destined to form and give direction to a new Government
suited to the genius of the people and to the physical peculiarities
of the country where it was to control the destinies of hundreds of
millions of human beings yet unborn, and where the soil was virgin and
unturned, which nature had prepared for their coming. This required a
new order of men. These millions were to be free in the fullest sense
of the word; they were only to be controlled by laws; and the making
of these laws was to be their own work, and nature was responding to
the exigencies of man.

The early probation of independent government taught the necessity of
national concentration as to the great features of government, at the
same time demonstrating the importance of keeping the minor powers of
government confined to the authority of the States. In the assembling
of a convention for this purpose, which grew out of the free action of
the people of each State, uninfluenced by law or precedent, we see
congregated a body of men combining more talent, more wisdom, and more
individuality of character than perhaps was ever aggregated in any
other public body ever assembled. From this convention of sages
emanated the Constitution of the United States; and most of those
constituting this body reassembled in the first Congress, which sat as
the supreme power in the United States. It was these men and their
coadjutors who inaugurated and gave direction to the new Government.
Under its operations, the human mind and human soul seemed to expand
and to compass a grasp it had scarcely known before. There were
universal content and universal harmony. The laws were everywhere
respected, and everywhere enforced. The freedom of thought, and the
liberty of action unrestrained, stimulated an ambition in every man to
discharge his duties faithfully to the Government, and honestly in all
social relations. There was universal security to person and property,
because every law-breaker was deemed a public enemy, and not only
received the law's condemnation, but the public scorn. Under such a
Government the rapid accumulation of wealth and population was a
natural consequence. The history of the world furnishes no example
comparable with the progress of the United States to national
greatness. The civilized world appeared to feel the influence of her
example and to start anew in the rivalry of greatness. Her soil's
surplus products created the means of a widely extended commerce, and
Americans can proudly refer to the eighty years of her existence as a
period showing greater progress in wealth, refinement, the arts and
sciences, and human liberty, than was ever experienced in any two
centuries of time within the historical period of man's existence. My
theme expands, and I am departing from the purposes of this work; yet
I cannot forbear the expression of opinion as to the causes of this
result. I know I shall incur the deepest censure from the professors
of a mawkish philanthropy, and a hypocritical religion which is
cursing with its cant the very sources of this unparalleled progress,
this unexampled prosperity.

Slavery was introduced into the Colonies by English merchants about
two centuries since: this was to supply a necessity--labor--for the
purpose of developing the resources of this immense and fertile
country. The African was designed by the Creator to subserve this
purpose. His centre of creation was within the tropics, and his
physical organization fitted him, and him alone, for field labor in
the tropical and semi-tropical regions of the earth. He endures the
sun's heat without pain or exhaustion in this labor, and yet he has
not nor can he acquire the capacity to direct profitably this labor.
It was then the design of the Creator that this labor should be
controlled and directed by a superior intelligence. In the absence of
mental capacity, we find him possessed of equal physical powers with
any other race, with an amiability of temper which submits without
resistance to this control. We find him, too, without moral, social,
or political aspirations, contented and happy in the condition of
servility to this superior intelligence, and rising in the scale of
humanity to a condition which under any other circumstances his race
had never attained. I may be answered that this labor can be had from
the black as a freeman as well as in the condition of a slave. To this
I will simply say, experience has proved this to be an error. Such is
the indolence and unambitious character of the negro that he will not
labor, unless compelled by the apprehension of immediate punishment,
to anything approaching his capacity for labor. His wants are few,
they are easily supplied, and when they are, there is no temptation
which will induce him to work. He cares nothing for social position,
and will steal to supply his necessities, and feel no abasement in the
legal punishment which follows his conviction; nor is his social
status among his race damaged thereby. As a slave to the white man, he
becomes and has proved an eminently useful being to his kind--in every
other condition, equally conspicuous as a useless one. The fertility
of the soil and the productions of the tropical regions of the earth
demonstrate to the thinking mind that these were to be cultivated and
made to produce for the uses and prosperity of the human family. The
great staples of human necessity and human luxury are produced here in
the greatest abundance, and the great majority of these nowhere else.
The white man, from his physical organization, cannot perform in these
regions the labor necessary to their production. His centre of
creation is in the temperate zones, and only there can he profitably
labor in the earth's cultivation. But his mental endowments enable him
to appropriate all which nature has supplied for the necessities of
life and the progress of his race. He sees and comprehends in nature
the designs of her Creator: these designs he develops, and the
consequence is a constant and enlightened progress of his race, and
the subjection of the physical world to this end.

He finds the soil, the climate, the production, and the labor united,
and he applies his intelligence to develop the design of this
combination; and the consequence has been the wonderful progress of
the last two centuries. I hold it as a great truth that nature points
to her uses and ends; that to observe these and follow them is to
promote the greatest happiness to the human family; and that wherever
these aims are diverted or misdirected, retrogression and human misery
are the consequence. In all matters, experience is a better test than
speculation; and to surrender a great practical utility to a mere
theory is great folly. But it has been done, and we abide the
consequences.

In all nations, a spurious, pretentious religion has been the
_avant-coureur_ of their destruction. In their inception and early
progress this curse exercises but slight influence, and their growth
is consequently healthy and vigorous. All nations have concealed this
cancerous ulcer, sooner or later to develop for their destruction.
These wear out with those they destroy, and a new or reformed religion
is almost always accompanied with new and vigorous developments in
a new and progressive Government. The shackles which have paralyzed
the mind, forbidding its development, are broken; the unnatural
superstition ceases to circumscribe and influence its operations; and
thus emancipated, it recovers its elasticity and springs forward
toward the perfection of the Creator. Rescued from these baleful
influences, the new organization is vigorous and rapid in its growth,
yielding the beneficent blessings natural to the healthful and
unabused energies of the mind. But with maturity and age the webs of
superstition begin to fasten on the mind; priests become prominent,
and as is their wont, the moment they shackle the mind, they reach out
for power, and the chained disciple of their superstition willingly
yields, under the vain delusion that he shares and participates in
this power as a holy office for the propagation of his creed--and
retrogression commences.

The effects of African slavery in the United States, upon the
condition of both races, was eminently beneficial to both. In no
condition, and under no other circumstances, had the African made such
advances toward civilization: indeed, I doubt if he has not attained
in this particular to the highest point susceptible to his nature. He
has increased more rapidly, and his aspirations have become more
elevated, and his happiness more augmented. With his labor directed by
the intelligence of the white race, the prosperity of the world has
increased in a ratio superior to any antecedent period. The production
of those staples which form the principal bases of commerce has
increased in a quadruple ratio. Cotton alone increased so rapidly as
to render its price so far below every other article which can be
fashioned into cloth, that the clothing and sheeting of the civilized
world was principally fabricated from it. The rapidity of its
increased production was only equalled by the increase of wealth and
comfort throughout the world. It regulates the exchanges almost
universally. It gave, in its growth, transportation, and manufacture,
employment to millions, feeding and clothing half of Europe--increasing
beyond example commercial tonnage, and stimulating the invention of
labor-saving machinery--giving a healthy impulse to labor and enterprise
in every avocation, and intertwining itself with every interest,
throughout the broad expanse of civilization over the earth. To cotton,
more than to any other one thing, is due the railroad, steamboat, and
steamship, the increase of commerce, the rapid accumulation of
fortunes, and consequently the diffusion of intelligence, learning, and
civilization.

Sugar, too, from the same cause, ceased to be a luxury, and became a
necessity in the economy of living: coffee, too, became a stimulating
beverage at every meal, instead of a luxury only to be indulged on
rare occasions. How much the increased production of these three
articles added to the commerce and wealth of the world during the last
two centuries, and especially the last, is beyond computation. How
much of human comfort and human happiness is now dependent upon their
continued production, and in such abundance as to make them accessible
to the means of all, may well employ the earnest attention of those
who feel for the interest and happiness of their kind most. If these
results have followed the institution of African slavery, can it be
inhuman and sinful? Is it not rather an evidence that the Creator so
designed?

But this is not all this institution has effected. Besides its
pecuniary results, it has inspired in the superior race a nobility of
feeling, resulting from a habit of command and a sense of
independence, which is peculiar to privileged orders of men in
civilized society. This feeling is manifested in high bearing and
sensitive honor, a refinement of sentiment and chivalrous emprise
unknown to communities without caste. This is to be seen in the
absence of everything little or mean. A noble hospitality, a scorn of
bargaining, and a lofty yet eminently deferential deportment toward
females: in this mould it has cast Southern society, and these traits
made the Southern gentleman remarkable, wherever his presence was
found.

These were the men who led in the formation of the Government of the
United States, and who gave tone and character to her legislative
assembly, so long as they held control of the Government. A peer among
these was James Jackson, and many of his confederates, of whom I shall
have occasion to speak in the progress of this work.

CHAPTER IV.

POLITICAL DISPUTATIONS.

BALDWIN--A YANKEE'S POLITICAL STABILITY--THE YAZOO QUESTION--PARTY
FEUDS AND FIGHTS--DEAF AND DUMB MINISTERS--CLAY--JACKSON--BUCHANAN--
CALHOUN--COTTON AND FREE-TRADE--THE CLAY AND RANDOLPH DUEL.

Among the early immigrants into Georgia were Abraham Baldwin and
William H. Crawford. Baldwin was from Connecticut, Crawford from
Virginia. Baldwin was a man of liberal education, and was destined for
the ministry; indeed, he had taken orders, and was an officiating
clergyman for some time in his native state. His family was English,
and has given many distinguished men to the nation. After he arrived
in Georgia, where he came to engage in his vocation, he very soon
ascertained his profession was not one which in a new country promised
much profit or distinction; and possessing in an eminent degree that
Yankee "_cuteness_" which is quick to discover what is to the interest
of its possessor, he abandoned the pulpit for the forum, and after a
brief probation in a law office at nights and a school-house by day,
he opened an office, and commenced the practice of law in Augusta. He
had been educated a Federalist in politics, and had not concealed his
sentiments in his new home.

Mr. Jefferson and his political principles were extremely popular in
Georgia, and though there were some distinguished Federalists in
Augusta who were leaders in her society, their number in the State was
too insignificant to hold out any prospect of preferment to a young,
talented, and ambitious aspirant for political distinction. Baldwin
was not slow to discover this, and, with the facile nature of his
race, abandoned his political creed, as he had his professional
pursuits. He saw Crawford was rising into public notice, and he knew
his ability, and with characteristic impudence he thrust himself
forward, and very soon was made a member of Congress. Here he was true
to his last love, and became a leading member of the Republican party.
By his conduct in this matter he made himself odious to his New
England friends, who were unsparing of their abuse because of his
treachery.

For this he cared very little; but bore well in mind that "the blood
of the martyrs was the seed of the church," and that the hate of the
Federalists was the passport to Republican favor. His zeal was that of
the new convert, and it won for him the confidence of his party, and
rapid preferment in the line of distinction. He was a man of decided
abilities, and seemed destined to high distinction; but dying early, a
member of the United States Senate, his hopes and aspirations here
terminated. The State has honored and perpetuated his name by giving
it to the county wherein is situated her seat of government.

Crawford, like Baldwin, taught, and studied law at the same time. He
was usher in a school taught by his life-long friend, Judge Yates.
When admitted to practise law, he located in the little village of
Lexington, in the County of Oglethorpe, and very soon was not only the
leading lawyer, but the leading man of all the up-country of Georgia.

Eminence is always envied: this was conspicuously the fortune of
Crawford. The population of the State was increasing rapidly, and
young aspirants for fame and fortune were crowding to where these were
promised most speedily.

The Yazoo question had created deep animosities. General Elijah
Clarke, and his son John, subsequently governor of the State, were
charged with complicity in this great fraud. The father had
distinguished himself in repelling the Indians in their various forays
upon the frontiers, and was a representative man. With strong will and
distinguished courage, he, without much talent, was conspicuous among
a people who were, like himself, rude, unlettered, but daring, and
abounding in strong common-sense.

There was a young man at the same time, a devoted friend of young
Clarke, and follower of his father: he was an emigrant from one of the
Middle States. Violent in his character, and incautious in the use of
language, he very soon became offensive to his opponents, and sought
every opportunity to increase the bad feeling with which he was
regarded. Siding with the Yazoo Company, he soon made himself odious
to their enemies. The parties of Republicans and Federalists were
bitter toward each other, and feuds were leading to fights, and some
of these of most deadly character. The conflicts with the Indians had
kept alive the warlike spirit which the partisan warfare of the
Revolution had cultivated at the South, and no virtue was so
especially regarded by these people as that of personal courage. The
consequence was that no man, whatever his deportment or
qualifications, could long fill the public eye without distinguishing
himself for the possession of personal bravery.

The Clarkes were the undisputed leaders of public opinion in the
up-country, until Crawford came, and, by his great abilities and
remarkable frankness of manner, won away to his support, and to the
support of his opinions, a large majority of the people. This was not
to be borne; and young Van Allen was willingly thrust forward to test
the courage of Crawford. Duelling was the honorable method of settling
all difficulties between gentlemen, and Crawford was to be forced into
a duel. If he refused to fight, he was ruined. This, however, he did
not do; and Van Allen was slain in the affair.

This but whetted the rage of the Clarkes, and John Clarke was not long
in finding an excuse to call to the field his hated foe. In this duel
Crawford was shot through the left wrist, which partially disabled
that arm for life. But this did not heal the animosity; its rancor
became contagious, and involved the people of the State almost to a
man; nor did it end until both Clarke and Crawford were in the grave.

The history and consequences of this feud, and the two factions which
grew out of it, would be the history of Georgia for more than forty
years. Each had an army of followers; and all the talent of the State
was divided between and leading these factions. There were many young
men of decided talent rising into distinction in the professions, who
were of necessity absorbed by these factions, and whose whole
subsequent career was tainted with the ignoble prejudices arising out
of this association. Among the most prominent and talented of these
was John Forsyth, Peter Early, George M. Troup, the man _sans peur,
sans reproche_, Thomas W. Cobb, Stephen Upson, Duncan G. Campbell, the
brother-in-law of Clarke, and personally and politically his friend,
and who, from the purity of his character and elevated bearing, was
respected, trusted, and beloved by all who knew him; Freeman Walker,
John M. Dooly, Augustus Clayton, Stephen W. Harris, and Eli S.
Sherter, perhaps mentally equal to any son of Georgia.

With the exception of Upson and Troup, these were all natives of the
State. Upson was from Connecticut, and was the son of a button-maker
at Watertown, in that State. He was a thorough Yankee in all the
qualities of perseverance, making and saving money. He was a pure man,
stern and talented; and as a lawyer, was scarcely equalled in the
State. He and Cobb were students, and _protégés_ of Crawford, and both
signalized their whole lives by a devotion, amounting almost to
fanaticism, to Mr. Crawford and his fortunes.

George Michael Troup was born at McIntosh's Bluff, on the Tombigbee
River, in the State of Alabama. His father was an Englishman, who,
during the Revolution, removed to the place since called McIntosh's
Bluff. Mr. Crawford soon became prominent as a politician, and
adopting the party and principles of Jefferson, was transferred in
early life to the councils of the nation. In the United States Senate
he was the compeer of Felix Grundy, John C. Calhoun, Harrison Gray
Otis, Rufus King, Daniel D. Tompkins, William B. Giles, Henry Clay,
and many others of less distinction; and was the especial friend of
those remarkable men, Nathaniel Macon and John Randolph.

At this period, there was an array of talent in Congress never
equalled before or since. The aggressions of English cruisers upon our
commerce, and the impressing of our seamen into the English service,
had aroused the whole nation, and especially the South; and the fiery
talent of this section was called by the people, breathing war, into
the national councils.

Crawford was in the Senate from Georgia, and was a war-man. John
Forsyth, John C. Calhoun, David R. Williams, George M. Troup, John
Randolph, Philip Doddridge, James Barbour, Henry Clay, and William
Lomax from South Carolina, were all comparatively young men.

Lowndes, Calhoun, Clay, and Troup were little more than thirty years
of age, and yet they became prominent leaders of their party,
exercising a controlling influence over the public mind, and shaping
the policy of the Government. Crawford was the Mentor of this ardent
band of lofty spirits--stimulating and checking, as occasion might
require, the energies and actions of his young compeers. So
conspicuous was he for talent, wisdom, and statesmanship, that he was
proposed by the Republican party as a proper person to succeed Mr.
Madison; and nothing prevented his receiving the nomination of that
party but his refusal to oppose Mr. Monroe. His magnanimity was his
misfortune. Had he been nominated, he would have been elected without
opposition. The golden opportunity returned no more. He had succeeded
Chancellor Livingston as minister to France, and of these two, Napoleon
said "the United States had sent him two plenipotentiaries--the first
was deaf, the latter dumb." Livingston was quite deaf, and Crawford
could not speak French. At the court of Versailles, he served
faithfully and efficiently the interests of his country, and returned
with increased popularity. He filled, under Mr. Monroe, the office of
Secretary of War for a short time, and then was transferred to the
Secretaryship of the Treasury.

In the Cabinet of Mr. Monroe there were three aspirants for the
Presidency: Adams, Crawford, and Calhoun. Between Crawford and Calhoun
a feud arose, which was mainly the cause of Mr. Calhoun's name being
withdrawn as a candidate, and the substitution of that of General
Jackson. Crawford was one of the three highest returned to the House,
and from whom a choice was to be made.

Some twelve months anterior to the election he was stricken with
paralysis; and both body and mind so much affected that his friends
felt that it would be improper to elect him. Nevertheless he continued
a candidate until Mr. Adams was chosen.

Mr. Clay had been voted for as a fourth candidate, but not receiving
electoral votes enough, failed to be returned to the House. Being at
the time a member of the House of Representatives, it was supposed he
held the control of the Western vote; and consequently the power to
elect whom he pleased. Mr. Clay was a great admirer of Mr. Crawford,
though their intimacy had been somewhat interrupted by a personal
difficulty between Mr. Randolph and Mr. Clay. Mr. Randolph being an
especial friend and constant visitor at Mr. Crawford's, it would have
been unpleasant to both parties to meet at his house.

Only a few years anterior to Mr. Clay's death, and when he was
visiting New Orleans, the writer had frequent interviews with him, and
learned that he preferred Mr. Crawford to either Adams or Jackson; and
was only prevented voting for him by the prostration and hopeless
condition of his health.

The political friends of Mr. Clay from the West knew of this
preference, and would have acted with him, only upon condition that
Mr. Crawford should make him a member of his Cabinet. This was
communicated to Mr. Clay, who assigned his reasons for declining to
vote for Mr. Crawford, and avowed his intention of giving his vote for
Mr. Adams. Upon this announcement, it was urged upon Mr. Clay that Mr.
Adams was uncommitted upon the policy which he had inaugurated as the
American System; that he stood pledged to the country for its success;
and that, without some pledge from Mr. Adams upon this point, he would
be hazarding too much to give him his support--for this would
certainly make him President. Mr. Clay's reply was:

"I shall, as a matter of necessity, give my vote for Mr. Adams: Mr.
Crawford's health puts him out of the question, and we are compelled
to choose between Adams and Jackson. My opinion with regard to General
Jackson is before the nation, it remains unaltered. I can never give a
vote for any man for so responsible a position whose only claim is
military fame. Jackson's violent temper and unscrupulous character,
independent of his want of experience in statesmanship, would prevent
my voting for him. I shall exact no pledge from Mr. Adams, but shall
vote for him, and hold myself at liberty to support or oppose his
administration, as it shall meet my approval or disapproval."

Mr. Adams was elected; and the friends of Mr. Clay insisted that he
should accept the position of Secretary of State in the new Cabinet,
which was tendered him by Mr. Adams. Mr. Clay thought it indelicate to
do so. Whether true or not, the nation awarded to him the making of
Mr. Adams President.

General Jackson had received a larger vote in the electoral colleges
than Adams, and his friends urged this as a reason that he was more
acceptable to the nation, and the voting for Adams on the part of Clay
and his friends was a palpable disregard of the popular will; and that
Clay had violated all his antecedents, and had thus deserted the
principles of the Republican party.

The friends of Mr. Crawford were silent until the organization of the
new Cabinet. There had been a breach of amicable relations between
Crawford and Jackson for some years, and of consequence between their
party friends; and it was supposed from this cause that Mr. Crawford
would unite in the support of the Administration; and when it was
known that Clay had accepted the premiership, this was deemed certain,
from the friendship long existing between Clay and himself. The
terrible paralysis which had prostrated Mr. Crawford extended to his
mind, and he had ceased to hold the influence with his friends as
controller, and had become the instrument in their hands.

General Jackson received a hint that it would be well to have healed
the breach between himself and Crawford. This it was supposed came
from Forsyth, and it is further believed this was prompted by Van
Buren. It may or may not have been so: Mr. Jackson's acuteness rarely
required hints from any one to stimulate or prompt to action its
suggestions. All Washington City was astounded, one Sunday morning, at
seeing the carriage of Jackson pull up at the residence of Mr.
Crawford; for their quarrel was known to every one, and it was
heralded through the newspapers that a reconciliation had taken place
between these great men. The interview was a protracted one: what
occurred can only be known by subsequent developments in the political
world.

Van Buren had supported Crawford to the last extremity, and was
greatly respected by him. His intense acuteness scented the prey afar
off. Mr. Calhoun had been elected by the electoral colleges
Vice-President, and this position, it was thought, notwithstanding his
devotion to Jackson, would identify him with the Administration. He
was young, talented, extremely popular, ambitious, and aspiring, and
it was the opinion of all that he would urge his claims to the
succession.

The indignation which burst from the Southern and Middle States, and
from many of the Western, at Mr. Clay's course, and the great
unpopularity of the name of Adams, was an assurance that without great
changes in public opinion Mr. Adams' administration would be confined
to one term. Mr. Crawford was out of the question for all time, and it
was apparent the contest was to be between Calhoun, Clay, and Jackson.

They had all belonged to the Jeffersonian school of politics--had
grown upon the nation's confidence rapidly through their support of
and conducting the war to its glorious termination. But this party was
now completely disrupted; and from its elements new parties were to be
formed. It only survived the dissolution of the Federal party a short
time, and, for the want of opposition from without, discord and
dissolution had followed. The political world was completely
chaotic--new interests had arisen. The war had forced New England to
manufacturing; it had established the policy of home production, and
home protection; the agricultural interest of the West was connected
with the manufacturing interest of the North, and was to be her
consumer; but the planting interest of the South was deemed
antagonistic to them. Her great staple, forming almost the sole basis
of the foreign commerce of the country, demanded, if not free trade,
an exceedingly liberal policy toward those abroad who were her
purchasers.

The war had given a new impetus to trade, new channels had been
opened, the manufacture of cotton in England had become a source of
wealth to the nation, and was rapidly increasing. America was her
source of supply, and was the great consumer of her fabrics, and this
fact was stimulating the growth of cotton into an activity which
indicated its becoming the leading interest of the South, if not of
the nation. The course of trade made it the great competitor of home
manufactures: this would seem unnatural, but it was true--the one
demanding protection, the other free trade. The source of supply of
the raw material to both was the same, and America the great consumer
for both. Protection secured the home market to the home manufacturer,
compelling the consumer to pay more, and sell for less, by excluding
the foreign manufacturer from the market, or imposing such burdens, by
way of duties, as to compel him to sell at higher prices than would be
a just profit on his labor and skill under the operation of free
trade, and which should exempt from his competition the home
manufacturer in the American market.

All these facts were within the purview of the sagacious politicians
of the day; and were evidently the elements of new parties. Mr. Clay
had already given shape to his future policy, and had identified the
new Administration with it. It was certain the South with great
unanimity would be in opposition, and the sagacity of Van Buren
discovered the necessity of uniting the friends of Jackson and
Crawford. Should he, after feeling the political pulse of his own
people, conclude to unite with the opposition, such a union would
destroy Mr. Clay in the South, but might greatly strengthen Mr.
Calhoun; his destruction, however, must be left to the future. He was
not long in determining. The reconciliation of Crawford and-Jackson
made the union of their friends no very difficult matter. Mr.
Randolph, Mr. Macon, Mr. Forsyth, and Mr. Cobb had expressed
themselves greatly gratified at this restoration of amity; and at an
informal meeting of their friends, Randolph said, in allusion to this
adjustment:

"I have no longer a fear that the seat first graced by Virginia's
chosen sons will ever be disgraced by a renegade child of hers."

Soon after the inauguration of Mr. Adams, and the adjournment of
Congress, the nation was startled with the charge of corruption in the
election of Mr. Adams. At first this was vague rumor. Mr. Clay was
charged by the press throughout the country with bargaining with the
friends of Adams, to cast his vote, and carry his influence to his
support, upon the condition of his (Clay's) appointment to the
premiership in the Administration, should Adams be elected.

There was no responsible name for this charge; but at the ensuing
session of Congress, a member from Pennsylvania, George Creemer,
uttered from his seat the charge in direct terms. This seemed to give
assurance of the truth of this damaging accusation. There was no
public denial from Mr. Clay. The press in his support had from the
first treated the story as too ridiculous to be noticed other than by
a flat denial; but the circumstances were sufficiently plausible to
predicate such a slander, and the effect upon Mr. Clay was beginning
to be felt seriously by his friends. In the mean time, rumors reached
the popular ear that the proofs of its veracity were in the hands of
General Jackson, whose popularity was running through the country with
the warmth and rapidity of a fire upon the prairies.

There was now a responsible sponsor, and Mr. Clay at once addressed a
note to Creemer, demanding his authority for the charge. This was
answered, and General Jackson's was the name given, as his authority.
Mr. Clay sent his friend, General Leslie Combs, with a note to
Jackson, with a copy of Creemer's communication. Combs was a weak,
vain man, and so full of the importance of his mission that he made no
secret of his object in visiting Jackson at the Hermitage; and it was
soon running through the country in the party press, each retailing
the story as he had heard it, or as his imagination and party bias
desired it. It was soon current that Mr. Clay had challenged General
Jackson, and a duel was soon to occur between these distinguished men.
General Jackson, however, gave as his author, James Buchanan, of
Pennsylvania. In turn, Mr. Buchanan was called upon by Clay, but he
denied ever having made any such communication to General Jackson; at
the same time, making certain statements under the seal of secrecy to
Mr. Letcher, Clay's friend. What these revelations were will never be
known: death has set his seal on all who knew them; and no revelation
disclosed them in time. Long after this interview between Letcher and
Buchanan, the former called on the latter, and asked to be relieved
from this imputation, and for permission to give to the public these
statements; but Mr. Buchanan peremptorily refused. Mr. Letcher
insisted that they were important to the reputation of more than Mr.
Clay: still Buchanan refused; and to this day the question of veracity
remains unsettled between Jackson and Buchanan. The public have,
however, long since declared that General Jackson was too brave a man
to lie.

Toward the close of Mr. Clay's life, one Carter Beverly, of Virginia,
wrote Mr. Clay some account of the part he himself had taken in the
concoction of this slander, craving his forgiveness. This letter was
received by Mr. Clay while a visitor at the home of the writer, and
read to him: it dissipated all doubts upon the mind of Mr. Clay, if
any remained, of the fact of the whole story being the concoction of
Buchanan. Creemer was a colleague of Buchanan, and was a credulous
Pennsylvanian, of Dutch descent; honest enough, but without brains,
and only too willing to be the instrument of his colleague in any
dirty work which would subserve his purposes.

Beverly was one of those silly but presumptuous personages who thrust
themselves upon the society of men occupying high positions, and feel
their importance only in that reflected by this association; and ever
too fond of being made the medium of slanderous reports, reflecting
upon those whose self-respect and superior dignity has frowned them
from their presence. Creemer died without divulging anything; probably
under the influence of Buchanan, and it is not improbable he was in
ignorance of the origin of the slander. Beverly knew of its utter
falsity, and was as guilty as the originator, and his conscience smote
him too sorely to permit him to go to the grave without atonement, and
consequently he made a clean breast of it to Mr. Clay.

Mr. Clay and Mr. Buchanan entered public life about the same time,
when they were both young and full of zeal. They belonged to the same
political party, and became warmly attached. They were, however, men
of very different temperaments. The professions of Mr. Clay were
always sincere, his love of truth was a most prominent feature in his
nature, and his attachments were never dissimulations: to no other
person of his early political friends was he more sincerely attached
than to Buchanan--he was his confidential friend; he was never on any
subject reserved to him; and so deep was this feeling with him that he
had called a son after his friend--the late James Buchanan Clay. When
he learned that all his confidences had been misplaced, and that the
man whom he so loved had sought to rob him of his good name, he was
wounded to the heart. He struggled to believe Buchanan was wronged by
General Jackson; but one fact after another was developed--he could
not doubt--all pointing the same way; and finally came this letter of
Beverly's, when he was old, and when his heart was crushed by the loss
of his son Henry at Buena Vista, of which event he had only heard the
day before: he doubted no more. I shall ever remember the expression
of that noble countenance as, turning to me, he said: "Read that!"
Rising from his seat, he went to the garden, where, under a large
live-oak, I found him an hour after, deeply depressed. It was sorrow,
not anger, that weighed upon him. In reply to a remark from me, he
said:

"How few men have I found true under all trials! Who has a friend on
whom he can rely, and who will not, to gratify his own ambition,
sacrifice him? I was deeply attached to Buchanan; I thought him my
friend, and trusted him as such--through long years our intimacy
continued. You see how unwisely this attachment was indulged; I have
misplaced my confidence; I am willing to disbelieve this statement of
Beverly; he is known to you; I believe he is a miserable creature, but
his testimony is but a link in the chain of evidences I have of
Buchanan's being the author of this infamous story. It was artfully
concocted and maliciously circulated. He was too shrewd to commit
himself, and employed this creature to go to Jackson, who lent a
willing ear to it; and he communicated it to Creemer. Yet it was
settled upon him by Jackson. Beverly told Jackson he was sent by
Buchanan, and now the world has the story denied by Buchanan, and I
have it confessed by Beverly. All the mischief it could do, it has
done; and this death-bed repentance and confession must command my
forgiveness of poor old Beverly.

"I was not unaware of the hazards of accepting office under Mr. Adams,
and yielded my judgment to gratify my friends. I was deeply solicitous
of rendering the country independent: our population was increasing; I
was sure large immigration would add to the natural increase; and I
felt it was the true policy of the Government to commence the
manufacture of all articles necessary to its population, and
especially the articles of prime necessity, iron and clothing. We had
the minerals, the coal, and the cotton; and the sad experience of the
recent war warned us to prepare against the same consequences should
we unfortunately be again in a similar condition. I was satisfied that
this policy would meet powerful opposition by those who supposed their
interests affected by protection; and I knew, to build up the
manufactures at home, they must be protected against foreign
competition--at least for a time. Once capital was abundant and
largely invested in manufacturing, with an abundance of educated
skill, this protection could be withdrawn; as home protection would
not prevent home competition, and high prices would stimulate this
competition to the point of producing more than was necessary for home
consumption; which would force the manufacturer to find a market
abroad for his surplus; this would bring him into competition with the
European manufacturer, and he would be compelled to be content with
the prices he could obtain under this competition; this would
necessarily, by degrees, reduce prices at home, and finally obviate
the necessity of protection. Already this has come to pass. The good
of the country I thought demanded this; and for this I exerted all my
powers and all my influence; never for a moment doubting but that in
time and from results the whole people would approve the policy. Nor
did I ever anticipate any political result to my own interest. I have
never thought of self, in any great measure of policy I may have
advocated. I have looked to final results in benefits to the country
alone, with a hope that my name should not be a disgrace to my
children, who should witness the working and the effect of measures
connected with my public life. With an honest purpose, I feared no
consequences; and desiring, above temporary popularity, the good of
the country, I assumed all the hazards and consequences which my
enemies could torture out of the act of accepting office under Mr.
Adams. I have never regretted it, and have lived to see the slanderers
of my fame rebuked by the whole country.

"This terrible Mexican war now raging, I fear, is to result in
consequences disastrous to our Government. That we shall drive Mexico
to the wall there cannot be a doubt. We will avail ourselves of the
conqueror's right in demanding indemnity for the expenses of the war.
She has nothing to pay with, but territory. We shall dispossess her of
at least a third, perhaps the half of her domain; this will open the
question of slavery again, and how it is to be settled God only knows.
For myself, I see no peaceful solution of the question. The North and
the South are equally fanatical upon the subject, and the difficulties
of adjustment augmenting every day. You will agree with me that the
institution violates the sentiment of the civilized world. It is
unnatural, and must yield to the united hostility of the world. But
what is to be done with the negro? You cannot make a citizen of him,
and clothe him with political power. This would lead rapidly to a war
of races; and of consequence to the extinction of the negro. He will
not labor without compulsion; and very soon the country would be
filled with brigands; the penitentiaries would not hold the convicts;
and the public security would ultimately demand that they should be
sent from the country.

"To remove such a number, even to the West Indies, would involve an
expense beyond the resources of the Government; to force them into
Mexico would make her a more dangerous and disagreeable neighbor than
she is; besides, this would only be postponing the evil, for I
apprehend we shall want to annex all of Mexico before many years. As I
remarked, I can see no peaceful solution of this great social evil;
but fear it is fraught with fatal consequences to our Government."

John Randolph, soon after the election of Mr. Adams, was sent to the
United States Senate by Virginia. His enmity to Mr. Clay had received
a new whetting through the events of the year or two just past; and
the natural acerbity of his nature was soured into bitter malignity.
He believed every word of the story of Creemer, and harped upon it
with the pertinacity of the Venetian upon the daughter of Shylock. He
was scarcely ever upon the floor that some offensive allusion was not
made to this subject. It was immaterial to him what the subject-matter
was under discussion: he found a means to have a throw at the
Administration, and of consequence, at Clay; and bargain and
corruption slid from his tongue with the concentration of venom of the
rattlesnake. The very thought of Clay seemed to inspire his genius for
vituperation; his eye would gleam, his meagre and attenuated form
would writhe and contort as if under the enchantment of a demon; his
long, bony fingers would be extended, as if pointing at an imaginary
Clay, air-drawn as the dagger of Macbeth, as he would writhe the
muscles of his beardless, sallow, and wrinkled face, pouring out the
gall of his soul upon his hated enemy. It was in one of these
hallucinations that he uttered the following morsel of bitterness, in
allusion to the story of bargain and corruption: "This, until now,
unheard-of combination of the black-leg with the Puritan; this union
of Luck George with Blifell," (an allusion from Fielding's novel of
"Tom Jones.") Language could not have been made more offensive. But
the fruitful imagination of Randolph was not exhausted, and he
proceeded with denunciation which spared not the venerable mother of
Mr. Clay, then living--denouncing her for bringing into the world
"this being, so brilliant, yet so corrupt, which, like a rotten
mackerel by moonlight, shined and stunk."

This drew from Mr. Clay a challenge, and a meeting was the
consequence. There was no injury sustained by either party in this
conflict, the full particulars of which may be found in Benton's
"Thirty Years in the Senate;" and I have Mr. Clay's authority for
saying that this account is strictly correct.

In General Jackson's letter to Carter Beverly, he states that Buchanan
came to him and stated that the friends of Mr. Adams had made overtures
to Mr. Clay, to the effect that, if Mr. Clay would with his friends
support Mr. Adams, and he should be elected, then he would appoint
Clay to the position of Secretary of State; and that Buchanan
recommended Jackson to intrigue against this intrigue.

Buchanan denied the statement _in toto_. Beverly wrote a letter, in
1841, admitting the falsehood of a former letter of his; and again,
another to Mr. Clay, in 1844 or 1845, asking Clay's forgiveness for
the part he had acted in the matter.

CHAPTER V.

GEORGIA'S NOBLE SONS.

A MINISTER OF A DAY--PURITY OF ADMINISTRATION--THEN AND NOW--WIDOW
TIMBERLAKE--VAN BUREN'S LETTER--AMBRISTER AND ARBUTHNOT--OLD HICKORY
SETTLES A DIFFICULTY--A CAUSE OF THE LATE WAR--HONORED DEAD.

Immediately upon the inauguration of Mr. Adams, Mr. Crawford left
Washington, and returned home. His residence was near Lexington,
Georgia, upon a small farm. It was an unostentatious home, but
comfortable, and without pretensions superior to those of his more
humble neighbors. Mr. Crawford had held many positions in the service
of the country, and had honestly and ably discharged the duties of
these for the public good. As a senator in Congress, he won the
confidence of the nation by the display of great abilities; and gave
universal satisfaction of the pure patriotism of his heart, in all he
said, or did. He was distinguished, as minister to France, for his
open candor and simplicity of manners--so much so, as to cause
Napoleon to remark of him "that no Government but a republic could
create or foster so much truth and honest simplicity of character as
he found in Mr. Crawford."

For years, he had served the nation as financial minister, and at a
time when the method of keeping, transferring, and disbursing the
moneys of Government afforded infinite opportunities for
peculation--when vast amounts of money arising from the sale of the
public domain in the West and the South was under his control, and
when he had the selection of the depositories of this, and when these
deposits were of great value to the local or State banks, so that they
would have paid handsomely for them; yet this noble being came out of
the furnace without the smell of fire upon his garments.

There was but one man who ever imputed dishonesty to him, or selfish
motives in any act. When the claims of Mr. Adams and Mr. Crawford for
the Presidency were being discussed, and party asperity sought to slay
its victims, Ninian Edwards, a senator of Congress from Illinois,
charged Mr. Crawford with impropriety of conduct in depositing, for
selfish and dishonest purposes, the public moneys arising from the
sale of lands in Illinois, in banks notoriously insolvent. Edwards had
been appointed minister to Mexico, had left the Senate, and had gone
to his home, preparatory to his leaving for Mexico; and from his home
made this attack upon Mr. Crawford. The son-in-law of Edwards, a man
named Cook, was the representative in Congress from Illinois, and, if
I remember correctly, was the only representative who at the time
reiterated these charges from his seat. Mr. Crawford immediately
demanded an investigation of his conduct. This was had, and the result
was a triumphant acquittal from all blame; and so damaging was this
investigation to Edwards that the President recalled the commission of
Edwards as minister to Mexico, and appointed Joel R. Poinsett, of
South Carolina, in his stead. Edwards was at New Orleans when the
letter of recall from the President reached him, that far on his way
to Mexico: he returned in disgrace, and soon faded from public notice
forever. At the time, it was asserted he was the brother-in-law of Mr.
Adams, and knowing that some of the banks in which Crawford had
deposited the public treasure had failed, he imagined complicity of a
dishonest character, on the part of Crawford, with the officers of the
banks, and expected to injure him and subserve the interest of Adams.
In what contrast does this transaction place the purity of the
Government, as then administered, with its conduct of to-day, and how
peerless were those who were trusted then with public confidence and
high places, in comparison with the public men who fill their places
now!

Georgia has given to the nation two Secretaries of the
Treasury--William H. Crawford and Howell Cobb; they were citizens of
adjoining counties. Cobb was born within a few miles of Crawford's
grave. They were both administering the office at a time in the
history of the nation when she was surrounded with perils. The one,
when she was just coming out of a war with the most powerful nation on
earth; the other, when she was just going into a war, civil and
gigantic. Both were afforded every opportunity for dishonest
peculation, and both came out, despite the allurements of temptation,
with clean hands and untainted reputation. They were reared and lived
in the atmosphere of honesty; they sought the inspiration from the
hills and vales, blue skies, and clear pure waters of Middle Georgia.
The surroundings of nature were pure; the honest farmers and
mechanics, her professional men and merchants, were and are pure. It
was the home of Upson, Gilmer, Thomas W. Cobb, Peter Early, Eli S.
Sherter, Stephen Willis Harris, William Causby Dawson, Joseph Henry
Lumpkin; and now is the home of A.H. Stephens, Ben. Hill, Robert
Toombs, Bishop Pierce, and his great and glorious father, and in their
integrity and lofty manhood they imitate the mighty dead who sleep
around them.

Glorious old State! though long trodden with the tyrant's foot, there
is a resurrectionary spirit moving thy people, which will lift thee
again to the high pinnacle from which thou wast thrust, purified and
reinvigorated for a career of brighter glory than thou hast yet
known--when the men who plague you now shall be driven from your
State, and the sons of your soil, in the vigor of their souls,
undefiled and untrammelled, shall wield your destinies.

Like a Roman of latter days, Mr. Crawford retired from the service of
his country poorer than when he entered it. There was sweet seclusion
in his retreat, and honest hearts in his humble neighbors to receive
him with "Come home, thou good and faithful servant; we receive thee,
as we gave thee, in thy greatness and thy goodness, undefiled." He had
only partially recovered from his, paralysis, though his general
health was much improved; rest and retirement, and release from public
duties and cares, served to reinvigorate him greatly. His estate was
small, his family large, and his friends, to aid him, secured his
election to the bench of the Superior Court, the duties of which he
continued to discharge until his death. He survived to see General
Jackson elected President, to whom he gave a cordial support. Mr.
Calhoun had been nominated and elected Vice-President with General
Jackson, both with overwhelming majorities. Crawford had carried all
his strength to the support of the ticket, and the friends of Crawford
and Calhoun were found acting in concert, notwithstanding the
hostility yet unappeased between their chiefs. It was the union of
necessity, not of sympathy or affection. At this juncture, there was
perhaps as cordial a hatred between the people of South Carolina and
those of Georgia, as ever existed between the Greek and the Turk.

Mr. Calhoun, it seemed now to be settled, was to be the successor of
General Jackson. The new parties were organized, and that headed by
General Jackson assumed the name of Democrat, and now held undisputed
control of more than two-thirds of the States. Mr. Calhoun had broken
away from the usage of former Vice-Presidents, which was to retire,
and permit a president of the Senate _pro tem._ to be chosen to
preside over the deliberations of that body. He determined to fulfil
the duties assigned by the Constitution, and in person to preside. His
transcendent abilities and great strength of character by this course
was constantly kept before the nation. His manners and presence gave
increased dignity and importance to the office, daily increasing his
popularity with the Senate and the nation. His position was an
enviable one, and was such as seemed to promise the power to grasp, at
the proper time, the goal of his ambition, the Presidency of the
republic.

From the commencement of General Jackson's Administration there was a
powerful opposition organized. It consisted of the very best talent in
the Senate and House. The Cabinet was a weak one. Mr. Van Buren was
premier, or Secretary of State, with John H. Eaton, a very ordinary
man, Secretary of War; Branch, Secretary of the Navy, and Ingham,
Secretary of the Treasury; with John M. Berrien, Attorney-General.
Eaton was from Tennessee, and was an especial favorite of General
Jackson. He had been in the Senate from Tennessee, and had formed at
Washington the acquaintance of a celebrated widow of a purser in the
navy, Mrs. Timberlake. This woman had by no means an enviable
reputation, and had been supposed the mistress of Eaton, prior to
their marriage. She had found her way to the heart of Jackson, who
assumed to be her especial champion. The ladies of the Cabinet
ministers refused to recognize her or to interchange social civilities
with her. This enraged the President, and it was made a _sine qua
non_, receive Mrs. Eaton, or quit the Cabinet. Van Buren was a
widower, and did not come under the order. He saw the storm coming,
and, to avoid consequences of any sort, after consultation with
Jackson, resigned. His letter of resignation is a literary as well as
a political curiosity. General Jackson, it is said, handed it to
Forsyth, with the remark "that he could not make head or tail of it;
and, by the eternal, Mr. Forsyth, I do not believe Van Buren can
himself." This was the forerunner of a general dismissal of the entire
Cabinet, save Eaton, who resigned. This rupture startled the whole
nation, but nothing Jackson could do, seemed capable of affecting his
growing popularity. A new Cabinet was organized, and soon after Mr.
Van Buren was sent minister to England, and Eaton minister to Spain.

The opposition were in a majority in the Senate, led on by Clay and
Webster. These were confronted by Forsyth, Benton, and Wright: the
wrestle was that of giants. The world, perhaps, never furnished a more
adroit debater than John Forsyth. He was the Ajax Telemon of his
party, and was rapidly rivalling the first in the estimation of that
party. He hated Calhoun, and at times was at no pains to conceal it in
debate. In the warmth of debate, upon one occasion, he alluded in
severe terms, to the manner in which Mr. Crawford had been treated,
during his incumbency as Secretary of the Treasury, by a certain party
press in the interest of Mr. Calhoun. This touched the Vice-President
on the raw: thus stung, he turned and demanded if the senator alluded
to him. Forsyth's manner was truly grand, as it was intensely fierce:
turning from the Senate to the Vice-President, he demanded with the
imperiousness of an emperor: "By what right does the Chair ask that
question of me?" and paused as if for a reply, with his intensely
gleaming eye steadily fixed upon that of Calhoun. The power was with
the speaker, and the Chair was awed into silence. Slowly turning to
the Senate, every member of which manifested deep feeling, he
continued, as his person seemed to swell into gigantic proportions,
and his eye to sweep the entire chamber, "Let the galled jade wince,
our withers are unwrung," and went on with the debate.

The cause of the animosity of Jackson, toward Crawford was a report
which had reached Jackson, that Crawford, as a member of Mr. Monroe's
Cabinet, had insisted in Cabinet meeting upon the arrest of Jackson
for a violation of national law, in entering without orders, as the
commanding general of the army of the United States, the territory of
a friendly power, and seizing its principal city by military force.
General Jackson had entered Florida, then a dependency of Spain, with
which power we were in amity, and seized Pensacola.

A band of desperate men had made a lodgment in Florida, headed by two
Scotchmen, Ambrister and Arbuthnot. These men had acquired great
influence with the Indians, and were stimulating them to constant
depredations upon the frontier people of Georgia. When pursued, they
sought safety in the territorial limits of Florida. Remonstrances with
the Government of Spain had produced no effect. It could not, or would
not expel them, or attempt any control of the Indians; and it became
necessary to put a stop to their aggressions. Jackson commanded, and
was the very man for such a work. He placed before the President the
difficulties, but said he could and would break up this nest of
freebooters, if he had authority from the President to enter the
territory, and, if necessary, take possession of it. It would be an
act of war to authorize this course, he knew; but he was prepared for
the responsibility (he generally was.) "I do not ask for formal
orders: simply say to me, 'Do it.' Tell Johnny Ray to say so to me,
and it shall be done." Johnny Ray was a member of Congress at that
time from East Tennessee, and devoted to Jackson. This was done, and
the work was accomplished. The two leaders were captured and summarily
executed, claiming to be British subjects.

Mr. Monroe in some things was a weak man; he was surrounded by a
Cabinet greatly superior to himself; he had not counselled with them,
and he feared the responsibility he had assumed would not be
sanctioned or approved by his constitutional advisers, and he timidly
shrank from communicating these secret instructions to them. The
matter was brought before the Cabinet, by a remonstrance from the
Spanish Government, in the person of her representative at Washington.
In the discussion which arose, a motion was submitted to arrest and
court-martial Jackson. Calhoun was indignant that as Secretary of War
he had not been consulted. General Jackson was sent for, and very soon
the matter was quieted, and Spain satisfied.

It was in this discussion, or Cabinet meeting, that Mr. Crawford was
represented to General Jackson as moving his arrest. Mr. Adams
defended Jackson most strenuously, and it is not improbable that the
President may have informed him, _sub rosa_, of what had been
communicated to Jackson. The intimacy between Mr. Monroe and Mr. Adams
was close, and it was thought he preferred him, and gave him more
unreservedly his confidence than any of his ministers.

I believe it was in the early part of the year 1829, or 1830, (I have,
where I write, no means of reference, and will not pretend to great
accuracy in dates,) when Mr. Crawford received a visit from Mr. Van
Buren, and his friend, Mr. Cambreling, at his home in Oglethorpe. What
transpired during that visit, I do not pretend to know; but soon
after, Mr. Forsyth received a letter from Mr. James Hamilton, of New
York, making certain inquiries with regard to this move in Mr.
Monroe's Cabinet. Mr. Forsyth appealed to Mr. Crawford, who responded,
and in detail revealed the proceedings in council upon this matter,
charging, without equivocation, Mr. Calhoun as being the secretary who
had moved the arrest and trial of Jackson. At the time of this
development, General Jackson was absent from Washington, on a visit to
his home in Tennessee, and Mr. Calhoun was in South Carolina. A
correspondence ensued between the President and Vice-President of the
most acrimonious character. Mr. Calhoun denied _in toto_ the charge.
Mr. Crawford appealed to the members of the Cabinet, Adams and
Crowninshield, who sustained the truth of Mr. Crawford's statements,
and Mr. Calhoun clearly implicated himself, by accusing Crawford of a
breach of honor in disclosing cabinet secrets. It is not my purpose to
enter into the minutiae of this affair, further than to show the part
taken in it by Mr. Crawford. Mr. Van Buren did not appear in this
imbroglio; he doubtless had his agency, as his interest, in bringing
this matter to General Jackson's knowledge. Mr. Calhoun was identified
with the popularity of Jackson and his party, and was now, by common
consent of that party, the prominent man for the presidential
succession. Mr. Van Buren had been the Secretary of State of General
Jackson, had studied him well, and knew him well. He knew also the
temper of the Democratic party: through his agency the political
morality of New York politicians had permeated the Democracy from one
end of the country to the other: the doctrine subsequently enunciated
by Mr. Marcy, that "to the victors belonged the spoils," was in full
operation throughout the nation as the Democratic practice. This was
the cement which closely held the politician to party fealty. Jackson
rewarded his friends, and punished his enemies; Jackson was an
omnipotent power; Jackson was the Democratic party. To secure his
friendship was necessary to success; to incur his enmity, certain
destruction. Van Buren was as artful as ambitious: he had
indoctrinated Jackson with his own policy, by inducing him to believe
it was his own; and the frankness of Jackson's nature prevented his
believing anything was not what it professed to be. It was the
ambition of Van Buren to be President, and his sagacity taught him the
surest means to effect this end was to secure effectually and beyond
peradventure the friendship and support of Jackson. Mr. Calhoun was
between him and the aim of his ambition: to thrust him from Jackson's
confidence was to effect all he desired. This was done; the breach was
irreparable. Van Buren was sent, in the interim of the session of
Congress, minister plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James.

Mr. Clay had come back into the Senate, and was heading and leading an
opposition, then in the majority in the Senate; and the nomination of
Van Buren was rejected. Jackson, assured that Calhoun had deceived
him, was bitter in his denunciations of him, and Calhoun was
sympathizing with this opposition. Jackson denounced Calhoun as his
informant of Crawford being the Cabinet minister who had in Cabinet
council moved his arrest. Calhoun gave the lie direct to the
assertion; and that Jackson was capable of lying, referred as evidence
to his statements relative to the charge of bargain and intrigue
against Mr. Clay. But enough had been done to crush out the popularity
and the hopes of Calhoun, beyond the limits of South Carolina. There
never has been so sudden and so terrible a fall from such a height of
any man in this nation--not excepting that of Aaron Burr. John C.
Calhoun, in talent, learning, and statesmanship, was greatly superior
to Jackson, and unsurpassed by any man of the age. But the breath of
Jackson was the blight which withered his laurels, and crushed his
prospects, and destroyed his usefulness forever, in a night.

What consequences have grown out of this quarrel, I leave for the pen
of the historian. Yet I cannot forbear the speculation that the late
and most disastrous war was one, and of consequence the ruin and
desolation of the South, and the threatened destruction of the
Government at this time. The agitation which led to these terrible
consequences, commenced with Mr. Calhoun immediately subsequent to
these events. Does any man suppose, if Mr. Calhoun had succeeded to
the Presidency, that he would have commenced or continued this
agitation? For one, I do not. The measure of his ambition would have
been full: his fame would have been a chapter in the history of his
country--his talents employed in the administration of the Government,
the honor and boast of her people, and her preservation and prosperity
the enduring monument of his fame and glory. But, wronged as he
believed, disappointed as he knew, he put forth all his strength, and,
Samson-like, pulled down the pillars of her support; and, disunited,
crushed, and miserable, she is a melancholy spectacle to the patriot,
and in her desolation a monument of disappointed ambition.

That Mr. Calhoun anticipated any such results, I do not believe. To
suppose he desired them, and to the end of his life labored to produce
them, would be to suppose him little less than a fiend. Blinded by his
prejudices and the hatred natural toward those who had accomplished
his political ruin, he could not calmly and dispassionately weigh the
influence of his acts upon the future of his country.

Mr. Crawford was now rapidly declining, his nervous system was
completely undermined, and he felt the approach of death calmly and
without fear. Still, he continued to give his attention to business,
and was sufficiently strong to go abroad to calls of duty. In one of
these journeys he stopped to spend the night in the house of a friend,
and was found dead in his bed in the morning, after a quiet and social
evening with his friend and family.

William Holt Crawford was a native of Virginia: his family were
Scotch, and came early to the United States, and have been remarkable
for their talents and energy. Since the Revolution, there has scarcely
been a time that some one of the family has not been prominently
before the public as a representative man. Mr. Crawford was an eminent
type of his race, sternly honest, of ardent temperament, full of
dignity, generous, frank, and brave. Plain and simple in his habits,
disdaining everything like ostentation, or foolish display--strictly
moral, firm in his friendship, and unrelenting in his hatred, his
sagacity and sincerity forbade the forming of the one or the other
without abundant cause. He was never known to desert a friend or
shrink from a foe. In form and person he was very imposing; six feet
two inches in height; his head was large, forehead high and broad; his
eyes were blue and brilliant, and, when excited, very piercing. His
complexion was fair, and, in early life, ruddy; he was, when young,
exceedingly temperate in his habits, but as he advanced in years he
indulged too freely in the luxuries of the table, and his physicians
attributed mainly to this cause his attack of paralysis, which
ultimately destroyed him. His mind had been very much excited during
the Presidential canvass; the attacks of his enemies were fierce and
merciless, and very irritating to him; and this doubtless had much to
do with it. He lies buried in the garden of his home, without a stone
to mark the spot. It is a reproach to the people of Georgia that her
most eminent son should be neglected to sleep in an undistinguished
grave. But this neglect does not extend alone to Mr. Crawford. I
believe, of all her distinguished men, James A. Meriwether is the only
one whose grave has been honored with a monumental stone by the State.
Crawford, Cobb, Dooly, Jackson, Troup, Forsyth, Campbell, Lumpkin,
Dawson, Walker, Colquitt, Berrien, Daugherty, and many others who have
done the State some service and much honor, are distinguished in their
graves only by the green sod which covers them.