LIFE OF 
 
 GEN. MDEEW JACKSON. 
 
 BY JOHN S. JENKINS, A. M. 
 
LIFE 
 
 PUBLIC SERVICES 
 
 GEN. ANDREW JACKSON 
 
 SEVENTH PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES ; 
 INCLUDING 
 
 THE MOST IMPORTANT OF HIS STATE PAPERS. 
 EDITED BY JOHN S.' JENKINS, A. M. 
 
 THE EULOGY, 
 
 DELIVERED AT WASHINGTON CITY, JUNE 21, 1845. 
 
 BY HON. GEORGE BANCROFT. 
 
 BUFFALO : 
 GEO. H. DERBY AND CO. 
 
 1850. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 
 
 GEO. H. DERBY & CO., 
 In the Clerk's Office for the Northern District of- New York. 
 
 JEWETT, THOMAS, <fe CO., 
 STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS,', 
 Buffalo, N. Y. , • 
 
TO THE 
 
 AMERICAN PEOPLE, 
 
 THIB MEMOIB OF ONE, 
 WHO SO OJ'TEN SIGNALIZED HIS DEVOTION TO THEM 
 
 AND THEIR WELFARE 
 
 ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE AND IN THE CABINET, 
 IN BOYHOOD AND IN AGE 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following Memoirs hardly require an intro- 
 duction to the American reader. The life of Andrew 
 Jackson is so intimately connected with the history 
 of the country, that the careful student of the one, 
 will not rest satisfied, until he is able fully to under- 
 stand and appreciate the other. Whatever may be 
 the views entertained in regard to his merits as a 
 warrior, or his abilities as a statesman, his conduct 
 in both capacities was such as must necessarily 
 command attention. His admirers will always be 
 eager to discover some new object for their remem- 
 brance and regard ; while those who are unwilling 
 to approve his course, either in the camp or the 
 cabinet, will feel impelled, from curiosity, if from 
 no other motive, to examine the incidents of his 
 memorable life. There are many features in his 
 character, and those by no means of the least im- 
 
b PREFACE. 
 
 portance, which all will deem worthy of commenda- 
 tion ; and none can be so much influenced by the 
 prejudices which have survived the termination of 
 his earthly career, as to withhold the appropriate 
 tribute of their respect. 
 
 A large portion of the matter to be found in these 
 pages has been heretofore published, in different 
 shapes. While the writer has not hesitated to make 
 free and liberal use of such materials as were within 
 his reach, both the language and the arrangement 
 have, in all cases, been so modified and changedj. 
 as to harmonize with his desire of giving to the 
 public, a fair, candid, and impartial life, of the dis- 
 tinguished citizen and soldier whose name appears 
 on the title-page of the volume. But little merit, 
 therefore, is claimed on the score of originality ; and 
 if those for whom it has been prepared, are in any 
 degree gratified by its appearance, the labor be- 
 stowed upon it will be amply rewarded. 
 
 An attempt has been made, which it is hoped 
 may not be regarded as altogether unsuccessful, to 
 present a full and complete account of the early his- 
 tory of General Jackson, his campaigns against the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Indians, his brilliant achievements during the war of 
 1812, and his official acts as governor of Florida. 
 A general outline of his administration of the na^ 
 tional government is also given; but for reasons 
 which must be obvious, the space devoted to this 
 purpose is comparatively brief. Less could not have 
 been said, without marring the completeness of the 
 work; and, on the other hand, had the text been 
 more full and explicit, political sympathies and 
 affinities might have been manifested, which ought 
 to be carefully concealed. 
 
 2* 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 1767. Introductory remarks — Birth and parentage of Andrew 
 Jackson — His early life — Influence of his mother— War of the 
 Revolution — Colonel Buford surprised and defeated — Martial 
 spirit of the colonists — Andrew Jackson joins the American 
 army — Heroic conduct in defending Captain Lands — Surprise 
 of the Waxhaw settlers at their rendezvous — Escape and cap- 
 ture of Jackson — His stratagem to prevent the seizure of 
 Thompson — -Imprisonment at Camden — His release, and death 
 of his brother and mother — Pecuniary diflftculties — Commences 
 the study of the law — Is licensed to practice — Appointed So- 
 licitor for the western district of North Carolina — Arrival at 
 Nashville. 1789 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1789. Early settlements on the Cumberland — Hardships en- 
 dured by Jackson, in the discharge of his official duties- 
 Escape h-om the Indians — His presence of mind — Adventures 
 in the wilderness — Locates at Nashville — Fruitless attempts 
 to intimidate him — Indian depredations — Becomes acquainted 
 whh Mrs. Robards — His marriage — A member of the Ten- 
 nessee convention — Chosen a senator in Congress — His re- 
 signation, and appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court 
 — Firmness and decision of character as a judge — Diflficulty 
 with Governor Sevier — Resigns his ofl[ice, and devotes him- 
 self to aericuhural pursuits. 1804 29 
 
 .11 
 
13 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1804. Fondness of General Jackson for horses — Duel with 
 Dickinson — Forms a mercantile partnership — Pecuniary diffi- 
 culties — Adventure with the Choctaw agent — Affi-ay with 
 Colonel Benton — Their subsequent friendship for each other 
 — Hostilities whh Great Britain — Declaration of war in 1812 
 — Jackson raises a volunteer force — Their services accepted 
 by government — Ordered to embark for Natchez — Arrival of 
 the troops, and order to disband them — His disobedience of 
 orders — Attempt of General Wilkinson to prevent the return 
 of the volunteers — Object of the order — Jackson's decision 
 exhibited — Shares the privations of the soldiers on their home- 
 ward march — Return, and disbandment of his force. 1813 . 42 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1813. Depredations committed by the Creeks on the borders 
 of Tennessee and Kentucky — Attack on Fort Mimms — Pre- 
 parations for war — Jackson calls out the volunteers and militia 
 — Address to the troops — Takes the field — Enforces strict 
 military discipline — Rapid march to Huntsville — Delay in for- 
 warding supplies — Thwarted in his movements by General 
 Cocke — Jealousy of the latter — Scarcity of provisions — Efforts 
 of Jackson to procure supplies — Address to the soldiers on 
 entering the enemy's country — Arrival at the Ten Islands — 
 Difficulty with the contractors — Destitute condition of the 
 army — Battle of Tallushatchee — Humanity of Jackson — His 
 adoption of an Indian boy. 1813 55 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1813. Erection of Fort Strother, and establishment of a depot 
 on the Coosa — Continued difficulties growing out of the move- 
 ments of General Cocke — Battle of Talladega — Gallant con- 
 duct of Colonel Carroll and Lieutenant- Colonel Dyer — Desti- 
 tution of the army — Generosity and benevolence of Jackson 
 — His example in submitting to privations — Anecdote of the 
 acorns — Discontent among the troops — Mutiny suppressed by 
 his firmness and resolution — His appeal to the contractors to 
 furnish supplies — Answer to the overtures of peace made by 
 the Hillabee tribes — Efforts to raise additional troops — Letter 
 to his friend in Tennessee — Demand of the volunteers to be 
 discharged, on the ground that their term of service had ex- 
 pired — Reply of Jackson — His unflinching determination- 
 Suppression of the mutiny, and return of the volunteers. 1813 68 
 
CONTENTS. 13 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1814. Arrival of recruits — Battle of Emuckfaw — Return of the 
 army — Ambuscade of the enemy — Battle of Enotochopco — 
 Bravery of General Carroll and Lieutenant Armstrong — Re- 
 turn to Fort Strother — The army reinforced — Battle of Toho- 
 peka — Kindness of Jackson to a prisoner — Preparations to 
 attack Hoithlewalle — Address to the troops — The Indians 
 abandon their towns at Jackson's approach — Termination of 
 the campaign — Operations of the British at Pensacola — Con- 
 duct of the Spanish governor — Proclamation of Colonel Ni- 
 choUs — Unsuccessful attack on FortBowyer — Jackson marches 
 to Pensacola and demolishes it. 1814 87 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1814. Jackson marches to New Orleans— Preparations to de- 
 fend the city — Surrounded by traitors and spies — Situation 
 of the country — Strength of the British expedition — Firmness 
 of Jackson — The city placed under martial law — Vigorous 
 measures rendered absolutely necessary — Landing of the 
 British — Alarm in the city — Jackson determines to attack 
 them— Disposition of his forces— Battle on the night of the 
 twenty-third of December — Gallant conduct of the American 
 troops— Repulse of the British — The complete triumph of the 
 Americans prevented by the darkness of the night — Adven- 
 ture of Colonels Dyer and Gibson — The Americans fall back 
 to a new position, and prepare to fortify it — Effect of the bat- 
 tle. 1814 99 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1814. The Americans fortify their position — Jackson's peremp- 
 tory orders to Major Lacoste — Defence of the Pass Barrataria 
 — Captain Lafitte — Attack made by the Brhish on the 28th 
 of December — Defensive preparations hastened — Death of 
 Colonel Henderson — Disaffection in New Orleans — Informa- 
 tion "communicated to the British fleet — Stratagem of Mr. 
 Shields — Conduct of the Louisiana legislature — Patriotic 
 reply of Jackson to the committee — Attempt to supply his 
 troops with arms — Gallantry of Colonel Hinds — Cannonade 
 on the 1st of January — Position of the American army — 
 Jackson's orders to the Frenchman to defend his property — 
 Defences on the right bank of the river — Caution of Jackson 
 in concealmg the number of his troops. 1815 117 
 
14 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. ^ 
 
 PAGE 
 1815. Arrival of fresh troops from Kentucky — Preparations of 
 both armies for an attack — The disposition of Jackson's force 
 made known to the British by a deserter — Success of Colonel 
 Thornton on the right bank of the river — Eagerness of the 
 American soldiers for an engagement — Activity and energy 
 of Jackson — The eighth of January— Advance of the British 
 towards the American intrenchments. — Destructive iire from 
 the fortifications — Repulse of the British — Death of Sir Ed- 
 ward Packenham — Terrible havoc made in the ranks of the 
 enemy — Bravery of Colonel Rennie — Number of killed and 
 wounded m the battle — Watchword of the British army — 
 Generous benevolence of the American soldiers — An armistice 
 proposed by General Lambert and accepted, with modifica- 
 tions — Brave conduct of the American troops — Want of arms 
 prevents Jackson from capturing the whole British army — 
 English version of the battle. 1815 141 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1815. Gratitude of the citizens of New Orleans to their deli- 
 verer — Jackson strengthens his position — Anonymous publi- 
 cations inciting his troops to revolt — The author placed in 
 arrest — Judge Hall ordered into custody for his interference — 
 The British retire to their shipping — Treaty of peace signed — 
 Cessation of hostilities — Jackson submits to the fine imposed 
 by the judge — Farewell address to his troops — Return to 
 Nashville- — Depredations committed by the Seminole Indians 
 — Jackson ordered to take command of the southern army — 
 Enters Florida with his army. — Execution of Arbuthnot and 
 Ambrister — Capture of St. Marks and Pensacola — Termina- 
 tion of hostilities — Jackson's conduct approved — Appointed 
 governor of Florida — Administration of his judicial duties^ — 
 Difficulty with the Ex-governor, Callava — Jackson's ill health 
 compels him to return home. 1821 . ' 158 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1821. Jackson resigns his office in the army — Testimonials of 
 public respect — A candidate for the Presidency — Defeated in 
 the House of Representatives — Election of Mr. Adams — 
 Course of Jackson's friends — His renomination — Warmth of 
 the contest — Elected president — Death of his wife — Kindness 
 to her relatives — His first message — Veto of the Maysville 
 road bill — Dissolution of the Cabinet — Opposition to the 
 United States Bank — Veto message — Re-elected president — 
 Difficulty with the nuUifiers — Assaulted by Lieutenant Ran- 
 dolph — Removal of the deposits — PubUc excitement— Con- 
 troversy with France — Retirement to private life. 1837 . . 173 
 
caNTENTS. 15 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PAGE 
 J 837. Ill health of General Jackson — Arrival at the Hermit- 
 age — Influence with his party — Friendly to the annexation 
 of Texas — His occupations — Embarrassed in his pecuniary 
 affairs — Refunding of the fine imposed by Judge Hall — Failure 
 of his health — His last illness — His Christian resignation and 
 death — Honors paid to his memory — Remarks of Reverdy 
 Johnson — Speech of Daniel Webster^ — Character of Jackson — 
 His qualifications as a soldier and statesman — Attachment 
 to his friends — His personal appearance — His patriotism. 
 1845 186 
 
 ^ CHAPTER Xni. 
 
 Bancroft's Eulogy 196 
 
 Inaugural Address #221 
 
 Maysville Road Veto 225 
 
 Message to the United States Senate on returning the Bank Bill 241 
 
 Proclamation on the Nullification Question 263 
 
 Extracts from the Protest 287 
 
 Sixth Annual Message 306 
 
 Message in relation to Texas 344 
 
 Farewell Address 350 
 
 Letter to Commodore Elliott, declining a Sarcophagus . . . 373 
 
 Last Will and Testament 375 
 
 Dr. Bethune's Sermon .... 381 
 
LIFE 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1767. Introductory remarks — Birth and parentage of Andrew Jack- 
 son — His early life — Influence of his mother — War of the Revolu- 
 tion — Colonel Buford surprised and defeated — Martial spirit of the 
 colonists — Andrew Jackson joins the American army — Heroic con- 
 duct in defending Captain Lands — Surprise of the Waxhaw settlers 
 at their rendezvous — Escape and capture of Jackson — His stratagem 
 to prevent the seizure of Thompson — Imprisonment at Camden — 
 His release, and death of his brother and mother — Pecuniary diffi- 
 culties — Commences the study of the law — Is hcensed to practice 
 — Appointed Solicitor for the western district of North Carolina' — 
 Arrival at Nashville. 1789. 
 
 In seasons of high party excitement, it is not to be ex- 
 pected, that full and impartial justice will at all times be 
 rendered to the statesman or politician. There is an 
 ancient French maxim, which cautions the 'legislator to 
 " think of the rising generation, rather than of that which 
 is passed." It is not amid the prejudices and jealousies 
 of the present, but in the enlightened judgment of the far- 
 off future that he must look for his reward. Cotempo- 
 raneous history is always hasty, and often unjust, in its 
 conclusions; but "the sober second thought" of posterity 
 is ever prompt to repair the wrong. It was the fortune of 
 the subject of these memoirs to occupy, for a series of 
 years, a prominent place in the public estimation, as the 
 leader of the political party to which he was attached. 
 During that time, much was said, both for and against 
 him, which it would scarcely become the dignity of history 
 
18 LIFE OF JACKSON. • 
 
 to record ; nor would his most devoted admirer ask, at this 
 day, that any thing should be written concerning him, ex- 
 cept what was conceived in the same spirit that prompted 
 the memorable remark of the iron-hearted Cromwell to 
 young Lely, "Paint me as I am!" His death has 
 hushed the embittered passions of the hour, and public 
 opinion has already settled down upon a conviction highly 
 favorable to his memory. Few men have ever lived, who 
 exhibited, in a more remarkable degree, those salient 
 points of character, calculated to enforce attention and 
 respect, or possessed those pecuhar traits of disposition, 
 which are sure to inspire the warm and devoted attach- 
 ment of personal friends. His Hfe and his character, both as 
 a public and private citizen, the storied incidents of his 
 mihtary career, and the important services rendered to 
 the country, are now regarded, by general consent, as the 
 common property of the nation. Like truly great men, 
 he has left the impress of his mind upon the age in which 
 he lived ; and there is not a single American, whose heart 
 is alive to the emotions of patriotism, but feels it beat with 
 a quicker and warmer glow, at the mention of his honored 
 name. 
 
 Andrew Jackson was descended from a Scotch family, 
 who emigrated to the north of Ireland, at a very remote 
 period. His ancestors suffered many hardships, on ac- 
 count of the cruel and arbitrary exactions of the English 
 government. The continuance of these grievances, which 
 at times almost passed the limits of human endurance, in- 
 duced his father, Andrew Jackson, after whom he was 
 named, to emigrate to this country, with his wife and two 
 sons, Hugh and Robert, in the year 1765. He landed at 
 Charleston, in South Carolina, and shortly afterwards pur- 
 chased a tract of land, in what was then called the " Wax- 
 haw settlement," about forty-five miles above Camden, 
 and near the boundary line of North Carolina, where he 
 settled with his family. His son, Andrew, was born on 
 the 15th day of March, 1767, about two years subsequent 
 to the arrival of his parents in this country. 
 
 Soon after the birth of young Andrew, his father died ; 
 leaving him, and his two brothers, to the sole care and 
 
HIS YOUTH. 19 
 
 guardianship of their mother, who appears to have been 
 a most exemplary woman. She possessed many excellent 
 qualities, both of head and heart ; and her children were, 
 early in hfe, deeply imbued with the straight forward 
 resoluteness of purpose, and Spartan heroism of character, 
 for which she was distinguished. Among the many noble 
 mothers, whose sons have reaped the rich harvest of re- 
 own springing from the seed planted by their hands, 
 one deserve higher praise or commendation. To the 
 lessons she inculcated on the youthful minds of her sons, 
 may, in a great measure, be attributed that fixed opposi- 
 tion to British tyranny and oppression, which they after- 
 wards manifested. Often would she spend the winter 
 evenings, in recounting to them the sufferings of their 
 grandfather at the siege of Carrickfergus, and the oppres- 
 sions exercised by the nobility of Ireland over the laboring 
 poor ; impressing it upon them as a first duty, to expend 
 their lives, if it should become necessary, in defending 
 and supporting the natural rights of man. 
 
 As they inherited but a small patrimony from their 
 father, it was impossible that all the sons could receive an 
 expensive education. The two eldest, therefore, were 
 only taught the rudiments of their mother tongue, at a 
 common country school. But Andrew, being intended 
 by his mother for the ministry, was sent to a flourishing, 
 academy at the Waxhaw meeting-house, superintended 
 by Mr. Humphries. Here he was placed on the study 
 of the dead languages, and continued until the revolu- 
 tionary war, extending its ravages into that section of 
 South Carolina where he then was, rendered it necessary 
 that every one should either betake himself to the Ameri- 
 can standard, seek protection with the enemy, or flee his 
 country. 
 
 When the revolutionary war first broke out, in 1775, 
 Andrew Jackson was but eight years old, and it was a 
 long time before its horrors were felt in the immediate 
 vicinity of his residence. But from his youth up, he was 
 familiar with the story of the repeated aggressions and 
 insults, which forced the American colonists to resort to 
 the last remedy of an injured people. He eagerly listened 
 
20 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 to the thrilling, accounts that reached his quiet neighbor- 
 hood, of the heroic deeds performed by his brave country- 
 men, at Lexington and Bunker-hill, Saratoga and Mon- 
 inouth ; and while he hstened, his heart burned with the 
 fire of an incipient patriotism, to avenge the wrongs of his 
 native land. The young and middle-aged men around 
 him were constantly training 'themselves for any emer- 
 gency, and his mother encouraged, rather than checked, 
 his growling passion for a soldier's life, instead of the 
 peaceful profession for which he was designed. It was a 
 critical time in the destinies of the infant repubhc, and she 
 required the aid of every stout hand and strong heart, 
 whether it beat beneath the surplice of the priest, or the 
 rough habiliments of the back- woodsman. 
 
 An opportunity was soon afforded, for him to gratify his 
 ardent desire of minghng in the deadly strife which had 
 imbrued the American soil with blood. South Carolina 
 was invaded by the British, under General Prevost, in 
 1779, and in the month of May of the following year. Co- 
 lonel Buford and about four hundred men under his com- 
 mand were overtaken by Colonel Tarleton, who had been 
 despatched to cut off the party by Lord Cornwalhs, with 
 a force of seven hundred men, and an indiscriminate 
 slaughter ensued, although little or no resistance was of- 
 •fered. Many begged for quarter in vain. The only an- 
 swer was a stroke of the sabre, or a thrust of the bayonet. 
 This act of atrocious barbarity was followed by others of 
 a similar character. Men could not sleep in their own 
 houses unguarded, without danger of surprise and murder. 
 Even boys, who were stout enough to carry muskets, were 
 induced, by a regard for their own safety, as well as from 
 inclination, to incur the dangers of men. Young Jackson 
 and his brothers had their guns and horses, and were 
 almost always in company with some armed party of their 
 kindred or neighbors. Hugh, who was the eldest of the 
 three, was present at the battle of Stono, and lost his life, 
 from the excessive heat of the weather and the fatigue of 
 the day. Shortly after this event, Mrs. Jackson retired 
 before the invading army, with her two remaining sons, 
 Robert and Andrew, into North Carolina. She remained 
 
ATTEMPTED SURPRISE OF CAPTAIN LANDS. 21 
 
 there but a short time, and, on returning to the Waxhaws, 
 both Robert and Andrew joined the American army, and 
 were present at the battle of Hanging Kock, on tlie sixth 
 of August, 1780, in which the corps to >vhich they be- 
 longed particularly distinguished itself. In the month 
 of September, Mrs. Jackson and her sons, with most of the 
 Waxhaw settlers, were again compelled to retire into 
 North Carolina ; from which they returned in February, 
 1781, as soon as they heard that Lord Cornwallis had 
 crossed the Yadkin. 
 
 It was during the trying scenes of this period of the 
 revolutionary struggle, that Andrew Jackson gave the 
 firsf illustration of that quickness of thought, and prompt- 
 itude of action, which afterwards placed him in the front 
 rank of military commanders. A Whig captain, named 
 Lands, who had been absent from home for some time, 
 desired to spend a night with his family. Robert and 
 Andrew Jackson, with one of the Crawfords, and five 
 others,' constituted his guard. There were nine men and 
 seven muskets. Having no special apprehensions of an 
 attack, they lay down on their arms, and, with the ex- 
 ception of a British deserter, who was one of the party, 
 went to sleep. Lands' house was in the centre of an 
 enclosed yard, and had two doors, facing east and west. 
 Before the east door stood a forked apple-tree. In the 
 southwest corner of the yard were a corncrib and stable 
 under one roof, ranging east and west. On the south was 
 a wood, and through it passed the road by which the 
 house was approached. 
 
 A party of Tories became apprized of Lands' return, 
 and determined to surprise and kill him. Approaching 
 through the wood, and tying their horses behind the 
 stable, they divided into two parties, one advancing round 
 the east end of the stable towards the east door of the 
 house, and the other round the west end towards the west 
 door. At this moment, the wakeful soldier, hearing a 
 noise in the direction of the stable, went out to see what 
 was the matter, and perceived the party which were en- 
 tejfing the yard at the east end of the building. Running 
 back in terror, he seized Andrew Jackson, who was near- 
 
32 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 est the door, by the hair, exclaiming, " The Tories are 
 upon us." Our young hero ran out, and, putting his gun 
 through the fork of the apple-tree, hailed the approaching 
 band. Having repeated his hail without an answer, and 
 perceiving the party rapidly advancing and but a few rods 
 distant, he fired. A volley was returned, which killed the 
 soldier, who, having aroused the inmates of the house, had 
 followed young Jackson, and was standing near him. The 
 other band of Tories had now emerged from the west end 
 of the stable, and mistaking the discharge of the advance 
 party, then nearly on a line between them and the apple- 
 tree, for the fire of a sallying party from the house, com- 
 menced a sharp fire upon their own friends. Thus both 
 parties were brought to a stand. Young Andrew, after 
 discharging his gun, returned into the house ; and, with 
 two others, commenced a fire from the west door, where 
 both of his companions were shot down, one of them with 
 a mortal wound. The Tories still kept up the fire upon 
 each other, as well as upon the house, until, startled by 
 the sound of a cavalry bugle in the distance, they betook 
 themselves to their horses, and fled. The charge was 
 sounded by a Major Isbel, who had not a man with him, 
 but, hearing the firing, and knowing that Lands was at- 
 tacked, he gave the blast upon his trumpet to alarm the 
 assailants. 
 
 The British commander, having been advised of the 
 return of the Waxhaw settlers, despatched Major Coffin, 
 with a corps of light dragoons, a company of infantry, and 
 a considerable number of Tories, for their capture and 
 destruction. Hearing of their approach, the settlers ap- 
 pointed the Waxhaw meeting-house as a place of rendez- 
 vous, and about forty of them, among whom were the 
 two Jacksons, had assembled there on the day appointed, 
 and were waiting for a friendly company under Captain 
 Nisbett. When the enemy approached, their commanding 
 officer placed the Tories in front, in order to conceal the 
 dragoons ; and the little band of settlers were completely- 
 deceived by the stratagem. Supposing the reinforcement 
 for which they had been waiting was approaching, they 
 were prepared to welcome them as friends, but the mo- 
 
TAKEN PRISONER BY THE BRITISH 23 
 
 ment after they discovered their unfortunate mistake. 
 Eleven of the number were taken prisoners, and the rest 
 sought for safety in flight. The two Jacksons were 
 among those who escaped, and temporarily eluded pur- 
 suit. They remained together during the ensuing night, 
 and on the approach of morning concealed themselves in 
 a thicket on the bank of a small creek, not far from the 
 ouse of Lieutenant Crawford, who had been wounded 
 nd made prisoner. Becoming very hungry, they left 
 their horses in the wood, and ventured out to Craw- 
 ford's for food. But a party of Tories, who were well 
 acquainted with the country, and the passes through 
 the forest, unfortunately passed the creek, in the mean 
 time, at the very point where the horses and baggage had 
 been left ; and, guided by one of their number, whose 
 name was Johnson, they approached the house, in com- 
 pany with a small body of dragoons, and presented them- 
 selves at the door, before the young Jacksons were aware 
 of their approach. 
 
 Resistance and flight were alike hopeless, and neither 
 was attempted. Mrs. Crawford, with several children, 
 one of whom was at the breast, were the inmates of the 
 house. A scene of destruction immediately took place. All 
 the glass, crockery, and other furniture, were dashed in 
 pieces. The beds were ripped open, and the feathers 
 scattered to the winds. The clothing of the whole family, 
 men, women, and children, was cut and torn into frag- 
 ments. Even the children's clothes shared the fate of 
 the rest. Mercy for the wife and little ones of a hus- 
 band and father, who Avas already wounded and in 
 their hands, and doomed to imprisonment, if not death, 
 touched not the hearts of these remorseless men, and no- 
 thing was left to the terrified and wretched family, but the 
 clothes they had on, and a desolate habitation. No attempt 
 was made, by the British officer commanding, to arrest 
 this destruction. While it was in progress, he ordered 
 Andrew Jackson to clean his muddy boots. The young 
 soldier refused, claiming to be treated with the respec. 
 due to a prisoner of war. Instead of admiring this manly 
 spirit in one so young, the cowardly ruffian struck at his 
 
34 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 head with his sword ; but, throwing up his left hand, the 
 intended victim received a gash upon it, the scar of which 
 he carried to the grave. Turning to Robert Jackson, the 
 officer ordered him to perform the menial task, and, re- 
 ceiving a like refusal, aimed a furious blow at his head 
 also, and inflicted a wound from which he never recovered. 
 
 After these exhibitions of ferocity, the party set Andrew 
 Jackson upon a horse, and ordered him, on pain of instant 
 death, to lead them to the house of a well-known Whig, 
 by the name of Thompson. Apprehending that Thomp- 
 son was at home, it occurred to his young friend that he 
 might save him by a stratagem. At that time, when men 
 were at home, they generally kept a look-out to avoid sur- 
 prise, and had a horse ready for flight. Instead of leading 
 the party by the usual route, young Andrew took them 
 through woods and fields, which brought them over an 
 eminence in sight of the house, at the distance of half a 
 mile. On reaching the summit, he beheld Thompson's 
 horse tied to*his rack, a sure sign that his owner was at 
 home. The British dragoons darted forward, and, in 
 breathless apprehension, Andrew Jackson kept, his eye 
 upon Thompson's horse. With inexpressible joy, he saw 
 Thompson, while the dragoons were still a few hundred 
 yards distant, rush out, mount his horse, dash into the 
 creek which ran foaming by, and in a minute ascend the 
 opposite bank. He was then out of pistol shot, and as 
 his pursuers dared not swim the rapid stream, he stopped 
 long enough to shout execration and defiance, and then 
 rode leisurely ofl'. 
 
 Andrew Jackson and his brother, with about twenty 
 other prisoners, were mounted on captured horses, and 
 started for Camden, over forty miles distant. Not a mouth- 
 ful of food, or drop of water, was given them on the route. 
 The streams which they forded had been swollen by re- 
 cent rains ; but when the}" stooped to take up a little wa- 
 ter in the palms of their hands, to assuage their burning 
 thirst, they were ordered to desist by the brutal guard. 
 
 Arrived at Camden, they were confined, with about two 
 hundred and fifty other prisoners, in a redoubt surround- 
 ing the jail, and overlooking the country to the north. No 
 
IMPRISONMENT AT CAMDEN. 25 
 
 attention was paid to their wounds or their wants. They 
 had no beds, nor any substitute ; and their only food was 
 a scanty supply of bad bread. They were robbed of a 
 portion of their clothing, taunted by Tories with being re- 
 bels, and assured that they would be hanged. Andrew 
 Jackson himself was stripped of his jacket and shoes. 
 With a refinement of cruelty, the Jacksons and their cou- 
 sin, Thomas Crawford, two of them severely wounded, 
 were separated as soon as their relationship was known, 
 and kept in perfect ignorance of each other's condition or 
 fate. In aggravation of their sufferings, the small-pox 
 made its appearance among them. Not a step was taken 
 to stay its progress or mitigate its afflictions. Without 
 physicians or nurses, denied even the kind attentions and 
 sympathy of relatives who were fellow-prisoners, their 
 keepers left them to perish, not only without compassion, 
 but with apparent satisfaction. 
 
 One day Andrew Jackson was sunning himself in the 
 entrance of his prison, when the officer of the guard, ap- 
 parently struck Avith his youthful appearance, entered 
 into conversation with him. With characteristic energy, 
 the fearless lad described to him the condition of the pri- 
 soners ; and among the rest, their sufferings from the 
 scantiness and bad quahty of their food. Immediately 
 meat was added to their bread, and there was otherwise a 
 decided improvement. The Provost was a Tory from 
 New York ; and it was afterwards alleged that he with- 
 held the meat he had contracted to supply for the support 
 of the prisoners, to feed a gang of negroes, which he had 
 collected from the plantations of the Whigs, with intent 
 to convert them to his own use. 
 
 During the confinement of the Waxhaw prisoners at 
 Camden, General Greene made his unsuccessful attack on 
 the British forces at that post under Lord Rawdon. The 
 American army was encamped onHobkirk's Hill, about a 
 mile distant, and in full view of the redoubt in which the 
 prisoners were confined. On the morning of the 24th ot 
 April, Andrew Jackson became convinced, from what he 
 saw and heard, that a battle was soon to take place. He 
 was exceedingly anxious to witness the conflict, but the 
 2 
 
26 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 thick plank fence that extended around the redoubt, com- 
 pletely shut out the view of the surrounding country. 
 Determined that he would not be foiled in his wish, he 
 set himself at work with an old razor-blade, which had 
 been given to the prisoners to eat their rations with, and 
 by working the greater part of the night, he contrived 
 to cut one of the knots out of a plank, and through this 
 obtained a view of Greene's encampment, and of the san- 
 guinary struggle which took place on the following day. 
 
 In a few days after the battle before Camden, the two 
 Jacksons were released, in pursuance of a partial exchange 
 effected by the intercessions and exertions of their mother, 
 and Captain Walker of the militia. While he was con- 
 fined in prison, Robert had suffered greatly from the wound 
 in his head which had never been dressed. Inflamma- 
 tion of the brain soon after ensued, which brought him 
 to his grave, in a few days after his liberation. The mo- 
 ther also, worn out with anxiety and solicitude for her chil- 
 dren, and her incessant efforts to relieve the sufferings of 
 the prisoners who had been brought from her ov/n neigh- 
 borhood, was taken sick, and expired in a few weeks, 
 near the lines of the enemy in the vicinity of Charleston. 
 These repeated afflictions were keenly felt by young 
 Jackson, and it was some time before he entirely reco- 
 vered from the shock occasioned by so sudden a bereave- 
 ment. He was tenderly attached to his mother and bro- 
 ther, and as they were his only relatives, their death must 
 have been a severe blow to him. The buoyancy of youth, 
 however, enabled him to bear up manfully against mis- 
 fortune, and he soon after entered into the enjoyment of 
 his estate, which, though small, was sufficient to have 
 given him a liberal education. Unfortunately he had be- 
 come quite intimate with a number of the most polished 
 citizens of Charleston, who had retired to the Waxhaw 
 settlement, during the occupation of that city by the Bri- 
 tish, and had contracted habits, and imbibed tastes, which 
 it was unwise in him to indulge. He accompanied his 
 friends on their return to Charleston ; and, as he deter- 
 mined not to be outdone by his associates, his money was 
 expended so profusely that his whole patrimony was 
 
HIS PECUNIARY DIFFICULTIES. 27 
 
 soon exhausted, and he was left with nothing but a fine 
 horse which he had taken from the Waxhaws. The ani- 
 mal itself was at length staked against a sum of money, in 
 a game of " rattle and snap." Jackson won the game ; 
 and, forming a sudden resolution, he pocketed the money, 
 bade adieu to his friends, and returned home. 
 
 This occurrence took place in the winter of 1784, and 
 immediately after his return to the Waxhaws, Jackson 
 collected the remains of his little property, with the m- 
 tention of acquiring a profession, and preparing himself 
 to enter on the busy scenes of life. After pursuing the 
 study of the languages, and other desultory branches of 
 education, under Mr. McCulloch, in that part of Carolina 
 which was then called the New Acquisition, near Hill's 
 Iron Works, for several months, he concluded to abandon 
 the pulpit for which he had been designed by his mother, 
 and embraced the legal profession. In pursuance of this 
 determination, he repaired to Salisbury, in North Carolina, 
 and commenced the studyof the law, under SpruceMcCay, 
 Esq., afterwards one of the judges of that state, and sub- 
 sequently continued it under Colonel John Stokes. Hav- 
 ing remained at Sahsbury until the winter of 1786, he 
 obtained a hcense from the judges to practice law, and 
 continued in the state until the spring of 1788. As an 
 evidence of the estimation in. which his talents were at 
 that time held by the influential men of North Carolina, 
 he soon after received from the governor the appointment 
 of Solicitor for the western district of that state, of which 
 the present state of Tennessee then formed a part. 
 
 The observations he was enabled to make while en- 
 gaged in the study of his profession, had convinced him 
 that North Carolina presented few inducements to a young 
 attorney ; and recollecting that he stood solitary in life, 
 without relations to aid him in the outset, when innumer- 
 able difSculties arise and retard success, he determined to 
 seek a new country. But for this he might have again 
 returned to his native state. The death, however, of 
 every relation he had, had wiped away all those endear- 
 ing recollections and circumstances which attach the mind 
 to the place of its nativity. The western district of the 
 
^ LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 State was often spoken of, as presenting flattering prospects 
 to adventurers, and his official appointment in that quarter 
 happened quite opportunely to enable him to carry out 
 his intention of visiting that section of the country. In 
 the year 1788, at the age of twenty-one years, he ac- 
 companied Judge McNairy, who was going out to hold 
 the first Supreme Court that had ever sat in the district. 
 Having reached the Holston, they ascertained that it would 
 be impossible to arrive at the time appointed for the ses- 
 sion of the court ; and therefore took up their residence, 
 for some time, at Jonesborough, then the principal seat of 
 justice in the western district. They recommenced their 
 journey, in October, 1789, and passing through an ex- 
 tensive uninhabited country, reached Nashville in the 
 same month. 
 
SETTLEMENTS OS THE CUMBERLAND. 29 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 1789. Early settlements on the Cumberland — Hardships endured by 
 Jackson, in the discharge of his official duties — Escape from the 
 Indians — His presence of mind — Adventures in the wilderness- 
 Locates at Nashville — Fruitless attempts to intimidate him — Indian 
 depredations — Becomes acquainted with Mrs. Robards — His mar- 
 riage — A member of the Tennessee convention — Chosen a senator 
 in Congress — His resignation, and appointment as a judge of the 
 Supreme Court — Firmness and decision of character as a judge — 
 Difficulty with Governor Sevier — Resigns his office, and devotes 
 himself to agricultural pursuits. 1804. 
 
 At the time of the first visit made by Andrew Jackson, 
 to the infant settlements on the Cumberland river, includ- 
 ing that at French creek, near the present site of Nash- 
 ville, almost all the settlers were residing in stations, and 
 it was several years before it was entirely safe for them 
 to spread over the country, and Hve in separate cabins. 
 While the Shawanese from the north were carrying on 
 perpetual war with the settlers in Kentucky, the Chero- 
 kees and Choctaws from the south were wreaking their 
 vengeance on the intruders upon their hunting-grounds 
 in Tennessee. Twenty-two times during this period of 
 danger and blood, did General Jackson, in the performance 
 of his public and private duties, cross the wilderness of 
 two hundred miles, then intervening between Jonesbo rough 
 and the settlements on the Cumberland. The hardships 
 and perils of those journeys it is difficult for travellers at 
 the present da}^ duly to appreciate. 
 
 In addition to his rider, with a loaded rifle on his 
 shoulder, the patient horse carried upon his back his 
 master's blankets, provisions, and equipments. His food 
 was the foHage of the bushes and the native grass. At a 
 fire kindled from a tinder-box, or the flash of his rifle, the 
 traveller roasted his bacon or wild meat on a stick, and cut 
 
80 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 it with his hunter's knife, while his fingers served him 
 instead of forks. Wrapped in his blanket, with his rifle 
 for a bed-fellow, and his horse standing by, he slept, with 
 no roof to protect him but the boughs of the forest. With- 
 out a water-proof hat or India-rubber coat, he was drenched 
 to the skin by the falhng rain. Often when he was hungry 
 with fasting, and a di?hcious pheasant, or plump deer was 
 before him, he dared not kill it, lest the report of his rifle 
 should give notice of his presence to a lurking savage. 
 
 At one time when Jackson was traversing the wilder- 
 ness alone, he came, after night, and amid torrents of rain, 
 to a creek, the noise of whose tumbling waters, already 
 swollen to a great depth, warned him not to attempt cross- 
 ing the ford. Dismounting from his horse, and turning his 
 saddle bottom upward, at the root of a tree, he wrapped 
 his blanket around him, and with his rifle in one hand and 
 his bridle in the other, sat upon it, with his horse stand- 
 ing before him, hstening to the roaring stream and the 
 pattering of the raindrops on the leaves of the forest, until 
 the return of day enabled him to proceed. 
 
 On another occasion, he was in company with three 
 companions, on his way from Jonesborough to the Cum- 
 berland. They arrived, just after dark, at the east side of 
 the Emory, where it issues from the mountains, and dis- 
 covered the fires of a large party of hostile Indians on the 
 opposite bank. The moment the discovery was made, 
 Andrew Jackson, as if by instinct, assumed the direction 
 of the party. He enjoined silence and instant retreat, and 
 having retired some distance into the mountains, directed 
 his companions to quit the road cautiously and at different 
 points, so as to leave no distinct trace behind them, and to 
 reunite, and proceed up the stream, for the purpose of 
 crossing at some ford above and eluding the Indians. 
 Guided by the noise of the waters, they progressed up 
 ward among the mountains during the night, and, as soon 
 as it was day, approached the stream. They found it too 
 much swollen to be forded, and too rapid to be swam. 
 Still apprehensive of pursuit, they resumed their march, 
 and about two o'clock in the afternoon reached a place 
 where the stream, after dashing over a rough precipice, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE WILDERNESS. 31 
 
 spread out with a lake-like surface, broken at a short dis- 
 tance below by another cataract. Here the party, not 
 feeling safe until their trail was broken by the intervening 
 stream^ determined to attempt a passage. Binding logs 
 and bushes together with hickory withes, they soon con- 
 structed a small raft sufficient to convey three or four men, 
 and affixed two rude oars to the bows, and one as a steer- 
 ing-oar or rudder to the stern. It was cold, March weather, 
 and very important to keep their clothes, blankets, and 
 saddles, as well as their rifles and powder, from getting 
 wet. To that end, it was concluded that Jackson and one 
 of his companions should first cross with every thing but 
 the horses, and that on a second trip, they should be swam 
 over alongside the raft. The craft was freighted accord- 
 ingly, and pushed off from shore ; but in an instant, an 
 irresistible under-current seized the rude flotilla, and hurled 
 it down the stream. For a few moments, Jackson, who 
 was at the oars, regardless of the shouts of his companions, 
 who followed him downward on the bank, struggled with 
 the flood ; but, perceiving that farther effort could only 
 end in destruction, he reversed the direction of the raft, in 
 the hope of reaching the shore he had left. Notwith- 
 standing he exerted all his strength, he was unable to 
 bring it to land ; and although within a few feet, the suck 
 of the cataract had already seized it. A moment more, 
 and the raft, with its passengers, would have been dashed 
 in pieces, when Jackson, wrenching one of his oars from 
 its fastenings, sprung to the stern, and bracing himself 
 there, held it out to his companions on shore, who seized 
 it, and brought them safe to land. Being reproached 
 for not heeding their first warnings, Jackson coolly re- 
 plied: " A miss is as good as a mile ; you see how near I 
 can graze danger. Come on, and I will save you yet." 
 Re-equipping themselves and horses, they resumed their 
 march up the stream ; and after spending another night, 
 supperless, in the vvoods, found a ford the next da}'", and, 
 by a circuitous, route, reached a log cabin on the road, 
 about forty miles in the rear of the Indian encampment. 
 
 At another time, he reached Bean's station, the rendez- 
 vous of a party with whbm he was to cross the wilderness, 
 
32 LIFE OF JACKSOX. 
 
 on the evening after they had left. Determined to overtake 
 them, he employed a guide well acquainted with Indian 
 signs and stratagems, and travelled all night. Just before 
 day, they came to the fires where the party had en(»amped 
 the first part of the night. Following on, they soon dis- 
 covered, by the trail in the road, that a party of Indians, 
 about twenty-two in number, were in pursuit of their 
 friends ahead. They hastened forward rapidly, until they 
 approached so near the Indians that the water, which the 
 weight of their tread had pressed out of the rotten logs, 
 was not yet dry. The guide now refused to proceed ; 
 hut Jackson resolved to save his friends, or, at least, hazard 
 his life in the attempt. Dividing provisions, he and his 
 guide proceeded in opposite directions, Jackson cautiously 
 advancing, and watching the tracks of the Indians. At 
 length he saw where they had turned off to the right, 
 probably for the purpose of getting ahead of the party, 
 and attacking them from ambush, or falling upon them in 
 the night. The danger was imminent, and pressing on 
 with increased speed, he overtook his friends before dark. 
 Having crossed a stream which was very deep and partly 
 frozen over, they had halted and kindled fires, at which 
 they were drying their clothes and baggage. Warned of 
 their danger, they immediately resumed their march, and 
 continued it without intermission, during the whole night 
 and the next day. The sky was overcast with clouds, 
 and in the evening it began to snow. While upon the 
 route, they arrived at the log cabins of a party of hunters, 
 and requested shelter and protection ; but, contrary to 
 their expectations, for such churlishness was unusual 
 among men of their class, they were rudely refused. The 
 party were therefore compelled to bivouac in the forest. 
 Jackson was wearied with his fatiguing march, and as he 
 had not closed his eyes for two nights, he wrapped him- 
 self in his blanket, and laid down upon the ground, where 
 he slept soundly. When he awoke in the morning, he 
 found himself covered with six inches of snow. 
 
 The party resumed their march, and reached their des- 
 tination in safety ; but they afterwards learned that the 
 
ESTABLISHES HIMSELF AT NASHVILLE. 33 
 
 hunters, who had refused them the hospitality of their 
 cabins, had been murdered by the Indians. 
 
 In the course of his frequent professional visits made 
 from Jonesboroug-h to the settlement on the Cumberland, 
 the advantages of Nashville as a suitable locality in which 
 to establish himself, attracted Jackson's notice, and he con- 
 cluded to make it his future place of residence. It had 
 not been his original intention to locate permanently in 
 Tennessee. His visit was merely experimental, and his 
 stay remained to be determined by the prospect that might 
 be disclosed : but finding, soon after his arrival, that a con- 
 siderable opening was offered for the success of a young 
 attorney, he decided to remain. To a person of refined feel- 
 ings, the condition of things was far from encouraging. As 
 must be the case in all newly settled countries, society was 
 loosely formed, and united by but few of those ties which 
 have a tendency to enforce the performance of moral duty, 
 and the execution of strict and impartial justice. The 
 young men of the place, who were adventurers from dif- 
 ferent sections of the union, had become deeply indebted 
 to the merchants. There was but one lawyer in the 
 country, and they had so contrived as to retain him in 
 their business ; the consequence was, that the merchants 
 were entirely deprived of the means of enforcing against 
 those gentlemen the execution of their contracts. In this 
 state of things, Jackson made his appearance at Nashville, 
 and, while the creditor class looked to it with great satis- 
 faction, the debtors were sorely displeased. Applications 
 were immediately made to him for his professional ser- 
 vices, and on the morning after his arival, he issued 
 seventy writs. To those prodigal gentlemen it was an 
 alarming circumstance ; their former security was im- 
 paired ; but that it might not wholly depart, they deter- 
 mined to force him, in some way or other, to leave the 
 country ; and to effect this, broils and quarrels with him 
 were resorted to. 
 
 In the state of society then existing in Tennessee, there 
 
 was a grade of men who prided themselves on their 
 
 courage and prowess, as mere bullies, and were always 
 
 ready, like the brute beast, to decide the question of su- 
 
 2^^ 
 
34 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 periority, by a fight. Equals in standing, who hated, but 
 dared not encounter the fearless Jackson, stimulated this 
 class of men to attack, in the hope of degrading, if they 
 could not destroy, him. The first man set upon him, with 
 scarcely a pretence of provocation, was a flax-breaker of 
 great strength and courage, whom he soon reduced to 
 submission with his own winding-blades, the only weapon 
 within his reach. His next encounter was at a court ia 
 Sumner county, with a noted bully whom he did not 
 know. While he was conversing with a gentleman, on 
 business, the bully approached, and without saying a 
 word, placed his heels on Jackson's feet. Pushing him 
 off, Jackson seized a slab, and with a forward thrust upon 
 the breast, brought him to the ground. The interference 
 of the crowd put an end to the conflict ; but the baflled 
 bully, snatching a stake from the fence, again approached 
 with dreadful imprecations. At the earnest entreaty of 
 Jackson, the crowd retired from between them. Poising 
 his slab, he then advanced, with a firm step and steady 
 eye, upon his antagonist, who dropped his stake at his 
 approach, jumped over the fence, and ran into the woods. 
 
 These attempts to intimidate Jackson in the perform- 
 ance of what he conceived to be his duty to bis cHents, 
 were found wholly unavailing, and were soon abandoned. 
 His enemies were convinced by the first controversy in 
 which they had involved him, that his decision and firm- 
 ness were such as to leave no hope of effecting any thing 
 through this channel. Disregarding the opposition mani- 
 fested towards him, he continued, with care and industry, 
 to press forward in his professional course ; and his atten- 
 tion soon brought him forward, and introduced him to a 
 profitable practice. The western district of North Caro- 
 lina having been ceded to the national government, an 
 erected into a territory, in 1790, Jackson was appointed, bj 
 president Washington, the United States attorney for the 
 new judicial district, in which capacity he continued to 
 act for several years. 
 
 The depredations committed by the Indians, in the vici- 
 nity of the Cumberland river, about this time, compelled 
 every man, of necessity, to become a soldier. Unassisted 
 
INDIAN DEPREDATIONS. J^5 
 
 by the government, the settlers were forced to rely, for 
 security, on their own bravery and exertions. Although 
 young, no person was more distinguished than Andrew 
 Jackson, in defending the country against these predatory 
 incursions of the savages, who continually harassed the 
 frontiers, and not unfrequently approached the heart of 
 the settlements, which were thin, but not widely extended. 
 Frequent expeditions were undertaken from Nashville 
 against them, in most of which he took part. This state 
 of things continued until 1794, when a large party, among 
 whom was Jackson, attacked and destroyed the Indian 
 town of Nickajak, near the Tennessee river. In these 
 affairs, his courage and gallantry were so conspicuous, 
 that the red warriors gave him the appellation of "Sharp 
 Knife," and the hardy hunters who accompanied him 
 were proud of his friendship and esteem. 
 
 When Jackson first located himself in Nashville, he 
 boarded, in company with the late Jud^e Overton, in the 
 family of Mrs. Donelson, a widow lady who had emigrated 
 from Virginia, first to Kentucky, and afterwards to Nash- 
 ville. Mrs. Robards, her daughter, who afterwards be- 
 came the wife of Jackson, was then living in the familj' 
 with her mother, whom sli* had follov/ed to Tennessee, 
 on account of the ill treatment which she had received at 
 the hands of her husband, who was dissipated in his ha- 
 bits and of a morose and jealous disposition, while she, 
 on the contrary, was celebrated for her gayet}^ sweetness, 
 and affability. A short time before Jackson became an 
 inmate of the family, a reconciliation had taken place be- 
 tween Robards and his wife'; but a second rupture afterwards 
 occurred, and Robards went to Kentucky. His wife soon 
 learned that he intended to compel her to accompany him, 
 and, in the spring of 1791, with the advice of her friends, 
 she determined to descend the river as far as Natchez, in 
 company with Colonel Stark, who was then making pre- 
 parations for the voyage. At the earnest request of Colo- 
 nel Stark, Jackson piloted his family through the Indian 
 country. After his return, Judge Overton communicated 
 to him the astounding intelligence, that he was the uncon- 
 
do LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 scious cause of the last separation ; that it arose from Ro- 
 bards' jealousy of him ; and that the circumstance of his 
 accompanying Colonel Stark, who was an elderly man, and 
 apprehensive of danger, had been seized upon by Robards 
 as a ground of divorce, in a petition to the Virginia legis 
 lature. 
 
 The thought that an innocent woman was suffering so 
 unjustly on his account, made Jackson's sensitive mind 
 most uneasy and unhappy. He immediately sought out 
 Robards and expostulated with him, on the injustice and 
 cruelty of his causeless suspicion ; but the interview ended 
 in mutual defiances. At length news came that the Vir- 
 ginia legislature had actually granted the divorce in ac^ 
 cordance with Robards' petition. Forthwith Jackson has- 
 tened to Natchez, and offered his hand and his heart to the 
 innocent and amiable woman, who had been made so un- 
 happy by false and unfounded accusations, in order that 
 he might give the-world the highest evidence in his power 
 of her entire innocence. 
 
 Although free to form a new connection, Mrs. Robards 
 dechned the proffered oiler. But her suitor was not to be 
 denied. His feelings were warmly enhsted in her favor. 
 His attachment for her was ardent and sincere, and when 
 he addressed her in the language of Ruth to Naomi : 
 " Entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following 
 after thee, for where thou goest I will go, where thou 
 lodgest I will lodge, thy people shall be my people, and 
 thy God my God ; where thou diest I will die, and there 
 will I be buried," she found herself unable to resist his 
 importunities, and they were soon after married and re- 
 turned to Tennessee. On arriving there, it was discovered 
 that all the necessary forms to complete the divorce in 
 Virginia had not b^en finished at the time of the marriage; 
 consequently the ceremony was again performed after 
 their arrival at Nashville. The attachment thus consum- 
 mated was a source of unfailing pleasure to Andrew Jack- 
 son. He was devotedly fond of his wife ; after her decease 
 he cherished her memory with an almost holy reverence ; 
 and he refused the sarcophagus of the Emperor Severus, 
 
CHOSEN A SENATOR IN CONGRESS. 37 
 
 that he might not be denied the privilege of being buried 
 by her side.* 
 
 In the year 1796, measures were taken by the people 
 of Tennessee to form a state government. The acknow- 
 ledged talents, patriotism, and decision of character, of 
 Andrew Jackson were not to be overlooked on such an 
 occasion, and without solicitation on his part, he was 
 elected one of the members of the convention to frame a 
 state constitution. His good conduct and zeal for the 
 public interest, and the republican feelings and sentiments 
 which were conspicuously manifested in the formation and 
 arrangement of this instrument, brought him more pro- 
 minently to view ; and, without proposing or soliciting 
 the office, he was in the same year elected a member of 
 the House of Representatives in Congress, for the state 
 of Tennessee. The following year, his reputation con- 
 tinuing to increase, and his constituents generally concur- 
 ring in the wish to elevate him to still higher honors, he 
 was chosen a senator in Congress, and took his seat on the 
 22d day of November, 1797. About the middle of April, 
 1798, business of an important and private nature im- 
 posed on him the necessity of asking leave of absence, 
 and retuiTiing home. Leave was granted, and before the 
 next session he resigned his seat. He was but little more 
 than thirty years of age ; and hence scarcely eligible by the 
 constitution, at the time he was elected. The sedition law, 
 about which so much concern and feeling had been mani- 
 fested through the country, was introduced into the senate 
 by Mr. Lloyd, of Maryland, in June, 1798, and passed 
 that body on the 4th of July following ; hence the name 
 of Jackson, owing to his absence from his seat, does not 
 appear on the journals. At the time of the passage of 
 the alien law, and the effort to repeal the stamp act, he 
 was present, and voted with the minority, in accordance 
 with his well-known republican sentiments. 
 
 Shortly after his resignation of the office of senator, the 
 legislature of Tennessee, most unexpectedly to himself, 
 conferred upon him the appointment of judge of the Su- 
 
 * See page 373. 
 
 wii 
 
38 LIFE OF JACKSOX. 
 
 preme Court, a station which he accepted with reluctance, 
 and from which he withdrew at an early day. His first 
 court was held at Jonesborough, where an incident oc- 
 curred, illustrative ahke of the rudeness of the times .and 
 the firmness of the new judge : 
 
 A man named Russell Bean was indicted for cutting off 
 the ears of his infant child in a drunken frolic. He was 
 in the courtyard ; but such was his strength and ferocity, 
 that the sheriff, not daring to approach him, made a return 
 to the court that " Russell Bean will not be taken." Judge 
 Jackson, with his pecuhar emphasis, said that such a re- 
 turn was an absurdity, and could not be received. " He 
 must be taken," said the judge, " and, if necessary, you 
 must summon the posse comitaius.'^'' The mortified 
 sheriff retired, and waiting until the court adjourned for 
 dinner, summoned the judges themselves, as part of the 
 posse. Conceiving that the object of the sheriff' was to 
 avoid a dangerous service, under cover of the judges' re- 
 fusal to obey the summons. Judge Jackson instantly replied, 
 " Yes, sir, I will attend you, and see that you do your 
 duty." Learning that Bean was armed, he requested a 
 loaded pistol, which was put into his hand. He then 
 said to the sheriff': "Advance and arrest him ; I will pro- 
 tect you from harm.". Bean, armed with a dirk and brace 
 of pistols, assumed an attitude of defiance and despera- 
 tion. But when the judge drew near, he began to retreat. 
 "Stop and submit to the law," cried the judge. The cul- 
 prit stopped, threw down his pistols, and replied, "I will 
 surrender to you, sir, but to no one else." This exem- 
 plary firmness and decision of Judge Jackson, in main- 
 taining the supremacy of the law, produced a happy 
 change in the conduct of the turbulent spirits of the vi- 
 cinity. 
 
 General Jackson was distinguished throughout his whol 
 life for a remarkable fidelity to his friends. This trait in 
 his character was strikingly exhibited in the progress of a 
 serious difficulty between Governor Sevier and himself, 
 which took place in 1803. A misunderstanding arose 
 between Jackson and his former friend, Judge McNairy, 
 growing out of the agency of the latter in the removal of 
 
FIRMNESS AND DECISION AS A JUDGE. 39 
 
 General Robertson, one of the oldest and most respected 
 citizens of tlie state, from the office of agent for the Chicka- 
 saw Indians. One of the consequences of that removal 
 was, that a Mr. Searcy, who had emigrated to the country 
 with them, and continued their steadfast friend, lost his 
 office as clerk to the agency, on which he depended for 
 support. Not perceiving any public reasons requiring 
 this removal, Jackson remonstrated with McNairy on the 
 course he had pursued. An altercation ensued, which 
 produced an alienation never entirely obliterated. This 
 incident added the weight of a respectable and powerful 
 family to the hostile interests already arrayed against him. 
 Among others who became inimical towards him on 
 this account, was John Sevier, governor of the state. 
 Sevier was very popular, and being a candidate for re- 
 election, in 1803, his exasperation against General Jackson 
 was imbibed, in the course of the canvass, by the power- 
 ful party which supported him. In East Tennessee it 
 had arisen to a high pitch ; and while on his way to 
 Jonesborough to hold his court, in the fall of 1803, he was 
 informed that a combination had been organized to mob 
 him on his arrival. It had no effect but to increase his 
 anxiety to reach his destination. Having been sick on 
 the road, he pushed forward while scarcely able to sit on 
 his horse, and on his arrival at Jonesborough could not 
 dismount without assistance. Having a high fever upon 
 him, he retired immediately to his room, and lay down 
 upon the bed. In a short time a friend called, and in- 
 formed him that a regiment of men, headed by Colonel 
 Harrison, had assembled to tar and feather him, and 
 begged him to lock his door. He immediately rose, threw 
 the door wide open, and said to his friend, "Give my 
 compliments to Colonel Harrison, and tell him my door is 
 open to receive him and his regiment whenever they 
 choose to wait upon me ; and I hope the colonel's chivalry 
 will induce him to lead his men, and not follow them." 
 Upon the delivery of his message, the mob dispersed ; 
 and having apologized for the inconsiderate violence of 
 his conduct, Harrison remained ever after on good terms 
 with General Jackson. 
 
40 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 His next court was at Knoxville, where the legislature 
 was then in session. They had entered into an investi- 
 gation of certain land frauds which Jackson had done much 
 to defeat, and there was some evidence tending to impli- 
 cate the governor, who consequently became still more 
 highly exasperated, and determined to revenge himself. 
 As Judge Jackson left the court-house on the first day of 
 his court, he found a crowd in front, in the midst of which, 
 stood Governor Sevier, with his sword in his hand, ha 
 ranguing them in a loud voice. As Jackson advanced, 
 the governor turned upon him ; and an altercation en- 
 sued, in which insults were given and retorted. Being 
 repeatedly defied by the governor to meet him in single 
 combat, the general sent him a challenge, which was ac- 
 cepted. But in consequence of difficulties on the part of 
 the challenged party, as to the time and place of meeting, 
 the general pubhshed him in the usual form. It was then 
 understood, without any formal arrangement, that they 
 would meet at a place called Southwest Point, within the 
 Indian boundary. Thither the general repaired with a 
 single friend. Having waited a couple of days, without 
 seeing or hearing of the governor, he resolved to return to 
 Knoxville, and bring the quarrel to a close. He had not 
 proceeded a mile, however, when he saw the governor 
 approaching, escorted by about twenty men. He had 
 already prepared another note to the governor, setting 
 forth his manifold grievances, and halting in the road, he 
 sent his friend forward to deliver it. The governor re- 
 fused to receive it. Out of patience with what he con- 
 ceived to be an aggravation of former indignities, the 
 general resolved to end the matter on the spot. He was 
 armed with a brace of pistols at his saddle-bow, and a 
 cane ; the governor with a brace of pistols and a sword. 
 Advancing slowly until within one hundred yards of the 
 governor, he levelled his cane as ancient knights did their 
 spears, put spurs to his horse, and charged upon his an- 
 tagonist. Astounded at this bold and unexpected move- 
 ment, the governor's friends had not presence of mind 
 enough to interpose ; and the governor himself, dismount- 
 ing to avoid the shock, trod on the scabbard of his sword, 
 
RETIRES TO PRIVATE LIFE. ' 41 
 
 and was rendered incapable of resistance. A rally of his 
 attendants prevented any very serious mischief. In the 
 governor's party were gentlemen who were as much the 
 friends of General Jackson asof himself ; and through their 
 intercession, all further hostile intentions were abandoned, 
 and the parties rode on some miles together. 
 
 On the admission of Tennessee into the union, it com- 
 prised one military division. The death of Major-general 
 Conway, which occurred about this time, created a va- 
 cancy in the office, which was filled by the election of 
 Jackson. This was the only public station he filled for a 
 number of years, as, in 1804, he sent in his resignation 
 of the judgeship to the legislature, which was accepted in 
 July, about six years after his original appointment. He 
 always distrusted his own abilities as a judge, and was quitQ 
 willing that others should discharge its intricate and re- 
 sponsible duties. Unambitious of obtaining those distinc- 
 tions and honors, which young men are usually proud to 
 possess, and finding too that his circumstances and con- 
 dition in life were not such as to permit his time and at- 
 tention to be devoted to public matters, he determined to 
 yield them into other hands, and to devote himself to 
 agricultural pursuits. He accordingly settled himself on 
 an excellent farm, ten miles from Nashville, on the Cum- 
 berland river, where for several years he enjoyed all the 
 comforts of domestic and social intercourse. Abstracted 
 from the busy scenes of pubhc life, pleased with retire- 
 ment, surrounded by friends whom he loved, and who 
 entertained for him the highest veneration and respect, 
 and blessed with an amiable and affectionate wife, nothing 
 seemed wanting to the completion of that happiness which 
 he so anxiously desired while in office. 
 
^ LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1804. Fondness of General Jackson for horses — Duel with Dickinson 
 — Forms a mercantile partnership — Pecuniary difficulties — Adven- 
 ture with the Choctaw agent — Affray with Colonel Benton — Their 
 subsequent friendship for each other — Hostilities with Great Britain 
 —Declaration of war in 1812 — Jackson raises a volunteer force— 
 Their services accepted by government — Ordered to embark for 
 Natchez — Arrival of the troops, and order to disband them — His 
 disobedience of orders — Attempt of General Wilkinson to prevent 
 the return of the volunteers — Object of the order — Jackson's de- 
 cision exhibited — Shares the privations of the soldiers on their home- 
 ward march — Return, and disbandment of his force. 1813. 
 
 General Jackson had a strong passion for fine horses, 
 and it became a principal branch of his farming business, 
 to raise them from the best blooded stock imported from 
 Virginia and North CaroHna. The enthusiasm of his 
 character displayed itself in his attachment to favorite 
 animals he had raised, and perhaps no man in the west- 
 ern country was equally successful in that branch of agri- 
 cultural pursuits. More for the purpose of exhibiting his 
 stock and recommending it to purchasers, than to indulge 
 in the practices common at such places, he brought out 
 his favorite horses upon the race-courses of the day, and, 
 though not a sportsman, in the technical sense of the term, 
 he lost and won in many a well-contested field. An occa- 
 sion of this sort, however, led to one of the most unfor- 
 tunate incidents of his hfe. 
 
 He owned a favorite horse, named Truxton, which 1 
 was challenged to run against a horse owned by a Mr. 
 Erwin and his son-in-law, Charles Dickinson. The stakes 
 were to be two 'thousand dollars on a side, in cash notes, 
 with a forfeiture of eight hundred dollars. The bet was 
 accepted, and a list of notes made out; but when the time 
 for running arrived, Erwin and Dickinson chose to pay the 
 
DUEL WITH DICKINSON. 43 
 
 forfeit. Erwin offered sundry notes not due, withholding 
 the list which was in the hands of Dickinson. Jackson 
 refused to receive them, and demanded the list, claiming 
 the right to select from the notes described upon it. The list 
 was produced, a selection made, and the affair satisfacto- 
 rily adjusted. Afterwards a rumor reached Dickinson, that 
 General Jackson charged Erwin with producing a list of 
 lotes different from the true one. In an interview between 
 ackson and Dickinson, the former denied the statement, 
 and the latter gave his author. Jackson instantly proposed 
 to call him in ; but Dickinson declined. Meeting with the 
 author shortly after, Jackson had an altercation with him, 
 which ended in blows. Here the affair ought to have 
 ended. But there were those who desired to produce a 
 duel between Jackson and Dickinson. The latter was 
 brave and reckless, a trader in blacks and blooded horses, 
 and reputed to be the best shot in the country. A quar- 
 rel with such a man as General Jackson was flattering to 
 his pride, and officious friends were not wanting to take 
 advantage of the weakness of the one party, and the in- 
 flexibility of the other, in order to push matters to extremi- 
 ties. Exasperation was produced ; publication followed 
 pubHcation ; insults were given and retorted ; until, at 
 length. General Jackson was informed that a paper, more 
 severe than its predecessors, was in the hands of the 
 printer, and that Dickinson was about to leave the state. 
 He flew to Nashville, and demanded a sight of it in the 
 printer's hands. It was msulting m the highest degree, 
 contained a direct imputation of cowardice, and concluded 
 with a notice that the author would leave for Maryland, 
 within the coming week. A stern challenge, demanding 
 immediate satisfaction, was the consequence. The chal- 
 lenge was given on the 23d of May, and Dickinson's pub- 
 lication appeared the next morning. Jackson pressed for 
 an instant meeting ; but it was postponed, at the request 
 of the other parly, until the 80th, at which time it was 
 to take place, at Harrison's Mills, on Red River, within 
 the limits of Kentucky. Dickinson occupied the inter- 
 mediate time in practicing; and his ferocious boasts, how 
 often he had hit the general chalked out on a tree, and his 
 
 ,^ 
 
44 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 tinfeeling offers to bet that he would kill him at the ap- 
 proaching meeting, being duly communicated, had an 
 effect upon his antagonist which can be better conceived 
 lan described. Jackson went upon the ground firmly 
 mpressed with the conviction that his Hfe was eagerly 
 sought, and in the expectation of losing it, but with a de- 
 termination which such a conviction naturally inspired in 
 a bosom that never knew fear. At the word, Dickinson 
 fired, and the dust Avas seen lo fly from Jackson's clothes; 
 the next instant, the latter fired, and Dickinson fell. Jack- 
 son, with his friend and surgeon, left the ground, and had 
 travelled about tvi^enty miles towards home, when his at- 
 tendant first discovered that the general was wounded, by 
 seeing the blood oozing through his clothes. On examina- 
 tion, it was found that Dickinson's ball had buried itself 
 in his breast, and shattered two of his ribs near their arti- 
 culation with the breastbone. It was some weeks before 
 he was able to attend to business. Dickinson was taken 
 to a neighbouring house, where he survived but a few 
 hours. 
 
 The friends of Dickinson, and the enemies of Jackson, 
 circulated charges of unfairness in the fight, bat ihe-^o 
 were soon put down,' in the estimation of candid and mi- 
 partial judges, by the certificates of the seconds, that all 
 Lad been done according to the previous understanding 
 between the parties, and proof that Dickinson himself, 
 though able to converse, never uttered a single word of 
 complaint before his death. 
 
 The firmness and steadiness of nerve exhibited by Ge- 
 neral Jackson on this occasion, have often been the subject 
 of commendation, even among those who do not hesitate 
 to condemn, in decided terms, the inexcusable practice, 
 which was then not only tolerated, but actually encou- 
 raged, in that section of the country. There are many 
 brave men who can look danger in the face, without the 
 change of a muscle ; but there are few who can ^take a 
 sure aim, at the moment when they are conscious of being 
 severely wounded. Not a man on the ground, except 
 General Jackson himself, knew that he had received a 
 wound ; and every muscle was as quiet, and his hand as 
 
ADVENTURE WITH THE CHOCTAW AGENT. 45 
 
 Steady, as if he had not known it himself. The stern pur- 
 pose which might in part have nerved him, was best de- 
 soribed by himself, when a friend expressed astonishment 
 at his self-command: "Sir," said he, "I should have 
 killed him, if he had shot me through the brain." 
 
 Not long after this occurrence, General Jackson entered 
 into partnership with a merchant in Nashville. He took 
 no active part in the business himself, and their affairs 
 were conducted for some time, without his having any 
 more than a general knowledge of what was going on. 
 Circumstances, however, soon attracted his attention, which 
 led him to suspect that all was not right. He promptly 
 demanded a full investigation, which resulted in the dis- 
 covery that his partner, in whose fidelity and capacity he 
 had reposed the most implicit confidence, had involved him 
 for many thousand dollars, over and above what could be 
 satisfied out of the partnership property. With a prompt- 
 itude which did him great honor, he sold his fine planta- 
 tion, paid off his debts with the proceeds of the sale, and 
 retired into a log-cabin to begin the world anew. His ex- 
 traordinary energy and perseverance, and the rigid system 
 of economy he adopted, enabled him in a few years to 
 recover from his embarrassments, and to be once more com- 
 fortable in the world. 
 
 In the year 1811, General Jackson had occasion to visit 
 Natchez, in the territory of Mississippi, for the purpose of 
 bringing up a number of blacks, a part of whom had be- 
 come his property in consequence of having been secun'ty 
 for a friend, and the remainder were hands which had 
 been employed by a nephew, in the neighborhood of that 
 place. The road led through the country inhabited by 
 the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians, and the station of the 
 agent for the Choctaws was upon it. On reaching the 
 agency, he found seven or eight families of emigrants, nnd 
 two members of the Mississippi legislative council, detained 
 there, under the pretence that it was necessary for them 
 to havt passports from the governor of Mississippi. One 
 of their number had been sent forward to procure them. 
 In the mean time, the emigrants were buying corn fr^m 
 the agent, at an extravagant price, and splitting rails for 
 
46 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 him at a very moderate one. Indignant at the wrong in- 
 flicted on the emigrants, he reproached the members of 
 the council for submitting to the detention, and asked the 
 agent how he dared to demand a pass from a free Ame- 
 rican, travelling on a pubUc road. The agent replied, by- 
 inquiring, with much temper, whether he had a pass. 
 " Yes, sir," rejoined the general, " I always carry mine 
 with me : I am a free-born American citizen ; and tha 
 is a passport all over the world." He then directed th 
 emigrants to gear up their wagons, and if any one at- 
 tempted to obstruct them, to shoot him down as a highway 
 robber. vSetting them the example, he continued his jour- 
 ney, regardless of the threats of the agent. 
 
 After concluding his business, he was informed that the 
 agent had collected about fifty white men and one hundred 
 Indians, to stop him on his return, unless he produced a 
 passport. Though advised by his friends to procure one, 
 he refused to do so ; stating that no American citizen 
 should ever be subjected to the insult and indignity of 
 procuring a pass, to enable him to travel a pubhc highway 
 in his own country. Like all travellers among the In- 
 dians, at that time, he was armed with a brace of pistols; 
 and having added a rifle, and another pistol, he commenced 
 his return journey. When within a few miles of the 
 agency, he was informed by a friend who had gone for- 
 ward to reconnoitre, that the agent had his force in readi- 
 ness to stop him. He directed his friend to advance again, 
 and tell the agent, that if he attempted to stop him, it 
 would be at the peril of his life. He then put his blacks 
 in order, and armed them with axes and clubs ; at the 
 same time telling them not to stop unless directed by him, 
 and if any one offered to oppose them, to cut him down. 
 Riding by their side, he approached the station, when the 
 agent appeared, and asked him whether he meant to stop 
 and show his passport. Jackson replied : " That depends 
 on circumstances. I am told that you mean to stop me 
 by force ; whoever attempts such a thing will not have 
 long to hve ;" and with a look that was not to be mistaken, 
 he grasped his bridle with a firmer grip. His determined 
 manner had such an effect, that the agent declared he had 
 
 i 
 
AFFRAY WITH COLONEL BENTON. 47 
 
 iio intention of stopping him, and he and his party were 
 suffered to pass on, without further molestation or inter- 
 ruption. He afterwards reported the conduct of the agent 
 to the government, and he was dismissed from his agency. 
 
 After the return of General Jackson from Natchez, he 
 was called upon by his friend, the late Governor Carroll, 
 to act as his second, in an affair of honor with a brother of 
 Colonel Thomas H. Benton, for so many years the distin- 
 guished representative of the state of Missouri, in the 
 senate of the United States. In the duel, Mr. Benton was 
 severely wounded. The colonel, who had long been on 
 terms of friendly intimacy with Jackson, thought that the 
 latter acted ungenerously, in taking such a part against 
 his kinsman, and expressed himself accordingly in a let- 
 ter addressed to him. General Jackson, however, felt 
 himself bound by the relations which had existed between 
 Governor Carroll and himself, to perform the act of friend- 
 ship which he required, and replied to that effect, in very 
 pointed terms. The angry correspondence that ensued 
 only widened the breach, and it ended in a fight at a pub- 
 lic-house in Nashville, in which Jackson's left arm was 
 shattered by a pistol shot. For several years afterwards, 
 both gentlemen appeared to cherish feelings of animosity 
 towards each other, but the political associations of a later 
 day united them together in the bonds of a sincere and 
 constant friendship. The many noble traits in the cha- 
 racter of Andrew Jackson elicited the warmest admiration 
 and respect of Colonel Benton, while the former was proud 
 to manifest his attachment to one of the firmest and ablest 
 supporters of his administration. 
 
 The repose of Jackson, and the pleasures he had en- 
 joyed in*his quiet home, were now destined to be termi- 
 nated by the public exigencies, which compelled him to 
 abandon the peaceful pursuits of agriculture for the ha- 
 rassing cares and anxieties of a military career. The 
 difficulties between the United States and Great BHtain, 
 which had originated with the adoption of the Orders in 
 Council, and the passage of the Embargo Act, in 1807, had 
 long threatened to disturb the peace of the two countries. 
 In the spring of 1811, affairs began to assume a most 
 
48 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 threatening aspect. On the first of March, the American 
 minister, Mr. Pinckney, took a formal leave of the Prince 
 Regent, in obedience to the instructions of his government. 
 Active preparations were at once made for the commence- 
 ment of hostilities. Privateers were fitted out in every 
 harbor, and throughout the whole extent of the Union, 
 there prevailed a strong feehng of indignation at the re- 
 pealed wrongs and injuries which our countrymen had 
 endured from the Enghsh government. The war-spirit 
 was aroused, and, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, 
 there glowed a strong and manly enthusiasm which bounded 
 to defend the honor of the nation, and maintain, at any 
 sacrifice, the " searchless shelter" of their flag. In accord- 
 ance with the decided expressions of public sentiment, the 
 American Congress passed an act, in the month of Feb- 
 ruary, 1812, authorizing the president to accept the ser- 
 vices of a large volunteer force. On the 20th day of June 
 war was declared against Great Britain, and in July fol 
 lowing, a second act was passed, making further provisions 
 for caUing out fifty thousand volunteers. 
 
 At this time. General Jackson was living happily on his 
 farm, and, though only forty-five years of age, he had re- 
 tired, as he thought, for ever, from ail participation in 
 public affairs. But the fire of that true and devoted pa- 
 triotism which never ceased to glow in his bosom, needed 
 but the quickening spark, to cause it to revive with all the 
 fervor of youth. He was roused by -the insults that had 
 been so repeatedly offered to his country, by the wrongs 
 inflicted upon her citizens, and by the bitter recollections 
 connected with the death of his mother and his two bro- 
 thers. He could recall the many horrid tales, to which 
 he had listened, of English cruelty and oppression in the 
 birth-place of his ancestors. There was also that scar on 
 his hand, inflicted by a British officer, who had aimed a 
 blow at his life because he had refused to clean the dirt 
 from*«his boots ; that scar remained to keep his virtuous 
 resentment alive, even if he could otherwise have for- 
 gotten the injuries of his native land, the wrongs of Ire- 
 land, and the extermination of every relative in the 
 world. 
 
RAISES A VOLUNTEER FORCE. 49 
 
 Jackson did not seek a command in the regular army, 
 but immediately issued a spirited address to the citizens 
 of his division, calling upon them to unite with him in 
 protecting- the rights and the honor of the repubhc. In a 
 few days twenty-five hundred volunteers flocked to his 
 standard, ready to follow wheresoever he might see fit to 
 lead them. A tender of their services having been made 
 to the general government, and the offer accepted, he re 
 ceived orders in November, 1812, to place himself at their 
 head and to descend the Mississippi, for the defence of the 
 lower country, which was then supposed to be in danger. 
 Accordingly, on the 10th of December, 1812, the men 
 under his command rendezvoused at Nashville, prepared 
 to advance to the place of their destination ; and although 
 the weather was then excessively severe, and the ground 
 covered with snow, no troops could have displayed greater 
 firmness. The general was everywhere with them, in- 
 spiring them with the ardor that animated his own bosom. 
 The cheerful spirit with which they submitted to hard- 
 ships and bore privations, at the very outset of their mili- 
 tary life, as well as the order and subordination they 
 so readily observed, were happy presages of what was 
 to be expected when they should be directed to face an 
 enemy. 
 
 Having procured supplies, and made the necessary 
 arrangements for an active campaign, the volunteers com- 
 menced their journey on the 7th of January, 1813, and 
 descending the Ohio and Mississippi through cold and 
 ice, arrived and halted at Natchez. Here Jackson had 
 been instructed to remain until he should receive further 
 orders. Having chosen a healthy site for the encamp- 
 ment of his troops, he devoted his time with the utmost 
 industry, to training and preparing them for active service. 
 The clouds of war in that quarter having temporarily 
 blown over, an order was received, soon after his arrival, 
 from the Secretary of War, dated the 5th of January, 1818, 
 directing him, on the receipt thereof, to dismiss the men 
 under his command from service, and to take measures 
 for delivering over every article of public property in his 
 possession to Brigadier-General Wilkinson. 
 3 
 
50 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 When this order reached the camp of General Jackson, 
 there were one hundred and fifty men on the sick report, 
 fifty-six of whom were unable to rise from their beds, and 
 almost the whole number were without the means of de- 
 fraying the expenses of their return. The consequence 
 of a strict compliance with the Secretary's order, would 
 inevitably have been, that many of the sick must have 
 perished, while most of the others, from their destitute 
 condition, would, of necessity, have been compelled to 
 enlist in the regular army, under General Wilkinson. 
 Such alternatives were neither congenial with their ge- 
 neral's wishes, nor such as they had expected, on ad- 
 venturing with him in the service of their country. He 
 had taken them from home, and he regarded it as a solemn 
 duty to bring them back. Whether an expectation that, 
 by this plan, many of them would be forced into the 
 regular ranks, had formed any part of- the motive that 
 occasioned the order for their discharge, at so great a dis- 
 tance from home, cannot be known ; and it would be un- 
 charitable to insinuate against the government so serious 
 an accusation, without the strongest evidence to support 
 it. Be this as it may. General Jackson could not think 
 of sacrificing, or injuring, an army that had shown such 
 devotedness to their country ; and he determined to dis- 
 regard the order, and march them again to their homes, 
 where they had been embodied, rather than to discharge 
 them where they would be exposed to the greatest hard- 
 ships and dangers. To this measure he was prompted, 
 not only by the reasons already mentioned, but by the 
 consideration that many of them were young men, the 
 children of his neighbors and acquaintances, who had de^ 
 livered them into his hands, as to a guardian, with the ex- 
 pectation that he would watch over and protect them. 
 To have abandoned them, therefore, at such a time, and 
 under such circumstances, would have drawn on him the 
 merited censure of the most deserving part of his fellow- 
 citizens, and deeply wounded his own generous feehngs. 
 In addition to this, the young men who were confined by 
 sickness, learning the nature of the order he had received, 
 implored him, with tears in their eyes, not to abandon 
 
DISOBEDIENCE OF ORDERS. 51 
 
 them in so great an extremity, and reminded him, at the 
 same time, of his assurance that he would be to them as a 
 father, and of the implicit confidence they had placed in 
 his word. This was an appeal which it would have been 
 difficult for Jackson to have resisted, had he been inclined 
 to disregard other considerations ; but influenced by them 
 all, he had no hesitation in coming to a determination. 
 * Having made known his resolution to the field-officers 
 f his division, it apparently met their approbation ; but 
 after retiring from his presence, they assembled late at 
 night, in secret caucus, and proceeded to recommend to 
 him an abandonment of his purpose, and an immediate 
 discharge of the troops. Great as was the astonishment 
 which this movement excited in the general, it produced 
 a still stronger feehng of indignation. In reply, he 
 urged the duplicity of their conduct, and reminded them 
 that although to those who possessed money and health, 
 such a course could produce no inconvenience, yet to the 
 unfortunate soldier, who was alike destitute of both, no 
 measure could be more calamitous. He concluded, by 
 telling them, that his resolution, not having been hastily 
 concluded on, nor founded on light considerations, was 
 unalterably fixed ; and that immediate preparations must 
 be made for carrying into execution the determination he 
 had formed. 
 
 He lost no time in making known to the Secretary of 
 War the resolution^ he had adopted, to disregard the order 
 he had received, and to return his army to the place where 
 he had received it. He painted, in strong terms, the evils 
 which the course pursued by the government was calcu- 
 lated to produce, and expressed the astonishment he felt, 
 that it should ever have been seriously determined on. 
 
 General Wilkinson, to whom the public stores were 
 directed to be delivered, learning the determination which 
 had been taken by Jackson to march his troops back, and 
 to take with them such articles as might be necessary for 
 their return, in a letter of solemn and mysterious import, 
 admonished him of the consequences which were before 
 him, and of the awful and dangerous responsibility he was 
 taking on himself by so bold a measure. General Jack- 
 
B2 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 son replied, that his conduct, and the consequences to 
 which it might lead, had been deliberately weighed, and 
 well considered, and that he was prepared to abide the 
 resuh, whatever it might be. Wilkinson had previously- 
 given orders to his officers, to recruit from Jackson's army ; 
 but they were advised, on their first appearance, that those 
 troops were already in the service of the United States, 
 and that, thus situated, they should not be enHsted ; and 
 that General Jackson would arrest, and confine, the first 
 officer who dared to enter his encampment with any such 
 object in view. 
 
 The quarter-master, having been ordered to furnish the 
 necessary transportation for the conveyance of the sick 
 and the baggage to Tennessee, immediately set about the 
 performance of -the task ; but, as the event proved, without 
 any intention to execute it. Still he continued to keep 
 up the semblance of exertion ; and, on the very day before 
 that which had been appointed for breaking up the en- 
 campment and commencing the return march, eleven 
 wagons arrived there by his order. But early the next 
 morning, when every thing was about to be packed up, he 
 entered the encampment, and discharged the whole. He 
 was grossly mistaken, however, in the man- he had to deal 
 with, and had now played his tricks too far to be able to 
 accomplish the object, which, without doubt, he had been 
 intrusted to effect. Disregarding their dismissal, so evi- 
 dently designed to prevent marching back his men, Ge- 
 neral Jackson seized upon the wagons, yet within his 
 lines, and compelled them to proceed in the transporta- 
 tion of his sick. Among them was a young man, reported 
 by the surgeon to be in a dying condition, whom it was 
 useless to remove. " Not a man shall be left who has life 
 in him," said the general. The young man was lifted 
 into a wagon, in a state of torpor, and wholly insensible. 
 The melancholy march commenced ; and the general, 
 with parental sohcitude, passed along the train, taking 
 special care that the invalids, in position and appliances, 
 should have every comfort of which their situation was 
 susceptible. With pecuhar anxiety, he watched the ap- 
 parently dying youth, as lie was jostled by the movements 
 
SUFFERINGS ON THE MARCH HOME. 53 
 
 of the wagon. At length the young man opened his eyes, 
 and the next instant exclaimed, *' Where am I ?" 
 
 "On your way home, my good fellow," replied the 
 general, in a cheering tone. The effect was electric ; he 
 improved from that moment, and in a few weeks the 
 general had the pleasure of restoring him, in good health, 
 to his family and friends. It deserves to be mentioned, 
 that the quarter-master, as soon as he received directions 
 for furnishing transportation, had despatched an express 
 to General Wilkinson ; and there can be little question, 
 that the course of duplicity he afterwards pursued, was a 
 concerted plan between him and that general, to defeat the 
 design of Jackson, compel him to abandon the determina- 
 tion he had formed, and, in this way, draw to the re- 
 gular army many of the soldiers, who would be driven 
 to enlist. In this attempt they were fortunately disap- 
 pointed. Adhering to his original purpose, General Jack- 
 son successfully resisted every stratagem of Wilkinson, 
 and marched the whole of his division to the section of 
 country whence they had been drawn, and dismissed them 
 from service, in the spring of 1813. 
 
 In addition to the philanthropic act we have just de- 
 tailed. General Jackson gave up his own horses to the 
 sick, and, trudging along on foot, submitted to all the pri- 
 vations that were endured by the soldiers. It was at a time 
 of the year when the roads were extremely bad ; and the 
 swamps along their route were deep and full ; yet, under 
 thes%- circumstances, he gave his troops an example of 
 patience and endurance of hardship that lulled to silence 
 all complaints, and won for him additional respect and 
 esteem. On arriving at Nashville, he communicated to 
 the president of the United States the course he had pur- 
 sued, and the reasons that had induced it. If it had be- 
 come necessary, he had sufficient grounds on which he 
 could have justified his conduct. Had he suffered Gene- 
 ral Wilkinson to have accomplished what was clearly his 
 mtention, although it was an event which might, at the 
 moment, have benefited the service, by adding an in- 
 creased strength to the army, yet the example would have 
 been of so serious and exceptionable a character, that in- 
 
64 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 jury would have been the final and unavoidable result. 
 Whether the intention of thus forcing these men to enlist 
 into the regular ranks, had its existence under the direc- 
 tion of the government or not, such would have been the 
 universal belief; and all would have felt a deep abhor- 
 rence, at beholding the citizens of the country drawn off 
 from their homes under pretence of danger; while the 
 concealed design was, to reduce them to such necessity, 
 at a distance from their residence, as to compel them to an 
 act which they, would have avoided under different cir- 
 cumstances. His conduct, exceptionable as it might at 
 first appear, was, in the end, approved, and the expenses 
 incurred were directed to be paid by the government. 
 General Armstrong, the secretary of war, by whom the 
 cruel and unfeeling order was issued, was soon after se- 
 verely censured, and forced to resign his seat in the cabi- 
 net, on account of his culpable neglect to provide suitable 
 means of defence for the city of Washington. The re- 
 putation of General Wilkinson, who had been appointed 
 to supplant Jackson, was also tarnished, by his unfortunate 
 operations in Canada, during the campaign of 1814. 
 
INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 66 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1813. Depredations committed by the Creeks on the borders of Ten- 
 nessee and Kentucky — Attack on Fort Mimms — Preparations for 
 war — Jackson calls out the volunteers and militia — Address to the 
 troops — Takes the field — Enforces strict military discipline — Rapid 
 march to Huntsville — Delay in forwarding supplies — Thwarted in 
 his movements by General Cocke — Jealousy of the latter — Scarci- 
 ty of provisions — Efforts of Jackson to procure supplies — Address 
 to the soldiers on entering the enemy's country— -Arrival at the 
 Ten Islands — Difficulty with the contractors — Destitute condition 
 of the army — Battle of Tallushatchee— Humanity of Jackson — 
 His adoption of an Indian boy. 1813. 
 
 The repose of General Jackson and his volunteers was 
 of short duration. They had scarcely reached their homes, 
 when the Indian nations scattered over the territory com- 
 posing the states of Alabama and Mississippi, made in- 
 cursions into Tennessee and Kentucky, and committed 
 the most savage murders and cruelties. The frontier 
 settlements were constantly harassed by their depreda- 
 tions, and one atrocious act of barbarity followed so close- 
 ly on another, that the inhabitants began to fear the worst 
 from the revengeful spirit which Tecumseh, and his bro- 
 ther, the prophet, who were secretly aided and encouraged 
 by the English government, had aroused in the breasts of 
 their followers. The Creek Indians, residing in the vici- 
 nity of the Coosa and Tallapoosa ri^l^ers, were the most 
 hostile and vindictive of all the tribes. Having collected 
 a supply of ammunition, from the Spaniards at Pensacola, 
 a parly of their warriors, numbering about seven hundred 
 men, commanded by Weatherford, a distinguished chief 
 of the nation, made an attack on Fort Mimms, situated 
 in the Tensaw settlement, in the territory of Mississippi. 
 The fort was occupied by Major Beasley, with a force of 
 one hundred and fifty men, and a large number of women 
 
56 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 and children who had sought shelter and protection. The 
 assault was commenced on the 30th of August, 1813, and 
 proved to be successful. A most dreadful slaughter took 
 place. Mere}?- was shown to none ; neither age nor sex 
 were respected ; and the same stroke of the tomahawk 
 often cleft mother and child. But seventeen of the whole 
 number of persons in the fort made their escape. 
 
 As soon as the intelligence of this monstrous outrage 
 reached Tennessee, the authorities of that state took im- 
 mediate measures to chastise the perpetrators. All eyes 
 were instinctively turned towards General Jackson, who, 
 though suffering severely from a fractured arm, promptly 
 responded to the orders of his government by calhng out 
 the militia and volunteers. In his proclamation, he made 
 a special appeal to those who had accompanied him to 
 Natchez, to join him on this occasion. He pointed out the 
 imperious necessity that demanded their services, and 
 urged them to be punctual. " Already," said he, "are 
 large bodies of the hostile Creeks marching to your bor- 
 ders, with their scalping-knives unsheathed, to butcher 
 your women and children : time is not to be lost. W(j 
 must hasten to the frontier, or we shall find it drenched in 
 the blood of our citizens. The health of your general is 
 restored — he will command in person," In the mean 
 time, until these troops could be collected and organized, 
 Colonel Coffee, with the force then under his command, 
 and such additional mounted riflemen as could be attached 
 at a short notice, was directed to hasten forward to the 
 neighborhood of Huntsville, and occupy some ehgible 
 position for the defence of the frontier. 
 
 The 4th of October, which was the day appointed for 
 the rendezvous, baring arrived, and the general not being 
 sufficiently recovered to attend in person, he forwarded by 
 his -aid-de-camp, Major Reid, an address, to be read to the 
 troops, in which he pointed out the unprovoked injuries 
 they were called upon to redress, in the following eloquent 
 and stirring appeal : 
 
 *' We are about to furnish these savages a lesson of ad- 
 monition ; we are about to teach them that our long for- 
 bearance has not proceeded from an insensibility to wrongs, 
 
ADDRESS TO THE VOLUNTEERS. 57 
 
 or an inability to redress them. They stand in need of such 
 warning. In proportion as we have borne with their insults, 
 and submitted to their outrages, they have multiplied in 
 number,and increased in atrocit}^ But the measure of their 
 ofiences is at length filled. The blood of our women and 
 children, recently spilt at Fort Mimms, calls for our ven- 
 geance ; it must not call in vain. Our borders must no longer 
 be disturbed by the war-whoop of these savages, and the 
 cries of their suffering victims. The torch that has been 
 lighted up must be made to blaze in the heart of their 
 own country. It is time they should be made to feel the 
 weight of a power, which, because it Avas merciful, they 
 believed to be impotent. But how shall a war so long 
 forborne, and so loudly called for by retributive justice, be 
 waged ? Shall we imitate the example of our enemies, in 
 the disorder of their movements and the savageness of 
 their dispositions ? Is it worthy the character of American 
 soldiers, who take up arms to redress the wrongs of an 
 injured country, to assume no better models than those fur- 
 nished them by barbarians ? No, fellow-soldiers ; great 
 as are the grievances that have called us from our homes, 
 we must not permit disorderly passions to tarnish the re- 
 putation we shall carry along with us. We must and will 
 be victorious ; but we must conquer as men who owe no- 
 thing to chance, and w^ho, in the midst of victory, can still 
 be mindful of what is due to humanity ! 
 
 " We will commence the campaign by an inviolable 
 attention to discipline and subordination. Without a strict 
 observance of these, victory must ever be uncertain, and 
 ought hardly to be exulted in, even when gained. To 
 what but the entire disregard of order and subordination, 
 are we to ascribe the disasters which have attended our 
 arms in the north during the present war ? How glorious 
 will it be to remove the blots which have tarnished the 
 fair character bequeathed us by the fathers of our revolu- 
 tion ! The bosom of your general is full of hope. He 
 knows the ardor which animates you, and already exults 
 in the triumph wh*ch your strict observance of disciphne 
 and good order will render certain." 
 
 Accompanying this address, was the following order for 
 3* 
 
68 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 the establishment of the police of the camp, which strike 
 ingly illustrates his promptitude^and decision as a mili- 
 tary commander : 
 
 " The chain of sentinels will be marked, and the sen- 
 tries- posted, precisely at ten o'clock to-day. 
 
 "xS^o sutler will be suffered to sell spirituous liquors to 
 n.n^/ soldier, without permission in writing, from a com- 
 missioned officer, under the penalties prescribed by the 
 rules and articles of war. 
 
 " No citizen will be permitted to pass the chain of sen 
 tineis after retreat-beat in the evening, until reveille in the 
 morning. Drunkenness, the bane of all orderly encamp- 
 ments, is positively forbidden, both in officers and privates : 
 officers, under the penalty of immediate arrest ; and pri- 
 vates, of being placed under guard, there to remain until 
 liberated by a court-martial. 
 
 " At reveille-beat, all officers and soldiers are to appear 
 on parade, with their arms and accoutrements in proper 
 order. 
 
 " On parade, silence, the duty of a soldier, is positively 
 commanded. 
 
 " No officer or soldier is to sleep out of camp, but by 
 permission obtained." 
 
 However harsh it may at first blush appear, to attempt 
 the enforcement of such rules, in the very first stage of 
 military discipline, yet the conduct of General Jackson 
 was dictated by the most praiseworthy motives. The 
 expedition on which he was about to march was certain 
 to be both difficult and dangerous. He was aware that 
 hardships must of necessity be endured, which would 
 appal and dispirit his troops, if they were not early taught 
 the lesson of strict compliance with the orders of their 
 commander ; and he considered it much safer, therefore, 
 to lay before them at once the rules of conduct to which 
 they would be required to conform. 
 
 Impatient to join his division, although his health was 
 far from being restored, the general, in a few days after- 
 wards, set out for the encampment, which he reached on 
 the 7th of October. On the evening of the following day, 
 a letter <vas received from Colonel Coffee, who had pro 
 
MARCH INTO THE CREEK COUNTRY. 59 
 
 ceeded with his mounted volunteers to Huntsville, dated 
 two days before, and informing the general that two friend- 
 ly Indians had just arrived at the Tennessee river, from 
 Chinnaby's fort, on the Coosa, from whom he learned that 
 a party of eight hundred or a thousand Creeks had been 
 despatched to attack the frontiers of Georgia, and that the 
 remainder of their warriors were marching against Hunts- 
 ville, or Fort Hampton. On the 9th instant, another ex- 
 press arrived, confirming the former statement, and repre- 
 senting the enemy, in great force, to be rapidly approach- 
 ing the Tennessee. Orders were now given for preparing 
 the line of march, and by nine o'clock on the 10th, the 
 whole division was in motion. They had not proceeded 
 many miles, when they were met with the intelligence 
 that Colonel Gibson, who had been sent out by Coffee to 
 reconnoitre the movements of the enemy, had been killed 
 by their advance. A strong desire had been previously 
 manifested to be led forward ; that desire was now strength- 
 ened by the information just received ; and it was with 
 difficulty that the troops could be restrained. They has- 
 tened their march, and before eight o'clock at night arrived 
 at Huntsville, a distance of thirty-two miles. Learning 
 here that the information was erroneous which had occa- 
 sioned so hasty a movement, the general encamped his 
 troops'; having intended to reach the Tennessee river 
 that night had it been confirmed. The next day the line 
 of march was resumed. The influence of the late excite- 
 ment was now visible in the lassitude which followed its 
 removal. Proceeding slowly, the division ^crossed the 
 Tennessee at Ditto's landing, and united in the evening 
 with Colonel Coffee's regiment, which had previously oc- 
 cupied a commanding bluff on the south bank of the river. 
 From this place, a few days afterwards, Jackson detached 
 Colonel Coffee, with seven hundred men, to scour the 
 Black Warrior, a stream running from the northeast, and 
 emptying into the Tombigbee ; on which were supposed 
 to be situated several populous villages of the enemy. He 
 himself remained at the encampment a week, busily oc- 
 cupied in drilling his troops, and in endeavouring to pro- 
 cure the necessary suppHes for a campaign, which he 
 
60 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 had determined to carry into the heart of the enemy's 
 country. 
 
 At the same time that General Jackson took up his hue 
 of march for the Creek country. General Cocke had been 
 ordered with an equal force from East Tennessee ; while 
 another was despatched from Georgia, under Major Floyd, 
 to enter the Indian territory on the east ; and a regiment 
 of United States troops, with the Mississippi volunteers, 
 under General Claiborne, were to attack the hostile tribes 
 on the west. An arrangement had been made in the pre- 
 ceding month, with General Cocke, to furnish large quan- 
 tities of bread-stuff at Ditto's landing, for the troops under 
 Jackson. The facility of procuring it in that quarter, and 
 the convenient transportation afforded by the river, left no 
 doubt on the mind of the latter that the engagement would 
 be punctually complied with. To provide, however, 
 against the bare possibility of a failure, and to be guarded 
 against all contingencies that might happen, he addressed 
 letters to the governor of Georgia, Colonel Meigs, the 
 Cherokee agent, and General White, who commanded the 
 advance of the East Tennessee troops, urging them to 
 send forward supplies with all possible haste. General 
 Cocke, who had been ordered to join him with the forces 
 under his command, not only failed to come up in season, 
 but neglected to furnish the provisions he had engaged to 
 procure. The conduct of this officer was severely cen- 
 sured at the time, and it is quite evident that most of his 
 movements during the campaign were prompted by a de- 
 sire to thwart the operations of Jackson. 
 
 On his arrival at Ditto's landing. General Jackson found 
 that the contractors were utterly unable to fulfil their en- 
 gagements, and he was therefore compelled to wait patient- 
 ly for the supplies which had so long been promised, and 
 were hourly expected. While he was encamped there, 
 a son of Chinnaby, one of the principal chiefs among the 
 fnendly Creeks, a large body of whom had refused to unite 
 With their countrymen in making war against the Ameri- 
 cans, arrived at the landing, and requested a movement 
 to be made for the rehef of his father's fort, which was 
 threatened by a considerable body of the war party. In- 
 
FAILURE OF THE SUPPLIES. 61 
 
 fluenced by his representations, the general gave orders for 
 resuming the march on the 19th of October, and notified 
 the contractors of this arrangement, that they might be 
 prepared to issue immediately such supplies as they had 
 on hand ; but to his great astonishment, he was then, for 
 the first time, apprised of their entire inability to supply 
 him while on his march. Having drawn what they had 
 it in their power to furnish, amounting to only a few days' 
 rations, he immediately vacated their offices, and selected 
 others on whose industry and fidelity he thought he could 
 more safely rely. The scarcity of his provisions, how- 
 ever, was not sufficient to waive the determination he had 
 already made. The route to the fort lay for a consider- 
 able distance up the river, and he hoped to meet with the 
 boats expected from Hiwassee on the way. He accord- 
 ingly determined to proceed, and having safely crossed a 
 range of mountains, thought to be almost impassable on 
 foot, with his army and baggage wagons, he arrived on 
 the 22d of October, at Thompson's creek, which empties 
 into the Tennessee, twenty-four miles above Ditto's. At 
 this place he proposed the establishment of a permanent 
 depot, for the reception of supplies, to be sent either up or 
 down the river. Disappointed in the hopes with which 
 he had ventured ^n his march, he remainecj here several 
 days anxiously looking for the arrival of provisions. Fear- 
 ing that this culpable neglect might involve him in still 
 further embarrassments, he informed Governor Blount, of 
 Tennessee, of the condition of things, and made a press- 
 ing application to General Flournoy, Vk^ho commanded at 
 Mobile, and Colonel McKee, the Choctaw agent, .who was 
 then on the Tombigbee, to procure bread-stuff and forward 
 it to him Avithout delay. He also despatched expresses to 
 General White, who had arrived at the Look-out moun- 
 tain, in the Cherokee nation, urging him by all means to 
 hasten on the supplies. 
 
 While these measures were in progress, two runners, 
 despatched from Turkeytown by Path-killer, a chief of 
 the Cherokees, arrived at the camp. They brought infor- 
 mation that the enemy, from nine of the hostile towns, 
 were assembling in great force near the Ten Islands ; and 
 
62 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 solicited that immediate assistance should be afforded the 
 friendly Creeks and Cherokees in their neighborhood, who 
 were exposed to imminent danger. »His want of provi- 
 sions was not yet remedied ; but distributing the partial 
 supply that was on hand, he resolved to proceed, in ex- 
 pectation that the relief he had so earnestly looked for, 
 would in a httle while arrive, and be forwarded. In order 
 to prepare his troops for the engagement he anticipated, 
 he addressed them as follows, in his usual nervous and 
 spirited style : 
 
 " You have, fellow-soldiers, at length penetrated the 
 country of your enemies. It is not to be believed that 
 they will abandon the soil that imbosoms the bones of their 
 forefathers, without furnishing you an opportunity of sig- 
 nalizing your valor. Wise men do not expect ; brave men 
 will not desire it. It was not to travel unmolested through 
 a barren wilderness, that you quitted your families and 
 homes, and submitted to so many privations ; it was to 
 avenge the cruelties committed upon our defenceless 
 frontiers by the inhuman Creeks, instigated by their no 
 less inhuman aUies. You shall not be disappointed. If 
 the enemy flee before us, we will overtake and chastise 
 him : we will teach him how dreadful, when once aroused, 
 is the resentment of freemen. But it is not by boasting 
 that punishment is to be inflicted, or victory obtained. 
 The same resolution that prompted us to take up arms, 
 must inspire us in battle. Men thus animated, and thus 
 resolved, barbarians can never conquer ; and it is an 
 enemy barbarous in the extreme that we have now to face. 
 Their rehance will be on the damage they can do you 
 while you are asleep, and unprepared for action : their 
 hopes shall fail them in the hour of experiment. Soldiers 
 who know their duty, and are ambitious to perform it, are 
 not to be taken by surprise. Our sentinels will never 
 sleep, nor our soldiers be unprepared for action ; yet, 
 while it is enjoined upon the sentinels vigilantly to watch 
 the approach of the foe, they are at the same time com- 
 manded not to fire at shadows. Imaginary dangers must 
 not deprive them of entire self-possession. Our soldiers 
 will lie with their arms in their hands ; and the moment 
 
ADDRESS TO HIS TROOPS. 63 
 
 an alarm is given, they will move to their respective posi- 
 tions, without noise and without confusion! They will be 
 thus enabled to hear the orders of their officers, and to 
 obey them with promptitude. 
 
 " Great rehance will be placed, by the enemy, on the 
 consternation they may be able to spread through our 
 ranks, by the hideous yells with which they commence 
 their battles ; but brave men will laugh at such efforts to 
 alarm them. It is not by hello wings and screams, that 
 the wounds of death are inflicted. You will teach these 
 noisy assailants how weak are their weapons of warfare, 
 by opposing them with the bayonet. What Indian ever 
 withstood its charge ? what army, of any nation, ever 
 withstood it long ? 
 
 " Yes, soldiers, the order for a charge will be the signal 
 for victory. In that moment, your enemy will be seen 
 fleeing in every direction before you. But in the moment 
 of action, coolness and deliberation must be regarded ; 
 your fires made with precision and aim; and when ordered 
 to charge with the bayonet, you must proceed to the as- 
 sault, with a quick and firm step, without trepidation or 
 alarm. Then shall you behold the completion of your 
 hopes, in the discomfiture of your enemy. Your general, 
 whose duty, as well as inclination, is to watch over your 
 safety, will not, to gratify any wishes of his own, urge you 
 unnecessarily into danger. He knows, however, that it 
 is not in assaihng an enemy that men are destroyed ; it is 
 when retreating, and in confusion. Aware of this, he will 
 be prompted as mirch by a regard for your lives as your 
 honor. He laments that he has been compelled, even 
 incidentally, to hint at a retreat, when speaking to free- 
 men and to soldiers. Never, until you forget all that is 
 due to yourselves and your country, will you have any 
 practical understanding of that word. Shall an enemy 
 wholly unacquainted with military evolutions, and who 
 rely more for victory on their grim visages and hideous 
 yells, than upon their bravery or their weapons; shall 
 such an enemy ever drive before them the well-trained 
 youths of our country, whose bosoms pant for glory, and a 
 desire to avenge the wrongs they have received ? Your 
 
64 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 general will not live to behold such a spectacle ; rather 
 would he rush into the thickest of the enemy, and submit 
 himself to their scalping-knives : but he has no fears of 
 such a result. He knows the valor of the men he com- 
 mands ; and how certainly that valor, regulated as it will 
 be, will lead to victory. With his soldiers, he will face 
 all dangers, and with them participate in the glory of 
 conquest." 
 
 Having issued this address, and again instructed Ge- 
 neral White to form a junction Avith him, and send on all 
 the supplies he could command. General Jackson resumed 
 bis march, with about six days' rations of meat, and less 
 than two of meal. The army had advanced but a short 
 distance, when unexpected embarrassments were again 
 presented. Information was received, by which it was 
 clearly ascertained that the present contractors, who had 
 been so much and so certainly relied on, could not, with 
 all their exertions, procure the necessary supphes. Major 
 Rose, of the quarter-master's department, who had been 
 sent into Madison county to aid them in their endeavors, 
 having satisfied himself, as well from their own admis- 
 sions as from evidence derived from other sources, that their 
 want of funds, and consequent want of credit, rendered 
 them a very unsafe dependence, returned, and disclosed 
 the facts to the general. He stated that there were per- 
 sons of fortune and industry in that county, who might be 
 confided in, and who would be willing to contract for the 
 army if it were necessary. Jackson lost no time in em- 
 bracing this plan, and gave the contract to Mr. Pope, in 
 whose means and exertions he beheved every reliance 
 might be reposed. At the same time, he wrote to the 
 other contractors, stating, that although he might manage 
 with generosity or indulgence, whatever concerned him- 
 self as a private citizen, in his public capacity he had no 
 such discretion ; and that he therefore felt compelled to 
 give the contract to one who was able to execute it, on 
 condition that they were indemnified for their trouble. 
 
 This arrangement being made, the army continued its 
 march, and having arrived within a few miles of the Ten 
 Islands, was met by the Indian chief, Chinnaby. He 
 
SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS. 65 
 
 brought with him, and surrendered up, two of the hostile 
 Creeks, who had lately been made prisoners by his party. 
 At this place it was represented that they were within 
 sixteen miles of the enemy, who were collected, to the 
 number of a thousand, to oppose their passage. This 
 information was httle relied on, and afterwards proved un- 
 true. Jackson continued his route, and in a few days 
 reached the islands of the Coosa, having been detained a 
 day, on the way, for the purpose of obtaining small sup- 
 plies of corn from the neighboring Indians. This acqui- 
 sition to the scanty stock on hand, while it afforded subsist- 
 ence for the present, encouraged his hopes for the future, 
 as a means of temporary resort, should his other resources 
 fail. 
 
 In a letter to Governor Blount from this place, speaking 
 of the difficulties with which he had to contend, he ob- 
 served : " Indeed, sir, we have been very wretchedly 
 supplied — scarcely two rations in succession have been 
 regularly drawn ; yet we'are not despondent. While we 
 can procure an ear of corn apiece, or any thing that will 
 answer as a substitute for it, we shall continue our exer- 
 tions to accomplish the object for which we were sent. 
 The cheerfulness with which my men submit to privations, 
 and are ready to encounter danger, does honor to them, 
 and to the government whose rights they are defending." 
 
 On the 28th of October, Colonel Dyer, who had been 
 detached from the main body, on the march to the Ten 
 Islands, with a body of two hundred cavalry, returned to 
 camp. He had destroyed the Indian village of Littafut- 
 chee-town, at the head of Canoe creek, and brought with 
 him twenty-nine prisoners. On the 31st, Jackson de- 
 spatched another express to General White, repeating his 
 former orders. Soon after, he received information that a 
 considerable body of the enemy had posted themselves at 
 Tallushatchee, on the south side of the Coosa, about thir- 
 teen miles distant ; whereupon, he ordered General Coffee, 
 with nine hundred men, to attack and disperse them. 
 With this force that officer was enabled, under the direc- 
 tion of an Indian pilot, to ford the Coosa at the Fish-dams, 
 about four miles above the Islands ; and, having encamped 
 
66 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 beyond it, he proceeded, early on the morning of the 3d 
 of November, to execute the order. Having arrived with- 
 in a mile and a half, he formed his detachment into two 
 divisions, and directed them to march so as to encircle the 
 town, by uniting their fronts beyond it. The enemy, hear- 
 ing of his approach, began to prepare for action, which 
 was announced by the beating of drums, mingled with 
 savage yells and war-whoops. An hour after sunrise, the 
 battle was commenced by Captain Hammond's and Lieu 
 tenant Patterson's companies of spies, who had gone with- 
 in the circle of aHgnment, for the purpose of drawing the 
 Indians from their buildings. No sooner had these com- 
 panies exhibited their front in view of the town, and given 
 a few scattering shots, than the enemy formed, and made 
 a violent charge. Being compelled to give way, the ad- 
 vance-guard were pursued until they reached the main 
 body of the army, which immediately opened a general 
 fire, and charged in their turn. The Indians retreated, 
 but continued firing, until they reached their buildings, 
 where an obstinate conflict ensued. Those who main- 
 tained their ground, persisted in fighting as long as they 
 could stand or sit, without manifesting fear or soliciting 
 quarter. Their loss was a hundred and eighty-six kiJled ; 
 among whom, unfortunately, and through accident, were 
 a few women and children. Eighty-four women and 
 children were taken prisoners, towards whom the utmost 
 humanity was shown. Of the Americans, five were 
 killed and forty-one wounded. Two were killed with 
 arrows, which on this occasion formed a principal part of 
 the arms of the Indians ; each one having a bow and 
 quiver, which he used after the first fire of his gun, until 
 an opportunity occurred for reloading. 
 
 Having buried his dead and provided for his wounded 
 General Coffee united with the main army, late in th 
 evening of the same day, bringing with him about lorty 
 prisoners. Of the residue, a part were too badly wounded 
 to be removed, and were therefore left, with a sufficient 
 number to take care of them. Those whom he brought 
 in, received every comfort their situation demanded, and 
 were immediately sent into the settlements for security. 
 
THE INDIAN ORPHAN. 67 
 
 Among the slain at the battle of Tallushatchee, there 
 was found an Indian woman, with an infant boy, unhurt, 
 sucking- her lifeless breast. The little orphan was carried 
 to camp with the other prisoners, and General Jackson at- 
 tempted to hire some of the captive women to take care 
 of him. They refused, saying, " All his relations are 
 dead ; kill him too." The general had a Httle brown sugar 
 left, and he directed his attendants to feed the child with 
 it until he reached Huntsville, where he sent him to be 
 nursed at his expense. Upon his return from the cam- 
 paign, he took the child home, named him Lincoyer, and 
 with the cordial aid of Mrs. Jackson, raised him as ten- 
 derly as if he had been his own son. He grew to be a 
 beautiful and robust young man, as well educated as the 
 white boys of the most respectable families. Yet his 
 tastes were unchanged. He delighted in rambling over 
 the fields and through the woods, and sticking into his 
 hair and clothes every gay feather he could find. He was 
 always anxious to return to the Creek nation with the 
 chiefs, who, for many years after the war, continued to 
 visit General Jackson at the Hermitage, as his residence 
 was called. Desiring that he should follow some mecha- 
 nical employment, his benefactor took him into the va- 
 rious shops in Nashville, that he might make his selec- 
 tion. He Avas best pleased with the saddler's business, 
 and was accordingly bound out as an apprentice to that 
 trade. Regularly every other Saturday he visited the 
 Hermitage, and was generally sent to Nashville on horse- 
 back the next Monday morning. His health beginning 
 to decline, the general took him home to the Hermitage, 
 where he was nursed with a father's and mother's tender- 
 ness ; but ir^ vain. He sunk rapidly into a consumption, 
 and died ere he had arrived at the age of manhood. He 
 was mourned as a favorite son by the general and Mrs. 
 Jackson, and they always spoke of him with parental 
 afTection. 
 
68 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1813. Erection of Fort Strother, and establishment of a depot on the 
 Coosa — Continued difficulties growing out of the movements of 
 General Cocke — Battle of Talladega — Gallant conduct of Colonel 
 Carroll and Lieutenant- Colonel Dyer — Destitution of the army- 
 Generosity and benevolence of Jackson — His example in submit- 
 ting to privations — Anecdote of the acorns — Discontent among the 
 troops — Mutiny suppressed by his firmness and resolution — His 
 appeal to the contractors to furnish supplies — Answer to the over- 
 tures of peace made by the Hillabee tribes — Efforts to raise addi- 
 tional troops — Letter to his friend in Tennessee — Demand of the 
 volunteers to be discharged, on the ground that their term of ser- 
 vice had expired — Reply of Jackson — His unflinching determina- 
 tion — Suppression of the mutiny, and return of the volunteers. 1813. 
 
 In consequence of his not receiving the necessary sup- 
 plies of provisions, without which it was utterly impossi- 
 ble to proceed, General Jackson was detained for nearly a 
 month, in the neighbourhood of the Tennessee river, 
 without being able to penetrate the hostile territory, and 
 strike a decisive blow. During this time, he erected 
 a fort and depot, at the Ten Islands, which was called 
 Fort Strother. It was his intention, after completing the 
 works, to proceed along the Coosa to its junction with the 
 Tallapoosa, near which, it was expected, from informa- 
 tion he had received, that the main force of the enemy 
 was collected. In order to accomplish this in safety, he 
 desired to unite as soon as possible with the troops from 
 East Tennessee. The advance under General White had 
 arrived at Turkey-town, twenty-five miles above, and on 
 the 4th of November an express was despatched to him 
 to hasten forward immediately. A similar message was 
 sent on the 7th of the same month, but failed to produce 
 any effect. General White chose rather to obey the or- 
 ders of the immediate commander of his division, General 
 Cocke, who persisted in his singular efforts to thwart the 
 
BATTLE OF TALLADEGA. 69 
 
 movements of Jackson and the forces under his command. 
 Although he endeavoured to shelter himself from the 
 consequences of his unsoldierHke conduct, beneath the 
 decision of a council of officers which he had formed, 
 his jealousy of General Jackson was so apparent, that the 
 public were not slow in forming a most unfavorable opi- 
 nion of his character. 
 
 As yet, no certain inteUigence had been received, in 
 regard to the position of the enemy. Late, however, on 
 the evening of the 7th of November, a runner arrived from 
 Talladega, a fort of the friendly Indians, distant about 
 thirty miles below, with information that the enemy had 
 that morning encamped before it in great numbers, and 
 would certainly destroy it, unless immediate assistance 
 could be afforded. X'onfiding in the statement, Jackson 
 determined to lose ly time in extending the rehef which 
 was solicited. Understanding that General White, agree- 
 ably to his order, was on his way to join him, he des- 
 patched a messenger to meet him, directing him to reach 
 his encampment in the course of the ensuing night, and 
 to protect it in his absence. He now gave orders for tak- 
 ing up the line of march, with twelve hundred infantr}'-, 
 and eight hundred cavalry and mounted gun-men ; leav- 
 ing behind the sick, the wounded, and all his baggage, 
 with a force which was deej:ned sufficient for their protec- 
 tion, until the reinforcement from Turkey-town should 
 arrive. 
 
 The friendly Indians who had taken refuge in this 
 besieged fort, had involved themselves in their present 
 perilous situation from a disposition to preserve their 
 amicable relations with the United States. To suffer them 
 to fall a sacrifice from any tardiness of movement, would 
 have been unpardonable ; and unless rehef should be im- 
 mediately extended, it might arrive too late. Acting under 
 these impressions, the general concluded to move instantly 
 forward to their assistance. At twelve o'clock at night, 
 every thing was in readiness ; and in an hour afterwards 
 the army commenced crossing the river, about a mile 
 above the camp ; each of the mounted men carrying one 
 of the infantry behind him. The river at this place was 
 
70 LIFE OF JACKSOX. 
 
 six hundred yards wide, and it being necessary to send 
 back the horses for the remainder of the infantry, several 
 hours were consumed before a passage of all the troops 
 could be effected. Nevertheless, though greatly fatigued 
 and deprived of sleep, they continued the march with 
 animation, and by evening had arrived within six miles 
 of the enemy. In this march, Jackson used the utmost 
 precaution to prevent surprise : marching his army, as 
 was his constant custom, in three columns, so that, by a 
 speedy man>£uvre, they might be thrown into such a situ- 
 ation as to be capable of resisting an attack from any 
 quarter. Having judiciously encamped his men on an 
 eligible piece of ground, he sent forward two of the 
 friendly Indians ,and a white man, who had for many 
 years been detained a captive in the nation, and was now 
 acting as interpreter, to reconnoitre^ the position of the 
 enemy. About eleven o'clock at night they returned, 
 with information that the savages were posted within a 
 quarter of a mile of the fort, and appeared to be in great 
 force ; but that they had not been able to approach near 
 enough to ascertain either their numbers or precise situa- 
 tion. About an hour later, a runner arrived from Turkey- 
 town, Avith a letter from General White, stating that after 
 having taken up the line of m^irch to unite at Fort Strother, 
 he had received orders from General Cocke to change his 
 course, and proceed to the mouth of Chatauga creek. In- 
 telligence so disagreeable, and withal so unexpected, filled 
 the mind of Jackson with apprehensions of a serious and 
 alarming character ; and dreading lest the enemy, by tak- 
 ing a different route, should attack his encampment in his 
 absence, he determined to lose no time in bringing them to 
 battle. Orders were accordingly given to the adjutant- 
 general to prepare the line, and by four o'clock on th 
 morning of the 9th, the army was again in motion. Th 
 infantry proceeded in three columns ; the cavalry in the 
 same order, in the rear, with flankers on each wing. The 
 advance, consisting of a company of artillerists with mus- 
 kets, two companies of riflemen, and one of spies, marched 
 about four hundred yards in front, under the command of 
 Colonel Carroll, inspector-general, with orders, after com- 
 
BATTLE OP TALLADEGA. 71 
 
 mencing the action, to fall back on the centre, so as to 
 draw the enemy after them. At seven o'clock, having 
 arrived within a mile of the position they occupied, the 
 columns were displayed in order of battle. Two hundred 
 and fifty of the cavalry, under Lieut. Colonel Dyer, were 
 placed in the rear of the centre, as a corps-de-reserve. The 
 remainder of the mounted troops were directed to advance 
 on the right and left, and after encircling the enemy, by 
 uniting the fronts of their columns, and keeping their rear 
 rested on the infantry, to face and press towards the centre, 
 so as to leave them no possibility of escape. The remain- 
 ing part of the army was ordered to move up by heads of 
 companies ; General Hall's brigade occupying the right, 
 and General Roberts' the left. ^ 
 
 About eight o'clock, the advance having arrived within 
 eighty yards of the enemy, who were concealed in a thick 
 shrubbery that covered the margin of a small rivulet, re- 
 ceived a heavy fire, which they instantly returned with 
 much spirit. Falling in with the enemy, agreeably to 
 their instructions, they retired towards the centre, but not 
 before they had dislodged them from their position. The 
 Indians rushed forward, screaming and yelling hideously, 
 in the direction of General Roberts' brigade, a few com- 
 panies of which, alarmed by their numbers and yells, gave 
 way at the first fire. To fill the chasm which was thus cre- 
 ated, Jackson directed the regiment commanded by Colonel 
 Bradley to be moved up, which, from some unaccountable 
 cause, had failed to advance in a Hne with the others, and 
 now occupied a position in the rear of the centre. Bradley, 
 however, to whom this order was given by one of the staff, 
 omitted to execute it in time, alleging that he was de- 
 termined to remain on the eminence which he then pos- 
 sessed, until he should be approached and attacked by the 
 enemy. Owing to this failure in the volunteer regiment, 
 it became necessary to dismount the reserve, which, with ] 
 great firmness, met the approach of the enemy, who were 
 rapidly moving in this direction. The retreating militia, 
 somewhat mortified at seeing their places so promptly 
 supphed, rallied, and recovering their former position in 
 the line, aided in checking the advance of the savages 
 
73 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 The action now became general, and in fifteen minutes 
 the Indians were seen flying in every direction. On the 
 left they were met and repulsed by the mounted riflemen ; 
 but on the right, owing to the halt of Bradley's regiment, 
 which was intended to occupy the extreme right, and to 
 the circumstance that Colonel Alcorn, who commanded 
 one of the wings of the cavalry, had taken too large a 
 circuit, a considerable space was left between the infantry 
 and the cavalry, through which numbers escaped. Tha 
 fight was maintained with great spirit and effect on both 
 sides, as well before as after the retreat commenced ; nor 
 did the pursuit and slaughter terminate until the moun- 
 tains were reached, at the distance of three miles. 
 
 Jackson, in his report of this action, bestowed high 
 commendation on the officers and soldiers. " Too much 
 praise," he said, at the close, " cannot be bestowed on the 
 advance led by Colonel Carroll, for the spirited manner in 
 which they commenced and sustained the attack ; nor 
 upon the reserve, commanded by Lieut. Colonel Dyer, for 
 the gallantry with which they met and repulsed the enemy. 
 In a word, officers of every grade, as well as privates, 
 realized the high expectations I had formed of them, and 
 merit the gratitude of their country." 
 
 In this battle, the force of the enemy was one thousand 
 and eighty, of whom two hundred and ninety-nine were 
 left dead on the ground ; and it is bejieved that many 
 were killed in the flight, who were not found when the 
 estimate was made. Probably few escaped unhurt. Their 
 loss on this occasion, as since stated by themselves, was 
 not less than six hundred: that of the Americans was 
 fifteen killed, and eighty wounded, several of whom after- 
 wards died. Jackson, after collecting his dead and wounded, 
 advanced his army beyond the fort, and encamped for the 
 night. The Indians who had been for several days shut 
 up by the besiegers, thus fortunately liberated from the 
 most dreadful apprehensions and severest privations, hav- 
 ing for some days been entirely without water, received 
 the army with all the demonstrations of gratitude that 
 savages could give. Their manifestations of joy for their 
 deliverance, presented an interesting and affecting spec- 
 
DESTITUTION OF THE TROOPS. 73 
 
 tacle. Their fears had heen already greatly excited, for 
 it was the very day when they were to have been as- 
 saulted, and when every soul within the fort must have 
 perished. All the provisions they could spare from their 
 scanty stock they sold to the general, who purchased them 
 with his own money, and generously distributed them 
 among his almost destitute soldiers. 
 
 It was with great regret that Jackson now found he was 
 without the means of availing himself fully of the ad- 
 vantages of his victory ; but the condition of his posts in. 
 the rear, and the want of provisions, (having left his en- 
 campment at Fort Strother with little more than one day's 
 rations,) compelled him to return ; thus giving the enemy 
 time to recover from the consternation of their first defeat, 
 and to re-assemble their forces. On returning to Fort 
 Strother, he found that through the wilful mismanagement 
 of General Cocke, no supplies had reached that post, and 
 the soldiers were beginning to exhibit symptoms of dis- 
 content. Even his private stores, brought on at his own 
 expense, and upon which he and his staff had hitherto 
 wholly subsisted, had been in his absence distributed 
 among the sick by the hospital surgeon, who had been 
 previously instructed to do so if their wants should re- 
 quire; it. A few dozen biscuits, which remained on his 
 return, were given to hungry applicants, without being 
 tasted by himself or family, who were probably not less 
 hungry than those who were thus relieved. A scanty 
 supply of indifferent beef, taken from the enemy or pur- 
 chased of the Cherokees, was the only support afforded. 
 Left thus destitute, Jackson, with the utmost cheerfulness 
 of temper, repaired to the bullock pen, and of the offal 
 there thrown away, provided for himself and staff what 
 he was pleased to call, and seemed really to think, a very 
 comfortable repast. Tripes, however, hastily provided in 
 a camp, without bread or seasoning, can only be palatable 
 to an appetite very highly whetted. Yet this constituted 
 for several days the only diet at head quarters, during 
 which time the general seemed entirely satisfied with 
 his fare. Neither this, nor the liberal donations which 
 he made to relieve the suffering soldier, deserve to be 
 4 
 
74 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 ascribed to ostentation or design : the one flowed from be- 
 nevolence, the other from necessity, and a desire to place 
 before his men an example of patience and suffering, 
 which he felt might be necessary, and hoped might be 
 serviceable. Charity in him was a warm and active pro- 
 pensity of the heart, urging him, by an instantaneous im- 
 pulse, to minister to the wants of the distressed, without 
 regarding, or even thinking of the consequences. Many 
 of those to whom aid was extended, had no conception of 
 the source that supplied them, and beheved the comforts 
 they received were, indeed, drawn from stores provided 
 for the hospital department. 
 
 On one occasion, during these difficulties, a soldier, 
 with a wo-begone countenance, approached the general, 
 stating that he was nearly starved, that he had nothing to 
 eat, and that he did not know what he should do. He 
 was the more encouraged to complain, from perceiving that 
 the general, who had seated himself at the root of a tree, 
 was busily engaged in eating something, and confidently 
 expected to be reheved. Jackson replied to him, that it 
 had always been a rule with him, never to turn away a 
 hungry man when it was in his power to relieve him. 
 "I will most cheerfully," said he, " divide with you what 
 I have;" and putting his hand in his pocket, he drew 
 forth a few acorns, from which he had been feasting, at 
 the same time remarking, in addition, that this was the 
 only fare he had. The soldier seemed much surprised, 
 and forthwith circulated the intelligence among his com- 
 rades, that their general was feeding on acorns, and urged 
 them not to complain. 
 
 But while General Jackson remained wholly unmoved by 
 his own privations, he was filled with solicitude and concern 
 for his army. His utmost exertions, unceasingly applied 
 were insufficient to remove the sufferings to which he sav» 
 they were exposed ; and although they were by no means 
 so great as were represented, yet were they undoubtedly 
 such as to be sensibly and severely felt. Discontents, and 
 a desire to return home, arose, and presently spread through 
 the camp ; and these were still further imbittered and 
 augmented by the arts of a few designing officers, who. 
 
DISCONTENT IN THE ARMY. 75 
 
 believing that the campaign would break up, hoped to 
 make themselves popular on their return, by encouraging 
 and taking part in the complaints of the soldiery. It is a 
 singular fact, that those officers who pretended on this 
 occasion to feel most sensibly for the wants of the army, 
 and who contrived most effectually to instigate it to revolt, 
 had never themselves been without provisions; and were, 
 
 that very moment, enjoying in abundance what would 
 ave relieved the distresses of many, had it been as gene- 
 rously and freely distributed as were their words of advice 
 and condolence. 
 
 During this period of scarcity and discontent, small 
 quantities of supphes were occasionally forwarded by the 
 contractors, but not a sufficiency for present want, and still 
 less to remove the apprehensions that were entertained for 
 the future. At length, revolt began to show itself openly. 
 The officers and soldiers of the mihtia, collecting in their 
 tents and talking over their grievances, determined to yield 
 up their patriotism and to abandon the camp. Several of 
 the officers of the old volunteer corps exerted themselves 
 clandestinely, to produce disaffection. Looking upon them- 
 selves somewhat in the light of veterans, from the disci- 
 pline they had acquired in the expedition to Natchez, they 
 were unwilling to be seen foremost in setting an example 
 of mutiny, but wished to make the defection of others a 
 pretext for their own. 
 
 It was almost unreasonable to expect men to be patient, 
 while starvation was staring them in tlie face. Overlook- 
 ing the fact that their difficulties were mainly occasioned 
 by the mahcious feehngs of a single officer, they began to 
 feel that they were neglected by their country, whose 
 battles they had fought, and resentment and discontent 
 took possession of their bosoms. Increasing from day to 
 day, and extending from individuals to companies, and 
 from companies to regiments, they soon threatened an en- 
 tire dissolution of the army. The volunteers, though 
 deeply imbued with this feeling, were at first restrained 
 from any pubhc exhibition of it, by their soldierly pride ; 
 but the militia regiments determined to leave the camp, 
 and return to Tennessee. Apprised of their intention, 
 
76 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 General Jackson resolved to defeat it ; and as they drew 
 out in the morning to commence their march, they found 
 the volunteers drawn up across their path, with orders to 
 require them, under penalty of instant military execution, 
 to return to their position. They at once obeyed, admir- 
 ing the firmness which baffled their design. 
 
 In this operation the volunteers had been unwilling in- 
 struments in the hands of their general, and, chagrined at 
 their own success, resolved themselves the next day to 
 abandon the camp in a body. What was their surprise, 
 on making a movement to accomplish that object, to find 
 the very militia whose mutiny they had the day before? 
 repressed, drawn up in the same position to resist them ! 
 So determined was their look, that the volunteers deemed 
 it prudent to carry out the parallel, and returned quietly 
 to their quarters. This process, by which nearly a whole 
 army, anxious to desert, was kept in service by arraying 
 one species of force against another, though effectual for 
 the moment, would not bear repetition, and the general 
 was sensible how feeble was the thread by which he held 
 them together. The cavalry, who not only shared in the 
 general privation, but had no forage, petitioned for per- 
 mission to retire to the vicinity of Huntsvihe, pledging 
 themselves to return w^hen called on, after recruiting their 
 horses and receiving their winter clothing. Their peti- 
 tion was granted, and they immediately left the camp. 
 
 Having received letters from Colonel Pope, assuring 
 him that abundant, supplies were on the way. General 
 Jackson resolved to make an effort to produce good feeling 
 throughout the army, in order that they might be able to 
 act with promptitude when an opportunity offered for 
 striking a decisive blow. He accordingly invited the field 
 and platoon officers to his quarters, on the 14th of Novem- 
 ber, and communicated to them the information he had 
 received, and the wishes and expectations which he had 
 based upon it. " To be sure," said he, " we do not live 
 sumptuously ; but no one has died of hunger, or is hkely 
 to die ; and then how animating are our prospects ! Large 
 supplies are at Deposit, and already are officers despatched 
 to hasten them on. Wagons are on the way ; a large 
 
MUTINY OF HIS TROOPS. 77 
 
 number of beeves are in the neighborhood ; and detach- 
 ments are out to bring them in. All these resources sure- 
 ly cannot fail. I have no wish to starve you — none to 
 deceive you. Stay contentedly ; and if supphes do not 
 arrive within two days, we will all march back together, 
 and throw the blame of our failure where it should proper- 
 ly lie : until then we certainly have the means of subsist- 
 ing ; and if we are compelled to bear privations, let us 
 remember that they are borne for our country, and are not 
 greater than many — perhaps most armies have been com- 
 pelled to endure. I have called you together to tell you 
 my feelings and my wishes ; this evening think on them 
 seriously, and let me know yours in the morning." 
 
 After addressing them in such kind and generous terms, 
 notwithstanding many of them had secretly encouraged 
 the disaffection, how great must have been his grief and 
 mortification in the morning, when he received from the 
 officers of the volunteer regiments the annunciation that, 
 in their opinion, "Nothing short of marching the army 
 immediately back to the settlements, could prevent those 
 difficulties and that disgrace which must attend a forcible 
 desertion of the camp by his soldiers." 
 
 The officers of the militia, however, reported their will- 
 ingness to wait a few days longer for a supply of pro- 
 visions, and, if it should be received, to proceed with the 
 campaign ; otherwise, they insisted on being marched 
 back where supplies could be procured. To preserve the 
 volunteers for farther service, if possible, the general de- 
 termined to gratify their wishes, and ordered General Hall 
 to lead them back to Fort Deposit, there to obtain relief 
 for themselves, and then to return as an escort to the pro- 
 visions. But the second regiment of volunteers were 
 ashamed to be found less loyal than the militia, and begged 
 permission to remain with their general, and the first re- 
 giment marched alone. It is impossible to describe the 
 emotions of General Jackson, when he saw a regiment of 
 brave men, whom he had refused to abandon at Natchez 
 even ai the command of his government, for the preserva- 
 tion of whose well-earned fame he would have hazarded 
 his life, deserting him in the wilderness, reckless of honor. 
 
78 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 of patriotism, of gratitude, and humanity. He could not 
 avoid giving expression to his feelings in strong and de- 
 cided terms. " I was prepared," he said, " to endure 
 every evil but disgrace ; and this, as I can never submit 
 to myself, I can give no encouragement to in others." 
 
 On the 16ih of November, General Jackson addressed 
 a letter to Colonel Pope, the contractor, in which he said : 
 
 " My men are all starving. More than half of ther 
 left me yesterday for Fort Deposit, in consequence of th 
 scarcity, and the whole will do so in a few days if plenti- 
 ful supplies do not arrive. Again and again I must en- 
 treat you to spare neither labor nor expense to furnish me, 
 and furnish me without delay. We have already struck 
 the blow which would, if followed up, put an end to Creek 
 hostility. I cannot express the torture of my feelings 
 when I reflect that a campaign so auspiciously begun, 
 and which might be so soon and so gloriously terminated, 
 is likely to be rendered abortive for the want of supplies. 
 For God's sake, prevent so great an evil." 
 
 In his address to the officers on the 14th, the general 
 had told them that in case supplies did not reach them 
 within two days, he would lead the army back where 
 provisions could be had. Two days had elapsed after the 
 departure of the volunteers, and no supplies had come. 
 The declaration had been made in the confident expecta- 
 tion that provisions, then known to be on the way, would 
 reach them before the expiration of that period ; but the 
 general felt bound to comply with his word. He imme- 
 diately proceeded to make arrangements for the abandon- 
 ment of Fort Strother ; but, contemplating the new cou- 
 rage with which it would inspire the enemy, the calami- 
 ties it was hkely to bring on the frontiers, and the dis- 
 grace upon his army, if not on himself, he exclaimed, "If 
 only two men will remain with me, I will never abandon 
 this post." " You have one, general," promptly rephed 
 Captain Gordon, of the spies ; " let us look if we cannot 
 find another." The captain immediately beat up for vo- 
 lunteers, and, with the aid of some of the general staff, 
 soon raised one hundred and nine, who agreed to stand by 
 their general to the last extremity. 
 
MUTINY OF HIS TROOPS. 79 
 
 Confident that supplies were at hand, the general 
 inarched with the mihtia, announcing that they would be 
 ordered back if provisions should be met at no great dis- 
 tance from the fort. Within ten or twelve miles they met 
 a drove of a hundred and fifty beeves. They halted, 
 butchered, and ate ; but the courage inspired by satiety 
 was that of mutineers. Upon receiving an order to re- 
 turn, with the exception of a small party to convey the 
 ick and wounded, they resolved to disobey it. One com- 
 pany resumed its march homeward, before General Jackson 
 was apprised of their design. Informed of this move- 
 ment, he hastened to a spot about a quarter of a mile ahead, 
 where General Coffee, with a part of the staff and a few 
 soldiers, had halted, and ordered them instantly to form 
 across the road, and fire on the mutineers if they should 
 attempt to pass. Rather than encounter the bold faces 
 before them, the mutinous company thought it expedient 
 to return to the main body, and it was hopeS that no far- 
 ther opposition would be exhibited. 
 
 Going alone for the purpose of mixing among his men, 
 and appeasing them by argument and remonstrance, the 
 general found a spirit of mutiny pervading the whole 
 brigade. They had formed, and were on the point of 
 moving off, knowing that no force was at hand powerful 
 enough to resist them ; but ihej had to deal with a man 
 who was a host in himself. He seized a musket, threw 
 it across his horse's neck, placed himself in front -of the 
 brigade drawn up in column, and declared he would 
 shoot the first man who took a step in advance. Struck 
 with awe, the men gazed at him in sullen silence. In 
 this position, General Coffee and some of the members of 
 his staff rode up, and placed themselves at his side. The 
 faithful officers and soldiers, amounting to about two com- 
 )anies, formed in his rear, under orders to fire when he 
 did. For some minutes not a word was uttered. A mur- 
 mur then arose among the mutineers, and at length they 
 signified their willingness to return. The matter 'was 
 amicably arranged, and the troops marched back to Fort 
 Strother, though not in the best spirits. 
 
 This incident derives additional interest from the fact, 
 
80 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 that the general's left arm was not so far healed as to 
 enable him to aim a musket, and the weapon he had was 
 too much out of order to be fired. 
 
 Shortly after the battle of Talladega, the Hillabee tribes, 
 who had been the principal sufferers on that occasion, ap- 
 phed to General Jackson for peace ; declaring their will- 
 ingness to receive it on such terms as he might be. pleased 
 to dictate. He promptly replied, that his government had 
 taken up arms to bring to a proper sense of duty a people 
 to whom she had ever shown the utmost kindness, but 
 who, nevertheless, had committed against her citizens the 
 most unprovoked depredations ; and that she would lay 
 them down only when certain that this object was at- 
 tained. " Upon those," continued he, " who are friendly, 
 I neither wish nor intend to make war ; but they must 
 afford evidences of the sincerity of their professions ; the 
 prisoners and property they have taken from us and the 
 friendly Creeks, must be restored ; the instigators of the 
 war, and the murderers of our citizens, must be sur- 
 rendered ; the latter must and will be made to feel the 
 force of our resentment. Long shall they remember Fort 
 Mimms, in bitterness and tears." 
 
 Having communicated to General Cocke, whose divi- 
 sion was acting in this section of the nation, the proposi- 
 tions that had been made by the Hillabee tribes, with the 
 answer returned, and urged him to detach to Fort Strother 
 six hundred of his men to aid in the defence of that place 
 during his absence, and in the operations he intended to 
 resume on his return, Jackson proceeded to Deposit and 
 Ditto's landing, where the most effectual means in his 
 power were taken for obtaining regular supphes in future. 
 The contractors were required to furnish immediately 
 thirty days' rations at Fort Strother, forty at Talladega, 
 and as many at the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa 
 two hundred packhorses and forty wagons were also put 
 in requisition to facilitate their transportation. Understand- 
 ing now that the whole detachment from Tennessee had 
 been received into the service of the United States, he 
 persuaded himself that the difficulties previously en- 
 countered would not again recur, and looked forward, 
 
EFFORTS TO RAISE ADDITIONAL TROOPS. 81 
 
 with sanguine expectations, to the speedy accomplish- 
 ment of tile objects of the expedition. But the satisfac- 
 tion he felt, and the hopes he began to cherish, were of 
 short continuance. 
 
 The volunteers who had formerly been enrolled in the 
 expedition to Natchez, began to look anxiously for the 
 10th of December, at which time they supposed their 
 enlistments would expire. Anticipating difficulty from 
 this cause, General Jackson was exceedingly anxious to 
 fill up the deficiencies in his ranks. General Roberts was 
 accordingly ordered to return and complete his brigade, 
 and Colonel Carroll and Major Searcy were despatched 
 to Tennessee, to raise volunteers for six months, or during 
 the campaign. At the same time, the general wrote to 
 several patriotic citizens of that state, urging them to cqn- 
 tribute their aid and assistance. In one of his letters, he 
 expressed himself in the following touching language, 
 which shows how deeply his heart was enhsted in the 
 enterprise he had undertaken to accomplish : 
 
 " I left Tennessee with an army, brave, I believe, as 
 any general ever commanded. I have seen them in bat- 
 tle, and my opinion of their bravery is not changed. But 
 their fortitude — on this too I relied — has been too severely 
 tested. Perhaps I was wrong in believing that nothing 
 but death could conquer the spirits of brave men. I am 
 sure I was ; for my men I know are brave, yet privations 
 have rendered them discontented — that is enough. The 
 expedition must nevertheless be prosecuted to a success- 
 ful termination. New volunteers must be raised to con- 
 clude what has been so auspiciously begun by the old 
 ones. Gladly would I save these men from themselves, 
 and insure them a harvest which they have sown ; but 
 if they will abandon it to others, it must be so. * * "i^ 
 * * * So far as my exertions can contribute, the pur- 
 poses both of the savage and his instigator shall be de- 
 feated ; and so' far as yours can, I hope — I know they 
 will be employed. I have said enough — I want men, and 
 want them immediately." 
 
 Anxious to prosecute the campaign as soon as possible, 
 vhat by employing his troops actively he might dispel 
 
82 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 from their minds that discontent so frequently manifested, 
 Jackson wrote to General Cocke, early in December, 
 earnestly desiring him to hasten to the Ten Islands, 
 with fifteen hundred men. He assured him that the 
 mounted men, who had returned to the settlements for 
 subsistence, and to recruit their horses, would arrive by 
 the 12th of the month. He wished to commence his 
 operations directly, " knowing they would be prepared 
 for it, and well knowing they would require it. 1 am 
 astonished," h'e continued, "to hear that your supplies 
 continue deficient. In the name of God, what are the 
 contractors doing, and about what are they engaged ? 
 Every letter I receive from Governor Blount, assures me 
 I am to receive plentiful supplies from them, and seems 
 to take for granted, notwithstanding all I have said to the 
 contrary, that they have been hitherto regularly furnished. 
 Considering the generous loan the state has made for this 
 purpose, and the facility of procuring bread-stuffs in East 
 Tennessee, and the transporting them by water to Fort 
 Deposit, it is to me wholly unaccountable that not a pound 
 has ever arrived at that place. This evil must continue 
 no longer — it must be remedied. I expect, therefore, and 
 through you must require, that in twenty days they fur- 
 nish at Deposit every necessary supply." 
 
 While these preparations for the vigorous prosecution 
 of hostilities were being made, the volunteers were con- 
 gratulating themselves upon their anticipated discharge 
 from the service. They had originally enlisted on the 
 10th of December, 1812, to serve for twelve months. A 
 portion of this lime, however, after their return from 
 Natchez, they had not been actually engaged in service. 
 This fact was entirely overlooked in their calculations, 
 and they commenced pressing their officers en the subject 
 of their discharge. 
 
 General Jackson received a letter from the colonel who 
 commanded the second regiment, dated the 4th of De- 
 cember, 1813, in which was attempted to be detailed their 
 whole ground of complaint. He began by stating, that, 
 painful as it was, he nevertheless felt himself bound to 
 disclose an important and unpleasant truth : that, on the 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH THE VOLUNTEERS. 83 
 
 10th instant, the service would %e deprived of the regi- 
 ment he commanded. He seemed to deplore, with great 
 seusibihty, the scene that would be exhibited on that day, 
 should opposition be made to their departure ; and still 
 more sensibly, the consequences that would result from a 
 disorderly abandonment of the camp. He stated that they 
 had all considered themselves finally discharged, on the 
 JJOth of April, 1813, and n^r knew to the contrary, until 
 hey saw his order of the 24th of September, 1813, 
 requiring them to rendezvous on the 4th of October. 
 " Thus situated," proceeded the colonel, " there was con- 
 siderable opposition to the order ; on which the officers 
 generally, as I am advised, and I know myself in par- 
 ticular, gave it as an unequivocal opinion, that their term 
 of service would terminate on the 10th of December, 1813. 
 They therefore look to their general, who has their confi- 
 dence, for an honorable discharge on that day ; and that, 
 in every respect, he will see that justice be done them. 
 They regret that their particular situations and circum- 
 stances require them to leave their general, at a time when 
 their services are important to the common cause. 
 
 "It would be desirable," he continued, "that those 
 men who have served with honor, should be honorably 
 discharged, and that they should return to their families 
 and friends without even the semblance of disgrace ; with 
 their general they leave it to place them in that situation. 
 They have received him as an affectionate father, while 
 they have honored, revered, and obeyed him ; but having 
 devoted a considerable portion of their time to the service 
 of their country, by which their domestic concerns are 
 greatly deranged, they wish to return, and attend to their 
 own affairs." 
 
 Although this communication announced the determi- 
 nation of only a part of the volunteer brigade, the com- 
 mander in chief had abundant evidence that the defection 
 was but too general. The difficulty which he had here- 
 tofore been compelled to encounter, from the discontent 
 of his troops, might well induce him to regret that a spirit 
 of insubordination should again threaten to appear in his 
 camp. That he might prevent it, if possible, he hastened 
 
84 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 to lay before them the erftr and impropriety of their views, 
 and the consequences involved, should they persist in their 
 purpose. 
 
 To the foregoing letter he returned a reply which, for un- 
 shrinking firmness of resolution, and patriotic devotion to 
 the interests of his country, was never surpassed. He 
 declared his determination to prevent their return, at the 
 hazard of his life, and called i^^nGod to witness, that the 
 scenes of blood which might be exhibited on the 10th of 
 December should not be laid to his charge. He reminded 
 the volunteers that they had been enlisted for twelve 
 months' actual service ; that but a portion of that time had 
 expired ; and that at the time of their dismissal, after their 
 return from Natchez, a certificate was given to each man, 
 setting forth the number of months he had served, and 
 they were expressly told that they were liable to be again 
 called out to complete the full term. He also stated that 
 he was ready and willing to discharge them, provided he 
 received orders to that effect from the President of the 
 United States, or the Governor of the State, but otherwise, 
 they must remain with him. The letter concluded with 
 the following remarkable words : " I cannot, must not be- 
 lieve, that ' the volunteers of Tennessee,' a name ever 
 dear to fame, will disgrace themselves, and a country 
 which they have honored, by abandoning her standard, 
 as mutineers and deserters ; but should I be disappointed, 
 and compelled to resign this pleasing hope, one thing I 
 will not resign — my duty. Mutiny and sedition, so long 
 as I possess the power of quelling them, shal^ be put 
 down ; and even when left destitute of this, I will still be 
 found, in the last extremity, endeavoring to discharge the 
 duty I owe my country and myself." 
 
 To the platoon officers, who addressed him on the same 
 subject, he rephed with nearly the same spirited feehng; 
 but discontent was too deeply fastened, and had been too 
 artfully fomented, to be removed by any thing like argu- 
 ment or entreaty. At length, on the evening of the 
 9th of December, 1813, General Hall hastened to the tent 
 of Jackson, with information that his whole brigade was 
 in a state of mutiny, and making preparations to move 
 
SUPPRESSION OF THE MUTINY. 85 
 
 forcibly off. This was a measure which every considera- 
 tion of policy, duty, and honor, required Jackson to op- 
 pose ; and to this purpose he instantly appHed all the 
 means he possessed. He immediately issued the follow- 
 ing general order: "The commanding general being in- 
 formed that an actual mutiny exists in his camp, all officers 
 and soldiers are commanded to put it down. The officers 
 and soldiers of the first brigade will, without delay, parade 
 on the west side of the fort, and await further orders." 
 The artillery company, with two small field-pieces, being 
 posted in the fronf' and rear, and the militia, under the 
 command of Colonel Wynne, on the eminences, in ad- 
 vance, were ordered to prevent any forcible departure of 
 the volunteers. 
 
 The general rode along the line, which had been pre- 
 viously formed agreeabl}'' to his orders, and addressed them, 
 by companies, in a strain of impassioned eloquence. He 
 feehngly expatiated on their former good conduct, and the 
 esteem and applause it had secured them ; and pointed to 
 the disgrace which they must heap upon themselves, their 
 families, and country,, by persisting, even if they could 
 succeed, in their present mutiny. He told them, how- 
 ever, that they should not succeed but by passing over 
 his body ; that even in opposing their mutinous spirit, he 
 should perish honorably — by perishing at his post, and in 
 the discharge of his duty. "Reinforcements," he con- 
 tinued, "are preparing to hasten to my assistance; it can- 
 not be long before they will arrive. I am, too, in daily 
 expectation of receiving information, whether you may be 
 discharged or not — until then you must not, and shall not, 
 retire. I have done with entreaty, — it has been used long 
 enough. I will attempt it no more. You must now de- 
 termine whether you will go, or peaceably remain ; if you 
 still persist in your determination to move forcibly off, the 
 point between us shall soon be decided." At first they 
 hesitated ; he demanded an explicit and positive answer. 
 They still hesitated, and he commanded the artillerist to 
 prepare the match ; he himself remaining in front of the 
 volunteers, and within the line of fire, which he intended 
 soon to order. Alarmed at his apparent determination, 
 
86 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 and dreading the consequences involved in such a con- 
 test, " Let us return," was presently lisped along the line, 
 and soon after determined upon. The officers came for- 
 ward and pledged themselves for their men, who either 
 nodded assent, or openly expressed a willingness to retire 
 to their quarters, and remain without further tumult, until 
 information was received, or the expected aid should 
 arrive. Thus passed away a moment of the greatest 
 peril, and pregnant with important consequences. 
 
 Notwithstanding all General Jackson's firmness, the want 
 of supplies and the actual necessities of his army, at length 
 compelled him reluctantly to allow them to return home, 
 while he himself remained, with about one hundred faith- 
 ful soldiers, in the garrison at Fort Strother, thpre to await 
 the arrival of reinforcements. 
 
ARRIVAL OF RECRUITS. ' 8T 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 814. Arrival of recruits — Battle of Emuckfaw — Return of the army 
 — Ambuscade of the enemy — Battle of Enotochopco — Bravery of 
 General Carroll and Lieutenant Armstrong — Return to Fort Strother 
 — The army reinforced — Battle of Tohopeka — Kindness of Jackson 
 to a prisoner — Preparations to attack Hoithlewalle — Address to the 
 troops — The Indians abandon their towns at Jackson's approach — 
 Termination of the campaign — Operations of the British at Pensa- 
 cola — Conduct of the Spanish governor — Proclamation of Colonel 
 Nicholls — Unsuccessful attack on Fort Bowyer — Jaclvson marches 
 to Pensacola and demolishes it. 1814. 
 
 The difRcuIties and embarrassments which had thus far 
 in the campaign attended the operations of General Jack- 
 son, might well have appalled a braver spirit ; but his was 
 not a nature to sink beneath the frowns of adverse fortune. 
 His intrepidity of spirit, and resoluteness of purpose, were 
 never more signally manifested, than at the very moment 
 when the return of the volunteers left him without the 
 means to pursue the advantages he had already gained. 
 He again urged the governor of Tennessee to expedite 
 the enhstment of troops, and provide means for furnishing 
 suppHcs at such points as they might be needed. About 
 the middle of January, 1S14, eight hundred new recruits 
 reached his camp at Fort Strother. Considering it utter- 
 ly impracticable to penetrate the Creek country with so 
 meagre a force, he determined to make a diversion in fa- 
 vor of Major Floyd, who, it was feared, might be closely 
 pressed by the enemy, in consequence of his failure to co- 
 operate with the troops from Tennessee. 
 
 Having received authentic intelligence, that a large body 
 of the "red-sticks," or hostile Indians, were collected on 
 the Emuckfaw creek, in a bend of the Tallapoosa river, 
 Jackson directed his march thither; and on the evening of 
 the 21st of January, he encamped within a short distance 
 
88 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 of the enemy. A friendly Indian spy, who had recon- 
 noitred the enemy's camp, brought in word that the In- 
 dians were removing their women and cnildren — a sure 
 indication that they meditated an attack. Before dayhght, 
 on the morning of the 22d, a brisk firing was heard upon 
 the right, and in a few moments the action became gene- 
 raL The enemy were soon repulsed, with the loss of many 
 of their best and bravest warriors ; but their undoubted 
 strength, and the fact that they were constantly receiving 
 reinforcements, determined the general to return to Fort 
 Strother. • The object he had in view was fortunately ac- 
 complished, as it was afterwards known that the battle of 
 Emuckfaw was, in all probability, the means of saving 
 Major Floyd's troops, who was hotly engaged with the 
 enemy on the 27th, and would have been destroyed if their 
 force had not been so seriously diminished. 
 
 General Jackson buried the dead on the field of battle, 
 and on the 23d of January commenced a retrograde march. 
 During the night of the 23d there came on a violent 
 storm, which was known to be always favorable to the 
 Indian mode of fighting, and as his troops were not at- 
 tacked on the night of the 22d, or while on their march 
 the following day, he rightly conjectured that the enemy 
 were lying in ambush for him at the ford of Enotochopco, 
 about twelve miles from Emuckfaw. The stream, at this 
 point, ran through a narrow defile ; the ford was deep'; 
 and the banks were covered with underwood and reeds. 
 The eagle eye of Jackson had discovered the natural ad- 
 vantages of the place for an ambush, on his previous march 
 to Emuckfaw, and he resolved to cross the stream at a 
 ford six hundred yards lower down. In order to guard 
 against an attack from the enemy, if they saw fit to follow 
 him after discovering the change in his course, he formed 
 his rear to receive them. This movement was wisely 
 made. Part of the army had crossed the creek, and the 
 artillery were on the point of entering it, when an alarm 
 gun was heard in the rear, and the next instant the whoop- 
 ing and yelhng of the savages told plainly enough that 
 they were coming on in fearful numbers. The militia, on 
 the right and left, being struck with a sudden panic, in- 
 
BATTLE OF ENOTOCHOPCO. 89 
 
 stantly retreated down the bank, with their colonels at their 
 head, leaving the brave General Carroll, and about twenty- 
 five men, to check the advance of the enemy. As Colo- 
 nel Stump came plunging towards the creek where Ge- 
 neral Jackson was superintending the crossing of the 
 troops, the latter made an unsuccessful attempt to draw 
 his sword and cut him down. He was afterwards tried 
 by a court-martial, on a charge of cowardice, and cashiered. 
 
 In the mean time. Lieutenant Armstrong ordered his 
 company of artillery to form on the hill, and with the as- 
 sistance of one or two others, he drew up the cannon, a 
 six-pounder, and pointed it towards the enemy. The 
 ramrod and picker had been lost, but Jackson supplied 
 the deficiency by using muskets and their ramrods to load 
 the piece. It was fired twice, and did fearful execution. 
 The Indians began to waver, and when the general had 
 succeeded in rallying a number of the fugitives, and formed 
 them for a charge, they fled with precipitation, throwing 
 away their packs, and leaving twentv-six of their war- 
 riors dead on the field. 
 
 After this repulse, the army resumed their march, and 
 reached Fort Strother in safety, on the 27th of January, 
 whore they were dismissed by their general, until he re- 
 ceived further orders from government, which he desired 
 to provide him with a competent force to enter the Creek 
 country, and put a termination to the war. Through the- 
 patriotic exertions of Governor Blount, General Jackson 
 was again at the head of a fine army, early in March, and 
 ready to recommence the campaign. His force at this time 
 consisted of four thousand Tennessee militia and volunteers, 
 and a regiment of United States regulars. In the month 
 of February, he had received information that the hostile 
 Indians, about one thousand in number, were fortifying 
 themselves in a bend of the Tallapoosa river, fifty miles 
 from Emuckfaw, where they had determined to make a 
 last stand. The country between theCoosaand Tallapoo- 
 sa rivers, known to the whites as the "Hickory Ground," 
 had always been held sacred by the Indians, and they 
 were taught, by their prophets, to believe that no white 
 man could ever enter this territory to conquer it. Gene- 
 
90 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 ral Jackson saw at once that the conquest of this tract of 
 ground would compel them to sue for peace, and he de- 
 termined on forcing them to a general engagement. He 
 accordingly marched his army down the Coosa, and, hav- 
 ing established a fort at the mouth of Cedar Creek, called 
 Fort Williams, he crossed over to the Tallapoosa. He 
 was three days in crossing the Hickory Ground, as the 
 road had to be cut from one river to the other. On the 
 morning of the 27th of March, he arrived near Tohopeka 
 with a force of over two thousand men. 
 
 The bend of the river in which the enemy were fortified, 
 as its name imports, resembles a horse-shoe in shape. 
 Across the neck of land by which the peninsula was 
 entered from the north, the Indians had thrown up a rude 
 breastwork of logs, seven or eight feet high, but so con- 
 structed that assailants would be exposed to a double and 
 cross-fire. About a hundred acres lay within the bend, 
 and at the bottom of it there was an Indian village, around 
 which were a great number of canoes fastened to the bank 
 of the river. Affer reconnoitering the position. General 
 Jackson detached General Coffee to surround the bend 
 opposite to where the canoes were secured, while he him- 
 self advanced to assault the breastwork. As soon as Ge- 
 neral Cofl^ee had reported, by signals, the fulfilment of the 
 order, the two pieces of artillery, a six and three pounder, 
 began to play upon the breastwork. The firing had con- 
 tinued for about two hours, when some of the friendly 
 Cherokees who were with General Coffee, swam the river, 
 and brought over the canoes. A number of Coffee's 
 troops immediately crossed over, set fire to the village, 
 and attacked the Indians in the rear. On discovering 
 this movement. General Jackson ordered a push to be made 
 at the breastwork, and carried it by storm. The battle 
 now commenced in earnest, and a most bloody and despe- 
 rate hand to hand conflict ensued, in which the Indians 
 were finally overpowered, and compelled to give way. A 
 number of them attempted to escape across the river, but 
 were shot by the spies and mounted men under General 
 Coffee. Some took refuge among the brush and fallen 
 timber on the cliffs overhanging the river, from which 
 
KINDNESS TO AN INDIAN PRISONER. 91 
 
 they fired upon the victors. Jackson was desirous to pre- 
 j vent the further loss of life, and sent an interpreter within 
 I call to offer them terms, but he was also fired upon and 
 I severely wounded. The cannon were then brought to 
 bear on the place of their concealment, yet they still re- 
 fused to surrender. After losing several men in an in- 
 effectual charge, the general, as a last resort, commanded 
 the brush and timber to be fired, and such of them as were 
 driven from their hiding-places were shot as they ran. 
 Night at length put an end to the battle, and a few of the 
 miserable survivors escaped in the darkness. Five hun- 
 dred and fifty-seven of their number were found dead on 
 the field, and three hundred women and children were 
 taken prisoners. The American loss was fifty-five killed 
 and one hundred and forty-six wounded ; nearly one-third 
 of which fell upon the friendly Creeks and Cherokees. 
 Among the Indians slain were three of their prophets, 
 who had been the most active in exciting them to war. 
 Up to the last moment, they maintained their influence 
 over their deluded countrymen, and continued their wild 
 and unseemly dances amid the thunder of battle. One 
 of them was struck dead, with a grape shot, in the midst 
 ! of his incantations. 
 
 An incident occurred after the battle highly character- 
 istic of the American general. A young Indian was 
 brought before him who had received a severe wound in 
 the leg. A surgeon was sent for to dress it, and the 
 savage quietly submitted to the operation ; but while it 
 was going on, he looked inquiringly at the general, and 
 said, "Cure 'im, kill 'im again?" Jackson assured him, 
 in a friendly manner, that he need not apprehend any 
 further injury, and he soon recovered. The general was 
 struck with his manly bearing, and having ascertained 
 that all his relations had perished in the battle, he sent 
 him to his own house in Tennessee. After the conclu- 
 sion of the war, he bound him out to a trade in Nashville, 
 where he married, and established himself in business. 
 
 As his men had taken but seven days' rations with them 
 when they left Fort Williams, Jackson was compelled to 
 return to that post. Before doing so, he took the precau- 
 
92 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 tion to sink the dead bodies of his soldiers in the river, 
 that they might be beyond the reach of the savages who 
 had disinterred those buried at Emuckfaw and Enoto- 
 chopco, for the purpose of obtaining their scalps. 
 
 The original plan of the expedition against the Creek 
 nation, formed by General Pinckney, the commander in 
 chief, contemplated the junction of the different divisions 
 sent from Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi, at the bend 
 of the Coosa and Tallapoosa ; but the failure to furnish 
 provisions to the Tennessee troops, in the early part of the 
 campaign, prevented the accomphshment of this design. 
 General Jackson, however, after his return to Tohopeka, 
 resolved upon the complete conquest of the Hickory 
 Ground. He immediately made preparations to attack 
 Hoithlewalle, an Indian town in this territory, where a 
 large body of the enemy were said to be concentrated. 
 On the 7th of April, just five days after his return from 
 Tohopeka, he commenced his march. Each of his men 
 carried eight days' provisions on his back. This supply 
 was thought to be abundantly sufficient, as he expected 
 soon to meet the eastern army under Colonel Milton, who 
 had orders from General Pinckney to furnish him with 
 supphes. Most of the friendly Indians were dismissed, 
 on account of the difficulty in obtaining provisions. Before 
 setting out, Jackson issued an animated address to his 
 troops, in the following terms : 
 
 " Soldiers, — You have entitled yourselves to the grati- 
 tude of your country and your general. The expedition 
 from which you have returned, has, by your good conduct, 
 been rendered prosperous beyond any example in the 
 history of our warfare ; it has redeemed the character of 
 your state, and of that description of troops of which the 
 greater part of you are. 
 
 " The fiends of the Tallapoosa will no longer murder 
 our women and children, or disturb the quiet of our 
 borders. Their midnight flambeaux will no more illu- 
 mine their council-house, or shine upon the victims of 
 their infernal orgies. In their places a new generation 
 will arise, who will know their duty better. The weapons 
 of warfare will be exchanged for the utensils of husbandry ; 
 
TERMINATION OF THE CAMPAIGN. 93 
 
 and the wilderness, which now withers in sterility, and 
 mourns the desolation which overspreads her, will blossom 
 as the rose, and become the nursery of the arts. But, 
 before this happy day can arrive, other chastisements re- 
 
 ,main to be inflicted. It is indeed lamentable, that the 
 path to peace should lead through blood, and over the 
 bodies of the slain ; but it is a dispensation of Providence, 
 and perhaps a wise one, to inflict partial evils that ulti- 
 
 1 mate good may follow." 
 
 It was Jackson's intention to reach Hoithlewalle on the 
 11th of April; but the roads had been rendered almost 
 impassable by the heavy rains, and he found himself un- 
 able to do so. When within ten or twelve miles of the 
 town, he ascertained that the inhabitants had deserted it. 
 He then directed his march for Fooshatchie, three miles 
 lower down the river, where he took several prisoners. 
 The Indians generally, on his approach, fled across the Tal- 
 lapoosa. He had anticipated this, and his orders to Colonel 
 Milton, to co-operate with him from the east, were intend- 
 ed to prevent the escape of the enemy in that direction. 
 That officer, however, not only disregarded the orders he 
 had received, but suffered the Indians to pass him un- 
 molested, when he was preparing to cross the river and 
 attack them. The rapid rising of the Tallapoosa, and the 
 want of provisions, compelled Jackson temporarily to de- 
 sist from the pursuit. Soon after, he made application to 
 Colonel Milton, who was advancing to attack Hoithlewalle, 
 which he had already destroyed, for provisions to supply 
 his troops. The colonel replied that he did not feel him- 
 self under obligation to furnish any to the Tennessee 
 troops, but he would lend them some if it were absolutely 
 necessary. Jackson instantly sent him a peremptory 
 order, by Captain Gordon of the spies, requiring him to 
 furnish the provisions which he had previously requested, 
 and to form a junction with him the next day. On read- 
 ing the order, Colonel Milton inquired of Captain Gordon, 
 what sort of a man General Jackson was. " He is a man," 
 replied the captain, " who intends when he gives an order 
 that it shall be obeyed !" Colonel Milton then said he 
 would furnish provisions, not because they were ordered, 
 
94 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 but because the men were suffering for want of them ; 
 nevertheless he afterwards obeyed the order in full, and 
 joined the army under Jackson with his force. 
 
 In order to intercept the Indians who had fled across 
 the river, Jackson detached a body of mounted men to 
 scour the left bank of the Tallapoosa, while he himself, 
 with the main army, prepared to march down the Coosa 
 as far as their junction. Just as the army was about to 
 commence its march, word was brought to the general 
 that Colonel Milton's brigade could not move, as the 
 wajron-horses had strayed away in the night and could 
 not be found. Jackson sent back word that he had dis- 
 covered an effectual remedy in such cases, which was to 
 detail twenty men to each wagon. Milton took the hint, 
 and having dismounted a f^ew of his dragoons, attached 
 their horses to the wagons, and soon put his brigade in 
 motion. 
 
 The army did not encounter the least opposition on 
 their march, and it was now evident that the battle of 
 Tohopeka had ended the Creek war. No effort was made 
 by the surviving warriors to rally, after that fatal day, and 
 as General Jackson advanced, they either fled before him, 
 or came in and offered submission. In a few months 
 peace and quiet were restored; whereupon the Tennes- 
 see soldiers returned home, and were honorably dis- 
 charged. 
 
 Upon the resignation of General Harrison, in the spring 
 of 1814, Jackson was appointed a major-general in the 
 army of the United States. The protection of the coast 
 near the mouths of the Mississippi was intrusted to him; 
 and his first attention was tujned to the encouragement 
 and protection which the savages received, from the Spa- 
 nish governor and Spanish authorities in the fortress of 
 Pensacola, which is situated on the Gulf of Mexico, at about 
 a hundred miles' distance from the main fastness of the 
 Creek Indians. His opinion was, that the savages were 
 constantly receiving assistance from the Spanish garrison, 
 and from the British, through the means of the garrison ; 
 and he was persuaded that the latter would finally attack 
 New Orleans after having prepared themselves at Pensa- 
 
ATTACK ON PENSACOLA. 95 
 
 cola. On his way to the south, he learned that ahout 
 three hundred British troops had landed, and were fortify- 
 ing themselves at no great distance from that post. In 
 this state of things, he endeavored to prevail upon the 
 Spanish governor to desist from all acts injurious to the 
 United States. That officer at first prevaricated, but af- 
 terwards boldly falsified the truth. The news had already 
 been received, of the fall of Napoleon, and his banishment 
 to Elba; and this event inspired new villany, and new 
 courage, everywhere, inasmuch as it greatly increased 
 the ability of Great Britain to prosecute her hostile opera- 
 tions against the United States. The Spanish garrison at 
 Pensacola was, in fact, a rendezvous for the British, and 
 their Indian allies. Captain Gordon was sent by General 
 Jackson, in the month of August, 1814, to reconnoitre the 
 post, and, on his return, he reported that he had seen from 
 fifty to two hundred officers and soldiers, a park of artille- 
 ry, and about five hundred savages drilhng under British 
 officers, and dressed in British uniform. These facts were 
 duly communicated to the government, and an order was 
 issued on the 18th of July, by General Armstrong, then 
 secretary of war, authorizing General Jackson to attack 
 Pensacola. By some strange and unaccountable delay, 
 the letter containing this order did not reach him until the 
 17th of January, 1815. 
 
 General Jackson regarded the operations of the British 
 at Pensacola, with considerable anxiety ; and on the ap- 
 pearance of the following proclamation, addressed to the 
 inhabitants of the southern and western states, and dated 
 at Pensacola, the "head-quarters" of the officerwhose name 
 was attached, he decided to act on his own responsibility: 
 
 "Natives of Louisiana! on you the first call is made, 
 to assist in liberating from a faithless, imbecile govern- 
 ment, your paternal soil : Spaniards, Frenchmen, Italians, 
 and British, whether settled, or residing for a time, in 
 Louisiana, on you, also, I call to aid me in this just. cause. 
 The American usu^^^ation in this country must be abohshed, 
 and the lawful owners of the soil put in possession. I am 
 at theTead of a large body of Indians, well armed, disci- 
 plined, and commanded by British officers — a good train 
 
96 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 of artillery, with every requisite, seconded by the power- 
 ful aid of a numerous British and Spanish squadron of 
 ships and vessels of war. Be not alarmed, inhabitants of 
 the country, at our approach; the same good faith and 
 disinterestedness, which have distinguished the conduct 
 of Britons in Europe, accompany them here ; you will 
 have no' fear of htigious taxes imposed on you for the 
 purpose of carrying on an unnatural and unjust war; 
 your property, your laws, the peace and tranquillity of 
 your country, will be guarantied to you by men who will 
 suffer no infringement of theirs ; rest assured that these 
 brave red men only burn with an ardent desire of satis- 
 faction for the wrongs they have suffered from the Ame- 
 ricans, and to join you in liberating these southern provinces 
 from their yoke, and drive them into those limits formerly 
 prescribed by my sovereign. The Indians have pledged 
 themselves in the most solemn manner, not to injure, in 
 the shghtest degree, the persons or property of any but 
 enemies. A flag over any door, whether Spanish, French, 
 or British, will be a certain protection ; nor dare any In- 
 dian put his foot on the threshold thereof, under penalty 
 of death from his own countrymen ; not even an enemy 
 will an Indian put to death, except resisting in arms ; and 
 as for injuring helpless women and children, the red men, 
 by their good conduct and treatment to them, will (if it be 
 possible) make the Americans blush for their more inhu- 
 man conduct, lately, on the Escambia, and within a neu- 
 tral territory. 
 
 " Inhabitants of Kentucky, you have too long borne 
 with grievous impositions — the whole brunt of the war 
 has fallen on your brave sons : be imposed on no longer ; 
 but either range yourselves under the standard of your 
 forefathers, or observe a strict neutrahty. If you comply 
 with either of these ofTers, whatever provisions you send 
 down will be paid for in dollars, and the safety of the per- 
 sons bringing them, as well as the free navigation of the 
 Mississippi, guarantied to you. Men # Kentucky, let me 
 call to your view, (and I trust to your abhorrence,) the 
 conduct of those factions which hurried you into thf^ civil, 
 unjust, and unnatural war, at a time when Great Britain 
 
ATTACK ON PENSACOLA. 97 
 
 was straining eveiy nerve, in defence of her own and the 
 liberties of the world — when the bravest of her sons were 
 fighting and bleeding in so sacred a cause — when she was 
 spending millions of her treasure in endeavoring to pull 
 down one of the most formidable and dangerous tyrants 
 that ever disgraced the form of man — when groaning Eu- 
 rope was almost in her last gasp — when Britons alone 
 showed an undaunted front — basely did those assassins 
 endeavor to stab her from the reai' ; she has turned on 
 them, renovated from the bloody but successful struggle — 
 Europe is happy and free, and she now hastens justly to 
 avenge the unprovoked insult. Show them that you are 
 not collectively unjust ; leave that contemptible few 0^ 
 shift for themselves ; let those slaves of the tyrant send au 
 embassy to Elba, and implore his aid ; but let every ho- 
 nest, upright American, spurn them with united contempt. 
 After the experience of twenty-one years, can you longer 
 support those brawlers foi' Hberty who call it freedom when 
 themselves are free ? Be no longer their dupes — accept 
 of my offers — every thing I have promised in this paper 
 I guaranty to you on the sacred honor of a British officer. 
 "Given under my hand, at my head-quarters, Pensa- 
 cola, this 29th day of August, 1814. 
 
 Edward Nicholls." 
 The mere fact of allowing this document to go forth to 
 the world, unaccompanied as it was by any disavowal on 
 the part of the Spanish governor, constituted a sufficient 
 justification for the subsequent conduct of General Jack- 
 son. Troops had been drilled, savages supphed with 
 weapons, and munitions of war prepared, under the im- 
 mediate observation of the Spanish authorities ; and, as 
 if to leave no room for doubt, their implied consent, at least, 
 , was given to the waiver of their rights of neutrality, by 
 suffering a British commander, unrebuked, to estabhsh his 
 "head-quarters" in their midst. The attack on Pensaco- 
 la, by General Jackson, was afterwards made the subject of 
 an investigation in Congress, and has frequently been re- 
 ferred to, in other quarters, in terms of censure. His con- 
 duct was approved by his government, and the facts cer- 
 tainly present a complete justification. 
 5 
 
9S LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 While General Jackson was making preparation, for his 
 contemplated attack on Pensacola, an assault was made by 
 the British troops from that post, upon Fort Bowyer, which 
 was situated on the Mobile river. On the 15th of Sep- 
 tember, 1814, Colonel Nicholls attacked the fort by land, 
 while several vessels, mounting altogether about ninety 
 guns, approached by sea. The expedition ended in blow- 
 ing up one of the English ships, greatly damaging another 
 and sending off Colonel Nicholls with the loss of one of 
 his ships, and, as it was said, one of his eyes. Major 
 Lawrence commanded the American fort. His brave 
 band consisted of only one hundred and thirty men ; 
 while the force of the British was ninety guns by sea, 
 and Nicholls assaulted the fort by land, with a twelve- 
 pound howitzer, and several hundred marines, sailors, 
 and savages. This affair vyas highly creditable to Major 
 Lawrence and his men. The disparity of force was very 
 great ; and this disgraceful beating at the outset must 
 have had a considerable effect upon the enemy. Jackson 
 was still more firmly resolved, after this attack, to break up 
 the rendezvous at Pensacola ; and on the 6th of November, 
 1814, he marched against it, demolished all its defences 
 and protections, drove out the British and the savages, 
 and taught Nicholls and the Spanish governor, that there 
 was still one country left which was not to be insulted 
 with impunity by the satellites of despotism. 
 
MARCH TO NEW ORLEANS. V9 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1814. Jackson marches to New Orleans — Preparations to defend 
 the city — Surrounded by traitors and spies — Situation of the coun- 
 try — Strength of the British expedition — Firmness of Jackson — 
 The city placed under martial law — Vigorous measures rendered 
 absolutely necessary — Landing of the British — Alarm in the city — 
 Jackson determines to attack them — Disposition of his ibrces — 
 Battle on the night of the twenty-third of December — Gallant con- 
 duct of the American troops — Repulse of the British — The complete 
 triumph of the Americans prevented by the darkness of the night 
 — Adventure of Colonels Dyer and Gibson — The Americans fall 
 back to a new position, and prepare to fortify it — Effect of the bat- 
 tle. 1814. 
 
 After administering this severe, but deserved rebuke, 
 to the Spanish governor, General Jackson immediately 
 repaired, with a small portion of his army, to the city of 
 New Orleans, at that time the most vulnerable point on 
 the southern frontier. He arrived there on the 1st day 
 of December, 1814, and on the 4th it was rumored that a 
 British fleet was approaching the coast. Two days after, 
 the report was confirmed, ajpid it was positively known 
 that Admiral Cochrane and Sir George Cockburn, who 
 had been compelled to retreat down the Chesapeake after 
 the burning of Washington city, had sailed for the Gulf 
 of Mexico with the forces under their command. Jackson 
 did not lose a single moment, but at once applied himself 
 vigorously to the work of preparation. Previous to his 
 arrival, the inhabitants had become desponding and in- 
 different. The influence of a master-mind soon aroused 
 every thing into activity. Confidence was speedily re- 
 stored. Resources that none had ever dreamed of sprang 
 up at his bidding. His genius and perseverance soon 
 found means for the crisis, desperate as it appeared, while 
 his determined energy and resolute will, manifested on all 
 
iOO LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 occasions, in the midst of danger and alarm, excited the 
 hopes of the timid, and infused new courage into the 
 breasts of the wavering and faint-hearted. 
 
 The city of New Orleans, at this time, contained a popu- 
 lation of about 30,000 inhabitants, most of whom, as the 
 territory of Louisiana had but recently been purchased, 
 were of French and Spanish descent. As a very natural 
 consequence, their attachment to their new government 
 was any thing but ardent or sincere. Jackson had no 
 only prejudices and jealousies to contend against, but 
 treason lurked everywhere around him. Spies were con- 
 stantly engaged in observing his motions, and the very 
 men whose firesides he canae to protect from outrage and 
 molestation, corresponded with the enemy at Pensacola. 
 In addition to these difficulties, the American general was 
 seriously embarrassed from the want of arms, ammuni- 
 tion, and troops. The Tennessee militia under General 
 Carroll, and the mounted riflemen, commanded by Ge- 
 neral Coffee, arrived soon after Jackson reached the city. 
 In order to conceal his real weakness from the enemy, 
 these troops were encamped a few miles out of town, and. 
 their number intentionally represented to be much larger 
 than it really was. He did not wish his detachments to 
 be counted ; and it was a part of his policy to exaggerate 
 his force, to deceive the spies and impose upon the enemy. 
 Besides this, the appearance and accoutrements of the 
 western volunteers, though exactly suited to their mode 
 of warfare, were not particularly calculated to inspire con- 
 fidence or* courage in those who would have been more 
 highly gratified at beholding all "the pride, pomp, and 
 circumstance of glorious war." In distributing his forces, 
 Jackson took especial care to place them in such a man- 
 ner, that they could be readily assembled in a single mas 
 upon New Orleans. 
 
 The city itself was the point really menaced. It is 
 situated around a bend of the Mississippi river, on tho 
 eastern bank. It is generally approached by vessels, from 
 the river, although small craft, such as schooners and 
 sloops, navigate lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne. A nar- 
 row strip of land, varying from a few hundred yards to 
 
SITUATION OF THE CITY. 101 
 
 two or three miles, borders the river, gradually tapering 
 off into a swamp, as it recedes, until it reaches the lakes. 
 This strip of land is covered with plantations, and is pro- 
 tected from the inundations of the river by an embankment 
 of earth, called the " levee," which extends far above the 
 city, on both sides of the river. 
 
 The expedition fitted out by the British against New 
 Orleans was truly a formidable one. The fleet under 
 Admiral Cochrane numbered more than eighty sail, pre- 
 vious to the arrival of the reinforcements. On board 
 the transports were eleven thousand " heroes of the Pe- 
 ninsula," fresh from the blood-stained field of Vittoria,com- 
 manded by four able and experienced generals ; two 
 admirals, and twelve thousand seamen and marines, with 
 fire-ships, rockets, ammunition, and artillery in abund- 
 ance. This array of strength, which lost nothing of its 
 terrors in the rumors circulated by the agents of the British 
 government, was not by any means to be despised. Ge- 
 neral Jackson foresaw the danger, and determined to avert 
 it. He felt that it was one of those rare occasions which 
 will sometimes occur, when it was absolutely necessary 
 for the will of one man to guide and control every thing. 
 The press itself had been, in part, suborned by the enemy, 
 and the legislature was too much under British influence 
 to listen to his wise suggestion in favor of the repeal of 
 the Habeas Corpus Act. He accordingly resolved, with- 
 out a moment's hesitation, to assume the power which 
 cowardice dared not exercise. The city was placed under 
 martial law, and in one instance, where a traitor whom he 
 had imprisoned had been set at liberty by Judge Hall, he 
 ordered the judge himself into confinement for interfering 
 with his authority. The sequel conclusively showed that 
 these vigorous measures were absolutely necessary for the 
 safety and protection of the city, and a grateful country did 
 not fail to appreciate the patriotic motives which prompted 
 him in the exercise of this supreme power. 
 
 The Enghsh armament, instead of coming up the river, 
 entered the lakes which connect with the gulf, and on the 
 23d of December commenced landing their forces on the 
 narrow strip of land bordering the river. They reached 
 
102 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 this point by means of the Bayou Bienvenu and Villere*s 
 canal, through which they passed in their boats. They 
 were at this time ignorant of the extent of the preparations 
 made by Jackson to receive them, and instead of marching 
 directly upon the city, which would have been the safest 
 course, their commander encamped where he had landed, 
 on the plantations of two or three French settlers. When 
 "^ackson received the inteUigence that the British had ef- 
 ected a landing, he determined to attack them on the 
 night of the 23d. Generals Coffee and Carroll wers 
 ordered to proceed immediately from their encampment, 
 and join him with all haste. Although four miles above, 
 they arrived in the city in less than two hours after the 
 order had been issued. These forces, with the seventh 
 and forty-fourth regiments, the Louisiana troops, and 
 Colonel Hinds' dragoons, from Mississippi, constituted 
 the strength of his army, which could be brought into 
 action against the enemy. It was thought advisable that 
 General Carroll and his division should be disposed in the 
 rear, for the reason that there was no correct information 
 of the force landed through Vi Here's canal, and because 
 Jackson feared that this probably might be merely a feint 
 intended to divert his attention, while a much stronger 
 and more numerous division, having already gained some 
 point higher on the lake, might, by advancing in his 
 absence, gain his rear, and succeed in their design. Being 
 thus ignorant of their movements, it w^as essential that he 
 should be prepared for the worst, and by diff'erent dispo- 
 sitions of his troops be ready to offer an effectual resist- 
 ance in whatever quarter he might be assailed. General 
 Carroll, therefore, at the head of his division, and Governor 
 Claiborne, with the state mihtia, were directed to take^ 
 post on the Gentilly road, which leads from Chef Menteur 
 another landing-place, to New Orleans, and to defend^it to 
 the last extremity. With the remainder of his troops, 
 about two thousand in number, Jackson hastened down 
 the river, towards the point where it had been reported 
 the British had effected a landing. 
 
 Alarm pervaded the city. The marching and counter- 
 marching of the troops, the proximity of the enemy, witli 
 
TWENTY-THIRD OF DECEMBER. 103 
 
 the approaching contest, and uncertainty of the issue, had 
 excited a general apprehension. It was feared that the 
 British might be already on their way, before the neces- 
 sary arrangements could be made to oppose them. To 
 prevent this, Colonel Hayne, with two companies of rifle- 
 men, and the Mississippi dragoons, was sent forward to 
 reconnoitre their camp, and learn their position and num- 
 bers, and if they should be found advancing, to harass and 
 oppose them at every step, until the main body should 
 arrive. 
 
 An inconsiderable circumstance at this moment evinced 
 what unlimited confidence was reposed in Jackson's skill 
 and bravery. As his troops were marching through the 
 city, his ears were assailed with the screams and cries of 
 innumerable females, who had collected on the way, and 
 seemed to apprehend the worst of consequences. Feehng 
 for their distresses, and anxious to quiet them, he directed 
 Mr. Livingston, one of his aids-de-camp, to address them 
 in the French language. " Say to them," said he, " not 
 to be alarmed : the enemy shall never reach the city !" 
 It operated like an electric shock. To know that he him- 
 self was not apprehensive of a fatal result, inspired them 
 with altered feelings ; sorrow was ended, and their grief 
 converted into hope and confidence. 
 
 The general arrived in view of the enemy a httle before 
 dark. Having previously ascertained from Colonel Hayne, 
 who had been sent in advance, their position, and that their 
 strength was about two thousand, though it afterwards 
 proved to be three thousand, he immediately concerted 
 the mode of attack, and hastened to execute it. 
 
 General Coffee, with his brigade, Colonel Hinds' dra- 
 goons, and Captain Beal's company of riflemen, was di- 
 rected to march to the left, keeping near the swamp, and, if 
 possible, to turn the enemy's right, and drive them towards 
 the river, where the CaroHne, a schooner of war commanded 
 by Commodore Patterson, would drop down and open upon 
 them. The firing of the vessel was the appointed signal 
 for a simultaneous attack on all sides. The rest of the 
 troops, consisting of the regulars, and Blanche's city vo- 
 lunteers, Daq'iin's colored troops, and the artillery uwler 
 
 %. 
 
104 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 Lieutenant Spotts, supported by a company of marines 
 commanded by Colonel McKee, advanced on the road along 
 the bank of the Mississippi, and were commanded by 
 Jackson in person. 
 
 On approaching the enemy's position, their encampment 
 was discovered, by the light of their camp-fires, to be 
 formed with the left resting on the river, and extending 
 into the open field. General Coffee had advanced, wit 
 caution and silence, beyond their pickets, next the swamp 
 and nearly reached the point to which he was ordered, 
 when a broadside from the Caroline announced that the 
 battle had begun. Patterson had proceeded slowl)^, giving 
 time, as he beheved, for the execution of the arrangements 
 contemplated on shore. So sanguine had the British been 
 in the belief that they would be kindly received, and little 
 opposition attempted, that the Caroline floated by the sen- 
 tinels, and anchored before their camp, without the least 
 molestation. On passing the front picket, she was hailed 
 in a low tone of voice, but not returning an answer, no 
 further question was made. This, added to some other 
 attendant circumstances, confirmed the opinion that they 
 believed her to be a vessel laden with provisions, which 
 had been sent out from New Orleans, and was intended 
 for them. Having reached what appeared, from their 
 fires, to be the centre of their encampment, her anchors 
 were cast, and her character and business disclosed by her 
 guns. So unexpected an attack produced a momentary 
 confusion ; but recovering from their surprise, the enemy 
 answered the fire with a discharge of musketry and flight 
 of Congreve rockets, which passed without injury, while 
 the grape and cannister from her guns were pouring de- 
 struction upon them. They then extinguished their fires, 
 by the light of which the vessel had directed her guns with 
 remarkable precision, and retired two or three hundred 
 yards into the open field. They were still within range 
 of the cannon, but the darkness of the night afforded them 
 considerable protection. 
 
 General Coffee, having dismounted his men, and turned 
 his horses loose, at a large ditch in the rear of Laronde's 
 plantation, had gained, as he thought, the centre of the 
 
TWENTY-THIRD OF DECEMBER. 105 
 
 enemy's line, when the signal from the Caroline reached 
 him. He directly wheeled his column in, and forming 
 his line parallel with the river, moved towards their camp. 
 He had scarcely advanced more than a hundred yards, 
 when he received a heavy fire from the enemy in his 
 front ; this was an unexpected circumstance to him, be- 
 cause he supposed them to be lying principally at a dis- 
 tance, and that the only opposition he should meet, until 
 he approached towards the levee, would be from their ad- 
 vanced pickets. The circumstance of his coming in con- 
 tact with them so soon, was owing to the severe attack of 
 the schooner, which had compelled the enemy to abandon 
 their camp, and form without the reach of her deadly fire. 
 The moon was shining, but reflected her light too feebly 
 to discover objects at a distance. The only means, there- 
 fore, of producing any positive efl^ect, with the kind of 
 force engaged, which consisted chiefly of riflemen, was 
 not to venture at random, but to discharge their pieces 
 only when there should be a certainty of hitting the ob- 
 ject aimed at. This order being given, the line pressed 
 on, and having gained a position near enough to distin- 
 guish the enemy, a general fire was given; it was well 
 directed, and too severe and destructive to be withstood ; 
 the British gave way and retreated ; they raUied again, 
 however, but were again attacked and forced to retire. 
 The gallant yeomanry, led by their brave commander, 
 pressed fearlessly on, and drove the invaders from every 
 position they attempted to maintain. It was unnecessary 
 for their general to encourage and allure them to deeds 
 of valor : his own example was sufficient to excite them. 
 Always in their midst, he was cool and collected. Un- 
 mindful of danger, he continued to remind his troops that 
 *hey had often said they could fight, and now Avas the 
 ime to prove it. 
 
 The British, driven back by the resolute firmness and 
 intrepidity of their assailants, reached a grove of orange 
 trees, with a ditch running past it, protected by a fence on 
 the margin, where they were halted and formed for battle. 
 It w^as a favorable position, promising entire security, and 
 it was occupied with a confidence that they could not be 
 
106 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 forced to yield it. Coffee's brave troops, strengthened in 
 their hopes of success, moved on, nor discovered the ad- 
 vantages against them, until a fire from the entire British 
 hne showed their position and defence. A sudden check 
 was given ; but it was only momentary, forgathering fresh 
 ardor, they charged across the ditch, gave a deadly and 
 destructive fire, and compelled the enemy to retire. The 
 retreat continued, until gaining a similar position, the 
 British made another stand, and were again driven from 
 it w^ith considerable loss. 
 
 Thus the battle was carried on, upon the left wing, until 
 the British reached the bank of the river ; here a deter- 
 mined stand was made, and further encroachments resisted : 
 for half an hour the conflict was extremely violent on both 
 sides. The American troops could not be driven from 
 their purpose, nor the British made to yield their ground ; 
 but at length, having suffered greatly, the latter were un- 
 der the necessity of taking refuge behind the levee, which 
 afforded a breastwork, and protected them from the fatal 
 fire of our riflemen. General Coffee, though unacquainted 
 with their position, for the darkness had greatly increased, 
 contemplated another charge ; but one of his officers, who 
 had discovered the advantage their situation gave them, 
 assured him it was too hazardous ; that they could be 
 driven no farther, and would, from the point they occu- 
 pied, resist with the bayonet, and repel, with considerable 
 loss, any attempt that might be made to dislodge them. 
 The place of their retirement was covered in front by a 
 strong bank, which had been extended into the field, to 
 keep out the river, in consequence of the first bank hav- 
 ing been encroached upon and undermined in several 
 places : the latter, however, was still entire in many parts, 
 and, interposing between them and the Mississippi, it 
 afforded security from the broadsides of the schooner 
 which lay off at some distance. A further apprehension, 
 lest, by moving still nearer to the river, he might greatly 
 expose himself to the fire of the Caroline, which was yet 
 spiritedly maintaining the conflict, induced Coflee to re- 
 tire until he could hear from the commanding general, and 
 receive his further orders. 
 
TWENTY-THIRD OF DECEMBER. 107 
 
 During this time, tiie right wing, under Jackson, had 
 been no less prompt and active. The advance, consisting 
 of a detachment of artillery under Lieutenant Spotts, 
 supported by sixty marines, moved down the road next 
 the levee. On their left was the seventh regiment of in- 
 fantry, led by Major Piere. The forty-fourth, commanded 
 by Major Baker, was formed on the extreme left ; while 
 Planche's and Daquin's battalions of city guards were di- 
 rected to be posted in the centre, between the seventh and 
 forty-fourth. The general had ordered Colonel Ross, (who 
 acted in the capacity of brigadier-general,) on hearing the 
 signal from the Caroline, to move off by heads of com- 
 panies, and, on reaching the enemy's line, to deploy, and 
 unite the left wing of his command with the right of Ge- 
 neral Coffee's. This order was omitted to be executed ; 
 and the consequence was, an early introduction of con- 
 fusion in the ranks, which prevented the important design 
 of uniting the two divisions. 
 
 Instead of moving in column from the first position, the 
 troops, with the exception of the seventh regiment; next 
 the person of the general, which advanced agreeably to 
 the instructions that had been given, were formed and 
 marched in extended hne. Having sufficient ground to 
 form on at first, no inconvenience was at the moment sus- 
 tained ; but this advantage presently failing, the centre 
 became compressed, and was forced in the rear. The 
 river gradually incHned to the left from the place where 
 they were formed, and diminished the space originally pos- 
 sessed. Farther in, stood Laronde's house, surrounded 
 by a grove of clustered orange-trees : this pressing the 
 left, and the river the right wing, to the centre, formed 
 a curve, which presently threw the principal part of 
 Planche's and Daquin's battalions without the line. This 
 inconvenience might have been remedied, but for the 
 briskness of the advance, and the darkness of the night. 
 A heavy fire from behind a fence, immediately before 
 them, brought the enemy to view. Acting in obedience 
 to their orders, not to waste their anununition at random, 
 our troops pressed forward against the opposition in their 
 front, and thereby threw those battalions in the rear. 
 
108 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 A fog rising from the river, and mingling with the 
 smoke from the guns, covered the plain, and gradually 
 diminished the little light shed by the moon, at the same 
 time greatly increasing the darkness of the night: no clue 
 was left, therefore, to ascertain how or where the enemy 
 were situated. There was no alternative but to move on 
 in the direction of their fire, v/hich subjected the assail- 
 ants to material disadvantages. The British, driven from 
 their first position, had retired and occupied another, be- 
 hind a dee.p ditch that ran out of the Mississippi towards 
 the swamp, on the margin of which was a wood-railed 
 fence. Here, strengthened by increased numbers, they 
 again opposed the advance of our troops. Having waited 
 until they had approached sufficiently near their fastnesses 
 to be discovered, they discharged a fire upon the advancing 
 army. Instantly the American battery was formed, and 
 began to play briskly upon them ; while the infantry, press- 
 ing forward, aided in the conflict, which at this point was 
 for some time spiritedly maintained. At this moment a 
 brisk 'sally was made upon our advance, when the marines, 
 unequal to the assault, were already giving way. The 
 adjutant-general, and Colonels Piatt and Chotard, hasten- 
 ing to their support, with a part of the seventh, drove the 
 enemy, and saved the artillery from capture. General 
 Jackson, perceiving the decided advantages which were 
 derived from the position they occupied, ordered their 
 line to be charged. It was obeyed with cheerfulness, 
 and executed with promptness. Pressing on, our troops 
 gained the ditch, and pouring across it a well-aimed fire, 
 compelled them, to retreat, and to abandon their intrench 
 ment. The plain on ¥/hich they were contending was cut 
 to pieces by races from the river, to convey the water to 
 the swamp. The enemy were therefore very soon en- 
 abled to occupy another position, equally favourable with 
 the one whence they had been just driven, where they 
 formed for battle, and for some time gallantly maintained 
 themselves ; but they v»rere at length, after a stubborn re- 
 sistance, forced to yield their ground. 
 
 The enemy discovering the firm and obstinate advance 
 *nade by the right wing of the American army, and pre- 
 
TWENTY-THIRD OF DECEMBER. 109 
 
 suming, perhaps, that its principal strength was posted on 
 the road, formed the intention of attacking the left. Ob- 
 hquing for this purpose, an attempt was made to turn it. 
 At this moment, Daquin's battalion and the city guards, 
 being marched up and formed on the left of the forty- 
 fourth regiment, met and repulsed them. 
 
 The nature of the contest prevented securing those 
 benefits which might have been derived from the artil- 
 lery. The darkness of the night was such, that the blaze 
 of the enemy's musketry was the only hght afforded by 
 which to determine their position, or be capable of taking 
 that of the Americans to advantage ; yet, notwithstanding, 
 it greath'' annoyed them, whenever it could be brought to 
 bear. Directed by Lieutenant Spotts, a vigilant and skilful 
 officer, with men to aid him who looked to nothing but a 
 zealous discharge of their duty, the most essential and 
 important services were rendered. 
 
 The enemy had been thrice assailed and beaten, and 
 compelled to retreat for nearly a mile. They had now 
 retired, and if found, were to be sought for amid the dark- 
 ness of the night. The general, therefore, determined to 
 halt, and ascertain Coffee's position and success, before 
 proceeding farther, for as yet no communication had 
 passed between them. He entertained no doubt, from 
 the brisk firing in that direction, that he had been warmly 
 engaged ; but this had now nearly subsided : the Caro- 
 line, too, had almost ceased her operations ; it being only 
 occasionally that the noise of her guns disclosed the little 
 opportunity she possessed of acting efficiently. 
 
 The express despatched to General Jackson from the 
 left wing, having reached him, he determined not to pro- 
 secute the successes he had gamed. The darkness of the 
 Bight, the confusion into which his own division had been 
 hrown, and a similar disaster produced in Coffee's ranks, 
 all pointed to the necessity of retiring from the field, and 
 abandoning the contest for the time. The bravery and 
 firmness already displayed by his troops, had impressed 
 him with the belief, that by pushing forward he might 
 capture the whole British army: at any rate, he con- 
 sidered it but a game of venture and hazard, which, if 
 
110 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 unsuccessful, could not occasion his own defeat. If in- 
 competent to its execution, and superior numbers or su- 
 perior discipline should compel him to retire in his turn, 
 he well knew that the enemy would not have temerity- 
 enough to attempt pursuit,, on account of the extreme 
 darkness, and their ignorance of the situation of the coun- 
 try. But on the arrival of the express from General Cof- 
 fee, and having been informed of the strength of th 
 position to which the enemy had retired, and that a par 
 of the left wing had been detached, and were in all pro- 
 babihty captured, he determined to retire from the field. 
 General Coffee was accordingly directed to withdraw, and 
 take up his position at Laronde's plantation, where the 
 line had been first formed ; the troops on the right were 
 also ordered to the same points 
 
 The last charge made by the left wing had separated 
 Colonel Dyer from the main body, with two hundred men, 
 and Captain Beal's company of riflemen. What might be 
 their fate, whether they were captured or had effected 
 their retreat, was, at this time, altogether uncertain. 
 
 Colonel Dyer, who commanded the extreme left, on 
 clearing the grove, after the enemy had retired, was 
 marching in the direction in which he expected to find 
 General Coffee ; he very soon discovered a force in front, 
 and haking his men, hastened towards it ; arriving within 
 a short distance, he was hailed, ordered to stop, and report 
 to whom he belonged : Dyer, and Gibson, his Heutenant- 
 colonel, who had accompanied him, advanced and stated 
 that they were of Coffee's brigade ; by this time, they had 
 nearly reached the line, and perceiving that the name of 
 the brigade they had stated was not understood, their ap- 
 prehensions were awakened, lest it might be a detachment 
 of the enemy ; in this opinion they were immediately con- 
 firmed, and having wheeled about to return, they were 
 fired on and pursued. Gibson had scarcely started, when 
 he fell ; before he could recover, a soldier, quicker than 
 the rest, had reached him, and pinned hirn to the ground 
 with his bayonet ; fortunately he was bat slightly wound- 
 ed and only held by his clothes ; thus pinioned, and per- 
 ceiving others to be briskly advancing, but a moment was 
 
ADVENTURE OF COLONEL DYER. Ill 
 
 left for deliberation ; making a violent exertion, and spring- 
 ing to his feet, he threw his assailant to the ground, and 
 made good his escape. Colonel Dyer had retreated about 
 fifty yards, when his horse dropped dead* Being en- 
 tangled in the fall, and receiving a wound in the thigh, 
 there was little prospect of relief, for the enemy were 
 briskly advancing. He therefore ordered his men, who 
 were close at hand, to advance and fire, which checked 
 the approach of the enemy, and enabled him to escape. 
 Having thus discovered an enemy in a direction he had 
 not expected, and uncertain bow or where he might find 
 General Coffee, he determined to seek him to the right, 
 and moving on with his little band, forced his way through 
 the enemy's lines, with the loss of sixty-three of his men, 
 who were killed and taken. Captain Beal, with equal 
 bravery, charged through their ranks, carrying off some 
 prisoners, and losing several of his own company. 
 
 This body of the enemy proved to be a reinforcement 
 which had arrived from Bayou Bienvenu after night. 
 The boats that landed the first detachment had proceeded 
 back to the shipping, and having returned, were on their 
 way up the Bayou, when they heard the guns of tho 
 Caroline : moving hastily on to the assistance of those 
 who had debarked before them, ihey reached the shore, 
 and knowing nothing of the situation of the two armios, 
 durinor the eno^agement, advanced in the rear of General 
 Coffee's brigade. Coming in contact with Colonel Dyer 
 and Captain Beal, they filed off to the left, and reached 
 the British lines. 
 
 This detached part of Coffee's brigade, unable to unite 
 with or find him, retired to the place where they had first 
 formed, and joined Colonel Hinds' dragoons, who had re- 
 mained on the ground that they might cover the retreat 
 of the troops if it became necessary. 
 
 Jackson went into this battle confident of success ; and 
 his arrangements were such as would have insured it even 
 to a much greater extent, but for the intervention of circum- 
 stances that were not and could not have been foreseen. 
 The Caroline gave her signals, and commenced the battle 
 a httle too early, before Coffee had reached and taken his 
 
112 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 position, and before every thing was fully in readiness to 
 attain the objects desired ; but it was chiefly owing to the 
 confusion in the ranks at first which checked the rapidity 
 of Jackson's *advance, gave the enemy time for prepara- 
 tion, and prevented his division from uniting with the right 
 wing of General Coffee's brigade. 
 
 Colonel Hinds, and his dragoons, were not brought into 
 action during the night. Interspersed as the plain was 
 with innumerable ditches, diverging indifferent directions 
 it was impossible that cavalry could act to any kind of ad- 
 vantage. After the battle was over, they were formed in 
 advance to watch the movements of the enemy until 
 morning. 
 
 From the experiment just made, Jackson behoved it 
 would be in his power to capture the British army ; he 
 concluded, therefore, to order General Carroll, with his 
 division, down to his assistance, and to attack them again 
 at the dawn of day. Directing Governor Claiborne to 
 remain at his post, with the Louisiana militia, for the 
 defence of the Gentilly road, an important pass to the city, 
 he despatched an express to Carroll, stating to him, that 
 if there had been no appearance of a force during the 
 night, in the direction of Chef Menteur, to hasten and 
 join him with the troops under his command ; this order 
 was executed by one o'clock in the morning. Previous- 
 ly, however, to his arrival, a difierent determination was 
 made. It was ascertained from prisoners who had been 
 brought in, and through deserters, that the strength of the 
 enemy during the battle was four thousand, and, with the 
 reinforcements which had reached them after its com- 
 mencement, and during the action, their force could not 
 be less than six ; at any rate, it would greatly exceed that 
 of the Americans, even with the addition of the Tennessee 
 division. Akhough very decided advantages had been 
 obtained, yet they had been procured under circumstances 
 that might be wholly lost in a contest waged in open day, 
 between forces so disproportionate, and by undisciphned 
 troops against veteran soldiers. Jackson well knew it 
 was incumbent upon him to act a part entirely defensive : 
 should the attempt to gain and destroy the city succeed, 
 
EFFUCT OF THE BATTLE. 113 
 
 numerous difficulties would present themselves, which 
 might be avoided so long as he could hold the enemy in 
 check, and foil their designs. 
 
 Being firmly persuaded that it was important to pursue 
 a course calculated to insure safety, and believing it at- 
 tainable in no way so effectually, as in occupying some 
 point, and by the strength he might give it, compensate 
 for the inferiority of his numbers and their want of dis- 
 cipline, Jackson determined to make no further offen- 
 sive efforts until he could more certainly discover the 
 views of the enemy, and until the Kentucky troops, which 
 had not yet arrived, should reach him. In pursuance of 
 this idea, after having ordered Colonel Hinds to occupy 
 the ground he was then abandoning, and to observe the 
 enemy closely, he fell back in the morning, and formed 
 his line behind a deep ditch that extended to the swamp, 
 at right angles from the river. There were two circum- 
 stances strongl}'' recommending the importance of this 
 place : — the swamp, which, from the highlands at Baton 
 Rouge, skirted the river at irregular distances, and in. 
 many places was almost impervious, at this pomt, ap- 
 proached within four hundred yards of the Mississippi, 
 and hence, from the narrowness of the pass, was more 
 easily to be defended ; in addition to this, there was a 
 'deep canal, the dirt from which having been thrown on 
 the upper side, already formed a tolerabie work of defence. 
 Behind this his troops were formed, and proper measures 
 adopted for increasing the strength of the position, with 
 the determination never to abandon it. 
 
 The soldier who is familiar with the scenes of the battle- 
 field, and understands what slight circumstances frequent- 
 ly counteract the operations of a whole campaign, and 
 produce the most decided advantages, where a different 
 issue might not unreasonably have been expected, will be 
 able properly to appreciate the effect of the attack made 
 by General Jackson on the advance of the enemy, upon 
 the night of the 23d of December. Although the dread- 
 ful carnage of the 8th of January was, in point of fact, 
 the finishing blow that struck down the towering hopes 
 of the invaders, and put an end to the contest, yet in 
 
114 LITE OF JACKSON. 
 
 the previous engagement there was much to excite their 
 fears and apprehensions. They had reached the Mis- 
 sissippi without the fire of a gun, and encamped upon its 
 banks as composedly as if they had been seated on their 
 own soil, and at a distance from all danger. These were 
 circumstances which impressed them with the belief that 
 they need expect but little opposition ; that success was 
 certain ; and that the troops with whom they were to con- 
 tend would scarcel}^ venture to resist them. So confident 
 were they in their expectations, that they intended to 
 move forward the next day, and attack the city. But 
 Jackson well knew how essential an early impression was 
 to ultimate success, and resolved to assail them at the mo- 
 ment of their landing, and " attack them in their first 
 position." With a force inferior by one-half to that of the 
 enemy, at an unexpected moment he had broken into their 
 camp, and with his undisciphned yeomanry driven before 
 him the pride of England and the conquerors of Europe. 
 It was an event that could not fail to destroy all previous 
 theories, and estabhsh a conclusion which the British 
 had not before formed, that they were contending against 
 valor inferior to none they had seen, and before which 
 their own bravery and skill availed nothing. It had the 
 effect of satisfying them, that the quantity and kind of 
 troops it was in our power to bring into action, were very 
 different from an^ thing that had been represented to 
 them; for much as they had heard of the courage of the 
 man with whom they were contending, they could not 
 ' suppose that a general, having a country to defend, and a 
 reputation to preserve, would venture to attack a force 
 greatly superior to his own, on ground they had chosen, 
 and one too, which, by the numerous victories it had 
 achieved, had already acquired the highest distinction. 
 All these circumstances tended to convince them that 
 his force must far surpass their expectations, and be com- 
 posed of materials very, different from what they had ima- 
 gined. 
 
 The American troops which were actually engaged in 
 the action, did not amount to two thousand men, as ap- 
 pears by the following statement : 
 
DEATH OF COLONEL LAUDERDALE. 115 
 
 Part of Coffee's brigade and Captain Deal's company, 
 amounting- to ----- - 648 
 
 The 7th and 44th regimegpts, - - - . 763 
 Company of marines and artillery, - - - 82 
 
 Planche's and Daquin's battalions, - - - 488 
 
 Total 1981 
 This small body of men, for more than an hour, main- 
 ained a severe conflict with a force of four or five thou- 
 sand, and retired in safety from the field, with the loss 
 of but twenty-four killed, and one hundred and fifteen 
 wounded, and seventy-four made prisoners ; while the 
 killed, wounded, and prisoners of the enemy, were not 
 less than four hundred. The officers and soldiers under 
 Jackson executed every order with promptitude, and nobly 
 sustained the honour of their country. Lieutenant-Colo- 
 nel Lauderdale, of Coffee's brigade, an officer of great pro- 
 mise, and on whom every reliance was placed, fell man- 
 fully fighting at his post. He entered the service, and 
 descended the river with the volunteers under General 
 Jackson, in the winter of 1812; passed through al] the 
 hardships and difficulties of the Creek war; and ever 
 manifested a commendable alacrity in the discharge of his 
 duty. Young, brave, and skilful, he had already afforded 
 evidences of a capacity which promised to be exceedingly 
 useful in the career he had embraced. His exemplary 
 conduct, both in civil and military life, had acquired for 
 him a respect that rendered his death a subject of general 
 regret. Lieutenant McLelland, a valuable young officer of 
 the 7th, was also among the slain. General Coffee's bri- 
 gade imitated the example of their commander during the 
 action, and bravely and ably supported the character they 
 had previously estabhshed. The unequal contest in which 
 they were engaged never occurred to their minds, nor 
 checked, for a moment, the rapidity of their advance. 
 Had the British known that they were merely riflemen, 
 and without bayonets, a firm stand would have arrested 
 their progress, and destruction or capture would have been 
 the inevitable consequence ; but this circumstance being 
 unknown, every charge they made was crowned with 
 
116 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 success, producing discomfiture in the opposing ranks, 
 and routing and driving superior numbers before them. 
 Officers, from the highest to the inferior grades, were ahke 
 prompt and efficient. Ensign Leach, of the 7th regiment, 
 being wounded through the body, still remained at his 
 post, in the performance of his duty. Colonel Kemper, 
 amid the confusion introduced on the left wing, found 
 himself at the head of a handful of men, detached from 
 the main body, and in the midst of a party of the enemy : 
 never did any man better exemplify the truth of the as- 
 sertion, that discretion is sometimes the better part of valor; 
 to attempt resistance was idle, and could only end in certain 
 destruction. Calhng to a group of soldiers who were near 
 him, in a positive tone, he demanded of them where their 
 regiment was. Being themselves at fault, they were un- 
 able to answer ; but supposing him to be one of their 
 officers, they obeyed his orders, and followed him to his 
 own line, where they were made prisoners. 
 
 The 7th regiment, commanded by Major Piere, and the 
 44th, under Major Baker, aided by Major Butler, gallant- 
 ly maintained the conflict; forced the enemy from every 
 position they attempted to occupy; and drove them some 
 distance from the first point of attack. Confiding in them- 
 selves, and in their general, who was constantly with them, 
 exposed to danger and in the midst of the fight, inspiring 
 them by his ardor and encouraging them by his example, 
 the American soldiers bravely advanced to the conflict, nor 
 evinced a disposition to retire, until the prudence of their 
 commander dictated the necessary order. 
 
THE AMERICANS FORTIFY THEIR POSITION. 1 17 
 
 CHAPTER VIII! 
 
 J814. The Americans fortify their position — Jackson's peremptory 
 orders to Major Lacoste — Defence of the Pass Barrataria — Cap- 
 tain Lafitte — Attack made by the British on the 28th of December 
 — Defensive preparations hastened — Death of Colonel Henderson — 
 Disaffection in New Orleans — Information communicated to the 
 British fleet — Stratagem of Mr. Shields — Conduct of the Louisiana 
 legislature — Patriotic reply of Jackson to the committee — Attempt 
 to supply his troops with arms — Gallantry of Colonel Hinds — Can- 
 nonade on the 1st of January— Position of the American army- 
 Jackson's orders to the Frenchman to defend his property — De- 
 fences on the right bank of the river — Caution of Jackson in con- 
 cealing the number of his troops. 1815. 
 
 The distinguishing traits in the character of General 
 Jackson, as a mihtary commander, were clear-headed sa- 
 gacity, promptness of decision, and rapidity of execution. 
 He had no sooner resolved on the course which he thought 
 necessary to be pursued, than he hastened with all possible 
 dispatch, to secure its completion. After the engagement 
 with the British on the night of the 23d of December, it 
 was evident to his mind that it would be exceedingly un- 
 wise to risk an encounter with the enemy, in an open 
 field, at the head of an inferior, undisciplined, and un- 
 armed force. He conceived, therefore, that a defensive 
 poHcy was the most judicious, and that by prudence and 
 caution he would be able to preserve what might be en- 
 dangered by any offensive movement. Hence, he de- 
 termined to fortify himself as effectually as the peril and 
 exigencies of the moment would permit. When to expect 
 an attack, he could not tell ; preparation and readiness to 
 meet it, were for him to determine upon ; all else was for 
 the enemy. He proceeded promptly with his system of 
 defence, and such was his thoughtfulness and anxiety, 
 that, until the night of the 27th, when his lines were com- 
 
118 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 pleted, he never slept, or closed his eyes for a moment. 
 Resting his hopes of safety and security to the city, on 
 his ability to check the advance of the enemy, he was 
 everywhere present, encouraging his troops, and hasten- 
 ing a completion of the work. The concern and excite- 
 ment produced by the important object before him, were 
 so great, that for five days and four nights he was con- 
 stantly employed. •His line of defence, the celebrated 
 cotton embankment, being completed on the night of the 
 27th, for the first time since the arrival of the enemy, he 
 sought that rest and repose he so much needed. 
 
 The violence of the attack made on the night of the 
 23d of December, naturally excited the fears of the British 
 troops, and it was considered important to keep their ap- 
 prehensions alive, with a view to destroy the overween- 
 ing confidence with which they had arrived on our shores, 
 and to compel them to act for a time upon the defensive. 
 To effect this, General Coffee, with his brigade, was 
 ordered down on the morning of the 24th, to unite with 
 Colonel Hinds, and make a show in the rear of Lacoste's 
 plantation. The enemy being not yet recovered from the 
 panic produced by the assault of the preceding evening, 
 believed it was in contemplation to urge another attack, 
 and immediately formed themselves to repel it ; but Coffee, 
 having succeeded in recovering some of his horses, which 
 were wandering along the margin of the swamp, and in 
 regaining part of the clothing that his troops had lost the 
 night before, returned to the hne, leaving them to con- 
 jecture the object of his movement. 
 
 The scanty supply of clothes and blankets that re- 
 mained to the soldiers, from their long and exposed 
 marches, had been left where they dismounted to meet 
 the enemy. Their numbers were too hmited, and the 
 strength of their opponents too well ascertained, for any 
 part of their forces to remain and take care of what was 
 left behind ; it was so essential to hasten on and reach 
 their destination, that they might be ready to act when 
 the signal was given from the Caroline, that no time was 
 afforded them to secure their horses, which were turned 
 loose, and their recovery trusted entirely to chance. Al 
 
CONDITION OF THE AMERICAN TROOPS. 119 
 
 though many were regained, many were lost ; while most 
 of the men remained with but a single suit, to encounter 
 in the open field, and in swamps covered with water, the 
 hardships of a camp, and the severity of winter. It is a 
 circumstance which entitles them to much credit, that 
 under privations so severely oppressive, complaints or 
 murmurs were never heard. This state of things fortu- 
 ately was not of long continuance. The story of their 
 ufferings and misfortunes was no sooner known, than the 
 legislature appropriated a sum of money for their relief, 
 which was greatly increased by subscriptions in the city 
 and neighborhood. Materials having been purchased, the 
 ladies, with that Christian charity and warmth of heart 
 characteristic of their sex, at once exerted themselves in 
 supplying their wants ; all their industry was called into 
 action, and in a Httle time the suffering soldiers were re- 
 lieved. Such generous conduct, in extending assistance, 
 at a moment when it was so much needed, while it con- 
 ferred on those females the highest honor, could not fail 
 to nerve the arm of the brave soldier with new zeal for the 
 defence of his fair benefactors. This distinguished mark 
 of their patriotism and benevolence is still remembered ; 
 and often, as these valiant men are heard to recount the 
 dangers they have passed, and with peculiar pride to 
 dwell on the mingled honors and hardships of the cam- 
 paign, they breathe a sentiment of gratitude for those who 
 conferred upon them such distinguished marks of their 
 kindness, and who by their timely interference alleviated 
 their misfortunes and their sufferings. 
 
 In order to prevent the advance of the enemy, and keep 
 up a show of resistance, detachments of light troops were 
 occasionally kept in front of their line, assailing and ha- 
 rassing their advanced posts, whenever an opportunity 
 was offered for acting to advantage. Every moment that 
 could be gained, and every delay that could hinder or retard 
 the enemy's attempts to reach the city, was of the utmost 
 importance. The works were rapidly progressing, and 
 hourly increasing in strength. The militia of the siate 
 were every day arriving, and every day the prospect of 
 successful opposition became brighter and more auspicious. 
 6 
 
120 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 The enemy still remained at their first encampment ; 
 but that every thing might be in readiness to repel an 
 assault, when attempted, the most active preparations were 
 made in the American camp. The canal covering the 
 front of the line was deepened and widened, and a strong 
 mud wall formed of the earth that had been originally 
 thrown out. To prevent any approach until his system 
 of defence should be in a state of greater forwardness, 
 Jackson ordered the levee to be cut about a hundred yards 
 below the point he had occupied. The river being very 
 high, a broad stream of water passed rapidly through the 
 plain, and covered it to the depth of thirty or forty inches, 
 which prevented the march of troops on foot. Embra- 
 sures were formed, and two pieces of artillery, under the 
 command of Lieutenant Spotts, were placed in a position 
 to rake the road leading up the levee, early on the morn- 
 ing of the 24th of December. 
 
 General Jackson was under the constant apprehension 
 lest, in spite of his exertions below, the city might be 
 reached and destroyed through some other route. His 
 fears were increased on the 24th, by a report that a strong 
 force had arrived ; debarked at the head of Lake Borgne; 
 and compelled an abandonment of the defence at Chef 
 Menteur. This, however, proved to be unfounded : the 
 enemy had not appeared in that direction, nor had the 
 officer to whom the command of this important fort was 
 intrusted, forgotten his duty or forsaken his post. Acting 
 upon the statement that Major Lacoste had retired from 
 the fort, and fallen back on Bayou St. John, and incensed 
 that orders, which, from their importance, should have 
 been faithfully executed, had been thus lightly regarded, 
 Jackson hastened to inform him what he had understood, 
 and to forbid his leaving his position. "The battery I 
 have placed under your command," said the general, 
 " must be defended at all hazards. In you, and the valor 
 of your troops, I repose every confidence — let me not be 
 deceived. With us every thing goes on well ; the enemy 
 has not yet advanced. Our troops have covered them- 
 selves with glory : it is a noble example, and worthy to 
 be followed by ail. Maintain your post, nor ever think 
 
ORDERS TO' MAJOR LACOSTE. 121 
 
 of retreating." To give additional strength to a place 
 deemed so important, and to inspire confidence and insure 
 safety, Colonel Dyer, with two hundred men, was ordered 
 there, to assist in its defence, and act as videttes, in ad- 
 vance of the occupied points. 
 
 General Morgan, who commanded the fort on the east 
 bank of the river, was instructed to proceed as near the 
 enemy's camp as prudence and safety would permit, and 
 by destroying the levee, to let in the waters of the Missis- 
 sippi between them. The execution of this order, and a 
 similar one previously made below the line of defence, 
 entirely insulated the enemy, and prevented his march 
 against either place. On the 26th, the commanding ge- 
 neral, fearing for the situation of Morgan, who, as the 
 British occupied the intermediate ground, was entirely 
 detached from his camp, directed him to abandon the post, 
 carry off such of the cannon as might be wanted, and 
 throw the remainder into the river, where they could be 
 again recovered when the waters receded ; and after doing 
 this, to retire across the river, and assume a position on 
 the right bank, nearly opposite to his line, and fortify it. 
 This movement was rendered necessary by the relative 
 disposition of the two armies. 
 
 From the intelligence obtained through deserters and 
 prisoners, it was evident that the British fleet would make 
 an eflbrt to ascend the river, and co-operate with the troops 
 already landed. Lest this, or a diversion in a different 
 quarter, might be attempted, exertions were made to ofl?er 
 resistance at all points, and to interpose such defences on 
 the Mississippi as might secure protection. The forts on 
 the river, being well supported with brave men and heavy 
 pieces of artillery, might, it was thought, have the effect 
 to deter their shipping from venturing in that direction, 
 and dispose them to seek some safer route, if any could 
 be discovered. Pass Barrataria was best calculated for 
 this purpose, and it was expected that the effort would, in 
 all probability, be made in that quarter. The difficulty of 
 ascending the Mississippi, from the rapiditf of the cur- 
 rent, its winding course, and the ample protection already 
 given at forts St. Philip and Bourbon, were circumstances 
 
122 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 to which the British were not strangers : nor was it to be 
 expected that, with a knowledge of them, they would 
 venture the success of an enterprise on which so much 
 depended. It was a more rational conjecture that they 
 would seek a passage through Earrataria, proceed up on 
 the right bank of the river, and gain a position from which, 
 by co-operating with the forces on the east side, they might 
 drive the Americans from the line they had formed, and 
 succeed in the accomplishment of their designs. Major 
 Reynolds was accordingly ordered thither, with instruc- 
 tions to place the bayous emptying through this pass in 
 the best possible state of defence — to occupy and strength- 
 en the island — to mount sufficient ordnance, and draw a 
 chain within cannon-shot across the channel. Lafitte, 
 who had previously been promised a pardon for the out- 
 rages committed against the laws of the United States, and 
 who had already shown a lively zeal on behalf of his 
 adopted countrj^, was also despatched with Reynolds. 
 He was selected, because no doubt was entertained of his 
 lidehty, and because his knowledge of the topography and 
 precise situation of this section of the state was remark- 
 ably correct : it was the point where he had constantly 
 rendezvoused, while cruising against the merchant vessels 
 of Spain, under a commission obtained at Carthagena, and 
 where he had become perfectly acquainted with every 
 inlet and entrance to the gulf, through which a passage 
 could be effected. 
 
 With these arrangements, all being anxiously ahve to the 
 interests of the country, and disposed to protect it, there 
 was little room to apprehend or fear disaster. To use the 
 general's own expression on another occasion : " the surest 
 defence, and one which seldom failed of success, was a 
 rampart of high-minded and brave men." That there 
 were some of this description with him, on whom he 
 could safely rely in moments of extreme peril, he well 
 knew ; but that there were many strangers to him and to 
 danger, who had never been called to act in situations 
 where the horrors of the field of battle appal and unnerve 
 even the most resolute, was equally certain ; whether 
 they would support the cause in which they had em- 
 
MOVEMENTS OF THE BRITISH. I's!3 
 
 barked, with manly firmness, and realize his anxious 
 wishes on the subject, could be known only in the hour 
 of conflict and trial. 
 
 As yet, the enemy were not informed of the position of 
 Jackson. What was his situation — what was intended — 
 whether ofTensive or defensive operations would be pur- 
 sued, were matters in regard to which they possessed no 
 correct knowledge, nor could it be obtained ; still their 
 exertions were unremitting to have all things prepared, 
 and in readiness to urge their designs, whenever the mo- 
 ment for action should arrive. They had been constantly 
 engaged since their landing, in procuring from their ship- 
 ping every thing necessary to ulterior operations. A com- 
 plete command on the lakes, and possession of a point on 
 the margin, presented an uninterrupted ingress and egress, 
 and afforded the opportunity of conveying whatever was 
 w^anted, in perfect safety, to their camp. The height of 
 the Mississippi, and the discharge of water through the 
 openings made in the levee, had given an increased 
 depth to the canal, from which they had first debarked ; 
 they were enabled to advance their boats much farther in 
 the direction of their encampment, and to bring up, with 
 greater convenience, their artillery, bombs, and munitions. 
 They were thus engaged during the first three days after 
 their arrival, and early on the morning of the 27th a bat- 
 tery was discovered on the bank of the river, which had 
 been erected during the preceding night, and on which 
 were mounted several pieces of heavy ordnance ; from 
 this position a fire was opened on the Caroline schooner, 
 lying under the opposite shore. 
 
 After the battle of the 23d, in which this vessel ren- 
 dered such effectual assistance, she passed to the opposite 
 side of the river, where she had since lain. Her services 
 were too highly appreciated not to be again desired, should 
 the enemy endeavor to advance. Her present situation 
 was considered an unsafe one, but several vain attempts 
 had been made to advance her higher up the stream. No 
 favorable breeze had yet arisen to aid her in stemming 
 the current ; and towing, and other remedies, had been 
 already resorted to, bat without success. Her safety might 
 
134 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 have been ensured by floating her down the river, and 
 placing her under cover of the guns of the fort ; but it 
 was preferred, as a matter of policy, to risk her where 
 she was. Commodore Patterson left her on the 26th, by 
 the order of the commanding general, when Captain Henly 
 made a further but ineffectual effort to force her up the 
 current, near to the Hne, for the double purpose of its de- 
 fence and for her own safety. 
 
 This attempt being discovered at daylight on the morn- 
 ing of the 27th, a battery, mounting five guns, opened 
 upon her, discharging bombs and red-hot shot ; it was 
 spiritedly answered, but without affecting the battery ; 
 there being but a long twelve-pounder that was of service. 
 The second fire lodged a hot shot in the hold, directly 
 under her cables, whence it could not be removed, and 
 where it immediately communicated fire to the schooner. 
 The shot from the battery were constantly taking effect, 
 firing her in different places, and otherwise producing 
 material injury ; while the blaze, already kindled under 
 her cables, was rapidly extending its ravages. A well- 
 grounded apprehension of her commander, that she could 
 be no longer defended, — the flames bursting forth in dif- 
 ferent parts, and fast increasing — induced a fear lest the 
 magazine should be soon reached, and every thing de- 
 stroyed. One of his crew being killed, and six wounded, 
 and not a glimmering of hope entertained*that she could 
 be preserved, orders were given to abandon her. The 
 crew reached the shore in safet}^, and in a short time after- 
 wards she blew up. 
 
 Although thus unexpectedly deprived of so material a 
 dependence for successful defence, an opportunity was 
 soon presented of using her brave crew to advantage. 
 Gathering confidence from what had just been effected, 
 the enemy left their encampment, and moved in the direc- 
 tion of the American line. Their numbers had been in- 
 creased, and Major-General Sir Edward Packenham now 
 commanded in person. Early on the 28th, his columns com- 
 menced their advance to storm the works. At the distance 
 of half a mile, their heavy artillery opened, and quantities 
 of bombs, balls, and Congreve rockets were discharged. It 
 
ATTACK ON THE TWENTY-EIGHTH. 125 
 
 was a scene of terror and alarm, which they had probably- 
 calculated would excite a panic in the minds of the raw 
 troops of our army, and compel them to surrender at dis- 
 cretion, or abandon their strong-hold. But our soldiers 
 had afforded abundant proof, that, whether disciplined or 
 not, they well knew how to defend the honor and interests 
 of their country ; and had sufficient valor not to be alarmed 
 at the reality — still less at the semblance of danger. Far 
 from exciting their apprehensions, and driving them from 
 their ground, their firmness remained unchanged ; and 
 they still manifested a determination not to tarnish a re- 
 putation they had hardly earned, and which had become 
 too dear, from the difficulties and dangers they had passed 
 to acquire it, to be tamely surrendered. The Congreve 
 rockets, though an instrument of destruction to which 
 the American troops had been hitherto strangers, excited 
 no other feehng than that which novelty inspires. At 
 the moment, therefore, that the British, in different co- 
 lumns, w^ere moving up, in all the pomp and parade of 
 battle, preceded by the insignia of terror more than dan- 
 ger, and expecting to behold their "Yankee foes" retire 
 and flee before them, the batteries opened, and checked 
 their advance. 
 
 In addition to the two pieces of cannon mounted on the 
 works on the 24th, three others, of heavy calibre, obtained 
 from the navy department, had been formed along the line ; 
 these opening on the enemy, checked their progress, and 
 disclosed to them the hazard of their project. Lieutenants 
 Crawley and Norris volunteered, and with the crew of the 
 Caroline rendered important services, and maintained at 
 the guns they commanded that firmness and decision for 
 which, on previous occasions, they had been so highly 
 distinguished. They had been selected by the general 
 because of their superior knowledge in gunnery ; and on 
 this occasion gave a further evidence of their skill and 
 judgment, and of a disposition to act in any situation 
 where they could be serviceable. The line, which, from 
 the labors bestowed on it, was daily strengthening, was 
 not yet in a situation to offer effectual resistance ; this de- 
 
126 LIFE OF JACKSOX. 
 
 iiciency, however, was remedied by the brave men who 
 were formed in its rear. 
 
 The greatest injury was effected from the river. Lieu- 
 tenant Thompson, who commanded the Louisiana sloop, 
 which lay nearly opposite the line of defence, no sooner 
 discovered the columns approaching, than, warping her 
 around, he brought her starboard guns to bear, and pro- 
 duced such an effect as forced them to retreat ; but from 
 their heavy artillery, the enemy maintained the conflict 
 with great spirit, constantly discharging their bombs and 
 rockets for seven hours, when, unable to make a breach, 
 or silence the fire from the sloop, they abandoned a contest 
 where few advantages seemed to be presented. The 
 crew of this vessel was composed of new recruits, and of 
 discordant materials — of soldiers, citizens, and seamen ; 
 yet, by the activity of their commander, they were so 
 well perfected in their duty, that they already managed 
 their guns with the greatest precision and certainty of 
 effect ; and by three o'clock in the evening, with the aid 
 of the land batteries, had completely silenced and driven 
 back the enemy. Emboldened by the effect produced the 
 day before, on the Caroline, the furnaces of the enemy 
 were put in operation, and numbers of hot shot thrown 
 from a heavy piece which was placed behind and pro- 
 tecte.d by the levee. An attempt was now made to carry 
 it off, when their former protection being taken away, 
 those in the direction of it were fairly exposed to the Ame- 
 rican fire, and suffered greatly. In their endeavors to re- 
 move it, "I saw," says Commodore Patterson, "distinct- 
 ly, with the aid of a glass, several balls strike in the midst 
 of the men who were employed in dragging it away." 
 In this engagement little or no injury was received. The 
 Louisiana sloop, against which the most violent exertions 
 were made, had but a single man wounded, by the fragments 
 of a shell which burst over her deck. Her entire loss did 
 not exceed nine killed, and eight or ten wounded. The 
 enemy being more exposed, acting in the open field, and 
 in range of her guns, suffered, from information after- 
 wards procured, considerable injury ; at least one hundred 
 and twenty were killed and wounded. 
 
DEATH OF COLONEL HENDERSON. 127 
 
 Amon^ the Americans killed was Colonel James Hen- 
 derson, of the Tennessee militia. An advance party of the 
 British had taken post, during the action, behind a fence that 
 ran obliquely to, and not very remote from our hne. Hen- 
 derson, with a detachment of two hundred men, was sent 
 out by General Carroll to drive them from a position whence 
 they were effecting some injury, and greatly annoying 
 his troops. Had he advanced in the manner directed, 
 he would have been less exposed, and enabled more effec- 
 tually to have secured the object intended : but misunder- 
 standing the order, he proceeded in a different route, and 
 tell a victim to his error. Instead of marching in the di- 
 rection of the wood, and turning the enemy, which might 
 have cut off their retreat, he proceeded in front, towards 
 the river, leaving them in rear of the fence, and himself 
 and his detachment open and exposed. His mistake be- 
 ing perceived from the line, he was called by the adjutant- 
 general, and directed to return ; but the noise of the wa- 
 ter, through which they were wading, prevented any 
 communication. Having reached a knoJl of dry ground, 
 he formed, and attempted the execution of his order ; but 
 soon fell from a wound in the head. Deprived of their 
 commander, and perceiving their situation hazardous and 
 untenable, the detachment retreated to the line, with the 
 loss of their colonel and five men. 
 
 While this advance was made, a column of the enemy 
 was threatening an attack on the extreme left. To frustrate 
 the attempt, General Coffee was ordered with his riflemen 
 to hasten through the woods and check their approach. 
 The enemy, although greatly superior to him in numbers, 
 no sooner discovered his movement, than they retired, and 
 abandoned the attack they had previously meditated. 
 
 The evident disaffection in New Orleans, and the pre- 
 ence of an enemy in front, were circumstances well cal- 
 ailated to excite unpleasant forebodings. General Jackson 
 believed it necessary and essential to his security, while 
 contending with avowed foes, not to be wholly inattentive 
 to dangers lurking at home ; but, by guarding vigilantly, 
 to be able to suppress any treasonable purpose the moment 
 it should be developed, and before it should have time to 
 6* 
 
128 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 mature. Previously, therefore, to departing from the city, 
 on the evening of the 23d, he had ordered Major Butler, 
 his aid, to remain with the guards, and be careful that 
 nothing transpired in his absence calculated to operate in- 
 juriousl}'-. His fears that there were many of the inha- 
 bitants who felt no attachment to the government, and 
 would not scruple to surrender it whenever it should be- 
 come necessary to their interest, has been already noticed. 
 Subsequent circumstances evinced that there was no mis- 
 take in this belief, and showed that to his assiduity and 
 energy it is to be ascribed that the country was protected 
 and saved. It is a fact, which was disclosed on making 
 an exchange of prisoners, that, despite all the efforts 
 made to prevent it, the enemy were daily and constantly 
 apprised of every thing that transpired in the camp. 
 Every arrangement, and every change of position, was 
 immediately communicated. On the day subsequent to a 
 contest on the lakes on the 14th of December, Mr. Shields, 
 a purser in the navy, was despatched with a flag, to Cat 
 island, accompanied by Dr. Murrell, for the purpose of 
 alleviating the situation of the- wounded, and to effect a 
 negotiation, by which they should be liberated on parol. 
 We are not aware that such an application mihtated 
 against the usages and customs of war : if not, the flag 
 of truce should have been respected ; nor ought its bearer 
 to have been detained as a prisoner. Admiral Cochrane 
 pretended to be fearful that it was a trick designed to 
 ascertain his strength and situation, but this was very far 
 from presenting any sufficient excuse for so wanton ^i 
 outrage on propriety and the rules of war. If, indeed, 
 such a result was apprehended, could not the messengers 
 have been met at a distance from the fleet, and ordered 
 back without a near approach ? Had this been done, no 
 information could have been gained, and the object de- 
 signed to be secured by the detention would have been 
 answered, without infringing that amicable mtercourse 
 between contending armies, which, when violated or dis- 
 regarded, opens a door to brutal and savage warfare. 
 When it was found in the American camp, that they did 
 not return, the cause of it was at once correctly divined. 
 
TRAITORS IN THE CITY. 129 
 
 The British admiral was very solicitous, and resorted 
 to various means, to obtain from 4hese gentlemen informa- 
 tion of the strength, condition, and disposition of the Ame- 
 rican army ; but so cautious a reserve was maintained, 
 that nothing could be elicited. Shields was perceived to 
 be quite deaf, and calculating on some advantage to be de- 
 rived from this circumstance, he and the doctor were 
 placed at night in the green-room, where any conversa- 
 tion Avhich occurred between them could readily be heard. 
 Suspecting, perhaps, something of the kind, afler having 
 retired, they began to speak of their situation — the cir- 
 cumstance of their being detained, and of the prudent 
 caution with which they had guarded themselves against 
 communicating any information to the British admiral. 
 But, continued Shields, how greatly these gentlemen will 
 be disappointed in their expectations, for Jackson, with 
 the twenty thousand troops he now has, and the reinforce- 
 ments from Kentucky, which must speedily reach him, 
 will be able to destroy any force that can be landed from 
 these ships. Every word was heard and treasured, and 
 not supposing there was any design, or that he presumed 
 himself overheard, they were beguiled by it, and at onct. 
 concluded our force to be as great as it was represented ; 
 and hence, no doubt, arose the reason of that prudent care 
 and caution with which the enemy afterwards proceeded ; 
 for " nothing," remarked a British officer, at the close of 
 the invasion, "was kept a secret from us, except your 
 numbers ; this, although diligently sought after, could 
 never be procured." 
 
 Between the 23d, and the attempt on the 2Sth, to carry 
 the line. Major Butler, who remained at his post in the 
 city, was applied to by Mr. Skipwith, at that time Speaker 
 of the Senate, to ascertain the commanding general's 
 views, provided he should be driven from his line of en- 
 campment, and compelled to retreat through the city ; ; 
 and the question was asked, whether, in that event, he 
 would destroy it ? It was, indeed, a curious inquiry from 
 one who, having spent his life in serving his country in 
 different capacities, might better have understood the duty 
 of a subordinate officer ; and that even, if, from his situa- 
 
130 LIFE OF JACKSON 
 
 tion, Major Butler had so far acquired the confidence ol 
 his general as to have become acquainted with his views 
 and designs, he was not at liberty to divulge them, with- 
 out destroying confidence and acting criminally. Upon 
 asking the cause of the inquiry, Mr. Skipwith rephed, it 
 was rumored, and so understood, tliat if driven from his 
 position, and made to retreat upon the city. General Jack- 
 son had it in contemplation to lay it in ruins ; the legis- 
 lature, he said, desired information on this subject, that if 
 such were his intentions, they might, by offering terms of 
 capitulation to the enemy, avert so serious a calamity. 
 That a sentiment having for its object a surrender of the 
 city, should be entertained by this body, was scarcely 
 credible ; yet a few days made it still more apparent, and 
 showed that they were already devising plans to insure 
 the safety of themselves and property, even at any sacri- 
 fice. While the general was hastening along the Hne, he 
 was hailed by Mr. Duncan, one of his volunteer aids, and 
 informed that it was already agitated in secret, by the 
 members of the legislature, to ofTer terms of capitulation 
 to the enemy, and proffer a surrender, and that Governor 
 Claiborne awaited his orders on the subject. Critical as 
 the time was, the safety or fall of the city being still un- 
 certain, it was plainly to be perceived, that, although with 
 a strong army before them, no such resolution could be 
 carried into effect, yet it might be productive of evil, and 
 in the end bring about the most fatal consequences. Even 
 the disclosure of such a wish on the part of the legislature 
 might create parties, excite opposition in the army, and 
 inspire the enemy with renewed confidence. The Ten- 
 nessee forces, and Mississippi volunteers, could not be af- 
 fected by the measure ; but it might detach the Louisiana 
 militia, and even extend itself to the ranks of the regular 
 troops. Jackson was greatly incensed, that those whose 
 safety he had so much at heart should be seeking, under 
 the authority of office, to mar his best exertions. He was 
 too warmly pressed at the moment to give it the attention 
 its importance merited ; but availing himself of the first 
 leisure moment, he apprized Governor Claiborne of what 
 he had heard ; — ordered him to watch the conducj; of the 
 
THE LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE. 131 
 
 legislature closely, and the moment a project of offering a 
 capitulation to the enemy should be fully disclosed, to 
 place a guard at the door and confine them to their cham- 
 ber. The governor, in his zeal to execute the command, 
 and from a fear of the consequences involved in such con- 
 duct, construed the order to be imperative, and placing an 
 armed force at the door of the capitol, prevented the mem- 
 bers from convening, and their schemes from maturing. 
 
 The purport of this order was either essentially mis- 
 conceived by the governor ; or, with a view to avoid sub- 
 sequent inconveniences and complaints, was designedly 
 mistaken. Jackson's object was not to restrain the legis- 
 lature in the discharge of their official duties ; for although 
 he thought that such a moment, when the sound of the 
 cannon was constantly pealing in their ears, was inauspi- 
 cious to wholesome legislation, and that it would have 
 better comported with the state of the times for them to 
 abandon their civil duties gmd appear in the field, yet it 
 was a matter indehcate to be proposed : and it w^as hence 
 preferred, that they should adopt whatever course might 
 be suggested by their own notions of propriety. This 
 opinion would have been still adhered to ; but when, 
 through the communication of Mr. Duncan, they were 
 represented as entertaining opinions and schemes adverse 
 to the general interest and safety of the country, the ne- 
 cessity of a new and different course of conduct was at 
 once obvious. But he did not order Governor Claiborne 
 to interfere with or prevent" them from proceeding with 
 their duties ; on the contrary, he was instructed, as soon 
 as any thing hostile to the general cause should be ascer- 
 tained, to place a guard at the door, and keep the mem- 
 bers to their post and to their duty. " My object in this," 
 remarked the general, " was, that they would then be 
 able to proceed with their business without producing the 
 slightest injury : whatever schemes they might entertain 
 would have remained with themselves, without the power 
 of circulating them to the prejudice of any other interest 
 than their own. I had intended to have had tnem well 
 treated and kindly dealt by ; and thus abstracted from 
 every thing passing without doors, a better opportunity 
 
132 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 would have been afforded them to enact good and whole- 
 some laws ; but Governor Claiborne mistook my order, 
 and instead of shutting them in doors, contrary to my 
 wishes and expectations turned them out." 
 
 Previous to this occurrence, Jackson had been waited 
 on by a special committee of the legislature, to know what 
 his course would be, should necessity compel him to 
 abandon his position. "If," rephed the general, "I 
 thought the hair of my head could divine what I should 
 do, 1 would cut it off forthwith ; go back with this answer; 
 say to your honorable body, that if disaster does overtake 
 me, and the fate of war drives me from my line to the 
 city, they may expect to have a very warm session." 
 "And what did you design to do," asked a friend, " pro- 
 vided you had been forced to retreat?". "I should," he 
 replied, " have retreated to the city, fired it, and fought 
 the enemy amid the surrounding flames. There were 
 with me men of wealth, owners of considerable property, 
 who, in such an event, would have been among the fore- 
 most to have applied the torch to their own buildings ; 
 and what they had left undone, I should have completed. 
 Nothing for the comfortable maintenance of the enemy 
 would have been left in the rear. I would have destroyed 
 New Orleans — occupied a position above on the river — 
 cut off all supplies, and in this way compelled them to 
 depart from the country." 
 
 We shall not pretend to ascribe this conduct of the le- 
 gislature to disaffection, or to treasonable motives. No 
 doubt the impulse that produced it was interest — a prin- 
 ciple of the human mind which strongly sways, and often 
 destroys its best conclusions. The disparity of the two 
 armies, in numbers, preparation, and discipline, had ex- 
 cited apprehension, and destroyed hope. If Jackson wer 
 driven back, and little else was looked for, rumor an 
 nounced his determination of devoting the city to destruc- 
 tion : but even if such were not his intention, the wrath 
 and vengeance of the enemy might be fairly calculated to 
 be in proportion to the opposition they should receive. 
 Although these considerations may somewhat palliate, 
 they do not justify. The government was represented in 
 
HIS VIGILANCE. 133 
 
 the person of the commanding general, on whom rested 
 all responsibility, and whose voice on the subject of re- 
 sistance or capitulation should alone have been heard. In 
 the field were persons who were enduring hardships and 
 straining every nerve for the general safety. A few of 
 the members of their own body, too, were there who did 
 not despond. Might not patriotism, then, have admo- 
 nished these men, honored as they were with the confi- 
 dence of the people, rather to have pursued a course 
 having for its object to keep up the excitement, than to 
 have endeavored to introduce fear and paralyze exertion ? 
 Such conduct, if productive of nothing worse, was well 
 calculated to excite alarm. If the militia, who had been- 
 hastily drawn to the camp, and who were yet trembling 
 for the safety of their famihes, had been told that a few 
 private men of standing in society had expressed their 
 opinions, and declared resistance useless, it would with- 
 out doubt have occasioned serious apprehensions ; but in 
 a much greater degree would they be likely to arise, 
 when told that the members of the legislature, chosen to 
 preside over the safety and destinies of the state, after 
 due deliberation, had pronounced all attempts at succe.ss- 
 fui opposition vain and ineffectual. 
 
 Here was an additional reason why^expedients should 
 be devised, and every precaution adopted, to prevent any 
 communication by which the slightest intelligence should 
 be had of their situation, already indeed sufficiently deplor- 
 able. Additional guards were posted along the swamp, 
 on both sides of the Mississippi, to arrest all intercourse ; 
 while on the river, the common highway, watch boats 
 were constantly plying during the night, in different di- 
 rections, so that a log could scarcely float down the stream 
 unperceived. Two flat-bottomed boats, on a dark night, 
 were turned adrift above, to ascertain if vigilance were 
 preserved, and whether there would be any possibility of 
 escaping the guards, and passing in safj2ty to the British 
 lines. The light boats discovered them on their passage, 
 and on the alarm being given, they were opened upon by 
 the Louisiana sloop, and the batteries on the shore, and in 
 a few minutes were sunk. In spite, however, of every 
 
134 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 precaution, treason still discovered avenues through which 
 to project and execute her nefarious plans, and informa- 
 tion was constantly afforded to the enemy. 
 
 As an evidence of the extent of the information im- 
 parted to the officers of the British army, Charles K. 
 Blanchard, who was on board the fleet, addressed a letter 
 to General Jackson, in which he gave the substance of a 
 conversation with a quarter-master of one of the vessels, 
 and said that he was told, " that the commanding officers 
 of the British forces were daily in the receipt of every in- 
 formation from the city of New Orleans which they might 
 require, in aid of their operations, for the completion of 
 the objects of the expedition : that they were perfectly 
 acquainted with the situation of every part of our forces, 
 the manner in which the same was situated, the number 
 of our fortifications, their strength, position, &c. As to 
 the battery on the left bank of the Mississippi, he de- 
 scribed its situation, its distance from the main post, and 
 promptly offered me a plan of the works. He further- 
 more stated, that the above information was received from 
 seven or eight persons, in the city of New Orleans, from 
 whom he could, at any hour, procure every information 
 necessary to promote His Majesty's interest." 
 
 Great inconvenience was sustained for the want of arms, 
 and much anxiety felt, lest the enemy, through their faith- 
 ful adherents, might on this subject also obtain information. 
 To prevent it as far as possible. General Jackson endea- 
 vored to conceal the strength and situation of his army, by 
 suffering his reports to be seen by none but himself and 
 the adjutant-general. Many of the troops in the field 
 were supphed with common guns, which were of little 
 service. The Kentucky troops, who were daily expected, 
 were also understood to be badly provided with arms 
 Believing that the city might yet contain many article 
 that would be serviceable, orders were issued to the mayor 
 of New Orleans, directing him diligently to inquire through 
 every store and house, and take possession of all the mus- 
 kets, bayonets, spades, and axes, he could find. He was 
 also instructed to obtain a register of every man in the 
 city under the age of fifty, that measures might be con- 
 
THE FIRST OF JANUARY. 135 
 
 certed for drawing forth those who had hitherto appeared 
 backward in engaging in the pending contest. 
 
 Frequent light skirmishes by advanced parties, without 
 material loss on either side, were the only incidents that 
 took place for several days. Colonel Hinds, at the head 
 of the Mississippi dragoons, on the 30th of December, was 
 ordered to dislodge a party of the enemy who, under co- 
 ver of a ditch that ran across the plain, were annoying the 
 American fatigue parties. In advancing, he was unex- 
 pectedly thrown into an ambuscade, and became exposed 
 to the fire of a hne which had hitherto been concealed and 
 unobserved. His collected conduct and gallant deport- 
 ment extricated him from the danger in which he was 
 placed, and gained for him and his corps the approbation 
 of the commanding general. The enemy, being forced 
 from their position, retired, and the colonel returned to the 
 line with the loss of five of his men. 
 
 The British were encamped two miles below the Ame- 
 rican army, on a perfect plain, and in full view. Although 
 foiled in their attempt to carry the works by the for«..e of 
 their batteries on the 2Sth, they resolved upon another 
 attack, which they believed would be more successful 
 Presuming their failure to have arisen from not having 
 sufficiently strong batteries and heavy ordnance, a more 
 enlarged arrangement was resorted to, with a confidence 
 of silencing opposition, and effecting such breaches in the 
 intrenchment as would enable their columns to pass, with- 
 out being exposed to any considerable hazard. The in- 
 terim between the 2Sth of December and the 1st of Ja- 
 nuary was accordingly spent in preparing to execute their 
 designs. Their boats were despatched to the shipping, 
 and an additional supply of heavy cannon landed through 
 Bayou Bienvenu, where they had first debarked. 
 
 During the night of the 31st of December they were 
 busily engaged. An impenetrable fog, which was not 
 dispelled until nine o'clock the next morning, aided them 
 in the plans they were projecting, and gave time to 
 complete their works. When the mist disappeared, se- 
 •verai heavy batteries, at the distance of six hundred yards, 
 mounting eighteen and twenty-four pound carronades, 
 
136 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 were presented to view. No sooner was it sufficiently 
 clear to distinguish objects at a distance, than these were 
 opened, and a tremendous burst of artillery commenced, 
 accompanied with Congreve rockets, that filled the air in 
 all directions. Our troops, being protected by a defence, 
 which they believed to be impregnable, were unmoved 
 and undisturbed. The British, through the friendly in- 
 terference of some disaffected citizens, having been ap 
 prised of the fact that the general occupied a house at 
 small distance in the rear of his line of defence, directed 
 against it their first and principal efforts. So great was 
 the number of balls thrown, that in a little while its porti- 
 coes were beaten down, and the building made a complete 
 wreck. This dishonorable attempt to destroy Jackson was 
 unsuccessful ; as it was a constant practice with him, on 
 the first appearance of danger, not to wait in his quarters 
 watching events, but instantly to proceed to the line, and 
 be ready to form his arrangements as circumstances might 
 require. Constantly in expectation of an attack, he was. 
 never absent from the post of duty ; and he had repaired, 
 at the first sound of the cannon, to aid in the defence, and 
 inspire his troops with firmness. The guns along the Ame- 
 rican line were opened to repel the assault, and a constant 
 roar of cannon, on both sides, continued until nearly noon ; 
 when, by the superior skill of Jackson's engineers, the 
 two batteries formed on the right, next the woods, were 
 nearly beaten down, and many of the guns dismounted, 
 broken, and rendered useless. That next the river still 
 continued its fire until three o'clock ; when, perceiving 
 all attempts to force a breach ineffectual, the enemy gave 
 up the contest and retired. Every act of theirs discovered 
 a strange delusion, and showed upon what wild and 
 fanciful grounds all their expectations were founded. 
 That the American troops were well posted, and strongly 
 defended by pieces of heavy ordnance, mounted along 
 their line, was a fact well known ; yet a belief was con- 
 stantly indulged that the undisciplined collection which 
 constituted the strength of our army, vrould be able to de- 
 rive little benefit from such a circumstance ; and that ar-* 
 tillery could produce but shght advantages in the hands 
 
FAILURE OF THE ATTACK. 137 
 
 of persons who were strangers to the manner of using it. 
 That many who, from necessity, were called to the direc- 
 tion of the guns, were at first entirely unacquainted with 
 their management, is indeed true ; yet the accuracy and 
 precision with which they threw their shot, afforded con- 
 vincing proof, either that they possessed the capacity of 
 becoming in a short time well acquainted with the art of 
 gunnery, or that it was a science the acquisition of which 
 was not attended with insurmountable difficulties. 
 
 That they Avould be able to efTect an opening, and march 
 through the strong defence in their front, was an idea so 
 fondly cherished by the British, that an apprehension of 
 failure had scarcely been conceived. So sanguine were 
 they in this belief, that early in the morning their soldiers 
 were arranged along the ditches, in rear of their batteries, 
 prepared to advance to the charge the moment a breach 
 could be made. 
 
 Perceiving that their attempts must fail, and that such 
 an effect could not be produced as would warrant their 
 advance, another expedient was resorted to, but with nc 
 better s*iccess. It occurred to the British commander 
 that an attack might be made with advantage, next to the 
 woods, and a force was accordingly ordered to penetrate 
 in this direction, and turn the left of our line, which was 
 supposed not to extend fiirther than to the margin of the 
 swamp. In this way it was expected a diversion could 
 be made, while the reserve columns, being in readiness 
 and waiting, were to press forward the moment this object 
 could be effected. Here, too, disappointment resulted. 
 General Coffee's brigade, being already extended into the 
 swamp, as far as it was possible for an advancing party to 
 penetrate, brought unexpected dangers into view, and oc- 
 casioned an abandonment of the project. The genius and 
 foresight of Jackson had provided against this emergency. 
 Although cutting the levee had raised the waters in the 
 swamp, and increased the difficulties of keeping troops 
 there, yet a fear lest this pass might be sought by the 
 enemy, and the rear of the line thereby gained, had de- 
 termined the general to extend his defences in that direc- 
 tion. This had been intrusted to General Coffee, and a 
 
138 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 more arduous duty could scarcely be imagined. To form 
 a breastwork in such a place was attended with many 
 difficulties and considerable exposure. A slight defence, 
 however, had been thrown up, and the underwood, for 
 thirty or forty yards in front, cut down, that the riflemen 
 stationed for its protection might have a complete view of 
 any force that might attempt a passage through this route. 
 When it is recollected" that this position was to be main- 
 tained night and day, and that the only opportunity afforded 
 our troops for rest was on logs and brush thrown together, 
 by which they were raised above the surrounding water, 
 it may be truly said, that it has seldom fallen to the lot of 
 men to encounter greater hardships ; but accustomed to 
 privation, and alive to those feelings which a love of coun- 
 try enkindles, they obeyed without complaining, and cheer- 
 fully kept their position until all danger had ceased. 
 Sensible of the importance of the point they defended, 
 and that it was necessary to be maintained, be the sacri- 
 fice what it might, they looked to nothing but a zealous 
 and faithful discharge of the trust confided to them. 
 
 Our loss in this affair was eleven killed an^ twenty- 
 three wounded ; that of the enemy was never correctly 
 known. The only certain information is contained in a 
 communication of the 2Sth of January, from General Lam- 
 bert to Earl Bathurst, in which the casualties and losses, 
 from the 1st to the 5th, are stated at seventy-eight. xVIany 
 allowances are to be made for this report. It was written 
 at a time when, from the numerous disasters encountered, 
 it was not to be presumed the general's mind was in a 
 situation patiently to remember the facts, or minutely to 
 detail them. From the great precision of the American 
 fire, and the injury visibly sustained by their batteries, 
 their loss was no doubt considerable. The enemy's heavy 
 shot having penetrated Jackson's intrenchment in many 
 places, it was discovered not to be as strong as had at first 
 been imagined. Fatigue parties were again employed, 
 and its strength daily increased ; an additional number of 
 bales of cotton were taken to be applied to strengthening 
 and defending the embrasures along the line. A French- 
 man, whose property had been seized, without his consent, 
 
DEFENCE OF THE RIGHT BANK. 139 
 
 fearful of the injury it might sustain, proceeded in person 
 to General Jackson to reclaim it, and to demand its delivery. 
 The general, having heard his complaint, and ascertained 
 from him that he was unemployed in any mihtary service, 
 directed a musket to be brought to him, and placing it in 
 his hand, ordered him on the hne, remarking, at the same 
 time, that as he seemed to be a man possessed of property, 
 he knew of none who had a better right to fight and to 
 defend it. 
 
 The British again retired to their encampment. It was 
 well understood by Jackson that they were in daily ex- 
 pectation of considerable reinforcements ; though he rested 
 with confidence in the belief that a few more days would 
 also bring to his assistance the troops from Kentucky. 
 Each party, therefore, was busily and constantly engaged 
 in preparation, the one to wage a vigorous attack, the other 
 bravely to defend, and resolutely to oppose it. 
 
 The position of the American army was in the rear of 
 an intrenchment formed of earth, and which extended in 
 a straight line from the river to a considerable distance in 
 the swamp. In front was a deep ditch, which had been 
 formerly used as a mill-race. The Mississippi had re- 
 ceded and left the ditch dry, next the river, though in many 
 places the water still remained. Along the line, and at 
 unequal distances, to the centre of General Carroll's com- 
 mand, were guns mounted, of different calibre, from six to 
 thirty-two pounders. Near the river, and in advance of 
 the intrenchment, was erected a redoubt, with embrasures, 
 commanding the road along the levee, and calculated to 
 rake the ditch in front. 
 
 We have heretofore stated, that General Morgan was 
 ordered, on the 24th of December, to cross to the west bank 
 of the Mississippi. From an apprehension entertained 
 that an attempt might be made through Barrataria, and 
 the city reached from the right bank of the river, the 
 general had extended his defences there likewise : in fact, 
 unacquainted with the enemy's views, not knowing the 
 number of their troops, nor but that they might have suffi- 
 cient strength to make an assault in different quarters, and 
 anxiously solicitous to be prepared at all points, he care- 
 
140 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 fully divided his forces. His greatest fear was for the 
 Chef Menteur road, and hence his strongest defence, aside 
 from the principal encampment, was in that quarter, where 
 Governor Claiborne, at the head of the Louisiana militia, 
 was posted. The position on the right was formed on the 
 same plan with the line on the left, but Ifiwer down than 
 the latter, and extending to the swamp at right angles to 
 the river. At this point General Morgan was stationed. 
 
 To be prepared against- every possible contingency that 
 might arise, Jackson had established another line of de- 
 fence, about two miles in the rear of the one at present 
 occupied, which was intended as a rallying point if he 
 should be driven from his first position. With the aid of 
 his cavalry, to give a momentary check to the advance of 
 the enemy, he expected to be enabled to reach it without 
 much injury, and be again in a situation to dispute a 
 further passage to the city, and arrest the progress of the 
 enemy. To inspirit his own soldiers, and to exhibit to 
 the enemy as great a show as possible of strength and 
 intended resistance, his unarmed troops, which consti- 
 tuted no inconsiderable number, were stationed here. 
 All intercourse between the lines, except by confidential 
 officers, was prohibited ; and every precaution and vigi- 
 lance employed, not only to keep this want of preparation 
 concealed from the enemy, but even from being known in 
 his own ranks. 
 
ARRIVAL OF TROOPS FROM KENTUCKY. 141 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1815. Arrival of fresh troops from Kentucky — Preparations of both 
 armies for an attack — The disposition of Jackson's force made 
 known to the British by a deserter — Success of Colonel Thornton 
 on the right bank of the river — Eagerness of the American soldiers 
 for an engagement — Activity and energy of Jackson — The eighth 
 of January — Advance of the British towards the American in- 
 trenchments — Destructive fire from the fortifications — Repulse of 
 the British — Death of Sir Edward Packenham — Terrible havoc 
 made in the ranks of the enemy — Bravery of Colonel Rennie — 
 Number of killed and wounded in the battle — Watchword of the 
 British army — Generous benevolence of the American soldiers — 
 An armistice proposed by General Lambert and accepted, with 
 modifications — Brave conduct of the American troops — Want of 
 arms prevents Jackson from capturing the whole British army — 
 Enghsh version of the battle. 1815. 
 
 After the cannonade on the 1st of January, nothing 
 of interest occurred in the movements of either army, prior 
 to the memorable day which, while it placed the reputa- 
 tion of General Jackson for military genius and skill, on a 
 level with that of the ablest commanders of the age, shed 
 an unfading lustre on the American arms. A straggling 
 fire was kept up, but it produced httle or no effect. Both 
 parties were actively engaged in watching the movements 
 of each other, and in making preparations ; the one for a 
 contemplated attack, and the other for an effectual resist- 
 ance. On the 4th day of the month, the long-expected 
 reinforcement from Kentucky, of twenty-two hundred and 
 fifty men, under the command of Major-general Thomas, 
 arrived at the American head-quarters ; but they were so 
 ill provided with arms as to be incapable of rendering any 
 efficient service. The alacrity with which the citizens of 
 that state had proceeded to the frontiers, and aided in the 
 north-western campaigns, added to the disasters which ill 
 7 
 
143 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 timed policy or misfortune had produced, had created such 
 a scarcity of arms that they were not to be procured. The 
 force under General Thomas had confidently expected to 
 be supplied on their arrival. About five hundred of 
 them had muskets ; the rest were provided with guns, 
 which w^ere more or less unserviceable. The mayor of 
 New Orleans, at the request of General Jackson, had al- 
 ready examined and drawn from the city every weapon 
 that could be found ; while the arrival of the Louisiana 
 militia, in an equally unprepared situation, rendered it 
 impossible for the evil to be effectually remedied. A boat 
 laden with arms intended for the use and defence of the 
 lower country, was somewhere on the river ; but where 
 it was, or when it might arrive, rested entirely on hope 
 and conjecture. Expresses had been despatched up the 
 river, for three hundred miles, to seek and hasten it on ; 
 still there were no tidings of its approach. That so many 
 brave men, at a moment of such anxious peril, should be 
 compelled to stand with folded arms, unable, from their 
 situation, to render the least possible service to their coun- 
 try, was an event greatly to be deplored, and did not fail 
 to excite the feelings of the commanding general. His 
 active mind could discover no means by which their ser- 
 vices might be made available, and no alternative was pre- 
 sented, but to place them at his intrenchment in the rear, 
 conceal their actual condition, and by the show they might 
 make, add to his appearance and numbers, without at all 
 increasing his effective strength. 
 
 Information was now received, that Major-general Lam- 
 bert had joined the British commander in chief, with a 
 considerable reinforcement. It had been previously an- 
 nounced in the American camp that additional forces were 
 expected, and something decisive might be looked for as 
 soon as they should arrive. This circumstance, in con- 
 nection with others no less favoring the idea, led to the 
 conclusion that a few days more would, in all probability, 
 bring on the struggle which was to decide the fate of the 
 city. It was more than ever necessary to keep the situa- 
 tion of the American army concealed, and General Jack- 
 son determined at once to restrict all communication, even 
 
 m 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR AN ATTACK. 148 
 
 with his own hnes. None were permitted to leave the 
 line, and none from without to pass into his camp, but 
 such as were to be impHcitly confided in. The chain of 
 sentinels was strengthened in front, to prevent a passage 
 to the enemy, should desertion be attempted ; yet, notwith- 
 standing his caution and vigilance, the condition of his 
 army, and its disposition in the intrenchments, were made 
 known to the enemy, by a soldier who ehided the sentinels, 
 and made his escape, on the night of the Cth of January. 
 His desertion was discovered early next morning, and it 
 was rightly conjectured that he had gone to the British 
 camp, and would aflford them all the information in his 
 power to communicate. This opinion, as subsequent cir- 
 cumstances disclosed, was well founded ; and dearly did 
 he atone his crime. He unfolded to the British the situ- 
 ation of the American line, the number of the reinforce- 
 ments lately arrived, and the unarmed condition of many 
 of the troops ; and pointing to the centre of General Car- 
 roll's division, as a place occupied by militia alone, he re- 
 commended it as the point where an attack might be most 
 safely and prudently made. 
 
 The information obtained by the commanding general 
 on the 7th, confirmed him in the belief that an attack was 
 in contemplation. It was ascertained from some prisoners 
 taken on the lake, that the enemy were busily engaged in 
 deepening Villere's canal, with the intention of passing 
 their boats and ordnance into the Mississippi. During 
 the day a constant bustle was perceived in their camp. 
 Their soldiers were continually in motion along the borders 
 of the canal, marching and mancsuvring, for no other pur- 
 pose except that of concealing the men who were busily 
 engaged at work in the rear. In order to ascertain the 
 cause and object of this uncommon movement, as far as 
 was practicable, Commodore Patterson proceeded down 
 the river, on the opposite side, and having gained a favor- 
 able position in I'ront of their encampment, discovered 
 them to be actually engaged in deepening the passage to 
 the river. It was no difficult matter to divine their pur- 
 pose. It was clearly evident that an assault was intended 
 to be made on the line of defence commanded by General 
 
144 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 Morgan ; which, if successful, would expose the Ameri- 
 cans on the left bank to the fire of the redoubt erected on 
 the right, and in this way compel them to an abandonment 
 of their position. It was important to counteract this de- 
 sign ; and measures were immediately taken to prevem. 
 its execution. The force on the right bank was increased 
 The second regiment of Louisiana militia, and four hun- 
 dred Kentucky troops, were ordered to reinforce the troops 
 occupying that side of the river. Owing to some delay 
 and difficulty in arming them, the latter, amounting, in- 
 stead of four hundred, to but one hundred and eighty, did 
 not arrive until the morning of the 8th. A little before 
 day they were despatched to the aid of an advanced party, 
 under the command of Major Arnaut, who had been sent 
 to watch the movements of the enemy, and oppose their 
 landing. The hopes indulged from their opposition were 
 not reahzed ; and the enemy reached the shore unmolested. 
 The position of General Morgan, besides being strength- 
 ened by several brass twelves, was defended by a strong 
 battery, mounting twenty-four pounders, under the direc- 
 tion of Commodore Patterson, which was an important 
 addition to its strength and security. The line itself was 
 not strong ; yet, if properly maintained by the troops se- 
 lected for its defence, it was believed to be fully adequate 
 to the purpose of successful resistance. Late at night, 
 Patterson ascertained that the enemy had succeeded in 
 passing their boats through the canal, and immediately 
 communicated his information to the general. The com- 
 modore had already formed the idea of dropping the 
 Louisiana schooner down, to attack and sink them. This 
 thought, though well conceived, was abandoned, on ac- 
 count of the danger involved, and from an apprehension 
 lest the batteries erected* on the river, with which she 
 would come in collision, might, by the aid of hot shot 
 succeed in blowing her up. It was preferred patiently t 
 await the arrival of the enemy, in the behef that it would 
 be practicable, with the bravery of more than fifteen hun- 
 dred men, and the advantages possessed from their hne of 
 defence, to maintain their position, and repel the assail- 
 ants. In this expectation they were disappointed, as 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR AN ATTACK. 145 
 
 Morgan was compelled to abandon his position by the de- 
 tachment under Colonel Thornton. 
 
 On the left bank, where the general commanded in per- 
 son, every thing was in readiness to meet the assault 
 when it should be made. The redoubt on the levee was 
 defended by a company of the seventh regiment, under 
 the command of Lieutenant Ross. The regular troops 
 occupied that part of the intrenchment next the river. 
 General Carroll's division was in the centre, supported by 
 the Kentucky troops, under General John Adair ; while 
 the extreme left, extending for a considerable distance into 
 the swamp, was protected by the brigade of General Coffee. 
 How soon the attack would be made, was a matter of 
 uncertainty ; but the brave soldiers whom Jackson had 
 gathered around him, calmly awaited the approach of 
 the enemy, behind the breastwork of cotton bags which 
 the sagacity of their commander had provided, not as a 
 shelter for cowardice, but as a protection against the onset 
 of a superior force. Sharing the same high hopes and the 
 same lofty enthusiasm that swelled in his bosom, they 
 snuffed the breeze that bore to their ears the sounds of 
 an approaching conflict, with as much eagerness as the 
 war-worn veteran inured to the scenes of the battle-field. 
 The general himself was not dismayed, either by the con- 
 dition of his troops, or the great disparity of numbers when 
 compared with the enemy, but, unmoved by appearances, 
 he anxiously desired a contest, which he believed would 
 give a triumph to his arms, and terminate the hardships 
 of his suffering soldiers. Unremitting in his exertions, 
 and constantly vigilant, his precaution kept pace with the 
 zeal and preparation of the British commander. He sel- 
 dom sk^pt : he was always at his post, performing the du- 
 ties of both general and soldier. His sentinels were doubled, 
 and extended as far as possible in the direction "of the 
 British camp : while a considerable portion of the troops 
 were constantly at the lines, with arms in their hands, 
 ready to act when the first alarm should be given. 
 
 For eight days had the two armies lain upon the same 
 field, in view of each other, without any thing decisive 
 having been effected on either side. Twice since their 
 
146 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 landing had the British columns attempted to carry out 
 their plans by storm, and twice had they been compelled 
 to relinquish the attempt, and retire from the contest. It 
 was not to be expected that matters would continue to re- 
 main in such a doubtful state. The pride of the English 
 soldiery, the boasted conquerors of Europe, were there, 
 with distinguished generals for their leaders, who earnest- 
 ly desired to announce their signal achievements to the 
 country and to the world. The high expectations which 
 had been indulged in regard to the success of this expedi- 
 tion, were to be realized at every peril, or disgrace would 
 follow the failure. 
 
 The 8th of January at length arrived. At the dawn 
 of day, the signals intended to produce concert in the 
 enemy's movements were discovered. A skyrocket was 
 perceived rising in the air, on the left of their line, near 
 the swamp, which was answered by another on the right, 
 next the river. The British columns were instantly put 
 in motion, and advanced with such rapidity, that the 
 American outposts had barely time to reach the hues. 
 The sky was lighted with blazing Congreve rockets, and an 
 incessant shower of shells and bombs was poured from the 
 British batteries, which, though demoKshed on the first 
 of the month, had been re-estabhshed and remounted with 
 heavy pieces of cannon, during the preceding night. 
 
 The enemy's force advanced in two divisions, com- 
 manded by Sir Edward Packenham in person, supported 
 by Generals Keane and Gibbs ; the right pressing forward 
 against the centre of General Carroll's command, and the 
 left against the redoubt on the levee. The dense fog 
 which spread over the river and the adjacent country, en- 
 abled them to approach within a short distance of the 
 American intrenchment before they were perceived. 
 They were then discovered advancing with a firm, quick, 
 and steady pace, in columns, with a front of sixty or seven- 
 ty deep. The Americans had been in readiness for some 
 time, waiting their appearance, and as they approached 
 they gave three hearty cheers, when, upon the instant, 
 their whole hne was Hghted with the blaze of their fire. 
 A burst of artillery and small arms, pouring with destruc- 
 
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 147 
 
 tive aim upon them, mowed down their front, and arrested 
 their advance. In the musketry, there was not a moment's 
 intermission : as one party discharged their pieces, another 
 succeeded ; akernately loading and appearing, no pause 
 could be perceived — it was one continued volley. The 
 columns already perceived their dangerous and exposed 
 situation. Battery No. 7, on the left, was ably served by 
 Lieutenant Spotts, and galled them with an incessant and 
 destructive fire. Batteries Nos. 6 and 8 were no less ac- 
 tively employed, and no less successful in felling them to 
 the ground. Notwithstanding the severity of the fire, 
 which few troops could for a moment have withstood, some 
 brave men pressed on, and succeeded in gaining the duch 
 in front of the works, where they remained during the 
 action, and were afterwards made prisoners. The horrors 
 before them were too great to be withstood, and the British 
 columns soon began to waver in their determination, and 
 retire from the conflict. At this moment, Sir Edward 
 Packenham hastened to the front, and endeavored to en- 
 courage and inspire them with renewed zeal. His exam- 
 ple was of short duration; he soon fell, mortally wounded, 
 in the arms of his aid-de-camp, not far from the American 
 line. Generals Gibbs and Keane also fell, and were borne 
 from the field dangerously wounded. At this moment, 
 General Lambert, who was advancing at a small distance 
 in the rear, with the reserve, met the columns precipitate 
 ly retreating, and in great confusion. His efforts to stop 
 them were unavailing; they continued their retreat until 
 they reach-ed a ditch at the distance of four hundred yards, 
 where they were rallied and halted. 
 
 The field before them, over which they had advanced, 
 was strewed with the dead and dying. Danger still ho- 
 vered around them ; but the importunities of their officers 
 finally prevailed so far as to induce them to advance once 
 more to the charge. They were already near enough to 
 deploy, and were endeavoring to do so ; but the same con- 
 stant and unremitting fire that caused their first retreat, 
 continued without abatement. The American batteries 
 had never ceased their fire ; their constant discharges of 
 grape and canister, and the fatal aim of the musketry, 
 
148 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 mowed down the front of the columns as fast as they 
 could be formed. Satisfied that nothing could be done, 
 and that certain destruction awaited all further attempts, 
 they forsook the contest and the field, in disorder, leaving 
 it almost entirely covered with the dead and wounded. It 
 was in vain their officers endeavored to animate them to 
 further perseverance, and equally vain to attempt coercion. 
 The panic produced by the dreadful repulse they had ex- 
 perienced, and the terrible havoc made in their ranks, 
 while with their most zealous exertions they had been 
 unable to obtain the slightest advantage, were circum- 
 stances well calculated to make even the most submissive 
 soldier rebel against the authority that would control him. 
 The light companies of fusileers, the forty -third and 
 ninety-third regiments, and one hundred men from the 
 West India regiment, forming the left of General Keane's 
 command, led by Colonel Rennie, were ordered to pro- 
 ceed under cover of some chimneys standing in the field, 
 until they had cleared them, when they were directed to 
 oblique to the river, and availing themselves of the protec- 
 tion afforded by the levee, to advance against the redoubt 
 on the right of the American line. This work had been 
 but recently commenced, and was in an unfinished state. 
 It was only on the fourth of the month that General Jack- 
 son, much against his own opinion, yielded to the sug- 
 gestions of the other ofiicers, and permitted the work to 
 be commenced. The plan cf its projection was such, that 
 it was impossible to defend it against an attack, in its in- 
 complete condition. Rennie executed his orders with 
 great bravery, and pressing forward rapidly, soon reached 
 the ditch. His advance was greatly anno3'-ed by Commo- 
 dore Patterson's battery on the left bank of the river, and 
 the cannon mounted on the redoubt ; but having reached 
 the works, he gallantly passed the ditch, sword in hand. 
 He instantly leaped on the wall, and calling to his troops, 
 bade them follow him. The words had scarcely left his 
 lips, when he fell by the fatal aim of a rifleman. Over- 
 powered by the impetuosity of the superior numbers who 
 were mounting the wall and entering at the embrasures, 
 the Americans retired to the line, in rear of the redoubt. 
 
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 149 
 
 A momentary pause ensued, but only to be interrupted 
 by increased horrors. Captain Beal, with the city rifle- 
 men, perceiving the enemy in his front, opened upon them, 
 and at every discharge brought numbers of them to the 
 ground. To advance, or maintain the point gained, was 
 equally impracticable for the enemy : to retreat or sur- 
 render was the only alternative ; for they already per- 
 ceived that the division on the right was thrown into con 
 fusion, and hastily leaving the field. 
 
 General Jackson being informed of the partial success 
 of the enemy on the right, and of their having obtained 
 temporary possession of the redoubt, sent a detachment to 
 retake it; but previous to its arrival, the enemy had 
 abandoned the work, and commenced retiring. They 
 were severely galled in their retreat by such of the guns 
 as could be brought to bear. The levee afforded them 
 considerable protection; yet they suffered greatly from 
 Commodore Patterson's redoubt on the right bank. Bemg 
 enfiladed by this on their advance, they had sustained con- 
 siderable injury, and now in their retreat were no less 
 severely assailed. Numbers foand a grave in the ditch 
 before the line ; and of those who originally gained the 
 redoubt, it is believed that not one escaped : they were 
 shot down as fast as they entered. The route along which 
 they advanced and retired was strewed with bodies. Af- 
 frighted at the carnage, the surviving members of the de- 
 tachment fled from the scene hastily and in confusion. 
 The American batteries still continued to pour forth their 
 deadly fire, cutting them down at every step : safety 
 seemed only to be attainable by retiring beyond the range 
 of the shot; which, to troops galkd so severely as they 
 were, was too remote a relief. Influenced by this con- 
 sideration, they fled to the ditch, whither the right divi- 
 sion had retreated, and there remained until night per- 
 mitted them to retire. 
 
 The loss of the British in the main attack on the left 
 bank, has been variously stated. The killed, wounded 
 and prisoners, as ascertained on the day after the battle, 
 by Colonel Hayne, the inspector-general, was twenty-six 
 hundrpH General Lambert's report to Lord Bathurst, 
 7* 
 
150 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 Slated it to be but two thousand and seventy. Judging 
 from the accounts given by the prisoners, and information 
 derived through other sources, it must have been even 
 greater than was represented in either account. Among 
 the killed, were the commander in chief, and Major-general 
 Gibbs, who died of his wounds the next day, besides 
 many other valuable and distinguished officers. The loss 
 of the Americans, in killed and wounded, was but thirteen. 
 Their effective force at the line on the left bank, was three 
 thousand seven hundred ; that of the enemy was, at least, 
 nine thousand. The whole number of troops landed has 
 been differently reported ; but the best information places 
 it at about fourteen thousand. A part of this force was 
 with Colonel Thornton ; the chmate had rendered many 
 unfit for the duties of the field ; while a considerable 
 number were killed and wounded, in the different contests 
 previous to that on the 8th. Their real strength, there- 
 fore, may be fairly estimated at the number we have 
 stated ; at any rate, it could hardly be less. 
 
 It is very evident that the assault on the American in- 
 trenchments was considered by the British commander 
 in chief, an undertaking of greater magnitude than was 
 openly admitted. The officer who leads his troops on a 
 forlorn attempt, not unfrequently places before them al- 
 lurements stronger than either authority or duty. On this 
 occasion, inducements were held out, than which nothing 
 could have been more inviting to a licentious soldiery fresh 
 from the horrid scenes enacted at the storming of St. Se- 
 bastian. The charms of the dark-eyed beauties of Spain 
 were not represented to be more attractive, than were those 
 of our fair country-women, who looked to the gallant little 
 band assembled on the banks of the Mississippi, for safety 
 and protection. The cupidity of the British soldiers was 
 excited by the hope of plunder, and the most lawless pas- 
 sions of their natures were aroused to desperation, by the 
 promised triumph over female innocence and purity. 
 This fact has often been questioned, and in some in- 
 stances positively denied ; but the circumstances pre- 
 sented at the time of the transaction, leave no doubt of its 
 truth. The books of two of the orderly sersfeants taken 
 
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 151 
 
 in battle, and the voluntary statements of prisoners, show 
 conclusively, that " beauty and booty''' was the watch- 
 word of the day. These words, it is true, in and of them- 
 selves, might not, under certain circumstances, be regarded 
 as of any weight ; but when Ave consider the situation of 
 the American arm3^ and the defenceless condition of the 
 city, if Jackson had been defeated, they assume an im- 
 portance, which points irresistibly to the conclusion, that 
 they were not idly adopted. It was fortunate for New 
 Orleans, and its inhabitants, that the gallantry of the 
 American general and the brave men who followed him 
 to the battle-field, was sufficient to repel the attack of 
 soldiers prompted to acts of courage and daring, by mo- 
 tives which disgrace and debase humanity. 
 
 The events of the 8th of January, afford abundant 
 evidence of the generous kindness of the American sol- 
 diers, and exhibit a striking difference in the troops of the 
 two nations. While those of one were incited to acts of 
 bravery and duty, by the promised pillage and plunder of 
 the inhabitants, and the commission of the most odious 
 crimes ; the other fought for their kindred and their coun- 
 try, and having repelled their assailants, instantly laid 
 aside their enmity, and regarding their fallen foemen as 
 brethren, hastened to reheve them, in several instances, 
 at the hazard of their lives. The desperate courage of 
 many of the British soldiers brought them close to the 
 very ramparts, where they were shot down, and lay badly 
 v;ounded. When the firing had ceased and the columns 
 had retired, the Americans left their lines, to assist ip 
 bringing in their wounded enemies who were near the in 
 trenchment ; but while engaged in this commendable ac 
 of charity and kindness, they v/ere fired upon by the 
 British, from the ditch they had occupied, and several ot 
 hem were seriously injured. Notwithstanding this das- 
 tardly attack, the American soldiers persevered in then 
 laudable efforts to administer to the wants, and relieve the 
 sufferings, of the wounded and dying. 
 
 Shortly after the British retired, a communication was 
 received from Major-general Lambert, on whom the com- 
 mand devolved after the fall of Generals Packenham, 
 
152 LIFE OF JACKSOW. 
 
 Gibbs, and Keane, acknowledging the kindness shown to 
 his wounded men, and"^soliciting permission to bury the 
 dead, and bring off those who were dangerously wounded. 
 General Jackson refused to permit .a near approach to his 
 lines, but consented that the wounded Vv^ho were at a 
 greater distance than three hundred yards from the in- 
 trenchment should be relieved, and the dead buried : 
 those nearer his lines, he agreed should be delivered over 
 by his own men, to be interred by their countrymen. 
 This precaution was taken, in order that the enemy might 
 not have an opportunity to inspect, or learn any thing 
 concerning his position, or the situation of the troops 
 under his command. About noon, a proposition was 
 made by General Lambert, for the cessation of hostilities 
 until the same hour the next day. In the hope of being 
 able to secure an important advantage which he had in 
 contemplation, by his apparent willingness to comply with 
 the proposal. General Jackson drew up an armistice and 
 forwarded it to General Lambert, with directions for its 
 immediate return, if approved. It contained a stipulation 
 o this effect : that hostilities on the left bank of the river 
 should be discontinued from its ratification, but that on the 
 right bank, where Colonel Thornton had driven Morgan 
 from his position, they should not cease ; and that in the 
 interim, under no circumstances were reinforcements to 
 be sent across by either party. This was a bold stroke at 
 stratagem ; and although it succeeded even to the extent 
 desired, was yet attended with considerable hazard. Re- 
 inforcements had been ordered over to retake the position 
 lost by Morgan, in the morning, and the general presumed 
 they had arrived at their point of destination ; but at this 
 lime they had not passed the river, and it was not to be 
 expected that it could be retaken by the same troops who 
 had yielded it the day before, when possessed of ad* 
 vantages which gave them a decided superiority. The 
 commanding general well knew this ; yet, to spare the 
 sacrifice of his men, which he foresaw must be consider- 
 able, in any attempt to regain it, he was disposed to 
 venture upon a course which, he felt assured, could not 
 fail to succeed, it was impossible that his object could 
 
AN ARMISTICE GRANTED. 153 
 
 be discovered, and he confidently believed the British 
 commander would infer, from the prompt and ready man- 
 ner in which his proposal had been met, that such addi- 
 tional troops were already thrown over as would be fully 
 adequate to the purpose of attack, and greatly to endanger, 
 if not wholly to cut off Colonel Thornton's retreat. Ge- 
 neral Lambert's construction was such as had been antici- 
 pated. Although the armistice contained a request that 
 it should be immediately signed and returned, it was neg- 
 lected to be acted upon until the next day ; and Thornton 
 and his command re-crossed the river, under cover of the 
 night, and the ground they had occupied was peaceably 
 left to the possession of the original holders. 
 
 The opportunity thus afforded, of regaining a position on 
 which, in a great degree, depended the safety of those on 
 the opposite shore, was accepted with an avidity its import- 
 ance merited, and immediate measures were taken to in- 
 crease its strength, and prepare it against any future attack 
 that might be made. This delay of the British commander 
 was evidently designed, in order that while the negotiation 
 was pending, and before it was concluded, an opportunity 
 might be had, either of throwing over reinforcements, or 
 removing Colonel Thornton and his troops from a situa- 
 tion so extremely perilous. Early next morning. General 
 Lambert returned his acceptance of what had been pro- 
 posed, with an apology for having failed to reply sooner :. 
 he excused the omission, by pleading a press of business, 
 which had occasioned the communication to be overlooked 
 and neglected. Jackson was at no loss to attribute the 
 delay to the correct motive ; the apology, however, was 
 as perfectly satisfactory to him as any thing that could 
 have been offered ; beyond the object intended to be ef- 
 fected, he felt unconcerned, and having secured this, he 
 rested perfectly satisfied. The armistice was- concluded 
 on the 9th of January, and it was agreed that it should be 
 continued until two o'clock in the evening. The dead 
 and wounded were removed from the field ; those within 
 the Hne of demarcation, which the British were not per- 
 mitted to cross, being dehvered to them by the Americans, 
 in accordance with the terms of the stipulation. t 
 
154 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 It has seldom happened, that officers have been more 
 deceived, or atoned more severely for their error, than was 
 the case with those commanding the British troops on this 
 occasion. They seem to have taken it for granted that 
 the militia would not maintain their ground when warmly 
 assailed ; and that at the approach of veteran troops, they 
 would at once forsake the contest, and seek safety in flight. 
 At what part of our line they were stationed, was as- 
 certained by information derived through a deserter ; and 
 influenced by the belief that they wanted nerve and were 
 deficient in bravery, the main assault was made at this 
 pomt. They were indeed militia ; but the enemy could 
 have assailed no pan of the American intrenchment where 
 they would have met a warmer reception, or where they 
 would have found greater strength ; it was certainly the 
 best defended part of the line. The Kentucky and Ten- 
 nessee troops, under Generals Carroll, Thomas, and Adair, 
 were there, and they had already won, on former occa- 
 sions, a reputation that was too dear to be sacrificed. 
 These divisions, alternately charging their pieces and 
 mounting the platform, poured forth a constant fire, that 
 was impossible to be withstood, repelled the advancing 
 columns, and drove them from the field with prodigious 
 slaughter. So enraged were the British officers at their 
 repulse, and so firmly persuaded that the information 
 .given them by the deserter was false, that they called 
 their informant before them, to account for the mischief 
 he had done. It was in vain he urged his innocence, 
 and with the most solemn protestations, declared he had 
 stated the fact truly as it was. They could not be con- 
 vinced — it was impossible that they had contended against 
 any butithe best disciphned troops; and without further 
 ceremony, the poor fellow was suspended in view of the 
 camp, and expiated his treachery, if not his misrepresen 
 tations, on the gibbet. 
 
 The gallant conduct of the American troops at the bat 
 tie of New Orleans, has often been the subject of com 
 mendation. Their bravery and zeal were conspicuous 
 during the continuance of the contest. It was impossible 
 for men to serve under such a leader as Jackson, without 
 
BRITISH ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE. 155 
 
 becoming imbued with the same dauntless courage which 
 he always exhibited. Bold without being rash, daring 
 without being reckless, his own noble bearing was suffi- 
 cient to arouse emotions of patriotism where none had ex- 
 isted. The 8th of January was a momentous day, not 
 merely in his history, but also in that of the country. He 
 felt the importance of the occasion, but nothing caused 
 him to waver or hesitate. Those who were present at 
 the battle, concur in saying, that there was a grandeur and 
 sublimity about him, as he rode along the lines, that was 
 absolutely irresistible. Every order was given with prompt- 
 ness and decision. Above the thunder of the artillery, and 
 the roar of musketry, he was heard cheering and en- 
 couraging his men. Wherever his eagle-eye flashed, it 
 excited the most intense enthusiasm ; and when the shrill 
 notes of his trumpet voice were heard amidst the din of 
 battle, every heart beat with a stronger pulsation, and 
 every arm was nerved with tenfold vigor. 
 
 After the battle, General Jackson could have easily 
 captured every man belonging to the British force, on the 
 land, if he had been supplied with arms, according to his 
 repeated and urgent requests, and agreeably to the pro- 
 mises that were made to him. The want of these com- 
 pelled him to remain stationary in his position, until the 
 opportunity had passed. The British crossed the river, 
 and embarked on board the vessels waiting to receive 
 them, without further molestation. The account given 
 by them of the battle, is so very different from what really 
 took place, and there is such an evident attempt to conceal 
 the extent of their defeat, that it is well worthy the pe- 
 rusal. The following official bulletin, professing to give 
 a statement of the affair, was issued from the war office in 
 London, on the reception of the intelligence : 
 
 " War Department, March 8, 1815. 
 
 "Captain Wylly arrived this morning, with despatches 
 
 from Major-general Lambert, detailing the operations 
 
 against the enemy in the neighborhood of New Orleans. 
 
 It appears that the army,1.mder the command of Major- 
 
 a 
 
156 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 general Keane, was landed at the head of the Bayonne, 
 
 in the vicinity of New Orleans, on the morning of the 23d 
 of December, without opposition ; it was, however, at- 
 tacked by the enemy in the course of the night succeed- 
 ing the landing, when, after an obstinate contest, the 
 enemy were repulsed at all points, with considerable loss. 
 On the morning of the 25th, Sir E. Packenham arrived, 
 and assumed the command of the army. On the 27th, at 
 daylight, the troops moved forward, driving the enemy's 
 pickets to within six miles of the town, when the main 
 body of the enemy was discovered, posted behind a breast- 
 work, extending about one thousand yards, with the right 
 resting on the Mississippi, and the left on a thick wood. 
 The interval between the 27th of December and the 8th 
 of January, was employed in preparations for an attack 
 upon the enemy's position. The attack which was in- 
 tended to have been made on the night of the 7th, did not, 
 owing to the difficulties experienced in the passage of the 
 Mississippi, by a corps under Lieutenant-colonel Thorn- 
 ton, which was destined to act on the right bank of the 
 river, take place till early on the morning of the 8th. 
 The division to whom the storming of the enemy's work 
 was intrusted, moved to the attack at that time, but being 
 too soon discovered by the enemy, were received with a 
 gaUing and severe fire from all parts of their line. Ma- 
 jor-general Sir Edward Packenham, who had placed him- 
 self at the head of the troops, was unfortunately killed at 
 the head of the glacis, and Major-generals Gibbs and 
 Keane were nearly at the same moment wounded. The 
 effect of this upon the troops caused a hesitation in their 
 advance, and though order was restored by the advance 
 of the reserve under Major-general Lambert, to whom the 
 command of the army had devolved, and Colonel Thorn- 
 ton had succeeded in the operation assigned to him on the 
 right bank of the river ; yet the major-general, upon the 
 consideration of the difficulties which yet remained to be 
 surmounted, did not think himself justified in ordering a 
 renewal of the attack. The troops, therefore, retired to 
 the position which they had occupied previous to the 
 
BRITISH ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE. 157 
 
 attack. In that position they remained until the evening 
 of the 18th, when, the whole of the wounded, with the 
 exception of eighty, (whom it was considered dangerous 
 to remove,) the field artillery, and all the stores of 
 every description, having been embarked, the army re- 
 tired to the head of the Bayonne, where the landing 
 had been originally effected, and re-embarked without 
 molestation." 
 
158 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1815. Gratitude of the citizens of New Orleans to their dehverer— 
 Jackson strengthens his position — Anonymous publications inciting 
 his troops to revolt — The author placed in arrest — Judge Hall or- 
 dered into custody for his interference — The British retire to their 
 shipping — Treaty of peace signed — Cessation of hostihties — Jack- 
 son submits to the fine imposed by the judge — Farewell address to 
 his troops — Return to Nashville — Depredations committed by the 
 Seminole Indians — Jackson ordered to take command of the south- 
 ern army— Enters Florida with his army — Execution of Arbuthnot 
 and Ambrister — Capture of St. Marks and Pensacola — Termination 
 of hostilities — Jackson's conduct approved — Appointed governor of 
 Florida — Administration of his judicial duties — Difficulty with the 
 Ex-governor, Callava — Jackson's ill health compels him to return 
 home. 1821. 
 
 The successful defence made by General Jackson 
 ap^ainst the attempt to storm his intrenchments, banished 
 all the apprehensions of danger which the citizens of 
 New Orleans had previously indulged. They eagerly 
 hailed him as their deliverer and protector. No encomium 
 could be too exalted to express the feelings of gratitude 
 which they cherished towards him. In the midst of dan- 
 gers and difficulties, he had perseveringly continued his 
 defensive operations, until the result of the battle fuJly 
 confirmed their efficiency. Obstacles that would have 
 disheartened another commander, neither interfered with 
 his plans, or daunted his spirit. Every thing was made 
 to yield to the necessities of the crisis, and the bidding of 
 his determined will. His influence was felt everywhere 
 around and about him. What his feeble army lacked in 
 numbers and in equipments, was more than made up, by 
 the high-souled enthusiasm which he infused into their 
 ranks. Treason shrunk abasi\ed from his presence, and 
 cowardice itself, at his side, became the most unflinching 
 courage and the most devoted patriotism. The harsh and 
 vigorous measures to which he was compelled to resort, 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH JUDGE HALL. 159 
 
 led to frequent complaints ; but when the danger was 
 averted, and the city saved from plunder and rapine, even 
 his arbitrary exercise of power was justified and approved. 
 All classes and conditions united in the expression of their 
 sincere and heartfelt thankfulness. Demonstrations of 
 public respect succeeded each other daily ; the congra- 
 tulations of his fellow-countrymen, whose property and 
 whose lives he had defended, flowed in upon him without 
 stint; and the general sentiment of approbation which 
 soon reached his ears was no more flattering to his pride, 
 than it was just to his abilities and his services. 
 
 Although the defeat of the British on the 8th of Jan- 
 uary completely frustrated their plans, and put an end to 
 their contemplated march upon the city, Jackson deemed 
 it best to continue the same watchful discipline and care 
 which had been attended with such satisfactory results. 
 Had his men been properly supplied with arms, he would 
 have completed the brilliant defence of the 8th of January, 
 by the capture of the whole British force, but, situated as 
 he was, it would have been rash in the extreme to have 
 commenced any offensive operations. He confined him- 
 self, therefore, to perfecting his line of defences, and con- 
 structing new ones at assailable points, in order that the 
 success already obtained might not be hazarded by re- 
 missness or neglect. While actively engaged in the dis- 
 charge of his duty, the traitors and spies who had pre- 
 viously occasioned him so much trouble and vexation, were 
 secretly at work in their efforts to counteract his plans. 
 Having failed in one attempt to betray the country, they 
 adopted a different mode of proceeding. Besides afford- 
 ing intelhgence of his movements lo the enemy, they caused 
 anonymous articles, calculated to excite mutiny among his 
 troops, to be inserted in one of the newspapers published 
 n the city of New Orleans. So bold an act of treason 
 was not to be overlooked, and with his characteristic 
 energy and decision of character, Jackson promptly de- 
 manded of the publisher the name of the writer of the 
 articles. The demand was complied with, and the traitor 
 was discovered to be one of the members of the legislature. 
 An order was forthwith issued by the general for his im- 
 
160 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 mediate arrest. An application was made to Judge Hall 
 for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted. As has 
 been heretofore mentioned, the judge himself was at once 
 arrested by command of Jackson, for interfering with his 
 authority. At this time, the order proclaiming martial law 
 had not been countermanded, in consequence of the proxi- 
 mity of the British army, and if the general had allowed 
 one act of opposition to his authority to pass unnoticed, 
 others might have followed in its train, which would have 
 produced the most serious consequences. 
 
 The British forces retired to their shipping and took 
 final leave of Louisiana, on the 18th of January, and early 
 in the month of February the inteUigence arrived, that a 
 treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United 
 States had been signed by the commissioners of the two 
 governments, at Ghent, on the 24th of December previous. 
 The cessation of hostilities was soon after officially an- 
 nounced. The appearance of the order releasing the city 
 from the restraints of martial law, was followed by a rule 
 of court granted by Judge Hall, commanding General 
 Jackson to appear and show cause why an attachment 
 should not issue against him for contempt, in refusing to 
 obey a writ, and imprisoning the organ of the law. He 
 did not hesitate to appear and submit a full and able an- 
 swer justifying his proceedings. After argument before 
 the court, the rule was made absolute ; an attachment was 
 sued out, and Jackson brought up to answer interrogatories. 
 The proceedings were obviously unjust, but he preferred, 
 like a good citizen, to submit quietly to the law. He therefore 
 decHned answering questions, and asked for the sentence, 
 which the judge, who was exceedingly inimical towards 
 him, then proceeded to pass. It was a fine of one thousand 
 dollars. The spectators who crowded the hall evinced 
 the strongest indignation. On entering his carriage, it 
 was seized by the people and drawn to the coffee-house 
 where he was residing. When he reached his head quar- 
 ters, he put the amount of the fine into the hands of one 
 of his aids, and caused it to be discharged without delay. 
 He had scarcely anticipated the intentions of the citisens, 
 as the full sum was raised among them by contribution, 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS TO HIS TROOPS. 161 
 
 in a few moments. Jackson refused to accept the mo- 
 ney, and at his request it was appropriated to a charitable 
 institution. He enjoyed the consciousness that the powers 
 which the exigency of the times forced him to assume, had 
 been exercised exclusively for the public good, and were 
 absolutely essential to the safety of the country. In addi- 
 tion to this, he was gratefully remembered by the people 
 for \^om he had sacrificed his ease and comfort, and 
 endured so many hardships. In 1821, the corporation of 
 New Orleans vot«l fifty thousand dollars for erecting a 
 marble statue designed to commemorate his important 
 military services ; and the same body also gave one thou- 
 sand dollars for his portrait painted by Mr. Earle. At the 
 session of the United States Congress in 1844-5, complete 
 though tardy justice was meted out to Jackson, by the pas- 
 sage of a law in efl^ect approving of his conduct, and mak- 
 ing provision for the restitution of the fine, with interest. 
 Notwithstanding the cessation of hostihties, General 
 Jackson remained at New Orleans, with the troops under 
 his command, until the month of March, at which time 
 he was relieved by General Gaines. On taking leave of 
 the brave volunteers who had cheerfully followed him 
 through so many difficulties and dangers, previous to their 
 final discharge, he issued the following address, thanking 
 them for their fidehty to the country, and expressing his 
 sincere wishes for their future happiness and prosperity : 
 
 " The major-general is atlength enabled to perform the 
 pleasing task of restoring to Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisi- 
 ana, and the territory of the Mississippi, the brave troops 
 who have acted such a distinguished part in the war which 
 has just terminated. In restoring these brave men to their 
 homes, much exertion is expected of, and great responsi- 
 bihty imposed on, the commanding officers of the different 
 corps. It is required of Major-generals Carroll and Thomas, 
 and Brigadier-general Coffee, to march their commands, 
 without unnecessary delay, to their respective states. The 
 troops from the Mississippi territory, and state of Louisi- 
 ana, both militia and volunteers, will be immediately mus- 
 tered out of service, paid, and discharged. 
 
1(52 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 « The major-general has the satisfaction of announcing 
 the approbaiion of the President of the United States to the 
 conduct of the troops under his command, expressed in 
 flattering terms, through the honorable the secretary of war. 
 
 " In parting with those brave men, whose destinies have 
 been so long united with his own, and in whose labors 
 and glories it is his happiness and his boast to have parti- 
 cipated, the commanding general can neither suppress his 
 feelings, nor give utterance to them as he ought. In what 
 terms can he bestow suitable praise on» merit so extraor- 
 dinary, so unparalleled ? Let him, in one burst of joy, 
 gratitude, and exultation, exclaim — ' These are the saviors 
 of their country — these the patriot soldiers, who triumphed 
 over the invincibles of Wellington, and conquered the 
 conquerors of Europe !' With what patience did you 
 submit 10 privations — with what fortitude did you endure 
 fatigue — what valor did you display in the day of battle ! 
 You have secured to America a proud name among the 
 nations of the earth — a glory which will never perish. 
 
 " Possessing those dispositions which equally adorn the 
 citizen and the soldier, the expectations of your country 
 will be met in peace, as her wishes have been gratified in 
 war. Go, then, my brave companions, to your homes; to 
 those tender connections, and blissful scenes, which render 
 life so dear — full of honor, and crowned with laurels which 
 will never fade. When participating, in the bosoms of 
 your famihes, the enjoyment of peaceful life, with what 
 happiness will you not look t)ack to the toils you have 
 borne — to the dangers you have encountered ? How will 
 all your past exposures be converted into sources of inex- 
 pressible delight ! Who, that never experienced your 
 sufferings, will be able to appreciate your joys ? The 
 man who slumbered ingloriously at home, during your 
 painful marches, your nights of watchfulness, and your 
 days of toil, will envy you the happiness which these re- 
 collections will afford — still more will he envy the gratitude 
 of that country, which you have so eminently contributed 
 to save. 
 
 " Contmue, fellow-soldiers, on your passage to your se- 
 veral destinations, to preserve that subordination, that 
 
RETURN HOME. 163 
 
 dignified and manly deportment, which have so ennobled 
 your character. 
 
 " While the commanding general is thus giving indulg- 
 3nce to his feelings towards those brave companions who 
 accompanied him through difficulties and danger, he can- 
 not permit the names of Elount, and Shelby, and Holmes, 
 to pass unnoticed. With what generous ardor and pa- 
 triotism have these distinguished governors contributed 
 all their exertions to provide the means of victory ! The 
 recollection of the[r exertions, and of the success which 
 has resulted, will be to them a reward more grateful than 
 ^ny which the pomp of title or the splendor of wealth can 
 bestow. 
 
 " What happiness it is to the commanding general, that, 
 while danger was before him, he was, oi#no occasion, 
 compelled to use towards his companions in arms either 
 severity or rebuke ! If, after the enemy had retired, im- 
 proper passions began their empire in^H few unworthy 
 bosoms, and rendered a resort to energetic measures ne- 
 cessary for their suppression, he has not confounded the 
 innocent with the guilty — the seduced with the seducers. 
 Towards you, fellow-soldiers, the most cheering recollec- 
 tions exist ; blended, alas ! with regret, that disease and 
 war should have ravished from us so many worthy com- 
 panions. But the memory of the cause in which they 
 perished, and of the virtues which animated them while 
 living, must occupy the place where sorrow would claim 
 to dwell. 
 
 " Farewell, fellow-soldiers. The expression of your ge- 
 neral's thanks is feeble, but the gratitude of a country of 
 freemen is yours — yours the applause of an admiring 
 world. " Andrew Jackson, 
 
 " Major-general commanding.''^ 
 
 On his route to Nashville, General Jackson saw, on 
 every side, the certain evidences of exultation and delight. 
 The reputation he had acquired during his campaigns in 
 the Creek country, had extended from one section of the 
 union to the other. All were familiar with the prompt- 
 ness and decision, the active intrepidity, and unyielding 
 
164 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 firmness, he had evinced in his different engagements 
 and marches through the Indian territory of the Hickory 
 Ground, and in allusion to which the appellation of "Old 
 Hickory" had been bestowed upon him ; and the brilHant 
 victory won at New Orleans threw the country into a 
 complete fever of joy. 
 
 For two years afterwards, General Jackson, though still 
 retaining his rank in the army, remained at home engaged 
 in cuhivating his farm, and busily occupied with rural 
 pleasures and labors. In the winter (^f 1817, the hostile 
 Creeks, or Seminoles, who had been driven into Florida, 
 in connection with runaway negroes from the adjoining 
 states, began to execute schemes of robbery and vengeance 
 against the Americans living near the frontiers. Repre- 
 sentations in regard to these outrages had been made to the 
 American government, and General Gaines, the acting 
 commander of the southern district, was ordered, in the 
 summer of 181#to occupy a position near the borders, 
 with a considerable force, for the protection of the citizens. 
 He was at first directed to keep within the territorial 
 limits of the United States, and not to cross the Florida 
 line ; but to demand of the Indians the perpetrators of the 
 crimes which had been committed, avoiding, if possible, 
 a general rupture with the deluded savages. General 
 Gaines made the demand, in conformity with his orders. 
 The savages, however, being deceived by the representa- 
 tions of certain foreign incendiaries and traders, who 
 taught them to believe that they would receive assistance 
 and encouragement from the British, not only refused to 
 give up the murderers, but repeated their barbarities when- 
 ever an opportunity offered. Whilst matters remained in 
 this condition, the intelligence was received that Lieuten- 
 ant Scott, one of General Gaines' officers, with forty -seven 
 persons, men, women and children, had been surprised by 
 an ambuscade of Indians, when descending the Appalachi- 
 cola river in a boat, about two miles below the junction of 
 the Flint and Chattahoochie, and that the whole detach- 
 ment had been killed or taken prisoners, except six men, 
 who had made their escape. Those who were taken 
 alive were wantonly butchered by the ferocious savages ; 
 
ORDERED TO THE SOUTH. 165 
 
 the little children were seized, and their brains dashed out 
 against the side of the boat ; and all the helpless females, 
 with one exception, were murdered. 
 
 On the receipt of this inteUigence, the government saw 
 the necessity of adopting energetic measures. Orders 
 were immediately issued to General Jackson to repair to 
 Fort Scott and take command of the forces in that quarter, 
 with authority, in case he should deem it necessary, to 
 call upon the Executives of the adjoining states for addi- 
 tional troops. He was also authorized to cross the bound- 
 ary line of Florida, which was still a Spanish territory, if 
 necessary in the execution of his orders. The orders 
 which had been issued to General Gaines, and to which 
 he was referred for his own guidance, required him to 
 adopt " measures necessary to terminate a conflict which 
 had been avoided from considerations of humanity, but 
 which had now become indispensable, from the settled 
 hostility of the savage enemy." The Secretary of War 
 also said, in a letter written to General Gaines in the 
 month of January, 1818 : " The honor of the United 
 States requires that the war with the Seminoles should 
 be terminated speedily, and with exemplary punishment 
 for hostilities so unprovoked." 
 
 Having collected the Tennessee volunteers, \tith that 
 zeal and promptness which ever marked his career, Ge- 
 neral Jackson repaired to the post assigned him, and as- 
 sumed the command. The necessity of crossing the line 
 into Florida was no longer a subject of doubt. A large 
 body of Indians and negroes had made that territory their 
 refuge, and the Spanish authorities were either too weak or 
 too indifferent to restrain them. In order to comply with 
 the orders issued to him, Jackson penetrated at once into 
 the Seminole towns, reducing them to ashes, and driving 
 the enemy before him. In the council-house of the Mic- 
 kasukians, more than fifty fresh scalps, and in an adjacent 
 house, upwards of three hundred scalps, of all ages and 
 sexes, were found ; and in the centre of the public square 
 a red pole was erected, crowned with scalps, known by 
 the hair to have belonged to the companions of Lieutenant 
 Scott. To inflict merited punishment on the barbarians, 
 8 
 
166 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 and to prevent a repetition of the massacres, by bringing 
 the war to a speedy and successful termination, he pur* 
 sued his way to St. Marks. He there found, in con-, 
 formity with previous information, that the Indians and 
 negroes had demanded the surrender of the post to them ; 
 and that the Spanish garrison, according to the command- 
 ant's own acknowledgment, was too weak to support it. 
 He ascertained also that the enenny had been supplied with 
 the means of carrying on the war, from the commandant 
 of the post ; 'that foreign incendiaries, who instigated the 
 savages to cruelty, had free communication with the fort ; 
 and that councils of war were permitted by the com- 
 mandant to be held by the chiefs and warriors, within his 
 own quarters. The Spanish store-houses were appro- 
 priated to the use of the hostile party, and actually filled 
 with goods belonging co them, though property known to 
 have been plundered from American citizens was pur- 
 chased from them by the commandant, while he professed 
 friendship to the United States. 
 
 General Jackson, therefore, did not hesitate to demand 
 of the officer commanding at St. Marks, the surrender of 
 that post, that it might be garrisoned by an American 
 force, and, when the Spaniard hesitated, he entered the 
 fort by force, though without bloodshed ; the enemy hav- 
 ing fled, and the garrison being too weak to offer any se- 
 rious opposition. From this place he marched upon Su- 
 wanee, seized the stores of the enemy and burnt their vil- 
 lages. 
 
 A variety of circumstances now convinced General Jack- 
 son, that the savages had commenced the war and persist- 
 ed in their barbarity. He therefore arrested at St. Marks 
 several of the British incendiaries who had excited them 
 to hostilities. One Alexander Arbuthnot, an Indian trader 
 was taken at St. Marks, where he had been living as ai 
 inmate in the family of the commandant. He was tried 
 by a court of inquiry, of thirteen respectable officers, and 
 sentenced to be hung, which sentence was immediately 
 carried into execution. Robert Ambrister, formerly a lieu- 
 tenant in the British marine corps, was also tried ; and it 
 having been proved that he had not only encouraged and 
 
SEMINOLE CAMPAIGN. 167 
 
 assisted the hostile savages, but had also led them in their 
 marauding excursions, he was sentenced by the court to 
 receive fifty stripes and to be confined, with a ball and 
 chain, at hard labor, for twelve calendar months. General 
 Jackson, however, disapproved of this sentence, which he 
 did not think sufficiently severe ; and the case being 
 reconsidered, Ambrister was sentenced to be shot, which 
 sentence was forthwith executed. 
 
 It was now supposed by the commanding general that 
 the war was at an end. St. Marks was garrisoned b}'- an 
 American force ; the Indian towns of Mickasuky and 
 Suwanee were destroyed ; two prominent chiefs who had 
 been the prime movers and leaders of the savages, had 
 been killed ; and the two foreign instigators taken and exe- 
 cuted. The American commander, therefore, ordered the 
 Georgia militia, who had joined him, to be discharged, and 
 was about to return himself to Tennessee. While mak- 
 ing his preparations, he was informed that the Indians 
 were admitted freely by the governor at Pensacola ; that 
 they were collecting in large numbers, five hundred being 
 in Pensacola on the 15th of April, many of whom were 
 known to be hostile, and had just escaped from the pursuit 
 of his troops ; that the enemy were furnished with am- 
 munition and supplies, and received intelligence of the 
 movements of his forces, from that place ; and that a num- 
 ber of them had salhed out and murdered eighteen Ame- 
 rican citizens, who had settled upon the Alabama, and 
 were immediately received by the governor, and furnished 
 with means of transportation across the lake, that they 
 might escape pursuit. 
 
 These facts being ascertained by General .Jackson, from 
 rehable authority, he forthwith took up his line of march 
 towards Pensacola, at the head of a detachment of about 
 twelve hundred men, for the purpose of counteracting the 
 views of the^nemy. On the 18th of May, he crossed 
 the Appalachicola at the Ocheese village, with the intention 
 of scouring the country west of that river, and on the 23d 
 of the month, he received a communication from the go- 
 vernor of West Florida, protesting against his entrance 
 into that province, commanding him to retire from'it, and 
 
168 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 declaring that he would repel force by force if he did not 
 obey. This communication, together with other indica- 
 tions of the governor's hostility, were followed by prompt 
 action on the part of the American general. He marched 
 direct to Pensacola, and took possession of that place the 
 following day. The governor himself fled to Fort Carlos 
 de Barrancas, which post also surrendered, after a feeble 
 resistance, on the 28th of May. This bold and energeti 
 mode of carrying on the war soon put an end to the de 
 predations of the Indians and negroes. Parties of them 
 were Scattered here and there through the countr3^ and, to 
 prevent them from attacking the frontier settlements, 
 two of the volunteer companies were ordered to scour the 
 country between the Mobile and the Appalachicola. Thus 
 ended the Seminole campaign, which, though not distin- 
 guished by any heavy battles, was, nevertheless, a most 
 arduous and harassing kind of warfare. 
 
 General Jackson returned to the Hermitage, in June, 
 1818. His promptness and decision in checking the in- 
 cursions of the savages, and patting an end to their de- 
 predations, elicited new acknowledgments and new evi- 
 dences of respect and admiration. The general .govern- 
 ment deemed it expedient ultimately to restore to Spain 
 the posts of St. Marks and Pensacola; but the conduct of 
 Jackson was approved, and Presiderrt Monroe expressed 
 the opinion in his annual message, al the commencement 
 of the session of Congress in 1818, that the "misconduct 
 of the Spanish officers," in affording countenance and pro- 
 tection to the savages, fully justified the course which 
 had been pursued. The proceedings of the general in 
 regard to Arbuthnot and Arabrister, were, in like manner, 
 unequivocally confirmed. The British government even, 
 though always prompt in protecting her citizens, could not ♦ 
 but acknowledge the justice of their condemnation. 
 
 General Jackson returned home in the su»mer of 1818, 
 and in the course of the following winter he visited Wash- 
 ington. The incidents of the Seminole campaign were then 
 under consideration in Congress, and a report was made by 
 a committee of the Senate extremely hostile to his character. 
 It had not the concurrence of the ablest members of the 
 
APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA. 169 
 
 committee, and on the appearance of an article in the Na- 
 tional Intelligencer, written by General Jackson himself, 
 triumphantly defending his conduct, all further action upon 
 it was suspended. An attempt was also made' in the 
 House of Representatives, to pass a vote of censure, but it 
 was rejected by a decisive majority. While at the east, 
 the general visited Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, 
 in each of which he was welcomed with distinguished 
 honors. He received the freedom of the city of New York 
 on the 19th of February, in a gold box ; and there, as well 
 as in Baltimore, the municipal council requested and ob- 
 tained his portrait, to be placed in their hall. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1819, a treaty was signed be- 
 tween Spain and the United States, by which the Floridas 
 "were ceded to the latter power. Upon the final ratification 
 of the treaty, Congress passed a law, empowering the pre- 
 sident to vest in such person or persons as he might select, 
 all the mihtary, civil, and judicial authority exercised by 
 the officers of the Spanish government. Under this law, 
 the president selected General Jackson to act as commis- 
 sioner for receiving the provinces, and to assume the go- 
 vernment of them. The intimate acquaintance of Jackson 
 with the country, and the energy and decision of his cha- 
 racter, specially recommended him for this position. The 
 territory was completely overrun with smugglers, negro- 
 stealers, and desperadoes of every description ; and it re- 
 quired the exercise of no httle firmness and rigor to restore 
 quiet and good order. The general reluctantly accepted 
 the office, and on the 1st of July, 1821, he issued his pro- 
 clamation at Pensacola, announcing that he had taken 
 possession of the territory in the name of the United States, 
 and that all citizens were required to yield obedience to 
 her authority. Prompt measures were adopted for enforc- 
 ing the laws, and securing the due administration of justice. 
 Courts were immediately organized, and a system of inter- 
 nal police instituted. 
 
 By the treaty with Spain it was expressly stipulated, 
 that all the archives and documents relating to the pro- 
 perty and sovereignty of the provinces should be delivered 
 up to the American authorities. A case soon occurred un 
 
170 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 der this clause of the treaty, which called Oiri all GenKSSi 
 Jackson's well-known firmness and promptitude. On the 
 22d of August, he received a petition from certain indivi- 
 duals, setting forth that certain papers of great importance 
 to the rights of several orphan females, whose inheritance 
 was under litigation, had been feloniously retained by the 
 Spanish Ex-governor, Callava, and that they were in the 
 hands of a man named Sousa. Jackson forthwith ordered 
 three officers to wait upon Sousa, and demand the docu- 
 ments. He exhibited them to the officers, but refused to 
 give them up, as they had been intrusted to him by Cal- 
 lava. On being summoned to appear before Jackson with 
 the papers, Sousa returned for answer that they had been 
 sent to the house of the Ex-governor. Two officers were 
 directed to repair thither and demand them ; and if Cal- 
 lava refused to dehver them up, to arrest both him and his 
 steward, who had received them, and bring them before 
 the governor. After considerable parleying, Callava 
 finally refused, in the most positive terms, to surrender the 
 documents, whereupon he was conducted, under a guard, 
 to the office of Jackson. Arrived there, he persisted in 
 his refusal, and commenced protesting against the course 
 pursued by the general, who ingtantly committed him to 
 prison. 
 
 The box containing the papers was obtained the next 
 morning, and opened by officers specially commissioned 
 for that purpose. The papers sought for were found, to- 
 gether with decrees which Callava had made, in favor of 
 the heirs, but corruptly suppressed. The object of his 
 imprisonment having been gained, the Ex-governor was 
 released from custody. Previous to his discharge, a writ 
 oi habeas corpus was issued to extricate him from his con- 
 finement, by Mr. Fromentin, who had been appointed 
 judge by the United States government, with a jurisdic 
 lion expressly limited to cases arising under the revenue 
 laws, and the acts of Congress prohibiting the introduc- 
 tion of slaves. At this time, the general judiciary act had 
 not been extended to Florida, and General Jackson pos- 
 sessed, in his own person, by the terms of the law under 
 
HIS RESIGNATION. 171 
 
 which he was appointed, the sufHeme judicial power uni- 
 formly exercised by the Spanish governors, captains-gene- 
 ral, and intendants. He, of course, refused to obey the 
 writ, and reprimanded Mr. Fromentin, in severe terms, for 
 his interference. Callava afterwards attempted to excite 
 a prejudice against General Jackson, by an exposition 
 which was published m some of the American papers; 
 but the statements made by him were shown to be so 
 grossly false, that he-obtained little sympathy. The pro- 
 ceedings of Jackson underwent the rigid scrutiny of a 
 committee of the House of Representatives, and the result 
 was his complete justification. Although the measures 
 he adopted appeared harsh, the American people were 
 ready to approve his conduct, when it was ascertained 
 that it originated in a desire to carry out his own noble 
 sentiment, that " the great can protect themselves, but 
 the poor and humble require the arm and shield of the 
 law." 
 
 Several Spanish officers who had remained with Cal- 
 lava, pubhshed an article in a Pensacola paper, after his 
 discharge, in which the}^ accused the general of violence 
 and tyranny. It was stipulated in the treaty that all Spa- 
 nish officers should be^withdrawn from the territories, with- 
 in six months after its ratification. More than this term 
 had elapsed. Jackson issued a proclamation without de- 
 lay, commanding them, as trespassers and disturbers of the 
 public peace, to depart in the course of a week. They 
 wisely obeyed the order and left the territory. About 
 the same time, the Ex-governor of East Florida attempted 
 to retain a number of important documents which should 
 have been delivered up. When the fact came to his 
 knowledge, the general tramsmitted his orders to take them 
 by force, if they were withheld. The order was carried 
 into effect ; the ex-governor protested against the act, but 
 received little sympathy or encouragement. 
 
 The ill health of General Jackson compelled him to 
 resign his position in a few months. ^ On the 7th of Oc- 
 tober, he delegated his power to his' secretaries, and re- 
 turned to Nashville. In his valedictory address to the 
 
172 LIFE OF JACKSOX. 
 
 citizens of Florida, he informed them that he had com- 
 pleted the temporary organization of the two provinces, 
 and justified and defended the acts of his administration. 
 It was with great regret that the people of the territory 
 saw him depart, and the spontaneous manifestations of 
 esteem and gratitude which were exhibited towards him, 
 were both creditable to him and to those whom he had 
 so faithfully served. 
 
RESIGNS HIS COMMISSION. 178 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1821. Jackson resigns his office in the army — Testimonials of public 
 respect — A candidate for the Presidency — Defeated in the House 
 of Representatives — Election of Mr. Adams — Course of Jackson's 
 friends — His renomination — Warmth of the contest — Elected pre- 
 sident — Death of his wife — Kindness to her relatives — His first mes- 
 sage — Veto of the Maysville road bill — Dissolution of the cabinet — 
 Opposition to the United States Bank — Veto message — Re-elected 
 president — Difficulty with the nullifiers — Assaulted by Lieutenant 
 Randolph — Removal of the deposits — Public excitement — Con- 
 troversy with France — Retirement to private life. 1837. 
 
 The hardships and privations which General Jackson 
 had experienced in his different campaigns against the 
 Indians, so far undermined his health, that he was com- 
 pelled to resign his commission in the army of the United 
 States, and retire to private life. But the gratitude of the 
 nation followed him in his retirement, and only waited the 
 opportunity to confer upon him the high reward which 
 was due to his long and faithful services. The citizens 
 of Tennessee were not only proud of the distinguished 
 reputation which reflected so much honor on his adopted 
 state, but they were eager to evince to the world the 
 favorable estitnation in which they regarded him. On 
 the 4th day of July, 1822, the governor of the state, by 
 order of the legislature, presented him with a sword, 
 as a testimonial "of the high respect entertained for his 
 public services ;" and on the 20th of August following, 
 the same body recommend'ed him to the union for the 
 office of president. This recommendation was repeated 
 by the legislature of Alabama, and various meetings of 
 private citizens in different sections of the country. In 
 1823, the oflice of Minister Plenipotentiary to the Mexican 
 government was tendered to him by President Monroe ; 
 8* 
 
174 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 but he declined its acceptance. He was again elected 
 to the Senate of the United States, in the autumn of that 
 year, and remained in the office until 1825. 
 
 The canvass previous to the presidential election in 
 1824 commenced as early as the year 1822. A majority 
 of the republican party, to which Jackson belonged, in the 
 northern and middle states, were in favor of the nomina- 
 tion of John Gluincy Adams, then secretary of state. The 
 same party at the south and west, were divided between 
 General Jackson, WiUiam H. Crawford, of Georgia, Henry 
 Clay, of Kentucky, and John C. Calhoun, of South Caro- 
 lina. During the congressional sessions in 1828 and 1824, 
 the presidential question was constantly in agitation. The 
 friends of Mr. Crawford were probably the most numerous 
 in the two houses, but more than two-thirds of the mem- 
 bers were in favor of some other candidate. It had usually 
 been the custom to make the nominations in advance of 
 the election, at a congressional caucus, and an effort was 
 made at the session of 1824, to bring forward the name 
 of Mr. Crawford in that way. A caucus was accordingly 
 held, but it was not attended by a majority of the repub- 
 lican members. The consequence was, that each section 
 of the country was left at liberty to support whichever of 
 the candidates was preferred. The election was con- 
 ducted with considerable spirit and animation, and the 
 result was, that no candidate received a majority of the 
 electoral votes. On counting the official returns, it ap- 
 peared that Andrew Jackson had received ninety-nine 
 votes ; John duincy Adams, eighty-four ; William H. 
 Crawford, forty-one, and Henry Clay, thirty-seven. 
 
 The constitution of the United States provides that 
 where no candidate for the presidency receives a majority 
 of the electoral votes, the election shall be made by the 
 House of Representatives, from the three highest on the 
 list ; and that the members shall vote by states ; each 
 state being entitled to but one vote. No choice having 
 been made by the people at the election in 1824, the 
 matter was brought forward at the ensuing session of 
 Congress, and John Gluincy Adams was elected president, 
 he havinfr received the votes of thirteen states. 
 
CHOSEN PRESIDENT. 175 
 
 Soon after the result of this election, Mr. Crawford 
 withdrew from j^ublic life, in consequence of a severe 
 bodily affliction. Mr. Clay was appointed Secretary of 
 State under Mr. Adams, and the friends of Jackson and 
 Crawford subsequently united in opposition to the then 
 administration. The manner in which Jackson had been 
 defeated, notwithstanding his having received the greatest 
 number of votes, encouraged his friends and supporters, 
 who were quite numerous, and devotedly attached to him, 
 to make renewed efforts for the next election. An attempt 
 was made to bring forward De Witt Clinton of the state of 
 New York, as a candidate ; but he expressly refused to 
 allow his name to be used in opposition to General Jack- 
 son. The friends of Mr. Adams, however, took prompt 
 measures to procure his re-election. In September, 1827, 
 the general repubhcan committee of the city of New York, 
 most of whom had previously been Crawford men, pre- 
 sented Jackson as their candidate for the presidency. At 
 the November election in that year, a large majority of 
 the electors of the state expressed their approbation of 
 the movement, by the choice of a majority of members 
 of the legislature friendly to his nomination. This satis- 
 factory evidence of the feehngs of the voters in so large 
 and powerful a state, put an end to the idea of selecting 
 any other candidate. His nomination was welcomed, with 
 a feeling akin to enthusiasm, from one enxi of the union to 
 the other, and the election, which took place in 1828, was 
 one of the most animated and exciting which had been 
 witnessed for several years. 
 
 During the canvass, the partizans on both sides became 
 quite exasperated, and much was said and written con- 
 cerning the candidates, which might have been wisely 
 mitted. Among other things, the private character and 
 ublic acts of General Jackson were subjected to a severe 
 and rigid scrutiny. The circumstances attending his mar- 
 riage, his conduct during the campaign against the Creeks, 
 the attack on Pensacola, the arrest of Judge Hall, and the 
 trial and merited punishm.ent of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, 
 were commented on in the harshest terms, and in many 
 instances grossly misrepresented. These uncalled for at- 
 
176 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 tacks produced no effect on the public mind, except that 
 of enlisting a warmer feeling of sympathy in his behalf, 
 and animating his friends to renewed exertion. The 
 result of the election was, that General Jackson received 
 one hundred and seventy-eight of the electoral votes, and 
 Mr. Adams eighty-three. 
 
 Not long after the result of the election was made 
 known. General Jackson experienced a most afflicting 
 bereavement, in the death of his amiable wife. To him 
 the loss was irreparable. For many anxious years, when 
 the duties of his position had called him from her side, by 
 the lonely watch-fire, in the solitude of the forest, on the 
 ramparts ot his intrenchments at New Orleans, amid the 
 leafy hammocks and everglades of the far south, had he 
 looked forward to his retirement from his public duties, 
 comforted by the cherished hope that the evening of his 
 days would be gilded with the halo of that deep and 
 earnest affection which had ever been the light and the 
 joy of the Hermitage. It was hard for him to part with 
 one to whom he was so devotedly attached, just as he was 
 entering upon the enjoyment of the crowning reward of a 
 brilhant and prosperous career. "To the day of his death 
 he continued to cherish her memory with a sincere and 
 heart-felt reverence. Having no descendants of his own, 
 he proved himself, if that were possible, even more than 
 a father, to the younger branches of her family. He 
 adopted them as his own, and always regarded them with 
 marked favor and kindness. 
 
 General Jackson entered upon the duties of the chief 
 magistracy of the Union, on the 4th day of March, 1829. 
 In his inaugural address, he set forth, in general terms, 
 his views in regard to the administration of the govern- 
 ment, and expressed the diffidence he felt on assuming 
 the high and responsible station to which he had been ele- 
 vated. His first annual message to the two Houses of 
 Congress, delivered on the 8th day of December, 1829, 
 contained a more full exposition of his opinions in regard 
 to questions of public policy. He averred his determina- 
 tion to bring the matters in dispute with Great Britain 
 and France, growing out of the north-eastern boundary 
 
HIS FIRST MESSAGE. 1T7 
 
 question and the claims of American citizens for depreda- 
 tions committed on their property, to a speedy settlement. 
 He recommended the amendment of the constitution, so 
 as to enable the electors of the country to vote directly for 
 president and vice-president, the motli^pation of the tariff, 
 the apportionment of the surplus revenue among the 
 several states, provided it was " warranted by the consti- 
 tution," and the removal of the Indian tribes beyond the 
 Mississippi. He also expressed his doubts as to the pro- 
 priety of renewing the charter of the United States Bank, 
 and his belief that if a similar institution was thought ne- 
 cessary for the purposes of the government, it should be 
 exclusively a national one, founded upon the pubhc reve- 
 nues and credit. In the month of May, 18;iO, a bill passed 
 the two Houses of Congress, proposing to authorize " a 
 subscription of stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, 
 and Lexington Turnpike Road Company." On the 27th 
 of the month, the president returned the bill with his 
 objections to its passage. Although friendly to works of 
 internal improvement, he stated that he was opposed to the 
 construction of any work involving a claim of jurisdiction 
 to the territory necessary to be occupied for its preserva- 
 tion and use, paramount to the sovereignty of the state ; 
 and to the appropriation of money " from the national trea- 
 sury, in aid of such works when undertaken by state au- 
 thority, surrendering the claim of jurisdiction." Believing 
 that the bill under consideration was liable to both objec- 
 tions, he withheld his official sanction. 
 
 The annual message of the president in December, 1830, 
 contained no new recommendations of special importance. 
 His views in regard to the amendment of the constitution, 
 the distribution of the surplus revenue, and the recharter 
 of the United States Bank, were again presented to the 
 consideration of Congress. During the session, a resolu- 
 tion was presented by Colonel Benton in the Senate, de- 
 claring that the charter of the bank ought not to be renewed, 
 which was lost by a vote of twenty to twenty-three. 
 
 At the time of General Jackson's election in 1828, it 
 was thought that he might not be a candidate for re-elec- 
 tion. Consequently, the question as to the selection of his 
 
178 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 successor early attracted the attention of the poHticians at 
 the seat of government. In the winter of 1830, consider- 
 able ill feeling was produced in his cabinet, particularly 
 on the part of the friends of the vice-president, Mr. Cal- 
 houn, growing outof what was said to be the especial favor 
 shown to Mr. Van Buren, secretary of state. An un- 
 fortunate difficulty in regard to the family relations of 
 several members of the cabinet, increased this ill-feeling to 
 such an extent, that Mr. Van Buren, and Mr. Eaton, the 
 secretary of war, tendered their resignations in April, 1831. 
 On accepting the resignations, General Jackson signified 
 to their associates his desire to reconstruct his cabinet, 
 whereupon the other members resigned, and a new cabinet 
 was formed which proved to be much more harmonious in 
 its operations. It Avas always a prominent wish with 
 Ceneral Jackson, to secure entire unanimity among his 
 constitutional advisers ; and this did not proceed from any 
 desire to exact a slavish subserviency to his views ; but it 
 was the natural consequence of his remarkable energy and 
 independence of character. Prepared at all times to as- 
 sume every responsibihty connected with his administra- 
 tion of the executive authority, he desired his cabinet to 
 be a complete unit, and that it should adopt the plans and 
 carry out the views approved by him whom the law and 
 the constitution had recognised as its head. 
 
 The president announced to Congress, at the session 
 commencing in December, 1831, the fact that a treaty 
 had been signed with France providing for the payment 
 of the claims for illegal seizures and confiscations during 
 the war with the allied powers. This had long been a 
 vexed question of difference between the two governments, 
 and its adjustment was ardently desired on all hands. On 
 the 4th day of July, 1832, the bill to recharter the United 
 States Bank, which had been passed by the two Houses 
 of Congress, was presented to General Jackson. His views 
 in regard to that institution were well known. Previous 
 to his election to the presidency, he had, on several occa- 
 sions, avowed his hostility to a continuance of the charter. 
 On the 10th day of July, he returned the bill to the Senate, 
 in which it originated, accompanied with his reasons for 
 
VETO OF THE UNITED STATES BANK. 179 
 
 declining to give the measure his approbation.* This 
 was a bold and decided step on the part of the president. 
 A-lthough many of his friends had long known what would 
 be his decision, quite a number of them, and those among 
 the most influential, were friendly to the bill, and indulged 
 the hope that it would finally receive his sanction. When 
 it became known that the veto-message was about to be 
 sent in, he was beset with importunities to reconsider his 
 determination. But the rock of Gibraltar could not have 
 been more immovable. His opinions could not be changed, 
 and the line of conduct he had marked out was fixed and 
 unalterable. 
 
 Whatever may be the views entertained in regard to the 
 positions laid down in the veto-message of General Jack- 
 son, no one can avoid admiring the unshrinking firmness 
 and high moral courage displayed in his course on this 
 question. The bank wielded an immense power. All 
 classes, trades, and conditions, were more or less connected 
 with its transactions. Its agents were scattered over the 
 country, from one extremity to the other; and, as the se- 
 quel proved, those who controlled its affairs were not un- 
 willing to enter into the arena of pohtical strife, for the 
 purpose of perpetuating its existence. General Jackson 
 was renominated for the presidency, in 1S32, in connection 
 with Martin Van Buren, of New York, as the candidate 
 for vice-president. The incidents of this important elec- 
 tion are not yet forgotten. The sudden contractions and 
 expansions of the currency produced by the bank were 
 severely felt. The moneyed interests of the country were 
 temporarily deranged. The storm was a severe one. No 
 public man of his da3^but AndrcAv Jackson, possessed the 
 fearlessness requisite to encounter it. No man save him- 
 self had that deep and abiding hold on the sympathies and 
 affections of the American people, without which he would 
 inevitably have been crushed. Nothing but his command- 
 ing influence and wide-spread popularity, connected with 
 the unflinching resoluteness of his character, enablea him, 
 like the proud oak, to set the whirlwind at defianc**. 
 
 ** See page 241. 
 
180 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 Henry Clay was selected as the candidate of the oppo- 
 nents of General Jackson's administration. The friends 
 of Mr. Calhoun, in South Carolina, where the tariff ques- 
 tion had already produced a most bitter feehng of hostihty 
 to the general government, remained almost entirely aloof 
 from the contest. The anti-masonic party in the northern 
 states, which had recently been formed, supported Wilham 
 Wirt of Maryland. A great deal of vindictiveness and 
 animosity was engendered during the canvass, and much 
 of the hostility evinced towards General Jackson during 
 the remainder of his administration, may be traced to the 
 veto and his subsequent re-election. The returns from the 
 electoral colleges exhibited the following result : Andrew 
 Jackson received two hundred and nineteen votes, and 
 Henry Clay forty-nine ; John Floyd received the eleven 
 electoral votes of South Carohna; and seven were given 
 for Wilham Wirt in Vermont. The re-election of General 
 Jackson, by so great a majority, in despite of the opposition 
 arrayed against him, showed conclusively the extraordi- 
 nary extent of his popularity and influence. 
 
 During the summer and fall of 1832, the state of South 
 Carohna was agitated with the throes of an incipient re- 
 volution. It was claimed by Mr. Calhoun and his friends, 
 who were known in the political parlance of the day, as 
 nullifiers, that the operation of the revenue laws was so 
 exceedingly unfair and unjust, that it released that state 
 from all its obligations under the compact formed between 
 the several members of the union. Arms were procured, 
 and men organized into companies and regiments, under 
 the orders of the state government, in order to resist the 
 execution of the laws if an attempt were made to enforce- 
 them within her boundaries. Such proceedings could not 
 be suffered to pass unnoticed. President Jackson im- 
 mediately caused the fortifications of the United States in 
 that quarter to be amply provided and garrisoned, and the 
 attention of Congress was called to the subject in his an- 
 nual message. Soon after the message was dehvered, 
 the information was received that a convention held in 
 the state of South Carolina, had passed an ordinance de- 
 claring the several acts of Congress to which objections 
 
ATTACK OF LIEUTENANT RANDOLPH. 181 
 
 bad been raised, to be unauthorized by the constitution 
 and therefore null and void. The president forthwith 
 issued his celebrated proclamation, which is deservedly 
 regarded as one of the ablest state papers that ever came 
 from his pen.* It is remarkable alike for the nervous 
 eloquence of its style, and the glowing and earnest pa- 
 triotism which breathes forth in every line. On the 16th 
 of January, 1833, the proceedings of the nullifiers were 
 made the subject of a special communication to Congress. 
 This exciting controversy was terminated, after consider- 
 able difficulty, by the passage of the Compromise Act, 
 which contemplated an entire change in the tariff system 
 of the country. 
 
 In the spring of 1833, a personal attack was made upon 
 General Jackson, which shows how httle age had dimmed 
 the fire and intrepidity of his youth. On the 6th of May, 
 he left Washington, in company with the members of his 
 cabinet, and his private secretary, in compliance with the 
 invitation of the " Monumental Committee" at Fredericks- 
 burg, to lay the corner-stone of the pillar, to be erected in 
 honor of the mother of Washington. "The day," says 
 the correspondent of a public paper, " was mild, and the 
 air soft and refreshing. After the company had assembled 
 on board, they paid their respects to the Executive, which 
 that venerable patriot received with the case and grace of 
 the most finished gentleman of the old school. They then 
 separated ; some of the party went upon the upper deck, 
 to admire the picturesque and beautiful scenery of the 
 surrounding country, whence, from the north round to the 
 south, lay a line of high grounds, forming within their 
 interior an extensive amphitheatre. On the south, was the 
 broad and peaceful Potomac, stretching as far as the eye 
 could reach. On the eastern branch of the river was to 
 be seen the navy yard, and several of the public armed 
 vessels lying in the stream, with our flag floating on the 
 breeze ; and on the western branch, we had a distant but 
 beautiful view of Georgetown, as it slopes from the high 
 grounds to the river : and between that and the navy 
 
 * See page 263. 
 
182 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 yard, was to be seen the city of Washington, whence we 
 had just taken our departure ; and from our situation we 
 had, at one glance, a view of the bridge crossing the river, 
 which exceeds a mile in extent, the chief magistrate's 
 house, and the capitol, with its splendid dome, rearing its 
 head over every other object. Among those who went 
 upon the upper deck were the heads of departments. A 
 group of ladies, with their attendants, were seated in the 
 after part of the boat ; and an excellent band of music was 
 playing several national airs as the steamer glided on her 
 way, and shortly arrived at the city of Alexandria. Gene- 
 ral Jackson had, just previous to the boat's reaching the 
 wharf, retired to the cabin, and had taken his seat at a long 
 table, which had been set preparatory for dinn'er. He 
 was seated on the west side, and next to the berths, there 
 being barely room enough left between the berths and 
 table for a person to pass, by moving sidewise. Upon 
 his left sat Mrs. Thruston, the wife of Judge Thruston, 
 of Washington ; and on the opposite side of the table sat 
 Major Donelson, the general's private secretary ; Mr. Pot- 
 ter, a clerk in one of the departments at Washington ; and 
 Captain Broome, of the marine corps. The president was 
 reading a newspaper. While in this situation, (there 
 being no other person in the cabin or near him,) a large 
 number of citizens came on board, as it was supposed to 
 pay their respects to him. Among the number was Ran- 
 dolph, late a lieutenant in the navy. He made his way 
 into the cabin, and after speaking to Captain Broome, who 
 had long been acquainted with him, he immediately ad- 
 vanced between the table and the berths towards the pre- 
 sident, as if to address him. The president did not know 
 him, and it seems that Captain Broome did not mention 
 his name, because, he said, he believed that the object of 
 his visit was to present a petition praying to be restored 
 to the navy again ; still, as the captain did not know that 
 that was the object of his visit, and fearing, as he said, 
 that he might intend to commit some act of violence, he 
 stepped quickly to the same side of the table, and ad- 
 i vanced up to and near Randolph, who had by this time 
 come so near General Jackson as to be observed by him, 
 
ATTACK OF LIEUTENANT RANDOLPH. 183 
 
 who, supposing it was some person about to salute him, 
 said that he was afflicted with a severe pain in his side, 
 and begged to be excused for not rising ; and seeing that 
 Randolph had some difficuUy in pulling off his glove, he 
 stretched oat his hand towards him, saying, at the same 
 time, "Never mind your glove, sir." Upon this, Ran- 
 dolph thrust one hand violently into, the president's Aice ; 
 but before he could make use of the other, or repeat his 
 blow. Captain Broome seized and drew him off towards 
 the door. A part of the table was broken down in the 
 scuffle. Mr. Potter thrust his umbrella at Randolph across 
 the table, at the moment Captain Broome seized him ; 
 whereupon, Randolph's friends clenched him, hurried him 
 out of the cabin, and off from the boat, leaving his hat be- 
 hind. This was done so quickly that the few persons 
 who were near the president were not aware of it, as they 
 had all turned round after pushing Randolph away, to 
 inquire whether or not the chief magistrate was much 
 hurt. He was so confined behind the table, that he could 
 not rise with ease, nor could he seize his cane in time to 
 defend himself. The news of this outrage was soon cir- 
 culated around the boat, and at first it seemed so incredible 
 that no one could be found to believe it ; all, however, im- 
 mediately repaired to the cabin, and heard the president 
 relate the story himself. 
 
 '• Had I been apprized," said he, " that Randolph stood 
 before me, I should have been prepared for him, and I 
 could have defended myself. No villain," said he, " has 
 ever escaped me before ; and he would not, had it not 
 been for my confined situation." 
 
 Some blood was seen on his face, and he was asked 
 whether he had been much injured. 
 
 " No," said he, " I am not much hurt ; but in en- 
 eavoring to rise, I have wounded my side, which now 
 pains me m»re than it did." 
 
 About this time, one of the citizens of Alexandria, who 
 had heard of the outrage, addressed the general, and said: 
 " Sir, if you will pardon me, in case I am tried and con- 
 victed, 1 will kill Randolph for this insult to you, in fifteen 
 minutes !" 
 
 "No sir," said the president, "I cannot do that! I 
 
184 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 # 
 
 want no man to stand between me and my assailants, and 
 none to take revenge on my account. Had I been pre- 
 pared for this cowardly villain's approach, I can assure 
 you all, that he would never have the temerity to under- 
 take such a thing again." 
 
 General Jackson had for some time been firmly im- 
 pressed with the belief that the public deposits with the 
 United States Bank were far from being safe, and in the 
 summer of 1883 he decided to cause them to be removed. 
 At tne close of the previous session of Congress, a resolu- 
 tion was adopted in the House of Representatives, declar- 
 ing that they might be safely continued with the bank ; 
 but, in the vacation, circumstances transpired connected 
 with the speculations of the bank, which, as the president 
 thought, called for prompt action. Mr. Duane, the Se- 
 cretary of the Treasury, refused to carry out the wishes 
 of the president, and he was forthwith removed, to make 
 room for Mr. Taney, then Attorney-General, and after- 
 wards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The deposits 
 were withdrawn from the bank in October, and the con- 
 test between the friends of that institution and the ad- 
 herents of General Jackson was renewed with increased 
 asperity and violence. At the next session of Congress 
 the subject was brought up, and for weeks formed the 
 principal topic of discussion. Several very able speeches 
 were made by the leading politicians belonging to the two 
 parties. On the 28th of March, a resolution was adopted 
 in the Senate, which had been offered by Mr. Clay, ex- 
 pressing the opinion that the president, in his proceedings 
 in relation to the public revenue, had " assumed upon 
 himself authority and power not conferred by the consti- 
 tution and laws, but in derogation of both." On the 15th 
 of April following, the president sent a message to the 
 Senate, respectfully protesting against their impeachment 
 of his official acts, and requesting his commLmication to be 
 entered on the journals.* The controversy between the 
 president and Senate was carried so far, that that body 
 refused to confirm a large number of his appointments, in 
 many instances solely upon poHtical grounds. At several 
 
 * See page 284. 
 
 % 
 
HIS FINAL RETIREMENT. 185 
 
 subsequent sessions, the removal of the deposits was dis- 
 cussed in Congress. Mr. Benton, of Missouri, at an early- 
 day, made a movement in favor of expunging the resolu- 
 tion of censure from the journals of the senate. After 
 several ineffectual attempts, a vote to that effect was 
 adopted in the Senate, in conformity with the expressions 
 of several pubhc meetings, and the instructions of the legis- 
 latures of different states. The resolution was ordered to be 
 expunged, by drawing black lines across and around it. 
 
 In his annual message on the 3d of December, 1833, 
 General Jackson informed Congress that the French go- 
 vernment had failed to pay the instalment required by the 
 stipulations of the convention concluded on the 4th of July, 
 1831. At the next session he again called their attention 
 to the continued delay in the payment of the money, and 
 recommended the passage of a law authorizing reprisals 
 upon French property, in case provision should not be 
 made for it at the appiaiching session of the Chamber of, 
 Deputies. The prompt and decisive tone of the president's 
 message startled the chivalric feelings of the French 
 nation. The passports of the American minister were 
 tendered to him, and a serious rupture was confidently 
 anticipated. The unyielding firmness of General Jackson, 
 and the sense of justice which soon prevailed in the French 
 Chamber, averted the danger, and restored the peace and 
 harmony previously existing between the two nations. 
 
 Nothinsc of unusual interest occurred during- the admi- 
 nistration of General Jackson, after the amicable settlement 
 of the difficulty with France. The severe panic which 
 followed the derangement of the currency, consequent upon 
 the efforts of the bank to procure a renewal of its charter, 
 was followed by a season of unexampled prosperity. In 
 1835, the pubhc debt was entirely liquidated ; and on the 
 fmal retirement of General Jackson to private life, in the 
 spring of 1837, he issued a farewell address to the Ame- 
 rican people, setting forth the principles upon which he 
 had conducted the affairs of government, and congratulat- 
 ing them on the peace and happiness which they enjoyed.* 
 
 ■ • See page 350. 
 
186 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1837. Ill health of General Jackson— Arrival at the Hermitage- 
 Influence with his party — Friendly to the annexation of Texas— 
 His occupations — Embarrassed in his pecuniary affairs — Refunding 
 of the fine imposed by Judge Hall — Failure of his health — His last 
 illness — His Christian resignation and death — Honors paid to his 
 memory— Remarks of Reverdy Johnson — Speech of Daniel Web- 
 ster — Character of Jackson — His qualifications as a soldier and 
 statesman— Attachment to his friends — His personal appearance — 
 His patriotism. 1845. 
 
 A SHORT time previous to the termination of his official 
 career, General Jackson was attacked with a severe he- 
 morrhage of the lungs, which for some days incapacitated 
 him from attending to business. He recovered, however, 
 sufficiently to be present at the inauguration of his suc- 
 cessor, and take part in the ceremonies of the day. On 
 his arrival at the Hermitage he was quite weak and infirm, 
 but the relaxation from mental labor, and the kind atten- 
 tions of his adopted children, soon restored him to com- 
 parative strength and health, though he still suffered much 
 from the diseased state of his lungs. The various questions 
 of public policy which afterwards agitated the country, 
 and the movements of the two great poHtical parties in 
 the nation, did not fail to excite his attention. His in- 
 fluence was silently exerted and felt in our national poli- 
 tics up to the day of his death. He was still regarded as 
 the leader of the party which had so long looked up to 
 him as its head, and on all important occasions was con- 
 sulted with as much veneration as were the oracles of olden 
 time. He was, from the first, the warm and steadfast 
 friend of the annexation of Texas to the Union. In the 
 settlement of the Oregon boundary question he took a deep 
 interest, though he did not live to see the boundary finally 
 adjusted. 
 
HIS LAST ILLNESS. 187 
 
 Most of General Jackson's time, in his retirement, was 
 spent in ministering to the comforts of those who were 
 dependent on him, and in overseeing the labor performed 
 on his estate. He was a sincere and devout communicant 
 of the Presbyterian church, and he erected a house of 
 worship in the immediate vicinity of the Hermitage, for 
 the convenience of his family and servants. Towards the 
 close of his life he became involved in his circumstances, 
 on account of some endorsements for a friend. When 
 his conditidR was made known, several offers were made 
 to extend him such pecuniary assistance as he might need. 
 At the session of 1844-5, a Jaw was passed by Congress, 
 providing for the reimbursement of the fine of one thou- 
 sand dollars paid by General Jackson at New Orleans, with 
 interest from the time of its original payment. This act 
 of justice, tardy as it was, was peculiarly grateful to the 
 feelings of the general, and it served to sweeten the clos- 
 ing reflections of his life. 
 
 For several months previous to his decease, the health 
 of General Jackson began rapidly to fail. His constitu- 
 tion had been originally strong and vigorous, but exposure 
 and privation during his -Indian campaigns seriously im- 
 paired his physical vigor. A gentleman who visited him 
 in the month of May, 1845, states that he had not, at that 
 time, been in a condition to lie down for four months. His 
 whole system was invaded with dropsy; he had not suffi- 
 cient strength to stand ; and his disease was attended with 
 so much bodily pain, that he could obtain no sleep except by 
 means of opiates. While in this dying condition, his por- 
 trait was taken by an artist employed for the purpose by 
 Louis Phillippe, King of the French, who designed to place 
 it by the side of Washington's in his gallery. He was con- 
 stantly cheered by the visits of his old and attached per- 
 sonal friends ; and the consolations of religion, to which he 
 loved to resort, were a never-failing solace to his heart. 
 On one occasion he remarked to a clergyman who called 
 upon him, that he was "in the hands oi' a merciful God. 
 I have full confidence," said he, "in his goodness and 
 mercy. My lamp of life is nearly out, and the last glim- 
 mer is come. I am ready to depart when called. The 
 9 
 
 • 
 
188 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 Bible is true. The principles and statutes of that holy book 
 have been the rule of my life, and I have tried to conform, 
 to its spirit as near as possible. Upon that sacred volume 
 I rest my hope of eternal salvation, through the merits 
 and blood of our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." 
 
 General Jackson continued to grow more feeble, until 
 Sunday, the 8th day of June, 1845. Early in the morn- 
 ing of that day he swooned, and for some time was sup- 
 posed to be dead. On reviving from the swoon, he became 
 conscious that the spark of life was nearly extinguished, 
 and, expecting to die before another sun would set, he sent 
 for his family and domestics to come and receive his dying 
 benediction. His remarks, it is said, were full of affection 
 and Christian resignation. His mind retained its vigor to 
 the last, and his dying moments, even more than his earlier 
 years, exhibited its highest intellectual light. To his fa- 
 mily and friends he said : — " Do not grieve that I am about 
 to leave you, for I shall be better off. Although I am af- 
 jfiicted with pain and bodily suffering, they are as nothing 
 compared with the sufferings of the Savior of the world, 
 who was put to death on the accursed tree. I have ful- 
 filled my destiny on earth, audit is better that this worn- 
 out frame should go to rest, and my spirit take up its abode 
 with the Redeemer." 
 
 He continued thus to address his relatives and friends, at 
 intervals, during the forenoon, and, as the attending physi- 
 cian. Dr. Esleman, remarked, his confidence and faith in 
 the great truths of religion seemed to be more firm and 
 unwavering than any man he had ever seen die. He ex- 
 pressed a desire that Dr. Edgar, of the Presbyterian church, 
 should preach his funeral sermon, and that no pomp or 
 parade should be made over his grave. After years of 
 patient suffering and endurance, the aged soldier and 
 statesman thus quietly sunk into his last sleep. Calm 
 and self-collected, though oppressed with pain, he yielded 
 up his spirit with the resignation of a Christian. His 
 death took place on the evening of the 8th of June, in 
 the seventy-ninth year of his age.. 
 
 The death of such a man, of one who had occupied so 
 prominent a place in the affairs of the nation, and rendered 
 
RESPECT TO HIS MEMORY. 189 
 
 SO many signal services to his country, was not to be re- 
 garded as a thing of idle moment. Political opponents 
 and friends met together like brethren, to offer the last 
 tribute to his memory ; and the rancorous hostility of the 
 partisan was forgotten, as he bent over the grave of 
 Andrew Jackson, and involuntarily bedewed it with his 
 tears. Throughout the union, the respect paid to his 
 memory was both solemn and impressive. All the courts 
 and public bodies in session adjourned on receiving the 
 intelhgence. Funeral processions were formed, and ad- 
 dresses delivered in all the principal cities ; and nothing 
 was left undone to evince the sincere regard for his cha- 
 racter which was universally entertained. Among the 
 eloquent tributes which the occasion elicited, the annexed 
 remarks of Reverdy Johnson, a senator in Congress /rom 
 the state of Maryland, and a pohtical opponent of General 
 Jackson, before the Court of Appeals of that state, richly 
 deserve a perusal : 
 
 " May it please the court — I rise to announce to the 
 court the death of a great American, and to ask, in behalf 
 of my brethren of the bar, as a respect justly due to his 
 memory, that the court at once adjourn. 
 
 " Andrew Jackson is no more.. A long and trying ill- 
 ness is at last terminated, and his spirit has winged its 
 flight, I trust, to heaven. The life and character of the 
 deceased have for many years filled a large space in the 
 pubhc eye ; and perhaps no man has ever hved amongst 
 . us, whose popularity or influence with the American 
 people was deeper seated, or more commanding. 
 
 "I need not inform the court, that the administration of 
 the general government by this eminent citizen, during 
 his presidency, in almost every particular of it, except his 
 noble stand against the perilous and unconstitutional doc- 
 trine of nullification, did not receive the approval of a large 
 political party of the country ; but as a member of that 
 party, I never doubted that he was in heart and soul a 
 patriot, deeply attached to the free institutions under 
 which we hve, and ardently sohcitous for the honor and 
 proaperity of the nation. 
 
I&D LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 « It is a redeeming- trait in the character of our people, 
 and greatly diminishes the mischiefs of mere party spirit, 
 that we instinctively, when the nation is called upon to 
 vindicate its honor, are found, to a man, united ; and that 
 on the death of a great and patriotic citizen, we are alike 
 found, without regard to party, joining in a national la- 
 mentation at the afflictive event. 
 
 " In this instance, there were in the eventful life of the de- 
 ceased, deeds of service rendered the country, by which we 
 all feel that the national glory was eminently subserved. 
 
 " His military course seemed to know no disaster. With 
 him, to go to battle was to go to victory. Whether war- 
 ring at the head of American troops, with the cunning 
 and daring of savage valor, or with the bravery and skill 
 of the best disciplined army of the European world, the 
 result was ever the same — a triumph. The crowning 
 glory of his military life, the Battle of New Orleans, 
 whilst it immeasurably increases the fame of our arms, 
 will, in all future time, serve as a beacon to protect our 
 soil from hostile tread. 
 
 " In honor of such a man, it is fit that, in every portion 
 of this great nation, due respect should be shown to his 
 fnemory ; and I therefore move the court to gratify the 
 feeUngs of the bar, as I am sure they will their own, by 
 adjourning for the day." 
 
 When the intelHgence of the death of General Jackson 
 reached New York, a special meeting of the New York 
 Historical Society, of which the deceased was a member, 
 was called, in order to express their regret at the national 
 bereavement, and adopt measures for evincing their re- 
 spect. Daniel Webster was present at the meeting, and 
 made the following remarks, alike creditable to his head 
 and his heart. 
 
 " Nothing could be more natural or proper, than that 
 this society should take a respectful notice of the decease 
 of so distinguished a member of its body. Accustomed 
 occasionally to meet the society, and to enjoy the com- 
 munications that are made to it, and proceed from it, illus- 
 trative of the history of the country and its governinent, 
 
REMARKS OP DANIEL WEBSTER. 191 
 
 I have pleasure in being present at this time also* and on 
 this occasion, in which an element so mournful mingles, 
 itself. General Andrew Jackson has been from an early 
 period conspicuous in the service and in the councils of 
 the country, though not without long intervals, so far as 
 respects his connection with the general government. It 
 is fifty years, I think, since he was a member of the Con- 
 gress of the United States, and at the instant, sir, I do not 
 know whether there be living an associate of General 
 Jackson in the House of Representatives of the United 
 States at that day, with the exception of the distinguished 
 and venerable gentleman who is now president of this 
 society. I recollect only of the Congress of '96, at this 
 moment now living, but one — Mr. Gallatin — though I 
 may be mistaken. General Jackson, Mr. President, while 
 he lived, and his memory and character, now that he is 
 deceased, are presented to his country and the world 
 in different views and relations. He was a ^oldier — a 
 general officer — and acted no unimportant part in that 
 capacity. He was raised by repeated elections to the 
 highest stations in the civil government of his country, 
 and acted a part certainly not obscure or unimportant in 
 that character and capacity. 
 
 *' In regard to his military services, I participate in the 
 general sentiment of the whole country, and I believe of 
 the world. That he was a soldier of dauntless courage — 
 great daring and perseverance — an officer of skill, and 
 arrangement, and foresight, are truths universally admitted. 
 During the period in which he administered the general 
 government of the country, it was my fortune, during the 
 whole period of it, to be a member of the Congress of the 
 United States, and as it is well known, it was my mis- 
 fortime not to be able to concur with many of the most 
 important measures of his administration. Entertaining 
 nimself, his own views, and with a power of impress- 
 ing them, to a remarkable degree, upon the conviction 
 and approbation of others, he pursued such a course as 
 he thought expedient in the circumstances in which he 
 was placed. Entertaining on many questions of great 
 importance, different opinions, it was of course my mis- 
 
193 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 fortune to differ from him, and that difference gave me 
 great pain, because, in the whole course of my puUic 
 hfe, it has been far more agreeable to me to support the 
 measures of the government, than to be called upon by my 
 judgment, and sense of what is to be done, to oppose them. 
 I desire to see the government acting with a unity of 
 spirit in all things relating to its foreign relations, espe- 
 cially, and generally in all great measures of domestic 
 pohcy, as far as is consistent with the exercise of perfec 
 independence among its members. But if it was my mis- 
 fortune to differ from General Jackson on many, or most 
 of the great measures of his administration, there were oc- 
 casions, and those not unimportant, in which I felt it my 
 duty, and according to the highest sense of that duty, to 
 conform to his opinions, and support his measures. There 
 were junctures in his administration — periods which I 
 thought important and critical — in which the views he 
 thought i^roper to adopt, corresponded entirely with my 
 sentiments in regard to the protection of the best interests 
 of the country, and the institutions under which we live ; 
 and it was my humble endeavor on these occasions to 
 yield to his opinions and measures, the same cordial sup- 
 port as if I had not differed from him before, and expected 
 never to differ from him again. 
 
 " That General Jackson was a marked character — that 
 he had a very remarkable influence over other men's 
 opinions — that he had great perseverance and resolution 
 in civil as well as in mihtary administration, all admit. 
 Nor do I think that the candid among mankind will ever 
 doubt that it was his desire — mingled with whatsoever 
 portion of a disposition to be himself instrumental in that 
 exaltation — to elevate his country to the highest prosperity 
 and honor. There is one sentiment, to which I par- 
 ticularly recur, always with a feeling of approbation and 
 gratitude. From an earlier period of his undertaking to 
 administer the affairs of the government, he uttered a 
 sentiment dear to me — expressive of a truth' of which I 
 am most profoundly convinced — a sentiment setting forth 
 the necessity, the duty, and the patriotism of maintaining 
 the union of these states. Mr. President, I am old enough 
 
HIS CHARACTER. 193 
 
 to recollect the deaths of all the presidents of the United 
 States who have departed this life, froth Washington 
 down. There is no doubt that the death of an individual, 
 who has been so much the favorite of his country, and 
 partaken so largely of its regard as to fill that high office, 
 always produces — has pjjoduced, hitherto, a strong im- 
 pression upon the pubhc mind. That is right. It is 
 light that such should be the impression upon the whole 
 community, embracing those who particularly approved, 
 and those who did not particularly approve the political 
 course of the deceased. 
 
 " All these distinguished men have been chosen of thdr 
 country. They have fulfilled their station and duties upon 
 the whole, in the series of years that have gone before us, 
 in a manner reputable and distinguished. Under their • 
 administration, in the course of fifty or sixty years, the 
 government, generally speaking, has prospered, and under 
 the government, the people have prospered. It. becomes, 
 then, all to pay respect when men thus honored are called 
 to another world. Mr. President, we may well indulge 
 the hope and belief, that it was the feeling of the dis- 
 tinguished person who is the subject of these resolutions, 
 in the solemn days and hours of closing life — that it was 
 his wish, if he had committed few or more errors in the ad- 
 ministration of the government, that their influence might 
 cease with him ; and that whatever of good he had done, 
 might be perpetuated. Let us cherish the same senti- 
 ment. Let us act upon the same feeling; and whatever 
 of true honor and glory he acquired, let us all hope that 
 it will be his inheritance' for ever ! And whatever of 
 good example, or good principle, or good administration, 
 he has established, let us hope that the benefit of it may 
 also be perpetual." 
 
 Andrew Jackson was, indeed, no ordinary man. The 
 estimation in which he was held by his countrymen, the 
 respect paid to his memory at home and abroad, are suffi- 
 cient to confirm it, even if there could be a doubt. In 
 many respects he was one of the most remarkable men 
 that ever hved. As a soldier, he was prompt and reso- 
 
194 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 lute, stern and inflexible. With an intuitive sagacity, he 
 foresaw danger, and was always prepared against it. His 
 thoughts and perceptions were rapid, and his plans were 
 often formed and executed before others had time for de- 
 liberation. It was this celerity in his movements that 
 secured many of his laurels. His courage and fortitude 
 were both unquestioned. The principle of fear did not 
 enter into his composition. He certainly could not have 
 understood the meaning of the word. The cheerfulnes 
 with which he shared the privations of his soldiers, shows 
 tljat he possessed an entire indifference to hardship and 
 suffering. But one of the most striking features in his 
 character was his readiness in adapting himself to every 
 position in which he was placed. There are many men 
 who can do well, when the occasion does not overmatch 
 them ; but Jackson always rose with the occasion ; and 
 in the merest personal altercation, the same commanding 
 traits were exhibited, which sustained themselves in a 
 higher and nobler flight, on the field of battle, where the 
 fate of nations depended on the issue of the day. 
 
 As a statesman. General Jackson was clear-headed and 
 sagacious. When he had once determined upon a par- 
 ticular course, where any important principle was involved, 
 he could not be swerved from what he conceived to be just 
 and right. He never shrunk from the discharge of any 
 public duty, and was always ready to avow any and every 
 act of his administration, and unshrinkingly to abide the 
 consequences. Never behind his party, but always in the 
 advance, he eagerly sought for opportunities to carry out 
 the principles by which he was guided. In private life, 
 Jackson was kind-hearted, and generous in his disposition. 
 His reputation was pure and unsullied. He abhorred 
 every thing mean and groveUing, and cherished an instinc- 
 tive hatred for what was dishonorable. He was irritable 
 in his temperament, however, and easily excited. Yet, 
 notwithstanding the impetuosity of his disposition fre- 
 quently carried him beyond the hmits of prudence and 
 moderation, it was this trait in his character which saved 
 New Orleans from plunder and devastation. His attach- 
 ments were warm and sincere. He never forgot a 
 
HIS CHARACTER. 195 
 
 favor, or failed to remember a friend. He was devotedly- 
 attached to his country, her interests, and her institutions. 
 It may well be, that flattery, and there are few men who 
 cannot be swerved by its seductions, sometimes induced 
 him to commit an unintentional wrong, in the effort to favor 
 the wishes of some active and influential partisan ; but for 
 all that, he was none the less a patriot. 
 
 In person, General Jackson was tail, and remarkably 
 thin and erect. His weight bore no proportion to His 
 height ; and his frame did not appear fitted for such trials 
 as he had encountered. His features were large ; his 
 eyes dark-blue, with a keen and strong glance ; his eye- 
 brows arched and prominent ; and his complexion, that of 
 the war-worn soldier. 
 
 It is hardly to be anticipated, perhaps, that full and 
 complete justice will be rendered to Andrew Jackson during 
 the present generation. Men may differ in regard to the 
 propriety of his conduct, and the wisdom of his measures, 
 and unintentionally do injustice to his mmy noble quaUties. 
 Still, it is not too much to hope that the valuable services 
 rendered to his countr}^ connected though they be with 
 the stern and high-handed measures adopted by his iron 
 will, may be cherished with gratitude and respect ; and 
 that the soldier, the statesman, the patriot, and the Chris- 
 tian, may be honored by a nation's blessing, and remem- 
 bered in a nation's prayers. 
 
196 LIFE OF JACKSOIT. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Eulogy on the Life and Character of General Jackson, delivered 
 at Washington, June 27, 1845. Bij the Hon. George Bancroft. 
 
 The men of the American Revolution are no more ! 
 That age of creative power has passed away. The last 
 surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence has 
 long since left the earth. Washington lies near his own 
 Potomac, suiTOunded by his family and his servants. 
 Adams, the Colossus of Independence, reposes in the 
 modest grave-yard of his native region. Jefferson sleeps 
 on the heights of his own Monticello, whence his eye 
 overlooked his beloved Virginia. Madison, the last sur- 
 vivor of the men who made our constitution, lives only in 
 our hearts. But who shall say that the heroes, in whom 
 the image of God shone most brightly, do not live forever ? 
 They were filled with the vast conceptions whieh called 
 America into being ; they lived for those conceptions, and 
 their deeds praise them. 
 
 We are met to commemorate the virtues of one who 
 shed his blood for our independence, took part in winning 
 the territory and forming the early institutions of the 
 West, and was imbued with all the great ideas which 
 constitute the moral force of our country. On the spot 
 where he gave his solemn fealty to the people — here, 
 where he pledged himself before the world, to freedom, 
 to the constitution, and to the laws — we meet to pay our 
 tribute to the memory of the last great name, which 
 gathers round itself all the associations that form the 
 glory of America. 
 
 South Carolina gave a birthplace to Andrew Jackson. 
 On its remote frontier, far up on the forest-clad banks of 
 the Catawba, in a region where the settlers were just 
 beginning to cluster, his eye first saw the light. There 
 
Bancroft's eulogy. 19t 
 
 his infancy sported in the ancient forests, and his mind 
 was nursed to freedom by their influence. He was the 
 youngest son of an Irish emigrant of Scottish origin, who, 
 two years after the great war of Frederic of Prussia, fled 
 to America for relief from indigence and oppression. 
 His birth was in 1767, at a time when the people of our 
 land were but a body of dependent colonists, scarcely 
 more than two millions in number, scattered along an 
 immense coast, with no army, or navy, or union ; and 
 exposed to the attempts of England to control America 
 by the aid of military force. His boyhood grew up in 
 the midst of the contest with Great Britain. The first 
 great political truth that reached his heart was, that all 
 men are free and equal ; the first great fact that beamed 
 on his understanding was, his country's independence. 
 
 The strife, as it increased, came near the shades of his 
 upland residence. As a boy of thirteen, he witnessed the 
 scenes of horror that accompany civil war ; and when but 
 a year older, with an elder brother, he shouldered his 
 musket, and went forth to strike a blow for his country. 
 
 Joyous era for America and for humanity! But for 
 him, the orphan boy the events were full of agony and 
 grief. His father ^\ias no more. His oldest brother fell 
 a victim to the war of the Revolution ; another (his com- 
 panion in arms) died of wounds received in their joint 
 captivity : his mother went down to the grave a victim 
 to grief and efforts to rescue her sons ; and when peace 
 came, he was alone in the world, with no kindred to 
 cherish hinr, and httle inheritance but his own untried 
 powers. 
 
 The nation which emancipated itself from British rule 
 organizes itself; the confederation gives way to the con- 
 stitution; the perfecting of that constitution — that grand 
 event of the thousand years of modern history — is accom- 
 plished! America exists as a people, gains unity as a 
 government, and takes its place as a nation among the 
 powers ef the earth. 
 
 The next great office to be performed by America is 
 the taking possession of the wilderness. The magnifi- 
 
198 LIFE OF JACKSON^ 
 
 cent western valley cried out to the civilization of popular 
 power, that it must be occupied by cultivated man. 
 
 Behold, then, our orphan hero, sternly earnest, con- 
 secrated to humanity from childhood by sorrow, having 
 neither father, nor mother, nor sister, nor survi^dng bro- 
 ther ; so young, and yet so solitary, and therefore bound 
 the more closely to collective man — behold him elect for 
 his lot, to go forth and assist in laying the foundations of 
 society in the great valley of the Mississippi. 
 
 At the very time when Washington was pledging his 
 own and future generations to the support of the popular 
 institutions which were to be the hght of the human 
 race — at the time when the institutions of the Old World 
 were rocking to their centre, "and the mighty fabric that 
 had come down from the middle ages, was falling in — 
 the adventurous Jackson, in the radiant glory and bound- 
 less hope and confident intrepidity of twenty-one, plunged 
 into the wilderness, crossed the great mountain-barrier 
 that divides the western waters from the Atlantic, fol- 
 lowed the paths of the early hunters and fugitives, and, 
 not content with the nearer neighborhood to his parent 
 state, went still further and further to the west, till he 
 found his home in the most beautiful region on the Cum- 
 berland. There, from the first, he was recognised as the 
 great pioneer; under his courage, the coming emigrants 
 were sure to find a shield. 
 
 The lovers of adventure began to pour themselves into 
 the territory, Avhose delicious climate and fertile soil in- 
 vited the presence of social man. The hunter, with his 
 rifle and his axe, attended by his wife and children ; the 
 herdsman, driving the few cattle that were to multiply as 
 they browsed ; the cultivator of the soil — all came to the 
 inviting region. Wherever the bending mountains opened 
 a pass ; wherever the buffaloes and the beasts of the 
 forest had made a trace, these sons of nature, children 
 of humanity, in the highest sentiment of personal free- 
 dom, came to occupy the beautiful wilderness whose 
 prairies blossomed everywhere profusely with wild flow- 
 ers ; whose woods in spring put to shame, by their mag- 
 nificence, the cultivated gardens of man. 
 
BANCROFT'S EULOGY. 199 
 
 And now that these unlettered fugitives, educated 
 only by the spirit of freedom, destitute of dead letter 
 erudition, but sharing the living ideas of the age, had 
 made their homes in the west — what would follow? 
 Would they degrade themselves to ignorance and infidel- 
 ilp ? Would they make the solitudes of the desert ex- 
 cuses for licentiousness ? Would the doctrines of freedom 
 lead them to live in unorganized society, destitute of laws 
 and fixed institutions ? 
 
 At a time when European society was becoming broken 
 in pieces, scattered, disunited, and resolved into its ele- 
 ments, a scene ensued in Tennessee, than which nothing- 
 more beautifully grand is recorded in the annals of the 
 race. 
 
 These adventurers in the wilderness longed to come 
 together in organized society. The overshadawing genius 
 of their time inspired them with good designs, and filled 
 them with the counsels of wisdom. Dwellers in the for- 
 est, freest of the free, bound in the spirit, they came up 
 by their representatives, on foot, on horseback, through 
 the forest, along the streams, by the buffalo traces, by 
 the Indian paths, by the blazed forest avenues, to meet 
 in convention among the mountains at Knoxville, and 
 frame for themselves a constitution. Andrew Jackson 
 was there, the greatest man of them all — modest, bold, 
 determined, demandingj^othing for himself, and shrinking 
 from nothing that his heart approved. 
 
 The convention came together on the 11th day of 
 January, 1796, and finished its work on the 6th day of 
 February. How had the wisdom of the Old World vainly 
 tasked itself to frame constitutions, that could, at least, be 
 the subject of experiment! the men of Tennessee, in less 
 than twenty-five days, perfected a fabric, which, in its 
 essential forms, was to last for ever. Tliey came together 
 full of faith and reverence, of love to humanity, of con- 
 fidence in tritth. In the simplicity of wisdom, they 
 framed their constitution, acting under higher influences 
 than they were conscious of — 
 
 They wrought in sad sincerity, 
 Themselves from God thev could not free ; 
 
200 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 They builded better than they knew ; 
 The conscious stones to beauty grew. 
 
 In tl>e instrument which they framed, they embodied 
 their faith in God, in the immortal nature of man. They 
 gave the right of suffrage to every freeman ; they vindi- 
 cated the sanctity of reason, by giving freedom of speerti 
 and of the press ; they reverenced the voice of God, as it 
 speaks in the soul of man, by asserting the indefeasible 
 right of man to worship the Infinite according to his con- 
 science ; they established the freedom and equahty of 
 elections ; and they demanded from every future legislator 
 a solemn oath "never to consent to any act or thing- 
 whatever, that shall have even a tendency to lessen the 
 rights of the people." 
 
 These majestic lawgivers, wiser than the Solons and 
 Lycurguses and Numas of the Old World — these pro- 
 phetic founders of a state, who embodied in their consti- 
 tution the sublimest truths of humanity, acted without 
 reference to human praises. 
 
 They kept no special record of their proceedings ; they 
 took no pains to vaunt their deeds ; and when their work 
 was done, knew not that they had finished one of the 
 sublimest acts ever performed among men. They left 
 no record, as to whose agency was conspicuous, whose 
 eloquence swayed, whose generous will predominated; 
 nor should we know, but for tradition, confirmed by what 
 followed among themselves. 
 
 The men of Tennessee were now a people, and they 
 were to send forth a man to stand for them in the Con- 
 gress of the United States — that avenue to glory — that 
 home of eloquence — the citadel of popular power; and, 
 with one consent, they united in selecting the foremost 
 man among their lawgivers — Andrew Jackson. 
 
 The love of the people of Tennessee followed him to 
 the American Congress, and he had served but a single 
 term, when the state of Tennessee made * him one of its 
 representatives in the American Senate, where he sat 
 under the auspices of Jefferson. 
 
 Thus, when he was scarcely more than thirty, he had 
 
BANCROFT'S EULOGY. 201 
 
 guided the settlement of the wilderness; swayed the 
 deliberation of a people in establishing its fundamental 
 laws ; acted as the representative of that people, and again 
 as the representative of his organized state, disciplined to 
 a knowledge of the power of the people, and the power 
 of the states; the associate of repubhcan statesmen, the 
 friend and companion of Jefferson. 
 
 The men who framed the constitution of the United 
 States, many of them, did not know of the innate life and 
 self-preserving energy of their work. They feared that 
 freedom could not endure, and they planned a strong- 
 government for its protection. 
 
 During his short career in Congress, Jackson showed 
 his quiet, deeply seated, innate, intuitive faith in human 
 freedom, and in the institutions of freedom. He was 
 ever, by his votes and opinions, found among those who 
 had confidence in humanity ; and in the great division of 
 minds, this child of the woodlands, this representative of 
 forest hfe in the west, was found modestly and firmly on 
 the side of freedom. It did not occur to him to doubt 
 the right of man to the fi-ee developement of his powers ; 
 it did not occur to him to seek to give durability to popu- 
 lar institutions, by giving to government a strength inde- 
 pendent of popular will. 
 
 From the first, he was attached to the fundamental 
 doctrines of popular power, and of the policy that favors 
 it; and though his reverence for Washington surpassed 
 his reverence for any human being, he voted against the 
 address from the House of Representatives to Washington 
 on his retirement, because its language appeared to sanc- 
 tion the financial policy which he beheved hostile to 
 republican freedom. 
 
 During his period of service in the Senate, Jackson 
 was elected major-general by the brigadiers and field 
 officers of the militia of Tennessee. Resigning his place 
 in the Senate, he was made judge of the supreme com-t 
 in law and equity ; such was the confidence in his integ- 
 rity of purpose, his clearness of judgment, and his vigor 
 of will to deal justly among the turbulent who crowded 
 into the new settlements of Tennessee. 
 
202 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 Thus, in the short period of nine years, Andrew Jack- 
 son was signalized by as many evidences of public esteem 
 as could fall to the lot of man. The pioneer of the wil- 
 derness, the defender of its stations, he was their lawgiver, 
 the sole representative of a new people in Congress, the 
 representative of the state in the Senate, the highest in 
 judicial office. He seemed to be recognised as their first 
 love of hberty, the first in the science of legislation, in 
 judgment, and integrity. 
 
 Fond of private life, he would have resigned the judicial 
 office; but the whole country demanded his service. 
 *' Nature," they cried, " never designed that your powers 
 of thought and independence of mind should be lost in 
 retirement." But after a few years, relieving himself 
 from the cares of the bench, he gave himself to the activity 
 and the independent life of a husbandman. He carried 
 into retirement the fame of natural intelligence, and was 
 cherished as "a prompt, frank, and ardent soul." His 
 vigor of character constituted him first among all with 
 whom he associated. A private man as he was, his name 
 was familiarly spoken round every hearth-stone in Ten- 
 nessee. Men loved to discuss his quahties. All discerned 
 his power; and when the vehemence and impetuosity of 
 his nature were observed upon, there were not wanting 
 those who saw, beneath the blazing fires of his genius, the 
 solidity of his judgment. 
 
 His hospitable roof sheltered the emigrant and the 
 pioneer ; and, as they made their way to their new homes, 
 they filled the mountain-sides and the valleys with his 
 praise. 
 
 Connecting himself, for a season, with a man of busi- 
 ness, Jackson soon discerned the misconduct of his asso- 
 ciate. It marked his character, that he insisted, himself, 
 on paying every obligation that had been contracted ; and 
 rather than endure the vassalage of debt, he instantly 
 parted with the rich domain which his early enterprise 
 had acquired — with his own mansion— with his fields 
 which he himself had first tamed to the ploughshare — 
 with the forest whose trees were as familiar to him as his 
 friends — and chose rather to dwell, for a time, in a rude 
 log-cabin, in the pride of independence and integrity. 
 
BANCROFT'S EULOGY. 203 
 
 On all great occasions, Jackson's influence was deferred 
 to. When Jefferson had acquired for the country the 
 whole of Louisiana, and there seemed some hesitancy, on 
 the part of Spain, to ackrwwledge our possession, the ser- 
 vices of Jackson were solicited by the national administra- 
 tion, and were not called into full exercise, only from the 
 peaceful termination of the incidents that occasioned the 
 summons. 
 
 In the long series of aggressions on the freedom of the 
 seas, and the rio-hts of the American flao- Jackson was on 
 the side of his country, and the now maritime code of 
 republicanism. In his inland home, where the roar of the 
 breakers was never heard, and the mariner was never 
 seen, he resented the continued ao-o-ression on our com- 
 merce and on our sailors. 
 
 When the continuance of wrong compelled the nation 
 to resort to arms, Jackson, led by the instinctive know- 
 ledge of his own greatness, yet with a modesty that would 
 have honored the most sensitive delicacy of nature, con- 
 fessed his willingness to be employed on the Canada 
 frontier ; and it is a fact, that he aspired to the command 
 to which Winchester was appointed. We may ask, what 
 would have been the result, if the command of the north- 
 western army had, at the opening of the war, been intrust- 
 ed to a man who, in action, was ever so fortunate, that 
 his vehement will seemed to have made destiny capitulate 
 to his designs ? 
 
 The path of duty led him in another direction. On 
 the declaration of war, twenty-five hundred volunteers 
 had risen at his word to follow his standard; but by 
 countermanding orders from the seat of government, the 
 movement was without eff'ect. 
 
 A new and great danger hung over the West. The 
 Indian tribes were to make one last effort to restore it to 
 its solitude, and recover it for savage life. The brave, 
 relentless Shawnees — who, from time immemorial, had 
 strolled from the waters of the Ohio to the rivers of Ala- 
 bama — were animated by Tecumseh and his brother the 
 Prophet, who spoke to them as with the voice of the 
 . Great Spirit, and aroused the Creek nation to desperate 
 
204 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 massacres. Who has not heard of their terrible deeds, 
 when their ruthless cruelty spared neither sex nor age ? 
 when the infant and its mother, the planter and his fam- 
 ily, who had fled for refuge to the fortress, the garrison 
 that capitulated — all were slain, and not a vestige of de- 
 fence was left in the country ? The cry of the West 
 demanded Jackson for its defender ; and though his arm 
 was then fractured by a ball, and hung in a sling, he 
 placed himself at the head of the volunteers of Tennessee, 
 and resolved to terminate forever the hereditary struggle. 
 
 Who can tell the horrors of that campaign ? Who can 
 paint rightly the obstacles which Jackson overcame — 
 mountains, the scarcity of untenanted forests ; winter, the 
 failure of supphes from the settlements, the insubordina- 
 tion of troops, mutiny, menaces of desertion ? Who can 
 measure the wonderful power over men, by which his 
 personal prowess and attractive energy drew them in 
 midwinter from their homes, across mountains and mo- 
 rasses, and through trackless deserts ? AVho can describe 
 the personal heroism of Jackson, never sparing himself, 
 beyond any of his men encountering toil and fatigue, 
 sharing every labor of the camp and of the march, fore- 
 most in every danger; giving up his horse to the invalid 
 soldier, while he himself waded through the swamps on 
 foot ? None equalled him in power of endurance ; and 
 the private soldiers, as they found him passing them on 
 the march, exclaimed, "He is as tough as hickory." 
 "Yes," they cried to one another, "There goes Old 
 Hickory !" 
 
 Who cannot narrate the terrible events of the double 
 battles of Emuckfaw, or the glorious victory of Tohopeka, 
 where the anger of the general against the faltering was 
 more appalling than the war-whoop and rifle of the sav- 
 age ? Who can rightly conceive the field of EnotochopoO, 
 where the general, as he attempted to draw the sword to 
 cut down a flying colonel v/ho was leading a regiment 
 from the field, broke again the arm which was but newly 
 knit together ; and quietly replacing it in the sling, with 
 his commanding voice arrested the flight of the troops, 
 and himself led them back to ^nctory ! 
 
b 
 
 BANCROFT'S EULOGY. 205 
 
 In six short months of vehement action, the most terri- 
 ble Indian war in our annals was brought to a close ; the 
 prophets were silenced; the consecrated region of the 
 Creek nation reduced. Through scenes of blood, the 
 avenging hero sought only the path to peace. Thus, 
 Alabama, a part of Mississippi, a part of his own Tennes- 
 see, and the highway to the Floridas, were his gifts to the 
 Union. These were his trophies. 
 
 Genius as extraordinary as military events can call 
 forth, was summoned into action in this rapid, efficient, 
 and most fortunately conducted Avar. 
 
 Time would fail were I to track our hero down the 
 watercourses of Alabama to the neighborhood of Pensa- 
 cola. How he longed to plant the eagle of his country 
 on its battlements ! • 
 
 Time would fail, and words be wanting, were I to dwell 
 on the magical influence of his appearance in New Orleans. 
 His presence dissipated gloom and dispelled alarm; at 
 once he changed the aspect of despair into a confidence 
 of security and a hope of acquiring glory. Every man 
 knows the tale of the heroic, sudden, and yet deliberate 
 darino' which led him, on the nio-ht of the 23d of Decem- 
 ber, to precipitate his httle army on his foes, in the thick 
 darkness, before they grew familiar with their encamp- 
 ment, scattering dismay through veteran regiments of 
 England, and defeating them, and arresting their progress 
 by a faa* inferior force. 
 
 Who shall recount the counsels of prudence, the kind- 
 ling words of eloquence that gushed from his lips to cheer 
 his soldiers — his skirmishes and battles, till that eventful 
 morning when the day at Bunker's Hill had its fulfilment 
 in the glorious battle of New Orleans, and American 
 independence stood before the world in the majesty of 
 victorious power. 
 
 Th-ese were great deeds for the nation ; for himself he 
 did a greater. Had not Jackson been renowned for the 
 vehement impetuosity of his passions, for his defiance of 
 others' authority, and the unbending vigor of his self-will ? 
 Behold the saviour of Louisiana, all garlanded with vic- 
 tory, viewing around him the city he had preserved, the 
 
206 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 maidens and children whom his heroism had protected, 
 stand in the presence of a petty judge, who gratifies his 
 wounded vanity by an abuse of his judicial power. Every 
 breast in the crowded audience heaves with indignation. 
 He, the passionate, the impetuous — he whose power was 
 to be humbled, whose honor questioned, whose laurels 
 tarnished, alone stood sublimely serene; and when the 
 craven judge trembled and faltered, and dared not pro- 
 ceed, himself, the arraigned one, bade him take courage, 
 and stood by the law even in the moment v/hen the law 
 was made the instrument of insult and wrong on him- 
 self — at the moment of his most perfect claim to the high- 
 est civic honors. 
 
 His country, when it grew to hold many more miUions, 
 the generation Ishat then was coming in, has risen up to 
 do homage to the noble heroism of that hour. Woman, 
 whose feeling is always right, did honor from the first to 
 the purity of his heroism. The people of Louisiana, to the 
 latest hour, will cherish his name as their greatest bene- 
 factor. 
 
 The culture of Jackson's mind had been much promoted 
 by his services and associations in the war. His discipline 
 of himself, as the chief in command ; his intimate relations 
 with men like Livingston ; the wonderful deeds in which 
 he bore a part ; all matured his judgment and mellowed 
 his character. 
 
 Peace came with its delights ; once more the pountry 
 rushed forward in the developement of its powers ; once 
 more the arts of industry healed the wounds that war had 
 inflicted ; and, from commerce and agriculture and manu- 
 factures, wealth gushed abundantly under the free activity 
 of unrestrained enterprise. 
 
 And Jackson returned to his own fields and his own 
 pursuits, to cherish his plantation, to care for his servants, 
 to look after his stud, to enjoy the affection of the most 
 kind and devoted wife, whom he respected with the gen- 
 tlest deference, and loved with an almost miraculous 
 tenderness. 
 
 And there he stood, hke one of the mightiest forest 
 trees of his own West, vigorous and colossal, sending its 
 
BANCROFT'S EULOGY.. 207 
 
 summit to the skies, and growing on its native soil in wild 
 and inimitable magnificence, careless of beholders. From 
 all parts of the country he received appeals to his pohtical 
 ambition, and the severe modesty of his well-balanced 
 mind turned them all aside. He was happy in his farm, 
 happy in seclusion, happy in his family, happy within 
 himself 
 
 But the passions of the southern Indians w^ere not 
 allayed by the-peace with Great Britain; and foreign 
 emissaries Avere still among them, to inflame and direct 
 their malignity. Jackson^ was called forth by his country 
 to restrain the cruelty of the treacherous and unsparing 
 Scminoles. It was in the train of the events of this war 
 that he placed the American eagle on St. Mai'ks, and 
 above the ancient towers of St. Augustine. His deeds in 
 that war, of themselves, form a monument to human power, 
 to the celerity of his genius, to the creative fertility of his 
 resources, his intuitive sagacity. As Spain, in his judg- 
 ment, had committed aggression, he would have emanci- 
 pated her islands ; of the Havana, he caused the reconnois- 
 sance to be made ; and with an army of five thousand men, 
 he stood ready to guaranty her redemption from colonial 
 thraldom. 
 
 But when peace Avas restored, and his ofiice was accom- 
 plished, his physical strength sunk under the pestilential 
 influence of the climate, and, fast yielding to disease, he 
 was borne in a litter across the swamps of Florida, towards 
 his home. It was Jackson's character that he never 
 solicited aid from any one ; but he never forgot those who 
 rendered him service in the hour of need. At a time 
 when all around him believed him near his end, his wife 
 hastened to his side, and, by her tenderness and nursing 
 care, her patient assiduity, and the soothing influence of 
 devoted love, withheld him from the grave. 
 
 He would have remained quietly at his home in repose, 
 but that he was privately informed his good name was to 
 be attainted by some intended congressional proceedings. 
 He came, therefore, into the presence of the people's repre- 
 sentatives at Washington, only to vindicate his name ; and 
 when that was achieved, he was once more communing 
 
208 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 with his own thoughts among the groves of the Hermitage. 
 
 It was not his own ambition which brought him again 
 to the pubhc view. The affection of Tennessee compelled 
 him to resume a seat on the floor of the American Senate, 
 and, after years of the intensest pohtical strife, Andrew 
 Jackson was elected President of the United States. 
 
 Far from advancing his own pretensions, he always 
 kept them back, and had for years repressed the solicita- 
 tions of his friends to become a candidate. He felt sensi- 
 bly that he was devoid of scientific culture, and little 
 ■famihar with letters; and he never obtruded his opinions, 
 or preferred claims to place. iBut, whenever his opinion 
 was demanded, he was always ready to pronounce it ; and 
 whenever his country invoked his services, he did not 
 shrink even from the station which had been filled by the 
 most cultivated men our nation had produced. 
 
 Behold, then, the unlettered man of the West, the 
 nursling of the wilds, the farmer of the Hermitage, httle 
 versed in books, unconnected by science with the tradition 
 of the past, raised by the will of the people to the highest 
 pinnacle of honor, to the central post in the civilization of 
 repubUcan freedom, to the station where all the nations 
 of the earth would watch his actions — where his words 
 would vibrate through the civilized world, and his spirit 
 be the moving-star to guide the nations. What policy 
 will ho pursue ? What wisdom Avill he bring with him 
 from the forest ? What rules of duty will he evolve from 
 the oracles of his own mind ? 
 
 The man of the West came as the inspired prophet of 
 the West: he came as one free from the bonds of heredi- 
 fery or established custom ; he came with no superior but 
 conscience, no oracle but his native judgment ; and, true 
 to his origin and his education — true to the conditions and 
 circumstances of his advancement, he valued right more 
 than usage ; he reverted from the pressure of established 
 interests to the energy of first principles. 
 
 We tread on ashes, where the tire is not yet extin- 
 guished ; yet not to dwell on his career as President, were 
 to leave out of view the grandest illustrations of his 
 magnanimity. 
 
Bancroft's eul6gy. 209 
 
 The legislation of the United States had followed the 
 precedents of the legislation of European monarchies; it 
 was the ojQfice of Jackson to lift the country out of the 
 European forms of legislation, and to open to it a career 
 resting on American sentiment and American freedom. 
 He would have freedom everywhere — freedom under the 
 restraints of right ; freedom of industry, of commerce, of 
 mind ; of universal action ; freedom, unshackled by restric- 
 tive privileo^es, unrestrained by the thraldom of monopohes. 
 ■ The unity of his mind and his consistency were without 
 a parallel. With natural dialectics, he developed the 
 pohtical doctrines that suited every emergency, with a 
 precision and a harmony that no theorist could hope to 
 equal. On every subject in politics — I speak but a fact — 
 he was thoroughly and profoundly and immoveably radi- 
 cal ; and would sit for hours, and in a continued flow of 
 remark make the application of his principles to every 
 question that could arise in legislation, or in the interpret- 
 ation of the constitution. 
 
 His expression of himself was so clear, that his influence 
 pervaded not our land only, but all America and all man- 
 kind. They say that, in the physical world, the magnetic 
 fluid is so difi"used, that its vibrations are discernible sim- 
 ultaneously in every part of the globe. So it is with the 
 element of freedom. And as Jackson developed it^ doc- 
 trines from their source in the mind of humanity, the 
 populai- sympathy was moved and agitated throughout 
 the world, till his name gTew everywhere to be the sym- 
 bol of popular power. 
 
 Himself the witness of the ruthlessness of savage life, 
 he planned the removal of the Indian tribes beyond the 
 limits of the organized states ; and it is the result of his 
 determined policy that the region east of the Mississippi 
 has been transferred to the exclusive possession of culti- 
 vated man. 
 
 A pupil of the wilderness, his heart was with the pio- 
 neers of American life towards the setting sun. No 
 American statesman has ever embraced within his aff'ec- 
 tions a scheme so Uberal for the emigrants as that of 
 Jackson. He longed to secure to them, not pre-emption 
 
210 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 rights only, but more than pre-emption rights. He longed 
 to invite labor to take possession of the unoccupied fields 
 without money and without price; with no obligation 
 except the perpetual devotion of itself by allegiance to its 
 country. Under the beneficent influence of his opinions, 
 the sons of misfortune, the children of adventure, lind 
 their way to the uncultivated West. There, in some 
 wilderness glade, or in the thick forest of the fertile plain, 
 or where the prairies most sparkle With flowers, they, like 
 the wild bee which sets them the example of industry, 
 may choose their home, mark the extent of their posses- 
 sions, by driving stakes or blazing trees, shelter their log- 
 cabin with the boughs and turf, and teach the virgin soil 
 to yield itself to the ploughshare. Theirs shall be the 
 soil, theirs the beautiful farms which they teach to be 
 productive. Come, children of sorrow ! you on whom the 
 Old World frowns ; crowd fearlessly to the forests ; plant 
 your homes in confidence, for the country watches over 
 you ; your children grow around you as hostages, and the 
 wilderness, at your bidding, surrenders its grandeur of 
 useless luxuriance to the beauty and loveliness of culture. 
 Yet, beautiful and lovely as is this scene, it still by far 
 falls short of the ideal which lived in the afi'ections of 
 Jackson. His heart was ever with the pioneer ; his pohcy 
 ever favored the diff"usion of independent freeholds 
 throughout the laboring classes of our land. 
 
 It would be a sin against the occasion, were I to omit 
 to commemorate the deep devotedness of Jackson to the 
 cause and to the rights of labor. It was for the welfare 
 of the labouring classes that he defied all the storms of 
 pohtical hostihty. He longed to secure to labor the fruits 
 of its own industry ; and he unceasingly opposed every 
 system which tended to lessen their reward, or which 
 exposed them to be defrauded of their dues. The laborers 
 may bend over his grave with affectionate sorrow ; for 
 never, in the tide of time, did a statesman exist more 
 heartily resolved to protect them in their rights, and to 
 advance their happiness. For their benefit, he opposed 
 partial legislation ; for their benefit, he resisted all artificial 
 methods of controlling labor, and subjecting it to capital. 
 
Bancroft's eulogy. 211 
 
 • 
 It was for their benefit that he loved freedom in all its 
 forms — freedom of the individual in personal independence, 
 freedom of the states as separate sovereignties. He never 
 would hsten to counsels which tended to the centraliza- 
 tion,of power. The true American system^presupposes 
 the diffusion of freedom — organized life in all the parts of 
 the American body politic, as there is organized life in 
 every part of the human system. Jackson was deaf to 
 every counsel which sought to subject general labor to a 
 central will. His vindication of the just principles of the 
 constitution derived its sublimity from his deep conviction 
 that this strict construction is required by the lasting wel- 
 fare of the great laboring classes of the United States. 
 
 To this end, Jackson revived the tribunicial power of 
 the veto, and exerted it against the decisive action of both 
 branches of Congress, against the votes, the wishes, the 
 entreaties of personal and political friends. " Show me," 
 was his reply to them, " show me an express clause in the 
 constitution authorizing Congress to take the business of 
 state legislatures out of their hands." " You will ruin us 
 all," cried a firm partisan friend, "you wih ruin your party 
 and your own prospects." " Providence," answered Jack- 
 son, "will take care of me;" and he persevered. 
 
 In proceeding to discharge the debt of the United 
 States — a measure thoroughly American — Jackson fol- 
 lowed the example of his predecessors ; but he followed it 
 with the full consciousness that he was rescuing the coun- 
 try from the artificial system of finance which had pre- 
 vailed throughout the world ; and with him it formed a 
 part of a system by which American legislation was to 
 separate itself more and more effectually from European 
 precedents, and develope itself more and more, according 
 to the vital principles of our political existence. 
 
 The discharge of the debt brought with it, of necessity, 
 a great reduction of the public burdens, and brought, of ^ 
 necessity, into view, the question, how far America should' 
 follow, of choice, the old restrictive system of high duties, 
 under which Europe had oppressed America; or how far 
 she should rely on her own freedom and enterprise and 
 power, defying the competition, tmd seeking the markets, 
 and receiving the products of the world. 
 10 
 
212 irFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 The mind of Jackson, on this subject, reasoned clearly, 
 and without passion. In the abuses of the system of 
 revenue by excessive imposts, he saw evils which the pub- 
 lic mind would remedy; and, inchning with the whole 
 might of his energetic nature to the side of revenue duties, 
 he made his earnest but tranquil appeal to the judgment 
 of the people. 
 
 The portions of country that suffered most severely 
 from a system of legislation, which, in its extreme charac- 
 ter, as it then existed, is now universally acknowledged to 
 have been unequal and unjust, were less tranquil ; and 
 rallying on the doctrines of freedoni, which made our gov- 
 ernment a limited one, they saw in the oppressive acts an 
 assumption of power which was nugatory, because it was 
 exercised, as they held, without authority from the people. 
 
 The contest that ensued was the most momentous in 
 our annals. The greatest minds of A^merica engaged in 
 the discussion. Eloquence never achieved subhmer tri- 
 umphs in the American Senate, than on those occasions. 
 The country became deeply divided ; and the antagonist 
 elements were arrayed against each other under forms of 
 clashing authority, menacing civil war; the freedom of 
 the several states was invoked against the power of the 
 United States ; and under the organization of a state in 
 convention, the reserved rights of the people were sum- 
 moned to display their energy, and balance the authority 
 and neutrahze the legislation of the central government 
 The states were agitated with prolonged excitement ; the 
 friends of freedom throughout the world looked on with 
 divided sympathies, praying that the union of the states 
 might be perpetual, and also that the eommerce of the 
 world might be free. 
 
 Fortunately for the country, and fortunately for man- 
 kind, Andrew Jackson was at the helm of state, the repre- 
 sentative of the principles that were to allay excitement, 
 and to restore the hopes of peace and freedom. By 
 nature, by impulse, by education, by conviction, a friend 
 to personal freedom — by education, political sympathies, 
 and the fixed habit of his mind, a friend to the rio-hts of 
 the states — unwiUing that the hberty of the states should 
 
BANCROFT'S EULOGY. 213 
 
 be trampled under foot — unwilling that the constitution 
 should lose its vigor or be impaired, he rallied for the 
 constitution : and in its name he published to the world, 
 " The Union : it must be preserved." The words were 
 a spell to hush evil passion, and to remove oppression. 
 Under his guiding influence, the favored interests, which 
 had straggled to perpetuate unjust legislation, yielded to 
 the voice of moderation and reform; and every mind that 
 had for a moment contemplated a rupture of the states, 
 discarded it forever. The whole influence of the past was 
 invoked in favor of the constitution; from the council 
 chambers of the fathers who moulded our institutions — 
 from the hall where American independence was declared, 
 the clear, loud cry was uttered — " The Union : it must be 
 preserved." From every battle-field of the Revolution — 
 from Lexington and Bunker-Hill — from Saratoga and 
 Yorktown — from the fields of Eutaw — from the cane- 
 brakes that sheltered the men of Marion— the repeated, 
 long-prolonged echoes came up — " The Union : it must be 
 preserved." From every valley in our land — from every 
 cabin on the pleasant mountain sides — from the ships at 
 our wharves — from the tents of the hunter in our Avestern- 
 most prairies — from the living minds of the living millions 
 of American freemen — fi-om the thickly coming glories of 
 futurity — the shout went up like the sound of many 
 waters, **The Union: it must be preserved." The friends 
 of the protective system, and they wh^ had denounced 
 the protective system — the statesmen of the north, that 
 had wounded the constitution in their love of centralism 
 — the statesmen of the south, whose minds had carried to 
 its extreme the theory of state rights — all conspired 
 together ; all breathed prayers for the perpetuity of the 
 Union. Under tile prudent firmness of Jackson — under 
 the mixture of justice and general regard for all interests, 
 the greatest danger to our institutions was turned aside, 
 and mankind was encouraged to believe that our Union, 
 like our freedom, is imperishable. 
 
 The moral of the great events of those days is this : that 
 the people can discern right, and will make then- way to 
 a knowledge of right ; that the whole human mind, and 
 
214 LIFE OF JACKSOJ!?. 
 
 therefore witli it tlie mind of the nation, has a continuous, 
 ever improving existence ; that the appeal from the unjust 
 legislation of to-day must be made quietly, earnestly, per- 
 severingly, to the more enhghtened collective reason of 
 to-morrow ; that submission is due to the popular will, in 
 the confidence that the people, when in error, will amend 
 their doings ; that in a popular government, injustice is 
 neither to be estabhshed by force, nor to be resisted by 
 force ; in a word, that the Union, which was constitutod by 
 consent, must be preserved by love. 
 
 It rarely falls to the happy lot of a statesman to receive 
 such unanimous applause from the heart of a nation. 
 Duty to the dead demands that, on this occasion, the 
 course of measures should not pass unnoticed, in the pro- 
 gress of which his vigor of character most clearly ap- 
 peared, and his conflict with opposing parties was most 
 violent and protracted. 
 
 From his home in Tennessee, Jackson came to the pre- 
 sidency resolved to lift American legislation out of the 
 forms of English legislation, and to place our laws on the 
 currency in harmony with the principles of our govern- 
 ment. He came to the presidency of the United States 
 resolved to dehver the government from the Bank of the 
 United States, and to restore the regulation of exchanges 
 to the rightful depository of that power — the commerce 
 of the country. He had designed to declare his views on 
 this subject in hi% inaugural address, but was persuaded 
 to relinquish that purpose, on the ground that it belonged 
 rather to a legislative message. When the period for 
 addressing Congress drew near, it was still urged that to 
 attack the Bank would forfeit his popularity and secure 
 his future defeat. " It is not," he answered, " it is not for 
 myself that I care." It was urged that haste was unne- 
 cessary, as the Bank had still six unexpended years of 
 chartered existence. "I may die," he rephed, "before 
 another Congress comes together, and I could not rest 
 quietly in my grave, if I failed to do what I hold so essen- 
 tial to the liberty of my country." And his first annual 
 message announced to the country that the Bank was 
 neither constitutional nor expedient. In this he was in 
 
BANCROFT'S EULOGY. 215 
 
 advance of the friends about him, in advance of Congress, 
 and in advance of his party. This is no time for the anal- 
 ysis of measures, or the discussion of questions of pohtical 
 economy : on the present occasion, we have to contemplate 
 the character of the man. 
 
 Never, from the first moment of his administration to 
 the last, was there a calm in the strife of parties on the 
 subject of the currency; and never, during the whole 
 period, did he recede or falter. Always in advance of 
 his party — always having near him friends who cowered 
 before the hardihood of his courage, he himself, through- 
 out all the contest, was unmoved, from the first suggestion 
 of the unconstitutionality of the Bank, to the moment 
 when he himself, first of all, reasoning from the certain 
 tendency of its policy, with singular sagacity predicted to 
 unbeheving friends, the coming insolvencj^ of the insti- 
 tution. 
 
 The storm throughout the country rose with unexam- 
 pled vehemence : his opponents were not satisfied with 
 addressing the pubHc or Congress, or his cabinet; they 
 threw their whole force personally on him. From ail 
 parts men pressed around him, urging him, entreating 
 him to bend. Congress was flexible ; many of his personal 
 friends faltered ; the impetuous swelling wave rolled on, 
 without one sufficient obstacle, till it reached his presence ; 
 but, as it dashed in its highest fury at his feet, it broke 
 before his firmness. The commanding majesty of his will 
 appalled his opponents and revived his friends. He, 
 himself, had a proud consciousness that his will was indom- 
 itable. Standing over the rocks of the Rip Raps, and 
 looking out upon the ocean, "Providence," said he to a 
 friend, " Providence may change my determination ; but 
 man no more can do it, than he can remove these Rip 
 Raps, which have resisted the rolling ocean from th« 
 beginning of time." And though a panic was spreading 
 through the land, and the whole credit system, as it then 
 existed, was crumbling to pieces and crashing around him, 
 he stood erect, hke a massive column, which the heaps 
 of falUng ruins could not break, nor bend, nor sway from 
 its fijced foundation. 
 
216 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 [At this point Mr. Bancroft turned to address the Mayor 
 of the city of Washington ; but, finding him not present, 
 he proceeded.] 
 
 People of the District of Columbia, — I should fail of a 
 duty on this occasion, if I did not give utterance to your 
 sentiment of gratitude which followed General 'Jackson 
 into retirement. Dwelling amongst you, he desired your 
 prosperity. This beautiful city, surrounded by heights 
 the most attractive, watered by a river so magnificent, the 
 home of the gentle and the cultivated, not less than the 
 seat of political power — this city, whose site Washington 
 had selected, was dear to his affections ; and if he won 
 your grateful attachment by adorning it with monuments 
 of useful architecture, by establishing its credit, and 
 relieving its burdens, he regretted only that he had not 
 the opportunity to have connected himself still more inti- 
 mately with your prosperity. 
 
 As he prepared to take his final leave of the district, 
 the mass of the population of this city, and the masses 
 that had gathered from around, followed his carriage in 
 crowds. All in silence stood near him, to wish him adieu ; 
 and as the cars started, and he displayed his grey hairs, 
 as he lifted his hat in token of farewell, you stood around 
 with heads uncovered, too full of emotion to speak, in 
 solemn silence gazing on him as he departed, never more 
 to be seen in your midst. 
 
 Behold the warrior and statesman, his work well done, 
 retired to the Hermitage, to hold converse with his forests, 
 to cultivate his farm, to gather around him hospitably his 
 friends ! Who was hke him ? He was still the loadstar 
 of the American people. His fervid thoughts, frankly 
 uttered, still spread the flame of patriotism through the 
 American breast ; his counsels were still listened to with 
 reverence ; and, almost alone among statesmen, he in his 
 retirement was in harmony with every onward movement 
 of his time. His prevaihng influence assisted to sway a 
 neighboring nation to desire to share our institutions, his 
 ear heard the footsteps of the coming millions that are to 
 gladden our western shores ; and his eye discerned in the 
 dim distance the whitening sails that are to erdiven the 
 
BANCROFT'S EULOGY. 21^ 
 
 "waters of the Pacific with the social sounds of our suc- 
 cessful commerce. 
 
 Age had whitened his locks and dimmed his eye, and 
 spread around him the infirmities and venerable emblems 
 of many years of toilsome service ; but his heart beat as 
 warmly as in his youth, and his courage was as firm as it 
 had ever been in the day of battle. But while his aftec- 
 tions were still for his friends and his countr}'", his thoughts 
 were already in a better world. That exalted mind, 
 which in active fife had always had unit}' of perception 
 and will, which in action had never faltered from doubt, 
 and which in counciWiad always reverted to first princi- 
 ples and general laws, now gave itself up to communing 
 with the Infinite. He was a believer: from feeling, from 
 experience, from conviction. Not a shadow of scepticism 
 ever dimmed the lustre of his mind. Proud philosopher ! 
 will you smile to know that Andrew Jackson perused 
 reverently his Psalter and Prayer-book and Bible ? Know 
 that Andrew Jackson had faith in the eternity of truth, 
 in the imperishable power of popular freedom, in the 
 destinies of humanity, in the virtues and capacity of the 
 people, in his country's institutions, in the being and over- 
 ruling providence of a merciful and ever-living God. 
 
 The kst moment of his fife on earth is at hand. It is 
 the Sabbath of the Lord : the brightness and beauty of 
 summer clothe the fields around him : nature is in her 
 glor}^ ; but the sublimest spectacle on that day, on earth, 
 was the victory of his unblenching spirit over death itself. 
 
 When he first felt the hand of death upon him — 
 "May my enemies," he cried, "find peace; may the liber- 
 ties of my country endure for ever!" 
 
 When his exhausted system, under the excess of pain, 
 sunk, for a moment, from debility, "Do not weep," said 
 he to his adopted daughter ; " my suffering's are less than 
 those of Christ upon the cross ;" for he, too, as a disciple 
 of the cross, could have devoted himself, in sorrow, for 
 mankind. Feeling his end near, he would see all his 
 family once more ; and he spoke to them, one by one, in 
 words of tenderness and affection. His two httle grand- 
 children were absent at Sunday-school. He asked for 
 
218 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 tliem ; and as they came he prayed for them, and kissed 
 them, and blessed them. His servants were then admit- 
 ted : they gathered, some in his room, and some on the 
 outside of the house, dinging to the windows, that they 
 . ' might gaze and hear. And that dying man, thus sur- 
 rounded, in a gush of fervid eloquence, spoke with inspi- 
 ration of God, of the Redeemer, of salvation through the 
 atonement, of immortality, of heaven. For he ever 
 thought that pure and undefiled rehgion was the founda- 
 tion of private happiness, and the bulwark of republican 
 institutions. Having spoken of immortahty in perfect 
 consciousness of his own approaching end, he bade them 
 all farewell. "Dear children," such were his final words, 
 " dear children, servants, and friends, I trust to meet you 
 all in heaven, both white and black — all, both white and 
 black." And having borne his testimony to immortahty, 
 he bowed his mighty head, and, without a groan, the 
 spirit of the greatest man of his age escaped to the bosom 
 of his God. 
 
 In hfe, his career had been like the blaze of the sun in 
 the fierceness of its noon-day glory ; iiis death was lovely 
 as the mildest sunset of a summer's evening, when the sun 
 goes down in tranquil beauty Avithout a cloud. To the 
 majestic energy of an indomitable will, he joined a heart 
 capable of the purest and most devoted love, rich in the 
 tenderest affections. On tlie bloody battle-field of Toho- 
 peka, he saved an infant that clung to the breast of its 
 dying mother: in the stormiest moment of his presidency, 
 % at the imminent moment of decision, he paused in his way 
 
 to give good counsel to a poor suppliant that had come up 
 to him for succor. Of the strifes in which he was en- 
 gaged in his earher life, not one sprung from himself, but 
 in every case he became involved by standing forth as 
 the champion of the weak, the poor, and the defenceless, 
 to shelter the gentle against oppression, to protect the 
 emigrant against the avarice of the speculator. His gen- 
 erous soul revolted at the barbarous practice of duels, and 
 by no man in the land have so many been prevented. 
 
 The sorrows of tlfbse that were near to him went deeply 
 into his soul; and at the ano-uish of the wife whom he 
 
BANCROFT'S EULOGY. 219 
 
 loved, the orphans whom he adopted, he would melt into 
 tears, and weep and sob like a child. 
 
 No man in private life so possessed the hearts of all 
 around him : no public man of this century ever returned 
 to private life with such an abiding mastery over the 
 aflfections of the people. No man with truer instinct 
 received American ideas: no man expressed them so 
 completely, or so boldly, or so sincerely. He was as sin- 
 cere a man as ever hved. He was wholly, always, and 
 altogether sincere and true. 
 
 Up to the last, he dared do anything that it was right 
 to do. He united personal courage and moral courage 
 beyond any man of whom history keeps the record. Be- 
 fore the nation, before the world, before coming ages, he 
 stands forth the representative, for his generation, of the 
 American mind. And the secret of his greatness is this : 
 By intuitive conception, he shared and possessed all the 
 creative ideas of his country and his time. He expressed 
 them with dauntless intrepidity ; he enforced them with 
 an immoveable will ; he executed them with an electric 
 power that attracted and swayed the American people. 
 The nation, in his time, had not one great thought, of 
 which he was not the boldest and clearest expositor. 
 
 History does not describe the man that equalled him 
 in firmness of nerve. Not danger, not an army in battle 
 array, not wounds, not wide-spread cjamor, not age, not 
 the anguish of disease, could impair in the least degree 
 the vigor of his steadfast mind. The heroes of antiquity 
 would have contemplated with awe tlie unmatched hardi- 
 hood of his character; and Napoleon, had he possessed 
 his disinterested will, could never have been vanquished. 
 Jackson never was vanquished. He was always fortunate. 
 He conquered the wilderness ; he conquered the savage ; 
 he conquered the bravest veterans trained in the battle- 
 fields of Europe; he conquered everywhere in statesman- 
 ship ; and, when death came to get the mastery over him, 
 he turned that last enemy aside as tranquilly as he had 
 done the feeblest of his adversaries, and escaped from 
 earth in the triumphant consciousness of immortahty. 
 
 His body has its fit resting-place in the great central 
 10^ 
 
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 W/il> f'/M''»(/» /)rtU'/f>« it wD) fy«; //^y fciu/ly </y ymmr^t*, 
 pt*mi% nut\ </> <;ti)livuO' Wi'n<i:»l<ify 'y/J /iib <iimI h'tti'ntihU) 
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 lit nu'')i ntt'jmvtr^M tm 1 tnay fy«j mlU'A *>ti </y \mnnf., m 
 
222 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 regard to the rights of the separate states, I hope to be 
 animated by a proper respect for those sovereign mem- 
 bers of our Union ; taking care not to confound the powers 
 they have reserved to themselves with those they have 
 granted to the confederacy. 
 
 The management of the pubhc revenue — that searching- 
 operation in all governments — ^is among the most dehcate 
 and important trusts in ours; audit will, of 'course, de- 
 mand no inconsiderable share of my official solicitude. 
 Under every aspect in which it can be considered, it would 
 appear that advantage must result from the observance 
 of a strict and faithful economy. This I shall aim at the 
 more anxiously, both because it will facilitate the extin- 
 guishment of the national debt, the unnecessary duration 
 of which is incompatible with real independence, and be- 
 cause it will counteract that tendency to public and private 
 profligacy which a profuse expenditure of money by the 
 government is but too apt to engender. 
 
 Powerful auxiliaries to the attainment of this desirable 
 end are to be found in the regulation provided by the 
 wisdom of Congress for the specific appropriation of public 
 money, and the prompt accountability of public officers. 
 
 With regard to a proper selection of the subjects of 
 impost, with a view to revenue, it would seem to me that 
 the spirit of equity, caution, and compromise, in which 
 the constitution w^as formed, requires that the great in- 
 terests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactm*es, should 
 be equally favored ; and that perhaps the only exception 
 to this rule should consist in the peculiar encouragement 
 of any products of either of them that may be found es- 
 sential to our national independence. 
 
 Internal improvement, and the diffusion of knowledge, 
 so far as they can be promoted by the constitutional acts 
 of the federal government, ai-e of high importance. 
 
 Considering standing armies as dangerous to free govern- 
 ments in time of peace, I shall not seek to enlarge our 
 present estabhshment, nor to disregard that salutary les- 
 son of pohtical experience which teaches that the mihtary 
 should be held subordinate to the civil power. The grad- 
 ual increase of our navy, whose flag has displayed in 
 
INAUaURAL ADDRESS. 223 
 
 distant climes our skill in na^agation and our fame in arms ; 
 the preservation of our forts, arsenals, and dock-yards; 
 and the introduction of progressive improvements in the 
 disciphne and science of both branches of our military 
 service, are so plainly prescribed by prudence, that I should 
 be excused for omitting their mention, sooner than enlarg- 
 ing on their importance. But the bulwark of our defence 
 is the national militia, which, in the present state of our 
 intelligence and population, must render us invincible. As 
 long as our government is administered for the good of the 
 people, and is regulated by their will ; as long as it se- 
 cures to us the rights of person and property, liberty of 
 conscience, and of the press, it will be worth defending ; 
 and so long as it is worth defending, a patriotic militia 
 will cover it with an impenetrable oegis. Partial injuries 
 and occasional mortification we may be subjected to; but 
 a million of armed freemen, possessed of the means of 
 war, can never be conquered by a foreign foe. To any 
 just system, therefore, calculated to strengthen this natu- 
 ral safeguard of the country, I shall cheerfully lend all the 
 aid in my poAver. 
 
 It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe 
 toward the Indian tiibes within our hmits a just and 
 liberal pohcy, and to give that humane and considerate 
 attention to their rights and their wants Avhich are consis- 
 tent with the habits of our government and the feeUngs 
 of our people. 
 
 The recent demonstration of pubhc sentiment inscribes 
 on the hst of executive duties, in characters too legible to 
 overlooked, the task of reform; which will require parti- 
 cularly -the correction of those abuses that have brought 
 the patronage of the federal government into contiict 
 with the freedomof efections and the counteraction of 
 those causes which have disturbed the rightful course of 
 appointment, and have placed or continued power in 
 unfaithful or incompetent hands. 
 
 In the performance of a task tlius generally delineated, 
 I shall endeavor to select men whose diligence and talents 
 will insure, in their respective stations, able and faithful 
 co-operation — depending for the advancement of the pub- 
 
224 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 lie service, more on the integrity and zeal of tlie public 
 officers, than on their numbers. 
 
 A diffidence, perhaps too just, in my own quahfication, 
 will teach me to look with reverence to the examples of 
 pubhc vitrue left by my illustrious predecessors, and with 
 veneration to the fights that flow from the mind that 
 founded and the mind that reformed our system. The 
 same diffidence induces me to hope for instruction and aid 
 from the co-ordinate branches of the government, and for 
 the indulgence and support of my fellow citizens general- 
 ly. And a firm reliance on the goodness of that Power 
 whose providence mercifully protected our national infan- 
 cy, and has since upheld our hberties in various vicissi- 
 tudes, encourages me to offer up my ardent suppfication 
 that he will continue to make our beloved country the 
 object of. his divine care and gracious benediction. 
 
MATSVILLB ROAD VETO. 225 
 
 MAYSVILLE EOAD VETO. 
 Delivered, May ^Ith, 1830. 
 
 To ttie House of Representatives : — 
 
 Gentlemen : I have maturely considered the bill pro- 
 posing to authorize " a subscription of stock in the Mays- 
 ville, Washington, Paris, and Lexing-ton Turnpike-road 
 Company," and now return the same to the house of 
 representatives, in which it originated, with my objections 
 to its passage. 
 
 Sincerely friendly to the improvement of our country 
 by means of roads and canals, I regret that any difference 
 of opinion in the mode of contributing to it should exist 
 between us ; and if, in stating this difference, I go beyond 
 what the occasion may be deemed to call for, I hope to 
 find an apology in the great importance of the subject, an 
 unfeigned respect for the high source from which this 
 branch of it has emanated, and an anxious wish to be 
 correctly understood by my constituents in the discharge 
 of all my duties. Diversity of sentiment among public 
 functionaries, actuated by the same general motives, on 
 the character and tendency of particular measures, is an 
 incident common to all governments, and the more to be 
 expected in one which, like ours, owes its existence to the 
 freedom of opinion, and must be upheld by the same 
 influence. Controlled as we thus are by a higher tribu- 
 nal, before which our respective acts will be canvassed 
 with the indulgence due to the imperfections of our 
 nature, and with that intelligence and unbiassed judg- 
 ment which are the true correctives of error, all that our 
 responsibility demands is that the public good should be 
 the measure of our views, dictating ahke their frank ex- 
 pression and honest maintenance. 
 
 In the message which was presented to Congress at 
 
226 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 the opening of its present session, I endeavored to exhibit 
 briefly my views upon the important and highly interest- 
 ing subject to which our attention is now to be directed. 
 I was desirous of presenting to the representatives of the 
 several states in Congress assembled, the inquiry whether 
 some mode could not be devised which would reconcile 
 the diversity of opinion concerning the powers of this 
 government over the subject of internal improvements, 
 and the manner in which these powers, if conferred by 
 the constitution, ought to be exercised. The act which I 
 am called upon to consider has therefore been passed 
 with a knowledge of my views on this question, as these 
 are expressed in the message referred to. In that docu- 
 ment the foUowino- suo-o-estion will be foimd : — 
 
 " After the extinction of the public debt it is not pro- 
 bable that any adjustment of the tariff upon principles 
 satisfactory to the people of the Union will, until a remote 
 period, if ever, leave the government without a consider- 
 able surplus in the treasury beyond what may be required 
 for its current service. As, then, the period approaches 
 when the application of the revenue to the payment of 
 debts will cease, the disposition of the surplus will pre- 
 sent a subject for the serious deliberation of Congress; 
 and it may be fortunate for the country that it is yet to 
 be decided. Considered in connexion with the difficulties 
 which have heretofore attended appropriations for pur- 
 poses of internal improvement, and with those which this 
 experience tells us will certainly arise, whenever power 
 over such suhjects may be exercised by the general gov- 
 ernment, it is hoped that it may lead to the adoption of 
 some plan which will reconcile the diversified interests of 
 the states, and strengthen the bonds which unite them. 
 Every member of the Union, in peace and in war, will be 
 benefited by the improvement of inland navigation, and 
 the construction of highways in the several states. Let 
 us then endeavor to obtain this benefit in a mode which 
 will be satisfactory to all. That hitherto adopted has 
 been deprecated as an infraction of the constitution by 
 many of our fellow-citizens, while by others it has been 
 viewed as inexpedient. All feel that it has been employed 
 
I 
 
 L 
 
 MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 227 
 
 at the expense of harmony in the legislative councils." 
 And adverting to the constitutional power of Congress to 
 make what I consider a proper disposition of the surplus 
 revenue, I subjoin the following remarks : " To avoid these 
 evils it appears to me that the most safe, just, and federal 
 disposition which could be made of the surplus revenue 
 would be its apportionment among the several states 
 according to their ratio of representation ; and sho'ild this 
 measure not be found warranted by the constitution, that 
 it would be expedient to propose to the states an amend- 
 ment authorizing it." 
 
 The constitutional power of the federal government to 
 construct or promote works of internal improvement pre- 
 sents itself in two points of view: the first, as bearing 
 upon the sovereignty of the states within whose hmits 
 their execution is contemplated, if jurisdiction of the ter- 
 ritory which they may occupy be claimed as necessary to 
 their preservation and use ; the second, as asserting the 
 simple right to appropriate money from the national trea- 
 sury in aid of such works, when undertaken by state 
 authority surrendering the claim of jurisdiction. In the 
 first \dew, the question of power is an open one, and can 
 be decided without the embarrassment attending the 
 other, arising from the practice of the government. Al- 
 though frequently and strenuously attempted, the power 
 to this extent has never been exercised by the govern- 
 ment in a single instance. It does not, in my opinion, 
 possess it ; and no bill, therefore, which admits it can re- 
 ceive my official sanction. 
 
 But in the other view of the power the question is dif- 
 ferently situated. The ground taken at an early period 
 of the government was, " that whenever money has been 
 raised by the general authority, and is to be applied to a 
 particular measure, a question arises whether the particu- 
 lar measure be within the enumerated authorities vested 
 in Congress. If it be, the money requisite for it may be 
 applied to it; if not, no such application can be made." 
 The document in which this principle was first advanced 
 is of deservedly high authority, and should be held in 
 grateful remembrance for its immediate agency in rescu- 
 
228 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 ing the countiy from much existing abuse, and for its 
 conservative effect upon some of the most valuable prin- 
 ciples of the constitution. The symmetry and purity of 
 the government would doubtless have been better pre- 
 served if this restriction of the power of appropriation 
 could have been maintained without weakening its ability 
 to fulfil the general objects of its institution — an effect 
 so hkely to attend its admission, notwithstanding its appa- 
 rent fitness, that every subsequent administration of the 
 government, embracing a period of thirty out of the forty- 
 two years of its existence, has adopted a more enlarged 
 construction of the power. It is not my purpose to detain 
 you by a minute recital of the acts which sustain this 
 assertion, but it is proper that I should notice some of the 
 most prominent, in order that the reflections which they 
 suggest to my mind may be better understood. 
 
 In the administration of Mr. Jefferson we have two 
 examples of the exercise of the right of appropriation, 
 which, in the considerations that led to their adoption, 
 and in their effects upon the public mind, have had a 
 greater agency in marking the character of the power, 
 than any subsequent events. I allude to the payment of 
 fifteen millions of dollars for the purchase of Louisiana, 
 and to the original appropriation for the construction of 
 the Cumberland road; the latter act derivinp' muchweio-ht 
 from the acquiescence and approbation of three of the 
 most powerful of the original members of the confederacy, 
 expressed through their respective legislatures. Although 
 the circumstances of the latter case may be such as to 
 deprive so much of it as relates to the actual construction 
 of the road of the force of an obligatory exposition of the 
 constitution, it must nevertheless be admitted that so far 
 as the mere appropriation of money is concerned, they 
 present the principle in its most imposing aspect. JSTo less 
 than twenty-three different laws have been passed through 
 all the forms of the constitution, appropriating upward of 
 two millions and a half of dollars, out of the national trea- 
 sury, in support of that improvement, with the approba- 
 tion of every president of the United States, including my 
 predecessor, since its -commencement. 
 
I 
 
 MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO 229 
 
 Independently of the sanction given to appropriations 
 for the Cumberland and other roads and objects, under 
 this power, the administration of Mr. Madison was charac- 
 terized by an act which fui-nishes the strongest evidence 
 of his opinion of its extent. A bill was passed through 
 both houses of Congress and presented for his approval, 
 " setting apart and pledging certain funds for constructing 
 roads and canals, and improving the navigation of water- 
 courses, in order to facilitate, promote, and give security 
 to internal commerce among the several states, and to 
 render more easy and less expensive the means and pro- 
 visions for the common defence." Regarding the bill as 
 asserting a power in the federal government to construct 
 roads and canals within the limits of the states in which 
 they were made, he objected to its passage on the ground 
 of its unconstitutionahty, declaring that the assent of the 
 respective states, in the mode provided by the bill, could 
 not confer the power in question ; that the only cases in 
 which the consent and cession of particular states can 
 extend the power of Congress are those specified and 
 provided for in the constitution ; and superadding to these 
 avowals his opinion that a restriction of the power " to 
 provide for the common defence and general welfare" to 
 cases which are to be provided for by the expenditure of 
 money, would still leave within the legislative power of 
 Congress all the great and most important measures of 
 government, money being the ordinary and necessary 
 means of carrying them into execution. I have not been 
 able to consider these declarations in any other point of 
 view than as a concession that the right of appropriation 
 is not limited by the power to carry into effect the measure 
 for which the mone}?- is asked, as was formerly contended: 
 
 The views of Mr. Monroe upon this subject were not 
 left to inference. During his administration, a bill was 
 passed through both houses of Congress, conferring the 
 jurisdiction and prescribing the mode by which the fede- 
 ral government should exercise it in the case of the Cum- 
 berland road. He returned it with objections to its 
 passage, and in assigning them took occasion to say, that 
 in the early stages of the government he had inclined to 
 
230 , LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 the construction tliat it had no right to expend money, 
 except in the performance of acts authorized by the other 
 specific grants of power, according to a strict construction 
 of them ; but that on further reflection and observation, his 
 mind had undergone a change ; that his opinion then was : 
 "that Congress have an unhmited power to raise money, 
 and that in its appropriation they have a discretionary 
 power, restricted only by the duty to appropriate it to 
 purposes of common defence and of general, not local, 
 national, not state, benefit ;" and this was avowed to be 
 the governing principle through the residue of his admin- 
 istration. The views of the last administration are of such 
 recent date as to render a particular reference to them 
 unnecessary. It is well known that the appropriating 
 power, to the utmost extent which had been claimed for 
 it in relation to internal improvements, was fully recog- 
 nised and exercised by it 
 
 This brief reference to known facts will be sufficient to 
 show the difficulty, if not impracticability, of bringing 
 back the operations of the government to the construction 
 of the constitution set up in 1793, assuming that to be its 
 true reading in relation to the power imder consideration ; 
 thus giving an admonitory proof of the force of imphca- 
 tion, and the necessity of guarding the constitution with 
 sleepless vigilance against the authority of precedents 
 which have not the sanction of its most plainly defined 
 powers. For although it is the duty of all to look to that 
 sacred instrument instead of the statute book; to repu- 
 diate at all times encroachments upon its spirit, which 
 are too apt to be effected by the conjuncture of peculiar 
 and facilitating circumstances ; it is not less true that the 
 public good and the nature of our political institutions 
 require that individual diff"erences should yield to a well- 
 settled acquiescence of the people and confederate author- 
 ities in particular constructions of the constitution on 
 doubtful points. Not to concede this much to the spirit 
 of our institutions, would impair their stabihty and defeat 
 the objects of tlie constitution itself. 
 
 The bill before me does not call for a more definite 
 opinion upon the particular circumstances which will war- 
 
MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 281 
 
 rant appropriations of money by Congress to aid works 
 of internal improvement ; for although the extension of 
 the power to apply money beyond that of carrying into 
 effect the object for which it is. appropriated hka, as we 
 have seen, been long claimed and exercised by the federal 
 gorernment, yet such grants have always been professedly 
 under the control of the general principle, that the works 
 which might be thus aided should be "of a general, not 
 local, national, not state, character." A disregard of this 
 distinction w^ould, of necessity, lead to the subversion of 
 the federal system. That even this is an unsafe one, 
 arbitrary in its nature, and liable consequently to great 
 abuses, is too obvious to require the confirmation of expe- 
 rience. It is, however, sufficiently definite and imperative 
 to my mind to forbid my approbation of any bill having 
 the character of the one under consideration. I have 
 given to its provisions all the reflection demanded by a 
 just regard for the interests of those of our fellow-citizens 
 who have desired its passage, and by the respect which 
 is diie to a co-ordinate branch of the government ; but I 
 am not able to view it in any other light than as a mea- 
 sure of purely local character ; or, if it can be considered 
 national, that no further distinction between the appro- 
 priate duties of the general and state governments need 
 be attempted, for there can be no local interest that may 
 not with equal propriety be denominated national. It has 
 no connexion with any established system of improve- 
 ments ; is exclusively Avithin the limits of a state, starting 
 at a point on the Ohio river, and running out sixty miles 
 to an interior town ; and, even as far as the state is inter- 
 ested, conferring partial instead of general advantages. 
 
 Considering the magnitude and importance of the pow- 
 er, and the embarrassments to which, from the very 
 nature of the thing, its exercise must necessarily be sub- 
 jected, the real friends of internal improvement ought not 
 to be willing to confide it to accident and chance. What 
 is properly national in its chai-acter or otherwise, is an 
 inquiry which is of en extremely difficult of solution. The 
 appropriations of one yeai', for an object which is con- 
 sidered national, may be rendered nugatory by the refusal 
 
232 ^ LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 of a succeeding Congress to continue the work, on the 
 ground that it is local. No aid can be derived from the 
 intervention of corporations. The question regards the 
 charact# of the work, not that of those by whom it is to 
 be accomphshed. Notwithstanding the union of the gov- 
 ernment with the corporation, by whose immediate agency 
 any work of internal improvement is carried on, the 
 inquiry will still remain, is it national, and conducive to 
 the benefit of the whole, or local, and operating only to 
 the advantage of a portion of the Union ? 
 
 But, although I might not feel it to be my official duty 
 to interpose the executive veto to the passage of a bill 
 appropriating money for the construction of such works 
 as are authorized by the states, and are national in their 
 character, 1 do not wish to be understood as expressing 
 an opinion that it is expedient at this time for the general 
 government to embark in a system of this kind ; and, 
 anxious that my constituents should be possessed of my 
 views on this as well as on all other subjects which they 
 have committed to my discretion, I shall state them 
 frankly and briefly. Besides many minor considerations, 
 there are two prominent views on the subject which have 
 made a deep impression upon my mind, which I think 
 are well entitled to your serious attention, and will, I 
 hope, be maturely weighed by the people. 
 
 From the official communications submitted to you, it 
 appears that if no adverse or unforeseen contingency 
 happens in our foreign relations, and no unusual diversion 
 be made of the funds set apart for the payment of the 
 national debt, we may look with confidence to its entire 
 extinguishment in the short period of four years. The 
 extent to which this pleasing anticipation is dependent 
 upon the pohcy which may be pursued in relation to 
 measures of the character of the one now under consider- 
 ation, must be obvious to all, and equally so that the 
 events of the present session are well calculated to awaken 
 public solicitude upon the subject. By the statement 
 from the treasury department, and those from the clerks 
 of the senate and house of representatives, herewith sub- 
 mitted, it appears that the bills which have passed into 
 
MATSVILLE EOAD VETO. 233 
 
 ia^s, and those which, in all probability, will pass before 
 the adjournment of Congress, anticipate appropriations 
 which, with the ordinary expenditures for the support of 
 government, will exceed considerably the amount in the 
 treasury for the year 1830. Thus, while we are diminish- 
 ing the revenue by a reduction of the duties on tea, coffee, 
 and cocoa, the appropriations for internal improvements 
 are increasing beyond the available means of the treasury ; 
 and if to this calculation be added the amount contained 
 in bills which are pending before the two houses, it may 
 be safely affirmed that ten miUions of dollars would not 
 make up the excess over the treasury receipts, unless the 
 payment of the national debt be postponed, and the means 
 now pledged to that object apphed to those enumerated 
 in these bills. Without a Avell-regulated system of inter- 
 nal improvement, this exhausting mode of appropriation 
 is not likely to be avoided, and the plain consequence must 
 be, either a continuance of the national debt or a resort 
 to additional taxes. 
 
 Although many of the states, with a laudable zeal, and 
 under the influence of an enlightened poUcy, are success- 
 fully applying their separate efl"orts to works of tliis 
 character, the desire to enhst the aid of the general gov- 
 ernment in the construction of such as, from their nature, 
 ought to devolve upon it, and to which the means of the 
 individual states are inadequate, is both rational and 
 patriotic ; and if that desire is not gratified now, it does 
 not follow that it never will be. The general inteUigence 
 and pubhc spirit of the American people furnish a sure 
 guarantee that, at the proper time, this pohcy will be 
 made to prevail under circumstances more auspicious to 
 its successful prosecution than those which now exist. 
 But, great as this object undoubtedly is, it is not the only 
 one which demands the fostering care of the government 
 The preservation and success of the repubhcan principle 
 rest with us. To elevate its character and extend its 
 influence rank amongst our most important duties, and 
 the best means to accomplish this desirable end are those 
 which will rivet the attachment of our citizens to the 
 government of their choice, by the comparative lightness 
 
234 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 of their public burdens, and by tlie attraction wbich the 
 superior success of its operations will present to the admi- 
 ration and respect of the world. Through the favor of an 
 overruling and indulgent Providence, our country is 
 blessed with general prosperity, and our citizens exempted 
 from the pressure of taxation which other less favored 
 portions of the human family are obliged to bear ; yet it is 
 true that many of the taxes collected from our citizens, 
 through the medium, of imposts, have for a considerable 
 period been onerous. In many particulars, those taxes 
 have borne severely upon the laboring and less prosperous 
 classes of the community, being imposed on the necessa- 
 ries of hfe, and this, too, in cases where the burden was 
 not reheved by the consciousness that it would ultimately 
 contribute to make us independent of foreign nations for 
 articles of prime necessity, by the encouragement of their 
 growth and manufacture at home. They have been 
 cheerfully borne, because they were thought to be neces- 
 sary to the support of government, and the payment of 
 the debts unavoidably incurred in the acquisition and 
 maintenance of our national rights and privileges. But 
 have we a right to calculate on the same cheerful acquies- 
 cence, when it is known that the necessity for their con- 
 tinuance would cease, were it not for the irregular, impro- 
 vident, and unequal appropriations of the public funds ? 
 Will not the people demand, as they have a right to do, 
 such a prudent system of expenditure as will pay the 
 debts of the Union, and authorize the reduction of every 
 tax to as low a point as the wise observance of the neces- 
 sity to protect that portion of our manufactures and labor, 
 whose prosperity is essential to oui^ national safety and 
 independence, will allow? When the national debt is 
 paid, the duties upon those articles which we do not raise 
 may be repealed with safety, and still leave, I trust, with- 
 out oppression to any section of the country, an accumu- 
 lating surplus fund, which may be beneficially apphed to 
 some well-digested system of improvement. 
 
 Under this view, the question, as to the manner in 
 which the federal government can, or ought to embark in 
 the construction of roads and canals, and the extent to 
 
MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 235 
 
 which it may impose burdens on the people for" these 
 purposes, may be presented on its own merits, free of all 
 disguise, and of every embarrassment except such as may 
 arise from the constitution itself Assuming these sug- 
 gestions to be correct, will not our constituents require 
 the observ^ance of a course by which they can be effected ? 
 Ought they not to require it ? With the best disposition 
 to aid, as far as I can conscientiously, in the furtherance of 
 works of internal improvement, my opinion is, that the 
 soundest views of national policy, at this time, point to 
 such a course. Besides the avoidance of an evil influence 
 uponthe local concerns of the country, how solid is the 
 advantage which the government will reap from it in the 
 elevation of its character ! How gratifying the effect of 
 presenting to the world the sublime spectacle of a repubUc, 
 of more than twelve milhons of happy people, in the 
 forty-fourth year of her existence — after having passed 
 through two protracted wars, the one for the acquisition, 
 and the other for the maintenance of liberty — free from 
 debt, and with all her immense resources unfettered! 
 What a salutary influence would not such an exhibition 
 exercise upon the cause of hberal principles and free 
 government throughout the world. Would we not our- 
 selves find, in its effect, an additional guarantee that oui* 
 pohtical institutions will be transmitted to the most remote 
 posterity without decay ? A course of policy destined to 
 witness events like these, can not be benefited by a legis- 
 lation which tolerates a scramble for appropriations that 
 have no relation to any general system of improvement, 
 and whose good effects must of necessity be very hmited. 
 In the best view of these appropriations, the abuses to " 
 which they lead far exceed the good which they are 
 capable of promoting. They may be resorted to as artful 
 expedients to shift upon the government the losses of 
 unsuccessful private speculation, and thus, by ministering 
 to personal ambition and self-aggrandizement, tend to sap 
 the foundations of public virtue, and taint the administra- 
 tion of the government with a demorahzing influence. 
 
 In the other view of the subject, and the only remain- 
 ing one which it is my intention to present at this time, 
 11 
 
236 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 is involved the expediency of embarking in a system of 
 internal improvement without a previous amendment of 
 the constitution, explaining andTHefining the p^-ecise pow- 
 ers of the federal government over it. Assuming the 
 right to appropriate money to aid in the construction of 
 national works, to be warranted by the contemporaneous 
 and continued exposition of the constitution, its sufficiency 
 for the successful prosecution of them must be admitted 
 by all candid minds. If we look to usage to define the 
 extent of the right, that will be found so variant, and 
 embracing so much that has been overruled, as to involve 
 the whole subject in great uncertainty, and to render the 
 execution of our respective duties in relation to it replete 
 with difficulty and embarrassment. It is in regard to 
 such works, and the acquisition of additional territory, 
 that the practice obtained its first footing. In most if not 
 all other disputed questions of appropriation, the construc- 
 tion of the constitution may be regarded as unsettled, if 
 the right to apply money, in the enumerated cases, is 
 placed on the ground of usage. 
 
 This subject has been one of much, and, I may add, 
 painful reflection to me. It has bearings that are well 
 calculated to exert a powerful influence upon our hitherto 
 prosperous system of government, and which, on some 
 accounts, may even excite despondency in the breast of 
 an American citizen. I will not detain you with profes- 
 sions of zeal in the cause of internal improvements. If 
 to be their friend is a virtue which deserves commenda- 
 tion, our country is blest with an abundance of it ; for I 
 do not 'suppose there is an intelhgent citizen who does not 
 wish to see them flourish. But though all are their 
 friends, but few, I trust, are unmindful of the means by 
 which they should be promoted ; none certainly are so 
 degenerate as to desire their success at the cost of that 
 sacred instrument, with the preservation of which is indis- 
 solubly bound our country's hopes. If diff"erent impres- 
 sions are entertained in any quarter ; if it is expected that 
 the people of this country, reckless of their constitutional 
 obfigations, will prefer their local interest to the principles 
 of the Union, such expectations will in the end be disap- 
 
MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 237 
 
 pointed ; or, if it be not so, then indeed has the world but 
 httle to hope from the example of free government 
 When an honest observance of constitutional compacts 
 can not be obtained from communities like ours, it need 
 not be anticipated elsewhere ; and the cause in which there 
 has been so much martyrdom, and from which so much 
 was expected by the friends of liberty, may be abandoned, 
 and the degrading truth, that man is unfit for self-govern- 
 ment, admitted. And this will be the case, if expediency 
 be made a rule of construction in interpreting the consti- 
 tution. Power, in no government could desire a better 
 shield for the insidious advances which it is ever ready to 
 make upon the checks that are designed to restrain its 
 action. 
 
 But I do not entertain such gloomy apprehensions. If 
 it be the wish of the people that- the construction of roads 
 and canals should be conducted by the federal govern- 
 ment, it is not only highly expedient, but indispensably 
 necessary, that a previous amendment of the constitution, 
 delegating the necessary power, and defining and restrict- 
 ing its exercise with reference to the sovereighty of the 
 states, should be made. Without it, nothing extensively 
 useful can be effected. The right to exercise as much 
 jurisdiction as is necessary to preserve the works, and to 
 raise funds by the collection of tolls to keep them in repair, 
 can not be dispensed with. The Cumberland road should 
 be an instructive admonition of the consequences of act- 
 ing without this right. Year after year, contests are 
 witnessed, growing out of efforts to obtain the necessary 
 appropriations for completing and repairing this useful 
 work. While one Congress may claim and exercise the 
 power, a succeeding one may deny it ; and this fluctuation 
 of opinion must be unavoidably fatal to any scheme 
 which, from its extent, would promote the interests and 
 elevate the character of the country. The experience of 
 the past has shown that the opinion of Congress is subject 
 to such fluctuations. 
 
 If it be the desire of the people that the agency of the 
 federal government should be confined to the appropria- 
 tion of money m aid of such undertakings, in virtue of 
 
238 LITE OF JACKSON". 
 
 state authorities, then the occasion, the manner, and the 
 extent of the appropriations, should be made the subject 
 of constitutional regulation. This is the more necessary, 
 m order that they may be equitable among the several 
 states ; promote harmony between different sections of the 
 Union and their representatives ; preserve other parts of 
 the constitution from being undermined by the exercise 
 of doubtful powers, or the too great extension of those 
 "which are not so ; and protect the whole subject against 
 the deleterious influence of combinations to carry, by 
 concert, measures which, considered by themselves, might 
 meet but httle countenance. That a constitutional ad- 
 justment of this power upon equitable principles is in the 
 highest degree desirable, can scarcely be doubted; nor 
 can it fail to be promoted by every sincere friend to the 
 success of our political .institutions. In no government 
 are appeals to the source of power in cases of real doubt 
 more suitable than in ours. No good motive can be 
 assigned for the exercise of power by the constituted 
 authorities, while those for whose benefit it is to be exer- 
 cised have not conferred it, and may not be wilhng to 
 confer it. It would seem to me that an honest applica- 
 tion of the conceded powers of the general government 
 to the advancement of the common weal, presents a suffi- 
 cient scope to satisfy a reasonable ambition. The difficul- 
 ty and supposed impracticability of obtaining an amend- 
 ment of the constitution in this respect is, I firmly believe, 
 in a great degree unfounded. The time has never yet 
 been when the patriotism and inteUigence of the American 
 people were not fully equal to the greatest exigency ; and 
 it never will, when the subject caUing forth their interpo- 
 sition is plainly presented to them. To do so with the 
 questions involved in this bill, and to urge them to an 
 early, zealous, and full consideration of their deep impor- 
 tance, is, in my estimation, among the highest of our 
 duties. 
 
 A supposed connexion between appropriations for inter- 
 nal improvement and the system of protecting duties, 
 growing out of the anxieties of those more immediately 
 interested in their success, has given rise to suggestions 
 
MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 23D 
 
 which it is proper I should notice on this occasion. My 
 opinions on these subjects have never been concealed 
 from those who had a right to know them. Those which 
 I have entertained on the latter have frequently placed 
 me in opposition to individuals as well as communities, 
 whose claims upon my friendship and gratitude are of the 
 strongest character ; but I trust there has been nothing 
 in my public life which has exposed me to the suspicion 
 of being thought capable of sacrificing my views of duty 
 to private considerations, however strong they may have 
 been, or deep the regrets which they are capable of 
 exciting. 
 
 As long as the encouragement of domestic manufactures 
 is directed to national ends, it shall receive from me a 
 temperate but steady support. There is no necessaiy 
 connexion between it and the system of appropriations. 
 On the contrary, it appears to me that the supposition of 
 their dependence upon each other is calculated to excite 
 the prejudices of the public against both. The former is 
 sustained on the ground of its consistency with the letter 
 and spirit of the constitution, of its origin being traced to 
 the assent of all the parties to the original compact, and 
 of its having the support and approbation of a majority 
 of the people ; on which account it is at least entitled to a 
 fair experiment. The suggestions to which I have alluded 
 refer to a forced continuance of the national debt, by 
 means of large appropriations, as a substitute for the 
 security which the system derives from the principles on 
 which it. has hitherto been sustained. Such a course 
 would certainly indicate either an unreasonable distrust 
 of the people, or a consciousness that the system does not 
 possess sufficient soundness for its support, if left to their 
 voluntary choice and its own merits. Those w^o suppose 
 that any policy thus founded can be long upheld in this 
 country, have looked upon its- history with eyes very 
 different from mine. This policy, like every other, must 
 abide the will of the people, who will not be likely to 
 allow any device, however specious, to conceal its charac- 
 ter and tendency 
 
240 LITE OP JACKSON. 
 
 In presenting these opinions, I have spoken \nth the 
 freedom and candor which I tliought the occasion for 
 their expression called for ; and now respectfully return 
 the bill which has been under consideration, for your fur- 
 ther dehberatioa and judgment. 
 
Message of President Jackson to the United States Senate, on, return' 
 ing the bank hill with Jiia objections. — July 10, 1832. 
 
 To THE Senate : 
 
 The bill " to modify and continue" the act entitled "An 
 act to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United 
 States," was presented to me on the 4th of July instant. 
 Having considered it with that solemn regard to the prin- 
 ciples of the constitution which the day was calculated to 
 inspire, and come to the conclusion that it ought not to 
 become a law, I herewith return it to the Senate, in which 
 it originated, with my objections. 
 
 A bank of the United States is, in many respects, con- 
 venient for the government, and useful to the people. 
 Entertaining this opinion, and deeply impressed with the 
 belief that some of the powers and privileges possessed 
 by the existing bank are unauthorized by the constitution, 
 subversive of the rights of the states, and dangerous to the 
 liberties of the people, I felt it my duty, at an early period 
 of my administration, to call the attention of Congress to 
 the practicability of organizing an institution combining all 
 its advantages, and obviating these objections. I sincerely 
 regret that, in the act before me, I can perceive none of 
 those modifications of the bank charter which are neces- 
 sary, in my opinion, to make it compatible with justice, . 
 with sound policy, or with the constitution of our country. 
 
 The present corporate body, denominated the President, 
 Directors, and Company of the Bank of the United States, 
 will have existed, at the time this act is intended to lake 
 
 199 
 
242 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 effect, twenty years. It enjoys an exclusive privilege of 
 banking under the authority of the general government, 
 a monopoly of its favor and support, and, as a necessary 
 consequence, almost a monopoly of the foreign and domes- 
 tic exchange. The powers, privileges, and favors bestowed 
 upon it in the original charter, by increasing the value of 
 the stock far above its par value, operated as a gratuity of 
 many milhons to the stockholders. 
 
 An apology may be found for the failure to guar 
 against this result, in the consideration that the effect of 
 the original act of incorporation could not be certainly 
 foreseen at the time of its passage. The act before me 
 proposes another gratuity to the holders of the same stock, 
 and in many cases to the same men, of at least seven 
 millions more. This donation finds no apology in any 
 uncertainty as to the effect of the act. On all hands, it 
 is conceded, that its passage will increase, at least twenty 
 or thirty per cent, more, the market price of the stock, 
 subject to the payment of the annuity of two hundred 
 thousand dollars per year, secured by the act ; thus adding, 
 in a moment, one-fourth to its par value. It is not our 
 own citizens only w^ho are to receive the bounty of our 
 government. More than eight millions of the stock of 
 this bank are held by foreigners. By this act, the Ame- 
 rican republic proposes virtually to make them a present 
 of some millions of dollars. For these gratuities to foreign- 
 ers, and to some of our own opulent citizens, the act secures 
 no equivalent whatever. They are the certain gains of 
 the present stockholders, under the operation of this act, 
 after making full allowance for the payment of the bonus. 
 
 Every monopoly, and all exclusive privileges, are granted 
 at the expense of the public, which ought to receive a fair 
 equivalent. The many miUions which this act proposes 
 to bestow on the stockholders of the existing bank, must 
 come, directly or indirectly, out of the earnings of the 
 American people. It is due to them, therefore, if their 
 government sell monopolies and exclusive privileges, that 
 they should at least exact for them as much as they are 
 worth in open market. The value of the monopoly in 
 this case may be correctly ascertained. The twenty-eight 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 243 
 
 millions of stock would probably be at an advance of fifty 
 per cent., and command in market at least forty-two mil- 
 lions of dollars, subject to the payment of the present bonus. 
 The present value of the monopoly, therefore, is seven- 
 teen millions of dollars, and this the act proposes to sell 
 for three millions, payable in fifteen annual instalments, 
 of two hundred thousand dollars each. 
 
 It is not conceivable how the present stockholders can 
 have any claim to the special favor of the government. 
 The present corporation has enjoyed its monopoly during 
 the period stipulated in the original contract. If we must 
 have such a corporation, why should not the government 
 sell out the whole stock, and thus secure to the people the 
 full market value of the privileges granted ? Why should 
 not Congress create and sell twenty-eight milHons of 
 stock, incorporating the purchasers with all the powers 
 and privileges secured in this act, and putting the pre- 
 mium upon the sales into the treasury ? 
 
 But this act does not permit competition in the purchase 
 of this monopoly. It seems to be predicated on the erro- 
 neous idea, that the present stockholders have a prescriptive 
 right, not only to the favor, but to the bounty of the govern- 
 ment. It appears that more than a fourth part of the stock 
 is held by foreigners, and the residue is held by a few 
 hundred of our citizens, chiefly of the richest class; for 
 their benefit does this act exclude the whole American 
 people from competition in the purchase of this monopoly, 
 and dispose of it for many millions less than it is worth. This 
 seems the less excusable, because some of our citizens, not 
 now stockholders, petitioned that the door of competition 
 might be opened, and offered to take a charter on terms 
 much more favorable to the government and country. 
 
 But this proposition, although made by men whose 
 ggregate wealth is believed to be equal to all the private 
 stock in the existing bank, has been set aside, and the 
 bounty of our government is proposed to be again bestowed 
 on the few who have been fortunate enough to secure the 
 stock, and, at this moment, wield the power of the existnjg 
 institution. - I cannot perceive the justice or poUcy of this 
 course. If our government must sell jnonopolies, it would 
 
244 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 seem to be its duty to take nothing less than their full 
 value ; and if gratuities must be made once in fifteen or 
 twenty years, let them not be bestowed on the subjects of 
 a foreign government, nor upon a designated or favorable 
 class of men in our own country. It is but justice and 
 good policy, as far as the nature of the case will admit, to 
 confine our favors to our own fellow-citizens, and let each 
 in his turn enjoy an opportunity to profit by our bounty. 
 In the bearings of the act before me upon these points, I 
 find ample reasons why it should not become a law. 
 
 It has been urged as an argument in favor of re-charter- 
 ing the present bank, that calling in its loans will produce 
 great embarrassment and distress. The time allowed to 
 close its concerns is ample, and if it has been well managed 
 its pressure will be light, and heavy only in case its ma- 
 nagement has been bad. If, therefore, it shall produce 
 distress, the fault will be its own, and it would furnish a 
 reason against renewing a power which has been so ob- 
 viously abused. But will there ever be a time when this 
 reason will be less powerful ? To acknowledge its force 
 is to admit that the bank ought to be perpetual, and as a 
 consequence, the present stockholders, and those inherit- 
 ing their rights, as successors, be established a privileged 
 order, clothed both with great political power, and enjoy- 
 ing immense pecuniary advantages from their connection 
 with the government. 
 
 The modifications of the existing charter, proposed by 
 this act, are not such, in ray view, as make it consistent 
 with the rights of the states, or the liberties of the people. 
 The quaUfication of the right of the bank to hold real 
 estate, the limitation of its power to establish branches, 
 and the power reserved to Congress to forbid the circula- 
 tion of small notes, are restrictions comparatively of little 
 value or importance. All the objectionable principles of 
 the existing corporation, and most of its odious features, 
 are retained without alleviation. 
 
 The fourth section provides "that the notes or bills of 
 the said corporation, although the same be, on the faces 
 thereof, respectively made payable at one place only, 
 shall, nevertheless, Jbe received by the said corporation at 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 5J45 
 
 the bank, or at any of the offices of discount and deposit 
 thereof, if tendered in hquidation or payment of any 
 balance or balances due to said corporation, or to such 
 office of discount and deposit from any other incorporated 
 bank." This provision secures to the state banks a legal 
 privilege in the Bank of the United States, which is with- 
 held from all private citizens. If a state bank in Phila- 
 delphia owe the Bank of the United States, and have 
 notes issued by the"St.«Loufe Branch, it can pay the debt 
 with those notes ; but if a merchant, mechanic, or other 
 private citizen, be in hke circumstances, he cannot by law 
 pay his debt with those notes, but must sell them at a dis- 
 count, or send them to St. Louis to be cashed. This boon 
 conceded to the state banks, though not unjust in itself, is 
 most odious, because it does not measure out equal justice 
 to the high and the low, the rich and the poor. 
 
 To the extent of its practical effect, it is a bond of union 
 among the banking estabhshments of the nation, erecting 
 them into an interest separate from that of the people, and 
 its necessary tendency is to unite the Bank of the United 
 States and the slate banks, in any measure which may be 
 thought conducive to their common interest. 
 
 The ninth section of the act recognises principles of 
 worse tendency than any provision of the present charter. 
 
 ii enacts that the "cashier of the bank shall annually 
 report to the Secretary of the Treasury the names of. ail 
 stockholders who are not resident citizens of the United 
 States ; and on the application of the treasurer of any 
 state, shall make out, and transmit to such treasurer a list 
 of stockholders residing.in, or citizens of such state, with 
 the amount owned by each." 
 
 Although this provision, taken in connection with a 
 decision of the Supreme Court, surrenders, by its silence, 
 the right of the states to tax the banking institutions created 
 by this corporation, under the name of branches, through- 
 out the Union, it is evidently intended to be construed as 
 a concession of their right to tax that portion of the stock 
 which may be held by their own citizens and residents. 
 In this light, if the act becomes a law, it will be under- 
 stood by the states, who will probably proceed to levjia 
 
846= LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 tax equal to that paid upon the stock of banks incorpo- 
 rated by themselves. In some states that tax is now one 
 per cent., either on the capital or on the shares ; and that 
 may be assumed as the amount which all citizens or 
 resident stockholders would be taxed under the operation 
 of this act. As it is on]y the stock held in the states, and 
 not that employed within them, which would be subject to 
 taxation, and a"s the names of foreign stockholders are not 
 to be reported to the treasurets of^he* states, it is obvious 
 that the stock held by them will be exempt from this 
 burden. Their annual profits will, therefore, be increased 
 one per cent, more than the citizen stockholders ; and as 
 the annual dividends of the bank may be safely estimated 
 at seven per cent., the stock will be worth ten or fifteen 
 per cent, more to foreigners than to citizens of the United 
 Stales. To appreciate the effect which this state of things 
 will produce, we must take a brief review of the opera- 
 tions and present condition of the Bank of the United 
 States. 
 
 By documents submitted to Congress at the present 
 session, it appears that on the 1st of January, 1832, 
 of the 28,000,000 of private stock, in the corporation, 
 8,405,500 were held by foreigners, mostly of Great Britain. 
 The amount of stock held in the nine Western States is 
 140,200 dollars ; and in the four Southern States is 
 5,623,100 dollars ; and in the Eastern and Middle States 
 about 13,522,000 dollars. The profits of the bank in 
 1831, as shown in a statement of Congress, were about 
 3,455,598 dollars ; of this there accrued in the nine 
 Western Slates about 1,640,048 dollars ; in the four South- 
 ern States about 352,507 dollars ; and in the Middle and 
 Eastern States about 1,463,041 dollars. As little stock is 
 held in the West, it is obvious that the debt of the people 
 in that section to the bank is principally a debt to the 
 Eastern and foreign stockholders ; that the interest they 
 pay upon it is carried into the Eastern States and into 
 Europe ; and that it is a burden upon their industry, and 
 a drain of their currency, which no country can bear with- 
 out inconvenience and occasional distress. To meet this 
 Hirden, and equalize the exchange operations of the bank, 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 247 
 
 the amount of specie drawn from those states, throupfh its 
 branches, within the last two years, as shown by its official 
 reports, was about (),000,00() dollars. More than half a 
 million of this amour?l does not slop in the Eastern States, 
 but passes on to Europe, to pay the dividends to the 
 foreign stockholders. In the principle of taxation re- 
 cognised by this act, the western states find no adequate 
 compensation for this perpetual burden on their indus- 
 try, and drain of their currency. The Branch Bank at 
 Mobile made last year, 95,140 dollars ; yet, under the 
 provisions of this act, the state of Alabama can raise no 
 revenue from these profitable operations, because not a 
 share of the stock is held by any of her citizens. Mis- 
 sissippi and Missouri are in the same condition in relation 
 to the branches at Natchez and St. Louis, and such, in a 
 greater or less degree, is the condition of "fe very Western 
 State. The tendency of the plan of taxation which this 
 act proposes, will be to place the whole United States in 
 the same relation to foreign countries which the Western 
 States now bear the Eastern. When, by a tax on resident 
 stockholders, the stock of this bank is made worth ten or 
 fifteen per cent, more to foreigners than to residents, most 
 of it will inevitably leave the country. 
 
 Thus will this provision, in its practical effect, deprive 
 the Eastern as well as the Southern and Western states of 
 the means of raising a revenue from the extension of busi- 
 ness and great profits of this institution. It will make 
 the American people debtors to aliens, in nearly the whole 
 amount due to this bank, and send across the Atlantic 
 from two to five millions of specie every year, to pay the 
 bank dividends. 
 
 In another of its bearings, this provision is fraught with 
 danger. Of the twenty-five directors of this bank, five 
 are chosen by the government, and twenty by the citizen 
 stockholders. From all voice in these elections, the fo- 
 reign stockholders are excluded by the charter. In pro- 
 portion, therefore, as the stock is transferred to foreign 
 holders, the extent of suffrage in the choice of directors is 
 curtailed. Already is almost a third of the stock in foreign 
 hands, and not represented in elections. It is constantly 
 
248 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 passing out of the country, and this act will accelerate its 
 departure. The entire control of the institution would 
 necessarily fall into the hands of a few citizen stock- 
 holders, and the ease with which th5 object would be ac- 
 complished, would be a temptation to designing men, to 
 secure that control in their own hands, by monopolizing 
 the remaining stock. There is danger that a president 
 and directors would then be able to elect themselves from 
 year to year, and without responsibility or control, manage 
 the whole concerns of the bank during the existence of 
 the charter. It is easy to conceive that great evils to our 
 country and its institutions might flow from such a con- 
 centration of power in the hands of a few men, irresponsi- 
 ble to the people. 
 
 Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in 
 a bank, that, in its nature, has so little to bind it to our 
 country ? The president of the bank has told us that 
 most of the state banks exist by its forbearance. Should 
 its influence become concentred, as it may under the 
 operation of such an act as this, in the hands of a self- 
 elected directory, whose interests are identified with those 
 of the foreign stockholder, will there not be cause to trem- 
 ble for the purity of our elections in peace, and for the 
 independence of our country in war ? Their power would 
 be great whenever they might choose to exert it ; but if 
 this monopoly were regularly renewed every fifteen or 
 twenty years, on terms proposed by themselves, they 
 might seldom in peace put forth their strength to influence 
 elections or control the affl\irs of the nation ; but if any 
 private citizen or public functionar}'- should interpose to 
 curtail its powers, or prevent a renewal of its privileges, 
 it cannot be doubted that he would be made to feel its 
 influence. 
 
 Should the stock of the bank principally pass into the 
 hands of the subjects of a foreign countr}^ and we should 
 unfortunately become involved in a war with that country, 
 what would be our condition ? Of the course which would 
 be pursued by a bank almost wholly owned by the subjects 
 of a foreign power, and managed by those whose interests, 
 if not affections, would run in the same direction, there 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 249 
 
 can be no doubt. All its operations within would be in 
 aid of the hostile fleets and armies without. Controlling 
 our currency, receiving our public moneys, and holding- 
 thousands of our citizens in dependence, it would be more 
 formidable and dangerous than the naval and military 
 power of the enemy. 
 
 If we must have a bank with private stockholders, every 
 onsideration of somid policy, and every impulse of Ame- 
 ican feeling, adanonishes that it should be purely American, 
 xts stockholders should be composed exclusively of our 
 own citizens, who at least ought to be friendly to our 
 government, and willing to support it in times of difficulty 
 and'danger. So abundant is domestic capital, that com- 
 petition in subscribing for the stock of local banks has 
 recently led almost to riots. To a bank exclusively of 
 American stockholders, possessing the powers and pri- 
 vileges granted by this act, subscriptions for two hundred 
 millions of dollars could be readily obtained. Instead of 
 sending abroad the stock of the bank, in which the govern- 
 ment must deposit its funds, and on which it must rely to 
 sustain its credit in times of emergency, it would rather 
 seem to be expedient to prohibit its sale to ahens, under 
 penalty of absolute forfeiture. 
 
 It is maintained by the advocates of the bank, that its 
 constitutionality in all its features ought to be considered 
 as settled by precedent, and by the decision of the Supreme 
 Court. To this conclusion I cannot assent. Mere prece- 
 dent is a dangerous source of authority, and should not be 
 regarded as deciding questions of constitutional power, 
 except where the acquiescence of the people and the 
 states can be considered as well settled. So far from this 
 being the case on this subject, an argument againsi the 
 bank might be based on precedent. One Congress, in 
 1791, decided in favor of a bank; another, in 1811, de- 
 cided against it. One Congress, in 181.5, decided against 
 a bank; another, in 1816, decided in its favor. Prior to 
 the present Congress, therefore, the precedents drawn 
 from that source were equal. If we resort to the states, 
 the expressions of legislative, judicial, and executive opi- 
 nions against the bank have been probably, to those in its 
 
250 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 favor, as four to one. There is nothing in precedent, 
 therefore, ^vhich, if its authority were admitted, ought to 
 weigh in favor of the act before me. 
 
 If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the who^e 
 ground of this act, it ought not to control the co-ordinate 
 authorities of this government. The Congress, the Execu- 
 tive, and the Court, must each for itself be guided by its 
 own opinion of the Constitution. Each pubhc officer who 
 takes an oath to support the Constitution, swears that he 
 will support it as he understands it, and not as it is under- 
 stood by others. It is as much the duty of the House of 
 Representatives, of the Senate, and of the President, to 
 decide upon the constitutionality of any bill or resolution 
 which may be presented to them for passage or approval, 
 as it is of the Supreme Judges, when it may be brought 
 before them for judicial decision. The opinion of the 
 Judges has no more authority over Congress than the opi- 
 nion of Congres* has over the Judges ; and, on that point, 
 the President is independent of both. The authority of 
 the Supreme Court must not, therefore, be permitted to 
 control the Congress or the Executive, when acting in their 
 legislative capacities, but to have only such influence as 
 the force of their reasoning may deserve'. 
 
 But, in the case relied upon, the Supreme Court have 
 not decided that all the features of this corporation are 
 compatible with the Constitution. It is true that the Court 
 have said that the law incorporating the bank is a consti- 
 tutional exercise of power by Congress.. But, taking into 
 view the whole opinion of the Court, and the reasoning by 
 which they have come to that conclusion, I understand 
 them to have decided that, inasmuch as a bank is an 
 appropriate means of carrying into effect the enumerated 
 powers of the general government, therefore the law in- 
 corporating it is in accordance with that provision of the 
 Constitution which declares that Congress shall have power 
 "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
 for carrying those powers into execution." Having satis- 
 fied themselves that the word " necessary," in the Consti- 
 tution, means "needful," "requisite," "essential," " con- 
 lucive to," and that " a bank" is a convenient, a useful, 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 251 
 
 and essential instrument in the prosecution of the govern- 
 ment's " fiscal operations^' they conclude that "to use one 
 must be within the discretion of Contrress;" and that "the 
 act to incorporate the Bank of the United States, is a law- 
 made in pursuance of the Constitution." " But," say they, 
 "where the law is not prohibited, and is really calculated 
 to effect any of the objects intrusted to the government, 
 to undertake here to inquire into the degree of its necessity, 
 would be to pass the hne which circumscribes the judicial 
 department, and to tread on legislative ground." 
 
 The principle here affirmed is, that " the degree of its 
 necessity," involving all the details of a banking institu- 
 tion, is a question exclusively for legislative consideration. 
 A bank is constitutional ; but it is the province of the 
 legislature to determine whether this or that particular 
 power, privilege, or exemption, is "necessary and proper" 
 to enable the bank to discharge its duties to the govern- 
 ment, and from their decision there is no appeal to the 
 courts of justice. Under the decision of the Supreme 
 Court, therefore, it is the exclusive province of Congress 
 and the President to decide, whether the particular features 
 of this act are " necessary and proper," in order to enable 
 the bank to perform conveniently and efficiently the public 
 duties assigned to it as a fiscal agent, and therefore con- 
 stitutional ; or unnecessary and improper, and therefore 
 unconstitutional. 
 
 Without commenting on the general principle affirmed 
 by the Supreme Court, let us examine the details of this 
 act, in accordance with the rule of legislative action which 
 they have laid down. It will be found that many of the 
 powers and privileges conferred on it cannot be supposed 
 necessary for the purpose for which it is proposed to be 
 created, and are not, therefore, means necessary to attain 
 the end in view, and consequently not justified by the 
 Constitution. 
 
 The original act of corporation, section twenty-first, 
 enacts "that no other bank shall b-i established by any 
 future law of the United States, duimg the continuance 
 of the corporation hereby created, for which the faith of 
 the United States is hereby pledged Provided^ Congress 
 
5J62 LIFE OF JACKSOX. 
 
 may renew existing charters for banks within the District 
 of Columbia, not increasing the capital thereof, and may 
 also establish any other bank or banks in said District, 
 with capitals not exceeding, in the whole, six millions of 
 dollars, if they shall deem it expedient." This provision 
 is continued in force, by the act before me, fifteen years 
 from tlje 3d of March, 1836. 
 
 If Congress possessed the power to establish one bank, 
 they had power to establish more than one, if, in their 
 opinion, two or more banks had been "necessary" to faci- 
 litate the execution of the powers delegated to them by the 
 Constitution. If they possessed the power to estabhsh a 
 second bank, it was a power derived from the Constitu- 
 tion, to be exercised from time to time, and at any time 
 when the interests of the country or the emergencies 
 of the government might make it expedient. It was pos- 
 sessed by one Congress as well as another, and by all 
 Congresses alike, and alike at every session. But the 
 Congress of 1816 have taken it away from their successors 
 for twenty years, and the Congress of 1832 proposed to 
 abolish it for fifteen years more. It cannot be " necessary" 
 or "proper" for Congress to barter away, or divest them- 
 selves of any of the powers vested in them by the Con- 
 stitution, to be exercised for the pabHc good. It is not 
 "necessary" to the efficiency of the bank, nor is it "pro- 
 per" in relation to themselves and their successors. They 
 may properly use the discretion vested in them, but they 
 may not limit the discretion of their successors. This 
 restriction on themselves, and grant of a monopoly to the 
 bank, is therefore unconstitutional. 
 
 In another point of view, this provision is a palpable 
 attempt to amend the Constitution by an act of legislation. 
 The Constitution declares that " the Congress shall have 
 power" to exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases what- 
 soever, over the District of Columbia. Its constitutional 
 power; therefore, to establish banks in the District of Co- 
 lumbia, and increase their capital at will, is unlimited and. 
 uncontrollable by any other power than that which gave 
 authority to the Constitution. Yet this act declares that 
 Congress shall not increase the capital of existing banks 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 253 
 
 nor create other banks with capitals exceeding in the 
 ■whole six millions of dollars. The Constitution declares 
 that Congress shall have power to exercise exclusive 
 legislation over this district, ^'- in all cases whatsoever f^ 
 and tnis act declares they shall not. Which is the su- 
 preme law of the land ? This provision cannot be " neces- 
 sary,^'' or '•^ proper,''^ or constitutional, unless the absurdity- 
 be admitted, that whenever it be " necessary and proper,'* 
 n the opinion of Congress, they have a right to barter 
 way one portion of the powers vested in them by the 
 Constitution, as a means of executing the rest. 
 
 On two subjects only does the Constitution recognise in 
 Congress the power to grant exclusive privileges or mo- 
 nopolies. It declares that "Congress shall have power 
 to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by 
 securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the 
 exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- 
 coveries." Out of this express delegation of power, have 
 grown our laws of patents and copyrights. As the Con- 
 stitution expressly delegates to Congress the power to 
 grant exclusive privileges, in these cases, as the means 
 of executing the substantive power " to promote the pro- 
 gress of science and useful arts," it is consistent with the 
 fair rules of construction to conclude, that such a power 
 was not intended to be granted as a means of accomplish- 
 ing any other end. On every other subject which comes 
 within the scope of congressional power, there is an ever- 
 living discretion in the use of proper means, which can- 
 not be restricted or aboUshed without an amendment of 
 the Constitution. Every act of Congress, therefore, which 
 attempts, by grants of monopolies, or sale of exclusive 
 privileges for a hmited time, or a time without limit, to 
 restrict or extinguish its own discretion in the choice of 
 means to execute its delegated powers, is equivalent to a 
 legislative amendment of the Constitution, and palpably 
 unconstitutional. 
 
 This act authorizes and encourages transfers of its stock 
 to foreigners, and grants them an exemption from all state 
 and national taxation. So far from being " necessary and 
 proper" that the bank should possess this power, to make 
 
264 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 it a safe and efficient agent of the government in its fiscal 
 operations, it is calculated to convert the Bank of the 
 United States into a foreign bank, to impoverish our 
 people in time of peace, to disseminate a foreign ipflu- 
 ence through every section of tlfe republic, and, in war, to 
 endanger our independence. 
 
 The several states reserved the power, at the formation 
 of the Constitution, to regulate and control titles and trans- 
 fers of real property ; and most, if not all of them, have 
 laws disqualifying aliens from acquiring or holding lands 
 within their limits. But this act, in disregard of the un- 
 doubted right of the states to prescribe such disqualifica- 
 tions, gives to ahens, stockholders in this bank, an interest 
 and title, as members of the corporation, to all the real 
 property it may acquire within any of the states of this 
 Union. This privilege granted to aliens is not "neces- 
 sary" to enable the bank to perform its public duties, nor 
 in any sense " proper," because it is virtually subversive 
 of the rights of the states. 
 
 The government of the United States have no constitu- 
 tional power to purchase lands within the states, except 
 " for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, 
 and other needful buildings," and even for these objects, 
 only " by the consent of the legislature of the state in 
 which the same shall be." By making themselves stock- 
 holders in the bank, and granting to the corporation the 
 power to purchase lands for other purposes, they assume 
 a power not granted in the Constitution, and grant to 
 others what they do not themselves possess. It is not 
 necessary to the receiving, safe-keeping, or transmission 
 of the funds of government, that the bank should possess 
 this power, and it is not proper that Congress should thus 
 enlarge the powers delegated to them in the Constitution. 
 
 The old Bank of the United States possessed a capital 
 of only eleven miUion of dollars, which was found fully 
 sufficient to enable it, with despatch and safety, to per- 
 form all the functions required of it by the government. 
 The capital of the present bank is thirty-five millions of 
 dollars, at least twenty-four more than experience has 
 proved to be necessary to enable a bank to perfor^a its 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 255 
 
 public functions. The public debt which existed during 
 the period of the old bank, and on the establishment of 
 the new, has been nearly paid off, and our revenue will 
 soon be reduced. This increase of capital is, therefore, 
 not for public, but for private purposes. 
 
 The government is the only " proper" judge where 
 its agents should reside and keep their offices, because it 
 best knows where their presence will be "necessary." 
 It cannot, therefore, be " necessary" or " proper" to au- 
 thorize the bank to locate branches where it pleases, to 
 perform the public service without consuhing the govern- 
 ment, and contrary to its will. The principle laid down 
 by the Supreme Court, concedes that Congress cannot 
 establish a bank for purposes of private speculation and 
 gain, but only as a means of executing the delegated 
 powers of the general government. By the same princi- 
 ple, a branch bank cannot constitutionally be established 
 for other than public purposes. The power which this 
 act gives to establish two branches in any state, without 
 the injunction or request of the government, and for other 
 than public purposes, is not "necessary" to the due exe- 
 cution of the powers delegated to Congress. 
 
 The bonus which is exacted from the bank, is a con- 
 fession upon the face of the act, that the powers granted 
 by- it are greater than are " necessary" to its character of 
 a fiscal agent. The government does not tax its officers 
 and agents for the privilege of serving it. The bonus 
 of a million and a half, required by the original charter, 
 and that of three millions proposed by this act, are not 
 exacted for the privilege of giving " the necessary facili- 
 ties for transferring the public funds from place to place, 
 within the United States or the territories thereof, and for 
 distributing the same in payment of the public creditors, 
 without charging commission, or claiming allowance (j^ 
 account of the difference of exchange," as required by 
 the act of incorporation, but for. something more beneficial 
 to the stockholders. The original act declares, that it (the 
 bonus) is granted " in consideration of the exclusive pri- 
 vileges and benefits conferred by this act upon the said 
 bank ;" and the act before me declares it to be " in con- 
 
256 MFB OF JACKSON. 
 
 sideration of the exclusive benefits and privileges con- 
 tinued by this act to the said corporation for fifteen years 
 as aforesaid." It is, therefore, for "exclusive privileges 
 and benefits," conferred for their own use and emolument, 
 and not for the advantage of the government, that a bonus 
 is exacted. These surplus powers, for which the bank 
 is required to pay, cannot surely be " necessary," to make 
 it the fiscal agent of the treasury. If they were, the ex- 
 action of a bonus for them would not be "proper." 
 
 It is maintained by some, that the bank is a means of 
 executing the constitutional power "to coin money, and 
 regulate the value thereof." Congress have established 
 a mint to coin money, and passed laws to regulate the 
 value thereof. The money so coined, with its value so 
 regulated, and such foreign coins as Congress may adopt, 
 are the only currency known to the Constitution. But if 
 they have other power to regulate the currency, it was 
 conferred to be exercised b}'' themselves, and not to be 
 transferred to a corporation. If the bank be established 
 for that purpose, with a charter unalterable without its 
 consent. Congress have parted with their power for a 
 term of years, during which the Constitution is a dead 
 letter. It is neither necessary nor proper to transfer its 
 legislative powers to such a bank, and therefore unconsti- 
 tutional. 
 
 By its silence, considered in connection with the de- 
 cision of the Supreme Court, in the case of McCuUoch 
 against the State of Maryland, this act takes from the 
 states the power to tax a portic^p of the banking business 
 carried on within their limits, in subversion of one of the 
 strongest barriers which secured them against federal en- 
 croachments. Banking, like farming, manufacturing, or 
 any other occupation or profession, is a business, the right 
 ^o follow which is not originally derived from the laws. 
 Every citizen, and every company of citizens, in all of 
 our states, possessed the right, until the state legislatures 
 deemed it good policy to prohibit private banking by law. 
 If the prohibitory state laws were now repealed, every 
 citizen would again possess the right. The state banks 
 are a qualified restoration of the right which has been 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 257 
 
 taken away by the laws against banking, guarded by such 
 provisions and limitations as, in the opinion of the state 
 legislatures, the public interest requires. These corpo- 
 rations, unless there be an exemption in their charter, are, 
 like private bankers and banking companies, subject to 
 state taxation. The manner in which these taxes shall 
 be laid, depends wholly on legislative discretion. It may 
 e upon the bank, upon the slock, upon the profits, or in 
 any other mode which the sovereign power shall will. 
 
 Upon the formation of the Constitution, the states guarded 
 their taxing power with peculiar jealousy. They sur- 
 rendered it only as it regards imports and exports. In 
 relation to every other subject within their jurisdiction, 
 whether persons, property, business, or professions^it was 
 secured in as ample a manner as it was before possessed. 
 All persons, though United States' officers, are liable to a 
 poll tax by the states within which they reside. The lands 
 of the United States are liable to the usual land tax, ex- 
 cept in the new states, from whom agreements, that they 
 will not tax unsold lands, are exacted when they are 
 admitted into the Union: horses, wagons, any beasts or 
 vehicles, tools or property, belonging to private citizens, 
 though employed in the service of the United States, are 
 subject to state taxation. Every private business, whether 
 carried on by an officer of the general government or not, 
 whether it be mixed with public concerns or not, even if 
 it be carried on by the government of the United States 
 itself, separately or in partnership, falls within the scope 
 of the taxing power of the state. Nothing comes more 
 fully within it than banks, and the business of banking, by 
 whomsoever instituted and carried on. Over this whole 
 subject-matter, it is just as absolute, unhmited,and uncon- 
 trollable, as if the Constitution had never been adopted, 
 because, in the formation of that instrument, it was reserve(> 
 without qualification. 
 
 The principle is conceded, that the states cannot right- 
 fully tax the operations of the general government. They 
 cannot tax the money of the government deposited in the 
 state banks, nor the agency of those banks in remitting 
 it ; but will any man maintain that their mere selection to 
 
258 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 perform this public service for the general government, 
 would exempt the state banks, and their ordinary business, 
 from state taxation ? Had the United States, instead of 
 estabhshing a bank at Philadelphia, employed a private 
 banker to keep and transmit their funds, would it. have 
 deprived Pennsylvania of the right to tax his bank and 
 his usual banking operations ? It will not be pretended. 
 Upon what principle, then, are the banking establishments 
 of the Bank of the United States, and their usual banking 
 operations, to be exempted from taxation ? It is not their 
 public agency, or the deposits of the government, which 
 the states claim a right to tax, but their banks and their 
 banking powers, instituted and exercised within state 
 jurisdiction for their private emolument — those powers 
 and privileges for which they pay a bonus, and which the 
 states tax in their own banks. The exercise of these 
 powers within a state, no matter by whom or under what 
 authority, whether by private citizens in their original 
 right, by corporate bodies created by the states, by foreign- 
 ers, or the agents of foreign governments located within 
 their limits, forms a legitimate object of state taxation. 
 From this, and like sources, from the persons, property, 
 and business, that are found residing, located, or carried 
 on, under their jurisdiction, must the states, since the 
 surrender of their right to raise a revenue from imports 
 and exports, draw all the money necessary for the support 
 of their governments, and the maintenance of their inde- 
 pendence. There is no more appropriate subject of taxa- 
 tion than banks, banking, and bank stock, and none to 
 which the states ought more pertinaciously to cling. 
 
 It cannot be necessary to the character of the bank, as 
 a fiscal agent of the government, that its private business 
 should be exempted from that taxation to which all tha 
 state banks are liable ; nor can I conceive it " proper" tha 
 the substantive and most essential powers reserved by the 
 states shall be thus attacked and annihilated as a means 
 of executing the powers delegated to the general govern- 
 ment. It may be safely assumed that none of those sages 
 who had an agency in forming or adopting our Constitu- 
 tion, ever imagined that any portion of the taxing powei" 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 259 
 
 of the states, not prohibited to them, nor delegated to 
 Congress, was to be swept away and annihilated, as a 
 means of executing certain powers delegated to Congress. 
 If our power over means is so absolute, that the Supreme 
 Court will not call in question the constitutionality of an 
 act of Congress, the subject of which is " not prohibited, 
 and is really calculated to effect any of the objects intrusted 
 to the government," although, as in the case before me, 
 it takes away powers expressly granted to Congress, and 
 rights scrupulously reserved to the states, it becomes us 
 to proceed in our legislation with the utmost caution. 
 Though not directly, our own powers and the rights of 
 the states may be indirectly legislated away in the use of 
 means to execute substantive powers. We may not enact 
 that Congress shall not have the power of exclusive legis- 
 lation over the District of Columbia ; but we may pledge 
 the faith of the United States, that, as a means of execut- 
 ing other powers, it shall not be exercised for twenty years, 
 or for ever ! We may not pass an act prohibiting the 
 states to tax the banking business carried on within their 
 limits; but we may, as a means of executing our powers 
 over other objects, place that business in the hands of our 
 agents, and then declare it exempt from state taxation in 
 their hands ! Thus may our own powers, and ihe rights 
 of the states, which we cannot directly curtail or invade, 
 be frittered away and extinguished in the use of means 
 employed by us to execute other powers. That a Bank 
 of the United States, competent to all the duties which may 
 be required by the government, might be so organized as 
 not to infringe on our own delegated powers, or the 
 reserved rights of the states, I do not entertain a doubt. 
 Had the Executive been called upon to furnish the pro- 
 ject of such an institution, the duty would have been 
 cheerfully performed. In the absence of such a call, it 
 was obviously proper that he should confine himself to 
 pointing out those prominent features in the act presented, 
 which, in his opinion, make it incompatible with the Con- 
 stitution and sound policy. A general discussion will now 
 take place, eliciting new light, and settling important 
 principles ; and a new Congress, elected in the midst of 
 12 
 
260 LIFE OF JACKSOK. 
 
 such discussion, and furnishing an equal representation 
 of the people, according to the last census, will bear to 
 the Capitol the verdict of pubUc opinion, and, I doubt not, 
 bring this important question to a satisfactory result. 
 
 Under such circumstances, the bank comes forward and 
 asks a renewal of its charter for a term of fifteen years, 
 upon conditions which not only operate as a gratuity to 
 the stockholders, of many miUions of dollars, but will 
 sanction any abuses, and legalize any encroachments. 
 
 Suspicions are entertained, and charges are made, of 
 gross abuse and violation of its charter. An investigation, 
 unwillingly conceded, and so restricted in time as neces- 
 sarily to make it incomplete and unsatisfactory, disclosed 
 enough to excite suspicion and alarm. In the practices 
 of the principal bank, partially unv^eiled in the absence 
 of important witnesses, and in numerous charges confi- 
 dently made, and as yet wholly uninvestigated, there was 
 enough to induce a majority of the committee of investiga- 
 tion, a committee which was selected from the most able 
 and honorable members of the House of Representatives, 
 to recommend a suspension of farther action 'upon the 
 bill, and a prosecution of the inquiry. As the charter 
 had yet four years to run, and as a renewal now was not 
 necessary to the successful prosecution of its business, it 
 was to have been expected that 'the bank itself, conscious 
 of its purity, and proud of its character, would have with- 
 drawn its apphcation for the present, and demanded the 
 severest scrutiny into all its transactions. In their de- 
 clining to do so, there seems to be an additional reason why 
 the functionaries of the government should proceed with 
 l6ss haste, and more caution, in the renewal of their mo- 
 nopoly. 
 
 The bank is professedly established as an agent of the 
 executive branches of the government, and its constitu- 
 tionality is maintained on that ground. Neither upon the 
 propriety of present action, nor upon the provisions of this 
 act, was the Executive consulted. It has had no opportu- 
 nity to say, that it neither needs nor wants an agent clothed 
 with such powers, and favored by such exemptions. There 
 is nothing in its legitimate functions which makes it neces- 
 
VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 26(1 
 
 sary or proper. Whatever interest or influence, whether 
 public or private, has given birth to this act, it cannot be 
 found either in the wishes or necessities of the Executive 
 Department, bj^ which present action is deemed premature, 
 and the powers conferred upon its agent not only unneces- 
 sary, but dangerous to the government and country. 
 
 It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often 
 bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. 
 Distinctions in society will always exist under every just 
 government. Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth, 
 cannot be produced by human institutions. In the full 
 enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven, and the fruits of supe- 
 rior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally 
 entitled to protection by law. But when the laws under- 
 take to add to these natural and just advantages artificial 
 distinctions — to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive pri- 
 vileges — to make the rich richer, and the potent more 
 powerful — the humble members of society, the farmers, 
 mechanics, and laborers, who have neither the time nor 
 the means of securing like favors to themselves, have 
 a right to complain of the injustice of their government. 
 There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils 
 exist only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal 
 protection, and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors 
 ahke on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it 
 would be an unquahfied blessing. In the act before me, 
 there seems to be a wide and unnecessary departure from 
 these just principles. 
 
 Nor is our gi)vernment to be maintained, or our Union 
 preserved, by invasions of the rights and powers of the 
 several states. In thus attempting to make our general 
 government strong, we make it weak. Its true strength • 
 consists in leaving individuals and states, as much as pos- 
 sible, to themselves ; in making itself felt, not in its power, 
 but in its beneficence — not in its control, but in its protec- 
 tion — not in binding the states more closely to the centre, 
 but leaving each to move, unobstructed, in its proper orbit. 
 
 Experience should teach us wisdom. Most of the dif- 
 ficulties our government now encounters, and most of the 
 dangers which impend over our Union, have sprung from 
 
262 LIFE OF JACKSON, 
 
 an abandonment of the legitimate objects of government 
 by our national legislation, and the adoption of such prin- 
 ciples as are imbodied in this act. Many of our rich men 
 have not been content with equal protection and equal 
 benefits, but have besought us to make them richer by acts 
 of Congress. By attempting to gratify their desires, we 
 have, in the results of our legislation, arrayed section 
 against section, interest against interest, and man against 
 man, in a fearful commotion, which threatens to shake the 
 foundations of our Union. It is time to pause in our 
 career, to review our principles, and, if possible, revive 
 that devoted patriotism, and spirit of compromise, which 
 distinguished the sages of the Revolution and the fathers 
 of our Union. If we cannot, at once, in justice to inte- 
 rests vested under improvident legislation, make our go- 
 vernment what it ought to be, we can, at least, take a 
 stand against all new grants of monopolies and exclusive 
 privileges, against any prostitution of our government to 
 the advancement of the few at the expense of the many, 
 and in favor of compromise and gradual reform in our 
 code of laws and system of political economy. 
 
 I have now done my duty to my country. If sustained 
 b};- my fellow-citizens, I shall be grateful and happy : if 
 not, I shall find in the motives which impel me, ample 
 grounds for contentment and peace. In the difficulties 
 which surround us, and the dangers which threaten our 
 institutions, there is cause for neither dismay or alarm. 
 For relief and dehverance, let us firmly rely on'that kind 
 Providence which, I am sure, watches with pecuhar care 
 over the destinies of our republic, and on the intelligence 
 and wisdom of our countrymen. Through His abundant 
 goodness, and their patriotic devotion, our liberty and 
 Union will be preserved. 
 
?ROCXAMATION« ^63 
 
 Proclamation on the Nullification Question. — December 11, 1832. 
 
 Whereas, a Convention assembled in the State of South 
 Carolina, having passed an ordinance by which they 
 declare, "That the several acts and parts of acts of the 
 Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws for 
 the imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of 
 foreign commodities, and now having actual operation and 
 effect within the United States, and more especially," two 
 acts for the same purpose, juassed on the 29th of May, 
 1828, and on the 14th of July, 1S32, "are unauthorized 
 by the Constitution of the United States, and violate the 
 true meaning and intent thereof, and are null and void, 
 and no law," nor binding on the citizens of that state or 
 its officers : and by the said ordinance, it is further de- 
 clared to be unlawful for any of the constituted authorities 
 of the state, or of the United States, to enforce the payment 
 of the duties imposed by the said acts within the same 
 state, and that it is the duty of the legislature to pass 
 such laws as may be necessary to give full effect to the 
 said ordinance : 
 
 And whereas, by the said ordinance, it is further or- 
 dained, that in no case, of law or equity, decided in the 
 courts of said state, wherein shall be drawn in question 
 the validity of the said ordinance, or of the acts of the 
 legislature that may be passed to give it effect, or of the 
 said laws of the United States, no appeal shall be allowed 
 to the Supreme Court of the United States, nor shall any 
 copy of the record be permitted or allowed for that pur- 
 pose, and that an}^ person attempting to take such appeal 
 shall be punished as for a contempt of court : 
 
 And, finally, the said ordinance declares, that the people 
 of South Carolina will maintain the said ordinance at every 
 hazard; and that they will consider the passage of any 
 
264 LIFE or JACKSON. 
 
 act by Congress, abolishing or closing the ports of the said 
 state, or otherwise obstructing the free ingress or egress 
 of vessels to and from the said ports, or any other act of 
 the federal government to coerce the state, shut up her 
 ports, destroy or harass her commerce, or to enforce the 
 said acts otherwise than through the civil tribunals of 
 the country, as inconsistent with the longer continuance 
 of South CaroHna in the Union ; and that the people of 
 the said state will thenceforth hold themselves absolved 
 from all further obligation to maintain or preserve their 
 political connection with the people of the other states, 
 and will forthwith proceed to organize a separate govern- 
 ment, and do all other acts and things which sovereign 
 and independent states may of right do : 
 
 And whereas, the said ordinance prescribes to the 
 people of South Carolina » course of conduct, in direct 
 violation of their duty as citizens of the United States, 
 contrary to the laws of their country, subversive of its 
 Constitution, and having for its object the destruction of 
 the Union — that Union, which, coeval with our political 
 existence, led our fathers, without any other lies to unite 
 them than those of patriotism and a common cause, through 
 a sanguinary struggle to a glorious independence — that 
 sacred Union, hitherto inviolate, which, perfected by our 
 happy Constitution, has brought us, by the favor of Heaven, 
 to a state of prosperity at home, and high consideration 
 abroad, rarely, if ever, equalled in the history of nations : 
 To preserve tjiis bond of our political existence from de- 
 struction, to maintain inviolate this state of national honor 
 and prosperity, and to justify the confidence my fellow- 
 citizens have reposed in me, I, Andrew Jackson, Presi- 
 dent of the United States, have thought proper to issue 
 this my Proclamation, stating my views of the Constitu- 
 tion and laws applicable to the measures adapted by the 
 Convention of So«th Carolina, and to the reasons they 
 have put forth to sustain them, declaring the course which 
 duty will require me to pursue, and, appeahng to the 
 understanding and patriotism of the people, warn them of 
 the consequences that must inevitably result from an ol|r 
 servance of the dictates of the Convention. 
 
PROCLAMATION. • 265 
 
 Strict duty would require of me nothing more than the 
 exercise of those powers with which I am now, or may- 
 hereafter be invested, for preserving the peace of the Union, 
 and for the execution of the laws. But the imposing 
 aspect which opposition has assumed in this case, by 
 clothing itself with state authority, and the deep interest 
 which the people of the United States must all feel in 
 preventing a resort to stronger measures, while there is a 
 hope that any thing will be yielded to reasoning and remon- 
 strance, perhaps demand, and will certainl}'- justify, a full 
 exposition to South Carolina and the nation, of .the views 
 I entertain of this important question, as well as a distinct 
 enunciation of the course which my sense of duty will 
 require me to pursue. 
 
 The ordinance is founded, not on the indefeasible right 
 of resisting acts which are plainly unconstitutional and too 
 oppressive to be endured ; but on the strange position that 
 any one state may not only declare an act of Congress 
 void, but prohibit its execution ; that they may do this 
 consistently with the Constitution ; that the true construc- 
 tion of that instrument permits a slate to retain its place 
 in the Union, and yet be bound by no other of its laws 
 than it may choose to consider constitutional. It is true, 
 they add, that to justify this abrogation of a law, it must 
 be paipabl}'- contrary to the Constitution ; but it is evident, 
 that to give the right of resisting laws of that description, 
 coupled with the uncontrolled right to decide what laws 
 deserve that character, is to give the power of resisting 
 all laws. For, as by the theory, there is no appeal, the 
 reasons alleged by the state, good or bad, must prevail. 
 If it should be said that public opinion is a sufficient 
 check against the abuse of this power, it may be asked 
 why it is not deemed a sufficient guard against the pas- 
 sage of an unconstitutional act by Congress. There is, 
 however, a restraint in this last case, which makes the 
 assumed power of a state more indefensible, and which 
 does not exist in the other. There are two appeals from 
 an unconstitutional act passed by Congress — one to the 
 judiciary, the other to the people and the states. There 
 is no appeal from the state decision in theory, and the 
 
266 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 practical illustration shows that the courts are closed 
 against an application to review it, both judge and jurors 
 being sworn to decide in its favor. But reasoning on this 
 subject is superfluous, when our social compact in express 
 terms declares, that the laws of the United States, its 
 Constitution and treaties made under it, are the supreme 
 law of the land — and for greater caution ^ds, "that the 
 judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing 
 in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary 
 notwithstanding." And it may be asserted without fear 
 of refutation, that no federative government could exist 
 without a similar provision. Look for a moment to th» 
 consequences. If South Carohna considers the revenue 
 Jaws unconstitutional, and has a right to prevent their 
 execution in the port of Charleston, there would be a 
 clear constitutional objection to their collection in every 
 other port, and no revenue could be collected anywhere ; 
 for all imposts must be equal. It is no answer to repeat, 
 that an unconstitutional law is no law, so long as the ques- 
 tion of its legality is to be decided by the state itself; for 
 every law operating injuriously upon any local interest, 
 will be perhaps thought, and certainly represented, as un- 
 constitutional, and, as has been shown, there is no appeal. 
 If this doctrine had been established at an earlier day, 
 the Union would ha^e been dissolved in its infancy. The 
 excise law in Pennsylvania, the embargo and non-inter- 
 course law in the Eastern btates, the carriage tax in Vir- 
 ginia, were all deemed unconstitutional, and were more 
 unequal in their operation tiian any of the laws now com- 
 plained of; but fortunately none of those states discovered 
 that they had the right now claimed by South Carohna. 
 The war into which we were forced, to support the dig- 
 nity of the nation and the rights of our citizens, might 
 have ended in defeat and disgrace, instead of victory and 
 honor, if the states who supposed it a ruinous and uncon- 
 stitutional measure, had thought they possessed the right 
 of nulliiying the act by which it was declared, and deny- 
 ing supplies for its prosecution. Hardly and unequally 
 as those measures bore upon several members of the 
 Union, to the legislatures of none did this efficierit ap4 
 
PROCLAMATION. 267 
 
 peaceable remedy, as it is called, suggest itself. The 
 discovery of this important feature in our Constitution 
 was reserved for tjie present day. To the statesmen of 
 South Carolina belongs the invention, and upon the citi- 
 zens of that state Avili unfortunately fall the evil of reduc- 
 ing it to practice. 
 
 If the doctrine of a state veto upon the laws of the Union 
 carries with it internal evidence of its impracticable ab- 
 surdity, our constitutional history will also afford abundant 
 proof that it would have been repudiated with indignation, 
 had it been proposed to form a feature in our government. 
 
 In our colonial state, although dependent on another 
 power, we very early considered ourselves as connected 
 by common interest with each other. Leagues were 
 formed for common defence, and before the Declaration 
 of Independence we were known in our aggregate cha- 
 racter as the UNITED colonies of America. That decisive 
 and important siep was taken jointly. We declared our- 
 selves a nation, by a joint, not by several acts, and when 
 the terms of confederation were reduced to form, it was in 
 that of a solemn league of several states by which they 
 agreed, that they would collectively form one nation for 
 the purpose of conducting some certain domestic concerns 
 and all foreign relations. In the instrument forming that 
 union is found an article which declares that, " every 
 state shall abide by the determination of Congress on aJl 
 questions which by that confederation should be submitted 
 to them." 
 
 Under the Confederation, then, no state could legally 
 annul a decision or the Congress, or refuse to submit to 
 its execution ; but no provision was made to enforce these 
 decisions. Congress made requisitions, but they were not 
 complied with. The government could not operate on 
 individuals. They had no judiciary, no means of collect- 
 ing revenue. 
 
 But the defects of the Confederation need not be de- 
 tailed. Under its operation we could scarcely be called a 
 nation. We had neither prosperity at home, nor con- 
 sideration abroad. This state of things could not be en- 
 dured, and our present happy Constitution was formed, 
 ]2* 
 
268 LIFE OP*JACKSOif. 
 
 but formed in vain if this fatal doctrine prevails. It was 
 formed for important objects tliat are announc-^d in the 
 preamble, made in the name and by the authori. -«t the 
 people of the United States, whose delegates framo- .. and 
 whose conventions approved it. The most important 
 among these objects, that which is placed first in rank, 
 on which all -others rest, is "to form a more perfect 
 UNION." Now, is it possible that even if there were no 
 express provisions giving supremacy to the Constitution 
 and Laws of the United States over those of the states — 
 can it. be conceived that an instrument made for the pur- 
 pose of "FORMING A MORE PERFECT UNIOn" than that of 
 
 the Confederation, could be so constructed by the as- 
 sembled wisdom of our country as to substitute for that 
 confederation a form of government dependent for its ex- 
 istence on the local interest, the party spirit of a state, or 
 of a prevailing faction in a state ? Every man of plain, 
 unsophisticated understanding, who hears the question, 
 will give such an answer as will preserve the Union, 
 Metaphysical subtlety, in pursuit of an impracticable 
 theory, could aione have devised one that is calculated to 
 destroy it. 
 
 I consider then the power to annul a law of the United 
 States, assumed by one state, incompatible with the 
 
 EXISTENCE OF THE UNION, CONTRADICTED EXPRESSLY BY 
 THE LETTER OF THE CONSTITUTION, UNAUTHORIZED BY ITS 
 SPIRIT, INCONSISTENT WITH EVERY PRINCIPLE ON WHICH IT 
 WAS FOUNDED, AND DESTRUCTIVE OF THE GREAT OBJECT 
 FOR WHICH IT WAS FORMED. 
 
 After this general view of the leading principle, we 
 must examine the particular application of it which is 
 made in the ordinance. 
 
 The preamble rests its justification on these grounds : 
 It assumes as a fact, that the obnoxious laws, although 
 they purport to be laws for raising revenue, were in reality 
 intended for the protection of manufactures, which purpose 
 it asserts to be unconstitutional ; that the operation of these 
 laws is unequal ; that the amount raised by them is greater 
 than is required by the wants of the government : and 
 finally, that the proceeds are to be applied to objects un 
 
PROCLAMATION. 2C9 
 
 authorized by the Constitution. These are the only causes 
 alleged to justify an open opposition to the laws of the 
 country, and a threat of seceding from the Union, if any 
 attempt should be made to enforce them. The first virtu- 
 ally acknowledges, that the law in question was passed 
 under a power expressly given by the Constitution, to lay 
 and collect imposts : but its constitutionality is drawn in. 
 question from the motives of those who passed it. How- 
 ever apparent this purpose ma}^ be in the present case, 
 nothing can be more dangerous than to admit the position 
 that an unconstitutional purpose, entertained by the mem- 
 bers who assent to a law enacted under a constitutional 
 power, shall make that law void ; for how is that purpose 
 to be ascertained ? Who is to make the scrutiny ? How 
 often may bad purposes be falsely imputed — in how many 
 cases are they concealed by false professions — in how 
 many is no declaration of motives made ? Admit this 
 doctrine, and a'OU give to the states an uncontrolled right 
 to decide, and every law may be annulled under this pre- 
 text. If, therefore, the absurd and dangerous doctrine 
 should be admitted, that a state may annul an unconstitu- 
 tional lav/, or one that it deems such, it will not apply to 
 the present case. 
 
 The next objection is, that the laws in question operate 
 unequally. This objection may be. made with truth, to 
 every law that has been or can be passed. The wisdom 
 of man never yet contrived a system of taxation that 
 would operate with perfect equality. If the unequal ope- 
 ration of a law makes it unconstitutional, and if all lav»-s 
 of that description may be abrogated by any state for that 
 cause, then indeed is the Federal Constitution unworthy 
 of the slightest effort for its preservation. We have 
 hitherto relied on it as the perpetual bond of our union. 
 We have received it as the work of the assembled wisdom 
 of the nation. We have trusted to it as to the sheet 
 anchor of our safety in the stormy tim.cs of conflict with 
 a foreign or domestic foe. Vve Lave looked to it with 
 sacred awe as the palladium of our liberties, and with all 
 the solemnities of religion have pledged to each other our 
 Hves and fortunes here, and our hopes of happiness here 
 
270 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 after, in its defence and support. Were we mistaken, 
 my countrymen, in attaching this importance to the Con- 
 stitution of our country ? Was our devotion paid to the 
 wretched, inefficient, clumsy contrivance which this new 
 doctrine would make it ? Did we pledge ourselves to the 
 support of an air)^ nothing, a bubble that must be blown 
 away by the first breath of disaffection ? Was this self- 
 destroying, visionary theory, the work of the profound 
 statesmen, the exalted patriots, to whom the task of con- 
 stitutional reform was intrusted ? Did the name of Wash- 
 ington sanction, did the states ratify, such an anomaly in 
 the history of fundamental legislation? No. We were 
 not mistaken. The letter of this great instrument is free 
 from this radical fault : its language directly contradicts 
 the imputation : its spirit — its evident intent, contradicts 
 it. No ; we do not err ! Our Constitution does not con- 
 tain the absurdity of giving power to make laws, and 
 another power to resist them. The sages whose memory 
 will always be reverenced, have given us a practical, and, 
 as they hoped, a permanent constitutional compact. The 
 father of his country did not affix his revered name to so 
 palpable an absurdity. Nor did the states, when they 
 severally ratified it, do so under the impression that a veto 
 on .the laws of the United States was reserved to them, or 
 that they could exercise it by imphcation. Search the 
 debates in all their conventions — examine the speeches 
 of the most zealous opposers of federal authority — look at 
 the amendments that were proposed — they are all silent 
 — not a syllable uttered, not a vote given, not a motion 
 made, to correct the explicit supremacy given to the laws 
 of the Union over these of the states — or to show that 
 implication, as is now contended, could defeat it. No ; 
 we have not erred ! The Constitution is still the object 
 of our reverence, the bond of our union, our defence in 
 danger, the source of our prosperity in peace. It shall 
 descend, as we have received it, uncorrupted by sophis- 
 tical construction, to our posterit}?" ; and the sacrifices of 
 local interest, of state prejudices, of personal animosities, 
 that were made to bring it into existence, will again be 
 patriotically offered for its support. 
 
PROCLAMATION. 27 1 
 
 The two remaining- objections made by the ordinau-- 
 to these laws are, that the sums intended to be raised b} 
 them are c:reater than required, and that the proceeds wiL 
 be unconstitutionally employed.. 
 
 The Constitution has given expressly to Congress the 
 right of raising revenue, and of determining the sum the 
 pubhc exigencies will require. The states have no con- 
 trol over the exercise of this right, other than that which 
 results from the power of changing the representatives 
 who abuse it ; and thus procure redress. Congress may 
 undoubtedly abuse this discretionary power, but the same 
 may be said of others with v/hich they are vested. Yet 
 the discretion must exist somewhere. The Constitution 
 has given it to the representatives of all the people, 
 checked by the representatives of the states and by the 
 executive power. The South Carolina construction gives 
 it to the legislature, or the convention of a single state, 
 where neither the people of the different states, nor the 
 states in their separate capacity, nor the chief magistrate 
 elected by the people, have any representation. Which 
 is the most discreet disposition of the power ? I do not 
 ask you, fellow-citizens, which is the constitutional dis- 
 position — that instrument speaks a language not to be 
 misunderstood. But if you were assembled in general 
 convention, which would you think the safest depository 
 of this discretionary power in the last resort ? Would you 
 add a clause giving it to each of the states, or would you 
 sanction the wise provisions already made by your Con-^ 
 stituiion ? If this should be the result of your delibera- 
 tions when providing for the future, are you, can you be 
 ready, to risk all that we hold dear, to establish, for a 
 temporal}'' and- a local purpose, that which you must ac- 
 knowledge to be destructive, and even absurd, as a general 
 provision ? Carry out the consequences of this right vested 
 in the diOerent states, and you must perceive that the crisis 
 your conduct presents at this day would recur whenevei 
 any law of the United States displeased any of the states, 
 and that we should soon cease to be a nation. 
 
 The ordinance, with the same knowledge of the future 
 that characterizes a former objection, tells you that the 
 
27^ LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 proceeds of the tax will be unconstitutionally applied. 
 If this could be ascertained with certainty, the objection 
 would, with more propriety, be reserved for the laws so 
 applying the proceeds, but surely cannot be urged against 
 the law levying the duty. 
 
 These are the allegations contained in the ordinance. 
 Examine them seriously, my feliow-citizens. — judge for 
 yourselves. I appeal to you to determine whether they 
 are so clear, so convincing, as to leave no doubt of their 
 correctness ; and even if you should come to this conclu- 
 sion, how far they justify the reckless, destructive course 
 which you are directed to pursue. Review these objec- 
 tions, and the conclusions drawn from them, once more. 
 What are they? Every law, then, for raising revenue, 
 according to the South Carolina ordinance, may be right- 
 fully annulled, unless it be so framed as no law ever will 
 or can be framed. Congress have a right to pass laws for 
 raising revenue, and each state has a right to oppose their 
 execution — two rights directly opposed to each other — and 
 yet is this absurdity supposed to be contained in an in- 
 strument drawn for the express purpose of avoiding colH- 
 sions between the states and the general government, by 
 an assembly of the most enlightened statesmen and purest 
 patriots ever imbodied for a similar purpose. 
 
 In vain have these sages declared that Congress shall 
 have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and 
 excises — in vain have they provided that they shall have 
 ► power to pass laws Vv'hich shall be necessary and proper 
 to carry those powers into execution ; that those laws and 
 that Constitution shall be the "supreme law of the land, 
 and that the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, 
 any thing in the constitution or laws of -any state to the 
 contrary, notwithstanding." In vain have the people o 
 the several states solemnly sanctioned these provisions 
 made them their paramount law, and individually sworn 
 to support them whenever they were called on to execute 
 any office. Vain provisions ! ineffectual restrictions ! vile 
 profanation of oaths ! miserable mockery of legislation ! if 
 a bare majority of the voters in any one state may, on a 
 real or supposed knowledge of the intent in which a 
 
PROCLAMATION. 273 
 
 law has been passed, declare themselves free from its 
 operations — say here it gives too little, there too much, 
 and operates unequally — here it suffers articles to be free 
 that ought to be taxed — there it taxes those that ought to 
 be free — in this case the proceeds are intended to be ap- 
 plied to purposes which we do not approve — in that, the 
 amount raised is more than is wanted. Congress, it is 
 true, are invested by the Constitution with the right of 
 deciding these questions according to their sound discre- 
 tion ; Congress is composed of the representatives of all 
 the states and of all the people of all the states ; but, we, 
 part of the people of one state, to whom the Constitution 
 has given no power on the subject, from whom it has ex- 
 pressly taken it away — wk, who have solemnly agreed 
 that this Constitution shall be our law — we, most of whom 
 have sworn to support it — we now abrogate this law and 
 swear, and force others to swear, that it shall not be 
 obeyed ! And we do this, not because Congress have no 
 right to pass such laws ; this we do not allege ; but because 
 they have passed them with improper views. They are 
 unconstitutional from the motives of those who passed 
 them, which we can never with certainty know — from 
 their unequal operation, although it is impossible from 
 the nature of things that they should be equal — and from 
 the disposition which we presume may be made of their 
 proceeds, although that disposition has not been declare(^ 
 This is the plain meaning of the ordinance in relation " 
 laws which it abrogates for alleged unconstitutionality. , 
 But it does not stop there. It repeals, in expre^ terms, 
 an important part of the Constitution itself, and of laws 
 passed to give it effect, which have never been alleged to 
 be unconstitutional. The Constitution declares that the 
 judicial powers of the United States extend to cases aris- 
 ing under the laws of the United States, and that such 
 laws, the Constitution and treaties, shall be paramount to 
 the state constitutions and laws. The judiciary act pre- 
 scribes the mode by which the case may be brought be- 
 fore a court of the United States, by appeal, when a state 
 tribunal shall decide against this provision of the Consti- 
 tution. The ordinance declares there shall be no appeal 
 
274 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 — makes the state law paramount to the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States — forces judges and jurors to 
 swear that they will disregard their provisions ; and even 
 makes it penal in a suitor to attempt relief by appeal. It 
 further declares that it shall not be lawful for the authori- 
 ties of the United States, or of that state, to enforce the 
 payment of duties imposed by the revenue laws within 
 its limits. 
 
 Here is a law of the United States not even pretende 
 to be unconstitutional, repealed by the authority of a small 
 majority of the voters of a single state. Here is a pro- 
 vision of the Constitution which is solemnly abrogated by 
 the same authority. 
 
 On such expositions and reasonings the ordinance grounds 
 not only an assertion of the right to annul the laws of 
 which it complains, but to enforce it by a threat of seced- 
 ing from the Union if any attempt is made to execute 
 them. 
 
 This right to secede is deduced from the nature of the 
 Constitution, which they say is a compact between sove- 
 reign states, who have preserved their whole sovereignty, 
 and, therefore, are subject to no superior ; ihat because 
 they made the compact, they can bi-eak it, when, in their 
 opinion, it has been departed from by the other states. 
 Fallacious as this course of reasoning is, it enlists state 
 pride, and finds advocates in the honest prejudices of those 
 ^^ho have not studied the nature of our government suffi- 
 ciently to see the radical error on which it vests. 
 
 The people of the United States formed the Constitu- 
 tion, aaing through the state legislatures in making the 
 compact, to meet and discuss its provisions, and actmg in 
 separate conventions when they ratified those provisions ; 
 but the terms used in its construction, show it to be a 
 government in which the people of all the states collec- 
 tively are represented. We are one people m the choice 
 of a President and Vice-President. Here the states have 
 no other agency than to direct the mode >n which the 
 votes shall be given. The candidates havin^G" the majority 
 of all the votes are chosen. The electors ot a majority 
 of the states may have given their votes for oi>« candidate, 
 
PROCLAMATION. * 2^6 
 
 and yet another may be chosen. The pemDle, then, and 
 not the states, are represented in the execi^re branch. 
 
 In tile House of Representatives there is this difference, 
 that the people of one state do not, as in the case of Pre- 
 sident and Vice-President, all vote for the same officers. 
 The people of all the states do not vote for all the mem- 
 bers, each state electing only its own representatives. But 
 this creates no material distinction. When chosen, they 
 are all representatives of the United States, not repre- 
 sentatives pf the particular slate from which they come. 
 They are paid by the United States, not by the state ; nor 
 are they accountable to it for any act done in the per- 
 formance of their legislative functions ; and however they 
 may, in practice, as it is their duty to do, consult and pre- 
 fer the interests of their particular constituents when they 
 come in conflict with any other partial or local interest, 
 yet it is their first and highest duty, as Representatives of 
 the United States, to promote the general good. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States then forms a 
 government, not a league, and whether it be formed by. 
 compact between the states, or in any other manner, its 
 character is the same. It is a government in which all 
 the people are represented, which operates directly on the 
 people individually, not upon the state — they retained all 
 the power they did not grant. But each state having 
 expressly parted with so many powers, as to constitute 
 jointly with the other states a single nation, cannot from 
 that period possess any right to secede, because such 
 secession does not break a league, but destroys the unity 
 of a nation, and any injury to that unity is not only a 
 breach which would result from the contravention of a 
 compact, but it is an offence against the whole Union. 
 To say that any state may at pleasure secede from the 
 Union, is to say that the United States are not a nation, 
 because it would be a solecism to contend that any part of 
 a nation might dissolve its connection with the other parts, 
 to their injury or ruin, without committing any offence. 
 Secession, like any other revolutionary act, may be mo- 
 rally justified by the extremity of oppression ; but to call 
 it a constitutional right, is confounding the meaning ol 
 
276 • LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 terms, and can only be done through gross error, or to 
 deceive those^fcio are willing to assert a right, but would 
 pause before they made a revolution, or incur the penal- 
 ties consequent on a failure. 
 
 Because the Union was formed by compact, it is said 
 the parties to that compact may, when they feel themselves 
 aggrieved, depart from it, but it is precisely because it is 
 a compact that they cannot. A compact is an agreement 
 or binding obligation. It may by its terms have a sanction 
 or penalty for its breach, or it may not. If it contains no 
 sanction, it may be broken with no other consequence than 
 moral guilt ; if it have a sanction, then the breach incurs 
 the designated or imphed penalty. A league between, 
 independent nations, generally, has no sanction other than 
 a moral one ; or if it should contain a penalty, as there is 
 no common superior, it cannot be enforced. A govern- 
 ment, on the contrary, always has a sanction express or 
 implied, and in our case, it is both necessarily imphed 
 and expressly given. An attempt by force of arms to 
 destroy a government, is an offence, by whatever means 
 the constitutional compact may have been formed ; and 
 such government has the right, by the law of self-defence, 
 to pass acts for punishing the offender, unless that right 
 is modified, restrained, or resumed by the constitutional 
 act. In our system, ahhough it is modified in the case of 
 treason, yet authority is expressly given to pass all laws 
 necessary to carry its powers into effect, and under this 
 grant, provision has been made for punishing acts which 
 obstruct the due administration of the laws. 
 
 It would seem superfluous to add any thing to show the 
 nature of that union which connects us ; but as erroneous 
 opinions on this subject are the foundation of doctrines the 
 most destructive to our peace, I must give some further 
 development to my views on this subject. No one, fellow- 
 citizens, has a higher reverence for the reserved'rights of 
 the states than the magistrate who now addresses you. 
 No one would make greater personal sacrifices, or official 
 exertions, to defend them from violation, but equal care 
 must be taken to prevent on their part an improper inter- 
 ference with, or resumption of the rights they have vested 
 
PROCLAMATION. 3?t 
 
 ill the nation. The line has not been so distinctly drawn 
 as to avoid doubts in some cases of the exercise of power. 
 Men of the best intentions and soundest views may differ 
 in the construction of some parts of the Constitution ; but 
 there are others on which dispassionate reflection can leave 
 no doubt. Of this nature appears to be the assumed right 
 of secession.^ It rests, as we have seen, on the alleged 
 undivided sovereignty of the states, and on their having 
 formed in this sovereign capacity a compact which is called 
 the Constitution, from which, because they made it, they 
 have the right to secede. Both of these positions are erro- 
 neous, and some of the arguments to prove them so have 
 been anticipated. 
 
 The states severally have not retained their entire sove- 
 reignty. It has been shown that in becoming parts of a 
 nation, not members of a league, they surrendered many 
 of their essential parts of sovereignty. The right to make 
 treaties, declare war, levy taxes, exercise exclusive judicial 
 and legislative powers, were all of them functions of sove- 
 reign power. The states, then, for all these important 
 purposes, were no longer sovereign. The allegiance with 
 their citizens was transferred in the first instance to the 
 government of the United States; they became American 
 citizens, and owed obedience to the Constitution of the 
 United States, and to laws made in conformity with powers 
 it vested in Congress. This last position has not been, 
 and cannot be denied. Hou^ then can that state be said 
 to be sovereign and independent wbg^e citizens owe obe- 
 dience to laws not made by it, and whose magistrates are 
 sworn to disregard those laws, when they come in conflict 
 with those passed by another ? What shows conclusively 
 thai the states cannot be said to have reserved an undivided 
 sovereignly, is that they expressly ceded the right to 
 punish treason, not treason against their separate power, 
 but treason against the United States. Treason is an 
 ofl^ence against sovereignty, and sovereignty must reside 
 with the power to punish it. But the reserved rights of 
 the states are not the less sacred because they have for 
 the common interest made the general government the 
 depository of these powers. The unity of our pohticaJ 
 
278 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 character (as has been shown for another purpose) com- 
 menced with its very existence. Under the royal govern- 
 ment, we had no separate character ; our opposition to its 
 oppressions began as united colonies. We were the 
 United States under the Confederation, and the name 
 was perpetuated and the Union rendered more perfect by 
 the Federal Constitution. In none of thesp stages did 
 we consider ourselves in any other hght than as forming 
 one nation. Treaties and aUiances were made in the 
 name of all. Troops were raised for the joint defence. 
 How, then, with all these proofs, that under all changes 
 of our position we had, for designated purposes, and with 
 •defined powers, created national governments ; how is it 
 that the most perfect of those several modes of union 
 should now be considered as a mere league that may be 
 dissolved at pleasure ? It is from an abuse of terms. 
 Compact is used as synonymous with league, although the 
 true term is not employed, because it would at once show 
 the fallacy of the reasoning. It would not do to say that 
 our Constitution was only a league, but, it is labored to 
 prove it a compact, (which in one sense it is,) and then to 
 argue that as a league is a compact, every compact be- 
 tween nations must of course be a league, and that from 
 such an engagement every sovereign power has a right 
 to recede. But it has been shown, that in this sense the 
 states are not sovereign, and that even if they were, and 
 the National Constitution had been formed by compact, 
 there would be no right in any one state to exonerate itself 
 from its obligations. 
 
 So obvious are the reasons which forbid this secession, 
 that it is necessary only to allude to them. The Union 
 was formed for the benefit of all. It was produced by 
 mutual sacrifices of interests and opinion. Can those 
 sacrifices be recalled ? Can the states, who magnani 
 mously surrendered their title to the territories of the west, 
 recall the grant ? Will the inhabitants of the inland states 
 agree to pay the duties that may be imposed without their 
 assent by those on the Atlantic or the gulf, for their own 
 benefit ? Shall there be a free port in one state and one- 
 rous duties in another ? No one believes that any right 
 
PROCLAMATION. 3^9 
 
 exists in a single state to involve all the others in these 
 and countless other evils, contrary to engagements solemn- 
 ly made. Every one must see that the other states, in 
 self-defence, must oppose it at all hazards. 
 
 These are the alternatives that are presented by the 
 Convention ; a repeal of all the acts for raising revenue, 
 leaving the government without the means of support ; or 
 an acquiescence in the dissolution of our Union by the 
 secession of one of its members. When the first was 
 proposed, it was known that it could not be listened to for 
 a moment. It was known if force was applied to oppose 
 the execution of the laws, thSt it must be repelled by force 
 — that Congress could not, without involving itself in dis- 
 grace and the country in ruin, accede to the proposition ; 
 and yet if this is done on a given day, or if any attempt 
 is made to execute the laws, the state is, by the ordinance, 
 declared to be out of the Union. 
 
 The majority of a Convention assembled for the purpose, 
 have dictated these terms, or rather its rejection of all terms, 
 in the name of the people of South CaroHna. It is true that 
 the Governor of the state speaks of submission of their 
 grievances to a Convention of all the states ; which he says 
 they " sincerely and anxiously seek and desire." Yet this 
 obvious and constitutional mode of obtaining the sense of 
 the other states on the construction of the federal compact, 
 and amending it, if necessary, has never been attempted 
 by those who have urged the state on to this destructive 
 measure. The state might have proposed the call for a 
 general Convention to the other states ; and Congress, if a 
 sufficient number of them concurred, must have called it. 
 
 But the first magistrate of South CaroHna, when he ex- 
 pressed a hope that, " on a review by Congress and the 
 "unctionaries of the general government of the merits of 
 the controversy," suc'h a Convention will be accorded to 
 them, must have known that neither Congress nor any 
 functionary of the general government has authority to call 
 such a Convention, unless it be demanded by two-thirds 
 of the states. This suggestion, then, is another instance 
 of a reckless inattention to the provisions of the Constitu- 
 tion with which this crisis has been madly hurried on ; or 
 
 \^ 
 
280' LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 of the attempt to persuade the people that a constitutional 
 remedy had been sought and refused. If the legislature 
 of South Carolina "anxiously desire" a general Conven- 
 tion to consider their complaints, why have they not made 
 application for it in the way the Constitution points out? 
 The assertion that they "earnestly seek it" is completely 
 negatived by the omission. 
 
 This, then, is the position in which we stand. A small 
 majority of the citizens of one state in the Union have 
 elected delegates to a State Convention; that Convention 
 has ordained that all the revgnue laws of the United States 
 must be repealed, or that they are no longer a member of 
 the Union. The Governor of that state has recommended 
 to the legislature the raising of an array to carry the seces- 
 sion into effect, and that he may be empowered to give 
 clearances to vessels in the name of the state. No act of 
 violent opposition to the laws has yet been committed, but 
 such a state of things is hourly apprehended, and it is the 
 intent of this instrument to proclaim not only the duty 
 imposed on me by the Constitution " to take care that the 
 laws be faithfullj'- executed," shall be performed to the 
 extent of the powers already vested in me by law, or of 
 such others as the wisdom of Congress shall devise and 
 intrust to me for that purpose ; but to warn the citizens 
 of South Carolina, who have been deluded into an oppo- 
 sition to the laws, of the danger they will incur by obe- 
 dience to the illegal and disorganizing ordinance of the 
 Convention — to exhort those who have refused to support 
 it, to persevere in their determination to uphold the Con- 
 stitution and laws of their country — and to point out to all, 
 the perilous situation into which the good people of that 
 state have been led — and that the course they are urged 
 to pursue is one of ruin and disgrace to the very state 
 whose rights they affect to support.. 
 
 Fellow-citizens of my native state ! — let me not only 
 adntbnish you, as the first Magistrate of our common coun- 
 try, not to incur the penalty of its laws, but use the in- 
 fluence that a father would over his children, whom he 
 saw rushing to certain ruin. In that paternal language, 
 with that paternal feeUng, let me tell you, my countrymen, 
 
PROCLAMATION. 381 
 
 that you are deluded by men who are either deceived 
 themselves, or wish to deceive you. Mark under what 
 pretences you have been led on to the brink of insurrec- 
 tion and treason, on which you stand ! First, a diminu- 
 tion of the value of your staple commodity lowered by 
 over production in other quarters, and the consequent dimi- 
 nution in the value of your lands, were the sole effect of 
 the tariff laws. The effect of those laws was confessedly 
 injurious, but the evil was greatly exaggerated by the 
 unfounded theory you were taught to believe, that its 
 burdens were in proportion to your exports, not to your 
 consumption of imported articles. Your pride was roused 
 by the assertion that a submission to those laws was a 
 state of vassalage, and that resistance to them was equal, 
 in patriotic merit, to the opposition our fathers offered to 
 the oppressive laws of Great Britain. You were told 
 that this opposition might be peaceably — might be consti- 
 tutionally made — that you might enjoy all the advantages 
 of the Union and bear none of its burdens. Eloquent 
 appeals to your passions, to your state pride^o your na- 
 tive courage, to your sense of real injury, \Wre used to 
 prepare you for the period when the mask which con- 
 cealed the hideous features of disunion shT)uld be taken 
 off. It fell, and you were made to look with complacency 
 on objects which not long since you would have regarded 
 with horror. Look back at the arts which have brought 
 you to this state ; look forward to the consequences to 
 which it must inevitably lead ! Look back to what was 
 first told you as an inducement to enter into this dangerous 
 course. The great political truth was repeated to you, 
 that you had the revolutionary right of resisting all laws 
 that were palpably unconstitutional and intolerably op- 
 pressive — it was added that the right to nullify a law rested 
 on the same principle, but that it was a peaceable remedy! 
 This character which was given to it, made you :^^ive 
 with too much confidence the assertions that werWiade 
 of the unconstitutionality of the law and its oppressive 
 effects. 
 
 Mark, my fellow-citizens, that by the admission of your 
 leaders, the unconstitutionality must be palpable, or it will 
 
282 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 not justify either resistance or nullification ! What is the 
 meaning of the word palpable in the sense in which it is 
 here used ? — that which is apparent to every one, that 
 which no man of ordinary intellect will fail to perceive. 
 Is the unconstitutionality of these laws of that descrip- 
 tion ? Let those among your leaders who once approved 
 and advocated the principle of protective duties answer 
 the question ; and let them choose whether they will be 
 considered' as incapable, then, of perceiving that which 
 must have been apparent to every man of common under- 
 standing, or as imposing upon your confidence and en- 
 deavoring to mislead you now. In either case they are 
 unsafe guides in the perilous paths they urge you to 
 tread. Ponder well on this circumstance, and you will 
 know how to appreciate the exaggerated language they 
 addressed to you. They are not champions of Hberty, 
 emulating the fame of our Revolutionary Fathers, nor are 
 you an oppressed people, contending, as they repeat to 
 you, against worse than colonial vassalage. You are free 
 members of a flourishing and happy Union. There is no 
 settled de^^n to oppress you. You have indeed felt the 
 unequal operations of laws which may have been un- 
 wisely, not unconstitutionally passed ; but that inequahty 
 must necessarily be removed. 
 
 At the very moment when you were madly urged on 
 to the unfortunate course you have begun, a change in 
 public opinion had commenced. The nearly approach- 
 ing payment of the public debt, and the consequent ne- 
 cessity of a diminution of duties, had already produced a 
 considerable reduction, and that too on some articles of 
 general consumption in your state. The importance of 
 this change was understood, and you were authoritatively 
 told that no further alleviation of your burdens was to be 
 expected at the very time when the condition of the coun- 
 try imperiously demanded such a modification of the duties 
 a^jliould reduce them to a just and equitable scale. But, 
 as n apprehensive of the effect of this change in allaying 
 your discontents, you were precipitated into the fearful 
 state in which you now find yourselves. 
 
 I have urged you to look back to the means that were 
 
PROCLAMATION. 283 
 
 used to hurry you on to the position you have now as- 
 sumed, and forward to the consequences it will produce. 
 Something more is necessary. Contemplate the condi- 
 tion of that country of which you still form an important 
 part ! consider its government uniting in one bond of 
 common interest and general protection so many different 
 states — giving to all their inhabitants the proud title of 
 Jimerican citizens — protecting their commerce — securing 
 heir literature and their arts — facilitating their intercom- 
 munication — defending the frontiers — and making their 
 names respected in the remotest parts of the earth ! Con- 
 sider the extent of its territory, its increasing and happy 
 population, its advance in arts which render life agree- 
 able, and the sciences which elevate the mind : see edu- 
 cation spreading the hghts of religion, humanity, and 
 general information into every cottage in this wide extent 
 of our territories and states ! Behold it as the as3''lum 
 where the wretched and the oppressed find a refuge and 
 support ! Look on this picture of happiness and honor, 
 and say, we, too, are citizens of America ! Carolina 
 is one of these proud states ; her arms have defended, 
 her best blood has cemented this happy Union ! And 
 then add, if you can, without horror and remorse, this 
 happy Union we will dissolve — this picture of peace 
 and prosperity^ we will deface — this free intercourse we 
 will interrupt — these fertile fields we will deluge with 
 blood — the protection of that glorious flag we will re- 
 nounce — the very name of Americans we discard. And 
 for what, mistaken men ! for what do you throw away 
 these inestimable blessings — for what would you exchange 
 3^our share in the advantage and honor of the Union ? 
 For the dream of a separate independence — a dream in- 
 terrupted by bloody conflicts with your neighbors, and a 
 vile dependence on a foreign power. If your leaders 
 could succeed in establishing a separation, what^ would 
 be your situation ? A\q you united at home — are *}'0U 
 free from the apprehension of civil discord, with afl its 
 fearful consequences ? Do our neighboring repubhcs, 
 every day suffering some new revolution or contending 
 with some new insurrection — do they excite your envy? 
 13 
 
284 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 But the dictates of a high duty oblige me solemnly to 
 announce that you cannot succeed. 
 
 The laws of the United States must be executed. I 
 have no discretionary power on the subject ; my duty is 
 emphatically pronounced in the Constitution. Those who 
 told you that you might peaceably prevent their execu- 
 tion, deceived you — they could not have been deceived 
 themselves. They know that a forcible opposition coula 
 alone prevent the execution of the laws, and they know 
 that such opposition must be repelled. Their object is dis- 
 union : but be not deceived by names ; disunion, by armed 
 force, is treason. Are you really ready to incur its 
 guilt ? If you are, on the heads of the instigators of the 
 act be the dreadful consequences — on their heads be the 
 dishonor, but on yours may fall the punishment — on your 
 unhappy state will inevitably fall all the evils of the con- 
 flict you force upon the government of your country. It 
 cannot accede to the mad project of disunion, of which 
 you would be the first victims — its first magistrate cannot, 
 if he would, avoid the performance of his duty — the con- 
 sequence must be fearful for you, distressing to your fel- 
 low-citizens here, and to the friends of good government 
 throughout the world. Its enemies have beheld our .pros- 
 perity with a vexation they could not conceal — it was a 
 standing refutation of their slavish doctrfnes, and they 
 will point to our discord with the triumph of malignant 
 joy. It is yet in your power to disappoint them. There 
 is yet time to show that the descendants of the Pinckneys, 
 the Sumpters, the Rutledges, and of the thousand other 
 names which adorn the pages of your Revolutionary 
 history, will not abandon that Union, to support which, so 
 many of them fought, and bled, and died. I adjure you, 
 as you honor their memory — as you love the cause of 
 freedona, to which they dedicated their lives — as you 
 prize the peace of your country, the lives of its best cit- 
 izens, and your own fair fame, to retrace your steps. 
 Snatch from the archives of your state the disorganizing 
 edict of its convention — bid its members to re-assemble 
 and promulgate the decided expressions of your will to 
 remain in the path which alone can conduct you to safety, 
 
PROCLAMATION. 385 
 
 prosperity, and honor — tell them that, compared to dis- 
 union, all other evils are light, because that brings with 
 It an accumulation of all — declare that you will never lake 
 the field unless the star-spangled banner of your country 
 shall float over you — that you will not be stigmatized 
 when dead, and dishonored and scorned while you live, 
 as the authors of the first attack on the Constitution of 
 your country ! — Its destroyers y^p cannot be. You may 
 disturb its peace — you may interrupt the course of its 
 prosperity — you may cloud its reputation for stabihty — 
 but its tranquilhty will be restored, its prosperity will 
 return, and the stain upon its national character will be 
 transferred, and remain an eternal blot on the memory of 
 those who caused the disorder. 
 
 Fellow-citizens of the United States ! The threat of 
 unhallowed disunion — the names of those, once respected, 
 by whom it was uttered — the array of military force to 
 support it — denote the approach of a crisis in our affairs, 
 on which the continuance of our unexampled prosperity, 
 •ur political existence, and perhaps that of all free gov- 
 ernments, may depend. The conjuncture demanded a 
 free, a full and explicit enunciation, not only of my inten- 
 tions, but of my principles of action ; and as the claim was 
 asserted of a right by a state to annul the laws of the 
 Union, and even to secede from it at pleasure, a frank 
 exposition of my opinions in relation to the origin and 
 form of our government, and the construction I give to the 
 instrument by which it was created, seemed to be proper. 
 Having the fullest confidence in the justness of the legal 
 and constitutional opinion of my duties, which has been 
 expressed, I rely with equal confidence on your undivided 
 support in my determination to execute the laws — to pre- 
 serve the Union by all constitutional means — to arrest, if 
 possible, by moderate but firm measures, the necessity of 
 a recourse to force ; and if it be the will of Heaven that 
 the recurrence of its primeval curse on man for the shed- 
 ding of a brother's blood should fall upon our land, that it 
 be not called down by any offensive act on the part of the 
 United States. 
 
 Fellow-citizens ! The momentous case is before you. 
 
286 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 On your undivided support of your government depends 
 the decision of the great question it involves, whether 
 your sacred Union will be preserved, and the blessing it 
 secures to us as one people shall be perpetuated. No 
 one can doubt that the unanimity with which that decision 
 will be expressed, will be such as to inspire new con- 
 fidence in republican institutions, and that the prudence, 
 the wisdom, and the courage which it will bring to their 
 defence, will transmit th|m unimpaired and invigorated 
 to our children. 
 
 May the Great Ruler of nations grant that the signal 
 blessings with which He has favored ours, may not, by 
 the madness of party or personal ambition, be disregarded 
 and lost ; and may His wise Providence bring those who 
 have produced this crisis, to see the folly, before they feel 
 the misery of civil strife ; and inspire a returning venera- 
 tion for that Union, which, if we may dare to penetrate 
 His designs, he has chosen as the only means of attaining 
 the high destinies to which we may reasonably aspire. 
 
PROTEST. 387 
 
 Extract^rom President Jackson^ s Protest against the Action of the 
 United States Senate.— -April 15, 1834. 
 
 REASONS FOR THE PROTEST. 
 
 It appears by the published journal of the Senate, that 
 on the 26th of December last, a resolution was offered by 
 a member of the Senate, which, after a protracted debate, 
 was on the 28lh day of March last modified by the mover, 
 and passed by the votes of twenty-six senators out of forty- 
 six, who were present and voted, in the following words, 
 viz.: 
 
 " Resolved, That the President, in the late executive 
 proceeding in relation to the public revenue, has assumed 
 upon himself authority and power not conferred by the 
 Constitution and laws, but in derogation of both." 
 
 Having had the honor, through the voluntary suffrages 
 of the American people, to fill the office of President of 
 the United States, during the period which may be pre- 
 sumed to have been referred to in this resolution, it is 
 sufficiently evident, that the censure it inflicts was intended 
 for myself. Without notice, unheard and untried, I thus 
 find myself charged on the records of the Senate, and in 
 a form hitherto unknown in our history, with the high 
 crime of violating the laws and Constitution of my country. 
 
 It can seldom be necessary for any department of the 
 government, when assailed in conversation, or debate, or 
 by the strictun s of the press or of popular assemblies, to 
 step out of its ordinary path for the purpose of vindicating 
 its conduct, or of pointing out any irregularity or injustice 
 in the manner of the attack. But when the Chief Execu- 
 tive Magistrate is, by one of the most important branches 
 of the government, in its official capacity, in a public 
 manner, and by its recorded sentence, but without prece- 
 
288 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 dent, competent authority, or just cause, declared gnilty of 
 the breach of the laws and Constitution, it is due to his 
 station, to public opinion, and to proper self-respect, that 
 the officer thus denounced should promptly expose the 
 wrong which has been done. 
 
 In the present case, moreover, there is even a stronger 
 necessity ror such a vindication. By an express provision, 
 of the Constitution, before the President of thS United 
 States can enter on the execution of his office, he is 
 required to take an oath or affirmation, in "the following 
 words : 
 
 " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
 execute the office of President of the United States ; and 
 will, to the best of my abihty, preserve, protect, and defend 
 the Constitution of the United States." 
 
 The duty of defending, so far as in him lies, the integ- 
 rity of the Constitution, would indeed have resulted from 
 the very nature of his office ; but, by thus expressing it 
 in the official oath or affirmation, which, in this respect, 
 differs from that of every other functionary, the founders 
 of our republic have attested their sense of its importance, 
 and have given to it a peculiar solemnity and force. Bound 
 to the performance of this duty by the oath I have taken, 
 by the strongest obligations of gratitude to the American, 
 people, and by the ties which unite my every earthly in- 
 terest with the welfare and glory of my country ; and 
 perfectly convinced that the discussion and passage of the 
 above-mentioned resolution were not only unauthorized by 
 the Constitution, but in many respects repugnant to its 
 provisions, and subversive of the rights secured by it to 
 other co-ordinate departments, I deem it an imperative 
 duty to maintain the supremacy of that sacred instrument, 
 and the immunities of the department intrusted to my 
 care, b}'' all means consistent with my own lawful powers, 
 with the rights of others, and with the genius of our civil 
 institutions. To this end, I have caused this, my solemn 
 protest against the aforesaid proceedings, to be placed on 
 the files of the Executive Department, and to be transmitted 
 to the Senate. 
 
PROTEST. 289 
 
 POWERS OF THE SENATE IN CASES OF IMPEACHMENT. 
 
 Under the Constitution of the United States, the powers 
 and functions of the various departments of the federal 
 government, and their responsibihties for violation or 
 neglect of dut)^ are clearly defined, or result by necessary- 
 inference. The legislative power, subject to the qualified 
 negative "of the President, is vested in the Congress of the 
 United States, composed of the Senate and House of Re- 
 presentatives. ' The executive power is vested exclusively 
 in the President, except that in the conclusion of treaties, 
 and in certain appointments to office, he is to act with the 
 advice and consent of the Senate. The judicial power is 
 vested exclusively in the Supreme and other Courts of the 
 United States, except in cases of impeachment, for which 
 purpose the accusatory power is vested in the House of 
 Representatives, and that of hearing and determining in 
 the Senate. But although, for the special purposes which 
 have been mentioned, there is an occasional intermixture 
 of the powers of the different departments, yet, with these 
 exceptions, each of the three great departments is inde- 
 pendent of the others, in its sphere of action ; and when 
 it deviates from that sphere, is not responsible to the others, 
 further than it is expressly made so in the Constitution. 
 In every other respect, each of them is the coequal of the 
 other two, and all are the servants of the American people, 
 without power or right to control or censure each other in 
 the service of their common superior, save only in the 
 manner and to the degree which that superior has pre- 
 scribed. 
 
 The responsibilities of the President are numerous and 
 weighty. He is liable to impeachment for high crimes 
 and misdemeanors, and, on due conviction, to removal from 
 office, and perpetual disqualification ; and notwithstanding 
 such conviction, he may also be indicted and punished 
 according to law. He is also liable to the private action 
 of any party, who may have been injured by his illegal 
 mandates or instructions, in the same manner and to the 
 same extent as the humblest functionary. In addition to 
 the responsibilities which may thus be enforced by im- 
 
290 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 peachment, criminal prosecution, or suit at law,*he is also 
 accountable at the bar of public opinion, for every act of 
 his administration. Subject only to the restraints of truth 
 and justice, the free people of the United States have the 
 undoubted right, as individuals or collectively, orally or in 
 writing, at such times, and in such language and form as 
 they may think proper, to discuss his official conduct, and 
 to express and promulgate their opinions concerning it. 
 Indirectly, also, his conduct may come under review in 
 either branch of the legislature, or in the Senate when 
 acting in its executive capacity, and so far as the execu- 
 tive or legislative proceedings of these bodies may require 
 it, it may be examined by them. These are behoved to 
 be the proper and only modes in which the President of 
 the United States is to be held accountable for his official 
 conduct. 
 
 Tested by these principles, the resolution of the Senate 
 is wholly unauthorized by the Constitution, and in deroga- 
 tion of its entire spirit. It assumes that a single branch 
 of the legislative department may, for the purposes of a 
 pubHc censure, and without any view to legislation or 
 impeachment, take up, consider, and decide upon the of- 
 ficial acts of the Executive. But in no part of the Con- 
 stitution is the President subjected to any such responsi- 
 bihty ; and in no part of that instrument is any such 
 power conferred on either branch of the legislature. 
 
 The justice of these conclusions will be illustrated and 
 confirmed by a brief analysis of the powers of the Senate, 
 and a comparison of their recent proceedings with those 
 powers. 
 
 The high functions assigned by the Constitution to the 
 Senate, are in their nature either legislative, executive, or 
 judicial. It is only in the exercise of its judicial powers, 
 when sitting as a court for the trial of impeachments, that 
 the Senate is expressly authorized and necessarily required 
 to consider and decide upon the conduct of the President 
 or any other public officer. Indirectly, however, as has 
 been already suggested, it may frequently be called on 
 to perform that office. Cases may occur in the course of 
 its legislative or executive proceedings, in which it may 
 
PROTEST. 991 
 
 be indispensable to the proper exercise of its powers, that 
 it should inquire into, and decide upon, the conduct of the 
 President or other public officers; and in every such case, 
 its constitutional right to do so is cheerfully conceded. 
 But to authorize the Senate to enter on such a task, in its 
 legislative or executive capacity, the inquiry must actually 
 grow out of and tend to some legislative or executive 
 action; and the decision, when expressed, must take the 
 form of some appropriate legislative or executive act. 
 
 The resolution in question was introduced, discussed, and 
 passed, not as a joint, but as a separate resolution. It as- 
 serts no legislative power; proposes no legislative action; 
 and neither possesses the form nor any of the attributes of 
 a legislative measure. It does not appear to have been 
 entertained or passed witb any view or expectation of its 
 issuing in a law or joint resolution, or in the repeal of any 
 law or joint resolution, or in any other legislative action. 
 
 While wanting both the form and substance of a legis- 
 lative measure, it is equally manifest that the resolution 
 was not justified by any of the executive powers conferred 
 on the Senate. These powers relate exclusively to the 
 consideration of treaties and nominations to office, and 
 they are exercised in secret session, and with closed doors. 
 This resolution does not apply to any treaty or nomina- 
 tion, and was passed in a public session. 
 
 Nor does this proceeding in any way belong to that 
 class of incidental resolutions which relate to the officers 
 of the Senate, to their chamber, and other appurtenances, 
 or to subjects of order, and other matters of the like nature 
 — in all which either House may lawfully proceed, with- 
 out any co-operation with the other, or with the President. 
 
 On the contrary, the whole phraseology and sense of 
 the resolution seem to be judicial. Its essence, true cha- 
 racter, and only practical effect, are to be found in the 
 conduct which it charges upon the President, and in the 
 judgment which it pronounces upon that conduct. The 
 resolution, therefore, though discussed and adopted by the 
 Senate in its legislative capacity, is, in its office, and in all 
 its characteristics, essentially judicial. 
 
 That the Senate possesses a high judicial power, and 
 1 8^^ 
 
292 LIFE OF JACKSOK. 
 
 that instances may occur in which the President of the 
 United States will be amenable to it, is undeniable. But 
 under the provisions of the Constitution, it would seem to 
 be equally plain, that neither the President, nor any other 
 officer, can be rightfully subjected to the operation of the 
 judicial power of the Senate, except in the cases and 
 under the forms prescribed by the Constitution. 
 
 The Constitution declares that "the President, Vice- 
 president, and all civil officers of the United States, shall 
 be removed from office, on impeachment for and convic- 
 tion of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misde- 
 meanors;" that the House of Representatives "shall have 
 the sole power of impeachment ;" that the Senate "shall 
 have the sole power to try all impeachments ;" that 
 " when sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or 
 affirmation i" that •" when the President of the United 
 States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside ;" that " no 
 person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two- 
 thirds of the members present ;" and that judgment shall 
 not extend farther than "to removal from office, and dis- 
 qualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, 
 or profit, under the United States." 
 
 The resolution above quoted, charges, in substance, that 
 in certain proceedings relating to the public revenue, the 
 President has usurped authority and power not conferred 
 upon him by the Constitution and laws, and that in doing 
 so, he violated both. Any such act constitutes a high 
 crime-^one of the highest, indeed, which the President 
 can commit — a crime which justly exposes him to im- 
 peachment by the House of Representatives, and, upon 
 due conviction, to removal from office, and to the complete 
 and immutable disfranchisement prescribed by the Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 The resolution, then, was in substance an impeachment 
 of the President ; and in its passage, amounts to a decla- 
 ration by a majority of the Senate, that he is guilty of an 
 impeachable offence. As such, it is spread upon the 
 journals of the Senate — pubhshed to the nation and to the 
 world — made part of our enduring archives — and incor- 
 porated in the history of the age. The punishment of 
 
PROTEST. 293 
 
 removal from office and future disqualification, does not, 
 it is true, follow this decision ; nor would it have followed 
 the like decision, if the regular forms of proceeding had 
 been pursued, because the requisite number did not con- 
 cur in the result. But the moral influence of a solemn 
 declaration, by a majority of the Senate, that the accused 
 IS guilty of the offence charged upon him, has been as 
 effectually secured, as if the hke declaration had been 
 made upon an impeachment expressed in the same terms. 
 Indeed, a greater practical effect has been gained, because 
 the voles given for the resolution, though not sufficient to 
 authorize a judgment of guilty on an impeachment, were 
 numerous enough to carry that resolution. 
 
 That the resolution does not expressly allege that the 
 assumption of power and authority, which it condemns, 
 was intentional and corrupt, is no answer to the preceding 
 view of its character and effect. 
 
 The act thus condemned, necessarily implies violation 
 and design in the individual to whom it is imputed, and 
 being unlawful in its character, the legal conclusion is, 
 that it was prompted by improper motives, and committed 
 with an unlawful intent. The charge is not of a mistake 
 in the exercise of supposed powers, but of the assumption 
 of powers not conferred by the Constitution and laws, and 
 in derogation of both ; and nothing is suggested to excuse 
 or paUiate the turpitude of the act. In the absence of any 
 such excuse or palliation, there is only room for one infer- 
 ence ; and that is, that the intent was unlawful and cor- 
 rupt. Besides, the resolution not only contains no miti- 
 gating suggestion, but, on the contrary, it holds up the 
 act complanied of as justly obnoxious to censure and re- 
 probation ; and thus as distinctly stamps it with impurity 
 )f motive, as if the strongest epithets had been used. 
 
 The President of the United Stales, therefore, has been, 
 by a majority of his constitutional triers, accused and 
 found guilty of an impeachable offence ; but in no part 
 of this proceeding have the directions of the Constitution 
 been observed. 
 
 The impeachment, instead of being preferred and pro- 
 secuted by the House of Representatives, originated ia 
 
294 LIFE OF JACKSON. * 
 
 the Senate, and was prosecuted without the aid or con- 
 currence of the other house. The oath or affirmation 
 prescribed by the Constitution, was not taken by the 
 senators ; the Chief Justice did not preside ; no notice of 
 the charge was given to the accused ; and no opportunity 
 afforded him to respond to the accusation, to meet his 
 accusers face to face, to cross-examine the witnesses, to 
 procure counteracting testimonj^, or to be heard in his 
 defence. The safeguards and formahties which the Con- 
 stitution has connected with the power of impeachment, 
 were doubtless supposed, by the framers of tliat instru- 
 ment, to be essential to thg protection of the public servant, 
 to the attainment of justice, and to the order, impartiality, 
 and dignity of the procedure. These safeguards and for- 
 mahties were not only practically disregarded, in the com- 
 mencement and conduct of these proceedings, but, in their 
 result, I find myself convicted by less than two-thirds of 
 the members present, of an impeachable offence. 
 
 In vain it may be alleged in defence of this proceeding, 
 that the form of the resolution is not that of an impeach- 
 ment or a judgment thereupon — that the punishment pre- 
 scribed in the Constitution does not follow its adoption, or 
 that in this case no impeachment is to be expected from 
 the House of Representatives. It is because it did not 
 assume the form of an impeachment, that it is more pal- 
 pably repugnant to the Constitution ; for it is through 
 that form onl}'- that the President is judicially responsible 
 to the Senate ; and though neither removal from office, 
 nor future disqualification ensues, yet it is not to be pre- 
 sumed that the framers of the Constitution considered 
 either or both of those results as constituting the whole 
 ot the punishment they prescribed. The judgment of 
 guilty by the highest tribunal in the Union ; the stigma 
 it would inflict on the offender, his family and fame ; and 
 the perpetual record on the journal, handing down to 
 future generations the story of his disgrace, were doubt- 
 less regarded by them as the bitterest portions, if not the 
 very essence of that punishment. So far, therefore, as 
 soni« of its most material parts are concerned, the pas- 
 sage, recording, and promulgation of the resolution, ara 
 
 %'* 
 
PROTEST. 295 
 
 an attempt to bring them on the President, in a manner 
 unauthorized by the Constitution. To shield him and 
 other officers who are hable to impeachment, from conse- 
 quences so momentous, except when really merited by 
 official delinquencies, the Constitution has most carefully 
 guarded the whole process of impeachment. A majority 
 of the House of Representatives must think the officer 
 guilty before he can be charged. Two-thirds of the Senate 
 must pronounce him guilty, or he is deemed to he inno- 
 cent. Forty-six senators appear by the journal to have 
 been present when the vote on the resolution was taken. 
 If, after all the solemnities of an impeachment, thirty of 
 those senators had voted that the President was guilty, 
 yet would he have been acquitted ; but by the mode of 
 proceeding adopted in the present case, a lasting record 
 of conviction has been entered up by the votes of twenty- 
 six senators, without an impeachment or trial ; whilst the 
 Constitution expressly declares, that to the entry of such 
 a judgment on accusation by the House of Representa- 
 tives, a trial by the Senate, and a concurrence of two- 
 thirds in the vote of guilty, shall be indispensable pre- 
 requisites. 
 
 Whether or not an impeachnient was to be expected 
 from the House of Representatives, was a point on which 
 the Senate had no constitutional right to speculate, and in 
 respect to which, even had it possessed the spirit of pro- 
 phecy, its anticipations would have furnished no just 
 grounds for this procedure. Admitting that there was 
 reason to beheve that a violation of the Constitution and 
 laws had been actually committed by the President, still 
 A was the duty of the Senate, as his sole constitutional 
 judges, to wait for an impeachment until the other house 
 should think proper to prefer it. The members of the 
 Senate could have no right to infer that no impeachment 
 was intended. On the contrary, every legal and rational 
 presumption on their part ought to have been, that if there 
 was good reason to believe him guilty of an impeachable 
 offence, the House of Representatives would perform its 
 constitutional duty by arraigning the offender before the 
 justice of his country. The contrary presumption would 
 
296 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 involve an implication derogatory to the integrity and 
 honor of the representatives of the people. But suppose 
 the suspicion thus implied were actually entertained, and 
 for good cause, how can it justify the assumption by the 
 Senate, of powers not conferred by the Constitution ? 
 
 It is only necessary to look at the condition in which 
 the Senate and the President have been placed by this 
 proceeding, to perceive its utter incompatibility with the 
 provisions and spirit of the Constitution, and with the 
 plainest dictates of humanity and justice. 
 
 If the House of Representatives shall be of opinion that 
 there is just ground for the censure pronounced upon the 
 President, then will it be the solemn duty of that House 
 to prefer the proper accusation, and to cause him to be 
 brought to trial by the constitutional tribunal. But in 
 what condition would he find that tribunal? A majority 
 of its members have already considered the case, and have 
 not only formed, but expressed a dehberate judgment upon 
 its merits. It is the policy of our benign system of juris- 
 prudence, to secure in all criminal proceedings, and even 
 in the most trivial litigations, a fair, unprejudiced, and 
 impartial trial. And surely it cannot be less important, 
 that such a trial should be secured to the highest officer 
 of the government. 
 
 The Constitution makes the House of Representatives 
 the exclusive judges, in the first instance, of the question, 
 whether the President has committed an impeachable of- 
 fence. A majority of the Senate, whose interference with 
 this preliminary question has, for the best of all reasons, 
 been studiously excluded, anticipate the action of the 
 House of Representatives, assume not only the function 
 which belongs exclusively to that body, but convert them- 
 selves into accusers, witnesses, counsel, and judges, and 
 pre-judge the whole case. Thus presenting the appalling 
 spectacle, in a free state, of judges going through a labored 
 preparation for an impartial hearing and decision, by a 
 previous ex parte investigation and sentence against the 
 supposed ofl^ender. 
 
 There is no more settled axiom in that government 
 whence we derive the model of this part of our Constitu- 
 
PROTEST. 297 
 
 don, than " that the lords cannot impeach any to them- 
 selves, nor join in the accusation, because they are judges.''^ 
 Indept*ndently of the general reason on which this rule is 
 founded, its propriety and importance are greatly in- 
 creased by the nature of the impeaching power. The 
 power of arraigning the high officers of government, be- 
 fore a tribunal whose sentence may expel them from their 
 seats, and brand them as infamous, is eminently a popular 
 remedy — a remedy designed to be employed for the pro- 
 tection of private right and public liberty, against the 
 abuses of injustice, and the encroachments of arbitrary 
 power. But the framers of the Constitution were also 
 undoubtedly aware that this formidable instrument had 
 been and might be abused ; and that from its very nature, 
 an impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors, what- 
 ever might be its result, would in most cases be accom- 
 panied by so much of dishonor and reproach, solicitude 
 and suffering, as to make the power of preferring it, one 
 of the highest solemnity and importance. It was due to 
 both these considerations that the impeaching power 
 should be lodged in the hands of those who, from the 
 mode of their election and the tenure of their offices, 
 would most accurately express the popular will, and at 
 the same time be most directly and speedily amenable to 
 the people. The theory of these wise and benignant in- 
 tentions is, in the present case, effectually defeated by the 
 proceedings of the Senate. The members of that body 
 represent not the people, but the states ; and though they 
 are undoubtedly responsible to the states, yet, from their 
 extended term of service, the efl^ect of that responsibility, 
 during the whole period of that term, must very much 
 depend upon their own impressions of its obligatory force. 
 When a body, thus constituted, expresses beforehand its 
 opinion in a particular case, and thus indirectly invites a 
 prosecution, it not only assumes a power intended for wise 
 reasons to be confined to others, but it shields the latter 
 from that exclusive and personal responsibility undei 
 which it was intended to be exercised, and reverses the 
 whole scheme of this part of the Constitution. 
 
 Such would be some of the objections to this procedure 
 
298 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 even if it were admitted that there is just ground for im- 
 puting to the President the ofiences charged in the reso- 
 lution. But if, on the other hand, the House of j^-epre- 
 sentatives shall be of opinion that there is no reason for 
 charging them upon him, and shall therefore deem it 
 improper to prefer an impeachment, then will the violation 
 of privilege, as it respects that House, of justice, as it re- 
 gards the President, and of the Constitution as it relates 
 to both, be only the more conspicuous and impressive. 
 
 RIGHT OF THE PRESIDENT TO REMOVE THE SECRETARY 
 OF THE TREASURY. 
 
 By the Constitution, the executive power is vested in 
 the President of the United States. Among the duties 
 imposed upon him, and which he is sworn to perform, is 
 that of " taking care that the laws be faithfully executed." 
 Being thus made responsible for the entire action of the 
 executive department, it was but reasonable that the power 
 ofappointing, overseeing, and controlling those who execute 
 the laws — a power in its nature executive — should remain 
 in his hands. It is therefore not only his right, but the 
 Constitution makes it his duty to "nominate, and by and 
 with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint" all 
 "officers of the United States, whose appointments are not 
 in the Constitution otherwise provided for," with the pro- 
 viso that the appointment of inferior officers may be vested 
 in the President alone, in the courts of justice, or in the 
 heads of departments. 
 
 The executive power vested in the Senate is neither 
 .hat of " nominating" nor " appointing." It is merely a 
 check upon the executive power of appointment. If in- 
 dividuals are proposed for appointment by the President, 
 by them deemed incompetent or unworthy, they may 
 withhold their consent, and the appointment cannot be 
 made. They check the action of the Executive, but 
 cannot, in relation to these very subjects, act themselves, 
 nor direct him. Selections are still made by the Presi- 
 dent; and the negative given to the Senate, without dimi 
 nishing his responsibility,furnishes an additional guarantee 
 to the country that the subordinate executive, as well as 
 
PROTEST. 299 
 
 the judicial offices, shall be filled with worthy and com- 
 petent men. 
 
 The whole executive power being vested in the Pre- 
 sident, who is responsible for its exercise, it is a necessary 
 consequence that he should have a right to employ agents 
 of his own choice to aid him in the performance of his 
 duties, and to discharge them when he is no longer wilhng 
 to be responsible for their acts. In strict accordance with 
 this principle, the power of removal, which, like that of 
 appointment, is an original executive power, is left un- ' 
 checked by the Constitution in relation to all executive 
 officers, for w^hose conduct the President is responsible, 
 while it is taken from him in relation to judicial officers, 
 for whose acts he is not responsible. In the government 
 from which many of the fundamental principles of our 
 system are derived, the head of the executive department 
 originally had power to appoint and remove at will all 
 officers, executive and judicial. It was to take the judges 
 out of this general power of removal, and thus make them 
 independent of the Executive, that the tenure of their 
 offices was changed to good behavior. Nor is it conceiv- 
 able why they are placed in our Constitution upon a tenure 
 different from that of all other officers appointed by the 
 Executive, unless it be for the same purpose. 
 
 But if there were any just ground for doubt, on the face 
 of the Constitution, whether all executive officers are re- 
 movable at the will of the President, it is obviated by the 
 cotemporaneous construction of the instrument and the 
 uniform practice under it. 
 
 The power of removal was a topic of solemn debate in 
 the Congress of 1789, while organizing the administrative 
 departments of the government, and it was finally decided, 
 that the President derived from the Constitution the power 
 of removal, so far as it regards that department for whose 
 acts he is responsible. Although the debate covered the 
 whole ground, embracing the treasury as well as all the 
 other executive departments, it arose on a motion to strike 
 out of the bill to establish a department of foreign affairs, 
 since called the department of state, a clause declaring 
 the secretary " to be removable from office by the Presi- 
 
300 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 dent of the United States." After that motion had been 
 decided in the negative, it was perceived that these words 
 did not convey the sense of the House of Representatives 
 in relation to the true source of the power of removal. 
 With the avowed object of preventing any future infer- 
 ence, that this power was exercised by the President in 
 virtue of a grant from Congress, when in fact that body 
 considered it as derived from the Constitution, the words 
 which had been the subject of debafe, were struck out 
 and in Heu thereof a clause was inserted in a provision 
 concerning the chief clerk of the department, which de- 
 clared that " whenever the said principal officer shall be 
 removed from office by the President of the United States, 
 or in any other case of vacancy," the chief clerk should 
 during such vacancy have charge of the papers of the 
 office. This change having been made for the express 
 pilVpose of declaring the sense of Congress, that the Pre- 
 sident derived the power of removal from the Constitution, 
 the act, as it passed, has always been considered as a full 
 expression of the sense of the legislature on this import- 
 ant part of the American Constitution. 
 
 Here, then, we have the concurrent authority of Pre- 
 sident Washington, of the Senate, and House of Repre- 
 sentatives, numbers of whom had taken an active part in 
 the Convention which framed the Constitution, and in the 
 state Convention which adopted it, that the President 
 derived an unqualified power of removal from that instru- 
 ment itself, which is " beyond the reach of legislative 
 authority." Upon this principle the government has 
 now been steadily administered for about forty-five years, 
 during which there have been numerous removals made 
 by the President, or by his direction, embracing every 
 grade of executive officers, from the heads of departments 
 to the messengers of bureaus. 
 
 The treasury department, in the discussions of 1789, 
 was considered on the same footing as the other executive 
 departments, and in the act establishing it, the precise 
 words were incorporated indicative of the sense of Con- 
 gress, that the President derives his power to remove the 
 secretary from the Constitution, which appear in the act 
 
PROTEST. SOI 
 
 ©stablishinfi^ the department of foreign affairs. An assist- 
 ant secretary of the treasury was created, and it was pro- 
 vided liiat he should take charge of the books and papers 
 of the department, "whenever the secretary shall be re- 
 moved from office by the President of the United States." 
 The secretary of the treasury being appointed by the 
 President, and being considered as constitutionally remov- 
 able by him, it appears never to have occurred to any 
 one in the Congress^f 1789, or since, until very recent- 
 ly, that he was other than an executive officer, the mere 
 instrument of the Chief Magistrate in the execution of 
 the laws, subject, like all other heads of departments, to 
 his supervision and control. No such idea, as an officer of 
 the Congress, can be found in the Constitution, or appears 
 to have suggested itself to those who organized the go- 
 vernment. 
 
 CONCLUSIOX. 
 
 The honest differences of opinion which occasionally 
 exist between the Senate and the President, in regard to 
 matters in which both are obliged to participate, are suf- 
 ficiently embarrassing. But if the course recently adopted 
 by the Senate shall hereafter be frequently pursued, it is 
 not only obvious that the harmony of the relations between 
 the President and the Senate will be destroyed, but that 
 other and graver effects will ultimately ensue. If the 
 censures of the Senate be submitted to by the President, 
 the confidence'of the people in his ability and virtue, and 
 the character and usefulness of his administration, will 
 soon be at an end, and the real power of the government 
 will fall into the hands of a bod}'', holding their offices for 
 long terms, not elected by the people, and not to them 
 directly responsible. If, on the other hand, the illegal 
 censures of the Senate should be resisted by the President, 
 collisions and angry controversi-es might ensue, discredit- 
 able in their progress, and in the end compelling the peo- 
 ple to adopt the conclusion, either that their Chief Magis- 
 trate was unworthy of their respect, or that the Senate 
 was chargeable with calumny and injustice. Either of^ 
 ihese results would impair pubhc confidence in the per- 
 
302 LIFE OF JACKSOX. 
 
 fection of the system, and lead to serious alterations of its 
 framework, or to the practical abandonment of some of its 
 provisions. 
 
 The influence of such proceedings on the other depart- 
 ments of the government, and more especially on the 
 states, could not fail to be extensively pernicious. When 
 the judges, in the last resort, of official misconduct, them- 
 selves overleaped the bounds of th^r authority, as pre- 
 scribed by the Constitution, what general disregard of its 
 provisions might not their example be expected to pro- 
 duce ? And who does not perceive that such contempt of 
 the federal Constitution, by one of its most important de- 
 partments, would hold out the strongest temptations to 
 resistance on the part of the state sovereignties, whenever 
 they shall suppose their just rights to have been invaded? 
 Thus all the independent departments of the government, 
 and the states which compose our confederated union, 
 instead of attending to their appropriate duties, and leav- 
 ing those who may offend to be reclaimed or punished in 
 the manner pointed out in the Constitution, would fall to 
 mutual crimination and recrimination, and give to the 
 people confusion and anarchy, instead of order and law ; 
 until at length some form of aristocratic power would be 
 established on the ruins of the Constitution, or the states 
 be broken into separate communities. 
 
 Far be it from me to charge, or to insinuate, that the 
 present Senate of the United States intended, in the most 
 distant way, to encourage such a result. It is not of their 
 motives or designs, but only of the tendenc}'- of their acts, 
 that it is my duty to speak. It is, if possible, to make 
 senators themselves sensible of the danger which lurks 
 under the precedent set in their resolution ; and at any 
 rate to perform my duty, as the responsible head of one 
 of the co-equal departments of the government, that I have 
 been compelled to point out the consequences to which 
 the discussion and passage of the resolution may lead, if 
 the tendency of the measure be not checked in its incep- 
 tion. It is due to the high trust with which I have been 
 charged ; to those who may be called to succeed me in 
 
PROIEST. 303 
 
 it ; to the representatives of the people, whose constitu- 
 tional prerogative has been unlawfully assumed ; to the 
 people of the states ; and to the Constitution they have 
 established ; that I shall not permit its provisions to be 
 broken down, by such an attack on the executive depart- 
 ment, without at least some effort " to preserve, protect, and 
 defend them."' With this view, and for the reasons which 
 have been stated, I do hereby solemnly protest against 
 the aforementioned proceedings of the Senate, as un- 
 authorized by the Constitution ; contrary to its spirit and 
 to several of its express provisions; subversive of that 
 distribution of the powers of government which it has 
 ordained and established ; destructive of the checks and 
 safeguards by which those powers were intended, on the 
 one hand to be controlled, and on the other to be pro- 
 tected ; and calculated by their immediate and collateral 
 effects, by their character and tendency, to concentrate in 
 the hands of a body not directly amenable to the people, 
 a degree of influence and power dangerous to their liber- 
 ties, and fatal to the Constitution of their choice. 
 
 The resolution of the Senate contains an imputation upon 
 my private as well as upon my public character; and as 
 it must stand for ever on their journals, I cannot close this 
 substitute for that defence which I have not been allowed 
 to present in the ordinary form, without remarking, that 
 I have lived in vain, if it be necessary to enter into a 
 formal vindication of my character and motives from such 
 an imputation. In vain do I bear upon my person, en- 
 during memorials of that contest in which American 
 liberty was purchased — in vain have I since perilled pro- 
 perty, fame, and life, in defence of the rights and privi- 
 leges so dearly bought — in vain am I now, without a 
 personal aspiration, or the hope of individual advantage, 
 encountering responsibilities and dangers, from which, by 
 mere inactivity in relation to a single point, I might have 
 been exempt — if any serious doubts can be entertained as 
 to the purity of my purposes and motives. If I had been 
 ambitious, I should have sought an alliance with that 
 powerful institution, which even now aspires to no di- 
 
804 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 vided empire. If I had been venal, I should have sold 
 myself to its designs. Had I preferred personal comfort 
 and official ease to the performance of my arduous duty, I 
 should have ceased to molest it. In the history of con- 
 querors and usurpers, never, in the fire of youth, nor in 
 the vigor of manhood, could I find an attraction to lure me 
 from the path of dutj ; and now, I shall scarcely find an 
 inducement to commence their career of ambition, when 
 gray hairs and a decaying frame, instead of inviting to 
 toil and battle, call me to the contemplation of other 
 worlds, where conquerors cease to be honored, and usurp- 
 ers expiate their crimes. 
 
 The only ambition I can feel is, to acquit myself to Him 
 to whom I must soon render an account of my steward- 
 ship, to serve my fellow-men, and live respected and 
 honored in the history of my country. No ! the ambition 
 which leads me on, is an anxious desire and a fixed de- 
 termination, to return to the people, unimpaired, the 
 sacred trust they have confided to my charge ; to heal 
 the wounds of the Constitution and preserve it from 
 further violation ; to pefsuade my countrymen, so far as 
 I may, that it is not in a splendid government, supported 
 by powerful monopolies and aristocratical establishments, 
 that they will find happiness, or their liberties protection ; 
 but in a plain system, void of pomp — protecting all, and 
 granting favors to none — dispensing its blessings hke the 
 dews of Heaven, unseen and unfelt, save in the freshness 
 and beauty they contribute to produce. It is such a 
 government that the genius of our people requires — such 
 an one only under which our states may remain for ages 
 to come, united, prosperous, and free. If the Almighty 
 Being who has hitherto sustained and protected me, will 
 but vouchsafe to make my feeble powers instrumental to 
 such a result, I shall anticipate with pleasure the place 
 to be assigned me in the history of my country, and die 
 contented with the behef, that I have contributed, in some 
 small degree, to increase the value and prolong the dura- 
 tion of American liberty. 
 
 To the end that the resolution of the Senate may not 
 
PROTEST. 305 
 
 be hereafter drawn into precedent, with the authority of 
 silent acquiescence on the part of the executive depart- 
 ment, and to the end, also, that my motives and views 
 in the executive proceedings denounced in that resolu- 
 tion, may be known to my fellow-citizens, to the world, 
 and to ail posterity, I respectfully request that this mes- 
 sage and protest may be entered at length on the journals 
 of the Senate. 
 
806 LITE OF JACKSON. 
 
 SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 
 
 Delivered, Decmher 2d, 1834. 
 
 Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and Bouse of Representa- 
 tives : — 
 
 In performing my duty at the opening of your present 
 session, it gives me pleasure to congratulate you again 
 upon the prosperous condition of our beloved country. 
 Divine Providence has favored us with general health, 
 with rich rewards in the fields of agTiculture and in every 
 branch of labor, and with peace to cultivate and extend 
 the various resources which employ the virtue and enter- 
 prise of our citizens. Let us trust that in surveying a 
 scene so flattering to our free institutions, our joint deli- 
 berations to preserve them may be crowned with success. 
 Our foreign relations continue, with but few exceptions, 
 to maintain the favorable aspect which they bore in my 
 last annual message, and promise to extend those advan- 
 tages which the principles that regulate our intercourse 
 with other nations are so well calciilated to secure. 
 
 The question of the northeastern boundary is still pend- 
 ing with Great Britain, and the proposition made in ac- 
 cordance with the resolution of the senate for the establish- 
 ment of a hne according to the treaty of 1783, has not 
 been accepted by that government. Beheving that every 
 disposition is felt on both sides to adjust this perplexing 
 question to the satisfaction of all the parties interested in 
 it, the hope is yet indulged that it may be efifected on the 
 basis of that proposition. 
 
 With the governments of Austria, Russia, Prussia, 
 Holland, Sweden, and Denmark, the best understanding 
 exists. Commerce with all is fostered and protected by 
 reciprocal good will, under the sanction of hberal conven- 
 tional or legal provisions. 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 307 
 
 • 
 
 In the midst of her internal difficulties, the queen of 
 Spain has ratified the convention for the paj^ment of the 
 claims of our citizens arising since 1819. It is in the 
 course of execution on her part, and a copy of it is now 
 laid before you for such legislation as may be found ne- 
 cessary to enable those interested to derive the benefiis 
 of it. 
 
 Yielding to the force of circumstances, and to the wise 
 councils of time and experience, that power has finally re- 
 solved no longer to occupy the unnatural position in which 
 she stood to the new governments established on this he- 
 misphere. I have the great satisfaction of stating to you 
 that, in preparing the way for the restoration of harmony 
 between those who have sprung from the same ancestors, 
 who are aUied by common interests, profess the same re- 
 ligion, and speak the same language, the United States 
 have been actively instrumental. Our efforts to effect 
 this good work will be persevered in while they are deem- 
 ed useful to the parties, and our entire disinterestedness 
 continues to be felt and understood. The act of Congress 
 to countervail the discriminating duties levied to the pre- 
 judice of our navigation, in Cuba and Porto Rico, has 
 been transmitted to the minister of the United States aj^ 
 Madrid, to be communicated to the government of the 
 queen. No intelHgence of its receipt has yet reached the 
 department of state. If the present condition of the coun- 
 try permits the government to make a careful and enlarg- 
 ed examination of the true interests of these important 
 portions of its dominions, no doubt is entertained that 
 their future intercourse with the United States will be 
 placed upon a more just and hberal basis. 
 
 The Florida archives have not yet been selected and 
 dehvered. Recent orders have been sent to the agent of ^ 
 the United States at Havana, to return with all that he 
 can obtain, so that they may be in Washington before the 
 session of the supreme court, to be used in the legal ques- 
 tions there pending, to which the government is a party. 
 
 Internal tranquility is happily restored to Portugal. 
 The distracted state of the country rendered unavoidable 
 the postponement of a final payment of the just claims of 
 14 
 
308 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 GUI' citizens. Our diplomatic relations will be soon re- 
 sumed, and the long subsisting friendsliip with that power 
 affords the strongest guarantee that the balance due will 
 receive prompt attention. 
 
 The first instalment due under the convention of in- 
 demnity with the king of the Two Sicihes has been duly- 
 received, and an offer has been made to extinguish the 
 whole by a prompt payment ; an offer I did not consider 
 myself authorized to accept, as the indemnification provi- 
 
 ' ded is the exclusive property of individual citizens of the 
 United States. The original adjustment of our claims, 
 and the anxiety displayed to fulfil at once the stipulations 
 made for the payment of them, are highly honorable to 
 the government of the Two Sicihes. When it is recol- 
 lected that they were the result of the injustice of an 
 intrusive power, temporarily dominant in its territory, a 
 repugnance to acknowledge and to pay which would have 
 been neither unnatural or unexpected, the circumstances 
 can not fail to exalt its character for justice and good faith 
 in the eyes of all nations. 
 
 The treaty of amity and commerce between the United 
 States and Belgium, brought to your notice in my last an- 
 ^jual message, as sanctioned by the senate, but the ratifi- 
 cations of which had not been exchanged, owing to a de- 
 lay in its reception at Brussels, and a subsequent absence 
 of the Belgian minister of foreign affairs, has been, after 
 mature deliberation, finally disavowed by that government 
 as inconsistent with the powers and instructions given to 
 their minister who negotiated it. This disavowal was en- 
 tirely unexpected, as the liberal principles embodied in 
 the convention, and which form the groundwork of the 
 objections to it, were perfectly satisfactory to the Belgian 
 
 representative, and were supposed to be not only within 
 the powers granted, but expressly conformable to the 
 instructions given to him. An offer, not yet accepted, 
 has been made by Belgium to renew negotiations for a 
 treaty less hberal in its provisions, on questions of general 
 maritime law. 
 
 Our newly established relations with the Sublime Porte 
 promise to be useful to oui' commerce, and satisfactory in 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 309 
 
 every respect to this government. Our intercourse with 
 the Barbary powers continues without important change, 
 except that the present pohtical state of Algiers has in- 
 duced me to terminate the residence there of a salaried 
 consul, and to substitute an ordinary consulate, to remain 
 so long as the place continues in the possession of France. 
 Our first treaty with one of these powers, the emperor of 
 Morocco, was formed in 1786, and was hmited to fifty 
 years. That period has almost expired. I shall take 
 measures to renew it with the greater satisfaction, as its 
 stipulations are just and liberal, and have been, with mu- 
 tual fidehty and reciprocal advantage, scrupulously ful- 
 filled. 
 
 Intestine dissensions have too frequently occurred to 
 mar the prosperity, interrupt the commerce, and distract 
 the governments of most of the nations of this hemisphere, 
 which have separated themselves from Spain. When a 
 firm and permanent understanding with the parent coun- 
 try shall have produced a formal acknowledgment of their 
 independence, and the idea of danger from that quarter 
 can be no longer entertained, the friends of freedom ex- 
 pect that those countries, so favored by nature, will be 
 distinguished for their love of justice, and their devotion 
 to those peaceful arts, the assiduous cultivation of which 
 confers honor upon nations, and gives value to human 
 fife. In the meantime, I confidently hope that the appre- 
 hensions entertained that some of the people of these lux- 
 uriant regions may be tempted, in a moment of unworthy 
 distrust of their own capacity for enjoyment of hberty, to 
 commit the too common error of purchasing present re- 
 pose by bestoAving on some favorite leaders the fatal gift 
 of irresponsible power, will not be realized. With all 
 these governments, and with that of Brazil, no unexpected - 
 changes in our relations have occurred during the present 
 year. Frequent causes of just complaint have arisen up- 
 on the part of the citizens of the United States — some- 
 times from the irregular action of the constituted subordi- 
 nate authorities of the maritime regions, and sometimes 
 from the leaders or partisans of those in arms against the 
 estabhshed governments. In all cases, representations 
 
310 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 have been or will be made ; and as soon as tbeir political 
 affairs are in a settled position, it is expected that our 
 friendly remonstrances will be followed by adequate re- 
 dress. 
 
 The government of Mexico made known in December 
 last, the appointment of commissioners and surveyors on 
 its part, to run, in conjunction with ours, the boundary 
 hne between its territories and the United States, and ex- 
 cused the delay for the reasons anticipated — the preva- 
 lence of civil war. The commissioners and surveyors not 
 having met within the time stipulated by the treaty, a 
 new arrangement became necessary, and our charge d'af- 
 faires was instructed in January last, to negotiate in Mex- 
 ico an article addtional to the pre-existing treaty. This 
 instruction was acknowledged, and no difficulty was ap- 
 prehended in the accomplishment of that object. By in- 
 formation just received, that additional article to the treaty 
 will be obtained and transmitted to this country, as soon 
 as it can receive the ratification of the Mexican Congress. 
 
 The reunion of the three states of New Grenada, Ve- 
 nezuela, and Equador, forming the repubhc of Columbia, 
 seems every day to become more improbable. The com- 
 missionnrs of the first two are understood to be now ne- 
 gotiating a just division of the obhgations contracted by 
 when united under one government. The civil war in 
 Equador, it is believed, has prevented even the appoint- 
 ment of a commissioner on its part. 
 
 I propose, at an early day, to submit, in the proper 
 form, the appointment of a diplomatic agent to Venezue- 
 la; the importance of the commerce of that country to 
 the United States, and the large claims of our citizens 
 upon the government, arising before and since the division 
 of Colombia, rendering it, in my judgment, improper 
 longer to delay the step. 
 
 Our representatives to Central America, Peru, and 
 Brazil, are either at, or on their way, to their respective 
 posts. 
 
 From the Argentine republic, from which a minister 
 was expected to this government, nothing further has 
 been heard. Occasion has been taken, on the departure 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 311 
 
 of a new consul to Buenos Ayres, to remind that govern- 
 ment that its long-delayed minister, whose appointment 
 has been made known to us, had not arrived. 
 
 It becomes my unpleasant duty to inform you that this 
 specific and highly gratifying picture of our foreign rela- 
 tions, does not include those with France at this time. It 
 is not possible that any government and people could be 
 more sincerely desirous of conciliating a just and friendly 
 intercourse with another nation, than are those of the 
 United States, with their ancient ally and friend. This 
 disposition is founded, as well on the most grateful and 
 honorable recollections associated with our struggle for 
 independence, as upon a well-grounded conviction that it 
 is consonant with the true pohcy of both. The people of 
 the United States could not, therefore, see, without the 
 deepest regret, even a temporary interruption of the 
 friendly relations between the two countries — a regret 
 which would, I am sure, be greatly aggravated, if there 
 should turn out to be any reasonable ground for attribut- 
 ing such a result to any act of omission or commission on 
 our part. I derive, therefore, the highest satisfaction 
 from being able to assure you that the whole course of 
 this government has been characterized by a spirit so con- 
 ciliatory and forbearing, as to make it impossible that our 
 justice and moderation should be questioned, whatever 
 may be the consequences of a longer perseverance, on the 
 part of the French government, in her omission to satisfy 
 the conceded claims of our citizens. 
 
 The history of the accumulated and unprovoked ag- 
 gTessions upon our commerce, committed by authority of 
 the existing governments of France, between the years 
 1800 and 1817, has been rendered too painfully familiar 
 to Americans to make its repetition either necessary or 
 desirable. It will be sufficient here to remark that there 
 has for many years been scarcely a single administration 
 of the French government by whom the justice and legal- 
 ity of the claims of our citizens to indemnity were not, to 
 a very considerable extent, admitted ; and yet near a quar- 
 ter of a century has been wasted in ineffectual negotiations 
 to secure it. 
 
312 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 Deeply sensible of the injurious effects resulting from 
 this state of tilings upon the interests and character of 
 both nations, I regarded it as among my first duties to 
 cause one more effort to be made to satisfy France that 
 a just and liberal settlement of our claims was as well due 
 to her own honor as to their incontestable vahdity. The 
 negotiation for this purpose was commenced with the late 
 government of France, and was prosecuted with such suc- 
 cess as to leave no reasonable ground to doubt that a set- 
 tlement of a character quite as liberal as that which was 
 subsequently made, would have been effected, .,had not 
 the revolution, by which the negotiation was cut off, taken 
 place. The discussions were resumed with the present 
 government, and the result showed that we were not 
 wrong in supposing that an event by which the two gov- 
 ernments were made to approach each other so much 
 nearer in their political principles, and by which the mo- 
 tives for the most hberal and friendly intercourse were so 
 greatly multiplied, could exercise no other than a salutary 
 influence upon the negotiation. After the most dehberate 
 and thorough examination of the whole subject, a treaty 
 between the two governments was concluded and signed 
 at Paris on the 4th of July, 1831, by which it was stipu- 
 lated that " the French government, in order to liberate 
 itself from all the reclamations preferred against it by citi- 
 zens of the United States for unlawful seizures, captures, 
 sequestrations, confiscations, or destruction of their ves- 
 sels, cargoes, or other property, engages to pay a sum of 
 twenty-five millions of francs to the United States, who 
 shall distribute it among those entitled, in the manner and 
 according to the rules it shall determine ;" and it was also 
 stipulated, on the part of the French government, that 
 this twenty-five millions of francs should " be paid at Paris 
 in six annual instalments of four millions, one hundred 
 and sixty-six thousand, six hundred and sixty-six francs, 
 and sixty-sik centimes each, into the hands of such person 
 or persons as shall be authorized by the government of the 
 United States to receive it." The fiVst instalment to be paid 
 " at the expiration of one year next following the exchange 
 of the ratifications of this convention, and the others at sue- 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 313 
 
 cessive intervals of a year, one after another, till the whole 
 shall be paid. To the amount of each of the said instal- 
 ments shall be added interest at four per cent, thereupon, 
 as upon the other instalments then remaining unpaid, the 
 said interest to be computed from the day of the exchange 
 of the present convention." 
 
 It was also stipulated, on the part of the United States, 
 for the pui'pose of being completely hberated from all the 
 reclamations presented by France on behalf of its citizens, 
 that the sum of one million five hundred thousand francs 
 should be paid to the government of France, in six annual 
 instalments, to be deducted out of the annual sums which 
 France had agreed to pay, interest thereupon being in 
 like manner computed from the day of the exchange of 
 the ratifications. In addition to this stipulation, impor- 
 tant advantages Avere secured to France by the following 
 articles, viz : " The wines of France, from and after the 
 exchange c«f the ratifications of the present convention, 
 shall be admitted to consumption in the states of the 
 Union, at duties which shall not exceed the following rates 
 by the gallon (such as is used at present for wines in the 
 United States), to wit: six cents for red wines in casks; 
 ten cents for white wines in casks ; and twenty-two cents 
 for wines of all sorts in bottles. The proportions existing 
 between the duties on French wines thus reduced, and 
 the general rates of the tariff which went into operation 
 the first of January, 1829, shall be maintained in case 
 the government of the United States should think proper 
 to diminish those general rates in a new tariff. 
 
 "In consideration of this stipulation, which shall be 
 binding on the United States for ten years, the French 
 government abandons the reclamations which it had form- 
 ed in relation to the eighth article of the treaty of cession 
 of Louisiana. It engages, moreover, to establish on the 
 long staple cottons of the United States, which, after the 
 exchange of the ratifications of the present convention, 
 shall be brought directly thence to France by the vessels 
 of the United States, or by French vesseis, tiie same du- 
 ties as on short staple cottons." 
 
 This treaty was duly ratified in the manner prescribed 
 
314 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 by the constitutions of both countries, and the ratifications 
 "were exchanged at the city of Washington on the 2d of 
 February, 1832. On account of its commercial stipula- 
 tions, it was, within five days thereafter, laid before the 
 Congress of the United States, which proceeded to enact 
 such laws favorable to the commerce of France as were 
 necessary to carry it into full execution ; and France has, 
 from that period to the present, been in the unrestricted 
 enjoyment of the valuable privileges that were thus secu- 
 red to her. The faith of the French nation having been 
 thus solemnly pledged, through its constitutional organ, 
 for the liquidation and ultimate payment of the long-de- 
 ferred claims of our citizens, as also for the adjustment of 
 other points of OTeat and reciprocal benefits to both coun- 
 tries, and the United States having, with a fidelity and 
 promptitude by which their conduct will, I trust, be 
 always characterized, done everything that was necessary 
 to carry the treaty into full and fair effect on their part, 
 counted, with the most perfect confidence, on equal fidelity 
 and promptitude on the part of the French government. 
 In this reasonable expectation we have been, I regret to 
 inform you, wholly disappointed. No legislative provision 
 has been made by France for the execution of the treaty, 
 either as it respects the indemnities to be paid, or the 
 commercial benefits to be secured to the United States, 
 and the relations between the United States and that 
 power, in consequence thereof, are placed in a situation 
 threatening to interrupt the good understanding which 
 has so long and so happily existed between the two na- 
 tions. 
 
 Not only has the French government been thus want- 
 ing in the performance of the stipulations it has so solemn- 
 ly entered into with the United States, but its omissions 
 have been marked by circumstances which would seem 
 to leave us without satisfactory evidences that such per- 
 formance will certainly take place at a future period. Ad- 
 vice of the exchange of ratifications reached Paris prior to 
 the 8th of April, 1832. The French chambers were then 
 sitting, and continued in session until the 21st of that 
 month; and although one instalment of the indemnity 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 815 
 
 was payable on the 2d of February, 1833, one year after 
 the exchange of ratifications, no application was made to 
 the chambers for the required appropriation, and, in con- 
 sequence of no appropriation having then been made, the 
 draft of the United States government for that instalment 
 was dishonored by the minister of finance, and the United 
 States thereby involved in much controversy. The next 
 session of the chambers commenced on the 19th of No- 
 vember, 1832, and continued until the 25th of April, 
 1833. Notwithstanding the omission to pay the first 
 instalment had been made the subject of earnest remon- 
 strance on our part, the treaty with the United States, 
 and a bill making the necessary appropriations to execute 
 it, were not laid before the chamber of deputies until the 
 6th of April, nearly five months after its meeting, and 
 only nineteen days before the close of the session. The 
 bill was read and referred to a committee, but there was 
 no further action upon it. The next session of the cham- 
 bers commenced on the 26th of April 1833, and continued 
 until the 25th of June following. A new bill was intro- 
 duced on the 11th of June, but nothing important was 
 done in relation to it during the session. In the month 
 of April, 1834, nearly three years after the signature of 
 the treaty, the final action of the French chambers upon 
 the bill to carry the treaty into effect was obtained, and 
 resulted in a refusal of the necessary appropriations. The 
 avowed gTOunds upon which the bill was rejected, are to 
 be found in the published debates of that body, and no 
 observations of mine can be necessary to satisfy Congress 
 of their utter insufficiency. Although the gTOSs amount 
 of the claims of our citizens, is probably greater than will 
 be ultimately allowed by the commissioners, sufficient is, 
 nevertheless, shown, to render it absolutely certain that 
 the indemnity falls far short of the actual amount of our 
 just claims, independently of the question of damages and 
 interest for the detention. That the settlement involved 
 a sacrifice in this respect was well known at the time — a 
 sacrifice which was cheerfully acquiesced in by the differ- 
 ent branches of the federal government, whose action 
 upon the treaty was required, from, a sincere desire to 
 14^ 
 
 % 
 
316 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 avoid further collision upon tliis old and disturbed sub- 
 ject, and in the confident expectation that the general 
 relations between the two countries would be improved 
 thereby. 
 
 The refusal to vote the appropriation, the news of which 
 was received from our minister in Paris, about the 15th 
 day of May last, might have been considered the final de- 
 termination of the French government not to execute the 
 stipulations of the treaty, and would have justified an im- 
 mediate communication of the facts to Congress, with a 
 recommendation of such ultimate measures as the interest 
 and honor of the United States might seem to require. 
 But with the news of the refusal of the chambers to make 
 the appropriation, were conveyed the regrets of the king, 
 and a declaration that a national vessel should be forth- 
 with sent out, with instructions to the French minister to 
 give the most ample explanations of the past, and the 
 strongest assurances for the future. After a long passage, 
 the promised despatch vessel arrived. The pledges given 
 by the French minister, upon receipt of his instructions, 
 were, that as soon after the election of the new members 
 as the charter would permit, the legislative chambers of 
 France should be called together, and the proposition for 
 an appropriation laid before them ; that all the constitu- 
 tional powers of the king and his cabinet should be exert- 
 ed to accomphsh the object; and that the result should 
 be made known early enough to be communicated to 
 Congress at the commencement of the present session. 
 Relying upon these pledges, and not doubting that the 
 acknowledged justice of our claims, the promised exertions 
 of the king and his cabinet, and above all, that sacred re- 
 gard for the national faith and honor for which the French 
 character has been so distinguished, would secure an early 
 execution of the treaty in all its parts, I did not deem it 
 necessary to call the attention of Congress to the subject 
 at the last session. 
 
 I regret to say that the pledges made through the 
 minister of France have not been redeemed. The new 
 chambers met on the 31st of July last, and although the 
 subject of lulfilling treaties was alluded to in the speech 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 81 7 
 
 from the throne, no attempt was made by the king or his 
 cabinet to procure an appropriation to carry it into execu- 
 tion. The reasons given for this omission, although they 
 might be considered sufficient in an ordinary case, are 
 not consistent with tlie expectations founded upon the as- 
 surances given here, for there is no constitutional obstacle 
 to entering into legislative business at the first meeting of 
 the chambers. This point, however, might have been 
 overlooked, had not the chambers, instead of being called 
 to meet at so early a day that the result of their delibera- 
 tions might be communicated to me before the meeting 
 of Congress, been prorogued to the 29th of the present 
 month — a period so late that their decision can scarcely 
 be made known to the present Congress prior to its dis- 
 solution. To avoid this delay, our minister in Paris, in 
 virtue of the assurance given by the French minister in 
 the United States, strongly urged the convocation of the 
 chambers at an earlier day, but without success. It is 
 proper to remark, however, that this refusal has been ac- 
 companied with the most positive assurances, on the part 
 of the executive governmeni; of France, of their intention 
 to press the appn^priation at the ensuing session of the 
 chambers. 
 
 The executive branch of this government has, as mat- 
 ters stand, exhausted all the authority upon the subject 
 with which it is invested, and which it had any reason to 
 beheve could be beneficially employed. 
 
 The idea of acquiescing in the refusal to execute the 
 treaty will not, I am confident, be for a moment enter- 
 tained by any branch of this government ; and further 
 negotiation upon the subject is equally out of the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 If it shall be the pleasure of Congress to await the fur- 
 ther action of the French chambers, no further considera- 
 tion of the subject will, at this session, probably be requi- 
 red at your hands. But if, from the original delay in ask- 
 ing for an appropriation ; from the refusal of the cham- 
 bers to grant it when asked ; from tlue omission to bring 
 the subject before the chambers at their last session ; from 
 the fact that, includinijj that session, there hare been five 
 
318 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 different occasions when the appropriation might have 
 been made ; and from the delay in convoking the cham- 
 bers until some weeks after the meeting of Congress, 
 when it was well known that a communication of the 
 whole subject to Congress at the last session was prevent- 
 ed by assurances that it should be disposed of before its 
 present meeting, you should feel yourselves constrained 
 to doubt whether it be the intention of the French gov- 
 ernment, in all its branches, to carry the treaty into effect, 
 and think that such measures as the occasion may be 
 deemed to call for, should be now adopted, the important 
 question arises, what those measures shall be. 
 
 Our institutions are essentially pacific. Peace and 
 friendly intercourse with all nations are as much the de- 
 sire of our government as they are the interest of our 
 people. But these objects are not to be permanently se- 
 cured, by surrendering the rights of our citizens, or per- 
 mitting solemn treaties for their indemnity, in cases of fla- 
 grant wrong, to be abrogated or set aside. 
 
 It is undoubtedly in the power of Congress seriously 
 to affect the agricultural and ■ manufacturing interests of 
 France, by the passage of laws relating to her trade with 
 the United States. Her products, manufactures, and ton- 
 nage, may be subjected to heavy duties in our ports, or 
 all commercial intercourse with her may be suspended. 
 But there are powerful, and to my mind conclusive ob- 
 jections to this mode of proceeding. We can not embar- 
 rass or cut off the trade of France, without at the same 
 time, in some degree, embarrassing or cutting oft^ our own 
 trade. The injury of such a warfare must fall, though 
 unequally, upon our own citizens, and could not but im- 
 pair the means of the government, and weaken that uni- 
 ted sentiment in support of the rights and honor of the 
 nation which must now pervade every bosom. Nor is it 
 impossible that such a course of legislation would intro- 
 duce once more into our national councils those disturb- 
 ing questions in relation to the tariff of duties which have 
 been so recently put to rest Besides, by every measure 
 adopted by the government of the United States, with 
 the view of injuring France, the clear perception of right 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 319 
 
 which will induce our own people, and the rulers and 
 people of all other nations, even of France herself, to pro- 
 nounce our quarrel just, will be obscured, and the support 
 rendered to us, in a iinal resort to more decisive measures, 
 will *be more hmited and equivocal. There is but one 
 point in the controversy, and upon that, the whole civi- 
 lized world must pronounce France to be in the wrong. 
 We insist tha^ she shall pay us a sum of money, which 
 she has acbiowlcdged to be due ; and of the justice of 
 this demand there can be but one opinion among man- 
 kind. True policy would seem to dictate the question at 
 issue should be kept thus disencumbered, and that not 
 the shghtest pretence should be given to France to per- 
 sist in her refusal to make payment, by any act on our 
 part aftecting the interests of her people. The question 
 should be left as it is now, in such an attitude that, when 
 France fulfils her treaty stipulations, all controversy will 
 be at an end. 
 
 It is my conviction that the United States ought to in- 
 sist on a prompt execution of the treaty, and in case it be 
 refused, or longer delayed, take redress into their own 
 hands. After the delay on the part of France, of a quar- 
 ter of a century, in acknowledging these claims by treaty, 
 it is not to be tolerated that another quarter of a century 
 is to be wasted in negotiating about the payment. The 
 laws of nations provide a remedy for such occasions. It 
 is a well-settled principle of the international code, that 
 where one nation owes another a liquidated debt, which 
 it refuses or neglects to pay, the aggrieved party may 
 seize on the property belonging to the other, its citizens 
 or subjects, sufficient to pay the debt, without giving just 
 cause of war. This remedy has been repeatedly resorted 
 to, and recently by France herself toward Portugal, un- 
 der circumstances less unquestionable. 
 
 The time at which resort should be had to this, or any 
 other mode of redress, is a point to be decided by Con- 
 gress. If an appropriation shall not be made by the 
 French chambers at their next session, it may justly be 
 concluded that the government of France has finally de- 
 termined to disregard its own solemn undertaking, and 
 
320 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 refuse to pay an acknowledged debt. In that event, every 
 day's delay on our part wiU be a stain upon our national 
 honor, as well as a denial of justice to our injured citizens. 
 Prompt measures, when the refusal of France shajl be 
 complete, will not only be most honorable and just, but 
 will have the best effect upon our national character. 
 
 Since France, in violation of the pledges giren through 
 her minister here, has delayed her final •action so long- 
 that her decision will not probably be known in time to 
 be communicated to this Congress, I recommend that a 
 law be passed authorizing reprisals upon French property, 
 in case provision shall not be made for the payment of the 
 debt at the approaching session of the French chambers. 
 Such a measure ought not to be considered by France as 
 a menace. Her pride and power are too well known to 
 expect any thing from her fears, and preclude the neces- 
 sity of a declaration that nothing partaking of the charac- 
 ter of intimidation is intended by us. She ought to look 
 upon it only as the evidence of an inflexible determination 
 on the part of the United States to insist on their rights. 
 That government, by doing only what it has itself acknow- 
 ledged to be just, will be able to spare the United States 
 the necessity of taking redress into their own hands, and 
 save the property of French citizens from that seizure and 
 sequesti'ation which American citizens so long endured 
 without retahation or redress. If she should continue to 
 refuse that acknowledged justice, and, in violation of the 
 law of nations, make reprisals on our part the occasion of 
 hostilities against the United States, she would but add 
 violence to injustice, and could not fail to expose herself 
 to the just censure of civilized nations, and to the retribu- 
 tive judgments of Heaven. 
 
 Collision with France is the more to be regretted, on 
 account of the position she occupies in Europe in relation 
 to liberal institutions. But, in maintaining our national 
 rights and honor, all governments are alike to us. If, by 
 a colhsion, in a case where she is clearly in the wrong, 
 the march of liberal principles shall be impeded, the re- 
 sponsibihty for that result, as well as every other, will 
 rest on her own head. 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 321 
 
 Having submitted these considerations, it belongs to 
 Congress to decide wlietlier, after what has taken place, 
 it will still await the further action of the French cham- 
 bers, or now adopt such provisional measures as it may 
 deem necessary, and best adapted to protect the rights 
 and maintain the honor of the country. Whatever that 
 decision may be, it will be faithfully enforced by the exe- 
 cutive, as far as he is authorized so to do. 
 
 According to the estimates of the treasury department, 
 the revenue accruing from all sources, during the present 
 year, will amount to twenty millions six hundred and 
 twenty-four thousand seven hundred and seventeen dol- 
 lars, w^hich, with the balance remaining in the treasury 
 on the 1st of January last, eleven millions seven hmidred 
 and two thousand nine hundred and five dollars, produces 
 an aggregate of thirty-two millions three hundred and 
 twenty-seven thousand six hundred and twenty-three dol- 
 lars. The total expenditure during the year for all ob- 
 jects, including tlie public debt, is estimated at twenty-five 
 millions five hundred and ninety-one thousand three hun- 
 dred and ninety dollars, which will leavea balance in the 
 treasury on the 1st of January, 1835, of six millions seven 
 hundred and thirty-six thousand two hundred and thirty- 
 two dollars. In this balance, however, will be included 
 about one million one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
 of what was heretofore reported by the department as not 
 efi'ective. 
 
 Of former appropriations it is estimated that there will 
 remain unexpended at the close of the year, eight millions 
 and two thousand nine hundred and tAventy-five dollars, 
 and that of this sum there will not be required more than 
 five millions one hundred and forty-one thousand nine 
 hundred and sixty-four dollars, to accomplish the objects 
 of all the current appropriations. Thus it appears that, 
 after satisfying all those appropriations, and after discharg- 
 ing the last item of our public debt, which will be done 
 on the 1st of January next, there will remain unexpended 
 in the treasury an effective balance of about four hundred 
 and forty thousand dollars. That such should be the as- 
 pect of our finances, is highly fl.attering to the industry 
 
322 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 I 
 
 and enterprise of our population, and auspicious of the 
 wealth and prosperity which await the future cultivation 
 of their growing resources. It is not deemed prudent, 
 however, to recommend any change for the present in our 
 impost rates, the effect of the gradual reduction now in 
 progress in many of them not being sufficiently tested to 
 guide us in determining the precise amount of revenue 
 which they will produce. 
 
 Free from pubhc debt, at peace with all the world, and 
 with no complicated interest to consult in our intercourse 
 with foreign powers, the present may be hailed as that 
 epoch in our history the most favorable for the settlement 
 of those principles in our domestic policy which shall be 
 best calculated to give stabihty to our repubhc, and secure 
 the blessings of freedom to our citizens. Among these 
 principles, from our past experience it can not be doubted 
 that simplicity in the character of the federal government, 
 and a rigid economy in its administration, should be re- 
 garded as fundamental and sacred. All must be sensible 
 that the existence of the public debt, by rendering taxa- 
 tion necessary for its extinguishment, has increased the 
 difficulties which are inseparable from every exercise of 
 the taxing power ; and that it was, in this respect, a re- 
 mote agent in producing those disturbing questions which 
 grew out of the discussions relating to the tariff. If such 
 has been the tendency of a debt incurred in the acquisi- 
 tion and maintenance of our national rights and liberties, 
 the obligations of which all portions of the Union cheer- 
 fully acknowledged, it must be obvious that whatever is 
 calculated to increase the burdens of government without 
 necessity, must be fatal to all our hopes of preserving its 
 true character. While we are felicitating ourselves, there- 
 fore, upon the extinguishment of the national debt, and 
 the prosperous state of our finances, let us not be tempted 
 to depart from those sound maxims of public polic}^, which 
 enjoin a just adaptation of the revenue to the expenditures 
 that are consistent with a rigid economy, and an entire 
 abstinence from all topics of legislation that are not clear- 
 ly within the constitutional powers of the government, and 
 suggested by the wants of the comitry. Properly regard- 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 323 
 
 ed under such a policy, every diminution of the pubhc 
 burdens, arising from taxation, gives to individual enter- 
 prise increased power, and furnishes to all the members 
 of our happy confederacy new motives for patriotic affec- 
 tion and support. But, above all, its most important 
 effect will be found in its influence upon the character of 
 the government, by confining its action to those objects 
 which will be sure to secure to it the attachment and sup- 
 port of our fellow-citizens. 
 
 Circumstances make it my duty to call the attention of 
 Congress to the bank of the United States. Created for 
 the convenience of the government, that institution has 
 become the scourge of the people. Its interference to 
 postpone the payment of a portion of the national debt, 
 that it might retain the public money appropriated for 
 that purpose, to strengthen it in a political contest ; the 
 extraordinary extension and contraction of its accommo- 
 dations to the community ; its corrupt and partisan loans ; 
 its exclusion of the public directors from a knowledge of 
 its most important proceedings ; the unhmited authority 
 conferred on the president to expend its funds in hiring 
 writers, and procuring the execution of printing, and the ^ 
 
 use made of that authority ; the retention of the pension 
 money and books after the selection of new agents ; the 
 groundless claim to heavy damages, in consequence of the 
 protest of the bill drawn on the French government, have, 
 through various channels, been laid before Congress. Im- 
 mediately after the close of the last session, the bank, 
 through its president, announced its ability and readiness 
 to abandon the system of unparalleled curtailment, and 
 the interruption of domestic exchanges, which it had prac- 
 tised upon from the 1st of August 1833, to the 30th of 
 .Tune, 1834, and to extend its accommodations to the com- 
 munity. The grounds assumed in this renunciation 
 amounted to an acknowledgment that the curtailment, in 
 the extent to which it had been carried, was not necessa- 
 ry to the safety of the bank, and had been persisted in 
 merely to induce Congress to grant the prayer of the 
 bank in its memorial relative to the removal of the depo- 
 sites, and to give it a new charter. They were substan- 
 
324 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 tially a confession that all the real distresses which indi- 
 viduals and the country had endured for the preceding- 
 six or eight months had been needlessly produced by it, 
 with the view of affecting, through the sufferings of the 
 people, the legislative action of Congress. It is a subject 
 of congratulation that Congress and the country had the 
 virtue and firmness to bear the affliction ; that the ener- 
 gies of our people soon found relief from this wanton tyr- 
 ranny, in vast importations of the precious metals from 
 almost every part of the world : and that, at the close of 
 this tremendous effort to control our government, the 
 bank found itself powerless, and no longer able to loan out 
 its surplus means. The community had learned to man- 
 age its affairs without its assistance, and trade had already 
 found new auxiharies; so that, on the 1st of October last, 
 the extraordinary spectacle was presented of- a national 
 bank, more than one half of whose capital was either lying 
 unproductive in its vaults, or in the hands of foreign bank- 
 ers. 
 
 To the needless distresses brought on the country dur- 
 ing the last session of Congress has since been added the 
 open seizure of the dividends on the pubhc stock, to the 
 amount of one hundred and seventy thousand and forty- 
 one dollars, under pretence of paying damages, cost, and 
 interest, upon the protested French bill. This sum con- 
 stituted a portion of the estimated revenues for the year 
 1834, upon which the appropriations made by Congress 
 were based. It would as soon have been expected that 
 our collectors would seize on the customs, or. the receivers 
 of our land offices on the moneys arising from the sale of 
 pubhc lands, under pretences of claims against the United 
 States, as that the bank would have retained the divi- 
 dends. Indeed, if the principle be estabhshed that any 
 one who chooses to set up a claim against the United 
 State-s may, without authority of law, seize on the public 
 property or money wherever he can find it, to pay the 
 claim, there will remain no assurance that our revenue 
 will reach the treasury, or that it will be apphed after the 
 appropriation to the purposes designated in the law. The 
 paymasters of our army and the pursers of our navy, may, 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 325 
 
 under like pretences, apply to their own use moneys ap- 
 propriated to set in motion the pubhc force, and in time 
 of war leave the country without defence. This measure 
 resorted to by the bank is disorganizing and revolutiona- 
 ry, and, if generally resorted to by private citizens in Uke 
 cases, would fill the land with anarchy and violence. 
 
 It is a constitutional provision, that " no money shall be 
 drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropri- 
 ations made by law." The palpable object of this provi- 
 sion is to prevent the expenditure of tlie public money 
 for any purpose whatsoever, wliich shall not have been 
 first approved by the representatives 'of the people and 
 the states in Congress assembled. It vests the power of 
 declaring for what purpose the pubhc money shall be ex- 
 pended in the legislative department of the government, 
 to the exclusion of the executive and judicial, and it is not 
 within the constitutional authority of either of those de- 
 partments to pay it away without law, or to sanction its 
 payment. According to this plain constitutional provi- . 
 sion, the claim of the bank can never be paid without an 
 appropriation by act of Congress. But the bank has 
 never asked for an appropriation. It attempts to defeat 
 the provisions of the constitution, and obtain payment 
 without an act of Congress. Instead of awaiting an ap- 
 propriation passed by both houses, and approved by the 
 president, it makes an appropriation for itself, and invites 
 an appeal to the judiciary to sanction it. That the money 
 has not technically been paid into the treasury, does not 
 affect the principle intended to be established by the con- 
 stitution. The executive and judiciaiy have as little right 
 to appropriate and exp^id the public money without au- 
 thority or law, before it is placed to the credit of the trea- . 
 surer, as to take it from the treasury. In the annual 
 report of the secretary of the treasury, and in his corre- 
 spondence with the president of the bank, and the opi- 
 nion of the attorney-general accompanying it, you will 
 find a further examination of the claim of the bank, and 
 ihe course it has pursued. 
 
 It seems due to the safety of the public funds remain- 
 mg in that bank, and to the honor of the American peo- 
 
^26 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 pie, that measures be taken to separate the government 
 entirely from an institution so mischievous to the public 
 prosperity, and so regardless of the constitution and laws. 
 By transferring the public deposites, by appointing other 
 pension agents, as far as it had the power, by ordering 
 the discontinuance of the receipt of bank checks in pay- 
 ment of the public dues after the first day of Januaiy 
 next, the executive has exerted all its lawful authority to 
 sever the connexion between the government and this 
 faithless corporation. 
 
 The high-handed career of tliis institution imposes upon 
 the constitutional functionaries of this government, duties 
 of the gravest and most imperative character — duties 
 which they can not avoid, and from which I trust there 
 w^ill be no inchnation on the part of any of them to shrink. 
 My own sense of them is most clear, as is also my readi- 
 ness to discharge those which may rightfully fall on me. 
 To continue any business relations with the bank of the 
 United States, that may be avoided without a violation of 
 the national faith, after that institution has set at open 
 defiance the conceded rie'ht of the government to examine 
 its aflfairs ; after it has done all in its power to deride the 
 public authority in other respects, and to bring it into 
 disrepute at home and abroad ; after it has attempted to 
 defeat the clearly expressed will of the people, by turning 
 against them the immense power intrusted to its hands, 
 and by involving a country otherwise peaceful, flourish- 
 ing, and happy, in dissension, embarrassment, and dis- 
 tress ; would make the nation itself a party to the degra- 
 dation so sedulously prepared for its pubhc agents, and do 
 much to destroy the confidence ^f mankind in popular 
 governments, and to bring into contempt their authority 
 and efficiency. In guarding against an evil of such mag- 
 nitude, considerations of temporary convenience sliould 
 be thrown out of the question, and we should be influ- 
 enced by such motives only as look to the honor and pre- 
 servation of the republican system. Deeply and solemnly 
 imjDressed with the justice of these views, I feel it to be 
 my duty to recommend to you that a law be passed au- 
 thorizing the sale of the public stock ; that the provisions 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 327 
 
 of the charter requiring the receipt of notes of the bank 
 in payment of pubhc dues, shall, in accordance with the 
 power reserved to Congress in the 14th section of the 
 charter, be suspended until the bank pays to the treasury 
 the dividends withheld ; and that all laws, connecting the 
 government or its officers with the bank, directly or indi- 
 rectly, be repealed ; and that the institution be left here- 
 after to its own resources and means. 
 
 Events have satisfied my mind, and I think the minds 
 of the American people, that the mischiefs and dangers 
 which flow from a national bank far overbalance all its 
 advantages. The bold effort the present bank has made 
 to control the government, the distresses it has wantonly 
 produced, the violence of which it has been the occasion 
 in one of our cities famed for the observance of law and 
 order, are but premonitions of the fate which awaits the 
 American people, should they be deluded into a perpetua- 
 tion of this institution, or the establishment of another like 
 it. It is fervently . hoped that, thus admonished, those 
 who have heretofore favored the establishment of a sub- 
 stitute for the present bank, will be induced to abandon 
 it, as it is evidently better to incur any inconvenience that 
 may be reasonably expected, than to concentrate the 
 whole moneyed power of the republic, in any form what- 
 soever, under any restrictions. 
 
 Happily, it is already illustrated that the agency of such 
 an institution is not necessary to the fiscal operations of 
 the government. The state banks are found fully ade- 
 quate to the performance of all services which were re- 
 quired of the bank of the United States, quite as promptly 
 and with the same cheapness. They have maintained 
 themselves, and discharged all these duties, while the 
 bank of the United States was still powerful, and in the 
 field as an open enemy; and it is not possible to perceive 
 that they will find greater difficulties in their operations 
 when that enemy shall cease to exist. 
 
 The attention of Congress is earnestly invited to th(i 
 regulation of the deposites in the state banks by law. Al- 
 though the power now exercised by the executive depait- 
 
328 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 ment in this behalf, is only such as was uniformly exerted 
 through every administration, from the origin of the gov- 
 ernment up to the establishment of the present bank, yet 
 it is one which is susceptible of regulation by law, and 
 therefore ought so to be regulated. The power of Con- 
 gress to direct in what places the treasurer shall keep the 
 moneys in the treasury, and to impose restriction^ upon 
 the executive authority in relation to their custody and 
 removal, is unlimited, and its exercise will rather be court- 
 ed than discouraged by those public officers and agents 
 on whom rests the responsibility for their safety. It is 
 desirable that as little power as possible should be left to 
 the president or secretary of the treasury over those insti- 
 tutions which, being thus freed from executive influence, 
 and without a common head to direct their operations, 
 would have neither the temptation nor the ability to inter- 
 fere in the pohtical conflicts of the country. Not deriving 
 their charters from the national authorities, they would 
 never have those inducements to meddle in general elec- 
 tions which have led the bank of the United States to 
 agitate and convulse the country for upward of two years. 
 
 The progress of our gold coinage is creditable to the 
 officers of the mint, and promises in a short period to fur- 
 nish the country with a sound and portable currency, 
 which will much diminish the inconvenience to travellers 
 of the want of a general paper currency, should the state 
 banks be incapable of furnishing it. Those institutions 
 have already shown themselves competent to purchase 
 and furnish domestic exchange for the convenience of 
 trade, at reasonable rates, and not a doubt is entertained 
 that in a short period, all the wants of the country, in bank 
 accommodations and in exchange, will be supplied as 
 promptly and cheaply as they have heretofore been by 
 the bank of the United States. If the several states shall 
 be induced gradually to reform their banking systems, 
 and prohibit the issue of all small notes, we shall, in a few 
 years, have a currency as sound, and as little hable to 
 fluctuations, as any other commercial country. 
 
 The report of the secretary of war, together with ac- 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 329 
 
 companying documents from the several bureaus of that 
 department will exliibit the situation of the various objects 
 committed to its administration. 
 
 No event has occurred since your last session, render- 
 ing necessary any movements of the army, with the ex- 
 ception of the expedition of the regiment of dragoons into 
 the territory of the wandering and predatory tribes inha- 
 biting the western frontier, and living adjacent to the 
 Mexican boundary. These tribes have been heretofore 
 known to us principally by their attacks upon our own 
 citizens, and upon other Indians entitled to the protection 
 of the United States. It became necessary for the peace 
 of the frontiers, to check these habitual inroads, and I am 
 happy to inform you that the object has been effected 
 without the commission of any act of hostility. Colonel 
 Dodge, and the troops under his command, liave acted 
 with equal firmness and humanity, and an arrangement 
 has been made with those Indians, which it is hoped will 
 insure their permanent pacific relations with tlie United 
 States, and the other tribes of Indians upon that border. 
 
 It is to be regretted that the prevalence of sickfiess in 
 tbat quarter has deprived the country of a number of va- 
 luable lives, and particularly that of General LeavenAvorth, 
 an officer well known and esteemed for his gallant servi- 
 ces during the late war, and for subsequent good conduct, 
 who has fallen a victim to his zeal and exertions in the 
 discharge of his duty. 
 
 The army is in a high state of discipline. Its^ moral 
 condition, so far as that is known here, is good, and the 
 various branches of the public service are carefully attend- 
 ed to. It is amply sufficient, under its present organiza- 
 tion, for providing the necessary garrisons for the sea- 
 board, and for the defence of the internal frontier, and 
 also for preserving the elements of military knowledge, 
 and for keeping pace w^ith those improvements which 
 modern experience is continually making. And these ob- 
 jects appear to me to embrace all the legitimate purposes 
 for which a permanent military force should be maintain- 
 ed in our country. The lessons of liistory teacli us its 
 danger, and the tendency which exists to an increase. 
 
S30 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 This can be best met and averted by a just caution on 
 the part of the pubhc itself, and of those who represent 
 them in Congress. 
 
 From the duties which devolve on the engineer depart- 
 ment, and upon the topographical engineers, a different " 
 organization seems to be demanded by the public inte- 
 rest, and I recommend the subject to your consideration. 
 
 No important change has, during this season, taken 
 place in the condition of the Indians. Arrangements are 
 in progress for the removal of the Creeks, and will soon 
 be for the removal of the Seminoles. I regret that the 
 Cherokees east of the Mississippi have not yet determined 
 as a community to remove. How long the personal cau- 
 ses which have hitherto retarded that ultimately inevita- 
 ble measure will continue to operate, I am unable to con- 
 jecture. It is certain, however, that delay will bring with 
 it accumulated evils, which will render their condition 
 more and more unpleasant. The experience of every 
 year adds to the conviction that emigration, and that 
 alone, can preserve from destruction the remnant of tribes 
 yet hving among us. The facility with which the neces- 
 saries of life are procured, and the treaty stipulations pro- 
 viding aid for the emigrant Indians in their agricultural 
 pursuits and in the important concern of education, and 
 their removal from those causes which have heretofore 
 depressed all, and destroyed many of the tribes, can not 
 fail to stimulate their exertions, and to reward their indus- 
 try. 
 
 The two laws passed at the last session of Congress 
 on the subject of Indian affairs, have been carried into 
 effect, and detailed instructions for their administration 
 have been given. It will be seen by the estimates for 
 the present session, that a great reduction will take place 
 in the expenditures of the department in consequence of 
 these laws, and there is reason to beheve that their ope- 
 ration will be salutary, and that the colonization of the 
 Indian on the western frontier, together with a judicious 
 system of administration, will still further reduce the ex- 
 penses of this branch of the public service, and at the 
 same time promote its usefulness and efficiency. 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 831 
 
 Circumstances have been recently developed, showing 
 the existence of extensive frauds under the various laws 
 graiiting pension?^^nd gratuities for revolutionary services. 
 
 It is ?inri,oixi\vithhok'^i3iate the amount which may have 
 been thuiif^bie du^' i- / obtained from the national treasu- 
 ry. I am sb^ i^ a, however, that it has been such as to 
 justify a re-exa/aination of the system, and the adoption 
 of the necessary checks in its* administration. All will 
 agree that the services and suffering's of the remnant of 
 our revolutionary band should be fully compensated ; but 
 while this is done, every proper precaution should be 
 taken to prevent the admission of fabricated and fraudu- 
 lent claims. In the present mode of proceeding, the at- 
 testations and certificates of judicial officers of the various 
 states form a considerable portion of the checks which are 
 interposed against the commission of frauds. These, how- 
 ever, have been and may be fabricated, and in such a 
 way as to elude detection at the examining offices ; and 
 independently of this practical difficulty, it is ascertained 
 that these documents are often lo'-^sely granted; some- 
 times even blank certificates have, been issued ; sometimes 
 prepared papers have been signed without inquiry ; and 
 in one instance, at least, the seal of the court has been 
 within reach of a person most interested in its improper 
 apphcation. It is obvious that under such circumstances, 
 no severity of administration can check the abuse of the 
 law ; and information has from time to time been commu- 
 nicated to the pension office, questioning or denying the 
 right of persons placed upon the pension list to the bounty 
 of the country. Such cautions are always attended to, 
 and examined, but a far more general investigation is 
 called for ; and I therefore recommend, in conformity with 
 the suggestion of the secretary of war, that an actual 
 inspection should be made in each state, into the circum- 
 stances and claims of every person now drawing a pension. 
 The honest veteran has nothing to fear from such a scru- 
 tiny, while the fraudulent claimant will be detected, and 
 the pubhc treasury reheved to an amount, I have reason 
 to beheve, far greater than has heretofore been suspected. 
 The details of such a plan could be so regulated as to 
 15 
 
352 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 interpose tlie necessary checks without any burdensome 
 operation upon the pensioners. The object should be 
 twofold : — 
 
 1. To look into the original justi-^)!! the engll^jnis, so fa^- 
 as this can be done under a ^n -per fsngineers, a ^ala+i^ . 
 by an examl ation of the ;Ciaimant& by the •'cs, an 
 inquirirg in the vicinity of their resi 'our into t^ieir 
 tory, and into the opinion Entertained i jir revolut: 
 
 ry services; 
 
 2. To ascertain, in all cases, whether the original clain^ 
 ant is living, and this by actual personal inspection. 
 
 This measure will, if adopted, be productive, I think, of 
 the desired results, and I therefore recommend it to your 
 consideration, with the further suggestion, that all pay- 
 ments should be suspended till the necessary reports are 
 received. 
 
 It will be seen by a tabular statement annexed to the 
 documents tra -^tted to Congress, that the appropria- 
 tions for object v nested with the war department 
 made at the la ';;-a"o. ., for the service of the year 1834, 
 excluding the p. , Til appropriation for Repayment 
 of military gratuiti ured r the act of June 7, 1832, the- 
 appropriation of two . a-ed thousand dollars for arming 
 and equipping the : and the appropriation of ten 
 
 thousand dollars for tu ^civilization of the Indians, which 
 are not annually renewed, amounted to the sum of nine 
 miUions three thousand two hundred and sixty one dol- 
 lars, and that the estimates of appropriations necessary 
 for the same branches of service for the year 1835, 
 amount to the sum of five milhons seven hundred and 
 seventy-eight thousand nine hundred and sixty-four dol- 
 lars, making a difference in the appropriations of the cur- 
 rent year over the estimates of the appropriations for the 
 next, of three millions two hundred and twenty-four thou- 
 sand two hundred and ninety-seven dollars. 
 
 The principal causes which have operated at this time 
 to produce this great difference, are shown in the reports 
 and documents, and in the detailed estimates. Some of 
 these causes are accidental and temporary, while others 
 are permanent, and, aided by a just course of adminstra- 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 333 
 
 To«ay continue to operate beneficially upon the public 
 jus+^ditures. 
 
 fo7i. just economy, expending where the pubHc service 
 rquires, and withholding where it does not, is among the 
 
 "-nen&able du"' ^^ of thv3 government. - 
 refer you ^'^ /> ^accompanying report' Gt' 'the secretary 
 he -^avy, a'''^'^" the documents with it,- for a full view 
 
 ^Ae operatic £ that important branch of our service 
 -uring the present year. It will be seen that the wisdom 
 ind liberahty with which Congress have provided for the 
 gradual increase of our navy material, have been seconded 
 by a corresponding zeal and fidelity on the part of those 
 to whom has been confided the execution of the laws on 
 the subject; and that but a short period would be now 
 required to put in commission a force large enough for 
 any exigency into which the country may be thrown. 
 
 When we reflect upon our position in elation to other 
 nations, it must be apparent that, in th'' ent of conflicts 
 with them, we must look chiefly to' <avy for the pro- 
 tection of our national rights. TJ-' •'^'- . :eas which sepa- 
 rate us froL other government?^ ^^^^ jl necessity be the 
 theatre on which an enemy wi('. '^ ^^ J assail us, and, im- 
 less we are prepared to meet ■ on this element, we 
 
 can not be said to possess the • requisite to repel or 
 
 prevent aggressions. We can hi. -j, therefore, watch with 
 too much attention this arm of our defence, or cherish 
 with too much care the means by which it can possess 
 the necessary efliciency and extension. To this end our 
 pohcy has been heretofore wisely directed to the constant 
 employment of a force sufficient to guard our commerce, 
 and to the rapid accumulation of the materials which are 
 necessary to repair our vessels, and construct with ease 
 such new ones as may be required in a state of war. 
 
 In accordance with this policy, I recommend to your 
 consideration the erection of the additional diy-dock de- 
 scribed by the secretary of the navy, and also the con- 
 struction of the steam-batteries to which he has referred, 
 for the purpose of testing their efficiency as auxiharies to 
 the system of defence now in use. 
 
 The report of the postmaster-general, herewith submit- 
 

 334 LIFE OP JACKSON. 
 
 ted, exhibits the condition and prospects of that c 
 ment. From that document it appears that there . 
 deficit in the funds of the department, at the commei 
 ment of the present year, beyond its available means, c 
 three hundred and fifteen thousand five hundred and 
 ninety-nine dollars and ninety-eight cents, which, on the 
 first of July last, had been reduced to two hundred and 
 sixty-eight thousand and ninety-two dollars and seventy- 
 four cents. It appears, also, that the revenues for the 
 coming year will exceed the expenditures about two hun- 
 dred and seventy thousand dollars, which, with the excess 
 of the revenue which will result from the operations of 
 the current half-year, may be expected, independently of 
 any increase in the gross amount of postages, to supply 
 the entire deficit before the end of 1835. But as this 
 calculation is based on the gross amount of postages which 
 have accrued within the period embraced by the times of 
 striking the balances, it is obvious that, without a progres- 
 sive increase in the amount of postages, the existing re- 
 trenchments must be persevered in through the year 
 1836, that the department may accumulate a surplus fund 
 sufficient to place it in a condition of perfect ease. 
 
 It will be observed that the revenues of the postoflfice 
 department, though they have increased, and their amount 
 is above that of any former year, have yet fallen short of 
 the estimates more than a hundred thousand dollars. 
 This is attributed, in a great degree, to the increase of free 
 letters, growing out of the extension and abuse of the 
 franking privilege. There has been a gradual increase 
 in the number of executive officers to which it has been 
 granted; and by an act passed in March, 1833, it was 
 extended to members of Congress throughout the whole 
 year. It is beUeved that a revision of the laws relative 
 to the franking privilege, with some enactments to enforce 
 more rigidly the restrictions under which it is granted, 
 would operate beneficially to the country, by enabling the 
 department at an early period to restore the mail facihties 
 which have been withdrawn, and to extend them more 
 widely, as the growing settlement of the country may 
 require. 
 
6IXTH ANNUAL MESSAGiE. 335 
 
 To a measure so important to tlie government, and so 
 just to our constituents, who ask no exclusive privileges 
 for themselves, and are not wiUing to concede them to 
 others, I earnestly recommend the serious attention of 
 Congress. 
 
 The importance of the postoffice department, and the 
 magnitude to which it has grown, both in its revenues 
 and in its operations, seem to demand its reorganization 
 by law. The whole of its receipts and disbursements 
 have hitherto been left entirely to executive control and 
 individual discretion. The principle is as sound in rela- 
 tion to this as to any other department of the government, 
 that as little discretion should be confided to the executive 
 officer who controls it, as is compatible with its efficiency. 
 It is therefore earnestly recommended that it be organized 
 with an auditor and treasury of its own, appointed by the 
 president and senate, who shall be branches of the treasu- 
 ry department. 
 
 Your attention is again respectfully invited to the 
 defect which exists in the judicial system of the United 
 States. Nothing can be more desirable than the uniform 
 operation of the federal judiciary throughout the several 
 states, all of which, standing on the same footing as mem- 
 bers of the Union, have equal rights to the advantages 
 and benefits resulting from its laws. This object is not 
 attained by the judicial acts now in force, because they 
 leave one-fourth of the states without circuit courts. 
 
 It is undoubtedly the duty of Congress to place all the 
 states on the same footing in this respect, either by the 
 creation of an additional number of associate judges, or 
 by an enlargement of the circuits assigned to those al- 
 ready appointed, so as to include the new states. What- 
 ever may be the difficulty in a proper organization of the 
 judicial system, so as to secure its efficiency and unifor- 
 mity in all parts of the Union, and at the same time to 
 avoid such an increase of judges as would encumber the 
 supreme appellate tribunal, it should not be allowed to 
 weigh against the great injustice which the present ope- 
 ration of the system produces. 
 
 I trust that I may be also pardoned for renewing the 
 
836 LEPK OF JACKSON. 
 
 recommendations I liave so often submitted to your atten- 
 tion, in regard to the mode of electing the president and 
 vice-president of the United States. All the reflection I 
 have been able to bestow upon the subject increases my 
 con\nction that the best interests of the country will be 
 promoted by the adoption of some plan which will secure, 
 in all contingencies, that important right of sovereignty 
 to the dh-ect control of the people. Could this be 
 attained, and the terms of those officers be limited to a 
 single period of either four or six years, I think our liber- 
 ties would possess an additional safeguard. 
 
 At yom- last session I called the attention of CongTess 
 to the destruction of the pubHc building occupied by the 
 treasury department As the pubhc interest requires 
 that another building should be erected with as little de- 
 lay as possible, it is hoped that the means will be season- 
 ably provided, and that they will be ample enough to 
 authorize such an enlargement and improvement in the 
 plan of the building as will more effectually accommodate 
 the public officers, and secure the pubhc documents 
 deposited in it from the casualties of .fire. 
 
 I have not been able to satisfy myself that the bill 
 entitled, " An act to improve the navigation of the Wa- 
 bash river," which was sent to me at the close of your 
 last session, ought to pass, and I have therefore withheld 
 from it my approval, and now return it to the senate, the 
 body in which it originated. 
 
 There can be no question connected with the adminis- 
 tration of public affairs, more important, or more difficult 
 to be satisfactorily dealt with, than that which relates to 
 the rightful authority and proper action of the federal 
 government upon the subject of internal improvements. 
 To inherent embarrassments have been added others 
 resultino- from the course of our leo-islation concernino- it. 
 
 I have heretofore communicated freely with Congress 
 upon this subject, and, in adverting to it again, I can not 
 refrain from expressing my increased conviction of its 
 extreme importance, as well in regard to its bearing upon 
 the maintenance of the constitution, and the prudent 
 management of the pubhc revenue, as on account of its 
 disturbing effect upon the harmony of the Union. 
 
BIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 337 
 
 We are in no danger from violations of the constitution, 
 by which encroachments are made upon the personal 
 rights of the citizens. The sentence of condemnation 
 long since pronounced by the American people upon acts 
 of that character, will, I doubt not, continue to prove as 
 salutary in its effects as it is irreversible in its nature. 
 But against the dangers of unconstitutional acts which, 
 instead of menacing the vengeance of offended authority, 
 proffer local advantages, and bring in their train the 
 patronage of the government, we are, I fear, not so safe. 
 To suppose that, because our government has been insti- 
 tuted for the benefit of the people, it must therefore have 
 the power to do whatever may seem to conduce to the 
 pubhc good, is an error into which even honest minds are 
 too apt to fall. In yielding themselves to this fallacy, 
 they overlook the great considerations in which the fede- 
 ral constitution was founded. They forget that, in con- 
 sequence of the conceded diversities in the interest and 
 condition of the different states, it was foreseen, at the 
 period of its adoption, that, although a particular measure 
 of the government might be beneficial and proper in one 
 state, it might be the reverse in another — that it was for 
 this reason the states would not consent to make a grant 
 to the federal government of the general and usual pow- 
 ers of government, but of such only as were specifically 
 enumerated, and the probable effects of which they could, 
 as they thought, safely anticipate ; and they forget also 
 the paramount obligation upon all to abide by the com- 
 pact, then so solemnly, and as it was hoped, so firmly 
 estabhshed. In addition to the dangers to the constitu- 
 tion springing from the sources I have stated, there has 
 been one which was perhaps greater than a'l. I allude 
 to the materials which this subject has afforded for sinister 
 appeals to selfish feelings, and the opinion heretofore so 
 extensively entertained of its adaptation to the purposes 
 of personal ambition. With such stimulants, it is not 
 surprising that the acts and pretensions of the federal 
 government, in this behalf, should sometimes have been 
 carried to an alarming extent. The questions which have 
 arisen upon this subject have related — 
 
338 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 1. To the power of making internal improvements with- 
 in the limits of a state, with the right of territorial juris- 
 diction, sufficient at least for their preservation and use ; 
 
 2. To the right of appropriating money in aid of such 
 works when carried on by a state, or by a company in 
 virtue of state authority, surrendering the claim of juris- 
 diction ; and, 
 
 3. To the propriety of appropriations for improvements 
 of a particular class, viz., for lighthouses, beacons, buoys, 
 public piers, and for the removal of sandbars, sawyers, and 
 other temporary and partial impediments in our navigable 
 rivers and harbors. 
 
 The claims of power for the general government upon 
 each of these points certainly present matter of the deep- 
 est interest. The first is, however, of much the greatest 
 importance, inasmuch as, in addition to the dangers of 
 unequal and improvident expenditures of pubhc moneys, 
 common to all, there is superadded to that the conflicting 
 jurisdictions of the respective governments. Federal 
 jurisdiction, at least to the extent I have stated, has been 
 regarded by its advocates as necessarily appurtenant to 
 the power in question, if that exists by the constitution. 
 That the most injurious conflicts would unavoidably arise 
 between the respective jurisdictions of the state and fede- 
 ral governments, in the absence of a constitutional provi- 
 sion marking out their respective boundaries, can not be 
 doubted. The local advantages to be obtained would 
 induce the states to overlook in the beginning the dangers 
 and difficulties to which tliey might ultimately be ex- 
 posed. The powers exercised by the federal government 
 would soon be regarded ^\^th jealousy by the state author- 
 ities, and originating, as they must, from implication or 
 assumption, it would be impossible to affix to them certain 
 and safe limits. Opportunities and temptations to the 
 assumption of power incompatible Avith state sovereignty, 
 would be- increased, and those barriers which resist the 
 tendency of our system toward consolidation, greatly 
 weakened. The officers and agents of the general gov- 
 ernment might not always have the discretion to abstain 
 from intermeddling -with state concerns ; and if they did. 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 839 
 
 they would not always escape the suspicion of having 
 done so. Collisions and consequent irritations would 
 spring up ; that harmony which should ever exist between 
 the general government and each member of the confede- 
 racy, would be frequently interrupted ; a spirit of conten- 
 tion would be engendered ^ and the dangers of division 
 greatly multiplied. 
 
 Yet we all know that, notwithstanding these grave 
 objections, this dangerous doctrine was at one time, appa- 
 rently, proceeding to its final establishment with fearful 
 rapidity. The desire to embark the federal government 
 in works of internal improvement, prevailed in the highest 
 degree during the first session of the first Congress that 
 I had the honor to meet in my present situation. V/hen 
 the bill authorizing a subscription on the part of the 
 United States for stock in the Maysville and Lexington 
 turnpike company, passed the two houses, there had been 
 reported by the committees on internal improvements, 
 bills containing appropriations for such objects, exclusive 
 of those for the Cumberland road, and for harbors and 
 lighthouses, to the amount of about one hundred and six 
 milhons of dollars. In this amount was included author- 
 ity to the secretary of the treasury to subscribe for the 
 stock of different companies to a great extent, and the 
 residue was principally for the direct construction of roads 
 by this government. In addition to these projects, which 
 have been presented to the two houses under the sanction 
 and recommendation of their respective committees on 
 internal improvements, there were then still pending be- 
 fore the committees, and in memorials to Congress, pre- 
 sented, but not referred, different projects for works of a 
 similar character, the expense of which can not be esti- 
 mated with certainty, but must have exceeded one hun- 
 dred millions of dollars. 
 
 Regarding the bill authorizing a subscription to the 
 stock of the Mays\dlle and Lexington turnpike company 
 as the entering wedge of a system which, however weak 
 at first, might soon become strong enough to rive the 
 bands of the Union asunder; and believing that, if ite 
 passage was acquiesced in by the executive and the peo- 
 15* 
 
S40 LIFE Of JACKSOW. 
 
 pie, there would no longer be any limitation upon the 
 authority of the general government in respect to the 
 appropriation of money for such objects, I deemed it an 
 imperative duty to withhold from it the executive appro- 
 val. Although, from the obviously local character of that 
 work, I might well have contented myself with a refusal 
 to approve the bill upon that ground, yet, sensible of the 
 vital importance of the subject, and anxious that my 
 views and opinions in regard to the whole matter should 
 be fully understood by Congress, and by my constituents, 
 I felt it my duty to go further. I therefore embraced 
 that early occasion to apprize Congress that, in my opinion, 
 the constitution did not confer upon it the power to 
 authorize the construction of ordinary roads and canals 
 within the limits of a state, and to say, respectfully, that 
 no bill admitting such a power could receive my official 
 sanction. I did so in the confident expectation that the 
 speedy settlement of the public mind upon the whole 
 subject wouH be greatly facilitated by the difference 
 between the two houses and myself, and that the harmo- 
 nious action of the several departments of the federal 
 government in regard to it would be ultimately secured. 
 
 So for, at least, as it regards this branch of the subject, 
 my best hopes have been realized. K^early four years 
 have elapsed, and several sessions of Congi-ess have inter- 
 vened, and no attempt within my recollection has been 
 made to induce Congress to exercise this power. The 
 applications for the construction of roads and canals, which 
 were formerly multiplied upon your files, are no longer 
 presented ; and we have good reason to infer that the cur- 
 rent of public sentiment has become so decided against 
 the pretension as effectually to discourage its reassertion. 
 So thinking, I derive the greatest satisfaction from the 
 conviction that thus much at least has been secured upon 
 this important and embarrassing subject. 
 
 From attempts to appropriate the national funds to ob- 
 jects which are confessedly of a local character, we can 
 not, I trust, have anything further to apprehend. My 
 views in regard to the expediency of making appropria- 
 tions for works which are claimed to be of a national cha- 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 241 
 
 racter, and prosecuted under state authority, assuming 
 that Congress have the right to do so, were stated in my 
 annual message to Congress in 1830, and also in that con- 
 taining my objections to the Maysville road bill. 
 
 So thoroughly convinced am I that no' such appropria- 
 tions ought to be made by Congress, until a suitable con- 
 stitutional provision is made upon the subject, and so 
 essential do I regard the point to the highest interests of 
 our country, that I could not consider myself as discharg- 
 ing my duty to my constituents in giving the executive 
 sanction to any bill containing such an appropriation. If 
 the people of the United States desire that the public 
 "treasury shall be resorted to for the means to prosecute 
 such works, they will concur in an amendment of the con- 
 stitution, prescribing a rule by which the national charac- 
 ter of the works is to be tested, and by which the great- 
 est practicable equahty of benefits may be secured to each 
 member of the confederacy. The effects of such a regu- 
 lation would be most salutary in preventing unprofitable 
 expenditures, in securing our legislation from the perni- 
 cious consequences of a scramble for the favors of govern- 
 ment, and in repressing the spirit of discontent which 
 must inevitably arise from an unequal distribution of trea- 
 sures which belong alike to all. 
 
 There is another class of appropriations for what may 
 be called, without impropriety, internal improvements, 
 which have always been regarded as standing upon dif- 
 ferent grounds from those to which I have referred. I 
 allude to such as have for their object the improvement 
 of our harbors, the removal of partial and temporary ob- 
 structions in our navigable rivers, for the facility and secu- 
 rity of our foreign commerce. The grounds upon which 
 I distinguished appropriations of this character from oth- 
 ers have already been stated to Congress. I will now 
 only add that, at the first session of Congress undei the 
 new constitution, it was provided by law, that all expen- 
 ses which should accrue from and after the 15th day of 
 August, 1789, in the necessary support and maintenance 
 and repairs of all light-houses, beacons, buoys, and public 
 piers, erected, placed, or sunk, before the passage of the 
 
342 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 act, within any bay, inlet, harbor, or port of the United 
 States, for rendering the navigation thereof easy and safe, 
 should be defrayed out of the treasury of the United 
 States ; and further, that it be the duty of the secretary 
 of the treasury to provide by contracts, with the approba- 
 tion of the President, for rebuilding when necessary and 
 keeping in good repair the hghthouses, beacons, buoys, 
 and public piers, in the several states and for furnishing 
 them with supplies. Appropriations for similar objects 
 have been continued from that time to the present with- 
 out interruption or dispute. As a natural consequence 
 of the increase and extension of our foreign commerce, 
 ports of entry and delivery have been multiplied and 
 established, not only upon our seaboard, but in the inte- 
 rior of the country, upon .our lakes and navigable rivers. 
 The convenience and safety of this commerce have led to 
 the gradual extension of these expenditures ; to the erec- 
 tion of lighthouses, the placing, planting and sinking of 
 buoys, beacons, and piers, and to the removal of partial 
 and temporary obstructions in our navigable rivers, and 
 the harbors upon our great lakes, as well as on the sea- 
 board. Although I expressed to Congress my apprehen- 
 sion that these expenditures have sometimes been extra- 
 vagant and disproportionate to the advantages to be de- 
 rived from them, I have not felt it to be my duty to refuse 
 ray assent to bills containing them, and have contented 
 myself to follow, in this respect, in the footsteps of all my 
 predecessors. Sensible, however, from experience and 
 observation, of the great abuses to which the unrestricted 
 exercise of this authority by Congress was exposed, I have 
 prescribed a hmitation for tiie government of my own 
 conduct, by which expenditures of this character are con- 
 iined to places below the poiis of entry or dehvery estab- 
 lished by law. I am very sensible that this restriction is 
 not as satisfactory as could be desired, and that much 
 embarrassment may be caused to the executive depart- 
 ment in its execution, by appropriations for remote and 
 not well-understood objects. But as neither my own re- 
 flections, nor the lights which I may properly derive from 
 other sources, have supplied me with a better, I shall con- 
 
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 343 
 
 tinue to apply my best exertions to a faithful application 
 of the rule upon which it is founded. I sincerely regret 
 that I could not give my assent to the bill entitled, "An 
 act to improve the navigation of the Wabash river;" but 
 I could not have done so without receding from the 
 ground which I have, upon the fullest consideration, taken 
 upon this subject, and of which Congress has been here- 
 tofore apprized, and without throwing the subject again 
 jopen to abuses which no good citizen, entertaining my 
 opinions, could deshe. 
 
 I rely upon the intelligence and candor of my fellow- 
 citizens, in v/hose hberal indulgence I have already so 
 largely participated, for a correct appreciation of my mo- 
 tives in interposing, as I have done, on this, and other oc- 
 casions, checks to a course of legislation which, without, 
 in the slightest degree, calhng in question the motives of 
 others, I consider as sanctioning improper and unconstitu- 
 tional expenditures of public treasure. 
 
 I am not hostile to internal improvements, and wish to 
 see them extended to every part of the countr}^ But I 
 am fully persuaded, if they are not commenced in a pro- 
 per manner, confined to proper objects, and conducted 
 under an authority generally conceded to be rightful, that 
 a successful prosecution of them can not be reasonably 
 expected. The attempt will meet with resistance where 
 it might otherwise receive support ; and instead of strength- 
 ening the bonds of our confederacy, it will only multiply 
 and aggravate the causes of disunion. 
 
844 LUB OF JACKSON. 
 
 MESSAGE IN RELATION TO TEXAS. 
 
 Delivered December 21sf, 1836. 
 
 To the Senate of the United States: — 
 
 DuRiKG the last session, information was given to Con- 
 gress by the executive, that measures had been taken to 
 ascertain " the pohtical, military, and civil condition of 
 Texas." I now submit for your consideration, extracts 
 from the report of the agent who had been appointed to 
 collect it, relative to the condition of that country. 
 
 No steps have been taken by the executive toward the 
 acknowledgment of the independence of Texas ; and the 
 whole subject would have been left without further re- 
 mark on the information now given to CongTess, were it 
 not that the two houses at their last session, acting sepa- 
 rately, passed resolutions " that the independence of Texas 
 ought to be acknowledged by the United States, when- 
 ever satisfactory information should be received that it 
 had in successful operation a civil government, capable of 
 performing the duties, and fulfilling the obligations of 
 an independent power." This mark of interest in the 
 question of the independence of Texas, and indication of 
 the views of Congress, make it proper that I should, some- 
 what in detail, present the considerations that have gov- 
 erned the executive in continuing to occupy the ground 
 pre\iously taken in the contest between Mexico and Texas. 
 
 The acknowledgment of a new state as independent, and 
 entitled to a place in the family of nations, is at all times 
 an act of great delicacy and responsibility ; but more espe- 
 cially so when such state has forcibly separated itself from 
 another, of which it had formed an integral part, and 
 which still claims dominion over it. A premature recog- 
 nition under these circumstances, if not looked upon aa 
 
MESSAGE IN RELATION TO TEXAS. S45 
 
 justifiable cause of war, is always liable to be regarded as 
 a proof of an unfriendly spirit to one of the contending 
 parties. All questions relative to the government of for- 
 eign nations, whether of the old or new world, have been 
 treated by the United States as questions of fact only, and 
 our predecessors have cautiously abstained from deciding 
 upon them until the clearest evidence was in their pos- 
 session, to enable them, not only to decide correctly, but 
 to shield their decisions from every unworthy imputation. 
 In all the contests that have arisen out of the revolutions 
 of France, out of the disputes relating to the crowns of 
 Portugal and Spain, out of the separation of the Ameri- 
 can possessions of both from the European governments, 
 and out of the numerous and constantly occurring strug- 
 gles for dominion in Spanish America, so wisely consistent 
 with our just principles has been the action of our govern- 
 ment, that we have, under the most critical circumstances, 
 avoided all censure, and encountered no other evil than 
 that produced by a transient estrangement of good will in 
 those against whom we have been by force of evidence 
 compelled to decide. 
 
 It has thus made known to the world, that the uniform 
 policy and practice of the United States is to avoid aU 
 interference in disputes which merely relate to the inter- 
 nal government of other nations, and eventually to recog- 
 nise the authority of the prevailing party without reference 
 to our particular interests and views, or to the merits of 
 the original controversy. Public opinion here is so firmly 
 established and well understood in favor of this poUcy, 
 that no serious disagreement has ever risen among our- 
 selves in relation to it, although brought under view in a 
 variety of forms, and at periods when the minds of the 
 people were greatly excited by the agitation of topics 
 purely domestic in their character. Nor has any delibe- 
 rate inquiry ever been instituted in Congress, or in any 
 of our legislative bodies, as to whom belonged the power 
 of originally recognising a new state — a power, the exer- 
 cise of which is equivalent, under some circumstances, to 
 a declaration of war — a power nowhere expressly delega- 
 ted, and only granted in the constitution^ as it is necessa- 
 
346 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 rily involved in some of the great powers given to Con- 
 gress ; in that given to the president and senate to form 
 treaties with foreign powers, and to appoint ambassadors 
 and other pubhc ministers ; and in that conferred upon 
 the president to receive ministers from foreign nations. 
 
 In the preamble to the resolution of the house of repre- 
 sentatives, it is distinctly intimated that the expediency of 
 recognising the independence of Texas should be left to 
 the decision of Congress. In this \dew, on the ground of 
 expediency, I am disposed to concur; and do not, there- 
 fore, consider it necessary to express any opinion as to the 
 strict constitutional right of the executive, either apart 
 from, or in conjunction with the senate, over the subject 
 It is to be presumed -that on no future occasion will a dis- 
 pute arise, as none has heretofore occurred, between the 
 executive and the legislature in the exercise of the power 
 of recognition. It will always be considered consistent 
 with the spirit of the constitution, and most safe, that it 
 should be exercised, when probably leading to war, with 
 a previous' understanding with that body by whom war 
 can alone be declared, and by whom all the provisions for 
 sustaining its perils must be furnished. Its submission to 
 Congress, which represents in one of its branches the 
 states of the Union, and, in the other, the people of the 
 United States, where there may be reasonable ground to 
 apprehend so grave a consequence, would certainly afford 
 the fullest satisfaction to our own country, and a perfect 
 guarantee to all other nations, of the justice and prudence 
 of the measures which might be adopted. 
 
 In making these suggestions, it is not my purpose to 
 reheve myself from the responsibihty of expressing my 
 own opinions of the course the interests of our country 
 prescribe, and its honor permits us to follow. 
 
 It is scarcely to be imagined that a question of this 
 character could be presented, in relation to which it would 
 be more difficult for the United States to avoid exciting 
 the suspicion and jealousy of other powers, and maintain 
 their established character for fair and impartial dealing. 
 But on this, as on every other trying occasion, safety is to 
 be found in a rigid adherence to principle. 
 
MESSAGE IN RELATION TO TEXAS. Zil 
 
 In the contest between Spain and her revolted colonies 
 we stood aloof, and waited not only until the ability of the 
 new states to protect themselves was fully established, 
 but until the danger of their being again subjugated had 
 entirely passed away. Then, and not until then, were 
 they recognised. Such was our course in regard to Mexi- 
 co herself The same poUcy was observed in all the dis- 
 putes gTowing out of the separation into distinct govern- 
 ments of th<5se Spanish American states, who began, or 
 carried on the contest with the parent country, united un- 
 der one form of government. We acknowledged the sepa- 
 rate independence of New Grenada, of Venezuela, and of 
 Ecuador, only after their independent existence was no 
 longer a subject of dispute, or was actually acquiesced in 
 by those with whom they had been previously united. It 
 is true that, with regard to Texas, the civil authority of 
 Mexico has been expelled, its invading army defeated, the 
 chief of the republic himself captured, and all present 
 power to control the newly organized government of Texas 
 annihilated within its confines. But, on the other hand, 
 there is, in appearance at least, an immense disparity of 
 physical force on the side of Texas. The Mexican repub- 
 lic, under another executive, is rallying its forces under a 
 new leader, and menacing a fresh invasion to recover its 
 lost dominion. 
 
 Upon the issue of this threatened invasion, the inde- 
 pendence of Texas may be considered as suspended ; and 
 were there nothing pecuhar in the relative situation of 
 the United States and Texas, our acknowledgment of its 
 independence at such a crisis could scarcely be regarded 
 as consistent with that prudent reserve with which we 
 have heretofore held ourselves bound to treat all similar 
 questions. But there are circumstances in the relations 
 of the two countries, which require us to act on this occa- 
 sion, with even more than our Avonted caution. Texas 
 was* once claimed as a part of our property, and there are 
 those among our citizens who* always reluctant to abandon 
 that claim, can not but regard with solicitude the prospect 
 of the reunion of the territory to this country. A large 
 
348 LITE OP JACKSON. 
 
 portion of its civilized inhabitants are emigrants from the 
 United States; speak the same language with ourselves; 
 cherish the same principles, political and religious, and 
 are bound to many of our citizens by ties of friendship 
 and kindred blood ; and more than all, it is known that 
 the people of that country have instituted the same form 
 of government with our own ; and have, since the close 
 of your last session, openly resolved, on the acknowledg- 
 ment by us of their independence, to seek admission into 
 the Union as one of the federal states. This last circum- 
 stance is a matter of pecuhar deUcacy, and forces upon us 
 considerations of the gravest character. The title of Tex- 
 as to the territory she claims is identified with her inde- 
 pendence; she asks us to acknowledge that title to the 
 territory, with an avowed design to treat immediately of 
 its transfer to the United States. It becomes us to be- 
 ware of a too early movement, as it might subject us, 
 however unjustly, to the imputation of seeking to estabhsh 
 the claim of our neighbors to a territory, with a view to 
 its subsequent acquisition by ourselves. Prudence, there- 
 fore, seems to dictate that we should still stand aloof, 
 and maintftin our present attitude, if not until Mexico 
 itself, or one of the gTeat foreign powers, shall recognise 
 the independence of the new government, at least until 
 the lapse of time, or the course of events shall have 
 proved, beyond cavil or dispute, the ability of the people 
 of that country to maintain their separate sovereignty, and 
 to uphold the government constituted by them. Neither 
 of the contending parties can justly complain of this 
 course. By pursuing it, we are but carrying out the long- 
 estabhshed pohcy of our government — a policy which has 
 secured to us respect and influence abroad, and inspired 
 confidence at home. 
 
 Having thus discharged my duty, by presenting with 
 simplicity and directness the views which, after much re- 
 flection, I have been led to take of this important subject, 
 I have only to add the expression of my confidence, that 
 if CongTCss shall diff'er with me upon it, their judgment 
 will be the result of dispassionate, prudent, and wise deli- 
 
MESSAGE IN RELATION TO TEXAS. 349 
 
 beration ; with the assurance that, during the short time I 
 shall continue connected with the government, I shall 
 promptly and cordially unite with you in such measures 
 as may be deemed best fitted to increase the prosperity 
 and perpetuate the peace of our favored country. 
 
350 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 Farewell Address of President JacTcson. 
 
 Fellow-Citizens: Being about to retire finally from 
 ublic life, I beg leave to offer j^ou my grateful thanks for 
 the many proofs of kindness and confidence which I have 
 received at your hands. It has been my fortune, in the 
 discharge of public duties, civil and military, frequently 
 to have found myself in difficult and trying situations, 
 where prompt decision and energetic action were neces- 
 sary, and where the interests of the country required that 
 high responsibilities should be fearlessly encountered ; and 
 it is with the deepest emotions of gratitude that I acknow- 
 ledge the continued and unbroken confidence with which 
 you have sustained me in every trial. My public life has 
 been a long one, and I cannot hope that it has at all times 
 been free from errors. But I have the consolation of 
 knowing, that if mistakes have been committed, they have 
 not seriously injured the country I so anxiously endeavored 
 to serve ; and at the moment when I surrender my last 
 public trust, I leave this great people prosperous and 
 happy ; in the full enjoyment of liberty and peace ; and 
 honored and respected by every nation in the world. 
 
 If my humble efforts have, in any degree, contributed 
 to preserve to you these blessings, I have been more than 
 rewarded by the honors you have heaped upon me ; and, 
 above all, by the generous confidence with which you 
 have supported me in every peril, and with which you 
 have continued to animate and cheer my path to the clos- 
 ing hour of my political life. The time has now come, 
 when advanced age and a broken frame warn me to retire 
 from public concerns ; but the recollection of the many 
 favors you have bestowed upon me is engraven upon my 
 heart, and I have felt that I could not part from your ser- 
 vice without making this public acknowledgment of the 
 gratitude I owe you. And if I use the occasion to offer 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 251 
 
 to you the counsels of age and experience, you will, I 
 trust, receive them with the same indulgent kindness 
 which you have so often extended to me ; and will, at 
 least, see in them an earnest desire to perpetuate, in this 
 favored land, the blessings of liberty and equal laws. 
 
 We have now lived almost fifty years under the Con- 
 stitution framed by the sages and patriots of the Revolution. 
 The conflicts in which the nations of Europe were engaged 
 during a great part of this period ; the spirit in which 
 they waged war with each other; and our intimate com- 
 mercial connections with every part of the civihzed world, 
 rendered it a time of much difficulty for the government 
 of the United States. We have had our seasons of peace 
 and of war, with all the evils which precede or follow a 
 state of hostility with powerful nations. We encountered 
 these trials, with our Constitution yet in its infancy, and 
 under the disadvantages which a new and untried govern- 
 ment must always feel, when it is called upon to put forth 
 its whole strength, without the lights of experience to 
 guide it, or the weight of precedents to justify its mea- 
 sures. But we have passed triumphantly through all 
 these difficulties. Our Constitution is no longer a doubtful 
 experiment ; and at the end of nearly half a century, we 
 find that it has preserved, unimpaired, the liberties of the 
 people, and secured the rights of property, and that our 
 country has improved, and is flourishing beyond any 
 former example in the history of nations. 
 
 In our domestic concerns, there is every thing to en- 
 courage us; and if you are true to yourselves, nothing 
 can impede your march to the highest point of national 
 prosperity. The states which had so long been retarded 
 in their improvements by the Indian tribes residing in the 
 midst of them, are at length relieved from the evil ; and 
 this unhappy race — the original dwellers in our land — are 
 now placed in a situation where we may well hope that 
 they will share in the blessings of civiUzation, and be 
 saved from that degradation and destruction to which they 
 were rapidly hastening, while they remained in the states ; 
 and while the safety and dbm fort of our own citizens have 
 been greatly promoted by their removal, the philanthropist 
 
852 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 will rejoice that the remnant of this ill-fated race has been 
 at length placed beyond the reach of injury or oppression, 
 and that the paternal care of the general government will 
 hereafter watch over them and protect them. 
 
 If we turn to our relations with foreign powers, we find 
 our condition equally gratifying. Actuated by the sincere 
 desire to do justice to every nation, and to preserve the 
 blessings of peace, our intercourse with them has been 
 conducted on the part of this government in the spirit of 
 frankness, and I take pleasure in saying that it has gene- 
 rally been met in a corresponding temper. Difficulties 
 of old standing have been surmounted by friendly dis- 
 cussion, and the mutual desire to be just; and the claims 
 of our citizens, which had been long withheld, have at 
 length been acknowledged and adjusted, and satisfactory 
 arrangements made for their final payment ; and with a 
 limited, and I trust a temporary exception, our relations 
 with every foreign power are now of the most friendly 
 character — our commerce continually expanding, and our 
 flag respected in every quarter of the world. 
 
 These cheering and grateful prospects, and these mul- 
 tiplied favors, we owe, under Providence, to the adoption 
 of the Federal Constitution. It is no longer a question 
 whether this great country can remain happily united, 
 and flourish under our present form of government. Ex- 
 perience, the unerring test of all human .undertakings, 
 has shown the wisdom and foresight of those who formed 
 it ; and has proved, that in the union of these states there 
 is a sure foundation for the brightest hopes of freedom, and 
 for the happiness of the people. At every hazard, and 
 by every sacrifice, this Union must be preserved. 
 
 The necessity of watching with jealous anxiety, for the 
 preservation of the Union, was earnestl}^ pressed upon his 
 fellow-citizens by the Father of his country, in his fare- 
 well address. He has there told us, that " while ex- 
 perience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, 
 there w^ill always be reason to distrust the patriotism of 
 those who, in any quarter, -may endeavor to weaken its 
 bonds ;" and he has cautioned us, in the strongest terms, 
 against the formation of parties on geographical discrimi- 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 
 
 nations, as one of the means which might disturb our 
 Union, and to which designing men would be likely to 
 resort. 
 
 The lessons contained in this invaluable legacy of Wash- 
 ington to his countrymen, should be cherished in the heart 
 of every citizen to the latest generation ; and, perhaps, at 
 no period of time could they be more usefully remembered 
 than at the present moment. For when we look upon 
 the scenes that are passing around us, and dwell upon the 
 pages of his parting address, his paternal counsels would 
 seem to be not merely the offspring of wisdom and fore- 
 sight, but the voice of prophecy foretelling events and 
 warning us of the evil to come. Forty years have passed 
 since this imperishable document was given to his coun- 
 trymen. The Federal Constitution was then regarded by 
 him as an experiment, and he so speaks of it in his 
 address ; but an experiment upon the success of which the 
 best hopes of his country depended, and we all know that 
 he was prepared to lay down his life, if necessary, to 
 secure to it a full and fair trial. The trial has been made. 
 It has succeeded beyond the proudest hopes of those who 
 framed it. Every quarter of this widely extended nation 
 has felt its blessings, and shared in the general prosperity 
 produced by its adoption. But amid this general prosper- 
 ity and splendid success, the dangers of which he warned 
 us are becoming every day more evident, and the signs of 
 evil are sufficiently apparent to awaken the deepest 
 anxiety in the bosom of the patriot. We hold systematic 
 efforts publicly made to sow the seeds of discord between 
 different parts of the United States, and to place party 
 divisions directly upon geographical distinctions ; to excite 
 the South against the North, and the North against the 
 South, and to force into the controversy the most deh- 
 cate and exciting topics upon which it is impossible that 
 a large portion of the Union can ever speak without 
 strong emotions. Appeals, too, are constantly made to 
 sectional interests, in order to influence the election of 
 the Chief Magistrate, as if it were desired that he should 
 favor a particular quarter of the country, instead of fulfil- 
 ling the duties of his station with impartial justice to all ; 
 
354 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 and the possible dissolution of the Union has at length 
 become an ordinary and familiar subject of discussi(»a« 
 Has the warning voice of Washington been forgotten ? 
 or have designs already been formed to sever the Union ? 
 Let it not be supposed that I impute to all of those who 
 have taken an active part in these unwise and unprofitable 
 discussions, a want of patriotism or of public virtue. The 
 honorable feeling of state pride, and local attachments, 
 find a place in the bosoms of the most enlightened and 
 pure. But while such men are conscious of their own 
 integrity and honesty of purpose, they ought never to forget 
 that the citizens of other states are their political brethren; 
 and that, however mistaken they may be in their views, 
 the great body of them are equally honest and upright 
 with themselves. Mutual suspicions and reproaches may 
 in time create mutual hostility, and artful and designing 
 men will always be found, who are ready to foment these 
 fatal divisions, and to inflame the natural jealousies of 
 different sections of the country. The history of the 
 world is full of such examples, and especially the history 
 of republics. 
 
 What have you to gain by division and dissension? 
 Delude not yourselves with the belief that a breach once 
 made, may be afterwards repaired. If the Union is once 
 severed, the line of separation will grow wider and wider, 
 and the controversies which are now debated and settled 
 in the halls of legislation, will then be tried in fields of 
 battle, and be determined by the sword. Neither should 
 you deceive yourselves with the hope, that the first line 
 of separation would be the permanent one, and that no- 
 thing but harmony and concord would be found in the new 
 associations, formed upon the dissolution of this Union. 
 Local interests would still be found there, and unchastened 
 ambition. And if the recollection of common dangers, in 
 which the people of these United States stood side by 
 side against the common foe ; the memory of victories 
 won by their united valor; the prosperity and happiness 
 they have enjoyed under the present Constitution ; the 
 proud name they bear as citizens of this great republic ; 
 if all these recollections and proofs of common interest are 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 355 
 
 not strong enough to bind us together as one people, what 
 tie will hold united the new divisions of empire, when 
 these bonds have been broken and this Union dissevered? 
 The first line of separation would not last for a single 
 generation ; new fragments would be torn off; new lead- 
 ers would spring up ; and this great and glorious republic 
 would soon be broken into a multitude of petty states ; 
 without commerce, without credit ; jealous of one another ; 
 armed for mutual aggression ; loaded with taxes to pay- 
 armies and leaders ; seeking aid against each other from 
 foreign powers; insulted and trampled upon by the na- 
 tions of Europe, until, harassed with conflicts, and hum- 
 bled and debased in spirit, the}'- would be ready to submit 
 to the absolute dominion of any military adventurer, and 
 to surrender their liberty for the sake of repose. It is 
 impossible to look on the consequences that would inevita- 
 bly follow the destruction of this government, and not feel 
 indignant when we hear cold calculations about the value 
 of the Union, and have so constantly before us a line of 
 conduct so well calculated to weaken its ties. 
 
 There is too much at stake to allow pride or passion to 
 influence your decision. Never for a moment believe that 
 the great body of the citizens of any state or states can 
 deliberately intend to do wrong. They may, under the 
 influence of temporary excitement or misguided opinions, 
 commit mistakes ; they may be misled for a time by the 
 suggestions of self-interest ; but in a community so en- 
 lightened and patriotic as the people of the United States, 
 argument will soon make them sensible of their errors ; 
 and when convinced, they will be ready to repair them. 
 If they have no higher or better motives to govern them, 
 they will at least perceive that their own interest requires 
 them to be just to others, as they hope to receive justice 
 at their hands. 
 
 But in order to maintain the Union unimpaired, it is 
 absolutely necessary that the laws passed by the consti- 
 tuted authorities, should be faithfully executed in every 
 part of the country, and that every good citizen should, at 
 all times, stand ready to put down, with the combined 
 force of the nation, every attempt at unlawful resistance, 
 ' 16 
 
S56 LITE OF JACKSON. 
 
 under v/hatever pretext it may be made, or whatever 
 shape it may assume. Unconstitutional or oppressive 
 laws may no doubt be passed by Congress, either from 
 erroneous views, or the want of due consideration; if 
 they are within reach of judicial authority, the remedy is 
 eas}'- and peaceful ; and if, from the character of the law, 
 it is an abuse of power not within the control of the ju- 
 diciary, then free discussion and calm appeals to reason 
 and to the justice of the people, will not fail to redress the 
 wrong. But until the law shall be declared void by the 
 courts, or repealed by Congress, no individual or combi- 
 nation of individuals, can be justified in forcibly resisting 
 its execution. It is impossible that any government can 
 continue to exist upon any other principles. It would 
 cease to be a government, and be unworthy of the name, 
 if it had not the power to enforce the execution of its own 
 laws within its own sphere of action. 
 
 It is true that cases may be imagined, disclosing such 
 a settled purpose of usurpation and oppression, on the 
 part of the government, as would justify an appeal to 
 arms. These, however, are extreme cases, which we 
 have no reason to apprehend in a government where the 
 power is in the hands of a patriotic people ; and no citi- 
 zen who loves his country would, in any case whatever, 
 resort to forcible resistance, unless he clearly saw that the 
 time had come when a freeman should prefer death to 
 submission ; for if such a struggle is once begun, and the 
 citizens of one section of the country arrayed in arms 
 against those of another, in doubtful conflict, let the battle 
 result as it may, there will be an end of the Union, and 
 with it an end of the hopes of freedom. The victory of 
 tho injured would not secure to them the blessings of 
 liberty ; it would avenge their wrongs, but they would 
 themselves share in the common ruin. 
 
 But the Constitution cannot be maintained, nor the 
 Union preserved in opposition to public feeling, by the 
 mere exertion of the coercive powers confided to the gene- 
 ral government. The foundations must be laid in the 
 affections of the people; in ths security it gives to life, 
 liberty, character, and property, in every quarter of the 
 country ; and in the fraternal attachments which the citi- 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. S57 
 
 zens of the several states bear to one another, as members 
 of one political family, naturally contributing' to promote 
 the happiness of each other. Hence, the citizens of every 
 state should studiously avoid every thing- calculated to 
 wound the sensibility or offend the just pride of the people 
 of other states ; and they should frown upon any proceed- 
 ings within their own borders likely to disturb the tran- 
 quillity of their political brethren in other portions of the 
 Union. In a country so extensive as the United States, 
 and with pursuits so varied, the internal regulations of the 
 several states must frequently differ from one another in 
 important particulars; and this difference is unavoidably 
 increased by the varying principles upon which the Ameri- 
 can colonies were originally planted ; principles which 
 had taken deep root in their social relations before the 
 Revolution, and therefore, of necessit}/-, influencing their 
 pohcy since they became free and independent states. 
 But each state has the unquestionable right to regulate 
 its own internal concerns according to its own pleasure ; 
 and while it does not interfere with the rights of the 
 people of other states, or the rights of the Union, every 
 state must be the sole judge of the measures proper to 
 secure the safety of its citizens and promote their happi- 
 ness ; and all efforts on the part of the people of other 
 states to cast odium upon their institutions, and all mea- 
 sures calculated to disturb their rights of property, or to 
 put in jeopardy their peace and internal tranquillity, are 
 in direct opposition to the spirit in which the Union was 
 formed, and must endanger its safety. Motives of phi- 
 lanthropy may be assigned for this unwarrantable inter- 
 ference ; and weak men may persuade themselves for a 
 moment that they are laboring in the cause of humanity, 
 and asserting the rights of the human race ; but every 
 one, upon sober reflection, will see that nothing but mis- 
 chief can come from these improper assaults upon the 
 feelings and rights of others. Rest assured, that the men 
 found busy in this work of discord are not worthy of your 
 confidence, and deserve your strongest reprobation. 
 
 In the legislation of Congress, also, and in every mea- 
 sure 0^ the general government, justice to every portion 
 
358 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 of the United States should be faithfully observed. No 
 free government can stand without virtue in the people, 
 and a loft\r spirit of patriotism ; and if the sordid feelings 
 of mere selfishness shall usurp the place which ought to 
 be filled by public spirit, the legislation of Congress will 
 soon be converted into a scramble for personal and sec 
 tional advantages. Under our free institutions, the citizens 
 of every quarter of our country are capable of attaining a 
 high degree of prosperity and happiness, without seeking 
 to profit themselves at the expense of others ; and every 
 such attempt must, in the end, fail to succeed ; for the 
 people in every part of the United States are too enlight- 
 ened not to understand their own rights and interests, and 
 to detect and defeat every effort to gain undue advantages 
 over them ; and when such designs are discovered, it 
 nati] rally provokes resentments which cannot always be 
 allayed. Justice, full and ample justice, to every portion 
 of the United States, should be the ruling principle of 
 every freeman, and should guide the deliberations of every 
 public body, whether it be state or national. 
 
 It is well known that there have always been those 
 among us who wish to enlarge the powers of the general 
 government ; and experience would seem to indicate that 
 there is a tendency on the part of this government to over- 
 step the boundaries marked out for it by the Constitution. 
 Its legitimate authority is abundantly sufficient for all the 
 purposes for which it was created : and its powers being 
 expressl}'' enumerated, there can be no justification for 
 claiming any thing beyond them. Every attempt to 
 exercise power beyond these limits should be promptly 
 and firmly opposed. For one evil example will lead to 
 other measures still more mischievous ; and if the prin- 
 ciple of constructive powers, or supposed advantages, or 
 temporary circumstances, shall ever be permitted to justify 
 the assumption of a power not given by the Constitution, 
 the general government will before long absorb all the 
 powers of legislation, and you will have, in effect, but one 
 consolidated government. From the extent of our coun- 
 try, its diversified interests, different pursuits, and dif- 
 ferent" habits, it is too obvious for argument that a single 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. • 359 
 
 consolidated government would be wholly inadequate to 
 watch over and protect its interests ; and every friend of 
 our free institutions should be always prepared to main- 
 tain unimpaired and in full vigor the rights and sove- 
 reignty of the states, and to confine the action of the 
 general government strictly to the sphere of its appro- 
 priate duties. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no one of the powers conferred on 
 he federal government so hable to abuse as the taxing 
 power. The most productive and convenient sources of 
 revenue were necessarily given to it, that it might be 
 able to perform the important duties imposed upon it ; 
 and the taxes which it lays upon commerce being con- 
 cealed from the real payer in the price of the article, they 
 do not so readily attract the attention of the people as 
 smaller sums demanded from them directly by the tax- 
 gatherer. But the tax imposed on goods, enhances by so 
 much the price of the commodity to the consumer; and 
 as many of these duties are imposed on articles of neces- 
 sity which are daily used by the great body of the people, 
 the money raised by these imposts is drawn from their 
 pockets. Congress has no right under the Constitution 
 to take money from the people, unless it is required to 
 execute some one of the specific powers intrusted to the 
 government ; and if they raise more than is necessary for 
 sifch purposes, it is an abuse of the power of taxation, and 
 unjust and oppressive. It may indeed happen that the 
 revenue will sometimes exceed the amount anticipated 
 when the taxes were laid. When, however, this is as- 
 certained, it is easy to reduce them ; and, in such a case, 
 it is unquestionably the duty of the government to reduce 
 them, for no circumstances can justify it in assuming a 
 power not given to it by the Constitution, nor in taking 
 away the money of the people when it is not needed for 
 the legitimate wants of the government. 
 
 Plain as these principles appear to be, you will yet find 
 that there is a constant eflbrt to induce the general govern- 
 ment to go beyond the Hmits of its taxing power, and to 
 impose unnecessary burdens upon the j^eople. Many 
 powerful interests are continually at work to procure heavy 
 
360 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 duties on commerce, and -to swell the revenue beyond the 
 real necessities of the public service ; and the country 
 has already felt the injurious effects of their combined 
 influence. They succeeded in obtaining a tariff of duties 
 bearing most oppressively on the agricultural and laboring 
 classes of society, and producing a revenue that could not 
 be usefully employed within the rans^e of the powers 
 conferred upon Congress ; and in order to fasten upon the 
 people this unjust and unequal system of taxation, extra- 
 vagant schemes of internal improvement were got up, ia 
 various quarters, to squander the money and to purchase 
 support. Thus, one unconstitutional measure was in- 
 tended to be upheld by another, and the abuse of the 
 power of taxation was to be maintained by usurping the 
 powef of expending the money in internal improvements. 
 You cannot have forgotten the severe and doubtful struggle 
 through which we passed, when the executive department 
 of the government, by its veto, endeavored to arrest the 
 prodigal scheme of injustice, and to bring back the legis- 
 lation of Congress to the boundaries prescribed by the 
 Constitution. The good sense and practical judgment of 
 the people, when the subject was brought before them, 
 sustained the course of the Executive, and this plan of 
 unconstitutional expenditure for the purposes of corrupt 
 influence is, I trust, finally overthrown. 
 
 The result of this decision has been felt in the rapid 
 extinguishment of the pubHc debt, and the large accumu- 
 lation of a surplus in the treasury, notwithstanding the 
 tariff was reduced, and is now far below the amount ori- 
 ginally contemplated by its advocates. But, rely upon it, 
 the design to collect an extravagant revenue, and to burden 
 you with taxes beyond the economical wants of the govern- 
 ment, is not yet abandoned. The various interests which 
 have combined together to impose a heavy tariff, and to 
 •produce an overflowing treasury, are too strong, and have 
 too much at stake, to surrender the contest. The corpo- 
 rations and wealthy individuals who are engaged in large 
 manufacturing establihsments, desire a high tariff to in- 
 crease their ga^ns. Designing pohticians will support it to 
 conciliate their favor, and to obtain the means of profuse 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 361 
 
 expenditure, for the purpose of purchasing influence in 
 other quarters ; and since the people have decided that 
 the federal government cannot be permitted to employ its 
 income in internal improvements, efforts will be made to 
 seduce and mislead the citizens of the several states, by- 
 holding out to them the deceitful prospect of benefits 
 to be derived from a surplus revenue collected by the 
 general government, and annually divided among the 
 States. And if, encouraged by these fallacious hopes, the 
 states should disregard the principles of economy which 
 ought to characterize every repubhcan government, and 
 should indulge in lavish expenditures exceeding their 
 resources, they will, before long, find themselves oppressed 
 with debts which they are unable to pay, and the tempta- 
 tion will become irresistible to support a high tariff, in 
 order to obtain a surplus distribution. Do not allow your- 
 selves, my fellow-citizens, to be misled on this subject. 
 The federal government cannot collect a surplus for such 
 purposes, without violating the principles of the Constitu- 
 tion, and assuming powers which have not been granted. 
 It is, moreover, a system of injustice, and, if persisted in, 
 will inevitably lead to corruption, and must end in ruin. 
 The surplus revenue will be drawn from the pockets of 
 the people — from the farmer, the mechanic, and the laboring 
 classes of society ; but who will receive it when distributed 
 among the states, where it is to be disposed of by leading 
 state politicians who have friends to favor, and political par- 
 tisans to gratify ? It will certainly not be returned to those 
 who paid it, and who have most need of it, and are ho- 
 nestly entitled to it. There is but one safe rule, and that 
 is, to confine the general government rigidly within the 
 sphere of its appropriate duties. It has no power to raise 
 a revenue, or impose taxes, except for the purposes enu- 
 merated in the Constitution ; and if its income is found to 
 exceed these wants, it should be forthwith reduced, and 
 the burdens of the people so far lightened. 
 
 In reviewing the conflicts which have taken place be- 
 tween difTerent interests in the United States, and the 
 policy pursued since the adoption of our present form of 
 government, we find nothing that has produced such deep- 
 
362 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 seated evil as the course of legislation in relation to the 
 currency. The Constitution of the United States unques- 
 tionably intended to secure the people a circulating me- 
 dium of gold and silver. But the establishment of a 
 national bank by Congress, with the privilege of issuing 
 paper money receivable in payment of the public dues, 
 and the unfortunate course of legislation in the several 
 states, upon the same subject, drove from general circula- 
 tion the constitutional currency, and substituted one of 
 paper in its place. 
 
 It was not easy for men engaged in the ordinary pur- 
 suits of business, whose attention had not been particularly 
 drawn to the subject, to foresee all the consequences of 
 a currency exclusively of paper ; and we ought not, on 
 that account, to be surprised at the facility with which 
 laws were obtained to carry into effect the paper system. 
 Honest, and even enlightened men, are sometimes misled 
 by the specious and plausible statements of the designing. 
 But experience has now proved the mischiefs and dangers 
 of a paper currency, and it rests with you to determine 
 whether the proper remedy shall be applied. 
 
 The paper system being founded on public confidence, 
 and having of itself no intrinsic value, it is liable to great 
 and sudden fluctuations, thereby rendering property inse- 
 cure, and the wages of labor unsteady and uncertain. The 
 corporations which create the paper money cannot be 
 relied upon to keep the circulating medium uniform in 
 amount. In times of prosperity, when confidence is high, 
 they are tempted by the prospect of gain, or by the in- 
 fluence of those who hope to profit by it, to extend their 
 issues of paper beyond the bounds of discretion and the 
 reasonable demands of business. And when these issues 
 have been pushed on, from day to day, until public con- 
 fidence is at length shaken, then a reaction takes place, 
 and they immediatel}^ withdraw the credits they have 
 given ; suddenly curtail their issues, and produce an un- 
 expected and ruinous contraction of the circulating medium, 
 which is felt by the whole community. The banks by 
 this means save themselves, and the mischievous conse- 
 quences of their imprudence or cupidity are visited upon" 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 363 
 
 the public. Nor does the evil stop here. These ebbs and 
 flows of the currency, and these indiscreet extensions of 
 credit, naturally engender a spirit of speculation injurious 
 to the habits and character of the people. We have 
 already seen its effects in the wild spirit of speculation in 
 the public lands, and various kinds of stocks, which, with- 
 in the last year or two, seized upon such a multitude of 
 our citizens, and threatened, to pervade all classes of society, 
 and to withdraw their attention from the sober pursuits of 
 honest industry. It is not by encouraging this spirit that 
 we shall best preserve public virtue, and promote the 
 true interests of our country. But if your currency con- 
 tinues as exclusively paper as it now is, it will foster this 
 eager desire to amass wealth without labor; it will muUi- 
 ply the number of dependents on bank accommodations 
 and bank favors ; the temptation to obtain money at any 
 sacrifice, will become stronger and stronger, and inevita- 
 bly lead to corruption, which will find its way into your 
 pubhc councils, and destroy, at no distant day, the purity 
 of your government. Some of the evils which arise from 
 this system of paper, press with peculiar hardship upon 
 the class of society least able to bear it. A portion of this 
 currency frequently becomes depreciated or worthless, and 
 all of it is easily counterfeited, in such a manner as to 
 require peculiar skill and much experience to distinguish 
 the counterfeit from the genuine notes. 
 
 These frauds are most generally perpetrated in the 
 smaller notes, which are used in the daily transactions of 
 ordinary business ; and the losses occasioned by them are 
 commonly thrown upon the laboring classes of society, 
 whose situation and pursuits put it out of their power to 
 guard themselves from these impositions, and v/hose daily 
 wages are necessary for their subsistence. It is the duty 
 of every government, so to regulate its currency as to 
 protect this numerous class, as far as practicable, from the 
 impositions of avarice and fraud. It is more especially 
 the duty of the United States, where the government is 
 emphatically the government of the people, and where 
 this respectable portion of oar citizens are so proudly 
 ' distinguished from the laboring classes of all other nations, 
 16* 
 
 *i&j'. ■- 
 
364 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 by their independent spirit, their love of liberty, their 
 intelligence, and their high tone of moral character. Their 
 industry in peace is the source of our wealth ; their bravery 
 in wrar has covered us with glory ; and the government 
 of the United States will but ill discharge its duties, if it 
 leaves them a prey to such dishonest impositions. Yet it 
 is evident that their interests cannot be effectually pro- 
 tected, unless silver and gold are restored to circulation. . 
 
 These views, alone, of the paper currency, are suffi- 
 cient to call for immediate reform ; but there is another 
 consideration which should still more strongly press it 
 upon your attention. 
 
 Recent events have proved that the paper money system 
 of this country may be used as an engine to undermine 
 your free institutions ; and that those who desire to en- 
 gross all power in the hands of a few, and to govern by 
 corruption or force, are aware of its power, and prepared 
 to employ it. Your banks now furnish your only circu- 
 lating medium, and money is plenty or scarce, accordmg 
 to the quantity of notes issued by them. While they 
 have capitals not greatly disproportionate to each other, 
 they are competitors in business, and no one of them can 
 exercise dominion over the rest ; and although, in the 
 present state of the currency, these banks may and do 
 operate injuriously upon the habits of business, the pe- 
 cuniary concerns, and the moral tone of society ; yet, from 
 their number and dispersed situation, they cannot com- 
 bine for the purposes of political influence ; and whatever 
 may be the dispositions of some of them, their power of 
 mischief must necessarily be confined to a narrow space, 
 and felt only in their immediate neighborhoods. 
 
 But when the charter for the Bank of the United States 
 was obtained from Congress, it perfected the schemes of 
 the paper system, and gave to its advocates the position 
 they have struggled to obtain from the commencement of 
 the federal government down to the present hour. The 
 immense capital and peculiar privileges bestowed upon it, 
 enabled it to exercise despotic sway over the other banks 
 in every part of the country. From its superior strength, 
 it could seriously injure, if not destroy, the business of* 
 
 #. 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 365 
 
 any one of them which might incur its resentment ; and 
 it openly claimed for itself the power of regulating the 
 currency throughout the United States. In other words, 
 it asserted (and undoubtedly possessed) the power to make , 
 money plenty or scarce, at its pleasure, at any time, and 
 in any quarter of the Union, by controUing the issues of 
 other banks, and permitting an expansion, or compelling^ 
 a general contraction, of the circulating medium, according 
 to its own will. The other banking institutions were sensible 
 of its strength, and they soon generally became its obedient 
 instruments, ready at all times to execute its mandates ; 
 and with the banks necessarily went also that numerous 
 class of persons in our commercial cities who depend alto- 
 gether on bank credits for their solvency and means of 
 business, and who are therefore obhged, for their own 
 safety, to propitiate the favor of the money power by dis- 
 tinguished zeal and devotion in its service. The result 
 of the ill-advised legislation which established this great 
 monopoly, was to concentrate the whole moneyed power 
 of the Union, with its boundless means of corruption, and 
 its numerous dependents, under the direction and com- 
 mand of one acknowledged head ; thus organizing this 
 particular interest as one body, and securing to it unity 
 and concert of action throughout the United States, and 
 enabling it to bring forward, upon any occasion, its entire 
 and undivided strength to support or defeat any measure 
 of the government. In the hands of this formidable power, 
 thus perfectly organized, was also placed unlimited do- 
 minion over the amount of the circulating medium, giving 
 it the power to regulate the value of property and the 
 fruits of labor in every quarter of the Union ; and to be- 
 stow prosperity, or bring ruin upon any city or section 
 of the country, as might best comport with its own interesi 
 r policy. 
 
 We are not left to conjecture how the moneyed power, 
 thus organized, and with such a weapon in its hands, 
 would be likely to use it. The distress and alarm which 
 pervaded and agitated the whole country, when the Bank 
 of the United States waged war upon the people in order 
 to compel them to submit to its demands, cannot yet be 
 
866 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 forgotten. The ruthless and unsparing temper with which 
 whole cities and communities were oppressed, individuals 
 impoverished and ruined, and a scene of cheerful pros- 
 perity suddenly changed into one of gloom and despond- 
 ency, ought to be indelibly impressed on the memory of 
 the people of the United States. If such was its power in 
 a time of peace, what would it not have been in a season 
 of war, with an enemy at your doors ? No nation but the 
 freemen of the United States could have come out vic- 
 torious from such a contest ; yet, if you had not conquered, 
 the government would have passed from the hands of the 
 many to the hands of the few ; and this organized money 
 power, from its secret conclave, would have dictated the 
 choice of your highest officers, and compelled you to make 
 peace or war, as best suited their own wishes. The forms 
 of your government might for a time have remained, bftt 
 its living spirit would have departed from it. 
 
 The distress and sufferings inflicted on the people- by 
 the bank are some of the fruits of that system of poHcy 
 which is continually striving to enlarge the authority of 
 the federal government beyond the hmits fixed by the 
 Constitution. The powers enumerated in that instru- 
 ment do not confer on Congress the right to establish such 
 a corporation as the Bank of the United States : and the 
 evil consequences which followed may warn us of the 
 danger of departing from the true rule of construction, 
 and of permitting temporary circumstances, or the hope 
 of better promoting the public welfare, to influence in any 
 degree our decisions upon the extent of the authority of 
 the general government. Let us abide by the Constitu- 
 tion as it is written, or amend it in the constitutional mode, 
 if it is found to be defective. 
 
 The severe lessons of experience will, I doubt not, be 
 sufficient to prevent Congress from again chartering such 
 a monopoly, even if the Constitution did not present an 
 insuperable objection to it. But you must remember, my 
 fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the 
 price of liberty ; and that you must pay the price if you 
 wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, 
 to be watchful in your states, as well as in the federal 
 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. ,367 
 
 government. The power which the moneyed interest 
 can exercise, when concentrated under a sing^le head and 
 with our present sys''*^m of currency, was sufficiently de- 
 monstrated in the strugg ♦> made by the Bank of the United 
 States. Defeated in the general government, the same 
 class of intriguers and politicians will now resort to the 
 states, and endeavor to obtain there the same organiza- 
 tion, which they failed to perpetuate in the Union ; and 
 with specious and deceitful plans of public advantages, 
 and state interests, and state pride, they will endeavor to 
 establish, in the different states, one moneyed institution 
 with overgrown capital, and exclusive privileges, suffi- 
 cient to enable it to control the operations of the other 
 banks. Such an institution will be pregnant with the 
 same evils produced by the Bank of the United States, 
 Although its sphere of action is more confined ; and in the 
 state in which it is chartered, the money power will be 
 able to embody its whole strength, and to move together 
 with undivided force, to accomplish any object it may 
 wish to attain. You have already had abundant evidence 
 of its power to inflict injury upon the agricultural, me- 
 chanical, and laboring classes of society ; and over those 
 whose engagements in trade or speculation render them 
 dependent on bank facihties, the dominion of the state 
 monopoly will be absolute, and their obedience unlimited. 
 With such a bank, and a paper currency, the money 
 power would in a few years govern the state and control 
 its measures ; and if a sufficient number of states can be 
 induced to create such estabhshm&nts, the time will soon 
 come when it will again take the field against the United 
 States, and succeed in perfecting and perpetuating its 
 organization by a charter from Congress. 
 
 It is one of the serious evils of our present system of 
 banking, that it enables one class of society — and that by 
 no means a numerous one — by its control over the cur- 
 rency, to act injuriously upon the interests of all the others, 
 and to exercise more than its just proportion of influence 
 in political affairs. The agricultural, the mechanical, and 
 the laboring classes, have little or no share in the direction 
 of the great moneyed corporations ; and from their habits 
 
368 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 and the nature of their pursuits, they are incapable of 
 forming extensive combinations to act together with united 
 force. Such concert of action may 'sometimes be produced 
 in a single city, or in a small dis*- oi of country, by means 
 of personal communications with each other ; but they have 
 no regular or active correspondence with those who are 
 engaged in similar pursuits in distant places ; they have 
 but little patronage to give to the press, and exercise but 
 a small share of influence over it ; they have no crowd of 
 dependents about them, who hope to grow rich without 
 labor, by their countenance and favor, and who are, there- 
 fore, always ready to execute their wishes. The planter, the 
 farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer, all know that their 
 success depends upon their own industry and economy, 
 and that they must not expect to become suddenly rich 
 by the fruits of their toil. Yet these classes of society 
 form the great body of the people of the United States ; 
 they are the bone and sinew of the country ; men who 
 love liberty, and desire nothing but equal rights and equal 
 laws, and who, moreover, hold the great mass of our 
 national wealth, although it is distributed in moderate 
 amounts among the millions of freemen who possess it. 
 But with overwhelming numbers and wealth on their side, 
 they are in constant danger of losing their fair influence 
 in the government, and with difficulty maintain their just 
 rights against the incessant efforts daily made to encroach 
 upon them. 
 
 The mischief springs from the power which the moneyed 
 interest derives from a paper currency, which they are 
 able to control, from the multitude of corporations with 
 exclusive privileges, which they have succeeded in ob- 
 taining in the difl^erent states, and which are employed 
 altogether for their benefit; and unless you become more 
 watchful in your states, and check this spirit of mono- 
 poly and thirst for exclusive privileges, you will, in the 
 end, find that the most important powers of government 
 have been given or bartered away, and the control over 
 your dearest interests have passed into the hands of these 
 corporations. 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 300 
 
 The paper-money system, and its natural associates, 
 monopoly and exclusive privileges, have already struck 
 their roots deep in the soil ; and it will require all your 
 efforts to check its farther growth, and to eradicate the 
 evil. The men who profit by the abuses, and desire to 
 perpetuate them, will continue to besiege the halls of legis- 
 lation in the general government, as well as in the states, 
 and will seek, by every artifice, to mislead and deceive 
 the public servants. It is to yourselves that you must 
 look for safety and the means of guarding and perpetuat- 
 ing your free institutions. In your hands is rightfully 
 placed the sovereignty of the country, and to you every 
 one placed in authority is ultimately responsible. It is 
 always in your power to see that the wishes of the people 
 are carried into faithful execution, and their will, when 
 once made known, must sooner or later be obeyed. And 
 while the people remain, as I trust they ever will, uncor- 
 rupted and incorruptible, and continue watchful and jealous 
 of their rights, the government is safe, and the cause of 
 freedom will continue to triumph over all its enemies. But 
 it will require steady and persevering exertions on your 
 part to rid yourselves of the iniquities and mischiefs of the 
 paper system, and to check the spirit of monopoly and 
 other abuses, which have sprung up with it, and of which 
 it is the main support. So many interests are united to 
 resist all reform on this subject, that you must not hope 
 the conflict will be a short one, nor success easy. My 
 humble efforts have not been spared, during my adminis- 
 tration of the government, to restore the constitutional 
 currency of gold and silver ; and something, I trust, has 
 been done towards the accomplishment of this most desir- 
 able object. But enough yet remains to require all your 
 nergy and perseverance. The power, -iiowever, is in 
 our hands, and the remedy must and will be applied if 
 you determine upon it. 
 
 While I am thus endeavoring to press upon your at- 
 tention the principles which I deem of vital .importance to 
 the domestic concerns of the country, I ought not to pass 
 over without notice the important considerations which 
 
3/0 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 should govern your policy towards foreign powers. It is 
 unquestionably our true interest to cultivate the most 
 friendly understanding with every nation, and to avoid, 
 by every honorable means, the calamities of war ; and we 
 shall best attain this object by frankness and sincerity in 
 our foreign intercourse, by the prompt and faithful execu- 
 tion of treaties, and by justice and impartiality in our 
 conduct to all. But no nation, however desirous of peace, 
 can hope to escape collisions with other powers ; and the 
 soundest dictates of poHcy require that we should place 
 ourselves in a condition to assert our rights, if a resort to 
 force should ever become necessary. Our local situation, 
 our long line of sea-coast, indented by numerous bays, 
 with deep rivers opening into the interior, as well as our 
 extended and still increasing commerce, point to the navy 
 as our natural means of defence. It will, in the end, be 
 found to be the cheapest and most effectual ; and now is 
 the time, in the season of peace, and with an overflowing 
 revenue, that we can j^ear after year add to its strength, 
 without increasing the burdens of the people. It is your 
 true policy. For your navy will not only protect your 
 rich and flourishing commerce in distant seas, but enable 
 you to reach and annoy the enemy, and will give to defence 
 its greatest efficiency by meeting danger at a distance 
 from home. It is impossible by any Hne of fortifications 
 to guard every point from attack against a hostile force 
 advancing from the ocean and selecting its object ; but 
 they are indispensable to protect cities from bombard- 
 ment; dock-yards and navy arsenals from destruction; to 
 give shelter to merchant vessels in time of war, and to 
 single ships or weaker squadrons when pressed by supe- 
 rior force. Fortifications of this description cannot be too 
 soon completed and armed, and placed in a condition of 
 the most perfect preparation. The abundant means we 
 now possess cannot be applied in any manner more useful 
 to the country; and when this is done, and our naval 
 force sufficiently strengthened, and our militia armed, 
 we need not fear that any nation will wantonly insult us, 
 or needlessly provoke hostilities. We shall more certain- 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 3Vl 
 
 iy preserve peace, when it is well understood that we are 
 prepared for war. 
 
 In presenting to you, my fellow-citizens, these parting 
 counsels, I have brought before you the leading prin- 
 ciples upon Avhich I endeavored to administer the govern- 
 ment in the high office with which you twice honored 
 me. Knowing that the path of freedom is continually 
 beset by enemies, who often assume the disguise of 
 friends, I have devoted the last hours of my public life 
 to warn you of the dangers. The progress of the United 
 States, under our free and happy institutions, has sur- 
 passed the most sanguine hopes of the founders of the 
 Republic. Our growth has been rapid beyond all former 
 example, in numbers, in wealth, in knowledge, and all 
 the useful arts which contribute to the comforts and con- 
 venience of man ; and from the earliest ages of history to 
 the present day, there never have been thirteen millions 
 of people associated together in one political body, who 
 enjoyed so much freedom and happiness as the people of 
 these United States. You have no longer any cause to 
 fear danger from abroad ; your strength and power are 
 well known throughout the civilized world, as well as the 
 high and gallant bearing of your sons. It is from within, 
 among yourselves, from cupidity, from corruption, from 
 disappointed ambition, and inordinate thirst for power, 
 that factions will be formed and hberty endangered. It 
 is against such designs, whatever disguise the actors may 
 assume, that you have especially to guard yourselves. 
 You have the highest of human trusts committed to your 
 care. Providence has showered on this favored land 
 blessings without number, and has chosen you as the 
 guardians of freedom, to preserve it for the benefit of the 
 human race. May He, who holds in his hands the des- 
 tinies of nations, make you worthy of the favors he has 
 bestowed, and enable you, with pure hearts, and pure 
 hands, and sleepless vigilance, to guard and defend to 
 the end of time the great charge he has committed to 
 your keeping. 
 
 My own race is nearly run ; advanced age and failing 
 
3*72 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 kealth warn me that before long I must pass beyond the 
 reach of human events, and cease to feel the vicissitudes 
 of human affairs. I thank God that my life has been 
 spent in a land of liberty, and that he has given me a 
 heart to love my country with the affection of a son. And 
 filled with gratitude for your constant and unwavering 
 kindness, I bid you a last and affectionate farewell. 
 
LETTER TO COMMODORE ELLIOTT. 3/3 
 
 General Jackson* s Letter to Commodore Elliott^ declining a Sarco- 
 phagus. 
 
 Hermitage, March 27, 1845. 
 
 Dear Sir: Your letter of the 18th instant, together 
 with a copy of the proceedings of the National Institute, 
 furnished me by their corresponding secretary, on the 
 presentation, by you, of the Sarcophagus for their accept- 
 ance, on condition it shall be preserved, and in honor of 
 my memory, have been received, and are now before me. 
 
 Although laboring under great debility and affliction, 
 from a severe attack from which I may not recover, I raise 
 my pen and endeavor to reply. The steadiness of my 
 nerves may perhaps lead you to conclude my prostration 
 of strength is not so great as here expressed. Strange as 
 it may appear, my nerves are as steady as they were forty 
 years gone by ; whilst, from debility and affliction, I am 
 gasping for breath. 
 
 I have read the whole proceedings of the presentation, 
 by you, of the Sarcophagus, and the resolutions passed by 
 the Board of Directors, so honorable to my fame, with 
 sensations and feelings more easily to be conjectured, than 
 by me expressed. The whole proceedings call for my 
 most grateful thanks, which are hereby tendered to you, 
 and through you to the President and Directors of the 
 National Institute. But with the warmest sensations that 
 can inspire a grateful heart, I must dechne accepting the 
 honor intended to be bestowed. I cannot consent that my 
 mortal body shall be laid in a repository prepared for an 
 emperor or a king. My republican feelings and principles 
 forbid it ; the simpHcity of our system of government for- 
 bids it. Every monument erected to perpetuate the me- 
 mory of our heroes and statesmen ought to bear evidence 
 of the economy and simplicity of our repubhcan institu- 
 tions, and the plainness of our repubhcan citizens, who 
 
374 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 are the sovereigns of our glorious Union, and whose virtue 
 is to perpetuate it. True virtue cannot exist where pomp 
 and parade are the governing passions : it can only dwell 
 ;ith the people — the great laboring and producing classes 
 ^hat form the bone and sinew of our confederacy. 
 
 For these reasons I cannot accept the honor you and 
 the President and Directors of the National Institute in- 
 tended to bestow. I cannot permit my remains to be the 
 first in these United States to be deposited in a sarco- 
 phagus made for an emperor or king. I again repeat, 
 please accept for yourself, and convey to the President 
 and Directors of the National Institute, my most profound 
 respects for the honor you and they intend to bestow. I 
 have prepared an humble depository for my mortal body 
 beside that wherein lies my beloved wife, where, without 
 any pomp or parade, I have requested, when my God 
 calls me to sleep with my fathers, to be laid ; for both of 
 us there to remain until the last trumpet sounds to call 
 the dead to judgment, when we, I hope, shall rise to- 
 gether, clothed with that heavenly body promised to all 
 who believe in our glorious Redeemer, who died for us 
 that we might live, and by whose atonement I hope for a 
 blessed immortality. 
 
 I am, with great respect, 
 
 your friend and fellow-citizen, 
 
 Andrew Jackson. 
 
 To Commodore J. D. Elliott, United States Navy. 
 
XIFB OF JACKSON, 375 
 
 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 
 
 Hermitage, June 1th, 1843. 
 
 In the Name of G-od, Amen: — I, Andrew Jackson, 
 Sen'r., being of sound mind, memory, and understanding, 
 and impressed with the gTeat uncertainty of hfe and the 
 certainty of death, and being desirous to dispose of my 
 temporal affairs so that after my death no contention may 
 arise relative to the same — And whereas, since executing 
 my will of the 30th of September, 1833, my estate has 
 become greatly involved by my liabiUties for the debts of 
 my well -beloved and adopted son Andrew Jackson, Jun., 
 which makes it necessary to alter the same : Therefore I, 
 Andrew Jackson, Sen'r., of the county of Davidson, and 
 state of Tennessee, do make, ordain, pubhsh, and declare 
 this my last will and testament, revoking all other wills 
 by me heretofore made. 
 
 First, I bequeath my body to the dust whence it comes, 
 and my soul to God who gave it, hoping for a happy im- 
 mortahty through the atoning merits of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the Saviour of the world. My desire is, that my 
 body be buried by the side of my dear departed wife, in 
 the garden at the Hermitage, in the vault prepared in the 
 garden, and all expenses paid by my executor hereafter 
 named. 
 
 Secondly, That all my just debts to be paid out of my 
 personal and real estate by my executor ; for which pur- 
 pose to meet the debt my good friends Gen'l J. B. Plan- 
 chin & Co. of New Orleans, for the sum of six thousand 
 dollars, with the interest accruing thereon loaned to me 
 to meet the debt due by A. Jackson, Jun., for the pur- 
 chase of the plantation from Hiram G. Eunnels, lying on 
 the east bank of the river Mississippi, in the state of Mis- 
 sissippi. Also, a debt due by me of ten thousand dollars. 
 
876 LIFE OF JACKBON. 
 
 borrowed of my friends Blair and Rives, of the city of 
 Washington and District of Columbia, with the interest 
 accruing thereon ; being apphed to the payment of the 
 lands bought of Hiram G. Runnels as aforesaid, and for 
 the faithful payment of the aforesaid recited debts, I here- 
 by bequeath all my re*al and personal estate. After these 
 debts are fully paid — 
 
 Thirdly, I give and bequeath to my adopted son, An- 
 drew Jackson, Junior, the tract of land whereon I now 
 hve, known by the Hermitage tract, with its butts and 
 boundaries, with all its appendages of the three lots of 
 land bought of Samuel Donelson, Thomas J. Donelson, 
 and Alexander Donelson, sons and heirs of Sovern Donel- 
 son, deceased, all adjoining the Hermitage tract, agreeable 
 to their butts and boundaries, with all the appurtenances 
 thereto belonging or in any wise appertaining, with all my 
 negroes that I may die possessed of, with the exception 
 hereafter named, with all their increase after the before 
 recited debts are fully paid, with all the household furni- 
 ture, farming tools, stock of all kind, both on the Hermi- 
 tage tract farms, as well as those on the Mississippi plan- 
 tation, to him and his heirs for ever. — The true intent and 
 meaning of this my last will and testament is, that all my 
 estate, real, personal, and mixed, is hereby first pledged 
 for the payment of the above recited debts and interest; 
 and when they are fully paid, the residue of all my estate, 
 real, personal and mixed, is hereby bequeathed to my 
 adopted son A. Jackson, Jun., with the exceptions here- 
 after named, to him and his heirs for ever. 
 
 Fourth, Whereas I have heretofore by conveyance, de- 
 posited with my beloved daughter Sarah Jackson, wife of 
 my adopted son A. Jackson, Jun., given to my beloved 
 granddaughter, Rachel Jackson, daughter of A. Jackson, 
 Jun. and Sarah his wife, several negroes therein described, 
 which I hereby confirm. — I give and bequeath to my be- 
 loved grandson Andrew Jackson, son of A. Jackson, Jun. 
 and Sarah his wife, a negro boy named Ned, son of Black- 
 smith Aaron and Hannah his wife, to liim and his heirs 
 for ever. 
 
 Fifth, I give and bequeath to my beloved httle gr^nd- 
 
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 3^7 
 
 son, Samuel Jackson, son of A. Jackson, Jun. and his 
 much beloved wife Sarah, one negro boy named Davy or 
 George, son of Squire and his wife Giney, to him and his 
 heirs for ever. 
 
 Sixth, To my beloved and affectionate daughter, Sarah 
 Jackson, wife of my adopted and well beloved son, A. 
 Jackson, Jun., I hereby recognise, by this bequest, the 
 gift I made her on her marriage, of the negro girl Gracy, 
 which I bought for her, and gave her to my daughter Sa- 
 rah as her maid and seamstress, with her increase, with 
 my house-servant Hannah and her two daughters, name- 
 ly, Charlotte and Mary, to her and her heirs for ever. 
 This gift and bequest is made for my great affection for 
 her — as a memento of her uniform attention to me and 
 kindness on all occasions, and particularly when worn down 
 with sickness, pain, and debility — she has been more than 
 a daughter to me, and I hope she never will be disturbed 
 in the enjoyment of this gift and bequest by any one. 
 
 Seventh, I bequeath to my well beloved nephew, An- 
 drew J. Donelson, son of Samuel Donelson, deceased, the 
 elegant sword presented to me by the state of Tennessee, 
 with this injunction, that he fail not to use it when neces- 
 sary in support and protection of our glorious union, and 
 for the protection of the constitutional rights of our belo- 
 ved country, should they be assailed by foreign enemies 
 or domestic traitors. This, from the great change in my 
 worldly affairs of late, is, with my blessing, aU I can be- 
 queath him, doing justice to those creditors to whom I 
 am responsible. This bequest is made as a memento of 
 my high regard, affection, and esteem I bear for him as a 
 high-minded, honest, and honorable man. 
 
 Eighth, To my grand-nephew Andrew Jackson Coffee, 
 I bequeath the elegant sword presented to me by the Rifle 
 Company of New Orleans, commanded by Capt. Beal, as 
 a memento of my regard, and to bring to his recollection 
 the gallant services of his deceased father Gen'l John Cof- 
 fee, in the late Indian and British war, under my com- 
 mand, and his gallant conduct in defence of New Orleans 
 in 1814 and 1815; with this injunction, that he wield it 
 in the protection of the rights secured to the American 
 
378 LIFE OF JAtJKSON. 
 
 citizen under our glorious constitution, against all inva- 
 ders, whether foreign foes, or intestine traitors. 
 
 I bequeath to my beloved grandson Andrew Jackson, 
 son of A. Jackson, Jun. and Sarah his wife, the sword pre- 
 sented to me by the citizens of Philadelphia, with this 
 injunction, that he will always use it in defence of the con- 
 stitution and our glorious union, and the perpetuation of 
 our repubhcan system : remembering the motto — " Draw 
 me not without occasion, nor sheath me without honour." 
 
 The pistols of Gen'l Lafayette, which were presented 
 by him to Gen'l George Washington, and by Col. Wm. 
 Robertson presented to me, I bequeath to George Wash- 
 ington Lafayette, as a memento of the illustrious persona- 
 ges through whose hands they have passed — his father^ 
 and the father of his country. 
 
 The gold box presented to me by the corporation of the 
 City of New York, the large silver vase presented to me 
 by the ladies of Charleston, South Carolina, my native 
 state, with the large picture representing the unfurling of 
 the American banner, presented to me by the citizens of 
 South Carolina when, it was refused to be accepted by the 
 United States Senate, I leave in trust to my son A. Jack- 
 son, Jun., with directions that should our happy country 
 not be blessed with peace, an event not always to be ex- 
 pected, he will at the close of the war or end of the con- 
 flict, present each of said articles of inestimable value, to 
 that patriot residing in the city or state from which they 
 were preented, who shall be adjudged by his countrymen 
 or the ladies to have been the most valiant in defence of 
 his country and our country's rights. 
 
 The pocket spyglass which was used by Gen'l Wash- 
 ington during the revolutionary war, and presented to me 
 by Mr. Custis, having been burned with my dwelling- 
 house, the Hermitage, with many other invaluable relics, 
 I can make no dispositon of them. As a memento of my 
 high regard for Gen'l Robert Armstrong as a gentleman, 
 patriot and soldier, as well as for his meritorious militaiy 
 services under my command during the late British and 
 Indian war, and remembering the gallant bearing of him 
 and his gallant little band at Enotochopco creek, when, 
 
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 379 
 
 falling desperately wounded, he called out — " My brave 
 fellows, some may fall, but save the cannon" — as a me- 
 mento of all these things, I give and bequeath to him my 
 case of pistols and sword worn by me throughout my 
 mihtary career, well satisfied that in his hands they will 
 never be disgraced— that they will never be used or 
 drawn without occasion, nor sheathed but with honour. 
 
 Lastly, I leave to my beloved son all my walking-canes 
 and other rehcs, to be distributed amongst my young 
 relatives — ^namesakes — first, to my much esteemed name- 
 sake, Andrew J. Donelson, son of my esteemed nephew 
 A. J. Donelson, his first choice, and then to be distributed 
 as A. Jackson, Jun. may think proper. 
 
 Lastly, I appoint my adopted son Andi-ew Jackson, 
 Jun., my whole and sole executor to this my last will and 
 testament, and direct that no security be required of him 
 for the faithful execution and discharge of the trusts here- 
 by reposed in him. 
 
 In testimony whereof I have this 7th day of June, one 
 thousand eight hundred and forty-three, hereunto set my 
 hand, and affixed my seal, hereby revoking all wills here- 
 tofore made by me, and in the presence of 
 
 Marion Adams, 
 
 Elizabeth D. Love, ANDREW JACKSON. (Seal.) 
 
 Thos. J. Donelson, 
 
 Richard Smith, 
 
 R. Armstrong. 
 
 17 
 
JIBO life op JACKSON. 
 
 State cf Tennessee, Davidson County Court, 
 July Term, 1845. 
 
 A paper writing, purporting to be the last will and tes- 
 tament of Andrew Jackson, Sen., dec'd., was produced in 
 open court for probate, and proved thus : — Marion Adams, 
 Elizabeth D. Love, and Richard Smith, three of the sub- 
 scribing witnesses thereto, being first duly sworn, depose 
 and say, that they became such in the presence of the said 
 Andrew Jackson, Sr., dec'd., and at his request and in the 
 presence of each other ; and that ^qj verily beheve he 
 was of sound and disposing mind and memory at the time 
 of executing the same. 
 
 Ordered, That said paper writing be admitted to record 
 as such will and testament of the said Andrew Jackson, 
 Sr., dec^d. Whereupon Andrew Jackson, Jun., the exe- 
 cutor named in said will, came into court and gave bond 
 in the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, (there being 
 no security required by said will,) and quaUfied according 
 to law. 
 
 Ordered, That he have letters testamentary granted to 
 him. 
 
 State of Tennessee, Davidson County: 
 
 I, Robert B. Castleman, Clerk of the Coimty Court, of 
 said county, do certify that the foregoing is a true and 
 perfect copy of the original will of Andrew Jackson, Sr., 
 dec'd., together with the probate of the same, as proven 
 at the July term, 1845, of said court, as the same remains 
 of record in my office. In testimony whereof I have 
 hereimto set my hand and affixed the seal of said court at 
 my office, this the 15th day of August, in the 
 year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
 and forty-five. 
 
 Ro. B. Castleman 
 By his deputy, 
 
 Phineas Garrett. 
 
Bi^mtjum*^ wsGotj^ksE. SSI 
 
 DR. BETHUNE'S DISCOURSE, 
 Pronouncsd July Qth, 1845. 
 
 '♦iForhe established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, 
 which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their 
 children; that the generation to come might know them, even the children 
 which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children, 
 that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but 
 keep his commandments."— Psalm Ixxviii. 5, 6, 7. 
 
 Among our many national sins, there is none more 
 likely to provoke divine chastisement, yet less considered 
 or repented of, even by Christians, than ingratitude for 
 pohtical blessings. That there are evils among us, no one 
 will deny ; that changes might be made for the better, it 
 were unreasonable to doubt ; and, concerning methods of 
 removing evil, or working good, we may differ widely, yet 
 honestly. Evil is inseparable from human nature, the 
 best human schemes are capable of improvement, and 
 human opinions must be various, because they are falHble. 
 It is a narrow, unthankful spirit, which, brooding over 
 imperfections, or sighing after greater advantages, or bitter^ 
 ly condemning all who think not the same way, refuses to 
 perceive and acknowledge the vast benefits we actually 
 enjoy. Never was there a revolution at once so just and 
 so successful as that which won our country's indepen- 
 dence : never, except in the Bible, have the rights of raan 
 been so clearly and truly defined as in our constitution ; 
 never did greater success attend a social experiment than 
 has followed ours. Sinc^ the estabhshment of our con- 
 federacy, tumults, insurrections, and violent changes, have 
 been busy in all the civiHzed world besides. Throne after 
 throne has fallen, and dynasties have been built up on the 
 bloody ruins of dynasties. In some nations the people 
 
S82 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 have wrung, by force, partial concessions from hereditary 
 rule ; in others, after convulsive, misdirected efforts, they 
 have been crushed again by the iron hoof of despotism; 
 nor is the voice of a prophet needed to foretell a long, 
 desperate struggle of uprising humanity with the powers 
 of political darkness; while the bloody discords and con- 
 stant confusion of other repubUcs on the same continent 
 with ourselves, demonstrate the incompatibility of free- 
 dom with ignorance and superstition. Ours is now, with 
 the exception of the Russian and British (if, indeed, the 
 passage of the Reform BiU was not an organic change), 
 older than any monarchical government in Christendom. 
 The increase of our population from less than three mil- 
 lions to twenty, in seventy years, multiphes many times 
 any former example ; yet, notwithstanding the enormous 
 migration to us from various countries, where free princi- 
 ples are unknown, our wide land has more than enough 
 room for all : growth in numbers has been a chief cause 
 of our growth in wealth, and our laws, strong as they are 
 liberal, have proved themselves sufficient to compose, 
 maintain and rule all in concord, prosperity and power. 
 You will search in vain for another example of a vast na- 
 tion governed, without troops or armed police, by their 
 own "vvil^ It is not five years since, that our people, 
 spread out over an immense territory, after a contest in 
 which the utmost enthusiasm excited both parties, changed 
 their rulers. Yet not a bayonet was fixed, nor a cannon 
 pointed, nor a barricade raised, to guard the place of suf- 
 frage. The ballot, falUng noiselessly as snow upon the 
 rock, achieved the result Within the last twelvemonth, 
 the stupendous process has been repeated as peaceably 
 and safely. Each of the great pohtical sects, which divide 
 the popular vote, has triumphed and been beaten. Much 
 there has been to censure in the harsh recrimination and 
 unfraternal bigotry on either side ; but when the decision 
 was reached, though the long-rolling swells which succeed 
 the storm did not at once subside, and here and there 
 some \iolent partisan may have betrayed his vexation, the 
 surface became calm, and the noise soon died away 
 Every true patriot, submissive to the oracle of the polls. 
 
bethune's discourse. 883 
 
 whether wisdom or error, said in his heart, God bless 
 THE people! 
 
 Our difficulties, real or supposed, have arisen out of our 
 advantages, for good and evil are mixed with all human 
 affairs. The freedom of those institutions under which 
 we hve, has its price, which must be paid, so long as man 
 is prone to abuse, by impatience and excess, those favours 
 of Almighty God which yield happiness only when they 
 are used moderately and reHgiously. Elated by pros- 
 perity, we have forced our growth too fast. We have 
 attempted by plausible inventions to transcend the laws 
 of trade and production. We have complicated the ma- 
 chinery of our interests until our clear, simple constitu- 
 tion, has become, in the hands of sophisticating pohticians, 
 a riddle of mysteries. The Hmits of habitation have been 
 enlarged beyond the blessings of church and school-house. 
 Vices and faults, pecuhar to new settlements, have reach- 
 ed the heart of our legislation. To carry on. our far 
 gTasping. schemes, we have strained our credit till it broke. 
 Freedom of speech and of the press, has been abused to 
 licentiousness by prejudice, rashness, and selfish ambition. 
 Acknowledging as we do the rights of conscience in their 
 broadest meaning, even the holy name of religion has 
 been dragged upon the arena of party. 
 
 Our repubhc is not a paradise : our countrymen, like 
 ourselves, are not angels, but frail, erring men. Our his- 
 tory has been an experiment Mistakes have been and 
 will be made. It is thus that we are to learn. Shall we, 
 in coward diepticism, overlook our immense advantages to 
 hang our fears upon a few faults, or prognosticate the fail- 
 ure of a system which has accomplished so much, because 
 it shares with others the imperfections of humanity ? Is 
 there a sober-minded man among us, who would be will- 
 ing to encounter the oppressions of what are called strong 
 governments, that he might escape from under our pre- 
 sent system. Our faults are our own, and our misfortunes 
 are consequences of our faults ; but our poHtical advanta- 
 ges are God's rich gifts, which it becomes us thankfully 
 to receive and piously improve. All our evils have their 
 legitimate remedies, and there is no danger which may 
 
384 I.IFE OF JACESON. 
 
 not be avoided by a wise care. Instead, therefore, of 
 querulous fears and ungrateful discontent, the Christian 
 patriot should zealously inquire what he can do to secure 
 and advance the best welfai-e of our beloved land. Our 
 holy text is full of instruction to this end. 
 
 The psalmist is describing the poUcy of God with Israel, 
 the people whom he wished to Imow no king but himself, 
 and therefore, the only safe pohcy for any people who 
 would preserve their hberties from the encroachment of 
 despotic rule. 
 
 " He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a 
 law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they 
 should make them known to their children ; that the gene- 
 ration to come might know them, even the children which 
 should be born ; who should arise and declare them to 
 their children, that they might set their hopes in God, 
 and not forget the works of God, but keep his command- 
 ments." 
 
 We see here. 
 
 First: The character of a safe and happy peo- 
 ple. 
 
 "They set their hopes in God; they forget not the 
 works of God; they keep his commandments." 
 
 Secondly: The means which God has appointed 
 
 FOR cultivating THIS CHARACTER. 
 
 " He estabhshed a law in Jacob, and appointed a testi- 
 mony in Israel." 
 
 Thirdly : The obligation upon a Christian patriot 
 
 ARISING FROM THIS PROVIDENCE OF JeHOVAH. 
 
 "He commanded our fathers that they should make 
 them known to their children; that the generation to 
 come might know them, even the children which might 
 be born ; who should arise and declare them to their chil- 
 dren." 
 
 First : The character of a safe and happy people. 
 
 They " set their hopes in God." The man who looks 
 to God as the source of his welfare, is hfted above tempta- 
 tion within and without Conscious of a holy, heart- 
 searching eye, upon him, his virtue will not be an outward 
 semblance, cloaking from human sight, secret crime or 
 
BETHUNE*S DISCOURSE. 385 
 
 selfish purposes. The opinions, fashions, or rewards of 
 the world, will neither shape liis principles nor modify his 
 practice. He will fear to do evil, lest he should offend 
 against God. He will do justice and love mercy, because 
 he walks humbly with God. 
 
 His expectations of eternity will guard and sustain him 
 in honesty. He knows himself to be immortal ■ and God 
 eternal ; that vice, which no human scrutiny can detect 
 and no human laws can punish, will meet a terrible ven- 
 geance, while good acts and purposes wdll be rewarded 
 openly by Him, who seeth in secret, at the judgment 
 day. The pains of virtue and the pleasures of vice, being 
 ahke transitory, are of little account in his estimation, who 
 sets his hope in God, his Saviour, and his judge. He re- 
 lies upon God, because He is merciful, and knows that he 
 is safe, because God is Almighty. 
 
 Were our nation composed of such believers, how un- 
 troubled would be our peace ! how entire our mutual con- 
 fidence ! how free our affairs from intrigue, corruption and 
 wrong! The key would never be turned in the lock, the 
 gibbet seen no more, and the prison doors stand open. 
 No man would fear, but every man would love his neigh- 
 bour, and the true interests of all be acknowledged by 
 each as his owil 
 
 They " forget not the works of God." When God is 
 the treasury of a man's hopes, he loves to trace the work- 
 ings of God's wisdom and powder, that he may know the 
 sources upon which he can draw. He considers creatioii, 
 and in its minuteness as well as its vastness, he reads cer- 
 tain proof of the same Power which made, ruling so per- 
 fectly, that nothing is overlooked, and so absolutely, that 
 nothing is beyond his presiding w411. He considers re- 
 demption, that God so loved the world as to give his only 
 begotten Son as the deliverer of all w ho beheve upon his 
 name, and that all power is in the hands of our Elder 
 Brother, the incarnate God. Therefore is he sure, that 
 God rules in mercy as well as justice, that he will listen 
 to the prayer of his people, and that, however mysterious 
 his methods, all things are w^orking together by the Holy 
 Spirit for the universal triumph of truth, and righteous- 
 ness, and Deace. 
 
386 LIFE OF JACXSON. 
 
 With such convictions, how cheering to him must be the 
 study of Providence ! With what confidence, remember- 
 ing the faithfulness of God in the past, will he confide in 
 him amidst the difficulties of the present, and for the de- 
 velopements of the future ! and how steadfastly reject for 
 himself and for his country, any policy which crosses the 
 unchangeable laws of God, the overliving Lord ! 
 
 How strong would this nation be in hope and virtue, 
 did our people thus remember the works of God! For 
 never, since the world began, has the providence of God 
 been more remarkable, kind, and instructive, than towards 
 us. Jehovah did not lead Israel forth from Egypt to the 
 inheritance of Canaan with a more mighty hand or mani- 
 fest care, than has been seen in our history since the first 
 prayer of the pilgrim from the tyrrany of the old world 
 to this better country, rose through its virgin forests, un- 
 til our present day of unexampled prosperity. 
 
 They " keep his commandments." The behever's obe- 
 dience to the directions of God is the necessary result of 
 such tr.ust and study. Gratitude will make him loyal to 
 a sovereign so kind and faithful : a sense of his own weak- 
 ness and short-sightedness will incline him to follow land- 
 marks so certain, and the approbation of an honest con- 
 science reward and incite him to persevere. 
 
 " Happy is the people tJiat are in such a case ! Yea, 
 happy is that people whose God is the Lord!" 
 
 Secondly: The means which God has appointed for 
 cultivating such a character. 
 
 " He estabhshed a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a 
 law in Israel:" or as an admirable critic translates it, "He 
 estabhshed an oracle in Jacob, and deposited a revelation 
 with Israel." 
 
 The Psalmist, doubtless, here refers not only to' the law 
 given on the Mount, in which God defined human duties 
 and prescribed religious worship, but to all the communi- 
 cations which he had made or might yet make to man. 
 
 The value of the word of God is seen in the fact, that 
 it is the word of God. What almighty mercy and wis- 
 dom saw fit to reveal, must be of the last importance. 
 We are sure of nothing but that which God has made 
 
bethune's discourse. 387 
 
 known. I^ever could we have discovered his will con- 
 cerning us, or known how to walk in safety, had he not 
 said, " This is the way." Never could we have been as- 
 sured of a Providence over us, or looked within the tre- 
 mendous realities of eternity, had not he manifested him- 
 self by his own declarations, and brought immortality to 
 light by Jesus Christ, the man whom he has ordained as 
 saviour and judge. Without the word of God, we should 
 be without God, ignorant, hopeless, lost in perplexity, the 
 sport of conjecture, of passion, appetite, and dread. 
 Truth would have no definition, oaths no confirmation, 
 laws no sanction, and the grave no promise; the past 
 would teach us nothing but our ruin, and the future 
 would be black with despair. When we have that word, 
 how glorious is the reverse to the pious believer! We 
 stand by the side of God when he laid the foundation of 
 the earth, and we look beyond the catastrophe of created 
 things to the fixed results of justice and love. We trace 
 back our hneage to a brotherhood with every human soul ; 
 and we learn the will of our common father concerning 
 the relations which bind us to him and his family on earth. 
 We see the path of righteousness marked for our feet, 
 and one walking by our side, " whose form is like to that 
 of the Son of God," sustaining our weakness and assuring 
 our faithful obedience of eternal reward, after the sha- 
 dows and the labours of time shall have passed away and 
 ceased for ever. Nay, in t«.ie rest of the Sabbath, the 
 worship of the sanctuary, the communion of saints, and 
 the witnessing sacraments, we have the foretaste, sign, 
 and confirmation of an eternal rest, love, and satisfaction 
 in the house of God, eternal and undefilcd. 
 
 Need I ask you to consider the blessedness, here and 
 hereafter, of a nation who know and obey that word, and 
 who cultivate and defight in that worship ! Where is the 
 suicidal, traitor hand, that would dare pluck this corner- 
 stone from the foundation of our hopes, and, extinguish- 
 ing the light which heaven has kindled, give our country 
 back to the gloom, the hcentiousness, and cruelties of 
 thns iiations which have forgotten God! 
 
388 life of jackson. 
 
 Thirdly : The obligations upon the Christian patri- 
 ot ARISING FROM THIS PROVIDENCE OF GoD. 
 
 " He commanded our fathers to make them known to 
 their children ; that the generation to come might know 
 them, even the children wliich should be born, who 
 should arise and declare them unto their children." 
 
 The iirst duty laid upon us is, to study and practise the 
 word of God ourselves. It is by the light of Christian 
 example, that the saving power of the gospel is made 
 manifest to the world. The believer of the word of God, 
 therefore, owes a profession and practice of Christiainty 
 not only to God, to himself, and the church, but to his 
 country, because its welfare can be secui*ed only by reli- 
 gion. 
 
 Then, it is our duty, to the utmost of our means, to 
 give the advantage of the same religion to those who neg- 
 lect, or cannot, of themselves, obtain the means of grace, 
 especially in the new settlements of that immense valley, 
 the power of which already overbalances the older states. 
 Wherever a fellow-citizen is without the knowledge of 
 God, there is an element of danger mingling with the ag- 
 gregate of the national will. We can never control crime, 
 nor refute error, but by truth ; and in withholding the 
 truth of God, we consent to all the mischief that may be 
 done by those, to whom we might teach the right, but do 
 not. 
 
 But, especially, are we to strive that the Bible should 
 be in the hands, and by the blessing of God upon our 
 labours, in the hearts of the rising generation. Upon 
 their shoulders the burthens of society, our country, and 
 the cause of God, are soon to rest. From them their 
 children are to learn good or evil. Neglect a child, and 
 you have neglected the man, the woman, the father, the 
 mother, generations yet unborn. The truth of God in our 
 hands belongs to them, as much as to ourselves. It is de- 
 posited with us for their benefit. By omitting to give it, 
 we rob them of God's best gift, and our land, in future 
 years, of its best defence and glory. The means of edu- 
 cation, so far as the arts of reading and writing go, are 
 
BETHUNE^S DISCOURSE. S89 
 
 not enough. Educate with all your energies. Do no- 
 thing that may by any possibility interfere with, and eve- 
 rything to increase such instruction ; but let us be ever 
 ready to set the Bible before the opened eye and the 
 craving mind. Better that a child should learn to read 
 without the Bible, than to know not how to read the Bi- 
 ble. Th ink God! Christians need not contend for de- 
 bateable ground in this matter. With our Bible, and 
 Tract, and Sunday School Societies, if we be only faithfui 
 in supporting them, we are more than a match, by God's 
 help, for all the infidelity and superstition among us. We 
 lose time and waste our strength, by petty squabblings 
 with evil on its own dunghill. Let us rather devote all 
 our power and zeal to those ready and open methods of 
 disseminating truth, which no force in this land can forbid 
 us to use. When the true church of God consecrates the 
 talents she has from Him, to the spread of the gospel 
 through our country, every wall that the enmity or idol- 
 atry of men can build against it shall fall like those of Je- 
 richo at the trumpeting of the Levites ; when she walks 
 forth, the light of her presence shall dissipate every sha- 
 dow, and, " terrible as an army with banners," her peace- 
 ful triumphs will crown our whole people with the glory 
 of the Lord, a joy and a defence. 
 
 Blessed be God, there are those who have felt the ne- 
 cessity of these religious efforts for the good of our coun- 
 try, and the immortal well-being of our countrymen. 
 They are, indeed, but too few, and their zeal has not al- 
 ways been equal to their opportunities and responsibility. 
 
 Yet in them, their examples of Christian conduct, their 
 testimony to the power of religion, and their benevolent 
 labours for the illumination of the ignorant, we see the 
 providence of God blessing our nation with moral life, and 
 confirming our government, founded upon flic will of the 
 people, by the only sufficient buttresses, knowledge, vir- 
 tue, and the fear of God. The faithful Christian is the 
 only faithful patriot, and he is not a faithful Christian who 
 serves not his country in the name of Christ, and in the 
 spirit of his gospel 
 
 These thoughts, as you know, have been suggested bv 
 
390 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 the recent anniversary of our national independence, a day 
 which should be dear and sacred to us all, though often 
 miserably polluted by intemperance, and profaned by par- 
 ty assemblages. Surely we might devote one day of the 
 year to the charities of patriotic brotherhood, and lose all 
 minor distinctions in our common citizenship ; nor should 
 we forget before the altar of our father's God, the Author 
 of all mercies, his mighty doings for us in the past ; the 
 good, the great, the v/ise, the valiant, whom he has raised 
 up to serve, guide, and defend us ; and the blessing which 
 he has caused to rest upon their counsels, their arms, 
 their zeal, and their sacrifices. Such recollections are 
 due to Him, to our country, and to humanity. Children 
 should hear the story, and the best genius contribute to 
 its illustration. Fresh laurels should be plucked and 
 wreathed upon the graves of the beloved for their coun- 
 try's sake, and eloquence pay its richest tribute to their 
 heaven-sent worth, that the living may hear and follow 
 their example. 
 
 While I thus speak, the spell of a great name comes 
 upon oui' hearts, compeUing us to utter their thoughts' and 
 emotions. When the sun of that morning rose, it gilded 
 the fresh tomb of one whose ear, for the first time since 
 the 4th of July, 1776, failed to vibrate with the thunder- 
 ings of his country's birth-day joy ; and a voice, for the 
 first time, answered not its cheers, which, since its boyish 
 shout was heard through the Revolutionary strife, had 
 never been wanting in the annual conclamation. The iron 
 will, whose upright strength never quivered amidst .the 
 lightning storms that crashed around it in battle or con- 
 troversy; the adamantine judgment, against which ad- 
 verse opinions dashed themselves to break into scattered 
 foam ; the far-reaching faith, that flashed light upon dan- 
 gers hidden from the prudence of all beside ; the earnest 
 affection, that yearned in a child's simphcity, the purpose 
 of a sage, a parent's tenderness, and the humble fidelity 
 of a swoiTi servant over the people who gave it rule and 
 elevation, have ceased among us: Andrew Jackspn is 
 with God. He, who confessed no authority on earth but 
 the welfare of his country and his own convictions of right ; 
 
bethune's discourse. 391 
 
 who never turned to rest while a duty remained to be 
 done, and who never asked the support of any human 
 arm in his hour of utmost difficulty; bowed his head 
 meekly to the command of the Highest, and walked calm- 
 ly down into the grave, leaning upon the strength of Je- 
 sus; paused on the threshold of immortality to forgive 
 his enemies, to pray for our liberties, to bless his weeping- 
 household, and to leave the testimony of his trust in the 
 gospel of the Crucified ; and then, at the fall of a Sabbath 
 evening, passed into the rest which is eternal. His last 
 enemy ^o be destroyed was death. Thanks be to God, 
 who gave him the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 
 To say that he had faults, is to say that he was human ; 
 the errors of a mind so energetic, in a career so eventful, 
 must have been striking ; nor could a character be sub- 
 jected to censure more merciless, than he provoked by a 
 policy original and unhesitating, at open war with long- 
 established usages, and dogmas that had grown into un- 
 questioned axioms. Bereft in his early youth of parental 
 guidance and restraint, educated in the camp and the 
 forest bivouac, and forced to push his own fortunes through 
 the rough trials of a border life, we can scarcely wonder 
 that, until age had schooled his spirit and tempered his 
 blood, he was impetuous, sensitive to insult, and prone to 
 use the strong hand. Warm in his attachments, he was 
 slow to discover frailty in those he loved, or to accord 
 confidence where once he had doubted. Grasping, by 
 his untutored genius, conclusions which other men reach 
 by philosophical detail, he made, v* hile sure of just ends, 
 some mistakes in his methods, for the time disastrous. 
 Called to act at a crisis when the good and evil in our 
 national growth had become vigorous enough for conflict, 
 and wealth and labour, like the twins of Rebecca, were 
 struo-olino- for the rio-ht of the elder born, his decisions 
 in great but sudden emergencies were denounced by that 
 after criticism, which can look back to condemn, but is 
 blind to lead. Compelled to resolve stupendous, unpre- 
 cedented questions of government and political economy, 
 he roused the hostiUty of opposite schools in those difficult 
 sciences. Never shrinking from any responsibihty, per- 
 
392 LIFE OF JACKSON. 
 
 sonal or oflScial, he sternly fuliSlled his interpretations of 
 duty, as a co-ordinate branch of the'national legislature, 
 leaving his course to the verdict of his constituents ; nor 
 did he hesitate to avail himself of all the means he could 
 extract from the letter of the constitution, to achieve what 
 he thought was the intent of its spirit. His was a stern, 
 prompt, and energetic surgery, and though the body poli- 
 tic writhed under the operation, none can tell, though 
 some may conjecture, the more fatal consequences his se- 
 verity averted. If he were wrong, public opinion has 
 since adopted the chief of his heresies, and there is no 
 hand strong enough or daring enough to lay one stone 
 upon another of that w^hich he threw down into ruins. 
 But in all this, his heart was with the people, his faith 
 firm in the sufficiency of free principles; and regardless 
 alike of deprecating friends and denouncing opponents, 
 he held on throughout to one only purpose, the perma- 
 nent good of the whole, unchecked by particular privile- 
 ges, and unfettered by artificial restrictions. To use his 
 own lofty language, " In vain did he bear upon his person 
 enduring memorials of that contest in w^hich American 
 liberty was purchased ; * * * in vain did he since 
 peril property, fame, and fife, in defence of the rights and 
 privileges so dearly bought, if any doubts can be enter- 
 tained of the purity of his purposes and motives. * * 
 
 Nor could he have found an inducement to com- 
 mence a career of ambition, when gray hairs and a de- 
 caying frame, instead of inviting to toil and battle, called 
 him to contemplate other worlds, where conquerors cease 
 to be honoured, and usurpers expatiate their crimes." 
 
 But though there are passages in his life, about which 
 the most honest have held, and may yet hold, contrary 
 opinions, there are services of his demanding the gratitude 
 of all, and virtues all must delight to honour. Can we 
 forget that victory, in which his ready strategy and con- 
 summate skill turned back, by the valour of scarcely dis- 
 ciplined men, the superior numbers and veteran determi- 
 nation of a foreign foe from the spoil and dishonour of a 
 rich and populous territor}^? or the entire success, with 
 which he delivered from the scalping-knife and torture of 
 
^ BETHUNE*S DISCOURSE. , 8*93 
 
 wily and ferocious savages, the Florida settlements, an 
 achievement, which in subsequent trials far less arduous, 
 no other leader has been able to imitate ? Or the tri- 
 umph of simple firmness over diplomatic, procrastinating 
 subtleties, when, planting his foot upon what was clearly- 
 right, in a determination to suffer nothing that was clearly 
 wrong, he swung round a mighty European, empire to pay 
 its long- withheld indemnity for injuries done to American 
 commerce ? And in that darkest hour of our country's 
 history, when a narrow sectionalism counterfeited the 
 colour of patriotic zeal, and discord shook her gorgon 
 locks, and men shuddered as they saw, yawning wide in 
 the midst of our confederacy, a gulf which threatened to 
 demand the devotion of many a life before it would close 
 again, how sublimely did he proclaim over the land that 
 doctrine sacred as the name of Washington, The Unien 
 must be preserved! and the storm died away with impo- 
 tent mutterings. Nor is his glory in this the less, that 
 he shared it with another, and that other, one whose 
 name the applauses of his countrymen have taught the 
 mountains and the valleys to echo down for far genera- 
 tions, as the gallant, the frank, the brilliant statesman, to 
 whose fame the highest office could add no decoration, 
 nor disappointment rob of just claims to the people's love. 
 It was a lofty spectacle, full of rebuke to party jealousy 
 and of instruction to their countrymen, when Henry Clay 
 offered the compromise of his darhng theory, and An- 
 drew Jackson endorsed the new bond that made the 
 Union again, and, as we trust, indissolubly firm. 
 
 Remarkable as the contrast is, there were traits 
 in the temper of the indomitable old man, tender, sim- 
 ple, and touching. With vrhat faithful affection he 
 honoured her while living, whose dear dust made the 
 hope of his last resting-place more . sweet, that he might 
 sleep again at her side ! And, if his heart seemed some- 
 times steeled against the weakness of mercy, when crime 
 was to be punished, or mutiny controlled, or danger an- 
 nihilated ; he could also stoop in his career of bloody con- 
 quest, to take a wailing, new-made orphan to his pitying 
 heart; with the same hand, that had just struck down 
 
394 LITE OF JACKSON. 
 
 « 
 
 invading foes, he steadied the judgment-seat shaken with 
 the tremors of him who sat upon it, to pronounce sen- 
 tence against him for law violated in martial necessity ; 
 and at the height of authority, the poor man found him a 
 brother and a friend. 
 
 But, O how surpassingly beautiful was his closing 
 scene, when, as the glories of his earthly honour were fad- 
 ing in the brightness of his eternal anticipations, and his 
 head humbly rested upon the bosom of Him who was 
 crucified for our sins, his latest breath departed in the 
 praises of that rehgion which had become his only boast, 
 and in earnest counsel that all who loved him might ob- 
 tain the like faith, and meet him in heaven ! There was 
 no doubt in liis death ; he had prepared to meet his God ; 
 and when his giant heart fainted, and his iron frame fail- 
 ed, God was the strength of his heart, and his portion for 
 ever. Little would all his achievements have won for 
 him, had he gained the whole world, yet lost his soul ; 
 but now his fame will survive until time shall be no more, 
 and his spirit is immortal among the redeemed. The^ an- 
 gels bore him from us, no longer the hero, the statesman, 
 the guide of millions, and the master mind of his country ; 
 but a sinner saved by grace, to the feet of the Lamb that 
 was slain, a little child of God to the bosom of his Father. 
 My hearers, have you been his friends ? Obey his part- 
 ing counsel, and by faith in Jesus, follow him to heaven, 
 whom you have delighted to follow on earth. Have you 
 been in opposition to his hfe ? Refuse not the profit of 
 his death, but find in that blood, which cleansed him 
 from all his sins, atonement for your own. that his 
 last testimony had the same power over men's souls, as 
 his cheer in battle, and his proclamations of political doc- 
 trine ! Then would he shine bright among the brightest 
 in the constellation of those who turn many to righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 My brethren, I have spoken much longer than I meant 
 to have done, but you would not have withheld from me 
 the privilege. If I have dwelt upon the best traits in the 
 notable character of one, who has not been suffered to 
 escaoe the earnest crimination of manv, it has been be 
 
bethune's discourse. 895 
 
 cause he is dead. You, who listened to me with so much 
 candour, when I paid, four years since, an humble tribute 
 to the merits of him who reached the height of authority 
 to sink into a grave watered by a nation's tears, will not 
 condemn my utterance of similar emotions now. The 
 jackal hate, that howls over the lifeless body, is far remo- 
 ved from your Christian charity and generous judgment. 
 
 •'Vile is the vengeance on the ashes cold, 
 And envy base to bark at sleeping mould." 
 
 Let us rather pray as Christians, that the memory of 
 good deeds may live, and the example of a Christian's 
 death be sanctified. Let us, as Christian patriots, take 
 new courage in setting forth, by word and practice, the 
 paramount virtue of -the religion we profess, to save our 
 country, as it saves the soul ; and, while we mourn the 
 conflicts of evil passion, not forget the actual good which, 
 by the Divine favour, is working out health from the mys- 
 terious fermentation. 
 
 There is, notmthstanding occasional agitation, a calm 
 good sense among our people, sufficient to recover and 
 maintain the equilibrium. It is not seen blustering around 
 the polls ; it is not heard vociferating and applauding in 
 party meetings ; nor, unhappily, does it often appear on 
 the arena, where misnomered statesmen struggle rather 
 for personal advancement than their country's good ; but 
 it Hves with those, who, in honest toil, are too independent 
 to be bought, or, in honest competence, too content to de- 
 sire the doubtful distinctions of popular favor. It is nur- 
 tured by the lessons of holy religion. It is breathed in 
 the prayer of God's true worshippers. It deliberates 
 around the domestic hearth, where the father thinks of 
 the posterity who are to live after him ; in the philosophic 
 retirement of the man of letters ; in the workshop where 
 the freeman feels proud of his sweat ; and in the cultured 
 field, from which the farmer knows that his bread is sure 
 by the bounty of heaven. It is felt in the practice of 
 common duties, the example of daily virtues, and the re- 
 sults of observant experience. It is like oil on the waves 
 of noisy strife. The man in power trembles as he hears 
 
3ft# • LIFK OF JACKSON. 
 
 its still small voice ; the secret conspirator finds its clear 
 eye upon him, and quails beneath the searching scrutiny ; 
 and, hke the angel of Israel, it meets the demagogue on 
 his way to curse the land which God has blest, and, if he 
 be not turned back, it alarms and forewarns the beast on 
 which he rides. 
 
 It may be said, that the party of the honest and intel- 
 ligent is small, far smaller than, with my respect for my 
 country, I believe it to be ; but, if it be, it has still the 
 controlling voice from the divisions of the rest. Each dis- 
 astrous experiment teaches them new prudence, each well- 
 sustained trial new courage. They have not looked for 
 immediate perfection, and, therefore, are willing yet to 
 learn. They are the men who hold the country together, 
 and their influence is the salt which saves the mass from 
 utter corruption. I look upward above the dust which 
 is raised by scuffling partisans, to the throne of our fath- 
 ers' God ; I look backward on all the threatening events 
 through which he has brought us ; and I can commit my 
 country to the care of Him who " maketh even the wrath 
 of man to praise him," and beheve that it is safe. Under 
 providence, I rely with an unshaken faith on the intelli- 
 gent will of the American people. If my faith be a de- 
 lusion, may it go with me to my gTave. When its war- 
 rant proves false, I could pray God, if it be his will, to let 
 me die ; for the brightest hope that ever dawned on poh- 
 tical freedom shall have been lost in darkness, the fairest 
 column ever reared by the hands of men cast down, and 
 the beacon light of the world gone out. 
 
 My hearers, we must soon appear before God to an- 
 swer for all our conduct here. Then, what, will avail all 
 our busy, anxious, most successful pursuit of this world, 
 if, through neglect of a timely faith and repentance, we 
 are lost for ever ? Let me entreat you, therefore, to seek 
 first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, that the Ho- 
 ly Spirit may be your guide, Christ your intercessor, and 
 the Father receive you among the children of his love. Un- 
 til we have obtained this grace for ourselves, we shall seek 
 in vain to do any real good ; there is no promise of an 
 answer to our prayers, or of a blessing upon our zeal. 
 
bethune's discourse. 897 
 
 We cannot be faithful to others, while we remain unfaith- 
 ful to God and our own souls. May the voice of Provi- 
 dence, confirming the testimony of the Scriptures, prevail 
 with us all to prepare for eternity, that in our wise pre- 
 paration, we may secure our own best happiness, by ren- 
 dering the best service to God, our country, and our race ! 
 Amen. 
 
 THE END. 
 
31J.77-1