Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1851-02-18
Genfral Jackson.
r. Rives, of the Washington

w ashIngton some years ago, in-
dulged in the following reminiscent
ces:
1T BIAS not only been my for tune
to havE been Patronised by Andrew
Jackson, but It has been my good
luck I'd llnow more about bis wri-
tings a1d doing IS during the last thir-
teen years than those most near and
dear to him. 1t is so generally
known That he was a man who,
above all d hers, took responsible
ity' in pea4e or in war, that that
word 3brin gs to the minds Of the.
pecpleHof This country dis name al
most AS certainly as the letters
which spell it. But it is not so
well known that be made others
take it at Dimes Of profound peace.
| know it well. lie made me take
it, and that made me know him so
well. The occasion for making
me take it was, his annual message
got out from the offices of the -Aa-
hoaag hfs Ngfaecr, and the. Unted
,Stateas5 5skrabh before it was sent
TO Consreds, soon after 1 came in
TO the GlodE oiIice-the first session
of the twenty third Congress, | be-
lieye-a lad afterwards, as long as
he was President, he gave all his
messages tb d e, to have printed,
with the DID admonition; / viii
hold yo4l res onsibIe, sir, if that
message. gets cut before Congress
is read y 10 receive it. Don't let any
person-n9t even enc Of my cab
met officers have a copy oft be-
fore ! send it to Congress.'
The printer prints fromthe rough
draught Of the Presidents message
and often gets part Of the copy be-
lore the mfssdge is completed =
| invariably went after the copy,
and took the proofs back to the Pres
ident myself, Which gave ne an OPP
portunity Of showing all about who
wrote and i tho were consulted
about them 1t has been said and
is no doubt believed by many, that
General Jackson did not white bis
messagesg Neither he aef any 9th
er Pr Fsident c yer wrote those parts
of their MESSAGES viii h shows the
condition Of the several depart
ments. They arc written by the
heads Of departments respectively.
Nearly the whole Of the balance
Of General Jadkson's messages was
in his hand writing. tT'te procla>
nation witch was intended to car
Try out hisI memorable toast II he
Union must BIZ preserved which
was uttered as a rebul1e to- huIlifi
cation, " hen it first showed its front
at the celebration Of Mr.. J6fIcrson's
birth day in Washington, was rel
mritten by Mt. Livingston, then
Secretary VI State. AIr, Blair who
saw the originalpaper, has'lrequtntl
" told his friends that he thonght
If better. thAh thp finished nTodnc-
ton, and liable to the objections I'd
some Of the principles advanced
in the latter. Ut was General jack
sons invariable practice to put
down in writing every Official pa
per which he submittedto the public
lie was, however, always " Hing
to admit sgggeStions, and pe rmit
alterations where he thought them
improvements.
| will relate alp anecdote or Incl
dent whichi will lead to a correct
conclusion as to who wrote Gener-
al Jackson's messages, and also
who attende d TO them after they
were written.
When went after the annual
message which demanded of the
French king [Lonis PhiIippe] the
indemnity due TO citizens Of the U.
States by the French govern
ment,I found Major A. J. Donelson,
then Gen Jackson's private Secret
tary, and a clerk belonging to the
Stat Department, Mr.. Derrick,
com pairing the copies to be sent 10
both branches Of Congress with the
rough draught. General Jackson
W as waIkingIthelfoo some twenty
or thirty feet from them, smoking
his pipe, paying no attention b to- the
reading, as ! thought. When they
read that part of the message which
pressed the demand in the strong
est terms, General jackson said
'Donelsop. stop there; that is not
as I wrote it,' Major Donelson re-
piled, General the cabinetihad a
meeting, audi agreed to softenNlis
a Titles and be then attempted toll
read on. eyideatly very much agita-
ed. General Jackson again said |
L..