The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1869-12-28
NASHVILLE, Tenn, Dec, IL 1869.
Col. L. +. KvApP-
Eiitnr MiddInhnrn- D..

Editor Middlebury Register.
Thinking it possible that the Register
might be interested to hear some thing
from this portion of our great and glori.
Gus country, will chat for a few moments
with you about Tennesseeans and Tennessee
affairs.
Perhaps no State in the Union, for for
ty years has attracted more general notice
than Tennessee. No State in proportion
to its population, and the number of its
educated men, has furnished greater
number of prominent men.
FIRST in the list comes the faulty fiery
glorious jackson" who, with little educa.
tlon and fierce temper, touqM his way to
the highest office in the gift of his coun.
trymen. And here let me add to history
an anecdote. that have never vet seen in
print. | had it this morning from the
Hon. John Trimble, ex.member of Con.
gress from this District, and it was told
to him by the Rev. Mr.. Edgar, presby-
terian minister, who attended upon Jack.
son, during his last illness. Mr.. Edgar
perceiving that the old hero was near his
end, said to him, "Gen. Jackson, in view
Of your approaching dissolution tell me,
what act Of your life you most regret
The dying patriot answered, There is
but one act of my life that | regret
"And that, said he, raising himself up
in the bed, 'is that | did not hang John
&. Calhoun"
Hardly had the nation ceased trcmb-
ling, at the frown Of this Presidential au.
tocrat, when Tennessee, taking credit for
having given to the country jackson, de.
manded for herself another President and
had him in the person of James X. Polk,
polished gentleman, moderate lawyer,
and "IenneSee politician" He inaugur-
ated acommotion in the land eclipsing even
old Hlckory's war, upon the Bank in the
form OF yeritable war, against a neigh
boring State. Through its connection with
the Mexican war, Polk made his Ad-
ministration an era in our national life.
Next in the list Of Tennessee Presidents
came, the Greenyille tailor, who by the
assistance Of brazen impudence and
false preteace,, induced the Republican
party to elect him 10 the second highest
office in the nation, from which he was
dssdSsindtcd into the highest, A cross roads
politician, with no education and less
principle, johnson achieved, if not fame
infamy if not distinction, notoyety, and a
prominence second TO no one of our Chief
Magistrates.
Leaving her Presidents, and her dead
celebrities, her Grundy, her Fosters and
her Bell, behold a crowd of living nota-
bles, whose numbers | shall not attempt
to count, whose doings lin the wrong d.
rection for the most part | grant you,) l
shall not narrate and the biographies Of
whom | shall not weary you,by giving.
Accompany me down Cherry street in
this city, and | will introduce you to q
dozen men, that have made q "stir" in the
land, and ofwhom some may live to do so
again.
That tall, STOPPING scholarly looking
man, in great coat, is Mel s. Brown, ex-
Governor, ex-Mnister to Russia etc. An
old line whig, a Union man, a mild rebel,
a Union man again, and now working in
Democratic traces, he is a genial gentle
man, and by nature disposed to be liberal
in his views and generous in his treatment
Of all classes. You are compelled to like
him, and are inclined to con6de in his since.
rity,and the honesty ofhis profession. Along
with him is his younger brother, Maj. Gen
John &. Brown of the late 'so-called," a
fine officer to whom, ',oir, the qualities oi
liberality and generosity, would as vel
apply as to the Ex-Governor only am in.
clined to believe the General" is now the
more loydi of the two. This burly red
faced gent in "homespun," with grey
moustache and a slouched hat, is Lieut.
Gen. Frank Cheatham, the best of the reb
el volunteer generals who made a name
in Mexico. There is a look and a way
about him, that makes you think of Johr
Logan, you like him for the same reason
that the people ofIllinoise like Logan, ,and
because he says he never ceased loving tn,
odd Flag and is glad that Secession got
whipped out Since the war he has beer
living quietly on a farm, mot farming
himselfto any alarming extent ,)and now he
is candidate, for the lucrative office OF
County Court Clerk, against Dick Nc.
Cam, and half dozen lesser lights of
the defunet Coniederacy, Why does that
loose jointed, sharp faced keen eyed man
with black whiskers, who gives you his
hand as he hurries along, limp as he does,
and who is he2 You, my dear sir
would limp too, had you, as he has, some
half dozen Yankee bullets in different
parts of your body, You have heard Of