The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1871-02-02

/ eu Will tIlC OLuCc VI OTOSCCuh4nS
s torney, travelling upon horseback
through an almost pathless wilderness
exposed to assault and massacre ot
hostile Indians, and arriving at Nash
: vile, his future home, for long life
: time. lust before the adoption of the
late Constitution of the United States
3 and the Inauguration of Washington
as first President under it. For some
, years, youthful as he was, he found
!. himself in heavy practice, travelling
> fmany hundred miles at the risk of his
4 life, with law papers in. one hand and
! his trusty rifle in the other UpoL
D one occasion he narrowly escaped
r drowning, but congratulated himsel
4 upon his rescue saying TO a c0mpan'
ion who censured his apparent rash;
, ness, You see how near can grazs
/ danger" Upon another occasion
= while On the circuit, sleeping so1ndly
3 all night in the woods, he awoke, al
| daylight, to find himself buried siz
inches deep in the snow. Such was
the life of a Western lawyer in early
!, times !; and these were the scenes
! which disciplined the future hero o.
!. New Orleans, and the President o1
! the United States. An extensive
: practice duel now and then; a horse
: race Or alcock fight, in the style of the
southwestern settlements & member
ship of the. State Constitutional Con-
vention elected as first Representa-
tive in the Federal Congress from the
State of Tennessee; a g filthy Demo
4 se;rat,Y Z in the polite language ofitbat
day, and within my own recollection
voting "no' along with Livingston,
4 Macon and Venable, to an address to
4 the message of President Washing
ton appointed when just thirty years
of age, to the Senate of the United
States; brief and unimportant ca
reer of a few months in that body i;
belectlon7 to the Supreme benchIof his
adopted State, and a afsix. years SER
vice, wherein, maintaining the digni-
fty and authority of the bench, his de-
teisions wePe said to have been short,
iuntechnical, unleaFned gsometimes un-
grammatical, and generally right; oc-
cGpation as a country store keeper
and a trader for some years, abhoT-
tiring debt, and making every sacrifice
to avoid or to escape from it; quick
alta bargain, and religiouslyi prompt
and exact i'll meeting every engage
ment, and fulfilling every promise to
the letter; and with all this, fondness
for sports, devotion to billiards, and
/ passionate attachment to- horses and
horse-racing-these constitute Il the
chief incidents and characteristics of
7Jackson's life for the following sew
!. enteen years. It was during this pc
riod and while, upon the bench, that
| the sheriff reported in open court,
| that he was not able to make an arrest
! which jackson had ordered.o So sum-
mon me, as a gpossc,1g said the indig-
nant judge. At his approach the ,cul-
! prit quietly surrendered.
Upon another occasion while hold
fling court at Jonesboro, he was in
formed, as he-lay sick ON his bed. that
Colonel Harrison, with regiment of
men, was in front of the hotel for. the
| purpose OF coating him with tar and
feathers; and he was advised to lock
| his door. Springing to his feet and
opening wide the door, he exclaimed
with determined emphasis, "My COM
pIiments to Colonel Harrison tell
him I am ready for him, and hope
that he will lead his men, and not wait
to follow them" He was not mob
bed. -H
Yet during all this long period, no
man recognized in him the General
= L
later day. Service in the Senate and
the House of the Federal Congress,
left him quite unknown, except only
+ to the people of Tennessee. Many
years afterwards, political foe,o'Al-
bert Gallatin, i'll 1886 fellow mem
Der of the House, remembered him
only as a tall, lank, uncouth person
age, with long locks of hair hanging
over his face, and queue down his |
back tied in an eel skin; his dress sin
gular, his manner and department
those of rough backw oodsman -
the latter part of the portrait, certain
ly not correct. If Webster did not
misunderstood Jefferson, as a Sena-
tor, Jackson could never speak on ac-
count OF the rashness of his feelings,
and attempting it repeatedly, be. /
choked with rage" Very violent may
have been the Jackson Of thirty years
later ); but he never choked with rage
unless he Intended it. - ~
From 1905 to 1913, when he was
verging upon fifty years OF age, jack
sons was a life of unquietness and |
violence. His personal and political
enemies were numerous and vindic-
tive. They pursued him with unre-
lenting persecution. He was never q
man to succomb to any one In eye-d
ry instance of antagonism, he went
tor a clean victory or clean defeat"
Placable to the fullest degree when
the struggle was past, he yet, in the
midst of it, refused every compromises.
His violent controversies and bloody |
rencounters, his fatal duel with Dick |
inson. his sharp quarrel with Dins- |
more, and his furious attack of q later
day upon the Bentons, I pass by
Many of his bitterest quarrels arose |
from the purest, loftiest, holiest of inn
pulses and purposes-the defense of,
the tair fame of his wife, whom he
loved with the ardor of Andrew
Jackson. 1
Of his association with Aaron Burr
need notSsPeak. In this 1he was. as
innocent as Jefferson, or Mai shall, or
try The moment that Burr's designs !
were justly suspected, he denounced
them Vehemently, and offered to the
Government sthe whole force of his
division of militia, to the command
of which he had been elected by but
one vote. Yet with characteristic
Justice and courage he refused to ar
ray himself among the personal ene-
mics of Burr. From this hour he fell
himself, under suspicion of that which,
in these royal times, is, styled :" dis
loyalty" And so bitter, because of
all this combination Aof men and cir-
cumstances against him, became the
hostility of enemies, that in the very
maturity of his manhood, for seven
years, except among his chosen
friends who never forsook him, he
was the most odious and unpopular
man in Tennessee. During the whole s,
period there was not an office, in the
city, county or State, to which he,
could have been elected, Politicians
Stunned, false friends, deserted, ener
mics tearlessly and recklessiy assailed
him. The hour had not come; where
fore the m an. w q q N of rnconniznd