The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1879-06-28

+ known such a man, and That it would be
, injustice to myself not to improve the OPP
I portunity l ten enjoyed. Accordingly in
: company with one other still younger than
5 myself, 1 visited the Hermitage. We found
: the General alone, seated at a large writing
, table, which was covered with letters, man.
uscripts, pamphlets and newspapers. He
rose with difficulty when we entered the
, room, bade us cordial welcome, turned
his chair toward the fire, and almost ilnme
diately commenced conversation, or rather
a one sided talk, for during the two or
} three hours of our stay, do not think
either my companion or myself uttered a
J dozen words. He was then nearly II years
old, little more than skeleton in appear
ance, and had his feet and lower limbs,
which were much swollen, swathed in flannel.
His eye, however, retained its wonted fire;
his memory was unimpaired; his mind was
as vigorous as in his best days, and his
partialities and antpathies, particularly the
latter, had suffered no dminution. To
give even a synopsis of that long talk
would require more space than a newspaper
can afford; and besides, much of it was of
too TRANSIENT and local character to be worth
repeating at this distance of time. There
was one topic however upon which he
dwelt at great length and with minute
detail, and which, as it made controlling
issue in the Presidential election that year,
it is proper to notice.
The General had been sorely disturbed
| by the election of 1910, in which the party
he had formed, and whose foundation he
thought he had SO securely laid, had top
pied over in gust of popular excitement.
General Harrison, man whom, both as
soldier and statesman, he held in supreme
contempt, had overwhelmingly beaten Mr..
Van Buren, his own pet, as he was called
and his beloved Tennessee, whose voice had
never so much as faltered in his own sup-
port, had contributed to the result. His
chagrin was further intensified by the fact
that many prominent men throughout the
land, who owed everything TO his fostering
care, had Joined in the defection-treachery
he called it-and gone to swell the ranks of
his personal and political enemies. He
was, at that time, intently pondering the |
means of reinstailng his party in power,
and especially, as he phrased it, of brings
ing Tennessee back into the Democratic |
fold. He knew well the American greed of
territorial acquisition, and he also knew
that if he could get the Democratic party
committed to any measure, it would, for
that reason alone; be opposed by the Wings. |
He therefore discoursed largely on the i'm
portance of the annexation, or re-annexa-
ton, as he called it, of Texas for he in
sisted that the country, at least as far west
as the Colorado, had passed to the United
States, by the cession of Louisiana. lie
was able to assign so many reasons, mill
tary, commercial, political, economical, and
SOCIAL for its acquisition, that he left one
at loss to conceive how we could so long
have done without it. In fact, as L soon
after learned, he was at the time engaged
in writing letters to all the influential
papers and politicians in his party, urging I
the measure, in the very terms employed
in this conversation. When, therefore, the
opened in the ensuing spring, all
the party organs and speakers chimed in 5
unison, each apparently speaking its or his
individual opinions, whilst l was able to :
trace the inspiration of every Que of them s
back to one master spirit. As usual, he had a
Judged correctly. The people were dazzled a
by the idea of the territorial enlargement, -
huugh some of the leading men of tho {
larty, such as Van Buren, and Benton, op L
posed it, as premature and leading to war; 1
md the Wings, with Mr.. Clay at their head, II
et their faces in opposition. The result ii
vas the election of Mr.. Polk, compara- v
lively obscure man, but an unwavering le
riend and supporter OF the General over =
Ir. Clay, thus forever blighting the hopes "
f that brilliant and aspiring statesman, lc
nd adding one more and crowning tri-
mpu 10 Iue chre6r Oh Tue llluSlTlOub SuDJeCl u
these hastY sketches. He lived but three NJ
lonths after the Inauguration of Mr.. Polk, tc
hen he departed, full of years and of NJ
onors and it is a sad reflection to those h,
'ho knew him, that they cannot hope to tc
,ok upon his like again. Ct
Here 1 close these disjointed and frag- &c
lentary recollections of General jackson. w
am conscious of having said much which D
as not strictly pertinent to the subject pi
f having left unsaid much that would in~ g
rest a large class of readers, and of having G,
nd nothing i'll a manner worthy of a char he
,ter of such unapproachable dignity and ut
uriiy in public life. could not how ssL
yer, restrain the desire to pay my weak n,
ibute to the memory of one whose name to
ld fame will be cherished to the latest ly
eriod cf recorded time. ST