Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1910-01-21

in showing every mark of respect b
Mrs. Eaton. When his niece, who wa
the wife of his private secretary, joine'
the rebels, he said to her, Go home
my dear, to Tennessee. Next day h
had new private secretary.
The Slanderors.
But jackson being man OF action
was not willing to let the war drag on
in this manner. He determined on
new line of procedure, one which h,
firmly believed would bring the contes
to proper solution. Patiently ant
painstakingly he interrogsted every maj
and woman in his immediate circle re
gsrding the stories they had heard an,
who had been their informants. Ther
he sent for the informants and ques
toned them as to where they had heart
the taes. With tireles energy he con
tinued this inquiry and was gradually
making progress when he was materi
ally helped by receiving letter from
Rev. Mr.. Ely, clergyman of Philadelphia
containing definite charges against Mrs
Eaton, which he declared he was in 9
position TO prove. Mr.. Ely was one oi
the persons to whom General jackson
had traced some of the stories, and the
clergyman's charges were the result Of
a letter jackson had sent to him. This
was not all. Another clergyman, the
Rev. Mr.. Campbell, Of Washington,
was discovered to be the source from
which most of the Washington women
had heard the reports derogatory to
Peggy O'Neal.
The president now had something
definite to work on. He summoned the
two clergymen to the White House.
He had been n chief justice in Tennes-
see, and he held regular judicial in
quiry, with the two men as witnesses.
Every question and every answer was
taken down. Ely had no proof. Worse
than that he had no basis even for sus-
picion. Campbell was in a worse
plight. He was pastor of the Presby-
terian church the President attended.
He broke down completely when Gen.
ersl Jackson questioned him. This ex-
animation of the two clergymen was
held in the presence of the Cabinet in
September, 1929, more than six months
after jackson had assumed office. 1t
was as absolute an expose Of the falsi-
ty Of the stories circulated as possibly
could be obtained and the President
was delighted. He was sure now that
the women Of Washington, knowing
how base were the ISLANDERS against
Mrs. Eaton and how greatly they had
wronged her, would do everything to
right the injury done the much malign-
ed Peggy. Poor man, he did not know
women. 1t having been proved that
she was guiltless, they decided that she
was all the more guilty. And so de-
Gliding, they renewed the warfare with
a more savage fury than before.
Retribution.
jackson could not believe the affair
was personal to Mrs. Eaton. AS pol
tician, he always looked on anything
that affected his career adversely as
being the work Of his political enemies.
He saw or thought he saw in the at
tacks on Peggy O'Neal the same hands
that struck at him in other matters.
He got to think that Henry Clay was
at the bottom of it.
There is an idea, too, that he suspect
ed Vice-President Calhoun. He and
Calhoun had been close friends, but had
begun to drift apart. A little later
when he received letter from Senator
Crawford, Of Georgia. disclosing the
fact that it was Calhoun, sitting in
Monroe's Cabinet with Crawford, who
had proposed Jackson's arrest for what
he had done in the Seminole War,
jackson broke completely with the
Vice-President. Up to the time of re-
ceiving this letter jackson had believed
that Crawford had been his enemy and
Calhoun his defender in the Monroe
Cabinet.
Whether it was the Peggy O'Neal
matter or the Crawford incident, or
both. that actuated jackson is hard to
determine, but he decided to get rid OF
the three members Of his Cabinet whose
wives led the war on Mrs. Eaton. /,
happened that these three Cabinet
members were followers of Calhoun.
To have peremptorily called for their
designations would have provoked al
sorts Of rumors, so a roundabout way
was resorted to in order to get rid Of
them.
Van Buren, and Eaton resigned and
on Jackson's intimation that it wa,
necessary to reorganize the Cabinet
Ingram, Branch and Berrien followet
suit. Barry it will be noticed, did no
resign. He was Peggy O'Nealite
Van Buren, was sent to England a
United States minister. and Eaton, af
ter serving short time as Governor O
Florida, was sent as minister to Spain
Ingram, Branch and Berrien were re
tired to private life and .obscurity
Their wives were no longer q part
not to speak of being leaders, of Wash
ington society. Assuredly if this wa
as punishment for their attitude to
ward Peggy O'Neil it could not hav
been more severe. Some political stu
dents of the time were sure il was
Others thought it was only a part Q
the revenge visited on Calhoun for hi
deceit toward jackson. Which eve
way it is considered, Peggy ONE.
could take it as retributive justice.
Jackson's Delicscy.
i Down in Florida and far across th