And battled 'gainst the wrong. Thy holiest aim
Was freedom in the largest sense, despite

Misconstrued motives and unmeasured blame.
Above deceit, in purpose firm and pure,

Just to opposers and to friends sincere,

Thy worth shall with thy country's name endure,

And greener grow thy fame through every coming year."

The sun shone brilliantly on the fourth of March, the day of Mr. Van Buren's inauguration. The scene at the Capitol, to which the General had fondly looked forward for many a day, was described at the time by Mr. N. P. Willis with his own felicity:

"The republican procession, consisting of the Presidents and their families, escorted by a small volunteer corps, arrived soon after twelve. The General and Mr. Van Buren were in the 'constitution phaeton,' drawn by four grays, and as it entered the gate, they both rode uncovered. Descending from the carriage at the foot of the steps, a passage was made for them through the dense crowd, and the tall white head of the old Chieftain, still uncovered, went steadily up through the agitated mass, marked by its peculiarity from all around it. The crowd of diplomatists and senators in the rear of the columns made way, and the ex-President and Mr. Van Buren advanced with uncovered heads. A murmur of feeling rose up from the moving mass below, and the infirm old man, emerged from a sick-chamber, which his physician had thought it impossible he should leave, bowed to the people, and, still uncovered in the cold air, took his seat beneath the portico. Mr. Van Buren then advanced, and with a voice remarkably distinct, and with great dignity, read his address to the people. The air was elastic, and the day still; and it is supposed that near twenty thousand persons heard him from his elevated position distinctly. I stood myself on the outer limit of the crowd, and though I lost occasionally a sentence from the interruption near by, his words came clearly articulated to my ear."

In his inaugural address Mr. Van Buren alluded to his predecessor in becoming terms. "In receiving from the people," he said, "the sacred trust twice confided to my illustrious predecessor, and which he has discharged so faithfully and so well, I know that I can not expect to perform the arduous task with equal ability and success. But, united as I have been in his counsels, a daily witness of his exclusive

and unsurpassed devotion to his country's welfare, agreeing with him in sentiments which his countrymen have warmly supported, and permitted to partake largely of his confidence, I may hope that somewhat of the same cheering approbation will be found to attend upon my path. For him, I but express with my own, the wishes of all-that he may yet long live to enjoy the brilliant evening of his well-spent life."

General Jackson began his homeward journey on the third day after Mr. Van Buren's inauguration. "I saw," says Benton, "the patriot ex-President in the car which bore him off to his desired seclusion. I saw him depart with that look of quiet enjoyment which bespoke the inward satisfaction of the soul at exchanging the cares of office for the repose of home."

By easy stages, stopping often and long to rest, the exPresident traveled homeward. He visited Chief Justice Taney at his seat in Maryland. At Cincinnati he remained for two weeks, the guest of General Robert Lytle, a democratic member of Congress. He is said to have conversed on his journey home, with extraordinary freedom upon political subjects and persons. It appears to rest upon good testimony that, during his stay at Cincinnati, he expressed regret at having become estranged from Henry Clay. Clay and himself, he said, ought to have been friends, and would have been, but for the slander and cowardice of an individual whom he denominated "that Pennsylvania reptile," and whom he said he would have "crushed," if friends had not interceded in his behalf.*

His friends at Nashville gave him an impressive and hearty

*N. Y. Evening Post, March 21st, 1859. Commurication.

[1837. welcome home, as they had been wont to do for many years as often as he returned after an absence. A young gentleman who took a leading part in the proceedings on this occasion has recorded his recollections of the scene: "The day of his return was to me one of the most memorable of my existence. We met him in the cedars near Lebanon. The old men were ranged in front, the boys in the rear. got out of his carriage, listened courteously to the address of Judge Campbell, replied happily, and shook hands with his old associates. He then drew near to us. I stepped forward, spoke a few words of kindness, and wound up by saying, "That the children of his old soldiers and friends welcomed him home, and were ready to serve under his banner.' His frame shook, he bowed down his head and whilst the tears rolled down his aged cheeks, he replied, 'I could have stood all but this, it is too much, too much!' The crowd gathered around, and for a few moments there was a general outburst of sympathy and tears. I may live a hundred years, but no future can erase that scene from my memory."*

General Jackson was seventy years of age when he retired from the presidency. He was a very infirm old man, seldom free from pain for an hour, never for a day. Possessed of a most beautiful and productive farm and a hundred and fifty negroes, he yet felt himself to be a poor man on his return to the Hermitage. "I returned home," he writes to Mr. Trist, "with just ninety dollars in money, having expended all my salary, and most of the proceeds of my cotton crop; found every thing out of repair; corn, and every thing else for the use of my farm to buy; having but one tract of land besides my homestead, which I have sold, and which has enabled me to begin the new year (1838,) clear of debt, relying on our industry and economy to yield us a support, trusting to a kind Providence for good seasons, and a prosperous crop."

During the next few years, he lived the life of a planter, carefully directing the operations of his farm, enjoying the

*Oration by Hon. Andrew Ewing, delivered at the inauguration of a bust of General Jackson, at Memphis, Tennessee, January 8th, 1859.

society of his adopted son, and his amiable and estimable wife. They and their children were the solace of his old age. Major Donelson and his family were near at hand, and often cheered him by their presence at the Hermitage. Surrounded by a large and affectionate circle, he passed many happy days; and most of his latter days would have been happy if he had not been frequently reduced by sickness to the condition of a helpless invalid. His early tastes remained with him. He still took the keenest delight in a flourishing cotton field, and loved a fine horse as much as he did when he brought home Truxton from Virginia thirty years before. Mr. Milburn, in his "Ten Years of Preacher Life," gives us a momentary glimpse of the General in these tranquil years, which shows us how he exulted in the mere sight of a superior horse. "The only time," says Mr. Milburn, "I ever saw Andrew Jackson, was early on a bright summer morning, when he came into my father's yard to look at some blooded animals that had just been imported from England. And well do I remember how the patriarch's face glowed and his eye shone as he gazed upon the noble creatures, and spoke in excited tones of the exquisite blending of beauty and strength in their mold. Never shall I forget the impressive appearance, the tall, spare figure, the glittering eye, and the commanding presence of the erect old man."

Poor as the General felt himself to be after his return home, he still found money to help an humble friend in his day of need. His servant George was arrested on a charge of murder. A quarrel among some slaves, of whom George was one, had ended in a general fight, in the course of which a man was killed, and George Jackson" was accused of having struck the fatal blow. The General satisfied himself, by protracted examinations of George and the other combatants, that his favorite was innocent. Nevertheless, George's case wore an ugly look, and there was much formidable evidence against him. The General threw himself into the defense of his man with a zeal and energy that could not have been surpassed if the accused party had been his successor in

the presidential chair. Besides employing the best counsel, he went to Nashville to give his personal aid nearly every day for six weeks. The trial lasted several days, during which the ex-President was never absent from the courtroom when the court was in session. George was acquitted. This affair cost the General fifteen hundred dollars, besides a world of labor and trouble. George, who was born and reared upon the estate, still lives to serve the General's son, and to tell how "old master" saved him from the clutches of the hangman. He is an old man now, but he occasionally avails himself of his position of favorite to repeat some of his Washington frolics.

General Jackson, always an assiduous letter-writer, was as busy as ever with his pen after his final return to the Hermitage. His mail-box at the gate of his garden was daily stuffed with letters, newspapers, documents, and pamphlets. He answered every letter that required an answer, unless he was too weak to sit at the desk. His letters to private friends during this period relate chiefly to the affairs of his plantation, and to his constant suffering from disease and debility.

The Hermitage was still the seat of hospitality. Besides the numberless friends and acquaintances of its inmates, it was visited by many who came as pilgrims to the democratic shrine. Who could visit Nashville without driving out to see "the General!" All were welcomed cordially, whether they were friends or strangers. Dr. William A. Shaw, a warm lover of the General, and who lives, very properly, at Jacksonport, Jackson County, Arkansas, has kindly written out for these pages some of his recollections of a long stay at the Hermitage in 1839-particularly the conversation of the ex-President. Dr. Shaw writes:

"With regard to the quelling of the mutiny, during the Creek war, by presenting a pistol to Major IIart's breast, as reported by Eaton, the General stated to me, while we were alone at his fireside, that it was with an empty gun, which he took from a sentinel pacing his rounds before his tent, that this mutiny was quelled. Hart told his men to stop, and observed to