"At this period, Mr. Donelson seeing no prospect for rapid promotion in the corps of Engineers, and sharing the conviction then so prevalent in the army, that the conclusion of the war with England had shut the door for a long time to come against those military enterprises which are so tempting to the officer and soldier, and feeling also that he could be more useful in the pursuits of civil life, turned his attention to the study of law. He accordingly resigned his commission; and after attending the course of law lectures in the Transylvania University, then under the presidency of Dr. Holly, he received his license, and appeared at the Nashville bar in 1823, having formed a partnership with Mr. Duncan. Circ.u.mstances, however, soon occurred, which withdrew him in a great degree from the practice. General Jackson was again in the field as a candidate for the Presidency, and needed the services of a confidential friend to aid him in repelling the bitter a.s.saults which were made upon his character and services. Animated by a deep sense of grat.i.tude, no duty could be more pleasing to Mr. Donelson than that of contributing his labor to advance the great popular movement which aimed, by the elevation of his benefactor and friend, to promote the highest interests of the country. He therefore cheerfully entered again into the General's family, and travelled with him to Washington City after the elections in 1824. Those elections devolved the choice of President upon the House of Representatives. Mr.

Adams was the successful candidate, although Gen. Jackson had a much larger popular vote, and was evidently the favorite of the people.

"As is well known to the country, the result of that election gave increased force to the sentiment which had placed Gen.

Jackson in nomination. The efforts of his friends throughout the Union became more active, and were never abated until the decision of the House of Representatives in 1824 was reversed, and Gen. Jackson placed in the Presidential chair. During these four years, Mr. Donelson, who had married in 1824, settled upon his plantation adjoining the Hermitage, and continued there to promote the cause he had espoused so warmly in the beginning.

"When the elections of 1828 were over, Gen. Jackson insisted upon the acceptance by Mr. Donelson of the post of private Secretary. Mr. D. accordingly set out with him in the winter of 1828 for the city of Washington, taking with him his wife, whom he had married in 1824. This lady was the youngest daughter of Capt. John Donelson, and was invited by Gen. Jackson to do the honors of the White House--a position which she held throughout the greater portion of his Presidency.

"It was in this capacity that Mr. Donelson endeared himself still more than ever to the Hero of the Hermitage. He spent the prime of his life, from 1828 to 1836, in his service, and he felt himself amply rewarded by the knowledge he thus acquired of public men and measures.

"At the close of Gen. Jackson's Presidency, Mr. Donelson declined to take office under Mr. Van Buren, being anxious for a respite from public affairs, and to enjoy the pleasures of his farm; upon which he remained until he was called unexpectedly to take a part in the negotiation which brought Texas into our Union. It was upon this theatre that he displayed the judgment and tact which brought him prominently before the country as a man that understood the public interests, and knew how to take care of them.

"The commission appointing Mr. Donelson Minister to Texas is dated the 16th of September, 1844. Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of State, in the letter enclosing the commission, says:

"'The state of things in Texas is such as to require that the place (Charge d'Affaires) should be filled without delay, and to select him who, under all circ.u.mstances, may be thought best calculated to bring to a successful decision the great question of annexation pending before the two countries. After full deliberation, you have been selected as that individual; and I do trust, my dear sir, that you will not decline the appointment, however great may be the personal sacrifice of accepting. That great question must be decided in the next three or four months; and whether it shall be favorable or not, will depend on him who shall fill the mission now tendered you.

I need not tell you how much depends on its decision for weal or woe to our country, and perhaps the whole continent. It is sufficient to say that, viewed in all its consequences, it is one of the first magnitude; and that it gives an importance to the mission at this time, that raises it to the level with the highest in the gift of the Government.

"a.s.suming, therefore, that you will not decline the appointment, unless some insuperable difficulty should interpose, and in order to avoid delay, a commission is herewith transmitted, without the formality of waiting your acceptance, with all the necessary papers.'"

President Polk, after this, confided an important and most critical foreign negotiation to Major Donelson; and his estimate of the prudence, discretion, and ability with which Major Donelson discharged his trust, appears from a letter to Major D. from the Hon. John Y. Mason, President Polk's Secretary of War, dated August 7th, 1845. From that letter, complimentary from beginning to end, we copy only this portion:

"The services which you have rendered your country in the delicate negotiations intrusted to you, are justly appreciated.

_Your prudence, discretion, and ability have inspired the President with a confidence which would make him feel much more at ease if that delicate task could be in your hands._

"It gives me great pleasure to a.s.sure you that _the publication of your official correspondence will give you a most enviable reputation for the highest qualities of a statesman and diplomatist_.

"The President unites in the kindest regards, with your friend,

"J. Y. MASON."

PRESIDENT PIERCE'S opinion of Major Donelson may be learned from the following letter, written by him to the Major when the latter was the editor of the _Washington Union_, the National Organ of the Democratic party:

"CONCORD, May 30, 1851.

"MY DEAR SIR: I rejoice that the leading organ of our party is now under your control, and regard the change as most auspicious at this juncture. There is a great battle before us--a battle for the Union--a battle for the ascendency of the principles, the maintenance of which so n.o.bly signalized the administration of General Jackson. THE TONE, VIGOR, AND STATESMANLIKE GRASP _which you have brought to the columns of the Union are not merely important, they are_ ABSOLUTELY INDISPENSABLE _in this crisis_.

"With great respect, your friend and servant,

"FRANK. PIERCE."

The following article is from the _Nashville Union_, of October 15, 1844, the Tennessee Organ of Democracy, published within a few miles of where Major Donelson lives, and has pa.s.sed most of his life. This article shows what opinion was entertained of him before he became a _Know-Nothing_:

"The diplomatic agency of this government in Texas is, at this moment, the most important mission abroad; although it ranks with those of the second cla.s.s, its high and important duties require the talents of one every way qualified for the first foreign mission on the globe.

"_We congratulate the administration on having been able to secure the services of one so eminently qualified in all respects for the station, whose thorough knowledge of the relations subsisting between the two countries, and whose intimate acquaintance with the prominent statesmen of this and that government, will place him in the enjoyment of advantages which cannot fail to secure to us the most desirable results._

"Major Donelson leaves his plantation near the Hermitage to-day--proceeding overland to the Mississippi river on his way to the Texan Capital--and we cannot but partic.i.p.ate in the painful emotions with which the word 'farewell' will be exchanged between himself and his venerable patron, friend, and relative, 'The Sage of the Hermitage.'

"In view of the advanced age of General Jackson, it is more than probable that they may never meet again. A relationship next to that of father and son, if, indeed, it be not equally near and dear, will be severed perhaps for ever. And we feel a.s.sured that nothing short of a sense of DUTY TO HIS COUNTRY could have induced an acceptance of the mission. Nor, for this patriotic reason, would the aged veteran advise him to decline it.

"Major D. leaves a host of good and true friends, who will continue to have an abiding solicitude for his health and happiness, and for his early and complete success in 'extending the area of freedom.'"

Mr. Clayton, Secretary of State under Gen. Taylor, wrote to Major Donelson, announcing the expiration of the diplomatic relations between the United States and Germany, (where the Major was stationed,) and closed with the following complimentary expressions:

"I am directed by the President to express to you his entire approbation of your conduct, and I cannot take leave of you in your public character without adding my testimony to that of the President to the ability and faithfulness with which you have discharged the arduous and delicate duties which your mission imposed upon you.

"JOHN M. CLAYTON."

The Democratic party having always boasted that Gen. Jackson was unsurpa.s.sed in his keen and unerring insight into the characters of men, we must be permitted to call their attention to a clause in the _Last Will and Testament_ of Gen. Jackson, as recorded in the county of Davidson. This clause sets forth the estimate placed upon Mr. Donelson by the old General, after this fashion:

"HERMITAGE, June 7, 1843.

... "I bequeath to my well-beloved nephew, Andrew J. Donelson, son of Samuel Donelson, deceased, the elegant sword presented to me by the State of Tennessee, with this injunction, that he fail not to use it when necessary in support and protection of our glorious Union, and for the protection of the const.i.tutional rights of our beloved country, should they be a.s.sailed by foreign enemies or _domestic traitors_. This, from the great change in my worldly affairs of late, is, with my blessing, all that I can bequeath him, doing justice to those creditors to whom I am responsible. This bequest is made as a memento of the high regard, affection, and esteem I bear for him as a _high-minded, honest, and honorable man_."

And now, to show that Gen. Jackson had not changed his opinion of the Major, we give about the last epistle he ever wrote to him, as it bears date but a few days previous to his death:

"HERMITAGE, May 24, 1845.

"MY DEAR ANDREW: I received last night your affectionate letter of the 15th inst., with the enclosed for your dear Elizabeth, which I sent forthwith, and your kind letter of the 13th this morning. Your family were here yesterday. All well, but looking out for you hourly. I a.s.sured Elizabeth that you could not leave your mission before the Texan Congress acted upon the subject with which you were charged. I shall admonish her to be patient and await your return, which will be the moment your honor and duty will permit.

"My dear Andrew:--What may be my fate G.o.d only knows. I am greatly afflicted--suffer much, and it will be almost a miracle if I shall survive my present attack. I am swollen from the toes to the crown of the head, and in bandages to my hips.

"How far my G.o.d may think proper to bear me up under my weight of afflictions, he only knows. But, my dear Major, live or die, you have my blessing and prayers for your welfare and happiness in this world, and that we may meet in a blissful immortality.

"Your affectionate uncle,

"ANDREW JACKSON."

While editor of the _Washington Union_, Major Donelson frankly admitted, in his account of the election in Tennessee, between Gov. Campbell and Gen. Trousdale, that the latter owed his defeat to his opposition to the Compromise measures, and his sympathies with the Disunionists. In the _Hartford_ Convention held in Nashville, the Major appeared in person, and denounced the whole concern as a blow at the Union, and its prime movers and advocates as _traitors to their country and to the Const.i.tution_. These _Secession_ Democrats, headed by A. V. Brown, Eastman & Co., are uncompromising in their hatred of the Major, and they never will forgive him, while he remains true to the Union of these States, and the Const.i.tution as it is, which will be to the latest hour of his earthly existence! Had he never opposed the _treasonable_ designs of the Nashville Convention--and had he not advocated the doctrines of the American party, these same men would now be loud in his praise, as the relative, the political student, and the _successor_ of the Sage of the Hermitage!

[From the Knoxville Whig of June 14, 1856.]

BUCHANAN NOMINATED AT CINCINNATI.--DISPERSION OF FALSTAFF'S ARMY!

The Cincinnati Anti-American, Anti-Protestant, Foreign Catholic, Locofoco Pow Wow, has met--transacted its appropriate business--nominated old Federal James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, for the Presidency, and Robert C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, for the Vice Presidency--and dispersed: dealing largely in the old game of _brag_, as to the _nationality_, _soundness_, and _ability_ of their ticket; when it is notorious, that they have at the head of their ticket one of the most vulnerable men in the nation; an old political hack, who has been "every thing by turns and nothing long;" advocating and opposing all the leading measures which have agitated the country for the last forty years, as we shall show in the sequel!

They had an awful time at Cincinnati! They organized by calling to the chair, temporarily, the notorious _Sam'l. Medary_, the Abolition editor of the Ohio Statesman. Either the anti-slavery forces were in the majority, or the "odds and ends" of all parties represented in the Convention desired to conciliate the Abolition and Black Republican wings of their _Foreign Corporation_!

The Missouri Delegation were refused their seats, and they openly rebelled, forcing their way into the Convention with _clubs_, knocking down and cruelly mangling the head and shoulders of the poor doorkeeper!

From this, it would seem that they were doing business with _closed doors_! Wonder if they had a _pa.s.sword_! Had they "signs and grips,"

other than those by which they made themselves known to the _doorkeeper_?

Did they carry with them "dark-lanterns?" Not they--they are opposed to all _secrecy_--they are opposed to all disorderly conduct--they are the "harmonious Democracy," and labor alone for the good of the country, and of posterity! What a farce their Cincinnati Convention was! And what hypocrites they are!