commenced to solicit the
removal of General Van Rensselaer, asserting that he had been known
as a very active advocate of John Quincy Adams; that he had literally
forfeited his place by his earnest opposition to the Jackson men,
and that if he were not removed the new Administration would be
seriously injured. He had hardly finished the last sentence, when
Jackson sprang to his feet, flung his pipe into the fire, and
exclaimed with great vehemence, "I take the consequences, sir; I
take the consequences. By the Eternal! I will not remove the old
man--I cannot remove him. Why, Mr. Wright, do you not know that
he carries more than a pound of British lead in his body?" That
settled the question, and General Van Rensselaer remained undisturbed
as Postmaster at Albany through the Jackson Administration, although
Martin Van Buren, when he came into power, promptly "bounced" him.

General Jackson's defiant disposition was manifested when, in a
message to Congress, he recommended that a law be passed authorizing
reprisals upon French property in case provision should not be made
for the payment of the long-standing claims against France at the
approaching session of the French Chambers. Some of his Cabinet,
having deemed this language too strong, had prevailed upon the
President's private secretary, Major Donelson, to modify it, and
to make it less irritating and menacing. No sooner was it discovered
by General Jackson than he flew into a great excitement, and when
Mr. Rives entered his private office to obtain it for printing, he
found the old General busily engaged in re-writing it according to
the original copy. "I know them French," said he. "They won't
pay unless they're made to."

The French people were indignant when this message reached Paris,
and when the Chamber of Deputies finally provided for the payment
of the claims, a proviso was inserted ordering the money to be
withheld until the President of the United States had apologized
for the language used. This General Jackson flatly refused to do,
and the "Ancient Allies" of the Revolution were on the verge of
hostilities, when both nations agreed to submit their differences
to Great Britain. The affair was speedily arranged, and France
paid five millions of dollars for French spoilations into the
Treasury of the United States, where it has since remained.

[Facsimile]
Silas Wright Jr.
SILAS WRIGHT, JR., was born at Amherst, Massachusetts, May 24th,
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