wife of the President's Secretary of War was forgotten in the
tumultuous jubilation of that grand occasion.

General Jackson received that day for the last time at the White
House, and was so feeble that he had to remain seated. Mrs. Donelson
stood on one side, and on the other was Van Buren, who was inaugurated
as President a fortnight later.

[Facsimile]
your obt. sert.
William R. King
WILLIAM RUFUS KING was born in North Carolina, April 1st, 1786;
was a Representative in Congress from Alabama from November 4th,
1811, until he resigned to accompany William Pinkney to Russia as
Secretary of Legation, April 23d, 1816; was United States Senator
from Alabama from March 4th, 1819, until he resigned to go as
Minister to France, April 9th, 1844; was again United States Senator
from December 7th, 1846 to March 4th, 1853; was elected Vice-
President on the Pierce ticket in 1852, as a Democrat, receiving
two hundred and fifty-four electoral votes, against forty-two
electoral votes for W. R. Graham, a Whig; having gone to Europe
for his health, he took the oath of office near Havana, March 4th,
1853; returning to his home at Catawba, Alabama, where he died,
April 18th, 1853, the day following his arrival.

CHAPTER XIV.
VAN BUREN'S STORMY ADMINISTRATION.

While the electoral votes for the eighth President of the United
States were being counted, in the presence of the two Houses of
Congress, Senator Clay remarked to the Vice-President Van Buren,
with courteous significance, "It is a cloudy day, sir!"

"The sun will shine on the 4th of March, sir!" was the Little
Magician's confident reply.

The prediction was fulfilled, for on Van Buren's inaugural morning,
March 4th, 1837, the sun shone brightly, and there was not a cloud
to be seen. Washington was crowded with strangers from all parts
of the country, and in anticipation of the time set for the ceremony
great numbers began to direct their way at an early hour to the
Capitol. Congregating before the eastern portico of the Capitol,
the dense mass of humanity reminded those who had traveled abroad
of the assembled multitude in front of St. Peter's on Easter Sunday
waiting to receive the Papal blessing.

President Jackson and President-elect Van Buren were escorted from
the White House to the Capitol by a volunteer brigade of cavalry
and infantry and by several Democratic political organizations.
General Jackson and his successor rode in an elegant phaeton,
co