University of Virginia Library

5. No. V.

The Congressmen are jest beginnin to arrive here,
and I suppose in a short time we shall have them here
as thick as huckleberries; and the Gineral is brushin
round now, and says the Message must be finished and
painted off hand, and we are all as busy as bees in gittin
it dove tailed together; and after next week, the Gineral
says, there cant be any more alterations. It is the first
message I ever had any hand in; and tho' I say it, I guess
you will say it is about as complete a thing as ever was
sent express any where.

I have been to work on it ever since we was at the Rip-Raps;
and tho' it has been sometimes all pulled to bits,
to git in some notions we did n't think on, yet it will look
pritty slick, I tell you when it 's done; and we will lay
on paint enuf to kiver up all the cracks and seams.

We shall give a pritty good lick at the Bank, and won't
leave as much on 't standing as would make a good sized
oven. It is curius now to see how easy it is to build
up, or nock all to bits, any thing on paper. Now jest
see about the Bank. There it stands in Chestnut street,
with its hundred cord of specie, and its cart load of books;
and its branches here and there, and all busy and full of
clarks, and directors, and folks in Europe, and all about
creation dealin with it; and the brokers in Wall street
all busy about it; and Biddle's bills goin about, and most
folks thinkin they are better than hard dollars; and all
the old men and women holdin the stock, supposin it will
go up agin as high as they paid for it; and I and the
Gineral, and Amos Kindle, and Mr Van Buren, talkin

over it; and one line in the Message nocks it all into kindlin
wood. For you see when `The Government' says
a thing must be jest so! there is no help for it. We can't
stand to chat about trifles. The Gineral has smashed
three pipes the last time we talked about it. `Biddle
and the Bank must be smashed,' says he, `Major;' —
and so smash they go, Congress or no Congress.

The next thing was the Ingins. Here the Gineral is
at home, and I don't pretend to say nothin for I never
did like an Ingin, and never can. The Cherokees give
us a good deal of trouble in Georgia last year; but the
Gineral took sides with Georgia, because he had a good
many friends there, and Mr Van Buren had too; for that
State was the ony one that nominated him Vice-President
a spell ago; and if he had got in there, and Mr Crawford
President, who was ailin all over with some plagy
appleplexy — I and the Gineral would never have been
hearn on arterwards. But no matter—The Gineral says
he didn't make that treaty with the Cherokees; and it
was made so long ago, he has enymost forgot it: and
treaties oughtent to last forever. But this treaty with
the Creeks in Alabama he did make, and he knows all
about it; and he means to stand by it, and turn all the
squatters off the land in Alabama, jest as they wanted
him to do in Georgia; but he would n't. There is trouble
enuf about it, I tell you; and you dont know nothing
about it in York. But the Gineral is tickled to death
about it; and as soon as he saw the Proclamation of the
Governor of Alabama, you never see a critur so spruced
up as the Gineral was. Major, says he, we shall have
another Nullification this Congress, arter all. You
need 'nt say much about it, says he, in the Message,—
we'll keep that for a Proclamation. Well, says I, Gineral,
you are a master hand at gettin into trouble. But,
says he, Major, aint I a master one in gittin out of one,
says he?

We've got an old trunk up chamber, full of troubles —

old Laws, and Treaties, and Contracts, and State
Claims; and whenever we want any powder, all we 've
got to do is to open that, and look among old papers and
get up a row in no time. The Gineral likes this a leetle
better than I do; for the most of the labor falls on me,
and the ony way I can git rid of it, is to make our folks
down stairs do it, if I see it gives any of 'em a boost with
his party — for I dont care nothin about any thing here
but the Gineral; and if I can git him threw this Congress,
its pretty much all I care about, and he too; for
ater that I'm goin with him to the Hermitage, for I expect
by that time there wont be much more left of us
than our beards and shoe strings.