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PEG O'NEAL. 425 daughter of his old friend, and his wife's old friend, does him as much honor as one of his campaigns. He replied to Dr. Ely in a letter of several sheets, in which he exam- ined the stories with something of the coolness of an old lawyer, and very much of the warmth of a friend. One of the charges wtis that the deceased Timberlake believed all this scandal, and cherished deep resentment against Eaton. The general met this in a triumphant manner : " How can such a tale be reconciled with the following facts ? While now writing, I turn my eyes to the mantel- piece, where I behold a present sent me by Mr. Timber- lake of a Turkish pipe, about three weeks before his death, and presented through Mr. Eaton, whom in his letter he calls his friend" In a similar way he refuted the other accusations, and he kept up the defence in letter after letter, with the same energy and fire that he had displayed in hurling the Eng- lish troops back from New Orleans. I have had in my , hands hundreds of pages of manuscript in General Jack- son's writing, or caused to be written by him, all relating to this affair, and all produced in the early weeks of a new administration. He brought it before his cabinet. He summoned the chief propagator of the scandals ; he ! moved heaven and earth. But, for once in his life, the general was completely baffled ; the ladies would not call upon Mrs. Eaton ; not even the general's niece, Mrs. Donelson, the mistress of the White House. "Any thing else, uncle," she said, "I will do for you, but I will not call upon Mrs. Eaton." The general was so indignant that he advised her to go back to Tennessee ; and she went back, she and her husband, private secretary to the President. General Jackson's will was strong, but he discovered on this occa- sion that woman's won't was stronger. In the midst of this controversy, when the feelings of