curiosity to see the famous secretary of state, whose name was a synonym for all that is great and wise, in her home when she was a little girl, that she gratified it at no litt-le cost of trouble and pain to herself. Her father had invited a party of gentlemen to play cards with Mr. Clay. The little daughter of the house, a pretty little girl, with long golden curls, had been forbidden to enter the room, in spite of her entreaties to be allowed " just to look at the big man." But she determined any way to have a sight of him, so she stole to the parlor door and peeped through the key-hole. Her long curls became fastened around the knob, and a servant, who was in the room replenishing the fire and the glasses, suddenly opening the door to come out, jerked the little one into the middle of the room by her hair. Mr. Clay quickly laying down his cards, took the little girl on his knee, soon dried her tears and told her he had never had a greater compliment than she had paid him by her great anxiety " just to look at him." Henry Clay married Lucretia Hart, April iii 1799- She was eighteen years old, and he was a promising young lawyer. She was the youngest daughter of Col. Thomas Hart and Susanna Gray. Her father was an officer in the revolutionary army, and one of several distinguished brothers whose de scendants are now prominent men and women throughout the United States. These Hart brothers were among the proprietors of the Transylvania company, to whom the State of North Carolina granted two hun dred thousand acres of land in Henderson, one of the richest counties in Kentucky, for opening the wilderness and preparing the way for civilization in that State. The tenth secretary of state was Martin Van Buren. He was forty-seven years old when appointed by Andrew Jackson, and served two years, from 182910 1831. He was born December 5, 1782, in Kinderhook. His ancestors were Germans. His father was a farmer and a tavern-keeper, and he at
tended the village schools. He first studied law in the village and then in New York, in the office of William P. Van Ness. He be gan practicing law in 1803 in Kinderhook, in partnership with his half-brother, James Q. Van Allen. He removed to Hudson, and his practice was large in a few years. At thirty-three years of age, he was elected attorney-general of the State of New York. In 1829, Andrew Jackson appointed him to the first place in his cabinet. It has been said : " General Jackson claimed that ' to the victors belong the spoils,' and he re moved from office everyone who had voted against Jackson. Mr. Van Buren was one with his chief; and it may, perhaps, have been as much due to him as to Jackson, that these strong partisan measures were put in force." Mrs. Eaton, the wife of one of the Presi dent's cabinet officers, had been so much talked about that many of the prominent officials and their families would not as sociate with her, in spite of General Jack son's unceasing efforts to make them. When this trouble had gone on for two years, the President determined to end the matter by having the four members of his cabinet who had befriended Mrs. Eaton resign, appoint them to other places, and summarily dismiss the other four. Mr. Van Buren had no wife or daughter to influence him in the matter, so he had ever treated Mrs. Eaton with distinguished respect. This so pleased Pres ident Jackson that when he dissolved his cabinet he immediately appointed Van Buren minister to England, and it was eventually the cause of his being President. During his time as secretary a treaty with Turkey was made. He had courtly manners and was a very handsome man. In 1806, he married Hannah Hoes. He had been in love with her for several years and was a most de voted husband for twelve years, when she died of consumption. He never married again.
