424 peg o'neal. lake, who, while on duty in the Mediterranean, committed suicide, in consequence, it was supposed, of a drunken debauch on shore. He left his widow with two children and little fortune, but still young and beautiful. Early in 1829, Senator Eaton of Tennessee, one of General Jackson's most intimate friends and political allies (an old boarder, too, at the O'Neal tavern), was disposed to marry the widow ; but, before doing so, con- sulted General Jackson. " Why, yes, Major," replied the general, " if you love the woman, and she will have you, marry her by all means." Major Eaton observed that the young widow had not escaped reproach, and that even himself was supposed to have been too fond of her. l - Well," said the general, " your marrying her will dis- prove these charges, and restore Peg's good name." They were married in January, 1829 ; and a few weeks after, General Jackson was inaugurated President of the United States. In forming his cabinet, the President assigned the Department of War to his old friend and neighbor, Major Eaton. This appointment suddenly invested his wife with social importance. Extravagant stories circulated in Washington respecting Mrs. Eaton, and the ladies made up their minds with one accord that they would not call upon her, nor in any way recognize her existence as the wife of a cabinet minister. Meanwhile, General Jackson remained in ignorance of this new outbreak of scandal ; but before he had been a month at the White House a distinguished clergyman of Philadelphia, Dr. Ely, wrote him a long letter detailing the slander at great length, and calling upon him to repudiate Mrs. Eaton. General Jackson had his faults, but he never did a mean thing nor a cowardly thing in his life. The manner in which he set about defending the
