Jackson had his proteges, and they were always marked for talent.  In early life he discerned the germ of great abilities in two youths of Savannah—­George M. Troup and Thomas U.D.  Charlton.  Through his influence, these young men, almost as soon as eligible, were sent to the Legislature of the State, and both immediately took high positions.  Talent was not the only requisite to win and retain the favor of Jackson:  the man must be honest, and that honesty of such a character as placed him above suspicion.

Under the operation of the Confiscation Act, many who had favored the mother country in the Revolutionary struggle had fled with their property to Florida.  Conspicuous among these was one Campbell Wiley, a man of fortune.  This man applied to the Legislature to be specially exempted from the penalties of this act, and to be permitted to return to the State.  A heated debate ensued, when the bill was being considered, in which Charlton was silent, and in which Troup made a violent speech in opposition to its passage, ending with the sentence, “If ever I find it in my heart to forgive an old Tory his sins, I trust my God will never forgive me mine.”  This speech gave him an immediate popularity over the entire State.  Charlton in secret favored the bill; but knowing its unpopularity with his constituents, he contrived to be called to the chair, and was forced to vote on a material motion which was favorable to the bill.  The wealth of Wiley, and Charlton’s equivocation, attached suspicion to his motives, and brought down upon him the wrath of Jackson, blighting all his future aspirations.  As a member of the bar he attained eminence, and all his future life was such as to leave no doubt of his purity, and the cruel wrong those suspicions, sustained by the frown of Jackson, had done him.

Thomas W. Cobb was eminently social in his nature, and frank to a fault; his opinions were never concealed of men or measures; and these were, though apparently hasty, the honest convictions of his judgment, notwithstanding their apparent impulsive and hasty character.  Like his tutor, Mr. Crawford, he cared little for ceremony or show; and in every thing he was the kernel without the shell:  his character was marked before his company in five minutes’ conversation, whether he had ever met or heard of them before; and in all things else he was equally without deceit.  This openness to some seemed rude; and his enemies were of this class.  He expressed as freely his opinion to the person as to the public; but this was always accompanied with a manner which disrobed it of offence.  But human nature will not in every individual excuse the words because of the manner; and sometimes this peculiarity made him sharp enemies.  It will be supposed such traits would have rendered him unpopular.  At this day, when social intercourse is less familiar, they certainly would have done so; but they seemed a means of great popularity to Cobb, especially with