“My dear General, With all the feelings of affectionate Gratitude I Have Received your kind and Highly Valued Letter: this is not However the first and greatest obligation that Binds me to general Jackson; Had you witnessed my anxiety when on a Sudden all Europe was pacified, and the flower of the British army were on their way to Louisiana, you would still Better judge what I felt of relief, joy, and pride, on Receiving the Glorious Account of your Victory: I Have long Anticipated the pleasure to take you by the Hand, and whatever Be your future movements I will Express in person my High Regard and Sincer friendship....” (Bassett, _Correspondence of Andrew Jackson_, Vol. III.) Late autumn and winter took the Jacksons to Washington, where they put up at Gadsby’s, which was also the quarters of the distinguished Lafayette. Here, on December 23, Mrs. Jackson wrote to her friend describing the meeting between the famous Frenchman and General Jackson. “We are boarding in the same house with the nation’s guest, Lafayette. I am delighted with him.... When we first came to this house, the General said he would go and pay the Marquis the first visit. Both having the same desire, and at the same time, they met on the entry of the stairs. It was truly interesting. The emotion of revolutionary feeling was aroused in them both. At Charleston, General Jackson saw him on the field of battle; the one a boy of twelve, the Marquis, twenty-three. He wears a wig, and is a little inclined to corpulency. He is very healthy, eats hearty, goes to every party, and that is every night....” (From Parton, Vol. II.) Rachel, too, for that matter was “a little inclined to corpulency.” She did not attempt to attend all the parties, for Washington was unusually gay and her health was none too good. She paid calls, received large numbers of new acquaintances and old friends, and attended, of course, such important affairs as the eighth of January ball and Mrs. Monroe’s drawing-room. They stayed in Washington long enough to see General Jackson miss, by a hairbreadth, becoming President of the United States and to witness the pomp and ceremony of Mr. Adams’ inauguration. They were home by the latter part of April, ready to take charge of their household again and to play host and hostess to Lafayette when he arrived in Nashville on the fourth of May. Never was there such a celebration! Twenty-five thousand Tennesseans crowded into Nashville to welcome him. The military organizations of the state were out in full force, the ladies wore their finest dresses, and the streets were decorated with great triumphal arches of flowers. There were dinners and public programs of various types, but most important of all was the ball which was given for him in the Masonic Hall. Guild, in his _Old Times in Tennessee_, says: