"Eric Flint - TOG 02 - 1824, The Arkansas War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Eric)

as a Kentucky legislator and now as a national one, Johnson had made great efforts to gain compensation
for the recent warтАЩs disabled veterans or their widows and orphans. If Blue Spring Farm was notorious
as a place where a black woman presided over the dinner table and black children sat at it, it was also
famous as a place of refuge for disabled veterans and their families. The two veterans on the porchтАФone
missing an arm, the other a legтАФwould have half a dozen counterparts somewhere about the house or
farm. Or their widows and orphans. No one in need was ever turned away from Richard M. JohnsonтАЩs
estateтАФnever mind that the aid itself was often passed over by the dark-skinned hands of his
common-law wife.

KentuckyтАЩs gentility had been disgusted to see Johnson appointed to serve out CrittendenтАЩs term in
1819. TheyтАЩd been positively outraged to see him handily win the election for another term in the Senate
in 1822.

Sam saw that Johnson was eyeing him a bit warily. тАЬYou seen the general lately?тАЭ

Sam shook his head. тАЬHavenтАЩt seen him in nigh-on seven months, Dick.тАЭ Since there was no point in
letting Johnson fret on that score, when there were so many others he did need to fret about, Sam added
hurriedly, тАЬBut I can assure you that the sentiments he expressed concerning you were just as warm as
ever.тАЭ

That was true, after all. Even if some of those тАЬwarm sentimentsтАЭ had run along the lines ofI canтАЩt
believe heтАЩd treat a nigger like she was an actual wife!

It wasnтАЩt that Andy Jackson didnтАЩt share each and every one of the common prejudices of his day. He
most certainly didтАФand then some, often enough. It was just that in his own rough-hewn way, the
general could often look past those things to see what really mattered to him.

Poor white men mattered to Andy Jackson. Not too many other people did, butthey did, for sure and
certain. So, if one of their undoubted political champions chose to behave badly in some aspects of his
personal life, Jackson would look the other way. And if the proper folk complained, they could take their
complaints to Sam Hill and see what satisfaction theyтАЩd get in those very warm quarters.

тАЬJust as warm as ever,тАЭ Sam repeated forcibly. тАЬMy word on it.тАЭ

JohnsonтАЩs grunt combined relief with satisfaction. тАЬWell, they ought to be,тАЭ the senator stated, as if to
reassure himself. тАЬHenry Clay makes a fortune suing people on behalf of land speculators and the Second
Bank of the United States, and I go broke from waiving the fees for defending them.тАЭ

That was also trueтАжas far as it went. Johnson was indeed famous as one of the few well-connected
lawyers in Kentucky that a poor man or his widow could go to for legal assistance without being
charged. Unfortunately, it was only part of the truth.

There were a lot of reasons Richard Mentor Johnson was always on the verge of being broke. His
personal generosity ranked on that list, yesтАФand pretty high up on it. But not as high as his casual
attitude toward bookkeeping, his inability to say тАЬnoтАЭ to just about every speculative scheme that came
his way, and his predilection toward seeing only a blur instead of a line between his personal finances and
those of the public. Not to mention his indulgence toward his brothers, who were separated by only a
knifeтАЩs edge from being outright thieves.

Sam liked Richard M. Johnson a very great deal. HeтАЩd never met a man who didnтАЩt, no matter what