EATON, MARGARET L. 



ECDADOR. 



States Navy. In 1828, after his death, she be- 

 came the wife of General Eaton, then a Sena- 

 tor from Tennessee, but who, a few months 

 afterward, wus given a seat in the Cabinet 

 of President Jackson. The other members 

 of the Cabinet were Martin Van Buren, Secre- 

 tary of State ; Samuel D. Inghara of Penn- 

 sylvania, Secretary of the Treasury; John 

 15 ranch of North Carolina, Secretary of the 

 Navy ; John MePherson Berrien of Georgia, 

 Attorney-General ; and William T. Barry of 

 Kentucky, Postmaster-General. This promo- 

 tion of General Eaton gave to his wife a social 

 position she had long desired. But she had 

 not been able to escape reports so often assail- 

 ing dazzling characters in the excitable society 

 of a national capital ; and so she was refused a 

 reception on equal terms by the families of the 

 other members of the Cabinet. This repulse 

 soon extended to the families of foreign min- 

 isters in Washington. The husbands could 

 not resist the influence of their dutiful wives, 

 and a feud sprang up among them which even 

 involved the President. At this time the es- 

 trangement between President Jackson and 

 Vioe-President Calhoun had begun, and a be- 

 lief was awakened in the mind of the former 

 that the latter had shrewdly fomented the gen- 

 eral excitement, and it was said took an active 

 part in promoting the crisis. Finally, the 

 President demanded of his Secretaries the 

 recognition of the social status of Mrs. Eaton, 

 and was refused by all of them excepting Mr. 

 Van Buren. As a compromise it was sug- 

 gested that her public status should be con- 

 ceded, while each lady should act as she chose 

 in regard to private recognition. General 

 Jackson wrote a very plain-spoken note on 

 the subject to Vice- President Calhoun, but 

 only elicited from him the diplomatic reply 

 that it was a " ladies' quarrel," with which 

 men could not successfully interfere, adding 

 that " the laws of the ladies were like the laws 

 of the Modes and Persians, and admitted nei- 

 ther of argument nor of amendment." The 

 President then sent for Mr. Van Buren, the 

 head of his Cabinet, and the only member who 

 had been complaisant to his views (for he was 

 a widower), and requested him as a favor to 

 send in his resignation, which necessarily would 

 be followed by that of the other Secretaries. 

 Mr. Van Buren complied April 7, 1831, and 

 was soon recompensed with the appointment 

 of Minister to England, and proceeded to his 

 post ; but in the following winter he was re- 

 jected in the Senate by the casting vote of Vice- 

 President Calhoun. He returned home from 

 England as a man who had been wronged in 

 the house of his friends, and was rewarded by 

 a nomination for Vice-President on the same 

 ticket with President Jackson. Both were 

 elected, and on the expiration of the second 

 term of President Jackson, Mr. Van Buren was 

 elected as his successor. Two or throe years 

 later General Eaton was appointed Governor 

 of Florida Territory, and in 1838 Minister to 



Spain. In the Spanish capital Mrs. Eaton in 

 said to have become a social favorite, and to 

 have shone with great brilliancy at the court 

 of the youthful Isabella. She also became a 

 noted belle in London and Paris. Keturnin_' 

 to Washington in 1840, she resided there very 

 quietly until the death of her husband in No- 

 vember, 1856. She was left with a large es- 

 tate and the custody of five grandchildren. A 

 year later she made the acquaintance of a 

 teacher from Italy, and subsequently married 

 him. The marriage was an unhappy one; 

 she lost a large portion of her property ; the 

 husband went to Europe, and of late years she 

 lived in retirement at Washington. 



ECUADOR (REP(TBLICA DEL EOUADOE). 

 The President of the Republic is General Igna- 

 cio de Veintemilla, inaugurated in December, 

 1876. The Minister of the Interior and of 

 Foreign Affairs is General Jose Maria Urbina; 

 the Minister of Finance, Dr. Martin Icaza (of 

 Guayaquil) ; and the Minister of War, Colonel 

 0. F. Bolofia. According to the terms of the 

 new Constitution, made at Ambnto in 1878, 

 there are two Designadoa or Vice-Presidents 

 to replace the President should circumstances 

 require it: the First Designado is Seflor L. 

 Salvador; the Second Designado, Seflor J. 

 Novoa. General Urbina and Dr. Icaza were 

 appointed to their respective portfolios in 

 March ; but the former did not enter at once 

 upon the duties of his post, the President hav- 

 ing determined to send him on a mission 

 southward as peacemaker between Bolivia and 

 Chili. His department during his absence was 

 to be under the direction of the Minister of 

 War. The Governor of Guayaquil is General 

 J. Sanchez Rubio. The Consul for Ecuador at 

 New York is Mr. A. I. Dovale ; and the United 

 States Consul at Guayaquil is Mr. Ph. Eder. 



The present strength of the Ecuadorian 

 army is reported at 5,000 rank and file. 



Of public instruction in the republic little is 

 known, except that it is under the exclusive 

 control of the clergy and the Christian Broth- 

 ers. The late President Garcia Moreno, in his 

 last message to Congress, in 1875. stated that 

 ninety-three schools had been established, with 

 an average attendance of 32,000. 



Almost the only establishment for higher 

 education is the Academy of Ecuador, inaugu- 

 rated at Quito in May, 1874, in accordance 

 with the decree of the Royal Academy of Mad- 

 rid. The studies are under the supervision of a 

 director, aided by a censor and a secretary. 



In an official report published in 1878, the 

 national revenue for the year ending on Au- 

 gust 31, 1877, was stated to have amounted 

 to 2,228,000 pesos;* but of the expenditure, 

 which averages about 3,350,000 pesos, no men- 

 tion was made. The following table will serve 

 to show the various sources of the revenue 

 and the average yield of each: 



* The par vnlno of the Ecuadorian peso Is abont 77 cents 

 of TTnltod States money, but the average exchange value U 

 rarely over 71 cento. 



