on
in the army. Owing to some objections by the Secretary of War, he did not
obtain the commission, but was sent by the President to South America, to
ascertain the result of the revolutions which had recently occurred in
that quarter. While in Chili, he heard of the declaration of war between
England and America. Embarking in the frigate Essex, to return to this
country, with a view to enter the army, he was made a prisoner on the
surrender of that vessel to the British by Commodore Porter. The British
Commander refused to allow his return home with the rest of the prisoners,
regarding him as a dangerous enemy of England, and he therefore determined
to cross the continent to the Atlantic. He passed the Andes in the month
of April, when they were covered with snow, and, after great difficulties,
reached Buenos Ayres. He succeeded, in a Portuguese vessel, in reaching
Madeira, where, on his arrival, he learned that a treaty of peace had been
concluded. Soon after he reached South Carolina, he was elected to the
Legislature of that State, in which he devoted himself chiefly to the
establishment of a system of internal improvements. In 1821 he was elected
to Congress, from the Charleston District, and was twice re-elected to
that body. In 1822, he was sent to Mexico, by President Monroe, to obtain
information with regard to the government under Iturbide. He performed
this mission with signal success. Foreseeing the speedy downfall of the
imperial administration, he gave his advice against all connection with
it, on the part of this country. He had scarcely returned home, when
Iturbide abdicated the throne. Soon after the election of Mr. Adams, which
he had strongly opposed, Mr. Poinsett was again appointed Minister to
Mexico, whore he remained until the summer of 1829. His important services
in this period are amply detailed in a memoir of his political life, in
the first volume of the _Democratic Review_, and were warmly approved in
the first annual message of President Jackson. On returning to the United
States, he devoted himself to the pursuits of private life, in South
Carolina. When the States Rights controversy broke out, he again engaged
in political affairs, and became a prominent advocate of the principles of
the Union party, as opposed to Nullification. In 1836, he was nominated by
his friends as a candidate for the State Senate, and was elected with but
little opposition. On the formation of Mr. Van Buren's cabinet