The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1845-05-09
Uu,ere.,,,s Letter from General jackson.

l0tCteobbUS h<CttVG ssS"esss' c''~'.N~'-'
The occasion of the following letter from Gen.
jackson was proposition from the directors oil
the National Institute a, Washington TO deposite
his remains, after his decease, in the sarcophagus
which was brought from Syria by Com. Elliott,
OF the U. S. Navy. The Gen. is not willing that
unnecessary pomp shall attend his funeral, and
declines the proilsred honor.
HERMITAGE, March p, 1915.
DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 18Th in
slant, together with the copy of the pro-
ceedings of the National Institute, furnish
ed me bv their corresponding secretary,
on the presentation, by you, of the sar-
cophagus for their acceptance, on condi-
ton it shall be preserved, and in honor
are now before me.
Although laboring under great debility
and affection, from a severe attack from
which may not recover, raise my pen
and cndeavor to reply. The seadness
of my nerves may perhaps lead you to
conclude my prostra,ion OF strength is not
so great as here expressed. Strange as
il may appear, my nerves are as steady
as they were forty years gone by; whilst,
from debility and aflliction am gasping
for breath.
have read the whole proceedings Of
the presentation, by you, of the sarco-
phagus, and the resolutions passed by the
board Of directors, so honorable to my
fame, with sensations and feelings more
easily 10 be conjectured than by me ex-
pressed. The whole proceedings cal! for
my most grateful thanks, which are here.
by rendered to you, and through you to
the president and directors Of the Nation
al Institute. But with the warmest SEN
sa,ions that can inspire grateful heart,
must decline accepting the honor in
tended TO be bestowed. cannot consent
tina! my mortal body shall be laid in re-
pository prepared for an emperor or a
king. My republican feelings and prin-
cples forbid it; the simplicity of our
system of government forbids it. Every
monument erected to perpetuac the mem
DRY of our heroes and statesmen ought to
bear evidence Of the economy aud sim
plicty Of oar republican institutions, and
the plainness of our republican citizens,
who are the soveregns Of our glorious
Union, and whose virtue is to perpetuate
it. True virtue cannot exist where pomp
and parade are the governing passions;
it can only dwell with the people--the
great laboring and producing classes that
form the bone and sinew of our conled-
eracy.
For these reasons cannot accept the
honor you and the president and drec-
tors OF the National Institute intended to
bestow. | cannot permit my remains to
be the first in these United States to be
deposited in a sarcophagus made for an
emperor or king. | again repeat, please
accept for yourself, and convey to the
president. and directors of the National
Institute, my most profound respects for
the honor you and they intended to be-
stow. have prepared humble Gepos-
tory for my mortal body beside that
wherein lies my beloved wife. where,
without any pomp or parade, | have re.
quested, when my God calls me to sleep
with my fathers, to be laid; for both Of
us there 10 remain until the last trumpet
sounds to call the dead to judgement,
when we. | hope, shall rise together,
clothed with that heavenly body promis-
ed to all who believe in our glorious Re-
deemer. who died for us that we might
live, and by whose atonement hope for
a blessed immortality.
am, with great respect,
Your friend and feIlow-c citizen,
ANDREW JACKSON,