The North-Carolina standard., 1845-11-26

L SONOACESAA OAcASOma
/, The solemn tidings that our veneratcd and be.
loved chiefain is dead, have been borne over the
nation that loved him, and generous but afflicted
people have offered to his memory the holy trib-
ute of tears His fellow-ctizens, among whom
he lived and died at his quiet home on the banks
Of the Cumberland, followed him to his last rest
ing place in silent grief and laid him in the grave
without ostentation. They loved him too we'll TO
forget his last requcst-for while the bright of
Heaven were swinging wide their portals "a on
the vision of the expiring sufferer, he felt how ia
Ding are all earthly pageants and he wished to
descend quietly to the tomb It would have Civ
en- him pain to know that the solemnity OF that
occasion should have been disturbed by pomp or
display, and he asked those who stood around his
bed TO give him quiet burial. They felt that
the request was sacred-they wiped the dew of
death from his brow, and did as he told them We
almost envy them the holy and the mournfnl pri-
vilege Of treading that chamber where the good
man met his fate" For if there could be in our
land, to the American, one spot more sacred than
all others, except the tomb of Washington, it must
have been the chamber where our hero, our Pres
ident and our father died
We hardly know what sentiments can be ap-
proprlate or what language can befit this mourn.
tul occasion In which it becomes our painful duty
to notice the departure of this illustrious man.
We need not give sketch of his life for his his
tory is known to all our readers We need not
extol his virtues, for the s0orId knows them. We
need not speak OF his patriotism, for no one will
say he did not love his country. We need not
tell of his martial courage or heroism, while we
can point to so many of his battle-felds where he
poured out his blood. We need not record his
victories; our enemies have done it before u.s. We
need not tell how he died, for he was a Christian
What, then, remains for US to do, but to recol
lect his counsels-to emulate his example-to
cherish his spirit-to weep over his ashes-and
to embaim his name in that pure shrine of the
heart where our father and our country shall live
forever.
We thought we had long been prepared to hear
that the patriarch had entered upon his rest for he
had long been expecting to leave US, and we had
felt that, with u.s. too, we'll as with him, " the
bitterness of his death was past" We had often
pictured to ourselves the faded cheek, the feeble
hand, the tremulous voice, and the last scene.
Those of US who had gathered the last inteIIi-
gence waited to the shores of Europe few weeks
ago, which told US that he still lived. and, like
star soon to fall, burned on as brightly as ever,
had waited with painful anxiety as we drew near
our ather-land to ask the question "does the old
man yet live2" And when they told US he is
yet alive" we were glad, but we were surprised.
Yesl we thought we were ready to put on our
mourning badges But when the news at last came
that the hero of New Orleans was dead, we were
struck dumb by the blow, and we gazed vacaatly
on the herald who spread the tidings Like the
children of Israel, after Moses had gone up on the
mountain, we felt that our leader was taken away,
and we were left alone in the wilderness We
knew that we still reposed upon a strong arm
one which he had himself nerved in the heat of
conf1ic:-tha. we should still be guided by wise
counsels taken at his feet but also felt that the
hand which had led US VIGOROUSLY was laid low
that The voice which had cheered US in the dark
l.
encampment of our bannerd host stretching across
the plain and over them were waving the flags of
victory. We did not we could not, distrust the
bold and the brave young leader we had placed
over us !; but we could not forget that our old
chieftain was gone. The mantle had indeed fal-
len upon the shoulders of one who knew we'll
how to wear it; but he from whose venerable
form it had fallen, had left US forever.
Funeral ceremonies have been decreed-mourn.
ing badges have been worn by the people-sa-
lntes of artillery have been fred-solemn rroces-
sions everywhere made. But none of these i,s-
sigma of woe have given any adequate expression
Of the general lamentation that has filled the heart
OF the nation. No one feels that we have IN these
public demonstrations discharged the debt of graf
itude we owe to his memory: for such debt can |
be paid only by the gratitude of whole genera
tions: We have thus far only sought to show
some external signal of grief at the loss our ad-
anu 0GdLIluUS IOT the |
services Of our venerated and lamented chieftain.
The great point then, to contemplate, and the |
one which the future only can decide, is WHAT
LASTING EXPRESSION SHALL WE MAKE OF THE
FEELINGS HIS DEATH HAS AWAKENED?
Let emulate has sirtues, and ozO,c his eo.nsels
These are the rich inheritance be has left US,
and let us make that legacy our own. We may |
form professions, we may pronounce funeral eulo-
gies, we may raise monuments of colossal bronze;
but all this will be unavaiing, unless we catch |
he spirit of patriotism which burned in his heart,
and yield ourselves to the guidance of his coun-
sells. III
The man we lament has lived throughout our
life has been coeval with our exist
ence as nation. He was trained up for his fu-
ure destiny under the stern teachings of stormy |
mes He was born before the republic, and he /
stood by the cradle of our liberty when 't Times
noblest offspring and the last +" was given to the /
world He heard the echo of the first cannon
shot of the revolution, and it woke spirit in him |
which could never sleep again The scene we
have so often dwelt on with so deep an interest
where the mother of General Jackson gathered
ner three boys around the altar of home, and con.
,ecrated them TO the service of the God of liberty
IS one of the most touching in our history We l
ee the brothers kneeing to receive her blessing 4
We SEQ her bind on the knapsack, and put the
nuskets in their hands; and we hear her last
.harge, like the Grecian mother when she sent
her boyto the battle-ietd-"c come home victor,
Ir be borne back on your shield'