The penny press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1859-1860, 1859-12-02
General jackson and his nliterateness--
Tortoise VS.. Turtle. ...

Among the many charges brought by
the opponents of General Jackson against
him, to prove that he was not fit for the
presidency, was that he was illiterate, and
this was the honest belief ola great many
everywhere
During his Administration a vessel
arrived at Norfolk from the West Indies,
and on its deck were several sea-turtles.
Among them was giant of a reptile,
which attracted the attention Of every
body who went aboard, The captain had
them all taken on the wharf and exposed
for sale. Among those who admired the
huge fellow above mentioned were several
leaders of the "unterrifed," four or five of
whom made up purse, bought the mon
ster, and by the next Washington boat
sent it up as present to Old Hickory.
He was much gratifed at such present,
and the inmates and the visitors at the
White House enjoyed rare treat in the
way of "turtle soup" of the most magnifi-
cent description.
The General wrote very polite note
acknowledging the receipt ofthe present,
which was duly received by DR.. A., who
had sent it in the name of himself and
his other Democratic friends
Shortly after the receipt Of the General $
answer, Dr. A. was hobbling along on
Main street, and just when nearly in front
of Mr. b. s book store he was hailed by
five anti-Jacksonians as follows: ..
"Well, doctor, have you heard from the
Gauaro1 ohn,1t xyni,r I'm rt1 1ooD
eyes" answered DR.. A., land | have
his reply in my pocket"
"Lets see it! let's see i'll they all cried
in breath.
Here it is" DR.. A. replied.
He produced the note and they read;
Gentlemen: l thank you for the very
fine tortoise you SO kindly sent me, &c, "
"There," said one of the gentlemen,
1--WE had always heard that your great
man could not write English, and now
we knowit Who ever heard of turtle
being called o tortoise?"
''Wnl you take q bet on it? said A. "
"That we will" answered they, "and
we will decide the point by going into
friend B's."
So in they went, and both parties
agreed to to abide by the definition of q
certain dictionary, then the standard Of
the language. One Of them turned over its
leaves till he reached the word turtle. The
definition was "a bird of the dove kind
and in the next line, "this word is some
times used to designate the tortoise found
on the shores of tile West Indies. 1t is
corruption used by sailors and illiterate
people" ---...
care you satisfied, gentlemen?" ex-
claimed DR.. A; 81 know you are not sail
ors-so, by your own authority, you are
illiterate BE pleased to pay your bets,
and never after this say that General
jackson can't write English.
UNDERSTANDING THINGS LITERALLY
"The baby is sick, my dear"
swell, give it castor oil Dennis bring
up the castor oil.
dts all gone, sir, not a drop is left"
"Gone! why, we have not yet opened
the bottle"
"Sure, you have it every day, and I've
seen you use it Yourself on your salad
"Why, you scoundrel you don't mean
to say that I've been eating castor oil
every day during the salad season?"
"Sure you have, sir.
"Did you not see the bottle was labeled
castor oil2'
"Sure and did sir; and didn't / put it
in the castor every day"