Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1860-11-17
ANDREW JACKSON.

ANDREW JACKSON.
NEVER was head on human trunk more
strongly marked; never was a character more
Stnklngly individualized, than the head and
the CHARACTER of Andrew Jackson. His tiogra-
pher thus speaks Of him in the "Americon PoT-
trait Galiey:"
"Ihe hero OF New Orleans The imorriei
bic the impracticuble, the indomitable the in
corruptibe! lIcasdtrong, but always honest
raSh but ever patriotic; he may have erred, to
his counry's detriment at times, but treason
had no place in his breast, and his highest aim,
next to his duty to his maker, was his country's
good. Fear he knew not, either on the battle
held or before that terrible power. PUBLIC oPIN-
ION. His purpose once taken, no threats of his
enemies, no persuasions of personal friends, no
personal considerations of fear and favor could
shake ii. Accordingly, few men
have been so defcd or damned, as friends or
foes have spoken"
On looking at his head, the uppermost and
overshadowing feature is irmncss. This some
times dcgeneratcd into wifulness, but much
more rarely than one would expect from a char
acter 50 strongly marked. His whole life was
an exposition of this trait. 1t is said hy his
teachers that he was very easily controlled, ex-
cept where he thought himself abused. Left
an orphan very early in life, he together with
an elder brother decided upon the law; but
just as he was fourteen years of age there came
the call Of patriotism from his oppressed and
afflicted country for q defense of her liberties.
Although of tender age, he did not hesitate to
buckle on the sword. lie soon, however. fell
into the hands Of his foes. and was compelled
to submit TO the trials of imprisonment and the
lmpeilous commands OF his captors. lie bore
every imposition cheerfulk, and performed
every menial duty so long as 1t uiu' not ,vu.-
promise his honor. But there was point to
which his dignity could not descend. His cap
tors seem to have been Of character scarcely
deserving the name OF MN, and took delight in
imposing the most humiEating drudger,. One
day an English officer commanded him to per-
form some menial duty which he did not think
compatible with even the dignity of prisoner.
Of course he fatty refused, when the sword
bearing brute severely wounded him with the
rapior hc disgraccd.
in the early part of the war Of 1872" saws
the biography from which we have quoted,
Congress having voted % accept fifty thousand
volunteers Jackson appealed to the citizens Of
Tennessee, and there responded at once to his
call twenty-five hundred brave men, who en-
rolled their names, and presented themselves to
Congress, with Jackson at their herd. They
were accepted, and ordered to Natchez to watch
the operations of the British in lower Missis-
>ippi. Not long after h, received orders from
headquarters to disband his men and send them
to their homes. To obey, he ioresaw would be
an act of great injustice to his command, and
with his accustomed independence, he at once
resolved to disobey his high orders. He accor-
dinghy broke up his camp and returned to Nash
ville bringing all his sick with him, whose wants
on the way were relieved by his own private
means, and there disbanded his troops in the
midst of their homes
Few men would have had the courage to set
thus at naught the authority of the highest tri-
huna in the land, and fewer still would have
been prompted to thi, high handed disobedience
from so manly sense of duty to his soldiers.
That one act, although an act of open rebellion,
while it illustrates the remarkable .fymneSS of
his character, covers, the soldier with more
glory than the most triumphant feat of arms,
and the man with an eternal halo of mercy and
justice.
One other act of his official life we cannot
omit, as Illustrative OF his towering indepen,l-
ence and self-rclancc. We allude to the ia.
nous "Remoral Of the DepOsits.' In this act
he had few supporters, and the more timid of
his own party demonstrated with him on so
presumptuous and high-handcd measure al
take lthe responsibility" was his ready reply
No act of any official in the whole history of
lllc IhcpublC WIS SO IIOuuGllNt OF ncfce anu
hot discussion. The Wing party unitedly con-
demncd-the Democratic with equal unaniimity
defended it. Not whit did lie swerve from
the line of what he termed his duty but amid
the roaring terrors of the tempest he had rails
ed, he went ieailcssly and calmly forward to the
end.
The firmness of this man scarcely exceeded
his stern picty and strict honesty. 1t may sound
strange to some ears to hear Gen. Jackson's
name associated with religion, yet he was a man
of deep religious reverence and love of TRUTH
lie was member of PRESBYTERIAN church, and
he adorned his profession "by we'll ordered
life" He was no hypoerite himself, and scorned
the canting profession of those whose lives were
blot on the escutcheon Of the Church. True,
in hours of severe outward pressure, he swore
shy the Eternal'-his only OATH but so have
the wisest and best men under equal provoca-
tion fallen from their high estate the hot but
noble spirit of Peter, and the calm soul of the
santed Washington, together with host of
others worthy Of our respect and love, although
of lesser name. But he had almost a super
stitious respect for the man who wore the seals
of Gods ambassadorship, often relieving their
necessities, and helping forward their plans for
the promotion of virtue and the enlargement of
the bounds of the visible Church. His house
was n free home for Christian ministers, and
the missionary was often found at his table in
times of peace, and became an occupant of his
tent in seasons of war.
Jackson was fierce soldier. but had due
respect for the rights of his foes No captive
ever received, at his hands, the dastardly bear
ing TO which he was made to submit when him
self prisoner. AT the treaty of the "IIickory
Ground" where his long and often-tried pa
tience and generalship won for him the title OF
"Old Hickory-a nickname of which he was