Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1862-04-11

THE TOMB OF ANDREW JACKS

was delicious. we nave your June Tor our
March. There is much in company. Tho
choicest trips will be tame without tho ex-
hilaraton Of good company. was fortuf
nate yesterday. A witty and well informed
NJ. G. went along, and his wife, an exquisite
lady, with not a faint of the foil hcrcsy about
her, and their little boy, full Of droll speeches
and frolic Tennessee folks, but true, and we
had to be held 10 everlasting remembrance.
Next to Jerusalem the Hermitage for me, in
these times
A lctg lane, with single file Of cedars on
either side, brought us to the house whe'o
wonderful Old Hickory lived and died. 1t is
house Of the olden time. The hall as large
as any ordinary drawingroom, the stairway
vide and winding, the parors and chambers
commodious, ceiling high. Several stately
pillars line the portco in front It is only
two stories in height, but broad and big every
way, and looks tolerabv imposing. The wall
paper is in the venerable fashion Of high
wrought landscapes, aud pictures Of men and
animals.
On the parlor wall hangs a painting of the
General, taken eight days before his death.
| could not but be impressed and saddened
by its ack-luster eyes and sunken cheeks
The pillar Of fire that lighted up a nation was
at its feeblest Pickering | was the more
touched with this picture from contrasting it
with another, representing Jackson in bis
prime, that hung upon the wall opposite. -
There the eye had its natural fame Of middle
age, and the bearing and the dignity and
the courage that ever the lion-hearted hero
showed.
/ We we're conducted over the residence by
Andrew Jackson, Jr., the adopted SON of the
. To-. g.. Il 1
TO the room where the General breathed his
last. sat down in his ayorite chair, where
he himself sat on the very day Of his decease.
There hung, in elegant gilt frame, the ceIe-
brated message against notification.
"'Twouldn't do now days, pleasantly re-
marked my Hon companion.
"Not in the South, perhaps" replied Mrs.
j., Though that lie a different thing from
the rest was lost in the conversation upon
other matters. We did not care to pursue
that train Of thought, which was painful
restraint upon me, for could have made the
very cedar trees clap their hands at the utter
ance Of Old Hickory and Hemp patriotism that
was boiling within me. wanted TO say, in
high temper, How is it possible that--but
never mind what | wanted TO say. This An
drew Jackson has two sons in the army Of
nulifers. He is not relative Of the dead
Andrew Jackson. He was very courteous,
and said not a word on the dreadful question.
We visited the tomb Of the distinguished
departed. His ashes lie undera stone monu-
ment similar to that of James X. Polk though
inferior to it in quality and finish. -Four small
pillars support a dome and iucose stone
block some three feet high, on either side of
which is a slab. On one is inscribed
gen. ANDREW JACKSON,
Born March Is, 1867,
Died June &, 1915"
This simple eptaph, it will be recollectcd,
was at his own direction. He permitted
nothing more. There is an eloquence in these
fe y words that moves and instructs one more
than the most flattering and elaborate epitaph
could have done. He whose history every
body knows does not need to have that his
tory recorded on his tomb. Titles and cpl /
taphs are for thuse who reach but halt way
up the ladder. Those who reach the top
have no further need of such assistance.
Upon the other slab were inscribed these
words, for copy Of which confess my in
debtedness to my accomplished fellow pill .
grim, Mrs. P.
Here lies the remains of Mrs. Rachel .
Jackson, wife Of President Jackson, who died
The 22d Of December, 1928, aged 6l
"Her face was fair, her person pleasing, her
temper amiable. and her heart kind. She de-
lighted in relieving the wants of her fellow
creatures, and cultivated that divine pleasure
by the most liberal and unpretending meth
DDS To the poor she was a benelactor, TO
the rich an example, to the wretched com
forer, to the prosperous an ornament Her
piety went hand in hand with her benevo-
lence, and she thanked her Creator for being
permitted to do good A being so gentle. .
and yet so virtuous, Islander might wound .
but could not dishonor Even Death, when .
he tore her from the arms Of her husband, .
could but transport her to the bosom of her
God"
This epitaph was composed by Major Hen
~ Lee of Virginia, now deceased
Close by the mausoleum stood miniature
with this inscription:
In memory of X. q. W. Earle. artist.
friend and companion Of General Andrew
Jackson, who died at the Hermitage the 10th
September, 1887"
have Just bethought me of the fact that
not one OF the great gone reposcs under what
may be called costly monument. They are
generally cheap and going to decay, as this
one of Jackson's is Republics are nrgetful.