Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1866-02-03

mCdltatlOnS, ne NclCu WIN Iaplul-
ty, a decision, and Il confidence that
scornod hesitation, refused longer
to think, and took the appearance
of impctuous inspiration.
Danger, in q certain sense intoNl-
Gated him. But il did not produce
that intoXication which conthscs the
mind, or makes it giddy with II
crowd of images. II was that sort
of intoxication which strings the
nerve. stimulates tho brain, concon-
trates the Faculties and gives n con
sciousness Of power that is for the
moment irresistible, In battle he
was not much in motion; but his
eyes glowcd; his face was blazoned
with the fire of the conflict; his
massive jaw stiflcnod his voice rang
out sharp and clear; every order
and remark was MS quick and per
tinont ms if it had been studied for
hours. One could scarcely recoS-
nizo in this figure of intense activi-
ty: all alive, with every faculty Mt
play, the man who used to occupy
himself with rambling soliloquies
in the rear of his tent. who present
ed the appearance of an inanimatc
figure. head in his pew at the Pres
bytcrian church in Lexington and
who often got up out Of his camp
bed at night to spend hours in 81
lent prayer and meditation.
1t may be readily imagined that
the wonderful career Of Jackson
and his personal eccentricities drew
upon him a crowd Of apocryphal
anecdotes in the newspapers. Some
of these were very absurd. His
person was as variously represented
in newspaper paragraphs as if in
stead of being familiar to thousands,
he inhabited the dim outlines of an
other century. One Journal des-
cribed him as an absurdly ugly
man, with red hair another gavo
his portrait rs that Of an immense
brain, and features on which natnre
had stamped its patent Of nobility.
One newspaper correspondent de-
clared that he always wore the brim
Of his cap on the middle Of his
nose. Another declared that he
was an cxecrable rider, and looked
like a loose jumping-jack on horse
back.
There is a popular disposition to
discover something curious or gro
tesque in great men. But there
was really but little Of this sort to
be discovered in Jackson, and scarce
ly anything that could be pointed
out as objects of vulgar curiosity.
1t is true, his figure was queer and
clumsy; but the features of his face
were moulded in forms of simple
grandeur and its expression was
as unaffected as that of Lee himself.
He was not an ugly man. The
vulgar might call him such; and
tho newspaper passion for carica-
ture did so represent him. Nor did
he have in face or figure those
marks which the silly admiration of
woman expects to find in military
heroes. He did not wear long
greasy hair falling over his shoul-
ders he did not stand in dramatic
attitudes he did not keep his eyes
unnaturally stretched he did not
thrust out his chest as if determined
to impose himself upon public atten-
ton. His features were singularly
simple and noble. A broad fore
head, rising prominently over his
eyes, and retreating at that easy
angle which gives certain majesty
to the face, covered a massive brain ;
his nostrils were unusually large
his jaw heavy and we'll set and al
though his features were coarse,
they were combined in that ex-
preston of dignity and power,
which to the intelligent and appre'
ciative, even among women, is the
greatest charm of the masculine
face.
The death of Jackson casta shad-
ow on the fortunes of the Confede-
racy that reached to the catastrophe
of the war. 1t was not only loss
to his country; it was calamity
to the world a subtraction from
the living generation of genius the
extinction of a great light in the
temples of Christianity. The pro
position was eagerly made in the
South to erect to his memory a
stately monument. The State OF
Virginia sent an artist to Europe to
execute his statue. Thousands fol-
lowed him to the grave and conse-
Grated it with the tributes of affec-
ton and the testimonies of devo-
ton. Who, then, regarding this
fervour of admiration and graft
tude, could have supposed that the
I Southern mind could ever become
so chilled in any change of events,
or in any mutuation of fortune as
to forget. alike, its debts of graft
tude and its objects of pride in the
glorious past and that the time
could ever come when the house
hold effects of Stonewall jackson