The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-10-27

SHEET. NO. IO3
How has be, the most unromantic Of great
men, become the hero Of living ro.
m1Dce, the ideal Of an inAamed fancy, even
before hfs life has been invested WITH the
mystery Of distance? ?s From that day 20
this these Inquiries have been propounded
10 every variety Of form, and with an ever
increasing interest. i t.,s=1s
!o answer these questions will be one OBJ;
ject Of this discourse and yes the n,,blie'
will not expect me h 20 doing 10 furnish 4
new delineation Of the life Of .Jscksor. or 2
rehearsal OF the story OF his cnrnDsseus.
Time does not permit this, neither does the
occasion demand II. By a brief series OF ne.
cending propositions do I seek 10 furnish
the solution. find an exp,anasion Of she
regard In which ~ 81 q.
THE MEMORY OF JACKSON
Is cherished. lsss.s5s -! /!
y :. lsts In che fact that be was the inearna-
tion OF those heroic qualities Which fit their
possessor to lead and command men, aud
which therefore always attract the admira.
.tioD, kindle the imagination, and arouse the
enthusiasm of the people. 4
! There is o natufsl element in humluity
which constrains 10 to:h honor that which Is
strong, and adventurous, and indomitable.
Decision, fortitnde, inhaxibility, intrepidlty,
determination, when cOnsecrated 10 noble
ends, and especially when associated with
gentleDess which throws softened charm
over these stsrner attributes, aver win and
lead captive the popular heart.
The masses nho compose the commonalty,
coHsciously weak and irfesoiutes instircffvely
gather around the men Of lofiier stature IN
whom they find the great forces wanting In
themselves, and spontaneously follow the
call OF those whom they think competent to
redress their wrongs aud vindicate their
rights.
These are the leaders who are welcomed
by the people with open arme, and elevated
to the high places of the earth, to become the
regents Of sooiety-to develop the history Of
the age in which they live, and to impress
upon it the noble image of thier own per-
sonaity.
AS discoverers love to trace great rivers
to their sources, so in oar studies Of the cha
racters of those who have filled large spaces
In the public eye it interests as to 60 back.
ward in search OF the rudimentary germs
which afterwards developed into the great
qualities which commanded the admiration
Of the world.
Never was the adage the child Is the
father of the man " more strikingly Illus
trated than in the early history OF the orphan
boy whose name subsequently became o
tower of strength to the armies he command
ed and 10 the eleven sovereign States banded
and battling tegether for separate national
life.
There is no more graphic picture on the
pages of Macaulay than tlat OF Warren Hast
ings, at the age of seven, lying on the bank
Of rivulet which flowed through the broad
lands which were once the property of bis
ancestors, and there forming the resolve that
all that domain should one day be his, and
never abandoning his purpose through all the
vicissitudes Of bis stormy life until, as the
8: Hastings OF Dlylesford," he tasted joy
which bis heart never knew In the command
OF the millions over when he ruled In the
Indian empire.
But stranger still was it to see pensiye,
delicate orphan child Of the same age, the In.
heritor Of 9 feeble constitution, yet with q
will even nose indomitable than that ol
Warren Hastings, renoupcing his home with
relative, who, mistaking his disposition,
had attempted to govern him by force, aud
alone and on foot performing journey OF
eighteen miles to the house OF another kiDs-
man, where he suddenly presented himself,
announcing his unalterable resolve never to
return to his former home-a decision which
no remOnstranees or persuasions could in-
duce him to revoke; and stranger still to see
him the year after on q ioaely island Of the
Mississippi river, In company with another
child few years bis senior, maintaining
himself BY his own labor, until driven by
malaria from the deioiate spot where beCeath
the dreary forests and beside the angry
floods of the Father of Waters he had dis
played the self.reliance and hardhood OF O
man at period Of life when children are or.
dinarily scarcely out of the nursery.
THIS INFLExIBILTY OF PURPOSE
and defiance of hardship and danger In the
determination to succeed was displayed IN
all bis subsequent GREER whether we see
him at West Point overcoming the difad'
7an,ages of deficient preliminary education
By severity Of application almost unparall'
eied. In accordance with the motto be In
scribed in bold characters on q pagein hiscom
mon. place book, 'sYou may be whatever you
resolve to be'; or whether we follow him
through the Mexican campaign, winning bis
first laurels at Cherubu:co, and at Chepulta.
pec, where he received his second promo
tion; or whether we accompany him TO bis
quiet retreat in Lexington, where, after the
termination Of the Mexican war, he filled
the post OF Professor in the Military Insti.
tute, aud there affordiDg new exhibition OF
bis determination in overcoming obstacles
more fornidable than those encountered in
the field In the persistent discharge OF every
duty In spite OF feeble healh and threatened
loss Of sight.
/ know of no picture in bis life more in1-
pressiye than that which presents him as he
sat in his study during the still hours OF the
night, unable TO use book or lamp, With
only i mental view Of diagrams and models,
.and the artificial signs required In abstruse
calculations, holding long ard Intricate pro.
cesses of mathematical reasoning with the
steady grasp OF thought, bis face turned 10
the blank, dark wall, until he mastered every
difficulty and made eonplete preparations
for the Instructions Of The succeeding day.
These years OF self.discipline and self.
enforced severity OF regimen, maintained
with rigid austerity through years OF seclu-
sion from public life, constituted the propi.
tious season for the roll maturing OF those
faculties whose eneray was 80 soon TO 0e
idispiayed on 6sld which attracted the
attention of the world.
When his native State, which had long
Istood in the attitude OF magnanimous media
tiop between the hostile sections, In The
H.PE oF PRESERVING TEE UNION s.
which she had assisted in forming, and to
whose plors she had made suci contribu.
tious, was meuaced by the rod OF coercion,
anS ',.omneIled 10 decide between submission