The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1875-10-27

letter, now for the first time made public. An
officer under his command had obtained leave OF
absence to visit a stricken household. "A beloved
member Of his family had just died, another was
seriously ILL., and he applied for an extension OF MS
furough. This is the reply:
! my Dear Maior,-I have received your sad
letter and wish | coud relieve your sorrowing
heart, but human aid cannot heal the wound
From me you have friend s sympathy, and wish
The suffering condition of our country permitted .
me to dOit But we must think of the living and
those VINO are TO come after US, and see that with
Gods blessing, we transmit to them the freedom
we have enjoyed. What is life without honor?
| Degradation Is worse than DEATH 1t is necessary
that you should be at your post Immediately
Join me Tomorrow morning.
our sympathizing friend,
THOMAS j. JACKSON.
Not only was he sensitive to every touch Of human
sorrow buG no man ever more susceptible to I'M,
pressiOns from the physical world. The hum OF
bees, the fragrance of clover felds-tender streaks
of dawn, the dewy brightness of the early spring,
the mellow RlOries Of tie matured autumn, all, by
turns charmed and tranquilized him. The eye that
so often sent its lightning through the smoke OF
battle, grew soft in contemplating the beauty OF
flower The ear that thrilled with the thunder OF
the caunonade, drank in with innocent delight the
song OF birds and the prattle of children voices
The hand which guided the rush of battle on the
plains of Manassas aud the Malvern Hills. was
equally ready to adjust the covering around the
tender frame OF q uotherless babe when at MID,
night he rose to see if it was comfortable and
warm, though Its own father was guest under
his roof. The voice whose sharp and ringing tones
who had so often uttered the command, tive
them the bayonet," culed even from foreign
tongues terms of endearment for those he loved,
which his own language did not adequately sup
ply; and the man who filed two hemispheres with
the story OF his fame. was never so happy as wnen
he was telling ehsd of his Sabbath
School the story ofthe Gross.
I'd. Another explanation of the unusual regard
with which his memory is halowed, conducts to a
higher plane and enables US to contemplate still
nober phase of his character. His was the great
ness which comes without being sought for It's owe
sske-the unconscious greatness which results
from self sacrifice and supreme devotion to duty.
Duty is an altar from which vestal fame is ever
ascending to the skies, and he who stands nearest
to that fame catches its radiance, and in that light
is himself made luminous forever.
The day after the first battle of Manassas, and
before the history OF that victory had reached Lex
ington in authentic form, rumors proceeding any
accurate account OF that event had gathered a
crowd around the post office, awaiting with lnten-
sest interest the opening OF the mall In It's ais
tribution the FIRST letter was handed to the Rev.
Dr. White 1t was from General jackson. Re
cognizng at a glance the well-known superscrlp-
ton, the Doctor exclaimed to those around him,
"Now we shall know all the facts" This was the
bulletin
"MY DEAR PASTOR: In my tent last night,
after fatigulng days service, | remembered that
| had failed to send you my contribution Tor our
colored Sunday School, Enclosed you will find
my check for that object, which please acknowl-
edge at YOUR earliest convenience, and obllge,
Yours faithfully,
THos. j. JACKSON.
Not word about the conflict which had eectri.
fed a nation Not an allusion to the splendid
part he had taken in it Not reference to him
self, beyond the fact that it had been to him IA
tiguing days service And yet that was the day
ever memorable in his history-memorable IN all
: history, when he received the name which IS des
tined to supplant the name his parents gave
" Stonetoau Jackson ~ When his brigade of
2 600 men had for hours withstood the iron tenn
pest which broke upon it without causing waver IN
its line and when on his right the forces under the
command of the gallant General Bee had been
overwhelmed in the rush of resistless numbers,
then was it that the event occurred which cannot
be more graphically described than in the burning
words of his biographer:
at was then that Bee rode up to Jackson and
with despairing bitterness exclaimed, General,
they are beating US back Then, said jackson,
calm and curt we will give them the bagonet :
mined will, and gallopir back to the broken frag-
ments of his overtszei command, exclaimed,
There is Jackson stand g like stonewall. Rally
behind the VirgDiaps i At this trumpet-call a
few score of his men re gormed their ranks. Piac-
ing himself at tho head g. charged the dense mass
of the enemy, and 10 p pent fell dead with his
face to the foe. From tSAt time Jacksons was
i known as the Stoae,oaa Brigade, name hence
forth immortal and belonging to all the ages; tor
the christening baptized 10 the blood of Its au
thor and that wall of brave hearts was on every
battlefield, stesdfast buwark of their country.
The letter written to his pastor in Lexington on
the day following that battle gives the key note to
his character. Nor on any occasion was he the
herald of his own fame-Dever, save by the con-
scieutous discharge of duty did he aid in the dis
semination of that fame. Never did be perform
an act for the sake of what men might say of it
and while he felt all the respect for public opinion
to which it is Justly entitled he was not thinking
of what the public verdict might be- but OF what it
was right to do. The attainment of no personal
ends could satisfy aspirations like his To ascer
tain what was true, to do what was best, to fill up
the narrow measure of life with the largest posi-
BILE usefulness was his single-hearted purpose. In
such a career, if enjoyment should come, or well
earned fame or augmented Influence, or the power
which accompanies promotion, they must all come
as incidents by the way, as satellites which gath
cred around central orb, and not as the .consum
nation toward which he ever tended. This sim
gleness of aim was inseperabe from soul so sim
cere. A nature like his was incapable of employ
ing the meretricious aids by which some men seek
to heighten or advance their reputation. Hence
he never affected mystery. His retcenoe was not
the assumption of impenetrabllity of purpose. His
reserve was not the arhce of one who seeks to awe
by making himself unapproachable. He hedged
himself about with no barrier of exclusiveness
He assumed no airs Of porteutous dignity. He
studied no dramatic effects. Ga the field, so far
from coudescendng to those histrionic displays
of person. or theatrical arts OF speech by which
| some commanders have sought to excite the
enthusiasm of their armies, when his troops caught
the sight of his faded uniform and sun-burnt cap,
and shook the air with their shouts as he rode
along the lines, he quckened his gallop and es-
capped from view. When among the mountain
pyramids, older than those to which the First Ma
poeon pointed, he did not remind his men mat
centuries we're looking down on them. When on
the plain, he drilled no eagles to perch on his ban
ners, as the Third Napoleon was said to have done,
but one thing he md, he impressed his men with
such an intense conviction of his unself5h and SUI
preme conservation to the cause for which he had
periled ali, aud so kinGled them with his own
magnetic fire. as to fuse them into one articuated
body-one heart throbbing through all the mem
berF, one spirit animatng the entire frame-that
heart that spirit, his own. 1t was his sublime in
difference 70 RersnGaL S2pgsrs TO personal comfort
and personal aggrandizement, that gave him such
power over the armies he commanded, and such
place in the hearts OF the people OF the Confeder
ate States.
The true test of attachment to any cause is what
one is willing to suffer for its advancement and it
is the spectacle of disinterested devotion to the
right and true, at the cost of toll, and travail,
and blood if need be, that captivates the popular
heart and calls forth its admiration and sweetest
Election. He who exhibits most Of this spirit is
the man who unconsciousy wins for himself en-
during fame. When be passes from earth to
higher and diviner sphere his il hoence does not
perish. 1t is not the transient Driance Of the
meteor mt the calm radiance of star, whose