The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-04-28
Andrew Jackson's Conversion.
FAYErTEvILLE, N. c.,
A.r,I oh 1901

Andrew Jackson's Conversion
FAYETTEvILLE, N. e.,
April 9Th, 1881.
Editor of Stdr:-In your issue o
Yesterday the question is asked: wa
not Gen. fAndrewl Jackson a Presby
terian1 / answer that be was; an
thinking thar the history of bis con
nection Of the church NAV be Of inter
est to our readers, | shall proceed Il
tell the tale as il was told TO me- .
second hand. My informant was Hon
T. J. Wharton Of Jackson, Miss, thu
son.in law of the man under whose ad
ministration he Joined. This wa,
Rev. DIR. Edgar of Nashville, Tenn
who was pronounced 10y Bishop has
com tnr SIR. CLAY to he the mos, 81"
unpnt man he had eve heard IN ANY
pulpit My memory is at faul. az II
which Of the two said it. DR.. Edgar
was accustomed 70 offciate occasion
ally AZ q little country church within
half 4 mile of the Hermitage, whict
had been erected under Gen. Jack
sons auspices. The Doctor said tha'
on a certain Sunday afternoon, wheI
he was to preach at the Hermitage to
wards the close of the life of its most
extraordinary occupant, he resolved
TO share his discourse for his persona.
ear, as hey had ever been most dsvo
ted friends, though | believe differ
ing IN politics. Selecting . suitable
text from the Old Testament, he dis
eoursed at length upon the emptiness
of earthly grandeur. He portrayed a
man Of the Hebraic Ella. who had at
tanned the highest honors aud emolu-
nents Of his time, but who to exalted
genius. as shown in camp and council,
devoted patriotism, untinching cour
age and unbendins integrity, did not
combine love and obedience to his Ma
ker.
Said the Doctor, II observed with
much satisfaction that the General
seemed intensely interested. After
church he approached and said, in his
brusque, imperative way, DIR. Edgar,
you must pass the night with me-
Upon my replying that it was impossi-
BILE, be repeated, DR.. Edgar, you mast
20 home with me, sir. | told him
that | had an engagement to attend a
dying woman in town that evening;
upon which he remarked, or course.
sir, that excuses YOU; but promise me
to come put and take breakfast with
me in the morning, for l wish to see
you on most important business" AS
[ approach ed the house the next norm
ing. the Doctor continued, be was
walking up and down the piazza Ap
parently in a fit of deep abstraction.
He received me with that courtly and
urbsn~ %politeness for which he wae
ever remarkable, and then asked me 10
accompany him to his study. On be-
ing seated be remarked, ''unless | mis-
take, Edgar, you selected me tor your
target yesterday. Ii so, permit me to
say, my friend, that you are mistaken
IN suppOsing that | have never thought
Of my duty to my Creator. Few even.
as strange as it may sound, have given
the subject more serious, earnest and
oft reflection and as strange, too, to
say, l have been deferred in q measure
from uniting myself to the church long
years ago by my high regard for it. The
apprehension Of imputation of my mo
%tives, which my enemies would be sure
to allege, might initiate ag ainst the
. CIVlCC. q tAuCu " 10 VIII
keeping me from an open profession of
Faith in the prime Of life. That con-
sideration no longer has weight. L
wish you to catechize nae, and if you
shall ther adjudge me a suitable can
didate for church membership, TO take
me into communion on next Sunday"
This, said the Doctor, l did in q most
exhaustive examination. and to nv as.
%tonishment discovered that this proud,
imper'l JUS, self wi!led and unbending
leader Of men, who had in q savage |
wilderness single handed faced a mu-
tinous army and swearing his great
big oath, which meant what the words |
import, to shoot the first man who
should take another step homewards,
had shamcd them back to duty, was u
profound theelogian and well versed |
In the doctrinal tenets Of the different
serts. This man who had left the i'm
press Of his personality upon his coun-
try's history 20 a degree which few
have ever done. and whom the world
supposed had never given the subject
IT his SOUL salvation a serious thought
had evidently been thoroughly imbued
with the transcendant Importance Of
it, and had been long anterior a zeal
Gus seeker after truth, and a quiet in
vestigator of revealed religion. He
had ever been supposed to be the child
of impulse; but ia this, as in State
craft whilst shaping the destinies Of =
nation, We see the marks Of caution
and deliberation.
Such, Mr.. Editor, is a small rehash
of the recital as related by Gen. Whar.
ton, himself one of the most Jealous
and consistent members Of the same
church. l do not pretend to give his
language, but only the glst and
main facts of the case. 1t is told to
show that in his religion, as in his poll
tics, his campaigns, his legal and horse
racing experiences, this man was es-
an Earnest man." the only
class according to old Tom Carlyle. who
ever earn admission to Walhella 5 Halls.
1t has frequently occurred to me that
there is a striking similitude of charac
ter in more respects than one between
the two most remarkable Of the same
name and that if the truth were known
it would establish a near kinship be-
tween ''old Hickory and 'S~tonewal."
w. j. G..