The Charlotte Democrat., 1893-03-31
Charlotte Democrat.
CHARLOTTE. N. G..

Gen. Andrew JaGkSOu dHu Ito GOoIOA AAA0A'
Old Hickory was genuine Scotch Irish
He was born in the Waxha"s, IN the
present county of Union, but in the part
taken from old MeckIenburg. His most
striking biographer is James Farton'
who once came to Charlotte to InVestl'
gate and study the questions OF his
birth and early life; and he has drawn his
ideal of the Scotch Irish in two works on
the hero of New Orleans, which,
whether true or just, is likely to attract
marked attention. Of his last life OF the
General we find the following synopsis
of his pictures of the Scotch Irish:
"Thus lived and died Andrew Jackson,
the idol of his party, often the prlde ana
favorite Of his country. His best trlenus
could not deny that he had deploraole
faults, nor his worst enemies that he pos
sessed rare and dazzling merits. lie
rendered his country signal services, and
brought upon the Government OF that
country an evil which it will be ex-
tremely difficult to remedy. No man will
ever be quite able to comprehend Andrew
d
Scotch-Irishman. More than he was
ANYTHING else, he was north ,of-lre
lander-a tenacious, pugnaclous race;
honest, yet capable of dissimulatlon;
often angry, but most prudent when
most furious; endowed by nature with
the gift of extracting from every affair
and every relation all the STRIFE 1t can be
made to yield; at home and among de
III
to opponents, violent, ungenerous, prone
to believe the worst OF them; race that
means to tell the truth, but, when excited
by anger or warped by prejudice, lncapa-
bic of either telling or remembering or
knowing the truth; not taking kindly to
culture, but able to achieve wonderful
things without it; strange blending OF
the best and the worst qualities OF the
two races. Jackson had these traits In
an exaggerated degree, as Irish as though
he were not Scotch; as Scotch as though
he were not Irish.
Autocrat as he was, Andrew Jackson
loved the people, the common people,
the sons and daughters OF toll, as truly as
they loved him, and believed in them as
they believed in him. He had a perception
that the toiling masses are not a class in
the community, but are the community.
He felt that government should exist
only for the benefits of the governed;
that the strong arc strong only that they
may aid the weak; that the rich are
rightfuly rich only that they may SO
combine and direct the labor OF the poor
as to mako labor more profitable to the
laborer He did not comprehend these
truths as they are demonstrated by
philosophers, but he had an intuitive and
instructive perception of them. And in
his most autocratic moments he really
thought that he was fighting the battle
of the people and doing their will, while
battling the purposes Of their representa-
tives. If he had been a man of knowledge
as we'll as Of force, he would have taken
the part of the people more etfectually,
and left to his successor an increased
power Of doing good instead Of better
facilities for doing harm.
The domestic life Of this singular man
was blameless. He Was q chaste man at
every period Of his life His letters, of
which many hundreds still exist, contain
not a sentence, not phrase, not word,
that girl may not properly read. A
husband more CONSIDERABLY and labo.
riously kind never lived. AS father he
was only too induIgent; his generosity to
his adopted children was inexhaustible.
To his slaves he was master, father,
physician, counsellor, all in one; and
though his overseers complained that he
was too Ienient, yet his steady prosperity
for SO many years and the uniform abun-
dance ofh his crops seem to prove that his
servants were not negligent of their
masters interest. He had virtuous
adherence of debt, and his word was as
good as his bond. In all his private
transactions, from youth to hoary age, be
was punctiliously honest.
Most Of our history for the last hundred
years will not be remembered for many
centuries; but, perhaps, among the few
things oblivion will spare may be some
outline of the story of Andrew Jackson
the poor Irish immigrants orphan son
who defended his country at New Or
leans, and, being elected President there
for, kept that country in an uproar fol
eight years; and, after being more hated
and more loved than any man of his day
died peacefully at his homo in Tennessee
and was borne to his grave followed by
the benedictions of large majority O
his fellow citizens.-Llterary Digest.