with cheerfulness, and address ourselves with good heart to the cares and toils of the day. But woe to that man from whom the smile of God is taken away.

"Wicked words have an awful tendency to banish the soul from the favor of God. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, predicts one leading object of the final Judge, in the great day, is to execute judgment on sinners for the 'hard speeches' which they have spoken against him. Two of the ten commandments are employed to guard men against sins of the tongue. And it is a sin of the tongue-blasphemy against the Holy Ghost-that shall never be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.'

"I visited General Jackson twice, in the month of September, 1843. He was then very frail, and had the appearance of extreme old age; but he was reposing with calmness and confidence on the promise and covenant of God. He had now been a member of the church for several years. And when I witnessed his serenity and his unclouded hope, I thought of the manner in which he had honored God in word, when the cause of religion was very unpopular, and when a deluge of infidelity threatened to desolate the whole land.

"It is to be regretted that most of our political men-presidents, governors, and those high in authority-when they speak on the subject of religion, use language so guarded and equivocal, that a Turk, a Jew, or an enlightened heathen could adopt it. They will speak of the Supreme Being,'' the great Disposer of all events,'' the source of national prosperity,' &c., &c. But General Jackson's language was that of a decided Christian. He spoke of the divine Redeemer; his wonderful union with the nature of man; his vicarious death in the room of sinners; pardon through his blood; and eternal glory in heaven, bestowed on believers for his righteousness' sake.

"There was a little company of Christian friends present in the Hermitage. After expressing the warmest interest in the church of Christ, and his hope that she would yet prosper and bless the world, General Jackson turned to me, and said, 'There is a beautiful hymn on the subject of the exceeding great and precious promises of God to his people. It was a favorite hymn with my dear wife till the day of her death. It has been very precious to me. It commences thus:

"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord.' I wish you would sing it now.' So the little company in the Hermitage, at his request, sung the following hymn:

'How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in the excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

"The sublime and glorious doctrine embodied in this hymn was the food of his spirit, the joy and the rejoicing of his heart. When I looked upon him, now desolate, in extreme old age; his early

friends almost entirely gone; his beloved wife in the grave; his own health failing amidst accumulating infirmities, yet reposing, with absolute satisfaction and serenity, on the free, the firm, the everlasting gospel-I was forcibly reminded of that rich, unparalleled paragraph, near the close of Christ's Sermon on the Mount: Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.' I walked into his garden, and there was the grave of his wife, covered with a plain marble slab, with the inscription, Rachel Jackson,' with the date of her birth and her death, and beside it his own grave, all prepared and ready for the reception of his body, when death should call him home.

6

"I learned, that when the weather was good, he spent a portion of every day at this grave, in meditation and prayer; and that he believed he was there blessed with the presence of Him who has taken the sting from death, and the victory from the grave. I returned to the house. My parents had long been his particular friends, but they are now departed. He met me in the hall, and said, 'Your father and your mother are gone!' I silently assented; my emotions forbade me to speak. Well,' said he, they lived to a good old age.' It is impossible for any one, who never heard General Jackson speak, to understand all the interest that he threw into this brief Bible quotation. His attitude, his tones, the whole manner of the venerable man impressed me with a sense of new beauties in that precious promise, (Gen. xv: 15,) Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace: thou shalt be buried in a good old age.'

"The Christian character of General Jackson is seen in his reply to Commodore Elliott concerning the sarcophagus, or marble tomb, which had once been prepared for an eastern king or emperor. Commodore Elliott had brought from Asia this sarcophagus, and presented it to the National Institute at Washington, that through the National Institute it might be presented to General Jackson. The officer who presented it to the Institute, remarked, 'It is believed to have once held the remains of Alexander Severus, and is a fit resting-place for all that is mortal of Andrew Jackson.'

"Commodore Elliott wrote to General Jackson, and the following is his reply:

"Dear Sir:

"Hermitage, March 27, 1845.

"Your letter of the 18th instant, together with the copy of the proceedings of the National Institute, furnished me by their corresponding secretary, on the presentation, by you, of the sarcophagus for their acceptance, on condition it shall be preserved, and in honor of my memory, have been received, and are now before

me.

"Although laboring under great debility and affliction from a severe attack, from which I may not recover, I raise my pen and endeavor to reply. The steadiness of my nerves may, perhaps, lead you to conclude my prostration of strength is not so great as here expressed. Strange as it may appear, my nerves are as steady as they were forty years gone by; whilst, from debility and affliction, I am gasping for breath.

"I have read the whole proceedings of the presentation, by you, of the sarcophagus, and the resolutions passed by the board of directors, so honorable to my fame, with sensations and feelings more easily to be conjectured than by me expressed. The whole proceedings call for my most grateful thanks, which are hereby tendered to you, and through you to the president and directors of the National Institute. But with the warmest sensations that can inspire a grateful heart, I must decline accepting the honor intended to be bestowed. I cannot consent that my mortal body shall be laid in a repository prepared for an emperor or a king. My republican feelings and principles forbid it; the simplicity of our system of government forbids it. Every monument erected to perpetuate the memory of our heroes and statesmen ought to bear evidence of the economy and simplicity of our republican institutions, and the plainness of our republican citizens, who are the sovereigns of our glorious Union, and whose virtue is to perpetuate it. True virtue cannot exist where pomp and parade are the governing passions; it can only dwell with the people-the great laboring and producing classes, that form the bone and sinew of our confederacy.

"For these reasons I cannot accept the honor you, and the president and directors of the National Institute, intended to bestow. I cannot permit my remains to be the first in these United States to be deposited in a sarcophagus made for an emperor or a king. I again repeat, please accept for yourself, and convey to the president and directors of the National Institute, my most profound respects for the honor you and they intended to bestow. I have prepared an humble depository for my mortal body beside that wherein lies my beloved wife, where, without any pomp or parade, I have requested, when my God calls me to sleep with my fathers, to be laid-for both of us there to remain until the last trumpet sounds to call the dead to judgment, when we, I hope, shall rise together, clothed with that heavenly body promised to all who believe in our glorious Redeemer, who died for us, that we might live, and by whose atonement I hope for a blessed immortality. "I am, with great respect,

"Your friend and fellow-citizen,

"Andrew Jackson.

"To Com. J. D. Elliott, United States Navy."

His

"This letter is among the last productions of his pen. death soon followed. I hope yet to see the above letter beauti

fully printed, on fine material, handsomely framed, and kept in some conspicuous place in the house of American families, for the instruction of children and children's children.

"Christian people of America! Bless the name of God, that he has given you a president who was not ashamed to speak of our glorious Redeemer, who died for us, that we might live;' 'the sounding of the last trump, to call the dead to judgment;' and his atonement,' through whom we hope for a blessed immortality.'

"The death of the worthy old general furnished a fine illustration of the sustaining power of the gospel when earthly comforts wither and die. 'Henry,' said he to a highly valued young friend who was attending in his room-' Henry, when we have lived as long as we can be useful to others, and as long as we can enjoy life ourselves, we should be willing to go at our heavenly Father's call. That is now my condition. I have lived long; but, now the frailties of age are upon me, I can no more be useful to my friends. Indeed, I can only be a burden to them. I can no longer be useful to the Church of God. The pains of disease are upon me. I can no longer enjoy the bounties of Providence in life. What then? It is time to die. My heavenly Father calls, and I trust I am ready

to go.'

"The physician who attended General Jackson on his deathbed wrote a very instructive and powerful letter, describing the last parting scene in the Hermitage. The chamber of death seemed very near the gate of heaven.' The soul of the dying man was full of the hope of immortality, while he took an affectionate farewell of the members of his family, the children, the servants, all who belonged to the household. He commended them to God in Christ-spoke with unwavering confidence of life in heaven for the followers of the Redeemer. He then entered the cold stream

of death, and was seen no more.

"As some tall rock, that lifts his awful form,

Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head.'

"With a few additional remarks I shall close this article. "1. General Jackson, in theology, was a decided and thorough Calvinist. That sublime system of divinity, so clearly taught in the Holy Scriptures, and so accurately epitomized in the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Assembly, was the joy and the rejoicing of his heart. His ordinary conversation abounded with references to the hand and counsel of God. When rehearsing facts that had occurred in his military or political life, he would repeatedly pause and say, 'it was the hand of God.' 'Divine Providence ordered it so.' 'Such an officer was cut down; he was a noble man. I felt his loss much, but it was the hand and counsel of God.' This continual reference to divine Providence, in all the events of life, was a strongly marked feature of his conversation. I must here give an anecdote. An able jurist, born

and educated at the east, had emigrated to the west; and, by diligence and fidelity in his profession, he had become prosperous and popular. He was now a candidate for an important office, in a district where the popularity of General Jackson was absolutely overwhelming. It was well known that the candidate, whose friendship for Jackson was in the subjunctive mood, would most certainly be elected to stay at home.' It was indispensable to success that the voters should know before the election that the candidate was the friend and admirer of Jackson. Our jurist was very hostile to the doctrines of Calvinism. Indeed, I fear his hostility went further; for I had been told how he worried some young preachers with sceptical objections to the Bible. I was thrown into his society not long before the election day. After a few moments' conversation, said he, Calvinism degrades the human mind. I say, it degrades the human mind!'

'Yes, sir,' was my reply yes, sir, Calvinism degraded your New England man Jonathan Edwards, as all Europe and all America confess, into the most distinguished theological writer who has ever put pen to paper in the English language. Both hemispheres maintain that Jonathan Edwards is unequalled among English theological writers. How Calvinism degraded him! Again, Calvinism has degraded General Jackson, as you maintain in all your public addresses, throughout your electioneering canvass, into the most eminent military and political man which the world has produced in the present age. How degrading is the influence of Calvinism!'

"2. General Jackson, in his intercourse with his neighbors and with society, was the good man the good man' and the perfect gentleman. It is to be regretted that heated politicians and crazy fanatics should be so successful in misrepresenting men and things, as to keep worthy citizens in one section of our country under injurious mistakes relative to their fellow-citizens in another section. Christianity, common sense, love to God, and benevolence to man, are the same, east and west, go where you will, throughout our great country.

"A few years ago, I had the privilege of sitting for a number of successive days in the senate chamber at Washington. I looked on Webster from Massachusetts, Wright from New York, Calhoun from South Carolina, Burges from Rhode Island, Preston, a native of Virginia, Clay from Kentucky, Judge White from Tennessee, and all their fellow-senators; and I said, ' Be you Whigs or be you Democrats, be you from the east or from the west, from the north or from the south, any country on earth might be proud to call you her citizens. And I will rejoice that the beloved land where I was born, nurses in her bosom such a body of men.'

He

"3. Let me close with repeating, that General Jackson, from early life, was characterized by reverence for sacred things. spoke reverently of the word of God, the house of God, the ordinances of God. He honored God in word. And God blessed him while he lived, and blessed him when he died.