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A S
?y Rev. R
In addressing the Earl of Aberdeen about the
Neapolitan liourban situation Gladstone said:
"My only apology lor this utterance is that it
ought to be made." The writer's only apology
for this article on A Scotch-Irish Puritan is
that it ought to be written on this the eightyeierhth
anniverxarv of the birth of ''Stonewall"
Jackson, one oi* the South's greatest men.
Only a little while ago there were English
Puritans, Dutch Puritans, French Puritans and
Scotch-Irish Puritans represented by such men
as Milton and William the Silent and Admiral
Coligny and John Knox, respectively, an!
taught by John Calvin of Geneva. This particular
Scotch-Irish Puritan, "Stonewall Jackson,
traced his origin to the Lowlands of Scotland.
He embodied that same mixed ScotchIrish
strain which gave England her Wolfe and
Wellington, her Lawrences and Napiers, and
which has given the world so many masterful
thinkers and forceful characters, inflexible of
purpose, impatient of injustice, and staunch to
the highest ideals of life.
In 1748, along with other emigrants from
Uulster, John Jackson, the great grand-father
of "Stonewall" landed on these shores and set
his face toward the wilderness, pitching his tent
in that part of the great Appalachian valley
near the head waters of the James. Here he be
gan his career in the new world and reared a
family. In the village of Clarksburg, on January
21, 1821, "Stonewall" was born. Ilis
father was a lawyer, a pioneer, and a soldier in
the Revolutionary War. When only three
years old his father died, leaving no estate, for
it had been swept away; and when only seven,
his mother, having fought with poverty, died,
thus leaving him a penniless orphan. "But he
never regretted his poverty," says Henderson,
"so he never forgot his mother." Down to the
latest hour of his life he loved to recall her
memory, and years after she had passed away
her influence remained. Her Scotch beauty, her
wise counsel, her noble bearing, their last parting,
her happy death, made a profound and indelible
impression upon him. To his childhood
fancy his mother was the embodiment of every
grace, and so strong had been the sympathy between
them that even in the midst of battle she
was seldom out of his thoughts.
Surely there must be something unspeakably
noble in a child which thus loves its mother, and
there must be something superior, splendid in a
mother who thus impresses her child.
EARLY STRUGGLE.
The boy grew up amid conflict, for he was
forced to fight his own battles, meet and watch
the world of men, and measure arms with all
kinds of conditions. But the noblest spirits
sometimes flourish in uncongenial soil. The potted
plant is invariably of small stature. The oak
takes care of itself; it grasps the rock and subsidizes
the soil; it throws out its mighty arms to
the winds and tempests, and flourishes,
"A hale green tree,
AV'linn ?i Vili rt/1 t?A<1 if am tvi n ma r#A r* a ' '
i? ucii a, nuuuicu jrcaia aic guiic.
Cheerful in temper, strong in heart, resolute
in will, Jackson courageously fought the battle
of life. One thing which filled him with a legitimate
pride and exercised a wholesome influence
over his career was the thought that his ancestors
idolized intellectual and moral greatness. It
filled him with the desire for personal improvement
and constrained him to diligent self-application.
When only seventeen he became a sort
of minor sheriff, which position (of no little importance
in those days), he filled with marked
faithfulness, and when nineteen he was appointed
a eadefc to West Point.
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE S
ISH PURITAN
L. {Benn.
The lirst impression he made upon his fellowstudents
at the Academy was not very favorable,
lie carried all his personal effects in an old
weather-beaten pair of saddle bags and wore a
suit of homespun. . The lack of culture was
most striking, but then, the breath of a man
heaved in his bosom and flashed in his eye. It is
said that when he entered the gate of the
Academy four cadets (three of whom were A. P.
tt:II i:* -i-.il i v-x tt
inn, vx. rj. A ieKeii ana u. n. iuaury;, were
standing there, and when they beheld the sturdy
air of manifest purpose in him one remarked:
"That fellow looks as if he has come to stay."
And lie did stay. In the course of time he left
the "immortals" behind. In a class of seventytwo
he graduated seventeenth.
He was a thoroughly educated man. Ilis
power of abstraction was phcnominal. Ilis
ability to withdraw his mind from surrounding
objects and concentrate it on various subjects
elicited the wonder and admiration of his associates.
TITE SOLDIER.
From West Point Jackson was sent to Mexico,
wnere ne aistinguisneci Himself. And when the
issue of 1861 arose lie espoused tile cause of his
native state as a matter of deep conviction and
a true sense of duty. In former years the students
at West Point had been taught with great
distinctness the 4'absolute right of a state to
secede, and the primary duty of every man to his
native state." (See Rawle on the Constitution,
the earliest text-book used atWestPoiut). This
doctrine was very generally held by the ablest
men of the day, and accordingly, Jackson went
with his native state; and from that day until his
untimely death he proved a soldier and military
genius of the first magnitude.
Space forbids a complete recital of his soldier
record. But several things should be cited by
way of illustration. At Manassas the left wing
of the Confederates began falling back under the
heavy fire of the Federals. The situation seemed
hopeless to General Lee. who on beholding Jnr<U
son's troops drawn up in line near the crest of
Henry Hill, exclaimed, "General, they are beating
us back." "Then, sir," replied Jackson,
"we will give them the bayonet." Then Lee
called out to his men: "Look! there is Jackson
standing like a stonewall. Rally behind the Virginians."
Here the epithet "Stonewall" was
attached as a mark of honor to the brigade and
to its brilliant commander.
What is known as Jackson's Valley Campaign
,is thrilling in the extreme. It comprehended
about forty days. With an army of 16,000 men,
despite rivers and snows and mountains, he
moved over a course of 676 miles, attacked and
defeated the four bodies of troops, aggregating
about 70,000 men, led by Milroy, Banks, Fremont
and Shields, respectively. Great fear seized
upon Lincoln and his cabinet that Jackson
wuuiu capture tne city or wasmngton.
And, some days following, "when he (Jackson),
appeared on the Chiekahominy River,
Banks, Fremont and McDowell were still guarding
the roads to Washington, and McClellan was
waiting for McDowell; 175,000 absolutely paraly
paralyzed by 16,000! Only Napoleon's campaigns
of 181 affords a parallel to this extraordinary
spectacle."
During the closing months of 1862, following
the victory at Fredericksburg, Jackson was made
lieutenant-general. It is said that "during the
whole of the two years he held command he
never committed a single error." It is not singular
that such a military genius should have
been "idolized by his men."
k
'
O U T H [March 6, .1813
.
HIS DEATH.
This occurred on May 10, 1863. During the
engagement at Chancellorsville (see White's
Ilist. U. S.), Jackson led 25,000 Confederates
across the front and around the right Hank of ,
the Federal army. Ilis sudden attack through
the dense forest took Hooker by surprise. The
Federal right wing was completely crushed, and
the whole Federal army was thrown into confusion.
In the hour of his greatest triumph, I
however, Stonewall Jackson was fatally wound- \
ed by the tire of his own men, who mistook him
and his staff in the darkness of the night, for
a company of Federal cavalry. For several days
he hovered between life and death. (Henderson's
Life of Jackson). On May 10th his wife
knelt by his side and told him that he would not . I
live out the day. He replied: "You are frightened
; death is not so near. I may yet get well."
Later when his physician told him the same
thing, he, after a brief silence, said gently,
"Very good, very good; it is all right." Then
"his mind began to wander; now on the battlefield
; now at his home in Lexington; now at
prayers in the camp." But before he departed
he said clearly, "Let us cross over the river, and
and rest under the shade of the trees;" and the
soul of this great captain, whom Lee called his
"right hand," and of this noble Scotch-Irish
Puritan, "passed into the peace of God."
CHARACTER OF JACKSON.
Character is the enduring thing, after all. To
build it requires a right plan of architecture.
The style of thinking and manner of living
which characterized Jackson was severe, but it
resulted in a magnificent moral structure. He
suDjecteu nimselt to rigid mental and moral
discipline; he enforced discipline in the rank and
file; but whatever his faults or however rigid his
discipline, his men loved and implicitly trusted
him. As he grew in years his character grew in
strength and purity and loftiness.
Jackson believed the Bible to be the Word of
God. lie accepted it as his guide and Strove to
shape his conduct according to it. The power of
a man is measured by his faith. lie was a man
of great power because he was a man of great
faith.
Jackson prayed without ceasing. The rela- '
tionship which subsisted between himself and
God was like that which subsists between an affectionate
son and a loving father. The consciousness
of God's presence and Fatherly care
and love breathed through his entire life. His
prayers are mingled expressions of petition and
tirfilCP ITu T\1?Qlonrl -f* AW A l-? ~ 111?? ~ i?
,... ? ?v. j/iuioeu uuu ,iUi 111(2 111(2 Ol
his wife, for the gift of a daughter, for kind
friends, for improving his eyesight, for every
blessing in life. He fulfilled the apostolic injunction:
"Pray without ceasing." And his
habit of prayer accounts for the depth and calmness
of his life.
Jackson practiced what he believed. He was
careless of popular opinion, not because he disregarded
the opinions of his fellowmen, but because
principle was superior. It was more blessed
to do his duty and please God; so he cared
more for the aproval of God than the approval
of man; more for the inner man of the spirit
than for the outer man of the flesh. He therefore
thought little of his own comforts. It was
the comforts and good of others which engaged
his attention. So he was self-sacrificing; deeply,
^aiTAln/Uo ? T"'?? ? *
uLiutkuij iuicil'mcu in inu rvmgaom 01 lioci; intensely
and thoughtfully solicitous for the salvation
of human souls. Selfishness had no place in
his make-up. The principle that "duty belongs
to us, consequences belong to God" gave
to his whole life a beautiful consistency.
In a word, Jackson stands with "William of
Orange and Gnstavus Adolphua. His companions
were the noblest and purest; his knowl- *
edge comprehensive, his courage undaunted; his
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