Hermitage: "This book, sir, is the bulwark of our republican institutions, the anchor of our present and future safety." It is said his Bible was ever by his side. Like the pillar of the cloud, the symbol of Jehovah's covenant with Israel in the wilderness, it was moved when he moved, it rested where he rested.

As the light of the Sabbath broke over his earthly habitation, he remarked, "This day is the holy Sabbath ordained by God, and set apart to be devoted to his worship and praise. I always attended service at church when I could, but now I can go no more."

He charged his family to continue the instruction of the poor at the Sabbath school. This new system of instruction, he said, which blended the duties of religion with those of humanity, he considered as of vast importance. He seemed anxious to impress the family with these sentiments. And in his last moments, two of his grandchildren were sent for from the Sabbath school to receive his blessing.

Here was the full-souled and intelligent Christian. He made the Bible the rule of faith and practice. He made the Bible the foundation of the liberties of his country. Observance of the holy Sabbath day, attendance upon the services of the sanctuary, and the religious education of the young, were all inculcated by precept and practice. These are the sentiments, my countrymen, that I would have you treasure up in your hearts, and exemplify in your lives. What a testimony have we from the lips of Andrew Jackson, to the truth of our holy religion. He was great because he was good!*

* Lore.

LETTER FROM COMMODORE ELLIOTT.

545

During General Jackson's retirement, a motion was made in Congress to approve the declaration of martial law by him, while in command of the army at New Orleans, by refunding the fine with interest. During the delay occasioned by a vigorous opposition, the state of Louisiana passed an act pledging itself to refund it in the event of the failure of the motion in Congress. But it did not fail. That which had been so magnanimously paid by him, was with corresponding magnanimity refunded by a special law of his country—and he was often heard to say, that he accepted it, not so much for the sake of the amount, as that the resolutions of Congress entirely annihilating every vestige of imputation upon his conduct at New Orleans, might be fulfilled to all intents and purposes.*

Less than three months before his death, Andrew Jackson received a letter from Commodore Jesse D. Elliott, with the offer of a sarcophagus, which had been obtained in Palestine, brought to the United States in the frigate Constitution, and was believed to have contained the remains of the Roman emperor, Alexander Severus. The commodore's letter concluded in these words: "I pray you, General, to live on in the fear of the Lord; dying the death of a Roman soldier; an emperor's coffin awaits you."

The answer of Jackson to this letter was so characteristic of the man, that we have taken the liberty to transcribe it entire.

69

*Harris.

Hermitage, March 27th, 1845. DEAR SIR:-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 in honour of my memory, have been received, and are now before me.

Although labouring under great debility and affliction, from a severe attack from which I may not recover, I raise my pen and endeavour to reply. The steadiness of my nerves may perhaps lead you to conclude my prostration of strength is not so great as is 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 honourable 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 honour intended to be bestowed. I cannot consent that my mortal body shall be laid in a repository prepared for an emperor or 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

REPLY TO COMMODORE ELLIOTT. 547

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 it 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 labouring and producing classes that form the bone and sinew of our confederacy.

For these reasons I cannot accept the honour 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 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 honour 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 trump 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.

This was the answer of Christian meekness, of republican simplicity, of American patriotism. Such an answer as might have been expected by one who knew the character of Jackson.

The last will and testament of Andrew Jackson, made on the 7th of June, 1843, will be found to illustrate, in a remarkable manner, his purity, patriotism, affection and chivalry; and as it is a matter of record in the county court of Davidson county, Tennessee, there can be no impropriety in referring to it here. The will is written in his own plain and steady hand, and the exact language of the instrument is preserved in the extracts which we make from it.

"I bequeath," it says, "my body to the dust, whence it comes, and my soul to God, who gave it, hoping for a happy immortality through the atoning merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. My desire is, that my body be buried by the side of my dear departed wife, in the garden at the Hermitage, in the vault prepared in the garden, and all expenses paid by my executor hereafter named."

After bestowing his entire estate upon his adopted son, Andrew Jackson, junior, with the exception of a few presents thereinafter to be named, he proceeds:

"I bequeath to my beloved nephew, Andrew J. Donelson, son of Samuel Donelson, deceased, the elegant sword presented to me by the State of Tennessee, with this injunction, that he fail not to use it when necessary in support and protection of our glorious Union, and for the protection of the constitutional rights of our beloved country, should they be assailed by foreign enemies or domestic traitors.