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Show 594 Lli<'B OF GEN. JACKSON. CIIAP. fluenced by reason, we should doubtless seldom err; XI. but it is a misfortune incident to nature, that the mind, ~when irritated, not unfrequently adduces improper 1815. conclusions from premises, an d ascn'b es .m tentt.o n to ' conduct and language, in themselves umocent. Wise is he, peculiarly blest, anti greatly to be envied, who, in every situation, before he acts, can deliberately think. It was this quality, which, on his entering tl1e army, induced many to fear he would prove too rash for a safe commander,-that occasions would arise, when he would suffer his judgment to be estranged, through the improper exercise of feeling. Events have proved the fallacy of the conjecture, and shown, that there were none who reasoned more dispassion· ately on the fitt1ess and propriety of measures,-none more cautious, where caution was necessary, or more adventurous, when daring efforts were required. Few generals had ever to seek for order, amidst a higher state of confusion, or obtained success through more pressu1g difficulties. The effects he produced, un· der circumstances gloomy and inauspicious, now through his eloquence and persuasion, and again by his firmness, portrays a character for decision, and a mind intimate and familiar with human nature. That the hireling soldier, prodigal of his life, because his sovereign orders, and tl1e mere echo of his sup~riors, should entert'lin a respect for his commander, ts too commonly the case, to excite surprise : of such mate· rials, general Jackson's army was not composed.; they were freemen,-citizens ; yet, with the exceptwt~ of those who abandoned him, in his first advance agamst the Indians, there was scarcely one who served with LU'E OF GEN. JACKSON. him, officer or soldier, that was not warmly and parti· CI!A l'. I d I . XI. cularly attae 1e to urn. . ~ General Jackson possesses ambition, but it rests on 1815. virtue; an ambition, which, regulated by a high sense of honour, leads him to desire " that applause which follows good actions,-not that which is run after." No man is more disposed to hear and respect the opinions of others, and none where much is at stake, and at conflict with his own, less under their influence. He has never been known to call a council of war, whose decisions, when made, were to shield him from responsibility or censure. His council of war, if doubting himself, was a few officers, in whom he fully confided, whose advice was regarded, if their reasons were conclusive ; but these not being satisfac· tory, he at once adopted and pursued the course suggested by his own mind. Much as we may delight to range through the fteld of battle, in quest of acts, to fix a hero's character, yet inconsiderable circumstances often mark it much more strongly : it is then that the mind, retiring from every thing like motive, gives a J~ose to impulse, and acts from feeling alone. The general, who meets and repels his country's foes, is not unfrequently impelled by ambition, and a recollection that a nation's. gratitude will succeed his efforts: but when, amidst the general carnage, he is seen acting as a Christian, and · sympathizing in others' woes, his character is marked by 'Virtue, and more truly ennobled. At the battle of Tohopeka, an infant was found, pressed to the bosom of its lifeless mother. This circumstance being made known to general Jackson, he became interested !or |