should be safely returned to their homes. Here was a trial for the citizen soldier! To obey the order, was to forfeit his word-to abandon his men to the direst calamities, and, at the same time, to fix a stigma on his government which might for ever deprive it of the confidence and support of the yeomanry on which the country relied for defence. To disobey, was to expose himself to the censure of his government to the severe punishments of the military law-and to the loss of all that a soldier values as worthy of a soldier's ambition. But Andrew Jackson did not hesitate, in such a crisis. He was incapable of perpetrating a deed at which humanity would shudder, and from which Christianity would turn weeping away! He disobeyed the order, and marched his men to their homes. To the honour of his country, his explanations were satisfactory to the government, and his proceedings were approved of by authority as well as sanctioned by humanity.

We do not pause to inquire into the technical principle involved in this proceeding. All men, European and American-civilized and savage-already know that Andrew Jackson was one who regarded substance and not form-whose intuitive perceptions of right have ever found a ready response in the hearts of his countrymen, and whose course, through an eventful and perilous life, has been to follow these perceptions, regardless of all consequences to himself, and ever ready to meet responsibility. But these trying events may be recalled, for the purpose of reminding us that the warrior who could mingle in scenes of blood and carnage, dealing death and havoc among his country's foes, was keenly alive to the tenderest emotions of our nature, and never forgot the dictates of benevolence and humanity.

General Jackson retired from the service, but his retirement was of short duration. The Indians renewed their barbarous depredations. Under the bloody counsels of Tecumseh, who visited the different tribes, and by his eloquence inflamed them against the white population, the Creek confederacy commenced their savage warfare! And who is ignorant of the Indian mode of war? Neither age nor sex is spared-the resisting and the unresistingthe old and the young-the mother and the child, are swept away in the torrent of blood and carnage that marks the path of the relentless savage. Prisoners who surrender under the most solemn pledges that their lives and property shall be protected-the wounded and the helpless-the sick and the dying-are robbed even of the clothing on their backs-deliberately shot-tomahawked in cold blood-scalped-denied the right of burial, or, if buried by their comrades before these enormities are perpetrated, they are raised from their graves, and robbed and stripped and scalped and then left, their bodies to be devoured by wild animals their bones to

bleach upon the earth, wherever they might chance to be scattered by the beasts of prey that feed upon the dead and the dying!

The murder of three hundred men, women, and children, at Fort Mimms, was but a small rivulet in the sanguinary stream which deluged the frontier settlements. At the sound of the warwhoop, the helpless children were struck with dismay, and the women clasped their infants convulsively in their arms as they fled and shrieked in terror; while every father, and husband, and brother, and son, seized his rifle and rushed to the conflict in defence of all that was valued in life. Chief among these brave spirits, and leading them on to the battle, was Andrew Jackson! He routed them with terrible slaughter at Talladega-he defeated them in like manner at Emuckfaw! and he almost extinguished their whole race in their last bloody battle at the Horseshoe! He was too sagacious to be betrayed into ambuscades by their wiles-too brave to be terrified by their war-whoops-and too powerful in arms to be overcome by their prowess!

In the prosecution of this war, he suffered the severest fatigues and privations; and encountered obstacles in the mutinies and threatened desertion of large bodies of his men, which are almost without a parallel. But, in all these scenes of trial, he evinced the traits of benevolence, which have shone through his whole life. His own horse was frequently surrendered to the fatigued soldier, while the humane general walked by his side; and, in times of terrible privation and destitution of food, the wants of his men were relieved before his own. If he had nothing else, he divided the handful of acorns he had gathered, and when so fortunate as to procure a scanty supply of beef, his own share was given up to his men, while he supplied himself with the offals which had been left where the animals provided for his troops had been slaughtered!

He retired from the service on the 21st of April, 1814. But his achievements as an officer in the militia, induced the government to tender him the appointment of major-general in the army. And the man who had repeatedly retired from the honours and emoluments of civil life, stood ready, at the call of his country, to give up the comforts of his retirement, and to repair to the post of danger. But, we must pass over many of the scenes and trials and triumphs of his life, and leave to history the task of doing ample justice to his deeds and motives.

We were engaged in a war with the most powerful nation in the world. Her military strength is so wide-spread, that the sound of her drum is heard around the world; her dominions are so extensive that the sun never sets upon them; and she boasts of her maritime power, that

"Her march is o'er the mountain wave,

Her home is on the deep!"

The general peace which had been concluded among the powers of Europe in April, 1814, and which had resulted in consigning Napoleon to Elba, enabled this mighty nation to concentrate her whole military and naval power upon our shores. In addition to the warlike movements on our northern and western frontiers, the whole line of our sea-board was invaded at various points, from the Passamaquoddy to the Mississippi. Baltimore was attacked-Havre de Grace was burnt-Alexandria was pillaged, and our National Capitol itself was destroyed! The Senate Chamber and the Hall of Representatives-the President's House and the buildings for the heads of departments-the library of the nation and the records of the government-the works of science and the labours of art— were all involved in one general conflagration by the torch of the invading foe! And, the disciplined Vandals of Europe, who had perpetrated these outrages, were advancing upon New Orleans, with a watch-word that proclaimed to a brutal soldiery, that the wealth of the city and the wives and daughters of its inhabitants, should be given up to the ravaging cupidity and despoiling lust of the victors!

But Andrew Jackson, with a far-reaching foresight, anticipated the attack, and arrived at New Orleans on the 1st December, 1814, for the purpose of defending the city. He immediately commenced the most active preparations against traitors within and enemies without. A rigid system of police was established—every avenue of approach was guarded and fortified; and, among the measures resorted to, for the defence of the city, was the declaration of martial law; and, as a consequence, the temporary suspension of such civil powers, as, in their operation, interfered with those which the commanding general was necessarily obliged to exercise in the defence of the country. At such a crisis, he thought that "constitutional forms should be suspended for the permanent preservation of constitutional rights-that it was better to depart, for a moment, from the enjoyment of our dearest privileges, than to have them wrested from us for ever." In thus placing the defence of this measure upon the highest law of nature and of nations-that of over-ruling necessity in self-preservation, he stood upon impregnable ground, so far as principle was involved, whatever differences. of opinion may exist with regard to the application of the principle, or the existence of the dire necessity of resorting to a measure so extraordinary. Upon a full examination of the subject, in all its bearings, the Secretary at War, himself one of the most distinguished jurists of the age, by order of the president, declared, in the name of the nation, that this ground was "just as it respected the responsibility of the commanding general, and safe as it respected the liberties of the nation." And the nation itself, after a deliberation of thirty years-in its assembled wisdom--in the high exercise of its acknowledged power, cheered the heart of the patriot in the

evening of his days, by a reversal of the only judgment that ever was pronounced to the contrary, and by an award of restitution of the fine of one thousand dollars, which a judge had imposed, as a punishment for the interruption of his civil functions. The ladies of New Orleans raised the money to discharge the fine, but the general declined receiving it, and requested that it might be distributed among the widows and orphans of those who had fallen in the battle! It was woman's gratitude that raised the fund!—God bless the sex!-Ever foremost in the work of charity-always ministering to the sick-lingering longest at the cross-speeding earliest to the sepulchre! They never erred but once; and if that error had been committed at a later period of the world, after four thousand years of bright and lovely deeds, the accusing spirit had carried the offence to Heaven's Chancery in vain!

He paid the fine out of his own funds, although greatly embarrassed at the time. The very dwelling-house in which he had long resided, and a large portion of his farm, had been disposed of to relieve his embarrassments, and his family resided in the humblest log-cabin, on a retired portion of the estate, which remained. Here we see the devotion to principle which has influenced his whole life! If he had offended against the constitution of his country, it was just that he, and not others, should suffer the punishment. And when a judgment had been pronounced against him by a competent tribunal, it was the part of a good citizen to submit until it should be reversed, although he questioned its justice. The same devotion which had induced him to still the voice of the multitude, and to prevent an open resistance to the judge's authority while he was imposing the fine, guided his decision that its payment should not be evaded by the generous subscriptions of others.

But let us return from the defence of the general to the defence of New Orleans. Alarm pervaded the city. The marching and counter-marching of the troops-the proximity of the enemythe known power of his arms, and the uncertainty of the issue, had excited a general fear. As the general and his troops were marching through the city, his ears were assailed with the screams and cries of innumerable females, who had collected on the way, and seemed to fear the worst consequences. Feeling their distresses, and anxious to quiet them, he directed Mr. Livingston to address them in French-the language which they understood, and to say to them," Be not alarmed-the enemy shall never reach the city!" The effect was electrical! The words were the words of prophecy!

Let us pause for a moment to admire this beautiful display of human kindness, combined with human greatness. Amid the cares and anxieties, and the hopes and fears of his responsible station, and while occupied and surrounded by the dreadful note of preparation, the mighty conqueror reins in his war-horse, and pauses in his career

of arms and death, to send a cheering message to the weak and the timid, the loved and the lovely ones of the city!

But the enemy at last landed; and the moment the intelligence reached General Jackson, instead of waiting his arrival at New Orleans, the general advanced to assail him, in his "first position" on the American soil. The British had reached the Mississippi, and had encamped upon its banks, seven miles below New Orleans, as composedly as if they had been seated on their own soil at a distance from all danger. They felt certain of success, and that the American troops so easily routed at Bladensburg, would scarcely venture to resist at New Orleans. Resting thus confidently, they would have moved forward the next day, and might have accomplished their designs. But General Jackson, with a force, inferior by onehalf to that of the enemy, at an unexpected moment, broke into their camp, and, with his undisciplined yeomanry, drove before him for nearly a mile the proud conquerors of Europe! This was on the 23d of December, 1814; and, although it was not the deathblow, it was the master-stroke of bravery and sagacity which saved the city from pillage. It induced the enemy to believe that the American force was greater than his spies had reported it, caused him to suspend his meditated attack, until he received reinforcements; and thus gave the American general time to complete his fortifications and gather additional forces for defence.

His com

The memorable 8th of January arrived! Twelve thousand veterans of the British army, under the command of Sir Edward Packenham, advanced to assault the American breast works! The cannon thundered from every battery-the Tennessee rifles were levelled with deadly aim-grape-shot and shells were scattered as thick as hailstones over the plain. Three times the enemy advanced, and each time he was driven back, with the slaughter of his bravest men, and, at last, he retreated in confusion. mander was slain, many of his principal officers were wounded, and the field was covered with nearly two thousand of his dead and wounded! The crowning glory of this brilliant victory is, that it was accomplished, through the military skill of General Jackson, with the loss of only thirteen killed and thirty-nine wounded, on the part of the Americans! The second war with Great Britain was thus terminated in a blaze of glory. Honoured be the memory of the chief whose wisdom and courage so brilliantly illuminated its closing scene!

In the latter part of the year 1817, the hostilities of the Seminoles and other Florida Indians called for the services of General Jackson. In this war, his measures were as active and skilful, and his conduct as brave, as in the wars which had preceded. Its events have been the subject of lengthened discussion, and his country's judgment has been pronounced upon them. The repre