CHAPTER X.

Retrospection-General Jackson appoints a day of thanksgiving-Dr. Dubourg's address to General JacksonHis reply-Generals Coffee, Carroll, and AdairTheir merits-General Jackson still continues to strengthen his measures of defence-Treaty of peace between the United States and England-General Jackson's farewell address to his army.

WE have traced General Jackson and his little band of soldiers through scenes, in which they covered themselves with immortal honors. We have seen them arm with alacrity, and stand forth under their intrepid leader, in defence of themselves, their wives, their children, and their country, with the most unyielding firmness of purpose, to maintain the supremacy of their rights and privileges, or perish in the laudable endeavor. We have seen their glorious success-history has recorded it-and it will be proudly remembered long after its brave achievers shall have mingled their dust with the soil they defended.

General Jackson and his little band, although every where received by the acclamations of the grateful and protected Louisianians, did not forget the homage and adoration due to the Ruler of the universe, for the protection that had been extended over their country. He appointed the twenty-third day of January, as a day of thanksgiving and praise. The rites were performed in the cathedral of New Orleans. The scene was solemn and impressive. The commanding general-his companions in glory-the aged, the innocent, the defenceless

ones they had protected, knelt together before the altar of their God.

The Rev. Dr. Dubourg, of the diocess of Louisiana, addressed General Jackson on this occasion, in the following appropriate manner :

"General-While the state of Louisiana, in the joyful transports of her gratitude, hails you as her deliverer, and the asserter of her menaced liberties-while grateful America, so lately wrapped up in anxious suspense, on the fate of this important city, is re-echoing from shore to shore your splendid achievements, and preparing to inscribe your name on her immortal rolls, among those of her Washingtons-while history, poetry, and the monumental arts, will vie, in consigning to the admiration of the latest posterity, a triumph, perhaps, unparalleled in their records while thus raised by universal acclamation to the very pinnacle of fame, how easy had it been for you, General, to forget the Prime Mover of your wonderful successes, and to assume to yourself a praise which must essentially return to that exalted source, whence every merit is derived. But, better acquainted with the nature of true glory, and justly placing the summit of your ambition, in approving yourself the worthy instrument of Heaven's merciful designs, the first impulse of your religious heart was, to acknowledge the interposition of Providence your first step, a solemn display of your humble sense of His favors. Still agitated at the remembrance of those dreadful agonies, from which we have been so miraculously rescued, it is our pride to acknowledge, that the Almighty has truly had the principal hand in our deliverance, and to follow you, General, in attributing to His infinite goodness, the homage of our unfeigned gratitude. Let the infatuated votary of a blind chance, deride our credulous simplicity; let the cold-hearted atheist look for the explanation of important events, to the mere con

catenation of human causes: to us, the whole universe is loud in proclaiming a Supreme Ruler, who, as he holds the hearts of men in his hand, holds also the thread of all contingent occurrences.

"To Him, therefore, our most fervent thanks are due, for our late unexpected rescue. It is Him we intend to praise, when considering you, General, as the man of his right hand, whom he has taken pains to fit out for the important commission of our defence. We extol that fecundity of genius, by which, under the most discouraging distress, you created unforeseen resources-raised, as it were, from the ground, hosts of intrepid warriors, and provided every vulnerable point with ample means of defence. To Him we trace that instinctive superiority of your mind, which at once rallied around you universal confidence; impressed one irresistible movement to al the jarring elements of which this political machine is composed; aroused their slumbering spirits, and diffused through every rank the noble ardor which glowed in your bosom. To Him, in fine, we address our acknowledgments for that consummate prudence, which defeated all the combinations of a sagacious enemy, entangled him in the very snares which he had spread for us, and succeeded in effecting his utter destruction, without exposing the lives of our citizens. Immortal thanks be to his Supreme Majesty, for sending us such an instrument of His bountiful designs! A gift of that value, is the best token of the continuance of His protection-the most solid encouragement, to sue for new favors. The first, which it emboldens us humbly to supplicate, as nearest our throbbing hearts, is that you may long enjoy the honor of your grateful country; of which you will permit us to present you a pledge, in this wreath of laurel, the prize of victory, the symbol of immortality. The next is a speedy and honorable termination of the bloody contest, in which we

are engaged. No one has so efficaciously labored as you, General, for the acceleration of that blissful period : may we soon reap that sweetest fruit of your splendid and uninterrupted victories."

General Jackson replied: "Reverend Sir-I receive, with gratitude and pleasure, the symbol crown, which piety has prepared. I receive it in the name of the brave men who so effectually seconded my exertions-they well deserve the laurels which their country will bestow.

"For myself, to have been instrumental in the deliverance of such a country, is the greatest blessing that Heaven could confer.

That it has been effected with so little loss

I

that so few tears should cloud the smiles of our triumph, and not a cypress leaf be interwoven in the wreath which you present, is a source of the most exquisite pleasure. thank you, reverend sir, most sincerely, for the prayers which you offer up for my happiness. May those your patriotism dictates for our beloved country, be first heard: and may mine, for your individual prosperity, as well as that of the congregation committed to your care, be favorably received the prosperity, wealth, and happiness of this city, will then be commensurate with the courage and other qualities of its inhabitants.”

If there is any occasion in which a man may be excused, if he should forget the moderation and humility which only accompanies true merit, it is in the moment of triumph, when a conqueror who has led his countrymen to victory, and saved his country from subjugation, is received by the grateful acclamations of his fellow-citizens on his return. When his way is strewed with flowers by the hands of those whom he has protected from violation; when the "pealing anthem swells the note of praise," and the incense of the altar perfumes the air-at such a time as this, he must have a large share of selfcommand who is not intoxicated with popular applause,

elevated in his own opinion by the praises he receives, and incline to attribute to himself all the merit of an achievement, in which he had the principal, but not the only share. Yet, on such an occasion, the man who has been represented as the proud ferocious warrior, arrogating all things to himself, regardless of the rights of others, and unmindful of his duty to God or man, when met at the door of the temple by the venerable prelate, who bore witness to the piety with which he had ascribed to the Divine Power the success with which he had been blessed, and presented him with the victor's crown of laurel; when all things combined to raise his opinion of himself, and make him forgetful of what was due to others; he did not place on his own brows the crown that was offered, but modestly received it on behalf of the brave men, ," whom he honored with the endearing title of his "brethren in arms," and expressed his chief satisfaction to be that the victory was obtained with so little loss, and that not a cypress leaf was mingled with the chaplet that was presented to him. Now as hypocrisy is not one of those vices with which he has been reproached, we must presume these expressions of piety and humility to be sincere, and they do certainly give a new lustre to

his merit.

While General Jackson was receiving the gratulations of his countrymen, his companions in glory were not overlooked. The services of the gallant volunteers of Tennessee, the brave troops from Kentucky and Mississippi, who aided in those times that "tried men's souls," received their due meed of gratitude. Never will their exploits be forgotten by the Louisianians; and the names of Coffee, and Carroll, and Adair, will be ever associated with that of Jackson in their memory.*

General Jackson did not yet deem it expedient to relax * Livingston's Address.