is settling into the conviction, that, with all his glaring faults of character, he was a true patriot, honestly seeking the good of his country. With the masses of the people, Andrew Jackson was the most popular president, with possibly the exceptions of Washington and Lincoln, who ever occupied the presidential chair. At the expiration of his two terms of office, he retired, in 1837, to the Hermitage, resigning his office at Washington to his warm friend and able supporter, Martin Van Buren.

The remains of his much-loved wife were reposing in the humble graveyard near his house. The evening of his stormy life had come. Hours of reflection were forced upon him. The sublimities of the world beyond the grave had ever overawed his soul. There was a series of religious meetings of several days' continuance. Gen. Jackson devoutly attended them all. The last sermon was on Saturday afternoon, upon God's interposition among the affairs of men. Gen. Jackson went home, intensely impressed with a sense of ingratitude and sin. He passed the night walking the floor of his chamber in anguish and in prayer. In the morning, he announced to his family his full conviction that he had repented of his sins, and, through faith in Christ, had obtained forgiveness. That day the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was to be administered. With his customary decision of character, he sent for the elders of the church, informed them of the new life upon which he believed he had entered, and expressed the desire that very day to make a profession of his faith in Christ, and to partake of the emblems of his body broken for us, and his blood shed for our sins. It was a solemn scene which was that morning witnessed in that rural church, almost buried in the forests of Tennessee. The warworn veteran, with bronzed face and frosted hair, knelt with the humility of a little child before the altar, in acceptance of pardon through an atoning Saviour, and was baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The prayers of his Christian mother were now answered.

His subsequent life was that of the Christian who is conscious. that his sins are forgiven, but who is conscious, also, that he has yet many remaining infirmities. Family prayer was immediately established in his dwelling, which Gen. Jackson himself conducted, however numerous might be his guests. Scott's Family Bible he read through twice before he died. The household servants were all called in to partake in the devotions. At one of the meetings of the church, Gen. Jackson was nominated a "ruling elder."

No," he replied. "The Bible says, 'Be not hasty in the layingon of hands.' I am too young in the church for such an office. My countrymen have given me high honors; but I should esteem the office of ruling elder in the Church of Christ a far higher honor than any I have received."

His sufferings from sickness during the last years of his life were dreadful; but he bore them with the greatest fortitude, never uttering a complaining word. Still, at times, the gleams of his impetuous soul would flash forth. "What would you have done with Calhoun and the other nullifiers, if they had kept on?" asked Dr. Edgar one day.

The old general half rose from his bed, and with flashing eye, and great vehemence of manner, said, "I would have hung them, sir, as high as Haman. They should have been a terror to traitors for all time; and posterity would have pronounced it the best act of my life."

On Sunday, May 24, 1845, he partook of the communion. "Death," said he, " has no terrors for me. When I have suffered sufficiently, the Lord will take me to himself; but what are my sufferings compared with those of the blessed Saviour who died on the accursed tree for me? Mine are nothing."

Still he lingered in the extreme of weakness and of suffering. On Sunday morning, June the 8th, it was seen that his last hour had come. He assembled all his family around him, and, in the most affecting manner, took leave of each one. "He then," writes one who was present, "delivered one of the most impres sive lectures on the subject of religion that I have ever heard. He spoke for nearly half an hour, and apparently with the power of inspiration." The servants had all been called in. In conclusion, he said, "My dear children and friends and servants, I hope and trust to meet you all in heaven, both white and black." The last words he repeated, turning his eyes tenderly towards the slaves clustered around. For some time, he remained apparently in a state of stupor. At length, his adopted son took his hand, and said, "Father, do you know me?"

"Yes," he replied, "I know you. Marian? God will take care of

you

Where is my daughter, and for me. I am my God's. I belong to him. I go but a short time before you; and I want to meet you all, white and black, in heaven."

The slaves, men, women, and children, who crowded the piazza,

looking in at the windows, sobbed loudly. Turning to them, their dying master said,

"What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh! do not cry, and we will all meet in heaven."

Soon after this, he suddenly, and without a struggle, ceased to breathe. Two days after, he was placed in a grave by the side of his wife. He had often said, "Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there." For miles around, the people flocked to the burial. It was estimated that three thousand were assembled upon the lawn in front of the house. A favorite psalm of the departed was sung,

"Why should we start, and fear to die?

What timorous worms we mortals are!"

A sermon was preached from the text, "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

The brief sketch which we have given of this remarkable man must leave the impression upon every mind that he possessed great virtues and great defects. He was the first president America had chosen who was not a man of intelligence, of culture, and of experienced statesmanship. Though intense in his prejudices, and slow to listen to the voice of reason, and though many of his actions were fearfully unjust, few will now deny that he was honest in his purposes, and sincerely patriotic.

Mr. Parton, in his admirable Life of Jackson, says very truly, "His ignorance of law, history, politics, science, of every thing which he who governs a country ought to know, was extreme. Mr. Trist remembers hearing a member of the general's family say that Gen. Jackson did not believe the world was round. His ignorance was as a wall round about him, high and impenetrable. He was imprisoned in his ignorance, and sometimes raged around his little dim enclosure like a tiger in his den." It is said, that, when he was elected President of the United States, he had never read a book through except " The Vicar of Wakefield." The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him in 1833 by Harvard University.

Chief Justice Taney, at the time of his death, paid the following beautiful tribute to his memory:

"The whole civilized world already knows how bountifully he was endowed by Providence with those high gifts which qualified him to lead, both as a soldier and as a statesman. But those only who were around him in hours of anxious deliberation, when great and mighty interests were at stake, and who were also with him in the retired scenes of domestic life, in the midst of his family and friends, can fully appreciate his innate love of justice, his hatred of oppression in every shape it could assume, his magnanimity, his entire freedom from any feeling of personal hostility to his political opponents, and his constant and unvarying kindness and gentleness to his friends."

CHAPTER VIII.

MARTIN VAN BUREN.

Birth and Childhood. Studies Law. - Talents and Industry)- Political Principles. Success as a Lawyer and Politician.-Aids in the Election of Jackson. Secretary of State.-Mrs. Eaton. - Resigns his Secretaryship. - Minister to England. - Rejected by the Senate.-Attains the Vice-Presidency. - Patronage of Gen. Jackson. - Chosen President. Retirement and Declining Years.

THERE is but little in the life of Martin Van Buren of romantic interest. He fought no battles, engaged in no wild adventures.

Though his life was stormy in political and intellectual conflicts, and he gained many signal victories, his days passed uneventful

in those incidents which give zest to biography. His ancestors,