after, a loud thumping was heard at the street door, which roused the soldier, who stole softly down stairs, and listened in the hall. The blows were ere repeated, and the door almost broken through by a sledge, or some heavy instrument. By this time, the affrighted widow and her daughters were running about, and screaming murder! murder! but the son having joined the soldier, with a case of loaded pistols, and the latter, screwing on his bayonet, and fresh priming his piece, which was well filled with slugs, desired the women to retire, as bloody work might be expected in a few minutes.

Soon after, the door was burst in, and two fellows entered; they were instantly shot by the son, who discharged both his pistols at once. Two

ment in preventing the perpetration of such horrid designs, which justly entitles him to a lasting memorial, and the thanks of the public. John Adrian de Vries, a discharged soldier, from the regiment of Diesbach, a native of Middleburgh, in Zealand, and upwards of seventy years old, was the David who slew two of these Goliahs; the rest being killed by the son of the family."

The widow presented the soldier with one hundred guineas, and the city settled a handsome pension on him for the rest of his life.

HISTORICAL.

FOR THE MASONIC REGISTER. The Life of General Jackson,"

out, but luckily without effect; and the intrepid veteran, taking immediate advantage of the discharge of their arms, rushing on them like a lion, ran one through with his bayonet, and while the other was running away, lodged the contents of his piece between his shoulders, and he dropped dead on the spot. They then closed the door as well as they could, reloaded their arms, made a good fire, and watched till day-light, when a number of weavers and spinners came to resume their employments. We may guess their horror and surprise on seeing four men dead on a dunghill, whither the soldier had dragged them before the door was shut.

The burgomaster and his Syndic attended, and took the depositions of the family, relative to this affair. The bodies were buried in a cross-road, and a stone erected over their grave, with this inscription: "Here lies the wretched carcases of four unknown ruffians, who deservedly lost their lives in an attempt to rob or murder a worthy woman, and her family. stranger who slept in the house, to which Divine Providence undoubtedly directed him, was the principal instru

A

vo volume, was commenced by the late Major Reid, (who served as an aid to him in the late war,) and completed by the honourable John H. Eaton, now a senator in congress, from Tennessee. From that work, (the fidelity of which general Jackson himself has acknowledged,) we have made the following abridgement.

BIOGRAPHY OF GENERAL JACKSON.

The parents of Andrew Jackson were Irish. His father (Andrew) the youngest son of his family, emigrated to America about the year 1765, bringing with him his two sons, Hugh and Robert, both very young. Landing at Charleston, in South-Carolina, he purchased a tract of land, in what was then called the Waxsaw settlement, about forty-five miles above Camden; at which place the subject of this history was born, on the 15th of March, 1767. Shortly after his birth his father died, leaving three sons to be provided for by their mother. She appears to have been an exemplary woman, and to have executed the arduous duties which had devolved on her, with great faithfulness and success. To the lessons she inculcated on the

goons, and a party of tories who accompanied them. They had approached the house by a route through the woods, and thereby eluded the vigilance of a sentinel who had been posted on the road. Being placed under guard, Andrew was ordered, in a very imperious tone, by a British officer, to clean his boots, which had become muddied in crossing a creek. This order he positively and peremptorily refused to obey, alleging that he looked for such treatment as a prisoner of war had a right to expect. Incensed at his refusal, the officer aimed a blow at his head with a drawn sword, which would, very probably, have terminated his existence, had he not parried its effects by throwing up his left hand, on which he received a severe wound. His brother, at the same time, for a similar offence, received a deep cut on the head, which afterwards occasioned his death. They were both now taken to gaol, where, separated and confined, they were treated with marked severity, until a few days after the battle before Camden, when, in consequence of a partial exchange, effected by the intercessions and exertions of their mother, and captain Walker, of the militia, they were both released. Captain Walker had, in a charge on the rear of the British army, succeeded in making thirteen prisoners, whom he gave in exchange for seven Americans, of which number were these two young men. Robert, during his confinement in prison, had suffered greatly; the wound on his head, all this time, having never been dressed, was followed by an inflammation of the brain, which, in a few days after his liberation, brought him to the grave. To add to the afflictions of Andrew, his mother, worn down by grief, and her incessant exertions to provide clothing and other comforts for the suffering prisoners, who had been taken from her neighbourhood, expired, in a few weeks after her son, near the lines of the enemy, in the vicinity of Charleston. Andrew, the

last and only surviving child, confined to a bed of sickness, occasioned by the sufferings he had been compelled to undergo, whilst a prisoner, and by getting wet, on his return from captivity, was thus left in the wide world, without a human being with whom he could claim a near relationship. The small pox beginning, about the same time, to make its appearance upon him, had well nigh terminated his sorrows and his existence.

Having at length recovered from his complicated afflictions, he entered upon the enjoyment of his estate, which, although small, would have been sufficient, under prudent management, to have completed his education, on the liberal scale which his mother had designed. Unfortunately, however, he, like too many young men, sacrificing future prospects to present gratification, expended it with rather too. profuse a hand. Coming, at length, to foresee that he should be obliged to rely on his own exertions, for support and success in life, he again betook himself to his studies, with increased industry. He recommenced under Mr. McCullock, in what was then called the New Acquisition, near Hill's iron works. Here he revised the languages, devoting a portion of his time to a desultory course of studies.

His education being now completed, so far as his wasted patrimony, and the opportunities then afforded in that section of the country, would permit, at the age of eighteen, he turned his attention to acquiring a profession, and preparing himself to enter on the busy scenes of life. The pulpit, for which he had been designed by his mother, was now abandoned for the bar; and, in the winter of 1784, he repaired to Salisbury, in North Carolina, and commenced the study of the law, under Spruce M'Cay, Esq. (afterwards one of the judges of that state,) and continued it under colonel John Stokes. Having remained at Salisbury until the winter of 1786, he obtained a li

cense from the judges to practice, and continued in the state until the spring of 1788.

new

The observations he was enabled, during this time, to make, satisfied him that this state presented few inducements to a young attorney; and recollecting that he stood a solitary individual in life, without relations to aid him in the onset, when innumerable difficulties arise and retard success, he determined to seek a country. But for this, he might have again returned to his native state; but the death of every relation he had, had wiped away all those recollections and circumstances which warp the mind to the place of its nativity. The western parts of the state of Tennessee were, about this time, often spoken of, as presenting flattering prospects to adventurers. He immediately determined to accompany judge McNairy thither, who was appointed, and going out to hold the first supreme court that had ever sat in the state. Having reached the Holston, they ascertained it would be impossible to arrive at the time appointed for the session of the court; and therefore determined to remain in that country until fall. They recommenced their journey in October, and, passing through the wilderness, reached Nashville in the same month. It had not been Jackson's intention, certainly, to make Tennessee the place of his future residence; his visit was merely experimental, and his stay remained to be determined by the advantages that might be disclosed; but finding, soon after his arrival, that a considerable opening was offered for the success of a young attorney, he determined to remain. His industry and attention soon brought him forward, and introduced him to a profitable practice. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed attorney-general for the district, in which capacity he continued to act for several years.

Indian depredations being then frequent on the Cumberland, every man

became a soldier. Unassisted by the government, the settlers were forced to rely on their own bravery and exertions. Although young, no person was more distinguished than Andrew Jackson, in defending the country against these predatory incursions of the savages, who continually harrassed the frontiers, and not unfrequently approached the heart of the settle ments, which were thin, but not widely extended. He aided alike in garrisoning the forts, and in pursuing and chastising the enemy.

In the year 1796, having, by his patriotism, firmness, and talents, secured to himself a distinguished standing with all classes, he was chosen one of the members of the convention, for establishing a constitution for the state. His good conduct and zeal for the public interest, on this occasion, brought him more conspicuously to view; and, without proposing or soliciting, he was, in the same year, elected a member of the house of representatives, in Congress, for the state of Tennessee.-The following year, his reputation continuing to increase, and every bosom feeling a wish to raise him to still higher honours, he was chosen a member of the United States' senate.

The state of Tennessee, on its admission into the Union, comprising but one military division, and general Conway, who commanded it, as major-general, dying about this time, Jackson, without being consulted on the subject, and without the least intimation of what was in agitation, was chosen, by the field officers, to succeed him.

At this period, the country was distracted by party spirit, which prevailed more generally, and to a greater excess than has since been known.The causes of contention have long ago ceased, and many of the principal actors themselves have now quit the political stage: no improper motives can therefore be attributed to the remarks which may be offered on the occasion. Mr. Adams, then Presi>

this disquisition, and will convey a more just idea than is usually entertained of the original genius, and extent of political wisdom which distinguished this illustrious man. When Alexander became master of the Persian empire, he early perceived that with all the power of his hereditary dominions, reinforced by the troops which the ascendency he had acquired over the various states of Greece might enable him to raise there, he could not hope to retain in subjection territories so extensive and populous; that to render his authority secure and permanent, it must be established in the affection of the nations which he had subdued, and maintained by their arms; and that in order to acquire this advantage, all distinction between the victors aud vanquished must be abolished ; and his European and Asiatic subjects must be incorporated, and become one people, by obeying the same laws, and by adopting the same manners, institutions, and discipline. Liberal as this plan of policy was, and well adapted to accomplish what he had in view, nothing could be more repugnant to the ideas and prejudices of his countrymen. The Greeks had such an high opinion of the pre-eminence to which they were raised by civilization and science, that they seem hardly to have acknowledged the rest of mankind to be of the same species with themselves. To every other people they gave the degrading appellation of barbarians; and in consequence of their own boasted superiority, they asserted a right of dominion over them, in the same manner as the soul has over the body, and men have over irrational animals. Extravagant as this pretension may now appear, found admission, to the disgrace of ancient philosophers, into all the schools. Aristotle, full of this opinion, in support of which he employs arguments more subtle than solid, advised Alexander to govern the Greeks like subjects, and the barbarians as slaves; to consider the former as companions, the

it

latter as creatures of an inferior nature. But the sentiments of the pupil were more enlarged than those of his master; and his experience in governing men, taught the monarch what the speculative science of the philosopher did not discover. Soon after the victory at Arbela, Alexander himself, and, by his persuasion, many of his officers, assumed the Persian dress, and conformed to several of their customs.— At the same time he encouraged the Persian nobles to imitate the manners of the Macedonians, to learn the Greek language, and to acquire a relish for the beauties of the elegant writers in that tongue, which were then universally studied and admired. In order to render the union more complete, he resolved to marry one of the daughters of Darius, and chuse wives for a hundred of his principal officers in the most illustrious Persian families. Their nuptials were celebrated with great pop and festivity, and with high exultation of the conquered people. In imitation of them, above 10,000 Macedonians of inferior rank married Persian women, to each of whom Alexander gave nuptial presents, as a testimony of his approbation of their conduct. But assiduously as Alexander laboured to unite his European and Asiatic subjects, by the most indissoluble ties, he did not trust entirely to the success of that measure for the security of his new conquests. In every province which he subdued, he made choice of proper stations, where he built and fortified cities, in which he placed garrisons, composed partly of such of the natives as conformed to the Grecian manners and discipline, and partly of such of his European subjects, as were worn out with the fatigues of service, and wished for repose, and a permanent establishment.

These cities were numerous, and served not only as a chain of posts to keep open the communication between the different provinces of his dominions, but as places of strength to over-awe and curb the conquered