he and his wife were the principal teachers. His friends were
asked to send their slaves, and the experiment was successful. The
benches were always crowded, and the rows of black, bright-eyed faces
were a source of as much pride to him as the martial appearance of
the cadet battalion.

Jackson's religion entered into every action of his life. No duty,
however trivial, was begun without asking a blessing, or ended
without returning thanks. "He had long cultivated," he said, "the
habit of connecting the most trivial and customary acts of life with
a silent prayer." He took the Bible as his guide, and it is possible
that his literal interpretation of its precepts caused many to regard
him as a fanatic. His observance of the Sabbath was hardly in
accordance with ordinary usage. He never read a letter on that day,
nor posted one; he believed that the Government in carrying the mails
were violating a divine law, and he considered the suppression of
such traffic one of the most important duties of the legislature.
Such opinions were uncommon, even amongst the Presbyterians, and his
rigid respect for truth served to strengthen the impression that he
was morbidly scrupulous. If he unintentionally made a
misstatement--even about some trifling matter--as soon as he
discovered his mistake he would lose no time and spare no trouble in
hastening to correct it. "Why, in the name of reason," he was asked,
"do you walk a mile in the rain for a perfectly unimportant thing?"
"Simply because I have discovered that it was a misstatement, and I
could not sleep comfortably unless I put it right."

He had occasion to censure a cadet who had given, as Jackson
believed, the wrong solution of a problem. On thinking the matter
over at home he found that the pupil was right and the teacher wrong.
It was late at night and in the depth of winter, but he immediately
started off to the Institute, some distance from his quarters, and
sent for the cadet. The delinquent, answering with much trepidation
the untimely summons, found himself to his astonishment the recipient
of a frank apology. Jackson's scruples carried him even further.
Persons who interlarded their conversation with the unmeaning phrase
"you know" were often astonished by the blunt interruption that he
did NOT know; and when he was entreated at parties or receptions to
break through his dietary rules, and for courtesy's sake to accept
some delicacy, he would always refuse with the repl