"I ever knew,"
and he was wont to express his surprise that others were less happy
than himself.

But there are few with Jackson's power of concentration. He fought
evil with the same untiring energy that he fought the North. His
relations to his moral duties were governed by the same strong
purpose, the same clear perception of the aim to be achieved, and of
the means whereby it was to be achieved, as his manoeuvres on the
field of battle. He was always thorough. And it was because he was
thorough--true, steadfast, and consistent, that he reached the heroic
standard. His attainments were not varied. His interests, so far as
his life's work was concerned, were few and narrow. Beyond his
religion and the army he seldom permitted his thoughts to stray. His
acquaintance with art was small. He meddled little with politics. His
scholarship was not profound, and he was neither sportsman nor
naturalist. Compared with many of the prominent figures of history
the range of his capacity was limited.

And yet Jackson's success in his own sphere was phenomenal, while
others, perhaps of more pronounced ability, seeking success in many
different directions, have failed to find it in a single one. Even
when we contrast his recorded words with the sayings of those whom
the world calls great--statesmen, orators, authors--his inferiority
is hardly apparent. He saw into the heart of things, both human and
divine, far deeper than most men. He had an extraordinary facility
for grasping the essential and discarding the extraneous. His
language was simple and direct, without elegance or embellishment,
and yet no one has excelled him in crystallising great principles in
a single phrase. The few maxims which fell from his lips are almost a
complete summary of the art of war. Neither Frederick, nor
Wellington, nor Napoleon realised more deeply the simple truths which
ever since men first took up arms have been the elements of success;
and not Hampden himself beheld with clearer insight the duties and
obligations which devolve on those who love their country well, but
freedom more.

It is possible that the conflicts of the South are not yet ended. In
America men pray for peace, but dark and mysterious forces,
threatening the very foundations of civic liberty, are stirring even
now beneath their feet. The War of Secession may be the precursor of
a fiercer and a mightier struggle, and the volunteers of the
Confederacy, enduring all things and