terest. Delicate by nature, with a
tendency to consumption inherited from his mother, his physique and
constitution benefited by a life of constant exercise and wholesome
toil. At school he was a leader in every game, and his proficiency in
the saddle proved him a true Virginian. Fox-hunting and horse-racing
were popular amusements, and his uncle not only kept a stable of
well-bred horses, but had a four-mile race-course on his own grounds.
As a light-weight jockey the future general was a useful member of
the household, and it was the opinion of the neighbourhood that "if a
horse had any winning qualities whatever in him, young Jackson never
failed to bring them out."

In the management of the estate he learned early to put his shoulder
to the wheel. Transporting timber from the forest to the saw-mill was
one of his most frequent tasks, and tradition records that if a tree
were to be moved from ground of unusual difficulty, or if there were
one more gigantic than the rest, the party of labourers was put under
his control, and the work was sure to be effected.

One who knew him well has described his character. "He was a youth of
exemplary habits, of indomitable will and undoubted courage. He was
not what is nowadays termed brilliant, but he was one of those
untiring, matter-of-fact persons who would never give up an
undertaking until he accomplished his object. He learned slowly, but
what he got into his head he never forgot. He was not quick to
decide, except when excited, and then, when he made up his mind to do
a thing, he did it on short notice and in quick time. Once, while on
his way to school, an overgrown rustic behaved rudely to one of the
school-girls. Jackson fired up, and told him he must apologise at
once or he would thrash him. The big fellow, supposing that he was
more than a match for him, refused, whereupon Jackson pitched into
him, and gave him a severe pounding."

His surroundings, then, although neither refined nor elevating, were
not unwholesome; but of the moral influences to which he was
subjected, so much cannot be said, while the stock of piety that the
original settlers brought with them had not entirely vanished. There
was much irregularity of life; few men gave any thought to religion,
and young Jackson drifted with the tide. Yet there was something that
preserved him from contamination. His uncle, kindest of guardians,
though irreligious and a sportsman, was scrupulously exacting in
mat