"Know you? Yes, I should know you all if I could see. Bring me my spect

These were brought and put on him and he said: "Where is my daughter and Marian? God will take care of you for me. I am my God's. I belong to him. I go but a short time before you, and I wish to meet you all, white and black, in heaven.

At this all burst into tears, and the General said: "What is the matter with you, my dear children? Oh, don't cry. Be good children and we will all meet in heaven.

These were Jackson's last words. A short time after this he passed peacefully away. He died a Christian and a Presbyterian.

Thomas Jefferson was more of a deist than anything else, and when he died he said he would be glad to see a preacher who called “as a good neighbor,” thereby intimating that he did not care to see him professionally. There was no preacher present at Washington's death-bed. He was an Episcopalian and for many years was a vestryman of Christ Church, Alexandria, Va. The two Adams' believed in Unitarian doctrines, and it is said that John Quincy Adams, during his last years, never went to sleep without repeating that little child's prayer:

"Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,

I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take.

There is considerable doubt as to Lincoln's christianity, but his best friends believe him to have been a believer. He was certainly a great Bible-reader, and understood it thoroughly. Frank Pierce was an Episcopalian and a church member. Generals Grant and Hayes attended the Methodist Church while in the White House, and Garfield spent his Sundays at the chapel of the Disciples. John Tyler was, I think, a Presbyterian, though his second wife was a Catholic. Dolly Madison was an Episcopalian, whatever her husband may have been, and the old church which she attended years ago still stands, and in it President Arthur worshiped.

A HEROIC FIGURE.

Sergeant Jasper and Some of the Grand Deeds Performed by Him.

-N the history of the State of Georgia one of the most heroic figures is that of a Sergeant Jasper, who served in the war of the Revolution in the Second South Carolina Regiment, under General Moultrie.

Jasper was a freckled, red-haired, unedu cated country lad of singularly-quiet but firm bearing. In the attack made on Sullivan's Island by the British, a flag staff, cut by a ball, fell outside of the works. Jasper sprang forward, and, under a shower of bullets, nailed his own colors to the parapet. For this act of gallantry he was offered promotion, but he declined it, saying. "I have not the education nor manners befitting an officer."

General Moultrie then granted him a roving commission and placed six men under him who were known during the war as "Jasper's Command.” Scarcely a week passed that this troop did not bring in prisoners captured by the most reckless daring.

On one occasion, Jasper, with one comrade, Newton, entered the British lines in disguise. In Savannah he overheard a woman, American, with a child in her arms, bitterly lamenting the condition of her husband who was held a prisoner in irons for desertion of the royal cause. He was deeply touched with her distress and with his comrade resolved to free her husband. They lay in wait near a spring about two miles from the town, which the guard who had the prisoners in charge had to pass. The guard, consisting of two officers and eight privates, arrived about noon, with five prisoners in irons. The day being hot, they left the prisoners, as Jasper had expected they would, and hurried to the spring for water having previously stacked their guns by the roadside Jasper and Newton crept out from the thicket seized their arms, knocked the irons from the prison

ers, and brought the guard into the American camp.

A few months after this feat, during the attack on Savannah, the country lad fell, mortally wounded, while trying to place his colors on a redoubt. For one of his many bold exploits a sword had been given to Jasper by Governor Rutledge. He now unbuckled his sword and gave it to Newton, saying: "Take it to my father, and tell him I have not dishonored it." A county in Georgia is named for this hero.

wealthy South Carolina lady, who had been educated at Philadelphia, and who had passed the preceding winter at Washington, in the family of her relative, Senator Preston. On the New Year's day succeeding the wedding, Mrs. Van Buren assisted by the wives of the cabinet officers, received with her father-in-law, the President. Her rare accomplishments, superior education, beauty of face and figure, grace of manner, and vivacity in conversation insured social success. The White House was ref .nished in the most expensive manner, and a code of etiquette was established which rivaled that of a German principality.-Ben: Perley Poore.

VAN BUREN A MONARCHIST.

ARTIN Van Buren was the first President who had not been born a British subject; yet he was at heart a monarchist, opposed to universal suffrage and in favor of a strong cen tral government, although he had reached his exalted position by loud professions of democracy. He endeavored to establish a personal intimacy with

every one presented to him, and he ostensibly opened his heart for inspection. The tone of his voice was that of thorough frankness, accompanied by a pleasant smile, but a fixed expression at the corner of his mouth, and the searching look of his keen eye showed that he believed with Talleyrand that language was given to conceal thought.

President Van Buren's wife (by birth Miss Hannah Hoes, of Columbia county, New York,) had been dead nineteen years when he took possession of the White House accompanied by his four sons, and presided over the official receptions and dinner parties with his well-known tact and politeness. In the November following his inauguration, his eldest son and private secretary, Col. Abraham Van Buren (who was a graduate of the military academy at West Point, and who had served on the staff of Gen. Worth) was married to Miss Angeline Singleton, a

A CONGRESSIONAL DUEL.

MONG other evidences of the bitter and ferocious spirit which characterized political contests in those days was the duel between Mr. Cilley, of Maine, and Mr. Graves, of Kentucky, in which the former fell. Mr. Cilley, in a speech delivered in the House of Representatives, criticised a charge of corruption brought against some unmarried congressman in a letter published in The New York Courier and Enquirer, over the signature of "A Spy in Washington," and indorsed in the editorial columns of that paper. Mr. James Watson Webb, the editor of The Courier and Enquirer, immediately visited Washington and sent a challenge to Mr. Cilley by Mr. Graves, with whom he had but a slight acquaintance. Mr. Cilley declined to receive the hos tile communication from Mr. Graves, without making any reflections on the personal character of Mr. Webb. Mr. Graves then felt himself bound, by the unwritten code of honor, to espouse the cause of Mr. Webb, and challenged Mr. Cilley himself. The challenge was accepted and the preliminaries were arranged between Mr. Henry A. Wise, as the sec ond of Mr. Graves. and Mr. George W. Jones as

the second of Mr. Cilley. Riftes were selected for the weapons, and Mr. Graves found difficulty in obtaining one, but was finally supplied by his friend, Mr. Rives, of The Globe. The parties met, the ground was measured, and the combatants were placed; on the fourth fire Mr. Cilley fell, shot through the body, and died almost instantly. Mr. Graves, on seeing his antagonist fall, expressed a desire to render him some assistance, but was told by Mr. Jones, "My friend is dead, Sir!" Mr. Cilley, who left a wife and three young children, was a popular favorite and his tragic end caused great excitement all over the country. Mr. Webb was generally blamed for having instigated the fatal encounter; certainly he did not endeavor to prevent it. Mr. Graves was never afterward re-elected-indeed, no man who has killed another in duel has ever been elected to office in Kentucky.-Ben: Perley Poore.

A UNIQUE COMPOSITION.

HIS unique composition was originally published in a Philadelphia paper over a hundred years ago. It may be read three different ways. First, let the whole be read in the order in which it is written; second, read the line downwards on the left of each comma in every line: third, in a like manner on the right of each comma. In the first reading the Revolutionary cause is condemned, and, by the others, encouraged aud lauded:

Hark! Hark! the trumpet sounds, the din of war's alarms;

O'er seas and solid grounds, doth call us all to arms. Who for King George do stand, their honors soon shall shine;

Their ruin is at hand, who with the Congress join.
The acts of Parliament, in them I much delight,

I hate their cursed intent, who for the Congress fight.
The Tories of the day, they are my daily toast;

They soon will sneak away, who Independence boast; Who non-resistance hold, they have my hand and heart,

May they for slaves be sold, who act a Whiggish part; On Mansfield, North and Bute, may daily blessings

pour;

Confusion and dispute, on Congress evermore;
To North and British lords, may honor still be done.
I wish a block of cord, to General Washington.

AMERICA'S LUCKY DAY.

-N Europe and the eastern part of the world Friday is generally regarded as an unlucky day, and those who are any way superstitious will object to commence any new enterprise or to do any thing of importance on that day, Strange to say, Friday has exercised the most important and beneficial effects on America, and may be regarded as her lucky day. There are many citizens, mostly those of foreign birth, who still abhor Friday, although it is shown that the most important events connected with the discoverery of the New World and the independence of the United States all happened on a Friday.

It was on Friday, the 3d of August, 1492, that Christopher Columbus set sail from the port of Palos on his voyage of discovery. On Friday, the 12th of October, of the same year, he sighted land. On Friday, the 4th of January, 1493, he set out for Spain to announce his glorious discovery. He landed in Andalusia on Friday, the 15th of March, 1593On Friday June 13, 1494, he discovered the conti. nent of America. On Friday, March 5, 1497. Henry VII, King of England, sent Jean Cabot on a mission which led to the discovery of North America. On Friday, November 10, 1565, Melendez founded St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States. On Friday, November 10, 1620, the Mayflower landed the

Pilgrim Fathers at Princetown. On Friday, December 21, 1620, the immigrants reached Plymouth Rock. On Friday Feb. 22, 1732 Washington was born. On Friday June 27, 1775, the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. On Friday, October 8, 1778, Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, Arnold's treason plot was discovered on Friday September 23, 1780-Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown on Friday, in October, 1781.

THE ORIGINAL LAND-OFFICE.

OW many people know that the SurveyorGeneral's office in Minnesota is the original office established in the United States? And yet the original time-worn documents are on file at the State House establishing that fact. The office was originally located by authority of Congress and under commission of George Washington at Marietta, O., in 1797. As the lands became disposed of and the territory became partitioned off, the office moved gradually westward, halted a brief space at this and that place, until it re ched a final resting-place, many years ago at St. Paul, where all the records now are. These records are e pecially interesting to the antiquarians, covering as they do, the history of land transactions in this Coun ry for over 100 years. Among them are au graph letters from Washington and Jefferson and other Presidents, all showing the quaint official phraseology of that bygone day, and winding up with the pecular signature, "Your honorable and most hum! Ie obedient servant." There is also among the reco ds the first surveyor's chain used in the West, and accompanying it was a personal letter from the Sec etary of the Treasury, under whose jurisdiction the office then was, expressing the belief that "it was a good chain in leed, as the maker had assured him to that effect." Official guilelessness that seldom exists nowadays.-St. Paul Globe.

AMERICA'S HIGHEST MOUNTAIN.

HE highest mountain in America murt now be changed from Mount St. Elias to Mount Wrangel, a little to the north. Several of these mountains have been newly measured. Mount Hood, once "roughly" estimated at 17,000 feet, then "closely" at 16,000, was brought down by triangulation to 13,000; an aneroid barometer made it 12,000 and a mercurial barometer made it 11,255. Mount St. Elias estimated by D'Agelet to be 12,672 feet, is triangulated. by Mr. Baker to 19,500. It now appears that Mount Wrangel, lying to the north, rises 18,400 feet above Copper river, which is in turn 2,000 feet above the sea at that point. If this holds true, Mount Wrangel is at least 1,000 feet higher than any other peak in North America. It lies within the United States boundary.-Nature.

ORIGIN OF THE SONG “JOHN BROWN'S BODY."

FOSTER SWEETSER, in his late book on "Boston Harbor and Fort War,ren," relates the origin of the song of freedom. It happened, therefore, that from this happy garrison (Fort Warren, Boston Harbor) proceeded one of the most powerful influences which made themselves felt in the National armies during that long and weary war.

The famous song of the National armies, "John Brown's body lies a mouldering in the grave," was composed and first sung at Fort Warren by the glee club of the Second Battallion of Light Infantry in the year 1862. It was adapted to an old Methodist camp-meeting tune, somewhat altered in form, and the brigade band at the fort was the first that

played it. The singers entered the Twelfth Regiment, which marched through Boston, New York and Baltimore, to this grand chorus from 1,000 throats and the music ran through the Army of the Potomac, nor ceased until grim powdered, blackened choirs had chanted it in Texas and Alabama, and down the great Mississippi, and on all the flowery coasts of the Gulf, and through the Carolinas, and along the streets of conquered Richmond. From Fort Warren came the Marseillaise of our emancipating revolution. As Admiral Preble says: "Few people aside from those who kept step to its strains whenleaving home for the battle field and sang it round the smoky camp-fires during the long dull nights and days of army life knew the extent of its popularity and the deep hold it took upon the soldiers' hearts. It spread from regiment to regiment like wild-fire."

ORIGIN OF YANKEE DOODLE.

ANKEE DOODLE.-This popular song was introduced into this Country during the French and Indian War by one Dr. Shack. burg, of the British army. The origin of the tune can be traced back to the reign of Charles I. When the British army was encamped on the shores of the Hudson, recruits from the provinces came pouring in in strange dress and equipments. As described by one writer, "Some with long coats, some with short coats, and some with no coats at all, some with cropped hair, and others with flowing wigs." Their singular appearance naturally excited mirth among the well-trained British regulars; and Dr. Shackburg wrote out "Yankee Doodle,” and recommended it to the new officers as one of the most celebrated airs of martial music. About a quarter of a century later Lord Cornwallis and his troops marched into the American lines to this same tune of "Yankee Doodle." A recent writer trying to prove this our national air, quotes the following anecdote related by John Quincy Adams to sustain

him. "After the Ministers Plenipotentiary of Great Britain and the United States had nearly concluded their pacific labors at Ghent, the burghers of the quaint old Dutch city resolved to give an entertainment in their honor, and desired to have the National airs of the two treaty-making powers performed as a part of the programme. So the musical director was requested to call upon the American Ministers and obtain the music of the National air of the United States. No one knew exactly what to give, and a consultation ensued, at which Bayard and Gallatin favored 'Hail Columbia,' while Clay, Russell and Adams were decidedly in favor of 'Yankee Doodle.' The director then inquired if any of the gentlemen had the music, and receiving a negative reply, suggested that perhaps one of them could sing or whistle the air. 'I can,t,' said Mr. Clay; 'I never whistled or sung a tune in my life. Perhaps Mr. Bayard can.' 'Neither can I,' replied Mr. Bayard. 'Perhaps Mr. Russell can.' Each confessed his lack of musical ability. 'I have it,' exclaimed Mr. Clay, and ringing the bell he summoned his colored body-servant. 'John,' said Mr. Clay, 'whistle "Yankee Doodle" for this gentleman.' John did so, the chief musician took down the notes, and at the entertainment the Ghent Burghers' Band played the National air of the United States, with variations, in grand style."