his performance. Although prostrate in death, the vain hunchback "raised himself up, complied with the wish of the public, laid himself down, and died again." About 1850, says Olive Logan, a young Philadelphian, in consequence of numerous influential recommendations, was allowed to act Romeo in a public theater. Among other innovations introduced by the young man was the death of Shakspere's lover. After a considerable struggle he resigned himself apparently to the effects of the poison, but when the audience applauded him for dying, he startled Juliet, who was about to throw herself in despair upon his lifeless body, by whispering the words, "I'm not dead yet❞—which were followed by a "renewed series of expiring evolutions." We have already seen how "Romeo" Coates in his famous Bath performance was on the verge of dying a third time in obedience to the desire of the audience. This is obviously a trifle too accommodating to be realistic. But "Romeo" Coates was an amateur!

Instances of the sort of thing cited above could be accumulated to intolerable length, but the specimens already employed are, I fear, more than ample to show that our forefathers no less than ourselves were accustomed to enjoy the humor of stage suicide and manslaughter. It is perhaps too sanguine to hope that they are sufficient also to prove that the resurrection of heart-broken kings and other theatrical personages has been somewhat overworked by our ancestors and consequently should be abandoned as hackneyed in these days of "slices of life." But may we at least hope that our grandchildren's children will never have glimpses of Lear and his daughter popping up from death because an audience protests that it comprehends Shakspere? Certain signs are hopeful. Some actors now wash the death-dew from their countenances before conversing with their friends beyond the proscenium; the problem play has substituted desertion and divorce for dagger thrusts and poison; and the increasing vogue of chorus girls and happy endings protects the tired business man from the post-mortem obeisance of vanity-ridden tragedians.

The Americanism of Andrew Jackson

FRANK J. KLINGBERG

University of California (Southern Branch)

When people discuss the meaning of the phrase "true Americanism," one of the greatest and most picturesque characters in our history quickly appears in the conversation, a man who did not belong to the colonial period of the Founders but who in his fearless individuality was truly native to the young republic. Among our great men none was more typically American than Andrew Jackson.

The son of poor Scotch-Irish immigrants, born in 1767 after the death of his father, left early in life without his mother, he wandered alone and penniless in the Carolinas. After studying law he joined the sturdy pioneers in Tennessee and by leaps and bounds he rose to be: "Solicitor under state authority at twenty-two, United States Attorney at twentythree, member of Congress at twenty-nine, United States Senator at thirty, justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee at thirty-one, and major-general of militia on a dangerous frontier at thirty-five." He stood during the war of 1812, our second war of independence, as the greatest guardian of our land, winning an immortal triumph in the battle of New Orleans on that day of January 8, 1815.

Then followed other military exploits. From these he was called to serve as President for two terms during one of the stormiest periods of our history. That office he left even more popular than when he entered it, continuing to be the inspiration of his party during the next eight years. Ever since his death, in 1845, as well as during his long life, his name has been one to conjure with.

A letter from an admirer illustrates one of the many good reasons for his popularity:

"I have directed my partners to send you a barrel of oranges & a tierce of sugar which goes to you from this plantation and shall Please God as long as you and I live-for I honestly believe that if you had not come to defend New Orleans I should not now have this plantation.

Wishing you every blessing that the Almighty can bestow, I remain your sincere

Friend & very Obtd. Servt.

MAUNSEL WHITE

P. S.-As the sugar is rather green when you get it, put it on the end, the draining holes down & use it from the head & in a short time it will purge. I hope the oranges will go safe & sound."1

From the day when, a lad of fourteen, he refused to black the boots of a British commanding officer, stating that he was a prisoner-of-war and not a servant, and received a saberblow on hand and head, the marks of which he carried to his grave, up to his rejoicing over the annexation of Texas, Jackson showed his sturdy independence of character. He was never a man who talked about his Americanism but a man who throughout life acted and lived it. His creed, then, is to be found in his long career as a servant of his country, and it is only by examining his deeds that we can see how well these square with the best expressed ideals of our Americanism.

Andrew Jackson exemplifies what William Allen White meant when he said:

"Self-respect is the essence of Americanism.

An Amer

ican is a self-respecting citizen who can look every other human creature straight in the eye and tell him where to head in. Nothing less. Indeed it is that sublime impudence glowing in the faces of an American crowd that gives the crowd its character-differing from any other crowd on earth. Good clothes, a decent home, wholesome food, a bit of leisure for his newspaper, the park, the movie and the lodge, are necessary for Americanism; these and one thing more-a steady job. Given these things, he sits on the moon; take any of these from him, and he loses his Americanism and develops a servile mind and heart." "

2

Andrew Jackson in his time stood for the Americanism which Roosevelt so well defined:

"All of us, no matter from what land our parents came, no matter in what way we may severally worship our Creator, must stand shoulder to shoulder in a united America for the elimination of race and religious prejudice. We must stand for a reign of equal justice to both big and small. We must insist on the maintenance of the American standard of

1 Maunsel White to Andrew Jackson, Deer Range Plantation, Nov. 27th, 1843. This and other letters referred to are in private possession unless otherwise noted. 2 William Allen White: Why I Am a Progressive. (Saturday Evening Post, April 23, 1921.)

living. We must stand for an adequate national control which shall secure a better training of our young men in time of peace, both for the work of peace and for the work of war. We must direct every national resource to overcome difficulties. In our relation with the outside world, we must abhor wrongdoing, and disdain the baseness of spirit which lamely submits to wrongdoing. We must antee to each man his rights and insist in return upon the full performance by each man of his duties both to his neighbor and to the great nation whose flag must symbolize in the future as it has symbolized in the past, the highest hopes of mankind.”’

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Jackson characterized himself and defined his Americanism in a letter written shortly after his retirement from the presidency :

"The approbation I have received from the people everywhere on my return home on the close of my official life, has been a source of much gratification to me. I have been met at every point by numerous Democratic-Republican friends and many repenting Whigs with a hearty welcome and 'well done thou faithful servant'. This is truly the patriot's reward, the summit of my gratification, and will be my solace to my grave. When I review the arduous administration through which I have passed, the formidable opposition, to its very close, of the combined talents, wealth and power of the whole aristocracy of the United States, aided as it is, by the monied monopolies of the whole country with their corrupting influence, with which we had to contend, I am truly thankful to my God for this happy result. . . . . It displays the virtue and power of the sovereign people, and that all must bow to their will. But it was the voice of this sovereign will that so nobly sustained us against this formidable power and enabled me to pass through my administration so as to meet its approbation."

The determination with which the Victor at New Orleans fought his political battles can be gathered from a letter written to his son in 1843:

"The storm in Congress is still raging, Clay reckless-full of fury. ... His abuse and his coadjutors pass harmless by me. The deposits will not be removed nor the bank rechartered. This monster of power and corruption must die-the power it possesses will destroy our government in a few years. It is a power that never ought to have existed-its present course now convinces all honest men that it never ought

Roosevelt: Americanism. Quoted from address delivered in New York, October 12, 1915.

Jackson to Van Buren, March 30, 1837. Quoted from J. S. Bassett: The Life of Andrew Jackson, p. 721.

to have and must be put down at the end of its charter. I have it chained -the monster must perish.""

John Quincy Adams, fine man and great statesman that he was, found himself unable to stand against this man of the people. Van Buren was put into the presidency by Jackson, Tyler was driven out and Polk put in largely through the efforts of a man more than three score years and ten. Skilled and famous men such as Webster, Clay and Calhoun had to move around Jackson as mere satellites and the powerfully intrenched National Bank was done to death by him, even against the wishes of many men of his own party. By him the nullification movement in South Carolina was killed, the Creek Indians were removed from Georgia, the Treasury was filled to overflowing, internal improvements by the Federal government were stopped, and the French were forced to pay an old debt. Children in hosts were named after him or his wife, and young men struggled for a word of his favor. Among these was Stephen A. Douglass, the later opponent of Abraham Lincoln, who started his political career as a supporter of Jackson, and fastened the attention of his constituency upon himself during his first session in Congress by working for the remission of a thousand dollar fine. This fine was fixed on Jackson after the battle of New Orleans for contempt of court. So successful was the Douglass speech that it received the attention of Jackson, and when Douglass visited Jackson in Tennessee, Jackson said to him:

"Are you the Mr. Douglass of Illinois who delivered a speech last session on the subject of the fine imposed on me for declaring martial law at New Orleans? . . Then stop, sit down here beside me, I desire to return you my thanks for that speech. You are the first man that has ever relieved my mind on a subject which has rested on it for thirty years. My enemies have always charged me with violating the Constitution of my country by declaring martial law at New Orleans, and my friends have always admitted the violation. I never could understand how it was that the performance of a solemn duty to my country-a duty which if I had neglected, would have made me a traitor in the sight of God and man, could properly be pronounced a violation of the Constitution. I felt convinced in my own mind that I was not guilty of such a

Letter to his son, dated Washington, February 16, 1834.