Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 22.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

[161] sixteen hours out of the twenty-four. He made it a practice during study hours to sit with his back to the door, with his book before him, and to speak to no one who entered the room. But despite these extraordinary efforts his early training had left him far behind his fellow-students. At the end of the second year it was thought he would not be able to get through, and one of the professors, who had taken a warm interest in him, advised him to resign, and thus save himself from the humiliation of a failure in the end. Jackson's pride was touched at this, and he replied that he would not resign, but would go through or die, and he did. About the middle of the third year, to use his own words, the scales fell from his eyes, and he comprehended in an instant things which had puzzled him for weeks a year before. After that he had no trouble; took high rank in all his classes, and graduated with distinguished honors at the end of the fourth year.