The English press have numerous editorials on the death of
Gen. Thos. J. Jackson.
The London
Post, (Government organ,) of May 26th, says:
‘
Jackson, like the Puritans, was austere and devout, but whilst his religion taught him humility and dependence upon his Creator, it did not lead him to confound the true nature of the objects for which both he and his followers were striving, and to suppose that because their ends were noble, that, therefore, they were the champions of God.
If he was occasionally a preacher in the camp, he was also a skillful and gallant general in the field, and it is not surprising that those who had so frequently followed him to victory should have considered him as specially favored by
Providence, and have regarded him with feelings akin to devotion.
As a soldier he will hold probably the foremost place in the history of the great American civil war. His name is in delibly associated with the most brilliant achievements of the Confederate armies, for to those achievements by his genius and his courage he more than any one else specially contributed.
Strategic ability is the most valuable qualification a General can possess, but it is not always that consummate military tacticians command the confidence of their followers, or insure the success of the operations they conduct.
It was, however, the rare good fortune of
General Jackson to lead men who, whilst their courage was exalted in an extraordinary degree by the conviction that nothing could be worse than defeat, were inspired with an unshaken faith in the genius and ability of their General.
To follow
Jackson they knew was to march to certain victory; and, if it was necessary that success should be purchased at the cost of many lives, that reflection did not dispirit them; for the cause in which they were fighting stripped death of all its terrors.
’
The
London Herald, (
Derby organ,) of the 27th, says:
‘
He was animated by the spirit which rendered the soldiers of the
Commonwealth irresistible in fight — which carried
Havelock through incredible dangers to the gates of
Lucknow in triumph.
The
Christian and patriot soldier achieved the last and greatest of his successes in dying for his country.
He perished doubly a martyr, and in his last breath attested the righteousness of the cause which he sealed with his blood.
The Northern Republic has produced no heroes of the stamp of
Jackson.
One such man might be the salvation of them yet. Blatant demagogues at home,
bragging imbeciles in the field, afford a spectacle so absurd, and yet so painful, that
Europe knows not whether to laugh or weep at the degradation of her children.
The Northerners want a man to do a man's work.
The only great men of the war have been developed in the
South.
It is very difficult to explain this.
Some may call it a fatality, some a providential arrangement.
That it is a fact is at present enough for us.
’
