Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA'S MODERN PROMETHEUS. 27
Nor can it be said that the preeminence which Gov
ernor Jackson has now enjoyed for more than one hundred
years is undeserved. The service which he rendered
Georgia, not only in connection with the Yazoo fraud, but
h; other trying emergencies as well, was unique; and he is
said to have fairly idolized his adopted State. With most
men patriotism is merely a sentiment, but with Governor
Jackson it was a passion; and for Georgia's sake he actu
ally sacrificed his property, his temporal ease and com
fort, his ambition and in the end his life. From the mo
ment he first landed in Savannah from England he was
conspicuous for his devotion; and among his last words
lie is recorded to have said that if his breast should be
opened after death., Georgia would be found lettered upon
his heart. An expression of fidelity which recalls the
dying accents of the old soldier of the Empire, who, when
the surgeon was trying to extract the fatal bullet from his
breast, smilingly said : "Probe deeper, doctor, and you will
find the Emperor."
In order to bring the full force of his opposition to bear
upon the effort to extinguish the Yazoo fraud Governor
Jackson resigned his seat in the United States Senate and
entered the State Legislature as the representative from
Chatham. This act of self-abnegation involved an im
mense sacrifice, especially since four years of his term still
remained, but no less great was the personal peril to which
he exposed himself by reason of his zealous championship
of the State's honor. Strange as it may seem, some of the
most influential men in Georgia were involved in the
Yazoo speculation, and Governor Jackson invited the
deadliest feudal enmities by his patriotic course in assail
ing the fortified entrenchments of the conspirators, but he