Mr. Cartright, according to this story, had preached one day near the Hermitage and had been invited to dine with the General. As usual the Hermitage was full of company, including a young lawyer from Nashville who was enjoying the attention he was attracting by declaring himself an infidel. The parson endeavored not to be drawn into a theological discussion with the young man, but the latter was determined to have a dispute with him and said: “Mr. Cartright, do you really believe there is any such place as hell, as a place of torment?” The parson replied in the affirmative, whereupon the lawyer said: “Well I thank God I have too much good sense to believe any such thing.” Before Mr. Cartright could reply, so he relates, General Jackson interrupted to say: “Well, sir, I thank God there is such a place of torment as hell;” and when the surprised young man asked him why, he went on. “To put in it such damned rascals as you, that oppose and villify the Christian religion!” It is hard to believe that General Jackson would ever speak thus brusquely to a guest in his home; but, anyhow, it makes a good story. Although he would not join the church while he was actively in politics, Jackson was shrewd enough to know that a man in the public eye must carefully watch his personal conduct and avoid even the appearance of evil. So, despite his known fondness for the current sports of the frontier while he was a young man, after he became a statesman he was most punctilious about his conduct. In 1824, while a candidate for President, he sat down and wrote out a specific and categorical denial of various campaign charges, in the course of which he said: “It is a positive falsehood that General Jackson has been either at a cockfight or sports of a similar nature for the last thirteen years,” and then entered into a detailed disclaimer of any sympathy with or actively in the “wild” activities of the day. He was at this time especially careful of his reputation in connection with the breeding and racing of thoroughbred horses. There was then, as now, a nice social distinction between the stock breeder and the man who operates a string of race horses on the tracks; and although Jackson in his youth was not above riding his own horse in a race in an emergency, when he became President he wanted it distinctly understood that he was primarily the owner of a stock farm and that he had no part nor parcel in their actual racing or training.