EULOGY 
 
 ON 
 
 SILAS WRIGHT, 
 
 By 
 HENRY D. GILPIN. 
 
Deaf 
 
 AN 
 
 EULOGY 
 
 ON 
 
 SILAS WRIGHT, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 YOUNG MEN'S DEMOCRATIC ASSOCIATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY AND COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 On the 12th of November, 1847, 
 
 HENRY D. GILPIN. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 TOTTED STATES EOOK AND JOB PEIMTING OFFICE, LEDGER BUILDING. 
 
 1847. 
 

Philadelphia, November 19, 1847. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 The undersigned, committee on behalf of "The Young Men's Democratic Asso- 
 ciation of the City and County of Philadelphia,'' respectfully request a copy of the 
 Eulogy pronounced by you in the Upper Saloon of the Philadelphia Museum, on the 
 life and character of the late Silas Wright, feeling assured that those of our citizens 
 who had not the opportunity of hearing the same, feel a lively interest in its publi- 
 cation. 
 
 We also take this opportunity of returning to you our heartfelt thanks, for the kind 
 manner in which you consented to become the medium through which the young 
 Democracy of the City and County could convey a tribute of affection to the memory 
 of their beloved Wright, and in bequeathing to our country a paper that must become 
 a part of its history. 
 
 We are, with sentiments of high respect, 
 
 Your friends and fellow citizens, 
 
 HENRY W. BROWN, 
 THOMAS H. BREEN, 
 CHARLES S. WHITEMAN, 
 WILLIAM RANKIN, 
 M. J. DAUGHERTY. 
 The Hon. Henry D. Gilpin. 
 
 Philadelphia, November 20, 1S47. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 In sending you a copy of my Address, I cannot lose the occasion to express to the 
 Association my sincere acknowledgments for the favor with which it was received, 
 and to assure them, that while no office could be more grateful to my feelings than to 
 commemorate the virtues of such a man, that gratification was largely increased by 
 knowing it was done at the instance of those who so warmly and justly admired and 
 honored him. 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 Your friend and fellow citizen, 
 
 HENRY D. GILPIN. 
 
 To Henry W. Brown, Thomas H. Bkeen, Charles S. Whiteman, William 
 Rankin, and M. J. Daugherty, Esquires. 
 
Officers of the Young Mm's Democratic Association of the City 
 and County of Philadelphia. 
 
 MARTIN J. DAUGHERTY, ESQ. 
 
 Pbwbbk 
 
 First District— Major THOMAi O'NEILL. 
 
 HUGH McGOLDRICK. 
 Tliird " I BUR KHAR T. 
 
 Fourth " CLARK GOLDSMITH. 
 
 Treasurer, 
 WILLIAM WALTON. 
 
 Secretaries, 
 
 City— WILLIAM STOKES BOYD. 
 County— DANIEL DOUGHERTY. 
 
 Board of Mana 
 THOMAS J. MILES, HENRY A. GILDEA, 
 
 WILLIAM V. McKEAN, JOHN MeKIBBIN, 
 
 tGE A. BRADLEV. SAMUEL BADGER, JR. 
 
 LEVI FOULKROD. 
 
EULOGY. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen : 
 
 In complying with your invitation, I have only to lament my 
 inability adequately to delineate the life, and portray the character 
 of that great statesman and excellent man, to whose worth the 
 expression, which we have so lately witnessed, of admiration and 
 regret, so general and spontaneous, is a tribute from his country as 
 honorable as it must be sincere. Bound to him by the ties of a 
 personal friendship, which it was ever my pride and happiness to 
 cherish, and regarding with uniform respect his sentiments on all 
 important public questions, I might reasonably distrust my own 
 estimate of his character, and my judgment of his actions. But the 
 narrative of his life, gathered from sources that are authentic ; the 
 evidences of his patriotism, his genius, the wisdom of his counsels, 
 and his private virtues, drawn from records readily accessible to us 
 all, will present a picture that friendship need not natter, and 
 individual judgment is unable to exaggerate. This, and this only, 
 it shall be my effort faithfully to accomplish. 
 
 Silas Wright was born on the 24th of May, 1795, at Amherst, 
 a village in the state of Massachusetts. The scene of his birth is 
 one of those spots whose beauties allure the lover of nature ; and 
 the character, pursuits and habits of its people exhibit all the 
 features that mark a community where genius needs no guide nor 
 aid, in its progress to honorable distinction, but industry, integrity, 
 patriotism and a wise ambition. From the hill, on whose sloping 
 side the village rests, the eye wanders over the fertile valley of the 
 Connecticut, which is spread around and below. Small farms, the 
 
freeholds of those by whose labor they have become the patterns of 
 a skilful husbandry, lie aide by side, far as the light can reach, 
 seldom parted even by a hedge-row; and village succeeds to village, 
 each crowned with its heaven-directed spire, rising from a circle of 
 venerable elms, beneath whose shad' 1 the public school has not 
 failed, through years lonj; past, to gather the oflspring of successive 
 generations. So antiquated customs or institutions check or pre- 
 vent the aspirations and success of honest and industrious poverty ; 
 no arbitrary laws limit the just distribution of property or sow the 
 seeds of domestic rivalry: DO privileges of class draw harsh lines 
 of discrimination in the exercise of political and social rights; and 
 ame education develops and nourishes, with equal and jealous 
 care, the seeds of intellect and morals among those who are favored 
 with much or little of this world's goods. Nor have events been 
 wanting to connect with the scene, by vivid association, striking 
 lessons of piety, patriotism, and patient even stern republican con- 
 fidence and virtue. When tierce Indian warriors far outnumbered 
 the first adventurers into the wilderness, humble churches, whose 
 sites rerently pointed OUt, were reared in it , and 
 
 no dread of the savage interrupted the due solemnity of Christian 
 worship when England was hurrying to the scaffold the judges 
 who had condemned her arbitrary monarch, neither royal favor, nor 
 wealth, nor power could bring danger to their associates who 
 passed securely the lengthened evening of life in the hamlets of this 
 valley ; and when, in later days, the great contest of modern 
 liberty was fought — the contest for the preservation of real and 
 absolute self government — every town that encircles the heights of 
 Amherst hastened to enrol its sons under the standard of the young 
 republic. 
 
 In these scenes the forefathers of Mr. Wright had dwelt for more 
 than a century ; in these habits and principles they had been bred ; 
 in these toils, adventures, and patriotic duties they had largely 
 shared. Born in the midst of such a community, the toilsome occu- 
 pations and the narrow fortunes of his parents cast no gloomy shadow 
 
over his childhood ; nor did they retard the early development of 
 an intellect more than usually bright, and a temper of whose gen- 
 tleness and serenity domestic tradition has cherished the fondest 
 recollections. His home indeed was humble, his advantages were 
 few, his patrimony was nothing ; but yet the picture impressed 
 most early on his imagination, was that of tranquil nature and well 
 rewarded industry ; the lesson he imbibed unconsciously from every 
 thing around him, was that of honest and contented labor; and 
 reverence to God and integrity to man could scarce have failed to 
 be among the first emotions that warmed his heart. The seed was 
 early sown that produced, at a later day, the blossom and the fruit. 
 While Mr. Wright was yet quite young, his father removed his 
 residence to Vermont, which had been received not long before into 
 the Union, and was chiefly settled by emigrants from Massachusetts 
 and the rest of New England, who carried with them the habits, 
 and adopted, in a new region, the pursuits and manners of their 
 former homes. No record of his school-boy days has been preserved ; 
 tradition seems to have treasured no anecdotes to indicate in his 
 youth the promises of his future eminence ; nor is it till his sixteenth 
 year that we are able to trace his occupations with certainty or dis- 
 tinctness. In 1811 he entered the college at Middlebury, in Ver- 
 mont; and in 1815 he completed his course of study, with a repu- 
 tation for ability more than usually high. It was in this interval, 
 that the war with Great Britain made the shores of Lake Champlain 
 the scene of one of those gallant battles, in which the sturdy bravery 
 of men, cheerfully and suddenly leaving for the time their peaceful 
 occupations, proved itself more than equal to veteran discipline and 
 far superior numbers. The father of Mr. Wright, his elder brother, 
 and the husbands of two of his sisters, were among the Vermont 
 volunteers, in the victory at Plattsburg, whose gallantry and services 
 were especially noticed by the commander in chief. 
 
 On leaving college, he commenced at once the study of the law, 
 to which he devoted nearly four years with characteristic zeal ; so 
 much so, as seriously to impair his health, and to require, on the 
 
8 
 
 completion of his term, an entire relaxation for several months. 
 These he passed in a tour on horseback through the northern and 
 western parts of New York, and it was in the course of his wan- 
 derings that he selected the I iUage of Canton, which is near its ex- 
 treme border in the county of St. Lawrence, as the place of his 
 future residence. There he Wttled in Octol» r. 1819, and continued 
 to live till hk death. The early years of a youn^r Tillage lawy. r. 
 passed in a neighborhood remote from commerce and thinly peopled, 
 cheered hv no patr BO of family connections, must needs 
 
 leave but a meagre ! il distinction yet there are 
 
 not wanting numerous testimonials of the c l e o itt o tl of intelligence 
 which he displayed from the outset; of his winning powers as an 
 advocate; and especially of his strict and fearless integrity — his 
 undeviating fairness — in every relation in which he was called upon 
 to act. Personal esteem and confidence he secured at once ; and 
 his immediate selection far the principal village offices, however 
 humble in them-K ' these sentiments : it was an 
 
 early indication of that popularity, quickly rising to a deeper and 
 warmer interest, on the part of those who must have known him 
 best, which it was his good fortune never to lose or even to diminish. 
 In the year 1823, he commenced, at the age of twenty-eight, 
 that career of public service in which he continued to advance, 
 equally with benefit to his country and honor to himself, until the 
 close of his life. From his youth his political associations had been 
 with the democratic party. Though temperate in manner and for- 
 bearing in his judgment of others, his sentiments were at all times 
 candidly expressed ; and the frankness of his character, and his dis- 
 position calmly but freely to examine and discuss every topic of 
 public interest, had made his opinions well known, as they had dis- 
 closed the grounds on which they were adopted. To this perhaps 
 may be attributed the rare occurrence, that he was elected to the 
 Senate of the State from a county where the opposite political party 
 had previously maintained an unquestioned ascendancy, but where 
 from that time he ever received undeviating support. He took his 
 
seat as a Senator, at Albany, on the 6th of January, 1824, for a term 
 of four years. 
 
 Mr. Wright was probably the youngest member of an assembly 
 in which were men eminent for ability and trained by experience ; 
 yet it was not long before the vigor of his reasoning and the acute- 
 ness of his intelligence gave him a position inferior to none. He 
 showed himself constant and patient in attendance ; quick to discern 
 the effects of every measure proposed ; fearless of responsibility 
 when convinced of its propriety ; not shrinking from radical changes 
 which the public good appeared to demand. By his political friends 
 he was recognized as a skilful and faithful leader ; by men of every 
 party he was respected for the sterling qualities of his mind and the 
 general wisdom of his judgment. It was owing, in no small degree, 
 to his exertions, that an actual movement was made in the revision 
 and modification of the statutes ; he gave to the portion of that valu- 
 able labor which was submitted to the legislature during his term, a 
 minute, judicious, and most useful supervision ; he was mainly in- 
 strumental in submitting to the people those amendments of the 
 constitution which extended the right of suffrage, and gave them 
 the choice, in every neighborhood, of their local magistrates. He 
 began early to exercise an anxious attention to the revenue and 
 finances ; and, above all, he succeeded in securing that limitation on 
 expenditures for works of internal improvement, which, while ad- 
 hered to, was of infinite value to the credit, resources and wealth of 
 the state, as its abandonment seriously injured them. When her 
 magnificent canals were begun, not only were the works themselves 
 definitely designated ; but a fund was set aside, at the outset, for the 
 payment of the interest on the debt to be incurred in their construc- 
 tion ; and their proceeds, after completion, were appropriated to 
 extinguish it. Scarcely, however, were these works finished, when 
 numerous applications for others were pressed upon the legislature. 
 These he took the lead in resisting. He had voted for the loans 
 required to complete the Erie and Champlain Canals; but he saw 
 that to construct those now proposed, a debt must be incurred which 
 
10 
 
 could be liquidated only by increased taxation. He urged pen 
 ranee in the system adopted at first : to husband the resources of the 
 state, and when the cost of the profitable works was paid, then, and 
 not till then, to apply their revenues toother improvements. His 
 views were Bustained by the legislature] for several subsequent j 
 they were adhered to; and, when departed from, the result verified 
 all his predictions. Such was the discharge of his first Legislative 
 trust : ami safely may it be said that in it he contributed, in more 
 than a common share, to the welfare of the state. 
 
 •uitorial term was concluded, and in anticipation of 
 that even'. a representative in I from the 
 
 district in which he lived. The election took place in November, 
 . and on the 3d of December, 1827, he repaired to Washing- 
 ton. At that period the principal subject of legislative discu 
 was the regulation of duties on imports. In the state of New York, 
 and especially in its northern districts, the people generally, and 
 more particularly the farming population, wire of opinion that an 
 adjustment of the tariff should be made, so as to extend additional 
 protection to the agricultural and mineral staples of that region, as 
 well as to manufactures; and the state Legislature, without a dis- 
 senting voice, adopted resolutions to that effect, which were trans- 
 mitted by the Governor to the senators and representatives in Con- 
 gress, requesting tlmir exertions to effect this object. As soon as 
 Mr. Wright took his seat, he was placed on the Commitd e OB 
 Manufactures. He found a majority in favor of an alteration of the 
 existing tariff, though not desirou (tension of the 
 
 protective policy as was advocated by some of the members, among 
 whom was the chairman. The principal labor of the committee 
 was, from this circumstance, devolved upon him, and by him its re- 
 port to Congress was prepared. Though it certainly expressed 
 opinions more favorable to the protective policy than his mature 
 judgment ratified, as he afterwards candidly acknowledged in the 
 Senate, yet it was less directed to their advocacy than to the exhi- 
 bition and arrangement of statistical facts, and especially of those 
 
11 
 
 supposed to be more immediately connected with the agricultural 
 interest. In the debates that followed, his place necessarily became 
 particularly prominent ; and the clearness with which he presented 
 the details of his dry and complicated subject, the simplicity of his 
 diction and his lucid arrangement, at once secured for him a high 
 reputation in a body where he was suddenly called to take the lead, 
 on the great topic of the day. He was compared with, or required 
 to encounter some of the most celebrated of American statesmen. 
 He saw seated in the same assembly Livingston, Randolph, Everett, 
 Buchanan, McDuffie, Rives and others, not more distinguished for 
 force of intellectual vigor than readiness and power in debate. The 
 views he advocated were challenged alike by the supporters of a 
 high protective system, armed with an infinity of details, skilfully 
 presented ; and by those who opposed it, however modified, with 
 the strenuous force of logical deduction and scientific illustration. 
 He proved himself equal to the encounter, and the first session in 
 which he sat in Congress, and the first debate in which his abilities 
 were displayed, raised him, by general consent, into the chief rank 
 of public men. With characteristic modesty, however, he rather 
 withdrew from the conspicuous position which his reputation would 
 have authorized him to assume ; and although the traces are nume- 
 rous of his industrious devotion to business, and he is not seldom the 
 advocate of measures, sometimes indicating the generosity of his sen- 
 timents in cases that elicited personal sympathy, and sometimes 
 evincing his wise foresight and caution ; yet he appears in general 
 to have preferred to reserve for a more extensive legislative expe- 
 rience, his frequent participation in debate. 
 
 To this, however, he was not now destined. Though he was re- 
 elected to Congress for a second term, yet before the first had entirely 
 expired he was called, by the choice of the legislature of New 
 York, to occupy one of the most important posts in its executive 
 government. In January, 1829, he was appointed Comptroller— 
 the officer to whom is entrusted the management of the finances of 
 the commonwealth — and that office he continued to fill for the four 
 
12 
 
 succeeding year*. Mr. Van Buren was then its Governor, and hail 
 shortly before submitted to the legislature a plan for the establish- 
 ment of a Safety Fund, to protect the creditors of insolvent banks ; 
 it was the first of those excellent measures, designed to guard the 
 community BglinsJ the risks incidental to a paper currency, by 
 which his administrations of the State and Onion were so peculiarly 
 distinguished. His m afterwards, of the office of Se* 
 
 v of Stat", withdrew him from its personal supervision, or 
 
 BTen its practical and incipient Of • H knew, however, 
 
 that tins would be faithfully and ably performed. Though it was 
 mainly confided to commissioners, whose functions formed a part of 
 the rj ■■ t in addition to this he was thoroughly apprized of, 
 
 and relied upon the ability of the chief financial officer of the State, 
 and as such, incidentally ami necessarily connected with it ; and 
 certainly no one could feel a deeper interest or a higher satisfaction 
 than Mr. Wright, in contributing to promote the judicious plans of 
 that patriotic statesman, in whose political opinions he intimately 
 participated, and with whom the strongest ties of warm pel 
 
 friendship, never afterwards impaired, had already been formed. 
 For this, and for every branch of his official trust as Comptroller, 
 he displayed an eminent fitness; and he largely if not chiefly 
 contributed to suggest and establish, in various and useful details, 
 that excellent svstem in the management of the public moneys of the 
 . to which it owes so much of its well doing and credit. 
 Among Mr. Wright's many services at this period of his life, 
 one act should not pass unnoticed. It is not, indeed, connected 
 with his official trust, but it is remarkable alike for the spirit of 
 comprehensive patriotism from which it sprung, and the important 
 benefits to the peace and harmony of the Union, which were its 
 results. The difficulties that had arisen in the state of Georgia, 
 from the existence of an Indian tribe within its limits, imperfectly 
 subjected to its laws, and indeed asserting the right to defy them, 
 and to exercise therein an independent sovereignty, had ended in 
 the imprisonment, under the State laws, but at variance with the 
 
13 
 
 judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States, of two mission- 
 aries who resided among the Indians. A collision so seriously- 
 threatened, between that high tribunal and a state of the Union, 
 was fraught with alarming forebodings to every patriot, and seemed 
 to Mr. Wright to authorize the efforts, even of private citizens, for 
 its peaceful adjustment. In this spirit he addressed to the Gover- 
 nor of Georgia a private letter ; he was joined in so doing by two 
 of his most intimate personal friends and associates, then at Albany, 
 Mr. Flagg and Mr. Dix — men since honorably distinguished by 
 many services to their state and to the Union. He reviewed the 
 question in its various bearings with a force of reasoning, calmness 
 and temper, united to a due regard for the rights, welfare and pri- 
 vileges of the state, as a sovereign member of the confederacy, 
 which, when other attempts had failed, produced a happy termina- 
 tion of the threatening controversy. His interference was under- 
 taken with much hesitation, but under the impulses of an anxious 
 patriotism; indeed, it was not generally known until some time 
 after the event, when the letter was made public without his know- 
 ledge. 
 
 In the year 1832, Mr. Marcy, at that time a Senator in Congress 
 from the State of New York, was elected Governor, and on the 
 meeting of the legislature in the following winter, Mr. Wright was 
 chosen to be his successor. He resigned the office of Comptroller, 
 and took his seat in the Senate of the United States on the 14th of 
 January, 1833. Being afterwards twice re-elected, when his terms 
 expired, he continued to occupy that elevated station for nearly 
 twelve successive years ; and it was there that he attained to that 
 fulness of reputation to which the exhibition of his talents and con- 
 duct in so conspicuous a scene necessarily led. Nor is it too much 
 to say, that no period in the history of the Union has been marked 
 by occurrences so memorable in its domestic annals as this — so ex- 
 citing in their nature, so important in their results. The public 
 measures and political events which followed each other in rapid 
 succession, tested to an extent of which many feared the conse- 
 
14 
 
 quences, every important provision of the constitution ; and they 
 also proved that the wisdom of those who Owned it had prepared it 
 for emergencies, in every branch of its operation, which do foresight 
 could have expected to arise so early and in forms so various. Nor 
 an- these events m noticed for their intrinsic influence on 
 
 our institutions, or tin- deep and anxious interest they excited 
 throughout the nation, t Inn for the eloquence and talent with which 
 they were discussed by i body of statesmen who will prohably oc- 
 cupy, in the pages of our future history, positions scarcely inferior 
 to any that have been reached by those of their own or the prece- 
 ding 
 
 The threatening aspect "I the controversy in South Carolina had 
 fortunately given place to ■ prospect of returning harmony, just as 
 Mr. Wright entered the Senate ; and it was alike congenial to his 
 feelings and his judgment that, representing as he did the sove- 
 reignty of so great I most his first act should be to aid by 
 ofluence in its complete restoration. He assented to, and even 
 advocated changes in the existing revenue laws, greater than under 
 other circumstances he would have thought expedient. He did so 
 he deemed them necessary to secure the cordial harmony of 
 the States. "I may render myself," he said, " obnoxious to the 
 charge of legislating under the influence of fear — but are there not 
 considerations of a proper nature to justify me? There is in some 
 parts of the country a strong and deep expression of discontent at 
 our legislation on the subject of the tariff. These discontents, it is 
 not to be concealed, have risen to a height which threatens the 
 peace of the country and the integrity of the Union. The hostile 
 attitude of a sister state towards the country, induces me to do what 
 we are now bound to do ; a refusal to do it will endanger the in- 
 tegrity of the Union. This measure will bring back harmony to the 
 country, and I believe it to be just and proper to yield much to effect 
 that object. The time has come when the revenue ought to be re- 
 duced — even the revenue on protected articles. This single mea- 
 sure for effecting that reduction is presented to me for my accept- 
 
15 
 
 ance or rejection. Defective as it is in many respects, I take it as 
 a satisfactory concession to all that portion of the south which be- 
 lieves the existing laws to be unjust and oppressive. I think it a 
 measure necessary for the peace of the country, and all its defects 
 sink out of my sight." 
 
 In this truly liberal and fraternal spirit did this great man, though 
 reared in the northern extremity of the Union, allied to all the in- 
 terests of that section, and wielding the influence and possessing the 
 confidence of the most populous of its states, begin his career in 
 the Senate, and act a chief part in the fulfilment of a main purpose 
 for which it was constituted by the framers of the confederacy — 
 the preservation of the harmonious action of the States. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1833, General Jackson entered on his 
 second Presidential term, and in the following autumn the public 
 moneys were withdrawn, by his direction, from the custody of the 
 Bank of the United States. The question on which political opi- 
 nion was then most strenuously agitated and divided, was the re- 
 newal or termination of that institution, as the fiscal agent of the 
 government ; and this measure of the Executive, so unequivocal in 
 its character, created an excitement never surpassed in our domestic 
 politics. In the midst of this excitement Congress met. In the 
 Senate there was a majority of the opponents of the administration. 
 Its great leader was confident alike in the resources of his ready and 
 powerful eloquence, and in the tried devotion of that large portion 
 of the people whose enthusiastic support he had lately received. 
 He was sustained by colleagues long practised in legislative conduct 
 — some strong in intellectual vigor — several well skilled in fluent 
 debate — even a few were not wanting to exhibit a fiercer tone of 
 crimination and attack, than had ever before characterized the dis- 
 cussions of the American Senate. That body was scarcely organized, 
 when a resolution was passed asking the President to communicate 
 to the Senate, the written views expressed to the members of his 
 cabinet, when the custody of the public moneys was changed. The 
 request was met by an immediate refusal from the President, and a 
 
16 
 
 denial of their authority to require from the Executive such a 
 communication. Then commenced that ardent and- memorable 
 conflict, which lasted through the principal part of the session, 
 and was terminated by i iiuring the conduct of the Exacu* 
 
 u baring been in derogation of the constitution and laws. 
 It wai not fox tome weeks aftex thii debate commenced, that Mr. 
 H _lit participated in it. Vindicated as the administration was by 
 a band of ■tateemen, inferior indeed in aumberi to their opponents, 
 but trained in the business of Congress, and thoroughly versed in the 
 history and policy of the country — by the powerful reasoning, the 
 vigorous courage and ezhaustleai information of Benton ; by the ad- 
 mirable talent of Forsyth, who united, in a degree seldom mrp i 
 every various quality of an accomplished debater, as be excelled in 
 the attractive manners and manly spirit of a gentleman: by the 
 Henl sense and keen perception of Grundy, lighting up every 
 topic with the Bashes of a ready humor, and disclosing with inimi- 
 table skill the plausible weaknesses of his opponents — vindicated as 
 it was by these great men, and others scarcely less conspicuous or 
 efficient, Mr. Wright, with the mod. sty of one who felt that he had 
 as yet but slight legislative experience, refrained tor a time from 
 taking a prominent part. At length his official duty called on him 
 to present resolutions of the legislature of his own state, which sus- 
 tained in every point the conduct of the Executive. In doing this 
 his position in the Senate was fixed at once. His speech was 
 scarcely commenced when it arrested the attention of his opponents ; 
 it developed his sentiments, with simplicity indeed, but marked can- 
 dor and ability ; and, passing beyond the mere topics of more usual 
 controversy, it threw a broad clear light over the whole subject of 
 fiscal agency ; it challenged and required an elaborate reply. Few 
 men have risen so early and easily, by general consent, to so emi- 
 nent a place in the party to which they have attached themselves ; 
 he was classed at once among its leading men, and from that time 
 regarded as inferior to none of them. Eloquent, in one sense, he 
 may not have been, for no language was ever more unstudied — no 
 
17 
 
 address was less ornamented by imagination, or even adorned by 
 any extrinsic illustration ; but, in fixing the attention of his hearers, 
 in impressing them with a conviction of the truth of his opinion, 
 in leading them unconsciously through the train of an argument, in 
 reality the most logical but in appearance the least so, no one in 
 Congress ever surpassed him. The arrangement of every topic, di- 
 rect or collateral, was lucid ; there was an evident fulness and com- 
 pleteness in his own information, of which no doubt suggested itself 
 to the listener ; an impression was always left that he meant to be 
 less an advocate than a judge, who did not shrink from or evade, or 
 lessen the force of any position to which he was not willing to as- 
 sent, but weighed it and then decided against it. Neither his opi- 
 nions, nor the reasons by which he sustained them, bore the mark of 
 sudden impulse ; and those who concurred in the same general sen- 
 timents with him, felt that the ground on which he placed them 
 was that on which all would prefer that they should rest, after the 
 oscillations of temporary excitement had subsided. He was not a 
 cold, though perhaps not an impassioned speaker ; on the contrary, 
 his deep interest in the subject of debate was evident, and he spoke 
 as one acting from strong convictions. His temper was not easily 
 ruffled, and his courtesy was invariable, because it sprung from a 
 nature never ungenerous. He seemed to secure so much respect 
 that the instances were few, perhaps none can be recalled, in which, 
 although a constant debater, in stormy times, and adopting always, 
 and asserting his opinions without the least hesitation, he was called 
 upon to retort a sarcasm or repel a personality ; yet no one could be 
 more prompt or happy in reply, however suddenly required, in the 
 progress of debate. In his tone and deportment there was a dignity 
 so striking, but still so natural and unpretending, that while it re- 
 pelled levity and secured attention, it never approached to the 
 slightest appearance of ostentation ; and the impression which re- 
 mained most strongly in the minds of those who heard him, was that 
 of his sincerity, his fairness, his deep convictions, and his anxious 
 search for truth. Erant in eo summa verborum et gravitas et ele- 
 2 
 
18 
 
 ^nnt ia : in disserendo mira explicatio ; atque haec omnia v it. t deco- 
 rabat dignitaa el int igritas. Quantum pondua in verbis! Quam 
 nihil Don consideratum re ! 
 
 The influence thna early acquired in the Senate was uever les- 
 sened. It inc reas e d with Ii is more frequent share in its business and 
 debates; and not only in the progress and uj) to the close of the 
 fierce contr wersy in which bis powers were so signally displayed, 
 but in the important series "f measures connected with domestic 
 and foreign policy, throughout President Jackson's term, his counsels 
 came to be regarded with especial confidence by the party whose 
 doctrines he represented and espoused, and his speeches ivmain as 
 expositions, unsurpassed in ability of authority, of the grounds on 
 which they were adTocatedi Scarcely a topic within the range ol 
 general legislation failed to receive bis notice ; an array of essential 
 and d ilwavs at command, gave weight to his sugges- 
 
 tions; and on tli'- more important questions that so greatly influenced 
 the business and polirv of bis country, his speeches were masterly 
 and comprehensive in argument and fact, as they were ever charac- 
 terized by a spirit eminently patriotic. In one branch of legislation 
 iv be said to have arrived, during this period, at the highest 
 place — that connected with the finances; his knowledge was so ex- 
 tensive and accurate, his general views were so sound and his expo- 
 sitions so perspicuous, that, in the discussions relating to it, his 
 opinions were received by the whole Senate with the most marked 
 consideration. 
 
 When, therefore, Mr. Van Buren became President in 1837, and 
 was found to have the support of a majority in the Senate, Mr. 
 Wright was, by their general assent, assigned to the charge of that 
 important subject, and placed at the head of the Committee on Fi- 
 nance. Recent events contributed to make that post, which is at all 
 times arduous, then more than usually so. Congress was convened 
 in advance of its regular time of meeting, in consequence of a sud- 
 den and general suspension of specie payments, in the month of 
 May, 1837, by the banks throughout the United States, and, among 
 
19 
 
 them, by all those having the custody of the public moneys. An 
 occurrence of so grave a character at once led Mr. Wright, as it did 
 other statesmen, to the opinion that the period should not longer be 
 postponed of putting an end to all agency of those institutions in the 
 management of the public money ; and when, on the meeting of 
 Congress, the President recommended that course, in a memorable 
 message which will ever remain a monument of a sound philosophy, 
 calmly proposed and unanswerably vindicated in the midst of con- 
 flicting suggestions and the highest excitement, Mr. Wright seconded 
 his views, and framed and introduced the bill for the establishment 
 of an Independent Treasury. That a measure so radical in its cha- 
 racter, and changing in so marked a manner the system, practised 
 from the beginning of the government, should be combatted at every 
 stage, is far from surprising ; but to no one could its principal advo- 
 cacy have been better entrusted than to Mr. Wright ; and, if its 
 progress was impeded by delay and even occasional defeat, he yet 
 had the satisfaction to see it at last placed upon the statute book, 
 before the administration of Mr. Van Buren closed. Although sub- 
 sequently repealed for a time, and again restored, in the vicissitudes 
 of party ascendancy, there seems little risk in affirming that, in prin- 
 ciple and substance — even if it should be modified in form — this 
 great measure is firmly incorporated into the financial system of the 
 United States. 
 
 Although, however, it may be regarded as the most prominent in 
 its character and ultimate consequences of any adopted during that 
 administration, yet there were many other questions that excited at 
 the time a degree of interest scarcely less absorbing ; and the ardor 
 of party conflict, especially towards the close of Congress, has seldom 
 been exceeded. In most of these discussions Mr. Wright constantly 
 participated, and, not only from his conspicuous official station, but 
 even more from the confidence reposed in him by those with whom 
 he acted, and his relations arising from long political association, 
 similarity of opinions and uninterrupted personal friendship with 
 the President, he came to be peculiarly regarded as expressing, in 
 
20 
 
 nil, tin- views of the majority of the Senate, if not of the ad- 
 ministration. And though, perhaps, it cannot be properly said, or- 
 ganized as ore the houses of th»- American Congress, that be was the 
 leader of that majority, it is yet certain that on no other member 
 was devolved so large a share of labor and responsibility, as none 
 watched with such unceasing uttt-ntion, and discussed with more 
 prompt ability, every snbject ofds 
 
 If that responsibility was lessened bj the change of parties in 
 184-1, this did not diminish hit labor* Several of the laws, deemed 
 
 by him most valuable, and for the sdoptioD of width lit- had so 
 
 strenuously exerted hims.-h, were vigorously a tta ched; a general 
 
 course of policy was pursued at variance with that which he had 
 advocated . and, flushed with victory, the successful party found in 
 the saaasures of their predecessora a topic of constant comparison 
 and reproach. At every stage of these proceedings, Mr. Wright 
 was conspicuous in opposition, and perhaps he displayed, at this 
 time, and during the three following yean through which he re- 
 mained in the Senate, more marked ability in his examination of 
 and other measures then brought ('award, than at any prece- 
 ding period of his congressional life. 
 
 His term in the Senate had not expired, when he was called on 
 by obligations that could not, as he thought, be resisted, to retire 
 from that body, though it was in every respect the public station 
 most gratifying to his ambition and congenial to his taste. On seve- 
 ral occasions during the administrations of General Jackson and Mr. 
 Van Buren, he is understood to have declined executive offices of 
 high distinction ; and President Tyler, whose public measures he 
 had not unfrequently opposed, offered him, with a just discrimina- 
 tion, a place in the Supreme Court of the United States. Though 
 in general he had withdrawn from the practice of his profession, 
 since he had been in Congress, yet he had sometimes appeared as 
 counsel in important cases before that high tribunal, and there dis- 
 played as well the information and science, as the sound and acute 
 judgment which could not have failed to render him illustrious on a 
 
21 
 
 bench where Marshall had sat, and Taney would have been his 
 associate. This appointment, however, he also declined. Nor 
 was it only from offices depending on executive selection that he 
 withdrew. When the convention met at Baltimore, in May, 1844, 
 to choose candidates for the approaching election, the strongest dis- 
 position existed, among a large portion of the delegates, to nominate 
 him for the Presidential office ; but, in anticipation of such an oc- 
 currence, he had communicated to a member, by whom it was made 
 known, his fixed determination not to become a candidate. To this 
 he was induced, as he stated, equally by a sense of public duty and 
 private obligation. He had, on every occasion, expressed the wish 
 and expectation that Mr. Van Buren might be again called to that 
 distinguished office — not more from admiration of his personal abili- 
 ties and talents, and confidence in his political opinions, than from 
 the belief that his nomination was desired by a large majority of 
 those whose sentiments the convention was intended to express. 
 When, afterwards, he was himself actually selected by acclamation 
 for the Vice-Presidency, an office in regard to which his determi- 
 nation had not been previously expressed, and the same circum- 
 stances controlling his sense of duty and feeling were not thought 
 to apply, he could not be prevailed upon to serve ; though he gave, 
 as is well known, to the distinguished citizen of Pennsylvania on 
 whom the choice then fell, his zealous approbation. Nor was this 
 disinterested conduct the mere rejection of an empty honor, or the 
 indulgence of a querulous discontent. He had every reason to ex- 
 pect, as was realized in the result, that on the candidates thus brought 
 forward the highest trusts of the republic would be certainly con- 
 ferred ; and, as soon as they were nominated, he hastened, in the 
 most generous and patriotic spirit, to rally in their favor, by his 
 public and personal appeals, the popular support. If proofs were 
 wanting of the magnanimity of his nature, the sincerity of his 
 friendship, of patriotism free from selfishness, and ambition tem- 
 pered by unusual moderation, are they not found in actions such as 
 these ? And has it not, by the consenting voice of his country, 
 
22 
 
 happened to him as to the great Fabin* of ancient days, that the just 
 ^h>ry of honors' so declined surpasses any which their acceptance 
 could confer ' 
 
 When Congreai adjourned, he believed that nothing was left to 
 interfere with his continuance in the Senate, but in this be was des- 
 tined toon to be disappointed; be had scarcely reached Mew JTork 
 when be found himself itrongly urged t>> accept a nomination as 
 
 nor of the State . and this, not merely on grounds com 
 with that office, I'm it was thought that such a sacrii 
 
 inclination on his part ■■ 113 . if not indispensable, to secure 
 
 access in the national, is well aa the state election, oi the 
 ilicy he approved. After endeavoring, with sincere 
 anxiety, to withdraw himself from this necessity, he reluctantly 
 yielded, ami was elected by the lar 1 bat has ever been given 
 
 in that state in favor of any candidate for any office. 
 
 [fthe merits and patriotism of a itatesman are to be tested by the 
 • that surround him, the zeal with which be encounters 
 them, the offers and the good he achieves, then have 
 
 the two years, during which Mr. Wright was Governor of New fork, 
 contrihuted most to nil fame. Aa this was the closing period of his 
 public service, ao ia it the epoch which those who admire and 
 a him regard with most admiration and pride; and as it was 
 followed, for the first time in his public life, by the loss of popular 
 nipport, it often the testimony to his patriotism which alone was 
 wanting — that he never sought to gain or retain popularity, office 
 or power, by the sacrifice of duty. To his lot it fell to perform two 
 most difficult of all tasks required from an executive officer — the 
 one, to vindicate violated laws, of which the imperfection and even 
 injustice are the incipient cause of their violation ; the other, to hold 
 back the too rapid impulses of successful and useful enterprise, where 
 nt benefits seem to justify and demand that they should be 
 seconded rather than checked. 
 
 In more than one of the states, serious troubles have arisen from 
 the remnants of colonial institutions, uncongenial to republican gov- 
 
23 
 
 ernment, and unwisely left, at the revolution, either for future ad- 
 justment, or from inattention to the certain and unfortunate results 
 that must flow from their continuance. With them too have been 
 usually connected, in one shape or other, private rights entitled to 
 protection. Such were the feudal and leasehold tenures of New 
 York — remnants of an age and country in which the relations of 
 property, labor and social intercourse were greatly different from 
 those of republican America, in the nineteenth century. But they 
 were guaranteed by law ; they were the foundation of extensive 
 private rights ; every attempt violently to subvert them was a pub- 
 lic outrage, and a wrong to individuals. Yet such attempts had 
 been made ; from small beginnings, some years before, they had as- 
 sumed by degress a character scarcely less than revolutionary ; riot- 
 ous assemblages had grown into organized insurrection ; and when 
 Mr. Wright became governor, he found in several counties flagrant 
 violations of the rights of persons and property, supported by open 
 and armed resistance to the laws. His first message to the legisla- 
 ture declared his determination and disclosed his policy ; to execute 
 the existing laws ; firmly to meet and rebuke these proceedings ; to 
 confer promptly on the executive all needful means, civil and mili- 
 tary ; not to discuss the grievances complained of, or their remedies, 
 while the supremacy of the laws was defied. On these principles 
 he resolutely acted, and aided not inconsiderably by the firmness 
 and devotion of the county officers, the judiciary and the citizens ; 
 and seconded to some extent by the legislature, he was able, when 
 that body assembled a year afterwards, to report an entire cessation 
 of armed and illegal opposition, in every county of the state. Then, 
 but not till then, did he submit his views on the original subject of 
 complaint. With unanswerable and cogent reasoning, and in the 
 spirit of an enlightened statesman, he recommended changes which, 
 while they should fully protect private rights, would reform the an- 
 tiquated system from which these misfortunes sprung. In adminis- 
 tering, too, his executive functions, while he suffered not crime to 
 escape unpunished, he tempered, with the considerate wisdom which 
 
M 
 
 such an emergency required, the extreme severity of the laws. 
 That in his course through these events, so trying to him m a ma- 
 gistrate, a citizen, and a man, he could the c< nsure of then 
 who thought he did too little or too much, he of all men, ever diffi- 
 dent of himself, was among the last to expect; thai he did not 
 ••cape, was proved fay the bet tha4 it largely contributed to fan 
 the basis of those political combinations which subsequently pre- 
 vent.,! hi. re-election. Yet, when he retired, ;iil had become tran- 
 quil where disorder had wildly reigned j so far ai the changes bad 
 Tied that he suggested, they had proved effective ; and his con- 
 viction was not unreasonable, thai a faithful perseverance in bis plans 
 by the Legislature and the executive must secure permanent harmony 
 to the state. 
 
 Nor was this the only great difficulty which he resolutely en- 
 countered and overcame, while governor of New York. The wise 
 policy by which at an early il.iy the expenditures for public works 
 had been so limited as to secure, at their outset, the payment of their 
 cost, by a definite tax, and a fixed appropriation of their proceeds 
 when completed, was preserved throughout his administration by 
 an ex ireise of his constitutional veto; and, what was truly gratify- 
 ing to him (who so much regretted to be called on for that exercise 
 of an executive privilege,) he saw, before he retired from the public 
 service, these principles deliberately sanctioned by the people, and 
 withdrawn by an amendment of the constitution from all danger of 
 any future Legislative infringement. Yet it is not to be doubted that 
 this conduct, wise, patriotic and successful as it was, like his resolute 
 proceedings against the insurrectionary violation of the laws, had 
 its effect in lessening his popularity among portions of the people, 
 with whose interests or opinions it interfered; and that the two 
 mainly contributed to force into retirement the man whose public 
 services were of infinitely more value to his country, than its hi 
 honors were desirable to himself. Can we doubt that no incidents 
 in his past career dwelt more gratefully in his thoughts, or con- 
 tributed more to brighten and to cheer the residue, alas ! too short, 
 
25 
 
 of his virtuous life ? "I have not had," he says, in a private letter 
 to a friend, written not long after the election of his opponent, 
 "one unhappy hour, from the personal consequences of my late de- 
 feat ; while it has given me a happiness, in my retirement, that I 
 have not known through many long years of my responsible public 
 service." 
 
 Nor was the change uncongenial to his personal feelings. His 
 long intercourse in public life had never diminished, in the least 
 degree, the warmth of his domestic affections and tastes ; and rural 
 occupations were those he most loved to pursue. With no habits of 
 expense, totally unambitious if not regardless of wealth, he had not 
 accumulated even a moderate fortune. At an early day he had pur- 
 chased a small farm, near the village of Canton, and though in later 
 years some addition was made to it, yet it was never too large to be 
 cultivated, with only some occasional aid, by his own personal 
 labor. To this he had hastened in every interval of his public ser- 
 vice ; to this he now repaired, in the sincere hope that it was to be 
 his permanent abode. "I am trying," he says in a letter written 
 about this time to a friend, " to become a farmer in fact, and have, 
 during this season, labored very steadily. Each day tires me a good 
 deal, but I eat and sleep well, and enjoy a freedom from care and 
 a contentment which are already becoming very dear to me." In 
 writing, not many weeks before his death, to a friend who was de- 
 sirous he should visit him, in the state of Maine, he says : " If I 
 were to attempt to tell you how happy we make ourselves at our 
 retired home, I fear you would scarcely be able to credit me. I 
 even yet realize, every day and every hour, the relief from public 
 cares and perplexities; and if any thought about temporal affairs 
 could make me more uneasy than another, it would be the serious 
 thought that I was again to take upon myself, in any capacity, that 
 ever-pressing load. I cannot make my visit to you this year. I 
 have become a farmer in earnest, though upon a very humble scale ; 
 and I find little leisure for recreation. Even if my business would 
 permit, I should not dare to travel this year ; as I should be sus- 
 
26 
 
 1 of doing it for sinister purposes, which would destroy to me 
 all the pleasures of the journey, and cause me to be received and 
 ted as a moving beggar — not foe food) which might be excused — 
 but for favors I do not a*k. Alt. r this, I shall be relieved from that 
 •. and then I hope tli.- time may come when I may 
 visit you, and have the pleasure of fishing with you for cod, with- 
 out the suspicion of being a fisher of men." 
 
 That these hopes of permanent retirement could bave ever 
 been entirely realised, may well be doubted . for what more is 
 ! than tb-- exhibitions of feeling called forth bv bis death, 
 to prove how generally the thoughts of bis countrymen bad turned 
 teaman destined for their highest trust and honors? 
 Though he had not the ambition to covet them; though from 
 them be would willingly have shrunk . yet he was never selfish, 
 nor would he have proved to be indifferent to any obligation that 
 might spring from duty to his country, or respect to the wishes 
 ol his friends. JJut in his tranquil life, now resumed with a 
 brighter promise of continuance than be bail e\ er known before, 
 
 !UU to have tried to shut out all such prospects; and, in 
 the enjoyment of his humble home, in the cultivation of his farm, 
 in the most friendly, social, cordial intercourse with those around 
 him, (for none were there but friends) — above all, in the peaceful re- 
 
 of that domestic affection which no circumstance had ever 
 
 known to ruffle, be enjoyed the happiness which comes only 
 to him whose desires are moderate , whose spirit is independent and 
 self relying : whose actions have been generous, disinterested and 
 useful ; whose heart has become the abode of virtue, charity and 
 peace. Of his life in retirement, such is a faithful picture. It was 
 passed, it is true, far from the highways of the world, but it could 
 not be hidden from every eye ; and, once beheld, it could not be 
 forgotten. From a sketch drawn by one who was often a gratified 
 witness of this scene, we may select a few traits that vividly record, 
 with all the truth of personal observation, the impressions thus made 
 and treasured up. " His house," Mr. Gillett writes, " is in no wise 
 
27 
 
 distinguished from those of his neighbors ; I think it cost him some 
 eight hundred dollars. In all respects he lives in the plain, simple, 
 unostentatious style of the farmers of the town, any one of whom is 
 always met with cheering smiles of welcome at his hospitable thresh- 
 hold. In dress, he is uniformly plain. Except for a brief period in 
 1834, he has almost always enjoyed robust health. On returning 
 from Washington, he devotes himself, as far as his numerous calls 
 permit, to the cultivation of his garden, and his small farm adjoining 
 the village. When in the field, he labors, like any other farmer, in 
 all the details of business. He cannot be said to have any amuse- 
 ments, although he may sometimes be seen with a fishing rod in his 
 hand. Whatever promotes the substantial interest of his town, is 
 certain to receive his attention. The construction of roads and 
 bridges, the erection of churches and public edifices, are objects that 
 attracted his early care, and have been essentially promoted by the 
 labor of his own hands. Whether in the affairs of his own town, in 
 his own business, or in the council of the nation, he seems, without 
 bustle, display or confusion, to be always in the right place, doing 
 the right thing, and in the best and most suitable manner. No one 
 is more void of selfishness ; during my long acquaintance, I have 
 never known him to be laying a plan for pecuniary gain, or personal 
 advancement. His engagements, of every description, he fulfils 
 with scrupulous fidelity. In cases of sickness, he has always been 
 the first to offer his services ; and I have known him to walk miles, 
 in stormy weather, over muddy roads, to watch with the sick. No 
 one performs this task more frequently, or more cheerfully. I have 
 never seen the least particle of irritation, nor any manifestation of 
 petulance or ill temper. The most violent assaults of political op- 
 ponents never disturb him. He is at all times, and on all occasions, 
 the same calm, dignified, respectful man that he is in the Senate of 
 the United States. An unkind word never escapes him. He wounds 
 the feelings of no one. I verily believe he has not a personal enemy 
 in the world. His neighbors who chance to differ with him in poli- 
 tics, esteem and admire him in all the relations of a citizen and a 
 
28 
 
 friend: they feel proud of him and sincr.lv rejoice at hit rk 
 and, but for the strength of partial) ties, would vote for him for any 
 office. When he returns from Congress, yon may see die Bged and 
 the young, the rich and the poor, flocking to meet him and welcome 
 him home — to congratulate him, and to communicate their good 
 wishes for his prosperity and happiness." 
 
 Such were his conduct, character and life; yet, amid tin 
 ist.nce of much tared contentment and peace — in this glad with- 
 drawal from the paths of worldly honors and ambition — he did not 
 seek to wrap himself in the mantle of selfish seclusion; he regarded 
 with interest not abated whatever affected the prosperi ty of his 
 country ; he cheerfully contributed his counsel or his aid whenever 
 needed by his fellow citizens or friends. Invited, but a slmr) time 
 before his death, to participate in the proceedings of a convention 
 of delegates of th«- highest respectability, which assembled at Chi- 
 cago, to promote the improvement of the harbors, rivers and chan- 
 nels of trade in the great west ; and being unable to do so person- 
 ally ; he addressed a communication to it, which is the more in* 
 ing as being his last public participation in political affairs; nor is 
 it less so from the intrinsic wisdom of its counsels. In a movement 
 destined perhaps to be important to the welfare of the Union, he 
 urged at the outset the adoption of those wise principles which, in 
 earlier days, and in a case somewhat similar, we have seen him en- 
 deavor to blend indissolubly with the policy of his own i 
 Heartily approving of the declared objects of the convention, his 
 advice was, that the aim should be to obtain legislative aid only for 
 works afTordins; general and certain benefit, and not uniting with 
 these such as were of a utility merely local . to rest every case on 
 its own separate and intrinsic merit; and, keeping these rules in 
 view, to seek generally, though perhaps not invariably, for the im- 
 provement of those avenues where commerce actually exists, rather 
 than the creation of such as would be new. Who can doubt that if 
 these principles shall be adopted and steadily adhered to, they will, 
 on the one hand, justly further the prosperity of the country, while 
 
29 
 
 they avoid, on the other, a wild exercise of doubtful constitutional 
 power, or an unjust extravagance in national expenditure'? 
 
 Of his public acts, this was the last connected with political affairs. 
 One other, peculiarly interesting to him, because associated with his 
 own pursuits as well as those of the vast body of his fellow citizens, 
 was arrested, though scarcely before its close, by the hand of death. 
 He had been chosen to deliver the annual address before the Agri- 
 cultural Association of the State, which was to assemble at Saratoga. 
 To prepare this had been his pleasing occupation during the sum- 
 mer ; his evenings had been chiefly passed, after his daily labors in 
 the garden and the field, in collecting facts which he deemed appro- 
 priate and useful ; and he had embodied them in an essay which 
 blends with excellent practical views, suggestions as to the relations 
 and mutual bearing of trade and manufactures on agricultural pros- 
 perity, which it is eminently useful to diffuse among an educated 
 and intelligent population, chiefly engaged in rural occupations. 
 
 During the evening of the 26th of August, 1847, he employed 
 himself in the last revision of his labor, evincing in it an unabated 
 interest. On the following morning he went, as usual, to the village 
 post office, and, while reading a letter there, he was seized with a 
 sudden and acute pain at the heart. Resting there for a short time, 
 he felt relieved, and calmly walked to his own house, accompanied 
 by several friends and his physician, who had hastened to him. 
 From the first moment of the attack, he seemed to regard it as fatal, 
 though none around him did so. But the composure of his mind 
 remained quite unruffled. Reaching home, he laid himself quietly 
 on his bed, conscious of and grateful for the affectionate attention he 
 received, and the watchful care of those he loved. In two hours 
 afterwards he tranquilly breathed his last. The spirit of unrepining 
 gentleness and contentment — the good genius that never left him in 
 his journey through a world of care, hovered around his last mo- 
 ments, until life departed without a struggle or a pang. 
 
 To portray his character, what more is needed than this record, 
 which has aimed to collect, without exaggeration, the story of his 
 
30 
 
 life; what proof of \\< excellence, beyond the estimation he attained 
 in tho hearts and judgment of men ? For our age, in which he has 
 lived, and to whose p r og re ss and benefit ho contributed so much, 
 this indeed i> more than sufficient; and to those who shall hereafter 
 
 for the minuter traits of his intellect, his conduct, his temper, 
 and his virtues, we can oifi-r do other delineation bo ample, unpre- 
 judiced and true V. t one obligation will remain — to acknowledge 
 th<- debt due to him by his country and his age for the Lessons they 
 are to derive, more eloquent than Language, from his bright example. 
 He baa taught us that unruffled content may be won ; that the Loftiest 
 
 may be reached; that social relations, various and refined, may 
 be happily enjoyed ; that beneficence may be Largely practised, in 
 all it i public service and private intercourse — without the 
 
 non, nay, without tie- desire, of fortune beyond the humblest 
 
 comji- ' II taught US that influence, and station, and 
 
 power, may be used without our.' seeking to pervert them to a sel- 
 fish or unworthy purpose ; that manly adherence to political opinions, 
 carefully formed and honestly maintained, is never inconsistent with 
 the great obligations of conciliation, forbearance, and generous 
 compromise; that honors declined can confer more happiness and 
 glory than those which are received ; that intelligence the brightest, 
 in a sphere the most conspicuous, derives new Lustre and wields more 
 power from a modesty always unassuming, and a temper which 
 never wounds ; and, above all, that the blessings of domestic Life, so 
 endearing and attractive, may ever be preserved unsullied to soothe 
 and cheer the hours most devoted to our country's service. If, in- 
 deed, this great and good man exhibited — as who can doubt — the 
 severe virtue, the steady purpose, the devoted patriotism, and the 
 broad philanthrophy that marked the character of the Roman states- 
 man, let us not forget that he has taught us to blend with them a spirit 
 more gentle and forbearing — that spirit which should distinguish a 
 people whose bond is one of justice, reason and affection, and to 
 whom have been revealed the divine lessons of a milder and purer 
 faith. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 it 
 
 Bll 898 142 fi