South, nor war shown its frowning, furious front; nor, when it was over, would there have followed under the name of peace a conflict worse than war, by the addition of pestilence and famine, with liberty and the Constitution crushed out, and men groaning and perishing under legislative intolerance and fury, and the iron hand of military tyranny. That Washington consulted Madison in preparing this address, who probably wrote most of it, is a fact that belongs to the record of Democracy.

79.-SILAS WRIGHT.

In 1847, at the time of his death, no man in the United States had a stronger hold upon the confidence of the American people than Silas Wright. The son of a Vermont farmer, he had acquired and preserved the tastes, habits, and many of the manners of that invaluable and reliable class of people. He had risen, by mind alone, from a simple town officer to that of United States Senator and Chief Magistrate of the great State of New York. In Canton, N. Y., where he resided, he cheerfully served his neighbors in various town offices, including that of path-master, working with his own hands on the highways. In the militia he had served from captain to brigadier, and in the civil service from a justice of the peace to the high court for the correction of errors -the latter in virtue of the office of State Senator. His service in the House of Representatives was followed by the more important one of Comptroller of the State, and that followed by the still higher one of United States Senator. His last public service was as Governor of the State in 1845-'46. For no one of these

places did he make himself a candidate, but in each was the selected leader of others. No one ever complained of the manner in which he performed the duties of any station he ever held. He was of medium size, erect, and active in all his movements, possessing indomitable energy and perseverance. His appearance was prepossessing, and his manners simple, but those of a gentleman, combining elegant courtesy with sincerity. He was polite to all, and overbearing to none. As a magistrate, he was the settler instead of the promoter of litigation. As a surrogate, he was the able and conscientious adviser of all having business be

fore him. As a lawyer, he has been Irv u kek lis tent his adversary in a room mail they setled the Dönties. As a neighbor, he was the standard of comparison for every thing god As a friend, he was the most relive. He even declined vi offered by Presilat Tyler, what he would have performed to al other offices in the world a seas on the bench of the Score Court, because of his attachment to Mr. Van Earan, not being willing to desert him during his exctest for the presidency. He was placed in the Senate by his political friends, expecting he would stand by Mr. Van Buren, and neither his inclination nor his duty would permit him to disappoint this expectation of his friends, During the canvass for Governor, the writer had occasion to say what he knew of Mr. Wright, and among other things stated:

"Whatever tended to promote the substantial interests of his town was certain to receive his attention. The construedia of roads and brides, the erection of churches and public edifees, were objects that attracted his early attention, and were essentially promoted by the labor of his own hands. Un palle day called him away, he often acted as path-master in his district, and personally performed as much labor as any citizen. A emper tion between his and other districts led to results still visible in his town. In case of sickness he was always the first to cfer his services. I have known him to walk miles in stormy weather, over muddy roads, to watch with the sick. No ose performed this task more frequently or cheerfully. No one is more devoid of selfishness. During my long acquaintance, I never knew him to be laying plans for pecuniary gain or personal advancement. No man has ever accused him of doing a personal wrong or any injustice. He always fulfils his engagements, of every description, with scrupulous fidelity. The example of Mr. Wright on this, as on many other subjects, has exerted a most salutary infuence upon the citizens of his town, often noticed and frequently mentioned by the people of other towns. There are but few among his neighbors, of either party, who do not feel heartily proud of him, and manifest an anxiety to act so as to meet his approval. His frankness and sincerity have made impressions ". friends and associates, which a stranger will readily

Such was his real character, as seen in his every-day life, by those who knew him best. It was not only the old and middleaged that became attached to him, but the young, and even children, would arrange themselves where he was expected to walk, to receive his recognition and to be made happy by his kind remarks. More than thirty years ago, a sort of a fairy young miss, from the Green Mountain State, was asked why she liked him. Her answer, full of the real philosophy of life, was this: "He always speaks so kind to me." She still lives in the first town in that State, and practises the great philosophical principle which she unconsciously announced.

Mr. Wright was not free from temper and strong impulses, but they were under the most absolute control. Upon only two occasions were they ever shown: one, when Daniel D. Barnard, in Congress, spoke slightingly of his parents, and called him, then a member of the House of Representatives, a mere county court lawyer, and another, when it was evident that the vote of a New York member and messmate had been tampered with on a pending question.

A more honest and conscientious man never lived. It was an inflexible rule with him, in all matters between him and his neighbors, never to take the doubtful penny. Before leaving in the fall to attend the Senate, he inventoried every thing he had in a book, and whenever there was a private understanding between him and another, such as postponing the payment of a note, or bond, a memorandum was always made of it in the proper place in this book. He kept his business so snug, that when he died his only debts were the wages of his hired man for the current month and a shilling to a blacksmith for work done a day or two before.

His industry was proverbial. When at home, he labored on his small farm beside his assistant, performing quite his share of the work. As Comptroller, he was indefatigable in his duties, and was perfect master of the whole of the extensive business of that office. While in the Senate, no one performed a greater amount of committee duty. Whatever devolved upon him was performed with his own hand. Even when chairman of the Committee on

Finance he always refused to have a clerk, as is now the fashion of most committees in Congress. One consequence was, that his reports, bills, and remarks, were free from blunders. To avoid the interruption of company, he very often left his own committeeroom and worked in another. To relieve the brain when overworked, he, like the distinguished Meredith, read light works which he did not attempt to remember. When young, and in his law-office, he was an incessant reader of Shakespeare. He was then a liberal smoker, to quiet his nerves, and frequently left his bed for that purpose. He was exceedingly fond of hunting and fishing, and frequently shouldered his pack and went with friends to that vast wilderness lying between the settled parts of St. Lawrence and Saratoga and Montgomery, commonly called "John Brown's Tract." On such occasions he always sustained his full share of the hardships.

He never engaged in speculations, being content with the slow gains of his labor. On two occasions, friends, without his knowledge, made in his name subscriptions in two companies, which he did not feel at liberty to disavow, although against his wishes, in one of which there was a small profit, and in the other a loss quite sufficient to balance the account.

In dress he was neat, but plain and simple. He was only anxious to appear respectable in his position. Although apparently cool and collected, he was really quite diffident, which contributed to his wish to avoid occasions where formalities and display were the leading features. His colloquial powers were great. He won the hearts of those who called upon him, by the peculiar charm of his conversation, which was always natural and easy. His speeches were usually prepared with considerable labor, but were never written out in advance, nor were forcible or eloquent expressions studied. It was common for him to write on note-paper his propositions, with sums and dates, if figures. were necessary, each proposition being on a separate half-sheet, and folded and arranged in the order in which they were to be used. The object of this seemed to be, the orderly presentation of his thoughts, and to render his positions clear and distinct. Neatness and order pervaded every thing he touched. When

writing, his thoughts were so arranged and his words so chosen, that he often wrote a long report without there appearing an interlineation or erasure. His celebrated agricultural address, prepared shortly before his death, was sent to certain friends for suggestions, if thought proper. His friend A. C. Flagg suggested the change of one word, the meaning of which might be the subject of question. His last labor with a pen was performed the evening before his death, in rewriting the page containing it, rather than to mar it by erasure and interlineation. This habit of perfect order pervaded all the acts of his whole life.

As a speaker, he was distinguished, not by brilliancy, or flights of imagination, or winning expressions, but for clear, forcible, powerful, and logical argument. A celebrated foreign traveller once listened to a debate in which Preston, Clay, and other distinguished orators took part, which was closed by Mr. Wright. He declared, when he returned to his quarters, that he was charmed with the eloquence of these distinguished speakers, but when they had finished he could not see that they had made much progress in elucidating the subject under consideration. But after them followed an unpretending Senator, a Mr. Wright, of New York, who took up the subject and presented it so clearly and argued his propositions with so much judgment, force, and effect, that he felt as if he was master of the whole subject, and should never forget it. He said he was irresistibly carried along, and could not doubt the Senator's conclusions-that he had been in all the leading legislative bodies in Europe, and had heard distinguished men speak, but had never heard a more forcible, or logical argument.

Mr. Wright had one faculty, of great use to a man in public life, which he naturally, if not unavoidably, cultivated, and which proved vastly useful, though not generally recognized. He successfully read the thoughts and characters of men with whom he came in contact, and seldom made a mistake. Had his suggestions, resulting from this knowledge thus acquired, prevailed, many mistakes in appointments would have been avoided by General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren. This scrutiny into character became so much a habit, that in later years it seemed unavoida