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THE NATIONAL BEREAVEMENT.-
OBSEQUIES AT WASHINGTON AND OTHER CITIES. - BURIAL AT NATICK. - MR.
WILSON'S CHARACTER.
THE intelligence of the
death of the Vice-President was received with profound emotion by the
whole country. Flags were displayed at half-mast; minute-guns were
fired; bells were tolled; the United-States courts were adjourned; and
men of all parties, from Maine to Texas, united in expressions of
sorrow. In the afternoon of the day on which Mr. Wilson died, President
Grant called a meeting of his cabinet, and issued the following order: -
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON,
Nov. 22, 18Th.
It is with profound
sorrow that the President has to announce to the people of the United
States the death of the Vice-President, Henry Wilson, who died in the
Capitol of the nation this morning. The eminent station of the deceased,
his high character, his long career in the service of his State and of
the Union, his devotion to the cause of freedom, and the ability which
he brought to the discharge of every duty, stand conspicuous, and are
indelibly impressed on the hearts and affections of the American people.
In testimony of respect for this distinguished citizen and faithful
public servant, the various departments of the government will be closed
on the day of the funeral; and the executive mansion, and all the
executive departments in Washington, will be draped with badges of
mourning for thirty days. The Secretary of War and Secretary of the Navy
will issue orders that appropriate military and naval honors be rendered
to the memory of one whose virtues and services will long be borne in
recollection by a grateful nation.
U. S. GRANT.
By the President,
HAMILTON FISH, Secretary
of State.
On Thursday, the body of
Mr. Wilson in a costly casket, resting on the catafalque which bore the
remains of President Lincoln, Chief Justice Chase, and Senator Sumner,
lay in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol, and was visited by
thousands, who bent over it with tearful emotion and profound respect.
On the day following, the remains were removed to the senate-chamber,
where at half-past ten, A.M., the nation, through its highest officers,
performed the solemn obsequies in honor of the dead. The day was ushered
in by the firing of cannon and the tolling of bells; and, though dark
and rainy, every seat in the galleries was occupied long before the
services commenced. The senate-chamber draped in mourning, the President
and Cabinet, the Justices of the Supreme Court in their black gowns, the
members of the diplomatic corps (at the head of which was Sir Edward
Thornton), the officers of the army and navy in uniform, and the
committee of arrangements with white silk sashes, and black-and-white
rosettes, presented a most solemn and impressive scene. The chair of the
Vice-President was arrayed in crape, Senator Ferry occupying another
seat. When the casket, borne by twelve soldiers, and followed by Mr.
Colbath and wife, with other relatives of the deceased, was brought into
the chamber, the entire audience arose; and Dr. Sunderland, chaplain of
the Senate, pronounced the passage: "Lord, make me to know mine end,"
&c., with great solemnity and impressiveness. Dr. J. E. Rankin, whose
church the Vice-President attended, then delivered an appropriate
eulogy, in the course of which he made this just distinction between the
character of Mr. Wilson and that of his co-worker in the Senate, Mr.
Sumner: -
"It is beautiful to see
how these two great men of Massachusetts, born one year apart, starting
so differently in life, educated so differently, supported and
complemented each other. The one, a man of books; the other, a man of
men: the one, a man of ideas; the other, a man of facts: the one, a man
of the few; the other, a man of the many: the one sometimes almost
losing himself in his distance of advance before the nation; the other
always keeping step with the grand movement of the people, going forward
only so fast as his true popular instinct taught him that people were
ready to follow. In these two men, so unlike, and yet so representative
of the extremes in American society, was the New-England idea enshrined
and represented on this floor."
At the conclusion of the
services in the senate-chamber, the procession attended the funeral-car,
drawn by six white horses caparisoned in black, with solemn dirges, and
with cannon pealing, to the station of the Baltimore and Potomac
Railroad, where Senator Thurman delivered the remains to the charge of
Massachusetts Committee of Arrangements, which left for Baltimore early
in the afternoon. The Fifth Regiment of that city, which Mr. Wilson had
addressed, and which had received many courteous attentions on its late
visit to Boston, tendered its services as an escort of the body to its
final resting-place; but, inasmuch as many other military organizations
had done the same, it was thought advisable to decline the offer. The
rotunda of the new City hall in Baltimore was draped in mourning for the
reception of the remains; and demonstrations of sorrow everywhere
prevailed. In Philadelphia, funeral-honors were imposingly rendered to
the body of the beloved statesman in Independence hall, on Saturday,
where as many as ten thousand people passed in tearful silence by the
beautiful casket. The hearse was drawn by ten black horses; the chime of
St. Stephen's Church pealed forth the "Dead March;" and business was
generally suspended along the streets through which the solemn cortege
passed. The remains were escorted through the city of New York by a
military force, consisting of several regiments, followed by
representatives of the State and City authorities, the Board of Trade,
the Republican Central Committee, and the New-England Society. Guns were
fired, and expressions of public sorrow manifested in all sections of
the city.
While the death of Mr.
Wilson, who was perhaps personally known by more people than any other
statesman of his time, produced a deep impression of sorrow through the
entire country, which might be said to be all arrayed in mourning, it
was in Boston and vicinity, where he had spent so many of his days, and
where his sterling virtues were best understood, that the national loss
was most profoundly felt, and the manifestation of grief the most
prolonged and touching. On the reception of the sad intelligence of Mr.
Wilson's death, Gov. Gaston made the announcement:-
COMMONWEALTH OF
MASSACHUSETTS,
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, BOSTON, Nov. 22, 187.
It becomes my most
painful duty to announce to the people of this Commonwealth the death of
Vice- President Wilson, which occurred at the Capitol at Washington,
this morning, at twenty minutes past seven o'clock.
The loss of this pure and
distinguished statesman and honest man will be the cause of great
mourning throughout the country, and especially in the State in which he
resided, where he was best known, and therefore most highly honored.
WILLIAM GASTON.
A meeting of the Board of
Aldermen was held; resolves were passed, and addresses made, in the
course of which Mr. Stebbins said, -
"For a period of nearly
forty years, his struggles, defeats, and labors, which were crowned in
his later years with reward and honor, have closely identified the name
of Henry Wilson with the history of Massachusetts and of our country.
His life has ever been an incentive to the common people in their
aspirations by honest personal labor to reach a higher level. His death
will teach the lesson and value of personal integrity, which enabled him
to withstand the temptations which ever surrounded his years of public
service. His labors in behalf of the oppressed will endear his memory in
their hearts; and on the memorial which will mark his last resting-place
should be engraved,
He served his imperilled
country faithfully, withstood temptations, and died an honest man."
"The good and true never
die, never die:
They live in our hearts, ever nigh, ever nigh.'"
The United-States
District Court was adjourned; and, in his address, Judge Clark
appropriately said, -
There is a beautiful
prayer of Eastern poetry, 'May you die among your kindred!' The
Vice-President has died, not among his kindred in the ordinary sense,
nor in the land of his nativity, but in the broader sense, - among the
American people, who were his kinsmen, at the nation's capital, at the
place of his highest usefulness, and the scene of his greatest
activities. Fortunate in his life, fortunate in his death. Eminently fit
it is that we pause, and recognize the solemnity of the occasion. . . .
When a public servant falls by death, it is a public loss; and the
nation mourns. But when a person so eminently active, wise, honest, and
good, as was Henry Wilson, dies, the public heart is well-nigh crushed.
The Court has no inclination to proceed with the business of the day;
and sure it is that Massachusetts, called so lately to bury her
illustrious senator, will pause, and let fall bitter tears, as she
receives to the bosom of her soil the remains of the late Vice-President
to rest in fit companionship with him by whose side he struggled so
heroically in the nation's peril.
"The Court will now
adjourn until to-morrow."
On the reception of the
mournful news at Natick, the bells were tolled, a public meeting was
held, at which eulogistic speeches were made; and this among other
resolutions was unanimously adopted: -
"Resolved, That,
in the death of Henry Wilson, our town has lost a valued and beloved
citizen; and as a people, without regard to sectarian or party lines, we
unitedly mourn the loss of one whose character and career have reflected
so much honor upon the town of his adoption."
A committee, consisting
of Messrs. Dunn and Turner of the Executive Council, and Cols. Wyman and
Campbell of Gov. Gaston's staff, were appointed to convey the remains of
the Vice-President to Massachusetts; and on Saturday, Nov. 27, a large
memorial meeting was held in Faneuil hall, in which eloquent tributes of
respect were paid to the dead by Mayor Cobb, Gov. William Gaston, Gen.
N. P. Banks, Hon. E. R. Hoar, Hon. Charles F. Adams, and George L.
Ruffin, Esq. The hall was festooned in black and white; and the white
bust of Mr. Wilson stood upon the platform. In the course of his
remarks, Goy. Gaston most truly said, -
"A statesman has gone to
his rest, and a nation mourns. The benediction of a people grateful for
his services will follow him to his grave. Such, under the providence of
God, even in this world, are the final rewards of an honest and
well-spent life. By his energy, his ability, and his merit, he trod the
various paths of honor, until he reached almost the highest office in
the gift of forty millions of people. From his example and success, the
humblest boy in the nation may learn that in this republic there are no
summits upon which his eyes may not rest, or upon which his feet may not
stand."
In his eloquent eulogy,
Gen. Banks paid this noble tribute to his lamented friend -
"It was the choice and
the privilege of every man in this country to fashion his own career.
Mr. Wilson made his choice, and worked out his own career. It was a
majestic, a multitudinous constituency, of which he became at once the
distinguished representative. It was for the poor and the oppressed that
he gave his life-long services, in the same category with Messrs.
Burlingame, Rantoul, Sumner, and others, among whom he was entitled to a
distinguished position. There may have been momentary departures; but he
always returned to duty with unfailing fidelity and with undaunted
heroism. It was necessary for such men to work constantly among the
masses of the people, whom he represented. As a practical man, he stood
one of the first and foremost of the time. In all that information which
was more necessary for government than all the learning of the schools,
he was one of the leaders of the age.
"Added to this, he had an
unceasing activity, an exuberance of strength, and a determination of
personal character, that enabled him fully to acquaint himself with the
wants and feelings of the people. He had left behind him, through his
energy, and his devotion to principle, a reputation second to none in
our day, and which entitled him to the respect, the love, the enduring
remembrance, of all his fellow-men in this and in coming years."
The funeral train, draped
in mourning, arrived in Boston at half-past ten o'clock on Sunday
morning, Nov. 28, where it was awaited by a vast concourse of sincere
mourners, who felt that they had lost a personal friend. Amid the
tolling of bells and other signs of general lamentation, the casket was
escorted by the Independent Cadets to the Done Hall in the State House,
where Col. Wyman, delivering it to Gov. Gaston, spoke as follows: -
"YOUR EXCELLENCY, - In
obedience to your orders, we proceeded to Washington, where we received
from the National Committee the remains of the late Vice- President; and
we have escorted them to this place."
To which his Excellency
replied: -
"Massachusetts receives
from you her illustrious dead. She will see to it that he whose dead
body you bear to us, but whose spirit has entered upon its higher
service, shall receive honors befitting the great office which in life
he held; and I need not assure you that her people, with hearts full of
respect, of love, and of veneration, will not only guard and protect the
body, the coffin, and the grave, but will also ever cherish his name and
fame. Gentlemen, for the pious service which you have so kindly and
tenderly rendered, accept the thanks of a grateful Commonwealth."
Doric Hall was heavily
draped in black, the battle-flags being looped with crape, and covering
the cannons; while Mr. Wilson's monogram rested on a black curtain at
the head of the catafalque. A harp composed of white roses and other
flowers rested on the casket; while a cross and crown of violets and
roses, and of elegant design, stood at the head, and an anchor of
funeral-flowers at the foot, of the casket. A single soldier, immovable
as a statue, guarded the remains, as the vast throng, amounting, it
might have been, to twenty thousand, filed in silence through the hail,
and gazed for the last time on the pallid features of the beloved
advocate of civil progress, freedom, and fraternity.
Eloquent memorial
discourses were pronounced in many of the churches during the day; among
which those of Dr. D. C. Eddy, Dr. George C. Lorimer, Dr. S. F. Upham of
Lynn, of the Revs. M. J. Savage, J. B. Dunn, and Henry A. Cooke, evinced
a just appreciation of the exalted worth of the deceased Vice-
President.
On Monday, Nov. 29, the
citizens of Massachusetts, through the State officers, performed the
obsequies of - the Vice-President in a style of grandeur and solemnity
that evinced the depth of sorrow in the bosom of the Commonwealth. The
public buildings generally were closed; flags were placed at half-mast;
mourning- emblems were displayed on many private residences; and
half-hour guns were fired. The Hall of Representatives was most
elaborately decorated with festoons of smilax intwined with delicate
white flowers. The speaker's desk, draped with black cloth, was almost
covered with flowers; while on that of. the clerk was placed a stately
shaft composed of tuberoses, camellias, and white pinks, and resting on
a base of ferns and other graceful leaves. The catafalque opposite the
speaker's desk was decorated with tender vines and roses. The
pall-bearers, ex-Govs. Boutwell, Banks, Gardner, Washburn, Bullock,
Claffin, together with the Hon. A. H. Rice, the Hon. Carl Schurz, and
Frederick Douglass, entered about twelve o'clock, followed by other
dignitaries of the State, and friends of the deceased. The services were
opened by the solemn strains of the anthem, "I heard a voice saying unto
me, Write," from a quartet of Dr. Eben Tourje. Dr. A. A. Miner then
followed with an impressive prayer. Dr. W. F. Warren presented
selections from the Scriptures. The Rev. Phillips Brooks read a chant,
"Lord, let me know mine end, the number of my days," to which the choir
responded; and Dr. J. M. Manning then delivered a discourse from the
words, "Thy gentleness bath made me great," which was worthy of the man
and of the occasion. Of the many eloquent passages we can cite only the
following, the former referring to Mr. Wilson's almost superhuman labors
in the Senate, and the latter to his departure from the scenes of earth:
-
"At length the gathering
cloud burst. It could not be averted: the storm must come. God foreknew
this as we did not; and the men whom his gentleness had been lifting up
were ready, each for his solemn part. To Henry Wilson fell the
chairmanship of military affairs; and the prodigious capacity for work
which he showed in that place is known to all who saw him there. What
president or cabinet officer, what general in the field, what governor,
or regiment, or patient in the hospital, or soldier's widow, ever had
occasion to complain of him? The general-in-chief at the opening of the
war said that his daily task was equal to the strength of ten men. Thus
he toiled till the forces of the Rebellion were spent. And in the clear
dawn of peace, during the weary efforts at reconstruction, which were
finally successful, the problem of his life was solved. We all saw for
what God had made and endowed him, in the light of the terrible exigency
which had been his grand opportunity.
"'You will ride out
to-day, Mr. Vice-President,' said his attendant, just as his last
earthly dawn was fading into the everlasting morning, He did ride out,
but not in any material vehicle. The chariot of God was in waiting for
him, he rode out of death into life, out of the shadow into eternal
sunlight, but of corruption into incorruption."
At the conclusion of the
eulogy, the vast audience united in singing Mrs. Adams's beautiful hymn,
-
"Nearer, my God, to thee."
Dr. R. H. Neale offered
an appropriate prayer; the choir sang with touching effect,-
"Unveil thy bosom,
faithful tomb;"
and the Rev. Phillips
Brooks pronounced the benediction.
A procession, consisting
of a long array of military forces, among which was the Twenty-second
Regiment, of which Mr. Wilson was the original commander, government
officials, and civic organizations, attended the remains, while guns
were pealing, bells were tolling, and bands performing dirges, to the
station at Cottage Farm, from which the casket was conveyed, under a
special guard, to Natick for the final obsequies. Here it was received
at Concert Hall, which was tastefully draped in funereal emblems, by Mr.
C. H. Perry, on behalf of the mourning citizens, who came with tearful
eyes to view the sacred dust of their distinguished and beloved
townsman. On the day following, private funeral services were held at
the house of the Vice- President, on Central Street, on account of the
inability of Mrs. Howe, [Mrs. Mary (Toombs) Howe, relict of Mr. Amasa
Howe, Is the daughter of Joseph and Mary (Homer) Toombs of Hopkinton. He
was born in 1750, and was the son of Daniel Toombs, who married Mary
Cohen, Oct. 3, 1739. They were of Scotch-Irish descent, and among the
early settlers of Hopkinton. Amasa Howe (son of Perley Howe, and his
wife Anna Hill of Medway) was descended from Hezeklah Howe, who married
Jane Jennison of Sudbury, Oct. 81, 1746.] his aged mother-in-law, to be
present at the Hall. They were conducted by the Rev. A. E. Reynolds and
the Rev. Edmund Dowse, the latter of whom, a long and intimate friend of
the departed, said, in substance,-
"We are to-day gathered
in the home of Henry Wilson. Here he lived for many years. Here he
enjoyed the sweets of domestic life. Here he watched over a loving wife
in sickness, and, when her spirit passed away, with loving hand bore her
remains to a resting-place in yonder cemetery. Here he rested from his
labors, and, could he have had his wish, he would have closed his eyes
in this house upon the world and its cares, amidst friends and
relations. But God decreed otherwise. We feel to-day that darkness is
around and about us; yet we have full faith in the saying, that light
dwelleth with the righteous. Here in this house, though the former
occupant sleeps in dust, is the holy Bible; here is the family altar he
created; and from all these sources comes to us to-day comfort,
preparing us to say, 'Even so, Father thy will be done, not mine.'" The
minister closed with a touching allusion to the great kindness
manifested by Mr. Wilson to his aged mother-in-law.
The remains were then
carried back to the Hall, from the ceiling of which was suspended a
large black canopy having a beautiful wreath of flowers beneath, that
sent forth a white dove with unfolded wings, directly over the coffin,
which was also covered with flowers. The services were opened by
singing, -
"God is our strength;"
when the Rev. A. E.
Reynolds offered a tender prayer; the Rev. J. S. Whedon read selections
from the Scriptures; the response, "Abide with Me," was sung; and
admirable addresses were made by the Rev. Edmund Dowse and the Rev.
Francis N. Peloubet, pastor of the church of which Mr. Wilson was a
member. In the course of his eulogy, Mr. Peloubet said, "He needs no
monument to show where he died; for he built his own monument here, by
which men shall remember where he lived. We are surrounded by his labors
as by a great cloud of witnesses.
"Is there a work-bench
that is not made more sacred and honorable and hopeful, because Henry
Wilson for years worked at one, and while there gained his education,
and grew into larger powers? Is there a young man whose heart does not
expand, and hopes grow brighter, because Henry Wilson contended with the
same difficulties, fought the same temptations, encountered the same
trials, and came off conqueror?
"We look at our beautiful
library, and remember that Henry Wilson was the first, or one of the
first, subscribers to the fund from which the town library grew. We
think of our schools, and remember that he was once a teacher in them;
and more, under what hard schoolmasters, after what hard days' works, by
what light of the kitchen-fire, he gained his education.
We look at our thriving
churches, and remember that he was a Christian, and took a deep interest
in all that pertains to the kingdom of Christ. His voice was heard in
the prayer-meeting. He helped found, and was one of the most liberal
supporters of, the Young Men's Christian Association.
"Henry Wilson made many
speeches; but the best speech was his life and character at home. He
longed to finish the book he was writing; but Natick itself is his best
book, known and read by all.
"To us, his
fellow-townsmen, many lessons come from yonder coffin. His spirit seems
to come back from the mansions of the blest, and, taking us each by the
hand, points to the lessons he has lived, written in letters as bright
as the light on the emblems of mourning. Let us read them: Religion,
temperance, industry, patriotism, courage, principle, character. He
shows how we may gain an education. He shows us the way to true success.
He shows us the possibilities of good before us all, - what we can be,
and what we can do, if we will trust God, and do the right; that the
circumstances which would hinder us may be made stepping-stones of
success; that the enemies which bar our way may be made soldiers to
fight our battles for us; that the burdens which would crush us may
become the eagle's wing to bear us upward."
At the close of Mr.
Peloubet's address, the audience united in singing, -
"Nearer, my God, to thee;"
and the Rev. B. R.
Gifford pronounced the benediction. At three o'clock, p.m., the long
procession, in which were the officers of the Maryland Fifth Regiment,
moved with slow and reverent step to the Dell Park Cemetery, a charming
eminence that overlooks Cochituate Lake and the town of Natick; and
there, in tearful silence were deposited, just as the sun was sinking in
the west, the mortal remains of the illustrious dead in their final
earthly home. The lot of Mr. Wilson, in the north-east corner of the
burial-ground, is tastefully ornamented with shrubs and flowers, and
contains a marble sarcophagus, surmounted by a hat, feather, sword,
belt, and sash, and having the inscription given on p. 870 of this
biography. At the right of this stands a well-wrought marble headstone,
bearing these words:-
Harriet M. Howe, born in
Natick, Nov. 21, 1824; married to Henry Wilson Nov. 28, 1840; died May
28, 1870. She made home happy.
But oh for the touch of a
vanquished hand.
And the sound of a voice that is still!" *
Beside this grave the
body of the late Vice-President reposes.
*A beautiful white lily
chiselled on this monument, and intwined by an Ivy planted by the
bereaved husband, is noticed in these graceful lines, which appeared In
the Traveller in September, 1872:-
A lily on the marble
slept,
Emblem of one whom many wept.
Chiselled by the sculptor's care,
It lay in graceful beauty there,
While flowers blooming In the ground
Shed a sweet fragrance all around.
A little ivy planted there,
And fostered by a husband's care,
Had with its clinging tendrils sought
The flower on the marble wrought,
Then 'mid the lily's leaves so fair,
It wove its green ones closely there,
As to the emblem it would cling
And a rich, leafy tribute bring,
To show that love still fondly turned
To her whose form was there inurned. — E. W. S.
No monument a broader base
sustains
Than thine must have, - on equal rights and laws:
No memory the continent retains
Truer to God's will and manhood's holy cause."
At a little distance, in
the same lot, stands the twin headstone of his father and mother. It is
of beautiful design and on it is inscribed: -
"Winthrop Colbath, born
April 7, 1787; died Feb. 10, 1800; and Abigail Colbath, born March 21,
1785; died Aug. 8, 1800."
In his will, dated April
21, 1874, Mr. Wilson bequeathed all his property of whatever kind to his
nephew, W. L. Coolidge, to be held in trust for the benefit of his
venerable mother-in-law, Mrs. Mary Howe, for the support and education
of his adopted daughter, Eva Wilson, an intelligent girl, now about ten
years old, and under the charge of Mrs. Fifield; and for other minor
purposes, leaving it all to the "friendship, discretion, and sense of
right" of Mr. Coolidge, who is constituted the sole executor. The whole
property will not exceed $10,000. The life of the testator was insured
for $3,500. The third and last volume of Mr. Wilson's "Rise and Fall of
the Slave-Power," of which about sixteen chapters are written, will, it
is supposed, be completed by the Rev. Samuel Hunt, an intimate friend,
and, for the last seven years, private secretary, of the Vice-President.
Mr. Wilson left four brothers, all of whom are younger than himself; and
all are married, and have had children. John Colbath, the oldest, is a
farmer, living in Compton, Canada; Charles H., who married Eliza
Newcomb, is a stone-cutter, residing in Hingham, Mass.; Samuel is a
doorkeeper at the United-States Senate; and George Albert is an
inspector at the Custom House in Boston.
In person, Mr. Wilson was
robust and well proportioned. He was five feet, ten inches in height,
and weighed about one hundred and eighty pounds. With a light complexion
and a clear skin, his whole countenance glowed with health and vigor.
His eyes were quick and clear: his forehead, broad and high. The
portrait by Mr. Butre, from a photograph by Mr. Black, in this volume,
presents his features with correctness; but the marble bust of the
sculptor Milmore, introduced by a resolution of the General Court into
the State Library in May, 1872, exhibits something more of the ideality
and the lofty spirit by which his countenance was in his happiest hours
irradiated. His frame was compact and solid, and, even to the last, bore
little indication of the eventide of life. In dress and manner he was
plain and unpretending, and, when at leisure, remarkably frank, open,
and confiding in his conversation.
NOTE. His family, as has
been stated, belonged to that excellent stock, the Scotch-Irish, who
emigrated to New England in the beginning of the last century. The
earliest form in which his family name appears in this country is
Colbreath; evidently the same as Calbreath, a name of respectability in
Scotland. James Colbreath was baptized Sept. 19, l72, at Newington,
N.H.; and from him is descended, through Winthrop, and Winthrop, jun.,
the subject of this memoir. The children of James and Olive Colbreath
were Leighton, Independence, Winthrop, Hunking, Benning, Keziah,
Deborah, and Amy. His son Winthrop married Hannah Rollins of Newington,
N.H., and they removed to Rochester, now Farinington, about 1183, or a
little anterior to the birth of Winthrop, Mr. Wilson's father. The name
Colbreath is among those Scottish emigrants who petitioned Gov. Shute
for permission to settle in this State. They were largely from
Argyleshire in Scotland. The coat-of-arms of the Colbreath family is,
"Bendy of six argent and azure on a chief sable, three crosses pattee
or." - BURKE's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HERALDRY.
As an orator, Mr. Wilson
was strong and vehement, rather than bland and graceful. He cared but
little for the rules of the rhetorician, and seldom turned aside in
search of ornament: still he studied the best English and American
models, - Pitt, Burke, Sheridan, Adams, Wirt, Webster, - and used
elevated, or what might be termed forensic diction. Grasping his subject
firmly, he presented his propositions with distinctness, and defended
them by a constant appeal to facts. His memory was an inexhaustible
magazine of facts; and out they came as solid shot from a columbiad, to
break up the intrenchment of his enemy.
His great speeches in
reply to Mr. Hammond, in reply to Mr. Butler, as well as those on the
Pacific Railroad, the Lecompton Constitution, and the Crittenden
Compromise, consist mainly of statements, or citations of matters of
fact. With some speakers, such a liberal use of facts would be
intolerable; but with Mr. Wilson they were so pertinently selected, and
so earnestly presented, that they, in general, commanded profound
attention.
With kindly sympathies
and an earnest purpose, with an open countenance, a clear, strong voice,
and animated gestures, Mr. Wilson always secured the attention of a
popular assembly; and his words, where more finished speakers failed,
were greeted with applause. He found the way to the heart of the people;
and that is something higher than any studied eloquence.
He made his loftiest
record as a speaker in the senate-chamber. In most of the stirring
debates that agitated the country during its most tremendous struggle,
he took a leading part. He measured blades with most of the veteran
champions of the South, - Toombs, Davis, Benton, Hammond, Butler,
Breckenridge, - and often gained the mastery. Many of his brief speeches
here are models of forensic eloquence; and parts of some of them have
found their way into our reading-books. Of his speaking and his
influence in the Senate, a letter-writer at Washington, March 16, 1867,
said, -
"But yesterday he rose to
speak in the middle of the protracted debate on Supplementary
Reconstruction Bill; and at once the great indifference disappeared.
Senators on every side turned from their papers and letters to listen;
and what Mr. Wilson had to say was attended to with a greater degree of
interest and respect on the floor of the Senate than had been given to
any thing which had fallen from the lips of Mr. Sumner, Mr. Sherman, Mr.
Fessenden, or, in fact, of anybody else, since I have been an observer
in the galleries. Such a phenomenon must mean something; and, listening
to the remarks of the Massachusetts senator myself, I found the
explanation in the fact that he talked more directly to the matter in
hand, with more of fact, and less of theory, more of substance, and less
of ornament, than any other speaker who had taken part in the debate;
and so I concluded that Congress, if not also the country, on this
subject of reconstruction at any rate, has had enough of rhetoric, and
enough of oratory, and has an appetite only for those plain facts of the
need of the day, which Mr. Wilson so forcibly urged."
Had Mr. Wilson read more
of the classic poets, his style might, indeed, have had more finish, but
not, perhaps, more force. Great national crises demand of leaders, not
smooth, rounded periods, and rhetorical flourishes, but substantial
facts, strong argumentation, and honest purpose: these Mr. Wilson had,
and hence the Senate and the people heard him gladly.
His reasoning was
sustained by the grand argument of a consistent life: hence it came home
to the conscience, and was fraught with power. No man of his time,
perhaps, addressed so many people in America as Henry Wilson; and none,
perhaps, spoke so few words that he, if living, would wish to have
unsaid. On rising to speak before an audience, his manly form, his
honest, open, florid face, and sympathetic voice, bespoke for him a
generous reception. The people saw at once that "honesty, poverty, and
politics had agreed with him, and that a congressman might ignore crime,
keep a clean palm, hold his Maker in remembrance, and yet wear a rosy,
unclouded face." Thus he moved the masses to accept his counsels, and
translate them into practice; and, if this be not eloquence, it is
something above eloquence: it is, in the words of Webster, "Action,
—noble, sublime, Godlike action."
As a statesman, Mr.
Wilson's views were broad and comprehensive, and at the same time
eminently practical. The works of the immortal sages - Washington,
Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson, Jay, Marshall, and others who laid the
foundation of this government - were his lifelong study: in their spirit
and opinions, his political education was perfected. His inspiration
came indeed from a still higher source, - the instructions of the Son of
Mary. The great principles of equality, fraternity, civil and religious
freedom, and social progress, formed the basis of his political system;
and, having confidence in the stability of popular government so
administered, he labored with invincible determination to defend those
principles. Because he apprehended with such clearness the extent and
bearing of a present exigency, so quickly saw the tendency and drift of
things, some thought that his political views were superficial rather
than profound; but a rapid river may be also deep and strong. Mr. Wilson
was a thinker, grasping as easily the broadest principle as the most
restricted precept; and he had the power to examine them either under
the light of past experience, of present utility, or of future good. His
view of the slavery-question from the outset, his forecast of the final
issue, his legislation for the conduct of the war, and his conviction of
the grand result, most clearly manifest the scope, as well as the
accuracy, of his vision. While he was a sound, sagacious statesman, he
at the same time possessed great administrative ability. He framed a
bill with remarkable precision, and carried it through its various
stages up to its final passage with surprising speed and skill. It has
been said that more than half the legislation in Congress during the
civil war was done by Massachusetts, and certainly enough of that by the
military senator to entitle him to a grand historic position in the
annals of the nation.
As a writer, Mr. Wilson's
style is characterized by perspicuity, force, and dignity. his figures,
when they do occur, are striking; his quotations from the poets, apt and
pertinent; his pictures, strongly drawn, and sharp in outline, He had no
turn for wit or humor: indeed, the subjects on which he wrote do not
demand it. His periods are, in general, well rounded and harmonious. His
last work is his best; and this, in point of diction, as well as in
respect to accuracy of statement, cogency of reasoning, scope of vision,
and unity of construction, will rank with the writings of the best
historians of America.
As a man, Mr. Wilson was
intensely earnest and sincere. He had a wonderfully quick conception of
what was just and right: he dared to act on his convictions, and this
was one secret of his power. He had no fear of his antagonist: he never
cowered in front of danger. In every trying crisis of his life, he stood
a hero, undaunted and unterrified. At the first National Republican
Convention in Philadelphia, when an assault was anticipated, he came
upon the platform with a stout hickory cane in his hand, and, after the
protracted applause which greeted him had subsided, commenced very
deliberately and emphatically as follows: 'I learn that there is much
apprehension existing here and at the North in regard to the peril which
your senators and representatives are supposed to be in at the national
capital, in consequence of their non-combative principles. Gentlemen, I
beg you to dismiss your fears. Your public servants there have made up
their minds, and know how to defend their persons, whenever, however, by
whomsoever, attacked.' A storm of the wildest cheers told how accurately
the senator had read the temper of the convention."
So when a musket-ball was
fired into the assembly which he was addressing in New Orleans, and
struck into the ceiling near his head, he manifested no emotion, but
proceeded with his address as steadily as if nothing had occurred.
He was large-hearted,
self-sacrificing, and liberal to a fault, He was a friend of the
friendless, and a compassionate comforter of the poor and needy. Here is
a single instance among thousands that could be cited. An Irish boy was
killed by the cars, while his mother, for drunkenness, was an inmate of
the House of Correction. She had an intense desire to see her son's
remains; but no one could remove her. Mr. Wilson then went himself to
Cambridge, gave bonds for her return, took her in the cars to Natick,
gave her his arm, and escorted her to the house, and, when the funeral
services were over, went back with her to the prison. Though having it
in his power to hoard millions, he lived and died comparatively poor. He
was ever in liveliest sympathy with the working-classes. From them he
sprang; with them he fought the battle for free labor; and for their
rights, their social, moral, and intellectual elevation, he spent with
cheerful heart his time, his money, and his mental energies. He believed
in human progress, and in the power of the people to perpetuate
republican institutions. The means for doing this he clearly indicated,
in an able article on "The New Departure of the Republican Party," in
"The Atlantic Monthly," January, 1871, to be the education and
unification of the people. He saw with hopeful eye the prospective
grandeur of the United States, yet felt, that, to attain it, we must
have a nobler educational system, a broader knowledge of the principles
of our civil and political institutions, a better understanding, and a
closer application of the teachings of Christianity to our public,
social, and private life.
He was, therefore, the
earnest friend of the public school, the university, the pulpit, and the
press. Profoundly acquainted with the genius and the spirit of the
nation, from the workshop to the halls of Congress, he labored wisely
and persistently to make the nation what it is: hence his opinions are
entitled to profound respect. Among the self-made men of the times, he
stood pre-eminent as a man magnificently made. Though reared among the
intemperate, his tongue was never contaminated by the touch of alcohol
though wielding immense patronage, his palm was never stained by
bribery; though breathing for so many years the infected atmosphere of
politics, his heart still beat fresh and free for human sorrow; though
rising by indomitable energy and integrity from a low position to the
vice-presidency of the United States, his spirit remained subdued and
humble. His life, so marked by manly struggle, earnest words, and noble
deeds, is a model for the young men of America to hold before them for
encouragement and imitation. It was developed and guided by the solid
principles of a Book which he received in childhood, and which sustained
him in his conflict with the world, and gave him full assurance, when
the scenes of earth were fading, of a more resplendent life to come:
hence above the statesman, patriot, and historian, he stood, and will
ever stand, before the world, as the devoted and aspiring CHRISTIAN.
It is not by any means
desired to present him as a perfect man, nor to claim for him any thing
more than is justly due; but so far as those grand elements which form
true manhood go, so far as a living sympathy with man as man, so far as
a life unselfishly devoted to the sons of toil and suffering, so far as
the daily exemplification of the ennobling principles of Christianity,
may be regarded, he made a record that will hold its brightness when the
memories of men more brilliant in exterior graces shall have passed into
oblivion. He was an intensely practical and earnest working-man; but
work finds little room for outward graces: yet the times demanded
working-men strong and fearless. He had the will to work; and, as we
said in the beginning, WORKERS WIN.
From boyhood, he sought
wisdom as most men seek gain. He stood firm for human right in defiance
of power. He bore an honorable part in guiding this nation through the
perils of war, through the equal perils attending peace. He spent his
life in giving liberty to the slave, and in opening this continent to
free labor. He evinced an integrity which no temptation could corrupt,
no threat intimidate, no danger shake; a confidence in God, which
triumphed over death itself: and, having so lived and died, he deserves
well of his country. His character, as a star of serene, benignant ray,
will shine the brighter as men shall examine it the more. |
