The North-Carolina standard., 1847-09-08
From the Washington Union.
.ss,s.,f SsH.aS Wright.

will be felt as great aUu ia'HeHtaoie eVeu
ibrouobout the length and breadth of our land
Eled;sd of apoplexy, at his residence in Canton
New York, on the 9th instant He, has beer
struck down without warming in the splendid ma
turitv of his great Eacufies,g and in the midst o
bright and almost boundlcss prospects of future
usefulness and rcno&n In his death the democ
racy of our nation will mourn the loss OF a states
man whose public and private life and character
were alike the ornament and the honor oil the
political system out of which they grew. -,
Tothose-and there are many such-who hold
that. in a free government like ours devotion 10
public affairs and to political life as they are at
present managed among us, IS uniaVoraole 10 Inc
deyelopuent Of the best and manifest quailtles OF
character-to those who believe that, IN republic,
long and successful political career must harden
the heart against the better and kinder sympalhles
of our nature, and engender ambition at once un-
scrunulous oyerWeening, and selhsh-to those
who tell us how hard it is for the eminent poti-
clan TO heep his lips pure from guile his hear!
free from stormy passions, and his hands unsalned
bv practices of corruption-to those who assure
US that the favor of the people must, under
democratic government, be won by fawnlng, and
that the charms of high station are an oVermatch
tor the strength Of the most seadfaSt lntegTi
ty;-to all such objectors against the working OF
our free institutions upon the characters OF oer
public men, the life and the death OF Sllas Wright
furnish reutatlon at once conclusive and sublime
From his boyhood he learned 10 be statesman
His earliest impulses urged him to don the bright
harness of democratic principles, and 10 go forth
to battle in the thick of the fight for the Popular
Cause He passed through almost every form of
official life Ia the politics OF hrs town, OF his eoun-
", Of his State and of his country he bore in quick
succession most leading and conspicuous part
In places of highest administrative power. IN
situations of subordinate ministerial tIust and duty,
in the silent labors of the commute room, and in
the halls Of senatorial eloqucnce and actIon-In
every scene where mind is strained 10 its seVerest
tension, and character put TO its sternest ordeal
there. always foremost among the champions oil
popular rights always holding fast TO hls principles
as to his honor and his religion-tearless to meet
any crisis prompt TO assume any rlghtful RESPONSE
bilitv-frn, calm, watchful laborious, incorrupti-
bIe-Slas Wright, himself poor man and the
Door mans friend, builded up the fair and stately
fabric of his fame on the fast foundations OF intel
Ieet and integrity And when the great crisis OF
his pubIic career came at last, and his grateful
country rendered to him. in qrick succession, her
highest judicial and executive stations, tihht0l to
q scrupulous sensitiveness of honor, he rose supe
rior even to the legitimate ambition of a great
stotesu,an. calmly put aside the most glittering
rewards of public life, and without impatience. or
emotion, or effort, went back to his humble farm
house and his little farm to tIl the earth with his
own hands, and to earn his daily bread in the sweat
Of his browi e
Such a character is monumental. 1t bears
eloquent witness to all our statesmen of The no
bIe arts" by which, in this country, the favor OF
the people may be won. Such q lie, indeed, IS
truly. and in the highest sense, American. 1t
could hardly appear under any other government '
han our own. Such career, too, we may say
with PRIDE belongs even in this country, solely
10 those principles and impulses which unite them
-rtvrS party UrganizArTon, 10 auVahce INC cause
Of the people The public and private life OF Sas
Wright were at once the result, the manifestation,
md the triumph of democratic principles. {
1t is not for US 10 assume that the long and
varied public life of Mr.. Wright presents no sin
gle instance of error. 1t is not given TO man TO
oe thus infalIiblc. We leave to those better in
ormed than we are, to pronounce upon all the n
letails of his administration as governor of the
3tate of New York. II is enough for US TO know q
hat in that position he did not hesitate to leopard
lis reelection rather than finch one jot from the
lue maintenance of the law, even before wide /
pread agitation, which, in the nature of the s.
:auSes out of which it grew, must, in some re- I
pects, have appealed strongly to his sympathies.
Nor do we conceal our dissent from some of the {
doctrines upon prominent topic in our nation y
Il politics, in favor of which the great authority
f Mr. Wrights name has las we suppose upon Il
insufficient eviGence) been, of late, sometimes in
oked. It is enough for us now to know, and 10
emember, with pride and gratitude, that in the
!reat measures and principles Of his public career,
be patriotism of Mr.. Wright knew no sectional
limits, and that in our national councils his mind
nd heart were alike open TO comprehend and to h
eel all that belonged to the rights the interests, i
md the honor of every part of our Union. a.
All who knew Mr.. Wright agree that his pow n
rs Of mind were of the highest order. Yet he ~
'ersuaded and prevailed as much by the noble 7
moderation of his spirit by the vigor ard COM a.
of his understanding. He carried ~
ate public the best characteristics of private ife
a the conflict of parties and of principles in the
eaate chamber, always doing his duty with stern 81
nd scTupulous fidelity, he provoked no man to 81
niger. In the memorable session of the twenty =;
sVenth Congress he fought with matchless power n
le great battle of the people against privilege, -,
nd came out Of the contest without having made +,
q enemy. 81
Though in the death of Mr. Wright the demo. :"
racy of the country must feel that It has lost one
its most powerful champions, yet the loss of his p
aauence upon the character of politics. and politi- N
al aspirants among US, will be yet more severely r.
IT. One of the brightest examples of political ~
irtue no longer shines before mems eyes 1t can n
seen now only in the diminishing glass of re- ~
lembrance. Other men may, perhaps, be found ~
mong US to serve as faithfully, and to plead as 80
loquently, the cause of the people, as did he g.
'hom we have lost But it will be long be- 81
IRE similar combination of circumstances shall ~
mite with the most spendid powers of intellect,
nd the highest elements Of public character, to
'rm career at once so instructive, so impressive
nd 50 encouraging as that which has now closed U
a the grave of Silas Wright .'5'. 'l- 81 70
Gifted with talents Of the highest order-bIess :, -
d with heart Of the finest mould-with princi. y"
Ies of the true democrafic sfamn adon,aJ - ~ ".