The New York herald., 1875-11-23
The Late vice President.

4 and in such condition for the last eleven
DAYS that constant bulletins have been sent
to the press to meet the solicitude Of
. sympathizing public. But these bull
letins have been of late so reassur-
ing as to quite dispel the deep
anxiety that was felt when he was first
stricken down. On the evening before his
decease it was telegraphed that the danger
/ was 80 far past that the Vice President would
\ be able to leave Washington before the close
of the week. But while early risers were
reading this hopeful news in the morning
papers OF yesterday the soul of Henry VII
son was passing through the dark portal
which leads to the unknown
| Like John Quincy Adams, he expired In
the national Capitol though without the
\ dramatic surroundings Of the death OF that
/ eminent son Of Massachusetts, who fell IN
the harness Of his public duties and was
spared the pains Of a lingering illness IN
| like Mr. Wilson, Mr.. Adams was conscious
that his supreme hour had come, and his
memorable words, "This is the last of the
earth, gave the public imagination some
thing it could lay hold of to assist its concep-
/ tion Of the departure of great spirit Mr.
Wilson seemed to have no premonition of the
summons that was so near, and quietly
fell into his last sleep without either physical
agony or apparent consciousness of his con-
dition For a man isolated from tender
domestic ties this was merciful dispense
ton. His faithful wife and only son were
taken from him some years since, and he
had no other near kindred. For any man,
and especially for a man Of AIr. Wilson's
kindly nature, the soothing presence and
atfectionate assiduities Of loving hearts bound
| to him by the sweet sanctity Of domestic ties
must have been coveted support had he
been conscious Of his approaching end, and
for one who has outlived these sources Of
consolation it is blessing to 60 unwarned.
on some fond breast the parting soul relies
Some pous drops the closing eye requires.
When these are denied there is no place
apart from spiritual reasons) for the ordi-
nary prayer against sudden death. The Vice
President, having been for many years an
/ exemplary member Of Christian church,
did not need time for a late preparation.
Mr.. Wilson has been for twenty years
prominent figure in our politics, and if some
of his associates in public life have been
more brilliant or more able, none has been
more honest, sincere and patriotic, and few
more useful 1t would be inadequate
praise to give him credit for mere
industry and good intentions. No
man Of our time has excelled him
in that primary requisite alike Of a
politician and statesman, quick and
sure perception Of what is passing in the
public mind, qualification without which
the most resplendent intellectual gifts are
| impotent in the politics of q free country
| Under institutions which make the average
public sentiment of the masses controlling
and supreme the indispensable requisite Of
political success is an accurate knowledge of
| the feelings, wishes and tendencies Of the
| average mind. Mr.. Wilson was, perhaps, a
better judge Of popular sentiment than
any public man we have had since
Andrew Jackson. No two minds could be
more unlike in other respects but Wilson
and Jackson resembled each other in an un-
erring and almost intuitive perception Of
what the people wanted and what they would
bear in any given state Of public affairs.
This faculty may exist with or without high
intellectual cultivation, but it is more likely
to be found in men who view things from
the same standpoints as the mass Of the com
munity, and who see and feel more
strongly all that average people see
and feel, judging by the same
standards. Such men understand the pop
ular mind because they are in complete sym
pathy with it. They know all it knows,
but know it more clearly; they share
all its best impulses in higher degree;
the distractions Of the scholarly class Of
minds have as feeble hold on them as they
have on what Mr. Lincoln called the ''plain
people,; and public affairs, like scene in
nature, present the same aspect to all who
look at them from the same point Of view,
even if the eyes Of some are assisted by
magnifying glasses. The secret Of Mr.. Will
sons political influence was the fact
that he looked at all public questions from
the standpoint Of average men, his larger ex-
perience and common sense serving as q field
glass to enable him to see with greater dis
tinctness the same thing which they dis
cerned more dimly but with equal truth Of
outline. Mr. Wilson's political vision was
not rendered unsteady, any more than that
Of ordinary people, by cross lights from the
learning or acuteness Of minds Of a more in
tellectual cast. He saw precisely what the
masses saw, but saw it more clearly, and it
was his peculiar ability to look through their
eyes and Judge by their standards that made
him the best politician and safest adviser Of
the republican party.
The late Vice President had cultivation
enough to make him clear, ready speaker,
and none Of the pedantry which introduces
irrelevant matter for mere display or scars
over the heads Of an audience. The highest
culture, indeed, avoids these faults even