Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1881-03-03
THE LATE SENATOR CARPENTER.
DetaiIsofIIis Death by an Eye witness.

the memory OF the dead senator:
The death of great man is
nearly always sudden, unexpected
and appalling. He lives SO much
in the public eye, and is interwo-
ven so much with the public life,
that what belongs to the individual
is overlooked in the common inter
est and admiration, and when his
death occurs il comes upon us
LIKE A TROPICAL SUNSET,
sudden, instanteous. involving us
in darkness and despair. This was
in some measure true in regard to
the demise of Senator Carpenter.
Those who were intimate with him
had for many months observed a
marked change in his appearance.
His magnificent person was losing
its fulness Of habit, the lustre of
his merry eye, the cadence Of his
ringing laugh, were impaired and
overcast with the coming shadow.
Fits of indisposition were alterna-
ted with periods of apparently re-
turning health and hope, and
friendship recovered confidence and
abandoned all fears for his safety.
On the Afternoon Of Wednesday last
| visited him at his residence, and
stood by his bedside when he was
asleep. | saw that a dreadful
change had happened. The end
was written upon his face, and then,
for the first time, gave up all
hope. Upon calling late in the
evening | found his respiration
painful and laborious, and it seem
ed as if his life were struggling to
retain its dominion in every breath.
A torpor had seized upon his con-
sciousness, but his attention could
be aroused to particular persons or
objects. Placing my hands on his
shoulders and gently shaking him,
| asked him if he knew me. After
a second he replied: 1t is the
Judge" and after another short
pause he added: "Mrs. Carpenter
and | have been talking of coming
over to see you," and then, as if
his old spirit of humor and merri-
ment had returned, he said !:
Judge, l was to make notion"
to which | replied that his motion
was granted without argument. An
hour or two after midnight | was
again at his bedside. He was still
weaker than before, and the vital
forces were yielding slowly but
surely to the impending catas-
trophe. At this time there were
present his wife. his daughter, and
his son. Dr. Fox, who had trav-
eled night and day from Milwau-
kee, and who supplemented science
with friendship and love, was also
present, as was also the Hon.
Charles G. Williams. AS the mem
bers of his own family sat by the
death-bed of him they loved so
dearly, it seemed to me the most
beautiful, the most sad and touch
ing tableau that had ever witness
ed. At length daylight broke
through the crevices of the cur
tains. The sun came forth in I'M
cloudy splendor, and the atmos-
phere was balmy as in the early
days of spring. He was full ofthe
elixir of life, but brought no relief
to our friend Leading Mrs. Car
penter to the window, | asked her
if she could remember the dying
expressions of the great Mirabeau,
whom her husband so much res
embed in his powers of persua-
sion Open the Window he ex-
claimed, "and draw aside the cur
tains, and let the sunshine fill the
apartment and battle me in its
beams, and let the incense of the
garden reach my senses, for |
would die amidst
THE PERFUME GIFTS FLOWERS"
But how different is this scene
in one respect, for the great
Frenchman, though he feared not
death, believed it to be an eternal
sleep. But her gifted husband, al
though so largely absorbed in the
activities of life, and although tax
ing such large share in public bus
mess, had a strong and truthful re-
ligious vein i'll his nature, and be-
licves that death, instead of being
our final destiny, was but the en-
trance to higher and truer life.
AT about 9 o'clock DIR. Fox sud
denly called me to the bedside.
The breathing had almost ceased,
the quick respiration had entirely
gone, the breath came at long in
tervals, and the attendant clergy
man began reading the solemn ser
vice Of the church for the dying.
The physician kept his hand upon
the heart to mark the ebbing tide
of life. | looked at the doctor af-
ter each spasm and the reply was,
Not yet" AT last came a pause
long and endless. The physician
withdrew his hand and Carpenter
was dead. give these particulars
that you may have them from an
eyewitness and may be able to ap-
preciate the last moments of one
who was your friend and our
friend. Indeed | do not know of a
single being who ever knew Sena-
tor Carpenter that will not feel that
he has lost a friend and almost a
member of his own household. 1t
is not my purpose to dwell at pres
ent upon what constituted the men
tai power and greatness of this re-
markable man. 1t is my good for
tune to have known on terms of
personal intimacy many Of the men
who have become historical in our
country, among them Rufus Choate
Daniel Webster, Judge Curtis and