Connecticut western news., 1918-12-26
PREFACE:

The Light in the Clearing shone upon
many things and mostly upon those
which, above all others, have impassioned
and per oetuated the Spirit of America
and which, just now, seem to me TO be
worthy Of attention. I believe that spirit
20 be the very candle Of the Lord which,
In this dark and windy night Of time, has
rickered so that the souls of the faithful
have been afraid. But let US be of good
cheer. 1t Is shining brighter as I write
and, under God, believe 1t shall, by and
by, be seen and loved of all men. ~ ~
II One self-contained, HonTeric figure, of
the remote countryside In which was
born, had the true Spirit Of Democracy
and shed its light abroad in the senate Of
the United States and the capitol at AL
ebany., He carried the Candle of the Lord.
1t led him to height of self-forgetful-
ness achieved by only two others-Wash-
.lington and Lincoln. Yet have been sur
Nprised by the profound and general ig-
Ignorance of this generation regarding the
career of Silas Wright. - $Affp sc re-
The distinguished senator who served
Mt his side for many years. Thomas HI.
3enton Of Missouri, has this to say of
Bilas Wright in his Thirty Years View:
HE refused cabinet appointments I'M
der his fast friend Van Buren, and under
Polk whom he may be said to have
'tsIected. He refused seat on the bench
iof the Supreme court of the United
States; he rejected instantly the nomina-
lion In 1874 for vice president; he refused
Ito be put in nomination for the presi-
,dency. He spent that time In declining
office which others did in winning It The
Offices he did accept, 1t might well be
said, were thrust upon him. He was born
great and above office and unwillingly de-
seconded to It." -a.
\ So much by way OF preparing the reader
to meet the great commoner in these
pages
There were those who accused Mr.
Wright of being a spokesman, the only
warrant for which claim would seem to
Ne his remark in q letter: when our
lenenies accuse us of feeding our friends
instead of them never let them lie in tell
ing the story
He was, in fact, human being, through
and through, but so upright that they
used to say Of him that he was ''as hon
est as any man under heaven or in it."
For my knowledge of the color and
spirit of the time am indebted to a long
scourse Of reading in its books, newspa-
lpers and periodicals, notably the North
American Review, the United States Mag
aziue and Democratic Review the New
York Mirror, the Knickerbocker, the St.
Lawrence Republican, Benton's Thirty
Years View. Bancroft's Life Of Martin
Van Buren,, histories of Wright and his
time by Hammond and Jenkins, and to
many manuscript letters OF the distin-
gutshed commoner in the New York pub
liz library and In the possession Of Mr..
Samuel Wright of Weybridge Vermont.
To- any who may think that they dis
rcover portraits in these pages i desire to
Say, that all the Characteristic only
silas Wright and President Van Buren,
and Barton Baynes-are purely imagin-
aTY. However, there were Grimshaws
.ssna Purvises and Binkses and Aunt Deels
ana Uncle Paabodys In almost every rus
10 neighborhood those days, and I regret
TO- add that Rowing Kate was on many
roads. The case OF Amos Grimshaw bears
. striking resemblance to that Of young
BickHord. executed long ago In Malone,
for the particulars of which case I am
Indebted to my friend, Mr.. II. L. Ives OF
Petsdam. teE aa s..
THE AUTHOR.