The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1919-04-26
PREFACE
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The Light In the Clearing shone upon
snany things and mostly upon those
which, above all Others have impassioned
and perpetuated the Spirit of America
and which, just now seem to me to be
worthy of attention. ] believe that spirit
Go be the very candle OF the Lord which,
On this dark and windy night of time, has
Sickered SO that the souls OF the faithful
have been afraid. But let us be OF good
cheer. 1t is shining brighter as l write
and, under God, believe 1t shall, by and
by, be seen and loved of all men.
One self-contained, Homeric figure, OF
che remote countryside In which l 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
bany. He carried the Candle of the Lord.
It led him to a height of self-forgetful-
ness achieved by only two others-Wash-
4ngton and Lincoln. Yet have been sur
prised by the profound and general ig-
Iorance of this generation regarding the
career of Silas Wright.
The distinguished senator who served
at his side for many years, Thomas H
Renton of Missouri. has this to say Of
Silas Wright in his Thirty Years View:
@xIe refused cabinet appointments un-
der his fast friend Van Buren, and under
Polk. whom he may be said to have
selected. He refused a seat on the bench
of the Supreme court of the United
States; he rejected instantly the nominal
ton In 1874 for vice president; he refused
to be put In nomination for the presl-
dency He spent that time In declining
office which others did in winning 1t. The
Offices he did accept, it might well be
said. were thrust upon him. He was born
great and above office and unwillingly de-
scended to it,
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
be his remark In letter: when our
enemies 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 l am indebted to long
course of reading in its books, neWspa-
Ders and periodicals, notably the North
American Review, the United states Mag
azine and Democratic Review, the New
York Mirror, the Knickerbocker, the st.
Lawrence Republican, Bentohs lhlrty
Years View, Bancroft's Life OF Martin
Van Buren,, histories of Wright and his
time by Hammond and Jenkins, and to
rnany manuscript letters of the distin-
rguished commoner in the New York pub
Tic library and in the possession OF Mr..
samuel Wright of Weybridge, Vermont.
To any who may think that they dis
cover portraits in these pages l desire To
say that all the characters-save only
siIas Wright and President van Buren
and Parton Baynes-are purely imagin-
airy. However, there were Grimsnaws
and Purvises and Binkses and Aunt Deels
and Uncle Peabodys in almost every rus
tic neighborhood those days, and regrel
10 add that Rowing Kate was on many
roads. The case of Amos Grimshaw bears
q. striking resemblance to that of young
Bfckford, executed long ago in Malone
for the particulars of which case am
Indebted to my friend, Mr.. H. L. Ives OF
Petsdam.
THE AUTHOR.