Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1919-02-06
PREFACE

The Light in the Clearing shone upon
many 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. I believe that spirit
in this dark and windy night of time, has
. flickered 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. I believe 1t shall, by and
by. be seen and loved of all men.
One s~elf-contained. Homeric figure, of
the remote countryside in which 1 was
born, had the true Spirit Of Democracy
and shed it's light abroad in the senate of
the United States and the capitol at AL
ibany. He carried the Candle of the Lord.
1T led him to a height of sel%f-forgetful-
ness achieved by only two others-Wash-
ington and Lincoln. Yet 1 nave been sur
prised by the profound and general ig-
norance of this generation regarding the
career of Silas Wright.
The distinguished senator who served
at his side for many years, Thomas H.
Benton of Missouri, has this to say of
Silas Wright in his Thirty Years View
H refused abine appointments I'M
der his fast friend Van Buren, and under
Polk, whom he may be said to have
elected. He refused a, seat on the bench
vi AK oPASAAAO SouAS u ShS AASS
States; he rejected instantly the nomina-
ton in 1914 for vice president; he refused
to 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, it might we'll be
said, were thrust upon him. He was bern
great and above office and unwillingly ie-
scended to it,"
So much by way of preparing the reader
to meet the great 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 a 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, a human being, through
and through, but SO upright that they
used to say Of him that he was "as hon
est rs any man under heaven or in it."
For my knowledge of the color and
spirit of the time I am indebted to a long
course of reading in it's books, newspa
pers 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, Benton's Thirty
Years View, Bancroft's Life Of Martin
a Buren,, histories of Wright and his
time by Hammond and Jenkins. and to
many manuscript letters Of the distin-
guished mmoner in the New York pub
lie library and in the possession of Mr..
Samuel Wright of Weybridge. Vermont.
To any who may thJnk that they dis
cover portraits in these pages I desire to
say that all the characters-save only
Silas Wright and President Van Buren,
and Barton Baynes-are purely imagin-
AIRY. However,, there were Grimshaws
and Purvises and Binkses and Aunt Deels
and Uncle Peabodys in almost every rus
tic neighborhood those days., and 1 regret
to add that Rowing Kate was on many
roads. The case of Amos Grimshaw bears;
a striking resemblance to that of young
Bedford, executed long ago in Malone.
for the particulars of which case I am
indebted to my friend, Mr.. H. L. Ives Of
PetSdam.
THE AUTHOR,