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MR. WILSON AS PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE. - HIS HEALTH DECLINING. - HIS SECOND VOLUME OF THE RISE AND
FALL OF THE SLAVE-POWER. - HIS LAST SICKNESS. - HIS DEATH.
COMMANDING in person,
quick in perception, and well versed in parliamentary practice, Mr.
Wilson presided with dignity and great acceptance over the Senate; and
his decisions were respected by the members of both parties. his earnest
desire, expressed on every suitable occasion, was conciliation between
the factions in the Republican party, and the restoration of fraternity
and friendliness between the North and South.
Although his elevation to
the office of vice-president lessened his senatorial labors, he still
allowed himself no rest. Every leisure moment was devoted to the
cornposition of his great work on "The Rise and Fall of the Slave-Power
in America," for which the consultation of numberless authorities, and
an extensive correspondence, were demanded. His arduous labors were
often extended late into the night; and he observed to a friend, at this
period, that he seldom laid aside his pen until the clock struck two in
the morning. "My mail comes in late," he said; "the journals must be
read; my letters must be looked over, some of them answered; and so I am
obliged to steal an hour or two from the coming day before retiring."
But though strictly
temperate, and early inured to toil, his constitution was not adequate
to the strain of such incessant industry. his health began to yield to
this habitual transgression of hygienic law. His first fearful warning
was a sudden, but only partial, paralysis of a facial nerve, in 1873, by
which his countenance was slightly altered, and his utterance somewhat
impaired. The usual remedies were prescribed; and, above all, the
physicians imperatively enjoined repose from labor: but how could a mind
of such intense activity obey the injunction? This very monition of the
uncertainty of life incited the desire in the Vice-President to complete
his book, which he considered the most valuable legacy he could leave to
his countrymen. He, however, yielded somewhat to his medical advisers,
and spent the summer, —some time at the house of his friend, ex-Gov.
Claffin, some time at his home in Natick, some time in profound
retirement, endeavoring to rest from labor, and to recuperate his
health. On one occasion, a friend, calling at thin house where the Vice.
President was living very quietly, inquired of the servant for Mr.
Wilson; when she replied to him, "There's no such person here: I never
heard of such a man." On being further questioned, she responded, "Yes,
sir, there is an invalid stopping here; but I don't know who he is, and
he is out to-day." She reported this to her mistress, and was not a
little surprised to learn from her, that, for several weeks, she had
been waiting on the Vice-President of the United States.
In September, Mr. Wilson
made a journey to the White Mountains, stopping, on the way, to visit
the spot where he was born, near the Cocheco River, in Farmington; and,
on returning, found his health improved, and thought, if the papers
would but let him alone, he might hope for a complete recovery. In
November, however, he excused himself from speaking at the Massachusetts
Club, on account of illness; and although he repaired to Washington, and
took his seat in the chair of the Senate at the opening of Congress, he
was soon obliged to retire from it, and seek repose in his peaceful home
at Natick.
Early in January, 1874,
he greatly enjoyed a re-union at No. 13 Chestnut Street, Boston, with
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Wendell Phillips, Charles Bradlaugh, and other
celebrities; and, on the 16th of the same month, addressed a letter on
the political situation to "The Springfield Republican," in which he
hopefully says, "I believe the Republican party has it in its power to
recover what is lost, and to elect the next President." And he also
expresses his earnest desire for reconciliation between the conflicting
elements in the party, and the return of those who had abandoned it. In
another letter, written about this time, he assigns his reasons for
voting for the Bounty Bill, very sensibly avowing that "the nation is
bound in honor to be as liberal now towards the men who fought its
battles as it pledged itself to be in the time of danger."
Mr. Wilson was profoundly
affected at the death of Charles Sumner, who had fought with him so many
hard battles in the senate-chamber; and shed over his grave at Mt.
Auburn the tear of sad regret, observing, as he took his farewell look
of the distinguished statesman, "I soon shall follow him."
In April ensuing, a
passage was engaged for him for a second trip to Europe, under the hope
that a change of scene, and foreign medical advice, might restore him to
his wonted vigor; but, feeling soon that his health was gradually
improving, he abandoned this design, and spent the summer in recreation
at various watering places along the shore, and in carrying through the
press the second volume of his great work on "The Rise and Fall of the
Slave-Power in America," which was published this year, in superior
style, by James R. Osgood & Co., Boston. In it Mr. Wilson, with the hand
of a master, analyzes and describes the leading national events through
that stirring period extending from the admission of Florida to the
election of Mr. Lincoln; and fully sustains the reputation for candor,
for profound research, for classification of facts, for logical
reasoning, and for force, clearness, and dignity of style, which the
first instalment of this important contribution to our political history
gained for him. His chapters on the origin of the Republican party, and
the assault on Mr. Sumner, are most ably written; and the whole work,
coming as it does from an actor in the events recorded, is worthy to be
profoundly studied by the American people.
At the opening of the
session of Congress at the close of the year, the Vice-President had so
far regained his health as to be able to preside over the Senate with
his usual ability. His back pay as a senator he nobly returned to the
treasury; and, though differing in many points from the policy of the
President, he lived on the most friendly terms with him, and
entertained, as ever, a high opinion of his executive wisdom. To a
friend he said, one day, "The third-term movement is all nonsense.
President Grant is a singularly able man; and the country hardly knows
any thing about him personally. He is immensely underrated. The
President is reticent; but, in reference to the third term, I do not
really think that he himself desires it." He also mentioned Mr. Blaine
and Mr. Washburne as probable Republican candidates for the next
presidential canvass.
In the spring of 1875, he
made a tour in the Southwestern States, where he examined the condition
of the schools, and spoke, in no less than twenty-nine public addresses,
words of fraternity and encouragement to the people. He visited the
graves of Jackson, Clay, Taylor, Polk, Crittenden, Bell, and Benton, for
the latter of whom he ever entertained the most profound respect. In the
streets of Memphis he spoke a moment with Mrs. Jefferson Davis. He saw
with delight the loyal demonstrations of the people, and returned with
renewed hope and vigor for the prosecution of his literary labors. After
the centennial celebrations at Lexington and Boston, in which he took an
active part, he repaired to Saratoga, where his physician gave him
permission to spend the morning in writing on his book, on condition
that he would rest for the remainder of the day. Here he made two
effective addresses on behalf of temperance to large audiences, and
re-affirmed the principles by which his whole life had been guided.
In September, he was
called to preside over the Republican Convention at Worcester. His
address on that occasion was strong, but conciliatory, advising union on
the part of all Republicans, and predicting the triumph of their
principles, and the election of Alexander H. Rice to the gubernatorial
chair. To this, and to his letters written at this period, the success
of the party at the last election is, no doubt, largely due. There is
something of sublimity in the course of a man standing thus steadily to
the principles of his party, which so many in times of trial had
deserted, and, by his inflexible integrity and judicious counsel,
rallying it again to victory.
But the days of this wise
political guide were numbered. Dining at Young's Hotel a short time
afterwards, he suddenly received another paralytic attack, and was
immediately carried to the residence of his friend, Mr. Webster, where
the usual restoratives were applied. His speech was again affected, and
his face somewhat distorted. He then said to a friend beside him, "I
have received my mortal blow; but I greatly desire to remain a few years
longer to finish up my work."
Convalescing rapidly, he
repaired to Washington early in November, subjecting himself, on the
way, to the same severe trial by fire which Mr. Sumner received from Dr.
Brown-Squard. He was, however, after taking a warm bath (Nov. 10), again
prostrated by another and still more serious paralytic shock. The most
effective remedies were prescribed; and, though greatly suffering, such
was the vigor of his constitution, that he rallied under their effect.,
and, on the 13th of November, was pronounced convalescent by his
physician. "If I could arrange my death," said he to one of his
attendants, "I would die quietly in my home, and have the privilege of
saying good-by to my friends, and be laid quietly away. But I have a
premonition that I shall die suddenly; be snuffed out like a candle,
without an opportunity to say good-by to any one." These were prophetic
words.
On the night of the 17th
following, he slept so soundly, and felt so well in the morning, that he
desired to leave his room at the Capitol, but was restrained by his
physician, who was constantly compelled to combat the intense activity
of his nature. In a conversation with a friend on the day following, he
said, "Everybody has been very kind to me during my illness. See here,"
he continued, turning to a splendid basket of flowers, -"see what the
wife of the President has sent me!" And, pointing to a superb lily in
the centre, he remarked, "This is a fit emblem of the purity which
surrounds the world of immortality, which we all hope some day to
reach." He then added, "The doctors think that I am getting better, and
I believe so myself. They say that I shall be able to go North on
Monday: we will see." In reference to politics, he said, "The Democrats
will have to improve a great deal before the people will intrust them
with the government; and they will never put one into the presidential
office, if he ever had any connection with the Rebellion." On Sunday,
21st, he was not quite as well, but received a number of visitors, among
whom were Messrs. Burt and Crossman. So little apprehension was felt,
that Dr. Baxter, his physician, having given directions to his
attendants, Messrs. S. H. Boyden and F. A. Wood, to administer his
medicines, left him early in the evening with the hope that he might be
able to ride out the next day. Soon afterwards Mr. Wilson said, "If the
doctor were here, I would have a blister put on the back of my neck; but
it is not worth while to send for him;" and, after his limbs had been
rubbed, observed that he felt unusually well, and fell asleep. Awaking
about midnight, he arose, walked around his room, and then, going to his
table, took up a little treasured volume of poems, called "The Changed
Cross," containing photographs of his wife and son, whose memories he
most tenderly cherished, and read from it three stanzas, one of which
formed the burden of his daily prayer: -
"Help us, O Lord, with
patient love to bear
Each other's faults; to suffer with true meekness:
Help us each others' joys and griefs to share;
But let us turn to thee alone in weakness."
Having laid down the
book, he spoke of the kindness of his friends, and, returning in a
pleasant mood to bed, soon fell asleep. At three o'clock he again awoke,
requested Mr. Boyden to rub his breast; when he again fell into a
profound sleep, which continued until seven o'clock in the morning. On
awaking, he expressed himself as feeling very well, and, on being
informed of the death of Senator Ferry, said, "Poor Ferry, he has been a
great sufferer: that makes eighty-three dead with whom I have sat in the
Senate. What a record! If I live to the end of my present term, I shall
be the sixth in the history of the country who have served so long a
time." He then, referring cheerfully to his improved condition, drank
some bitter water, turned over on his left side, and in a few moments,
without any apparent pain or struggle, ceased to breathe.
"So fades a summer cloud
away;
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er;
So gently shuts the eye of day;
So dies a wave along the shore.
Triumphant smiles the victor's brow,
Fanned by some guardian angel's wing:
Where is, O Grave! thy victory now?
And where, insidious Death, thy sting?
Thus in his room at the
Capitol, where he had spent so many years in the defence of civil
liberty, with but
one attendant at his
bedside, the Vice-President of the United States departed, at twenty
minutes past seven o'clock on the twenty-second day of November, 1875,
in the sixty-fourth year of his age. Thus the brain that had devised so
many measures for the good of his country ceased from its throbbings;
thus the heart that had so magnanimously beaten for the sons of toil and
suffering became cold and still; and, as Judge hoar observed, no cleaner
hands were ever folded on a truer breast.
An autopsy of the body of
Mr. Wilson disclosed black fluid blood in the sinuses of the brain,
which weighed forty-nine ounces and a half, and thus made it manifest
that the immediate cause of his death was apoplexy. His body was then
embalmed, and laid out on Tuesday morning in the room where he expired,
dressed in the black suit which he wore on state occasions, with a
wreath of white flowers at his head and a floral cross at his feet. Rich
bouquets of flowers, sent by Ms, Grant and others, also decorated the
apartment. |
