The New York Herald Newspaper, November 23, 1875, Page 3

WENRY WILSON, Demise of the Vice President in the National Capitol, A NATION IN MOURNING. His Prophecy as to the Manner of His Death Fulfilled. SKETCH OF HIS LAST HOURS. | His Recovery Anticipated Up to the Latest Moment. . Final Utterances of Peace and Re- conciliation with the South. MASSACHUSETTS AND HER DEAD. | The Preparations in Progress for | the Funeral. DEE > ROST-MORTEM. The President’s Official Announcement and the Order of the War Department. | and his body motionless. NEW YORK H im a glaes from the bottle, and the invalid drank about two-(hiras of atumblerful and then sank down. The moment ne touched the bed he turned on his left side ‘and began to breathe heavily, Captain Wood sprang to the other side of his bed and took his hand and felt his pulse, He seemed to have already passed away; but they found he was still breathing. His eyes were fixed With eight or ten convulsive respirations the Vice President of the United States BREATHED WS LAST. A fow days before his death ho said:— “When the hour comes my life will go out like a candle.’ From the time that he lay down on the bed, after he had taken the water, not more than two minutes had | elapsed, and it was not more than fifteen minutes alter he heard of Senator Ferry’s death that he went to join him, PREMONITIONS OF THE ATTACK, On the day when Mr. Wilson was first strickon he said he knew that he was going to ean attack, He thought the hot bath would avert the danger, but he found it hastened it half an hour. He talked calmly wbout death, and said that he had no fear, He felt that he would not pass out of the universe, nor beyond the presence and the love of God. CAUSE OF THE RELAPSE. The death of Mr. Wilson was caused by a resumption of mental ‘activity. Postmaster Burt, of Boston, spent the greater part of yesterday with the Vice President, who taiked cheerfully throughout, and he says he never saw him looking better. Hoe talked about going to Florida, but said he must first go to New York to be treated with electricity for nervousness, as he had learned from a conversation with Judge Field of the great benefits derived by his wife from similar ailment After that he would go to Florida, “Bat no’—he said, checking himself—“I cannot go until I (inish my book; that is the great work before me for my future, and that will bring me in something in my old days I must finish that, and then I will be at liberty to go somewhere for my health. I have been asked to go to Europe by some of my friends, but I think that will hardly do,” He was to have ridden out to-day with Postmaster Burt, who arrived at the capital at eight P. M. LAST MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENT, The last meeting between President Grant and Vice President Wilson was on the day after the Vice President | was originally attacked—Thursday, the 11th inst. The President, much to the surprise of many who had sup- posed that Mr, Wilson’s outspoken utterances on the Wasurxerox, Nov. 22, 1875, | Vice President Wilson died at five minutes to eight | o’clock this morning. | For several days the Vice President seemed to be | growing better, On Friday evening he had a long talk with Mr, J. B. Mann, bis fellow townsman and biographeryand at present the Fifth Auditor of the | Treasury. He‘had much to say of old times and many | incidents of his boyhood were recalled. | Once, when speaking with Mr. Mann, he wascongrat- lated on his improved appearance. ‘ou will soon be weli,’” remarked the friend. “J don’t know,” replied the Vice President, “I am a good deal shattered.”” On Saturday he was so much better that his friends had. strong hopes of his entire recovery. He con- ‘versed cheerful y with the few callers who were admit- ted, and wacn ihe weatLe: cleared he expected to take @carriage ride around the city. He read the papers, and particularly the New York dailies. He and bis friends frequently remarked that the recent editorial in the Heraup on his services to the country had a most Dappy effect on bis mind, DURING SUNDAY ‘the weather was gloomy all day and the prospect ont- side most depressing, but the Vice President was cleer- ful and his conversation spirited, THE LAST NIGHT ON BARTH, i He talked a great deal during Sunday night. At | eight o'clock he said if the doctor were present he | would have a blister applied to the back of his neck. | Up to this time he had not slept, During tne evening | sho warm bath, which it was very imprudent in you to | Captain Wood asked if he wanted some wine, a home. | made cordial called Cape of Good Hope wine, He said | “yes,” and gave the number of the house where it could | be had. Soon after this, Captain Boyden, the her at- tendant, opened the door carcfully and looked in. The | onght to take a little wine with your dinners to help | Vice President lifted his eyes at thia early hour and | Bai i ‘The idea of your coming in so silently at this early hour, thinking to find me asleep.” Boyden came forward and said, “How is the Gen- eral?” a title frequently used by Mr. Wilson's friends in the sick chamber, and conferred on account of his | chairmanship of Military Affairs, ‘The invalid con- versed in a sprightly tone, and at times was jovial. He ‘said that it was much better for him to talk familiarly | about commonplace matters, requiring little thought, than to lie still in constant meditation and allow his active brain to run away with itself, He Was sitting up in bed at this time. Soon afterward he said:— “Now I guess I'll be rubbed.” His arms, hands, feet and spine were gently manipu- Inted for an hour anda bait, while he directed the at- tendants in a cheerful, bantering way. At ten o'clock he fell into a doze and slept for twenty minutes, when | he awoke and sald he had quite @ nap and felt much | better. Conversation with Captain Wood was again renewed. The Vice President spoke feelingly of Mr, Crossman, his private secretary, who had come that morning, from Huntington, L. I., in response to a call | sent during the week. He said that a few days before | he had forwarded him important letters received from emincnt gentlemen since his sickness to be used in PREPARING ws BIOGRAPRY incase of his death. He was in private conversation with Mr. Crossman all Sunday. Mr, Wilson spoke particularly of his love for the young man, and said that he was very glad that he had come to sec him. After Mr, Cross- | “fhan leit he slept until midnight, when he arose from { his bed and walked to the table, where he looked over the cards that bad been sent in during the day, after which he glanced at some letters. Then he opened a drawer and took outa hymn book which bad been presented | to him bya dear friend. His wife’s photograph was | pasted to the fly leaf of the title page. After reading the 144th hymn, us given below, he took out a slip con, taining the RECENT NERALD EDITORIAL ‘on his illness, and Jaid it in the book to mark the page he had been reading. When ho had finished reading the hymn he looked at some pictures lying on the table, and lingered overa cabinet size photograph of Mr. Crossman, which weemed (o give him peculiar pleasure. Stepping to the replace, he stood looking at the dying embers for a Tew woméhss, and then he 5 _ReTURYE” i - eae ee 72 AT Sey for the last time. At three o'clock this morning be i awoke, and, putting bis hands on his breast, asked to rubbed, which Captain Boyden aid for thirty min- eS. He then said he felt better and went to sleep again, Captain Wood went imto the adjoining room | to Wake o hap and left Captain Boyden to watch. About | Jabven o'clock the Vice President awoke, which was an hour earlier than his usual time of waking. Ho smiled, | and, turning his eyes to Boyden, said:—“Aint I a bright looking boy? 1 feel better than I have felt any time since I was taken sick,” At this point Captain ‘Wood came into the room, and was warmly greeted by | the Vice President with a cheerful ‘How are you this morning?” The announcoment of SENATOR FERRY'S DEATH had reached the Capitol the night before, but the watchers had withheld the news from Mr, Wilson. account of his death, !t was decidea to break the in- telligence as gently as possible. Captain Wood then waid:— “Mr, President, the papers of this morning report the death of Senator Ferry, of Connecticut.” ‘The sufferer exhibited deep emotion, but his pallid face remained perfectly calm, After a few moments silence, he related what Mr, Byington, of the Norwalk Gazette, had said to him the day before, to the offeck that the Senator was much affected by the report of bis (Wilson’s) sickness, Tho dying man breathed a deep sigh, and exclaimed :— “Poor Ferry | Pour Ferry! He was a good ran and a Christian, Yes; he was a good man and # man of great talent.” After another pause Mr, Wilson pointed toward the Senate Chamber, and remarked significantly :— “T have sat in that Senate with cighty-three men who have passed away, What a record for a man! Ido hol think there js a man living who can say the samo. Tam not positive; but perhaps Senator Hamlin can, If Tlive my present term out, I shall be the sixth in the | bistory of the country,’ Here his voice fell. What ho Meant to say was lost, A few minates later ho said: — “1 guess I will take some more of that bitter water.” | tacked? I just arrived from New York this morning. | the manner in which he was seized in the Senate barber 1? | Edmunds, Morrill of Vermont, Ingalls, Paddock, Pat- As | the morning papers would soon be brought in with the | third term question and his criticism of some of the President's offieia! acts had seriously impaired the friendly relations which had previously existed between them, visited the Vice President at his room at the | Capitol, He was met by Dr. Baxter, who, preceding him, said to Mr, Wilson:— “Mr, Vice President, the President has come to see you.’? Mr. Wilson, with great effort, partially raised himself on his elbows in the bed, when the President advancing, his in hand, extended bis hand, which Mr, Wilson grasped, the President saying:— “Well, how is the Vice President? I am very sorry to find you ill.” ‘The Vice President replied:—"How do you do, Mr. President? Iam gladtosee you. 1am feeling some- what easier to-day.’” The President, who had meanwhile taken a seat by the bed, then said:— “How did this}come about? When were you at- The Vice President then proceeded to narrate with considerable particularity, but in a*low, feeble voice, shop after taking’ a warm bath, and told how, when in New York, he underwent a severe surgical operation, the searing of the flesh over his spinal column between. the shoulders with a white-heated iron, and added, “I imagine the operation had something to do with my present prostration, Don’t you, doctor? ”? “0, no,” replied Dr, Baxter; “it will undoubtedly have a very beneficial effect. The immediate cause was take, I fear.”” He added, pleasantly turning to the Presi- dent, ‘the Vice President ate too many good dinners in New York.” The President here remarked to Mr. Wilson, “You digestion, What do you think, doctor; don’t you think that a little wine with aheavy dinner aids digestion,” “Undoubtedly it does,” replied the doctor, “taken in moderate quantities. “That is a fact undisputed by the | medical faculty, I believe.” “Well, I have always thought so,” said the Presi- dent, “I have eaten hearty dinners and drank no wine, nothing bat water—not that I abstain from wine—and have always noticed that I never felt so well afterward as in cases where I drank a little wine.” Conversation then turned on the President’s visit to | New York. He stated that he went there with Mrs Grant, who wanted to do some shopping, and that bis visit was one of business merely. He referred to the weather in New York as very fine, A pause ensuing in the conversation, the Vice President asked, ‘Do you | hear from Nellie” (meaning Mrs. Sartoris) “ often ?”” “Oh, yos,”” replied the President, ‘Her mother gets aletter almost every week--by every steamer. She writes long and very interesting letters, She writes | with great facility,” The President remained about fifteen minutes, when, taking up his bat and rising, he sai “T hope you will be better soon, Mr. Vice President, I will come up again this evening or send up to see how you are getting along.” “Thank you, Mr. President,’? said Mr. Wilson, again partially rising on his elbows. 1 am obliged to you for your call.” This was the last meeting between the President and | the Vice President, It may be said in apology for the former that, with the rest of the public, he labored | under the delusive belief that the latter was con- | valescing. THR CABINET MEETING. Tho President was notified of the Vice President's death about nine o'clock, and immediately called & special meeting of the Cabinct at half-past ten o’clock, at which time all the members were present, except Secretary Robeson, who is absent from the city. Secretary Fish was requested to attend the meeting of Senators now in the city at noon, and on the part of the President and Cabinet unite in any arrangements for the funeral ceremonies. Arrangements were also made tor the Executive order announcing the death of | the Vice President, ordering that the departments be closed and other suitable marks of respect be shown to the memory of the deceased. co RPARATIONS FOR THR FUNERAL. Whon the Supreme Court sagemnbled as usual at noon, higf Justice Waite said the mournfyl intelligence bag, j receired of the death ot vice Presiacus be ” eS 8 tribute of respect to his high charac- ter and services, the Court would transact no business | to day, but adjourn until to-morrow. All of the Jus- tices then proceeded to tue Senate wing of the Capitol to participate in the mecting of the Senators to make arrangements for the funeral, DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS PRESENT. Among those already assembled in the ladies’ recep- tion room wero Senators Thurman, Sargent, Windom, | i} terson, Dennis, Jones of Florida, McDougal and Sher- man; also Secretary Fish, Postmaster General Jewell, Attorney General Pierrepont, ex-Attorney Goneral Wil- Tints atid ¥arious personal friends of the Vice Prest- dent. On motion of Senator Sherman, Chief Justice Waite was selected as Clairman of the meeting. Major McDonald, chief Clerk of the Senate, was appointed Secretary, The result of the proceedings was thata Committee of Arrangements was appointed, consisting of the following gentlemen :— COMMITTER OF ARRANGEMENTS. Senators Boutwell, of Massachusetts; Sherman, of Ohio, and Morrill, of Vermont; tho Secretary of State, Associate Justice Clifford, Reprosentatives Garfleld, of Ohio; Warren, of Massachusetts, and Randall, of Penn. | the District of Columbia, The committee to make arrangements for the funeral of the late Vice President held a meeting at ten o’clock to-day, but without coming to @ conclusion, adjourned to meet at the State Department to-morrow morning to await the arrival of Senator Boutwell and consulta- tion with the authorities of Massachusetts, POST MORTEM EXAMINATION, November 22, 11:30—Four hours after death; ther- | mometer 62 deg.; external appearances, nothing un- usual; brain, weight 4954 ounces; sinuses of brain fall | of black fluid; blood deposit of lymph on surtace of | cergbral hemisphere; consistence and color of brain normal crypt, the size of @ pea in each choroid plexus; atheromatous deposit in the arteries at base of | brain and in anterior and middle cerebral arteries. 1 Wil | sylvania, and Commissioner Dennison, representing | ence. A microscopic examination wil) be made of this, Lungs—Old pleuritic adhesions on the left side; cal_ careous deposit, the size of pea, in the middle lobe of the right lung; lungs congested (hypostatis). Heart normal, except small caleareous deposit in the aortic value. Pericardial fluid normal. Stomach empty, congested throughout, with slight erosions or abrasions at several potnts; pyloric portions bormal. Liver congested and somewhat fatty; small cyst on upper surface; gall bladder full of bile, normal. Kidneys.—Weight eight ounces each, congested, with ene or two small cysts and cicatrices of similar crysts, Spleen large, dark, otherwise normal; other viscera, normal. CAUSE OP DEATH APOPLEXY. The following named physicians made the post- mortem examination:—Surgeon General Barnes, Drs, Baxter, Ford, Magruder, Ashford and Lamb, THE EMBALMED REMAINS of Mr, Wilson have been laid in state in the Vice Pros - Ment’s room on a catafalque, which occupies the place where the writing table stood at which he did all his work, The body, attired =m a dress suit of black broadcloth, faces Rembrant Peale’s portrait of Washington and beside it are a wreath of tea roses, Japanese calla lillies, white and across of white flowers from General Babe ock. The room is guarded by a detail of the Capitol police, among them a colored man who also stood by the bier of Senator Sumner. MASSACHUSETTS AND HER DEAD, Sergeant-at-Arms French has received the following telegram from Governor Gaston: Boston, Mass., Nov. 22, 1875. Your telegram announcing the death of Vice Presi- dent Wilson has been received. Massachusetts deeply proud of his pure charactergand of his distinguished public service. WILLIAM GASTON, Telegrams have also been received announcing that | General Cunningham, of the staff of the Governor of Massachusetts, and Messrs. Dunn and Turner, repre- senting the Boston City Council, start for Washington to-night and that Senator Boutwell starts to-morrow morning. ‘MR. WILSON’S BROTHER was with him in his last illness. He has been for several years employed as a doorkeeper under’ the Sergeant-at-Arms of the United States Senate, DATS OF THE FUNERAL. ‘The date for the Vice President’s funeral is not yet settled. It is the desire of some ot his friends to deter it until Congress assembles, but the question will probably be determined by his nephew and executor, . L. Coohdge, of Natick, who is yet to be heard from on the subject. The Massachussetts State Republican Association, in this city, held ameeting to night, at which eulogies were prounounced and resolutions adopted commem- orative of the Vice President’s life and character, MR, WILSON’S ESTATE. Mr. Wilson is said to have left an estate worth about $3,000, and his place in Natick is valued at $2,500, It is but a short time since he was bemoaning the fact of his being so poor, During the time he taught school his late wife was among the pupils, and in referring to it frequently cited the fact that Mr, Wilson was so very severe upon her, but she would add, ‘“Isn’t it strange that I won him after all?” MR. WILSON’S SUCCESSOR. Wasuincton, Nov. 22, 1875, The death of Vice President Wilson excites much in- quiry as to who would act as President in case the pres-, ent incumbent of the office should die before the ex- | Piration of his term and until there should be a new election. The Revised Statutes settles the question as follows:— In case of removal, death, resignation or inability of both the President and Vice President of the United States, the President of the Senate, or if their is noue, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the time being shall act as President until the disability is removed or a Prosident elected, Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, of Michigan, is now Presi- dent pro tem, of the Senate, and at the commencement, of the next session will be entitled to call the Senate to’ order and continue to preside without the need of ro- election. This is 80 because he was in the chair and adjourned the Senate at the close of the last session. If the Vice President bad occupied the chair at the time of adjournment tho Senate would now be obliged to elect a presiding officer, instead of being at liberty to go into a new election or not, just as a majority of its members (or in effect, as @ majority of the republican caucus) shall decide, | Mr. Ferry was the choice of thw Jagt .repub- lican caucus by a majority of three. There is no provision mado by the constitution or existing law for the contingency in regard to tho Presidential succession which might occur if the President and Vico President should both die prior to the organization of a new House of Representatives, and the Senate be with- out a President pro tem holding over from the pre- vious session, EXECUTIVE ORDER. Wasunctox, Nov. 22, 1875. The following order, announcing the death of Vice President Wilson, was issued by the President this afternoon ;:— Executive MANston, Wasutnerox, Nov. 22, 1875. } It is with profound sorrow that the President has to announce to the people of the United States the death of the Vice “President, Henry Wilson, who died in the Capitol of the nation this morning. The eminent station of the deceased, his high char- acter, his long career in the service of ‘his State and of the Union, his devotion to the cause of freedom and the ability which he brought to the discharge of every duty, stand conspicuous and are indelibly impressed on the hearts and affections of the American people. In testimony of respect for this distinguished citizen and faithtul public servant the various departments of the government will be closed on the day of the fu- neral, and the Executive Mansion and all the executive departments in Washington will be draped with badges of mourning for thirty days. The Secretaries of War and of the Navy will issue orders that appropriate military and naval honors be rendered to the memory of one whose virtues and services will long be borne in recollection by a gratelul nation, U. 8, GRANT. By the President, Hamitton Fisu, Secretary of State, ORDER FROM THE WAR DEPART- MENT. Wasutxaton, Nov, 22, 1875, In compliance with the order of the President direct- ing that appropriate military and naval honors be ren- dered to the memory of Vice President Wilson the fol- lowing order was issued by the Secretary of War this afternoon :— On the day succeeding the receipt of this order at each military station the troops will be paraded at ten o’clock A, M. and the order read to them, The national flag will Be displayed at half staff At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired. Commencing at twelve o'clock M. seventeen minute gubs Will be fired, and at the close of the day the national salute of thirty-seven ehh Whe Gia Dadyo OF wul_be Borg by ol Of the army, and the colors of the several reg. ments will be put in mourning for the period of three months, An appropriate order will be issued by the Secretary of the Navy to-morrow. HENRY WILSON’S CAREER, Henry Wilson was born at Farmington, New Hamp- shire, on the 16th of February, 1812; so that at the time of his death he was in the sixty, fourth year of his age. His father’s namo was not Wilson, bat Colbath; and it was while he was a lad of seventeen that the boy who had been named Jeremiah Jones Colbath was enabled by an act of the Legislature to become Henry Wilson, No good reasons have ever been ascertained for this seemingly vain act on tho part of a blunt man who always re- Joiced at being called ‘the Natick Cobbler.” It was, | however, in those days a common occurrence for people to have their names changed. Lists of names were fre- quently sent to the Legislature for alteration, General Jackson had some time bofore paid a visit to New Hamp- shire and a man named Wilson had entertained him. ‘The honor was considered great and Wilson’s name im- mediately became so popular that young Colbath agsumed It, From that time he has been known as Henry Wilson. It has been published that he took his employer's name to show gratitude for kind treat- | | | \ ment, Thisis untrue. The Colbaths wero extremely poor people; and on one occasion §=wher he was taunted by Governor Hammond, o | South Carolina upon being mudsill and a ‘‘hirelin manual laborer,” Mr. Wilson replied that he wa also the son of @ bireling manual laborer, Ther were seven children in the family, of which Henr Wilson was the only ono who arrived at any distinctio; A brother who adhered to the name of Colbath was t one time a doorkeeper in the hall of tho Massachusets Assembiy, but he became such only by the interpd- tion of Mr. Wilson. The family was so poor that to father found ita matter of impossibility to find 16 ordinary necessaries of life, His mother often sufferd for food. So that when young Wilson was onlyin Cavtain Wopd poured oy elagg of Fricderichshall | Spiny) cord—Nothing abpormal in gglor or consist. yoarg. ald be wet forth woon tye world Fo,agh pia nm pinks and heleotropes from the wife of the President | | mourns his loss, but in the midst of her grief she is | ERALD, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1875.—TRIPLE SHEET. Hving. He became an apprentice to a farmer. The apprenticeship was, after the manner of those days, for so long a period as eleven years; that is, until be was twenty-one years old. It was then considered a legal duty of masters to afford their apprentices an opportunity to acquire the rudiments of & common education. Henry was permitted to have four weeks for attending school in every year, At tho end of bis time of servitude he was to receive six sheep and a yoke of six-year old oxen. He faithfully served his time of eleven years, and he sold his sheep and oxen for $84, But though the weeks of his school life were few in number he had employed bis leisure time to advantage in miscellaneous reading, A lawyer in his neighborhood, a Mr, Eastman, afforded him the use of his library, and Mrs. Eastman, | noticing the boy’s thirst for knowledge, assisted him in iB | Selecting books. Sometimes he sat up all night, and, having no oil, the only light he could obtain was from the dismal burning of pine knots, It seems as if his whole life took color from their gloomy glare. He spent | ali his Sundays in reading. At the expiration of his | apprenticeship he had read 700 volumes of historical and | biographical works, In his studies he was assisted by Judge Whitehouse, a kind neighbor, of the village. At the age of twenty-one young Wilson worked for eight months on the farm, mainly at chopping wood at fifty cents a cord In December, 1833, he left his home and walked to Natick, Mass., with the purpose of learning to make shoes. So he apprenticed himself to a shoemaker of that vil- lage for five months, agreeing to give his time in pay- ment for tutoring in the mystery of putting soles upon sale shoes. But at the end of six weeks he found he knew all that bis master could teach him, and he purchased back the remainder of his time, There- upon he set up to work for himself. For two years he worked steadily at his trade, giving himself only five hours a day for sleep. Sometimes he worked all | night. His health became impaired and he sold his business and wont to Virginia, It was there that he became imbued with a sincere hatred of slavery and of Southern politicians. While in Washington he visited the House of Representatives and from the gallery heard Mr. Pinckney bring forward the Gag resolution of 1836. He was also brought under the magical influence of John Quincy Adams, who refused to vote, That Southern visit gave to America one of the toremost champions of anti-slavery, Having some money young Wilson returned to New Hampshire with the strong purpose of obtaining an academical education, and, therefore, he entered the school at Stafford. fis savings were Intrusted to tho care of « man who failed, and after two years Wilson was obliged to resume work, Meanwhile he gave con- siderable time to the business of teaching school. It was in 1838 that he resumed tho making of snoes av Natick, a place which was thereafter to have its namo indissolubly associated with his, His business qualifi- cations were not among the least of those which made him distinguished in life; and in time he became the master of sixty hands, and supplied shoes largely to the Southern and Western trade. Among the young mechanics of Natick he formed a de- dating society, at which, with recollections of his visit to Virginia and his sight of Williams’ prison pen, he was never tired of speaking against slavery. In 1840 Wilson, at the age of twenty-eight, stepped into that arena of politics.from which he was predes- tined never to retire until death should strike him down, The Harrison campaign was begun, a campaign made memorable by the cry of “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” He had already bee beaten in a quiet way as a whig candidate for the Legislature During the campaign he made more than sixty etlective stump speeches for the whig cause, The local papers on the democratic side derided him as ‘the Natick Cob- bier,” and the name never left him, His share of the victory for the whig party was his election to the Mas- sachugetts Legislature as the representative from Natick, In the following year he was re clected, and after three terms of service he was sent to the State Senate, He was known in those years as a ubiquitous worker at political caucuses and 4s a radical debater, The subject of anti-slavery was that about which he most delighted to talk, but he was also known as a sly schemor in politics, He had the instincts of a Yankee shoemaker and tho habits of sincere agitator, and, by this reversal of the natural methods of qainia men, he achieved uninterrupted success, His cunning was mever revealed to the eyes of men; he was always willing to do ill that good might come; and he would give his vote fora half good cause if any opponent could be found who would compensate him with a vote for a wholly good cause, Sometimes his critics believed that his ambition was of so strenuous a character that he cared more for the victory than for the cause. He advocated the admission of colored children to the public schools and the protection of colored seamen in South Curolina, and be opposed the admission of Texas to the Union. In a long specch in the Senate he advocated the non- extension of slavery in the Territories and urged that the Giate should employ all_ means for the extinction of the evil This bec a by Wiliam Lioya Garrison to be the most comprehensive and ex. haustive speech ever made on the subject of slavery in any legislative body in the United States, He succeeded in carrying the Legislature. That same year of 1845 he, with the poet Whittier, was sent as a delegate to Washington to present the petition of Massachusetts against the annexation of Texas as a slave State, He became’ the politician of anti-slavery tn the leading anti-slavery State of the Union and con- stantly sought to represent it His vocation was that of bt beagecry 9 the sentiment of Garrison, Phillips, ‘Whittier and Channing and putting it upon the statute books. Tn 1848 Mr. Wilson was a delegate to the Whig Na- tional Convention which nominated General Taylor. In that Convention resolutions wore offered in favor of tho Wilmot Proviso, but they were rejected, and Mr, Wilson, after denouncing the Convention, with- drew. From his action on this geca- sion grew forth the free soil party, for Mr. Wilson, with the tireless instincts of a politician, was unsatisiied with denunciation, and he called a meeting of delegates, who subsequently formed the nucleus of the Buifalo Convention. More than anything else this action tended to disrupt the whig party in Massachu- setts. His activity was so great that he sought a new field of discussion by purchasing the Boston Republi- can, a daily newspaper, which lor two years he edited with vigor, AS a pecuniary venture, however, the in- vestment was a failure. He lost $7,000 in the two years, He was now the head of the free soil movement in Massachusetts. He was the candiate of his party for the Speakership in the State Assembly. As amem- ber he was prompt and industrious. During all his life he was a man who was always on the spot. In 1850 and 1851 he was elected President of the State Senate. Even his political opponents praised hin for bis success in ‘the office, He was in 1551 the President of the Free Democratic National Convention, which met at Pitts- burg, and was chairman of the National Committee of his party. Ho took the stump and mado many popular speeches. But in his district he was, in 1852 defeated for Congress, though he came within afew votes of being elected. Not only his own town, but a neighboring town also elected him a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1853; and that same year he was defeated as the candidate of the free soil party for Governor of the State, He was considered as the destroyer of the whig power. In 1855 Edward Everett resigned the position of United States Senator from Massachusetts and Mr. Wilson was elected to fill the place. The Natick Cob- bier had at last won a@ great victory over the old ele- ment of whig aristocracy—the Lawrences, the Win- throps and the Appleton, They felt the sting keenly. Soon after he wok his seat he made aspeech advo- cating the repeal of tho Fugitive Slave law. Said he:— “We mean, sir, to place in the councils of the nation men who, in the words of Jefferson, ‘have sworn, on the altar of God, eternal hostility to every kind ot oppression over the mind and body of man.’ He was a warm and earnest abolitionist. At the American Na- tional Council at Philadelphia, in 1855, he led the oppo- nents of slavery, and when a Southern man left his place 4g, with bis hand on his Feyolver, sat down beside Mr, Wilson, she laltor —'Threats have no terrors gaid : for freemen, I am (ey | ianegs aegumept with argu- tent, senrn with scorn, and ey ye i is time that the champions of slavery eho © the fact that the past is theirs—the future ours.”” Tn that same year Mr. Wilson joined the American or Know Nothing party, which subsequently chose Full- nore for its representative. But his membership in shat party was of short duration; for no sooner did the first waves of republicanism come swelling in from the West than he hailed them as an earnest of anti- Slavery victory. He did as much as any man to organ- ize the republican party for this ubiquitous schemer was a great organizer of sentiments and of mon. It | was in 1856 that Mr. Sumner was assaulted in the Senate, and Mr. Wilson characterized the act as ‘utal, murderous and cowardly.’’ Preston Brook: who hai assaulied Sumner, iminediately challenged | ‘Wilson for those words. Wilson replied:—'I have | regarded duelling a8 a'lingering relic of bi al barous civilization, which the lawef, the country has branded as crime. | While, therefore, I religiously be- lieve in the rigot of self-defence in its broadost sense, the law of my country and the matured convictions of my whole life alike forbid me to mect you for the pur- rn eae in your letter,” The subject was drop] For four or five years Mr, Wilson was one of that band of republicans who in the Senate prepared the way for dership in the great party. They were minority, but they fought vigorously. His speeches were always note- worthy for the thoroughn with which they dealt with statistics, The most remarkable of bis speeches ‘was one in defence of free labor, delivered tn reply to Senator Hammond, of South Carolina, Its circulation was wy, large, In 1859 he was re-elected to the Sen- ate, and when, tn 1861, Vice President Hamlin made a new distribution of committees Mr, Wilson was given the chairmanship of tho Committee on Military Affairs. Previous to that time he had been a member of that committee, with Jefferson Davis for chairman. He had, with his instinct for details, become thoroughly familiar with the workings of the military arm of the government, His committce was destined to bz come the most important one m the Santo, It was the duty of this committee to originaty [egrsin- tion for the raising, organizing and gOVen}nk of the armies, and during its war labors 1 600 jominations ular in his manners wi self very pois, eat, but ee > almost invariably pleasant, te le was alwys 1 Tayor of rigorous and ample measures | oars ng ther On the outbreak of hostilit ne orighated And introduced bills for the authorized employment of 500,000 volunteers for three years, for for officers were referred to it, te, yison made bims | His labors wore | {men and for the better organization and | division of the military establishment. These | Dills became laws. In order to make enlisting Popular be introduced a bill for prohibiting flogging im the army, and also one for increasing the pay ot pri- yates. His measures were Dumerous, and they usually | Decamne laws After the close of the special session of 1861 General Scott declared that Senator Wilson had | done more work than all the chairmen of military com | Mittees had done for twenty years, His work was very | Greatly aided by bis knowledge of militia affairs, gained as | & brigadior general in Massachusetts. General Scott wished that Senator Wilson should become a gen | eral of volunteers; but, after consideration, it was be- lieved that he could better serve his country at the | head of his committee. This was not wholly Mr. Wil- son's judgment, and it was with great effort that Messrs. Seward, Chase and Cameron induced him not to romain @ colonel on McClellan’s staff. He satis | fied himself with raising a regiment of | men. But it was generally understood that Senator Wilson would not make a’ govc military commander, and he was given an accomplished military oilicer as commander of his regiment in his absence, with tho idea that his absence should always be prolong His regiment was presented with a flag by Robert ©, Win throp at Boston, and with another by James, Brady at New York, and a banquet was given to him. At tho same time he was only @ popular politician in regi- mentals. The Secretary of War, knowing how vala- able he was at the head of his committee, induced him to resign the Colonelcy. The greater work falling to him | now began. When Secretary of War Cameron resigned he said to Senator Wilson, ‘No man, in my opinion, | im the whole country has done ‘more to | aid the War Department in preparing the mighty army now under arms than yourself, and be- my sincere thanks as its late head. As chai the Military Committee of the Senate your s were invaluable, At the first call for troops you here, and up to the meeting of Congress, a pe more than six months, your labors wero inc sometimes in encouraging the administratio : surances of support from Congress, by encouraging volunteering in your own State, by raising a regiment yourself when other men began to fear that compulsory drafts might be necessary; and, in by preparing the bills’ and ‘assisting to get (be necessary appropriations for clothing, organiz- ing, arming and supplying the army, you have been constantly and proiitably employed in ‘the great cause of putting down this unnatural rebellion.”” Sena- tor Wilson's endeavors were not merely devoted to the organization of the army; they were frequently direct- ed to the humanitarian side of the conflict. He gave his postal frank to poor soldiers; he provided for asy- jums and hospitals; he gave his energies in behalf of freedmen’s savings banks and of widows of colored sol- diers. No man did so much for the colored troops. When the war was over Senator Wilson’s legislative labors did not cease, nor were his efforts as a politician delayed by his labors in the Senate, When the resuits of “the war were considered as a great partisan triumph Mr. Wilson lost no time either on the stump or in the midst of political councils in repnblican occasion, rty. He used the word “proud” on every hen he spoke of Grant’s victories he raised union; aud when he spoke of the martyred Lincoln he added, “I, too, am a member of that party which measures itself by justice and humanity.”” He boldly favored the policy of President Johnson, but he repre- hended the idea that there would be any contest between Johnson and Congress. He placed great reli- ance upon political power as a result of political num- bers. His argument was, “We are too strong to be beaten,” Still he had the moral strength to claim that the black man should reap the benefits naturally result- ing to him from a victorious war and a victorious party. It was through him that the ranks of genoral and ad- miral were created. But more than to anything else ho gave his attention to the measures of reconstruction, To the last he was an anti-slavery man. He had seen Wil- hams’ prison pen 1m 1888, and in 1862 he had introduced the bill for abolishing slavery in the District of Colum- bia. He gave himself also to the duty of assuring pol- tical equality to the colored race. Inthe army he had sought to defeat distinctions against negroes as soldiers, and he wished that there should be no distinctions against them as political citizens. He was one of the originators of the Freedman’s Bureau. In the plans om reconstruction he labored hard to secure negro suf- rage. Vice Presidency on the ticket with General Grant; but Mr. Colfax received the nomination. He did not, how- over, relax his energies as a Senator. He wanted to make a negro in all respects equal to a white man in the United States. But, as a trained politician, he was never tired of expressing the belief that great sacrifices had been made by republican leaders to accomplish the results of war and legislation, He was fond of talking atoot his unpopularity at a time when he knew he was opular. F ie late as 1869 he advocated the stringent measures of martial law in States like Georgia, where it was claimed that outrages on republicans had occurred, During the debates on reconstruction measures he con- stantly moved amendments which provided that none of the States then lately in rebellion should reassume legislative functions until they had provided tor equal se ot the black. On one occasion he broke througa the trammels of party by declaring in the Senate that General Thoinas was the grandest hero of the war; but there were People who knew Henry Wil- son well enough to say that he would not have mado this declaration if Thomas had been as powerful as other generals then in political affairs, When the Amnesty bill was before the Senate he gavo it his support, not on the ground of justice or of equality, but as a matter of charity.and poli He thought that justice demanded @ penalty. At the Republican Convention held in Philadelphia June 5, 1872, Sonator Wilson received 36449 votes for the Vice Prosidency, against 321% for Schuyler Colfax, and was declared nominated, is election followed. From that time his life as an active legislator alinost entirely ceased. His health was not good; he was {re- quently prostrated, and his place as presiding oflicer of the Senate was supplied by Presidents pro tem. He was active, however, in political life. Wherever he went he | ap his political principles, which differed from | those of the President. He was not in friendly accord with the administration, which constantly snubbed him in regard to public affairs. But he kept hiunself before the country in letters and in interviews and through the medium of his books, His works were:—‘‘History of the Anti-Slaver Measures of the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-cicht! United States Congresses, 1860 to 1864; “Miltary Measures of the United States Congress;” ‘Testi- monials of American Statesmen and Jurists to the ‘Truths of Christianity ;” tet a hd the Reconstruc- tion Measures of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Con- resses, 1865-8; “A History of the Rise and Fall of lavery in the United States,’’ and ‘History of the | which Congress Played in the War to Suppress the Rebellion.” In 1866, at a revival meoting at Natick. Senator Wil- son was converted, He became a very prominent re- | jigious man, and thereafter was nevor tired of pro- | claiming that he was converted to the service of tho | rd. THE NEWS IN THIS CITY. - Vice President Wilson’s personal popularity in this city, where he was exceedingly well known, caused the news of his sudden death to be received with genuine and general regret. It was only @ couple of weeks ago that his numerous friends in all classes of society had seen his sturdy and vigorous frame and his ruddy and genial face, both so promising of life and happiness, at all the public rendezvous, on Broadway, at the Fifth Avenue Hotel and at the leading clubs, at which he was always a welcome guest, Few public men at Washing- ton whose home was not originally in this city were | so well known here ag the late Vice President. He | spent much of his time in New York, often staying here for a couple of days on his way to or from Wash- ington, As the business men of New York wero | on their way to their down town shops and offices at an early hour of the morning the sudden shrill cries of the newsboys announcing the oxtras with “The death of Vice President Wilson” startled thom, and the event was the subject of much sympathetic comment. The city and United States authorities immediately took action to testify their re- spect to the memory of the departed, and the flags flying from the public buildings, the City Hall, United States Treasury, Custom House, &¢., were promptly i At half mast, while in Wall iysshe Pe chalet od dglartad We at Sotto ACTION OF MAYOR WICKHAM AND THE BOARD OF ALDERITEN, At the meeting of the Board of Aldermen yesterday afternoon the following communication was received trom Mayor Wickham relative to the death of the New York, Nov 22, 1875, Vico President :— i ; To Te Hononanir tne BOAKo OF ALDIRMRN : GRNTLEMKN—I have received the sad tidings of the death of Henry Wilson, Vice President of the United States, which occurred this morning at Washington. The country will Tament the loss of one of the most useful as well as of th most omtnent of the men who have been in public off during the generation which is now passin, Robi an Tous, cour and of manly di ctor, his Kindness of heart, is approved sagacity litical wisdo a his Tong, experience and recon - thority in Congress, fitted him for the I intlhence for in the present’ condition of public opinion as to politi- Exl questions. He will be sincerely mourned by ali who are folicitons for the gencralewelfare. 1 recommend th at ap- propriate action be taken hy the Board of Aldermengto ex- Aproper respect for his memdry and in acknoWledg- } ob tf mont of his great public erviewy, TET ORAM, Mayor. In connection with this subject Aldtrman Cole offered the following, which was adopted ufani- mously :— Whereat the death of Henry Wilson, Vice 7 cd ae Wi eton, the United States, whet ally communicated wo xecotive Derartwent, Crry Hau, ‘official morning, bas Mayor, and in view of the exalte yy Fahy the G@ensed ‘and the ‘many politicnl on irtued of which he was the exemplar ° {har this Common Council should take + proper to 'inake manifest the sorrow of our pe te action Wor'hiv death and of respect for bin’ agfSre oa solved, Tash Syccini @¢minition of peven be ap pointed.t& prepare and present fo this ‘Board suitable rexo- ot nd'oxpromive of the #rol%nd sorrow of our people for caventh of Henry Wile, and with Power Wo take auch ures as to them may appenr t othe memory of fae deeaaad; and be Ht fu nw Resolved, That as an nal mark ol for we memory of the deconsed, evew Gueake: ‘The reeolution Was seconded by Alderman Howland, | who said he {rd not deem it necessary to make any ex- tended rgmarks at the present tine. ter ani | Wasbington in 1852, i fore leaving this city I think it my duty to offer to you | the Senate, | asserting that he was proud to be a member of the | his voice to say that he was proud to belong to the | number of those who wore in favor of liberty and | Tn 1868 Mr. Wilson was a prominent candidate for the } Complimentary remarks relating to the high charac- | W4% abilities of deceased were made by Alderman | last Gross, who stated he had known the Vice President for | of the assoct the past twenty-three years, having first met bim in | ‘Trustees, made the com The following committee of seven were then ap- | ratgned belore Jud the malar army by the addition ‘of 26.000 | pointed ky the Chairinan, ju accordance with the epirik | to-day. 3 Purroy, a. | of the resotution:—Aldermen Col Gilom Guntzer, Billings, Howland and Ro! ACTION OF THE COUR’ In the United States District Court yesterday morns ing Mr. William M. Bvarts, whose case, The ( aiteg States va. The New York Flax Spinning Company, first called, rose and said :— “Your Honor, we have been expecting to proceed | with the trial of this case, but early this morning wi were advised of the sudden death of the Vice President of the United States. It is quite fitting that all court of the United States should act on this occasion to sho an appreciation of his character and proper respect for hig memory. This is not the time nor the occasion t speak of the persoual merits of the deceased. His nam and character are as well known to all within the soun of my voice aa they are known to myself, I move that this Court do now adjourn.” United States gssistant District Attorney Smitht seconded the motion to adjourn. Judge Blatchiord said:—'lt is on every considera~ tion of respect for the late Vice President a8 an officer of | the government and as a man that this Court should pay the greatest mark of respect that it can pay to bi memory, and I therefore order that this Court stan ourned until November 27, at the usual hour,” n the United States Court, Equity Branch, yesterday morning, Judge Johnson presiding, United States Dis~ trict Attorney Bliss rose at the opening of the Cae and said:—Your Honor, there has been received thi morning the sad intelligence of the death of the Vicet Pyesident of the United States, which occurred at | early hour. Although he was not a member of th Bar it is due to the office that he held and the high po- sition to which be was chosen by the people that thi | United States Circuit Court should take notice of hi death in the usual way, and 1, therefore, move that this Court do now adjourn.” Ex-Judge Emott said that he rose to second th motion, The news of the death of Vice Presiden Wilson had come 80 unexpectedly that he was not pre. pared at this time to make any extended remarks, bu felt that it was at this critical period in the affairs of Ft He seconde | the country an almost irreparable loss, the motion, Judge Johnson replied that it was eminently propext that this United States Court should manifest its ro-] Spect for the deceased officer of the nation, and hi therefore ordered the Court adjourned until ponecaat | morning. 7 | _,,uumediately on the opening of the Supreme Cour Chainbers, yesterday morning, it was moved by wie | Henry H. Anderson and seconded by Mr, Amasa Red— field, ‘that the Court adjourn out of respect #0 the mem~ ory of Vice President Wilson, whose death hasbeen an nounced. Judge Donohue, in a few appropriaye word: | at once granted the motion and ordered an agjourn: meni | ,dm the Supreme Court, Special Term, Mra Samus Boardman moved an adjournmeut of the Court, whi was seconded by Mr. Lucius Birdseye, both mukin short but appropriate specehes, | . Judge Larremore, in granting the motion, spoke a | follows:—“I regard the motion which has just been mad an eminently proper one. Apart from the respe which the people of the United States mus havo felt for Vice President Wilson asa man, it is du | to the high station which he occupied in the govern- | ment of the country that some notice should be takem of his decease, In Supreme Court, Circuit, Part 2, presided over byt | Judge Van Vorst, a’ motion to adjourn the court w: | made by Mr. Henry J, Scudder, Congressman-elect | trom Queens county.- He read quite a lengthy and feeling address, referring to his long persona! acquaint- | ance with the deceased and his unswerving fidelity ta his public trusts. Judge Van Vorst, in adjourning the Court, made a fow remarks of a highly eulogistic cuarace er. Part3 of the Supreme Court, Circuit, was adjourned of his own motion by Judge Donohue, In the Superior Court, Special Term, a motion to ad- Journ was made by ex-Judge Beebe and seconded byt Mr. 8. P. Nash, A feeling address was made by each, as also by Judge Freediman, who thus adjourned th | Court. | “Before Judge Curtis, holding Trial Term, Part 2, th motion to adjourn was made by Assistant United State: District Attorney Samuel G. Courtney and seconded b; Mr. George H. Yeoman, In the General Term of the Court of Common Pleas, Chief Justice Daly, after afew appropriate and touchy ing remarks, adjourned the Court of his own motioi | In the Special Term of this Court Judge Lawrence, also of his own motion, adjourned the Court. In Part 1, Trial Term, of this Court, the moving speeches wer made by ex-Judge Beebe and Mr. Samuel H. Randall, tollowed by abrief and touching address by Judge Ro! inson, Marine Court, Part 8, also adjourned in honor t@ the memory of the dead statesman, AY THE OUSTOM HOUSE, Tho instant that Collector of the Port, General Ar. thur, heard of the death ot his friend, Vice President Wilson, he ordered the flag on the Custom House to bal | lowered to half-mast, A Hekazp reporter in conversa tion with General Arthur, subsequently learned tha the Custom House would be closed on the day of thi Vice President’s obsequies, except from nine to ten oa my M., when tt would be opened for the entrance a clearance of vessels. | BROOKLYN BOARD OF ALDERMEN, Ata meeting of the Brooklyn Board of Aldermem Alderman Strong offered the following resolutions :— Resolved, That this Common Council learns oy of profound regret of the death of Vico President Henr: | Wilson, as having occurred this morning, at the scat tho government. Resolved, That a select committee of three be ap~ | pointed to prepare and report suitable resolutions im | relation to the life, character and desth of the illu | trtons deceased, and that in the meantime this Boa: stands adjourned, Alderman Ropes moved to amend by striking out th allusion to an adjournment, and made a brief specc! eulogistic of the life of Mr. Wilson, The resolutions were finally withdrawn, as Aldermam Strong feared that pressing them might excite debate, which he desired to avoid. ° MEETING OF CITIZENS AT NATICK, Natick, Mass., Noy. 22, 1875. Here in Natick, where the Vice President had made itt his home for so many years, the sudden announcemen( of his death this morning cast a mantle of gloom and? sorrow over the whole community. Next to the intense personal sorrow everybody ape peared to feel at the sad event, the prevailing sentiment! seemed to be admiration and pride for the stainless reputation of their beloved townsman. Most of Mr. Wil son’s life, besides the time he spent in Washington, wag passed in Natick, It was here that his wife and fami; died and were buried. Some of his relations, thei Colbaths, still live here, and it was the hope of his, friends in this town that he might spend the holiday: among them. His modest dwelling on Central street was evo putin gay and comfortable attire for the ree ception of its master during the week, but this afters noon the kindly hands thus engaged were arranging{ the desolate dwelling for the reception of his mortal re- mains, It was inevitable; but the public grief at the loss of the distinguished statesman and respected! fellow townsmen should find popular expression from. the citizens of Natick, and this was had at a publia meeting in Clark’s Hall this evening. The sorrowful concourse of citizens was called to order by Mr. He Perry, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and Mr. E, C. Moore was called upon to preside, and a large hum= ber of other prominent citizens took their places op the, platform as vice presidents. Mr. Moore, in taking the chair, said that this was no time for eulogy, and that we had met to perform va mournful duty of arranging for the funeral rites of 01 distinguished fellow citizen, Henry Wilson, He thet invited remarks from various gentlemen present, and | eloquent tributes to the memory of the deceased {ole owed from R. A. Tirrell, Rev. Mr. Wheedan, Jamem McManuus, Edward Walcott, Newton Moral, Colonel Nutt and others. THE RESOLUTIONS. The following resolutions were then adopted, afteml which the meéting adjourned :— We, the citizens of Natick, having learned: of th sudden death of our much esteemed and highly hot ored ‘ownsmab and end, Henry Wilson, who hi irigkey down In the chpital of the nation, ami é Hebhos where so large. and. in is long public life has been spent; Resolved, That as citizens o portant a portion of he t; therefore, t Natick, neighbors an | friends of the dead statesman, we cannot forego thi | privilege of giving some faint expression to the pi | found grief that pervades all hearts in view of thi elancholy event. . ™Resolved, That in the death of Henry Wilson ouw town has lost a valuable and beloved citizen, and as | people, without regard to sectarian or party fines, | unitedly mourn the loss of one whose cakr wi acto ts | career have reflected so much honor uyon the town | his adoption. Resolved, That in the death of thy Vice President the nation has lost an able statesmar,, an incorruptible oflle cer and an honest man, ACTION OF THE, ARKANSAS SENATE, Latrie Rook, Nov. 22, 1876, The announcersent of the death of Vico President Wilson was remived while the Senate was in ea to-day, an% that body immediately adjourned out of respect "vo his inemory. BURIED UNDER AN EMBANKMENT! Yesterday afternoon a man named Anthony Coste!log residing in Railroad avenue, Jersey City, was at worlg | in the excavation of the new cut of the Newark an Now York Railroad, in Jersey City, when a portion the embankment ‘gave way and he was burl under i, A urge ag ent of rock Redan ‘him 80 severoly that death must have hg Sem < if the earth had not c unfortunate man was du; Deceased leaves a out by his felq neous, ¢ | body of the Le iod’ siz obit low workmen, drea. ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT. William F, Fenton, ef No. 6 Rudgers street, the Treasurer of the Engineers’ Protective Assoclationg arrested by Officor McCoy. of the First precinct night on a charge of embezzling $900 of the fund al i, one of UK athe Leieeorrty against, Fenton to Cw | tain Petty yesterday morning. The prisoner will be w a aivhy at the Tombs Police Courg