The result was the election of Henry J. Gardner,
the candidate of the Know Nothings, as Governor, and the election of
Henry Wilson to the Senate of the United States.
Of Mr. Wilson it cannot be said that he was false to friends or
unfaithful to the slave. Whatever criticisms may be made upon his
career in politics, he kept himself true to the one idea--the overthrow
of slavery. He often vacillated in opinion upon passing questions, but
at the end his votes were sound usually. As a consequence, his votes
and speeches were at times inconsistent. He had a long career in the
Senate, but his great service to the country was performed among the
people in the canvasses. It may be said of him that at the time of
his death he had spoken to more people than any one of his
contemporaries or predecessors. His influence was large, although he
did not often introduce any new view of a public question. He was
direct in speech and he comprehended the popular taste and judgment.
He was regarded as a prophet in politics. He was accustomed to make
predictions, and not infrequently his predictions were verified. At
the end it is to be said that a satisfactory analysis of his character
cannot be made. He was not learned, he was not eloquent, he was not
logical in a high sense, he was not always consistent in his political
actions, and yet he gained the confidence of the people, and he
retained it to the end of his life.
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