gentle disposition. There was no
evidence of brilliancy or daring. Nor did he have a politician's face,
such as Van Buren's. Even in the closing years of Van Buren's
venerable life, when people used often to see him, white-haired and
bright-eyed, walking on Wall Street arm in arm with his son John, his
was still the face of a master diplomatist. Wright, on the other hand,
looked more like a strong, fearless business man. His manner of
speaking was not unlike Rufus King's. He spoke slowly, without
rhetorical embellishment, or other arts of the orator; but, unlike
King, he had an unpleasant voice; nevertheless, if one may accept the
opinion of a contemporary and an intimate, "there was a subdued
enthusiasm in his style of speaking that was irresistibly
captivating." The slightly rasping voice was "almost instantly
forgotten in the beauty of his argument," which was "clear, forcible,
logical and persuasive."[271]

[Footnote 271: John S. Jenkins, _Lives of the Governors of New York_,
p. 790.]

Silas Wright had already been in public life eight years, first as
surrogate of St. Lawrence County, afterward as state senator, and
later as a member of Congress. He had also increased his earnings at
the bar by holding the offices of justice of the peace, town clerk,
inspector of schools, and postmaster at Canton. From the outset, he
had allied himself with the Regency party, and, with unfailing
regularity he had supported all its measures, even those which his
better judgment opposed. His ability and gentle manners, too,
apparently won the people; for, although St. Lawrence was a Clintonian
stronghold, a majority of its voters believed in their young
office-holder--a fact that was the more noteworthy since he had broken
faith with them. In the campaign of 1823, he favoured the choice of
presidential electors by the people; afterward, in the Senate, he
voted against the measure. So bitter was the resentment that followed
this bill's defeat, that many of the seventeen senators, who voted
against it, ever afterward remained in private life. But Wright was
forgiven, and, two years later, sent to Congress, where his public
career really began. In a bill finally amended into the tariff act of
1828, he sought to remove the complaint of manufacturers that the
tariff of 1824 was partial to iron interests, and the criticism of
agriculturalists, that the woollens bill, of 1827, favoured the
manufacturer. In this debate, he gave evidence of