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in affectionate mischief he would stay the half-hour through before marshalling his flock back to “The corner.”
A stern period was put to all this innocent gayety by the death of Mr. Ward, at the age of fifty-three.
His life, always laborious, had been doubly so since the death of his wife.
Stunned at first by the blow, his strong sense of duty soon roused him to resume his daily responsibilities — with a difference, however.
Religion had always been a powerful factor in his life; henceforth it was to be his main inspiration, and he found his chief comfort in works of public and private beneficence.
An earnest patriot, he was no politician; but when his services were needed by city, state, or country, they were always forthcoming.
Throughout the series of financial disasters beginning with Andrew Jackson's refusal to renew the charter of the Bank of the United States, and culminating in the panic of 1837, Mr. Ward acted with vigor, decision, and sagacity.
His denunciation of the removal of the public deposits from the Bank of the United States by the famous Specie Circular as “an act so lawless, violent, and fraught with disaster, that it would and must eventually overthrow the men and the party that resorted to it,” was justified, literally and entirely.
The crisis of 1836-37 called for all the strength, wisdom, and public spirit that the men of the country could show.
Mr. Ward labored day and night to prevent the dishonor of the banks of New York.
“Individual effort, however, was vain, and the ”
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