The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1877-05-26

We are glad to know that the bill ap-
propriating $4,000 for the completion of
the Douglas monument has passed both
houses of the Illinois legislature, and now
needs only the governor signature to be-
come a law. Ii this money is judiciously
expended-as we presume it will be-the
long-unfnished memorial of the great
statesman may soon assume the shape
originally intended. and thus become as
much an object of pride to the people of
illinois as it has hitherto been source of
humiliation.
The rush of events since his death had
to a certain extent, thrust the name and
fame OF Douglas Unto the back ground;
but as time passes on and the war and its
associations gradually lose their hold upon
the public mind, that name and fame will
come to the front as something which
neither Illinois nor the nation can afford
t. forget. Douglas had sIfaults, and they
we're neither few nor small; but they were
not such faults as his country can refuse
to forgive. He was intensely ambitious,
but where do we find the consciousness
of superior ability without that last in
! trinity of noble miUd?" His ambition
was sometimes, perhaps, too INSCRIPTIONS;
but how many, with the provocations he
had, would have been as scrupulous as he
was? Posterity may condemn his sins OF
omission and of commission, but among
these sins not a single meanness can be
found. His heart was as large as his
brain. He could not stoop to do dis,
honorable deed, nor could he tolerate dis
honor 10 others. No man ever had bitterer
enemies, but no enemy ever charged
| Al al A.
we're c'ean. Not an ill-gotten dollar ever
was foreign TO his nature All his in-
stincts were honest and generous. He
never deserted a friend-never harbored
malice toward foe. He recognized and
proclaimed the power of his great rival
Lincoln, long before Lincoln was known
outside the boundaries of Illinois, He
witnessed the triumph of his rival without
an atom of jealousy, and had he lived
would have given the new administration
counsel and support which might have
saved it from the errors whose pernicious
fruits We are tasting to-day. We have
never had a more thoroughly genuine
American than was Douglas, Every
fibre of soul and body was saturated, so tC
speak, WITH his nationality. He loved his
country, his whole country, with passion
ate affection, He was proud of her past
prouder still of her future. He never had
doubt about the perfection and perpet
uity Of her institutions He was Demo
crat in the broadcast and best sense OF the
word, He believed iu the people, and haC
90 sympathy with those who did not. Hi.
popular sovereignty" policy was not s,
much political device as it was the natur
al outgrowth Of his faith in the popula
wisdom and the popular justice. W.
have had many eminent politicians sine
, Douglas died, but not single Statesman
who could bear comparison with him.
Illinois has honored herself by honorin!
4 man who contributed so much to the de
velopement of her meterial interests, anG
Who, directly and indirectly, did more thai
any one else to give her the rank and infu
ance in the federal family which she nov
enjoys, The gratitude symbolized in tn
monument isl the reward of all Others
: which Douglas himself would have mos
valued. Louis Republican.