The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1883-02-01
SENATOR INGALLS, IN MEMORY
or BEN HTLL

The following exceptionally striking
and beautiful little speech was delivered
in the senate on the 25th instant by Mr.
ingalls, during the proceedings in honor
OF the memory of the late Senator b.
II. Hill, of Georgia:
Ben Hill has gone tothe undiscovered
country.
Whether his journey thither vas but
one step across IA imperceptible from
tier, or whether IN inierminable ocean,
black, unfluctuaiing and voiceless.
stretches between these earthly coasts
and those invisible shores-we Go not
know.
Whether on that August morning al
ter death he saw IA more glorious sun
rise with unimaginabie splendOr above
| a celestial horizon, or whether his
apathetic and unconscious ashes still
sleep in cold and iDsensible oblivion
we do not know
Whether his strong and subtle cner-
gies found instant exercise IN another
form, whether his deXterOus and dis
ciplined faculties are now contending in
higher senate than ours for supremacy
or whether his powers were dissipgted
and dispersed with his parting breath
We do not know.
Whether his passions, ambitious and
affections still sway, attract and
impel, whether he yet rememEe-s US as
we remember him-we do not know.
These are the unsclyed, the insoluble
problems of mortal life and human des-
tiny, which 2rompted the troubled pa
triarch 10 ask that momcntoCs question
u which the centuries have given no
answer--"If man die, shall he live
ugainy'
Every man is the center OF circle
whose circumference he cannot
pass Within it's narrow confines he is
potential, beyond it lac perishes; and if
Immortality is splendid but delusiye
dream, il the completeness of every ca
Teer, even the longest and most forum ale,
be not supplemented and perfected alter
its termination here, then he who breads
To die should not fear II live, for life is
n tragedy more desol3te and ineXpllcablc
than death
OF all The dead whose obsCquies We
have paused TO sulcmniZe in this cham
Der recall 20 one whose untimely fate
seems so lamentablc and Yet so rich in
prophecy as that of Senator Hill. He
had reached the meridian of his years.
He stood upon the high plateau of mid
die life, in That serene atmosphere where
temptation no longer assails. where the
and where the conditions are most fav-
orablc for noble and enduring achieve
ment His upward path had been
through stormy adversely and cOnten-
ton such AS inirTquently falls II the lot
OF men. Though not without the ten
denCy t. meditation, reverie and intro.
spection which accompanies genius, his
temperament was DalestTic. He was
comparative and unpeaceful. He was
born a polemic and controyeTsialIst,
pugnaciOus and cOmbatiVe so that he
was impelled 10 defend any position
that might be assailel or 10 attack any
position that might be cHtrenched, not
because the defense or the assault were
essential, but because tue positions were
maintained, and that those who held
them became by that fact alone his
advcTssries This tenden Y of his
nature made his orbit cratic. He
was meteoric rather than planetary,
and flashed with irregular splendor
rather than sho1e with steady and pene-
trating rays. His advocacy OF any
cause was fearless to the verge of temer-
itT. He appeared 10 be indifferent to
applause or Censure for their own sake
He accepted intrepidly any conclusion
that he reached without inquiring
win Their they we're polite or eNpedient.
~ SUN u ibitit lldttiSduSHlD WIS uli-
avoidable, but with Senator Hill it did
not degenerate into bigotry He was ca
pable OF broad generosity, and extended
to his opponents the same unressrved can
dor which he demanded for himself. His
oTatory was impetGous and devoid OF ar
titice. He was not poslurer or pharse-
mongcr. Tie wlSt)O intense, too earn
est, to employ the cheap auG paltTy dec
orations of discourse lie never recon
nOItered a hostile nor approached ii by
stealthy parallels. He could not lay
siege 10 an enemy. nor beleagueI him,
nor open trenches and sap and mice.
His method was the charge and the on
set. He was the Murat of senatorial de.
bate. Not many mea of this genera
ton have been better equipped for par
liamentary warfare IMAM he, with his
commanding presence, his sinewy die
ton, his confidence ana imperturabie
selfcOntrnl
But in the maturity of his powers
and his fame, with unmeasured oppor.
tunities tor achievement apparently be-
fore him, with great designs unaccom-
plished. surrounded by the proud and
aiieotionate soiicitude of a constituency,
the pallid messenger with the inverted |
torch beckoned him TO depart There |
are few scenes in hIst1ry more tragic |
than that prottacted combat with death. |
No man had greater inducements 10 |
live But in the long struggle against |
the memorable advances of an insidious |
and mortal malady he did not falter or
rcpine. lie reiterated with The aspect |
OF victor; and though he succumbed,hc
succumbed TO conquer. His sun went
down at noon, bat It sank amid the
prophetic splend0rs of an eternal
dawn.
With more than a hero's courage,
with more than a martyrs fortiIude, he
awaited the approach of the inevitable
hour and went To the undiscovered |
country