The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1888-05-19

splendid truth. He knew that no man
can be the equal of the one he robs-
that the intelligent and unjust are not
the superiors of the ignorant and honest
and he also felt, and proudly felt,
that if he were not too great to reach
the hand of help and recognition to the
slave, no other Senator could rightfully
refuse.
We rise by raising others-and he
who stoops above the fallen stands
erect.
Nothing can be grander than to sow
the seeds of noble thoughts and virtu-
Gus deeds-to liberate the bodies and
the souls of men-to earn the grateful
homage Of race-and then, in lite's
last shadowy hour, to know ard feel
that the historian of liberty will be
compelled to write your name.
There no words intense enough
with heart enough-to express my ad-
miration for the great and gallant souls
who have in every age and every land
upheld the right and who have lived
and died for freedoms sake.
In our lives have been the grand
est years that man has lived, that
Time has measured by the flight OF
worlds.
The history of that great party
that let the oppressed go tace-that
lifted our nation from the depths of
savagery to freedoms cloudless
heights, and tore with holy hands
from every law the words that sane
tilted the cruelty of man, is the most
glorious in the annals of our race.
Never before was there such a moral
eXaltatlon-never party with pur-
pose SO pure and high. 1t was the
embodied conscience of a nation,
the enthusiasm of a people guided
by wisdom, the impersonation of
justice; and the sublime victory
achieved loaded even the conquered
with all the rights that freedom can
bestow.
Roscoe Conkling was an abso-
lutely honest man.
Honesty is the oak around which
all other virtues cling. Without that
they fall and grovelling die in weeds
and dust. He believed that nation
should discharge its obligations. He
knew that promise could not be
made often enough, or emphatic
enough, to take the place of pay
ment. He felt that the promise Of
the Government was the promise of
every citizen-that a national obli-
cation was personal debt, and that
no possible combination of words
and pictures could take the place OF
coin. He uttered the splendid truth
that 'the higher obligations among
men are not set down in writing,
signed and sealed, but reside in
honor" He knew that reputation
was the sacrifice of honor-the death
| of the rational soul. He knew that
without character, without integrity,
there is no wealth, and that below
poverty, below bankruptcy, is the
rayless abyss of repudiation. He
upheld the sacredness OF contracts,
of plighted national faith, and helped
to save and keep the honor of his
native land. This adds another
laurel TO his brow.
He was the ideal representative,
faithful and incorruptible. He be-
lieved that his constituents and his
country were entitled to the fruit of
his experience, to his best and high
est thought. No man ever had the
standard of responsibility higher
than he. He voted accordingly to
his judgment-his conscience. He
made no bargains-he neither bought
nor sold.
To correct evils, abolish abuses
and inaugurate reforms, he believed
was not only the duty, but the priv
ilege, of a legislator. He neither
sold nor mortgaged himself. He
was in Congress during the years of
vast expenditure, of war and waste
when the credit of the nation was
loaned to individuals-when claims
were thick as leaves in June, when
the amendment OF statute, the
change of single word, meant mil
lions, and when empires were given
to corporations. He stood at the
summit of his power-peer of the
greatest-a leader tried and trusted.
He had the tastes of a prince, the
fortune of peasant, and yet he
never swerved. No corporation was
great enough Or rich enough to pur-
chase him. His vote could not be
bought 'for all the sun sees, or the
close earth wombs, or the profound
seas hide" His hand was never
touched by any bribe. and on his
soul there never was a sordid stain.
Poverty was his priceless crown.
Above his marvellous intellectual
gifts-above all place he ever reach
| ed-above the ermine he refused
rises his integrity like some great
mountain peak, and there it stands,
firm as the earth, pure as the stars
| above.
He was great lawyer. He under
stood the frame work, the anatomy,
the foundations of law; was familiar
with the great streams and currents
and tides of authority.
He knew the history of legislation
the principles that have been set
tied upon the fields of war. He
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