The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-05-19
PRAISE FOR ooNkLlNo.

Colonel Robert G. IngcrsoIl's Eloquent
Tribntc to the Departed Statesman
His Record as n Legislator, Patriot,
Citizen and Leader - His tnfilnching
Honesty, Matchlcss Eloquence and Love
of Truth.
ALBANY, N. Y, May 1O--Thirty five hun
dred persons listened in the Academy of
Music in this city last night to an Grafton
by Colonel Robert q. Ingersoll to the mem
ory Of Roscoe Conkling, and one-fourth as
many more beseged the barred doors,
while many climbed TO the roof
and peeped through the sky-lights
The ceremonies were under the au-
spices Of the Senate and Assembly The
oration was an eloquent eulogy of the char
acter Of the dead as u political lawyer and
man. The speaker was at his best and
his words were listened to by the great
audience with close attention. Colonel In
gersoll said:
Roscoe Conkling-a grent man, an orator, n
statesman, lawyer, u distinguished citizen Of
the republic, in the zenith OF his fame and
powcr--has reached his journeys end, and we
are met here In the city OF his birth to pay our
tribute to his worth and work. He earned and
held proud position in the public thought.
He stood for independence, for courage, and.
above all, for absolute integrity, and his name
was known and honored by many millions OF
his fellow men.
The literature Of many lands is rich with the
tributes that gratitude admiration and love
have paid to tho great and honorcd dead. These
tributes disclose the characters of nations, the
ideals of the human race. In them we find the
estimates of greatness-the deeds and lives
that challenged praise and thrilled the hearts of
men. In the presence of death the good man
Judges as he would be judged He knows that
fr1nmcntS. greatest walk
in shadow, aud that faults and failures mingle
with the lives OF all In the graves should be
buried the preiudccs and passions born of con-
flict. Charity should hold the scales In which
are weighed the deeds of men. Peculiari-
ties, traits born OF locality and surround
ings-these are but the dust OF the race: these
are accidents, drapery clothes, fashions, that
have nothing 10 do with the man except to
hide his character. They are the clouds that
cling to mountains Time gives us clearer Wis.
ion. That which was merely local fades away.
The words Of envy arc forgotten, and all there
is Of sterling worth remains. He who was
called q partisan is q patriot. The revolution.
ist and the outlaw are the founders OF nations,
and he who was regarded Us n scheming selfish
politician becomes statesman, q philoso.
pher whose words and deeds shed light. Fort
unate is that milton great enough to know the
great When q great man d,es-one who has
nobly fought the battle OF life, who has been
faithful to every trust and has uttered his high
est, noblest thought; one who has stood proudly
by the right in spite Of jeer and taunt, neither
stopped by foe nor swerved by friend-in honor
ing him, in speaking words Of praise and love
above his dust we pay tribute to ourselves.
How poor this world would be without its
graves, without the memories of its mighty
dead! Only the voiceless speak forever. INTEL
ligence, integrity and courage are the great
pillars that support the State Above all, the
citizens of q free Nation should honor the
brave and independent man-the man of
stainless integrity, Of will and intel
lectuul force Such men are the Aliases on
whose mighty shoulders rest the great fabric
OF the republic. Flatterers, cringers, crawlers,
tinneservers are the dangerous citizens of
democracy. They who gain ap-
plausc ana power by pandering to the
mistakes, the preiudices and passions of the
multitude are the enemies OF liberty. When
the intelligent submit to the clamor of the
many, anarchy beginc, md the republic reach
the edge Of chaos. Mediocrty, touched
with ambition, fatters the base and calumni-
ates the great, while the true patriot, who will
do neither, is often sacrificed In govern
ment Of the people q lender should be
a teucher-he should carry the torch OF truth.
Most people are the slaves OF habit, followers
of custom, believers OF wisdom in the past;
and were it not for brave and splendid souls
1.-The dust of antique time would lie unwept and
mountainous error be too highly heaped for
truth to ever peer" Custom is o prison, locked
the keys OF which are in tho keeping of the
dead.
Nothing is grander than when strong in.
trepid man breaks chuins, levels walls and
breasts the many-headed mob like some great
cliff that meets and mocks the innumerabe
billows of the sea. The politician hastens to
agree with the majority-insists that their
prejudice is patriotism, that their ignorance is
wisdom-not that he loves them, but because
he loves himself The statesman the real re-
former-points out the mistakes Of the multi.
tude, attacks the prejudices OF his countrymen,
laughs ut their follies, denounces their cruel
ties, enlightens and enlarges their minds,
and educates the conscience, not because
he loves himself, but because he loves
and serves the right and wishes to
make his country great and free. With
him defent is but spur to further
effort. He who refuses to stoop, who Gun not
be bribed by the promise OF success, or the
fear OF failure, who walks the highway OF the
right, and in disaster stands erect, is the only
victor Nothing is moro despicable than to
reach fame by crawling-position by cring-
ing. When real history shall be writ
ten by the truthful and the wise, these
men, these kneelers ut the shrines OF
chance and fraud these brazen idols wor-
shipped once Us gods, will be the very food OF
scorn, while those who bore the burden OF de-
feat who earned and kept their selfrespect,
who would not bow to man or men for place OF
power, Will wear upon tner DroWS the laurel
mingled with the oak.
Roscoe ConlSling was man OF superb cour.
age. He not only acted without fear, but he
had the fortitude OF soul that bears the conse-
Quences OF the course pursued without COM
plant. He was charged with being proud. The
charge was true-he was proud. His knees were
rs intlexible as the "unwedgeable and gnarled
oak, - but he was not vain. Vanity rests Oh the
opinion Of Othcrs-prdo our own. The
source of vanity is from without--of pride from
within. Vanity is vane that turns, n willow
that bends with every breeze--pride is the oak
that defics the storm. One is cloud, the other
rock; one is weakness, the other strength. This
imperious man entered public life in the dawn
of tie reformltion-at u time when the country
needed men OF pride, principle and courage
The institute of slavery had poisoned all tho
springs of power. Before this crime ambition
fell upon its knees, politicians, judges, clergy
men and merchant princes bowed low anC
humbly, with their hats in their hands. The
real friend OF man was denounced as the enemy
of his country, the real enemy of the human
race was called u statesman and u patriot
Slavery was the bond and pledge OF peace o
union and National greatness. The temple o
American liberty was finished; the auction
block was the cornerstone. 1t is hard Il
conceive of the utter decentralization, of the
political blindness and immortality, of the
patriotic dishonesty, OF the cruelty and degrn
dation OF q people who supplemented the IN
comparable Declaration OF Independence witt
the Fugitive Slave Law. Think Of the honoreC
statesmen OF that ignoble time who wnll0wed
in this miye and who. decOrnted with driOnn O