Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-10

Promise could not 10. made often enough. nor EN-.
phatlc enough, to take the place OF payment He
felt that the promise Of the government was the
promise Of every citizen, that a national obAga
ton was personal debt, and that no possible
combination Of words and pictures could take tho
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 sac.
rihce OF honor-the death OF the national soul. He
knew that without character, without integrity,
there h no wealth, and that below poverty, below
bankruptcy, Is the rayless abyss of Reputation,
lie 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
10 his brow.
He the ideal representative, faithful and in.
corrlptble. He believed that his constituents
and his country were entitled TO the fruit OF his
experience, TO his best and highest thought No
man ever held the standard OF responsibility
higher than he, lie voted according To his iudg
neut his conscience. lie made no bargains he
neither bought nor sold. To correct evils, abolish
abuses aud inaugurate reforms he believed was
not only the duty but the privilege Of 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
loaned to individuals; when claims were
thick as leaves in June; when the amendment Of
n statute, the change of single word meant
millions, and when empires were given u
corporations. lie stood at the summit OF
his power-peer of the greatest a
leader tried and trusted lie had the
tastes of prince, the fortune peasant and
yet he never swerved, No corporation was great
enough or rich enough TO purchase him, His
vote could not be bought FOR all tho sun sees, OF
the close earth wombs, or the profound sea
hides" 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 reached; above the ermine he re-
fused, rises his integrity like some great noun
tain peak aud there it stands, firm the earth
beneath pure as the stars above.
Mr. mgersoll then paid glowing tribute
TO Conkling as a lawyer, declaring that he
was great in that profession, and an accom-
plished and perfectly equipped orator, and
then proceeded:
He abhorred the Pharisee and loathed all con.
scentous fraud He had profound aversion for
those who insist on putting base motives back of
the good deeds of others. lie wore mask He
knew his friends-his enemies knew him He had
no patience with pretence With patriotic reasons
for unmauly acts. He did his work and bravely
spoke his thought. Sensitive to the last degree
he keenly felt the blows aud Stabs of the envious
and obscure of the smallest, of the weakest but
the greatest could not drive him from convic
TONS field. He would not stoop to ask give an
explanation. He left his words AMI his deeds to
justify themselves.
In his nature there was no compromise To
him there were but two paths the right aud
wrong He was maligned, misrepreSented, aud
misunderstood, hut he would not answer He
knew that character speaks louder far than any
words. He was as silent then he is now--and
his silence, better than amy form of speech, re
futed sVcry charge.
He was an American-proud of his country
that and ever will be proud of him. 4IIe did
not fluid perfection only in other lands. He did
not grow small and shrunken, withered and npo
ugetc, in the presence of those upon whom great.
ness had been thrust hy chance. He could not be
overawed by dukes or lords nor tiattered into
vertebrateless subServiency by the patronzing
smiles of kings. III the midst of conventionali
ties he had the feeling Of suffocation. He be- |
eved in the royalty of man, in the sovereignty of
the citizen, and in the matchess greatness of this
republic.
He was Of the classic mould-a figure from the |
antique world He had the pose of the great
statues, the pride and bearing of the intellectual
Greek of the coHquering Roman; and he stood in |
the wide free air though within hts veins there
flowed the blood of hundred kings.
And AS he lived he died. Proudly he entered |
the darhness-or the dawn that we call death |
Unshriukingly he passed beyond our horizon, he. |
yOnd twight'S purple hills, beyond the utmost |
reach of human harm or help--to that vast realm |
of silence of joy, where the innumerable dwell
aud he has left with us his wealth of thought and
deed the memory of a brave, imperious honest |
man. who bowed alone to death.