The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-05-10
WONDERFUL ELOQUHNGE
OF Robert G. IngersoII at the
ConkIing Memorial
IN THE CITY OF HIS BIRTH.
a Beautiful Tribute to the Character
ofthc Great American Statesman.
AGrcat Lawyer and an Honest
Legislator is Eulogized.

ALBANY, N. y, May 9.-Thirty.flve
hundred persons in the Academy of
Music in this city tonight listened to
an Grafton by Col. Robert G. Ingersoll
to the memory of Roscoe Conkling.
The ceremonies were under the au-
spices of the Senate and. Assembly. Col.
Ingersoll said:
Roscoe Conkling, a great man, an ora
tor, statesman, lawyer, a ,distin-
guished citizen OF the Republic, in the
zenith OF his fame and power, 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 a proud position in the
public thought. He stood for indie
pendcnce, 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, admira-
ton and love have paid to great and
honored dead. These tributes disclose
the character OF nations, the ideals of
the human race in them. We find the
estimates OF greatness-thc deeds and
lives that challenged praise and thrilled
the hearts OF men. In the presence OF
death the good man judges rs he would
be Judged. He knows that men are only
fragments-that the greatest walk in
shadow and that faults and failures min
gle with the lives Of all in the grave
SHOULD ne Hurled THE PREIUDIcEs
and passions born OF conflict. Charity
should hold the scales in which are
weighed the deeds OF men. Peculiari-
ties, traits born OF localities or surround
ings-these are but the dust OF the race
these are accidents, drapery, clothes,
fashion, that have nothing to do with
the man except to hide his character.
They are the clouds that cling to noun
tains. Time gives up clearer vision.
That which was merely local fades
AWAY. The words OF envy are for
gotten, and all there is of ster-
ling worth remains. He who was
called partisan is patriot. The revo-
lutionist and the outlaw are the found
ers OF nations, and he who was regarded
us n scheming, selfish politician becomes
n statesman, philosopher whose words
and deeds shed light. Fortune tells
that Nation great enough to know the
great. When Il great man dles-one
who has nobly fought the battle of life,
who has been faithful to every trust
and has uttered his highest, 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 honoring 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 Its
mighty dead. Only the voiceless speak
forever. Intelligence, integrity and
courage are the great pillars that sup
port the State. Roscoe Conkling, was
man of superb courage. He not only
acted without fear, but he had that forti-
tude of soul that bears the consequences
OF the course pursued without COM
plant. He was charged with being
proud. The charge was true-he was
proud. His knees were as intlexible as
the "unwedgeable and gnarled OAK"
but he was not vain. Vanity rests on
the opinion Of others, pride on our own.
The source OF vanity is from without,
OF pride from within. Vanity is vine
that turns willow, that bends with
every breeze-pride is the oak that de-
fies the storm. One is cloud, the Cther
rock. One is weakness, the other
strength.
This imperious man entered public
life in the dawn of the reformation
when the country needed men OF pride,
OF principle and courage. The institu-
ton OF slavery had poisoned all the
springs ofpower. He battled for anation's
life, forthe rights ofslaves-the dignity of
labor, and the liberty Of all. He guard
ed with fathers care the rights OF the
hunted, the hated and dcspised. He
attacked the average statutes OF the re-
constructed States, with torrent OF in
ycCtivG, scorn and cXecration. He was
not satisfied until the freedman was an
American citizen clothed with every
right, until the
CONSTITUTION WAS HIS SHIELD,
until the ballot was his sword. And
long after we are dead the colored man
in this and other lands will speak his
name in reverence and love. Others
wavcred, but lie stood firm; some were
false, but he was proudly true-fearless-
" faithful unto death.
IJa,nnn Tnnklinp unQ mn Ohgnlutnlv
honest man. He was the ideal repre-
sentative, faithful and incorruptible.
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 stand
ard OF responsibility higher than he.
He voted according TO his judgment,
and his conscience. He made no bar
gains-he neither bought nor sold. His
hand was never touched by any bribe,
and on his soul there never was sordid
stain. Poverty was his priceless crown.
He was great lawyer. He under
stood the framework, the anatomy, the
foundations OF law, and wRs familiar
with the great streams and currents and
tides OF authority. He had no pa
| tlcnCc Win ptetenCc-WltH putIIOtiC
reasons for unmanly acts. He did
his work, and bravely spoke his
thought. Sensitive to the last degree,
he keenly felt the blows and stabs OF the
envious and oBscure-of the smallest, OF
the weakest-but the greatest could not
drive him from convictions field. He
would not stoop to ask or give an eXpla-
ton. He left his words and deeds to
Justify themselves,
He was nm American
PROUD OF HIS COUNTRY,
that was and ever will be proud of him.
He did not find perfection only in other
lands. He did not grow small and
shrunken, withered and apologetic in
the presence OF those upon whom great
ness had been thrust by chance. He
could not be overawed by Dukes or
Lords, nor tlattered into vertebnl sub
seryiency by the patronizing
smiles OF Kings. In the midst
OF conventionalities he had the
feeling of suifocation. He believed in
The ROYALTY Of man, in the sovereignty