Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-05-16
INGERSOLL ON CONKLING.

Robert G.. Iogersoll's tribute to the
memory of Roscoe Conkling delivered
at Albany on the 9th inst, will be
handed down to posterity as one of the
prettiest things of the age. Leaving
aside the political part of the Grafton
and forgetting that Mr.. Ingersoll is the
great infdel of this age, and parts of
his Grafton are gems that should be
preserved by all lovers of eloquence.
For instance, speaking OF Conkling's
independence, he said:
The statesman, the real refOTmer,
points out the mistakes of the multi
tude, attacks the prejudices of his
cOuntTymen, laughs at their fOllies, de-
nOunces their cruelties. enlightens and
enlargeS their minds and educateS the
conscience-not because he loves him.
self, but because he loves and serves the
right, and wishes 20 make his country
great and free. With him defeat is but
a spur to further effort. lie who refus-
es to stOop, who cannot be bribed by the
promise of success, or the fear Of fail
ure-whO walks the highway of the
right, and in disaster stands erect, is
the only victor. Nothing is more
despicable than to reach fame by crawl
ing position by cringing. When real
history shall be written by the truthful
and the wise, these men, the kneelerS
at the shrines of chance and fraud,
these bTaZen idols. wOrShiped once as
gods, will be the food of scorn, while
those who bore the burden of defeat,
who earned and kept their self-respect,
who would not bow to man or men for
place or power, will wear upon their
brOws the laurel mingled with the oak"
Referring to the fact that he was
poor man, though legislator for score
of years, Mr.. IngersOll said:
ITO correct evils, abolish abuses and
inaugurate reforms he believed was not
only the duty, but the privilege of a leg
islatOr. He neither sold nor mOrtgaged
himself. lie was in congress during
the years of vast expenditure of war
and waste-when the credit of the ma
tiOn was loaned TO individuals-when
claims were thick as leaves in
June. when the amendment of a stat
ute, the change of single word, meant
millions, and when empires were given
TO corporations. He stood at the sum-
nit of his pOwer-peer of the greatest
"a leader tried and trusted. He had
the tastes of a prince, the fortune of a
I peasant. anu , Ol AACNNA OnOA NOus ANO
corporation was great enough or rich
enough 10 purchase him. His vote
could not be bought for all the sun sees,
or the close earth wOmbs, or the pro-
| found seas hide. His hand was never
| touched by any bride. and on his soul
there never was sOrdid stain. Power
ty was his priceless crown"
His closing sentences were gems
lie said:
lie was an American proud of his
country, that was and ever will be proud
of him. lie did not find perfection only
IN other lands. He did not grow small
and shrunken. withered and apologize
in the presence of those upon whom
greatness had been thrust by chance.
! lie could not he Overawed by dukes or
lords, nor fattered into vertebrateless
subserviency by the patrOniZing smiles
of kings. In the midst of convention
alities he had the feeling of Subtraction.
He believed in the royalty of man. in
the sovereignty of the citizen. and in
the matchleSs greatness of this republic.
lie was of the classic mOuld-a figure
from the antique world. He had the
pose of the great statutes-the pride
and bearing of the intellectual Greek,
of the cOnquering Roman. and he stood
in the wide. free air as though within
his VEINS there flowed the blood of a
hundred kings"
And as he lived he died. Proudly
he entered the darkness-Or the dawn
that we call death. Unshrinkingly
he passed beyond our horizon, beyond
the twilight's purple hills, beyond the
utmost reach of human harm or help
to that vast realm of silence or of Joy
where the innumerable dwell. and he
has left with us his wealth of thought
and deed. the memory of brave, i'm
perious. honest man, who bowed alone
| to DEATH