The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1888-05-17
An Eloquent Tribute to the Memory
of Roscoe conkIiDg.
By Colonel IngsrsOII Before a Large
Albany Audience.
An ImperiOus, Honest Man, Who
Bowed to Death Alone.
Word Pictures of His True Worth and
Public Work.

an Grafton by colonel h0Dorg ". lnRor-
soil, to the memory of Roscoe Conk-
ling, and one-fourth as many more be-
sieged the barred doors, while many
climbed to the roof and peeped through
tine sky-Iights. The ceremonies we're
under the auspices of the senate and
assembly. Col. Ingersol said:
Roscoe Conkling-a great man; an
orator; a statesman; a lawyer; a dis
tinguished 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
tribute to his worth and work. He
earned and held proud position in the
public thought. He stood for indie
pendenee; 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, ad
miration and love have paid to the
great and honored dead. These trib-
utes disclose the character of nations,
the ideals of the human race. In them
NC EuC c0bUud1Co RlCdGuCDo-
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 men are only
fragments-that the greatest walk in
shadow and that faults and failures
mingle with the lives of all. In the
grave should be buried the prejudices
and passions born of conflict. Charity
should hold the scales in which are
weighed the deeds of men. Peculi-
arities, traits born of localities and sur
roundings, these are but the dust of
the race. These are accidents, drapery,
clothes, fashions that have nothing to
do with the man except to hide his
character. They are the clouds that
cling to the mountains.
TIME GIVES Us CLEARER VISION.
That which was merely local fades
away, the words of envy are forgotten
and all there is of sterling worth re-
mains. He who was called a partisan
is a patriot. The revolutionist and
the outlaw are founders of nations,
and he who was regarded as schem-
ing, selfish politician, becomes states
man, a philosopher, whose words and
deeds shed light. Fortunate is that
nation great enough to know the great
when a great man dies-one who has
nobly fought the battle of life; who has
been faithful to every trust and has
uttered his highest, noblest thoughts;
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
| q tribute to ourselves.
How poor this world would be with
out its graves-without the memories
of its mighty dead.
ONLY THE VOICELESS SPEAK FOREVER.
Intelligence, integrity and courage are
the great pillars that support the state
| Above ali, the citizens of free nation
should honor the brave and indepen-
dent mantle man of stainless integ-
rity. of will and intellectual force.
Such men are the Aliases on whose
mighty shoulders rest the great fabric
| of the republic. Flatterers, cringers
crawlers, time-servers are the danger
| Gus citizens of democracy. They
who gain applause and power pander-
ing to the mistakes, the prejudices and
mics of liberty. When the intelligent
submit to the clamor of the many,
anarchy begins and the public reaches
| the verge of chaos. MediOcritY
touched with ambition flatters the base
and calumniates the great, while the
| true patriot who will do neither, is
often sacrificed. In a government OF
the people
A LEADER SHOULD BE A TEACHER.
He should carry the torch of truth
| Most people are the slaves of habit
followers of observation-disclosures in the
wisdom of the past-and were it not
for the brave and splendid souls in the
dust of antiquity, time would lie un-
| swept and mountainous error be toe
highly heaped for truth to overpeer.
CUSTOM Is A PRISON,
locked, barred by those who long ago
were dust, the keys of which are in the
keeping of the dead. Nothing is
grander than when a strong, intrepid
man breaks the chains; levels the walls
and breasts the many headed mob, like
some great cliff that meets and mocks
the innumerable pillows of the sea.
The politician hastenS to agree with
the majority; insists that their pre-
JUDGE is patriotism, not that he loves
them, but because he loves himself.
The statesman-the real reformer-
points out the mistakes of the multi
tude; attacks the prejudiceS of his
countrymen: laughs at their. follies
denounces their cruelties; enl1ghtens
and enlarges their minds; and educates
the conscience-notb because he loves
himself, but because he loves and
serves the right, and wishes to make
his country great and free. With hin
defeat is but spur to farther effort
He who refuses TO stOop-who cannot
be bribed by the promise of success, OF
the fear of failure-who walks the high
way of the right and in disaster stands
erect, is the only victor. Nothing il
more despicable than to reach fame By
crawling position, by cringing. WheI
real history shall be written by TIT
truthful and the wise, these men, thest
kneelers at the shrines of chance ant
fraud, these braZen idiots
wORsHIPED ONCE AS GODS
will be the very food of scorn, Will
those who bore the burden of defeat
who earned and kept their self-respect
who would not bow to man or men 70
place or power, vii! wear upon thei
broWS the laurel mingled with the OAK
Roscoe COnkling was man of super
courage. He not only acted withou
fear, but he had that fortitude of sou
that bears the consequences of tn
course pursued without complaint. Fl
was charged with being proud. TIL
charge is true-he was proud. Hi
knees were as infexiDle as the sur
wedgeable and gnarled oak" but b
! was not vain. Vanity rests on tn
opinion of otherS-pride on our own.
The source of vanity is from WithoU
of pride, within. Vanity is a van
that turns, a willow that bends wit
every breeze-pride is the oak that d.
, fies the storm. One is a cioud-th
: other rock. One is weakness-th
= other strength. This mperiouS ma
n entered public life in the dawn of tn
! reformation-at a time when the couI
r try needed men of pride, of principl
) and courage. Politicians, judges, Gle
gymen and merchant friends bowe
low and humbly, with their hats j
their hands. The real friend of ma
). was denounced as the enemy OF tt
+ country-the real enemy of the huma
: race was called a statesman and q D,
/. triot. Slavery was the bond and pledS
a of peace of the union, and nations
b greatness. The temple of America
liberty was finished-the auction bloC
was the corner stone. It is hard
conceive of the Generalization; OF Il
n | political blindness and immortality.