, 1888-05-10

most marvellous proposition ever submitted
to a congress OF civilized men. 1t received
In the house an overwhelming. majority
The republican party, in the moment Of
It's triumph, deserted every principle
for which IL had so gallantly contended
and with trembling hands OF fear laid It's
convictions on the altar of compromise.
The old guard, numbering but sixty five In
the house, stood firm as
rHETHREE HUNDRED AT THERxoPYLAE.
Thaddens Stevens refused to kneel, Owen
Lovejov refused to surrender, and on the
edge ofdisunion. In the shadow Of civil
war, with the air filled with the sounds OF
the dreadful preparation, while the repub-
lican party was retracing its steps, Roscoe
Conkling voted. no. This puts a wreath
OF glory on his tomb. From that vote,
70 the last moment Of his life, he was
the champion OF rights, staunch and stal.
wait from that moment he stood in the
front rank. He never wavered and never
swerved. He battled for the life, for the
rights of slaves, the dignity of labor, and
the liberty OF all. lie guarded with a
fathers care the rights of the hunted,
hated, and despised. He
ATTACKED THE SAVAGE STATUTES
Of the reconstructed states with torrent OF
invective, scorn and execration. lie was
not satisfied until the freedman was an
American citizen. clothed with every civil
right; until the constitution was his shield,
until the ballot was his sword. Others
wavered, but he stood firm. Some we're
false, but he was proudly true and tearlessly
faithful until death. Nothing can be
grander than to SOW the seeds of
noble thoughts and vrtuous deeds; to lib.
crate the bodies and souls of men to earn
the grateful homage of race and then In
life's last shadowy hour to know aud feel
that the historian OF liberty will he COM
PEELED to write your name. The history of
that great party
THAT LET THE OPPRESSED 90 FREE,
that lifted our nation from the depths
of slavery to freedoms cloudless
heights, and tore with holy
hands from every law the words that sane
tiied the cruelty Of man. is the most gIori-
Gus in the annals OF our race.
Roscoe Conkling was an absolutely hon.
est man. He uttered the splendid Truth
that ''the higher obligations among men
are not set down in writing, signed and
sealed, but reside in honor.n He was the
ideal representative-faithi and incor-
ruptible. He believed his constituents and
experience, to his best and highest
thoughts. No man ever held the standard
of responsibility higher than he. He voted
according to his judgment and his con-
science.
HE MADE NO BARGAINS.
He neither bought nor sold. To correct
evils abolish abuses and inaugurate re-
forms he believed was not only the duty
but the privilege of the legislator. He
neither sold nor mortgaged himself. He
was In congress during the years of the vast
expenditures for war and waste, when the
credit OF the nation was loaned to indi-
yiduals. when claims were thick as leaves
in June, when in an amendment to the
statute the change of single word meant
millions, and when empires were given to
corporations. He stood at the summit OF
his power, the peer of the greatest,
LEADER TRIED AND TRUSTED
tune Of peasant, and yet he
never swerved. No corporation was great
enough or rich enough to purchase from
him bis vote. He could not be bought "for
all the sun sees or "the profound sea
hides" His hand was never touched by
any ori6e and on his soul there never was
sordid stain. Poverty was his priceless
crown. Above his marvellous intellectual
gifts, above all places he ever reached.
above the ermine he refused, rises
his integrity, like some great
ssads firm peas sbs s,rS and %a,s.,h there it
the stars above.
He was great lawyer. He understood
the framework, the anatomy,
-HE FOUNDATION OF LAW.
He was familiar with the great streams and
currents and tides of authority. He knew
the history of legislation and the princi-
Piles that had been settled on the fields of
war. He knew the maximum OF those
civilizations of common sense, the hand.
grenades of argument. He was not
case lawyer, decision index,
or, an echo. He was original, thought
ful and profound. He had
breadth and scope, resource of learning,
logic and, above all sense of justice. He
was painstaking and conscientious, anxious
to know facts, preparing for every attack,
ready for every defense. He rested only
when the end was reached. During a con-
test he neither sent nor received flag of
truce. de was true to his clients, making
their case his, feeling the responsibility.
He listened patiently to details and
to his industry there were only the
limits of time aud strength. Ne was
AsTUDENT OF THE CONSTITUTION.
He knew the boundaries of the federal
jurisdiction and no man was more ia
miliar with those great decisions that are
the peaks and promontories, the headlands
and beacons of law. He was an orator.
earnest, logical, intense and picturesque.
He laid the foundation with care. with &C.
curacy and skill, and rose by cold grada-
ton and well-balanced form" from the cor
ner stone OF statement to the conclusion.
He filled the stage, he saddened the eye. the
audience. was his. He held that indefinable
thing called presence. Tall, commanding,
erect, ample in speech, graceful In compli-
ment, titanic in denunciation, prodigal of
comparison and metaphor, his sentences,
measured and rythmical, fell like music on
the enraptured throng. He abhorred the
Pharisee and loathed all conscientious
frauds. He had a profound aversion for
those who insist on putting base motive
back OF the good deeds of Others He wore
no mask. He knew his friends, his enemies
knew him. He had
NO PATIENCE WITH PRErENoE,
with patriotic reasons for unmanly acts.