Huntsville gazette., 1888-05-05

shadow of thetKing of Terrors darkening my
bed, and then IL reflected how little had ac-
cumulated for those depending upon me. 1
had given the twenty best years of my life to
my country instead of to my family; and
there | redeGicated myself, and promised
that, if God would let me live, | would de-
vote my remaining years to those having a
right to my protection So am giving my
whole attention to the law"
That his devotion to law practice is com
plete, his opponents in many important cases
can testify Speaking Of the necessity Of
concentrating his attention, he once said:
1.-The law is jealous mistress, and In this
country so vast and wde if an attorney at
tends to the calls Of his profession he will
find that his waking hours are too much
taken up with his business to allow him to
devote much attention to anything else In
England-which, leaving out Wales, Is
about the size Of New York state-a
man can be in the house Of commons
and still can practice law, but In Amer
lea, where a New York lawyer is ex-
pected to do business, not only in the
many courts of that state, but In the neigh
boring states, and even in Illinois, Missouri
and California, it is simply out Of the ques-
tion for him to meddle with politics or any
thing else For many years | ignored this,
10 the injury Of my practice. but assidn-
ously refrain from attending to anything
else but my business One Of the greatest
proofs OF the divinity and authenticity of the
Christian religion is its survival of hypocrisy
within and attacks upon its faith from with
out So the strongest surely that our gov
ernment will endure is that if an administra-
ton makes grievous blunders, as we some
times think, all the losses are made up and
disappear in the grand avalanche of prosper
ity. But why do you ask me about politicsf
1t would be immodest for me to attempt to
talk about matters In business Of which
know nothing. 1t is as though should give
long talk about the manufacture of glucose,
when there are hundreds of men who know q
thousand times as much as do about it
1t has been well said that Roscoe Conkling
made but one notable mistake in politics;
but 1t was a monumental one The attempt
to introduce English methods into congress
by resignation and an 'appeal to the pco-
ple,' was such a colossal blunder that the
first announcement of it stunned the people
II was a funny feature Of the excitement Of
1881 that the oldest and shrewdest politicians
were as much bewildered by the designations
of Senators Conkling and Platt, and as un-
certain of the final result as the novices. 1t
is claimed that their reelection was, In
sense, prevented by a trick The so-calIed
Hall Breeds" in the legislature saw little
In advance OF the "Stalwarts," or supporters
Of the two senator's, that the people were not
pleased with the resignation, and that if
time could he gained for members to hear
from their constituents the defeat of the two
for reelection could be secured AccordinCly
two or three Half Breeds concocted q
scheme for adjournment and carried it just
before Governor Corneli's message announc-
ing the resignation reached the assembly The
needed time was gained, and Messrs. Platt
and Conkling were defeated The assassna-
tion of Garfield also came at the most unfortu-
nate time for the two aspirants Against
such a formidable combination of men and
circumstances even the mighty organizing
genius Of Roscoe Conkling could not prevail
The ex-senator has for some time been a
familiar and very pleasant figure In New
York city. Straight and manly in bearing
as ever, though somewhat stouter, he shows
few signs of age save in his silvery hair and
beard, His firm and well knit frame was ap-
parently as strong as ever when the great |
blizzard of March II struck New York. He |
was then engaged three hours in a struggle |
TO reach his home, and arrived completely ex- |
hausted; from that came neuralgia pains In |
his head, an abscess in his ear, and many |
other ills, which showed too plainly that his |
strength had been overtaxed