The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1888-05-16


mopyis. Thsddeus stevens-as maliciously
right az any other man was ever wrong-re-
fused to kneel. owen Loyejoy, remembering
his brothers noble blood, refused 10 surrender,
and on the edge OF disunion, in the shadow OF
civil war, with the air hlled with sounds az
dreadful preparation, while the Republican
party was retrscing its steps, Roscoe Conkiing
voted no: This puts wreath OF glory on MS
his life no was a champion OF equal rights
stanch aud stalwart.
From that moment he stood in the front rank.
He never wavered and h never sweryed. by
his devotion To principle, his courage, the
splendor OF his diction, by 8 varied ana pro-
found knowledge, his conscientious devotion I'd
the great cause, and by his intellectual scope
and grasp he won and held the admiration OF
his fellow-men.
did not and could not shake his courage or his
faith. He knew the CHASTITY meaning OF defeat
He knew that the great ship that slavery sousht
TO strand and wreck was freighted with the
worlds sublimest hope. He btttled for a ma
tion's life, for the rights OF slaves the dignity
OF labor, and the rights OF all. He guarded
with fathers care the rights OF the hunted,
the hated and despised He attacked the saw
age statutes of the reconstructed states with q
torrent OF invectiye scorn ana execratlon.
He 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. And long
after dead the colored man in this
and other lands will speak his name In rovor-
ence and love. Others wavered, but he stood
firm; some wero false, but he was proudly
true-fearlessly faithful unto death. lie glad
ly, proudly grasped the hands OF colcred men
who stood with him as makers OF our laws, ana
treated them as equals and as friends. The
cry of Social equality" coined and uttered by
the cruel and the base, TO hun the express
sion OF great aud splendid truth He knew
that no man can be the equal OF the one ne RODS
that the intelligent and unjust are not the
superiors of the ignorant and honest-and no
also felt, and proudly felt that II he were not
too great TO reach the hand OF help ana rec.
o2nitioE TO the slave no other Senator could
ightfully refuse.
Roscoe Conkling was an absolutely honest
man. Honesty is the oak around which all
other virtues cling, Without that they fan,
and, groveling, die in weeds and aust. de be-
lie ed that nation should discharge It's oo-
legations. He knew that "A promise could not
be made often enough or emphatic enough TO
take the place OF payment He felt that
the promise OF the Government was the
promise OF every citzen-that national
obligation was personal debt, and that no
possible combination of words and pictures
could take the place Of coin. He uttered the
splendid truth that THE higher obligations
among mon are not set down in writing, signed
and sealed, but reside in honor. He knew
that reputation was tho sRcrifce OF honor
the death OF the national soul. He knew that
without character. without integrity, there IS
no wealth and that below poverty below bank
ruptcy is the ray less abyss OF reputation. He
upheld the sacredness OF contracts, OF plighted
national faith, and helped TO save and keep
the honor of his native land. This adds an
other laurel to his brow.
He the ideal representative, faithful and
incorruptible. He beloved that his constitu-
ents and his country were entitled 70 the fruit
OF his experience, TO his best and highest
thought No man ever held the standard OF
responsibility higher than he. He voted ac-
cording to his Judgment, his conscience. He
made no bargains-he neither bought nor sold.
To correct evils, abolish abuses, and inau-
gurate reforms he believed was not only tho
duty but tho privilege of a legislator. he
neither sold nor mortgaged himself. He was
in Congress during the years OF vast expendi-
f1nr rf aud xulaa - HAlf af "a
nation was loaned to individuals, when claims
were thick as leaves in June, when the amend
ment Ola statute, the change of single word,
meant millions, and when empires were given
to corporations. He stood at the summit OF his
power-peer OF the greatest-a leader tried
and trusted He had the tastes OF a prince.
the fortune OF peasant, and yet he never
swerved. No corporation was great enough or
rich enough to purchase him. His vote could
not be bought for all the sun sees, or the
close earth wombs, or the profound seas hide
His hand was never touched by any bride, and
on his soul there never sordid stain.
Poverty was his priceless crown. Above his
marvellous intellectual gifts-above all D ace he
ever reached-above the ermine he refused
rises his integrity like some great mountain
peak, aed there it stands, firm as the earth De-
meath, pure as the stars above.
He was great lawyer lie understood the
ame-work, the anatomy. the foundations OF
law; was familiar with the great streams and
currents and tides of authority. He knew the
history Of legislation, the principles that have
been settled upon the fields of war. He knew
the maxims, those crystallizations Of common
sense. those hand-grenades OF argument He
not n case lawyer. decision index or an
echo; he original thoughtful, ana pro-
found. He had breadth and scope, re-
source. learning, logic, and above all a
sense of justice. He was painstakng and
conscientious, anxious TO know the facts,
preparing for every attack ready for every de-
Tense. He rested only when the end was
reached. During the contest he neither sent
nor received n flag of truce. He was true to his
clients-making their case his. Feeling re-
sponsibility, he listened patiently to details
and to his industry there were only the limits
OF time ana strength. He was n student OF the
Constitution. he knew the boundaries Of State