Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1888-05-11
CONKLING EULOGIZED.
The Eloquent Ingersoll Delivers a
Flowery Tribute to the Memory
Of Roscoe Conkling.
The Academy of Music Crowded and
the Doors Barred to Keep Out
the Threng.
To the Memory of Brave and Hon.
est Man who Bowed Alone
to Death.
An Appropriate Encomium.


An Appropriate Encomium.
ALBANY, n. Y, May 9.-Three thousand
five hundred persons in the academy of
music in this city listened to an Grafton by
Col. Robt. G. Ingersoll, to the memory of
Roscoe Conkling, and one-fourth as many
more besieged the barred doors, while
many climbed to the roof and peeped
through the sky light. The ceremonies
were under the auspicies of the senate and
assembly. Colonel Ingersoll said:
ROSCOE CoNKL1NG,
great man, an orator, statesman, a law
yer, distinguished 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 our trib-
ute to his worth and work. He earned and
held a proud position in the public thought.
He stood for independence, for courage,
and above all for resolute integrity, and
his. name was known and honored by many
millions of his fellow men. In the grave
should be buried the prejudices and pas
sions borne of conflict Charity should
hold the scales in which are weighed the
deeds OF men. Peculiarities, traits borne
of locality and surroundings, are the clouds
that cling to mountains. Fortunate is that
nation great enough to know the great.
How poor this world would be without its
graves, without the memories of its mighty
dead. Only the voiceless speaker forever.
Intelligence, integrity and courage are the
great pillars that support the state. Above
all, the citizens of free nation should
honor the brave and independent man
the man Of stainless integrity, of will and
intellectual force. Such men are the at
lases on whose mighty shoulders rest the
great fabric of the republic. When the in
telligent submit to the clamor of the many,
anarchy begins and the republic reaches
the edge of chaos. In a government of the
people leader should be a teacher. He
should carry the torch of truth. The poll
tician hastens to agree with the majority,
insists that their prejudice is patriotism,
that their ignorance is wisdom; not that he
loves them, but because he loves himself.
The statesman. the real reformer, points
out the mistakes Of the multitude, attacks
the predjudices Of his countrymen; not be-
cause he loves himself, but because he
loves and serves the right and wishes to
make his country great and free. Roscoe
Conkling was
MAN OF SUPERB COURAGE.
He not only acted without fear but he
had that fortitude of soul that bears the
consequences Of the course pursued with
out complaint. He was charged with be-
ing proud. The charge was true. He was
proud, but he was not vain. Vanity rests
on the opinion of others, pride on our own.
This imperiOus man entered public life in
the dawn of its reformation, at time
when the country needed men of pride, of
principle and courage. The institution of
7. slavery had possessed all springs of power.
The temple of American liberty was fin
ished. The auction block was the corner
stone, and at last the conflict came. The
hosts of light and darkness prepared to
meet upon the fields of war. The question
was presented.
SHALL THE REPUBL1C BE SLAVE OR
FREE?
The republican party had triumphed at
the polls, the greatest man of our nation
was president-elect. The victors were ap-
palled. They shrank from the great re.
sponsibility of success. In the presence
of rebellion they hesitated. They offered
to return the fruits of their victory. Hop
ing to prevent war, they were willing that
slavery should become immortal. An
amendment to the constitution was pro-
posed to the effect that no subsequent
amendment should ever be made that
would in any way interfere with the right
OF man to steal his fellow man. While the
republican party was retracing its steps
Roscoe COnkling voted no. This puts
A WREATH OF GLORY
on his tomb. From that vote to the last
moment of his life he was champion of
equal rights, staunch and stalwart. From
this moment he stood in the front rank.
He never more wavered and he never
swerved Disasters in the field, reverses
at the polls, did not and could not shake
his courage or his faith. He battled for
the nations life, for the rights of slaves,
for the dignity of labor and the liberty of
all, and long after we are dead, the cOlOred
man in this and other lands will speak his
name in reverance and love. He gladly
grasped the hands of cOlOred men who
stood with him as makers of our laws and
treated them as equals and as friends. We
rise by raising others. and he who stOOps
above the fallen stands erect Roscoe
9 COnkling was an absolutely honest man
5 and honesty is the oak around which all
other virtues cling Without that thew