St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-10
4 Tribute to the Dead Which
Will Go Down in
History.
The Immense Hall Packed to
Suffoeation to Hear the
Eulogy.
The Ceremonies Under t he
Auspices of the New York
Legislature.

W Lit lueUiOTy OF ROSCOE COnklluS, AIT
One-tourth as many more besieged the
barred doors, while many climbed tc
the roof and peeped through the sky.
lights. The ceremonies were under the
auspices of the senate and assembly
Col. Ingersoll said:
Roscoe Conkling, great man, an
orator, a statesman, lawyer, 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
our tribute to his worth and work. He
earned and held proud position in the
public thought. He stood for independ-
ence, for courage, and above ALL for alb
solute 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, admiration and love have
paid to the great and honOred dead.
These tributes disclose the characters
of nations, the ideals of the human
race. In them we find the estimates of
greatnesS-the 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. Peculiarities, traits born
of locality and surroundingS-thes are
but the dust of the race-theSe are ac-
cidents, drapery, clothes. fashions, that
have nothing to do with the man except
to hide his character. They are the
clouds that cling to 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 the founders of nations, and
he who was regarded as schem-
ing, selfish politician, becomes a
statesman, 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 a life, who has been faithful to
every tIust. and has uttered his high
IL,
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 a tribute to ourselves. How
poor this world would be without its
graves. without the memories of its
mighty dead. Only the vOiceless speak
forever. Intelligence, integrity and
courage are the great pillars that sup
port the state. Above all, the citizens
of free nation should honor the brave
and independent mantle man of STAIN
less integrity. of will and intellectual
force. Such men are the Aliases on
whose mighty shoulders rest the great
fabric of the republic. Flatterers,
cringerS, GROWERS, time-ServerS are the
dangerous citizens of a democracy.
They who gain applause and power by
pandering to the mistakes, the preju-
dices and passions of the multitude, are
telligent submit to the clamor of the
anarchy begins, and the republic
reaches the edge of chaos. MediOcrity,
touched with ambltian, fiatters the base
and calumniateS the great, while
THE TRUE PATRIOT,
who will do neither, is often sacrificed.
In government of the people leader
should be a teacher-he should carry
the torch of truth. Most people are the
slaves Of habit, followers of custom,
believers in the wisdom of the past, and
were it not for brave and splendid
souls 1.-the dust of antique time would
lie unSWept and mountainous error be
too highly heaped for truth to over
peer" Custom is prison, locked and
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
chains, levels walls and breasts the
mob like some great
cliff that meets and mocks the
pillows of the sea.
The politician hastens to agree with the
ma ority-insists that their prejudice is
patriotism, that their ignorance is wis
dom-not that he loves them, but be-
cause he loves himself. The statesman,
the real refoTmer, points out the mis-
takes of the multitude, attacks the
prejudices of his countrymen, laughs
at their fOllieS, denounces their cruel
ties, enlightenS and enlarges their
minds and educates their consciences not
because he loves himself, but because
he loves and serves the right and wishes
to make his country great and free
With him defeat is but spur to fur
ther effort. He who refuses to stOop,
who cannot be brib by the promise of
success or the fear of failure, who walks
the highway of the right and in disaster
stands erect, is the only victor. Nothing
is more despicable than to reach fame
by crawling, position by cringing.
When real
HISTORY SHALL BE WRITTEN
by the truthful and the wise, these men,
these kneelers at the shrines of chance
and fraud, these brazen idols, wor-
SHIPPED once as gods. will be the very
food of Scorn, while those who bore the
burden of defeat, who earned and kept
their self-respect, who would not bow
to man or men for place or power, will
wear upon their brOwS the laurel
with the oak. Roscoe Conkling
was man OF superb courage. He not
only acted without fear, but he had that
quences of the course pursued without
He was charged with being
proud. The charge was true-he was
proud. His knees were as in1exible as
the ''unwedgable and gnarled Oak,''
but he was not vain. Vanity rests OH
the opinion of others-pride, on our
own. The source of vanity is from
pride, from within. Vanity
is vane that turns. willow
that bends with every breeze-pride is
the oak that defies the storm. One is
other rock. One is weakness
the other strength. This imperious
man entered public life in the dawn of
the reformation-at time when the
country needed men of pride. of prin-
ciple and courage. The institution of
slavery had poisoned all the springs of
power. Before this crime ambition fell
upon its kuees-politicians judges,
clergymen and merchant-princes bowed
low and humbly, with their hats in their
hands. The real friend of man was de-
nouneed as the enemy OF his country
the real enemy of the human race was
called a statesman and patriot.
Slavery was the bond and pledge of
peace, of union, and national greatness.
THE temnle of merican liberty uas