The Portland daily press., 1888-05-10
An American Whose Services Earned
the Republics Gratitude.

| mdH cuItTtu puDllc lie III Ine udWu VI tHo
reformation, at time when the country
needed men of principle and courage. Be-
| fore the crime of slavery and ambition fell
upon its knees, the real friend of man was
denounced as the enemy of his country; the
real enemy of the human race was called a
statesman and patriot
"At last the conflict came and the question
presented, shall the Republic be slave or
free? The Republican party had triumphed
at the polls and the greatest man in our his
tory was President-elect.
vICToRs WERE APPALLED,.
They shrunk from the great responsibility
of success In the presence of rebellion they
hesitated and offered to return the fruits OF
victory. Hoping to avert war, they were
| wi ling that slavery should become immortal
and an amendment to the constitution pro-
| posed that no subsequent amendment should
! ever be made that in any way should inter
| fere with the right of man to steal his fellow
| men. This most marvellous proposition
| ever submitted to congress OF civilized
men, received in the House an overwhelming
| majority and the necessary two-thirds in the
Senate The Republican party, in the mo-
ment of its triumph, deserted every princi-
pie for which it had so calamity. contended.
| Owen Lovejey, remembering his brothers
noble blood, refused to surrender and on the
| edge of disunion, in the shadow OF civil war,
| with the air filled with sounds of dreadful
| preparation, Roscoe Cenkling voted no.
| This puts wreath of glory on his tomb.
From that vote until the last moment of his
| life he was
THE CHAMPION OF EQUAL RIGHTS.
Staunch and stalwart. from that moment he
stood in the front rank and never wavered,
never swerved. By his devotion to principle,
his courage, the splendor of his action, by his
varied and profound knowledge, his consci-
entiOus devotion to the greatcause,b by his in
tseetna scope ana a. grasp ne won ana hed
tied for the nations life, for the rights of the
slaves and the dignity of the labor, and the
liberty of all. He attacked the savage stat
utes Of reconstructed States with.a torrent of
invective. lscorn and execration. He was not
satisfied until the freedman was an Ameri-
can citizen, clothed in every civil right, until
the constitu tion was his shield, and until the
ballot was his sword.
''RoscoeConkling was an absolutely honest
man. Honesty is the oak around which all
other virtues cling. Without that they fall,
and groveling die in weeds and dust
He believed the nation should dis
charge its obligations. He felt that the
promise of the government was the
promise of every citizen, that
NATIONAL OBLIGATION WAS PERSONAL
DEBT,
that no possible combination of words and
pictures could take the place of coin. He ut
tered the splendid truth, the higher obliga-
tions among men are not set down in writ
ing, signed and sealed, but reside in their
honor, He knew that reputation was a
sacrifice of honor and the death of the ma
tional soul. He knew that, without charac-
ter and without integrity, there is no wealth,
hat haln hnIn hon
is the rayless abyss of repudiation. He up
held the sacredness of contracts, of plighted
national faith, and helped to save and keep
the honor of his native land. This adds an
representative, faithful and incorruptble
He believed his constituents and his country
were entitled to the fruits of his experience,
his best and highest thoughts. No man ever
held the standard of responsibility higher
than he. He voted according to his Judgment
and conscience. He made no bargains, nei-
ther bought nor sold. To correct evils and
abolish abuses, and to inaugurate reforms,
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
vast expenditures were and waste When
the credit of the nation was loaned to indi-
viduals, when claims were thick as leaves in
June, when .the amendment of statute by
the change of single word meant millions
and when empires were given to corpora
tions, he stood at the summit of his power,
the peer of the greatest leader, tried and
trusted. Ha had the tastes of prince and
the fortune of a peasant, yet he never
and rich enough to purchase him. His
vote could not be bought 'for all the sun
sees, or the close earth wombs, or the pro-
found seas bide." His hand was never
fo,r oha6 hv hrih ha an hic
was sorded stain. Poverty was his price
less crown. Above his marvellous intellec-
tual gifts, above, all place he ever reached.
above the ermine he refused, rises his integ-
rity like some great mountain peak and
there it stands firm as the earth, pure as the
stars above.
''He was great lawyer. He understood
the framework of the anatomy and the
foundation of law; he was familiar with
great streams, currents and tides of author
ity. He knew the history Of legislation and
the principles settled upon fields of war.
He was not case lawyer whose discussion
was an index or echo.
HE WAS ORIGINAL, THOUGHTFUL
and profound, and had breadth and scope.
resource, learning and logic, and above all,
sense and justice. He was painstaking, con-
scientious ard anxious to know the facts
preparing for every attack, ready for every
defence. He rested only when the end was
reached. During the contest, he neither
sent nor received flag of truce. He was
true to his clients, making their case lis.
He was student of the constitution. He
knew the boundaries of State and Federal
jurisdiction and no man was more familiar
with those great decisions that are the
peaks, promotories, headlands .and beacons
of law. lie was an orator, earnest, logical,
intense and picturesque He laid his found
alton with care, accuracy and SKILL and rose,
hu OrqdQfIAnc hQlqnand
FORM" from corner stone statement to domed
conclusion. He filled the stage and satisfied
the eye: The audience was his. He had
that indefnable thing called presence. Tall,
commanding, erect, ample in speech, grace
full in compliment, titonic in denunciation,
rich in illustration, prodical of comparison
and metaphor, his sentences, measured and
rythmcal, fell like music on the enraptured
throng.
HE ABHoRRED THE PHARIsEE
and loathcd all conscientious fraud. He had
a profound aversion for those who insist ON
putting base motives back of the good deeds
of others. He wore no mask and knew that
his friends and enemies knew him. He had
no patience with pretence or with patriotic
reasons for unmanly acts. He did his work
He felt the blows and stabs of the envious,
the obscure, the small and the weak, but the
greatest could not drive him from convlc-
tion's field. He would not stop to ask or
give explanation bur left his words and
deeds to justify themselves. He held in
light esteem the friend who heard with half
believing ears the slander OF a zoe. he
walked the highway of his own and Kept the
company of self respect He would not
turn aside to avoid foe nor to greet
friend. In his nature was no compromise.
To him there were but two paths, the right
and the wrong. lie was maligned, misrepre-
sented and misunderstood but he would not
answer. He knew that character speaks
louder far than words. He was as silent
then as he is now and silence, better than any
form OF Speech refuted every charge
that was and ever wifi be proud of him. He
did not find perfection only in other lands.
He did not grow small, shrunk, withered or
apologetic in the presence of those upon
whom greatness had been thrust by chance.
He could not be overawed by dukes and
lords nor flattered
INTO vERTEBRATELEss sUBsERvIENCY
by the patronizing smiles of kings. In the