The sun., 1890-01-12

and honorable achievement Among the Dl
oRraphers OF public men few have confined
themselves to q colorless presentation OF facts
and have vigorously rofralned from attempting
to infect the reader with prepossessions, sym
pathles. and opinions Of their own. Fewer
still have carried impaTtiality so far as to sup
press facts helpful to an understanding OF the
dead. because they might prove unweloome II
the living. No old wounds will be reOpened. nc
acorchinR controversies will be rekindled By
the Life and Letters Of Roscoe OOnklin0. fol
which we are indebted to ALFRED r. CoNKLINo
70. l. Webster & Coz Regarding as the author
does his subject with affection as we'll as ad-
nniration. he cannot be expected to find ex-
cuses for his subjects enemies but no vitupera-
tive epithet, unchRritaple estimate. or resent
full judgment has escaped him In the course OF
more than 700 pages. From first to last the
volume is marked By q judlcious retlcence and
q studied discretion. The author evlnces not
only equRnimity but touch OF maRnRnimity.
He shows somewhat Of the spirit which caused
Roscoe Conkling himself to say, when he heard
Of Garfeld's death: "Henceforth my lips are
sealed. Ioannot 90 into grave for vindication. "
When q task OF this sort 10 approached In
such franc OF mind and temper. the result,
whether anticipated or not by the writer. is one
that blographer should especially desire. He
makes new friends for the subject OF his me-
sion left on many readers Of this volume will be
not unlike that produced upon Chief Justice
Waite by professional contact Mr.. Waite said
that he came to Washington with prejudice
against ConklinR, and that the prejudice was
deepening. He was prepossessed, apparently.
both against the lawyer and the man. Yet on
the first occasion whom he heard ConklinG
argue cause before the United States Supreme
Court tho prejudice was dissolved. and was
succeeded by liking for the man and respect
for the advocate. During the latter years OF
Conkling's life he was regarded by great ma
jority OF his countrymen not merely with
prejudice. but with positive antipathy, tinGed
not seldom with contempt Except In the
memorable case Of Aaron Burr, We suppose
that no American public man has ever fallen
20 suddenly from 30 great O h0iRht and so
hopelessly as Roscoe Conkling fell In the short
interval between the Chicago Convention OF
1880 and the death OF Garfield In 1881. He
himself was quite alive to the tragical COM
pleteness OF his political ruin. To some one
suggesting. not long before his death tho pos
sibility OF his becoming q candidate for the
Chief Magistracy. he replied: You might as
well set up q corpse In q window to look at q fu-
neral procession as to nominate me for the office
OF President OF the United States" He was no
doubt right in this pessimlstic forecast Of his
political possibilities. and II. now that he is
gone many who but lately spoke Of him with
anger or disdain learn to think Of him moro
kindly and appreciatively than he had reason
to anticipate, the change will be attributable
In no small measure to his present biogrspher.
Roscoe Conkling was descended from ono
John Oonklin who emiRrated from Nothing
hamshire to Salem. Massachusetts, in 1886.
Roy,r 1atA rrvsth h kruvn
sons, John and Ananias, to Suffolk county,
Long Island. His descendants seem to have
remained for generations small farmers and
betty tradesmen. the first to receive O col
leRiat0 education being Alfred ConklinR. who
graduated from Union College in 1870 He be-
came successively District Attorney for Mont
Gomery county. member Of Congress. and
United States District Judge for the Northern
district OF New York. While q law student at
Johnstown he married Eliza Cockburn. and by
her had three daughters and four sons. The
third son was the subject Of this memoir, who
was born in Albany. Oct So 1929. Roscoe Conk-
ling was not studious lad. and his education.
in the conventional sense OF the word. ceased In
l846. whom. at the age of II. he left the Auburn
Academy for the law office OF Spencer and Ker-
nan at Utica. Nor did he ever become SELF
educated in the sense in which the term is ap-
plcable. We will not say to o SELF -made scholar
like Grote. but even to well-informed men like
Bright and Golden. That he as unacouainted
with the Greek language was, OF course. no dis |
qualification for SUCCESS in politics or at the |
bar; but had he acquired o better knowl- |
edge of Greek history through the medium |
Of English books he would have avoided blum |
ders lone of which is inadvertently preserved |
on page $50 of this volume) in attempting to
draw illustrations from Greek sources. II. |
moreover. at the Auburn Academy he had be-
come sufficiently conversanT with the Fudi-
ments Of Latin to understand the phrases in
cOssantly recurring In his law books, the fact
ls not mentioned by his present bIoRrapher. nor
is It discernible In any Of his speeches. OF no
living language except his own did he know
anything. He does not seem to have been in
terested In philosophy. In physical science. In
any Of tho great branches ofinquiry which aim
10 eluoidate mans relation to the earth and to
Ehe universe. His historical knowledge was
and shallow. Even the history
If his own country he was far from having at
his fingers ends. II he was familiar with the
las left no proof OF the fact in his speeches. al
houRh as o defender OF his party's attitude
oWard the tariff 1t behooved him to be master
u the armory from which the weapons of
economical controversy must be drawn. 1t was
OF the mans mental standard
md furniture that his favorite poet was Byron.
md his favorito prose writer Macaulay. Nor.
perhaps, is the circumstance without
igniacance that although he is credited
" his bioErapher with . sinRularly
enaeious memory. he was an asslduous
compiler OF SCRAP books. Shrewd
observers incline to the opinion that men
eRlly possessed Of good memories Keep no
crap books except those provided by nature
a Walla 0f n | I