The representative., 1901-02-28

LIE Clair. Wis, Feb. 25, 1901.
Editor Representative:
AS the days multiply feel less and
less reconciled to Mr.. Donnellys death:
and have been led more than once to
ask, why it is that man SO great and
gifted, SO honorable and useful. should
be taken and such an army of world,
cursing individuals left It is indeed
a sad contemplation that l shall never
see him again, shall never have the
privilege of reading any more of those
charming articles from his pen upon
the many economic questions of our
eventful time. Oh, no! that mighty
pen is silent, and so it must remain, as
there is no one to WELD it. Scotland
glories in her Wallace. and Wallace
had ClaymOre, but after his death it
was laid by as useless, simply because
no human arm could be found capable
OF welding it. So must that pen now
rest. 1t has entered it's last protest
against wrong and oppression; and
when that time comes as 1t surely will
come. when men will stand in their
true light, will be estimated for what
they are worth, Mr.. Donnelly will be
named with due veneration among the
peerless benefactors of his time. Could
he have stifled his convictions of right.
as other thousands have, there is no
predicting to what he might have at
teined in official life; but like Henry
Clay, he would rather be right than be
president; or like A. Lincoln, duty to
him was paramount to every other con-
sideratiOn. This he chose to follow re-
gardless of whittier it led him; regard
less of consequences; and the conse-
quence was, the poor, the needily desti-
tute, and toiling millions found in him
a true and uncOmprOmising champion,
in which role he fought till that melod-
ious voice and pen we're hushed 1t is
a consolation indeed to me as he is no
more, that the product Of his mighty pen
and peerless intellect, remain to which
We can refer as to a storehouse of wis
dom and thus keep green our memory of
this illustrious American Had Mr..
Donnelly turned his great ability to the
task Of making money like some others
OF his time. he might have achieved
unlimited success in this regard; but
the truth is, he had no time to make
money. Great social and political prob
lens, for the betterment of the masses,
so engrossed his vigorous intellect, as to
preclude all thought of mere money
making; and it is truly fortunate for
the literary and scientific world that
he left the rich legacy of that imperial
mind in books instead of dollars Now
that he is gone, l appreciate them all
the more. and so will 1t be with the
average reader and student. This great
man was at home equally in the scien-
tific as in the literary world. He needed
but hint on any subject and his great
mind took it in in all it's relations and
ramificatiOns; and herein Is seen how
he was enabled to accomplish so much,
and do it so we'll. His style Is clear, his
logic massive and irresistible, while his
rhetoric is charmingly beautiful; and
as long as the labors of Demosthenes
and Cicero are penned by the classic
scholars. so long will the works of Mr..
Donnelly be studied and admired by the
intelligent masses. How natural for
such a man, intellectually inclined and
SO richly endowed, to aspire to honor
able place. That Mr. Donnelly so as
pired no one not even his best friend
will seek to deny; but that he ever
sought office for self aggrandizement or
through sOrdid or avariciOus motives,
his whole public and private life is an
emphatic refutation. Others less gifted
have climbed the financial ladder to it's
summit, but how trifling all this wealth
compared with that which he has left us.
Ages hence. long after they are lost in
oblivion, his name will rank with Solon
and Lycurgus and the renowned states
men and philosophers of earth But
how we shall miss him; and how others,
tco, will miss him where his talents
and charming social qualities were dis
played in making a model home; and to
her. the chief sufferer in this great be-
reavement, l hereby most heartily and
sincerely extend the poor tribute of my
heartfelt coincidence.
e. w. B. HARVEY,