The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-09-11

chronicles of men and events, of which
any state might be justly proud, is large
w due to his wise foresight and his con.
slant and effective support.
Thus have l endeavored to present the
portrait of our companion, councillor and
president. We have turned the dial
backwards and recalled some of the
scenes in the gray dawn of the past. We
have summoned figures of noted con-
temporaries. and have touched a few of
the more important events of his history.
True. we stumble over the images of
MANY other distinguished men, and the
fragments of many weighty events; but
the canvass will not carry all things in
single picture. The artist has aimed at
the general effect, without arithmetic
al WEAKNESS of detail.
Alexander Ramsey is dead, and has
passed forever to the STARRY court of
eternity" The grave closes the scene,
and we scatter, profusely it may be, the
lilies of remembrance upon his sepulcher
But the praise of the dead harms no riv-
al though it be generously given. l
doubt if the state shall look upon his
like again, because there are no sur
roundings to produce such a character.
He surely earned a name and a fame.
Minnesota cannot afford to let it die. A
generous people will yet decorate his
tomb with monument that would
please the eye of Pericles.
Ever advancing shadows leave uncover
the forms of but few who have been ac-
tive in the arena of the state. Many
we fondly thought imperishable are al
ready quite forgotten. But Alexander
Ramsey has filled so broad and so useful
page in the annals of Minnesota that
he has bequeathed his name as house
hold word in the homes of the state, for
centuries to come.
The intelligence of his death fell with
an equal shock upon all classes of So
ciety. 1t invaded alike the homes of the
rich and the cottages of the poor pau
perum tabernas, regumque turres."
Alexander Ramsey is dead so far as
such men can die, and he is henceforth an
historical character. | venture thus early
| to anticipate the verdict of posterity,
and call him great man; one test of
which surely lies in this, that no other
has yet arisen among us, who, all in all
can successfully contest with him the
palm of primary.
To few men is it given to witness
what in the limitations of a single life
time, it was his to behold The wilder
ness of lS49 has been converted into a
modern empire, better equipped than
! Greece, or Rome, for the people who are
I its happy citizens. Gladstone, in his
/ long life, never beheld such transforma-
tion scene Moses was denied the prom
Used land, except it's distant vision from
a mountain top; but Ramsey not only
saw the wonderful vision, but he was
permitted to enter into it's full enjoy
ment He saw the great valley of the
Mississippi swiftly filled with the stars
of empire He saw the mighty gates
of the Rocky Mountains open, to close
no more. He saw twelve hundred thous-
and happy and prosperous people on the
very land his genius had given to the
expanded state. He witnessed what had
been done, and foresaw the unwritten tri.
umphs of the future.
He must be measured in the complete
ness of his character, physical, moral and
| intellectual, in all its harmony, and by
what it was capable of accomplishing
and by what it did actually accomplish
The propulsive force of his work still
operates, and. like Tennyson's brook
will flow on forever. In all that pertain.
ed to the well-being of the state, his ac-
tions have stood the test of time; and NO
other man, ON questions of public policy
ever committed so few errors of judg-
ment. His name should be recorded
among the heralds of empire, as the
grandest among the founders and states.
men of Minnesota.
He died in the maturity of his years
The very ends of his being seemed to
have been fulfilled. It was no sudden
death in the midst of life's great activi-
ties and usefulness, like the lamented
Window; but was like the close of some
pleasing summers day, whose long ling
ering and benignant light charms as it
departs, and melts away into the rosy
west, leaving upon it's forehead the even
ing star of memory.
Nothing could be more appropriate for
his monumental inscription than that
placed upon the tomb of Sir Christopher
Wren, the architect of the Cathedral of
| ST. Paul, who lies buried in the very
building his genius constructed, and on
whose tablet is this immortal legend:
Isl monumentum quaeris, circumspice.