Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-07-27

of the upward journey
His struggle Here.
There was good, rich blood in him.
His father was an Irishman, with the
quick intelligence and ready wit which
is the birthright of all who are born in
that happy-unhappy country; native
of Cork, which has been the birthplace
of so many gifted men, a scholar and
a gentleman. His mother was an Amer
lean, of good birth and of gentle, re-
fined nature which left its impress on
her only child.
when the Argonauts, in the memoir
able 1S49, beckoned by the gold dis
coveries in California, set forth on that
arduous overland journey to the Pa
cific. the baby Rossington was carried
| in covered wagon hauled by oxen
over mountain and plain to rude
mining camp which was to be the fam
lily home, and in which he grew from
| infancy to boyhood His father became
a man of wealth and gave him every
advantage that could aid him in his
education. He was sent TO Yale and
was pursuing his studies there when,
in 1864, financial crash swept away
his fathers fortune and left young Ros-
lsington penniless. Then the father
died, and the youth who had never
known want was left to face the strug
| giles of an unknown future.
1T is the old story. But he met mis-
fortune and poverty with undaunted
heart, and moved bravely forward tc
the reward which is sure-or almost
Isure- to crown those who are fit anG
worthy to be crowned. For more thar
large figure in the annals of the Kan
sas bar, well known in the courts ant
to those who conduct great lawsuit:
Throughout the country.
Had High Ideals.
1T is little to say that his profes
sional career has been successful. Tha
can be declared of many ordinary an,
quite Indifferent lawyers; for, whil'
, it is true that learning and characte
and industry are almost indispensable
the legal profession, there are, unhar
PLY, some who creep in unmindful O
the narrow path and the strait gao
Mr.. Rossington was man of ideals
of very high ideals-inclined to b
, scrupulous, and even punctilious. upO
question of conduct and the relation
ship of men to each other as citizen
and members of communities. H
was of large mold. The little casui.
try which tries to make the worse al
: pear the better reason was distastefu
to him, and he never could endur
=, the petty excuses which mean me
/, offer for mean acts.
& have never known a man NOR
spiritual and at the same time NOR
human. In letter which came t
Ime today friend wrote of him: H
Twas one of Plutarch's, men 1t wa
fine appreciation Of him. for ever
j one who knew him recognized tn
d lofty soul which welfare accustome
: Ito telieve .dweit in the great figure
of the antique world
d 1.-THE sense of the beautiful. which
next TO the moral perceptions, mos
largely separates man from the lowe
animals, was in him almost a passion
n The oneness of beauty and .trutl
:, which with Keats was high poeti
K imagery, entered into the very faith
:, Rossington, He held communion wit
), nature and with art. and gave to bot
e the worship of which only such soul
n as his were capable. His knowledg
Y of literature. was well nigh universe
o From his youth he had loved an
b lwooed it with the .ardor of an eve
e lsteadfast devotion. Death found hin
5 in his library, and when his soul too
L Its fight it left him alone with n
t. hooks.
s. "In this sad hour | do not think
s. violates the prophecies or in any MAJ
s ner CRATES upon the fitness of thine
d to allude to his spontaneous, joyou
d Ispringlike humor. He was Irish, an
t what is more, he was human-an
O 1.-THE sense of humor is in both. n
I lone more quickly saw the absurd, I'll
# grotesque. and the ridiculous. Son
d one has said that the sense of hume
II is only the ability to see what is cor
d lpatible and what is Incompatible.
measured. he was unerring. IT in al
n respect his intellectual temperance
n was deficient it was in the difficult
>. he experienced when he tried to e
% cuse a fool for being a fool. Outline
h THE stupidity which often passes 4
+ wisdom-was to him uncomfortable. II
a own mind was so clear, so ready
~ grasp the offered thought of anoth
% that he could hardly forgive the po
:, creature who was foredoomed to du
ness and stupidity And with the d
: licious sense of humor which illul
mated all his talk. and kept his frien'
in a delightful state of anticipate
ltherc was profound undercurrent
serious thought, of iutrospection, al
deep self-search.
1--WE used to call him 'Rossie'-f
love of him, which always seeks son
endearing word. In Kansas they a