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The other thing made plain is, that Mr. Browning was never wanting in a proper regard for Mr. Lincoln, or in devotion to the union of the States.

In justification of what we have said regarding the loyalty of Mr. Browning to the administration of Mr. Lincoln, we point to the following extract from a speech made by him in the Senate of the United States just prior to the resignation of all the Southern Senators:

"I say it with no passion, Mr. President, but I do say, and I think I say it for the entire country, that any man or set of men, here or elsewhere, who delude themselves with the idea that there is to be now, or at any time hereafter, any sort or character of compromise patched up with treason, by which the war is to be brought to a close, are fatally deceiving themselves. Mr. President, no terms can be made now or hereafter. Let the consequences of the war be what they may, no terms, now or at any time hereafter, can be made with treason and rebellion. There are but two alternatives. One is that this Government shall be overthrown and that all hope for Constitutional Government shall go down; and the other is that rebellion shall be subdued, shall be subjugated, that treason shall be punished, and this Government founded upon a rock, firmer, faster than it has hitherto been, and upon which hereafter all the tempests of insurrection and discontent shall beat in vain.'

After the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, President Johnson appointed Mr. Browning Secretary of the Interior, the duties of which he discharged with an ability which did honor to his name and an integrity that was never questioned. The troubles which environed the administration of Mr. Johnson, and the attempt made to remove him by impeachment, estranged Mr. Browning from his old party associates, and he ceased to act with the Republican party.

Mr. Browning was by birth a Kentuckian, removing to Illinois in 1830, locating at Quincy, where he continued to reside so long as he lived. He was originally a Whig, and living in a strong Democratic district, naturally held

but few public trusts. He was elected a Senator in the tenth General Assembly, in 1836, and opposed the wild. legislation on the question of internal improvements of that time. In 1843, he was induced to run for Congress against Stephen A. Douglas, but owing to the large Democratic majority in the district failed of an election; and his appointment as the successor of Douglas in the United States Senate was his next appearance as a public man. After his retirement from Johnson's cabinet, in 1869, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention which framed our present Constitution, and to him is due many of its wise and excellent provisions.

Mr. Browning died in August, 1881, in the 75th year of his age, and, in closing his admirable address, Mr. Lawrence paid this happy and fitting tribute to his memory:

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The announcement of his death came to the beautiful city where he had lived so long, and which he loved so well, like a fearful blow. Its most honored citizen had gone. For fifty years he had been their trusted leader and adviser. For fifty years he had lived among them a life which made no man his foe, but all men his friends. For fifty years they had listened to his eloquent utterances in the courts of justice and on the public platform, in times of trouble or when the country was in danger, and they had always gained strength and courage from his lips. For fifty years he had spoken to them words of wisdom, deepening their convictions as to the demands of patriotism and public duty. For fifty years he had dared to tell them the truth, or what he believed to be the truth, even when he knew it would cause a fleeting cloud between himself and them. For fifty years he had set them the example of a noble life. Little wonder that the town mourned.

"The funeral day was appointed. Friends, from far and near, came to render their last tribute of respect, and we felt, as we laid him away in the sunset of a summer day, in a beautiful cemetery on the banks of the Mississippi, beneath the shadows of the silent oaks, that a great brain and a great heart had done their work, and another tie between ourselves and life was broken.'

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CHAPTER XLIII.

STATE CAMPAIGN OF 1882.

The campaign of 1882 was what is commonly denominated the "off year," and party lines were not so closely drawn as in the Presidential years. The Republicans nominated John C. Smith for Treasurer, and Charles T. Strattan for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The Democrats nominated Alfred Orendorff for Treasurer, and Henry Raab for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The Prohibitionists nominated John G. Irwin for Treasurer, and Elizabeth B. Brown for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The Greenbackers nominated Daniel McLaughlin for Treasurer, and Frank H. Hall for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The aggregate vote of the respective candidates, as shown by the canvass made by the General Assembly, was:

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Although Mr. Smith was elected by a plurality of 6,137, the Democratic candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction was elected over Mr. Strattan by a plurality of 2,869. There were three causes which contributed to the defeat of Mr. Strattan. He had been a minority member of the Thirty-second General Assembly, and had voted in favor of a bill in which it was proposed to submit to a vote of the people an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the manufacture or sale of spirituous or malt liquors as a beverage. This he had a right to do, but it lost him the vote of many German Republicans. While on the other hand the Prohibition Republicans were displeased because the Republican State Convention had voted down a resolution which proposed to allow the people to vote on the question of amending the Constitution, as herein before expressed, and they voted for Mrs. Brown, as a matter of principle, utterly regardless as to what might be the result of the election. The third and last cause was, that very many Republicans who were identified with the school interests, assumed that Mr. Strattan had not been sufficiently associated with the school work, and a large per cent. of them voted for Mr. Raab, who was known to have made education his study and practice; and when Mr. Raab was inducted into office he recognized the fact that it had not been a party victory by appointing W. L. Pillsbury, a Republican, his assistant. Mr. Pillsbury had held the position under Superintendent Slade, and whatever may have been the party prejudice to his selection, we doubt if Mr. Raab could have made a more fitting appointment.

The aggregate vote for Congressmen, by districts, is as follows:

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS-FIRST DISTRICT.

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