KANSAS CITY, Mo., January 10, 1888.

I was deeply pained to learn of your noble husband's death, and I regret more than I can express that I am so hedged about with work that it is impossible to pay him my final tribute of respect tomorrow by being present at his funeral. He was my dear father's most trusted and faithful friend during all the years of their acquaintance, and both on that account and for his own sake I shall never cease to honor and revere his memory. I rejoice in the conviction that after twenty years of separation they are now together again in the country where there are no more partings.

The country has lost one of its men of mark, the State one of her favorite sons, the University its most devoted champion, the community its most eminent citizen. Yours sincerely,

Mrs. J. S. ROLLINS.

Captain JAMES H. ROLLINS:

GARDINER LATHROP.

KANSAS CITY, January 10, 1888.

Dear Sir: Your telegram announcing the death of your father was received yesterday, and although prepared by what I had learned of his condition to expect, yet I was shocked by the

announcement.

I cannot yet fully realize that his noble, manly form lies cold and inanimate.

Words of consolation are but poor offerings to a family from whom such a husband and father have been taken. In his reputation as a public man, and his unsullied character as a private citizen, borne through a long and active life, they have, however, an inexhaustible source of consolation and a heritage of infinitely greater value than all the other wealth of earth.

I knew him as intimately as one of my age could know one so much my senior, and that acquaintance dates forty years back, and I never knew a man more richly gifted with genius, integrity, and courage.

His death is a loss to the nation, and the State of Missouri has in her annals, bright with names of illustrious heroes and statesmen, no greater name than that of James S. Rollins.

Sincerely lamenting with his family and the people of Missouri this great bereavement, I am truly yours,

JOHN W. HENRY.

MACON, MO., January 9, 1888.

Captain JAMES H. ROLLINS, Columbia, Mo.:

I have just learned with deep regret of the death of your aged father, the Honorable James S. Rollins. A great man passed away, but his life work was done. A pioneer of our great State, his brain and eloquence fashioned much of her most valuable legislation, and very largely contributed in developing her splendid resources and pushing her progress in the grand march of material and mental improvement. His active life forms an important part of the history of Missouri, and the future historian will cheerfully accord him the high position which his long and successful labors so richly won. The father of the University of the State of Missouri, the leading educational centre of our great commonwealth, the thoughtful people of the State and generations yet unborn will ever honor his name and bless his memory.

E. T. ROLLINS, Esq.:

Sincerely your friend,

JOHN F. WILLIAMS.

MEXICO, MISSOURI, January 11, 1888.

Being absent, I did not get your telegram till my return home last night. I had, however, heard the sad intelligence of your father's death. Whilst his great age made it necessary for him to go, still it is a serious and sad occasion to part with one so dear to family and friends. I have known him for over fifty years, and during this long time we were on the kindest terms. He was sincere and ardent in his attachments. He was the most noted and leading benefactor of Boone County, and among the most illustrious statesmen of the State. As an orator he had no superior, and but few equals, if any. He had large experience in the service of the State and nation, and he applied it to the enactment of the wisest and most wholesome laws. His taste and talents were more especially devoted to the physical and educational development and progress of the State. Years and years of his life were worn in these causes, and the grandest success attended his efforts. The people will not soon forget his noble and patriotic life.

I remain, very truly,

C. H. HARDIN.

ANALECTA

PREFATORY NOTE.

HE following selections from the speeches and correspondence of Major

THE

Rollins have been made for publication, not with respect to their literary merit nor on account of the same, but as recording not altogether too imperfectly his views and opinions and as outlining not too incompletely the domain of his public activity. They may also serve to verify in large measure the estimations contained in the Biographical Sketch. But no such selection from literary remains, even if far more extensive and more justly representative, can adequately evidence or even suggest the range or potence of his influence in determining the history of the State. For Rollins was above all else an homme d'affaires— it was in personal contact with men that his natural gift of leadership asserted itself; it was in the mysterious "art Napoleon, of winning, fettering, molding, wielding, bending" the hearts of his fellow-citizens, that he was supreme. The stern compensation that Nature exacts for such a gift is that the record of its achievements fades and quickly grows illegible, so that the frequent ascription of them to the wrong person becomes possible and even probable. Especially is her claim enforced with rigor in the case of Rollins, who was wont to do much through the agency of others, and who wisely brought it to pass that many of his own measures should first come to light in the hands of his friends.

Nevertheless, the sweep and intensity of his activity, as revealed in what follows, are quite sufficient to justify every verdict already rendered.