"If we were permitted to think of him as conscious of what has been, is being, and is still to be done, in pursuance of his wish, we might believe that he would feel that his hope at a time when life must have seemed so hopeless, was finding full fruition; for events are justifying what may have seemed, at the time, but a rhetorical expression, in the language of a former President of the United States, who has said: 'Renowned as is the name of Percy in the historical annals of England, let the trust of James Smithson to the United States of America be faithfully executed, let the result accomplish his object, the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, and a wreath more unfading shall entwine itself in the lapse of future ages around the name of Smithson than the united hands of history and poetry have braided around the name of Percy through the long ages past.'" XII THE OLD RANGER JOHN REYNOLDS, GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS, A BORN POLITICIAN--HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE PEOPLE--HIS AFFECTATION OF HUMILITY--ADMITTED TO THE BAR --HE CONDEMNS A MURDERER TO DEATH--HIS CURIOUS ADDRESS TO ANOTHER MURDERER--BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE--ELECTED GOVERNOR --HIS GENEROSITY TO HIS POLITICAL ENEMIES--BECOMES A MEMBER OF CONGRESS--HIS ADMIRATION FOR HIS ASSOCIATES--ELECTED A MEMBER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE--RETIRES TO PRIVATE LIFE. This world of ours will be much older before the like of John Reynolds, the fourth Governor of Illinois, again appears upon its stage. The title which he generously gave himself in early manhood, upon his return after a brief experience as a trooper in pursuit of a marauding band of Winnebagoes, stood him well in hand in all his future contests for office. "The Old Ranger" was a _sobriquet_ to conjure with, and turned the scales in his favor in many a doubtful contest. The subject of this sketch was a born politician if ever one trod this green earth. He was a perennial candidate for office, and it was said he never took a drink of water without serious meditation as to how it might possibly affect his political prospects. The late Uriah Heep might easily have gotten a few points in "'umbleness," if he had accompanied the Old Ranger in one or two of his political campaigns.