ANOTHER name is added to the roll of those whom the world will not
willingly let die. A few years since, storm-clouds filled his heaven,
and obloquy, slander and bitter lies rained down upon him. The clouds
are all blown away; under a serene sky General Grant laid down his
life and the whole nation wept. The path to his tomb is worn by the
feet of innumerable pilgrims.
The mildewed lips of slander are silent, and even criticism hesitates
lest some incautious word should mar the history of the modest, gentle,
magnanimous warrior. The whole nation watched his passage through
humiliating misfortunes with unfeigned sympathy――the whole world
sighed when his life ended. At his burial the unsworded hands of those
whom he had fought lifted his bier and bore him to his tomb with love
and reverence.
* * * * *
The South had laid the foundation of her industry, her commerce, and
her very commonwealth upon slavery.
It was slavery that inspired her councils, that engorged her
philanthropy, that corrupted her political economy and theology, that
disturbed all the ways of active politics――broke up sympathy between
North and South. The hand that fired upon Sumter exploded the mine
under the Flood Rock of slavery and opened the way to civilization.
The spark that was there kindled fell upon the North like fire
upon autumnal prairies. Men came together in the presence of this
universal calamity with sudden fusion; the whole land became a
military school. But the Northern armies once organized, an amiable
folly of conciliation began to show itself. Some peaceable way out of
the war was hoped for. Generals seemed to fight so that no one should
be hurt. The South had smelted into a glowing mass; it believed in its
course with an infatuation that would have been glorious if the cause
had been better; it put its whole soul into it and struck hard. For
two years the war lingered, unmarked by great deeds. Lincoln, sad and
sorrowful, felt the moderation of his generals and longed for a man of
iron mould, who had but two words in his military vocabulary――victory
or annihilation. He was coming; he was heard from at Henry and
Donelson. Three great names were rising to sight,――Sherman, Thomas,
Sheridan, and, larger than any, Grant.
At the opening of the war his name was almost unknown. It was with
difficulty he could obtain a command. Once set forward, Donelson,
Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania,
Petersburg, Appomattox――these were his footsteps! In four years
he had risen, without political favor, from the bottom to the very
highest command――not second to any living commander in all the world.
His plans were large, his undiscouraged will was patient to obduracy.
He was not fighting for reputation, nor for the display of generalship,
nor for a future Presidency. He had but one motive, and that as
intense as life itself――the subjugation of the rebellion and the
restoration of the broken Union. He embodied the feelings of the
common people; he was their perfect representative.
* * * * *