, 1864-03-26

Tic position Which General. Grant occu-
pics 1s cne OF high interest," and yet Of sollci
tudc. He is now in the very crisis OF Ills fame;
and while bic may 60 still higher, and add new
laQre1s to his already well earned honoss, inc
common liabilities Of humanity attend nun,
,.ssandh may fai1 crcn I'd retain "nat ae - no"
possessed of It cannot fall to DC seen ~ w.
eeesY..t tbxt The dItHculties OF bis position are
'.. .-mncl, Incrrascd by his enhancement. great
ae.1 mono Is now expected of him than when
,eM.s slowly and laboriously climbing the
~7,f1lnf famc,: Then bic was thought hut little
Of No ono Of our prominent commanders
-. wss lees esteemed, or excited more 1ansuld
* crpcctatiope, up to the time OF his hcnming
In v1cksbuiE. And even then it but slowly
-dawned upon the public mind. that here must
be 1arst-clasa commander. The rebels cx-
,.,.pressedt the feeling Of good many among us.
..'>fhat his success was due to sort OF " blum
dering audacity."
But iii 1hia is now changed; and the dan
ger is that Of going to the opposite extreme.
-, .Hc Is now lauted to the very skies. Since
he is made Lieutenant General, It comes 70
the public apprehension; and most especially
to that Of ali toad.eatezs, that Granite pow
cr to be deiaed; and by the latter class laid
hold of II possible for some private adSant-
d age. There is now no limit to public e1pec-
IAlOus 8uN l1AAh uI 64A CAA LIZ "@A
by q kfnd.of miracle.
We give p3ace TO none In o thorough ap-
'prrcciation Of Gen. Grant; but it is due to
:. him md tte rauee for which he fights to in
- troduce word Of caution In the premises.
That he is earnest is known; that he is .capa-
be- determined and industrious, cauuot be
doubted: But he may not meet the public
= expectations atterall. The obstacles may be
greater tlan anticipated; unexpected diff
culties may fhwart the best plans aud the
most determined endeavors. We have bce1
disappointed, not simply once or twice, but
many times in this war, The same thing
may happen again. It's well, therefore, to
look upon all sides Of the probabilities v
But we have several things to excite our
hope In the present case. General Grant is
not untrlcd. He does not descend upon
Washington from among the clouds of West
Visginia, nor come with the west wind out
of California. He has fought his way to rec
ognltion and favor through prejudices and
opposition at home, and the most formidable
power OF the rebellion In the Vest. He now
: :. tries his hand On that field. Of o8ense to q
string Of unfortunate commanders. He is to
test the question, whether the Virginia soil
Il necessarily more barren Of Union victories
than that Of the Mississippi Valley; whether
those Eastern rebels ore so much smarter o.
drawer than their sccesh brethren furthe
west, as they have been thought to be; o
whether Lee is by. emincnee the great rebt
commander. We remember one Wester
General who tried his hand There, hut iaale
hom fire In tho rear. General Grant ha
opportunity to look ont for that, and
doubtless uware OF whatever danger my II
in that direction.
The bearing of the Lieutenant General ais
inspires US with hope he keeps his balanc
we'll. He is not intoxicated with his posi-
ton. 80 fnr as can be seen. Above all. b
will have none Of the ton-foolery so delight
ed in about Washington. Big dinners, gram
reviews, and the show business generally, M
ali brushed aside incontinent1y MS f1remel
scatter the orgau-grinders and apple.stand
when fire Is to be put out. True, maj
might do a1l that 1or effect; but we feel prct
~ty sure that such is not the case in the pre-
sent instance. Gen. Grant has no taste 0
heart for 1t. His reply to one who some tim
ago was going to have him President, TIM
*the knew nothing about being President
but he could tan lcatter,'' is the index OF hi
character. He likes work, and is profoundl
: DESTROYS Of ending this war But till that
i done be is apparently aware that the publ
interests are in peril, and even his ew
fame is not secure. While therefore It
safe to hope much from his military admins
tration, 1t is incumbent on the country to b
prepared for disappointment, should 1t CONF
and to refrain from making m idol OF m
commandment least TIL the Rur Is over.