The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-03-22
General Grant and the Presidency

NAIhLgf dlA huC Abd4ANdl5 AEf6 LlduC al
effort 10 cork him up in their blacB
bottle, after the manner of Butler, a.
Bermuda Hundred, and label him as
their property.
. Of course the Hon. E B. Washburnt
has been conspicuous in this. He con
siders himself the grandfather Of all
Grants greatness. Be has looked aftel
him from first to last, as q dramatic
critic recently wrote in Boston paper
with all the voluptuous tenderness o.
father"
Grant was in great danger recently
at New York He might have been in
duced to present himself at the meet
ing to indorse the policy of President
johnson, held in the Cooper Institute
The Hon. E. B. Washburne was at
hand in time to save him. Telegraph
ing was not deemed sufficient. The
express train was taken; and thus Grant
was preserved from completely with
that dreadful conspirstor against the
peace and dignity of the country-the
Hon. VIM. II. Seward.
Senator Wilson is great military
man, that Is to say, he was a militia
General in Massachusetts, and raised a
regiment for the Army of the Potomac,
which he commanded until it took the
held, having several fine photographs of
himself taken while he wore the blue
and brass. He is also Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Military Affairs,
and therefore knows great deal about
war If it had not been for his duties
in the Senate he might have become,
under Providence, and in the course of
the human events of the war, a great
Captain, like unto Ben Butler His
military education has led him to form
an intimacy with Grant, and we believe
he was the first man in Congress to
openly announce the Lieutenant-Gen-
eral as a candidate for the Presidency.
In so doing he imprudently usurped
the prerogatiVe of the Hon. Z. B. Wash
burne, of Illinois, who should have had
that honor secured to him by Joint
resolution. However, Washburne was
not weighed and found wanting for any
| length of time. He secured the floor,
and to secure the floor was TO become
eloquent. and for him TO become elo-
quent was to speak of Lieutenant-Gen-
eral Grant, and the next Presidency.
The subject was the French Exposition,
but what of that to an earnest man.
Banks had been saying something
about the glory of Admiral Farragut,
and thus came in the honorable gem
tleman from Illinois.
And he must permit US to share
with him in the glory of our army, and
the fame of the long and honored list
| of its commanders. He must permit
me to share with him in the glory of
| that unriValed and modest soldier, from
my own State, who led our armies
through the wilderness of civil war to
a complete and final triumph, and who
may yet, in the providence of God, lead
on the loyal millions of this country to
victory in peace which will be no less
renowned than victory in war"
Presently Mr.. Grinnell obtained the
floor, and said:
81 confess, too, an admiration of that
great captain of whom he spoke, and |
honor him for his persistency in that
long devotion to the greatest captain
of the world, for which he is distin-
guished. hope with him that he is TO
be, if called by the country, the great
leader, the future leader of the Ameri-
can people IN time of peace, as he has
been in perils of war
'Now sir, / wish to say word in re-
gard to the invitation of the great
French nation to the American people
to exhibit the products of their in
dustry."
Mr. Spalding-Do you propose TO
second the nomination of Lieutenant
General Grant, made by the gentleman
from Illinois Mr.. Washburne for the
next Presidency
'Mr. Grinnell-I will state, if the
time ever comes that General Grant
shall be nominated by the uncondition-
al stand-tire portion of the country, /
will sustain the nomination, as | have
no doubt the country will most
heartily"
And Judge Kelly, of Philadelphia,
who delivered lecture in his own city,
last week, charging the President with
duplicity, and suggesting that he might
attempt a stroke of state, Ia Louis
Napoleon, converting the Republic into
an Empire, and who did this without
pointing out any act of unfaithfulness
on the part of the President was at
pains to say:
The danger of the country is not
from military power The great soldier
who captured Fort Donelson and Is
land No. 10, and enabled Andrew John
son, the hunted refugee, to return TO his
home, commands the army for life
| No St Arnsud can order pardoned
| traitor to his position. And having
conquered the rebellion on his own
line, he will not permit the results of
the peoples dearly bought victories to
be treacherously surrendered by any
but themselves.
What General Grant has done to
compensate the Radicals for accepting
the surrender of Lee and his subordi-
mates on such generous terms, we have
not ascertsined The suppression of
the Richmond Examiner, and the &C.
companyiDg declaration that he would
suppress the New York News, Cincin-
natl Enquirer and Chicago Times if he
could, and the order that papers pub
lished in the lately rebellious States
should be looked after by the military,
is about all that the Radicals have
upon which TO base their faith that the
Lieutenant General is of their extreme
persuasion.
Whatever may be the views Of GEN
eral Grant as to the Presidency, it is
time that public opinion regarding him
should be corrected in an important
particular. General Grant is not an
accident He is not the creature of an
extraordinary run of good luck. He
has not been in the habit of accom-
plishing things that he did not mean
to do. He is decidedly a conscious per-
son, and while not ostentatious, is not
troubled with modesty to an extent
that sbEtes his ambition or impairs his
usefulness. His reti0enoe in public is a
matter OF calculation. Those who fiat
ter themselves that he can be handled
like nose of wax, will find him as
iron in their fingers, and end their
management by doing his bidding As
TO the Presidency, he may not reject it,
| if it is rendered him as often as the
crown was pressed upon Caesar, but it is
A question that Mr.. Washburne will not
be sble 10 answer for him, but which
he viii determine for himself whether
the Lieutenant Generalship, the highest
military office under the Government,
for life, is not better than one or two
terlls CT the Presidency, filed as they
must be with unEoRted responsibilities
and the most hsrsssing cares and Ia.
bors-Cn Con.
! --a e-e------
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