Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1868-07-30

heartily yielded to the views of his calm
and modest commander. The friendship OF
Grant and Sherman, so dissimiar in every
prominent trait of their characters--a friend
ship tested by rare vicissitudes of fortune,
and growing stronger with every trials
one of the most interesting facts of its kind
which the war, so fruitful in striking incl
| dents, has brought forth.
In the three years that have TRANSFERRED
| since the war terminated, Grant, as Com
mander-in- Chief, and for five months as Sec
| rotary of War, has been required to deal
| constantly with civil matters, of the most
rare, complex and delicate character, deep
ly affecting not the South only, but the en-
tire country. In the discharge of his high
duties he has never forgotten that he was
citizen as well as soldier, and has welded
his vast powers rather rs civil magistrate,
than as military commander. The nature
OF these services is understood. Their ex-
tent and value can hardly be overestimatcd.
The unimpeachablc and enduring record of
his acts bears testimony to the zeal, urban-
ty, patience and ability with which he has
executed his responsible trusts.
In the face of these facts, can it be affirm
ed that General Grant has no statesmanlike
qualities? Rather do they prove that he
possesses capacity for civil affairs, which
needs but the pressure of duty and the oc-
currence OF opportunity to exhibit rare adj
ministrative abilities.
1t has been an axiom in American history,
that to the training which Washington,
Knox, and Hamilton, for example, received
in the revolutionary war, and in the inter-
yening period down to the adoption of the
Federal Constitution, were mainly due those
qualities that so admirable fitted them to
discharge the duties which devolved upon
them after tln M int
full operation. And is it not safe to infer,
nay fair to insist, that long and thorough
discipline in the events of our late war, and
varied experience in handling those still
pending and unsettled questions which have
resulted therefrOm, are quite as necessary
to prepare rule for the wise administration
of national affairs for few years to come, as
it was necessary in the analogous case of the
revolutionary era, to train Washington and
his compeers for the discharge of the politi-
cal responsibilities ultimately imposed upon
them?
Rather may we insist that such training
ana discipline are more necessary for the
public men OF our times than they were for
the fathers of the republic in their day. The
contest of I776.was a war, practically, be-
tween foreign nations, divided by the ocean.
Ours was civil conflict, between the citi-
zens OF one country. When the revolution
airy war closed, the defeated party retired to
its home beyond to seas, leaving the whole
body of our people to rejoice as yictors
homogeneous in feeling and united in opin-
ION. But the beaten party in our late strife
are Americans, dwelling side by side with
their conquerors, the humiliation that fol- |
lowed their defeat being aggravated by the
lmpoverlshment and ruin that have resulted |
from their wild crusade. Through the term
OF the next National Administration the |
subjects that will press upon the public at
tention and demand solution and adjust
ment, spring directly out OF, and in truth are
part and parcel of the same subjects which,
during the administrations of Lincoln and |
johnson, have agitated the councils and |
shaped the destinies of the American people, |
whether dwelling in the North or in the |
South
During both of these administrations, the
clear mind and strong hand of Grant have
been employed in deyising and executing
the plans and measures that carried the ma
ton through its perils in war, and have Sc
cured to it so much of peace and prosperity
as it ROW enjoys. In view, then, of the
present condition of the country, and of the
peculiar character of the calamities that af-
flict it, and the dangers that beset it, and of
the complexity and delicacy of the political
and military problems that will demand
solution in the immediate future it cannot
be doubted that the employments and ex-
periences of Grant, through the seven years
wherein these grand events were passing
across the stage of history, have more thor
oughly prepared him for wisely and safely
guiding the nation, than could twenty years
spent in the ordinary routine of civil offices
of even the highest grades.
Standing at the close Of the eyentful epoch
We have been surveying, we need not hest
tate to affirm, that to play the part in this
great drama which Grant has performed, has
required talent Of very different kind, if
not of higher grade than those which pro-
duce the mere soldier, however illustrious.
His enlightened counsels, the actual services
be rendered in regard to civil, social and fl
nancial matters of unprecedented character
Ind transcendent Importance, affecting the
interests of large populations and the dcs-
nies of powerful States, prove that he pos
'esses abilities and attachments that enttlc
lin to place among the wise and prudent
statesmen of the country.