Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1868-02-28
From the st. Louis Democrat.
Grant and His AccnSSsrS.I

ants--to tarnish the reputation of Gen.
Grant, does not succeed, and will re-
coil upon its authors. Gen. Grant has
beer sharply criticised. Perhaps no
other American, not actually candi-
date for the presidency, lag ever beeu
subjected TO such pitiless and unspat-
ing scrutiny as Grant IIe was a ris-
ing soldier, and men said he had been
an efficient civilian and was drunk
ard. President Lincoln" pfthiiy re-
sponded that he woutd like to send to
other generals barrel of Grants fa-
vorite liquor. Halleck, the incarna.
ton of the ''How not TO do it, of the
circumloctltion Office, CAUSED him to he
removed from commaffd. but the dis
graee clings to Halleck, the incompe-
tent, ard not TO Grant the conquerer.
McClernalid impudently assaulted him,
and the newspapers talked of wasting
the nations life blood DIT yickslurg.
until there came the fourth of July
celebration. lie was censured for sup
planting RosecranZ until Missionary
Ridge answered. He was censured for
selecting mere horseman to com
mand i'm the Shenandoah, until Win
chester answered. He was called 1.-The
butcher" for his fighting through the
Wilderness. until the reply came
from the Appomattox Court House.
He was blamed for his report about the
South To the President aud his seem
ing acquiescence i'm his policy until
events proved his progressive radical.
ism of opinion. He was blamed for
taking Mr.. Stanton's place, until his
manner of retireing from ID made suf-
ficient reply. He was blamed for stud.
led silence, until the censure was
drowned i'm the rage of rebels ani cop
perheads mt his bold, straightforward
speech. In short, he has been criti-
cised for long time and more severely
than any man living, for even the matl
who now accuses him, was never truly
criticised until after he became Vice
President. For seven years this sol
dier has been the target of censure, and
upon him has blazed hight more
fierce than "that which beats upon a
throne" I'm the intense excitement
of civil war ard the following
political struggle he has borne
sponsibiiities not to be measured
by words, aitd while the sym
pathies of millions have been with
him, the anxious eyes of millions have
been strained To- detect flaw, a weak
hess or fault. '...
The world knows how he has stood
the test. Detraction aud envy have
temporarily clouded his reputation
more than once, but the clouds pass
and the steady sunlight remains
just criticism and patriotic anxiety
and caution have raised many serious
questions, but, day by day, as his char
acter unfolds, they are more fully an
swered. In matters in which he has
"a -. Il A
ways placed him higher in the conf
derce and regard of the people But
his personal Integrity, his honor as "a
man, his veracity, has never before
heen doubted. This task was left for
Johnson. q.
He who raises an issue for personal
integrity with man SO tried and
known had best he himself of clear rec
ord. If Mr.. Johnson were pure pa.
triot, whose services endeared him to
the country, whose life was "A proof of
his personal worth, and whose integ
rity aud honor has never been ques-
toned during years of savage contro
versy or pitiless criticism, then, in
deed, he might with some show or
reaso'fIt put his statement and that of
others like him against the word of
Grant. Mr.. Johnson is branded
falsifier, Il convicted mutilator of dis
patches, a vulgar Inscriptions, des-
perate trickster. No bad man among
all the skum that political excitement
brings to the surface, has less of rep
utatioh for personal integrity than An
drew Johnson. Despised by friends
and foes alike, his word commands no
credence. Nor are those members of
his Cabinet who rash to- his eiriorsse-
ment much stronger than himself
They are willing servants of such II
master. I'm all the infamy of this in
famous administration they have Ia
ken "A willing part. Mr.. McCulioch' S
subordinates make the Treasury De-
partment stencil in the nostriis. Mr..
Welles has proved himself the willing
tool of liberal paymaster, and sells an
honored name to retain II handsome
salary. Political hacks, Injured to
years of corruption, aud connected
with an administration the most
shameful i'm our history, these men
unite with Andrew johnson, publish
err of mutilated dispatches, to charge
General. Grant with faIsehnod. Mr..
Seward saves IL way for retreat-he i'm
AGNES that the General did not expect
that the Senate would meet 50 soon,
charge, made by Mr.. johnson, and
backed up Ivy his Cabinet, involves a
direct issue of varacity, and il must be
determined by the personal worth and
integrity of the parties.
1t will not be forgotten i'm the settle
ment of this question, THAT Mr.. john
son and the Cabinet. tried, and tried i'm
vain, to make General Grant the tool
for the defeat of the will pf the people.
The schemes to resist the tenure Of
Office act, aud to make Grant the in
strument To that end, has been fully
exposed. The country knows that to
the Generals shrewdnesS, his reticeiire.
and Ills fidelity, 1t owes the couspicu.
Gus defeat of that plot. It is not
strange that MIR. Johnson and his
friends desire tn avenge thiS sttn-tn
defeat, but il is strange that they have
the audacity to attempt ithy impuslling
the personal integrity of the General.
We dO not entertain any doubt OF the
result Ii il were question ri veracity
between General Grant and five or six
humble, aud unknown citiz ns, me-
chanics, luborers, farmers, or privates,
there might be doubt, for poor men
and lahouriirg men have characters To
lose. But Political tricksters, stepped
in corruptDn, marked with the infamy
of this administration, ard led by An.
drew Johnson are not oil the level
with five working men from the shops
There is no presumption that Mr..
Johnson tells tire truth. We regret TO
say that the prestrnptDn that his Cab.
met is composed of honest men is
quite unnatural and violent to he Sc
riously entertained. If General
Grants integrity is TO be furnished ii
will not be by tire accusations of such
persUns.
Rev. Thomas Is. Beecher is the au-
thor OF the following expression.
THE less man knows the more
liquor he drinks, ami tire more deter
mined he il to make this a white man s
upp. m. ~