The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-03-19
Grant's Eariu LIFE.

The truth Is, the narrators Of General
Grants early life present us nothing but a
pleasant, hazy background for the grand
portrait now SO familiar to the civilized
world. They succeed In showing that u
graduate of West Point, named Ulysses
s. Grant, who was kept alive till the for
tieth year Of his age, when the rebellion
broke out; and that is about all they can
do. We are not overlooking Grants SER
vice In the Mexican war. II was meritO-
rious, It was honorable to the second lie,l-
tenant, who was promoted to q brevet cap
taincy; but 1t was simply the average ca
recr of an average cadet. Those who
knew him best, then aud there, with their
wits sharpened by the suggestions Of ac-
tual service, were as utterly unsuspicious
Of his preeminent capacity rs those bril-
liant Congressman who strovc TO effect his
removal for incompctency, even after the
capture of Fort Donelsou. The remain
der of his antc-rebellion career may be
easily run over as follows He spends two
years on garrison duty ut Detroit, where
he Is remembered only for his superior
hOrscmanship; thence he goes for q few
months to Sackett's Harbor; 1852 he Is
transferred to California. where, In associ-
alton with other officers, hc leases club
billiard-room, which enterprise falls; In
July 1854, Inc sends In his resignation, In
accordance with aprevious intimation that
1t would be accepted, remarking to friend
rs he does so, "WhOcver hears Of me In
ten years will hear Of well-to-do Miss
ouri fariner;' form 1854 to 1858 he Is n
Missouri faimer, but not wcll-to-do, for he
fails continuously to make both ends meet;
at the opening Of the year 1850 he became
member Of the firm OF "Boggs & Grant
Real Estate Agents, st. Louls;" falls OF
success again, having failed In the mean
time to obtain the situation Of county en-
ginecr; In 1850 he Is established rs clerk
In his brothers leather store nj Galena.
Illinois, on salary Of six hundred dol
lars per annuni. raised to eight hundred
dollars when the war broke out on the
year following.
During the whole Of this period Of
Grants life We have no reason to believe
that any human being, except his wife,
had any idea or suspicion Of the real
powers Of the man. His ncighbors ut
''Hardscrabblc" looked upon him as
clever fellow, but poor farmer; Boggs
lecturcd him for his want Of tact In the
rsal estate business; his brother, the head
Of the leather store, thirteen years his
junior. thought Il was rather stretch OF
generosity to call his services worth eight
hundred dollars.
It Il easy for us to laugh at this blind
ness; but what Ineligible connection
can even we point out between tho Grant
of that day aud the Grant Of this! II Is
like putting the towering genie into his
sealed vessel again. We should all say,
for Instance. In looking Mt the main char
acterisiics Of Grants public career, that
he had that precise combination Of quail
ties, which would have insured him sue
cess In any Of the ordinary pursuits Of
life. Ills was MT the merely aggressive
energy Of Suwarrow, the hcadlong hero
Ism Of Garibaldi, or the restless brilliancy
Of his own chief Lieutenant. He was
what might bc cailed common-sense