The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-12
SPIRIT or THE PRESS.
EDITORIAL OPINIONS OF THE LEADING JOURNALS
UPON CURRENT ToPIcs-CoMPmRD EVERY
DAY FOR THE EVENING TELEGRAPH.
GRANTS POLITICAL CAREER.


From the NJ j. Herald.
Grants career in politics recalls already
certain of the striking points OF his career ~
war, and his military history supplies materlA
for the most likely judgment OF MS iuture'
He blundered at first. He was beaten some-
times so tremendously that almost any O'her
soldier would have lost heart and, facing TO
the RIGHT about, brought off the demoralized
freomsnts of an army. Mcdowell at the last
,ntnute of Bull Run was nothing like so badly
beaten as Grant was on the first day az Shl-
Ioh. and the force that Mcclellan hustled to
Harrison's landing was one flushed with VIC
tory and conscious strength, infinitely supe-
rior In every respect to the force with which
Grant still held his lines on that first day. One
general retreats with splendid army, that
moves away from the enemy against its will
and the other brushes the enemy with force
that hardly hangs together. Without dispo-
sition to disparags Grants military achieve
mepts, II is still clear that he gained many
battles under a rule limited at by Napoleon,
who said that at the last it was only ques-
tion who would run away first. Grant always
stayed. His tenaoity turned the tables. He
always considered that the force that had
worked him down to nearly nothing had in
doing this worked itself down to about the
same figure, and things were still even. He
could think of the enemy's distress as we'll as
of his own. He was able so far to command
his thoughts that he could lose sight of every
thing but the grand object, and he ever de-
sired to save his army from the ruin of re-
treat. Some generals had their retreats 80
beautifully planned out before the battle that
they could not bear to close it in any other
way.
In all this is seen man having faith in
himself and faith in the chapter OF accidents,
able to apply the ordinary methods and modes
OF common sense to problems of the very
highest Importance, knowing that victory and
defeat are often 80 near alike that one must
wait to distinguish between the two, and be
willing to wait-a man not thin-skinned, re-
ceiving no impression from defeat, and only
fighting on. Here Is man, then, who can
learn by experience and can stand the neces-
sary experience, not only without exhaustion,
bat without perturbation. The problems of
our political lives are not the most difficult
ones. Indeed, the average man of our political
system is far from being wonder ofintellectual
power, and 1t is no great compliment to Grant
to say that he is decidedly above this average.
Nay, we cannot readily call upin thought any
single man of public life who is so out of the
ordinary proportion, so much above the ave-
rage ability, that comparison of him with
Grant would sound extravsgant, and we can
call up multitude of pigmes far below him,
yet successful in politics. Grant, we take it,
is quite equal to any science that could be
mastered by those great chosen men Of the
Senate-our foreign ministers. Neither do
we believe that any of the great politicians
in the Cabinet quite dwarf him. Even in the
Senate we have not seen the man that makes
us ashamed of Grant. Grant is equal to any
Of these men-greatly superior to the ma
jority, and needs only the experience OF their
operations to beat them on their own ground
Epaminondas, by beating the Spartans,
taught them how to beat him, and Grant
will learn the trade of politics in that Spartan
way.