Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-07-01
NO. 156.
Miseella,tepus.
GENERAL GRANT-THE PHILADELPHIA
CONVENTION.

Mercy have looked ia the face OF
General Grant in drawing room, have
beheld him smoking and driving fast
horses on the. avenue, and have said
impossible. He is not our hero ~ But
ihen he IS. Not that he was braver, or had
half the burning enthusiasm of patriotism
which filled ten thousand boys whom he
led; but he led them This was the
thought which thrilled those thrice ten
thousand cheers which rent the air of Phil
adelphia last week at the mention of his
name. never expected to hear the old
ttle-shout again. 1t rose like the ocean
IN tumult. 1t rose and roared, and swept
out over all the land 1t must have stirred
The dust of the dead who rest in silent biv-
ouac on the nights of Arlington and on all
the hilltops and hillsides of all
the land. Yes, felt that the illustrious
host gone on. who fought and perished for
liberty somewhere, must have heard and
thrilled with the living cry of loving re-
membrance that was scarcely less for them
than Tor their loving and honored leader
1t was not tor the everyday Grant, with
his human faults and impassive ways, for
whom this multitude shouted. 1t was for
another Grant, lifted far above him-the
hero who triumphed in war, who lead
their sons, who had lead themselves. Let
no one tell me that the shouts of that Con-
vention were the cheers of f"packed office
holders. have never seen in any great
public gathering of men. not professedly
religious, such acute sensibility. such keen
perception of what was holy and heroic
ins idea in distinction from the base and
the false. They may have been liquor
drinking, tobacco-spitting men, many OF
them but it was what was higher and
grander in other men which inspired their
shouts.
want no snrer proof of the assertion
than the welcome which the entire Con-
vention, made up of black and white, ex-
rebel and Union, gave TO that God-like
man. Gerrit Smith. The whole Conven-
ton rose and received him standing. Men
almost carried him in their arms to the
stage; and, rs the patriarch stood there,
with uncovered head. the vast assembly
cheered him as if mad with enthusiasm
| Who was this man, thus honored? A few
years since, was he not despised and re-
lected of men, because of his devotion to
the enslaved and the poor? The men
shouting for him might be his opposite in
character; no less they paid homage to
the lofty manhood embodied in this man,
who more than any other living American
has been phianthropist, a lover of hu-
manity more indeed than in precept-one
of the rare sons of God, who in long
life has exempltied in deeds of untold
beneNoence the fullness of the Divine
Command-Love thy neighbor as thyseli.
Whatever these men may have been indi-
vidually, it is 4 fact of blessed significance
that the man honored above all others
personally by the Convention was Gerrit
smith The moral aspects of the Conven-
ton We're very remarkable. The most
enthusiastically honored man in it was the
venerable apostle of human liberty and
the life long propeller of its underground
railroads. Gerrit Smith. Yet its perma-
nent president was an eX-commander OF
rebel infantry, Thomas Settle. of North
Carolina. The Convention listened with
enthusiasm tn Governor Orr, of South
Carolina, once a speaker in the House OF
Representatives and Southern ''fre-
eater and secession leader, now uttering
loyal words of truth and moderation; but
II listened with equal fervor to a black
man. breathing forth patriotism in tones
OF scpulchral eloquence. the Hon. james
L. Lynch, secretary of State from Missis
sipp. There in the front seat sat the dele
Dr. Loring, Of Salem, at its head. tall in
person, imposing in presence. impressive
in speech English in lordlv n,utton-chop
whiskcrs, and 4 tall, imperious chokcr
collar.
a little way back sat Il neglo, who look
ed as if he had come into the Academy in
his plantation clothes. He was the hap
piest man there, and | am much Obliged
to him tor the exquisite laughter he afford
ed me by his antics. He had 1.-THE pow
er, the ecstatic exaltation of which prim
tive Methodists OF any race or color are
so fond; and his neck never grew stifler
in prayer meeting than it did in that bliss
full Convention. In the first stages Of his
ecstacy he would jump up and scream al
the top of his voice; in the latter stage he
threw his head over the back of the seat
and yelled with JOY till he could yell no
more. Not far from him sat General Car
ter, of Texas, Il tawny haired. freckled
man. who led Southern brigade in the
rebellion. lie replied to the call of ..an
humble private in his old corps,' Mr..
Flanagan, Of Texas, by saying: II am
an old confederate soldier, who needed
reconstruction; and, if am any Judge in
the matter, | have been pretty thorough
ly reconstructed Ii he had not been,
do not think he could have endured the
equality and ecsta.ic screams of his old
servant? No. he would have shut his
mouth, ii he had not ilayed his back.
Old slave and old master were equal now
The eX-slave's vote was as good as his ex-
masters; so was his seat. How much
more thrilling and ecstatic his eitizenhood
Think Of these and n thousand other con-
.hicting personalities rallying to single
name fused in one common cause what
more sublime illustration could you have
Of the intense conserving force OF com
bined party organization, or OF the might
and majesty of law? For it Is not because
Mr.. Carter, of Texas, is in love with the
frantic performances of Mr.. Fieldhand
that he sits so serenely, interfering not
with them nor with him. 1t is because
law secures to Mr.. Fieldhand every right
ne a man which it secures to Mr.. Carter.
Is Mr.. Carter of the rebel brigade fame.
= delegate to the National Republican
Convention9 No less delegate il his old
slave. Who had n better rirht to hmm