Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-10-30
PARTISAN MALIGNITY.
GRANT BEFORE THE REBELLION.


GRANT BEFORE THE REBELLION.
Twelve years ago, Ct all tine men in
the nation, of respectable qualifiea-
tions and position, there was not one,
perhaps, who seemed less likely to
! become President of these United
States than Ulysses S. Grant. En-
gagged in a vocation without the eclat
attending the learned professions"
he was quietly gliding down the
stream of life, obscure, unambitiOus,
filling no Office, aspiring to none,
holding no intercourse with men in
high stations, and even unacquainted
with the Congressional Representa-
tive of his own district. So he might
have lived, and so he might have
died, had not the clarion of war called
all patriots to arms. With devoted
alacrity he Obeyed the summons, and
at once gave all his powers and all
his exertiOns to the sacred cause Of
freedom.
GRANTS MILITARY CAREER.
Commencing his new military
career in q humble capacity, his rare
ability was soon recognized, and he
constantly rose from q lower rank to
a higher till he was the Commanding
General of all the forces of the United
States. In every position he was
found to be fully adequate to fill it,
and his eminent fitness appeared
wherever he was placed. He, who
until the breaking out of the great
rebellion, never commanded more
than a company, showed himself
master Of the management, evolut-
ions, and direction of hundreds of
thousands of soldiers. Through him,
victory perched upon our banners,
and glorious success was obtained
for free institutions and an undivided
country. 1t is no fiattery to place
Grants military genius beside that
of Frederick the Great or Napoleon.
He is beyond question to be ranked
among the most able as we'll as the
most illustrious Generals now in the
world.
GRANTS CHARACTER.
His countrymen, grateful for his
distinguished services, and sensible
of his eminent capacity, called him to
occupy the highest position man can
attain. As President of this great
Republic, he has shown that there,
as in all the humber positions he has
occupied, he was the right man in
the right place." One of mis- peculiar
traits is, that wherever he has been,
he confined himself to his legitimate
duties, executing them strictly and
faithfully, and never producing COM
pIinafiopu or ayaifipo- I'll -faaIf,,c- h.
trenching on the responsibilities
belonging to others. 1t was enough
for him to know his own duty, and
to do it. This was his duty as Cap
tain, Colonel and General, and it has
been, and will be, as President.
While he shrinks from any Ostenta-
tiOus exercise of authority, yet, where
his duty demands it, he acts with a
discretion and firmness that are ire
sistible. This trait has distinguished
him, and renders him the very man
with whom to entrdst the execution
of the will of an intelligent and free
people desirOus of efficiency and
liberty. He has ever conducted him
self with amenity toward all classes,
and borne all his many hOnors with
an inherent mOdesty which has never
for moment been Obscured, dazzled
or intoxicated.
CALU8INIES AGAINST GRANT.
Yet this man, whom it might be
supposed would be unassailed, has
been, aud is, the target for the foul
and acrimonious abuse of disappointed
Office-se ekers, and sympathisers with
q the lost cause.n The Democratic
press has teemed with a virulence not
merely political, but personal and
calumnious to a degree amounting to
outrage. Not only has he himself
been pursued in this shameless
manner, but the. sanetities of his
family have been invaded, his
parents, and those of his wife, his
relatives, and his friends have been
subjected to the same detraction.
The vampires of calumny have held
high carnival, but never has President
Grant condescended to give the least
notice to the vile falseholds concOcted
against him; sensible that they are
as impotent as they are venOmous.
But if Grant is subject to this vitu
peration, scandal and misrepresenta-
ton, so were the greatest and most
revered of our former Presidents.
Washington, Jefferson, and Madison
were more reviled and abused than
Grant, and preservered the same
silence respecting the slanderers, and
felt for them the same contempt.
Well has Avon's great master of
human nature said:
"No might nor greatness in mortality
Can eensure 'scape: back wOunding cal
umny
The whitest virtue strIkesi what King so
strong
Can tie the gall up in thesIanderous tongue?