The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1872-06-20

unconscious that the President has nc
right to quarrel with anybody, insists
upon quarfeling, until he has become
the great Presidential qaarreier, with
more quarrels than all other Presi-
dents together, and all began and con-
tinued by himself; how his personal
followers back him in quarrels, insult
those he insults, and then, no depart
ing from his spirit, cry out, with
Shakespeare, r We viii have rings
the chosen head of the Republic is
known chiefly for his Presidential
preteusions, utterly indefensible in
character, derogatorv to the country,
and foil of evil influence, making per-
sonal objects primary pursuit, so
that, instead of beneficent presence,
leis q bad example through whom
Republican institutions suffer and The
people learn wrong. 2i k5f 4iat
Would that these things could be
forgotten! But since,S through off,
cious friends, the President insists
upon secondterm they must be con-
sidered, and nobody will vindicate
them. 1t is easy to see that Cesar is,
even IN EneDpe, at discount; that
personal government has been beaten
in that ancient field, and that Caesar
with Senate at his heels is not fit
model for our Republic. King George
Ill. of England, so peculiar for obsti-
macy and madness, had retainers in
Parliament, who went under the name
of " the Kings friends" Nothing can
be allowed here to justify the inquiry,
= Have we a King George among us %
On that other question, have we a
party in the Senate of Kings, and a
personal government is autocratic and
in direct conflict with republican gov
el nment. A government of law, and
not of men, is the object of republican
government. Nay, more, it is the de-
structive essence, without which it
becomes tyranny. Therefore, per-
sonal government in all its forms, and
especially when it seeks TO sway the
actien of any other branch, or over
turn its constitutional negative, is
hostile to the first principles of repub-
ican institutions, and an unquestiOn-
able outrage. That our Presi0en has
offended in this way is unhappily too
apparent. Naies-i
The President is a civilian. To
comprehend the personal government
that has been installed over us, we
must know its author. His picture is
a necessary frontispiece. Not as a
soldier, let it be borne in mind, but as
a civilian. To appreciate his peculiar
character as y civilian. it is important
to know his triumphs as q soldier, for
one is the natural complement of the
other. The successful soldier is rarely
oI 81 eel nj
There seems an incompatibility be-
tween the two, modified by the extent
to which one has been allowed to ex-
clude the other. One always sol
dier can not late in life become a
statesman. One always civilian can
not late in life become soldier. In
modern Europe few soldiers have
been more conspicuous than Gustavus
and Frederick, sometimes
called The Great. But we learn that
both failed ignominiously in their do
mestic policy, and showed themselves
as short-sighted in the arts of peace as
they were sagaciops in the arts of war.
The Judgment o. Marlborough is
Mhile portraying him as
The gre#ast conqueror of the age
the hef0eof hundred fights, victor of
Blenheim and Ramilies-the same
writer. describes bin as
! man not only of m6sAidle and frivo-
Ious pursuits, but SO mlserably ignor-
ant that his deficieneiesmad him the
ridicule of his contemporaries, while
his novelties were compounded of
and treachery. Nor was
Wellington an exception. Though
shining in the field without rival,
and remarkable for integrity of pur-
pose, unfiinching honesty and high
moral feeling, the conqueror of Wa
.erloo is described as nevertheless ut
.erly unequal to the complicated ext
yencies of political life. Such are ex-
lmples of history, each with its warn
ng. -3R
1t would be hard to find anything |
N the native endowments or in the |
of our Chieftain to make him
IN illustrious exception. At least |
nothing sof this kind is recorded. |
Was nature more generous with him |
han with Marlborough, or Yelling |
on, or Gustavus, called Greatp o. |
vas his experience of life better |
than theirs? And yet
hey failed, except In war. 1t Is not |
Known that our Chieftain had any ex-
,erience as civilian until he became
President; nor does any partisan at
ribute to him that double culture |
which in antiquity made the same
nan soldier and statesman. 1t has
,een often said that he took no note
If public affairs, never voting but
,nce in his life, and then for James
Buchanan. After leaving West Point
le- became Captain in the army, but
oon abandoned the service to reap
rear at a later day as a successful
General. There is no reason to be-
ieve that he employed the interme-
late period in any way calculated to
him as statesman. He was
arning few hundred dollars year
~ tanning hides in Galena. By war
le passed to be President, and such
vas his preparation to govern great
epablic, making. it an example to
Here / express no opinion of my
'wn. 1 shall allow another to. speak
n solemn words echoed from the
omb. On reaching Washington, at
he opening of Congress in Decem-
,er, 1869, was panied to, hear that
late Secretary of War, was in
ACAlbus utl lOI
lis unsurpassed services and with a
of friendship. auickened by
political sympathies, I lost
10 time in seeing him, and repeated
ny visits till his death, toward the
lose of the same month. My last
Tisit was marked by a communication,
lever to be forgotten: AS entered
lis bedroom, Where found him re-
lining Oh the sofa propped by pill
ows, he reached out his hand, already
lammy cold, and in reply to my in
JURY, allow are your" he answered,
Waiting for my furlough," Then at
'nce with singular solemnity he said:
Il have somthing to say to you."
When l was seated he proceeded
without one word of intr0aRction 81
lnow General Grant better than any
'ther person in the country can know
lin. 1t was my duty to know him
when / saw him and when l did not
zee him, and now 1 tell you what l