The Washington critic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1885-1888, 1885-08-08
THE AuCu OF THE UNION.


pageantry never before accorded even
TO President or General.
Soldier and civilian, veteran AMI sen
of veteran, rich and poor, high and low,
Government and people, public official
and private citizen, men who less than
u quarter OF n century ago were deadly
foes but mourning this afternoon like
brothers as for "a common loss, are pay
ing their united homage to the memory
of the commander who wrought the
Unions decisive victory and twice
thereafter, in the robes Of peace, pre-
sided over the dcstinius OF the county.
1t Is ", II tnatit should be so--wcll
that our silent chicitain should br thus
honorcd--stiil better to know that the
solemnities of his burial, gtand and I'M
pressiye as they may be, are after all
and in their higher meaning, but sym
IDOLS OF nations grief; aud o! that SYM
pathetic sentiment which bespeaks for
the Republic an era Of fraternal amity
and aspiratioD-l future OF which, as
we profit by the lessons of experience,
no man may forecast the glory.
This is a universal sentiment. 1t is
not an evanescent emotion. 1t is des-
tined to take substantial shape, wber-
ever the name of the departed hero Is
revered-not only to be written upon
the pages Of history in fadeless letters,
but to be perpetuated all over the
country in multiform creations of me-
mortal art.
The State of his birth will duly com.
memorate that great distinction. The
State from which he went into the war
as regimental colonel will build a
shrine to his valor. The city where
he is about to be entombed will rear
above him some sculpture worthy Of
his renown. The time may come when
the whole land will be dotted, as it
were, with chiselcd memories OF this
chivalric soldier and sturdy patriot.
The most elaborate of these COM
memorative works will, as a matter of
course, be erected at Washington by
the General Government, and i'm the
name of the people at large. It is here
alone that their nationality is best
represented. Here is the common do
main upon which alone they meet.
Here are their Capitol and public edi-
fees, magnificent and massive. Here
is the mighty shaft that tow
ers toward the sun to remind
us Of the Father of his Country.
Here, will the name and fame Of
Grant, as of Washington, be honored,
as becomes the national character Of bis
achievements.
What particular form his monument
will take remains to be determined, but
the popular judgment will doubtless he
unanimous that no mere obelisk perc
ing the upper airs, no mere statueSque
conception in stone, no mere casting in
bronze, will answer the purpose.
In this instance there is demanded n
departure from remote antiquities and
well-worn piecedents and memorial
to be devised that shall not only SYM
bolize the striking personality OF GEN
eral Grant. but the eventful history he
made.
An Arch of Triumph has been sug-
gested, but there is trace of Old World
imperialism in this which free Ameri-
ca can do better than appropriate. 1t
also Involves an element Of incongruity,
for the structure we rear is to face the fu.
ture, rather than the past; to typify re-
suits rather than antecedents; to cele-
brate the fruitions OF peace rather than
the passions OF war--and least of all to
magnify the prowess Of one part of the
country at the humiliating expense of
another.
The idea OF an arch, however, pos
sesses much patriotic rs well as poetical
significance. Why then should not the
bridge, which is shortly to span the
waters OF the Potomac, and for which
Congress has already made a preiim-
mary appropriation, bp built as the
Grant Memorial Bridge, uniting by
bonds Of masonry, enduring as time
itself, the sections between which, so
recently that it seems but yesterday,
thfs noble river flowed like an impla-
cable line of separation?
What more appropriate remembrance
OF the Commander who led the armies
of the Union to the gates OF Richmond
and OF struggle which in its culmina,
lion cemented the brotherhood Of
States anew, than this final bridging of
the "bloody chasm" so long kept open
by artificial iesentments and political
devices?
What grander tribute to the memory
of him whose love OF country knew no
limitations, who sheathed his sword
when Lee surrendered, who charitably
appreciated the sore discontinue of the
South and whose magnanimity was al
ways superior to the petty partisanship
of the tlmesl
Arlington and Washington would
thus become close handmalds, welcom.
ing the pilgrims OF liberty to their his
torlc shrines. Not only this, but the
Capital OF the Republic and the late