The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1885-08-05
Death of General Grant.
FrOm the Philad.Ipaln Record


Death of General Grant.
From the Philadelphia Record
The long and painful struggle of
General Grant with the great de-
stroyer ended yesterday morning,
and the American people, with one
heart, mourn in his death their
greatest soldier and their popular
idol. For months they have anx-
iously watched tbs bulletins that re-
corded the fatal progress OF his dis
ease, and his last days have been
cheered and consoled by the uni
versal manifestations of their affee-
ton. In this hour of public grief
all animosities engendered in the
heat OF partisan conflict are hushed,
all detraction II silenced, and no ex-
pressions of sympathy are more sin
cere than those that fall from the
lips of the men that were once In
arms against him.
To few men have been allotted so
great and memorable q part in the
movements of history. His career,
though so real and visible in the
eyes Of his countrymen and contem-
poraries. has all the glamour of ro-
nance. Withdrawn from his chosen
profession early in life TO the OBJ
scurest private condition, ne resum-
ed 1t when the country had need Of
his services. By his extraordinary
merit through successive steps, each
marked by great achievement, to the
command Of the American armies
in one of the most stupendous con-
ficts that the world has ever wit
messed. History records the ascent
of poor peasants to the throne of fthe
Roman empire, but that was in the
corruption and decay of Roman
greatness, when merit was rare and
competition feeble. Grant madeh him
self the foremost soldier of America
in the lusty prime and vigor of the
Republic. when every upward step
was battle.
1t has been said that only two
things can reach the top of a pyra-
mid, the eagle and the reptile. Grant
was the eagle that rose to his place
without apparent effort, and he kept
it His command Of vast armies
in the presence of an enemy was as
easy to him as was his drilling of
regiment of raw militia in the be-
ginning OF his career. Fort Donel-
son, Vieksburg, Chattanooga, and the
cam paigns on the Potomac are
among the monuments of his mill
tarv fame. If he was sustained by
the arms and resources ofa great ma
ton, be was opposed by a foe whose
prowess enhanced the splendor of
his victories. His magnanimity
and clemency in the day of final
success mitigated to his enemies the
humiliation of defeat, and to the
love and admiration in which he
was held by the victors was united
the gratitude of the vanouished.
As he lies cold now, beyond the
reach of fiattery or blame, it may be
affirmed of him that no citizen OF
America ever enjoyed a greater de-
gree OF popularity. As proof OF
the veneration in which Marcus Au-
relius was held it was observed that
there was not a dwelling, however
humble, IN the vast Roman Empire
that did not contain some picture or
memorial of him. Though no point
of resemblance is sought here, the
same may be said of the popularity
Of General Grant. There is not
wood-chopper's cabin on the Aroos-
took, farmhouse in the far West,
or a negro hut on the Brazos, in
which some portrait, or battle scene
or other nIementO of the peoples
idol, Is not preserved. Gen. Grants
popularity is not wholly due to mil
itary deeds, which always command
SO large measure ofadmiration and
applause, but he has come to be re-
garded as the embodiment of the
American spirit. In his strongtraits
of personal character-his indomita-
bic will ; his obstinacy, amounting
in some of its manifestations to sto-
lidity, his stoical endurance, reveal
ed so touchingiy in a new form in
the agony of disease his simplicity
and freedom from cant-are found
the elements of his popularity. The
people admired in him the high
qualities which they hattered them
selves with possessing. They con-
doned in him the faults which they
knew they owned. But if be pos
sessed some of the faults that are
common to human nature, his great
ness is MS own.
This Is rot the occasion to dwell
on the faults and mistakes that
clouded bis public career, or the
misfortunes that embittered the lat
ter days Of his life. History, which
deals impartiallv with men and
their works, wilt not hide or extenu-
ate bis feelings in delineating MS
character and recording his achieve
nents. In this hour Of public lam
entatiOn and sorrow criticism IS
abashed. The errors of Grant will
be buried in the coffin with hina by
his contemporaries and witnesses,
while the memory of his great viz
tues and patriotic services will re-
main enshrined in the hearts of ger
erations of Americans as long as the
Republic shall endure.