The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-09-12
GRANTS CAREER,
ais Life SaYoring More of Romance Than
of Reality.


Ills Life savoring More of Romance Than
of Reality.
The story of General Grants life
sayors more of romance than reality: it
is more like fable of ancient DAYS than
the history of an American citizen of
the nineteenth century. As Eight and
shade produce the most attractive effects
IN picture, so the contrasts in the
career Of the lamented General the
strange vicissitudes of his eventful life,
surround him with an interest which
attaches to few characters in history.
Ills rise from the obscure lieutenant
10 the commander of the veteran armies
OF the great republic, his transition from
a frontier post of the untrodden West
to the Executive Mansion of the nation;
his sitting at one time in little store in
Galena. not even known to the Con-
gresham from his district; at another
time striding through the palaces of the
Oid World with the descendants of a
line OF kings rising and standing UNI
covered in his presence; his humble
birth IN an Ohio town scarcely known
to the geographer; his distressing illness
and courageous death in the bosom of
the nation he had saved-these are the
features of his marvellous career which
| ,,n3lseal to the imagination, excite men S
IRoadeF, and fascnate the minds of all
| who make a study of his life
Many of the motives which actuated
MIN and the real sources of strength
employed in the putting forth of his
singular powers will never be fully UNI
derstood, for added to a habit of COM
muning much with himself was a mod
esty which always seemed to make him
shrink from speaking of matter so
personal to him as an analysis of his
own mental powers, and those who
knew him best sometimes understood
him the least. His most intimate asso-
ciates often had to Judge the man by the
results accomplished, without compre-
lhendiDg the causes which produced
them. Even to the writer of this article,
after having served with the General
for nine years continuously, both in the
field and at the Presidential Mansion,
he will in some respects always remain
an enigma. His memoirs, written on
his death-bed, to be published only after
his decease, furnish the first instance Of
his consent to unbOSom himself to the
world. In his intercourse he did not
study to be reticept about himself; he
seemed rather to be unconscious oil
self. When visiting st. Louis with him
while he was President. he made a char
.acteristic remark showing how little his
thoughts dwelt upon those events Of bis
life which made such deep impressior
upon others.
Upon his arrival a horse and buggy
were ordered, and a drive taken to his
farm, about eight miles distant lie
stopped on the high ground overlook
ing the city, and stood for time by tho
side of the little log house which he haC
built partly with his own hands in the
days Of his poverty and early struggles
Upon being asked whether the events O
the past fifteen years of his life did moi
seem to him like tale of the "Arabiar
Nights, " especially in coming from the
| White House to visit the little farm
house Of early days, he simply replied
'Wen, | never thought about it in tina
light " - General Horace Porter, n
Harper'S Magazine.