The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1885-03-21
AWAITING THE SUMMONS.

Awaiting the Grim Messenger With the
Same Stolidity with Which He Faced the
Foe I'm Battle-He Does Not Trouble Him.
self About the Hereafter.
NEW YORK, March ia telegraphed
summons to come at once to her dying
father was not obeyed by Mrs. Nellie
Grant Sartoris with the expected alacrity,
and now a draft for money enough to
cover the expenses Of the journey has
been sent by cable TO England. The sur
mise was Chat she lacked the ready means
to tart hastily, or she would not have
failed TO take the steamer from Liverpool
last Saturday; but the expectation Is that
she embarked yesterday. Her English
husband has never been financially pros
porous, though socially deemed an orna-
ment, and he is at present suffering
from last seasons bad guessing on
the turf. All of General Grants
family, except Nellie, are with him. Fred
Grants wife, formerly Ida Honore, a
beauty greatly admired In Kentucky and
Washington, has been devotedly attentive
to her father-in-law, by whom she was
long ago nicknamed "Sunshine." he
dislikeS the attendance of hired nurse,
and thus far none has been employed.
Upon Mrs. Grant aud Ida has deyoved
such service as he will permit 10 be done
for him. He has kept calling for Nellie,
however, and Insisting that she must
come to him, ever since the gravity of the
situation became manifest to him.
MEDICAL OPINION.
Being pressed to give his opinion as to
the further duration of Grants life, DR..
Fordyce Barker could only say that it
must be very brief; but DR.. Douglas
fixed the extreme limit at thirty days, and
added that he might not live another
week. If he could and would take SUI
ficient nourishment, as he does on eX-
ceptional days, he might hold on for sew
eral months yet; but he is now wasting
away 50 rapidly, in consequence OF per-
sistence In light eating, and through in
ability to sleep, that his power OF endur-
ance has become an unknown factor, and
it may leave him in a state of collapse at
any moment. Like Garfield, he wastes
from day to day. He is weak and listes
much of the time, and during this week
his work on his book has been slight and
spasmodic, making very little progress.
At times he lapses into condition
bordering on stupor. But in his wakeful
and brighter periods he is the same
stolid, grim, silent man who faced death
on battle fields twenty years ago. This
view of him is given your correspondent
by frequent and familiar visitor.
at has been a Misrepresentation" he
added, tto say that the General does not
appreciate the fact that he soon must die.
The hero of Shiloh and the Wilderness
fully understands that he has a few
weeks only, and to his intimate friends
he speaks of this with the same freedom,
and in the same matter-of-fact manner
that he discusses his intentions with res
pect to dinner or the condition of his di-
gestlon. 1t is indeed eminently charac-
terstic of the man that he faces death in
such an unmoved way. If left to himself,
he would not live four days. He is very
weak and indisposed to take any noursh-
ment whatever, because of the pain pro-
duced by swallowing. He is
never hungry. Despite the earnest
solicitation of those who care for
him, he has refused to eat morsel for
two days at time. Then the members
of his family gather around him, and beg
of him for their sakes to take some nour-
ishment. He then consents to the ordeal,
and is invariably exhausted by the effort;
but in an hour or two he begins to mend,
and thereafter improves very rapidly until
his system calls out again for food. Then
he grows worse alarmingly until persua-
sion once more prevails upon him to eat.
Ida is rather more successful in dealing
with his moods than anybody else, and il
is usually from her hands that he finally
accepts food"
GENERAL GRANTS RELIGION.
The Rev. DR.. John p. Newman was
sent for with a view to his acting as a
spiritual advisor TO Grant; but this was
not done at his own instance. If he were
a religious man he would be Methodist
or Presbyterian, but he frankly says that
he had no Special theological training in
his youth, and has not studied the sub
ject in later years sufficiently to form
any opinion as to what he does or does
not believe. He holds that there Is a
God and hereafter, but he is not pre-
pared TO accept the extreme position
taken by most Protestants that the I'M
converted and the Indifferent will be
externally tormented.
If Grants attitude with reference to re-
ligion could be exactly defined it might
be expressed as having all along been
one OF unconcern, and there is no reason
to suppose that the nearness to death has
made any change, though his wife is very
solicitous thathe should arouse to mental
activity on the subject "He does not
apparently bother himself in the least
about the life hereafter" says one trust
worthy informant, seemingly being will
ing to take his chance with the millions
who have gone before him In the same
frame of mind" The only clergyman with
whom he was ever intimate was DR.. New
man, and their relations were confined
mainly TO sociability.
When Newman undertook the ultimate
ly disastrous job of gathering popular
congregation in the big church in which
Wepworth had failed, Grant took pew
made liberal subscription and attended
the services with considerable regularity
but when offered a deaconate in the
church, which was Congregational
though the pastor was a Methodist, h