New-York tribune., 1885-09-13
GENERAL GRANT.
TIE MAN AS He WAS.
r,vr.Ry ROBSON DESCRIBES HIS CHIEF
copvrieht 1855.

COPYRIGHT 1855. -
III. fact that the attention OF tne puono 70 80
sra,~n towards General Grant ana 'na' o'o'' ,.,s
.o.nected with him is likely al TINS 'i'no '. 60,
An nnps ILL knew him, who were familiar win
AZ ,av. and understood bis purposes, 70 give snon
-. 90 the man as he was; particularly VIZ
49,. can he done in manner to reach 'no pI Tho
s,,,ouoh trustworthy and friendly chanheiS
.rea recollections of General Grant gros' ~
,oes and the feeling with which the ciio
" ~. recent death surround him largely con"r
huted TO make this opportunity puolo III ho
Iii rot tolsrate now that anything snaii w
" eat down in malice" For eight years n's "''o "a
et,on with General Grant, botn PERSONA
off,c,aI was close and intimate oecai"o -
v.as b;s Cabinet a little more than three noh'ns
Do, " ,,augurat,on and served continuously
:. a.. GA If hrs second Administration ME- FISH
" longer in the Cabinet, having DOC"
s,o,n,ad vet earlier In the first term, ana ser'iHs
- 90 tbe end of the second Previous 10 my Wy
ii i,t,,e,t had little personal KNOWLEDGE vi nin'
tond what was shared by the PUBIC aV i",s0'
a. intercourse u to that time, though sumo nav
intimate, was wholly personal ana soc'a'' -
a.. oeica of Attorney-Ge General of my own ota'e, =
os largely occupied With professional duties, wisn
,,,, .ttent;on only generally directed 10 Na'lon"
.fs;rs and was of course surprised wneh caiiou
unon IN resign my State Office to take paoo III va
Cabinet The selection was undoubtedly influence
nv the fact that while in association anu op.
I was practical representative OF tne in'.' g..
the great State of Pennsylvania couiu NV ,..saa
,oIvad in the personal controversies which dl'iuou
- thara Iaeeepted, and from that time my
..sna,ation with General Grant was intimate anu
.onsdantial. The times were difficult; par'iou-
farl for those who were called upon to act ralner
tban 10 discuss The war:was over Inc legiS'".'0
raconstruetion struggle was practicaiiy enu0u
Paactiou had set in and the executive pranch u
<be Government charged with tine duty VI "
tive action no longer hoated on tne 1un 'iuo ~ -
nopular sympathy Sin the execution Oh tho iaws
II often obliged to stand fast BY the law anu i.s
oblixations exposed to the criticism Oh 1hooii'''
,snd the attacks of malconteats while tne reoooS
wave of public opinion, involving alike poieoua
and pohtical friends, swept from lts supPolv 'n0
vress, politicians, and for time the peopie tno.
selves. The real value to the present aud 10 tne
eutnre of our country of President in those times.
,th the character qualities and record OF Generai
crant copnot bs over estimated. The first thing
tbat struck the familiar observer OF General Iran'
sxas his thorough Americanism He neither was
nor pretended nor desired to be anything ese IMAM
An American. He was proud OF the pas'' pre'o"''
and prospective future OF his own country "au
bonnded his aspiration and content to rest MS
hones with that country and the EXPERIMENT. LII
government which 1t was trying.
He was born of the proudest ancestry an hnicr'-
can should ever boast. He was the grandson Vi
Revolutionary soldier. Connecticut captain WIG
at Trenton. Monmouth and Valley Forge fought
and suffered for the establishment OF those primer
ples of government which his grandson nas oon'i''
uted so largely to preserve.
: Ue was originally named Ulysses II. Grant Ihe
circumstances of his change of name. as had them
from his own lips, were as folows He was nomin-
ated as a cadet to West Point by the Honorable MI.
Hamer, who was then Representative In Congress
of that district in Ohio In which young drant
lived with his father Another person had been
nominated for the position but failed to enter ana
Grant was named as his alternate Mr. hamer was
Mt that time in Washington In discharge OF MS
Congressional duties. He knew that the young
mans name was Ulysses and he knew also that he
had middle letter; he knew that his mothers
name was Simpson, and in making the nomination,
which had to bs done promptly, he naturally as
sumed that his name was Ulysses Simpson Grant
Tins the application of the future General OF the
Army TO be inscribed upon It's rolls was maden the
name of U. S. Grant. When he reported at West
Point the mistake was discovered, but as the
means of communication were slow IN those days
and tho lormaiities not little tedious and difficult,
the young cadet concluded to accept 8 instead OF
II as his middle letter. and to retain as his own
the name as 1t was originally written.
graduate of the Military Academy. and quite
MP TO If not above the average in scholarship at
that institution at the time General Grant enjoyed
the advantages of the best practical education
which the country then afforded. Tnls is fact
which some of his critics have not realized. They
have assumed that because his life was not spent
Ia literary pursuits but had had its full proportion
of act IN as wsll reflection. he was hardly to be
reckoned among the class of educated men. The
truth is that he was we'll instructed in the history
of his own country, which is saying something in
these days. that he was mathematician of high
order we'll grounded In the principles ii not familiar
with the details of that science. and good Eng gsh
scholar. Very few of our Presidents have had as
much advantage of early education. He wrote all
his own messages, expressing almost wholly his own
views except as TO the details of department tai
administration His style was clear and direct. and
If sometimes rugged it was almost always by
reason of some expression which was most effective
to give his exact idea. / was at times asked by
him 10 review and revise some public communoa-
ton which he was about to make but almost in-
variably foand that the very expression which L
hesitated to accept the one which arrested the
attention of the country and struck the keynote
of popular sentiment.
The most marked Characteristic of his. mind WAS
Its drectness. HIS perceptions were not only keen
but were at the same time comprehensive. He per-
ceiyed not only things but their relations also. His
mind travelled straight down from facts to con-
clusons without wandering into any of the byways
of philosophic experiment or being complicated by
outside relations, indeed; it seemed to thlt the
river of his thought flowed unchecked to its ocean,
between strictly defined banks, while everything
that related 10 the subject OF consideration flowed
into and became tributary to that river but never
diverted lmpeded Its course. How true this
of his early life am not competent TO say but
when fret became intimate with hirl. he had al
ready been for eight years in contact with great