The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1885-08-12

or character, the Written terms OF Grant
carried to the yanquished soldiers Of Lee
the generous token that tneif humiliation
was foreign to the compact, and waited
the chivalrous tribute, that as upon the
battle field they were brave, in peace, re-
turning to their homes, their cause lost,
their honor as gallant soldiers still re-
mained untarnished by the act of s1rren-
der. And with what alacrity he bounti-
fully relieved the pressing needs and re-
quirements of, what then became to him,
his fellow citizens of common country.
Truly, that finished orator, in after years,
did not greatly err when, in poetic Ian
guage, be referred to General Grant as the
man who belonged to no particular sstate
of the Union, for she hailed from Appo-
mattox."
Grant, the soldier and president of the
country whose unity and integrity he
successfully preserved by the sword, has
now passed away; history records his
fame in all his capacities as citizen ofthe
Republic. AS a statesman his record will
perhaps rest proudly within the confines
OF the pages ofthe history of his own conn-
try. But as the great captain and devoted
leader of the triumphant armies OF a grand
cause.-the union undivided as the soldier
the brilliancy of whose fam e is unmarried
by blot or by blur; as the hero who
showed the same magnaminity in the hour
of victory as he displayed bravery and
courage in the day of battle; as the chief
tain who restored the Union stronger and
more compact than since the days of the
revolution, The fame and valOr of Ulysses
S. Grant will, beyond I'LL time, be engra-
ven, and his memory will live ever fresh
and green in the hearts of his grateful
countrymen.
The remarks of Judge Tattan were lis
tened to with marked attention. He was
followed by Col. Leaning, one of the he
roes Of the Fort Pillow massacre, who
paid the following tribute to the old COM
mander:
CoE. LEAMING's TRIBUTE.
Ladies and Gentlemen and Comrades
A nation is in mourning. The flag of our
country flying at half-mast from every
fort and arsenal in the union, and from
our ships in every sea, is to-day proclaim
ing the death of Americas illustrious cit
izen and soldier, Ulysses S. Grant. Great
in war, magnanimous in peace, as citizen,
soldier and statesman, he won his way to
earthly Immortality. No name in Ameri-
can history-certainly none in our day
and generation-will occupy a larger
space than the name Of him we mourn to-
day. AS soldier he must ever take rank
with Napoleon, Wellington and Marl-
borough, while in the successful admins
tration of the affairs Of the government,
as president, history will give him a lead
ing position with the illustrious men who
have filled that exalted office.
But, my friends, it was in the stormy
days of the republic that this silent man
first achieved greatness. When the ma
ton, from 'sturret to foundation stone,"
trembled with the first shock of evil war;
when strong men faltered and brave men
looked pale; when even under the dome
of our fair temple of liberty itself were
heard from the lips Of men whom the
world called wise words of doubt and de-
spondency-then it was that Grant ex-
pressed the simple desire to serve his
country in any position where he could be
useful. Here was the beginning of one of
the grandest careers in history. From
that day forward he moved on seemingly
actuated by no motive save that of unset
fish patriotism, which everywhere and at
all times shone through his public life.
He was no believer in the pernicious
doctrine-more than limited at by Mr..
Lincoln's Immediate predecessor in the
presidential ofice-that this government
had no right, under the constitution, to
protect itself from domestic foes, enforce
the laws and preserve the union. Who
can forget those trying times? Armed
Americans met armed Americans, and
the bitterness of ordinary warfare was in
EenslHeu ny clVl seflle. VeI1ly, Lue
shadow of death rested on every hearth
stone north and south from more than
hundred battlefelds, while louder than
the bolts of thunder, far, flashed the red
artillery. In that stormy period of Amer
lean history Grant was 1.-THE noblest Ro-
man of them all.'
Like some tall cliff that lifts it's awful form,
swells from the vale, and midway leaves the