The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-28


and help him in the great contest in which he is
engaged Is there heart here tonight that does
not bring its tributel am sure there 10 not one
Is there one tonight who would count riches,
or ease, or time as of the smallest value if they
rnight contribute in any way to the comfort Of
the sufferer or to the lengtheaing Of this useful
lfef What would not the American
people give to-day to bring health
and length of years to our great chieftaing
May we not hope that new life and strength
viii enrich the enfeebled frame when the news
OF these numerous and kindly gatherings
or his fellow citizens is carried to himf
And SO we may take SOME comfort tonight IN
& the belief that we really ministering to him.
But it is not for him only that we are
assembled, and it will not be for him
at all when he shall have been gathered:
in the appointed time, to the grave. that we Wall
forever observe among the national holidays OF
our country the birthday OF Ulysses. >.
Grant applause] that will be for our
we celebrate the dayY Because no man can
look upon the stars and stripes without thinking
of Grant because no man can tell the story OF
its grandest victories, of the most intense and
bloody contests over which it has waved, and of
the most desperate charges in which it has been
carried to victory, without inserting in every
line Of the story the name of Ulysses s. Grant.
EApplause.l Instrumentally he stands to us as
the second savior of his country. He would not
wish that [ should give to him the
whole praise of that magnificent result
that preserved to an unbroken country. and
Constitution complete in all its parts. DE was
always magnanimous and never failed most
literally to divide the honors of the war
with those gallant boys who, with
gun and knapsack marched under him;
and yet the grand tactics of the war. the plan
ming Of its great campaigns, the mastering and
organizing of its great armies and the dreadful,
desperate, earnestness with which he threw
those armies against the embattled hosts
of his country's enemies was the work
of Grant From Belmont to Appomattox--
we read in every line of the history with which
he was connected IN intense, logged. unswerv
ing and persistent purpose to crush the armies
that were resisting the authority OF
the Constitution and the laws. He did
not strike aud withdraw his hand,
walls of the citadel before which he had sat
himself crumbled into dust. He did rot fight and
withdraw himself for recruitment and repairs;
lie fought, and vaEquished. and pursued. Many
there were who, when in that terrible
campaign in Virginia. past Spottsylvania
and through The Wilderness he drove that great
army Of his like an iron wedge. Many called Grant
butcher many there were who spoke of the
dread carnage there as indicating that the great
commander was without q heart,
without care for his soldiers who
were so bravely dying under MIN. All! it was
not So Well did Grant understand the neces-
sites of an almost exhausted country:
we'll did he understand that the cry of
mercy was for speedy end of the war,
for an ending that would be effectual and final;
short work was economy of life and treasure.
He was stern, persistent and memorable when
his adversarys swCrd-pOiuJ was towards him,
while tratorous arms were uplifted against the
flag See him now, when those arms are groun-
ed and the hilt of his adversarys sword
is offered in token of surrender. Great
in all that had preceded. he crowned his great
ness by the magnanimiiy of the terms which he
gave to the great confederate leader who
surrendered at Appomattox. General Grant
would not desire, l am sure. to have
IL understood that in this matter
which has been so often mentioned to his praise.
he exceptional in the disposition to treat with
cIemency those who had surrendered to the
national authority. General Sherman in his
memoirs, mentions an episode at City Point,
his army arrived at Goldsborough,
He tells us of an interview on board the River
Queen. at City Point between Grant and Lin
coin and himself and whoever reads the story
Of that interview will see that the great-hearted
President in sympathy, if he did not
inspire those magnanimous terms which
were given at ApnommattOx General
Sherman tells us that when they told Lincoln
there that one more bloody battle must be fought
before the rebellion was ended, he asked: Can
not that last battle be avoideds There has been
blood enough shed already In the converse
ton that followed Lincoln outlined a
policy, Of leniency and kindness
should once have laid down their arms. This
was but the embodied expression OF the senti
ment of the whole body of the Union people
throughout the country. We fought not to kill
OF humiliate our adversaries, but to save the
Union for them as for ourselves-upon the sole
condition of obedience to the laws. My coun-
trymen, we worthily celebrate the birthday of
Ulysses S. Grant We send him to-aight our
tenderest sympathy and love.
Events within the last year have ciouded his
life; his physicians saw pathway for disease
kaah cd hyy n anfa nj M prCs-
tration which came from the mental anguish he
has undergone by reason of the base betrayal of
his confidence by unworthy business
associate May | not say to him for you
all tonight that in these transact lions
we find nothing upon which to abate one jot or
title of our complete confidence in the purity
and honor of his character2 Fraud may approach
aim. as it may other men, but when it does. it
must come under cover His generous, affec-
tionate and coniding disposition, that would not
think i'll of a friend opened him to this assault
am sure he will be sustained by the assurance that
his countrymendo not lay at his door anything
unworthy. | am glad that when death comes to
General Grant it will find him entitled to wear
the uniform of his country and to be
wrapped in her flag. am glad
that at last, under circumstances full
Of dramatic interest, the Congress of the United
States and the President have placed his name
once more upon the army rolls | never shall
forget that scene. Twenty minutes only Of the
time of the Forty eighth Congress remained In
the Senate chamber there was already assembled
q great audience TO witness the Inauguration of
the new President and Vice president; the Sen
ate floor and galleries were crowded; every avail
able place upon which chair could be placed
was occupied and in that great as
sembiy the hum of conversation ran
from the floor to the gallery vixen
suddenly messenger from the House of Rep
resentatives appeared, announcing to the Senate
that the Senate bill authorizing the appointments
Of General Grant upon the retired list, with the
rank of general, had passed the House. The
President of the United States was in his cham
Der, in the Senate wing, and in two or three
minutes more an executive message was receiv-
ed announcing that President Arthur had ap
proved the bill. Then. as acting chairman of
the committee on military Alters Of the Senate
on the floor, began to wonder how we could
confirm the appointment when it should come in.
1t would nave been quite impossible in the time
that remained to have cleared those galleries in