Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1885-07-23

GENERAL GRANT.
Minneapolis Tribune.

| HIS llle was rounded out ana finished
Under such conditions the death of an
1llustrious parsonage brings serious
ness and a quickened sense of awe and
| veneration: but it causes neither shock
nor pain. 1t is when II great man is
| stricken down suddenly and with yio-
lencc in the midst of his career, that
| the people whose hero he is feels an al
most Stinconsolable sorrow. To the end
| OF time every American who reads the
history of his country will experience
shock and a sense of remedileSS loss in
| the untimely deaths of Hamilton. Lin
coin, and Garfield In the nations
priceless gallery of heroes these three are
noble torsos. If Grant had died by vio-
lence soon after his Inauguration in
1869, when an idolizing nation regarded
him with such pecu liar hope and ex-
pectancy, the shock Of grief and disap-
pointment would have been transmitt-
ed even to remote generations. But.
happily, his life, like Washington's was
spared until his career had worked it.
self out as a historical whole with an
artistic unity. His apotheosis had al
ready begun, his translation had been
for days and weeks expected, and his
felloWcountrymen now feel no grief nor
sense of loss, but only an added sense
OF possession. General Grant passes IN
to our history as a national hero,-an
American born for Il great mission
which he lived completely to fulfill.
Every nation has its heroes. The
principles of selection are not logical.
| Perhaps they are altogether arbitrary.
Perhaps the something we call great
ness IS only luck and accident. General
RosecranS sneers, and tells us that
Grant is an oyerestimated man. that he
was not Il great general, that he IS
wrongly credited with other me MS
achievements, and that anybody coul d
have done what Grant did, under the
same circumstances. But Ro5ecraas
and all the critics only waste breath
and ink. General Grants reputation is
as unassAilable as WashingtonS or Vel
lington'S. History viii only confirm
with larger emphasis the verdict of his
own times, and Grants name will as
certainly be connected with the civil
war as its military hero, as Washing
tons is connected with revolutionary
war. Other men might have discover
ed America, but Columbus did it and
has the fame OF it. Other men might
haye taken Fort Donclson, conquered
/ VicksbrTg, won at tChattunooga, fought
the battles OF the Wilderness. entered
Richmond, and granted terms to Lee
at AppomrttoX; but it was Grant who
did it, and because he did it rather than
some other man he ranks as the great
est military commander of his times.
Was 1t because of his superior fitness,
was 1T through blind chance, or how
was it, that this great part fell to his
lot, while lesser parts fell to others who
seemed better men? The question is
only speculative; nothing can alter the
facts. He played the principal role,
and with mastery effect
In many respects Grant is typical
character. He came out of the heart
OF that great freenorthwest founded on
the ordinance ofd7S7, and he is its rep
resentative man. AS compared with
other nationalitics there is an American
| type. But as compared with one n
other, AMERICANS have several distinct
| types Of their own. Grant had about
him nothing of the Eastern man, moth
ing of the Southerc man: he was a West
em man. 1t was the West, the gr eat
states of the upper Mississippi valley,
that crushed the rebellion;, and Grant
fifty personates and sylnbolizes the
western qualities of massive strength.
patI9nt tenacity. dauntless energy. and
sturdy common sense. A Scintillatlng
genius Il cultivated scholar, high
strung fanatical reformer, an elegant
cavalier-none of these types would
have represented the ten or fifteen mil
lions of people lying north and west Of
the Ohio river. But those two plain.
forceful, everyday men. Lincoln and
Grant, splendidly typifed the average
physical, mental, and moral character
istics of our western masses.
If he had been stricken down in the
heat and bitterness Of political contro-
yersy at any time from 1870 to 1880,
there might have been occasion for
Mark Antouys to eulogize him and in
woke the popular wrath upon his enc
mics. But he outllved political contro-
yersy, and died without an enemy.
The asperslons of political opponents
We're particularly painful to his simple,
sincere nature. He was conscious of
rectitude of purpose, of answering de-
sires to serve his country, and of entire
freedom from craft and guile in the
furtherence of personal ends He was
not a statesman, but he was an honest
man, and the thrusts of his enemies cut
him to the quick. The following sen.
tences, which we quote from his second
inaugural address, ment very much from
the reticent lips of the silent man of
destiny: Il acknowledge before this
assembly, representing as it does every
section Of our country, the obligation
am under to my countrymen for the
great honor they have conferred on me
by returning me to the highest Office
{ within their gift and the further obi.
cation resting on me to render to then
the best services within my power
/ This | Drnn1iSa Iool-;n,r .foru,,,1 ,,.;+l