The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-08-08

Qlu not maxi HiH tue SEedI
man that be was, but God did. Many
other men had the same opportunity and
the surroundings were just as propitious,
but they failed, while he succeeded. He
had the stuff in him which God could use
in the great struggle between right and
wrong Who dare say today that God
was not in the settlement OF the war of
the rebellion?
Gen. Grant was man of strong will;
this is necessary to every truly great man.
In the life of our hero it was very marked,
at every point in mis- life there could be
seen determination to succeed which
could but be realized answering grit
is always rewarded by success. With him
there seemed to be the idea that man
could acco mplish whatever he wiiled cons
mensurate with his ability. His life
proved the truthfulness of this statement.
He undertook nothing that he did not
believe could be accomplished and into
which he could not throw his whole
energies. There was strength
of character brought out in ev~
cry action of his life which is worthy
of imitation. He believed in the right
eousness of his cause, and therefore his
whole being was employed in one deter
mination to win. In every great charac
ter of history the elements of truthful>
ness are very prominent. 1t was none
the less true in the character OF him whom
we honor today Truth is the ever Sc
cret of the success of great men; they
hate falsehood, as one of the devices of
satan. and the source of anarchy and
ruin. Truth is the true foundation of all
noble men. Without it every possible
evil may come, when it reigns in the
heart all other good qualities are attain>
able, but when it is absent all manner OF
evil may be expected. Our hero pos.
sessed this quality to a remarkable de-
gree. When be said he would do thing
he did it, or made the attempt. He was
no fiippant chatterer. He did not talk to
hear himself He never played fast and
loose with any one. True manliness
was always manifested. He never dat
tered anyone, neither did be fswn Upon
anyone to secure favor He never spoke
of glory for himself, but seemed to be
above it IN the trueness of his nature; an
other quality discernable in his nature
was honesty. In this, as in the other,
the nobility of his life stands consplcu-
Gus. think no one can successfully at
tribute to him motives other than those
from honest convictions of the right.
Acts grow from motives; If the motive is
base and low, the act, which is result of
the motive, will be of the same character;
if the motive is pure and honest the act
springing from it will be pure and hon
est
Gen. Grant was an honest man. tie
die not parade his honesty before the
world, but let his actions prove 1t. AT
tempts were made to prove to the contra>
~ of what has been said, but they were
unsuccessful. He was no blatant revllel
Of God, either. He had deep sense OF
the fact of Gods existence, and seemed
many times to have true reverence tol
him. This honesty was of such IA
| ture that he was not protected from tht
schemes of the sharper, and so was often
brought before the people in an unenvia
bic light when in reality; he was not IN
tentionally at fault. In his life as sol
der, as president, and in society, he wa:
noted for an unassuming manner which
won for him hosts of friends. He wa:
not Ostentatious; every where the sam'
plain, approachable man. His soldier:
say that this was one of his greatest char
acteristics, and by it his men would Dc
anything. He said he was not simply
dress parade officer, but was man VIII
sympathies for the boys. He was ap
proachable. 1t was not necessary to g
through all manner of red tape 10 gain d,
interview, but one could come right III
to him and make known his wishes. L
was true also IN the White house. Thei
again, when the whole world had palt
him homage, a thing no other man re
ceived, and which would have filed will
pride the hearts of most men, he was TIT
same plain, unassuming man that he Aat
ever been. In this he stands the equal
if not the par of any man whose histor.
has vet been recorded. Leniency marked
the now silent soldiers life. One may b.
great and achieve great things, an'
still be somewhat revengeful. Witt
Gen. Grant the case is different
He never took advantage o
his position, brave, unyielding and de
termined As he was, he was also kind
gentle and lenient to his forces. He be
lieved most firmly in the maintenance o
the union, and yet he was ready to help
conquered enemy. He seemed to have n,
! II ha
quered but respect and pity. Inls wa
shown on every occasion where victor
crowned the arms of the union forces A
the close of the war when Lee surren
dered, and when the rebellion was prac
tically settled, Gen. Grant did not humIi
: late him any more than was posltiVel
necessary. The side arms were retalnet
and Lee was recognized as the great gen
eral that he was and a man of mark. Th
same spirit has marked all thes
years since the close of the great wal
Let US have peace was his only desire
He fought that peace might be secured
and that the perpetuity of the govern
ment might be assured. No ill-will wa
= manifested toward his enemies in wal
/ At his death bed he grasped the hands o
those who were his enemies and prove
to them the msgnanimous spirit of tn
victor. Gen. Grant will live in histor
with the greatest soldiers Of the world
! His name will be mentioned with that o
Washington, and In many things he wa
superior to the warrior of the revolution
If there have been greater general
than he none have been greater men. L
true nobility of manhood he has no su
, periors among the mighty soldiers of til
ages. He hated shams as genuine me
,. Lust. To toady to any one in a superio
: position he Fever did. He rose by hi
own inherent qualities and stood befor
|, the world upon his own merits. He wa
: mt without faults His most ar ient ad