St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-09
Hon. f, Nj. Wilson

was introduced and spoke as follows:
This day whole nation are bowling their
heads in reverential sorrow for dead hero
In the sad contemplation of this great loss
the asperitieS of politics are hushed, sec
tiOnal differences are forgotten. and all over
the land from the great lakes to the gulf,
from the storm-waShed shores of the At
lantic to the golden strand of the Pacific,
millions are paying their tribute to the
memory of Gen. Grant. The workshop is
silent, the doors of the bank are closed, the
store has intermitted its trade, and gen
eral suspension of business typifieS the uni
versatility of lament.
Though this great mans fame was earned
in that tremendous conflict of a nation di-
vided against itself, the dark emblems of
sorrow encircle alike the arm of the ''bIue''
and the gray" side by side, bearing his
remains to their last resting place, march
the Federal and Confederate generals, ming
ling their grief and acknowledging him as
the great chieftain of a common country.
His great magnanimity to the conquered,
his great service to the cOnquerOrS cause
him to be mOurned both beneath the orange
and the elm. As he in war did so much to
save the Union, so his temperate conduct in
peace did much to make its preservation
valuable.
Gen. Grants talent was peculiarly of
military order. Prior to the Rebellion his
life had been uneventful and would doubt
less have remained so, but for that great
event. Providence had adapted and pre-
served his great faculties for so great pur-
pose. When once upon the theater of war,
ne was fully armed for his part. He was
not possessed of cratic genius, that daz-
ZleS the world with temporary success and
next aStOnisheS it with dismal failure. He
had better quality of mind, truer talent.
1t was the ability to make calm applica-
ton of intelligent reason under all circum-
stances. His mind was at all times well
poised. Whether in the flush of magnifi-
cent victory, in the wavering doubts of
evenly-fOught conflict or in retreat, he was
always the same. his mind cool and working
with all its powers in their best equipment;
always ready to achieve the most from sue
cess and to save the most from danger.
And there too was his great courage, not
rash but intelligent, pertinaciouS and in
spring. Failure was not in his military
vocabulary. He knew no reverse which
cOnstancy could not amend. He had the
very qualities necessary to constitute great
military leader, and whatever may be the
various opinions as to his craftsmanship,
there is but little doubt but that if he had
been more of a statesman he would have
been less of general.
Gen. Grant enjoyed to remarkable
degree the confidence of his countrymen,
and his character was by them well under
stood. They well knew his almost child
like simplicity in matters of business and
finance. They recognized and even in its
errors admired the fidelity of his friend
ship. When scandals arose as to his civil
administration, the nation resented the very
suspicion of his knowledge or participation,
and at once, and aScribed all to the abuse
of his confidence by false and designing
friends, and when the clouds of financial
ruin rolled in their blackness and sadness
over the sunset of his life, none, not even
those made to suffer under the shadow of
his great name, attributed to him any
wrong of intention or act. The blame was
at once laid where it belonged, at the door
of those who so wickedly speculated upon
his fame and so cruelty embittered his
closing years. They are now the dis
honored inmates of prison, while their
unsupported victim is followed to his
honOred grave by the footsteps of a
hundred thousand present mourners, and
the hearts of fifty millions absent ones.
Though dead in body he lives in name and
fame. and is TRANSPORTED upon the tablet of
a nations grateful and everlasting memory
And to you, my comrades Of the Grand
Army, this is especially day of grief You
were part of the great deeds which made
Gen. Grant the nations hero. You can
better than all others appreciate the trials
that proved his patriotism and constancy.
All nations have their sacred spots. Amer
lea has hers, and chief among
these hereafter will be the tomb
on the bank where the majestic
Hudson rolls its waters to the sea. Patriots
will there make their pilgrimages. Children
now unborn will go in silent awe to visit
the spot where lies the mortal tenement of
so great a soul. Ere this the last sad rites
are performed, the sufferers pains are
ended and he is at rest, and we close with
saying:
''Soldier sleep, thy warfare's DER,
Dream of fighting fields no more,
Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking,
Morn of toll or night of waking"
When Mr.. Wilson concluded, two-thirds
of the audience departed, that being the
last address. The audience sang Nearer
My God to Thee" standing, which was fol-
lowed by the closing prayer and benediction