Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-08-13
EULOGY BY BLAINE.
Tribute to the Character and Ser
vices of General Grant by the
Maine Statesman.

llvereQ Dy hon. JdILtS
Public sensibility and personal sorrow over
the death of Grant are not confined to Ole
continent. 4 profound admiration for great
qualities, and still more profound gratitude
for great services, have touched the heart of
the people with true sympathy, increased
even to tender emotions by the agony of his
closing days the undoubted heroism with
which he morally conquered last cruel fate.
The world in its hero worship il discrimina~
ting and practical, if not, indeed, selfish.
Eminent qualities and rare achievements do
not always ensure lasting fame, A brilliant
orator enchaius his hearers with his inspired
and inspiring gifts; bus if his speech be not
successfully used to some popular recollec>
ton, his only reward will be in the ftful ap-'
plsuse of his forgotten audience. A vlctorl>
GUS general in war of mere ambition re-
ceives the cheers of the multitude and the
ceremonial honers of the Government; but If
he brings no boon to his country his fame
will find no abiding place in the centuries
that follow. The hero for the ages is be
who has been chief and foremost in contrib
uting to the moral and material progress. To-
the grandeur and glory of the succeeding
generation Washington secured the freedom
of the colonies and founded new Nation
Lincoln was the prophet who warned the
people of the evils that were undermining
our free Government, and the statesman who
was called 10 leadership in the work OF their
extirpation. Grant was the soldier, who, by
victory in the field, gave vitality and force to
the policies and philanthropic measures
which Lincoln defined in the Cabinet for the
regeneration and
SECURITY OF THE REPUBLIC.
The monopoly of fame by the few in this
world comes from an instinct, perhaps from
deep seated necessity of human nature. He
roes cannot be multiplied. The gods of
mythology lost their sacredness and their
power by their numbers. The millions pass
into oblivion-the units only survive. Who
asked the great leader of Israel to conduct the
chosen people over the sands of the desert
and through the waters of the sea into the
promised land. Who marched with Alexan>
der from the Bosphorus to India? and who
commanded the legions of Cesar in the con-
quest of Gaul2 Who crossed the Atlantic
with Columbus? Who ventured through the
winter passes of the Alps with the cOnqueror
of Italy? Who fought with Wellington at
Waterloo? Alas, how soon it may be asked,
who marched with Sherman from the noun
tain to the sea? Whs was with Meade on
the victorious field of Gettysburg? Who
shared with Thomas in the glories of Nash
ville2 Who went with Sheridan through the
trials and triumphs of the blood stained
valley?
General Grants name will survive through
tie centuries, because it is indissolubly con
nected with the greatest military and moral
triumph in the history of the United States.
| If the armies of the Union had ultimately
failed, the vast and beneficial designs of Linz
coin would have been frustrated, and he
would have been known in history as a
statesman and philanthropist, who, in the
cause of humanity, cherished great aims
which he could not realize. and conceived
great ends which he could not attain-as an
unsuccessful ruler whose policies distracted
and discovered his Countrywide General
Grant would have taken his place with that
long and always increasing array of great
men who were found wanting in the SUI
preme hour of trial. But higher power
controlled the result. God, in his gracious
mercy, had not raised those men for works
which should come to naught. In the ex
preston OF Lincoln, mo human counsel de-
yised nor did mortal" In their accomplish
ment these human agents were sustained by
more than human power, and through them
great salvation was wrought for the land.
AS long, therefore, as the American Union
shall abide, with its blessings of law and
liberty, Grants name shall be remembered
with honor. As long as the slavery of human
| DellgS S0dli UG anu vi
men assured, Grant shall be recalled with
gratitude, and in the circles of the future the
story of Lincoln's life can never be told with>
out associating Grant in the enduring splen-
dor of his own great name. General Grants
military supremacy was honestly earned,
without factious praise and without eXtrane>
Gus help. He had no influence to urge his
promotion except as such was attracted by
his own achievements. He had no potential
| friends except those whom his victories won
to his support.
| RAPID RISE TO FAME.
He rose more rapidly than any military
leader in history, from the command of a
single regiment to the supreme direction of
million of men, divided into many great
armies; and operating over an area as large
as the empires of Germany and Austria com
bined. He exhibited extraordinary qualities
in the field. Bravery among American Off
GERS is rule which has happily had few ex>
ceptions; but, as an eminent General said,
Grant possessed quality above bravery. He
had insensibility to danger, apparently un>
conscious of fear. Besides that he possessed
evenness of judgment to be depended upon in
sunshine and storm. Napoleon said ''The
rarest attribute among Generals is 2 o'clock in
the morning courage" al meant" he added,
''unprepared courage-that which is uecessa>
ry on unexpected occasions, and which, in
spite of most unforeseen events, leaves full
freedom of judgment and promptness of de-
cision." No better description could be given
of the type of courage which distinguished
General Grant. His constant readiness to-
fight was another quality which, according to
some great authority, established his right as
commander. Generals" said the exile at
st. Helena, ''are rarely found eager to give
battle. They choose their positions, consider
their combinations, and their indecsion bee
gins " Nothing" added this greatest wars
rior of modern times, ''nothing is so difficult
as to decide" General Grant, in his services
in the field, never once exhibited indecislon:
and it was this quality that gave him his
crowning characteristic as a military leader
| He inspired his men with a sense of their in
vincibility, and they were thenceforth invin>
cible.
| IN CIVIL LIFE.
| The career of General Grant when he passed
| from the military to the civil administration.
was marked by his strong qualities. His Presi
dencv of eight years was filled with events of
magnitude, in which, if his Judgment was
sometimes questioned, his patriotism was al
ways conceded. He entered upon his office af-
| ter an angry disturbance caused by the singu-
lar conduct of LincOln's successor, and quietly
enforced poncY Whlch nad Deen 1Or four years
the cause of embittered disputation. His cleo
tion to the Presidency proved in one important
aspect landmark in the history OF the coun-
try. For nearly fifty years preceding that event
there had been few Presidential elections in
which the fate of the Union had not in some
degree been agitated-either by threats of po-
lItical mal-contents or in the apprehension o
timid patriots. The Union was saved by the
victory of the army commanded by General
Grant. No menace of its destruction has ever
been heard since General Grants victory be-
fore the people.
Death always holds flag of truce over its
own. Under that flag friend and foe sit peace
fully together, passions stilled, benevolence re-
stored, wrongs repaired, justice done. 1t is
impossible that a career 20 long, so prominent
so positive as that of ofGeneral Grant should not
have provoked strife and engendered enmity