The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-08-01
PERSONAL RBCOLLECTIONso of GRANT

The New York Independent of July Both, con-
tains very interesting article from the gifted pen
of Hon. Edwards Pierropont, of N. Y, from which
we make the following extracts:
az first met General Grant on his visit to Wash
ineton, after his victories in the Southwest early
in 1864. The Secretary of War, Mr.. Stanton, with
whom was intimate, invited me to meet General
Grant privately with himself, which did. I had
seen no picture of him, and had heard no descrip-
ton was disappointed in his appearance. He
was scarcely five feet, eight inches high, very
slight of figure, of quiet, modest mien, and had
no air of command and conscious superiority. l
was struck by the irmness of his mouth, the fine
build of his head, and the exceeding fneness of
his hair. He had thoughtful face and kind
blue eye.
"Eor more than twenty years have known
him we'll, and under great variety of circum-
stances. He was quite the most remarkable man
that I ever knew. He was the hero, not of q
chivalrlc age, nor of imperial splendor, but hero
of our sge and of our institutions the natural
product of Government such as the world has
never seen, whose possibilities are not yet imag
ined.
"In 1867, while General Grant was living in
WASHINGTON, was employed by Mr.. Seward, then
Secretary of State, and Mr.. Stanbury, Attorney
General to conduct the trial against ohm FL. Sur
ratt as an alder in the murder of President Lin
| coin and I then met General Grant daily for
| some six weeks, and, during that long trial, he
| often sat oy my side in the court room. He told
me of an Incident during the last days of the war,
which seemed to have left deep impression upon
his mind, and related it to the jury, in General
Grants presence, in summing up the case, as OIL
| lows:
"sOn the 14th of April, 1865, Abraham Lincoln
| called together his Cabinet. We had at that time
been receiving most cheering news; but still upon
| his soul there lay heavy gloom and he remark
| ed Il am very anxious to hear from Sherman
Tbe reply was you will hear good news from
Sherman there cannot be any doubt about that.
General Grant was there, and he knew Sherman,
and he took occasion to assure the President that
The news frHr,d Sherman would be all right. Idont
| what he had before said, Il am very anxious to
hear from Sherman adding the remark Il feel
some great disaster is coming upon US. Last
| night was visited by strange dream-the same
dream that, in the darkness of the night, has three
times before visited me before the battle of Bull
Run, before the battle of Stone River, and before
the battle of Charlottesville it came to me, and
the following day came the news of disaster. This
| same dream came to me last night in my sleep,
and feel as if some great calamity is to befall
the nation, in which am to be personally affect
ed In few hours afterward-he did not hear
| from Sherman but the dream came again and
led his spirit up to God who gave it."
"Tweve years later, General Grant recalled
this, as we were talking, late at night, in my Ii
brary in London. 1 said:
"'General what did you think of that Was
Mr.. Lincoln superstitious
"'Yes,' he replied. Il believe all great men are
more or less superstitious and he said no more.
at think the great features of his mental and
moral character were his self-poise, calm judg-
ment and wonderful common sense. He would
hardly be said to be a man of brilliant genius /;
but his achievements in considered to be
of the highest order; and he commanded larger
army than ever Napoleon commanded; and led
his armies to success.
"He was more largely intuitive than people
generally supposed. do not think he was much
inspired by reading, either upon matters
of state but his wonderfully calm judgment, adj
ded to this intuitive forces and his deep devotion
to the principles of popular government, always
guided him Alright.
"He was tenacious in his friendships, as in
everything else, and was slow to think ill of any
one in whom he had confded. He was disposed
to be forgiving of others errors and mistakes, but
his confidence, once shattered upon good grounds,
was never restored. His early life was OF
great privation, which strengthened him for his
great work.
ellis death was as remarkable and character
stic as his battles He hardly knew when he was
beaten but when he realized that the battle was
over, he calmly surrendered to the will of the
Heavenly Father. When the American Republic
shall have become the grandest Empire upon the
EARTH the history which General Grant made
during the first century of its rise, will be written
by many historians, and Grant will be mentioned
as a hero of imperishable renown."