Chariton courier. (Keytesville, Chariton County, Mo.) 1878-current, 1885-08-07
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our regular correspondent.l
WAsHrNGroN. August. 4 1855.

1 =
The public buildings of Washing
ton are draped in mourning; literal
miles of black cambria are wound
around the marble eolums and fcs-
tooned from The wide. windows of
public edifices. A small number of
private residences and large num-
ber of saloons are also hung IN black.
Perfnnctory sorrow is lavish IN ex-
preston, and the department pre-
sided over by the secretary of the
interior, the s'Rebel Lamar" excels
all others in tastfuIness and elabora-
ton of funeral decoration.
There Is a hackneyed latin maxim,
.sNii moriuis nisi bonus" If the
last word were veritas, instead OF
bonus, the maxim would be good in
deed. A life is good only for its
lesson and its benificence. Death
cannot change the account. Gush-
ing journalism is not history.
As general, Grant was success
full. OF the simple truth that two
bayonets are stronger than one, and
that powerful. well-equipped, and
constantly recruited army will over
come a weak, starving and dimin-
ishing army, he ayailsd himself to u
greater extent than did any other
general of the late war. He was at
the fore front when the wearisome,
gastIy struggle closed, and he bore
himself mrgnanimously toward the
fallen. He will ever have the praise
of military success, and he deserves
moreover, such admiration as is Civ
en- to the not uncommon phenome-
nom of kind heart.
Gen. Grants faults, failures and
were not of the heart,
but Of head.
OF all greatness, military greatness
is obtained with leastexpense Of in
tellect. The glory of the warrior is
the most vulgar of all glories, the
most accidental, the easiest won and
lost. Military success Is in over
coming physical obstacles, and in 1t,
neither genius nor high order of
intellect is required, hnt simply q
sensible application Of dynamic for
ces. That military greatnes is the
greatness which has always had the
loudest vulgar acclaim proves moth
ing. The author of the tPoisened
gum drop or the Candy Woman's
Revenge, has more readers than
Bacon or Shakespeare.
Gen. Grants mental weakness be-
came mars apparent when the smoke
of the battle no longer obscured and
idealized him. After the war he be-
came the tool of a corrupted and dex
dauched party, and Later, - presi-
dent, he allowed a clique OF selfish,
vulgar, dishonest men to use him
for the furtherance OF their ambition
and greed. The presidency Of Grant
was the most dIsgracefgl in aWE nat
ional annals one OF his last official
acts was TO smooth the way for the
conspiracy and the usurpation which
deprived popular suffrage of the
greatest victory it ever achieved, ia
the election of Iilden.
The grave closes his earthly
account, but it can no more obscure
his failings than his fame. Grant
was brave, stubborn fighter, firm
friend, an indulgent father; it must
also be conceded that he was weak,
unconstitutional, laundering states
man, SO poor manager Of the nat
ional household, that he handed 1t
over corrupted and debagcAed, TO
one who had na right to receive it.
Admit also that he displayed so little
energy and intelligence in the man
agement Of his private affairs that he
could scarcely make living before
the war, and that later he squandeF.
ed and wrecked the handsome for
tpae Hlfen him by admiring friends.
Doubtless these criticisms will
| lgrate hard on super-sensatiye ears,
at this time, but really some a9tidqqte
| to the Nlagsga q tine elegiac news
| paper rhapsody seems not out of
place and / viii conclude with my
text, revised edition, ssNn mortuis
:
n,si verltas.'' .