The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-08-12

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| time arbitration. We are familiar
| with the hard sides Of the great commanders
| character He has been Ekened to a hammer
| to a falkland there was that likeness when the
sound of the fail ceased the straw was threshed,
there was no doubt of it. He has been called a
butcher" gu. that was by man in neither
army.
1t is true that his victories are the dearest on
earth in and money.
The official figures show that Grants losses
from the Rapidan to the James-May 3 to June
15-were %, sol killed, wounded and missing, an
average of over 1890 day since the start. But
Gen. Robert E. Lee was in front of him. Grant
had said of the army of the Potomac before he
took comm ard: 1T is splendid army, but 1t
seems to me it has never fought its battles
through" However that may have been after
he took command it fought its battles through.
Grants motto was Finish it."
But there is another side. "The hammer and
the fail do not all define him
20 when that brave men yield the sword
His the nanful soldier view,
By how much more they boldly warred,
BY so much more is mercy due
When Ficksburg fell and the moody files marched
out
Silent the vctors stood, scorning to raise shout"
His magnanimity at Donelson, at Vicksburg,
and at AppomattoX, made his armed enemies his
friends.
Sunday at Shiloh and the day
When Stonewall charged-and McClelan's crimson
May,
And Chickamaugs's wave of death,
And of the Wilderness, the cypress wreath
All these have passed away.
Now shall we FREE Can poor spite bel
Shall nobleness in victory less aspire
Than in reverse! Spare spleen her ire
And think how Grant met Lee"
After the surrender General Longstreet says
that Grant locked arms with him, called him
Pete" talked of old school days and broke his
| heart. And as y result General Longstreet, the
| swift and bloody campaigner, was the first re-
| constructed man on the continent.
After the surrender Of Lee there was fault
| found with the terms given by Grant; they were
| too generous Then the hard side of the man
| appeared again. Stanton was a man of power;
johnson was in place of power; bur they were
| Dot able to change a word OF the terms Of the
surrender at Appomattox. There was one good
| thing in Plate. What have written Ihave writ
| ten" The same good thing is foundin combina-
| ton with other good things III Grant. 1.-The
| bow of Jonathan turned not back" Once com
mitted to cause or a man he was not to let GO
| But on sufficient reason he could. He had that
power which distinguishes man from a mule
| He could change his mind. He reconsidercd the
evidence IN the Fitz John Porter case, found
| that his former judgment was wrong, and then
! said so.
| It is long way from captain of Company
| D" to the general of the army. but I have done
the best l conld to see him. / do not think that
| the cool historian of the future will see him less
than he now is. I shall not put him by the side
| of Abraham Lincoln. Not long ago we placed
one man there, but he could not stand the pace
was soon distanced and out of the race. 1t is
| enough to stand little lower than Abraham
Lincoln. 1t is enough to be chosen by him to
finish it." 1t is enough to have the confidence
| of the greatest American living or dead. Of
| these pathetic last days you have the sufficient
picture. TIE old General, sick and sure to die,
| still working line by line, that his family who
never lacked anything money could purchase,
should never lack anything He gave the same
| orders in substance to himself that he had given
to Hancock: Up. tired brain, ard at it-''finish
it.' He did finish it. He made the final entry
on his paper concerning the war, and then wrote
to say to his physician, "There is nothing more
to do, and I am not likely to be more ready to go
than at this moment"
You have looked on the "Soldior Of the
Wilderness" predestined to save the union of
| these States through sea of blood. 1t was
Sherman who said, War is cruel and you can
| not refine it." 1T was Grant who proved the say
| ing true! Cold Harbor would have appalled,
| Greek, or Roman or Carthagenian. But renem Der
the stake. If the Republic failed, the hope of
mankind was gone. Kings will not do. Little
republics are dead or feeble. To finish it" was
costly, but it was worth the cost. 1t was easy
Americans knew what the reunited States stood
| for. He was a prophet as we'll as a soldier
| Here is Grant to Lee in 1865: Il will not
change the terms of the surrender General Lee,
| but will intrust my officers who receive the
| paroles to allow the men to retain their horses
| and take them home to work their little farms
And again a fow weeks ago General Buckner,
of Donelson fame went to McGregor to see his
old friend and enemy. General Grant said, Il
| have witnessed since my sickness just what
| have wished to SEQ since the war, harmony and
| good feeling between the sections. l have al
ways contended that if there had been nobody
lett but the soldiers we should have had peace
in year; -- and - the only two
know of who do not seem satisfied on the South
ern side. We have some on ours who failed to
accomplish as much as they wished or
who did not get warmed up to the fight until it
was over, VINO have not had quite full satisfaction
The great majority of those who did not go into
the war have long since grown tired of the long
controversy. We may now well look forward
to perpetual peace at home, and national
strength that will screen US against any foreign
complication. l believe myself that the war was
worth all it cost u.s. fearful as that was. Since
it was over 1 have visited every State in Europe,
and number in the East know, as did not
before, the value of our Institutions
| Ladies and gentlemen l thank you for your
patience and attention in this hot Colorado SUM-
| and close with these words of Robert Burns:
| Whoeer to freedom
| Shall e'er prove disloyal,
May his son prove hangman
And be the first tried.