Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-08-05
AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
An Imposing Event la the History OF Eng
lnnd- Canon Furrsr's Faacrni Address
Try cat.io IN tho Dlsuatchi

LONDON, August 4.-Thc Grant
memorial service in Westminster Alb
hey this afternoon was an imposing !
event added to the history Of England.
The edifce was crowded with con-
gregation nearly every member Of
which was a distinguished person.
The order Of the service was as follows :
First, Schubert's Funeral March,;
second, funeral procession up the nave Of
the Cathedral to the choir third, open
ing burial services fourth, Ninetieth |
Psalm fifth, days lesson sixth,
funeral sermon by Canon Farrar |
seventh, SpOhr's anthem, =" Blest are
the Departed ~; eighth, Iiandel's an
them. e" His Body is Buried in Peace y;
ninth, two concluding prayers; tenth,
Burial Service; eleventh, blessing |
twelfth, Dead March in Saul.
The funeral address was delivered by |
Canon Farrar, was most impressive, |
and was listened to in almost breath
less silence. His text was taken from
the Acts, chapter xiii, verse &c, and he |
said: Eight years have not passed |
since the late Dean Stanley, whom the
Americans loved and honored, was
walking around this abbey with Gen
eral Grant explaining its wealth OF
great memorials. Neither of them |
had nearly attained the allotted |
span of human life. Both might |
have hoped that many years would !
elapSe before descending to the grave,
full Of years and honors. This is only |
the fourth summer since Dean Stanley
fell asleep. To-day we assemble at
the obSequles Of great soldier, whose
sun set while it was yet day, and at
whose funeral services in America tens
of thousands are assembled at this mo-
mcnt to mourn with the weeping family
and friends. desire to speak simply aud
directly with generous appreciation, but
without idle tlattery, Of him whose death
has made the nation mourn. His private
life, his faults. or failings ofcharacter,
whatever they may have been, belong
in no sense to the world. They are
before the judgment of Gods merciful
forgiveness. We will touch only upon
bis public actions and service. Upon
the bluff overlooking the Hudson his
monument will stand, recalling to fu-
ture generations the dark page in the
nations history which he did SO much
to close.
After eloQuently tracing General
Grants bOyhood and manhood, the
speaker said
"lf the men who knew him in Ga
lena. obscure, silent, unprOsperous, UNI
ambitious. had Said-if any one had
predicted-that he would become twice
President, one of the foremost men of
the day, propheSy would have seemed
extravagantly ridiculous. But such
careers are the glory of the
American continent. They show that
the people have sovereign insight
into the intrinsic force. If Rome told
with pride that her dictatOrs came from
the ploughtail, America may record
the answer Of a President who, when
asked what would be his cOat-Of-arms,
answered proudly. mindful of his early
struggles a pair of shirt-sleeyeS. "
The answer showed noble sense of the
dignity of labor, noble superiority to
the yanities of TendaliSm, a strong con-
yiction that men should be hOnored
simply as men and not according to the
accident of birth. America has had
martyred Presidents, both sons OF
the people. One a homely man
who was a farm-ad at the age of seven,
a rail-splitter at nineteen, a Mississippi
boatman at twenty-eight, and who in
manhood proved one of the strongest,
most honest, and d-fearing of modern
rulers. The other grew from a shoe
less child to be an humble teacher in
the Hiram Institute. With those Presi-
dents America need not blush to name
the leather-seller of Galena. Every
true man derives the patent OF
noblcncsS direct from God. Was
not the Lord for thirty years
carpenter in Nazareth; Lincoln's
and Garfield's and Grants early con-
scientious attention to humble duties
fitted them to become kings of men.
The year 1861 saw the outbreak of the
most terrible Of modern wars. The
hour came and the man was needed.
Within four years Grant COM
manded an army vaster than had ever
before been handled by man. 1t
was not luck, but the result of iniexi-
bic iaithfulness, indomitablc reSoiu-
ton, sleepless energy, iron purpose,
and persistent tenacity. He rose by
upward grayitation of natural fitness,
and every soldier became impregnated
with his spirit. General Grant has
been grossly and unjustly called A
butcher. lie loved peace and hated
bloodshed. but it was his duty at
all costs to save the country. The
struggle was not for victory,
but for eXiStency; not for glory,
but for life or death. In his ST.
lence. determination, and clearnesS Of
insight, Grant resembled Washington
and Wellington. In the hottest fury of
battle his speech never exceeded yea,
yea, and nav. nay Gods light has
shown for future destinies of the
mighty nation that the war OF 1861 was
necessary. The Church has never re-
fused to honor the faithful soldier fight
ing for the cause of his country
and his God. The cause for
which Grant fought-the unity
of great people, the freedom
of the whole race-was as great
and noble as when at Lexington the
embattled farmers fired the shot which
resounded around the world. The
South accepted a bloody arbitrament,
but the rancor and fury of the past are
buried in oblivion. The names of Lee
and Jackson will be common heri-
tage with those Of Garfield and
Grant. Americans are no long
err northerners and sOutherners, but
Americans. What verdict history will
pronounce upon Grant as a politician
and man know not, but here aud
now the voice of censure, deserved or
undeseryed, is silent. We leave his
faults TO the mercy of the merclful.
Let US write his virtues on brass for
mems example; let his faults, whatever
| 49,. .,,ov have ham ha xrrittan on