Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-07-24

formal Invitation 10 be present AT the
opening Of the tair for the Home OF
Disabled Confederate Soldiers on the
l4th Of this month and your Kind letter
accompanying il. if it was possible
for me 20 do so ! woald accept this
invitation, but, as you may know, | am
still on crutches--not from injuries re-
ceived in conflict with those in whose
behalf the Fair Is. given--and can
not hope TO be in good travelling
condition for some months yet. hoee
your Fair may prove a success, ana
that the object contemplated may re-
ceive support which will give to all
the brave men who need it home and
g rest from cares. The men who faced
each other in deadly conflict can well
afford TO lie the best Of friends now,
and only strive for rivalry in seeing
which can be the best citizens Of the
grandest country on earth.
Very truly yours,
L. ). GRANT.
A TOKEN.
In hearty proof that ." the men who
faced each other in deadly conflict can
well afford to be the best OF friends
now" General Grant sent Lee Camp
under whose auspices the Fair was
held $500.
Upon the announcement Of the serious
illness OF General Grant, Lee Camp
passed resolutions Of sympathy with
General Grant. and he being too Ill TO
reply IN person, his son, Colonel Fred.
Grant. wrote the Camp suitable let
ter.
LAST YEAR.
Some time last year General Grant
was at Old Point for his health, and an
effort was made to have him stop here
for awhile. but he was too unwell. lie
passed through the city ria the Chesa-
peake and Ohio road, and at the depot
here was met by few friends, but
there was no public demonstration.
That was his last view Of Richmond, a
city with which his fame is mingled,
but to see which he had absolutely no
curiosity.
True, ifnot complimentary to us.
THE GENERAL DEAD.
Here in Richmond are soldiers of the
Confederacy who met Grant that is.
his armyj at Shiloh; here are men who
fought him from the Wilderness down
the lines to Cold lIarbor, and from Cold
lIarbor up across the James and APP
pomattox to Five Forks, and who,
yielding to his " overwhelming numbers
and resources" surrendered with Lee
and went home on Grants parole.
Here are the graves of 10000 Confede-
rates, many of whom fell before the
bullets Of his battalions. Here in our
country side distinctly remain the rifle
pits his infantrymen held and the re-
doubts whence his artillerymen hurled
their shot and she'll. lIereabout are the
ruins Of homeSteads that were beauti-
ful before the hand Of war was laid
upon and blasted them. Many were
cur people who suffered from Grant and
Grants army. aud once the hatred Of
him was bitter here. But time softens
such feelings. Things look differently
seen amid the smoke Of battle and
adown a twenty.years' vista.
The enmity of the old days has gone,
and in this very city there are thou
sands now who sincerely regret his
death; who honestly believe that he
was entitled to his station among the
great men Of the earth, and who think
that h. was one Of the best friends the
South ever had. In 1872 Virginia re-
fused to give her vote for Greeley in
preference to Grant The memory of
kindnesscS shown us was then fresh in
the minds of our people. They could
have carried the State for Greeley;
they stayed at home in numbers to give
the vote to Grant, and if afterwards he
was less popular IL Virginia, it was
probably more rightfully attributable to
his advisers than TO him.
His last DAYS were days Of trouble
days Of suffering. Financial wreck was
follove by physical wreck. The
bursting Of the bubble-frm Of Grant
a Ward came to add to the torture Of
the cancer that was eating his life
away. But throughout all he was the
enduring. unilinching, accomplishing
spnit who had turned the war from a
war Of disaster to the Federal arms to
one Of victory; who had hammered
and Hammered at Lees army until the
evacuation of Richmond and Peters
burg was ehected-tiA the surrender
followed. In his last days he spoke
admiringly of Lee. Lee, if living,
would no doubt be one Of the prompt
est to speak of the kindly qualities Of
Grant. If Grant was at times harsh
TO the South, the South was harsh to
him, too. Let all that be forgotten.
When Death the Great RecOnciler
comes II is never our tenderness that
We recent of, but our severity"