St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-09


gress-will becalled upon to erect colossal
monument at the national capital. And so
it is: we will probably have a monument
craze for some time TO come, when in fact
with the exception of a statue at Wash
ington. there is no reason why
any monument should be erected.
A plain vault or perhaps what is
better, a sarcophagus, is all that should be
erected at the burial place. The reasons
for this simple and tasteful display in the
matter of monument are plain. GRANT
was an American, the product of our insti-
buttons. His grave should be made the
complete symbol of our Western Democ-
racy. When he died he was plain citizen
of the model republic of the world. AS
such let him rest forever. Then again,
the Same American idea which for
babe his holding a third presiden-
tial term demands that his grave shall
noo exceed in grandeur that of WASHING
TON. If the graves of GRANT and WASH
NGToN are to be the two Meccas of Ameri-
can freemen-one on the Hudson, the other
on the Potomac-there should be no dis
elimination between them in the matter of
display. WASHINGTON is our American
model of heroism. He stands now and
will stand forever as a sublime and
unapproachable example of virtue and
love of country. Humanity itself
assumes new dignity because the
name of WASHINGTON has been written
i'm her records. 1t was the full measure of
even a GRANTS ambition TO approach the
fame of a WASHINGTON. No human
being can surpass it, To advertise GRANTS
grave by erecting magnificent column of
brass or marble on the Hudson while WASH
INGToN slept in an mpretentious vault on
the banks of the Potomac, would only be
to draw upon GRANTS tomb the ridicule of
posterity.
GRANT doesn't need a monument made
with mans hands to commemorate his
name. His monument is in the history of
his country and i'm the hearts of his country
men. The spot where he lies is conse-
Grated ground. Brass and marble cannot
add TO the lustre Of his grave. The halo of
his own great deeds playing around the
modest tomb will attract the attention of
all the generations TO come. His grave
would never be forgotten though it should
remain, for all time, only
a simple, sodded mound of earth,
without aline above it;
And only daily votive flowers
To tell that any love it.
His monument is in the influence of his
life. Gen. GRANT is buried: but he is not
dead. How little of man there is that alto
gether dies! That feeble, languishing frame
is resting in Riverside park to be awakened
after a long sleep. That is ALL He still
lives in every other respect. Not only has
he put on the robes of infinite existence be-
yOnd the thin veil which hides him from
our view, but here among his countrymen,
here amid the scenes of his labors and his
achievements, he still lives and impresses
his mind and his character. He lives in the
history of the battles which he won. He
lives in a reunited and prosperous country.
He lives in the progress of free institutions.
And he lives, and will live while time shall
last. in that earnest prayer for national
peace and harmony which escaped his dying
lips. He has given the example of his life
for the approval of all, and for the study
and imitation of the young. After all
mans life is his surest monument.
A monument? None other doth he need
Than that himself hath built. More lasting,
too,
Than block of stone or monumental brass,
1t lifts its top, capped with Nations graft
tude,
Up into the fair sky of Peace. No touch
Of time can rough the shaft, nor shake its
base,
Firm fixed beneath and anchored in the bands
OF united land.