The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1885-04-11

strength.
The average man is one sided-one
part strong, another weak. The ply
steal developed. it may be, at the eN-
pense of the intellectual ; OF the intel
lectual at the expense of the emotional;
or the emotional at the expense Of the
will so that when they are combined
in action the result is feeble.
Two words, we believe, will explain
General Grant, as they will explain all
men who are great in character and
great in action those words are
STRENGTH AND COURAGE.
And we apply the word strength to
every department of our nature-body,
mind, heart, and will And we use the
term broadly, too, as indicating fulness
of power in each department. and the
harmonious blending and play of ALL
We have poetic men, eloquent men,
brilliant men, men Of logical acumen,
men of metaphysical and speculative
thought, but no man will stand up CO.
lossal and grand among his fellows, to
receive their homage and their follow
ing, who lacks the two qualities named
| above.
Test the great characters Of history,
which loom up along the ages, and
mark the line of human progress and it
will be seen that strength and courage
were their predominant qualities. To
feel this, instantly, we have only to
name Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel,
David, Paul, Augustine, Luther, Calvin,
Knox, Edwards and Whitefiel! among
the worthless of the church ; Alexander,
Cesar, Alfred. Charlemange, Cromwell,
Napoleon and Washington among the
founders OF states and the rulers of
men. They had, above their fellows,
largeness of faculties, and courage to
dare.
General Grant easily and naturally
falls into this category Of great men.
He is great lnconsClously and without
the slightest effort. He takes his place
at the head of Americans, because ma
ture has rounded out all his faculties in
| her large mould, and added the weight
and courage of unhiching conviction.
1t is possible to have greatness in
some directions where there is def
cheney in some physical power, or in
some mental or moral quality; but we
do not have the great man, complete
and without flaw, unless we have fitness
and proportion and balance throughout
the combined and complete natures of
the man.
PHYSICALLY PERFECT.
Physically, General Grant is as nearly
perfect as a human being can be. Of
medium size, sinewy, compact, tough,
broadchested, inspiration deep and full,
digestion perfect, he can endure any
amount of work, and readily recuperate
from the severest fatigue His admir-
able physique is strung with nerves of
steel, rendering him calm in danger,
and equal to the strain of the desperate
siege or the bloody battle. This quality
was shown when, only little child, he
fired off a pistol and exclaimed in his
glee, Click it again, fick it again"
This carried him through all the years
Of the war, weighted with cares and re-
sponsibilitics which would have crushed
or killed an ordinary man. But Cen
eral Grant, after massing and manHuv-
ring larger armies, over wider spaces,
than any general that ever lived, came
out of the war unbroken in health, to
enter upon the work of reconstruction
as soldier and President, and, more re
Gently, to compass the globe, to out
ride, and outstand, and outeat the
courts of the kingdoms. And that
iron man comes back to us sound as a
nut, the eye flashing for battle, and the
hand steady as child's.
HIS INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES
are as healthy and strong as his physi-
cal. No man could illustrate more
fully the Latin proverb, "Mens sana in
corpore sano." His perception, his
reason, his understanding, and his i'm
agination, are large, keen and discrimi-
mating, and SO adjusted that they rely
upon one another, and sustain'one an
other. They enable him to plan battle
or campaign with almost the precision
and certainty of mathematical demon
stration. If his perception enlarged or
distorted his facts, or his reason reached
its conclusions without a severe basis
of logic, how easy to mislead his under
standing and to commit the saddest of
blunders But follow him from the
time he received his commission from
the hands of Governor Yates, until he
received the sword of Lee at Appomat
tox Court House, and who will dare
say that he made a military movement
for the issues Of which he had not thor
oughly provided? His army was
checked in its movements, but never
defeated. He fixed his eye on the
prize to be won, and never lost sight of
it until it was within his grasp.
1t was no mere brilliancy of action,
nor the dash and rush and enthusiasm
of the charge, which won his battles,
but the clear intellectual balancing of
forces, the sheer weight and might of
heroes who marched to victory when
he led the way.
HE KNEW MEN,