The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-07-27
General Grants Character and Public Serv-
ices Furnish Themes for DiScOurses to
a Number Of Congregations.
Hon. w. FL. Calkins's Address at the
seven.h-street Methodist Church.
Sermons by Reys. Mcconnell, Hyde, CAN'T
Mitchell, Hunter, Jeffery, Bradley and
NeighbOr-SerViceS at Other Points.
GEN. GRANTS CHARACTER.
Hon. W. III. Calkins' Address at the Seventh
Straef Methodist EhurcI,

L
Methodist Church, Major w. H. Calkins deliv-
| cred to good audience the following address on
General Grant.
| The dusky wing of death has darkened the
door Of the household of the greatest military
cheftain of the age. He who had commanded
| in the hundred we'll fought battles and who
never encountered defeat; he who haGned serried
| columns 60 victory who had redeemed the pledge
| Of the fathers to perpetuate the republic; he
| who had never dinched in battle nor retreated
| he who had been elevated to the highest militia
| ry rank which a republic could bestow; who had
| been twice elected President but who was
! greater as a citizen and rendered more illustri-
| Gus without title He who had filled the
| world with his fame, and was acknowledged by
| kings, princes and poteEtates as the greatest
| living military genius of the world, and around
whom cluster the names which history will
! make famous in thely respective countries, has
| at last in the battle of life, fallen victim TO
! natures abhorence'-death.
| The country which gave General Grant birth
| knows his life by heart l shall not dwell upon
that. His military exploits and victories will be
| the theme which will inspire the pen of the his
| torian when we are gone l shall not enlarge on
| them
| His civil administration in an epoch following
the devastation of internecine war are written
in the official archives of the Nation. | shall not
| dwell upon them. His splendid receptions in the
courts of the Old World, and the honors paid
! him fill a volume of a thousand pages | shall
| not amplify them.
All these treated in the aggregate or separatelyH
| Will be written ana rewritten. amphfed and con
| densed, and from each and every one of ,neIl
lessons will be drawn fruitful of thought and
| productive of great good.
In the brief epitoune OF words by which | shall
attempt to characterize his life and death, shall
| on this occasion glance at but one or two of his
| most excellent qualities, seeking thereby to do
| JUSTICE in part, to the great life that has de-
| parted, and draw useful lessons beneficial to
| to those who live after MN.
| One Of the traits of his character was his sim
pllcity of act and word. By those who were
close to him 1t is unhesltatingly affirmed that no
word or sentence ever passed his lips in the
ordinary topics of conversation which would
| offend the most delicate sensitive ear His
| language and conversation were absolutely
| chaste. He possessed what Victor Hugo says
in his philosophical creed the three steps of
the supreme adder-love of liberty, love of
equality, love of fraternity. In his dealings
with men, whether from civil or military stand
| point, he seems always to have been guided by
these three cardinal principles.
| lie loved liberty because 1t was right, and to
| vindicate it hurled armies against armies with
terrific force; crushed out human life as fi were
of no value, ali for the purpose of llherating
race and inscrloinS anew the words liberty
and union" in the laws of his country.
| He believed in equality because it is a fact
| and as the chief executive of the greatest nation
| on the earth. he approved the principles enunci-
| ated in the amendments of its Constitution,
| which made all men equal before the law. With
equal iirlnness, and a resolut6 determination to
enforce and execute the law of equality, he de-
| manded of his officers Of justice that they "let
| no guilty man escape
He believed in fraternity because he felt it
! duty. When he had crushed the rebellion and
1t had withereG and died under the blows which
he dealt he extended a fraternal hand to the
| VanqulShed, and bade them return to their
homes III security, retaining to themselves their
property because it would be useful in the pur
| suits of peace to which he had consigned them
| by his victories. And when his predecessor, as
| the Chief Executive of the Nation ordered his
vanqulshed foes to be brought 70 trial for trea
son, he interposed this feeling for them. and
firmly notified the executive that his sword
and his honor were pledged for their
security, so long as they remained
to stop the further efusion of blood and to spare
the lives of his men as we'll his adversaries,
he had written as one of the terms of the capitu
| lation at App0mattoX that while they his ad-
| versaries, remained in the peace of the State
they should not be disturbed for past offenses.
| To this he had pledged his sword and his SOL
dierly honor. This act of fraternity, sealed
| upon the battlefield, has passed into history as
! tho final determination OF the great and bloody
| struggle.
What can be nobler, or what can be more
sublime, than the enforcement of this stpua
| ton, when the quiet soldier said eff this
agreement is broken, and these, my adyersarles,
are disturbed, L surrender title which the
| Republic has voted me, and the sword which it
has placed in my hands"
Criticism finds no place here am here to an
nounce as a fact that General Grant possessed
| these qualities; that they became the rule of
action which guided him through his eventfnl
| life; that he never swerved one iota one lot or
one title from the path to which they pointed,
| and that he finally died bearing the same Cesti-
| mony which the fruits of his life illustrate
| am not one of those who believe that General
! Grant had interviewer in his nattire a strata of
! coarseness, or better expressed probably by the
| word indifference, which made him i'm pervious
| to public sentiment or careless of public iuGg-
ment. He had his own standard of morals both
for public and private action That it differed
| widely from the standard set up by some of his
critics do not deny. But that their standard is
| higher, or upon a more elevated plane than his,
| do not concede. One thing | affirm, and that is
that General Grant mover swerved from the line
of conscientious duty moral sense. Nothing
illustrates this trait Of his character so we'll as
| his veto Of the initiation bill which passed Con-
! gress during his last term of Office He did not
pretend to be the superior of many in
official life, in craftsmanship, nor did he pretend
to be so well verSed as they in political econ
omy His warmeSt friends, those nearest
| him in political and personal fellowship, were
strong advocates of the measure, and it is said
he thought of yielding to their superior iudg
ment. But when he considered the field covered
| by the bill he could not convince himself that it
was right in principle With all these influences
pressing upon him. and ! may we'll say in the
face OF them he delivered a state paper to
the country which Will live long one of the
tersest and clearest statements Of the questions
| involved ever the good fortune of any man to
compose.
Another illustration of his unyielding DISPOSE
ton, where duty is involved, is found in a recent
incident in his sick chamber. The forepart OF
| the night was far spent, yet sleep was banished
from his eyelids. Those about him who were
administering comfort at last suggested that
some game might be INDUCED in which would
help to pass away tho time, which hung so
heavily around the sick mans bedside To this
he yielded. But after moment he said: This
is Saturday night what time is tF and being
informed that it was midnight. he SAID:
| The Sabbath day is too close at hand To indulge
in any such recreation"
His friends as firm as iron rivitei with
! steel A man who once gained his confidence
| and could approach hum under the name of