The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-04-28
A MONUMENT FOR GEN. GRANT.
The Ground Has Been Broken
at Last.
The Ceremonies Conducted Under the
Direction of the Grand Army OF the
Kepublic-Gcneral Horace Porter, the
Orator of the Day, Delivers an EIo-
quent Eulogy on the Life and Services
or tho Dead Soldier and Statesman.

Ground was broken to-day at Riverside
park for the monument which Is to be
raised at the tomb OF General Grant.
The ceremonies were in charge of the
Grand Army of the Republic and were
very impressive.
When the sod was broken by Com
mander Freeman, of the Grand Army OF
the Republic, the United States steamer
Yantic anchored in the Hudson river,
off the park, and fred twenty-one guns
at intervals of thirty seconds. The
feature Of the occasion was the music
of the Marine Band and large chorus
of children.
General Horace Porter was the orator
of the day.
He delivered the following euology
upon the life and services of the late
General Grant:
Most of the conspicuous characters in
history have risen to prominence by
gradual advances, but Ulysses s. Grant
came before the people with a sudden
bound. Almost the first sight caught
of him was in tho blaze of his camp
fire and the flashes of his guns those
wintty days and nights in front of
Donelson. From that time until the
browning triumph at Appomattox he
was q leader whose name was the har-
binger of victory.
| His rise from an obscure lieutenant to
the command Of the veteran armies of
the great republic his transition from
a frontier post of the untrodden West to
the Executive Mansion of the nation;
his sitting at one time in q little store
| in Galena, not even known to the Con
| greSsmen from his district; at another
time striding through the palaces of the
old world, with the descendants of line
of kings rising and standing uncovered
in his presence; his humble bin tn in an
obscure town scarcely known to tho
geographer; his agonizing illness and
courageous death in the chief city of the
country he had saved with nations
prayers brcathed in his behalf from
every pulpit and every Preside in the
land. These are some of the features
to tho imagination, excite mems won
der and fascinate all who make study
Of his life.
General Grant possessed in a striking
| degree all the characteristics of sue
cussful soldier. His methods in war
fare bore the stamp of originality and
ingenuity. His success depended more
upon his powers of invention than
| adaptation. The fact that he has been
compared at times to nearly all the
great commanders of history is the best
| proof that he was like none of them.
| Ills sclf-reliance was one of his most
pronounced traits. lie assumed the
gravest responsibilities with their at.
tcndant risks without asking anyone to
share them. lie had fertility Of re-
sources and faculty of adapting the
means at hand to the accomplishment
of his purposes, which contributed in no
small degree to his success. Both his
moral and physical courage were equal
J TO every emergency in which he was
placed. Never unduly clated by victory
or depressed by defeat, he was calm
amidst excitement; patient under trials
and never in his life uttered an oath or
| imprccation.
So brilliant was his career as SOL
der that we are too apt to overlook the
successes he achieved as a statesman,
but when we sum up tho events of his
presidential terms their magnitude is
such that they challenge comparison
with those of any other chief magistra @
since the foundation of the Government.
At the close of his eight years OF hon
est, earnest labor, he left no unfinished
!
There was peace within our borders,
peace with all the world, and the name
of America stood higher on the honor
roll of nations than it ever had stood
before.
II there be one word which deserves
better than any other the predominant
ing characteristics of his nature, that
word is loyalty. He was loyal to his
friends, loyal to his family, loyal to his
country, and loyal to his God.
lie was created for great emergenc es
1t was the very magnitude of the task
that called forth the powers which mas
tered it. In ordinary matters he was
an ordinary man; in momentous affairs
he lowered as giant. When performing
the routine duties of company post
there was no act to make him conspic-
uous above his fellow officers, but when
he welded corps and armies the great
qualities OF tho. commander flashed
forth, and his master strokes of genius
| stamped him as the foremost soldier of
his age. When he hauled wood from
his little farm and sold it in St.
Louis his tinanciering was hardly
equal to that OF the small farmers
about him, but when message was to
be sent by President to Congress that
would juncture the fallacies of the in
flationists and throttle by veto the
attempt Of unwiso legislature to Grip
pie finances of the Nation, state
paper was produced so profound in its
reasoning that it has ever since COM
manded the wonder and admiration OF
every believer in a sound currency. lie
was made for great things, not for little
Even the valor of his martial deeds
was surpassed by the superb hcroism
displayed when attacked by fell disease,