Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1891-03-05

hAn ; condition and when Grant assurad bf,,, .b..
such leader and such an army would mako ,bs,r
way out somewhere. that they eould No. h.
cut on in an open country hetold anrious an,ntrar
that sherman was all right; Grant saws thav a..
SAFE with sneh General and that IL thev can,o.
set ou' "here they want to, they can crawl hack M,
lhe Mole they went in att This burden ~ an
pense was rolled of the hearts of the north ana
rapture succeeded 1t when the first tidings from
sherman we're that he presented the city of sa-
Nahhah 10 President Liza coin as a Christmas off
wave on wave Of exultation swayed the hearts az
the people and sherman was enshrined in their
affections and has never lost his place.
Aou may call this immersion Of Shermau's army
IN the country of the enemy, this cutting Of all
communications and this pluuge-I say You may
call It courage, If You WILL but I call it faith: the
TWO virtues are closely allied and at times almost
indistinguishable. lie had faith in the valor Of his
men, he had faith that the country through which
he passed would afford him supplies he had faith in
the righteous cause in which he was engaged aud
IN the God of righteousness who throws the weigh,
OF his providenees ON the side OF justice and hu
manity. All, you think sometimes that faith is a
theological term, that faith is opposed to reason.
but there was faith in Gen. sherman, and a faith
\ not opposed 20 reason. Reason planned the cam
paign and faith executed It. What faith was there
that It is where faith the same in religion
that il is in practical life, that it is in great
military campaign. Can Christ save the most
wretehed, miserable, degraded human being from
his sinsS Reason says, yes" and faith leads you
TO cut all your communications and throw yourself
upon Him.
The fiery ordeal of war developed great many
sterling qualities in Gen. sherman 1t wasa irving
time and he stood the test He never proved him
self more than man, but he showed himself a
great aud NOBLE man. The severest tt st, however.
did not come to him during the war; the severest
test and that which gave pr5of positive of his
sterling worth was the period OF peace which sue
ceeded the war The exil;ences OF a great civil
war had lifted him to tmps nce where the gaze
of all America was turned upon him, and had made
him one OF the idols of the American people He
was an earnest SOUL too intent upon his work to
take note of It then; but as soon as the war was
over he stepped down and sequestered himself
from the public eye and IL is because we know the
feast about him since the war that we know tho
most about him. Ills very seclusion OF his person
makes his character conspicuous. lie might have
taken advantage of the love and generation in
which he was held TO have secured large political
prizes Offices and honors the highest in the gift of
this greatest Of the worlds great nations were aid
at his feet. He only needed to soop and pick them
up. But St0op he would not; he disdained them.
What an example for young men. Never take a
prize though It be crown studded with diamonds,
thick set If you have to st0op to pick IL up In the
stress OF political circumstances large parties were
anxious to fasten upon any one who gave prom
ise OF success. But Sherman was not in the
political market; he refuied to be hawked about
by contending PARTIES mingled with whose
patriotism there was strong admixture of pre-
tense, OF mockery. His soul was too earnest for
sham battles. He detested sbams and he gave
oppression 10 this feature of his character while
young man at West Point in 1910. when he
said he had no faith in the election OF President
Harrison, ''since his friends have thought proper
to envelop his name with log cabins, gingerbread,
hard cider and such humbugging, the sole object
OF which plainly is to deceive and mislead his
ignorant and prciudiced, though honest. fellow
citizens whilst his qualifications, his honesty,
his merits and services are merely alluded To-"
lie gave demonstration OF his adherence OF
shams by the long years of peace which have
succeeded the war and during which he has re.
manned out OF public office. He had fairly won
the nations affections and he did not propose 10
tage. II he should ask for Office he knew that the
people would ask no question ABOUT his merits,
about his fitness for the Office but vote for him
Tor what he had done and becauselthey loved him
and to accept office on any such terms would be
to do violence TO his lofty ideal OF character The
greatest mistake of Grants life was his accept.
ance Of the Presidency and hls apparent eager
ness for third term. He conquered the South
but he was himself conquered by the adulation
Of his countrymen. II was oAce proposed 10
promote Gladstone TO the House OF Lords; but
that Is the wrong proposition. Let us promote
The House Of Lords to the ggeat commoner. Would
you promote Gen. Sherman to the Presidency OF
the United States? No, let MS promote the
Presidency to Gen. Sherman. The man should
magnify the office and not the office the man Il
If only when we come to this part OF Sherman's
character that we find the true greatness Of the
man; he besieged and took many q rebel fort:
he was a great General, but when he was beseiged
by the lattery and the eutreaties Of an idoliz.ng
people, he resisted them until they were obliged
to raise the siege he was greater man. II Is right
here that my text finds its application "The
chariot OF Israel and the horsemen thereof
"A great and good man is nations best arma.
mcnt." Elijah rebuked the apostasy OF Israel
and faced the wrath of Ahab and the rage of the
tigress Jezebel there was nothing that could
cause him to waver or abate one ot or little from
his reettude. sherman resisted the arms OF the
South and The fatterv Of political party at the
north and he has perhaps rendered his country
a. great service by the latter act as by the
former.
There is one other feature Of his character
which must be mentioned in order to make this
sketch complete When he laid down his arms
the war was over for him. He cherished no
animosity toward the South; that bitterness
which ranked in the bosom OF many politician
who never heard the whistle OF bullet and which
is still kept lingering in life by artificial methods
was never felt by him his magIanimous spiri.
was above this. He turned from the war TO liv-
ing issues. He did net Ii in the past but in
the present. He did not consider the world
dead and pine for the return Of the 'Sixtles'
that he might live again In that halo OF glory that
surrounded the heros of the war. He well knew
hat fresh victories we're to be won. that the
war not the last step in the progress of the