The rustler., 1891-10-16

WALTER Q. GRESHAM.
many great minds. and which seem to be the /
peculiar vice OF mea who have risen Ike |
him from humble antecedents 90 a lofty rm. |
Inencr lie had none Of the strut oi the |
Flr.t Napoleon. as Il was revealed In his
private letters. his turvid addresses Co the
armies OF France. and his sgotistical as
sumption that he was mka OF destiny
and mono OF the boastfulness with
which Cmsar announced hls victor.
les n Asia Minor 10 tho Roman
senate. ever man Tested itself In the speech
or writings of the victorious leader Of our
armies Greatness was never more unoon-
scious OF itself than Il was in him In tic
flush and heat OF victory. after long Aud
desperate struggle for Il, when the blood ~
up aud the nerves are tense, the equilibrium
Of the calmest and steadlest men IL apt to bc
disturbed aud ebuilitlons of their extreme
satisfaction with themselves are not severe
ly ccnsurablc Hut this triumphs OF Grant
from Belmont TO Appomattox never de-
stroyed his balance. or affected the habitual
moderation OF his ut tserancc or dcmcanor
There Is nothing of the braErart In any OF
his ofiiclnl reports or dispatches, there Il no
arrogance. no regard for dramatic effect no
parade OF himself. They are plain and slm.
ple statements OF fact without any waste OF
words or rhetorical display. and might have
been prepared by any competent and unim.
passlnned onlooker The obvious and uni.
form purpose oi all of them II to give the
authorli sat W shington faithful an ac'
curato account OF the situation at the front,
and nothing more Even with the confeder.
acy nt his feet. as final testimony OF his skill
and prowcss as a military chicftain, he was
not betrayed into anything like cxultation
and stopped the jub liant firing OF salute In
| his command as soon as the sound OF the
,nnon reached his ears The gllttering
uniform of tho conquered leader OF the con.
| fedcrnte armies contrasted strangely with
| the plain and much worn habiliments OF the
conqucrdr. but Grant was more intent upon
the result Of the conference between them
| tnan his own appearance In H. And lt wns
| not the result of the surrender OF the con.
fedrrate armies and final cessation of hos.
| tuitles upon the north or upon partisan po
| tiles thai occupied hif mind In that su.
| preme moment he ceased TO be the leader OF
| the union army only. and thought and acted
with broad and enlightened statesmanshlp
and patriotism for the whole reunited coun.
try. He thought of the feelings and sensi'
bllltcs OF the yunquished. and OF making the
| road towards patriotic citizenship easy for
| them. He thought of the waste
lands and impoverished communities
| of the south, which were again under the
old fiap and qulckened a returning sense OF
obligation to It by restoring To every con.
| fedorate soldier the horse or mule which
had belonged to him, and might be used
again In making and garnerlng the crops on
which he and his family would depend for
their sustenance lie thought more of Civ.
ing an Impulse { D the pursuits of peace and
in iustry amongst a dlsorganized people oi
aiding them in the maintenance. Of them
selves. of bringing them back into social a,
well ms politicai relations with the rest o
the country. than upon his own part and lo
In the accomplishment of these salutnry
ends
The great confederate general was showT
that respect that generous natures alway
accord to misfortune bravely borne, nnt
proyed by his conduct and bearing tho trutl
OF the remark, that the greatest revcrses arr
most easily sustained by n dignity that be
longs to them. He and those who fough
under him with unsurpassed courage wcr
touched by the vlctor's delicate consldtra
tion for their feelings and welfare.
Grants mngnanimous nature wns lncapa
bic OF ANYTHING else. In tho struggle tina
ended In final capitulatlon he was nevc
nctuatcd by the spirit of revenge or hate, o
by aught else than high sense OF patrlotl
] duty. Wrong Us they wero and NJ they viii
, | ever be rated by impartial history. he "dl'
not question the sincerity OF the great mas
of those who were opposed to us" ''
should like to see impartial history written
he also said "sueh history will do ful
, cred TO the courage, endurance AM
soidierly ability of the American citizen
no mntter what section OF the country h
halls from, or In what ranks he fought
The failure of the southern people wa
not due TO any lack OF courag
, or persistence, OF leadership In tn
field. but IL was the inevitable result OF thei
having undertaken an impossible task. II
! natural that men who were capable OF sue
} nm effort should be cemented together 4
. bonds of sympathy and friendship, and =
long as they are loyal to the flag of the un
ion, brave and generous men will not cen
J sure them for cherishing an anectionate re
gard for one another. and for strcwlng flow
! ers on the graves Of their fallen comrades,
The suppression or cffacement OF one
self Is not always, and invariably. highl
mcrltorlous. A modest estimate OF one
powers may be quite Justified by the fact
4 ! An underestimate of one's powers may be
fault Grant had extraordinary abilities
. | and while he never dwelt upon, or though
about their greatness or measured O
compared them with the abilities OF other
] he knew Just what they were. their exter
and limitations. what might be accom-
plishcd by them, and what was beyond the
reach lie was never misled by rating hin
self too high or too low. The timid distru'
!: with which he entered upon the engagemer
mt Belmont rapidly disappeared as his pow
, crs we're tested In subsequent campaign
Q and battles In Mexico he had shown ur
) IN istakablc sense and courage IN n subord
Q nate capacity, but in our late war he bega
a the study OF himself Us a commander an
s leader of men, and he soon mastered th
= lesson.
o As he became conscious @: ais powers
& relied with unshaken confidence upon h
4 own Judgment. lie held few II any council
0 of war. lie succeeded In great emergcnci'
r by his native strength of will and intollec
d and his resolute persistence where men
s more learning and better verscd In mliitai
g science, but with less natural capacit
n would have failed. What they are oblig'
). to loarn, he seemed to know intuitlvely. !
o disrcgarded elementary maxlms OF wa
W without hesitation. when they were plain