St. Paul daily globe., 1891-04-28
HONORING GRANT.

ing of Ground for the Monu-
ment.
NEW YORK, April 27.-Amidst the
plaudits of thousands of citizens, the
beating of drums, the booming of cam
non, the melody OF childrens' voices and
the elOquence of orators, ground was
broken to-day for the monument which
is to he raised at the tomb at Riverside
park, where rests all that is mortal of
the greatest of the heroes of the war of
the rebellion-the immortal Grant.
There, upon the hillside, gathered the
members of the Grand Army of the Re-
public and number of other bodies,
and ranging themselves around the
tomb paid reverence to the memory Of
him whom all nations honOred while in
life. On the Hudson river. decor
ated with bunting, lay anchored oppo-
site the tomb the war ship Yantic,
and at o'clock her guns commenced to
belch forth salute of twenty-one guns,
which were heard at intervals of thirty
seconds. On the platform near the
mound were gathered the members OF
the monument association, the members
of Alexander Hamilton post. q. 4. R.,
the leading members OF the various
Grand Army posts and the orators who
had been elected for the occasion. Be-
Jore the regular ceremonies commenced
Lawson w. Fuller, at the head of 800
children from the sheltering arms in
sti;ution and a drum and fife corps,
playing America" marched past the
tomb with flags dropped, each carrying
a bouquet of forget-me-nots, which was
cast upon the tomb. The Marine band
played an overture, after which Rev.
Dr. Clark Wright, chaplain of Depart
ment Commander Freeman'S staff. of
fered prayer and a chorus sang The
Star Spangled Banner" Commander
Freeman presided. In q few well
chosen words he introduced Gen.
Horace Porter, the. orator of the day.
Gen. Porter said:
Sixty years ago to-day, there was ush-
cred into this world q being who was des-
tined to stand pre- eminent in the history of
his country, and whose fame was to reach
INTO the uttermost parts of the earth. Most
of the conspicuous characters in history have
risen to prominence by gradual advances
but L. 5. Grant came before the people with
a sudden bound. Almost the first sight
caught Of him was in the blaze of his camp
fires and the flashes of his guns, those wintry
days and nights in front of Donelson From
that time until the crowning triumph at APP
pomattoX, he was leader whose name was
the harbinger Of victory. From the final
sheathing of his sword till his ashes were
y
citizen of the republic and the great
central figure of the world. Cen Porter
then, in an epigramatic way, contrasted
the obscurity of Grants early life with his
fame in later years; touched upon the salient
features of his character as a soldier and as a
chief magistrate; sketched the prominent
acts OF his presidential career. The speaker
said that his unbounded generosity to
friends, his magnanimity to foes will be re-
membered as long as manly qualities are ad-
mlred. He never tired of giving unstinted
praise to worthy subordinates for work that
they did. Like the chief artists who wrote
the DGobelin tapesteries be was content to
work behind the CLOTH letting those in front
appear TO be the principal contributors to the
beauty of the fabric The orator said that
the one word which more nearly character
lied Gen. Grant than any other was loyalty;
LOYALTY to his country, to his friends apd to
God. For this reason chiefly men were loyal
TO him. He was created for great emer-
gencies. In ordinary matters he was an ordi
nary man: in momentous affairs he lowered
as giant The speaker closed by saying:
mo effect of human hands can add single
laurel 10 his brow; all the honors earth can
give have been bestowed upon him; but the
people whom he served have resolved to
fashion tomb worthy of his ashes, and rear
in the monumental rock Il fitting tribute to
his fame
The chorus sang America" when
Commander Freeman arose to initiate
the particular ceremony of the day-the
breaking of the ground for the monu-
ment. The spade which he used was a
superb specimen of American handi-
craft, bearing an inscription giving
the chief events of Gen. Grants career.
Before turning up the sod, Commander
freeman said thai Greece had its heroes,
men who won fame by single act or
gave their lives to carry out noble
purpose. The world is full of monu-
ments to the great and good of genera
tlonS paSt-eVery nation has its sacred
shrine. Rome thus kept alive the mem
ory of her magnificent conQueStS and
histories and the men who achieved
them. England is full of memorials to
her distinguished rulers, generals, poets
and philanthropists. But the sacred
shrines of America are dearer to us than
any other. We heed with reverence the
conSecrated soil of Mount Vernon,
beloved Washington. We bow our
heads in silence and lift our hearts in
gratitude at the resting place of him
whose homely features and loving, loyal
heart will never fadeIfrom memory. Our
eyes tlll with teals as we stand beside
the monument of our beloved Garfield.
Almost every city and town
has its monument to the brave men who
fell on the battlefield, died in the hos
pital or wasted away in the sitting air
of the death-dealing prison. But we
come to-day to perform the preparatory
work for a monument to the grandest
soldier of them all-UlysSeS S. Grant.
Born in comparative poverty, he made
his way step by step to the highest
honor which this nation could bestow
Without brilliant genius or gifts of
oratory, he furnished inspiration for
others and pushed right on in his
purpose until the goal was reached.
His ashes rest here, but our broad land
is his burial place. We call him ours,
but the nations of the civilized world
We'd with each other in showing him
honor. 1--WE gather to-day" said The
speaker, mot simply as the representa-
tiyes of the hundreds of thousands. liv-
ing aud dead, whom he led to victory,
but of the entire nation, the men who
wore the gray as we'll as the men who
wore the blue. " Now. in the
presence of Almighty God and these
witnesses, we, the representatives of the
Grand Army of the Republic, break the
sod preparatory to laying the founda-
ton of the monument which shall stand
as slight expression of the love of this
nation for Its great chieftain, and shall
tell to all the world that the United
States of America does not forget her
heroic dead" At the close of his re-
marks, Commander Freeman took the
spade in his hands, and with it tossed
up the earth. This ended the ce1emo-
MES and the crowd disappeared.