Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1891-06-03
TRIBUTE TO A HERO.
Gen. Wise's Address at the Tomb of Gen.



Grant.
NEW York. May 3O.-Gen. John A.
Wise delivered the Memorial Day ora
ton at Grants tomb. He said
In this tomb lies one whose great quail
ties OF head and heart, whose bravery,
whose simplicity, whose magnanimity,
whose patience, whose steadfaStnesS of
purpose, whose loyalty to every obligation,
whose capacity for administration in the
highest offices in the world, military and
civic, have placed his name as among the
most remarkable men who have ever lived.
The theater of his career was only the
United States of America; the most dra-
matte episodes of his life were in his char
acter as leader of one of the armies OF his
divided people. Yet, even on that narrow
field, and under those restricting condi-
tiOnS, he so bore himself that the whole
world watched him, and when his work
was finished proclaimed him TO be of the
stamp of true greatness rarely developed;
and of greatness. blended with such
qualities of manhood as entitled him to be
held up as an example to the world.
Continuing, Mr.. Wise said that the
man is surely great whose fame is world
wide, and such was Ulysses S. Grant
The speaker pictured people of all
nations reading and dreaming of the
soldier-president, and said men will
model their characters upon this IDEAL
when the people of the present are for
gotten, while by the memory of his in
domitable pluck columns will surge
forward by desperate assault, in CEN
turtles to come. Mankind will be
stronger, emulating his endurance
and tortitude; war will be less brutal;
victory less arrogant; defeat less bitter;
and human nature moro gentle, by the
conspicuousness of his moderation, his
magnanimity, his kindness 10 his foes,
and his yearning longing when war
was past, for fraternity and peace.
Continuing he said:
This, my brethren of the North and
South, is the vision which l saw of late:
Through the open portals Of the great be-
yond I saw the boundleSS plains of
Walhalla-where, far as the eye could
reach, were spread the snowy tents of
GhoStly LegioES ranged beneath the ban
ner of eternal peace. L heard the BOOM
ing of Heavens artillery, the strain of ce-
leStial bands, and the hoarse roar of shout
ing thousands. Here and there, out of the
hurrying hosts, stood out the faces Of
the long ago, young and fresh, as we knew
them when they volunteered, the cruel
scars all gOne-thc blood stains washed
away. Now and again came forth clarion
voices Of command; voices silent since we
heard them on the beleaguered line of Pc
tershurg, or in the bloody angle of Spott-
Sylvania; voices which startled the dOting
memory, and made the old heart leap, if
but for one thrO5, with the pulse Of q long
dead youth. l saw and heard them all
just as we knew them-your brothers and
OurS-your old generals and ours-no long
er arrayed in opposing ranks, but side by
side as brethren
Once again heard the steady tramp and
saw the wheel and flash Of marching thou
sands, at a grand review On sunny
slope, i'll most pellucid air, beneath a
streaming standard famed by supernal
breeZes, I saw assembled the field and staff
OF the army OF peace.
There sat Grant Oh Egypt, and by his
side was Lee on TraveIer-the same Grant
and Lee we knew Of OLD, save that the lines
Of strife and care were smoOthed away
Clustered around them in fraternal groups
were all our early loved and lost.
There were Sedgwick, and REYNOLDS. and
Stonewal Jackson and Pat Clcburne.
There were Mcpherson and Phil Kearney.
There were Garrett and Armistead with
! their Gettysburg Smile-there were the
Pegrams, standing near to Meade Han
cock and breckenridge were side by side
Bragg and McClellan-ThOmas and Hood
Stuart and Sheridan. Thus was the hill
side thronged. Thus were they mingling
in indlScriminate fraternity.
From the W1llOwy ferry. where the
River Of Time is crOSSed-Where, so long
ago, Stonewall Jackson crossed over and
rested beneath the shadow of the trecs-I
saw an escort advancing. Up the lines it
came, surrounding two aged warriors,
walking arm in arm. From right to left,
swelling and rolling and dying away along
the lines, with the thrill Of the olden DAYS
came the wild cheering as Sherman and
Johnston passed on to rejoIn their long
lost hosts.
Then there was massing Of men. and
hushed eXpectant Stiffness, as the Great
Silent spoke thus:
Soldiers of the army of the Hero Dead,
This day let all rejoic
By the clearer light Of truth and broader
view which we possess, we have been
brethren, since long ago in the land of
etornal peace. Yet hath OUT happiness
been ever tempered by regrct az thought of
| OF our earthly brethren-still divided in
| fratrlcidal strife. This day dlspels that
gloom. Arm in arm: no longer foes. but
brethren in a reunited land; Sherman and
| Johnston this day rejoin us, with these
| glad tldIngs Of great joy, more priced by
US than any earthly Treasure.