Morning journal and courier., 1891-06-04
THE GRANT STATUE.

THE GRANT STATUE. Dwelling of the Monument at Galena
 to the Memory of the Dead Hero
 Chauncey M. Depevv's Eloquent Ad-
 dress Yesterday.
 Thirty years ago your city of Galena
 numbered among it's citizens man so
 modest that he was little known in the
 community; merchant so humble that his
 activities were not felt in your business.
 Three years later his fame illumined the
 earth and the calculations of every com
 mercial venture and of every constructive
 enterprise in the country were based upon
 the success or failure of his plans. He
 was then supporting his family on thou
 sand dollars year and before the third
 anniversary of his departure from your
 city he was spending four millions a day
 for the preservation of the Union. One of
 the patriotic meetings, common at that
 period all over the north, was held here to
 sustain President Lincoln in his call for
 seventy-fve thousand men to suppress the
 rebellion. The ardor and eloquence of John A. Rawlins so impressed an audi tor whom none of the congressman and prominent citizens of the platform had ever met, that he subsequently, made the orator his chief of staff and secretary of war. Some one discovered that Captain Grant, 8 graduate of West Point and 8 veteran of the Mexican war, lived in this
 city, and he was invited to preside at the formation of military company. He was %bof foIu hoorl h1o cpaoot, pf three sentences, but in that short address was condensed all the eloquence and logic | of the time. s'You know the object for which you are assembled. Men are needed l to preserve the Union. What is your | pleasures" He organized and drilled that company, and led it to the governor at l Springfield. By that march Galena lost a citizen, and the republic found it's savior. MT. Depew eloquently reviewed the on ward and upward progress of Grant, and proceeding gave the following comparison of great military chieftains:
 Grants career will be the paradox of history. Parallels cannot be drawn for him with the great captains of the world. Historians, by common consent, place AL exander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte in the front rank. But each of them had learned the art of war by continuous service and unequalled opportunities, and displayed the most bril- liant qualities at every period of their achievements. Hannibal and Caesar had won universal fame in the thirties Alex
 ander died at thirty-t three, ,grieving because he had no more worlds to conquer, and
 Napoleon at thirty y-seven was master of
 Europe. But Grant at forty was an ob- scure leather merchant in Galena Yet the moment that the greatest responsibili-
 ties were thrust upon him and the fate of his country rested upon his shoulders, this indifferent farmer, business man, merchant became the foremost figure of the century The speaker now showed a parallel be- tween Grant, Washington and Lincoln in that each was 8 supreme tower of strength to the republic in it's most critical periods.
 Proceeding, MT. Depew said:
 The most signal services rendered by Grant to his country were at Appomatox, and in his contest with President Johnson. The passions aroused by the civil war were most infamed when the confederacy collapsed. Grief and vengeance are bad counselors. One serene intellect was pos sessed of an intuition which was second to prophecy, and was clothed with power. He saw through the vindictive suggestions of the hour, that the seeded states must be admitted to the union, and their peo- pie vested with all the rights of American citizenship and all the privi- leges of state government, or the war had been fought in vain. He stern ly repressed the expressions of joy by his troops as the vanquished enemy 1 marched by, with his famous order, ''The war is over, the rebels are our country men again, and the best sign of rejoicing
 after the victory will be to abstain from
 all demonstrations in the field" He gave to the confederates their horses and be- longings and told them to go home, culti- | vate their farms, and repair the ravages of war. He assured all, from Lee to the private soldier, that they would be safe and unmolested so long as they observed their paroles.
 To enter Richmond, the capital of the | confederacy, whose spires had been in sight of the beseigers so long, would have been resistless temptation for weaker man. But his mind was not on spectacu- l lar display or triumphal marches over hu- initiated foes. It was bent upon peace and | pacifcation. I know of no scene in our l history so dramatic as the meeting between l Lincoln and Grant at the White house l three days after the surrender at Appo- matox. The president, who had so loyaIly sustained the general, and the general, who | had so magnifcently responded to the con- | fidence of the president, met for the l last time in their lives. Grant returned l with deep emotion, the fraternal grasp of the only man in the country who fully un- | derstood and was in complete accord with the policy of reconciliation and repose The work of the warrior was done, and the
 labor of the statesman begun. Yesterday it was destruction, tomorrow it must be | reconstruction. That night the bullet of the assassin ended the life of our greatest l president since Washington and postponed | ec l the cementing of the Union for many years ! It gave the country the unfortunate ad- 1 ministration of Andrew Johnson, with it's | early frenzy for revenge and determination | to summarily try and execute all the rebel leaders, and it's later effort to win l their favor by giving them their
 states without pledges for the Unionist or the freedman and the government with out evidences of repentance or hostages for loyalty. The one sent consternation through the south and helped undo the work at Appomatox, and the other undu- I ly elated the controlling powers in the | rebel states, and neeessitated measures 1 which produced deplorable results. Grant l stood with his honor and his fame between ! the raging executive and the confederate generals and prevented reopening of the war; he stood with drawn sword between l the chief magistrate and a revolutionary congress, and stayed another rebellion
 There have been many presidents of the United States and the roll will be indefi- nitely extended. We have had number of brilliant soldiers, but only one great general. The honors of civil life could add nothing to the fame of General Grant, and it has often been argued that his career in the presidency detracted from his reputation. Such will not be the judg- ment of the impartial historian. He was without experience or training for public life, and unfamiliar with politicians and their methods. The spells system, from which he could not escape, nearly wrecked his first administration. His mistakes were due to a quality which is the
 noblest of human virtues, loyalty to friends. Even at this short distance from scenes so vivid in our memories, party rancor has lost it's bitterness and blindness. The president will be judged not by the politics or policy of the hour, but according to the perma- nent value to the republic, of the measures which he promoted or defeated. The fif- teenth amendment to the constitution was sure of adoption as one of the logical re- suits of the war. By it the declaration of independence, which had been glittering absurdity for generations, became part of the fundamental law of the land and the subject of pride and not apology to the American people. The pres