The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-05-05
POLITICAL.
A Mighty Host.

diers and sailors whenever the neces-
sity arises, the veterans of the great
war in which among a host of great
captains he was greatest, the people of
the United States headed by their Pres
ident, governors of States and detach-
ments of the national guard, making a
mighty host, as numerous as that which
generation ago swarmed to the de-
tense of the Union, assembled in the
city Of New York on Tuesday Of last
week to do honor to the memory of
General Grant. United, these ele-
ments of American citizenship and
military power constituted the most i'm
posing pageant that ever on this CONT
nent paid homage to the memory of
man.
Unlike the funeral of the Great
Captain in August, 1885, it was not a
ceremony of mourning, though it bore
the semblance of second funeral. So
the great city bore not the emblems of
mourning but twas brave with flags
and bunting" Crowds that were be-
yond the city's means of transportation
filled the streets and We'd in friendly
rivalry for the best places to see the
spectacle. At an early hour the thor
oughfares of the great town were alive
with people, all animated by one pur-
pose, to reach some place where the
procession could be viewed to advan-
tage. Then the soldiery began to ap-
pear, foot, horse, dragons and artil-
lery, regular and volunteer. A mill
tary panorama spread on either hand.
Sixty thousand men were in the line of
the land parade and the procession was
over six hours in passing. Cheers rolled
up from the vast crowds all along the
line as the regulars, the various State, dis
plays, the President and other high Of
ficials or persons of distinction passed.
The widow of the dead commander,
with her children and grandchildren
viewed the pageant from the tomb
where his ashes lie. The greater inter-
est in the exercises at the tomb GEN.
tered in the addresses of President Nc
Kinley and General Horace Porter.
The President, himself volunteer SOL
der in the Union army, enlisting in
the ranks when boy of seventeen
years, spoke with the simple, direct,
well phrased and unpretending speech
of the soldier, and which so well suited
the subject and the occasion. The
subject required for it's exaltation no
high wrought eulogium. The name
and character of Grant are the hero's
only adequate eulogy. President Nc
Kinley said:
:" A great life, dedicated to the welfare of
theSnation, here finds its earthly corona
ton. Even if this day lacked the impress
siveness OF ceremony and was devoid of
pageantry, it would still be memorable, be-
cause it is the anniversary of the birth of
one. of the most famous and best beloved
American soldiers. A great life never dies.
Great deeds are imperlshable; great names
immortal. Gen Grants services and char
acter will continue undiminished in influ-
ence and advance in the estimation of man.
kind so long as liberty remains the corner
stone of free government and integrity OF
life the guaranty of good citizenship. Faith
full and fearless as a volunteer soldier, in
trepid and invincible as commander-in-
chief of the armies of the Union, calm and
confident as President of reunited and
and stronghold nation which his genius had
been instrumental in achieving, he has our
homage and that of the world; but brilliant
as was his public character, we love him all
the more for his home life and homely vir-
tues His individuality, his bearing and
speech, his simple ways, had flavor of
rare and unique distinction, and his Ameri-
canism was so true and uncompromising
that his name will stand for all time as the
embodiment OF liberty, loyalty and national
unity. Victorious in the work which, under
Divine Providence, he was called upon to
do, clothed with almost limitless power, he
was yet one OF the people-patient, patriotic
and Just. Success did not disturb the even
balance of his mind, while fame was power
less to swerve him from the path of duty.
Great as he was in war, he loved peace, and
told the world that honorable arbitration of
differences was the best hope of civilization
With Washington and Lincoln, Grant has
an exalted place in history and the affec-
tons of the people. To-day his memory is
held in equal esteem by those whom he led
to victory and by those who accepted his
generous terms of peace. The veteran lead
ers of the blue and the gray here meet not
only to honor the name of the departed
Grant, but to testify to the living reality Of
a fraternal national spirit which has tri-
umphed over the differences of the past and
transcends the limitations OF sectional lines.
Its completion, which we pray God to speed,
will be the nations greatest glory. 1t is
right, then, that Gen. Grant should have a
memorial commensurate with his greatness,
and that his last resting place should be the
city of his choice, to which he was so at
tached in life, and of whose ties he was not
forgetful even in death. Fitting, too, is it
that the great soldier should sleep beside
the noble river on whose banks he first
learned the art OF war and of which he be-
came master and leader without a rival
bub lou nOJ lOTRoJ JHb RlOTlOub ulSUlnCUlOu
with which the metropolis among the fair
sisterhood Of American cities has honored
his life and memory. With all that riches
and sculpture can do to render the edifice
worthy of the man, upon site unsurpassed
for magnifcence, has this monument been
reared by New York as a perpetual record
of his illustrious deeds. in the certainty
that as time passes, around it will assemble
with gratitude and reverence and venera
ton, men of all chimes, races and nationali
ties. New York holds in it's keeping the
precious dust of the silent soldier; but
his OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES he and his brave
comrades wrought for mankind-are in TIT
keeping of 100000 American citizens
who will guard the sacred heritage foreve
and forevermore."
General Porter's Grafton was splen
did tribute to his old commander, sucl
an expression of love and appreciation
and understanding as one could max
who had summered and wintered witt
him in his civil as we'll as his militar
career, who knew intimately both hi
public and his private life, who was hi
trusted aid and confdante. Gen. POI
ter said in conclusion:
His countrymen have paid him tribut
of grateful hearts; they have reared mont
mental rock, sepulchre for his ashes,