The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-27
AT THE TOMB OF GRANT.

w I'LL dll TIE pump anu circumstance
that marching troops in splendid uni
form, stepping to the stirring music
of the bands; that squadrons of battle
ships, decked out in colors and thun-
dering salutes from their guns; that
the presence Of the president and his
cabinet, of the ambassadors and min
listers Of foreign nations and of the dis
tinguished men of the land, can give
to the ceremony, the monument erect
ed to Ulysses S. Grant will be dedi-
Gated today at Riverside, on the bank
| of the Hudson. Municipal as the event
is, eliminating the effort begun so
many years ago by the city Of New
! York to erect to the great commander
/ mausOleum adequate to his services
! and now completed after many humili-
ations the event is national more than
/ that, international in it's significance.
! The presence Of the ambassadors and
ministers Of all the governments rep
resented in Washington attests that
this man and his fame belong not alone
to the United States, but to the world.
But it is Grant, the man and the
! general, more than it is Grant, the
| president to whose memory honor is
| being paid by the nations today. No
| where in the land does there stand
monument raised to perpetuate the
memory of any president, as such. The
great white needle that pierces the sky
at the national capital commentaries
the memory and deeds Of the man who
made the nation possible, as does this
one at New York perpetuate the mem
DRY and deeds of the man who pre-
served it intact Had either Washing
ton or Grant gone from civil life to
the presidential chair, their final rest
ing places would be marked by no more
imposing pile than are those which
designate the places where the remains
Of their successors and predecessors
are inferred. 1t Is Washington and
Grant, the commanders, rather than
the civic administrators, who will live
in these monuments and in the pages
of history
Grant, as commander. had in pre-
eminent measure the simplicity Of
greatness. Like the ''embattIed farm
ers" who stood at Concord bridge and
fired the shot that echoed round the
world" Grant did great things not
knowing they were great" It is the
salient feature that stands out in his
! aud m he nd
"reminiscences contributed by those who
! came closely in contact with him. 1t
was the same quality of diffidence
that others construed into taciturnity
when they dubbed him the Silent
! Man" And 1t was the same quality,
working naturally and in it's proper
place when he was conducting cam
paigns, that, cut Of it's place as presi-
dent, brought so little additional luster,
put so much of blemish upon his adj
mintstrations. Simple and trusting,
unused to the guile of the wary, the
shrewd and the INSCRIPTIONS, he fell
! a victim to the suave schemers who
gained his confidence that they might
exploit their schemes Of plumber.
But posterity will forget all that and
cling to the narratives of what he did
as a soldier, from his diffident tender
Of services to the governor of Illinois,
| the scant courtesy shown him, his diff
cult access. to opportunity, and. that
gained, to his career from Donelson to
Appomattox. It will dwell on the ma
tive kindness of heart, the chivalrous
instincts, the true greatness of the man
shown in the final terms of surrender
accorded his opponents. and the con-
sideration shown the defeated and hu-
inflated army which had so stubborn
~ contested his way through the
Wilderness to Petersburg and victory.
1t is this that the nation and the ma
lions honor today and it is this which
will make the name Of Grant as en-
during as history.