The times., 1898-10-23

ed at Alright, transcend the heroism O
the mediaeval stories.

eu at sTiSnt, tranSceHu the heioisAAi Va
the mediaeval stories.
This Is still further brought out in the
following chapters, which describe Grants 3
life In ST. Louis and Galena, just before
the war. His farming life had failed In
two ways: his health had broken down,
and he had been obliged to give up his
place 10 keep his wife among her own
people. 1t vas If he were destined
to know all the private grief and dis
appointment; that n man know, by
way of preparing him for the inevitable
doubt and uncertainty of war. Garland
says, in n significant paragraph which
concentrates in itself all the meat of sew
eral previous chapters:
Those dark days were days OF preparation. OF
growth. In this six-year struggle great powers OF
thought. of reserve, of concentration, were devil
| oped. His conspicuous weakness in certain di-
| rections mad him watchfu and kept him sym
pathetic His poverty made him understand men.
| His life with slaves and Shareholders gave him
the key TO their motives and to their conception
! If the great slavery QUESTION. Thus far his life
/ had been led midway between the South and the
Ncr.h. Geographically he was fitted to under
stand both sides of any sectional controversy.
One of the fine touches of the book oc-
! ours in Garlands description of Grants
| life in Galena. Ee says that Capt. Grant
was bill clerk and collective agent, but
| that, in fact, he sold stock, bought hides
! and made out bills for goods, ali in the
same day. Sometimes he sold Russian
| bristles worth So per pound for 10 cents
| an ounce, but, the author adds, when
| Capt. Grant was buying raw hides from
the farmers-things with which he had
| had Xperience-they found him "a
mighty shrewd buyer He could deal
! with any sort of problem where he could
use his reason or experience; he could
turn his hand to odd jobs of work, but
| in matters of routine. or bargains where
! success depended on overreaching the 9TH
er man. Grant was likely to make mis-
takes. The plain people of the town sum
med him up by saying thai he had no
push in business. They were exactly
right.
Then came the war, and Grant at once
offered his services to his country. His
sense of honor - honesty comes out in
a curious way in the letter making this
offer. He says:
l feel it the duty Of everyone who has been
educated at the Governments expense to ofTe-
their services for the support o that Government.
Anything more matter-of-fact and less
bombastic than that would be hard 10
| conceive
Several dramatic scenes are given. show
ing the quiet force and thorough train
ing of the unknown West-Pointer as he
moved among men in the early days of
the conflict. Then came the me when
as general in command. he became the
cynosure of all eyes. 1t Is a fact of some
significance. in view of recent events that
when Grant was offered the command OF
the armies of the United States he de-
| termined 10 accept the offer, provided
he could be free from the interference
of the War Department" The chapter
in which Garland describes the meeting
OF Lincoln and Grant, and the presenta.
tion of the latter's commission is well
worth reading. A part of it runs as fol-
lows:
Accompanied by Senator Cameron, of Penn.
sIrania, Grant went to the White House to re.
port TO the President. Doubtless he would NOT
have gone had he known that the President was
holding a reception, fer he was in his EVERYDAY
uniform, which considerably worn and ftde.i
The word had passed swiftly that Grant was in
town, and that he would call upon the President p.
therefore the crowd dtnser than usual They
did not recognize him at first: bat as the new
spread, curious murmur arose, and those who
stood beside the President heard il and turned
toward the door. As Grant entered hush fell
ever the room. The crowd moved back and
left the two chief men Of all the nation facing
each other
Lincoln took Grants small hand heartily in his
big clasp, and said: I'm glad to see YOU. gen.
| eral'
1t was an impressive meeting. There stood the
supreme Executive Of the nation and the chief
Of its aF1nies-the one tall, gaunt. almost form
~.
ro~ful eyes; the other compact, Of good size.
but looking small beside the tail President, hi.
demeanor modest, almost tirnid, but in the broad
square head and in the close-clipped lins show.
! ing decision. resolution, and uncomfortable
bravery. In fateful way these two men.
both born in humble conditions. far from thu
esthetic, the superfne the scholarly, now stood
. together-the rail-splittcr and the prop-hauer
In their hands was power for good than
any king earth possessed. They came Of tn
: West, but they stood for the whole nation, and
for the Union, and for the rights Of man
Lincoln seemed to be profoundly pleased Will
>. Grant. He found in him Of his own people
, suited 10 his conception Of an American citf
: zen, man of the .'plan people" whom he said
God must have loved, he made 50 many OF them
= He liked Grants modesty, and too shrewd I,
| cali il weakness. lie had tried handsome ant
. dashing generals, and big and learned generals
and cautious and strategic generals, and generals
! I who filled a uniform without a wrinkle and VIII,
= glittered and CLEANED the parade, and haC
| voices like golden bugles, and who could wall
/ the polished floor Of ballroom with the grace o
: dancing master, and generals bearded and cir
| cumspcct and severe. Now he was TO try a maj
:; who despised show. who never drew his saber o
/, raised his voice or danced attendance upon wo
= msn; shy, simple-mindsd rsticent man. VIII,
| fought battles with one sole purpose to pu
; down the rebellion and restore peace to the ma
y ton; man who executed orders swiftly, surely
: and expected the like obedience in Others; maj
, who hated politics and despised trickery.
The citizens Of Washington could hard
: " believe he had visited the city at all. Tn
:. New York Herald said: I'VE have found ou
hero
y After nine days spent in preparing TO
his campaign Grant returned to Washing
. ton.
e On the day Of his return he held his first in
q terview with Lincoln alone. Lincoln said in hi
half-humorous fashion: Il have never professe
: to be military man nor to know how cam
= paigns should be conducted, and never wanted L
: interfere in them. But procrastination on tn
e part Of generals, and the pressure Of the peopl
l. at the North and of Congress, which is alway
= with me, have forced me into issuing a series o
y military orders. don't know but they were al
l wrong, and I'm pretty certain that some Of then
D were. All want ever wanted, is some on
h to take the responsibility and act-and call o.
I me for all assistance needed | pledge myself t
, use all the power OF the government in render
- ing such assistance That the subStanc
of the interview, Grant replying simply: 81 vii
: do the best ! can, Mr.. President, with the mean
i at hand
s Lincoln said later, in reply to a question: -
! don't know Gen. Grants plans, and don't wan
to know them. Thank God, I've got general a
. last!'
). It would be impossible without to
/ lengthy quotation to reproduce the bes
! parts of Mr. Garland's chapters on III
. war. His account of the fall of Rich
= mond and of the surrender of Lee
a strikingly dramatic, yet simple. 1t ha
- the fascination of novel and the atmos
= phere of truth.
. Mr.. Garland's individual view of hi
= subject comes out more clearly still in tn
II last part of the work, dealing with til
,. period of reconstruction, with Grant a