Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1899-03-15
THE LATE A. q. GARLAND.
An incident I'm EAis Career which
illustrates General Grants
Character.

udVt Openesi up a ftOOdSate OF remin-
essences. One was born in the ecx-
treme Northeastern corner of the
Union. another i'm Philadelphia and
The third in the South All three
were remarkable men. Each reached
nigh station, and each had an indi-
V1duality peculiarly his own. They
all had a host of friends. and each
left void in Washington not easily
filled. Dingley, an obscure country
edTtor, became a statesman pro
doundly versed in political economy
Young, bell boy in PHILADELPHIA
printing office. became the executive
edFtor of the greatest political news
paper on the continent. was the i'm
timate associate of President Grant,
had been American Minister to the
oldest empire on the face Of the
earth, and died librarian of congress-
Garland came down to us from a
former generation. While opposing
secession and voting for Bell and Ev-
erett, he became member of both
the House and the Senate of the
Confederate States, and when a boy
mad predicted THAT he would be At
torney General OF the United States
a prediction fulfilled under the first
administration of President Cleve-
land.
Dingley was not reminiscent
charac ter Life was serious with
him. He had little appreciation of
Ihumor, and was never given to
merriment. Rarely did he refer to
incidents in his early life. He re-
tanned his studious habits to the day
OF his death and was more of a stu.
dent than a reader. There was every
thing solid and nothing superficial
about him. Young read everything
novels, metaphysical works. history,
'bbography-aDd was ever abreast of
the current literature of the day.
HIS fund of "reminiscences was mex
hnustible, and he had more than the
average flow Of genality. Garland
combined many OF the traits of both
Young and Dingley, but had a per-
sonality more charming tnan either
Few were admitted to his confidence.
"A delightful conversationa1ist, he had
. great memory and a store of infor-
mation almost mira culous His remi-
nrscences were of enhancing in
terest, but were dealt out with ex-
IRENE hesitation and caution. All
were historical and shed light upon
uhe characters of men whose names
will ever stand on the roll of fame.
One incident related by him throws
a charming light upon the character
OF General Grant and President
johnson, and casts a lurid tinge upon
Secretary Stanton. 1t was told sew
eral years ago in the humble brick
quarters of Colonel William r. Smith,
the superintendent of the Bota mic
Garden. Garland and Smith were
kindred spirits. Both were great
readers, and they thoroughly en-
5oyed each others society. On the
night in question they sat in easy
chairs in the mellow gaslight, in the
oen devoted to Smiths unrivaleSl
collection of the works of Robert
Burns, detailing recollectrons of the
civil war. Smith had been a volun-
Teer IN Washington when the attack
OF General Fairly was repulsed. He
came NEAR being captured by his old
friend, General John &. Breckenridge.
and gave narrowing account of his
retreat from Fort Stevens to Wash
lngton on "a hot and dusty day in
July.
The narrative set Garland's memory
aglow. He described HRS visit to Wash
+.
thing was in confusion. Lincoln had
been assassinated. and there was an
ugly feeling in THE hearts of those
who had ait first manifested a gener-
GUS disposition toward the Confeder-
ates. Very few had taken the oath
of allegiance, and the status, political
and otherwise, of many distinguish
ed man was entirely undetermined
s1tff1i I,sla 20
seemed to be influenced by the a;tmos-
phere of Hast Tennessee, where more
Union soldiers had been sent to the
front than from any territory of SINH
lar size and population in the United
States.
Garland occupied rooms at the Kirk
wood Hotel, Twelfth street and Penn
Sylvania avenue. He had plenty of
Confederate money. but it was value
less, and he retained his apartments
through the Kindness of an old friend.
who loaned him several hundred dol
lars. 1T was an era of indecision and
apprehension. Booth had been shot,
and the whole country was in an nm
roar. Garland. in quiet dignity. was
awaiting the current of events.
while at his hotel one evening a
W
descended to the parlor. and found
there the wife of the Hon. Clement c..
Cfay, Jr. She was a lady of remarka-
bile beauty. and of superior literary
attachments. Before the war she had
moved in the highest circles in Wash
dngton society. Her husband had been
concerned in the conspiracy of George
N. Saunders and others, and was then
"a prisoner at Fort Warren. He was
in ill-health, and the climate and con.
nnemenIt were against his recovery.
With the surrender of Appomattox
and the disbandment of Sherman
and JohnSton's armies she had re-
paired to Washington anNiously seek.
ing the liberation OF her hrlsban nd
Having been repeatedly rebuffed, she
sought the advice of Garland. He
heard her story, and expressed the
deepest sympathy. He advised her to
seek an interview with the president,
and ask him to review the case and
extend clemency ito her husband.
Nurtured amid the most aristocratic
and chivalric spirits of the South.
she shrank from such an ordeal. The
Confederate feeling toward Johnston
was not to be measured by the feeling
toward Lincoln. Johnston was a
Southern man but not one of the
elect. He had been plain country
tablor, who received the rudiments OF
his education from his wife. A strong
Union man, he was credited with an
luminosity akin TO that OF Parscn