The Washington times., 1902-12-22
MRS. GRANT TRUE TYPE
OF AMERICAN HATRON
DR.. Bristol EulogiZeS Mem
ory of Dead Woman.
HELPED MAKE HUSBAND"
Points Out Grandeur Of a Life Devoted
To Home Rather Than
to Society.
~HELPED MAKE HUSBAND

large crowd gathered at the Metro
politan Methodist Episcopal Church yes
terday to hear the pastor, the Rev. Dr.
Frank NJ. Bristol. deliver a memorial
| sermon on the dean OF Mrs. Julia Dent
Grant. It was a sermon full Of force
and an earnest tribute TO noble wo-
man.
Because OF the brief time allotted
for the funeral services Of Mrs. Grant
yesterday. nothing was said OF her beau
tiful character" said DR.. Bristol. "sR
gracious woman retaineth honor is the
scriptural selection shall take for my
theme. Our Americanism demands for
this woman the right TO repose beside
her illustrious husband They were aa
one in patriotism and duty and they
shall be as one forever in an historic
/ Immortality.
True Greatness In Woman.
True greatness in a woman does not
demand that she he a Deborah. a Joan
OF Arc. George Eliot; It does not re-
quire her to step from femininity into
the world Of action and among men OF
affairs. The home furnishes as broad a
field and an opportunity as great as the
arena Of politics for the work OF a
good woman. It Is aot the masculine.
but the gracious. woman that retaine.sss
honor.
The word 'grscious' conveys to US the
knowledge Of a woman OF culture. gem
tleness. and good breeding: a daughter
OF God and a daughter Of the people.
Martha Custis married George Washing
ton and b. her traits Of character made
him the man he was. Julia Dent helped
God to make a great man OF Ulysses S.
Grant. She discovered U. S. Grant. she
saw in him power and greatness before
anyone else.
julia Dent was plain, substantial
girl. not very beautiful and not very
cultured. but a commOn-sense and do
nestle young woman. She was an in
fnitely better type Of American girlhood
than the Gibson girl Of today. Grant
was q plain. stolid. and democratic man.
A fippant society girl could have seen
nothing attractive in the young Heuten-
ant Julia Dent saw his real manhood
and married him.
Lifted Genius From Oblivion"
Since the death Of General Grant Mrs.
Grant has led 2 quiet. retired life.
Through Illness and infrmities she has
not been active socially. Maybe the
younger generation has let her slip from
its memory. American people must re-
member the gracious wife OF the great
soldier. Nc man owed more 10 his wife
than did General Grant. and It is doubt
ful If he would ever have reached fame
had it not been f0E her influence. she
helped to lift that genius from oblivion.
Few people have ever begun life to-
gether In a more modest home than
theirs. 1t was a small house, lily To-
Gated in Detroit. Some one told the
young man the place was poorly located
and in very noisy neighborhood. Char
acteristic Of the great generals blunt
ness, he replied: IF home has hell out
side Of it, there is heaven within Mrs.
Grant was simple in her tastes. Her
domesticity was a crowning feature"
The pastor then recited many pleas
ing incidents Of her devotion TO her
children and pointed out the grandeur Of
a woman whose life is devoted to home
and family rather than more worldly
matters. by nature laid upon the shouI-z
ders Of men.
Life Before Public.
Continuing, DR.. Bristol referred to her
ife before the public. He said:
She was tAsse ===:=si who was to be-
the first lady in the land. the mistress
Of the White House. Once in that town
a man came to ask young Grant for a
contribution toward building a church
in the neighborhood. Mr.. Grant gladIvi
gave a sum, and when asked by the vis-5
itor what he thought OF the need OF a
church for the ne;ghb0Thood, answered. 1
I do not attend church as much as I
should. but Julia and the children Go.
think we should have a Sunday school
here, too This was the feeling in his
heart-for Julia and the children. This
was ths mother that typifed the fact
that the hand that rocks the cradle
rules the world
Every such mother Is worthy OF her
eulogy. The highest praise that can be
bestowed upon woman are those OF de-
voted and faithful motherhood. All great
men come from gracious motherhood.
AS long as We have true. devoted moth
ers we shall have liberty and greatness
In our land.
''She was twice the lady OF the White
House; gracious, diplomatic. and do
nestle. Probably she did not put on
quite as much style as some Of the So
ciety crowd desired. Mrs. Grant car
ried with her into the White House the
same spirit that made heaven Of the lit
tie humble home In Detroit many years
before.
Her Valuable Influence.
Then and since Mrs. Grant has ever
exerted a valuable and powerful in
huence in ccmenung the sections OF the
country together after that memorable
struggle. To the very last her heart and
vQIcc, were. for peace. She was a South
sfr Woman, but she had given herself for
better or for worse to the Northern SOL
der. Her Southern birth gave her a Pc
culiaTly great and pleasing influence
over Southern wCmen IN her task to
bind up the broken hearts and destroy
the gulf between them and their North
ern sisters,
Mrs. Grant was a devoted grand
mother true and faithful mother. and
a loving and faithful wife She was a
gracious woman. Today her body sleeps
with that nf hnr hero She e4anTe ono,