Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1910-06-08
SEN. BORAH And
GEN. U. S. GRANT
Compares Great Army Leader With
Hannibal, Caesar and Ma
pOleOn.
toratlOn By w. 3. Borahl


study of his boyhood. He was born
neither to wealth nor want. His
parentage was neither illustrious nor
ignoble. All the days of his youth
were commonplace. His traits Of
character and trend Of mind were
without Significance. In no part Of
his early life is there the faintest
suggestion OF his future greatness.
For 38 years his career was uninter-
esting and uneVentful, and / do not
forget the Mexican war. Long after
the age at which Alexander had con-
quered the world and died, at
which Hannibal at Cannae had shak-
en- to it's foundations the republic of
Rome, at which Charles XII had
won the battle of Narva, at which
Napoleon had startled Europe by his
campaign in Italy, Grant was a most
humble citizen in a western village,
obscure even among those with
whom he lived. With marvellous re-
sources and guarantees this democra-
cy of ours has stored away in hum
Bile and secret places.
The conflict of 1860 found a nation
unprepared. 1t was unbelievable
that it would come. No trained
leader for the vast army of volun-
teers seemed at hand. Men could
only be fitted for the ordeals of
such an hour under the harsh disci-
pline and rigorous exactions of actu-
al experience. The romerseless logic
of events was to choose the great
captains. Against the favorites of pol
iticians, amid jealousies and machi-
nations, over the rough and unmark-
ed path of actual test and trial, men
were to win the right to command
From among the unknown and hum
BILE were to come not only the rank
and file OF that great army but also
the two great leaders of men, Ulysses
e. Grant and Abraham Lincoln. Rep
resentative democracy now on trial,
subjected to the fearful test of inter
necine war, was to demonstrate that
Its farmers, artisans, business and
professional men possessed the cour-
age, the steadfast and unfailing 10y
atty which could go from the peace
full pursuits of civil strife into the
shock of battle, and that from the
cabins and common places could
come in the supreme hour those who
were to guide a nation and plan and
win victories.
The months Immediately following
the firing upon Fort Sumpter were
months of suspense and uncertainty
vague and indistinct fear troubled
the loyal people OF the north as they
watched the first red drops of civil
strife swell into the deluge of war. A
whole people seemed to be feeling
about in the dark for some leader
of the field upon whom they could
fasten their faith No battles were
being won. The war which was to
have ended in so days promised to
extend into years. The agony, the
indefnable dread which the loyal
feel when impending evil hovers over
the land, inexorable and truculent,
possessed the feverish and anxious
heart of the north. One day the
news came that there was fighting at
Fort Donaldson. Months. weary,
wearing months of activity seemed
at an end. The fight was on and
men from one end Of the land to
the other felt the ecstasy of battle.
A strange, silent. comparatively un-
known figure. clothed with the un-
mistakable capacity for and power
OF command appeared in indistinct
outlines against the curtain OF war
Some recalled that they had heard
the name before. The next day there
shot across the Union sky these
words: NO terms other than un-
conditional and immediate surrend-
er can be accepted. propose to
move Immediately upon your works. +"
1t was the first decisive victory Of the
war It revealed the most myster-
ious. the most inexplicable military
genius of the civil war. II not of the
world. The power and quality OF
mind which penetrates and eompre-
hends with the quick. sure glance OF
EFnspiration. the calm. immovable
purpose which follows unhesitatingly
the clear vision OF the intellect were
behind the message.
II Is impossible at this time and
place to recount in detail the battles
he planned and fought or the victor
les he won His rise was in many
respects more sudden. more remark-
able. than that of Napoleon; his
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