Evening star., 1924-04-27

SlSlCnCe ln9J lTeltcd the enc
my to surrender and IN inimitable
magnanimity to the fallen made APP
pomattox a reality-and that union
of irresistible qualities is caught in
bronze for a memorial to Ulysses S.
Grant, to stand in the Botanic Garden
at the head of the Mall, under the
very shadow OF the dome of the
capitol.
A swordless figure, grim and deter
mined, sits his horse superbly as he
looks out across the Potomac. The
set of the horses ears is the opening
line in the magnificent bronze epic.
One hears in fancy and far away the
sound of the hugle, one smells the
battle smoke, and suddenly one sees
the bronze groups, pulsing and quiv-
ering, leap into action, swiftly, tu-
multuously. With drawn sabers
flashing in the sun, the cavalry
plunges forward on the left, while the
field battery is wheeled into position
on the right. The horses plunge and
rear, the banners tug at the wind,
and passionate for victory and for
Union are the straining men.
II Is the Union Indl moves i'fW diu VI,
forward through the obstinate cour-
agsthat was Shiloh. through the weary
waiting that was VicksburS. through
the dashing, glorious victory that was
Missionary Ridge, and through the
awful confusion and slaughter that
MAS the Wilderness. and on to
-hppomattox and to safety. That
ultimate, inevitable mastery placed
our country's flag in strong and re-
lentless guardianship. and it lies be-
meath the paws of majestic lions
grouped about the central figure.
What does history reveal about this
man, whose untirinG, driving efforts
against a great general saved the
Union? Ulysses S. Grant was born
April 81, 1922. What mattered it that
his name had been Hiram Ulysses
until his appointment to West Point,
when the nominating senator had
changed it to it's generally accepted
form? The mistake lent itself to a
sobriquet to be bestowed by admlrlng
men under arms, for ne became IN
conditional Surrender Grant, when, at
the request of the Confederate gen.
eraI at Donelson for the terms OF sur
render he replied in his laconic, un-
Welding fashion: Unconditional sur
render" The years were to behold
him debating other terms OF sur
,.ender the last of which was to re-
veal the warm humanity Of the man.
his mercy and his charity.
x i: 4 =
STHROUGHOUT his happy boyhood
IL there is little of the unusual to
attract attention or to indicate the
paths his feet were to follow; bue
there is the evidence of bellet or
superstition that nodded haoit
whose power welded a nation to-
eether. Grant confessed that he was
obsessed by a queer idea that what
aver he began he must complete; that
if he started out for destination lie
must reach it; that he must never
give up the thing he had determined
upon. Moreover, he must move 10
that object directly, he must not turn
hack to reach it, he must reach IL oy
going forward.
If he set out to reach Il city and
unknowingly passed beyond It, ne
must not turn back, but must con-
+inue on until he came upon road
7.adine into the desired place from
the other side.
Biography furnishes many similar
instances: Daniel Webster had the
trait of always letting some one else
make the momentous decisions OF MS
life for him, and became a better fol-
lower than leader Alexander Hamil-
ton possessed the unvarylng cnarac-
teristic of relentless analysis until ne
became perhaps the greatest con-
structiye thinker that America has
produced Albert Gallatin was domi-
mated by an almost perfect self-con-
troll that gave him his mastery over
situations and men. One could fur-
nish innumer able instances of other
great men whose destinies seemed
swayed by some marked character
istic or trait or habit, in itself of
varying value, but in its peculiar
combination with certain qualities
serving as the exponent of an individ-
uals power.
Grants determination to finish what
he had begun might have driven him
into a humdrum existence if circum-
stances had not in the usual whim-
sical fashion stepped in and used his
obsession in a far-flung, nation
molding manner.
When Grants father had secured
slace at West Point for him, the boy,
fearful that he could not pass the ex-
aminations, said that he would not
go, but his father replied that he
thought he would, and Grant found it
convenient to agree with that dec1-
sion, although he had no taste for
military life. There came to his aid
the determination to complete, with
success, the thing he had undertaken,
and he passed the examinations more
easily than he had anticipated doing.
All the boys that had in previous
wears been appointed from his district
had been graduated from the military
school, and he, Grant, must not bring
any discredit upon his home town. So,
although he made the mental reserva-
tion that, after graduation, he would
not follow a military career, ne put
his shoulder to the wheel and decided
to complete the course.
He found the time heavy upon his
hands, for he was not given to study,
never reading over any lesson twice
if he could possibly avoid it. Conse-
uuentIy he found himself never at the
lead or the foot of any class. He did
fairly we'll in French, artillery. infan-
try and cavalry tactics and conduct
however. Upon graduation he stood
twenty-first from the top in class
of tbirty-nine. He remarked that IL