Year: 1868

The Surrender Of General Grant.


The great captain Of the age-the man who
whipped Lee and finished the ellon-has sur
rendered at last; yes, ingloriously surrendered
to another rebel force equally as destructive
to the constitution and government as that Of
the South He has surrendered to the radical
revolutionists So remarkable and surprising
was this event that the newsboys in the streets
of Washington were heard shouting "The sur
render Of General Grantw as they ran about
with the papers containing the news, just as
these sharp.witted fellows shouted the sur
render of Lee when he gave up They instinc-
lively seized the very expression, which
forcibly showed the conduct Of Grant in giving
up the War Department at the demand Of
Stanton and the radicals without consulting or
referring to the President Of the United
States and Commander-in.C Chief Of tho
army. The glorious and deserved fame
Of General Grant in conquering the
rebellion is tarnished by this surprising
conduct. Our Napoleon has not shown the
skill of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Talleyrand
of our War Office, backed by the Jacobins in
Congress, has outwitted the great American
General. Napoleon Bonaparte on the 18Th
Brumaire proved himself superior to all tho
Jacobins and plotters. The fact is General
Grant has little knowledge of politics or poll
ticians, or ofanything else outside Of his mill
tary profession, and he has permitted his am
bition and the clamor of the dominant party
to overrule sense Of duty and respectful be-
havior to his superior, the President of the
United States.


General Grant received his appointment
from the President. The Office was purely
executive and under the Chief Executive Of
the republic, the President. He had nothing
to do with Congress and should have received
no orders from that body. He should have
known nothing about what Congress did with
regard to the War Department or his duties in
it except through the President Congress Is
not the Executive. The mere resolution of the
Senate that it did not approve of the suspen-
sion of Stanton was not an order for Grant to
vacate the War Department, and it it
had been he should not have recog-
nizod it; he should have received no
orders but from the President But the
manner of vacating the position to which the
President had appointed him without consult
ing with or referring the matter to the decision
of his chief was discreditable. It shows plainly
that General Grant did not understand his duty
and the respect due to the President II is not
to the individual Mr. Johnson that this wrong
is done, but to the President Of the United
States and to the people as represented by him
in that high Office. There was something so
unworthy of Grant-we might almost say
tricky-in his slipping ont of the back door to
let Stanton come in at tho front, without noi-
flying the President, that it cannot fail to
damage him seriously in the estimation Of the
American people. All the rigmarole, trashy
arguments and special pleading about his
previous conversations with Mr.. Johnson on
the subject of Stanton's position amount to
nothing in view Of the great fact that in his
conduct he ignored the Executive Of the ma
tion, did not act with proper respect to him
and neglected the plain dictates of duty toward
him.


All this looks as if the General had thrown
himself into the arms of the Jacobin radicals
and is ready to go with them in their
revolutionary course Of destroying the consti-
tuition and government. What a change must
have como over him He was democrat in
former times; he exhibited great libcrality and
broad views in his treatment Of the rebels
when they surrendered, and he has been re-
garded as conservative all along up to within
q recent period. What has turned his head
and thrown him among the revolutionists
We still believe his heart Is right and that he
Is sincere patriot, but evidently he has been
under baneful influences. The politicians
have befogged him, either TO kill him OFF or to
make use of him for their own purposes If
he would keep his hold on the esteem and
affection Of the American people he will re-
trace his steps at once as far as he can, show
that he is conservative at heart and give the
cold shoulder TO bis radical advisors. Nothing
else no, not even his great military fame-can
save him from ruin as public man.