of his own subordinate officers. But we challenge any detractors of his administrations to point to a single instance of known faithlessness to the Government going unrebuked, or the retention of any mar. in office after he had proven himself unworthy. No human faculties are adequate to distinguish between interested and disinterested friends, and interested and disinterested friendship, when a man occupies exalted position and controls the patronage of a nation. The cabinet of Washington was disgraced by embezzlement of public moneys and the sage of Monticello, after he had retired from the tumult of public life, felt compelled to write: "I indulge myself in one political topic only, that is, in declaring to my countrymen the shameless corruptions of the representatives of the first and second congresses, and their complete devotion to the treasury." It has been said by many, and there has been a tendency to acquiesce in the saying, that the general was not a statesman, and knew little of the arts of government; that his mind was receptive and not inventive; that he was wanting in the high attainments. of statesmanship. That he was not versed in the art of Government, as the result of experience in the management of governmental affairs, is true, but it is not true that he was not a master of this art in manner and degree the same as the art of war. His power in this field, as in that of war, was not derived from books and authors so much as from his own intuitive, native strength. His mind was both inventive and receptive. Early in his administration he formed the belief that he could adopt a policy that would lead to an amicable and honorable adjustment of the most serious complications between our Government and the leading power of the world. He was opposed by most experienced and renowned statesmen. To proceed in his own way required that the most illustrious and popular chairman of the committee on foreign relations in the Senate should be removed. He did not hesitate to make the issue, nor to do all that was required to accomplish the grand result which speedily followed. On the field at Appomatox, in the confusion and excitement of battles and surrendering of armies, he adopted a policy in relation to the conditions of surrender that made the reconstruction of the Government possible. No insult, no degradation to rebel officers or men, was permitted; surrender and submission to the national authority was the only condition demanded, and arms and horses, food and favors were bestowed. To tear down and destroy is what all may do; to build up and restore the broken fragments of a Government is the most difficult task that men or statesmen are ever called upon to perform. His judgment on this historical occasionhis statemanship-induced him to yield to his foes all the honors of war. Horses and side arms were of no moment compared with the restoration of fraternal feeling and the dawn of an era when there should be a union of sentiment as well as law in this country. It was a frequent remark to his friends by Mr. Webster, in the last years of his life, that the union of the States which he and Clay and Benton, and their supporters, had maintained during his life, would be broken and the States be involved in war within ten years after his death, and he always added that he could see through the war and could see that the North would be victorious, but could not see how the Union could ever be restored. That which baffled the wisdom of the greatest statesman and orator of the world was wrought out under the influence and direction of him whom the world adores as a general, but has been slow to recognize as a statesman. When certain politicians and public men proposed to violate the terms of the capitulation of Appomatox, he did not disdain to announce himself ready to draw his sword to maintain its conditions in all respects. When extremists in the South refused to accord to the soldiers mustered out of our armies their legal rights and due protection under the laws, he did not hesitate to use the military force of the country to enforce this protection. We now boldly announce a Union restored in feeling and sentiment, as well as law, and justly claim that herein has been the greatest triumph of statesmanship in the history of civilization. And in all future time, when the question is asked, who, more than any other man, gave direction to the plans and policies that accomplished so much for civilization and the happiness of mankind? the answer must always be, "The hero of Appomatox." It is not the man who most foments strife, discord and discontent among the people, or who may delight them most with strains of eloquence, or flashes of intelligence and wit, but he who marks out for them through the long future, paths of peace and prosperity in which all may walk, and who does most to promote the highest happiness of his fellow countrymen, who is the great est statesman. Judged by all correct standards, and the conclusion must ever be, that while Grant was by universal acclaim the first general of his time, he was second to none for farseeing statesmanship. It has been my purpose to speak only of his public life and services, with which we are all familiar. His devotion to his family; his earnest struggles to make better provision for their comfort after his first notification of the approach of the inevitable hour; his friendship and almost affection for all old officers and friends; with what composure and deliberation he took his way into the dark valley; with what firmness and faith he advanced to meet the King of Terrors, those about him and connected with his private life will, in due time, record. more. All that is mortal-and how little this is of such a man!—is no But during every day of the life of those of us who were with him and served with him, he will appear in the freshness and vigor of his best days, and his precepts and examples, like his name, will be immortal. On the bank of that historic river whose name is inseparably linked with the history of the trials and virtues of the early settlers of this country, and with the patriotism, struggles, hardships and triumphs of our revolutionary sires; amid the hum of the industries of the honest millions of his countrymen, happy and free, and the learning and refinement which is the flower and glory of the country which he saved, let his mortal remains rest till the heavens be no more. "Let the sound of those he wrought for, And the feet of those he fought for, Echo round his bones for evermore." General Sanborn was closely listened to and frequently applauded during his address. The President then introduced Miss Mary Logan Pearson, who recited the following poem: IN MEMORIAM. GEN. ULYSSES S. GRANT, COMMANDER OF THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE LATE CIVIL WAR, AND TWICE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC. Semper fidelis et semper idem. Oh bells! from every steeple peal, From tow'r and turret, high and low, Peal to the Occident, arouse the West; A prince among the kings of earth, A soldier famed on hist'ry's page, A name adored at home, abroad. The nations ask, Why should he die? The wide world grieves, all people mourn, Of fifty millions o'er his urn. Columbia weep; thine is the cloud and gloom, His is the rest, the laurel and the tomb, Yours all the agony, for him the throne, Yours the bereavement, for he stood alone The noblest, grandest hero of the day, Resistless in its flow. its sweep, and motion- He reached ripe manhood in the bitter years- When threatening dangers crowded round the states, 'Twas not for him to bow the suppliant knee To any power save freedom's deity; Nor his proud neck to local bondage bow. Faith in his country doubly kindled now, Espoused her cause with confidence divine, And laid his heart and sword on freedom's shrine. God of the universe! Afflicted, low We bend before Thee in this calm of woe, To Thy great throne, half paralyzed and numb, All sick of heart and desolate we come, Bow in our sorrow, passionate, sublime, In this dread change of circumstance and time, You've promptly summon'd from our hearts away The prop you gave us in our trial day, The man of iron nerve and well-poised hand, By nature fitted for supreme command. The God-like will to plan, to dare, to do, The dauntless soldier, generous, proud, and true, |