because, during the whole of his career, he has manifested those civic virtues which inspire confidence, do we wish him our chief magistrate. Cheerfulness and prophetic hope when danger and disaster was thickest; self command in the hour of immense success; patience and self-forgetfulness under unmerited obloquy-these qualities are as striking in him as his utter indifference to a fame which might well dazzle and lead astray the strongest intellect. He seems utterly without ambition, and this is the reason why he is one of the few successful soldiers of history whom it will seem safe for the people to have trusted. From the hour when he was surprised to find in the newspapers that he had been appointed brigadier general of volunteers, down to the moment when a higher grade than ever known in our armies was created for him, he never felt the least anxiety for promotion. But self-control under unmerited and preposterous disgrace, however temporary, seems to prove, more than any of his deeds, the greatness of his character.

"Remember that immediately after the famous victory of Fort Donelson, in which he had presented 15,000 prisoners, 17,600 small arms and 65 cannon to the United States, he was most unjustly and causelessly threatened with arrest and deprived of his command, and that he did his best, while claiming justice from his commanding officer before he would withdraw his resignation, to further that expedition, in the command of which he had been superseded. 'No one,' he said to the veteran Smith, 'can

feel more pleasure than myself at your richly deserved promotion. Any thing you may require, send back transports for, and if within my power, you shall have it.'

"And at Milliken's Bend, when preparing that last magnificent movement against Vicksburg, through which he saw his final triumph assured; when the country, weary of delays and aghast at his boldness, was clamoring for his removal; when our enemies all over the world were shouting, As well pluck the stars from the sky as attempt the capture of Vicksburg; when even his friends turned from him; but when one plain man, who sat in the White House, said, 'I rather like the man; I think we'll try him a little longer,' how could a soldier prove greater claims upon the confidence of the country than he did at that moment of almost universal despondency?

แ

Seeing already in his mind's eye what no other eye could see, that quickly coming procession of victories, that twenty days' campaign, the passage of the great river, the five battles in which, throwing himself between Johnson and Pemberton, he destroyed one army, and drove the other into the citadel soon to surrender to him thirty-two thousand strong; even when at that moment of anticipated triumph he heard the loud cry for his removal, he was incapable of any thought save for the good of the country. As long as the republic rears such citizens, her destiny is safe."

The history of General Grant has demonstrated

his possession of the governing elements of character. He has courage, and that of the highest order. His knowledge of men has been marvelously correct. Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, McPherson-these and others were worthy marshals for a worthy leader. Had he mistaken his men when he sent Sherman to the sea, and Sheridan whirling up the Shenandoah, the results had been most disastrous. But he was

not mistaken. His keen eye measured brain and estimated character. His power to sway men is remarkable. He did not magnetize his troops, as would Napoleon, but, better still, they believed in him. He entered their life, and grappled them to him as with hooks of steel! His judgment has proved infallible, else he would early have become perplexed with multiplied details, but seeing through them, he acted accordingly, and conquered them.

He has unquestionably shown a high order of executive ability. To command at once the armies of the Union and move them with unity of plan, but manifold diversity of execution, demanded far more than military dash. When he became, on the retirement of Mr. Stanton, the acting Secretary of War, it was seen that he could grasp the minutest details and comprehend the broadest generalizations. He simplified business, cut down expenditures, and reformed abuses which had unavoidably fastened to the department as barnacles upon a superb ocean steamer. When the Stanton-Johnson imbroglio ripened, General Grant was environed with difficulties which would have dazed any ordinary man; but his

admirable coolness, his self-poise, and "saving common-sense," more than equaled the occasion. Though it was matter of regret to him to be compelled to differ radically with his official superiors, he was too strong for His Excellency the President, though the latter was a trained politician, having "served in nearly every official position, from Alderman of his native village to President of the United States."

It was felt by the friends of General Grant that his duties in the War Office were most severely to test his ability, and that his position would gravely imperil his political future. He knew the same. To accept might be construed as an endorsement of the course of the President against Secretary Stanton, but the General saw no alternative other than acceptance, for that was, to him, a duty admitting of no choice. By that act the War Department was in safe hands at a time of intense excitement if not of public peril. Once there, it was not possible for even the daring of Andrew Johnson to demand Grant's portfolio. At the proper moment, when the Senate had vindicated Mr. Stanton, he vacated the office, leaving his predecessor again in position, and the President in unenviable mood. It was a successful coup d'etat. No move before Vicksburg was more brilliant. The storm gathered above his head, and burst upon him, but he quietly waited. He went to the country for his vindication, and it is remarkable that, intense as was the contest of 1868, few of his opponents had the hardihood to arraign Grant on his record of Secretary of War. It will

yet be seen more clearly than even now, that the Secretaryship of General Grant was another of the great crises of our history. Had he faltered or blundered, had he failed with admirable consistency, quiet courage, and unshaken integrity to meet the emergency of the hour, the consequences are past human calculation.

It early became apparent that the mind of the nation was settling upon General Grant for the responsible position of the Chief Magistracy. It was not military genius, dazzling and blinding the eyes of the people, that was wanted; Sherman, the peerless campaigner, and Sheridan, the hero of Five Forks and bold rider of the Shenandoah had these. It was not alone his stately reticence and persistence; George H. Thomas, the hero of Nashville, had these traits. The people had faith in Grant's completeness, in his record, his quiet endurance, his unselfishness, and in the sterling manhood he had evinced. They believed in him as a man and as a patriot. The manifestation of the popular purpose was not pleasant to the General. His tastes were not political. His training had been military, and there was nothing attractive to him in being the centre of a political onset, in running the fire of a party press and political advocates. Many of his warmest friends shared the feeling of those words sweetly uttered by his charming lady and devoted help-meet, "I do not want Mr. Grant to be President."

He had won eminence on the field, and had attained the first military position on earth, and his