Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1892 — GRANTS FAME IN STONE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GRANTS FAME IN STONE

NEW YORK HAS BEGUN ITS ’ MONUMENT. Ceremonies of a Most Elaborate ami Imposing Character President Harrison Wields the Golden Trowel—Appeare-nce of the Completed Monument. Honor to Gen. Grant. The corner-stone of the nation’s monument to Gen. U. S. Grant in Riverside Park, New York, was laid with becoming ceremonies. The weather was all that could be desired, a cloudless sky, bright sunshine, tempered by a moderate breeze blowing over the Hudson River. Long before the time fixed for the dedication ceremonies the Immense grand stand, erected in close proximity to where the monument will stand and partly surrounding the corner-stone, began to All with those who had been invited and had tickets, and by noon it was computed that there were fully eight or nine thousand persons on the stand. The large number of ladies, in their bright and showy spring costumes, heightened the already brilliant spectacle. This crowded stand, with about three thousand veterans of the. G. A. R. formed in line around and about the resting-place of their dead hero, with the charming scenery along the Hudson River and the Palisades in the distance, formed a picture which has seldom if ever been I surpassed if equaled. Shortly after noon the Presidential , party, escorted by Troop A, of the National Guard of New York, left the Fifth Avenue Hot.l and proceeded to Riverside Park. In the carriages were President Harrison, Mrs. Grant and members of her family, Secretary Foster, Secretary Rusk, Secretary Elkins, Postmaster General Wanamaker, Private Secretary Halford and many other distinguished guests. As the Presidential party approached the tomb the

United States Band pjayed “Hail to the Chief," while heads were uncovered, handkerchiefs waved and the immense throngs shouted their huzzas. After a few moments’ quiet Rev. Hr. John Hall offered up a prayer, which was listened to by all in deferential silence. The President of the Grant Monument Association, General Horace Porter, then delivered an address detailing in brief the doings of the association and their status since the inception of the project. The event of the day was the laying of the corner stone by President Harrison. After putting mortar around the stone with a gold trowel that Superindent Brady had made for the occasion, the stone was lowered into position. The corner-stone box, made of copper, was then filled with the relies which will be buried in it. They s were: Constitution of the I nite I States. Declaration of Indep* n Icnce. Articles of confederation. The Bible. Memoirs of General Grant Memorial Day pamphlet. May 30 and 31, 1886. A copy of Mayor Giant's pr clamatlon regarding the Grant monument. A new American flag. Medals and coins from the United States mint Various illustrated and dally papers. President Harrison tlfen briefly addressed the assemblage, after which the band played a selection of national airs. Chauncey M. Depew then stood up, giving the audience the signal for another tremendous outburst of cheering. Mr. Depew began by declaring that the predominant sentiment of General

Grant was his family and his home. He shrank from display all his life, and would have preferred being buried by the side of his father and mother, but appreciating the claim of his countryImeu upon his memory, 'he chose New York as his final resting-place, because it was the me-

tropolis of the country. He made but one condition, and that was that his loyal wife should be buried by his side. He would have no monument, however grand, which would separate him from her during the unnumbered years of the hereafter. Continuing, the orator said: New York, in accepting tills bequest of General Grant, has assumed a sacred trust. Upon no municipality and its citizens was ever devolved a more solemn duty. From the tenderest motives, he took from the national government the task which it would most loyally and lovingly have performed, and Intrusted it to this great city. The whole country are enlisted in the army of reverence and sorrow, but he appointed New York the guard of honor. Let the monument which will rise upon this cornerstone be worthy of the magnitude of the i metropolis and the grandeur of the subject. General Grant needs no stately shaft or massive pile to perpetuate his memory. The republic Is his monument, and its history during what must always be its most critical and interesting period will be the story of his deeds. Mr. Depew then sketched General Grant’s career, and summed up his character as follows: No man can be truly great unless he Is also magnanimous. Grant was the most, self-sacrificing of friends and tbcmost generous of foes. “Unconditional surrender. I move immediately on your works.” were the conditions Grant offered Buckner at Donelson, but in the darkness of the night he entered the prisoner’s tent and said: “Buckner, you must have lost everything: take my purse.” He had been for mouths making toilsome efforts to break through the confederate lines, but after the surrender of their defenders he refused to go within them. 'I he failure to capture the confederate capital had exhausted the resources and impaired the reputation of all the generals who had p e.-eded him, but when it lay prostrate at his feet he sternlv declined the triumph of an entry at the head of his victorious army. It was difficult to win his confidence, but when once gained, his heart, his efforts, and his fortune were at command. Neither secret nor open enemies, neither direct charges nor anonymous revelations could disturb his friendship for anyone he bad once trusted. To Sherman and Sheridan he eave unstinted praise. He was so entirely free from envy or jeulousv, so enthusiastic in his admiration of tbe-e Heu-

tenants, that he a Warded to them th* larger share of credit Mr the ultimate triumph of the Union cau»e. But these same qualities, so creditable to his ingenuous and generous nature, became the chief sources of his mistakes and troubles when he was treading with tirrteafned steps amid the quicksands of political and business life. The culminating triumph of Gen. Grant was that he received and returned the sword of Lee. The one act typified the victory and perpetuity of the Union and the other that Its defenders forever after would be those who with equal and unequaled courage had fought to save and to destroy It

Grant’s claims upon the gratitude of his countrymen are many. He will have peculiar remembrance for having, with President Lincoln, Immediately recognized that the republic must live as the fathers had founded It The most brilliant jewels in his crown of glory will be’ that, though a conqueror in the field, he counseled through life, and advised with his pen when in his last hours his voice had failed, peace and reconciliation among his countrymen, and that, though a soldier President he successfully demonstrated the justice and wisdom of settling disputes among nations not by war, but by arbitration. The tendrils or loyalty and love stretch from this monument to every soldier’s grave in the land. This imperial city proudly and affectionately assumes the custody of his remains. The people called from the absorbing .cares of life by his natal day and this solemn ceremony take up again their burdens with lighter hearts and brighter hopes for their children and their children’s children because of the career and the deeds of Ulysses S. Grant On resuming his seat it was several minutes before quiet could be restored, the repeated shouting and clapping of hands being almost deafening. Dr. John Hall then pronounced the benediction, and the services ended by the firing of a salute of twenty-one guns from the United States ship Miantonomah, stationed in the Hudson. The ceremony was marked as being without pomp or ostentation; in fact, such a one as the deceased general would have desired. There was no marked martial display, but here and there in the crowd was a sprinkling of officers of the army

and navy. The whole ceremony was civil from every point of view. The ‘Monument. The Grant Monument, in which the remains of the General are to lie, has been materially changed in the past month, but as far as the exterior is concerned it remains as impressive in appearance and design as at first planned. Many of the central columns within have been eliminated from the plans, and a good deal of the panel work will be omitted. The plan of the crypt has also been materially changed, and as now designed will be simply a circular opening protected by railings above, but without the ornamental work first planned for the sides. The designer of the monument, Mr. John H. Duncan, has reluctantly made the changes advocated in the line o's economy, and expressed himself grateful for the fact that the liberality of the subscribers has permitted the exterior of the monument to remain practically unchanged, but for some slight modifications at the southern entrance. It is now about seven years since the death of Gen. Grant, and during that time the movement for the erection of this monument has been going on slowly. It took six years to collect the first $150,000 —less than half the amount needed—and It has taken the reorganized committee little over six weeks to

insure the collection of the remainder. Never in the history of similar movements has work undertaken under such disheartening circumstances been so enthusiastically and successfully concluded, and the praise must go to Gen. Horace Porter and his splendidly man- ■ aged departments. Last year, on April I 27, he was the orator of the day at RivI erside Park, and his words then preI saged that he was ready and willing to ) undertake what other men had failed to accomplish. He was made the PresiI dent of the reorganized association, I which was enlarged by legislative enactment, and night and day since that ■ time he has spoken enthusiastically to > meetings of citizens of every trade and I calling, and has worked with a generalship worthy of the cause he has put ; his heart and soul in. | M e all enjoy doing that which we can i do well; and one reason why the hours outside our work are so often meager in the pleasure they yield is because we attempt a dozen things, none of which we successfully accomplish. Of course | the result must be unsatisfactory. If i we will but submit to some degree of self-discipline in a single direction where we are interested, the pleasure I we shall derive will be more than doubled, and the effective results will te an added happiness. Mr. Ruskin says it is not enough that the function of art be well imagined; it must task the beholder also to imagine well, and this so imperatively that, if he does not choose to rouse himself to meet the work, he will not taste it or enjoy it in any wise. The New York Legislature has adjourned.

VIEW OF THE COMPLETED TOMB.

CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW.

IN THE CRYPT.