Life and public services of General Grant

Front matter

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Chapter I

General Grant's ancestry — His father goes West — Marries— Ulysses born — The story of the changed name — " Fick it again" — The school-boy — "Can't" not in the dictionary — A load of logs — Home influences — The horse trade — Defending Washington — " There's nothing like leather " — Enters West Point — A letter home to mother — Impressions of Arnold's treason — Progress in studies — Offers to tan hides — Graduates — A reminiscence — Enters the regular army — Is sent up Red river — His modesty — A letter to Mrs. Bailey 25

Chapter II

The Mexican war — Grant goes to Mexico — Palo Alto — Grant commended for bravery — Resaca de la Palma— Monterey—General Scott enters the field — Vera Cruz — Grant placed on the commander's staff — A letter home — Impressions of Mexico — Mexican productions — Minerals — Birds — Battle of Molino del Rey — Chapultepec — Brevet captain — A night of terror in the Mexican capital— Santa Anna flees from the city — Scott takes possession — Peace 44

Chapter III

Grant returns North — Is applauded in New York — Is sent to Detroit — Sackett's Harbor — Grant's love story — Meets Miss Dent — Engaged^Mnrried — Is .sent to Oregon — Admiral Schenck speaks — Grant resigns — Becomes a farmer — An incident — His attachment for his family — Words from a Southern clergyman — His library — Turns collector — Wliy he failed to be a good one — His estimate of money — Makes application for an engineer's oftlce — Becomes attached to the Custom House — Removes to Galena — Politics — A pork story 55

Chapter IV

Rumors of war — Votes against Lincoln — The fall of Sumter — Grant visits Mc- Clellan — Is placed on the Governor's staff" — Is recommended for Brigadier-Gencnl. but declines— Becomes Colonel of Twenty-first regiment— Becomes Brigadicr-Gcneral — Sent to southern Missouri — Takes possession of Paducah, Kentucky — Advances against Belmont — Before Columbus — The " Cairo Expedition " — (}rant protects property — Attack upon Columbus — Victory — On to Fort Donelson— A terrible fight— Floyd and Pillow make iheir escape — The surrender. 69

Chapter V

Results of victory — Shiloh — A day of discouragements — A hard night's work — IJeauregard retreats to Corinth — Victory for Grant — Slanderous reports — Halleck shows his teeth — Advance against Corinth — Halleck snubs Grant — Halleck makes a blunder — Grant establishes his head-quarters at Corinth — Suppression of the Avitlanchf — Moves his head-quarters to Jackson — The struggle for luka — A Confederate letter — Grant thanks his soldiers — Hatchie river — Peace for western Tennessee — A telegram from Lincoln 83

Chapter VI

On to Vicksburg— The story of an important struggle — The defences of Vicksburg —Base of supplfes at Holly Springs— Grant falls back to Grand Junction— Sherman and Porter proceed against Vicksburg— Unsuccessful attempts— Grant's determination—An interview wi'ih Uncle Jesse— The man who wanted to see Grant— A " brobosal "—Down the Mississippi— Badeau's description of a night —Jackson captured— The siege of Vicksburg— The enemy in distress— Blowing up the enemy's works— A flag of truce— Pemberton asks for Grant's terms of surrender- Grant's reply— Pemberton offers an amendment— " Unconditional •urrendcr " the only terms— Pemberton accepts— His treatment of Grant— The surrender— Results of the victory— A tribute from Halleck 95

CHAPTER Vn.

MisMssippi opened to trade— Grant wants to attack Mobile, but is not permitted— kcmforces Rosccran/.-An incident—" You may stop awhile, captain"— Grant injured-Chick amauga-The Secretary of War telegraphs for Grant-Is given a new comman.l— The struggle for Chattanooga— Pemberton's opinion— Battle of l>«koul Mountain-" We've whipped 'em, general "-Congress presents Grant with a gold mcdal-Is made Lieutenant-General— Recollections of Grant. . 113

CHAPTER VIII. ne -rcnRlh of ,hc army-Grant states the strength of the Confederates-Position of the Confederate army-In the Wilderness-Grant's proposed line of warfare -Tb. Monrof a severe struggle-Advancing and retreating-Moving toward

CO^'TENTS. 9

Richmond — Some shrewd engineering — On the banks of the Chickahominy — A terrible battle — Lee proceeds to Richmond — Grant proposes to lay siege to Petersburg — Mining the enemy's works^Grant receives a visitor — " No sanitary folks wanted" — The expedition to Deep Bottom — The sympathy of Grant — His letter to a lonely heart — Butler attacks Fort Harrison — A letter from the President — A tribute from Scott — Philadelphia presents him with a home 128

CHAPTER IX.

{Preparing for a final movement — Lee attacks Grant — Jeff Davis receives a dispatch — " Richmond must be evacuated to-night " — An exciting scene — Richmond occupied by Union troops — Lincoln visits Richmond — " Glory ! glory ! " — Grant pursues Lee — Sheridan intercepts Lee — The latter flees — Grant pursues — His letter to Lee — Lee's reply — Daring Custer — Appomattox — Lee's surrender — What General Mahone said of the surrender — Lee's last order — A Union soldier's description of the closing scene of the war 145

CHAPTER X.

Grant's farewell to his soldiers — Makes a tour through the Northern States — His reception at Galena — Makes a tour through the South — His view of its condition — "General Orders No. 3" — Suppression of the Richmond Examiner — A reception by the leather dealers of New York — Is presented with ;$ioo,ooo — Recep tion at Brooklyn Academy of Music — Is made General in the regular army — His letter to General Ord 104

CHAPTER XL

Grant's opinion on the parole question — Grant appointed Secretary of War ad interim — He opposes the removal of Stanton — Flis tribute to Sheridan — He resigns the position as Secretary of War — President Johnson scolds 173

CHAPTER XII.

Grant a President — The causes which led to his being nominated — His election and votes — A summary of his political career — Some of the greater incidents of his White House life — San DonungOT-^Finance-^The Alabama arbitration — The Centennial Exhibition — The close of his public service — The third term — His last message to the nation 181

CHAPTER XIII.

General Grant leaves Philadelphia — Entlnisiastic ovations — Across the ocean — Interesting incidents — Welcome to England — At Liverpool — Sights and scenes in the great city — A tribute from the press — An incident — Departure for Manchester — Grand reception — Arrives in London — Epsom races— Pierrepont gives a reception

—The freedom of the city of London— Reception by the corporation of London —Grant at Kensington— A visit to the Queen— Off for Belgium 211

CHAPTER XIV.

Arrival at Brussels— Lucerne, Switzerland— Geneva — The Mer de Glace — Edinburgh— Tay Bridge— At the home of Sir Walter Scott— Glasgow— Brighton- Paris " Palais d' Industrie" — McMahon gives a dinner — Grant at the tomb of

Thiers — The Mackey dinner and reception 228

CHAPTER XV.

The party reach Naples — Young's letter — Vesuvius as seen from the city — The road to the mountain — The ascent — Overlooking Pompeii — A romantic picnic on the lava — Glimpses of social and political life in Naples — A day among the ruins of Pompeii — The city of Hannibal and Cxsar — The museum — The excavation — Bronze Ornaments 245

CHAPTER XVI.

Off for Malta — Scylla and Charybdis — Among the scenes of Paul's travels — En route for Alexandria — The Marquis— Alexandria — Henry M. Stanley — A call on the Khedive — Meeting old friends 260

CHAPTER XVII.

Cairo and the Nile — Life on the river — Domestic scenes — Friends on the way — Assiout — Tomb of the Kings — The home of Wasip el Hayat — Girgel — The Libyan Desert — Grand old ruins — Isis and Osiris 276

CHAPTER XVIIL

Thebes — Luxor— The home of Rameses — Temples and statues — A Theban dinner — Karnak and its wonderful sights — The Sacred Lake — Who was Rameses ? — Resemblance to Lord Beaconsfie.d — Marks of the races 293

CHAPTER XIX.

Still ascending the Nile— Keneh— Eastern pottery— Domestic life — A visit to the Pach.!— Assonan— The bazaars— Making purchases— Philre— On board a dahabceah— Memphis— The Serapcum— .\Iariette Bay— Among the tombs— Farewell to Memphis oqq

CHAPTER XX.

Tlio Holy Liiid— Its sacred associations— General Grant's visit— Landing at Jaffa

Ramleh — Ride to Jerusalem — Triumphal entry into the Holy City — In and

around Terusalem — Walk over the Via Dolorosa — The garden of Gethsemane — Damascus — Smyrna — Constantinople — A vLsit to the Sultan — A princely gift — The slave market — The Mosque of the Sultan — Athens and the Acropolis — Mars' Hill— Corinth 321

CHATTER XXI.

The Eternal City — Roman honors — Genoa — They return to Paris — Holland — Dutch festivities — Berlin — An interview with Prince Gortschakoff — A visit to Bismarck — Reviewing the troops — Copenhagen — Through the Black Forest — Sweden and Norway — St. Petersburg — An interview with the Czar — Moscow — Warsaw — En route for Spain ... 34-i

CHAPTER XXII.

A message from the King of Sjiain — San Sebastian — Vittoiia — Meeting the Spanish King — The dead Queen — Madrid — The Escurial — The library — Tlirough the royal apartments — Disappointed expectations — The tomb — Pliilip 361

CHAPTER XXIII.

Grant visits Toledo — The Cathedral — The work of the Moors — Pau — Fox-hunting — An exciting occasion — The start — The meet — The finish — Lislxsn — Meeting the King of Portugal — Literary efforts — Cintra — Montserrat — Portugal 7.'s. Spain 370

CHAPTER XXIV.

Cordova-^The Mosque — They reach Seville — Grant visits the Duke of Montpensier — The run from Cadiz — Gil:)raltar — Trafalgar — Doing Grant honors — Ireland — Dublin — Reception by the Lord JLayor — Grant becomes an Ulster Irishman — Ovations all along the line — Belfast — Off for India 379

CHAPTER XXV.

From Marseilles to Bombay — The Suez Canal — Alexandria again — On board the Venelia — Landing at Apollo Bunder — The caves of Elephanta — Brahma, Vi>hnu and Siva — The entertainment at Malabar Point — 'Visit to Jeypoor— Reception at the palace — The Palace of Amber— The Taj — Beautiful scenes — Bhurtpoor. 387

CHAPTER XXVI.

rhey reach Delhi — Visit to the Kutab — Amid the scenes of the Sepoy rel)eIlion — The sacred city of the Hindoos — Benares and its priests — Calcutta — At the Govcrnmcnt House— The University — The Viceroy's country-seat — The King of Oude — Rangoon — Hindoo customs and society — The Pagoda 400

CHAPTER XXVH.

Down tlie straits of Malacca — Burmah — A letter from the King of Siam — They reach Siam — A visit to the ex-Regent — The state dinner — An interesting occasion — Canton — Dining with the Viceroy — The Menu — A pecuHar feast — Macao, Swatow, and Amoy — Camocus — Hong Kong 41 1

CHAPTER XXVHI.

Shanghai — A glad welcome — A quiet Sabbath — An imposing scene — Li Hung Chang — The Viceroy visits Grant — The fete at the French Consul's — Pekin — A young emperor 424

CHAPTER XXIX.

Chefoo — Departure from China — Japan — Nagasaki — Prince Dati — A grand dinner — The musicians — Yokohama — The palace — Reviewing the troops — Taking leave of the emperor — Farewell speeches — Homeward bound 433

CHAPTER XXX.

General Grant and his party en route for San Francisco — Preparations for Grant's reception— The first glimpse of tlie steamer — The entrance of the " City of Tokio " — The landing — .A. grand procession — A magnificent scene — At the Palace Hotel — A grand chorus — A clamoring people — General Grant speaks — Reception at Tubb's hotel 45I

CHAPTER XXXI.

General Grant's party visit Yosemite Valley— In Oregon— Back to San Francisco— The farewell banquet— In Nevada— A visit to the consolidated Virginia mine- Souvenirs— Sutro Tunnel— Eastw*d— At Burlington, Iowa— At home in Galena, 111— A hcaity welcome— At Chicago— Indianapolis— Louisville— Cincinnati- Columbus— pitisburgh—Harrisburg— Philadelphia— The journey complete— A hcarly wclcyoie home— A rejoicing people— Childs' reception— Many other ''"""'* : 458

CHAPTER XXXH. ■n. t.ur— Start from Washington— The party— Columbia— Savannah— ' ■' -l^ivana— San Diego Los Banos— A native ball— Cuban slave

- ■''■^^^•^".^val—BulI.tighiing—Progresso— Vera Cruz— City of Mexico — President Diaz — Mexican railroad schemes — San Antonio — Cherubusco — Home again 47-"

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Grant settles in New York — He enters the mazes of business — The firm of Grant & Ward — How the General was drawn into the whirlpool of disaster — An overwhelming trouble — Vanderbilt's generosity — The astounding wonders of Ward's rascality — A tale of turbulent trouble 505

CHAPTER XXXIV. /^

Grant's desperate illness — How the disease developed — His trouble a cancer in the throat — The vigils of the doctors and a history of the case — The hero is baptized — The love of the people — How he was watched and tended — The removal to Mount McGregor — The sympathy of the world 527

CHAPTER XXXV.

Resting-place of the illustrious dead — Several spots proposed : West Point ; the capital of the nation— Riverside Park, New York, chosen — Telegrams of sympathy to the bereaved family — Sermon by Rev. Dr. Newman at the cottage at Mt. McGregor — The funeral train on its way to New York — Scenes along the way — The whole country in mourning — Arrival at Albany — Lying in state in the Capitol — Arrival at New York— City Hall, New York City — The magnitic^.u funeral cortege — The temporary tomb 557 f^

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

U. S. Grant (Steel) Frontispiece.

Page.

Grant's early Home at Point Pleasant, Ohio (Full page) .... 27

View from Military Academy at West Point ...... 36

Battle of Resaca de la Palma (Full page) . 45

Castle of Chapultepec (Full page) ....,..• 51

Scott's Entry into the City of Mexico (Full page) ..... 53

The Dent Homestead near St. Louis (Full page) 57

Grant's Home at Galena .......... 65

Grant's Departure for the War (Full page) ...... 68

Fort Sumter 70

Interior of Fort Henry .......... 75

Water Battery at Fort Donelson ........ 76

Commodore A. H. Foote ......... 77

Vicksburg — The Gibraltar of the Mississippi (Full page) .... 81

Pittsburg Landing ........... 84

Grant and Sherman at the Battle of Shiloh (Full page) .... 87

The Start for Vicksburg (Full page) 97

Grant Entering the Capital of Mississippi (Full page) .... 101

Surrender of Vicksburg (Full page) ....... 107

Cave Life in Vicksburg during its Siege 109

General George H. Thomas ......••• 116

IG LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

Battle of Lookout Mountain (Full page) 119

Grant Receiving his Commission as Lieutenant-General (Full page) . 123

In the Wilderness (Full page) 133

Portrait of Lincoln • 136

General Winfield Scott 142

Sheridan's Final Dash to the Front (Full page) 147

View of Richmond 150

Surrender of General Lee (Full page) 155

View of Charleston 166

Capitol at Raleigh 167

Grant at the Close of the War (Full page) 172

War and Navy Departments (Full page) ...... 175

National Cajjitol at Washington (Full page) ...... 183

Senator Joseph R. Ilawley 185

Grant's Start for his Second Inauguration 188

North Front of the White House ........ 195

Great Corliss Engine of the Centennial Exhibition (Full page) . . . £03

Main Exhibition BuiUling ......... 204

Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil 205

American Line Steamer Indiana ........ 211

,^rrival of the Indiana at Queenstown 213

Scene on the Mersey near Liverpool . 215

Green Park 224

Furtification near Edinburgh ......... 232

Trafalgar Square ........... 234

The Tuileries and Louvre 238

DiMant View of Vesuvius , . . 246

Battle of Mount Vesuvius 249

The llcmiitnge 2-53

Ruin* at Pomjjcii "58

Kuin* at Malta 263

nou>ci.,i, and Batllcmei'ts at Malta ....... 266

View .f Alexandria . oen

18 LIST OF illitstratio:ns.

Page.

Catlicilral of St. Basil, Moscow 359

Mosque of Cordova 380

The Suez Caual 388

General Grant En-route for India (Full page) 389

Red Sea Entrance to the Suez Canal 390

Tlie Taj—" The most Beautiful Building in the World " (Full page) . 397

King's Palace at Delhi (Full page) 403

Pagoda of Rangoon (Full page) 409

Dancing-women of Siam ........•• 415

Sending Written Prayers to Heaven (Full page) 421

Tea Gardens of Shanghai (Full page) 427

Bridge at Pekin (Full page) 431

Japanese House of the better class (Full page) . ..... 439

Temple at Yokohama (Full page) 445

Nearing the Golden Gate, California (Full page) 453

General Grant and Party in a Nevada Mine (Full page) .... 461

Medal Struck in the Grant Parade at Philadelphia 472

Reception at Philadelphia (Full page) 473

Interior of Palace Car " President " 476

Pulaski Monument at Savannah (Full page) 479

En -route for San Diego

Travelling by Volante in Cuba (Full page) 487

Dancing the "Zapnteo" (Full page) 489

"A Leading Occupation" ...-••••• ^"^^

Progresso (Full page) ....-••••• ^"^

Grant's Residence in New York ^""

Tender Care of the Dying Hero (Full page) 533

Cottage at Mount McGregor ....'•••• ^'^'

Rev. J. P. Newman, D. D ^^^

Grand Central Depot, New York (Full page) 601

Front Entrance City Hall, New York (Full page) 6i 5

Maior-General Winfield Scott Hancock 607

:Mourning Decorations on Broadway, New York (Full page) . . . 609

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 17

Pack.

977 Oriental Bazanv

079 Eastern Donkeys

View of the Nile (Full page) 281

Tomb of the Kmgs -''^

I'asha Villa, occupied by General Grant (Full page) .... 285

Group of Bedouins '"^'

Ruins at Thebes (Full page) . . * -89

00 1

Ruins at Thebes ■^"^■*

The Plains of Thebes (Full page) 297

Kgvpiian Architecture -^^

Karnak '"^1

Hieroglyphics— a Battle-scene -^^^3

Hieroglyphics — Storming a City . . • 305

Totter at work ^^8

The Plains of Memphis (Full page) ........ 310

JitTa • 322

Peasant W'Dinan of the East ......... 323

Ramlch 324

.\n Ea-tern Dining-room .......... 328

\'ia D..lorosa 329

David's Tomb, Mount Zion C31

Valley of Jehoshaphat 333

Scene on the River Jordan 335

A Dancing-girl of Damascus 236

Constanlinople (Full page) 337

Exterior View of a Turkish House 339

Interiur View of a Turkish House 340

Tlic Acropolis at Athens 342

Venice (Full page) 347

Florence (I'ull page) 349

Ca»tlc in Germany (Full page) 355

Mountain Pass in Norway 357

LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES

OP

GENERAL U. S. GRANT.

Yanqiiisf^ES.

The conqueror of a hundred fields To a mightier conqueror yields; No mortal foeman's l>low Laid the great soldier low ; Victor in his latest breatli — Vaniiuishcd but by death.

Francis T. Browne.

LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT.

Chapter I. General Grant's Ancestry — His Father Goes West

MARRIES ULYSSES BORN THE STORY OF THE CHANGED

NAME — " FICK IT AGAIN " THE SCHOOL-BOY " CAN't "

NOT IN THE DICTIONARY A LOAD OF LOGS HOME

INFLUENCES THE HORSE TRADE DEFENDING WASH- INGTON " there's nothing LIKE LEATHER " ENTERS

WEST POINT A LETTER HOME TO MOTHER IMPRES- SIONS OF Arnold's treason — progress in studies —

OFFERS TO TAN HIDES — GRADUATES — A REMINISCENCE

enters THE REGULAR ARMY IS SENT UP RED RIVER

HIS MODESTY A LETTER TO MRS. BAILEY.

That branch of the Grant family from which the famous General came was represented in Mathew Grant, who landed on these shores in 1630. In the sixth generation from Mathew was Noah Grant, grandfather of the General, who after the Revolutionary War migrated to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where, in January, 1794, Jesse R. Grant, father of the lamented General, was born. Five years later, in 1799, the family began to be agitated by the fever of unrest, following the star of empire, moved to the great and distant valley of the West. At this time not a single State had been formed out of that large district known as the Northwestern Territory, lying between the Allegheny and Rocky Mountains. The journey was long and wearying. After days of travelling along rough roads, through dark forests and across rapid streams, they at last made a final halt in Ohio.

About the same time another Pennsylvanian, a farmer by the name of John Simpson, removed his household to Clermont county, on the Ohio river, near Cincinnati. The two families were but a few miles apart. The country being sparsely settled at that time, it was not long before the Grants and the Simpsons came to be well acquainted. The friendship thus established culminated in the marriage of Jesse Grant and Hannah Simpson. This event occurred in June, 1821. Jesse was a quiet, cautious, earnest young man, possessed of an abundance of resolution and perseverance. He was very fond of business, and soon resolved to add a tannery to his f\irm. His wife was a young woman of exceptional good sense, possessing also a calm, serious and domestic temperament. She was warmly attached to her home, and endeavored to make it sunshiny and pleasant. She entered into her husband's enterprise with all the energy of character peculiar to successful Western pioneers, and by so doing aided much in his material prosperity. In the humble dwelling which they called home their first child was born on the twenty- Beventh day of April, 1822. This child, a son, was named Hiram Ulysses Grant. The story of the subsequent change of name is thus told by the father :

"The maternal grandmother was quite a reader of history, and had taken a great fancy to Ulysses, the great Crcciiin general, who defeated the Trojans by his strategy of the wooden horse. She wished the child named Ulys- Bos. His grandfather wanted to have him njimed Hiram. S. l,.,th were gratified by naming him Hiram Ulysses. ^\ ii.-n 1 wrote to Mr. Hamer, then a member of Congress l'"ni our district, to procure the appointment of cadet, he wrote to the War Department and gave his name ' Ulysses

2S LIFE OF GENEEAL GEAKT.

S. Grant.' And we could not get it altered. Simpson was his mother's maiden name. We had a son named Simpson, and Mr. Hamer confounded the two names. We re"-arded it a matter of but little consequence, and so let it stand."

Early in life absence of fear became characteristic of the voung Ulysses. When but two years of age, while l)eing carried in the arms of his father on a public occasion through the village, a young man expressed a desire to try the efiect of a pistol report on the child. The father consented, remarking : " The child has never seen a pistol or gun in his life." The baby hand was placed on the trigger and pressed until it snapped and the pistol went oir with a loud report. The child scarcely stirred ; but in a moment afterward pushed away the pistol, exclaiming in childish glee: ^' Fick it again! fick it again!"" One who stood by remarked : '' That boy will make a general ; for he neither winked nor dodged."

Placed in the village school, Ulysses was faithful and studious. Whatever was undertaken he was sure to master. His progress was not as rapid as that made by others, but it was thorough. His motto seems to have been " slow but sure." Although he gave no striking evidence of genius, still there was a beautiful resemblance to the boyhood of Washington in a peculiarity well expressed by one well qualified to give an opinion : " There was certainly a manly, dignified modesty in his deportment which made him at least an uncommon lad."

The persistency with which Grant pursued his studies was certainly remarkable. Where many another would liave given up discouraged, he toiled on until he had won tlic victory. One day, as he was wrestling with a very difTicMli problem, one of his companions happening in at the time said to him :

" You can't master that."

Ulysses replied : " Can't ! What does it mean ? "

" Why," stammered the other, " Why, it means that — that you can't. There !"

Grant wa% not satisfied with the answer. In order to settle the exact meaning of the word, he turned to the dictionary. He found the word can very easily, but there was no cant. Whenever he was baffled in his search for knowledge, he was wont to take the matter to his teacher; and so he appealed to him in this instance. " What is the meaning of can't ? The word is not in the dictionary." The teacher soon informed him, and seeing that a grand opportunity was presented to impress upon the minds of the scholars the great truth that perseverance in well doing is the secret of success, presented the matter in a very forcible manner. He said : " If in the struggles of life any person should assert that you can't do a thing you had determined to accomplish, let your answer be, " The word can't is not in the dictionary.'"

His father also relates another amusing little incident: " When he was about ten years old, a distinguished phrenologist came along and stayed several days in the place. He was frequently asked to examine heads, blindfolded. The phrenologist, among others, examined the boy Grant. He felt his head for several minutes without saying anything. Then he was asked if the boy had a capacity for mathematics. The phrenologist, after some further examinations, said : ' You need not be surprised if you see this boy fill the Presidential chair some time.' "

It was about this time that Grant showed unmistakably his Scotch blood. That is to say, he had the substantial, strong qualities of character for which the men of Scotland are remarkable — self-reliance and manliness, combined with the ability to manage difficult undertakings.

.10

LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT.

" Ulysses," said his father to the boy one day, " T want you to drive the team down to the woods, where the hands arc ready to load up some logs."

The boy M-as soon on the way, whip and "lines" in his hands. When he reached the forest, however, the men were not to be found. " Ah !" he said to himself, " I see h.)\v it is. These logs have got to be loaded; for father wants them. I must make up in wit what I lack in ^strength."

But how to get the heavy logs upon the wagon was a serious question. Just at that moment his eye rested on a tree that had fallen over, and rested against another. This made the trunk an inclined plane, rising gradually from the ground. The boy saw at a glance how to make the liorses do tb.e work which the missing men were to have done. Unhitching his team, he drew the log nearest to him up on the side of the tree, and then another and so on until he had them jiU in proper position. He then backed his cart under the load, drew each log over the tree and fastened it with a chain to the wagon, and in triumph drove homev/ard. His father met him at the door, and not seeing the men, who had been expected to return witli him, exclaimed:

"Why, Ulysses! where are the men? Didn't they help you?"

•' I don't know where they are," was the answer, " and I don't care either; for I got the load without them."

The time of Jesse Grant was so occupied with the cares of pioneer life that the training of the son was left almost wholly to the mother. Mrs. Grant was one of those wom.'u who believed that a child's education should not I- left wholly witli the teachers in the common school. Mm- believed that home influence left an indelible mark ui>on the pla.stic mind of the young. She therefore sought to impress upon her son the noblest lessons which one can learn. Having made the Bible her text-book, she reared her boy to love that dear old volume, and to prize its immortal teachings. Although possessed of strong religious traits, Mrs. Grant had, nevertheless, a quaint humor. It often manifested itself in the quiet ripples of her handsome mouth, even though it did not betray itself by words.

" Ulysses," she said to her boy one day, " I mean you shall not come to a bad name, if you can help it. Your father has called you by a great one, and if you will follow the advice of your mother, as well as that of your father, no one will ever call you Useless Grant." And no stronger summons was needed to start the boy to duty than the short call of the woman pioneer:

" Quick, my lad ! They shan't call you Useless ! "

Thus the inspiration to diligence, to obedience, to perseverance and success came to the boy Grant in the charmed circle of home. He saw that his father was successful; he also saw that his mother greatly aided his father in his efforts. And with these two examples before him he often put the question to himself: " What reason is there that I should not succeed?"

In those early days in Ohio it was absolutely necessary for a successful farmer to have in his possession one or more of the best horses obtainable. The business of Jesse Grant having increased, he desired to purchase another horse. He sent Ulysses, who was at that time assisting him in the tan-yard, to make the purchase. The animal wanted was the property of a neighbor. The boy, though young, had acquired some knowledge of horses, and was, therefore, delighted with the mission.