E 672 .S65 Copy 2 C^SARISM. GrENERAL GrRANT FOR A ThIRD TeRM. ''Burleigh;' OF THE "boston JOURNAL y 'Mottr iA,rj, / Xo car of triumph bore him throiigli a city filled with grief, No ijroniiiii}^ captives at thcwheels proclaimed him Victor Chief: \\v broke tlie gyves of Slavery with strong and high disdain. And cast no sceptre from the links when he had crushed the chain. He saved his land, but did not lay his soldier trappings down. To change them for the regal vest, or don a kingly crown."' JJrintcb nt ll)c lUiuioibc JDvcgg, (Tumlnibgc, AMI roi: sAi.K nv HURI) AND IIOI Cn roX. Kl ASTOK l'|,.\( K, \K\V YORK. 1873. / C^SARISM. General Grant for a Third Term, BT "BUELEIGH," OF THE "boston JOURNAL.' "No car of triumph bore liim tliroiio]i a city filled with ccricf, No grcanins captives at the wheels proclaimed him Victor Chief: He broke the gyves of Slavery with strong and higii disdain, And cast no sceptre from the links wiien he had crushed the chain. He saved his land, but did not lay iiis soldier trappings down, To change them for the regal vest, or don a kingi_v crown." Jjznz^ rpiiiucb at tl)c ttiocrsibc Pvcsg, (Tambriligc, AND FOK SAl.K IIV KURD AND 1I0UG1IT0X,13 ASTOll PLACE, NEW YORK. 1873. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the vear 1873, by Ma tih-Lvn TT\t.f Smith, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Bn~CB5U>E. CAMBRIDGE: 8TEEEOTTPED A5D PKIXTED BT H. O. HOCGHTOS AXD COMPAST. SPECIMEN SPEECHES OF GENERAL GRANT. " This war is a bigger tiling than you suppose. If any of you feel like enlisting I will help you." — First speech, 1861. " We cut our way in, and we must cut our way out." " Don't fire till you see somebody." " Unconditional surrender." " I propose to move immediately on your works." " I shall fight it out on this line." " The President cannot break the laws." " I have never been able to walk on the side of the street I wanted to." " I am not after Richmond ; I am after Lee." " :My ambition is to be Mayor of Galena, and lay a sidewalk to the depot." " I can no more proclaim myseH Caesar than I can compel the Atlantic Ocean to recede, and you know it." " It is said, :Mr. President, that Senator don't beheve the Bible." " Why should he ? he did not write it.*' " You were right and I was wrong." — Lincuhi. " Mr. Grant is a very obstinate man." — Mrs. Grant. " In a nation of talkers, the only silent man." — £mp. Xap. Sect. JVar. To an Enghsh snob who told the President that he thought an empire would be better than a republic. General Grant said : '' You liad better start at once for the other side of the ocean ; you cannot be happy here." CONTENTS. -♦- Sensational Cry '^ "VYhy should not Grant be Kenominated ? . . . • 8 Grant and the South ^ Washington served but Two Terms 10 Grant as a Ruler and Statesman 12 Simplicity of Grant's Character !•* General Grant can't Talk 1^ Grant's Executive Force 1^ No C^sarism; no Third Term 19 Personal Traits 23 Grant's Time come 25 Official Life Grant and his Relations 28 General Grant and his Presents 29 The Burden of Office ^'^ Don't attend to his Work '^"-' The President at Home ^^ CiESARISM. sensatio:n'al cry. The cry of Caesarism has been sounded through the land. No King, No Emperor, No Third Term, in glaring capitals, meet the eye in sensational journals. A large and victorious party, that carried through the war, and has blessed the country with a marvelous peace and pros- perity, are accused of a deep game to place in the chair of Washington, a permanent President. The quiet gentle- man in the White House, who smokes his cigar, and most T emphatically minds his own business ; who spends his evenings with his family, and welcomes all comers with a genuine hospitality, is said to be deep in the plot. His aim is, it is said, to overturn the government that Wash- ington gave us ; to clothe himself with imperial power, and by changing the Constitution and the laws, by bayonets, or by ballots, or by some other force, to make / himself Emperor. This attempt to alarm the country by li| the cry of Coesarism, may be a sensational joke ; it may be a note of serious alarm ; for the authors of this outcry " are all honorable men." But malevolent or se- rious, this outcry may have more in it than its authors in- tend. It has taught the people that they can elect Gen- 8 C^SARISM. era! Grant for a third term, if they will. Neither the Constitution, the laws, nor the teaching of the Fathers, stand in the way of the third or the thirteenth term, if the people will. Furious and malignant attacks on Gen- eral Grant have not so far borne the fruit expected. During tlie late canvass, the vilest things were said about him. His military abilities, and even his integrity were called in question. His home, his fiimily, his children were not spared. The result showed that the people imderstood General Grant quite as well as his maligners. Had the canvass lasted six weeks longer, the General would have been elected by a unanimous vote. This new assault has commenced early, and if pressed with com- mendable vigor, will probably end in the renomination of Grant. What was intended as a political pleasantry may be taken up by the people in all seriousness. WHY SPOULD NOT GRANT BE EENOMINATED ? His name has never been connected with any office yet, with his consent. The inquiry about the third term may not ha very tasteful to the modest soldier. But as he himself puts it : " Presidents must not be thin- skinned." The people have a right to know what special danger would befiill the Republic should the people re- nominate, and reelect General Grant. " I do not expect the whole community to approve of my administration," he said the other day. " Many did not like my i)lan of conducting: tlie war. Stron«r eflbrts from time to time were made to induce me to change. When the war was over, the nation gave me its approval. I am satisfied that when my administration closes, a patriotic people CuESARISM. will sanction what I have done." Why should not Grant complete what he has so well begun ? GKANT AND THE SOUTH. There is certainly no constitutional or legal objection to a third term. There are many considerations that make such an event possible, probable, and desirable. Grant is still a young man, and should he close a third term he will not be older than Washington was when he entered on his first term. He will be quite as well able to conduct the public afliiirs in the future, as he has been in the past. The South, which will have much to say in respect to the next Presidential election, have more con- fidence in General Grant, than in any other man north of Mason and Dixon's line. He is a soldier, straiglitfor- ward, outspoken, and reliable. When Johnson in his hot haste attempted to punish somebody, and seized upon the paroled rebel officers, Grant spoke in terms not to be mis- understood : " You can't touch these men while they keep their parole. The honor of the country is pledged, and that honor must be kept unsullied." Had the Civilians at Washington dictated the terms of Lee's sur- render, they would not have been as generous and humane as those offered by the commanding general. The colored people of the South want Grant for a third term. The leading men of the late rebel States do not disguise their preference for the present Executive. A change could be no better, and might be for llio worse. This preference will soon be made known. 'IVstimonies on this point will come from unexpected quarters. 10 CJBSARISM. WASHINGTON SERVED BUT TWO TERMS. Washington did not wish the Presidency at all, under any circumstances. He announced his determination to retire at the expiration of his term. Age and infirmities were assigned as the reasons. It required all the in- fluence of Jefferson, Hamilton, and Randolph, to induce "Washington to change his purpose. The reasons urged are matters of history. The government was not stable ; there was fear of a civil war ; men who charged Wash- ington with a design to overtiu-n the government by military despotism, were themselves seeking their coun- try's overthrow. To save the country from anarchy, Washington withdrew his objection, and he was re- elected. But there were reasons why Washington should con- tinue in ofhcc, and his friends pressed it upon him. But he was an old man, worn out with labor ; and his life was embittered by the ingratitude and treachery of pro- fessed friends. Ten years before the burden of office weighed him down, in his solitary tent at Valley Forge, with a sick, disabled, starving, shoeless, and mutinous army, that a handful of British dragoons could have routed and captured, he cried for the repose of Mount Vernon. " My eyes have grown dun," he said, " in the service of my country." Yet the patriots of the nation pressed him for a third term. Discontent was general. Men commented on the waning popularity of the great chief He was accused as Grant has been, with an attempt to make his seat per- manent by despotism. More than once he visited Con- CJESARISM. 11 gress to allay the bitterness of party feeling. Spurious letters were circulated, with his name signed to them, to produce discontent. There were dissensions in his cabinet, and alienation of friends. He was abused, maligned, and falsified. Pamphlets full of the vilest calumnies and false- hoods, were printed and circulated. Some of these he answered. An anonymous letter was so atrocious, that Washington published an elaborate reply. He was charged with imbecility as a warrior ; with inabilit}^ as a ruler ; influenced by personal ambition and seeking im- perial power while pretending to serve his country. Tom Paine lent a helping hand in these calumnies. He charged Washington Avith being a coward. He said pos- terity would be divided whether he was a knave or a poltroon. The slanders of that period against Wash- ington would to-day make first-class campaign documents for anti-Grant men. Strike out the name of Washington and insert that of Grant, and those atrocious calumnies against the Father of his country Avould read like modern emanations from Ann Street or Printing-house Square. Maligned, calumniated, deserted by his friends, his best intentions misinterpreted, Washington loathed public life, and sighed for rest. Nevertheless the third term was pressed upon him ; pressed by men quite as patriotic as the modern alarmists who are shouting Ctesarism over the third term. AVashington was urged not to leave the helm of state, for his own firm hand it was thought could alone keep the ship steady. To preserve the nation IVoni the dark chasm of anarchy that seemed to lie just before it, the men who liad pledged their " fortunes, their lives, and their sacred honor," urged Washington 12 C^SARISM. to still remain President. Had he been young, as Grant is, no one doubts but that he would have accepted the Presidency for a third term. lie could have ruled for life, had he chosen to have done so, nor would the nation have feared Caesarism at his hands. The elec- tion of a President once in four years was intended to give the people a chance to reelect or reject. The re- jection could be after the first term. The reelection as often as the people chose. GRAXT AS A RULER AND STATESMAN. By common consent, General Grant to-day is one of the ablest rulers in the world. He is one of the few men that occasionally come to the surface, in spite of all adverse surroundings. The opinion of politicians and demagogues is one thing ; that of the world is another. By common consent Grant stands among the great military captains of the earth. He won his way by his own sword. He built on no man's foundation. He entered into no man's labor. The hour that connected his name with our armies was the blackest. Public confidence had well- nigh died out. No plan succeeded. Defeat and disaster attended our arms everywhere. Grant had no patron ; no great friend ; no one politically to lend him a helping hand j no eminent relations to speak a good word for him. His manner did not win confidence, nor promise success. There was no one near him when he started to recognize in the silent youth the coming man. Snubbed b}' offi- cials, grinned at by porters, sent to a common clerkship to get him out of the way, — he began his career. He took whatever was ofiered to him. He bef>:an on the lowest C^SARISM. 13 round of the ladder, and won his ascent by dogged obsti- nacy. Thousands would have left the army and cursed the ingratitude of Republics. But Grant knew that he had ability ; knew that the time would come when that ability would be needed and acknowledged. He fought more battles, commanded more men, took more spoils, gained more victories, captured more prisoners in six years, than Napoleon did in twenty. Grant will live beside Washington. And when the ani- mosity of political life shall be forgotten, and the great services he has rendered to his country in the field and in the cabinet, shall be fully recognized, he will be an example to young men in all coming time. A young man without money, without a patron, with no opening, wholly unknown to fame, he has carved his name in im- perishable letters on the fo^ade of the Repubhc. His old commander at West Point when- Grant was a cadet, waited for his orders. The greatest generals of modern times were proud to have fought under him. He wrote dispatches on his saddle-cloth, that all Europe waited in breathless silence to read, — dispatches that rank with the ablest that Monk or Wellington ever penned ; granting to a fallen foe terms of surrender so honorable and so humane that the world wondered -, making for himself a name as well known to European courts as that of Frederick the Great, or Moltke. Yet when receiving the thanks of Congress, or in the White House receiving the commissions which none but Washington had ever re- ceived, Grant was everywhere as modest, as unassum- ing, as retiring, as silent, as when in 18G1 he kicked his heels against the door-post of the capitol at Spring- 14 CJ^SARISM. field, soliciting a place in the arni}^ from men who to-day would gladly shine his boots. McClellan had been relieved as the head of the army. Everything was at sea, and the public hope was dim. General Scott said to me at Delmonico's : " I don't mider- stand this war. I never knew a war of this magnitude that did not throw to the surface some great general. We have had splendid fighting, but no damage has been done. Both armies have drawn off in good order at the close of a conflict ready to begin the next day. Such fighting must be interminable. Somebody must be de- stroyed. The enemy must be spoiled ; his means of war- fare taken from him. I must make an exception in favor of that young man out West. He seems to know the art of damaging the enemy and crippling him. So far General Grant is the hero of this w\ar," The opinion of the sa- gacious warrior at the opening of General Grant's career, was confirmed by his successes at the close. SIMPLICITY OF GP.AIs^t's CHARACTEK. The President puts on no airs, and never has made any "claims" on the Republic. On the breaking out of the war, he closed his ledger at Galena, and made prepara- tions to take any position assigned him in the defense of the government. No post was too humble, no place too obscure for him to occupy. lie asked for work, not poAver. He did not ask for a generalship ; it was ac- corded to him at the request of the entire Illinois delega- tion. He did not seek the position of lieutenant-general. When summoned to Washington, he went not knowing what should befall him. The commission, which none but CJESARISM. 15 Washington had ever borne, was jDrivately presented m one of the saloons of the AVhite House. Great prep- arations had been made to celebrate his accession to the rank of lieutenant-general. But he left the city before dark to enter on tlie new and grave duties to which he had been called. He was spared assassination the night of the Lincoln murder. He had been invited to the theatre, and was one of the victims marked for the slaughter. He left on a tour of duty, and was for away when the fatal bullet struck the patriot Lincoln down. When the men who sustained the government in all the crisis, determined to run General Grant for the Presi- dency, he was waited on by a committee of eminent per- sons. General Grant at once declined the proposal. He neither wanted the honor nor the grave responsibihties of the high position. He said he understood his duties as general of the armies. He could perform them, he thought, in a manner satisfiictory to the nation. His position was a life one ; the duties wero pleasant ; the compensation ample ; and he asked to be let alone. He did not seek the second term, nor does he seek the third. But if the people want Grant, they will call him. not to destroy, but to preserve; not to reinstate the national out- break, but to repair the waste of vandalism and i)ut the complicated, but damaged machinery of the government in complete and harmonious order. GENERAL GRAXT CAN't TALK. So his maligners say. Neither could Washington talk. He attempted to make a speech l)efore the House of Burfi'ess when Vii'ixinia thanked him for his u'reat ser- 16 CjESARISM. vices. Washington was so overwhelmed and confused in attempting to reply to a vote of thanks that Speaker Kandolph came to his rescue. " Sit down, Mr. Wash- ington ; sit down ; your modesty is only exceeded by your valor." Talking Presidents and babbling candi- dates have not as a general rule been a success. Jef- ferson was no talker. It embarrassed him so to ap- pear before an assembly that he introduced the custom of sending his message to Congress rather than appear before that body and read it, as was the custom. Old Hickory could not talk unless he got mad, and then he needed expletives to help him out. The fact is that General Grant is one of the most intelligent talkists of the age. He is one of the best informed men of the day. He reads daily seven newspapers, and has the digest of thirty daily prints laid before him. He knows every criticism on his administration; every epithet hurled against him; every good thing said in his be- half. The Confederate generals, who had anything to do with him, from Pemberton to Lee, did not complain that Grant could not talk. They well knew that he could talk, wTite, and make his mark. Jefferson says in his memoirs : " I served with General Washington in the Legislature of Virginia before the Revolution, and during it with Dr. Frankhn in Congress, and I never heard either of them speak ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main point that was to decide the question." What a solid fact for some of the windy talkers in Congress and out of it to-day. Farragut told me that he became acquainted with Grant in this w^ay : while trying to force his way up CJSSARISM. 17 the Mississippi, he was ignorant of the commander who was operating with the troops above him. The British and French Consuls asked permission to go through the lines, promising to give no information to the rebels. " You may tell them what you like," said the brave Admiral ; " tell them I am trying to force my way through and intend to do it." The officials came back big with information, but would tell nothing. "I don't care what you know," said Farragut ; '' but I would like to have you tell me who is in command of the armies." " Well," said the Briton, ''he is a red-headed fellow, that they call Grant. He appears stupid as a block. You can get nothing out of him. He is either a fool, or an able general." " Tell me what he is doing," said Farragut. An answer was given. " All right," was the response, " I will trust him. grant's executive force. He is one of the few men born to command. Cool, saga- cious, clear-headed ; his few words and those right to the point brought him to the front everywhere. From the moment he first appeared in the Avar, his views diilered from those of all other generals. Hallock reproved him, and telegram after telegram followed him from [\iv War Department, censuring him for his mode of doing things. Committees, generals, and secretaries opposed his plans. But self-reliant and defiant, he pursued his own course. During the Avhole campaign, he called but one council of war. In that council every officer but one opposed his plan. He carried out his own views, and won. His famous expression, '' I shall fight it out on (his line," 18 C^SARISM. Wcas drawn out in consequence of an attempt in high quarters to make him change his plans. He was interfered with on every side. More than once, he came up from his camp to protest against the perpetual annoyance. Once he said to Mr. Lincoln, " If the opinion of these civil and military gentlemen is of so much importance, why did you not follow their advice before you called me?" That Grant has marked executive ability is proved by the fact that he is an able general. The elements that make a great general, make a great ruler. An army is a state, and a man who can rule that well can rule a nation well. The history of military men in all ages prove this. The great captains of the Old World have been the mightiest rulers. The most popular Presidents from Washington to Grant, have been military Presi- dents. A thousand men can lead a column, make a bril- liant dash, fight a battle, and win a victory. Not ten men out of that thousand can plan a campaign, move half a million of men, cover an area of a thousand miles, and make no mistake in a single movement. We had brilliant men, brave men, patriotic men, earnest men, but all were fliilures till Grant appeared, for none of them could plan a campaign. As Grant conducted his army so he runs his administration. Whether people like it or not, in the Cabinet as in the field. Grant carries out his own plans. He is the head of the nation, as Wash- ington was. Everywhere he takes the initiatory steps, and assumes the responsibility. When he presents a matter to the Cabinet, he presents with it his own views, saying, ''^ Gentlemen, T propose to do so and so." CESAR ISM. 19 On tlie Black Friday, when unscrupulous men came near ruining the whole country, General Grant walked quietly into the Treasury Building, and gave a simple order, and moved on the conspirators, as his custom is. His courage and patriotism were tried during the short period he held the portfolio of the War Department. While lieutenant- general, a United States Senator rode with General Grant to New York. The Senator found the General of the army as familiar with finance as if he had made it the study of his life. He sketched a plan, by which the great debt of our country could be managed, gradually reduced, and the business of the country not be harmed. That plan, hastily developed on the iron pathway, has been persistently adhered to, as the General would adhere to the plan of his campaign. NO CiESARISM; NO THIRD TERM. So demagogues say. But these alarmists did not want Grant for the first term, nor for the second. Of course they do not desire him for a third. Indeed, General Grant is one of those men that nobody seems to want, and yet a man whom the people cannot do without. On the 13th of April, 18G1, the booming of the guns on Sumter, were heard at Galena. A A'oung man in a tan-yard who had been educated at West Point, closed his ledger and thought he might be of some service to his count rv in the dark and terrible day that was upon her. On the 19th of April, Captain Grant gatiiered a few volunteers in a room and commenced drilling them. Without wait- ing to be sent for, he took his satchel in his hand which, as tradition represents, contained a tooth-brush 20 CuESARISM. and a small comb, — and started for Springfield. There nobody wanted bim, and he hung round the capitol until he was ashamed. Hearing that his old comrade at West Point was in command in Ohio, Grant started for Cin- cinnati in the hope that McClellan would put him on his staff. But McClellan did not want him. From Spring- field Grant wrote to the War Department, offering his services. The letter not only elicited no reply, but it was not thought of importance enough to keep. At length Grant was allowed to organize volunteers for the war. He did this work so well that it was thought safe to trust him with a mutinous regiment that no com- mander could manage. On the 7th of August he re- ceived his commission as brigadier-general, and went to the war. Nobody wanted him out West. He was in everybody's way. He was so obstinate that nobody could move him ; and his persistent and energetic talks about seizing forts, damaging the enemy, crippling them, moving on the enemy's works, with unconditional surrender, had a popular ring that politicians did not like. It was decided to remove him. The Adjutant-general was sent out West for that purpose. Grant could not be found. Thomas, with the eye of a soldier, saw that Grant was doing an immense work. Before Grant could be re- lieved, Vicksburg surrendered. From that hour to this, no one has been able to handle Grant ; no combination can move him, men cannot frighten him. For every emer- o-ency he has a reserve at hand. Once at the West, his officers rushed into his tent and said : " General, we are surrounded ! " Quietly knocking the ashes from his cigar, Grant replied : " Well, gentlemen, we have cut our c.E.'>AJ!rs^f. 21 way in, and we must cut our way out." When Yicks- burg surrendered, Lincoln called in some persons, who had accused Grant of drunkenness, and requested them to find out what particular brand of whiskey Grant drank ; " for," said the President, '' I will order some of that brand for the rest of the generals." If Grant's en- emies could have prevented it, he would not have been Lieutenant-general ; nor would he have been put in com- mand of the armies of the United States ; nor would he have been nominated by the Republicans for the first term. There is a nice little piece of history connected with the second nomination. A conspiracy was formed to defeat the reelection of General Washington, — formed by men who had been on his staff, and were numbered anions; his most confidential friends. Lincoln was hurt by the same ingratitude. Private circulars from the Sen- ate Chamber were sent all over the country to manufac- ture public sentiment against a second term. Lincoln was stung to the quick by this base ingratitude and treachery. Grant could expect no less. A United States Senator, at the head of one of the important committees, reo;arded himself as the head of the jjcovernment. lie was insolent, arrogant, and domineering. It was dilli- cult for the Executive Department to do Inisine.ss with the Senate through its official channels, and preserve its dignity. The committee was reorgani/.ed, and the arro- U'ant o-entleman disiilaccd. lie attributed the indiii:nitv to General Grant, and resolved to make reprisals. The Republican Convention was soon to meet to nominate a candidate. Grant was not onlv not wanted, but "men 22 CjESARIsm. said, lie must be put out of the way." A combination was formed, embracing some Democrats and the disaffected. A demonstration was agreed upon that would so alarm the Republicans, that they would not dare renominate the President. Sitting one day in the Senate Chamber, the Senator received some visitors. In a tone of voice, loud enoudi to be heard half a dozen chairs away, the Senator gave utterance to his opinions : " You can't renominate General Grant, gentlemen ; you can't renominate him ; it is mipossible. Read that letter, gentlemen, and you will see. I am going to make a speech upon the matter myself, and the renomination will be simply impossible." The threatened speech came. A more offensive produc- tion has not appeared since Tom Paine made his vile attack on the character and military abilities of Washing- ton. The slums, the garbage barrels, and gutters were raked for cast-off calumnies. These were put in elegant settings, and presented to the American public, under the autograph of the Senator. The result was the enthusiastic renomination and the triumphant reelection of our ma- ligned ruler. The Senator intended murder, — he com- mitted suicide. Of course politicians do not want General Grant for the third term, nor did they want him for the first. Why should a third term be thought so perilous? Members of Congress do not think it dangerous to the ■ Republic that their reelection should be repeated to the fortieth term. Senators do not object to a life seat in the Senate Chamber. It is quite as important that the United States Judges be pure and free from tyranny as it is that Presidents be loyal to the Constitution. Yet we elect them for life. CJLSARISM. 23 PERSOXAL TRAITS. The self-reliance and individuality of Grant are among his marked characteristics. He has a plan in all that he does, and adheres to it with sullen obstinacy. When his plans for the campaign were completed, he pre- sented them to the President. They included Sherman's famous march to the sea. Grant was to remain in the Wilderness keeping Lee busy. " Do you understand the plan, Mr. President," said the commanding general ? " Perfectly. You are to stay here and hold the legs of the Rebellion, wdiile Sherman comes through, to skin 'em." When his vigorous campaign began to open in the West, Sherman offered his sword, and told Grant that he would not raise the question of rank. Grant's orders to St. Louis were not obeyed, and he went down to see what was the matter. Halleck reproved him. '' Remove me at once, if I don't obey orders," was the response. His perfect knowledge of men, is another trait of Grant's character. He seldom makes a mistake. Meade was appointed at his personal solicitation, and the praise that he bestowed upon that general and other associates in armies, was unstinted and manly. AVhile ho was in the Wilderness, an official of the War Department came down and spent some time in the camp. Grant took his measure at once, for he seemed to understand war bet- ter than the General. When this man . applied for an important commission under the government, Grant re- fused the appointment, and has been heartily hated by that gentleman ever since. Another trait is his reticence. All eminent men who 24 CjEsarism. have been called to great trusts, have been small talkers. " No more foolmg," said Frederick in a drunken bout, when news was brought to him that his father was dead, and that he was Emperor. It is said that Moltke can hold his tongue in fifteen difi*erent languages. I was sit- ting in the elegant saloon of Mr. Burlingame in Paris. Napoleon's Minister of War came in. Grant had been elected but not inaugurated. The President, it will be recollected, kept his line of policy in his own hands. The Minister of War said, '' 1 am astonished at 3-our General Grant. I marvel that he can so completely keep his own counsel. In a nation of talkers, he seems to be the only silent man." The enemies of General Grant, North and South, are not in harmony. They should have a counsel, and har- monize their attacks. In one section he is accused of being a bold, daring, unscrupulous ruler, cool, sagacious, and ready for imperialism. On the other hand, he is charged with possessing no talent, lucky in his battles, without an average intelligence, ruled by a clique, and a passive tool in the hands of poUticians. A man can- not be both a despot and a fool. So far nothhig has been able to stand against him. He has always enjoyed the unmeasured confidence of the people. All attempts to mix him up with frauds, land speculations, San Do- mingo jobs, or Credit Mobilier frauds, have signally failed, his enemies being judges. Alone and single-handed, he devised and carried out the Geneva Arbitration, and gave to England, as she avers, the hot end of the poker. The entire opposition, at the last canvass, could not fiu'nish a man who had the slightest hope of success. CJESARISM. 25 Wlien, finally, a republican was nominated, Pilate and Herod struck hands loWiout profit. The colored people, whom it was supposed would follow Greeley and Sumner, the old abolitionists, who would not forget Joseph, were appealed to in vain. The same results would follow should the people put General Grant in nomination for a third term. Every month of his administration strength- ens him in the confidence of the nation. Whatever he does, he does well. A thousand exigencies have arisen for which there was no precedent ; he has led the people wisely and safely. Of all the letters that he has written, — his first private letter to his fiither, written amid the struggles of his first campaign ; his manly letter to Sher- man, written on the eve of his commission as Lieuten- ant-general ; his countless dispatches ; war papers and state documents, — all show him to be a man of marvelous ability. These productions are his own. In a conference of fifty men, while seeming to listen, his pen moves rap- idly, and when the conference closes, he has the matter written up, saying, " Gentlemen, I think this is about the thing." gkant's time come. No President has been popular after tlie first term. Grant cannot expect to escape more than others. If Grant takes the mantle of Washington, and sits in the chair of Washing-ton, he must share tlie calumnv and in- dignity that Washington endured. From tlie moment that Washington took the conuuand of the army until he retired from the Presidency, he was the subject of the foulest aspersions. He was accused of imperialism, des- 26 C^SARISM. potism, and tyranny ; the term for " Cossarism " was not then invented. These charges were printed and circu- lated through the country. In a document bearing date March 12, 1783, Washington made a formal reply to these foul calumnies. When Congress met in Decem- ber, AVashington sent a formal refutation in a paper dated December 23, 1783, and addressed to the Presi- dent of Congress. The direct offer of a crown to Wash- ington, in a room that still stands on Broad Street, was the result of a plan to ruin the President. Party rancor has never been more intense than dur- ing the administration of John Adams. The opposition carried him under, and he failed of a second nomination. The correspondence of Jefferson shows how bitter and inten^^e the attacks were that were made on him, not sparing even his wife and children. Party bitterness was so violent in Madison's reign, that men were shot down in the streets for a difference of political opinion. Noth- ino; but the war with Britain saved Madison for a sec- ond term. All the epithets and vile things said about Grant, would not compare with those hurled at the head of John Quincy Adams, and hurled by the men who did the most to make him President. He lost his reelec- tion through party bitterness. Jackson's foes were those of his own house. The men who elected him turned against him. The cartoons of the day represented the hero in an old rookery, sitting in a chair that was going to pieces, while his Cabinet, in the shape of rats, were leaving the fallen house, all but one. Van Buren, on whose tail the general had put his foot. John Tyler was thrown over by his own party. A conspiracy was CJESARISM. 27 formed to defeat Lincoln for a second term ; and the story of Johnson the world knows by heart. Washington had his Arnold ; Jefferson, his Burr ; Lincoln, his John- son ; and Grant must not expect to escape. OFFICIAL LIFE. It would be impossible for the President to please his ma- ligners. He can't talk, it is said. Would these men like him any better if he w^as as eloquent as Clay, or as gar- rulous as Davis ? They don't like what he has said ; would they like more ? At one time, complaint was made that Grant did not make a show ; that in dress and ap- pearance he had not style enough for the First Magis- trate of the country. AYould these people like Grant any better if he should put on the air and style of Wash- ington : drive to the capitol with outriders, wear a court dress, powder his hair, and guard the White House, with the etiquette of European courts ? During the Seven Years' War, Martha Washington came to the army to pass the winter. AVashington sent a militar}' escort for her, and she came into camp with her postilions in scarlet and gold, escorted by a troop of horse. Should Mrs. Grant put on that style at Washington would it suit, would it satisfy the murmurers ? Poor Lincoln, to get a breath of fresh air, drove out at night to the Soldiers' Home to sleep. A troop of horse attended him, that the rebels might not spirit him away. The Copper- heads charged him with imperialism, and with putting on airs, and riding Avith an escort, like a European despot. 28 C^SARISM. GRANT AND HIS RELATIONS. AYliile General Grant was fighting the battles of his country, Lincoln, as a thank-offering, without the solici- tation of Grant, presented his father with a commission. Of course the first thing Grant ought to have clone, when he was sworn into office, was to have taken the commis- sion away, and turned his old father out of employment. Then the country would have rung with the hard heart- edness and cold-bloodedness of the President. If the calumnies were true, as his enemies put it, it would have been perfectly right for the President to have put his re- lations in office. They are American citizens, and are not to be disfranchised because a relative happens to be in power. They have a right to share the altered for- tunes of the President. On this charge the people passed at the last election, and approved of the conduct of the President, whatever that was. All Presidents have done this, more or less. Washington did not put his relations in office, for he had none, and if he had they were Tories. John Adams appointed his relations to office, and when Jefferson removed them, Mrs. Adams WTote a severe letter, dated May 20, 1804, censuring Jefferson for his unkindness. John Quincy Adams, a bo}^ of twelve years of age, was appointed private secretarj^ to his flither, that he might accompany him to France for an education. Jackson put his adopted son into office. Prince John was employed by his father, and was as well known as tlie Prince of Wales. Tyler's sons had public employ. Woodbury, when appointed Judge, turned out a life-long clerk to put in his son-in-law. CjEsarism. 29 Seward placed his cliildren and relations in the State Department, and members of Congress have from the beginning sought positions of emolument and trust for their relatives and friends, at home and abroad. GENEKAL GEANT AND HIS PEESENTS. From the earliest civilization, nations have rewarded conquerors. The imperial palace, in which the Prince of Wales resides, was a present to Marlborough for his great victories. The paintings celebrating his battles, cover the house from the grand hall-way to the dome. One of the finest private residences in London, is the Apsley House at the entrance of Hyde Park, — a present from the nation to the Duke of Wellington. Neither Marlborough nor Wellington became traitors to their country because of these gifts. The American government can make no presents to men who have fought its battles and saved the integrity of its flag, but the people can if they choose, and they have always done so. AVashington was oflfered a princely gift ; but he declined it because he was rich, and the nation jDOor. Ilis estate was valued at over half a million. McClollan was offered a fine house handsomely furnished, which he did not decline. Jefferson, in his embarrassments, received with gratitude contributions sent to him from diiferent parts of the country. He gratefully recognizes the receipt of eight thousand five hundred dollars, from the citizens of New York through Phihp Hone, the mayor. Filhnore and Pierce, after their election, received presents from their friends, and pointed to these gifts with pride. Webster, when he was taken from his law-office in Boston and 30 CJESARISM. sent to Congress, received the promise of pecuniary aid, and drew on his friends for funds during the whole of his long legislative career. He owned at the time of his death the finest pair of carriage horses in the State, the gift of admiring friends. Henry Clay was overwhelmed with tears when he received a draft from Boston to pay a heavy note that he could not meet. Farragut, though he was rich in prize money, received a gift of forty thour sand 'dollars from the same liberal hands that had already provided a home for General Grant. TUE BUEDEX OF OFFICE. The patronage of the President is the most perplexing and burdensome of all his duties. It is not an easy thing to appoint a hundred thousand to office, have them all of the right stamp, and look after them after they are ap- pointed. To know these men personally is simply an impossibility. Men must be appointed on the recommen- dation of others. The fiercest assaults on President Grant's nominations, have been made by men who rec- ommended candidates, and found they could not use them after they were appointed. Shrewd business men have their funds stolen out of their own safes. Banks are robbed by their own clerks imder the eye of a detective. Bank officials, with ten and twenty years of honor upon them, steal the entire capital. Take a thousand lawyers, a thousand doctors, a thousand merchants, a thousand ministers, a thousand policemen, or a thousand men of any class, and there will be among them an average numl)er not to be trusted. nice-holders are not alto- gether saints, nor are they free from the common infirm- CjESARISM. 31 ity. But to hold the President responsible for an occa- sional defalcation, or the conduct of a dishonest appointee, would be as atrocious as it would be to hold Washington responsible for the treachery of Arnold, because he bore his commission; Jefferson, for the treason of Burr, be- cause he was at one time a part of his government ; Jack- son, for nullification ; Buchanan, for the office-holders that fired on Sumter ; or Lincoln, for the conduct of Johnson. No President has survived the popularity of his first appointment. Washington knew this when patronage passed out of his hands. It carried Adams under ; and Jefferson cried out: "I am tired of office. It brings me nothing but unceasing drudgery and daily loss of friends." President Polk told me that the patronage of the government was more burdensome to him than all the other duties of his office. He not only maddened those he did not appoint, but those he did. He could give no satisfaction. For every appointment there were a hundred applicants. Not only were ninety-nine disaf- fected, but the hundredth was not pleased. No man had the office that he was entitled to. Appoint a man to a clerkship, and he would be offended that he was not at the head of a Bureau. Make a man a marshal, and he would be mad that he was not circuit judge. Give a man ia consulship, and he Avould demand the reason why he was not made a full minister. The Secretary of the Navy had an appointment in his gift. It was on the coast of Maine, seventy miles out at sea, a lightliouse on a barren rock, to appoint a man to which would seem to doom him to b;iu- ishment. The salary was three hundred dollars a year. Yet for that appointment there were seven hundred 32 CJESARISM. appliccations ; and when the position was filled, there were six hundred and ninety-nine sullen people, who would not have voted for the Secretary for hog reeve. Not- withstanding the great increase of patronage made neces- sary by the war, the economy, honesty, integrity, and vigor with which the duties are performed, have never been exceeded under any administration. don't attend to nis work. Modern sensation journalism would shut up the Pres- ident like the Grand Llama, and not allow him to go out without the consent of his political foes. An exact record of the number of days the President has spent away from the capital, can be found in some of the prints ; as if he w^ere a clerk in some great establishment, and bound to give an account of his time to his masters. It was the boast of the old Democracy that the President was a simple citizen clothed mth power, to whom any man can speak, and who might do anything that became a man. Modern Democracy is made of different stuff. It is a new wrinkle to try to confine the President to the capital dur- ing the recess of Congress. In the time of the fathers, the President took his vacation with the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. When Congress adjourned, the President hastened away with the mem- bers. Washington went home and cultivated his broad acres. John Adams spent the recess on his farm at Quincy. Jefferson was impatient at anything that pro- lono;ed the session. Eminent men from abroad who came to visit him, found him on liorseback in his fields at Monticello superintending his servants. Jackson went CJESARISM. 33 to the Rip Eaps, and spent his vacation in the only farm- house on the Island. No man could visit him without his consent. Here in his shirt sleeves, dressed in a plan- tation suit, smoking a cob-pipe, with his chair tipped back, he gave audiences to foreign Ministers. All this was very Democratic and very nice. All the Presidents took a recess with Congress. The oath of office assigns to General Grant certain duties. He can perform them when and where he pleases : at Mount Desert, in Maine, at Long Branch on the Atlantic, or on the Pacific Coast. General Grant has spent more time in Washing-ton durins; the recess of Cons-ress, than any President except Lincoln. And Lincoln was kept at the capital by the exigencies of the war. Though a President, General Grant is an American citizen. He is not fond of ovations, that had so much fascination for for- mer Presidents. He selects his own pastimes, and enjoys them as he will. THE PRESIDENT AT HOME. The President is a thoroughly domestic man. His quiet, unostentatious style of life is in harmony with the genius of the great country over which he rules. At Washington, all the time not required for public service is spent in the bosom of his family. After office hours, the President can be found in his elegant j)arlors surrounded by his house- hold. Mrs. Grant knows — what a great many wives do not know, but would be glad to know — where her hus- band spends his evenings. At Long Branch, the Presi- dential cottage, unpretentious but attractive, is two miles away from the hotels. He is away from the noise, tur- 34 CJESARISM. moil, and confusion of the public. Any one who wishes to make the President a social call will find him at home any time after the drive is over. No letters of introduc- tion are needed, for the President is accessible to every one. All who call will find him a quiet, genial, intelli- gent, unostentatious gentleman ; a man of very decided opinions on matters and things in general, and quite able to express them when he desires so to do. His personal recreations and pleasures are of his own type, and he knows how to enjoy them. He worships in the Metho- dist Church, and though not a communicant, he is an official member of the Church. He usually drives a pair of spanking bays in a high English carriage, known as a dog-cart. He takes his seat in church without parade, listens with sharp attention, keeping his keen eyes on the preacher, seldom changing his position through the ser- vice. The last thing he does as he turns his carriage up to the curbstone, is to fling away the stump of a cigar. He relights the fragrant weed as soon as he mounts the box. And this quiet, unostentatious, domestic gentleman — who minds his own business and interferes with no one, accessible to every one who is a gentleman, happy in his home, and domestic in his instincts, who is acknowledged abroad to be the ablest ruler of his time, and with his ability blending the simplicity of Cincinnatus, — he, if we can believe certain pure and disinterested patriots, — is the terrible Caesar of the age, and must be constantly watched lest he found a despotism on the corner-stone laid by AYashington. The American nation is one of the strongest on the CMSARISM. 35 earth, and promises to be the oldest. No war of such a magnitude was ever followed by so speedy ,t peace. The worst reconstructed portion of our land is in a better condition than was our whole country at the close of the Revolutionary War, or the War of 1812. Our gi- gantic debt has been managed with marvelous skill. Our credit is high the world over. All the world knows that each dollar of our debt is as sacred as the drops of blood shed to maintain the honor of our flag. Finan- ciers who came early to our help have reaped a golden harvest. Our institutions are honored over all the earth. Our inventions are changing the face of the Old World. Our language is being spoken in all parts of the globe, and is destined to be the universal language. Schools are opened in Egypt, Arabia, on the sands of Africa, on the mountains of the east, and in the islands of the sea, to teach it. Our flag, which in 1861 was insulted and jeered at, is now saluted everywhere, and is the best protection for our sons and daughters abroad. '• Where did you get your oflicers," said a member of Parliament to me at a Liberal banquet at Bristol. '• Get them I We got them where we got our soldiers, — we marie them. We took our principal general from a tnn-yanl. and we have more in soak, if any one wants anything of us; for men who malign us over the sea, print their libels on presses made in New York." For such niiglity results that make us, as a nation, what we are, no in(hvi(lual has done more than the silent gentleman at the White House. The great party that elected (leni>ral (Irant to (he Presidency is still the party that controls the nation. It can, if it will, renominate General Grant for a Third 36 CJ^SARISM. Term. Should it do so, it will make to all the world the proclamation which the king of Persia ordered his prime minister to utter in regard to the exalted Mordecai : " Thus shall it be done to the man wlioui the neonle de- liirht to honor." LIBKHKY Uf- LUNUKtbb iMIIIPllillill 013 788 117 2 "BURLEIGH, OF THE "BOSTON JOURNAL," AUTHOR OF "SUNSHINE AND SHADOW IN NEW YORK." Will make satisfactory terms with Lyceums for his new Lecture on "THE COMING WOMAN," ALSO, ON '^London and Paris in Contrast,^' ''Former Days and Hiese,^^ " Wit and Humor, ^^ ADDRESS DR. MATTHEW HALE SMITH, Care of S. M. Pettenglll & Co., 37 PARK ROW, NEAV YORK, N. Y. " An adroit and original handling of the Woman Question, abounding in humor, hits at the times, with graphic illustrations." — Herald. " One of the chattiest, wittiest, and most entertaining letter writers of the age." — Harper\