"He who was capable of the combinations that stretched across a continent, who could direct the operations of a twelvemonth so that every movement was a part of the plan, and finally concentrate all his forces toward a single point, and consummate exactly what he set out to do, a year before, with a completeness unexampled then, and unsurpassed since in war, may laugh at the critics who pronounce him inept and blundering.

"There are many traits in Grant resembling those displayed by Moltke. All great soldiers, indeed, have much in common; but perhaps the parallel between these two is closer than any other in recent history. Both lived simply and almost unknown to their countrymen for many years. Both are plain in behaviour, modest under unexampled success, undemonstrative in manner, simple in habits and tastes, unassuming and retiring, though thrust into the highest position. Neither ever sought advancement, but each earned it by his deeds. Both are admirable in the family, and attach friends warmly despite their reserved and dispassionate demeanour.

"Both have expressed in their public career the tremendous determination, the sustained energy, the persistency of purpose, which the world has recognised. Both have exhibited the power to hurl men in successive masses to certain danger, or even destruction, in order to gain the victory which they deemed essential to their country, as well as the ability to control different armies simultaneously on the widest theatres; moving them in apparently opposite directions only to concentrate them at last for a single aim. One general struck down an empire, and accomplished the capitulation of a sovereign; the other overthrew a rebellion greater than the world had ever seen before, and stamped out every vestige of resistance on a continent."

XXII.

AT THE TOP.

DANIEL WEBSTER'S reply to a young man who complained that all departments of business were crowded with aspirants for promotion, "ROOM ENOUGH AT THE TOP," may be true in one sense; but its application in the case before us is at least doubtful. There is room at the top of the nation for only one man in four years. General Grant was the eighteenth man who had reached that high position in nearly one hundred years. There is room in the White House for only one man at a time. The largest encouragement that can be held out to aspiring men here is twenty-five chances in one hundred years. That is not a particularly wide opening. The way to the top is rather "straight and narrow," with only "here and there a traveller." Many there are who seek it, but "few there be that find it." General Grant was one of the few; and he found the "way" without seeking for it. The "way" came to him; he did not go to the "way." To numerous friends who proposed to assist him to step upon the top round of the ladder, he turned a deaf ear. There was no plan to raise him there which met his approval.

"General, we want you for President," said an editor from Texas. "I am going to support you, and so are my people. What shall I say of your views when I get home."

Say nothing about them," was Grant's quick reply. To a leading Republican who suggested to him, “ The loyal people will not take NO for an answer," he said, "I do not want the office, and others do."

To the suggestion that the condition of the country required that a military man be President, he said,

"All the military service necessary now in the administration of the Government I can render where I am, and more effectually, too; besides, in a republic like ours, there is a reasonable objection to making a President of a general."

If interested friends had not ceased to confer with him in respect to becoming a candidate for the presi dency, he never would have been their nominee. It was not that the honour would not have been congenial to him; but it was too delicate a subject for his great modesty to discuss. He could always see reasons why some one else should be President instead of himself. Nevertheless, but one sentiment seemed to possess loyal hearts. The "War Governor" of Massachusetts,-John Albion Andrew,-expressed it, when he wrote to a personal friend :—

"The tendency of the hour is toward Grant, and that is best. It is not the ideal good. It is bad for the country that he must leave his present post-bad for him, the soldier, to try to endure the hard fate which awaits him in civil life. But it is apparently the best practical good the country can have; and Grant is so square and honest a man, that he is bound to be right in the main anywhere."

Andrew died very suddenly three days after he wrote as above.

A national Republic convention, in Chicago, May 19, 1868, nominated Grant unanimously for the presidency.

Every State in the Union was represented in that convention; and the unanimity and enthusiasm of the delegations were remarkable. There were SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY delegates present; and when, as usual, the roll of States was called to name a presidential candidate, General Grant was named by SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY delegates! He carried every vote in the convention, which was without a parallel.

The result was hailed with great delight by members of the convention. The whole assembly sprang to their feet at the announcement of the vote, and a scene of the wildest enthusiasm followed. The band played, hats were tossed into the air, cheer after cheer arose, loud and long continued. Scarcely had the glad tumult ceased, when a curtain arose in the rear of the stage, exhibiting "a painting of two pedestals standing in front of the White House: one (bearing the figure of Grant) labelled, 'Republican nominee of the Chicago Convention, May 20, 1868;' the other, 'Democratic nominee, New York Convention, July 4, 1868.' Between the two stood the Goddess of Liberty, pointing with one hand to Grant, and with the other to the vacant pedestal. Overhead was the motto: MATCH HIM! At that moment a dove, painted in the national colours, was let loose, and flew back and forth; and the historic eagle of the Eighth Wisconsin added his screams to the tumult."

There was no such thing as mistaking the wishes of the people after this demonstration. That was a representative body of men, who understood the strong desire of their constituents to make the victorious leader of the American army President of the United States.

Ex-Governor Hawley, of Connecticut, was president of the convention; and, a few days after, officially notified General Grant of his nomination, to which the General replied:

"Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the National Union Convention, I will endeavour, in a very short time, to write you a letter accepting the trust you have imposed upon me. Expressing my gratitude for the confidence you have placed in me, I will now say but little orally, and that is to thank you for the unanimity with which you have selected me as a candidate for the presidential office. I can say, in addition, I looked on during the progress of the proceedings at Chicago with a great deal of interest, and am gratified with the harmony and unanimity which seem to have governed the deliberations of the convention. If chosen to fill the high office for which you have selected me, I will give to its duties the same energy, the same spirit, and the same will that I have given to the performance of all duties which have devolved upon me heretofore. Whether I shall be able to perform these duties to your entire satisfaction, time will determine. You have truly said, in the course of your address, that I shall have no policy of my own to enforce against the will of the people."

On the 29th he wrote to the Committee:

"In formally accepting the nomination of the National Union Republican Convention of the 21st of May, inst., it seems proper that some statement of views beyond the mere acceptance of the nomination should be expressed.

"The proceedings of the convention were marked with wisdom, moderation, and patriotism, and I believe express the feelings of the great mass of those who sustained the country through its recent trials. I endorse the resolutions.

"If elected to the office of President of the United States, it will be my endeavour to administer all the laws in good faith, with economy, and with the view of giving peace, quiet, and protection everywhere. In times like the

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