PREFACE. E672 T45 1889 TIIS Life of General Grant is designed to be a companion volume, in the author's Series of Presidents who have occupied the White House, to the Life of Garfield-" FROM LOG CABIN TO WHITE HOUSE"-of which more than two hundred and fifty thousand copies have been sold. The other volumes in the Series are "THE PIONEER BOY, AND HOW HE BECAME PRESIDENT: The Story of the Life of Abraham Lincoln-and "GEORGE WASHINGTON: HIS BOYHOOD AND MANHOOD." The aim of this volume is like that of its predecessors, which was to show the elements of character that made the subjects great. That a man almost unknown to fame at thirty years of age, struggling to support his family, and scarcely succeeding in filling a clerkship at eight hundred dollars a year in a country village, unassuming, M316067 shy, and of supposed moderate abilities, should prove himself to be the greatest general of modern times, and, later, the wise statesman and foremost man of his age, is stranger than fiction. For this reason, many have pronounced his life an "accident." Others have claimed that he was born under a "lucky star." Not a few have regarded him as a "child of destiny." But these pages will prove conclusively to the reader, that the boy Grant and the man Grant were as nearly related as bud and fruit-that the latter cannot be accounted for without the former is studied, and that the former would have remained inexplicable without the latter. Hence, incidents crowd these pages to tell their story-facts from the life of one of the most real boys who ever lived, and from one of the most real men the world has known. There is no fiction here, no creation of the fancy, no attempt at concealment, no extravagant eulogy; but facts speak for themselves; and they tell the story of one of the most marvellous lives on record, from earliest boyhood to ripe manhood-a fit companion for Washington, Lincoln, and Garfield! The author, while availing himself of the information furnished by the numerous works on General Grant's life and public services, has, in addition, had access to fresh sources of knowledge, including the assistance of an army officer, who accompanied General Grant through his remarkable campaigns in the West, for two and a half years, to the fall of Vicksburg. The life of General Grant, as a whole, presents one of the most unique and beautiful characters for young and old to study. The hero was not perfect. "Great men have great faults"; Grant had his. "Great men make great mistakes"; Grant was no exception. And yet, his CHARACTER challenges universal admiration. Parents may study it with profit, and hold it up for a model to their children. Children may accept it, not as the example of one too far above them for imitation, but of one who cultivated the commonplace virtues of truthfulness, obedience, industry, perseverance, self-reliance, honesty, loyalty, and fidelity. The masses of people, men and women, find material in his life for their instruction. He was born of common people, lived with them, may fought for them, presided over them, and never rose above them in his heart. He was the same in renown and power that he was in poverty and obscurity, as modest and unassuming, as quiet, amiable, self-forgetful, and simple in his habits. We have adopted the title which this volume bears, not only because it is appropriate, but, also, that it may harmonize with the names of its companions. W. M. T. |