The chieftain is dead.  The American people themselves will now judge him, after the calm evening and the serene repose of retirement, more justly than in the stress and storm of struggle.  The asperities of angry contentions have passed; the flaws have faded, and the blemishes are dimmed, while the splendor of General Grant’s achievements and the simple grandeur of his character have gained a brighter halo as the years have rolled by.  The clouds and the smoke of battle have long since lifted; the fragments and the scenes are swallowed in the majestic drama; and to-day we see the hero elevated on his true pedestal of fame through the just perspective of history.

It is given to few men to bear suffering with the fortitude displayed by the departed hero; it is given to fewer still to await in patience and without complaint the certain issue of suffering in death.  But it is neither his fortitude, nor his patience, nor his touching solicitude, nor his unselfish industry which distinguished him in an almost unique degree.  It was rather, in one word, his simplicity, his strong but unpretentious character, and his firm but magnanimous nature.

Of such, plainly, is the kingdom of Heaven, and it is a national glory that of such, too, in the instance of General Grant, the American people was never neglectful.

* * * * *

If every person who is inclined to attribute to Socialism all the discontent now prevalent among the laboring classes of this country, would carefully read Mr. Laurence Gronlund’s remarkable book, entitled, The Cooeperative Commonwealth,—­an exposition of modern Socialism,—­he would perhaps awaken to a comprehension of the fact that true Socialism is neither communism, nor lawlessness, nor anarchy.  We wish this book could be scattered, by millions, among the intelligent people of this land, if for no other purpose than to root out many of the false ideas which are current, as well as to inculcate a logical explanation of much that is transpiring at the present moment.

We are told that at least 30,000 laborers are out of work in Cincinnati, and that full as many are unemployed in Chicago.  The same state of affairs prevails in other large cities.  These people, we are also told by the newspapers, are “exposed to the designs of socialistic leaders, and liable to embrace their dangerous schemes.”  Hence, it is to be inferred, of course, that timely measures should be instituted to “guard the unreflecting against socialistic theories and measures.”

Despair sometimes calls for a desperate remedy.  When men are in physical or financial distress they are apt to lose their heads, so to speak, and to be subject to the wildest delusions and hallucinations.  A great many of the unfortunates now out of employment have been already reduced to misery and want; but it is a mistake to suppose that the philosophy of Socialism can afford them any relief or consolation, or that it can incite them to mad deeds of violence.  There are certain demagogues in this country who, assuming to be Socialists, are ready to stir up the popular mind, even to the shedding of blood; but such men are few in numbers, and wield only a limited influence.