ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST.
From the “Seattle Press.”
One of the brightest men in America passed away on Monday. Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, Georgia’s leading paper, and which has come to be regarded by many as the ablest paper in the South, had within a very brief period impressed his personality upon the current history of the nation. Five years ago he was little more than locally known. Being a guest at a dinner of the New England Society at Boston, he made a speech which was the happiest inspiration and effort of his life. It was the right word spoken at the right time. It lifted him at once to the dignity of a national figure. It was the greeting of the New South to the new order of things. It touched the great heart of the North by its warm tribute to the patriotism and faithfulness of the martyred President, Abraham Lincoln, being the first Southern utterance which did full justice to the memory of that great man. It was not a sycophantic nor an apologetic speech, but the voice of one who accepts accomplished results in their fullness, recognizes all the merits of his opponent, and bravely faces the future without heart-burnings or vain regrets. Mr. Grady’s speech was published in almost every paper in the land, in whole or in part, and, to borrow an old phrase, “he woke up one morning and found himself famous.” Since then all that he has written, said or done has been in the same line of patriotic duty. He has been no apologist for anything done by the South during the war. He never cringed. He was willing that he and his should bear all the responsibility of their course. But he loved the whole reunited country, and all that he spoke or wrote was intended to advance good feeling between the sections and the common benefit of all.
Mr. Grady was a partisan, but in the higher sense. He never descended to the lower levels of controversy. His weapon was argument, not abuse. And he was capable of rising above his party’s platform. He could not be shackled by committees or conventions. He nervily and consistently proclaimed his adhesion to the doctrine of protection to American industry, although it placed him out of line with his party associates.