THE SOUTH’S NOBLE SON.
From the “Rockland, Me., Opinion.”
The whole country is deeply grieved and shocked by the announcement of the death of Mr. Henry W. Grady of Atlanta, Georgia, which occurred last Monday morning. The land was yet ringing with the matchless eloquence of his magnificent speech at the merchants’ dinner in Boston, when the news of his illness came, closely followed by that of his death. The press of the country was yet teeming with the applause of its best representatives, when the voice that evoked it is stilled in death, and one of the most brilliant careers of this generation is suddenly and prematurely closed. Mr. Grady caught a severe cold during his visit to Boston, and grew ill rapidly during his return journey. On his arrival home, he was found to be seriously ill of pneumonia, and the dread disease took a rapid course to a fatal termination. Mr. Grady was one of the most popular men in the South. He was an eloquent orator and brilliant writer. He was born in 1851 in Georgia, graduated at the State University and also took a course at the University of Virginia. On coming out of college, Mr. Grady embarked in journalism and devoted a comfortable fortune to gaining the experience of a successful newspaper man. Under his management the Constitution of Atlanta, Ga., has gained a very large circulation. Mr. Grady has persistently refused to accept office. He won National fame as an orator by his speech at the Pilgrims’ dinner in Brooklyn, two years ago, and has been in great demand at banquets and similar occasions ever since. His eloquence was of the warm, moving sort that appeals to the emotions, his logic was sound and careful and all his utterances were marked by sincerity and candor. He has also no doubt done more than any one man to remove the prejudices and misunderstandings that have embittered the people of the North and South against each other politically, and to raise the great race problems of the day from the ruck of sectionalism and partisanship upon the high plane of national statesmanship. The South has lost a brave, noble and brilliant son, who served her as effectively as devotedly; but his work was needed as much and quite as useful at the North, and his death is indeed a national misfortune.