Grant was a brave and
honest soldier. He knew little however about politics. But now that
Lincoln was gone the people loved him better than any other man.
So he became President.
His was a simple trusting soul. He found it hard to believe evil
of any one, and he was easily misled by men who sought not their
country's good, but their own gain. So mistakes were made during
his Presidency. But these may be forgotten while men must always
remember his greatness as a soldier, and his nobleness as a victor.
He helped to bring peace to his country, and like his great leader
he tried after war was past to bind up the nation's wounds.
When Grant came into power the echoes of the great war were still
heard. The South had not yet returned into peaceful union with the
North, and there was an unsettled quarrel with Britain. The quarrel
arose in this way. During the Civil War the British had allowed the
Confederates to build ships in Britain; these ships had afterwards
sailed out from British ports, and had done a great deal of damage
to Union shipping.
The British had declared themselves neutral. That is, they had
declared that they would take neither one side nor the other. But,
said the Americans, in allowing Confederate ships to be built in
Britain, the British had taken the Confederate side, and had committed
a breach of neutrality.
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