568
The Green Bag
But is there not somewhere among his spoken words on this the most notable occasion in his life some suggestion of that innermost motive of his life, which impelled him to utilize all the gifts and advantages with which it pleased Provi dence to surround him for the benefit of his fellowmen? Yes, and it is a brief but convincing passage. We find it at the close of the address :— Brothers Alumni! What part have we acted in this grand drama of human life, during this period of progress in the world, in which we could not, if we would, have been merely spectators? Have we so lived in the service of mankind to be a guardian god below? Have we employed the mind's brave ardor in heroic aims, such as might raise us over the common herd and make us shine for ever? That is life. That surely is a great and noble con cept of the plan of creation and of life. In the Heavens one God, and on earth every man, according to his power and his volition and habit, a guardian god of his less capable and less achieving brethren. It behooves us now to trace his career down to its close, and we shall find that even to his last hour he exemplified the best characteristics of human nature. In the year 1880, realizing the com mencement of the decline of his powers, he went to California and invested con siderably in mining and agricultural properties in that state. He took up his residence near Fresno. He devoted much time to the cultivation of fruits, and was particularly anxious to set an example to the rural population in the cultivation of the soil. He was born on a farm, he had lived while in active practice much of the time on a farm, and now he retired to a farm for the end of his career. He and his wife were now removed far from the scene of their most active days, but they were by no means idle.
Their home was so much less frequented by visitors, however, that on one occasion when James B. Grant, his nephew, now ex-Governor of Colorado, was on a visit to them, he inquired of his uncle whether he did not feel lonely in his remote surroundings. To this the Judge replied with a smile on his face, "No, I am not, I want you to understand that I am good company for myself." We may believe that he was, since it was his habit to read the great plays of Shakspere two or three times a year, and it was a delight of his life, even to the end of it, to pore over the familiar pages of Virgil and Cicero, which he knew almost by heart, so much so that he had the reputation in certain quarters of talking Latin. It is said on good authority that his warm attachment for Senator Wade Hampton of South Carolina, and also for Senator Matt. Whitaker Ransom of North Carolina, to whom Judge Grant was a first cousin, was based largely upon the fact that they were so much at home in Latin. This was doubtless an exaggeration, but the fact remains that each of these men was a highly proficient classical scholar. Of course, Judge Grant was never lonely, since he was ever in mental and spiritual communication with the great est and best men in the world's history. He possessed in a large measure the "King's Treasuries," which John Ruskin has so beautifully described. Now, at last, we see him in his seventyeighth year stricken and abed in bis California home, now at Oakland, con scious of his impending dissolution. His good wife, realizing his condition and knowing the desire of his heart, sends messages to his favorite nephews to come quickly if they desire to see their uncle again before his death. A tinge of romance is given to the picture when we see ex-Gov. Grant alone re
