He had entered the service with no factitious advantage, and his promotion, from the first to the last, had been based on merit alone,--without the aid of political influence, without the interposition of personal friends.
Blaine highlights the merit-based rise of General Grant in the military, emphasizing his lack of political favoritism.
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The wonder excited by the raising of the vast army which saved the Union from destruction was even surpassed by the wonder excited by its prompt and peaceful dissolution.
The haste with which the question was brought to a decision can hardly be justified, and is a striking illustration of the intense party-feeling which had been engendered by the war.
The two schools in short marked the dividing line between the radical and the conservative.
Such an opportunity would have been a menace to the public credit, and would have proved a constant source of corruption.
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