who had come into
power by means of the bayonet. Whether he used his tongue or pen, the
public soon found out that he had control of that mysterious power which
moves men. Whether he wrote or whether he spoke, he had the gift and
the inspiration of eloquence; and from first to last he could never be
induced to use this great gift for his personal advancement, nor could
he be induced to accept a political office. With a mind entirely sincere
and unselfish, he addressed himself to the work of restoring unity
between the North and South, and to putting an end to the sectional
strife which the politicians were skillfully using to further their own
schemes. He was asked to be a United States senator, and refused; he was
asked to be a congressman, and refused. For the rest, he could have had
any office within the gift of the people of Georgia; but he felt that
he could serve the State and the South more perfectly in the way that he
had himself mapped out. He felt that the time had come for some one to
say a bold and manly word in behalf of the American Union in the ear of
the South, and to say a bold and manly word in behalf of the South in
the ear of the North. He began this work, and carried it on as a private
citizen; and the result was, that, though he died before he had reached
the prime of his life, he had won a name and a popularity in all parts
of the country, both North and South, that no other private citizen had
ever before succeeded in winning.

It was Henry Grady that gave the apt name of "The New South" to the
spirit that his tireless energy and enthusiasm had called from the dark
depths of reconstruction. Of this spirit, and the movement that sprang
from it, he was the prophet, the pioneer, the promoter. He saw the South
poor in the midst of the most abundant resources that Providence ever
blessed a people with, and he turned aside from politics to point them
out. He saw the people going about in deep despair, and he gave them the
cue of hope, and touched them with his own enthusiasm. He saw the mighty
industrial forces lying dormant, and his touch awoke them to life.
He saw great enterprises languishing, and he called the attention of
capital to them. Looking farther afield, he saw the people of two great
sections forgetting patriotism and duty, and reviving the prejudices and
issues that had led to the war, and that had continued throughout
the war; and he went about among them, speaking words of peace and
u