Gr7& CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918 DATE DUE .;^' ,, ^■rvi / V^'V/ '<^ 1 GAYLORD PRINTEDINU S.A. Cornell University Library G 440.G76 General Grant abroad :a complete account 3 1924 023 252 731 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023252731 General Grant Abroad, A COMPLETE ACCOUNT OP HIS FAMOUS TRIP AROUND THE WORLD. THE COUNTRIES VISITED BY GENERAL GRANT, THE ATTENTIONS SHOWN HIM, THE MEETINGS "WITH DISTINGUISHED PERSONAGES, SPEECHES, COMMENTS AND CONVERSATIONS, AND MANY Personal Anecdotes and Incidents of Travel, PROFUSE ILLUSTRATIONS. "Much have*! seen and known; cities of men, And manners, cliTUcUes, councils governments, Myself not least, but honored of them all." —Tennyson's Ulysses. BELFOEDS, CLAEKE & CO. 1879. COPTEIGHTED BY BELPOEDS, CLARKE & CO., 1879. S. I. BRADBURY & SONS, Printers, Chicago. BLOMGREN EROS. & CO., EUctrotypers, Chicago. CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE. Biographical Sketch IX I. — Official Leave-Taking ...■', 23 II.— The Departure 31 III. — At Sea— Arrival at Liverpool ... 37 ;IV.— A Greeting from Old England ... 42 V. — Honors of London 54 VI.— On the Continent 72 VII. — Scotland, the Home of the Grants . . 81 VIII. — Among the English Workingmen . . 88 IX.— Paris 121 X. — Italy and the Mediterranean .... 125 XL— Egypt and the Nile 130 XII. — Holy and Classic Lauds ..... 140 XIIL— Holland 152 VIV.— Berlin and Bismark ..... 158 XV.— The Norse Countries . . . . ' . 170 XVI.— Russia and Poland ...... 177 XVIL— Austria, Bavaria and the Vineyards of Prance 184 XVIIL— Spain and Portugal ..... 188 XIX.— General Grant and the Irish .... 195 XX.— In India 203; _ XXL— In Slam ........ 216' XXIL— China and the Celestials .... 231 XXIIL— Japan 249 XXIV.— The Pacific Voyage ..... 273 XXV.— Home Again '. .283 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. The reader is about to accompany the most illustrious man of this age in a Trip Around the World. Before entering upon the journey, it may be well to refresh one's recollection of the more salient points in his life. This prefatory bio- graphical sketch will aim to present such facts in the record of Gen. Grant as will add interest to the narrative which is to follow, as well as to explain the phenomenal reception which awaited him wherever he went, and made his tour the most remarkable one in all history. Gen. Grant is of Scotch descent, coming from a family which had for its motto these words, peculiarly prophetic of the man who was to ren- der the name deathless : " Stand fast, stand firm, stand true," The earhest American traces of S BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. the family are found in Connecticut. Captain Noah Grant, the General's great-grandfather, and also a great-grand uncle, were soldiers in the old French war. Noah Grant, Jr., was a lieutenant in the battle of Lexington, and after the Eevolu- tionary war he settled in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where Jesse R. Grant, father of our hero was born and where he learned the tanners trade. He removed to Point Pleasant, Clermont county, Ohio, where the General, the eldest of six children, was born, April 27, 1822. The father was agood business man, upright and sagacious, enjoy- ing rather more than the ordinary degree of pros- perity. He lived to see his son President of the United States, dying at Covington, Kentucky, in the year 1.874. The General's mother is still ahve, and in remarkable possession of her mental faculties. She resides with her daughter, Mrs. Corbin, in New Jersey. She is a devout Metho- dist in her religious convictions. It is from her, it is said, that her distinguished son inherits his more marked characteristics. Gen. Grant was christened Hiram Ulysses. He owes his change of name to Ulysses Simpson, to the blunder of the Congressman who procured his appointment as a West Point Cadet, a mis- take he tried, but in vain, to have rectified. The War Department having enrolled him as Ulysses S. Grant, would not be at the trouble to change BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. XI it. Simpson was his mother's maiden name. He was known at West Point as "Uncle Sam." Although only seventeen years old when he entered that Mihtary Academy, his gravity of character, hardly less than his initials, U. S., jus- tified the appellation. At West Point his career was unmarked by any noteworthy feature. The same remark holds true of his army record immediately succeeding his graduation. It covered a period of eleven years, during which time he served honorably in the Mexican war as a Lieutenant, taking part in every battle, except that of Buena Vista, and leceiving three brevets for gallantry. He re- 2nained in the service until 1854. During that time he saw much of the evil workings of our per- nicious Indian system, acquiring knowledge whio enabled him to deal intelUgently with the Indian problem, as the executive head of the nation. When Captain Grant resigned his commission in the army, he became a farmer in Gravois, Missouri, twenty miles from St. Louis. He remained there about six years, and then joined his brothers in the leather business at Galena. Those seven years of private hfe were unevent- ful. He may almost be said to have hibernated, awaiting the time when a great emergency would demand his great services. XII BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. When the South raised the standard of revolt, Captain Grant was among the first to ofi'er him- self to whatever duty might be assigned him. At first he assisted the Adjutant- G-eneral of Illi- nois in the clerical work of his ofiice. His mili- tary education enabled him to be quite useful, but he had no taste for that sort of thing. His fellow-townsman, Hon. E. B. Washburne, then a leading member of Congress, seemed to have had from the first some appreciation of his capacity, and determined that the modest Captain should have a fair chance; a determina- tion which was of incalculable benefit to the country on more than one occasion during the earlier years of the war. Agreeably to his rec- ommendation. Gov. Yates made Capt. Grant Col. Grant, assigning him to the command of the 21st regiment of Illinois infantry. He joined his regiment at once, and soon brought it into a good state of discipline. On the seventh of August President Lincoln commissioned Col. Grant as a Brigadier- General of volunteers, the commission dating back to May 17. It was then that the General's real life began. At the age of thirty-nine he entered upon his career of usefulness and glory. His first important service was the seizure of Padu- cah, at the mouth of the Tennessee river. His first battle was Belmont, fought Nov. 7, 1861. BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. XIIi From that time on, until he became the acknowl- edged hero of the war, he was one of its central figures. Space does not permit a narration of the gradual steps by which he rose in command, and of the various battles which he fought between Behnont and Appomattox. The fall of Fort Donelson was his first great victory, and it sent a thrill of exultant hope throughout the country. From that time dates his national fame. There were not wanting those who thus early saw in him the great conqueror of peace. An lUinois Colonel, since famous as the greatest orator and debator, wrote in a private letter, "This war will not close till Grant closes it." The fall of Vicksburg put an end to all serious and really injurious cavil about his proper rank as a soldier. MaHce, envy and slander were henceforth powerless to dim the luster of his glory, and make the path of his promotion a road- bed of thorns. Donelson fell in February, 1862; Shiloh was fought in April following; a few months after, operations against Yicksburg were suggested by Grant, and in the same year com- menced culminating in a surrender, which made his name second only to Lincoln in the loyal hearts of the country. It was then that the people were first made acquainted with the elec- tric fehcity of his epigrammatic style. To the XlV BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. enemy's overtures for capitulation he replied: "No terms other than unconditional and imme- diate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." That was the end of the siege. July 4, 1863, Yicksburg fell, and everywhere Gen. Grant was recognized as the foremost soldier of the war. Early in 1864 the General was made the mili- tary head of the entire army, then numbering about 700,000 men. He was the first and of course the only General put in command of all the forces. The rank of Lieutenant-General, which had lapsed with the death of Gen. Scott, was revived for that express purpose by act of Congress. (It was not until July 25, 1866, that the rank of General was created for him.) It was in March that Major-General Grant became Lieutenant-General, and assumed complete con- trol of military operations. He "made haste slowly" to justify the confidence reposed in him. Gen. Sherman's capture of Atlanta in the sum- mer following, and his subsequent march to the sea, narrowed the war down to a question of the fall of Eichmond and the surrender of Lee's army of the Potomac. Gradually the closing-iu process, or "rounding- up," as herders say, was pursued, and April 9, 1865, saw the death-gasp of the Confederacy. There was a great deal of hard fighting in Yirginia before the final blow was BIOGEAPHIOAL SKETCH. X\ struck, and some have criticized it as an unneces- sary waste of life ; but it involved far less loss of life than a summer campaign would have done, and must in all fairness be conceded to have been the best ending of the war which was possible under the exigencies then existing. From the spring of 1865 to the spring of 1869 G-en. Grant enjoyed comparative rest. He was the head of the army in a time of profound peace. With the pohtical turmoil of the ever memorable and very stormy administration of Andrew John- son, he did not interfere. He was at Washing- ton, and the "rising sun" in the Presidential horizon ; but he succeeded in keeping aloof from responsibilities foreign to his oflS.oial duties. Even although his name was continually dragged before the pubHc in connection with poHtics. From August 12, 1867, to January 14, 1868, he was Secretary of War ad interim, assigned to that duty by his superior officer, Andrew John- son, ex-officio Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy. It is also true that the President attempted to make him a party to his unseemly conflict with the Senate of the United States over the re-iustatement as Secretary of War, of Hon. Edwin M. Stanton. But the G-eneral's calm fidelity to the strict line of duty saved him from any real entanglement of the kind. It early be- came a foregone conclusion, however, that the XVI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Eepublican party would nominate him for President in 1868, and when the Eepublican National Convention of that year met at Chicago, in May, there was no name mentioned for the head of the ticket but his. He was nominated by acclamation, amid the wildest enthusiasm. It may be remarked here that all through the pubhc career of Gen. Grant, he has been pecuhar in this : that while he has often been the subject of bitter jealousy and mean animosity, every honor bestowed upon him has come at last, without serious opposition. The promotions he won in war were so clearly deserved, and their bestov/al was so neces- sary to the pubhc, that before the goal was really reached all opposition faded away. No war hero at all comparable to him ever disputed his right to the front rank. Generals Sherman, Sheridan and Thomas freely and fairly accorded him the place assigned him. Twice he has been nominated for the Presidency by the Eepubhcan party, and on neither occasion was there a competitor. The third time he was' talked of, but he stubbornly refused the use of his name. He never knew what it was to scheme and maneuver for the pro- motion of personal ambition, and this is the very key to his greatness and popularity. Whatever he has had to do he has done with single reference to its accompHshment. He has a genius for con- centration on the present which is most rare and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XVII useful. He lias never once crossed the bridge until lie reached the stream, or, rather, never used pontoons until he needed them. With the political campaign which culminated in his election to the presidency in 1868 he had nothing to do. He made no attempt to influence the voters of the country. He stood upon his record as a soldier and his cordial endorsement of the platform of his party, vfhich platform v^as simply a pledge to secure by appropriate legis- lation the fruits of the vs^ar, and to deal honestly in matters of finance. To those cardinal princi- ples he gave his entire assent. His opponent was the most popular Democrat in the country, Ho- ratio Seymour. The result of the election was that Grant carried all but six States, receiving 214 electoral votes, to 80 cast for Seymour. On the fourth of March, 1869, General Grant be- came President Grant. It would be quite foreign to this sketch to foUow in any detail those eight years from his first inauguration to his ofl&cial leave-taking, the fifth of March, 1877. It will be enough to point out the cardinal features of his great civil service. During the last ten years the subject of civil service reform has engrossed pubHc attention to quite an extent. The term has become very trite; but not so trite as the reform is important. President Grant did not begin its B XVIII BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. agitation or espouse the cause in tlie spirit of a doctrinaire. It is none the less, or, rather, all the more true, that he began his Administration by inaugurating the reformation needed. The real evil was the usurpation by Congress of the executiTC function in making executive appoint- ments. The successor in the presidency of John Quincy Adams had for his motto the demorahzing doc- trine, "To the victor belong the spoils." From Andrev? Jackson to Andrev? Johnson, covering a period of about forty years, the idea that appoint- ive Federal offices are party patronage, or spoils, obtained ; and as a consequence the representa- tives in Congress of the party in povper came to regard the dispensing of patronage in their re- spective districts as among their perquisites. Custom assigned certain general appointments to the Senate, and the more local offices to the House. As an inevitable result every office- holder V7as the vassal of some Congressman, his tenure of office depending upon his fealty to "the lord of the feif." As a matter of course this subversion, in effect, of the constitutional distribution of authority between the executive and the legislative branches of the Government became a very serious evil. Its reform has at last been carried so far as to have wrought a very marked and wholesome change. BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. XIX President Grrant began the reformation by fre- quent, although not universal, disregard of the precedent in question. He freely exercised his personal judgment in these matters, when his knowledge of applicants rendered that feasible. He drove the plowshare of reformation through the turf and weeds of established abuse, heedless of the frantic outcries of professional politicians. He so far succeeded in uprooting the evil, that his successor was elected on a platform distinctly and strongly pledging him to the maintenance of the policy inaugurated. There were those, however, who desired to carry the change much further, and make civil service reform mean : " Once in ofiS.ce, always in ofl&ce." It was attempted by some to fasten upon the Pederal Government an un-repubhcan and dangerous species of barnacleism. With that theory of civil service. President Grant had no sympathy. He thus confronted antipodal oppo- sition. That opposition culminated in the "Lib- eral" movement which resulted in the pjienome- nal presidential candidature of that greatest and best of journalists, Horace Greeley, in 1872, from whose defeat may be said to date the estabhsh- ment of a common-sense sort of civil service reform. We have first spoken of this feature of the Grant Administration, because it first came to XX BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. the surface, albeit its accomplishment was so long delayed, and the honor of it is shared by the present Administration. The work of reconstructing the South had been mainly effected during the Johnson Admin- istration, so far as concerned congressional legislation and constitutional amendments, the President's veto power being impotent to arrest progress. With the inauguration of U. S. Grant, the executive department of the government became entirely harmonious with that pohcy of reconstruction, which was, universal amnesty and universal suffrage. With the utmost fidelity Gen. Grant sought to eradicate from the rebel element the animosities of the war, and secure the colored people in the enjoyment of their poHtical rights. In neither was he successful to an extent at all satisfactory. By the enforcement of the law designed to break up the Ku-Klux- Klan, a secret organization, having for its object the intimidation of negro citizens, he checked for a time the outlawries of the South ; but when the clamor against "bayonet rule" secured the repeal of that law, he was without the authority adequate to the restraint of what came to be known as "bull-dozing." In the hght of what the Administration accomplished before the re- peal referred to, it is evident that Gen. Grant has the genius for maintaining the poHtical rights BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. XXI guaranteed to the citizen by national law, under adequate legislation ; but his steadfast refusal to interfere, when importuned in the last days of his Administration, show that he had too much respect for the law to usurp authority not duly vested in him. In accordance with the pohcy to which he was pledged in advance of his election, Gen. Grant steadily and greatly reduced the national debt. He also firmly resisted all attempts at inflation. Under his Administration the plan of resumption of specie payment was adopted, which has since been carried to such a glorious consummation. He was the staunch enemy of aU wild schemes of finance, and the successful promoter of an "hon- est money" policy. The feature of his Administration which is hkely to be widest and longest remembered, was the successful attempt to apply the principle of arbitration to international difliculties. Among the unsettled war issiies which came down to him from the succeeding Administration, was the "Alabama question." The amount of bad feeling between the United States and Great Britain, over the depredations of that piratical craft and kindred privateers of the war, was alarming. Both countries seemed ripe for a con- flict of arms. In vain had that great peace- maker, Secretary Seward, tried to settle the XXII BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. matter. The problem was entirely unsolved when it was passed over to President Grant and Secretary Pisli ; but before the first term of the Grant Administration had expired, every vestige of the war cloud had disappeared, and before the whole world had been set an example of peaceable adjustment in international controversies which of itself ought to render the names of Grant and Gladstone immortal. Of the domestic Hfe of Gen. Grant httle need be said beyond the well known fact that it is irre- proachable and exceedingly fortunate. He was married in 1848 to Julia Dent, the daughter of a leading merchant in St. Louis. The more than queenly grace with which Mrs. Grant has borne herself in all the circumstances of her hfe are a glory to womanhood. Four children complete the family circle. Col. F. D. Grant, of Gen. Sheri- dan's staff; Mrs. NeUie Sartoris, whose home is in England, and two sons who are stiU quite young men, U. S. Grant, Jr., and Jesse E. Grant. It is enough to say that the children are aU, in their modest and sensible way, worthy their illustrious parentage. It need only be added that Gen. Grant is now, at the age of fifty-seven, in the prime of robust manhood, with the prospect of a future that can hardly add to his glory, but may swell the volume of his usefulness. CHAPTEE I. OFFICIAL LEAVE-TAKING. Close op G-eneral Gteant's Peesidential Teem — The Political Excitement op the Time — The Inugtjeation op Peesident Hayes — The Decalogue Above the Constitution — Gen- EEAL Geant Out op the Haeness — Last Days at Washington — Enjoying his Eeee- DOM — Feeling op the People towaed him. The winter of 1876-77 was peculiarly tempest- uous, politically speaking. The campaign which it was expected would close with the election in Novemher, seemed then only just begun. When once the smoke of the battle had cleared off, and the several States had sent in their returns, it was found that the result was so very close that each of the great parties stoutly, and no doubt 24 GENERAL GEANT ABEOAD. honestly, claimed the "victory. The excitement was intense, and everybody seemed fairly wild with resolve to secure the fruits of victory. In the midst of all this frenzy and peril. Presi- dent Grant was perfectly cool. He had taken no part in the campaign, except that it was well known that his sympathies were with the Eepub- lican party. He had shown no anxiety beyond a desire to have a free and fair election, and a de- termination to do his official duty in the preserva- tion of the peace. During that memorable winter he took very little part in the proceedings ; none, in fact, beyond making it perfectly plain to both parties and the whole country that when his term of office expired he should surrender the reins of government, then in his hands, to the lawfully elected successor. That was all there was to it, so far as he was concerned. But that was a great deal. Had he been in the least disposed to execute a coup d' etat, or to allow one in his in- terest, the circumstances were pecuharly favor- able therefor. No ruler ever prolonged his term of power, or changed from a representative and elective head to a sovereign, with as good excuse for so doing as President Grant had, or might easily have created. But there never was a mo- ment when any American citizen had the sHghtest thought that he contemplated anything of the kind. OFFICIAL LEAVE TAKING. 26 Previous to the campaign a good deal had been said, in one way or another, about "Cassarism," and attempts v^ere made in some quarters to carry the impression that Gen. Grant was "the man on horseback," and all that sort of thing. He had under him a force of civilians in the discharge of executive duties amounting, aU told, to nearly one hundred thousand, very many of them influ- ential pohticians. The charge was that with their help he would perpetuate his administration beyond the second term to which he had been elected. Not only did his name not appear in the National Eepubhcan Convention at Cincinnati in the spring of 1876, but when extraordinary f acihty for usurpation presented itself in the succeeding winter he was so far above temptation as to be entirely free from suspicion of Cgesarism. It may weU be said of him, "Nothing in his [ofiicial] hfe became him so as the leaving of it." In the per- manent history of the United States, that final feature of his administration will be the most prominent feature of both terms, and he will be honored, wherever Eepublicaii principles are maintained, as the American President who con- verted the especial opportunity for Imperiahsm into the strongest possible assurance that this EepubHc has nothing to fear from that rock, albeit so many self-governments have foundered upon it. 26 GENEBAli GEANT ABEOAD. The fourth of March, 1877, came upon Sunday. The Constitution of the United States hy provid- ing that the inauguration of a new President should occur upon that day of that month, evi- dently designed to ignore the day of the week entirely. But following a precedent and deferring to the rehgious sentiment of the country, it was tacitly agreed that G-en. Grrant should vacate his office in favor of President Hayes, on Monday, March 6th. In the Electoral Commission work he had had napart, except to sign the bill passed by both parties creating that Board of Arbitra- tion. He did not come in for any part of the execrations called out by that Commission. Those who were the most vehement in denounc- ing the new President's official title as fraudulent, conceded the propriety of G-en. Grant's course in the matter. Had Mr. Tilden taken the oath of office, and appeared thus as a competitor, it might have been different. As it was. Gen. Grant be- came a private citizen without having the least responsibihty for the settlement of the contest for the succession. Herein he was fortunate, his good fortune being the result of his uniform and perfect adherence to the poHcy of minding one's own business. He neither evaded nor assumed anything. Notwithstanding the religious scruples which prevented the inauguration being on Sunday, that OFFICIAL LEAVE TAKING. 27 was a busy day at the National Capital, and the last day of President Grant's official life was occupied in passing upon bills sent him by Con- gress. A very large amount of legislation was completed March 4th, 1877. The next day was whoUy given to the ceremonies appropriate to the transition. At a httle after ten o'clock in the morning, the President elect, accompanied by his friend and future chief cabinet officer, John Sher- man, called at the White House and was cordially greeted by the retiring President. A few mutual friends were present, and a brief chat, without the sUghtest formality and restraint, followed. The ceremonies of inauguration were in the Senate Chamber, where the retiring President was simply a spectator. At the conclusion, the new President and the ex-President returned together to the Executive Mansion, and the latter disappeared from public view. The next day a Washington correspondent wrote: "President Grant went • walking to-day with a cane in his hand and a cigar in his mouth, and looked about him as if it was a new world in which he found himself." And such indeed it was. Por half a generation he had been continually in public life. From the evening of the day when news reached his home in Galena that Sumter had been fired on, his whole thoughts had been upon his country. On that 28 GENEBAL GEAN'i' ABEOAD. evening a "war meeting" was held there, as in" many other places; and CongressmanWashburne, in calling the meeting to order, proposed as chair- man, " our old Mexican soldier, Capt. Grant." In war and in peace he had served the country in a military capacity eight years, followed by eight years of chief magistracy. To be free from all pubhc cares must have been an inexpressible re- lief. He spent several days in stroUing and riding about the Capital, enjoying his vacation. He remained there about three weeks, taking no part in the heated discussions and competitions inci- dent to the new President and his Southern pohcy. Keenly appreciating the embarrassments of the situation, and knowing the danger of mis- construing his casual remarks, he refrained from anything that might tend to annoy President Hayes. A dispatch from the Capital dated March 26th, says : "Ex-President Grant left Washing- ton last night for Cincinnati, where he wiU re- main four or five days, going thence to Chicago and Galena. Going Bast he will stop at Harris- burg to enjoy trout fishing in the vicinity, and then proceed to Philadelphia, at which port,- about the 10th of May, he will take passage for Europe, with members of his family. Since his term of office expired many persons sought his influence in their behalf, with the new Adminis- OFFICIAL LEAVE TAKING. 29 tration, but they did not secure it." That re- mained true to the end. From this time on, until his arrival at Phila- delphia, according to the foregoing programme, Gren. Grant vras allow^ed to come and go as un- heeded as the most retiring gentleman could desire. He seemed to be dismissed from the popular miud. He was neither censured nor praised. Other objects engaged the attention of the pubho. He was no novelty, nor was he a power in the land. Abstaining from any partici- pation in public affairs, he was let alone most effectually. None tried to win his good opinion in view of any future contingency. On the con- trary, it seemed to be universally taken for granted that U. S. Grant had closed his public career for sure, and would be as completely buried as any other ex- President the country had had. There was, apparently, an entire suspension of feeling toward him, of any kind whatever ; and when, a little later, he embarked for a foreign land, the demonstration in his honor at the port of depar- ture excited no emotion in. the country at large. How long this apathy would have continued had he retired to his home, it is impossible to surmise ; but that it existed without break until after his departure is certain. In a word. Gen. Grant's official leave-taking was his retirement from pubKc gaze and thought, until extraordinary 30 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. honors began to be sbowered upon Mm abroad, since wbich time his own countrymen have been quite generally and thoroughly aHve to his exist- ence and prominence, he being universally re- cognized as the most distinguished American of his age. CHAPTEE II. THE DEPARTURE. A Flying Teip West — The Eetuen to Phila- DELPHIA^PlNAL PeePAEATIONS — ThE BeBAK- FAST AT Me. Childs' — Faeewell GtEEETINGS — Message feom Peesident Hates — Geneeal Sheemak's Speech — Geneeal Geant's Ee- SPONSE — Down the Delawaee. — On Boaeb THE "Indiana" — Off foe Eueope. After the formal and ofl&cial leave-taking at Washington were over, Gen. Grant made a brief visit to his old home in the West, and then re- turned to Philadelphia to complete final arrange- ments for his departure for Europe, and to spend a week with his old and intimate friend, Geo. W. Childs, Esq. The day following his arrival in Philadelphia (May 10th,) the opening of the " Per- manent Exhibition" Building took place; and '32 GENERAL GEANT ABEOAD. Gen. Grant attended the opening exercises. The ensuing three days were spent in enjoying the hospitalities of prominent citizens of Philadel- phia, and on the 14th he attended a reception given in his honor by the Union League Club. On the 16th a procession of soldiers' orphans marched by Mr. Childs' residence, Gen. Grant and Gen. Sherman standing on the steps of the house and greeting the little ones pleasantly as they passed. Twelve hundred veteran soldiers and sailors afterwards paid their respects to Gen. Grant in Independence Hall. In the evening he was serenanded at Mr. Childs' residence, the house being brilliantly illuminated and a vast crowd being present. On the morning of Gen. Grant's departure from Philadelphia, a distinguished company were en- tertained by Mr. Childs, at a breakfast given in the General's honor; among the guests being Gen. Sherman, Governor Hartranft, and Hon. Hamilton Fish. After breakfast Gen. Grant and a party of friends went on board the steamer "Magenta" and proceeded down the river to where the steamship "Indiana" was waiting to begin her ocean voyage — Mrs. Grant and her friends being conveyed by the United States revenue cutter "Hamilton." As the two vessels passed down the Delaware, they were enthusias- tically cheered by the crowds of people who Lined THE DEPARTUEE. 33 the wharves, while all the river craft was gaily- decorated with flags and bunting. At Girard Point a short stoppage was made, and a telegram from the President of the United States was received by Gen. Grant, as follows : " New -YOBK, May 17th, 1877. "General Grant, Philadelphia: " Mrs. Hayes joins me in heartiest wishes that you and Mrs. Grant may have a prosperous voyage, and, after a happy visit abroad, a safe return to your friends and country. "R. B. HAYES." To this the following response was sent by Gen. Grant : "Steamer ' Magenta,' 1 " Delaware Biver, May 17th, 11 o'clock A. M. J "President Hayes, Executive Mansion, Washington: "Dear Sir : — Mrs. Grant joins me in thanks to you and Mrs. Hayes for your Itind wishes, and your message received on board this boat just as we are pushing out from the Wharf. We unite in returning our cordial greetings, and in expressing our best wishes for your health, happiness and success in your most responsible position. Hoping to return to my country to find it prosperous in business, and with cordial feelings renewed between all sections, " I am, dear sir, truly yours, "U. S. GRANT." Before the party left the "Magenta," luncheon was served, at which a few parting toasts were offered and responses made. After proposing as the first toast of the occasion, "God-speed to our honored guest, Ulysses S. Grant," Mayor Stokeley, of Philadelphia, spoke briefly as follows : "General Grant: As I now feel that it is necessary to draw these festivities to a close, I must speak for the City of Philadelphia. I am sure that I express the feelings of "34 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. Philadelphia as I extend to you my hand, that I give to you the hands and the hearts of Pniladelphia " (cheers), "and as we part with you now, it is the hope of Philadelphia that Grod will bless you with a safe voyage and a happy return ; and with these few words I say God bless you, and God direct and care for you in your voyage across the ocean." Greneral Grant's reply was full of feeling, and he was visibly affected as lie said : " Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen: I feel much overcome with what I have heard. When the first toast was offered I supposed the last words here for me had been spoken, and I feel overcome by the sentiments to which I have listened, and which I feel I am altogether inadequate to respond to. I don't think that the compliments ought all be paid to me or any one man in either of the positions which I was called upon to fill. " That which I accomplished — which I was able to accom- plisih — I owe to the assistance of able lieutenants. I was so fortunate as to be called to the first position in the army of the nation, and I had the good fortune to select Heutenants who could have filled " (turning to Sherman) — " had it become necessary I believe some of these lieutenants could have filled my place may be better than I did." (Cries of "No.") "I do not, therefore, regard myself as entitled to all the praise. " I believe that my friend Sherman could have taken my place as a soldier as well as I could, and the same will apply to Sheridan." (Cheers.) "And I believe, finally, that if our country ever comes into trial again, young men will spring up equal to the occasion, and if one fails, there will be another to take his place." (Great cheers.) "Just as there was if I had failed. I thank you again and again, gentlemen, for the hearty and generous reception I have had in your great city." (Prolonged cheers.) THE DEPAETUEE. 35 In response to a toast to his own health, Gen. Sherman used these well-chosen words : "Me. Mayor and Gentlemen: This proud welcome along the shores of the Delaware demands a response. Gen. Grant leaves here to-day with the highest rewards of his fellow- citizens, and on his arrival on the other side there is no doubt he will be welcomed by his friends with as willing hands and warm hearts as those he leaves behind. Ex- President Grant — Gen. Grant — while you, his fellow-citi- zens, speak of him as Ex-President Grant, I cannot but think of the times of war, of Gen. Grant, President of the United States for eight years, yet I cannot but think of him as Gen. Grant of Fort Donelson. I think of him as the man who, when the country was in the hour of peril, restored its hopes when he marched triumphant into Fort Donelson. After that none of us felt the. least doubt as to the future of our country, and therefore, if the name of Washington is allied with the birth of our country, that of Grant is for- ever identified with its preservation, its perpetuation. It is not here alone on the shores of the Delaware, that the people love and respect you, but in Chicago and St. Paul, and in the far-off San Francisco, the prayers go up to-day that your voyage may be prosperous and pleasant, and that you niay have a safe and happy return. General Grant " (extending his hand), "God bless you, God bless you, and grant you a pleasant journey and a safe return to your native land." Brief complimentary speeches were also made by Governor Hartranft, Ex-Secretaries Fish and Chandler, and other guests. The steamship "Indiana" was reached at a little before three o'clock, and Gen. and Mrs. Grant and their son Jesse passed on board. The 36 GENEEAL GEANT ABROAD. last words of parting were now said; and amid the waving of handkerchiefs and hearty cheers from the crowded steamer, a salute of twenty-one guns from the cutter "Hamilton" and shrill whistles from the rest of the fleet, the "Indiana," with her distinguished freight, steamed slowly out to sea. CHAPTEE III. AT SEA— ARRIVAL AT LIVERPOOL. Genebal Geant as a Sailor — His Enjoyment of THE VoT AGE — Companionable Qualities — The Captain's Opinion of Geant as a Talkee — "No Politicians Need Apply" — Off the Beitish Coast — Queenstown — Aeeival at LiVEEPOOL. The steamer which bore General Grant across the Atlantic, on the first voyage of his memora- ble trip around the world, the "Indiana," was a magnificent vessel plying between Philadelphia and Liverpool, and belonging to the only Ameri- can Hne of steamships crossing the Atlantic Ocean. With the characteristic habit of preferr- ing the institutions of his own country, it was General Grant's wish to cross the sea in an 38 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD, American vessel. The "Indiana" left Newcas- tle, on the Delaware river, thirty-five miles below Philadelphia, on the afternoon of the 17th day of May, and arrived at Liverpool on the 28th, making the passage in eleven days. The weather was generally rough, and most of the passengers, including Mrs. Grant, suffered more or less from seasickness ; but the General did not miss a meal. The voyage was for him a thoroughly enjoyable and happy one, and was an auspicious beginning of the remarkable series of travels which were to occupy two and a half years of time, and extend around the globe, unmarred by a single accident. On this outward voyage. General Grant was thoroughly at his ease, and developed sociable and companionable quaUties which no one, ex- cepting possibly a few intimate friends, had before suspected. He gave himself up thor- oughly to comfort, and to the enjoyment of the scenes and experiences through which he was passing for the first time, as well as to the new and grateful sense of relief from the heavy cares and burdens which he had carried so long. Like most hard workers, the General knows how to rest. After sixteen years' continuous and ardu- ous service for his country, he doubtless felt that he had well earned a vacation, and meant to enjoy it to the utmost. When, from the deck of the "Indiana," he watched the shores of his na- AT SEA — AEEIVAL AT LIVEEPOOL. 39 tive land recede and fade from sight, he left with them the burdens and responsibilities of public life. He remarked that he "felt better than for sixteen years, ' ' from the fact that he had no letters to read and no telegraphic dispatches to attend to. It was this philosophic feeling of content- ment and satisfaction, together with his unvary- ing good health and cheerfuhiess, that enabled him to enjoy this ocean trip so thoroughly, and to contribute materially to the pleasure of his fellow-passengers. The voyage was, indeed, a new revelation of the character of General Grant. The retiring and taciturn, almost brusque, manner which had distinguished him during his pubhc career, was dropped as if it had been a mask which had cov- ered his true character, and he became one of the most genial and companionable of men. He showed himself a ready and entertaining talker, and surprised all by the extent of his information, the force and aptness of his comments, and the unsuspected grace and charm of his conversation. Captain Sargent, the commanding officer of the ship, described him as one of the most interest- ing and agreeable talkers he had ever met — and he has met a great many. "There is no one," said Captain Sargent, "who can make himself more entertaining or agreeable in his conversa- tion, than General Grant, tuhen nohody has an 40 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. axe to grind.'' When the G-eneral was in office, he learned to suspect nearly every one who ap- proached him with haying some "axe to grind;" and hence his habit of reserve and sUence during his pubhc career, and behind which he shielded himself from importunate or injudicious friends. There was one subject, however, upon which the characteristic caution of General Grant showed itself. He would not converse upon American topics; and this course he rigidly adhered to throughout his entire trip. The good sense and propriety of this pohcy were so well recognized, that but few attempts were made to "draw the General into political conversations; and these were speedily abandoned. Upon all other sub- jects he was a ready talker as well as an apprecia- tive Hstener; and by his cordial and genial man- ners he readily won the friendship and admira- tion of his fellow-passengers, even of those among them who had opposed him most bitterly in politics. In smoking and chatting upon deck or in the smoking cabin, in reading or playing games, in watching the varying phases of sea and sky, and enjoying the many novel experiences of an ocean trip, the time passed rapidly and pleas- antly away. On the tenth day the passengers on the "Indi- ana" got a glimpse of Fastnet Light through the fog off the Irish coast. Here the vessel was AT SEA — ABEIVAL AT LIVEEPOOL. 41 detained eight hours by the fog, and at 7 o'clock in the evening (May 27th), entered Queenstown harbor. A tug soon came alongside, bringing a number of prominent citizens to welcome Gen- eral Grant to Ireland. The General received the delegation in the cabin of the "Hdiana," and listened with much satisfaction to their kindly expressions of friendship and welcome, to which he responded briefly and gracefully, promising to accept their proffered hospitality at a later period of his journey. The tug brought many letters and despatches to him, among them invitations to dinners and receptions, from the leading pub- he men of England. Leaving Queenstown, the "Indiana" again put out to sea; and the next afternoon (May 28th) she arrived at Liverpool, where a bright and exhilerating day, with vast crowds of people, and a great display of flags in the town and upon the shipping along the Mersey river, waited to extend a greeting and a welcome to the distinguished visitor. CHAPTBE IV. A GREETING FROM OLD ENGLAND! A Geaceful Act by the State Depaetment — Geneeal Geant and oue Eepeesentatives AteEOAD — The Eeception at Liveepool — Ad- deess op the Mayoe — Seeing the City — Ban- quet AT THE MaYOe's HoME — ThE GeNEEAL'S Little Speech — Aeeival at Manchestee — Addeess op Welcome — General Geant as a Speech-Makee — ^A SuEPEisE TO his" Feiends — His Eemaeks at Manchestee, Salfoed,Leices- TEE AND BeDFOED — FlEST ImPEESSIONS OF ENG- LAND — Lettee to a Feiend in this Countey. ♦About the time of General Grant's departure from Philadelphia, the State Department at "Washington issued to its representatives abroad AGBEETING FROM OLD ENGLAND. 43 the following of&cial circular regarding his for- eign travels : " Depaktment or State, ) Washington, May 23d, 1877. j " To the DiplomaMc and Consular Officers of the United States. " Gentlemen : General Ulysses S. Grant, the late President of the United States, sailed from Philadelphia on the 17th inst., for Liverpool. " The route and extent of his travels, as vs^ell as the dura- " tion of his sojourn abroad, were alike undetermined at the time of his departure, the object of his journey being to secure a iew months of rest and recreation after sixteen years of unremitting and devoted labor in the military and civil service of his country. '•' The enthusiastic manifestations of popular regard and esteem for General Grant shown by the people in all parts of the country that he has visited since his retirement from ofllcial life, and attending his every appearance in public from the day of that retirement up to the moment of his departure for Europe, indicate beyond question the high place he holds in the grateful affections of his countrymen. " Sharing in the largest measure this general public sen- timent, and at the same time expressing the wishes of the President, I desire to invite the aid of the Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the Government to make his journey a pleasant one should he visit their posts. I feel already assured that you will find patriotic pleasure in anticipating the wishes of the Department by showing him that atten- tion which is due from every officer of the Government to a citizen of the Republic so signally distinguished both in official service and personal renown. ^ " I am. Gentlemen, " Your obedient servant, "WM. M. EVAETS." 44 GENERAL GEANT ABEOAD. This was a graceful and appropriate attention from the State Department. While General Grant went" abroad simply as a private citizen of the United States, yet the fame of his grand achievements had preceded him thronghout the civilized world, and his merits and renown were sure to meet with special recognition in the countries which he was to visit. It was fitting, therefore, that he should go abroad_not only with the hearty and enthusiastic good-wishes of his countrymen, but with a distinct expression of their esteem and gratitude, in credentials from the government in which he had held such dis- tinguished stations. The foreign official agents of the United States responded cordially to the sentiments of Mr. Evarts' note, and did all in their power to add to the pleasure of General Grant's visit to their respective countries. The first to pay his respects to the General, upon his landing on English soil, was our Consul at London, General Adam Badeau, on old-time friend and aide-de-camp of General Grant. The Mayor of Liverpool and many prominent citizens were also at the dock to welcome General Grant, whom the Mayor addressed formally as follows : "General Grant: I am proud that it has fallen to my lot, as Chief Magistrate of Liverpool, to welcome to the shores of England so distinguished a citizen of the United A GREETING FEOM OLD ENGLAND. 45 States. You have, sir, stamped your name on the history of the world by your brilUant career as a soldier, and still more as a statesman in the interests of .peace. In the name of Liverpool, whose interests are so closely allied with your great country, I bid you heartily welcome, and I hope Mrs. Grant and yourself will enjoy your visit to Old England." General Grant responded in a brief expression of thanks for Ms reception, and for the good wishes of his English friends; after which the party were taken in carriages to the Adelphi Hotel. In the evening they were entertainevi by the Mayor, at his splendid country residence, where they spent the night. The following day was spent in visiting the prominent sights of Liverpool, under the escort of the Mayor and- other citizens. They took a short ride on the river upon a small steamer, General Grant being specially interested in the commercial activity of which the city bore such abundant evidence, and in the extensive dock improvements along the river wall. After visit- ing the Town Hall and the celebrated Liverpool Free Library, a grand banquet was given by the Mayor at his city residence in honor of his dis- tinguished guests. At this banquet two hun- dred and fifty persons were present, including the leading officials and prominent citizens of the place. General Grant's speech at the banquet was a pleasant, off-hand affair, and was received 46 GENERAL GEANT ABBOAD. with the greatest enthusiasm. In response to a complimentary toast from the Mayor, the Gen- eral said : "Mb. Mayor AND Gentlemen: You have alluded to the hearty reception given to me on my first landing on the soil of Great Britain, and the expectations of the Mayor that this reception would be equaled throughout the island have been more than realized. It has been far beyond any- thing I could have expected. (Cheers.) I am a soldier, and the gentlemen here beside me know that a soldier must die. I have been a President, but we know that the term of the presidency expires, and when it has expired he is no more than a dead soldier. (Laughter and cheers.) But, gentlemen, I have met with a reception that would have done honor to any living person. ( Cheers.) I feel, however, that the compliment has been paid, not to me, but to my coimtry. I cannot help but at this moment being highly pleased at the good feeling and good sentiment which now exist between the two peoples who of all others should be good friends. We are of one kindred, of one blood, of one language, and of one civilization, though in some respects we believe that we, being younger, surpass the mother country. (Laughter.) You have made im- provements on the soil and the surface of the earth which we have not yet done, which we do not believe will take us as long as it took you. ( Laughter and applause. ) I heard some military remarks which impressed me a little at the time — I am not quite sure whether they were in favor of the volunteers or against them. I can only say from my own observation that you have as many troops at Al- dershott as we have in the whole of our regular army, not- withstanding we have many thousands of miles of frontier to guard and hostile Indians to control. But if it became A GEEETING EEOM OLD ENGLAND. 47 necessary to raise a volunteer force, I do not think we could do better than to follow your example. General Fairchikl [the- American Consul at Liverpool] and myself are exam- ples of volunteers who came forward when their assistance was necessary, and I have no doubt that if you ever needed such services you would have support from your reserve forces and volunteers, far more effective than you can con- ceive." (Cheers.) At Manchester, whither General Grant pro- ceeded on the following day (May 30th), substan- tially the same experience was had as at Liver- pool. A deputation of the City Council met the General at the station and escorted him to the Town Hall, where he was formally received by the Mayor as the guest of the city. After visiting some of the immense establishments which have given Manchester its reputation as a manufactur- ing tovra, the party were conducted to the Koyal Exchange, where a large assemblage, including the members of Parliament from Manchester and many of the leading merchants and officials of the town, received them. An address of wel- come to General Grant, which had been prepared by the Mayor, was then read by the Town Clerk. The address is too long to be printed here, but abounded in expressions of admiration and respect for General Grant, and of welcome to the hospi- tahties of England. Jacob Bright, Esq., M. P. for Manchester, in expressing the hope that wherever General Grant went in England, he 48 GENERAL GRANT ABROAD. "would receive the honor that was due him, raade a graceful allusion to the fact that the General's efforts during the American war were not for personal glory but for the freedom of his country and the stability of its institutions. ■ He also spoke of the generosity that had characterized General Grant's treatment of his vanquished adversaries, and of the magnanimous terms offered them at the close of the war and during his administration. General Grant's responses to these addresses were singularly happy and well-timed. We have spoken elsewhere of the fact that the General's trip abroad was a revelation to his friends at home. One of the elements in which he sur- prised everybody — and perhaps himself as well — was in his capacity for speech-making. All remember how difficult it was during his official life to get him to say anything in pubHc, much less to make a deliberate speech. His habitual reserve and caution controlled him, and he was noted almost as much for his silence as for his devotion to his cigar. But freed from the trials and responsibilities of official life, his reserve gave way, and he proved to be an excellent off- hand speech-maker. His utterances were marked by candor and simplicity, equalled only by their singular aptness and propriety. He never " slop- ped over" in his remarks, but while always frank BEACONSFIELD CHTJBCH. KEW PALACE. Sketches in England. WINDSOB CASTLE— PBOM EATON. HAMPTON COUBT — LOOKING UP THE KIVEB. Sketches in England. A GREETING FROM OLD ENGLAND. • 49 and unaffected, bore himself with admirable dig- nity and self-possession. Few men ever had the capacity of saying "the right thing in the right place" that Greneral Grant showed through all his trip around the world. In the many novel and trying situations in which he was placed, he liever failed to conduct himself with credit, so that his presence always added to the favorable opinions which had been formed upon his repu- tation. In this, as in most respects, his success was due to the strong common-sense and good judgment which are the dominant elements in his character. His unaffected earnestness and .simplicity gave him the dignity and grace of a true gentleman, which the utmost efforts of more polished and artificial manners can only imitate. In his reply to the address of the Mayor of Manchester, General Grant said : "Mr. Mayor, Members of. the Council of Manchesteb, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is scarcely possible for me to give utterance to the feelings called forth by the receptions which have been accorded me since my arrival in England. In Liverpool, where I spent a couple of days, I witnessed continuously the same interest that has been exhibited in the streets and in the public buildings of your city. It would be impossible for any person to have so much attention paid to him without feeling it, and it is impossible for me to give expression to the sentiments which have been evoked by it. I had intended upon my arrival in Liverpool to have hastened through to London, and from that city to visit the various points of interest in your country, Manchester D 50 GENEEAL GEANT ABROAD. being one of the most important among them. I am, and have been for years, fully aware of the great amount of manufactures of Manchester, many of which find a market in my own country. I was very well aware, during the war, of the sentiments of the great mass of the people of Man- chester toward the country to which I have the honor to belong, and also of the sentiments with regard to the strug- gle in which it fell to my lot to take a humble part. It was a great trial for us. For your expressions of sympathy at that time, there exists a feeling of friendship toward Man- chester, distinct and separate from that which my country- men also feel, and I trust always will feel, toward every part of England. I therefore accept, on the part of my country, the compliments which have been paid to me as its representative, and thank you for them heartily." At ^alford, on the way from Manchester to London, General Grant said at the luncheon given him by the Mayo "My reception, since my arrival in England, has been to me very expressive, and one for whifch I have to return thanks on behalf of my country. I cannot help feeling that it is my country that is honored through me. It is the affection which the people of this island have for their chil- dren on the other side of the Atlantic, which they express to me as an hupable representative of their offspring." An acknowledgment of an address from the Mayor and Council of Leicester was thus briefly and happily made • " Allow me, in behalf of my country and myself, to return you thanks for this honor, and for your kind reception, as well as for the other kind receptions which I have had since the time that I first landed on the soil of Great Britain. As children of this great commonwealth, we feel that you A GEEETING FBOM OLD ENGLAND. 51 must have some reason to be proud of our advancement since our separation from the mother country. I can assure you of our heartfelt good-will, and express to you our thanks on behalf of the American people." At Bedford, the Mayor waited upon the Gen- eral at the train, and presented an address full of complimentary allusions, terming General Grant the Hannibal of the American armies, and hoping he might long b^ spared to enjoy , further hon- ors which would be heaped upon him. In reply- ing to this enthusiastic speech. General Grant simply expressed his thanks for the Mayor's cour- tesy, and regretted his inability to make a speech that would compare in eloquence to those of his British friends. There is no doubt that General Grant was deeply sensible of the marked attentions that had been shown him, and that he was greatly pleased by them. He did not, however, take all the com- phments to himself, but ascribed a large part of them to the desire to express feelings of friend- ship for his coimtry. This thought is shown in several of his speeches, and is so admirably ex- pressed in a private letter written about this time to a friend in America, that the letter is well worth quoting here : "After an unusually stormy passage for any season of the year, and continuous seasickness generally among the passengers after the second day out, we reached Liverpool Monday afternoon, the 28th of May. Jesse and I proved 52 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD, to be among the few good sailors. Neither of us felt a moment's uneasiness during the voyage. I had proposed to leave Liverpool immediately on my arrival and proceed to London, where I knew our Minister had made arrange- ments for the formal reception, and had accepted for me a few invitations of courtesy. But what was my surprise to find nearly all the shipping in port at Liverpool decorated with flags of all nations, and from the mainmast of each the flag of the Union mcJst conspicuous. The docks were lined with as many^of the population as could find standing- room, and the streets to the hotel, where it was understood my party would stop, were packed. The demonstration was, to all appearances, as hearty and as enthusiastic as in Philadelphia on my departure. The Mayor was present in his state carriage, to convey us to the hotel ; and after that he took us to his beautiful country residence, some six miles out, where we were entertained with a small party of gentlemen, and remained over night. The following day a large party was given at the official residence of the Mayor in the city, at which there were some one hundred and fifty of the distinguished citizens and officials of the corporation present. Pressing invitations were sent from most of the cities in the kingdom to have me visit them. I accepted for a day at Manchester, and stopped a few moments at Leices- ter and at one other place. The s me hearty welcome was shown at each place, as you have no doubt seen. ... I appreciate the fact, and am proud of it, that the attentions I am receiving are intended more for our country than for me personally. I love to see our country honored and reispected abroad, and I am proud that it is respected by most all nations, and by some even loved. It has always been my desire to see all jealousies between England and the United States- abated, and every sore healed. Together, they are more powerful for the spread of commerce and A GBEETING PEOM OLD ENGLAND. 53 civilization than all others combined, and can do more to remove causes of war by creating mutual interests that would be so much endangered by war. . . . "U. S. GEANT." On the first day of June, four days after his landing in Liverpool, General Grant arrived in London. The scenes and events during his month's stay in the British metropohs were among the most interesting of his entire journey; and to them we shaU devote a separate chapter. CHAPTER Y HONORS OF LONDON. GrBNEEAL GrEANT IN LoNDON — ChAEACTER OF HIS Reception — His Public Speeches — Advant- ages OP Knowing but one Language — Beil- LiANT Social Events — The "Peeedom op the City." — A Pleasant Souvenie — Addeess op THE LOED MaYOE — GeNEEAL GsANT's RE- SPONSE — The Geand Banquet — Some Happy Hits — The Geneeal as a Speech-Makee — Opinion op the "Teibune" Coeeespondent — The Guest op the Queen — Yisit to Wind- SOE Castle — A Geeeting peom Home — Some Distinguished Gatheeings — Geneeal Geant's Talk to the Woekingmen — The "Pump- handle Peocess " — A Eamiliae Expeeience — Couetesies peom the Peince op Wales — Eng- lish JOUENALISTS AND LiTEEARY MeN — EouETH OF July in London — How the Gen- eeal Celebeated — A Sprightly Desceiption by an Observer. General Grant's visit in London was notable aot only for the wonderful sights which he saw in that mighty city, but for the marked attentions which he received on every hand. The most dis- HONOES OF LONDON. 55 tinguished statesmen and people known in all tlie various walks of fame, the highest London offi- cials and members of the British government, as well as the Queen and the leading nobihty, showed him the most flattering marks of respect and admiration. Such a reception, so generous and at the same time so hearty and cordial, was probably never before given in England to an American citizen. That General Grant was deeply sensible of the compliments paid him in these attentions, . is evident from his speeches, which include the best of those made by him in his entire travels. Indeed, his speeches in Lon- don and other portions of Great Britain comprise the most of what he said in a public way; his ignorance of foreign languages being an effective excuse for silence in other countries. He re- marked, jokingly, to a friend, that his ignorance of all languages but one was a great piece of good fortune to him, since it obviated any neces- sity for public speaking. Occasionally, it is true, he spoke through an interpreter, and at other times he met distinguished men of foreign coun- tries who conversed readily in Enghsh, and with whom many interesting informal conversations were had, which have fortunately been preserved. But the General's Enghsh speeches are by far the most noteworthy of his recorded utterances, and will be given in fuH here. 56 GENEEAL GRANT ABROAD. The first two weeks of. G-eneral Grrant's stay in London were taken u^ by a series of social eyents and sigkfc-seeings which, though full of interest, it is impossible to fully describe here without in- fringing upon the space needed for recording more important matters. Passing over, there- fore, the visit to Epsom Downs, where the G-en- eral first met the Prince of Wales, from whom he afterwards received marked attentions; the events of the three days' delightful visit to his daughter, Mrs. Sartoris, at her residence at South- ampton; the continuous round of dinners and receptions given in the General's honor by the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Granville, Sir Charles Dilke, the Duke of WeUington, Lord Carnarvon, and the American Minister and Consul, and atteiided by the most brilliant society in Lon- don ; the visit to Westminster Abbey on Sunday, where Dean Stanley made a graceful allusion in liis sermon to the presence in England of an Ex- President of the United States ; passing by, also, the interesting ceremonies attending the Gener- al's presentation at Court on the 7th of June, we come to one of the most noteworthy and impres- sive incidents of his visit, which it is impossible to dispose of without a more extended mention. This is the conferring upon the General of the "freedom of the city of London" — a very rare honor, and the highest which thie corporation of London can bestow. HONOES OF LONDON. 57 The ceremonies attending this interesting event took place on June 15th, in the Guildhall, one of the most prominent and historic buildings in the city. The guests were eight hundred in number, includihg Members of Parliament, the Chancel- lor of the Exchequer, members of the city gov- ernment, the American Minister, and many Amer- can residents of London. A great many ladies were also in attendance. General Grant was received at the Guildhall by a deputation of the city government, who conducted him to the Council Chamber, where he was placed at the left of the Lord Mayor. The Chamberlain then read an address to the General, which is as follows : "The unprecedented facilities of modern travel, and the running to and fro of aU classes in our day, have brought to our shores unwonted visitors from Asia, as well as from Europe — rulers of Empires both ancient and of recent cre- ation ; but amongst them all we have not as yet received a President of the United States of America — a power great, flourishing and free, but so youthful that it celebrated only last year its first centennial. A visit of the ruling President of those States is scarcely to be looked for, so highly valued are his services at home during his limited term of office; you must bear with us, therefore, General, if we make much of an Ex-President of the great Republic of the New World visiting the old home of his fathers. It is true that those first fathers — Pilgrim Fathers we now call them — chafed under the straitness of the parental rule, and sought in distant chmes the Uberty then denied them at 58 GENEBAL GEANT ABBOAD. home ; it is true, likewise, that their children subsequently resented the interference, well intended if unwise, of their venerated parent, and manifested a spirit of independence of parental restraint not unbecoming in grown-up sons of the Anglo-Saxon stock. Yet, for all this, there is furnished from time to time, abundant evidence that both children and parent have forgotten old differences and forgiven old wrongs ; that the children continue to revere the mothe^ country, while she is not wanting in maternal pride at wit- nessing so numerous, so thriving, and so freedom-loving a race of descendants. If other indications were wanting of mutual feehngs of regard, we should find them, on the one hand, in the very hospitable and enthusiastic reception ac- corded to the Heir Apparent to the British throne, and subsequently to H. R. H. Prince Arthur, when, during your presidency, he visited your country ; and on the other hand, in the cordial reception which, we are gratified to ob- serve, you have received from the hour when you set loot on the shores of Old England. In this spirit, and with these convictions, the Corporation of London receives you to-day with aU kindhness of welcome, desiring to compli- ment you and your country in your person by conferring upon you the honorary freedom of their ancient city — a freedom which had existence more than eight centuries before your first ancestors set foot on Plvmouth Eock ; a freedom confirmed to the citizens, but not originated, by the Norman conqueror, which has not yet lost its signifi- cance or its value, although the Uberty which it symbohzes has been extended to other British subjects, and has be- come the inheritance of the great Anglo-American family across the Atlantic. But we not only recognize in ■ you a citizen of the United States, but one who has made a dis- tinguished mark in American history — a soldier whose mihtary capabilities brought him to the front in the hour HONOBS OF LONDON. 59 of his country's sorest trial, and enabled him to strike the blow which terminated fratricidal war and reunited his dis- tracted country ; who also manifested magnanimity in the hour of triumph, and amidst the national indignation created by the assassination of the great and good' Abra- ' ham Lincoln, by obtaining for vanquished adversaries the rights of capitulated brethren in arms, when some would have treated them as traitors to their country. We fur- ther recognize in you a President upon whom was laid the honor, and with it the responsibility, during two terms of oflSLce, of a greater and more difficult task than that which devolved upon you as a general in- the field — that of bind- ing up the bleeding frame of society which had been rent asunder when the demon of slavery was cast out. That the constitution of the country over which you were thus called to preside survived so fearful a shock, that we saw it proud and progressive, celebrating its centennial during the last year of your official rule, evinces that the task which your countrymen had committed to you did not miscarry in your hands. That such results have beeu possible must, in fairness, be attributed in no inconsiderable degree to the firm but conciliatory policy of your administration at home and abroad, which is affirmed of you by the resolution of this honorable Court whose exponent and mouthpiece I am this day. May you greatly enjoy your visit to our country at this favored season of the year, and may your life be long spared to witness in your country, and in our own — ■ the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon iamily — a career of increasing amity, mutual respect, and honest, if spirited rivalry — rivalry in trade, commerce, agriculture, and man-— ufacture ; in the arts, science, and literature ; rivalry in the highest of all arts, how best to promote the well-being and to develop the industry of nations, how to govern them , for the largest good to the greatest number, and for the ad- 60 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. vancement of peace, liberty, morality, and the consequent happiness of mankii^d. Nothing now remains. General, but that I should present to you an illuminated copy of the resolutions of this hdHorable Court, for the reception of which an appropriate casket is in preparation ; and, in conclusion, offer you, in the name of this honorable Court, the right hand of fellowship as a citizen of London." (Cheers.) The "freedom of the city," which was thus im- pressively bestowed, was contained in a beautiful gold casket — a, most elegant and elaborate affair. At each end of the casket is a figure, in gold, rep- resenting the Eepublic of the United States and the city of London. The side panel contains a beautiful reUef view of the Capitol at Washing- ton, and on the reverse side is a similar view of the Guildhall, together with an appropriate in- scription. Beside the panels are the monogram of General Grant and the arms of the Lord Mayor. There are double columns at the corners, en- twined with laurel wreaths and leaves of corn and cotton, and surmounted by cornucopias, emble- matic of the productiveness and prosperity of the United States. The casket is supported by golden American eagles standing on its base, while the cover is surmounted by the arms of the city of London, with decorations of the rose, the thistle, and the shamrock. The design and workmanship of the casket are artistic and elegant to a high degree ; and General Grant may well value this HONOES OF LONDON. 61 beautiful gift as among tlie choicest souvenirs of Ms trip abroad. To the Chamberlain's address, General Grant repHed as follows : "It is a matter of some regret to me that I have never cultivated that art of public speaking which might have enabled me to express in suitable terms my gratitude for the compliment which has been paid to my countrymen and payself on this occasion. Were I in the habit of speaking in public, I should claim the right to express my opinion, and what I believe will be the opinion of my countrymen when the proceedings of this day shall have been tele- graphed to them. For myself I have been very much sur- prised at my reception at all places since the day I landed at Liverpool up to my appearance in this the greatest city in the world. It was entirely unexpected, and it is particu- larly gratifying to me. I believe that this honor is intended quite as much for the country which I have had the oppor- tunity of serving in different capacities, as for myself, and I am glad that this is so, because I want to see the happiest relations existing, not only between the United States and (rreat Britain, but also between the United States and all other nations. Although a soldier by education and pro- fession, I have never felt any sort of fondness for war, and I have never advocated it except as a means of peace. I hope that we shall always settle our differences in all future negotiations as amicably as we did in a recent instance. I believe that settlement has had a happy effect on both coun- tries, and that from month to month, and year to year, the tie of common civilization and common blood is getting stronger between the two countries. My Lord Mayor, ladies, and gentlemen, I again thank you for the honor you have done me and my country to-day." 62 GENEBAL GRANT ABEOAD. This was a capital speech, and was received with hearty cheers. But still more felicitous were the remarks made by the General at the grand ban- quet which followed the ceremonies in the Guild- hall. In response to the toast of the Lord Mayor in his honor, General Grant said . " My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen : Habits formed in early life and early education press upon us as we grow older. I was brought up a soldier — not to talking. I am not aware that I ever fought two battles on the same day in the same place, and that I should be called upon to make two speeches on the same day under the same roof is beyond my understanding. What I do understand is, that I am much indebted to all of you for the compliment you have paid me. All I can do is to thank the Lord Mayor for his kind words, and to thank the citizens of Great Britain h«jre present in the name of my country and for myself." That what we have said in regard to the re- markable success of General Grant as a speech- maker may not appear extravagant, we will quote from the account of this affair printed in the New York Tribune, and written by its accompHshed London correspondent, Mr. G. W. SmaUey, who was a guest upon the occasion. In describing General Grant's three speeches on th.at day, Mr. Smalley says : " The first was a somewhat elaborate address in the library of the Guildhall, in response to the still more elaborate address of the Chamberlain in offering him the freedom of the City of London. It was thoroughly well done in man- ner and matter. The second was at the lunch at the Guild- HONORS OF LONDON, 63 hall, and was simply a gem. I nevei heard a more perfect speech of its kind. There is a charm, a felicity in the turn of one or two of its phrases that would do credit to the best artists in words — to Mr. Kinglake or to Mr. Matthew Ar- nold themselves. Later in the day, at the quiet and almost private dinner at the Crystal Palace, Mr. Thomas Hughes asked the company, in a few words full of grace and feeling, to drink the health of General Grant. Mr. Hughes took pains to say that the occasion was not formal, and that he did not mean to impose upon his guest the burden of a reply. General Grant sat looking up into Mr. Hughes' face; there was a moment's pause, and then the General, screw- ing himself slowly up out of his chair till he stood erect on his feet, said : 'Mr. Hughes, I must none the less tell you what gratification it gives me to hear my health proposed in such hearty words by Tom Brown of Eugby.' I do not know what could be better than that. Still later in the evening, during the exhibition of fireworks. General Grant sat silent while his own portrait — a capital likeness — was drawn ia lines of changing flame against the dark back- ground of Beckenham Hills. Not a muscle moved ; there was not a sign of pleasure at the splendid compliment paid him ; not a movement of recognition for the cheers with which the great crowd below hailed the portrait. But when this had burnt out, and the next piece — a sketch of the buUding which crowns the heights above the Potomac— was blazing, a slight smile parted the General's lips ae he re- marked to Lady Eipon, who sat next to him: 'They have burnt me in effigy, and now they are burning the Capitol !' " An interesting feature of theentertainment at the Crystal Palace, referred to by Mr. Smalley, was tlie execution of an overture and chorus written for the occasion by a Chicago composer, 64 GENEEAL GBANT ABROAD. Mr. S. Gr. Pratt, and performed then for the first time. Longfellow's "Village Blacksmith" was also sung by a distinguished tenor, and the bands played English and American national airs. Another event of very great interest during the General's stay in London was the dinner with the Queen at Windsor Castle. For this mem- orable occasion, invitations were sent as follows : "The Lord Steward of Her Majesty's household is com- manded by the Qaeen to invite Mr. and Mrs. Grant to din- ner at Windsor Castle on Wednesday the 27th inst., and to remain until the following day, the 28th of June, 1877." At half-past eight o'clock on the evening of the dinner, G-eneral and Mrs. Grant were received by the Queen and her court in the State apartments of Windsor Castle, the dinner being served in the famous Oak Room. Among the guests were Prince Leopold, Prince Christian, Princess Bea- trice, Lord and Lady Derby, the Duchess of Wel- Hngton, General Badeau, Mr. Pierrepont, the American Minister, and wife, and many others of prominence. The affair was a very brilliant one, and General Grant enjoyed it highly. After din- ner the Queen conversed pleasantly with the Gen- eral, who was delighted with his informal chat with her and other members of the royal family. An interesting episode of this occasion was the receipt by General Grant of the following dis- patch from an army re-union in America : HONOES OP LONDON. 65 " Providence, Ehode Island, June 27, 1877. "From General Hartranft, Commander in Chief, to General U. S. Grant, care of H. B. M. the Qveen : " Your comrades in National Encampment assembled in Rhode Island, send heartiest greetings to their old com- mander, and desire, through England's Queen, to thank England for Grant's reception.'' This dispatch was given by General Grant to Her Majesty, who expressed her pleasure at the greeting. The General at once telegraphed this response : " Grateful for telegram. Conveyed message to the Queen. Thank my old comrades." General Grant and family spent the night at Windsor Castle, in accordance with the invitation of the Queen, and the next morning returned to London. A great many other dinners and receptions were given the General in the city, which we would hke to describe in full, but can do Uttle more than mention. The entertainments given in his honor by the Prince of Wales at Marl- borough House, where the General met the Em- peror of Brazil, with whom he became on very friendly relations ; the dinners with Lord Eipon and Lord Derby at their residences, and with the Princess Louise and the Marquis of Lome at the Kensington Palace; the visit to the venerable Earl Eussell at Eichmond Park;— all these were highly interesting and memorable occasions. So 66 GENEEAL GBANT ABEOAD. also was the dinner at the United Service Club, at which the Duke of Cambridge presided, where General Grant met some of the most distinguished officers of the British Army and Navy, including the Admiral of the Fleet, Sir George Sartorius. There was no speech-making on these occasions, as they were essentially private and informal in their nature. A very neat and sensible speech was, however, made by General Grant on an occasion of another sort, about this time, in response to an address presented to him by the Workingmen's League of Great Britain, a deputation of which waited upon him at the house of Gen. Badeau. It was as f oUows : " Gentlemen : In the name of my country I thank you for the address you have just presented to me. I feel it a great compliment paid to my Government, to the former Government, and one to me personally. Since my arrival on British soil I have received great attentions, and, as I feel, intended in the same way for my country. I have re- ceived attentions and have had ovations, free hand-shakings, and presentations from different classes, and from the Gov- ernment, and from the controlling authorities of cities, and have been received in the cities by the populaca But there is no reception I am prouder of than this one to-day. I recognize the fact that whatever there is of greatness in the United States, or indeed in any other country, is due to the labor performed. The laborer is the author of all greatness and wealth. Without labor there would be no government, or no leading class, or nothing to preserve. With us labor HONOES OP LONDON. 67 is regarded as highly respectable. When it is not so re- garded it is that man dishonors labor. We recognize that labor dishonors no man; and no matter what a man's occu- pation is he is eligible to fill any post in the gift of the peo- ple. His occupation is not considered in the selection of him, whether as a lawmaker or an executor of the law. Now, gentlemen, in conclusion, all I can do is to renew my thanks to you for the address, and to repeat what I have said before, that I have received nothing from any class since my arrival on this soil which has given me more pleasure." The address was received with great satisfac- tion by the deputation, after which they indulged in a general " hand- shaking " with the General — a process which must have reminded him forcibly of some of his American experiences while hold- ing "President's receptions" at the White House. A grand banquet was given the General on the evening of June 22d, by the Trinity Corporation, at their hall, at which the Prince of Wales, who presided, said : "It is a matter of peculiar gratification to us as English- men to receive as our guest Gen. Grant. I can assure him for myself and for all loyal subjects of the Queen, that it has given me the greatest pleasure to see him as a guest in this country." To this comphmentary allusion, as well as to that made by Lord Carnarvon, Secretary of Home Affairs, General Grant responded briefly and gracefully, thanking the gentlemen for their kind- ness, and expressing the most cordial sentiments of 68 GENEEAL GBANT ABEOAD. reciprocity. Among the many distinguished per- sons in this brilliant company were Prince Leo- pold, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the Prince of Leiningen, Prince Edward of Saxe- Weimar, the Duke of Wellington, the Earl of Derby, and others. Not the least important of all these social oc- casions was the breakfast given General Grant by Mr. Smalley, the London correspondent of the New York Tribune, at his handsome residence in Hyde Park Square, at which some of the most notable Hterary men of England were present — including Eobert Browning, Matthew Arnold, Kinglake the historian, Trollope the novelist. Prof. Huxley, Thomas Hughes, and many others. This was a famous gathering, and gave a pleasant variety to the society of eminent statesmen and members of the nofeihty, from whom General Grant had received such distinguished consideration. So, also, was the dinner given at the Grosvenor House on the 29th, where the General met many of the leading journalists of the city; of which Mr. Smalley wrote to the New York Tribune: "General Grant himself — who must by this time rank as an expert in such matters — pronounces this dinner one of the most enjoyable of the many given him in London." All the prominent Eng- lish journalists were present, as were some from this side of the water. HONOES OP LONDON. 69 The last social ceremonies attended by General Grant previous to his departure frf)m London were a reception and dinner at the American Embassy on the Fourth of July. They were a fitting close to the continuous and brilliant fes- tivities thathad marked the General's visit, and are so admirably described by Mr. SmaUey in a letter to the New York Tribune that we perhaps can- not do better than make some extracts from his account : " The Fourth of July was observed in London at the Le- gation, and so far as I know at the Legation only. The papers announced that the Minister of the United States and Mrs. Pierrepont would receive A.mericans from four to seven in the afternoon, Greneral Grant and Mrs. Grant to be present. The Americans presented themselves in large numbers. It is the season when a good many of our coun- trymen are in London, on their way to the Continent, and not a few such birds of passage thronged the rooms of the Legation yesterday afternoon. Of resident Americans there were also many — so many that I won't undertake to repeat their names. And there was a pretty large sidewalk com- mittee outside, attracted by the American flag which floated over the doorway, and by the carriages setting down com- pany — the latter always a favorite sight with the poor devils who spend their days in the street. Whether because it was the great Saint's Day of America, or of any other equally good reason, a vast deal of what is called good feeling is shown — a degree of cordiality in the greetings 'between acquaintances greater than might be expected when you consider that these same people live three-fourths of the year or more in the same town and within a few miles of 70 GENERAL GEAKT ABROAD. each other, but are seldom on intimate terms. There are no dissensions to speak of among Americans here (though there have been), but neither is there much gregariousness. Patriotism got the upper hand yesterday, however. The lion and the lamb took tea together— nay, dined together later. Pretty girls abounded. The American girl is always pretty, or, at least, always expected by the Briton to be pretty. The Briton was not there yesterday to see how many of them there were. California contributed its quota; Boston and New York were not unrepresented ; Baltimore sent a belle or two, and there were ladies no longer to be called girls who might have disputed with the best of their younger sisters for the palm of beauty. I think I noticed in my fellow citizens a slight uncertainty as to the sort of costume that ought to be worn on so solemn an occasion. The white tie was prematurely seen — it was only five o'clock in the afternoon, and your true Englishman never wears it before dinner, and dinner is never before eight — and some dress coats covered the manly form. I don't think I saw any ladies without bonnets. General Grant arrived a little late, and till he came nobody went away, so that the crush in Mr. Pierrepont's spacious rooms was for some time con- siderable. General and Mrs. Grant held a levee whether they would or no ; their admiring and eagev countrymen and countrywomen swarmed about them. Once more the General might have fancied himself in the White House, judging by the severity of the 'free hand-shakings' he under- went. Not a man or a woman of those who gathered about spared him, nor did he flinch ; but we dare say he reflected with pleasure that he was going to countries where hand- shaking is much less in fashion than here or at home. " Last of all, the General dined, on the evening of the 4th, at the Legation of the United States. The occasion was not made a very ceremonious one; with a single exception, HONORS OP LONDON. 71 only Americans were put on guard that night. The excep- tion was Monsignor Capel. The dinner was so far informal and private that I hardly know whether I am right in say- ing anything about it. Most of the distinguished Americans known to be passing through London were invited, and were present. The list included Senator Conkling, Gov- ernor Hendricks, Judge Wallis of the United States District Court — the same who lately tried the Emma Mine case — the Rev. Phillips Brooks of Boston, and Chancellor Eem- sen of New Jersey; Mrs. Grant and Mrs. Pierrepont were the only ladies present. The evening was a very pleasant one, and was greatly enjoyed by all. As the General p]*)- posed starting next day for a short run to the Continent, the guests departed at an early hour, wishing the party a pleasant trip through Belgium and Switzerland." CHAPTEE VI. ON THE CONTINENT. CrENEEAL Grant's Method op Joueneting — " Teaveling at Will" — Leaving London — Ceossing the Steaits of Dover — Aeeival at OsTEND — A Welcome to Belgium — A Eide in THE King's Cae — At Bbussels — Meeting with King Leopold — The Soveeeign and the Citizen — Up the Ehine — Cologne, Weisba- DEN, COBLENTZ, FeANKFOET — In A GeBMAN Palmer Garten — Baden, Hambueg, and the Black Foeest — A German Journalist intee- viEws Genbeal Geant — His vie"wb of Mili- tary Events and Men in America — In Switz- erland — Interesting Events at Geneva — Among , the Alps — The Lakes of Northern Italy — Towards England — ^Alsace and Lor- raine. In the progress of his journey. General Grant did not follow rigidly any pre-determined route, after the conventional guide-hook method, but left a good deal to varying taste and inclination, ON THE CONTINENT. 73 and^to tlie changing circumstances of time and season. When weary of one country, or feehng incHned to a change of scenery, he did not compel himself to remain till he had seen all that he wished or intended to, but would if necessary return and complete the visit at another time . He did not take in order all the countries that lay before him, after the manner of a traveling drum- mer who must visit all the places on his particular route, but went here and there as his mood or convenience suited, and often visited the same country or region more than once. This is the true method of the traveler who has time and means for it, since it leaves him far more free, and avoids any danger of monotony by giving a con- stant variety of scenery and experience. In this narrative, therefore, which is designed as a record of General Grant's personal travels rather than a description of the countries and places visited by him, we shall pursue the same method which the General adapted in his journeyings, and go here and there among the countries of the earth in the by indirect fashion which the General followed in his trip around the globe. At the time when our last chapter closed, Gen- eral Grant had by no means completed his visit in Great Britain ; but before finishing it he decided to reheve his month's continuous stay in London, and the somewhat arduous hospitalities showered 74 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. upon him there, by a short run to the Conti- nent—leaving the remainder of England, as well as Scotland and Ireland, for a later period. On the morning of July 5th, the General and Mrs. Grant, accompanied by their son and General Badeau, left London and took passage across the Straits of Dover for Ostend— a ride of about 150 miles. A change of country did not, however, lessen the kind and thoughtful attentions with which the General was everywhere received. On landing at Ostend he was immediately waited upon by an ofl&cer sent by the Belgian King to tender the party the use of the royal car for the journey to Brussels. After listening to a congratulatory address from the civil and military authorities of Ostend, where they passed the night, the party left the next morning for Brussels, stopping on the route to visit briefly the ancient and curious city of Ghent, with its quaint buildings and belfry towers. At Brussels the General received many flatter- ing attentions, but the most interesting feature of his visit there was his meeting with King Leopold of Belgium, and the friendly intimacy whitjh sprung up between him and that distin- guished sovereign. The King is a man of marked abihty and high character, and his intelHgent conversation, and especially his famiharity with American a£EairSj made a most favorable impres- ON THE CONTINENT. . 75 sion upon the General; wMle the King was in his turn greatly pleased with the character of his distinguished, visitor. There was a fine contrast presented in these two men — one a royal sovereign of an ancient line, ruhng for hfe and by the "divine right of Kings; " the other, a man of wonderfully varied fortune, called from the hum- blest pursuits of private hfe to become the great mihtary hero of his century, then chosen by the people to be the President of the greatest Republic in the world, and now simply a private citizen again, traveling for his own purposes of pleasure and information. But striking as was the contrast in their histories and positions, they were quick to recognize in each other the quali- ties of genuine manhood which both respected, and through which they became firm and appre- ciative friends. They had many long and in- teresting conversations together, King Leopold calling upon the General at his hotel, and the General and Mrs. Grant returning the visits at the royal palace'. The evening before their de- parture from Brussels, the King entertained them at a banquet at his palace, at which were gathered, as on that fatal evening before the battle of Wa- terloo, the "beauty and the chivalry" of Bel- gium's capital. On the morning of July 9th General Grant and party left Brussels in the King's railway carriage, 76 . GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. and proceeded to the famous city of Cologne,, on the historic Eiver Ehine. The General spent only a day at Cologne, and proceeded up the Ehine to Weishaden and Coblentz ; — at each city receiv- ing formal offerings of respect from the civil and mihtary authorities. At Frankfort, where he arrived on the 12th of July, the American residents of the city had arranged a grand banquet and fete in his honor. It was given in the Palmer Garten in the evening ; and at the conclusion of the feast, when the General attempted to take a stroll with his cigar through the famous gardens, he found them occupied by a throng of perhaps ten thousand people, who had come to catch a sight of the American general. Other dinners and receptions, and visits to the many interesting objects in the neighborhood, occupied the three days spent in Frankfort ; and on the 15th the party went to Heidelberg. Brief visits to Baden, to Hamburg, and to the celebrated Black Forest, completed for the present the tour of Germany. The following very spicy and entertaining gos- sip connected with General Grant's German visit is given by a Hamburg correspondent, writing under date of July 20, 1877 : " Ex-President Grant arrived here July 18th. In conversa- tion the General gave his views about the American war and its Generals. Among other things he said that if he had known the soldiers and Generals of the Potomac any- better, he would have preferred to invest Lee in Richmond ON THE CONTINENT. •• 77 from Lynchburg on the land side as he invested Pemberton at Vicksburg. He says his total losses in the Wilderness campaign amounted to only thirty-nine thousand men. He says General Butler wishes he had abler suboraiuates and expresses regret that an unlucky phrase in his official re- ports should have annoyed Butler. He thinks Jefferson Davis did all he could for the confederacy, and did not deserve the harsh criticisms he got. He thinks Stonewall Jackson might not have proved so effective a General later on in the war, and opposed to men like Sherman and Sher- idan, when his peculiar tactics would have failed. He seems to think Lee not so great as his reputation ; speaking of him, of course, as a soldier, and not as a man. He was never so uneasy when in front of Lee as some other com- manders, and he describes him as a man slow of mind, with- out imagination, and great dignity of demeanor. General Joe Johnston, in his opinion, was the ablest commander on the southern side. Of Bragg he appears to have had but a poor opinion. " General Grant tells a singular story of President John- son's device at one time to arrest General Lee and other southern commanders for treason by way of making rebel- lion odious. Grant and Seward had, it appears, the means and good sense to oppose and defeat this folly, and General Grant says he would have resigned his command rather than to have consented to the arrest of Southern men, they being sacred under their parole to him. "Eosencranz, Buckner, McGlellan, Buell, Stoneman, and McDowell, he says, were in the opinion of the old array, the more promising officers in 1861. He still thinks Buell had genius for the highest commands, and McDowell was a man of great ability, and he cannot account for the ill luck of poor Stoneman, whom he knew as one of the most highlj' cultivated officers in the old army, and one of the best sol- 78 GENERAL GRANT ABROAD. diers. Hancock, he thinks, one of the ablest of our Gen- erals. "Sherman and Sheridan he praised without stint. He related an old story of his first meeting with the la ter when Sheridan, then Colonel of a regiment, was rude to him. Sherman, he says, is not only one of the best men living, but one of the greatest we have in our history, and he gives a curious account of how Sherman's narrative of the war was misrepresented to him, so that he determined to read it, pencil in hand, and publish a reply, but found it a true book, an honorable book, just to all, and he approved every word of it. " General Grant says he did not want to go to West Point, never liked a command, and remonstrated against the crea- tion of the grade of Lieutenant General made for him, though he saw the necessity for it later. He dispelled some romances of the war, as where he says, there was no battle of Lookout Mountain, no action worthy to be called a battle. He says neither he, Sherman nor Sheridan ever held a council of war. He determined on his course in private, and no one knew what he was about to do until orders were written out. "Finally he speaks about his Presidential career. He thinks the second term was almost his due, because he had been bitterly opposed, but relates how he refused a third nomination, which was urged upon him on the ground that the contest would behttle him; that if re-elected, it would only have been against strong opposition, and his adminis- tration of a third term would have been unsatisfactory." On the 24tli of July the General arrived at Berne, in Switzerland, from whence he went to G-eneva. At the latter place, on the 27th, there were some very interesting ceremonies connected ON THE CONTINENT. 79 with laying the corner-stone of a new Episcopal church, built by the American residents of Ge- neva, — General Grant himself laying the corner- stone. After these exercises, there was a ban- quet at the hotel, at which the General, in response to the warm welcome extended to him, declared that he "had never felt himself more happy than among this assembly of fellow Kepub- hcans of America and Switzerland." He added : "I have long had a desire to visit the city where the Alabama Claims were settled by arbitration without the effusion of blood, and where the prin- ciple of international arbitration was established, which I hope will be resorted to by other nations and be the means of continuing peace to aU man- kind." The first half of the month of August was spent by General Grant among the grand scenery of the Alps. The visit to Mont Blanc was made memorable by an illumination in the General's honor, which produced a magnificent effect. The General enjoyed immensely his rambles among the Alpine ranges, and by the beautiful lakes of Northern Italy ; and after resting a few days at Eagatz, to enjoy the wonderful baths of that celebrated place, the party proceeded by easy stages back toward England. The route lay through Alsace and Lorraine — a country of special interest to the General, from the memorable 80 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. battles fought there between the French and Germans. He showed himself thoroughly f amihar with the events of the recent war 'between those nations; and his visit to the scenes where so many of those events transpired was reckoned by General Grant as among the most instructive and satisfactory of his two months' trip upon the Continent. K! ■ W O § o w » ^i I^IKmif ''^^ ,'t' ' ^Sft- HwV' J ,■■ ~ . ^ . 1 Si^^' f-^ Wr itl viMn jUR'l* -'./,£ . . ' -^ I ft mmz: ' .J III CHAPTBE VII. SCOTLAND, THE HOME OF THE GRANTS. Ee-Ceossing thk English Channel — Feom Lon- don TO Edinburgh — Feeedom op the City — Scottish Hospitality — A bit of Scotch Hu- MOE — In the Highlands — The "Geant Clan." — At Geanttown — The Geneeal's Speech at Wick — Aeeival at Glasgow — A Geand Ova- tion — Geneeal Geant the "Wellington of Ameeica" — A Notable Speech by the Gen- eeal — He Eeees His Mind on the Alabama AWAED, FOE the BeNEFIT OF A ScOTCH M. P. The first real halt made by General Grant after re-crossing the channel from his Continental trip was at the fine old city of Edinburgh. All along the road from London he was met with lavish honors and attentions, but time would not permit F 82 GENEEAL GBANT ABEOAD. anything more than the briefest stops at the stations on the way. He reached Edinburgh on the last day of August, 1877. The interesting ceremonies of a presentation of the freedom of the city were here repeated, on a scale only less magnificent than 'in London. More than two thousand people, including the most distinguished persons in the place, gathered in the Free Assem- bly Hall, where, in reply to the presentation speech of the Lord Provost, Gen. Grant said : " I am so fiUeil with emotion that I scarcely know how to thank you for the honor conferred upon me by making me a Burgess of this ancient City of Edinburgh. I feel that it is a great compliment to me and to my country. Had I the proper eloquence, I might dwell somewhat on the history of the great men you have produced, on the numer- ous citizens of this city and of Scotland who have gone to Aeaerica, and the record they have made. We are proud of Scotchmen as citizens of America. They make good citizens of our country, and they find it profitable to themselves. I again thank you for the honor conferred upon me." The neat humor of his reply produced much laughter and good feeling. Every one was de- lighted with the General, and all were desirous of showing him kind attentions and making his stay in Scotland as agreeable and profitable as possible. Especially interesting was the visit to the Scottish Highlands, where a well-known and ancient clan bear the Grant name, and from whom the General is supposed to have descended. SCOTLAND, THE HOME OF THE GEANTS. 83 At Granttown, near Inverness, the General was appropriately welcomed to^the "Home of the Grants," and near by is Castle Grant, the home of the Earl of Seafield, the present head of the Grant clan in Scotland. The ceremony of conferring the "freedom of the city" was repeated at every considerable place which General Grant visited in Scotland. One of the happiest speeches made by him in reply to presentation addresses on these occasions was at the provincial but not unimportant town of Wick, where the General spoke as follows : " I am happy to state that during the eight years of my Presidency it was my only hope, which I am glad to say was realized, that all differences between the two nations should be healed in a manner honorable to both. In my desire for that result it was my aim to do what was right, irrespective of any other consideration whatever. During all the negotiations, I felt the importance of maintaining friendly relations between the great English speaking peo- ples, which I believe to be essential to the maintenance of peace principles, and I feel confident that the continuance of those relations will exercise a vast influence in promoting peace and civilization throughout the world." [Great ap- plause.] Gen. Grant reached Glasgow on the 13th of September, where he received a grand and en- thusiastic ovation. At the City Hall, in the presence of an immense multitude, he was pre- sented with an address in which the City Council "admitted and received General Ulysses Simpson 84 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. Grant, ex-President of the United States of America, to be a Burgess and Guild Brother of the City and Eoyal Burgh of Glasgow, in recog- nition of his distinguished abihties as a statesman and administrator, his successful efforts in the noble work of emancipating his country from the horrors of slavery, and of his great services in promoting commerce and amity between the United States and Great Britain." To this com- phmentary address the General replied simply and happily, remarking that he had been so many times made a citizen of Scotland that it might become a serious question where he should go to vote. Several other addresses were made on this memorable occasion at Glasgow, in one of which, by the Lord Provost of the city. General Grant was felicitously alluded to as "the Wellington of America" — an allusion which called out tremen- dous cheering, which was renewed when the speaker added that "the great and good Lincoln struck down the upas tree of slavery, but Grant tore it up by the roots so that it should never hve again in his country." One of the most extended and notable speeches made by Gen. Grant during his entire trip was made upon this occasion, when, in answer to one of the speakers — a member of Parliament — who had remarked, with rather questionable taste, that in view of the dissatisfaction of Great SCOTLAND, THE HOME OP THE GEANTS. 85 Britain with the Geneva Award, and the fact that the United States had completed the dis- tribution of the award and had some $8,000,000 left after all claims had been satisfied, he would be pleased to see the government return that amount in the interests of concord and thorough amity. The General rephed that he had a great deal to do with the negotiations concerning the Washington treaty, and that he had always felt that our Government had yielded too much to Great Britain in the matter. He was determined, however, from the first, that, if possible, the ex- periment of peaceful arbitration should prevail. It was his ambition to hve to see aU national dis- putes settled in this way. "I am called a man of war," said he, "but I never was a man of war. Though I entered the army at an early age, I got out of it whenever I found a chance to do so creditably. I was always a man of peace, and I shall always continue of that mind. Though I may not hve to see the general settlement of national disputes by arbitration, it wiU not be very many years before that system of settlement will be adopted, and the immense standing armies that are depressing Europe by their great expense will be disbanded, and the arts of war almost for- gotten in the general devotion of the people to the development of peaceful industries. I want to see, and I beheve I will, Great Britain, the 86 GENERAL GRANT ABROAD. United States and Canada joined with a common purpose in the advance of civihzation, an invinci- ble community of English-speaking nations that all the world beside could not conquer." The General continued in this vein for some time, and presently touching the Alabama-claims question again, said : " There was one point in connection with that matter that I was glad we yielded — that was the indirect damage claim. I was al- ways opposed to it, because I feared the future consequences of such a demand. In any future arbitration we v^ould-have been placed at a great disadvantage by its allowance. After that was settled we made our other demands, you made yours. It was a long time before the Joint High Commission came together, but each side yielded here a bit and there a bit, until about as good a treaty as we could expect to get was completed. Mr. Anderson says many of the people of Great Britain believe we got the best of the bargain. I can assure you that we did not come out of the discussion as much benefited as we should have been. Many of our people were quite incensed, and fought the confirmation of the treaty, claim- ing that its terms were not broad enough to cover the losses of local interests, but a very large ma- jority determined to stand by it in the interests of peace and manly dealing with friends. We yielded more than we intended to yield, but had SCOTLAND, THE HOME OP THE GEANTS. 87 gone SO far into the business of doing what we advocated that nine-tenths of our people had no desire to recede. We did not want war, or even a new arbitration. We had been satisfied with the former, and the latter meant delay. We wanted the question settled peacefully, at once and forever. As to the eight million surplus Mr. Anderson mentions, I will explain that briefly. After the fifteen million dollars awarded at Geneva was paid by Great Britain, the matter of its distri- bution was presented to Congress-. It became necessary to distribute it under the terms of the treaty, and it was found that if the insurance companies which 'had received war premiums were admitted to participation in the sum, it would not be large enough to go around. So they and other parties were excluded. Congress will legislate further in the matter, and the money will be distributed to rightful claimants, so that it wiU not be necessary to discuss the question of returning it to Great Britain." CHAPTEE VIII. AMONG THE ENGLISH WORKING- MEN. Newcastle's Geeeting — The Mayoe's Welcome AND THE GtENEEAl's EeSPONSE — ^At TyNESIDE — The Alabama Claims and Intebnational Ae- BiTEATioN — " Swingeing"' Chbbes — English Woeking People Dueing que Wae — Theie Sympathy with the Noeth — At Sheffield — Banquet by the Cutlees' Company — Some Pleasant Reminiscences — Steatpoed-on- AvoN — Visit to Nellie at Southampton — MoEE Addeesses — Slayeey Discussed — At BlEMINGHAM — A MAGNIFICENT GeEETING — Seveeal .Notable Addeesses by Gteneeal Gbant — His Views on Feee Teade — Speech AT Beighton — What he thinks of the Vol- unteee System — Retuen to London. General Grant took with him from Scotland the most pleasant and Hvely memories of his visit to that country, and on the 20th of September arrived at the famous manufacturing city of AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. 89 Newcastle, on the Tyne. Here, and among the other great manufacturing districts of the North of England, he spent about a month; and no- where was his reception more striking. The General's distinguished position as a representa- tive of republican government, and his well- known sympathy with the cause of the people, had aroused the interest of the working classes in his visit; and the enthusiasm and cordiality with which they greeted him are almost impossi- ble to describe. We can note only the leading incidents of what was a grand and continuous ovation, ending only with his departure from the country. At Newcastle, where the General remained some days, he was the guest of the Mayor, Sir William Armstrong. The day after his arrival, an address was dehvered to him by the Vice- President, Council, and members of the Newcas- tle and Gateshead Incorporated Chamber of Commerce, which referred to the natural riches and industries of the Tyne district — iron in all its branches, chemicals, lead, copper, earthenware, fire-bricks, colors and coals. " The various branches of the iron trade," said the address, "include melting the ore into pig iron, the manufacture of all kinds of wrought iron, rails, machines, ordnance, and the building of iron ves- sels, for which our river is famous. The ship- 90 " GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. ment of coal from the town exceeds 7,000,000 tons per annum, and the.number of vessels annu- ally leaving the river, engaged in the coal trade, or loaded with the produce of our manufactories, is larger than the number leaving any other port in the world." In his reply, the General said : " The president in his remarks has alluded to the personal friendship existing between the two nations — I will not say the two people, because we are one people (Applause); but we are two nations having a common destiny, and that destiny will be brilliant in proportion to the friendship and co-operation of the brethren on the two sides of the water. ( Applause.) During my eight years of Presi- dency, it was my study to heal up all the sores that were existing between us. ( Applause. ) That healing was accomplished in a manner honorable to the nations. (Applause.) From that day to this feelings of amity have been constantly growing, as I thinii ; I know it has been so on our side, and I believe never to be disturbed again. These are two nations which ought to be at peace with each other. "We ought to strive to keep at peace with all the world besides (Applause), and by our example stop those wars which have devasted our own countries, and are now devastating some countries in Europe." Following the exercises at the Chamber of Commerce, an excursion was had upon the river, — the party being greeted by the music of bands, the firing of rockets and cannon, and the cheers of thousands of working people along the river banks. At Tyneside they disembarked ; and here the General, in response to an address compli- menting him on his "valor and sagacity in battle AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. 91 and his clemency in victory," remarked that he "had seen that day on the banks of the Tyne no fewer than one hundred and fifty thousand peo- ple, mostly workmen, who had left their occupa- tions and homes to manifest, as he felt it, their friendship for their grandchildren — he would not call them their cousins — on the other side of the Atlantic. He did not agree with the Mayor or member of Parhament who had spoken, in refer- ring to the river as an insignificant one. It was true in America they had some large streams, but their greatest industries were carried on on the small streams. They had not one stream in America as yet that could show the number of industrial pursuits that the Tyne showed between Newcastle and the point at which they were now standing." On the following day a grand demonstration of workingmen, in honor of General Grant, took place in Newcastle. There was a huge proces- sion, composed of representatives of all the vari- ous trades and industries of Northern England, carrying appropriate banners and devices. Gen- eral Grant delighted the people by riding in the procession to the town moor, where an address was delivered by Mr. Burt, M. P., on behalf of the workingmen — the crowd around the platform being estimated at 80,000. The speaker prefaced his address by some excellent and timely remarks 92 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. regarding the friendship of the British working classes toward this country during oiir civil war. He said that there "was never a war in which English armies were not employed that went so directly to the popular feeling. This was not merely because their kinsmen were in mortal combat; but because it was a battle for great principles. It was not a war for conquest, for selfish aggrandizement, or for the propping up of a tottering throne; but it involved the great questions of freedom, of the rights of man, and the dignity and honor of labor." The speaker then congratulated America on the abolition of slavery, upon the pacific tenor of General Grant's Administration, and upon the settlement of the Alambaaio laims as one of the grandest moral vic- tories ever achieved by statesmanship. " When the history of the nineteenth century comes to be written," said he, "one of its brightest pages will be that which tells how two of the greatest and most valorous nations of the world settled their differences by arbitration rather than by an appeal to the power of armies." Mr. Burt con- cluded by saying that the working people regret- ted that so much of the wealth, energy and intel- lect of the world were devoted to destructive purposes. "These huge standing armies," he said, "are a menace to peace and a constant drain on the life and resources of nations. In the AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMBN. 93 face of these armies, the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race have before them a noble mission. If England and America, acting on the wise counsel so well given by you yesterday at the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, strive not only to keep peace between themselves but also to keep at peace with other nations, they will set an example that was never more needed than now, and that wiU be rich in benefits to the whole world in all coming time." The formal address, though long, is too impor- tant a document to be omitted here. It was hand- somely bound and engrossed, and is as follows : " General : In the name of the working classes of Nor- thumberland an.l Durham, we welcome you to Tyneside, and we are proud of the opportunity afforded us of express- ing to you our admiration for the noble deeds which have made you famous in the history of your country, and the welcome guest of Englishmen. "At the outbreak of the American civil war, when called upon, by your country to defend its honor and wipe from its character the stain of slavery, we are mindful that you entered upon that work with prompt zeal and unfailing fortitude ; and we are sensible that the courage which sus- tained you during that dark period of American history, was not the courage which enables a soldier merely to face death, but that nobler courage which springs from a con- sciousness of duty. " In those hard-fought battles, in which your great abili- ties as a soldier were displayed, and which won for you the absolute confidence of that pure and noble-minded martyr, Abraham Lincoln, you had the entire sympathy of the 94 GENEEAL GBANT ABEOAD. working classes of England ; and we are all the more proud on mat account in honoring you to-day as a faithful and distinguished son of America — a splendid soldier and a wise and prudent statesman. "Though you are skilled in the art of war, we are pleased to regard you as a man of peace ; but the peace which commands youir sympathy must be founded on the eternal laws of equity and justice. The rough scenes of war have no charms for you ; but we believe if duty called you would be ready to strike again for the con- secration of noble principles. " General, you are imperishably associated with the glorious issue of the American civil war, and posterity will assign you a conspicuous place on the roll of the world's heroes. Mankind will not forget ' that you have caused the ' Stars and Stripes ' to float more proudly than ever over the Eepublic, and we rejoice to know that our kinsmen have testified their gratitude by twice electing you to the highest office in the United States. We, who are bound to them by a relationship which no circumstances can sever, join them in a grateful recognition of your services. "Again, we welcome you as a most successful states- man, in whose custody the honor and interests of a noble nation were safely intrusted. "The onerous duties which devolved upon you on your accession to the Presidency of the United States could not have been so ably discharged had you pos- sessed less coolness, courage, and tenacity of purpose ; and we greet you with sincere esteem for pursuing a conciliatory and peaceful policy toward this country, especially during the consideration of the difficulties between Engknd and America. "The terrible consequences which might have resulted to both countries had you adopted a hostile policy are AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. 95 harrowing to contomplate, and we are glad to know that you so largely contributed to the preservation of peace and the amicable settlement of the Alabama question. "History will chronicle the proceedings at Geneva as a grand achievement of civilization, and with it, you, General, will ever be identified. In favoring the principle of international arbitration you have earned the applause of the civilized world, and we readily acknowledge the great blessings which that mode of settling the difficulties of nations has already conferred on your country and ours. " It has cemented us more firmly together in the bonds of peace and friendship, and we are sure that no one is more desirous than yourself that the people of England and America, who are of one blood, and whose interests are identical, should draw more closely together, so that the future history of the two nations may be one unbroken concord. " And now, General, in our final words we greet you as a sincere friend of labor. Having attested again and again your deep solicitude for the industrial classes, and having also nobly proclaimed the dignity of labor by breaking the chains of the slave, you are entitled to our sincere and unalloyed gratitude ; and our parting wish is, that the general applause which you have received in your own country, and are now receiving in this, for the many triumphs which you have so gloriously achieved, may be succeeded by a peaceful repose, and that the sunset of your life may be attended with aU the blessings that this earth can afford. " General, we beg of your acceptance of this address as a testimony of the high regard and admiration in which you are held among the working people of Northumberland and Durham." 96 GENERAL GEANT ABEOAD. To this very kind and complimentary address, G-eneral Grant made a fit and equally cordial reply. Amid tremendous cheering, the General said : " Mb. Buet and Woekingmen: Through you, I will return thanks to the workingmen of Tyneside for the very ac- ceptable welcome address which you have just read. I accept from that class of people the reception which they have accorded me, as among the most honorable. We aU know that but for labor we would have very little that is worth fighting for, and when wars do come, they fall upon the many, the producing class, who are the sufi'erers. They not only have to furnish the means largely, but they have, by their labor and industry, to produce the means for those who are engaged in destroying and not in producing. I was always a man of peace, and I have always advocated peace, although educated a soldier. I never willingly, although I have gone through two wars, of my own accord advocated war. (Loud cheers.) I advocated what I believed to be right, and I have fought for it to the best of my ability in order that an honorable peace might be secured. You hive been pleased to allude to the friendly relations existing between the two great nations on both sides of the Atlantic. They are now most friendly, and the friendship has been increasing. Our interests are so identified, we are so much related to each other, that it is my sincere hope, and it has been the sincere hope of my life, and especially of my official life, to maintain that friendship. I entertain views of the progress to be made in the future by the union and friendship of the great English-speaking people, for I believe that it will result in the spread of our language, our civilization, and our industry, and be for the benefit of mankind generally. (Cheers.) I do not know, Mr. Burt, that there is anything more for me to say, except that AMONG THE ENGLISH WORKINGMEN. 97 I would like to communicate to the people whom I see assembled before me here this day how greatly I feel the honor which they have conferred upon me." [Cheers.] The Newcastle paper, the Chronicle, devoted twenty columns the next day to an account of this affair ; and as in many respects it was one of the most noteworthy incidents of the General's trip, perhaps we cannot do better than append a few extracts from the Chronicle' s spirited report : "A few minutes to four o'clock a general craning of necks and faint strains of music in the distance heralded the advance of the procession. Everybody tried to look over everybody's shoulder, and the unregenerate boot which always selects that precise moment to impress upon its neighbor's foot the fact that man is a pedal animal, com- menced its vocation. A swingeing cheer swept up the turnpike and round the comer of the Bull Park, firing like a train of cartridges the whole of the crowd up to the platform. ' He was coming,' that was enough. So every- body cheered again, and got its lungs into lustiest order, ready for the time when the procession should actually arrive and the first captain of the Eepublic be visible. Like some long nondescript monster, with a dorsal fin of variegated colors, the procession slowly wormed its way up from the road in the direction of the platform. Banners flapped as banners only do flap when there is not only something in the wind; but something in men's hearts as well. Brass bands did their best to rise to the height of a great occasion, and magnify the dignity both of Apollo and of Mars. The big drum — and there might be a score in the procession — which may always be depended upon to raise enthusiasm to fever heat, led off gusty rounds of cheers, which finally eddied and swirled in splendid vocif- 98 GENERAL GEANT ABEOAD. erousness. The first section of the procession halted at the east end of the platform. On any other occasion, per- haps, the silver emblems of all the Christian graces carried by the National Independent Order of Odd Fellows would have excited attention; but the top of the Mayor's carriage could be- seen, and in a minute or two a vision of plush breeches and a confused rusk told that the General had arrived. At this moment the crowd, with the adroitness which is always the mark of genius, and having waited until the General was on the field to appreciate the bold- ness of their campaign, executed a flank movement into the reserved square in front of the platform. They had been, not ill-naturedly though, chafing for hours at the idea of having the whole front of the proceedings partially hidden from them by a forest of banners; and once the attention of the police was directed to- the arrival of the visitor of the day, they made a dash for the coveted position. As help- less as straws in a storm tide, the few policemen on duty were carried forward with the first lines of the crowd. For an instant, perhaps two, these front ranks were alone in the open. Then with flattering unanimity of imitation, which always animates that acute observer the public, forty thou- sand brains were struck by the thought that the nearer the platform the better the sight. Like the bursting of flood- gates, away the mighty masses of faces came on, three huge and solid banks, rather than waves of humanity, reeling in front of the platform with a good, thorough, old-fashioned crush. " And sooth to say it was a crush. From here and there in the fierce press came the shouts and screams of frightened lads, whose faces, reaching no higher than the waistcoat pockets of their fathers, were perforce pressed into that ac- commodating, but not the less suffocating, part of the mortal temple which the monks of Mount Athos considered the AMONG THE ENGLISH WOBKINGMEN. 99 center of feeling. Still good-naturedly, although butted in a manner not conducive to assist digestion, a general effort was made by the men to extricate the youngsters. They were at once, with sundry rips in sundry coats, hauled up from their unseen position and literally rolled over the heads of the crowd, to be finally dropped down inside a railed-off space in front of the platform, where stout barriers kept off the crush. By this time everybody was fully occupied, partly in cheering, partly in protecting their ribs from the pressure of the crowd, partly in helping to bundle these living bales over to the platform, but chiefly in taking a good long in- spection of the General. Looking as much like an ordinary Tyneside skipper as possible, open-browed, firm-faced, bluff, honest, and unassuming, everybody at once settled in his own mind that the General would do. The cheers became warmer and warmer as that quiet, strong, thoroughly Brit- ish face grew upon them; and as they increased. General Grant, who had at first merely touched his hat to the mul- titude, bared his head, as an unmistakable everybody-joins- in-it ' Hurra ' roared out from fifty thousand throats, and rattled up to the astonished birds circUng overhead. But business is business, even in demonstrations, and must be attended to. The Mayor waits to open proceedings. General Grant to the right of him, and Mr. Burt to the left. Behind and around the three, who occupy the middle of the plat- form, are grouped the friends and leaders of industrial Northumberland and Durham; faces which have been fami- liar to the workers of the North for the last quarter of a cen- tury. Since the General first arrived a wonderful increase has taken place in the crowd, which now extends far on either side of the platform, stretching away in front of it to a point where even the voice of Hector would be unheard. Only part of the band has nearly reached the position in- tended for the section it is connected with, and apparently 100 GENEBAL GEANT ABEOAD. the little knot of crimson tunics wish tliemselvea well out of the squeeze. One hapless individual, burdened with the care of a French horn big enough to do duty for a monster cornucopia, is at his wits' and to preserve his own bones and those of his instrument. Finally he lifts it on his shoulder, the mouth pointing toward the platform, and looking like a cross between the brass trunk of a metal mammoth and a novel weapon of war. The unfortunate processionists, el- bowed so summarily out of their places, have been meantime seeking to establish themselves on the-outskirts of the crowd, where, to tell the truth, they are far better situated than if they had occupied the places originally intended for thera. Their banners, disposed partially around one side of the crowd, have a particularly pretty effect, hemming in the scene with a zone of color. Behind, in the far distance, may be seen, rising through the gray smoke, Newcastle's spires and steeples. Beyond these the dark hills of Gateshead close round, looking, as they seem to drop down in the soft shadow and undulation from the long bar of sunlight stretched, a golden rod, above them, as if they were hung, a stupendous curtain, worked with raised broidery of houses and churches. " But the Mayor has commenced to speak, and following him comes Mr. Burt. The crowd, which has not got over the excitement yet, keeps up a loud hum, varied, though it cannot hear a word of what is said, with occasional cheers, by way of expressing its conviction that the member for Morpeth is saying the right thing in the right place. When Mr. Burt takes the blue-bound address in his hand they cheer it, and break out into still more sonorous exclamations when G-eneral Grant receives that expression of the interest Tyneside labor has taken in his visit. The last of the pro- cession, however, has not yet arrived on the ground, and the music of distant bands, swelling in with the restless stir of AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. 101 the crowd, prevents any but a few on the platform from ex- pecting to hear what reply the Ex-President will make. Seeing the state of matters he addresses himself to the re- porters, delivering, for him, an unusually long speech, and speaking with an evident feeling which shows that the crowd, as is nearly always the case with men who have handled large bodies of men, has touched his sympathies. The vast concourse, still rushing up from the turnpike, and which now musters at least eighty to a hundred thousand, estimate the unheard speech after their own thoughts, and applaud every now and again with might and main. When the General finishes, everybody who has not yet shouted feels it incumbent to begin at once, and those who have bellowed themselves hoarse make themselves still hoarser in their endeavors to come up to the demands of the situation. Hats are waved with a self-sacrificing obliviousness to the afiection subsisting between crown and brim which is beau- tiful to witness. And right in the ceater of the crowd, little shining rivulets glistening on his ebony cheeks, and his face glowing with intense excitement, the whole soul within him shining out through his sable skin like a red-hot furnace seen through a dark curtain, stands a negro, devouring Grant with a gaze of such fervid admiration and respect and grati- tude that it flashes out the secret of the great liberator's popularity.'' The grand festival at Newcastle, which is here so effectively described, closed with a banquet in the evening. Many good speeches were made and toasts offered — in response to one of which, offered in his honor. General Grant said : "Mr. Mayok and Coepoeation of Newcastle: I scarcely know.how to respond to what has been said by the Mayor. I have a very vivid recollection that immediately upon my 102 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. arrival upon these shores the Mayor invited me up here, and we have been carrying on a correspondence, directly and indirectly, ever since as to the time vphen I should be here. But as to my saying anything after I came, such a thing never occurred to me (Laughter.) I will say that the entertainment by your worthy Mayer has exceeded my expectations. I have^had no better reception in any place, nor do I think it possible to have a better. (Cheers. ) All I have seen since I have been on the Tyne has been to me most gratifying as an individual, and I think when I go back to my own country I will find that it has been very gratifying to my countrymen to hear of it. It has been grati- fying all along the Tyne to Tynemouth. It has been grati- fying because I have seen that which is extremely pleasant, namely, the good relationship existing, that should always exist, between English-speaking people. (Applause.) I think that is a matter of the vastest importance, because I believe that we have the blessings of civiUzation to extend. I do not want to detract from other civilizations; but I be- lieve that we possess the highest civilization. There is the strongest bond of union between the English-speaking peo- ple, and that bond should and wiU serve to extend the greatest good to the greatest number. That will always be my delight." An exceedingly interesting feature of this ban- quet was the reference made to the position of England during our civil war, and to the well- known friendship for the North felt by English working people. In touching upon this topic, Mr. Cowen, M. P., spoke with great earnestness and candor. He said: " General Grant's achievements would fill a large and glowing page in the history of his native land, and no AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. 103 inconsiderable one in the history of our times. His posi- tion as a soldier and a statesman was fixed, and there was not now time, and this was not the occasion, to dilate on it. He had won the confidence of his contemporaries and se- cured the encomiums of posterity. The world has often spoken with admiration of his valor and his resolution — of his courage and ability, He had no wish to underrate or overlook these virtues; but to-night he would speak of his modesty and magnanimity. He knew of nothing more touching than the gentleness with which General Grant conveyed a necessary, but at the sarae time a hasty and un- pleasant command, from the American War Minister to his brave companion-in-arms. General Sherman, nor more gen- erous than his dignified treatment of the vanquished Con- federate captain — a foeman worthy of his steel. These actions reminded us of the fabled days of chivalry. The only incident in modern warfare to be compared to them was the conduct of our own manly Outram toward the gal- lant Havelock on the eve of the fate of Lucknow. On the questions involved in the great conflict in which our illus- trious guest played so decisive a part, there were wide dif- ferences of opinion amongst us. We all followed his career with interest and with admiration — many of us, most of us in this district with sympathy. The different views exist- ing in English society found memorable expression on two occasions in Newcastle. In the midst of the war, at a ban- quet in our town hall, Earl Russell gave it as his opinion that the North was fighting for empire and the South for independence. Mr. Gladstone, the year after, in the same place and on a like occasion, declared that the South had made an army, were making a navy, and would make a na- tion. He referred to these statements not for the purpose of reviving a long-forgotten and exhausted controversy, nor with the object of pointing out that the ' common peo- 104 GENERAL GRANT ABROAD^ pie,' when great principles were at stake, were often light when statesmen, who took a technical view of the struggle, were in error. But he recalled the circumstances because it was but meet that the people of Tyneside, who did not share the sentiments of these two Liberal statesmen, should seize the opportunity of a visit from the great Eepublican commander to 'cull out a holiday,' to climb to walls and battlements, to towers and windows, to gi-eet the man who fought and wdn the greatest fight for human freedom that this century has seen. Lord Eussell, with character- istic courage and candor, not long after he made his speech in Newcastle, declared that he had misapprehended the objects of the American war, and acknowledged he had been wrong in the views he had entertained. Mr. Gladstone was scarcely so ready and frank with his recantation, but he also ultimately confessed that he had not understood the purposes of the Republican leaders. He trusted that Gen- eral Grant's visit to this country would prevent a repetition of such misconceptions, would help to draw still closer the bonds of unity between America and England, and tend, to prevent the bellicose spirits in both nations plunging us into suffering and confusion for the gratification of unwor- thy and antagonistic passions. Our common interests were peace. We were streams from the same fountain — branch- es from the same tree. We sprang from the same race, spoke the same language, were moved by the same preju- dices, animated by the same hopes; we sang the same songs, cherished the same liberal political principles, and we were imbued with the conviction that we had a common destiny to fulfill among the children of men. We were bound by the treble ties of interest, duty and affection to live together in concord. A war between America and England would be a war of brothers. It would be a house- hold martyrdom only less disastrous than war between AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. ICo Northumberland and Middlesex. The pioneers of llie Re- public — the Pilgrim Fathers — were pre-eminently English. It was because they were so that they emigrated. They left us because England in that day had ceased to be England to them. They went in the assertion of the individual right of private judgment and the national right of liberty and conscience. They carved out for themselves a new home in the wilderness, into which they carried aU the in- dustrial characteristics and intelligent energies of the moth- er land. They did not leave us when England was in her infancy. Our national character was consolidated before they went, and Shakespeare and Milton and Bacon, and all the great men of the Elizabethan era, were not only figura- tively but literally as much their countrymen as ours. They repudiated the rule of the English king, but, as they themselves declared, they never closed their partnership in the English Parnassus. They would not own the author- ity of our corrupt court, but they bowed before the majesty of our literary chiefs. They emigrated from Stuart tyran- ny, but not from the intellectual and moral glories of our philosophers and poets, any more than from the sunshine and dews of heaven. These literary ties had been extended and strengthened by years. The names of Longfellow and Lowell, Bryant and Whittier, were as much household words with us as those of Campbell and Coleridge, Byron and Burns, Dickens and Thackeray. Bulwer and Jerrold wrote as much for America as for England. The works of Hawthorne and Cooper, Emerson and Irving, came to us across the sea bathed in the fragrance of their boundless prairies, redolent of the freshness of their primeval pine forests, and were read and admired as warmly on the banks of the Tyne and the Thames as on the shores of the Poto- mac and the Mississippi. But in addition to the intellec- tual, there were strong material ties intertwining the two 106 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAO. nations. When the United States ceased to be part of the English dominions, an increased commercial intercourse sprang up between us. Coincident with the close of the American "War of Independence, the ingenuity and skill of our countrymen led to the discovery of those great mechan- ical inventions which produced the cotton trade. While the spindles of the Lancashire mill-owners had been weav- ing wealth for themselves and power for their country, they ■liad bound in a web of interest and good-will the American planter and merchant and the English manufacturer and workman. They trusted that when their distinguished guest returned home, he would assure his fellow country- men that there was amongst men of all classes, sects and parties in England, only one feeling toward America, and that was one of friendship — that we had only one rivalry with her, and that was to excel in the arts of peace and the works of civilization.'' Such are the more prominent features of the General's visit to Newcastle, though many minor details are necessarily omitted. At Sheffield, another famous manufacturing town, the recep- tion was no less cordial and impressive. Arriving on the 26th of September, the party were wel- comed by the Mayor and city officials, and a com- plimentary address was read, to which Greneral Grant made this response : " Mh. Mayok, Ladies and Gentlemen oe Sheefield : I have just heard the address which has been read and presented to me, with great gratification. It affords me singular pleasure to visit a city the name of which has been familiar to me from my earliest childhood. I think the first pen- knife I ever owned, away out in the western part of the State AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. 107 of Ohio, was marked 'Sheffield.' I think the knives and forks we then used on our table had all of them ' Sheffield ' marked on them. I do not know whether they were coun- terfeit or not, but it gave them a good market. Prom that day to this the name of your industrial city has been familiar, not only in the States, but I suppose throughout the civilized world. The city has been distinguished for its industry, its inventions, and'its progress. If our commerce has not increased as much as you might wish, yet it has increased, I think, with Sheffield since the days of which I spoke when we had no cutlery excepting that marked ' Shef- field.' It must be very much larger than it was then. We are getting to make some of those things ourselves, and I believe occasionally we put our own stamp upon them; but Sheffield cutlery still has a high ijlace in the markets of the world. I assure you it affi)rds me very great pleasure the welcome that I have received here to-day, and I shall carry away with me the pleasant recollections of what I have §een in Sheffield." An address from a society of Sheffield cutlers, in which, reference was made to the subject of free trade, brought out the following manly and felicitous reply from the General : " Mb. Master Cutlee and G-entlemen of the Society or Cutlers : After the few remarks I made in reply to the address of the Mayor there is hardly anything for me to say further than that I feel gratified, highly gratified, at this reception. In the matter of free trade, I would hardly be able to speak upon that subject without some preparation. It must be recollected, however, that the country which I had at one time the honor of representing has gone through a great war and contracted a great debt in suppressing a rebellion. That makes it necessary to raise a large amount 108 GENERAL GRANT ABROAD. ■to support the running expenses of the Government, and to pay the interest on the debt which is oving to foreign coun- tries to a very large extent. It is impossible to raise these revenues from internal sources. The protective tariff is a matter scarcely heard of now in the United States, though it was a common subject of talk years ago. The reason it is scarcely mentioned now is that the revenue from imports is regarded simply as one of the means of raising the neces- sary money to pay the interest upon the National debt and the other expenses incident to the carrying on of the Gov- ernment, and if we were to abolish the revenue from imports, the foreign bondholders would very soon cry out against us because we failed to pay the interest on the bonds which they hold. (Laughter.) We get along rapidly enough in that direction, and we will compete with you in your manufactures in the markets of the world. The more of your merchants and mechanics, that go to America, the better. Nothing pleases us more than the immigration of the industry and intelligence of this community. We have room for all, and will try to treat you as you have treated me to-day." While in Sheffield, General Grant visited the celebrated Rogers Cutlery Works, and also some immense roUing-mills, where he witnessed the operation of rolling a twenty-five ton mass of iron. This interesting and exciting scene is thus described by the Sheffield Telegraph: '• On the farnaee doors being opened only those whose eyes are accustomed to the scene could view anything within it beyond a white mass of burning material. A crane traveling overhead, however, carried a pair of huge tongs to the mouth of the furnace; they were thrust within it, and with the help of the engines the heap of seething metal AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. 109 was drawn forth upon an iron lurry. The heat in the mill was now tremendous, and the majority of the strangers were endeavoring to shield their eyes from the blinding glare of the material, and at the same time seeking to pro- tect their faces from the heat. The lurry was hastened to the rolls,* and at the first passage a shower of fire was ejected as the iron ran through; at the same time the dross running from the sides of the plate as whey does from a cheese. In eight minutes, after being several times passed and repassed through the gigantic rolls, the operation was concluded. As the General left the mill he was again heartily cheered, a second compliment, which he again acknowledged. The derrick for testing rails was shown in operation. A section was placed beneath it, and a weight of one ton drawn to a height of twenty-five feet above it, when it was allowed to fall. The rail, however, only bent, and showed no sign of fracture. The operation of convert- ing Bessemer steel was next witnessed. When the party reached this department, one of the huge 'receivers' was just ready to be charged with the iron. The blast was put on, and for twenty minutes the party had an opportunity of viewing at close quarters a display which it would be diffi- cult for any pyrotechnist to imitate. Now and again as some mass of slag was driven high into the air, and fell back upon some damp place in the pit, an explosion would ensue, which must have reminded the General of the bursting of shell. This process appeared to excite the attention of the ladies most of all, and when at last the operation of convert- ing was completed, and an adjournment was made to a cooler place, it was with no small amount of relief to many, the heat being almost insupportable. In the planing-room it was explained how the armor plates are dressed into pre- sentable form, how they had bolt holes drilled through them, and how the port holes were cut out. In this apart- 110 GENEBAL GRANT ABEOAD. meat were exhibited two plates which had been bubjected to experiments at Shoeburyness. They were manufactured of iron, with a surface of steel, under a process patented by Mr. Alex. Wilson. Although only nine inches thick, no shot had been able to pierce through them. The bending of a section of an eight-inch plate, cold, was perfectly Successful, no flaw of any description being found on the piece after this severe test." At the grand banquet held in the famous hall of the Cutlers' Company, in Sheffield, one of the speakers, Mr. Mundella, M. P., made this happy reference to a visit made by him to America and to his meeting with General Grant while the latter was President : "I was in Washington, and was iiitrodaced by one of the Ministers of G-en. Grant's Grovernment to the President of the Republic — Gen. Grant himself. We had some conversa- tion about the speeches and about the references that had been made to the relations between the two countries. The words which the General spoke were few, brief, weighty and encouraging, and were in favor of peace with England. And he encouraged me and Mr. Hughes to go on in the same direction as had some of the most prominent men in America — the best spirits in the country; and, gentlemen, should it ever be your lot, as it has been mine, to sit down at Boston, and there to meet the literary men, the poets, and the statesmen of America, depend upon it you will be prouder of the Anglo-Saxon race from that time forth than you are to-day. I say these men were of one mind and one heart, that between the brothers on this side of the Atlantic and the brothers on the other side there should be peace, hat all sources of quarrel should be removed. When I came home Iwent to Lord Granville and Mr. Forster, and AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. Ill they sent me to Mr. Gladstone. I placed before tliem all I had heard and seen in America, and humble though my part may have been, I am proud to have been even one of the humblest instruments in the formation of some measures and the confirmation of negotiations vphich produced that great international uaderstaadiug betvfeen the two nations, which is to the lasting honor of Mr. Gladstone's Govern- ment. Mr. Forster said to me this morning as he came down wdth me in the train on his way to Bradford, that we all ought to be grateful to Gen. Grant, as daring his Presi- dency he was the confirmed friend of peace with England, and that he would not allow any political faction to trade upon war with England, and thereby to make political capital out of such a criminal cry." In reply to a toast to the health of Greneral Grant, proposed by the Mayor, the G-eneral res- ponded : "Mb. Mayor, and Ladies and Gentlemen or Sheffield : It makes my heart feel glad when I hear these sentiments uttertd in regard to my own country, and to the friendship •which should existlsetween the two nations. As I have had occasion to say frequently, it has always been a cherished view of mine that we should be the best of friends. I am sure, as an official in a position that gave me some little power of healing the Uttle grievance that was caused be- tween the two nations, I exercised all the influence I had to bring about a settlement that would be a final settlement, as I believed — and I believe now that it is a final settle- ment. It was not a question of whether we should get this or that, it was simply a question of whether we should agree; it was not a matter of dollars and cents — they were entirely unnamed as compared with the question of a settle- Bient. Our wish was simply to have a settlement — that 112 GEKEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. both parties should agree and settle the matter. We have agreed upon terms, and I believe that this is the beginning of a long series of years — I hope centuries — of friendly and honorable rivalry between the two great English-speaking nations and the advancement of each. Whatever tends to the advancement of one in some way or another wiU tend to the advancement of the other.'' General Grant's visits to the celebrated manu- facturing towns of northern England, where he found so much to interest him, were pleasantly relieved at this time by a short trip to Stratford- on-Avon, and by a few days Spent in the quiet and repose of his daughter's beautiful home at Southampton. Going thence to Leamington, a large and pleasant town, he was met by the Mayor and other officials, who, in their address, adverted to the war for the abolition of slavery in America, and to the prominent part taken in it by General Grant. "It was a miemorable day for your country," said the Mayor, " and a great day for humanity at large, when, by the efforts of Abraham Lincoln and yourself, aided by the en- lightenment of the American people, slavery was forever abolished from your land." The General made a happy and (for him) lengthy response, saying: " Mb. Mayoe, Ladies and Q-entlemen of Leamington : It is a source of great pleasure to mo to visit your renowned borough. It is a place well known by the citizens of my own country. Two of my children have visited you much AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. 113 earlier than I ever found time to do myself, and have car- ried home with them most pleasurable recollectio.jS, not only of what they saw in Leamington, but of the very kind treatment which they received at the hands of some of your citizens. I have no doubt you have many places of interest surrounding your city, only a few of which I shall be able to visit during the short stay I shall be able to make here; but I shall take home some pleasurable recollections of my visit. I am sure that it affords me great gratification to see the number of people who are outside to receive me as the representative of a kindred people. I know the feeling of friendship between the two great English-speaking na- tions is strengthening day by day and year by year, and 1 liave no doubt but that, in the future, all our differences being amicably and fairly adjusted, we shall go hand in hand as honorable rivals in producing what is necessary for the comfort and support of men; and that our united efforts will be felt throughout the civilized world, and will have a beneficial effect in carrying a better civilization. I hope that through our influence we may be able at some future day to settle questions of difference without resort to arms. Although it has been my misfortune to have been engaged in as many battles as it was possible for an American soldier of my generation, I never was for war, but always preferred to see questions of difference settled by arbitration. But in our last great conflict there was the institution of slavery. It was not a conflict between two nations — it was a family quarrel; and there was no way of settlement. Every honor- able effort was made on the part of the North to avoid war. We know as a people — though, perhaps, it is not generally known — at all events, it is not generally spoken of — that our martyred President, when he saw that conflict was inevitable, proposed to the South that they should be paid for their slaves if they would surrender them, and come H GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. back into the family circle. But this they refused, and ohe result was, as you all know, the loss of that species of property without compensation." Before leaving this part of England, Greneral Grant made the visit to Birmingham which he had promised on a previous occasion. His recep- tion here was one of the most magnificent which he received in England. Arriving at Birming- ham, October 10th, he was taken to the Town Hall, where, in response to the Mayor's address, the Greneral said : "Me. Mayok, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is with great pleasure that I find myself in Birmingham, a city that was so well known in my own country during the trying periods that have been referred to. The name of the distinguished gentleman who has represented you for so long, is as familiar almost in my own country as it is in his own home, and I can promise that if it ever should be his good pleasure to visit the United States — and I hope it will — he will re- ceive as hearty a welcome as it has been my privilege and pleasure to receive at the hands of the English communities I have been among. Your city and its growth are also somewhat familiar to us. The connection between this city and the United States has been as intimate almost as any other city of the same population in the kingdom; and there is a warm feeling of fellowship between our citizens and the citizens of Birmingham. As I have had occasion so repeat- edly to express my views on the importance of this subject, I need scarcely say anything more than to thank you, Mr. Mayor, and the citizens of Birmingham, for the kind recep- tion I have received at your hands, and to apologize to you for having kept you waiting here so long." AMONG THE ENGLISH WORKINGMEN 115 An address on behalf of the industrial classes of Birmingham, congratulating America on the abolition of slavery, and upon having established arbitration as a principle of international peace, was thus happily responded to by the General : " WoEKiNGMEN OF BIRMINGHAM: I have just heard your address with great interest. I have had occasion twice be- fore, I believe, since I have been in England, to i-eceive ad- dresses from the workingmen of Great Britain — once in London and once in Nevs castle-on-Tyne. In my response, on both occasions, I expressed what I thought was due to the workitigmen, not only of my country and of Great Britain, but to the workingmen all over the world. I said that we in our country strove to make labor respectable. There is no class of labor that disqualifies a man from any position, either in society or in official life. Labor disgraces no man ; unfortunately you occasionally find men disgrace labor. Your Mayor has alluded to the fact that the popula- tion of Birmingham had tripled itse If in fifty years. I would ask the Mayor whether, if Birmingham had been deprived of its handicraft laborers, it would have seen any such in- crease ? It is due to the labor and to the manufacture of articles which iire turned out by the means of labor, that you have gro 'vn in population and wealth. In response to the kindly feelings which exist between the workingmen of Birmingham and those of the United States, and the com- pliments you have paid to me for the efforts I have made in the cause of freedom and the North, I thank you most heartily." In another address on this occasion, allusion was made to Gen. Grant's efforts as President to amehorate the condition of the Indians by the 116 GENERAL GEANT ABEOAD. appointment of commissioners from the Society of Friends. "Our hearts," said the speaker, "have also been deeply touched by your just and beneficent treatment of the colored freedmen. You guided them in their faltering steps as they marched out of bondage; you defended them from their enemies ; you cared for them in their distresses ; you aided them in obtaining educa- tion; and you claimed for them their rights as citiz-ens; and now ' the blessing of him that was ready to perish shall come upon you, for you de- liyered the poor that cried, and ' the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.' " In reply. General Grant said : " Members op the Midland International Arbitration Union: I thank you for your address. It is one that gives me very little to reply to, more than to express my thanks. Though I have followed a military lifs for the better part of my years, there was never a day of my life when I was not in favor of peace on any terms that were honorable. It has been my misfortune to be engaged in more battles than any other general on the other side of the Atlantic; but there v?as never a time during my command when I would not have gladly chosen some settlement by reason rather than by the sword. I am conscientiously, and have been from the beginning, an advocate of what the society represented by you, gentlemen, is seeking to carry out; and nothing would afford me greater happiness than to know, as I believe will be the case, that, at some future day, the nations of the earth will agree upon some sort of congress, which shall take cognizance of international questions of difficulty, and whose decisions will be as binding as the decision of our AMONG THE ENGLISH WORKINGMEN. 117 Supreme Court is binding on us. It is a dream of mine that some such solution may be found for all questions of difficulty that may arise between different nations. In one of the addresses, I have forgotten which, reference was made to the dismissal of the army to the pursuits of peaceful in- dustry. I would gladly see the millions of men, who are now supported by the industry of the nations return to in- dustrial pursuits, and thus become self-sustaining, and take off the tax upon labor which is now levied for their sup- port." At the grand banquet at tiie Birmingham Town HaU, the Mayor contrasted the career of General Grant with that of the First Napoleon — both being great soldiers, but while the efforts of the latter had been directed toward undermining the institutions of his country, those of the former had been directed solely toward his country's peace and prosperity. In responding to this high comphment, General Grant said : "Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gtentlemen of Birmingham: I scarcely know how to respond to a toast which has been presented in such eloquent language, and in terms so com- plimentary to myself and to the nation to which I belong, and in which I have had the honor of holding a public posi- tion. There are some few points, however, alluded to by your representative in Parliament, that I will respond to. He alluded to the great merit of retiring a large army at the close of a great war. If he had ever been in my position for four years, and undergone all the anxiety and care that I had in the management of those large armies, he would appreciate how happy I was to be able to say that they could be dispensed with. (Laughter and applause.) I 118 GENEEAL GRANT ABROAD. disclaim all credit and praise for doing that one thing. I knew that I was doomed to become a citizen of the United States, and, so far as my personal means went, to aid in eradicating the debt already created, and in paying my share of any expenses that might have to be borne for the support of a large standing army. Then, further, we Americans claim to be so much of Englishmen, and to have so much general intelligence, and so much personal independence and individuality, that we do not quite believe that it is possible for any one man there to assume any more right and authority than the Constitution of the land gave to him. (Hear, hear.) Among the English-speaking people we do not think these things possible. We can fight among ourselves, and dispute and abuse each other, but we will not allow ourselves to be abused outside; nor vnll those who look on at our little personal quarrels in our own midst permit us to interfere with their own rights. Now, there is one subject that "has been alluded to here, that I do not know that I should speak upon it at all; I have heard it occasionally whispered since I have been in England — and that is, the great advantages that would accrue to the United States if free trade should only be established. I have a sort of recollection, through reading, that England herseH had a protective tariff until she had manufactories some- what established, I thirtk we are rapidly progressing in the way of establishing manufactories ourselves; and I believe we shall become one of the greatest free-trade nations on the face of the earth; and when we both come to be free- traders, 1 think that probably the balance of nations had better stand aside, and not contend with us at all in the markets of the world. If I had been accustomed to public speaking — I never did speak in public in my life until I came to England — I would respond further to this toast; but I believe that the better policy would be to thank you AMONG THE ENGLISH WOEKINGMEN. 119 not only for the toast, and the language in which it has been presented, but for the very gratifying reception which I have had personally in Birmingham." Leaving Birmingliam on the 20th of October, the General made a brief visit to Brighton, where he dehvered his last English speech. It was on the occasion of a grand banquet in his honor, on the 22d of October, when, in response to the Mayor's toast to his health, General Grant said: "Mr. Mayor axd Gentlemen: . I have to rise here in an- swer to a toast that has made it embarrassing to me, by the very complimentary terms in which it has been proposed. But I can say to you all, gentlemen, that since my arrival in England, I have had the most agreeable receptions every- where; and I enjoy yours exceedingly. In a word, I will say that Brighton has advantages which very few places have, in consequence of its proximity to the greatest city in the world. There you can go and transact your business, and return In the evening. If I were an Englishman, I think I should select Brighton as a place where I should live, and I am very sure you could not meet a jollier and better people anywhere. But I would say one word in re- gard to a toast which preceded, and that is in regard to your Forces. I must say one word for the Volunteers, or Reserve Forces, as I believe you call them. They are what the English-speaking people are to rely on in the future. I believe that wherever there is a great war. between one civil- ized nation and another, it will be these Forces in which they wiU have to place their confidence. We English- speaking people keep up the public schools in order to maintain and advance the intelligence of our country, and, in time, fit our people for volunteer service, and for higher training; and you will always find the men among them who 120 GENERAL GRANT ABROAD. are" equal to any occasion. I have forgotten a good deal our Mayor has said that I would like to respond to, but I can say, that since I landed in Liverpool, my reception has been most gratifying to me. I regard that reception as an evidence of the kindest of feeling toward my country, and I can assure you, if we go on as good friends and good neigli- bors, that the English-speaking people are going to be the greatest people in the world. Our language is spreading with greater rapidity than the language of any other nation ever did, and we are becoming the commercial people of the world." , Leaving Brighton, General Grant proceeded at once to London, where he arrived October 23d. He was highly pleased with his visit to the great industrial regions of England, and had nothing but pleasant memories of his reception and ex- perience there. TUBKISH QUAKTEKS— STAMBOTJL. ■^h etches in Constantinople. TJNKONA MOUNTAIN, NEAK COBTINA. Sketches in Austria. CHAPTEE IX. PARIS. Among the Feench — In the Home op Marshal MacMaHON — GrEEETED BY MiNISTEE NOYES — Six Weeks in the City op Luxueies — At THE Exposition. Up to the present point of our narrative, the travels of General Grant and party had been, with the exception of his flying trip up the Ehine and across the Alps to Italy, among English- speaking people. He was now to bid adieu to those countries where his native tongue was the prevailing language, and for the remainder of his journey around the globe — excepting only his brief visit to Ireland (to be spoken of in its proper place in these pages) — he was to hear Eng- lish only with a foreign accent, or among his fel- low-travelers from his own country or from Eng- land. So great is the diffusion of the Anglo- Saxon tongue in these modern times, that there 122 GENERAL GEANT ABBOAD. is little danger of going wiiere it is unknown; but stiU it is a new and somewhat startling sen- sation to the traveler, when he finds himself in countries where aU the native population speak in language unintelligible, or at least unfamiliar, to his ears. The General's visit to Paris had already been postponed longer than had been expected, and on the 24th of October, the day after his return from the manufacturing districts of England, he left London, accompanied by Mrs. Grant and their son, and proce^eded by special train to Folkstone, where they took a steamer "and crossed the Eng- lish Channel. On landing at Boulogne the party were met by the prefect of the department, who welcomed them to the soil of France in the name of Marshal MacMahon, the President. Stopping only a few hours at Boulogne, a train took them thence to Paris, a hundred and> fifty miles away. The General's reception at the French capital was hearty and enthusiastic. Before reaching the Paris depot the train was met by the Ameri- can Minister, General Noyes, the French Consul- General Torbert and an aide-de-camp of Presi- dent MacMaJjon, who welcomed General Grant as an ex-President of the Eepubhc of the United States in the name of the President of the French Eepubhc. Leaving the train, the General and party made their way through the immense crowd =te PAEIS. 123 gathered at the depot to receive them, and were driven at once to the Hotel Bristol The General remained in Paris ahont six weeks. The visit there was a very pleasant and interesting one, devoted mainly to- the ordinary round of sight-seeing, varied by occasional ban- quets and receptions, and to an exchange of civihties on a high ofiicial scale. There was, however, on these occasions but little speech making. What there was, was mainly of a formal character, the General contenting himself with a brief exchange of courtesies, and a simple acknowledgment of the kindness and compli- ments tendered him. The presentation to Marsha] Mac Mahon was an exceedingly inter- esting episode. The meeting between these illustrious mihtary heroes, resembling each other not only in soldierly qualities, but in hav- ing been called by the people to the chief magis- tracy of the countries which they had served as soldiers, was very cordial on both sides, and was repeated many times during General Grant's stay in Paris. The General also met Gambetta, the great republican leader ; the Count of Paris ; Emile Girardin, whom Horace Greeley once said was the greatest journalist in the world; Eochambeau, Lafayette, Edmond About, La- bonlaye, and many other of the foremost men of France. The American Minister, Gen. Noyes, 124 GENEEAL GEANT ABEOAD. did all in Ms po^er to add to the pleasure of Gen. Grant's stay in Paris. Several receptions were given at the residence of Gen. Noyes, and by the American colony in Paris, which were attended by nearly every American in the city. In the midst of such attention and hospitalities as these, and with a constant succession of sight- seeing among the varied and endless objects of interest with which Paris abounds, the time passed rapidly; and it was the 13th of December before the General was ready to continue his journey. The American man-of-war "Van- daha," then cruizing in the Mediterranean, hav- ing been kindly placed at his disposal by our Government, the party proceeded to Villefranche, where the vessel was awaiting them, and em- barked for Italy and the Orient. The General visited Paris again in the following Spring, but his stay was then brief and uneventful — the only important occurrence being the visit to the French Exposition. CHAPTER X. ITALY AND THE MEDITERRANEAN. Along the Mbditeeeanean — The "Vandalia" at Naples — At Pompeii — King Humbert to GrEANT — FlOBENOE, PiSA AND PaLEEMO — Cheistmas on Shipboaed — Ope foe Egypt. General Grant and family had already, in their brief trip to Switzerland in July and August, crossed the Alps and made a hasty visit to the lovely lake region of Northern Italy. Their sub- sequent travels included visits to all the principal Mediterranean cities and places of interest — Na- ples, Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, Eome, Elorence, Venice, Milan, Palermo, and Malta. The first port entered by the " Vandalia" with her distin- guished passengers was Naples, in whose beau- tiful bay the vessel anchored on the 17th of De- cember, 1877. General Grant at once went ashore and made a brief tour of the city. The weather 126 GENEEAL GRANT ABROAD. was cold and disagreeable, and the sights of Na- ples were not specially interesting. The next day the party made the ascent of Mount Vesuvius, and on the following day visited Pompeii. The General showed the keenest interest in these wonderful ruins, with their historic memories and sublime relics of the past. He remarked that Pompeii "was one of the few things which had not disappointed his expectations', the truth being far more striking than imagination had painted it; and that it was well worth a journey over the sea to see these stately and solemn ruins." In honor of the General's visit to Pompeii, the authorities directed that a house be excavated in his presence — a comphment paid only to the most distinguished visitors, and one which had already been shown to Generals Sherman and Sheridan on the occasions of their visit there. The results of the excavation for the benefit of General Grant were the discovery of a few bronze ornaments and a loaf of bread wrapped in cloth, which were removed from the dust and ashes which had over- whelmed them seventeen centuries ago, and care- fully preserved as souvenirs. It had been the plan of General Grant, some- what jaded with the too-abundant hospitahties of Great Britain and Paris, to pursue his Mediter- ranean travels nearly incognito. He desired more to see the scenery and the people than to be ITALY AND THE MEDITEERANEAN. 127 lionized or to meet distinguished officials; and accordingly he sought to travel like a private cit- izen, burdened as little as possible by official attentions and formalities. The man whom he most desired to meet in Italy was Garabaldi, for whom he had a sincere admiration; but it was not his fortune to see this veteran patriot. It was impossible, however, for the General to avoid the kind attentions which were shown him in Italy. At Kome, he was the recipient of many marked courtesies from King Humbert, who sent one of his own aides to conduct the General and his party through the city. The King also gave a magnificent banquet to General Grant, at which all the Itahan Ministers were present. He was presented to the people by Cardinal McCloskey, then on a visit to Eome, and had a very agreeable interview with that distinguished prelate. At Florence the party met many Americans, and the General greatly enjoyed the visits to the galleries and museums of that home of art where so many treasures are collected. Pisa, with its famous Leaning Tower, was visited, and thence the party went to Venice, the "Queen of the Adriatic." Here the General greatly enjoyed the rides in the gondolas, which he thought far superior to street-cars or cabs— when the streets are, as at Venice, under water. Milan was the last Italian city visited, and here the General had an immense 128 GENERAL GRANT ABROAD. number of American callers and official visitors — not too many, however, to prevent him visiting the grand Duomo, with its pinnacles of pure white marble, surmounted by statues whose num- bers are too great to be counted, and the wonder- ful and lovely frescoes which have made Milan famous in art. ^ At Palermo, in Sicily, General Grant dechned the hospitalities of the town which were kindly profifered by the prefect who came to pay his respects to the General on board the " Vandalia," and went ashore with Captain Robeson, with whom he strolled for two or three hours about the place. Christmas was celebrated by a dinner given in honor of Mrs. Grant, by the officers of the "Vandalia," on board the vessel. In the evening there were fine displays of fireworks in the town and from the vessels in the harbor,*. Leaving Palermo, and passing Stromboli and Messina, and many other places of great historic interest, the "Yandalia" reached the famous island of Malta on the afternoon of December 28th. Here they found the British iron-clad "Sultan," whose commander, the Duke of Edin- burgh, soon came on board the "Vandaha" to pay his respects to General Grant. His royal highness remained an hour in conversation with the General, who acknowledged the compliment of his visit by accepting an invitation to lunch 1 lit'