difficult 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 converting 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 presentable form, how they had bolt holes drilled through them, and how the port holes were cut out. In this apartment were exhibited two plates which had been subjected 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."

There was a banquet in the Hall of the Cutlers' Company, one of the most famous halls in England. This room was decorated profusely with flowers and flags and tropical plants. The Earl of Wharncliffe, who was present, made a speech in response to the toast of the House of Lords, in which he claimed Grant as a member of the noble family of Seafield, the Earl of Seafield being the head of the Grant clan. Mr. Mundella, M.P., also spoke, making a graceful allusion to his visit to America, and to his having met General Grant when he was President. He referred to his visit to Washington, and said: "I was in Washington, and was introduced by one of the Ministers of General Grant's Government to the President of the RepublicGeneral Grant himself. We had some conversation 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, that all sources of quarrel should be removed. When I came home I went to Lord Granville and Mr. Forster, and they sent me to Mr. Gladstone. I placed before them 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 which produced that great international understanding between the two nations, which is to the lasting honor of Mr. Gladstone's Government. Mr. Forster said to me this morning as he came down with me in the train on his way to Bradford, that we all ought to be grateful to General Grant, as during his Presidency 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."

LEAVING SHEFFIELD.

The toast of General Grant's health was proposed by the Mayor, who alluded to the work which had been done in England by Mr. Peabody, and the reverence which Englishmen felt for the memory of that philanthropist. General Grant in reply

said:

"MR. MAYOR, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF SHEFFIELD: It makes my heart feel glad when I hear these sentiments uttered in regard to my own country, and to the friendship which should exist between 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 little grievance that was caused between 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 settlement. 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 settlement. Our wish was simply to have a settlement-that 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 other will tend to the advancement of the other."

Lord Wharncliffe proposed the health of Mrs. Grant and the ladies. At the close of the banquet the General went to his Pullman palace car, where he passed the night, leaving next morning at seven o'clock, after taking breakfast on the car, for Stratford-on-Avon. Arriving in Stratford at eleven o'clock by special train, the General was met by the Mayor, Mr. J. J. Mason, and was driven to New Place Gardens, where he strolled about. Afterward the party visited the Church of the Holy Cross and the Grammar School, where they were shown the corner which Shakespeare as a boy occupied, where he learned his "little Latin and less Greek." The General before leaving the school asked a holiday for the boys; which kindness was recognized by three times three cheers, and one for Mrs. Grant. The Shakespeare Memorial, now in process of erection on the Avon bank, was inspected, and afterward a visit made to the Church of the Holy Trinity, where repose the ashes of Shakespeare, and where the vicar, the Rev. F. Smith, received the party and showed them the various memorials of the poet. On quitting the church the General was driven to the pretty village of Shottery, and a visit was paid to the cottage of Anne Hathaway. Clopton Bridge was crossed, and the party took the

STRATFORD.

opportunity of looking at the river Avon.

115

At three o'clock

there was a luncheon in the town hall. The toast in General Grant's honor was given by Mr. Flower, an old citizen of Stratford, who had lived in America half a century ago. An address was presented in a casket made out of wood of the mulberry tree planted by Shakespeare at New Place. In response to this toast the General said he had the greatest gratification in visiting the birthplace and home of the distinguished citizen of this great nation who was so well known in America. America, as well as England, celebrated Shakespeare's birthday, and took pride in his great genius. He would have been open to censure had he not visited Stratford-on-Avon, and he felt the greatest pleasure in being received with such cordiality and friendship.

On the morning of the 29th, the General and party left for the pleasant town of

Leamington. The town was decorated with flags, and in Bath Street there was a triumphal arch, bearing the motto, 66 Welcome to the Royal Borough." The road was decorated with the flags of England and America, and from the windows were displayed banners, garlands, and mottoes. At the pump room the General was received by a guard of honor of the Leamington Volunteers under the command of Captain A. E. Overell. The Mayor, H. Bright, Esq., delivered an address, in which he said that the people of Leamington were glad to meet so distinguished an American, that America was running a close race with England, almost surpassing its manufactures; that it pro

duced men of the caliber of Stanley, of whom England and America were alike proud; and he congratulated General Grant upon having taken so prominent a part in the war which led to the abolition of slavery. "It was a memorable 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 enlightenment of the American people, slavery was forever abolished from your land." In response, the General, who was warmly cheered, said: "Mr. Mayor, ladies and gentlemen of Leamington: It is a source of great pleasure to me 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 earlier than I ever found time to do myself, and have carried home with them most pleasurable recollections, 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 nations is strengthening day by day and year by year, and I have 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