CHAPTER XIX.

OFF FOR EUROPE.

On May 17th, 1877, ex-President U. S. Grant, his wife, and son Jesse, sailed from Philadelphia for Europe, via American Line steamer Indiana. His departure was made the occasion of a great parting demonstration, in which all classes of the community seemed to take a hearty and enthusiastic share. The courtesies extended to him in every city through which he had passed since his retirement from the Presidency were alike creditable to those who proffered, and to him who received them, and were the outburst of a people who recognized his great military and civil services. Before leaving the steamer that conveyed the General to the Indiana, a very interesting ceremony took place on board. In the ladies' cabin a private table was spread for the distinguished guests, among whom were General Grant, at the head of the table; General Sherman, on his right; Mayor Stokley, of Philadelphia, on his left; Honorable Hamilton Fish, Colonel Fred. Grant, Honorable Zach. Chandler, Honorable Simon Cameron, Honorable Don Cameron, and other prominent military and civil officers. After luncheon, Mayor Stokley arose and toasted the "honored guest of the day" in a few appropriate and eulogistic remarks. General Grant replied:

"MR. MAYOR AND GENTLEMEN: I had not expected to make a speech to-day, and therefore can do nothing more than thank you, as I have had occasion to do so often

within the past week. I have been only eight days in Philadelphia, and have been received with such unexpected kindness that it finds me with no words to thank you. What with driving in the park, and dinners afterward, and keeping it up until after midnight, and now to find myself still receiving your kind hospitality, I am afraid you have not left me stomach enough to cross the Atlantic."

This was followed by short and highly complimentary speeches from General Sherman, ex-Secretary Fish, exSecretary Chandler, ex-Secretary Robeson, ex-Senator Cameron, General Bailey, Governor Hartranft, and others; and so affected General Grant that he replied:

"MY DEAR FRIENDS: I was not aware that we would have so much speech-making here, or that it would be necessary for me to say any more to you, but I feel that the compliments you have so showered upon me were not altogether deserved-that they should not all be paid to me, either as a soldier or as a civil officer. As a General your praises do not all belong to me-as the executive of the nation they are not due to me. There is no man who can fill both or either of these positions without the help of good men. I selected my lieutenants when I was in both positions, and they were men, I believe, who could have filled my place often better than I did. I never flattered myself that I was entitled to the place you gave me. My lieutenants could have acted perhaps better than I, had the opportunity presented itself. Sherman could have taken my place, as a soldier or in a civil office, and so could Sheridan, and others I might name. I am sure if the country ever comes to this need again there will be men for the work. There will be men born for every emergency. Again I thank you, and again I bid you good-bye; and once again I say that, if I had failed, Sherman or Sheri

dan, or some of my other lieutenants, would have succeed

ed."

Shortly after this the General was transferred to the Indiana, last good-byes were said, and the steamer proceeded on her way to England, arriving at Queenstown May 27, without mishap, the General and party having passed a delightful voyage, almost entirely free from the disagreeable effects of "seasickness", that renders an "ocean trip" so unpleasant. He was met by a delegation of prominent city officials, and tendered the hospitalities of Queenstown, with the assurance that every village and hamlet of Ireland had resounded with the praises of his name, and would welcome him with all the warmth and candor of the Irish people. He replied that he could not then avail himself of their hospitality, but would return to Ireland within a short time.

Reaching Liverpool at half past two P. M., all the shipping in the Liverpool docks exhibited a profuse display of bunting, the flags of all nations waving along the seven miles of water front. An immense crowd was gathered on the docks to welcome the ex-President, and he landed amid cheers such as must have reminded him of the days directly after the war, when he was received by New York and other American cities. The Mayor of Liverpool read him an address of welcome, saluting him as an illustrious statesman and soldier, and when the ex-President modestly and in a few brief words acknowledged the honor done him, and expressed the very great pleasure he had from his reception, new cheers burst forth and a great crowd followed his carriage to the hotel.

The judgment of strangers resembles somewhat the judgment of posterity. As he is regarded in European countries, so, doubtless, he will stand in history, when the bitterness and the littleness of partisan strife have passed

away, and his real services to his country and his real char. acter are better understood. But in spite of partisan bitterness and personal opposition, such as a man of his positive character, placed in the most difficult position in the world, and kept there during eight long years, could not fail to arouse, nothing is more certain than that General Grant has to-day a larger share of the gratitude and the affection of the American people than any other of our public men No matter how widely men may have differed from him, no matter how they may have opposed him, if they are really Americans, and if they are manly and patriotic men, in their hearts they wish well to the man who led our armies to victory; whose firm will saved the Union, and who-no matter what they may think his errors during his Presidency-entered political life against his will, and at the demand of the people gave up the great and permanent position the nation had given him, to serve it in a new and to him untried and unwelcome field; and who, during sixteen long and weary years, stood at his post of duty unrelieved and without rest.

It is a fact not generally remembered, that Grant's great lieutenants in the war-Sherman, Sheridan and Farragut -all enjoyed the "vacation in Europe" which they had so well earned. To General Grant, their honored chief, alone, was rest denied. The country required of him, and him alone, that he should derange all his plans in life, that he should put off the period of rest which he coveted and which he had earned, that he should even surrender the place at the head of the armies, to which he was appointed amid the plaudits of the people, in order continuously to serve them. Few men of such arduous and conspicuous services have had so long and difficult a tour of duty imposed upon them. Republics are said to be ungrateful, but our own is not so entirely cold and devoid of gratitude that men do not feel a keen sense of gratification

when they see their faithful and tired servant taking his ease at last, and receiving in foreign lands the honors and the respect to which his remarkable career so eminently entitle him.

To the statesmen and soldiers whom he will meet, even more than to the general mass, he will be an object of great curiosity. Except Field Marshal Von Moltke, no general of our days has commanded and wielded such masses of men; no general whom he will meet can boast of a more brilliantly conceived or a more daringly executed campaign than that of Vicksburg; no one of them has had the control of so vast a field of war as he, and surely none has seen hotter fire than Grant withstood in the desperate days of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor. In every country in Europe which he may visit, he will find distinguished military chiefs who have studied his campaigns, who know how to appreciate the dogged courage of Shiloh, the brilliant audacity of Vicksburg, the genius which recovered an imperilled position before Chattanooga, the indomitable perseverance of the Virginia campaigns, and the broad and comprehensive view which enabled him to plan the operations of armies stretched across half a continent.

Nor will distinguished civilians be less eager to hear his voice and to scrutinize his features, for they will remember that he acted a foremost part in many of the most notable events of the century; they will see in him the supporter and right hand of Lincoln in the emancipation of the slaves, the restorer of peace, the general who returned a million of soldiers to peaceful industries, the ruler of the American republic during eight years of extraordinary political turbulence.

All the journals of the city next day appeared with highly complimentary editorials, assuring General Grant of a generous hospitality. The Daily News said that