CHAPTER XX.

GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON.

General Grant arrived at the terminus of the Midland Railway (St. Pancras Station), London, June 1, where he was met by Minister Pierrepont, in behalf of the United States, and Lord Vernon. Huge crowds thronged the entrance to the station, and cheered loudly, but there were no speeches. General Grant and party at once entered Minister Pierrepont's carriage, and were driven rapidly down Tottenham Court Road into Oxford street, thence to the residence of the American Minister. During the afternoon he was introduced to the Prince of Wales, it being his first visit of importance since reaching the city.

The following day General Grant, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge, Lord Dudley, Lord Eicho, the Duke of Hamilton, the German Ambassador, Count Munster, and a number of Peers, left London by rail to witness the races at Epsom. Returning to London, General Grant was entertained at a grand banquet at Apsley House, given in his honor by the Duke of Wellington. It was a splendid and hearty reception. The guests were Mrs. and General Grant, Count and Countess Gleichen, Lord and Lady Abercromby, Lord and Lady Churchill, Marquises Tweeddale, Sligo and Ailesbury, Earl Roden, Vis count Torrington, Lords George Paget, Calthorpe, Houghton, Strathnairn, the Marchioness of Hertford, Countess of Hardwicke, Countess of Bradford, Lady Wellesley, Lady Emily Peel and Lady Skelmersdale, Miss Wellesley,

and a number of others well known to the London world of high social life.

The banquet was served up in the famous Waterloo Chamber, where the old Iron Duke loved to meet the war generals of 1815 on the 18th of June every year, and celebrate the anniversary of the great battle which forever closed the fortunes of Napoleon Bonaparte. Here, overlooking Hyde Park and within view of his own statute at the entrance to the park at Hyde Park corner, the old Duke presided over the annual banquet, reviewing the events of the momentous times when the supremacy of Great Britain was hanging in the balance, with strong probabilities of the scale turning against her. The Waterloo Chamber has been closed a good deal since the death of Arthur Wellesley, for the present Duke and Duchess have spent most of their time when in England at the lovely estate in Winchelsea, which was presented to the eminent soldier by the Crown after the close of the great European wars.

The present owner of the estates and titles of Wellington is a quiet, unassuming gentleman, who loves the fine arts, is a writer of ability, fishes in his lake at Winchelsea, and, during the season in London, patronizes the clubs. He is Lord of the Manor of Surrey, appoints the justices of the peace and attends to the poor. He is a member of the House of Lords, of course, but he has rarely done more than record his vote on such extraordinary occasions as the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland, and matters affecting the autonomy in his party. The Duchess is considered one of the handsomest ladies in Europe, and has always been a great favorite with Queen Victoria. As a lady in waiting, she attends Her Majesty on all state occasions. Hence the tastes and desires of the Duke and Duchess have lead them to neglect. Apsley House to some

extent.

This Waterloo Chamber still contains some of the fine old paintings which were hung upon the walls by the first Duke. For instance, there is the celebrated painting, "Signing the treaty of Westphalia," where the commander-inchief is the central figure of a galaxy of generals, such as has seldom been gathered together since. A magnificent life-size portrait of Napoleon, Landseer's "Van Amburgh and the Lions," Correggio's "Christ on the Mount of Olives," on a panel, and full length portraits of foreign sovereigns and notabilities, by Velasquez, Wilkie and Teniers, are in the saloons adjoining. The Duke was looking out of the main window overlooking the park at the time the house was mobbed by the reformers whom he opposed.

It was a dramatic incident, that the conqueror of Lee should meet in this revered chamber the descendant of the

conqueror of Napoleon the Great. General Grant was given precedence in the honors of the evening, escorting the Duchess of Wellington to supper, and afterward escorting her to the reception, at which were present the Duke and Duchess of Cleveland, the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, the Duke and Duchess of Manchester, and many of those already mentioned above.

There were no speeches of note at the supper, which was a quiet though brilliant affair. The grand gaseliers lit up the magnificent hall and the lovely damasks and laces, and revealed the wealth of gold and silver and the flowers and confections of the table.

General Grant attended divine service on the 3d in Westminster Abbey. An eloquent sermon was preached by Dean Stanley, from Genesis xxvii. 38. In the course of his sermon he alluded to ex-President Grant, saying, "that in the midst of the congregation there was one of the chiefest citizens of the United States, who had just laid down his sceptre of the American commonwealth, who,

by his military prowess and generous treatment of his com rades and adversaries, had restored unity to his country. We welcome him as a sign and pledge that the two great kindred nations are one in heart, and are equally at home under this fraternal roof. Both regard with reverential affection this ancient cradle of their common life."

Although the Duke of Wellington was the first to exhibit to a circle of admirers the great lion of the season, yet it was only possible for him to make a restricted use of his triumph in favor of the type of humanity that can be invited to a ducal mansion. The real introduction of the ex-President to the world of Londoners was made on the 5th, by the American Minister, in a reception so brilliant that all occasions of the sort which have hitherto shone in the annals of our iegations abroad will become a prey to "dumb forgetfulness." In each one of the engagements scored for a month ahead, the ex-President met some one set of English society-men of this or that party or shade of opinion, men of science or of letters, army men or navy men-but at the legation, and presented by the American Minister, he had an opportunity to make the acquaintance of English society, without regard to the lines which divide it into so many coteries, and saw at its best that average quantity of the London world which he could never get at one view save on some such neutral ground as our Minister's parlors. The reception at Minister Pierrepont's was immensely successful. The legation in Cavendish Square was interiorly decorated with the grandest profusion of flowers, with the grand old American flag over all. Since the announcement was made that the Minister would receive the ex-President, Mrs. Pierrepont had been overwhelmed with requests for invitations, and out of her good nature acceded, until the number of cards out guaranteed perhaps a greater throng than would ordinarily be comfortable. But, after all, what

is a reception without a crush? Despite the immense crowd, especially of on-lookers, in Cavendish Square, there was not the slightest confusion. Carriages rolled up, occupants moved out and up into the mansion, with that absence of surrounding noise and shouting that characterizes your true reception where the ton is bon and the servants well drilled.

On entering, the guests were shown into the cloak rooms, on the ground floor, where wraps were left and a last glance in the mirrors taken. Who, even a philosopher, disdains that last reflective glance?

On ascending the drawing-room floor, the guests were announced in the small ante-room where stood Mrs. Pierrepont, General Grant, Colonel Badeau, Mrs. Grant, and Mr. Pierrepont, in the order given..

General Grant was attired in plain evening dress, which was conspicuous in its plainness amid the stars, garters and ribbons worn by many of lesser note; even the Japanese Minister was more gorgeous. As for the Chinese Embassy, no tea chest ever equalled their curious splendor.

Mrs. Grant wore a toilet of claret-colored stamped velvet, and cream satin, high-necked, and with long sleeves. Mrs. Pierrepont was clad in an elaborate costume of scarlet and black.

Among the English notables present, were the Lord Chancellor, the Dukes of Leeds and Bedford, the Marquises of Salisbury and Hertford, the Earls of Derby, Belmore, Longford, Dunravan, Ducie, Caithness and Shaftesbury, Lord Airey, General Probyn, Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone, with peers and peeresses innumerable.

Every American resident responded to the Minister's invitation. The Morgans and the Peabodys, Mr. James McHenry, Chevalier Wikoff, Mr. G. W. Smalley, Chief Justice Shea, Mr. Moncure D. Conway, Mr. Newton Crane, Consul at Manchester, Mrs. Fairchild, Mrs. Julia Ward