ended; and it may be fairly said of it that a public man, from a far distant country, without official character, known to the world for his military glory and for services that saved a great republic from anarchy, was never more genially, warmly, earnestly and enthusiastically made to feel that heroism, and, above all, heroism in the cause of liberty, has no country, but is equally at home in any part of the world, where there is a people with a soul to appreciate great services and the aspiration to be free. An event like General Grant's welcome in Ireland does not happen in the lives of many men. Our own welcome to Lafayette on his revisiting this country might be compared to it, but that we were under the obligation of a people in whose own cause that soldier fought; and the Irish welcome to General Grant was, therefore, even more generous, for there was not even the obligation of gratitude in it. As for the little fly spot put on this fine picture by the Corkonians, why, it may be admitted that even an Irish city can produce some pitiful fellows, who want to become distinguished for their very meanness, if they have no worthier qualities. Some sharp-sighted democrats have seen in this visit to Ireland a strategic move on the Irish vote, should the General ever enter public life again. It is one of the misfortunes that dog public men in a country like ours, that every act of their lives has to be judged from the standpoint of those who contemplate it in the light of the ignoble hunt for votes. Some ground is given by what opponents of General Grant say to the opinion that they have stirred up this Corkonian trouble to head off this hunt. If this be true, they must have been inspired under the influence of Grant's lucky star, for they have done him a service for which he could not have counted upon them, except under the general principle that a great part of every distinguished man's good fortune is due to blunders of his adversaries.

CHAPTER XXXI.

GRANT IN INDIA.

General Grant again visited London, where a grand dinner and reception was given him by our Minister to England, Mr. Welsh, which was largely attended by the elite of London, and American residents. At every station en route the greatest enthusiasm was manifested. The General left the next day for Paris, where he was the recipient of a grand dinner at the United States Legation on January 14, and a grand state dinner and reception at the Palais d'Elysee, the residence of President MacMahon.

Among the invited guests were General Grant and family, M. Waddington and wife, General Noyes and wife, Miss King, Miss Stevens, the members of the Chinese Embassy, the representatives of San Salvador, Buenos Ayres, Chili, Guatemala, Peru, Colombia and Uruguay, and many French generals and admirals.

The General left Paris for Marseilles on the evening of January 21. The party accompanying him consisted of Mrs. Grant, Colonel Fred. Grant, ex-Secretary of the Navy A. E. Borie, Dr. Keating, and the Herald correspondent, who made the whole trip to India. General Badeau went as far as Marseilles. Generals Noyes and Fairchild, Secretaries Hill, Itgneau, and a large number of Americans, went to the station to see the party off. The train left at a quarter past seven o'clock, and arrived at Marseilles the following morning at eleven o'clock. Consul John B. Gould

received them at the railway station. An afternoon reception was held at the Consulate, where General Grant met the leading citizens of Marseilles. At noon the party embarked on the French steamship Labourdonais for India, via Suez. The party embraced General and Mrs. Grant, ex-Secretary Borie, Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick D. Grant, Dr. Keating, of Philadelphia, and the Herald correspondent.

General Badeau, Consul Gould, J. B. Lippincott, of Philadelphia, John Munroe, the banker, and many other citizens, took leave of General and Mrs. Grant. The day was cold and the sky was filled with masses of gray cloud. The people of Marseilles evinced great interest in the General's departure. The ships in the harbor were dressed with flags and streamers. General Grant and his party were in the best of health and spirits.

The steamer moved out of the harbor shortly after twelve o'clock, and the land journey of General Grant in Europe closed amid the kindest manifestations of his countrymen at Marseilles and the French citizens of that great Mediterranean port. Marshal MacMahon had sent orders to the French admirals on foreign stations and to the governors of French colonies to treat ex-President Grant with all the honors due to the head of an independent State.

The first hours on the Mediterranean were on a high sea, but on second the day the sea went down and charming yachting weather was enjoyed. On Friday, January 24, the steamer passed between Corsica and Sardina, having a a fine view of the dusky coasts of the former island. On the 25th, about noon, Ischia was sighted, and through the hazy atmosphere faint outlines of Vesuvius could be traced. Ischia is a beautiful island, dotted with smiling villages, and presenting an inviting appearance. Passing the island, Capri was left to the right, and the vessel sailed into the

beautiful Bay of Naples. The King's palace, the convent, the range of hills and the towering landscape remained unchanged, and at once recognized, though a year had nearly passed since the General's first visit. As soon as the anchor was dropped, Mr. Maynard, our Minister to Turkey, and Mr. Duncan, our Consul at Naples, came on board, and a delightful hour was passed. In the afternoon the Labourdonais steamed out to sea. On the morning of the 26th Stromboli was in sight. The General and party, owing to the stormy weather, were unable to see this famed island upon the previous voyage over this same route, but they were now sailing under the shadow of this ancient island. The volcano was throwing out ashes and smoke in a feeble, fretful manner. At the base of this volcano is a cluster of houses or a village. What reason any human being can give for remaining in Stromboli is beyond the knowledge of man. They are at the absolute mercy of the sea and the furnace, and far away from neighbors and refuge and rescue. It must be to gratify some poetic in stinct, for Stromboli is poetic enough. With every turn of the screw our visitors were coming into the land of classic and religious fame; these islands through which they were sailing are the islands visited by the wandering Ulysses.

Reggio was passed, which in ancient days was called Rhegium. It was here that St. Paul landed, after Syracuse and Malta adventures, carrying with him the message of Christ, going from this spot to preach the gospel to all mankind.

Leaving Etna to the left, they sailed through Messina. Straits, the sea scarcely rippling, and were soon again in the open sea, the land fading from view.

On the second morning Crete was passed, the snow upon her mountain ranges being plainly visible from the decks of the steamer. At noon Crete faded from their sight, and a last farewell to Europe was uttered-farewell

to many a bright and happy hour spent on its shores, of which all that remains is the memory.

On the evening of the 29th of January-it being the evening of the seventh day of their journey from Marseilles they came to anchor outside of the harbor of Alexandria. There was some disappointment that the steamer did not enter that evening, but they were an hour or so late, and so they swung at anchor and found what consolation they could in the enrapturing glory of an Egyptian night. In the morning when the sun arose, the steamer picked her way into the harbor, and when our visitors came on deck they found themselves at anchor, with Alexandria before them, her minarets looking almost gay in the fresh light of the morning sun. A boat came out about eight, bringing General C. P. Stone, Mr. Farman, our Consul-General, Mr. Salvago, our Consul in Alexandria, and Judge Morgan of the International Tribunal. General Stone came with kind messages from the Khedive, and the hope that General Grant might be able to come to Cairo. But this was not possible, as he had to connect with the English steamer at Suez, and Suez was a long day's journey. So all that was left was that they should pull ashore as rapidly as possible and drive to the train. The Consul-General, with prudent foresight, had arranged that the train should wait for the General, and thus it came that the General's ride through Egypt, from Alexandria to Suez, was during the day, and not, as otherwise would have happened, during the long and weary night.

It must have been pleasant to General Grant to land in a quiet, unostentatious fashion, without pomp and ceremony and pachas in waiting and troops in line, the blaze of trumpets and the thunder of guns. The escape from a salute and a reception was a great comfort to the General, who seemed to enjoy having no one's hands to shake, to enjoy a snug corner in an ordinary railway car, talking with Gen