enthusiasm. Mr. Newton Crane, United States consul to Manchester, responded amid applause. After these formalities, the Mayor of Manchester proposed the health of General Grant, amid the plaudits of the assemblage.

General Grant replied, with a humorous twinkle in his eye, that Englishmen had got more speeches and of greater length out of him than his own countrymen; but they were poorer, because they were longer than he was accustomed to make. He warmly returned thanks for the reception he had received at the hands of the people of Manchester, and concluded his remarks by proposing the health of the Mayoress and the ladies. The Mayor replied in suitable terms.

Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P., being called upon for a speech, said: "No guest so distinguished has ever before visited Manchester. General Grant is a brave soldier, and he has pursued a generous, pacific policy toward the enemies he had conquered. He should be honored and beloved, and deserves the hearty reception he will receive throughout the realm." After the banquet, the General was introduced to the assemblage, and a general hand-shaking followed. In the evening he visted the Theatre Royal, and spent a short time at the Prince's Theatre. His reception at both places was very enthusiastic.

The journey from Manchester to London was marked by hearty greetings and welcomes at the several stations, and imposing demonstrations were made at Leicester and Bedford, as the handsomely decorated cars reached those places. To some of the addresses that were made to him, General Grant replied with an ease and sincerity which, no doubt, made our British cousins wonder how he came by his title of the "silent president." The secret lies, probably, in the fact that the General detests forms and shams and political intrigue, and he had good reasons for his taciturnity when he found himself surrounded by politicians

whom his judgment told him it was dangerous to trust. His welcome in England was a genuine outpouring of a nation's respect and admiration, and as such General Grant received it, and responded to it with an unembarrassed and earnest sincerity.

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,