and continued to come until noon. The most eminent men of France were among the callers. At two o'clock General Grant, Mrs. Grant and Jesse Grant, with Minister Noyes and the Secretary of Legation, drove to the Elysće through a pouring rain. President McMahon, the Duchess of Magenta and the Duke Decazes received the General most cordially. The Duchess did everything in her power to render the occasion agreeable. General Grant wore plain evening dress, calling upon the official head of the people simply as any American citizen, properly introduced, might. President McMahon said that he was truly glad to welcome so eminent a soldier and citizen to France. In brief, the ex-President of the United States replied that the opportunity of expressing to the Chief Magistrate of France, the friendly sentiments entertained throughout the length and breadth of America toward the French people was equally pleasing to him. The interview was entirely informal and exceedingly cordial. President McMahon extended and General Grant accepted an invitation to dine at the Elysée, on Thursday, when the party re-entered their carriage and reached the Hotel Bristol about three.

At four o'clock the committee of resident Americans, composed of Consul General Torbet, Dr. T. W. Evans, bankers Seligman, Munroe and Winthroy, Dr. Johnson, Mr. John J. Ryan and the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock called to invite General Grant and family to a grand banquet in his honor by the American residents of Paris, upon any date that the General might see fit to appoint. General Grant named Thursday, November 6, thanking the committee for the honor conferred upon him by his own countrymen in a foreign land. Much agreeable conversation followed. In the evening General Grant accompanied by a personal friend took a long walk arouud the Tuileries, Palais Royal, Place de la Concord, and the boulevards for two hours.

On the next day he visited the studio of Mr. Healy, the American artist, and gave a setting for a portrait. He afterwards strolled about Montmartre and climbed the hill which affords a fine view of Paris, and the Genera! expressed his admiration of the magnificent scene. After enjoying himself for some hours, he returned to his hotel, and in the evening was honored by visits from several distinguished persons. Among the visitors were the Comte de Paris, head of the Orleans family, and the Duchess of Magenta, wife of the Marshal-President of the Republic.

Several representatives of the French press called upon him, but found him very reticent. He declined to express an opinion concerning the political situation in America, but stated that his first impression of France was, that it wore a prosperous, well-ordered and happy aspect. The Figaro gives the following report of the interview. Although somewhat lengthy, it is too good to be lost; we, therefore, give it entire :

." The American general who had been the guest of Paris for the past two days, is generally considered the most taciturn man in the world. To him Count Von Moltke, whom the Germans call the Great Silent, is quite a talker, since they often get him into speeches of fifty or sixty lines, while the longest speech which Grant is ever remembered to have made was that pronounced the day after he was first nominated President of the United States. Here it is in all its simplicity. The General appeared upon the balcony of the hotel where he was staying. Below, in the street, more than ten thousand persons were awaiting a speech. Reluctantly removing the cigar he was smoking, and raising it slightly between the first and second fingers of his right hand, he said: 'Gentlemen, I am very glad to see you.' Then he made a bow, as much as to say, I hope you will not expect anything more from me now. On another occasion he found the means of being even more concise. One of his soldier friends, who is said to be almost as reserved as himself was commissioned to present the General with an elegantly

engraved gold cup in the name of the soldiers who had served under him. The warrior was introduced into the Grant household bearing the cup in question. He quietly placed the cup upon the sideboard, remarking, 'That's the cup.' The President looked at it in a dreamy sort of a way, and after the lapse of a few seconds, replied, "Thank you.' Then he offered his companion in arms a cigar. The two veterans sat down, and, facing each other, smoked away in silence, while the deputation of soldiers waited in vain outside for the speech which is usual on these occasions.

"I was aware that the General was of this peculiar turn, and I was not a little exercised concerning the kind of interview I was to have in respouse to my application of Thursday night, which he consented to with the best grace imaginable. An amiable and intelligent American, Dr. Evans, who is known to the whole of Paris, had said to me, 'You are going to see General Grant. He will certainly be glad to receive an editor of the Figaro, but do not expect to make him talk. Wait,' said Evans, 'I will tell you the best means of opening his mouth. Search Paris through, if necessary, for two of the very best cigars to be had; put them in your pocket, and when you find yourself in the presence of the General, and when he has shaken hands with you, according to the American custom, you will draw the cigars from your pocket, and say, 'General, I know that you are a connoisseur of cigars; permit me to offer you. some of the best to be had in Paris.' The General will examine your cigars, and if he finds them of an absolutely superior quality, you will put him in a fine humor, his tongue will wag as if by enchantment upon everything, politics only excepted.' Unfortunately, I had not the time to carry out the very original plan which the imagination of Dr. Evans suggested, for I was informed that the General was ready to receive me immediately. I repaired at once to the Hotel Bristol, where the General occupied a magnificent suite of rooms on the first floor. The salon in which he received me is named after the Prince of Wales, because it is generally reserved for the heir apparent of England, who adores Paris,, and, is well known, makes us numerous visits. This official designation is made by an enormous tapestry

screen, on which is embroidered in large letters the modest Eng lish royal motto, 'H ̧ni soit qui mal y pense.'

"The General's courier, M. Jacques Hartog, a very pleasant and agreeable young man, introduced me. General Grant was sitting near the corner of the fireplace. Facing him, upon a large divan, sat Mrs Grant and her son. The latter is a young man of twenty to twenty-five years, having almost as meditative and reflective an air as his father. He is, I am told, a great mathematician. The General arose and extended to me his hand. The physiognomy of the brave general, to whom I had the honor to be presented, was very curious to observe. I do not think, for example, that there is upon earth any being whatever who, under whatever circumstances, could flatter himself as having seen made upon this enigmatic figure, the shortest, the slightest, the most momentary impression. We Frenchmen possess, in order to characterize this kind of figure, a word which I would not use if I thought it would constitute a want of respect; this is tete de bois-wooden head. Ulysses Grant possesses this peculiarity in the highest de gree, that which, after all, is perhaps a quality and a resource for a soldier or a statesman. I know, through a friend of the General that this phenomenal imperturbability is never relaxed, even for a second, even in circumstances the most grave and peri ous, This friend has seen him under fire, mounted on his grizzly mare, as celebrated in America as the white horse of Napoleon has been in France, and there was always the same figure, impassible, indifferent. During a series of battles, which lasted for ten or twelve days, and which cost the Federals nearly sixty thousand men, Grant slept at night, after having smoked an enormous number of cigars, for eight hours at a time, as peaceably as an infant, rose in the morning and dressed, and then began to give out his orders in the same way a city merchant arranges his bills. Never have circumstances more grave, never has heavi r responsibility rested upon a man than General Grant has experienced, vet a word of anxiety, trouble or discouragement was never known to escape him. They called Wellington the Iron Duke. The Americans might well have entitled Ulysses S. Grant the Steel General. As I saw him at the Hotel Bristol, and much as he must have been fatigued from his journey, General Grant had the

appearance of a mau still very vigorous. Ilis shoulders are massive and broad, and his body has a marked tendency to em-bonpoint. The General, moreover, gives a very good account of himself, for he said laughingly to a friend yesterday that he congratulated himself on not having changed for ten years:'Yes, and I have gained forty-five pounds in weight.' His beard, which is closely cropped, has commenced to turn gray. His hair is perfectly black. His complexion, slightly bronzed, gives the General a Germanic aspect, although he comes of pure American stock.

"The conversation commenced in English, about Paris, which the General now visits for the first time in his life. I inquired what his first impression was. He replied to me, with good sense andrecision, to the effect that he was unable to form an opinion, as he had ridden from the railroad depot (gare) to the hotel in a covered carriage, and was unable to see anything but the cushions. in the vehicle.

"But, General, have you not paid a visit to Marshal McMahon? How did you find our President?'

"We were unable to comprehend each other.'

"How was that ?" I said, with astonishment.

"'Simple enough. I didn't understand a word of French; the the Marshal doesn't know a word of English. He bowed to me; I bowed to him. He extended his hand to me; I extended mine to him. Then all was over,'

I

"Then the interview only lasted a minute?'

"No. I remained a few minutes to speak with Mme. McMahon, and I was delighted, for she speaks English admirably. was, indeed, astonished that a French lady should speak it so beautifully. The Marshal has a fine mien, and has the air of an honest man.'

"As it seemed to me the General was in a good humor, and in a vein for talking, I risked, without great hopes of success, however, a question on politics, as follows: 'General, as you have been, like our Marshal, President of a republic, and you have been in an analagous situation to his-that is to say, at variance with the legislative power, I am sure the public would be curious to know your opinion upon the present crisis.'