which belonged to a guest whose fancy is the collection of menus, I will copy it: MENU. Lundi, le ler juillet. Turbot d'Ostende a l'Anglaise. Ris de veau à la Milanaise. Poulardes de Bruxelles. Salade. Compotes. Fonds d'artichauts à la Hollandaise. Glaces. The General, with his military habits of promptness, entered the palace at six precisely, accompanied by his wife, Mr. Bayard Taylor, the Minister, and Mrs. Taylor, and H. Sidney Everett, the Secretary of Legation. The Prince and Princess Bismarck and the Countess Marie Grafin Von Bismarck, accompanied by the Prince's two sons, met the General at the door of the salon, and presented him to the various guests. There was a hearty greeting for the Minister and his party, and the Princess and Mrs. Grant were soon on the waves of an animated conversation. The company was about thirty, and a few moments after the General's arrival, dinner was announced. The Prince led the way, escorting Mrs. Grant, who sat on his right, with Mrs. Taylor on his left, the General and the Princess vis-a-vis, with Mr. Von Schlözer, the German Minister at Washington, between. The remainder of the company were members of the Cabinet and high persons in Berlin. The dinner you can judge of for yourself, and about half-past seven or later it was over, and the company adjourned to another room. In order to reach this apartment, the company passed through the room devoted to the Congress. It seemed like coming into some awful presence to be in the very chamber where the ruling minds of Europe, the masters of legions, the men who govern the world, daily meet to determine the destiny of millions- to determine peace or war. We came to an antechamber. The General and Bismarck sat on a small sofa near the window, looking out upon the glorious swaying trees in the park. The ladies clustered into another group around the Princess, who, by the way, has one of the best and kindest faces I have ever The remainder of the party broke into groups, wandering about the balcony to talk about the weather, the trees, the rain, the Congress, the Kaiser, and the other themes that seem to float about in every Berlin conversation. seen. The General was made comfortable by his cigar, but the Prince would not smoke a cigar. His doctors, who had been bothering him about many things, had even undertaken to interfere with his tobacco, and all they would allow him was a pipe. Just such a pipe as the American mind associates with a Hollander or German-a pipe with a black heavy bowl, a smoking machine about two feet long, which the Prince nursed beneath his knees, with his head bent forward in the full tide of an animated conversation. If I had any skill in drawing, I should like to sketch the scene between Grant and Bismarck. The Chancellor had lying stretched before him one faithful friend, a black Danish dog of the hound species. This dog has made a place for himself in the affections of Berlin. He has full run of the palace, and took as much pains as the Prince to make himself agreeable to his guests. He and the Prince are inseparable companions, and there is a story that when Prince Gortschakoff came one day to see Bismarck, the dog made an anti-Russian demonstration against the Russian's legs. All Berlin laughed over the story, which is too good to be denied. But on this occasion the Danish hound was in the most gracious mood, and while the General and the Prince were in conversation-the General tugging his cigar, which he is sure to allow to go out if the theme becomes an interesting one, and the Prince patting his pipe as if he loved it-the dog lay at their feet in placid acquiescence, with one eye now and then wandering over the guests to see that order was respected. The scene between the soldier and the statesman was worthy of remembrance. The General and the Prince talked mainly upon the resources of the two countries; and this is a theme upon which the General never tires, and which, so far as America is concerned, he knows as well as any man in the world. The contrast between the two faces was a study; for I take it no two faces, of this generation, at least, have been more widely drawn. In expression Bismarck has what might be called an intense face, a moving, restless eye, that might flame in an instant. His conversation is irregular, rapid, audacious, with gleams of humor, saying the oddest and frankest things, and enjoying anything that amuses him so much that frequently he will not, cannot, finish the sentence for laughing. Grant, whose enjoyment of humor is keen, never passes beyond a smile. In conversation he talks his theme directly out with care, avoiding no detail, correcting himself if he slips in a detail, exceedingly accurate in statement, and who always talks well, because he never talks about what he does not know. You note, in comparing the two faces, how much more youth there is in that of Grant than of Bismarck. Grant's face was tired enough a year ago, when he came here fresh from that witches' dame of an Electoral Commission; it had that weary look which you see in Bismarck's, but it has gone, and of the two men you would certainly deem Grant the junior by twenty years. Mr. Taylor, the American Minister, was evidently impressed with the historical value of the meeting of Grant and Bismarck. He remembered a German custom-that you can never cement a friendship without a glass of oldfashioned schnapps. There was a bottle of a famous schnapps cordial among other bottles. I am afraid to say how old it was, and the Minister said, "General, no patriotic German will believe that there can ever be lasting friendship between Germany and the United States, unless yourself and the Prince pledge eternal amity between all Germans and Americans over a glass of this schnapps." The Prince laughed, and thanked the Minister for the suggestion. The schnapps was poured out, the General and Prince touched glasses, the vows were exchanged in hearty fashion, and the Prince, rising, led Mrs. Grant through the hall. As the party passed into the room where the Congress meets, the Prince explained the position of the members, and made some comments on the manner of doing business. "We do not get on rapidly, for one reason," he said, "because nearly every member, when he speaks, does it in so low a voice that he has to say it all over again." At the head of the stairs the party separated, the Prince kissing the hand of Mrs. Grant in knightly German fashion. CHAPTER XXII. EN ROUTE FOR COPENHAGEN BURG FOURTH OF JULY AT HAM·GENERAL GRANT'S ORATION- THE BLACK FOR·COPENHAGEN REACHED AT GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN-CHRISTIANIA · -WELCOME BY THE KING-ARRIVAL AT STOCKHOLM-ST. PETERSBURG—AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CZAR-GRAND DINNER AND REVIEW ON TO MOSCOW-WARSAW-VIENNA-DINING WITH THE EMPEROR-RETURN TO PARIS-OFF FOR SPAIN. Leaving Berlin, General Grant and his party set out for Copenhagen by the way of Hamburg. The latter place was reached on July 2d. A correspondent writing from this place says: There were strong temptations to remain in Berlin, especially as Mr. Taylor seemed to make each hour of the stay more and more pleasant. But rumors were in the air of an unusual Fourth of July celebration, in which all the Americans were to take part, and the eagle was to have a glorious time screaming. I am afraid these rumors, and the apprehension on the General's part that he would be called upon to do his part in the glorification of our venerable bird, alarmed him, and he fled, to the disappointment of the orators, who were in severe training to entertain their guest. Hamburg was reached in due season, and the General dined quietly with the Consul, Mr. J. M. Wilson. There was the usual evening tramp about the city, and next morning a deputation of the Hamburg Senate called and welcomed the General. You know Hamburg, as one of the members of the old Hanseatic Confederation, is a free city, and governed by a Senate and a Burgomaster. Although a part of the mod |