When this was known, the local Grand Army Post solicited the privilege of receiving their old commander at the station and escorting him the short distance to the hall in which the lunch was to be served. But the municipal dignitaries wanted no vulgar fellows in faded blue jackets at their jollification, at which toasts were to be proposed and high-flown speeches were to be made. So the request of the Grand Army men went into the official waste-basket, and the veterans had no place on the official programme.

General Grant received an inkling of the slight thus inflicted on his comrades, and when the train on which he was a passenger rolled into the station, he saw on one side the officials with a brass band, and on the other the Grand Army Post with a drum and fife. He bowed grimly to the committee which entered the car, and after listening to the eloquent welcome of their spokesman he followed them. As he left the car the brass band on one side struck up "Hail to the Chief," while on the other side there were three ruffles of the drum and fife, followed by the authoritative command, "Salute!" which brought each veteran's right hand to his cap front. A moment more and the "old commander" had joined his comrades, shaking hands with each one. Some had served under his personal observation, and as they recalled themselves to him the brass band played itself out and the officials began to look troubled.

At last one of the local dignitaries ventured across the track to where General Grant was pleasantly chatting with the veterans, and said: "Mr. President, I fear you will have but little time left to lunch in." "Ah!" replied General Grant, "I must go. Good-bye, boys." Going to his car, he went up the steps, and, turning to the Post, he took off his hat, waved it as a salute, and then

said to the conductor: "I don't want to be late. Go ahead." A moment later the train started, the veterans cheering wildly, while the wheezy fife and the cracked drum played "The Girl I Left Behind Me." The brass band was silent, and the officials were dumb with rage and mortification. A Grand Army man said: "Just like him; he believes in common folks and he don't like frills. Bully for Grant!"

General Grant's form become more rotund while he was President-his weight increased from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty-five pounds-his reddish-brown hair and beard became sprinkled with gray, and he had to use eye-glasses in reading. His features softened, perhaps, in their determined expression, but his square, massive jaws always gave him a resolate look. Plainly, yet neatly dressed, in dark broadcloth, and wearing a high black hat, General Grant's appearance was that of a dignified, modest gentleman.

During the eight years of his Presidential career General Grant retained in his heart those sure foundations of patriotism, integrity, and courage on which he had previously built up the stately fabric of his martial fame. He was ever guided by that "sense of duty" which is high above that polluting school of partisan ethics which would lay down one rule of conduct for private and another for public life, and which proclaims in execrable cant that "all is fair in trade or politics."

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CHAPTER XXIII.

GRANT DECIDES To Go Abroad-FAREWELL HONORS—JOINS THE G. A. R.-ON THE "INDIANA "-SECRETARY EVARTS' LETTER-LANDING AT LIVERPOOL-Official WELCOME-MANCHESTER-LEICESTER-LONDON-ROYAL RECEPTIONS-FREEDOM OF THE CITY—VISIT TO THE QUEEN.

G

ENERAL GRANT, having finished eight years of public life as President, and sixteen altogether since he entered the army at the commencement of the war, felt the need of relaxation and complete freedom from all care, in order to recruit his energies, that had been so severely taxed for so long a time. To accomplish this, he determined to visit, as he had long desired to do, the Old World, study its governments, and see their practical operations for himself, and enjoy the freedom and rest which travel gives to the overtasked mind. The announcement of his visit awakened the liveliest interest in England, where he was first to land, and it was agitated in all the papers whether the courtesies tendered him should be those accorded to a sovereign or to a citizen. Van Buren and Fillmore had both been received as distinguished American citizens, but Lord Beaconsfield announced that Grant should receive the honors paid to a sovereign. The ex-President, however, felt but little concern about such matters, preferring to be permitted to travel without any ceremonious restraint.

Having engaged passage on board the steamer "In

diana," of the American Line, General Grant went to Philadelphia a few days before she sailed, and was the guest of Mr. George W. Childs. He was honored by a military review, and he held receptions at the Union League and at Independence Hall. He was also formally mustered in as a comrade of George G. Meade Post No. 1, of the Grand Army of the Republic. This "muster in" occurred on the very eve of his departure, though correspondence concerning it passed a month or

more before he was to sail for Europe. He then replied stating that he would be in Philadelphia before he went abroad, and would be pleased to confer with the members of the Post in regard to it. When he reached Philadelphia, a delegation met him and had a consultation about the matter. "I belong to no association excepting military organizations," said he. Then he asked what the character of the Grand Army was.

He was told