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of the Galena reception is likewise from a photograph, and minutely accurate.

After remaining in Galena until September, and visiting St. Louis, he went to his native State. Ohio was justly proud of her glorious war record, and her long list of illustrious sons. She had furnished the Government three hundred and ten thousand soldiers-on several calls, more than were asked of her. She had supplied more than all other States combined, of our leading generals-Grant, Sheridan, Sherman, McPherson, Rosecrans, Buell, McDowell, O. M. Mitchel, Schenck, Garfield, Custer, Gilmore, Granger, Stanley, the three McCooks, and a host of lesser lights-beside Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, and Stanton, Secretary of War.

Grant visited the scenes of his boyhood in Batavia, Bethel, Georgetown, and Ripley, strolling about the old tan-yard, looking at the house where his father and mother were married, and receiving the public and private attentions of his old neighbors with the modesty and simplicity of his early years. He reached Washington again about the first of October.

Though keeping fourteen horses, he had not lost his native susceptibility to equine attractions. One day, riding from his office to dinner, he noticed a homely little white steed in a cart, pacing so fast that it was quickly out of sight. All he observed was, that it was driven by a boy without a coat. The diminutive animal so captivated him, that he talked of it continually, until some friends ascertained that it was the property of a butcher, who had bought it for seventy-five dollars. The man of blood, learning who wanted it, resisted all pecuniary blandishments until they reached three hundred dollars. The General purchased the white pacer, named it "Butcher-boy," and may still be seen any morning whirling along behind it on the way to his office.

A citizen of Connecticut visiting Washington, wrote home this account of an accidental interview:

"Wanting to know where my father was buried, I went to the site of the old Stanton Hospital and found it torn down. Crossing the street to a large brick block of three houses, I stepped up to a plain-looking man, and asked:

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THE GENERAL'S SOUTHERN TOUR.

[1865.

-Who lives in that end of the block?' 'Mrs. Wallace.' 'Who lives in the middle house?' 'It is an orphan asylum.' 'Who lives in this?' 'General Grant.' Whew! whew! I wonder if I could get a chance to see him.' 'I am General Grant.' We shook hands, and he talked with me a few minutes, very pleasantly and familiarly. He was in citizen's clothes, with his hands in his pockets; his face was open and bright.'

On the twenty-seventh of November the General started through the South, via Raleigh, Charleston, Savannah, and Augusta, scrutinizing the military forces, and the Freedmen's Bureau, and mingling freely with all classes of citizens. After his return, at the President's request, he made a report :

"I am satisfied that the mass of thinking men of the South accept the present situation of affairs in good faith. The questions which have hitherto divided the sentiments of the people of the two sections-slavery and State rights, or the right of a State to secede from the Union-they regard as having been settled forever by the highest tribunal--arms-that man can resort to. I was pleased to learn from the leading men whom I met, that they not only accepted the decision arrived at as final, but, now that the smoke of battle has cleared away, and time has been given for reflection, that this decision has been a fortunate one for the whole country, they receiving the like benefits from it with those who opposed them in the field and in the council.

* "I did not meet any one-either those holding places under the Government or citizens of Southern States-who thought it practicable to withdraw the military from the South at present. The white and black mutually require the protection of the General Government.

"There is such universal acquiescence in the authority of the General Government throughout the portions of the country visited by me, that the mere presence of a military force, without regard to numbers, is sufficient to maintain order. The good of the country requires that a force be kept in the interior, where there are many freedmen. Elsewhere in the Southern States than at ports upon the seacoast, no force is necessary.

ous.

"The soldiers should all be white troops. The reasons for this are obviWithout mentioning many of them, the presence of black troops, lately slaves, demoralizes labor, both by their advice and furnishing in their camps a resort for the freedmen for long distances around. White troops generally excite no opposition, and, therefore, a smaller number of them can maintain order in a given district.

"Colored troops must be kept in bodies sufficient to defend themselves. It is not the thinking man who would do violence toward any class of troops sent among them by the General Government, but the ignorant in some places might; and the late slave, too, who might be imbued with the idea that the property of his late master should by right belong to him, at least should have no protection from the colored soldier.

* "My observations lead me to the conclusion that the citizens

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HIS REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT.

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of the Southern States are anxious to return to self-government within the Union as soon as possible; that while reconstructing they want and require protection from the Government; that they are in earnest in wishing to do what they think is required by the Government, not humiliating to them as citizens, and that if such a course was pointed out they would pursue it in good faith. It is to be regretted that there can not be a greater commingling at this time between the citizens of the two sections, and particularly with those intrusted with the law-making power.

"I did not give the operation of the Freedmen's Bureau that attention I would have done if more time had been at my disposal. Conversations, however, on the subject, with officers connected with the bureau, led me to think that in some of the States its affairs have not been conducted with good judgment or economy, and that the belief, widely spread among the freedmen of the Southern States, that the lands of their former owners will, at least in part, be divided among them, has come from agents of the bureau. * .* In some form the Freedmen's Bureau is an absolute necessity until the civil law is established and enforced, securing to freedmen their rights and full protection. * * Everywhere General Howard, the able head of the bureau, has made friends by the just and fair instructions and advice he gave. * * * The effect of the belief in the distribution of the lands is idleness and accumulation in camps, towns, and cities."

The report concluded by recommending that the bureau should no longer be independent of the military establishment of the country; but that, to secure economy, obedience to General Howard's instructions, and uniformity of action, every officer on duty in the Southern States should be regarded as its agent, and all orders from its head be sent through department commanders.

Those Northerners who were inclined to believe affairs going on as badly as possible in the South, were not pleased with the report; and Senator Sumner said of the Executive communication which embraced it and was based upon it:-"We have a message from the President, which is like the whitewashing message of Franklin Pierce with regard to the enormities in Kansas." The truth was, that the late rebels were then tractable, and quite ready to accept whatever terms the Government might offer. Afterward, encouraged by the defection of Andrew Johnson from the republican party which elected him, they adopted a haughtier tone.

The Mexican question assumed more interest than ever.