President Grant-Closing Scenes in the White House-His Opinion of His Own Administration.

"The last time," says an intimate friend of the General, "that I saw the greatest man it has ever been my privilege to know was a week or so after President Hayes was inaugurated. Grant left the White House on the 5th of March, 1877. Hayes was inaugurated at 12 o'clock that day. About 2 o'clock, the outgoing and the incoming Presidents, attended by the outgoing Cabinet and a committee of Senators and Representatives, returned to the White House, when the man who had taken twice (on Sunday, the 4th, and on Monday, the 5th,) the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and to well and truly perform the offices of Chief Magistrate, as God gave him light, took the reins of government from another man who had held them eight years, and was glad to lay them down. "Mrs. Grant had provided an excellent lunch, and sat for the last time at the head of the Executive dining-room. After the lunch was over, she and 'that quiet man,' her husband, rode over to the residence of Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State, whose guests they were to be.

"Secretary Fish lived across the way from Fernando Wood and Blaine, at the corner of I and Fifteenth Streets, with his house fronting McPherson Square, one of those pleasant little irregular parks that make Washington so beautiful and purify the air we breathe. In it stands the statue of General McPherson, erected by the society of the Army of the Tennessee, with benches around it, upon which the tired tramp may rest.

"Strolling through this square one bright, warm morning in March, I found General Grant sitting upon one of the benches alone, with the historic cigar in his mouth and a newspaper upon his lap. He stopped me, and asked me to sit awhile and enjoy the sunshine with him. A cigar

was offered and accepted, when the General chatted familiarly for half an hour.

"He talked of the events of his administration. He said some things not to be repeated, but the general drift of his opinion was that the country would be satisfied with it when it could be looked back upon, and the mischiefmakers and discontented were pestering some one else. He thought that history would be charitable when it criticised his faults, and he knew that worse things than he had been charged with had been forgotten in the lives of his predecessors. That which he regretted most was the Bristow conspiracy, and he predicted that before many years Bristow would be a forgotten man. He spoke of the intimacy, which was then at its height, between President Hayes and the 'reformers' on the one hand, and the ex-Confederate leaders on the other, and prophesied that his successor, for whom he had great respect, would be led into serious trouble if he followed their advice. He had tried them all, he said, and they had given him stones for bread. They were selfish, impolitic, and unreasonable, and would be satisfied only so long as they could control. He had found that the safest men to advise with were Hamlin, Chandler, Morton, and others of their sort.

"While we were talking, a carriage drove up to the Fish mansion, and General Grant bade me good-by."

Off for Europe-General Grant's Good-Bye to Old Friends. Previous to his departure for Europe General Grant spent several days in Philadelphia. The reception extended by the Quaker City was commensurate with its reputation for always doing the right thing in the best possible manner. General Grant was highly delighted, and at a farewell meeting said:

I had expected to make a speech to-day, and therefore can do nothing more than thank you, as I have had occasion to do so often within the past week. I have been only eight days in Philadelphia, and have been received with such unexpected kindness that it finds me with no words to thank you. What with driving in the park, and dinners afterward, and keeping it up until after midnight, and now to find myself still receiving your kind hospitality, I am afraid you have not left me stomach enough to cross the Atlantic.

This was followed by short and highly complimentary speeches from General Sherman, ex-Secretary Fish, exSecretary Chandler, ex-Secretary Robeson, ex-Senator Cameron, General Bailey, Governor Hartranft, and others; and so affected General Grant that he replied:

MY DEAR FRIENDS:-I was not aware that we would have so much speech-making here, or that it would be necessary for me to say any more to you, but I feel that the compliments you have so showered upon me were not altogether deserved-that they should not all be paid to me, either as a soldier or as a civil officer. As a general your praises do not all belong to me-as the executive of the nation they are not due to me. There is no man who can fill both or either of these positions without the help of good men. I selected my lieutenants when I was in both positions, and they were men, I believe, who could have filled my place often better than I did. I never flattered myself that I was entitled to the place you gave me. My lieutenants could have acted perhaps better than I, had the opportunity presented itself. Sherman could have taken my place, as a soldier or in a civil office, and so could Sheridan, and others I might name. I am sure if the country ever comes to this need again there will be men for the work. There will be men born for every emergency. Again I thank you, and again I bid you good-bye; and once again I say that, if I had failed, Sherman or Sheridan, or some of my other lieutenants, would have succeeded.

Soon after this the General was transferred to the "Indiana," and was off for Europe.

1

AROUND THE WORLD.

On a Foreign Shore-General Grant's Arrival In Liverpool-
The Welcome Words-His Address In
Manchester.

The "Indiana," with its celebrities, arrived in Liverpool May 28, making the trip in eleven days.

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And now begins a series of magnificent "receptions," 'banquetings," etc., which have followed General Grant around the world. From Liverpool to Chicago, in great cities and by the wayside, on mountain summits and down in the lowest "devels " of the "Comstock," everywhere the great General has been most heartily welcomed.

It is, perhaps, not too much to say, that no one in all history has received such personal homage, so spontaneous and genuine, as Ulysses S. Grant. It is true, in part, this has been representative and highly complimentary to our land and civilization, and yet, somehow, there attaches to Grant himself, in his quiet self poise, gentlemanly demeanor, due appreciation and heartfelt thankfulness, that we can not divorce the grand world-encircling chain of ovations from the man who has won a world-wide fame on the field of battle and in the honest discharge of duties in the highest office that a free people can anywhere bestow.

On his arrival at Liverpool, General Grant was welcomed by the Mayor in the following earnest and eloquent words: "General Grant, I am proud that it has fallen to my lot as chief magistrate of Liverpool, to welcome to the shores