The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-09-25
General Grant tn scOtlsnd-An In-
teresttng Interview.

General Grant I'm scotlsnd-An In-
tsrssttng Interview.
Our letter from Edinburgh will attract
wide attention. It is not, however, what
our correspondent tells of the warm
receptions given to the ex-President
interesting as that u.s. but what the
ex-President says of parties and politi-
clans in the United States that will insure
for parts of this letter pretty wide perusal
by the American public. General Grant is
a downright man. When he can be
induced to express an opinion about
either the living or the dead it is pretty
sure to be his real opinion, untrammelled
by any sort of conventional considerations
To his hard, robust. matter Of fact intellect
a mans conduct is made neither better nor
worse by the fact of his death. In thein.
terview to which we direct attention he
does not talk Of certain dead statesmen in
the spirit Of an epitaph; de mortuis Mill nisi
bonum is evidently not an article of his
social creed. His maxim would seem to be
believes it true, and if he thinks q man was
false when alive he recognizes no obligation
to hallow his memory simply because he is
dead.
There are three persons-two dead and
one living-about whom General Grant ex-
presses himself in this interview with the
blunt frankness of a soldier The three are
Mr.. Sumner, Mr.. Motley and Mr.. Schurz
His portrait of neither is fattering. He
accuses Sumner Of falsehood. Motley Of off,
cial infidelity, and thinks Schurz and his
civil service zeal q humbug. He says
he appointed Motley Minister to England
at Summers solicitation, and that the latter
soon after made an extravagant speech on
indirect damages, which tended to embar-
rass the Alabama claims negotiation. 1t
then became necessary to give very explicit
instructions to Motley that he was to give
no countenance to the absurd claims put
forth in Summers violent speech. After
carefully over the draft of instructions, says
General Grant, ~ wrote an addenda charg-
ing him, above all things. that he
should handle the subject with the
greatest delicacy. Mr. Motley. instead
of obeying his explicit instructions,
deliberately fell into line with Mr. Sum-
ner, and thus added insult to the previous
injury. As soon as I heard Of it went
over to the State Department and told Gov
ernor Fish to dismiss Motley at once.
was very angry indeed, and have been
sorry many time since that I did not
o1r <o Rxyt ho
advice Of Mr., Fish Motley was left in Office
for a time, but the negotiation was taken
out of his hands and transferred to Washing
ton. Motley knew that he was to be re-
moved long before the fact. The President
tried in vain to force o resignation. 1--WE
sure to Motley at once and ordered him to
abstain from any further connection with
that question" But he could not be made
to take hint, and was in due time re-
moved.
The quarrel thus generated led to Sum-
ner's displacement by the Senate as chair
man of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
In connection with this affair General Grant
relates an incident 1.-THE first time saw
George William Curtis he called on me to
request the reinstatement of Mr.. Sumner.
told him that if I should go to
the Senate and ask to dictate the organi-
zation Of the committees would be apt to
hear something about the fellow who made
fortune by minding his own business;
gave him to understand that did not
| intend to interfere in the matter at all. "
| General Grant further relates how he put
MIR. Curtis upon an Investigation by which
Sumner was convicted of boastful false
hoods. 81 told Mr.. Curtis that proposed
to prove to him that his friend, Mr.. Sumner,
had not told him facts, and that he
made these statements knowing them
to be falsehoods." The result of the
inquiry was that the Presidents accusation
was established. Curtis said it was re-
markable. told him my object in having
the record searched was to show him that
Mr.. Sumner was not q truthful man, as
others had found out before me and rs !
had discovered on frequent occasions. "
The public will regard these statements OF
General Grant rs an example OF pretty plain
speaking respecting the dead.
The ex-President has no faith in q civil
service reform Of which Mr.. Schurz is the
chief engineer. In reply to question by
our correspondent about civil service Gen
eral Grant said:-"I do not attach much
importance to that matter. do not be-
lieve it will succeed, though wish it could,
in some practical way. Take Schurz, fol-
instance He is making business of civil
service reform. But he is q humbug and
Mr. Hayes will find him out before long. "
We have merely touched on few salient
points of this remarkable interview, which
no reader will fail to peruse ut length.
The Fire I'm the Interior Depart