Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-07-06

THE HoNoRs OF ONE DAY-eEN. GRANT
SUCCESSFUL AS A sPEECHMAKER.
tG. W. smaileys letter 10 the tribunal

speeches on occasions of ceremony, and
neat little replies to toasts at great din
ncrs, and mOts at all suitable opportunities.
1t happened-I say ii modesily-lhat was
good deal In his company yesterday.
doubt whether anybody else has heard
Gen. GRAFT make three speeches in one
day. The first was a somewhat elaborate
address in the Library Of the Guildhall in
response TO the still more elaborate address
of the Chamberlain in Offering him the
freedom of the city of London. 1t was
thoroughly we'll done in manner and in
matter, and l shall refer to IL by and by.
The second was at luuclf in the Gull dhall,
and was simply a gem. 1t is so clumsly
reported in this mornings papers that in
sert here the true version. The Lord May
or having proposed, and the guests having
drunk, Gen. Grants health, the General
replied in these Words
My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen
Habits formed in early life and early edu-
Gallon press upon us as we grow older. /
was brought up sOdier-not TO talking.
| am not aware that ever fought two bat
ties on the same day in the same place, and
that | should be called upon to make two
speeches on the same day under the same
roof, Is beyond my understanding. What
l do understand is that | am much indebt-
ed 10 all of you for the compliment you
have paid me. All can do is TO thank my
Lord Mayor for his kind words, and to
thank the citizens of Great Britain here
present in the name Of my country and
myself.
never heard a more perfect speech of
its kind than that. There is a charm, fo
sotf f,, IL.
phrases, that would do credit to the best ar
list in words-to Mr.. Kiuglake or TO MIR.
Matthew Arnold themselves.
Later in the day, at The quiet and almost
private dinner 1t the Crystal Palace, Mr..
Thomas Hughes asked the company in a
few words full of grace and feeling to drink
the health of Gen. Grant. Mr.. Hughes
took pains to say that the occasion was not
formal, and that he did not mean to impose
upon his guest the burden of a reply. Gen.
Grant sat looking up into Mr.. Hughes's
face; there was a moments pause, and
then the General, screwing himself slowly
up out of his chair Till he stood erect on his
feet, said
Mr.. Hughes l must none the less tell
you what qualification it gives me TO hear
my health proposed in such hearty words
by Tom Brown of Rugby.
do not know what could be better than
that. Still later in the evening, during the
exhibition of fireworks, Gen. Grant sa, ST.
lent while his own portrait-a capital like
ness-was drawn in lines of changing
flame against the dark back ground Of Beck
enham hills. Not la muscle moved there
was not sign of pleasure at the splendid
compliment paid him; not a movement of
recognition for the cheers with which the
great crowd below hailed the portrait. But
when this had burned out, and the next
| piece-a sketch of the building which
| crowns the heights above the Potomac
was blazing, slight smile parted the Gen
| erals lips as he remarked to Lady Ripton
who sat next him "They have burnt me
| in efligy, and now they are burning the
Capitol!'
In the way of civic donors, not much is
now left for Gen. Grant TO desire. Man
chester, which gave him an official well
come on his arrival, and London, which
| yesterday made him citizen Of what Mr..
Pierrepont well called the greatest city on
earth, are representative municipalities
| Manchester is the chief town OF that great
district of England whose loyal sympathy
| for us during the rebellion forms the
brightest chapter in the history OF Anglo
| American relations at that time. London
stood at the other extreme her reception
| to Gen. Grant is proclamation that her
friendships have once more swung round
| 10 pnint nniappfl,,
| for a brief space. lie entered the library
of the Guildhall to receive the same gin
| which kings and emperurs have received
| before him. There lay on a table the char
| ter of the city Of London; the very parch-
| ment, so the faithful believe, which date-
| back 200 years and more before the Con-
| queror; the charter of a freedom confirm
Ned but not granted by William of Nor
| mandy the charter which, AS the Cham
berain reminded us. has not yet lost its
| Significance or lis value, although the lib
| erly which 1t Symbollzes has been extend
| ed to other British subjects, and has be-
| come the inheritance Of the great Anglo.
| American family across the Atlantic. =
| While CITY Chamberlain was speak ing,
Gen. Grant stood in that attitude which |
believe is habilual to him his head a little
| sunk between his shoulders and bent for
| ward the whole figure and face motion
less. When it came his turn TO reply, he
| spoke at first with some slight hesitation
with rather less, ! should say, than most
Euglishmen would have shOwn-then went
straight on to the end, in just that simple,
| conversational style which Euglishmen
| like, and of which few Americans are mas.
| tiers. The words came SO readily off his
tongue that l supposed they had been
| learned by heart, but when some of the re-
porters for the London papers applied for
| The manuscript, II appeared that not n SEN
tence had been written. The General said
that he had found he could only make a
| speech by not thinking of ii beforehand.
1t was, therefore, just what it appeared ia
be, the natural expression, in tit terms, oil
his own feelings; conceived in good taste
| and delivered with surprising effect on
those who heard it. Some 500 persons were
present al this ceremony and at the lunch
which followed in the banqueting room.
Gen. Grant and his party, including Mrs.
Grant, Mr.. j. r. Grant, Mr.. and Mrs.
Pierrepont, and Ger. Badeau, drove di-
| rectly from the Guildhall to the CRYSTAL
Palace, which they visited by invitation OF
the chairman, Mr.. Hughes, and the direc-
tors. They made the tour of that fairy's
mansion. Inspected its many courts, traV-
ersed its ases and galleries, and gazed
from its great balcony on one of the love-
liest prospects in England on the stretch
of smiling valley and the long reaches OIL
slowly-rising hills which fill the horizon
There was concert, good Of its kind
through which Gen. Grant sat with the pa
thence of a man who cares nothing for mu-
sic, but much for the pleasure Of his enter
tanners. There was the dinner, of which ]
have already spoken, and there were the
fireworks. Mr.. Brock, the pyrotechnist oil
the Palace, is at the head of his profession
and there is no other place in the world
where such an exhibition can be seen as
the illumination of the fountains; few or
none where set pieces can be seen on such
a sea lie. The party that came down from
London to see them included Lady Sails
bury, Lady Ripon, and many other people
of social distinction. Our hostess at din
ner was Mrs. Thomas Hughes, of whom ]
could say nothing that would not seem Toe