The Portland daily press., 1877-07-13
Special Correspondence Of the Press J
Letter from England.
LONDON, ENGLAND, June 80, 1877.
GEN. GRANTS VISIT.

A<SOsOA "A AVAAA Lh6 Anuus
LONDON, ENGLAND, June 80, 1877
GEN. GRANTS VISIT.
"That Gen. Grant! Cad, can't believe it!
Where is his uniform? Why doesn't he straight-
en- up? What would our old Duke of Welling-
ton have thought of him, if he could have
seen hm?" So said sffable, but downright
John Bull to me at the Alexandra Palace when
our good Ulysses came in, accompanied by the
Lord Mayor and other dignitaries, to listen to
an entertainment given in his honor. And
felt bound to say in reply that, whatever the
Iron Duke might have thought or said of our
unpretending soldier, Gen. Grant had COM
manded, and with uniform success, a larger
army than Wellington ever saw in his life, and
that in his civil career he had 80 conducted
himself as never to be mobbed and hooted by
the populace as had more than once happened
to the Duke. But ID must be confessed that
the ex-Presidents appearance on this and other
occasions has not been such as to excite the
enthusiasm of strangers who expect to see
tall, straight, handsome man clad in gorgeous
uniform and bearing himself with grace and
dignity. On the day in question, as he stood
in constrained and awkward attitude by the
side of the portly Lord Mayor. he looked so
bored, unhappy, and stolid, that it required all
the knowledge which his countrymen possess of
his wonderful history and of the great capacity
he has shown both in military and civil life,
to sustain that feeling of respect which his
real merits legitimately inspire. The English
people and especially the aristocracy have re-
ceived him most cordially and with the sincere
purpose OF doing honor to him and his coun-
try. Dukes and princes vie with each other in
entertaining him. The Queen and the Prince
of Wales treat him with distinguished consid-
GRAFTON. But however justly he may be esti-
mated by the great people with whom he is
brought in contact, the average Englishman
does not understand him at all. The Cockney
runs to see him pass through the street or en-
ter the theatre, and when he has seen him, and
especially when he has heard him make bis
speech" shrugs his shoulders and laughs.
He marvels at an American who cannot talk.
lie criticises the Generals grammar, generally
without reason, and is prone to draw the infer
ence that Americans generally are deficient in
culture. But notwithstanding this lack IF ap-
probation on the part of those who have the
least opportunity to form an intelligent opin-
tionably disclosed the fact that there exists be-
tween England and America at this time a
stronger feeling of amity than has ever before
been known-greater perhaps than ever before
existed between two great and powerful ma
tions. All the Englishmen whom have met,
whatever their political views or their opinion
of the relative merits of the two forms of gov
ernment, are uniformly very emphatic in their
declarations that contest between England
and the United States would be nothing less
than crime
Ii were to find any fault with Gen. Grant
and it is perhaps unbecoming to do so-lt
would not be that he is modest in his deport-
ment and has an air of extreme WEAKNESS and
mental perplexity, but that, notwithstanding
all he seems to suffer from the experience, he
nevertheless appears ambitious of social dis
tlnction and to court rather than to shun pub
lie demonstrations in his honor. Junketing
seems to be the sole bust ness of his life here,
while one might fairly have supposed that, like
the Emperor of Brazil, who is now a guest at
the Claridge Hotel, he would have made his
trip useful to him in his.future career by study
ing the Institutions, the works of art, the in
dustries and the common people of the coun-
tries which he now visits for the first time. He
will carry away with him many "reminiscences,
of lords and ladies, of royalty, of lackeys in
wigs and powder, with gorgeous liveries and
many buttons, of numberless "feeds'' and
many complments-but lit is impossible to see
how he will find much mental profit or even
enjoyment in all this. The Emperor of
Brazil is man of quite different temper
in this respect. He rises betimes every
day and applies himself to the work of self.cul-
ture with q conscientious zeal that astonistes
all beholders. Now he makes the round of the
museums now he inspects an arsenal or a man
ufacturing establishment, anon he is an atten-
tive listener to scientific discourse or is found
in consultation with men of literary distinction.
He hardly stops to eat, and when the inspec-
ton of school or the view of a'picture gallery
finds him at few miles distance from, his
lodgings, he goes unostentatously to the near
est reputable restaurant and lunches or dimes
there. He does not shun the theatre or the
opera, but apparently makes them part of his
study. This is a line of conduct worthy of an
intelligent and prudent man, and is quite as
we'll calculated to command the respect and in
sure the friendship of foreign nations as taking
part in an endless round of fetes. But perhaps
Gen. Grant is of the opinion that he has thought
and worked enough, and that he is fairly ell
titled to use the rest of his life as q holiday
And SO he is; but am sorry it seems to bore
him so much; for the American is indeed
stranger to all feelings of patriotism and graft
tude who is not proud of the man and of his
achievements, and who does not heartily wish
ham nd in
from public life.
CHARLES BRADLAUGH AND ANNIE BEsANT..
Those who were so fortunate as to see Charles
Bradlaugb, the reformer and philanthropist, on
the occasion of his visit to America few years
ago, will not readily forget him or his dis
courses. There is not man in England, as
believe, who is more sincerely and disinterest-
edly devoted to the welfare of the English peo-
pie and of mankind. Yet this man and Mrs.
Besant have just been sentenced by Lord Chief
Justice Cockburn, of Geneva fame, to six
months imprisonment and fine Of two hundred
pounds each, for publishing an "obscene
book" have no hesitation in avowing that
was one of the very first purchasers of the now
famous Fruits of Philosophy" ] had no idea
of its contents at the time, and If had it
would have made no difference. The publish
ers announced in the papers that they would
personally be in attendance at their shop to
sell the first hundred copies of the work. which,
they said, had been suppressed when issued by
another publisher some months ago. l was
curious to know what the publication was and
also to see the publishers. Accordingly re-
paired to Stonecutter street at the appointed
hour and found Mrs. Besant, Bradlaugh and
his two daughters installed behind their coun-
ter drinking tea and selling their book at six
pence copy in the pleasantest manner pos
sible. Mrs. Besant is a woman whose face and
manner afford ample proof to any impartial OBJ
server that, howev er kmistaken she may be in
the course she has chosen, there is no impurity
in her soul or in her life and that she is gov
erned in her conduct by considerations which
entitle her to respect and admiration. Her