Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-04-18
GEN. GRANT in CONSTANTINOPLE.
The EX-President in the Turkish Capital
His Visit to the Sultan-A Present
of an Arab Steed.-An Invitation from
Grand Duke Nicholas Declined.

HIS 'iSit 10 TIE SHltan-A present
of an Arab Steed--An Invitation from
Grand Duke Nicholas Declined.
A correspondent writes from Constan
tinople, March 10, to the London Times
as follows:
can incident of pleasing nature in
these troubled times was the visit here
of General Grant, the ex-President of
the United States. On his arrival at
Smyrna, on the 22d of February, he re-
celved a tirman from the Porte giving
the Nandalia permission to visit Con-
stantinople. An officer went as far as
Gallipoli to meet the General. He ar
rived here accompanied by his wife and
youngest son. One of the Sultan's
aids-de-camp Immediately conveyed
the congratulations of His Majesty upon
The Generals arrival in Turkey, and
his regret that the sad condition of af
fairs prevented the Generals receiving
such hOnOrs as Turkey would only be
too glad to accord to one who, as Presi-
dent of the United States, had ALWAYS
been a friend Of the Ottoman Govern
ment. Had the General come in time
of peace, the Sultan would have given
him a palace; but now he came to the
house of mourning, and the welcome
would have to be the welcome of sor-
row. The General sent his compli-
ments to the Sultan, not only for this
attention, but for the attentions he had
received through the Turkish Empire.
He said he perfectly understood the
situation, and would rather not be anv
trouble to the SULTAN at time when
! the greatest of troubles rested upon
his throne and his house. This was fol
lowed by an audience with the Sultan.
The interview was strictly private, and
was marked by the absence of all cere-
mony. The Sultan repeated his regret
that the condition of Turkey prevented
his making General Grant his special
guest and giving him a review of troops
and palace. Beyond this and the
Generals expression of courteous re-
gret at the calamity which had fallen
ip5oft1cs.' cs'"''fih fiht Sultan, h0we711tfs, aeKta
the General to accept as a souvenir of
the visit one of his best Arab horses.
This the General would have declined;
but an intimation that the refusal
might be misunderstood led to an ac-
ceptance, and an Arab steed of dapple-
gray will soon be on its way to Ameri-
ca to do service under one who, in addi-
ton to other attributes. is one of the
finest horsemen in a nation famous for
horsemanship, and who reloices in
nothing SO much as in the grace and
majesty of true blooded charger.
In additional to this, there was fur
ther honor to the general in the shape
of a dinner in the war office, attended
by all the cabinet, by Mehemet Ali
Pasha, the military attaches of foreign
embassies and legations, and the gen
erals own party. The general had
long conversation with the premier
about the war, who assured him that,
although the day might be dark now,
there were days when the sun shone;
that Turkey had had her day before,
and would have it again, just as France
had within this very century. | am
told, also, on good authority, that His
Highness thought that the downfall of
France in 1870 was the severest blow
dealt to Turkey, and that if France had
been IL the fullness of her ancient
strength the war would not have gone
so far. General Grant had also an in
teresting conversation with Mehemet
Ali Pasha, who declared that if he had
shown as much firmness in the resist
ance of evil and iniudicious counsels
and order as General Grant had
shown during the war. he might
have thrown the Russians into
the Danube. To this suggestion the
general responded by one of the brill
liant flashes of silence for which he is
| Il 1c ~
Generals stay was a cordial invitation
from the commander of the Russian
army to pay him visit at San Stefano.
This was a sore temptation, as it came
in the most fiattering manner, and the
Wis t would have been of the greatest
interest to a soldier who had command
ed at one time 100000 men. But the
General felt that he was in certain
sense the guest of the Turks; that they
had done him all the honor in their
power, and that it would be poor re-
turn Of their courtesy to go as a guest
to the army which was at the gates of
their capital; so he sent a courteous ex-
cuse to the Russian Commander, and
did not visit the Russian lines. The
General is IN excellent health, and has
passed though the ancient and storied
lands of the East with quite an Ameri
can rapidity. He is said to be an earn
est, pushing traveller, pauseless in his
journeys, and ready for any trip, no mat
ter what fatigue it involves. The Gen
eral left this on the 8th for Athens,
where he will be the guest of the King
Of Greece, and remain four days.
Thence he goes to Naples, and will join
his daughter, Mrs. Sartoris, in Rome,
where he will remain for some weeks.