New-York tribune., 1886-11-07
GRANT IN PEACE.
By GENERAL ADAM BADEAU.
XIII.
GRANT IN ENGLAND.

10 make my house his home as long as he remained
In London. But he thought his party would be
too large, and he expected to pass the summer
IN London the visit might be too long. He prom
ised however, 10 stay with me II | would allow
him TO share the expense. lie said we had messed
together in the field, and there was no reason
why we should not do IL again. / was only too
glad TO have him with me on any terms and told
him he should decide. Circumstances aftcrward
changed this arrangement he passed only three
weeks under my roof. and for this period hc con
sentcd 10 become my guest for he knew the great
pleasure IL would give me but he left America
intending TO 90 direct 10 my house, and TO mess
with me-
Before he arrived at Queenstown Mr.. Percpont,
the American Minister who had also been Grants
Attorney General. determined to mk the eN-
President 10 stay with him This would he 80
advantageous from public point 0f view that |
could offer no opposition. | met General Grant
at LIVERPOOL AMI he agreed with me that Il was
more appropriate for him first 10 visit the Min
istcr. Accordingly he divided his time between us
Mr. Pcucpont had taken every step In advance
10 for his former chief fitting reception
lie often snid to me that II he had any influence
General Grant shoild not be trcaied ~ the cN-
Presidents wc~ who had previously visited Eng
land. MIR Fillmore and Mr. Van BURN had ~
ccivcd little or no attention because Of the position
they hal held They wcre both invited by the
Minister for Forcirn Affairs u each WIS sent
In to dinner without "A lady AMI at the tail of the
procession They were MIR Fillmore AMI MIR Van
Burcn, and nothing more. MIR. Hcucnont said
that In a country where such matters wcfc ro
safrlcd Us important. he was not willing that Gen
clal Grant should suffer what might seem like an
lndignty.
But at first the English were not inclined 20
f.fsanf
They said: "Amercans give their cN-prcsidcnts
no rank, why should we?' When Picucpont
pointed out that ex-kin,s received peculiar honois'
he was told that they were born in the purple
the eX-king OF Hanover the Queens own
cousin. They forgot that the eX-Empcror OF the
French. the vericst OF rretenders AMI interloP1s'
was treated as equal by Queen Victoria after
lis dow mall yet Inc had not even served out ms
term. bat was deposcd by the leope who he
claimed, had elected him. 1t was besides moor
rect To say that no provision is made in America
for honOring ex-picsidents. The Navy regulations
direct that the salute shall be given to al
cx President to a President, and although no
rules for precedence exist in the United States
except at Washington. there could be no OCCASION
| public or private, when General Grant would not
receive the first place. after the actual President
! Mr.. Perrepont discussed these points with Lord
| Derby, the Minister for Foreign Affairs. who
| finally agreed in behalf of the British Government
| that General Grant should be received as an eA-
| sovereign; he was to make the first visit TO the
| members of the royal family, but every other
| Englishman was TO yield him precedence There
was however, still question OF etiquette with
the foreign representatives. The Government
could give General Grant precedence over ENJOYS,
| but the ambassadors represented the persons OF
their sovcrcgns and would not yield. There
/ Al Ma,.tut llf
| even this difficulty finally disposed OF 10y
diplomatic skill. Lord Derby was to give dinner
at the Foreign Office on the night after General
| Grant arTi, ed in LONDON. 10 the Queens
| birthday, when there is always q dinner 10 the
foreign representatives. Now if General Grant
went to this dlnner the great question OF pIece-
dence would at once arise; so Lord Derby deter
| mined not to invite General Grant on this occa-
| sion but to ask him afterward and then leave
| out the ambassadors Mr.. PicnppOnt was Obliged
to go to the dinner, for he was an envoy, and to
stay away would be a slight to the Queen but the
! Duke Of Wellington asked Gcnral Grant for the
same neht. and had ambassadors.
Ali this was arranged before General Grant
rived in London. AMI without his knowledge
Had he been consulted he would probably have
said that he wished no question raised, but / am
not sure that lie was sorry afleTyard tnat the
| point was made. The precedent set in Inshnd
was followed all over the world, AMI the success
| Of his wonderful tour was certainly aided by the
character of the reception he met from the impor-
tant personages of England. The distinctive
rcco milton Of his cons equence as eX-prsident was
due TO the efforts OF Mr.. lferIepont Without those
| efforts General Grant would doubtless have met
with the same enthusiastic welcome from the
English neople, and from other peoples afteIward.
but he might not have received the distinguished
| IA. Ia hfc nv
around the world TN recedented in history Some
republicans have thought there was too much
| consequence given TO etiquette at the time, but
| the incidents that happened To Fillmore and Van
| Buren show what might have occurred to Grant
| and some of the good feeling which at present
| exists between England and the United States
| might not have been aroused, had the representa-
| tive American been sighted OF officially ignored
| The dillculty Mr.. lieuepOnt had in ar1ansI n
| the matter shows that such event was not I'M
| possible.
But the English Government was as good as It's
| word. Grant had precedence of all Englshmen
at every house in Engand but one and that house
| was not the Queens. Lord Beaconsiield, the
| Prime Minister, set the example. lie invited
Grant to dinner before the General had called on
| him. and attended the party made by the American
| Minister in Grants honor. lhs party was also
| attended by the fOIe-n ambassadors who conceded
so much as this, but insisted that their presence
| should be considered visit, which was to be
punctiliousy returned and | went about WIN une
| noor cneral half the next day leaving cards.
When Mr. Perepont gave "A dinner To the ir1nce
| of Wales for General Grant the same question
came up again for as liercpont was Minister
| ne could not invite the Prince Of Wales without
asking the ambassadors while they. If they wanted
| to, could not stay away he matter Was u'ils
| considered by the Lord Chamberlain and the envoy
! ami the ambassadors. and | am not sure that the
| Prince himself was not consulted, for he Is greai
| authority on etiquette Finally 1t was agreed
| that for this occasion General Grant might pre-
cede the ambassadors and as there were only TWO
ladies' present the Prince took IN MIS- llerepon'
and Mr. pierrepont took Mrs. Grant Ihe am
| Iassado,s followed. and there was no war
MIR Pierrepont constantly gave up ms pisn piaoe 70 70
General (;rant for tins was necessary accoruhs W
,n. ,,,les No American can properly pIccede
He American Minister at the court % 70 whGn thina ne r
fn - a and General Read in Greece and Others
SPsI'm SPnneuer the occasion arose; for PlencpOnt 5