Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-23
Written for The Evening Star.

W.Z-1r SII(l ragged seven years
! { ! !: J
tAFR ago over the claim
made by Badeau that
RSR~C1f he was joint author
IM with Gen. Grant of
fFW Ilf~ the famous book of
e~| memoirs. which broke
@Tl - the royalty record
t. just after the gen.
erals death. A difference of opinion be-
tween Gen. Grant and Gen. Badeau over
the part Badeau was to play in getting to-
gether the material for the work separated
the two friends permanently; and after
Gen. Grants death. Gen. Badeau got into
a controversy with his widow and her
sens over the compensation promised to
him by Gen. Grant, and in the course of
this controversy he made a statement for
publication claiming that Grant could
never have written the memoirs, and that
he was quite as much the author of them
as was Gen. Grant. Then it developed that
Mrs. Grant had offered to settle the claim
of Gen. Badeau for a satisfactory sum,
but that she would pay the money only on
condition that Gen. Badeau give a receipt
disclaiming any part in the work of writ
irg the memoirs. This Gen. Badeau re-
fused to do, and so the matter got into the
newspapers.
baueau ndu Deen Grdut military SecTe-
tary, and he had published two Grant
books before Grant began to write the IA
nous memoirs. The history of those me-
rloirs is well known. Gen. Grant had never
done any writing, as he himself says in
his book. until financial misfortune over
took him, and then he accepted PROPOSE
ton from magazine for four war articles.
He found the work Of preparing these so
congenial that he accepted the proposition
of New York publisher to prepare two
volumes of memoirs on a royalty.
To save himself the drudgery of looking
up facts and figures, which were not en-
tlrely fresh in his memory, or of corrobor-
ating his remembrance of occurrences,
Gen. Grant asked the assistance OF Gen.
Badeau. Gen. Badeau had done the same
service for him in connection with the
magazine articles Gen. Badeau accepted
the employment, and the question OF COM
pensation was not determined. When the
prospects of the book appeared to be very
bright, Badeau wanted Grant to sign
contract with him to pay him $1,000
month in advance for his work in connec-
ton with the book. and to give him 10 per
cent of the profits of the publication.
Gen. Grants Terms.
Three months before this proposition had
been made, Gen. Grant had signed an
agreement, in which he stated that sin
consideration of the fact that the book
which ! am now engaged upon will be In
competition with Bsdeau's history Of my
campaigns, which was written with my
consent and with the expectation that 1t
would take the place Of all that I would
have to say upon the subject; in further
consideration that shall use maps which
he had prepared with great care" etc. he
voluntarily stipulated to pay Gen. t3adeau
5000 from the first $4,000 realized from
the sale of the book. and 5000 from the
next $4,000. This was signed February q.
1885, and on the I'd Of March, three days
later. Badeau signed a receipt for s2oo as
his share under this contract of the first
81 GOO paid to Gen. Grant in advance by his
publishers. But a little later. as has been
said, Gen. Badeau came to the conclusion
that he was not getting enough Of the
profits, and he demanded a larger percent
age of them. He complained in letter to
Gen. Grant that the labor which 1t vas pro-
posed he should do was hack work. and
suggested that he should have more ac-
tive part in the preparation of the book.
"Your book" he said in letter to Gen.
Grant, May 9. 1885, has assumed an i'm
portance which neither you nor I antici-
pated last summer. 1t is to have a circu-
lation CT hundreds of thousands and the
larger its circulation the greater Its i'm
portance--the more completely II will sup
help you to make it the more effeetually I
destroy what have spent my life In build
ing up-my reputation as your historian"
OF the character Of the proposed work.
he said in the same letter: "You propose
to dictate and I am to piece and connect
and prepare the disjointed fragments into
merest literary drudgery, such as I would
never consent to do for anyone but you
five limos as laborious as original compo-
sition, with none Of the interest. I must
efface myself ard work intensely hard
without increased pay or any at all until
year and a half from the beginning of my
labors." Beyond this. the letter says: you
have neither the physical strength nor the
habits Of mind yourself to make the re-
searches to verify or correct your own
memory. If you cannot yourself finish the
work nobody can do it fifty but me-
A Dying Mans Determination.
At the time this letter was written Grant
was on the verge of the grave. 1t was
about six weeks before his removal to
Mount McGregor where he died. Grants
condition at that time was known to be
serious. and Badeau knew how much re-
manned to be done to complete the me-
moirs. Evidently he thought that the dying
man would not be equal to the task. The
story of how Grant chung to the work,
knowing that the future prosperity Of his
wife and children depended on 1t, and how
he completed the last page just four days
before his death, is still familiar memory
May Badeau wrote another letter to
Gen. Grant, saying: Il have no desire, In
tention or right to claim the authorship of
your book. The composition is entirely
your own. What assistance I have been
able to render has been in suggestion, re-
vision CIR veriflcation."
last letter to Gen. Badeau He refers in 1t
first to the fact that Badeau had reminded
him of the promise of $4,000 for his as
sistance. 81 said,' continues the letter,
that 1 would like your assistance because
have never written book, and there was
much work connected with the undertaking
that was not familiar With. When I said
this you replied that knew what a pleas
ure it would be to you to serve me. and
that you would take no. 1g If 1t were not
for your circumstances, which I knew. 1t
was out of respect for your sensitfveness
that I enumerated. as I did, the details of
compensation in the paper which long
subsequently handed you, SO that in case
of my death you could still get what I
promised on the fulfllment Of your part of
the work. I did not contemplate your
writing anything except in case of my
death, but expected you to help me ar
range it and to criticise my work so that
could correct"
Not Under False Colors.
Finally, Gen. Grant says: "You say that
I am a man Of affairs. etc., and can tell
simple story, etc. You imply that a liter
airy man must supply some deficiencies, and