Part 8 (1/2)

April 29, 1885

I called on General Grant and took Susy withfar better than he had looked or felt for soain on his book that --the first ti's as his first attereat delight He had always said that it would be i, but I had said that he was noted for clearness of statement, and as a narrative was simply a statement of consecutive facts, he was consequently peculiarly qualified and equipped for dictation This turned out to be true

For he had dictated two hours thatto a shorthand writer, had never hesitated for words, had not repeated himself, and the manuscript when finished needed no revision The two hours' as an account of Appomattox--and this was such an extremely important feature that his book would necessarily have been severely lame without it Therefore I had taken a shorthand writer there before, to see if I could not get him to write at least a few lines about Appoh to undertake it I are that of all the hundred versions of Appomattox, not one was really correct Therefore I was extremely anxious that he should leave behind hi hier than usual He was so delighted to have gotten Appootten the matter off his mind--that he was as talkative as his old self He received Susy very pleasantly, and then fell to talking about certain matters which he hoped to be able to dictate next day; and he said in substance that, as, he wanted to settle once for all a question that had been bandied about from mouth to mouth and froinated the idea of the march to the sea? Was it Grant's, or was it Sheret the iinated, I don't remember But I remember his answer I shall always remember his answer General Grant said:

”Neither of us originated the idea of Sherman's march to the sea

The enemy did it”

He went on to say that the enereat ets the credit for; at the sa open other e of In this case, Sherht out, of course Herailroads in that part of the country, and that would finish up that region But General Hood did not play the military part that he was expected to play On the contrary, General Hood a

This left thepart of his ara region, he was perfectly free to proceed, with the rest of it, through Georgia He saw the opportunity, and he would not have been fit for his place if he had not seized it

”He wrote ) ”what his plan was, and I sent hio ahead My staff were opposed to the movement”

(I think the General said they tried to persuade him to stop Sherman The chief of his staff, the General said, even went so far as to go to Washi+ngton without the General's knowledge and get the ear of the authorities, and he succeeded in arousing their fears to such an extent that they telegraphed General Grant to stop Sherman)

Then General Grant said, ”Out of deference to the Governraphed Sher that that was deference enough to the Governain”

I have not tried to give the General's language, but only the general idea of what he said The thing that inated the idea of the estive of the General's epigrale crisp sentence (This is ned ”Mark Twain”)

_Susy Resumes_

After papa and General Grant had had their talk, ent back to the hotel where mamma was, and papa told mamma all about his intervieith General Grant Maether

That pair of devoted coether when there was opportunity to have what Susy called ”a cozy time” From Susy's nursery days to the end of her life, she and her mother were close friends; intimate friends, passionate adorers of each other Susy's was a beautifulcomrade And with the fine mind she had a heart like her mother's Susy never had an interest or an occupation which she was not glad to put aside for that so which was in all cases more precious to her--a visit with her ht tie--twenty-four years At twenty-four, such a girl has seen the best of life--life as a happy dreain; responsibility comes, and with it the cares, the sorrows, and the inevitable tragedy For her rave if I could, but I would not have done it for raphy_

Then papa went to read in public; there were a great many authors that read, that Thursday afternoon, beside papa; I would have liked to have gone and heard papa read, but papa said he was going to read in Vassar just what he was planning to read in New York, so I stayed at home with mamma

The next day mamma planned to take the four o'clock car back to Hartford We rose quite early thatand went to the Vienna Bakery and took breakfast there Froht some German books for Clara's birthday

Dear me, the power of association to snatch raves and n books throws a sudden white glare upon the distant past; and I see the long stretch of a New York street with an unearthly vividness, and John Hay walking down it, grave and re, and I overtook Hay and asked him what the trouble was He turned a lustreless eye upon me and said:

”My case is beyond cure In the most innocent way in the world I have coiven by the sufferers, for they will never believe--oh, well, no, I was going to say they would never believe that I did the thing innocently The truth is they will know that I acted innocently, because they are rational people; but what of that? I never can look theain--nor theybachelor, and at that time was on the ”Tribune” staff

He explained his trouble in these words, substantially:

”When I was passing along here yesterdayon my way don to the office, I stepped into a bookstore where I a new from the other side They handed me a French novel, in the usual yellow paper cover, and I carried it away I didn't even look at the title of it It was for recreation reading, and I was on , and I think I hadn't gone more than fifty yards when I heard e drew up at the sidewalk and I shook hands with the inhter, excellent people

They were on their way to the steamer to sail for Paris The ed by the look of it that it was a French novel Is it?'