White House gossip

by Edna M. Colman

Old and young alike exulted again and again over the turn of fortune that threw this born soldier back into the leadership of men; and the tale of every victory and the record of every honour called forth a responsive throb of sympathy and affection, expressed emphatically in the ballots at his election.

But the least known among the treasured stories of Grant’s modest young manhood are those that relate to his meeting and his courtship of his first and only sweetheart, Julia Dent. The romance of Ulysses S. Grant and Julia Dent began with their first meeting—it ended with life.

While at West Point, his roommate invited him to spend a furlough at his father’s home, at White Haven, near St. Louis. They arrived without announcing their coming, and he met the sister of his chum, Julia Dent, then about seventeen. He was greatly attracted to her, the interest seemed to be mutual, and other visits followed more frequently after graduation. After Lieutenant Grant took his departure at the close of one of these he found the memories of Miss Julia so compelling that he returned to pursue his attentions to her. Their betrothal occurred while they were crossing the Gravois. They were in a light rig, the young man driving, the waters swollen and the current so swift from recent heavy rains that they were in grave danger.

The manner of her clinging to him in her fear of the water inspired him with the courage to propose to her in the midst of the stream. In after years, she often related to her grandchildren the story of the betrothal, placing special stress on the significance of the old superstition that prophesied unusual strength and constancy to any pledge made over running water. Mrs. Grant also told the tale of her dream. The night before the first meeting, she had a vivid dream, in which she met, loved, and married a young officer whose name she did not know and whom she had never seen. After she became engaged, she told her sisters, the dream was “out.”

From the beginning of their romance until she closed her hero husband’s eyes in death, no one else could ever equal or compare with him in her estimation of his appearance, character, or achievements.

President Grant was not unaware of the proportions of the task that an adoring following had placed upon his shoulders as the new head of the nation still in the throes of internal political chaos. He fully realized the difficulties of working a miracle in the restoration of harmonious organization. The absence of political bias and of animosity toward those who differed with him was a great asset. In this he stood alone, a figure unique in its isolated superiority to other party leaders. Advice he did not seek. There was no one qualified to give him what he could supply so well from his own impartial point of view. While he appreciated the confidence, loyalty, and high honour of his overwhelming election to the Presidency, he was not blind to the undercurrent of suspicion swirling about his every act, or impervious to the hatred that prevailed toward him in certain sections, nor was he indifferent to the smouldering vengeance seeking its appeasement in his undoing in one fashion or another. So he kept his counsel, studied well each problem, picked the men to fit as best he could, and squared himself to meet the onslaught of legislative and executive sieges with the same direct, practical common sense that had been focussed on his military manœuvres. Of course, mistakes followed, for subtle intrigues and conspiracies could not always be handled by the direct open method. From the opening of his administration, international complications with England beclouded the horizon for a time, and war seemed altogether too imminent for peace of mind.

The Secretary of State and the President were in accord as to the importance of an amicable settlement with Great Britain, if that could be accomplished without the sacrifice of American dignity or honour, and they were most anxious that the differences between the two governments over the depredations of rebel cruisers fitted out in British ports and the depletion of fisheries in North American waters be adjusted as speedily and thoroughly as possible. Remembering the advantages and pleasant relations ensuing as the result of the Webster-Ashburton conferences and the subsequent treaty, these two finally concluded that a set of commissioners from each nation should find the solution. The view was supported by Sir John Rose, Canadian Premier, serving as commissioner under a previous treaty between Canada and the United States, to effect a settlement of certain disputed points between the two countries.

The aggressive attitude of Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, had produced a strained atmosphere, which the Secretary of State had to combat in his dealings with the English Minister, Sir Edward Thornton, as well as in the case of the Premier of Canada. Frequent conferences opened a way for a plan of adjustment, and the letters stipulating for a Joint High Commission were planned and drawn up. Very soon, the Canadian Premier left for England, carrying with him a full and complete concept of the American stand on the difficulty. The plan of the Joint Commission was adopted; and shortly after Sir John Rose returned to England, Earl de Grey, Sir Stafford Northcote, Professor Montague Bernard of Oxford, and the Premier of Canada, Sir John MacDonald, arrived to comprise, with Sir Edward Thornton, the British group, while the American contingent consisted of the Secretary of State, General Schenck (newly appointed Minister to England), Justice Nelson of the Supreme Court, ex-Attorney General E. R. Hoar, and his successor, General George H. Williams.

The Commission, familiarly called “High Joints,” assembled in the spring of 1871. They took a furnished house in Franklin Square and gave a series of dinner parties and evening entertainments. Many return courtesies of officials and prominent civic bodies followed, including a banquet by the Freemasons of Washington, some of whom were members of Congress, in honour of Earl de Gray, at the time Grand Master of Masons in England, and Lord Tenterden, also prominent in this fraternity.

Monsieur de Catacazy, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Emperor of Russia to the United States, opposed this treaty, endeavouring to prejudice Senators and Representatives against it. He carried his opposition to it far enough for Secretary of State Fish to request his recall. His attitude in this matter was not the only reason for his lack of popularity. His private life had long been a matter of gossip. His wife was an attractive lady around whom much scandal centred during his Washington residence. The story was that she had eloped from her husband fifteen years previously with Monsieur de Catacazy, then Secretary of the Legation. The Russian Emperor, learning that his representative was persona non grata, instructed his Minister of Foreign Affairs to ask, in his name, that President Grant tolerate Monsieur de Catacazy’s service until the impending visit of his third son, Grand Duke Alexis, was completed. To this General Grant assented.