CHAPTER IX
The first person to call on us on our arrival in London was General Adam Badeau, our Secretary of Legation, who was of great use to us. I had known him since he was a young newspaper-man, who used to pause admiringly before Mr. Bancroft at the opera to get a word or two from the great historian, and who also had a word or two of chat with me about society, for which he was ambitious. After going to the war he had painfully climbed up my steps with his crutches, having been wounded in the foot — poor fellow! — and he had done me the greatest of favors in making General Grant my friend. He had a decided talent for society and was a generous and discriminating entertainer, as well as a man of ability.
The next day we called on Mr. Motley, our minister, and he immediately returned our call; and from that moment, after presenting our letters, we were launched on a sea of dinners and fêtes, balls and social functions. I remember Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, Lord Houghton, Sir John Bowring, Tom Taylor, the dramatist; Sir Harry and Lady Verney, Mr. Beresford (at Hampton Court), and Mr. Holford as among our earliest friends.
