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TWENTY YEARS IN EUROPE.
TWENTY YEARS IN EUROPE.
Twenty Years in Europe A CONSUL-GENERAL’S MEMORIES OF NOTED PEOPLE, WITH LETTERS FROM GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN BY S. H. M. BYERS, U. S. Consul-General to Switzerland and Italy , AUTHOR OF “ Sherman’s March to the Sea ,” “ The Happy Isles ,” “ Switzerland and the Swiss ,” ETC. PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. Chicago and New York : RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. Copyright, 1900, by Rand, McNally & Co. INSCRIBED TO MARGARET GILMOUR BYERS....
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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR.
While staying in Switzerland and Italy as a consular officer, during a period of well on to twenty years, I kept a diary of my life. Without being a copy of the diary, this book is made up from its pages and from my own recollections of men, scenes, and events. It was during an interesting period, too. There were stirring times in Europe. Two great wars took place; one great empire was born; another became a republic; and the country of Victor Emmanuel changed from a lot of petty dukedoms to a f
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CHAPTER I 1869
CHAPTER I 1869
A LITTLE WHITE CARD WITH PRESIDENT GRANT’S NAME ON IT--A VOYAGE TO EUROPE--AN ENGLISH INN--HEAR GLADSTONE SPEAK--JOHN BRIGHT AND DISRAELI. In the State Department at Washington, there is on file a plain little visiting card, signed by President U. S. Grant. That card was the Secretary’s authority for commissioning me Consul to Zurich. “I would much like to have that little card,” I said to an Assistant Secretary, long years afterward. “Most anybody would,” replied the official, smiling.
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CHAPTER II 1869
CHAPTER II 1869
IN SWITZERLAND--THE ALPS--EMBARRASSMENT IN NOT KNOWING THE LANGUAGE--CELEBRATED EXILES MEET IN A CERTAIN CAFE--BRENTANO--WAGNER--KINKEL--SCHERR--KELLER--AND OTHERS. We stayed in Paris for a week. Then, one night, we crossed the plains of France, and at daylight saw with beating hearts the Jura Mountains. They were as a high wall of cliff and forest, green, deep valleys and running rivers, between France and the land of William Tell. The afternoon of that day saw us at our journ
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CHAPTER III 1870
CHAPTER III 1870
IN THE ORSINI CAFE--GREAT NEWS FROM FRANCE--WHAT THE EXILES THINK--LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--I GET PERMISSION TO GO AND LOOK AT THE WAR--IN THE SNOW OF THE JURAS--ARRESTED--THE SURRENDER OF THE 80,000--ZURICH IN THE HANDS OF A MOB--A FRIENDLY HINT. August 15, 1870. --At six in the evening of this day I was sitting with these other friends in the little corner of the Orsini, when a boy called out: “Great news from France!” Yesterday (August 14, 1870) was a day to be forever
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CHAPTER IV 1871
CHAPTER IV 1871
THE PARIS HORRORS--SOME EXCURSIONS WITH LITERARY PEOPLE--BEER GARDENS--A CHARACTERISTIC FUNERAL--FUNERAL OF A POET’S CHILD--CAROLINE BAUER, THE ACTRESS--A POLISH PATRIOT--CELEBRATING THE FOURTH OF JULY AT CASTLE RAPPERSCHWYL--THE ST. BERNARD--THE MULES AND DOGS--ON A SWISS FARM--FOR BURNING CHICAGO. June, 1871. --Horrible news continues to come of the atrocities of the “Communists” in Paris. The most beautiful city of the world is half burned up by its own children. Hundr
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CHAPTER V 1872
CHAPTER V 1872
LOUIS BLANC, THE STATESMAN--HIS NOVEL COURTSHIP--HIS APPEARANCE--INVITES US TO PARIS--JUST MISS VICTOR HUGO--HIS SPEECH AT MADAME BLANC’S GRAVE--LETTER FROM LOUIS BLANC--ALABAMA ARBITRATORS--SEE GAMBETTA AND JULES FAVRE. May 9, 1872. --On this day Louis Blanc, the French statesman and historian, called. It was to thank me for a favor I had done on a time for his nephew, but the visit resulted in a friendship that lasted till his death, ten years later. Louis Blanc had been to t
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CHAPTER VI 1872
CHAPTER VI 1872
WILLIAM TELL--THE RIGI IN THE GOOD OLD TIMES--PILATUS--ROSE BUSHES FOR FUEL. We spent this summer of 1872 at beautiful Bocken, an old castle-like chateau, sitting high above the lake, ten miles out from the city. It was once the home of the Zurich burgomasters, at the time when they exercised the authority of petty kings. The scene from Bocken is very grand. The chateau, with its big hall of knights, its old oak-paneled dining-room, its brick-paved corridors and leaded, round-paned windows
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CHAPTER VII 1872
CHAPTER VII 1872
GENERAL SHERMAN VISITS US AT ZURICH--LETTERS FROM HIM--SWISS OFFICERS ENTERTAIN HIM--HIS LAKE EXCURSION--HE EXPLAINS HIS GREATEST CAMPAIGN TO THEM--HE IS ENTERTAINED AT THE SWISS CAPITAL--LETTER FROM GENERAL DUFOUR. August, 1872. --General Sherman had written me late in the previous Autumn of his intention to visit Europe. Admiral Alden was appointed to the command of our squadron at Villa Franca, and invited the General to sail with him in his flagship, the “Wabash.” They left on
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CHAPTER VIII 1872
CHAPTER VIII 1872
LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--VISIT AMERICA--SANDS OF BREMEN--STORMS AT SEA--ELIHU WASHBURNE--BANQUET TO HIM ON SHIP--I AM A GUEST AT THE SHERMAN HOME--MRS. SHERMAN--ARRANGE TO TAKE MISS SHERMAN TO EUROPE--MEET MR. BLAINE--MY SONG IS SUNG IN THE SHERMAN HOME--CONVERSATIONS WITH SHERMAN--MEET PRESIDENT GRANT--HOW I HAPPENED TO BE IN THE REBEL ARMY ONCE--LETTERS FROM GENERAL SHERMAN. October, 1872. --As I had now been absent from home just three years, I secured a few
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CHAPTER IX 1873
CHAPTER IX 1873
LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--LOSS OF THE “ATLANTIC”--THE BOYHOOD HOME OF NAPOLEON III. AND OF HIS MOTHER, QUEEN HORTENSE--A COMPANION TELLS OF THE PRINCE’S PRANKS AND STUDIES--JOSEPHINE’S HARP--ARENABERG FULL OF NAPOLEON RELICS--WE HAVE A LONG INTERVIEW WITH THE EX-EMPRESS EUGENIE--LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--SPEAKS OF THIERS. May Day, 1873. --The terrible wreck of the White Star Liner “Atlantic,” took place two weeks since. Five hundred souls lost. I had secured passage for o
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CHAPTER X 1873
CHAPTER X 1873
THE SOURCE OF THE RHINE--STRANGE VILLAGES THERE--A REPUBLIC FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OLD--THE “GRAY LEAGUE”--“THE LEAGUE OF THE HOUSE OF GOD”--LOUIS PHILIPPE’S HIDING PLACE--A TOUR IN THE VALLEY OF THE INN--LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--REGRETS HIS CAREER SEEMS OVER. This summer we determined to see the source of the River Rhine. For all that tourists seemed to know, it was only a mist among the clouds. It was far away in the upper and unfrequented Alps. We went on foot, and found all t
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CHAPTER XI 1874
CHAPTER XI 1874
SHERMAN ON CUBA--VISIT ITALY--GARIBALDI’S WONDERFUL RECEPTION AT ROME--THE ARTIST FREEMAN--FIRST AMERICAN PAINTER TO LIVE IN ROME--ROME IN 1840--SEE VICTOR EMMANUEL--JOAQUIN MILLER--HIS CONVERSATION AND APPEARANCE--NEW SWISS CONSTITUTION--MORE LETTERS FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--TOO MANY COMMANDERS IN WASHINGTON FOR HIM--WILL GO TO ST. LOUIS--HIS VIEWS OF WAR HISTORIES. A hint once that if I preferred to be in the Army instead of the Consular service the matter could be arran
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CHAPTER XII 1875
CHAPTER XII 1875
LETTERS FROM MRS. SHERMAN AND THE GENERAL--HE TELLS ME HE IS WRITING HIS LIFE--THE NEGRO QUESTION--A CHATEAU BY LAKE ZURICH--I WRITE A BOOK ON SWITZERLAND--ALSO WRITE A PLAY--A CITY OF DEAD KINGS--GO TO LONDON--MEET COLONEL FORNEY--DINNER AT GEO. W. SMALLEY’S--KATE FIELD--VISIT BOUCICAULT--CONVERSATIONS WITH THE NEWER SHAKESPEARE--THE BEAUTIFUL MINNIE WALTON--BREAKFAST AT HER HOME--PROF. FICK--HIS HOUSE BUILT IN THE OLD ROMAN WALL--LECTURES--HOLIDAYS AT THE CO
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CHAPTER XIII 1876
CHAPTER XIII 1876
STORM IN THE ALPS--MR. BENJAMIN--KATE SHERWOOD BONNER--ICEBERGS--A SCOTCH POET--HORATIO KING’S LITERARY EVENINGS--COL. FORNEY--MR. ROBERT--A NEW YORK MILLIONAIRE’S HOME--A CHRISTMAS NIGHT HURRICANE AT SEA--THE TILDEN-HAYES FIGHT--CIVIL WAR FEARED IN WASHINGTON--DENNISON, THE INVENTOR--A STRANGE MURDER--THE WRECK OF THE SCHILLER AND LOSS OF MISS DIMMICK. September 1. --Spent a day or so of each week this summer up at the Alpine hamlet, Obstalden, where we could look
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CHAPTER XIV 1877
CHAPTER XIV 1877
GENERAL GRANT VISITS LAKE LUZERN--CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM--HOW I BROUGHT THE GOOD NEWS OF SHERMAN’S SUCCESSES IN THE CAROLINAS TO GENERAL GRANT AT RICHMOND--GRANT’S SIMPLICITY IN HIS TRAVELS--A STRANGE EXPERIENCE ON THE RIGI--LONDON PAPERS AMAZED AT THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES--FIRST TELEPHONE. July 1, 1877. --Last week there was some talk among the prominent people here, including the few Americans, of having a public reception for General Grant. Knowing that he was stoppin
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CHAPTER XV 1877
CHAPTER XV 1877
GENERAL GRANT AND THE SWISS PRESIDENT--BANQUET TO GRANT AT BERN--GOOD ROADS--CHARGE D’AFFAIRES FOR SWITZERLAND--WRITING FOR THE MAGAZINES. July 27, 1877. --General Grant arranged to visit the Swiss capital on the 24th. Our minister being absent, I, as senior consul, went up to Bern to offer him the courtesies of the legation. Quite a crowd of people surrounded him as he came in at the station, and we drove to the Bernerhof hotel. General Adam Badeau was with him, as was also his son Je
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CHAPTER XVI 1877
CHAPTER XVI 1877
FRANZ LISZT AT ZURICH--SWISS, GREAT LOVERS OF MUSIC--WAGNER ONCE LIVED HERE--HIS SINGULAR WAYS--DR. WILLI--MADAME LUCCA’S VILLA--LISZT’S KISSING BEES--JEFFERSON DAVIS’ DAUGHTER--A LAUGHABLE MISTAKE. September, 1877. --The Swiss have almost as much love for music as the Italians, though they have no composers of great reputation. Every city, town, and hamlet has its Music Guilds and clubs. The whole male population seems to sing. There are many fine instrumental performers among
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CHAPTER XVII 1878
CHAPTER XVII 1878
SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF MINE ABOUT GENERAL GRANT IN THE WAR--GRANT AT CHAMPION HILLS--SHERMAN’S LETTER ON CONFISCATION BY TAXATION IN AMERICA--SILVER NO “CURE ALL”--GRANT AT RAGATZ--I GIVE A BANQUET IN HIS HONOR AT ZURICH. January, 1878. --To-day made New Year’s calls on some American friends; but it is not customary among the Swiss. Received copies of my “Recollections of Grant and Sherman,” printed in the Philadelphia Times . It so happened that I had seen General Grant often in the
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CHAPTER XVIII 1878
CHAPTER XVIII 1878
THE ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL--I DESCRIBE IT FOR HARPER’S MAGAZINE--ITS COST--A GREAT SCARE IN THE TUNNEL. October, 1878. --The great tunnel through the St. Gothard Alps is reaching completion. Nothing like it was ever accomplished before in the world. It happens that Mr. Hellwag, the chief engineer of the stupendous undertaking, is a personal friend, and he gave me every facility for visiting it. His courtesy and hints have helped me in preparing my article for Harper’s (October) Magazine. Hel
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CHAPTER XIX 1879
CHAPTER XIX 1879
AMERICAN ARTISTS AT MUNICH--I MEET MARK TWAIN--TAKE HIM TO AN ARTISTS’ CLUB--CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM--BEER DRINKING--HE READS THE ORIGINAL OF “WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE GERMAN LANGUAGE”--WE ENTERTAIN THE AMERICANS AT ZURICH--A LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--CONFEDERATES MORE POPULAR THAN UNION MEN--SHERMAN READY TO SURRENDER. February 1, 1879. --Spent part of January in Munich, and very much of the time among the studios of the American artists. There are not less than fifty of our
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CHAPTER XX 1879
CHAPTER XX 1879
A TRIP THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST--STEIN ON THE RHINE--A FAMOUS CASTLE--“ALL BLOWN UP”--GOOD ROADS--FOX HUNTING. June 4, 1879. --Two weeks since, friends invited us to accompany them on an extended drive through the Black Forest. Such a drive, through charming scenery, and with perfect June weather, was a pleasure nobody thought of declining. We entered the Black Forest at Stein on the Rhine, and staid all night there. The scenery of the fair Rhine, the ancient castles, the picturesque
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CHAPTER XXI 1879
CHAPTER XXI 1879
BRET HARTE--LETTERS FROM HIM--VISITS US--STAY AT BOCKEN--CONVERSATIONS--MRS. SENATOR SHERMAN--EVENINGS AT BOCKEN--WE ALL GO TO THE RIGI--HOW WE GOT THE “PRINCE’S” ROOMS--HARTE GOES WITH US TO OBSTALDEN IN THE ALPS--VERY SIMPLE LIFE--A STRANGE FUNERAL--HARTE FINDS HIS STORIES IN A VILLAGE INN--MORE LETTERS--WE VISIT THE MOSELLE RIVER--FINER THAN THE RHINE--A WONDERFUL CASTLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES--ALL FURNISHED AND FRESH AS WHEN NEW--THE FRENCH DID NOT FIND IT WHE
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CHAPTER XXII 1880–1881
CHAPTER XXII 1880–1881
A LITTLE STAY BY THE MEDITERRANEAN--AM OFFERED A POSITION IN CHINA--AN ARTICLE ON THE SWISS RHINE--ALSO ONE ON MY EXPERIENCES IN THE REBEL ARMY--TWO LETTERS FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--GRANT AND THE PRESIDENCY--SAYS THE BARE NARRATIVE OF MY ESCAPE FROM PRISON WOULD BE AN EPIC--BANQUET AT THE LEGATION--I WRITE FOR THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE AN EXPOSE OF HOW CERTAIN EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES SENT PAUPERS TO THE UNITED STATES--AM VIOLENTLY ATTACKED FOR IT BY MANY AMERICAN JOURNALS AND REPRIMANDED
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CHAPTER XXIII 1881
CHAPTER XXIII 1881
ELM AND ALL ITS PEOPLE DESTROYED BY AN AVALANCHE--A FOOT TRIP IN IRELAND--FENIANS--REDCOATS--POVERTY--THE QUEEN HOOTED--OUT OF JAIL AND A HERO--MUCKROSS ABBEY BY MOONLIGHT--AN IRISH FUNERAL--A DUPLICATE BLARNEY STONE-LETTERS FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON--THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. September, 1881. --It is a year now since pretty Elm and all its people were buried in an avalanche. Only a few days before, we had climbed over one of the obscure
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CHAPTER XXIV 1882–1883
CHAPTER XXIV 1882–1883
VISIT NORTHERN ITALY--AMERICAN INDIANS IN ZURICH--DEATH OF THE POET KINKEL--LETTERS FROM CARL SCHURZ AND THE POET’S WIFE--LETTER FROM SHERMAN AS TO THE BOUNTEOUS MISSISSIPPI VALLEY--A SECOND LETTER FROM SHERMAN--THE PRESIDENCY--CONVERSATIONS WITH SCHERR, THE WRITER--THE POET KINKEL’S SON--HIS POWERFUL MEMORY--WE VISIT BERLIN--MINISTER SARGENT’S TROUBLE WITH PRINCE BISMARCK OVER AMERICAN PORK--SARGENT IS APPOINTED TO ST. PETERSBURG--INDIANS AGAIN--BABY LIONS--VISIT A
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CHAPTER XXV 1884
CHAPTER XXV 1884
SOME INTERESTING LETTERS FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--REQUESTS FOR SOUVENIRS--HIS “FLAMING SWORD”--ONE ON THE PRESIDENCY--I AM APPOINTED CONSUL GENERAL FOR ITALY--AN AMERICAN FOURTH OF JULY PICNIC ON LAKE ZURICH--LORD BYRON’S HOME IN SWITZERLAND--SOME OLD LETTERS ABOUT HIS LIFE THERE--THE LAKE DWELLINGS OF SWITZERLAND--KELLER, THE ANTIQUARIAN--POWER OF SWISS TORRENTS. In a recent volume of my poems, some little change had been made in the stanzas of “The March to the Sea.” General S
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CHAPTER XXVI 1884
CHAPTER XXVI 1884
START FOR ITALY--THE CHOLERA--TEN DAYS IN QUARANTINE ON LAKE MAGGIORE--A HEROIC KING--WE ARE PRESENTED TO QUEEN MARGARET--AMERICAN ARTISTS IN ROME--THE ROYAL BALLS--RECEPTIONS AND PARTIES--MEET MANY PEOPLE OF NOTE--THE HILLS OF ROME--MINISTER ASTOR AND HIS HOME--HUGH CONWAY--IBSEN--MARION CRAWFORD--ONE OF THE BONAPARTES--KEAT’S ROOM--THE CARDINALS--ISCHIA DESTROYED--CHRISTMAS IN ROME--LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--HIS VIEWS OF ROME--CLEVELAND’S ELECTION-
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CHAPTER XXVII 1885
CHAPTER XXVII 1885
STILL IN ROME--PRESENTED TO POPE LEO XIII--STORY, THE POET SCULPTOR--RANDOLPH ROGERS--TILTON--ELIHU VEDDER--ASTOR RESIGNS--SECRETARY OF LEGATION DIES WITH ROMAN FEVER--I AM PUT IN CHARGE OF LEGATION--CAPRI--GOVERNOR PIERPONT--THINGS SUPERNATURAL--TALK AGAINST GLADSTONE--SHAKESPEARE WOOD--SENATOR MOLESCHOTT, A REMARKABLE MAN--INTERESTING LETTERS FROM GENERAL SHERMAN--PARTY STRONGER THAN PATRIOTISM; MY RECALL--MONEY LENDING AND TAXES--KEEP OUT OF DEBT. February,
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CHAPTER XXVIII 1886
CHAPTER XXVIII 1886
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW ENGAGES ME TO EDIT SEVERAL CHAPTERS OF THE SHERMAN CORRESPONDENCE--SHERMAN WRITES AS TO MAGAZINES AND HIS BOOK--THE GENERAL INVITES ME TO COME AND STAY AT HIS HOME IN ST. LOUIS--HE OFFERS ME THE USE OF ALL HIS PAPERS--I PUBLISH ALSO IN THE REVIEW A PROSE NARRATIVE OF THE MARCH TO THE SEA--MRS. SHERMAN READS IT TO THE GENERAL--BUFFALO BILL--GENERAL GIVES ME HIS ARMY BADGE--NIGHTS IN SHERMAN’S OFFICE--CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM--LIFE IN THE SHERMAN HOME--
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CHAPTER XXIX 1887–90
CHAPTER XXIX 1887–90
AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM GENERAL GRANT--SHERMAN LIVING IN NEW YORK--HIS IMMENSE POPULARITY WITH ALL AMERICANS--LETTERS FROM HIM--EXHIBITED LIKE A CIRCUS--NO UNION MAN LEFT IN FOREIGN SERVICE BY CLEVELAND--HE WRITES FOR THE MAGAZINES--MAGAZINES AGAIN--APPROVES MY ARTICLE IN THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW ON THE MARCH TO THE SEA--HUMBLEST UNION MAN BETTER PATRIOT THAN THE PROUDEST SOUTH CAROLINA REBEL--SHERIDAN DYING--CONGRESS SHOULD MAKE RANK OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL PERMANENT--
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CHAPTER XXX 1891
CHAPTER XXX 1891
GO TO SWITZERLAND AS CONSUL GENERAL--AN OCEAN VOYAGE THEN AND NOW--A GLIMPSE OF BURNS’ HOME--THE HIGHEST CITY IN EUROPE--A NOVEL REPUBLIC--LIFE IN THE HIGHER ALPS--HEADQUARTERS FOR EMBROIDERY--PRINCESS SALM SALM--AN OPEN AIR PARLIAMENT--THE UPPER RHINE--AT HAMBURG--A SUMMER ON THE BALTIC--INTERVIEW WITH PRINCE BISMARCK. In a few weeks I was again in Switzerland; this time away up among the Alps, for St. Gall is the highest city of any importance in the world. The sea voya
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