pon him for twelve successive years, it was not easy for him
to reconcile himself, in the prime of his manhood and the full maturity
of his powers, to being a mere spectator of the affairs of men. Activity
had become a second nature to him, and idleness was simply intolerable.
With much leisure on his hands, he first sought rest and recreation, and
then occupation. However unfortunately his business undertakings
resulted, they were, after all, but the outcome of a natural and
laudable desire to be usefully employed.

The banquet given to General Grant by the citizens and resident
Americans of Frankfort was a superb affair. It took place in the
Palmengarten, which is, above any other object, the pride of the
charming old "City of the Main." When the Duke of Nassau, an active
sympathizer with the beaten party in the Austro-Prussian war, lost his
dominions and quitted his chateau at Biebrich, the Frankforters availed
themselves of the opportunity to buy the famous collection of plants in
his winter-garden, comprising about thirty thousand rare and costly
specimens. The joint-stock company by which this purchase was made
received from the city a donation of twenty acres of land, and added
thereto, from its own funds, ten acres more.

The company also obtained, partly by donation, five large palm-trees,
and from these the Palmengarten takes its name. For the conservation of
the botanical collection a mammoth structure was erected of glass and
iron, and for the entertainment of visitors a commodious and elegant
music- and dining-hall was added. The grounds were adorned with
fountains, lakes, parterres, and promenades, and were equipped with
every facility for family and popular recreation, not overlooking, by
any means, the amusement of the children. In all Europe there is not a
lovelier spot than this. To keep it in order, educated gardeners are
employed, regularly salaried; and in the arrangement of the plants such
combinations of color and form are produced as an artist might envy.
Twice daily a concert is given by a large, well-trained orchestra in the
music-hall, or, when the weather is propitious, in a pavilion in the
garden. The concert-hall looks through a glass partition directly into
the great conservatory, which, thus viewed, presents a scene of tropical
enchantment. The palm-trees occupy conspicuous positions amidst
skilfully-grouped dracaenas, ferns, azaleas, rhododendrons, passifloras,
and a myriad of other cur