cularly impressed by his exceptionally
sensitive nature. General Scott once told me that at one period of his
military career he was ordered to quell a disturbance between Canadians
and Americans near Ogdensburg, the home of Mr. King, and that the latter
was so seriously affected by the scenes he witnessed at that time that
it was long before he recovered his normal condition of mind. During
President Johnson's administration Mr. King, while Collector of the Port
of New York, boarded a Jersey City ferry boat one morning, attached
weights to his person and jumped into the river. When the news of his
death reached me I was not surprised as I had seen evidences of his
nervous temperament which might well result in acts indicative of an
unbalanced mind. He was a man of big heart and exceptional ability, and
in his death the State of New York lost one of her most gifted and
distinguished sons.

The Frederick County agricultural fairs, as far back as my memory of
that quaint Maryland town goes, have always been a feature of special
interest not only to the farmers of that productive region but also from
a social point of view. In bygone days some of the most distinguished
men of the nation made addresses at these "cattle shows," as they were
called by the country folk. I recall the visit of President Grant on one
of these occasions when he was the guest of Mrs. Margaret Goldsborough.
He was accompanied by General Sherman and made a brief address. The
evening of the day these distinguished guests arrived Mrs. Goldsborough
gave a dinner in their honor, which Mr. Gouverneur and I attended. The
entertainment was served in the style then prevalent among old Maryland
families in that vicinity, the _pieces de resistance_ being chicken,
fried to perfection, at one end of the table together with an old ham on
the opposite end. To these were added "side trimmings," enough to almost
bury the table under their weight. President Grant was then filling his
first term as Chief Executive of the nation and, although Mr. Gouverneur
had known him in Mexico, it was my first glimpse of the distinguished
man. As a whole we were a merry party, but Grant was a reticent guest.
General Sherman, however, as usual made up for all deficiencies in this
line, and as he sat next to me I found him to be a highly agreeable
conversationalist. This dinner party proved a great social success and
at its conclusion a number of prominent citizens called to pay their