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Table of Contents:
Chapter
47
: freedmen's aid societies and an act of congress creating a Bureau of refugees, freedmen and abandoned lands
Chapter
55
:
first
appropriation by congress for the bureau; the reconstruction Act,
March
2
,
1867
; increase of educational work
Chapter
60
: opposition to Bureau and reconstruction work became personal; the
Congregational Church of
Washington
Chapter
62
: life in
Washington, D. C.
,
1866
to
1874
; assigned to duty in regular army as commander,
Department of the Columbia
Chapter
63
: in the
Northwest
, among the
Indians
; trip to
Alaska
; life in
Portland, Ore.
;
1874
to
1881
Chapter
64
: superintendent of the
United States military Academy
; commanding
Department of the Platte
,
Omaha, Neb.
Chapter
68
:
French
army maneuvers,
1884
; promotion to
Major General
,
United States army
,
San Francisco
1886
-
88
[542] where they have, as these do, pure morals, elegant manners, and high culture. I joined my friends in Paris in the middle of the afternoon. That evening our ambassador, the Hon. Levi P. Morton, returned the call that I had previously made upon him. Without previous warning he presented to me from the President of the French Republic, M. Carnot, the beautiful decoration of the Legion of Honor. Of course, I was surprised and pleased with this favor and I regarded it as a compliment to our Government, which I had represented in the maneuvers. That very night a great dinner was given to all of the foreign military officers by the war secretary. It was a brilliant affair, French officers of high rank and distinguished civilians being present. Encouraged by the ambassador, I ventured to wear the muchprized decoration which he had given me. I was soon in England, where I again met my son Guy and his wife. One evening I had the great privilege of listening to Charles H. Spurgeon. It was difficult for me to get a seat in the remotest corner of the gallery, and surely there were 10,000 people present in the immense auditorium. The great majority of the people had Bibles in their hands and either read in concert or looked over what Mr. Spurgeon was reading. Though so far away, the instant I heard the man's voice, which permeated the audience and seemed to resound from floor to ceiling, and from the pulpit to the back of the upper gallery, it struck me as different from any voice that I had ever heard. It was as clear as a bell and each word of his simple prayer was heard by every man and woman in the vast assembly. His preaching was plain and clear, without any effort at rhetorical effects, and held us all in breathless attention.
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