On May 17, 1877, General Grant, with his wife and youngest son, Jesse, bade farewell to the United States to begin what was in reality his very first real vacation. He had long wanted to visit the Old World, see its social customs, conditions, study its armies, its civilizations, its governments and their workings. Everywhere he met friendliness and cordiality, and no man, American or of any other nationality, ever received such a continuous and unabating demonstration of appreciation and popularity as kept step with his travels. The Occident and the Orient entered into an active contest in extending proofs of the homage which his life as a soldier, a president, and the first citizen of the great nation he represented inspired. Kings, queens, emperors, Indian princes, and Egyptian potentates, sages, prophets, great chieftains, plain soldiers, and great statesmen, joined in greeting this man, as did the masses. He returned to America two years later, reaching San Francisco in the autumn of 1879, the greatest traveller of the world, possessed of enduring fame, quantities of beautiful and valuable gifts from admiring hosts, and not sufficient money to maintain his family in the unpretentious New York house he had purchased for a home. How to employ his time--he was but fifty-six--both pleasantly and profitably was a real problem. He was induced to allow his name to be used as a candidate for nomination for the Presidency in 1880. Failing to secure his third-term honour, he turned his attention to business projects. Shortly, he was persuaded that the question of income could best be met by investment, and hence, after much delay and consultation in the family, he invested all of his capital in the banking business of Grant and Ward. In making the connection, the General had stipulated that there should be no government contracts, since he would not permit his name to be used in such connection. For a while, everything seemed smooth sailing; the firm rating was of the best, the dividends came regularly and plentifully. In May, 1884, without a word of warning or a hint that difficulties were brewing, the General learned that his firm had failed. He and his sons were stripped to pauperism through most stupendous speculations. Once more the silent General squared his shoulders to meet duty, and every bit of real estate and personal property of his and Mrs. Grant’s was turned over for security for a previous loan; not even his trophies did he withhold. The same trumpet call of duty set him to writing articles for _Century Magazine_ to provide a means of income. Then came the suggestion that he set himself to the task of writing his recollections of the war. Finding it an agreeable task rather than a boresome tax, he was persuaded to write the story of his life. His son, Frederick Dent Grant, assisted him.