32 WITH MR. CHAMBERLAIN IN THE 



Legation, a young man of brilliant attainments, who 

 is now our Ambassador at Washington. In the hall 

 of the depot my attention was drawn to the spot 

 where President Garfield was shot by the assassin 

 Guiteau in July 1881, from the effects of which he 

 never recovered, and died in the following Sep- 

 tember. The spot where he fell is marked by a 

 small brass plate on the floor. Some weeks later I 

 went over the jail at Washington, and inspected the 

 cell in which Guiteau was confined prior to his 

 execution. It will be remembered that an over- 

 zealous sentry had discharged the contents of his 

 rifle through the window into the cell, with a view 

 to settling Guiteau, who, however, lying on his plank 

 bedstead, escaped unscathed, though one could see 

 the marks where the bullet had whizzed round the 

 walls of the cell. The jailer was very anxious I 

 should purchase a hank of the rope with which the 

 assassin was hanged, and of which he said he had only 

 a small piece left. I was warned, however, not to 

 close with this offer, as he was said already to have 

 sold enough to souvenir-seekers to reach from 

 Washington to Baltimore, so I declined his offer 

 with thanks. 



From the depot we proceeded to the Arlington 

 Hotel, which was our headquarters till the end of the 



