Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/128

 100 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS articles on his principal campaigns, which he ac cepted, for the purpose of earning money, of which he was then greatly in need, and he accordingly produced four articles for that periodical. Find ing this a congenial occupation, and receiving hand some offers from several publishers, he set himself to the task of preparing two volumes of personal memoirs, in which he told the story of his life down to the close of the war, and proved himself a natural and charming writer, and a valuable con tributor to history. The contract for the publication of the book was made on February 27, 1885, and the work appeared about a year afterward. The sales were enormous. The amount that Mrs. Grant received as her share of the profits was upwards of $440,000, paid in two checks, of $200,000 and $150,000, and several smaller amounts, the largest sum ever received by an author or his representatives from the sale of any single work. It is expected by the publishers that the amount of half a million dollars will be ultimately paid to the general s family. In the summer of 1884 Gen. Grant complained of a sore ness in the throat and roof of the mouth. In August he consulted a physician, and a short time afterward the disease was pronounced to be cancer at the root of the tongue. The sympathies of the entire nation were now aroused, messages of hope and compassion poured in from every quarter, and