Lloyd Lewis, a biographer of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, weaves a tale of a chill, wintry evening when the general came quietly into a tavern in Galena, Ill. A group of lawyers was sitting in a tight circle around the stove, discussing an important case. One of them noticed Grant and commented, “Why, here’s a stranger, gentlemen, and it looks as though he’s traveled through hell itself.”

“I have, “ Grant agreed. The lawyer chuckled and asked, “How did you find things down there?”

“Much the same as here” admitted Grant. “Lawyers all nearest the fire.”

Reader’s Digest, May, 1980