4 }1 J ' LcA^ir- Ol BANQUET TO His Eicelleicy kmm Burlimame, AND HIS ASSOCIATES OP THE CHINESE EMBASSY, THE CITIZEISTS OF IN^EW YOEK., TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 1868. f \ \ New York : SXJN BOOK AH^^i JOB BRinSTTIN^GJ- HOUSK, 1868. ..57 A/5 3\ V 1 BANQUET A number of citizens of New York, conspicuous in various departments of affairs, in view of tlie novelty and importance of the mission from the Chinese empire, which recently landed upon our shores, addressed the following letter to Mr, Bur- lingame, the head of the Embassy : "New York, May 22d, 1868. " To the Jlonnrahle Anson Bttrlingame^ Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary for China to the Ti'eaty Powers. " SlE, ■: " The undersigned, citizens of ISTew York, desiring to ex- press their appreciation of the importance of the mission, of which you are the distinguished head, and wishing to convey, in an appropriate manner, their sense of the magnitude of the interests confided to you, respectfully tender to you and your associates a public dinner, at the earliest day convenient to yourself. " We have the honor to be, sir, " Your obedient servants : William E. Dodge, Alex. T. Stewart, A. A. Low, Peter Cooper, Jonathan Sturges, Charles P. Daly, David Dudley Field, Marshall 0. Roberts, Elliot C. Cowdin, Wm. H. Fogg, S. B. Chittenden, George Opdyke, Wm. G. Lambert, John Armstrong, John C. Hamilton, L. B. Wyman, Albon P. Man, Charles S. Smith, Oliver Carpenter, William Borden, Edward Cooper, William H. Lee, Frank E. Howe, Charles E. Beebe, Geo. W. Lane, Charles E. Hill, John Jay, M. H. Grinnell, H. B. Claflin, John C. Green, Samuel B. Euggles, Moses Taylor, John Caswell, R. M. Olyphant, Abr'am S. Hewitt, R. W. Weston, Wm. F. Gary, Jr., Geo. Bliss, James Low, William Cotheal, Wm. Allen Butler, Richard Butler, Jos. B. Brush, J. Warren Goddard, Wm. Watson, M. W. Cooi^er, D. Willis James, Isaac H. Bailey, Jackson S. Schultz, Fiancis Baker, Geo. D. Phelps, Solon Humphrey, F. J. Fithian, Ric'd Schell, H. V. Butler, Wm. L. Cogswell, Sam'l OsgooJ, O. E. Wood. Chas. J. Martin, John D. Jones, Charles H. Marshall, W. E. Dodge, Jr., E. P. Fabbri, Jno. S. Williams, Wm. T. Coleman, William T. Blodgett, John H. Sherwood, William A. Budd, George P. Putnam, William Blake, Chas. L. Tiffany, Chas. Lanier, Le Grand Lockwood, James H. Benedict, B. W. Bonney, Benj. B. Sherman, Edw'd W. Corlis, Dexter A. Hawkins, Giles E. Taintor, { 6 Seth B. Hunt, A. R. Wetmore, Edwards Pierrepont, John Taylor Jolinston, Thomas N. Dale, William M. Evarts, Josiah M. Fiske, Dan'l F. Appleton, John H. Hall, Nahum Sullivan, Wilson G. Hunt, B. H. Hutton, Hiram Barney, Allan McLane, W. M. Vermilye, W. Butler Duncan, Henry Clews, Isaac Sherman, George W. Blunt, D. B. Eaton, Joseph H. Choate, G. C. Ward, Le Grand B. Cannon, Henry A. Smythe, H. G. Marquand, Thomas Allen, Sam'l L. M. Barlow, Charles H. Russell, Joseph Sampson, Charles P. Kirkland, Robert H. Berdell, S. J. Tilden, Eugene Kelly, John A. Stewart, E. L. Hedd.n, Augustus Scliell, Cornelius K. Garrison, John E. Williams, Francis M. Babcock, Theodore Roosevelt, Frederick A. Conkling, Charles G. Landon, William A. Wheelock, Edward W. Lambert, M.D. L. M. Bates, Abram Wakeman, Charles L. Anthony, Will'm Orton, Dan'l C. Blodgett, John Dowley, Isaac T. Smith, Chas. B. Collins, C. D. Smith, M.D. B. M. C. Durfee, Wm. A. Guest, Hiram Walbridge, Sam'l Blatchford, Richard P. Dana, Paul S. Forbes, E. W. Stoughton, Samuel G. Ward, I. N. Phelps, 0. D. F. Grant, D. Van Nostrand, Nath'l Hayden, Paul Spofford, Henry L. Pierson, Jr., W. N. WeflP, George Bliss, Jr., M. K. Jesup, David Dows, Elias Wade, Jr., Anson G. P. Stokes, Charles Denison, Charles A. Peabody, James D. Smith, William H. Caswell, Thomas M. Markoe, M.D. Robert H. McCurdy, F. H. Delano, Ogden Haggerty, J. F. Kensett, S. D. Babcock, Geo. B. Butler, J. J. Donaldson, Rufus F. Andrews, J. F. Bailey, Josiah 0. Low, A. Augustus Low, Henry F. Spaulding, Chas. F. Livermore, Benj. H. Fields, Wm. A. Booth, Geo. A. Fellows, Thos. McElrath, Thos. C, Acton, James Brown, Edwin Hoyt, Geo. D. Phelps, Jr., W. E. Stewart, Jos. H. Brown, Natli'l Sands, C. E. Detmold, Jeremiali Lotlirop, Walter M. Smitli. Jas. M. Constable, Francis Lieber, Stewart Brown, Hamilton Fish, I. Green Pierson, Sam'l Wetmore, Edmvind Randolph Robinson, B. F. Fahnestock. William M. Vail. Westminster Hotel, New York, Mai/ 30, 1868. Gentlemen : I liare the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your courteous letter of the 23d inst., inviting myself and my associates to a public dinner. I am fully sensible of the honor you thus do us, and it will give us the greatest pleasure to meet you in the manner you desire. We leave for Washington on Monday morning next, but I anticipate that I shall be free to return and meet you on Tuesday, the 23d of June, if that day be convenient to you. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant, ANSON BURLINGAME. To Messrs. Wm. E. Dodge, Alex. T. Stewart, A. A. Low, Peter Cooper, Jonathan Sturges, Charles P. Daly, Daa^d Dudley Field, Mar- shall O. Roberts, Elliot C. Cowdin, William H. Fogg, and others, New York. • On the receipt of Mr.. Burlingame's acceptance, tlie follow- ing gentlemen were appointed a Committee of Arrange- ments : Messrs. Elliot C. Cowdin, Chairman, Charles P. Daly, Theodore Roosevelt, Marshall O. Roberts, William H. Fogg, Treasurer, Edwards Pierrepont, William E. Dodge, Jr., John F. Kensett, Sam'l L. M. Barlow, Isaac H. Bailey, Henry Clews, Chas. S. Smith, Secreta/ry. The Banquet was given at Delmonico's, corner of Four- teenth Street and Fifth Avenue ; the hall being tastefully adorned with Chinese and American flags, and the tables beautifully decorated with flowers. The following gentlemen were present as invited guests : His Excellency, the Hon. Reuben E. Fenton, Governor of the State of New York ; Lieutenant-Governor Stewart L. Wood- ford, His Honor, John T. Hofl'man, Mayor of the City of New York ; His Excellency, the Flon. Anson Burlingame ; His Excellency, the Hon. Chili Tajen ; His Excellency, the Hon. Sun Tajen ; His Excellency, the Hon. Blacque-Bey, Turkish Minister ; Rear-Admiral Baron Mequet, French Navy ; Rear-Admiral S. W. Godon, U. S. Navy ; Hon. Isaac Livermore, of Cambridge, Massachusetts ; Major-Gen eral Daniel Butterfleld, U. S. A. ; Major-General Q. A. Gil- more, U. S. A. ; the Hon. J. McLeary Brown, Secretary of the Chinese Legation ; Fung Laoyeh and Teh Laoyeh of the Chinese Embassy; Hon. Townsend Harris, Ex-Minister to Japan ; Hon. John E. Ward, Ex-Minister to China ; Rev. Samuel Osgood, D. D. ; Prof. R. D. Hitchcock, D. D. ; Hon. James O. Putnam, of Buffalo, IST. Y. ; Hon. Horace Greeley, of the ISTew York Trihune', Hon. Erastus Brooks, of the IST. Y. Express ; David M. Stone, Esq., of the N. Y. Journal of Commerce; Hon. Henry J. Raymond, of the N. Y. Times ; I. Chamberlain, Esq., of the IS". Y. World ; Charles A. Dana, Esq., of The Sun ; Augustus Maverick, Esq., of the Evening Post, Edwin L. Godkin, Esq., of the Nation; George Wilkes, Esq., of the Spirit of the Times ; Col. Charles D. Bos- ton, U. S. Agricultural Commissioner to China. After the blessing was offered by the Rev. Dr. Osgood, the company partook of a sumptuous dinner. At 9 o'clock, the President, His Excellency the Governor, called the company to order and welcomed the guests in the following terms : SPEECH OP GOVERNOR FENTON. It is a great satisfaction to me to join the citizens of I^ew York in extending to our distinguished visitors from the Government of China a cordial welcome. (Applause.) The relations in which our nation stands to the Chinese are mark- ed and interesting. In politics, history, and geography, the two nationalities present contrasts, suggest comparisons, and indicate duties of the greatest importance and interest. The oldest constituted Government in the East invites the west- ward tendency and expansion of thought to return, cultured, as it is, by varied experience and much progress in civilization. In other words, tlie most fixed, and, heretofore, the most se- cluded society extends a friendly salutation to the youngest, the most liberal, and progressive of nations ; and I cannot doubt that results of great value to humanity will follow the interview. It is our destiny, under, Providence, to open up a nursery of freedom, equality, and progress for the imitation and profit of productive Europe on the east, and populous and wealthy Asia on the west. (Cheers.) It was my fortune to be associated with Mr. Burlingame for several years in Congress, and I rejoiced in his selection, early in the admin- istration of Mr. Lincoln, to represent our country at the old- est, the most populous, and in many respects the most inter- esting of the governments of the Eastern continent. His age and education, his fidelity to the leading ideas of human pro- gress, and his ambition, seemed to me auspicious of enlarged intercourse with this numerous and wealthy people, and of an advance in civilization, much more than the most sanguine hopes could expect, and which the persons and object of this Embassy that honors us to-night, enable us more lully to re- alize. 1^0 event in modern diplomacy or intercourse has equal significance, or promises so much of benefit to the human race. A country embracing in one nationality nearly one-half the population of the earth, and older than any other government, principality, or empire since the world began, could not fail to be to us an object of deep and unremitting inquiry. Its early characters occupy a conspicuous place in ancient history ; even its traditions are full of admirable study, and its literature, although of value in establishing a firmer social system, was but little known to the rest of man- kind. It was even but partially understood, that the benefits of popular education were so widely diffused, and that distinc- tion in public life and eligibility to high public trust, were at- tained only by successful scholarship. So it is, that a nation, 10 whose sources of stability had so long been involved in mystery, whose system of education and attainment in science and art, and whose manners and policy were so inaccessible to us, and yet so marvellous in their effect upon hundreds of millions of people, could not otherwise than excite the most profound soli- citude, and, as the prospect brightens, for fuller intercourse and better understanding, by peaceful means, of heartfelt congratu- lation. (Applause.) Minister Burlingame, we appreciate the friendliness and partiality of the Chinese Government, as re- presented by you and your associates, in making with us your first visit to the Nations. We appreciate also the consideration of your Government, in selecting one of our countrymen to aid in carrying out its enlightened resolve to open up friendly rela- tions with other countries of the world, to advance civilization, and to do more largely what a nation may do, to promote the prosperity, the fraternity, and the happiness of the human race. I need not say that our national thought is first, but not alone, to make our people most prosperous, most free, and most just, and also to actively extend our influence with all nations, to pass every sea, to enter every land, and with commerce, Christianity, and good will, to elevate and improve all people. The principle of our institution leads us to the recognition of freedom for others, as well as among our own people, and we hail every opportunity to develop this national sentiment, as essential to mutual benefit and permanent wel- fare. We have, then, a conscious satisfaction in the encour- ao-ement before us of contributino- to the Chinese our noble institutions : the freedom, genius, enterprise of our people, and of profiting by their industry, their arts, their social harmony, and their peaceful inclinations, in return. In conclusion, per- ]nit me, members of the Embassy, to welcome you in behalf of the people of the whole State, to our chief city ; and, as you leave our land to visit others, in carrying out your peace- 11 fill mission, bear with yon our best wishes for the success of your work, (Loud cheers.) The President then proposed, as the First Toast, " The President of the United States," which was honored by the company with tliree cheers, and by the music with " Hail, Columbia ! " The Second Toast, " The Emperor of China," received tliree cheers, and a Chinese National Air. The President then gave, as the Third Toast, " Our guests, His Ex- cellency Anson Burlingame and his associates of the Chinese Embassy." SPEECH OF MR. BURLINGAME. Mr. Burlingame, when silence liad succeeded the applause which greeted him, said : Mr. President, and Citizens of New York, our first duty is to thank you for this cordial greeting : to say to you that it is not only appreciated by us, but that it will be appreciated by the distant people whom we represent —(hear, hear, and cheers) — to thank you for this unanimous expression of good will on the part of the great City of New. York ; to thank you that, rising above, all local and party considerations, you have given a broad and generous welcome to a movement made in the interests of all mankind. (" Good," and cheers.) We are but the humble heralds of the movement. It originated beyond the boundaries of our own thoughts, and has taken dimensions beyond the reach of our most ardent hopes. Tliat East, which men have sought since the days of Alexander, now itself seeks the West. (Cheers.) China, emerging from the mists of time, but yesterday sud- / 12 denly entered your Western gates, and confronts you by its representatives here to-niglit. (Cheers.) What have you to say to her I She comes with no menace on her Kps. She comes with the great doctrine of Confucius, uttered two thou- sand three hundred years ago, " Do not unto others what •you woukl not have others do unto you," (Immense applause.) Will you not respond with the more positive doctrine of Christianity, " We will do unto others what we would have others do unto us ? " (Hear, hear, and cheers.) She comes with your own international laws ; she tells you that she is willing to come into relations according to it, that she is will- ing to abide by its provisions, that she is willing to take its obligations for its privileges. (Cheers.) She asks you to for- get your ancient prejudices, to abandon your assumptions of superiority, and to submit your questions with her, as she pro- poses to submit her questions with you — to the arbitrament of reason. (Cheers.) She wishes no war ; she asks of you not to interfere in her internal affairs. (Loud cheers.) She asks you not to send her lecturers who are incompetent men. (Cheers and laughter.) She asks you that you will respect the neutrality of her waters, and the integrity of her territory. (Apj^lause.) She asks, in a word, to be left perfectly free to unfold herself precisely in that form of civilization of which she is most capable. (Cheers.) She asks you to give to those treaties which were made under the pressure of war, a generous and Christian construction, v (Cheers.) Because you have done this, because the Western nations have reversed their old doctrine of force, she responds, and, in proportion as you have expressed your good will, she has come forth to meet you ; and I aver, that there is no spot on this earth where there has been greater progress made within the past few years than in the empire of China. (Cheers.) She has ex- panded her trade, she has reformed her revenue system, she 13 is cliangmg her military and naval organizations, she has built or established a great school, where modern science and the foreign languages are to be taught. (Cheers.) She has done this under every adverse circumstance. She has done this after a great war, lasting through thirteen years, a war out of which she comes with no national debt. (Long continued ap- plause and laughter.) You must remember how dense is her population. You must remember how difficult it is to intro- duce radical changes in such a country as that. The intro- duction of your own steamers threw out of employment a hundred thousand junk-men. The introduction of several hundred foreigners into the civil service embittered, of course, the ancient native employees. The establishment of a school was formidably resisted by a party led by one of the greatest men of the empire. Yet, in defiance of all these, in spite of all these, the present enlightened government of China has advanced steadily along the path of progress — (cheers) — sustained, it is true, by the enlightened representatives of the Western Powers now at Pekin, guided and directed largely by a modest and able man, Mr. Hart, the Inspector-General of Customs at the head of the foreign employees in the empire of China. (Cheers.) Yet, notwithstanding all these things, notwithstanding this manifest progress, there are people who will tell you that China has made no pr; >gress, that her views are retrograde ; and they tell you that it is the duty of the Western Treaty Powers to combine for the purpose of co- ercing China into reforms, which they may desire, and which she may not desire — (cheers) — who undertake to say that this people have no rights which you are bound to respect. In their coarse language they say, " Take her by the throat." Using the tyrant's plea, they say they know better what China wants than China herself does. ISTot only do they desire to introduce now the reforms born of their own interests and 14 their own caprices, but they tell you that the present dynasty must fall, and that the whole structure of Chinese civilization 'must be overthrown. I know that these views are abhorred by the Governments and the countries from which these people come ; but they are far away from their countries, they are active, they are brave, they are unscrupulous, and if they hap- pen to be officials, it is in their power to complicate affairs, and to involve, ultimately, their distant countries in war. l^ow, it is against the malign spirit of this tyrannical element that this mission was sent forth to the Christian world. (Cheers.) It was sent forth that C/hina might have her difficulties stated. That I happened to be at the head of it was, perhaps, more an accident than any design. It was, perhaps, because I had been longer there than my colleagues, and because I was about to leave; and, perhaps, more than all, because I was associated with the establishment of the co-operative policy which, by the aid of abler men than myself, was established not many years ago (cheers) ; and it is to sustain that policy — which nas received the warm approval of all the great Treaty Powers, and which is cherished by China — that we are sent forth. It is in behalf of that generous policy, founded on principles of eternal justice, that I would rally the strongest thing on this earth, the enlightened public opinion of the world. (Cheers.) Missions and men may pass away, but the principles of eternal justice will stand. (Cheers.) I desire that the autonomy of China may be preserved. I desire that her independence may be secured. I desire that she may have equality, that she may dispense equal privileges to all the nations. If the opposite school is to prevail, if you are to use coercion against that great people, theii who are to exercise the coercion, whose force are you to use, Mdiose views are you to establish ? You see the very attempt to carry out any such tyrannical policy would involve not only China, but 15 would involve you in bloody wars with each other. (Cheers.) There are men — men of that tyrannical school — who say that China is not fit to sit at the Council Board of the nations, who, call her people barbarians, and attack them on all occasions with a bitter and unrelenting spirit. These things I utterly deny. I say, on the contrary, that that is a great, a noble people. (Cheers.) It has all the elements of a splendid nationality. It is the most numerous people on the face of the globe ; it is the most homogeneous people in the world ; it has a language spoken by more human beings than any other in the world, and it is written in the rock. It is a country where there is greater unification of thought than any other country in the world. It is a country where the maxims of great sages, coming down memorized for centuries, have permeated the whole people, until their knowledge is rather an instinct than an acquirement; a people loyal while living, and whose last prayer, when dying, is to sleep in the sacred soil of their fathers. (Cheers.) It is the land of scholars, it is the land of schools, it .is the land of books, from the simple pamphlet up to encyclo- pedias of 5,000 volumes. (Applause and laughter.) It is a land, as you, Mr. President, have said, where the privileges are equal; it is a land without caste. For they destroyed their feudal system twenty-one hundred years ago (cheers), — and they built up their structure of civilization on the great idea that the people are the source of power. (Cheers.) That idea was uttered by Mencius, twenty-three hundred years ago, and it was old when he uttered it. (Cheers.) The power goes forth from that people into practical govern- ment, through the competitive system, and they make scholar- ship the test of merit. (Cheers.) I say it is a great people ; it is a polite people ; it is a patient people ; it is a sober people ; it is an industrious people, and it is such a people as this that the bitter boor would exclude from the council 16 halls of the nations ; it is such a nation as this that the tyrannic element would put under its ban. They say of this people — nearly half of the human race — that they must become the weak wards of the West — wards of nations not so populous as many of their provinces — wards of people who were young when their youngest village in Manchuria was foiinded. I do not mean to say that the Chinese are perfect. Far from it. They have their faults, like other people ; they have their pride, like other people ; they have their prejudices, like other people. These are profound, and must be over- come. They have their conceits, like other people, and these must be done away with ; but they are not to be done away with by talking to them with cannon, by telling them that their people are weak, and that they are barbarians. ]^o, China has been cut off, by her position, from the rest of the world. She has been separated from it by limitless deserts, and by broad oceans. But now, when the views of men expand, we behol(^ the very globe itself diminished in size. ISTow, when science has taken away, or dissipated the desert ; when it has narrowed the ocean, we find that China, seeing another civilization approaching on every side, has her eyes wide open, (Applause.) She sees Russia on the north, Europe on the west, America on the east. She sees a cloud of sail on her coast, she sees the mighty steamers coming from everywhere—" bow on." She feels the spark from the electric telegraph falling hot upon her everywhere ; she rouses herself, not in anger, but for argument. She finds that by not being in a position to compete with other nations for so long a time she has lost ground. She finds that she must come into rela- tions with this civilization that is pressing up around her, and feeling that, she does not wait but comes out to you and extends to you her hand. (Applause.) She tells you she is ready to take upon her ancient civilization the graft of your IT civilization. She tells you she is ready to take back her own inventions, with all their developments. She tells you that she is willing to trade with you, to buy of you, to sell to you, to help you strike off the shackles from trade. (Applause.) She invites your merchants, she invites your missionaries. She tells the latter to plant the shining cross on every hill and in every valley. (Applause.) For she is hospitable to fair ar- gument. I say she tells you she is willing to strike off the shackles of trade. She offers you almost free trade to-day. (Cheers.) Holding the great staples of the earth — tea and silk — ^she charges you scarcely any tariff on the exports you send out in exchange for them. (Applause.) She is willing to meet the inferior questions which are now arising as to transit-dues, and if you only have patience with her, and right reason on your side, she will settle these to your satisfac- tion. But the country is open ; you may travel and trade where you like. What complaint, tlien, have you to make of her? Show her fair play. Give her that, and you will bless the toiling millions of the world. (Applause.) Their trade, carried on in foreign vessels, which has in my own day in China, risen from $82,000,000 to $300,000,000, is but a tithe of the enormous trade that will take place with China when she gets into full fellowship with the rest of the world. (Applause.) Let her alone ; let her have her independence ; let her develop herself in her own time, and in her own way. She has no hostility to you. Let her do this, and she will initiate a movement which will be felt in every workshop of the civilized world. She says now : " Send us your wheat, your lumber, your coal, your silver, your goods from every- where — we will take as many of them as we can. We will give you back our tea, our silk, free labor, which we have sent so largely out into the world." (Applause.) It has overflowed upon Siam, upon the British Provinces, upon 2 18 Singapore, upon Manilla, upon Peru, Cuba, Australia, and California. All she asks is, that you will be as kind to her Nationals as she is to your Nationals. (Applause.) She wishes simply that you will do justice. She is willing not only to exchange goods with you, but she is willing to exchange thoughts. She is willing to give you what she thinks is her intellectual civilization in exchange for your material civilization. Let her alone, and the caravans on the roads of the North, toward Russia, will sw^arm in larger num- bers than ever before. Let her alone, and that silver which has been flowing for hundreds of years into China, losing itself like the lost rivers of the West, but which yet exists, will come out into the affairs of men. (Applause.) Let her alone, and those great lines of steamers, the " P. and O." and Messagerie Imperiale, may multiply their tonnage. Let her alone, and your own great line, the pride of New York, the Pacific Mail — -and as many other lines as you may choose to establish — may increase their tonnage tenfold ; and they will still, as at present, have to leave their freight upon the wharves of LIong-Kong and Yokahama. (Cheers.) The imagination kindles at the future which may be, and which will be, if you will be fair and just to China. But, citizens of New York, I must close. (Voices — " Go on ! ") I have spoken at considerable length already. I must thank you onc3 again for this kind, this generous, this unanimous recep- tion. So intertwined are the affairs of men, that whatever New York thinks and feels unanimously, Mnll be felt and thought in all the commercial capitals of the Christian world. (Prolonged applause.) 19 4th Toast — " Our Continental Republic and its Asiatic Relations." Response by the Hon. Wm. M. Evarts. REMARKS OF MR. EVARTS. Mr. President — It gives me great pleasure, as a citizen of New York, to join in this festivity, and great pleasure, Sir, to welcome you, the Governor of this State of New York, coming from the cares and duties of your great office to share in this tribute of respect to the distinguished Ambassador and his associates from the Chinese Empire (applause), and to notice also the Mayor of our City, who, though occupied with the constant care of 1,000,000 of turbulent subjects (laughter), is yet able, in the interest of universal brotherhood, to share the cares of the Chinese Emperor, over 400,000,000 of peaceful subjects. (Laughter.) I am glad, too, to notice the contribu- tion which the wealth and the commerce, and the education, and the intelligence of New York, groups about these tables to take part in this celebration. That the Chinese Empire is a great nation we have always known since we learned geo- graphy at school. Now, many of us, for the first time, have the pleasure of looking upon the faces of the eminent public men of that great Empire, who do us the honor — a young Republic — to grace with their presence this occasion. (Ap- plause.) I remember, Mr. President, that the last time that I met upon an occasion of ceremony, the distinguished Envoy of the Chinese Empire, was at the laying of the corner-stone of a monument at Plymouth Hock, in honor of the Pilgrim emigrants of 250 years ago. (Applause.) Now, as I under- stand it, that being the easternmost point of our continent, and the oldest place of civilization on its surface, he has been traveling to the eastward ever since, and he is still west of Plymouth Rock. (Laughter.) What a great nation we are ! We must change all our figures of speech. We used to be justified in saying for any extravagance that "it is as far 20 as the East is from the West," l)ut now nothing is nearer than the East is to the "West. (Laughter.) Undoubtedly w^ may recur here to that occasion, in its celebration of the hrst footstep, resting upon American soil upon the Kock of Ply- mouth, of that energetic and creative power in the affairs of men that has over-run this continent, and enabled the descend- ants to look out, also, upon the setting sun across the ocean, as their ancestors did upon the rising sun across the sea. (Ap- plause.) Nor have we stopped there, but pushing further our enterprise, our courage and energy, we have brought China face to fac3 with U5, eaablin;^ U3, a? it ware, to breakfast, as well as take tea, with her all tha year round. (Laughter.) What we now are, and pride ourselves in being, China, at least, may say in the plenitude of her population, and the serenity of her wisdom, " Such was I before I had sowed my Avild oats." (Great laughter.) She may say to us, " As you see me now you may hope to be when you get to be as old." (Laughter.) There are very few things, Mr. President, in our civilization that they have ifot thought through and lived through in China. Take one of our newest novelties — woman's rights and female suffrage. (Laughter.) They got through that long ago in China (laughter), and they have put the matter upon a broad, logical, incontestable basis of discrimination — that women have no souls, and men have. (Great laughter.) Why, sir, we find, as an evidence of the wisdom of this people, noted among the causes of divorce in China, loquacity on the part of the wife. (Great merriment.) Now, that would strike us as a harsh rule, did we not know that they had another custom of contracting the feet of the wift^, which compels her to stay at home, and, thus, expend in the household those torrents of speech, which, with us, would be distributed through a whole neighborhood. (Renewed laughter.) So, too, with politics. Only think of a Presiden- ^1 tial election in a nation of four hundred millions of men ! (Laughter.) Why, sir, with a quadrennial term, and allowing a hundred million of men to vote in a year, it would take the whole four years to complete the election (laughter) ; but that they have got through with, (Laughter.) The Abbe Hue, who, I !iave no doubt, told as much truth as any traveler from China can tell- — -for the temptation is very great, Mr. Presi- dent, to exaggerate, when you come so great a distance for the purpose of telling a story (laughter) — Abbe Hue says that feeling a great interest in knowing something of the politics of the Empire, in every refined and educated circle in which he was admitted, he would constantly call attention to public aifairs. But beyond the mere courtesy of "yes," or "no," he never could get any answer on politics. (Laughter.) When he had repeatedly attempted it, and had failed, an intelligent, educated, and polite Chinese gentleman came behind him, and, putting his hand on his shoulder, in- structively said to him : " Sir, you seem to wish to talk politics. Don't you understand that in this Empire we have Mandarins who are paid to take care of the politics of the country (laughter), and we have nothing to do with them ? " (Renewed laughter.) IN^ow, Mr. President, I think it for- tunate that our distinguished Envoy, Mr. Burlingame, who has taken part in more than one Presidential election (applause), has timed his visit so that he has brought these eminent Chinese statesmen here to see first the nomination to take place on the 4th of July, of nobody knows who, (laughter) in the City of New York; and secondly, the election in November of the Emperor for four years, barring accidents (a laugh), of the people of the United States. (Applause.) It would seem, too, Mr. President, as if some of the aggrava- tions of our recent politics of the last eight years had not been in early times entirely unknown • in China. They have a fashion there of worshipping the " Measure," as they call it, which is, I take it, equivalent to being " sound on the goose." (Laughter.) The " Measure " is the divinity that has charge of the prosperity of men, their longevity, the accumula- tion of wealth, and success in the acquisition of office, and they had the same division in that respect that we had, for they had two divinities. The Northern Divinity had every- thing to do with thrift and length of years, but the Southern " Measure " presided over the emoluments of office. (Laugh- ter.) So you see that what is new and important with us is old and trivial with the Chinese. (Applause and laughter.) But one happy thought has been suggested by your speech, sir, so eloquent and so able, that there is one thing that we have that the Chinese lack- — a national debt. (Laughter.) Take it, sir, with you, take all of it, and bestow it upon them. (Renewed laughter.) All our political theorists hold that there is nothing that binds a people together to ensure peace and prosperity, like a national debt. Take it all and give peace to China. (Roars of laughter.) Let them not fear that they rob us, for we can soon get up another. (Laughter.) Or, if you will make it, as one measure, a bond of eternal amity and fellowship, by an equal partition, we "svill pay it in paper, and they may pay it in gold. This will settle all the complications among the different politicians in this country. This will give them something to fight for in China instead of fighting for nothing. I believe the political institutions of China, concerning which, we have only the reports of the telegraph, are very simple. They seem to be of an Emperor, serene, dignified, and omnipotent; and of a re- bellion in perpetual session, (laughter,) of which there are daily and orderly reports, as there are of the proceedings of Congress with us. (Laughter.) A nation thus reposing, thus established, thus educated, is superior to the chances of fate. 23 It has forgotten more than we ever knew. (Laughter and applause.) And after all it is astonishing how much human nature there is in China as well as in the United States. (Laughter.) I believe, upon my soul, that the same general maxims prevail there as here. I iind thej have a custom there, in the administration of justice, whereby, for instance, when the bamboo is to be applied, the culprit may substitute somebody else to take it for him ; and that is the course pur- sued in this country, in the castigations of the public press. (Laughter.) So you will perceive, sir, that if we look back to the maxims of Confucius and Mencius, from whom I shall not quote at length to-night (a laugh), that they diflered somewhat on the nicer points of morals and politics — as you are very well aware, and your distinguished associates, and few of the gentlemen at this table are wholly ignorant of the points in discussion between them — they came down to these five great principles that benevolence, justice, politeness, wisdom, and fidelity make up the sum of the virtues for society. And have we not practiced upon them in our social, political, and civic. State, and Federal Governments ever since the foundation of the Republic ? (Great laughter.) It is true, that what with us is but the gristle, in this brief period of our life, has become indurated into the bone and substance of Chinese polity. I confess, sir, that I am lost in admiration when I look at the few distinguished statesmen and scholars of the Chinese Empire who have honored us with their presence, and upon the multitude of eminent men of our civilization about these tables. Fully, fairly, and honestly, I come to the conclusion that if they are weighed, and not counted, these four Chinese are equal to the whole of us. (Laughter and applause.) 24 Sth Toast. — "The Commercial Cities of the Old World and the New." The President called His Honor, the Mayor of the City of New York, to respond. SPEECH OF MAYOR HOFFMAN. Mr. Hoifinan said : — Your Excellency and Gentlemen : I have listened with great pleasure to the speech of the Gover- nor of the State, and of the Embassador from China, and have also heard with great pleasure the speech of the dis- tinguished gentleman who has just taken his seat. It seems to be a part of every official programme, that he is to speak just before I do, so that he may have an opportunity of giving a hit at the chief Magistrate of the City of ISTew York, (Laugliter.) I regret, in view of the fact, that I am the pre- siding officer over a million of turbulent subjects, as he says, that one like him who could exercise so conservative an in- fluence among them seems willing to exchange his residence to another city — (laughter) — where the citizens are not as tur- bulent as those who assume to be their representatives. (Laughter.) Much as I love him, however, I am willing to let him go for the good of the country, and we will try and take care of ISTew York without him. (Laughter.) Mr. President, and gentlemen, at this late hour in the evening, in view of the toasts which are to follow this, and the names of distinguished men who are to respond to them, if I should attempt to speak of all the great commercial cities of the world, your unanimous verdict would be that I was unfit to be presiding officer of any of them. I shall not, therefore, attempt it. Of the cities of the old world I have only to say that they are old, and they are gray, and I give them that respect which Young America gives to age everywhere. In regard to our own, I have only to say, that as a young man, as a young Mayor of a young city, in a young country, I wel- come here a young American who comes as the Embassador 25 from the oldest country in the world. (Applause.) I welcome him, and his associates born upon the soil of that ancient empire, whose population is at least twelve times. greater than that of our own. (Applause.) And I look and hope for great things to come from this Embassy, headed, as it is, by an American citizen, who pays his first visit, in that capacity, to the land of his birth, to be followed by visits to the other Christian nations of the world. (Applause.) ISTo man can tell what may grow from it. We only know this, that even to-day, while the energy, the capital, and the enterprise of this new world are pushing the railroad far across the western plains, up the slopes and over the summits of the Rocky Mountains, away over to the Pacific Ocean, to connect the Pacific with the Atlantic, the old partition walls which have separated China from the civilized world, are being broken down ; and an Embassy comes to us, headed by an American citizen, attended by those who were born upon the soil of that great empire. (Applause.) And in view of these facts, when this great commercial city of the Union shall be linked with the great commercial city on the Pacific Ocean by links of iron, when transit and communication shall be rapid by rail and telegraph, when the Atlantic and the Pacific shall be joined together, and when the vast trade of China shall be brought. to our very gates, who shall tell what may be the greatness, what may be the glory of this young commercial city of this new world of ours. (Applause.) I would in- dulge in no empty boasting. In the presence of these men of sense, these men of brains, these men of energy about me, I shall not do that. But I have to say to you, men of JN^ew York, accustomed as you are, accustomed as your press is, to speak disrespectfully of the city which is your home, that, con- sidering its youth, considering the brief time it has had to work out its destiny, it stands to-day far ahead of the other 26 cities of the world. (Applause.) And if you will spend less time in abusing it, and more time in taking care of it, you will see what great things will come to pass. (Loud applause.) We have an ample harbor, we have a great country, we have the trade of the world oifering itself to us, and now the trade of China more largely than ever ; and yet, what do we see ? I speak of it with shame, that in and out of our port there hardly sails one commercial ship which bears upon its mast- head the flag of the United States of America. (Applause.) What have you to say, merchants of 'New York — you men of a country which gave a million of lives, and thousands of mil- lions of dollars to defend your flag, and to secure its perpetuity over every foot of land in every State of your Union ? What have you to say of a national policy which, in effect, strikes down that flag from the mast-head of nearly every merchant ship that comes to or sails from your ports ? (Applause.) As you have gathered here, men of commercial prosperity, in honor of this distinguished Embassy, you offer to me the toast — " The Comnfercial Cities of the Old World and the New," I close my reply with telling you, men of New York, to see to it, as wise men, that some policy shall be inaugurated ' and consummated which will secure what you all desire, what you must have if you will make your city what it should be — a policy which will place the American flag at the mast-head of a fair proportion of the merchant ships which go out of and come into the beautiful harbor of this great metropolis. (Loud applause.) 2T 6tli ToaBt. — " An Intelligent Diplomacy, recognizing the universal broth- erhood of men, and equal justice to all nations." Hon. James 0. Putnam, of Buffalo, responded. SPEECH OF MR. PUTNAM. Mr. President and Gentlemen : I thank you for the honor of a call to respond to a sentiment which this occasion so naturally suggests. An age of progress is always transitional. The present age is pre-eminently so. And, of all the progress which modern time records, involving the advancement of liberal ideas, and more just international relations, I recognize nothing so poten- tial, so full of hope and cheer, as that diplomacy which, if our government did not originate, it certainly has commended to the world by the most illustrious examples, and the most bril- liant success. I trust the time is fast approaching when the whole Machiavellian school of maxims relating to interna- tional intercourse will be superseded by the principles of equal justice to all men and to all States. For centuries the diplo- macy of Europe was a system of strategy and violence ; and International Law was practically the will of the strongest — that will the inspiration of commercial cupidity and the lust of territorial aggrandisement. During the progress of our civil war, I read in a foreign journal, which is recognized as the foremost representative of the press of Europe, in an article discussing the questions that grew out of the " Trent Affair," these significant words : " It is true we have, in past times, as a nation, done many wrong things, but we were always able to fight them through." The policy thus shadowed forth has been the world's direst curse. It has deluged Europe and Asia with blood ; it has again and again annihilated weak but independent States, and erected in the centre of more than one colossal Empire, a gov- ernment of force, regardless of every sentiment, regardless of 28 every principle, except its own absorbing, crusliing, devilish ambition. Thanks be to Grod, there is another school of in- ternational Ethics ! And I think it a just matter of congratu- lation that our government has given to the world some of the best practical expositions of that better doctrine. The stream will rise no higher than the fountain. If it takes its rise from the Jow level of human passions, we may expect wrong and violence. If it takes its rise from the fountain of Eternal Justice, we know that it will bear on its bosom that central truth of religion, the universal Father- hood of Grod, and that vivifying principle of all just politics, the universal brotherhood of men. It will lead to that law to which Cicero paid homage, which is not one thing at Rome, another at Athens, one thing at ISTew York, another at Pekin, but at all times, and among all nations, is the same, immuta- ble and eternal. When I consider the more recent diplomatic action of our own government upon matters involving the internal security of a power with which we are now, happily, at peace, and with which I devoutly hope and pray, we may never have occasion to war — a power which we believe has given us grevious cause of just complaint — when I see that our govern- ment has covered the head and whole body of that power with coals of fire from the furnace of charity and good will, I recoo-nize the dawning; of the Millenium of States. CD O And when I see our Representative to a people that con- stitutes a third of our race, — a nation that dates its history back to a period coeval with the earliest nations — a nation distinguished for a civilization that has flowered into great domestic and public virtues, and whose Ethics, associated with names that rank among the greatest and noblest of all ages, command the respect of mankind, yet a civilization that has preserved for centuries an isolation as absolute as it is anoma- 29 lous ; when I see that Representative, not at the head of armies or of navies, not with strategy or menace, bnt by the power of intelligent persuasion, by the presentation of those principles of International Comity and Justice, which reason approves and religion enforces, accomplishing incalculable practical results for their good and the good of the Western Nations, — I see beyond the dawn, I recognize, high advanced, the blazing day of the International Millenium. And, my friend — your distinguished guest, will allow me to hail him as the Priest of the New Era, who, with the s-olden rinsi: of Peace, has wedded the time hallowed civiliza- tion of the East to the fresher and more elastic civilization of the V/est. He has leveled the walls of China by one touch of the wand of ISTational Fraternity ; and China is here, conquer- ing us by conquering our prejudices, enlarging the boundary of our sympathies, and by realizing to us anew that God has made all nations of one blood, and that of them all. He is the bene- ficent Father. Mr. President : I honor my country for a thousand con- siderations which inspire us all with a never-waning love. But I am never so impressed by her moral grandeur as when, in negotiating with other States on questions that naturally excite popular passion, she refuses to plant herself upon a policy of lust or revenge : I honor her most, when, firmly demanding justice, I see her bearing offerings of Peace in her hand, while in her heart she cherishes and obeys that precept of the skies, " Do unto others, as you would that others should do unto you." There is contagion in the example of justice. My thought is suggestive of the true mission of American Democracy. (Applause.) 30 Seventh Toast. — "The Industries of China, and the obligations of the world to these industries." — Responded to by the Hon. William E. Dodge. SPEECH OF MR. DODGE. Mr. Chairman : If I had my written speech here I would claim the privilege accorded in Congress, and relieve my friends at this late hour by sending it to the printer ; but as I have not, I will promise not to detain you over three or four minutes in speaking upon a subject, the magnitude of which entitles it to hours, — " The industries of China, and the obli- gations of the world to these industries." Look at the history of China as connected with the silk culture. The Chinese claim, and justly claim, the honor of having first utilized the product of the silk worm ; of having spun the delicate thread from the cocoon, and in after years manufactured with it that beautiful tissue which, as far back as the days of Solomon's glory, clothed the Eastern Courts in beauty and lustre It is said, sir, and no doubt with truth, that centuries before the Christian era, China held commerce with Persia, Greece, and Rome ; carrying to them the beautiful, lustrous silks in exchange for their commodities. And that when our Saxon ancestors were half-naked savages, the very plebians of China were dressed in silks. I will simply say in regard to silk, that the world owes a debt of gratitude to the indus- try of China. They held a monopoly of that trade for years, and though they are now dividing it with England, France, and Italy, they are entitled, as I have before remarked, to the honor of discovering and utilizing the product of the silk- worm. In our own country, it is but 40 or 50 years since the silks, that were to be found in our jobbing stores, were from China. I see around me dry-goods merchants, who remember very well how necessary it was to have a supply on hand of the beautiful satins, with their varied colors, and sarsinets. 31 and Barcelona handkerchiefs, all from China. Why, in those days, when our country merchants came to the city, those articles were the first on the memorandum. For every lady, not only in the city, but in the country, had a beautiful black gown, of Sin chew. The cost then was about 75 cents a yard ; now our friends go to Stewart's and pay $6 and $10 a yard. Of late years, these silks have been exported, princi- pally in the raw state, to an extent of about one hundred millions of dollars annually, of which England and France have taken about one-half. The large increase of silk manu- facturers in our country are mainly dependent on the industry of China for the raw material. But I must leave silk and go to tea. (Laughter.) What do the nations of the earth owe China for its tea ?— that social beverage, equal in all respects to any other, and far superior, in my estimation. (Laughter and applause.) Two hundred years ago, it was said that 100 pounds of tea were imported into England and sold to the gentry at from eight to ten pounds, sterling — avordu- pois pound. One hundred years after, the trade had amounted to 1,000,000 pounds, sterling, and now to 15,000,000 or 20,000,000; and our own country has been increasing in the same ratio. Until within the last ten years China has had a monopoly of the world in this article of i ea ; it having become a very necessity of life, both to the rich and the poor. But I must pass from tea, for I promised not to occupy your attention over three minutes, and speak of the artisans of China — those who have given lustre to the dyes of the world — for I understand there are no artisans who have equalled those of China in producing so great a number of permanent and beautiful colors which they give to their various, products. I would like to refer to the great perfec- tion of their China and Porcelain which, for so many centuries, they have been famous. Then their beautiful carved work in 32 shell, ivory, and pearl ; their beautiful fans, which our ladies prize so highly ; and let us not forget their lire- works. What could we do without them ? The boys would as soon have no 4th of July as to be deprived of the Chinese fire-crackers. We are assembled here to-night to do honor to the Chinese embas- sy, and it is impossible to say what may be the influence of that embassy, not only on our own nation, but the nations of the world. Who shall attempt to predict the future of China when she shall have adopted the modern improvements of the age ; when the railroad shall pass through that country with its millions 'i Wiiy, we railroad men love to build railroads where there are passengers, and what a place China must be for such enterprises. (Cheers.) And railroads that bring to the coast the industries of China, will carry into the interior of that empire the industries of America. (Applause.) 8th Toast. — "Ancient and Modern Civilization commingling on the Pacific." Eesponded to by Prof. R. D. Hitchcock, D. D. SPEECH OP PROF. HITCHCOCK. Mr. President, and Gentlemen : Extremes meet here to- night; as, sooner or later, they always do and must. Not Asia and Europe, which are reall}'- only one vast continent, but Asia and America — the true Antipodes. Our guests represent four hundred millions of human beings, who look up one way into the blue sky, while we look up just the other way ; who are saying " good night " to one another, while we are saying " good morning." They represent the great Mon- 83 goliaii branch of the human family, which has made itself felt more than once in the persons of such conquerors as Geng- his-Khan and Tamerlane; while we represent the Caucasian branch, whose latest heroes are Arkwright, and Fulton, and Morse, and Field. They represent a people whose annals run back almost to the deluge, whose first king, Fuhhi, is farther back in the depths of antiquity than Abraham ; farther back than the pyramids of Egypt, farther back even than Menes, the Thinite ; while the hands of our fathers and founders have hardly yet turned to ashes in the ground. They represent an empire whose first and last word is obedienGe, even to the endangering of liberty ; while we represent a republic whose first and last word is liberty, even to the endangering of obedience. These are some of the contrasts. But there is no contrast of civilization and barbarism, oi semi-barbarism. It is no mere instinct of courtesy on our part, to speak of the Chinese Cimlisation. Though inferior to our own occidental, Caucasian civilization in that ours has dropped all national titles, and is simply Christian ; it is, nevertheless, a civiliza- tion, and a civilization of no mean rank. While religious ideas, which vitalize our institutions, are avowedly beyond its range, still it has ideas, whose soundness and power have been exemplified in a national longevity, which has no parallel in history. The one grand, formative idea of the Chinese civilization is this : that the roots of the State are in the Family. Obedience to parents is the beginning of all civil order; the indispensable cement, without which the whole vast fabric of the empire would crumble down. This, too, was the secret of the old Roman grandeur. And, if we, of this western republic, have not something to learn of our imperial antipodes in this regard, then some of our wisest moralists are greatly in error. And let it not be forgotten, that of all uninspired men the Chinese Confucius, who lived 3 34 five liiindred years before our Christian era, has come the nearest to our Golden Rule. In the Confucian AnalecU we find this remarkable passage : " Tsze-Kung asked, saying, ' Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life V The Master said, ' Is not Reciprocity such a word ? "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.' " Such are the men who are now, after centuries of isolation, asking to be received into the great fraternity of nations. They do not come empty-handed. Long ago they made their contributions to the common stock. Eighteen hundred years ago they were making paper ; more than nine hundred years ago they were printing books. They had porcelain vases before those earthen vessels were miraculously filled with wine at Cana, in Galilee. Fourteen liundred years ago their boats were steered by the needle. We used artillery for the first time, on the battlefield of Crecy, in 1346 ; but our gun- powder was almost identical with the " fire-drug," which the Chinese had been using in sport for centuries. Roger Bacon's famous recipe for making it, a recipe which had to be written blindly, or the author of it might not have been quite sure of keeping his head upon his shoulders, came, no doubt, from China. And still she wraps our maidens in shining garments, and still she provides their mothers with that which cheers but not inebriates. (Applause.) But now, at last, the time has come for China to take as well as give. (Cheers.) The great Middle Kingdom no doubt is sagacious in thus inviting the fellowship of Christendom. But that man must be singu- larly wanting in moral sensibility, who does not recognize in this one of those providential inspirations which always herald great revolutions. The scenes through which we are now passing, will be looked back to by our children, and the children of these Ambassadors, as one of. the turning points of history. ISTo one of the leading nations of the globe can ever 35 go back on the record of these hours, — and China, the least of all. She must understand, and she does understand, that she can never undo this work. For better, or for worse, she is henceforth to be one of the nations of the earth. Every- thing she has, comes now upon the sands of the arena ; every art, every institution of government, every idea of religion. Human fraternity is no doubt the goal ; but human fraternity implies the divine paternity ; and as God is one, so, at last, must the religious faith of our race be one. Just now we are hearing the voice of Commerce; but after this John the Baptist of all our modern history there cometh One, the latchet of whose shoes commerce is not worthy to unloose. By His plastic hand shall all taat is good in all of us be moulded into one final and perfect whole. Ninth regular Toast — "International Law, preserving Peace in both Hemispheres." Responded to by the Hon. David Dudley Field, Esq. SPEECH OF MR. FIELD. International law is rather a grave subject for an after- dinner speech. But I suppose the committee of arrangements thought that the new international relations, which this ban- quet celebrates, required some recognition of the value of the rules which define and govern those relations, and the exten- sion and melioration which they are likely to receive from the entrance of this new member into the family of nations. Certain it is, that there never has been presented a better op- portunity for a reform of the international code than that which this oriental mission now presents. 36 International law is the fruit of international intercourse. It is the slow growth of ages, first springing forth on the shores of the Mediterranean, then cultivated anew on the Baltic, and thence extended into the open ocean, till it encircles the globe. The more nation meets nation, the more varied are their rela- tions, and the more expanded become the rules respecting them. International law has grown into a system, so vast in its pro- portions, and so diversified in its details, that it affects, to a great degree, the prosperity ajid happiness of the human race. Unconscious of it, as we may be, it, nevertheless, guides and supports us in ways innumerable. It marches at the head of armies, it commands in every fieet, it guards the deck of the merchantman, it protects the trader, and the traveler in foreign lands. Each new member of the brotherhood of States brings a contribution to its precepts. Its tendency is ever towards melioration. That great empire which we now welcome into the community of nations, will help us, we trust, to still further meliorations. Our policy is peace. The benificerit aim of the law of nations is peace. And, although the day may be distant when wars will cease, we believe that it is possible to intro- duce such reformation of international law, as greatly to lessen the occasions of war, and to mitigate its evils when it occurs. If the negotiators of any two states of Christendom were to set themselves industriously to work to remove every cause of difference, and interpose the greatest obstacles to the occur- rence of hostilities, can there be a doubt that war between them would be improbable, not to say impossible ? (Cheers.) But, however it may be between us and the nations of Europe, let us make war impossible, or all but impossible, be- tween us and the nations of Asia. Here we stand, between the East and the West, stretching out our hands over either ocean. And while we turn a face sometimes of defiance and anger 3T towards the former, let us begin our international relations with the latter in the spirit of amity never to be broken. (Applause.) May the Pacific Sea ever be peaceful, in another sense than that in which it was named. May the treaty about to be made between America and China, form a new and better chapter of the law of nations ; the opening chapter of a new book, more benificent than any book of treaties that has ever yet been written. I envy the negotiators of that treaty, both of them Americans, representing, one the youngest, and the other, the oldest of the nations, (Applause.) The wise and the good of all lands will say to them : Write that which will stand for all time, as the model of a just and equal compact between sovereign nations, neither of which desires an ad- vantage over the other, but both of them seek the freest intercourse of persons, the most liberal exchange of products, constant reciprocation of good offices, and perpetual peace : thus will they help to build up that international code of the future, in describing which, I will venture to use the language, slightly altered, of Sir William Jones : "And sovereign law, the worlds collected will, O'er thrones and globe elate, Sits Empress, crowning good, repressing ill." (Loud applause.) 10th Toast. — " The Maritime Commerce of the Globe." Responded to by Hon. Chas. P. Daly. SPEECH OF HON. CHAS. P. DALY. Judge Daly said : I am asked, Mr. Chairman, to respond to the toast of the Maritime Coinmerce of the Globe, with which I have no other connection except the fact that I live in a maritime city, or, perhaps, the equally broad and general one, that I happen to be the President of the Geographical Society. When I remember, Mr. Chairman, that two-thirds of the globe is covered with water, and that maritime com- merce extends wherever a vessel can penetrate and find the means of traffic, I realize the magnitude of the subject, and the responsibility of attempting to handle it in the pre- sence of so large a representation of mercantile men, and, particularly, within the hearing of the three distinguished merchants with whom I am sitting at this end of the table. Before me, is Mr. Alexander T. Stewart, our metropolitan representative of the magnitude and energy of the palatial Medici. At his side is a gentleman, who, though his name is Low^ stands the highest in the maritime commerce of this republic (cheers) ; and at my side is Mr. Dodge, the Presi- dent of the Chamber of Commerce, who has modestly waived the large subject, now committed to me, and confined himself to the limited range of silks, teas, and fireworks. (Laughter.) With his example before me, where shall I begin, and what shall I say % Shakespeare's Puck ofifered to put a girdle about the globe in forty minutes, a feat that I am expected to perform in five, for I take it that that is all the toleration that will be .allowed, at this late hour of the evening, to an after-dinner speech upon so wide-spread a subject. But, Mr. Chairman, we live in a progressive age, and in a country distinguished for doing the largest amount of work in the 39 smallest possible space of time, so that, without stopping to consider whether it is possible or not, I shall, in the spirit of Yankee inspiration, go to work at once, and undertake to do it, (Laughter and applause.) The maritime commerce of the ancient world, down to the time of the middle ages, may be readily disposed of, by the general observation that it can scarcely be said to have existed, as maritime commerce is now understood and pursued. Com- merce in those days was chiefly carried on upon rivers, or overland by caravans. The ocean was but a limited field for its exercise when man was destitute of the mariner's compass, and vessels had to keep within sight of the land ; or, if they found themselves beyond it, had to trust to the guidance of the stars. But this was not all. Universal plunder, or, as we express it, piracy, was the rule of the ocean. Every vessel that ventured upon it, did so at the risk of being captured by any vessel she encountered that was strong enough to do it. Force was the recognized rule, and if unable to resist, her cargo was the victor's spoil, and her crew were sold as slaves at the first stopping place. It might be supposed that, under such a state of things, commerce upon the ocean was impossi- ble ; but then it must be remembered that, if a vessel went at this peril, she went, also, with the design and hope of captur- ing a vessel herself. So that the thing was about balanced, or, as our insurance friends would say, the risk was equal. There were, it is true, some nations that followed maritime commerce as a business, like the Phenicians, the Carthage- nians, or the Greeks of the islands of the Archipelago ; but it arose from the fact that, being stronger and better organized, they were able to do it, by driving all weaker competitors from the ocean. If there was any exception to the rule of universal plunder upon an element which can be the property of no one people, but is the common highway for all, it was, 4(» probably, on the part of that distant nation whose representa- tives we honor to-night. When Father Kaempfer returned to Europe, towards the close of the seventeenth century, he brought with him a Japanese map, afterwards published in London, upon which the North American coast upon the Pacific was laid down, from the Aleutian Isle to the Gulf of California. This early knowledge of our coast, we may naturally infer, was not confined to the Japanese, but must have been equally well known to their close neighbors in China, showing that these distant eastern nations were, at an early period, geographers, who, probably, acquired their in- formation of our north-western coast in the pursuit of mari- time commerce, at a period of which we have no record ; and if they did, we may conclude, from their character as mariners elsewhere, that it was, like the great ocean which they were, probably, the first to traverse, pacific. (Cheers.) This custom of general plunder ceased only when nations were compre- hensive and wise lenough to keep an armed police upon the ocean. It was not until then that peaceful commerce upon the sea was possible, by enforcing and maintaining these rules and regulations, which have now taken the form and are known as maritime law. I offered to dispose of this subject in five minutes, and have but two and a half left for modern maritime commerce. (A voice — " we will give you ten.") What I have to say, then, in general terms, is that, although modern maritime commerce is prosecuted simply for gain, the gain is not con- fined solely to the mercantile adventurer, but the results are wide spread in their effects upon the welfare of the great family of mankind. (Loud cheers.) When Magellan, passing- through the straits which bear his name, entered upon the great ocean of the Pacific, and his vessel, after the unhappy fate of its commander, reached those islands which lie on the 41 confines of the Chinese seas, the great feat of the circnmnaviga- tion of the globe was not onlj accomplished, by the most conclusive of all proofs, the fact of sailing around it, but an era was inaugurated for those peaceful triumphs which are achieved by maritime commerce, the eifect of which we are only at this day beginning to realize, in the contact and fusian which is now taking place between the oldest and the newest of existing civilizations in the great waters of the Pacific. It is now 346 years since Magellan, under perils that have rarely been encountered by any navigator, and with a hardihood that has never been surpassed, achieved enough to bring his enterprise to a successful termination, within thirty years after Columbus had discovered America, and twenty-five years after Vases de Gama had found a passage to the Indies, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, During these three centuries and a half — a very short period in the history of Asiatic civilizations — this continent has been peopled by the civilized races of Europe, and their descendants from the frozen lakes of Labrador to the ocean foamed clift's of Pata- jonia. Europe, on her part, was indebted for her population to the tribes which migrated from the high plateaus of Cen- tral Asia ; as she was indebted for the first lights of her knowl- edge to those grand old civilizations which spring up on the banks of the JSTile, the Euphrates, the Yang-tsc-Ziang, and the Ganges. From the time of recorded history — and long before it — the migratory movement of mankind has been to the west, and along and within the limits of the temperate zone. Though di scrying and settling to the north and to the south, the movement went steadily forward, and westward to the Atlantic, and crossing its waters kept steadily onward, peopleing the southern hemisphere of our continent, and passing the barriers of the Rocky Mountains, until, like Magellan's ship, it has gone around the belt of the globe ; 42 and to-daj stands face to face, and is about to mingle with that old and stationary civilization which yet lingers in the land where the movement began. (Applause.) It is a move- ment that has never gone backward. The Portuguese and English, it is true, have connected themselves with Asia, in an opposite direction, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, but all that Portugal secured has been a few remote commer- cial settlements, and though England has acquired political dominion, and rules a vast population in India, she has made comparatively little impression upon the crystalized civiliza- tion of the acute and feeble race over which she maintains supremacy, by the power of force alone. Far different is the majestic movement of which I have been speaking. It is the migratory instinct of mankind, which has hitherto impelled him to move constantly to the west, and around the belt of the globe, discovering, occupying, and settling countries pre- viously unknown to him, and subduing, civilizing, and driv- ing before him the races with which he has come in contact. The work which this great movement has hitherto achieved, of subduing and settling' countries left in the prodigality of nature, or disturbed only by the dominion of the savage, will have reached its limit upon the borders of the Pacific, and it will then be left to react upon Asia ; diffusing and spreading over that land the cradle of the human race, the civilization which has been the first of this movement, which it has developed and carried with it in its march around the globe. (Cheers.) This exaction from the west, upon Asia, will be chiefly brought about by agencies of maritime commerce upon the Pacific, which, at some future day, will compare with the Atlantic in the ships that will speckle its surface, and in the magnitude and variety of the products that will be wafted across its waters. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, let me say a word to the gen- 43 tlemen here who are engaged in the pursuit of maritime com- merce in this great maritime city. Were it not for the patient investigation and life long labors of the men who discovered the means by which the mariner can tell, in the wilderness of waters, exactly where he is, and find his way across the ocean almost as readily as he can upon the land, maritime commerce as it exists to-day, with its rich rewards and its civilizing in- fluence, would have been impossible. It is to the men of science that the merchant owes it that his vocation has be- come the dignified, influential, and remunerative pursuit that it is. It is to them and to the bold navigators who ventured upon regions unknown that pathways for maritime commerce have been opened, and remote and distant parts of the world brought into intimate and constant connection. Clreat as has been the work hitherto achieved in the world's past history, much still remains to be accomplished by the patient man of science, and by the active maritime explorer, and as it has done in the past, so will it in the future tend to the advance- ment of maritime commerce, and to the increase of the bene- ficial influences that follow in its train. Maritime discovery was materially aided in its earlier efibrts by the far-sighted sagacity and enterprise of the merchants of London and Amsterdam, and in our own day a portion of the Arctic re- gions bear the name of a merchant of New York, and that name found inscribed upon our planet will preserve through future ages the memory of his public spirit and his enterprise. To the merchant, the man of science, and the explorer has not always been the object of interest that he should be, and neither have been hitherto aided by the mercantile classes to an extent at all commensurate with the benefits conferred by their labors upon the mercantile vocation and its interest. With respect to what remains to be done in the acquisition of a more thorough knowledge of our globe, the merchant should u be among tlie first to sympathize with and encourage the scientific investigator, and to him it peculiarly belongs to aid the maritime explorer — remembering that the great navigators of the past, to whom commerce owes so much, found little to reward them for their labors during life except the conscious- ness of the immortality so felicitously expressed by the poet Campbell in the closing lines of the poem addressed to the memory of the illustrious La Perouse : Fair Science, on the ocean's azure robe, Still writes his name in picturing the globe, And wreathes, what fairer wreathe could glory twine, His watery course, a world encircling line. (Applause.) 11th Toast. — " The Labor of China and the Labor of America." Responded to by the Hon. Edwards Pierrepont. SPEECH OF MR. PIERREPONT. Mr. President : It seems to me that any one who considers this remarkable banquet, and undertakes to find out by reason the subtle causes which have led to it, will finally conclude that " there is a special Providence in the fall of a sparrow," and in the founding of an Empire, and that man has but little control over the march of great events. The few remarks which I shall make in response to this toast, may interest the young merchant, who proposes to make great fortune out of Chinese and American labor, and possibly also the young politician who proposes to make great fame out of repudiation of the !N^ational Debt. 46 If you send a colonj of 500 men with their wives, to an uninhabited island in the sea, where the soil is fertile, and where the minerals used in the arts abound, the future of that colony will depend upon its capacity to perform intelligent labor. If it is composed of nobles from Europe, high Man- darins from China, and cultivated idlers from America, it will make but a poor start in founding a great empire. The German, Irish, Chinese and American laborers are now busily at work laying the foundation stones for the coUossal pillars of an empire such as the world never saw. They are as unconscious of the work which they are building, as are the little coral-insects when they begin to raise an island in the ocean. The power to subdue the earth by toil, to make it fruitful a.nd beautiful, comes of necessity. Men born to ease and bred in dalliance, cannot make laborers, and if all were such the race would soon perish, without a flood. There was a time in the history of this country when alien laws were passed, and when foreign laborers were not encour- aged to come to America. The records of that time show that the Irish worker who landed on our shores, eager to work for bread was not welcome. American laborers thought the Irish laborer would make labor cheap and reduce wages. Even statesmen shared in the prejudice and opposed emigra- tion. But driven by dire necessity and oppressed by unjust laws, foreign laborers would come to America, and soon the more sagacious statesmen saw that the future greatness of this country depended upon the supply of cheap labor, and that it could only come from the old world — the Erie Canal was be- gun, and every foreign hand which could use a spade was needed. Recently, the Chinese, driven by poverty, the result of 46 over-population and peculiar laws, began to flock to Cali- fornia. The same prejudice against clieap labor met the Chinaman in California which had met the Irishman in Kew England and New York, and statutes were passed very discouraging to Chinese emigration. The Pacific Railway was commenced, and now 'tis seen that the Chinese are needed there, and the prejudice is fading away, and all enlightened men perceive that Chinese labor will do for the Pacific coast what Irish and German labor has already done for the Atlantic. To-day the China- man on the West, and the Irishman on the East of the Great Mountains, are digging their slow, toilsome way towards each other. In a few short months they will meet. In a strange, wild land they will meet — each far from his native home^ — each looking strange to the other, strange in costume, strange in features, strange in language and habits, strange in every tie of kindred — each having Gods strange to the other ; and yet, obedient to the mandate of the same great, unknown God, both have sailed 'over stormy seas, and dug through high mountains to make a highway for the nations of the whole earth ; — and here tliey stand, face to face, and they know not why ; wholly unconscious that the day of their meeting is the most eventful that ever dawned upon the human race. Pre- saging these great events, what do we behold to-night ? A 'New England Puritan, Embassador from the Celestial Em- pire ! When your boyhood was at play in your native State, would you have believed this, even though an angel had re- vealed it ? When in the prime of manhood, you held your seat in the councils of the nation, did you even dream of it ? I doubt not you will tell us that no plan of yours had any- thing to do wath it, and that you will reverently say that you are but the humble instrument in the hands of God. The great want of America is manual labor; the great 47 want of China is employment for such labor. How mutual the advantage to each ! The Chinese are patient, frugal, peaceful and industrious ; skilled in labor, and familiar with the cultivation of rice and of cotton. It took the hot and glowing fires of war to burn up the fiend of slavery. The cheap labor of the bondsman has perished, but in its stead, and more than to supply its place, we see rolling over upon the waves of the Pacific an hundred millions of willing hands to enrich and to beautify our land ; and the unnumbered millions of wealth which will thus be developed, when added to the vast commercial values which will surely spring up, have hardly entered into the imagina- tion to conceive. If there is present a merchant, who expects to live thirty years, and who wishes his son succeeding him, to amass a fortune, in comparison with which that of the Medici were poverty, let him build ships to run between China and our Pacific coast. It is true that the present outward freight from California to China is dead Chinamen y those cargoes will increase, and it is not an unprofitable commerce. We take out dead China- men, but we bring back live ones, willing tillers of the soil. We send to France corn and wheat, and gold, and we bring back — what ? — live, laboring Frenchmen? — scarce one ! We bring back wines, and silks, and laces ; fashions and vices, to corrupt our women, and to demoralize our men. The completion of the Pacific road, the opening trade with the East, and the vast emigration from China, are the grand events which follow our terrible war, and reveal something of our great destiny. So clear will this appear, even before the next November, that the national debt will seem a trifle, and no repudiator will receive the votes of an honest people. Men, sipping costly wines over luxurious tables, complain 48 much of our institutions, murmur about taxes, the national debt, the wrongs of the individual, and the lack of refined and elevated men in the counsels of the nation. The great middle-class, eating their frugal dinners, and drinking beer or water, make no such complaints. They find that they are protected in their liberties, receive the reward of their toil, are able to educate their children, and to see them advance in the scale of life. They see that railroads are made, forests subdued, mines opened, and that the general intelligence, comfort, and prosperity, are unequalled in the whole world. The institutions of a country are to be viewed as a whole, and when the grand resultant is unparelleled prosperity and general advancement, we may be sure that the Government is good. We hear sensible men express many fears about the finances of our country. With the knowledge that what I now say will be printed in the records of this night, I venture to predict that we are much nearer to resumption of payment in coin than is generally* supposed. I entertain no fears upon the subject. I see causes at work, (and of these causes the emi- gration of Chinese labor is one,) which will enable us to pay our obligations in gold as they mature, and which will make New York the monetary centre of the world. I think it can be demonstrated that present high prices are not caused, to any very considerable degree, by the papjer currency. The important article of coal is much lower than when gold was the medium of trade. The same is true of delanes, and of many other fabrics in general use. No one thinks these low prices are due to paper money ; neither is the high price of labor, to any considerable extent, due to that cause. It is generally supposed, that when we return to gold payments, then prices will generally fall. Time will show that this is an entire mistake, and he that buys or sells 49 on that theory will not profit by his fears. The price of labor in London is far higher than it was a few years ago, and yet gold and silver are the currency. The expenses of living in Paris, as I have reason to know, have advanced nearly the same as in New York, and yet France has all the time had gold as her currency. An able administration of our finances would bring us to specie payments by the first of January next, and without any general derangement of business, aud with an immense gain to the nation. Chinese and American labor combined, will soon make gold and silver the currency of this country, in spite of bad management, and without repudiation of a dollar of our debt. We hail the advent of this embassy from the far East as the harbinger of great blessings to that over-peopled empire, and as the dawn of a glorious future for our beloved land. (Applause.) 12.— The Twelfth Regular Toast—" The Press." Responded to by the Hon. Horace Greeley. REMARKS OP MR. GREELEY. I think we may fairly claim for the Press this, that, with all its imperfections, and sharing, as it doubtless does, the passions of its patrons, it has done more, on the whole, to moderate than to stimulate those rapacious instincts and those ambitious passions of mankind, which have been the great obstacles to human progress, especially in the spheres of art and industry, and more than all of intelligence. We have 50 heard to-night very much said of the advantages and the blessings of material commerce ; and all of it, I doubt not, truly. I think, however, that nations have profited more decidedly, more consistently, or rather permanently, by the commerce of ideas, than by the commerce in material objects. And now, if China and this country are to come, as I trust they may, into more harmonious and intimate relations than they have hitherto held, I hope that she will gain more of us by borrowing our arts and our ideas, and that we shall gain more of her, as I doubt not we can gain more, by so borrowing of her those which are the less material trophies of her progress and her thought, than by the simple inter- change of commodities. (Applause.) Mr. Chairman, I heard the worthy Mayor of our city make the suggestion, that the commerce — by which I think he meant the navigation — of this country, was now very materially depressed ; and I would not wish to contradict his assertion on that subject. I would wish only, on behalf of the ideas which I mean to represent, and of the principles which I am allowed to speak for here, to make this suggestion — that never, I think, in the past history of mankind, has any nation been largely prosperous and commanding in commerce which was not also foremost and prosperous in manufactures. (Applause.) In other words : that the great interests of human industry and human advancement are coordinate; that the prosperity of each is bound up with the prosperity of every other, (applause,) and that they must flourish or perish together. I hope the time is not distant when, through the journals of China and of America, there shall be brought about a more complete understanding between the two peoples, which will lead, I doubt not, to a better and a higher appreciation of each other. Ignorant nations in all time, and ignorant races and peoples are prone to disparage every other race or people than them- 51 selves. As men's ideas enlarge, or rather, as their knowledge is increased, they come, better and better — that is, more highly and truly — to appreciate each other. (Applause.) Such, I trust, is to be the consequence of the intellectual and spiritual intercourse which is about to be inaugurated between this country and the oldest nation of the world, and which, I trust, is to be increased and improved through the medium of the public press. (Loud cheers.) The President then announced the following : 13. — " One uniform metallic currency for the entire world." The Hon. Samuel B. Ruggles was called upon to respond. SPEECH OF THE HON. SAMUEL B. RUGGLES Me. Peesident : — We are here to-night in that hopeful spirit so peculiar to our country, to celebrate, by anticipation, the coming interfusion of the commerce, the industry, the law, and last, not least, the money of the two hemispheres of our globe. More especially are we here, to welcome with proud and joyful emotions the advent of the distinguished Embassy now present, from the most ancient of the Empires of Asia, the cradle of our race — and to express in advance, our confi- dence in its varied and comprehensive ability, speedily to effect the great conjunction so important to civilized man. The formal expression, in due order, of our sentiments on this occasion, has been commenced by appropriate toasts in honor of the President of the United States, and of the Emperor of China ; preeminently the antipodal political personages of the 52 globe. The toast now proposed you have purposely reserved for the last, to introduce to this assembly a potentate far more exalted, swaying a power far more pervading and transcendent than all the presidents and all the emperors that ever trod this earth. This august personage — this earthly " king of kings," is money! the undisputed monarch of the world — aye, of "the round world and them that dwell therein," — the potent main- spring of all the machinery of human society, unceasingly and untiringly regulating and guiding the movement of all the civilization on the globe — and, above all, as tlie greatest of earthly Divinities, the object of profoundest worship by a vast majority of the human race, especially in this, our goodly city. By a singular dispersion, this great power is almost infinite- simally divided, and made visible in more than 700,000,000 of circular bits of gold, with an aggregate pecuniary value of at least $3,000,000,000 — each bearing on its face the head of the local sovereign within whose territories it has been issued to the world. Throughout the broad expanse of our American Union, now looking out upon the two great oceans, and far away into the Polar Basin, these golden tokens of power bear the head of "Liberty," our legitimate sovereign, with the classic Eagle coming down from antiquity, the historically established symbol of imperial sovereignty. Of this great aggregate of $3,000,000,000, nearly all is found in eighteen of the nations of Europe, and in the United States, The transcendent importance of a uniformity of weight and quality in a mass thus enormous, is so self-evident that the long neglect of the leading commercial nations fully to secure it, and their singular acquiesence in the inconvenience and injury hourly resulting from the wide diversity in the existing coinages, have become a serious blot on civilization. 63 We should, however, remember that the present nations of Europe (excepting one or two of the most northern) being wholly composed of the dShris of the Roman Empire, slowly picked up and put together, came into the world in a loose and fragmentary manner — whereas the American Union was regularly born according to law, and that, too, by a written constitution which unified the coinage, for all coming time, throughout the whole extent of the Republic, in its area already equal to that of Europe. It is due alike to historic truth, and to public duty, to state and claim, now and here, that this great measure of interna- tional monetary unity is far more American than European in its origin. It is true that partial efforts had been made in some small assemblies representing portions of continental Europe, to bring them into monetary accord, but it was not until the International Congress at Berlin, in 1863, that any distinct proposition was made in any appropriate public assembly, to unify even the three discordant coinages of the United States, Great Britain, and France. The statistics of the subject are few and simple. Disre- garding minute fractions, the half eagle, our gold five dollar piece, weighs 129 grains, the British sovereign 126 grains, the new French piece of 25 francs 125 grains. The half eagle is worth 13 cents more than the sovereign, and lYi- cents more than the 25 francs. At the Berlin Congress, the British delegates proposed to reduce the half eagle to the sovereign, to which the delegate from the United States objected, but proposed to reduce both to the 25 francs. The latter proposition is embraced in the plan adopted by the Paris Monetary Conference of 186Y, after careful consideration, and a nearly unanimous vote of the delegates of the nineteen nations represented. 54 Its adoption Ly tlie United States and Great Britain, or by either, would be followed, without delay, by the remaining nations of Europe, six of which have already uniiied their gold coinage with that of France, and united in monetary accord a continental population of 110,000,000. It is now known from, good authority, that Canada, and also the South American States, and in all probability Mexico, will be ready at once to adopt the plan of the Conference, so that it would onl}^ need the accession of the civilized nations of Eastern Asia — for which, under the happy auspices of this evening, we may confidently look — fully to gratify the com- prehensive wish of the toast now proposed, for " One Uniform Metallic Currency [meaning money] for the Entire World." By such a consummation, the American eagle and its subdi- visions would have precisely the same value and the same currency at New York and Pekin, at London and Paris, at Valparaiso and Archangel, on the Alps and on the Andes' — on all the lands and all the seas of our terraqueous globe. • If the members of the Paris Conference did any thing whatever deserving the approval of their fellow men, it was their prompt and unanimous resolution in favor of a single standard of money, to consist exclusively of gold, thereby condemning, and cutting up by the roots, all attempts, by mere legislation, to fix the comparative values of gold and silver, in their very nature incessantly fluctuating, and gov- erned only by the inexorable law of demand and supply. If this be so — and who can deny it ? — legal money may consist either of gold or silver, but, practically, cannot consist of both. One or the other, whether coined or uncoined, will fluctuate as merchandise, and be sold as such. Let us, therefore, fully comprehend the significance of the little word, " One," wisely inserted in the toast, as having peculiar force and value. 65 This superfluous weight of 3|- per cent, in our gold coinage is the pernicious result of these vain attempts to fix by law the comparative value of gold and silver. As long ago as 1834, the idea was abandoned by Congress, who then reduced the weight of our gold nearly 5 per cent. No good reason can now be given why the present excess of 3|- per cent, should not be discarded at once. As soon as it shall be extracted from our eagles, thereby equalizing their weight with the corresponding coins in France and Great Britain, all will freely circulate, side by side, around the world, unobstructed by brokerage, recoinage or other impediment. The yearly loss to the world by the present needless recoinages and bro- kerages, amounts to several millions of dollars. It is a singular fact, that the American Union, which yields the greatest part of the annual product of gold in the world, and is soon to produce a still greater portion, constantly coins it into eagles by tens of millions, and sends them out to Europe, only to be instantly recoined, on their arrival. It is indeed " a sorry sight " to see the imperial bird, the very type of the great Kepublic, crossing the ocean, and touching the Continent only to descend into the melting pots of the mints of Paris and London. For one, Mr. President, I confess that I do not relish the performances of these transatlantic crucibles, trans- muting his noble plumage into the grim moustache of the Third l^apoleon, or the waving tresses of Queen Yictoria. On the contrary, I shall unceasingly labor to break them up, by lightening his needless load, so that he may cross the European continent, free from further molestation, to visit his kindred eagles in Prussia, Austria and Russia, not forgetting on his way to look in upon the intelligent and trusty friends in Turkey of a world-wide coinage, one of whom, the accom- plished Minister Plenipotentiary of the Sultan, now honors this assembly with his presence. 56 We have listened this evening, with the highest satisfac- tion and instruction, to the glowing and noble words of the Chief of the Embassy now before ns, inculcating the sacred principles of equal justice and full reciprocity, as the very foundation-stone, laid in remote antiquity, of the public policy of China, embodied in their maxim, older than the coming of Christ, " Do not unto others what you would not have others do unto you," Guided by this truly golden rule, may not our government at Washington, amid the many commingling elements of a common and advancing civilization, now well ask the government at Pekin, to receive the metallic money of the United States, especially when unified with that of Europe, and to coin for us, in return, the money of the em- pire, bearing its peculiar emblems, but of equal weight and value ? Mr. President, if I can read aright the animated and expressive features of our long-valued friend and compatriot at your side, the head of this honorable Embassy, he will cer- tainly be ready, at the proper time, respectfully to consider this suggestion. • His government, surely, will not fail to per- ceive, that the completed monetary unity of our " Occidental" world, including Great Britain and Russia, necessarily draw- ing after them their wide-spread territories in Hindustan and Australia, and along the upper Pacific, will carry the uniform coin to the very Wall of China. Is it credible that, with the high enlightenment of such an Embassy, the statesmen of China will consent thereafter to remain for a moment in soli- tary and selfish isolation, the only exile from the great family of nations? Last July a paragraph appeared in one of the Paris news- papers, stating that a company in China had undertaken the work of striking silver coins, of European fashion, of one franc, ten francs, and twenty francs, bearing on their face the head of the Chinese Emperor, and on the reverse the flying dragon, 6Y the long established emblem of the Empire. I cannot bnt regard such a creature as tolerably fitted to " break the ice " in this monetary effort, especially in Asia. I am also com- forted and flattered, Mr. President, by the assurance of an emi- nent geologist, that this grotesque and ancient monster is the huge pre-adamite prototype or ancestor of the modest and unpretending " eagle " of our happy land. From the bottom of my heart I rejoice in beholding him, as I now do, emblazoned on the Imperial flag, of golden yel- low, of the Celestial Empire, so closely entwined with the im- perishable ensign of the American Union, but I shall rejoice, with a far deeper joy, to see him emblazoned on the uniform coinage of gold, so long desired, forming part of that majestic monetary belt which must, sooner or later, in God's great providence, encircle the globe. In reply to invitations to be present, the following letters, among others, were received by the Committee of Arrange- ments : FROM SECRETARY SEWARD. Department op State, June 30, 1868. Gentlemen : I regret that my engagements at the capital render it impossible for me to accept your kind invitation to the dinner which you propose to give to the Legation from China. On all subjects which concern the commercial rela- tions of the United States and China, a mutual understanding exists between Prince Kung, at the head of foreign affairs in that empire, and the head of the Department of State of the United States. Mr. Burlingame is authorized to communi- cate to you Prince Kung's views and sentiments in regard to those international interests, and my esteemed friends, their Excellencies Chih-Tajen and Sun Tajen, I am sure, will kindly 58 be the interpreters of mine. Wishinaj you a celebration worthy of the magnitude of tlie occasion, I am, gentlemen, with great respect, your humble servant, WM. H. SEWABD. To Messrs. Elliot C. Cowdin, Charles P. Daly, Theodore Roosevelt, Marshall 0. Roberts, J. F. Kensett, William H. Fogg, Edwards PiERREPONT, William E. Dodge, Jr., S. L. M. Barlow, Isaac H. Bailey, Henry Clews, Charles S. Smith, Committee of Arrangements. FROM SENATOR MORGAN. ' United States Senate Chamber, Washington, June 10. Sir : You have honored me with an invitation to a dinner to be given by citizens of JSTew York to Mr. Burlingame and his associates of the Chinese embassy, on the 23d inst. The session of Congress is so near its close that I am reluctantly compelled to deay myself the satisfaction which its acceptance would aiford me. As a merchant of New York I applaud this mark of respect. The most populous city of the nation wisely emulates the young and thriving metropolis of the Pacific States in offering to these representatives of the great Oriental power attentions so well their due. We welcome the embassy at a transformation period. Their advent, in itself, one of the weightiest evidences of a new order of international relationship, occurs at a junction most opportune for us. Sec- tional interests have become merged, internal improvements are reaching greater usefulness, our broadest rivers are being bridged, and our lines of telegraph and railway, are soon to connect all parts of the country with ports and places most easily reached from China and Eastern Asia. To commerce the visit is auspicious. We shall not overrate its importance however high our estimate. Intercourse with China will also 59 afford broader standards for population and prodnctive indus- try ; and our rapid growth must soon force us to contemplate certain economic features peculiar to that country, as in com- pactness and extent of habitable territory, favorableness of climate, and capacity to sustain a vast population, no nation so much resembles that great Empire as the United States. I need not refer to the causes that concurred in preparing us to receive these representatives, and that induced China to cast aside the non-intercourse policy of ages — to seek her place among the nations. But we may profit by the wisdom that accredited an Embassy, selected in the spirit of true statesman- ship, to all treaty powers, charged with a mission so practical. That country, in an important respect, offers us the experience of centuries. Her municipal functionaries are held to single responsibility for local good order. In a densely populated empire, numbering a third of the population of the globe, this fact is there, as it must become here, a question of vital moment. China produces great staples which we need, and we in turn supply largely of what they lack. They are not a maritime people ; we are. They are a trading people ; so is the United States. Enlarged intercom^se, therefore, must pro- mote the prosperity of both, and we may lay deep the founda- tions of this rising commerce. Nature has favored this in many ways. True, an ocean lies between the two countries, but it is an ocean singularly free of perils, and will become at once of ready and cheap intercommunication. Towards fostering this intercourse, I need not say that you, sir, and those whom you represent on this occasion, have an important duty to perform. I trust that the courtesies everywhere extended to the embassy, will satisfy the government they represent of the high value placed upon their friendship. With much esteem, your obedient servant, E. D. MOEGAI^. Mr. Elliot C. Cowdin. 60 FROM THE BRITISH MINISTER. Washington, June 21, 1868. Sir : I shall be much obliged to you if you will express to the Committee of Arrangements for the dinner to be given to the Hon. Anson Burlingame, and his associates of the Chinese Legation, my sincere gratitude for the honor they have done me in inviting me to that dinner. However much I sympathize with Mr. Burlingame, and with the objects of his mission, I am afraid that it is quite impossible for me, with a due regard to the duties of my own mission, to absent myself just now from Washington ; and I therefore beg you to present my excuses to the Committee, and to express my regret that I cannot do myself the honor of accepting their invitation. I remain, sir, very truly yours, EDWARD THOENTON. Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq. FROM THE FRENCH MINISTER. Legation de France, aux Etats-Unis, ) Washington, 11 Juin, 1868. ) Monsieur: L'invitation, que vous m'avez fait I'honneur de m'adresser au nom du comite que vous presidez, vient de me parvenir. J'aurais ete heureux de I'accepter et de donner a mon ancien collegue, M. Anson Burlingame un temoignage de ma sincere estime en assistant au diner qui lui est donne par la Yille de Kew York, si mes occupations ne me faisaient craindre de ne pouvoir quitter Washington a I'epoque in- diquee. Je vous prie done a regret, de vouloir bien accepter mes excuses. 61 Agreez, Monsieur, avec mes remerciments I'assurance de ma consideration la plus distinguee. BEETHEMY. Monsieur Elliot C. Cowdin. Prussian Legation, June 11, 1868. SiK : I have received your letter of the 8th inst., with the obliging invitation to a public dinner to be given by the citi- zens of ]^ew York to the Honorable Anson Burlingame and his associates of the Chinese Embassy. In answer, I beg to express my sincere regret that my offi- cial duties will not allow me to leave Washington at the time indicated in your letter. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq., EK. v. GEKOLT. Chairman, &c., New York. Belgian Legation, Washington, June 10, 1868. Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 8th. I very much regret that arrangements previously made, and which cannot be altered, must prevent my being in ISTew York on the 23d instant, and my availing myself of the in- vitation I have had the honor of receiving through you, to attend the dinner given to the Chinese Mission. I am, sir, your obedient servant, MAUEICE DELFOSSE. Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq., Chairman, &c., &c.. New York. 62 Newport, R. I., June nth, 1868. Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq., J^ew York, Sir : Your note of the 8th inst. inviting me to attend a public dinner to be given by the citizens of IS^ew York to the Chinese embassy on Tuesday next, has just reached me at this place. Whilst fully appreciating the courtesy thus extended to me, I regret that personal circumstances make it impossible for me to accept the invitation to be present on this interesting occasion. Please accept, sir, the assrfrance of my high consideration. N. W. DE WETTEESTEDT, Minister of Sweden and Norwa/y. FROM THE SPANISH MINISTER. Washington, June 23, 1868. Sir : I have received your kind invitation to attend a public banquet to be given by the citizens of Kew York to the Chinese embassy on Tuesday next, 23d instant. I regret to answer that it is not in my power to accept, as I would desire, the invitation, as many pressing business pre- vent me actually to leave Washington. Please accept my cordial thanks, and believe me respect- fully, ' 1 our obedient servant, FACUNDO GONI. To Hon. Elliot C. Cowdin, New York. 63 FROM THE EIGHT REVEREND BISHOP POTTER, N. Y. 38 E. 22d Stbeet, June 15, 1868. Dear Sir : On my return to town I found your favor honoring me with an invitation to the public dinner to be given on the 23d, by the citizens of New York, to Mr. Bur- lingame, and his associates of the Chinese embassy. I highly appreciate the interest and importance of this re- markable movement, and would gladly unite in doing honor to those who have a leading part in it. But I regret to say that my engagements will deprive me of the pleasure of ac- cepting your kind invitation. Very faithfully yours, HOKATIO POTTER. To Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq. FROM THE MOST REVEREND ARCHBISHOP McCLOSKEY. New York, June 13, 1868. Hon. Elliot C. Cowdin, Dear Sir : I beg to acknowledge, with many thanks, the receipt of your kind favor of the 9th inst., in which you, as chairman of the committee of arrangements, invite me to attend a public dinner, to be given by the citizens of New York to the Honorable Anson Burlingame, and his associates of the Chinese embassy. I should be most happy to unite with my fellow-citizens in paying this mark of honor and respect to such distinguished visitors and guests, but I regret to say that, on the day men- tioned, I shall not be in the city. With renewed thanks for your courteous invitation, I remain, dear sir, very respectfully yours, JOHN M'CLOSKEY, A'Vjp. of New York, 64 RosLYN, Long Island, June 9, 1868. My Dear Sir : An embassy to the United States, from the vast and populous empire of China, commissioned to estab- lish liberal commercial relations between the two countries, one of which has for so many centuries been closed against the rest of the world, is an event of such magnitude and import- ance, to say nothing of its novelty, as to make it well worthy of the public demonstration which it is proposed to make on the 23d of this month. While I thank the connnittee, of which you are chair- man, for their obliging invitation to be present, I am pre- vented, by various causes, from accepting it. I am, sir, very truly yours, W. C. BEYANT. Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq., Chairman, etc., etc. Legation op Italy, | Washington, 10 Juin, 1868. f Cher Monsieur: Je viens de recevoir une lettre de votre part du 8 Juin, pour une invitation a diner. Tres reconnaissant de votre invitation, je dois tontefois me priver du ])laisir d'en proliter, car des atiaires du service me rctienuent a AVashiugton Verullez agrcer V ex]>ression de nia phis parfaite con- sideration. M. CERHUTI. Monsieur Elliot C. Cowdin. 65 Washington, D. C, lHh of June, 1868, Sm : On my return to Washington this morning, after a short absence, I had the honor to receive the letter of 8th inst., through which you kindly inform me, that I am invited to attend a public dinner, given by the citizens of New York to the Hon. Anson Burlingame, and his associates of the Chi- nese embassy, on Tuesday, 23d of June. Honored, as I should feel, to participate in this demonstrar tion of sympathy and consideration shown to a citizen of the United States, whose eminent qualities have placed him at the head of a work of civilization, in which my country, too, claims to share to the best of its abilities, I am extremely sorry that official duties will retain me in Washington at the time fixed for the entertainment! In returning you my best thanks, I, therefore, beg you to present my excuses to the Committee, and remain, sir, Your obedient servant, F. BILLE, Charge d'' affaires for DenmarJc. Hon. Elliot C. Cowdin. New York. " BINDER *,