DINNER GIVEN IN H  ONOE
D)INNER GII VEN  IN  HONOR
OF
GEORGE PEABODY, ESQ.o 0OF LONrDONI,
BY THE
CITIZENS OF THE OLD TOWN OF DANVERS,
OCTOBER 9, 1856,
B1Y EDWTARD EVEtRETT.
B O STON:
PRINTED BY HENRY W. DUTTON AND SON.
1857.








S P RESIDENT         
MR. PRESIDENT:I suppose you have called upon me to respond to this interesting toast,* chiefly because I filled a few years ago a place
abroad, which made me in some degree the associate of your
distinguished guest, in the kindly office of promoting good will
between the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon or AngloNorman race, (for I do not think it matters much by which
nlame you call it,) " the fair mother and the fairer daughter,"
to which the toast alludes. At all events, I had much opportunity, during my residence in England, to witness the honorable position of Mr. Peabody in the commercial and social
circles of London; his efforts to make the citizens of the two
countries favorably known to each other; and generally that
course of life and conduct, which has contributed to procure
him  the well-deserved honors of this day, and which shows
that he fully enters into the spirit of the sentiment just propounded from the chair.
To the prayer of that sentiment, Sir, I fully respond, desiring nothing more ardently in the foreign relations of the country, than that these two great nations may be rivals only in
their efforts to promote the welfare and improvement of mankind.  They have already done, they are now doing much, at
homne and abroad, to promote that end by the arts of peace.
Whenever they cooperate they can sweep everything before
them;-when they are at variance, when they pull opposite
ways, it is the annihilation of much of the moral power of both.
* The following is the toast, to which Mr. Everett was called upon to reply:"England and America, Pulchra?mater, pulchlrior filia, long may they flourish in the
bonds of peace, rivals only in their efforts to civilize and christianize the world."




4
Whenever England and America combine their influence in
promoting a worthy object, it moves forward like a vessel propelled by the united force of wind and steam; but when they
are in conflict with each other, it is like the struggle of the
toiling engine against the opposing tempest. It is well if the
laboring vessel holds her own; there is danger if the steam
prevails that she may be crowded under the mountain waves,
or, if the storm gains the mastery, that she may drift upon
the rocks.
It is very obvious to remark, on this occasion, and on this
subject, while you are offering a tribute of respect to a distinguished man of business, that these two great nations, which
are doing so much for the advancement of civilization, are the
two leading commercial nations of the world; that they have
carried navigation and commerce to a height unknown before.
And this consideration, Sir, will serve to justify you and your
fellow-citizens, if they need justification, for the honors you
are bestowing upon the guest of the day, as it will the other
communities in different parts of the country, which have been
desirous of joining in similar public demonstrations of respect.
Without wishing to disparage the services which command
your respect and gratitude, in the walks of political, military,
or literary life, it is natural that, in a country like the United
States, where commerce is so important an interest, you should
be prompt to recognize distinguished merit in the commercial
career; a career of which, when pursued with diligence, sagacity, enterprise, integrity and honor, I deem it not too much to
say, that it stands behind no other in its titles to respect and
consideration; as I deem it not too much to say of commerce
in its largest comprehension, that it has done as much in all
time, and is now doing as much, to promote the general cause
of civilization, as any of the other great pursuits of life.
Trace its history for a moment from the earliest period. In
the infancy of the world its caravans, like gigantic silk worms,
went creeping, with their innumerable legs, through the arid
wastes of Asia and Africa, and bound the human family together in those vast regions as they bind it together now. Its




colonial establishments scattered the Grecian culture all round
the shores of the Mediterranean, and carriedl the adventurers of
Tyre alld Carthage to the north of Europe and tile south of'
Africa.  The walled cities of the middle ages prevented the
arts and refinements of life from being trampled out of existence under the iron heel of the feudal  powers.  The Hanse'rowns were the bulwark of liberty and property in the north
and west of Europe for ages.  The germn of the representative
system sprang from. the municipal franchises of the boroughs.
At the revival of letters, the merchant princes of Florence received the fugitive arts of Greece into their stately palaces.
The spirit of commercial adven:lture produced that movement
il the fifteenth century which led Columbus to America, and
Vasco di Gama around the Cape of Good Hope.  The deep
foundations of the modern system  of international law were
laid inl the interests and rights of commerce, and the necessity
of protecting them.  Commerce sprinkled the treasures of the
newly-found Indies throughout the western nations; it nerved
the arm. of civil and religious liberty in thie Protestant world;
it gradually extended the colonial system  of Europe to the
ends of the earth, and with it the elements of future independent, civilized, republican governme nts.
But why should we dwell on the past?  What is it that
gives vigor to the civilization of the present day but the wrorldwide extension of commercial intercourse, by which all the
lproducts of the earth and of the ocean-of the soil, the mine,
the loom, and the forest-of bounteous nature, creative art,
and untiring  industry, are brought by the agencies of commerce into the universal market of demand and supply.  No
matter in what region, the desirable product is bestowed on
man by a liberal. Providence, or fabricated by human skill.
It may clothe the hills of China with its fragrant foliage; it
may glitter in the golden sands of California; it may wallow
in the depths of Arctic seas; it may ripen and whiten on
the fertile plains of the sunny South; it may spring forth
from the flying shuttles of Manchester in England or lanchester in America-the great world-magnet of commerce at



tracts it all alike, and gathers it all up for the service of man.
I do not speak of English commerce or American commerce.
Such d'stinctions enfeeble our conceptions.  I speak of commerce in the aggregate-the great ebbing and flowing tides of
the commercial world-the great gulf-streams of traffic which
flow round from hemisphere to hemisphere,-the mighty tradewinds of commerce which sweep from the old world to the
new,-that vast aggregate system which embraces the whole
family of man, and brings the overflowing treasures of nature
and art into kindly relation with human want, convenience
and taste.
In carrying on this system, think for a moment of the stupendous agencies that are put in motion.  Think for a moment of all the ships that navigate the sea.  An old Latil
poet, who knew no waters beyond those of the Mediterranean
and IAevant, says that the man must have had a triple casing of
oak and brass about his bosom, who first trusted his frail bark
on the raging sea.  How many thousands of vessels, laden by
commerce, are at this moment navigating, not the narrow seas,
frequented by the ancients, but these world encompassing
oceans! Think next of the mountains of brick, and stone,
and iron, built up into the great commercial cities of the world;
and of all the mighty works of ancient and modern contrivance
and structure,-the moles, the lighthouses, the bridges, the canals, the roads, the railways, the depth of mines, the titanic
force of enginery, the delving ploughs, the scythes, the reapers, the looms, the electric telegraphs, the vehicles of all descriptions, which directly or indirectly are employed or put in
motion by commerce; and last, and most important, the millions of human beings that conduct, and regulate, and combine
these inanimate, organic, and mechanical forces.
And now, Sir, is it anything less than a liberal profession,
which carries a quick intelligence, a prophetic forecast, an industry that never tires, and, more than all, and above all, a
stainless probity beyond reproach and beyond suspicion, into
this vast and complicated system, and by the blessing of Providence, works out a prosperous result?  Such is the vocation




7
of the merchant-the manll of business-pursned in many departments of foreign and domestic trade-of finance, of exchange-but all comprehended under the general name of
commerce; all concerned in weaving the mighty network of
mutually beneficial exchanges which enwraps the world.
I know there is a shade to this bright picture: where among
the works or the fortunes of men shall we find one that is all
sunlight? Napoleon the First thought he had said enough to
disparage England when he had pronounced her a nation of
shopkeepers; and we Americans are said by some of our own
writers to be slaves of the almighty dollar.  But these are sallies of national hostility, or the rebukes which a stern moral
sense rightly administers to the besetting sins of individuals or
communities. Every pursuit in life, however, has its bright
and its dark phase; every pursuit may be followed in a generous spirit for honorable ends, or in a mean, selfish, corrupt
spirit, beginning and ending in personal gratification.  But
this is no more the case with the commercial than any other
career. What more different than the profession of the law,
as pursued by the upright counsellor, who spreads the shield
of eternal, justice over your life and fortune, and the wicked
pettifogger who drags you through the thorns and brambles of
vexatious litigation?  What more different than the beloved
physician, the sound of whose soft footstep, as he ascends
your staircase, carries hope and comfort to the couch of weariness and suffering, and the solemn, palavering, impudent
quack, who fattens on the fears and frailties of his victims?
What more different than the pulpit which reproves, rebukes,
and exhorts in the spirit and with the authority of the gospel,
and the pulpit which inflames and maddens, perplexes or puts to
sleep? What more different than the press, which, like the
morning sun, sheds light and truth through the land, and the
press which daily distils the concentrated venom of personal
malice and party detraction from its dripping wings? I believe that the commercial profession is as capable of being pursued with intelligence, honor, and public spirit, as any other;
and, when so pursued, is as compatible with purity, and eleva



tion of character as any other; as well entitled to the honors
which a community bestows on those who adorn and serve it;
the honors which you this day delight to pay to our friend
and guest.
I was not the witness of the commencement of his career,
abroad; but we all know that it soon fell upon that disastrous period when all American credit stood low-when the
default of some of the States, the temporary inability of
others to meet their obligations, and the failure of several of
our moneyed institutions, threw doubt alnd distrust on all American securities.  That great sympathetic nerve (as the anatomists call it) of the commercial world-credit-as far as the
United States were concerned, was for a time paralyzed.  At
that moment, and it was a trying one, our friend not only
stood firm himself, but he was the cause of firmness in others.
There were not at the time, probably, a half a dozen other
men in Europe, who, upon the subject of American securities,
would have been listened to for a moment, in the parlor of the
Bank of England.  But his judgment commanded respecthis integrity won back the reliance Lwhich men had been accustomed to place on American securities.  The reproach in
which they were all indiscriminately involved was gradually
wniped away, from those of a substantial character; and if on
this solid basis of unsuspected good faith he reared his own
prosperity, let it be remembered that, at the same time, he retrieved the credit of the State of which he was the agent;
performing the miracle, if I may so venture to express myself,
by which the word of an honest man turns paper into gold.
A course like this, however commendable; might proceed
from calculation. If it led to prosperity and opulence it might
be pursued from motives exclusively selfish.  But Mr. Peabody
took a different view of the matter, and immediately began to
act upon an old fashioned New England maxim, which I dare
say he learned in childhood and carried with him from Danvers,-that influence and property have their duties as well as
their privileges.  He set himself to work to promote the convenience and enhance the enjoyments of his travelling fellow




coluntrymen-a numerous and important class.  The traveller
-often the friendless traveller-stands greatly in need of good
offices in a foreign land.  Several of you, my friends, know
this, I am sure, by experience; some of you can say how per->
severingly, how liberally, these good offices were extended by
our friend, through a long course of years, to his travelling'
countrymen. How many days, otherwise weary, have been
winged with cheerful enjoyments through his agency; how,
many otherwise dull hours in health and in sickness enlivened,
by his attentions!
It occurred to our friend especially to do that on a large
scale, which had hitherto been done to a very limited extent
by our diplomatic representatives abroad. The small salaries
and still smaller private fortunes (with a single exception) of our
ministers at St. James, had prevented them from extending the
rites of hospitality as liberally as they could have wished to
their fellow-citizens abroad. Our friend happily, with ample
imeans, determined to supply the defect; and brought together
at the social board, from year to year, at a succession of entertainments equally magnificent and tasteful, hundreds of his
own countrymen and of his English friends.  How much was
done in this way to promote kind feeling and mutual good
will, to soften prejudice, to establish a good understanding, in
a word, to nurture that generous rivalry inculcated in the sentiment to which you have bid me respond, I need not say.  I
have been particularly requested by my friend, Sir Henry Hol.land, a gentleman of the highest social and professional standing, to state, while expressing his deep regret that he cannot,.
in conformity with your kind invitation, participate in this
day's festivities, that he has attended several of Mr. Peabody's
international entertainments in London, and felt them to be of
the happiest tendency in promoting kind feeling between the
two countries.
We are bound as Americans, on this occasion particularly,
to remember the very important services rendered by your
guest to his countrymen who went to England in 1851, with,
snecimens of the uroducts and arts of this country, to be exhib



10
ited at the Crystal Palace.  In most, perhaps in all other countries, this exhibition had been made a government affair. Commissioners were appointed by authority to protect the interests
of the exhibitors, and, what was more important, appropriations
of money were made to defray their expenses. No appropriations were made by Congress.  Our exhibitors arrived friendless, some of them penniless, in the great commercial Babel of
the world.  They found the portion of the Crystal Palace
assigned to our country unprepared for the specimens of art
and industry which they had brought with them; naked and
unadorned, by the side of the neighboring arcades and galletries, fitted up with elegance and splendor by the richest governments in Europe. The English press began to launch its
too ready sarcasms at the sorry appearance which brother Jonathan seemed likely to make, and all the exhibitors from this
country, and all who felt an interest in their success, were disheartened. At this critical moment our friend stepped forward;
-he did what Congress should have done. By liberal advances.on his part, the American department was fitted up; and day
after day, as some new product of American ingenuity and taste
was added to the list,-McCormick's reaper, Colt's revolver,
Powers' Greek slave, Hobbs' unpickable lock, Hoe's wonderful
printing presses, and Bond's more wonderful spring governor,
it began to be suspected that Brother Jonathan was not quite
so much of a simpleton as had been thought.  He had contributed his full share, if not to the splendor, at least to the utili-:ties of the exhibition.  In fact the leading journal at London,
with a magnanimity which did it honor, admitted that England'had derived more real benefit from  the contributions of the
United States than from those of any other country.
But our friend, on that occasion, mnuch as he had done in
the way mentioned to promote the interests and success of the
American exhibitors, and to enable them to sustain that generlous rivalry to which the toast alludes, thought he had not yet
done enough for their gratification.  Accordingly, in a most
generous international banquet, he brought together on the one:hand,the most prominent of his countrymen, drawn by the




occasion to London, and on the other hand, the chairman of
the Royal Commission, with other persons of consideration in
England, and his British friends generally; and in a loving
cup, made of old Danvers oak, pledged them, on both sides, to
warmer feelings of mutual good will, than they had before entertained.
In these ways, Mr. President, our friend has certainly done
his share to carry into effect the principle of the toast, to which
you call upon me to reply. But it is not wholly nor chiefly
these kindly offices and comprehensive courtesies; not the
success with which he has pursued the paths of business
life, nor the moral courage with which, at an alarming crisis,
and the peril of his own fortunes, he sustained the credit of
the State lie represented-it is not these services that have
called forth this demonstration of respect.  Your quiet village,
my friends, has not gone forth in eager throngs to meet the
successful financier; the youthful voices, to which we listened
with such pleasure in the morning, have not been attuned to
sing the praises of tile prosperous banker. No, it is the fellow-v
citizen who, from  the arcades of the London exchange, laid
up treasure in the hearts of his countrymen; the true patriot
who, amidst the splendors of the old world's capital, said in his
heart-If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, let my right hand forget
her cunning; if I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave
to the roof of my mouth;-it is the dutiful and grateful child
and benefactor of old Danvers whom  you welcome back to
his home.
Yes, Sir, and the property you have invested in yonder simple edifice, and in providing the means of innocent occupation
for hours of leisure,-of instructing the minds and forming the
intellectual character not merely of the generation now rising,
but of that which shall take their places, when the heads of
those dear children, who so lately passed in happy review before you, shall be as gray as mine, and of others still more
distant, who shall plant kind flowers on our graves-it is the
property you have laid up in this investment which will embalm
your name in the blessings of posterity, when granite and




12
marble shall crumble to dust.  Moth and rust shall not corrupt'
it;; they might as easily corrupt the pure white portals of the
heavenly city, where i"every several gate is of one pearl.'y
Thieves shall not break through and steal it; they might as
kasily break through the vaulted sky and steal the brightest
star in the firmament.
The great sententious poet has eulogized the "' Man of Ross 7
-the man of practical, unostentatious benevolence-above all
the heroes and statesmen of the Augustan Age of England.
He asks"Who hung with woods the mountain's sultry brow?
From the dry rock, who bade the waters flow?
Not to the skies in useless columns tost,
Or in proud falls magnificently lost,
But clear and artless, pouring through the plain
Health to the sick, and solace to the swain."
Blut your Man of Ross, my friends, has taught a nobler stream
to flow through his native village-the bubbling, sparkling,
nind-refreshing, soul-cheering stream, which renews while it
satisfies the generous thirst for knowledge,-that strong unquenchable thirst " which from the soul doth spring,"-7which
gains new eagerness from. the draught that allays it, forever
returning though forever slaked, to the cool deep fountains of
eternal truth.
You well recollect, my Danvers friends, the 16th of June,
-v52, when you assembled to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the separation of Danvers from  the parent stock.
Your pleasant village arrayed herself that day in her holiday
robes.  Her resident citizens with one accord took part in the
festivities.  Mitany of her children, dispersed  through  the
Union, returned that day to the homestead.  One long absent
was wanlting;  whoim you would gladly have seen among you.
But yoel had not forgotten him nor he you.  He was beyond
the sea, absent in body, but present in spirit and in kindly remembrance.  In reply to your invitation, he returned, as the
custom is, a letter of acknowledgment, enclosing a sealed paper,
with an endorsement setting forth that it contained Mr. Pea



13
body's sentiment, and was not to be opened till the toasts were
proposed at the public dinner.  The time arrived,-the paper
was opened, —and it contained the following sound and significant sentiment:'-" Education,-A debt due from the presentr
to future generations."
Now we all know that, on an occasion of this kind, a loose
slip of paper, such as a sentiment is apt to be written on, is
in danger of being lost; a puff of air is enough to blow it
away. Accordingly, just by way of paper-weight, just to keep
the toast safe on the table, and also to illustrate his view of this
new way of paying old debts, Mr. Peabody laid down twenty
thousand dollars on the top of his sentiment; and for the sake
of still greater security, has since added about as much more.
Hence it has come to pass, that this excellent sentiment has
sunk deep into the minds of our Danvers friends, and has, I
suspect, mainly contributed to the honors and pleasures of
this day.
But I have occupied, Mr. President, much more than my
share of your time; and, on taking my seat, I will only congratulate you on this joyous occasion, as I congratulate our
friend and guest at having had it in his power to surround
himself with so many smiling faces and warm hearts.