USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Danvers > Centennial celebration at Danvers, Mass., June 16, 1852 > Part 13
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And it is just so with all of us ; the scent of the clay, or the shoe- maker's wax, or of the tan, or the blacksmith's forge, or the carpen- ter's shavings, or some taint of the sort, sticks to us all ; and are we ashamed of it? Not a whit. We rejoice, do we not, that we come of a stock which was not born, as used to be said of old, merely " to consume the fruits of the earth." We and our fathers before us have been, thank God, producers, and not consumers merely ; and " so mote it be," henceforth and forever, amen.
And now, Mr. President, I cannot look upon this scene, redolent of happiness as it is, and fraught with early recollections, with bright eyes " raining influence," and gray heads rejoicing in the glances of love around them, and in the sense of security and peace, without giving one thought to those institutions to which, under God, we owe it all. Our Country, Mr. President ; our whole Country ! with no North, nor South, nor East, nor West ! O for a little old-fashioned patriotism, when we hear her named ! O for that spirit which led the young sons of Danvers, in the times which tried men's souls, to brave, at their country's call, danger and death in her service ! for less of exclusive devotion to mere party ! and for more trust in God, that, without the least necessity for violence, or bitterness of feeling, or extreme meas- ures of any kind, he will, in his own good time, silently and gradually remove all there is of imperfection or wrong, either in our institutions or national character !
Mr. President : I have detained you too long, I am aware, but must throw myself upon the mercy of my fellow-townsmen, and my towns- women also, and endeavor, in some measure, to excuse myself by the remark, that had I not felt the strongest interest in our town, and her concerns and her people, and the influences which have made them what they are, I should not have made so long a speech. I will close with the following sentiment :
The Son of Labor all over the World-Who touches the earth and it becomes food ; who smites upon the rude matter and it becomes gold and silver ; who lays his hand upon the cotton and the wool, and the rock, and the timber, and the clay, and they become clothing and shelter. May his usefulness in the future be only measured by his intelligence, and his intelligence by the love and respect of his fellow-men.
The PRESIDENT of the day being about to retire, called upon the first Vice President to take the chair. Mr. ABBOTT having left the table, W. L. WESTON, Esq , second Vice President, was called, and upon taking the chair expressed his regret that, by the absence of the first Vice President, the duties of presiding over the assembly had devolved upon him. Although in assuming the station he felt much embarrassment on account of his inexperience in such duties, yet he should rely with great confidence on the candor and indulgence of the company to sustain him in his new position.
It having become known among the guests that a communication had been received from GEORGE PEABODY, Esq., of London, the read- ing of it was called for. It was preceded by the following sentiment, the announcement of which, and the response it elicited, exciting an intense sensation. The sentiment was-
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Our Fellow-Citizen, GEORGE PEABODY, of London-Holding the highest rank among Nature's noblemen, and distinguished in the great centre of the Commercial World, he has always done much for the credit and honor of his country, and has remembered, with kindness and affection, the place of his birth. Danvers may well feel a just pride in the successful career of such a son.
JOHN W. PROCTOR, Esq., then rose, and, holding in his hand a sealed packet, read the following letter :-
GENTLEMEN :
LONDON, 26th May, 1852.
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, inviting me to be present at the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the separation of Danvers from Salem, on the 16th of June, or, if not able to attend, to signify, by letter, my interest in the occasion.
I am very sorry that my engagements allow me to comply only with the latter part of your request.
I should have the greatest pleasure in joining in your interesting celebration there, if possible. The early associations of my life are clustered around our ancient town. It was, as many of you know, in a very humble house in the South Parish that I was born, and from the Common Schools of that Parish, such as they were in 1803 to 1807, I obtained the limited education my parents' means could afford ; but to the principles there inculcated in childhood and early youth, I owe much of the foundation for such success as Heaven has been pleased to grant me during a long business life. Though my manhood, before coming to England, was spent in Baltimore, (which shares with my native town in my kindest feelings,) I still cherish the recollections of my earlier days, and anticipate, with much pleasure, a visit to the Old Parish, that I may witness the great strides I am told you have been making in wealth and improvements.
It is now nearly sixteen years since I left my native country, but I can say with truth that absence has only deepened my interest in her welfare. During this interval I have seen great changes in her wealth, in her power, and in her position among nations. I have had the mor- tification to witness the social standing of Americans in Europe very seriously affected, and to feel that it was not entirely undeserved ; but, thank Heaven, I have lived to, see the cause nearly annihilated by the energy, industry, and honesty of my countrymen,- thereby creating between the people of the two great nations speaking the English language, and governed by liberal and free institutions, a more cordial and kind feeling than has existed at any other time. The great increase of population and commerce of the United States,-the development of the internal wealth of the country and enterprise of her people, have done much to produce this happy change, and I can scarcely see bounds to our possible future, if we preserve harmony among ourselves and good faith to the rest of the world, and if we plant the unrivalled New England institution of the Common School liberally among the emigrants who are filling up the great valley of the Mississippi. That this may be done, is, I am persuaded, no less your wish than mine.
I enclose a sentiment, which I ask may remain sealed till this letter
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is read on the day of celebration, when it is to be opened according to the direction on the envelope.
With great respect, I have the honor to be,
Your fellow-townsman, GEORGE PEABODY.
To Messrs. John W. Proctor, Andrew Nichols and others.
The endorsement on the envelope was as follows :-
[The seal of this is not to be broken till the toasts are being pro- posed by the chairman, at the dinner 16th June, at Danvers, in com- memoration of the one hundredth year since its severance from Salem. It contains a sentiment for the occasion from George Peabody, of London.]
By GEORGE PEABODY, of London :
Education-A debt due from present to future generations.
In acknowledgment of the payment of that debt by the generation which preceded me in my native town of Danvers, and to aid in its prompt future discharge, I give to the inhabitants of that town the sum of TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, for the promotion of knowledge and morality among them.
I beg to remark, that the subject of making a gift to my native town has for some years occupied my mind, and I avail myself of your present interesting festival to make the communication, in the hope that it will add to the pleasures of the day.
I annex to the gift such conditions only as I deem necessary for its preservation and the accomplishment of the purposes before named. The conditions are, that the legal voters of the town, at a meeting to be held at a convenient time after the 16th June, shall accept the gift, and shall elect a committee of not less than twelve persons, to receive and have charge of the same, for the purpose of establishing a Lyceum for the delivery of lectures, upon such subjects as may be designated by a committee of the town, free to all the inhabitants, under such rules as said committee may from time to time enact ; and that a Library shall be obtained, which shall also be free to the inhabitants, under the direction of the committee.
That a suitable building for the use of the Lyceum shall be erected, at a cost, including the land, fixtures, furniture, &c., not exceeding Seven Thousand dollars, and shall be located within one third of a mile of the Presbyterian Meeting-House occupying the spot of that formerly under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Walker, in the South Parish of Danvers.
That Ten Thousand dollars of this gift shall be invested by the town's committee in undoubted securities as a permanent fund, and the inter- est arising therefrom to be expended in support of the Lyceum.
In all other respects, I leave the disposition of the affairs of the Lyceum to the inhabitants of Danvers, merely suggesting that it might be advisable for them, by their own act, to exclude sectarian theology and political discussions forever from the walls of the institution.
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I will make one request of the committee, which is, if they see no objection, and my venerable friend Capt. Sylvester Proctor should be living, that he be selected to lay the corner stone of the Lyceum Building.
Respectfully yours,
GEORGE PEABODY.
After the announcement of the donation by Mr. Peabody, MR. PROCTOR remarked substantially as follows :-
Mr. Chairman-
I scarcely know which to admire most, the liberality of the gift, or the modesty of the giver. A princely donation like this, for a pur- pose like this, to a place like this, is no ordinary occurrence. We hear of the donations of Girard, of Smithson, of Buzzy, and of others, in amounts larger than this ; but where is there one, all things consid- ered, that will begin to compare with this ? Look at the sentiment accompanying it : " Education-A debt due from present to future generations." What more simple ? Still, what could be more expres- sive ? Look also at the recognition, by Mr. Peabody, of the Village School, under the shadow of the steeple of the old Church, where he, and I, and many others present, were first taught to lisp their A, B, C, and see how readily he admits, it was there " he imbibed the princi- ples which have been the foundation of the success, which Heaven has been pleased to grant him, during a long business life." Can there be a higher eulogy than this, upon our New England system of Free Schools ?
When a boy, sir, I knew Mr. Peabody well. Our ages were such that we went to the same school, and developed our physical energies on the same play-grounds. From the first, he was manly and honora- ble, as he ever since has been. Nothing small or mean about George Peabody. If anything wrong was done, he was the last to be sus- pected of doing it. I say this, sir, for the information of those of my young friends who seem to think there is something manly in being forward to do mischief ; in being most active in overturning outbuild- ings, or breaking the windows of retired gentlemen, or disturbing the repose of discreet young ladies. They mistake, entirely, who indulge any such ideas. Peabody never did any such things. While I knew him, he was a civil, well-behaved, trustworthy young man,-and now, my young friends, you see what he has ripened into ;- the first among the foremost of Americans in London ; a nobleman by nature, of rank second to none other.
It has been my good fortune, sir, to have repeated communications from Mr. Peabody since he became a man. As early as 1835, when he resided at Baltimore, the citizens of South Danvers undertook to erect a monument to the memory of those of our fellow-townsmen who were killed at Lexington, on the 19th of April, 1775. When we had raised by subscription $700, and ascertained that the structure designed would cost $1000, I advised him of the facts, and received from him a prompt reply, saying that "he was happy to learn that his fellow- townsmen of Danvers were about to do, what had been too long neglected, and that my draft on him, at sight, for whatever might be
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needed to complete the design, should be duly honored." The work was completed, and the draft was paid.
Again, sir, when the Church of the South Society, a new structure, that occupied the site of the one that he describes as the " Presbyterian Meeting-House, where the Rev. Mr. Walker formerly was pastor," was destroyed by fire, the Society, with much exertion, having just about completed the same, my friend on my right* joined me in a note to Mr. Peabody, stating the facts,-to which he replied, with an appro- priate expression of his sympathies with the occasion, accompanied by a bill of exchange for fifty pounds sterling, for the use of the Society.
Such, sir, has been my knowledge and experience of George Pea- body, of London. You may well suppose, sir, when I received from him a private note, accompanying the envelope that contained the donation, with a request that it should not be opened until the company were seated at dinner, because it contained " a sentiment of interest to the people of Danvers," that I imagined it to be a rich sentiment. I did indeed, sir, so imagine. But I frankly admit, it exceeds my high- est imagination.
And, sir, what was peculiarly gratifying to me, the same note, that gave me this information, also authorized me to subscribe in his behalf the sum of fifty dollars, towards the erection of an appropriate monu- ment at the grave of our late fellow-townsman, the venerable Gen. Gideon Foster, who died at the age of 96, with a character for indus- try, honor, and integrity, rarely equalled.
Such, sir, are a few of the acts of this model of a man, that Danvers feels proud to call her own. May those, who are still of Danvers, show themselves to be worthy of his bounty. May it be received and managed in a manner most gratifying to the giver. May no local jealousies, or meaner passions, be suffered to enter here. May those of Danvers, in 'fifty-two, show themselves to be worthy their sires of 'SEVENTY-SIX.
P. R. SOUTHWICK, Esq., here rose and spoke as follows :
Mr. President :- I rise, sir, to pass a slight tribute of respect to that distinguished gentleman whose interesting letter has just been read to us ; a gentleman with whom so many of us were familiar in our early years,-whose enterprise and liberality, whose private virtue and moral worth, excite the deepest regard and admiration, not only in his own country but in Europe.
I hope, sir, that you or some other gentleman more familiar with the history of George Peabody, Esq., will favor us with the details of his progress from his boyhood to the high position which he now en- joys, the highest position in the mercantile world which any living Amer- ican has ever yet reached. I will detain you only by alluding to those traits in that gentleman's character which afforded me and my friends so much pleasure before he left us, and during his residence in Balti- more, and which he carried with him and still retains on the other side of the Atlantic. I will only say of Mr. Peabody's early advantages in
* Hon. Robert S. Daniels.
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life, that he owes nothing to the influence of birth or fortune. Though of highly respectable parentage, he claims no alliance to the aristocracy of wealth or power adventitiously bestowed. From his youth, his mind was imbued with sound principles. Early convinced of the value of time, he rightly estimated the importance of improving the opportu- nities and advantages of education with which he was favored, and we find him early distinguished by those habits of industry and by that purity of moral conduct, which have ever since been preeminent in his character. He has been promoted entirely by his own exertions and merits. At home and abroad, in his youth and in his manhood, indus- try, decision and perseverance characterize every stage of his life.
I have already said Mr. Peabody enjoys the highest reputation as a merchant. He exhibits the most perfect example of assiduity, sagacity and foresight in his business transactions. Perfectly familiar with the currency of every part of the world, thoroughly acquainted with the resources, the financial condition, and the banking systems of different nations, enjoying the entire confidence of corporations and individuals, his mercantile transactions are confined by no sectional limits, and he extends his operations with perfect freedom and safety in every direc- tion. His judgment is clear, deliberate, and peculiarly discriminating. He regards " punctuality as the soul of business," and never violates the 'most trivial engagements. His intercourse in his business connec- tion with others is always attended with frankness and candor, and we rarely if ever meet with a merchant of eminence so entirely undis- turbed by the jealousy or envy of others. He never exhibits in his business transactions any of those little tricks and concealments which indicate a weak or a dishonorable mind. He holds in abhorrence that meanness of spirit, which, for a little apparent profit, would insinuate evil of another, or even consent, by silence, to a mistaken estimate of his worth. He has none of that jealousy which fears a rival in every person pursuing the same end, nor of that arrogant self-esteem which owns no fallibility of judgment. In all his intercourse with his mer- cantile brethren he is gentlemanly and respectful, and secures their esteem not less by his acknowledged abilities than by his modesty and courtesy. The free expression of opinion uprightly formed, he believes to be the right and duty of an honest man, and to the exercise of which, by others, he is unusually tolerant. His opinion is of the highest au- thority, but it is given with so much modesty that he never gives offence even where there might be a difference in judgment. There is nothing haughty or arrogant in his character, and the feelings of respect which his acquaintance excites arise from his dignified deportment combined with native simplicity of manners.
Mr. Peabody's moral sensibilities are exalted and refined ; but if any one quality of his heart prevails that acts as a presiding divinity over the' man, it is his benevolence. The citizens of his native town, as well as in every community in which he has lived, will never forget or cease to feel the influence of his generous acts. The various acts of his munificence, both public and private, I will not detail to you here. They are already a by-word upon your lips. Although the hand of time may obliterate the pages upon which the gifts of our valued friend
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are recorded, we trust that his memory and the objects of his generous care will be cherished till time shall be no more.
The proverbial benevolence of Mr. Peabody prompts him to seek out rather than to shun adversity, and when it is discovered he never " passes by on the other side." His heart is alive to all the tender and generous sensibilities of our nature, throwing the drapery of kindness over the chamber of affliction, and lighting up, by the sunshine of his benevolence, the sky overcast by distress and adversity. In public improvements, in the various efforts for moral elevation and intellectual advancement, or for advancing the interest and comforts of all around him, the heart and hand of George Peabody are readily enlisted. He is the ardent and active friend of social order, and of the substantial institutions of society. To the presence of his benevolent affections he is indebted for that graceful and easy politeness, that unassuming suavity of temper, which are so conspicuous in his intercourse with others, and which so justly and eminently entitle him to our gratitude, and secure for him unrivalled esteem, affection and respect. On the character of such a man as George Peabody we can dwell only with ·delight and satisfaction. It has no shades ; no dark spot, which his friends would desire to conceal or remove ; no eccentricity to detract from its merit. His well-balanced mind leads him to right views upon every subject. His acute moral sense has always kept him in the path of rectitude. He possesses honesty that cannot be corrupted, and in- tegrity that cannot be shaken by adversity. His inflexible moral prin- ciples are written upon his countenance, upon every word that falls from his lips, and upon every action of his life.
Such, Mr. President, is George Peabody. The town of Danvers ought justly to be proud of that favorite son whose life and character, whose urbanity of manners, and whose mercantile experience, are producing a beneficial influence upon the mercantile character of Great Britain that is entirely beyond a parallel. May his example stimulate all our young men who are pressing forward in the path of high and honorable distinction.
The following sentiment was then given :
Our Fellow Townsman, Sylvester Proctor, Esq .- Venerable for his years and honored for his virtues. It is a proud distinction for him to sit in the seat at our festival designed for George Peabody, of London.
It should be remarked that Mr. Peabody requested that the seat he would have himself occupied at the table, if he had been present, should be assigned to his venerable friend, Capt. Proctor. It was in his apothecary shop that Mr. Peabody learned the first rudiments of trade, and where he passed several years of his boyhood before entering upon the larger sphere of operations, which has given him such a name in the mercantile world. Capt. Proctor was accordingly so seated.
The next sentiment was-
The Historical Department of the Essex Institute-The rich and safe depos- itory of incidents in our local history,-a richer depository is found in the experience and reminiscences of its presiding head.
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JUDGE WHITE, President of the Institute, being called upon, responded substantially as follows :-
Mr. President :- At this late hour it will not be expected that I should attempt making a speech. I can do little more than to express my congratulations and my thanks, which I would most heartily do.
Yes, friends and fellow-citizens of Danvers, with my whole heart, full and overflowing, I congratulate you upon the complete success of your great celebration,-a celebration which will form an important era in your annals, and to which the Essex Institute will be indebted for some of its richest incidents of local history. Your honorable efforts to commemorate the virtues and achievements of the founders and fathers of Danvers, have been crowned with all the success you could have desired. Your extended procession this morning was con- ducted in admirable order, and presented a brilliant and beautiful pageantry to the eye, and, what is more, a most touching spectacle to the heart of every beholder. Its moral associations imparted a dignity to it. The costumes of the fathers brought up at once their self-deny- ing virtues, their holy lives, and brave deeds ; and the long array of little children,-those countless " buds of promise,"-carried us into the uncertain future, with mingled hopes and fears, impressing upon us the importance of training them to be worthy of their ancestry. Your interesting and appropriate services in the church left us nothing to regret but the want of time to listen to the muse of the day. And here, at these widespread festive boards, eloquence, poetry and song, wit, humor and joyful feeling have conspired to honor both you and your fathers, and to delight us all.
But especially, and most of all, would I congratulate you, my friends, upon the richest incident of the day,-the noble benefaction which has just been announced,-truly a noble close to a noble celebration. For- ever honored be the name of GEORGE PEABODY, your distinguished fellow-townsman of London, for his bountiful gift, and its wise appro- priation. Well does he deserve the bursts of grateful enthusiasm which you have so spontaneously given him, and which your children will catch from you. This gift, so appropriated, is in the very spirit of your celebration,-in the very spirit of the fathers whose memory you venerate. The expressed sentiment, accompanying the gift, con- secrates it the more entirely, and will the more endear the name of the high-minded donor. That " education is a debt due from the present to future generations," was a fundamental principle with our sagacious forefathers, manifested in all their conduct. To the steady operation of this principle are we chiefly indebted for our choicest blessings. If we value these blessings, let us never forget the means of perpetuat- ing them. George Peabody is doubly your benefactor, by reminding you of your high obligations, and, at the same time, enlarging your ability to fulfil them.
I fully assent to all that has been so eloquently said here in praise of your privileges, your virtues, and your blessings. No people on this. earth, I believe, are more truly blest than the people of Danvers, and,. I may add, of all the towns within the original limits of Salem. How shall we account for this great and happy distinction in their lot ? Very
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