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RECOLLECTIONS.
BY
GEORGE W. CHILD S.
*' So runs the round of life from hour to hour."
Tennyson.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
1890.
7 5 C^5 3
Copyright, 1890, by J. B. Lippincott Company.
tilUkM^l^RRKED
)
RECOLLECTIONS.
THE STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
MEMORIAI^ FOUNTAIN.
THE MEMORIAE WINDOWS TO
HERBERT, COWPER, AND MIETON.
THE ANDREWES AND KEN
REREDOS.
THE PRINTERS' BANQUET.
PEEFAOE.
When Mr. Chilcls consented, with un-
feigned reluctance, to tell the story of his
tranquil life, he was not at all persuaded of
the propriety of sitting down before the
public and chatting familiarly of himself
and his friends. He had been asked to do
this many times before, but neither the
persistent importunity of enterprising pub-
lishers, nor, of course, the tender of gold,
could move him. Finally the temptation
to do a friendly act overcame his scruples,
and the readers of Lippincoifs Magazine were
given the series of four entertaining papers*
embodied in the present volume. However
stubborn the resistance of Mr. Childs may
have been, and whatever doubts he may
have entertained as to the wisdom of the
* Published in the issues of June, July, August, and
September, 1889,
1* 5
6 In Explanation.
undertaking, he could not liave been other
than deeply gratified by the flattering recep-
tion of his Recollections by press and people.
Perliaps no magazine articles of the year —
certainly none of the multitudinous volumes
of reminiscences — were so loudly heralded,
so extensively quoted, so unanimously ap-
proved. Extracts are still current in the
country papers ; rare and cordial words of
appreciation still come from the four quar-
ters of the world. Sir Edwin Arnold was
kind enough to say that he had read the
personal memoirs of Mr. Childs with profit
and pleasure ; and General Sherman avowed
that they would have " fifty times their
value fifty years hence." Without exception
known to me, the newspapers of this coun-
try and England extolled the interest of the
articles, the Boston Herald'^ saying that
*' Mr. Childs's recollections are so good that
he ought to publish everything he knows
about Grant;" and the Chicago News-\
uro^ino^ that " when these reminiscences are
concluded they should be published in book
form," making this suggestion, as it went
on to say, " in behalf of the very many who
wish to preserve Mr. Childs's interesting
* July 17, 1889. f August 8, 1889.
In Explanation, 7
and valuable contributions in a convenient
and handsome shape."
The suggestion had been made before;
it was made repeatedly, and by many whose
disinterested and critical judgment had
naturallv so much Aveio-ht with Mr. Childs
that this book is the happy result. To the
text of the four original papers have been
added the story of the Memorial to Shake-
speare at Stratford-upon-Avon ; an account
of the AVindow in Westminster Abbey to the
memory of the Christian poets Herbert and
Cowper; the Window commemorative of
the virtues and genius of the poet Milton, in
St. Margaret's Church, Westminster; and of
the Reredos erected in St. Thomas's Church,
Winchester, England, as a memorial to
Bishop Ken of that ancient cathedral city;
toijether with a sketch of the celebration of
the birthday of Mr. Childs by the printers
of Philadelphia, with an introduction by
Professor Richard T. Ely, of Johns Hopkins
University.
Melville Philips.
RECOLLECTIONS.
CHAPTER I.
A HOST OF 3IEM0IIIES.
Early Life — Publishing Experiences — Purchase of the
Ledger — Irving, Hawthorne, Lowell, Holmes — Dis-
tinguished Guests.
I WAXT to set out bv savino; that I am sure
vou ill kindness exaii^scerate the interest the
world takes in me and my affiiirs. You say
I am a successful man. Perhaps I am ; and
if so, I owe my success to industry, temper-
ance, and frugality. I suppose I had always
a rather remarkable aptitude for business.
James Parton, at aiiv rate, was ria^ht in
speaking of me in his biographical sketch
as " bartering at school my boyish treasures,
— knives for pigeons, marbles for pop-guns,
a bird-cao;e for a book."
I was self-supporting at a very early age.
9
10 Recollections.
In my twelfth year, when school was dis-
missed for the summer, I took the place of
errand-boy in a book-store in Baltimore, at
a salary of two dollars a week, and spent
the vacation in hard work. And I enjoyed
it. I have never been out of employment ;
always found something to do, and was
alwavs easier to do it, and think I earned
every cent of my first money. When first
at work in Philadelphia I would get up very
early in the morning, go down to the store,
and wash the pavement and put things in
order before breakfast, and in the winter-
time would make the fire and sweep out the
store. In the same spirit, when books were
bought at night at auction, I would early
the next morning go for them with a wheel-
barrow. And I have never outgrown this
wholesome habit of doing things directly
and in order. I would to-day as lief carry a
bundle up Chestnut Street from the Ledger
office as I would then. As a matter of fact, I
carry bundles very often. But I understand
that certain 3'oung men of the period would
scorn to do as much.
At the age of thirteen I entered the
United States navy, and passed fifteen
months at Norfolk; but I didn't like it.
Returning to Baltimore, I attended school
A Host of Memories. 11
for a time. Then I came to Philadelphia,
and entered a book-store kept by Mr.
Thomson at the corner of Sixth and Arch
Streets. I was both clerk and errand-boy,
worked from early in the morning until late
at night, and received a salary of three
dollars a week. Gradually I began to at-
tend the evening auctions, which at that
time were frequently held in this city; I
became familiar with the titles and prices
of valuable books, and was soon able to buy
them cheaply. In this way I assisted Mr.
Thomson for four years ; his business kept
increasinoc ; and at leno-th he sent me to
represent him at the book-trade sales held
every six months in [tTew York and Boston.
Here, of course, I made the acquaintance of
many book-buyers and publishers, — excel-
lent men, whom I have never forgotten, and
who, I am sflad to sav, have not foro'otten
me. Those still living often visit me, and
whenever thev do the old life and the old
faces are very vivid in my memory, — the
Harpers, Lippincotts, Putnams, Ticknors,
Fields, Appletons, Little & Browns.
I had saved enough money when about
ei«:hteen vears old to 2:0 into business for
myself; so I set up a modest store in a
small room in the old Public Ledger build-
1 2 Recollections.
mg. It was a success : I made money
slowl}' but surely. Meanwhile, it is said of
me that I aspired to higher things; that I
Avas even heard to say, " I shall yet be the
owner of the Public Ledger.'^ If this is true,
and doubtless it is, I do not seem to have
overreached myself at that early age.
I was twenty-one years old when I entered
into the book-publishing business under the
firm name of R. E. Peterson & Co., after-
wards Childs & Peterson. One of our first
books, Dr. Kane's " Arctic Explorations,"
was a 2:reat hit. It did not look at first as
thousfh we had made a wise venture. When
the work was ready to be issued, I took a
sample copy and went over to l^ew York to
solicit orders from the leading booksellers.
The largest house would only give me a
small order. " Mr. Childs," they said, " you
won't sell more than a thousand altogether."
They ordered at first only one hundred
copies, but soon after sent for five thousand
more to meet the demand. Within one
year after the publication w^e paid Dr. Kane
a copyright of nearly seventy thousand
dollars. It was the Doctor's original inten-
tion to write only a scientific account of the
expedition in search of Sir John Franklin,
bat I persuaded him to make of it the popu-
A Host of Memories. 13
lar narrative he did, and he afterwards ad-
mitted to me that I was right in my sugges-
tion. When the manuscript was finished
he sent me a pathetic note, in which he said,
" Here you have the book complete, and,
poor as it is, it has been my coffin." I^o
doubt he had then some premonition of the
beginning of the end of his remarkable
career. He died in Cuba within a year
after receiving his copyright money ; and
doubtless man}^ people remember well the
splendid tribute arranged for him : that
funeral was one of the most remarkable in
history.
We made another hit with Parson Brown-
low's book, of which fifty thousand copies
were ordered in advance of publication.
Other successful works issued by us were
'^ Peterson's Familiar Science," of which a
quarter of a million copies have been sold ;
Bouvier's Law Dictionary; Sharswood's
Blackstone; and Dr. Allibone's great " Dic-
tionary of British and American Authors."
It cost over sixty thousand dollars to publish
this last-named important book in its three
large volumes, and a great deal of the credit
for the successful completion of the under-
taking is due to the enterprise of the late
'J J. B. Lippincott, who brought out the last
2
1 4 Recollections.
two volumes upon my retirement from the
book-publishing business in 1863.
The following year I purchased the Public
Ledger. And I want to say just here that
much of the success of the paper has been
due to the cordial and intelligent co-opera-
tion of my friend, A. J. Drexel.
The war, by greatly increasing the cost
of labor and material, chiefly the white
paper, had made it impossible to continue,
save at a loss, the publication of the Ledger
as a penny paper. It had been sold at a
cent ever since it was started in 1836, and
Messrs. Swain & Abell, then the proprietors,
though they had lost over one hundred
thousand dollars by kee23ing the rate at " six
and a quarter cents per week,'' were averse
to a change. There they made their great
mistake. They seemed to regard the past
prosperity of the Ledger as due alone to its
selling for a penny. They forgot that in
1864 the purchasing power of a penny was
not what it was before the war. Cheapness,
indeed, was a vital- feature of the journal;
but to sell the Public Ledger for a penny was
to give it half away. Thus the proprietors,
unable to agree to increase the price of the
paper or the rates of advertising, determined
to dispose of their property. The Ledger
A Host of Memories. 15
was for sale, and I bouo-lit it — the whole of
it, just as it was — for a sum slightly in ex-
cess of the amount of its annual loss.
It was not generally known, of course,
that the establishment was then losing about
four hundred and eighty dollars upon every
number of tlie paper which it issued. To
all appearances it was as prosperous as ever;
the circulation was great, the columns were
crowded with advertisements. Yet, as a
matter of fact, there was a weekly loss of
three thousand dollars, or a hundred and
fifty thousand dollars a year.
The Ledger was purchased on the 3d of
December, 1864. A week later I announced
two simple but radical changes. I doubled
the price of the paper and advanced the
advertising rates to a profitable figure. Of
course there was an instant and not incon-
siderable falling oft' of patronage. But the
Ledger was already an '' institution" of the
city : for twenty years it had been the estab-
lished medium of communication between
employers and employed, between buyers
and sellers, landlords and tenants, bereaved
families and their friends. To very many
people it was a necessity. So, although at
first I lost some subscribers and advertisers,
they were soon won back again. At the
1 6 Recollections,
end of a month the price of the Ledger was
reduced from twelv^e to ten cents a week,
and from that day to this the circulation and
advertising have increased.
I worked hard to make the paper a suc-
cess ; for several years I seldom left the ed-
itorial rooms hefore midnight, averaging
from twelve to fourteen hours a day at the
office. I strove to elevate its tone, and think
I succeeded. If asked w^hat I mean by this,
perhaps I had better quote the friendly
words of the late Rev. Dr. Prime : " Mr.
Childs excluded from the paper all details
of disgusting crime ; all reports of such vice
as may not be with propriety read aloud in
the family; that poison the minds of young
men, inflame the passions and corrupt the
heart; all scandal and slang, and that whole
class of news which constitutes the staple
of many daily papers. The same rule was
applied to the advertising columns, and
from them was excluded all that, in any
shape or form, might be offensive to good
morals. The friends of the new publisher
predicted an early and total failure, and the
more speedy because he doubled the price
of the paper and increased the rates of
advertising. But he was governed in his
course by two considerations : first, he had
A Host of Memories, 17
his own strong convictions of what is right,
and, secondly, as strons; convictions of what
would pay; and it has heen well said that
when one's views of dutv coincide with his
pecuniary interests, all the faculties work
in perfect harmony. The effect of this sud-
den chancre was at first to sink the sinkinoj
concern still lower. A class of readers and
advertisers fell off". A less conscientious
and a less couras^eous man would have stas:-
gered in the path he had marked out. Kot
so with Mr. Childs. He employed the best
talent, and paid fair wages for good work.
He published six days in the week only, and
on the seventh day he rested from his labors.
His paper and his principles began to obtain
recognition in the city. He made it a family
journal. It gained the confidence of the
best people, who became its daily readers,
and therefore it was sought as the best
medium of advertising." It is not for me
to add to or comment upon these compli-
mentary w^ords. On the 20th of June, 1867,
the present Ledger building was completed
and formally opened. The ceremonies were
followed by a banquet attended by mauy
distinguished men from different parts of
the country.
I look back with genuine pleasure upon
b 2*
18 Recollections.
my experiences as a publisher. I was more
than prosperous in acquiring the friendsliip
of so many worthy men among the pub-
lishers, booksellers, and authors with whom
I came in contact. If I were to enumerate
them, their names would fill a page of Lip-
2nncotCs Magazine.
I can recall, as though it were yesterday,
a solemn conversation in the office of the
Harpers, then on Cliff Street. The four
founders of the great firm were present.
I was one of a group of Philadelphians,
and we were discussino^ the first number of
Harpers New ^lonthly 3Iagazine. It seemed
so certain to us that the publication would
be a failure. " It can't," said one Phila-
delphian, emphatically, — " it can't last very
long." The only successful magazines then
published in the United States were those
issued in Philadelphia, — Graham'' Sj Godei/s^
SartairCs, and Feier son's.
I have personally known and corresponded
with Longfellow, Emerson, Lowell, Holmes,
Whittier, John Lothrop Motley, William
CuUen Bryant, George Bancroft, W. H.
Prescott, Fitz-Greene Halleck, !N"athaniel
Hawthorne, Washington Irving, and a score
of other writers who have given us an Amer-
ican literature.
A Host of 3Iemorics. 19
Washino'ton Irvino^ I remember well. His
TTcXs not a face one readily forgot. A kindly
humorous man, of big brain and heart. I
visited him several times at " Sunnyside :"
he would go to sleep at dinner, but his
guests understood his physical weakness and
respected it. He was a very sensitive and
nervous man. I saw his desk piled up with
papers, the last time I was there, and re-
marked that he seemed to have a heavy mail.
It was shortly after the publication of the
first volume of his Life of Washino^ton.
" Yes," he said, " I haven't the courage to
look at it. I'm afraid to learn what the
critics are saying of my book."
Hawthorne was another sensitive man
and extremely shy. The last time we met
was under very distressing circumstances.
He was travelling South for the benefit of
his health, accompanied by his friend W. D.
Ticknor, the publisher. They stopped at
the Continental Hotel in Philadelphia, and
both came down to the Ledger office to call
on me. They were in excellent spirits ; and
that was on Frida3\ It was agreed that they
should attend a party to be given the next
evening b}^ Mr. Joseph Harrison. These
Saturday evening parties were then a feature
of social life in Philadelphia. Neither
20 Ilecolledions.
Ticknor nor Hawthorne came, greatly to
our disappointment. As no explanation of
their absence was sent me, I called on Sun-
da}^ morning at the hotel and went directly
to their rooms. I knocked on the door, and
receiving no answer, opened it and walked
in. There I found Hawthorne pacing up
and down the room, apparently dazed.
" Hawthorne," I said, " how are you ?
Where is Ticknor?"
" They have taken him away," said he.
" What do you mean ?" I asked. " I don't
understand you."
" Well," he said, " it is too had. He was
my best friend ; I depended on him ; and he
came here to please me."
I could make nothing out of it at all : he
seemed to me bewildered. I feared for his
mind, and, going down to the office, asked
the clerk, Mr. Duffy, what it all meant. He
then staggered me with the information that
Ticknor had died that mornins:.
'' Where is his body ?" I asked.
" It was taken early this morning to the
undertaker's," he said.
I was astounded, but, hastening back to
Hawthorne, comforted him as much as I
could, implored him to keep quiet, and at
last succeeded somewhat in calming him.
A Host of Memories, 2 1
I then went to the undertaker's, took charge
of Ticknor's body, saw that it was properly
cared for and embalmed, and telegraphed
to his partner, my old friend James T.
Fields. One of Ticknor's sons at once came
on to Philadelphia and took his father's
remains to Boston.
It was a deplorable and distressing event ;
a fatal journey. Hawthorne lingered here
in Philadelphia with me for a few days, and
then I placed him in the keeping of the
good Bishop Howe, of Pennsylvania, a com-
mon friend, who accompanied him to Boston.
There he passed the night with James T.
Fields, who says that they sat up late talking
about Ticknor, and that Hawthorne was in
a very excited and nervous state, recalling
incessantly the sad scenes he had been pass-
ing through in Philadelphia. In the morn-
ing he returned to his old home in Concord,
and shortly after he died at Plymouth, New
Hampshire, whither he had gone under the
charge of his life-long friend, Ex-President
Franklin Pierce.
I have still in my possession the touching
letter written by President Pierce to Mr.
Fields in which he describes the peaceful
death of Hawthorne. It was plainly penned
under the greatest excitement and distress
22 Recolledions.
of mind. It contained a note announcinsf
to Mrs. Hawthorne her bereavement, and
was carried to Mr. Fields by Colonel Hib-
bard. " Oh, how will she bear this shock?"
the note says. " Dear mother ! dear chil-
dren ! When I met Hawthorne at Boston a
week ago, it was apparent that he was much
more feeble and more seriously diseased than
I had supposed him to be. We came from
Senter Harbor yesterday afternoon, and I
thought he was, on the whole, brighter than
he was the day before. He retired last
night soon after nine o'clock, and soon fell
into a quiet slumber. In less than half an
hour he changed his position, but continued
to sleep. I left the door open between his
bedroom and mine, our beds being opposite
to each other. I was asleep myself before
eleven o'clock. The light continued to burn
in my room. At two o'clock I went to H.'s
bedside. He was apparently in a sou;id
sleep. I did not place my hand upon him.
At four o'clock I went into his room again,
and, as his position was unchanged, I placed
my hand upon him, and found that life was
extinct. I sent immediately for a physician,
and called Judge Bell and Colonel Hibbard,
who occupied rooms upon the same floor
and near me. He lies upon his side, his
A Host of Memories. 23
position so perfectly natural and easy, his
eyes closed, that it is difficult to realize,
while looking upon his noble face, that this
is death. He must have passed from natural
slumber to that from which there is no wak-
ing, without the slighest movement. I can-
not write to dear Mrs. Hawthorne, and you
must exercise your judgment with regard to
sending this and the unfinished note enclosed
to her."
It was a beautiful death, but a sad event.
Hawthorne I shall always hold vividly in
remembrance. I have the oris^inal manu-
script of his " Consular Experiences," and
the copy of the first edition of the " Scarlet
Letter," brought to light so wonderfully by
Mr. Fields. Hawthorne wrote me, soon
after its publication in 1851, that he was
much gratified by my favorable opinion of
the charming romance, and that I might
be interested to know " that it was so far
founded on fact that such a symbol as the
Scarlet Letter was actually worn by at least
one woman in the early times of i!Tew Eng-
land." Whether this personage, he added,
resembled Hester Prynne in any other
circumstances of her character, he could
not say ; nor whether this mode of igno-
minious punishment was brought from be-
24 RecoUedioiis.
yond the Atlantic or originated with the
'New Ens^hand Puritans. At anv rate, he
said, the idea was so worthy of them that
he felt " piously inclined" to allow them all
the credit of it.
Longfellow I knew well and entertained
at my home. He was a quiet, gentle, ad-
mirable man ; a poet in all his moods. We
often corresponded, and I remember how
glad he was when he heard that I had bought
an estate near the historic church of St.
David's, Radnor, the resting-place of General
Anthony Wayne, celebrated by Longfellow
in exquisite verse. " The Eadnor Church
poem,'*' he wrote me from l^ahant in 1880,
" shall be copied for you when I return home
in August or September. Here by the sea-
side I have no paper tit for the purpose.
You shall have it all in due time for the
honor to be conferred on it. I cons^ratulate
you on having a country-place in the beau-
tiful region round Eadnor. I am sure you
will all enjoy it extremeh\"
I prize very much the tender note he sent
me, March 13, 1877, aiJropos of his seventieth
birthday. " You do not know yet," it reads,
" what it is to be seventy years old. I will
tell you, so that you may not be taken by
surprise when your turn comes. It is like
A Host of 3Iemories. 25
climbing the Alps. You reach a snow-
crowned summit, and see behind you the
deep valley stretching miles and miles away,
and before you other summits higher and
whiter, which you may have strength to
climb, or may not. Then you sit down and
meditate, and w^onder which it will be. That
is the whole story, amplify it as you may.
All that one can say is, that life is oppor-
tunity.^' How very true this is I know full
well. My experience enables me to perceive
the wisdom of the poet's words.
There is a curious incident in my ac-
quaintance with James Russell Lowell. It
happened lately that he was in Philadel-
phia while I was confined to the house with
a slight attack of sickness, and he came
promptly and kindly to call upon me and
pass the afternoon. One of the treasures
of my library is the manuscript of Lowell's
poem '' Under the Willows," which, accord-
ing to a marginal note, was begun in 1850
and finished in 1868. We spent a quiet,
pleasant afternoon together, and he seemed
to be much interested in my collection of
original manuscripts, which includes " Our
Mutual Friend," by Dickens, Poe's " Mur-
ders in the Kue Morgue," and many other
precious writings. Finally I surprised him
B 3
2G Recolledioiis.
with a glimpse of his own poem. lie had
half forgotten it, and at my request took the
volume away with him, returning it in a few
days with the following explanatory note :
"A part of this poem (as the note on the
margin opposite says) was written in 1850 as
an introduction to the ' Nooning,' a projected
volume of tales in verse. By changes and
additions I tried to make a self-suhsident
poem out of material already prepared for
another purpose. Old and new are so inter-
woven that I cannot now, after an interval
of twenty years, distinguish between them."
About twenty-five years ago, on a wretched,
rainy, sloppy, and muddy day, I was in a
book-store in Boston, when I saw the striking
figure of a little man, wearing a slouched
hat, his pantaloons rolled up, dashing along
the street. He looked as little like a poet
as a man could. I turned to the bookseller
and asked him who that was. " That is
Oliver Wendell Holmes," he said. " Well,
I want to know that man;" and I got to
know him, and we have been the best of
friends ever since. A more genial, genuine,
delightful man, and a finer conversationalist,
I never knew. A copy of " The Autocrat
of the Breakfast-Table," which he sent me,
contains an interesting letter giving me his
A Host of Memories. 27
reasons for beginning the papers in the At-
lantic Monthly J a name which he says he gave
to the masrazine.
As I speak, a thousand faces pass before
me. Xone more gentle and kind than that
of Emerson. He visited me with his daugh-
ter ; a tranquil, lovable man; and he wrote
me letters. It is a pity, by the way, that I
failed to preserve my correspondence; much
of it, doubtless, would be now of consider-
able interest.
John Lothrop Motley, W. H. Prescott,
and Georo^e Bancroft were valued friends.
I remember Motley writing me that he
thought no history of our great civil war
should be written within fifty years of its
close. Prescott had the last photograph of
himself taken for me. He wrote to tell me
so, and said, " I shall never sit again for
another picture, unless it is taken from the
back of my head." Bancroft I am still
enabled to honor as one of mv oldest and
most precious friends.
With the novelist G. P. P. James I was
quite intimate. While he held the post of
British Consul at liichmond, Virginia, he
would often come up to Philadelphia to see
me ; and he told me once that he dictated all
liis books. Then there were T. Buchanan
28 Recollections.
Read, who painted LongfelloAv's portrait for
me, and who was present at the dinner I
gave Longfellow in Rome, W. W. Story,
Fitz-Greene Ilalleck, Jared Sparks, William
Gilmore Simms, William Cullen Bryant,
Professors E. A. Freeman and Bryce, of
Oxford, Henry C. Care}^ Paul B. Dii Chaillu
(he brought me from Africa the wood for
the ebony table now in ray library), Thomas
Hughes, Joaquin Miller, Wilkie Collins, —
a whole troop of them, my honored friends
and guests. Above all, I should not forget
to note one of my earliest and most intimate
friends, the elder James Gordon Bennett.
He was a quiet, unobtrusive, forcible man.
For years, he told me, he had his office a
few doors from the Brooks's, — Erastus and
James, of the Evening JSxjyress, — and yet had
never met them. We often talked together
in reflective moods. He was eminently
practical. " Childs," he once said, " how un-
fortunate it is for a boy to have rich parents !
If you and I had been born that way, per-
haps we wouldn't have amounted to much."
I might, indeed, go on recalling names
until you wearied of hearing me. It has
been my good fortune to possess the friend-
ship or acquaintance of a very large number
of the men and women who have distin-
A Host of Memories. 29
giiisbed themselves iu the politics, science,
arts, literature, and commerce of this coun-
tr}^ and Europe during the last thirty years.
There was Edward Everett, for instance,
who used to spend much of his time in
this city, the guest of his friend Charles
Macalester. I have a notable letter from
him, written under date of Boston, July 9,
1862, in which he remarks, " I ought to say
that, though I think the arrest of Mason
and Slidell was authorized by the Law of
JS'ations, I think it was expedient to give
them up. I therefore approved of their sur-
render by Mr. Seward, and rejoiced that he
was able to find grounds for it, though not
concurring with him in all his views."
I have been on friendly terms with men
of all parties and creeds. I accompanied
Thomas H. Benton to Boston when he
delivered his f^^reat oration there. Setting;
aside General Winfield Scott (who sent me
an early copy of his book, of which he had
estimated the hundreds of thousands of
people in the United States who would pur-
chase copies), Benton was beyond com2:)arison
the most kindly and agreeably egotistical
man I ever met.
Thurlow Weed, an extraordinary man in
many ways, I knew very well. lie once
3*
30 Rccolledioiis.
gave mc an illustration of the great variety
and curious character of his wonderful stock
of information. He told me that there was
an old Roman well on such and such a spot
on the Strand in London. I went to John
Murray while in London and asked him
ahout it, as Murray's guide-hook made no
mention of the fact. Murray was in utter
ignorance of the well, hut it was really where
Thurlow Weed had said it was.
It is a pleasure for me to recall the myriad
faces of my guests during many years, here
in Philadelphia, at Wootton, and at Long
Branch. Besides those I have mentioned,
there was the great and good George Pea-
hody. We were very close to each other.
He had his portrait painted for me hy the
Queen's artist, and there it hangs on the
wall, one of the most valued of my pos-
sessions. His name recalls that of Peter
Cooper. These two were considerate and
broad-minded philanthropists. I went with
Mr. Cooper on his ninetieth birthday to Bal-
timore during the sesqui-centennial celebra-
tion. He there told me an interesting story
of his early life in that city when he had be-
come manager of the iron-works at Canton.
The Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad Company
had built their road beyond Point of Bocks,
A Hod of Memories. 31
bat no engine could get round the curve.
Cooper then, with fifty gentlemen, eni-
bracini]: the directors and others interested
in the road, improvised an engine built of
o;uu-barrels, and successful! v rounded the
curve. When we were in Baltimore to-
gether, only one man, J. H. B. Latrobe, be-
sides himself, was left of the original fifty.
[It is a brave array of names, the guests of Mr.
Childs, — Generals Grant, Sherman, Meade, Sheridan,
Hancock, McDowell, and Patterson, Edmund Quincy,
Chief Justice Waite, A. J. Drexel, Asa Packer, the
Astors, Cadwaladers, Prof. Joseph Henry, Hamilton
Fish, Robert C. Winthrop, Charles Francis Adams,
Presidents Hayes, Arthur, and Cleveland, Chauncey
M. Depew, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Thomas A. Edison,
Simon Cameron, Henry Wilson, William M. Evarts,
James G. Blaine, John Welsh, J. B. Lippincott, Morton
McMichael, August Belmont, Alex. H. Stephens, Sam-
uel J. Tilden (one of his last requests was to have Mr.
Childs visit him at Greystone), Cyrus W. Field, B. J.
Lossing, Mrs. Grover Cleveland, Charlotte Cushman,
Christine Nilsson, Harriet Hosmer, John Bigelow,
Thomas A. Bayard, Parke Godwin, Andrew Carne-
gie, and many others. Mr. Childs does not hesitate
to say that one of the chief pleasures of his life has
been the keeping of an open house to worthy and
distinguished people. The reception he gave to the
Emperor and Empress of Brazil w^as perhaps the most
notable gathering of people ever assembled in any
private house in America. There were over six hun-
dred guests ; and Mr. Childs's was the first private
house at which the Emperor and Empress had ever
32 Recollections,
been entertained. But one must not overlook in this
incomplete list of visitors the names of the Duke and
Duchess of Buckingham, the Duke of Sutherland, the
Duke of Newcastle, Lords Duffcrin, Rosebery, Hough-
ton, Ilchester, Ross, Iddesleigh, Rayleigh, Herschell,
Caithness, and Dunraven, Sir Stafford Northcote,
Lady Franklin, Dean Stanley, Canon Kingsley,
Charles Dickens, George Augustus Sala, Joseph
Chamberlain, M.P., J. Anthony Froude, Prof. Tyn-
dall, Prof. Bonamy Price, Admiral Lord Clarence
Paget, Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen, Colonel Sir Herbert
Sandford, Charles Kean, Marquis de Rochambeau, John
AV alter, M.P., Sir Richard Temple, Herbert Spencer
(who was sadly afflicted with insomnia while visiting
Mr. Childs), Thomas Hughes, M.P., Sir John Rose,
Sir Edward Thornton, and Robert Chambers, D.C.L.
There are countless souvenirs of these and other
guests in Mr. Childs's home, — a photograph of the
Emperor of Brazil, with his autograph, painted por-
traits, a chair embroidered by the Duchess of Buck-
ingham for Mrs. Childs. The library is full of pre-
sentation copies of books from many authors ; some of
them have dedicated volumes to him. But no doubt
the most interesting souvenir is Mrs. Childs's album ;
it contains the signatures and sentiments of a host of
distinguished men and women in all professions who
have been her guests. Thomas Nast, for example,
sketches himself in it ; Oscar Wilde, Bishop Doane,
George Bancroft, Goldwin Smith, Walt Whitman,
Lord Houghton, and Lord Dufferin contribute poems ;
and Charlotte Cushman, Modjeska, and Henry Irving
each an appropriate Shakspearian sentiment. Dean
Stanley, Matthew Arnold, Sir Edwin Arnold, Bishop
Potter, and Archdeacon Farrar write sentiments
appreciative of their hospitable entertainment.]
CHAPTER 11.
A TRIP ABROAD.
Dickens — The Duke of Buckingham — Lady Franklin — ■
Lono-fellow — Dom Pedro.
Late in the autumn of 1868 I went
abroad, and one of the first letters that
reached me at the Langham Hotel in
Regent Street, London, bore, under date
of [November 4, a genial greeting from
Charles Dickens. " Welcome to England !"
it said. " Dolby will have told you that I
am reading again, — on a very fatiguing
scale, — but that after the end of next week
I shall be free for a fortnight as to country
readings. On ^londay next I shall be in
town, and shall come straight to pay my
respects to Mrs. Childs and you. In the
mean time, will you, if you can, so arrange
your engagements as to give me a day or
two here in the latter half of this month ?
My housekeeper-daughter is away hunting
in Hampshire, but my sister-in-law is al-
c 33
34 liccolledions.
ways in charge, and my married daughter
would be charmed to come from London to
receive Mrs. Childs. You cannot be quieter
anywhere than here, and you certainly can-
not have from any one a heartier welcome
than from me." We certainly could not :
to Gad's Hill Place we went, and passed a
quiet, delightful time. I had corresponded
with Dickens for a number of years : in my
library there is a set of the Osgood edition
of his works in fifty-six volumes, in each of
which is inserted an autograph letter of the
author to me, the first being dated 1855.
During this visit we Avere much together :
he accompanied us to London, and when we
parted he clasped my hands and said,
"Good-by; God bless you!" and the tears
were in his eyes.
He told me that before beginning anyone
of his works he thought out the plot fully, and
then made a skeleton from which he elab-
orated it. The most interesting and valu-
able memento I have of him is the original
manuscript of " Our Mutual Friend." It is
the only complete manuscript of any of
Dickens's novels outside of the South Ken-
sington Museum ; though one or two of his
short Christmas stories, I believe, are to be
found in this country and in England. A
A Trip Abroad. 35
skeleton of the story is prefixed to each
volume, the first covering sixteen, the sec-
ond eighteen pages of quarto paper. These
skeletons show how Dickens constructed his
stories. They are very curious. Here is a
sample page :
OUK MUTUAL FEIEND, :N^0. 1.
CHAPTER I.
ox THE LOOKOUT.
The Man, in his boat, watcliing the tides.
The GafFer, — Gaifer — Gaffer Hexam — •
Hexam.
His daughter rowing. Jen, or Lizzie.
Taking the body in tow.
His dissipated partner, who
has " Robbed a live man !"
Riderhood — this fellow's name.
CHAPTER IL
THE MAX FROM SOMEWHERE.
The entirely new people.
Everything new — Grandfather new — if they
had one.
Dinner Party — Twemlow, Podsnap, Lady Tip-
pins, Alfred Lighthouse, also Eugene — Mor-
timer, languid and tells of Harmon the Dust
Contractor,
36 Recollections.
Then follow sentences, written everywhere
on the page, like this : " Work in the girl
\vho was to have been married and made
rich," etc. There is also this outline head-
ing :
FOUK BOOKS.
I. The Cup and the Lip.
II. Birds of a Feather.
III. A Long Lane.
IV. A Turning.
The story is written in small, oddly-
formed letters, with frequent erasures, on
heavj^, light-blue paper in dark-blue ink.
It is marked as completed September 2,
1865, and has a postscript in lieu of a pref-
ace, under which is given this date. The
manuscript is just as it came finally from
Dickens's hands, even the names of the
compositors in the printing-ofiice remaining
at the head of each " take."
It was through Dickens that I became
acquainted with Wilkie Collins, one of the
most agreeable men I ever met, and whom
I have since entertained in this country.
The two families were very intimate, as Mr.
Collins's brother had married Mr. Dickens's
daughter.
From Gad's Hill Place we went to Stowe,
A Trip Abroad. 37
one of the estates of the late Duke of Buck-
in o-ham, the last of the Plantao-enets. I had
first met the Duke a few years before, when,
as Marquis of Chanclos, he came to this
country in the suite of the Prince of Wales
and was entertained by me while in Phila-
delphia. I found him always an unaffected,
able, and agreeable man. It may be said of
him that he was the first English nobleman
who broke an entail to pay his father's debts.
He was one of the most hospitable of men.
I gave many Americans letters of introduc-
tion to him, and he entertained them royally.
He was a man of much ability, — an astute
politician and a successful railroad manager.
He knew the name and the place of every bolt
in an engine ; and it was he who invented the
ingenious trough arrangement by means of
which engines in motion can replenish their
tanks with water. Stowe is a vast building,
some twelve hundred feet in length. One
of its attractions was a unique chapel, built
of cedar and gold, brought by the Duke's
ancestors from Spain. He told me that one
day in Spain he was talking with a priest
who described a beautiful little church that
had once stood on the spot where they were
conversing. The priest mourned its loss,
saying that it had been actually plucked
38 Rc'collcdions.
from tlie soil and transported to England.
lie never suspected that the l^uke owned it.
StoAve was connected by the Dake with
his other residence of Wootton by means of
a railroad. At this latter place, which had
been in his family over seven hundred years,
and after which I named my own country-
seat near Bryn Mawr, we also passed some
pleasant days. There was a notable oak-tree
there that had been planted by Queen Eliza-
beth. While at Stowe we slept in the same
rooms that had been occupied by Queen
Victoria Avhen the Duke of Buckingham's
father entertained her majesty one week at a
cost of seventv-five thousand dollars. Later
on, when w^e were stopping at the Langham
Hotel, near the Duke's residence on Chandos
Street, I had an amusing adventure. The
Duke had asked me to visit his church, sit-
uated in that street, and one morning I
strolled there, and, entering, requested the
pew^-opener to show me to the ducal pew.
" The servants' pew ?" he asked. When I
related this experience to the Duke he
laughed, and said it w^as not so amusing
as one of his own. He had gone one day,
he said, w^hile chairman of the London and
JSTorthwestern Railw^av, to the office of the
company and requested one of the attend-
A Trip Abroad. 39
ants to show him to the room of a certain
official, the head of a department. The
man eyed the Duke critically, and observed,
"You won't do: you're too light w^eight."
It then transpired that the official had ad-
vertised for a porter, and the attendant
mistook the Duke for an applicant for the
situation.
The first wife of the Duke of Buckingham
was a lovely woman, a Miss Harvey, and
their marriasre had been one of love. Mrs.
Childs has still an embroidered chair pre-
sented to her by the Duchess, who had
worked it for her. One of the most inter-
estino^ mementos I have of the Duke is a set
of photographs of his governmental col-
leagues. They were hospitality itself to us.
One dav we were asked whether we cared
to visit Fountain Abbey, the picturesque
property of Lord Ripon (Earl de Grey),
whom I knew when he was in this countrv
as one of the High Joint Commission, and,
availing ourselves of the invitation, special
permission was accorded our party to drive
in the grounds and view the private build-
in 2:s. We drove over from Harroscate in
carriages, and enjoyed the jaunt immensely.
The duchess lingered outside the abbey for
a time, sketching, and when we rejoined
40 Recollections,
her she told us that she had overheard a
party of visitors discussing our entrance into
the private precinct, and one of them, glan-
cing at the carriages, had said, " Well, I'll
wager they're Americans : those people are
admitted evervwhere."
Altogether, our stay in England was very
delightful, made largely so by the number
of interesting and agreeable people with
wdiom we came in contact, as at " Bear-
w^ood," the splendid home of Mr. Walter,
of the London Times, where we met Charles
Kingsley, Archdeacon Benson, now Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, Lord Houghton, and
many other distinguished personages. As
miorht be imas^ined from the circumstance
of my publication of Dr. Kane's hook, I had
a peculiar pleasure in making the acquaint-
ance of Lady Franklin. She was afterwards
my guest for a week at Long Branch. She
was on a journey round the world, and she
came with her niece, a man- and a maid-
servant, her cooking-utensils, and a whole
baggage- wagon -full of traps. I can dis-
tinctly recall her standing upon the lawn
and lookino; out over the sea. " What is it
across there ?" she asked, pointing straight
ahead. " Portugal," I told her. " I've just
come from there," she said.
A Trip Abroad. 41
Xot only in England bat on the Conti-
nent our trip abroad was made very pleasant
by the acquaintanceship and hospitality of
many agreeable people. Here and there we
met old friends and fellows-countrymen. In
Rome, for instance, we passed some delight-
ful weeks with Lono^fellow, who had resided
there for a lengthy period in earlier years,
and bv livins: in Italian families had be-
come very well known and very popular.
lie was much feted. I gave him a dinner
at which some of the Roman dignitaries,
artists, and writers were present. T. Bu-
chanan Read, the artist-poet, was at that
time in the Eternal City, and one of my
guests. At dinner. Read's famous paint-
ins: of Lono'fellow's three daus-hters was dis-
cussed, and Lono-fellow observed that the
picture was a good one save in one particu-
lar ; Read, he said, had painted one of his
children to look as if she had no arms. He
illustrated his criticism with a story, saying
that the daughter in question and himself
had heard a boy at a watering-place cry-
ing photographs for sale of " Longfellow's
daughters, — one without arms !"
As I make no other pretension in these
chats than idly to recall some salient or
diverting incidents in my career or acquaint-
4^
42 liccollcetions.
mice with notable meti, I may take advan-
tage of this second alhision to Longfellow
to say a word or two about a man of exalted
station and intellect, — that modest ex-mon-
arch, Doni Pedro, late Emperor of Brazil.
Speaking of Longfellow reminded me of
the time when Dom Pedro, gazing at the
portrait of Longfellow which hangs in my
librar}^ exclaimed, '^ That is your great
American poet. I have translated his works
into Portuguese, and made known the
beauty of his verse to all Brazil."
This was in 1876, w^hen, during the Cen-
tennial Exhibition, the Emperor was my
guest and I naturally arranged for him to
visit the various places of interest in Phila-
delphia. At my house I presented to him
the late James L. Claghorn, President of
the Academy of Fine Arts, who invited him
to visit the Academy, and on his expressing
a desire to go, inquired ^vhat hour would
be most agreeable to his majest}^ " Six
o'clock," he said. It was a favorite hour
with him ; but Mr. Claghorn, not knowing
this, was aghast. However, promptly at the
appointed time he had the directors of the
Academy on hand to greet the Emperor,
who exhibited an unfeigned and very intel-
lio^ent interest in the art treasures of the
A Trip Abroad. 43
buildinof. When introduced to Dr. Rusch-
enberger, President of the Academy of
l^atural Sciences, he surprised the doctor
and those about him by saying, *' I know
you as an author;" and he proceeded to
name the books the doctor had written, some
of them being out of print.
ne accepted an invitation for the next day
to visit the coal-regions, and set again his
favorite hour of six o'clock as the time to
start. We went in Judge Packer's private
car, and visited various coal-mines and iron-
works, the Emperor's interest never flag-
ging. He seemed to understand all the
details of manufacture, and paid particu-
lar attention to the Bessemer and Siemens
processes of steel-making. A curious inci-
dent happened while we were at the Thomas
Iron-Works. Mr. Thomas (who introduced
the process of making iron with anthracite
coal) came to me and said tliat his grand-
daughter would like to be presented to the
Emperor, as she had previously met him in
Egypt. So we turned to his majesty, and I
had hardly named the young lady, when he
exclaimed, " Oh, I met you at the Pyramids,
and gave you my photograph, did I not?"
We were fourteen hours on that jour-
ney, returning to Philadelphia at eight p.m.
44 BccoUcctioiw.
I was quite worn out, and went to bed.
Rising early, I picked up the Ledger, and
about the first thing tliat caught my eye
was an account of the Emperor's attend-
ance the niglit before at a meetins: of the
Academy of JSTatural Sciences, where, it ap-
peared, he had taken part in the discussions
of the evening. I mention all this to shoAv
that one monarch in the world, at least, is
a man of energy and broadest intelligence
and kindest sympathy. He seemed to
know all about Professor Henry of the
Smithsonian Institution when I made the
two acquainted, and spoke of his original
and practical application of the telegraph.
By invitation of the professor he visited
Washington and the Smithsonian Institution.
Again, when I introduced him to Joaquin
Miller, he instantly spoke in praise of the
Siei-ra IN'evada poems. Indeed, there was
apparently nothing notable in literature, art,
or science that had not eno-ao^ed his atten-
tion. In women's medical colle<res he w^as
much interested. I broached the subject
during our trip to the coal-regions, and he
amazed me with the breadth of his informa-
tion, dwelling, as he did, upon the labors of
those women who were sent out as mission-
aries.
A Trip Abroach 45
I cannot help holding the unfortunate
Dom Pedro in the kindest remembrance ;
and it is gratifying to know that I have him
as a loyal friend. He presented me with a
large photograph likeness bearing an auto-
graph inscription, and witli a copy of his
book of travels in which he wrote some
kindly words. It was one of the pleasing
methods he employed to show me I was not
foro:otten, that I have been honored with
an earl}^ and welcome visit from each new
Brazilian minister to the United States.
And perhaps I may be pardoned for quoting
at this appropriate place the following ex-
tract from a letter which the Hon. Thomas
A. Osborn, late American Minister to Bra-
zil, recently wrote to a friend, describing
his presentation to the Emperor : " I have
thought," he says, " that you might not be
uninterested in learning that the Emperor,
in an informal conversation which followed
the presentation of my letter of credence,
inquired quite feelingly after Mr. George
W. Childs, and manifested a deep concern in
his welfare. The Emperor spoke of the hos-
pitalities extended to him in Philadelphia,
and was especially warm in his expressions
touching Mr. Childs."
Senhor J. G. do Amaral Yalente, Brazilian
4Q liccollcciions.
Minister to tbe United States, had delivered
to me in October, 1889, a cup and saucer
of beautiful design and exquisite finish, a
present from the Emperor. Tlie following
letter gives an account of the presentation.
"Brazilian Legation,
" Washington, October 15, 1889.
" Mr. George W. Guilds :
" My dear Sir, — I take pleasure in for-
warding by express to your address a small
box containing a cup and saucer which the
Emperor has been pleased to send you as a
souvenir.
" Perhaps you would be interested in
learnino: the circumstances that oris^inated
His Majesty's special mark of kindness to
you, and therefore I think myself justified
in saying a few words in this connection.
" As you well know, the Emperor has
always kept the most pleasant recollections
of his visit to this country, as well as a
grateful and cordial remembrance of you,
after whom he never fails to inquire when-
ever an opportunity presents itself. Lately,
before my departure from Rio de Janeiro to
the States, I had the honor to call to receive
His Majesty's orders. At the close of the
interview I was instructed to give his aftec-
A Trip Abroad. 47
tioiuite regards to some of his friends, your
name being mentioned in the first place. I
then took the liberty of suggesting that you
had a very curious collection of china, and
that I believed a cup and saucer coming from
His Majesty would be very much appreciated
by you and considered a great addition to
the same collection. The Emperor said that
if that was the case he would be very much
pleased to send you one, and added, ' Well,
I shall send Mr. Childs the same cup and
saucer I use to-morrow at my breakfast,'
and immediately gave his chamberlain the
instructions to that effect.
" I need not say how^ glad I feel at the
acquisition you are going to make. I trust
that you wdll receive the said souvenir in
perfect order.
" Believe me,
" Yours very truly,
" J. Gr. DO Amaral Yalente."
The following self-explanatory letter from
Captain Luiz Philippe de Saldanha da Gama,
of the Brazilian navy, a very close friend
of the Emperor, will doubtless prove inter-
esting in view of the recent revolution in
Brazil :
48 Recollections.
" Washington, November 22, 1889.
*' Dear Sir, — When I came from Brazil
about a month ago to join the Maritime
Internationa] Conference as a delegate, I had
the honor to be the bearer of an autograph
letter of His Majesty Dom Pedro II., ad-
dressed to you. Unable, however, to move
away from this city on the days following
my arrival, and at the same time unwilling
to forward such a letter to you by mail, I
was still awaiting the leisure that should
permit me to go to Philadelphia, and deliver
myself, into your own hands, so expressive a
mark of His Majesty's kind recollection and
cordial feelings towards you. But now, in
the face of the grave events which have just
occurred in Brazil, I consider it my duty to
delaj^ no longer the fulfilment of the charge
His Majesty imposed upon me, and, there-
fore, I take the liberty to send you his letter,
herewith enclosed.
" Allow me to thank you for your edi-
torial of the 20th instant in reference to
the Emperor's personality and to the revo-
lution which has just dethroned him. As
a patriotic Brazilian, as well as a most de-
voted and faithful personal friend to His
Majesty, I must say I felt extremely gratified
in reading the enlightened views expressed
A Dip Abroad. 49
by a republican journal like the Public Ledger
on the Emperor's character, his learning, his
correct behavior, his unselfishness, ^his good
intentions, and his patriotic feelings.
" However, the revolution in Brazil seems
to be at present an accomplished fact; and
he, who never condemned any of his fellow-
countrymen to expatriation, is now on his
way to a strange shore, — be, who really was,
during fifty years of reign, the firm guar-
antee of the rights and prerogatives of all
Brazilians, has been compelled to leave his
country in an hour's time, and by nigbt, like
a wretched criminal. I dare hope he will
reach in safety the land of exile, and meet
yet with marks of love and afi:ection from
those wbo knew bim well and from tbose
who are indebted to him for many favors.
''Pray, therefore, accept once more my
most grateful thanks for what you have
written of Dom Pedro de Alcantara, botb
as a man and as Emperor of Brazil,
" And believe me, etc.,
" L. P. DE Saldanha da Gama,
" Captain.
" To Mr. George W. Childs."
The following is a translation of the letter
sent by Dom Pedro :
Q d 5
50 Recollections.
" Mr. G. W. Childs, — In recalling your
kindness and the splendid evening that you
gave me in Philadelphia, I recommend to
you the captain of the Brazilian navy, Mr.
Luiz Philippe de Saldanha da Gama, and I
am sure that you will make his second visit
to you in Philadelphia as agreeable as the
first, and that he will give me news of your
beautiful collections.
"Affectionately yours,
"D.Pedro d' Alcantara."
"Rio de Janeiro, October 4, 1889."
CHAPTER III.
LIBRARY TREASURES.
Precious Manuscripts — Poe's Murders in the Kue Morgue
— A Collection of Valuable Autographs — Andrew
Johnson's Letters.
You would like to see " the treasures" of
mj library ? There they are, — several thou-
sand of them; many of them "notable books
indeed. The presentation copies alone, I
suppose, contain enough interesting auto-
graph inscriptions of their authors to amuse
you. There are many curios in the collec-
tion,— many valuable manuscripts. Here,
bearing the date of May 17, 1703, written
in a small, compact, but legible hand, is the
original of a sermon by Cotton Mather. To
set it off, here are two volumes that were
once in the library of Charles Dickens, — one
the Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt, with an
autograph inscription to " Charles Dickens,
from his constant admirer and obliged friend,
Leigh Hunt," the other a copy of Hood's
51
52 Itecolledions.
" Comic Animal" for 1842. It contains
these characteristic lines in Hood's hand-
wntino^:
Pshaw ! away with leaf and berry
And the sober-sided cup I
Bring a goblet, and bright sherry I
^nd a bumper fill me up.
Tho' I had a pledge to shiver,
And the longest ever was,
Ere his vessel leaves our river,
I will drink a health to Boz!
Here's success to all his antics,
Since it pleases him to roam,
And to paddle o'er Atlantics,
After such a sale at home ! —
May he shun all rocks whatever,
And the shallow sand that lurks.
And his passage be as clever
As the best among his works !
A manuscript I prize is the translation
of the first book of the Iliad by my friend
IVilliam Cullen Bryant. J^ot less interest-
ing is the manuscript of Edgar A. Poe's
remarkable story of " The Murders in the
Rue Morgue." It is written in a fine close
hand on seventeen pages of large legal-cap
paper, and has quite a history. The late Mr.
J. W. Johnston, from whom I secured it,
wrote me that it was in the spring of 1841,
Library Treasures. 53
at the time he was an apprentice in the office
ot* Barrett & Thrasher, printers, in Phila-
delphia, that the manuscript came into his
possession. It was at this office that Gra-
ham's Magazine, in which the story first ap-
peared, was printed. After the tale had
been put in type and the proof-read, the
manuscript found its way into the waste-
basket; but Mr. Johnston picked it up,
and, obtaining permission to keep it, took
it home to the residence of his father. He
then, it seems, lost sight of the manuscript
for years. His father removed from Phil-
adelphia to York County, Pennsylvania,
thence to Maryland, and thence to Virginia,
and in these several pilgrimages, unknown
to himself, carried the Poe manuscript along
with him, folded up in one of the books of
his library. Determining to return to Penn-
sylvania, he made sale of his personal effects,
and amons^ a lot of old books offered was
found the Poe manuscript. It was at once
recognized, rescued from the rubbish among
which it had so nearly been lost, and for-
warded to Mr. Johnston the son, who in the
mean time (1847) had removed to Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, and begun business as a da-
guerrotypist. Twice his daguerrean rooms
took fire, and once (March 8, 1850) almost
5*
54 Recollections.
all bis books, papers, pictures, and apparatus
were consumed ; but tlie Poe manuscript,
folded witliin tlie leaves of an old music-
book, escaped the wreck.
"About the year 1857," he goes on to
say, in his letter to me, " a grocery-store,
occupying the lirst floor of the building in
whicb were mv rooms, took fire and burned
furiously. The flames did not reacb my
rooms, but the smoke did, and the firemen
drenched them with water, destroying books,
papers, and other property ; but, by rare good
fortune, the Poe manuscript again escaped all
injury, except a slight discoloration. From
1861 to 1864 I was in the army, but on my
return therefrom I found the Poe manuscript
in the old music-book where I had left it on
leaving home. In the spring of 1865 I took
charge of the Swan Hotel, Lancaster, lie-
moving therefrom in 1869, a great deal of
rubbish was consigned to the ash-pile, the
old music-book sharing the fate of many
worthless articles. The next-door neighbor,
thinking it had been inadvertently thrown
away, picked it from the ash-pile and handed
it to me. On opening the book, I again be-
held the much-neglected manuscript. Pe-
solved that it should not again be subjected
to so man}' risks, I at once had it bound."
Library Treasures. 55
I have a very interesting letter written
under date of August 13, 1841, by Poe to
the Philadelphia publishers Lea & Blanchard.
" I wish," he says, " to publish a new collec-
tion of my prose tales, with some such title
as this : ' The Prvse Tales of Edgar A. Poe, in-
cluding " The Murders in the Rue Morgue,^' the
" Descent into the Maelstrom.,^' and all his later
jrieces, with a second edition of the " Tales of the
Grotesque and Arabesque.'^ '
" The later pieces will be eight in number,
making the entire collection thirty-three,
which would occupy two thick novel volumes.
" I am anxious that your firm should con-
tinue to be my publishers, and, if you would
be willing to bring out the book, I should be
glad to accept the terms which you allowed
me before, — that is, you receive all profits,
and allow me twenty copies for distribution
to friends."
I possess an interesting relic of Lord By-
ron,— his writing-desk, on which he wrote
" Don Juan" and other poems. It bears his
crest and monosfram. Bvron's works are
represented in my library by Murraj^'s sump-
tuous six- volume edition (1855), inscribed to
me *' In testimony of kind remembrance,
from John Murray." The first volume con-
tains portions of the manuscript of " The
66 Recollections.
Bride of Abydos.'' It also gives a curious
illustration of Byron's dislike of Words-
worth. When " Peter Bell" appeared, By-
ron cut it out, placed it in the beginning of
a copy of his own works, and on the margin
of the page wrote a parody of the poem.
It will be remembered that " Peter Bell"
ran in this way :
PROLOGUE.
There's something in a flying horse,
And something in a huge balloon ;
But through the clouds I'll never float
Until I get a little Boat
Whose shape is like the crescent moon.
And now I have a little Boat,
In shape a very crescent moon : — etc.
Byron's parody is as follows :
EPILOGUE.
There's something in a stupid ass,
And something in a heavy dunce ;
But never since I went to school
I heard or saw so damned a fool
As William Wordsworth is for once.
And now I've seen so great a fool
As William Wordsworth is for once,
I really wish that Peter Bell
And he who wrote it were in hell,
For writing nonsense for the nonce.
Library Treasures. 57
" I saw the light in ninety-eight,"
Sweet Babe of one-and-twenty years I
And then he gives it to the nation,
And deems himself of Shakespeare's peers.
He gives the perfect work to light !
Will Wordsworth, if I might advise,
Content you with the praise you get
From Sir George Beaumont, Baronet,
And with your place in the Excise.
Ravenna, March 22, 1820.
Here is the original manuscript of "Wil-
liam Godwin's " Cloucleslej : a ISTovel." It
is written on both sides of the sheets of
old parchment paper, but in a strikingly
clear and smooth hand. Shakespearian
scholars, I suppose, would be particularly
interested in my copy of Mrs. Mary Cowden
Clarke's " Complete Concordance to Shake-
speare." It contains a selection of fifty
closely-written pages of the original manu-
script, together with a long and exceedingly
interesting autograph letter, which gives a
detailed account of the progress of the work
from its inception, through the twelve years
occupied in its compilation, and four more
of press-corrections, to its final publication ;
also copies of a congratulatory letter from
Douglas Jerrold, the author's application for
the privilege of dedicating the work to the
58 Recollections.
Queen, and the Queen's reply, besides sev-
eral portraits, a large number of newspaper
cuttings, etc. In a letter to me, written from
Villa ISTovello, Genoa, February 8, 1879, Mrs.
Clarke says, " The notice in your paper was
read through tears of proud emotion at the
way in which your reviewer recognized the
admirable characters of my Parents : It was
enjoyed in concert by our family party, then
assembled around our breakfast-table here ;
which included my brother Alfred, my sister
Sabilla, and our two charming Italian nieces,
Portia and Valeria Gis^liucci — to whom I
read aloud, as well as my streaming eyes
would allow me, this American warmth of
tribute to Vincent and Mary Kovello's moral
and intellectual excellence."
From the late Anna Maria Hall and her
husband, S. C. Hall,* I procured a valu-
* I received, early in the year 1889, a long letter from
Mr. Hall. It was written December 8, 1888, but delayed
many weeks in transmission by the correspondent with
whom it was designed to make me acquainted. This
was no doubt one of the last letters written by the
venerable author, and its concluding lines are full of
pathos. " My dear, much-honored, and greatly loved
friend," it reads. " This may be the last letter of con-
sequence I shall write. It is high time I left earlh. I
think my work is very nearly done, — and I shall soon
meet my beloved at the Golden Gate. We shall meet
Library Treasures, 59
able collection of letters, manuscripts, and
sketches of many celebrated people of the
past fifty years. Mrs. Hall presented me
with the Bible of Tom Moore, in which
the poet entered the names and birth- and
death-dates of his children. I have also an
original score signed b}- Tom Moore, and
the poet's famous Irish harp.
I have perhaps the only complete manu-
script of any of Thackeray's works in ex-
istence. It is his " Lectures on the Four
Georges," and is entirely in his own hand-
writing. The volume is illustrated by nu-
merous original drawings by Thackeray,
some of which are colored by himself. I
have also the original manuscript of Walter
Scott's " Chronicles of the Canongate,"
which he presented from his Abbotsford
library to his publishers, with a kind and
appreciative note.
Among many other original manuscripts
in my possession are " The ITeed of Two
Loves," by ^. P. Willis ; James Fenimore
there, I am very sure ! Yet I am in fair health, my
friends do not neglect me, and I am well taken care of
by an excellent nurse-attendant."
A postscript reads : "I write this letter in the eighty-
ninth year of my age. And if I say farewell, you will
not be astounded."
60 Recollections.
Cooper's " Life of Captain Richard Som-
ers ;" Mary Howitt's translation of Frederika
Bremer's "Hertha;" Bulwer's "Pilgrims
of the Ehine" and " Godolphin ;" Gray's
" Habitations of our Kings ;" Harriet Mar-
tineau's " Retrospect of Western Travel ;"
the Dickens manuscripts to which I have
previously alluded ; and " The Italian Bride,"
an original tragedy by John Howard Payne,
author of "Home, Sweet Home." This
tragedy by Payne is in four acts, and
was written for Charlotte Cushman ; but it
was never produced, and it has never been
printed. Payne left two manuscript copies
of his play. One was given to his friend
Mr. James Rees, a well-known literary
man of Philadelphia, from whom it passed
directly to me. It consists of ninety-six
pages entirely in the handwriting of Payne
himself, with only a few pencil-marks and
some stage-directions on the alternate blank
pages.
The manuscript of " The Cow-Chase"
must not be overlooked. This satirical
poem, written by Major Andre, was founded
upon an unsuccessful attempt of a party
under General Anthony Wayne to capture
a block-house upon the Hudson, a short
distance from New York City, on the 21st
Library Treasures, 61
of July, 1780. It is said to have beeu the
last literary effort of the ill-fated young
Englishman, and, singularly enough, the
last canto was published in New York, in
Rivington's Royal Gazette, on the same day
upon which he was arrested. The poem
was afterwards printed, with full notes, for
private circulation, and this with the original
manuscript was the property of the Rev.
"Wm. B. Sprague, of Albany, ITew York,
an extensive collector of autographs, who
prized it as probably the most valuable
article in his collection. The manuscript
has been admirably illustrated by my friend
Mr. Ferdinand J. Dreer, of Philadelphia,
with portraits of the generals of the Revo-
lution, both Continental and English, well-
known and historical landscapes, charac-
ters, and buildings. The closing stanza of
Andre's epic, which is complete in three
cantos, runs as follows :
And now I've closed my epic strain,
I tremble as I show it,
Lest this same warrior-drover Wayne
Should ever catch the poet.
Soon afterwards Andre was caught, and
some unkind hand thus continues the poem :
6
62 llccoUedions*.
And when the epic strain was sung,
The poet by the neck was hung,
And to his cost he finds too late
The "dung-born tribe" decides his fate.
It would not be interesting merely to cat-
alogue my collection, which includes poems,
letters, and manuscripts of Burns, Swift,
Longfellow, Bryant, Holmes, Tennyson,
Pepys, Pope, Thomson, Shelley, Keats,
William Penn, Voltaire, Goethe, Irving,
Lamb, Gibbon, Hume, Lord Clarendon, and
others. Coleridge is represented by a long
letter, in which he states that he would be
glad to go to London if he could be assured
of a guinea a week. Here is a noteworthy
manuscript of Schiller, — his dramatic poem
entitled " Demetrius." It occupies two folio
pages, and was secured for me through the
kindness of Longfellow. There is also the
original manuscript draught of Tennyson's
dedicatory poem to the Queen, which is
prefixed to the last collected edition of his
poems.
I will do no more than enumerate a letter
of Lord I^elson, written four days before his
death; a number of presentation-volumes
from the brothers Chambers, Robert, Wil-
liam, and David ; many curiously illustrated,
inlaid, and arranged works, especially Tick-
Library Treasurer. 63
nor's Life of Prescott, two volumes quarto,
with several hundred illustrations; Life of
Everett, quarto; Rogers's Italy and Poems,
inlaid with three hundred en£:ravino:s, all
first impressions ; a work on the empire of
Brazil, presented hy Dom Pedro in 1876,
and containing his autograph ; a copy of
Chambers's " English Literature," which has
autograph letters, about seven hundred extra
plates, and numerous newspaper cuttings
and references, the work being extended to
eight volumes; many books upon the l^orth
American Indians; quite a large collection
of Americana; Lamb's Works, with auto-
graph letters of Lamb ; Talfourd's Life of
Lamb, with a manuscript poem by Talfourd,
and a letter written to myself; Shakespeare's
Works in many editions ; a Collection of
the Illustrations of H. K. Browne, better
known as " Phiz," which contains all the
sketches, several hundred in number, that
can be obtained, and is enriched by memo-
randa and notes in the artist's ow-n hand;
and three large volumes of photographs,
many bearing also the autographs, of inter-
esting and well-known people I have met at
home and abroad.
One of the most unique works in my
library is "A Collection of Autographs,
64 Recollections.
made by a Scrivener." Mr. W. G. Latham,
a lawyer of New Orleans, compiled the
book. As a notary public he had access to
many original documents, and he presently
began to make accurate copies of the notable
signatures which came under his notice. He
thus employed the leisure hours of twenty-
five years, and made at least one trip to
Europe to complete his remarkable collec-
tion. If lost it could never be replaced.
There are about four thousand names in
the book, and they embrace distinguished
Americans of all professions from the be-
ginning of our history ; British authors from
before Shakespeare until within a few years ;
men of renown in authorship, medicine,
theology, natural history, botany, music, the
drama, and the fine arts; a complete list of
the signers of the Declaration of Indepen-
dence ; Washington and his generals ; Na-
poleon and leading men of his time and
nation; and the royalty, nobility, and mili-
tary and naval celebrities of Europe for
the past three centuries. Appended to al-
most every signature is a brief biographical
sketch.
I have reserved for final mention a vol-
ume in my library that no doubt exceeds all
others in historical interest. It is a large
Library Treasures. 65
folio containing portraits and autograph let-
ters of every President of the United States
from Washino-ton to Harrison. Eis^ht of the
letters are personal ones from the various
Presidents to myself.
The first letter is one of the most inter-
esting. It was written by Washington to
Colonel Clement Biddle, of Philadelphia,
under date of Mount Vernon, December 8,
1799, — that is to say, only six days before
Washington's death. It was the last letter
he wrote. There is not the slightest in-
dication of approaching dissolution in the
firm handwriting; the letters are carefully
formed, the words carefully chosen ; and,
though he spells cabin with two b's, his
shrewdness in business dealing is illustrated
in the stately announcement to Colonel Bid-
die that he has it in mind to send him ^' a
hundred or two barrels of flour to dispose
of for me in the Philadelphia market, as it
commands a better price there than in Alex-
andria, and some barrels of fish also, — on
commission." He also instructs his corre-
spondent about the purchase of various kinds
of seeds.
John Adams's letter is addressed to Com-
modore Bainbridge; he declines an invita-
tion to visit the latter, on the ground that " an
e 6*
66 Recollections.
octogenariiin gentleman and a septnagena-
riau lady (his wife) cannot be too cautious
of engaging in bold, daring, and hazardous
enterprises without an object of public good."
The letters are all of a private and entertain-
ins: character : Piercers letter is the touchinof
one to James T. Fields to which I have
already referred in connection with the death
of Hawthorne; the Lincoln letter is the
famous one of April 9, 1862, containing in-
structions to General McClellan and con-
cluding with the underscored words, ^' But
you must act ;'^ and General Grant is repre-
sented by the noted letter he wrote me, June
6, 1877, from London. This is the letter,
fourteen pages in length, which I telegraphed
to the London Times.
Autograph letters of Andrew Johnson are
very hard to obtain, — harder than the letters
of any other President. Letters written by
his secretary and merely signed by himself
are common enough. I have been enabled,
however, to secure quite a store of Johnson's
original manuscripts, including the account-
books he kept while a tailor. They are full
of droll expressions. The letter I have
selected to represent him in the volume of
the Presidents is an interestins^ communica-
tion to his friend Major (afterwards General)
Library Treasures. 67
Sam Milligan. It is ill written, and notable
for its odd misspelling and its frank political
gossip. It breathes a feverish anxiety for
the action of the Southern leaders, and hopes
"there is still intellis^ence enono^h and virtue
in the country sufficient to save it." " As
you say," he writes, " they" (meaning the
"treasonable men") " have given me 'thun-
der' in some places."
Perhaps his nearest friend was the Hon.
Samuel J. Eandall, who fairly lived at the
White House during Johnson's stormy
administration. Yet, as illustrating the
scarcity of Johnson's autograph letters,
even Mr. Randall has none in his possession.
I have three addressed to Major Milligan
which are full of entertainino* chat about
politics.
But haven't I talked enough about my
friends ? For these books and manuscripts
are as much my friends as human beings.
And I had almost forgotten the clocks. I
have a collection of nearly fift}' in various
places, and it has been said that a whole
history of clock- and watchmaking might
be written from a studv of them. The most
important clock in my possession is the one
constructed by David Rittenhouse, the great
astronomer, for a rich citizen of colonial
68 Recollections.
Philadelpliia. It now stands in my office.
Barton, in Lis Life of Rittenbouse, gives its
interesting pedigree. Tliere is attached to
it the mechanism of a musical clock, besides
an accurate little planetarium, placed on its
face above the dial-plate. It was made for
Mr. Joseph Potts, who paid six bundred and
forty dollars for it; in the spring of 1774 it
was purchased by Mr. Thomas Prior, who
refused General Sir William Howe's ofter
of one hundred and twenty guineas for it,
shortly before the evacuation of Philadelphia
in 1778, and another offer of the Spanish
Minister of eight hundred dollars, made wdth
a view of presenting it to his sovereign.
After Mr. Prior's death, in 1801, it became
the property of Professor Barton, the biog-
rapher of Bittenhouse, and from him passed
into the possession of the late James Swain,
at the sale of whose effects I bought it in
October, 1879.
But the mention of that office of mine,
about which so much has been written, must
not tempt me into further talking. What-
ever it may be to others, it is hallowed for
me by a thousand associations. Look any
way I will, a familiar face confronts me : on
this side Bishop Simpson, on that Dean
Stanley and Dickens; over there my old
Library Treasures, 60
friends Eobert C. Winthrop and General
Grant; faces of men and women, — of Mis-
son and Modjeska; of Mme. Bernhardt, —
a portrait painted by herself.
This is a fitting place to stop. Just one
parting reflection. If asked what, as the
result of my experience, is the greatest
pleasure in life, I should say, doing good to
others. ITot a strikingly original remark,
perhaps; but seemingly the most difficult
thing in the world is to be prosperous and
generous at the same time. During the war
I asked a very rich man to contribute some
money to a certain relief fund. He shook his
head. " Childs," he said, " I can't give you
anj'thing. I have worked too hard for my
money." That is just it. Being generous
grows on one just as being mean does. The
disposition to give and to be kind to others
should be inculcated and fostered in children.
It seems to me that is the way to improve
the world and make happy the people who
are in it.
CHAPTER lY.
GENERAL GRANT.
Personal Characteristics — The Electoral Commission—
His Simplicity — Domestic Life.
General Grant was one of the truest and
most cono^enial friends I ever had. We first
met in 1863, after the victory of Yicksburg.
The general and Mrs. Grant had come to
Philadelphia to make arrangements to put
their children at school in Burlington, ]^ew
Jersey. Prom that time until his death our
intimacy grew. In his life three qualities
were conspicuously revealed, — justice, kind-
ness, and firmness.
Seeing GeneralGrant frequently for more
than twenty years, I had abundant oppor-
tunity to notice these qualities. We lived
at Long Branch on adjoining properties, on
the same land, without any division, and
I may say there never was a day when we
were tosrether there on which either I was
not in his house or he in mine. He would
70
General Grant. 71
often come over and breakfast or dine with
me. I never saw him in the field, thousrh I
corresponded with him during the war, and
whenever an opportunity presented itself he
would come to Philadelphia for the purpose
of seeing his family at Burlington, and w^ould
often stay with me, and in that way he made
a great many friends. That was as early
as 1863. He always seemed to enjoy his
visits here, as they gave him rest during the
time he was in the army. These visits to
Philadelphia were continued after he became
President, and he always found recreation
and pleasure in them.
Much has been published about General
Grant, but there are many things I have not
seen stated, and one is that he had consid-
erable artistic taste and talent. lie painted
very well. One of his paintings, twelve by
eighteen inches, he gave to his friend the
late Hon. A. E. Borie, of Philadelphia, wdio
was the Secretary of the is'avy in his first
Cabinet. That picture is, I believe, one of
the two that he is known to have painted.
On the death of Mr. Borie it was presented
by his family to Mrs. Grant, and the engrav-
ing of it was made from the original sent
to me for the purpose by Colonel Fred. D.
Grant. Of the other painting there is no
72 Recollections.
trace. Geneml Grant stood very higli with
his professor of drawing at West Point, and
if he had persevered in that line might, it
has always seemed to me, have made a good
artist. He was througliout his cadetship apt
in mathematics and drawing. Tlie picture
alluded to is that of an Indian chief, at a
trading-post in the N^orthw^est, exchanging
skins and furs with a group of traders and
trappers. The Indian stands in the foregound
and is the central object, — a noble figure,
well painted, and in full and characteristic
costume. I have often seen the painting,
which has been very much admired. The
general took a good deal of pride in it
himself.
General Grant was not an ardent student.
Early in life he was somewhat of a novel-
reader, but latterly he read history, biog-
raphy, and travels. He w^as a careful reader,
and remembered everything he read. He
was a great reader of newspapers. I recall
an incident which happened while we were
at Long Branch, just after General Sher-
man's Memoirs had been published. Re-
ferring to the work, I asked him if he had
read it. He said he had not had time to do
so. One of the persons present observed,
" Why, general, you won't find much in it
General Grant 73
about yourself. Sherman doesn't seem to
think you were in the war." The general
said, " I don't know ; I have seen some ad-
verse criticisms, but I am going to read it
and judge the book for myself."
After he had perused the work carefully
and attentively, I asked him what he thought
of it. ''Well," he said, "it has done me
full justice. It has given me more credit
than I deserve. Any criticism I might make
would be that I think Sherman has not done
justice to Logan, Blair, and other volunteer
generals, whom he calls political generals.
These men did their duty faithfully, and
I never believe in imputing motives to
people."
General Sherman had sent to me the
proof-sheets of that portion of the Memoirs
relating to General Grant before the book
was published, and asked if I had any sug-
gestions to make, and if I thought he had
been just to the general. I informed Gen-
eral Grant that I had read these proof-sheets,
and that I thought, as he did, that General
Sherman had done him full justice. General
Grant had the highest opinion of General
Sherman as a military man, and always en-
tertained a great personal regard for him.
lie was always magnanimous, particularly
D 7
74 Recollebdons.
to his army associates. He was a man who
rarely used the pronoun I in conversation
when speaking of his battles.
There is an amusing little incident I re-
call, a propos of a large painting of General
Sherman on his " March to the Sea," which
hangs in the hall of my Long Branch house,
and which was pain ted by Kauffmann . Sher-
man sits in front of the tent, in a w^hite
shirt, without coat or vest. The picture
shows a camp-fire in front, and the moon-
lio-ht in the rear of the tents. The criticism
of General Grant when he first saw it was,
*' That is all very fine ; it looks like Sher-
man ; but he never wore a boiled shirt there,
I am sure."
While livins: at Lons^ Branch few Confed-
erate ofiicers who visited the place failed to
call upon General Grant. He was always
glad to see them, and he invariably talked
over with them the incidents and results of
the war. The general held in high estima-
tion General Joseph E. Johnston, and always
spoke of him as one of the very best of the
Southern generals. At one of my dinners
I had the pleasure of getting Johnston,
Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan together.
With reo^ard to election matters General
Grant was a close observer, and had a won-
General Grant lb
derful judgment respecting results. One
particular case may be cited. During the
canvass of his second term (towards the
latter part of it) there began to be doubts
throuo^hout the country of his election.
Senator Wilson, who was then running on
the ticket for Vice-President, and who was
a man of the people and had had a good
deal of experience in election matters for
forty years, made an extensive tour through
the country, and came to my house, just
afterwards, very despondent. He went over
the ground and said that the result was in
a great deal of doubt. I hastened to see
General Grant, and told him of this feeling,
particularly as it impressed Senator Wilson.
The general said nothing, but sent for a
map of the United States. He laid the map
on the table, went over it with a pencil, and
said, " We will carry this State, that State,
and that State," until he nearlj^ covered the
whole United States. It occurred to me he
might as well put them all in, and I ventured
the remonstrance, "I think it would not be
policy to talk that way; the election now is
pretty near at hand.'' When the election
came, the result was that Grant carried every
State that he had said he would, — a predic-
tion made in the face of the feeling through-
76 Recollections.
out the country that the Republican cause
was growing weaker, and in spite of the fact
that the candidate for Vice-President on the
ticket with Grant, who was deeply interested
in the election, had visited various parts of
the country, South and West, and had come
back apprehensive and dispirited.
This mention of Henry Wilson reminds
me that when Lord Houghton (Richard
Monckton Milnes) was my guest in Philadel-
phia, he asked me to show^ him a " typical
American." I told him that Vice-President
Wilson was the man he was seeking, — that
he illustrated most admirably, in his astonish-
in 2^ career from a shoemaker's bench to the
presiding chair of the Senate, the possibili-
ties of American citizenship. I sent for Mr.
Wilson, and the two men spent some days
together at my house. Shortly after, Wilson
was stricken down with illness, and died in
the room of the Vice-President in the Capitol
building at Washington.
General Grant was staying with me in
Philadelphia at the time of the Tilden and
Hayes campaign, and on the morning of the
momentous day after the election, when the
returns gave Tilden a majority of all the
electors, he accompanied me to my office.
After a few moments an eminent Republican
General Grant, 77
Senator and one or two other leading Repub-
licans walked in, and they went over the
returns. One of these leaders, notwithstand-
ing the returns, said, -^ Hayes is elected,"
an opinion in which the others coincided.
General Grant listened to them, but said
nothing. After they had settled the matter
in their own minds, he said, '' Gentlemen, it
looks to me as if Mr. Tilden is elected."
When the contention on this point took
such bitter and angry form and excited so
much hot blood, the more conservative and
the wiser men in Congress, like Eandall,
Garfield, Abram S. Hewitt, and Kasson in
the House, and Edmunds, Bayard, and
Conkling in the Senate, seeing the necessity
of adopting some quieting and reassuring
measures, began to consider what ultimately
took form in the Electoral Commission.
About this time General Grant asked me
to make him a visit. He had patriotically
espoused the proposal for an amicable adjust-
ment of the threatening dispute in any prac-
tical form, and warmly favored the idea of
an Electoral Commission. When I got to
the White House he said, " This matter is
very complicated, and the people will not be
satisfied unless something is done in regard
to it which will appeal to their sense of
7*
78 Recollections,
justice. Now," he continued, "I have
thought of an Electoral Commission, but
the leaders of the party are opposed to it,
Avhich I am sorry to see. They say that if
an Electoral Commission is appointed we
mis^ht as well count in Mr. Tilden. I would
rather have Mr. Tilden than that the Repub-
licans should have a President who could be
stigmatized as a fraud. If I w^ere Mr. Hayes,
I would not have the ofl3.ce unless my claim
to it were settled in some w^ay outside the
Senate. This-matter is opposed by the lead-
ing Republicans in the House and Senate
and throughout the country."
President Grant invited several leading
Republican Senators to dine with him to
meet me and to get their views. He said to
me, " You see the feeling here. I find them
almost universally opposed to anything like
an Electoral Commission." I named a lead-
ing Democrat in the House (Hon. Samuel J.
Randall), who was one of the most promi-
nent men in the country, a man of large
influence and of great integrity of character,
and whom it would be v/ell to see. I sent
for Mr. Randall to come to the White House
to see me, and put the dilemma to him, as
follows: "It is very hard for the President
and very embarrassing to men on his own
General Grant. 79
side that this matter does not seem to find
favor with them, besides hav-ing Democratic
opposition. Republicans think they might
as well count Tilden in as to agree to an
Electoral Commission ; but as the feeling
tbrouo'hout the country demands as honest
a count of the vote as possible, this Electoral
Commission ought to be appointed." There
was every prospect that the great majority
of the Democrats would ultimately support
the measure, though chafing and angry
under what they appeared to regard as a
great wrong to them and to the country.
Mr. Randall was Speaker of the House at
the time. His language in reply made it
manifest that he felt it his duty to exert in
all proper ways his powerful infiuence for
a peaceful adjustment. He was careful in
speech, for he evidently realized if an Elec-
toral Commission was created by law that
he, as presiding officer of the House of
Representatives, would have to see, in part
at least, that such law was faithfully carried
out, — a task which he executed with firmness
amid an excited assembly.
General Grant, however, did send for Sen-
ator Conkling, and said, with deep earnest-
ness, " This matter is a serious one, and the
people feel it very deeply. I think this Elec-
80 Recollections.
toral Commission ought to be appointed."
Conkling answered, " Mr. President, Sen-
ator Morton" (who was then the acknowl-
edged leader of the Senate) " is opposed to
it and opposed to your efforts ; but if you
wish the Commission carried, I can help
to do it." Grant said, " I wish it done."
Thereupon Mr. Conkling took hold of the
measure and contributed his powerful aid
in putting it through the Senate.
Few persons not in public life understood
fully at the time how near the country was to
another civil war, and of course had no ade-
quate appreciation of the vital service done
by the statesmen named above, and by those
of both parties who patriotically stood up in
their support. But the peril was imminent,
and the people of the country owe to all of
them a great debt of gratitude, — and espe-
cially to Messrs. Randall, Edmunds, Conk-
ling, and General Grant.
General Patterson, of Philadelphia, who
had been an intimate friend of President
Jackson, and a life-long Democrat, was
also sent for at that time by President
Grant. General Patterson had large es-
tates in the South, and a great deal of in-
fluence with the Democrats, and particularly
with Southern Democrats. He was then up-
General Grant. 81
wards of eighty, but he went to Washington
and remained one or two weeks with Presi-
dent Grant, working hard to accomplish the
purpose in view. After the bill had passed
and while it was awaiting his signature.
General Grant went to a State Fair in
Maryland upon the day it should have
been signed, and there was much perturba-
tion about it. I was telegraphed by those in-
terested that General Grant was absent, and
that they were anxious about the signing. I
replied that they might consider the bill as
good as signed. The President returned to
Washington that night and put his name to
the document.
Just before General Grant started on his
journey around the world he was spending
some days with me, and at a dinner with Mr.
A. J. Drexel, Colonel A. K. McClure, and my-
self, he reviewed the contest over the creation
of the Electoral Commission very fully and
with rare candor. The chief significance of
his view lay in the fact, as he stated it, that he
expected from the beginning until the final
judgment that the electoral vote of Louisiana
would be awarded to Tilden. He spoke
of South Carolina and Oregon as justly be-
longing to Hayes, of Florida as reasonably
doubtful, and of Louisiana as for Tilden.
/
82 Recollections.
General Grant acted in ijood faith through-
out the whole affair. It has been said that
the changing of the complexion of the court
threw the office into Ha^-es's hands, and that
if the court had remained as it was, Tilden
would have been declared President. Gen-
eral Grant was the soul of honor in this
matter, and no one ever hinted that he was
unfair or untruthful in any way. I, for one,
do not believe that he could possibly tell a
lie or act deceitfully.
There is another point in politics not gen-
erally known. General Garfield, during his
canvass, became very much demoralized.
He was fearful that the Republicans would
not carry Indiana, and was doubtful whether
they would carry Ohio. In that emergency
urgent appeals were made to General Grant,
and he at once threw himself into the breach.
He saw his strong personal friends and told
them they must help. There was one very
influential man, Senator Conkling, whom
General Grant sent for and informed that
he must turn in and assist. He at first de-
clined, being hard pressed with professional
engagements, but at General Grant's urgent
solicitation finally entered the field and con-
tributed handsomely to the victory. In order
to do so he was compelled to return to clients
General Grant. 83
seventeen thousand five hundred dollars,
which bad been paid him as retaining fees
in cases to be tried in October durins^ his
absence. General Grant went into the can-
vass with might and main. The tide was
turned, and it was through General Grant's
individual efforts, seconded by those of his
strong personal friends, who did not feel any
particular interest in the election, that Gar-
field was successful.
General Grant never by word or by letter
suggested to any one that he would like to
he nominated for a third terra. Neither Mr.
Conkling nor General Logan nor Senator
Cameron had anv assurance from him in
any way that he wished the nomination,
and they proceeded in their contest for it
without any authority from him whatever.
His heart was not on a third term at all.
He had had enough of politics. After his
second term he told me, " I feel like a boy
out of school." At first General Grant in-
tended to decline. In conversation with me
he said, " It is very difficult to decline a thing
which has never been oftered;" and before
he left this country for the "West Indies, I
said, " General, you leave this matter in the
hands of your friends." He knew I was op-
posed to a third term. His political friends,
84 Recolledions.
however, were in favor of it, not merely as
friends, but because they thought he was the
only man who could be elected by the Re-
publicans. There is not a line of his in ex-
istence in which he expresses any desire to
have that nomination. Towards the last,
when the canvass became very hot, I sup-
pose his natural feeling was that he would
like to win. But he never laid any plans.
He never encouraged or abetted anything
lookino: towards a third-term movement.
General Grant was very magnanimous to
those who diifered with him, and when I
asked him what distressed him most in his
political life he said, " To be deceived by
those I trusted." He had a great many
distresses.
Of his quick perception in financial mat-
ters I remember a striking instance. On
one of the great financial questions — the
Inflation Bill, pending before Congress — he
was consulting with Mr. A. J. Drexel, of
Philadelphia, whom he regarded as one of
his strongest personal friends. In Septem-
ber, 1873, the general had gone to New
York, and had listened for a day to appeals
from inflationists to expand the currency by
issuing the forty-four millions of greenbacks
then in the Treasury. He patiently heard
General Grant, 85
their arguments, but refused their request.
Still, he was so strongly impressed with cer-
tain views held by many of the ablest men
in the country who had opinions on the sub-
ject different from his own, that he stated
them to Mr. Drexel. Mr. Drexel combated
these opinions, and as the result of that dis-
cussion the general adopted his views ; and
when the measure to which I allude was
laid before him, he returned it to Cono-ress
with his disapproval. Here was a subject
he had considered, as he thought, fully, but
when new light was given to him by Mr.
Drexel, whom he knew to be a well-in-
formed, conservative, unselfish, and relial)le
man, and an experienced and able financier,
and who possessed the public confidence, he
changed his opinions, and wrote the veto
message of April 22, 1874. Congratulations
immediately poured in upon him from all
parts of the country, and even the strongest
advocates of the bill acknowledged that the
President's final judgment was right, and
that in this matter especially he was im-
measurably superior in statesmanship to the
Congressional majority.
A great man}^ people had an idea that
General Grant was very much set in his
opinions; but, while he had decided opin-
8
86 RecoUeciions.
ions, at the stinie time he was always open
to conviction. Very often in talking with
liini lie would make no observation, and
when one had i^cot throui>:h it would be diffi-
cult to tell exactly whether he had grasped
the subject or not, but in a very short time,
if the matter was alluded to again, it would
be found that he had comprehended it
thoroughly. His power of observation and
mental assimilation was remarkable.
Of his simplicity and unpretentiousness I
will give. an illustration. During one of his
drives with me through Fairmount Park,
Philadelphia, I called his attention to the
little log cabin which we were passing on
one of the main avenues, and which was his
headquarters during the war. With a merry
twinkle of his eye he said, " I can tell you
a little story connected with that cabin. For
a long time my officers were urging me to
let them put up a building for my headquar-
ters. My headquarters had previously been
on the field and in the saddle, and I had
never thought of any other. I begun to
suspect that their solicitude for my comfort
was not altogether disinterested, and told
them they might put up a small affair. Al-
most instantly, as if by magic, headquarters
grew up in every direction. So it turned
General Grant. 87
out that they were partly thinking of their
own comfort." There was no " nonsense"
ahout him. He was always neat in dress,
but not fastidious. He said he got cured of
his pride in regimentals when he came home
from West Point.
There was a slight tinge of superstition
in his composition. I remember hearing
him say that he never would turn back if he
could possibly avoid it, and he illustrated
the remark by telling me of an incident that
occurred when he was a boy living in the
country. He had started on horseback to
go to the mill, and while musing he had
passed the road that led to it; instead of re-
tracing his steps, he drove a long distance
around, so that he could reach the mill with-
out going back. Was not this trait one of
the secrets of his success in the war ? When
I spoke to my old friend, Paul Du Chaillu,
in regard to this peculiarity of General
Grant, he replied that it was an old super-
stition, and that he could trace it to the
Vikings of the ninth and tenth centuries,
many of their great warriors believing in it.
General Grant, surrounded by those he
knew well, always did two-thirds of the talk-
ing. He was a reticent and diffident man in
general company, and it was not until ho
88 Recollections.
was out of the Presidency that he became a
public speaker. He told a story that he was
once notified that he was expected to make a
speech in reply to a sentiment given him, and
he looked it over and wrote his answer care-
fully, but when he got up he was stricken
dumb. He utterly lost himself, and could not
say a w^ord. After that he did not want to
hear what was going to be said, and never
prepared anything. Hon. Levi P. Morton
told me that, in going to Liverpool and Man-
chester with General Grant, a committee
came down to meet the general and brought
a report of what they intended to say, for his
inspection. He said, " ^N'o, I have had one
experience in that line. I don't want to see
it." The Hon. Robert C. Winthrop writes
to me, " What you say of his early reticence
reminds me that I had to make two speeches
for him in the early days of the Peabody
Education Trust. One of them was in the
tobacco-factory at Baltimore, and the other
on my door-steps here at Brookline, when
our village band came up to serenade him.
He would not go to the door unless I would
promise to acknowledge the compliment for
him."
The last speech he ever made was at Ocean
Grove. Governor Oglesby, of Illinois, was
General Grant. 89
staying with him at his cottage at Long
Branch. George H. Stuart, who was one
of his earliest and clearest friends, came up
to ask him if he would go down to Ocean
Grove. Prior to this invitation he had not
appeared in public since his misfortunes. He
was then lame, from a fall on the ice as he
was leavinof his carrias^e at his residence in
Xew York on Christmas-eve, and was com-
pelled to use crutches until his death. Upon
reachino;: Ocean Grove he found ten thou-
sand people assembled. They rose en masse
and cheered with a vigor and unanimity very
uncommon in a relio:ious assemblao:e. This
touched him profoundly, for it was evidence
that the popular heart was still with him.
He arose to make acknowledgment, but after
saying a few words he utterly broke down,
and the tears trickled down his cheeks.
That was the last time he ever appeared in
public.
Speaking of Ocean Grove, General Grant
always evinced great interest in its progress
and success, and often took part in the re-
lio^ious exercises there. While at Lone:
Branch he and his family attended the Meth-
odist church in the village, and since his
death a large memorial window of stained
glass has been placed in the chancel. He
8*
90- Recollections.
sometimes went to the Episcopal chapel at
Elberon, in which a brass memorial tablet
has been placed. It bears the following
inscription, prepared, at my request, by the
Hon. Eobert C. Winthrop :
IN MEMOKY OF
The Virtues and Valor
of
ULYSSES S. GRANT,
General of the Union Army,
and
President of the United States.
Born 27th April, 1822.
Died 23d July, 1885.
A few of his friends erect this tablet, as a token of
their affection, while the whole country does homage
to his career and character.
I remember that in 1884 I was notified
that a number of scientists would meet in
Montreal from all parts of the world to at-
tend a convention. Sir William Thomson,
Lord Rayleigh, and others, who were to be
my guests, asked whether I would present
them to General Grant. Some of them had
met him. Of course I was vQvy glad to
introduce them. I said to him in the morn-
ing, " General, the scientists from Canada
are coming down here, and they are very
anxious to pay their respects to you. " *' Oh,"
General Grant 91
he replied, " I have met some of these people
abroad : I will be very glad to see them."
They came to my house, and we walked
across the lawn to the general's. He sat on
the piazza, not being able to stand alone
without the use of crutches, and was pre-
sented to every one of them, shaking hands
with each. He would say to one gentleman,
"• How are you, professor ? I met you in
Liverpool ;" and to another, " Why, how
are you? I met you in London;" and, "I
am glad to see you ; I met you in Manches-
ter." So he recognized each of these visitors
as soon as he laid eyes on him. Many of
them said to me afterwards, in speaking of
the incident, " Why, I only met him casually
with a party of people."
This power of recognition was remarkable.
I subsequently asked him whether he had
lost the power; he answered, " ^o, I have
not lost the power. If I fix my mind on a
person, I never forget him; but I see so many
that I don't always do it." I can give a re-
markable instance of his memory of persons.
During one of the times that he was staying
with me in Philadelphia we were walking
down Chestnut Street together, and just as
we arrived in front of a large jeweller's
establishment a lady came out of the store
92 , Recollections.
and was about to enter her carriage. General
Grant walked up to her, shook hands with
her, and put her in the carriage. " General,
did you know that lady?" "Oh, yes," he
replied; "I know her." "Where did you
see her ?" " Well, I saw her a good many
years ago out in Ohio at a hoarding-school.
She was one of the girls there." " Did you
never see her before or since?" He said,
*'E'o." The lady was the daughter of a
very prominent Ohio man, Judge Jewett,
and the next time we met she said, " I sup-
pose you told General Grant who I was." I
replied, "I did not." "Why, that is very
remarkable," she answered, in a tone of sur-
prise; "I was one of two or three hundred
girls, and only saw him at school. I have
never seen him since."
I remember an amusing incident which
occurred v»^hen the English banker Mr.
Hope, with his wife and three children, w^as
visiting me at Long Branch. The children
wanted to see the general, so one day they
were taken over and presented to him.
When they came back and were asked
whether they had seen him, one of them
replied, in a rather disappointed tone, " Yes ;
but he had no crown."
During one of his visits at Wootton, my
General Grant. 93
country-seat, lie planted, on October 16,
1882, an oak, and always held it in remem-
brance. Just before his death he asked me
if the tree was flourishing. One day when
we were at Wootton together he remarked
what a beautiful place it was, adding that it
seemed a pity to him that its beauty should
be spoiled by bad roads. Acting on this
hint, the roads round about the neighbor-
hood were Telforded.
CHAPTER Y.
GENERAL GRANT. — (CONTINUED.)
Fondness for Horses — The "Personal Memoirs" — The
Indian Commission — Generals Halleck and Fitz-John
Porter — Grant's Fatal Disease.
General Grant was very fond of horses,
and was a thorouo^h horseman. While a
cadet at West Point he was always called
upon whenever a horse was unmanageable,
and he never failed to subdue the most
vicious or fractious animal. In earlv life
he rode a great deal, but after he left the
army he generally drove a pair of spirited
horses ; sometimes, when he had a favorite
fast horse, he drove singly. With all his
liking for horses, he could never be induced
to attend a race, or to bet on a horse. At
aojricultural fairs of course he witnessed and
enjoyed seeing horses trotting or running.
The last horse General Grant owned and
drove was the mare " Silver," now twenty
years old and in good condition. I have her
at Wootton, with her two colts, Julia and
94
General Grant. 95
Ida, sired by " Kentucky Prince," the horse
for which lifty thousand dollars were ofi'ered.
On his sick-bed the general longed to see
them.
As to General Grant's power of thinking
and of expressing his thoughts, he wrote
with great facility and clearness. His Cen-
tennial Address, at the opening of the Ex-
hibition in 1876, was prepared at my house,
and there were only two or three corrections
in the whole manuscript. Soon after his
arrival in Encrland he wrote me a letter of
fourteen pages, giving an account of his
reception in that country. The same post
that brought the letter contained another
from Mr. John Walter, proprietor of the
London Times, saying that he had seen our
mutual friend General Grant on several oc-
casions, and wondered how he was pleased
with his reception in England. The letter
which I had received was so a projpos that I
telegraphed it over that very day to the
London Times, — fourteen pages of manu-
script,— without one word of alteration, and
that journal next morning published this
letter with an editorial on it. It happened
that the cablegram arrived in London the
very night the general was going through
the London Times office to view the establish-
96 Recollections.
meat. In the letter he said he thought the
English people admirable, and he was deeply
sensible of the unexpected attention and
kindness shown him. The letter contained
these lines, " It has always been my desire
to see all jealousy between England and the
United States abated, and all sores healed
up. Together they are more powerful for
the spread of commerce and civilization
than all others combined, and can do more
to remove the cause of wars by creating
mutual interests that would be so much dis-
turbed by war, than all other nations." The
letter was written privately to me, he not
supposing that it would ever be put in print,
and not one word, as I have said, had to be
altered. I cite this to show General Grant's
facility in writing.
The necessity of earning some money in-
duced him to write the series of admirable
articles for the Century Magazine. Upon
their appearance I urged him, as did other
friends of his, to expand them into a sym-
metrical and continuous narrative. Thus,
had it not been for his financial reverses,
it is doubtful whether American litera-
ture would have been enriched with his
" Personal Memoirs," a book of surpassing
interest, which has enjoj-ed the largest cir-
General Grant. 97
culation and 3'ielcled the largest copyright
(over four hundred and fifteen thousand
dollars) of any work issued in modern times.
Just hefore his death the general requested
Mrs. Grant to send me his " Memoirs," and
as soon as the work was published Colonel
Grant sent me a handsomely bound copy
with a very kind note.
The man wlio was perhaps nearer to him
than any other in his Cabinet was Hon.
Hamilton Fish. Grant had the greatest re-
gard, for his judgment. It was more than
friendship — it was genuine afiection which
existed between them, and General Grant
always appreciated Mr. Fish's remaining in
his Cabinet, because Mr. Fish, had he been
governed by his personal interests, would
not have done so. I know that it Avas
General Grant's desire to have him his
successor in the Presidency. Mrs. Fish's
influence and example were very great in
Washington, and she left an impress on
society there which is felt to this day. She
was a typical American woman. A strong
friendship existed between Mrs. Grant and
Mrs. Fish, and their united kind acts, and
many good deeds, will be long remembered
in Washino^ton.
"When, in 1865, after the surrender of
E <7 9
98 liecollectlons.
General Lee at Appomattox, General Grant
went to Washington to superintend the dis-
bandment of the army, he found the national
capital, as it always had been, a city of mag-
nificent distances. Its long, broad avenues
and streets seemed by their rough condition
to increase and render more conspicuous
these distances. The tramp of cavalry, the
almost continuous movement of trains of
heavy artillery and ammunition- and bag-
gage-wagons had, assisted by the recurring
winters' alternate freezings and thawings,
reduced them to a condition little better
than that of the rough, rude trails left by
the Arm}' of the Potomac on its march
upon the Confederate capital.
They were still in this neglected state in
1868 when General Grant was elected Presi-
dent, and when, in the following year, he
was inaugurated, he manifested the strongest
public interest in designs for their improve-
ment, and spoke to me very strongly on the
subject. Indeed, it may justly be said, that
the concern he evinced reccardino^ the noble
avenues and spacious streets of Washington
was the inspiring cause which eventually led
to their improvement. The subject was an
eno-rossino^ one to him, and he made it the
frequent tlieme of his conversation. Gen-
General Grant. 99
eral Grant's far-seeing wisdom was conspic-
uously demonstrated in this matter. He
maintained that the national capital should,
and under favorable conditions would, be-
come the winter Saratoga — the social centre
— of the entire country. He felt so strong!}^
and spoke with such earnestness regarding
the necessity of improving the city as to
finally impress the importance of it upon
the minds of those who had the authority
to give practical realization to his sugges-
tions.
Inspired by his public spirit and the inter-
est he showed in its consummation, the work
of improvement was begun, and when it was
finished, upon the intelligent, generous plan
Avhich was adopted, the avenues and streets
which had been as country roads, ploughed
into deep ruts by artillery, and roughened
by the action of innumerable frosts and suns,
were so well graded and paved as to vie with
those of the noblest highways of Old World
capitals. Washington is still a city of mag-
nificent distances, but so great and many
were the improvements made during Presi-
dent Grant's administration as to susrorest not
so much distance as magnificence, for as its
noble highways were extended, broadened,
made smooth and pleasant to the sight,
100 RecoUedions.
noble maTisions were built upon them, and
General Grant's prediction of the capital
becoming the winter social centre of the
country was realized. The imposing im-
provements which were made, and which
were largely inspired by him, render Wash-
ington a particularly attractive city to which
the representatives of the nation's wealth and
refinement are drawn. There was nothinir
more characteristic of General Grant than
his public spirit, which was so strongly dis-
played in the transformation from incon-
venience and ugliness to comfort and beauty
of the avenues and streets of Washincrton.
With regard to the treatment of the
Indians, he informed me that, as a young
lieutenant, he had been thrown amonor- them,
and had seen the unjust treatment they re-
ceived at the hands of the white men. He
then made up his mind that if he ever had
any influence or power it should be exercised
to try to ameliorate their condition. The
Indian Commission was his own idea. He
wished to appoint the very best men in the
United States. He selected William Welsh,
of Philadelphia, William E. Dodge, of ^ew
York, Felix Brunot, of Pittsburgh, Colonel
Robert Campbell, of St. Louis, and George
H. Stuart, of Philadelphia. They composed
General Grant. 101
the Indian Commission which he had worked
hard to establish, and thej always could
count upon him to aid them in every pos-
sible way. He always took the greatest
interest in the Commission. Even to his
last moments he attentively watched its
progress. It was, at all times, a very diffi-
cult affair to handle, especially as there was
a powerful Indian ring to break up.
He was of a very kindly nature, generous
to a fault. I would often remonstrate with
him, and say, " General, you can't afford to
do this," and would try to keep people away
from him. On one occasion, when certain
persons wanted him to contribute to an im-
portant matter, which I did not think he
was able to do, I would not let them go
near him. He was reached, however, by
some injudicious person, and he subscribed
a thousand dollars.
General Grant venerated his mother, and
loved his family. He seemed happiest in
his home circle, surrounded by his devoted
and loving wife and his children and grand-
children. I have never seen an instance of
greater domestic happiness than that which
existed in the Grant familv. Perfect love
had indeed " cast out fear," and it was
delightful to see his grandchildren romping
9*
1 02 Recollections,
with him, and saying just what came up-
permost in their thoughts in their childish
innocence.
General Grant always felt that he had
been badly treated by General Ilalleck, but
he rarely spoke harshly of any one. During
one of my last visits to him he showed me
his army orders, which he had kept in books.
He had a copy of everything he ever did or
said in regard to army matters. He w^as
very careful about that, and had written all
the orders with his own hand. He pointed
to one of this large series of books, and said
that it was fortunate that he had kept these
things, because several of the orders could
not be found on any record in the War
Department. During our long friendship I
never heard him more than two or three
times speak unkindly of Halleck, although
he had been very unjustly treated by him,
— as is borne out by the records.
I told him of somethino^ that I had learned
in connection with the officer in charge of
the war records at Washington. That offi-
cer had been a strong friend of Halleck,
and was prejudiced against General Grant,
and was in the office where all these things
passed through his hands. But after twenty
years of examination, he said that there was
General Grant. 103
not a line relating: to Grant which would not
CD
elevate him in the minds of thinking people.
It was throuo:h me that General Grant
first went to Long Branch. He always en-
joyed being there, and said that he had
never seen a place in all his travels w^hich
was better suited for a summer residence.
He drove out twice a day, and knew every
by-w^ay within twenty miles. It was his
habit to drive out every morning after
breakfast for a long distance, and then he
would come home and read the papers or
any books he might have on hand. He was
one of the most companionable of men ; to-
tally unspoiled by all the honors conferred
upon him. He was simple, unaffected, and
attached everybody to him. He was very
careful in answering his correspondence.
Most of the letters received were beo^o^ino:
letters of some kind or other, and I remem-
ber an incident showing his justness and
tenderness of heart.
Once he had two cases of petition. He
said, " I did a thing to-day that gave me
great pleasure. There was a poor Irish-
woman who had a boy in the army, and she
came down from ^N^ew York and spent all
her money. She had lost several of her
boys in the war, and this one she wished
104 Recollections.
to get out of the service to help support her.
I gave her an order, and was very glad to
do it." But he did not add that he gave her
also some money, which was the case. " In
contrast to that there was a lady of a very
distinguished family of New York, who came
here and wanted me to remove her son from
Texas. He was an officer in the army, and
I told her I could not do that. My rich peti-
tioner then said, ' Well, could you not remove
his resriment ?' This would have involved a
cost of over one hundred thousand dollars."
General Grant did not hesitate a moment to
refuse a rich woman's unreasonable request,
but it gave him pleasure to grant the petition
of a poor friendless Irishwoman.
He was very kind to the poor, and, in fact,
to everybody, especially to widows and chil-
dren of army officers. I gave him the names
of quite a number of army and navy officers'
sons for appointment in the navy or army.
He said, " I am glad to have these. I like
to appoint army and navy men's children,
because they have no political influence."
IN'early all his appointments to the Military
and I^aval Academies were the children of
deceased army or navy officers, young men
without influence to get in at West Point or
Annapolis. There was hardly an army man.
General Grant. 105
Confederate or Union, who was not a friend
of General Grant.
For General Sheridan he had an affection-
ate reo^ard, and I have often heard him sav
that he thought Sheridan the greatest fighter
that ever lived, and if there should be an-
other war he would be the leader. I knew
that General Sheridan had carefully pre-
served all the letters he had received from
General Grant, and I asked Mrs. Sheridan
to let me have them arrano;ed and bound for
CD
her, which she did. They make a volume
of great historical value and interest.
General Grant was so just that he never
excited the jealousy or enmity of army men.
When mistaken there was no man more
ready to acknowledge himself in error. He
was always accessible and courteous. He
showed great tenacity in sticking to friends
lono^er than he ouscht to have done. When-
ever I spoke to him. about this he would
answer, " Well, if I believed all I hear, I
would believe nearly everybody was bad."
General Grant would say there was hardly
anybody who came in contact with him who
was not traduced, and that he very often had
to depend upon his own judgment in such
cases. One of his expressions was, " I^ever
desert a friend under fire."
106 Recollections.
He rarely alluded to those who had abused
Ills confidence, even in conversation with his
most intimate friends. No matter how much
a man had injured him, he was wont to say
that he felt at the end what he niii^ht have
felt at the outset.
General Grant had the greatest admiration
for General Joseph E. Johnston, and Johns-
ton for him ; and when it was first proposed
to bring up the retiring bill, Johnston, who
was then in Congress, was to take the initia-
tive in the matter. The passage of that bill
gave great gratification to the general. I
happened to be with him on the 4th of
March, and said, " General, that bill of
yours will pass to-day." " Mr. Childs," he
said, " you know that during the last day of
a session everything is in a turmoil. Such a
bill cannot possibly be passed." ^' Well," I
said, " Mr. Randall assured me that measure
would be passed." He answered, " If any-
body in the world could pass that bill, I think
Mr. Randall could. But I don't think it is
at all likely, and I have given up all expec-
tation." While I was talking (this was about
11.30 A.M.), I got a telegram from Mr. A. J.
Drexel, saying that the bill had passed, and
the general seemed exceedingly gratified.
I remarked, " General, the part that some
General Grant 107
of the members took in the matter was not
justified." " Oh, perhaps they thought they
were ris^ht. I have no feelinc^ at all : I am
only grateful that the measure has been
passed," he answered. Mrs. Grant came in,
and I said, " We have got good ne^vs : the
bill is passed." She cried out, " Hurrah !
our old commander is back." In answer to
a remark that it would be very good if it
could be dated from the time of going out,
he said, '' Oh, no; the law is to date from
the time one accepts. In the early part of
the war I saw in the newspapers that I was
appointed to a higher rank, and wrote on at
once and accepted on the strength of the
newspaper report. In about two months'
time, through red tape, I got my appoint-
ment, but received my pay from the time I
wrote accepting the newspaper announce-
ment. I saved a month's pay by that."
As to General Fitz-John Porter's case, I
spoke to him during the early stage of it, at
a time when his mind had been prejudiced
by some around him, and when he was very
busv. Afterwards, when he looked into the
matter, he said he was only sorry that he
had so long delayed making the examina-
tion he should have made. He felt that if
ever a man had been treated badly Porter
108 Recollections.
was. Ho liad examined the case most care-
fully, gone over every detail, and was per-
fectly satisfied that Porter was right. lie
wanted to do everything in his power to
have him righted, and his only regret was
that he had neglected the case so long and
allowed Porter to rest under injustice. I
had General Porter to meet General Grant
at dinner, and placed them together, so that
they could talk over the matter for the first
time.
There are few men who would have taken
a hack track as General Grant did so pub-
licly, so determinedly, and so consistently
rio-ht throuo^h. I had several talks with him
in resrard to General Porter, and he was con-
tinually reiterating his regrets that he had
not done justice to him when he had the op-
portunity, lie ran counter to a great many
of his political friends in this matter, but his
mind was absolutely clear about it. Not one
man in a thousand would go back on his
record in such an affair, especially when he
was not in accord with the Grand Army or
his strong political friends. General Grant
went into the question most carefully, and
liis publications show how thoroughly he
examined the subject, and he never wavered
after his mind was settled. Then he set to
General Grant. 109
work to repair the injury clone Porter. It'
General Grant had had time to examine the
case while he was President, he w^ould have
carried through a measure for the relief of
Porter. That he had not done so was his
2:reat reo;ret. He felt that while he had
power he could have passed it and ought to
have done so. "When General Grant took
pains and time to look into a subject, no
amount of personal feeling or friendship for
others would keep him from doing the right
thino^. He could not be swerved from the
right in any case.
Another marked trait of his character was
his purity in every way. I never heard him
express an impure thought or make an in-
delicate allusion. There is nothing I ever
heard him say that could not be repeated
in the presence of Avomen. He never used
profane language. He was very temperate
in eatino^ and drinkiuii:. In his own fam-
ily, unless guests were present, he seldom
drank wine. If while he was President
a man were urged for an appointment,
and it was shown that he was an immoral
man, he would not appoint him, no matter
how great the pressure brought to bear by
friends.
He had no fondness for music, nor could
10
110 Recollections.
he remember a tune or note, with perhaps
the single exception of " Hail to the Chief,"
which he had heard so often during* and after
the war. Ilis old friend, Hon. Hamilton
Fish, writes to me, " I do not think that
the general knew ' Hail to the Chief;' he
did know, or thought that he knew, ' Yankee
Doodle.' " My friend, Mr. Robert C. Win-
throp, says in a recent letter, " Your allusion
to his insensibility to music, and to the saying
of Governor Fish, recalls General Grant's
remark to me, when I was sitting next to
him at a concert in Baltimore at the Pea-
body Institute : ' Why, Mr. Winthrop, I only
know two tunes. One is Yankee Doodle,
and the other isn''t.' "
General Grant was robust, blessed with
general good health, and great powers of
endurance. He was a small eater, and could
sleep more or less at any time, or could do
without sleep and food, for a long period,
without inconvenience. He never ate any-
thing rare ; everything had to be thoroughly
cooked. Some time after the war he told me
that he thought he was failing physically.
I asked him why. He answered by saying
he could no longer do without eating or
sleeping for forty-eight hours without feel-
ing it. During the war he often passed two
General Grant. Ill
days and nights without tasting food or lying
down to sleep.
General Grant would sit in my library
w^ith four or five others chatting freely, and
doing perhaps two-thirds of the talking.
Let a stranger enter whora he did not know,
and he w^ould say nothing more while the
stranger remained. That was one peculiar-
ity of his. He wouldn't talk to people un-
less he understood them. He possessed a
great deal of quiet humor, was an excellent
story-teller, was full of anecdote, and en-
joyed a good joke. He was always refined,
and would not tolerate coarseness in others.
At a dinner-party among intimate friends he
would lead in the conversation, but any alien
element would seal his tons^ue. This o^reat
shyness or reticence sometimes caused him
to be misunderstood.
When his attention was first directed to his
fatal disease, he told me that he had a dry-
ness in his throat, which seemed to trouble
him, and that whenever he ate a peach, a
fruit of which he was very fond, he always
suftered pain. I said that Dr. Da Costa, of
Philadelphia, one of the most eminent physi-
cians of the country, was coming to Long
Branch to spend a few days with me ; that he
was an old friend ; and that he would be
112 Rccollccticms,
glad to look into the matter. Dr. Da Costa,
on arriving, went over with me to the gen-
eral's house, examined his throat carefully,
gave a prescription, and asked the general
who his family physician was. He replied.
Dr. Fordyce Barker, of I^ew York, and he
was advised to see him at once. I could see
that the general was suffering a good deal,
though he was uncomplaining. During the
summer he several times asked me if I had
seen Dr. Da Costa, and seemed anxious to
know exactly what was the matter with him.
Dr. Da Costa knew at once the disease was
cancer, and when Dr. Barker came to confer
with him in regard to General Grant he so
told him. General Grant, after he got worse,
said to me, " I want to go to Philadelphia
and stay a few days with you, and have a
talk with Dr. Da Costa." He was not afraid
of the disease after he knew all about it,
and the last time I saw him, just before he
went to Mount McGregor, he said, " ;N"ow,
Mr. Childs, I have been twice within half
a minute of death. I realize it fully, and
my life was only preserved by the skill and
attention of my physicians. I have told
them the next time to let me oro."
The general had great will-power, and the
determination to finish his book kept him
General Grant. 113
up. He quickly made up his mind that his
disease would prove fatal, but he was reso-
lute to live until his work was done. He
said, " If I had been an ordinary man, I
would have been dead long ago."
In o-ood health General Grant would
smoke a dozen very large, strong cigars a
day ; but he could stop smoking at any time.
He told me that towards the latter part of
the summer of 1884 he was smoking fewer
and milder cigars, perhaps two or three a
day. In February of 1885 he expected to
pay me a visit. He wrote, saying, " The
doctor will not allow me to leave until the
weather gets warmer. I am now quite well
in every way, except a swelling of the tongue
above the root, and the same thing in the
tonsils just over it. It is very difficult for me
to swallow enough to maintain my strength,
and nothing gives me so much pain as to
swallow water." I asked him about that,
and he said, " If you could imagine what
molten lead would be going down your
throat, that is what I feel when I am swal-
lowing." In that letter he further said, "I
have not smoked a cis^ar since about the 20th
of IN'ovember; for a day or two I felt as
though I would like to smoke, but after that
I never thought of it."
h " 10*
114 Recollections.
General Grant always retained a warm
interest in West Point, and favored it greatly
while President. He left a written memo-
randum requesting that his grandson, Ulysses
Grant, son of Colonel Fred. D. Grant, should
be educated at West Point, provided he could
secure an appointment to enter the Academy
as a cadet. Speaking on one or two occa-
sions of the burial of soldiers, he observed
that his old chief. General Scott, was buried
at West Point, and that he would like to be
buried there also. This was some years be-
fore his death, and mentioned merely in
casual conversation. I think it might have
been alluded to incidentally once or twice
afterwards.
His wishes in re2:ard to his final restins^-
place may be gathered from the subjoined
interesting correspondence taken from the
ITew York World of September 29, 1889.
" The World has received the following
letter from Colonel Frederick D. Grant,
United States Minister to Austria, relative
to recent suggestions that the body of his
father be removed from Riverside Park. It
will be read with great interest by all the
friends of the great general, and gives new
and pathetic facts concerning General Grant's
wishes as to his burial-place :
General Grant. 115
" U. S. Legation, Vienna, Austria,
"September 13, 1889.
" To THE Editor of Tee AVorld :
" Two evenings ago I received your mes-
sage by cable, which was as follows :
" ' Press agitating question of removing
General Grant's remains to WashinsTton or
Illinois. What is the sentiment of the widow
and family ? The World.'
" I have answered you by cable that I
would write to you in reply. I carried your
cablegram home with me and read it to my
mother, who is now visiting me. She and
I unite in expressing appreciation of the
interest which is shown by the American
people in the tomb of General Grant, which
is now in the city of Xew York, owing to
the following circumstances, viz. :
" About a week before General Grant's
death he handed me a paper which he indi-
cated that he would like me to read. I
found its contents were directions in res^ard
to his own burial, the note being in about
the following words, which I quote from
memory : ' I have given you directions about
all of my affairs except my burial. AVe own
a burial-lot in the cemetery at St. Louis, and
I like that city, as it w^as there I was married
116 Recollections.
and lived for many years, and there three
of my children were born. We also have a
burial-lot in Galena, and I am fond of Illi-
nois, from which State I entered the army at
the beo^innino^ of the war. I am also much
attached to IS'ew York, where I have made
my home for several years past, and through
the generosity of whose citizens I have been
enabled to pass my last days without experi-
encing the pains of pinching want' The
last sentence seemed to indicate that a burial-
lot mip^ht be purchased in Kew York City.
'• After readino; this little note I said, * It
is most distressing to me, father, that you
think of this matter, but if we must discuss
this subject and you desire to have my opin-
ion, I should say that in case of your death
Washington would probably be selected for
the place of your burial.' Father then took
back the paper he had written me, which he
tore up. He then retired to his own room,
but soon returned and handed me another
little note (at that time he could not speak
without great pain), which was in substance
as follows : ^ It is possible that my funeral
may become one of public demonstration,
in which event I have no particular choice
of burial-place ; but there is one thing which
I would wish you and the family to insist
Genet^al Grant, 117
upon, and that is that, wherever my tomb
may be, a pUice shall be reserved for your
mother at my side.' My own mention of
Washino^ton seemed to have reminded Gen-
eral Grant that the nation might Vv'ish to take
part in his funeral.
" Upon the death of General Grant, July
23, 1885, many telegrams were immediately
received, containing offers from various
places of ground for his last resting-place.
These telegrams being considered by the
widow and family, it was soon decided that
the offer made by iTew York was the most
desirable one, as it included the guarantee
which General Grant had desired before his
death, — that his wife should be provided
with a last resting-place by his side, — there-
fore this offer was accepted.
" A little later I received a letter from
General Robert Macfeeley, of Washington,
containing an authoritative offer of a site in
the ' Soldiers' Home,' near Washington, as
the burial-place of my father, at the same
time promising that my mother and family
might also be buried there. But already
the matter had been settled, and my mother
held the written guarantee of iTew York's
mayor that upon her death she should be
placed beside her husband. General Grant.
118 Recollections.
" In a parting letter left to my mother by
the general he reiterated what he had said
to me, mentioned several places which might
be available for his burial, but expressed as
his one and only desire that she, upon her
death, should rest at his side.
" My mother, myself, and all our family
feel deep gratitude for the delicate and touch-
ing attentions paid to General Grant's mem-
ory and to his tomb at ' Riverside' by the
citizens of Kew York, as well as bv the citi-
zens of other States, and since the nation
made his great funeral, and wishes to build
his tomb, they were and are ready to accede
to any plan for his tomb which the nation
may decide is best, provided, of course, that
his expressed wish be carried out.
" Most touching of all to my mother are
the loving tributes which are annually placed
upon my father's tomb by his old comrades
of the Grand Army of the Republic and by
many others from all parts of the country
which he served durins: his life.
" Yours, very sincerely,
'^F. D. Grant."
On May 17, 1877, General Grant began
a tour of the world in company with Mrs.
Grant, that had long been one of their cher-
General Grant 1 1 0
ished schemes. From the day of his depart-
ure from Philadelphia until his return in the
autumn of 1879, it was an unceasing ovation
from people, emperors, and kings and rulers
of all countries and nationalities. The best
record of this triumphal progress is to be
found in the two beautiful volumes, " Around
the World with General Grant," by John
Russell Young, who was his companion from
the start until General Grant returned to the
Pacific slope. In making his preparations
for this tour General Grant had no idea of
the reception that awaited him, and it was
only on the eve of his departure, while he
and Mrs. Grant were my guests, that I sug-
gested the necessity of his taking his uni-
form and sword. Uniform General Grant
no longer owned, but one was soon got at
Wanamaker's, and his swords were all de-
posited in Washington, but one was hastily
sent to him. Simple in this as in all his
tastes and habits. General Grant meant to
travel as an American citizen. The splendid
popular demonstration given him by way
of farewell by the people of Philadelphia
was, however, significant of the reception
that awaited him at every stage of his jour-
ney around the world. When the steamer
"Indiana" brought him to Liverpool, the
1 20 Recollections,
mayor of that great commercial city formally
extended its civic hospitalities to the gen-
eral; the city of London conferred upon him
its highest honor, the freedom of the city,
and this example was followed by several of
the other chief towns; the Queen and the
Prince of Wales entertained him and his
wife, and they were in succession the guests
of ever}^ crowned head through whose do-
minions they passed. In France and Switz-
erland, our sister republics, he was heartily
welcomed, and, although he travelled as a
private citizen, everywhere he was welcomed
with distinguished honor. All of this he
quietly accepted as an evidence of respect
to his country, for, as he wrote to me, he
''loved to see our country honored and re-
spected abroad," and he had helped to make
it so. In many of the letters which I re-
ceived from him during his trip around the
world, the sense of General Grant and of
Mrs. Grant that the honors and compliments
paid him were regarded simply as a tribute
to his native country was emphasized with
rare modesty and delicacy. In the East
especially General Grant was made the re-
cipient of the most marked attention. In
China the highest authorities of the empire
showed him every personal and official cour-
General Grant 121
tesy, and just as Bismarck and the other
great European statesmen united in honor-
ing him, so in India the native princes, in
China the viceroy, Li Hung Chang, and
Prince Kung, and in Japan from the Em-
peror down, all welcomed General Grant as
the greatest American citizen. Indeed, the
Chinese and Japanese authorities asked him
to act as arbitrator in the settlement of
their disputes. To this day his visit is re-
ferred to as one of the historical events in
Japan, and recent travellers are shown tem-
ples and sacred shrines that were opened to
General Grant, hut, as before, are again
closed to the rest of the world. The Fourth
of July was the day on which the Emperor
received him.
That his foreign tour is still affectionately
remembered abroad is shown by the hearty
welcome 2:1 ven to Colonel Fred. D. Grant in
Vienna, where his appointment as United
States Minister by President Harrison was
received as a special mark of honor. The
Austrian authorities and the o^reat world of
Vienna join in doing honor to the son as
the national representative, just as they did
to the father in his capacity of private
citizen.
General Grant was again received on his
V 11
122 Recollections.
return home by the strongest demonstration
of popular affection, but his nature remained
simple and unspoiled as ever, and his one
constant wish was to be permitted to live a
quiet, unostentatious life. Most of the won-
derful and unusual gifts which all the coun-
tries bestowed on him were sent to me from
time to time to be cared for, and finally they
Avere deposited by him for safe-keeping in
the National Museum at Washington, where
they are still an object of interest to thou-
sands of his countrymen. General Grant's
journey around the world was not only a
source of great pleasure to him, but it did a
real service to his country in making for-
eigners of all nationalities better acquainted
with it.
He was very fortunate in his travelling
companions, for at one time he was joined
by his old friend, Mr. Adolph E. Borie, Sec-
retary of the I^Tavy in his first Cabinet, and
his nephew. Dr. J. M. Keating, an able young
physician, of Philadelphia, who printed a
very graphic account of their visit to India.
Colonel Fred. D. Grant, too, made one of
the party in the East, and thus had an oppor-
tunity to make that preparation which fitted
him so well for his present ofiice of Minister
to Austria. Mr. John Russell Youns^ was
General Grant. 123
with tlie general through the whole journey,
and he was a very welcome addition to the
party, for as a journalist he had a large
knowledge of men and things, and the gen-
eral appreciated his great merit and ability,
an appreciation shown by his appointment
as Minister to China, wdiere Mr. Young
showed that a good newspaper man was
good for nearly everything, even for difficult
and delicate diplomatic duties, l^o man ever
saw so much, was so honored, feted, and en-
tertained as General Grant in this journey,
and none ever came home a more thoroughly
good citizen, proud of his country and happy
to be able to live and die under its flag.
GENERAL GRANT IN PHILADELPHIA.
General Grant's reception in Philadelphia
on his return from his tour was thus noticed
in Harper's Weekly of January 10, 1880 :
*' The departure of General Grant on his
tour around the w^orld w^as marked by a
splendid ovation in Philadelphia. His re-
turn to that city was the occasion for a re-
ception which exceeded even that splendid
celebration in every w^ay, and was a fitting
close to a round of honors seldom equalled
in the history of any other hero the world
has ever known. On both these occasions
124 Recollections,
General Grant was the guest of Mr. George
W. Childs, and naturally people are curious
to know something of the home thus hon-
ored. It is a stately white marhle building
at the corner of Walnut and Twenty-second
Streets, built in 1872, and iirst thrown open
to the world by a reception given to General
and Mrs. Grant, where his Cabinet and many
of the men and women of note in the Quaker
City were gathered, together with many dis-
tinguished persons from other places. The
hospitality thus begun has been continued
from that time onward, and the house is full
of the memories of great assemblies that
have met within its walls.
" Passing through a vestibule richly orna-
mented with fine marble, the visitor enters a
broad hall of highly-polished mahogany and
satin-wood, the walls enriched with rare Chi-
nese cloisonne plaques and vases, and finds
on his rio^ht a librarv, with a wealth of rare
and curious books and manuscripts that have
given bibliographers material for many de-
scriptions. On the walls hang portraits of
Georo-e Peabodv, A. J. Drexel, Ilenrv W.
Longfellow, and the Emperor of Brazil ; on
the book-shelves are choice editions of the
great authors, many of them enriched with
autographs and notes, while within its al-
General Grant 125
coves are manuscripts of inestimable value.
The collection of letters bv the Presidents
of the United States is unequalled, while
amono^ its other treasures are such rarities
as an original sermon by Cotton Mather,
complete manuscripts of Sir Walter Scott,
Dickens, Thackeray, and Hawthorne, Bry-
ant's First Book of the Iliad, and letters of
Byron, and Moore, and Gray, and Burns,
and Pope, and Coleridge, and Schiller, and
Lamb. On the other side of the hall is a
large drawing-room, opening into a music-
room, both decorated with exquisite taste,
and full of memorials of guests who have
gathered there in rapid succession.
" Bevond is the dinins^-room. On its walls
there are cabinets filled with rare china, glass,
and silver-ware ; and a wonderful carving
from the Black Forest, representing the
conversion of the Germans, is appropriately
mated with modern French bronzes of un-
usual splendor. Around the hospitable table
have gathered some of the best people who
have visited Philadelphia. General Grant
has been a frequent guest, and around him
have sat the generals who helped him to save
the Union, — Sherman and Sheridan, Meade
and Hancock, McDowell and McClellan.
Brazil was represented there by its Emperor
11*
126 Recollections.
and Empress, whose presence gave the Cen-
tennial Exhibition at least a continental if
not a universal character. England has been
welcomed there in its ambassadors, and
noblemen whose titles are the least of their
honors, such as Lord DufFerin, Lord Rose-
bery, Lord Houghton, the Earl of Caithness,
and Lord Dunraven; and Dean Stanley,
Archdeacon Farrar, Matthew Arnold, and
Charles Kingsley, Froude and Goldwin
Smith, Tyndall and Herbert Spencer, Henry
Irving and Christine Nilsson, John Walter
and Sir Edward Thornton, have shared and
appreciated the generous greeting given them
in this country. Lideed, Lord Houghton in
his article describins; his visit to America,
and Stanley in his, George Augustus Sala
in his racy letters to the London Telegraph,
and Dickens in his letters, and Kingsley in
his, have made all the world witness of their
enjoyment of Mr. Childs's hospitality. Our
own best American men and women have
been familiar guests around the well-spread
table, and Longfellow^ and Holmes, Bancroft,
Russell Lowell, and Emerson, George Pea-
body and his successor J. S. Morgan, of
London; Chauncey M. Depew and George
B. Roberts, Asa Packer and Austin Corbin;
Cornelius Yanderbilt and William Waldorf
General Grant. 127
Astor; James G. Blaine, James A. Bayard,
and Samuel J. Randall; Bishop Simpson,
Bishop Potter, and Cardinal Gibbons ; E,ev.
Dr. McCosh, of Princeton College, Andrew
D. White, of Cornell University, and D. C.
Gilman, of Johns Hopkins University ; Paul
B. Du Chaillu ; J. II. B. Latrobe and Bev-
erd}^ Johnson, of Baltimore; Joseph H.
Choate and J. Pierpont Morgan ; Anthony
J. Drexel and Francis A. Drexel ; Henry
Wilson and Hamilton Fish ; Professor Jo-
seph Henry and T. A. Edison, have led the
long list of the representatives of American
genius and distinction that have shared in
Mr. Childs's inexhaustible hospitality.
^' A broad staircase, with noble marble
wainscot and ebony rail, leads to the upper
floors. One room above, the family sitting-
room, is rich in photographs, signed by the
originals, representing many of the guests
who have shared the hearty welcome of the
house. One of the paintings is by Ernest
Longfellow, the son of our great poet, and
an artist who gives promise of making a
name for himself. In three cabinets there
is such a collection of rare and beautiful
carvings in ivory as might well make an
observer suppose that Mr. Childs had de-
voted all his time to the study of this curious
128 Recollect ions.
»
branch of art. Throughout the house there
is a wealth of clocks, each with its own
special merit of artistic beauty, historical
rarity, famous associations, or intrinsic value,
and at every step there is something note-
worthy. A working library is comfortably
housed in a quiet nook on the top floor of
the house, and there the student might find
the best books of the best writers, and
material for almost any direction of literary
investigation. Here, too, there is an organ
and a musical library of the great masters,
showing that the heavenly art is diligently
pursued in its highest form, just as the two
grand pianos in the alcove opening out of
and making part of the great drawing-room
•bear evidence to the fact that not all the en-
grossing cares of the host and hostess, nor
the manifold charitable claims upon their
time and purse, deprive them of the solace
of o^ood music. It was to this house that Gen-
eral Grant returned to receive the hearty wel-
come of his Philadelphia friends, who came
to pay their respects to Mr. Childs's guest in
quiet, unostentatious, friendly fashion.
" In this same house General Grant wrote
his memorable address on the opening of
the Exposition, and he was the chief at a
famous gathering, met on Mr. Childs's in-
General Grant, 129
vitation, on the evening of the 10th of May,
1876, to celehrate the opening of the Cen-
tennial Exhibition. The President of the
United States and Mrs. Grant, all the mem-
bers of his Cabinet, the Supreme Court of
the United States, the leaders of Congress,
the governors of ten or a dozen States, the
chiefs of our army and navy, the diplomatic
representatives of all the foreign countries
in this country, the Emperor and Empress
of Brazil, the numerous and distinguished
foreign Commissioners to the Centennial,
and as many famous men from all parts of
this country and all its varied interests and
pursuits, filled the great halls of Mr. Childs's
house, and lent to the Centennial that social
side which went so far to make its success,
and to secure the hearty approval of its thou-
sands of visitors. On a different occasion
Mr. Childs brought together all the Centen-
nial Commissioners, — their name was legion,
— and their wonderful costumes, striking
decorations, and delightful incongruity of
tongues made a gathering not easily de-
scribed or forgotten. Chinamen in heavy
stuffs, and with the pigtail, the peacock's
feather, and the mandarin's mvsterious but-
7 \J
ton ; Japanese in uniform that showed the
baneful effect of civilization in banishing
1 30 Recollections.
their own comfortable and easy costumes;
Egyptians in court dresses and fez; Euro-
peans rich in orders ; and Americans whose
names were their best passports both at
home and abroad, crowded the mansion.
"But there have been gatherings there,
fit though few, which have had even greater
interest for the fortunate guest. Sir Edwin
Arnold, as well as Lord Houghton's anxiety
to meet Walt Whitman was gratified, and
the English poet-peer there sat by the side
of the American poet whose wood-note wild
had sounded so attractively in the ear of his
far-ofl* reader. Dean Stanley held high con-
verse with the liberal clergymen of all types
and schools of theology, and shared with
them in discussing the methods and the hope
of making the world wiser and better by set-
ting it the example of a religion broad enough
to take in all who seek to make life purer
and nobler. The Marquis de Rochambeau
was welcomed there as the representative
of a name dear to every American, for his
ancestor was the leader of the French allied
force that helped to make the Revolution and
to establish the independence of this country,
Charles Francis Adams and Edmund Quincy,
both for their own sakes as indefatio^able
workers and as the representatives of the
General Grant. 131
Loiiored historic names of our own earliest
days, were received with hearty welcome ;
and Eobert C. Winthrop, with a lineage that
goes back to the earliest of iTew England's
leaders, and Hamilton Fish, with the double
claim of ancestral merit and of his own
services to the State, Chief Justice Waite,
and William M. Evarts, as the leader of the
American bar, were glad to meet around Mr.
Childs's hospitable table the Philadelphia
lawyers whose names recall their ancestors,
— Rawles and Cadwaladers, IngersoUs, Dal-
las's, Tilghmans, Biddies, and Whartons."
General Grant was made a member of the
Grand Army of the Eepublic in my private
office, in the Ledger Building, on the morn-
ing of May 16, 1877. On his consenting to
join General George G. Meade Post, No. 1,
of Philadelphia, arrangements were made
for the usual muster in the post-room, but
in preparing for his proposed tour around
the world General Grant w^as delaj^ed in
reaching the city, and then the engagements
made for his entertainment, both public and
private, occupied every moment of his time.
It became necessary to change the plans, and
Colonel Beath, then Adjutant-General of the
Grand Army of the Re[>ublic, and Samuel
132 Recollections.
Worthington, Adjutant of Post 1, called on
me to fix the hour that would best suit Gen-
eral Grant for the Grand Army service.
Accordingly, at the time fixed, the officers
and members of Meade Post met in my
office, and there General Grant assumed the
obligations of the order, and received the
badge of membership, which he wore fre-
quently during his tour abroad, and at home
on public occasions.
At noon of the same day a public recep-
tion was held in Independence Hall, and
thousands of veterans, with other citizens,
shook hands with General Grant, bade him
good-by, and wished him a prosperous voy-
age.
Upon his return from this remarkable
tour, Philadelphia, of course, welcomed him
with unstinted liberality.
The evening of December 12, 1879, was
devoted to the Grand Army of the Republic,
the Academy of Music being packed with an
audience of over ffve thousand enthusiastic
veterans. Only a few personal friends could
be admitted on that occasion, Bishop Simp-
son, A. J. Drexel, George H. Stuart, and
"myself being of the number.
The escort of General Grant from the
Continental Hotel to the Academy of Music
General Grant. 133
was probably one of the most thrilling and
touching scenes ever witnessed in Philadel-
phia. A guard composed of members of
Post 1 and representatives from all the city
posts acted as escort, and grouped around
General Grant's carriao:e were a larsre num-
ber of color-bearers carrying tattered and
battle-stained flags. Fireworks blazed at
every point along the route. The streets
were densely packed with an enthusiastic
throng, and altogether the scene was one
never to be forgotten by those who wit-
nessed it.
General Hartranft, Commander-in-Chief
of the Grand Army of the Republic, presided
at the meeting, and Governor Henry M.
Hoyt made an eloquent address of welcome.
General Grant's reply was made in a clear
and distinct tone, that was plainly heard all
over the building, and was listened to with
the closest attention. He said, —
" It is a matter of very deep regret with
me that I had not thought of something or
prepared something to say in response to the
welcome which I am receiving at your hands
this evening, but really since my arrival I
have not had the time, and before that I
scarcely thought of it. But I can say to you
all that in the two years and seven months
12
131: Recollections,
since I left this city to make a circuit of the
globe, I have visited every capital in Europe
and most of the Eastern nations, but there
has not been a country which I have visited
in that circuit where I have not found some
of our members. In crossing our own land
from the Pacific to the Atlantic side, there
is scarcely a new settlement, a cattle-range
or collection of pioneers, that is not largely
composed of veterans of the late war. It
calls to my mind the fact that while wars
are to be deplored, and unjust wars always
to be avoided, yet they are not an unmixed
evil. The boy who is brought up in his
country home, or his village home, or his
city home, without any exciting cause, is
apt to remain there and follow the pursuits
of his parent, and not develop beyond it,
and in the majority of cases not come up
to it ; but being carried away in the great
struggle, and particularly one where so much
principle is involved as in our late conflict,
it brinsrs to his view a wider field than he
contemplated at his home, and although in
his field service he longs for the home he
left behind him, yet when he gets there he
finds that a disappointment, and has struck
out for new fields, and has developed the
vast dominions which are given to us for
General Grant. 135
our keeping, — for the thousands of liberty-
seeking people. The ex-solclier has become
the pioneer, not only of our land, but has
extended our commerce and trade, and
knowledge of us and our institutions, to
all other lands, and when brio:hter days
dawn upon other nations — particularly those
nations of the East — America will steu in
for her share of the trade which will be
opened, and through the exertions of the
ex-soldiers — the comrades, veterans — and, I
might say, members of the Grand Army of
the Republic.
" Comrades, having been compelled, as
often as I have been since my arrival in San
Francisco, to utter a few words not only to
ex-soldiers, but to all other classes of citizens
of our great country, and always speaking
without any preparation, I have necessarily-
been obliged to repeat, possibly in not the
same words, but the same ideas. But the
one thing I want to impress on you is that
we have a country to be proud of, to fight
for and die for if necessarj^ While many
of the countries of Europe give practical
protection and freedom to the citizen, yet
there is no European country that compares
in its resources with our own. There is no
country where the energetic man can, by his
136 Recollections.
own labor, and by his own industry, ingenu-
ity, and frugality, acquire competency as he
can in America.
" A trip abroad, and a study of the insti-
tutions and difficulties of a poor man making
his way in the world, is all that is necessary
to make us better citizens and happier with
our lot here.
" Comrades, I thank you for the very cor-
dial welcome you have given me."
General Grant retained his membership
with Post 1 until his death, and when he
died at Mount McGregor, Post ^o. 327, of
Brooklyn, through associations with Colonel
Fred. D. Grant, tendered their services as a
guard of honor, and they so acted at the cot-
tage and during the funeral ceremonies
with a similar detail from Post 32, of Sara-
tof]:a.
The Grand Army of the Republic cere-
monies at the grave at Riverside Park,
]S'ew York Citj^, were exceedingly solemn
and appropriate, and were conducted by the
officers and members of Meade Post.
On the first Memorial Day after the burial
of General Grant, General John A. Logan,
who had the distino^uished honor of directins:
the observance of May 30, as a memorial
day for the Union dead, delivered a most
Gener^al Grant. 137
eloquent eulogy over the grave of his dead
comrade.
I may say here that the growth of the
Grand Army has been somewhat phenom-
enal in view of the time that has elapsed
since the war. The order was instituted in
April, 1866, by Dr. D. F. Stephenson, of
Springfield, Illinois, and for some years had
a somewhat precarious existence. It did not
seem to have the confidence of the veterans
of the country, and after the first start it de-
clined very rapidly. It reached its lowest
point in 1876. When General Grant joined
Post 1 in 1877 it w^as a very small post, and
the whole order only numbered twenty-six
thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine in
twenty-two departments. Each year there-
after, however, the advance was marked.
Over eighty thousand were mustered in a
single year, and now the membership is over
four hundred thousand in forty-three depart-
ments.
The amount of relief directly disbursed
by the posts has reached nearly two million
dollars.
The following, written at the time of the
general's death by his devoted and valued
friend, General E. F. Beale, of Washington,
12*
138 Recollections.
is so accurate and just that I am glad to
quote it liere :
'' He was so truthful, so serene, so frank
and of such simplicity, that it was impossi-
ble to know and not to love him. I feel that
the w^orld is better that he has lived. Many
a one thinking of his patience will suffer
with more fortitude trials and misfortunes,
and, knowing how beautiful virtue made his
life, endeavor to imitate it. History wHll tell
how he w^on great battles, and how the most
occult problems of state-craft were dealt with
in his masterly w^ay, but it would be better
if the world knew more of the sweetness and
purity of his private life. I had the high
honor of his friendship, and saw him in his
familiar hour when the mask which all pub-
lic men must wear in public w^as laid aside
^vith the reserve w^hich accompanies it. I
was his companion in his walks and rides,
and saw and heard him talk in his quiet,
reposeful manner on all gentle themes. He
loved to ride throusch w^oods and note the
different trees, and he knew them all, and
speak of their growth and habits. He loved
the growing grain and the means and pro-
cesses of quickening it. He loved horses and
farm animals, and a quiet, contemplative life
mixed w^ith the activity of out-door work."
West Point 139
I never heard General Grant say, nor did
I ever know him to do, a mean thing. His
entire truthfuhiess, his perfect honesty, were
beyond question. I think of him, now that
he is dead, with ever-increasing admiration ;
I can recall no instance of vanity, of bom-
bast, or of self-laudation. He was one of the
greatest, noblest, and most modest of men,
— equally great in civil and military life.
CHAPTER YL
WEST POINT.
Gift of the Portraits of Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan
— Presentation Ceremonies.
In June, 1887, I was in attendance at
West Point as President of the Board of
Visitors. On a certain important occasion
both Generals Sherman and Sheridan were
present, and the latter remarked to me that
he had heard of the portrait of General
Grant which I had presented to the Military
Academy, and desired to see it. I told him
that it was hung in " Mess Hall," the name
of which building, upon the presentation
140 Recollections,
of the painting, was changed at my sugges-
tion to Grant Hall. So we went down and
saw the portrait, one nearly of full length.
Sheridan admired it very much; and I
turned to him and said, " Kow, general,
if I outlive you I will have your portrait
painted to hang alongside of Grant's."
So it came about. The portraits of Sheri-
dan and Sherman were painted, and along
with Grant's were placed in Grant Hall, and
were formally presented to the government
on October 3, 1889.
The following is from Harper^s Weekly,
:N'ew York, Saturday, October 19, 1889 :
MR. CHILDS AT WEST POINT.
" The gift of the portraits of Grant, Sher-
man, and Sheridan is not the only bene-
faction of Mr. Childs to the West Point
Academy, as the following letter shows :
" ' The visitor to the beautiful cemetery of
the Military Academy, on the hill-side over-
looking the Hudson at West Point, will see
there, above the graves of officers and cadets,
a number of monuments, which are all of
the same original and striking design. The
massive base of each is of gray unpolished
granite ; on that rests a block of red granite,
West Point. 141
polished, and on that a bronze cannon-ball
of fifteen inches in diameter; on one side of
that is placed a large bronze shield, at the
top of which is the insignia of the rank of
him to whose memory it was erected ; below
that are the name, dates of birth and of
death, and an appropriate epitaph. These
monuments are all the gift of Mr. George
AY. Childs, of Philadelphia, and how they
came there is told by Colonel Wilson, the
present Superintendent of the Military Acad-
emy.
'"In 1887 Mr. Childs was appointed by
President Cleveland a member of the Board
of Visitors to West Point, and during his
extended visit there, in the discharge of his
duties as President of the Board, he saw in
the cemetery of the Academy several graves
above which no memorials were erected.
Mr. Childs suggested to General Merritt,
the then superintendent, who entirely sym-
Dathized with his srenerous desio:n, that ef-
forts should be made to ascertain from the
friends of those whose graves were marked
by no stone if it was their purpose to erect
monuments above them, and if not, to ob-
tain their consent to Mr. Childs doins: so.
The result was that the above-described
monuments were placed in the cemetery,
142 Recollections.
Mr. Chikls liaving had the design of them
especially made, and paying the entire cost
of their construction and erection. Mr.
Chikls is the author of many good gifts,
but we know of no other which so much as
this denotes the gentle, kindly nature of the
man.' "
The following editorial is from the New
York World, October 5, 1889:
" Mr. George W. Childs's gift of portraits
of Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan to the
Military Academy at West Point illustrates
anew that gentleman's rare gift of doing
the right thing at the right time, in the
right way. Not many men have the im-
pulse to give and to do public-spirited things
in so large a measure as he, and still rarer
are those who share his genius for seeing
what may be best done and how it may be
most fitly accomplished. Now that he has
hung upon the walls of the Military Acad-
emy these portraits of the thnee great leaders
of the Union armies from 1861 to 1865, it
is obvious to every intelligence that this was
a peculiarly fit and excellent thing to do.
But nobody else had the gift to recognize
the need and the generosity to supply it.
This peculiar grace and quickness of per-
West PQint. 143
ception have distinguished all of the liberal
Philadelphiaii's benefactions and greatly en-
hanced their value and their influence. He
is a consummate artist in well doing, and
the accomplishment is an exceedingly rare
one."
The Secretary of War, in his annual report
for the year 1889, says, —
" Through the patriotic generosity of
Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, the
Academy was enriched, through interesting
ceremonies on the 3d of October last, by
the presentation of iine oil-paintings of the
three oreuerals of the armv whose names
O t/
will remain indissolubly connected with the
war for the preservation of the Union, —
Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan."
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT HARRISON.
Executive Mansion, Washington,
September 30, 1889.
George W. Childs, Esq., Philadelphia.
My dear Sir, — I am just in receipt of
your kind invitation to attend the exercises
at West Point on the 3d proximo in con-
nection with the presentation by you to the
Academy of the portraits of Generals Grant,
Sherman, and Slieridan.
144 JRecoUcdlons,
Let me assure you that I decline the in-
vitation with regret. But my engagements
here are such as to make an acceptance
impossible. The observation by the cadets
of the portraits of these great captains and
patriots cannot fail to be a source of in-
spiration and encouragement.
Very sincerely yours,
Benj. Harrison.
LETTER FROM GENERAL HOWARD.
Headquarters Division of the Atlantic,
Governor's Island, N. Y.,
October 1, 1889.
George W. Childs, Esq., Ledger Building,
Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.
My dear Sir, — Nothing but a positive
engagement of long standing and one of
great importance could have kept me from
being with you at the presentation on the
3d inst. Allow me to thank you for these
ever-increasing evidences of your large-
heartedness and patriotic devotion.
Sincerely your friend,
0. 0. Howard,
Maj,-Gen. U. S. Army.
The ITew York Tribune gave the follow-
ing account of the formal presentation of
the portraits :
West Point. 145
" West Point, K Y., October 3, 1889.—
Many interests were happily woven into
one to give distinction to a memorable clay
at this place. Memorable indeed it must in
any case have been. So much the occasion
assured. But it was a happy circumstance,
and added greatly to heighten the interest
and impressiveness of the ceremonies, that
the presentation to the corps of cadets by a
liberal citizen of the portraits of our three
great patriotic commanders should not only
have drawn to2:ether so distinscuished a com-
pany of our own people, but should also
have been witnessed and honored by the
presence of the International American Con-
gress, the official representatives of nearly
all the republics of the three Americas.
And in all this remarkable audience none
looked on and listened with greater interest
and attention than the dignified men whose
whole demeanor to-day showed that they
have come here not as foreigners, but as
friends. They seemed to feel that the name
of America mii^-ht be broad enou2:h to
embrace and unite a hemisphere. . . .
"After a national salute from the field
batterv on the plain, in honor of the Con-
gress of the Americas, the battalion of cadets
formed in line, under the orders of the com-
Q k 13
146 Ixcoollection!^.
mandantjLieuteniint-Coloiiel J. P. Hawkins,
and, after passing in review in common and
double time before the superintendent, Col-
onel Jolin M. Wilson, and the Secretary of
War, marched in a body to Grant Hall, and
stood at parade rest at the south end while
the company seated itself in the body of the
hall and on the platform at the north end.
Here, on the walls, concealed by handsome
silk flags, hung the three large paintings
of Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, w'hich
George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, was
about to present to the Academy. Beneath
them, besides the members of the Congress,
sat General Sherman himself, witli Mr.
Childs on his right; Colonel Wilson, with
Secretary Proctor on his left, and Chaplain
Postlethwaite on his right; Generals Van
Vliet, Fitz-John Porter, Horace Porter,
Michael Y. Sheridan, Adjutant-General Kel-
ton, Hon. John Bigelow, Hon. Hamilton
Fish, Jr., Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, Alex-
ander Hamilton, Seiior Pomero, Mexican
Minister (a devoted friend of General Grant),
J. G. do Amaral Valente, Brazilian Minis-
ter, and many noted soldiers and citizens,
together wuth the officers of the academic
staff and the ladies of their families.
. " After a short and earnest prayer by the
West Point. 147
Rev. W. M. Postlethwaite, the chaplain of
the Academy, the three flags fell simultaue-
ously at a signal from Colonel Wilson, and
the portraits stood revealed. They are all
tlie work of Mrs. Darragh, of Philadelphia.
Grant, which naturally hangs in the middle,
was painted from Gutekunst's photograph
of 1865, and represents him in an easy atti-
tude in full general's uniform, without sword
or epaulets, the frock-coat unbuttoned, the
right hand thrust in the trousers-pocket, and
the left resting in the folds of the breast.
Sherman, on Grant's left, is from Hunting-
ton's portrait of 1874; while Sheridan, on
the opposite side, was taken from life, shortly
before his death. They are all extremely
lifelike, as the men looked at the time. Gen-
eral Sherman naturally looked older than
his counterfeit, but a startling resemblance
to Sheridan was seen and remarked in the
person of his brother, who survives him, and
who sat there as if to invite the verification.
The audience stood while the band played
' Hail, Columbia.' Then General Horace
Porter made an eloquent, scholarly, and
even masterly, presentation speech in behalf
of Mr. Childs. He was well received and
heartily applauded throughout, as well as at
the close."
148 Recollections.
The l^Qw York World, of October 4, re-
cords the presentation as follows :
" The ceremonies of the unveiling of the
portraits quickly followed the review in
Grant Hall, and as the assemblage took their
seats the appearance of General Sherman
and Mr. Childs on the platform brought
about a storm of applause. The old hero
bowed and smiled good-naturedly, and Mr.
Childs modestly, seated beside Colonel Wil-
son, who presided as the chairman of the
meeting, blushed as though some one had
asked him to take command of the army.
It was military throughout, the way the
ceremonies began. The Post-chaplain said
a short prayer. At its close Colonel Wilson
raised his hand, and silence prevailed. Be-
hind the platform there were three American
flags hanging against the wall, and all eyes
were fixed upon them. The colonel's hand
came down on the table in front of him,
there was one beat of the drum, and the
three flags disappeared as if wiped out by
electricity, and the three portraits of the
great generals were revealed. Round upon
round of applause followed, the cadets
marched in the hall behind the audience,
presented arms, and the band struck up
' Hail, Columbia.' As Mr. Childs stood up
West Point 149
like the others on the platform to gaze upon
the portraits, he was applauded to the echo,
the ladi,es waving their handkerchiefs, and
the cadets heatino* the floor with the but-
ends of their muskets. What Mr. Chikls
had promised General Sheridan in 1887,
when he said, 'General, if I outlive jou I
will have your portrait painted and hung
there beside that of Grant; I think it would
be a good idea to paint Sherman also, and
to hano; him on the one side of Grant and
you on the other,' was an accomplished fact.
Mr. Childs looked towards General Sherman
as he took his seat, and the old hero clasped
him warmly by the hand.
" General Horace Porter's address was
listened to with great attention and loudly
applauded. When Mr. Childs's name was
mentioned as well as General Sherman's, the
applause was loud and long-continued.
COLONEL WILSON'S KEMARKS.
" Colonel Wilson's reply to General Por-
ter, accepting the portraits for the Academy,
was a rins^ino; one and astonished his fellow-
soldiers by its oratorical delivery. Even
Secretary of War Proctor remarked, in the
few words he said to the audience on be-
ing called for, that ' West Point evidently
I Oi
150 ItccoUectio)is.
brought out not only good soldiers but
splendid orators.'
'"Mr. Childs,' said Colonel Wilson, 'in
the name of the United States Military
Academy I accept these splendid portraits
of the trio of heroes to whom our country
is so much indebted for its grandeur and its
unity. It is particularly appropriate that
you, one of the ablest leaders in that profes-
sion which is surely kindred to that of arms,
the press of the nation, should present to
this, their Alma Hater, the portraits of these
eminent men. The power of the press is
to-day felt throughout the civilized world.
It is the press that urges us to " do noble
deeds, not dream them all day long." It is
men like you who are leading these magnifi-
cent armies of the press in peace, that are
reducincr the MalakofFs of vice and Redans
of evil. In the name of the Military Acad-
emy I thank you for this generous and noble
gift, and may I not express the hope that,
to prove to those who come after us " that
peace hath its victories as well as war," we
ere long may see upon these walls, among
the portraits of these eminent soldiers, that
of the able, upright, philanthropic, con-
scientious Christian citizen, that generous,
true-hearted man, Mr. George W. Childs V
West Point. 151
" The Secretary of War then made a few
remarks, which were well received.
*' General Sherman, who, during all these
ceremonies, had sat on the platform with
folded hands and tear-dimmed and down-
cast e3^es, in response to many calls, was
next introduced. As the general arose the
assemblage broke forth into wild cheering.
" The applause was persistent as General
Sherman stood upon his feet, after repeated
calls. He spoke with feeling, and his deeply-
lined face, closely watched by those who
never before had seen him, was moved by
intense earnestness. The light of clustered
lamps fell upon his silvered head as he spoke,
and his strons; face was tremulous with emo-
tion as he referred to the fact that by a
strange accident of nature he was the only
one living now of the three whose portraits
were before his hearers, and there was a sad
quality in his voice when he said, ' I was
older than either Grant or Sheridan.'
GENERAL SHERMAN'S REMARKS.
" ' Ladies and Gentlemen and those
Cadets behind : I fear that West Point is
losing that good old reputation for doing
and not speaking. I have done more talk-
ing than I should have done, and I believe
152 RecoUcdlons.
I have done some good, tliough not sueh
as I thought of doing. It is one of those
strange incidents of my life that I am per-
mitted to stand before you to-night the sole
survivor of the trio, or trinity, of the gen-
erals of the army of the United States. I
was older than Grant or Sheridan. No three
men ever lived on the earth's surface so
diverse in mental and physical attributes as
the three men whose portraits you now look
upon. Different in every respect except one,
— we had a guiding star ; we had an emblem
of nationality in our minds implanted at
West Point, which made us come together
for the common purpose like the rays of the
sun coming together make them burn. This,
my young friends in gray, I want you to re-
member, that men may differ much, but that
by coming together in harmony and friend-
ship and love they may move mountains.
" ' I knew these men from the soles of
their feet to the tops of their heads. They
breathed the same feelings with me. We
were soldiers to obey the orders of our coun-
try's government and csLVvy them out what-
ever the peril that threatened us. Having
done so, we laid down our arms, like good
citizens that we hope to have been, giving the
example to all of the world that war is for
West Point 153
one purpose, — to produce peace. A just war
will produce peace; an unjust war has am-
bition or some other had motive. Our war
was pureh' patriotic, to help the government
in its peril. We were taught to idolize that
flag on the flag-statf, obeying the common
law, and working to a common purpose.
^o jealousies, nothing of the kind; work-
ing together like soldiers, the lieutenant
obeying the captain, the captain his colonel,
the briscadier the o-eneral. and all subordinate
to the President of the United States, — the
commander-in-chief. There is no need to
prophesy ; it is as plain as mathematics.
You can look in the heavens and read it.
It is the lesson of life. When war comes
you can have but one purpose — your country,
— and by your country I mean the whole
country, not part of it.' "
At the close of the remarks of General
Sherman immense cheers rang through the
hall.*
* In a letter to me, dated New York, November 3,
1889, General Sherman, speaking of my " Eecollections
of General Grant," which had been sent to him in con-
venient pamphlet form, says, " The substance of the
contents of this pamphlet I had read before, but it is
mere valuable in being thus arranged for safe-keeping,
thougii I would prefer it in octavo instead of duodecimo,
because my habit is to collect such pamplilets and once
154 Recollect Ion .•?.
GENERAL HORACE TORTER'S ADDRESS.
General Horace Porter was General Grant's
trusted and tried friend for the last twentj-
five years of his life. He was one of his staff
officers throughout the war, and his military
secretary while he was President of the
United States. The foUowino: is the touch-
ino: and eles^ant address which he delivered
on this occasion :
" The only representatives of royalty recog-
nized in this land are our merchant princes.
We are indebted for the occasion which
brings us together to-day to the princely act
of a public-spirited and patriotic citizen who
has conferred upon the Military Academy
souvenirs of her three most distin squished
graduates whose historic features have been
transferred to canvas by the limner's art.
One dwelling in our midst, two dwelling in
our memories. One bearing the laurel upon
a living brow, two wearing the laurel inter-
twined with the cypress. The history of
a year to overhaul them, select enough each year to
make a book of about five hundred pages, and have
, them indexed and bound for future reference. In this
way I collect much valuable matter. I am sure this
little 'primer' of yours will have fifty times its value
fifiv years hence."
WeM Point 155
their lives is tlie most brilliant chapter in
the history of their country. It savors more
of romance than realitv; it is more like a
fabled tale of ancient clays than the story of
American soldiers of the nineteenth centurv.
" Most of the conspicuous characters in
history have risen to prominence by gradual
steps, but the senior of the triumvirate,
whose features are recalled to us to-dav,
came before the people with a sudden bound.
Almost the first sis-ht caus^ht of him was in
the blaze of his camp-fires and the flashes
of his guns those wintry days and nights in
front of Donelson. From that time until
the closing triumph at Appomattox the
great central figure of the war was Ulysses
S. Grant. As light and shade produce the
most attractive effects in a picture, so the
singular contrasts, the strange vicissitudes
of his eventful life surround him with an
interest which attaches to few characters in
history. His rise from an obscure lieu-
tenant to the command of the veteran ar-
mies of the great republic; his transition
from a frontier post of the untrodden West
to the Executive Mansion of the nation ;
his sitting at one time in a little store in
Galena, not even known to the Congress-
man from his district; at another time strid-
156 Recollcdions.
\\\g^ tlirougli the palaces of the Old World,
with the descendants of a line of kings
rising and standing uncovered in his pres-
ence,— these are some of the features of his
marvellous career which appeal to the imag-
ination, excite men's wonder, and fascinate
all who make a study of his life.
" He was created for great emergencies.
It was the very magnitude of the task which
called forth the powers that mastered it.
In ordinary matters he was an ordinary
man ; in momentous affairs he towered as a
giant. When performing the routine duties
of a company post, there was no act to
make him conspicuous above his fellow-
officers, but when he wielded corps and
armies the great qualities of the commander
flashed forth, and his master-strokes of
genius stamped him as the foremost soldier
of his a^e. When he hauled wood from
his little farm and sold it in St. Louis his
financiering was hardly equal to that of the
small farmers about him, but when a mes-
sage was to be sent by a President to Con-
gress that would puncture the fallacies of
the inflationists and throttle by a veto the
attempt of unwise legislators to cripple the
finances of the nation, a state paper Avas
produced which has ever since commanded
West Point 157
the wonder and admiration of every believer
in a sound currency. He was made for
great things, not for Kttle. He could collect
fifteen millions from Great Britain in settle-
ment of the Alabama claims ; he could not
protect his own personal savings from the
miscreants who robbed him in Wall Street.
'' If there is one word which describes
better than any other the predominating
characteristic of his nature, that word is
loyalty. He was loyal to his friends, loyal
to his family, loyal to his country, and loyal
to his God. This trait naturally produced
a reciprocal effect upon those who were
brought into relations with him, and was
one of the chief reasons whv men became
so loyally attached to him. Many a public
man has had troops of adherents who clung
to him only for the patronage dispensed at
his hands, or being dazzled by his power
became blind partisans in a cause he repre-
sented; but perhaps no other man than
General Grant ever had so many personal
friends who loved him for his own sake,
whose affection only strengthened with time,
whose attachment never varied in its devo-
tion, whether he was general or President,
or simply private citizen.
" He was generous alike to friends and
14
158 RccoUectioiis.
foes. So magnanimous was lie to liis enemy
that we find him after the close of the war
risking his commission in saving from pros-
ecution in the civil courts his great military
antagonist upon the battle-fields of Virginia.
" Even the valor of his martial deeds was
surpassed by the superb heroism he dis-
played when fell disease attacked him, when
the hand which had seized the surrendered
swords of countless thousands was no longer
able to return the pressure of a comrade's
grasp, when he met in death the first enemy
to whom he ever surrendered. But with
him death brought eternal rest, and he was
permitted to enjoy what he had pleaded for
in behalf of others, for the Lord had let him
have peace.
" Turn we now to Grant's immediate suc-
cessor in the office of general-in-chief, his
illustrious lieutenant with whom he divided
a field of military operations which covered
half a continent, the skilful strategist, the
brilliant writer, the commander whose or-
ders spoke with the true bluntness of the
soldier, who fought from valley's depth to
mountain hei2:ht, who marched from inland
rivers to the sea, — William T. Sherman.
" He has shown himself possessed of the
higliest characteristics of the soldier. Bold
West Point. 159
in conception, self-reliant, demonstrating by
his acts that ' much clanger makes great
hearts most resolute,' prompt in decision,
unshrinking under grave responsibilities,
fertile in resources, quick to adapt the
means at hand to the accomplishment of
an end, possessing an intuitive knowledge
of topography, combining the restlessness
of a Hotspur with the patience of a Fabius,
unswerving in patriotism, of unimpeachable
personal character, with a physical constitu-
tion which enabled him to undergo every
hardship incident to an active campaign, it
is no wonder that he has filled so large a
measure of military greatness, that he stands
in the front rank of the world's great cap-
tains.
" ^o name connected with American war-
fare inspires more genuine enthusiasm, ap-
peals more to our sentiments, or more ex-
cites our fancy than that of the wizard of
the battle-field, Philip H. Sheridan. The
personification of chivalry, the incarnation
of battle; cheering, threatening, inciting,
beseeching, inspiring all men by his acts,
he roused his troops to deeds of individual
heroism unparalleled in the history of mod-
ern warfare, and his unconquerable columns
rushed to victory with all the confidence of
1 60 HccoUcdions.
Ccesar's Tentli Legion. Generous of his
life, gifted with the ingenuity of a Hanni-
bal, the dash of a Murat, the courage of a
Ney, the magnetism of his presence trans-
formed routed squadrons into charging col-
umns, and snatched victory from defesit.
He preferred shot and shell to flags of truce ;
he would rather lead forlorn hopes than
follow in the wake of charges.
" His standard rose above all others on
the field ; wherever blows fell thickest his
crest was in their midst; despite the daring
valor of the defence, opposing ranks went
down before the fierceness of his onsets
never to rise again ; he paused not till the
folds of his banners waved over the strong-
holds he had wrested from the foe. While
his achievements in actual battle eclipse,
by their brilliancy, the strategy and grand
tactics employed in his campaigns, yet the
skill and boldness exhibited in moving large
bodies of men into position entitle him, per-
haps, to as much credit as the marvellous
qualities he displayed in the face of the
enemy.
" Brave Sheridan ! Methinks I see your
silent clay again quickened into life, once
more riding Rienzi through a fire of hell,
leaping opposing earthworks at a single
WestPohit. IGl
bound, and leaving nothing of those who
barred your way except the fragments scat-
tered in your path.
"Matchless leader! Harbinger of vic-
tory, we salute you !
" As long as manly courage is talked of or
heroic deeds are honored, there will remain
green in the hearts of men the talismanic
name of Sheridan.
" Nearly every great war has given birth
to one o;reat 2:eneral; no other war than our
own has produced three such eminent com-
manders. In their portraits future graduates
will gaze upon the features of three soldiers
who were heroes, comrades, friends. As
iron is welded in the heat of the forge, so
was their friendship welded in the heat of
battles. With hearts untouched by jealousy,
with souls too great for rivalry, they saved
us from the spectacle presented by a Marius
and a Sulla, a Caesar and a Pompey, a Charles
the First and a Cromwell. They placed
above all personal ends the safety of the
state, and, like the men in the Koman pha-
lanx of old, stood shoulder to shoulder
and linked their shields against a common
foe.
" In this life little is learned from precept,
something from experience, much from ex-
l 14*
1G2 Rccollcdions.
ample. It is said that for three hundred
years after Thermopylae every school child
ill Greece was required each day to repeat
from memory the names of the three hun-
dred immortal heroes who fell in the defence
of that pass. It would be in itself a liberal
education to the future defenders of the
republic who bear diplomas from this his-
toric spot, where patriotism early found a
stronghold and treason's plots were baffled,
if the}' could daily utter the names and con-
template the exalted characters of the trio
whose faces will henceforth look down upon
them from the artist's canvas. As we gaze
upon the features of each one of them we
may fittingly apply the words of Milton, —
H I
Thither shall all the valiant youth resort,
And from his memory inflame their breasts
To matchless valor.'
" The imperishable scroll on which the
record of their deeds is written has been se-
curely lodged in the highest niche of Fame's
temple, ^o one can pluck a single laurel
from their brow ; no man can lessen the
measure of their renown.
"It is an auspicious circumstance which
permits these ceremonies to take place be-
fore so distinguished and influential a body
West Point. 163
as that of the International American Con-
gress. The presence of its delegates upon
this Post dedicated to war is an augury that
states may be saved without the sword ;
that henceforth our differences in the J^ew
World may be settled without resorting to
the • last argument of kings/ and that con-
gresses, bearing in their hands the olive-
branch, will labor to avoid war, which
wastes a nation's substance, to foster com-
merce, which is a nation's life, and to pre-
serve that peace and good-will which should
everywhere prevail among men.
" Three years ago there was selected as
President of your Board of Visitors a citi-
zen of Philadelphia, whose heart is as large'
as his purse, and whose generosity dwells
in a land which knows no frontiers, — Mr.
George W. Childs. His thoughtfulness
prompted his liberality to procure for the
Academy these gifts which are to grace its
walls.
" The likeness of General Grant was exe-
cuted by Mrs. Darragh, of Philadelphia.
It was made from a photograph taken by
Gutekunst, of that city, in 1865, which Mrs.
Grant and a number of the general's friends
considered the best of the many pictures
taken of him just after the war. Repre-
16-1 Recollections.
senting him as he appeared nearly thirty
years ago, his features do not seem so famil-
iar to those who saw him only in later years.
Mrs. Darraii:h was also commissioned to exe-
cute the portraits of Sheridan and Sherman.
In the preparation of General Sherman's
picture her chief guide was the famous por-
trait of him painted by Huntington, fifteen
years ago, and her aim was to represent the
general as of that period. General Sheri-
dan sat for his portrait, and she painted it
from life, representing the general as he ap-
peared but a short time before his lamented
death.
"It now becomes my agreeable duty, in
the name of Mi*. Childs, to present to you.
Colonel "Wilson, as Superintendent of the
Military Academy, the portraits of three of
her sons who have borne the highest mili-
tary titles, as an offering from an untitled
citizen, who, in his living, has verified the
adage that the post of honor is the private
station.
" His good works have made him honored
in other lands as well as this, where his
name is held in grateful recollection by the
many who have been the recipients of his
practical philanthropy; and not only the
graduates of West Point, but the people at
West Point 165
large, ^vill, I am sure, make grateful ac-
knowledgment of the means he has taken,
in those testimonials, to manifest his appre-
ciation of the Military Academy and the
three distinguished sons she trained to battle
for the integrity of our common country.'
.' "
There were loud cheers as the general
sat down, and then the band struck up
"Yankee Doodle," the ladies and guests gen-
erally rushed from their seats, and as they
filed out into the dark after the cadet corps
Mr. Childs was surrounded bv the officers
and the American delegates, who shook him
bv the hand heartily and cons^ratulated him
upon the grand success of his patriotic plan
of 1887.
HISTORY OF THE PORTRAITS.
Major John M. Carson, chief of the Phila-
delphia Ledger Bureau at Washington, has
furnished the following account of the paint-
ing of the portraits of Generals Grant,
Sherman, and Sheridan for the Military
Academy :
" The creation of portraits of Generals
Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, now hung
in the Cadet Mess Hall — to be hereafter
known as Grant Ilall — at the United States
1G6 Recollections.
Military Academy, West Point, was begun
about three years ago. The original pur-
pose was confined to a portrait of Grant.
The portraits of Sherman and Sheridan
sprang from this purpose, and, considering
the relations of Mr. George W. Childs, to
whose patriotism and liberality the Military
Academy is indebted for the portraits, with
those three military chieftains, the Sherman
and Sheridan paintings were an easy and
log-ical out2:rowth. The scheme from which
these three large valuable paintings ema-
nated was evolved from a comparatively
unimportant incident. About four years
ago, with that skill and ingenuity which
have made him famous in the management
of the Cadet Mess, Captain William F.
Spurgin, treasurer, quartermaster, and com-
missary of cadets, succeeded in giving the
Mess Hall a new floor and having its walls
brightened.
" Captain Spurgin next conceived the
idea of makincr the Hall still more attrac-
tive by hanging pictures and portraits upon
the walls. This was approved by General
Wesley Merritt, then superintendent of the
Academv, who authorized the transfer from
the library of several portraits for this pur-
pose. When these were hung in the Mess
West Point 167
Hall a now idea was suggested to Captain
Spurgin, and he concluded that it would be
most appropriate to collect for the Hall por-
traits and photographs of the distinguished
graduates of the Academy. It was naturally
thought that the daily presence with the
cadets of these exemplars of the Academy
could not fail to exercise a wholesome influ-
ence upon the corps. They would furnish
cadets when at meals suo^srestions for thous^ht
and conversation, and those who occupied
seats at tables once occupied by Grant, Sher-
man, Sheridan, Meade, Thomas, Hancock,
and other eminent o-raduates, as thev looked
upon the portraits, would be encouraged to
emulate the lives of those great chieftains.
In addition to this, it was thought that such
a gallery might be collected through relatives
and friends, without expense to the govern-
ment or the Acad em V.
"During one of my periodical visits to
the Academy Captain Spurgin outlined his
scheme, and said he would like to obtain a
good picture of General Grant. It was sug-
gested that Mr. George W. Childs had sev-
eral good large-size photographs of Grant,
and w^ould doubtless be glad to contribute
one of them for this use. Captain Spurgin
wrote to Mr. Childs, who agreed to comply
1 68 Recollections.
witlj the request made. Shortly thereafter
Mr. Childs mentioned this matter to Mrs.
U. S. Grant, who said that she would like,
above all things, to have a good likeness of
her husband at the Military Academy, for
which he always entertained a feeling of
admiration and love. Some years prior to
this Mr. Childs had Leutze, who painted
' Westward the Course of Empire' upon the
wall of the west stairway to the galkry of
the House of Representatives at Washington,
paint a portrait of General Grant, and sug-
gested that the Leutze painting be trans-
ferred from the library to the Cadet Mess
Hall. The Leutze portrait was not liked
by Mrs. Grant, and she did not, therefore,
care to have it used for this purpose. Mr.
Childs then said he would have a portrait
of the Gieneral made for West Point from
any picture Mrs. Grant might select. The
photograph made by Gutekunst, of Phil-
adelphia, in 1865, was selected by Mrs.
Grant, and Mrs. Darragh, of Philadelphia,
was commissioned to paint a portrait from
it. The general stood for this photograph.
It is regarded by his famil}^, and those who
were his associates, as a correct likeness of
the general as he appeared at the close of
the war. When the photograph was taken
West Point 169
General Grant wore upon his left arm a
badge of mourning for President Lincoln.
This emblem of mourning does not appear
in the painting. To many of those who
knew General Grant after he became Presi-
dent, the Darragh portrait is not considered
good, but by the family of the general, and
by those who were intimate with him during
and imniediately after the war, it is regarded
as a faithful likeness and an excellent por-
trait. It was sent to the Academy in May,
1887, and hung on the north wall of the
Cadet Mess Hail. General Merritt, ' in
honor of the great graduate of the Academy,
whose portrait, a present to the Academy
from Mr. George W. Childs, sanctifies the
hall as a gallery for the portraits of gradu-
ates,' issued an order directing that there-
after the cadet dinincr-hall should be known
officially as Grant Hall.
" In June, 1887, a few days after the
Grant yjortrait had been hung, Mr. Childs
visited the Military Academy as a member
of the Board of Visitors, upon which occa-
sion I accompanied him. General Sheridan
also visited the Academy at that time in his
official capacity as lieutenant-general com-
manding the army, and it proved to be his
last visit to the institution. In company
H 15
1 70 Recollections.
witli Mr. Cliilds General Sheridan visited
the dining-hall to inspect the Grant portrait,
and during this inspection Mr. Childs said
to the general, in his quick but cheerful
manner in conversation, —
'"General, if I outlive you I will have
your portrait painted and hung there beside
that of Grant.'
"Sheridan responded, 'Mr. Childs, if you
intend to have painted a portrait of me I
would like to see it before it is hung in this
hall.'
" ' All right,' said Mr. Childs ; ' you shall
see it. I would prefer to have you painted
while living.'
" After further conversation about the
Grant portrait, the two gentlemen left the
hall and walked to the house of the superin-
tendent, General ^lerritt, at w^hich General
Sheridan was a guest. Mr. Childs proceeded
to the West Point Hotel. Sheridan arrived
at the Point that morning, and was to review
the corps of cadets in the afternoon, and, as
it was near the hour fixed for the parade
when General Merritt's house was reached,
he went directly to his room to don his
uniform. "While thus ens^ao-ed he sent a
messenger to Mr. Childs, asking that gentle-
man to join him before ' parade,' and, at the
West Point. 171
same time, invited the Board of Visitors,
throiio:h Mr. Childs, who was President of
the Board, to attend him during the cere-
monies of parade and review.
'' When Mr. Childs joined the general on
the porch of the superintendent's house, the
latter said, —
" ' Mr. Childs, while putting on my uni-
form, I could not help musing about our
conversation in the Mess Hall. If you are
in earnest about painting my portrait for the
Academy, I want to be painted from life.'
" ' I am in earnest,' replied Mr, Childs.
' The portrait shall be painted, upon one
condition, — it must please Mrs. Sheridan.
I think it would be a good idea to paint
Sherman also, and to hang him on the one
side of Grant and you on the other.'
" ' That certainly would be a generous
act upon your part,' said Sheridan, ^ and one
which would be appreciated by Sherman
and myself I would rather have you do
this service than anv other man, because no
one could do it with so much propriety.
The relations between Grant and vou were
bound by strong ties of mutual affection.
Those between you, Sherman, and myself
have been most intimate. We have all
been guests at the same time, and many
172 Recollections,
times, at your house. You have come to
know us better than other men know us.
Grant, Sherman, and myself were closely
connected with the suppression of the re-
bellion. United thus in our lives, we should
be placed together here, returned as it were
to the Academy from which we started out
in the morning of life as second lieutenants.
Associated as 3^ou have been with us, you are
the very man to keep us united after death.'
"^AU right, general,' said Mr. Childs.
' The portraits shall be painted and hung in
the Mess Hall. Now select your artist.'
" When Mr. Childs spoke to General
Sheridan in the Mess Hall about painting
his portrait, the latter did not think that
Mr. Childs was serious. I happen to loiow
that Mr. Childs formed the determination
to add the portraits of Sherman and Sheri-
dan to his contribution prior to his visit to
the Acadeni}', and informed General Sheri-
dan of this fact upon his return to Wash-
ington from West Point during a conversa-
tion in which he related to me what I have
stated touching the conversation with Mr.
Cliilds at West Point, and also the conver-
sation between Childs, Sheridan, and Sher-
man in relation to painting a portrait of the
general last named.
West Point 173
" Sliortly after the conversation between
Childs and Sheridan on the porch of the
superintendent's house, the battalion was
formed on the parade-ground. General
Sheridan, accompanied by the superinten-
dent and staff and the Board of Visitors,
had passed down the front and up the rear
of the battalion, with its well-aligned and
rigid ranks, in which he had once stood as
a cadet, and had taken his place at the
point designated for the reviewing officer,
when General Sherman rode up from Crans-
ton's Hotel, located about a mile south of
the reservation. Sherman remained in his
carriage, which was drawn up in front of
the parade-ground and directly in rear of
the reviewing officer. As the corps passed
in common, and subsequently in double
time, Sherman stood up and watched, with
old-time eagerness and pride, the columns
of gray and white until they wheeled into
a faultless line, tendered the final salute
to the reviewing officer, heard the cadet
adjutant announce ' Parade is dismissed,'
and saw the companies move, to lively mu-
sic, from the parade-ground to the cadet bar-
racks. Then he alighted from the carriage,
pushed through the crowd that always
fringes the parade-ground upon occasions
15*
17-1 Ilecollectioiis.
of parade and review, and joined Sheridan
and the other officials who still lingered on
the ground. When the usual salutations
and introductions had been concluded,
Sheridan drew Sherman and Childs apart
from the crowd and said, —
" ' Sherman, Mr. Childs informs me that
he intends to have portraits of you and me
painted, to hang beside that of General
Grant in the Mess Hall. He proposes to
wait until we die, but I insisted that the
paintings be made before we die, so we may
see how the artist executes us. He has
agreed to do this, and I told him he is the
one man who can and should do it.'
" General Sherman expressed great grati-
fication at this. ' Childs,' said he, ' that is
a good idea. I think it will be admitted,
and I can say it without suspicion of ego-
tism, that Grant, Sheridan, and myself were
the three central military figures of the war,
and I would like that we should go down
to posterity together. I like the idea of
hanging our portraits in the Mess Hall here,
and I agree with Sheridan that the scheme
can be better, and with greater propriety,
carried out by you than by any other man.'
" 'Well, it is all understood and settled,'
said Mr. Childs. 'I have told Sheridan to
West Point. 175
select his artist, and I now repeat that order
to you.'
" When it was publicly announced that
Mr. Chilcls was to have the portraits painted,
the two o:enerals were overrun with letters
from artists solicitins^ the work. In Sheri-
dan's case the applications were so numer-
ous as to become annoying, and upon his
request a paragraph was published in the
newspapers announcing that he had selected
an artist. It was Mr. Cliilds's desire to
have the two portraits finished in time for
the annual commencement in June, 1888,
and by his direction I several times urged
Sheridan to select an artist and have the
work begun. This was not an easy matter
for him to do, but he finally succeeded in
finding an artist in l^ew York with whom
he partially arranged to paint his portrait.
In the mean time he sent to Mr. Childs a
large photograph, taken about the time he
left Chicago to succeed Sherman in command
of the armv. It shows Sheridan in the full
uniform of his rank, and was his favorite
picture. Supposing, upon receipt of the
photograph, that the general intended that
he should select an artist, Mr. Childs com-
missioned Mrs. Darragh to paint the portrait,
and she proceeded with the preliminary
176 Recoiled ions.
work, using the photograph referred to.
Some time thereafter I receiv^ed a letter
from Mr. Childs informing me that Mrs.
Darragh would visit Washington to consult
General Sheridan about giving her ' sittings/
and requesting me to arrange with the gen-
eral for an interview. He Avas very much
displeased upon being informed of the se-
lection of Mrs. Darragh, and declared, with
an exhibition of temper, that he would not
see her. He did not believe a woman could
paint a man's portrait. Finally he cooled
down and said the woman should have a
fair chance. Upon her arrival in Washing-
ton I accompanied Mrs. Darragh to the War
Department and presented her to the gen-
eral. The lady went to the Department
with fear and trembling. She had been
informed that Sheridan was not pleased
with her selection, that he was a choleric, ill-
mannered man, and she therefore imagined
that he would be frigid, turbulent, and dis-
agreeable. I assured the lady that she had
received a wrong impression about Sheridan,
— that he was quiet and gentlemanly in de-
portment, and that she would be given a
kind reception and respectful hearing. It
was plain, however, that she was not im-
pressed w^ith my estimate of the general,
West Point 177
and entered his office with nervous appre-
hension which she vainly strove to conceal.
The o^eneral received Mrs. Darracrh witli
the utmost kindness. A cadet of the first
class could not have exhibited greater
suavity. The lady was made to feel at per-
fect ease. After considerable talk about
the work in hand, Sheridan said to Mrs.
Darragh, —
" ' I have an idea you artists get 3^our
own individuality into your work. I have
been painted by artists of several nationali-
ties, but never by a woman. The Italian
artist made me look like a brigand; the
Frenchman made me resemble iN^apoleon,
between whom and myself there is no physi-
cal resemblance, except, perhaps, in height;
the Spaniard made me look like two or three
Mexican generals whom I have met. E^ow,
madam,' he continued, with a twinkle in his
eye, and a smile that illuminated his bronzed
features, ' I am confident you will make a
good piicture, but I beg you will not make
me look like a woman.'
'' Mrs. Darragh brought her canvas to
Washington, where the general gave her
several sittings. He saw the portrait com-
pleted in every detail except the sabre, and
was well pleased with it. A few weeks prior
7n
1 78 llecoUections.
to his fatal sickness he sent for me, and after
a general talk about the portrait, which I
had recently seen while visiting Philadelphia,
said he desired to have the old sabre which
he carried through the war painted in the
picture, and he related to me its history.
The scabbard is covered on both sides with
the names of the ensrao^ements in which the
general participated, and their dates. The
original scabbard, however, had to be dis-
carded during the war,, on account of inju-
ries received in action. It had been struck
several times by musket-balls and bruised
in three or four places by being kicked or
trampled by horses. Finally a new scabbard
had to be procured, and this shows signs of
hard usage. I had the sabre forwarded to
Mr. Childs. After he was struck down by
disease, and before his removal from Wash-
ington to I^onquitt, the general sent me an
inquiry about the sabre, and received the
assurance that it was in Mr. Childs's posses-
sion and would be carefully guarded. Its
next and final duty was to rest on Sheridan's
coffin. After his death the artist changed
the uniform in the portrait from that of lieu-
tenant-general to that of general, to which
rank he succeeded by act of Congress while
on his death-bed.
West Point. 179
*' The same artist was selected to paint
General Sherman, but before it was finished
members of the general's family expressed
a desire to have the portrait made to repre-
sent him as he looked fifteen years ago. The
general yielded to this desire, and the artist
changed the face, using for a guide the por-
trait of Sherman by Huntington, painted in
1874, which now hangs in the War Depart-
ment, and which General Sherman regards
as the best portrait ever made of him, in
which judgment Mrs. Sherman and the
familv concurred."*
From the ]^ew York Sun, February 14,
1888:
THE WEST POINT ''REPORT."
'' Washington, February 13. — The Mili-
tary Academy Appropriation Bill is expected
to go through both Houses this year without
* Writing to me, under date of New York, Septem-
ber 18, 1889, Sir Edwin Arnold speaks flattering!}' of
my Recollections of Grant, " which," he says, "I have
read with all the more profit and pleasure because I
have met General Sherman here, and we talked much
about Grant, whom you knew so well. He shows in
your most interesting paragraphs all that I believed him,
— a noble, grand, and beautiful hero, raised up to save
his country in her dark hour."
1 80 Recollections,
opposition, and possibly even without dis-
cussion, unless with a view to giving some
members an opportunity to pay a compli-
ment like that which was so pleasantly in-
troduced by General Wheeler recently, when
he presented to the House the Report of the
Board of Visitors for the past year. The
distinguished Alabama cavalryman and Con-
gressman is a graduate of West Point, a
soldier of renown, and qualified to discuss
with professional intelligence the important
subject-matter of the report, which is that
of military science and education. Never-
theless, representing no doubt the judgment
of his colleagues on the Board of Visitors,
as well as his own, he committed the fortunes
of the report exclusively to the weight it
would carry as the utterances of Mr. George
W. Childs, the President of the visitins: bodv.
General Wheeler's address, as reported in
full in the Congressional Record, was as
follows :
" ^ Mr. Speaker, in piresenting the report
of the President of the Board of Visitors to
the Military Acadeni}-, I desire to ask present
action on the resolution which I send to the
Clerk's desk.
" ' The hi2:h character of the distino^uished
President of the Board must add much
West Point 181
weiii:ht to the siio:iJ:estions contained in the
report.
" ' They are made by a man whose phil-
anthropic generosity is not limited by the
boundaries of municipalities, States, sections,
or peoples, but extends beyond oceans, to
races foreis^n to us in lancruao-e, customs, and
ideas; a man whose purpose in life is to do
good to mankind, and to help the weak and
the lowly.
" ' The recommendations of such a man
upon the subject treated of in the report
cannot be too widely disseminated.'
" On examination the report, which is now
distributed to the public, is really found to
be signed not only by Mr. Childs as Presi-
dent, but by General Wheeler, as Vice-Presi-
dent, by W. A. Courtney, Secretary, and by
eisrht other srentlemen, beo-inninoc with Gen-
eral P. H. Anderson, of Georgia, and ending
with the Hon. Ben. Butterworth, of Ohio.
There is also a minority report signed by Mr.
George H. Bates, of Delaware. It is further
observable that the plural verb is always used
with the word Board as a subject in the main
report, in such phrases as ' the Board are,'
* the Board think,' 'the Board feel,' and so
on. This does not appear to be a mere ex-
tension of the editorial we ; yet, as will be
16
182 Recolledio ) w.
seen by the speech of General Wheeler, that
gentleman preferred to efface not only him-
self, but all his colleagues, and to present
the report as that of President Childs. It
is doubtful, also, whether any preceding
instance could be quoted of so direct and
high a compliment as his, accompanying
any similar occasion of presenting an annual
report of a Board of Visitors.
" The resolution submitted by General
Wheeler was for the printing of the usual
five thousand extra copies of the report, but
it was accompanied w^ith the unusual pro-
posal to consider the resolution at once, in-
stead of referring it to the Committee on
Printing. General Wheeler politely pointed
out that there was a peculiar reason for
departing, on this occasion, from the ordi-
nary course :
" ' It is not often that we have reports from
a gentleman like Mr. George W. Childs,
whose grand sympathetic heart and bank
account are always tuned to the same
music; but as the gentleman from Georgia
[Mr. Blount] insists that the resolution be
referred to the Committee on Printing, and
as the Chairman of that committee assures
me it shall be reported back very promptly,
I will interpose no objection.'
West Point. 183
" The House Committee on Military Af-
fairs adopted without a moment's hesitation
or a single change the report prepared by
the sub-committee for the Military Academy,
which exceeds that of last year, items being
introduced for improving the wharf and
building a new laundry. Probably still
larger appropriations might have been se-
cured under the general good-will felt for
President Childs, as expressed by General
Wheeler.
^' The annual report of the Board is an
unusually full and elaborate document, com-
prising one hundred and thirty-three printed
pages, 'and rather a gala aftair is made of it
by the innovation of some full-page illustra-
tions of landscape and interior views at
"West Point."
MEMORIALS
TO
SHAKESPEARE,
HERBERT AND COWPER, MILTON,
BISHOPS
ANDREWES AND KEN.
IG* 185
EXPLAWATOET.
As there is nothing, however remote or in-
significant, connected with Shakespeare that
is without value to those who, with Ben Jon-
son, "• love the man," or " do reverence his
memory," I have thought that the *' story"
of The Memorial Fountain erected at Strat-
ford-upon-Avon by Mr. George W. Childs
would be neither valueless nor uninteresting.
For the compiling of this Story of the
Stratford Fountain, which is but a gathering
and putting together of what has been else-
where said and written, I have no better
warrant than that, not only have I found
therein a pleasant occupation for some leis-
ure hours, but to me the subject seemed
worthy of being revived from the newspapers
— in which, through patient delving, I mainly
found it — and of receiving a more permanent
form. Whatever value this sketch may have
187
188 Explanatory.
lies, I know, solely in the fact that it tells,
with more or less completeness, the Story
of the Origin, Building, and Dedication of
the most imposing architectural monument
erected in any country to the genius of
Shakespeare. There must be both pride and
pleasure to every American in the reflection
that this Stratford Memorial is the gift of
a fellow-citizen who in i^ivino^ and buildins:
neither gave unwittingly, nor builded better
than he knew; he did both in the confident
hope and faith, I am convinced, that his gift
would add another link — however slis^ht —
to that chain of brotherhood between Eng-
lishmen and Americans which so many of
the leading minds in Religion, in Politics,
in Literature, and on the Stage on either
side of the Atlantic have been, during late
3^ears, so earnestly engaged in welding
firmer, and closer, and stronger.
In selecting that which is herein presented
from the great mass of material in the pub-
lic journals of the day, both English and
American, I rejected all that did not seem
pertinent to the objects I had in view, where-
of the first is to give permanency to the his-
tory of the Stratford Fountain, and whereof
the other is to let the story bear record to
Explanatory. 189
the general recognition of the fine motive
which inspired the gift. If I have retained
anything which may not seem germane to
these objects, and which should, perhaps,
have been rejected, I have erred only through
a zealous wish to present as much evidence
as possible of the sincerity and universality
of that international spirit of fraternity to
the existence of which the newspapers of
the Old Country and of the ]!^ew testified so
strongly in their remarks upon Mr. Childs's
Shakespeare Memorial.
To the Storv of the Fountain >I have
deemed it not inappropriate to add brief
accounts of certain other gifts which, in
the interest of the same broad spirit of in-
ternational brotherhood, Mr. Childs, as a
representative American, has presented, at
diflPerent times, to England and to the Eng-
lish people.
L. C. D.
SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN,
Stratford-upon-Avon.
THE
STRATF0RD-UP0N-4V0N FOUNTAIN.
THE INCEPTION AND ERECTION OF THE
MEMORIAL.
In the autumn of 1878 the Very Reverend
Arthur P. Stanle}^ D.D., Dean of Westmin-
ster, visited the United States, and during
his sojourn in PhiLidelphia was, as so many
distinguished foreigners previously were and
have since been, the guest of Mr. George
W. Childs. In the course of an after-din-
ner talk the venerable Dean, whose love of
the literature of his country was not less
sincere than his knowledge of it was pro-
found, spoke feelingly of the absence of any
suitable memorial of some of those who had
laid so broad and deep the foundations of
English poetry. Especially he spoke of
Shakespeare, and of the strange neglect of
the British-speaking people to erect an ap-
propriate monument to him even in the
place of his birth. The Dean of Westmin-
191
192 The Straff ord-upon- Avon Fuuntaln.
eter was greatly impressed by what he had
seen and heard in America, and particularly
was he moved by the noble hospitality of
which he was everywhere the recipient, and
which he was modestly pleased to think
emanated not so much from personal regard
for himself as from the common feeling of
kinship which he felt bound the peoples of
the two countries together. For his cousins
across the sea he was inspired with admira-
tion, respect, and affection, and his broad and
generous sympathies induced him to think
that no better thing could be done by Eng-
lishmen or Americans than to streno-then the
belief that w^as surely growing up among
their leaders of thought in the reality of
their mutual feeling of fraternity and fellows-
ship.
The gift of Mr. Childs of the Herbert and
Cowper Window to Westminster Abbey had
been suggested by Dean Stanlej^ and it was
on the occasion to which reference is above
made that this eminent divine ventured to
state to his host that a memorial of similar
or other character of Shakespeare set up in
the Church at Stratford-upon-Avon by an
American would have a certain influence
for ffood throuo-hout Eno^land and America.
Subsequently, after the Dean's return to his
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 193
own country, Mr. Cliikls wrote to liim to
sav that he had considered the susforestiou
of placing a memorial window to Shake-
speare in the Church by the Avon, which is
the Poet's tomb, and that he would be pleased
to make the gift upon tlie sole condition that
Dean Stanley would himself not only de-
termine what form it should assume, but
personally undertake the execution of the
donor's purpose.
In a letter dated December 3, 1878, Dean
Stanley said, in reply to Mr. Childs, —
''With regard to jour generous offer of the window,
will you let me delay my complete answer till the week
after next, when I shall hope to have seen the Church ?
I am inclined to think that Stratford being, next to
Westminster Abbey, the place (I believe) most fre-
quently visited by Americans, might be considered
an exceptional locality."
Subsequently, on December 18, 1878, Dean
Stanley wrote, from Stratford-upon-Avon, —
"My dear Mr. Childs, — In pursuance of my
promise I have come here to look at the Church and
see what place there would be for the window which,
in accordance with my suggestion, you so kindly
offered to give.
" I find that on one side of the chancel there is a
place for windows containing subjects from the Old
Testament, of which one has already been erected
I n 17
194 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
by the collective contributions of Americans, and two
others remain to be supplied. It would, I think, be
very suitable that the one next in order should come
from Philadelphia. It consists of seven or eight com-
partments, and 1 would suggest that as the window
alongside contains The Seven Ages of Man, taken from
different characters of the Old Testament, so the next
should contain some other Shakespearian subject also
taken from the Old Testament. If you will allow me
to think over this, I will do my best for your generous
intentions. You will be interested in learning that the
last visitor to Shakespeare's home before my arrival
here was a Philadelphian ; also the last guest whom I
entertained in London before I left to deliver my ad-
dress in Birmingham (which was on the History of the
United States) was your excellent Minister, Mr. John
Welsh.
" We have been much gratified in England by the
sympathy shown in America for our Queen.
'' Yours, with all kind remembrances,
" A. P. Stanley."
This was the last communication which
Mr. Childs received from the Very Rever-
end Dean of Westminster on the subject of
the Shakespearian Memorial Window, it be-
ing understood between them that a window
such as recommended should be placed in
the Church of Holy Trinity, Dean Stanley
undertaking to have it designed and exe-
cuted.
The onerous and exacting character of his
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 195
public duties prevented the Dean proceeding
immediately with the work, and it was not
lono^ afterwards that failino^ health interfered
with his purpose, and his death, which oc-
curred in mid-July of 1881, brought to a
close for the time beins; the intention of Mr.
Childs to carry out his reverend and vener-
able friend's su2:2:e3tion.
In 1886, however, it was proposed, and a
Committee was appointed by some of the
most distinguished lovers of Shakespeare in
England, to restore the church at Stratford-
upon-Avon in which the bones of Shake-
speare lie. Appeals for contributions to se-
cure the execution of this object were made,
not only to the cultivated people of Great
Britain, but to those of the United States
as well. Among others who were greatly
interested in the plan of restoration was
James Macaulay, M.D., an honored and es-
teemed British scholar, editor of The Leisure
Hour. Dr. Macaulav, who is one of the old-
est friends of Mr. Childs, personally appealed
to him to contribute to the Restoration Fund.
To this appeal Mr. Childs promptly replied
that he would o-ive whatever sum Dr. Ma-
caulay should sucrsrest as desirable and befit-
ting; but before an answer was received to
this generous offer the Restoration Commit-
196 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
tee disagreed in respect to the character and
extent of the work to be done, and the
entire scheme failed of accomplishment.
Subsequently, on September 9, 1886, Dr.
Macaulaj wrote to Mr. Childs, acquainting
him with the failure of the Committee to
carry out the contemplated alteration or
restoration of Holy Trinity Church, and
advising him that the request for a contri-
bution to that object was withdrawn. In
this letter Dr. Macaulav, however, su2:o:ested
that, if his friend had vet a desire as an
American to pay tribute to the genius of
Shakespeare in his own town, he could do it
in no better way than by erecting a drinking-
fountain to his memory, " to be placed in
the Market Square, where there is none,
and which would be a handsome thing from
an American." Dr. ATacaulay added, '' I
think I once suggested this to you, and that
it might be associated with Shakespeare by
a motto taken from his works. It would be
a useful gift both to man and beast."
Mr. Childs, it appears, accepted tliis sug-
gestion readily, it being in happy accord
with the spirit in which he had previously
contributed the Memorial Window to the
genius of the Christian poets, Herbert and
Cowper, in Westminster Abbey, and subse-
The Straff ord-iipon- A von Fountain. 197
quently, the ^lilton Window, in St. Mar-
garet's, Westminster. It evidently seemed
to him to afford another opportunity to add
to the ties of fraternity and friendship be-
tween Engkmd and America, an object which
appeared most desirable, and which being
accomplished in the Queen's Jubilee Year
would have the greater significance as be-
ing a recognition by Americans of Victoria's
brilliant and useful reis^n of half a centurv.
Mr. Cliilds's hearty compliance with Dr.
Macaulay's suggestion was commmiicated by
the latter o:entleman to Sir Arthur Ilodfrson,
Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon, who, on the
loth of December, wrote to the editor of
The Leisure Hour the subjoined letter:
" My dear Sir, — Many thanks for your kind letter:
the name of Mr. Childs is no great surprise to me, and
I shall he delighted to announce his most generous offer,
which will supply a much and long needed want in this
horough, and to move the acceptance of Mr. Childs's
offer at the meeting of my Council on the 21st instant."
On the next dav notification was sent bv
the Town Clerk to the members of the Cor-
poration Council :
'' The Mayor requests your attendance at a special
meeting of the Council to he holden at the Town Hall,
on Tuesday, the 21st day of December, instant, at 11.30
17*
198 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
o' the clock in the forenoon precisely, where the follow-
ing business is proposed to be enacted : . . .
"The Mayor to read a letter, dated December 8,
1886, from James Macaulay, Esq., M.D., the editor of
The Leisure Hour, London, conveying an offer from
George "NV. Childs, Esq., of Philadelphia, to the Mayor
and Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon of a Public
Drinking-Fountain as ' the gift of an American citizen
to the town of Shakespeare in the Jubilee Year of
Queen Victoria.'
"The Mayor to move that Mr. Childs's kind and
generous offer be accepted, with grateful thanks, by
this Corporation."
On the 22d of December Sir Arthur Hodo:-
son wrote to Dr. Macaulay :
" My dear Sir, — I have much pleasure in enclosing
copy of a resolution unanimously and with acclamation
adopted yesterday at a full and special meeting of the
Council of the Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon."
The following is the resolution above re-
feiTed to :
"That Mr. George W. Childs's (of Philadelphia)
kind and generous offer of a Public Drinking-Fountain,
' a gift to the Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon of
an American citizen in the Jubilee Year of Queen
Victoria,' be accepted by the Corporation with grateful
thanks."
The London Times of the 22d of Decem-
ber, under the caption of the " Queen's Ju-
The Sir atford-ujwn- Avon Fountain. 199
bilee," 2:ave tliis account of tlie Council's
proceedings :
"At a meeting of the Stratford-upon-Avon Town
Council yesterday afternoon, a letter Avas read from
Dr. Macaulay, editor of The Leisure Hour, stating
that he was authorized by Mr. George W. Childs, of
Philadelphia, to offer for the acceptance of the Corpo-
ration a handsome Drinking-Fountain as the gift of an
American citizen to the town of Shakespeare in the
Jubilee Year of Queen Victoria. Mr. Childs expressed
the hope that the fountain would be evidence of the
good-will of the two nations who have the fame and
works of the poet as their common heritage. Dr.
Macaulay added that Mr. Samuel Timmins, of Bir-
mingham, had kindly undertaken to obtain from an
eminent architect designs of the proposed structure for
the approval of the Town Council. The Corporation
passed a hearty resolution of thanks to Mr. Childs for
his munificent gift."
On the day after the passage of this reso-
lution the Xew York Herald published from
its London correspondent this special de-
spatch :
"The Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon has voted
the heartiest thanks of the town to Mr. George W.
Childs, of Philadelphia, for his gift of a Drinking-
Fountain to the place. In his letter presenting the
gift Mr. Childs expresses the hope that the fountain
will prove an evidence of good-will between the two
nations having the fame and works of Shakespeare as
a common heritage."
200 Tlie Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
Witli reference to this despatch, on its
editorial page the Herald, in its issue of the
same date, said, —
"Mr. Georue W. Childs has given a Drinking-Foun-
tain to Stratford-upon-Avon, 'as evidence of good-will
between the two nations having the fame and VForks
of Shakespeare as a common heritage.'
" It was a graceful act on the part of Mr. Childs,
and is gracefully acknowledged by the Corporation
of Stratford-upon-Avon, as will be seen in our foreign
despatches. Such little acts of courtesy are not the
least effective of incidents in sustaining pleasant inter-
national relations."
On December 24, 1886, the same journal
published the subjoined special despatch
from its Stratford correspondent :
" Stratford-upox-Avon, December 23, 1886. — The
name of the great American philanthropist, George W.
Childs, will henceforth be associated here with the
name of Shakespeare.
" At the meeting of the Town Council on Tuesday
the Mayor, Sir Arthur Hodgson, while stating that
Mr. Childs had offered to present Shakespeare's birth-
place with a magnificent Drinking-Fountain in honor
of the Queen's Jubilee, referring to a letter which he
held in his hand, added, 'The donor simply asks the
Corporation to furnish water, and at night lights. Mr.
Childs would submit to the Corporation several designs
for their choice, and he suggested that the fountain
should be dedicated either on the next birthday of the
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 201
poet, or on June 20, the anniversary of the Queen's
accession to the throne fifty years before.'
"Alderman Bird, amid renewed cheers for America
and Mr. Childs, seconded the Mayor's motion of ac-
ceptance and thanks. In the course of some vei-y
euloiristic remarks concernino; the donor the Alderman
said, 'The hitter's generosities are widely known to
the civilized world. Especially Englishmen remem-
bered Mr. Childs's gift of an American Window to
Westminster Abbey in memory of the poets Herbert
and Cowper, which had an additional interest from the
fact that the late Dean Stanley furnished the inscription
to it."
After a conference the Council ao:reed
to devote Jubilee Day to the ceremonies of
receiving the gift.
The Illustrated London News of Febrnarv
26 contained the ensuins: reference to the
gift by the eminent author, George Augustus
Sala :
"Mr. G. W. Childs, of Philadelphia, U.S.A., well
known not only for his enterprise as a newspaper pro-
prietor, but for the splendid hospitality which he has
so long dispensed to travellers in the States, — he was
the friend of Dickens and of Thackeray, — has made a
graceful and generous Jubilee gift to the town of Strat-
ford-upon-Avon. Some time since, Mr. Childs offered
through Dr. Macaulay, the editor of The Leisure Hour,
to present a Drinking-Fountain to Stratford, as the
offering of an American citizen to the town of Shake-
202 The Straff ord-upon- Avon Fountain.
speare in tlie Jubilee Year of the good Queen Victoria.
The offer was gratefully accepted hy the Corporation ;
and a few days since the site for the fountain was fixed
upon hy a committee of taste, including the Mayor, Dr.
Macaulay, Mr. Samuel Tim m ins, Mr. Charles Flower,
and several members of the Town Council, accom-
panied by the Borough Surveyor. It was finally de-
cided to erect the fountain in the large open space in
Rother Street, which is midway between the Great
AVestern Railway Station and the central part of the
town.
" Mr. G. W. Childs has already won golden opinions
of the English people by his munificence in placing in
Westminster Abbey a noble window of stained glass
in memory of two English poets and w'orthies, George
Herbert and AVilliam Cowper.
"G.A. Sala."
On February 17, 1887, the New York
Herald's special correspondent at Stratford-
upon-Avon cabled these particulars with
regard to the proposed gift :
" Sir Arthur Hodgson, the Mayor, Dr. Macaulay,
editor of The Leisure Ho^ir, the friend and corresp»ond-
ent of Mr. George W. Childs, with members of the local
Town Council, met here to-day and decided upon the
site and the design for a Drinking-Fountain, which is
the Jubilee gift of Mr. Childs to Shakespeare's tOAvn.
As hitherto cabled to the Herald, the design is by the
architect Cossins, of Birmingham. The structure will
be of granite, sixty feet high, the base being twenty-
eight feet in diameter, and in the upper part four. It
is to be faced by an antique clock, with an archway
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 203
under the centre cut through the base and wide enoucrh
for one vehicle. Underneath, beside a drinkincr-trouirh
for horses, is a smaller one for dogs. At the entrances
are cups.
"Upon the panel of the base is the inscription, 'The
gift of an American citizen, George William Childs, of
Philadelphia, to the town of Shakespeare, in the Jubi-
lee Year of Queen Victoria.' There are to be four mot-
toes cast. One will be from Washington Irving" s de-
scription of Stratford-upon-Avon ; another will be this
Shakespearian line from Timon : ' Honest water that
ne'er left any man in the mire.' The remaining two
are not yet known. They are probably to be selected
by Mr. Childs.
" The design harmonizes well with the principal
tower of the Shakespearian memorial buildings. The
site is in the open market-place, near Rother Street,
midway between the centre of the town and the great
railway station, and within five minutes' walk of
Shakespeare's house and the church-yard."
The Council of Stratford proceeded with
the work with commendable enero^y. In its
mid-month issue of the ensuing June the
Illustrated London News published a sketch
of the fountain, with the accompanj'ing in-
teresting description of it, which the I^ew
York World published subsequently :
"A lofty, spire-like, and highly ornamental Drink-
ing-Fountain, with clock tower, is now being built in
the Rother Market, Stratford-upon-Avon, at the cost
of Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, an Ameri-
204 The Stratford-ui^on-Avon Fountain.
can citizen, who, by this munificent and noljle ^ift to
the birthplace of Shakespeare, supplies the inhabitants
of the town with what has long been felt to be one of
its most pressing needs. It will be a durable and
beautiful memorial of the friendly feeling existing
between the two nations in this Jubilee Year of our
Queen. The base of the tower is square on plan, with
the addition of boldly projecting buttresses placed
diagonally at the four corners, terminating with acutely
pointed gablets surmounted by a lion bearing the arms
of Great Britain alternately with the American eagle
associated with the Stars and Stripes. On the north
face is a polished granite basin, having the outline of
a large segment of a circle, into which a stream of
water is to flow constantly from a bronze spout ; on
the east and west sides are large troughs, of the same
general outline and material, for the use of horses and
cattle, and beneath these smaller troughs for sheep and
dogs. On the south side is a door affording admission
to the interior, flanked by two shallow niches, in one
of which will be placed a barometer and in the other
a thermometer, both of the best construction. Imme-
diately over the basins and the door are moulded
pointed arches, springing from dwarf columns, wnth
carved capitals. The tympanum of each arch is filled
by geometric tracery, profusely enriched with carvings
of foliage.
" The next story of the tower has on each face a
triple arcade with moulded pointed trefoiled arches on
slender shafts. The arches are glazed, and light a
small chamber, in which the clock is to be placed. At
the corners are cylindrical turrets, terminating in con-
ical spirelets in two stages, the surfaces of the cones
enriched with scale-like ornament. In the next story
are the four dials of the clock, under crocketed gables,
The Straff oixl-upon- Avon Fountain. 205
with finials representing ' Puck,' ' Mustard-seed,' ' Peas-
blossom,' and ' Cobweb.' The clock-faces project
slightly from a cylindrical tower flanked by four other
smaller three-quarter attached turrets of the same
plan ; from the main central cylinder springs a spire
of a slightly concave outline, and the four turrets
have similar but much smaller spirelets, all five spring-
ing from the same level, and all terminating in lofty
gilded vanes. Immediately below the line of spring-
ing is a band of panelling formed of narrow trefoiled
arches. The central spire has on four opposite sides
gableted spire-lights, and, at about one-third of its
height, a continuous band of narrow lights to spread
the sound of the clock-bells. The height from the road
to the top of the vane is sixty feet. The clock will be
illuminated at night.
" The materials of which the monument is being
constructed are of the most durable kind, — Peterhead
granite for the base and troughs, and for the super-
structure a very hard and durable stone of a delicate
gray color from Bolton Wood, in Yorkshire."
Mr. Childs, iiaturallv desirins: that the
name of an American poet should be asso-
ciated Avith the dedication of the memorial,
suofsrested to Dr. Oliver AVendell Holmes,
whose sympathies for the great master of
the English Drama are known to lie so broad
and deep, that he should write a poem ap-
propriate to the occasion. The good and
genial poet at first stoutly demurred, plead-
ing that his muse, like himself, was growing
18
20G The Siratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
old, and delighted most in restful, inactive
ease by the sea. But, being further urged.
Dr. Holmes, on the 17th day of August,
1887, ^Yrote, from Beverly Farms, Massa-
chusetts, to his old friend in these words :
" Dear Mr. Childs, — I have written a poem for the
celebration of the opening of the fountain.
" There are nine verses, each of nine lines, as it now
stands. I mean to revise it carefully, transcribe it,
and send you the copy in the course of this week.
" I have taken pains with it and I hope you will like
it. Please do not take the trouble of replying before
you get the poem.
" Always truly yours,
" 0. W. Holmes."
Two days later the poem as it appears
in the subsequent accounts of the celebra-
tion was received by Mr. Childs. Its many
classical allusions testify as much to the
generous culture of the author's mind as
does the rare beauty of his verse to his
poetic genius.
In the Brooklyn Earfle there appeared while
the fountain was still building, under the
caption of " Childs at Avon," an article as
brilliant in manner as it was scholarly in
matter. The Avriter, who modestly hid his
identitv under the initial H., and of wdiose
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 207
paper we make this free, brief abstract,
said, —
" If no Shakespeare had been born and lived and
died at Stratford-upon-Avon, I should still remember
it as one of the most charming spots in Warwickshire.
Often when staying at Leamiagton have I set out early
on a summer morning and spent my day by the banks
of Avon and visited the house where he was born, in-
cluding the low-ceiling bedroom in which he first saw
the light when Mary Arden brought him into the
world in which, after his death, he was to be the most
mysterious and inspired of teachers. Many an hour
have I spent in the beautiful parish church of Holy
Trinity at Stratford, reading the epitaph upon his
grave, and feeling, with a much-sneered-at poet, ' Satan'
Montgomery, whom Macaulay so pitilessly criticised,
that I, for once, could
* Tread tte ground by genius often trod,
Nor feel a nature more akin to God.'
'' The gift of Mr. George W. Ciiilds, of Philadelphia,
of a public drinking-fountain in honor of Shakespeare,
to the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, is memorable as
being a tribute to the Queen of Shakespeare's nation
on her Jubilee.
" The first thought that strikes me — for I leave the
noble benefactions of Mr. Childs for the latter part of
this article — is how the immortal Shakespeare would
have stood amazed had he beheld this errand water-
fountain erected to his memory. Although he praises
water in the words ' Honest water that ne'er left any
man in the mire,' which is to be one of the inscrip-
tions on Mr. Childs's memorial drinking-fountain, the
habits of his time were certainly not in favor of water
208 The StratJord-upon-Avon Fountain.
as a beverage. There were many in that a'^G, like Sir
Walter Raleifrh, avIio abhorred drunkenness and de-
nounced it witli as much cnn)liasis as Kin<]; James I.
did th& tobacco which Raleigh extolled with enthusi-
asm. But it would have taken a long journey, I think,
to have found a teetotaler in England in the days of
Shakespeare. ' Good Queen Bess' drank ale at break-
fast. King James rolled drunk from his throne.
Shakespeare himself was thoroughly convivial, though
not a drinker to excess. He lived like the men of his
time, enjoyed his social glass of sack or canary with
Ben Jonson, or Burbage and other authors or actors,
and. no doubt, sometimes woke with a headache next
morning. There is nothing disrespectful to his memory
to say that his early death at the age of fifty-two has
been generally attributed to the effects of a convivial
evening. A recent Shakespearian enthusiast, I\Irs. Dall,
says, in her ' Handbook to Shakespeare,' ' The pleasant
days went on for a few weeks. Jonson and Drayton
came to see Shakespeare, and very likely went to the
old inn where he had been accustomed to watch the
antics of a "fool," that he might immortalize him in
the company of Sly, Naps, Turf, and Pimpernell. The
hilarity of the party had attracted the attention of the
villagers, for when, in March, 1616, the poet was
stricken with fever, the rumor ran that it came from
too much drinking with his friends.' He died on the
23d of April.
" But if, as I have ventured to suggest, Shakespeare
would have been amazed at a water-fountain erected to
his memory, hewould probably have been still more
avstonished at such poor relations as dogs and horses
participating with his fellow-citizens in the benefit of
it. Such is Mr. Childs's arrangement, and I think it
indicates the true humanity of his nature. The dog
Tiie Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 209
is the only animal that will forsake his own kind for
the sake of man and will die upon his master's grave.
There are miscreants and scoundrels in all races, and
the canine is not an exception. But there are as many
virtuous dogs as virtuous men, and from them we may
learn affection, patience, long-suffering, unselfishness,
and friendship and fidelity till death. No wonder
that the poor Indian of Pope's ' Essay on Man,'
* Whose soul proud Science never taught to stray
Far as the solar walk or milky way,
« » «- * * *
Yet thinks, admitted to that equal sky,
His faithful dog shall bear him company.'
" Let us hope that if the great soul of Shakespeare
looks down on Queen Victoria's Jubilee at Stratford-
upon-Avon he will approve of Mr. Childs's munificent
gift to the corporation of which his family, especially
his father, John Shakespeare, were ancient and honor-
able members, even though it has embraced the thirsty
souls of dogs and horses as well as of men, women,
and children.
" Of Mr. Childs, whom I have never seen, it is im-
possible for any public-spirited mind of any nationality
to think too highly. He is not a flatterer of English
noblemen, but a benefactor, first to his own people and
then a hospitable host to distinguished foreigners. In
fact, Mr. Childs is away ahead in wealth and respecta-
bility of most of the notables to whom he has extended
his hospitality. Beginning as an errand-boy, when he
went from Baltimore to Philadelphia, in mere child-
hood, he became printer, bookseller, publisher, and
newspaper proprietor by that resolute virtue of perse-
verance and honesty which overcomes the world, and^
while some may envy his prosperity, no one can dis-
o 18*
210 The Stratford-upon-Avon Founta'ni.
pute that he has earned it Ijy a life of integrity and
industry such as few even in America have equalled.
Upon the fountain in honor of Shakespeare at Strat-
ford-upon-Avon will stand the words, 'The gift of an
American citizen;' and this reminds me of the words
of the late Dean Stanley, when he visited this country
for the first and only time in 1878, referring to Mr.
Childs's Memorial Window in his abbey to George
Herbert and William Cowper: ' There is in Westmin-
ster Abbey a window dear to American hearts because
erected by an honored citizen of Philadelphia.' It
miirht seem stransfe that the gift should be made in the
Centennial Year of American Independence, but Mr.
Childs has the right idea of the commonwealth of
letters, and believes that the great writers of the Eng-
lish tongue belong to the Anglo-Saxon and English-
speaking races, wherever they may be ; and as he did
honor to George Herbert and William Cowper, so now
he has done honor to the greater name of Shakespeare,
who belongs to no country, but is the admiration of all
civilized races,
"Mr. George W. Childs's fountain completes the
homage which Americans have paid to Shakespeare.
Years ag-o, when I talked to an old woman who showed
me over the house he was born in, she said, in answer
to a question, that Americans seemed to take most
interest in it. The case of Miss Delia Bacon is most
pathetic, although I believe it was not her Baconian
theory which made her so unhappy. She was a woman
of singular talent, coming from one of the most big-
brained families of New England. An early disap-
pointment had made her feel the need of an eccentric
enthusiasm, and by the kind and very unusual permis-
sion of the Vicar of Stratford she was allowed to pass
whole niffihts in the church wherein the bones were
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain, 211
laid which he forbade strangers to remove, but not
to keep their vigils by. Although Miss Bacon was
hallucinated, her ' Philosophy of Shakespeare's PLays,'
introduced by Hawthorne, elicited the praise of Ralph
Waldo Emerson. Her special vagary was that Shake-
speare had not been Shakespeare and that Francis
Bacon was the real Shakespeare, and so the idol of her
mind was destroyed by her own imagination. As I
said, she was not alone in this ridiculous theory, bat it
is sad to think of the lonely, enthusiastic woman wor-
shipping night and day at the shrine of a god whom
she would end by disbelieving in altogether. Yet
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was not much wiser when he
said of Shakespeare, ' Does God inspire an idiot?'
"Mr. Childs's gift and its acceptance by the corpo-
ration of Stratford set the seal, at any rate, to our
American belief in the identity as well as the great-
ness of Shakespeare. His will more than ever be the
shrine which American travellers, with Washington
Irving's description of Stratford in tiieir hands, will
visit. It is said tliat in Virginia, in a church-yard
sheltered by southern foliage, there is a tombstone
with the inscription commemorative of a man who
died in the seventeenth century: 'One of the pall-
bearers of William Shakespeare,' The only relic of the
man I have read of is a pair of gauntlets possessed by
an American, one of the most eminent and honored of
Shakespearian scholars and critics, Dr. Horace Howard
Furness, of Philadelphia. If it be so, it only confirms
the fact that the Americans have been his greatest and
most dispassionate admirers, even if the Germans were
the first to discern his singular yet universal genius,
and are still the most enthusiastic witnesses of his
plays. In France, also, M. Taine and other great
writers, including Victor Hugo, have been earnest
212 The Siraiford-upon-Avon Fountain.
lovers of Shakespeare ; but when Eniflish or American
tragic actors have phiyed his principal characters in
Paris, they have found far less appreciative audiences
than they have in Berlin or Frankfort or any other
German city. At any rate, Mr. Clnlds has helped to
make one picturesque little town by a beautiful river
in England more famous than even Shakespeare's
name had made it before, and henceforward no one
who visits England will leave it without spending a
few hours, at least, in the quiet town of Stratford-
upon-Avon."
DEDICATION OF THE FOUNTAIN.
On October 17, 1887, the fountain was
dedicated with imposing ceremony, an ex-
haustive report of which was published on
the following Frida}^ in the Stratford-upon-
Avon Herald, and which is here presented
anew from that journal :
" All things combined to give ^clclt to the important
event of Monday last, — the inauguration of the hand-
some fountain given by Mr. Childs, of Philadelphia.
It was a happy thought of that prominent and re-
spected citizen to arrange that this splendid memorial
of American admiration for and sympathy with Eng-
land's greatest poet should take place in the Jubilee
Year of Queen Victoria's reign ; and it was also a
happy idea to secure the greatest of English actors to
carry out the important function. So distinguished an
assemblage of gentlemen has rarely come together in
Stratford-upon-Avon. Art, literature, and the drama
were well represented, and the ceremonial was one of
international interest. The fountain forms both a
The StratJord-upon-Ai'on Fountain. 213
welcome and substantial benefit to the town, and a
graceful addition to its many points of natural and
historic interest. Stratford accepted the bequest with
a lieartiness at once aoireeable to the driver, and illus-
trative of the friendly feeling of Warwickshire for the
people of the great llepublic of the West.
" Preparations for the celebration of the event were
made on Saturday. The scaffolding, which so long
impeded a full view of the fountain, was removed, the
final touches were put to the stonework of the elegant
erection, and a tent was erected in which the ceremony
was to take place in the event of the weather proving
unpropitious. Mr. Irving, -who performed the inau-
gural ceremony, arrived in Stratford the previous day,
and was the guest of Mr. Charles E. Flower at Avon-
bank. The distinguished actor only finished his Liver-
pool engagement on Saturday night, this being the last
place on his provincial tour before his departure for
America. On Sunday morning he travelled to Ells-
worth, via Rugby, a special train on the East and
West Junction Railway meeting him at the former
place. On his arrival at Stratford he received a very
cordial welcome. A large number of people had as-
sembled on the platform and outside the building, and,
as soon as he emerged from the railway carriage and
was recognized, a very vigorous cheer was given. He
was met by Mr. Flower, and proceeded at once to
Avonbank.
" Monday morning, as we have said, opened most
auspiciously. The sun soon dispersed the early mist,
and at noon, the time fixed for the ceremony, there
was almost an unclouded sky, and in the splendid
autumn light the fountain showed itself to perfection.
The rich light gray stone seemed to reflect the sun's
rays, and the vane, which caps the edifice, shone with
214 The Straff ord-npon- Avon Fountam.
great brilliancy. The fountain was complete, with
one exception, — tiie clock-ftices were there, but not the
hands. Sir Arthur Hodgson (the Mayor), in accept-
ing Mr. Childs's munificent gift, arranged for an in-
augural ceremonial befitting its international as well
as its practical character. Sir Arthur issued invita-
tions on a scale of imposing hospitality, and the Clop-
ton House was filled with a number of distinguished
guests. Shortly before twelve o'clock a procession was
arrancred at the Town Hall, the local volunteers with
their drum-and-fife band forming the lead, and followed
by the Snitterfield brass band. Then came the Mayor,
on each side of whom AWilked the Lord High Steward
(Earl de La Warr) and his Excellency the American
Minister (Mr. Phelps). Mr. Henry Irving, accom-
panied by his secretary, Mr. Bram Stoker, came next,
and then succeeded the Mayors of Leamington, War-
wick, Coventry, and Lichfield, wearing their gold chains
of ofi&ee. The members of the corporation and their
officers brought up the rear, those present being Alder-
men Bird, Cox, Newton, R. Gibbs, E. Gibbs, and Col-
bourne ; Councillors Flower, Cole, Eaves, Rogers,
Birch, C. Green, Hawkes, L. Greene, Maries, Kemp,
and Morris. The streets during the moving of the
procession presented a very animated appearance, there
being a liberal display of bunting throughout the route.
Arriving at the site of the Memorial, they found as-
sembled a very large concourse of persons, all anxious
to witness the proceedings, and to listen to the elo-
quence of the great English actor. His address was
delivered in the silvery tones so familiar to those who
have seen and heard Mr. Irving on the stage. He was
studiously brief, but what a large amount of feeling
and meaning his few words contained ! The inaugural
speech over, the water was turned on, and the fountain
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 215
was dedicated to the public forever. Cheers followed
the announcement, and the formal ceremony soon came
to an end. Everything had been happily done, and
the fraternal relations of the tvro great nations vrhich
regard the works of Shakespeare as a common heritage
were thus increasingly cemented. There were mutual
congratulations : common praise of Mr. Childs's mag-
nificent gift, of the architect's skill and taste, of the
builder's sound workmanship. The whole proceedings
were happily conceived and successfully carried out.
" The speeches at the fountain and at the luncheon
which followed are fully recorded below.
" The Mayor announced that he had received letters
explaining inability to attend from the High Sheriff,
the Lord Lieutenant, Lord and Lady Hertford, his
Excellency the American Minister at Paris, the Secre-
tary of Legation of the United States, Sir StaflTord
Northcote, the Dean of Queen's College, Oxford, and
Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps. His Worship afterwards read
the following letters from Mr. James Russell Lowell
and Mr. J. G. Whittier :
LETTER OF JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
" ' Dear Sir Arthur Hodgson, — I should more
deeply regret my inability to be present at the interest-
ing ceremonial of the 17th were it not that my country-
men will be more fitly and adequately represented there
by our accomplished Minister, Mr. Phelps.
" ' The occasion is certainly most interesting. The
monument which you accept to-day in behalf of your
townsmen commemorates at once the most marvellous
of Englishmen and the Jubilee Year of the august
lady whose name is honored wherever the language
is spoken of wliich he was the greatest master. No
216 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
symbol could more aptly serve this double purpose
thcan a fountain ; for surely no poet ever " poured forth
so broad a river of speech" as he, — whether he was the
author of the Novum Oi'<!;anum also or not, — nor could
the purity of her character and example be better
typified than by the current that shall flow forever
from the sources opened here to-day.
"'It was Washington Irving who first embodied in
his delightful Enojlish the emotion which Stratford-
upon-Avon awakens in the heart of the pilgrim, and
especially of the American pilgrim, who visits it. I
am glad to think that this Memorial should be the gift
of an American, and thus serve to recall the kindred
blood of two great nations, joint heirs of the same
noble language and of the genius that has given it a
cosmopolitan significance. I am glad of it because it
is one of the multiplying signs that these two nations
are beginning to think more and more of the things in
which they sympathize, less and less of those in which
they differ.
"'A common language is not, indeed, the surest
bond of amity, for this enables each country to under-
stand whatever unpleasant thing the other may chance
to say about it. As I am one of those who believe that
an honest friendship between England and America is
a most desirable thing, I trust that we shall on both
sides think it equally desirable, in our intercourse one
with another, to make our mother-tongue search her
cofi'ers round for the polished rather than the sharp-
cornered epithets she has stored there. Let us by all
means speak the truth to each other, for there is no
one else who can speak it to either of us with such a
fraternal instinct for the weak point of the other 5 but
let us do it in such wise as to show that it is the truth
we love, and not the discomfort we can inflict by means
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 217
of it. Let us say agreeable things to each other and
of each other Avhenever Ave conscientiously can. My
friend, Mr. Childs, has said one of these agreeable
things in a very solid and durable way. A common
literature and a common respect for certain qualities
of character and ways of thinking supply a neutral
ground where we may meet in the assurance that we
shall find something amiable in each other, and from
being less than kind become more than kin.
" ' In old maps the line which outlined the British
Possessions in America included the greater part of
what is now the territory of the United States. The
possessions of the American in England are laid down
on no map, yet he holds them of memory and imagina-
tion by a title such as no conquest ever established and
no revolution can ever overthrow. The dust that is
sacred to you is sacred to him. The annals which
Shakespeare makes walk before us in flesh and blood
are his no less than yours. These are the ties which
we recognize, and are glad to recognize, on occasions
like this. They will be yearly drawn closer as Science
goes on with her work of abolishing Time and Space,
and thus renders more easy that " peaceful commerce
'twixt dividable shores" which is so potent to clear
away whatever is exclusive in nationality or savors of
barbarism in patriotism.
" 'I remain, dear Mr. Mayor, faithfully yours,
" ' J. K. Lowell.'
LETTER FROM JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.
'"Oak Knoll, Daxveus, Mass., 6th Mo. 30th, 1887.
"'Mr.G.W. Childs:
" ' Dear Friend, — I have just read of thy noble and
appropriate gift to the birthplace of Shakespeare. It
K 19
218 The Sir atjord-upon- Avon Fountain.
was a hnppy thought to connect it with the Queen's
Jubilee. It will make for peace between the two great
kindred nations, and will go far to atone for the foolish
abuse of England by too many of our party orators
and papers. As an American, and proud of the name,
I thank thee for expressing in this munificent way the
true feeling of our people.
" ' I am very truly, thy friend,
"'John G. Wuittier.'
the address of mayor hodgson.
" The letters having been read, the Mayor said
he must say a few words about the origin of the
fountain. It came about in this way. It had been
first suggested to Mr. Childs, of Philadelphia, by an
eminent English divine and scholar (the late Dean
Stanley), that it would be a good and graceful thing
for an American to leave his mark in the historic
borough wherein Shakespeare was born, and lived, and
died, and was buried. After the death of the Dean
nothing more was said of the project until Mr. Childs's
friend. Dr. Macaulay, wrote to him expressing the
same idea which had been four years before presented
to the giver of the Herbert and Cowper AVindow to
Westminster Abbey ; but Dr. Macaulay urged that the
best gift would be a drinking-fountain, of which Strat-
fordians stood very much in want. All of Mr. Childs's
several letters respecting the fountain, extending over
twelve months, evinced a spirit of affection for dear
old England, and a feeling of deep regard for our
most gracious Queen. Therefore we chose the Jubilee
Year for the presentation. In all this Mr. Childs has
proved that blood is stronger than water. Yes, in this
case blood is stronger than water. Mr. Childs had
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 219
imbued his feelings, English and American, — mixed
them up together, as it were. Then, of course, ar-
rangements had to be made. He did not hesitate to
say that, if it had not been for Di-. ]Macaulay, and
the valuable assistance he gave, they could not have
proved the fountain, as he believed they intended to
do that day, a success. Dr. Macaulay helped them
heartily, and he felt deeply grateful for his valuable
assistance. Then came the question, who should in-
augurate the stately Memorial; and Dr. Macaulay and
himself both agreed that they could not choose a better
man than their celebrated Encrlish tragedian, Mr.
Henry Irving. They were not at all sure of securing
the valuable presence of his Excellency, Mr. Phelps,
the American Minister in this country, and thought it
better to be sure of their ground. However, he was
there, and Mr. Irving, and, on behalf of the borough
of Stratford-upon-Avon and the corporation, of v.'hich
he had the honor to be Mayor, he returned to them
their most grateful thanks for havincr come amon<:' them
on that auspicious occasion. He knew very well that
Mr. Phelps had travelled night and day from the north
of Scotland to be present, not only to lend his counte-
nance to the gathering, but to endorse the munificent
act of his noble countryman. It was, again, a great
satisfaction to the people of Stratford to be able to
secure the services of the great tragedian, who, they
were glad to know, was one of the trustees of Shake-
speare's Birthplace. They thanked iMr. Irving for
coming among them, and he would conclude his re-
marks by asking Mr. Irving to dedicate the noble
fountain to the borough of Stratford-upon-Avon for-
ever.
"Mr. Irving, on stepping forward, was received with
great cheering. He said he had been requested to read
220 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
a poem which had been dedicated to the fountain at
Stratford-upon-Avon, — a poem written by a man who
was loved wherever the English language was spoken."
Mr. Irving then read the following poem
by Oliver Wendell Holmes :
Welcome, thrice Avelcome, is thy silvery gleam,
Thou long-imprisoned stream !
Welcome the tinkle of thy crystal beads
As plashing raindrops to the flowery meads,
As summer's breath to Avon's whispering reeds!
From rock-walled channels, drowned in rayless night,
Leap forth to life and light ;
Wake from the darkness of thv troulded dream,
And greet with answering smile the morning's beam!
No purer lymph the white-limbed Naiad knows
Than from thy chalice flows ;
Not the bright spring of Afric's sunny shores,
Starry with spangles washed from golden ores,
Nor glassy stream Blandusia's fountain pours,
Nor wave translucent where Sabrina fair
Braids her loose-flowing hair,
Nor the swift current, stainless as it rose
Where chill Arveiron steals from Alpine snows.
Here shall the traveller stay his weary feet
To seek thy calm retreat ;
Here at high noon the brown-armed reaper rest;
Here, when the shadows, lengthening from the west,
Call the mute song-bird to his leafy nest,
Matron and maid shall chat the cares away
That brooded o'er the day,
While flocking round them troops of children meet,
And all the arches ring with laughter sweet.
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 221
Here shall the steed, his patient life who spends
In toil that never ends,
Hot from his thirsty tramp o'er hill and plain,
Plunge his red nostrils, while the torturing rein
Drops in loose loops beside his floating mane ;
Nor the poor brute that shares his master's lot
Find his small needs forgot, — ■
Truest of humble, long-enduring friends,
Whose presence cheers, wdiose guardian care defends 1
Here lark and thrush and nightingale shall sip.
And skimming swallows dip.
And strange shy wanderers fold their lustrous plumes
Fragrant from bowers that lent their sweet perfumes
"Where Pgestum's rose or Persia's lilac blooms ;
Here from his cloud the eagle stoop to drink
At the full basin's brink,
And whet his beak against its rounded lip,
Ilis glossy feathers glistening as they drip.
Here shall the dreaming poet linger long,
Far from his listening throng, —
Nor lute nor Ivre iiis trembling hand shall bring ;
Here no frail Muse shall imp her crippled wing.
No faltering minstrel strain his throat to sing I
These hallowed echoes who shall dare to claim
AVhose tuneless voice would shame,
AVhose jangling chords with jarring notes would wrong
The nymphs that heard the Swan of Avon's song?
"What visions greet the pilgrim's raptured eyes I
"What ghosts made real rise !
The dead return, — they breathe, — they live again.
Joined by the host of Fancy's airy train.
Fresh from the springs of Shakespeare's quickening
brain 1
19*
222 The Straffonl-uj)on-Avon Fountain,
The stream that slakes the soul's diviner thirst
Here found the sunbeams first;
Rich Avith his fame, not less shall memory prize
The gracious gift that humbler wants supplies.
O'er the wide waters reached the hand that g.ave
To all this bounteous wave,
With health and strength and joyous beauty fraught j
Blest be the generous pledge of friendship, brought
From the far home of brothers' love, unboughtl
Long may fair Avon's fountain flow, enrolled
With storied shrines of old, —
Castalia's spring, Egeria's dewy cave,
And Iloreb's rock the God of Israel clave 1
Land of our Fathers, ocean makes us two.
But heart to heart is true 1
Proud is your towering daughter in the West,
Yet in her burning life-blood reign confessed
Her mother s pulses beating in her breast.
This holy fount, whose rills from heaven descend,
Its gracious drops shall lend
Both foreheads bathed in that baptismal dew,
And love make one the old home and the new 1
MR. IRVING'S address.
"Mr. Irving then spoke as follows: 'The occa-
sion which has drawn us here to-day has an excep-
tional interest and a special significance. We have
met to celebrate a tribute which has been paid to
the memory of Shakespeare by an American citizen,
and which is associated with the Jubilee Year of our
Queen. The donor of this beautiful monument I am
happy to claim as a personal friend. Mr. George W.
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 223
Childs is not only an admirable specimen of tlie public
spirit and enterprising energy of Philadelphia, but he
is also a man who has endeared himself to a very wide
circle by many generous deeds. I do not wonder at
his munificence, fur to men like him it is a second
nature ; but I rejoice in the happy inspiration which
prompted a gift that so worthily represents the common
homage of two great peoples to the most famous man of
their common race. We are honored to-day by the pres-
ence of a distinguished American, the political represen-
tative of his country in England. But it would do far
less than justice to Mr. Phelps to affirm that he is with
us in any formal and diplomatic sense. On this spot,
of all others, Americans cease to be aliens, for here
they claim our kinship with the great master of Eng-
lish speech. It is not for me to say in Mr. Phelps's
presence how responsive American life and literature
are to the influence which has done more than the work
of any other man to mould the thought and character
of generations. The simplest records of Stratford show
that this is the Mecca of American pilgrims, and that
the place which gave birth to Shakespeare is regarded
as the fountain of the mightiest and most enduring
inspiration of our mother-tongue. It is not difficult
to believe that among the strangers who write those
imposing letters U.S.A. in the visitors' book in the his-
toric house hard by there are some whose colloquial
speech still preserves many phrases Avhich have come
down from Shakespeare's time. Some idioms, which
are supposed to be of American invention, can be
traced back to Shakespeare. And we can imagine that
in the audience at the old Globe Theatre there were
ignorant and unlettered men who treasured up some-
thing of Shakespeare's imagery and vivid portraiture,
and carried with them across the ocean thoughts and
224 TJie Straff ord-ujwn- Avon Fountain.
words, "solemn vision and l^riglit silver dream,"
which helped to nurture their transplanted stock.
For it is above all things as the poet of the peoj)le
that Shakespeare is supreme. lie wrote in days when
literature made no appeal to the multitude. Books
were for a limited class, but tlie theatre was open to
all. How many Englishmen, to whom reading was a
labor or an impossibility, must have drawn from the
stage which Shakespeare had enriched some of the
most priceless je\vels of the human mind! One of
the inscriptions on this fountain is, perhaps, the most
expressive tribute to Shakespeare which the people's
heart can pay: "Ten thousand honors and blessings
on the bard who has gilded the dull realities of life
with innocent illusions." Those simple words speak
a gratitude fiir more eloquent and enduring than whole
volumes of criticism. It is not only because Shake-
speare is the delight of scholars, or because he has
infinite charms for the refined, that he wields the un-
broken staff of Prospero over the imagination of man-
kind. It is because his spell is woven from the truth
and simplicity of Nature herself. There lies the heart
of the mystery. Without an effort the simplest mind
passes into the realms of Shakespeare's fancy. Learned
and simple, gentle and humble, all may drink from the
inexhaustible wisdom of this supreme sage. And so
it seems to me that no happier emblem of Shakespeare's
genius in his native place could have been chosen than
this Memorial Fountain. I suppose we shall never
be content with what little we know of Shakespeare's
personal history. Yet we can see him in his home-life
here, the man of genial manners and persuasive speech,
unassuming and serene, and perhaps unconscious that
he had created in the world of letters as great a marvel
as his contemporary Galileo's discovery in the world
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 225
of science. And we may conjure other fancies. We
can picture Shakespeare returning from his bourne to
find upon the throne a queen who rules with gentler
sway than the great sovereign that he knew ; and yet
whose reign has glories more beneficent than those of
Elizabeth? We can try to imogine his emotion wlien
he finds " this dear England" he loved so well ex-
panded beyond the seas ; and we can at least be happy
in the thought that when he had mastered the lessons
of the conflict which divided us from our kinsmen in
America, he would be proud to see in Stratford the gift
of a distinguished American citizen, — this memorial
of our reunion under the shadow of his undying
name.'
REMARKS OF SIR PHILIP CUXLIFFE OWEN.
" In response to a call from the Mayor, Sir Philip
Cunliffe Owen, who was originally associated with the
British Commission of the Centennial Exhibition of
1876, in Philadelphia, said that, as an old personal
friend of Mr. Childs, he was gratified at being per-
mitted to say a few words on that interesting occasion,
and to express the gratitude of a large number of
English people who had received Mr. Childs's hospi-
tality. That hospitality was well known in that ' City
of Brotherly Love,' — Philadelphia, — and Mr. Childs
was beloved both over there and in this country. He
was very much pleased indeed that he should have
been allowed, in the name of those who loved Mr.
Childs, — as all who had met him in America did, — to
join with the orator who had just charmed them by
his eloquence in expressing their gratitude for that
noble gift.
"The water was then turned on, and, filling a cup,
Mr. Irving drank ' To the Immortal Memory of Shake-
V
226 The Stvatford-^ipon- Avon Fountain.
speare,' while the Mayor announced to the company
that the water had been pronounced by authority to be
clear, palatable, and good. The band in the mean time
played tiie National Anthem and 'Hail, Columbia,'
while hearty cheers were afterwards given for the
Queen, for the President of the United States, for the
American Minister (Mr. Phelps), for Mr. Childs, the
munificent donor of the fountain, for the Mayor and
Lady Hodgson, and for Mr. Irving. This part of the
proceedings then terminated."
THE MAYOR'S BANQUET.
At one o'clock the Mayor entertained a
large and distinguished company at lunch-
eon, in the upper room of the Town Hall,
concernino; which the Herald continues:
U T
The Mayor, in giving the toast of ' The Queen,'
said it was one which, in this ancient, loyal, and his-
toric borough, was always well received. This year
Stratford had done its best to honor the Jubilee. By
a happy coincidence, the foundation-stone of the hand-
some fountain they had inaugurated that morning was
laid on Jubilee Day by the Mayoress. They all felt
that the Queen sat enthroned in the hearts of her sub-
jects. He thought they might truly say that she was
the most constitutional sovereii^n who had ever reisrned
over them. Throuirhout her lono; and glorious reiirn
we had had a government of the people by the people
for the people. Of Victoria it might be said, as by
Cranmer (in 'Henry VIII.') of another Queen, 'She
shall be to the happiness of England an aged princess.
Many days shall see her, yet not a day without a deed
to crown it.'
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 227
" The toast was received with hearty cheers, after
which the Mayor proposed, ' The Prince and Princess
of Wales and the rest of the Royal Family,' which met
with an equally cordial reception.
REMARKS OF EARL DE LA WARR.
"Earl de La ^V'arr said he had great pleasure in
proposing the next toast, ' The President of the United
States.' They had that day witnessed a ceremony
which had excited the liveliest interest of all who had
the pleasure of being present. The function at which
they had assisted that morning was more than a mere
ceremony : it was an indication of the sympathy exist-
ing between England and America. He thought he
was speaking the sentiments of the nation as well as
of the borough when he said that they viewed that
auspicious occasion, not only as a proof of the great
interest which was felt in America in the memory of
the immortal poet, but also as drawing more closely
the bonds of unity and friendly feeling between the
United States and this country.
" The toast was very cordially received.
ADDRESS OF MR. PHELPS, THE AMERICAN MINISTER.
" Ilis Excellency the American Minister, Mr. Phelps,
who experienced a hearty greeting, said, in response, —
" * It is certainly a very grateful duty to respond to
a sentiment honored by Ainericans everywhere and
under all circumstances, which has been proposed in
such felicitous terms by Lord de La Warr, and received
so cordially by you all. And for the kind allusions to
myself which I have heard to-day and for your more
than kind reception, I can only offer you my thanks
and my wish that they were better deserved. The
manner in wiiich the name of the President of the
228 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
United States is always received when it is brou.2;hfc
forward in an English company, and the kindness
which everywhere is made to surround tlie path of his
representative in this country, are exceedingly gratify-
ing, because they are the expression, and the more
significant because they are often the spontaneous ex-
pression, of the cordial, friendly feeling which animates
the heart of the people of this country towards their
kinsmen across that sea which used to divide but which
now unites them. The relations between these two
countries are not the property of themselves alone ;
they are the property of the civilized world. It would
be a calamity too great to be anticipated, and which I
trust may never be realized, to all the civilized world
if these relations were to be severed. But it is to be
borne in mind that they depend far less upon govern-
ments and public men than upon the spirit w^hich
animates the people on either side. Mr. Irving happily
remarked this morning that I was not here in a diplo-
matic capacity. Diplomacy, that black art as it used
to be known in the w^orld, and I hope has ceased to be
known, has very little place among the straightforward
Saxon race. It cannot be too strongly borne in mind,
I think, that it is on the cultivation of a friendly spirit
on both sides that our cordial relations depend. So
far as I have observed, people do not quarrel unless
they desire it. When they are hostile, provocation is
not far to seek •, when they are friendly, there are very
few provocations that will not somehow be patched up
and adjusted. It is in the intercourse so admirably
depicted in the letter of my predecessor, Mr. Lowell,
by which the people of the two countries come to know
each other and understand and appreciate each other,
to partake of each other's hospitality, to enjoy with
each other the amenities of social, personal, individual
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain, 229
life, that the spirit arises that will always make these
people friends. And it may he usefully rememhered
by those philanthropists and humanitarians who are
anxious to preserve the peace of the world, that it is
much better maintained by justice and kindness in the
treatment of each other internationally than it is by
obtaining paper promises that injustice and unkindness
shall not be resented. Such promises are either worth-
less or needless. They are needless Avhile nations are
friendly ; they are worthless while nations are hostile.
It is one of the amenities to which I have alluded that
brings us together here to-day. I must say a word,
before I sit down, about the gift of my warm-hearted
and distinguished countryman which has been inaugu-
rated this morning. I should rather mar what you
have already heard if I were to attempt to add much
to what has been said, and so well said, by the Mayor,
Mr. Irving, and Mr. Lowell. It seems to me that in
every possible way all the proprieties and all the
unities have attended it. It seems to be a graceful
offering, modest, unobtrusive, unheralded, accepted in
the spirit in which it is given. I wish Mr. Childs
might have been present here to-day. I wish he
might have observed for himself the spirit in which
his gift was received. It is appropriately erected on
the place where the memory of Shakespeare has extin-
guished all other memories, a place to which Ameri-
cans, by the pilgrimage of successive generations, have
established a title as tenants in common with Eng;-
lishmen by right of possession, — one of those posses-
sions described by Mr. Lowell, not laid down on the
map, but of which the title is just as strong as if it
were marked by geographical boundaries. I have
sometimes thought that there is no bond of union be-
tween Americans and Englishmen that is stronijrer
20
230 The Straff onl-uj^on- Avon Fountain.
tlmn that of a common literature : I mean the litera-
ture that pervades and influences the general intelli-
gence of the country 5 the literature that was so ably
protrayed by Mr. Irving this morning in his observa-
tions on the character of Shakespeare's writings; a
literature which is not the property of a class, but for
all mankind and for all time; and, therefore, this
birthplace of Shakespeare, where almost all the me-
morials which remain to him are gradually being
gathered together, here, if anywhere in England, is
the appropriate place for a permanent gift from an
American. It is appropriate also in the time of offer-
ing,— the Jubilee Year of your sovereign, the Jubilee
of which I was a most interested spectator in all its
progress from beginning to end. And the impression
which it made upon me was that its success and its
distinction did not arise from its pageantry or its core-
monies or the distinguished concourse which attended
it from afar. It has been in the manifestation of that
deep and universal loyalty of this people towards their
Queen and their government. That, as it appears to
me, is the lesson, the significance, the glory, and the
success of the Jubilee. The loyalty of Americans is
to their own government; they appreciate the loyalty
of your people to yours, and they understand and feel,
I am sure, through the whole length and breadth of
that country, what was so well expressed by the Mayor,
when he said that the throne of the Queen is in the
hearts of her people. And, therefore, a gift which,
though it comes from one citizen only in America,
will be applauded by thousands, and to which thou-
sands would have gladly contributed if it had been
requisite, may well come in the year when you are
celebrating an event so rare in the history of nations.
The gift, too, in its inauguration has been fortunate in
The Straiford-npon-Avon Fountain. 231
the ceremonies that attended it. It is fortunate that it
should have been inaugurated in an address so fittincr
and so elegant by a gentleman who interprets Sliake-
speare to both the nations in whom we claim a share
and always shall, whom we always welcome heartily,
and always unwillingly let go. I cannot wish him a
speedy return, in justice to my countrymen, in the
voyage he is about to undertake. I hope he may have
a safe and happy one. I hope that, when the curtain
falls in America upon some representation of the great
master which has entranced a theatre crowded with the
best intelligence of my countrymen, and when the call
not unfamiliar to his ear compels him to say something
for himself, he will tell them what he has seen and
li.eard to-day. He may be too modest to tell them how
much he has contributed to it ; but I hope he will tell
them something of the manner and the spirit in which
the gift to his country was received, and I am sure it
will not make his welcome the less cordial. Long may
this fountain stand, sir, and flow, an emblem, a monu-
ment, a landmark — not the only one by many, I hope
— of the permanent, intimate, cordial friendship of my
countrymen and yours ! May many generations of
Englishmen and Americans drink together of its
waters ! May many a school-boy, creeping unwillingly
to school, or rushing joyously away from it, when lie
pauses to slake his thirst at its current, take in with
the water a kindly thought of his kinsmen beyond the
sea, — kinsmen who have so much in common, whose
history, whose religion, whose literature, whose lan-
guage are all in common, and who are to share in
common hereafter, beyond all and above all, in that
limitless American future which opens its magnificent
doors free and wide to you and your children as well
as to ours !'
232 The Straff ord-upon- Avon Fountain.
THE queen's telegram.
"At the conclusion of the address of the American
Minister, which was received with the most enthusi-
astic manifestation of good-will, the Mayor announced,
amid great cheering, that he had just received a tele-
gram from her Majesty. It was as follows :
" ' The Queen is much gratified by the kind and loyal
expressions contained in your telegram, and is pleased
to hear of the handsome gift from Mr. Childs to Strat-
ford-upon-Avon.
" ' (Signed) Henry Ponsonby.'
" It may be stated that a few minutes earlier the
Mayor had wired, —
" ' To Sir Henry Ponsonby, Balmoral Castle.
"'The toast of her Majesty's health most enthusi-
astically received on the occasion of the inauguration
of the drinking fountain by Mr. Childs, a distinguished
citizen of Philadelphia.
" ' (Signed) Arthur Hodgson,
" ' Mayor of Stratford.''
remarks of MR. WALTER, OF THE LONDON " TIMES."
" Mr. Walter, the proprietor of the London Times,
proposed the next toast, which he said might truly be
described as the toast of the dav, the health of the
honored donor of the gift which they had assembled to
inaugurate. He had no claim whatever to be selected
for so high an honor as that of proposing Mr. Childs's
health, except from the circumstance that he had had
the privilege of being intimately acquainted with Mr.
Childs for more than twenty years, and that he and his
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 233
family had, when visiting the United States, received
unbounded proofs of his hospitality and affectionate
feeling towards them, which had always made him
(Mr. Walter) feel when within the States as a free cit-
izen of that community. Only those who had had the
good fortune to know America intimately could form
any adequate idea of the feelings of veneration and
attachment which most educated Americans entertained
towards this country, and especially to those localities
which were identified with noble, historic, and other
glorious associations. And of all the counties of Eng-
land, the county of Warwick, perhaps, from the his-
toric associations connected with such places as Kenil-
worth, Warwick, and, above all, Stratford-upon-Avon,
appealed most to the hearts of Americans, to make
them feel that they were of one kindred and one race
with ourselves. Sometimes, indeed, it had happened
that the feelino; had manifested itself in a somewhat
CD
extraordinary and not altogether acceptable manner.
He remembered one instance of this which brought to
his mind the feeling which Henry Y. expressed towards
Catherine when he said that he loved France so weli
that he would keep it all to himself. About thirty
years ago — it might be more ; it was when he was a
young man — it occurred to an enterprising American
that there was not suflBcient feeling in Stratford-upon-
Avon towards the memory of her immortal poet, and
that it would be far better for the good, at all events
of America, if the Americans put in practice the art
for which they were known to be so eminently distin-
guished,— the art of transplanting houses. It actually
occurred to an enterprising dweller in the States to
purchase and remove to America Shakespeare's house.
Whether or not this was intended as a scare to compel
that which was afterwards done — the purchase and the
20*
234 Tlie Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
public guardianship f»r that wonderful treasure — it "was
not for him to say, but the impression it made on his
mind was perfectly fresh, and he had no doubt it was
familiar to most Americans. It had produced beneficial
results to them in making them more highly and more
thoroughly appreciate the honor of being the custodians
of Shakespeare's house.
" With regard to Mr. Childs himself he must say a
few words, though, as the American Minister had said,
that was a subject on which there was little more to
say. Mr. Childs was probably personally unknown to
most of those now present. He was a man with a
very remarkable history, — one of those examples of
self-made men of which the American soil seemed to
be prolific; men who, by an early career of great in-
dustry, energy, shrewdness, and perseverance, acquired
large fortunes and employed them for the public good.
Mr. Childs began life in a very humble capacity,
making what few dollars he could in the best way he
could find to his hand. He became a publisher, and
amassed in that business a considerable sum. But he
was an instance of a man who, like the Mayor, in-
stinctively obeyed the wise teaching of their great poet
by remembering that ' there is a tide in the affairs of
men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune.' He
took his chance at the flood, and became the purchaser
of the Public Ledger, which he had made a most lucra-
tive and highly honorable paper, and upon that he had
built a fortune which had enabled him to perform those
acts of public and private generosity and unbounded
hospitality to all Englishmen who had the good fortune
to be introduced to his acquaintance, and of which
the occasion of their present gathering was one of the
most conspicuous examples. The other day, in reading
a book which Mr. Childs gave him many years ago, —
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 23-3
a remarkable book, by an American, — he came across
a passage which seemed to him singularly appropriate
to the present occasion, Avliich he hoped would 1)0
sufficient excuse for his quoting a couple of stanzas
from it. The poet was apostrophizing Shakespeare,
and said, —
* Deep in the West, as Independence moves,
His banners planting round the land he loves,
Where Nature sleeps in Eden's infiint grace,
In Time's full hour shall spring a glorious race.
Thy name, thy verse, thy language shall they bear,
And deck for thee the vaulted temple there !
'Our Roman-hearted fathers broke
Thy parent empire's galling yoke;
But thou, harmonious master of the mind,
Around their sons a gentler chain shall bind !
Once more in thee shall Albion's sceptre wave,
And what her monarch lost her monarch-bard shall save !'
" One word to give some idea of Mr. Childs. At the
present moment it was about a quarter-past nine by
Philadelphia time, and Mr. Childs was sitting at his
breakfast, — a piece of dry bread and a cup of milk, —
and wondering what sort of a day it was going to be
in England, and how the most interesting ceremony
at Stratford was about to pass off, and possibly even
thinking in what terras his own health might be pro-
posed. The news would probably have reached him
before he had drunk his last cup of milk. Now, if he
had to describe the character of Mr. Childs in a single
word, he should do so in a word which was impressed
upon his mind by very early avssociations, and which
the Mayor would forgive him for mentioning on tiie
present occasion. Fifty-eight years ago he knew a little
boy at school, with rosy cheeks, genial, beaming coun-
236 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
tenance, and such delightful qualities of civility, good-
humor, and readiness to oblige, that his school -fellows
applied to him the epithet of ' trump.' Most school-boy
epithets were not complimentary, and he had never
known of the application of that particular epithet to
any other boy than that one, whom he remembered as
Trump Hodgson. He had developed, in the course of
his interesting history, into the Worshipful Mayor of
Stratford-upon-Avon. The Mayor would excuse him
for mentioning the circumstance, and not think he was
guilty of wishing to infringe upon his monopoly of the
title, but if he had to apply one epithet rather than
another to Mr. Childs he should say he was a trump.
lie was a man of guileless habits, unselfish disposition,
a readiness to do good in any way, and who could not
possibly do an ill turn to any one. They were all
indebted to Mr. Childs for having performed an act
which more than anything else would help to impress
upon their minds the duty they owed to preserve the
memory of their immortal bard always fresh in their
minds, lie ardently wished the rising generation could
be persuaded to read more and more of Shakespeare
and less of the trash which they daily devoured. He
commended to them the health of their distinguished
absent friend, Mr. Childs, and asked them, not only to
drink to his present health, but also to wish him a long
continuance of prosperity and happiness.
" The toast was drunk amid loud applause.
REMARKS OF DR. MACAULAY.
"Dr. Macaulay, who, as an old friend of Mr. Childs,
was asked to reply in his behalf, said he had been told
by many persons that this gift of Mr. Childs to Strat-
ford was creating an impression in America perhaps
even beyond the value of the gift. And why? For
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 237
the same reason as in England, that it was regarded as
a pledge of the good feeling between the two nations.
At the present time there Avas a very unusual deputa-
tion in America, — many members of Parliament, with
others, — having an interview with the President of the
United States, trying to get from him a contract that
there should be no more war between the two nations,
and that every question in dispute should be submitted
to arbitration. But Mr. Phelps had very wisely told
them contracts were of no avail unless they were sup-
ported by public opinion, and he (Dr. Macaulay) was
sure that nothing would do more to create the desired
state of public opinion than this generous act of Mr.
Childs. It was a happy thought, this gift to the town
of Shakespeare in the Jubilee Year of Queen Victoria,
and he believed it would strengthen public opinion and
make any diplomatic arrangement the more easy by
making the two peoples feel that they had a common
origin, a common feeling, and a common sympathy in
all things, and when England and America were joined
there was good hope for the security of the freedom and
progress of the civilized world.
MR. IRVING* S REMARKS.
*' Mr. C. E. Flower said he was sure that the Mayor
had allotted to him a most pleasing as well as a most
honorable duty in asking him to propose the health of
their friend, Mr. Henry Irving.
•' Mr. Irving, who was greeted with cheers again
and again renewed, said : ' I thank you most heartily
for your most kind welcome. An actor can crave
no higher distinction than that of being prominently
associated with some public work in connection with
Shakespeare's memory in Shakespeare's native town.
238 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
It is the lasting honor of the actor's calling that the
poet of all time was a player, and that he achieved im-
mortality hy writing for the stage. Of all the elo-
quent tributes which have been paid to Shakespeare
one ever recalls the words of his fellow-actors, to whose
loving care we owe the first edition of his works, and
who tell us that " as he was a happy imitator of Nature,
he w^as a most gentle expresserof it." All we can desire
in the artistic embodiment of life this " most gentle
expresser of Nature" has given us. I would like to
quote a few words on this sul)ject which seem to me to
embrace a very great deal, — a few words written by your
Excellency's famous countryman Emerson, in which he
pays Shakespeare a tribute which it would be very
difficult to excel. lie says, "We can discern, by his
ample pictures of the gentleman and the king, what
forms and humanities pleased him ; his delight in troops
of friends, in large hospitality, in cheerful giving. Let
Timon, let "Warwick, let Antonio the merchant answer
for his great heart. So far from Shakespeare being the
least known, he is the one person in all modern history
known to us. AVhat point of morals, of manners, of
economy, of philosophy, of religion, of taste, of the
conduct of life, has he not settled ? What mystery
has he not signified his knowledge of? What offices,
or functions, or district of man's work has he not re-
membered? What king has he not taught state, as
Talma taught Napoleon? What maiden has not found
him finer than her delicacy ? What lover has he not
outloved? What sage has he not outseen? What
gentleman has he not instructed in the rudeness of his
behavior ?" These are things which the actor treasures
to the full as dearly as the student, and the actors art
to-day comes much nearer Shakespeare's estimate of
its importance in the intellectual life of the community
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain, 239
than in the times when the corporation of Stratford
refused to permit the performance of Shakespeare's
plays. I don't intend that reminder to touch any
tender spot in your municipal pride now, for the
phiyers were not treated with contumely in Stratford
at all, and perhaps it was the influence of Shakespeare's
memory which induced the corporation on one occasion
to pay them the handsome sum of forty shillings to
keep away. But times are better now, and I am quite
sure that when a troop of Lyceum players come to
Stratford they will settle down under the wing of the
Worshipful Mayor. In a few days I shall sail for the
great country where any worthy representation of
Shakespeare on the stage commands as stanch support
from the public as in our own, and I cannot help thank-
ing Mr. Phelps for his most genial words, which repre-
sent the more than cordial — I may say affectionate —
welcome which we have always received from his
countrymen. I shall act as your ambassador to Mr.
Childs, and I hope that in the course of the next fort-
night I may convey to him your enthusiastic appre-
ciation of his generous gift. I shall remember, Mr.
Walter, your kind wishes and the affectionate tribute
you have paid him, and I shall be the happy person to
convey, I hope, to him my impressions of to-day. The
ceremonial of to-day must have given the greatest
pleasure to all, fm* it has renewed our hallowed asso-
ciations with the mighty dead, and it has reminded
two great nations of a bond which no calamity can
dissolve. And, believe me, I am sure it will make
every English-speaking actor in the world prouder
than ever of the calling which I have the privilege of
representing here to-day.'
" The Mayor, in the course of the afternoon, re-
240 Tlie Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
ceived the following telegraphic despatch from the
donor of the fountain :
'"Philadelphia.
" ' To Sir Arthur Hodgson" :
" 'You have my warmest thanks for the enlightened
attention you gave to everything relating to the Shake-
speare Fountain, and its successful dedication, which
is a personal courtesy superadded to the official duty so
well performed, and which it was certainly very gra-
cious in you to bestow.
" ' George W. Childs.'
*' An occasional poem, written by Mrs. R. S. de C.
Laflfiin, on the opening of the fountain, was read by
Mr. Henry Irving to the company assembled at Avon
Bank on the eve of the ceremony :
" * Brothers yet, though ocean sever
Your free hind that fronts the west
From the church-yard by the river,
Where our common fathers rest :
" ' Brothers, by the twin rills flowing
From one fount of English speech,
By the common memories glowing
Deep within the heart of each :
" ' It is yours, as it is ours,
This most favored spot of earth.
Where the spring-time crowned with flowers
Gave our gentle Shakespeare birth.
"'Here, where every stone reminds us
Of the name that each reveres.
Symbol of the love that binds us.
Changeless through the changing years.
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 241
" * Rear the fountain : let the chiming
Of its peal of silver bells
Thrill like some sweet singer's rhyming
Every heart in Avon's dells.
" ' Let its waters, softly plashing,
Woo the weary and the worn,
Brightly through the gloaming flashing,
Brightly through the summer morn.
" * So the wanderer onward pressing,
Thirsty, way-worn, weak of knee,
Halting here shall drink a blessing
To a Friend beyond the Sea.' "
VOICE OF THE PRESS.
The London Times, on the next day,
October 18, published an account of the
dedication ceremonies, including the poem
of Dr. Holmes, the addresses, and letters
above given, filling four of its broad long
columns, which it prefaced as follows, under
the caption of " Shakespeare and America
55
" For all English-speakino; people there is a pecu-
liar and almost romantic charm about the town in
which the opening and closing scenes in the life of
Shakespeare were enacted. So inseparably, indeed,
are most of the scanty personal records of the poet
associated with Stratford-upon-Avon that the place
itself has lono- since been invested with a character
not far removed from that attaching to the shrine of
a saint in the Middle Ages. Thousands of pilgrims
annually resort to the quaint little midland town to
examine with an interest akin to reverence the relics
•L q 21
242 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
it contains, to look on scenes which must have been
familiar to the poet, and to stand on the ground for-
ever sacred to his name and memory. Since the days
of Washino-ton Irvinir, American faces have been as
numerous in Stratford as those of English people, and
a handsome Memorial Window in the church where
Shakespeare's dust reposes bears testimony to Ameri-
can appreciation of the poet and his work. Another
evidence of transatlantic veneration for the memory of
Shakespeare was seen yesterday at Stratford. This time
the Memorial has assumed the form of a public drinking
fountain and clock-tower, which an American citizen,
Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, has presented
to the town. The ceremony connected with the dedi-
cation of this new monument was one which can hardly
fail to be of general and almost world-wide interest.
The representative company which had assembled to
witness the event, together with the international char-
acter of the gift itself, conspired to lend a more than
ordinary importance to the proceedings on this occasion.
" The ceremony of inaugurating the fountain was
performed yesterday at noon by Mr. Henry Irving, in
the presence of the Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon (Sir
Arthur Hodgson, K.C.M.G.), the Corporation, and a
very numerous assemblage of visitors and townspeople.
In the main streets of Stratford the Union Jack and
the Stars and Stripes were conspicuously displayed,
and the town wore an air of festivity and gayety
throughout the day."
On the same day the London Dally Tele-
graph published an account of the celebra-
tion as extended as that of the Times, with
the subjoined introduction :
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 243
"Stratford-upon-Avon — supremely lovely at all
times ; hallowed with its immortal memory of Shake-
speare ; consecrated to literary men and all lovers of
the stage by anniversaries, and jubilees, and kindly
ceremonies without number — was never lovelier than
on the sunny October morning when, under the happy
auspices of sunshine and good-fellowsliip, the leading
actor of England dedicated, inaugurated, and conse-
crated the gift of an American citizen to the home and
the birthplace of the poet of all time. All the hospi-
table houses in the neighborhood were full of distin-
guished guests. The genial and popular Mayor, Sir
Arthur Hodgson, had invited his Excellency the
American Minister, who appeared not in any diplo-
matic capacity, but as the mouthpiece and representa-
tive of his fellow-countryman, Mr. George W. Childs,
of Philadelphia, whose handsome present of a drinking
fountain now stands unveiled and flowing with fresh
water in the old Rother Market, and Sir Theodore
Martin, who was selected to propose in his own grace-
ful and felicitous manner the solemn toast of the ' Im-
mortal Memory of Shakespeare.'
" There was the imposing new fountain, the im-
mediate object of attention to the countless pilgrims,
the beautiful and costly gift of Mr. Childs ; the monu-
ment all pinnacles and stone tracery, the handsome
combination of drinking-trough and clock-tower that
stood uncovered in the bright October sunshine, attract-
ing innumerable visitors to admire its proportions, to
discuss its style of architecture, and to read the Shake-
speare texts engraved on every available panel.
" Monday broke over Stratford even warmer, sunnier,
and more genial than the day before, and at a very early
hour the visitors scattered about in various directions.
The greater part naturally betook themselves to the
244 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
Shakespeare Memorial Buildings, on the Avon bank,
already mello-wing down with age, and containing the
fruit of the anxious and devoted labors of the Flower
family and their friends. The handsome and insulated
theatre, standing at the lovely bend of the silent river
close to the old church, is now supplemented by a library
and a picture-gallery of ample proportions, and addi-
tions to both are earnestly asked by those who have by
degrees made the old town one of the show-places of
England, and directed thither the footsteps of countless
American pilgrims, who recite Washington Irving in
the cosey parlors of the celebrated Red Horse, and
quote Shakespeare in the busy market-place or the
quiet church-yard. There was clearly much to be done
before mid-day arrived, the hour fixed for dedicating
Mr. Childs's fountain to the use and benefit of Shake-
speare's native home. No one, for instance, could
neglect to pay a visit to the old house in Henley Street,
which Mr. Walter, in the course of the day, pleasantly
reminded us was, once upon a time, threatened with
annihilation by an enterprising American, who pro-
posed to carry it bodily away and transplant it on the
other side of the Atlantic. The old custodian's bell at
the Shakespeare House was constantly set ringing,
and those charming and courteous ladies, the Miss
Chattaways, were continually repeating the well-known
lecture in the same pleasant and cheerful terms.
'' Shortly before mid-day a procession was formed
at the Town Hall, headed by Sir Arthur Hodgson,
K.C.M.G., the Mayor of Stratford, who was preceded
by the beadle and mace-bearers of the ancient cor-
poration, and followed by the Mayors of Worcester,
Lichfield, Coventry, Warwick, Leamington, and other
distinguished guests. There was only one sad disap-
pointment. The worthy Mayor had received a letter
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 245
from Mr. James Russell Lowell regretting his inability
to be present, and the letter of apology was so eloquent
that he did not hesitate to read it to the assembled
people at the commencement of the ceremony."
Succeeding this was a report of the im-
posing ceremony, the poem, letters, and ad-
dresses; and on the editorial page of this
great journal there appeared a striking lead-
ing article, the style of which will readily
be recognized as that of the great Oriental
scholar and poet. Sir Edwin Arnold :
" The handsome fountain and clock-tower just erected
in Shakespeare's town, and inaugurated by Mr. Henry
Irving, are the gift of an American citizen, Mr. George
"W. Childs, of Philadelphia, well known already in his
own country for an enlightened mind and munificent
deeds. Such a tribute to the memory of the greatest
of English poets is one that can be heartily hailed,
and for which, in this Jubilee Year of our Queen,
there was place and propriety. Equally appropriate it
■was that the dedication of this graceful gift to the town
of Stratford should have been made by the first among
living interpreters of the text of Shakespeare upon the
stage. No actor would dispute this title with the ac-
complished and scholarly gentleman who has done so
much to revive popular delight in the works of the
chief of dramatists, and by this and other examples
has so notably elevated the status of his profession.
In the excellent speech which Mr. Irving delivered at
the foot of the 'Jubilee Memorial,' he touched the cen-
tral point of the ceremony at once by remarking that
in that spot, of all spots, Americans and Englishmen
21*
246 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
ceased to be other than fellow-countrymen. "NVe might,
indeed, almost call Stratford-upon-Avon the joint cap-
ital of the British England and of the American Eng-
land, as tlie Greeks looked upon Delphi as the true
centre of the habitable globe, American life and lit-
erature, as Mr. Irving remarked, are as much stamped
with the influence of the Bard of Avon as are our own ;
and it is at once the most satisfactory and the most
natural thing in the world that half the names of the
visitors inscribed in the book kept at the ' historic cot-
tage' should have after them ' those imposing letters,
U.S.A.' "We rejoice to think that every American beyond
the Atlantic longs to visit the birthplace of Shakespeare,
and almost every one who comes over to our shores goes
thither first of all if he can. They are quite right.
Shakespeare belongs to them as much as to us, and the
fountain of Mr. Childs is an impressive and accepta-
ble way of emphasizing their sense of property in the
memorable name. Nor was Mr. Irving otherwise than
happily inspired in praising the character of the gift
to the little town. It is simple, natural, homely, and
for universal use — is a fountain — like the genius of the
poet. As he remarked, 'Learned and unlearned, gen-
tle and humble, may all alike drink from it; and so it
seems to me,' said the speaker, ' that no happier emblem
of Shakespeare's work in his native place could have
been chosen.' Possibly we English might have been a
little jealous if Mr. Childs had proposed to erect by the
silver Avon a colossal statue, or a prodigious pyramid,
or something which would have made British devotion
look small; but the fountain and clock-tower are as
becoming as they are significant of the feelings so de-
lightfully conveyed in the letter of Mr. James Russell
Lowell. ' I am glad to think,' he wrote, ' that this
memorial should be the gift of an American, and thus
The Stratford-uj^on-Avon Fountain. 247
serve to recall the kindred blood of the two jzreat na-
tions, joint heirs of the same noble language and of
the genius that has given it a cosmopolitan significance.
I am glad of it because it is one of the multiplying
signs that those two nations are beginning to think
more and more of the things in which they sympathize,
less and less of those in which they differ.'
" Thus, then, even from his ashes our great English-
man renders us all a splendid new service, drawing
closer together those portions of the English-speaking
race which must never again be enemies. The key-
note which had been so well and justly struck by Z>Ir.
Irving and taken up by Mr. James Russell Lowell was
harmoniously utilized by the American Minister, who
in a most genial and friendly speech said a great many
happy and handsome things about our Queen, our coun-
try, and the relations between Englishmen and Ameri-
cans. Mr. Phelps did, indeed, actually charge Mr.
Henry Irving with a regular diplomatic mission, for
he bade the universally popular actor not to lose an op-
portunity, the next time he was called upon for a speech
before the curtain in the States, of relating what had
been said and done at Stratford-upon-Avon in the
inauguration of the Childs' Memorial. ' I am sure,'
said the American Minister, ' it will not make his wel-
come less cordial ; and long may this fountain stand
and flow, an emblem, a monument, a landmark — not
the only one by many, I trust — of the permanent, en-
during, hearty, cordial friendship between my country-
men and yours ! May many generations of English-
men and Americans drink together of its waters !'
Nothing but good all round can result from so per-
fectly well-conceived a ceremony ; nor could any
words more fitly express this than those with which
Mr. Irving closed his speech of thanks, observing:
248 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain,
' To-day's ceremonial has given infinite pleasure to all,
for it has renewed our hallowed associations with the
mighty dead, and it has reminded two great nations of
a bond which no calamity can dissolve. And, believe
me, it will make every actor in the world-wide sphere
of Shakespeare's influence prouder than ever of the
calling which I have the privilege of representing
here.' "
The London Glohe of the 18th of October
said in introducins; an attractive account of
the dedicatory ceremonies :
" There was general rejoicing at Stratford-upon-
Avon yesterday, the occasion being the inauguration
of a splendid drinking-fountain, which has been pre-
sented to the town as a Jubilee Memorial of the
Queen's reign by Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadel-
phia, the donor of the American "Window in "West-
minster Abbey to the genius of Herbert and Cowper.
The ancient borough accepted the gift with enthusiasm,
and the Mayor and corporation issued invitations to
one hundred guests. The American Minister (Mr.
Phelps), Sir Philip CunliflFe Owen, and Mr. John
"Walter were the guests of the Mayor, Sir Arthur
Hodgson ; Sir P. Cunliife Owen, and Mr. Walter, pro-
prietor of the Times, being personal friends of Mr.
Childs. Mr. Henry Irving, who had accepted the task
of making the dedication, was among the distinguished
guests. The early trains brought the Lord Lieutenant
of "Warwickshire and the Mayors of the surrounding
towns. The weather was beautifully fine, and the
town was decorated with bunting. At half-past eleven
o'clock the Mayor and the members of the corporation
met at the Town Hall, and shortly before noon marched
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain, 249
in procession to the site of the memorial, accompanies^
by Mr. Irving and the numerous representatives of
literature, art, and the drama Avho had been invited.
Mr. Irving, in making the dedication, spoke of Mr.
Childs as not only an admirable representative of the
public spirit and enterprising energy of Philadelphia,
but also as a man who had endeared himself to a very
wide circle by many generous deeds.
" A telegram was received from the Queen, in which
Her Majesty stated that she was much gratified by the
kind and loyal expressions conveyed, and was pleased
to hear of the handsome gift by Mr. Childs to Stratford-
upon-Avon. Great cheering acknowledged the receipt
of this telegram. Mr. Phelps's speech, in which he
spoke of the loyal feeling towards the Queen enter-
tained by Americans, was also received with loud
cheers."
The thorough and geiiuiDe appreciation
of Mr. Childs's gift hy the English people
is thus finely expressed by the Warwick
Adceriiser, a journal of influence published
near to the home of Shakespeare :
" The opening of the Childs Memorial Fountain at
Stratford-upon-Avon was an event of international
importance. The spirit in which the gift was proffered
and received will tend to cement the bond which unites
us with our kinsmen beyond the sea in that great
republic of the West, which has such boundless pos-
sibilities in store for the Anglo-Saxon race."
In the issue of October 18, the London
Pall Mall Gazette published a very effective
250 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
pictorial sketch of the fountain, with the
accompanying account of the ceremonies :
" The handsome clock-tower and fountain which Mr.
Cliilds, of Philadelpliia, has presented to the town of
Stratford-upon-Avon, were inaugurated to-day by Mr.
Henry Irving. It is fitting tliat a memorial to the
greatest English dramatic poet should be inaugurated
by that poet's greatest living interpreter on the stage.
Mr. Irving is, moreover, a personal friend of the donor,
Mr. Childs, to whom in a few days he will carry the
enthusiastic thanks of the town for his generous gift.
Mr. Irving eulogized Mr. Childs as being not only an
admirable representative of the public spirit and enter-
prise of Philadelphia, but also as a man who had en-
deared himself to a very wide circle by many generous
deeds."
The editorial comment of the Pall 3Iall
Gazette was as follows :
"It is not often that an inauguration goes off Avith
such unclouded iclat as yesterday's function at Strat-
ford-upon-Avon. The day was of October's best, and
the ceremony was one of unique interest, — the open-
ing, namely, by the first actor in England, of the
drinklng-fountain and clock-tower which have just
been erected in the Rother Market as a tribute by an
American citizen to the genius of Shakespeare and to
the virtues of Queen Victoria. Mr. Childs makes the
Jubilee Year the occasion of his gift. But it was per-
haps not so much either the fountain, or its cost, or
even the international character of the gift, which col-
lected from all parts of England the distinguished com-
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 251
pany which assembled yesterday in the Rother Market,
Few Eno;lishmen have travelled in America who have
not, like Sir Philip C. Owen, Mr. Walter, Mr. Irvini;,
and Dr. Macaulay, been acquainted with Mr. Childs
and enjoyed his sumptuous hospitality. He has been
to them a sort of British proxenos in Philadelphia, and
it was a desire to testify their gratitude and friendship
for a very lovable man which brought many to Strat-
ford yesterday. There was, moreover, a certain appro-
priateness in the selection at the subsequent lunch of
Mr. Walter, the owner of the London Times, to pro-
pose the health of Mr. Childs, the owner of the Phila-
delphia Ledger. In their respective cities those two
papers represent, and have now for many years repre-
sented in a remarkable degree, the sober traditions and
stereotyped proprieties of long-established journalism.
But if the Times represents what is sober and solid, the
Ledger is the very essence of sobriety and solidity. It
has never yet condescended to attract readers by the
exhibition of posters; no map or plan, still less any
portrait or engraving, has ever variegated the uniform-
ity of its pages. Indeed, many people go so far as to
say that the thousands of persons who peruse the
Ledger read it from pure affection and regard for Mr.
Childs. One of its most distinctive peculiarities is
that it never says an ill word of any one, not even of
a mother-in-law. But perhaps the real secret of Mr.
Childs's popularity is not so much his abstinence from
ill words as the abundance of his good deeds. The
Stratford fountain is one of many public benefactions,
but his public benefactions, as any one acquainted with
Philadelphia will bear witness, are far outnumbered
by a multitude of acts of private charity and kindness
of which the public never hears at all. 'I intend,'
said Mr. Childs to a friend on last New Year's day,
252 TJie Sirafford-upon-Avon Fountain.
* to be kinder this year than ever I was before ;' and
the saying and tlie fact that he said it are very char-
acteristic of Mr. Childs.
" Perhaps, however, of all said and M'ritten, tlie
sentence that will last longest is one of those selected
by Dr. Macaulay and engraved on the fountain, which,
for appropriateness, was never surpassed and deserves
to appear on other fountains : ' Honest water, which
ne'er left man i' the mire.' ('Timon of Athens,' Act
1, Scene 2.) A bottle filled with this 'honest water,'
and carefully sealed up, was delivered to Mr. Irving,
and will be duly conveyed by him to America next
Thursday for presentation to Mr. Childs in Philadel-
phia."
In its issue of October 18, the Birming-
liam Daily Post, a journal which in character
and influence is to England's provincial press
Avhat the London Times is to metropolitan
journalism, gave the subjoined introduction
to an account of the memorial ceremony,
which occupied the larger part of one of its
spacious pages :
*' Stratford-upon-Avon arrayed herself in a festival
garment of sunshine yesterday, for a function which,
if not quite, as the Mayor enthusiastically called it,
' the crowning event of the Jubilee Year,' was of
striking internal and literary significance. Mr. Henry
Irving inaugurated the memorial fountain and clock-
toAver which Mr. G. W. Childs, a citizen of Philadel-
phia, has presented to the town. The function was a
singularly quiet one, as all functions in such an old-
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 253
world place as Stratford must necessaril}' be ; but it
was not the less significant and interesting on that
account. Mr. Childs's beautiful gift is remarkable
alike as a reverent tribute to the memory of Shake-
speare from a distant member of the English-speaking
race, and as a token of the good-will which subsists
between the British and the American nations. More-
over, the little crowd which gathered to assist at the
ceremony was representative in some degree of the
whole race, of all the learned professions, and of all
estates of the realm."
In the same number of the Dailj Post, the
followino: editorial comment was made :
" Literature and Art, the Press and the Stage, Eng-
land and America, joined hands yesterday at Stratford-
upon-Avon, in doing honor to one of the most illustri-
ous representatives of our common stock, and in doing
so it is scarcely necessary to add that they did honor
to themselves and contributed in no mean degree to
draw closer the bonds of union between the great two
branches of the English-speaking race. The memorial
fountain and clock-tower, which were formally pre-
sented to Sliakespeare's native town on this occasion
on behalf of Mr, Childs, the well-known newspaper
proprietor and editor of Philadelphia, are not by any
means the first tribute of the kind whicli has been
offered up by American citizens at that beloved shrine,
which is every year the Mecca for so many troops of
reverent pilgrims from beyond the Atlantic ; but Mr.
Childs' s gift possesses a special international signifi-
cance from the expressed desire of the donor that it
should be construed as a token of good-will towards us
22
254 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain.
in this year of the Jubilee, and should serve to cement
the union of two great nations * that have the fame
and works of the poet Shakespeare as their common
heritage.' And that nothing might be vs'anting to the
completeness of yesterday's function, the dedication
was graced by characteristic contributions from some
of the most renowned men of letters in the great
republic of the West, including Mr. James Russell
Lowell, the ex- American Minister ; Mr. John Green-
leaf Whittier, the venerable Quaker poet ; and Dr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose poem, specially written
for the occasion, so happily and eloquently expresses
the aspirations to which the gift naturally lends itself.
On the English side, the stage, which is under so deep
and special a debt of gratitude to the great dramatist,
was not unworthily represented by Mr. Irving, on
whom devolved the proud task of inaugurating the
memorial ; whilst the English newspaper press, in the
person of Mr. Walter, the chief proprietor of the Times,
cordially acknowledged and welcomed this substantial
token of good-will from a brother journalist of the
New World. The Queen's message of congratulation
was a happy thought, wdiicli cannot but assist the
working of the charm ; and the proceedings altogether
were of an order to entitle the day to a red-letter mark
in the calendar, not only of Stratford, but of England
and the United States."
Oil the same day the Liverpool Fosi,
another provincial journal of high char-
acter, prefaced the long and interesting re-
port of the proceedings at Stratford with
these friendly remarks :
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 255
" The fraternal relations of the two great nations
which regard the works of Shakespeare as a common
heritage were shown in a happy manner at Stratford-
upon-Avon to day. Some time ago a prominent and
respected citizen of the United States, Mr. George W.
Childs, of Philadelphia, determined to celebrate the
Jubilee Year of Queen Victoria's reign by a memorial
of American sympathy to be erected in the birthplace
of England's greatest poet. Mr. Childs, it may be
recollected, is the donor of the American window
placed in Westminster Abbey to the memory of George
Herbert and William Cowper. Mr. Childs' s gift to
Stratford has taken the form of a drinking-fountain
and clock-tower, and their inauguration to-day was
made the occasion of a ceremonial of international in-
terest, forming both a welcome and substantial bene-
fit to the town and a graceful addition to its many
points of natural and historic interest. Stratford ac-
cepted the bequest with a heartiness at once agreeable
to its author, and illustrative of the friendly feeling of
the Warwickshire people for those of the great republic
of the West."
The American newspaper press demon-
strated, b}^ the publication of special cable
despatches, by letters from special corre-
spondents, and by editorial expressions of
approval and admiration, that the interest
in and sympathy with the spirit of Mr.
Childs's gift were not less strong among
the people of this country than among
those of England. The despatches from
Stratford to the I^ew York World filled
25G The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain,
four and a half colurons of tliat journal, of
which the accompanying abstract is made :
" George W. Childs's memorial to Shakespeare was
inaugurated to-day with much imposing ceremony.
Stratford-upon-Avon has never before held so many
strangers within its walls as to-day. Hundreds of
Americans ran down from London last night and by
the early morning trains, taxing to the utmost the some-
what limited facilities of the quiet old town for harbor-
ing transient guests. The new Shakespeare House was
packed with transatlantic pilgrims, and some amuse-
ment was created by the boniface shouting out, as the
weary wayfarers arrived, ' Take this young couple up
to Romeo and Juliet.' The chambers in the old inn bear
the names of the works written by the immortal Will
— or somebody else. A melancholy American trage-
dian, lately crushed by the English critics, seemed
somewhat put out when shown up to ' Hamlet,' and
an elderly couple from Chicago did not like their
quarters in ' Love's Labor's Lost.' For the first time
in two weeks, according to the local weather man, the
sun shone in Stratford this morning, setting off the
handsome gift of the philanthropic Philadelphian to its
best advantage. From dawn until mid-day the roads
from the surrounding country were thronged with
every sort of vehicle, from the dog-cart of the gentry
to the ox-team of the yokel. The local and neighbor-
ing dignitaries, bearing up proudly under their massive
gold chains and other weighty insignia of oflBce, strode
through the broad streets lined with quaint old-fash-
ioned houses, making a truly old-world picture.
"When the time came Ma3^or Hodgson wound up
the clock in the stone spire, and Henry Irving turned
on the first flow of the precious liquid. But the arrival
Tlie Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 257
of the Queen's telegram was the sensation of the day,
not being on the card and being quite unexpected. The
telegraph-operator rushed headlong from the office down
to the square. Mr. Phelps's speech was interrupted,
and the precious despatch was read. It was the first
time that Stratford has heard from the Queen tele-
graphically for thirty-five years.
" Graceful in its inception, the generous gift of Mr
Childs was gracefully received, and the ceremonies
concluded in the most graceful manner possible by a
banquet, which was as excellent in the material way as
had been the preceding flow of wit and wisdom. The
Stratford folk do not seem to be imbued in the least
with any belief in the Baconian theory. In fact, they
look upon it as a base attempt to rob their town of one
of its chief claims to revenue and repute, and regard
it as being inspired by an invidious neighbor."
The account of the day and its ceremonies
telegraphed to the ISTew York Herald was
only less extended than that published by its
neighbor the World, but it was still lengthy
enough to serve as a brief epitome and chron-
icle of the notable celebration, its author
being Hon. A. Oakey Hall, formerly Mayor
of iSTew York Citv, but at the time of the
dedication he was, as he now is, an eminent
London journalist, representing in the great
metropolis with scholarly ability the Herald,
Mr. Hall's account is so admirably written,
and presents so attractive a view of Stratford
on the da}' of the fountain's dedication, as to
r 22*
258 Tlie St raff ord-upon- Avon Fountain.
render its introduction here more tlian par-
donable. Mr. Oakoj Hall said, —
" The names of William Shakespeare and George
William Childs will be indissolubly united after this
day in this city, where the editor's fountain and clock-
tower were added to the bard's memorials to glorify
this historic spot. The Phihidelphian's gift was long
ago described in the Herald when the designs were
adopted. As completed and this morning dedicated,
the gift is doubtless one of the most artistic fountains
in the world, as will be seen when some of the several
thousand photos now multiplying reach New York.
" At noon a procession left the Town Ilall to march
a quarter of a mile to the fountain, which fronts a
square formed by the junction of several streets and
is looked upon by Shakespeare's house. The procession,
headed by the Mayor and aldermen in full regalia, es-
corting Mr. Irving and thirty guests, was preceded by
a band playing British patriotic airs. On arriving at
the variegated granite gift, Mayor Hodgson, in gorgeous
robes and chain, presenting a decidedly classic face and
figure, took his stand at the foot of the steps leading
up to the fountain.
" After reading a quaint letter from the poet Whittier
and another from James Russell Lowell, he briefly ex-
plained the object of the gathering, with eulogistic and
AvcU-expressed references to Mr. Childs, and compli-
mentary allusions to America, ' the adopted country
of Shakespeare,' and introduced Minister Phelps as
the representative of the United States. The latter's
speech, given with diplomatic skill, was short but full
of meaning.
" Mr. Irving stood within the dry basin in dedicating
the gift, and, with fine elocution, made an address last-
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 2-39
ing a quarter of an hour, in the course of which he
said, as a part of the peroration, —
" ' The donor of this beautiful monument I am happy
to claim as a personal friend. 3Ir. George W. Childs
is not only an admirable representative of the public
spirit and enterprising energy of Philadelphia, but he
is also a man who has endeared himself to a very wide
circle by many generous deeds.
" ' I do not wonder at his munificence, for to men
like him it is second nature ; but I rejoice in the happy
inspiration which prompted a gift which so worthily
represents the common homage of two great peoples to
the most famous man of tiieir common race.
" 'The simplest records of Stratford show that this
is the Mecca of American pilgrims, and that the place
which gave birth to Shakespeare is regarded as the
fountain of the mightiest and most enduring inspira-
tion of our mother tonijue.'
" The following was his epilogue : ' Let me conjure
fancies. Let me picture Shakespeare to-day returning
from his bourne to find upon the throne one who rules
with gentler sway than the great sovereign that he
knew, and yet whose reign has glories more beneficent
than those of Elizabeth. We can try to imagine his
emotion when he finds this dear England he loved so
well expanded beyond seas.
"'We can at least be happy in the thought that
when he had mastered the lessons of the conflict which
divided us from our kinsmen in America, he would be
proud to see in Stratford this gift of a distinguished
American citizen — this memorial of our reunion — •
under the shadow of his undj'ing name.'
" During his speech Mr. Irving referred to the manu-
script ode which he had previously read, and which
was written for the occasion by Dr. Holmes.
2G0 The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain,
" Then Dr. Macaulay, as a personal friend of Mr.
Childs, and Mr. Irving, representing the authorities,
lointlv turned on the water into the larsre drinkinic-
fountain for horses and cattle, the smaller one for
dogs, and the interior one for thirsty pedestrians, while
simultaneously invisible hands inside the clock-tower
set the hour and started the works. The first flow,
however, was caught in a flat glass jar, bought at the
bar of the Shakespeare Inn, hard by, and was handed
by Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen to Mr. Irving, to be by
him presented in person to Mr. Childs.
" The royal toasts were fully honored. Minister
Phelps eulogized President Cleveland and gallantly
referred to Mrs. Cleveland. Dr. Macaulay and then
Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen responded to the health of
Mr. Childs ; but the best speech was by Mr. Irving,
responding to the memory of Shakespeare, and con-
cludinir thus :
" ' In a few days I shall sail for the great country
where any worthy representation of Shakespeare on
the stage commands as stanch a support from the pub-
lic as in our own land. I shall carry, as your ambas-
sador to Mr. Childs, your enthusiastic appreciation of
his generous gift.'
" In response to a call, John Walter, of the London
Times, made a few off-hand remarks about Mr. Childs's
hospitality to himself when in America, applying to
Mr. Childs the line about taking the tide at flood which
led him on to fortune.
"Next, turning towards Mayor Hodgson, he said,
'We were boys at Eton. Until to-day we have not
met in half a century. He was known at school as
"Trump Hodgson." When I saw him to-day, my
salutation was, "How d'ye do. Trump?" And cer-
tainly, along with Mr. Childs, as I turn from the
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 2G1
fountain to the banquet, he has proven himself a very
trump.'
" This was heartily received by all the guests, and
all separated with the line aptly chosen at the end
of the meim from 'All's ^Yell That Ends Well:' 'A
good traveller is something at the latter end of a
dinner.' "
With no known exception the leading
newspapers of the United States printed
special or Associated Press despatches from
Stratford, which were generally accompanied
by editorial remarks referring to the cele-
bration of the previous day. Of the several
hundred appreciative editorial articles which
were kindly sent me by their writers I have
thoui^ht it not unlit to use a few to round
out this history of the Shakespeare Memorial
on the Avon- side. That w^hich so attrac-
tively characterized all the elaborate reports
and remarks of both the English and Amer-
ican journals was the common recognition
and fine appreciation of the spirit of inter-
national good-will which inspired Mr. Childs
to set up there, near by the poet's home, an
endurino; memorial of the love and reverence
of all English-speaking people for that sub-
lime genius who filled not only the spacious
times of Great Elizabeth but all times since
with the wondrous wisdom and beauty of
his thought and feeling.
2G2 The Straff ord-uj)on- Avon Fountain.
The 'Hew York Times referred editorially,
on October 18, to the dedication of the
fountain, as follows :
" The proceedings at Stratford-upon-Avon on Monday
in dedicating to the memory of Shakespeare the me-
morial fountain presented to the town by Mr. George
W. Childs, of Phihidelphia, afforded one of those oc-
casions upon which Englishmen and Americans, espe-
cially the latter, delight to recognize the common ties
of tradition and literature which unite the two peoples
in a relationship made too strong by natural kinship
to be severed by oft-recurring conflicts of interest. It
is doubtful if, even in England, there is such a universal
reading and understanding of the works of Shakespeare
among the mass of the people as in this country, or
such a general appreciation of the grand heritage of
English literature. The sympathy produced by this
common possession of a language and literature is
stronger than is generally acknowledged, and it is the
basis of a mutual understanding that ought to be a
guarantee of perpetual friendly relations. Incidents
like that of yesterday, brought about by a generous
and public-spirited American, are of value in remind-
ing the two nations of what they have in common, and
in teaching them to be tolerant in those things in
which they differ."
The Daily News, of Baltimore, referring
to the universal interest which everything
of moment relating to Shakespeare creates,
said, —
" The description of the dedication of Mr. Childs's
fountain has been given as much space by the press^
Tlie Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 263
British and American — as some great political event
might have been.
" The Stratford ceremonies were in every way in-
teresting. Mr. Childs, in presenting the beautiful
fountain to the town, only did what many others
would like to have done. Some other object he might
have offered, — there are many ways in which his ad-
miration for the poet might have expressed itself; but,
after all, as Mr. Irving remarked, there seems some-
thing particularly appropriate in the fountain which
has been erected in the middle of the quaint old town,
for the use of all, and for beast as well as man.
" The occasion was altogether one of which Amer-
icans may be as proud as Mr. Childs must be. Aa
Irving remarked, it is the Americans who have always
been foremost in making pilgrimages and paying
tributes to the Stratford poet. Mr. Childs has done
many things to show the exalted character of his mind
and his goodness of heart, and it seems that he could
not rest until he had made a gift of this beautiful foun-
tain— according to all accounts, one of the most artistic
in the world — to the memory of Shakespeare."
'No one has more pleasantly told the story
of the fountain than has Mr. William Win-
ter, the poet, journalist, and critic. His
sympathy with the purpose of the giver of
the memorial is as hroad as his reverent love
for Shakespeare is profound, and to both
which sympathy and love he has borne tes-
timony in books, essays, poems, letters, and
criticisms. He is one of the most brilliant of
American writers, and one whose audience,
264 The Strafford-upon-Avon Fomitain.
wliile always large, is always fit. Harper's
Weekly of October 22, 1887, published an
excellent illustration of the Stratford Foun-
tain, accompanied by a characteristic sketch
by Mr. Winter, from which are taken the
following extracts :
" American interest in Stratford-upon-Avon spring;s
out of a love for the works of Sliakespeare as profound
and passionate as that of the most sensitive and rev-
erent of the poet's own countrymen. It was the father
of American literature — Washington Irving — who in
modern times made the first pilgrimage to that Holy
Land, and set the good example, which since has been
followed by thousands, of worship at the shrine of
Shakespeare. Wherever in Stratford you come upon
anything that was ever associated, even remotely, with
the name and fame of Shakespeare, there you will
surely find the gracious tokens of American homage.
" A noble token of this American sentiment and a
permanent object of patriotic interest to the pilgrim in
Stratford is supplied by the Jubilee gift of a drinking-
fountain, made to that city by George W. Childs, of
Philadelphia. It never is a surprise to hear of some
new instance of that good man's constant activity and
splendid generosity in good works : it is only an ac-
customed pleasure. With fine-art testimonials in the
Old World as well as at home his name will always be
honorably associated. A few years ago he presented a
superb window of stained glass to AVestminster Abbey,
to commemorate in the Poet's Corner George Herbert
and William Cowper. He has since given to St. Mar-
garet's Church, Westminster, where Skelton and Sir
James Harrington (1611-1G77) were entombed, and
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 2G5
where was buried the headless body of Sir Walter
Raleigh, a pictorial window commemorative of John
Milton. His fountain at Stratford was dedicated on
October 17, 1887, with appropriate ceremonies con-
ducted by the city's Mayor, Sir Arthur Hodgson, of
Clopton Hall, and amid general rejoicing. The coun-
trymen of Mr. Childs are not less interested in this
structure than the community that it was intended to
honor and benefit. They observe with satisfaction and
pride that he has made this beneficent, beautiful, and
opulent offering to a town which for all of them is
hallowed by exalted associations, and for many of them
is endeared by delightful memories. They sympathize
also with the motive and feeling that prompted him to
offer his gift as one among many memorials of the
fiftieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria. It is not
every man who knows how to give with grace, and the
good deed is ' done double' that is done at the right
time. Stratford had long been in need of such a foun-
tain as Mr. Childs has given, and therefore it satisfies
a public want, at the same time that it serves a purpose
of ornamentation and bespeaks and strengthens a bond
of international sympathy. Rother Square, in which
the structure stands, is the most considerable open
tract in Stratford, and is situated near the centre of
the town, on the west side. There, as also at the in-
tersection of High and Bridge streets, which are the
principal thorouglifares of the city, the farmers, at
stated intervals, range their beasts and wagons and
hold a market. It is easv to foresee that Rother
Square, as now embellished with this superb monu-
ment, which combines a convenient clock-tower, a
place of rest and refreshment for man, commodious
drinking-troughs for horses, cattle, dogs, and sheep,
will become the agricultural centre of the rc(;;ion.
M 23
266 The Sir aijord-upon- Avon Fountain.
"The base of the monument is made of Peterhciid
granite ; the superstructure is of gray stone — from
Bolton, Yorkshire. The inscriptions at the base are
these :
I.
*Thc gift of an American citizen, Geohge W. Childs, of
Philadelphia, to the town of Shakespeare, in the
Jubilee Year of Queen Victoria.'
II.
*In her days every man shall eat, in safety
Under his own vine, what he plants ; and sing
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbors.
God shall be truly known : and those about her
From her shall read the perfect ways of honor,
And by those claim their greatness, not by blood.
Henry VIIL, Act V., Scene IV/
III.
* Honest water, which ne'er left man i' the mire.
Timon of Athens, Act I., Scene II.'
IV.
* Ten thousand honors and blessings on the bard who
has gilded the dull realities of life with innocent illu-
sions.— Washington Irving'a Stratford-upon-Avon*
" Stratford-upon-Avon, fortunate in many things, is
especially fortunate in being situated at a considerable
distance from the main line of any railway. Two
railroads indeed skirt the town, but both are branches,
and travel upon them has not yet become too frequent.
Stratford, therefore, still retains a measure of its ancient
isolation and consequently of its quaintness. Antique
customs are still prevalent there, and odd characters
may still be encountered. The current of village gos-
sip flows with incessant vigor, and nothing happens in
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 267
the place that is not thoroughly discussed. An event
so important as the establishment of this American
fountain has, of course, excited great interest through-
out Warwickshire. It would be pleasant to hear the
talk of those old cronies who drift into the bar-parlor
of the Red Horse Hotel, on a Saturday evening, — the
learned Guppy, resting from the labors of Her Majesty's
Post-office ; the genial Cole, fresh from his auctioneer's
pulpit ; the aristocratic Yet, whose visage so plainly
manifests his noble origin ; and Kichard Savage, scholar
and antiquary, — as they comment on the liberal Amer-
ican whose generosity has thus enriched and beautified
their town. This Red Horse circle is but one of many
in which the name of George W. Childs is spoken with
esteem and cherished with aflFection. The present
writer has made many visits to Stratford and has
passed much time there, and he has observed on many
occasions the admiration and gratitude of the War-
wickshire people for the American philanthropist. la
the library of Charles Edward Flower at Avonbank, in
the gardens of Edgar Flower on the Hill, in the lovely
home of Alderman Bird, at the hospitable table of Sir
Arthur Hodgson in Clopton Hall, and in many other
representative places, he has heard that name spoken,
and always with delight and honor. Time will only
deepen and widen the loving respect with which it is
hallowed. In England, more than anywhere else on
earth, the record of good deeds is made permanent, not
alone with imperishable symbols, but in the hearts of
the people. The inhabitants of Warwickshire, guard-
ing and maintaining their Stratford Fountain, wnll
never forget by whom it was given. Wherever you
go in the British islands you find memorials of the
poet and of individuals who have done good in their
time, and you find that these memorials are respected
268 The StndJord-upon-Avon Fountain.
and preserved. "Warwickshire abounds with them.
Many such memorials might be indicated. Each one
of them takes its place in the regard, and gradually
becomes entwined with the experience, of the whole
community. So it will be with the Childs Fountain
at Stratford. The children trooping home from school
will drink of it and sport in its shadow, and reading
upon its base the name of its founder will think with
pleasure of a good man's gift. It lies directly in the
track of travel between Banbury and Birmingham, and
many weary men and horses will pause beside it every
day for a moment of rest and refreshment. On festival
days it will be hung with garlands, while all around it
the air is glad with music. And often in the long,
sweet gloaming of the summer times to come the row-er
on the limpid river Avon that murmurs by the ancient
town of Shakespeare will pause with suspended oar to
hear its silver chimes. If the founder of this fountain
had been capable of a selfish thought, he could have
taken no way better or more certain than this for the
perpetuation of his own name in the affectionate esteem
of one of the loveliest places and one of the most re-
fined communities in the world.
" All the country-side is full of storied resorts and
cosey nooks and comfortable inns. But neither now
nor hereafter will it be otherwise than grateful and
touching to such an explorer of haunted Warwickshire
to see, among the emblems of poetry and romance
which are its chief glory, this new token of American
sentiment and friendship, the Drinking-Fountain of
Stratford, the gift of George AV. Childs."
I know of no words which have been
spoken to show the reason for the good-will
The Stratford-upon-Avon Fountain. 269
that should forever be maintained by the
people of England and America, each for
the other, which more clearly exhibit it,
than those of " Honest John Bright," who,
in the dark days of the republic's stuggle for
life, speaking in 1864 to a great multitude
of his countrymen in the cit}" of London,
asked them, —
" Can we forget that, after all, we are one nation,
having two governments ; that we are the same noble
and heroic race ; that half the English family is on this
side of the Atlantic, in its ancient home, and the other
half — there being no room for them here — is settled on
the American continent?"
The spirit of the question asked by the
Great Commoner, and which inspired him
to sympathize with this government of the
people, for the people, and by the people, is
the very sentient one which inspired Mr.
Childs to erect on Avon's bank the fountain
to Shakespeare, and to set up elsewhere in
Enscland's sacred shrines other fit memorials
to venerable British w^orthies, the story of
which is herein told.
THE HERBERT AND COWPER MEMORIAL
IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
That which came next in his love for his
holy office to Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D.D.,
Dean of Westminster, was the Abbey, the
story of which he has so fully and pleasantly
told in his " Historical Memorials." The
first chapter of this scholarly w^ork, which
he wrought out to so noble a conclusion, has
the following introduction, copied from a
contemporaneous biography of Edward the
Confessor in a Harleian manuscript :
" The foundation of AYestminster Abbey. The devout
King destined to God that place, both for that it was
near unto the famous and wealthy City of London, and
also had a pleasant situation among fruitful fields lying
round it, with the principal river running hard by,
bringing it from all parts of the world great variety
of wares and merchandise of all sorts to the city ad-
joining; but chiefly for the love of the Chief Apostle,
whom he reverenced with a special and singular aflfec-
tion."
271
272 The Herbert and Cowper Memorial
Dean Stanley never spoke of the Abbey-
save ^vith the tenderest, most reverential
feeling. He knew all that could be known
about it, — its foundation, its growth, its leg-
endary and historical origin ; its relics, its
tombs, its shrines, its chapels, its transepts,
its cloisters, and its illustrious dead. For
years he had moved and had his being
among them. Through them he lived in
all times of England's triumphs and defeats.
To his broad and all-embracing mind there
was no difference between the ashes lying
there of the courtly nobles of Charles I. and
those of the rude Titans of the Common-
wealth. It was this feeling which enabled
him to say, in Chapter lY. of his " Me-
morials,"—
"Of all the characteristics of Westminster Abbey
that which most endears it to the nation and gives
most force to its name — which has, more than any-
thing else, made it the home of the people of England
and the most venerated fabric of the Enirlish Church —
CD
is not so much its glory as the seat of the coronations
or as the sepulchre of the Kings ; not so much its
school, or its monastery, or its chapter, or its sanctuary,
as the fact that it is the resting-place of famous Eng-
lishmen, from every rank and creed and every form of
mind and genius. It is not only Ptheims Cathedral and
St. Denys both in one, but it is also what the Pan-
theon was intended to be to France — what the Valhalla
in Westminster Abbey. 273
is to Germany — what Sauta Croce is to Italy. It is
this aspect which, more than any other, won for it the
delightful visits of Addison in the ' Spectator,' of Steele
in the ' Tatler,' of Goldsmith in ' The Citizen of the
World,' of Charles Lamb in 'Elia,' of Washington Ir-
ving in ' The Sketch-Book.' It is this which inspired the
saying of Nelson, ' a Peerage — or Westminster Abbey !'
and which has intertwined it with so many eloquent
passages of Macaulay. It is this Avhich gives point
to the allusions of recent statesmen least inclined
to draw illustrations from ecclesiastical buildings.
It is this which gives most promise of vitality to
the whole institution. Kings are no longer buried
within its walls ; even the splendor of pageants has
ceased to attract ; but the desire to be interred in AYest-
minster Abbey is still as strong as ever."
Xowhere in liis story of the famous Abbey
does the venerable Dean exhibit so much
feeling in the telling of it as in that part
which has to do with the great dead poets
of En2:land. The historian lins^ers Ions; and
fondly in the " Poet's Corner," for, though
they all lie not there, monuments are therein
erected to the memory of Chaucer, Spenser,
Shakespeare, Drayton, Ben Jonson, Ay ton,
Davenant, Cowley, Dryden, Milton, Butler,
Bowe, Steele, Addison, Congreve, Prior,
Gay, Pope, Thomson, and Gray.
Dean Stanley's cultivated and refined
mind sympathized profoundly with the men
8
274 The Herbert and Cowper Mernorial
of genius who, through recurring ages, have
by their so potent art made glorious the lit-
erature of England, and probably with no
others more than with these two, among the
greatest and sweetest singers of them all, —
the Christian poets, Herbert and Cowper, —
to whose o^enius there had been no memorials
set up in the Abbey, though it was long his
most ardent wish there should be. Among
those to whom Dean Stanley communicated
his desire was his friend, Mr. George W.
Childs, of Philadelphia, and with what se-
quence is thus briefly told by the Rev. Alex-
ander B. Grosart, in a note to his complete
works of George Herbert, printed for private
circulation only : " To the praise of George
W. Childs, Esq., of Philadelphia, U.S.A., be
it recorded that, on learning the wish of the
Dean of Westminster and others to place a
memorial window in our great Abbey in
honor of George Herbert and William Cow-
per, as Westminster school boys, he spon-
taneously and large-heartedly expressed his
readiness to furnish such a window at his
own cost. The generous offer was cordially
accepted."
Mr. Childs was almost as well known in
Enccland as in America. His " House Beau-
tiful" in Philadelphia had long been famed
in Westminster Abbey. 275
as the borne of the most splendid and refined
hospitality which had been gratefully enjoyed
by many of the most distinguished English-
men visiting America. Among them was
the venerable, learned, and good Dr. Stanley,
Dean of Westminster. In a sermon preached
in St. James's P. E. Church, Philadelphia,
on the morning of September 29, 1878, the
Dean, then the guest of Mr. Childs, said, —
" It has been one happy characteristic of the Church
of England that it has retained both sides of the Chris-
tian character within its pale. There is in Westmin-
ster Abbey a window dear to American hearts because
erected by an honored citizen of Philadelphia, in which
these two elements are presented side by side. On the
one hand, the sacred poet most cherished by the eccle-
siastical, royalist, priest-like phase of the Church,
George Herbert : on the other hand, the sacred poet
most cherished by the puritan, austere, lay phase of
the Church, William Cowper. That diversity is an ex-
ample of the way in which God's will is wrought on
earth as it is in heaven. I have said that we do not
speculate on the names or natures of angels, yet as
symbols and outlines of the divine operations they may
be most useful to us. In the rabbinical and mediaeval
theology this diversity used to be represented by the
manifold titles of the various principalities and powers.
Most of these have now dropped out of use; but there
are some few which, either from their mention in the
l)iblical or the apocryphal books, or from the trans-
figuring hand of artistic or poetic genius, have sur-
vived."
276 The Herbert and Cowper Memorial
The Window dedicated to Herbert and
Cowper, which has become one of tlie con-
spicuous memorials of Westminster Abbey,
owes its place there to the strong and abid-
ing love which this great English prelate had
for this country, and to Mr. Childs's recog-
nition of the fraternity of feeling which
nature has planted deep in the hearts of
Englishmen and Americans.
In concluding an appreciative and grace-
ful tribute to the character of Dean Stanley,
then lately gone to his reward, the Pahlic
Ledger^ on the 20th of July, 1881, said, —
" He believed in a national church, but his Angli-
canism reached across the water, and he was fonder and
more apprecnative of this country than many a citizen
of the United States. Freedom and reverence, peace
born of struggle, and faith in justice worth hard knocks,
the charity that comes of knowledge, not of indifference,
a prayer ' that we may not be persecutors,' a creed like
the rainbow, that spanned from the horizon to the zenith,
— these were the rich gifts of Stanley's mind, and his
legacy to the world are his twin beliefs in unswerving
law and all-surrounding love."
It was out of his love for the people of
the United States — and of his perception of
the common bonds that bound and made
them one with Englishmen — that the Her-
bert and Cowper Memorial grew. There
in Westminster Abbey. 277
was, at the time the request for the "Window
was made and freely responded to, the same
thought in the minds of both Dean Stanley
and Mr. George W. Childs, — the thought
that, if there were set up in the venerable
Abbey, tlie last resting-place of so many
eminent Englishmen, a memorial to those
great worthies, Herbert and Cowper, by an
American citizen, who was indisputably a
representative of American thought and
feeling, it would be, so long as time spared
that ancient edifice, a token of the cordial
sympathy existing between the two coun-
tries.
When in 1867 Sir Charles Wentworth
Dilke had finished the story of his travels
through the British Colonies and the United
States, he could find no title so fit for his
attractive work as that of " Greater Britain."
He saw, during his protracted visit to this
country, only his own country magnified in
area, population, wealth, and greatness. He
found here the same manners and customs
as those of his own land ; here he also found
the same language, the same political insti-
tutions, the same literature, the same art, the
same science, the same religion. He was
quick to perceive that they of Old England
and of New Enghand, of Great Britain and
24
278 TJie Herbert and Coivper 3Iemo)ial
the United States, were one people in their
love of virtue, freedom, intelligence, courage,
and in their vast, far-reaching enterprise.
The broad ocean separated them ; prejudices,
growing out of misunderstandings, had some-
times caused them often to look askance at
each other, to regard each other with distrust.
But, despite all prejudices and misunder-
standings, they were and are as one in all
that proclaims the identity of the same
people, though living apart.
This thought or sentiment, it need not be
said, is not a new one, but as old, at least, in
the minds of Englishmen and Americans as
was the Mayflower on the day there passed
over her side to Plymouth Rock the Pilgrim
Fathers. But again, and a thousand times
again, has it been newly formulated, and
most eloquently, by that learned and devout
scholar, F. W. Farrar, D.D., Archdeacon of
Westminster, in a paper of great inter-
national interest and attractiveness contribu-
ted by him to Harper^ s 3Iagazine of January,
1888, which bears the title of '' The Share
of America in Westminster Abbey."
The Venerable Archdeacon, whose fame
for piety and learning is as great in this
country as in his own, begins his brilliant
paper with the words following :
in Westminster Abbey. 279
" Westminster Abbey is most frequently entered by
the great northern door, usually known as Solomon's
Porch, now in course of a splendid restoration, Avhich
will soon be completed. I will, however, ask the cour-
teous American visitor to walk through St. Margaret's
Church-yard, and round the western faqade of the
Abbey, and to enter by the door under Sir Christopher
Wren's towers, opposite the memorial raised by West-
minster scholars to their school-fellows Avho died in the
Crimean war. Pass through the western door, and
pause for a moment
* Where bubbles burst, and folly's dancing foam
Melts if it cross the threshold.'
Of all the glory of this symbolic architecture, of the
awe-inspiring grandeur and beauty of this great min-
ster, which makes us feel at once that
■?
'They dreamt not of a perishable home
Who thus could build,'
how much may be claimed in part by America?
" In one sense all of it w^hich belongs to the epoch
which elapsed between the age of Edward the Con-
fessor and the disastrous days of Charles I. and Arch-
bishop Laud. An English writer who lives in America
has said that ' in signing away his own empire George
III. did not sign away the empire of English liberty,
of English law, of English literature, of English blood,
of English religion, or of the English tongue.' Amer-
icans enjoy, no less than we, the benefit of the great
Charter, the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act.
They need not go back for their history to Indian
annals or Icelandic sagas. Theirs are the palaces of
280 TJie Herbert and Cowper Memorial
the Phmtagenets, the cathedrals which enshrine our
old religion, the illustrious Hall in which the long line
of our great judges reared by their decisions the fabric
of our law, the gray colleges in which our intellect and
science found their earliest home, the graves where our
heroes and sages and poets sleep. Indeed, I have under-
stated their share in the Abbey. It reaches down not
only to the days of the Pilgrim Fathers, but to the
War of Independence. Chatham and Burke and Barr6
as well as Patrick Henry advocated the American
cause, which engaged the sympathy of the great mass
of Englishmen, if not that of Grenville and North."
The recognition both by Dean Stanley
and by Mr. Childs of the truth of that which
Archdeacon Farrar so eloquently said had
been previously demonstrated by the setting
up in the ancient Abbey of the Memorial to
Herbert and Cowper, of which, in the above-
quoted paper. Archdeacon Farrar says, after
referring to the monuments to Kingsley and
Craggs, —
" There are two other memorials which combine with
these to give to this spot in the Abbey the name of the
'Little Poets' Corner.' They are the stained glass
Windows in memory of George Herbert and William
Cowper. They belong entirely to America, for they
are the gift of an American citizen, my honored friend,
Mr. George William Childs, of Philadelphia. In the
stained glass are the effigies of the two poets. Both
of them were Westminster boys, and the most beautiful
representatives of all that is holy in two very opposite
in Wedminster Abbey. 281
schools of religious thought. It was a happy inspira-
tion which suggested the erection of this Window.
George Herbert and William Cowper were well deserv-
ing of Memorials in the Abbey, apart from the fact
that they had so often played in its cloisters and
worshipped in its choir. The combination of the two
suggests the higher unity which reconciles all minor
points of ecclesiastical difference."
HERBERT.
Gentle Izaak Walton concluded the re-
markable sketch of the life of the pious
scholar and poet, George Herbert, which is
one of the noblest ornaments of our litera-
ture, in these words :
" Thus he lived, and thus he died like a saint, un-
spotted of the world, full of alms-deeds, full of humil-
ity, and all the examples of a virtuous life ; which I
cannot conclude better than with this borrowed ob-
servation :
" ' All must to their cold graves ;
But the religious actions of the just
Smell sweet in death, and blossom in the dust.'
" Mr. George Herbert's have done so to this, and
will doubtless do so to succeeding generations. I have
but this to say more of him, that if Andrew Melville
died before him, then George Herbert died without an
enemy. I wish (if God be so pleased) that I may be
80 happy as to die like him."
In the estimation of those of wisest censure
there are none of the old English divines or
282 TJie Herbert and Cowper Memoiial
sacred poets whose fame is more deserved,
or who are more reverenced by those who
speak the hinguage in which the " holy
Herbert" gave liis writings, in prose and
verse, to the world.
COWPER.
On the long roll of England's distinguished
men of letters there are few names which
shine with so strong, steady, and enduring
a light as that of William Cowper. There
has been no lessenius; of his o^reat fame with
the passing of time ; it was long ago con-
ceded that by his poems he had not only
raised " to himself an imperishable name,"
but that he had added enduring beauty to
the En owlish lano^uaoce. His is a name w^hich
o o o
is not only reverently cherished in the affec-
tions, but which appeals to the best thought,
high conscience, and lofty sentiment of all
men of noble mind.
When Mr. Childs undertook the fufil-
ment of the desire of his friend, the vener-
able Dean of Westminster, to set up the
Memorial Window in the Abbey to Her-
bert and Cowper, the same thought inspired
them both, — the thought that if the object
were accomplished by an American it would
be accepted by every Englishman as a tribute
in Westminster Abbey. 283
of brothers to brothers. The works of these
sacred sioijers live after them in the love and
admiration of all English-speaking peoples,
and nowhere more truly than among the
people of this broad land. The Window in
Westminster, though the munificent gift of
but one of them, represents the common
reverence for the great poet of all Ameri-
cans of gentle, pious feeling, as his songs
were sun 2^ for those of all lands of refined
natures and devout aspirations.
In Sunday at Home, a magazine of high
character, published in London (in the num-
ber for June, 1877), there appeared, as a
frontispiece, a colored illustration of the
Herbert and Cowper Memorial Window,
with reference to which Dean Stanley con-
tributed the following explanatory note :
" The southwest corner of the Abbey — once the
Abbot's private chapel, then the Baptistery, and now
the Lay Clerks' vestry — was selected some twenty
years ago as the place for the erection of the statue
of the poet Wordsworth, probably in connection with
the font. Within the last ten years the present Dean
resolved to make it a second poet's corner — chiefly for
sacred poets — in order to relieve the great pressure on
the south transept.
" When Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, with
truly American generosity, most generously complied
with my request that he should give a window of stained
284 TJie Ilei'bcrt and Cowpcr Memorial
glass, it was suggested to liim that it should be placed
in this chapel, and commemorate George Herbert and
William Cowper, — both religious poets, both Westmin-
ster scholars, — and especially two opposite poles of the
English Church, — George Herbert, the 'ecclesiastical,'
and William Cowper, the ' evangelical,' tendency. In
the Window, Herbert is represented in his clerical vest-
ure, standing by his church porch, and the lines under-
neath are taken from the introduction to his poems, and
(in reference to the Baptistery, or the entrance to the
Abbey) touch at the start on the Christian life. Cowper,
on the other side, is in his well-known cap and dressing-
gown, in the neighborhood of Olney, with his hares
in the garden, looking at his 'Mothers Picture,' from
which poem are taken the lines which are also appro-
priate to the associations of the Baptistery. The her-
aldic devices above represent their respective families, —
both, as it happens, great in the English aristocracy."
The editor of Sunday at Home added to the good
Dean's note that " it was a happy thought of Dean
Stanley to associate the names in the Memorial, and
the gift of the Window was a fitting and graceful trib-
ute from an American citizen in the Centennial Year
of Independence."
In a private letter to Mr. Cliilds written
by a distinguished man of letters in England,
and referring to the death of Dean Stanley,
the writer said, —
" The good Dean valued your friendship deeply, and
I have often heard him speak with enthusiasm of your
affection for England and the Abbey, and the munifi-
cently splendid way in which you showed it. I have
in Westminster Abbey. 285
no doubt that the recollection by you of the truly kind
and genial reception which you gave him in Philadel-
phia will remain with you as one of the brightest inci-
dents of your life."
la W. W. ^N'eviu's entertainino; '' Vii>:iiette3
of Travel" there occurs this reference to Mr.
Childs's i>:ift to the Abbey :
" Passing from the ancient abbot's palace, now the
dwelling of the Dean, by private entrance to the church,
just before we entered the transept of the main build-
ing, Dean Stanley, to whom my presence started recol-
lections of Philadelphia, said, ' Stop a moment ; I want
to show you something that will remind you of home,'
and ascending by a side entry three narrow steps, into
a little chapel shut off by an open railing from public
entrance, we stood suddenly before the handsome Me-
morial Window of Mr. Childs to the two English poets,
— a grand blaze of illumination, covering almost an
entire wall of the chapel. It is a beautiful and costly
work of art, in the conventional ecclesiastical style of
glass-painting, rich and impressive.
" It is the usage of the Abbey to inscribe on all mon-
uments the incidents of their erection, but the story
of this one is very simply and frankly told in a single
line : ' D. D.* Georgius Gulielmus Guilds. Civis
Americanus.'
"This is the first appearance of our country in the
historic Abbey. There are a few other American names,
— some Roval refugees in the War of 1776-83, some
colonial worthies, some British soldiers killed in the
* Donuin dedit.
286 The Herbert and Cowpcr Memorial.
Revolution and French Wars ; but this is the only
description which distinctly places the new nation of
' The United States of America' in the monumental
archives of AVestrainster."
Mr. Joel Cook, in his entertaining book
entitled " A Holiday Tour in Europe," says,
regarding the gift of Mr. Childs
i«,-
" The Memorial Window erected bv Mr. George W.
Childs is eagerly sought for by Americans visiting
the Abbey. . . . Mr. Childs's gift is in two parts, or,
as it were, two complete windows, one in memory of
Herbert and the other of Cowper. It is the extreme
western window on the south side of the nave, and is
in the Baptistery, somewhat secluded on account of the
high tombs standing in front of it, and the stone arched
railing separates the Baptistery from the nave, but pour-
ing a rich flood of mellow light over them."
THE MILTON WINDOW.
The gift by Mr. George W. Childs to St.
Margaret's Church, "Westminster, of the
Memorial Window to Milton was made
subsequently to that of the Fountain, com-
memorative of Shakespeare, at Stratford-
upon-Avon, and was inspired by a letter to
him from his friend Archdeacon Farrar, in
which was regretfully recited the absence
of any appropriate memorial in Enghand to
the great Cromwellian poet, except that
erected in 1737 by Auditor Benson in West-
minster Abbey. To this letter its recipient
at once replied by offering to place in St.
Margaret's Church, of which the Venerable
Doctor Farrar is Rector, a window, the de-
sign of which should be determined wholly
by the judgment of the latter, Mr. Childs's
only request to his friend being that he
should undertake the setting up of a monu-
ment which should appropriately commem-
orate the virtues and genius of Milton, whose
287
288 The Milton Window.
works arc held in as great esteem, and whose
memory is as profoundly reverenced in this
country, as in that of his birth. The sug-
ircstion which came to Mr. Childs was in
harmony with the sentiment which had in-
duced the presentation of the Memorial to
Herbert and Cowper in Westminster Abbey,
and the Fountain at Stratford-upon-Avon to
Shakespeare, which were to serve as a sign
of the appreciation in Americaof the genius
of the poets to whom they were dedicated,
and to srive assurance to the w^orld of the
CD
warmth of the affection and tlie sincerity of
the esteem existing in the United States for
these great masters of English literature,
who embellished and ennobled our common
language b}^ their contributions to it.
''London and Westminster," says old
Hey wood, " are two twin-sister cities, as
joined by one street, so watered by one
stream; the first a breeder of grave magis-
trates; the second the burial-place of great
monarchs." St. Margaret's Church is in
Westminster, standing hard by the stately
Abbev. The present sacred edifice indicates
no earlier period of its existence than that
of the reign of the Plantagenets; but Mr.
Mackenzie Walcott says of it : *' There is,
with the exception of the Abbey of St. Peter
The 3niton Window. 289
and St. PauFo Cathedral, no other ecclesi-
astical edifice throughout London and West-
minster which can boast of a greater an-
tiquity, or more interesting foundation," the
original structure dating, it is stated, from
a few years before the Conquest. One story
of its origin is to the effect that, " Ed•^vard,
the Confessor, finding, as was natural, that
a population was growing up around the
Abbey walls, and was continually increased
further by a miscellaneous crowd of persons,
who, for good or for bad reasons, sought the
shelter of the Sanctuarv, raised here a church
in the round-arched Saxon style, and dedi-
cated it to St. Margaret."
In the reign of Edward the First the edi-
fice was almost wholly taken down and re-
built. There are some notable tombs in St.
Margaret's Church, among others that to
William Caxton, " who, as early as the year
1477, set up a printing-press in the Abbey ;
there is also a mural tablet set up within
which recites that Sir Walter Kaleigli's body
was buried here on the day of his execution
in Palace Yard."
Until very recently the Speaker and the
House of Commons were wont to attend at
St. Margaret's Church upon the days of what
were known as the " State Services." In
N t 25
290 The Milton Window.
1858 these were, by an order in Council,
stricken out of tlie Book of Common Prayer,
and since then the Speaker has not appeared
in St. Margaret's in liis ofiicial wig and
robes.
In the year 1656 John Milton was married
to his second wife, Catherine Woodcock, in
St. Margaret's Church, and there he subse-
quently worshipped.
It may be proper to note here that, as a
token of the high appreciation of Mr.
Childs's gift to St. Margaret's, there has
been set apart in perpetuity in that sacred
temple a pew for the exclusive use of Amer-
icans.
It was in the latter part of 1886 that
Archdeacon Farrar originally referred to the
pitiful lack of imposing monuments to the
poet Milton in England. It was then that
he wrote the following lines, with which he
concluded his interestins; article entitled
*' The Share of America in Westminster
Abbey," before referred to in these pages,
and which were published in Harpefs 3Iaga-
zine more than a year afterwards :
" There are, perhaps, fewer memorials of Milton
than of any Englishman of the same transcendent
greatness. I am extremely desirous to erect a worthy
Window in his honor in the Church of St. Margaret's,
The Milton Window. 291
close beside the Abbey. Our register contains the
record of his marriage to Catherine Woodcock, his
second wife, in 1656, and also records, in the following
year, her death and that of her infant daughter. It
was to her that he addressed the noble sonnet which
begins —
'Methought I saw my late espoused saint
Come to me like Alcestis from the grave.'
Milton's connection with the Church of St. Margaret's
was therefore very close, and if any of his American
admirers are willing to assist me in my design, I shall
on public grounds most heartily welcome their munifi-
cence. They have already beautified this fine old his-
toric Church by their splendid gift of a Window in
honor of Sir Walter Raleigh, whose headless body lies
under the altar. Milton has even higher claims on
their gratitude and admiration."
This, in effect, was the text of the letter
which was written by the Venerable Arch-
deacon to Mr. Childs in IsTovember, 1886,
and to which the latter replied by offering
to contribute such a memorial as his friend
should deem appropriate.
The other letters which have come into
the Editor's possession having reference to
the Milton Window are the following : the
first is from Archdeacon Farrar to Mr. Childs,
dated at Dean's Yard, Westminster, London,
February 4, 1887 :
" My dear Mr. Cuilds, — I did not write at once to
express my delight and heartfelt gratitude for your
292 The Milton Window.
splendidly munificent offer in compliance with my sug-
gestion of a Memorial to John Milton, because I wanted
to give you full particulars. I did not say that Milton
liimself was buried at St. Margaret's, but that he was
married in the Church, was closelv connected with it
through the Parliament (for it is and always has been
the Church of the House of Commons), and that his
dearest wife, the one to whom he wrote the immortal
sonnet which begins —
* Methought I saw my late espoused saint' —
was l)uried in the Church, as was his child, wholly
without memorial. The fact is that no man of his
pure and noble genius is so wholly uncomniemorated
in England. There is a poor bust to him in the Abbey ;
that is all. For one hundred and fifty years after his
death the Stuart reaction against Puritanism and the
adoration of ' King Charles the Martyr' caused INIilton's
name to be execrated. But America is the glorious
child of Puritanism ; and it is to me a most touching
and significant fact that a Memorial to Milton in the
Church of the House of Commons for which he so
greatly labored should now be given l)y a descendant
of the Pilgrim Fathers after I had tried in vain to get
it from Englishmen.
" But I could not write till I was able to inform you
what the cost would be, nor shall I. formally accept
your generous offer until you have been informed of
the cost and character of the proposed window. The
central compartments would illustrate scenes in the
Life of Milton, the side compartments Avould contain
scenes from the ' Paradise Lost.' The Window would
be worthy of Milton, worthy of the church, and worthy
of your munificence.
*' I shall not set the artist to work till I receive your
The Milton Windoio. 293
sanction in another letter. If you approve, I will have
a fine design of the Window executed and sent to you.
Mr. J. R. Lowell wrote the lines under the Kaleigh
"Window in my church, and Lord Tennyson those under
the Caxton Window. I would get some great poet to
write the lines under the inscription which would
record, to all future time, your honor of the illustrious
dead.
" I have of course not mentioned the matter publicly,
nor will I do so till I receive the final notification of
your gift.
"Most gratefully and sincerely yours,
" F. W. Farrar.
" P.S. — Immediately after writing this letter I went
to read prayers, and the lesson was the message to the
Angel of the Church of Philadelphia."
The following is Mr. Childs's reply to the
foresroiDo::
" Philadelphia^ February 16, 188V.
" My dear Archdeacon Farrar, — Your kind note is
just received, and is most satisfactory. I have but one
thought with regard to the Memorial, which is that I
am particularly anxious you should write the inscrip-
tion. All other matters I leave to your taste and good
judgment, but this one request I hope you will grant
me.
" With cordial regards, sincerely your friend,
" Geo. W. Childs."
Enclosed in the above letter from Mr.
Childs was a draft for an amount covorinof
the entire cost of the w^ork.
25-
294 The Milton Window.
Writing to bis friend from Dean's Yard,
Westminster, London, on tlie 5th day of
March following, Archdeacon Farrar said, —
" Mr DEAR Mr. Guilds, — How can I thank you
warmly enout^h ? Your order for £ has reached
me safely, and the "Window, which will be a very beau-
tiful one, will be at once proceeded with. Before lonj;
I hope to send you a painting of it which will show
you how very beautiful it is likely to be. I need hardly
say that, as you wish it, I will myself writg the inscrip-
tion, and, further, I shall record that it is the gift of
the same noble munificence which has already enriched
AVestminster Abbey and Stratford-upon-Avon.
■' I wish that there were some chance of your seeing
it ! Of course, it will take some months to finish, and
may be you will have to come over to England some
day, before or after the Memorial is set up.
"You cannot tell how much I am pleased by the
thought that one of the greatest, purest, and least com-
memorated of English poets should receive one more
testimony to the immortal gratitude which is his due,
and that the Memorial to this mighty Puritan should
come from the land of the Pilgrim Fathers, and be
placed in the Church of the House of Commons, with
which he was so closely connected.
" Believe me to be, dear Mr. Childs, sincerely and
gratefully, your friend,
'' F. W. Farrar."
On the 19th day of the same month Arch-
deacon Farrar ao^ain wrote to Mr. Childs,
from Dean's Yard, Westminster, regarding
the Window, as follows:
The Milton Window. 295
" Mv DEAR Mr. CniLDS, — I hope, in the course of
a few weeks, to send you a beautifully painted copy of
the desijrn for the great Milton Window which we owe
to your munificence. When the design is completed, I
shall publicly announce your gift to the old historic
church. The enclosed outline will give you a general
conception of the mode of treatment. In the centre is
Milton dictating to his daughters the ' Paradise Lost ;'
underneath is a scene from his student-life, and his visit
to Galileo. All around are scenes from ' Paradise
Lost' and ' Paradise Regained.' Above are the re-
joicing angels, and figures of Adam and of our Lord.
It will be a very beautiful work of art, and an eternal
monument to Milton's genius and your generosity.
"Believe me to be, dear Mr. Childs, sincerely and
gratefully your friend,
"F. W. Farrar."
The gift of Mr. Childs was formally un-
veiled on the eighteenth day of February,
1888, an account of which was furnished by
Archdeacon Farrar himself in the following
letter to the donor :
"17 Deax's Yard, Westminster, S. W.,
"February 18, 1888.
"My DEAR Mr. Childs, — I have just returned from
the unveiling of the ^Milton Window. I only invited
a select number of friends. Among those present were
the poets Mr. Robert Browning and Mr. Lewis Morris,
among others Mr. Lecky, Mr. Courtney Herbert, Mr.
and the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, the Speaker's family,
the United States Minister and Mrs. Phelps, Professor
and Mrs. Flower, Lord Stanley of Alderly, General Sir
206 The Milton Wlndoio,
Edward Stavcley, and other distinguished personages.
Mr. Matthew Arnold read a very fine paper on Milton,
which is to be published in the Century^ and which
will, I am sure, please you very much. After the paper
had been read in the Vestry we went into the Church
and unveiled the Window. It is very fine in color and
execution. In the centre is Milton dictating to his
daughters the ' Paradise Lost ;' below is Milton as a boy
at St. Paul's school, and Milton visiting Galileo. All
round are scenes from the 'Paradise Lost,' — Satan
awaking his legion, Satan entering Paradise, the fall,
and the expulsion from Eden. Above are four scenes
from the ' Paradise Ilegained,' — the nativity, the an-
nunciation, the baptism of Christ, and the temptation
in the wilderness. At the top are jubilant angels, and
Adam and our Lord, — the first and the second Adam.
In the course of next week I hope to send you the
picture (colored) of the Window. Underneath is the
inscription :
'To the glory of God, and in memory of the Immortal Poet,
John Milton, whose wife and child lie buried here, this Win-
dow is dedicated by George W. Childs, of Philadelphia,
MDCCCLXXXVIII.'
" On the other side are Mr. Whittier's four fine lines.
" So that now, my dear Mr. Childs, your noble gift
has come to fruitful completion, and in the Church of
the House of Commons will be a lasting and beautiful
Memorial both of the great poet and of your munifi-
cence.
" It has carried out a wish which I long cherished.
Heartfelt thanks !
" I shall preach on Milton to-morrow, and I shall
ask you to accept the MS. of the sermon. Pray give
The Milton Window. 297
my kindest remembrances to Mrs. Childs, and believe
me to be,
"Yours, very sincerely and gratefully,
" F. W. Farrar."
The selection of St. Margaret's Church
was probably due to the fact mentioned in
this letter, that Milton's wife and child are
buried there ; and what more fitting memo-
rial could there be than this of him who in
his " 11 Penseroso" wrote of —
" Storied windows richly dight
Castincr a dim religious lifiht'' ?
The following recognition of the gift by
Mr. Childs of the Milton Memorial Window
is part of the eloquent and learned address
delivered by tlie late Matthew Arnold in St.
Margaret's Church, Westminster, on the
18th day of February, 1888, on the occasion
of the unveiling of the Memorial Window,
being the same which is referred to by Arch-
deacon Farrar in the foregoing letter to Mr.
Childs :
"We have met here to-day to witness the unveiling
of a gift in Milton's honor, and a gift bestowed by an
American, Mr. Childs, of Philadelphia, whose cordial
hospitality so many Englishmen, I myself among the
number, have experienced in America. It was only
last autumn that Stratford-upon-Avon celebrated the
298 The IlUton Wimlow.
reception of a <i;ift from the same generous donor in
honor of Shakespeare. Shakespeare and IMilton, — he
wlio wishes to keep his standard of excellence high
cannot choose two better objects of regard and honor.
And it is an American who has chosen them, and
whose beautiful gift in honor of one of them, Milton,
with Mr. Whittier's simple and true lines inscribed
upon it, is unveiled to-day. Perhaps this gift in honor
of Milton, of which I am asked to speak, is, even more
than the gift in honor of Shakespeare, one to suggest
edifying reflections to us.
" Like Mr. AVhittier, I treat the gift of Mr. Childs
as a gift in honor of Milton, although the Window
given is in memory of the second wife, Catherine
Woodcock, the ' late espoused saint' of the famous
sonnet, who died in childbed at the end of the first
year of her marriage with Milton, and who lies buried
here with her infant. Milton is buried in Cripplegate,
but he lived for a good while in this parish of St.
Margaret's, Westminster, and here he composed part
of ' Paradise Lost,' and the whole of ' Paradise Re-
gained' and ' Samson Agonistes.' AVhen death de-
prived him of the Catherine whom the new Window
commemorates, Milton had still some eighteen years
to live, and Cromwell, his 'chief of men,' was yet
ruling England.
" The English race overspreads the world, and at
the same time the ideal of an excellence the most
high and the most rare abides a possession with it
forever."
The full text of tins eloquent address was
published in the Ceiitury Magazine for May,
1888.
The Miltoti Window. 299
This noble tribute to Milton was the last
work which this learned and o-raceful scholar
lived to do. A short time after its delivery
Mr. Arnold died. The following letter from
Archdeacon Farrar to Mr. Childs will be
found interestino' in its reference to the final
literary effort of the great scholar and
divine :
" Athen.eum Club, Pall Mall, S. W.,
"May 1,1888.
" My dear Mr. Childs, — I felt Mr. Matthew Arnold's
death deeply. He died on a Sunday, and only the
Friday before he had been talkino- to me here at the
Athenaeum in the very highest spirits. He had alluded
to the Milton Article (which has since appeared, a post-
humous work). It will be interesting to you to know
that it was called forth by your noble gift, and that it
was the last thing which came from that brilliant intel-
lect. I took part in his funeral at the quiet little vil-
lage church of Lateham, where we laid him beside his
three boys, — two of whom had been my pupils at
Harrow.
*' The Window is beautiful. It will be a permanent
and historic ornament to the Church, which will noAV
have a record of your generosity as well as Westminster
Abbey, where only yesterday I was reading the plate
which commemorates your gift of the Cowper and
Herbert AVindow.
" Cordially and sincerely yours,
" F. W. Farrar."
The Window is remarkable for its fulness
of detail and richness of color. Both in
300 The Milton Window.
artistic design and execution it is worthy of
high praise. It is divided by its stone work
into four lights with trncery openings, and
is of fifteenth-century character, known as
the " perpendicular" style, which is that of
the church generally. The design of the
stained fi^lass fillins; the Window in memorv
of the author of " Paradrse Lost" is planned
on three lines of panels in horizontal order,
the middle tier beins; of somewhat larg-er
depth than those above and below it. In
the two divisions of the central portions of
the whole, four panels — viz., those of the
central and lower tiers respectively of these
lights — are devoted to the personal history
of the poet. In one of the bottom panels
the boy Milton is shown at St. Paul's school
anion 0^ his fellow-schoolmates. In the next
panel Milton's visit to Galileo is depicted.
Above these are two of the larger panels
combined to make one central subject repre-
senting the poet dictating " Paradise Lost"
to his daughters. Around these panels are
eight others illustrative of ''Paradise Lost"
and "Paradise Retrained."
In reference to the former are represented
the incidents of: 1. Satan's summons to-his
legions. 2. Adam and Eve at prayer in.
Paradise, Satan looking on. 3. The temp-
The Milton Window. 301
tation. 4. The expulsion. In the upper
tier the four panels are devoted to the illus-
tration respectively of : 1. The annunciation.
2. The nativity of our Lord. 3. T]ie bap-
tism of our Lord. 4. The defeat of Satan
in his temptations of our Lord. Li the
tracery openings are jubilant angels and at
the apex of the whole iigures of Adam on
the left and our Lord on the right, repre-
sentino; thus the first and second Adam re-
spectively. At the base of the window is
the following inscription :
"To the Glory of God: and in memory of the im-
mortal poet, John Milton: whose wife and child lie
buried here : this window is dedicated by George W.
Childs, of Philadelphia, mdccclxxxviii."
Occupying a corresponding space and
position in the Window is the following
fine verse thereon emblazoned, which was
especially written for the Memorial by the
American Quaker poet, John Greenleaf
Whittier, as a tribute to his brother poet of
long ago :
" The New AVorld honors him whose lofty plea
For England's freedom made her own more sure,
Whose song, immortal as its theme, shall be
Their common freehold while both worlds endure."
26
302 Tlie Milton Window.
Reirardiiior these lines Mr. Whittier wrote
to Mr. Cliilds :
" My dear Friend, — I am glad to comply with thy
request and that of our friend Archdeacon Farrar. I
hope the lines may be satisfactory. It is difficult to
put all that could be said of Milton in four lines. How
very beautiful and noble thy benefactions are ! Every
one is a testimony of peace and good-will.
" T am, with high respect and esteem, thy aged
friend,
"John G. Whittier.
" I think even such a scholar as Dr. Farrar will not
object to my use of the word ' freehold.' Milton him-
self uses it in the same way in his prose writings, viz. :
" ' I too have my chapter imdi freeJiold of rejoicing.' "
The rehgious services were the ordinary
Lenten ones, except that the hymn pre-
ceding" the sermon was Milton's —
o
"Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord, for he is kind."
Canon Farrar, who preached from La-
mentations iv. 7, further emphasized the
occasion in his opening remarks. As the
discourse proceeded and the congregation
warmed in sympathy with the impassioned
but well-weighed elo'quence of the preacher,
the gloomy weather without cleared, and
The IMon Windoiv. 303
the wintry sun gleamed through the richly-
staiued windows with which St. Alaro^aret's
is general!}' adorned and glinted on the Mil-
ton Memorial, relieving the semi-obscurity
of the interior and illuming the impressive
scene in which the worshippers mingled
with devotion to the Almighty the full meed
of admiration of Milton's inspired genius
which the preacher's fervency demanded.
On the Sunday following the unveiling of
the memorial to the poet, Archdeacon Farrar,
in order to give greater impressiveness to the
event, preached a special sermon in St. Mar-
garet's. The day was bitterly cold, the wind
blowing sharply from the northeast, and the
snow falling intermittently during the morn-
ing ; but, undeterred by the churlish weather,
a vast multitude, including many of the most
distinguished religious, social, political, and
literary leaders of England, met to listen
to the eloquent words of the venerable
Archdeacon. The pews were all filled, and
chairs were placed in the aisles to accom-
modate the great concourse assembled to
testify by their presence their interest in
tlie impressive ceremony. Among those
who were in attendance were Mr. Phelps,
the American Minister, and his wife ; Mat-
thew Arnold; the poet, Robert Browning;
304 The Milton Window.
the Baroness Burdctt-Coutts; the Eev.
Phillips Brooks, of Boston; and many
prominent American residents of London,
as well as distinguished representatives of
the nobility.
In the occasional sermon preached by Dr.
Farrar, he said, —
" It has been my desire during twelve years to sur-
round this ancient and famous church with noble asso-
ciations ; to revive the memories of those great men with
which it has been connected, and thus to indicate the
relation in which it stands to the history of England.
" This church may claim its special interest in the
mighty name of Milton. That name is recorded in our
marriage register; and here lies buried, with Milton's
infant daughter, that beloved wife — ' my late espoused
saint' — whose love flung one brief gleam of happiness
over the poet's troubled later years. Once more we are
indebted to an American citizen for the beautiful Mil-
ton Window which was yesterday unveiled. The well-
counselled munificence of Mr. Childs, of Philadelphia,
who has already enriched Stratford-upon-Avon with
a memorial of Shakespeare, and "Westminster Abbey
with the Window in memory of Herbert and Cowper,
has now erected this abiding memorial to the great
Puritan Poet. Myself the debtor to American friends
for great kindness, I cannot but rejoice that the Church
of St. Margaret's should furnish yet one more illustra-
tion of those bonds of common traditions and blood
and language and affection which unite England to
the great Republic of the West ; and I am glad that
the public spirit of the church-wardens has assigned
from henceforth the use of one special pew in this
The Milton Window. 305
church to our friends and visitors from the other side
of the Atlantic.
" There was somethincr specially appropriate in the
Milton Window being the gift of an American. For
the United States represent much that Milton most
deeply loved; tlie Commonwealth which, happily fail-
ing in England, in America gloriously succeeded ; the
Puritanism which, crushed in England, inspired vigor
and nobleness into our kin beyond the sea.
'• The venerable poet, Mr. AYhittier, who has written
the lines for yonder window, most justly says, —
" ' The New "World honors him whose lofty plea
For England's freedom made her own more sure,
Whose song, immortal as its theme, shall be
Their common freehold while both worlds endure.'"
The sermon was subsequently published
in full in The Churchman, of New York, with
the accompanying note :
"St. Margaret's, Westminster,
" February 19, 1888.
" This manuscript of a sermon preached at St. Mar-
garet's, Westminster, — the Church of the House of
Commons, — on the occasion of the unveiling of the
Window in memory of Milton, presented to the church
by George W. Childs, Esq., of Philadelphia, is pre-
sented to Mr. Childs, Avith grateful regard, by
" Frederick AV. Farrar,
" Archdeacon of Westminster.''''
The subjoined editorial reference to the
Window was printed in the same number
of The Churchman :
u 26*
PM The Milton Window.
" Under the shadow almost of the northern transept
of Westminster Abbey and within a stone's throw of
Westminster Hall and the Houses of Parliament stands
a church which is probably known to every American
who has visited London, — the Church of St. Marfi;aret's.
Interesting as it is because of its monuments and its
beino; the Church of the House of Commons, it has
just now gained an added attraction in the Memorial
Window to Milton, which has been placed there by the
munificence of Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia."
AMERICAN COxMMENT.
The leading newspapers of tlie United
States very generally published interesting
accounts by cable of the dedicatory cere-
monies, with appropriate comments there-
upon. From the mass of such accounts or
comments which were collected by the Edi-
tor he has selected the followino: onlv, from
the Brooklyn Eagle of February 19, 1888, as
susrsrestive of the character of them all :
" Yesterday the ceremony of unveiling the Milton
Memorial Window presented to St. Margaret's Church,
Westminster, by George W. Childs, Esq., of Philadel-
phia, attracted one of the largest congregations ever
gathered within the walls of the venerable edifice.
Archdeacon Farrar preached the sermon, postponing
his usual Lenten exhortation and confining his remarks
to the lessons of Christianity as exemplified by the
noble life of the great English poet and moralist. The
brief extracts communicated by cable indicate that the
The Milton Windoiv. 307
effort was worthy of the speaker and the occasion. He
confessed the satisfaction it gave him that the Church
of St. Margaret's should furnish another illustration
of those bonds of common blood, traditions, language,
and affection which unite the mother-country with her
marvellous offspring, the giant Republic of the AV'est,
and alluded to the peculiar fitness of the honor done
by an American to the memory of one who represented
much that was most deeply loved in the Commonwealth,
which, failing in England, inspired vigor and nobleness
in the Commonwealth to which it gave birth beyond
the sea.
"Need it be said that the countrymen of Mr. Childs
participate with him in the reciprocation of the feeling
which inspired these utterances of Archdeacon Farrar?
The motive that prompted the Philadelphia philanthro-
pist is a motive which challenges the approval and
sympathy of every enlightened xVmerican. There is,
in his gift of the Milton Window, a teaching larger
than that of any sect, class, or faction. It has even a
nobler sis-nificance than that to which the archdeacon
adverted. It means more than a recognition of the ties
that unite the two leading nations of the Anglo-Saxon
race. It is an expression of the veneration which fills
every elevated mind for one of the most extraordinary
examples in the history of genius and virtue. In con-
ceiving this honor to the memory of Milton, Mr. Childs
revealed not only the benevolence of his nature, but
his appreciation of the truly great and good. Like his
Shakespeare Memorial and the beautiful AVindows in
the ancient Abbey that recall the genius of Herbert
and Cowper, it bespeaks the lofty ideals not less than
the kindly impulses of the donor.
"Of the author of ' Paradise Lost,' it has been said
that he is withdrawn from the ordinary world as an
308 The Milton Window.
Alp is witlidrawn, — by vastness, by solitariness of
snows, and by commerce with heaven. Mr. Childs has
shown that the ordinary world may venture to invade
this isolation and to mitigate the grandeur of the poet's
solitude by the proofs that his genius cannot thus
divorce him from the great heart of humanity. If the
sublimity of his intellect and the austerity of his morals
lift him far above his kind, the pathos of his life and
those passages in which he confesses his heritage of
weakness and sorrow, make him our brother and equal.
Wisely has Mr. Childs chosen this last object of his
generosity and munificence. Fittingly have the Eng-
lish people, speaking by the tongue of Archdeacon
Farrar, accepted the offering as at once a tribute to the
mighty dead and as a pledge of the fraternity of the
race that boasts his ashes as a consecrated legacy."
THE REREDOS OF ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH,
WINCHESTER.
Among the shifts which Mr. Childs has
made to Eno^land is that of the Reredos
which is no^Y one of the most striking
adornments of St. Tliomas's Church, Win-
chester.
The inception of this gift is to be found
in a letter written October 11, 1887, to Mr.
Childs by his friend, the Reverend Arthur
B. Sole, Rector of St. Thomas's Church.
Referring to the Herbert and Cowper
Memorial in Westminster Abbey, and to
the Shakespeare Fountain at Stratford, Mr.
Sole said, —
" Now that you have shown the midland counties and
the metropolis an American citizen's appreciation of
England's great poets, you must not leave out in the
cold the ancient city of the country, Winchester, the
one centre to which every American is attracted.
" Could you not give us a monument or memorial to
Bishop Ken, who lived close under the shadow of St.
309
310 The Ilcrcdos of St. IViomas^s Church.
Thomas's old Cliurcli ? We sorely need a new Reredos,
and, coming from a well-known citizen of that Greater
Britain beyond the sea, the gift would be highly esteemed
by Englishmen."
AVitli this request Mr. Childs complied
with characteristic generosity.
On December 6, 1887, the liev. Mr. Sole
wrote to his friend :
" We feel very grateful to you for your ready com-
pliance with my request, and for choosing our Church
us the recipient of your gift which shall show respect
and veneration for the good Bishop Ken. The church
is a very noble one, and the largest in Winchester, so
that it is fittini; his monument shall be in it.
" It has been suggested that you might like to have
good Bishop Andrewes's name connected with Bishop
Ken's in the work, since he was very often with us in
Winchester, and the Church of the seventeenth century
owes much to him."
A year later, December 28, 1888, the Rev.
Mr. Sole communicated with Mr. Childs,
saying,—
*' The following resolution was passed at a special
and influential Vestry that was called last week to dis-
cuss the Reredos :
" ' Parish of St. TnoifAS and St. Clement,
"Winchester.
" ' At a Vestry meeting held according to due notice
on Thursday, the 20th day of December, 1888, to con-
The Beredos of St. Thomases Church, 311
aider the subject of the gift of a Reredos to the Church
bj an American citizen, and to record a vote of thanks
to the donor^ —
" * Proposed by Captain Budden, and seconded by
Mr. Alfred King, that this meeting of the Rector,
Church-wardens, and parishioners in Yestrj assembled,
do hereby offer to George William Childs, Esquire, of
Philadelphia, U.S.A., their most cordial thanks for his
very handsome gift towards the beautifying of their
parish Church, and to which they would beg to add the
hope that, should Mr. Childs ever visit England, they
may have the pleasure of seeing him in Winchester,
and thanking him in person for the kindly interest he
has shown in this ancient city and parish of the old
mother-country.
" ' Alfred King,
" 'J. A. MoRRAH (Colonel),
" ' Church- Wardens.
" ' Arthur D. Sole, Sector.^ "
On February 15, 1889, the Rector of St.
iomas
morial :
Thomas's ao^aiu wrote reo-arcling: the Me
" The Reredos is growing rapidly, and will be un-
veiled at 4.30 on Friday afternoon, March 1, by the Very
Reverend the Dean of Worcester.
"He is a most eloquent preacher, and I have no
doubt will say some helpful words concerning the cir-
cumstances under which the erection is made, and your
very sympathetic kindness and good-will toward the old
city of your fathers.
The inscription I have not yet prepared. I have
(( T
312 TIlc Reredos of St. Thomases Church,
•waited to take counsel with the Bishop. I should like
it to take such a form as this :
" ' To the glory of God, this Reredos has been erected by
George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, U.S.A., and to record the
undying esteem that is shared by the Church of the New World,
reciprocally with the ancient city of Winchester, in the saintly
lives of two of her sons and citizens, Bishop Andrewes and
Bishop Ken.'
" The Reredos was unveiled last Friday before a large
concourse of worshippers. It looked very beautiful,
and was spoken of by many as a munificent gift of love
from you."
AN ACCOUNT OF THE DEDICATION.
Under the caption of " The 'New Reredos
at St. Thomas's, Winchester," the Hampshire
Gazette, in its issue of March 2, 1889, of that
ancient metropolis said, —
"An interesting and historical Reredos has been
placed in the Church of Sts. Thomas and Clement,
Winchester, under unusually pleasing circumstances,
connecting Old and New England. A friend of the
Rector's (the Rev. A. B. Sole), Mr. Childs, of Phila-
delphia, presented him with a check to defray the
cost of a Reredos to commemorate Bishops Lancelot
Andrewes and Ken, prelates certainly of saintly re-
nown, whose names and fame are revered wherever
Enflishmen are, for both were stanch Churchmen:
both have left writings which are yet prized as manuals
of devotion and aids to religion ; and both have an his-
toric interest, for Andrewes administered the Diocese
of Canterbury whilst the Primate from an accident to
The Reredos of St. Thomas's Church. 313
his keeper was held to be incapacitated, and Ken was
one of the ' Seven Bishops.' Both are to be remem-
bered for their learning, and Ken especially to be
honored for his firmness of purpose against William
III. (when Prince of Orange), Charles II., and James,
when he considered morality and honor were jeopard-
ized. The Reredos is a very handsome work, although
it includes the arcade of the former one, which consisted
of panels with the Commandments, etc. These are
now removed to another place close by, and the span-
drils of the arches have been carved with conventional
foliage and fruit, and an angel in the north and south
spandrils. Above this arcade is another of five panels,
forming, with its cornice and cross, a pediment or finish
to the Reredos. The cross, with the Agnus Dei painted
in colors, surmounts the whole, and the hand-mould-
ings and other ornaments of the shafts of the panels
are in the best style of work. In the panels are fixed
as many paintings by ladies of Winchester. In the
centre is Christ ascending and blessing ; on either side
are angels with the chalice and 'golden crown;' and
on the outer panels are, on the south. Saints Thomas,
the apostle, and Clement, the third Bishop of Rome,
martyred in the time of Trajan, each with emblems, —
the spear and the anchor ; in the north are representa-
tions of Andrewes standing with his pastoral staff, and
Ken kneeling, both vested in Reformation robes, and
w^ith mitres at their feet. The pastoral staff indicates
that Andrewes died in office, whereas Ken, from scru-
ples of conscience, died out of office, being a non-juror.
Close to this panel is another in the wall over the
credence-table, which bears, under a cross-surmounted
globe delineating England and America, the following
w^ords, — ^ Stat Crux dum evolvit orhis,^ followed by this
inscription :
o 27
314 The Reredos of St. Thomases Church.
" * In token of the unity of spirit and bond of peace between
the Churches of the Old and New World, this Reredos is dcili-
cated by George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, to the memory of
two Bishops of the Chureli universal, both connected with this
Cathedral city — Bishop Lancelot Andrewes and Bishop Ken. —
MDCCCLXXXIX.'
w
'•The Reredos was unveiled yesterday (St. David's
Day), at Choral Evensonfi;. There was a numerous
congregation. The service opened with the Old Hun-
dredth Psalm. The anthem was ' IIow amiable are
Thy tabernacles,' and it was well sung by the choir.
The hymn before the sermon was ' We love the place,
0 God.' The preacher was the Very Rev. Dr. Gott,
Dean of Worcester, who chose for his text the words
' From strength to strength,' from the seventh verse of
the Eighty-fourth Psalm. In the course of an eloquent
sermon he said they Avere met together that afternoon
to worship God, not only in spirit but in truth, and to
give a blessing in God's name to the new addition to the
altar which graced their church, and indicated their
devotion. Concluding, he asked what was the strength
added to their Church since the days of Ken? He did
not think he could put it in words, — he could not hold
the world in his hands, he could not express the mighty
strength which had come over the Church of God from
those days till now ! How wide the Church had spread,
how fertile had been her daughter Churches within
the last century, how rich she was in founding new
branches of the old Church, how strong in infusing the
spirit of the one true religion — the religion of Christ
— into the old religions of the East! How wonderful
had been the strength of the Church in the country of
the donor who sent the offering to the city whence these
two saintly men came ! Were tliey personally going
The Reredos of St. Thomas's Church. 315
from strens^th to strength ? As years passed over them,
and as the troubles — perhaps the pleasures — of life
thickened around them, were they going from strength
to strength? Let the faith be handed on pure and
untarnished to their children, and their children's
children, until at last they appeared before Him who
was their Almighty strength, and more than conquer-
ors received from Ilim the power which Eternity would
bring. The hymn ' Lift the strain of high thanks-
giving' was sung during the offertory."
The Story of ^Ir. Childs's Memorials to
some of the noblest of Old England's wor-
thies, which is here brought to an end, has
grown under the hands of the Editor, despite
his efforts to keep it within more modest
limits. But lono^ as it is, he induls^es. at
least, the hope that it will be found inter-
esting: to those who ao:ree with him that it is
permitted to no one to do better work in
this world than that of fostering fraternal
feeling between peoples who are akin, but
who are separated by the broad ocean, and
who have been sometimes estranged by mis-
understandings, conflicting interests, or un-
toward circumstances. This is the work
which ]Mr. Childs appears to the Editor to
have had a mind to do in the makins: of
every one of those gifts to our cousins across
the sea with whom Americans can claim
even a closer degree of consanguinity than
31 G The Rcredos of St. Thomases Church,
that of cousins! lip, — their just claim is that
of Common Brotherliood.
Tlie sacred poets, Herbert and Cowper;
Milton, the sublime singer of the Cromwell-
ian epoch; and Shakespeare, whose genius
illuminates the present not less effulgently
than it glorified the age of Elizabeth, spoke
in no strange tongue, but in our very own,
— in that of our mother-country. In these
great masters of the English language, in
their work and their fame, Americans have
also their full share and part, and whoso
giveth recognition to that which they did
and reverence to their memories in noble,
impressive monuments does that which
strengthens the feeling of fraternity which
nature itself demands should exist between
the two countries. This, as it seems to the
Editor, is what Mr. Childs has done, and
for doing which he deserves the sincerest
respect and the warmest gratitude of Eng-
land and America.
MR. CHILDS
AND THE
WORKINQMAN
BY
RICHARD T. ELY, Ph.D.,
ASSOCIATE IN POLITICAL ECONOMY, JOHNS HOPKINS
UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE.
27* 317
GEORGE W. CHILDS
IN HIS
RELATIONS TO HIS EMPLOYEES.
It is with sincere pleasure that I accept
the invitation which has been extended to
me by Mr. Phillips, the editor, to contribute
a few pages to the present volume on the
relations of Mr. Childs to his employees. I
shall do something more than this, because
in treating these relations I almost of ne-
cessity touch upon his relations to the labor
movement in general. It was, in fact, while
writing my work on " The Labor Movement
in America" that I first came to know the
affectionate nature of the relations existino-
between Mr. Childs and his employees.
It occurs frequently that an industrial
leader makes himself an object of love and
admiration to his own employees, although
even this does not happen so often as one
319
o
20 Geovfje W. Childs in his
could desire. Mr. Childs has, however, done
far more than this. lie has made himself
beloved by an entire craft — namely, that to
which the most of those employed upon his
great newspaper, the Public Ledger, belong,
the compositors — throughout the United
States. The reader may travel south to
Texas, north to Minnesota, east to Maine,
or west to the shores of the Pacific, and
wherever he mentions the name of Mr.
Childs he touches a warm spot in the heart
of the compositor. I was studying the labor
question in Richmond, Virginia, a few years
ago, when I happened to mention the name
of Mr. Childs to the president of the local
organization of compositors. " Oh, sir," said
he, as his face brightened with loving grati-
tude, *' if all employers were like Mr. George
W. Childs there would be no labor ques-
tion." Similar expressions are often heard
at gatherings of printers everywhere.
The following words are taken from an
address delivered on the occasion of a ban-
quet, by one of the employees in the Ledger
office, and will bring to the reader some idea
of their appreciation of the character of
their benefactor : " My recollection of the
gentleman who is being honored by this
banquet dates back to boyhood. To use a
Relations to his Employees. 321
quoted expression, Mr. Chilcls is ' an Israelite
without o^uile.' The thin or in him that is
plainest to me is that there is less of evil in
him than in any man I ever knew. ISTo
one can say that he went to him with a tale
of true sorrow and went away empty-handed.
lie overlooks our shortcomings in the Ledger
office, and many of us have done that which
might be cause for dismissal from other
establishments. But we are all there, still
at work, because he could not frame his
lips to say the word that would cause our
departure."
At this banquet a letter was read from
a Boston printer, in which these words
occur : " To George W. Childs, more than
to any other man living, are we indebted for
the present era of good feeling existing be-
tween employers and members of our craft,
which has taken the place of the antagonistic
spirit of former years."
And it was but a few days since that I
received a letter from a Washinsfton com-
positor, in which Mr. Childs was alluded to
as " the Patron Saint of the printers."
Here we have testimonies from Boston,
Philadelphia, Washington, and Richmond,
and they might without trouble be gathered
from every quarter. Is not this remarkable ?
322 George W. Childs in his
The newspapers are full of bitter quarrels
between employers and emplo3'e(l, and bere
is a man who bus estal)lislied sueb wbolly
satisfactory relations between bimself and
bis employees that an entire craft look upon
him with enthusiastic admiration, and re-
gard him as an ideal character. Surely it is
worth while to reflect for a few moments on
these relations; surely it is worth while that
the facts should be pul)lished to the world,
as an incitement to others to " 2:0 and do
likewise."
Mr. Childs is called a philanthropist, and
no man can have a nobler title. One who
is a lover of his kind partakes in so far of
the divine nature. God is love, and Christ,
who came to manifest to us the love of God,
said that the second of the two great com-
mandments, which bids us to love our fel-
lows, was of the same nature as the first,
which bids us to love God. Moreover, when
men professed to love God, Christ and the
apostles always put their professions to the
proof in testing this love for their fellow-
men. 'No one can be a Christian without at
the same time being a philanthropist.
While all this is true, the word philan-
thropist does not alwaj's convey to us such
impressions of exalted goodness as it should.
Relations to his Employees. 323
One reason is, doubtless, that we are not
sufficiently Christian ourselves to appreciate
philanthropy at its value; and another is that
there is in this world much more spurious
than genuine philanthropj'. Mere giving is
not philanthropy. A man may give millions
of dollars in alms, and yet be a contemptible
fellow. St. Paul tells us, indeed, that a man
may give his body to be burned, but that
without love this is nothing. Philanthropy
is first of all a state of the heart, — a loving
heart, — and, when it is giving, it is loving
giving directed by intelligence : all of the
giver's powers are placed at the service of
his fellows.
But this is not all. Love is not weakness.
Love is o^entle firmness and at times is even
severity. Charles Kingsley, indeed, has said
that there is no severity so terrible as the
severitv of love.
Georo:e Eliot is celebrated for her insis-ht
into character, and in one of her letters I
find these words : " I prefer a country where
I don't make bad blood by having to see one
public house to every six dwellings, — which
is literally the case in many spots around us.
My gall rises at the rich brewers in Parlia-
ment and out of it, who plant these poison-
shops for their million-making trade, while
324 Gcovfje W. Ch'ilds in Juh
probably their families are figuring some-
where as refined philanthropists or devout
Evangelicals and Kitualists."
We must go back of the giving and know
something about methods of acquisition be-
fore we can pass judgment on the giver.
Thieves, pirates, gamblers, have often been
generous, as is well known, but no one would
think of calling them on that account phi-
lanthropists. It is quite as improper to call
a generous railroad-wrecker a philanthropist,
or any one who, even in conformity with
legal forms, coaxes other people's money
into his pockets without a fair equivalent.
The recipients of Mr. Childs's bounty may
enjoy it without any feelings of compunction,
as thev well know that his fortune has been
honestly gained in a legitimate business con-
ducted according to high principles. It is
a source of proper satisfaction to Mr. Childs
to be able to say of the Public Ledger, " This
propert}^ was built up without breaking
other people down."
When Mr. Childs acquired the Public
Ledger in 1864, he made a distinction in
the manao;ement of his business which too
many overlook, although it is fundamental.
" Meanness," said he, " is not necessary to
success in business, but economy is."
Relations to his Employees. 325
As early as 1867 ^Ir. Childs had acquired
a reputation as '' a just and liberal employer,
and a kind-hearted, charitable man," and
had been made an honorary member of " the
Philadelphia Typographical Society." This
society was in the following year the recipi-
ent of a lar2:e and valuable tract of orround
in Woodlands Cemetery, near Philadelphia,
which was beautifully enclosed and orna-
mented, and which has since been known
as " The Printers' Cemetery." The ex-
penses connected with its maintenance have
been met by the donor for over twenty years.
The good deeds of Mr. Childs, which are
unknown to any one but himself, are so
numerous that thev could not be described
in a brief sketch. I have in mind onl v those
which are known ; but there is every reason
to believe that a larger proportion of them
never become known, although aifection
prompts many to let the world know what
he has quietly and unostentatiously done for
them. The individual cases of distress re-
lieved by him are simply innumerable, and
among those relieved are naturally many
present or past employees : but now we are
concerned chieflv with his resjular relations
with his employees. One form which his
beneficence takes is to place insurance on
28
326 George W. Childs in his
their lives, which in case of death will pro-
vide for those who are dependent on them.
Another form of Mr. Childs's philanthropy
is seen in his pension system which places
all those who have served him long and
faithfully heyond want in their old age. I
wish to call particular attention to this, be-
cause I believe there is perhaps no single
measure likely to add so much to human
happiness as a judicious pension system,
well developed and placed on a secure finan-
cial basis. I believe, too, that it is practi-
cable to develop such a system both for
public and private employees. It has never
been clear why a pension system should be
confined to the army, because if it is good
for the army it is also good, as other coun-
tries have found out, for the civil servants
of city, state, and nation. The abuses which
have been connected ^vith pensions are no
argument against this position, because the
abuses are accidental rather than essential
parts of the s^'stem. It should be under-
stood that the pension system which obtains
in Mr. Childs's oflice is a regular part of the
remuneration received by all employees, and
not simply a gift to the poor and need}^
Mr. Childs sees no reason why a man who
has been prudent, thrifty, and fortunate
Bclations to Ids Employees. 327
should be deprived of his pension; and it is
said that recently a pensioner of the Public
Ledger was worth a quarter of a million
dollars.
The proper aim of life has often been de-
scribed to be the full and harmonious devel-
opment of all our faculties; but it has been
too often tacitly, if not explicitly, assumed,
that this full and harmonious development
is for the few only, and not for the many.
This is not, however, the belief of Mr. Childs.
He furnishes the most cheerful, wholesome,
often luxurious rooms for the entire working
force of the Ledger, and in the printers'
apartment he has not even forgotten to use
those colors on the walls which are least
trying to their heavily-taxed eyes. Vaca-
tions interrupt regularly the hard work of
the Ledger employees, and with the vacation
there comes a present of means for a trip,
sometimes even across the continent or to
Europe. On each Christmas-eve every em-
ployee receives a present in money, the total
amount being many thousands of dollars
annually. This is what Mr. Childs modestly
calls profit-sharing. It is, in truth, however,
the noblest form of genuine philanthropy.
There are three events in the relations
of Mr. Childs to his employees which are
328 George W. Childs in his
peculiarly pleasing. The first concerns the
rate [)aid for type-setting. This rate is for
Union offices fixed hy the " International
Typographical Union," and most employers
think they are doing well if they pay with-
out nmrnmring all that is asked. [N^ot so
Mr. Childs. In 1876 a delegation of his
employees came to him with tlie announce-
ment that they were willing to have their
wages reduced from forty-five cents a thou-
sand ems to forty cents, which had become
the Union rate. Mr. Childs, however, re-
plied that he saw no reason why he should
reduce their washes. He received the same
price as formerly for his advertisements, the
Public Ledger sold for the same price; in
short, his business was prosperous, and he
saw no good reason why his employees
should not share in his prosperity. lie was
satisfied if they did. The result has been
that for over thirteen years Mr. Childs has
been paying his printers in the aggregate
over ten thousand dollars a year more than
the Union rate required, or more than he
need have paid. This, too, is an expression
of his philanthropy disguised by him as
profit-sharing.
The second noteworthy event to which I
have referred occurred ten years later, iii
delations to his Employees. 329
1886. It was during the annual meeting of
the International Typographical Union, and
consisted in the presentation of a check for
ten thousand dollars to that body, one-half
given by ^Ir. Childs and the other half by
his life-long friend, the well-known banker,
Mr. Anthony J. Drexel. The gift was made
without conditions of any sort, and its final
use has not yet, I believe, been precisely de-
termined. It was, however, gratefully ac-
cepted, and it was decided to employ it for
the construction of some kind of a perma-
nent memorial, probably a building in Phil-
adelphia to serve as the headquarters of the
organization. It was at once resolved to in-
crease the fund by a beautiful arrangement.
It was voted that the printers east of the Mis-
sissippi should set a thousand ems for the fund
on each of Mr. Childs's recurrins; birthdavs.
May 12, and that those west of the Missis-
sippi should set a thousand ems for the fund
on every September 13, which is Mr. Drexel's
birthday. Accordingly, every time these an-
niversaries occur the printers send to the
trustees of the Childs-Drexel fund whatever
is received for setting a thousand ems, and
thus it grows at the rate of several thousand
dollars a year, and now amounts to twenty-
five thousand dollars.
28*
330 George W. Childs in his
It 18 seen from this that Mr. Childs is not
liostile to labor organizations; indeed, he
openly says that he favors them, and he be-
lieves that had no organization existed among
the printers their rate of remuneration would
hardly be one-half what it is at present.
Mr. Childs holds to the doctrines of equal
rights for all classes, and cannot understand
why employees have not as much right to
organize as their employers. A man who
is able to take so broad and srenerous a
view of much-maligned labor organizations
deserves the highest commendation.
There is scarcely room for more than one
opinion about labor organizations on the
part of intelligent and impartial men who
have investigated their claims, and that is
favorable to them. This does not mean that
they are free from faults. What human or-
ganization is free from faults ? Has the his-
tory of that organization which we call the
Christian Church been such that her mem-
bers can contemplate it with unmingled sat-
isfaction ? By no means. Yet it is safe to
say that that organization is a good thing,
and that the world is to-day a thousand times
happier and better than it would be had the
Christian Church never existed.
Labor organizations doubtless have their
Relations to his Employees. 331
faults, although most of the ohjectious
brouo'ht ao-aiust them are slanders. The
true course would then seem to be to con-
tend only against their bad features, and
to give them, as a whole, encouragement.
This is the policy which Mr. Childs has
pursued, and it is safe to say that the In-
ternational Typographical Union is on his
account to-day animated with a far more
conservative, conciliatory spirit than would
otherwise be the case.
Labor organizations are not merely eco-
nomic organizations in a narrow sense. They
are that, and, well conducted, can within
certain limits raise wages or keep wages
from falling. They enable labor to make
the best of the existing situation, and this
can be as clearly proved, perhaps, as any-
thing in political economy. But labor or-
ganizations are generally active temperance
organizations, many of their members being
total abstainers and prohibitionists. Fur-
thermore, they are educational societies,
training their members in speaking, writing,
and discussion, out of all of which proceeds a
better understanding of the questions of the
day. They are, finally, social organizations,
where the social side of the nature of their
members is cultivated, and in the crowded
332 Gcor(je W. Childs in his
modern city this is of special importance.
All this makes it plain how good a deed is
done by any one who helps to develop the
be^t features of labor organizations.
The experience of Professor Thorold
Rogers, of the University of Oxford, is so
typical that it is worth while to quote it
here. I may say in this place that it is quite
similar to my experience, although I presume
I do not expect so much from the organiza-
tion of labor alone as does Professor Rogers.
" These institutions," says Professor Rogers,
" were repressed with passionate violence
and malignant watchfulness as long as it was
possible to do so. When it was necessary
to relax the severities of the older laws, they
were still persecuted by legal chicanery,
whenever oppression could on any pretence
be justified. As they were slowly emanci-
pated, they have constantly been the object
of alarmist calumnies and sinister predic-
tions. I do not speak of the language of
newspapers and reviews. . . . Far graver
were the allegations of Senior and Thorn-
ton. . . . Even my friend Mr. Mill treated
these forces of industrial life with a strano:e
indifference. I confess to having at one
time viewed them suspiciously- ; but a long
study of the history of labor has convinced
Relations to his Employees, 333
me that they are not only the best friends
of workmen, but the best agency for the
employer and the public, and that to the
extension of these associations poUtical econ-
omists and statesmen must look for the solu-
tion of some among the most pressing and
the most difficult problems of our time."
Another illustration will show how far
Mr. Childs carries his friendly interest in
whatever concerns his employees. A few
years ago there appeared in Philadelphia a
new labor paper. It was stated that Mr.
Childs had presented every workingman in
his establishment with a year's subscription.
What a contrast this is to the conduct of
those employers who are willing to discharge
men for reading labor papers !
The third event to which I alluded was
the attempt to bring forward Mr. Childs as
a candidate for the Presidency. His name,
it is said, was first mentioned for this posi-
tion by the Washington w^eekly, The Crafts-
man, long the official organ of the Inter-
national Typographical Union. The pro-
posal was greeted with enthusiasm in many
c^uarters, and in its issue of February 25,
1888, The Craftsman voiced the sentiment of
many printers when it said, " George W.
Childs before the people ! It is too good to
334 George W. CJiilds in his
be true." Yet many tried to make it true,
and it was not merely in labor quarters that
the proposal was favorably received. The
more people turned the idea over in their
minds, the stronger did it become, and vol-
untary otters of influential sup[)ort began to
pour in from every side. Democrats, Re-
publicans, capitalists, and wage-earners w^ere
eager to unite in the Presidential campaign
with Mr. Childs as leader. The proprie-
tor of a Democratic newspaper in the East
pledged the support of his influential journal,
and oflered himself to subscribe one hundred
thousand dollars for campaign expenses. A
proprietor of a leading Democratic journal of
the West made a similar pledge, with an offer
of a personal subscription of fifty thousand
dollars. Proprietors of leading Republican
newspapers likewise promised to rally around
Mr. Childs as Presidential candidate. Mr.
Childs, however, never could see his way
clear to an acceptance of all this unsought
and enthusiastically-pledged support, and, in
spite of all entreaties, positively declined to
allow his name to be used, going so far as to
say that he would feel compelled to refuse
the ofiice even if he should be elected to it.
This declination was doubtless a bitter dis-
appointment to many printers who had
Relations to his Employees, 335
hoped to see their true friend occupying the
highest office in the gift of the people. Yet
they acquiesced in his decision, and their
admiration and affection suffered no abate-
ment.
Those printers and pressmen who have rep-
resented Philadelphia at the annual meetings
of the International Typographical Union
have formed an orcranization called " The
Association of Ex-Delegates of Philadelphia
Typographical Union ^o. 2 and of Press-
men's Union Xo. 4 to the International Ty-
pographical Union," and they determined
in 1888 to hold a grand celebration on May
12 in honor of Mr. Childs's birthday. A
banquet v^^as provided at which many
speeches were made eulogizing Mr. Childs,
and from one of them I have already quoted.
Several visitors from Washins^ton, includiuo:
Congressmen who had once been composi-
tors, attended this memorable banquet. It
was proposed that they should each set up a
thousand ems and donate the proceeds to the
Childs-Drexel fund, but at the close of the
banquet it was too late. The intention was
mentioned by Congressman James O'Don-
nell, of Michigan, and naturally it was vo-
ciferously applauded. As a matter of fact,
Mr. O'Donnell, and his printer colleagues,
336 George W. Cliilda in 1m
eight in nil, after their return to Washington,
(lid on May 19 set up a thousand ems each,
and contribute the amount received to the
fund mentioned.
Remembering the hostile feelings existing
so often between large employers and labor
organizations, it is well to make extracts from
two of the letters of leading officers of the
International Typographical Union which
were read on that occasion. The following
is from the letter of Wm. Aimison, the
President of that body :
" I regret my inability to be present, owing to the
nearness of the meeting of the International Typo-
graphical Union and the rush of business incident
thereto. There is no one to-day within the jurisdic-
tion of the I. T. U. whom the printers of the country
would delight to honor more than Mr. Childs. May
his birthdays be continued, and when the Avarm heart
and charitable hand are stilled in death, may his mem-
ory be as a refreshing draught to strengthen and to
re-encouraire us in the battle of life."
The following extract is from the letter of
David P. Boyer, the chief organizer :
" I hereby send my regrets at not being able to at-
tend. No other labor organization in this or any otiier
country lias ever received such consideration at the
hands of any one man as did the International Typo-
graphical Union in June. 1886, from George W. Childs,
Relations to his Employees. 337
whose name is revered and honored throughout the
entire jurisdiction of the grand body. . . . Long life
and happiness to the friends of Union printers, George
W. Childs and Anthony J. Drexel."
It onsfht to be mentioned in this connec-
tion that in the local headquarters of the
printers of Washington and several other
cities a handsome portrait of Mr. Childs
adorns the walls and is res^arded as one of
their most cherished possessions.
I think I can in no way more fitly con-
clude this paper on Mr. Childs's Relations
to his Employees than by quoting the ad-
ditional testimony given by Harper's Weekly
of January 11, 1890, in the following just
tribute to that generous consideration which
Mr. Childs shows in so practical a manner
for all those in his employ :
" It was long ago said of Mr. George W. Childs, the
publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, that he
was the two ' Cheery ble Brothers' rolled into one ; but
probably a more appropriate name for him would be
the Santa Claus of the newspaper world. On this last
Christmas day Mr. Childs, it is said, gave presents
amounting to many thousands of dollars in hard cash
to the editors, reporters, compositors, pressmen, and
other employees of the Ledger. When it is considered
that the salaries and wages paid by Mr. Childs are as
large as the largest paid by other Philadelphia publish-
ers, it will be recognized that any one associated with
T w 29
338 George W. Childs in his
him in his work has cause to be satisfied witii his em-
ployer. It is said by his employees, however, that they
have even greater cause for satisfaction with him be-
cause of his daily consideration for them than for his
Christmas bounty. It is represented to be pretty much
of the same admirable sort as that of Mr. Fezziwig for
his employees, which was so Avarmly described by
Scrooge. ' He has the power,' said old Jacob Marley's
partner, ' to render us happy or unhappy ; to make our
service light or burdensome, a pleasure or a toil. Say
that his power lies in w^ords and looks, in things so
slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and
count 'em up; what then? The happiness he gives is
quite as great as if it cost a fortune.' That is said to
describe with wondrous accuracy Mr. Childs's relations
with his employees, who say he is a man who honors
Christmas in his heart, and keeps it always."
The Philadelphia Record prefaced the
above, in republishing it, with the caption,
"True — Every Word of it;" to which the
New York San^ in its republication, added,
" And Hundreds of Men in all Parts of the
Country will Confirm it."
All that I have written reads more like a
fairy story than a description of real life,
and it is refreshing to a political economist
who is so continually concerned with clash-
ing social interests, occasionally to find a
great industrial establishment where such
peace and harmony prevail as to make it
seem like a veritable happy family.
Relations to his Employees. 339
We often hear the expression that the
interests of labor and capital are harmoni-
ous; that they are allies, not enemies : but,
curiously enough, the practical conclusion
which seems to be drawn from this is that
labor should always submit to the commands
of capital, although it is not clear why it is
not just as logical to expect capital always
to accede to the demands of labor if their
interests are identical. I have never been
able to reconcile this beautiful sentiment
with the hard facts of life. At the same
time, I think that any one who will study
the experience of Mr. Childs and other em-
ployers who might be mentioned, — some of
them, indeed, in the same line of business, —
will be convinced that, if the interests of
employers and employed are not always pre-
cisely identical, there is, at any rate, not that
diversitv of interests which mi ofht be inferred
from the too frequent conduct of both parties.
A more conciliatory spirit on both sides
would certainly be mutually advantageous.
Philanthropy is of two sorts, — positive
and preventive. Positive philanthropy tries
to mitigate or remedy evils. It builds hos-
pitals for the sick and relieves paupers. This
is all very well in its way, but there is a
far higher kind of philanthropy, though it
34.0 Relations to Employees.
attracts less attention. It is preventive. It
looks ahead and takes measnres to lessen the
need of almshouses and hospitals. The
philanthropy of a model employer is of this
latter sort. lie pays good wages and de-
serves to rank higher than a capitalist who
cuts wages and who contributes largely to
ordinary charitable institutions. He helps
men to help themselves, and lifts them to a
higher plane of thought and life.
Richard T. Ely.
January, 1890.
CELEBRATION
OF THE
BIRTHDAY OF GEORGE W. CHILDS.
The following account of the Banquet of
*' The Association of Ex-Deles^ates of Phil-
adelphia Typographical Union, ]S"o. 2, and
of Pressmen's Union, 'No. 4, to the Inter-
national Typographical Union," May 12,
1888, is taken from the Printers^ Circular,
Philadelphia.
May 12, 1888, will long be remembered by the
printers of Philadelphia and vicinity for the celebra-
tion by them of the birthday of their steadfast friend
and distinguished fellow-citizen, George W. Childs,
publisher of the Public Ledger.
The Association of Ex-Delegates of Philadelphia
Typographical Union, No. 2, and of Pressmen's Union,
No. 4, to the International Typographical Union, hav-
ing resolved that some fitting celebration of the day
should be held, it was decided that a Testimonial Ban-
quet should be given at Dooner's Hotel, to which should
29* 341
342 . Celebration of the
be invited the eight printers who were members of the
United States House of Representatives, together with
many distinguished members of the printing and pub-
lishing fraternities throughout the country.
When in 1886 Messrs. Childs and Drexel sent their
respective checks for five thousand dolhirs to the Con-
vention of the International Typographial Union, then
in session at Pittsburgh, provision was made that the in-
dividual members should have the opportunity to assist
in au^mentinc:; the fund until such time as it was seen
fit to make disposition of it. It was then arranged that
the printers east of the Mississippi should, for this pur-
pose, contribute the price paid for setting one thousand
ems on Mr. Childs's birthday. May 12, of each year, and
that those west of the Mississippi should do likewise on
the annual recurrence of Mr. Drexel's birthday, Septem-
ber 13. Following out this plan of mutual assistance, the
printers Avest of the Mississippi have made two annual
contributions to the fund, and on Saturday, May 12,
the second contributions of printers this side of the
great river were made. Excluding these last contri-
butions, of which but meagre returns have yet been
received, the fund has already increased to over sixteen
thousand dollars.
The earnest efforts of the Ex-Delegates to appropri-
ately observe Mr. Childs's natal day, and the sponta-
neous and hearty responses of distinguished men who
had graduated from the printing-ofiice, resulted in a
celebration as memorable as it was successful and
enjoyable to all who participated in it.
The handsome dining-hall was decorated with the
national colors, and behind the President's chair was
placed a magnificent painting of the Public Ledgei-
building, in a massive frame, on one side of which
hung a life-size portrait of Mr. Childs, and on the other
Bhihday of George W. Childs. 343
a corresponding portrait of Mr. Drexel, elegantly framed
and decorated. Over these were the stars and stripes,
and below a bank of flowers, the gift of the employees
of the ''Ledger Job office." To the left of Mr. Childs's
portrait was displayed the silken banner of Typograpli-
ibal Union, No. 2, of Philadelphia, and to the right of
Mr. Drexel's portrait hung the beautiful banner of
Pressmen's Union, No. 4, of this city.
On the table and about the banquet-hall flowers and
flowering plants were profusely distributed, producing,
with the other elaborate and tasteful decorations, a most
pleasing and graceful effect. In front of each plate was
placed a menu card, noticeable for its typographical
beauty, and, in addition, before the plate of each Con-
gressional guest was a remembrance from Mr. Childs
in the shape of a fragrant bouquet. Besides these,
numerous bouquets and plateaus were sent as birthday
gifts to Mr. Childs, with the compliments of warm per-
sonal friends and invited guests who could not be pres-
ent, among whom was William M. Singerly, Esq., pro-
prietor and editor of the Philadelphia Becord, who sent
as a token of his friendship and esteem a floral gift of
great natural beauty and elegance of design. During
the evening, and between the speeches, music was dis-
coursed by Simon Hassler's orchestra.
THE BANQUET.
At half-past seven o'clock Mr. John A. Dardis, Presi-
dent of the Ex-Delegates' Association, called the com-
pany to order, and the one hundred members and guests
were seated. Mr. Dardis said, — •
Gentlemen', — As President of the Ex-Delegates' As-
sociation of Philadelphia, it becomes my pleasant duty
to welcome you, and to ask your hearty co-operation
344 Celebration of the
in this effort fittingly to celebrate the birthday of onr
distinguished fellow-citizen and benefactor, George W.
Childs, publisher of the Public Ledger.
While the printers east of the Mississippi are cele-
brating the day by each setting a thousand ems of type
as a contribution to the Childs-Drexel fund, it seemcU
to us that the printers of Philadelphia should, in addi-
tion to their contribution, publicly bear testimony to
their appreciation of Mr. Childs's noble, unselfish, and
long-continued generosity to the entire printing fra-
ternity.
Hence this Testimonial Banquet in his honor, to
which you are cordially invited ; and, with your assist-
ance, we hope to make it one of the most memorable
events in the history of the art preservative.
I now take great pleasure in introducing to you
Mr. James J. Dailey, Chairman of the Committee of
Arrangements.
Mr. Dailey, upon being introduced, briefly ac-
knowledged the applause with which he was greeted,
and introduced the Rev. John R. Moses, Rector of St.
Jude's Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, who
invoked the Divine blessing.
The announcement was made that letters and tele-
grams, expressing their regret, because of their ina-
bility to be present, had been received from Hon. Simon
Cameron, who is probably the oldest printer in the
United States ; Hon. John Russell Young, late U. S.
Minister to China ; Hon. John H. Oberly, ex-President
of the International Typographical Union and Civil-
Service Commissioner, and the following printers or
ex-printers :
Congressman J. H. Gallinger, of Concord, N. H.
Congressman Thos. L. Thompson, of California.
Birthday of George W. Chllds. 345
Harper & Bros., Publishers, New York.
E. M. Paxson, Chief Justice Supreme Court of Penn-
sylvania.
Hon. A. K. McClure, Editor Philadelphia Times.
Thomas MacKellar, of MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan,
type-founders, Philadelphia.
Wm. Aimison, President International Typograph-
ical Union.
David P. Boyer, Chief Organizer of the I. T. U.
Ex-President "Witter, of St. Louis, Mo.
John O'Donnell, of Boston, ex-Secretary-Treasurer
I. T. U.
AVm. Bodwell, New York Sun, ex-President I. T. U.
Dr. Egle, State Librarian of Pennsylvania.
R. P. Boss, of the Boston Globe.
John Vincent, of the Boston Globe.
After the more material part of the banquet had been
discussed by the members and guests, the feast of rea-
son and flow of sentiment and wit were begun by
Chairman and Toastmaster Dailey announcing the
first regular toast, " The International Typographical
Union," and introducino; Congressman John M. Far-
quhar, the "War President of the International Typo-
graphical Union," to respond to it.
CONGRESSMAN FARQUHAr's SPEECH.
Mr. Farquhar, of Buffalo, New York, arose, amid an
outburst of applause, and after paying a compliment to
Typographical Union, No. 2, of Philadelphia, for its
steadfastness and reliability, said that his feeling of
gratification was divided between meeting and congrat-
ulating Mr. Ciiilds and meeting and congratulating his
old comrades of the composing-room. He said, —
34G Celebration of the
Thirty seven years ago there was cradled in the city
of New York an organization which, by its wise con-
stitution and sensible deliberations upon matters of
interest to the printers' fraternity, placed itself in th§
van of labor organizations and made itself first — the
leader — the exponent of every individual man's right
to the full value of the labor of his hands, as w^ell as
his brain.
lie referred to the International Typographical
Union, the high honor of which he vindicated, and to
the great satisfaction he entertained, personally, in the
recollection of the early days of the Union. Strange
as it may seem, this was the first time that the toast,
" The International Typographical Union," had been
assigned to hira, and on such an occasion he was proud
to refer to it, and to the way he had won his spurs,
"stick"' in hand, at the journeyman's case. He then
said, —
It is germane that I should say a word, as a journey-
man printer, about the gentleman whose birthday we
celebrate. I never knew one act of a public or private
citizen of this country that struck me with more mean-
ing in it than the present of Messrs. Childs and Drexel
of five thousand dollars each to this organization. It
was not a restricted donation, but a present — a free
and absolute gift. No association has ever before been
placed in the position of receiving a gift wjthout some
hesitancy, whether it was intended as a tribute to merit
or not. But from these men it came and was accepted
as an acknowledgment of merit, urging us to step
higher. It was a gift unconditional, and with it went
the message of encouragement: "We acknowledo-e
your work, and here we show, by our hands and our
hearts, that you are an organization we love."
Mr. Farquhar proceeded to eulogize Mr. Childs and
Birthday of George W. Childs. 347
Mr. Drexel, growing very earnest in his praises of their
generous act, which he regarded as of great significance
to workingmen. Raising his voice, he exclaimed,
" Every Union printer in America will say, ' God bless
George W. Childs and Anthony J. Drexel ' *' The
remainder of the sentence was drowned in applause,
for at that moment Mr. Childs, to the surprise of every-
body in the banquet-hall, made his appearance. Mr.
Farquhar took his seat, Messrs. Chairman Dailey and
Joel Cook welcomed Mr. Childs, and the orchestra
played Ilasslers waltz, " Wootton." The effect was
strikingly dramatic, and Mr. Farquhar was congratu-
lated on the appropriateness of his closing remarks.
As soon as the applause subsided, Mr. Dailey intro-
duced Mr. Childs as the first citizen of Philadelphia,
and, " in the hearts of the printers, the first citizen of
America." Mr. Childs bowed his acknowledgments.
On behalf of Mr. Joseph Pulitzer, proprietor and editor
of the New York World, Mr. Dailey then presented
Mr. Childs with a magnificent bouquet. This token
of good feeling on the part of the distinguished Xew
York publisher was also warmly recognized. Mr.
Childs remained for about half an hour, and was then
escorted around the table to enable him to shake hands
with the men who had met to do him honor, and to
receive their congratulations. This pleasant duty being
over, he retired.
The next toast,
" THE DAY WE CELEBRATE,"
was responded to by Mr. Eugene H. Munday (the well-
known printer-poet and prose writer of Philadelphia),
who said, —
Mr. President and Gentlemen, — 1 have not felt at
348 Celebration of the
liberty to decline the invitation to respond to this toast,
thou^^h most sincerely do I wish that the honorable
duty had been assigned to some one better qualified to
treat the theme as it deserves. I have not felt free to
decline the invitation, because it comes from the valued
friends of my whole life; and if it shall appear that
kind resrard for me has caused the committee to err in
choosing a spokesman for this occasion, I hope that you
will all emulate that spirit of kindness and excuse the
shortcomings that may be too obvious in what I shall
say.
On the twelfth day of May, 1829, George W. Childs
was born in the city of Baltimore, and this body of
printers assembles here to-night to celebrate that event.
A small body of men we are, of no special importance
in the great world, or even within the limits of our
own city ; and shallow ill-nature might carp at our
action as savoring of presumptuous forwardness. But
there is, I venture to assert, eminent propriety in such
a meeting of just such men for just this purpose.
This modest Association, having no object but social
intercourse and the cultivation of friendly relations,
is composed of men who at different times have been
selected to represent the journeymen printers of Phila-
delphia in National and International Conventions.
We cannot be sure that they at all times adequately
represented their constituents ; but who can doubt that
they will represent the feelings, not only of the printers
of this city, but of the -workingmen of the whole
country, if they shall in any measure acceptably com-
memorate the birth of a man who — untainted by dem-
agogism — is preeminent as the intelligent and powerful
friend of all legitimate efforts to assert and maintain
the rights of organized labor ; who, in his use of wealth,
and in the conduct of his business, daily typifies the
Birthday of George W. Cliilds. 349
highest functions of capital ; and who stands ever ready
personally and in the columns of his influential journal
— by generous acts and cheering words — to forward
every well-considered movement that promises to benefit
the toilino; masses. And if our little celebration seems
to be not worthy of the occasion, we at least mark out
the course that larger and more influential bodies may
follow in coming vears.
There is, I say, an eminent fitness in the inaugura-
tion of such celebrations by a body of practical printers.
Far-reaching as has been the beneficence of Mr. Childs,
it has been most direct, most constant — closest — to the
craft of which we are members, and which hails him
as chief among its honored chiefs. And the striking
fact must be noticed that the regard and honor that
wait on him are borne alike by the most prominent and
the most obscure of all classes in the printing frater-
nity. Successful publishers and struggling beginners ;
authors whose fame is part of their country's, and
those who languish unrecognized 5 editors of command-
ing influence, and unknown hack-writers ; master
mechanics who conceive, construct, put into motion,
and control the vast machinery now necessary to the
life of a great daily newspaper, and the veriest tyro
that blunders in the shop ; the patient, alert proof-
reader, and the careless, sleepy copy-holder ; the skil-
ful, self-respecting compositor, and the poor fellow
who borrows a quarter on the curb, — all these varieties
and grades of men unite in respect, bordering on ven-
eration, for the proprietor of the Public Ledger. He
has achieved the triumph of commanding the admira-
tion of all, while exciting the jealousy of none.
Nor is this respect confined to the circle that feels
most directly the action of his impulses and the force
of his character.
30
350 Celebration of the
Throu<rhout our Ijroiid land — vea, and far across the
seas — there is felt for George W. Childs a degree of
active and warm personal regard which has never be-
fore, I believe, been accorded to a private citizen, and
which waits only for his consent (wisely withheld) to
take him from the private station and clothe him with
the highest honor that a free people can bestow.
Abreast of Mr. Childs in public esteem — so closely
identified witli him in good works that it is difficult to
think or speak of them apart — stands the great Amer-
ican banker, Anthony J. Drexel. Great, I say, not
because of his wealth and his commanding position,
but because of the wise and liberal use that he makes
of the rich fruits of his industry and business acumen ;
great not merely in the power that he wields, but in
the goodness that directs that power ; great in the fine
qualities of his brain, greatest in the generous impulses
of his heart. Happy if all possessors of great wealth
and power had the wisdom and grace to follow the lead
of Drexel and Childs. Then might the clouds that
overhang and threaten our social fabric bo dispelled ;
then might we hope for the realization of the dream
of the poets of all ages ; then might we look for the
crowning fruition of Christ's precepts, and hail the
establishment of the brotherhood of man.
Many admiraljle sketches of Mr. Childs's career have
been written, notably that by James Parton ; that by
Col. John AV. Forney ; and that by J. W. Huff, which
appeared in the Printers' Circular^ and which has the
grace of thorough and genial appreciation. But it
must be said that they are all unsatisfying, and mainly,
I fancy, to their authors. I have experimented in that
direction myself. Certainly they fail to develop the
occult philosophy which Hamlet longed for, and which
alone might fully explain a truly unique character.
Birthday of George W. Childs. 351
This is not strange when we know that a man so emi-
nent, so conscientious, and with so careful a habit of
mind as the late Professor Joseph Henry, of the Smith-
sonian Institution at Washington, deliberately wrote,
" Mr. Childs is a wonderful man. . . . Like man in the
classification of animals, he forms a genus in himself.
He stands alone ; there is not another in the wide
world like him." And Hon. John Russell Young, in
a late number of the Star^ gives prominence to a
quality that is often overlooked in estimating the
make-up of this distinguished man. He says, " Far
and away above any man with whose career I am at
all familiar, I place Mr. Childs as the best business
man in American journalism.''
These, bear in mind, are the well-considered opinions
of men who knew the weio-ht of words.
Thus let me close. This is not the time to attempt
anything like an analysis of the elements that go to
make up the singularly beautiful and interesting char-
acter of " the best-loved man of our land ;" nor should
I, at any time, assume a task that much abler men
have but imperfectly performed.
My purpose is fairly accomplished if, without weary-
ing you, I have given good reasons why we — printers
— should thus meet and honor " The Day We Cele-
brate." It is the one that, fifty-nine years ago, noted
the advent into this life of a rare spirit, which, in its full
and gracious development, comiuands the unstinted ad-
miration of the brightest and worthiest men of our time.
o
After the applause with which Mr. Munday's cordial,
graceful efibrt was greeted had subsided,
CONGRESSMAN THOMAS R. HUDD,
of Wisconsin, responded to the toast " Our Guests."
After humorously alluding to his personal experience,
352 Celebration of the
Mr. Iludd turned his attention to " the celebration of the
natal day of that gentleman known, respected and ven-
erated in the "West, that honored Philadelphian, George
W. Childs." Touching upon the presentation of the
Stratford-upon-Avon drinking-fountain in memory of
Shakespeare, Mr. Iludd said that the AVcst also re-
vered that man, and "took no stock in Donnelly, who
forced Bacon in what he wrote." He then lauded Mr.
Childs for his beneficence and unselfishness. " Taken
all in all,"' he said, "we may never see his like again."
Mr. Hudd then drew a beautiful picture of the purity
of Mr. Childs" s character as likened to the spotless
flowers in the bouquet before him, and closed with the
following quotation as applicable to the honored guest
of the evening :
"You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will.
But the scent of the roses will hang round it still."
GENERAL XEILSON's SPEECH.
To the toast " Philadelphia Typographical Union"
Gen. Wm. H. Neilsou, President of No. 2, responded.
He said that he had been astounded, in the course
of his interviews with employing printers, at the igno-
rance many of them displayed regarding the rules and
regulations of the Union. lie dwelt upon the value
of the Union, which recognizes the futility of strikes,
as a medium for placing employees upon an equality
and in a position where they may be able to protect
themselves against the unscrupulous. lie touched upon
the principles underlying the organization, and the effi-
cacy of the ballot to redress the grievances of working-
men, and said, —
At the same time, the workingmen have been de-
ceived by concentrating their support upon candidates
Birthday of George W. CJiilds. 353
for Congress who have forgotten their promises and
turned in with corporations and monopolies. Phila-
delphia is the only city that has ever produced a man
that did seem properly to recognize what the working-
man was worth and to Avhat he was entitled. When
the Typographical Union reduced the price of compo-
sition from forty-five to forty cents per thousand ems,
Mr. Childs refused to accept the reduction. He said
that he was making money enough to pay the old rate,
and he continued to pay it, and has done so until this
day. I would to God there more of such men in this
country ; then the workingmen would say, " We are
perfectly satisfied : we are perfectly contented."'
SPEECH OF CONGRESSMAN CUMMINGS.
" The Printer as a Journalist" was responded to in
an inimitahle way by Hon. Amos J. Cummings, of
New York, late managing editor New York Sun^ who
WHS frequently interrupted by applause. He said, —
Mr. Chairmax and Brothers of the Typograph-
ical Union, — It is with sincere pleasure that I join
you in honoring the birthday of George W. Childs.
You honor yourselves in honoring ]Mr. Childs. I honor
him for the substantial testimonial of his esteem for
Union printers : I honor him for his manifold public
charities; but I honor him most for his love for his
fellow-men. He is the only man whom I have ever
known, or of M'hom I have ever heard, who has gone
clear through the Golden Rule in his love for mankind,
and landed on the other side. He is not only good, but
great — and all the greater because he is good.
I find that I am to respond to the toast of " The
Printer as a Journalist." I have carefully studied the
art of speech-making in Congress. The first requisite,
X 3(
30*
or
54 Celebration of the
as exeinjtlificd by our brother, Congressman Iliidd, of
Wisconsin, this evening, seems to be a plentiful supply
of poetry. The only poem applicable to this occasion
is that beautiful effusion of Clarence Cook, written more
than fifty years ago, entitled " Abram and Zimri." A
second requisite for Congressional speeches appears to
be a pile of Congressional Records as a foundation on
"vvhich to place a written speech. The Records, alas,
are not here, and I must perforce enter upon my duty
without them.
The type-setter and proof-reader become editors un-
consciously. The evolution from the case into editorial
life is as natural as the evolution of a butterfly from a
chrysalis. There is nothing marvellous about it. The
true typo will develop into the true editor, if time and
opportunity serve. No careless or incompetent printer
ever became a competent editor. No plodding black-
smith can ever become a skilled machinist. I have
seen many men taken from the case and thrown into an
editorial room, and all but one became successful and
accomplished reporters, editors, and correspondents.
The one exception was thus delineated by the tongue
of an old journeyman : '' I don't wonder that he failed
as an editor, for he had the dirtiest proofs of any man
in the office."'
The qualities that make a man an efficient compositor
are the very qualities requisite to make him an influ-
ential editor.
Who ever knew of a country printing-office that was
not haunted by some quaint urchin eager to learn the
mysteries of the case ?
Sometimes he is awkward and uncouth. Oftentimes
he is barefooted. Frequently his hands are so dirty
that they look like toads' backs. Occasionally he has a
freckled face and a red head. Again he develops a
Birthday of George W. Childs. 355
peculiar reticence that betokens restlessness and am-
bition.
Whether retiring and reserved, or whether talkative
and full of life, the printing-office has a peculiar charm
for him.
You will find him picking type from the sweepings
of the office Avhile on his Avay to school. You will see
him forcing an imprint from the type upon the blank
pages of his school-books. The country editor is, in
his eyes, a greater man than the rural parson. The
boy has a longing look as he gazes at the office. It is
indicative of the one desire of his heart, — that of pre-
siding over the hell-box and reaching the mighty and
exalted post of printer's devil. Horace Greeley walked
twelve miles through the snow to Poultney to secure
such a place. Such boys are the germs of editorial
life. Watered by the dews of opportunity, and warmed
by the sun of prosperity, they eventually rule on the
editorial tripod.
Let us see how they are developed. The true printer's
devil is something more than an imp. In the fermen-
tation of his nature he presents many curious contrasts.
His deviltry may throw the whole town into hysterics,
but it quickly passes from a physical to an intellectual
stage. lie mounts a candle-box and learns the alpha-
bet at the case. The calibre of the boy is quickly seen.
The types have opened a new world to him. They
attract him by night and by day. His " stent" is
hardly done before he is at work for himself. Fugitive
sketches and local sarcasms are printed on slips and
circulated by his eager hands. He drinks in the com-
ments of his acquaintances on the emanations of his
brain, and is spurred to renewed effiDrts.
There are probably few compositors within the sound
of my voice who cannot recall some such experience.
356 Celebration of tlic
The boy sets the town agog anew by his intellectual
efforts. Gradually he becomes a journeyman, lie
learns the art of punctuation and the use of capital
letters and italics, lie unconsciously develops a liter-
ary taste, and becomes a critic. IMie rules of composi-
tion set themselves in his mind without effort. Tiie
marks of the proof-reader annoy him, and many a
wordy dispute follows, but always inuring to the
mental benefit of the typo.
The news of the day is ever before his eyes, lie
gets it in scraps known as " takes,'' and these scraps
incite a thirst for information that is only satiated by
a careful perusal of the daily newspapers. Standard
works flow into the editor's sanctum, and magazines
and exchanges. Some of them fall under the eyes of
the apprentice. lie may devote a few of his nights to
dissipation, but there will be much burning of mid-
night oil. Dickens, Bulwer, Thackeray, Marryat,
Cooper, Scott, Hawthorne, and even Ned Buntline
may be digested. Macaulay, Rollin, Gibbon, Bancroft,
and Motley may be read. The life of Napoleon and
Lamartine's descriptions of scenes in the Reign of
Terror will ever fascinate such young compositors.
The poems of Tom Moore, Walter Scott, Robert Burns,
Byron, Shakespeare, and other great bards will pass
through his mental hopper. The aphorisms of Ben
Franklin will radiate in his atmosphere. While at
work distributing type and correcting proofs, he will
find himself unwittingly discussing the news of the
day and entering into political controversies. If he
has any originality in the field of thought, it is sure to
be developed and strengthened day by day, hour by
hour, minute by minute. He is ever working in the
domain of intellectuality, and is ever drawing inspira-
tion from the fertility of his surroundings.
Birthday of George W. Childs. 357
When a journeyman printer, his mind is broadened
anew. He deserts the home newspaper and wanders
from city to city. If true to his craft, he seeks admis-
sion to a Typographical Union, and in course of time
gains a sure knowledge of the labor problem. He
verifies by travel what he has read. His knowledge is
no longer theoretical, but practical. He becomes self-
reliant and politic in his dealings. He gains a knowl-
edge of the country surpassed only by his knowledge
of human nature. At times he suffers penury and bitter
disappointments ; but anon fortune gleams anew on his
pathway, and, strengthened by his adversity, he again
lopes over the trail of life with all the freshness of
TOUth.
The rambling propensity dies away with the weight
of years, and a desire for the comforts of life supplants
it. The newspaper has not lost its glamour for the
wanderer. He is now a seasoned printer, with a
seasoned mind, seasoned habits, and a seasoned ambi-
tion.
Where could a better editor be found? Where one
more efficient? No school of training could be more
thorough. All the elements that make up a great
editor have been exercised and knit firmly in the hey-
day of life. The successful editor is the one who col-
lects the news of the day and presents it to his readers
in the most concise and attractive form. He must be
sure of his facts, and he must clothe them conscien-
tiously^. But it is essential that he should know what
news is before he essays to collect it.
Who is there so competent to select news as the
careful compositor, — the man who has been sifting it
all his life? Who is so able to satisfy the newspaper
demands of the people? He has been among them
and of them in his wanderings, and in his character as
358 Celebration of the
editor he is still of and among tliem. He moulds his
editorial expression of thought from an experience
born from a direct association with those interested.
lie speaks by the card alone. His ticket to newspaper
prosperity is unpunched by collegiate education, but it
is a ticket readily recognized by the people, and one
that frequently passes its owner into the realm of
wealth and the fiine of fame. The born printer, Mr.
Chairman, is the born editor.
Some say that a new era is dawning in journalism -,
that men educated in collegiate schools are assuming
the helm ; that aesthetic methods are to be applied to
the columns of the new newspapers dotting the land
like mushrooms in a sheep pasture ; that a web of
newspaper trusts is to cover the country and secure the
patronage of the people, and that all the old journals
must follow suit or go to the wall.
All this may go for what it is worth. The past
shows that the people have recognized the printing-
office as the true school of journalism, and I fancy that
it will hold good in the future and as long as a Typo-
graphical Union lives and flourishes on the free soil of
this Republic.
" pressmen's UNION", NO. 4,"
the next toast, was responded to by Charles W. Miller,
who said, —
When the International Typographical Union began
its work of organizing the pressmen into separate
bodies, it seems to me, they must have been convinced
that we were rapidly drifting towards what might be
termed an age of specialties, and that such were the
multiplied devices of human genius that success was
now to be attained in almost any enterprise or pursuit
of an honorable character.
Birthday of George W. Childs. 359
The printers of to-day are more distinctly divided
into two classes than in former times, — that is to say,
they ranked as compositors and pressmen, known to
the mass of the people simply as printers, but still
quite distinct in their labors. Each has a well-defined
line of operation to pursue, although the art of print-
ing cannot be developed without due attention to both,
nor excellency attained in either without the skilful
manipulation of types and the intelligent management
of presses, which in the hands of pressmen clearly
define the '* rules" and make '' impressions" that are
in keeping with a full knowledge of the times in which
we live.
As is well known, our branch of typography has its
local organizations, but we are all subordinate to one
spirit prevailing over all, because there is one object in
view, — the happy result and development of individual
labor. For it is a fact that when one spirit has infused
itself into other spirits and there is one spirit pervading
all, then the best results are accomplished. Unity is
that power which, like a subtle force streaming from
mind to mind, produces harmony of thought and action.
It is a silver cord thrown by one member around an-
other so as to bind the two together. It is an influence
which clothes the feeblest arm with strength.
Pressmen's Union, No. 4, is largely composed of
competent pressmen, — such pressmen as are found in
Philadelphia, the home of George W. Childs, — press-
men who appreciate the blessed results of unity ; press-
men, the light from whose presses flashes in all direc-
tions ; pressmen who possess the ability so to ornament
the pages of a book that they become as pleasing and
attractive to the eye as the contents are interesting to
the mind and heart; pressmen to whose care is com-
mitted machinery of intricate and costly workmanship.
360 Celebration of the
And still the pressman is a co-operator with the
compositor in joint eiForts to promote the same end.
If we had type, but no presses, of what avail are they
to any considerable extent? If we had presses in
abundance, but no type, nor intelligent compositors to
set the same in order, where the pressman's calling?
An editor writes hurried lines; they are given to the
compositor; by him transmitted to the pressman; in
the morning the sheets fly abroad ; before night they
have carried their weight of influence over space
enough for an empire. Neither the editor, compositor,
nor pressman is visible to the multitudes; but from
the pen that writes a volume and the press that sends
it forth to the world there flows a current of intellectual
power that can shape the aff'airs of a nation. As the
sun is not conscious of the overflowing light which he
pours upon the world, so the pressman is not aware of
the widely extended influence of his work. But he is
always making " impressions'' while fulfilling his daily
task. Again, as the light of the sun is not the least
abated by shining upon two continents instead of one,
so the work of a pressman will be admired and ap-
preciated in any part of the globe where there are in-
telligent minds, with hearts to feel and eyes to read.
I referred a few moments ago to the happy results
of union in the development of individual labor. Let
me say that there is at this day no brighter example
of the happy results of a steady aim and singleness of
purpose than that afforded by the life and beneficent
acts of George W. Childs. To him, as a Philadelphian,
we maj' point with just pride. He is the printer's un-
wavering friend, and yet the unselfish advocate and
helper of all pursuits that have a tendency to elevate
the human race. Over and over again I say, honor to
the name and praise to the deeds of George W. Childs h
Birthdmj of George W. Childs. 361
"the childs-drexel fund"
was ably responded to Ly Mr. August Donath, one of
the trustees of that fund, who, in the course of his re-
marks, said, —
One thing the Pittel)urgh convention did not expect
was the ten-thousand-doUar gift. The confidence re-
posed in the I. T. U. and the craft, which was implied
by that gift, was keenly appreciated all over the land.
That confidence kept inviolate, and the fund increased
in so graceful a manner, made all the Union printers
feel proud of their profession. It was a token of good-
will and encouragement to workino-men.
"the phlladelphia tvpographical society"
was responded to by Mr. William C. Bleloch, who
said, —
The Philadelphia Typographical Society is the
printers' beneficial society, organized in 1803 for the
purpose of relieving distress among its members and
their families, occasioned by sickness and death. From
the date of organization to the present time — a period
of eighty-five years — it has not failed in its sacred
mission. The sick have been visited, the dead buried,
and the widows and orphans cared for, to the best
alility of the officers in charge, and to the greatest ex-
tent that the limited means at their disposal would
permit.
Its active membership has at all times included the
best men of the crafc in Philadelphia ; and among its
honorary members have been many who, as printers,
publishers, and autiiors, have shed lustre upon their
several callings, and dignified and honored the Society
by their membership. Among these names, enrolled
Q 31
362 Celebration of the
in 18G7, is that of George W. OliilJs, who, at th.it early
date, had endeared himself to the printing fraternity
as a just and liberal employer, and a kind-hearted,
charitable man.
In October, 1868, Mr. Childs donated to the Society,
without restriction or incumbrance, a large and beauti-
fully enclosed lot in the Woodlands Cemetery, valued
at eight thousand dollars, as a Printers' Cemetery.
Tliis noble benefaction — free to all printers — excited
the wonder and admiration of the country. It was
gratefully received by the Society, and has frequently
been used for the purpose intended. For nearly twenty
years all expenses connected with its keeping have been
defrayed by its generous donor; and in addition, hun-
dreds of dollars have been contributed by him to the
Society's general relief work.
The incident referred to by General Neilson is an-
other instance of Mr. Childs's continuous generosity.
He not only knows how to do a good thing, but he
does not weary in well-doing. Taking an average com-
positor's day's Avork, the money paid by him to the
Ledger compositors, over and above the Union scale of
prices, amounts to the large sum of over ten thousand
dollars per annum, and this has been going on un-
grudgingly for twelve years. Is it any wonder that
the piinters of Philadelphia and the country love and
esteem such a man ?
As disciples of Franklin, we must also thank George
W. Childs for displaying in front of the Public Ledger
building the only statue of the Printer-Philosopher of
which Philadelphia can boast.
To quote the elegant language of the late Chief
Justice Ellis Lewis (an old printer), " Mr. Childs has
planted himself in the human heart, and there he will
have his habitation while man shall dwell upon earth.
Blrthdaij of George ]V. Cldlds. 363
He has built liis monument upon the broad base of
universal benevolence ; its superstructure is composed
of good and noble deeds : its spire is the love of God,
and points to Heaven."
He stands out among men —
** Like some tall cliff, tliat lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm ;
Though round its base the rolling clouds may spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head."
" THE UNION PRINTER."
The address of Mr. George Chance, of the Philadel-
phia Record^ and late President of Typographical Union,
in answer to the toast " The Union Printer," was
probably the most humorous and entertaining of the
evening. He said, —
^Ir. Chairman, — I hardly know how to respond to
the sentiment just given without, to a certain extent,
appearing in the light of praising myself as well as
those around me. " The Union Printer" may be viewed
from two stand-points. The employer who desires to
buy his labor in the cheapest market can see nothing
in him that is commendable or necessary. He sees
only a man who bands himself with others of a like
ilk to control his employer's business ; who, by joining
a Union, commits an act which is destructive of the
individual freedom of the workman by taking away
from him the natural right to the control of his labor.
Of course, the non-Union employing printer recognizes
and praises the freedom of action which allows him
to dictate terms to each person he employs. He soon
finds the weakness and necessities of each, and gener-
ally uses his knowledge for all it is worth. The Union
employer views "The Union Printer" in a different
364 Celebration of the
light. lie recognizes the right of his employees to a
voice in regulating the price of their labor. They meet
and agree upon a scale of wages, which the employer
pays willingly. In return the Union printer gives his
best recompense in the way of honest work. He is
ever watchful of his duty to his employer, and equally
vigilant over his own rights. He is true not only to
himself but to his fellow-unionists in all that the word
implies, lie is a necessit}'^ in every community. By
his unionism he secures tlie nearest approach to that
text w4iich says, "The laborer is worthy of his hire."
By his unionism he helps to make the State and Nation
prosperous. A city or State may be wealthy and
powerful while its people may be poor and unhappy.
It is part of the duty of the Union printer to see that
the people partake of the general prosperity. He
believes in principles before men, and would make any
sacrifice to preserve his connection with the Union.
He is a believer in the rights of man ; believes that his
handicraft should receive the highest possible reward,
and that he has the right, by organization, to obtain
what he could not get singly, — a just recompense for
his labor.
Mr. Chance facetiously alluded to the ability of the
printer to edit a newspaper far better than the man-
aging editor, to make the local column more interest-
ing than the city editor, and to a knowledge of finance
superior to that of the editor in charge of the financial
column. He was surprised that any good Union printer,
with all these bright prospects before him, should ever
descend to go to Congress.
It might be true, as Junius Henri Browme suggested,
that " printers do not keep all the commandments ;"
but, in all seriousness, the Union printer is an honor-
able man. who believes in doing right by his employer
Birthday of George W. Childs. 365
and living up to those principles of loyalty which his
Union instilled into his mind.
The Hon. Mr. Farquhar has stated that, thirty-seven
years ago, the Typographical Union was organized in
New York. I have in my possession a copy of a con-
stitution of the Philadelphia Typographical Union, or-
ganized in 1850, and the President of that Union still
lives in this city, and, although unable to make his
living by the pursuit of his trade, he has been placed
by Mr. Childs in a position where he will never want.
[Mr. Chance referred to John L, Henderson, one of
the oldest Ledger compositors, who has been retired
many years by Mr. Childs on full pay.]
There was an employer who, in the goodness of his
heart, sent five thousand dollars to the International
Typographical Union. There was another who did the
same. Never were printers more taken by surprise.
At Pittsburgh it was made possible to meet here to-
night, and on successive twelfths of May to commemo-
rate the gift of this gentleman, and, when he shall have
passed away, for the Union printers to erect a monu-
ment to his memorv. A monument whose foundation
would be built on strong man's love : the shaft of
which would be stronger than steel and more lasting
than brass : whose polished sides would be inlaid with
diamonds and pearls, — the diamonds representing
widows' grateful tears ; the pearls, orplians' prayers
offered up in grateful thanks for the good deeds done
by this man during his life.
JOEL cook's speech.
In a pleasant way, Mr. Joel Cook responded to " The
Press," and paid his compliments to the Congressjnen
and the printers. " Although the editors and the
printers differ about many things, they can shake
01-
^(j6 Cdebraiion of the
hands over the chasm of one thing, and that is the
annihihition of the proof-reader."
When the laughter following this pleasantry had
subsided, Mr. Cook turned his attention to the New
York Sun, for which the obituary poetry of tlie Ledget^
had a peculiar ftiscination. " One great redeeming
trait of that paper, however, is that it always gives
credit to the journal from which it makes extracts. In
pursuing this policy it charged Mr. ChiUls with putting
this poetry in the paper. In this it made a mistake,
for the man who really did it was 'Jim' Dailey, the
foreman."'
Growing serious, Mr. Cook said, —
My recollection of the gentleman who is being hon-
ored by this banquet dates back to boyhood. To use a
quoted expression, Mr. Childs is " an Israelite without
guile." The thing in him that is plainest to me is that
there is less of evil in him than in any man I ever knew.
No man can say that he went to him wnth a tale of true
sorrow and came away empty-handed. He overlooks
our shortcomings in the Ledger office, and many of us
have done that which might be cause for dismissal from
other establishments. But we are all there, still serv-
ing, because he could not frame his lips to say the word
that would cause our departure.
Mr. Cook then seconded a suggestion of Mr. Munday
that, if Mr. Childs could preside so well over the Ledger
office, he could preside equally well over the nation.
He spoke of Mr. Childs's pronounced and outspoken
views on the labor question, and said that he recog-
nized the value of organization, and the recompense
of honest toil, believing that to be the very foundation-
stone upon which the nation rests. Mr. Cook touched
upon the International Union, which he regarded as
the greatest labor organization on the face of the globe,
Birthday of George W. Childs. 367
and urged that, by wise counsel and adherence to honest
principles, it might continue doing a beneficent work
for the whole country.
CONGRESSMAN JAMES g'dONNELL,
of Michigan, was the next speaker, but, owing to the
lateness of the hour, his remarks were brief. He was
received witii a very hearty demonstration of regard.
He said that, a long time ago, when he was contem-
plating the number of railroad ties between his West-
ern home and Philadelphia, he sent ahead of him a
letter addressed to the Public Ledger^ asking employ-
ment. The letter had not been answered to date, but
he had no complaints to make. Mr. O'Donnell enter-
tained his hearers with some humorous suggestions,
and then passed to the honored guest of the evening.
"Have you ever thought," he asked, "of the chaplet
above in reward for the good deeds that he has done?"'
He then passed rapidly over what he regarded as note-
worthy points in Mr. Childs's career, and closed with
a reference to the flag of the Union and to the typical
flag of strength in the Union, the flag of the Interna-
tional Typographical Union. Mr. O'Donnell said that
it had been the intention of the printer-Congressmen
and the other visiting ex-printers to go to some office
in the evening and set up a thousand ems as a contri-
bution to the Childs-Drexel Fund. Owing to the late-
ness of the hour, however, they would not be able to
fulfil the intention. The spirit of the suggestion was
warmly applauded.*
* Mr. O'Donnell and his printer colleagues, eight in all, after
their return to AVashington, on May 19, did set up one thousand
ems each, and handed the amount to Mr. August Donath, one
of the Trustees of the Childs-Drexel Fund, who forwarded it
to Treasurer Dailey.
3()8 Celebration of the
CONGRESSMAN JOHN NICHOLS,
of Nortli Carolina, spoke as follows :
Beautiful deeds, like beautiful thoughts, whether in-
scribed on the printed page, or transferred to the artist's
canvas by the hand of genius, will live forever.
It is not the most bountiful benefactions nor the
grandest displays of honor or admiration that make the
most pleasing and lasting impressions on the human
mind. It is the spirit, the manner, and the motive that
actuated their performance.
The assemblage here this evening is for the purpose
of doing honor, in a humble way, to one of our most
distinguished and most honored citizens.
But nothing that we can do, nothing that we can say,
will add a single laurel to his crown or make him more
honored in the estimation of the American people. It
would be like an effort to paint the rainbow or to gild
the beams of a noonday sun. He stands forth without
a rival as the great American editor.
There is nothing that discloses real character more
thoroughly than the grand position of editor of an
influential public journal. Perhaps there is not an
instance in the history of journalism in this country
where self has been so thoroughly subordinated to the
public welfare and the happiness of his fellow-man as
has been exhibited in the person of the gentleman who
does us all honor by his presence this evening.
It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people
can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a
man really is, give him power and influence. This is
the supreme test.
Your distinguished guest occupies a position to-day
far more honorable than if he sat in the highest councils
of his country, and can and does wdeld more influence
than the bedecked marshal of a nation.
Birthday of George W. Childs. 369
One of the highest compliments ever paid an editor
is contained in a single line. A contemporary, speak-
ing of the newspaper over vrhich your honored guest
presides with such distinguished ability, .says, "Noth-
ing false is printed in the Ledger.'^
While no compliments that we can bestow, no honors
we can confer, will elevate him in the estimation of
his countrymen, yet this large and intelligent gather-
ing of American printers is not an unmeaning occasion.
It is to do honor and manifest our appreciation of his
worth as a citizen and a journalist, and to pay homage,
if that be the correct expression, to the great printer-
philanthropist.
It is with that spirit that I accepted your kind invi-
tation to be with you this evening, and I thank the
Committee on Invitations for the opportunity of being
present.
This meeting, as I understand it, is one of Ex-
Delegates to the International Typographical Union.
Strictly speaking, I do not know that I can claim that
distin2;uished designation. In 1861 I had the honor
of being elected a delegate to the National Union by
Raleigh (N. C.) Typographical Union, No. 54, of which
I was then an active, and of which I am now an hon-
orary member.
It will be remembered, however, that about that time
there was a strike on the south side of the Potomac,
and the furm of the Union was slightly p/e^. A press
of circumstances rendered useless for a while all the
implements known to the profession, except the shoot-
iiKj-sticJc. With positive instructions to follow copy, in-
stead of going to the National Union, I Avent elsewhere.
This change of situation did not secure any very fat
iakes, but as we were on by time, and not by tha piece,
no question was raised about pay.
3/
370 Celebration of the
During the conflict that resulted from this ill-advised
and unfortunate strike, which we now look back upon
with emotions of wonder and astonishment, there were
many columns of live matter knocked into pi, and some
of the best ti/jies of livinf<; manhood wholly destroyed.
After a long and fearful struggle, however, the form
of the Union was reset and stereotyped, and an impres-
sion made on the hearts of the American people that
time can never blot or obliterate.
Now, with duty plainer, let us stand up to the rack,
and leave no stone unturned to upbuild the waste places
of our country, but press on in setting good examples
to the world, and present clean proofs that henceforth
and forever we are solid for the American Union.
CONGRESSMAN ROBERT J. VANCE,
of Connecticut, was then introduced. After telling a
story, he said that in his rounds during the day he had
seen the statue of one of the first American printers in
front of the Ledger building. That printer came from
New England. His name was Franklin, and he had a
loaf of bread with him. "The only fi^ult that I have
to find with the statue of this printer," said Mr. Vance,
"is that it does not represent the original with a loaf
of bread under his arm."
Growing earnest, ]Mr. Vance said that if there were
any among historic men who had won fame, they were
George Peabody, Peter Cooper, and George W. Childs.
Peabody scattered his money abroad for the benefit
of mankind ; Cooper invested in monuments in New
York 5 and Childs constructed monuments in this city.
The last was the greatest of all philanthropists. His
every impulse was good. There were none of the
vile ingredients in him. He was " a man, take him all
in all."
Birthday of George W. Childs. 371
REMARKS BY MAJOR J. J. XOAH.
" The Printer as a Washington Correspondent" was
the next toast proposed, and Major Jacob J. Noah,
Washington correspondent of the Denver Netcs and
Kansas City Times, was called upon to respond. Major
Noah said, —
He deemed it a high privilege to be present on this
occasion, and join with his fellow-craftsmen in doing
honor to that eminent citizen and philanthropist, George
W. Childs, whose name was a sjnonyme throughout the
civilized world for all that was upright, honorable, and
beneficent. The orbit of his good deeds had not been
restricted to the limits of his own country, but his
name was justly honored among the men of other
lands. While all that he is and all that he possesses
were the legitimate fruits of his own indomitable
energy and illimitable enterprise, yet had he always
reached out the helping hand to the needy, and, to the
extent of more than his ability, relieved the distresses
of his fellow-man. That this had been the great
pleasure and solace of his busy life was more than
apparent. The quality of his long line of mercies had
not been strained, for truly had it " blessed him that
gives and him that takes," and Shakespeare's tribute
to Mercy's great virtues found substantial echo in the
hearts of the sturdy members of the Typographical
and Pressmen's Unions, and the many friends gathered
here to honor and celebrate the anniversary of his
birth.
Mnjor Noah stated that when he called upon Mr.
Childs that morning and was presented by his friend
and colleague. Major John M. Carson, his hand was
grasped and he received warm welcome. " I knew
your father before you," said Mr. Childs. "He was
372 Celebration of the
the leading editor of his day and time, and, I think,
was born in Phih'idelphia."
Major Noah added that he "was taken by surprise,
from the fact that thirty-seven years had passed since
the death of his father, the late Mordecai M. Noah.
lie was dead, but evidently not forgotten. The fact
was then recalled that Messrs. Swain, Abell, and Sim-
mons, the original founders of the Philadelphia Ledger,
worked as journeyman printers in his father's news-
paper office at New York, in the halcyon days of the
" sixpenny press," and that their subsequent successes
in establishing the " penny press" had been a measure
of great satisfaction to their old employer.
Major Noah then narrated various interesting remi-
niscences of leading journalists who were at the fore
when he first came upon the newspaper scene, among
them James Watson AVebb, James Gordon Bennett, Sr.,
William L. Stone, Horace Greeley, Park Benjamin,
Nathaniel P. AVillis, Gen. George P. Morris, Evert A.
Duyckinck, Cornelius Mathews, Casper C. Childs,
Thaddeus W. Meighan, Henry J. Raymond, Charles
A. Dana, David M. Stone, and others.
He closed his remarks by observing that George W.
Childs was worthy the title given the late Gen. George
H. Thomas by Col. H. M. Duffield, the orator at the
late reunion of the Army of the Cumberland, " omnium
gentium facile princeps.'''' Thomas, as a soldier, was
of all soldiers the " recognized chief." George W.
Childs, as citizen and philanthropist, was of all citizens
equally the "recognized chief."
REMARKS BY MAJOR JOHN M. CARSON.
When the applause ceased which followed the con-
clusion of Major Noah's remarks, Major John M. Car-
Birthday of George W. Chllds. 373
son, Chief of the Public Ledge?' Bureau at Washington,
was called upon.
He said it was a peculiar gratification to him that he
could claim membership with the fraternity represented
upon this occasion. The men present to-night did not
receive a parchment certificate when they were gradu-
ated, yet they were constituents of alumni in whose
ranks have been found many men of the highest intel-
lectual force, of great moral worth, and great practical
usefulness. In none of the vocations could there be
found a greater degree of intelligence than was found
among printers, and to that fact might be ascribed
their strength and their influence when united. No
other vocation could send forth a class of representa-
tives such as were here to-night, every one of whom
had started in life as a journeyman printer. The
printing-office was a continuation of the public school,
and its opportunities rightfully improved almost in-
variably led men to higher walks of usefulness and
kept its graduates untainted by those meretricious
influences that so often attended and remained with
graduates of colleges.
There were present to-night gentlemen who had
reached the halls of Congress through the printing-
office. They were among the most able and useful men
in that body, and there was no doubt that the knowl-
edge and experience acquired in the printing-office had
mainly contributed to their success in life.
Many years ago, when working at "case" in this
city as an apprentice, with James J. Dailey occupying
an adjoining '' alley," and Joel Cook learning to set type
with the aid of a discarded " font," he did not dream
he would ever be associated with those two boys on the
Public Ledrjer, which was then, as it now is, the repre-
eentative newspaper of the city and State.
32
374 Celebration of the
Referring to the special object of" the gathering to-
night, Major Carson said he was particularly delighted
at the privilege of joining the Association in doing
honor to George W. Childs. There was a comprehen-
siveness and sii^nificance in the irathering which was
only limited by the boundaries of the American conti-
nent; which represented and which reached to the
very bottom of the hearts of men who labor ; which
commanded the admiration and approval of the friends
of those who labor, and which was an enigma to that
selfish and merciless class of men who use their fellows
only to ]iromote their own personal aims and ambitions.
It must be a gratifying reflection to Mr. Childs that
he has Avon not alone the love of those with whom he
has been brought in frequent personal contact, and the
gratitude of the many who have been relieved by his
charity and gladdened by his liberality, but the esteem
and good-will of the people of the United States. AVas
it to be wondered at that the American people, coming
to know this man through his unselfish and benevolent
works, — tired of the hypocrisy of political parties,
the masquerading of partisan propagandists, and the
treachery of partisan leaders, — should naturally turn
to and ask him to become their ruler as well as their
guide and friend?
"And yet," continued Major Carson, with earnest-
ness, "this simple citizen, this unostentatious man,
who has won the hearts of the people by kind acts, has
recently given an exhibition of self-abnegation, an
illustration of patriotic fervor, an example of sublime
courage that has excited public wonder, and challenged
universal respect ; he has positively, deliberately re-
fused to be even considered in connection with the
bestowal of the highest reward that can come from a
free people, and the most honorable office that can
Birthday of George W. ChiMs. 375
be conferred upon mortal m;in, — in short, Georire W,
Childs has refused to become President of the United
States.
" The horde of speculating politicians who fasten
themselves upon successful parties, \\'ith ravenous
appetites for distinction and provender; who, like Bj-
Ends, in ' Pilgrim's Progress,' followed Religio'n for
the silver slippers she wore, affect to make light of the
spontaneous popular movement which manifested itself
for Mr. Childs. It is not the first time that camp-
followers were mistaken in the real purpose of those
who move grand armies in the field, and grander armies
in the realm of healthful thought. This movement
was not superficial and ephemeral ; it was deep and
deliberate and earnest, and was frustrated only by Mr.
Childs's honest determination and direct outspoken
refusal.
" My position in Washington affords opportunities
for meeting representative men, and studying popular
sentiment on national questions, and my observation
has enabled me to form an estimate of the extent and
sincerity of the movement for Mr. Childs, among the
representative men of the whole country and to which
reference has been made to-night by different speakers.
To show its extent and sincerity, let me say that' the
publisher of one of the strongest and most influential
Democratic daily newspapers in the East begged Mr.
Childs to permit himself to be nominated for President
of the United States, and gave force to his entreaty by
the assurance that Mr. Childs should have the earnest
support of his newspaper, and pledged himself to sub-
scribe one hundred thousand dollars, the day Mr.
Childs should be nominated, towards defraying the
necessary expenses of the election. Another distin-
guished man, the proprietor of one of the leading
t376 Celebration of the
Democratic newspapers of the West, made similar
appeals to Mr. Childs, and ofTcred to subscribe fifty
thousand dollars to elect him. Requests and offers of
like character were made by men who control powerful
Republican journals. Leading men of the two political
parties recognized the depth of this popular feeling,
and The more sagacious of them admitted if it were
not interfered with it would result in the nomination
and election of Mr. Childs to the Presidency of the
United States. These facts are personally known to
me, and many others to the same effect might be cited.
They are mentioned here to show that the movement
to make Mr. Childs President of the United States was
real and substantial, and extended to all classes of
people. But the production of corroborating testimony
upon this point is not necessary in this assembly, w^here
Mr. Childs is so well known and so thoroughly ap-
preciated."
Major Carson concluded with an appropriate tribute
to the character and virtues of Mr. Childs ; a man
whose every-day life furnished a lesson for emulation ;
a man who was moved by the spirit of an unbounded
benevolence ; whose charity was not restricted by par-
tisan or sectarian lines; who "w^ould not follow Nep-
tune for his trident, or Jove for his power to thunder ;"'
who carried sunshine to the homes and hearts of a
greater number of people, and who represented a
broader and deeper and purer humanity than any man
with whom he had been brought in contact. "You
do well," he said, in conclusion, "as individuals and
as an association to honor this man, and in doing honor
to him you most do honor yourselves."
After singing " Auld Lang Syne," in which all
present joined, the pleasant assemblage slowly dis-
Birthday of George W. Childs. 377
persed from what was a remarkably successful celebra-
tion.
We insert a few out of the laro^e number
of letters and telegrams received from prom-
inent persons who were unable to be present.
LETTER FROM HOX. SIMON CAMERON.
Brookfield Farm, May 12, 1888.
I am sorry, beyond my power to express, that I will
not be able to meet my fellow-craftsmen at dinner this
evening, as I had so hoped to do.
To do Mr. Ciiilds honor is always a real pleasure to
me. but I find myself in such condition that it is far
easier for me to go home than to take the risk of at-
tending the banquet.
My life as a printer is one of the periods of it to
which I look back with great satisfaction, and I know
very well that the good men and true who will celebrate
Mr. Childs's birthday to-night are keeping undimmed
the glorious record of their noble and useful calling.
Sincerely your friend,
SiMOx Cameron.
LETTER FROM HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.
Fraxklin Square, Xew York, May 15, 1888.
Dear Mr. Childs, — We regret that we were unable
to join with our brethren of the craft in their dinner of
the 12th inst., commemorating your birthday. AVhile,
however, it would have been an honor to honor you
on that occasion, there is left to us the abiding pleasure
of honoring you on all occasions, and of assuring you
of our faithful friendship.
?>2*
378 Celebration of the
It is a satisfaction to us to believe that we of the
second and third generation of our house retain the
cordial regard shown to our fathers by you, our illus-
trious fellow-printer and countryman, who by your
kind and worthy acts have won the grateful love of the
world.
Yours always, very sincerely.
Harper & Brothers.
LETTER FROM COL. A. K. M CLURE, EDITOR
PHILADELPHIA TIMES.
Philadelphia, May 12, 1888.
A pressure of engagements compels me to deny
myself the pleasure of joining in the appropriate cel-
ebration of the birthday of George W. Childs ; but I
cannot let the occasion pass without expressing my
appreciation of the foremost of publishers and em-
ployers in all that attaches the highest honors to those
vocations.
There is not a publisher in Philadelphia w^ho does
not heartily join in the highest tribute to Mr. Childs
whose distinction is above the reach of jealousies, and
who has justly won the trust and affection of the
printers of the whole land. He is the one man of ex-
ceptional success who is beloved by all, and his name
will be crystallized in history as the benefactor of his
age.
The world will honor the man above all others who
can sincerely decline its highest honors of public trust :
and the celebration of his birthday is commemorating
the noblest qualities of American citizenship.
Very truly yours,
A. K. McClure.
Birthday of George W. Childs. 379
LETTER FROM THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME
COURT OF PENXSYLVANIA.
Philadelphia, May 12,1888.
My DEAR Mr. Childs, — I regret that my official en-,
gagements will prevent my presence at the dinner this
evening in your honor. I have, as you well know, a
warm feeling for the craft. In my boyhood days I
became fired with the ambition to edit and publish a
country newspaper, and in order to enable me to do so
successfully I acquired a practical knowledge of the
business. I look back upon those days as among the
happiest of my life, and the associations then formed
will long be cherished. The late Bayard Taylor and
Hon. Wm. Butler, our admirable Judge of the United
States Court, were among my companions in the
printing-office. You will understand, therefore, why
my heart always warms to the craft, and especially
does it warm to yourself and my noble friend, Mr.
Drexel, who have done so much to contribute to the
happiness and prosperity of the order, by your broad
and intelligent charity. May the Lord bless you both,
and increase your prosperity, that you may have the
means to bless others.
I am sincerely your friend,
Edward M. Paxsox.
Mr. Geo. W. Childs,
letter from thomas mackellar, of mackellar,
smiths & jordan, type-founders.
Philadelphia, May 12, 1S8S.
During the very many years of my acquaintance with
my much-esteemed friend Mr. George W. Childs, he has
always manifested the admirable traits of character and
380 Celebration of the
demeanor which still characterize him as a man among
men, — the same kindness, urbanity, generosity, benev-
olence, public spirit, and business enterprise, that impel
the printing craft (among whom I am proud of having
been reared) to remember and celebrate his birthday.
Aware, as I am, of his private l)enevolences to weary
and worn-out printers and their families which are un-
known to the world, as well as of his well-known pub-
lic good doings, I often say. Would there were many
more George W. Childs's in this world to lessen the suui
of human sorrow in it! God bless him 1
So prays
TnoMAS MacKellar.
LETTER FROM HOX. JOHX RUSSELL YOUNG, LATE
U. S. MINISTER TO CHINA.
Herald Office, New York, May 12, 1888.
I am much honored by your kind invitation to attend
the banquet to be given by the Ex-Delegates to the In-
ternational Typographical Union on the occasion of the
birthday of George W. Childs.
I have known Mr. Childs intimately since my boy-
hood, and under circumstances which have enabled me
to know his character and career. I know of no char-
acter that may be better studied, for the good that will
come, by the young men of the nation, who in their
entrance upon life seek the example of the wise and
true men that have gone before. In him they will see
absolute rectitude, a command of himself above the
allurements and temptations of the day amounting to
asceticism ; patient, persevering, knowing his own
mind, and ever going to his purpose with a Napoleonic
clearness and alertness of vision ; believing in himself
and in the work he has to do : with the genius of com-
mon sense; with perfect courage; a judgment that
Birthday of George W. Cldlds. 381
wastes no time on illusions or dreams ; the best busi-
ness head I have ever known ; in poverty and in wealtli,
in obscurity and in fame, always found by me to
be the considerate, courteous, ever-thoughtful, high-
minded gentleman and friend. The instinct which
prompts you to honor such a man is an honest one, and
to be commended in all ways as your due and loyal
tribute to him.
I am sorry that I cannot be with you. I send you
my good wishes and best thanks for your remembrance.
I trust that I may be permitted to unite with you in
the hope that our noble friend may live for many and
many a happy year to enjoy the day you celebrate.
Yours sincerely,
JoHx Russell Young.
LETTER FROM CONGRESSMAN GALLINGER.
CoKCORD, N. H., May 11, 18S8.
When I left Washington for my New England home
a few days ago, it was my purpose to plan my return
trip so as to be in attendance upon the banquet on
Saturday evening.. Unfortunately, business matters,
which can neither be transacted before that time nor
permanently neglected, render it utterly impossible for
me to be with you on the interesting occasion.
It has never been my privilege personally to meet
the great, good man whom you are to honor, but to me,
in common with all true printers in the country, his
name is a household word and a synonyme for every-
tliing that is honorable, true, and philanthropic. When
earning my living as a printer I knew of George W.
Childs, and learned to revere his name as an ideal
member of the craft, and in later years, with my
energies and purposes directed in other channels of
honorable effort, I have never forgotten to do honor, in
382 Celebration of the
thought at least, to the noble man whose birthday you
are to celebrate to-morrow evening.
I can only add that I sincerely trust that Mr. Childs
may live to enjoy many more birthday anniversaries,
and that the occasion from which I am unavoidably kept
may be one of rare pleasure and profit to those who
may attend.
Very sincerely yours,
J. II. Gallinger.
TELEGRAM FROM CONGRESSMAN THOMPSON.
Washingtox, D. C, May 12, 18S8.
I am unavoidably obliged to forego the anticipated
pleasure of banqueting with the Ex-Delegates' Associ-
ation in lionor of the birthday of Mr. Childs, who so
eminently fills, in your city of friends, the place of the
great preceptor of our craft. My hearty congratula-
tions to Mr. Childs and your Association!
Thos. L. Thompson.
telegram from civil-service commissioner
j. n. oberly, ex-president i. t. u.
Washington, D. C, May 12, 1888.
Much to my disappointment, I find myself unable
to be present at the birthday dinner of Mr. George W.
Childs. I send my hearty wishes for the entire success
of the occasion, and my personal congratulations to Mr.
Childs on the recurrence of the day which the craft of
the whole country honors in your celebration.
John H. Oberlt.
letter from wm. aimison, president i. t. u.
Nashville, Tenn., May 5, 1888.
... I regret my inability to be present, owing to the
nearness of the meeting of the International TypO'
Birthday of George W. Childs. 383
graphical Union, and the rush of business incident
thereto. There is no one to-day, within the jurisdic-
tion of the I. T. U., whom the printers of the country
would delight to honor more than Mr. Childs. May
his birthdays be continued, and when the warm heart
and charitable hand are stilled in death, may his
memory be as a refreshing draught to strengthen and
to re-encourage us in the battle of life !
Yery respectfully,
Wm. Aimisox.
letter from ex-president witter.
St. Louis, Mo., May 9, 1S8S.
... I desire to assure you of my hearty sympathy
with your efforts to do honor to the birthday of Mr.
Childs. Our craft has especial cause for gratitude to
Mr. Childs ; not merely because of his generous recog-
nition of our oriranization, and the good-will which
has always characterized his conduct towards us, but
because the day when fair-dealing shall be the rule in
every printing-oflBce is hastened by his conspicuous
example. Such examples are to us a guarantee for
the future. Justice between men is the simple solution
for the perplexing "problem." Mr. Childs has not
only been wise enough to see the truth, but unselfish
enough to practise it.
Fraternally yours,
M. R. H. Witter.
LETTER FROM CUIEF ORGANIZER BOYER.
Columbus, 0., May 8, 1S8S.
... I hereby send my regrets at not being able to
attend. No other labor organization in this or any
other country has ever received such consideration at
384 Cdebratlon of the
the hands of any one man as did the International
IVpographical Union, in June, 188G, from George AV.
Childs, whose name is revered and honored throughout
the entire jurisdiction of the f^rand body. . . . Lon<5
life and happiness to the friends of Union printers, —
George W. Childs and Anthony J. Drexel !
Faithfully vours,
David P. Bover.
LETTER FROM JOUX VINCENT.
Globe Office, Boston, April 30, 1888.
. . . Permit me to unite with you in expressing to
your honorable guest the wish for his long-continued
health and happiness. Though confident of the reward
that awaits him in eternity, may it be many years
before he is called from a field in which, by his gen-
erous, unselfish nature, he has proved himself so useful
and valuable !
To George W. Childs, more than to any other man
jiving, are we indebted for the present era of good
feeling existing between employers and members of our
craft, which has taken the place of the antagonistic
spirit of former years.
In conclusion, allow me to suggest for your consid-
eration, as a slight recognition of his many acts of
kindness to the craft, and of his munificent donation
to the I. T. U., that steps be taken to have the likeness
of George W. Childs placed on the face of the Union
travelling card; for he of all men, living or dead, is
entitled to this honor. And in this sugo-estion I am
confident of being seconded by every member in our
ranks.
Sincerely and fraternally,
John Vincent.
Bhihday of George W. Cliilds. 385
LETTER FROM STATE LIBRARIAN EGLE.
Harrisburg, Pa., May 10, 1888.
... I need not assure you how I would appreciate
being in the goodly company of so many disciples of the
typographic art, who meet to do honor to that great
warm-hearted American gentleman, George W. Childs.
He who has done so much good for mankind well
merits the love and reverence of his fellow-citizens :
and, as a token of my high esteem, and as a member
of the royal craft, I would be delighted to add my meed
of praise to him who is deserving of the grandest tes-
timonial that the printers or the press can bestow.
Sincerely yours,
William IT. Egle.
EDITORIALS.
As a fittiiis: close we introduce a fe\y edi-
torials from various journals relative to the
Banquet.
From The Craftsman, Washington, Saturday, May
19, 1888.
(Official Paper of the International Typographical Union.)
THE TWELFTH OF MAY.
Right royally did the Ex-Delegates' Association of
Philadelphia celebrate this red-letter day in the Union
Printers' calendar. From near and far were craftsmen
gathered around the social board, and " the Day we
Celebrate" was marked by a tribute to the noble man
whose name was on every tongue, which proved how
thoroughly the many kindly deeds of George W. Childs
R 2 33
386 Celebration of the
are appreciated by a craft which is, perhaps, less prone
to hero worship than any other. The gathering was
a notable one, embracing as it did a number of Union
printers who, though their names arc now inscribed
high on the roll of fame, are yet proud and happy to
acknowledge allegiance to th-e International Typo-
graphical Union, and to unite with their less promi-
nent brothers in doing honor to one who has so con-
spicuously, again and again, been pleased to honor the
craft and its organization.
No man occupying the position of Mr. George "W.
Childs has ever shown his good-Avill, his regard, his
genuine respect for us so nobly. When bad men would
throw suspicion on our endeavors, when unfair jour-
nals would present us to the world as conspirators
whose association was a menace to the peace of the land,
this nobleman of God's own making showed his good
opinion of us, before the world, in his own practical
and masnificent manner. Is it a wonder that we sneak
his name as one near and dear to us ? Is it a wonder
that on the anniversarv of his birth we feel glad and
happy and joyous tliat so good, so great a friend was
given us?
The career of Mr. Childs is marked by good deeds,
by kindly acts, so continuous that it really seems as if
his thoughts were ever occupied, not in devising how
to make money, but rather how to disburse his princely
income so as to make the largest number of deserving
persons happy and comfortable. He is not of those
who, having made a munificent donation, takes comfort
in the thought that he has given to the cause of human-
ity a goodly and sufficient share. Much as Mr. Childs
has done to lighten the burdens and gladden the hearts
of his fellow-men, he never wearies of the blessed work,
but every day he marks by deeds which to him have
Birthday of Gecyrge W. Chihh. 387
become part of his existence. The craft will imitate
our Philadelphia brothers, we are sure, by similar cele-
brations as the years bring anniversaries of the glad
day; and thus the name of Childs will live in the
printers' hearts, year after year, more enduring by far
than monuments of bronze or marble.
From The Union Printei^, New York, May 12, 1888.
. . . While George AV. Childs needs no encomium
from us — his life and deeds being a lasting euloG-ium —
we feel an irresistible impulse to linger over his exalted
interest in the welfare of printers. His example is an
inspiration, and in doing him honor we thereby attest
our appreciation of those noble qualities of mind and
heart which have been the guiding principles of his
career.
From Tlie Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, May 24,
1889.
RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. CHILDS.
It is a customary thing for the people of every
European nation ruled by an hereditary monarch to
celebrate the sovereign's birthday. In fact it is a
popular function, prescribed by the State, and the
community that neglects the pei-functory performance
is suspected of disloyalty. The real honor of birthday
congratulations, however, consists in their being spon-
taneous and heartfelt. Mr. George \V. Childs had a
birthday anniversary lately, and it would be good for
the world if he could have thousands of them. He
is not an hereditary sovereign, or even a temporary
holder of a high office. But he received congratula-
tions more numerous and more sincere than any that
were ever offered to the greatest of rulers or heroes.
388 Celebration of the
Thousands of newspapers, and perhaps as many letters
and telegrams, bore greetings and good wishes to him.
Good men and good women wrote to him, not mere
formal words of compliment, but honest, fervent ex-
pressions of sincere admiration and affection, united
with prayerful invocations for all possible blessings.
If Mr. Childs were to collect these .and edit them for
the public eye, they would astonish that public. But
such things are sacred in his estimation. He cannot,
however, muzzle the press, or prevent such a writer as
Mr. George William Curtis from printing this para-
graph in the last number of Harpefs Weekly :
" The universal kindly greeting to Mr. George AV.
Childs upon his late birthday is a pleasant illustration
of the esteem in which he is held. Especially agree-
able to him probably was the hearty tribute of the
printers, who have more than once testified their regard
for him. His heart and hand are always open to good
causes, and his Ledger^ a journal of great circulation,
is directed with a candor and courtesy and ability
which give it a distinctive character. The smiles of
Fortune upon this, one of her favorites, are certainly
justified by the spirit and manner in which he shares
his favors with others."
This and similar words only faintly express the
popular love for Mr. Childs. Still more faintly do they
suggest his incessant, untiring generosity, which is
beyond description. An example of it, Avhich will
reach hundreds of thousands of magazine readers, is
seen in a series of articles begun in the June Lippin-
cott^ the writer of which frankly says that he obtained
the information contained in them from Mr. Childs,
who, when appealed to for some " Recollections" of his
life, was " proof against every temptation save that of
doing a friendly act." To this he yielded, because it
Birthday of George W. Childs. 389
would help the writer, who, in turn, gives to the public
some very entertaining and equally instructive pictures
of the private life, from boyhood upward, of a man in
whose career every one takes a peculiar interest. When
completed these papers will make an autobiography
that will be better worth regarding as a classic than
those of many celebrated men of past times, who,
unlike Mr. Childs, had sins to conceal or shames to
confess. Such a life as his teaches a lesson to the
youth of America that will help them much more than
any to be found in the most famous books of auto-
biography or the most brilliant of the kind called
Confessions. For this and coming generations these
" Recollections" are better than Franklin's autobiog-
raphy, and it is a happy circumstance that they have
been put on paper and placed before the public.
IliDEX.
Adams, John, President of United vState?, letter of, 65, 66.
Aimison, William, President of International Typographical
Union, letter from, 336.
Album belonging to Mrs. George W. Childs, 32.
Allibone, Samuel Austin, author of "Dictionary of British and
American Authors," 13.
Amaral Valente, do, J. G., Brazilian Minister to United States,
letter from, to Mr. Childs, 46, 47.
attends presentation ceremonies at West Point, 146.
Andre, Major John, manuscript of his poem "The Cow-
Chase," 61.
Andrewes, Lancelot, Bishop, 310, 312, 313.
"Arctic Explorations," by Dr. Kane, publication of, 12, 13.
Arden, Mary, mother of Shakespeare, 207.
Arnold^ Sir Edwin, poet, visits Mr. Childs, 130.
extract from letter of, 179 (note),
editorial of, in London Daily Telegrajih, 245-248.
Arnold, Matthew, poet, address of, 297, 298.
death of, 299.
"Around the World with General Grant," by John Eussell
Young, 119.
Bacon, Delia, theory of, 211, 257.
Baltimore Dailg News, extract from, 263.
Bancroft, George, historian, 27.
391
392 Index.
Barnura, P. T., proposal of, to remove Shakespeare's house to
America, 233, 244.
Beale, E. F., General, expresses his admiration of General
Grant, 138.
Bennett, James Gordon, Sr., journalist, personal characteristics
of, 28.
Benton, Thomas H., 29.
Biographical sketch of Mr. Childs, by Eugene U. Munday,
347-351.
Birmingham Daily Post, extract from, 252-254.
Boyer, David P., letter from, to printers' banquet, 336, 337.
Bright, John, quotation from, 269.
Brooklyn Eagle, extracts from, 207-212 ; 306-308.
Browne, H. K., artist, collection of the illustrations of, 63.
Bryant, "William Cullen, poet, his translation of first book of
the Iliad, 52, 125.
Buckingham, Duke of, personal characteristics of, 37.
entertains Mr. and Mrs. Childs at Stowe and Wootton, 37.
anecdotes of, 38, 39.
Byron, George G. N., Lord, poet, writing-desk of, 55.
his parody of Wordsworth's " Peter Bell," 56, 57.
Cameron, Simon, letter of, 377.
Carson, John M., journalist, his account of the painting of
portraits of Generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan,
167-179.
remarks of, at printers' banquet, 372-376.
Century Magazine, 298.
Chair embroidered by Duchess of Buckingham for Mrs. Childs,
32, 39.
Childs, George W., incidents in early life of, 9-14, 209, 234.
enters United States navy, 10.
goes into business for himself, 11.
becomes member of the firm of R. E. Peterson & Co., 12.
purchases Public Ledger, 14, 234, 324.
letters to, from H. W. Longfellow, 24, 25.
purchases country-seat near Bryn Mawr, 24.
names it " Wootton," 38.
guests of, list of, 31, 32.
Index, 393
Chikls, George W., letters to, 33, 34, 46-50, 143, 144, 284, 285.
his trip abroad, 33-41.
visits Charles Dickens, 34.
Duke of Buckingham, 37, 38.
Fountain Abbey, 39, 40.
Mr. John Walter, proprietor London Times, 40.
gives dinner to Longfellow at Rome, 41.
letter from General Grant, 95.
" Personal Memoirs" presented to, by Colonel Grant, 97.
description of Philadelphia residence, 124-128, 131.
appointed President of Board of Visitors at West Point,
139, 141, 163, 171.
presents portraits of Generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheri-
dan to Military Academy, 140, 142, 143, 146, 164.
letter to, from President Harrison, 143, 144.
is present at presentation ceremonies, 146, 148, 149, 165.
letter to, from General Sherman, 153, 154 (note),
water from Shakespeare Fountain sent to, 252, 260.
letter from, to Archdeacon Farrar, 293.
sketch of his life by Eugene H. Munday, 347-351.
relations of, to his employees, 319-338.
is made honorary member of the Philadelphia Typograph-
ical Society, 325.
presents burial lot to Typographical Society, 325.
philanthropy of, 325-329.
pension system of, 326, 327.
his profit-sharing, 327, 328.
extra wages paid by him to type-setters, 328.
gift of, to International Typographical Union, 329.
policy of, towards labor organizations, 331.
proposal to make him Presidential candidate in 1888, 333^
334, 374, 376.
celebration in honor of his birthday, 335.
tribute to, from the press, on his birthday, 337, 338.
"Chronicles of the Canongate," by Sir Walter Scott, manu-
script of, 59.
Churchman, The, New York, extract from, 306.
Claghorn, James L., invites Dom Pedro to visit Academy of
Fine Arts, 42.
394 Index,
Clock, Rittenhouse, history of, 67, 6S.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, poet, autograph letter of, 62,
125.
"Collection of Four Thousand Autographs, A, made by a
Scrivener," by W. G. Latham, 64.
Collins, William Wilkie, novelist, 36.
** Comic Annual," by Thomas Hood, 62.
"Complete Concordance to Shakespeare," by Mary Cowden
Clarke, original manuscript of, and letters concerning, 57.
Congressman Farquhar, of New York, speech at the printers'
banquet, 345-347.
Cummings, of New York, speech at the printers' banquet,
O'Donnell, of Michigan, speech at the printers' banquet,
367.
Nichols, of North Carolina, speech at the printers' ban-
quet, 368-370.
Vance, of Connecticut, speech at the printers' banquet, 370.
Iludd, of Wisconsin, speech at the printers' banquet, 351.
Gallinger, of New Hampshire, letter to the printers'
banquet, 381, 382.
Conkling, Roscoe, Senator, favors Electoral Commission, and
his influence to hasten its appointment by the Senate,
80.
assists in Garfield campaign, 82, 83.
" Consular Experiences," Hawthorne's, original manuscript, 23.
Cook, Joel, account of the Herbert-Cowper Window in West-
minster Abbey, 286 ; speech at printers' banquet, 335.
Cooper, Peter, philanthropist, incident of his early life, 30, 31.
Cossins, J. A., architect of Shakespeare Fountain, 202.
"Cow-Chase, The," by Major John Andre, manuscript of, 60.
Cowper, William, poet, 275, 281, 282, 2S4, 316.
Craftsman, The, Washington, editorial on Mr. Childs's birth-
day, 385-387.
Darragh, Mrs., artist, paints portraits of Generals Grant, Sher-
man, and Sheridan, 147, 163, 164, 168, 175, 177, 179.
Davis L. Clarke, account of Mr. Childs's gifts to England :
Shakespeare Fountain at Stratford-upon-Avon, Memorial
Index. 395
Windows in "Westminster Ahhcj, St. Margaret's, Westminster,
etc., 187, 31G.
Dedication of Shakespeare Fountain, account of, 212-226, 242,
248, 249, 250, 252, 254, 255-257, 259-262, 2G5.
De La Warr, Earl, Lord High Steward, 214.
proposes toast to President of the United States, 227.
" Demetrius," by Schiller, manuscript of, 62.
Description of Shaliespeare Fountain, 202-205.
Dickens, Charles, novelist, invites Mr. Childs to visit him, 33.
his manner of constructing his stories, 34-36.
"Dictionary of British and American Authors," by Dr. S. A.
Allibone, 13, 14.
Dilke, Sir Charles Wentworth, 277.
Drexel, A. J., banker, 14.
is consulted by President Grant, 84, 85, 106.
gift of, to International Typographical Union, 329, 346,
347-350.
Electoral Commission proposed, 77-80.
bill passed appointing it, 81.
Ely, Prof. Richard T., Mr. Childs and the Workingman, his
Connection with his Employees, 319, 340.
Emerson, Ptalph Waldo, essayist, visits Mr. Childs, 27.
quotation from, 238.
Everett, Edward, orator and statesman, letter from, 29.
Farrar, Rev. F. W., Archdeacon of Westminster, 287, 305.
quotations from, 279-281, 291, 304, 305.
letters from, 291-297, 299, 305.
Fields, James T., publisher, 21.
letter to, from Ex-President Franklin Pierce, 22, 23, 66.
Fish, Hamilton, Hon., 31, 127, 131.
made member of Grant's Cabinet, 97.
Flower, Charles E., Councillor, 202, 213, 214, 267.
proposes toast to Mr. Henry Irving, 237.
Franklin, Lady, visits Mr. Childs, 40.
Garfield, General James A., President of United States, 82.
** Godolphin," by Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, manuscript of, 60.
396 Index.
Gott, Rev. Dr., Dean of Worcester, sermon of, 314, 315.
Grand Army of the Kepublic, growth of, 137.
Grant, Frederick D., Colonel, letter of, to New York World,
115-118.
appointment as Minister to Austria, 121.
accompanies General Grant on his tour around the world,
122.
Grant, General Ulysses S., President of United States, letter
of, 66.
recollections of, 70-139.
personal characteristics of, 70-75.
artistic tastes and paintings of, 71, 72.
counsels appointment of Electoral Commission, 78.
assists in Garfield's campaign, S3.
opposed to a third term, 83.
vetoes Inflation Bill, 85, 156.
some experiences in speech-making, 88.
his last speech, 89.
incidents showing his remarkable power of recognition
of persons, 91, 92,
plants oak-tree at Wootton, 93.
his fondness for horses, 94.
extract from letter of, in regard to England, 96.
his "Personal Memoirs," 96, 97.
his friendship for Hon. Hamilton Fish, 97.
elected President, 1868, 98.
avenues and streets of Washington improved during his
administration, 99, 100.
establishes Indian Commission, 100.
generosity of, 101.
domestic happiness of, 101.
unjustly treated by General Halleek, 102.
his manner of life at Long Branch, 103.
his regard for General Sherman, 73.
his regard for General Sheridan, 105.
passage of his retiring bill, 106, 107.
justifies General Fitz-John Porter, 108, 109.
purity of his character, 109, 111.
his insensibility to music, 110.
Index. 397
Grant, General Ulysses S., first symptoms of cancer, 111.
Dr. Da Costa examines him and prescribes, 112.
goes to Mount McGregor, 112.
extracts from letter to Mr. Childs, 113.
his wishes regarding place of burial, 114-118.
his tour around the world, 118-123.
is treated by all countries with great honors, 119-121, 156.
farewell receptions in Philadelphia, 119, 123, 132.
gifts presented during tour, 122.
receptions in Philadelphia upon his return, 123, 132, 133.
made a member of the Grand Army of the Republic in
Mr. Childs's private office, 132.
speech of, before the members of the Grand Army of the
Republic, 133-136.
portrait of, presented to Military Academy, West Point,
140, 142, 143, 146, 154.
eulogy of, by General Horace Porter, 155-158.
Guests of Mr. Childs, names of, 31-32.
" Habitations of our Kings," by Thomas Gray, manuscript of,
60.
Hall, Hon. A. Oakey, journalist, 257.
Hall, S. C, letter from, 58, 59 (note).
Halleck, Henry Wager, General, 102.
Hanqishire Gazette, extract from, 312-315.
Harper & Brothers' letter on Mr. Childs's birthday, 377.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, first number of, 18.
extracts from, 279-281, 290, 291.
Harper's Weeldij, extracts from, 123-131, 140-142, 264-268,
337, 388.
Harrison, Benjamin, President of United States, his letter to
Mr. Childs, 143, 144.
Hawkins, J. P., Lieutenant-Colonel, commandant of Military
Academy, 146.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, poet, 21.
death of, 22.
extract from letter of, 23.
Henry, Professor Joseph, invites Dom Pedro to visit Smith-
sonian Institution, 44.
34
398 Index,
Henry, Professor Joseph, opinion of Mr. Childs, 351.
Herbert, George, poet, 275, 281, 284, 316.
quotations from Walton's life of, 2S1.
Hkrbkrt and Cowper MKMoniAL in Westminster Abbey, 271-
286.
" Ilertha," by Fredrika Bremer, manuscript of Mary Hewitt's
translation of, 60.
" Historical Memorials," of Westminster Abbey, quotations
from, 271-273.
Hodgson, Sir Arthur, Mayor of Stratford, 202, 214, 226, 229,
242, 243, 248, 258, 260, 265, 267.
letters from, 197, 198.
address of, 218,219.
proposes toasts to Queen and the rest of the Royal family^
226, 227.
receives message of thanks from Mr. Childs, 240.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, poet, memories of, 26, 27.
letter from, 206, 254.
poem of, on Shakespeare Fountain, 220-222, 254, 259.
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford, 207.
memorial window proposed for, 193, 194.
proposed restoration of, 195.
Houghton, Lord, Pachard Monckton Milnes, visits Mr. Childs,
130.
Howard, 0. 0., General, letter from, 144.
Illustrated London News, extract from, 203-205.
Indian Commission, organization of, 100, 101.
Inscriptions upon Shakespeare Fountain, 266.
Irving, Henry, actor, 213, 214, 219, 228-231, 242, 245-250,
252, 254, 263.
address of, 222-225, 248, 259.
reads Dr. Holmes's poem, 220.
drinks to Shakespeare in first water that flows from Foun-
tain, 225.
response to Mr. Flower's toast, 237-239, 260.
Irving, Washington, author, 19, 211, 216, 244, 264, 266.
" Italian Bride, The," by John Howard Payne, manuscript of,
60.
Index. 399
James, G. P. R., novelist, visits Mr. Childs, 27.
Johnson, Andrew, President of United States, letters of, 66.
Johnston, Joseph E., General, dines with General Grant at Mr.
Childs's house, 74.
aids in passage of Grant's retiring bill, 106.
Jonson, Ben, 208, 273.
Kane, Dr. Elisha K., "Arctic Explorations" of, 12, 1.3.
Ken, Thomas, Bishop, 310, 312-314.
LaflFan, Mrs. R. S. de C, poem by, 240, 241.
Zec?grer building formally opened, 1867, 17.
Library Treasures of Mr. Childs, 51-69.
" Life of Captain Piichard Somers," by James Fenimore Cooper,
manuscript of, 60.
Lincoln, Abraham, President of United States, letter of, 66.
Lippincott, J. B., publisher, 13.
Liverpool Post, extract from, 255.
Logan, John A., General, delivers eulogy over grave of Gen-
eral Grant, 137.
London Daily Telegraph, extracts from, 242-248.
London Globe, extract from, 248, 249.
London Pall Mall Gazette, extract from, 250-252.
London Times, extracts from, 199, 241, 242.
Longfellow, Henry W., poet, letters from, 24, 25.
dines with Mr. Childs in Rome, 28, 41.
Lowell, James Russell, poet, visits Mr. Childs, 25-126.
manuscript of his poem " Under the Willows" in Mr.
Childs's possession, 25.
letter from, on Shakespeare Fountain, 215-217, 228, 229,
245, 246, 254, 258.
lines of, under Raleigh Window in St. Margaret's, 293.
Macaulay, James, M.D., editor, 195, 197, 199, 202, 218, 219, 251.
suggests erection of drinking-fountain to Mr. Childs, 196.
replies to toast to Mr. Childs, 236, 237, 260.
Mackellar, Thomas, letter to the printers' banquet, 379.
Martin, Sir Theodore, proposes toast to Shakespeare, 243.
Mather, Cotton, sermon of, 51, 125.
400 Index.
McClure, Colonel A. K., conversation with General Grant, 81.
letter to the printers' banquet, 378.
Milton, John, poet, 290-292, 294, 295, 297, 298, 302, 305, 316.
MiLTox Window in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, 287-
308.
Moore, Thomas, poet, his Bible and Irish harp, 59.
Motley, John Lothrop, historian, 27.
Munclay, Eugene II., printer-poet, sketch of Mr. Childs at
printers' banquet, 347-351.
" Murders in the Rue Morgue," by Edgar A. Poe, manuscript
of, 25.
history of, 52-54.
" Need of Two Loves, The,*' by N. P. Willis, manuscript of, 59.
Neilson, General, speech at printers' banquet, 352.
Nelson, Horatio, Lord, letter of, 62.
Nevin, W. W., account of Herbert-Cowper Window in West-
minster Abbey, 285.
New York Herald, extracts from, 199, 202, 203, 258-261.
New York Sun, extract from, 179-183.
New York Times, extract from, 262.
New York Tribune, extract from, 145-147.
New York World, extracts from, 114-118, 142,143, 148-165,
203-205, 256, 257.
Noah, Major J. J., remarks at the printers' banquet, 371.
Osborn, Thomas A., American Minister to Brazil, extract from
letter of, 45.
"Our Mutual Friend," by Charles Dickens, manuscript of, 25,
34.
Owen, Sir Philip Cunliffe, remarks of, 225, 260.
Patterson, Robert, General, sent for by President Grant, SO.
Paxson, Chief-Justice, letter from, 379.
Peabody, George, philanthropist, presents his portrait to Mr.
Childs, 30.
Pedro, Dom, de Alcantara, Emperor of Brazil, incidents during
his visit to the United States, 42-44.
his letter to Mr. Childs, 50.
Index. 401
Pedro, Dom, de Alcantara, Emperor of Brazil, sends cup and
saucer to Mr. Childs, 46.
presents photograph and book of travels to Mr. Childs, 45.
is present at Centennial Exhibition, 42, 126.
Pew in St. Margaret's Church, London, appropriated to Ameri-
cans, 290.
Phelps, Hon. Edward J., American Minister to England, 214,
215, 219, 223, 239, 243, 247, 248, 200, 295, 303.
address of, 227-231, 249, 257, 258.
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, editorial on Mr. Childs's birth-
day, 387-389.
Pierce, Franklin, President of United States, letter of, 22, 23, 66.
''Pilgrims of the Rhine," by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, man-
uscript of, 60.
Poe, Edgar A., poet, extract from letter of, 55.
Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt, with autograph inscription to
Charles Dickens, 51.
Porter, Fitz-John, General, Grant's justification of, 107, 108.
Porter, Horace, General, presentation speech of, portraits of
Generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, 147, 149, 154-165.
Prescott, William H., historian, his last photograph taken for
Mr. Childs, 27.
Prime, Piev. Dr., commends Mr. Childs for improvement in the
character of Public Ledger, 16, 17.
Printers' banquet on Mr. Childs's birthday, 341, 389.
Proctor, Redfield, Secretary of War, present at presentation
ceremonies, 146.
remarks of, 149, 151.
Public Ledger, purchased by Mr. Childs, 14, 15, 234,
price of, doubled, and advertising rates increased, 15.
character of, changed, 16.
criticism of, 251.
extract from, 276.
Randall, Hon. Samuel J., Speaker of House of Representatives,
78, 79, 80, 106.
Read, T. Buchanan, artist, paints portrait of Longfellow for
Mr. Childs, 28.
dines with Mr. Childs in Rome, 28, 41.
aa 34*
402 Index.
Recollections by Mr. Childs, 9-183.
Relations to nis Employees, George W. Childs in his, 319-340.
Reuedos of St. ThoDias's Church, "Winchester, 309-316.
Resohition of Council of Stratford accepting Fountain, 198.
Resolution of thanks to Mr. Childs, from Vestrj of St. Thomas's
Church, AVinchester, England, 311.
" Retrospect of Western Travel," by Harriet Martineau, man-
uscript of, 60.
Rochambeau, Marquis de, entertained by Mr. Childs, 130.
Rogers, Professor Thorold, his opinion of labor organizations,
332, 333.
Roman well in London, 30.
Saint Margaret's Church, Westminster, origin of, 289.
Milton Window in, 197, 265, 287, 294, 295, 299, 304, 305.
description of, 295, 296, 300, 301.
unveiling of, 295, 296.
Saint Thomas's Church, Winchester, reredos in, 310-314.
description of, 313, 314.
unveiling of, 312, 314.
Sala, George Augustus, journalist, 126, 202.
Saldanha da Gama, de, Luiz Philippe, Captain, letter from, to
Mr. Childs, 48, 49.
"Scarlet Letter," Hawthorne's, some facts concerning, 23.
Scott, Winfield, General, sends copy of his book to Mr. Childs,
29.
Shakespeare, John, father of Shakespeare, 209.
Shakespeare, AVilliam, poet, 187, 191, 195, 196, 207-209, 211,
224, 225, 238, 239, 243-246, 250, 253, 259, 262, 264, 273,
316.
pall-bearer of, 211.
Sheridan, Philip Henry, General, portrait of, presented to Mil-
itary Academy, 140, 142, 143, 14C, 154, 164.
eulogy of, by General Horace Porter, 159-161.
sabre of, history of, 178.
Sherman, William T,, General, memoirs of, 72, 73.
portrait of, presented to Military Academy, 140, 142, 143,
146, 154, 164.
present at presentation ceremonies, 146, 148, 149, 151.
Index. 403
Sherman, William T., General, remarks of, 151-153.
eulogy of, by General Horace Porter, 15S, 159.
Site of Shakespeare Fountain chosen, 202.
Sole, Rev. Arthur B., letters from, 309-312.
Stanley, Rev. Arthur P., Dean of Westminster, 271-276, 282.
is a guest of Mr. Childs, 130, 191, 210, 218, 275.
letters from, 193, 194.
extract from sermon of, 275.
note by, 2S3, 284.
" State Services" in St. Margaret's Church, 289, 290.
Stowe and Wootton, residences of Duke of Buckingham, some
interesting features of, 37, 38.
Stratford-upon-Ayon FotrsTAix, 191-269.
Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, extract from, 212-241.
Sunday at Home, London, extract from, 283, 284.
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, poet, manuscript draught of his dedi-
catory poem to the Queen, 62.
lines of, under Caxton Window in St. Margaret's, 293.
Thackeray, William Makepeace, manuscript of his " Lectures
on the Four Georges," 59.
Ticknor, W. D., publisher, visits Philadelphia, 19.
death of, 20, 21.
Tilden and Hayes campaign, 76-81.
Union Printer, The, Xew York, editorial on Mr. Childs's birth-
day, 387.
Victoria, Queen, Jubilee Year of, 197-199, 202-204, 207, 209,
212, 215, 218, 230, 237, 248, 250, 255, 265.
message from, 232, 249, 257.
toast to, 226, 232.
"Vignettes of Travel," quotation from, 285, 286.
Walter, John, proprietor of London Times, entertains Mr.
Childs at " Bearwood," 40.
writes to Mr. Childs, 95.
present at dedication of Shakespeare Fountain, 2-18.
proposes toast to Mr. Childs and gives short sketch of his
life, 232-236, 251, 254, 260.
404 ' Index.
Walton, Izaak, author, 281. *
Warwick Advertiser, extract from, 249.
Washington, George, President of United States, letter of, 66.
Weed, Thurlow, journalist, 29, 30.
Westminster Abbey, Herbert and Cowper Window in, 192, 196,
202, 210, 218, 255, 264, 274-277, 280, 282, 2S3, 299, 304,
307.
description of, 284-286.
West Point Military Academy, 139-183.
monuments in cemetery at, 140, 141.
portraits of Generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan pre-
sented to Military Academy, and ceremonies attending,
140, 145-165.
description of portraits, 147, 163, 164, 169, 175.
West Point Report, 179, 183.
Wheeler, General, introduces West Point Bill, ISO, 181.
Whitman, Walt, poet, visits Mr. Childs, 130.
Whittier, John G., poet, letters from, 217, 218, 254, 258, 302.
lines of, under Milton Window in St. Margaret's, 296, 298,
301, 305.
Wilson, Henry, Vice-President of United States, visits Mr.
Childs, 75, 76, 127.
death of, 76.
Wilson, John M., Colonel, superintendent of Military Acad-
emy, 146, 148, 164.
accepts portraits for Academy, 150.
Winter, William, journalist, description of Shakespeare Foun-
tain, 263.
Winthrop, Hon. Robert C, extract from letter of, 110.
is a guest of Mr. Childs, 131.
inscription in church at Elberon, New Jersey, on General
Grant, 90.
Woodcock, Catherine, wife of Milton, 290-292, 297, 298, 304.
Wordsworth, William, poet, 56.
Young, John Russell, journalist, accompanies General Grant
on his tour around the world, 119.
appointment as Minister to China, 123.
letter from, 380. -
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