

PEABODY, GEORGE. 



559 



the wav. Mr. Peabody sought Mr. Abbott Lawrence, 

 and laid before the minister his plans. The latter 

 approved, and presented them in turn to the Duke 

 of Wellington. The l)uke liked the idea, promised 

 to mention it to his friends, and agreed to accept Mr. 

 Peabody' s invitation when it should come. This 

 stamped the affair. "Where the Duke went all could 

 go. It was without exaggeration the aifair of the 

 season. Mr. Peabody spared no expense. Lablache, 

 Alboni, and Grisi, lent the concert the aid of their 

 voices ; duchesses waltzed with Governors of States, 

 and members of Parliament flirted with Massachusetts 

 belles, long past the small hours of the night ; news- 

 papers chronicled the wonderful success of the rich 

 American's banquet: and on the morning of July 5, 

 1851, George Peabody' s name was in the mouths of 

 half the kingdom. 



The one hundredth anniversary of the cor- 

 porate existence of Danvers, Massachusetts, 

 occurred on the 16th of June, 1852, and that 

 day was celebrated in a manner befitting the 

 occasion. Among the invitations to attend the 

 festivities was one to George Peabody, who re- 

 plied, expressing regret that he could not be 

 present to join in the celebration of this the 

 centennial of his native town. He, however, 

 sent the committee a sentiment enclosed in an 

 envelope, " which was not to be opened until 

 his name should be called in due course at the 

 dinner-table. ' ' After the dinner had been eaten 

 and several speeches made, Mr. Peabody's name 

 was called, the envelope opened, and this sen- 

 timent read : " Education a debt due from 

 the present to future generations." In contin- 

 uation he wrote: "In acknowledgment of the 

 payment of that debt by the generation which 

 preceded me in my native town of Danvers, 

 and to aid in its prompt future discharge, I 

 give to the inhabitants of that town the sum of 

 $20,000, for the promotion of knowledge and 

 morality among them." To this sum he after- 

 ward made repeated additions, taking great 

 interest in the Peabody Institute and Library, 

 erected and supplied with books and apparatus 

 through his liberality. In all, he gave to this 

 institute $200,000, and $50,000 more to found an 

 institution on a similar plan in North Danvers. 



Mr. Peabody's commercial credit never suf- 

 fered serious reverse. There was but a single 

 time during his residence in London and that 

 occupying the brief period of two or three days 

 only when his financial solidity was in ques- 

 tion. It was in the early autumn of 1857. 

 There had been great failures in New York. 

 Remittances from America to England ceased. 

 The storm increased. Private bankers refused 

 to discount the best paper, and the Bank of 

 England denied the application for an extraor- 

 dinary loan to Overend and Gurney. Fail- 

 ures commenced in the city; whispers against 

 the oldest houses were overheard; a draft of 

 the broker of the Rothschilds, for 10,000, on 

 Brown, Shipley, and Co., was rejected when 

 offered for discount, and Peabody was said 

 to be tottering. Mr. Peabody then took the 

 bold step of his life. "Without consultation 

 with friends, as if on his usual errand to 

 'Change, he stepped into the parlor of the 



Bank of England, placed before the directors a 

 list of his assets, and asked the loan of 1,000,- 

 000. Such, at least, was London rumor. What 

 took place in that modern Star Chamber is not 

 on record. Before the close of business hours 

 it was stated, as if on authority, that the great 

 American house was safe. Mr. Peabody's cred- 

 it stood impregnable. 



Five years after this event Mr. Peabody paid 

 a visit to the United States, and one of his first 

 acts was to contribute the sum of $300,000 for 

 the founding of an educational institution in 

 his adopted city of Baltimore. To this he 

 afterward added $200,000, and in 1866 the 

 donation was increased by $500,000, and on 

 the 22d of September, 1869, he gave $400,000 

 more, making a total contribution of $1,400,000. 

 In 1858 the corner-stone of the building was 

 laid, but, the rebellion soon after breaking out, 

 its erection and dedication were delayed until 

 after the close of the war. In his letters to the 

 trustees of this institution Mr. Peabody ex- 

 pressed the hope that it would be " so conducted 

 throughout its whole career as to teach political 

 and religious charity, toleration, and benefi- 

 cence, and prove itself to be, in all contingen- 

 cies and conditions, the true friend of an ines- 

 timable Union, of the salutary institutions of 

 free government, and of liberty regulated by 

 law." 



While in the United States, Mr. Peabody was 

 the recipient of marked attention from all 

 classes of people wherever he went. Numer- 

 ous public receptions were tendered him, all of 

 which were declined, save one in Danvers, 

 which was one of the most enthusiastic that 

 was ever bestowed upon a philanthropist. 



In 1858 Mr. Peabody returned to England, 

 and set about putting into practical effect a 

 scheme of benevolence which had occupied his 

 mind for several years previous. This was, 

 " under a sense of gratitude " for his success in 

 England, "to make a donation for the benefit 

 of the poor of London." To this end he con- 

 sulted his friends, 0. M. Sampson, Sir James 

 Emerson Tennent, his partner, J. S. Morgan, 

 and the Right Rev. Bishop Mcllvaine, of Ohio. 

 In a letter dated "London, March 12, 1862," 

 and addressed to Charles Francis Adams, the 

 United States minister to England, Lord Stan- 

 ley, M. P. (now Earl of Derby), and others, 

 whom he appointed trustees, he wrote, after 

 explaining the motives which actuated him : 

 "My object being to ameliorate the condition 

 of the poor and needy of this great metropolis, 

 and to promote their comfort and happiness, 

 I take pleasure in apprising you that I have 

 determined to transfer to you the sum of 

 150,000, which now stands available for this 

 purpose on the books of Messrs. George Pea- 

 body and Co., as you will see by the accom- 

 panying correspondence." This sum was in- 

 creased by a further donation of 200,000 in 

 1864, and just before his death by 150,000 

 additional, making the whole amount 500,000 

 $2,500,000. 



