Immediately after Sherman's death members of the Chamber started a movement to erect a suitable statue in his memory. He had during his closing years become somewhat intimately associated with the society. He was frequently an honored guest at its annual banquets, had been made an honorary member of it, and attended its monthly meetings quite regularly. The members felt that they owed it, not only to themselves and to the Chamber, but to the city that his great services to the nation should be commemorated in a monument that, in its artistic merits, should be worthy of him and an honor to the city. A meeting was called in the Chamber on March 2, 1891, when a committee, composed of twelve members, was formed under the title of "Committee of the Sherman Statue Fund." By universal agreement, Augustus Saint Gaudens was decided to be the most desirable sculptor for the work. The committee called upon him and found him very willing to undertake it. An agreement was drawn up by which an equestrian statue was to be completed by him within two years. Subscriptions were easily obtained and the necessary fund was raised in a short time. Finally, Saint Gaudens completed his work in Paris and it was exhibited there first, in colossal size and in plaster, holding first place of honor in the Salon in 1899. When photographs of it arrived in this country, the members of the committee who were still living, for many of them had died in the meantime, forgot, in their admiration of the result, the irritation which the delay had caused. Surely, the end had crowned the work.

The statue was brought to New York and additional delay was caused through the refusal of the municipal park authorities to grant a suitable site for it. Finally, in 1903, under the administration of Mayor Low, a site was granted at the Fifth Avenue entrance to the Central Park, and on May 30 of that year, Decoration Day, it was unveiled with impressive ceremonies. Mr. Cornelius N. Bliss, Vice-President of the Cham

ber of Commerce, presided and presented the statue to the city in the name of the Chamber and other civic organizations. Mayor Low accepted it in a formal speech, and an address was delivered by the Honorable Elihu Root. The invocation was pronounced by Archbishop Farley and the benediction by Bishop Potter.

CHAPTER XXVIII

A VISIT TO LONDON

GUESTS OF THE LONDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE-A WEEK OF ENTERTAINMENTS WITH A NOTABLE BANQUET

1901

CORDIAL relations, based upon a mutual desire to promote peace and good-will between the two nations, have always existed between the Chamber and its namesake in London. British representatives, official and private, have always been heartily welcomed while visiting New York and in many instances have been given formal receptions by the Chamber at which it has had the highly appreciated privilege of hearing interesting and valuable addresses from the guests. In May, 1899, the London Chamber of Commerce, in recognition of these many courtesies, formally invited the New York society to send a delegation to London to be guests at a public banquet on such a date as would suit their convenience. The invitation was cordially accepted, but because of the war in South Africa, and the Presidential election in the United States in 1900, the date was not fixed till 1901, when June 5 was selected. The Chamber chose a delegation of thirty-eight of its prominent members, headed by its President, Morris K. Jesup. They arrived in London on June I and were the recipients of distinguished and most enjoyable courtesies during their week of sojourn. Although the Court was in mourning for Queen Victoria, whose death had occurred only a short time previous, a reception was arranged for them at Windsor Castle at which the King and Queen greeted them in a most friendly and gracious manner. An official reception was also given to them at his residence by the American Ambassador, Joseph H. Choate, at which the

most eminent men in official and social life in London, as well as the diplomatic representatives of foreign governments, were present.

The banquet, which took place in the hall of the Grocers' Guild, one of the oldest of the merchants' associations of London, was attended by more than three hundred guests. Lord Brassey, President of the London Chamber, presided, with the American Ambassador, Mr. Choate, on his right. The Marquis of Lansdowne, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, responded to the toast, "The President of the United States,' and in beginning his speech said: "I think I may say to all the subjects of His Majesty, it requires an effort to think of our relations with the United States of America as foreign relations," a sentiment that was greeted with cheers.

Lord Brassey proposed the toast, "Our friends of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York," and in the course of his remarks said: "We give a warm welcome to our guests for many reasons. We welcome them as representatives of the skill and the enterprise which have turned the vast resources of the American continent to the service of man. We of this old country are largely sharers in the benefits of that skill and that enterprise. Our teeming millions could not live without the food which America produces." Continuing, he paid a high tribute to the New York Chamber, saying of it: "It is something more than an organization of men engaged in commerce. Its members stand at all times ready to apply their knowledge of affairs and their skill as administrators to wider matters than the mere pursuit of gain; and when they speak they speak with weight and authority. Not long ago a suitable occasion offered. When difficulties had arisen in relation to Venezuela, the London Chamber of Commerce appealed to the New York Chamber to use their good offices in the cause of a peaceful solution. They responded to the call. We desired to mark our deep sense of the service rendered. It has brought us together this evening."

Mr. Jesup, who was called upon by Lord Brassey to respond for the New York Chamber, made a speech which created the most profound impression of the evening. Speaking of the many acts of friendship that Americans had received from Englishmen, he disclosed this extremely interesting bit of unwritten history in connection with the Chamber:

I remember, and I say it with infinite gratitude, that in the year 1837, when our country was passing through a disastrous financial distress, when our banks had suspended specie payments and when our people were discouraged, that one of our loyal and most faithful citizens, Mr. James Gore King, afterwards the President of our Chamber, visited London, and, by his high character, so impressed your financial men that the Bank of England advanced one million pounds sterling in sovereigns and sent the same by packet to New York under the control of Mr. King, to enable the banks in New York to resume specie payments, and thus restore confidence to our community. That bank did a most kindly and magnanimous thing. No stipulation was made as to the return of that money; neither did they expect or ask for any reward. It was a kindly act, and one that will never be forgotten.

The Right Honorable Lord Avebury, President of the Association of Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom, and Vice-President of the London Chamber of Commerce; the Right Honorable William J. Pirrie, of Belfast; the Right Honorable Lord Alverstone, Lord Chief Justice of England; Albert G. Sandeman, ex-Governor of the Bank of England; Mr. Choate, Andrew Carnegie, A. Barton Hepburn, A. Foster Higgins, and Clement A. Griscom also made speeches.

Mr. Pirrie, who as the representative of English manufactures, spoke to the toast of "Commerce and Manufactures," said in the course of his speech: "As a manufacturer, or at least one engaged all my life in a large industrial business, I have nothing but admiration for the way in which our American friends have made necessity the mother of invention in