CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 
 
 Samuel D. Babcock, 
 
 President. 
 
 George Wilson, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Chap. .E-?A^ 
 
 Shelf .)/-AM£ 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ; 
 
Banquet 
 
 GlYEN BTTHE 
 
 m 
 
 in Honor of ine 
 
 Ofr ^^e 
 
 ^psioi^ 
 
 TO THE (^EITTENNlKIi {[ELEBK21TIOK 
 of "bhe 
 
 New York, November 5T", 1881. 
 
 
-\v. 
 
 ^^ 
 
INTRODUCTORY 
 
 The revolt of the American colonies was not only a 
 revolt against the political oppressions, but also against 
 the commercial restrictions of the mother conntry. The 
 policy of England was one of monopoly in mannfactures 
 and of exclusion in commerce. She held to herself not 
 only the right to supply everything that the colonies 
 needed, but also forbade commercial intercourse with any 
 foreign nation except in her own vessels. 
 
 The conscious masters of a continent, our forefathers 
 chafed under this narrow, selfish control. It was the clause 
 in the treaty entered into by France in 1778, declaring the 
 purpose of the Alliance to be to secure and guarantee to 
 the United States commercial as well as political indepen- 
 dence, which dissolved as by a cabalistic word the ancestral 
 hatred which the people of the colonies had inherited from 
 their English parentage ; a hatred fostered by religious an- 
 tipathy and enhanced by the near recollections of border 
 warfare, with its Indian horrors. It was the freedom of 
 the seas which the nations joined to wrest from the arro- 
 gant power whose proud boast it was to rule the waves. 
 
 In the early hours of this struggle Lafayette inter- 
 vened ; generous and alone, yet accompanied by the sym- 
 pathy of thousands of the noble race whose aspirations 
 have been always set to a high point. The enterprise of 
 Lafayette kindled the enthusiasm for liberty upon the 
 
11 
 
 sacred pile already reared by tlie philanthropy and philoso- 
 phy of the eighteenth century. Hundreds followed in the 
 path, and ere long the Nation pledged itself, by solemn 
 treaty, to the cause of liberty. 
 
 It was litting that the anniversary of the glorious victory 
 gained by the allied arms of France and the United States, 
 wdiicli secured the objects of the alliance, the iDolitical and 
 commercial independence of the United States, should be 
 celebrated on the battle field, and that onr ancient ally 
 should be invited to join in the commemoration. It was 
 fitting, also, that the Governor of the State of New- York 
 should name a Commission to extend its courtesies to the 
 distinguished guests — doubly fitting when it is remembered 
 that while the soil of New- York was protected by the 
 troops of our allies. New- York City alone to the very last 
 in the occupation of the enemy, had not, as her sister 
 cities, the opj^ortunity of expressing her thanks to her 
 deliverers before their departure from America at the close 
 of hostilities. 
 
 The Chamber of Commerce, an ancient colonial institu- 
 tion, was re-organized at the close of the Revolution by 
 men, many of whom had borne honorable part in the 
 armed struggle. Their descendants are among us to-day. 
 Thus it was becoming in it, also, to express a desire to 
 take part in this National welcome. In what manner this 
 purpose was carried out the folloAving pages show. 
 
 New- York, Decemher 10, 1881. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Resolutions of the Chamber of Commerce 1 
 
 Guests of the Nation 3 
 
 The Banquet 7 
 
 Introductory Remarks of Mr. James M. Brown, Vice-President of the 
 
 Chamber of Commerce g 
 
 Speech of M. Max Outrey, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
 potentiary of France, Chief of the Delegation 10 
 
 Speech of M. le Marquis de Rochambeau 11 
 
 Speech of Col. Arndt Von Steuben 12 
 
 Speech of the Rev. Richard S. Stobrs, D. D 13 
 
 Speech of the Hon. William M. Evarts 24 
 
 Speech of Mr. A. A. Low 31 
 
 Speech of the Hon. Carl Schurz 36 
 
 Speech of Mr. John Austin Stevens 43 
 
 Merchants and others present or represented at the Banquet, 49 
 
RESOLUTIONS 
 
 At a special meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of 
 the State of New- York, held September 29, 1881, the 
 following preamble and resolutions, submitted by Mr. 
 JoHisr AusTiJsr Stevens, were unanimously adopted : 
 
 Whereas^ The Chamber of Commerce of the State of 
 New- York, instituted in 1768, chartered by royal au- 
 thority in 1770, and re- organized in 1784, with its charter 
 and privileges confirmed by the Legislature of the State, 
 is the oldest commercial body in the United States, and 
 has ever been a recognized representative of its mercantile 
 interests ; and 
 
 Whereas^ The first treaty entered into with these United 
 States was that made by France in 1778, which declared 
 the " essential and direct end of the alliance" to be " to 
 maintain effectually the liberty, sovereignty and independ- 
 ence, absolute and unlimited, of the United States, as well 
 in matters of government as of commerce ;" and 
 
 Whereas^ The friendship then pledged by France to the 
 United States has been faithfully and honorably main- 
 tained for more than a century ; and 
 
 Whereas^ The Government of the Republic of France, 
 at the invitation of the Congress of the United States, has 
 commissioned a delegation representing it, who are now on 
 their way to this country, to take part in the Celebration 
 of the Victory achieved at Yorktown, the 19th of October, 
 
1781, by the allied army and naval forces of tlie two 
 countries; and 
 
 Whereas, This delegation is accompanied by the repre- 
 sentatives of the family of Lafayette, of the Count de 
 RocHAMBEAij, the Count de Geasse, the Marquis de Saint 
 Simon, and descendants of officers who served in the 
 French Army and JSTavy under their command ; and 
 
 Whereas, Rei^resentatives of the family of Baron de 
 Steuben, Major-General of the Army of the United States, 
 are also about to visit this country, on the invitation of the 
 Government of the United States, to take part in the same 
 celebration ; and 
 
 Whereas, His Excellency the Governor of the State of 
 New- York, in pursuance of a resolution of the Senate of 
 the State, has proffered the courtesies of the State to the 
 National guests, hereinbefore named, and has appointed a 
 Commission, under the great seal of the State, to welcome 
 them and extend such courtesies ; therefore. 
 
 Resolved, That this Chamber, as a chartered institution 
 of the State, hereby expresses its desire to participate in 
 such welcome and courtesies to the representatives of our 
 ancient national and commercial ally and the other foreign 
 guests. 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of this Chamber, of whom 
 the President and Secretary to be members, be appointed 
 by the President, to confer with the Commission appointed 
 by His Excellency the Governor, of which the Hon. John 
 A. King is Chairman, as to the manner in which this 
 Chamber may most appropriately join in the proposed 
 hospitalities. 
 
 Resolved, That the same Committee be authorized to 
 make arrangements for tendering to the distinguished 
 guests the courtesies of the merchants of the City at such 
 time as may suit their convenience. 
 
GUESTS OF THE NATION. 
 
 M. Max Outre y, Minlstre PVenirpotentiaire de la France 
 
 aux Etats Uhis, Chef de la delegation. 
 M. LE Commandant Lichtenstein, Officler d'ordonnance 
 
 du President Grevy,representant officiel du President^ 
 
 de la Itepublique Frangaise. 
 
 REPRESENTANT LE MiNISTERE DE8 AFFAIRES ETRANOiRES. 
 
 M. Max Outret, Ministre Plenipotentiaire de la France 
 
 aux Etats TJnis. 
 M. DE CoRCELLE, Secretaire d) Anibassade. 
 M. BouLARD PouQUEViLLE, Secretaire W Anibassade. 
 
 Repesentant l'Armee Frangaise. 
 
 M. BouLANGER, General de Brigade. 
 
 M. BossAN, Colonel de Dragons. 
 
 M. Blondel, Lieutenant-Colonel, directeur adjoint War- 
 
 tillerie. 
 M. Bureaux de Bust, Cliefde Bataillon du Genie, attacTie 
 
 au ministere de la guerre. 
 M. Mason, Capitaine de la Legion Etrangere. 
 M. SiGisMOND DE Sahune, Lieutenant de Dragons. 
 
 Representant la Marine Frangaise. 
 
 M. Halligon, Contre Amiral, Commandant en chef de la 
 
 Division Navale des Antilles. 
 M. DE Pagnac, Capitaine de Vaisseau. 
 
M. Caveliek de Cuveeville, Capitaine de Vaisseau. 
 M. Descamps, Capitaine def regale. 
 M. DE LA Baeriere, Capitaine defregate. 
 M. Schilling, Lieutenant de Vaisseau. 
 M, Thomas, Lieutenant de Vaisseau. 
 M. LE CoMTE DE Grasse, Lieutenant d' Infanterie de 
 Marine. 
 
 RePReSENTANT LE MiNISTERE DES BeAUX AeTB. 
 
 M. Felix Eegamey. 
 
 Les Lafayette. 
 
 M. Bureaux dePust, CTief de Bataillon du Genie^ attache 
 
 au minister e de la guerre. 
 M. LE Comte de Beaumont. 
 M. DE CoRCELLE, Secretaire W Anibassade. 
 M. SiGiSMOND DE Sahune, Lieutenant de Cavalerie. 
 M. Gaston de Sahune. 
 
 RePRESENTANTS DES FAMILLES DES 0FFICIER3 FRAN5AIS QUI ONT 6ERYI 1 
 
 YORKTOWN. 
 
 M. LE Marquis de Kochambeau. 
 M. LE Comte de Geasse. 
 M. LE Comte d'Ollone. 
 
 M. LE ViCOMTE d'HaUSSONVILLE. 
 
 M. LE Baeon Henei d' Aboville. 
 M. LE Baeon Cheistian d'Aboyille. 
 
 M. LE YlCOMTE DE NOAILLES. 
 
 M. LE Comte Laue de Lesteade. 
 M. LE Comte de Gouvello. 
 
 M. LE YlCOMTE d'OlLONE. 
 
 Representing the family of Major-General the Baron de Steuben. 
 
 Colonel Aendt yon Steuben. 
 Captain Feitz von Steuben. 
 
CAPTAIlSr RiCHAED VON StETJBEN. 
 
 Captain Eugen von Steuben. 
 Lieutenant Cuno von Steuben. 
 Lieutenant Beendt von Steuben. 
 Lieutenant Anton von Steuben. 
 
 OTHER GUESTS 
 
 His Excellency Alonzo B. Coenell, Governor of the State 
 
 of Weio- YorJc. 
 Hon. Wm. R. Geace, Mayor of the Oity of New- York. 
 Mr. Albeet Lefaivee, Consul-General of the Bepublic 
 
 of France at New- York. 
 Dr. Heemann A. Schumachee, Consul-General of the 
 
 German Empire at New- York. 
 Hon. Hamilton Fish. 
 Hon. William M. Evaets. 
 Hon. Gael Schuez. 
 Hon. Feedeeick W. Sewaed. 
 Hon. John A. King. 
 Rev. RiCHAED S. Stoees, D. D. 
 Rev. Heney C. Pottee, D. D. 
 
THE BANQUET. 
 
 The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New- York, 
 by resolutions adopted at a special meeting held on the 
 29tli of September, 1881, expressed its desire to particij)ate 
 in the reception and courtesies to the representatives of the 
 French Eepublic, then on their way to the United States, 
 and other national guests visiting the country, to attend 
 the Centennial Celebration of the Victory at Yorktown. 
 Accordingly, a Special Committee of thirteen members, 
 corresponding with the original number of States, was 
 appointed, who waited uiDon the distinguished guests 
 shortly after their arrival, and through its Chairman, 
 Mr. A. Gracie Kiis^g, tendered to them, in the name 
 of the Chamber, a Banquet, at such time as would suit 
 their convenience. The offer was cordially accepted by 
 the delegation, and Saturday, the 5th of ]N"ovember, was 
 fixed for the entertainment. 
 
 The Banquet was given at Delmonico's, Fifth Avenue 
 and Twenty-sixth-street. The Dining Hall on the occasion 
 was superbly decorated with flowers, flags and festoons of 
 evergreens. The flags of the United States and France 
 were draped in groups over American shields around 
 the walls ; cycas plumes depended from the tops of the 
 mirrors, and long sprays of smilax, with flowers inter- 
 twined, hung from the centre of the ceiling. 
 
 Bernstein's orchestra furnished the music for the 
 
8 
 
 occasion, beginning with Hail Columbia, and playing 
 during the evening selections from Verdi, Meyerbeer, 
 Gounod, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Straus and others. 
 
 The card of invitation was partly engraved and partly 
 etched, and six inches by eight in size. At the top 
 a view of Yorktown, with the flags of France and the 
 United States grouped together, with the laurel wreath 
 of victory, and the dates, 1781 and 1881. On the lower 
 part of the card a copy of Trumbull's painting of the 
 Surrender of Cornwallis ; on the two sides, War by 
 land and water, were represented, the one by the Flagship 
 of Count de Grasse, the " Ville de Paris," the o,ther by 
 earthworks, cannon, &c. ; on the corners four medallions, 
 containing the portraits of Washington, Rochambeau, 
 Lafayette and Steuben. 
 
 The Menu was printed upon a blue satin banner, and at- 
 tached to a standard of brass, the top of which was in the 
 form of a Caduceus, (the rod of Mercury,) the symbol of 
 Commerce. On the satin surrounding the Menu, which was 
 printed upon a scroll held by the eagle, were represented 
 in color at the top the seal of the Chamber of Commerce, a 
 view of Yorktown, the dates, 1781 and 1881 ; on the side, 
 the flags of France and the United States, with a French 
 and American soldier in the costume of the last century ; 
 under this a view of the Giant' s Gap, on the Union Pacific 
 Railroad, with a locomotive and train of cars in motion, 
 suggestive of the enterprise and of the gigantic work which 
 has been done in this country in the connection by rail of 
 the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, &c. Beneath all this the 
 representative American-built steamship, "The City of 
 Peking." The Menu, with its stand, was about fifteen 
 inches high, and, with its blue satin, red device, and white 
 tassels, (suggesting the national colors,) was a pleasing 
 ornament for the table. 
 
CITY OF PEKING 
 
9 
 
 Mr. James M. Bkotvn, Vice-President of the Chamber 
 of Commerce, presided, in the absence of Mr. Samuel 
 D. Babcock, the President. 
 
 Grace was said by the Kev. Heistey C. Pottee, D. D. 
 
 At nine o'clock, the cloth having been removed, the 
 Vice-President of the Chamber called the assemblage to 
 order, and said : 
 
 REMARKS or MR. JAMES M. BROWN, VICE-PRESIDENT. 
 
 Gentlemef : We meet this evening, on a very pleasant 
 occasion, to honor the distinguished guests now with us, 
 from the other side of the Atlantic, the representatives 
 of the French Republic and the descendants of those who 
 so nobly aided this country, in its infancy, during the 
 War of Independence. [Applause.] Our distinguished 
 French guests, and representatives of the family of Baron 
 Steuben, came to this country to participate in the cele- 
 bration that has lately taken place at Yorktown. [Ap- 
 plause.] Soon they will return to their native countries. 
 I hope their visit has been agreeable, and that they may 
 reach their homes in safety, with pleasant recollections. 
 [Cheers.] 
 
 I much regret the absence, on this occasion, of the Presi- 
 dent of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Samuel D. Babcock, 
 caused by domestic affliction. We shall miss him very 
 much. As Saturday night ends at 12 o'clock, and we hope 
 to have several interesting sj^eeches before that hour, I 
 shall detain you no longer, but proceed to announce the 
 toasts prepared for this occasion : 
 
 "The Memoet of Washington and Lafayette — In- 
 dissolubly connected with the early history of our National 
 existence." [Drank in silence — all standing.] 
 
10 
 TnE Chaieman. — Gentlemen : The next regular toast is : 
 
 *'The Republic of France and its Official Repee- 
 8ENTATIVES." [Applause.] 
 
 To wliich. I invite Mr. Outeey, tlie Minister of the Re- 
 public of France, to respond. 
 
 When Mr. Outeey rose to reply, he was received with 
 enthusiastic cheers and waving of handkerchiefs. He spoke 
 as follows : 
 
 SPEECH OF M. MAX OUTRET, ENVOY EXTBAOEDINARY AND MINISTER 
 PLENIPOTENTIARY OF FRANCE, CHIEF OF THE DELEGATION. 
 
 Me. Peesident and Gentlemen : A few weeks ago 
 the members of the French Delegation were warmly wel- 
 comed in this City of New- York, where they first landed 
 from France. Since then they have been the guests of 
 the Federal Government, and of a number of the States 
 whose history is more particularly connected with the 
 events of the last century, as far at least as France is 
 concerned. [Applause,] Everywhere, I am happy to say, 
 they have received the same cordial greeting ; and it is a 
 gratifying task for me to express, in their name, how much 
 they have been touched by the kindness, the courtesy, and 
 the delicate attentions shown to them. [Applause.] It has 
 been, I assure you, a cause of great rejoicing for us to find 
 so many proofs that the sincere sentiments of friendship 
 that the French people entertain toward America are so 
 fully reciprocated here ; and before our delegation leave 
 these hospitable shores I desire to thank the United States 
 once more, in behalf of France, for the kind reception made 
 to its representatives. [Applause.] 
 
 Our journey through different parts of the Union, though 
 
11 
 
 quick and limited in time, has given us an opportunity to 
 witness the progress made from the day of the surrender of 
 Yorktown to the present time. [Applause.] We therefore 
 feel proud to be received to-night by the honorable Cham- 
 ber of Commerce of New- York, which is the highest ex- 
 pression of this progress, and to be entertained by this 
 old mercantile association of the country, whose powerful 
 influence has so much contributed to the immense and 
 wonderful prosperity that we see. In closing these short 
 remarks, let me assure you, gentlemen, that all the repeated 
 manifestations of affectionate good feeling will re-echo 
 throughout France, from the Presidential residence to the 
 home of the cottager. [Cheers, and cries of Vive la France !] 
 
 The ChaieMais". — Gentlemen: The next toast is, " Otjr 
 DiSTiT^GUiSHED FRENCH GuESTS — the descendants of Ro- 
 CHAMBEAU, DE Grasse, Lafatette, and of the officers 
 of the Army and Navy of France who served in America 
 during the War of Independence." 
 
 I have great pleasure in presenting to you the Marquis 
 de RocHAMBEATJ, who will respond. [Great applause.] 
 
 The Marquis de Rochambeaij was received with hearty 
 cheering, and spoke in French, of which the following is a 
 translation : 
 
 SPEECH OF M. LE MARQUIS DE EOCHAMBEATJ. 
 
 Gentlemen: My companions and myself, who have 
 come to represent at the Centennial Celebration of the 
 Victory at Yorktown, your brothers in arms of 1781, de- 
 sire to thank you most earnestly for the warmth and 
 cordial sympathy of your welcome. In the journey which 
 we have just finished, necessarily brief, but so crowded 
 
12 
 
 with experiences, we have been deeply impressed by the 
 marvels of your industry and the enormous extent of your 
 commerce, and we are happy to recognize the fact that 
 your fathers, at whose side our ancestors fought, did not 
 presume too much upon their resources in taking the first 
 step toward becoming a great nation. [Loud cheers.] 
 
 The Chairman. — Gentlemen : I give you the next regu- 
 lar toast, to which Colonel Aendt von Steuben will reply : 
 
 " The Representatives of the Family of the 3aron 
 DE Steuben — whose services in behalf of our struggle for 
 Freedom have always been recognized by our people ; in 
 welcoming them to this Country, we desire to renew the 
 assurances of the esteem in which we hold the memory 
 of their renowned Ancestor." 
 
 Col. VON Steuben responded in Gennan. He was re- 
 ceived with warm applause. The following is a translation 
 of his speech : 
 
 SPEECH OF COL, ARNDT VOIST STEUBElSr. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen : From the moment 
 that the rej)resentatives of the Steuben family set foot 
 in this country we have been treated with so great hospi- 
 tality and distinction and honor, in remembrance of Baron 
 VON Steuben, that we cannot find words to give expres- 
 sion to the deep sentiments of gratitude with which we are 
 animated. [Aj^plause.] 
 
 In our brief stay in this country we have been struck 
 with the greatness and vastness of this nation. The great- 
 ness of a nation does not depend merely upon the work 
 and industry which are developed, but also in the sym- 
 pathy which inspires its people, and of this sympathy we 
 
13 
 
 find liere an abundance. [Cheers.] Gentlemen, with hearts 
 full of gratitude we leave your shores, but rest assured 
 that all over Germany there will be heard expressions of 
 appreciation and joy at the treatment the representatives 
 of Germany and of the Steuben family have received in 
 America. [Applause.] 
 
 The Chaikmax. — Gentlemen : I will now give you the 
 next regular toast, and call upon the Rev. Dr. Stokes to 
 respond : 
 
 " The Yictoet at Yoektown. — It has the rare distinc- 
 tion among victories, that the power which seemed humbled 
 by it looks back to it now without regret, while the peoples 
 who combined to secure it, after the lapse of a century of 
 years, are more devoted than ever to the furtherance of the 
 freedom to which it contributed. ' ' [Applause. ] 
 
 Rev. Dr. Stoees was received with warm applause. He 
 said : 
 
 speech of the rev. richard s. storrs, d. d. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen oe the Chamber of Commerce : 
 It is always pleasant to respond to your invitations, and 
 to join with you on these festival occasions. You remem- 
 ber the reply of the English lady, (Lady Dufeekust, -pev- 
 haps,) when the poet, Rogees, sent her a note, saying: 
 "Will you do me the favor to breakfast with me to- 
 morrow?" to which she returned the still more laconic 
 autograph, ' ' Won' 1 1 ? " [Laughter. ] PerhaiDS one might 
 as well have that lithographed, as his reply to your cordial 
 and not infrequent invitations. [Laughter.] I do not 
 know whether you are aware of it on this side of the East 
 River — perhaps you don' t read the newspapers much — but 
 
14 
 
 in that better part of the great metropolis in which it is 
 my privilege to live, [laughter,] we think of showing our 
 apj)reciation of this Chamber of Commerce by electing for 
 Mayor, next week, one of your younger members, the son 
 of one of your older and most distinguished members, my 
 honored friend, Mr. Low. [Applause.] 
 
 It is certainly especially pleasant to be here this evening, 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen, when we meet together, men 
 of commerce, men of finance, lawyers, journalists, physi- 
 cians, clergymen, of whatever occupation, all of us, I am 
 sure, patriotic citizens, to congratulate each other upon 
 what occurred at Yorktown, a hundred years ago,- on the 
 19th of October, 1781, and to express our hearty honor and 
 esteem for these distinguished descendants or representa- 
 tives of the gallant men who then stood with our fathers 
 as their associates and helpers. [Applause.] It has 
 always seemed to me one of the most significant and 
 memorable things connected with our Revolutionary strug- 
 gle, that it attracted the attention, elicited the sympathy, 
 inspired the enthusiasm, and drew out the self-sacrificing 
 co-operation, of so many noble spirits, loving freedom, in 
 different parts of western and central Europe. [Ap- 
 plause.] You remember that Lord Camdeist testified, from 
 his own observation, in 1775, about the time of the battle 
 of Concord Bridge, that the merchants, tradesmen, and 
 common i)eople of England, were on the side of the 
 colonists, and that only the landed interest really sustained 
 the Government. 
 
 So the more distant Poland sent to us the Count 
 Pulaski, of noble family, who had been a brilliant leader 
 for liberty at home, who fought gallantly in our battles, 
 and who poured out his life in our behalf in the assault 
 upon Savannah. [Cheers.] And it sent another, whose 
 name has been one to conjure with for freedom, from that 
 
15 
 
 day to this ; who planned tlie works on Bemis Heights, 
 against which Burgoyne in vain hurled his assault ; who 
 superintended the works at West Point ; who, returning 
 to his own country, fought for Poland as long as there was 
 a Poland to fight f or ; whom the very Empire against 
 which he had so long and so fiercely contended, on behalf 
 of his country, honored and eulogized after his death— 
 Thaddeus Kosciusko. [Cheers.] 
 
 Germany sent us Vow Steubeist, [applause,] one, but 
 a host, whose services in our war were of immense and con- 
 tinual aid to our troops ; who fought gallantly at York- 
 town ; and who chose, afterwards, to finish his life in the 
 country for which he had fearlessly drawn his sword. [Ap- 
 plause.] France sent us Lafayette ; [loud cheers ;] young, 
 brilliant, with everything to detain him at home, who had 
 heard of our struggle at Metz, you remember, from a con- 
 versation of the Duke of Gloucester, in whom the purpose 
 was there formed, in a flash, to identify himself with the for- 
 tunes of the remote, poor, unfriended, and almost unknown 
 colonists ; who came, against every opposition, in a ship 
 which he had bought and fitted for the purpose, and whose 
 name (as has well been said in the sentiment in which we 
 have already united,) will be joined imperishably with that 
 of WASHiNGTOisr, as long as the history of our country con- 
 tinues. [Applause.] With him came John" de Kalb, the 
 intrepid Alsatian, who, after fighting gallantly through the 
 war, up to the point of his death, fell at Camden, pierced 
 at last by many wounds. [Cheers.] With them, or after 
 them, came others — Gouvioisr, Duportail — some of their 
 names are hardly now familiar to us — Duplessis, Du- 
 PONCEAU, afterwards distinguished in literature and in 
 law, in the country in which he made his residence. There 
 came great supplies of military equipment, important — we 
 may say indispensable — aids of money, clothing, and of 
 
16 
 
 all the apparatus of war ; and finally, came the organized 
 naval and military force, with great captains at the head 
 — RocHAMBEAU, [loud clieers,] Chastellux, de Choisy, 
 DE Lauzun, St. Simon, de Grasse — all this force brilliant- 
 ly representative, as we know, of our foreign allies, in the 
 victory at Yorktown. [Applause.] 
 
 I suppose there has never been a stranger contrast, on 
 any field of victory, than that which was there presented, be- 
 tween the worn clothing of the American troops, soiled with 
 mud, rusted with storm, wet with blood, and the fresh white 
 uniforms of the French troops, ornamented with colored 
 trimmings ; the poor, plain battle-flags of the Colonies, 
 stained with smoke and rent with shot, compared with the 
 shining and lofty standards of the French army, bearing on 
 a ground of brilliant white silk, emblazoned in gold em- 
 broidery, the Bourbon lilies. [Applause.] Indeed, such a 
 contrast went into everything. The American troops were 
 made up of men who had been, six years before, mechanics, 
 farmers, merchants, fishermen, lawyers, teachers, with no 
 more thought of any ex^^loits to be accomplished by them 
 on fields of battle than they had of being elected Czars of all 
 the Russias. They had a few victories to look back to : 
 Bennington, Stillwater, Cowpens, King's Mountain, and 
 one great triumph at Saratoga. They had many defeats to 
 remember : Brandy wine, where somebody at the time said 
 that the mixture of the two liquors was too much for the 
 sober Americans, [laughter,] Camden, Guilford Court 
 House, and others, and one tragic and terrible defeat on 
 the heights of Long Island. They were men who had been 
 the subjects, and many of them the officers, of the very 
 power against which they were fighting; and some of the 
 older among them may have stood for that power, atLouis- 
 bourg or Quebec. On the other hand, the French troops 
 were part of an army the lustre of whose splendid history 
 
17 
 
 could be traced back for a thousand years, beyond the 
 Crusades, beyond Charlemagne. Their officers had been 
 trained in the best military schools of the time. They 
 were amply provided with the last and choicest equipments 
 of war. Tliey had gallantly achieved victory, or as gallantly 
 sustained defeat, on almost every principal battle-field in 
 Europe. They Avere now confronting an enemy whom that 
 army had faced in previous centuries, on sea and land ; 
 and very likely something of special exhilaration and ani- 
 mation went into their spirit from thought of this, as they 
 assailed the English breast-works, swarming into the tren- 
 ches, capturing the redoubts, storming the lines, with that 
 strange battle-shout, in our Republican American air 
 ' ' Vive le Roi ! ' ' [Applause. ] 
 
 A singular combination ! Undoubtedly, to unfold the 
 influences which had led to it would take months instead 
 of minutes, and occupy volumes rather than sentences. I 
 think, however, that we reckon too much on national 
 rivalry, or national animosity, when we seek to explain it, 
 although these no doubt had their part in it. Doubtless the 
 eager efforts of Silas Dean, our first diplomatic repre- 
 sentative in Europe-efforts too eager tor courtesy or wis- 
 dom—had a part in it ; and the skillful diplomacy of 
 Franklin had, as we know, a large and important influ- 
 ence upon it. The spirit of adventure, the desire for dis- 
 tinction upon fresh fields, had something to do with it. 
 But the principal factor in that great effect was the 
 spirit of freedom-the spirit that looked to the advance- 
 ment and the maintenance of popular liberty among the 
 peoples of the earth, wherever civilization had gone ; [ap- 
 plause ;] that spirit which was notably expressed by' Van 
 der Capellen, the Dutch orator and statesman, when 
 he vehemently said in presence of the States-General of 
 Holland, in reply to an autograph letter of George III., 
 
18 
 
 soliciting their aid, that this was a business for hired jani- 
 zaries rather than for soldiers of a free State ; that it would 
 be, in his judgment, " sn]3erlatively detestable" to aid in 
 any way to overcome the Americans, whom he regarded as a 
 brave j)eoi3le, lighting in a manly, honorable, religious 
 manner, for the rights which had come to them, not from 
 any British legislation, but from God Almighty. [Ap- 
 l^lause. ] 
 
 That spirit was native to Holland. But that spirit was 
 also widely in France. The old temper of enthusiasm for 
 liberty, both civil and religious, had not passed away. 
 The sixty years and more since the accession of Louis 
 XV. had perhaps only intensified this spirit. It had en- 
 tered the higher philosophical minds. They were medi- 
 tating the questions of the true social order, with daring 
 disregard of existing institutions ; and their spirit and 
 instructions found an echo even in our Declaration of In- 
 dependence. They made it more theoretical than English 
 State-papers have usually been. Palpably, the same spirit 
 which afterwards broke into fierce exhibition when the 
 Bastille was stormed, in 1789, or when the first Republic 
 was declared, in 1792, was already at work in France ; at 
 work there far more vitally and energetically than was yet 
 recognized by those in authority ; while it wrought, perhaps, 
 in the field offered by this country, more eagerly and 
 largely because it was repressed at home. So it was that 
 so many brilliant Frenchmen came as glad volunteers. It 
 was because of this electric and vital spirit, looking to- 
 wards freedom. Travelling was slow. Communication 
 between the continents was tardy and difficult. The sail- 
 ing ship, dependent upon the wind, hugged the breeze, or 
 was driven before the blast, across the stormy North 
 Atlantic. The steamship was unknown. The telegraph 
 wire was no more imagined than it was imagined that the 
 
19 
 
 Rhine might flow a river of flame, or that the Jungfrau or 
 the Weisshorn might go out on a journey. 
 
 But there was this distributed spirit of freedom, propa- 
 gating itself by means which we cannot wholly trace, and 
 to an extent which was scarcely recognized, which brought 
 volunteers in such numbers to our shores, that Washing- 
 ton, you know, at one time expressed himself as embar- 
 rassed to know what to do with them ; and there were 
 vivid and high aspirations going up from multitudes of 
 households and of hearts, in central and in western 
 Europe, which found realization in what we claim as the 
 greatest and most fruitful of American victories. [Ap- 
 plause.] 
 
 The impulse given by that victory to the same spirit is 
 one on which we never cnn look back without gratitude 
 and gladness. It was an impulse not confined to one nation, 
 but common to all which had had part in the struggle. We 
 know what an impulse it gave to everything greatest and 
 best in our own country. The spirit of popular exhilaration, 
 arising from that victory at Yorktown, was a force which 
 really established and moulded our National Government. 
 The nation rose to one of those exalted points, those 
 supreme levels, in its public experience, where it found 
 grander wisdom, where it had nobler forecast, than perhaps 
 it otherwise could have reached. In consequence of it, our 
 Government came, which has stood the storm and stress of 
 a hundred years. We may have to amend its Constitution, 
 in time to come, as it has been amended in the past ; but 
 we have become a Nation by means of it. It commands the 
 attention — to some extent, the admiration — of other peoples 
 of the earth ; and, at all events, it is bound to endure upon 
 this continent as long as there remains a continent here for 
 it to rest upon. [Cheers.] Then came the incessant move- 
 ment westward ; the vast foreign immigration ; the occu- 
 
20 
 
 pation of the immense grain-fields, which might almost 
 feed the hungry world ; the multiplication of manufac- 
 turers, supplying everything, nearly, that we need ; the 
 uncovering of mines, bringing out the wealth which has 
 actually disturbed the money-standards of the world ; the 
 transforming of territories into States, by a process as swift 
 and magical almost as that by which the turbid mixture of 
 the chemist is crystalized into its delicate and translucent 
 spars ; the building of an Empire, on the Western coast, 
 looking out towards the older continent of Asia. [Cheers.] 
 
 We know, too, what an impulse was given to popular 
 rights and hopes in England. We rejoice in all the progress 
 of England. That salute, fired to the British flag, the other 
 day, at Yorktown — [cheers] — it was a stroke of the hammer 
 on the horologe of Time, which marks the coming of a new 
 era, when national animosities shall be forgotten, and only 
 national sympathies and good- will shall remain. It might 
 seem, perhaps, to have in it a tone of the old "diapason of 
 the cannonade ;" but, on the thoughtful ear, falls from the 
 thundering voice of those guns a note of that supreme 
 music which fell on the ear of Longfellow, when, "like 
 a bell with solemn, sweet vibration," he heard "once more 
 the voice of Christ say. Peace ! " [Loud applause.] 
 
 We rejoice in all the progress of English manufactures, 
 which extracts every force from each ounce of coal, and 
 pounds or weaves the English iron into nearly everything for 
 human use, except boots and brown bread — [laughter] — in 
 the commerce which spreads its sails on all the seas — in the 
 wealth and splendor that are assembled in her cities ; but 
 we rejoice, more than all, in the constant progress of those 
 liberal ideas to which such an impulse was given by this 
 victory of Yorktown. [Cheers.] You remember that Fox 
 is said to have heard of it "with a wild delight," while 
 even he may not have anticipated its full future outcome. 
 
21 
 
 You remember the hissing hate with which he was often 
 assailed, as when the tradesman of Westminster, whose 
 vote he had solicited, Hung back at him the answer: "I 
 have nothing for you, sir, but a halter !" — to which Fox, 
 by the way, with instant wit and imperturbable good 
 nature, smilingly responded : "I could not think, my dear 
 sir, of dejDriving you of such an interesting family relic." 
 [Laughter.] Look back to that time, and then see the pro- 
 digious advance of liberal ideas in England, the changed 
 political condition of the workingmen. Look at the posi- 
 tion of that great Commoner who now regulates English 
 policy, who equals Fox in his liberal principles, and sur- 
 passes him in his eloquence — Mr. Gladstone. [Cheers.] 
 .The English troops marched out of Yorktown, after their 
 surrender, to that singularly appropriate tune, as they 
 thought it, ' ' The World turned Upside Down. ' ' [Laughter. | 
 But that vast disturbance of the old equilibrium, which 
 had balanced a King against a Nation, has given to Eng- 
 land the treasures of statesmanshij), the treasures of elo- 
 quence,- a vast part of the splendor and the power which 
 are now collected under the reign of that one royal woman 
 in the world, to whom every American heart pays i ts eager 
 and unforced fealty — Queen Yictokia. [Loud applause.] 
 We know what an impulse was given to the same spirit 
 in Germany. Mr. Schijez will tell us of it, in eloquent 
 words. But no discourse that he can utter, however bril- 
 liant in rhetoric, no analysis, however lucid, no clear and 
 comprehensive sweep of his thought, though expressed in 
 words which ring in our ears and live in our memories, can 
 so fully and vividly illustrate it to us as does the man 
 himself, in his character and career — an old-world citizen 
 of the American Republic, whose marvellous mastery of our 
 tough English tongue is still surpassed by his more marvel- 
 
' 22 
 
 lous mastery over the judgments and the hearts of those 
 who hear him use it. [Cheers.] 
 
 What an imj)ulse was given to the same spirit in France, 
 we know. At first, it fell upon a people not altogether 
 prepared to receive it. There was, therefore, a passionate 
 effervescence, a fierce ebullition, into popular violence and 
 popular outrage, which darkened for the time the world's 
 annals. But we know that the spirit never died ; and, 
 through all the winding and bloody paths in which it has 
 marched, it has brought France to the fair consummation 
 of its present power, and wealth, and renown. [Cheers.] 
 We rejoice in its multiform manufactures, which weave the 
 woolen or silken fibre into every form of tissue and fabric ; in 
 the delicate, dainty skill, which keeps the time of all crea- 
 tion with its watch- work and clock-work ; which ornaments 
 beauty with its jewelry, and furnishes science with finest 
 instruments. We rejoice in the fourteen thousand miles of 
 railway there constructed, almost all of it within forty 
 years ; we rejoice in the riches there accumulated ; we 
 rejoice in the expansion of the poi)ulation from the twenty- 
 three millions, of the day of Yorktown, to the thirty- eight 
 millions of the present ; but we rejoice, more than all, in the 
 liberal spirit evermore there advancing ; which has built the 
 fifteen Universities, and gathered the forty-one thousand 
 students into them ; which builds libraries and higher 
 seminaries, and multiplies common schools ; which gives 
 liberty, if not license, to the press. [Cheers.] We rejoice 
 in the universal suffrage, which puts the 632 Deputies 
 into the Chamber, and which combines the Chamber of 
 Deputies with the Senate in a National Assembly to elect 
 the President of the Republic. We rejoice in the rapid 
 political education now and always going on in France; 
 and that she is to be hereafter a noble leader in Europe, in 
 
23 
 
 illustrating the security, and commending the benefits, of 
 Republican institutions. [Applause.] 
 
 France has been foremost in many things. She was fore- 
 most in chivalry ; and the most magnificent spectacles and 
 examples which that institution ever furnished were on her 
 fields. She was foremost in the Crusades ; and the volcanic 
 country around Auvergne was not more full of latent fire 
 than was the spirit of her people at the Council of Cler- 
 mont, or before the appeals of Petee the Hermit and St. 
 Beefaed. She led the march of philosophical discussion, 
 in the middle ages. She has been foremost in many achieve- 
 ments of science and art. She is foremost to-day in pierc- 
 ing with tunnels the mountain chains, and cutting canals 
 through the great isthmuses, that the wheels of commerce 
 may roll unobstructed through rocky barriers, and the 
 keels of commerce may sweep unhindered across the sands. 
 But she has never yet had an office so illustrious as that 
 which falls to her now— to show to Europe how Republican 
 institutions stimulate industry, guarantee order, promote 
 all progress in enterprise and in thought, and are the best 
 and surest security for a Nation's grandest advancement. 
 That enthusiasm which has led her always to champion 
 ideas, which led her soldiers to say, in the first Revolution, 
 "With bread and iron we will march to China," entering 
 now into the fullfilment of this great office, will carry her 
 influence, I think, to China and beyond it ; her peaceful 
 influence, on behalf of the liberty for which she fought 
 with us at Yorktown, and for which she has bled and 
 struggled with a pathetic and lofty stubbornness ever 
 since. [Cheers. ] 
 
 I do not look back merely, then, from this evening. I 
 see illustrated at Yorktown the lesson of that hour : that 
 colonies maturing into great commonwealths, and peoples 
 combining for common liberties, are the best pledge of the 
 
24 
 
 world's future. But I look forward, as well, and see 
 France in Europe, a Republic, the United States on this 
 Continent, a Republic, standing again, and in the future, 
 as before, shoulder to shoulder, expecting, with tranquil 
 and exultant spirit, the grander victory yet to come ; the 
 outcome of which shall be liberty to all the peoples of the 
 world, and that benign and Divine peace which is the sure 
 and sovereign fruit of such a liberty. [Applause.] 
 
 The Chairman gave the sixth regular toast as follows, 
 and called upon Hon. William M. Evaets to respond : 
 
 "The French Alliance. — The amicable relations be- 
 tween our two Countries, founded in 1778 by the Treaty of 
 Amity and Commerce between the Nation of France and 
 the American people, cemented in blood in 1781, renewed 
 by this visit of our distinguished Guests, will we trust be 
 perpetuated through all time." [Applause.] 
 
 Mr. Eyarts was loudly cheered on rising. He said : 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. WILLIAM M. ETARTS. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Chamber of 
 Commerce : It is with great pride, as well as with great 
 pleasure, that I respond to a call in behalf of the merchants 
 of the United States, as represented by the merchants of 
 the great City of the United States, through this Ancient 
 Guikl of the Chamber of Commerce, in paying their tribute 
 of honor and applause to the French nation, that was 
 present, as a nation, in the contests of our Revolution, 
 and is present, here, as a nation, by its representatives, 
 to-day ; [applause ;] and to the great Frenchmen that were 
 present, with their personal heroism, in the struggles of the 
 Revolution, and are present, here, in their personal de- 
 
25 
 
 sceiidants, to see the fruits of that Revolution, and receive 
 our respectful greeting ; [applause ;] and to the Germans, 
 who were present, where they could not have been spared, 
 in the great trials of our feeble nation, in its struggles 
 against the greatest power in the world, and who are here, 
 by the descendants of those heroic Germans, to join in this 
 feast of freedom and of glory. [Aj)plause.] 
 
 I felt a little doubt, Mr. Chairman, whether the etiquette 
 of this occasion required me to speak in my own tongue, or 
 in the German, or the French, (for I speak French and 
 German equally well ;) [laughter ;] but I thought it would 
 be a poor compliment, after all, to talk to these Frenchmen 
 or these Germans in their native tongues. They surely 
 hear enough of that at home. [Laughter.] 
 
 Well, Mr. President, the French alliance was one of the 
 noblest transactions in history. The 6th day of February, 
 1778, witnessed the Treaty of Alliance, and the accompa- 
 nying Treaty of Amity and Commerce, which filled out our 
 Declaration of Independence, and made that an assured 
 triumph, which was, till then, nothing but a heroic effort 
 on our part. [Cheers.] I do not know that the Sixth of 
 February has anywhere been honored in any due pro- 
 portion to the Fourth of July ; but, for myself, as an 
 humble individual, from the earliest moment, I have done 
 all in my power to show my homage to that day, for on 
 that day I was born. [Laughter and applause.] Now we 
 talk the most, and must feel the most, and with great 
 propriety, of the presence of the French, and of our 
 German aids, and of our own presence at the Battle of 
 York town and the Surrender. But what would that occa- 
 sion have amounted to, either in the fact or in celebration 
 ' of it, if the English had not been there. [Laughter.] You 
 may remember the composure of the hero that was going 
 to the block, and felt that there was no occasion for hurry 
 
26 
 
 or confusion in the attendant crowd, as nothing important 
 could take place until he got there. [Laughter.] And so, in 
 this past history, and in the present celebration, we recognize 
 that it is not a question of personal mortification, or of 
 personal triumph — not even of national mortification, or 
 of national triumph. This was one of the great battles of 
 the world, in which all the nations engaged, and all other 
 nations had an everlasting interest, and from which they 
 were to reap everlasting good. [Applause.] And I would 
 like to know if the granddaughter of Geoege III. has ever 
 had, from her subjects, British or Indian, any sweeter 
 incense than has just now been poured out from the hearts 
 of the American people, who freely give that homage to 
 her virtues, as a woman, thac they deny to her sceptre and 
 her crown as a queen. [Ap]3lause.] Who would not 
 rather be a great man than a great king 'i Who would not 
 rather be a great woman than a great queen ? [Applause.] 
 Ah ! is there not a wider sovereignty over the race, and a 
 deeper homage from human nature, than ever can come 
 from an allegiance to power ? And for woman, though she 
 be a queen, what personal power in human affairs can 
 equal that of drawing a throb from every heart, and a 
 tear from every eye, when she spoke to us as a woman, 
 in the distress of our nation ? [Applause.] 
 
 It was a very great thing for France to make the Treaty 
 of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with a 
 nation that, as yet, had received no acceptance from the 
 Powers of the earth. And when we remember that France, 
 in the contests of a thousand years, had found England no 
 unequal match in the quarrels that belonged to the two 
 nations, I must think that human history has shown 
 nothing nobler than her espousal of this growing struggle 
 between these colonists and the great powder of England. 
 [Applause.] How much nearer France was to England 
 
27 
 
 than we ! How miicli wider her possessions through the 
 world, open to the thunders of the British navy and the 
 prowess of the British army ! And when France, in a 
 treaty, the equal terms of which will strike every reader 
 with wonder, speaks of "the common cause," to be 
 pursued until the result of our com^Dlete independence, 
 governmental and commercial, was attained, I know 
 nothing, in the way of "the bearing the burdens of one 
 another," enjoined as the Christian spirit, that is greater 
 than this stupendous action of France. [Applause.] 
 
 The relations of blood and history that make England 
 and us one, as we always shall be, do not, nevertheless, 
 make it clear that there is not a closer feeling of attach- 
 ment, after all, between us and France. It is a very great 
 compliment, no doubt, in classical phrase, to be si)oken 
 of '■^matre yulchra^ filia pulcJirior'''' — the fairer daughter 
 of a fair mother. But, after all, it is a greater compliment 
 to the daughter than to the mother. I don't know that 
 maternal affection, the purest sentiment on earth, ever is 
 quite pleased that the daughter is taller and fairer, and 
 more winning in her ways than the mother is or ever was ; 
 [laughter ;] and I do know, that there comes a time when 
 the daughter leaves the mother and cleaves to a closer 
 affection. And here were we, a young, growing, self- 
 conscious, self-possessed damsel, just peeping from out 
 our mother's apron, when there comes a gallant and a 
 noble friend, who takes up our cause, and that, too, at a 
 time when it was not quite apparent whether we should 
 turn out a beauty or a hoyden. [Laughter and applause.] 
 And that is our relation to France. Nothing can limit, 
 nothing can disturb it ; nothing shall disi)arage it. It is 
 that we, from that time and onwards, and now, finally, in 
 the great consummation of two Republics united together 
 against the world, represent, in a new sense, Shakespeaee's 
 
'28 
 
 figure of the "unity and married calm of States." [Ap- 
 plause.] 
 
 The French people have the advantage of ns in a great 
 inany things ; and I don't know that we have any real 
 advantage of them, except in a superior opinion of our- 
 selves. [Laughter.] God forbid that anybody should 
 take that from us ! Indeed, great as is our affection and 
 gratitude towards the French and German nations, there 
 is one thing that Ave cannot quite put np with in those 
 nations, and that is, that, but for them, the English and 
 w^e should think ourselves the greatest nations in the 
 world. [Laughter.] So, with all the bonds of amity 
 between us and them, we must admit that the Frenchmen 
 and Germans make a pretty good show on the field of 
 history in the past, and, apparently, mean to have a pretty 
 good share of the future of this world. [Applause.] In 
 comparing the Yorktown era with the present day, we find 
 that, then, a great many more Frenchmen came here than 
 Germans ; but, now, a great many more Germans come 
 here than Frenchmen. The original disparity of numbers 
 seems to have been redressed by the later immigration, and 
 we are reduced to that puzzled equilibrium of the haj)py 
 swain, whenever we are obliged to choose sides in the 
 contests between these nations — 
 
 " How happy could I be with either, 
 Were the other dear charmer away." 
 
 [Laughter.] 
 
 The French are a great people, in their conduct towards 
 us in this respect, that the aid and sympathy and alliance 
 has been all in our favor. They have done everything for 
 us, and have been strong enough not to need anything 
 
29 
 
 from us. [Applause.] "The fault of the French," to 
 change a little Mr. Canning's memorable lines — 
 
 *o^ 
 
 " The fault of the French, unlike the Dutch, 
 Is asking too little and. giving too much." 
 
 [Laughter and applause.] 
 
 Now this treaty commences with the very sensible state- 
 ment, that the two nations, being desirous of placing their 
 commerce and correspondence upon permanent and equita- 
 ble grounds, His Most Christian Majesty and the United 
 States of America had thought, to that end, it was best to 
 place these relations upon perfect equality and reciprocity, 
 without any of those burdensome i^references which are 
 the source of debate, of misunderstanding, and of discon- 
 tent between nations. In this spirit it is, no doubt, that 
 we have each pursued towards each other, in commerce, 
 that most equitable and equal system, by prohibitory 
 duties, of keeping all of each other's products out of the 
 other that we can. [Laughter.] Well, the Frenchmen 
 knew, after all, that the Americans can never get along 
 without their wines, and without their silks, and without 
 their jewels, and without their art, and without their 
 science, aud without the numberless elegancies which make 
 life, even in our back woods, tolerable. And we know 
 that they can't very well dispense with our wheat, and 
 corn, and the oil from the earth, and the cotton to weave 
 into those delicate tissues with which they clothe the 
 world. [Applause.] So that, after all, these superficial 
 barriers of customs duties don't really obstruct our com- 
 merce. And even if they have too much of our pork, as 
 would seem to be the notion at present, we have no desire 
 to dispense with their wines. [Laughter.] 
 
 But there are some other interchanges between nations 
 
30 
 
 besides those of commerce in the raw material, or in the 
 products of skilled industry. If we could make more of a 
 moral interchange with the French ; if we could take some 
 of the moral sunlight which shines upon that great nation ; 
 if we could be more cheerful, more gay, more debonair ; 
 and they could take from us some of the superfluous ice 
 which we produce, morally as well as naturally, and some 
 of that cold resistance against the inflammation of enthusi- 
 asm which sometimes raises a conflagration among their 
 citizens at home. AVe have no tariff on either side that 
 would interfere in the blending and intercommunication of 
 the moral resources of both nations that shall make us 
 more and more one people in laws, liberties and national 
 glory, and in all the passions that guide and animate the 
 conduct of nations. [Applause.] 
 
 I am happy to announce myself to you, gentlemen, what 
 I am vain enough to suppose you would not suspect, that 
 I am a contemporary of Lafayette. As a Boston school- 
 boy I stood in their ranks at Boston when Lafayette, in 
 1825, passed with a splendid cortege along the malls of 
 Boston Common. I had the pleasure, as a descendant of 
 one of his Revolutionary friends, to be presented to him 
 personally, and to hear him say that he well remembered 
 his old friend, my grandfather. [Cheers.] 
 
 This pleasing courtesy, it may be said, was all French 
 politeness. Bat I can say to these Frenchmen, that 
 whether they believe one another at home or not, we 
 always believe them in this country, [Applause.] 
 
 And now your toast desires that this friendship, thus 
 beginning and continued, shall be perpetual. Who is to 
 stop it ? No power but ourselves and yourselves, sir, 
 [turning to the French Minister,] can interrupt it. What 
 motive have you — what motive have we — what sentiment, 
 but that, on either side, would be a dishonor to the two 
 
31 
 
 nations, can ever breathe a breath to spoillts splendor and 
 its purity ! [Applause.] And, sir, your munificence and 
 your affection is again to be impressed upon the American 
 people, in that noble present you are designing to make to us 
 in the great statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World ;" 
 an unexampled munificence from the private citizens of one 
 nation to the jieople of another. We are to furnish the island 
 for its site, and the pedestal to place the statue on. This our 
 people will do, with an enthusiasm equal to your own. 
 But, after all, the obligation will be wholly ours, for it is 
 to be a light-liouse in our great Jiarhor — a splendid monu^ 
 ment, to add new beauty to the glorious Bay of N^ew-York. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 The Chairman gave the seventh regular toast : 
 
 "Commerce. — The strong bond of International Union, 
 and the Interpreter of International wants," and introduced 
 Mr. A. A. Low, Ex-President of the Chamber of Com- 
 merce. [Applause.] 
 
 Mr. Low spoke as follows : 
 
 SPEECH OF MR. A. A. LOW. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen : While the world is 
 divided into various nationalities, under many and differ- 
 ing systems of government, the laws which regulate their 
 relations to each other must necessarily differ. And, 
 under the different conditions in which they exist, the 
 policy which dictates laws to govern those relations, must 
 be determined, in one country, by considerations that do 
 not affect, in the same manner, the interests of another. 
 
 Diversities of climate and diversities of soil may dispose, 
 or forbid, the people of one land to compete with those of 
 
32 
 
 another — endowed by nature with opportunities for agri- 
 culture more or less favorable tlian their own ; while it is 
 manifest that a nation which includes within its extensive 
 domain, every variety of climate and soil, may contend 
 successfully with smaller States, separated from each other 
 by antagonistic or mistaken views of their respective in- 
 terests. 
 
 The political economist will vainly strive to adjust his 
 theory of free trade (as opposed to the law of protection) 
 alike to the old and the new ; to nations advanced by 
 many centuries of experience in the pursuit of all the 
 useful arts, and, in like manner, to other nations just 
 springing into life, or lacking, yet, that education which 
 only comes with time and opportunity ; to nations whose 
 supremacy in all the diversified industries which serve 
 to enrich, is everywhere acknowledged ; and, alike, to 
 other nations struggling for advancement in the same pur- 
 suits, and determined, at whatever cost of training, to 
 stand upon an equal footing with those that most excel. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 Nor will th§ difficulties w^hich attend the general ap- 
 plication of the theory referred to, have been fully njet, 
 when such disparities as are now suggested have been 
 overcome. For it is obvious that the financial and moral 
 standards by which the value of labor is regulated and 
 paid, vary in difl'erent countries, and, to some extent, con- 
 trol their legislation ; and it is the duty of the statesman 
 to guard the interests of the laborer ; to elevate him in the 
 scale of being, and j)ermit him to share, in the largest pos- 
 sible degree, in the fruits of the common toil. 
 
 But the problem that perplexes the j)hilosoplier is 
 solved in a practical way, by a host of immigrants, with 
 strong arms, skilled hands and fertile brains, who come 
 from every part of the world, in yearly increasing numbers, 
 
33 
 
 to swell the population of our favored land, and add to its 
 producing and creative power. They come here, because 
 work is plentiful and bread is cheap. Our boundless 
 prairies of the West invite the tiller of the earth to profit 
 by the bounty of a virgin soil. Our mountain slopes and 
 hillsides attract the miners of England and Wales to the 
 vast deposits of iron and coal which are found above the 
 level of the river and of the valley, or just beneath 
 the surface of the earth ; while the precious metals, which 
 so abound in Colorado, Nevada and other States and Terri- 
 tories of the West, draw and reward the patient seekers 
 after their hidden riches. 
 
 Our foundries and factories and diversified industries 
 of every name and nature, offer to the skilled workmen of 
 Great Britain and Europe a fascinating choice of occupa- 
 tions, and it is not difficult for these adventurers, of every 
 trade and profession, nor even for the hardy sons of toil, 
 to discover, that, if the cost of living is greater than in 
 the countries whence they came, the pay is better also. 
 More than 1,300 millions of dollars, deposited in the 
 savings banks of the United States, attest the wisdom 
 of the immigrant's logic, and the success of his life ; while 
 our schools, swarming with his well-fed and well-clad 
 offspring, testify to his thrift, and to his honorable regard 
 for their highest welfare. [Applause.] 
 
 Fifty millions of people supplement all the laws upon 
 the statute book, with the law of gravitation, and this 
 attracts anew with daily augmenting power. 
 
 I^or is it to be forgotten that other considerations and 
 higher motives, than those hitherto suggested, stimulate 
 emigration from other continents to our own ; that the 
 love of freedom and of free institutions, the desire for 
 exemption from military bondage, a wish to participate in 
 the choice of rulers, and a cherished purpose to worship 
 
84 
 
 God according to the dictates of conscience, are powerful 
 incentives, often acting upon the will with a resistless sway. 
 The moral effect of an immigration amounting to three or 
 four hundred thousand people, annually, upon our national 
 character is not easily defined ; nor is it an approjjriate 
 subject for present inquiry ; but I may venture to say, in 
 the presence of our honored guests from abroad, that the 
 blood of the Huguenot and the blood of the Puritan com- 
 mingle in the veins of their descendants, and that Teuton, 
 Celt and Saxon re-inforce the living stream — in whose on- 
 ward flow is found the noblest type of American manhood. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 These thoughts appear to me not more apposite to the 
 introduction than to the elucidation of my theme. The 
 villages, towns and cities which have sprung up amid the 
 fertile fields of the West as fast as the growing grain, and 
 the vast accumulations of wealth in the great cities of the 
 North and East, all point to our extended intercourse with 
 the populous states of Europe, as their primal cause. 
 
 The diminutive craft in which the great discoverer, and 
 others of the early navigators groped their way to our 
 "New found land," were but pygmy types of the stately 
 ships, which, at the beginning of the present century, en- 
 circled the Globe ; and the contrast between the two is not 
 more marked than that which may be drawn between the 
 "Sirius" and "Great Western," with their paddle Avheels 
 of five and forty years ago, and the gigantic propellers of 
 our own day, whose lengthened keels span two seas, be- 
 tween whose crests the vessels of Columbus would have 
 been lost to sight. [Applause.] 
 
 These steamers of modern build, so large, so beautiful 
 and so swift, have hardly left their "cradles" on the 
 Clyde ere they are ready to breast the fiercest gales, and 
 they are so little retarded by wind and sea, that we can al- 
 
35 
 
 most measure tlie passage of time by their movements to 
 and fro. One and another, they bear upon their sterns 
 the names of all the principal States and cities they leave 
 behind them, as well as the name* of all our cities. States 
 and Territories ; and this nomenclature is significant of 
 their far-reaching and all-embracing mission. 
 
 The railways which bind together, with ligaments of steel, 
 all the States of our Union, and the iron ships that cross 
 and recross the broad Atlantic in continuous lines, stretch- 
 ing from land to land, are the twin agents of a commerce 
 that pervades every land and every sea, uniting the peoples 
 of the Old World and the New, as though they were one 
 in lineage and language, as they now are one in hope and 
 aspiration, and, so recently, were one in the anguish of a 
 common grief. 
 
 The wants of a people who thus trace their origin and 
 growth to all the races of civilized man are manifold, and 
 not easily defined. 
 
 They are co-extensive with the habits and tastes which 
 prevail in foreign lands as well as in our own. The maga- 
 zines and shops so numerous in all parts of our City, re- 
 plenished every day by fresh arrivals from abroad, afford 
 some idea of their extent and variety. They concern both 
 the physical and intellectual man. 
 
 They are not limited to those things which minister to 
 our comfort and convenience, but extend beyond the neces- 
 sary and useful to the elegant and ornamental— to what- 
 ever imparts an added charm to our domestic life. They 
 spring from a love of the beautiful in art, and seek grati- 
 fication wherever the chisel and the pencil have wrought 
 with the greatest skill, or come nearest to perfection. They 
 are indicated by the numerous museums and libraries es- 
 tablished from year to year, not in the metropolis only, 
 but in all the considerable towns and cities of our Union, 
 
36 
 
 and by numberless societies formed for the advancement 
 of knowledge in its simplest and highest forms of de- 
 velopment. They culminate with the wise and good in a 
 desire for the ripest fruits of European culture and 
 scholarly attainment. And, in order that they may profit 
 thereby, our sons seek access to the severer methods and 
 more finished education which the schools and colleges of 
 England, France and Gfermany are supposed to offer to the 
 student. 
 
 In the same spirit we welcome to our shores the refined, 
 educated, and enlightened, of every land, hoping that our 
 intercourse with the wisest and best will inure to our highest 
 good ; that, in the far off, if not in the near, future, our Re- 
 public may boast, if boast it will, not of its material wealth, 
 but of the widest diffusion of all the graces that adorn the 
 life and enrich the heart. [Applause.] 
 
 To the next regular toast, "The Old Woeld and the 
 New," Hon. Carl Schuez was called upon to respond. 
 He was received with loud and prolonged cheers, and 
 spoke as follows : 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. CARL SCHtJEZ. 
 
 Me. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Chambee of 
 CoMMEECE : If you had been called upon to respond to the 
 toast, "The Old World and the New," as frequently as I 
 have, you would certainly find as much difficulty as I find in 
 saying anything of the Old World that is new, or of the 
 New World that is not old. [Applause.] And the embar- 
 rassment grows upon me as I grow older, as it would upon 
 all of you, except, perhaps, upon my good friend, Mr. 
 EvAETS, who is determined never to grow old, and whose 
 witty sayings are always as good as new. [Laughter.] 
 
37 
 
 Still, gentlemen, the scenes which we have been beholding, 
 during the last few weeks, have had something of a fresh 
 insj)iration in them. We have been celebrating a great 
 warlike event — not great in the number of men that were 
 killed in it, but very great in the number of people it has 
 made happy. It has made happy, not only the people of 
 this country, who now count over fifty millions, but it has 
 made hapj)ier than they were before the nations of the Old 
 World, too ; who, combined, count a great many more. 
 [Applause. ] American Independence was declared at Phila- 
 delphia, on the 4th of July, 1776, by those who were born 
 upon this soil ; but American Independence was virtually 
 accomplished by that very warlike event I speak of, on 
 the field of Yorktown, where the Old World lent a helping 
 hand to the New. [Applause.] To be sure, there was a 
 part of the Old World, consisting of the British, and, I am 
 sorry to say, some German soldiers, who strove to keep 
 down the aspirations of the New ; but they were there in 
 obedience to the command of power which they were not 
 able to resist, while that part of the Old World which 
 fought upon the American side was here of its own free 
 will, as- volunteers. [Cheers.] It might be said, that most 
 of the regular soldiers of France were here also by the 
 command of power ; but it will not be forgotten, that there 
 was not only Lafayette, led here by his youthful enthu- 
 siasm for the American cause, but there was France herself, 
 a great power of the Old World, appearing as a volunteer 
 on a great scale. [Cheers.] So were there, as volunteers, 
 those who brought their individual swords to the service of 
 the New World. There was the gallant Steubeist, the great 
 organizer, who trained the American army to victory, 
 [cheers,] a representative of that great nation whose 
 monuments stand not only upon hundreds of battle 
 
38 
 
 fields of arms, but whose prouder monuments stand 
 uiDon many more battle fields of tliougbt. [Cheers.] 
 There was Pulaski, the Pole, and De Kalb, who died 
 for American indeiDendence before it was achieved ; and 
 there were many more, Frenchmen, Germans, Swedes, 
 Hollanders, Englishmen, even, who did not obey the be- 
 hests of power. [Cheers.] And so it may be said that the 
 cause of the New World was the cause of the volunteers of 
 the Old. [Cheers.] And it has remained the cause of 
 volunteers in peace as well as in war, for since then we 
 have received millions of them, and they are arriving now 
 in a steady stream — thousands of them every week. I 
 have the honor to say, gentlemen, that I am one of them. 
 [Cheers.] 
 
 Nor is it probable that this volunteering in mass will 
 ever stop, for it is in fact not drawn over here by the 
 excitement of war as much as by the victories of peace. 
 
 It was, therefore, natural that the great celebration of 
 that warlike event should have been turned, or rather that 
 it should have turned itself into a festival of peace on the 
 old field of Yorktown — peace illustrated by the happy 
 faces of a vast multitude, and by all the evidences of thrift 
 and prosperity and well-being; peace illustrated by the 
 very citizen-soldiery who apjpeared there to ornament as a 
 pageant, with their brilliant bayonets, that peaceful festi- 
 val ; peace illustrated by the warmth of a grand popular 
 welcome offered to the honored representatives of the Old 
 World ; peace illustrated still more by their friendly meet- 
 ing upon American soil, whatever their contentions at 
 home may have been ; [loud cheers ;] jDeace glorified by 
 what has already been so eloquently referred to by Dr. 
 Storks and Mr. Evarts ; that solemn salute offered to 
 the British flag, to the very emblem of the old antagonism 
 of a hundred years ago ; and that salute echoing in every 
 
39 
 
 patriotic American heart ; [cheers ;] to be followed, as the 
 telegraph tells us now, by the carrying of the American 
 flag in honor in the Lord Mayor' s procession in London — 
 all this a cosmopolitan peace festival, in which the Old 
 World sent its representatives to join in rejoicing over the 
 prosperity and progress of the New. [Cheers.] 
 
 There conld hardly have been a happier expression of 
 this spirit of harmony than was presented in the serenade 
 offered to these brave gentlemen — the representatives of the 
 honored name of Steubp:n, on the evening of their arrival 
 in New- York — the band inlaying, first, " The Watch on the 
 Rhine," followed by the "Marseillaise," and "God Save 
 the Queen," and then the martial airs of the Old World 
 resolving themselves into the peaceful strains — the crown- 
 ing glory — of "Hail Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle." 
 [Cheers.] 
 
 The cordiality of feeling which binds the Old and the New 
 World together, and which found so touching, so tender, 
 so wonderful an expression in the universal heartfelt sorrow 
 of all civilized mankind at the great national bereavement 
 which recently has befallen us, can hardly fail to be 
 strengthened by this visit of the Old World guests whom 
 we delight to honor. [Cheers.] They have seen now some- 
 thing of our country and our people, most of them 
 probably for the first time, and I have no doubt they have 
 arrived at the conclusion that the country for which Lafay- 
 ette and Steuben and Rochambeau fought is a good 
 country, inhabited by a good people, [cheers,] a good 
 country and a good people, worthy of being fought for by 
 the noblest men of the earth ; and I trust also, when these 
 gentlemen return to their own homes, they will go back 
 with the assurance that the names of their ancestors who 
 drew their swords for American liberty stand in the heart 
 of every true American side by side with the greatest 
 
'American names, and that althougli a century has elapsed 
 since the surrender of Yorktown, still the gratitude of the 
 American heart is as young and fresh and warm to-day as 
 it was at the moment when Coenwallis hauled down his 
 flag. [Applause.] 
 
 It seems to me also, gentlemen, that we have already 
 given some practical evidence of that gratitude. The in- 
 dependence they helped to achieve has made the American 
 nation so strong and active and prosperous, that when the 
 Old World runs short of provisions, the New stands always 
 ready, and eager even, to fill the gap ; [laughter ;] and by 
 and by we may even send over some i3roducts-of other 
 industries for their accommodation. [Applause.] In fact, 
 we have been so very liberal and generous in that resi)ect, 
 that some of our friends on the other side of the sea are 
 beginning to think there may be a little too much of a good 
 thing, and are talking of shutting it off by tricks of taxa- 
 tion. [Laughter.] However we are not easily baffled. Not 
 content with the contribution of our material products, we 
 even send them from time to time some of our wisdom, as, for 
 instance, a few months ago our friend,. Mr. Evaets, went 
 over there to tell them about the double standard — all that 
 we knew and a good deal more. [Laughter.] We might 
 even be willing to send them all the accumulated stock of 
 our silver, if they will give us their gold for it. [Cheers.] 
 It is to be apprehended that this kind of generosity will 
 not be fittingly aj)preciated, and that in that respect they 
 may j)refer the wisdom of the Old World to that of the 
 New. [Laughter. ] 
 
 However, we shall not quarrel about that, for, seriously 
 speaking, the New and Old World must and will, in the 
 commercial jDoint of view, be of infinite use to one an- 
 other as mutual customers, and our commercial relations 
 will grow more fruitful to both sides from year to year, 
 
41 
 
 and from day to day, as we remain true to the good old' 
 maxim, "Live and let live." [Cheers.] Nor is there the 
 least speck of danger in the horizon threatening to disturb 
 the friendliness of international understanding between 
 the Old World and the New. That cordial international 
 understanding rests upon a very simple, natural and solid 
 basis. We rejoice with the nations of the Old World in all 
 their successes, all their prosperity, and all their happiness, 
 and we profoundly and earnestly sympathize with them 
 whenever a misfortune overtakes them. But one thing we 
 shall never think of doing, and that is, interfering in their 
 affairs. [Cheers.] And, on the other hand, they will give 
 us always their sympathy in good and evil days, as they 
 have done heretofore ; and we expect that they will never 
 think of interfering with our affairs, on this side of the 
 ocean. [Loud applause.] Our limits are very distinctly 
 drawn, and certainly no just or prudent power will ever 
 think of upsetting them. The Old World and the New 
 will ever live in harmonious accord, as long as we do not 
 try to jump over their fences, and they do not try to 
 jump over ours. [Cheers.] This being our understanding, 
 nothing will be more natural than friendship and goodwill 
 between the nations of the two sides of the Atlantic ; the 
 only danger ahead of us might be that arising from alto- 
 gether too sentimental a fondness for one another, which 
 may lead us into love's jealousies and quarrels. Already 
 some of our honored guests may feel like complaining 
 that we have come very near killing them with kindness. 
 [Laughter.] At any rate, we are permitted to hope, that, 
 a hundred years hence, our descendants may assemble 
 again to celebrate the memory of the feast of cordial 
 friendship which we now enjoy ; and, when they do so, 
 they will come to an American Republic of three hundred 
 millions of people, to a City of New- York of ten million 
 
42 
 
 iuhabitants, and to a Delmonico's twenty stories high, 
 with a station for air-shij)s running between Europe and 
 America on the top of it ; [cheers ;] and then our guests 
 may even expect to find comfortable hotels, and decent 
 accommodations at the deserted village of Yorktown, 
 [Laughter and cheers. ] 
 
 But, in the mean time, I am sure our Old World guests, 
 who to-night delight us with their i^resence, will never 
 cease to be proud of it, that the great names, of which 
 thej^ are the honored representatives, are inscribed upon 
 some of the most sjolendid pages of the New World's 
 history, and will live forever in the grateful affection of 
 the New World's heart. [Loud applause.] 
 
 The Chairman gave the ninth and last regular toast : 
 
 " The City of Paeis. — May the social ties entered into 
 by our ancestors with the Nation of which this beautiful 
 City is the Capital, and cordially maintained 'through the 
 vicissitudes of a century, be strengthened and perpetu- 
 ated," [applause,] and called upon Mr. John Ausxiisr 
 Stevens to resjDond. 
 
 Mr. Stevens was warmly received. He spoke in French. 
 The following is a translation of his speech : 
 
 SPEECH OF MR. JOHN AUSTIN STEVENS. 
 
 Mr. President : It is with pride and pleasure, that, at 
 the request of the Committee of the Chamber, I reply to 
 the toast, "The City of Paris ;" that beautiful city, which 
 the founder of the Bourbon dynasty, the glorious ancestor 
 of His Christian Majesty, who sent to America the succor 
 of his kingdom, was pleased to style, in a phrase now ac- 
 cepted in a larger sense, " Notre bonne Ville de Paris." 
 
43 
 
 At the zenitli of the power of the Roman Empire, when 
 the Imperial City was the capital of the world, it is said, 
 that when travellers met upon the great highways which 
 centered in the Latin City and the question passed as to 
 whither each was journeying, the common answer was, 
 " Tendimus in Latiumy (We are going to Rome.) So 
 in modern days, when friends departing upon foreign 
 travel are asked their destination, the usual answer is, 
 " We are going to Pjiris.'" 
 
 In the days of packet ships, when the stormy passage of 
 the Atlantic was undertaken with dread, a visit to Paris 
 was of difficult fulfil hnent, and those to whom it was possi- 
 ble were looked upon, on their return, as specially privi- 
 leged persons, and so rare were they, that it gave rise to 
 the well-known saying of one of our wits, "All good 
 Americans when they die go to Paris." But now that steam 
 palaces sail daily from this port, this wonderful Capital, the 
 centre of civilization and of art — the Paradise of travellers 
 — is of easy access, and its elegant hospitalities are to 
 Americans a household word. 
 
 The distinguished orators of the evening have dwelt at 
 length ujDon the amity of nations. In our modern civiliza- 
 tion, the amity of cities is of equal importance. It adds to 
 the bonds of national interest the closer ties of commercial 
 . and social relations. The friendship of Paris and New- York 
 has been unbroken since the establishment of our inde^Dend- 
 ence. New- York, as a commercial city, should never forget 
 that it was through the City of Paris that her first commu- 
 nications with the nations of Europe were opened. In 
 the fall of 1783, even before the final evacuation of 
 this City by the British troops, a packet line had already 
 been established by the French Government, through 
 the personal efforts of Lafayette, from the j)ort of 
 L' Orient to New- York ; a line consisting of five first- 
 
44 
 
 class ships, Le Courrier cle 1' Europe, Le Courrier de 
 rAmerique, Le Courrier de New- York, Le Courrier 
 de r Orient and T Alligator. The agent at New- York was 
 Hector St. John, the Consul-General of France, and the 
 manager, Mr. William Seton, a member of this Chamber. 
 In the commencement of the enterprise the jDublic were 
 informed that the French packet was an immediate 
 channel of conveyance for letters to and from all parts of 
 the continent of Europe, the General Post Office at Paris 
 having a daily intercourse with all the Capitals. 
 
 This direct communication with foreign nations was the 
 beginning of that rapid march of the enterprise- of New- 
 York, which in a century has made of her the first com- 
 mercial port of the world. 
 
 Paris and New- York resemble each other in one important 
 feature ; they alone of modern cities include in their popu- 
 lation the representatives of all nations. London is a City 
 of Englishmen, Berlin of Germans, Rome of Italians ; all 
 are Metroj)olitan cities. Paris and New- York alone are 
 Cosmopolitan ; on their streets all races mingle. 
 
 This was a characteristic of the American city even in 
 colonial days. For nearly three centuries she has been the 
 cynosure of the eyes of emigrants, though no prophetic 
 vision could realize the marvellous exhibition of the land- 
 ing at her wharves in the present year of a half million of 
 people, the population of a city in itself. She has been 
 always noted for her hospitalities. In the page which re- 
 cords them the name of France has large place. Orleans 
 and Bonaparte, each as members of the generous nation 
 which came to our aid in the darkest hour of our struggle, 
 have been welcomed in turn — and names, too, as famous, 
 though not of such high import. Talleyrand and De 
 TocQUEViLLE — and in this gastronomic hall an epicure 
 may be pleased to know that Brillat-Savarin once trod 
 
45 
 
 our streets, and at the beginning of this century even en- 
 enjoyed our cuisine. Of Delmonico it may be to-day 
 justly claimed that he enjoys a cosmopolitan reputation of 
 which history offers no example, Not the Cafe Foy, nor 
 that of Very or the Trois Freres Provengaux has enjoy- 
 ed such world wide fame as this model establishment 
 which for three generations has maintained its pristine ce- 
 lebrity, and whose artistic inventions hold high place in 
 the menus of the best Paris establishments of the pres- 
 ent day, Was.it the proverbial courtesy of the most polite 
 race in history that prompted the remark on a recent oc- 
 casion, when one of our merchant princes gave a breakfast 
 worthy of Luculllts on a railroad car moving at the rate 
 of fifty miles an hour, to say, " VV"e may well envy you in- 
 deed. You have not only the best wines but the best cooks 
 of France." Most cordially has Paris returned the social 
 courtesies New- York has tendered. Under every regime 
 the representative American citizen has been welcome in 
 her salons, and to-day a largt^ American colony, established 
 in the very heart of the French Capital, bears testimony to 
 the good feeling between the two races. 
 
 Nor have the commercial relations between the two cities 
 been less intimate. What travelled American but knows 
 the name of H<>ttin(xUek, the great banker of Paris, who 
 for near a century has held the golden keys of that Para- 
 dise to which allusion has been made. 
 
 It is needless here to refer to Paris as the arbiter of 
 fashion and taste. In the manufacture of those indispen- 
 sable nothings which are known throughout the world as 
 Articles de Paris, she is supreme. New- York claims no 
 rivalry, content to emulate her example and follow in her 
 footsteps. This high stand Paris has held undisputed for 
 centuries. Within the last generation, however, she has also 
 asserted her unquestioned superiority as the model city of 
 
46 
 
 modern civilization on a more elevated plane. She alone 
 has understood the conditions of modern life. Her muni- 
 cipal regulations are not approached by those of any other 
 city. She alone has known how to control constructions 
 in an intelligent manner, to care for her streets, to arrange 
 easy communication, to secure order, to save life, and in 
 minutest detail to look to the protection and comfort of 
 the individual. In these regards Paris is beyond compari- 
 son in advance of any capital of ancient or modern days. 
 
 Who reads or hears of the marvels of her architecture, 
 the splendor of her public buildings, the majesty of her 
 endless boulevards, the accumulated beauty of -the centu- 
 ries that have passed since — the Letitia of the Romans — she 
 was the favorite resort of the Emperors, without a burning- 
 desire to be a personal witness of her myriad wonders ? And 
 to him w^ho has seen, the impression is never effaced from 
 the mind ; and if, disregarding the ancient warning, he has 
 not drank deep, a thirst insatiable remains for a more per- 
 fect draught. No nation has been exempt from the gravi- 
 tating charm of her civilization. Representatives of each 
 have carried to her gates the homage of their admiration, 
 and no European education has been for centuries held 
 complete that has not received its final polish in her 
 society. 
 
 What a. combination of picturesque nature and artistic 
 adornment the old Cite presents seated in majestic pose 
 upon the Seine, and embracing within her widespread 
 lustrous arms the northern and southern faubourgs from 
 Montmartre to St. Germain. Notre Dame, sober and se- 
 rene, with her massive towers ; La Sainte Chapelle, with 
 its marvellous spire, marvel of architectural taste, piercing 
 the sky with the lightness and boldness of the lark' s flight : 
 while on the bank below, the ancestral Louvre, with its 
 varied structure, stands an historic monitor of past glo- 
 
47 
 
 ries. To him, however, who, in the well-worn x>hrase, 
 connait son Paris, (knows his Paris,) what a perpetual 
 feast of beauty her abundant stores of art ]3resent, instruct- 
 ing the mind, developing the intelligence, while they dazzle 
 the eager eye. These for the studious and reflective. Not 
 less the bounteous supx)ly for those Avhose thoughts are in 
 lighter vein. To these, the votaries of pleasure, the volup- 
 tuaries of sense, she offers an endless variety of amusement, 
 refined and polished to the highest pitch. All that imagi- 
 nation can conceive and ingenuity can execute is here not 
 only within reach of the fortunate, but in large measure 
 within that also of the humblest ranks of society. To 
 foster art, to i)opularize forms of beauty, to decorate daily 
 life, has always been the care of her far-seeing, sagacious 
 municipality. By rendering their city attractive, even at 
 great immediate and long unremiinerated expense, they 
 have discovered the secret of development, of wealth and of 
 charm. It will be well for us of New- York, if we seek to 
 hold her proud place on these western shores that we fol- 
 low her example, though at long distance, even though we 
 have to sacrifice something of individual right to the com- 
 mon benefit, to the common ornament. 
 
 So much for our social and commercial relations. In 
 this hour of historic reminiscence it must not be forgotten 
 that the insignia of the City of Paris has been for ages a 
 ship in full sail, nor that the magnificent vessel, the 
 Flag Ship of the Great Admiral who led to our succor the 
 greatest naval armament which had ever left the shores of 
 Europe, was the Ville de Paris. Nor yet can we forget 
 that, without the French fleet, there would have been 
 no surrender at Yorktown, and that we should not be here 
 gathered to-night to welcome our distinguished guests, 
 among whom we delight to see a titular representative of 
 De Grasse himself. 
 
48 , 
 
 It may be pardoned me, on an occasion of this character, 
 an avowal of personal satisfaction and pride, in the pre- 
 sence of the descendants of the gallant officers who fought 
 at Yorktown, and of the family of Lafayette, in recall- 
 ing to mind that it was my grandfather who commanded all 
 the artillery at Saratoga, was the active officer in com- 
 mand of the same arm at Yorktown, and that it was he 
 who was selected by Lafayette as Chief of Artillery, of 
 the expedition of the spring of 1781, which, though unsuc- 
 cessful in itself, was the prelude to the glorious campaign 
 which terminated at Yorktown. 
 
 Mr. President: In the name of the Committee, I now 
 beg to express the thanks of the Chamber of Commerce to 
 our distinguished guests for the honor of their presence at 
 this Banquet. May this their visit be the harbinger of 
 many such in the future. May such gatherings, constant 
 in the French capital, be more frequent here. May the ex- 
 j)erience of American hospitality temx)t our guests to renew 
 their visit, and persuade their friends at home to waive 
 • somewhat of that exclusive worship of their own capital, 
 which holds every hour passed away from it as an hour 
 lost ; and may the memories of this delightful evening be 
 long cherished, and serve to draw closer the social ties 
 which bind together our two Nations and their social capi- 
 tals, Paris and New- York. 
 
 On the conclusion of Mr. Steveis^s' speech, Mr. James 
 Talcott i)roposed three cheers for the guests of the even- 
 ing, which were heartily given. The Chairman then closed 
 the entertainment, and, before midnight, the company 
 separated. 
 
lERCHANTS AND OTHERS PRESENT OR REPRESENTED 
 AT THE BANQUET. 
 
 Mr. David D. Acker, 
 Mr, John T. Agnew, 
 Mr. Samuel D. Babcock, 
 Mr. Latimer Bailey, 
 Mr. T>. Kellogg Baker, 
 Mr. Francis Baker, 
 Mr. C. C. Baldwin, 
 Mr. O. D. Baldwin, 
 Mr. Edward Barr, 
 Mr. George H. Bend, 
 Mr. Philip Bissinger, 
 Mr. BiRDSEYE Blakeman, 
 Mr. Cornelius N. Bliss, 
 Mr. William Borden, 
 Mr. John B. Bouton, 
 Mr. Conrad Braker, Jr., 
 Mr. James M. Brown, 
 Mr. Joseph H. Brown, 
 Mr. Jules E. Brugiere, 
 Mr. William Buchanan, 
 Mr. Charles Butler, 
 Mr. Hugh N. Camp, 
 Mr. Oliver S. Carter, 
 Mr. Julius Catlin, Jr., 
 Mr. Nathan Chandler, 
 Mr. Alfred C. Cheney, 
 Hon. S. B. Chittenden, 
 
 Mr. William P. Clyde, 
 
 Mr. Charles H. Coffin, 
 
 Mr. Clarence Lyman Collins, 
 
 Hon. Edward Cooper, 
 
 Mr. Marvelle W. Cooper, 
 
 Mr. Frederick H. Cossitt, 
 
 Mr. JohnCrerar, 
 
 Mr. Frederick Cromwell, 
 
 Mr. John S. Davidson, 
 
 Mr. Frederick W. Devoe, 
 
 Mr. A\'illiam E. Dodge, Jr., 
 
 Mr. James M. Dunbar, 
 
 Mr. William C. Duntox, 
 
 Mr. Joseph P. Earle, 
 
 Mr. Franklin Edson, 
 
 Mr, Benjamin H. Field, 
 
 Mr. Cyrus W. Field, 
 
 Mr. Selig S. Fisher, 
 
 Gen'l Clinton B. Fisk, 
 
 Mr. William M. Fliess, 
 
 Mr. Charles R. Flint, 
 
 Mr. William H. Fogg, 
 
 Mr. Henry Gitterman, 
 
 Mr, J. Warren Goddard, 
 
 Mr. Joseph Grose, 
 
 Mr. William H. Guion, 
 
 Mr. F. Frederick Gunther, 
 
60 
 
 Mr. Wm. He>'ry Gunthee, 
 Mr. Ben Ali Haggin, 
 Mr. Isaac Hall, 
 Mr. William F. Halsey, 
 Mr. Oliver Harriman, 
 Mr. Walter T. Hatch, 
 Mr. Henry E. Hawley, 
 Mr. Edward L. Hedden, 
 Mr. Abraham Herrman, 
 Mr. Henry Herrman, 
 Mr. Henry Hilton, 
 Mr. Robert L. Hoguet, 
 Mr. William H. T. Hughes, 
 Mr. Solon Humphreys, 
 Mr. Seymour L. Husted, 
 Mr. Isaac Ickelheimer, 
 Mr. John H. Inman, 
 Mr. Adrian Iselin, 
 Mr. D. Willis James, 
 Mr. Gerhard Janssen, 
 Mr. Morris K. Jesup, 
 Mr. George Jones, 
 Mr. John D. Jones, 
 Mr. Augustus D, Juilliard, 
 Mr. A. Gracie King, 
 Mr. Frederick Kuhne, 
 Mr. Charles G. Landon, 
 Mr. George W. Lane, 
 Mr. Woodbury Langdon, 
 Mr. Charles Lanier, 
 Mr. Peter H. Leonard, 
 Mr. Julius Levy, 
 Mr. Samuel Levy, 
 Mr. A. A. Low, 
 Mr. James McCreery, 
 
 Mr. Richard A. McCurdy^ 
 Mr. Robert Maclay, 
 Mr. George C. Magoun, 
 Mr. Charles Mali, 
 Mr. Henry C. Meyer, 
 Hon. Edwin D. Morgan, 
 Mr. J. PiERPONT Morgan, 
 Mr, George Mosle, 
 Mr. Jordan L. Mott, 
 Mr. Elkan Naumburg, 
 Mr. Jose F. Navarro, 
 Mr. William C. Noyes, 
 Mr. Joseph J. O'Donohue, 
 Mr. Emil Oelberman, 
 Mr. Eugene O'Sullivan, 
 Mr. J. Seaver Page, 
 Mr. Joseph Park, 
 Mr. Forrest H. Parker, 
 Mr. William A. Paton, 
 Mr. George W. Perkins, 
 Mr. James W. Pinchot, 
 Mr. John F. Plummer, 
 Mr. Edward E. Poor, 
 Gen'l Horace Porter, 
 Mr. Howard Potter, 
 Mr. John F. Praeger, 
 Mr. George W. Quintard, 
 Mr. John L. Riker, 
 Mr. John Riley, 
 Mr. John Roach, 
 Mr. Daniel C. Robbins, 
 Mr. Lewis Roberts, 
 Mr. George H. Robinson, 
 Hon. Horace Russell, 
 Mr. John Ruszits, 
 
51 
 
 Mr. Thomas Rutter, Mr. 
 
 Mr. William P. St. John, Mr. 
 
 Mr. Edwards S. Sanford, Mr. 
 
 Mr, GusTAv Schwab, Mr. 
 
 Mr. De Witt J. Seligman, Mr. 
 
 Mr. Jesse Seligman, Mr. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Shethar, Mr. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Sippili, Mr, 
 
 Mr. George P. Slade, Mr. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Sloan, Mr. 
 
 Mr, Charles S. Smith, Mr, 
 
 Mr. Ambrose Snow, Mr. 
 
 Mr. Elihv Spicer, Jr., Mr. 
 
 Mr. Elias Spingarn, Mr. 
 
 Mr. James H. Stebbins, Mr. 
 
 Mr. Solomon Stein, Mr. 
 
 Mr. John Austin Stevens, Mr. 
 
 Mr. Vernon K. Stevenson, Mr, 
 
 Mr. Charles B. Stockwell, Mr. 
 
 Mr. David M. Stone, Mr. 
 
 Hon. James S. T. Stranahan, Mr. 
 
 Mr. IsiDOR Straus, Mr, 
 
 William L. Strong, 
 William Sulzbaoher, 
 Henry M. Taber, 
 Frederick L. Talcott, 
 James Talcott, 
 Frederic Taylor, 
 Jacob R. Telfair, 
 John T. Terry, 
 Francis B. Thurber, 
 Charles L. Tiffany, 
 William H. Tillinghast, 
 Lawson Valentine, 
 Salem H. Wales, 
 John R. Waters, 
 William H. Webb, 
 Charles B. Webster, 
 Wm, Boerum Wetmore, 
 Jerome B. Wheeler, 
 N. F. Whiting, 
 Francis W. Williams, 
 George Wilson, 
 Louis Windmuller. 
 
il