CHAPTER XXVII

THE WASHINGTON AND SHERMAN STATUES

SECURED FOR THE CITY BY THE CHAMBER-DEDICATION EXERCISES

1883-1903

THE city is indebted to the Chamber of Commerce for two notable public statues-that of Washington in Wall Street and that of General Sherman at the Plaza entrance to the Central Park. The proposal for each of these originated in the Chamber and through its efforts the necessary funds were collected and the project consummated.

Early in 1880 when the question of commemorating in a suitable manner the centennial of the evacuation of the city by the British, November 25, 1783, was under discussion, a motion was made in the Chamber that a monument be erected, on the anniversary, to commemorate the inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United States. The motion was received with favor and a committee was appointed to carry it into effect. It was decided that the most fitting place for the monument was the spot upon which Washington stood when he took the oath of office. As the subtreasury building stands on the site occupied by the old Federal Hall, on the balcony of which Washington took the oath, it was necessary to obtain from Congress permission to use the front steps of the subtreasury for the purpose. This was readily granted. The committee sought and obtained from eminent artists of the city and elsewhere suggestions as to the form of the monument and from these it reached the conclusion that a bronze statue of Washington was the most appropriate, and that it should be, "in all respects, a

complete embodiment of the exalted character of Washington, together with the great event the statue commemorates," and that "no expense be spared to make it, in all respects, worthy of the cause." J. Q. A. Ward was engaged to design the statue and its accompaniments. The Chamber invited the public generally to contribute to the fund and asked for the co-operation of various commercial bodies in the movement.

As the 25th of November fell on Sunday, the dedication exercises were held on Monday, November 26, 1883. In spite of a heavy storm of rain, an audience of several thousand persons assembled to witness the ceremonies which began at I P. M. There were many distinguished guests including the President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur; the Governor of the State, Grover Cleveland; the Mayor of New York, Franklin Edson; the Mayor of Brooklyn, Seth Low; the Secretary of the Treasury, Charles J. Folger, and the Comptroller of the Currency, John Jay Knox. Mr. George W. Lane, President of the Chamber of Commerce, presided. The statue was unveiled by Governor Cleveland, and brief addresses were made by President Arthur, Mr. Lane, and Mr. Royal Phelps, chairman of the committee that had been in charge of the project. President Arthur said he was present merely for a slight and formal part in the day's exercises, and aroused enthusiastic applause by adding:

"I have come to this historic spot where the first President of the Republic took oath to preserve, protect and defend its Constitution, simply to accept, in behalf of the government, this tribute to his memory. Long may the noble statue you have here set up stand where you have placed it, a monument alike to your generosity and public spirit, and to the wisdom and virtue and genius of the immortal Washington."

The oration of the day was delivered by George William Curtis and was worthy of his high reputation as one of the

most scholarly writers and eloquent orators of his time. The limits of this volume do not permit the reproduction in full of this really noble flight of eloquence, but the record would be incomplete and inexcusably defective without some typical citations from it. A few are appended:

From the balcony of the hall that stood here the Declaration of Independence was first read to the citizens of New York, and although the enemy's fleet had entered the harbor, the people as they listened, tore down the royal arms from the walls of the hall and burned them in the street, as their fiery patriotism was about to consume the royal power in the province. Here, sat the Continental Congress in its closing days. ... Yonder, almost within sound of my voice, still stands the ancient and famous inn where the Commander-in-Chief tenderly parted with his officers, and there, over the way, where once a modest mansion stood, the Federalist was chiefly written. The very air about this hallowed spot is the air of American patriotism. To breathe it, charged with such memories, is to be inspired with the loftiest human purpose, to be strengthened for the noblest endeavor. By the most impressive associations, by the most dignified and important historic events, was this place dedicated to the illustrious transaction which we commemorate to-day.

What scene in human history transcends the grandeur and the significance of that consecration? Gazing upon this sculptured form, and remembering that this was the very hour and this the place of the sublime event; that here, under the benignant arch of heaven, Washington appeared to take the oath of his great office, the air is hushed, even the joyous tumult of this glad day is stilled, the familiar scene fades from before our eyes, and our awed hearts whisper within us: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."

The streets, the windows, the roofs, were thronged with people, and, drowning my feeble voice, surely you can hear the vast and prolonged shout that saluted the hero. Touched to the heart by the affectionate greeting, he advanced to the railing, and, placing his hand upon his breast, he bowed low, and then for a moment, overwhelmed by emotion, he stepped back and seated himself amid a sudden and solemn silence. Then he arose, and coming forward, his majestic and commanding frame stood upon the

identical stone upon which I stand at this moment, and which, fixed fast here beneath the Statue, will remain, in the eyes of all men, an imperishable memorial of the scene.

Fellow-citizens, the solemn dedication of Washington to this august and triumphant task is the event which this Statue will commemorate to unborn generations. Elsewhere, in bronze and marble, and upon glowing canvas, genius has delighted to invest with the immortality of art the best-beloved and most familiar of American figures. The surveyor of the Virginia wilderness, the leader of the revolution, the president, the man, are known of all men; they are everywhere beheld and revered. But here, at last, upon the scene of the crowning event of his life, and of his country's life, here, in the throbbing heart of the great city, where it will be daily seen by countless thousands, here, in the presence of the President of the United States, of the Governor of New York, of the official authorities of other States, of the organized body of New York merchants who, as in other years, they have led the city in so many patriotic deeds upon this spot, lead now in this commemoration of the greatest; and finally, of this vast and approving concourse of American citizens, we raise this calm and admonishing form. Its majestic repose shall charm and subdue the multitudinous life that heaves and murmurs around it, and as the moon draws the swaying tides of ocean, its lofty serenity shall lift the hurrying throng to unselfish thoughts, to generous patriotism, to a nobler life. Here descended upon our fathers the benediction of the personal presence of Washington. Here may the moral grandeur of his character and his life inspire our children's children forever!

In the evening of the same day the Chamber gave a banquet at Delmonico's in commemoration of the British evacuation at which President Arthur and other illustrious guests who had attended the exercises in Wall Street were present, together with the Governors of the thirteen original States and a large number of eminent citizens. President Arthur made a brief speech which was a graceful recognition of the Chamber's past and present services in the cause of patriotism:

Gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce: I thank you for this kindly greeting. The liberality and patriotism of the merchants

of New York contributed in no small measure to the triumph of the American Revolution. The crowning evidence of that triumph was the glad event whose one hundredth anniversary we are celebrating to-day. You have abundant right to share in that celebration, for you are the successors of those patriotic merchants who so signally upheld the national cause, and so rejoiced at the final withdrawal of all armed opposition to its ascendancy. And you yourselves have given indisputable proof that the fervor and faith of the fathers have abated not one jot or tittle in the children, and that you are ready to lend your support to every measure which is calculated to promote the honor and credit and glory of the nation. I am proud to meet you, and again thank you heartily for the warmth of this reception.

There was a long list of speakers, including Joseph H. Choate, who said: "When I read this toast which you have just drunk in honor of her gracious Majesty, the Queen of Great Britain, and heard how you received the letter of the British Minister that was read in response, and how heartily you joined in singing 'God save the Queen,' when I look up and down these tables and see among you so many representatives of English capital and English trade, I have my doubts whether the evacuation of New York by the British was quite as thorough and lasting as history would fain have us believe."

Speeches were made also by Governor Cleveland, Governor Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, Governor Thomas W. Waller, of Connecticut, and J. Q. A. Ward. The occasion was one of the most brilliant in the history of the Chamber.

A no less valuable gift than the Washington statue, in the same field of artistic adornment, was made to the city by the Chamber in the incomparable equestrian statue of General W. T. Sherman, by Saint Gaudens. This noble work was many years in the making, for the artist could not be hurried, meeting all efforts to hasten him with the words: "I'm thinking about it-you'll be satisfied when it is finished."