"But I am only nineteen years old, Mr. Riggs," and the speaker looked
questioningly into the eyes of his companion, as if he doubted his
seriousness in asking him to become a partner in his business.
Mr. Riggs was not joking, however, and he met George Peabody's
perplexed gaze smilingly, as he replied: "That is no objection. If you
are willing to go in with me and put your labor against my capital, I
shall be well satisfied."
This was the turning point in a life which was to leave its impress on
two of the world's greatest nations. And what were the experiences that
led to it? They were utterly commonplace, and in some respects such as
fall to the lot of many country boys to-day.
At eleven the lad was obliged to earn his own living. At that time
(1806), his native town, Danvers, Massachusetts, presented few
opportunities to the ambitious. He took the best that offered--a
position as store boy in the village grocer's.
Four years of faithful work and constant effort at self-culture
followed. He was now fifteen. His ambition was growing. He must seek a
wider field. Another year passed, and then came the longed-for opening.
Joyfully the youth set out for his brother's store, in Newburyport,
Massachusetts. Here he felt he would have a better chance. But
disappointment and disaster were lurking round the corner. Soon after
he had taken up his new duties, the store was burned to the ground.
In the meantime, his father had died, and his mother, whom he idolized,
needed his help more than ever. Penniless and out of work, but not
disheartened, he immediately looked about for another position. Gladly
he accepted an offer to work in his uncle's dry goods store in
Georgetown, D.C., and here we find him, two years later, at the time
when Mr. Riggs made his flattering proposition.
Did influence, a "pull," or financial considerations have anything to
do with the merchant's choice of a partner? Nothing whatever. The young
man had no money and no "pull," save what his character had made for
him. His agreeable personality had won him many friends and his uncle
much additional trade. His business qualities had gained him an
enviable reputation. "His tact," says Sarah K. Bolton, "was unusual. He
never wounded the feelings of a buyer of goods, never tried him with
unnecessary talk, never seemed impatient, and was punctual to the
minute."
That Mr. Riggs had made no mistake in choosing his partner, the rapid
growth of his business conclusively proved. About a year after the
partnership had been formed, the firm moved to Baltimore. So well did
the business flourish in Baltimore that within seven years the partners
had established branch houses in New York and Philadelphia. Finally Mr.
Riggs decided to retire, and Peabody, who was then but thirty-five,
found himself at the head of the business.
London, which he had visited several times, now attracted him. It
offered great possibilities for banking. He went there, studied
finance, established a banking business, and thenceforth made London
his headquarters.
Wealth began to pour in upon him in a golden stream. But, although he
had worked steadily for this, it was not for personal ends. He never
married, and, to the end, lived simply and unostentatiously. Through
the long years of patient work a great purpose had been shaping his
life. Daily he had prayed that God might give him means wherewith to
help his fellow-men. His prayer was being answered in overflowing
measure.
Business interests constrained him to spend the latter half of his life
in London; but absence only deepened his love for his own country. All
that great wealth could do to advance the welfare and prestige of the
United States was done by the millionaire philanthropist. But above all
else, he tried to bring within the reach of poor children that which
was denied himself,--a school education.
The Peabody Institute in his native town, with its free library and
free course of lectures; the Institute, Academy of Music, and Art
Gallery of Baltimore; the Museum of Natural History at Yale University;
the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University; the
Peabody Academy of Science at Salem, Massachusetts, besides large
contributions every year to libraries and other educational and
philanthropic institutions all over the country, bear witness to his
love for humanity.
Surpassing all this, however, was his establishment of the Peabody fund
of three million dollars for the education of the freed slaves of the
South, and for the equally needy poor of the white race.
An equal amount had been previously devoted to the better housing of
the London poor. A dream almost too good to come true it seemed to the
toilers in the great city's slums, when they found their filthy,
unhealthy tenements replaced by clean, wholesome dwellings, well
supplied with air and sunlight and all modern conveniences and
comforts. London presented its generous benefactor with the freedom of
the city; a bronze statue was erected in his honor, and Queen Victoria,
who would fain have loaded him with titles and honors,--all of which he
respectfully declined,--declared his act to be "wholly without
parallel." A beautiful miniature portrait of her Majesty, which she
caused to be specially made for him, and a letter written by her own
hand, were the only gifts he would accept.
Gloriously had his great purpose been fulfilled. He who began life as a
poor boy had given to the furtherance of education and for the benefit
of the poor in various ways the sum of nine million dollars. The
remaining four million dollars of his fortune was divided among his
relatives.
England loved and honored him even as his own country did; and when he
died in London, November 4, 1869, she offered him a resting place among
her immortals in Westminster Abbey. His last wish, however, was
fulfilled, and he was laid beside his mother in his native land.
His legacies to humanity are doing their splendid work to-day as they
have done in the past, and as they will continue to do in the future,
enabling multitudes of aspiring souls to reach heights which but for
him they never could have attained. These words of his, too, spoken on
the occasion of the dedication of his gift to Danvers,--its free
Institute,--will serve for ages as a bugle call to all youths who are
anxious to make the most of themselves, and, like him, to give of their
best to the world:--
"Though Providence has granted me an unvaried and unusual success in
the pursuit of fortune in other lands," he said, "I am still in heart
the humble boy who left yonder unpretending dwelling many, very many
years ago. ... There is not a youth within the sound of my voice whose
early opportunities and advantages are not very much greater than were
my own; and I have since achieved nothing that is impossible to the
most humble boy among you. Bear in mind, that, to be truly great, it is
not necessary that you should gain wealth and importance. Steadfast and
undeviating truth, fearless and straightforward integrity, and an honor
ever unsullied by an unworthy word or action, make their possessor
greater than worldly success or prosperity. These qualities constitute
greatness."
"I WILL PAINT OR DIE!"