xt7qnk361q4p https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qnk361q4p/data/mets.xml Louisville Clearing House Association. 1896  books b92-58-27063811 English Morton, : Louisville, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Barret, Thomas Lowry, 1825-1896. In memoriam Thomas L. Barret  : a tribute / from the Louisville Clearing House Association. text In memoriam Thomas L. Barret  : a tribute / from the Louisville Clearing House Association. 1896 2002 true xt7qnk361q4p section xt7qnk361q4p 











































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In MUemoriam



THOMAS L. BARRET



A Tribute from The Louisville Clearing



House Association



    LOUISVILLE, KY.
JOHN P. MORTON  COMPANY
     MDCCCXCVI


 
This page in the original text is blank.

 


THOMAS LOWRY BARRET



HOMAS LOWRY BARRET was born in Munford-
ville, Hart County, Kentucky, February 24, i825.
His father, Dr. Lewis Barret, was a native of Burkes-
ville, Cumberland County, Kentucky, and his mother,
whose maiden name was Wood, was a native of
Barren County.   Thomas was the eldest of eight
children who survived their father.
    The family was of English origin, but of early
 transplantation to this continent, and the name is
 connected with that of Virginia in a way not lack-
 ing in historic interest, for family tradition makes
 Robert the first of the stock of whom we have any
 record, sailing-master to Sir Walter Raleigh when
 that gallant adventurer explored the coasts of the
 land, since so renowned, which he named for his
 virgin queen. This Robert was a native of South-
 ampton, England.  Many of the family were sea-
 men. The ancient insurance paper " Lloyd's News,"
 published in London two hundred years ago, in the
 quaint English of that day, contains the following


 


                 In Memoriam

flattering notice of a Capt. Barret, a descendant of
Robert, and shows him to have been a worthy com-
rade of the naval heroes who made the English
name so great:
                       LONDON, September 6th, i696.
   Barbadoes, June 3oth; Capt. Barret commander of a
small Vessel carrying only 4 guns and about io Men,
having in his company 2 other small Vessels of little force,
coming hither from New England, met with a French
Privateer (a Sloop) of 50 Men off this Island, Who imme-
diately came down upon Barret and discharged several
Volleys of small shot at him, and forthwith boarded him.
Barret retiring to his Close Quarters killed them several
Men, which obliged them to repair to their Sloop and
unlash from him; which done Capt. Barret plied them
with his great Guns and presently sunk the Sloop down-
right. He hath brought 26 of the French Men Prisoners
(most of which being wounded), 2 or 3 were drowned, and
the rest killed in fight. Capt. Sunderland commander of
the other small Vessels, before the Engagement, took 2 of
his Men and went on board Capt. Barret, giving orders
to the rest to make the best of their way, which they did.
He also fought bravely on board Capt. Barret, who lost not
i Man in the Engagement.

   Robert had a son William, who, incited doubtless
by his example, sailed likewise to Virginia, and was
one of those who first attempted its permanent set-
tlement. His arrival in the New World must have


 


Thomzas Lowry Barret



been very early in the seventeenth century, inas-
much as according to the same traditions he was
one of the council of the London company whose
efforts so nearly escaped disaster, and upon his
return to London published an account of its work,
and an explanation of the difficulties with which it
had to contend.  His son William   was born at
" Barret's Ford," near old Appomatox Settlement, in
what was afterward Northumberland County, Vir-
ginia, and remained and died in the colony. Robert
Barret, son of this second William, was an Episco-
pal clergyman, and must have been a man of con-
siderable note in the colony. He had charge for
many years of the parish of St. Martins in Louisa
County. Chiswell Barret, the son of this clergyman,
was the father of Francis Barret, the grandfather of
Thomas L. Barret. Francis entered the Revolution-
ary army at the age of sixteen, served bravely
throughout the long war of independence, at one
time in the body-guard of the heroic Gen. Thomas
Nelson, and at its close emigrated to Kentucky
and settled in Cumberland County. He died of
cholera in i833, at the residence of his son, John
Barret, in Green County.


 


In Memoriam



  Dr. Lewis Barret removed from Cumberland to
Hart County so soon as he attained manhood. He
made his home in the little village of Munfordville,
where he began the practice of medicine in Hart
and the counties adjoining. Dr. Barret was ex-
tremely popular and highly esteemed in the region
of Kentucky in which he lived, and possessed the
fullest confidence of its people both as a man and
in his professional capacity. But it was not often
that a country doctor at that period, no matter
how assiduous and successful he might be in his
practice, acquired wealth or even accumulated prop-
erty more than sufficient for the subsistence of his
family. His work was harder then than now, for
the homes where his ministration was needed were
more widely scattered, the country was wilder, and
the rude roads which he traversed on horseback
were frequently almost impassable. With less of
learning and science than aid his successors, he
was compelled by the very necessity of his situa-
tion to vigilance and solicitude. With saddle-bags
freighted with the simplest drugs a very limited
materia medica could afford, and using only a tithe
of the appliances modern skill deems indispensable,


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



he was expected not only to cure all diseases but
to heal all hurts, and to the ordinary duties of his
profession he added those of surgeon and dentist,
oculist and aurist. The responsibility which rested
on the medical practitioner of that day, if not
greater, was at any rate more trying than is in-
curred by him on whom his mantle has descended.
It is now divided, if not lessened, by the conven-
ient device of consultation, and physicians have
discovered that "in the multitude of counsel there
is safety," if not for the patient at least for them-
selves. Yet, although the life was toilsome, its
duties exacting, and the labor largely one of love
and charity, the fees, when fees were charged, were
small and were not always readily collected; so that
the good old rural doctor of two generations ago
was fortunate if, having lived like a gentleman and
furnished his children an average education, his
funeral expenses when he was gathered to his
fathers did not press onerously on the provision
he had hoped to leave his widow.
  Dr. Barret shared in this respect the general
fortune of his professional brethren, and his chil-
dren began life with no other patrimony than a


 


In Memoriam



father's good name and example.     For his son
Thomas this was an ample inheritance.    He had
that sturdy quality of blood which characterized
the people of which he was born, that resolute and
masterful race which founded the "Old Dominion,"
and with it the spirit which rarely flinches, how-
ever arduous be the ordeal, and is alike capable of
aggressive endeavor and patient endurance.  Nor
was he to whom these qualities were granted like
unto the improvident steward who neglected and
wasted the gifts of his master. The man never
lived who employed more wisely, with higher and
juster motive and to better ends, the courage,
energy, and intelligence-all the strong traits of
brain and heart derived from stalwart ancestral
strains-than did Thomas L. Barret; and no man
ever less needed the adventitious assistance of in-
herited wealth.
   His character was of that kind which takes form
and direction early in life, and is developed, but in
nowise changed, by age, environment, or experi-
ence. There was in the boy the same fiber which
made the man so strong; the same calm, good
sense, clear discernment, and honest, resolute pur-


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



pose. In youth, as in his mature manhood, he felt
that " life was earnest, life was real; " he appre-
ciated its duties and never shrank from its severest
trials; and the same principles guided his course
in youth which governed his every action in after
years, inspiring the worthy, useful, and beneficent
conduct from which he never rested until his eyes
were closed in death.
   Realizing that his future depended on his own
exertions, and animated by the self-reliance and love
of independence instinctive in strong natures, and
which impel them even more than the spur of
necessity, he utilized the first opportunity of self-
support.  At the age of seventeen he obtained the
position of deputy sheriff of his native county, and
earned thereby the means of taking a partial course
at Center College, Danville.  In i846, his twenty-
first year, he came to Louisville, where his first
employment was with the mercantile house of Leight
 Hite, receiving the modest salary of twenty-five
dollars per month. It soon became apparent, how-
ever, that he could render more valuable service to
his firm, which was doing a large and prosperous
business, than in a mere clerical capacity, and in


 


In Memoriam



the course of a few years he was taken into the
partnership.
  At the date at which Mr. Barret became a resi-
dent of Louisville, the commercial conditions which
followed the rapid and extraordinary development
of the country south of the Ohio River offered
unusual advantages to the intelligent and capable
merchant. The growth of population and wealth
in that region, which the extensive cultivation and
high price of cotton had induced, enabled and re-
quired it to draw largely upon mercantile commu-
nities for supplies and commodities which it could
not itself produce; and the cities which, by reason
of geographical situation, could more promptly and
conveniently respond to these demands, commanded
a large and constantly increasing trade. For many
years, until i86o at any rate, the greater part of
this commerce was conducted by means of the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, and Louisville shared with
St. Louis and New Orleans this vast and remuner-
ative traffic.
   Mr. Barret continued in active commercial busi-
ness until i863, when he sold his interest in the
firm of Leight, Hite  Co., and in the next year


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



became cashier of the Bank of Kentucky. He had
been for some years previously a stockholder and
director in this great financial institution, and the
remainder of his life was chiefly devoted to its
interests and management. The Bank of Kentucky
was incorporated by an act of the General Assembly,
approved February 22, i834, and was organized and
began business under its charter provisions in Jan-
uary, i835.  It had been in existence, when Mr.
Barret first officially entered its service, for thirty
years. Its history had been eventful and exceed-
ingly interesting, and may yet be read with profit;
for it furnishes instructive lessons not only to
the student of financial principles and methods,
and who seeks to become acquainted with the evo-
lution of the banking system of this and other com-
munities of similar development, but also to one
who would understand thoroughly the political annals
of Kentucky.
   The bank was founded just after Kentucky had
passed through a trying and memorable experience,
protracted through a period of more than thirty
years, and in which the evil consequences of unsound
financial policies and injudicious legislative inter-


 


                In Memoriam

ference had been illustrated by almost universal
bankruptcy. The Kentucky Insurance Company,
the "old" or "first" Bank of Kentucky, now so
called to distinguish it from the present Bank of
Kentucky of which we have just been speaking, the
forty independent banks chartered in I817-i8, and
in popular parlance denominated the " forty thieves,"
and the Bank of the Commonwealth, chartered in
z820-2i, had all been tried and had proven unsuc-
cessful. All had failed either to furnish the bank-
ing facilities demanded by the expanding commerce
of the State, or to bring order out of the "mone-
tary chaos" and financial confusion which had so
long prevailed in Kentucky. In i830, all of these
institutions having discontinued operations and gone
into liquidation, there were practically no State
banks any longer in existence in Kentucky; but two
branches of the United States Bank were established
and doing business in the State, one at Louisville
and another at Lexington. The people were there-
fore compelled to depend on these two branches for
every thing in the nature of financial accommoda-
tion which the necessities of their business demand-
ed. Of even this slender reliance, however, they
                        1.


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



were soon to be deprived. Andrew Jackson then sat
in the presidential chair, and was resolved to put
into practical shape and effect his immutable con-
viction that the whole country ought to have sound
money. His abhorrence of irredeemable paper issues
and depreciated currency of every kind and form
was kindled into fierce wrath by the opposition
which his policy encountered, and he had sworn that
the charter of the United States Bank, which would
expire in i836, should not be renewed. The phrase
had not then come into vogue, but " Old Hickory"
was decidedly of the opinion, as we would now say,
that " the Government ought not to go into the
banking business."
  The determined character and consistent purpose
of General Jackson were so well known that no one
doubted that, having once uttered such a declaration,
he would surely carry it into execution; so the legis-
lature lost no time in making provision for the day
when the two branches of the United States Bank
should be numbered with the defunct State banks
which had previously occupied the field. It again
essayed the task of providing proper and competent
banking facilities for the people of Kentucky, and
                        '3


 


In Memoriam



this time with a wisdom born of experience. The
Bank of Louisville was incorporated in I833; the
Bank of Kentucky, as has already been stated, in
1834, and the Northern Bank of Kentucky in I835.
The charters granted these three institutions were
very similar in substance and powers; and in neither
was incorporated that provision which more than
aught else had proven fatal to the prosperity, and
indeed the existence, of the banks of earlier crea-
tion, viz., the reservation of legislative authority to
increase the number of directors. But while the
new banks were in this respect inaugurated under
auspices more favorable than those which had intro-
duced their predecessors in business, they were con-
fronted in limine by alarming dangers and difficulties.
The financial distress which had prevailed for many
years in both Europe and America, developing imme-
diately after the close of the Napoleonic wars, was
felt very severely in Kentucky, and at length culmi-
nated in the tremendous crash and panic of i837.
In that year the Kentucky banks and their branches,
in common with every bank, it is believed, in the
United States, were compelled to suspend specie
payments. This storm bursting upon them in their
                         14


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



infancy, and when they were destitute of reserves
and accumulated capital, was of course more trying
and terrible than to older institutions which had
made preparation for such emergencies. They were
unable to resume payments in coin and redeem their
circulation until June, i842. But the unusual char-
acter of the crisis through which they had passed
and the strain to which they had been subjected were
generally recognized, and the legislature passed an
act, March 8, i843, wisely and properly exonerating
them from all penalties and forfeitures they might
have incurred by their suspension of specie payments.
Scarcely, however, had the Bank of Kentucky passed
scatheless through this common peril when it was
required to face one peculiar to itself and of not less
magnitude-one from which it is difficult to under-
stand, even now, how it escaped with as little injury
as it suffered. Within a short time after the organi-
zation of the bank, provision was made for the
convenient transfer of its stock held by people out-
side of Kentucky, by the establishment of transfer
agencies at the more important financial centers. As
a large number of its stockholders lived in New
York, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, such agencies
                         15


 
In M/emorzam



were established at those points at a very early date.
At Philadelphia the agency was accepted by the
Schuylkill Bank of that city. As afterward trans-
pired, the policy and affairs of the Schuylkill Bank
were almost absolutely controlled and its directors
completely dominated by its cashier, Hosea J. Levis,
a thoroughly dishonest man. In the course of two
or three years this man fraudulently issued certifi-
cates for some thirteen thousand shares of stock, the
proceeds of which he sought to apply to his own
personal benefit and to the discharge of certain
liabilities of the Schuylkill Bank in which it had
been involved by his reckless and unprincipled man-
agement. The limits of this article will not permit
a description of the methods by which this
stupendous fraud and robbery were perpetrated.
It is enough to say that the work was so dex-
terously done that, although it began immediately
after the Schuylkill Bank accepted the agency, it
was not discovered, or even suspected, until Decem-
ber, i839. Litigation was at once instituted by the
Bank of Kentucky against the Schuylkill Bank, and
every possible effort made to repair the injury done
the innocent holders of the spurious stock.  The
                         ,6


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



bank procured the passage of an act by the legisla-
ture of Kentucky by which it was authorized to
increase its capital stock one million of dollars, and
power was given it to compromise with the bona fide
holders of the false certificates by exchanging for
such stock genuine stock share for share, or by pur-
chasing any certificates issued for the spurious stock.
To the everlasting honor of its stockholders and
managers it can be said that within a few years
every victim of this fraud who presented his claim or
could be found was fully compensated. The litiga-
tion lasted for ten years. The Bank of Kentucky
was entirely successful in establishing its conten-
tions, but not so fortunate in the amount of its actual
recovery.  It obtained  final decree  against the
Schuylkill Bank for 1,343,000; but the total assets
of that institution proved to be worth only 430,000,
so that, computing all expenses, the Bank of Ken-
tucky lost more than a million of dollars by this
fraud. This was, of course, a very serious loss, and
one which even an older and more firmly established
institution might not have been able to sustain with-
out grave embarrassment. To one just embarked in
business the injury might have been deemed irrepara-
                         7


 


In Memoriam



ble. Nevertheless, while it caused the officers and
directors of the Bank of Kentucky profound concern
and much harassing labor, it did not apparently in
any degree discourage them, and its affairs were con-
ducted with the same vigor as before.
   Mr. Barret was elected cashier of the Bank of Ken-
tucky August 23, i864, about the time that the char-
acter of these financial agencies not only in Kentucky
but throughout the United States was undergoing an
important change; a change which ultimately in-
duced except in a few instances, the Bank of Kentucky
itself a notable one, an abandonment of the State
bank system and a general resort to the system of
national banks. The act of Congress, passed not a
great while before this date, providing for the taxation
of notes issued by the State banks had driven such
paper almost entirely out of circulation and compelled
the banks to employ in lieu thereof the currency
issued by the Government of the United States. Like
the greater part of the congressional legislation
enacted during the war, this act, while very arbitrary,
was exceedingly effective for the purpose intended,
and gave to the United States Treasury notes a much
prompter and wider circulation than they would other-
                        i8


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



wise have obtained.  While this policy of course
required the banks to make provision for the
possible rapid redemption of their outstanding cir-
culation, it virtually relieved them from anxiety
regarding the redemption of the paper they helped
to put in circulation afterward. It must also have
intensified the inclination to hoard gold; and doubt-
less, as people feared to use coin in domestic trans-
actions conducted principally by means of a paper
currency for which no means of redemption had as
yet been provided, it largely increased the exportation
of gold. It certainly, however, suggested the employ-
ment of more uniform methods of banking through-
out the United States, and perhaps bred a more
cautious and conservative conduct in banking opera-
tions. There can be little doubt, as has already been
said, that it largely influenced the subsequent in-
stitution of the national bank system.
  Throughout this period the Bank of Kentucky
held large gold reserves with which no premium could
tempt it to part. It was not until i866-67, when hos-
tilities has ceased for more than a year and the
authority of the Government had been absolutely
reasserted, that it could be induced to loan this gold,
                         '9


 


In Memoriam



and then only very cautiously. But so soon as safe
opportunity for investment in Government securities
was offered, it sold all of its gold and bought United
States bonds. The bank also disposed, as rapidly as
it could do so without undue sacrifice, of its real
estate, of which it had large holdings taken for debts
not only in Kentucky but in the South, and of its
railroad stocks. In January, i866, all of its branches
except the one at Frankfort were discontinued, and in
all respects a cautious policy was observed.
  The bank has been criticised on account of this
conservatism, which has sometimes been character-
ized as undue timidity. It may be that opportuni-
ties were offered for the employment of its capital,
out of which more money could have been made
than in the line in which it was used. But in
such event the capital would have been invested
in matters of less general benefit, and at the cost
of some sacrifice of duty to the public.
  This conservatism has been ascribed, and doubt-
less with justice, very largely to the advice and
influence of Mr. Barret. But the experience through
which the bank had already passed had taught the
propriety of such caution, and its subsequent pros-


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



perity has sufficiently vindicated the good policy of
its extremely prudent management.
   Mr. Barret was unanimously elected President
of the Bank of Kentucky May 6, i873; a precedent
followed in every election held thereafter so long
as he lived. During the great panic of September,
i873, he strenuously opposed the suspension of
currency payments, a policy very generally adopted
in many parts of the country at that date, express-
ing to his board of directors full confidence that
the bank could meet all claims, and his opinion
that it was " its clear duty not to suspend payment
of any thing or in any respect." After a full dis-
cussion his views were sustained and he was directed
to pursue the course he had advised. The Ken-
tucky banks, with few exceptions, did the same,
and continued paying all proper demands, although
all of them for a few weeks ceased almost entirely
to discount paper. Mr. Barret also urged at the
same date the establishment of a clearing-house
association, a suggestion not then acted on, but
which subsequently bore fruit.  He has been ac-
corded the credit of having been among the first
to recognize the importance of such an agency in


 


In Mlemoriam



modern banking, and the first to advocate its adop-
tion in Kentucky. He continued to press the mat-
ter upon the attention of his own board and those
of the other banks in Louisville until the associa-
tion was finally organized and began operations
January 3, i876. Mr. Barret was unanimously chosen
its first president.
  We can not narrate as fully as we would like to
do, and as it deserves, Mr. Barret's admirable
management of the institution with which his name
and reputation are most closely connected. For
twenty-three years he conducted it safely and with
added credit and influence through more than one
serious crisis, and with a firmness, sagacity, and
integrity of judgment and purpose which earned
him the implicit confidence of the bankers and
business men of Louisville and Kentucky.     He
realized the importance and dignity of his vocation,
and how broad and beneficent could be made its
agency; he also thoroughly appreciated and obeyed
its duties to the public. It has been well said by
one who knew him well that " temperament and
experience made him a banker, not a mere money-
changer, and here he found full scope for his tal-


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



ents." Like tribute to his character and capacity
has been furnished by every able and discerning
man who has ever at any time had dealings with
him.
   But while Mr. Barret's time and labor were chiefly
devoted to the service of the Bank of Kentucky, he
was interested, and in a very active and efficient
way, in many important business enterprises in
Louisville, and was connected with several other
leading corporations, in the management of which
he was directly and constantly consulted. He was
a director in the Fidelity Trust and Safety Vault
Company, in the Louisville Public Warehouse Com-
pany, in the Mutual Life Insurance Company of
Kentucky, in the Louisville  Evansville Mail Line
Company, in the Southern Railway News Company,
and was Vice-President of the Louisville Gas Com-
pany, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of
the Guarantee Company of North America. The
close attention he gave the duties these positions
imposed and the care of his private business might
have justified him in refusing other and even charita-
ble occupation; yet he found time to devote many
industrious hours to the welfare of the Industrial
                        23


 


In Memorzazm



House of Refuge and of the Home of the Innocents,
of both of which institutions he was a director.
   It does not always happen that a man's personal
appearance and bearing correctly indicate his char-
acter, or suggest its salient and distinctive traits,
but this was certainly the case in respect of Mr.
Barret. In figure he was tall, erect, and well-propor-
tioned. His grave and comely countenance retained,
until his last illness, the clear, ruddy complexion
which denotes a vigorous constitution and temperate
life. Every feature was expressive of candor, intel-
ligence, and dignity. The first impression which his
presence and manner conveyed was that, while a
good man, he was unduly austere and disposed to
judge his fellow-men strictly, and perhaps too
harshly. But a very brief experience sufficed to
teach any one, admitted in any degree to his con-
fidence, that what had seemed austerity was in reality
to some extent an habitual reserve, and yet more a
natural caution which inclined him to become in-
formed before he acted, and especially to know the
men with whom he dealt. No man could be a
warmer and more devoted friend to one of whose
merit and integrity he had become convinced. He
                         24


 


Thomas Lowry Barrel



was as generous and trusting in his transactions
with those he liked and believed in as he was
compassionate and benevolent to the poor. All pre-
conceived opinion that he was stern or cold vanished
from the minds of those who saw and listened to
him discussing something which appealed to his
sympathies, when the strong lines of his face
would relax, his manner soften, and his clear blue
eyes glisten with kindly sentiment.
  There has been much and cordial testimony to the
amiability as well as the rigid justice of his temper.
"Mr. Barret," said one, " at times seemed exacting,
and so he was, but he was more exacting with himself
than with others. His decisions were firm and
prompt and considerate, but were made with a full
realization of the fact that he was handling the
money of others." His sense of duty was imperative.
" When he turned that side to you," said one of those
to whom he showed greatest friendship, " he was ada-
mant; but when he was approached from the side of
affection, he was as gentle as a woman."
   Compelled in the beginning of life to make his
own footing and way in the world, he had learned
control over every impulse and feeling. Obliged by
                        25


 


In Memoriam



the necessities of the large and sensitive business
interests always in his charge to enforce discipline
and require method, he. felt. that he had no. right to.
indulge any inclination or sentiment at the risk of
injury to those who relied upon his prudence and
firmness. One of his most trusted assistants declares
that, while he never permitted hit employes to deviate
in the least degree from the rules laid down for their
conduct, his heart and his purse were always open to
them.
  On one occasion a merchant of.Louisville, of good
standing and unblemished reputation, but who had
encountered business and financial difficulties which
for a time seemed almost remediless, came to Mr.
Barret and, frankly stating his position, asked a loan
from the bank. Mr. Barret refused it, saying, " I know
that you believe that you will pay the note when it is
due, but the judgment of men in your situation can
not be trusted. You can not have the money from the
bank." The gentleman turned away in profound dis-
tress. Mr. Barret followed him to the door, stopped
him and repeated, " You can not have this loan from
the bank. But," he added, "you can have my check
for the amount, and it is at your service."
                         26


 


Thomas Lowry Barret



  At another time a firm which had done a very
large business failed and assigned.  Its paper for a
very large amount was held by the Bank of Ken-
tucky. The partner on whom the settlement of its
affairs had devolved, while immersed in the cares
and inquiries which pour upon the unfortunate and
harassed merchant in such crises, received first one
and then another pressing request from Mr. Barret
that he should call at the bank. He supposed that
the messages had relation to the paper which was
maturing. So soon as he could find leisure he called
as desired. "Well," said Mr. Barret, saluting him
by his first name, " you perhaps think that I wanted
to talk to you about that paper we discounted for
your firm; but I don't. It was taken by the bank
in the belief that it was good, and I still believe
it will be paid. What I wish to see you for is to
say- that you must have money if you expect to con-
tinue the business, as you ought to do, and I am
prepared to furnish it." With that he offered his
visitor a check for a considerable amount. It was
declined with many expressions of gratitude, his
friend alleging that his collections would furnish
him the money he absolutely needed. Mr. Barret,
                        27


 


In Memoriam



however, did not permit him to leave until he had
promised that he would accept the proffered aid
when it should be actually needed. Doubtless many
similar instances might be cited.
  One of Mr. Barret's most striking characteristics
was an extreme and unaffected modesty. Many per-
sons who have been brought in close contact with
him have observed this with astonishment. It was
hard to understand how the astute and veteran
banker, so self-reliant in all business affairs, mani-
festing always in that sphere such confidence in
his own clear and penetrating judgment, could yet
be so diffident in matters relating only to himself,
and should so humbly estimate his own personal
merit. He evinced this modesty in regard to his
connection with his church, for which he wrought
assiduously although very quietly; and it caused a
multitude of charitable acts which he performed to
pass unnoted. He shrank instinctively from noto-
riety, and seemed to be annoyed if attention was
directed to the good he did. A very warm and
intimate personal friend, who had been his colleague
in man