and members of all religious denominations, the seriousness and sorrow that sat on every countenance, which in mournful silence seemed to say, 'We have lost a benefactor'—the numerous sermons which from the pulpits of various denominations paid a tribute to his memory, all proclaimed the respect in which he was held, and which was in fact a public honour put not only upon the benefactor, but upon philanthropy itself." Speaking of the funeral, his biographer justly remarks: "It was indeed an instructive spectacle which Birmingham presented that day, when the whole town, the seat of the largest manufacture of small fire-arms in the world, bowed in reverence over the bier of Joseph Sturge, the man of peace. It was a tribute paid, not to rank, or station, or eloquence, for he had none of these, but to virtue alone."
Although monuments of brass or marble are not needed to perpetuate the memory of such a man as Joseph Sturge, they are useful to show to subsequent generations how he was regarded by the men of his own day and community. Such a statue has a value beyond all the grace that a sculptor's genius can impart. These marble forms of men and women standing in the market-places and at the cross-roads of the people are the precious stones of nations. Birmingham erected such a memorial to Joseph Sturge, and placed it at the confluence of five roads, or at "The Five Ways,"
