Since the Court was in mourning, it was extremely doubtful that he could be received, but as it was not impossible, Barnum refused to relinquish the hope. Horace Greeley, one of Barnum’s best friends and an adviser to whom he always listened attentively, had given him a letter of introduction to Edward Everett, American Minister to the Court of St. James’s, and Barnum admitted that “to that letter, perhaps more than to anything else, I was indebted for my first introduction to Her Majesty.” It was fortunate for Barnum that he had such a letter of introduction, if we are to take the word of a keen observer of the times on the personality of Edward Everett. Maunsell B. Field, whose book, _Memories of Many Men and Some Women_, is one of the most interesting American books of reminiscences, visited Edward Everett at the American Ministry about the same time as Barnum. Field was then a young man traveling for his education; later he became one of New York’s eminent lawyers and the partner of John Jay, but Edward Everett could not be expected to foresee that. “I found Mr. Everett,” Field wrote, “as frigid as an iceberg. He was as polished as his own writings, but equally cold. To a young man just out of college, this sort of reception operated like a wet blanket. After my first call, I never ventured upon him again. I feared taking cold.” But Everett was quite different with Barnum. During his first week in London the American Minister called and was delighted with General Tom Thumb. They dined with the Minister next day, and the Everett family gave Tom Thumb many presents. Mr. Everett promised to use all his influence at the Palace to insure a presentation before Queen Victoria. Meanwhile, the Baroness Rothschild sent her carriage for General Tom Thumb and his guardian. Barnum and his tiny ward passed a cordon of liveried servants and walked into a brilliant hall, lined with statuary. They ascended a flight of magnificent marble stairs and were announced by an elegant servant. The Baroness was seated on a “gorgeous couch,” and lords and ladies everywhere were sitting on gold chairs that looked to Barnum like solid gold, “except the bottoms, which were rich velvet.” Ebony, pearl, and gold dazzled Barnum’s eyes wherever he looked, and when they were about to leave after a session of two hours, a fat purse was quietly slipped into Barnum’s hand. That, too, contained gold. Other receptions at the homes of other bankers and members of the nobility followed, and they invariably ended with some one slipping a fat purse into Barnum’s hand.