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Robert E. Gross
Collection

Memorial

to the

Founder

of the

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Business Administration Library
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ua/aor-ma

Los Angeles

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y9

DEPEEDATIOIS;

OVEREND, GURNEY, &

CO.,

GEEEK & OEIENTAL STEAM NAVIGATION

COMPANY.

STEFANOS XENOS.

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR,

AT
No.

9,

ESSEX STREET, STRAND.

J

8 G

1).

[_>'iecund JEditiOn.}

FEINTED BY
TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET, LONDON.

Gross Colfection
Bus.

Adm.

Lib,

HE
GrSX26

PREFACE.

Whoever may

volume

attentively peruse this little

will perceive that it

was impossible

into an explanation of

my

me

for

to enter

transactions with Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. without

first

giving some

account of the formation of the Greek and Oriental

Steam Navigation Company, and

its

existence

for

three years previously to the period at which I entered into relations with the great

Lombard

Such account was indispensable

capitalists.

Street
to the

clear understanding of the after-narrative.

With

regard to the conversations recorded in this

volume, the accuracy of which

by the

questioned

some

sceptical, I ought, perhaps, to offer

In the

planation.
years,

may be

first

place, I have, during

ex-

many

been in the habit of taking notes and keeping

a diary of

all

important transactions in which I have

been engaged.

Secondly I never destroy letters or

documents;

that, in

so

authorities to

which

case of

I can

necessity,

refer, and, if

7337

have

need be,

IV

And,

produce.

thirdly,

as far

as I

personally

my memory, which

concerned, I can always rely on

is

am

though
respect

singularly clear and retentive, particularly

am

possibly I

not singular in this

where I have been wronged and

then recall correctly,

in cases

I can

ill-treated.

not alone the words of

my

opponents, but every look, and movement, and gesture that have aggravated the wrong-doing by

Of

I suffered.

the conversations reported here, I can

conscientiously say they are substantially

speakers expressed

same,

which

and they would be

what the

literally

the

but that many of these conversations were

originally uttered in Greek,

English.

It was,

and not a few in broken

therefore, necessary that

the one

should be translated and the others corrected before

going to

press.

Despite the care with which I have always guarded

my

business documents, I had, in 18G5, the mortifi-

cation to lose a case containing

amongst

many important papers,

Mr. Edwards's

others,

letter in reference to

the yacht, and the original of the printed circular to

which I
of

my

refer at

page 217.

It

was in removing some

furniture from Petersham

chance occurred.

made when
No. 24.)

Lodge that

this mis-

diligent but fruitless search

was

the loss was ascertained.

(See Appendix,

The absence of some of

these documents

has not alone delayed the publication of this volume,

me

but obliged

to suppress all allusion to

many im-

portant points, about which I was quite clear, bat

would not mention without being

in

a position to

produce corroborative proofs.

In further authentication of the correctness of that

which

is set

down

in the following pages,

be amiss to mention that

Oriental Steam

this history of the

it

may

not

Greek and

Navigation Compa"ny, which I find

myself obliged to hurry into publicity, formed

origi-

work which was not intended

to see

nally portion of a

the light for

many

were fresh in

facts

vibrated in

my

years.

my memory

making my defence

my

my

trial

whilst the words

am

at the bar of public opinion.

remember that

without notice or warning.

me

other men, let

not spared.

still

volume, I feel that I

little

auditory will

urged against

defence.

was written whilst the

ears.

In publishing this

hope

It

it

that I

free

I say is

Should

it

my name was

spoken solely in

the materials at

be

with the names of

not be forgotten that

What

With

make

was put upon

my command,

self-

might

have sent forth to the world a sensational volume.

Had

my

I sought a succes de salon. I

might have garnished

narrative with savoury morsels of scandal, with

piquant allusions to

many an

operatic Zephyrina and

VI

di-amatic Eucharis

might have told

tales of Pretty

Horsebreakers and capricious Anonymas

titled Calypsos, at

have hinted at certain

ding some of our good City

of

I might, indeed,

many

men

or I

might

whose

bid-

entered the commer-

and there fought the most desperate combats.

cial lists,

And

on the other hand, have talked

patient Griseldas, who, whilst their husbands

lavished thousands on worthless rivals, stinted themselves in martyrizing

economy, trying to counterbalance

reckless extravagance.

With

all

these accessories I

have dispensed, contenting myself with an unvarnished

narrative of dry facts.
older,

Were

the century a few years

had time toned down the memory of the present,

I might, in a

more voluminous work, have

laid before

the public more realistic views of the great panorama

which

is

daily

being

revolved

PANANTHROPOPOLIS.

in

this

GEEAT

CONTENTS.

I.

Vlll
CHAP.

CHAPTER

I.

THE FIRST CHARTERED STEAMERS.

In"

the year 1856 I was running a line of sailing vessels

from London to the Levant and Black Sea. The chief

import and export trade of England with that part of
the world

is

in the

hands of the Greek houses of Eng-

land; and I must say

marked and

my

line of packets enjoyed a

and was yielding a

Whilst I was running several small
lucrative return.
clippers to the Levant, Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Co.,
with Mr. A. G. Kobinson, were running steamers on the
same line. These gentlemen had to contend with a
special patronage,

brisk competition

well as with some

on the part of the Liverpool lines, as

London steamers; but as the outward

and homeward freights

for steamers were, in those

days, three times greater than at present, their profits

must have been enormous.

Having maturely reflected on these facts, and seeing that the export trade between London and the
Levant had nearly reached 7000 tons per month, I
resolved to substitute steamers for

my

sailing packets.

In entering into competition with the established

steam o^vners, I determined to profit by the errors
they were committing, and avoid them.
these I shall

complaint.

Amongst

mention two which were a cause of daily

In the first place, merchants, after having

announced their goods

to their correspondents,

were

not always able to find room for them on board the

steamers and secondly, merchants who applied to the
;

steam owners and agents withm the last few days of

the steamer's stay in London, were often obliged to

pay

10s. or even

1 per ton higher

who had shipped first.

freight than those

This latter custom had enabled

the owners of the steamers to take a very high tone.

Ov^dng to these
incessant

shipping, there were

difficulties in

complaints from Constantinople,

Smyrna,

Disagreements
Odessa, and other Levantine towns.
were constantly occurring between London merchants
and their foreign consignees, and in more than one
instance commission agents

had

lost their appoint-

ments on suspicion of incapacity, or worse.

This condition of things, combined with a promise
of efficient support on the part of the shippers, had
naturally great weight in inducing

me

of sailing packets into steamers.

But

of steamers requires a large capital.

to turn

my line

to start a line

applied to

Messrs. Lascaridi and Co., of 32, Bucklersbury

firm

came

to

my

assistance.

The

that

Messrs. Lascaridi

had two steamers, the Aleppo and the Beyrout. Mr.

George Lascaridi, whose name recurs frequently in
these pages, was at that time the sole representative
of the London house of Lascaridi and Co,
This
gentleman placed the above-named steamers in my
hands.
We ran them conjointly with the James
Brown and the Britannia. The two last-named steamers entailed a small loss in the first voyage, owing to

The
company thus started in May,
The
Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company." As
our having miscalculated their carrying capacity.

1857, I called "

soon as the above-mentioned charters had expired,

we

time-chartered the Hercules, Milo, and Admiral

Kanaris, at 22s. 6d. per ton per month, belonging to

Mr. Edward Gomiey, of Sunderland, now M.P., and

Thus the Greek and Oriental Steam Naviga-

others.

Company sprang into existence in 1857*.

The steam power of the company consisted,

tion

starting, of five vessels

at first

the Beyrout, the Aleppo, the

Hercules, the Milo, and the Admiral Kanaris.

addition to these

were able

to

we had

several sailing vessels.

In

We

keep up a brisk competition with Messrs.

we enjoyed the
Greek houses of London

Smith, Sundius, and Co., and others, as

exclusive patronage of the
!

and Manchester.
It is a recognized

commercial truth, that on a time-

That there should

charter the charterer seldom gains.

be a

our case was an inevitable consequence of

loss in

the position in which

my

partners and I were placed.

Neither Mr. George Lascaridi nor I had any experience

in the

management of steam

property.

Our steamers

were of small power, and consumed enormous quantities

of coal

and, above

all,

unfortunately

we had paid

an extravagant price per ton for the charter of these

Then

steamers.

our agents

there was no organization amongst

abuses crept

their expenses.

in,

and we had no check on

we any control over the

Neither had

captains and engineers, who, with a view to benefiting

the owners of the steamers, navigated slowly

in spite of the splendid freights I

great support of the shippers,

so that,

had secured, and the

we again

lost several

thousands of pounds.

Mr. George Lascaridi, having the large business

of his own firm to attend to, threw on my shoulders

* The Hercules was chartered in 1857

Kanaris in March, 1858.

the Milo and Admiral

work and the responsibility of the Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation Company. He supplied the
the

all

capital, I,

through

my

friends,

Mr. Lascaridi requested

me

found the cargoes

to

keep the name of

but

my

capitalist secret, for fear of injuring the credit of his

firm.

Owing to the observance of this secrecy, a certain

amount of mystery, in the eyes of the commercial

world, hung about the Greek and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company.
About the year 1857 I began to understand something of the nature and value of steam property.
I
was educated by the Greek Government in the military school of Evelpides.
I had studied there eight
years, destined to become an officer in the Royal
Engineers or the Eoyal Artillery.
early studies, I

found no

difficulty

Owing

to these

in mastering a

knowledge of the mechanical structure of steamers.

long acquaintance with military discipline

made the

inspection of the staff of the steamers a kind of pleasure to a

man whose

whom the political

to

England

to

was not commerce, and

aspect of his own country had driven
first

love

engage in the labyrinthian perplexities

of trade.

Having gone

my

closely into details, I discovered to

great confusion that, of the 50,000 which

had paid the charterers

for freights,

we

20,000 would

have gone as profit into our pockets had we been

the owners of the steamers.

found that the entire

expenses of a steamer of that description for each

voyage was 3500; this deducted from 6000, the

gross freight, left a net profit of

2500 per voyage.

Each steamer made four voyages

in the year, so that

here was a net profit of 10,000 per

annum on a

maritime property that only cost 16,000.

It

was

months' work a steamer

The important point was to

evident that by eighteen

would pay
find the

for herself.

cargoes.

abundantly through

gave

me

goods.

This I was in a position to do

my large connexions.

the preference and the

first

My friends

refusal of their

I drew the attention of Mr. Lascaridi to all

upon him the necessity of purBut he was discouraged

chasing our own steamers.
by the losses we had sustained, and was besides overthese points, and urged

burdened with other large transactions, so that he

seldom came to my office. In fact, there was no
written contract between us, nor had we ever entered
into a thoroughly good verbal understanding.
to this, that the

Add

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Company was to expire at the expiration of

parties of the three steamers

the charter-

the Hercules, the Milo,

and the Admiral Kanaris. The Beyrout and the

Aleppo I had been compelled to take out of the line
after a couple of voyages, as being too small for the
service.

Such was the position of

affairs

when

brokers, seeing the extensive business of the

several

office,

the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Company, and the great support it received from the
Greek merchants, offered to sell me steamers on long
credit.
I went to Liverpool in the month of March,
1858, and there bought on credit, for 22,000, the
General Williams, of 1152 tons register and 160
In payment I was to give the bills
horse-power.
of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation ComThe General Williams was in trust for the
pany.
orphans of the late owner, and the trustee, Mr.
Panton, of Sunderland, and the builder of the steamer,
Mr. A Leslie, of Newcastle, who had an interest in the
credit of the

6
vessel,

wished to have the

name.

bills

endorsed with another

Mr. Lascaiidi; he at

I tried

first

refused, but after several days' discussion

upon accepting instead of endorsing the

positively

he decided
and he

bills,

would do this only on condition that the steamer

should be registered in his name or in that of his
nominee. He would at the same time give me a letter

when the steamer should have

to the effect that

my

cleared

ownership to me.

he would then transfer the half

In other words, I was to work the

steamer to pay the

bills

herself in

line,

accepted by Messrs. Lascaridi

and Co., before I should be put in possession of

my

half ownership.
Messrs. Lascaridi and Co. had at this time in their

employment, as managing
ressios,

Greek.

It

was

clerk,

this

Mr. Nicholas Ko-

Mr. Koressios who,

on the 2nd of April, 1858, drew up the letter in

which Messrs. Lascaridi and Co. informed me that they

had bought the General Williams

also, to

my

surprise, they

for

informed

21,250

me

in

it

that they in-

tended giving Mr. Koressios a ^f share in the General

Enclosed in this letter was the draft of the
Williams.
reply that I was to write them.

I refused to sign

any reply, and declined to accept Mr. Koressios as

co-owner.

Consequently the General Williams took

up between
and
Lascaridi
me
Messrs.
and Co., or between me and
Mr. George Lascaridi.
I twice loaded the General Williams with excellent
the line without any contract being drawn

cargoes.

In her second voyage she foundered

off

Malta, leaving a profit by the insurance and freight of

about 8000.

These

profits

were reduced to 5000

only by a long account, furnished by the house of

1/ascaridi of Liverpool, for needless repairs

and for

stores

put on board the General Williams before

leaving Liverpool for

London

there vras also a large

item for commission on the purchase of the steamer.

demurred to these charges, and said if any one was

entitled to commission on the purchase of the steamer,
it was I, who had negotiated and concluded the transThis
action, and yet I had not made any charge.
and other transactions tended to weaken the good
understanding that had subsisted between Mr. George
Lascaridi and me.
I

CHAPTEE

11.

THE FIRST OWNERSHIP.

IjST

chartering the Hercules, Milo, and Admiral Kanaris,

the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company-

had undertaken to supply these vessels with fuel we

had accordingly sent large deposits of coal to our agents
at Constantinople. These agents were the house of Lascaridi, known in the Levant as Messrs. Fachri, LascaThese gentlemen furnished accounts of
ridi, and Co.
stupendous magnitude for discharging and loading the
steamers in fact, it became evident, on a comparison
;

with the expenses of the steamers of other owners,

that our agents did not understand their business, and

were defrauded by those they employed.

The

exorbi-

tant items in these accounts constituted the principal

losses incurred

by the three chartered steamers.

I pro-

tested against these charges, and held Messrs. Lascaridi

and

London, responsible for the proceedings of

Hereupon Mr. George
Lascaridi coolly informed me that the members of the
Co., of

their house at Constantinople.

house

at Constantinople were not his partners, that I

must look to them for the accounts in question, and
that I might give the agency to whom I pleased.
I

replied

" Oh, no

Lascaridi

hold you responsible, be-

cause, when I talked of recommending the steamers,

said distinctly,
nople.'

'

Send them

The world

you told me

believes

to our
it

at the time that

you

house at Constanti-

to be your house.

Had

you would not be held

responsible for the acts of Messrs. Fachri, Lascaridi, and

Co., because they

were not your partners, I would have

to some more competent

recommended the steamers

firm.

how comes

Besides,

it,

write to me, they always say,

so forth

especially

when
'

these gentlemen

Ours of London,' and

In short, 1 shall not accept their

now

drafts,

that they hold large deposits of our

and that the price of coal is gone up at Constantinople, so that the coal is worth much more than

coal,

when

I sent

it

out."

was compelled to take this determined tone,

because I had learned, upon inquiry, that Messrs.
Fachri, Lascaridi, and Co. were partners, under certain
conditions, with the London house of Lascaridi and
Co., and the latter being a partner in the Greek and
I

Oriental,
latter

it

was only just that the

company should be shared by

all

losses

of the

the partners.

But, so far from acting in this fashion, Mr. George Lascaridi

wished

to

throw the entire burden of the

losses

Greek and Oriental on that company

alone, whilst the profits were to be divided half and
The reasons
half with the house of Lascaridi and Co.
he gave for this mode of proceeding were, that when
Lascaridi and Co., of London, accepted bills for the
Greek and Oriental 8team Navigation Company, his
partners abroad knew nothing of the transaction, and
that when he communicated with them on the subject,
sustained by the

they refused to have anything to do with steamers

consequently, he alone was

my

partner in the Greek

and Oriental. The conclusion drawn from these pretexts by Mr. George Lascaridi was, that the Greek and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company was to bear undivided every loss it incurred, and was at the same
time to be reckoned a debtor to the house of Las-


10
caricli

and Co.

for

money advanced

or bills accepted

for the chartered steamers of the company.

When Mr. George Lascaridi and I first started

the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company,

I proposed to him to draw up a regular contract

between

His

us.

clerk, Nicholas Koressios,

a preliminary draft, in which

name

as

my

partner.

prepared

he inserted his own

most

This draft contained the

The so-called " 'Y7rojui'j?ua," or

memorandum, was drawn up in Greek by Mr.
Koressios, who at that time possessed immense
influence over the mind of Mr. George Lascaridi.
It divided the shares of the Greek and Oriental
absurd conditions.

thus

i or 20

Lascaridi and Co.

G. P. Lascaridi.
Stefanos Xenos.

Nicholas Koressios.

According to the terms of this 'Y^ro^i/rj/^a I was to

be manager of the company, Mr. G. P. Lascaridi to be
president, and Mr. Nicholas Koressios to be 'E^eTctarriQ (controller)

and vice-president.

enter into such a contract.

I refused to

sharp correspondence

was exchanged between me and Mr. Koressios, and I

finally forbade that gentleman to enter my office.
Events showed that my penetration was not at fault.
Within a very few months Mr. Koressios received permission to retire from the service of Lascaridi and Co.
After that I was never able to persuade Messrs.

up a deed of partnership
Mr. George Lascaridi used

Lascaridi and Co. to draw

between them and me.

to tell

me

that he

had boundless confidence

in

my

11
honour, and did not care for a written contract.
could not do

less

than respond to such expressions

of trust, and, of course, ceased to press the matter.

Seeing that the charter-parties of the Hercules,

Milo, and Admiral Kanaris were about to expire, and
that the

Greek and Oriental would be

left

with only

one steamer, the General Williams, and the sailing

packets, I started, in

company with Mr. John Preston,

the ship-broker, for West Hartlepool, to inspect a large

new steamer that

John Pile and Co. had then in

She had been offered to me by
Mr. John Preston on long credit. I was to give in
payment the acceptances of the Greek and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company.
Messrs.

their building-yard.

Whilst inspecting
in the

this large steamer, I observed

Hartlepool Dock a small steam barge of

West

whose engines were

very shallow draught,

moment being

I asked to

tried.

whom

it

at that

belonged.

Mr. Joseph Spence, one of the partners of John Pile

and Co., who accompanied us, said it belonged to his
It was for sale.
A profirm, and was a river barge.
I said to
ject at that moment shot through my brain.
myself, " If I could send three such steam barges

the
as

Danube

up

into the shallow waters, let us say as far

Calafat and Oltenitza, where the markets are in

which the grain is purchased that is brought down to

Galatz and Ibraila in carts, I should be able to buy
wheat and Indian corn at at least 6s. or 6s. less per
quarter than they can be bought at Galatz or Ibraila.
I CDuld tranship this grain on board the large steamers
at Sulina for

Without

England."
losing a

moment,

I entered into nego-

I would take the large steamer, which

was 1017 tons register, and of 220 nominal horse-

tiations.

12
power.

would take the

little

steam barge, and

be built within five months. After

two
some discussion, it was agreed that for the entire lot
In payment, I was to give
I should give 33,850.
similar to

Greek and Oriental Steam

the acceptances of the

Navigation

Company from

three to thirty months,

which was equivalent to 2 1 years' credit. The acceptances were to be drawn by Messrs. Lascaridi and Co.
The steamers were to be delivered free of mortgage.
I did not finally close the contract, because, before

doing

so, it

Lascaridi.

to speak with

was necessary
I

Mr. George

immediately returned to town and saw

I said
him.
" Now, George, you

know

very well

that

this

company, instead of entailing losses, would have left

Insplendid profits if we had had our own steamers.

more time disputing about the

accounts, and trying to determine whether you or
Messrs. Lascaridi are partners in the Greek and
Oriental Company, let us, like sensible men, try to
repair past losses, and organize the line thoroughly.
You see I have the exclusive support of the Greek
stead of losing any

In the Levant I

merchants in London.

owing
vices,

to

my

may perhaps

through

my

my

family name,

and the great

sacrifices

add,

that

am

popular,

father's patriotic ser-

he has made for Greece.

am

favourably

known

literary works."

Lascaridi would have interrupted. "Listen," I said;

" there

is

steamers,

another point.

If,

instead of chartermg our

we can buy them, and

account with grain at

4s.

Greek houses are paying,

making money, we ought
could order our

load

them on our

oav^

per quarter less than other

surely, if these houses are

We
to make a fortune.
own steamers whither we liked, whilst

13
a charterer could only send his cargo to be discharged
at the port whither it is bound."

long conversation ensued, in which I tried to

induce him to enter into an agreement on behalf of

his firm, with me, to purchase, on long credit, three

large steamers and three small ones.

showed him

would be provided for before

by the earnings of the steamers.
He said he could not draw an agreement between
his firm and me, but he was willing to make one
between himself and me. I simply observed that he
clearly that the bills

coming

to maturity,

was not a great capitalist. He ultimately said that

he would not accept any more bills in the name of his
firm, but that, if I would consent to pay a commission
to the firm, he would endorse my bills with the signature of Lascaridi and Co., leaving it to my generosity, should the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation
Company prosper, to do by him what was just and
proper.

This was a noble

offer.

It is not often

a friend capable of acting so generously.

him with
boundless.

all

my

heart

now

indeed,

closed

my

my

one meets

thanked

gratitude was

contract with Messrs.

John Pile and Co., and within a few days Lascaridi

drew and endorsed in my office the acceptances of the
Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, on
behalf of Messrs. Lascaridi and Co.

The steamers were

any kind of mortgage.

registered in
I

named

my

name,

free of

the large steamer

Admiral Miaoulis the steam barge I called Bobolina.

Those that Messrs. John Pile and Co. had commenced
to build for me I named respectively the Botassis and
;

the Tzamados.

14

CHAPTER
PEOFITS AND

From

III.

CONTRACTS.

the date of the above-mentioned contract, the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Company began to flourish, and soon yielded splendid

business of the

Fortune smiled on

profits.

all

my

Admiral Miaoulis, a magnificent

5000

less

undertakings.

vessel, I

The

than her real value.

The

bought for
building of

was commenced by Messrs. Richardson

but, owing to commercial
difficulties, before completion it was transferred to
Messrs. John Pile and Co.
For this vessel I secured
a profitable freight from Havre to Cronstadt.
She
was to carry three state railway carriages, belonging
this steamer

Brothers, of Hartlepool

to the

Emperor of

shipped at

was

Russia, besides 1000 tons of iron

Cardiff".

to bring

The

freight

was 2500.

She

back an equally profitable cargo, so

one month this vessel would clear a net

profit of 3000.
I had gone to West Hartlepool,
that in

where I stayed a fortnight

hasten her departure.

It

to see her finished

and

was on the occasion of

this

that I bought of Messrs.

Thomas Richardson, of
Hartlepool, and Messrs. Richardson, Duke, and Co.,

visit

of Stockton, another large

steamer.
This vessel,
about 1000 tons burden, I called the Marco
Bozzaris.
It was purchased on the same conditions
of

as

those

had previously bought.

Lascaridi endorsed the

bills

in

my

Mr. George
office

with the

signature of his firm, on the same terms as before.


15

The Marco Bozzaris soon came

to

London, and took

the berth for Constanthioplc.

It

my

was about

time that I began to import, for

private account, grain

the Danube.
sent the

These

in

my

in

sailing

packets from

transactions left large profits.

Marco Bozzaris

Indian corn for

sold

this

to Galatz, to take a cargo of

account, which cargo was already

advance with a profit of 2000.

had

bought the Marco Bozzaris a dead bargain, because

Having insured the Admiral

Miaoulis for 10,000 more than I had paid for
her, to make up her real value in case of a loss
because, as I have already said, I bought this
of the dulness of trade.

steamer at considerably less than her real value

and having

her

home

2500, I
started for Paris to receive the outward freight on
the imperial carriages.
I had been about eight days
in Paris, and had received the expected money, when
a telegram arrived at the Louvre Hotel.
It was
from Mr. Henry Stokar, my supercargo on board the
Admiral Miaoulis. He informed me that the steamer,
in a thick fog, had struck on a rock off" the island of
Osel, and was completely wrecked, but all hands were
saved.
This vessel had been one month in my possession, and now her insurances and freights, with the
stores on shore, left me a profit of 15,000.
Yet I
also insured

freight of

was grieved and disappointed at losing her, because

she was of a magnificent build and of great carrying
capacity, and, in my trade, would have cleared a
yearly net profit of at least 8000.
Having returned to London, I received, on account
of the insurances, 32,800, independently of the out
freight,

which

had been paid

at Paris.

As the

acceptances of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navi-

16
gation Company, which I had given for the Admiral
Miaoulis, were to extend over a period of two years, I
able, with the

was

money

received for the insurances,

to increase the credit of the

immediately purchased the

steamers.

company and buy

fresh

Admiral

one of the chartered steamers, giving a

Kanaris,

portion in ready money, and taking credit for twelve

months

for the surplus.

gross

tons

To these
Modern Greece,

twelve months.
tons

the

bought the Asia, of 1093

measurement, half cash, half credit of

I

added the

Scotia,

of 1000 tons burden

1200
;

the

and the Smyrna, of 500

For what I did not pay ready cash, I gave
I contracted
the bills of the Greek and Oriental.
with Messrs. Richardson, Duke, and Co., of Stockton,
for one large steamer, the Palikara, and three small
ones, the George Olympius, the Zaimis, and the
Londos. I contracted with Messrs. John Pile and
Co. for the Petro Beys, and with Messrs. Leslie, of

Patras, of 400 tons burden

tons.

Newcastle, for the Mavrocordatos,

Leonidas,

Colo-

I
cotronis, Pigas Ferreos, and two small yachts.
bought the Powerful from Messrs. Robinson and Fleming, and the Lord Byron from Messrs. Thomas
Wingate and Co., of Glasgow.
It will

ployed,

be seen, by the number of steamers em-

that the trade of the

Greek and Oriental

Company had

attained considerable

Steam' Navigation
expansion.
I

had

And

offers of

them.

yet, spite of the

more goods than

number of

steamers,

had tonnage

to carry

Notwithstanding the competition of the Liver-

pool line, I had goods from the best Greek houses of

Manchester, besides enjoying nearly a monopoly of the

goods of the Greek houses of London.

ceeded,

some time

after,

in

had even

suc-

making the following


17
advantageous contract with the principal shippers of

London, by which they agreed to ship exclusively

with me
:

^Translation.^

The Geeek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

To

my

Felloiv- Countrymen

Oriental

and

Shippers of the Greeh and

the

Steam Navigation Company.

At the present moment, when the competition between steamwhich it cannot go, and
when our fleet is made complete by the addition of the steamers
Smyrna and Patras, which enables us to transport your goods from
Holland and Belgium, and place them direct on board our large
ship owners has reached a point beyond

steamers, without the expense of a double discharging and loading

by

come with more confidence than ever

Lighters, I

support.

am

about to lay before you will cause you to continue

as

you have

to crave

your

persuaded that the few explanatory remarks I

Jiitherto

to

am

use the line

done in so patriotic and praiseworthy a

manner.
If this line has done no other good,

it

has sensibly diminished

the monopoly of the freights on your goods, which, up to

tion,

was

now

that these freights are reduced to their

petitors,

in the hands of a few,

hearing that the

added to the

line,

its

forma-

But

and consequently very high.

minimum, our comtwo steamers above named are to be

and finding that you, the shippers, are deserting

them, propose, as a catch, to accept such freights as will bring

ruinous loss on us.

Leaving to the judgment of each of you the probable results of

this step,

and encouraged by

the* promises of the majority of the

largest shippers, I propose to regulate the freights according to the

following scale

Freights,.

Per Ton.

Sugar (dust) fix)m Amsterdam

1
J n
^ iand
Constantinople

Sugar (loaf)

do.

to

London

do.

_^,
50/.
'

Per Cent.
j

and 10 primage,
^
-,,.

do.

do.

and 10

lo

"

55/. and 10

60/.

Sugar (dust) from Rotterdam to London

and Constantinople
Sugar (loaf)

1
^

.,
ri


18
Per Cent.

Per Ton.

Copper from London to Constantinople

30/. and 10 primage.

30/.

and 10

Iron 35 feet in length

40/.

Tin Plates

30/.

and 10
and 10

Iron

do.

do.

Measurement Goods

Alum

per ton of 40

ft.

^Ji and 10

(in barrels)

Coffee (in bags)

35/.

and 10

35/.

and 10

All other goods in proportion.

If
are

you consent

to these profitable, freights,

to subscribe

much lower than you used

to

pay formerly

which

to sailing vessels, I

promise

To always have two steamers on the berth, so that no one's

The steamers will sail for their destina-

1.

goods shall be shut out.

tions every ten days.

damage should occur

If any breakage of barrels or other

2.

through bad stowage, or through the negligence of

my

superin-

tendent of loading, I undertake to indemnify the merchant.

purpose to get a certificate of good stowage from a surveyor before

each steamer leaves the port of London.
3.

To give

scribers

two persons whom the subLondon to Constantinople, or from

free passage to one or

may wish

to send from

Constantinople to London or other, ports.

4.

To ship

free of charge all small parcels or boxes (jewels

excepted) which the subscribers

may wish

to send

from one port

to another.

"With the freights regulated in this manner, and the Greek and
Oriental Steam Navigation

Company

receiving from you the

same

support that the Greeks of Manchester give to our feUow- country-

men

of Liverpool, I shall be enabled to despatch the boats with

regularity,

and thus prevent

mind that the company

is

exist through your support.

ever,

and

I flatter

all

You

dissatisfaction.

will bear in

a national one, and can only continue to

This support I

myself that I shall obtain

now

crave more than

it.

I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,

Tour obedient
(Signed)

We,

servant,

Stefanos Xenos.

the undersigned, undertake to ship our goods with you at

the freights above named.

19
London,
RODOCANACHI, SoNS,

&

May

IStli,

POUTOU & Co.

M. F. Mateogordato

A. Peteocochino,
G.

S.

Cavaft & Co.

Valliano Brothers.
ZiznsriA

A.

C.

A. Fachiri
J.

& Co.
& Co.

& M.

Edward

Theodore Ralli & Co.

Pana, Cremidi,
NicoLOPOTJLO

&

&

Sons.

&

Co.

Zarifi, Brothers,

Sevastopoulo.

CorrPA, Brothers,

&

G. HOMERE.

Spartali

Soisr,

Lascaridi

&

S,

M.

Co.

Caralambi.

Castellt.

Petrocochino

&

A. PsicHARi (Turkish Consul).

D. Georgiades.

CONSTAJ^TINE GeRALOPOTJLO.

Delasso

&

&

Yitaxis.

T. Negroponti.

Co.

Chrissoveloni.

SCHILITZI, VOUEOS,

&

H. Gerotjsi.
George G. Ceffaea.

Co.

Melas Brothers.
Xenophon Balli.
ZiFFO,

&

Leonidas Baltazzi.

Brothers.

Ralm &

1859.

Cassatetti, Brothers,

Co.

Co.

c2

&

Co.

Alpack.

Co.

Co.

Co.

20

CHAPTER

IV.

THE FIRST CLOUDS.

At

this

time Mr. George Lascaridi seldom came to the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Months intervened between his visits.
Company.
The steamers were making money; the grain was
I was really uncomfortleaving a handsome profit.
help
he had given me,
able, considering the great
to see that he absented himself so much from the
office

of the

1 one day said something like this to him,

and added that the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company was in good condition, and that, if
he wished, I was ready to sign a deed of partnership
He
with the firm of Messrs. Lascaridi and Co.

office.

seemed pleased with the proposition. We sent for

our solicitor, Mr. Hollams, of the firm of Thomas

and Hollams.
I was never more surprised in my life than whilst
listening to George Lascaridi talking to Mr. Hollams.
He told that gentleman he had decided upon making
the Greek and Oriental a limited company, of which
he would be a director and shareholder, and he was
revolving in his mind other names, thinking who else
he would make a director.
I remained silent, and, I must confess, with no
slight effort restrained

my

temper.

I did not like to

Englishman occasion to talk about the " tug

of war," and " Greek meeting Greek." When Mr.
give an

21

Hollams

which he did without any conclusion

left,

being arrived at, I said to Lascaridi

" Had I foreseen that you would have spoken in

way

that

to

Do you

him.
this

company

for

would not have sent for

would be so mad as to turn

Mr. Hollams,
think I

into a limited one

partnership

between

I asked, as before,

line

this

and

Messrs.

Lascaridi and Co."

" If you

" That cannot be," he replied abruptly.

like, I'll join

" That

you, but not the firm."

would be no

not a large capitalist.

use," I answered

" you're

and

Besides, Messrs. Lascaridi

Co. endorsed the bills I gave to the builders of the

They are the responsible parties."

They know nothing at all about the bills. I have
not passed them in their books," was the cool reply.
" Well, George," I answered, " I must tell you
frankly that, spite of the immense debt of gratitude I
owe you for I candidly acknowledge that, but for
your generous help, the Greek and Oriental Company
would not be in its present splendid position still,
steamers.

"

spite of all that, I should feel strong scruples

entering into partnership with you.

should be justified in doing

so,

about

I do not think I

considering that

all

my

transactions hitherto have been with Messrs. Lascaridi

and Co.

am
am

Now, George,

this is

my

position

in partnership with Messrs. Lascaridi

in partnership with nobody.

ners of Lascaridi and Co. give

me

Except

either I

and

Co., or I

all

the part-

a letter signed, that

they have no claims on the Greek and Oriental, only

then will I sign a partnership deed with you.

You

know what you will have to say to these gentlemen

when they come to London and learn all about these
transactions, but I really do not know what to say ta
them."

22
have already mentioned that Messrs. Fachri,
Lascaridi, and Co., of Constantinople, held coal of
I

mine

to the value of

4500

that there

had been a

loss of some thousands on the chartered steamers;

that the Liverpool house of Lascaridi and Co. had
charged me a stiff commission on the purchase of the
General Williams, though I had bought the vessel in

London, direct from the Trustees therefore, if I now

accepted Mr. George Lascaridi as my partner, instead
of Lascaridi and Co., what would be my position 1 In
the first place, the entire loss on the chartered vessels
would be thrown on the Greek and Oriental Steam
;

Company

exclusively, and Messrs. Laswould

appear
as creditors against the
caridi and Co.
company. Secondly, I could not then hold Messrs.
Lascaridi and Co., of London, responsible for the
accounts of their houses at Liverpool and ConstantiAnd, lastly, ties of old friendship with Connople.

Navigation

stantino Lascaridi, brother of George, forbade that I

should assent to the proposal made by the

short, I could not, either in justice to

justice to the firm of Messrs. Lascaridi

into partnership with

George Lascaridi

latter.

In

myself or in

and

Co., enter

individually.

After the interview with Mr. Hollams, and the

conversation that ensued between
Lascaridi, the latter, seeing

regard to the partnership,

my

left

me and

Mr. George

determination with

the office of the Greek

and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which he

never entered again.

Not many days

later,

I learned with astonish-

ment, from one of the builders of our steamers, that

he could make no use of our acceptances drawn by
Messrs. Lascaridi

and

Co.,

because that firm had

accepted nearly a quarter of a million to start the

23

Galway steam

line

that the steamers of that line

were worthless as security

that consequently the
and Co. was ruined in the
eyes of the commercial world.
He added that, as
the Greek and Oriental was believed to be a concern
of Lascaridi and Co., the credit of that company was
;

credit of Messrs. Lascaridi

involved in their ruin.

I was thunderstruck by this piece of intelligence.
had not previously been aware of the existence of the
Galway line. I put on my hat, and went out to gather
what information I could about this company. In the
first place, I went direct to the office of Lascaridi and
Mr. George Lascaridi was not there. I found
Co.
waiting for him a Mr. Henry John Barker one of
I

This gentleman, who afterthe Barkers of Smyrna.

wards played a great role in the office of Overend,
Gurney, and Co., had been unlucky in his commercial

which I now
refer, in a very flourishing position.
I had met him
several times before at Lascaridi's office, and was
under the impression that he was looking for some
trifling commission business.
As I was very familiar with all the clerks, I asked
one privately what brought Mr. Barker so often to the
office.
He said " he did not know, but thought Mr.
Barker had some large transactions with the governor
transactions,

in bills

and was not,

and steamers.

at the time to

He had

often seen

him

there

with Mr. Lever."

"

Who

is

Mr. Lever

" Mr. Lever

is

" I

asked.

the promoter of the Galway

The Governor has something to do with it."

I saw the clerk knew no more.
What
heard was

sufficient to

alarm me.

knew nothing of maritime

line.

had

If Lascaridi,

who

property,

more

especially

"

24
of mail packets, should abandon his legitimate Mediterranean commerce to enter into such transactions, I

saw that he was plunging into the abyss of Tartarus.

On a slip of paper I wrote an invitation, asking Mr.
George Lascaridi to dine with me that evening, adding
that after dinner

then took

more
I

we

I
could talk about business.
through the City, to see what

my way

I could learn about the

Galway

line.

living at that time at No. 27, Victoria Street

was

when

Lascaridi was punctual, and after dinner,

Flats.

we were

left alone, I

asked him, point-blank,

if it

were

true that he had given the acceptances of his firm to

Lever to buy steamers for the Galway line.

" I formed that line
" Oh, yes " he said
!

much

'Tis

better than yours

also.

George " I exclaimed, " in the name of Heaven,

do you know what you are about 1 Do you know
that the old steamers on which you have advanced
They say that you have admoney are worthless 1
I have heard
vanced three times what they cost.
8500
to
Messrs.
Bay
ley
and Eidley
paid
that Lever
for the Indian Empire, and that he mortgaged her
Is this
to you, a few days after, for 25,000.
"

true

"
1

"

What

do you know about all this, and what does

the public understand of this scheme 1 " said Lascaridi?
with an air of annoyance.
" Well, Lascaridi, if half the story be true, addio
mastello con tutte di^natto to the house of Lascaridi and

Co.

And

in

what

position shall I be and the

and Oriental 1

You know

ances, endorsed

by your house, are

that several of our accept-

the builders of the steamers.

renew

if

Greek

to

be renewed by

Do you think

they will

Lascaridi and Co. are obliged to stop pay-

25

And I shall be called upon

50,000 at one moment's notice.
" What have you lost 1 You lose nothing.
You
hold the property mortgage it, and pay," replied
ment

Certainly not.

to pay, perhaps,

Lascaridi, with a sarcastic smile.

" Yes, yes, I

know

all

that

are mortgaged, good-bye

but, once the steamers

Greek and

Oriental.

Ah,

Lascaridi! you have committed suicide, and you have

ruined your partners."

I certainly
bitterness

expressed myself

against

my

friend

Lascaridi was confident that the

come

right ultimately.

He

he expected to be knighted
its

with considerable

that

evening.

Galway

line

But
would

even insinuated that

for

having assisted in

promotion.

own lips some

Galway Company, that
was destined to deal so fatal a blow to many a worthy
commercial City house. But he was secret with me,
and with the Greeks generally, as the Trophonius;
though amongst the English he was in the habit of
boasting that he was the promoter of the line.
I

tried

to

get from Lascaridi's

details respecting this blessed

26

CHAPTER

V.

THE GALWAY STEAM COMPANY.

Messrs. Lascaridi and Co., of London, had drawn
several bills

on

my firm,

Navigation Company.
builders or sellers of

the Greek and Oriental Steam

had given to the

steamers.
It was agreed

These

my

bills I

that a commission should be paid to the

London

firm

of Lascaridi and Co. for that paper.

to

George Lascaridi gave the acceptances of his firm

Mr. John Orrell Lever, who was engaged in esta-

Galway

which was
between the Old and
New Worlds. The scheme was admirable and eminently practicable, and, with the support afforded by
the Governments interested, ought to have been
crowned with success. But we know how different
was the result: the Galway project failed. It was
Mr. George Lascaridi who had undertaken to carry out
the idea of the promoter; it was he who had advanced,
by bills of Messrs. Lascaridi and Co., money to purchase or charter some of the steamers,
he, of course,
taking mortgages on them.
It was he who had
enabled these vessels to start, and show the world
blishing the much-talked-of

line,

to annihilate the space that lies

the possibility of establishing the

line.

Ignorant of

the nature of steam property, not having the slightest

knowledge of maritime

affairs or engineering,

experience in shipping business, he

made

nor any

the most

lamentable mistakes, and he committed unpardonable

errors.

It is well

known

that none of the vessels

27
procured for the Galway line were high-priced.

What

did the Indian Empire,* the Prince Albert, the Pacific,

the Antelope, the Propeller, the Adelaide, the Argo,
or the Circassian cost

After

all,

George Lascaridi might have got over

the consequences of making over-advances on steamers

had he known how to be silent in season. But no

he opened his mouth when he ought to have sealed
his lips, and through his restless vanity betrayed his
;

interests.

The Galway

line, like all

great undertakings that

have had to contend with the prejudices of the multitude, or the private interests of powerful individuals,

was

at first ridiculed as chimerical.

It

was

so repre-

sented by the Liverpool people.

The subsidy granted
by Government was, in the House of Commons, made
And yet,
a ground of complaint by the Opposition.
spite of all this, the Galway line struggled into comit began to attract public notice.
owing
to
this
line that the steamers of the
It was
other companies of Liverpool first began to call at
Ireland.
Opinions were put forward as to its probable success, and, finally, praise was given to the
getters-up of the scheme. This was more than George
Lascaridi could bear. He whispered, in hints and innuendoes, that he was the creator
in fact, the capitalist
This
that had advanced money for the undertaking.
becoming generally known, Lascaridi and Co. began to
lose credit, and the Galway line prestige.
How could
a line supported by a single individual compete with

mercial existence;

* Messrs. Bayley and Ridley sold the Indian Empire to Mr.

John

Orrell Lever for ,8500.

She was a wooden paddle American

steamer, called Henser, belonging to the port of Bremen.

28
the powerful opposition of Liverpool'?

Moreover,

it

was whispered that the capitalist had advanced and

taken mortgages on the steamers for twice their value,
when a steady man of business would only have taken

them for half. And then misfortunes came to complete

what want of foresight had begun. The steamers were as
unlucky as though the Fate Atropos had secured a permanent berth on board of each. One broke down, another took

fire

a few miles off the Irish coast, a third

ran short of coal, and was obliged to convert her bul-

warks, water-barrels, and the covers of her hatches

into fuel to enable her to reach her destination.
this was, of course, great

All

fun for the Cunard people

and yet the Galway line was a splendid scheme. Had

it been commenced with real capital, and with proper
had it been judiciously organized by compackets
petent persons that line ought to have absorbed

several of the competing companies.

I

have never been able to learn, either from Mr.

George Lascaridi or from Mr. John Orrell Lever, the

bills accepted by Messrs. LasOne night,
caridi and Co. to start the Galway line.

exact amount of the

was reading the manuscript of the present work

to Mr. Lever, at his house in Eccleston Square, he
corrected me, en 'passant^ touching the rumoured
200,000, which he reduced to 112,000, For this
amount he was able to account.
Be the amount of these responsibilities what it
may be also the minor details, the petty ambitions,
the mutual jealousies, and even the romantic episodes
inseparable from the first risings of such an enterprise
be they, I repeat, what they may, one fact is certain,
that, as the time drew near when the bills would reach
maturity, George Lascaridi became anxious and preas I

29
This was the time that a joint account

occupied.

gation

office

me

expressions,

long absence

his

Greek and Oriental Steam Navican now solve what was then an

of the

Company
to

his firm for the chartered

now understand

I can

steamers,

from the

enigma

me and

between

existed

his absence of mind,

and

his

unconnected

remarkable neglect even of his

his

personal appearance.

The Galway

which

line,

figures in the

books of

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., as entailing a loss

may more

down

at a loss

of 1,300,000, because the East India and

London

of 839,000,

correctly be set

Shipping Company, Limited, which

is

debited with a

loss of

578,218, was the legitimate child of the

Galway

line.*

With

one fact at least

regard to this latter company,

certain, that at the time of its

is

* The steamers wliose

names follow formed the fleet of the

Company
Indiana, Golden Fleece,
Lady Jocelyn, Queen of the South, Jason, Hydaspis, and Calcutta.
When that line became a losing concern, and was consequently
wound up, the European and American Steam Navigation took
them up, but also went to grief. Mr. Edward Watkin Edwards,
as the official assignee, advertised the steamers for sale, and Mr.
John Orrell Lever, of the Galway Company, bought them, through
Mr. Edwards that is to say, Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.
discounted the bills of Mr. Howard, of Manchester, and Mr. Lever,
and took as security mortgages on these steamers. Mr. Lever, on
General

Screw

Steamship

dit,

paid about =220,000 for the entire

Anglo-Luso Company,

to

fleet,

and then started the

run between England and

been unable to learn who

Brazil.

have

was that caused Messrs. Overend,

be saddled with these steamers, which ruined

Gurney, and Co.

to

Mr. Howard and

lost

it

no end of money.

Shortly afterwards Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co.; under the advice of Mr. Edwards, established with

which now

them the East India aud London Steamship Company,

Gurney, and

figures in the estate of Messrs. Overend,

Co. for 578,218.

30

was ephemerally under the triumvirate of

Messrs. John Orrell Lever, George Lascaridi, and
Henry John Barker.

spargana

it

Did these three

international hypates combine, or

did two only act in transferring the securities of the

Galway line to Messrs. Overend,

Did Mr. George Lascaridi alone
conclude the transaction, or was Mr. Henry John
steamers of the

Gurney, and Co.

Barker the

know

is,

sole jproxenites ?

know

not.

All I do

that Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. took

same
amount, or a little more, that Lascaridi and Co. had
advanced, and for doing this Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
and Co. discounted new acceptances on Messrs. Lascaridi and Co., and handed Mr. George Lascaridi a big
cheque to meet the old ones. These acceptances were

up the mortgages on these steamers

renewed from time

What

to time afterwards.

advantage did the house of Lascaridi and

In

Co. gain by this transaction %

tial

for the

advantage

benefit on

points.

diate ruin of the firm

unification of

no substan-

but this financing offered an apparent

two

reality,

its

In the

first

was averted

place, the

imme-

and, secondly, a

debts was effected, one creditor being

The house of Lascaridi and Co.

substituted for many.
was now in the hands of the great money-lenders of
the British empire, and the great money-lenders were
under the power of an official assignee of the Bankruptcy Court.
I cannot say

who drew

the

new

bills,

nor what

was the amount, nor can I say for what consideration

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. did the transaction.

What
of the

I can say

is,

that once in their hands, the affairs

Galway Company presented from day

new appearance,

to

day a

following the labyrinthian ways and

31
multitudinous intrigues of the wonderful
Street house,

when

whose

my

I introduce

readers within

It is not the object of this

Lombard

be best understood

intricacies will

work

its

to

portals.

show how long

Company existed under this system of

by renewing bills, before it was transformed
into the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company;
the Galway

financing,

neither

is it

within the scope of this work to enter into

the details of the dispute between the Menelaus, Lascaridi,

and the

Paris, Lever,

arbitration case of

which caused that famous

many months,

decided ultimately

by the modern Agamemnon, Edward Watkin Edwards.

The

prize in dispute, if

my memory

is

not also " a

blank" was not a beautiful Helen, but an award of

the beautiful sum of 70,000,* which I have never
learned if Lever paid and
I do not

mean

if

George Lascaradi received.

to enter into the petty contests that oc-

curred at the different board meetings of the Galway

Company, between Mr. Roebuck, M.P., and my friend

George Lascaridi nor do I intend to notice the negotiations and manoeuvres got up to obtain a large
subsidy from Lord Derby, and for which our leviathan
capitalists killed the goose before she began to lay her
;

golden eggs

nor do I propose to quote the obscure

magazine that manufactured sensational paragraphs,

eulogistic of the gallant and veteran steamers of the
company, and which, strange to say, found their way
into the daily press, and kept the

Galway

line

and

promoters in a strong light before the public.

its

Dis-

regarding such topics, I take up what directly concerns

the general public and myself
loss of

namely, how the great

839,000 must have occurred.

* This award some say was considerably more than 70,000.

32

The Galway Company passed into the hands of

Messrs. Edward Watkin Edwards and David Ward
Chapman, " perfectly solvent," as Mr. Lever asserted
in his letter to the Tiynes of the 28th of January, this
year.

Mr. Edward Watkin Edwards, though he had never

been a seaman, a merchant, or a naval architect, underHe proposed, with, of
took to organize the company.
course, the consent of the new company's board, to
build five large steamers, having

all

the modern im-

provements. With these he hoped to retrieve past

losses, to fling a halo of fame round the name of the
company, recover public confidence, and benefit the
capitalists and shareholders. The Atlantic Royal Mail

Steam-Packet Company constructed the Hibernia, the

Columbia, the Anglia, the Connaught, and bought the
Adriatic.

If I do not mistake, these steamers cost

from 80,000
* The

to

120,000 each;* but, instead of

new steamers bought by

the Atlantic Koyal Mail Steam-

Packet Company were the Hibernia, 2005 tons, 800 horse-power,

built on the Tyne by Palmer Brothers, at a cost of about .100,000.
Messrs. Laird, of Birkenhead, were afterwards paid .40,000

say .60,000

to strengthen her.

some

If such be really her cost, she would

Here is a dead loss of 140,000 in one

what she lost on her voyages. The Columbia, 2903 tons register, 1000 horse-power, was built in 1861, at
HuU, by Messrs. Samuelson and Co., as well as the Anglia, 2949
not realize to-day 20,000.

single steamer, exclusive of

tons register, and

1000 horse-power.

These steamers

cost, as

am

informed by a competent authority, about 100,000 each. The

Adriatic, 3670 tons, and 140 horse-power, was an old wooden

American steamer, built by Mr. George Steer, of New York, in

The Connaught, which was lost, was built by Messrs.
1854.
Palmer Brothers. These steamers were mortgaged to the Imperial
Mercantile Discount Company, Limited, of which Mr. Henry John
Barker, formerly of 4, Abchurch Lane, was the manager. All these
steamers, in which such an enormous amount of money was sunk

33
profits,

each voyage entailed

losses.

Had

these vessels

made profitable voyages, they would be still running.

The consumption of fuel by one of these steamers is
something fabulous. I saw three of them lately lying
at Liverpool

they are fine-looking vessels, and were

they serviceable, the Liverpool people would not allow

them

to lie idle.

now be found

I doubt whether a purchaser could

that

would give 20,000

a-piece for

them.

Now, five such steamers would cost 600,000.

And whence came such a sum to be locked up in so
Whence came the working
depreciating a property
capital
no trifle of this line 1 What became of the
'?

old ships, and

Who

how much

did their mortgages realize

bore the loss they entailed

What moneys had

the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam-Packet

the public

what sum did the shares

these items are put together,

divine

it

Company from
realize

If all

will not be difficult to

what became of the 839,000.

Li such a

colossal business there are always small commissions,

brokerages, douceurs, charges for bonus, interest, &c.,

which tend
are,

to

draw

off"

the vitality of the concern.

with the one exception of the Connaught, now eating their

heads in the docks of Birkenhead and Southampton, and are quite

unmarketable.

I have heard that, within the last few days, the

Ang'lia has been sold to the Turkish

less

than 20,000.

Government

for a great deal

34

CHAPTER

VI.

A COMMEECIAL PEESEUS.

Mr. George Lascaridi,

blunders,

is

of all his commercial

spite

a most noble-hearted and upright man.

His generosity is such that, had he the means, he

would willingly, at his own cost, relieve all the wants
of suffering humanity.

but his ambition

is

He

extremely ambitious,

is

blended with a soft-heartedness

him unable to say " No," even

whom he knows are imposing on his kindness.
that renders

to those

At

the

head of a powerful Greek firm, he grew tired of following the monotonous routine of the export and import
Greek trade; he wished to distinguish himself in the
British metropolis by some great national act that
would win the praise of the English people. Had the
Galway line worked successfully, Lascaridi's foresight,
pluck, and enterprising spirit would have been the
theme of universal praise. Besides the wealth he
would have reaped, so splendid a success would have
paved the way for his firm to enter on still greater
undertakings.

It is sad to

think the result was so

different.

Commercial men, even of great experience, often

commit serious errors. Whether George Lascaridi
was misled by others, or whether he voluntarily took
a leap in the dark, I cannot say
that

what he did was done

in

expectation of surprising his

countrymen by his splendid

but I

am

good

faith,

and in

and

fellow-

partners

success.

He

convinced

could not

?5
suspect

others of malicious practices of which

he

was not himself capable. He was ignorant of the

maxim that now obtains amongst the City neophytes
'O yap Gai'ttToc oov

(your death

|Uou

ttoi'i

is

my

life).

Entangled in a many-meshed net, and seeing that his

partners were irritated because he had involved
in affairs from
apart, his sole

which they had wished to keep entirely

aim was to get out of the difficulty as

best he could.

of the

them

Was

it

pardonable in the promoters

Galway Company

to

take advantage of his

him with
where was the harm in

ignorance of maritime property, and saddle

worthless steamers'?

If so,

his transferring the precious load to the shoulders of

the

first capitalist

burden 1

he could find ready

Unfortunately,

my

to

assume the

friend Lascaridi, carried

away by a strong ambition, not satisfied with engaging

Galway Company, embarked simultaneously in
other enterprises, and became a veritable commercial
Perseus.
If he never killed a Medusa or rescued
an Andromeda, it is certain that he petrified more
in the

than one Polydectes.

Simultaneously with the Gal-

way affair, he got into commercial connexion with Mr.

Valsamis, a Greek merchant of Glasgow, and his relaTo this gentleman he also gave the accepttive.
ances of his firm for some thousands of pounds,
wishing to extricate him from certain difficulties. He
was equally liberal of these acceptances to some Greek
firms of Manchester.
It seemed as though he would
fain extend his

He

arms to every corner of the earth.

sent Mr. A. B. Manuel, one of his clerks and a

and expended thousands

in bale goods to clothe the Moroccians and Tunisians.
The acceptances were also brought into requisition to
assist a M. Mavrogordato to establish, in different
distant relative, to Gibraltar,

D.2


36
of London, French

streets

Of

French perfumeries.

well

glove-shops, as

as

these speculations, the

all

most useful was the famous bill-discounting office of

Mr. Henry John Barker, at No. 4, Abchurch Lane.

He

Lascaridi was precipitate in action.

is

true,

made a lucky coup

that carried

very colophon of success; but

if

if

often, it

him

to the

the blow missed

his undertaking were attended by ill-luck

then

his

reasonmg faculties seemed to be obscured. He was

sometimes fickle as the wind at others, obstinate as
a mule.
A flatterer could turn him away from the
;

most serious business, when a friend could not open

impending calamity. He was

his eyes to a flagrant

trifles, and foolishly communicative

where his interest demanded profound silence.
He would trifle with his commercial credit as a virtuous but vain woman often does with her reputation

mysterious about
in cases

Avhen she

flirts

with a

He

snob..

associated himself

with the most chimerical schemes, and endeavoured

to carry out at the

What
many

says the

same time ten

Greek proverb

diflerent projects.

"

He who

hares at once, catches none."

And

pursues

so it

was

with Lascaridi.
Mysterious about

with serious business

should not
dinner

know

trifles

flippant

when

dealing

most cautious that the

world

that he paid four shillings for his

he would,

at the

same time, not hesitate

to

boast publicly that he had advanced 200,000 to pro-

mote the Galway Steam Company, or that he had lent

100,000 to establish the Greek and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company. What I think will astonish
the world

is,

to hear that, in advancing all

these

acceptances of Messrs. Lascaridi and Co., in engaging

in these

large

undertakings, Mr. George

Lascaridi

37

seldom made a written agreement, seldom had a distinct

verbal understanding before witnesses, and seldom had
a moral guarantee or security from the persons with

whom

he thus connected himself. He launched into

wild speculations, he plunged into fathomless commercial depths, but he always hoped to recover his

come

footing and

safe

He

land.

to

written contracts, because the

did not like

men whom he put

were poor men, peaceful and

As they were entirely
honest, but his creatures.
dependent on him, he thought that any time it was in
forward or

assisted

his power, if things turned out well, to take his share

of the profits

of bankruptcy,

because, in the always possible event

it

was obviously more advantageous

than as a partner.

for his firm to appear as a creditor

Did George Lascaridi seek

who, when

his indebtedness

to imitate

amounted

cleared all in one swoop, leaving

Marc Antony,
to

Rome

500,000,
to

wonder

so much gold ?
Or did his ambition
make him aspire to resemble Marcus Crassus, who, after
feasting the Roman people, and squandering money

where he found

right and

left,

And was

it

died worth a million and a half sterling

famous Claudius, who

whom he
designed to set free, that he took by the hand Mr.
Henry John Barker, M. Valsamis, M. Manuel, and
was wont

in the spirit of the

to give fabulous prices for slaves

others, intending to

make them wealthy

favourite freedman of Claudius'?

caridi, in

like a

my humble

as Pallas, the

Mr. George Las

opinion, was flying on a Pegasus

commercial Perseus.

38

CHAPTER
MY

VII.

AGENTS.

The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company

was now entirely under my control. In fact, that
company was now nothing more nor less than myself:
I was sole owner, sole manager, and

And what
came out

sole

director.

times those were in which that company

what prospects were opened before

it

avoided competition in London by opening the line of

the Danube, and, instead of sending

my

steamers on

made them touch at the intermediate ports

also by making my contract with the Greeks of London.
With respect to the home cargo I had nothing to fear.
The Greek shippers in the Levant not only regarded
to Odessa,

my

line

far as

with a patriotic

higher freight to
asking.
I

affection,

on some occasions to pny

But

but even went so

five shillings

per ton

my steamers than my opponents were

this

was not

all.

had sent up the Danube

several small steamers,

each of about 2000 quarters of grain-carrying capacity,

and drawing

small

draught of water.

It

was

intended that these small steamers should go up the

river as far as

and bring
large

it

they could

down

float,

load the grain there,

to the Sulina

steamers, having unloaded

mouth, where
the

cargoes

my
they

brought from London, would re-ship the grain, and

bring it back to England. I considered that, if other

Greek houses were making large profits, though they

bought the grain at Galatz or Ibraila, and shipped it on

39
chartered vessels, I ought to be able to do
seeing that I could

up the

river,

and

much better,

buy the grain many miles higher

directly

from the growers.

Besides,

being able to transport the grain by steam from Sulina

to England, I gained in time

on

my opponents.

My plan was comprehensive, and success inevitable.

Convinced of
execution.

this,

I did not delay putting

I immediately sent a

it

into

Mr. Henry Stokar

to

Galatz to take the management of the Danube steamers,

and buy the grain. I furnished him with large credits.

Mr. Stokar was a young man Avho had been some
time in

my employment. He was supercargo

the Britannia, then clerk in the

office,

on board

then supercargo

and when that vessel

was wrecked in the Baltic, he behaved so gallantly
that I gave him the appointment at Galatz in preference to many who perhaps thought they had
stronger claims.
He was of mixed race his father
being French, his mother English and possessed
on board the Admiral Miaoulis

of great courage.
strongly

in

his

The
nature.

Gallic spirit revealed itself

He

was a proud, high-

minded man, hot tempered, and apt to regard things

from a military rather than a commercial point of view.
He often construed a slight pleasantry into an offence,
and was always ready to demand gentlemanly satisfaction.
He had never been engaged in business, and
had no commercial experience, but he was a shrewd,
sagacious man, very persevering, and most zealous in
the interests of his employer and, over and above all
this, he was a strictly honest man.
But, though he
;

spared no trouble, and even risked his

service,

he unfortunately stuck

strictly military a spirit, that

therefrom, even

life

in

to his orders in

my
so

he would never deviate

when circumstances had

arisen that


40

them a palpable loss, or the

Another of
an
evident gain.
them
departing from

made the

fulfilling of

This
poor Stokar's weaknesses was his economy.
would
that
he
Galatz,
he carried to such an extent at
He never engaged a
fain do all the business himself.
proper

staff

of clerks

he had not even a book-keeper.

After Stokar had been some time at Galatz, the

or rather his want of system
effects of his system

became apparent. I, who did not know where the

Though Stokar had
error lay, was quite puzzled.
shipped and consigned about thirty thousand quarters
of Danubian grain, he had never sent me any account
or invoice for what he had paid, so that I was left in
utter darkness as to how the machinery was working.
His letters were very long, full of projects, hopes, and
expressions of devotedness, but they were very uncommercial, self-contradictory,

know what

to think.

I did not

and obscure.

sometimes began to fancy that

Stokar had fallen into the hands of those

men

called

magazzinieri (warehousemen), and that they had deceived and robbed him, or else that he was not the

man

I had taken

him

for fresh credits before

had

to

England.

to be.

Stokar applied to

he could ship

all

became alarmed.

me

the grain he

Knowing

that

the best-conceived plans are often rendered abortive

by a check suffered in the commencement, I decided

upon immediately sending some one to Galatz, to inspect affairs there.

I selected for this task a

Thcologos, a Greek Smyrniote,

whom

M. Peter

had some

months before engaged for the Greek correspondence.

This M. Theologos had some commercial experience,
having been formerly connected with a celebrated firm
that bore the name of the great Jewish lawgiver
that firm which a spendthrift

nephew abandoned to the

41

amused himself, at the

West-end or at Paris, in pursuits more congenial to his
age and tastes that firm which fell with a crash that
I may
re-echoed through England and the Levant.
direction of clerks, whilst he

just observe, en jjassant, that

when

the wardrobe of

a certain fair Timandra was brought to the hammer,

twenty-five magnificent

Eape, of the Boulevard

new

dresses,

Italien,

made by Madame

were knocked down at

800 an enormous price. After the fall of that house

Theologos started in business on his own account, and
on the ocean of commerce like a bit of cork that
He was
never sinks, but that never reaches harbour.
One day he came up to me in the
in great distress.
floated

Corn Market, and told me

and
was the 15th of June,
1858.
I did it with pleasure,* and I afterwards took
him into my ofiice at a salary of 150 per annum.
He
Theologos was a thoughtful, taciturn man.
smoked little cigarettes of Turkish tobacco whilst
he wrote his letters, but his work was well done.
He never made any observation, never advanced
any opinion he was of a tranquil and contented
nature, and seemed to take the greatest interest in
asked

me

to lend

him 10.

his desperate position,

It

the business.

It w^^s

about the time that Theologos

my employment

that Mr. Alexander Carnegie,

had not prospered in business, closed his
own ofliice, and entered mine, as head clerk, at a salary
of 350 per annum.
I had known Alexander Carnegie since 1856.
He
was a clerk in the office of the ship-brokers, Messrs.

entered

finding he

* Received of Mr.

S.

Xenos the sum of ten

promise to pay after three months,

pouncls,

which I

London, 15th June, 1858.

P. Theologos.

42
A. Blackie and Co., 23, Harp Lane, Great Tower
Street,

with which, since 1853, I

transactions in ships

and

He

coal.

have had large

started in business

on his own account as ship-broker, in 1856, at No. 2,

Ingram Court, Fenchurch Street. I chartered through
him the Youth, Token, Foreman, and some other
ships, which turned out most profitable.
Alexander Carnegie was then a young man. He
was very active in his movements, and endowed with
an extraordinary perseverance and volubility of tongue,
which he delighted to display upon any subject of
which he was master, or of which he believed his
He was an ambitious and
auditory to be ignorant.
very sharp man.

Carnegie tried to join

1856, seeing

We

my

many

spent

arrange with

me

in business in the year

connexion with the Greek shippers.

me

evenings together.

He

packets should be transacted in his name for

modation.

wanted

that all the loading business of

I declined.

to

my

my accom-

I was, however, always very

him any business upon which he could

make a good commission. In 1857 our acquaintance
He continued a ship-broker on his own
declined.

willing to give

account, and after three years (the 15th of March,

1859) he found himself landed in my ofiice, where

(See Appendix, No. 8.)
fortune waited him.

When

Theologos

left for

letters to Stokar, authorizing

I also gave

nizing

him

him
as

the Danube, I gave

him

him

to inspect the books.

private letters to the captains, recog-

my agent, and

for Stokar, ordering

him

I gave

to deliver

Theologos and return to London.

him private letters

up the business to

These private

letters

were to be used only in case he should discover some

abuse of confidence or breach of trust on Stokar' s part.

43
Theologos's letters in the beginning represented

my Danubian affairs as in a state of great

He said it was difficult to put matters in

confusion.
order,

account of the absence of books and vouchers.

on
His

reports gradually assumed a darker colouring, until

he delivered his

finally

letters of recognition to the

captains and to Stokar.

The latter had, from the first
moment of Theologos's arrival, complained in his letters

He

me.

had evidently taken a

man,
was no wonder.
They were totally opposite characters. One was open,
impetuous, untouched by the spirit of diplomacy the
other was silent, deep, self-possessed, mild-looking, and
endowed with great diplomatic tact. How often does it
happen that, in obscure and narrow circles, as subtle a
to

whom

he regarded as a

dislike to the

It

rival.

game

is

played, and with as

much

skill as

was ever

played in the most Machiavelian cabinets.

struggle, the victory

doomed

is

dis-

In such a

Poor Stokar was

to the calm.

to fall.

When Theologos took the command of the business,

Stokar's rage

the sums of

was

so great that

money that he

he refused to deliver

held.

Nor was

it

until the

was obtained that he

Even
then he did not deliver the coal to Theologos he
placed it at the British consulate, and came to London
interference of the British consul

gave up the deposits of coal I kept at Galatz.

to settle accounts

with

me

in person.

had delivered up the business and the

property of mine that he held to the man I sent out,
and then come to London and entered into explanations
If Stokar

with me, there

is

no doubt but that

should have sent

him back to Galatz to manage with Theologos that

well-planned scheme which within twelve months
But
revolutionized the o;rain market of Galatz.

44
instead of doing this, Stokar went about the

my

town of Galatz exposing

my

quently injuring

security the property of

mine that he

who exported

All this

held.

my

conse-

keep as

tried to

esclandre put arms into the hands of

petitors in those parts

and,

affairs,

He

credit.

little

trade com-

and their

grain,

consignees in London.

Stokar

Before

arrived

in

England, I had sent

Carnegie out to Galatz, where I established the firm of

Theologos

and Carnegie.

London, he

tried to give

When
me

how he had managed affairs

Stokar came to

a verbal explanation of

But, as a com-

at Galatz.

mercial man, I could not be satisfied with verbal ex-

Stokar

I required arithmetical evidence.

planations.

could not produce a satisfactory balance-sheet. Besides,

his late proceedings at Galatz

had

so

shaken

fidence, that I could not think of again taking

my

employment

until

he should have

and menacing.

willing to

make

him

into

satisfactorily

He threatened law.

every excuse for the vexation he

we agreed

and, to avoid litigation,

differences to

con-

Stokar became excited, im-

explained his accounts.

pertinent,

my

was
felt,

submit our

to

Stokar claimed 4000

an arbitration.

from the Greek and Oriental.

However, I appointed
an arbitrator, Stokar named another, and an umpire

was agreed

on.

This arbitration business was pro-

longed throughout a year, and might have gone on

still

longer, but that I

happened one day

Stokar on board a penny steamer on the

him

to dine

the

matters

1000, and

The
sat,

with me, and that evening

in

dispute.

each

was

to

agreed

to

meet

I asked

we arranged

to

give

him

pay his own expenses.

by surprise. They had

two Vice-Chancellors, disputing points of

arbitrators were taken

like

river.

45
law,

when a little common

busmess at once.
with more

sense

would have

must say that

satisfaction

settled the

I never paid

money

than I did that 1000.

Poor Stokar was victimized. He had been robbed

by the magazzimeri,hMt that knowledge was suppressed,
and all the blame was thrown on Stokar.

When Stokar found himself in possession of

1000, he returned to Galatz, and attempted some
commercial speculations on his own account (he
inherited also, one year after, 3000 from a relative)
but after a few years he returned to England
;

Within a few weeks after I read the

announcement of his death in the Times. The intelligence sent a pang through my heart.
Stokar,
with his chivalrous sense of honour, would have been
an invaluable servant to me, had I sent a good bookkeeper with him to Galatz, and given him my brotherin-law as a partner, to supply his want of commercial
penniless.

experience.

Had

fallen into the

and

suffered the

me by

done

this,

I should never have

hands of Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

annoyance and heavy

losses caused

the ungrateful clerks that took his place.

46

CHAPTER

VIII.

A GRAVE MISTAKE.

now

I SHALL

return to the working of the great ma-

chinery that I had established in London, and which

forms the principal topic of

bills for

150,000

to provide for
if

your

is

them

is

this narrative.

To

accept

only an affair of a few minutes;

also only a

credit is virgin,

momentary

your property

free,

concern,

your busi-

ness well organized, and your enemies too insignificant

you serious injury. But it is a Sisyphean labour

if, while you are trying to meet your responsibilities
by financing, you become the object of a Government
For a short time I was in the first cateopposition.
I had established my credit, I had overcome
gory.
my enemies, and I thought all was safe. I hoped,

to do

with a

fleet

of steamers, I should be able to realize

numerous national schemes which I had formed. I

was, besides, the owner of a Greek newspaper as powerful in the Levant as the Times in England, which
supported the steamers.

What ought not the possessor

of such means to be able to achieve with due capacity"?

But the change of the commercial position of George
Lascaridi now,

and the conduct of Theologos and

Carnegie, caused the failure of

known

then what

know now,

different turn to affairs.

my

mission.

Had

would have given a

I could have saved the Greek
I

and Oriental in 1860, by turning it into a limited comI could at that time have secured the support
pany.

47
of

many powerful

personages to join

Had

it.

done

should never have fallen into the hands of

this, I

I should never
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.
have been in the power of Edwards and others, who,
;

when no

ties

When the

know me.

first bills fell

punctually met, and there

at

my

business,

of interest united us any more, pretended

that they did not even

bankers

months

my

on the ruins of

after having fattened

due, they were, of course,

still

remained a large balance

I could, however, see that before three

on the brink of a precipice. Lascaand Co.'s credit was gone; I had nothing to expect

ridi

I should be

from them

in fact, I could never

now

get a glimpse

His time was wholly occupied with the

Galway Company, which had involved him in endless
of George.

arbitrations.

To meet my

me

difficulties

two ways were open before

company, or raise

I could either " finance " the

money by mortgaging

the steamers.

Money was

at

that time very cheap, being at about 3^ per cent.

"

To

finance a

company

use amongst the great

" is a technical phrase in

City capitalists,

and means

nothing more than raising money after a certain

Some person connected with

fashion.

that

is

to

be " financed,"

draws

bills,

the

company

either

from

abroad or in England, upon the said company; this

some bill-broker, and the

money handed over to the company to meet urgent
payments. My company could be " financed " much
more easily than is daily done in other cases. The
foreign exchanges might have been made the basis of
the financial operations.
Such a mode is often more
profitable than drawing accommodation bills, but it
requires credit, and that your partners abroad should
paper

is

discounted by

48
be shrewd and

active,

and know how

to

read the

barometer of foreign exchanges.

I did not intend to adopt that practice, because

my

agents were not of a capacity to carry out such an

What

operation.

I proposed was, that

my

agents at

Galatz should draw at three months on the Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation Company, for the full value
of the grain shipped on board
receipt of the

my

On

steamers.

of lading I could

bills

sell

the

the cargoes

and receive

the

money long

before the arrival of the steamers.

By

acting in this

whilst

floating,

still

hand the value of the grain and

the home freight viz., larger sums of money than
my monthly liabilities amounted to.

way

I should have in

By

this

mode

of proceeding I should also escape

the commission and heavy interest that must be paid

to mortgagees

The

and

to bill-discounters.

realization of

on the capacity, the

management

of

my

tact,

my

scheme depended entirely

and the good commercial

agents

at

Galatz.

could

not attempt to enter into arrangements with any

of the Greek houses that had an establishment at
Galatz, because, in doing so, I should be obliged to

give

details concerning

my

business

should be

had purchased my fleet, who

and who my partners.
were
In fact, I should have been obliged to solve the enigma
that puzzled the whole Greek trade and what would
be the consequence 1 A revelation of my affairs would
obliged to

tell

how

the capitalists concerned,

have shaken to the foundation the splendid fabric that

awed and dazzled

so

many.

Any

other Greek house,

on learning that I had out acceptances for so many

thousand pounds for the value of the steamers, would
have told their correspondents to have nothing to do
with

my

paper.

49

A projJOs^ I

forgot to mention an instance in

the inexperience that had thrown

me

which

into the chitches

of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., also caused

me

serious loss.

Before the outbreak of the Italian war, and before

my
in

connexion with Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

December, 1858, I was owner of 50,000 quarters

of Black Sea grain, principally wheat, unshipped or

shipped in ships and steamers, and 30,000 tons of

This grain cost

prices

than

went up

me

to 55^. per quarter,

its cost price.

coal.

Suddenly

about 325. per quarter.

and coal 1 more

Here were the means of

realizing

80,000 profit by an instant sale. Calculating upon

what had occurred during the Crimean War, when the
prices of wheat went up so rapidly to 8O5. per quarter,
and coal to 4 per ton, I expected that within a few
weeks prices would be doubled, and that I should

sum

realize a

sufficient to clear all

my

steamers.

My

brother Aristides one day called upon me to induce me

" Sell, Stefanos, and you will never repent," he
to sell.
said.

" I will not," I replied

adding, "

The market

in a few weeks will be IO5. or 15s. per quarter higher.

At

the time of the Crimean

War

wheat went up

to

war will last many months." " Sell,

Stefanos if I were in your place I would sell, at the
" No," I
present profit, the corn and the coal."

9O5.

and

this

replied again.

played tout 'pour tout.

The suddenly

concluded peace of Villa Franca caused a revulsion in

the grain and coal markets.
to their former

days,

my

figure.

fairy vision of gain.

as I hoped, I only

made on

Instead of 100,000,
the

transaction

about

If I had sold, I should never have fallen

power of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

10,000.
into the

Prices rapidly returned

So vanished, within a few

50

CHAPTER

IX.

DISAPPOINTMENT.

The
was

footing on which I was standing at that time

so

much

better than that of any other commercial

Levantine house, that I ought to have had no

My

culty in obtaining the credit I needed.

diffi-

company

was unlimited, and I was the sole

the sole owner in whose
transactor of its business
name the steamers were registered at the Customwas not limited,

it

The
House, and the sole acceptor of the bills.
steamers were not idle they were constantly in full
woi'k
they were free of mortgage, and represented

How

a large tangible capital.

position to that of the

began

different

many houses

to inundate the grain trade

was such a

that just then

houses

that,

the brilliant robe of credit, hid a skeleton form

My

agents, Theologos

and Carnegie, who were to

be the instruments for the carrying out of

had

under

at Galatz several steamers in full

my project,

work

they had

large deposits of coal, representing a vast capital,

they startled their corn

and

merchants by the large credits

had given them on first-class London bankers. With

such credits, they ought gradually to have put the
paper of my company into circulation, and so have
raised my credit to the highest point.
I had a clear
understanding with them on this subject before they
I

left

England.

They knew perfectly well

that the pro-

jected credit was the real steam that was to keep

fleet afloat.

my

61
I

am

not vain-glorious

but no practical merchant

fail to see that my scheme, fully worked out,

would have brought in a golden harvest. But it is not
sufficient for a merchant that his project is well de-

can

vised

is

it

equally important that he should find

servants competent

to

carry

it

into execution,

and

conscientiously devoted to their employer's interest.

I

more unlucky

was

my second choice of
my first. But the worst

in

agents than I had been in

was, that I had placed myself in a position in which

I could

make no move now, nor remove my

without disturbing the action

of

the

agents,

whole ma-

When I wrote to them in Galatz, ordering

draw on the company for some thousands of
pounds part to buy grain, and part to be remitted to
me in drafts on first-class houses, to enable me to meet
some urgent payments I received an absolute refusal
from Carnegie, who finished his letter by telling me
that he had not gone to Galatz to furnish me with
money, but to make some for himself. He further
added that I must send him fresh bankers' credit.
My disappointment was great. My first impulse
was to recall Carnegie. He was not the man to
develop a scheme which would eventually have
brought him wealth, and raised him in the social
It was plain that he did not wish to row in
scale.
the same boat with the man who had pulled him
half drowned out of the watei-.
I immediately telegraphed to my brother-in-law at Smyrna, asking him
He
to take the management of my house at Galatz.
was then a merchant in easy circumstances, and pos-

chinery.

them

to

sessed

was

of large landed property in

so indignant because,

refused his

demand

to

when

Smyrna.

He

removed Stokar, I

go there, that now he declined

e2

52
the

offer.

logos,

was

when

who

at a loss

to

I received a letter

send out with Theo-

from the very man,

saying that he wrote, at the desire of his partner, to

say

how

sorry Carnegie

were both, he

was

They

for his last letter.

said, willing to

do whatever I desired,

but that the fact was that Stokar had circulated so

many evil reports against me and the company, that
they could only

establisli

the credit by degrees, which

they were very anxious to do.

So he proposed to

draw two-thirds bills on bankers and one-third on the

Greek and Oriental. The same mail brought me a
letter from Carnegie, expressing his regret for what
I had also a letter
his former epistle contained.
from Scotland, from Carnegie's father. He asked me
not to remove his son, because he was devoted to my
interests,

An

and personally attached

excess of prudence

Remembering what took

to myself.

has ruined

many men.

place in Stokar's

case,

removed Carnegie, he would, perfeared

haps, go open-mouthed through Galatz, and injure the
credit of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation
that, if I

Company;

swallow the

so I resolved to

pill.

On

the other hand, I must confess that the grain sent

England by Theologos and Carnegie was all of

good quality, and bearing a surplus measure. Then
the bills of lading of the cargo were accompanied
so that I knew to a
always by a correct invoice
penny what the grain cost.
The prospects of Theologos and Carnegie were
to

excellent.

gave them 1000 per

expenses of the

office.

They had

annum

also a

for the

commission of

2^ per cent, on all the grain they shipped, and a commission of 2^ per cent, on all the goods imported to
Galatz by

my

steamers.

If,

therefore, they

drew on

53

London bankers

instead of on me, they incurred no risk

Being empowered to draw bills on London

whatever.

nkers, all the bill-brokers, merchants, and bankers

of Galatz that wanted to remit money to England
would have been suppliants before them, asking to buy

paper which they knew to be the

best.

They would

have thus been placed in an influential position one

which would be at the same time perfectly safe and
But, to obey my instructions in the
comfortable.

my project, they would have been

work hard, and they would not be in the

carrying out of
obliged to

beginning great personages.

Another point that obliged

me

to submit to Car-

negie's insulting letter was, that they held property

amount of between 15,000 and

They might have raised
20,000 in grain and coal.
claims, as Stokar did, and some question about the
of mine

to

the

possession of these goods,

and thus involved

me

in

another arbitration case.

I understood

my

position perfectly well.

that I had nothing to depend on but

my own

saw

exer-

There were, however, two circumstances in

my favour. Money was cheap, and the machinery
of my scheme was working in London perfectly well,
tions.

having abundance of cargo.

54

CHAPTER

X.

THE ULTEAMAEWE POWDER.

If, in

order to vindicate

my own

character, I shall

committed by
events, expose myself

find myself compelled to lay bare errors

other people, I shall not, at

all

to the charge of attempting to hide

The

difficulties

which compelled me

my own

to seek the assist-

ance of money-lenders arose from two causes.

had under construction

faults.

several steamers,

Firstly,

and

to the

builders of these I had advanced the acceptances of the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Now,

come into my possession until
several months after the bills should have reached
maturity.
Here was one difficulty. Secondly, I was

these steamers would not

obliged to give security to bankers in order to obtain

credits for

my

house at Galatz, so that

my

agents

might have the means of purchasing grain, that branch

of my trade which had originally yielded such large
profits.

When

contracted for the construction of the

steamers, the house of Lascaridi and Co., with which

I

was acting

for a joint account,

was in the zenith of

I was wholly ignorant of the transactions

which
George
in
Lascaridi was engaged, nor was I
aware of his misunderstanding with his partners. It
was an important point to establish the credit of my

its credit.

Galatz house in the Principalities, because,

agents there could
cash,

make

if

my

their first purchases with

they would be afterwards

able

to

load our


65
steamers in the same

way

that the other

Greek houses

were loading their sailing ships.

In taking these two steps, I had reckoned on assistance from George Lascaridi, the credit of whose firm

When I found myself disapwas then unsullied.

pointed, I was exasperated. Wrathful collisions ensued
between him and me. When I reminded him of the
approaching maturity of some of the bills endorsed by
his firm, he referred me to Mr. Henry John Barker,
to " finance " me, as he called it.
I did not like this
new Pylades

that

my

friend

had taken

to himself,

but

was not in those days aware that Lascaridi was the

No. 4,
Abchurch Lane.
I have said that I do not intend to hide my own
I liere confess to a prejudice
errors and defects.
I

real founder of the little bill-discounting office at

They do not

I dislike English Levantines.

inherit

the Anglo-Saxon firmness of character nor the Greek

Brought up in the Turkish

where advancement is obtained by bowing and
scraping, by fawning and favouritism, they become
adepts in these arts. They are neither English, Greeks,
nor Turks, but a mixture of all they can change the

vivacity of intellect.

school,

hue of
to suit

their nationality with a chameleon-like facility

emergencies

stand the

fire

facility that

enables them to

of commercial battles and defeats with

salamander-like indifference.

men, that have

not the moral courage to look you straight in the face
I dislike smooth-faced, soft-voiced

and utter a

solid

"no"

or a sterling "yes;"

men who are

always ready with the pretext of important business,

and run, hat in hand, out of their office the moment
they see you enter,
favour

if

or else allow

they fancy you come to ask a

you

to

do " long antechamber,"

56

French have it robbing you of your time,

when they have abeady determined not to do what
you want. And yet, if these men want a favour, they
will stick to you with the tenacity of a dog holding a
bone, until they serve their ends, and when their
as the

object

is

accomplished, and they no longer want you,

they pass by as

if

unconscious of your existence.

Mr. Henry John Barker introduced

Albert

Gottheimer, who,

Mr.

with

me

Josiah

to

Mr.

Erek,

managed the Mercantile Discount Company, Limited,

24 and 25, Birchin Lane.
Mr. Albert Gottheimer, formerly a wine merchant
trading under the firm of Coverdale and Gottheimer,

was at that time studying closely the Limited System,

through which the blind sister of the Fates afterwards
made him a magnificent Grant. Mr. Gottheimer was
willing to discount

my

promissory note of 3000 for

one week for the premium of 100, provided I gave

him as collateral security a bill of mortgage on one of

my

small steamers, which he pledged his

word of

Custom-House

until the

honour not

to register in the

He further kindly
convenient to me to

promissory note came to maturity.

promised

that, should it not

be

up the jpetit billet at the expiration of the time, he

would renew on the same terms, and continue to do so,
provided I invested 1000 or 1200 in the shares of
the Mercantile Discount Company, Limited, which
was paying, he said, 15 per cent, per annum.*
The future father of the Credit Foncier and Mo-

take

England was too sharp for me. I took the

shares to oblige him, and they soon burned my fingers.

bilier of

* The capital of the Mercantile Discount Company, Limited,

was 200,000, in 4000 shares of 50 each (25 per share to be
paid lip), Out of the 4000 .shares very few were taken np.

57

The

little

office in Birchiii

Lane, anxious possibly to

many

shoe the public comfortably, discounted so

for the leather merchants, that

shook the hide trade,

bills

when, in 1861, a panic

down tumbled

this

primaroli

was there Mr. Albert Gottheimer

acquired all the knowledge and skill which, in 1864,
Mr. Albert Grant displayed to a delighted metropolis.
When Mr. Albert Gottheimer withdrew from the

limited company.

It

BirchinLane concern, he compelled the shareholders, in

virtue of the Articles of Association, to pay him a few
thousand pounds.

man was
the

way

My acquaintance with

of very short duration.

this gentle-

Saddled by him, in

I have described, with a blue powder, called

"ultramarine," which I took by paying him 200, I

by one of my steamers to Constantinople, to be

sold, as he told me it would be, at a great profit. Who
would believe that the descendants of Aaron or Moses
the only buyers of such stuff in Turkey would not

sent

it

offer even 5 for this, though the freight, insurance,

and shipping charges amounted to more than 10.
Finding the precious article unmarketable at Constantinople, I sent it on to Galatz, where it met with no
better success, and where, I believe, it remains to the
.

present day, not worth the expense of being shovelled

into the

Danube.

58

CHAPTER XL
THE riEST MOETGAGES.

Me. Gottheimee had a head

was
so disgusted with this mode of "financing," and so
tired of Barker and Lascaridi, that I resolved upon
putting an end to the state of anxiety in which I was
kept.
I decided upon calling a meeting of the shipbuilders to whom I was indebted, and the holders of
my large bills, and coming to terms with them for the
balance due.
I intended to promise them 20s. in the
pound, with 5 per cent, for long credit, say two or
three years, giving some of the steamers as security
for the payments.
During these two or three years
the steamers, working steadily, would gradually free
themselves.
This arrangement would leave me at
least two or three steamers free as a reward for my
hard work. I sent for Mr. George Lascaridi, and communicated my determination to him. He was seized
with terror. He reminded me that the bills had been
endorsed by his firm, and asked if I wanted to break
down Lascaridi and Co. and ruin him, as, of course,
the builders would look to his firm for payment.
He
appealed to my sense of generosity.
I was between
two fires. Had I been born with a foreknowledge
of events, I should have

was best both

too long for me.

known

for Lascaridi

that

my

and myself.

And now

whom

proposition

As

it

was,

had not
seen for months, set his wits to work to raise money.
He proposed that I should mortgage the Admiral

I yielded to him.

he,


59
Kanaris and the Marco Bozzaris

he despatched his
grand emissary, Mr. Henry Barker, to seek, ]per mare
et terra, the precious metal of which we stood so
much in need. Mr. Barker succeeded in discovering
;

Lombard

the golden sands of the Pactolus of

With

oriental ability

did more.

He

Street.

he succeeded in throwing a pon-

toon from AbchurchLane

He

"Corner House."
fix a tube through

to the great

contrived to

which he whispered into the ear of the proud David

Ward Chapman. Having made these arrangements,
he informed Lascaridi that " he could do the job for 20
I positively refused, preferring

per cent."

my own

plan of coming to an understanding with the shipbuilders,

who, when they should have learned

would be happy

to accept the security I offered instead

Barker and Lascaridi

of the simple bills they held.

redoubled their exertions.

The day after my refusal I

received the following note in

Dear

all,

Greek from Lascaridi

Stefanos,

Overend, Giirney, and Co. agree to make a loan for six

months on the following terms

at six

months

discount the

my

=19,000

to

draw on the company

They wiU

o1000, their commission, for six months.

bills for

calculations that

I think

it

19,000

at 5 per cent, interest.

will be altogether 15 per cent, per

you must swallow

make

annum.

It is impossible to get the

this pill.

thing done cheaper.

Your

friend,

G. P. L.

18/2/59

Lascaridi forgot to add the small commission to

Mr. Henry Barker

for his trouble,

which would make

more than 15 per cent.

Bound by strong ties of gratitude

to Lascaridi,

I accepted these conditions rather than bring about

a collision between

him and

his partners.

Within a

few months he and Barker concluded with Messrs.


60
Overend, Giirney, and Co. fresh mortgages on three
small steamers for 15,000.
action were

and 5 per

stiifer

cent.

The terms on this trans2000 bonus,

time I had not made the

than on the former

All this

acquaintance of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

They advanced the money

over to

me

zig-zag

mode

and he paid it
was soon tired of this

to Barker,

in instalments.

of doing business.

I began, too, to see

Greek and Oriental, far from being saved by

"financing," was running rapidly along] the high

that the
this

road to perdition.

What was my

surprise when one day the smoothMr. Henry Barker asked me to give
him a second mortgage on one of the steamers as

faced, soft-voiced

He had

security.
ridi,

just paid me,

My

endorsed by his firm.

small

"

by order of Lasca-

cheques for a few hundreds, to meet certain

when he asked

What

astonishment was not

for a mortgage.

I said,

"

" security to

money
know that

you

for

belonging to Lascaridi and Co., when I

you owe money

him

bills

to that firm

"
%

though a little late, to take

the desperate step which could alone save me from
impending ruin. I sought George Lascaridi instantly,
but he was in Paris.
His partners had begun to
arrive from the South and the East.
I saw his cousin
Peter, who seemed both troubled and angry.
He
I left

resolved,

was, however, very polite to me.

diately to

my

Lascaridi, in

I said I

office,

which

to an explanation with

concerns.

to see

letter to

immeGeorge

I recounted Barker's behaviour.

was determined

was resolved

I returned

and wrote a long

to see his cousin,

him upon every

what could be done

and come

point, as I

to save

I received the following reply:

both

61
Paris, Sejn. IStJi, 1859.

Dear Xenos,
I found by your letter of yesterday that you have again

begun

money

If Barker owes

passion.

own

But I suppose you

accuse me.

to

affair

it is

not

You

for secuiity.

my

how he

that

you

the means

we

you

has not a large capital

But,

my

You

say you

friend, just think

Why

it.

am

I have done so up to this time,

clearly to you.

it

to ask

possess to set our business right ?

myself willing to give guarantees.

and I have proved

him

I see nothing extra-

Nothing good can come of

will expose me.

all

of

Co., that is his

turns his business.

will have an explanation with Peter.

not use

it.

He

ordinary in Barker's asking security.

himself; he must look

and

I did not suggest to

fault.

do well not to believe

moment

-wrote in a

to Lascaridi

Let us

still

do the same.

The brave man proves his courage in difficulties. I shall be in

London next Wednesday.
Come to my house at eight in the
evening.
We shall then consider what is best to be done. To
cry out without reflection

which I had and have

Good-bye.

exhausted.
I

progress.

am

is

my

not the

way

to save the

my

hopes, after aU

Persevere

if

ready to make any

you wish
sacrifice,

company

to see the

because

in

means are

other

company

it is

for

my

interest.

George Lascaridi.

When
many
ns.

Lascaridi arrived in London, he and I had

interviews

many angry words

passed between

However, seeing the chaos in which he

Avas

plunged, I abstained from communicating with his

partners.

All this time

making

my

steamers were at full work,

profitable voyages, having splendid freights.

Spite of the heavy interest I was paying, I

be able

to clear

my

vessels.

In this

my

hoped

to

house at

It was on this account

had removed Stockar, and sent out

Galatz alone could help me.

solely

that

Theologos and Carnegie.

see,

they,

instead

But, as

we

shall presently

of assisting, embarrassed

me by

continually asking for supplies of money, to pay cash

for grain for

which they had contracted.

62

now

was

lost sight of

He

George Lascaridi again.

like a knight-errant, who, having achieved a

Qnixotic feat in one place, immediately hurried

Don

off to

an opposite quarter of the globe to tender his services

humanity in that region. It was about

November, 1859 that I made a bargain
this time
with the Admiralty for the Powerful as a transport
I made, on that transaction, a
for the Chinese War.
This was very well
but I
net profit of 15,000.
had difficulties to counterbalance my profits. It was
about this time that I had to pay instalments on the
steamers under construction; and, unfortunately, at
the same time several thousand quarters of grain, purchased by my agents, were frost-bound in the Danube,
and could not be shipped to England to be realized.

to suffering

Under

commenced

these circumstances I

to negotiate

another loan of 20,000 with Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and

Co., giving security another steamer.

This trans-

action was also effected through Mr. Henry Barker.

As for George Lascaridi, he had disappeared. Poor
fellow
he was suffering under domestic misfortunes.
I felt deeply for him, but could neither do as he wished,
nor as I wished myself. I was bound by honour to
my post. The Greek and Oriental was not only solTo associate that company with
vent, it was coining.
Lascaridi and Co., who were standing on the brink of a
to make a deed of partprecipice, would be madness
!

nership with George Lascaridi individually,

involved in so

many

difficulties,

insanity with injustice.

I stood

who was

would be to couple
watching the tide of

events, prepared to act as circumstances should suggest.

The

readers of these pages shall decide whether

was under any obligation

hard labours with any one.

to risk the fruit of

my

63

One

point more.

had come

to the resolution

Henry Barker.

of dispensing with the services of Mr.

I

resolved

to

make

the mighty capitalists.

more

step the

the
I

personal

acquaintance

was prompted

of

to take this

especially because in the approaching

and March of 1860 my payments would, in these three months alone, amount

January, February,

to

143,332
*

My

38,488

bills

19s. 4d.*

due in January were 30,307 10s.; in February

in March, 74,537 4s. 3d.
The biUs of the

5s. Id.

remaining nine months amounted

lowsApril, 5482 ; May, 4000

to only
;

29,383

June, 3750

4s. lOd., as fol-

July,

5352

5s.

August, 2250; September, 1750; October, 2750; November,

1750

December, 2300.

In these acceptances were included

all

the above-named mortgages of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

and

others.

64

CflAPTER

XII.

THE MINIATURE COURT OP LOUIS

It

was during the negotiation of

that I

first

made

XIV.

this loan of

20,000

the personal acquaintance of Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co.

If characters so different as Adonis, the Chevalier

de Faublas, the great Jean Baptiste Colbert, and James

Wilson, the eminent economist, could be brought together in one group, they would not form a more
strongly contrasting tableau than did the four acting

partners in this great commercial house.

David Ward Chapman was one of the handsomest

Englishmen I have ever seen. He was of the middle
He dressed with
height, and perfectly well made.
man,
which
the " WestCity
correct
taste
of
a
the
end swells" often make ridiculous by exaggeration.
He was not a financial genius, but he possessed
He daily passed five hours
talent and experience
in

the

City.

When money

was cheap, the com-

mercial sky clear, and business smooth, these hours

were, to David
altar of duty;

Ward Chapman,

aspect of the horizon stormy,

David

a sacrifice laid on the

but when money was dear, and the

Ward Chapman,

then the feelings of

during his City hours, were

about as pleasant as those of the Syracusan tyrant in

David Ward
Chapman was fond of flattery, and, as he could command the market, he had always an abundant supply
presence of the hair-suspended sword.

of the commodity.

He

was surrounded by a troop of

65
sycophants

trim

all

their sails

David

clever

fellows

The

knew how

according to the weather.

Ward Chapman was

degree.

^who

And

to

then

arrogant in the snpreme

sentiments of the renowned

might not inaptly be uttered by him

De Coney

Hoy nc puis-jo otre

Due ne veux etrc,
Ni comtc aussy
Mais grand seigneur De Coney.

David

Ward Chapman

loved the drama, and was

fond of pictures, but, not being possessed of the judg-

ment of

Sir Charles Eastlake,

he

left

the choice of

his purchases to his agents or flatterers.

In private

he maintained a hospitality lavish as that of the

prodigal son.
David Ward Chapman's life was a
round of pleasure. With the exception of the few

life

hours daily devoted to business, his whole time was

taken up in giving or accepting entertainments. He
thought only of making the hours of this ephemeral
life as

joyous as possible.

Prodigal-son like, he never

on the reverses of Polycrates.

Arthur George Chapman was a fair-complexioned,
boyish-looking young man. Not a particle of hair shadowed his downy cheek. Had he chosen to dress like
a girl, he, like the Chevalier de Faublas, might have

reflected

passed

The

^sfemme de chamhre

of the Marquise de

part he played in the great office was limited to

issuing orders in a bombastic tone to the clerks, in the

presence of strangers; to treating customers cavalierly,

particularly those

who came

the renewal of their

aslc
all,

was to accept the

Indeed he signed
many cheques, that within eighteen months from

his object in
bills

so

bills.

borrow money, or
But, over and above
to

coming

to the office

of the firm and sign cheques.

66
the time I

made his acquaintance, I was told, his

relieve him from this heavy work, pre-

first

partners, to

sented

him with an

So ended his

annuity.

official

visits to the great " Corner House."

Henry Edmund Gurney was one of the

principal

partners and capitalists in the establishment.

He
was a man of a high moral and intellectual cast. In
person he was above the middle height, and inclined to
corpulency. His countenance indicated both goodness
His hair was fair,
of heart and strength of intellect.
his eyes well-shaped

was deaf in one

ear,

and kindly in expression. He

which accounted for his always

speaking in a loud tone, even

when

treating of affairs

He

was a proud-spirited
man, somewhat pompous and dictatorial in manner
but, on the other hand, he was imbued with a deep
of the most private nature.

sense of religion, and his acts of private benevolence

were numerous.
a time and

oft,

from a crash, by

In his public capacity he has, many

saved whole branches of commerce
assisting those at their head.

He

was a member of the Society of Friends, and a man

incapable of uttering an untruth, or playing a double
game. But, unfortunately, surrounded by a class of
men like the favourites of the Chapmans, he was not
always able to ascertain the truth, because, not suspecting the motives of his informants, he never thought of

doubting their statements.

fell into their

In this way he ultimately

power, and became the tool of a clique

of designing men.

Like

all financiers,

Henry Edmund

Gurney was fond of multiplying his money, and was

It
ambitious of commanding the commercial world.
was an ambition worthy a minister of finance. To
reach the climax of his ambition, this English Colbert
did not need the patronage of a Cardinal Mazarin.

67

When money

was cheap his eye instantly fell on the

dockyards of Liverpool, London, Hartlepool, Newcastle, and Sunderland, as did, in former times, that
of the celebrated minister of France on those of Brest,

Toulon, and Eochefort.

With

the vast capital at his

partly
keeping he might,

command

own, and partly deposited in his

his

by mortgages, have chained the mercantile fleets of

England, and compelled them to anchor where he
It was to a power like this that Henry
pleased.

Edmund Gurney

aspired.

Delille has said: ''Paries

nceuds du commerce unissezVunivers.''

Gurney's plan was not a bad one.

Henry Edmund

Listead of incur-

ring risk by discounting second-class bills, as

when money

discounters do

is

all bill-

cheap, he was able to

put his hand upon a vast amount of commercial and

maritime property, and

trol the

so, in

a large measure, to con-

two chief elements of England's commercial

greatness.

To

the success of

Henry Edmund Gurney's

design three conditions were indispensable

special

knowledge of maritime property a moderate rate of

say, never in any case to exceed 10 per
cent., so that the shipowner may be able gradually
to release his vessels
and an inviolable rule never
to advance more than a certain amount on a certain valuation.
Besides, the trade in which the
mortgaged vessels were engaged should be closely
inquired into, and the capabilities and honesty of
their owners ascertained. But the mode in which our
;

interest,

work out their project

was quite the reverse- of this. The ^wotdg^s whom
David Ward Chapman employed to superintend their
great capitalists attempted to

interests

and

to

knowledge, or

value the property, were babes in

else

refined

f2

rogues, and the conse-

68
quence was that transactions with the best paying and
best organized lines of steamers were fraught with

Mr. Henry

loss.

acting partner in

more on

his

Edmund Gurney,

being the chief

firm, having,

the

hands than one

man

unfortunately,

could accomplish,

the investigation of the securities to Mr. David

left

Ward Chapman, whose

Watkin Edwards, an

factotum was Mr. Edward

official

assignee of the Court of

Bankruptcy, and whose acquaintance

we

shall

make

shortly.

Robert Birkbeck, a junior partner in the great

" Corner House," was at that time, like Arthur Chap-

man, a boyish-looking young man. He possessed

great talent, prudence, and high morality.
He loved
his work,

and took an

active part in all the concerns

Endowed with great

unmoved amidst commercial

he

of the firm.

self-possession,

stood

storms, and mojje

than once, by his foresight and determination, saved

the good ship of

Lombard

Street from being

wrecked

amidst the labyrinth of shoals and banks amidst which

the two other partners and their precious favourites

had entangled her, Robert Birkbeck stood unflinchingly by the side of Henry Edmund Gurney to the
last,

and, I doubt not, rendered good service.

If all

the winds of the commercial horizon of London had

made

blow simultaneously on
that glorious ship, which, after I left, became a total
wreck, she might have lasted to become an honour to

not been evoked and

to

Great Britain.

Samuel Gurney and John Henry Gurney

scarcely

made their appearance at that time in the office.

The way in which Messrs. Overend, Cjurney, and
Co. advanced money to the Gal way Company, to me,

ever

to Zachariah Pearson,

and other shipowners, on their

69
property, was this

They

Henry John

instructed Mr.

Barker, or the introducer of the business, to draw

bills

on the owner of the property, and these they discounted

at the enormous rates I have mentioned.
These bills
they kept by them, and re-discounted, with their indorsement, according to the signals indicating whence
the money-market winds blew, or according to the

wants of their claimants.

In

my

dealers, I

visits to

the

office

of these great money-

had an opportunity of noting things that

escaped the observation of the proprietors^hemselves.

That

reminded

office often

the time of Louis

XIV.

me

of the French court in

" Cest a la cour que lesjjas-

sions sexcitent, et conspirent contre Vinnocence^'' says

Flechier

pour

and Arnauld adds, " Ici

The

la vertu^

la fourherie ixisse

truth of these assertions was fully

verified in the miniature court of

Lombard

Street.

No

ante-room of any minister in Christendom presented a

greater number of expectants than was frequently to

be found there from ten in the morning till four in the

afternoon.

Persons of

all grades,

from the high

to the

low, were to be seen waiting for an audience, or even

a reply through a clerk.

de

cour,'' as

Moliere

You saw

there the

''

peste

calls those officious insignificant

whose sole occupation is to circulate groundrumours and calumnies. It was amusing to see

courtiers
less

specimens of that

class at

Lombard

the

Street court,

and observe the sycophantish smile and slavish humiwith which they approached a disengaged partner,
and commenced an under-toned gossip. You saw there

lity

the '''renard de

He

cour,'' as

Balzac

approaches the great

insinuating

air,

calls

man

the crafty courtier.

with a cautious and

and suggests merely throws out a

hint about a promising transaction, but he does not

70
venture to propose anything until he has sounded the

de

Then there was

man's inclinations.

o^reat

La Bruyere

as

GOiiT^''

calls

the professional espion

courtisan^ for his reliable information, that

might either

great house from loss, or bring

save the

These

the ^^mouche

men were

it profit.

well paid by commission, or in some

Then there were the flocks of commonmade up of brokers emd proxenites of

other way.

place courtiers,

of all sorts of schemes and propositions.

all kinds, full

These went hither and

de la

coiir,

anxious

thither, flinging the eau henite

and promises, to their

was of these last that Corneille

or the vain hopes

It

clients.

said
Les courtisans sont dcs jctons

Leiir valeur depend de Icur place

Dans
Et

What

des zeros dans la disgrace.

have

plots

la faveiir des millions,

known

what

to be concocted,

in-

trigues have I seen played out to supplant a favourite

in that little

Lombard

Street court

Thomas

Corneille

has sublimely said

Le crime

fait la honte, ct

non pas Techafaud.

This is no doubt true in the abstract, and will be

proved correct when the universe, as a whole, is
brought to account but, in the brief span of human
;

we

existence,

constantly see the converse of the asser-

Many an honest and honourable

have I seen driven, by the corrupt favourites of

tion pass for truth.

man

that house, to the scaflbld of bankruptcy, and, though

innocent, covered with ignominy and that shame the

world

still

have " in

attaches to their name.

my mind's eye

as honourable

thus sacrificed.

man

Whilst I write I

"

Zachariah Pearson, of Hull,

as

any in England, who was


71

The " Corner House," in Lombard

of several

floors,

from the outside.

Street, consisted

and had an imposing appearance

It was only on the ground floor

On this floor was the

which had the appearance
of a bank, though the clerks were not so numerous.
Next to this room was that in which the partners sat,
and into which entrance was gained from the clerks'
room through a glass door. This room, in which used
that business was transacted.

large

room

for the clerks,

to sit the greatest money-dealers in the world,

plainly, almost
five desks,

was

There were in

meanly furnished.

it

ranged one after the other, on the plan

adopted in the Lancashire schools

these desks were

fenced round with a breast-high partition.

At

these

desks some of the partners were always to be found

writing, but Mr.

Henry Edmund Gurney was generally

standing by the chimney-piece, attending to business.

I

may

tude,

say that, for a commercial firm of such magni-

the furniture and general appearance of this

room were rather shabby.

There was not even a spark

characterizes the French
Next
comptoirs and the newly-built banks of London.
to the partners' room were two other small rooms
one
of that ostentation which

looking into Birchin Lane, pretty respectable as re-

garded light and furniture, the other almost as grim

and dark
the

as a ship's lazaret.

man who had

Happy

the thoughts of

to kick his heels in this

room

for

the best part of an hour, whilst waiting for an audience,

surrounded by half-empty medicine bottles, brushes,

.

combs, towel-stand, and washing apparatus.

Beyond

room light, airy, and comfortable

communicating with the partners' room through the

these was another

clerks'

room.

72

CHAPTER XIIL
A PERILOUS POSITION,

As soon

as I

became thoroughly acquainted with the

politics of the leviathan money-dealers, and the system

that obtained in their

office, I

that the less frequent

my

I have mentioned

came

visits

how

to the conclusion

were the

better.

I accepted bills for

above

100,000 against the grain and steamers I had bought.

These bills now began to fall thick. As the Danube
business and the import grain were not credit transactions,

but required hard cash,

my

position

became

This, Mr. Henry John Barker was the first

alarming.
to perceive, and, under pretext of being extremely busy,

he avoided meeting me. George Lascaridi was more

Rapid in his transitions as one of
erratic than ever.
the Dioscuri, he was to be seen one week in Paris and
the next in London. I was in a dilemma. Within ten
days I had to meet 38,000, and I did not

know even

)ney, though I had

where to look for the
I went
of ship property untrammv: led.

still

plenty

home

that

evening in a most sorrowful mood. An idea suddenly

I sat down and wrote a very long
crossed my mind.

Henry Edmund Gurney. I explained the

I showed that my business
exact state of this line.
of
at least 30 per cent., and that
was yielding a profit
letter to

it

was based on a good foundation.

the existing

crisis

I only

needed at

a small capital of 80,000.

were advanced, I would willingly give

If that

security,

and

would, moreover, give one-eighth of the yearly profits

73
of the business, as long as

money

the

As

lent.

it

existed, after repaying

medium

this letter is the real

of the introduction of the Greek and Oriental Steam

Company

Navigation

Gurney, and
rough copy, which I found amongst

Co., I publish its

my

to Messrs. Overend,

The begmning

papers.

of this important letter,

bearing the date (which can be but a very few

lines),

I have lost.

We

had beaten opponents and driven them out of the way,

and we had in reality a
field of gold before us, when Mr, Lascaridi unfortunately, and
without my knowledge in the least, mixed himself up in the
Galway Company on an enormous scale. How he did so, and on
what prospects, is till now a mystery to me. When I learnt it,
causing, perhaps, a great deal of jealousy,

I foresaw at once that the contre-covp of the Galway Companj^

would

fall

immediately on me.

most sincerely, and I proved

to

shake the credit of his house.

I remonstrated with Mr. Lascaridi

him long ago that this affair would

It was too late, and Mr. Lascaridi

had

full confidence in the promises and prospects of Mr. Lever.

However, he did not pass one month, and Mr. Lascaridi could not

give

me either

his

The contrary

moral or his pecuniary assistance.

the more his credit sufiered, I sufi'ered too, and at last he

my

the tremendous weight of the company on

my
to

From

resources.

you

come

others to

Liabilities.

to

company,

to save

to disappoint

my

my

honour,

The

company, true, makes money

profits

who would

fast,

pay from the 1st of

this year to

and paid

it ?

believe

the half of the cost value of our steamers, but has

to

position,

the shippers that had deserted

me.

under two years, out of the

130,000

nearly

still

and 28,000

and the Bank of London.

to Messrs. Pickersgill,

Rodocanachi,

s.

per ton, 21,000

10,000

new

I hold 15,000 tons of

coal in the difi'ercnt depots of the ^Mediterranean, at the

of 30

loss of

Against that I hold eighteen

steamers, cost value more than <250, 000

-

nearly

the July of 1861

your loans, amounting to a total of 52,000 (deducting the

the Tzamados)

all

that time I began to mortgage the steamers

to carry out the

and principally not

left

shoulders and on

low price

and 6000 quarters of grain, value nearly

and uncollected freights from the Government, 70,000,

74
of the Powerful, Asia, and Scotia,* for the expedition to China, at

And

the end of eighteen months.

now

with the

new Bank

expected the other steamers,

it is

of Turkey,

when

the Exchange shall be

established at Constantinople, our exportation will increase, so that

they will do better.

Company with others. The company has no

any one, except with the house of Messrs. Lascaridi

Relations of the
relation with

No

and Co.

we

even the house

because we do not hold any acceptances

can injure the company

failure

Messrs. Lascaridi and Co.

we

of

them

is

endorsed on our acceptances.

Its

but

if

Solidity.

fail,

To

me

shall affect

of

them, because their name

that have the sole direction of the

company, and must know everything regarding the company

consider that the company, accordiag to the best of my knowledge,
is

as solid as

any business in London, but pressed very hard

money, and wanting the necessary funds to work

because
the

we have

wages,

to

pay in cash immediately

provisions,

and

stores

and

it

for everything

meet the

for

respectably,

bills

all

the

of

when, on the other part, we cannot collect the freights

more than three weeks after discharging. I repeat, I can prove
you by our books the company is solid, and whatever crush or

builders,
till

to

undervaluation to her property

may

be made,

it

will be

found at

least 30s. to the pound.

After

all

this

long

made me write you

tale,

protect your interests and the

to prevent

this letter.

come

My

to the principal object that

object

this,

is

money you have

only this

to

trusted to me, and

your name from being the object of public notoriety,

if,

unfortunately, I cannot pull through.

I shall not do justice to myself

position in

Mr. Barker.

which I

am

I said that

at this

if

I do not tell you clearly the

moment with Mr.

we have o130,000

Lascaridi and

liabilities

due to the ship-builders, and other transactions.

viz., bills

If these bills

to be met in the course of the eighteen months, the affair

would be done very comfortably, working the steamers; but the
principal amount, 80,000, is due in this month, February, and

were

March, and we have no other means to meet it but by accommodation, and such accommodation, with such bad credit as we have,
* The Asia and Scotia were not taken up by the Government,
being at that time in the Mediterranean, and not arriving in London
in time to be inspected as transports.

75
will be

more ruinous than

if I sell

because the

interests for

must add that I

make

sacrifices,

I really

am

shall be, as I

already, in perpetual agony.

mortgaged steamers, and, worst of

and the transactions of the

The end

money.

it,

meeting the payments of the day.

pay you

shall never be able to spare anything to

find

curing

three months, if they will be over,

difficulties of these

will pass to the next three months, and, having to

pay heavy

Such

our property at auction.

accommodation would ruin our credit more without

to release

my

I shall neglect the business,

all,

by being always out of doors to

be a very bad case for all parties

office,

will

interested in this business.

anything to Barker or

After long reflection, without saying

decided

Lascaridi, I

honour, and I do not care

if

There are two ways

world.

loan of 80,000,
.

pay you

off at least

and the path of

penny in the

conscience

I remain without a

either to apply to

you

giving

acceptances, and then every

profits, to

my

follow

to

so

security,

quarter

as

shall

10,000 of

you

for a further

take up

to

be

this loan

able,

our

from the

or to suspend

payments, and to ask for time to pay everybody 20s. to the poimd.
This, I know,

smash, and

is

ruinous, and this beautiful business will go to

will raise against us,

it

deal of scandal

but

it is

and against the Greeks a great

a hundred times better than to drive the

business any further in the

way

instead of curing, will prove

more

Ashing you for 80,000.

that

we

are going,

which time,

fatal.

I propose certain conditions

will find not only profitable, but at the

that you
same time inspiring more

confidence.
First.

shall take out of Messrs. Pickersgill

my

and the Bank of London

value 25,000

three best steamers

and Rodocanachi

Powerful, value 42,000, including

the

to you,

gagee of our company.

for a

few days

and the

her freight

28,000,

from the Government, giving you an order monthly

and mortgage them

the Scotia,

viz.,

Modern Greek, value paid 20,000

the

to collect

it,

and then you will be the only mort-

Those steamers I was obliged to mortgage

for a very

few thousand pounds

they are included

in the above liabihty of 130,000.

give

you,

Patras, value

in

8000

addition,
;

the Smyrna,

value

the
10,000
They are
;

and- the Colleti, value 11,000.

and the Petro Beys just launched.

Secondly.
When the Scotia and Asia return

free,

to

London (now

76
on their passage from the Black Sea), and the contract

signed by

is

the Government for transports, as arranged with the surveyors, I

give you an order to collect monthly also 28,000 on each vessel's
freight

and, by the three freights only of the Government, you

will have back

Thirdly.

73,000 of your money.

you a written promise not

I give

to build or

buy any

steamer before I take out of your hands the mortgages of

our

all

steamers.

Fourthly.

Not

to

any account any more

accept for

except for the value of corn drawn from the Danube.

objection, if

him

my

in

Fifthly.

you send

me

bills,

I have no

one of your confidential clerks, to place

booking department, so as to see how things work.

The

interest of the

rate of 10 per cent, per

which I expect

annum

money advanced to us to be at the

when I redeem the property

but,

will be in not longer than eighteen

months

propose to give you by contract, as long as the company exists, oneeighth of

in your

annually

its profits

name

or, if

you choose, to

register at once

the eighth part of every steamer, or to give you a bill

of sale for the eighth, and then you will be entitled to the eighth

part of the profits that the steamer makes.

If you find

my

proposition a

I shall explain to you

why

that I have

among

company a

public company.

advance
all

me

the Greek houses, or

and the

and entertain

why

then

it,

numerous friends
do not make the

There are very few houses that can

such a large amount.

the above explanations

their eyes

little liberal,

I do not apply to the

to

I shall bo obliged to give

show them

my

profits.

them

I shall open

result will be that, being exporters

and im-

porters themselves on a large scale, having all the means, they

try the business,

and

wiU

Liverpool the

will go themselves into the shipowning

already Messrs. Spartali and Co. have begun

at

Greeks unfortunately following each other in a transaction

so,

as

in

a couple of years, every two or three houses will have three or four
steamers, and then

it

will be the

same competition and the same

Hamburg, and America.

losses as to the lines of Holland, Belgium,

In fact every one would have to work for a 5 per cent, instead of a
40 or 50 per cent. so, as long as I can keep alive the Greek and
;

must keep in darkness those people from whom I only

fear a true and ruinous competition.
The same reason compels me
Oriental, I

not to

make

pressed

me

the

company

a great deal.

a public company, although Mr. Lascaridi

If I

make

it

public, the greater part of

77
the shares must be sold only to the shippers

most part Greeks

the Greeks

must be the

will be a competition, and, if onco

it

company soon

multiplied, each

is

viz., to

directors

immediately they will start another company

the business will be divided

competition

The

and support.

to secure their business

come

will

an end.

to

This business will not bear competition, because competition

Another thing

equal to ruin.

many

wheat or Indian

The steamer

corn.

will remain at Constantinople,

board meets and decides

the

till

Another thing

perhaps twelve or fifteen days.

only for mails and passengers

and backwards.

director will

the best cargo to ship home, the bther will say

is

waiting telegraphic orders,

is

when one

go to pieces, because,

directors, it will

think that barley

is

once this company has a board and

has

it

In other words,

now

if till

a steam

company

route traced forwards

its

existed a commercial

it

limited house, to import corn, with directors and board, then this

may

I understand one, or two, or three partners

be the same.

being

all

day in the same

many

but

accordingly;

knowing everything,

and,

office,

directors,

having

other

attending once every week, experience teaches

pany wiU not

the public,

last long.

It

wiU be a

clear

me

to act

and

business,

that such com-

and net imposition on

saying, a clear robbery on the part of the

or, better

promoters or directors.*

You
pany

to

will tell

me

be smashed

differently.

it is

if

better to do that than to leave the

we

If the Greek and Oriental

to lose money, even if

my

not to be blamed, true

property

cruel

come

office,

little

in the ships,

out, perhaps, poor,

but I

is

means

my

this

moment

is

now

time.

also impossible.

am

the public will see

what

private

strict

economy

life,

I shall

certain with great credit

and

me

the

honour, and I have no doubt that the creditors will give

only thing I want

com-

to think

smashed now, no one has

but

and in

am

me

sold for half its value.

is

position

my

what I constructed with only

I kept in the

Permit

do not help you.

To form the company

limited at

If I overcome these three months,

I shall get out altogether shortly, and with great property and a

good business.
caridi.

I shall divide always

Mr. Lascaridi had and has

assistance in his power.

met

all

my

last

penny with Mr. Lasme any

the good will to give

is the most honourable man that I

met with people who abused his good

He

but, unfortunately, he

* What I wrote here in January, 1860, was proved in 18GG in the

Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation and Trading Company, Limited.

78
will.

He

has suffered

now assist me.

me many times

That
that, if

is

money

his

is

locked up, and he

cannot

He

said to

not a reason to abandon him.

he knew

my

business

would do any other thing than devote

However, with
as to

what

is

all this,

to

in this

be done

not see any other

way more

timidity and shame, and

security and
so,

moment

what

is

clear

to tell

was

so good,

money and time to it.

must follow my own head

and

all

and honest than

you

all,

he never

his

the best for

and

benefit, to help us to get out of this labyrinth.

a part

you

Doing

you help not only me, and Mr. Lascaridi, and Mr. Barker, but
to nearly 250 English families that live

you do a great deal of good

out of our steamers.

Our company made

at least a great deal of

be a great honour to
This

is,

dear

and I beg you

you refuse

my

to

who can

save

good in the sugar

so its existence will

it.

my sincere confession. I have told

show my letter to Mr. Chapman, and at

Sir,

proposition, to advise

me what you

you

Yours

all,

least, if

think the best

course to follow.

(Signed)

really I do

to leave

to ask you, giving

and colonial markets, and in the corn market,

truly,

Stefanos Xenos.

79

CHAPTER

XIV.

MESSRS. OVEREND, GURNEY,

Monet was

CO.

Messrs. Overend,

at that time very cheap.

Gurney, and Co.,

AND

after a short consultation, decided

upon advancing the sum

to

interest

partici-

I asked.
I was
and commission, but they declined

my

pay

might
between them and me.
Mr. Henry John Barker and Mr. George Lascaridi,
those two gentlemen who had been missing from the

pating in the profits of

business, as that

establish a kind of partnership

my acquaintance for

some time, now suddenly

reappeared within it, with countenances so smihng
that it was a real pleasure to look on them.
Mr. l)avid Ward Chapman informed me that
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. had appointed Mr.
circle

of

Edward Watkin Edwards,

official

assignee

in

the

Court of Bankruptcy, as the gentleman who was to

look after their interests in my business, in accordance

which I had written to

Mr. Henry Edmund Gurney. Mr. Chapman recommended me to go at once to Mr. Edwards's office, in
with the

spirit of the letter

Weaver's Hall, Basinghall Street, in company with

Mr. Hemy John Barker, who was present at the

and see him (Mr. Edwards) on the subThere being no time to lose, we started at once.

interview,
ject.

When we

arrived at Weaver's Hall

we found

that Mr.

Edwards was engaged, and would remain so for a

short time.
In a few minutes there emerged from
Mr. Edwards's private room an elderly man, rather

80

He

was growling and swearing

most bitterly, and speaking of Mr. Edwards in anyThis incident
thing but a complimentary manner.
On our being
on
me.
made a most painful impression
announced, Mr. Edwards, who had been already apprised of the object of our visit by Mr. Chapman,
received us with a smiling countenance; but I was
shabbily dressed.

not slow to discern the traces of strong agitation,

caused by his recent

made the remark,

visitor,

with regard to

that he had

whom

he

been very well off prior

to his failure; that his accounts

were in great

dis-

order that he was mad, and did not know what he

was saying. I do not know why, but my first visit to
Mr. Edwards gave me an unfavourable impression
regarding him yet he was a man of pleasing appear;

ance, placid countenance, cool

temper, of not only

gentlemanly, but fascinating manner, and soft and

sweet of speech.

Edwards the cause of

I explained to Mr.

the state of

my

the nature of

affairs,

my

my

visit,

business,

He

and

the number and value of my

what I said on a paper which he had before him,
and, when I had finished, told me that Mr. Chapman
had consulted him about the matter, and that he,
seeing that the business was really a good one, had
steamers.

advised the firm to

make

noted

the advance asked;

all,

was to be done to finish the transaction

meet him (Mr. Edwards), at Messrs.
Overend, Gurney, and Co.'s, in half an hour. Punctually to the time appointed I reached the " Corner

therefore, that

was

for

me

to

House," in company with Mr. Henry John Barker.

Mr. Henry Edmund Gurney was out of town that day.

When we entered we found Mr. Edwards engaged in
a private conversation with Mr. David Ward Chapman,

81

After some little time

and then he informed me
that Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. had decided
on advancing me 80,000 for six months, to enable
me to overcome my difficulties but for that advance
I should have to pay them a bonus of foety thousand
POUNDS, and interest at the rate of 10 per cent.
"What! 40,000 and 10 per cent, interest T' I
rooms.

in one of the small

Mr. Edwards called us

in,

screamed rather than asked.

" This

your

cheaper, after

is

all,

than the eighth of

which you proposed yourself

profits,

every year," said Mr.

Chapman, with an

to give us

air of

great

indifference.

" It

may be

so,"

answered

" but to pay you

40,000 and 10 per cent, interest in one sum at once,

with 80,000 in six months, is impossible
I could
not afford it I should never be able to do it it is out
of the question, Mr. Chapman."
Mr. Edwards directed a significant look towards
Mr. Chapman, and then said to him, " Just one word
;

with you," taking him at the same time out of the

room.

"Forty thousand pounds bonus and 10 per cent,

interest besides, all to be paid in six months
I
would rather stop payment at once. It is too much,"
!

said

I.

" Yes
in the

it is

too much," said Mr. Barker, but not

same surprised manner that I had done. He

me as if he was familiar with such trans-

looked to
actions.

After the lapse of a few minutes the

assignee returned with a

official

beaming countenance.

" I

have arranged your affair satisfactorily," said he

" I have persuaded them to accept a bonus of only

82
30,000, with 5 per cent, per annum on the money
they will advance you, and I have no doubt but that,
the end of six months they find your business

if at

going on

all

they will renew the loan for

right,

another six months, at the same rate of interest, and

Now, do not throw impediments

will
and
you
be all right shortly. Barker
in the way,
Brothers (which was the name of Mr. Henry John
Barker's firm) will draw a bill on you for the total
amount, which you will accept that bill will never
leave this office, so that you will be quite comfortable."
I had no time to lose, neither had I cause to comthe choice was between life and death.
plain
without any bonus.

"

When

can I have the money," I asked

" as I

have to meet 30,000 worth of tills this week]"

" You can have it to-day, if you like," he replied.
I said, "

Very well

terms are rather

I suppose I

must

accept.

The

stiff."

Mr. Chapman was then called in, and seemed

much pleased on hearing that I had accepted their
terms.

Mr. Edwards then told him that I must

"

Very well,"
" but let us give our cheque
Mr. Chapman
to Barker Brothers, and Barker Brothers will give
We do not wish the name of the
you theirs.
Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company to
have a cheque for 20,000 at once.
said

make any

differ-

ence to you so long as you receive the money.

We

appear in our books.

This does not

you the remainder to-morrow." The cheque

was handed to Mr. Barker, and we left the " Corner
House " together, to get his firm's cheque. My brain
was nearly stunned by what I had seen and heard.
will give

"

What

a fool

"

cried Mr. Barker, striking

forehead with his open hand

when we had got into

his

the

83
"

street.

Had

I only

known

that they were going to

charge you 30,000 for bonus, I would have made

them

me 5000 out of what

An opportunity of getting

give

receive.

out of them seldom occurs."

" You ought certainly to ask

5000," said

I,

they are going to

such a round

them

to give

sum
you

astonished at the extravagance of

work like a horse to make my

poor steamers -pay nobody can guess how hard I
had to work and yet Mr. Barker wanted 5000 for
walking with me from Lombard Street to Basinghall
Street and back, and thence to Abchurch Lane. Payment as princely as this would make it worth the
while of the son of a duke to come to the City. Per-

his ideas.

had

to

was such examples that caused so great an

and generals into the
City during the time of the limited liability companies.
Be that as it may, Mr. Barker gave me his

haps

it

influx of noblemen, admirals,

cheque, and I returned to

my

office.

84

CHAPTER XV.
MY

FIRST FINANCER.

Mr. Edwards was regarded

as a great
rity.

He

at the

"Corner House"

mathematician and a high financial autho-

was a

barrister by education,

this country

were not

and an

official

If the commercial laws of

assignee by profession.

so complicated, surely the last

person that two merchants ought to invite to step in

to arrange their affairs

would be a lawyer.

However,

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., upon principle,

kept in their employment this gentleman, introduced

them by Mr. David Ward Chapman, hoping that

his legal and shipping knowledge might avert complications. This semi-professional gentleman led them
into troubles, and got them out of their difficulties
by sinking them each time deeper and deeper.
After the lapse of a few weeks, I saw that Mr.
Edwards had no intention of coming to my office. He
had advised the house to advance me the sum of
to

80,000, without even going himself or sending

some competent person to inspect the steamers, a

mortgage on which was

amount

lent.

to be the security for the

was amazed at the facility with which

was completed in the short

Mr. Edwards, to whose
name, as the nominee of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and
Co., the steamers were to be mortgaged, did not even
ask me, till several months after, for the policies of
this gigantic transaction

space of eight-and-forty hours.

"

85

them

insurance on
the

money

fact, I

and

it

was a week

after I

had

that I signed the bills of mortgage.

received nearly all this large

sum

of

all

In

money

without having given any security in return.

This mode of doing business caused

most

seriously.

house, no matter
in this

my

security I

how

great

its

me

When

to reflect

a banking-

wealth, transacts business

must surely have very important

doing so." For my guidance in future, I

manner,

reasons for

worried

I said to myself, "

brains to discover these reasons, as the

had

advanced.

it

" Is

to

give was larger than the

it,"

amount

I said, " that Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and Co. have unlimited confidence in me ?

But that could not be, as I was almost an entire
stranger to them, and a foreigner besides.

" Is

it

because the partners are ignorant of the conduct and

incompetency of the gentlemen appointed to super"

It could not be that, for he

was an old acquaintance of David Ward Chapman's.
"Is it because the colossal bill of 170,000* which
I am to accept is to be drawn by Messrs. Lascaridi

intend their interests

and Co., according to the request of Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and Co. 1 " But Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
and Co. knew that Lascaridi and Co. were not solid,
owing to the enormous fabric of accommodation bills
built up between them and their representative, Mr.
Edwards, in order to " finance," as he called it, the
My evil thoughts even
famous Galway Company.

went

so far as to imagine that this great banking-

house was rotten, after

* This

bill

all,

and that those who were

was made 170,000, because the former mortgages

were included in

it.

86
acquainted with the secret were profiting by their

knowledge of the existing confusion. This supposition

might have become a settled conviction had it not been
dispelled by a certain eventful conversation.
When I was directed by Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
and Co. to go to Mr. Edwards, in order to complete
the negotiations for this loan, the

official

how much

assignee

would allow
he must
him annually for his trouble.
look to his employers for payment, and added that
they could afford to do so out of the 30,000 bonus
asked me, in plain English,

I replied that

was to pay them for the

He said that he had spoken to them about it,
loan.
and that they told him he must look to me for remuneration. He added that he would be satisfied with

and 5 per

500 a

cent, interest I

year.

did not

know then whether

Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. authorized him to ask for this

annuity from me, or whether he received commissions

without their knowledge, or with the knowledge of

Mr. David Ward Chapman alone, with whom he was

most intimate, and associating daily at Brighton, where

they were both residing. This, however, I do know,
that I was forced to accept his terms in order to have
the loan completed.

This conversation dispelled the

idea of insolvency, for I naturally concluded that Mr.

Edwards, who was the " law and the prophets" of the
firm in all their transactions,

would have known how

they stood, and, instead of asking for an annuity,

would have insisted on a lump sum once for all out

of the money advanced through him to me.
In all this transaction there was something most
inexplicable to me. It seemed as if the great firm were
possessed of some secret, and that I was to be initiated


87
in

some Samo-Thracian mysteries

but, as I

was

still

only a neophyte, I could not pass to the highest degree

had been fully catechized and taught, and

promoted from order to order.
until I

When

I first negotiated this loan, I did it direct

with Mr. Henry

Edmund Gurney.

was the result

of the private letter which I wrote him, and the
security was to be a mortgage on several of my
steamers and freights.
After I had had a portion of
the money, Mr. Edwards and Mr. David Ward Chapman announced to me that the bill for 170,000,
which I should have to give Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
and Co., would be drawn on the Greek and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company by Messrs. Lascaridi and
Co. I had no objection, as it did not matter an iota to
me who drew it. But here again I was provided with
food for reflection. At that time Mr. George Lascaridi
was, as I have said, the managing partner, in London,
of the Greek firm of Lascaridi and Co. the other and
It

senior partners were at Constantinople

Was

and Marseilles.

with their consent and knowledge that he

pledged the signature of his firm to Messrs. Overend,
it

Gurney, and Co., for the enormous sum of 170,000

a sum larger than their whole capital ] That could

me that his partwith my steamers. Was

not be, because he had repeatedly told

ners would have nothing to do

Was

Edwards and
Chapman, and to throw dust in the eyes of the Gurneys
and Birkbeck 1 Was it because he was the capitalist
of Mr. tienry John Barker's biU-discounting office in
Abchurch Lane, or was it because he was connected
with Mr. Edward Watkin Edwards, the official assignee,
When I asked
in financing the Galway Company

it

for a

commission ]

it

to oblige

"?

him afterwards why he signed the name of his

firm for

such an enormous amount, he replied that he could not

help it, as he had already endorsed several bills of the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which

we had given to the ship-builders. Any one who has
read the commencement of this book will know how I
formed that company, and for what consideration the
indorsement of Lascaridi and Co. was given. Therefore, if Mr. George Lascaridi really wished to rid himself of his firm's liabilities on account of the Greek and
to leave Barker
Oriental, here was the opportunity
Brothers to draw and endorse the bills for the money I
was borrowing from Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.
was to be used for the payment of the bills of exchange,

bearing the indorsement of Lascaridi and Co., which

had been given to the ship-builders.

There is one class of men who consider themselves
very far-sighted, but

who

will, nevertheless, enter into

speculations without pausing to think of their conse-

quences

and there

is

another

who

will not

make

step in advance without stopping to examine carefully

the ground over which they are travelling.

belonged

to the first class, I

should

Had

now be what Mr.

Ward Chapman once told me I should become,

owing to my profitable business, and to my connexion
with them one of the richest men in the City of
David

London.

The next day and

the day after that on which

had been almost completed, I

who had
been appointed by Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.
this colossal transaction

awaited in vain the advent of Mr. Edwards,

to superintend

came.

my finances,

in

had mistaken him.

my office but he never

He was by far too high
;

89
a personage to trouble himself about so small a matter

170,000; he had other more important duties to

When one day I told him that I had been
expecting a visit from him, he answered me by saying,
as

perform.

" I have no time.

am

overloaded with

Overend, Gurney, and Co.'s business, Xenos

therefore send

evening.

my

He

Messrs.
;

I shall

Mr. March, every

will go through the books with your
confidential clerk,

book-keeper, and then strike a balance-sheet which

show us how you

will

stand.

thing as if I went myself, for Mr.

my

It is just the

March

is

same

entirely in

and knows everything."

Very well but surely you will give us
see the offices and how we do business

confidence,
I said, "

a call to

there?'
" Of course," he answered, " I shall come the mo-

ment

have time."

Mr. March called the next day, when

introduced

him

to Mr. Eoss, the book-keeper of the Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
Thenceforth,

every evening, after the other clerks had

left, they
produce the balance-sheet, which was
copied by Mr. March, and is now in my posses-

set to
fair

to

It consists of several folios,

sion.

tion

work

is

given on the next page.

and

its

recapitula-

1
I

lO

Oi

(M

CO

CD

CO

00

II

OJ

Oi
GO
00

CO
CO

CO

C<J

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rH

rH

(?q

00

Ol

CO
00

O
CO

00

cT

co"

Th"

oo"

05

Oi

CO

CO

'^i

r-(

P^

!^
Oi

00

60

Ph
05

^
>^

CO

o P
>%
w

PM

M O

91

CHAPTER
MY SECOND
Within a few months
mortgages,
in

my

the

viz.,

office,

first

my

riNANCER.

the completion of the

after

the 1st of August, 1860, 1 was sitting

when Mr. Edward Watkin Edwards,

time,

He

entered.

Henry Edmund Gumey,

of

XVI.

business,

informed

me

for

that Mr.

fully satisfied as to the value

and with the balance-sheet of Mr.

March, wished, as the future

capitalist of the

and Oriental Steam Navigation Company,

Greek
the

that

concern should be turned into a bond fide private company, and to do that he proposed that I should enter
into a deed of partnership with
ridi,

who had endorsed

the

bills.

Mr. George LascaHe added that Mr.

Lascaridi was to be put at the head of the financial

department of the Greek and Oriental, and was to go

every day to

Lombard

Street,

much money as he wanted.

not to make any objection;
position

where he could get as

Mr. Edwards urged me

firstly,

because the pro-

came from Mr. Henry Edmund Gurney and

was himself so overloaded with
;

secondly, because he

business that he could not undertake to superintend

mine.

And

then Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

had been acquainted personally with Mr. George

Lascaridi, and could not make a better choice of a
partner for me than one of the firm of Lascaridi and
Co., and a compatriot of my own.
Having said all this, Mr. Edwards drew from his
pocket a preliminary draft of the deed of partnership,

92

which he asked me

to sign.

He

me to sign

also asked

a letter, engaging myself to pay him, Mr. Edwards,

annually, the

sum

of 500, in consideration of his

was taken by surprise. I

Mr. Henry Edmund Gurney's
felt that I was muzzled.
wish was virtually a command.
I was fully aware that
Mr. Edwards was Mr. David Ward Chapman's bosom
past and future services.

companion and prime favourite. I saw that Lascaridi

had worked the official assignee, I was caught in the
hunter's toils.
I said to Mr. Edwards " I thought
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., by making me pay
:

the bonus of 30,000 for the loan, had given

pretension of participating in the profits of

accordance with the

in

ness,

spirit

up

my

all

busi-

of the private

which I had written to Mr. Henry Edmund

I have given them a bill of exchange for
170,000 when I pay that, they are bound to release
my steamers, and I am under no further obligations to
them. All they can demand from me now is that
you, Mr. Edwards, their nominee, and in whose name
my steamers are mortgaged at the Custom-House,
or your representative or clerk, may have the power
to come into my office to inspect the books and see
that the business is going on all right, and for doing
this I have akeady agreed to pay you 500."
Mr.
Edwards, who had been looking me fixedly in the face
during the time I was speaking, at last said
**
Have you seen Lascaridi "?"
letters

Gurney.

" Yes, I have," I answered.

" What did he say to you

"

He

now on

said that as

my

business seemed established

so solid a basis, as I

had succeeded

in getting

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. to back mc, he would

like to

have his share in

it.

He

then insinuated that

93
he had a right to his share, as the indorser of the bills
of exchange which had been given to the ship-builders,

and

as the indorser of the big bill for

him

that his firm had endorsed the bills on commission,

and that

my

if

170,000.

any one was entitled to share the

I told

profits of

it was his firm, to which I had no objecbut as long as his firms in London and Constantinople brought claims against the Greek and Oriental

business

tion,

Steam Navigation Company, and held the deposits of

coal, I could not enter into any agreement with him.
We at last came to high words, and so I left him."

The

official

assignee listened to

me

patiently,

and

manner which is so charac" Look here, Xenos you may

then, in that smooth cool

teristic

of him, said

congratulate yourself on being the most fortunate

in England, for having fallen into the

man

hands of such

They like you, and now they

have taken you by the hand they will make a great
man of you. I cannot tell you more at present. They
have great plans regarding the Greek and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company, but they cannot put them
into operation until they have placed the company on
Do not, then, refuse Mr. Henry
a different basis.
a firm as the Gurneys.

Edmund

Gurney's request,

you, and

who

"

so

good

to

have no objection to give Mr. George Lascaridi

a share in
like

who has been

saved you from bankruptcy."

him

my
I

business, Mr. Edwards," I replied.

owe him immense gratitude

distant relative of mine,

and

I regret

angry words with him yesterday.

now

he

that I

" I
is

had

do not, however,

matrimony if you get a

good wife, you are blessed and happy; if you get a
bad one, you are ruined for life."
I also observed that Mr. George Lascaridi was

like partnership

it is

like


94
connected, besides the firm of Lascaridi and Co., with

knew

other concerns, of whose solvency I

nothing.

Mr. Edwards replied that all Lascaridi's concerns

were known to Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,
that he was a great favourite with them, and that
a partnership with him would give them great con^
fidence in me.
Mr. Edwards spoke plausibly. I was
conscious of the difficulty of

my

position.

The mortgagee of maritime property has mor6

power than the mortgagee of landed property. At
any time he likes he can give a bill of sale to whomsoever he pleases, transfer your steamers to the name
of another, deprive you of your ownership, and. take
from you all control over your captain and crew. If
you have any inkling of his intentions, you can, it is
true, prevent him by an injunction in Chancery; if
not, your only remedy is at common law, which is a
most tedious and expensive proceeding. I knew my
position in relation to Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and
Co. perfectly well.

The

on

least hesitation

my

part,

me to do, might ruin

Mr. Edwards was their factotum, and of course
knew their designs. I cannot tell now whether he
was really acting according to their instructions, or
whether he was only serving Mr. George Lascaridi,
with whom, as I have said, he had other transactions.
" I
" Look here, Mr. Edwards," I said at last.

with regard to what they wanted

me.

repeat that nothing will give

me

a greater pleasure

than for Mr. George Lascaridi to reap a benefit from

this business. I told you he is my benefactor. But I
should not be

justified, either for

entering into any partnership with

are

squared up with his firms.

my

sake or his, in

him until matters

Look here, what

Messrs. Lascaridi and Co. claim from

me


95
[^Translation.']

London, 9th March, 1860.

Stefanos Xenos, Esq.,

London.
Enclosed you will find our two accounts balanced up
to 31st

December

and 1327

10s.

which presents a sum of .2017 12s. 4d,

2s. lid. to your debit, and we

last year,

7d.viz., 3345

beg of you to take in consideration the payment of

this debt of

you have not rendered us your account concerning the

freights of Aleppo and Beyrout, on account of which you have paid
us a sum of money, but we have to receive still a considerable
amount. On the other part, we want the above accounts settled to
balance our books, and we shall be very much obliged if you send
Also,

yours.

week.

it this

Yours

truly,

Lascaeibi and Co.

This was

my

them

reply to

[Translation.']

(Copying Book, Folio 61.)

March

9th,

1860.

Messes. Lascaeidi and Co.,

In answer

to

your

letter of this day, I return

you

the accounts which were enclosed therein, as I do not recognize

them.
This

According to our books

we have

to receive, not to pay.

be decided by Mr. Edward Watkin Edwards, in

affair is to

accordance with the arbitration bond signed by your Mr. George

Lascaridi and me.

Mr. Edwards

transactions between you

abide.

is

now examining

and me, and by

Before he comes to a decision,

we

the various

his decision

we

shall

will not acknowledge

any account not the losses on the grain.

I never entered into
any grain speculations with you for joint account, therefore I

may have been

cannot be affected by any losses that

such speculation.
vessels, chartered

were

to

All that I did

was

incurred in

you ten

by me on the understanding that

sailing

their cargoes

be sold on the same day for 34s. per quarter, taking

granted that you had bought grain

13s. a quarter.

my ten

to cede to

vessels,

it

for

through Mr. Elefteriades at

It was solely on these terms that I let you have

which I could have re-chartered on the same day


96
Besides this loss of profit on freight which

at 2s. a quarter profit.

you owe me, you make me another

loss,

under the pretext that your

agent, Mr. Elefteriades, has abused your confidence.

With regard

to the steamships

nothing but the suspense accounts

Aleppo and Beyrout, there are

namely,

freights unpaid, such

as that of Salik Pasha, agent to the Sublime Porte, or those of

persons

who have

or reduced freights paid

failed,

by merchants

whose goods were lost by your captains. Any balance that there
may be we have passed to your account, and will be decided upon

by Mr. Edwards.

make

I must, however,

Messrs. Fachri, Lascaridi, and

Co.,

my

hands I placed the transaction of

worth 6000.

coal

moneys

of

mine

my

business

now

Elefteriades,

your Mr. George

away from my

friends

whom

and

detain

my

deposits

Beyrout, have kept

Messrs. Sursook, of

and Mr.

also at the request of

whose

business there, in accordance

with the wish of your Mr. George Lascaridi,

of

observation, that

this

of Constantinople, in

my

agent,

had

to take

made

to do so I

has detained ,1000 of mine, on

the plea that you had refused to accept his

bills.

Without entering into further explanations, I return your

I am ready to abide
accounts, as I will not acknowledge them.

by the

Mr. Edwards, and

decision of

farthing.

But I

am

accounts, the Greek and Oriental

to receive,

and not

to

pay you

to

the last

grieved to inform you that, according to our

Steam Navigation Company has

to pay.

Yours obediently,
Stefanos Xenos.

(Signed)

In this state of

affairs,

how can you wish me

to enter

"

into a partnership with George 1

" Xenos, you know that these accounts are in

hands, so I give you

my

my

promise that Messrs. Lasca-

and Co. will never trouble you. I shall make

George give you a guarantee that you will not be
troubled by his firm."
Mr. Edwards then called his confidential clerk,
Mr. March, who was in the next room, and wrote a
ridi

duplicate draft of a
that I made.

new agreement, with

It is as follows

the alterations

97
\_Copy

Memorandum.
~\

The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

\st

August, 1860.

Present: Mr. Xenos,

Mr. Edwards,
Mr. March.
Mr. Xenos will agree that a Partnership Deed

shall be prepared

by Messrs. Crowder and Mapiard between himself, G. P. Lascaridi,

and Mr. Aristides Xenos G. P. Lascaridi undertaking that no claim

shall be

and

Co.,

house at

made

company by the firm of Lascaridi

wdthdraw the stop that their
Constantinople has placed upon the property of the above
against the above

and that the

latter

shall

company.

Under these circumstances, the shares

I-2-

to

tides

Mr. Xenos,

Mr. Aris-

^^t to

Xenos.

Mr. Xenos

company

No

management

to attend to the

of the fleet

Mr. Las-

books and to finance, and to attend at the

caridi to the

the

of the partnership to be

Mr. G. P. Lascaridi, and

#0- to

ofilces

of

for three hours at the least daily.

bills to

be accepted or cheques drawn, or any

new

business

created involving outlay beyond the necessary expense of the

fleet,

except under the direction of Mr. E. Edwards.

Two banking

accounts to be kept

one

for

sums exceeding one

thousand pounds, against which the signatures of both Mr.

and Mr. G. P. Lascaridi

shall be requii'ed

and one

for the

S.

Xenos

working

account, against which each of those gentlemen shall sign for self

and partners.
Mr. Aristides Xenos

to

have a salary of 500 a year, in addition

to his share of the profits.

Stefanos Xenos.

(Signed)

E.

W.

C. J.

E.

M.

I signed the draft, giving

my

brother Aristides a

small share as partner in the concern.

me was

moment

which I signed
Lascaridi had worked the official
that document.
assignee, who had worked David Ward Chapman, and
Chapman, Henry Edmund Gurney and the great man
H
Fatal to

the

in

98

having uttered the decree, I was compelled to submit.

Any

hesitation on

my part would

have been construed

into rebellion, and no opportunity for explanation

would have been afforded me, as the system at the
" Corner House " was to give audiences of not more

than three minutes' duration.

Mr. Edwards, in his statement before the Lord

"I have no doubt now that I did

Chancellor, said:
receive, at
caridi,

some time or

money from Mr. Las-

other,

acting for and on account of Mr. Xenos, as

commission on a loan negotiated with Overend, Gurney,

and Co.

gentleman

for that

but that had nothing

whatever to do with the subject of the arbitration, and

was long subsequent to it." Now, this is something
which I hear for the first time. I can understand now

why Mr. Edwards

forced

upon me

this partnership,

which afterwards entailed a loss of 100,000 on the

house of Overend, Gurney, and Co., as we shall preFrom what money of the Greek and
sently see.
Oriental Steam Navigation Company were these commissions paid

Were

or after our partnership

these commissions paid before

?

In what books of the com-

pany, and in what form, were they inserted

voluntary revelations to

me now

Such

are astounding.

Within a few days the deed of partnership was

From that date Mr. George
prepared and signed.
Lascaridi became a fixture in my office.
He superintended the cash department, and managed the finances,
according to the wish of Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co.
Lascaridi had very quickly comprehended the re-

which I stood to Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and had consequently set to work, with the
assignee, to obtain, through them, a partner-

lation in

and

Co.,

official


99

my

ship in

business.

When

he found that

all

debts were concentrated in one place, and that

my
my

were amongst the greatest capitalists of Europe, he saw that they, having advanced me 200,000
on ships and grain, would, for their own sakes, conPie did not misunderstand his
tinue to support me.
creditors

interests.

had

Independent of the 1000 a year that he

from

to receive, according to our partnership deed,

the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company,

would also serve him to give stability

many worthless enterprises.
The day after that on which I signed the draft I

this partnership

to his

received from Mr. Lascaridi the following letter

\_TransIation.']

August 2nd, 1860.

Dear Xenos,
I have received your letter of yesterday late to-day, and I

immediately, but before sending

replied to

it

who

me what you and he had

told

which I

find right

it

saw Mr. Edwards,

agreed on yesterday together,

with the exception of a few additions which he

He told me not to send my reply, as you

approves of himself.

expressed regret for your manner to

me

sequence, I send the past to oblivion,

and on Monday

eturn from Manchester, I shall

come

to

last Saturday.

your

office

In con-

next, on

with you.
Yours,
(Signed)

'J

my

and have a talk

G. P. Lascakidi.

100

CHAPTER

XVII.

THE " BRITISH STAR."

The

reception that

viz.,

"

my two

The Exhibition" and

and

political works,

" Coining,"

had met in the

literary

East, and the favourable impression that their illus-

had made on the public mind, first suggested to

me the idea of establishing, in London, an illustrated
Greek newspaper. It should be literary, political, and
commercial.
With such an organ, placed, as I believed, beyond the reach of arbitrary power, I hoped
to propagate throughout the East a knowledge of
trations

English institutions; I hoped to

peoples, in

whom I

make

those remote

took so deep an interest, acquainted

with the civilization of Western Europe.

I believed

that such information, diffused throughout those re-

would eventually replace Russian by English

influence in the East.
I would expose the disgraceful
gions,

conduct of the Bavarian Court at Athens.

ventured

to

hope that a voice travelling from the

of Britain might reach the ears of

soil

even

free

King Otho, and

induce him to alter a policy that was virtually annul-

had sworn to defend. Ultimately the British Star was destined to become the
chief pillar of the Greek and Oriental Steam Naviga-

ling the constitution he

tion

Company

in several respects.

I lost no time

men whom

brought from Athens ten gentle-

intended to employ as translators

brought Greek

printers, and, of course,

Things were soon ready, and early in

Greek
1860 I

I also

type.
esta-

101
blished in London a Greek printing-office, and commenced to publish the British Star.
As the subscription to the British Star 3 3s.
per annum was to be paid in advance, the Greek and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company issued a circular

to the public in the East,

its

announcing the guarantee of

duration for two years at

No.

7.)

least.

was not disappointed in

(See Appendix,

my

expectations.

This luminary shone for some time like a star of

magnitude above the horizon of the East, but

was suddenly obscured, and at length finally eclipsed,
the

first

by a dense
trived to

How

political fog

fill

with which Earl Russell con-

the British Temple of Liberty.

such events came to pass I shall narrate in

due order. Let me now return to the fleet of the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
It was about this time that the British Star began
to

make

Levant.

a great

stir in

the principal towns of the

The monstrous errors

of King Otho's

worse name

pointed out in

its

loudly advocated.

to call

them by no

administration

were

columns, and British institutions

Translations of long extracts from

English newspapers and magazines, with miscellaneous

information upon almost every subject, together with
beautiful illustrations,

made

the British Star the veri-

table leader of the Greek press.

That journal was so

minds of the Greek people with the
Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, that
they came to be regarded as national twins, and it
identified in the

must be confessed that the newspaper was no small

support to the company, gathering all the shippers
round it.
No sooner had George Lascaridi become my partner
than he was suddenly seized with the itch for writing.

102

He

would

fain write the leading articles for the British

He had never written a

Star.

why

did not understand

line for the press,

but he

that should be an objection to

Lascaridi was what

his writing a leading article.

is

called a " clever fellow,"

and dealt out his opinions

But the manager of a newsfreely on all subjects.
paper knows how to discriminate between a voluble
I put an interdict
talker and a thoughtful writer.
upon Lascaridi's attempts at " leaders." I also prohibited his interference with the administration of the
steamers.

between us would have

not been that he, perplexed by

serious collision

been inevitable had

it

But before

his other partnerships, came to a crash.

coming to a crash, he kindly tried to give me precedence, and to place me in that position before reaching
it

himself.

He commenced
Overend,

operations by informing Messrs.

Gurney, and Co., through Mr. Edwards,

that the British Star would be the ruin of the

Greek

and Oriental Steam Navigation Company firstly, because the expenses of the newspaper were enormous
secondly, because
its

it

would never pay

tone was so inflammatory that

began

to desert the

company and,
;

thirdly, because
all

the shippers

finally,

because the

Turkish, Greek, Austrian, and Russian Governments

were

so hostile to

every impediment

me

personally, that they

to the navigation of

my

the waters of their respective kingdoms.

would put
steamers in

He

further

informed his employers that, since the finances had

come under

he had discovered that the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation
Company were in a state of insolvency. Nothing
would have been easier for me than to contradict
these statements had I known of them but I did not.
affairs

his direction,

of the

103

whom they were made

were not yet thoroughly acquainted with me.
I was suffering, though unconsciously, under the
and unfortunately those

to

disadvantage of these slanders,

when one

of those

epidemics that occasionally devastate the commercial

world suddenly broke forth amongst the Greek mer-

Money became

chants.

scarce, failures frequent,

and

who about

this

terror general.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

my

time would have to renew

first

They asked Mr. Edwards

alarmed.

to

bills,

became

go through our

books with Lascaridi and me, and report our position;

and we met one night in the office of the Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Lascaridi was a
little embarrassed.
He was expected, though I did
not know it at the time, to show the official assignee
our insolvency. He began in general terms to deplore
the bad state of affairs, but he offered no arithmetical
proof of what he said. He then proceeded to charge
the British Star and me with all kind of antipatriotic
and uneconomical sins, and finished by saying that
the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company

would soon be insolvent.

I was taken by surprise

to

him, quietly

this firm

sir,

Had you been

comprehend

My brother Aristides said

the motive for his conduct.

" Pray,

I could not

are

you not a partner in

our most bitter enemy, you

could not have behaved worse than you have done.

what you say

is

true,

why

did you not in the

If

first in-

stance make these communications to your partners %

As a partner of the firm, you were bound in honour to

do

so.

We

might then have consulted

as to

what was

best to be done."

Lascaridi looked confused.

My eyes were opened;

104
I

saw

clearly

how

before me, and began to

position

of our

drew the books

explain to Mr. Edwards the

things were.

affairs.

Lascaridi,

support his

to

slanders, endeavoured to depreciate the value of the

steamers.

Mr. Edwards, in
Mr. Edwards, as an account-

I spoke to him, before

the strongest terms.

ant, not only understood figures perfectly well, but

was prepared to save the business if he saw there was

no systematized deceit. My explanation fully satisfied
him. I then turned to George and said
:

" George, I have only lately learned the true state

of your private

affairs,

but I could never have believed

you capable of acting as you have done. I now leave

Mr. Edwards and his employers to find out the wrong
they did me by forcing this partnership. They will
shortly

know

all

about you."

105

CHAPTER

XVIII.

THE PENELOPE.

We

four left the office together.

all

was the 28th

we were

It

January, 1861, a very wet night, and, whilst

waiting for a cab, I observed that Lascaridi was trying

from

to separate

us,

and

to go

I said to myself:

assignee.

on with the

"If he succeed

official

in doing

he will perhaps cause him to change his mind

again before morning ;" so I determined that they
should not leave together. A cab happened to pass
at the moment.
I stopped it, got in, and invited Mr.
this,

Edwards

to take a seat.

He

stepped

in,

and asked

Lascaridi to join us; but I interposed, and said that

and

his road lay in a different direction,

at the

same

time ordered the cabman to drive on.

"

What

motive could Lascaridi have had for be-

having to us in this way

?' I

soon after we had

He remained silent. "And,

started.

asked of Mr. Edwards,

supposing there were any truth in his statement, surely

he ought

who

to

have communicated his discovery to

are his partners, so that

we might

ther as to what was best to be done

us,

consult toge-

but to go

first to

Chapman or you without our knowledge I cannot

understand it. Perhaps he has some other object in
view."

" Never mind

evening;
to-night
" I

forget

it

you peppered him enough this

Where are you going
now.

am

going to get some dinner

have eaten

106
nothing since

eight

o'clock

morning.

this

It

is

kiUing work to have to look after twenty steamers,

and

against such intrigues as I have had

battle

to

against

me

made

since I first

the acquaintance of the

Gurneys."

We

"

the

official

ago,

when

ourselves

kill

all

assignee.

money," remarked

for

" I was

ill

the Overends dragged

about your business.

in

me

bed three days

out of my bed

Will you come and have a little

dinner with me at the Garrick ?'

" With pleasure," I answered.

We

"

must, however," said he, " go

toria Street, to leave

first

to Vic-

He

some papers, and wash."

consequently ordered the cabman to drive to No. 27,

Victoria

Street

where

Flats.

It

struck

as a strange

that

years before.
" This is

my

" It

assignee.

town residence,"

is

We

very small.

manently at Brighton, where,

you

me

he should occupy the first flat,

had myself been living in 1857, just three

coincidence

if

the

said

official

are located per-

you come

to see us,

will find things in a difierent style."

" David

not T' said

Ward Chapman
I.

is

was washing

living there also,

my

he

is

my

hands in

old

bed-room,

"Yes," answered he; "Mrs. Edwards and Mrs.

Chapman

style at Prince's Gate,

when

in

London.

house always
cious dinners.

He

lives

Chapman

are great friends.

He

Hyde

lives in great

Park, where he resides

keeps ten horses.

full of visitors,

He

has his

and gives the most delisplendid fellow I know.

He is the most

at the rate

of from 15,000

to

20,000

a year."
"

Twenty thousand pounds a year

"

exclaimed

I.

107
" If

all

the five partners live at that rate, what with

expenses, the profits of the

office

'

Corner House

'

must be over 120,000 a year."

"You

forget the extent of their business," said

Mr. Edwards, " and the amount of their capital. The

Gurneys must be worth at least ten millions sterling."

"Fabulous!"

replied.

"Are

Chapmans

the

Quakers'?"
" Cross breed," said the official assignee.

"

Are you a Quaker, Mr. Edwards

"Not

altogether,"

replied

he;

!"

asked.

"but

I have a

great deal to do with Friends."

We

then

left

Victoria Street for the Garrick.

It

was past eight when we arrived at the club, and we

found it nearly deserted. Mr. Edwards ordered dinner,
which, when it came on the table, I attacked like
a half-famished man, as I had been too busy since
I also
early morning to find time to taste anything.
did honour to the splendid hock of the Garrick.
" I cannot give you any champagne or red wine,"
said Mr. Edwards, " as the doctors have ordered me
to take nothing but hock."
"I

am

I thought

content with the hock," said

it

red wine to his

to drink

it

I,

although

Edwards not to off'er

guest because he had been forbidden

rather selfish of Mr.

himself.

After dinner

we

retired to the

smoking-room, where we were quite alone.

The

con-

on the Greek and Oriental Steam

Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
and Co., but more particularly on the British Star.
I told Mr. Edwards confidentially that the policy of the
versation turned

Navigation

Company and

paper was not

was

selfish, as

Mr. Lascaridi had stated

it

to oust, if possible, the then existing Bavarian dy-

nasty,

and

to offer the throne to Prince Alfred.

I also

108
told

that one or two Englishmen of high position

him

encouraged

me

in

my

project,

and

that, if I attained

the object I had in view, I should render immense ser-

my

vice to

country, and consequently procure certain

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Company, which would bring it great wealth. Mr.
Edwards began to understand my policy, and seemed
privileges for the

He

highly pleased.

make
him the

then expressed a wish to

a cruise in the Grecian Archipelago.

I told

scenery there was fairy-like, and would well repay a

visit.
At that time I had two yachts, one a sailing
and the other a steam yacht but I am so bad a
sailor, and had so little time, that I never used them.
They were quite] new, and lying in Victoria Docks
I mentioned this to
they had never yet been to sea.
"Will
you lend me the
said,
who
Mr. Edwards,
;

steam yacht for a short cruise

" All right," said I
as she

"

" you can have her altogether,

of no use to me."

is

Thank

you, you are very kind," said the

assignee, shaking

We

1"

me by

official

the hand.

had no further conversation on the subject.

After a short pause Mr. Edwards

you know what

is

my

mission

said,

" Xenos, do

"

Not 1."
" To become a very

rich

side I

make money, and

comes

to

"

talent

is

I see that on every

that from every side

money

me."

You

" It

man

is

are a most fortunate man," said

not that,

finance.

it is

The

mathematics,
Messrs.

my

I.

friend

my

Gurney wished me

to

go into Parliament, but I have declined for the present,

and until I have made a large sum of money."
At about half-past ten we left the club and walked
.

109
towards Piccadilly.

wished

and exhausted, so

tired

to

go home, as

was

took a cab and was driven

Kensington.

to

The next day

received a short note from Mr.

Edwards, requesting

me

to

send him the papers of

the yacht Penelope, of which I had been so kind as

make him

to

a present.

the matter, and this note

room

little

When

Aristides.

he advised

me

while, and sent for

I told

him

" If

in that way," said

he will think that either you are a

give

my

the

in

brother

him what had taken

not to send the papers.

him a present of 2000

about

all

great deal.

requested Mr. Edwards's clerk to remain

outer

"

had forgotten

made me think a

place,

you make

my brother,

fool, or that

you

the yacht as a bribe."

" I look at the matter in a different light," said

"I

know no Overends in

are everything

this matter.

they have

all

the power.

If I do not

send the papers of the yacht to Edwards, he will

me

that I

his word.

my

I.

He and Chapman

am a man who does not know how to

He will think it a breach of faith.

tell

keep
All

now in his hands and power. The refusal

him the yacht might make him spiteful, and
cause him to ruin us, particularly now that Lascaridi
fleet is

to give

has declared himself an open enemy."

" I would

not give her," replied

" were I in your position."
I reflected a short time

against

my

will, sent

longer,

him the

my

brother,

and then, much

yacht's papers.

It is

needless to add here that Mr. Edwards kept the yacht

my expense for two months after he had become her

He registered her only on the 28th of March,
owner.

at

1861.

One day my

friend Mr. G. B. Carr, on entering

110

my

handed me, with a smile, a short paragraph

which he had cut from some paper, saying at the same
time, "There is a little news for you."
I took the
paragraph, and read as follows
office,

Mr. E. "Watkiii Edwards, accompanied

by

his

friends,

Mr.

Harrison Ainsworth and Mr. Lyster O'Beirne, arrived at Paris on

steam yacht Penelope, belonging to the Eoyal

Saturday

last, in his

Victoria

Yacht Club, Hyde, having

Seine.

This,

been moored

it is

successfully

navigated

the

believed, is the first English yacht that has ever

off the Tuileries,

and

is,

therefore,

an object of great

curiosity to the Parisians.

" I always suffer dreadfully at sea," I remarked

" but he might, at all events, have sent me an invitation, particularly as

he was sure I could not have

accepted it."
" Not he," said the kind old man, with an expres-

on his face which I

sion

How

shall never forget.

knew my man when

I gave

him the

yacht in 1861 the following letter will show.

When

the

fall

little I

of the Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation

Com-

pany came on me quite unexpectedly, I was pressed

on every side for money. Being almost at my wit's
end, I said to the ex-secretary of the defunct company, " I have a mind to write a letter to a gentle-

man

to

whom,

in

my

days of prosperity, I

made

present of a steam yacht, some hundreds of pounds,

and an Arab horse, to ask him to help me. It is said

that he is immensely rich, unless he has lost his money
in the panic, or through the failure of Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co."
" Then surely he will do it," said my friend.
"Not he," I answered, using Mr. Carr's phrase.
" I wish to have you as a witness to his ingratitude.
Write the letter yourself, and I will sign it." The


Ill

The following

was written and signed.

copy, word for word

letter

is

9,

W. Edwaeds,

E.

Dear

Fenchurch

June 18, 1866.

Street,

Esa.

Slr,
I have

had

lately to

go through

many others in the City of London.

minster Bank finding the opportunity to

many

difficulties,

The London and West-

as

sell

my

estate

(Petersham

Lodge) on account of ,500 accumulated expenses, after I arranged

the transfer to the North British and Mercantile Insurance Office,

me that sum on additional security, and save the

The bank advance is .5500. The estate cost me 7000
copyhold, 1000 to franchise it, and I have spent 3000 in new

can you lend

estate ?
as

buildings,

25 per

one year,
settled,

me.

and

since I

cent., so there
till

when

An

bought

^is

it

property has increased in value

the affairs of the Anglo-Greek Steam

I expect to

500
Company

I want only the

ample security.

have a large sum of money that

is

for

are

due to

immediate reply will oblige me.

I am, dear Sir,

Yours

truly,

^TEPANOS XeNOS.

Mr. Theophilus Kokos, then

my clerk, who was pre-

sent at the above conversation, took the letter to Mr.

Edwards's commercial

offices, 81,

King William

Street.

In a short time he returned with the answer that Mr.

Edwards was not expected there that

added, however, that the clerk to
letter

took

it

into

the inner

Mr. Kokos
handed the
remained there

day.

whom he

office,

some time, and then came back without it, so that

consequently he believed that Mr. Edwards was in.
On hearing this, I said I would go myself. When I
arrived the door of the private office was half open, so
that I could hear Mr. Edwards's voice within; the

him to me. I sent in

name, and the reply was that Mr. Edwards hoped
I would excuse him, as he was too busy to see me

clerk could not, therefore, deny

my

112
that day.

then wrote on a

The

do instead of 500."
returned saying "

No

slip of

paper " 250 will

took

clerk

it

in,

and

answer."

gift, as Mr. EdMayor

Lord
at
the Guildhall,
wards asserted before the
and before Mr. Commissioner Holroyd at the BankIf so, Mr. Edwards was guilty of that
ruptcy Court 1
ingratitude for which the Persian law-makers decreed

Reader, was the yacht a friendly

decapitation as punishment.

If

it

was not a

gift,

but that Mr. Edwards thought he had a right to

was

it

the realization of the dove and the

The Penelope was 40

it,

hawk 1

tons gross measurement,

79-|-

5^- deep, and 25 horse-power.

She was not given to me as a present, as asserted by
Mr. Edwards in his statement before the Lord Chan-

feet long, 12-^% broad,

I contracted for her, as well as for

cellor.

another

smaller sailing yacht, the Vierouka, with Messrs. A.

Leslie

and

firm the
cost

and paid that

The Penelope had

Co., of Gateshead-on-Tyne,

sum

of

2360

me, including

for them.

stores, insurance,

1800 when

wages, and other

Mr. Edwards.
Edwards during her construction, as he asserted in his statement, or on any
former occasion. I promised her to him for the first
time on the evening that we dined together at the
Garrick Club, and that was the 28th of January, 1861,
up to which time, from November, 1860, she had been
lying idle in the Victoria Docks, as can be proved by
reference to the books in the dock offices, and the
charges, about

I gave her to

I never promised her to Mr.

letter of her builder,

No. 48.)

Mr. A.

Leslie.

(See Appendix,

113

CHAPTER

XIX.

DEEPER IN THE WATER.

The commercial

or

crisis,

epidemic, spread so

in

f^ist

Greek commercial
1860, that each morning
the

brought intelligence of new victims.

That
time

is

crisis

had a

origin

political

when

not far distant

it

perhaps the

will bring forth

political result.

That epidemic had

its rise

in the seraglio of the

Sultan, and in the courts of the high Pachas.

Before the Crimean War, Turkey had no foreign

During the Crimean "War she was in want of

money, but the arrogant Turk would rather do anything than borrow from the Franks. In his difficulty,
he applied to the Greeks of Constantinople. He would
debt.

give any rate of interest

which,

in plain English,

means that the principal would never be paid. About

a dozen Greek firms of Constantinople, having houses
in London, undertook the job.

was executed in
Constantinople drew
It

One firm at
London house, and passed the bills to the other
The bills
firm, who gave its own paper in exchange.
were sent to Lombard Street, melted, found their way

the coolest manner.

on

its

back

to Constantinople,

and were poured into the

Imperial Treasury in a stream of liquid gold.

The

Turk paid on these transactions from 20 to 50 per

The loans were renewed, with additional intecent.
rest, and the bills met by similar accommodation
following quick one on

the other;
I

and

if,

within

114
twenty-four months, the merchant at Constantinople

succeeded in making the Sultan pay, out of his revenues, the interest alone,

all

was

right.

To Greek merchants who had

large credit this

commerce appeared not only very profitable,

but involving no risk. It was more lucrative and
easier to manage than the grain trade and the trade in
colonials, in which they had been brought up. But the
business was at length overdone; too many had engaged
The small
in it, and a crisis was the consequence.
serafFs at Constantinople had commenced to imitate
the great merchants, and Lombard Street was inundated with Greek paper. The bankers began to see
through the game, and became apprehensive of danger.
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., as may be supposed,
held no small share of this paper. Now the British
Star, as the exponent of Greek interests, had openly
denounced the Greeks engaged in this paper commerce
it is
as the destroyers of Greek credit and Greek trade
easily understood, then, how some of the Greeks of
London formed a formidable clique, and tried their
species of

utmost to injure

me in the opinion

of Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and Co.

The Greek

public, ignorant of the secret springs

that worked this machinery, bought the bills of these

houses in the different exchanges of the Levant, and

remitted them to the smaller Greek houses of Western

Europe.

At length the

difficulty arose.

to be done with unnegotiable paper?

What was
And so the

epidemic seized Greeks in London, Manchester, and

Liverpool,
sin

It

who were wholly

was a terrible affair.

guiltless of the original

Many of the originators of

that catastrophe died, commercially, miserably

are to this day creditors to the honest

Turk

others

for large


115
sums; but some few

les jjIus habiJes

contrived

to

become the indispensable favourites of the grave

Mussulman. These gentlemen assisted the Turk to
consolidate all his trifling internal debts into a stock

importable and marketable in London.

The

success of

the undertaking so astonished the Grand Vizier, that

why

he one day asked Mr. S

men paid in London,

it

was that Englishwhat

for these caimes, three times

they were worth at Constantinople.

'*

Your Highness,"

men wish

replied the flatterer, " English-

to prove that their love for

Turkey

is

a real,

not a platonic sentiment."

"

Then

I foresee that they will

her," said, Avith a shrewd

one day monopolize

smile, the

Europeanized

Mussulman.

About
Oriental

Greek and
again into an alarming condition. There

this

fell

time the

affairs

of the

were
In the first place, the
Levant export trade had come to a standstill, and the
import trade was seriously paralyzed; and secondly,
several causes for this.

and the most important, Lascaridi, in financing our

company, had discounted or exchanged about 12,000
of our good acceptances with those of some Manchester,
Gibraltar, and London houses with which he was
connected, and which failed a few days after the
transaction.

"

The

storm,"

ends

larger the ship the greater her share of the

says the

felt to

hurricane.

Greek proverb

and such the Over-

be the case in that worse than equinoctial

The wdnds blew from every point

of the

compass, lashing the commercial sea into fury.

hail of bills fell simultaneously

from north, south,

A
east,

and west, but the missives were quickly melted on the

deck of the gallant ship.

A
i2

profound darkness enve-

116
loped the horizon
able

the atmosphere was scarcely respir-

the thunder rolled moodily overhead

and the

forked lightning served to show the horrors of the

gloom.

Sinister

noises were heard

on every

side.

commanders, Henry Edmund Gurney and

Kobert Birkbeck, resolutely faced the storm, and tried

Tlie brave

to reduce

to

form the chaos in which they found

for David Ward Chapman, he could

themselves.

As

scarcely keep

on his

dition

legs.

when he heard

He

was

in a fainting con-

the creaking of the straining

timbers of the vessels of the Galway Company, and

those of the Greek and Oriental, of Zachariah Pearson,

of the East India and

London Steamship Company, and

others congregated round Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and

and heard their crews calling for help. Poor

David, bewildered and confounded, thought the end of
the world was come.
He was bowed to the earth in
penitence for his past faults.
He blamed his favourites, and he blamed himself; though, sooth to say, at
the

Co.,

first

both

appearance of

fair

weather he freely forgave

parties.

Happy Arthur Chapman

Eetired within

luxurious saloon of the ship, he

knew nothing

the

of the

storm that raged above. Nay, he refused to believe

aught of the hurricane until the victims of the tempest

and the floating wrecks were pointed out to him. And

when he had realized these evidences, he would merely
in his arrogant manner, that the victims were
" rogues or fools."

lisp,

During

this fearful state of things,

Mr. Edwards,

the ])0}itifcx maximus of Basinghall Street, could find

no leisure for my affairs. He was busy from early

morning to latest eve in administering the last consolations to the victims of the

storm, or else helping

117

them

to the

deck of the great ship, running thereby

the risk of overloading her at a

needed

to

be lightened.

of Lascaridi's reckless

moment when

she

complained to Mr. Edwards

mode

of financing, and declared

that I would not recognize the acts of this partner and

financer that

A rather

had been thrust upon me.

sharp contest took place one day between

Mr. David

Ward Chapman and

this way.

had begun

to

me.

It occurred in

import grain very largely

from the Danube on our own account. The bills of

several thousand quarters of this grain
were expected to arrive daily in London. I had some
heavy payments to meet, and as Mr. Lascaridi, my
second financer, had by this time begun to come but
very rarely to the office, I was obliged to go in person
lading for

to the "

Corner House

"

When

to ask for funds.

and when
arrived there were several Greeks
Mr. David Ward Chapman saw me, he said, in an
alarmed manner, "Walk in there." After keeping
there,

me

waiting for some time he entered, and, before

giving me time to explain the cause of

out, " You are come again for money.

my

visit,

cried

Are you not

satisfied with what you have already had from this
office 1
You are for the Old Bailey."
" Are you mad ] " said I, at the same time pre"What right
venting him from leaving the room.
have you to speak to me so
It is your house that is
systematically breaking me down by your enormous
interests, and by the acts of those whom you have
'?

appointed to finance

my business.

to complain, say nothing,

who have a right

and you scream out. Have
I,

you not ample security in ships, freights, and grain,

Perhaps
money which you have advanced me
you prefer to be the holders of hundreds of thousands

for the

'?

"

118
of unsecured

bills,

What

crisis.

ing daily

will

such as you have held during this

you get out of those who are

fail-

"?

Mr. Chapman cooled down, and

turned, however, in a short time, in

me; he recompany with Mr.

left

what 1 wanted. I explained my wants

to them, and at the same time showed them the worthlessness of Mr. Lascaridi's accommodation bills, which
were sure to bring a heavy loss to the Greek and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
I added that I
Edwards,

to see

should not recognize the

as Messrs. Overend,

bills,

Gurney, and Co. had forced

me

to take

Mr. Lascaridi

Whilst I was speaking Edwards and

other in silence. " I was

as a partner.

Chapman kept looking at each

when I was a
had a very profitable business, and no
Now, besides the tremendous labour

the happiest of men," I continued, "

ship-broker

responsibility.

of working this great

on

to

fleet profitably, I

make superhuman

efforts to

am

also called

prevent the ruinous

consequences of some of the acts of those appointed by

the firm to guard their interests.

I bide

my time,

for

when you will learn that you have

human form connected with this office."

the day will come

devils in

"

To whom do you allude

"

said

Mr. Chapman,

looking sharply at Edwards.

"I do

not know," I answered.

Mr. Henry Edmund Gurney then entered the room,
and spoke in a low tone to Mr. Chapman about some
other business, after which they left the room together,
leaving

my

me

matter.

alone with the

official

assignee to arrange


119

CHAPTER XX.
MY THIRD

FINANCER.

Mr. Edwards, the emperor of the

now changed

his minister of finance.

" Corner House,"

Seeing that Las-

caridi could not attend to our business,

Mr. Henry Barker

Barker was to present

a

list

he appointed

to superintend our finances.

at

Lombard

Street, every

Mr.

month,

of the payments of the Greek and Oriental Steam

Navigation Company, and he was to receive a cheque

Mr. Henry Barker's establishment

was, as I have observed, started by Mr. George Lascaridi
a fact of which I was at that time ignoThis new appointment was
rant, as everybody else.
He was
a fortunate event for Mr. Henry Barker.
just then on the verge of bankruptcy his estate was
in the hands of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,
for the

amount.

and by adroit management of the funds that now

began to pass through his hands, he raised himself to
My
the position in which Ave shall shortly find him.
payments during the course of the month amounted
to from 20,000 to 30,000.
Mr. Henry Barker
having received a cheque from Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co., lodged the amount at his banker's.
He went every day at four o'clock to my banker's
Mr. Marshall, of the Bank of London where he had
an understanding to keep until four o'clock all my
In this
crossed cheques and bills and pay them.
way, Mr. Henry Barker was able to keep a splendid
balance at his banker's, and raise his own credit, whilst

120

he was sending that of the Greek and Oriental Steam

IN avigation Company to perdition.
But this was not
all.
In return for the payments thus made by Messrs.
Overcnd, Gurney, and Co., I was bound to give them
The orders
the freights and earnings of my steamers.
were that I should hand the freights to Mr. Henry
Barker, who would give Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and
Co. a single cheque, comprising

all details, so

that

it

should seem as though the transactions were exclusively

between these

parties,

my name

appearing at

-not

all

and Co. I
system, but I believe

in the books of Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

do not

know who

organized this

it was adopted by the great money-lenders with others

Mr. Henry Barker
to whom they made advances.

honey out of these transactions. He

contrived, during several years, to keep in his hands
about 12,000, concerning which there were disputes

licked

up a

little

I am ignorant even
and disputes year after year.
now how he settled with Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and

Co., in 1865.

understand

my indignation.

The system pursued towards me was

tyrannical and

You, reader, can

Whilst Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and

destructive.

Co. held

easily

my

property as security for certain loans, the

money they advanced was paid over

a gentleman of very small means.

all,

they had forced

me

to a third party

But, worse than

to sign the following letter,

drafted by their head clerk, Mr. Bois, holding

them

harmless in whatever way Mr. Henry Barker might

apply the money advanced

:
London, 19 January, 1861.

Messes. Overend, Gurnet, and Co.,

In consideration of your agreeing

sums, as they

may

to advance to us various

be required, to meet our engagements,

we hereby

121
aiithorizo

yo\i

to

hold

all

collateral security for the

the

deposited with

securities

same, and

the SS. Palikari and Odyseus Androutzos,

when

and do further authorize and direct you

to

sums

to

Mr. Henry Jolm liarker as he

instructed

the

for the said

signature to the said

valid as if they

may

my

in

pay the

you

iiosscssion,

said various

them, and have

call for

Mr. Henry John liarker

said

acknowledgments

you as

cnj^-agc to further assign to

to

sign

and give

sums, and hereby agree that his

memoranda

of advances shall

make them

aa

were signed by ourselves.

"VVc are,

Gentlemen,

Yours very

truly,

Stefanos Xenos.

(Signed)

was exasperated at this, and called at the "Corner

House " to put an end to this disgraceful conduct of
Edwards's financings. About this time I began to
suspect that Henry Barker and George Lascaridi were
connected closely together in business. It was no easy
matter to get a private interview with any of the
partners at a moment when the storm was blowing so
violently. On making my appearance, Mr. David Ward
Chapman, who thought that I was going to ask for
fresh loans, or to announce the sinking of my fleet,
I

was again seized with terror. He called out hastily

Walk in there walk in there," pointing to the dark
small room. Being a dull day, that room was more than
Often and often had I sat there for
usually gloomy.
hours, conning the Times, whilst I waited an interview

"

with one of the mighty money men.

occasion

I wished for a

On

the present

short tete-a-tete with

Henry Edmund Gurney, but

I soon

Mr.

found that that

wish could not be gratified until the commercial storm

should have subsided.

As may be

I left in despair.

expected, that storm did not subside

without producing serious results for those who, whilst

it

blew, found themselves unprepared outside the port.

122
It

was about

this

time that George Lascaridi, one

my

and in a
lively, agreeable manner informed me that he intended
He further added that he had
to suspend payment.
already given notice to his bankers not to honour his
very frosty morning,

entered

oiRce,

acceptances.

"Stop payment!" I explained; "what payment'?

What is the amount of your private debts 1 "
" Only 15,000."
" You surely do not mean to stop payment for the
But, George, when you entered
sake of 15,000.
into partnership with me, you told me, on my asking,
that you had no debts.
How can you, in the course
of a few months, have contracted these debts

George,

you stop payment, you will ruin this company.

Your creditors will fall on my poor steamers, because
you are now my partner."
if

" I can't help

it.

Good-bye, good-bye.

the advice of Mr. Cotterel,

And with

my

This

is

solicitor."

quite a holiday air he walked lightly out

was petrified. After a minute I

seized my hat, and pursued George.
I lost him in
Fenchurch Street. I hurried to Mr. Plenry Barker's
He was not there. Up to half-past three I
office.
sought him in vain. I was in agonies. I thought
of the

all

office.

was

over.

I at length

decided upon going to

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., and acquainting

them

"with

what had occurred.

Turning the corner

of a street, I met Mr. Henry Barker.

" Have you heard what our friend George intends

he asked, with an air of great satisfaction.

" Then you know everything
remarked.
replied
Mr.
Barker.
yes!"
"Oh,
"He called on
this morning, and showed me the letter he wrote

to do

'?

"

VI

me

123
Assuredly,"

to his bankers.

At

most mysterious man.

to

do

added, " George

lie

first I

did not

is

know what

but, reflecting on the great interest Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. and the Greek and Oriental

Steam Navigation Company have in his affairs, I went
to Chapman, and told him all."

"WelH"
" Of" course David

He

begged me

to

Chapman was

go through

fire

awfully alarmed.

and water

to find

and bring him

to him."
" Did you find him 1 "
" Yes
fortunately I found

him at my office. I
Chapman, looking quite
alarmed, said
Mr. Lascaridi, what is this you intend
?
to do
'I must suspend payment,' replied George.
;

took him to Lombard Street.

:

'

'

'

My

assets are larger

realize

me

them

at this

to suspend

than

moment

payment.

my
;

debts,

so

my

but

cannot

solicitor advises

My debts are about 18,000.

I cannot any further involve the house of Lascaridi

and Co.'"

The substance of Mr. Barker's story was this

Mr. David Ward Chapman, alarmed at Lascaridi'
announced intention of suspending payment, offered
him a cheque for 20,000 to pay his debts, which he
refused, declaring that he would not take Chapman's
money. After many refusals on the part of Lascaridi,
Mr. Barker stepped, forward, and quieted his scruples
about accepting the money by proposing that he
should make

over

his

assets

to

Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and Co., who in return should become

re-

sponsible for his debts.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

fj. understood the game.
and Co. held Lascaridi and Co.'s acceptances and

indorsements to the amount of 300,000 sterling.

124
Mr. George Lascaridi's suspending payment would be
fatal to the old firm, the principal partner of

learning his doings, had

him

to resign.

come

He had

to England,

which,

and obliged

caught Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and Co. in his net.

They were obliged

to

stand by him.
"
sent for Mr. Edwards," continued my third
" George and I are to meet at his house
financer

We
;

to-night, to arrange the affair.

am

But

must leave you.

going to George's bankers, to lodge money to

cover this

day's

payments.

Good-bye.

Come

to

you like."
I felt relieved.
The weight that had pressed so
heavily on my mind all day was removed.
However,
I was far from foreseeing the denouement of this

Edwards's to night,

tragico-comedia.

if

125

CHAPTER XXI.
HOW EIGHTY THOUSAND POUNDS WERE

LOST.

It was, I remember, a cold frosty night, the streets

covered with snow, when, about eight o'clock, I left

my

house to go to Victoria Street, Pimlico, where

Mr. Edwards

On my

still lived.

arrival I

found the

triumviri smoking the best Havannahs, and sipping

wines of the

on the

table.

finest
It

bouquet, a variety of which stood

was a pleasant mode of

accounts of an insolvent gentleman.

bited

no emotion.

dose of philosophy.

Lascaridi exhi-

He

was

The

old Athenians used to say

Uioywvorpocp'ia (piXoaocpov ov

fortified

Troiei

not to become a philosopher)

fine beard,

settling the

(to

with a large

grow a longbeard is

but Lascaridi, with his

looked an exception to the rule, as he sat

calmly giving the details of his debts to the representative of the great depositari.

made,

The

calculation being

was found that his indebtedness, instead of

being 18,000, amounted to 40,000. This revela
tion fell like a thunderbolt on Edwards and me.
Edwards sat motionless, as if suddenly petrified, pen
in hand and cigar in mouth, his eyes fixed on the
figures inscribed on the paper before him.
I was
standing before the fire, but felt no warmth from the
position
the live coal seemed to throw off" no caloric.
Barker, holding a glass of wine between his finger and
thumb, sat with his eyes modestly cast on the floor.
Lascaridi showed no emotion, except what might be
detected in the sidelong, furtive glance wliich he occait


126
sionally cast around,

and a

slight expression of con-

tempt about the lower part of his face. Otherwise,

he was calm and dignified. He looked the hero of the
drama but his heroism was without wisdom, as his
;

contempt was devoid of power.

Our profound silence was shortly interrupted by
three small voices
it

Of

down in Victoria Street.

course

was not a harcarolla of the gondoliers of Venice,

Don

nor the canzonette of

of the

window

it

Giovanni.

looked out

was a splendid moonlight night

and saw a poor woman walking with two barefooted

Her voice was sharp but tremuchildren in the snow.
lous.

Her wretched

appearance, and the feeble treble

of her shivering children, contrasted painfully with

the sentimental tenderness of the ballad she fain would
sing.

passed,

At

the

moment

that

the

miserable

group

Mr. Edwards decided upon giving Lascaridi

the trifling aid of 40,000.

the

this

Strange contradictions in

human heart Not one of us thought of

poor woman and her children, to whom a
!

wine from our table would have been as the

helping
glass of
elixir

of

on
Mr. Edwards now informed us that the alarm of
Chapman, on hearing that George was going to stop
payment, was principally caused through his anxiety
about the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

life

that cold night.

Company.
But to continue the
I soon

saw that

rated his assets.

if

tale of Lascaridi's

he underrated

his debts

affairs.

he over-

According to his calculations, the

manufactured goods that he had at Gibraltar were

Then Mr.
alone sufficient to cover what he owed.
Barker proposed that he and some of Lascaridi's
tives should

rela-

each become guarantee for a limited sum.


127
Lascaridi's

business being thus comfortably

ar-

ranged, Mr. Edwards asked

him what he intended to

do, now that he must retire from the Greek and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company, and was no
longer a partner in the firm of Lascaridi and Co.

"Well,

and Co.

I intend to ask Messrs. Overend,

to give

me

the

Gurney,

management of one of

You know my

financial establishments.

their

capabilities

in financial matters."

"

They

are not likely to do that," observed Mr.

Edwards, grave

as a judge.
" But I understand finance so well," said Lascaridi.

Was
The

I in the presence

Theban sphinx?
affairs was gradually

of the

riddle of Lascaridi's private

Within two months I learned that his

debts, instead of 40,000, amounted to 100,000.
The Overends paid all, and so the riddle was solved.
I believe that the 80,000 which figures in the
accounts of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., Limited, as the debt of Manuel and Co., is this very
amount. Mr. Alexander Basilios Manuel was a clerk,
and distant relative of Mr. George Lascaridi. About
the year 1858 or 1859 he was sent by Mr. Lascaridi
when he arrived there Mr.
to Gibraltar and Tunis
unfolded.

Lascaridi consigned large quantities

of Manchester
These goods were taken by Messrs.
Overend, Gurney, and Co. as security, on undertaking to liquidate the private estate of Mr. Lascaridi.
Mr. Edwards, in arranging this matter, never ex-

goods to him.

amined these goods

never asked to see a

to see
list

what they were worth

of them, nor their invoices,

nor by what ships they were sent out, nor whether

they were marketable, nor even whether they would
fetch

a price in any way approximating the

sum


128
of 40,000 for which they were given as security.

Not even did he trouble to inquire whether 40,000

full amount of what was due from Mr. Las-

was the

No written agreement was

drawn up the magic " All right " was all that fell
from the lips of the great iinancer of Basinghall Street.
I never recollect so bad a transaction as this on the
part of the official assignee, who had been especially
caridi to his creditors.
;

appointed to watch over the interests of Messrs Over-

Poor Gurneys they were

what was being done, and what is
worse, no one who had their interests really at heart
end,

Gurney, and Co.

utterly ignorant of

could get a chance of speaking to them.

Besides,

Edwards was so powerful that, if any one had dared

to do so, it would only have brought about his own
destruction.

I have said that I thoroughly believe the debt

of 80,000 placed against the estate of Manuel and

Co. was really that of Mr. Lascaridi, for, after the

Victoria Street scene, Mr.

Edwards appointed some

Englishmen with Manuel to superintend the Gibraltar

business.

Many

of these goods, being unsaleable at

Tunis, were transhipped to other places at enormous

expense.
The result was, that Mr. Edwards caused
"
the Corner House " to embark in the business carried

on by the Manchester Greek houses

i. e.,

the export

of Manchester soft goods to the Mediterranean.

loss

of this

80,000 was due entirely

Edwards and Chapman

who

were,

to

in fact,

greater panic about Mr. Lascaridi stopping

The

Messrs.
in

payment

and was undoubtedly the result

than he was himself

of the partnership that had been forced

upon me on

the 1st of August, 1860.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. discovered that

129
they held, and yet did not hold, the acceptances of
Lascaridi and Co. for several large sums.

why

Lascaridi

to break

had been

down

so

I saw, too,

anxious a few weeks before

the British Star and the Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation

Company.

Apprehending
that, in consequence of his private debts, he should
be obliged to suspend payment, he hoped, by involving
me in his ruin, to fall with the eclat of martyrdom in
the national cause. When he saw that I had convinced
Mr. Edwards of the solvency of my concern, then
he determined to suspend payment. His design was,
like another Samson, to lay hold of the two pillars of
the temple, and bury me and his partners in the debris.
Happily for him, his good angel Henry Barker stepped
in,

and, for his

own

sake as well as Lascaridi 's, induced

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. to save

him from

bankruptcy by paying his debts.

Still

Lascaridi was not satisfied.

When Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. discovered

that the acceptances they held bore not the veritable
signature of Lascaridi and Co., but of G. P. Lascaridi

and

Co., they

complained

bitterly.

Lascaridi retorted

by saying that he had informed both Mr. Edwards and

Mr. Barker that the acceptances were not those of the

He

further threatened

to give publicity to the affairs of the

Galway Company.

old firm, but of his

And

all

this

at a

new

firm.

moment when

Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and Co. were paying the last claims of his

Finally, and as the last act of this comedy,
creditors.
Lascaridi issued a circular, dated the 30th of March,
1861, announcing that he had taken up the business
Over the front of his office he
of insurance broker.
"

painted in large
his

letters, after

name and new

the fashion of tradesmen,

occupation.

do not remember,

130
any merchant or broker in the City ever having made
a similar epigram to announce his occupation. I never

knew

the object.

I leaye

any one to imagine what a busy time

this

mouches de cour, the renards de cour, and

all the courtiers that swarmed about the Lombard
Flatterers are the first to gossip about
Street palace.
Sinister rumours touchtheir patrons' shortcomings.
ing the solvency of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

was

for the

were soon

afloat

their deposits

strength,

depositors

but the great

hurried to

withdraw

money men rose

and met the emergency.

in their

131

CHAPTER

XXII.

A BREACH OF FAITH.

The day

after the scene in Victoria Street,

I called

and told him that

if the firm were going to pay the debts of Mr. George
Lascaridi, to save him from bankruptcy, they must
insist on a dissolution of partnership, by mutual conearly on

sent,

Mr. Edwards

at his house,

between him and me.

tions I raised

when

first

You remember the objecyou asked me to take Mr.

"

Lascaridi as partner, and the scene which took place

in

my

office

about the British Star.

You

my

This

recognize the sense of

cost

me

several thousand

4000 by Bello

objection.

pounds

Brothers, for

there

whom

will

now

affair

has

a loss of

is

he discounted

my

consent, and a loss of 8500 by the

Both these
of Manchester.
Vlagomeno,
house of
houses have stopped payment. There is 1000 on
he is going too. There are the bills
S. C. Agelasto
of Caragianaki, Tzaliki, D. Kodocanachi, and others

without

all

the

of these are going."

" You are right, Xenos
official

assignee.

it

was a mistake," said

" I shall insist that he accom-

panies you and your brother to the

office

of Messrs.

Vallance and Vallance, of Essex Street, Strand, and

there dissolves the partnership by mutual consent."

He
me

was

in a hurry to get into the City,

a seat in his brougham.

and gave

drove together to

I went to my
Street, where I left him.
Mr. Lascaridi had not been there for several

Lombard
office.

We

k2

132
weeks, so that our partnership did not last quite four

months.

At length the happy day came when

Lascaridi,

I,

and my brother, met at the solicitors', Messrs. Vallance

and Vallance, to cancel, by mutual consent, the deed
of partnership.
I felt as if a mountain weight were
lifted from my breast.
It is true that the property
was burdened with 12,000, owing to Lascaridi's
accommodation bills, with 12,000 on Mr. Barker's
part, and with other large sums.
Still I felt confident
that, within a few years, I should be able to clear off
these incumbrances, if left untrammelled.
It was a
pleasing prospect, and a powerful stimulus to action.
But, alas what says the proverb
" One kindles the

fire,

another

is

burnt in

it."

Before the commercial storm had subsided, I one

day saw the

sale of a fleet advertised.

The

In

of the steamers corresponded with mine.

of the day

my

broker, Mr.

description

John Preston,

tl^e

course

called to say

he had heard that Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

were negotiating to sell my steamers to Mr. Zachariah
Pearson.

I could not credit

the intelligence.

My

verbal agreement with Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and

Co. was, that

it

was

to

when

the bill of 170,000 was due,

be renewed from time to time

Nor was

at all events

this

an extraordinary accommo-

dation, considering that I

had paid 30,000 bonus,

3000 commissions, and

for one year.

the

first

six

months.

When

were

Messrs. Lascaridi and Co.

Mr. George Lascaridi

They at

first

per
the

viz.,

cent,
first

interest

for

term expired,

the other partners of

called

upon

to

renew.

refused to accept again the responsibility

which he had, without their knowledge, thrust upon

them.

They were, however, ultimately compelled

to

133
renew, no alternative remaining- except to pay the
for the

enormous sum

of 170,000.

It

was

bill

after this

arrangement that Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

being pressed for money, on account of the exceptional
run of the depositors, broke faith with me, and, by
the advice of the great Confucius, Edwards, tried to

turn

my

Any

steamers into money.

one connected in business with Messrs. Over-

end, Gurney, and Co. at the end of 1860 and the

commencement of 1861, and possessed of a little penetration, could see that the " Corner House " was in
They were trying to realize the
great difficulties.
securities they held, at no matter what sacrifice,
especially when they knew that the losses would fall
on their own shoulders. About this time I was conmost inconsistent letters from
them. I could never make out what they desired or
what they intended to do. These letters betrayed
much confusion of mind and great weakness of position
on the part of the writers. Now they asked me to
help them by turning the Greek and Oriental Steam
stantly receiving the

Navigation

Company into

then they wanted

a

new

me

capitalist in

company
letters which would bring

a limited liability

to sign

again they ordered forced sales of

my grain, and wished me to resell the two steamers

which were lying unfinished in the yards of the
builders, in order that they might have the use of the
money I had advanced on their construction. (See Appendix, Nos. 1, 2,

were worrying

me

3, 4, 5, 6,

out

and 49.) As these letters

life, and taking my mind

of my

away from business, I went off to Lombard Street, to

see if some arrangement could not be come to.
Mr. Edwards was then a permanent fixture there
from noon till four o'clock. His clerk, Mr. March,
drew up the balance-sheet of 1860, as follows:

134

^
(M
in

o
CO
CO

135
In this balance-sheet 47,362

commission and interest

Os. 3d. figure as

the

had paid them that year. I

could not help being every day more and more struck
with the remarkable difference between the appearance
and manners of Edwards and David Ward Chapman,
and Henry Edmund Gurney and Robert Birkbeck.
Edwards appeared thoughtful and worried, but still was
cool and decided in his movements. Chapman's face had
lost all its colour, and his eyes looked as if much sleep
did not visit them of nights the dictatorial tone had
gone from his voice, and he seemed timid and tremulous. On one pretext or another he was always engaged
I

in

one of the

small rooms, either with the

official

some customer. Henry Edmund Gurney

and Robert Birkbeck met all who came to deposit
or withdraw money or discount bills with their natural
voice and manner there was more energy than usual
in their movements, but nothing else unwonted.
It
seemed to me at this time that there were two sets of
men in this great firm one who knew that water was
already in the hold of the ship, owing to the holes they
themselves had made, and which they were now trying
hard to pump out to save her from sinking; another who
managed the navigation, but were unhappily ignorant
of the goings on below.
I became certain of this as
the letters addressed to me were not signed by Henry
Edmund Gurney or Robert Birkbeck; they were
simply written by Mr. Bois, the chief clerk, under the
direction of Edwards and Chapman.
I also observed
that Henry Edmund Gurney would refuse to accept
any deposit, no matter how large, if the depositor
sought to get a fraction more than the rate of interest
which the house was paying. This showed no suspicion, on his part at least, of a want of money.
assignee or

136

On the 12tli of January,

me to signed the letter

asked

18G1, D.

W. Chapman

No. 2 in the Appendix.

I refused, and, after a short conversation, left him.

On the 19th of the same month, I received a letter

(No. 6 in the Appendix) from Mr. Bois, telling

me that

Chapman's letter of the 12th, the

house would make me no more advances. I must here

until I signed Mr.

observe that, after the retirement of Mr. Lascaridi,

the relations between the Greek and Oriental Steam

Navigation Company and Messrs. Overcnd, Gurney,

were no longer in
and Co. were much changed.

We

I paid to
the positions of mortgagor and mortgagee.
their representative, Mr, Henry John Barker, all the

and he paid all the bills and expenses of the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
When Mr. John Preston told me now that Messrs.
Overend, Gurney, and Co. were about to sell my

freights,

steamers to Mr. Zachariah Pearson, I hurried to

bard Street
o'clock),

(it

Lom-

was the 11th of May, 1860, about twelve

and fortunately obtained an interview with

Gurney. I asked whether what I

Henry Edmund
had heard was

true.

Incapable of uttering a

false-

some little embarrassment

hood, he
" Friend, it is true, and it is not true."
He then requested me to see Mr. Edwards about
I refused to do so, and told him plainly
the affair.
how astonished I was that a firm like his should break
I said that I was not recontracts in that fashion.
sponsible for losses entailed by the acts of gentlemen
like Mr. George Lascaridi, Mr. Henry John Barker,
or Mr. Edwards, whom Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and
Co. had ajipointed to finance the Greek and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company.
My words made some impression, but the indereplied, with

137
pendence of

During a

my

tone offended the mighty capitalist.

every feeUng of humanity

crisis

in the breasts of these

money men.

is

silenced

They expect the

martyrs of their system to accept, not only with pa-

but with joy, the tortures imposed.

tience,

sition, or

even

said

" It

an explanation of their apocryphal

if

doings be asked.
" Your fleet
it,"

Their

swells quickly to vengeance in case of oppo-

pride

is

not worth the

sum advanced upon

Mr. Gurney.

worth more than the money I received from

" But, of course, if you are pleased to
debit me with 30,000 bonus, 12,000 of Mr. Lascaridi's accommodation bills, 12,000 of our money reis

you," I replied.

Henry Barker, and 20,000 lost by your

forcing the sale of the grain, and many other items,
the Greek and Oriental Steam Nayigation Company
tained by Mr.

will very soon represent a loss absorbing all the profits

which

have made with the steamers.

supposing for a

moment

However,

that the steamers are not

worth the money advanced on them, the blame does

not lie with me, Mr. Gurney, but with those appointed
to act for your firm.
I cannot be blamed by anybody."
I finally protested against the proceedings of his firm,

and declared that

if

they persevered in carrying out

their intentions they should abide

"

We

by the consequences.

can chop you, friend, in a few moments," he

said, angrily.

"

You

" Try, if you like

cannot," I retorted.

remember that the public shall know the whole

The blame will fall on you, not on me."
Mr. Gurney, seeing that

but

affair.

was determined to die

fighting, asked me to wait a few minutes.
He passed
into the adjoining room, where Chapman and Edwards
I

138
were.

The door was only

say I was a d

and the

partially closed,

voices of the speakers were loud.

heard Chapman

and, cursing the day he

met me, exclaim " Go you, Edwards, and speak to

him yourself."
The ambassador entered the room where I was
sitting.

Noble

blended

with

assured

me

prudence

The

smiling face.
professing a

simplicity, goodness, frank confidence

sincere

were

official

mirrored

assignee

friendship

in

his

commenced by

He

for me.

then

that what Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and

Co. projected doing was solely for

had found a good buyer

my

benefit.

me

and they
would be
It was in

for half the fleet,

considered that, under the circumstances,

well to relieve

They

of half

my

burden.

it

him that by disposing

would break up the line,
small steamers in the Danube, which were the
feeders of the large ones, would then be useless
with a less number of steamers than I possessed, the
difficulty of paying my great debt would be increased.
My arguments were useless, and no wonder. In fact,
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. had that very mornvain I endeavoured to show

my
for my
of

large steamers he

ing prepared the transfer, as mortgagees, of

my

best

Edwards showed
steamers to Mr. Zachariah Pearson
me the bills of sale. I was thunderstruck, the more
;

particularly because I

saw in the

list

of the trans-

When
two of my best steamers.
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. did this, it appeared
they forgot that the bill on which I paid a bonus
Mr. Edwards now
of 30,000 was to be renewed.
stepped in to arrange matters.
He proposed that two
large steamers should be returned to me in exchange
for two others.
He also suggested that if I would

ferred vessels

139
sign the bills of sale for the six steamers, Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. should give

engaging not to

sell

as I paid

them a

them was

cleared.

of charity
charitable

What

my

me

a letter,

vessels as long

fixed annual sum, until

my

debt to

The miser may perform ten

must we,

therefore,

affirm that

time would

it

not take to recount

me and

he

is

all

that

Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

Co., their brokers, agents, solicitors, favourites,

courtiers, before the

If I

acts

"l

took place between

and

any more of

and

day of sale arrived

had hitherto been frequently deceived,

it

was

not because I was unable to discriminate characters,

but because of

my

inexperience in business, and be-

cause of a certain laisser-aller incidental to

all

men

whose energies are overtasked. My eyes were now

wide open. I saw the position of Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co.; I saw they were running a suicidal
They were surrounded by men who plundered
race.
them, and yet such was their blindness, that what was
very plain to the eyes of others seemed hidden from
theirs.
But let me tell you, reader, how my steamers
were sold to Zachariah Pearson a transaction which,
within twelve months, entailed considerable loss upon
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

140

CHAPTER

XXIII.

ZACHARIAH PEARSON.

Me. Zachariah Pearson had been, a few years before,

merely master of a vessel. By honesty, hidustry,
and ability, he made money and became a shipowner,
and afterwards a steam-owner. He was elected Mayor
of Hull.

A respectable

from which, in an

evil

was open before him,

hour, he deviated, and attached
career

himself to the train of Henry Barker.

Henry Barker,

like another Dsedalus, raised our

poor Icarus so high, that the sun dissolved the wax

that attached his wings, and he fell into the depths

Poor Zachariah Pearson had bought his

steamers on credit, and when his acceptances fell due,
Henry Barker provided the funds, by discounting his
new acceptances at enormous interest, with bonus and
douceur.
Mr. Barker's mode of proceeding was this
of the sea.

He

mortgaged the steamers

in question to different

capitalists charging one-half per cent, as commission,

taking for himself an additional mortgage, because of

the risk he incurred in drawing the

bills,

although

it

was agreed between him and the discounter that he

should never be called on besides that, the property
was more than sufficient to cover the sum lent. The
Overcnds had already advanced a round sum to Zachariah Pearson on the steamer Chersonese and her Go;

vernment

and they now sold him my steamers,

bills and a mortgage on the
Mr. Barker had a commission of 250 or

freight,

taking in payment his

steamers.

141

500 on the

transaction, charged to

trouble in drawing the

my

debit, for his

bills.

I shall here briefly note

down the chief

causes that

tended to produce this lamentable catastrophe.

In the

commercial storm had considerably reduced the deposits in the great " Corner House."
first

place, the great

The money advanced by Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and

Co. to shipowners, railway projectors, and other specu-

was the property of the depositors, and not their

own money. Now, the money so advanced was not
only locked up, it had the additional disadvantage of
being locked up in property which, at the best of times,
could not easily find a purchaser, and which, under the
actual circumstances, was wholly unmarketable
and
superadded to these difficulties was the perplexity
arising from the fact that in the majority of cases the
money advanced was much in excess of the value of
the security. In what way could the bankers meet the
demands of the alarmed depositors, who clamoured for
their money ?
But one way remained, which was to
lators,

discount with their indorsment the big bills of the

owners of the steamers or other property that they

was the mode in which their legal

adviser, the great mathematician, Mr. Edward Watkin
Edwards, proposed to finance them. It was the application of his system to the heads of the firm, as he had

held.

At

least, this

already tried

it

on those

to fall into their power.

who had had the misfortune

As the entire financing de-

partment was under the control of

this distinguished

personage, his authority was absolute as that of the

Olympian Jupiter. Even the Titans, Overend, Gurney,

and Co., were under his thumb.
My account, owing to large credits given me by
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. to buy grain, with

142
bonus and commission thereon, exceeded, at that time,
300,000. The great Necker of the establishment
advised, in order to finance both the firm and me, that
the grain should be sacrificed coute quil coute, and

He also recommended that some of

turned into cash.

my

steamers should be transferred to an account

where the acceptances could be more easily negotiated
than those of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation
Company, of which the representatives of the Lombard
Street house already held so many.
Mr. Zachariah Pearson had, at that time, no
steamers mortgaged to Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and
Co. except the Chersonese, which was already paid
Knowing that his credit was good at Hull, with
ofi".
Smith Brothers, his bankers, the great capitalists sent
for and asked him to buy a portion of my fleet.
" I cannot," said Mr. Pearson.
" You will not be asked to pay any cash," said
Edwards " you need only give your acceptances."'
;

" I am already overworked," said Pearson.

" It will be a good thing for you, Pearson," said
the

official assignee.

Mr. Pearson

still

hesitated

to enter into the transaction at

talked

him

Edwards

over,

at the

and he

office

in fact,
all.

he did not like

They, however,

at last agreed

to

of Messrs. Crowder and

meet
May-

nard, the solicitors, in order to complete the transaction at once, as Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co. were

most anxious to have the bills that day. On the way

to Coleman Street, Mr. Pearson began to change his
mind, so that when he had arrived at the solicitor's
office, he told Edwards that he was not at all inclined
to carry out the transaction.
On hearing this Edwards
looked terribly disappointed, and after a short silence

143
said, "

Pearson, come and speak with Mr. Gurney."

On

their arrival at

the

little

went

room

direct to

Lombard

Street,

Pearson went into

facing Birchin Lane, whilst the adviser

Mr. H. E. Gurney to give him counsel

in the matter.

After the lapse of a short time both the capitalist

and the disposer of the

capital entered the

room where

Pearson was.
"

Now,

friend Pearson,

what is the matter again 1

"

Mr. Gurney. A further debate on the subject ensued, and after a short time they brought Pearson round
again, and then Mr. Gurney said to him: " Friend Pearson, I will give you, on the spot, a cheque for 500, if
you will sign the acceptances and complete the business
said

draw a cheque for 500 for Mr. Pearson."

The cheque was handed to Mr. Zachariah Pearson.
The official assignee gave him his word of honour that
he had nothing to fear on account of this noble transaction.
Mr. Henry John Barker, the favourite, secundus, of Mr. David Ward Chapman, was also regaled
to-day.

Bois,

with a cheque, in compensation for his trouble in

Edwards and Pearson

returned at once to the la^vj-'ers', where he signed the
mortgages and accepted the bills. Edwards then took

drawing the

bills of

exchange.

the acceptances, and, like a Don Cossack, started with

them for the " Corner House," where arrangements

had been previously made

to discount

them with some

melting-house.
" This is my death-warrant," sighed poor Pearson.

"Not

at

all.

It's

all right," said

smooth face irradiated with a smile.

Oh, glorious English " All right
tudinous

are

significations

your

meanings

how

!"

Edwards, his

How

multi-

complex your

"

144

had Pearson

Scarcely

Edwards hastened
" Hallo

the

left

after him.

I say, Pearson," cried out the smooth-

faced worthy, "

what

capital job I've

done for you

are

you going

be

my
"

You

no trade

employ

to

to give

me for this

" Capital job!" said Pearson;

I have

when

lawyers'

all

"I

call it

my

these steamers.

ruin.

It will

ruin, I say."

Not

at

all,

not at

have to thank

me

all.

for putting

They

Overend, Gurney, and Co.

of the greatest

men

All right, I

you
will

in the

tell

you.

hands of

make you one

in England."

This modern Rhadamanthus called into play

all his

eloquence and logic to prove to Zachariah Pearson that

was worth 1000.

Poor Zachariah Pearson
I have it from his own
lips that the same day he gave Edwards a cheque for
1000, double the bonus he had himself received.
Verily, verily, Mr. Edwards knew how to trim his
sails so as to catch the wind from whatever point it
his share of the transaction

blew.

The
than

intrigues of that

fiction

would dare

'*

Corner House

to fancy.

As a

"

were more

sequel to the

above transaction, I shall here mention that Mr. Ed-

wards pressed, and even worried, Mr. Pearson to take abrother of his (Edwards's) into partnership. Entangled
as

Pearson was in the Lombard Street meshes, he

resolutely declined

this

honour,

exhibiting

in his

more determination than I had shown on a

somewhat similar occasion.
Whatever commissions the above-named two gentiluomini, Barker and Edwards, were paid for the job,

refusal

were added, of course, to the price of the steamers.

It is said that

Bishop Koquette was the original of

145

Can any one

Moliere's Tartuffe.

tell

me, in this Lom-

bard Street comedy, amongst so many, which

is

the

real Tartuffe?

"

What

does

all this

mean ?

"

my bookmy office in

I said to

keeper, Ross, when, having returned to

despair, I told

him

of the breaking

up of our

line,

" It means," he said, looking up from his desk,

and speaking
they want
I asked

in a

money

low voice

"

it

means, perhaps, that

themselves."

whether he had any grounds to think they

did -want money.

" Yes," he said

"

March,
Edwards's confidential clerk. In making up the books
this year, and going through the accounts, he came to
the conclusion that the firm is in want of means they
are not right.
But, pray, do not speak of it do not
;

it's

the opinion of

Mi:..

mention

my

name."

I left the book-keeper's

petrified.

I told

room

silent

found Mr. John Preston in

him of

and almost

my own room.

the breach of faith committed by the

Gurneys in selling my steamers. I also repeated what

I had learned from Ross. Mr. John Preston was deeply

up of my line.
was through Mr. John Preston

grieved at the breaking

It

had bought

and chartered nearly all my steamers. He is a man

of high integrity and delicate sense of honour, combined with cool judgment and rare business capabilities.
I have known him to work out simultaneously the
interests of three antagonistic parties,
ofi'ending any, satisfy

all.

The

and, without

which
with which he parries any
steadiness with

he resists, and the .skill

attempt to i^ump him with regard to your opponents'
affairs, aff'ord the best security that he will be equally
taciturn with regard to yours.
L


146

When

had

told Preston

what

had learned from

Ross, he said:

"What

They have ruined

Pearson as well as you. Pearson has not trade enough
for these steamers.
The Gurneys will be obliged, in
a few months, to take them back and return them to
a pity!

what a

pity!

you."
" Do you suppose," I replied, " that I would take

Do you

them 1
play

It will

City, that

my

think I would submit to such child's

be known to-morrow,

all

through the

The Gurneys have

steamers are sold.

destroyed the credit of the Greek and Oriental Steam

Navigation Company. Who can trust them nowl

They have made me pay 30,000 on these steamers.
It may suit them to-morrow, for the sake of a bonus,
to transfer the remainder of

person whose
then,
left

bills

steamers to another

can be more easily discounted, and

when they will have

me

my

stripped

me

absolutely without property

of everything

then

they can

pounce on me for the deficiency, and fling me into the

Oh no, no."
talons of Edwards at Basinghall Street.
" Stay, stay," said Preston, with his habitual cool" Try to induce them to enter into a contract
ness.
not to sell any more of your steamers, and to give you
!

credit to build others."

" Induce the Gurneys to

know

make

a contract

Do you

they don't give one time to say a word?"

" Speak to

Chapman."

He hates me, because he knows I am a man

tongue in my head."

" No.

with a

" Speak with Gurney, then."

" I firmly believe he does not

and Edwards cook.

about everything.

know what Chapman

He and Birkbeck are in

Besides,

when

the dark

I go to speak with


147
him, he sends

were

me

to

Edwards If Edwards
hmidred hands, he would not

Edwards.

with his

Briiireus,

be able to manage the Galway, the Millwall, the East

Indian, together with the Greek and Oriental and so

many

others."

Preston could, of course,

I was fearfully excited.

afford to

be

cool.

you what to do," he said. " Go to Mr.

Edmund Gurney before the mortgagees transfer your
steamers to Pearson, and try to make an agreement.
Look here. Write a kind of circular, something like
"

I'll tell

this."

Mr. Preston took a pen and sketched the following

circular, which I gave to Turner, one of my private
clerks, to copy:

The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

19,

London

Street,

London,

Fenclmrch

\4:th

Street,

May, 18G1

Taking into consideration the cxteme dnlness of business, and

particularly the great falling off in the shipments of goods to the

Mediterranean,
the line, viz.

we have withdrawn

the following steamers from

Smyrna, Patras, Petro-Beys, Lord Byron, Admiral Kanaris,

Modern
But

Greece.
it

will be maintained with punctuality

the following ships

and

efficiency

by

Palikari, Scotia, Asia, Mavrogordatos, Leonidas, Zai'mis,

George

Olympius, CoUetis, Colocotronis, and Eigas Ferreos.

Thanking you

for past favours,

and

soliciting a continuance of

your patronage,

We

remain,

Your obedient
(Signed)

" Tell

Edmund Gurney you

l2

servants,

Stefanos Xenos.

consent to the sale of

148
the steamers, provided Pearson pays a good price for

them, and that, with permission of the firm, you

intend to issue this circular.

If they approve, it

w^ill

be a kind of bond upon them in the eyes of the

They

public.

will not sell so quickly again without

considering the consequences."

"Considering

"What

the

do insolvent

consequences!"

men

exclaimed,

care for consequences'?"

Now, calm yourself," said Preston, " and go to

Lombard Street. I shall soon be back with you."
I put on my hat, and took my way to the " Corner
"

was prepared for the worst. My anger was

Edwards and Chapman, who
were at the bottom of everything in that office, and
who always avoided speaking with their victims under
House."

chiefly directed against

pretence of pressure of business.

On my

arrival at the

wonder-working mansion, I

was shown, as usual, into one of the little rooms. I

asked "for Mr. H. E. Gurney.
He was engaged just
then, but

made

was evidently

He

his appearance in a few minutes.

in better

humour than he had been

at

our last interview.

"Well, friend Xenos," he said, "how are youT'

"I suppose, Mr. Gurney, my steamers are now sold."
"Yes, friend."
"At what price]"
" At a better price than you paid for them."
" I bought them a bargain.
They are worth now
25 per cent, more than I gave for them. A property

me in 30 or 40 per
worth much more than

that brings
course,

"

Why

Gurney,

don't

you say

r'

per

annum

is,

of

I gave for it."

at once,"

" that your

sharply,

100,000 each

cent,

put in Mr. H. E.

steamers

are

worth

149
''

What

is

to

be done now, Mr. Gurney,"

" with this business of

mine

As

it

I said,

can never

is, it

be made to pay,"
"

On

the contrary,

now

number of steamers you

that you have a smaller

will be able to

manage them

better."

" That

have

what

left

not the nature of the

is

me more

line.

Besides,

And

small than large steamers.

will the world say

This

is

the

coi(/p

you

de grace to

the credit of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Company."
*'

Not

at

A man

all.

used, and afterwards

buy

" Well, will you give

you

my

sell

horses that he has

me a

letter to the effect that

pay you 20,000 or 25,000 per annum

as long as I

against

may

others."

debt to you, and pay 5 per cent, interest,

will not sell

any more of

my

steamers

"
1

" Yes, friend I think we can do this."

" I have prepared this circular, which I intend to
;

send round to the shippers."

handed him the circular. He read it, and, havmade some trifling corrections, returned it, saying:
" You may send it but stay a moment."
I

ing

"He went out to speak to his Solon, Edwards.

After

few minutes the great legislator entered. His

smooth, polished face, lustrous with smiles, seemed to

shed a radiance over the dimly-lighted room.

"How
Gurney

are

tells

youV

me you

he said

to

me.

Mr. H. E.

have consented to sign the

bills

of sale."
" Yes," I said.

" Oh, you will be

great deal of temper

temper in

this office

all

You showed a
You must give up

right soon.

though.

you injure yourself by

it.

These

150

They took you by the hand.

people like you.

They

have the best intentions towards you. Believe v^^hat

You will soon be in a position that dukes and
I say.
earls will envy."

I remained silent, not, I confess, without an effort.

" The bread is anI thought of the Greek proverb
:

other's, the teeth are his

" Will you

at Menard's, the

solicitor's 1 "

I consented.

made out

own."

come with me and

in the

he

sign the bills of sale

said.

found the

of sale already

bills

names of Overend, Gurney, and Co.

that is to say, .they, as mortgagees,

were transferring

The solicitors had now to make out

which I signed the following day.
new bills
Edwards and Chapman were well pleased that I had

my

steamers.

of

done

my

part without further noise.

When,
office,

salute

sale,

the next day, I went to the

Lombard

Street

Mr. David Ward Chapman condescended to

me with an affable smile. He told me that,

1\ow that I had signed the bills, he would do someI laughed in my sleeve
thing handsome for me.

he spoke in that strain. Poor Chapman, who

measured men by the length of their purse, not by
Had he known that I
their intellectual capacity
as

was aware of the real position of his mighty firm

that I knew upon the brmk of what a gulf Overend,
Gurney, and Co. were standing he would not have

been quite so ostentatious of his patronage.

Eeasoning from what I had learned behind the
scenes of the great Lombard Street stage, I came to
the conclusion that the mystery of the plot was this
Firstly, that not alone was the house insolvent, but
that,

secondly, the secret was

Ward Chapman and

to

known

Edwards.

only to David
I

believed the

151
other partners were wholly ignorant of the true state

was led

by observing that
Chapman, who was living in great luxury, was thrown
into a state of terror whenever the firm was called on
for large payments; and when the smallest cloud
appeared in the commercial sky, Edwards, spite of his
gout, jumped out of bed, and busily applied himself to
business.
The Gurneys and Birkbeck, on such occasions, though they worked with increased energy, never
exhibited the fear or uneasiness that would imply a
Certain it is, they yielded
sense of imminent danger.
of things.

to this belief

implicit obedience to the wishes of their pilot, Edwards.

and crew of the once seaworthy ship, were as nothing before him. He was the
sole navigator; he alone knew whither she was drifting,
and in what port she was destined to find refuge.
When I returned to my office on the day that
Captain, owners,

officers,

Mr. H. E. Gurney consented to my sending a circular

to the shippers, I found John Preston there.
I showed
him the alterations made by Mr. Gurney in the circular.
Mr. Preston having read, breathed on the interlineations, which were in pencil, and, handing me back the
paper, said
"

Keep

He

may one day be useful to you."

" Have you got a letter from
asked

this

then

it

them, promising not to

fleet

the remainder of your

sell

r'

Not yet," I answered, " but

Mr. Gurney promised it."
"

" Try to get

they will
line.

sell

it

as soon as

any more vessels

you
;

it

for

can.

have

it.

I do not think

they won't wind up the

March said, they

their own sakes."

If they are insolvent, as

be compelled to keep

I expect to

will


152

CHAPTER XXIV.
WHO

IS

ENTITLED TO A COMMISSION

It was a combination of circumstances that afforded

Mr. Henry Barker an opportunity of smuggling Mr.

Zachariah Pearson into the " Corner House." By this
coitp

he not only gained a handsome sum as commission,

but he freed himself and his friends from many risks

which he had incurred conjointly

All these he now threw
upon the back of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.
Previous to this time Zachariah Pearson had had
but few transactions with Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
Reand Co. These mighty, but misled Overends
and

responsibilities

with Zachariah Pearson.

garding matters in a financial light, they thought

they were acting prudently

but, in their ignorance of

shipping business, they were committing a double

They were assassinating the Greek and

Steam Navigation Company, which they
thought they were saving, and they were driving

murder.

Oriental

Zachariah Pearson

to

his

destruction, whilst

they

thought they were doing him a

service.
It was in
them upon my own affairs
E. Gurney freely my opinion.

vain I tried to enlighten

in vain I told Mr. PI.

Often in those days did the invocation of Voltaire

recur to

my

lips

Descends

Quo

dii

I'oreillc

haut des cieux, aiigustc

verite,

des grands s'accoiitume a t'entcndre.

My line consisted of two classes of steamers small

153
vessels, that
sels,

were feeders of the large

and large

that were transporters of the goods.

ves-

Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. transferred six of the large

steamers to Zachariah Pearson, and

Danube, a

tieet consisting

left

me, in the

almost entirely of small ves-

In other words, they took the large wheels out

sels.

work
was Zachariah Pearson, who had

of the machine, and left only the small ones to

it.

Here, then,

not a regular

line,

but merely ran his steamers on

here

was he, I say, at the

head of an armada far larger than he could find work
for, pay, or manage. And the advice upon which these
simple jobs to any sea

changes were made was given for the sake of securing

a few thousand pounds' commission.

And what was

was not long before Zachariah Pearson

He determined upon a couj) de
main that would at once seal his fate. The American
War was then at its height. He resolved to run the
blockade of the Southern ports.
Some of my former
vessels were to be employed in this service, and
Mr. Henry Barker's brother was appointed admiral
the result

saw his real

It

position.

Some of the
It was a mad project.
were too small to cross the Atlantic, others
were of too mediocre a steam power, and some others,
when loaded, drew more than seventeen feet of water.
of the

flotilla.

vessels

The attempt was

a signal failure.

Some

of the vessels

were captured, others were stranded, and poor Zachariah Pearson, driven to bankruptcy, was stripped of his

penny by his pretended benefactors. The estate

of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
lost 2000 in this bankruptcy, because Mr. Henry
Barker, when he was appointed to finance it, exchanged accommodation bills with Zachariah Pearson
for 3000, and gave us the following letter as selast


154
curity for

some shares of the steamer Emmeline.

when Zachariah Pearson

could not be found

long before

failed

But
the steamer Emmeline

she had been

so our security

was

either lost or sold

valueless.

Russia Chambers, 98, High Street,

Hull, April 2'3rd, 1860.

To the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Company, London.

Dear

Sirs,

We

enclose herein our acceptances for

security for their payment,

we hold

3000, and,

as

for your disposal, should they

be dishonoured at maturity', which they wiU not, eleven sixty-fourth

shares in SS.

Emmehne.
"We

are, dear Sirs,

Yours

truly.

For Z. C. Pearson, Coleman, and

Co.,

Thomas E. Johnson,

But the comic part of the story remains to be told.

At what may be called poor Pearson's commercial
funeral, Mr. Henry Barker appeared amongst the chief
mourners.

He was a

creditor to the ainount of lb,000.

However, he had one consolation he was amongst the

This was not bad on the part of a
secured creditors.
man who, three years before, had been obliged, for
private reasons, to hold the furniture of his house in
;

the

name

of his aunt.

Ultimately Mr. Henry Barker

Mr. C. E. Lewis, before

was paid his 15,000
the Commissioner of Bankruptcy, Goulburn, on the
11th of March, 1864, pronounced a long condemnatory address against me he finished by saying
in full.

It is the

key

to the

whole of Pearson's subsequent misfortunes.

Although, probably, he had steered through

high

seas,

he did not

know how

many

to steer clearly

shoals on the

through the shoals

which sometimes exist under the sea of prosperity.

He had

this

;
;

155
opportunity of buying this

Dangerous

of credit.

fleet of ships for

facility

especially if

on which he was allowed

.80,000, upon tonus

you consider the terms

to buy them
" Oh, you need not pay
you eighteen months or two years to pay for
them, proA^ded you give us bills, which we will renew every three

them

for

we wiU

What

months."

give

temptation that, to

man who had made

=20,000, to launch out so as to be the largest ship-owner in Hull

He succumbed
few months afterwards the convenience of the arrange-

in point of fact, to be master of a large fleet of ships

to

it.

ment

at all events, to Messrs.

Overend and Gurney

was obvious
gentlemen

they got rid of Xenos and Co., the pre^ious mortgagors

known

so well

and

in the City of

London

as

always in the courts of

There was the Patras, the Indian Empire, the Modern Greece,

law.

all

those

ships

that

we have heard

of in connexion with

Xenos and the Greek and Oriental Steamship Company.

Mr. Pearson arranged to pay for them by bills renewable every
Stefanos

few 'months

and, a year afterwards, this seemed so convenient

an arrangement that <G6,000 worth of ships were

sold to the

bankrupt by Overend and Gurney upon the same terms.

The Commissioner

Did Overend

and

Gurney

him the

sell

ships ?

Mr. C. E. Lewis

Yes.

But he never divined the means by w^hich Zachariah

Pearson had been ruined. Nor were the public wiser
though they talked a great deal

than Mr. Lewis;

about the

who

they did not

know

that the

men

contrived to throw the blame on others ma-

naged

own

affair,

to

put the

profits

and commissions into their

pockets.

It

was

after

my

steamers had been transferred to

Zachariah Pearson, and the account sent to the Greek

and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, that I learned
from Mr. Henry Barker that he had received a small
commission for his trouble in drawing the bills at the
same time I complained to Edwards about these
commissions, saying I knew they would be tacked on
;

156

Without mentioning to me that he

had received a commission, he answered coolly

to the steamers.
also

"

I take
Every one is entitled to his commission.
commission, Barker takes commission, the Gurneys

take commission, you

cannot work

may

for nothing."

take commission.

We

157

CHAPTER XXV.
MY FOURTH

Though the record of

FINANCER.

the remaining term of the Greek

and Oriental Steam Navigation Company will be short,

may be found amusing, perhaps instructive. It is
like the story of the decadence of an heroic little state,
which, after accomplishing some illustrious deeds, falls
it

into a condition of slow decline; then ensue terrible

confusion and anarchy, redeemed by occasional acts of

when death's dark

and even the name of the

prowess, until the fatal day arrives

pall covers everything,

country

is

When

forgotten.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. trans-

ferred six of

my

steamers to the

name

of Zachariah

Pearson, they, no doubt, thought that I might imitate their breach of faith,

and take advantage of what

property I had in my hands

freight, grain, or steamers

to protect myself; consequently, they

sending a nominee at once to

Ward Chapman was

decision to me,

was

the

first

by informing

the best I could have for

" What," said

"

You

I,

will like

my

to

me
an

office.

decided on

Mr. David

announce this happy

that the coming man
associate.

" another financer

him very much,"

"
!

said

Mr. Chap-

man. " He is very different from Messrs. Henry

Barker and George Lascaridi."
Mr. Edwards, shortly afterwards, preached me a
long sermon regarding his good feeling towards me,
and his good intentions towards the Greek and Oriental

158

Steam Navigation Company. Finally, he informed me

that the new comer was Mr. G. B. Carr, who had formerly been a merchant in the Levant trade.
I

expressed neither satisfaction

said nothing; I

nor dissatisfaction

it

was no use

to

speak to them.

had formed a fixed opinion regarding these two gen-

tlemen, so I immediately sought an interview with

Mr. H. E. Gurney. He was rather cool to me on

account of what had occurred when last we met. I
complained to him of the introduction of this new
friend of Messrs. Chapman and Edwards, and I also
strove to explain certain matters to him,

terrupted
it,

me

abruptly by saying

" If

when he

you don't

in-

like

go out altogether."
"

That is not so easy, Mr. Gurney," said I and

added " Is this what you call justiceT'
" Friend Xenos, you do not know yourself what
you want. Friend Xenos, do you know who is your
It is Mr. Stefanos
greatest enemy in this world 1
Xenos. There is not a duke's son who would not
envy your position, and yet you always have someGo, and be satisfied. The
thing to complain of.
gentleman whom we are going to send you is very
different from the others."
An interview with a great capitalist must necessarily

by

be short, as his presence

others,

your

and particularly when he leaves the care of

a devoted partner and his legal adviser.

affairs to

few days

after this interview,

my office,

made

his

letter

from Mr. Edwards.

As

constantly required

is

appearance in

Mr. G. B. Carr

bringing with

him a

(See Appendix, No. 14.)

May, 1861, the very

steamers were transferred to Mr.

this letter is dated the 9th of

time at which
Pearson,

it

is

my

very evident that

when

the

official

159
assignee prepared this

me

from

little

coup de main, to prevent

imitating their breach of faith,

neously chose a representative.

now

It

was

he simulta-

notified to

me

would pay Mr. Carr 500 a year from

Messrs. Chapman and Edwards,
of course, judged men's characters by their own
e/c
I may as well add here that,
T(Sv iB'iwv Kal TO. aXXorpia.
although Mr. Chapman told me that his firm would
pay the new financer, such was not the case and so
the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
had to pay double viz., 1000 per annum.
Mr. G. B. Carr, of No. 5, Laurence Pountney
Place, is one of the most respectable men that I have
He was once a Levant merchant, and enever met.
gaged in large trade, but I am afraid that his goodness
of heart was the means of bringing him to grief.
Mr.
Henry Barker had, I believe, a hand in that catastheir

that they

own

treasury.

trophe too.

Mr. Carr was a man of large mind, whose eye gave

abundant evidence of the

was a

sensibility of his heart.

close thinker, cautious

act

and precise in

words, calm-tempered, and unaifectedly religious.

was no longer young, but

considering

his activity

He
He

was remarkable,

Had he been appointed two

superintend my finances, instead of

his age.

years before to

Edwards, George Lascaridi, or Henry Barker, the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company would

now be one
instead

of the best of the Mediterranean lines,

of being

reduced to ruins, that served to

others as steppmg- stones to fortune.

was Mr.

my

office

How

diiferent

Carr's conduct to that of his predecessors in

!

He

was sincerely desirous of serving both

he had his own

parties honourably; and, although

business (in association with Mr. Hoare, and trading

160
under the name of Messrs. Carr, Hoare, and Co.) to
attend to, he would devote one hour every day to our
affairs.

In
ditions

this fresh reconstruction,

imposed on

me

one of the

first

con-

by Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co. v^^as, that the British Star should not in future
appear as part of the estates of my steamers. They
also resolved to strike a balance-sheet of the past,

and

commence a new leaf with the installation of Mr. Carr.

This good work was begun by debiting me with an
enormous sum, upon which I was to pay 5 per cent,
per annum.

me

sent

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. then

the letter in which they promised to leave

only ten steamers.

It

was not

me

(See Appendix, Nos. 15 and 4G.)

as I desired

it,

but better than nothing.

With regard to the British Star^ I was not sorry for

this new arrangement.
Though I was still losing
money by the journal, owing to prosecutions by the
Austrian, Russian, Turkish, and Greek Governments,
yet

it

now began promising

to pay,

and, with the

Exhibition of 1862, the circulation would be increased.

The

war against King Otho was just then

raging fiercely, and it was most important that I
political

should have

full control over

aid the national cause, of

the paper, in order to

which the British Star was

the chief organ.

Mr. Carr was scarcely installed in

the price of corn rose rapidly.

and Carnegie,
Overend,

in Galatz,

We

office

when

gave Theologos

credits

on Messrs.

Gurney, and Co., and we bought large

quantities of grain.

were

lai'ge

my

great.

The sun

On

these purchases the profits

of prosperity smiled once more

on the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, but

it

was only a momentary gleam.

Mr. Carr's

161

He
was radiant with joy.
thought with me that we had sighted the promised
land.
We were quickly deceived. Theologos unvenerable countenance

expectedly

soon

arrived

London

in

Carnegie followed

They had heard vague rumours of my

after.

complications with Messrs. Overcnd, Gurney, and Co.

they had seen the sale of

my

large boats announced,

and had come to the conclusion that the small ones in

the Danube would quickly follow, knowing as they did
that the small would be useless without the large.

Acting under this impression, they came to London,

one after the other to learn what was going on.

Mr. Alexander Carnegie

is

a veritable Paul Pry in

Now, from
his way he wants to know everything.
1857 to 1861 that is to say, during a period of five
years^I was most careful not to allow any one, most
:

particularly Carnegie

and Theologos,

to

know

the

my

dealings with Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

on what terms I was doing business with
them. I gave my agents at Galatz, from time to
time, credits to the amount of 20,000, and even of
secret of

and

Co., nor

40,000,

on the Overends and other bankers,

enable them to purchase grain

of these credits, they

with those houses.

to

but beyond the fact

knew nothing

of

my transactions

These agents of mine had not the

know
When, about

entree into the " Corner House," nor did they

Edwards or Chapman even

personally.

the middle of 1861, Alexander Carnegie arrived in

London, he made the acquaintance of Mr. Carr, in

office.

He

then, for the

first

of the mighty capitalists

my

time, saw a representative

he then, for the

first

time,

learned that the authority in the Greek and Oriental

Steam' Navigation Company was divided.

it

prudent to give him a partial confidence.

thought
I told

162

him a portion

of the story.

What

I told

was

sufficient

to disorganize the strict discipline that the service of

Whilst I was speaking I saw a

change come over the countenance of my grateful
When I had finished he told me, in a frank
clerk.
and careless manner, that now the coup de grace was
steamers requires.

given to the credit of the Greek and Oriental Steam

Company at Galatz, and that for the future

he could not hope to draw a 50 bill on the house, so
that I should be obliged to furnish him, as far as I
could, with credits on bankers.
Navigation

163

CHAPTER XXVI.
REMORTGAGING THE STEAMERS.
Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co. did not wish

that the British Star should appear on our

books

London

but as the Greek and Oriental Steam Naviga-

Company

had, by a circular (see Appendix, No. 7)

guaranteed to the Levant public the existence of that

tion

journal up to July, 1862, 1 was obliged to enter into

an arrangement with Messrs. Theologos and Carnegie,

by which they were to charge sixpence or a shilling
additional per quarter on their invoices, to counterbalance the annual loss entailed by the decree concerning the British Star with regard to our
books.

I do not

know whether

London

Messrs. Theologos

and Carnegie regarded this as an intimation that they

might put on as many additional shillings as they
pleased, but this I know, from that time forward all
hope of realizing profits by the purchase of grain disappeared.

In

my

attempt to repair the

loss incurred

by the British Star, I furnished my clerks at Galatz

with the means of sending me the most comical
invoices.

The

loss of the British

I have already said, a

mere

trifle

Star was, per

but

it

so

se,

as

happened,

was a maincompany. Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co., not comprehending how intimately the two
enterprises were blended together, took a very narrow

in those disastrous times, that the journal

stay to the steam

view of the British Star as an ancillary power, and

never understood the error they committed in ignor-

m2

104
ing

They

the journal.

stances, to

who

under the circum-

ouglit,

have submitted to the judgment of those

But

understood the working of the machinery.

was characteristic of these gentlemen that they

had and had not confidence in the men with whom
it

Their policy

they did large transactions.

may be

described as putting one corporal to watch another.

They sometimes

discussed the minutest

questioned the pettiest details

at other times they

treated carelessly matters of serious

were often rash in their

lessly striking

and

trifles,

They

gravity.

decisions, ofttimes remorse-

down an upright man,

as frequently

obstinately refusing to punish a detected rogue

had known how

worm

and

latter

dictatorial

qualities

they were tyranand exhibited the

cases,

others,

in

when the man who

especially

who

himself into their good

Benevolent in some

graces.

niqal

to

fell

under their frown was of an independent character,

and had a will and tongue of his own. Never accessible to reason, the Overends quickly conceived an
aversion to any

man who

attempted, by cool argu-

ment, to point out the inexpediency of their orders.

As

the Greek proverb has

these gentlemen, after

it,

oil

and

vinegar, were parsimonious in the use of the salt

and

being extravagant in the expenditure of the

They were always in extremes they knew

no medium.
To their eyes there were only two
pepper.

classes

men

of

murky demons.

in

To

trifles.

To

volcanic

their moral

only two classes of deeds

angels

and

disruptions and

perception there were

perfect honesty and

delibe-

They seemed to regard men either as

giants.
The varied blendings, the infinite

rate fraud.

dwarfs or

spotless

their understanding there were

but two classes of events

airy

the world

166
shadings of moral stature that

extremes escaped their

men

of

constituted,

so

iiotico.

lie

between the two

Under the guidance

commercial concerns could

never hold the steady course which ensures ultimate

But whilst they were themselves the slaves

nominal agents, the long-standing fame of

success.

of their

their house dazzled outsiders,

and those who sought

their aid perished by the same means that had wrought

the ruin of the great " Corner House."

But

have digressed.

The

agents.

I shall return to

my

Galatz

grain latterly shipped by Messrs. Theo-

logos and Carnegie, though bought in the upper part

of the Danube, cost as

much

as other merchants paid

at Galatz, instead of being

purchased at three or four

shillings per quarter less.

This was giving an adverse

turn to

affairs.

If I were obliged to pay, near the

sources of the Danube, the same price for grain for

which other merchants could obtain it at the mouth of

the river, where was the use of my small steamers 1

They were,

manifestly, a dead loss.

Upon

this point

I shall only add that a sharp correspondence began

between

my

brother Aristides and Carnegie.

The

reply of Mr. Carnegie (Appendix, No. 16) shows the

Within two years from

nature of the subject.

my

date

two clerks were owners of

plying on the Danube

had

What

is

more surprising

M. Hadji Andreas
their

steamers,

five

in the very trade for

originally started mine.

is,

this

which

(See Appendix, No. 40.)

that their magazziniere

after passing eighteen

months in

employment, had realized a fortune of 10,000.

This was not bad for a gentleman who, a few months

before he was honaured with the

commands of my

was a bankrupt.
But the most deplorable part of the transaction

clerks,

166
was, perhaps, the

mode

in

which the grain was

several

This was so bad as to drive

London.

times sold in

not only me, but even Mr. Carr, to despair.

done in

Immediately on the

way.

this

was

It

arrival in

London of the bills of lading of a cargo, I handed

them to Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., and they
handed them to Messrs. Coventry and Sheppard, the
cornfactors.
The Messrs. Overend then drew on
Messrs. Coventry and Sheppard three months' bills for

a considerably larger amount than

had drawn on them

my agents at Galatz

the reason for this increase being

that the cornfactors' acceptances included the freight

of the steamers, and insurance,

me

then charged

profits, &c.,

&c.

with the discount of their

They

bills,

as

well as with a commission for accepting the drafts of

my

agents.

All this was a

gi'eat

accommodation

for

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., but ruinous to

me.

My

grain was

of the cornfactors as

now

as completely in the

my money had

been a

Henry Barker.

before in those of Mr.

little

My

hands
while

property,

was made a source of profit and moral

You, reader, must see that
credit to other people.
when a cargo is not in your own hands, you cannot
treat freely with the brokers, and deal with the highest
bidder you must accept the price the holder wishes.
My case was still worse. Messrs. Coventry and

in both cases,

Sheppard had three masters, to whose commands they

were bound to listen. There were the Overends, who,
when money was dear and corn cheap, ordered the
grain to be sold, coute quil coiite, in the warehouse.
There was I, who, when I had better offers from other
brokers, protested furiously against such monstrous
sacrifice of property.
Then there was Mr. Carr, who,
.

feeling the injustice

done

to

me

by the

sacrifice of

the

167
was perpetually going backwards and forwards
between Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. and Messrs.
Coventry and Sheppard. The letters respecting these
transactions, Nos. 28, 39, and 41 in the Appendix,
grain,

will better explain this state of affairs.

All the labour, mental and physical, that I had

gone through began to

machine, and

tell

on me.

Man

vertebrate animal could

tio

is

not a

work and

think as I had worked and thought without feeling

the

effects.

bills

on

my

together.

In
1

became

was in a

quarrelled

had drawn long and heavy

now they all fell due

fractious, quarrelsome, obstinate

1 no longer recognized

unmanageable.

in short,

myself

fact,

nervous system, and

with

provocation.

my

My

state of constant

best friends

irritation;

upon the

slightest

overtaxed nerves were strained to

And no wonder. In
mismanagement of the grain alone 40,000 was
wasted in England, and 40,000 in the principalities
Some of the grain was warehoused,
of the Danube.
against my wish, then was blighted.
The warehouse
expenses, double commissions, interest, and material

the utmost limit of endurance.

this

differences in a

nominal

sale,

brought another

loss.

But this was not all. I began to see very clearly

that I was placed in a position of utter helplessness, as
a cruel fate had inextricably interwoven my affairs with

who were
which I have
just named, show that they were very hard pressed
Another transaction which I am going to
for money.
mention will make the terrible position of the " Corner
House " apparent to the most limited capacity. They
began to remortgage the remainder of my steamers to
Masterman's Bank, to the Bank of London, and others,
those of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,
hopelessly insolvent.

The

transactions

168

and made

my

agents at Galatz, Messrs. Theologos and

Carnegie, or Messrs, J. Hamburger and Co., of the

same town, or Messrs. Sidney Malcttass and Co., Mr.
Henry Barker's agents at Smyrna, or anybody else
whom they could find, draw the bills on these banks,
giving their guarantee to Masterman and the Bank
of

London

for taking

up these

bills

before maturity,

and charging me with the commission and discount.

bills thus obtained were endorsed by the firm and
" melted."
In fact they were galloping to perdition
as fast as Faust was hurried by Mephistopheles, and
they dragged behind every man connected with them.
The letters Nos. 20, 47, and 50 in the Appendix are

The

three of those that they

made me

sign.

1C9

CHAPTER XXVIl.
A SECOND BEEACH OF FAITH.
I AT last saw that

was useless

it

for

me

to

work

so

my health and the interests of my

An opportunity occurred, of which I profited,

hard, sacrificing
family.

to speak seriously to Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

Co., touching the prospects of

my

One

death.

of

lost in the Baltic.

my

my

and

family in case of

steamers, the Leonidas, was

I held the policy of insurance,

which was for 12,000 more than Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and Co. had advanced me on the vessel. I
asked Mr. Carr to propose to them that I should be
allowed to set apart 10,000 for my family. I might
have done this without consulting them, as I held the
After
policy, and it would have been perfectly just.

some

negotiations, I

faith, to

They kept the

* In equity and
to Messrs.

strict

Leonidas

it

to

honesty I only owed about =2000 or

On

the 30th of March, 1861, I chartered

which was only 602 tons gross

Messrs. Pile, Spencc, and Co., of

per month.

balance, and passed

Overend, Gurney, and Co. on account of this

steamer, as I can prove.

the

good

policies in

allow them to take their just proportion of the

insurance.*

3000

handed over the

West Hartlepool,

register

for

with

1100 guineas

This charter I assigned to Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and during

five or six months they collected the charter

money, whilst the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
In March,
paid all the expenses and the insurances of the steamer.

and

Co.,

1861, I mortgaged this same steamer to Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co., to induce them to guarantee =8000, acceptances of the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company

to the builders of

170

my

credit in

the general

This was an-

account.

To remedy this in some

measure, Mr. Henry Edmund Gurney proposed that
I should msure my life for 10,000, and that Messrs.
other breach

of faith.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. should pay the premium.

always had a great aversion to insuring

was now compelled

to try

it.

My

my

solicitor

life.

recom-

mended me to apply to the Union Assurance Company

I
a new company, to which he was legal adviser.

had a severe cold. I believe I was the first applicant

The whole force of the medical
to this new company.
During two hours
staff was brought to bear on me.
My whole
I underwent a searching examination.
anatomy, physical and moral, was laid bare. I told
them that on three several occasions I had spit blood,
At the end
but not during the last fifteen years.
of

my two

hours' vivisection I retired.

I received a letter

from the

the directors declined to accept

In three days

secretary, to say that

my

life.

It

was plain

the steamer, who, after having received half the price agreed on

was under construction, refused to deliver her to me

owing to the discredit thrown on my company by
the above-mentioned circumstances, and the failure of Messrs.
Lascaridi and Co.
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. gave me the

whilst she

when

means

finished,

of meeting the bills for 8000, but they collected the freight

of the Leonidas, amounting to at least <G000, besides 16,000 or

17,000 for insurances. They refused to return me the balance,

under pretext that the Leonidas was given as collateral security,
which was whoUy untrue.
The charter of the Leonidas and the extra insurance must,
according to

my

calculations,

have

left a profit of at least

7000.

Placed as I was in the power of Messrs. Overend* Gurney, and Co.,

and under such extraordinary conditions

interest
cent, per

paying,

too, such

heavy

and commission, and the steamers yielding above 30 per

annum

profit

I made

it

a point always to insure each

steamer for a few thousands more than she

cost.

171
that the 10,000 risk and the vomited blood frightened

another

I applied to

them.

Tlie doctor there

office.

seemed satisfied, but hearing that I had spit blood,

he asked whetlier I had been refused by any other
This finished the conference,
office.
I said "Yes."
and within three days my life was declined by the
second company.

I leave you, reader, to imagine the

impression that these refusals were calculated to

make

on the mind of any man. I firmly believed that I

was booked for the other world. I made a resolve
never again to submit myself to the examination of

an insurance doctor.
I

had

purse.

still

my

a few thousand pounds in

private

This sum was the residue of the profits on

some cargoes of wheat I had sold in the commencement of the Italian War, to which I have already
I resolved to do some business on my own
referred.
private account, and buy an estate, Petersham Lodge,
near Richmond, which happened to be in the market.
I did so, and Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., for the
first

time, gave

me

a proof of their personal affection

me 1700

on security,
Poor Mr. Carr, who advised
them to afford me this little accommodation, travelled
miles backwards and forwards between the two parties

by lending

for three months,

to complete the purchase.

in negotiating the affair.

and
showed

folly

The meanness,

unfairness,

exhibited by the great firm on this occasion

me

that I could not go on

junction with them.

much longer

in con-

(See Appendix, No. 9.)

Rich, but narrow-minded

men

are often, by the

them
As long as

course of events, placed in a position that gives

the direction

of colossal

transactions.

things go smoothly, these people seem to

position,

and

become

really look the part of greatness

their
;

but

172

when

commensurate with the greatness of their

undertaking occur, then the meanness of their nature
losses

discloses itself in

position,

which, contrasted with their

acts

make them appear

This was the

ridiculous.

case with Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

They

and Co.

attempted to avenge their losses on the very

men who

were trying to save them from being robbed.

David

Ward Chapman was

the depositors'
fast

money

Mr.

squandering thousands of

in luxury

his favourites

were

accumulating colossal fortunes; his sycophants were

daily initiating

some doubtful business

while, the timbers of the great

were coming asunder

Lombard

she was

and, meanStreet vessel

fast drifting

towards

and sand-banks. Mr. Henry Barker

had precipitated Overend, Gurney, and Co. on to the
terrible rock of accommodation bills, whence so many
others had sunk into the Bankruptcy Court.
Messrs.
Overend, Gurney, and Co. had already remortgaged
my steamers to the Bank of London and to Masterman's.
Bills were drawn on these two banks, which
Mr. Henry Barker discounted or negotiated with a
trifling commission for himself.
I had long been suspicious of this mode of doing business, which I foresaw
could end but in one way.
In fact, Mr. Henry Barker
had so tied these three firms with accommodation
strings, that the stoppage of one must necessitate that
of the others.
This catastrophe would have occurred
two years earlier than it did, but that the mania for
inevitable shoals

public companies averted the terrible conclusion.

regard to myself, I was not very manageable.

bled every time that I was asked to put

bill,

or sign one of their binding letters.

tive necessity
satisfied

compelled

me

to yield,

With
grum-

my name to a
An impera-

but I was

dis-

with Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., and

173
they were dissatisfied with me.

We

were mutually

desirous of separation.*
* Messrs. Lascaridi and Co., crippled so long, at last stopped

payment

in 18G1,

lost considerable

and Messrs. Overend, Gnrnoy, and Co. mnst have

snms of money.

Their

estate passed into tho

hands of Messrs. Coleman, Turquand, Youngs, and

gentlemen at once tried

to

make

Co.,

and these

the Greek and Oriental >Steam

Navigation Company debtors to tho amount of 22,350 Os. 6d.

(See letters, Nos. 25, 26, and 27, in the Appendix.)
will

now

see the reason

wh}^ in 1860, I refused

to

The reader

Mr. Edwards

to

sign the contract of the 1st of August, 1860, except the release
of Mr. George Lascaridi from such claim should be inserted in our

partnership deed.

(See page 97.)

174

CHAPTER XXVIIL
A THIRD BREACH OF FAITH.

HAD long been dissatisfied with the relations existing between the great money-dealers and myself, when
an occurrence took place that deprived me of all confidence in them. You remember, reader, the Trent
affair.
Out of that business there sprang up a sudden
demand for steamers as transports. For a moment it
was believed that England was on the verge of a war
I tendered two of my
with the Great Republic.
steamers, of 1200 tons each, for a time-charter, at
30s. per ton per month, and for four months certain, to
take Government stores and ammunition to Bermuda.
I

This would leave a net profit of nearly 10,000 for

the four months.

The bargain was almost

when Mr. Edwards,

to

concluded,

oblige Mr. Lyster O'Beirne,

signs another tender for the brokers, Messrs.

Thompson

and Tweeddale, of 27 Birchin Lane (see Appendix,

No. 17), and offers the steamers for a lump sum of
about 4000 each. This, so far from being profitable
to the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company,

would

muda

entail a

heavy

loss.

rose at that time

The

price of coal at Ber-

per ton, so that the price

of fuel alone, out and home, would be

A time-charter

with the Government

because they pay for the fuel

and

penses, except wages and insurance.

4000 on

each.

always

safe,

is

all

other

Edwards's

suited the charterer better than mine.

It

the point of being accepted, and mine erased.

exoffer

was on
I was


'

175
driven to madness

when

and Mr.

I learned this news,

Carr was so exasperated that he asked permission of

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. to resign his post.
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

summoned Edwards,

scolded the favourite, and justified me. Edwards there-

upon

me

sent

a letter, dated January

2,

1862, ad-

dressed to the Comptroller of the Admiralty.

(See

Appendix, Nos. 18, 19.) In this letter Edwards says

tliat I was the sole owner of the vessels
but that, in
;

consequence of

illness,

not being able to communicate

with me, he had authorized Messrs. Thompson and

Tweeddale, as mortgagee, to tender the steamers.

It

was too late and too bad. The quarrel between the
mortgagee and owner put an end to both charterparties,

and

Mr. David

10,000 through two of

I lost another

Ward Chapman's

favourites.

This act of tendering the Palikari to the Govern-

ment by Edwards,

for the sake of putting a paltry

commission into the pockets of his

arbitrary.

friends,

was most

mortgagee has no right to charter a

There

vessel without the consent of the mortgagor.

was only this difference in my case Edwards was only

the nominee of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., and
these gentlemen had Mr. G. B. Carr in my office acting
:

as

their

" Corner

representative.

House

consequently

held the

responsible for the consequences,

"

and wrote the following

19,

letter to

London

Street,

them

at once

Fenchurch

Street,

London, 5th January/, 1862.

Messes. Overend, Gtirney, and Co.

Gentlemen,

The
of

my

act of

Mr. Edwards interfering in the management

steamers, thereby seriously damaging even a second time

credit, is

my

another breach of faith upon your part, and the covjp de

grace that you give to this unfortunate burlesque, the Greek and

176
Oriental Steam Kavigation Company.

go any

my

fui'tlier

solicitors

So I

am

determined not to

except a proper legal agreement be drawn up between

and yours,

Gentlemen, 1

for the future operations of the steamers.

would

your memory to certain facts

refresh

with which you must be well acquainted, but

appears you have

it

forgotten.

"When I

first

had the pleasure of knowing you, I had a position

an extensive patronage of the Medi-

in this city, a large business,

This business, with

terranean merchants, and a very large credit.

made and not

the controversies,

all

that, if I accept
like a horse

it,

will take

round the

mill,

my

but since that time

by

account with you stands such

me many

and

debts and losses, caused

the accumulation of sums, through

other persons appointed by you,

money

lost

years to pay

after all I should be

it off,

working

without either

agreement or security, and at the mercy of the circumstances.

The following facts are much more painful to me.

and made a contract with the merchants

this line,

their goods.

I organized
to transport

I then, for that purpose, bought and built

22 steamers

11 large and 11 smaU, the small being only for the use of

viz.,

the large.

Mr, Carr sees clearly now that we have no steamers to

carry out our engagements, and that I have lost above 10,000 tons
of goods, equal to 17,000, these last three months, not having

steamers, so that the shippers desert

you broke down

first

me

Why ?

every day.

Because

the credit of the line, and then the line

itself,

by having sold four of the large steamers, even without giving me

any notice, which makes five of the small steamers useless, more
especially as two large steamers of the number having been lost
lately,

and you refuse

to replace

them.

bonus in the January of 1860,

it

When I paid you .30,000 a

was verbally but honourably

agreed, in the presence of Mr. Barker, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Lascaridi,

and myself, that you miist extend your loan of money

months longer

the 1861

viz., all

and

so in the

to twelve

end of 1860 was

arranged with Messrs. Lascaridi and Co. for giving you the letter
responsible for us for aU the 1861.

However,

in the beginning of this 1861, without our knowledge,

you adver-

that

tise

made that firm

in

the

Shijojnng

Gazette

the

Messrs. Taniperly, Carter, and Co.,

total

my

fleet

for

sale,

through

enemies, and by doing so

in all the kingdom that our line is broken down, that

you are the disposers of the steamers, and you receive in your
office tenders, so that all ship-brokers believe they will buy the

you trumpeted

property for a bargain.

At the same time you

receive

me

witli

177
you supply me with funds

favour, and, although

wants, you never

Of

me

tell

know

course, only 1 myself

one fine morning, you

last,

come

My

to another

nothing to you.

is

You judged

six steamers.

sell

profitable business.

money than they

for less

my

I do not say anything about

agony of mind and severe struggle, because that

At

our daily

the losses and the discredit that I

gained out of such proceedings.

you made a

for

one word for what you undermine me.

that

books show that they are sold

cost, therefore

making a

Was

most serious question.

But

lioavj^ loss.

not you Avho forced

it

me, through Mr. Edwards, to enter into a partnership bond with

Mr. Edwards came one night

G. P. Lascarich?

March, said

in the presence of Mr.

Gurney

Lascaridi to

modation
to

my

to

and,

office,

that the wish of Mr.

bills

so.

Was

of '12,000 ?

pay and receive our money

his balance

me

Are you not the parties who charged Mr.

finance the office ?
Why, then, was I to pay his accom-

to do

is

to

not you

it

Why am

who

appointed Barker

I to be responsible for

True, I was obliged to acknowledge and

due to us?

sign such a pawnbroker's account by force majeure, because Mr.

my

Barker had
not do

so,

payments in hand, and threatened me,

that he would not pay

my

bills

You

that day.

might, against
to

who

my

ordered

He

wheat

Was

loss?

to superintend our office,

never came

him 500

to

be

sold, cost

a year.

If

it

Why, then, am I
you who appointed Mr.

it

not

and report position and wants

he never knew what we wanted, although

he had acted as Mr. Carr

ness never would be in

not

it

what

and express wishes ?

protest

suffer the terrible

Edwards

my

recollect

Was

that I came personally to complain to you about that.

you, gentlemen,

did

if I

its

now

we

paid

acts, this busi-

present position, and would have saved

us at least 70,000.

Did you not detain the steamers in the Danube and

toria

Docks

for six

by we could load them

Meanwhile,

confusion on the other part ?

steamers

to

make them

to

and

my

secret enemies

stores,

how have

1 acted in all this

worked day and night

pay and not

this discreditable position, to

honourably with

in the Vic-

months, by refusing to give us the credit where-

lose

money

to load the

struggling, in

me fighting
many unknown

keep the shippers with

competitors, and also with

to

prevent the robbery of the supplies of the

the carelessness and cheating of captains and agents

economize and save every farthing

to

your interests by

to protect

keeping in constant repair the steamers, and not leaving them to go

to pieces

to protect the interests of the builders

to deprive

myself

178

my

even of the necessary wants of

sands to brokers

mend

to

house,

when

I paid daily thou-

large holes that others daily opened

at the last to allow myself to be in the present condition.

Mr, Edwards, your nominee or mortgagee,

make the best out

my own hands.

Gentlemen, you understand that

than any others
zag road.

certain

(a.)

must have a

any farther in

better

this zig-

clear procedure

by contract, with

work upon.

to

you 5 per

as I give

as

your

you

make

in the end of one year

at once sell or dispose of

it

as

like.

If, after

paying you 10 per

left to

and the business of the

The mortgage
one of your

The accounts

cent., there is a large profit

,5000, you

above

remainder to be

if

money

any of the property.

to sell

you may

profit,

cent, interest for

cent, against such

If the business does not

left

(e.)

it

that I ask are reasonable and just

As long

any
you

(d.)

know

open, sincere-dealing man, and I like straight-

advanced me, not

(c.)

moment

conduct to this

to proceed

money, and 5 per

(6.)

my

if

are in a position to

mean

and indisputable bases

The bases

to

I cannot any longer repose myself under the sword

We

of Damocles.

and you

I do not

am an

forward ways.

Now,

others

by taking even the management out of

of that

has been honourable

with

tries

take half of

me

to carry

line.

of the steamers to pass in the

fii-m,

to

of

be regulated every six mouths, to prove

of the steamers

entirely to

name

and not of any nominee.

the business makes or loses money.

ment

and the

it,

on the repairs

me

and

The manage-

their cargoes to be left

and should other persons interfere

by your authority, you

to

stand any losses that

may

occur by reason of such interference.

(/.)

Whatever wheat is sold by Messrs. Coventry, Sheppard,

and Co., and the contracts not acknowledged by
me, the same to be returned by Messrs. Coventry,
Sheppard, and Co. to me, or you to bear the loss.

(g).

In case of

my

according to

death, a gentleman to be appointed,

my

wiU, to go on for

long as the business pays as above.

my

benefit, as

179
(h.)

balance of .10,000 to be

(/.)

always at the banker's,

left

keep up the credit of the company.

to

proper credit to be given to the house at Galatz for

You may send

the working of the business.

a person

there to superintend your interests.

(y.)

You can have

London

in the

offices

Mr. Carr, or any

other gentleman approved of by me, to superintend

the finances, advise, and see that every transaction
is correct.
(A-,)

The four big steamers

and the Powerful
steamers are

lost,

27,000 each,
any of the

to be insured for

for

22,000.

If

and you will not

let the

money

paid by the underwriters be employed in building

another ship, then you take 25,000 and

take

2500.
(?.)

You

will give

me 10,000, money due

to

me,

if

not for

which you were paid

same, because your ad-

services, for the Leonidas, for

without being entitled to

vances to
(?..)

me were

All the wheat

till

now

only 8000.

in

London

the end of September.

selling it

to

bo kept in warehouse

I to have the option of

by any broker who gives the highest

prices,

but Messrs. Coventry, Sheppard, and Co. to have the

preference
after that,

when they
you can

bid the same as the others

sell it as

you

like.

Yours obediently,
Stefanos Xenos.

I found the official assignee had two safety-valves

by w^hich he escaped when pushed into a corner by
In the first place, there was his
his own folly.
wretched memory, that could not recall anything;
and, secondly, there was his marvellous intermitting
illness, that was sure to attack and confine him to bed
when the denouement of any misadventure, induced by
some error of his, was about to take place. Under
such circumstances, he was represented by some con-

n2

180
fidential clerk,

upon

whom

the blame of the whole

transaction was thrown.

had now begun to think seriously of freeing

myself from the trammels in which I was bound.
I was wasting my energies trying to fill sieves.
This majestic house of Overend, Gurney, and Co., that
dazed the eyes of the commercial community by its
I

colossal transactions, was, in the estimation of those ini-

tiated in its a])Ocrypha,

There

is

an object of pity and contempt.

a vulgar Greek saying that not inaptly repre-

Lombard

sents the state of things in the great

house in those days

acre Kai

'E^tjSnre (tkuAoi <jto f.iayeipio yopra.'

TrXr/poxTere rate iroprtiovec

fxrj

Street

(come, dogS, into

the cook's shop, and help yourselves without paying

your portions).

Such was the confusion that prevailed at the

"Corner House," that disorganization would be too
That great edifice
mild a word to describe it.
was, so to speak, a mighty mercantile phantasmagoria that deceived the vision of the whole metropolls.
Happy and favoured was the man, in the
estimation of bankers and merchants, who enjoyed the
privilege of entree into that great commercial strong-

hold

were in

But

complain.

bubble

often those

reality victims

is

ward and

Men who

Nay more,

who were

envied as favoured,

who dared
men even now, when

victims, too,

these

burst have not the courage to

tell

the truth.

They

come

not
the
for-

are afraid to speak.

during eight years were tortured beneath

Lombard Street lash, have not now the social

courage to come forward and tell the story and why 1

the

"No

banker would do business with us again were

we to tell these transactions. Every merchant would

181
shut his

office

door against us were

we

to speak of

such things."

The standard of commercial morality must indeed

if we have to be
guided by such thoughts.
Must we imagine that
Diogenes has consumed a gallon of the best colza oil
be in a state of great depreciation

in searching
for

amongst our

capitalists

and their agents

an honest man, and ultimately extinguished his

lamp

in despair

182

CHAPTER XXIX.
CRIMINAL OR NOT]

My

small

Danube steamers being no longer backed

by the large ones, had not

sufficient

employment

therefore chartered several sailing vessels, and loaded

them with grain

at Sulina.

This Avas a profitable

speculation, but, unfortunately for me, the Galatz

skimmed the cream

But the worst of the matter was, that
agents drew on me at sight for the value

people, in this general anarchy,

for themselves.

though

my

of their cargoes, Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

thought proper to be offended, and said I had been

guilty of a breach of faith.

attached so

little

Now,

the truth was, I

importance to the

affair,

that

when

the cargoes of the company were being sacrificed by

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., I told Mr. Carr

myself that 1 had got a better price for

cargo by some shillings per quarter.
this

It

my

private

had come to

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. found I did

not suit them for their accommodation

not choose to work perpetually for
favourites.

I will give you, reader,

and

I did

them and

their

bills,

an instance of the

petty tyranny and jealous assumption of these people.

company was at that time coming out bythe-by, that same company afterwards became a great
one I was one of the directors; Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co. signified to Mr. Carr that I must
I was comwitlidraw my name from the direction.
public

pelled to

do

so.

(See

Appendix, No. 37.)

am

183
naturally independent-minded, and here I found myself

the cat's paw of men who had no mercy on me, and

who threw on me the blame that legitimately attached
to the conduct of others.

Their weight at that time

with the English public was

sucli that

To break openly with them would be mad-

a giant.
ness

them was impossible,

to reason with

they could crush

for they

would not grant me a sufficiently long audience.

However, Mr. Carr saw how things were
he knew
the truth, and he spoke out.
Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co. were neither deaf nor blind. They
had lost thousands through the intervention of their
;

favourites, but a portion of these losses being

my

account looked to them like a gain.

the

crisis

put to

I saw that
which was to separate them and me was fast
approaching.
I was determined that they should not
crush me as they had crushed Zachariah Pearson and

others.

On

every occasion

when breaches of

faith

on the

part of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. drove

me

almost to despair, I used to rush off to the office of

my

solicitors,

Messrs.

Thomas and Hollams,

of Mincing

Lane Chambers, for advice. Mr. Hollams is the partner

whom I generally saw. A more prudent and straightforward
is

man

possessed,

and energy.
strive to allay

there

is

besides,

not in the profession.

of immense

talent,

He

sagacity,

In these interviews he would always

my

excitement, and

recommend me

to

He would point out the inequality

which existed between the two parties. I was weak, a
foreigner, and in their power whilst they were the
giants of the City, and possessed of boundless influence.
Could I have persuaded Mr. Hollams at that time that
the " Corner House" was rickety to the very foundado nothing rash.

184

and the
Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company would
long since have been in the hands of the public but
whenever I broached the subject to him he would
smile, and give me no answer, probably thinking that
the idea was so absurd as not to merit one.
At the time when Edwards caused the above-named
loss, and consequent exposure and discredit amongst
my friends, I happened to have in my possession, in
cash principally, and bills of lading for cargoes of
grain to arrive (see Appendix, Letters 21, 22), the
tion, the history of the

connexion between

it

sum of 100,000. Although my agents at Galatz,

when buying grain, drew on Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
and Co., the bills of lading were made out in my name,
and sent

me

to

direct.

Driven to frenzy now, and

consequently determined to break off all relations with

the " Corner House," and to bring the whole matter
before the public, I went to Mr. Hollams.
this length of time recollect the exact

my

interview with him, but I

know

words

cannot at
I

used in

that I told him,

and not then for the first time, that Messrs. Overend,
Gurney and Co. were insolvent, that they had taken
possession of my property, and charged my account with
every possible kind of figures.
w^ere to

in

hand

keep the money and

bills

then asked him,

if I

of lading I then had

and a satisfacdrawn up by our respective solicitors,

until I could get a settlement,

tory contract

could I be prosecuted criminally, or could they only

bring an action against

me

at

common

law.

Mr. Hollams replied simply that he tliought

dangerous for

me

to carry so

it

very

much money about me.

He

then placed himself opposite the

his

head on

his hand, fell into

fire,

and, putting

deep thought.

After

the lapse of several minutes of silence, I again asked

"

185

him whether the

a

act 1 contemplated

was a criminal or

civil one.

" I do not think

"

it is

it is

a criminal case," he answered

an account current

rent with them.

But you

you have an account curwill

not proceed to such

extremities

" I have no wish to do so," I answered

am

I to

do with such

ruined, and

is

men 1

" but

The property

becoming daily worse.

am

is

what

nearly

nothing

but an automaton in their hands for accommodation

bills."

Mr. Hollams did not answer immediately, but he

said at last, " Go to them, and talk the matter over."
" It
listen to

is

no

use," I replied

" they have no time to

me, and will only send

me

to the inevitable

Edwards."
" I cannot advise you to take the step you are con-

templating," said Mr. Hollams

matters with them."

" Good " I answered
!

in the meantime,

work I
"

where

" go and try to arrange

but

shall I

if

they stop payment

be after so much hard

"

You may chance

that," said he, smiling, for

he

would never admit that I was right in thinking that

the " Corner House " was insolvent.
"Well," said I, as I left, "I will follow your
advice, for I will not give them an opportunity of saying a word against my character."

On my

return to

my

office,

Overend, Gurney, and Co. the

money

bills

I sent to

Messrs.

of lading, and the

Marco
Bozzaris.
This was the fourth steamer which had
been lost, leaving a profit of from 4000 to 5000.
I may fairly say here that the Greek and Oriental
received from the underwriters for the

18G

Steam Navigation Company made a

profit in two
on the insurances of the four steamers lost, and
on the charter of the Powerful to the Government, of
50,000,* all of ^vhich was absorbed in this (3op(5opoc

years,

of the " Corner House."

I telegraphed to

Carnegie at Galatz, bidding him

come to London. I wanted his help for some

months in the office. Mr. Carr being himself in business, was not able to afford more than one hour per
day to my affairs. Carnegie came to London, but he
did not seem pleased at being recalled and separated
from his dear partner. No wonder Galatz was a
to

veritable Pactolus for the Scotchman.

Before entering

breaking

off

into

particulars

regarding

my

wdth Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

which occurred

in the beginning of 1863, 1 shall recur

to events connected with the British Star^

which took

place about the middle of 1862, and which contributed

not a

little to

complicate

my

position.

* Admiral Miaoulis

15,000

Powerful
General Williams

15,000
..

8,000

Leonidas

7,000

Marco Bozzaris

5,000

Total

50,000

187

CHAPTER XXX.
POLITICS.

About the cominencement of 1862, the tone of the

British Star was so intensely liberal as to appear to

many

to

be republican.

Its

denunciations

against

tyranny were as fulminating as those of Thomas

Carlyle, in his " Republican ;" but, if it advocated

was liberty based upon constitutional prinand Christian civilization.

The British Star was not what the Turkish Government accused it of being, when the Sublime Porte
suppressed its publication.
I have already explained
liberty, it

ciples

the motives that induced

me

to establish that journal

on the free soil of England.

It was about the close of 1861 that the British
Star,

by proposing Prince Alfred

as successor to the

throne of Greece, excited a general feeling throughout

Panhellenium against King Otho.

in different

The very persons

towns of the Levant who, at the

first start-

ing of the British Star, opposed the publication,

now

held public meetings to approve the policy of the

encouragement and confrom every part of Greece. The press

in the kingdom of Greece was shackled, and more
than one editor shut up in the prisons of Carbola
and Medresse. The Greek press in Turkey was chained
under the despotic local government, and compelled to
silence upon the wrongs and sufferings of Greece. King

journal.

I received letters of

gratulation

188

Otho had recourse

He

policy.

to

tried to

what he beheved an infallible

buy me. For this purpose he

sent a Mr. Barozzi, one of his favourites, to London.

This gentleman was empowered to

appointments,

if

offer

me

honours,

the British Star would only change

change
might be obtained without any expenditure on the
part of His Majesty, either of honours or appointments.
King Otho had only to change his ministers, re-esta-

its tone.

I replied laconically, that the desired

blish the national guard, appoint the successor to the

throne, and not interfere with the constitution.

Mr.

London to join His Majesty at Munich.

few months the revolution at Nauplia broke

Barozzi left

Within a
out

an event which ought

to have

opened the eyes of

the poor monarch to his real position.

The outbreak

at

Nauplia was regarded by King

Otho's agents as a proof of the necessity of arresting

They

the circulation of the British Star in Greece.

went

so far as to

office,

in

order

open the
to

letters in the public post-

discover

with

whom

immediately marked as conspirators.

way, I hit upon another plan.

paper the
sent

was in

My unfortunate correspondents were

correspondence.

political articles

them enclosed

Beset in this

upon thin
of the British Star, and
I printed

in envelopes to Paris

and Malta,

to be posted in these places as ordinary letters.

At

the same time I wrote to the subscribers, promising

that the remaining portion

the literary part

should
be delivered to them as a bound book at the close of
the year.
These arrangements naturally entailed great

expense.

The

copies of the British Star intended for

the subscribers in Greece, I sent to Constantinople;

there

they were

packed into

cases

having secret

drawers, and so smuggled into Athens.

Sometimes


189
the cases were

with bottles, in which the leading

filled

articles of the journals were safely corked down.

You

Crimean
War the inhabitants of Constantinople and the Levant
were the last to learn the details of the campaign, and
the information that did reach them was through the
English press. The British Star was the only journal
in which the blockaded soldiers of Nauplia had a chance
of publishing an account of their petite guerre, and
are aware, reader, that during the

the events connected therewith.

demand

This increased the

for the paper, whilst the patriotic spirit that

breathed through

its

columns kindled the enthusiasm

of the Greeks of Turkey, and excited their ire against

King Otho.

The Bavarian had

recourse to a ruse that

gave a fatal blow to the British Star.

His mode of

operation was this He instructed Mr. Barozzi the

same who a few months before had had an interview
with me in London, and who was now dragoman to
the Greek embassy at Constantinople to represent to
the Turkish Government that the chief aim of the
British Star was to induce the Greeks of Turkey to
:

revolt against the Sultan's authority.

Now,

had

always avoided writing against the Turks, and except

on two or three occasions, when their financial policy

was alluded to, no mention of the Turkish Government
appeared in the columns of the British Star. However,
it so happened that at the termination of the Nauplian
revolution, a

members
nople

number of Greek

ladies

and gentlemen

of the most influential families of Constanti-

repaired

to the island of Chalcis,

and there
crowned a copy of the British Star with laurels and
This patriotic demonstration Mr. Barozzi
roses.
thought proper to construe as the germ of the Greek

revolution.

He

hastened with the intelligence to the

190

Grand Vizier, and persuaded him

that the cause of the

by the British Star against the

that King Otho would not
was
Government
Greek
sympathize with its revolutionary principles and

bitterness exhibited

projects.

The Vizier, alarmed,

fancied that the Greeks

were on the eve of a revolution. He hurried to Sir

Sir Henry, without loss of time,
Henry Bulwer.
telegraphed to Earl Eussell. The noble earl fond

of adopting second-hand ideas, even in more imporimmediately, and without examining

tant questions

into the truth of the accusation, gave orders to stop

the

the British Star through

transmission of

British post-office at Constantinople.

House of
The circulation

reader, the debate in the

subject in June, 1862.

the

You remember,
Commons on this
of the British

Star being checked at Constantinople, was stopped

But the arbitrary spirit of the
altogether in London.

Government still further displayed itself when,

a few months later, I applied to the PostmasterBritish

General for permission to transmit through the English

the British Beacon
post-office another newspaper
which I proposed to publish. I was informed that his

lordship was not prepared to reply to my inquiry

whether I might be permitted to forward this news-

paper in the closed mails for Constantinople.

This fatal blow to the British Star cost me at least

3000 a

year.

moment when,

The
after

journal was stopped at the very

having entailed a

loss

of 15,000,

was beginning to pay by an extended circulation.

If the mass of the English people could read
modern Greek, and study the columns of the British
Star, they would be able to form some idea of the
both religious and nacolossal fanatical prejudices
party in Greece
Russian
in
the
incarnated
tional

it


191
with which I had to contend.

If the English people

understood the struggles in which

and the

sacrifices I

made

became involved,
amongst the

to propagate

peoples of the East a knowledge of British institutions

to

which knowledge was due the unanimous

election of Prince Alfred to the throne of Greece

I feel convinced that, instead of

cuted,

the

British

being meanly perse-

Star would

have been loudly

praised.

This affair of the British Star took place some few

months before King Otho and his gracious queen disappeared from Athens. The reader, doubtless, remembers how quietly his expulsion was effected, or rather
how leasily his return was barred. King Otho was
He fancied, because Athens conunder a delusion.
tinued tranquil after the revolution at Nauplia, that

he was as firmly established on his throne as the most

Europe.
popular monarch

King Otho was not

He

misled.

a bad man, but he was wofully

was not naturally a

tyrant, yet

he sanc-

tioned or permitted the most tyrannical acts in his

ministers,

He

and

so obtained the reputation of a despot.

was energetic and hard-working, but his energy

was misdirected, and the time was wasted on trivialities which might have been employed in important
King Otho would pass a morning laboriously
affairs.
spelling over the documents laid before him, whilst
state affairs, involving the good of the nation, lay
neglected.
He was a moral man, but his was a
squinting morality.
He would never pardon a military officer or Government eiwploye convicted of a love
intrigue but he winked at the known fact of his
;

aides-de-camp being the patrons of murderers

brigands.

He would

and

frankly reinstate a wrongly-dis-

192
but he would persecute unto the death
and their families who, supported by

missed employe
the

men

ay,

public opinion, openly and honestly opposed his po-

He was ever dreaming

views and aspirations.
of a Byzantine throne, upon which he was to mount

litical

by the aid of Austria and Russia. Otho was a proud

man, and yet he was a mere toy in the hands of his
flatterers, whose evil deeds were for the most part
As I have already observed, he
attributed to him.

was misled. And yet, after the revolution of Nauplia,

King Otho might have retained his throne, had he then
thrown himself into the arms of his people, dismissed
and re-established the national guard.
But, instead of this, he remained obstinately deaf to

his ministers,

the cries of the public voice, so loudly raised against

his policy,

moment

and he unwisely

left his capital at

the very

that political changes were inevitable.

193

CHAPTER XXXI.
THE ELECTION OF PEINCE ALFKED.
I

HAD

intelligence in

London

of

King Otho's

de-

English public.

was known to the

Although the British Star had been

now two months

suppressed, I immediately printed a

thronement three days before

it

supplement, congratulating the Greek people on an

event which the British Star had predicted two years

had about that time, in a series of articles,

warned His Majesty of Greece of the approaching
danger, and pointed out the means of averting it.
In the supplement which formed the final number
of the last volume of the British Star, I appealed to
the good sense of the Greek people, and advised them
before.

to elect Prince Alfred to

the

be their king.

I pointed out

many advantages

that must accrue from such an

and amongst

others, the inevitable annexation

election,

of the Ionian Isles to Greece.

Until the appearance

of that supplement no individual, no pamphlet, no

journal, except the British Star,

the

name

throne of Greece.
of

had ever pronounced

of Prince Alfred in connexion with

King Otho,

the

Two years before the dethronement

the British Star had openly advocated

the nomination of the English Prince as his successor.

There had also appeared, in the columns of that journal,

an account of the organization of the French National
Guard, recommending that that of Greece should be
constructed on the same model. Indeed, I printed this

194
essay in a separate little volume, and distributed

it,

among the Greeks.

King Otho being removed, my supplement was able

gratis

to circulate freely

through Greece.

It fell like a spark

amongst combustible materials. The flames spread in

every direction.

distributed thousands of copies

through the principal towns of Greece and Turkey,

and I learned with unmixed joy that the general public,
as well as the majority of the Greek press, echoed my
ideas.
True, I knew not how Her Majesty of England
and the Prince might view the affair, but I was
enthusiastic enough to believe that, if Prince Alfred
accepted the ofier made by Greece, the consent of his
Royal parents would not be refused. As to the objections of Austria and Russia, these, I knew, could be
easily overcome.
The important point was to win
round public opinion in England to favour the project.
That was the moment for the Greeks of England to
bestir themselves.

Then they ought

forward and opened their purses.

demanded an exceptional

to

have come

An exceptional case

sacrifice.

But, unfortunately, the Greeks in

divided amongst themselves.

London were

It is true that all

were

anxious to

see Prince Alfred their king, but each

wished to work according to his own views, and these
views being modelled upon some personal interest, you

may imagine how little chance there was of unity of

action.
Some well-known Othonites suddenly became
Alfredites, and, stepping into the political arena, seemed

determined to bear away the laurels justly due to those

who had laboured to bring about the revolution. Some

worthy merchants, who had remained m a state of
political

fought,

coma

whilst

now threw

the great

battle

was being

off their lethargy, and,

followed

195
by their dependent brokers and clerks, suddenly
became thorough-going demagogues. We every day
see

men who change

their political opinions, but, in

the present instance, these good merchants did great

mischief.
Being men of wealth, an unmerited weight
was attached to their opinions. Their adherents and
upholders confounded commercial capacity with diplo-

matic ability; they fancied that the successful mer-

chant must be a wise politician.

It

must be confessed

that the influence of mercantile habits strongly tinged

the political proceedings of these newly awakened

patriots.

Though

liberal

even to prodigality in the

expenditure of their words, they were wonderfully

parsimonious in the bestowal of their pounds.

Per-

haps they wished to counterbalance a flux de boucJie

by an astringency of purse. Be this as it may, certain
it is that committees were formed in which words

were superabundant and subscriptions very scanty.

The confusion was terrible. Every man wished to be
leader every man wished to be chairman every man
wished to appear in the English press as the head of
;

the movement.

Apprehending this internecine warthe appointment of the committees,

fare, I had, before

proposed that certain distinguished EnglishPhilhellenes

should be invited to become members, and place themselves at our head.

named

several

members of Par-

liament and other distinguished men,

who

knew

would willingly associate themselves in our enterprise,

and who, both with tongue and pen, would support the
elected of the Greek nation. One Greek, distinguished
by his Eussian sympathies, was afraid of offending the
Czar, and declared that, to associate Englishmen in the
movement, would be to introduce incendiaries into our
homes. The Emperor of Russia would not recognize

o2

196
our revolution, he said

Greco-Odcssian

added

This

selfish

founded.

We

me.

and to these objections the

many

others

Greeks were seeking

prince our king, and were

Emperor of

equally

well

narrow-mindedness provoked

we

to

make an English

to tremble before the

This was not the only occasion

Russia'?

on which tempers were lost. The frequent conflict of

Greek with Greek resulted in some angry shocks.
I might have passed over without comment the
verbose nonsense with which so many strove to cover
their mean ambitions and petty rivalries had these

men come forward with

the money needed to meet the

But no I blush to say that, though the
Greeks of London possessed a great capital, to the
amount of many millions sterling, with credit three

emergency.

times greater, these prating patriots kept their pursestrings

closed,,

But,

whilst

so

niggardly of their

money, they were most liberal of their advice. By

every post they sent voluminous despatches to the
Greek Government, in which they never failed to re-

commend to their fellow-countrymen unity of sentiment

and

action.

Every day the Baltic Coffee House presented a

scene of declamation and discussion that too frequently

degenerated into

downright quarrelling.

Unfortu-

nately for me, I was, on these occasions, brought into

with the heads of many Greek firms with

had long been connected in business. These
gentlemen now seemed to think they might dictate to
me they almost assumed a right to coerce my political
conduct.
All this was very worrying, the more especially as nearly every mail brought me letters from
members of the Provisional Government in Greece,
and from many distinguished Hellenes, urging me
collision

whom
;

197
on the question of Prince Alfred's acceptance of the
Greek crown, as if the question were in my hands.
Disgusted and disappointed, I withdrew from the

Greek Committees of London, where private ambitions

and personal jealousies

stifled

the development

of a healthy patriotic feeling.

I resolved to establish a Philhellenic Committee

with the assistance of English Philhellenes, and with

the aid of a well-known

immediately
this

set

committee an

sent out

to

Member

about the task.

official

of Parliament I

In order to give to

and independent character, I

Athens Captain Nicolady, the

editor of the defunct British Star.

ex-sub-

The mission of

gentleman was to explain to the Provisional Government the object contemplated by the Philhellenic
Committee, and to obtain an official authority for the
this

execution of the design.

The anxiety

on account
combined with the annoyance
and irritation attendant on the perpetual thwarting of
my political projects, began to tell upon my health.
The irregular hours at which I dined, long fasting,
and eating when my stomach was quite exhausted,
had disarranged my digestion. There were moments
I

of my commercial

had

so long experienced

affairs,

when

after

ascending a ffight of

was

so

WTak

as to be scarcely able to breathe

stairs.

All

these dis-

turbances, mental and physical, at length culminated

the overworked nerves could bear no more, and, a few

days after Captain Nicolady's departure for Athens, I

fell

dangerously

ill.

"

198

CHAPTER XXXIL
MY
I

WOULD

ILLNESS.

willingly avoid any allusion to

the recollection of what I suffered

much

but

is

my

illness, as

most unpleasant

of what I have yet to relate in connexion

with the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, the Philhellenic Committee, the Stock Exchange,

and the Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation Company,

hinges on the fact of my illness.
It was, I think, on the evening of the 22nd of
November, 1862, that I returned exhausted and worn
I had been very busy all
out, to Petersham Lodge.
and had not tasted food for nine hours. No
dinner was prepared the cook, through some misday,

understanding, believing that I intended to dine at

Having

my

some time before dinner could

to play dominoes with my
brother Francis.
I felt every moment more and more
Suddenly the thought shot through my
exhausted.
brain that I was unprepared to meet death.
I started
to
my
brother
and
said
up,
" Oh, Francis I have not made my will.
If I
leave
state
do
I
my
affairs
die, in what a
club.

to wait

be prepared, I

sat

down

I took a turn

and

across the

room, stopped short,

said

" Oh, Francis

breath

failing

I think I

I choke

am

going to

die.

My

"
!

my blood seemed suddenly to rush to my head.

as though my eyes and mouth were filled with

All
I felt

is

199
it

My

had lodged in my throat and brain.

knees trembled, and a fear of death for the first

as

though

time in

my

it

took possession of me.

life

I felt the

veriest coward on earth.

I took a glass of sherry.
I
had not tasted anything since nine in the morning
;

was then eight in the evening. Leaning on my

brother's arm, I walked out on to the lawn.
The dark
shadows of the large trees conjured up gloomy phantoms before my imagination. Terror filled my soul.
it

Believing that I had only a few minutes to

live,

went into the library,

took therefrom a bundle of

hastily re-entered the house,

and, opening an iron safe,

receipts.

On

a piece of paper I wrote

few words, and, handing

my

will in a

with the receipts to

it

my

my wife on her
and went to bed.
Within five minutes I felt internally a consuming heat,
though my hands and feet were cold as ice. I thought
death now, indeed, was about to seize me. I sprang
brother, desired

him

to give both to

return from town.

I undressed,

out of bed, fancying that whilst I stood upright he

could not lay his

clammy claw upon me. I rushed

The servants became alarmed

out on the high road.

they brought

me

After remaining a few minutes in the

I swallowed.

open

air,

my

a basin of mutton broth, part of which

stomach rejected the broth.

to the house, seeking in the

light a

means of

terror.

Now

that

drowsy and weak.

dissipating

my

I returned

broad blaze of the gas-

my

increasing sense of

excitement subsided, I became

I again

went

to bed.

pain

resembling the lumbago, with Avhich I had been some

time before annoyed, shot round

literally to cut

me

in two.

my waist, and seemed

I could not turn

on cither

worn out by paui and excitement, I

gradually fainted away.
It was in this condition that
side,

and

at last,

200

who had been sent for, found

brought me back, and when, with

Dr. Julius, of Richmond,

me.

He

quickly

the elaborate minuteness of a nervous patient, I had

described

all

the rushes of blood,

he assured me

my symptoms

tations of the heart, &c.

palpi-

positively

that I had no organic disease

that none of the symp-

He

toms I described need give grounds for alarm.

work and long

fasting had disarranged

told
he
me that I was suffering
my
Never did drowning man
from a nervous attack.
tenacity
to
a floating plank than did
greater
cling with

said that over

digestion

in short,

I to the presence of Dr. Julius.

I fancied

that, as

room death could not touch me.

Eeassured by the doctor's explanation, I became gra-

long as he was in the

dually calm.

On

the following day

my worthy physician

told

me

that I must not expect to recover at once, that I should

be tormented for some time by these strange feelings.

He added, that I must eschew all work, keep away

from the

City,

and follow a

health should recover

child-like,

and

after a

its

strict

regimen until

former tone.

few days T was

so

my

I obeyed,

much

better

But the terthat I believed I was quite well again.

which I call " thanatophobia," but which

rible feeling,

my

physicians called nervousness, again overmastered

me, and unfitted me for business during nearly two

I could not see
I was quite hypochondriacal.
years.
fancying
was
suffering from
it
without
dog
large
a
hydrophobia, and would infect me. Such fancies often
crowded on my mind, but suddenly throwing them off,
I would burst out laughing, and try to discover the
cause of these illusions.

But the worst time was during the long hours that
lay awake at night, suffering from palpitation of the

201
heart and twitchings of the facial muscles. I sometimes

commenced the night by

falling into a quiet sleep,

dreaming pleasant dreams.

would rise before me, and

and

Suddenly horrible visions

awoke in

I longed

terror,

How often have I, with fingers on wrist

and eyes fixed on the chronometer, counted the beatWere the pulsations regular, which
ings of my pulse.
was rarely the case, I became tranquil
were they
rapid and irregular, as they were most likely to be, my
for daylight.

I experienced great lassi-

fears rose to a painful pitch.

tude,

want of

appetite,

and burning

You

thirst.

will

morning
without fancying that I had become the subject of some
The disease I most
fresh malady during the night.
dreaded was consumption
and yet sixteen years
before, when I really sufiered from hsemoptosis, no
possibly smile to hear that I never rose of a

my

such apprehensi^on crossed

Now,

mind.

tooth-brush pressed a drop of blood from

my

my

if

gums, I

immediately believed that I discovered in myself

the symptoms of phthisis.

moral

my

At another time

it

all

was

began to fancy
that my property was in danger, and I contemplated
with horror the fate of my wife and children, and of
all l^who depended upon me.
I could not divert my
thoughts by reading. When I looked at a book or
fears that

shook

mind.

journal a horrible amaurosis overspread

my

vision

abandoned my attempt to
read in despair, and returned to the gloomy occupation of self-anatomy.
I satisfied myself that I had
could not discern a letter.

evidence of organic mischief in

my

frame.

all

the great organs of

At one time cancer of the stomach assumed

the ascendancy in

my imagination.

Five physicians

Dr. Julius, Dr. Pettigrew, Dr. Fuller, Dr. Oldham, of

Brighton, and Dr. Lovegrove, of Kensington

over


202
threw that monster fancy.

Then

was disease of the

heart that rose before my mind.
The five gentlemen
who had refuted.my hypothesis of the stomach disorder
now tranquiUized me about my heart. But no sooner
had the doctors retired than all my worst suspicions
returned.
I ^vas suffering from disease of the heart

why

it

else these horrible palpitations

for fear of aggravating the

the truth from me.

'?

but the doctors,

symptoms, conspired to hide

I finally

came

to the conclusion

that I was suffering from a complication of diseases,

and that every organ of

Two

my

system was attacked.

or three times I fancied I was going

mad

that

was really losing my reason but the ridicule with

which my friends assailed me obliged me quickly to
abandon that fallacy.
I hope I shall never again pass such days as those
A hundred times in the four-and-twenty
of 1863.
hours I went to the glass. I examined my tongue I
;

observed the expression of

my

tinguished the fades hijjpocrates

my

countenance.

I dis-

the stamp of death

had not turned grey, nor had I lost

Still I was changed.
I looked careworn and
flesh.
anxious, which gave me the appearance of being years
older than I really was.
I no longer felt the cerebral
and yet

hair

vigour, the play of thought that prevails

when Mind

had a

secret

conviction that I should never again be

wh at

holds the supremacy over our being.

had

To add to these miseries, I

What
had now intermitting attacks of nettle-rash.
torment I endured I fancied that I was covered over
with what in Greek we call niotis. I could not keep
a limb quiet my hands and feet were in perpetual
been two years before.

motion.

could not remain for

minutes sitting in the same place.

five

consecutive

Even the weight

203
of

my

clothes

was

I undressed,

intolerable.

went

to

bed, and rolled in the cool sheets, hoping to allay the

But over and above

irritation of the epidermis.

all

the physical and mental torments I have enumerated,

my mind,

were the doubts that thronged

religious faith.

You will

shaking

my

say I was hypochondriacal

was worse I was on the verge of misanthropy.

During the first four-and-twenty days there was
little improvement in my condition, though during
that time I swallowed more than four-and-twenty
bottles of medicine.
At length I began to recover
my physical strength, but my nerves were still un-

Terrifying apprehensions and painful fancies

strung.
still

floated

through

my

An

brain.

appetite for food

it was not a healthy desire for nutriwas a fever of the stomach, exhibited in
paroxysms of gourmandise that impelled me to take
more food than I could digest. The fears and fancies
then became stronger than ever.
Meanwhile the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company remained entirely in the hands of Carnegie, who, as I have already said, had arrived in
London a few weeks before from Galatz, invited by

returned, but

ment

it

me

to assist

the

first

me

time, to give notice to

were to honour
Carr.

in the office.

all

was now obliged, for

my

cheques and

bankers that they

bills

drawn by Mr.

This gentleman, unfortunately, could not attend

personally to the business, so the affairs of the firm

fell into

the hands of Carnegie.

Captain Nicolaidy, after an absence of three weeks,

now returned from Athens.

He was

the bearer to

me

of the following diploma of the Provisional Govern-

ment, to form the Philhellenic Committee, as well as

an

offer,

from the Minister

for

Foreign Affairs, of the

204
post of Consul-General for Greece in London.
state of

The

my health obliged me to refuse the appointmy greatest mortification arose from the

ment, but

conviction that I was also too feeble to carry into exe-

cution the project of aiding

my country as

I proposed.

\_Translation.']

Extract from

Heport of the Meeting of

tlie

Provisional Government

and

the Ministers

the

Menibers of the

of State, held on the

22nd November, ^ ^

1862.

uT-n
ith December,
7

" It has been decided to empower Mr. Stefanos Xenos, residing

in London, to aid in the formation of a Philhellenic Committee, of

"which he has spoken in his letter to the Government, appealing

for the successful

accomplishment of this iindertaldng to the Phil-

hellenic sentiments of the English nation, and to the patriotism of

our compatriots in contributing to the moral and political advance-

ment

of Greece."

The Minister of Foreign

municate

this

decision

Affairs has

been requested to com-

on the part of the Government to Mr.

Stefanos Xenos, who, under

all

circumstances, has displayed the

noblest and most patriotic sentiments.

The Provisioned Government.

D. G. Bflgabis, President,
C. Canaeis,

M.

Roirppos.

The Ministers of State.

a. DiAMANTOPOULOi

Th. ZaIMIS,
T.

ManGHINAS,

a. CoTJMOTJNDOTrKOS,

D. Callifkonas,

Ep. Deligeokis,

D. Mavromichalis,

B. L. NicoLorouxos.

Secretary to the Provisional Government,

N. Chatzopoulos.
This
.

is

a correct copy.

23rd November, ,^^

Athens, -^vtts
oth December,
'-l

The Minister

1862.

of State for the

(Signed)

Department of Foreign

Affairs,

A. Diamantopoitlos.

205
If ever Greece needed the support of Philhellenes

and of her children in England,

The

it

moment.
country was begin-

was

voice of public opinion in this

at that

ning to be heard in her favour, but the civil dissensions that had broken out in Athens threatened to

throw a darksome shadow over the fair aspect of the

bloodless revolution that had dethroned King Otho.
Some daring demagogues in Greece thought to profit

by the opportunity, and, in the absence of a sovereign,

put themselves at the head of affairs. Everything at
that moment depended on the Philhellenes and the
Greeks of London. It was they only who could provide money, negotiate the establishment of the national
credit of Greece,

and upon them, in a great measure,

depended the election of a king.

It would be difficult to express

my

vexation,

my

grief at finding myself incapacitated, at such a crisis,

from serving

my

country.

creased and prolonged

my

The annoyance
illness

I felt in-

in fact, I thought

more about the prospects of Greece than I did about

personal and pecuniary interests, though I knew
these were being undermined by the people associated

my
in

my

business.

As soon

as I recovered a little strength, I

from Petersham

my

to Brighton, but, far

health became every day worse.

assurances of Dr.

removed

from improving,
Spite

of the

Julius and other physicians, that

dyspepsia was the sole cause of

my

illness,

still

that I was suff'ering from some organic

which these gentlemen, through consideration
for my feelings, would not avow.
I did not follow the
regimen laid down by my physicians, so that if I was
two days well I was a week ill. Then came a fit of

believed
disease,

hypochondriasm.

I sent for

my

doctors.

They

told

206

me

I ate too fast, that

my

food was not properly mas-

mixed with saliva,

and that too much labour was imposed on my stomach.
My position was pitiable. I did little else than study
my symptons. 1 had pains travelling from my throat
ticated, that it

to

my

was not

sufficiently

shoulders, along

through

my

my

down

heart to the extremities of

more than once thought

paralysis or apoplexy.

At

inaction, I

spine

came

was about

to

to

my

heels,

my fingers.

be struck with

length, after six weeks'

to the conclusion that a life of idle-

where my attention was constantly turned to my

symptoms, was the very worst I could lead. I there-

ness,

fore rallied
business,

my own

my

strength, determined

to

return to

and take the reins of the company again into

hands.

207

CHAPTEE XXXIIl.
RELEASE OF PETEESHAM LODGE.

On my

return to the

the aspect of

office, I

found a great change in

Carnegie had assumed an attitude

affan-s.

towards the representatives of Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and

Co., as if

he

felt

reappearance at the

My

secure of succeeding me.

office

disappointed, and

the deter-

my manner awed him. He wished me

most amiably to go back to my house, and take care of
myself, and not try my constitution so soon.
mination of

About the middle of January, 1863, Mr. Carr

formed

me

in-

that Messrs. Overends' book-keeper having

struck a balance-sheet for the past year, found that

we

making money. I replied

" I knew that all along. Did 1 not write and
warn them'? Did I not tell you that when they
disposed of my grain and steamers in their fashion
Did I not foretell the result 1 They drew accommowere

losing, instead of

'?

dation bills on this grain for their

Now, what

profits could

own

convenience.

we expect from such business 1

Did I not say to you, Mr. Carr, three months ago, that
50,000 would be wasted in mismanagement, misappropriation, and, in fact, downright robbery, by all
concerned in that grain business
to

You may now

throw the responsibility on me, and put the

down

to

my

account.

never agree to that.

Co.

may

But

I will never consent.

losses

I will

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and

pass in their books

but I give you

try

fair notice,

what

figures they please,

Mr. Carr, that this time I


208

would twenty times

rather blow up the company, and bring everything
before the public.
I will not go on in this way any
will not bear such injustice.

longer."

The boldness of my language alarmed Mr.

Carr,

who, indeed, had always acted most honourably both

towards Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. and myself.

He

could not deny that the losses sustained in the

business were entirely the result of the sacrifices

I do not

of the grain.

had uttered

what

Co.

I only

know

made

know whether Mr. Carr reported

to Messrs. Overend,
this,

Gurney, and

that the pride of the giant

They could not believe that any

mere mortal more especially one in feeble health
would dare to take such a tone with them. They
immediately resolved to do with me as they had done
capitalists revolted.

with others

me by

they would crush

their

commercial

weight in the Bankruptcy Court.

was a fortunate thing for me that, a few months

previous to my illness, I had obtained from Messrs.
Overend, Gurney, and Co. a letter in which they
pledged themselves never to make any claim on my
It

had bought that property out of my own private resources, with the
exception of 1700 advanced by Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co., and which I had repaid. For that
letter, which now afforded me so much comfort, I was
mainly indebted to the zeal and good feeling of Mr.
Petersham Lodge.

estate,

Carr,

who had

to sign

had

it.

strongly urged the great money-dealers

(See Appendix, Nos. 10, 12, and 13

also to sign their tyrannical letter,

A few

days after

the accounts were

my

made

but

No.ll.)

candid expression of opinion,

out,

Gurney, and Co. brought

when

me

Messrs. Overend,

in their debtor to the

209
trifling

amount of 380,000.

might be
losses

set

down

incurred

by

Out

of this, 280,000

to interest, commission, bonuses,

others,

misappropriations,

Against this amount they held

my

fleet

These honourable Quakers insisted on

and

&c.

freights.

my recognizing

and signing it in every shape

and form they pleased.
In the suflfering and nervous state in which I then
was, surrounded by political enemies and commercial
opponents, you may imagine how all this shook me.
But what made my position still worse was, that
Theologos, of Galatz, to whom I had opened credit to
buy nearly 20,000 quarters of wheat and Indian corn,
and who was bound to send the bills of lading, after
this account, adopting

shipment, direct to me, profiting by the complications

that had arisen, forwarded

some

bills

of lading to

Carnegie, in London, and delayed the shipment of the

from what point the

When I asked Carnegie

rest of the grain, waiting to see

wind was likely to blow.

what had become of the bills of lading of vessels that
I knew had arrived in the Danube, he replied, " The
vessels

have not yet arrived at Galatz

to take their

cargoes."

Truth

to tell, I

was glad

to part with

theOverends

upon any terms. My physical weakness made the

combat with these commercial giants too unequal.

My

rights, against a

house of colossal

credit, of over-

whelming commercial influence against a house whose

trade policy was the most unscrupulous had no
chance.

210

CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE INSOLVENCY OF MESSES. OVEREND, GURNET, AND

CO.

My

friends in Greece will

me

forming the Philhellenic Committee when the

now

learn

what prevented

Government requested me to do so. But

affairs of the Greek and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company.
It was about the middle of February, 1863, that
Carnegie who was now Mr. Carr's confidant told
me that Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. had intimated to the " old man " (Carr) that they intended to
wind up the concern. With his usual assumption of
knowing everything, Carnegie entered into details. I
must here remark, ^ar ]3arent]iese, that up to that
moment this gentleman had never made the personal
Provisional

let

us return to the

acquaintance of any partner in the firm of Overend,

Gurney, and Co.

That, however, did not pre-

me

vent his undertaking to give

tion respecting

my own affairs.

had been great commotion

my

account.

he had ever

I do not believe that

spoken to one of them.

all sorts

of informa-

He told me that there

at the "

According to his

Corner House

story,

David

"

on

Ward

Chapman, Henry Edmund Gurney, Birkbeck, and

Edwards were all in a high state of excitement.
Chapman, he said, was my best friend, Edwards my
most bitter enemy, Gurney an unmanageable Orlando
Furioso and so he went on to great lengths in the
same strain.
" It is very extraordinary," I said, " that you
;

211
should have received

heard anything of
" Carr

all

Pray who

it.

and he

information before I

this

also told

mc

is

your informant

"
1

that if you consent to

from the company he will be able to keep it

He says he would give you all the brokerage,
which would be worth from 4000 to 5000 a year.
Then Theologos and Carnegie, of Galatz, can give you
retire

going.

1000
you

a year

more by

their commission business, if

retire."

had heard enough. I saw through the whole

scheme at a glance. There was Carnegie, once my
I was to
clerk, now aspiring to become my master.
things
Carnegie
be his broker forsooth No, no, Mr.
had not yet come to that pass. And yet his face was
all the while so meek, his voice so low, his tone so
humble, his manner so hesitating, that a looker-on
I

could scarcely have

divined in

him an

accredited

ambassador.

Had my

nerves not been so unstrung, I might

have listened coolly to this presumptuous and daring,

though meek-mouthed proposition. I might have taken
a diplomatic tone, and played a wily

game

actors in the tragico-comedia that I

being put en scene.

not bear such a
felt,

But

my

against the

saw was about

fluttering nerves could

Yielding to the irritation I

strain.

I told Carnegie to return to Carr,

up of
and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

that I had no objection to the winding

" Yes," I said

save the company,

" let

and

it

be.

am

I cannot

him
the Greek

and

tell

now hope

not disposed to work

to
all

my

life for other people.

I have no intention of
remaining an instrument in the hands of Messrs.
Overend, Gurney, and Co. for drawing their accom-

modation

bills.

But the company must be wound up.

p2

212

The steamers must be sold they must pass into new

hands.
The clerks must be discharged, the offices
;

and no trace of the Greek and Oriental Steam

Navigation Company left. To act otherwise would be
closed,

to leave the

company

in existence for the benefit of

is what I
would rather throw the concern into the Bankruptcy Court, and let the public
judge the whole affair. The Overends are my sole
creditors, or, more properly speaking, they are my

you, and Carr, and the Overends, which

never will do

never.

And

partners, as I shall be able to prove.

you I esteem

it

I can tell

no honour to be the partner of

insolvents."

" Insolvents

nonsense,"

exclaimed

Carnegie,

bursting into a sarcastic laugh.

"Oh! do not laugh, sir; what I

And if you knew the hundredth part
and what

I have seen in that office,

say

is

the truth.

of what I know,

you would not

laugh so heartily."
Carnegie became suddenly thoughtful.

was

passing in his mind.

In shipping

wheat, I was his debtor to about 2000

saw what

my

private

in shipping

the company's grain, he had to take the acceptances

of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. for from 30,000

He looked posed. But clear before his

mental vision rose the colossal Overends. Who could
believe aught against their credit
The shadow of
doubt that had clouded Carnegie's brow passed away,

to 40,000.

'?

my

irritation cooled

down, and, after some conver-

sation about indifferent matters, he took his departure.

" Tlie following day

we met

again,

when

Carnegie,

in a jocular tone, said

" Talking yesterday of the Overends, you said they

were insolvent.

What

an idea!

Their credit

is

so

213
gigantic, their connexion so extensive, that, even if

may

they are insolvent, a ccntnry

pass before they

will stop payment."

"

They

will

payment soon," I

stop

though they do not anticipate

next great

crisis

said

At

themselves.

it

" yes,

the

that shop will shut up, unless some-

thing extraordinary intervenes to supply their four or

You know

five millions deficit.

that a firm

4,000,000 in a few months, but that years

may lose
may not

repair the loss."

Carnegie twirled his moustache in evident anxiety.

He

was quite willing to become the champion of his

future patrons, but he felt that the reins were not yet
He knew that I was resolute
quite out of my hands.
of spirit, and he did not wish to incur any risk until

He

he should be sure of his position.

minutely about the

solvency

of

questioned

Messrs.

me

Overend,

Gumey, and Co. and as I knew that what I said

would be carried to their representative, Mr. Carr,
and having no objection to their knowing that I was
;

not ignorant of their position, I did not hesitate to

state

my

" It

views regarding the great monetary house.

is a great mistake," I said, " to compare great

commercial houses with large or smalj kingdoms, as

political economists

It is a great mis-

sometimes do.

take to believe that, because a kingdom may, with

some show of
to

have nine

revives at

expire

reason, be
lives,

and

the very

it is

compared

to a cat, that

dies slowly,

moment

that

a mistake, I say, to

it

is

said

and sometimes
is

make

expected to

the same com-

parison with regard to great commercial houses, which

command

vast credit

though actually

insolvent.

In-

stead of dying a lingering death, such houses are sud-

denly submerged in a

crisis

they

fall

with a crash?

214

some mighty

like

tropical tree uprooted in a storm,

striking to the earth those

come

who sought

shelter beneath

But, laying metaphors aside, let us

branches.

its

The

to the stern facts of arithmetic.

capital of the

Corner House

'

'

could not be,

knew them, more than 700,000

original

when

or 800,000.

I
It

Robert Birkbeck brought to the firm

100,000, and Chapman's sons another 100,000.
Now, it is rumoured that Mr. Barclay Chapman, the
said that

is

father, after the

retired

from the

famous case of Davidson and Gordon,

firm, or was compelled by the other

payment to him of
assume that the
collected capital of all the partners amounted to
900,000, and deduct this 300,000, and 200,000,
the dead loss by Gordon's case, we shall see that the
capital, even in 1858, was reduced to 400,000 only.
" Now, in order to ascertain their real position since

partners to retire, in 1858, on the

250,000

to

that period,

300,000.

we must,

two points

tion

indulging

first,

personally

So, if Ave

at starting, take into considerathat,

in

surrounded by rogues, and

extravagance,

that appear on their books

may be

the

profits

only imaginary

secondly, their annual public and private expenditure

during the time

when they were

losing and not

making

money.
,

"Now

with regard to the

losses.

Did they

not,

Did they
by Gordon's bankruptcy, lose 200,000
not, by the Galway Company, lose from 700,000 to
"?

might have been even a million'? They

lost 100,000 by Zachariah Pearson, 300,000 more
by the East India and London Shipping Company.
Did they not lose 200,000 by Messrs. Lawrence and
Mortimer, the leather people 1 They advanced on the
Millwall Works, or Mare's yard, 300,000 works
800,000,

it

215

which you know are not worth 40,000. In the

crisis of 18G0 they lost 350,000 by bad bills of
Lascaridi, Psichari, Baltazzi, Agelasto, Vlagomeno,
Rodocanachi, and thirty other foreign, London, and
Manchester houses. They lost 400,000 by Leopold
To all this let us add six years'
Lewis's business.
expenses.
Let us take into consideration the
enormous expenditure of the different partners of the
firm, and the sums spent on legal advisers, favourites,
and in other ways. For all these I set down only
80,000 per annum, or 480,000 for six years. I
estimate the loss on imaginary securities at 100,000.
The mode in which the affairs of the firm have been
managed by the present partners, has given an opportunity to dishonest men to step in and make for themoffice

selves at least

100,000.

"But who can

calculate the losses sustained

by

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. in their dealings

with several great railway contractors, to

whom

they

advanced hundreds of thousands on securities that

cannot be realized, or yield a dividend before the completion of the works

"

From

rough calculation you must perceive

that the great money-dealers have lost their capital,
and must be insolvent to the amount of 3,000,000
by losses sustained through bankruptcies and moneys
They have sunk
advanced on insolvent estates.
this

3,000,000 in securities that will not ultimately fetch

a third of their reputed value.

Now

let

me

ask you,

whence comes the money now expended, but from the

daily deposits made by the public in their bank 1
And
is it not a fraud, a sin, a crime to employ the money
of trusting people in that way ]
If it were not the
depositors who supplied these millionaires with money,

216
they would

whom

with

would take

make accommodation
they have

bills

with every man

pecuniary transactions.

his property

They

and his acceptances, remort-

gage that property, and rediscount those acceptances

with their indorsements.

Look

at this

company, the

Greek and Oriental. I shipped grain to make a profit,

you know I could do, but Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
and Co. turned my grain business to an accommodation
trade.
They gave three months', acceptances, and no
as

sooner did they get possession of the

than they gave the grain to the

bills

of lading,

factors,

Messrs.

Coventry and Sheppard, making them accept for a

larger

amount

viz.,

for the grain, freight,

and

in-

This done, they abandoned the sale to their

surance.
discretion.

"

Take another instance. They advanced me money

steamers, and they remortgaged for a larger
amount these same steamers to Masterman's Bank, the
Bank of London, and others, making me pay no end of
interest, and giving an opportunity to others to profit
by such transactions. Are these the acts of solvent
on

my

capitalists,

men

"?

of upright merchants, of honest-minded

Have

men, lest
Bankruptcy Court 1 I

I cause to tremble before these

they should put

me

into the

owe nothing but what I owe them, with the exception

of a- few hundred pounds, which I can pay at any
time.

But, in point of

and Co. are

as

fact,

Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

much my debtors

as I

am theirs.

they not taken possession of the fruits of

Have

my

six

hard labour for these steamers ? Have I not

been most shamefully treated by their favourites,
years'

under their authority

Have

I not

been a loser by

their faithless conduct, their illegitimate trading,

the heavy interest they extorted

in short,

by

by that un-

217
principled system carried on under a broad-brimmed
hypocrisy, a system under which

many an honest mer-

chant of the City of London has been surreptitiously

?
No, no, Carnegie ; that system will not be

crushed

applied to

me

this

time

"
!

was exhausted from

excitement.
After a few minutes, I resumed
" Has not my health been broken, have I not been
brought nearly to the verge of the grave by these
paused for breath.

I here

Overends

little fleet

been allowed honestly to clear my

of steamers, I might now be in possession

Had

of a comfortable fortune with which I could retire to

my

native country.

occupy at Athens
Greece

These

And what

what

men

The

services

might

have broken

and commercially, but

morally.

a position, might I not

I defy

lesson taught

I not render to

me down

them

to

by the

physically

break

me down

fate of Zachariah

Pearson and others has not been lost on me. You

think the Overends would go to extremities with me.
I tell you they dare not.
Should they attempt it, I

am

prepared to send out this circular at once."

Here
which

I took out of

my pocket a printed circular,

to my bankers and the public

I announced
Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company was compelled to stop payment, because Messrs.
Overend, Gurney, and Co., my partners and capitalists,
could no longer supply the business with the necessary

in

that the

funds, being themselves insolvent.

I appealed to the

good sense of the public, when the details should be

known, to decide upon whom the blame ought to rest.
You must not forget that the Greek and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company had no creditors worth
speaking of except Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

By

the following letter

it

will be seen that Messrs.


218
Overend, Giirney, and Co. engaged to pay

all

the

expenses of the steamers:

The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company,
19, London Street.
London, 26 July, 1862.
Gentlemen,
Referring to the supplementary mortgage executed hy you
this

day in

mj

favour,

whereby you assign

ships therein mentioned,

it

securing any of those freights, I

insurance, stores, wages,
respect

of.

(fcc,

which such freight

to

me

the freights of the

understood that in the event of

is

am

to

pay thereout

all

my

accounts for

properly incurred for the voyage in

is

payable.
I remain,

Yours

truly,

E.

Carnegie, upon hearing

all

this,

W. Edwaeds.

and seeing the

circular, stood fixed, as if rooted to the ground.

It

was not difficult to read in his face that he longed to

I knew
flee to Mr. Carr, and tell what he had heard.
full well that he would report every word I had uttered
to Mr. Carr, who would carry it to Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co. This conviction made me speak all
the more frankly.

219

CHAPTER XXXV.
THE STOEM.
It was about the

time

this

conversation

that Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

occurred

me

sent

copy of the account current between them and the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. In
this account my debt to them figured at the respectable

amount of 383,039

8s.

wonder

The document was

2d.

accompanied with a polite

acknowledge and sign it.

request

I did not drop

that

would

down in a fit when I

As it was my sight

glanced at the enormous " total."

became dim, and the

my

danced before

figures

eyes

page after page of the terrible document.

whether
the commissary-general of a great
doubt
I
as I turned

army, in furnishing his accounts after a campaign,

would cover more paper, or make a more terrible array

Dazed and bewildered, and feeling as if
of figures.
half suffocated, I

at

ominous document in

and hurried into the

until I reached

length

my

stood

up, locked the

my hat
my steps

private safe, took

I never stayed

street.

London Bridge, and

there, leaning

against the parapet, with laboured respiration I tried

to catch the fresh river breeze.

I said within myself:

"

What do

they

mean 1 Do

they wish merely to frighten me, or do they want to

drive me, like Pearson, into the
I

have not had 383,039

steamers,

making

8s.

Bankruptcy Court

2d. of them.

Surely

my

as they did such profitable voyages,

220
could

have

not

entailed

to the

losses

amount of

Surely Mr. Edwards, the Gurneys' great

200,000.

mathematician and accountant, their nominee and

them

legal adviser, will not urge

Eeasoning thus with

play of the free river

to such a step."

my own

air,

under the

spirit,

my

I gradually recovered

and retraced my steps to my

at No. 36, King William Street, determined,
I was, to fight my foes. Having reached it, I

tranquillity of mind,
office,

as

ill

put the dreaded accounts into

By

train for Petersham.

by

pocket, and started

time

the

my

had concentrated

whistle sounded I

commenced

my

the

signal

and

patience,

go item by item through the long debit

to

and credit columns. The result of this examination

was that in the evening I wrote the following letter *
to Mr. H. E. Gurney, which on the morrow I sent to
his private address

February

H. Edmund

1863.

Gttenet, Esq.

SlE,

The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company

affairs,
I knew it, and I remonbut I was not only not listened to, but the
strated long ago
management was taken entirely out of my hands. Third parties
stepped in and made enormous sums of money, and confusion and
presents indeed a terrible state of
;

with pains, risk of

discredit succeeded the organization that I,

and

loss of health,

had

appointed by you, and not by me,

am

What

'established.
is

very

is

done

now by

difficult to

cure

life,

others

but I

am looked upon in yoi;r office as the

am called by names I do not deserve.

astonished to hear that I

principal cause,

and that I

To condemn,
and you, I

Edwards

am

Sir,

a person without a fair

certain. Sir, Avill never do so.

to superintend our finances.

engagements, never came to the

office

made

You

appointed Mr.

Mr. Edwards, having other

to see the

* I give here merely an abstract of the

tition of statements already

trial, is -an injustice

accommodation

letter, to avoid

the repe-

in the earlier pages of this work.

221

bills of

was

Lascaridi also deserted the company.

Barker and Lascaridi.

manage 2-1 steamers. One night, to my great

Mr. Edwards came and said that it was your wish I
;donc to

left

surprise,

shoiild sign a partnership

my

agreement with Lascaridi.

this,

saying

Co.,

and not G. P. Lascaridi;

my

against

tliat

will,

by

partners

?/OMr order,

had any

if

I objected to

were Lascaridi

but Mr. Edwards insisted,

took

my

and

and

signature at the bank and

management of the finances. The result was that in three months

was a loss of <12,000 out of accommodation bills, without taking into consideration what you have paid for him, Manuel,
and Yalsami. I ask you, am I to be blamed for that ? You did
not trust me, you trusted him.
Mr. Barker, by your orders, succeeded Mr. Lascaridi to finance
the company; you paid the money to him.
What is to be said
about that ? Still I protected your interests. I saved you every
farthing when it was time and I was advised by friends of yours
to protect and provide for myself.
I was master of the business
solo owner
and could easily have had 50,000 but I saved you

the

there

that money, and not only that, but even

as

I intended,

my

on

children, but

my
to

left

house

is

not settled,

the current of the

stream.

Mr. Henry Barker financed the company, charging several thousand pounds for interests and commissions on accommodation

At

you sent Mr. G. B. Carr into the

last

whom
faith

who

I have great respect, and

bills.

gentleman for

served you with unparalleled

and anxiety.

You

will find in

my

letters that eighteen

tested against the forced sale of

always

my

There

is

months ago I pro-

grain by your order

sacrificed at 5s. to 10s. per quarter

returned the contracts.

two

office

it

was

under the market, and I

a loss of 35,000 to 40,000 in

Shall I add that Mr. Edwards, to oblige Mr. O'Beirnc,

years.

chartered, as mortgagee, in the

made the Admiralty

refuse

aff'air

of the Trent, the Palikari, and

immediately the time-charter of the

Palikari and the Mavrocordatos that I had arranged with Preston,

and consequently I

lost

10,000 net

Without going into the

stands

now

for

profit ?

details of the books, our debt to

383,000, and you hold security, according

accounts sent to you, for 201,400.

The

deficiency of

docs not arise because the steamers do not

182,000

make money, but be-

cause they are overcharged by an extraordinary accumulation

debts, viz.

you

to the

of

222
.95,000 interest and commissions are charged in your credit.

30,000

to

Barker Brothers, and others introduced through him.

10,000 bad debts of Lascaridi.

45,000 losses on the grain by forced

sale.

15,000 law.

22,000 repairs and improvements of the steamers.

my

20,000

loss

by the

2,000

loss

out of sale of Colocotrouis.

sale of

steamers to Pearson.

25,000 to receive of debtors.

264,000
If the

company had the

capital

from the beginning to build

steamers for the trade, and had not to pay the above enormous

amount
losses,

of =264,000

for

debt of =383,000 would be only

201,000, leaving 82,000

above 10 per

cent.,

profit that I lost

This
did

is

profits

the simplest

way

you wanted of me.

all

brought me.

to

it

now

is,

but the

119,000 against property of

from 1860 to 1862 viz., a sum

many

without adding

by the intcrfereuce

and unavoided

commissions,

interest,

the company would not be involved as

other thousand pounds'

of others.

put before you,

Sir,

our

affairs.

signed every paper or letter you

I recoUect, in the Greek crisis, Mr. D.

the presence of Mr. Edwards, requested

me

W. Chapman, in

to sign the first letter

you wrote consigning

he said

all the steamers to you.

After I had done so,
" Now, without criminating the office, now that you have

signed, I shall do something

two years more labour and

handsome

And now,

for you."

sincere work, the

handsome thing

after
is

to

be menaced with the Bankruptcy Court.

I remain. Sir,

Yours obediently,
Stefanos Xenos.

On

the following day Mr. Carr was anxious that

I should sign this account.

persisted.

High words

time, repeated to

day said

to

him

I steadily refused;

ensued.

all

now, for the

he
first

that I had on the previous

Carnegie with

regard

to

the

great

capitalists.

I observed that Mr. Carr's communications with

the house of Overend, Gurney, and Co. were

now

223

more frequent than before, at the same time that he

put his hand on every piece of property within his
reach.
For example, he went to the French Consul,
and received 7000, for which he gave a receipt in
my name. This was for the freight of the steamship
Palikari, that had been chartered by the French
Government to take troops to Mexico. Upon Mr.
Carr's proceeding I made no remark, though I could
have held the French Consul responsible for the
money. I was resolved to keep on the safe side. I

knew

that if the Overends could take the slightest

hold of me, they would not spare me.

their game.

Dead men

Meanwhile

was urged

the account current.

On
to

tell

no

I understood

tales.

in a friendly

the 27th of February Mr. Carr did

persuade

me

to

way

to sign

I persistently refused.

sign this account.

all

he could

He

said the

great capitalists had promised that no sooner should I

sign than they
claims.

" Release
free

would give

me

a release from

all their

I laughed.

me

" I said,

" and from

what

am

now, because I have not recognized these accounts.

If I sign, I bind myself I throw myself into the

power of Overend, Gurney, and Co. I should then
have to look for a release to men who have broken
faith with me so often.
Oh, no I'm not to be caught
that way; I will not sign, and I do not fear them.
If I become a bankrupt, they will be the cause.
Overend, Gurney, and Co. are worse off themselves
;

than

I."

Mr. Carr laughed aloud. " You're mad," he said.

I believe he thought so at the moment.
" I am not," I replied.
" I have their losses
written down on a paper here.
Let who will come

And

224

now and tell me the Gurneys

forward
to

the amount

are not insolvent

of 3,000,000 or 4,000,000.

Mr. Carr took up the paper, and,

after glancing

over it, said

" If these are their losses, where are their profits

What

do you

know about

the great profits of such a

housed"

colossal

" 'Tis impossible there can be profits with their

mode

And

of doing business.

look at the troop of

Now

rogues collected round them.

I ask you,

Street than the

was

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

my position to-day'? If there

200,000 on my steamers, where

And what

Company'?

really a loss of

did the

money go

even a part of

was

Lombard

there ever a better business introduced into

to

is

'?

It

it.

I wish I

had

was wasted, poured out

like

I didn't get

water on sand, and no trace

mode of domg
come from 1

it.

This

left.

is

the result

Now, where are

However, my feelings towards Mr. Gurney, as I have said, are the same
as ever.
He is the dupe and victim of Chapman,
Edwards, and Barker. You know these men. You
of their

know

business.

to

profits

that every consideration yields to the advan-

They

tage derived from a paltry commission.

intro-

duce every kind of rubbish into Lombard Street, and

persuade the Gurneys

do

it

I don't know.

Gurney

is

it's

all

pure gold.

At

an upright, honest man.

he quits the

City,

How

This I believe, that

and goes home

they

Edmund

half-past four

to his family, leaving

his legal adviser and partners to look into the clauses

of the agreements

made during
work

stop in the office to do this

the day.
"?

Not

go on their way in another direction

selves,

to

Do

at all.

they

They

amuse themBut

allowing the business to go to the dogs.

225
the day will come

when

the Gurneys will discover

their real position

but

will be too late

my steamers

to

When Mr.

it

Gurney transferred

when he gave
my grain could

too late.

Pearson

orders to Coventry and Sheppard to

sell

advice.

I felt

see clearly

he was acting under

he knew nothing of

the real state of

He

was put forward and saddled with the

responsibility to impose on Pearson and me. That was
done by Chapman and Edwards. Now, Mr. Carr, you
know I'm not stupid a hint is enough for me. Give
me a glimpse, and I can penetrate into a great depth.
affairs.

I can read the game of that great house perfectly well.

There are the Chapmans and Edwards, who pull the

strings that

make

the puppets dance

who

the Gurneys and the public,

I wrote a letter to

Edmund

will

Gurney.

but there are

be the victims.
I shall neither

sign nor take any step until I get a reply.

that comes I shall

know how

When

to act."

Mr. Carr listened with his customary patience' and

kindness, though he was evidently anxious to fulfil

the mission on which he was sent, and get

me

to sign

the accounts.

my room when Carnegie

He was very desirous to know what the " old
man " had said. What he said himself would not be,
under ordinary circumstances, very gratifying.
He
informed me that, in the event of my retiring, he was
to be appointed my successor by the great capitalists.
Scarcely had Mr. Carr left

entered.

The idea of retiring from the Greek and Oriental

Steam Navigation Company had become familiar to
my thoughts. I was growing weary of a struggle
that, if prolonged, could not fail to bring

grave.

race in

And
tlio

it

me

to

my

was a struggle for mere money, not a

liigli and nolilc ambition.
I

career of a

226

knew the

value of

to the sacrifice.

prize

life

too well to

Besides,

After ascending

was

deem the prize equal

I certain of gaining the

hills

innumerable,

saw

me the task of scaling mountain after mountain.

No man knows the value of money better than
I, and no man was ever more willing to work hard for

before

it.

But

I regard the acquisition of

money as a means,

would be a

pitiful frustration

not an end

and

I felt it

of an end to sacrifice

should lead thereto.

life in

mastering the means that

227

CHAPTER XXXVI.
A CHALLENGE.

The

question of signing the accounts one clay brought

on an unpleasant coUision between Mr. Carr and me.

The next day he began

letter

to threaten

me, and wrote the

No. 23 in the Appendix.

Mr. Gurney's reply

to

my

letter arrived at length.

Mr. Carr was the medium of communication.

The great capitalist, I was informed, had
read my letter attentively, and had spoken kindly of
me, but was determined to wind up the Greek and
It

was verbal

Company

Oriental Steam Navigation

was thereHaving
fore necessary I should sign the accounts.
delivered this intelligence, Mr. Carr drew from his
pocket a

slip

it

of paper, on which I saw some lines in the

handwriting of Mr. Bois, the chief clerk at Overend's.

Mr. Carr asked me

to transcribe,

slip of paper,

and then put

have the scrap of paper

tains

the following

with

my own

hand,

what was written on

at the foot of the account,

my

still

in

this

signature beneath.

my

possession

" Memorandum.

it

con-

The above

accounts have been examined, ai.d the various items

checked and vouched, and such accounts have been

balanced and agreed, and the same are adopted
and acknowledged to be correct, and that the balance
owing by it to Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., on

finally

the 31st of Dec, 1862, amounts to 383,039

8s.

2d.

London, 3rd March, 1863."

I leave the reader to guess

q2

who was

the legal

228
adviser that drew

read

I said

it,

"

up

Do

Having

document.

this little

you really think that I

am

such

I never checked or
what is untrue
a muff
vouched or acknowledged these accounts, Mr. Can I
as to sign

"?

therefore will not sign them."

The

old man's face

became

me

livid, his lips

quivered;

moment, then

losing all

he looked

fiercely at

command

of his temper, he said in a loud voice

for a

" You're a blackguard."

" You call me a blackguard," I

said,

''

because I

refuse to acknowledge the robberies of others."

Lay-

my hand on the old man's shoulder, for I had

completely lost my temper, I ordered him to quit my
office.
Then going to the clerks' room, I said " Let
I am sole master
no one here obey him in future
ing

of this office."

Mr. Carr,

had

He

said.

but as

my

satisfied,

have no doubt, was sorry for what he

silently left 36,

and determined

Now,

sir,"

dis-

at once to bring matters to a

overtook him a few yards from

"

Street,

was much

up my hat and followed Mr.

I took

crisis.

King AVilliam

clerks heard of this fracas, I

I said, "

my

Carr.

office.

come with me

to

Lombard

Street to settle this affair."

He made no reply, but accompanied me in profound

silence to the "

On

Corner House."

our arrival Mr, David

Ward Chapman was

only one of the firm visible.

" I want a few words with you,
into the little

Chapman

room

sir,"

the

I said, walking

that looked into Birchin Lane.

observed

my

agitation,

and,

without

making any remark, followed Mr. Carr and me. When

he had entered the room, I closed the door, and said,
looking him full in the face

229
" I wish to know

gentleman

me

to

come

to

yon gave instructions to this

my office and insult me, calling

if

blackguard because I refused to sign your

accounts

?'

Chapman looked

interrogatively atCarr

the latter

am

ready to

immediately said:
" I

am

sorry for having said

so.

apologize to Mr. Xenos.

I lost my temper."
" That's enough, Mr. Carr," I said ; " not a

you say you are

more.

If

more

sorry than you^-that I treated

it

sincerely.

Here

is

my

sorry, I say I

hand.

And

am

you

word

sorry too

so.

I say

now," I added,

Chapman full in the face, " I must tell you

this, Mr. Chapman
whoever attacks my honour

looking

also,

must be prepared
have not suffered

You

to fight a duel unto the death.

all tliis

misery and trouble for nothing.

knoAV well I have had in

my

hands hundreds of

Thank your stars you had to do

Xenos, who never took care of himself,

thousands of pounds.

with Stefanos

who was fool enough to look always to your interests.

And yet the money that passed through my hands
was all earned by my own ships. Instead of thanking
me for having saved you thousands, you now try to
crush me with this account. And still, big as you have
made

it, it

looked to

might have been 100,000 more,

my own

Chapman was

if I

had

interests."
silent

and calm.

now

confess I

sought that interview for the purpose of bringing a

I was sorry for
what had occurred between Mr. Carr and myself It
was the first time we had ever had a difierencc. His
advanced age and kind manners had always secured
him respect. It was not in his nature to insult any
one, and when he was rude to me I felt he was in a

protracted contest to a final close.


230
false position

sent to induce

me to sign those accounts.

went to Lombard Street to give a

I threw
lesson to the proud David Ward Chapman.
"
down the gauntlet to him, but the ways of the Corner

Knowing

all this, I

House" were those of the Jesuits, not of the Templars.

Chapman softly recommended me to sign the accounts,
because he intended afterwards to do something hand-

some for me.

I replied that I

intended to take advice, and would

I returned to my office, took all

be guided thereby,
the books and papers connected with the Greek and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company, and, having

locked them in

my

private room, sealed the door.

then told the clerks they might amuse themselves

until further orders.

During these movements Carnegie was acting the

He was trying to console the son of
part of Mentor.
Ulysses, and cover

him with the

Finally, I hastened to

and begged him

to see

leaving the office in

my

shield of Minerva.

old comforter, Hollams,

Mr. Carr, with whom, before

Lombard

Street, I

had arranged

that he should meet Mr. Hollams.

Strange to say, I had all this time forgotten

bosom

friend,

Edwards.

I said within myself:

do not take a yacht as a

Park on a beautiful Arab

the donor.

has a heart.

I shall write

I shall test

I wrote a note, of

Mt

gift,

nor do

we

horse, without

my

"We

ride in the

remembering

him a few words.

Surely he

it."

which the following

is

a copy

dear Mr. Edwards,

I thought, when I called on you the last time, that you

would do something for me, and try to settle the unfortunate affairs
of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, particularly
when you know that I am so ill but, far to find some sympathy in
;

231
your heart, as I expected, I

affairs arrived to this

matter

am

left in

and health.

days, losing time

iiftccii

the most cruel position, for

Now, dear Mr. Edwards,

way or other) this

point that 1 must bring- (one

to a terminus.

my affairs to the hands of Mr, Hollams,

my friend, and not as my solicitor, to see
you my position. In this critical moment my

I left the City, I left

who

will

you and
life is

call

on you as

to explain to

to me tlian all the property of the world

and
way that I am suspended and tired it is the same as it is calcuto send me more to my grave than to the Bankruptcy Court.

more precious

in the
lated

Mr. Edwards never acknowledged

my

letter.

He

did not deign to reply.

To

confess the truth,

the highest pitch.

save

had

spirit

was now wound

was determined, at any

my honour from the

whose power

my

machinations of the

fallen.

to

cost, to

men into

232

CHAPTER XXXVIL
THE SETTLEMENT.

Three weeks

elapsed,

and

with these men, invalid as

was still struggling

was, hoping to avert a

Harsh, ungracious,

public exposure of our differences.

cruel as had been to me the conduct of Edwards and

Chapman, I had no wish to exhibit myself before the

eyes of the English and Eastern public, either as a

commercial hero or a dupe, and there was no foretelling

in which category I might be classed, or whether, like
the old lady's mongrel pet,
I was " a little of each."

it

might not be decided that

These were three weeks of hard struggle. Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. could not believe that a
man of shattered nerves, and actually suffering from
physical illness, could resist the influences they were

bringing to bear upon him.

At

more than ever struck by the

zeal

this juncture I

was

and integrity

dis-

played by Mr. Carr in the service of such principals.

I thought within myself: " The day is not far distant

when poor Mr. Carr's time and honest services will

meet from these Pharisees the same recompense that
mine did. When that day comes he will remember
me.

During these weeks of struggle

to

or

know my

all

my

clerks

came

position, and, Avith the exception of one

two, naturally sided with their

expected future

was not surprised. L' ar(jent fcdt iout.

Meanwhile, I had frequent consultations with my

masters.

solicitor,

who behaved

to

me more like

a friend than a

lie had frequent meetings with

professional man.

Messrs. Overend's solicitors, and under his direction I

signed the accounts between them and myself ; not as

they wished it, but " errors and omissions excepted."

This I did to

meant

really

Had

satisfy

to

them, and in order to see

come

this state

if

they

to a settlement.

of things continued three weeks

longer I should certainly have been brought to

The worst symptoms

grave.

with redoubled force.

became
I

have

returned
flesh,

doors in

The

those terrible sensations

as " thanatophobia," again

all

summed up

overmastered me.
ofiice

my malady

weight and

and was much troubled with amaurosis,

pale,

double vision in short,

which

of

I lost

my

very sight of the company's

King William

These doors seemed to

me

Street

made me

shudder.

the portals of the infernal

regions.
It

was

finally

agreed that I should

sell

the Greek

and Oriental Steam Navigation Company to Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co., as it stood, for 2500.
They released me from all liabilities, and undertook to
pay all the debts of the company, all the bills, and all

company already entered in the

books with the knowledge of Mr. Carr. They were to

just claims against the

take, through their representative,

private
rence.

wheat in London, and

Out

Mr. Carr,

sell it

with

my

all

my

concur-

of the proceeds they undertook to pay

my

personal acceptances; should there be a

deficit, it

be put

should be given

to me.
bility,

to their account

if a surplus, it

In short, they released

and

agreed to

assist

me

them

from

all

me

responsi-

to settle the claims

of the company and the pending accounts.

agreed to give

would

They also

eighty tons' space in one of the


234

steamers, to transport

upon going
have accommodation

I resolve

my

furniture to Greece, should

to that country.

for

my

I was also to

horses, carriages, &c., &c.

(See Appendix, Nos. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35.)

Before I signed this contract, Carnegie was only

too glad to give

me

the following letter, in which he

declared that neither he nor his partner had any claim

whatsoever on

me

The Greek and Oriental Btcam Navigation Company.

36,

King William

Street,

London, E.C., 24 March, 1863.

Stefafos Xenos, Esq.

Sir,

In consideration of your

settling

your

affairs

with Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co., and their relieving you from all the
debts of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, and

you in settlement, Ave do hereby also agree to relieve you

from the balance of your personal debt in our books, and to look to
the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company for payment of
same, and at same time you agree to do all in your power to cause
us to be retained as the agents in the Danube of the said company.

to assist

Yours

truly,

Theologos and Caenegie,

of Galatz.

Who

could believe that, within a few months

from the Greek and Oriental

my two quondam clerks
Company,
Steam Navigation

after I

had

retired

stepped out as proprietors of

five

small

steamers

The steamers were free of

trading in the Danube.
mortgage, and Messrs. Theologos and Carnegie were
What was still
shippers of large quantities of grain.
more extraordinary,

their magazziniere (wharfinger),

Hadji Andreas, a bankrupt a short time before, when

they took him into their service, now made his appearGalatz
ance as the owner of property worth 10,000.


235
a small town, and the proceedings of the new st^amowners excited universal remark and astonishment.

is

banker wrote to me of their goings on.

Would you believe, reader, that
all.

But

my

not

ex-clerks

now began

precious

loudly to complain that I had

caused them heavy losses

2000 1 Nay, more.

commenced an

letter,

account of a

this is

in fact, to the

Carnegie, even after the above

me

action against

200

bill for

amount of

or

in

London on

300, an acceptance of

the company's which Mr. Carr refused to honour, and

which he

as indorser

action against

doned

me was

at the very

My

was compelled

The

to pay.

only a menace, and was aban-

moment we were going

to trial.

contract with Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and

Co. was concluded and signed about the end of March,

my

solicitors. Mincing Lane

2500, and transferred to
them the steamers and a few cargoes of coal then I

1863, at the

Chambers.

office

of

I received the

issued the following circular to the shippers

36,

King

Williar)i Street,

Ath April, 1863.

Sir,

I have the honour to announce to you that, owing to

ill

health, I

am

compelled to resign the management of the Greek

Oriental Steam Navigation

and

Company

to

my

honourable and

able friend, Mr. G. B. Carr.

In thanking you

for

your patronage in the past, I trust you will

continue the same in the future to

by him your interests

hitherto been by mo.

that

my

successor, as I

am

certain

will be as well cared for as they have

I have the honour to be. Sir,

Your obedient Servant,

Stefanos Xenos.


236

CHAPTER XXXVIIL
IDLENESS.
I DO not

know what you,

that I sold that great

2500.

It

reader, will say

company

was currently reported

in

received twenty times that amount.

mean

upon hearing

sum

for the paltry

London

of

that I

I do not

now

to excuse myself, but, finding that I could not

untie the Gordian knot, I tried to cut

it

as advan-

If you reflect upon the comby which I was surrounded

you will, I think,
if you consider my shattered health
admit that I took the most prudent course. I confess
that the Bankruptcy Court had much greater terrors

tageously as possible.

plicated circumstances

for

me

than it could have for Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co.
official

rests

knew

assignee for that court,

of his employers to

man

Mr. Edwards, the

would prefer the inte-

full well that

my

rights.

of straw, the Bankruptcy Court

been for

me

Had

I been

would have

a short and safe purgatory, in which I

could have been purified from the residue of

all

my

transactions with Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

few thousand pounds and my estate

any mortgage, and the great money-dealers
were my sole creditors. I had all the materiel of the
British Star, and nearly 6000 volumes of that illus-

But

I possessed a

free of

trated journal,

which could now

To

into Greece.

place

all this

find free admission

property at the mercy

of the lawyers and accountants of the Bankruptcy

Court,

at

moment

when

had just

issued

237

my

triumphant from

Otho, would have been sheer

a warfare

though rotten

To

folly.

with

law-courts

the

in

King

struggle with

political

enter into

firm

at the core, still presented,

which,

through a

system of credit, a colossal front to the world, would

have been

as great a delusion as that of the

La Mancha, when with

On

thirty windmills.

his lance

the other hand, victimized as I

Mr. H, E. Gurney,

was, I felt a kind of gratitude to

for the support that
his position.

house.

and duped.

he gave me, and

had

knew

Knight of

he attacked the

no

really

I felt sorry for

ill-feeling against the

the Gurneys were

that

ill-advised

saw that they were enveloped in

so

dense a mist, that they could neither see things as

they were, nor discern their

own

position clearly.

lamented seeing them in the power of Edwards.

But
my regrets were useless. I could not enter the Lombard Street palace, and tell the head of the firm what
My most earnest
I thought and what I apprehended.
wish was to get out of the

lire

before I should be

saw ruin approaching the great capitalists

a ])as de g^ant. I thought within myself what would
be my position if, continuing my connexion with them,
singed.

and accepting

bills for

hundreds of thousands, they

should suddenly stop payment.

And

let

me

here

parenthetically remark, that they would have stopped

payment in 1864, had not the mania for public companies come to their aid.
They turned several of their
ruhUshcs into limited companies, and got some of the

public money.

on board

my

They were

The

bills

of lading for the corn shipped

steamers were

sent by

I could do with

my

them

all

made out

agents direct to
as I pleased.

in

me

my

name.

pci'sonally.

I could sell the

cargoes and keep the money, and fight their accounts

238

The

but I never took advantage of them.

were paid

to

me.

handed them

to

freights also

Mr. Carr, and he

passed them to Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

alone had the signature in our bank, and I did not

give

it

to

Mr. Carr until

I fell

ill

and could not attend

to business.

On my
I

became

return to Petersham, after

so

that I did not think

ill

should ever recover.

it

my

last battle,

possible that I

Collapsing suddenly into idle-

ness after the excitement of a perhaps too active

life,

became a prey to the worst symptoms of the spectral

malady that pursued me. And then domestic calamities fell upon me.
Twice I was on the point of starting
for Greece, and taking with me my entire household
but domestic causes interposed, and stopped the execution of my design.
That was to me a coup de grace.
My health was now so altered, the vis vitm was so
lowered, that even in the middle of June I wore two
That
winter coats, and that without feeling warm.
gloomy malady which my physicians described as dyspepsia and nervousness, but which I characterized as
" thanatophobia," tormented me more than ever. This
fresh attack was accompanied by a new symptom.
Instead of suffering from a want of appetite, I was

now

me

subject to a fever of the stomach that impelled

to eat at every

said to eat

moment.

Indeed, I could not be

devoured large quantities of food.

afterwards suffered from terrible

during which

was abandoned

hypochondriacal visions.

fits

of indigestion,

to the

most gloomy

Sometimes, in that

low

state,

painful recollections of the Greek and Oriental Steam

Navigation

Company

stole over

my

mind.

thought

of the different characters that had taken part in that

tragedy.

sighed to think

how

had been duped.

239

when

on the opportunities I
had lost, and the sums of which I had been robbed.
All this time I was not without soi-disant friends,
I

shiuldcred

who came

I reflected

what the world said

rumours
What
I heard!
One
said that Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. had taken
the company out of my hands because of my mismanagement. Another report was that I had left it
to visit

me, and

tell

and thought of me.

a beggar without a sixpence in

rumour declared

my

pocket.

third

come off with 100,000,

and was the cleverest fellow in London to get so well
out of the great money-dealers' net.
Having exthat I had

hausted the history of

political deeds

and

The

discussion.

my

literary

commercial

affairs,

my

works were brought under

introduction of such questions was,

on the part of some of my visitors, the result of

thoughtlessness or want of perception in others, it
was owing to an idle curiosity and in some others, to
a mistaken, though friendly zeal.
But whatever the
promptings that urged my visitors to speak, the effect
;

produced on

my

health was uniformly bad.

was too

nervous to bear allusions to the causes that had re-

duced

me

to the state in

After the

first

which

I was.

shock had passed, I summoned a

philosophic patience to my aid, and endeavoured to

compose myself by reflecting that the rumours floated
by the mouches de cour, and the other courtisans, to
gratify their masters, must die out, and truth eventually
prevail.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. having removed

impediments to their accommodation bills, were

loading no end of cargoes of grain from the Danube.
all

This gave a lustre to the firm of Carnegie that dazzled

himself as well as others.

"

240

Upon my

Greek and Oriental Steam

it would
be a clever couiy to change the name. It was accordingly rebaptized as the " Black Sea and Levant Steam
Navigation Company." Nothing could show more
leaving the

Navigation Company, Messrs. Overend thought

plainly

how

little

they understood the materials with

"

Greek and Oriental

was a designation replete with meaning to the ears of
It meant the " orthothe real supporters of the line.
dox " Greeks men in whose hands is nearly all the
commerce of Greece and Turkey. " Black Sea and
Levant " implies the Turco-Catholic Greeks, who form
but a very small portion of the exporters and imwhich they undertook

porters of the Levant.

to deal.

241

CHAPTER XXXTX.
ANNOUNCING TO MESSRS. OVEREND, GURNEY, AND

CO.

THEIR INSOLVENCY.

Such was my position when those who were now

managing the affairs of the Greek and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company, seeing that I remained perfectly
quiet, and that I had not left England, as I at first

commenced a series of annoyances, such as

those so admirably described by Balzac in " Les Petites

intended,

My brother, who had been freight clerk,

was dismissed, and they refused to pay him his salary.
Clerks who had been discharged by me were reinstalled.
A small account for coals, amounting to 10,
was ssnt to General B
a friend of mine, in a
letter, in which it was insinuated in an ambiguous
manner that I wasnolonger connected with the Greek
and Oriental. This amount of 10 had been placed to
Miseres!'

my

debit in

my

private account long before I sold the

company.

There were

noyances.

I only

also several other paltry an-

mention these things here as they

caused a correspondence between Messrs.

Overend,
Gurney, and Co. and me, in which I was forced to
speak plainly to them regarding their insolvency.

On

the 20th of May, 1863, two months after I left

the Greek and Oriental, I received the letter No. 3G

from the new manager, in which

claims were made on me for coals I had sent to the

in the Appendix,

and Smyrna in 1S58, a year before I made the

acquaintance of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

Piraeus

11


242

had given my fleet the name of the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. This
Avas too much.
I immediately wrote him the following
reply, a copy of which, accompanied by a few words
of explanation, I sent the same day to Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co.
indeed, before I

May

20th, 1863.

G. B. Cake, Esq.
SlE,

I need scarcely say with

How

of yesterday.

my

passed to

lloss,

witnesses, to tell

letter

instructions,

sum of ,351, the price of 270

Do you mean, in the face of three
you know nothing about those coals ?

me

that

deny that I did not teU you nearly two years ago

to

my

that those coals were

property, and not the Greek and Oriental

Steam Navigation Company's,

ha\T.ng been sent

long before the establishment of the comj)any

Do you mean

by my

private account the

tons of coal at 26s. a ton ?

Do you mean

what surprise I read your

can you say that Mr.

you did not agree

to say that

by me

Athens
1857-58 ?

to

in

viz.,

any

at once, without

other observation than that instead of passing the coals at 30s., the
price I asked, I

must do

so at

only

-268'.

The

letter

we

wrote to

Mr. Lucas RaUi at that time was after the clear understanding

between us that you had nothing

As regards the 180

m London, I told

my

authority for me, and you

know

If I

was

do with that

that told me, for the

told

me

not

Clenzo

when

my fault
Eoss

that

is

no

the reasons for which I discharged

in your place, for the sake of those concerned in

first

him

back.

that March, Mr. Edwards's clerk, told

they used to remain in our

making up the books

lioss is the

time, in the presence of

my

brother

Overend, Gurney, and Co. are insolvent.

Aristides, that Messrs.

He

it is

account accordingly.

the business, you would never have taken

man

coal.

me by Mr.

Ross at the time, and

it to

he did not book them in

him.

to

12s. lOd. paid to

office at

of the

him

so

when

by order of Mr. Edwards,

and added, to my brother,

night,

company

that I had been treated very unjustly by Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co.

Erom

the time I quitted the

your power to annoy

me

in the highest terms of

whilst

company, you have done aU in

I,

on the contrary, have spoken

you and Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

243
You rcmcmbcx' your words when
" Your

desire

your mission

was

to see

am

a rich

you came

first

man

compelled, two

my

to

But what has

retire, and

office."

years after, to

immediately you turn out of the company's employment

tions

and

Co,

AH- the year round

my

rela-

I never deceived Messrs. Ovcrend, Gui-ney,

friends.

we were

them, that
fusion.

office

a few years, and then,

in

you would leave the

fulfilled,

taken place?

me

and I

I told them,

losing money, and that there

You, on the contrary, were always

were making money

told you,

Time

will speak for

Pray why do you not pay Papa's

say that you have no knowledge of
in time that Powell's

and vindicate me.

Do you mean to
Did I not mention to you

it ?

youi' faithful

terrible con-

them that we

telling

of ,260 ?

bill

Was

was unpaid ?

bill

and in the hand-writing of

was a

and

and wrote

Ross

it

not in the bill-book,

Did I

not, according

to

your wish, write to Alexander Bell to deliver to you any surplus

of

my

wheat

for the

purpose of covering this .3000

biU for 2500, and the two

the rent of the wharf?

bring an action against

bills for

Why

400 ?

viz.,

Powell's

do you not pay

And why do you instruct the landlord to

me ? Does not the wharf belong to the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company ? Are not the

beams of the Asia, and other things belonging to the steamers, there ?
Did we not agree together, at the time, to hire the wharf for the
purpose of placing there the stores of the company ? Why do you

Had we any

repudiate the contract for coals ?

time I contracted ?

Did not our agents write

coals in

Malta at the

us, at the time, that

they could not get coals in Malta under 35s., and Houseden answer in
English not to buy any, as

we had made

a contract in London ?

Is

not that letter in our English letter-book at least fifteen days before
the final arrangements for

my

now

clearly your object.

I care nothing and fear nothing

the

most sincere friendship and gratitude to Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and Co.

from them.

much

My

company ?

yet I hope the Almighty, even

penniless, will prevent

world.

leaving you the

me from

if

I can see

I have

am

accounts with

them

are closed for ever in this

Apart from their wealth and commercial influence, I

a gentleman as

any of them, and

assistance in

have a drop of blood in

my -power.
my veins, I

honour to bo attacked by anybody.

b2

am

as

shall therefore not trouble

myself any more about their good or bad opinion.

them any

left

ever being forced to ask a favour

But,

mark

I shall give

this, as

will not allow

my

long as I

character or

244
I declare, before

God and man,

letter is to the letter true

man,

to disprove

it.

showed your true

and I

tliat

call

what I have written

on you,

Scarcely had I left the

colours.

You

discharged

if

office

my

in this

you are an honest

when

all

relations,

you

of

leaving

them unpaid, and refused to accept their bills.* Although

an aged man, broke his leg on board the Mavrocordatos,

father,

my
for

the dispatch of the steamer at Constantinople, yet you refuse to

settle his accounts.

The captain

of the Mavrocordatos will witness

that.

Do you

think that such things can be passed in silence ?

opinion, which

you are seeking

so blindly, will

Public

judge us one day

all

according to our merits.

Yoiu's obediently,

Stepangs Xeitos.

Many months passed away, and still my health

was not improvmg whether owing to dyspepsia, or
nervousness, or hypochondriasm, I seemed to have lost
all interest in life.
I was
I seldom went to town
incapable of making any exertion.
I constantly received letters from Greece, describing the gloomy
;

aspect of affairs in the kingless country.

these epistles, I felt like the

who

wounded

On

reading

warrior, lying

on the

battle-field,

avert.

Since Prince Alfred had declined the throne of

Greece,

though

my
I

sees

the danger he cannot

had become as cool as

were not one of the prime movers of the
political ardour

revolution of 1862.
I one day received a letter from Athens.
It was
from Mr. D. Mavromichali, the War Minister. He
* Several of the agents of the Greek and Oriental, in the different ports of the Levant, were my relatives, who rendered great
service, by their influence, to the company.
Immediately I left the
company the new managers took the agency out of their hands,

refused to lionour their drafts for the disbursements of the steamers,

and gave the agency, to say the least, to incompetent persons to

men who

spared the fair fame of no one to justify the conduct of

their masters in London.

245
painted in the darkest colours the political condition of

had done others,

began gradually
to remember how, six months previously, I had been
appointed by my Government to form a Philhellenic
Greece.

but

I flung aside the letter as I

could not forget

Committee,

aid

to

its

my

contents.

country in the trying

when she found herself without a king.

how I had neglected my mission, and
Petersham, irritated and

fretful.

crisis

thought

lain idle

thought of all

at

this,

and the reproaches of my conscience became sharp and

bitter.
I felt that I ought to do something. If in the
commencement of my illness my physical weakness
had depressed my moral energy, now the morale reacted on the i^hysique, and by a sudden mental effort I
sprang again into action.

I immediately

town, and had an interview with Mr.

W
W

went up
,

to

Member

I
and distinguished Philhellene.
of
took the
begged him to aid my efforts. Mr.
to
his
exerowing
principally
affair in hand, and
tion the Philhellenic Committee was soon organized.

Parliament,

This event took place simultaneously with the election of Prince

George of Denmark as King of the

Greeks.

committee of such a nature established in

country, and consisting of influential

this

members of the

was capable of conferring large benefits upon a small nation still in an

But when the small nation
unsettled political state.
should have attained a condition of political stability,
when its institutions should be brought into, healthy
commercial and

political world,

action under a constitutional king, then the benefits

from the action of such a committee as I have

described would assume a social character, and would

arising

246
consist in helping to develop the natural resources,

and so improving the future of the nation towards

which its friendly feelings were directed. Such were
the objects contemplated by the Philhellenic Committee.
That the proposed ends were not attained is
attributable to causes

which

I shall

now

explain.

247

CHAPTER

XL.

THE PHILHELLENIC COMMITTEE.

became known in England that King

Otho had finally departed from Greece, the Greek
bonds, so lonj^ buried in forgetfulness, began to rise,
and the national credit of the little Hellenic Kingdom,
so long a dead letter in England, showed symptoms of
rapid recovery. The election of Prince Alfred by the
Hellenes had made a most favourable impression on
the British public, and lighted up the warmest hopes,

The

very day

especially

Ionian

it

when

Isles

to

the

intention of transferring

Greece

the

became publicly known.

Greece became again a popular favourite in Great

Britain,

and could the ignorant leaders in Greece

have discerned, as did the Greeks in London, the true

path to national progress and power, Greece, instead
of relapsing into oblivion, would

now

enjoy a respect-

able position in the minds of the English people.

In the account I have given of

life,

have not once

mentioned

my

commercial

the

Stock Ex-

change, and for the very simple reason that I had

I had heard
nothing to do with that institution.
swallowed
up in that
men
being
of so many rich

Charybdis, that I had a pious horror of

and had always resolutely

resisted

held out by different stockbrokers.

its

shores,

temptations

the
I

had never

bought or sold stock of any description, nor invested

money in bonds of any kind. I have said how, three

248
days before the event was
public, I

had received

expulsion from Greece.

known

the English

to

King Otho's

intelligence

of

What would

that information

not have been worth to other City men!

dreamed of turning
have

said,

it

to

any monetary

I never

after the revolution of 1862, the

bonds rose rapidly

in fact, they

became

As

use.

Greek

for a short

time a favourite stock with the British public

stock, too, not of mere speculation, but of solid invest-

Thus the Greek national

was not only

rapidly regaining strength, but was becoming unquesThe English public, reasoning from two
tionable.
points of view, gave to Greek stock its just importance.
The Greek merchants of England had, during a period
ment.

credit

of forty years, represented the national character in

this country.

They had passed through

severe com-

mercial storms with unblemished honour and integrity.

With
"

this

Now

example before their

that

country

is

King Otho, the

thrown

off,

why

eyes, the English said:

great incubus of the

should the Hellenes not

act as uprightly as their compatriots in this country

King Otho being gone, the national honour remains in

We may, therethe hands of the Greeks themselves.
fore,

look forward to a better future, particularly as

Greece needs money to put her finances in order and

develop her resources."

These
were

it

pened

reflections

were well based, and, I repeat,

not for the gross ignorance of those

at that time to

be leaders in Greece

not for their petty quarrels and

who

hap-

were

silly jealousies

it

the

might have been permanently resusI saw and felt all this, and even during my
citated.
illness had, through the Greek press, tested the feelThe
ings of the Athenian public pn the question.

national credit

249
result

was disheartening.

sprung up in Greece, amongst

new

generation had

whom

the belief pre-

had never received any other assistEngland

than a few worthless ships of war.
ance from
Some there were influenced by an adverse policy;
some by a spirit of opposition and others by selfish

vailed that Greece

motives,

who

public debt.

rejected the idea of paying the disputed

Those who did not believe

my letters,

ence of the debt laughed at

a sarcastic joke

in the exist-

thinking them

others wrote to me, saying that, if I

persisted in publishing such opinions, I should lose the

popularity I had acquired

furnished

my

and others said that I

enemies with grounds for hinting that I

speculated in these bonds.

Spite of all this, I per-

and Greek

severed, and, through the English

addressed the peoples of both countries.

press,

I felt that

the question of the Greek bonds was not, so to speak,

matured I knew that the majority of the Greeks were

not aware of the light in which the matter was regarded in England. I was bitterly attacked in many
of the Greek journals, but I still thought it a duty to
show how the question was really working. Now,
neither in Greece nor in England was there any
;

political

question involved in these bonds;

it

was,

any practical
must be ultimately the

therefore, evident to the perception of

man

that the British public

sufferers.

The Athenians now showed a

disposition to con-

sider gravely the great national question of the deve-

lopment of the resources of their country. Anxious

to stimulate these good intentions into action, I published in the English press several letters on

finance and the resources of Greece.

history of the

Greek bonds.

Greek

I also printed a

I earnestly

recommended

250
the Greek Government to profit by the opportunity

then presented of raising capital in this country.

What
ment

a perplexing position was mine at that mo-

Money-makers thought

had

left

My

of Mint.

the house

new

of Overend, Gurney, and Co., to open this

species

enemies in Greece stigmatized

patriotic exertions as a selfish

eff'ort

to

promote

my
my

private interests, regardless of saddling poor Greece

with a debt of 7,000,000.

now satisfactorily explain the reasons that

me to engage in undertakings which, far from
profitable, were really ruinous to my private

I can

induced
being

interests.

have already said that, King George

being seated on the throne of Greece, the only advantage that the Philhellenic Committee could

offer to

the Hellenes would be to aid them in developing the

resources of their country.

establishment of the

new

Simultaneously with the

dynasty,

the

committee

applied to the Greek Government for two concessions,

the carrying of which into effect would confer on

Greece, socially, materially,

benefits.

One

construction

and

politically,

serious

of the proposed undertakings was the

of

a railway from

the

Bay of Arta,

through Acarnania and the southern part of Aitolia,

across the Gulf of Corinth, running through Athens,
to terminate at Port

Raphti or

at the Pirseus.

The

other project was to canalize the Isthmus of Corinth,

and build a large commercial town there.
This railway, in conjunction with another which
was on the tapis^ and which was to run from Avlona to
Arta, would have shortened the voyage to Egypt by
three days, besides offering to travellers the immense

advantage of exchanging a sea voyage for a comfortable land passage through two beautiful countries of

251

and Greece. By this new route the

woukl be only from Brindisi to Avlona,
which might be performed by a good boat in three
hours, and from Port Raphti to Alexandria, a trip of
And, had the line been prolonged,
thirty-five hours.

Europe

Italy

sea passage

as

was intended,

say, to the

to the south of the

Laconian Bay

Morea

that

is

to

the sea passage would then

have been only thirty hours.

Had

this

line

been constructed,

it

would indu-

bitably have been taken advantage of by passengers to

and from Egypt and India to Western Europe and

how great would not the advantages have been to
;

But the question arose Would the line

pay, and what guarantee would the Greek Government
Greece

give the English public for the investment of capital

There could be no doubt about the railway paying,

because, as the line would shorten the journey to
Egypt by three days, the Governments of Northern
and Western Europe, that pay large subsidies to the
great steam companies, would find it their interest to
patronize the junction of the lines of Italy and Greece.

Over and above the profits accruing from the local

goods and passengers, the Greek Government

traffic in

consented to give 100,000 acres of good land as a

guarantee.

Those who understand the geographical structure

of Greece must at once perceive that the canalization

of the Isthmus of Corinth would be an enterprise

replete with profit to the country.

Vessels coming

from the Black Sea, bound for the Adriatic and the
Mediterranean, would pass through this canal to avoid
doubling Cape Matapan, and consequently Corinth

would become a depot for the bale and grain goods of

the Levant and Black Sea.
This would infuse new

252

now

independence to

and give wealth and

many who now live at the Govern-

ment expense.

Simultaneously with the concession

life

into a

for the

'torpid region,

canalization of the Isthmus of Corinth,

we

asked for lands necessary for laying the foundations of

a town in the locality, and also for

facilities for

the

construction of docks required for the repairs and accommodation of vessels trading in the Mediterranean,
and so much needed in those waters.
I must say that, frequent as were the changes of

Ministry in Greece at that period, each Ministry ap-

proved these concessions

them slow

and though I often thought

in bringing the question before the

Cham-

bers, or in granting the guarantee of required arable

land,

must acknowledge that

all

recognized the

importance of the undertakings, and endeavoured to

put the concessions in the form most likely to pass

through the Chambers Avithout opposition.

M. Coumoundouros
financier of

our plans.

without exception the

analyzed and approved

ablest

modern Greece

He prepared

the bills on the subject to be

presented to the Greek Parliament, and were

for the early close of the

Chambers that

it

not

session these

two concessions would have been ratified, and would

have afforded abundant occupation to the Philhellenic
Committee, and prevented its dissolution.
These two concessions being granted by the Greek
Government, subject to the approval of the Chambers,
and being supported even by the most influential members of the Opposition, all that remained to secure their
realization was to raise in England the necessary
funds.
This was about the middle of 1863 a period

when

reigned in

London

that mania for public com-

panies that brought about the late commercial

crisis.

253

Nothing could have been

easier for

me and my

sup-

porters, at such a time, than to find the required funds,

had the public

credit of

Greece been placed upon a

And

proper basis in England.

solely

that credit depended

and entirely upon the arrangements that would

be made between the bondholders and the Greek

Government.

made me

It

was the conviction of

discuss so freely in the press the question of

the Greek bonds.

sented by

this truth that

But

my

motives were misrepre-

my enemies.
how

was the position in which I

but during eighteen months I unrewas placed
laboured
mittingly
for these two objects
to get
the concessions approved by the Chambers, and to
induce the Greek Government to make such arrangements touching the debt of 1824-25, as would
I felt

ticklish

make

the shares of the

England.

Had

concessions marketable

these concessions been carried

in

into

would have been seen that they were no

would they have
proved of European utility, but would have yielded a
handsome profit to the private individuals engaged in
the enterprises. When King George passed through
London on his way to Greece, I had several meetings
with His Majesty's adviser, Count Sponneck, on the
I was charged by M.
subject of the Greek bonds.
Rouphos, the President of the Provincial Government
of Greece, to speak with His Excellency on the subIn vain did I and some of the members of the
ject.
Philhellenic Committee try to persuade him to recognize them, and telegraph to Athens that His Majesty
effect,

it

illusory speculation, for not alone

could not go to Atlrens

be redressed.

were anxious

till

the national credit should

Then the people and the ministers, who

for the arrival of the

king and the union

254
of Greece with the Ionian Islands, would, no doubt,
approve his acts, and pass it in the Chamber.

My

health was

now

occupation had turned

visibly improving.

me away from

one of self-contemplation.
regaining

tone,

My

and I wished

External

the disagreeable

nervous system was

something more

for

stirring.

Months had passed, and the Philhellenic Committee had not succeeded, either privately or officially,
in coming to any arrangement with the Greek GoM. Coumounvernment touching the concessions.
douros had them in his portfolio, and was watching
(See his
the opportunity to pass them up to 1865.
In vain we represented

letter.

Appendix, No. 38.)

to the

Greek ministers that the rage

panies in England
if

made the moment

for public

com-

propitious, and,

allowed to pass, such an opportunity might never

return.

These gentlemen took the matter

told us that the reorganization of

home

coolly,
affairs,

and
dis-

turbed by the late revolution, was of primary imI had

portance, and demanded their chief care.
hundred
pounds
out
of
my
several
expended
already
private purse in the getting up of the Philhellenic
Committee, and keeping it up for two years; but,
seeing no probability of a satisfactory result, I deter-

mined
side of
City.

to transfer the scene of

Temple Bar, and again

my
try

labours to the east

my

chances in the

255

CHAPTER
THE STOCK

The

tali or tesserce

Horace

of the

XLI.

EXCHAJJfGE.

Roman

gambler, of which

says " vetita lecjihus alea,''

recreation compared with that

was a blameless

noble

institution of

honest gain known amongst us as the Stock Exchange.

Here could be

seen, in 1864, thousands of English

and

foreign aleators, laden with gold, crossing that fatal

Rubicon, and in exciting tones exclaimmg:

alea

esf

" the die

And

is cast."

^''

Jacta

soon these thou-

sands are seen flocking back, presenting as miserable

a spectacle as though they had, in returning,

swum

through the burning waters of Phlegethon.

AVhen, in 18C4, I returned to the City, after
fourteen months' absence, I found all the professional
occupants of

that

mysterious area in

aleatorial intoxication.

The

spirit

of

state

of

communism

were to be shared in comThat is the sense in which I

read " limited liability." In commerce, every man
reigned supreme.

mon
is

so

were

Profits

losses.

a demagogue

but there

is

this difference

between

the political and the commercial demagogue, that the

latter does

not

traffic in lofty

deals in tangible articles, even

abstractions

though

it

he always

be only waste

pa^er^ which he tries to convert into pure gold for his

own

benefit.
There are times when these commercial
demagogues are wholly disregarded, and exercise no
influence on the public mind. Then there come times

256

and seasons when these men are in high vogue, and

hold sway in the monetary world.
When I returned to the City, I found these
gentlemen in high fashion. They had come out that
season under the euphonious title of " promoters."
On the morning that I made my entree into the City,
the first person I met was M.
This gentleman is a Greek, remarkable for rotundity of figure
and a baritone voice. M.
has some peculiarities
of manner as well as of person.
He cannot speak ten
words to you without either putting his hand on your
shoulder, or catching you by the button.
At other
times he pokes you with his fat finger, and as you
instinctively retreat at each poke, and he follows up
his advantage, you ultimately find yourself either
pinned to the wall or standing in the gutter, at the
mercy of cabs and omnibuses.
"What, Polypathis !" he exclaimed he used to call
me by that name " where have you been hiding all
this time %
You have lost the most splendid oppor-

We

tunities.

every day.
I

am

are

making

tliousands

Just look here.

able to balance on

my

of sovereigns

am proud

to say that

shoulders a head full of

brains."

Several of the passers-by, attracted by his loud voice

and

theatrical gesticulation, looked

they understood Greek,

how much

and smiled. Had

they would have

been amused.
" How do you manage

to make thousands of sovereigns so easily ?' I asked, not a little astonished.

" Oh by my eyes, 'tis the easiest thing in the
!

world.

I have

made 6000

my candle and putting

you need only buy shares

ing

a-^e-a^eae

between

Look

light-

it

out again.

in

any company in which

here,

257
yon know that one of onr great Greek merchants will
become a director; they will surely go up 2 or 3
per share.
Sell immediately, and you realize your
profits."

"

Has

public

the fact of a Greek merchant sitting on a

board so great an influence on the English

public r'
" Yes, I

tell

you

Watch

yes.

companies where the Greeks went

how firm

they

The English know

are.

are the best financiers

and you will see

that the Greeks

They have

and merchants.

So the shares are firm."

faith in them.

" I

the shares of the

in,

know nothing about

shares,

my

friend.

never played on the Stock Exchange until very lately,

and I have had enough of it.' When Lee crossed the

Potomac, I thought the Confederate cause so safe that
I bought at 90 per bond.
I invested some money.
A few days after, the Confederates were defeated by

Mead, and the Confederate Loan is now down to 62.

So I have come into
That, you see, is. a heavy loss.
sell
scrip,
coiUe
qicil
City
to
the
coute, and retui'n
the

my

to

old trade

" Steamers
steamers'?

the steamers."
Nonsense

Take my

Who

advice.

Buy

cares

now

for

in

the

shares

Metropolitan and Provincial Bank, in the Imperial

Bank, in the Mercantile and Exchange Bank, in the
European Bank, and others, of which our compatriots
are directors.

the

first to

many

we shall be
Buy with several brokers, and as
you can. The shares are sure to go up
If anything goes wrong,

know

shares as

it.

right up, I tell you

Friendship

may

in a

exist,

few days."

though

rarely, in the

end of London, unmixed with jealousy;

jealousy, I

well knew, mighty be found in the City in

s

West-

its

simple

258
essence, without the slightest admixture of friendship.

had known
a long time.
I had often given
him a lift on the road of life. I did not entertain the
slightest doubt of his sincerity. He was the only man
I have ever met in the City of London who would
I

ifidicate to a friend the

road in which he was himself

making money.
"If you are so certain," I said, " I shall try.
us go round to the stockbrokers you know.
acquainted with only two

those that

Let
I

am

bought me

the

confounded Confederate bonds."

In

less

than an hour I had bought 1350 shares in

the Metropolitan Provincial Bank, the Mercantile and

Exchange Bank, the Imperial Bank, and others, in the

directorate of which
had great faith. All these
shares were at that time already at a heavy premium.
My friend was not looked upon amongst commercial
men as an oracle, but I must say that his deep-toned

voice prophesied in this instance as truly as ever did

the most sonorous Dodonian oak.

had sold
2500.

all

my

The proverb
not judgment."

Within three days

shares, realizing a profit of about

says,

"

fool

may

possess wit, but

I candidly confess that I acted the

was not for want of judgment.

I knew that shrewd and clever men had been ruined
on the Stock Exchange. I felt that I had made a gi'eat
part of a fool, but

it

coup^ and I recognized the hazard of

attempt.

making a second

Besides, I was just then preparing to go to

Athens, to urge the Government to bring before the

Chambers the concessions I have mentioned, but becoming infected by the company-mania, that proved
fatal to so many others, I remained in London, and
shared the

common

fate.

259

My friend M
Bank were

me

become an
Warrant

of whose office I had

hahifue, assured

that the shares of the

sure to rise to the very zenith by reason of

the expansive force about to be communicated by some

great poHtical economists

who were going

Like the benumbed

board.

animation in the

fly

to join the

that has recovered

warm atmosphere

of a well-hghted

room, but will not be content without fluttering round

the flame of the bright-burning lamp, where

it

is

consumed so I, not satisfied with my first

success, bought nearly 1500 shares, not only in the
companies pointed out by
but in the International Contract Company, the Land Credit Company
of L'eland, the Commercial Bank Corporation, the
Freehold and General Investment Company, the City
Offices Company, the Financial Discount Company,
and the Joint-Stock Discount Company, all of which
were at a heavy premium.

finally

during

It has often occurred

my

erected lofty towers, and just at the

about

to roof

them

that I have

moment

remove the

in,

life

was
and
some

that I

scafiblding,

exhibit

my

trifling

and scarcely perceptible cause, has destroyed

work, a catastrophe, originating in

the edifice and annihilated

my fine

would
the inaction induced by my

appear as though, after

long

illness,

required

voluntarily into the

The

excitement, for
I can only

fire.

shares, instead of flying up, rolled

than three Aveeks I

profits of

my first

lost

coujp

presence of mind.

But, in

prospects.

the present instance, such was not the case.

It

jumped

blame myself.
down. In less

not only the 2500

the

but, unfortunately, I lost

became

obstinate.

my

bought

shares which, according to public opinion, were likely

to

go up

I sold those which,

s2

on the same authority,

260
were likely to go clown. I was disappointed in both
This time the rhetorical prophecies of my
cases.
friend

falsified, and public opinion was

Even information derived from high

were

utterly wrong.

my

and well-informed sources betrayed

Here
fire,

I found myself in the midst of a

and how to retreat I knew not.

expectations.
terrible cross-

I shall not trouble the reader with an account of

my

adventures

in

Throgmorton Street and Broad

my misadventure.

Street during the year that followed

Those twelve months might furnish comical sketches

Only fancy
of many a group of bewildered Greeks.
those clever Hellenes, who had so often walked victors
along Mincing Lane, Mark Lane, Eastcheap, and
every monetary locality in the City fancy these clever

fellows, I say, caught like rats in traps

My

friend

lost all his gaiety.

He smoked

Caught like
he said in his grief:

cabbage-leaf cigars through economy.

Milo in the
" M(t)pe

pected

tail,

tail strikes

"I

TraiBid

(foolisli

boys)

who

This Stock Exchange

it 1

catch the

cleft oak,

the head bites you

is

could have ex-

like the serpent

catch the head, the

you."

thought," I said one day, laughing, " that you

carried a head full of brains on your shoulders."

" So

was thought a year ago. But don't make

I am like the dog whose master gave him
a basketful of live crabs to carry home.
On the way
one jumped out. The dog set down the basket and
ran after it. When he returned, he found two others
had gone. He pursued them meanwhile, three or
four more jumped out.
Lie found he could not succeed in rebasketing the crabs, so he killed them all,
and put an end to his struggles. Now, that is my

me

it

blush.

261

had scarcely made 100

case.

shares,

when

I lost

300

or the City Offices, or the

Bank

Bank

in Alliance

in the Scottish

and Universal,

There

of Mexico.

scarcely a kind of stock in which I have not

lost

is

money.

To tell you the truth, I believe

the Greek merchants who joined those companies were
It's

no use talking.

the cause of

they

made us buy

was only

Yes

pockets.

yes, I tell

it

see'?

it is so."

Then he added,

Now, my

eyes, Polypathis

to save our credit.

position

you

Don't you

a poke in the ribs with his finger.

"

keep our

and pitch

It is

what'!we must do

lose

is

we must keep our

that.

Foolish boys

a great thing in this great town

credit, for

My

ahead.

Foolish boys

we must not

tell you, yes.

Go

own

each time that he called out " yes," he gave

in a lower tone

to

or sell shares

their

fill

I tell you, yes

And

me

to

Every time they got in

our troubles.

all

then the money comes again.

eyes, Polypathis

this infernal

go ahead.

Sell

oif,

Stock Exchange to perdition."

I should not have thought of retailing these re-

marks of

did I not regard

of certain important

facts,

them

as the nucleus

in the following chapter,

connected with the limited company mania

facts

w^hich the initiated alone are yet acquainted.

with

262

CHAPTER

XLTI.

MESSRS. OVEREND, GURNEY, AND CO., A LIMITED

COMPANY.

The Greeks of England are

a formidable body, both as

regards their wealth and commercial credit.

Their

tendencies are naturally speculative, and their inclinations /e<2?^on/.

When,

in 18G2, limited companies

made their appearance, many Greeks, seeing the

premium that the shares bore, invested freely in the
They
stock, but only as a matter of speculation.

first

realized great profits.

This drew the attention of other

who at the time were losing largely in the

market
by reason of the great influx of American
corn
wheat and Indian corn. We shortly saw half a dozen
Greek gentlemen start as stockbrokers. It was the
These gentlefirst time Greeks had tried that line.
their
countrymen,
with the expersuaded
soon
men
ception of a few of Avhat we call the old school, to buy
Greeks,

new

The success of

and

sell

this

undertaking induced half a dozen fresh Greeks to

shares in these

appear in the

arena in

men were employed by

concerns.

another

capacity.

These

English promoters as under-

promoters, and received a

sum varying from 200

every Greek merchant whom they

become a director in the new companies.
At that time you might buy or sell any kind of stock

to

500

for

induced to

without the least fear of being ultimately saddled with

it.

I am, however,

were

all

bound

to say that the

Greeks

" bulls," and never thought of selling but to

263
secure a profits

With

the quickness of a plague, this

aleatorial epidemic ran, not alone through the Greeks

of London, but extended to their compatriots in

chester and Liverpool.

Man-

even reached Constanti-

It

The consequence
new company were often all

nople and other parts of the Levant.

was, that the shares of a

bought, without discrimination, by Greeks

lation,

remember.

In

panies were enabled to

on specu-

many fraudulent comThe Greeks bought the

way,

this

jfloat.

same stock simultaneously, not through a spirit of

from the habit of imitation. The shares
naturally went up, and the English public, thinking
there must be something in the matter, bought also,
and so the shares continued to rise. I will give an
example. The shares of the London Bank of Scotland,
Limited, were 10,000 in number, and six Greeks of my
unity, but

acquaintance,

all

men

of small means, held in one

account more than 5500 shares, because

fortnight's

three of our Greek merchants were about to join the

board of the bank.

An

merchant held no

than 900 of these shares.

less

already broken-down ^jetit

He

had bought them at 3 premium, and might have

realized 2000, but he refused to sell, expecting the
shares to rise to 15 premium.

From

this position of things, three results

inevitably

accrue.

In the

first

place,

must

the Greek

directors of the respective companies could only realize

a profit

in

these

transactions by victimizing

compatriots by inducing them to buy shares.

their

Secondly,

the public in general would be victimized by buying

what the Greeks would

or escape with the

sell,

first loss

either to realize a profit

and, thirdly, the jobbers

and brokers would be severely bitten by dealing in

shares that must ultimately become unmarketable.

264

As long

as

money was

cheap, and confidence

prevailed in the market, bills of exchange were easily

negotiated, and the differences in the rise and fall of
shares paid punctually every fifteen days to the stock-

No one dreamed of the impending dangers.

must remember that about that very time several

brokers.

We

foreign loans, involving many millions sterling, were

brought before the public, and favourably received.
In negotiating these loans, a class of promoters
difierent

to that

They were men

concerned.
standing.

connected with the companies was

of higher position

and

Nevertheless, the causes above mentioned

were then beginning

to

be

felt,

and a paralysis was

extending through every branch of London commerce.

It was particularly felt in the Mediterranean trade,
which within our circle, in 1865, became nearly a
dead letter.
Colonials and metals were greatly depreciated.
Copper bottoms went down 15 per ton,
refined Dutch sugar fell 4 per ton, Rio 005*00 5s. per
hundredweight, and yet no one would touch them.

To complete the sum

of dark forebodings that fore-

shadowed the great catastrophe that

fell

upon the City

War was

of London, the termination of the American

fast approaching.

This, though a blessing to humanity,

exerted an inimical influence on the cotton markets of

Liverpool,

Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, and other

towns.
Still, spite

of

all

these menacing prospects, under

the dark shadow of whicli the ignorant and unconscious public

was contentedly

trafficking in shares, the

might have been averted, and the

ruin of thousands spared, had it not been for a new
commercial tour deforce adopted and carried into effect
terrible catastrophe

by a

set

of unprincipled men.

This manoeuvre seemed

265
to

throw a kind of hallucination over the public mind.

People no longer discriminated between valid and

worthless shares, between solid and fictitious business.

The

actors were merchants and bankers, the heads of

had long enjoyed the reputation of wealth,

but who in reality had been during long years insolThese men now resolved to turn their firms
vent.
into limited companies, and so not alone escape the
punishment due to their misdeeds, but realize a handsome profit. These clever gentlemen contrived to sell
to the open-mouthed public several millions sterling of
bad debts, for which they received in return many
firms that

millions in hard cash.

had given advances sometimes more than double the value on the
What a medley the realiproperty pledged to them.
ties of that great pawn-ofiice would display
There
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

were

papers

representing

steamers,

building-yards,

cotton plantations, foreign railways, foreign land im-

know not
were worthless, so much

provements, discounting companies, and I

But these securities

more than their value being advanced upon them.
what.

This being the case, Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and

Co. resolved, before

turning their

own

firm into a

public company, to convert some of this rubbish into

separate

As

companies.

limited

Messrs.

Overend,

Gurney, and Co. could not themselves appear in these

transactions, they

ments,

Messrs.

had recourse

XX

City as great promoters.

to their

who now
Not

that they entertained

a feeling of regard for these men,

rubbish into their possession

who had

the

rolled that

brokers

induced them to advance money on such

heedless

old instru-

figured in the

who had
securities,

of their interest as long as they received


266
their brokerage or their commissions

no

but these

were the few remaining members of the

fellows

Cabirian mysteries of the

Lombard

Street house, and

On

therefore qualified for the business in hand.

other hand, the honest

promoters'

the

conscience was

lightened by the prospect of relieving his old employers

of the burdens he had thrown upon them.
that, in

doing them this

service,

rubbish- with destructive force

It is true

he hurled

upon many poor

all

the

families

upon widows and orphansbut we must remember

that there was fresh brokerage and large profits on

the promised shares, to say nothing of the promotion

money and minor

benefits.

must here mention that, before the great Lombard Street shop was converted into a public bazaar
before its wondrous treasures, which the public rushed
before, as I
so eagerly to buy, were exposed for sale
say, these events took place, the elegant David Ward
I

Chapman
his

retired

from the

firm.

Some accounted

for

retirement by saying that he had considerably

overdrawn his account

others said he was expelled

because the Gurneys ascribed the heavy losses of the

firm to the obstinacy with which he had patronized

to

Whatever was the

me that the proud David

Ward Chapman was now

too glad to descend to the

the

ofiicial

cause,

it

assignee, Edwards.

was evident

rank of a promoter, rather than be one of the partners

In this
of the old or the new firm of the Gurneys.
capacity soon

many

we

find

him humbly seeking

shelter, like

other wrecked speculators, beneath the roofs of

Mr. Stubbs' or Mr. Perry's Panteleimonian Temples.

267

CHAPTER

XLIII.

BATTLE BETWEEN THE JEWS AND THE GKEEKS.

Throgmorton Street
exhibited encounters unexampled in the annals of
history.
Under Titus, the Romans and the Jews

During

these transmutations,

all

came into severe conflict but now, for the first

the Jews and Greeks had an opportunity of
;

time,
fairly

measuring their strength in moral combat. The Jews

of Turkey had always been regarded by the Greeks as
an inferior
couriers.

race,

whom

they employed as porters or

But the Jews of Western Europe are a

totally diflerent class of

co-religionists in

men

the East.

in every respect to their

They had long held a

and several had distinguished

themselves in a larger area than the narrow precincts
Now, for the first time, these keen
of Mark Lane.

high place in

antagonists

society,

the

Greeks and Jews

met

in

sharp

encounter in the confined passes of Throgmorton

Street.
I

The terms

of combat Avere unequal.

passes had for years been held by the Jews.

These

But now

the Greeks, rushing in a strong current from Finsbury,

Threadneedle Street,

endeavoured

Mark

Lane, and Mincing Lane,

to clear the passage of the Jews, seize the

pillars of Hercules,

that lay beyond.

and enter the Hesperidian gardens

But, as I have said, the Jews had

held these passes foryears

and the weak points of the

they

knew both the strong

They had fought

locality.

268

more than one battle on the spot,

and had always come off victors. They now met the

during

years

fifty

Greeks with cool determination, repulsed their attacks,

frustrated their ambuscades, and finally succeeded in
creating divisions in the enemy's camp.

After sus-

taining heavy losses, the Greeks were compelled to

retreat.

Losses were entailed on the oldest and shrewdest

members of the Stock Exchange by

contest.

that sharp, short

Calculating that the conflict would last for

years, these old foxes supplied

both parties with am-

munition and provisions, dealing freely in every kind of

The sudden cessation of warfare

share.

left

them

over-

stocked with articles greatly depreciated in value.

It

what had befallen to several contractors

when the Crimean War came suddenly to a close. Many of these men had in a few
months realized vast sums of money, but, on the
was similar

to

at Constantinople,

unexpected cessation of

hostilities,

they found them-

selves overburdened with commodities, the value

which had rapidly gone down.

What

of

did the jobbers

of the aleatorial house do in their perplexity \

They

used every stratagem, they employed every ruse to get

and they did succeed in

gulling the public, and exchanged their worthless

rid of the depreciated shares

shares for solid gold.

It has

been

said, "

prudent; but once in

enemy

shall

To keep

it,

out of a difficulty

beware of thee,

is

valiant."

It

was thus

that the members of the Stock Exchange acted.

did not cease to deal in the questionable shares.

never allowed the

spire

is

to bear thyself so that the

They
They

difficulties of their position to tran-

but they established amongst themselves certain

2G9

For example,

rules.

if

they bought at 6 premium

the depreciated shares of a company, they sold at 9

or if they

bought

This explains
in the

list

at

at par, they

how so many

anomalous

sold at 3

premium.

shares figured at this time

prices.

For

my part,

I think

that this skilfully covered commercial retreat of modern

times deserves to rank side by side with the military

retreat efiected

by our great compatriot, the warrior-

and his ten thousand, in ancient days.

During this commercial warfare I have described,

historian,

stock-jobbers sold to the combatants on both sides

shares in certain
hold, and which,

new companies which they did not

when the time for delivery came,

they could only obtain by buying at tremendous

must here make a short digression. We

are aware that the Committee of the Stock Exchange
has the privilege of making laws, which, though not
the laws of the land, have as much force in the commercial world as though they were, and have on the
minds of juries the weight attached to usage. This
committee had about that time issued two ukases.
The first decreed that no company of which two-thirds
of the capital was not subscribed, and the deposit and
prices.

allotment
floated.

money paid up, could be considered to have

The second ukase declared that, where a

settlement was refused by the Stock Exchange, all

company should be deemed null

These two decrees, though in appearance

contracts with such

and

void.

very beneficial to the public, did

mately.

By

much

mischief

the action of these ukases^

concerns were

ulti-

many good
much

prevented from floating, and

rubbish was confidingly bought by the unenlightened

public.

270
In virtue of these two Stock Exchange decrees,

many

solid

and honest companies were refused a

settle-

ment, because some members of that gambling-hall had

and would sustain great

and, under the
influence of these ukases, the public were encouraged
been entrapped
losses

as "bears,"

were such settlement granted

to take part in worthless enterprises, because the pro-

moters of these undertakings had been clever enough

some members of the great aleatorial mansion in their affairs, and so make them parties to their
speculations on the public credulity.
Things were in this state when the first roll of the
thunder was heard, and the electric current struck
with fatal force the Bank of Leeds, an old and muchThis was a warning correctly
respected concern.
interpreted by many, and might have been widely
recognized but that a few of the promoters contrived
to blind some of the monetary organs of the City.
As
general
rule,
the
writers
on
monetary
matters
in
the
a
to entangle

leading
are

London newspapers

men who
;

they

are themselves able to read the signs of

But the epoch of which

the times.
exceptional

are well informed

certain organs of public

speak was

opinion were

deceived, and contributed unintentionally to propagate

these monetary heresies.

Every one knows the

rest.

Symptoms of the

great

appeared in 1865. Many large houses in

Mincing Lane suspended payment.
Then followed
some banks and some large Lidia and China houses.

crisis first

The fever for bringing out public companies had somewhat abated the first symptoms of the fatal epidemic

that laid waste the shares of limited companies were

subsiding

when a new

class of

men

suddenly sprang

271
up, and took the place erst occujned by the promoters.

These new-comers very much resembled the

plague doctors,

were called

who

in to cure.

I can understand a lottery.

and either

cattle-

slaughtered the creatures they

lose your

money or

understand the roulette

You buy your

ticket,

win something. I
of Baden-Baden I can even
else

comprehend the English turf, the Koman tali, and the

Greek astragalus. In the hazard attached to these
concerns you have a real, though not, perhaps, a very
fair chance.
But what chance has the outsider on the
Stock Exchange I He can never buy stock, even for
investment, and realize, at the same moment, the price
paid.
If he buys for speculation, from the moment
he becomes the holder of stock he is every fortnight
subjected to a

fine, called

the stock he holds.

contango

Persons

a heavy

who

interest

on

are in possession of

good or bad intelligence with regard to the stock in

question, or who are aware of a prepared rigging of
the said stock, may, in spite of all these disadvantages,

make
result

And

But are not such profits the

of a fraud committed by the few on the many %

a profit out of

it.

are not such tours de force the daily practice of

the members of that great institution

unenlightened public

fairly

in that mighty abode"?

outsiders

the

game

to hurl

who seem
faro, " to

can the

Within these mystic

cincts there sits a committee, absolute as

and always ready

How

compete with the insiders

some fresh

likely, as

we

say

any autocrat,

edict against

when

blow up the bank."

pre-

any

playing at

What chance

have you, or any other outsider, against a body of men

who can prohibit transactions in the shares of a public

company, with which they had, perhaps, a few days

272
before helped to

With

saddle you!

the

sharpest

horse-dealers you have a better chance than with these

The former

Stock Exchange gentlemen.

will

not

prevent you putting up to auction even the lame horse

that they have imposed on you

the

shares

money.

for

The

which you

in

the latter annihilate

good

faith paid

your

redress of this evil rests entirely with

the Legislature.

273

CHAPTER XLIV.
THE ANGLO-GREEK STEAM NAVIGATION AND TRADING
COMPANY.

About the middle

of 1864 I began to retreat from the

was thinking seriously of estaGreek

"
Black
and Oriental, or the
Levant and
Sea," as
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. had re-baptized my
line. Understanding as I did the movements of Messrs.
Overend, Gurney, and Co., I felt that they could not
remain much longer in the field. My friend
is to blame that this new concern did not appear in
Stock Exchange.

blishing a

new

line of steamers, to succeed the

July, 1864.

After my separation from Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and

Co., they

embarked

in a perilous

grain trade, which, although

certain wants of theirs,

of

making

it

and illegitimate

momentarily

satisfied

and gave them an opportunity

nice entries in their books, gave, as

was

inevitable in the long run, the coup de grace to the

line.

But,

strangely

enough, in the eyes of Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co., I was the great criminal,

merely because I was the originator of the

line.

The

second engineer on board a steamer once said to his

who uttered a malediction against the engine

" 'Tis not Stephenson's engine that's bad. Sir, but, the

chef,

way you work

it."

This

is

a fair illustration of the

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company in the

hands of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. That
t

274
line

was firmly based

it

rested on a large

and

lucra-

tive trade.

The Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation

Com-

pany expired about the middle of 1865, two years after

I left it, and eight years after it had first sprung into
existence. That company, in the meridian of its power,
possessed twenty-four steamers; at

bered seven.

Of

its

close it

num-

these five were sold by Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. to a Liverpool merchant, at

what I had originally paid

had bought them cheap.
The ofiices of the company, in Fenchurch Street,
were now abandoned to a host of clerks, whose most
prices very little less than

a proof that

laborious occupation consisted in paring their nails,

and who found recreation in discussing the merits of

the various chefs under whom they had served in that
office.

It

was with no small share of grief that I witnessed

the expiring throes of a line which, in the natural order

of things, ought to have enjoyed a long and flourishing

commercial existence.

But, on the other hand, con-

sidering the turn events

had taken,

I felt glad that

the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

had, as

it

were, stolen out of

life,

Company

and not come to an

end amidst some public scandal, the odium of which

its then powerful possessors might have contrived to

throw upon me.

That my apprehensions were not ill founded was
abundantly proved when I began to establish the
Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation and Trading Company. This line of steamers was to have traded on
commission and consignments alone there was to be
no speculation. And yet scarcely had I printed my
;

prospectus

when a

secret but formidable

opposition

275

began to follow my paths. I had applied personally

or through highly respectable men to several members
of old-established firms. All found my project admirable,

and several consented to become directors.

But

within a few days I was sure to receive a note declining

the honour.

The more

endeavoured

to find directors

become known that

I was bringing out a steam company, the more terrible
was the opposition I encountered. I received anonymous insulting letters, and I was told that my name
was the sole cause of the company not floating.
I was more amused than discouraged by the host
that I found springing up around.
enemies
I felt
of
I knew that I
that truth would eventually triumph.
lions
in
my
also
path, but I
knew that the
had many
animals were lamed, and dared not face me. A man
of commercial weight, the more

it

who seeks to justify himself by calumniating another,

or who writes anonymous letters through revenge, is
as little to

be feared as believed.

Early in 1865 I again

the City, having failed

to induce any of what are called " tip-top " men to
left

join the directorship of the Anglo-Greek

Steam Navi-

Company.
I know that Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co., and their favourites, had not spared
me. I knew that they had not only hinted, but openly
gation

asserted, that trade in the line I proposed existed only

in

my

imagination

facilities

before converted

my

that were

it

otherwise, with the

they had given me, I ought to have long

it

into a monopoly.

Were any

of

acceptances brought to them to be discounted by

there was
and you know,
a
acceptances did not pass through that
a damaging
great melting-house they were refused

a broker
City

scarcely

reader,

man whose

in

fashion.

One

partner, perhaps, passed the bill to an-

t2

276
other, with a significant smile or wink, or

we know

What

that gentleman well."

it

was loudly

Xenos

Xenos

refused, with, " No, no, thank you.

could I do

I could not go round to every one who heard these

injurious hints, and relate the lengthy story I have

told here.

Still less

could I hope to meet a

man

of

perspicacity sufficient to discern that the Cyclopean

divinity.

which he gazed with awe was not indeed a

The human race is essentially the same

under

all

those social changes that

and "

civilization."

statue on

we

call "

progress

"

In every age, in every clime,

credulity, with the masses, takes the place of faith.

The thoughtful Egyptian regarded

the crocodile as a

the highly civilized Athenian looked upon the

deity
ugly owl as the harbinger of good news the sagacious
Theban drew favourable auspices from the convulsions
of the dove struggling in the talons of an eagle. And
;

no doubt posterity

will discover in

some of our current

beliefs, follies as egregious as those that distinguished

past generations.

One man may,

like Socrates, discern

the truth amidst the darkness of this paganism ; but

would a modern Socrates have a greater chance of

being listened to than had the ancient 1 I think not.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney and Co. were the metal
Their feet were indeed of clay,
deities of the City.

but those their adorers did not see. They looked only
These terrible Gog and Magog ruled the
at the head.
money world. They could have crushed t\^ enty like

me.

On

the other part, in

my

letter of the

20th of

1863, to Mr. G. B. Carr, a copy of which I sent

May,
the same day to Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., I
told them that 1 hoped the Almighty, even if I should
be left penniless, would prevent me from ever being
forced to ask a favour from them, and that

my accounts

277
with them were dosed for ever in this world.

page 243.)

coukl not, therefore,

make up my mind to
establishing my new company.
sidered,

all

(See

things con-

ask them to assist in

was one day speaking with Mr. Hollams about

the Articles of Association of the Anglo-Greek Steam
Navigation Company, when he said, in his usual quiet
I

way
"

Do you know

that you cannot bring out a steam

company for that trade ? You forget that you sold

Greek and Oriental to Overend, Gurney, and Co.
I don't say you can't bring out a company
of course
the

you can but a short advertisement in the newspapers,

to the effect that the Greek and Oriental has priority
in the trade, would prevent the public from applying
for shares
besides, the present owners of the Black
Sea and Levant may stop the Anglo-Greek in
;

Chancery."
" What's to be done, then %
What do you advise"?
" Couldn't you see Carr, and try to come to some

understanding with him

"
^

"Since March, 1863, when I broke off with the

firm, I have never met any of them.
Perhaps you can
help me by seeing Carr, and sounding him."
" Very well.

have to see him about some other

"matters, so I shall take the opportunity to

speak about

yours."

After leaving the

I

began

office

to reflect seriously

of

Thomas and Hollams,

on what Mr. Hollams had

Knowing that the Greek and Oriental Steam

Navigation Company was dying a natural death, I
said.

had, a few months previously, gone round to the principal

Greek

gentleman,

shippers, in

who was

company with another Greek

to join

me

in the board of the


278

new company,

limited,

the shippers to sign a

tention to give

me

and had succeeded in inducing

new

letter expressing their in-

the preference of their shipments

my new line. This was a valuable concession. I

had about the same time obtained, through the Greek
Government, the special patronage of His Majesty the
King of the Greeks for the Anglo-Greek Steam NaviIn virtue of the royal patronage,
gation Company.
the steamers of that company were to have many privileges, particularly at Pyreeus, which was destined to
be the great transit port for goods exported from

in

England

to the Levant, as well as for those

England.

imported to

I also contracted with several ship-builders

in the north of

England

for sixteen steamers,

which

were to form the above line, to be paid for partly in

shares, and partly with the acceptances of the AngloGreek Company. The general scheme for working
the Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation
follows

Company was

as

The company was to be a trading one, and was to

have several small steamers, of about 700 tons burden,
for the transport of the mails and the collection of
These small steamers were to serve as feeders
the large ones, which were about 2000 tons burden.

goods.
to

Now

as to the working.

There are

in the

Levant ten principal towns whence

the products of Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Eussia are

exported, and where English merchandises are im-

These towns are Odessa, Galatz, Constantinople, Salonica, Smyrna, Beyrout, Alexandria, Syra,
Each of these towns is, so to speak,
Patras, and Corfu.

ported.

a transit port for the adjacent coasts, as well as for the

interior,

when

there

is

not a direct communication

with the great emporium.

For example

Hundreds


279
of small dealers are obliged to transport their goods

from remote villages and small seaports on the coasts of

Asia Minor and the neighbouring islands to Smyrna.

The mode of conveyance is by small sailing craft, and the

freight for these short distances
is

paid from

tion

is,

Smyrna

to

London.

is

often equal to

The mode

what

of opera-

that these goods are sold to the large exporters,

or are consigned to them, to be reconsigned on account

or joint account to England.
drain, as

it

discharges

Corfu

is

the commercial

were, for the coasts of Albania

those

Beyrout

functions for the coasts of Syria;

Salonica, for the coasts of Macedonia,

Thrace, and

on of the other large towns.

I proposed to work was this
Each of the small steamers was to leave Pyrseus or
Athens once a week, coast along one of the abovenamed shores, and receive the goods from the owners.
Thessaly

and

so

The plan on which

Upon

these goods our agents were to advance half

them direct to
Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation Company, with one through freight.
In London
the goods would be sold on commission, or on the
owner's account.
The money-advances on such goods
might be safely made in two ways; they might be
made in cash through the captains, supercargo, and
agents conjointly, or through the central banking
agency at Athens, after the goods were shipped on
board the steamers, and the bills of lading drawn to
the order of the Anglo-Greek Company in London
or the exporters could have direct bills of exchange
on London, or on the national bank at Athens.
It is quite plain that in this way we should not
only facilitate the transport of goods to and from
London, but we should also open fresh tracks of
or two-thirds of the value, and load

London, consigned

to the

280
communication with the interior of these countries,

and so enlarge the trade. In a country like Turkey,

where the want of roads prevents a free internal communication, the punctual arrival of the steamer at these

new

and
the Piraeus on a

would supply a great deficiency

seaports

these small steamers, returning to

would bring, without competition, a full

The
cargo for the large steamers bound to London.
exporters generally order the balance coming to them

fixed day,

after the sale of the goods in England, to be converted

into manufactured goods, colonials, or metals for exportation,

consequently the outward cargo for the

steamers would be secured without competition.

But, perhaps, I
affect

may be

asked

how

liberal a support.

mercial houses of

those that

I shall explain.

London

so

The Greek com-

own account, and those

Those that trade on com-

mission are few, and the great majority

trade on their

me

are divided into two classes

trade on their

that trade on commission.

would

this

the Greek firms of London, that gave

would

own account

those that

give

me

their

my line would be a national one, and

would tend greatly to increase Greek commerce. Even
those who traded on commission would be compelled
to ship with the Anglo-Greek Company, because it
would be the only line having a direct communication
goods because

with

all

the islands of the Archipelago, with the sea-

ports of the coast

and

received their orders.

line,

in-lying districts

So

that,

under

whence they

all aspects, this

well worked and with sufficient capital, would

secure a kind of monopoly in freights, independent of

the 3 per cent, commission on

all

the goods consigned,

bought, or sold for the consignee's account.

My

next step was to form a board of directors for

281
the Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation Company,
solved to select six

London merchants,

whose character would be a

when applying

doubts as to success.

solvent men,

security to the public

With such

shares.

for

and the patronage

I re-

a board,

was promised, I could feel no

But when I went into the City

men upon whom

I had reckoned, I soon found how deep was the
prejudice entertained against me on account of my
and made

offers

of directorship to the

and Co.
was slandered, I knew that groundless prejudices were fostered
to my disadvantage, and I was compulsorily tonguetransactions with Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

My

position

was a trying one.

knew

tied.

Frustrated in

my

search for directors, I began to

my mind

the advice given by my friend,

must here avow that in laying down
the plan for the Anglo-Greek, I had wholly overlooked in fact, had quite forgotten the impediments
revolve in

Mr. Hollams.

which the purchasers of the Greek and Oriental could

throw in my way. In those days Messrs. Overend,
Gurney, and Co. wielded a power in the commercial
world which no individual could resist. Their frown
But, independent of
alone was sufficient to blight.
moral
weight in those days it
their monetary and
was moral they had, in the existing state of things, a
legitimate power to check me.
The more I reflected, the more I felt convinced
that the advice of Mr. Hollams was the best I could
follow.
I saw that the great capitalists had turned
the Millwall Works into a public company with a
capital of several millions sterling, and I had no doubt

of their having done equally well with a great deal

of the rubbish

they held.

saw that the Credit

282

Fonder

et

Mobilier had brought out a large steam

navigation company, with fleets once

possessed

by

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., and supposing that

by these transactions the great firm of Lombard
Street must have realized pretty large sums, I began
to believe they had tided over their difliculties, and
would not be sorry, without appearing openly in the
affair

themselves, to help Mr. G. B. Carr and

me

to

new line upon a solid basis.

Whilst in this frame of mind I one day accidentally
met Mr. A. Carnegie, who had just come from Galatz
to commence business as a merchant in London.
In
the course of conversation I mentioned that I was
about bringing out a new line to succeed the rapidly
dying Greek and Oriental. Having dilated a little
establish this

upon my

projects,

and the

difficulties I

tered, Carnegie offered to induce

me

had encoun-

Mr. Carr to procure

the moral support of Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co.,

if,

in return, I

would promise

Galatz the shipment of grain for the

Two

his

house at

new company.

had passed since Mr. HoUams

Mr. Carr, and the interview had
not yet taken place. I was getting impatient, and as
the new company was to work on commission and not
on speculation, I thought I could not do better than
accept Carnegie's offer.
I did so, and he immediately
or three days

had promised

set to

to see

work.

The

negotiations between Mr. Carr and

He

very protracted.

my new

company.

refused to give
or find

me

me

declined to

become a

me were

director in

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

any moral support,

directors

to take shares,

in fact, to sign

the contract

drawn by A. Carnegie, marked No. 29 in the AppenAll this parleying consumed time which was

dix.

283
was anxious to remove
all impediments that obstructed the coming out of
the Anglo-Greek, I signed, on the 25th of April,

all

important to me, and, as

1865, a contract for the purchase of the goodwill of

the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company for

3500, Mr. G. B. Carr representing Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and Co. in the transaction.* 1 had also to
pay the salaries of the clerks from this date up to the
day that the company was brought out.
The failure of the Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation

and Trading Company, Limited, was due

to

three

Firstly, because 1 did not succeed in my

attempt to induce substantial City men to join the
board of directors. Secondly, because I brought my

causes.

company out

at the eleventh hour,

when

the public

craving for limited companies was already satiated;

consequently the shares were not largely subscribed

and a

for,

And

sufficiency of capital could not

be

raised.

thirdly, the company did not succeed because

it

was LIMITED. Whoever reads my letter to Mr. Henry

Edmund Gurney, written in 1860 (see page 77), will
perceive that I foresaw the evils inevitably attendant

on the limited system. That system was developed,

so to speak, under peculiar conditions of the commerand the fact that, of the hundreds of
cial atmosphere
limited companies that sprang into existence, so few
;

reached maturity,
truth of

my

may be adduced

as a proof of the

predictions.

* This contract, being one of the concessions which I sold to

the Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation and Trading Company, Limited,
I delivered to the company's solicitor, Mr. Sharp.

lamentable death, I

am

unable to produce

marked Nos, 42, 43, and 44

the transaction.

in the

it,

Owing

to his

but the receipts,

Appendix, show the validity of

284

Steam Navigation and

Trading Company was based on sound principles, and
could have been worked to yield great profits, I have
had substantial proofs. Were it otherwise, would Mr.
That

the

Anglo-Greek

Francis Burnand, an eminent stockbroker, have offered

me, on the part of certain great

my

concessions'?

capitalists,

25,000

I should say certainly not.

for

My

reason for not accepting that offer was, that by the

conditions of the bargain I was to withdraw altogether

from the company, and be neither manager nor director.

But as the patronage of His Majesty King

George of Greece had been granted to me personally,

deemed it a point of honour to remain identified
with the company. I now only mention this off'er of
25,000 to prove that if the Anglo-Greek were not a
promising enterprise, shrewd men of business would
And there is
not have esteemed it worth that price.
the opinion of the Master of the Eolls, when, in 1866,
the Anglo- Greek was brought judicially under his
notice.
His lordship on that occasion examined and
admitted the validity of my concessions and the wellI

doing of the company, and therefore dismissed the

petition of Messrs. Grant and Gask.

And
have

yet, of all

lost most.

Lodge

and

its

connected with the Anglo-Greek, I

I

sacrificed

my

house

Petersham

valuable contents, to promote the com-

was the largest shareholder, having nearly

3000 shares, which I kept to the last a proof of my

pany.

faith in the vitality of the Anglo- Greek.

My

was investigated before the Master of the

conduct

Rolls,

and

I can confidently refer the reader to the official liquidator, Mr. Henry Chatteris, who with the solicitors of

and Banister, examined the accounts of the company, and read my

his firm, Messrs. Davidson,

Carr,

285
protest on the minute-books.
rity

owe

it

to the integ-

and kindness of these gentlemen, and to the high

sense of justice of the chief clerk, Mr. Church, as well

Master of the Eolls, that I escaped

Bankruptcy
Court.
It would have been dealing
the
me the coup de grdce to have sent me to meet there,
after so long an interval in our acquaintance, my old

as of the learned

friend,

Mr. Edward Watkin Edwards.

286

CHAPTER XLV.
THE CONSULATE.

The Fata Morgana seemed

to preside over

my

destinies

Everything looked
during the year of grace 1865.
everything resolved itself into
well, looked brilliant
;

The Greek Government, on the

5th of June of that year, appointed me Greek ConsulGeneral in London. The British Government, without

mist and vapour.

assigning any reason, refused

my

exequatur.

I never

have been able to learn the cause of this proceeding.

During twelve months the post of Greek Consul in

London was virtually vacant, and my Government used

every effort to persuade the British to accept me as
but in vain. The discourtesy to the Greek
consul
;

Government was persisted in, and the persecution of

an individual was not considered unworthy of a mighty
Government. However, a better state of things is now
being inaugurated for England. The late revelations
with regard to the long-boasted commercial honesty of
her mighty merchants will not,
unfruitful.
diffidence

to be hoped, prove

Englishmen may there learn a modest

when,

in future, they indulge in

on what they are pleased to

virtues."

it is

They may

call

also learn to

eulogiums

their "national
treat with for-

bearance, perhaps ultimately with justice, foreigners

who have

paid

dearly for trusting

too

largely

to

English commercial probity.

Let no one accuse me of speaking with bitterness.

287

man

deeply wounded cannot be expected to break

pain.

my

The

refusal

when he

cramped with
of the British Government to grant

forth into mirthful songs

is

exequatur was not alone mortifying to

my feelings

became in the hands of my enemies

of
misrepresentation.
A rumour was
a new source
circulated by malicious people that the Greek Government asked me to resign because of the Chancery suits
connected with Messrs Grant aad Gask and the AngloGreek Steam IN avigation Company such was not the
I was appointed consul before the Anglotruth.
Greek "floated," and long before it appeared in
Chancery the determination to refuse my exequatur
had been arrived at.
as a simple fact,

it

strong refutation of all these calumnies will be

found in the

fact that for nearly a year

ment persevered in trying to induce the

ment to yield in my favour. These
useless, another

my

Govern-

British Governeflbrts

proving

gentleman was appointed consul.

The

following translation of a letter of the then Greek

Minister for Foreign Affairs

to

my

father, will confirm

Mr. Spiro

what

I say

Valaoritis

\Trandation7\
1

fi

Corfu, ^Q Janvxiry, 1867.

My

dearest Mb. Xenos,

I received your dear letter of the 7tli inst.

of your son's letter.

also the

copy

am much

have perused both attentively, and

grieved to learu from your son's statements that he has suffered

greatly,

and been unjustly persecuted by men from

whom

he had a

right to expect gratitude.

I have acted towards

him frankly and unreservedly.

him, through you, to resign, because that

I advised

my Government was

not

able to obtain for him, from the English Government, his exequatur.

The English,

like every other

Government, has the right

to refuse

288
or grant such,
clear himself

May

an opportunity occur

to enable

your son to

from the slanders that have been uttered against him.

Wishing you happiness,

I am,

Your

friend,

Spiro Yalaoeitis.

(Signed)

The
mours

slanders above alluded to were the evil ru-

circulated to

my

sons living in England

disadvantage by certain per-

persons,

too,

from whom,

if

they were as patriotic as they pretend, I ought to have

These people suc-

received very different treatment.

ceeded so far in their malice as to pour their

e^dl-

speaking into the ears of the noblemen and honourable

gentlemen who then ruled in the British Foreign

I

Office.

cannot refute what

my

enemies said against

me, as I have never learned the character of their

charges or inuendoes

but this I know

they

suc-

ceeded in attaining their object.

Now, at the end of three years, I can speak calmly

on the subject, because in that short space so many
bitternesses have been crowded into my existence as
to push, so to speak, the circumstances connected with

the refusal of

In this

my

spirit, I

exequatur far back in

cannot help expressing

that the very nationality of

my

my memory.
my surprise

enemies did not make

them suspected by men experienced

in the

ways of the

world, and accustomed to observe the thousand meannesses that disfigure even comparatively good characters.

A distinguished modern historian says something

to the effect that a successful

bitterest

it

is

sure to find his

enemies amongst his own townsmen.

number of foreigners
as

man

living in a large metropolis form,

were, a micropolis, within which live and flourish

myriads of petty village bickerings and jealousies, the

289
expression of which should never be allowed to influence the

As

judgment of the great governing powers.

for myself, I do not think I deserve badly of

the British Government.

and spoke
East

During twenty years I wrote

in favour of British preponderance in the

laboured unceasingly to introduce British in-

stitutions into those regions

I raised

my voice

against

the wild prejudices engendered by Panslavic teachings in fact, if I have sinned politically, it has been
through a desire to make Greece somewhat English.
I was the first who proposed that the crown of Greece
;

should be offered to Prince Alfred of England.

formed a Philhellenic Committee in London, the object

of which was to improve and maintain the friendly

between England and Greece. I

also endeavoured hard in 1863 to effect the settlement
of the vexed question of the Greek bonds of 1824-25.

relations existing

And

with regard to these bonds, I tried to

make

Greece adopt a policy becoming the grandeur of the

future which I hope

is

before her, and which would

have secured to her the respect and confidence of her

English creditors.
If I have

my

made enemies and

excited slanderers

by

endeavours to strengthen and cement the amicable

relations existing

between England and Greece,

be content to bear the consequences of a

followed in obedience to conscientious

But, whilst I can understand and

line of action

convictions.

know how to

despise

the short-sighted envy and ignorant malice of

who murmur

at the elevation of

must

men

one of their own com-

he has happened to wound some of

prejudices, I certainly cannot compre-

patriots, because

their political

hend how

British ministers could allow themselves to

be made instruments to gratify a paltry hate.

It is

290

'

only a truism to say that ^^p^zfife statements should be

received with caution, or that justice

demands the

patient hearing of both parties in a suit.

I advised

the honourable settlement of the question of the Greek

bonds of 1824-25, and by that, as well as by other

advice of a similar character, I offended interested
debtors, without, as
will of the creditors

inevitably arrive

would appear, gaining the goodBut the day will

I tried to serve.

it

when

every enlightened Greek, as

well as every honest Englishman, will acknowledge

had the question of the Greek bonds been settled

1863, the aspect of affairs in the East would be

that,

in

pleasanter than

it is

at the present

moment.

u2

\
LU


293

CHAPTER XLVI.
DEPEEDATIONS.
I SOLD the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company on March 31st, 1863, for 2500; I bought it
back on April 25th, 1865, for 3723. (Vide Appendix, Nos. 42, 43, and 44.)
These two sums, put in an algebraic form, give the

following result

= -

2500 - 3723
This

little

sum

of

1223,

1223.

my own
Ward
51a), my

paid out of

pocket, comes under the head of what Mr. David

Chapman

(Appendix, No.

calls, in his letter

Howover,

DEPEEDATiONS.

to ascertain the full extent

of the depredations operated in this commercial Tower

of Babel,

we have

problem represented by

to solve the

the annexed diagram.

We

want

to ascertain the perpendicular height of

C.H.A.P.M.A'.N.s.

This altitude not being within

the reach of manual measurement,

Having measured the

reckoning to attain our object.

base line
triangles,

E d w a r d'.
E D d. and E
.

and marked

s.,
.

we proceed by

w.,

of connexion between C. and E.,

off the

two

and drawn a

line

we

find the follow-

ing results, in accordance with the principle of the

similarity of triangles
parallel lines

Ed Dd
:

and the

relative proportions of

E.d.w.a.r.d'.s

C.H.A.P.M.A'.N.s.

294
That is, by multiplying the second and third terms,
and dividing by the first, we have the full altitude of

C.H.A.P.M.A'.N.s. thus:
C.H.A.P.M.A'.N.s
That

is

= E.d.w.a.r.d'.s.
Ed

C.H.A.P.M.A'.N.s.

to say, the altitude of

depends on the length of

X Dd

a r
.

d'

s.

295

CHAPTER

XLVII.

THE EATS AND THE

PIG.

David Barclay Chapman, father of David Ward, is

afflicted with a feeble memory.
He forgets Joseph
Windle Cole, who, emerging from the counting-house
of Forbes, Forbes, and Co., in which he was a shipping
clerk,

traversed Eastern India in various capacities,

and with a rapidity that would have done credit

to one of the genii of the "Arabian Nights," in
1847, presented himself in Basinghall Street, loaded

with the heroic

following year

liability of

153,000, and who in the

1848 established himself

in Birchin

Lane, where he puzzled his mighty neighbours, the

denizens of the " Corner House," with fictitious warrants

of

the

Hagen's Sufferance Wharf,

and

his

astounding cash account of two years, amounting to

4,300,000, together with his
hall Court, against

new

estate in Basing-

which Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co. had a claim of 120,000.

David Barclay Chapman also forgets Charles
Maltly, Esq., who was a Custom-House clerk in the
firm of Messrs. Forbes, Forbes, and Co., and who, like
Joseph Windle Cole, left that employment; but he
moved at a slower pace, and journeyed through more
obscure ways than did his fellow-clerk, until he ultimately became the illustrious Maltly and Co., wharfingers, of the Hagen's Sufferance Wharf
a locality that

attained an equal celebrity in connexion with fictitious

296
warrants, that entailed no small

amount of debt on

the great capitalists.

David Barclay Chapman

Mr. Sargant,
another clerk of Messrs. Forbes, Forbes, and Co., who,
after

leaving

their

forgets

house, established

himself in a

Mincing Lane, as Sargant,

David Barclay Chapman forgets
how this establishment came to grief, or, in other
words, became insolvent in the same year, 1847, with
liabilities amounting to 62,254 Is. 5d., and how
from the ashes of this firm sprang up another, Davidson, Gordon, and Co., a concern redolent with the
odour of fictitious warrants, secured to Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., with a profitable distillery in
business-like manner, in

Gordon, and Co.

West Ham,

in the county of Essex.

David Barclay Chapman forgets the two fugitives,

George Sedgwick and Charles Gray, and their adventures at Neufchatel with

Madame Formachon, when

Mr. James Beard, of Beard Brothers, Manchester,

was tracking them with detectives. He forgets, too,
the display of daggers and revolvers made by these
gentlemen at Naples.
David Barclay Chapman forgets the disclosures
made by Mr. William Bois, his confidential clerk, on
the 31st of May, 1856, in his affidavit, where he says
that on the 13th of October, 1853
that is, nearly four

years before the bankruptcy of

;

J.

Windle Cole

conversation occurred between

the latter and Mr.

David Barclay Chapman relative to certain dock warrants held by Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., and
which warrants purported to represent spelter, tin,
copper, Swedish iron, lead, tin plates, and cochineal,
lying at Hagen's Sufferance Wharf, to the amount
of 250,000, and

against which

warrants Messrs.

297
Overcnd, Gurncy, and Co. had advancod to Cole Brothers upwards of 195,655; and that in the aforesaid

conversation Joseph

Chapman

Barclay

were

Windle Cole admitted

to

David

that the aforementioned warrants

valueless, the goods

which they purported to

represent not being at the wharf.

David Barclay Chapman forgets the strong remarks

made by the Eecorder, the Right Hon. Stuart Wortley,

when he

said

" I shall not anticipate anything, lest

means of doing

I might be the

say that I believe

it

to

injustice

but I will

be unfortunate that those

had a knowledge of the position of those

earlier stage of their proceedings, did not take

to stay them.
ness,

It

may have been from

who

parties, in the

means

motives of kind-

but I think they were mistaken motives, and that

they were the means of inflicting injury upon other

parties." *

David Barclay Chapman forgets the lamentable

death of a benevolent and honourable man, Mr. Samuel
Gurney, his senior partner, a man whom the exposure
of the above-mentioned transactions brought to his
grave.

He

forgets that these transactions, during the

time he had the management, and their consequences,

made

the

first

breach in the great tower of Overend,

Gurney, and Co., sapped

tated

its

foundations, and precipi-

its fall.

Forgetting

all

these

antecedents, David Barclay

Chapman

thinks proper now to step before the

public and express his " deep affliction," for what has
lately

come

to light.

(See Appendix, No. 51.)

publishes a letter addressed to

Ward, which he

" believes to

him by

He

David
be perfectly true," and
his dear

* Before Mr. Commissioner Fonblanquc, July

2, 1857.

298
adds that he thinks it his duty to speak upon a point
in which the " highest moral principle is involved."

In what strange times we live! Who that has

read the life of Ali-Pasha of Janina would expect to
can only
find off-shoots of his school in London.

We

repeat the

What

common Greek

saying

an admirable production

Tlavrov rd Travra.
is

Chapman by

dressed to David Barclay

the letter adhis son

(See

Appendix, No. 51a.) In that epistle Mr. D. W. Chapman summons the whole world into the presence of his

Maker, to show where he has sacrificed the interests of

Overend, Gurney, and Co. The reader of " Depredations " will be able to form an opinion for himself as
to who sacrificed the interests of Overend, Gurney,

and Co.
David W. Chapman thinks it was necessary to keep
out of the Bankruptcy Court the dreadful accounts of
Lever, Mare, and Xenos.
If these accounts were really subjects for the Bankruptcy Court,

why

did the Overends, by the advice of

Edward W. Edwards, and under the management of D.

W. Chapman, buy up these concerns, and carry them
on for several years afterwards, appointing their own
favourites

as

managers'?

Was

not Mr.

J.

Lyster

O'Beirne an acquaintance and private friend of D.

Chapman \ Was it not D. W. Chapman who intro-

Mr. John Orrell Lever, and afterwards

AVas
appointed him to manage Mare's business"?
Mare's business improved and its debt reduced under
Was not Mr. Edward Watkin
this new regime % *
duced him

to

* I do not allude

to

any moneys which,

in 1864, the Millwall

Iron-Works Company may have received from the public when the
concern was converted into a limited company with 10,000 shares
and ,2,000,000

capital.

Mr.

J.

Lyster O'Beirne, iu his letter to

299

Edwards an old and special friend of Chapman, when

he was appointed, with a gift of 100 shares, general
disposer of the fate of the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam
Navigation Company 1 Was it not under his management that the debt of that company rose from200,000
to 850,000 1* Why was the Greek and Oriental, after
I sold

it

to the "

Comer House," transformed

into the

Black Sea and Levant Steam Navigation Company,

and allowed
speculations

to

trade

two years longer in grain

I challenge the

my Maker, but

whole world, not into the presence

into the presence of these facts,

and

ask whether any one can there show that D.

W.

of

Chapman

did not sacrifice the interests of Overend,

Gurney, and Co.,

at least

if

not directly in his

own

person,

through the instrumentality of his favourites.

When a

large house like that of Overend, Gurney,

and Co. takes up certain working concerns, and carries

them on for a succession of years, there are only two
modes of explaining such procedure. Either the concerns were sound at the time of being purchased by the
capitalists, and were brought to ruin by their mismanagement; or else, the purchasers were themselves
insolvent, and sought ^to make a scapegoat of their
he Times (see Appendix, No. 52), says that in the early part of

1861 he was appointed by Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

superintendent of the Millwall Works, with a salary of i!1500 per
Let Mr. Mare say what his debt was at that date, and if
was anything approaching the sum that figures in the present
estate of Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., and if the Millwall
Works were a concern for the Bankruptcy Court, why they carried

annum.

it

them on for three years ?

* Mr. John Orrell Lever,

when he

in his Letter to the Times, states that,

Galway Company in the hands of Mr. Edwards

and Mr. D. W. Chapman, this concern was perfectly solvent.
left

the

300

by throwing on them the odium of

This would be equivalent to commitancient losses.
ting DEPREDATIONS on the public.
But D. W. Chapman, in his published letter, makes
late purchases

an admission equivalent to saying thatOverend, Gurney,

and Co. were insolvent, when he says that it was in the

power of Edward Watkin Edwards to make them put

up their shutters within four-and-twenty hours. Can
a banker or merchant be so deeply in the power of his
servant or employe, unless he

thing worse

insolvent

is

or some-

D. W. Chapman says he had much difficulty in dissuading Edwards in 1861 from asking for a partnership

and Co.

in the firm of Overend, Gurney,

would not be
board a

No man

of

Mr. Edwards

business will believe that assertion.

so great a simpleton as to

embark on

he knew was drifting into a

vessel that

whirlpool.

D.

W. Chapman

hopes the explanations which he

may be

gives in his letter to his father

and he adds

that,

whether they prove

conscience accuses him keenly of

follies in his private capacity,

satisfactory;

so or not, his

many most

culpable

but of disloyalty

to the

house, never.

Eminent writers on
are

many

spiritual questions tell us there

kinds of conscience, and warn us especially

against a false conscience.

D.

W. Chapman

talks of

me

enemies, because, as he says,

stop

my

depredations.

am

one of his bitterest

was he who tried to

Mr. D. W. Chap-

I have told

man, both verbally and by

that I

it

as

letter (see

ready to defend

Why

my

pages 242, 243),

character to the last

blood.
did not Mr. D. W. Chapman,
occasions,
use the word " depreof
these
on either

drop of

my

301
dations

me 1

Why did he not take legal steps to punish

However, whilst the gentleman remains en" 1

sconced at Tours, I can only say, Ov av XoiSopelc

/ne

aXX'

O TOTTOC.

It must be regretted that Mr. D. W. Chapman has

no adviser that could induce him to come to England

stake,

much

moment, when

his character here

is

at

and where his presence in the witness-box

is

so

at the present

who is the real author

By coming, he might aid his

desired, in order to prove

of the DEPKEDATIONS.

ancient partners to clear some doubtful points, and in

this

way he might make some atonement

follies "

for " culpable

that cost a great deal of money.

No

matter

what his commercial difficulties are, an order from the

Bankruptcy Court would afford him protection against
his creditors. Between two such evils, a man of honour
would not hesitate which to choose.
I am not, and never have been, a bitter enemy of
Mr. D. W. Chapman. I now repeat what I have often
and I speak solely for the vindication of my
said
character
I never flattered him I never flattered his

partners.

conducted

all

my transactions with Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. in a

like manner.

strictly formal, business-

Since 1862, I have not

met any of the

Gurneys, and have not spoken with any of their

tives,

nor with R. Birkbeck; so that the opinions I

now put
kept

rela-

forth are wholly without bias.

my word not
my contract

observed

to

trouble them.

(see the fifth

I religiously
I faithfully

paragraph of No.

31 in the Appendix) not to print or publish anything

that could injure
transactions;

viz.,

an account of our mutual

and by these scrupulous observances I

my interests, allowing myself to be

seriously injured

crushed by the weight of their name, and the false-

302
hoods propagated by their unprincipled favourites and
satellites.

Mr. D.

W. Chapman

country an adventurer.

made by my

my

had, and have

The name

Greece, a position.
the history of

cannot say I came to this

country,

I bear

by the

is

still,

in

identified with

patriotic sacrifices

family, and by their steady exertions in

the cause of Hellenic independence.

For myself,

fellow-countrymen in England have always treated

with consideration and esteem.

my
me

have always been a

member of their patriotic committees, and have received many flattering testimonials from the Panhellinium, as well as from different Governments of Greece.
It was a dark page of my destiny that opened to me
an acquaintance with the Overends. On that fatal day
I was arrested in the midst of a prosperous career, and

ultimately cruelly sacrificed by

men who brought

ruin

on thousands and yet, spite of the anger and vexation

consequent on my own treatment by the firm, I can;

didly declare

my belief that the Gurneys and Birkbeck

They had

become
tools in the hands of unscrupulous and daring men, to
whom, in an inauspicious hour, they had granted their
confidence men who, at the eleventh hour, knew how
to evade the impending catastrophe.
But to return to the conscientious letter of D. W.
Chapman. He is astonished how the new firm could
manage to lose, during its short term of duration, the
are greater victims than

I.

latterly

sum

of 1,500,000.

his mental obscurity

I shall

endeavour to enlighten

by narrating a popular Eastern

fable.

There is an island in the Greek Archipelago called

Tinos, and on this island there once lived a pig so
enormously fat that the rats came and burrowed in its

303
back, and feasted luxuriously, without the poor pig

being at

all

conscious of the depredations that were

being committed on

its

body.

At length

the rapacious

vermin, having gnawed, and nibbled, and eaten a

through the exterior coatings of

tive flesh,

fat,

way

reached the sensi-

and then the pig became conscious of the

presence of the

DEPREDATORS.

The poor animal

writhed in agony and grunted loudly, and the rats

knew

instinctively

scampered.
to the

it

was time

Some returned

to

be

off.

So away they

to their holes, others

took

water and actually reached the Continent, where

they were beyond the range of the trap.

Meanwhile
though
the poor
freed from its enemies, was past
recovery, because the wounds inflicted by the crafty
rats had penetrated to the vital organs, and, spite of a
pig,

temporary but only apparent improvement,

it

very

soon died.
Eastern fables sometimes serve to illustrate Western practices.


304

CHAPTER XLVIIL
CONCLUSION.

HAVE now finished the task which a stern necessity

imposed upon me. I did not seek publicity; it was
I

My

upon me.

thrust

name was

incidentally intro-

duced into courts of justice, casting upon me a darklyshaded notoriety. My concerns were bandied about in
newspaper columns
mythical existence.

win

to laugh, I

who

as

If

though they and

it is

must say

had only a

legitimate in those

it is

not at

all

who

pleasant for

The Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation Company was no myth,
and to prove that publicly was a duty that I owed
myself.
The discharge of the duty thus thrown upon
those

me
to

lose

to

be laughed

at.

has not been wholly free from

difficulties.

walk along a narrow and sinuous path of

had

self-

defence, careful to avoid, on the one side, overhanging

rocks, bristling with the pointed

cannon of the law;

equally anxious to shun, on the other side, the thorns

and brambles that might wound the self-love of others,

even when those others were my enemies. Should
any doubt my tenderness towards my foes, I can tell

them
since

have said much, I have

that, if I

unsaid.

What I now publish

18G3

judice and the

dragged

much more

and formed portion of a work which was

intended for publication

have died

left

has long been written

warmth

out.

me

when

the heat of personal pre-

of personal resentment should

Recent events have, so to speak,

into print.

now

stand before the

tribunal of public opinion, not either as a plaintiff or

defendant, but as an impartial witness of the truth.

305

my

have kept before

eyes the delicate position of the

defendants in the im]:)ending-

trial,

and though

have

nothing to say that could prejudice their cause, I have

sedulously foreborne to advocate their case before an

My

injured public.
vindicate

my own

first

and great aim has been to

Having, as I hope

character.

may be permitted

to repeat, as

I conscientiously can, that the Messrs.

Gurney and

Birkbeck have been victimized.

much

achieved that object, I

regretted, both for public

men

It

is

of their high social standing and moral

find themselves

examination.

to be

and private reasons, that

life

should

under the cloud of a suspended judicial

This simple expression of opinion will

not be deemed flattery in one

who has

suffered

much

from the firm of Overend, Gurney, and Co.

The following
line

are the steamers that formed this

from 1857 to 1865

The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

LAKGE STEAJklEES.
Bur.DKN.

ii.r.

TONS.

COMBD,

2000

250

General William

Admiral Miaoulis

2000
2200

700

Palikari

Mavrocordatos

2200

GOO

Scotia

2200

500

Asia

22U0

500
400
400
450

Admiral Kanaris

1500

Modern Greece

1200

Powerful

1200

Marco Bozzaris
Petro Beys
Lord Byron
'.

GOO

400

1000
1000
1000

1000

400

400

400

Leonidas

Tzamados

500

120

Botassis

452

100

STEAMERS.

Bobolina

THE CITY OF LONDON

IN"

THE

PRESENT DAY.
The City of London is the great university where the
human heart and the human countenance may be
studied in their most striking varieties.
vast school of moral anatomy, w^here
laid bare,

It

is,

human

by the workings of its own passions,

of the keen scanner.

in fact, a

nature

is

to the eye

No matter how many the winters

that had passed over your head, no matter

what your

experiences might have been in other parts of the

world, you would be obliged,

upon a short acquaintance

with this great Pananthropopolis, to confess that

all

you knew was as nothing compared with what you

might learn here.

The English metropolis

is,

indeed, a great school

of moral anatomy, but the student has no occasion for

a spatula.

He

what

struggles

may

these

how
And

What

work-

not be discovered

ings of nerve and muscle,

all

structural capacity.

needs only a keen eye to observe

the subjects reveal their

of.

nerves and muscles,

heart and brain

all

And

these hearts and

brains, obedient to the idiosyncrasies of each indivi

dual, are

still

striving after one

x2

object.

And what

308
is

that

Money

MoxEY, money, money.

the great

is

climax that tops the ambition of every

man who

works in the City of London. And no wonder.

What other possession is so honoured in our great
Pananthropopolis

'?

Nay, make no remonstrance.

what you are about

to say.

be sure

be marJcetahle.

it

is if

lean virtue
fat

it

make

Talent

a more sorry

is

know, reader,

To

honoured.

But where does

appearance,

and richly-robed wealth, than

the

in

beside

City of

Oh, my friends, my friends of a verity,

London
money is the god of modern civilization, and modern
\

best

civilization is

represented by prosperous com-

and where does commerce find its fullest

In the City of
its most ample exponent %
London, I believe. Now, do not suppose that I am
about to preach a long sermon, and find fault with
merce

expression,

all

Not

this.

at

all.

I take things as they are

merely assert that they are

so

no wonder that a

sion, reader, will observe that it is

on

stranger,

his

first

and, with your permis-

arrival

in

London,

is

easily

tempted to enter the vast arena where the commercial

gladiators are engaged in the " keen encounter " of
their wits,

he has a

and

what he can

This

is

provided

spoken of the study presented by

this fierce

try

do.

little wit.

I have

must further add, that in

become a discriminating observer, a man

struggle for money, but I

order

to

m.ust begin by being a combatant.

ring a few hard blows have the

a man's eyes
the contrary

but in the commercial

a few hard

In the pugilistic

efi"ect

of shutting

up

conflict it is quite

knocks improve the vision

wonderfully.

Having been a combatant, and having received

309

some hard knocks,

of the fruits of

my

Mr. Andrew

I will give, in general terms,

some

observation.

inherited from his father

small but respectable and profitable business.

father
safe,

had traded

but not

secure

great risks.
school.

to

His mode was

after the old style.

brilliant.

profits,

He

grand

The

preferred reasonable but

possibilities

In short, he was a

attended

by

of the

old

man

need not remark that the present mode

of doing business in
different to that

the

City of

London

which obtained forty

twenty years ago.

Many

of the present day

is

is

very

years, or even

a stately commercial fabric

based solely upon paper.

belong to a "fast" generation.

We

I suppose the rapidity

of our trade-pace over that of our fathers

may be

estimated by the difference that exists between the

gold and paper. A friend of mine

some time ago, that a sound paper currency
was, in the monetary world, a representative monarchy;
indiscriminate bill-drawing, democracy with universal
and solid gold, a well-grounded and concensufii'age
specific gravity of

observed,

trated despotism.

But

return to

my

The

who,
during his father's life, had been obliged to conform
to an old-fashioned regime, resolved, upon coming into
possession, to do a dashing trade.
His intention was
soon known, and a commercial man recommended him
as a head clerk, who knew how to do
Mr.

to

subject.

son,

business according to the spirit of the times.

soon proved himself worthy

mendations he had received.

He

Mr.

of the recom-

was soon made a

partner in the firm, and secured in a handsome share
of the profits.
Mr. Andrew
gloried in the
splendid prospects he saw opening before him.
He

310

drew

and signed cheques

bills

for large

sums, and

marvelled at the dexterity of his partner in finding

the means to meet

all

The account

right.

But it was all

was of five times

these liabilities.

at his banker's

it had ever been during his father's

His actual capital was five times, and his representative capital fifty times greater than when he
became head of his house. His name was mixed up
with large transactions, and he saw his firm shining

the magnitude
life.

comet in the stereoma of the City. However,

he soon found that bills are not really what they represent, or rather, seem to represent; and, with

like a

all this fine

show, very

sued,

and

with Mr.

money found

Andrew A

Mr.

poor

bankrupt.

little

its

way

Complications arose, confusion en-

into his pocket.

became

few months previous his partnership

was

from the ashes of

dissolved, and, strange to say,

this

bankruptcy his partner rose

like a phoenix.

had made

his money.

It is

to the second act of this

drama.

better not to ask how.

Let us now pass

The

original proprietor

office

became a clerk

in the very

where he was once master. I have seen him

humbly and rapidly along the streets of the

gliding

City, looking like a ghost of a past generation, whilst

his ci-devant partner drove in his

brougham

to his

West-end house. But you will say public opinion

condemned him. Nothing of the kind. He associated
familiarly with the very gentlemen who, when the
firm became bankrupt, accused

him of twenty times

the amount of crime he had actually committed.

what
his

is still

And

more

name with

strange, these very people coupled

the epithet " clever."

However, in

this particular case, I

saw the reverse

311

in

saw the victim, Mr. Andrew

course of time, and by the assistance of

of the medal.
tlic

And

friends,

saw
the successful rogue, forget his craft, and gamble away his money
on the Stock Exchange and in a life of dissipation.
And when he in his turn became poor, the world, with
again

lift

his head.

wonderful practical sagacity, discovered that he was a

He

rogue.

now knocking about

is

the City in rags,

smelling strongly of liquor, as a general broker, happy

if

he can earn a
Mr. D

shilling a day.
,

pompous

swaggering,

a penniless,

1855, in Fenchurch

talker,

took a furnished

Street,

and put his name on the door, with the addition

He had

of " Brothers."
as clerks,

He

had

office, in

who

five apprentices,

and who paid instead of receiving a

acted
salary.

He had

so far presented a front to the world.

previously no hair on his face, so he gTew a large

beard and moustache.

His manners are not bad

assurance

He stepped one morning into

a rich
my friend Mr. R

is

boundless.

the counting-house of

Greek merchant.

He proposed

a tremendous transac-

says, a relative of

one of the partners.

Fortunately for

name

John
him he

and Co., being, as he

has the same

his

tion with a certain great English firm, Messrs.

as one of the partners, but not

was present, but I

could not recognize him or remember his name, on
even the slightest connexion.

account of his beard.

after sounding the inclinations of my
D
his terms, introduced himself
ascertaining
and
friend,
with greater confidence to the English firm which he

Mr.

boasted to us

that, is, that of his relative

abundant use of the name of Mr.

other Greeks.

He commenced

and made
and several

negotiations,

and when

312

was concluded, he must have

his wonderful business

made

a commission of 1500.

This

mode

of proceeding presupposes shrewdness,

a knowledge of the mercantile world, and unblushing

which

effrontery,

success,

him

Mr.

He

on.

is

had two respectable firms

and

credit for himself,

his office

Two

and

found out, for the first time, in conversation,

keep

push

assumed an appear-

years after, Mr.

that that special transaction was the

to

to

first

soon established a certain amount of

ance of business.

Mr.

After his

not original.

his

the broker.

It

first

now depends on himself to

Mr. D
is now

respectable position.

a very rich man, and a large merchant.

regularly,

barouche.

turn given

He

with his wife, in the season, in

The English

firm

drives

a large

and

Co.,

became bankrupts, but Mr. D

the broker of this
firm, is our worthy merchant.
So much for commercial stability. Shall I make
,

a picture of a wolf in sheep's clothing

in this case, Mr.

Ch

is

deep-laid,

Our wolf

time for the working out.

The schemer,
and requires

fixed his eye

a grave and well-to-do Mediterranean merchant.

him

on

He

home, takes up his residence in the

neighbourhood, comes to town by the same omnibus
or train, and frequents the same church on Sundays.
tracks

to his

This constant projiinquity ends in a kind of neighbourly acquaintance.

In the journey to and from

town, politics are talked; on Sundays, the sermon or

the religious proclivities of the preacher form the
subject of conversation.

tinues

for

The wolf always agrees with

This kind of out-door acquaintance con-

his friend.

some months.

well dressed.

His

air, and

Mr.

Ch

is

always

manners are gentlemanly.

313

He

He

never speaks of business.

man

But

of independent fortune.

appears to be a
all this

time the

wolf has been turning his merchant friend to account.

He

has been seen with him on the Exchange, in the

where merchants most

do congregate," and those for whose benefit the wolf
has thus paraded his acquaintance have, as they
and

Baltic,

"

in other places

believe, ocular demonstration

them

Mr. Ch

how

does

And

playing a double game.

is

He has been introduced into

He has so worked on the

end]

all

it

enter into transactions with

They

in private.

him.

of what he has told

the merchant's family.

sympathies of the ladies of the house that litanies of

his praise are for ever ringing in the ears of the hus-

band and

father.

for Paris,

and

Some

morning the wolf leaves

fine

after his departure it is discovered that

not only the honest merchant, but some of the sharpest

of the City have been " let in " for sums which the

wolf forgot to pay before

starting,

but which had been

secured on stamped paper, crossed by his friends.

Mr. John

graduated at Oxford, and was

He

afterwards called to the bar.

is

member

well connected,

of a Pall Mall club, and was to be seen

at the soirees of

Lady

His name used

ter.

is

and Morning

to

wife of a Cabinet Minis-

appear in the Court Journal

JPosf as a guest in

high

circles.

He

is

personally acquainted with the editors of newspapers

and

^viiters

on the

press.

There

is,

indeed, a misty

belief amongst his acquaintances that he writes for

the press himself, but of this nothing positive can be

He

said.

he

is

has the entre into the different ministcres

acquainted with the under secretary, or some

respectable

weekly

official, to

visit.

But

whom

his

visit

fails to

pay a

disinterested.

He

he never
is

314
merely inquires after his

amusing anecdote, or

friend's health, repeats

retails

an

a piece of astounding

intelligence, learned at the house of one of his dis-

He is
whom

tinguished acquaintances.
agrees in opinion with all

of no politics, and

he

visits,

no matter

though they be diametrically opposed to each other.

Having performed his round of visits, he adjourns
to his club, where he fares sumptuously, and where
his dinner is washed down with sherry and champagne.

He

reprimands the servants for the slightest error, or

what he deems inattention

he speaks sharply to the

steward about the cooking, and threatens to report

him

to the committee,

and in a loud voice pronounces

the best Christopher's sherry to be "beastly

stuff."

In the same tone he speaks of his lands, his tenants,

and his horses, and startles the whole room by the
expression of his indignation if the second edition of

the Glohe or Express

is

not immediately laid before

him.

When

to the

smoking-room, he moves with the ponderous

dignity of a

he

rises

Roman

archimandrite.

from table

to transfer himself

cardinal or a Constantinopolitan

Even the

well-trained waiters can-

not repress a semi-smile as they watch his movements.

And this gentleman comes every day into our City,

but people do not suspect him of doing business there.

How could they % His is not the hasty step, nor is
his the fixed, preoccupied eye of the laborious City
toiler.

Mr. John

through the City

strolls rather

he looks

like

amongst the wild flowers around

ning to seed, be

it

some

than walks
fair

exotic

many of them run-

observed par parentliese.

When

Mr. John
hurry over with the eager haste of a hard-pressed
man whose bills have arrived at maturity, and who
reaches a crossing,

he does not

315
has not the wherewithal to meet them.

John

Mr.

No.

waits a convenient opportunity, and then,

with a kind of friendly effrontery, he takes the arm of

somebody who

is

crossing at the

moment, graciously

apologizing for the liberty, and saying that he

short-sighted.

Though,

if

Mr. John

sighted as not to be able to see his

I

should like to

know what is

way

is

is

so

so short-

across the street,

the use of the glass which

seems to be permanently fixed round the orbit of his

right eye.

But, as I have said, Mr. John

visits

every day

In his easy way he saunters into

the City.

the private office of some rich capitalist whose acquaint-

ance he has taken pains to

He

general society.
of the day, or

tells

says a

make

at the club or in

few words upon the

topics,

some piece of news that he has

learned at the Foreign or Colonial Office, and so he

Mr. John
makes his round of City visits.
knows the hour at which his different City friends
lunch, and it is due to his discrimination to say that
he is well aware which amongst them keeps the
best wine in the office, as he also never forgets which
stockbroker smokes the best cigars after four o'clock.
But, reader, you will say Mr. John
leads a
Not at all. He does not practise at
very idle life.
Very true.
But he is engaged in trade.
the bar.
He
his
acquaintances.
trades in
That is a
Yes, sir.
branch of business of which you have possibly never
makes his periferia reguIf Mr. John
heard.
larly during ten months of the year in the City, it is
because the City draws him with the same cords that

it

draws

how

its

professed -habitues.

Mr. John
him an introducer.

to designate

unless I call

I really
's

do not know

actual occupations,

That describes

his

316
real business.

He

introduces to each| other

men who

seek a monetary advantage from one another's ac-

Does the promoter of a company want a

quaintance.
few additional directors for his board, he speaks to Mr.
who broaches the subject to some of his
John
friends, sounds their feelings on the question, and ends
in generalities if he see no hope of success, but comes

to the point if the prospect be favourable.

In the

same way he introduces a stockbroker to a merchant

or speculator. The introducer makes his terms beforehand, which are in proportion to the value of the
I paid Mr. John
about
services he renders.
1000 when I was bringing out my second steam
company. It was more than I originally agreed to
give, but there is something parasitical in the nature
He clings to you with a wonderful
of the introducer.
Even when he does not succeed in effecting
tenacity.
he
originally
what
undertook, he has often learned so
much of your business that you cannot cut his acquaintance short, and to get rid of his officious interference you give him more than you had originally

promised.

Though the introducee

introducer,

it

is

generally the tool of the

sometimes happens that the

latter is

obliged to share his perquisites with the introducee.

What

do you say to

agora of the world 1

a long-descended

this

Is not

London the

great

Social position, a spotless name,

title,

a staple monetary reputation,

all find their price there.

You may,

if I

dare so ex-

press myself, sell without bartering these commodities.

A man

of high family connexions and of ancient

lineage gives his countenance to a commercial concern,

and

for the halo thus

a respectable

profit.

thrown round the

What

then

'?

The

affair

he reaps

transaction

is

317
all ftxir

His name gives a certain

and above-board.

confidence to the public, and he

is

paid for his time.

It is sometimes very amusing to see how a man

becomes the tool of an introducer. I was one day
standing in the Exchange, talking with a friend,
A

gentleman,

known

to us both, stepped up,

and begged

permission to introduce Mr. Bodington, a highly respectable

Price,

my

young man, who wished

friend,

about an

advantageous to both.

man

to

speak with Mr.

affair that

might be made

Mr, Bodington was a young

of prepossessing countenance, gentlemanly ap-

pearance, and good manners.

but Mr. Bodington begged

ness might interest

me

too.

me

was about

to retire,

to remain, as the busi-

After a few preliminary

remarks, Mr. Bodington informed us that he was an

importer of cigars, and requested Mr. Price, as

beginning of business, to take four boxes of regalias

a transaction of only about 10.

Price, like myself,

was astonished to find in such a swell a seller of

cigars.
In compliment to the gentleman who introduced him, he took the four boxes, quite unconscious
that the introduction was in itself a " transaction."
Mr. Bodington's mode of proceeding was this: He
sought to do business with wealthy City men, supplied
them with the best cigars, and rarely troubled them
for money. "VVe may suppose that his profits equalled
his forbearance, and hence the importance to him of
an introducer. Mr. Bodington carried on a profitable
and honourable trade, and was a kind-hearted man.

A ^projjos

of his kind-heartedness, I shall narrate a

circumstance, sufficient, I think, to reconcile the most

cigar-detesting wife- to the tobacconist.

great Indian merchant

years ago.

His

know a

who became bankrupt some

liabilities

amounted

to

some hundreds

318

He owed

of thousands of pounds sterling.

165

Little could the

for cigars.

Bodington

proud merchant

have dreamed, in the days of his prosperity, that the

humble tobacconist would one day become his bene-

And

factor.

the

first

yet, so it was.

Not only was Bodington

to sign the bankrupt's

compromise, but he

lent him, on his personal security,

1500

to

recom-

was the mouse liberating the lion

from the net. That merchant is again a rich man
he returned liberally the money lent to him by Mr.
Bodington, but I question whether his pride would

mence

business.

It

not be hurt were

humble trader

it

known

that he

for the materials

is

indebted to a

with which he reared

the second temple of his greatness.

But

have strangely wandered from

my

subject.

show how some men make great profits

how others work on and
make a fine appearance without any capital at all. I
have seen empty-pocketed speculators tempt rich sanguine-minded men to their ruin, and I have seen the
latter, when ruined themselves, become in their turn
I

was about

to

out of a small capital, and

tempters.

P
He was

Mr. Peter
safe trade.

who
who

for

many

years had carried on a

one of those worthy, reliable

men

and
are appointed trustees to the property of widows
a bill disand orphans. One afternoon, Mr. B
counter, stepped into his office, and coolly asked him
The merchant stared.
whether he wanted money.
"Because," said the other, "I have 3000 which I
wish to invest at 5 per cent. If you like, you can
are chosen as umpires in cases of arbitration,

have

it

ness,

and

for six

months or a

year, put

it

in your busi-

I will take your bills for six months.

can keep the money longer than a year

if

You

you wish,

319
and I

shall always

renew by adding the

cent." Money was

The merchant knew

per

interest, 5

very cheap in the City at the time.

on
is

this fresh capital

make 10 per cent,

his business. Money

that he could

thrown into

a temptation that few

men can

He

resist.

con-

sented. His clerk drew and endorsed the bills. They

went off immediately
were duly accepted. Mr. B
to Lombard Street, where he discounted the bills without endorsing them. Having been afterwards mixed

up

had opportunities of learning

in the affair, I

No

particulars.

Mr. Peter

the

all

sooner had the bill-broker discounted

per cent., than he went

bills at 3

's

and made a pro-

to another highly respectable trader

which he had made to my poor

Now, we must not supwas the real owner of the 3000
pose that Mr. B
No. The 3000
which he had lent Mr. Peter P
were part of the product of bills that he had previously
" melted " at the " Corner House," without his indorseposition similar to that
friend,

and with

like success.

ment, for several unstable firms that entrusted him with

He

such transactions.
all

the

money

did not immediately pay back

to frame a plausible excuse

account.

In such cases

to his patrons.

He expected to

it is

easy

give them a cheque on

" do

"

them upon good terms

within a few days.

In such case he was the debtor

to several unstable

merchants to the aggregate amount

of between 10,000 and 15,000.

this balance

When

when

Peter

He

will

pay them

their discounted bills are paid

's

the end of six months

asked for a renewal.

first

bills

fell

money had

He

due

viz.,

at

and Peter
was informed by Mr. B
risen,

that the discounter ho longer held the biUs

they were in the hands of a third party.

to be done*?

off.

Peter could not meet the

that

What was
bills.

He

320

had goods, but these he could not

pose

except at a great

of,

Mr.

tion,

so

After

loss.

said that the holder

summarily

much

dis

negotia-

was willing

to

renew the 2500 for three months longer, at 1 per

cent, above the bank rate of interest, and with 5 per
Poor Peter P
cent, commission on the amount.
obliged
to
accept the offered
was
was in despair, but
Mr.

terms.-

to

renew

at the

advised the

bank

2 per cent., Peter's

of

rate,

bills, as

well as

shaky merchants, and

the

As

passed.

dishonoured

Lombard

Street firm

and with a commission of

all

the other bills

M'ait until

the crisis

the melting-houses do not like to hold

bills,

the renewal for three months was

made as advised, and the broker pocketed 11

on money that was never his.
But Peter P

When
pay

's

troubles were not at an end.

the renewed bills

still

per cent,

fell

due, he was obliged to

heavier interest than before, and higher com-

and so things went on until he was enveloped

mesh-work from which he could not break; his
struggles were vain. At length, in his desperation, he
left the bills unpaid, and threatened his creditors to
become a bankrupt. Then the last turn was given to
The bills were put
the vice in which he was held.
mission

in a

into the hands of a solicitor,

who

first

then issued a writ, and poor Peter,

vent,

and anxious

But the

still

sol-

to save his credit, gave, as security

for the bill debts, goods for part of

yet paid.

Avrote a letter,

who was

which he had not

strangest circumstance in the case

was, that he gave an additional lien on these same

goods to Mr.

whom

he

all

along believed to

be responsible for the amount of the

what Peter

It

was

at

was called in. I thought

had made such efforts to stave

this stage of the proceedings I

that

bills.

off

was

inevitable.

Street.

Basint^-liall

sui>'ii:este(l

Tlie thought of becoming a bankrupt was to him, as

to every honest

man,

death-struggle.
last extremity,

He

He

liateful.

And how did

he

still

still

end

it

carried on the

Driven to the

rejected the idea of bankruptcy.

was
Mr. 15
All his goods were sold, and after the
his assignee.
creditors had received their dividend, Mr. B
compromised with his creditors.

pocketed the

rest, as

well as the greatest part of the

balance, 15,000, of the shaky houses, most of which

stopped payment, as a compensation for his trouble.

You

will tell

me

that Peter

was a

accept the offer of the broker in the

To be

sure he was.

first

fool to

instance.

But do we not think the whole

English monetary system anomalous, and calculated

to tempt men to their ruin
I know, and you must
know, reader, many whose name, ten or twelve years
ago, Avould be sneered at, and whose name is now good
'?

And how did

That is their
secret.
A decade of years since, and they were hardworking paupers, and now they are the table comfor thousands.

panions of millionaires.
aeronauts

if

In

they rise

men

such

fact,

are like

they can only get a sufficient quantity of

gas lighter than the atmospheric

rise,

and continue

rise and
by some misthe bag, and down

air,

they will

to float, until the gas

chance escapes, or a rent comes in

they come.
It

was in the year 1851 that

I frequently met, at

the Cafe de VEurojpe, Haymarket, amongst dramatic

company of the
young man, of whose avocation in

people, and hi the

late
life

A
I

knew

nothing.

He could be seen often in theneighbourhood of the Haymarket Theatre, and hanging about gaming-houses. I
lost sight of him for several years. Circumstances had
Y

322

made

advisable for

it

1860, I one day met

broker's

was

office.

him

my

to cross the

Channel.

In

old acquaintance in a bill-

Mr. Manley

now learned

pleading hard to get a small

his

name

bill discounted.

had become secretary to an

Through this gentleman, Mr.

I soon after heard that he

extensive shipowner.

Manley obtained an entrance

into the establishment of

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co., of

Lombard

Street.

There he breathed a congenial atmosphere, and throve

The intimate knowledge he possessed of his
apace.

was placed at the service of his

and gold chinked in his purse. Initia-

late employer's affairs

new

masters,

tion into the Samothracian mysteries of old

occupation of the high stool in the great

first

commenced

Mr. Manley'

by placing the neophyte on a throne.

office

was the

step on the ladder by which he ascended to a seat

House of Commons, where he now

in the

sits

dumb

lawmaker.

named

petty wine merchant

that discounting bills

is

more

Stanley, discovered

profitable than selling

In 1859 he established a small discounting

sherry.

company.

As he was a man whose business

invested 1200 in the

ties I recognized, I

capabili-

concern.

This I did not alone because I believed the

affair

wished to

assist

would prosper, but because

I really

However, the project

Mr. Stanley had extended his patron-

the promoter of the scheme.

came

to grief.

age in a very marked manner to members of the

leather trade.

70,000

He

obliged to

the amount of

who

afterwards

500,000, paying a dividend of one shilling

in the pound.

holders

bills to

for great leather merchants,

failed for

were

discounted

Disappointed in one speculation, we

wind up.

lost a considerable

Wethat

is

the share-

sum, and were obliged to

323
pay Mr. Stanley a good price for giving up the manageMr. Stanley, at least, had lost nothing. But

ment.

name was not sweet-sounding, and he thought it

would be well to change it. He became Mr. Jackson.
He continued to knock about the streets of the City,
like the thousands who crowd those ffreat thorousfhhis

fares,

when towards

the close of 1863,

when the mania

companies was at its height, he assembled a dozen

manageable men, and brought out a financial company.
for

It

was a wonderful company,

for not only did it

go on

prosperously, but, like Paley's celebrated hypothetical

watch,

it

brought forth young companies.

in the course of one

Five times

year did the prolific mother

present to the world a baby company.

But these

babies quickly became strong and vigorous, and were

able to go alone.

Still it must be admitted that the

heavy contributions on the children. In
she took away half their food, and cramming a

mother
fact

laid

great deal of their property under her voluminous crino-

astonished her admirers by her portly appearance.

But occasionally taking from beneath her crinoline
some of her children's property, she presented it to
her supporters, just as a lond fide company gives divi-

line,

dends to shareholders.
I have several times attempted to congratulate

my

old friend in person, but have never been able to

obtain an audience.

mahogany door
in reply to

was

my

in court.

Behind the panels of

found a

tall liveried

his polished

footman, who,

me that his master

and again, and always

informed

inquiries,

I returned again

received the same answer.

I at length asked to

what

court Mr. Stanley, or rather Mr. Jackson had gone.

The official replied with a gracious smile " Sir, we
:

call

our board meetings

'

courts.' "

y2

That was

sufficient.

324

want of inquiring at
first.
We live in a free country, where everybody has
a right to do what he pleases with his own, and call it
by what name he likes.
I said I would wait until Mr. Jackson should be at
I was invited to walk in, and soon found that
leisure.
I was not alone " doing ante-chamber," to the ci-devant
wine merchant. Would you believe if? I saw waiting
If I had been misled,

it

was

for

in that ante-room one of the great Cohens.

know

how long he had been there before I arrived, but

know he remained there a " large half hour," as the
The man of ancient
French say, after I entered.
greatness waiting on the man of recent greatness,

not
I

He moved about occasionally

looked rather awkward.

looked out of window

all

the while rubbing his

At length

eye-glass with his cambric handkerchief.

he was admitted to the audience-room.

Seeing these things, I began to surmise what kind
of reception I might expect.

I recalled past times,

and said within myself that I had some claims on

Mr. Stanley. I remembered that I had formerly put
large business in his way, and had done him some
good turns.
At length I was admitted to the presence of the
great man.
He gave me a cordial reception, hoped
to see me again hold a high place in the commercial
world, but he could not assist

me

to

launch

my

little

steam company, being himself engaged in bringing

out a very large

one.

I further

learned that

Mr.

be composed of the steamers

formerly belonging to Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and
Stanley's fleet

was

to

Lombard Street. What a change

bered how one day, as I was stepping into
Co., of

" melting-house

"

was

at that time

remem-

the great

on good terms

325
with Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.
Stanley coming out, his hand full of

nasty fellow

And now

Ch

"That d

in his eyes.
;

,"

with tears

bills,

he

met Mr.

said, "is a

he would not do anything for me."

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.'s " melt-

ting-house " has melted away, self-consumed, but Mr.

Stanley had become a representative of the people

a nobleman

and

dazzle the world.

the acquisition of
civilization

only waits another opportunity to

you

AVill

money

is

the end and aim of

modern

me what

has brought about

of things.

In reply, I shall

commercial revolution."

Commercial, like

this paradoxical state

" a

admit that

Perhaps you will ask

say

not, reader,

political revolutions,

occur once or twice in

every

Commercial revolutions generally occur

century.

when money accumulates in the possession of traders

when certain branches of business fall exclusively into
the hands of a few monopolists when articles, once
esteemed luxuries, become necessaries when an entirely new article is brought into the market in
or when an
sufficient quantities to vie with the old
;

well known, but

article

the product of a remote

suddenly brought, by improvement in the

clime,

is

mode

of transport, into the market, and

made

to

compete successfully with the old standard commodiThen may. be seen commercial Eobespierres and
ties.
Marats springing up in every branch of trade, wrest
ing power from ancient royalty, trampling

down

the

once privileged legitimists, and building on the ruins

thus

made

the fabric of their

me

own

greatness.

you some examples: Some fifty

years ago cotton from Smyrna and India was a
Pactolus that poured gold into the coffers of a few
Let

give

326

men who had monopolized

About that

the trade.

time the cotton of South America was introduced

the English market.

into

few speculators in

and Manchester seized the opportunity,

took possession of the new vein of commerce thus
opened, and the cotton trade with the East was, so
Twenty years ago, how many
to speak, stamped out.
Greek merchants had made fortunes, and how many
were growing rich, by the corn trade of the Levant
but after the Crimean War, and since the late American War, the wheat and maize of America have
taken the place, in the English markets, of the Euxine
corn, and many a wealthy Glaucus has been obliged
Liverpool

to return to the

Levant or become a broker.

I must, however,

observe

that

the

commercial

of 1863, which suddenly converted the

revolution

petty wine merchant into a wealthy man, and gave

the

toss-up

that

made

the penny gambler of the

Cafe de TEurope a representative of the people,

such a revolution is, I must say, unprecedented in

That revolution did not

it was universal,
affect one branch of trade alone
and resulted from the combined action of those
causes which I have already named as the secret
Money had accusprings of commercial revolutions.
telegraphic
mulated on every side in the City
and steam communication supplied an hourly stimu-

the annals of commerce.

lant,

which, in previous times, could not be offered

Then there was the mania

making large loans to foreign

to the fever of speculation.

that seized England of

countries,

and more particularly

to rotten

Governments

that paid large dividends by the ingenious device of

getting a fresh loan.

There was besides that extra-

327
ordinary amal<?amation, which you must remember, of

West-end

with hard-working City men.

swells,

But that

not

is

One

all.

of the partners of an

eminent firm having dipped himself somewhat too

deeply into debt, conceived the idea of turning the

The other
They were equally glad to get
responsibilities. The firm sold their good-

private concern into a limited company.

partners chimed
rid of their

Now the

will.

in.

goodwill, entre nous, was substantially

The grand

a consignment of insolvency.

livre of the

public was debited with the enormous debts contracted

by the young scamp on the turf and the Stock Exchange.
There were other items, such as a theatre

rented for the convenience of his favourite actresses,

and a hotel started for a ci-devant mistress. There

had been a large sum expended in making a provision
for five illegitimate children.

You must not suppose

that our commercial revolu-

He who

stands his

a good general.

He who

tions do not bring forth heroes.

ground and holds his own

is

succeeds in erecting a fabric, more or less permanent,

on the debris around,

is

reputed a conqueror.

have

seen heroes that achieved great things, but whose

" vaulting ambition " at some unlucky moment " o'er-

leaped itself;" 'twas then the hero

fell,

off the field to the great hospital of

In such conflicts the number of victims

conquerors small.
of each

is

ascendant.

self, self

No

humanity

itself is silenced.

Friendships, family

large, that of

alone,

is

in the

the voice of honour, of feeling, of

quarter.

gotten

is

In the general confusion the motto

sauve qui peut, and

Then

and was borne

Basinghall Street.

one gives or expects

ties,

everything

lost in the sense of personal danger.

is for-

What

a spectacle does the

human

heart exhibit then, a prey

to the pitiless ferocity oi jjliilargyric fury

some of our heroes are carried off

The wounded sufferers
of commercial revolutions afford abundant occupation to the surgeon, physician, and coroner.
These
I have said that

to Basinghall Street hospital.

" professionals " in our world are

accountants, and liquidators.

known as solicitors,
The wounds and suffer-

ings of the victims are an inexhaustible source of profit

to these servants of the Adrastian Nemesis.

Such a revolution as I have described generally

lasts some years.
A few more must elapse before the
great heart of the commercial body again makes healthy
Leaving the City restored to its normal state,
music.
let us look round on the suburban districts, where
our merchant princes make homes for their families.

We

shall find great

changes in these places.

earthquake that shakes the City generally leaves

The
more

permanent traces of its action at remote points than at

These changes are in persons, not in
the centre.
things.

The

earth in these localities

still

presents the

wore before the occurrence of

The houses and trees, the
beautifully laid-out gardens, and the stately entrances

same appearance that

the

great

it

catastrophe.

to the noble

mansions

still

stand to each other at the

same

relative distances that they ever did.

alas

the voices that

now

are not those of the former owners.

look with satisfaction

But, alas

issue orders in these houses

The

eyes that

on the handsomely furnished

rooms and spacious lawns are not those of him who

formerly looked on them and said in his heart
"This

is all

mine."

knew

a great capitalist who, in 1863, was living

at Kensington.

After the great

crisis

of that year, I

329

saw the man who had accepted and honoured bills to

the amount of millions of pounds sterling, living in an
obscure house in the City Road and I saw a commercial sans culotte become the legal owner of the fine
house at Queen's Gate. What tears the proud Mrs.
Polycrates and the fashionable Misses Polycrates shed
when the auctioneer coolly knocked down to a five
pound bidder the elegant Dresden china that had cost
100 and the Rubens and the Spagniolotti, for which
Polycrates had paid 500, went for 10, being then
;

discovered to be, not originals, but copies.

The beau-

and carriages passed into the possession of

the fortunate sans culotte.
Mr. Briscott that is the
name of the lucky man had passed all the years of
his married life in a little cottage at Tottenham. There

tiful horses

he had brought up a large family of sons and daughters.

He was a petty bill discounter, and made his
great cou^ in the Stock Exchange and in cotton during
the

crisis.

Were

some of the

which came
under my own observation in the case of these two
families, you would certainly laugh, as I have done,
even whilst I sincerely commiserated the fallen family.
Easter was drawing nigh.
The Briscotts were fully
established in their grand mansion.
Passion week was
to them gay as the Roman carnival.
The mother did
not become familiarized as easily as the father and
daughters with her newly acquired luxuries. I know
it

I to go into

details

for a fact, that the first time she drove out in her

carriage she begged her husband to keep the blinds

close, as she

could not get rid of the idea that every-

body was staring at

awkward in her

fine

Poor Mrs. Briscott felt as

coach as though she were mounted
her.


330

on a Smyrniote camel, and paraded through an

rant

itine-

fair.

But Mrs.

Briscott

was not a woman

She was determined

trifles.

that had fallen to her

lot.

to stumble at

to enjoy the

Good Friday

good things
and

arrived,

Mrs. Briscott, no longer occupied with the care of

hot-cross buns and salt fish, with an

accompaniment

of parsnips, determined to attend a fashionable church

When

in Belgravia.

were occupied.

she arrived, nearly

The preacher was

principles, very eloquent,

titled ladies

who formed

and

of

much

all

the seats

High Church

beloved by the

the majority of the congrega-

Mrs. Briscott slipped two sovereigns into the

tion.

She and her daughters were

soon seated where their showy toilettes might be most

pew-opener's hand.

fully displayed.

Mrs. Briscott in this way did a pious

and recreative piece of business on Good Friday.

How

did

the Polycrates family pass the

day?

Being a holiday in the City, Mr. Polycrates proposed

to his wife and daughters to take a trip to Greenwich.
The ladies had been but little out of doors since their
reverse of fortune.

To do them

justice,

they had

endeavoured to accommodate themselves to circumstances.

The daughters had taken up

instruments they were

little

their needles

accustomed to touch

and busied themselves in the thousand alterations and

which the wardrobes of struggling people
The mother had taken upon herself the
require.
superintendence of the one servant employed to do

repairs

the household work.

It is not to

in that house in the City

shed, no sighs fetched,

were,

many and many.

smooth

as they used to

Road

be supposed that

there were no tears

no complaints made. There

Tempers were not always as
be at Queen's Gate, nor were

331
laughs so frequent and merry.

But

did

all

their

husband and father was

received with a cheerful welcome when he returned
to his humble home of an evening.

and the

best,

When
to

toil-pressed

Mr. Polycrates proposed taking his family

Greenwich, he thought only of giving his wife

and daughters a
accessories
ladies

little

fresh air; but

he forgot the

The

that must accompany their trip.

knew nothing

of

these

inevitable

inconve-

and though they were at first disgusted by

the very name of Greenwich, they afterwards took a
more philosophical view of the affair, and thinking it
as well to conform to their altered circumstances, set
The young ladies
out for the London Bridge Station.
were horrified at the rough crowd, at their loud laughs
and coarse jests. They were disgusted at the predominiences,

nating odour of

In the general confusion

zijthos (ale).

members of the Polycrates family were separated,

and each stepped into a different carriage. Mrs. Polycrates found herself seated beside an unreduced
Banting, the magnitude of whose figure gave him

the

a certain air of respectability.

not

have

attained

gentleman tried
full-blown

weather,

to

matron.

and then

such

make himself

agreeable

could
portly
to

the

began by talking of the

launched into the history of

exhibited a great familiarity.

man

man
The

He

several of the aristocracy, with

Polycrates has

poor

dimensions.

made a

whose genealogies he
It is evident that

conquest.

gives her to understand that

and in good circumstances.

The
he

Mrs.

stout gentle-

is

a bachelor,

Seeing the lady alone,

he proposes that when the train stops they shall take

a walk in the park, and have tea or coffee in some of
the pretty garden-houses.

Mrs. P. declines with a

332
All this time, the lady, as she afterwards told

smile.
us,

laughing heartily, thought that her fat acquaint-

ance was a rich City

man

closely connected with the

aristocracy.

The

found herself sitting

opposite to a very handsome gentlemanly young man,
eldest Miss Polycrates

a clerk in a bank.

he

lady, but
is

is

He cannot help looking at the young

too timid to speak.

not displeasing to her to

whom

the train stopped, the young

and presented

carriage,

his

This
it is

silent

offered.

man jumped

hand

homage

When

out of the

to assist the lady to

alight.

The

other daughter was

chanced to

finery.
shirt,

sit

not so fortunate.

She

next a blacksmith, dressed in holiday

purple waistcoat

a red necktie

with three brilliant glass studs

a white

a steel watch-

guard, and a pair of plaid trousers, formed a toilette

which, with some potations of the plebeian nectar, had

put the blacksmith on such very good terms with himthat he attempted to be facetious with the lady.

self,

But Miss
lute.

Amy

Polycrates was high-spirited and reso-

She had

sat at

first

with her silver-headed

smelling-bottle in her hand, looking ineffable things

when

but,

the blacksmith tried to jest, she told

him

in

a determined tone that she would call the guard.

The

father was the most fortunate of the party.

He

was seated between two pretty young milliners.

They were full of lively chat, and seemed determined
to enjoy their holiday.

When
scattered

the train had reached the station, and the

members of the Polycrates family were again

united, Mr. Polycrates recognized, in his wife's stout

travelling companion, a porter in one of the municipal

establishments in the City.

The Corporation

official,

ODD
to

whom

Mr. Polycrates' features were familiar, was

overwhelmed with confusion, and hurried away

as fast

which he was burThe banker s clerk followed

as the load of fleshy frailty with

dened would permit.

the party unobserved, at a distance, anxious to discover the

name and

address of the charming young

lady.

The amusements at Greenwich afforded no pleasure

The kiss-in-the-ring dis-

to the Polycrates family.

gusted the daughters;

the donkey-riding depressed

the spirits of the father,

who thought

steeds,

Blondin and Leotard

of his beautiful

the English dervislies

those ignorant and fanatic open-air preachers

address-

ing crowds of half-intoxicated people, and the sight of

the sleepers on the grass, threw Mrs. Polycrates into a

melancholy mood;

The whole party

left

Greenwich

three hours before the jpayiegyris concluded.

We

left

Mrs. Briscott at church on

Good

Friday.

I should be doing that lady a very great injustice, if I

allowed you to remain under the impression that she

never became acclimatized in the atmosphere of Queen's

Gate she did, and ruled there as absolutely as she

had always done in her Tottenham cottage. Once
;

thoroughly initiated into her new sphere, her real

character

appears in

She

strongest colours.

its

tyrannical to her servants

she

is

is

stingy tO the indi-

vidual poor, but ostentatiously liberal in her subscriptions to public charities.

She

is

proud and narrow-

hearted towards her indigent relatives

she

is

gauche

and quarrels with her husband for

the most trifling cause.
She frequently reminds him
that, though she was his cook before she became his
wife, still it was owing to her good advice, and her
economical management at Tottenham, that he came

in her movements,

334
to be in a position to
is

now

annoyed

She

is

wishes

name

Member
at his

make

remaining

is

greatly

late at night in the

House.

dumb

angry at his being a

also

him

to

Mr. Briscott

money.

his

of Parliament, but his wife

make

legislator; she

She longs

a speech.

to see his

in the Times, under the head, " Impeeial PaeIf she were in his place, she tells him, she

LIAMENT."

would

let

the

House hear

as well as see her

and, no

doubt, she would.

Reader, you perhaps think that I draw upon

my

if so, you are mistaken.

I could point
you out, within the circle of my own acquaintance, ten
families who have undergone changes similar to those

imagination

I have described.

I have seen wealthy

sudden crash and never

brokers, insignificant traders

hang about

my office

with them
into

fall

with a

adventurers that used

trying to

mission, or hoping to induce

imaginary scheme of

men

I have seen petty

rise again.

make

me

five

to

to

pounds' com-

promote some

theirs, or enter into transactions

I have since seen these men, I say, rise

sudden wealth, and I see them now occupying

distinguished positions in society.

You

will naturally ask

me

to account for the fall

of the one and the rise of the other.

Was

an

and extravagant, or an unfortunate man 1 Was the second a commercial genius,

In ordior simply a daring, fortunate speculator ]
the

first

idle

nary times people do not

The

fall

or rise

so

rapidly.

and industrious decidedly rise, but cannot,

within twelve months, rise from nothing to be worth
Such
150,000 and obtain a seat in Parliament.
extraordinary phenomena are the results, as I said
The commercial
before, of commercial revolutions.
Durrevolution of 1863-65 was one of three stages.
clever

335
ing

existence nearly all

its

a state of frenzy.

when

his head,

England was thrown

The prudent

rich

man

then

into
lost

the desperate pauper found his own.

The latter rushed to the

having nothing to

field,

lose,

but where he could most easily gain a great deal.

The mania
the

first

companies was

for bringing out limited

stage of that revolution.

dense fog then

You

covered the atmosphere of the City.

longer distinguish the good shares and

could no

bills

of ex-

change from the bad, because many of these worthless

concerns were under the covers of the names of noble

and lords gallant generals, colonels,

and captains and eminent inThe gold of the
solvent merchants and bankers.
public accumulated in these institutions, which seemed
The capito promise a new golden era to commerce.
dukes,

earls,

admirals, commodores,

talists

naturally followed,

public

spirit.

as

They bought the

they

always do, the

shares,

and exchanged

their sterling gold for these fine printed, decorated,

and sealed papers.

They were

saddled, besides, with

a tremendous responsibility, which they

little

thought

of then.

The second stage of the revolution begins when

masked fire brigades poured in to arrest this ^aroxysmos of turning insolvent businesses into "limited

These new comers showed themselves

companies."

determined to pull down even the soundest concerns.

To them

alone the panic

"
Saicve
qui pent !"
cry,

is

due.

The

They

first

gave the

shareholders showed no

courage, unanimity, or determination to protect their

companies.
alarmists,

The

Alarmed, they

and

left

fled before these

them abundant

third stage of this revolution

despatched

its

masked

spoil.
is

when

the law

servants, the liquidators, to take care of

OOl

the remainder of the shareholders' property, with fall

permission to take care of themselves, too, by charging

a commission on the debts of the companies.
all

know

the result of this system.

had debts

to

Companies that

the amount of 5000 found

those debts

increased to ten and twenty times that sum.

fore, reader, it

We

There-

was not extravagance or incapacity

that brought Mr. Polycrates to his present position,

nor commercial talent that raised Mr. Briscott to

his.

Mr. Polycrates was a bond fide large shareholder and

Mr. Briscott was a promoter, fire brigadier,
capitalist
:

and polynomial liquidator.

It will be a lono; time before we ai^ain see business
and confidence restored in the City of London.

APPENDIX.
No.

1.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.'s compliments to Mr. S. Xenos,

and beg

to inform

him

that they have given Messrs. Coventry,

Sheppard, and Co. orders to

sell

the whole of the wheat per Admiral

Kanaris, and request that Mr. Xenos will withdraw his orders from

any other

parties

Lombard

whom

he has instructed to

sell.

Street,

31 Dec, 1860.

No.

2.

London, January 12, 1861.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.

Gentlemen,
I have to request that you will advance

me

this

day iJ700

(say seven hundred pounds) for the purpose of meeting certain en-

gagements of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company,

and

in consideration of

your so doing, I hereby engage that, should

you think

it

talists for

the purpose of carrying on the said company, that I will

desirable hereafter to

give you every assistance in

I

my

form fresh combination of capi-

power.

am,
Gentlemen,

Your obedient

servant.

338

No.

3.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.'s compliments to Mr. S. Xenos,

and beg

to say that they understand that

he has an

from the

offer

ship-builders in the North for the two vessels, the Palikari and

Odesseus Androutzos, and they request that he will accept the

same

at once, otherwise

he must expect no further consideration

from them in any way.

Lombard

Street,

21 Feb., 1861.

No.

4.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.'s compliments to Mr. S. Xenos,

and beg

to request that, in chartering the steamers,

clause giving

him

he will insert a

liberty to cancel the agreement in the event of

the ship being sold previous to her departure from London.

Lombard

Street,

21 Feb., 1861.
19,

No.

London

Street.

5.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.'s compliments to Mr. S. Xenos,

and

will

be obliged by his furnishing them with the annexed par-

ticulars of each ship in his fleet,

of forming a company..

0., G.,

which are wanted

and Co. woidd

to-day, if possible.

Lombard Street,
25 Feb., 1861.
Cargo, dead weight.

Nature of engines.

Name

of maker, &c.

Consumption of coals ^jjer diem.

Quantity of coals bunkers will hold.

Number
Price,

of passengers.

minimum.

for the purpose

like to

have them

339
No.

G.

Messrs. Overcud, Gurney, and Co.'s compliments to Mr. S. Xenos,

and beg

to say that,

the letter of Mr. Chapman's

till

signed, they

is

cannot make any further advances, and request he will do so at

once, and forward

Lombard

it to

them.

Street,

19/H., 18G1.

London

19,

Street,

Fenchurch Street, E.G.

No.

7.

ATTEAIA.
eXei

kv Aovdivo) els Tr)v Kadopikovfikvriv

Zrifxoaievdi]

BPETTANIK02 A2THP,

Xiov Tov TrapopTus erovs o

Tr/v 1^" 'lov-

tcpyjfxepls lloXi-

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da

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jxepos QiXei CiaipelaQai els Tpla SiaKEKpifxepa fiepr]

Kvpia apdpa, atpopuivTa tov TroXniKoy povv tov TroXiTiafxevov

KOfffXOV.

Tci vofioa\edia cKelva Kal rets ojjvXias Kal

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pwTTjjs, 'Af.ipLKfjs,

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TiJv eXevOepojp 'Eflj'w)',

fias, -rrpos ((xoriafiov

ttJs

Trjs
/

oXwv

AvcTTpaXias,

7/

Tuiv fxepuiy Trjs

Eu-

juaXXot' tL Xaji^dvei

vSpoyeiov afaipas.

'Eor/a twv eldijcrewv' Kal oaris avayn'oxTKei top

Kal rds iiXXas 'AyyXtKCts

e^jj/^ep('c>as, fioros

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TOVTO.

To AiKacTTiKov
fjiuXXov

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34a
'hiTpov ceiKi'uet K(u to
^le^ep^errOai

a.)

rrjy Trepiypaipiji', cat roi' Tpoizov

Ixhos, kccI

QeXei ce Siaipelffdai

j^iiuv CiKijy.

avy^poi'ios awovculoy,

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Karo~rpiCi]Tui o jiios rov 6')(Xov,

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rou opi:b)THCov

'n-epiypcKpi) Oavj-iaaiu

KCU Tujy CiaKeKpiixiyuy pr^ropuy

tov av^vyiKov

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en

tov rojuov,

-nrepiepyorepa avayvojais, ttXtjv

ayyXiKov

wv

filov, t^

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'^(^apaKTrjpos, /cat ruiy

e^ijpTrjTaL y ijdiKOTrjS /cat evrjfiepia

TT]S KoD'WJ'f'oS.

To ^iXoXoyiKoy

OeXei Trepieyei, l3ioypa(l)ias, Trepiypacpas,

/xepos

TaE,eidui, (joTaviKas Kal i^ujoXoyiKcis eKdeaeis,

TTfy eTTLdeioprjaiv rwi' ricoy

aeis.

Kal

Trpo^ews,

ttjs

fTviTTi'ifiaros, ttjs 1(j-^uos

TTicTTOTepa Kal ^ojijportpa Tzepiypacft)! tov

ftairebjy

exaarov ttoXItov.

ti]S //yutpas.

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A'l ct'icat

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to aarvvoniKoy cryor/jyuci VTvep Tijs

t^ai

eL,aa(piiXirrebis tPjs rtjurjs, icai rcHy virap^^^oyrojy

7'.)

Kudt^ixepiva Trra/c/.taro ^iKal^'Jjieva vtto tmi' Xeyoj-ieywr, Kpi-

Tijjy, jjiepos

fi .)

rov

els rpia eirlcTrjs fxeprf

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Te')(^i'as, Trepirjyi'i-

/cat r?jV

dearpiKip' Kal

^paixaTiKrjy eTridewprjaiy tov Aoi'dtyov Kal tCjv TlapiGtwy,

EJs TO

tQv

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fXTTopiKur

fiepos 6 efxnopos OeXei evpiaKEi fxaKpu TifxoXcyia

dia(j)6pu)y elctoy, t7/j' l[j.TTopiKip' eirideujprjdiv

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6,ti

/cat

Trjs

ef^Ooj-iuSos,

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a(j)opa

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to TnaTr}fxoviKov jxepos,

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kpyoyeipa TuJy

to.

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rijs

TeXos

uTiva a'yrnxaTiC.ovv tovs fieyd-

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ei2(}/.twv

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els

tov

KXdoov TOV, BeXovy tpydi^eadai enl TuvTr]S.

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vXijs

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15-

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341
^tuypiadr]

rpiujy TKvveu)v,

ui'tI

*/

eros, TrpOTrXrjpujTeioy evdvs [XFrci

Ai
Trjs

XipuJy koi Tpiwp (Te\iriu)v kcit

rpiiSi'

rov nputTOvcpvWov,

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Toy ly Aorciya) Kvpiov Edmons, 19, London

Street,

Fenchurch. Street.

H EAAIINIKII KAI ANATOAIKH ATMOnAOIKII ETAIPIA

ErrYATAI TUN EKA02IN TII^l EI>I1MEP|A02; TOYAAXISTON Eni AYO ETH.
ArifioaievoyTes T>)y Trapovaai' 'AyyeX/a'
vayyu)(TTi)y

yci /ji) T))y tc/\ci/3j/ ois

pas UL,ias

Trjs

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dvev irapaKXifaetoy aXXuji' cvaTaaewy,

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aTrayTa\ov

aXrjQe'is

ra (pepwj^ey eh

v ayopaeTrj

vXrjt', Tjjy OTToiciy o 'idios avdopfii'iTCJS

7)

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dW

vnep

eavTOu

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^iXiKwv

ofdaXfiuiy /xey/orj;
TcHy

ijQiKuiv

Kul

Trjy ayopixv

/cat

ra rcKya

fiecrojy.

to. ^ta/3;'/juara fius

"EXXrjyes rd KaTaroi'irrtotn to epyov

Kai e'lde ol

fias, (voJ ey-

Gv^fepoyTwy {Tovyay-

voijaiotn oti hev vpoKeiTai rrept ciTOfxiKuiy vXiKuiy

tLov, kXy](^Qr) irpo

Trjs

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Toy epayoy

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oXoiy

hia tu TrpwTa
Tuiy

KUTOiKwy

'AyaToXijs.

'O Fei'tKos CievdvyTrjs

Tijs

'E0?;^ep2os,

STE*AN0S
No.
2,

;s:enos.

8.

Inrjram Court, Fenclmnh Street,

London, 12 March, 1859.

S.

Xenos, Esq.,

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

Dear

Sir,

On Monday
to prevent

any

I shall, I hope, be able to be with you, and,

after- question arising, I think

the terms as I understand them.

annum, and

am

it

but right to state

to be

paid .350 per

the business progresses, and I give satisfaction, then

I am also to have leave to fix any vessels

my relations or friends, so long as I do not neglect your

an advance
to

if

and

to

conform to your instructions in

may have

great success,

all

things.

belonging
interests

Trusting

I am, dear Sir,

Yours

truly,

A. Caenegie.

we

342

No.

9.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

Lombard

Street.

London, 23 Mmj, 1862.

Gentlemen,
I have to request that you

"will

advance to

me

the

sum

of

seventeen hundred pounds for three months, by the discount of

Messrs, Carr and Hoare's drafts on

me

for ,1700, as

below

and in

consideration of your agreeing to do so, I give you a charge, and

hereby charge

my

house and land at Petersham, which I have just

bought, with the due payment of the said biUs, and agree to execute

any further document or deed that you may require, either by way
of mortgage or otherwise, to complete your security on the said
property

and in default of the due payment

thereof, at maturity of

the said acceptances, I hereby authorize you to

ties as

you may deem

fit,

and engage

to

the said securi-

sell

pay any

deficiency.

Stefanos Xekos.
Dfts.

Messrs. Carr and Hoare on

S.

Xenos, Esq.,

Greek and Oriental Company.

dated" 23rd

.850

May, 1862.

850

due 26th Aug., 1862.

1700

No. 10.
29th of July, 1S62.

Dear Mr. Carr,

I

am now

prepared to pay you the 1700 that Messrs.

Overend, Gurney, and Co. have kindly advanced

the purchase of

my

furniture, as I told

My

house. Petersham Lodge.

you before, I bought from

my

me

to complete

This with some

private resources.

books and other furniture are what I have collected the last 16

years I have resided in England, and they have nothing whatever

to do

with the estates or properties of the Greek and Oriental Steam

Navigation Company.

This day I have none other creditor what-

ever, except Messrs. Overend,

Gurney, and

Co., so if those gentle-

343
men

me

will give

a letter that they have no claim on

my

house,

contents, and furniture, as indeed they have not, I intend to settle

all in

they

the

name

of

my

wife and children, so that if death occurs

may have some home and

shelter.

I should not have so dis-

posed, but having been rejected, as you

know, by the Commercial

Company,

Life Insurance

also the Victoria Insurance, a)id

been told by the doctors that I

my duty as a
for my family.
is

who have

father

am

and husband

suffering
to

having

from consumption,

make some

little

it

provision

I hope that Messrs. Ovorcnd, Gurney, and Co.,

ever treated

me

with such unexampled liberality and kind-

ness, will consider the justice of

my

my

demand, and grant me

request.

Yours most

truly,

Stefanos Xenos.

No

11.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

Loudon.
London, 15ih August, 1862.

Gentlemen,
I have to request that you will release

Petersham from

sum

all

of seventeen

claim on your part, on

my

hundred potinds on the 2Gth

my

house at

paying you the

instant, in settle-

ment of the acceptances of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Company, due that day for the like amount, and in consideration
of your agreeing to do so, I engage to follow your instructions in

every respect in the conduct of the business of the Greek and

Oriental Steam Na\'igation

on

my own private

and

to receive

no

Company, and

accoimt, except
letters

to transact

my literary,

no business

of any kind whatever,

on business without submitting them to

be read by Mr, G. B. Carr, or by some one authorized by you

further undertake to

hand

and

to you, as soon as received, all bills of

lading and policies of insurance for grain or goods shipped on

account of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company,

and in

all

respects to conduct the affairs of the said

such manner as

may be

agreeable to 3'ou

sideration, further agree to sign

and

company

in

for the said con-

any document that you may requLre

with reference to the said business of the Greek and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company, when called upon by you to do so.

344

No. 12.
[Private.']

Stefanos Xenos, Esq.,

36, King William Street, E.G.

London, 19

Dear

Aiu/.,

1862.

Sir,

"We have received yonr letter of this date, and in compliance

your request, we hereby release your liouse at Petersham,

" Petersham, Lodge,^^ from, all claim on our parts, on condition

ivitli

called

of your paying the bills for 1700, due 26th inst.,

drawn by Messrs*

Carr and Hoare on the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Com-

pany, and of your carrying out v^hat you undertake in your said

letter.

now be conmay depend will

"We trust that the business of your company will

ducted in a manner satisfactory to us, which you

be to the advantage of

all parties

We

concerned.

remain,

Yours

truly,

OVEREND, GtJKNET, AND Co.

No. 13.
Laurence Pountney Place,
17th Dec. 1862.

My

dear Mr. Xenos,

I have great pleasure in sending you the enclosed letter

from Overend, Gurney, and

Co.,

as to your house, but I hope

not think this

is

which will

you

will live

an exaggerated notion,

if

set

your mind at ease

50 years

yet,

you will only

and I do

taJce

reason-

able care of yourself.

With

best wishes,

I remain.

Yours very

sincerely,

G. B. Care.
S.

Xenos, Esq.

345

No. 14.
22, Basingliall Street,

9th3Iay,lS6\.
Dear

Sir,

The bearer
sent

me

of this

is

my

friend,

ment made

will repre-

at the time of the loan.

Mr. Carr will co-operate with you

of the business,

giving you any

me

Mr. Carr, Avho

in superintending your affairs, in pursuance of the arrange-

money

facilities

as to the application of

and

him

I shall look to

to satisfy

any sums that may be advanced.

Yours

truly.

W. Edwaeds.

E.
S.

management

in the general

and I shall be guided entirely by his advice in

Xenos, Esq.,'

Greek and Oriental Company.

No. 15.
The Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation

London

Company,

Street.

Lombard

Street,

24

1861.

Mc(>/,

Gentlemen,
Eeferring to our verbal arrangement,

we now

write you

with reference to the establishment of the company on a proper

and beg

footing,

worked by

say that

to

five large

it is

we annex, under the management

and
it

it is

is

agreed that

it

will in future be

steamers, and five smaller ones, a

understood that

it is

of yourself

list

of

which

and Mr. G. B. Carr

to continue its operations so long as

conducted to the satisfaction of the said Mr. G. B. Carr, and

the earnings of the

sliips arc

paid to us, but not to be less than two

thousand pounds per month, in addition to the amount of interest

accruing on the advances

we have made

to you.

In the event of our account being reduced so far that, on a

estimate, our advance

is

fully covered

by the

fair

said ships, then, on

further payments being made, the said ships are each one to be
released as the value thereof

is

paid off with interest, such value to

be ascertained by two competent persons, one to be appointed by


346
each party

we

but at no time are

to

bo

left

without a

sufficient

margin, on our advance.

"We shall thank you for a reply confirming the above.

I remain,

Yours

faithfully,

OVEREND, GfENEY, AND Co.

The

fleet to consist of

the following ships

"^

Scotia,

Asia,

Palikari,

large steamers.

Mavrogordato,
Leonidas,
CoUetis,

Colocotronis,

Eigas Ferreos,

smaller steamers.

George Olympius,
Londos,

No. 16.
Addressed

to

Aristides Xen^os, Esq.

Gahtz, 15th November, 1861.

Dear

Aristides,

I
Oct.,

the 11th

do so

now

proceed to answer your private letter of the 27th

which I found awaiting me on

inst.

And with

my

return from Saulina, on

feelings of both pain

and

of pain, because, after all the years wherein

brother Stefanos have

you should

so far do

you think some "

known me, and under

me

all

satisfaction I

you and your

the circumstances,

the injustice of hinting at and writing that

diabolical dishonesty is at work."

And

that you should suppose that only personal gain should be

moving power, and think that I

am

honest because I see

more,

my
my

only
per-

sonal interest in being so.

Again, I read your letter with satisfaction because I appreciate

a

man

telling

me

believe your letter

what he thinks, and more also because I

was one of impulse, and written unpremeditated,

plainly

and therefore not to be considered in

all its

force.

In answering

347
you, believe mo, I have considered well

thought well what

also

for, Aristides, if

there

is

all

you have

Baid,

and have

proper to answer under the circumstances

one iota of truth in your remarlcs and hints,

is

you have only your duty to your brother and the company to perform, and that is, to remove mo at once from Galatz as being alto-

me

gether imworthy of the confidence placed in

To write you thus

but, Aristides,

is

and

lierctoforc,

my own

because I have used that confidence to serve

unjust ends.

me

a trial indeed, and a source of pain to

no other course

is

open

left

I have always

me.

to

held out to both your brother and you that personal gain would

and could never make me neither 'honest nor dishonest; and, I

you fall short indeed of my idea of a man, if you think that

repeat,

honesty

when

is

to

be bought with money.

I say, once for

all,

make no boast nor brag

me

I have within

that which teUs

that to be honest, honourable, and independent

every man, whatever his station in

life

may

misinterpreted;

mind on

this

pendence of

my

dear wife and child are to

Now,
what we
by the

to disabuse

me

a sacred matter, an

me

as to the question of the Powerful, I can

infinitely dearer.

answer we loaded

invoiced per this vessel for Leghorn, and this

vessel loading only

50

qrs, less this

your

although the inde-

for,

honourable career and a clear conscience are to

have always

motives have been

beg you

therefore, Aristides, I

matter at once and for ever,

be.

my

acted and written so, although sometimes

me

the privilege of

is

voyage than

is

proven

last,

whUst

then she had only 60 tons coals on board, and this voyage she had

160 tons

Last voyage she was loaded by the head, by

at least.

the fore-hold; this voyage Davidson

hold,

and thus carried

arrival in

and thus he kept

beside the 100 extra coals, she

voyage as now,

last

you

as, in fact,

filling

division in his fore-

less grain in his fore-hold,

the vessel by the stern

much water

made a

drew

will find

as

on her

London.

The Marco Bozzaris cargo cost more because the Tzamados and
Bobolina had to load three to four miles from Giurgevo (and this never
happened before
age.

No

in the

Danube), and we had

one could have foreseen

you not always

telling us, "

The present wheats,

as

this,

Buy cheap

you

stufi'

pay the extra cart-

in the

ea'

oporto

Are

up river?"

say, Theologos did telegraph

Giurgevo, the 8000 qrs. would cost 31s.

tides, look at the

to

and why blame us

you from

but then, Aris-

telegram I sent you on the 16 th Sept. from here^

in which I tell you the wheats will cost 32s. so early as the 16th
Sept.,

and you never answer, " Stop buying," but you answer, " Do

348
;"

not hesitate, pay 34s.

and

j^our letter adds,

Now,

the wheat good and about your sample."

Now, why

did Theologos say he could get

having increased yonr original order

got,

20,000

to

qrs.,

no doubt, 8000

for

and then

8000

qrs. at 31s.?

10,000

October

qrs. for all

30,000

to

We

qrs.

have been cleaned in Giurgevo

to us

we

autumn

have, with only 7 feet of water, brought

down, cleaned splendidly, and shipped

have other 8000

there 30,000 qrs.

them

from

qrs.,
;

no

the

test,

we

till

We

now 15,000

cleaned

them, and shipped them on

how

well and thoroughly they

Now,

equal to Is. to Is. 6d. per qr.

is

but a fact well known here, and in

But enough

of this, for

You speak

it is

assume

that, if

my

sacrificed

any one wilfidly

hands, then let

have worked with good honest

But

but I

me

let

interests are pre-

him make such change

he wiU, and believe me, I will not consider myself

for I

is

own favour.
own relations.

cannot give any opinion.

to-morrow Mr. Stefanos thinks his

judiced by being in

This

speaks volumes.

of no use to speak in one's

never

of this, and

little

itself

of your brother having sacrificed his

I hope and believe he

know

besides

could have sold, and were offered equal to 36s.

37s. 6d. per qr., free on bo^ard here for these wheats.

story,

and

qrs.,

could have cleaned in

but we could never have cleaned properly

we have brought the wheats here, landed

one steamer,

have been cleaned,

and

so

This alone, considering

another.

this, is

on the way here.

qrs.

Giurgevo the 8000

but

awfully different to get 30,000 qrs.

it is

I declare and uphold that the business of the wheat this

an honour

could

October and November at 31s.,

qrs. for

for that small quantity could

then, Aristides,

is

we

and heavy.

he was at Giurgevo, and knew not a word about your

sir,

and November
have

35s., only get

the wheats

all

to our sample, clean, good,

have shipped are quite equal

Because,

" pay

will,

as

sacrificed at all

and firmly believe

that,

on the whole, the very best has been made of the opportunities.

And

of this I

am

sure, I

came here

to discredit

and confusion,

short shipments, and universal unfriendliness, and these are all

reversed.

now

For I prize the good name I hope I have, and the con-

tinuance of the friendship of your brother, which

my

is

not of yester-

now be

sorry

speak of your father or Mr. Clenzo coming here.

The

day, more than

present gains

although I should

to leave Galatz.

You

latter I kjiow not

but this I do know, that, as

much

as I respect

your worthy father, he could never make the business here.

daylight

till

8 p.m., often

all

night,

we work,

not in

offices,

Erom
but out

o49
here and there, sumetime.s Sauliiui Roads, other times in the interior,

and more often loading and cleaning grain. And, Aristidcs, where
would the Smyrna's case have been in these gentlemen's hands ? Nowhere

Now, whilst

lost.

I write, I tell you,

had

I only permitted

that case to liave been neglected, without any one ever being wiser,

me .1000, and Theologos the

And what makes me angry is this, that Mr. Theodore Xenos
get ^60 and we nothing.
What has he done ? Arranged

the Austrians would gladly have given

same.
should

one witness to come here at the awful cost of S0, whilst he was a
British subject,

expense of

and could be summoned, and must have come

and travelling

.1 Is.

neither here nor there, and

days I wrote

for fourteen

all

is

cost,

for

about <15 more,

you

day in the

and

all

Whilst

me.

to judge, not
coui't

night at home,

searched out greasy old pilots, coaxed them and petted them

nothing I hate worse than to be obliged to

but the case

is

flatter that sort of

and
men

gained, and I have upheld the opinion I gave, that

I could win the case, and so

am

thoroughly

Aristidcs, if

satisfied.

I cared or considered less of your business I would write

excuse the length I have gone

I only further add,

examine
you can

an

at

liut that's

why

do you

not send out some one to

into the state of these things ? or

find the time

and

less, so

to.

you may come

then Stefanos would rest

surely

satisfied,

now

not live in a state of uncertainty and anxiety, as seems

and
be

to

the case.

You

say,

" Don't begin Stokar's games."

must be indeed a changed individual

man

Enough

of this

I can have the spirit of that

in me.

I repeat, the business here

attention

wc can

is

and

all

done with the greatest amount of

bestow, with the most honest purpose in view,

and with the greatest endeavours

to us

if

we

ask

is

to

promote the interests intrusted

a proper

and thorough inquiry into the

whole matter of these wheats (and aU others), and you will

1 cent

find not

wrongly charged nor 1 cent wasted in expenses that could

have been avoided.

I must

tell

you that Mr. Theologos most

fully concurs in all I

have written, and on his arrival in London will personally confirm

my

statement

for this letter

comes as much from him as me.

Awaiting your reply, and trusting you wiU be

satisfied

with

this letter,

I remain, yours very truly,

A. Cahnegie.

350
No. 17.
London, 24th Dec, 1861.
S.

Xenos, Esq.

Dear

Six,

The SS. Palikari having been ordered for survey by

Government for the conveyance of stores from Woolwich to Bermuda, you will be good enough to place the steamer in the hands
of Messrs. Thompson and Tweeddale, of 27, Birchin Lane (who
tendered her),

who

will act as the brokers.

I remain.

Dear

Sir,

Yours most

truly,

E.

W. Edwards.

No. 18.
Dear Xenos,
I
letter

am

which

sorry I did not see you on Tuesday.

it

now

enclose

was agreed between Mr. Carr and myself that I

should write to you upon the subject of the Palikari.

Yours most

truly,

E. "W. Edwards.
I strongly

recommend you

to call yourself

upon the Comptroller.

London, 2 Jan., 1862.

No. 19.
London, 2nd Jan., 1862.
Sir,

TJie Paliharl.

The

bearer of this

is

Mr. Stefanos Xenos, the owner of

am

mortgagee.

illness, I

was unable

the above-named ship, of which I

tunate that, in consequence of

It
to

was unfor-

communicate

with Mr. Xenos at the time I authorized Messrs. Thompson and

;;
:

351
Co. to tender the ship to the Government for the conveyance of

am

goods to Bermuda, as I

sure,

had

done

so, all

the unpleasant-

ness that has occurred, and which I regret extremely, would not

have occurred.

Mr. Stofanos Xenos

and I think,

is

alone entitled to sign charter-parties

you will be induced to accept

any of his ships which may hereafter be tendered by him, and
which you may consider fitted for your service. Apologizing for
after this explanation,

being very unintentionally the means of giving trouble,

I am.

Sir,

Your obedient
E.

servant,

W. Edwards.

Chas. Eichards, Esq.,

Comptroller, &c.,

Admiralty.

No. 20.
The Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

19,

London

Street,

Fenchurch

To the Bank

Street,

186

London, E.G.,
of London.

Sir,

I enclose Mr. Sidney Malettass's, of Smyrna, drafts on

your bank for

ticularized to

fifty

thousand pounds, at six months' sight, as par-

you in those

letters of

to accept to the debit of this

20th April, which I thank you

company against

herewith

securities

mortgaged of our steamer

16,000

Palikari,

Mavrogordato,

6,000

ZaVmis,

7,000

Colocotronis,

7,000

also a letter

from Messrs. 0.,

you with the

fifty

fail to

do

so.

14,000

Leonidas,

G.,

and

Co.,

undertaking to provide

thousand at the maturity of the

bills,

in case

we


552

No. 21.
The Greek and Oriental Steam
19,

ITavigatiou

London

Company.

Street, Fenchitrch Street,

London, E.G., 28 October, 1861.

Received from 8tefanos Xenos, Esq., the following Policies

No. 95, Marco Bozzaris, 9,000

2,

3,

1,500

4,500
3,000

18,000
This steamer having- been

and not

any ou|

to

lost, I

else, in

promise to pay the money to him,

due course.

M. E. Maveogoedato.

No. 22.
The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
19,

London

Street, Fenchurcli Street,

London, E.G., 28 Octoher, 1861.

Gentlemen,
I acknowledge receipt of original protest covering the loss
of the SS.

Marco Bozzaris, which I

will return after the entire

settlement with the underwriters.

To the G. and 0.

S.

N. Co.

I remain. Gentlemen,

Your obedient

servant,

M. E. Maveogoedato.

No. 23.
Laurence Pountney Plate,
Saturday, 2Sth Feb., 1863.

Dear

Sir,

Your conduct

is

very annoying to

all

G, and 0. Stm. Co., and destructive to yourself

as regards your position

and future prospects.

interested in the

in

fact, suicidal,

353
You

are generously offered a release from a load of debt, Avith

the simple condition of engaging, under a proper penalty, to afford

every assistance to getting in the assets 6f the company, and avoiding everything offensive to our friends.

my

once to

firm,

If you assign all over at

and give the guarantees I have named, your real

known among your countrymen or other

you are any longer obstinate, and determined

position will never be

friends

whereas,

upon your own

if

destruction,

Carr and Hoaro will be under the

necessity of striking a docket against

tect their

own

whom you

interests, as

you

day or two,

in a

have treated so badly, in return for

and kindness

to you.

to pro-

well as the interest of those friends

all their liberality

hope that you possess copies of your

letters

them of the 21st Jan. and 28th May, 1861, and of the 19th Aug.,
1862 if so, read them, and then, if you are not mad, you will at

to

once

your promises therein expressed, and endeavour to pro-

fulfil

pitiate their friendly feelings

towards you for the future.

I remain,

Yours

faithfully,

G. B. Caub.
Stefanos Xenos, Esq.

No. 24.
73,

New Bond

Street,

Augt. 21, 1868.

Sir,

In reply

to

your

favoiu',

having reference to some papers

and property contained in a case supposed

to

with other property from Petersham, after your

have been removed

sale there,

by Camp,

the carman, to his warehouse, I can only suggest again that you

had better make an appointment

you can point

it

out.

He

to

go over his premises, and see

if

believes that he has nothing of the kind,

and that you had away everything which he removed, and it may
now that the appointment which you made a long time

be regretted

ago for that purpose was not carried out.

If

you

now
Camp

will

arrange with

suggest a time, giving a day's notice, I

to

meet you at the warehouse, which

A A

wiU
is

354
the top of Portland Street, in the

New

Koad, opposite Trinity-

Church.

The only property which came

am,

Your

to

my

house were the pictures.

Sir,

obliged and obedient servant,

Wm.

Phillips.

Stefanos Xenos, Esq.

No. 25.
16, Tolcenliouse Yard, B.C.

London, 15 June, 1861.

Re

Lascaridi and Co.

Gentlemen,

We

beg to enclose an account current between the above

firm and your company, showing a balance against you, with interest'
to the 31st

May

last,

of .19,720 10s. 6d., of

which amount we

have to request payment on behalf of Messrs. Lascaridi and Co.

We

remain, yours faithfully,

Coleman, Ttjequand, Youngs, and Co.

The Greek and

Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

No. 26.
16, ToTcenliouse Yard, E.C.

London, 15 June, 1861.

Lascaridi and Co.
Sir,

We
Messrs.

beg

you accounts between yourself and

to enclose

and Co.,

Lascaridi

namely

also to

your debit,

lated to the 31st of

We

General

account,

showing

2189 2s. 4d. and freight account, balance

1440 7s. 8d. Both accounts have interest calcu-

balance to your debit of

May

last.

have to apply on behalf of Messrs. Lascaridi and Co. for

payment of the above

balances.

We

remain,

Yours

Sir,

faithfully,

Coleman, Tfbquand, Youngs, and Co.

Stephen Xenos, Esq.

No. 27.
16, ToJcenhouse Yard, E.C.

London, 20 June, 1861.

Be

Lascaridi and Co.

Sir,

Wc

We

arc in receipt of your favour of to-day's date.

may have

think that any ohjcction you

to the

accounts

we

fur-

nished to you should be more specific than that which your letter
indicates.

If you have any account against Messrs. Lascaridi and Co., we

have to request that you wiU forward the same to us. Messrs.
Lascaridi and Co. have nothing whatever to do with any account

company may have

which your

with

their

correspondents

Constantinople, or with parties at Odessa, Beyrout, or Galatz,

may happen

to be agents

at

who

of Messrs. Lascaridi and Co. at those

places.

Waiting the favour of your

reply,

We

ax'e. Sir,

Yours

faithfully,

Coleman, Ttjkquand, Youngs, and Co.

S. Xenos, Esq.

Greek and Oriental Steamship Company,

Mark Lane.

No. 28.
1

Corn Exchange Chambers, Seething Lane,

London, E.G., 7/9/61.

Stefanos Xenos, Esq.,

London.

Dear

Sir,

We

have your

letter of

state that, having sold the

Guruey, and

Co.,

for arbitration,

6th

inst.,

and, in reply, have to

wheat by orders of Messrs. Overend

and with their approval, we cannot sec any case

and clearly no case between you and

We

us.

are, respectfully,

COVENXKY, ShEPPABD, AND Co.

a2

356

No. 29.
The following conditions to be agreed on between Mr. G. B.
Carr and S. Xenos, for the purpose of bringing out a steam comMr. G. B. Carr to become a director of the new company,
pany
and take shares of the value of 5000 to o10,000 when paid up.
The boats Powerful, Asia, Scotia, PaHkari, and Mavrogordato, now
Mr. G. B. Carr's property, to be purchased by the new company
if so desired by Mr. Carr, within three months
for
:

from

Mr. G. B, Carr

this date.

and Black Sea

thousand

five

the goodwill of the Levant

sells

line of steamships to

hundred pounds

Mr. Carr

influence of Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

The

company.

and whatever depot of

wharfs, materials, &c.,

company

at

cost

secui'e

usual wear

Two
new

line

S.

of

except Mr. Eoss and

coals, store,

warehouses,

be taken over by

new

and tear being allowed.

office fittings, &c., to

price,

for

the moral

Co., to assist the

new company,

steamships to be taken over by

;

and

to

and clerks of the L. and B.

office

Mr. Papandenopulo

new company

this

brokerage of 2| per cent, to be paid by Mr. Carr to A. Carnegie, in

case of disposal of his steamers to the new company.

No. 30.

COPY or DEED OF ASSIGNMENT.

%\)i^ ^^UtientUre, made the

thirty-first

day of March, One thou-

sand eight hundred and sixty-three, between Stefanos Xenos,

of

King William

London, Merchant and

and Edward Watkin Edwards, of

Street, in the City of

Shipowner, of the

first part,

Basinghall Street, in the said City of London, Esquire, of the

second part,

David

BiRKBECK,

Money

and Samuel Gurnet, Henry Edmund Gurney,

Ward Chapman, Arthur George Chapman,

all

of

Lombard

and Robert

Street, in the said City of

London,

Dealers, carrying on business under the style or fii-m of

Overend, Gurney, and Company, of the third part.

OT[})ercaiS

the said Stefanos Xenos,

who

for

some time past has

carried on the business of a merchant and shipowner, under the style

or

title

of the Greek

and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, has

contracted and agreed with the said

Edward Watkin Edwards

for the

357
absolute sale to

him

of the whole of the ships, property, and assets

of such business, subject, nevertheless, to the debts and liabilities

now

subsisting in respect thereof, for the

And wnEREAS

hundred pounds.

and transactions between the

sum

of

Two

thousand

five

there have been extensive dealings

said Stefanos

Xenos and the

said

parties hereto of the third part, in the course of his said business,

and upon the balance of account, if now made up, the said Stefanos
Xenos would be indebted to them in a considerable sura of money,
as appears

Edwards

by the account submitted to the said Edward "VYatkin

and the said parties hereto of the third part, being

fully satisfied of the ability of the said

Edward Watkin Edwards

to discharge the several debts and h abilities of the said business,

to join in these presents for the purpose of releasing

have agreed

the said Stefanos Xenos from

all

claims and

demands

in respect of

such dealings and transactions, and have further agreed, at his

request, to

in

manner
^ntJ

become

sureties for the said

Edward Watkin Edwards,

hereinafter appearing.
in part performance of the said agreement, the

iui^treasi,

said Stefanos

Xenos hath, by

bills of sale

bearing even date here-

with, in consideration of the several sums of

.

tioned, to be paid

in the whole to

money

therein

men-

by the said Edward Watkin Edwards, amounting

the sum of One thousand five hundred pounds

(being part of the said

sum

of

Two

thousand

five

hundred pounds),

didy transferred the whole of the ships or vessels, and parts of

ships or vessels, belonging to him,

and employed

in his said busi-

and singular the appendages and appurtenances whatsoever thereto belonging, or in anywise appertaining to
the said Edward Watkin Edwards, or to his nominees, subject to
ness, together with all

the several registered mortgages thereof.

iSolD

t\)iS jJntJcntuvf luititfiEisietJ)

performance

of the said agreement,

that, in further pursuance

and

and in consideration of the sums

of money, amounting in the aggregate to

One thousand

five

hundred

pounds, so paid by the said Edward Watkin Edwards, as herein-

mentioned, and of the sum of One thousand pounds of

before

is

lawful

money

to the said Stefanos

paid by the said

Xenos

Edward Watkin Edwards,

in hand, well

and truly

at or before the execu-

which said several sums of

One thousand five hundred poimds and One thousand pounds,
making together the sum of Two thousand five hundred pounds,

tion of these presents, the receipt of

he, the said Stefanos Xenos, doth hereby acknowledge, and of

and

358
from the same, and every part thereof, doth hereby acquit, release,
and discharge the said Edward Watkin Edwards, his executors,
administrators,

and

assigns, for ever

He, the

by these presents.

by these presents, bargain, sell, assign,

and transfer unto the said Edward Watkin Edwards, his executors,
administrators, and assigns, all and singular the debts, credits,
said Stefanos Xenos, doth,

monies, freights, books,

money, property, and

furniture,

office

effects,

bills

and

securities

for

whatsoever and whercsover, of and

belonging to him, the said Stefanos Xenos, in the trade or business

merchant and shipowner,

of a

under the stjde or

so as aforesaid carried

of the Greek

title

on by him

and Oriental Steam N'avi-

gation Company, together with the goodwill of the said business,

and

all

other the property, right,

title, interest,

claim,

and demand

whatsoever, both at law and in equity, of him, the said Stefanos

Xenos, therein or thereto, together with

bills,

notes,

any part thereof

to

and

books, writings, deeds,

all

and receipt papers and vouchers touching the same, or

and together

also

wdth

full

power and authority

Edward "Watkin Edwards, his executors,

and assigns, at all times, in the name or names of

him, the said

for

administrators,

the said Stefanos Xenos, his executors or administrators, or otherwise, to ask, demand, sue for, recover,
releases

and

receive,

and give

To have, hold, receive, and take the

or intended so to be.

debts, credits, monies, freights, securities for

property, and effects, and

all

money, goods,

Edwards, his executors, administrators, or

own

said

chattels,

and singular other the premises herein-

before assigned, or intended so to be, unto the said

their

effectual

and discharges for the monies and premises hereby assigned,

absolute use and benefit.

Axd

Edward Watkin

assigns,

for

his

the said Stefanos

and

Xenos

doth hereby, for himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators,

covenant and declare and agree with and to the said Edward Watkin

Edwards, his executors, administrators, and assigns, in manner

following, that

is

to

say, that he, the said Stefanos Xenos, hath

not at any time heretofore made, done, executed, or knowingly

suffered

any

whereof he

act,
is

deed,

matter,

or

thing whatsoever,

by means

prevented from effectually assigning the aforesaid

ships, vessels, freights, debts, credits, goods, chattels, effects,

premises, subject and in

true intent and

manner

aforesaid,

meaning of these

presents.

he, the said Stefanos Xenos, his executors

and

will, at the

request,

costs,

and according

and

to the

And furthee,

and administrators,

that
shall

and charges of the said Edward

359
Watkia Edwards,
do,

his executors, administrators, or assigns,

and execute, or cause and procure

executed,

all

more

for the

such further

acts, deeds,

effectually assigning

to

make,

be made, done, and

and assurances whatsoever

and assuring the said premises

unto the said Edward Watkin Edwards, his executors, adminis-

and assigns, in manner aforesaid, as by the said Edward

trators,

Watkin Edwards,

his executors, administrators, or assigns,

reasonably required.

Ajjd the said

himself, his heirs, executors,

may

Edward Watkin Edwards,

bo
for

and administrators, and likewise the

said parties hereto of the third part, for themselves, their heirs,

executors, and administrators, as his sureties, do, and each of

doth, hereby covenant and agree with

and

them

the said Stefanos

to

Xenos, his executors and administrators, that he, the said Edward

Watkin Edwai-ds,

his executors, administrators,

or assigns, shall

and will well and truly and punctually pay and discharge the
several debts

and

liabilities

of him, the said Stefanos Xenos, in

or business, except any debts or

which the said Stefanos Xenos may have in any manner
concealed, and shall and will from time to time, and at all times
hereafter, save harmless and keep indemnified the said Stefanos
respect of the aforesaid trade

liabilities

Xenos, his executors and administrators, from

mands,

costs,

claims and de-

all

charges, and expenses in respect of the same, and

every part thereof.

SntJ

tl)ii CntJcntui'C fuvtijcv luitncs's'ftlj

said recited agreement,

and

in

that, in

pursuance of the

consideration of the assignment

hereinbefore contained on the part of

the said Stefanos Xenos,

they, the said parties hereto of the third part, do,

and each and

every of them doth, by these presents, absolutely acquit, release,

exonerate, and for ever discharge the said Stefanos Xenos, his heirs,
executors,

demands

and administrators, of and from the

said claims

in respect of the before-recited dealings,

and

all

and

manner

of actions and suits, cause and causes of actions and suits, claims,

and demands whatsoever, which they the said parties hereto of the
third part, or any or either of them,

any or either of them,

now

have, or which they or

their heirs, executors,

or administrators,

might, but for these pi-esenis, have had upon or against the said
Stefanos Xenos, his heirs, executors, or administrators, under or by
virtue of such dealings and transactions as aforesaid, or otherwise

howsoever.

hi

iuttnc^:^

whereof the said parties to these

presents

have

360
hereunto set their hands and

seals,

the day and year

first

above

written.

(Signed)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the ^

above-named Stefanos Xenos,

in

the presence of William J. Cross_^

>StEPANOS XkNOS.
n
1
1
Illm,
i
field, clerk to Messrs. Thomas <fe
.

i.

HoDams,

Solicitors,

Mincing Lane,

London.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the

"^

KDS,

above-named Edward Watkin Ed-

Saml. Gtirney.

Henry Edmund Gurney,

E. E. Gurnet.
^,1
A
L^
Chapman, Arthur V _,
^
D. Ward Chapman
r
Jiirk
Kobert+-R-1
George Chapman, andi-Dv

wards,

^
David Ward
'
.

-,

-,Tr

-1

beck, in the presence of Charles

ward Jones,

EOBT. BlEKBECK.

2, St. Mildred's Court.

Signed, sealed, and delivered

said

Arthtje G. Chapman.

Ed

Samuel Gurney,

by the

in the pre-

sence of Eichard Fry, 136,

Fen-

church Street.

No. 31.

jBemOtaUtltUU
of

tiic

of the terms agreed for transfer

by Mr.

S.

Xenos

business and property of the Greek and Oriental Steam

Company

Navigation

to

Messrs.

Overend,

Gtjenet,

and

Company.
1.

Mr. Xenos

to receive

Two

thousand

five

hundred pounds cash

forthwith.
2.

Mr. Xenos

to

be at liberty

to

send two servants and furniture,

&c., not exceeding fifty tons -measurement,

by the Asia,

free

of freight, to Athens, or to the nearest port to that city at

3.

which she may call on her next outward voyage.

The acceptance for ^2500 held by Mr. Carr to be paid out of
the surplus proceeds of the wheat in the hands of Messrs.
Alexander Bell and Company but, if such proceeds are not
sufficient for the purpose, IVIr. Xenos not to be liable to pay
;

the

bill.

Mr. Carr

to

have such control over the sale of the

361
wheat

Any

Mr, Xcnos now has.

as

surplus in respect of

the wheat to belong to Mr. Xenos.

4.

Mr. Xcnos

be indemnified against

to

ties of the

all

the debts and liabili-

Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Companj',

but the indemnity not to extend to any debts or

liabilities

may have

to

(if

any) which ho

released from

all liabilities to

Mr. Xenos

concealed.

Messrs. Overend,

be

Gumey, and

Companj-, or to their nominees.

5.

Mr. Xenos
dering

bond

to give a

all

for =2500, conditioned for his ren-

reasonable assistance in winding up the

affiiirs

of

the company, and realizing the assets, &c., and doing nothing
to injure or

and

annoy the company or those interested in it

him that he has not, since 1st of January

also binding

last, received

any

freights or

moneys, or withheld any

of lading or documents of the

company not

disclosed

bills

by the

books.
6.

Mr. Xenos forthwith

books, papers, and

to transfer the ships,

office furniture,

attorney to Mr. Carr to receive

in his

and

and

to give

to give a

all freights, &c.,

up

all

power of

and

to

sue

name.

OVEKEND, GUENET, AND Co.

Dated 24th March, 1863.

No. 32.
hv tl)C6C ^PtCScntS, that Stefanos Xenos,
of King William Street, in the City of London, Merchant and
Shipowner, lately carrying on business under the name, style, or

itinoto

all

title of

^QXl

the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, for

divers good

and valuable causes and considerations him thereunto

moving, doth by these presents irrevocably make, constitute, and

appoint Geoege Boavness Care, of Laurence Pountney Place, in
the said City of London, Merchant, the true and lawful attorney
of him, the said Stefanos Xenos, and in his name, or in the
of the said

company

or otherwise, to ask,

name

demand, recover, and

receive of and from all and every the persons or person liable to

pay the same,

now

all

and every sum and sums of money whatsoever

due, or hereafter to become due to him, the said Stefanos

Xenos, in respect of his aforesaid business

and upon receipt of

;;

362
any such sum or sums of money,

to give, sign,

and

sufficient receipts, releases,

and discharges

and

also to sign,

for the

same

make, endorse, or accept any promissory note

or notes, or bill or bills of exchange

execute, and

and execute good

and

also to sign, seal,

deliver all such deeds, releases, or assurances in

any way relating to the said business,

also to commence and prosecute any

as

and

he may think

fit

actions, suits, or other

proceedings at law or in equity against any person or persons

any sum or sums of money due and owing, or to

become due and owing, as aforesaid, and in respect of any claims
and demands whatsoever of him, the said Stefanos Xenos, in his
in respect of

aforesaid business

and

to appear to or defend

or other proceedings to be
said Stefanos

commenced

Xenos in respect of

any

actions, suits,

or prosecuted against the

his aforesaid business, to pro-

ceed to judgment and execution, or become nonsuit, or suffer

judgment

to

go by default, in such actions,

expedient
the

name

and

for all or

suits, or

Bowness Carr

ceedings, as to the said George

any of the purposes

shall

seem most

aforesaid, to use

of the said Stefanos Xenos, and one or

or attorneys under him, the said George

other pro-

more attorney

Bowness Carr,

to

nomi-

nate and appoint, and any such nomination at pleasure to revoke

and

also to do, perform,

and execute

and things whatsoever as

in

shall or

all

such other acts, matters,

may be

and about the premises, and generally

ment

of the affairs

carried on

by him

manage-

and business of the said Stefanos Xenos,

as

aforesaid, in such

George Bowness Carr shall think

all respects, as

requisite or necessary
to act in the

fit,

manner

as fully

and

so

as the said

effectually, in

Xenos could himself have done

the said Stefanos

if personally present.

No. 33.
London, 31si March, 1863.

Mr.

S.

Xenos,

In consideration of your, at
of Attorney in

my

my

request, signing the

Power

favour already prepared, and also signing the

other documents which have been prepared for transfer of the business and property of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation
panj', I

hereby agree not

to enforce

payment from you,

or

Com-

any other


363
party thereto, of the

and held by me, but

of exchange for =2500 accepted by yoii

bill

the wheat belonginp^ to you, in the hands of Messrs. Alexr.

Co., for

payment

any) of

to look solely to the surplus value (if

of the said

bill, witli

Yours

Ik'Il

and

interest thereon.

faithfully,

G. B. Care.

(Signed)

No. 34.
ILonUOU, to Wilt

I,

Stefanos Xenos, of King William Street,

the City of London, Shipowner, do solemnly and sincerely

in

declare that I have not concealed from Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Company, or from Mr. George Bowncss Carr, any debts or

liabilities

me under

incurred by

the

Oriental Steam Navigation Companj^

debts and liabilities are

known

to

firm of the Greek and

and

me

that, so far as such

(except disputed claims),

they are disclosed by the books of account of the said company,

or

by contracts

in the office of the

And

company.

solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same

and by virtue of the

the

fifth

jorovisions of

An

in various

'

An

Act

more

for the

Oaths and Affirmations taken and made

Departments of the State, and

and

tions in lieu thereof,

Majesty King

late

Act to repeal an Act of the

present Session of Parliament, intituled

effectual Abolition of

this

be true,

an Act made and passed in

and sixth years of the reign of His

William the Fourth, intituled "

make
to

for the

more

to substitute Declara-

entire

Suppression of

voluntary and extrajudicial Oaths and Affidavits, and to

other Provisions for the Abolition of unnecessary Oaths."

make

"

SxEFANOs Xenos.

No. 35.
Received of Mr. Stefanos Xenos the following documents on
cargoes of coal:

per Mali Marco.

Charter party

Receipt for

Two

15

bills of

Policy for

10s.

Lading

300

do.

do.

do.

do.

do.

do,

364
Two

Bills of

Lading per Ligure.

Charter-party ....

do.

Policy for .700

do.

Two

Bills of

..

Lading per Australia.

Charter-party ....
Policy for

Two

^510

do.
do.

BiUs of Lading per Cattina.

Charter-party ....

do.

Policy for JC470

do.

Policies qf cargoes the B. of L. of

which are already sent

2 per Ginsachard

700

1 per "Wings of the

Morning

320

2 per James Cruikshank

Charter-party

PoHcy

475

per Unita.

for .650 ....

do.

G. B. Caer.

No. 36.
The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
36,

King William

Street,

London, E.G., 19th May, 1863.

Stefanos Xenos, Esq.,

Petersham Lodge,
Petersham, near Richmond.
Sir,

It

is

my

unpleasant duty to inform you that Mr. Lucas

Ealli, of the Piraeus, writes to the G.

no

coals belonging to the

tons,

by your

orders, to

&

0. S. N. Co. that he has

company, having transferred about 845|

some private account with you.

learn from Mr. Ross that you directed

him

your private account "the value of 270

tons,

for

taken

coals

February

now

to pass to the credit of

26/- (being ,351),

by the Mavrocordatos, when

at

that port,

in

last year.

I have also to inform you

states that

that Mr. P. Clenzo, of Smyrna,

he paid you, on the 8th

May

last,

when

in

London,

365
the sura of .180 123. lOd. on account of coals and advances per
Parthian, which has not been passed through the company's books.

These several matters

in the

must

retjuest

you at once

to set right,

meantime
I remain,
Sir,

Your obedient

servant,

For the Greek and Oriental Steam Nav. Co.,

G. B. Carr.

No. 37.
G. B. Carr, Esq.,

Laurence Pountney Place.

Lombard
Dear

With
enclosed herein,

name down
even

you

Street,

Idth March, 1862.

Sir,

if it

reference to the prospectus of the

we

are very

as a director,

was

much

which

is

contrary to our understanding,

likely to be a benefit to the G.

name

will see that his

should not have gone into

is
it

company

surprised to see Mr. Xenos's

withdrawn from
without

first

&

0.,

it,

and we

trust

and think he

consulting you on the

subject.

We

remain.

Yours

faithfully,

OvEREND, Gurnet, and Co.

No. 38.

KINGDOM OF GREECE.
Athens,

20 Janvier,
1865.
1 Fevrier,

MINISTRY op home AFFAIRS.

Aux

tres-honorables James Wyld,

membre du Parlement

d'Angleterre, et Stephanos Xenos, etc.

Messieurs,

En
1864,

j'ai

r^ponse a votre lettre en date du 5 Dccembre,

I'honneur de vous informer que quelque soit

mon

desir

366
de contribuer k la consolidation de I'association formee entre des

haut placees dans I'estime publique dans un but emiquelque soit Ten vie que j'eprouve de

personnes

si

nemment

utile a la Grece,

moment

mettre ces personnes un

deux beaux projets

plutot en mesure de realiser les

qu'elles out congus,

il

m'est impossible, a

grand regret, de deposer entre leurs mains Facte

demandez par votre

qui engagerait

lettre, et

officiel

mon

que vous

avant la responsa-

si

bilite ministerielle.

vrai

II est

que cet engagement n'aurait pour

consequence onereuse, dans

cas ou

le

le

il

egalement vrai que

est

tion dans

un sens qui

peremptoirement

aucune

procbaine reunion

les projets qui lui seront presentes aussitot sa

mais

I'etat

Corps Legislatif rejetterait

le rejet des projets,

ou leur modifica-

n'aurait point votre assentiment, prouverait

I'inutilite

de

1'

engagement

sollicite.

Mais tout en n'obtemperant pas directement a votre demande,

je vous puis assurer de mon intention de presenter au Corps Legislatif les

deux

projets de

loi, tels qu'ils

ont ete rediges et modifies

sur les observations du tres-honorable Monsieur

epoque je continue a occuper

le poste de

si

a cette

ministre competent de

representor Tutilite des entreprises projetees, ainsi que les avantages

reciproques des conditions auxquelles vous vous

offi-ez

pour en de-

venir les concessionnaires.

La Grece, Messieurs, occupee du laborieux

travail de sa regene-

ration morale et materielle, appelle tons les concours

personnes

'offrent des

comme

celui

que

lui

vous, placees au centre des grandes

ou affluent les capitaux du monde, lui serait trop precieux

pour ne pas etre accepte avec empressement par ses representants.
afi'aires,

Agreez, Messieurs, les assurances

de

ma

consideration tres-

distinguee.

A. CoUMOtrNDOUKOS.

No. 39.
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. beg to inform the Greek and
Oriental

Steam Navigation Company that they have handed

Messrs. Coventry, Sheppard, and Co. the

bills

to

of lading for the

wheats per Asia and Mavrogordatos, with instructions to land the

same for them; and they have to request that the wheat per

367
Circassian, already landed, belonging to Messrs, Overend, Gurney,

and

Co.,

but standing in the name of Mr.

S.

Xcnos,

may

be imme-

diately transferred into their name.

Lombard

Street,

14 Juhj, 1862.
19,

London

Street, E.C.

No. 40.
The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
London

19,

Fenchurch Street,

Street,

London, B.C., Juhj 4th, 1862.

Messrs. Theologos and Carnegie,
Galatz.

Dear

Sirs,

Since onr
19th, and 20th

We

ult.,

wc

last,

are in receipt of your letters of 17th,

contents of which are duly noted.

we can

are sorry to say that

many

wheats, and yet

of the

no

find

sale at all for

our

Greek houses who have cargoes daily

arriving, find a ready sale for theirs, at greatly improved prices.

"We have lately been much astonished at

many

with

much better as
we can get for
less

We

and

learn from

effectually

if

to you, with

we

and

how

offer

shdUngs

we

itself,

and

we

lately been invented

are

shall send

to

in the

now

testing

it

some of them out

work them. This we are

meantime we recommend

your purchases, as

it is

yet unaccountable

our grain costs more than that of other merchants.

shewn by

It has

machine has

an engine and engineer

we wish you
to be

as a

answers this purpose,

to be very cautious in

to us

the quality so

them that the reason of their wheats

is owing to the machinery em-

find it satisfactory,

sure will soon pay for

you

is

more than any

cleaner than ours,

ployed in cleaning them

here,

and having consulted

ours, but the cost is invarkibly one or two

much

which more

this,

find that not only

to fetch four or five shilHngs

than ours.

being so

we

other merchants,

to

understand

is

This
not mere hearsay, but an actual fact

the invoices.

lately

come

to

our notice that your Mr. Carnegie has

been doing a considerable deal of business on his ovra account.

This,


368
we must remind

we cannot

yt)u,

and

either wholly

and your attention must be

allow,

company, or

solely devoted to the interests of the

the alternative.

Yours,

Stefanos Xenos.

No. 41.
The Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
19,

London

Street,

Fenchurch

Street,

London, E.G., June 5th, 1862.

Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

London.
Gentlemen,
Messrs. Coventry, Sheppard, and Co., the holders of

wheats for sums of money advanced

have begun
to 3/.
viz.,

to sell,

when

we

the market was 3/. under

tell

me

me

at various times

without any instructions from

per quarter less than what

They

to

such

is

what

your decision.

am now

part, at 2/.

could have got 4 weeks ago

it

now

is

viz., 6/. less.

I protest against such pro-

ceedings, that will be most ruinous at least to

give you notice that I

my

my

by you,

me

and I beg to
any further

fully decided not to go

with this business of the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation

Company, unless a written agreement

is

drawn up,
Work

see a fair prospect that I shaU not have to

in which I can
all

my

life

(as T

did until now) merely to fiU other people's pockets.

For your

information, I tell jou that I yesterday refused 42/. for

2000

from Mr. Lucas, ex ship

viz.,

qrs.

nearly 1/6 more than what Messrs.

Coventry, Sheppard, and Co. sold at the same day.

I believe the

3000

qrs.

wheat sold by Messrs, Coventry and

ex PaUkari, and 500

qrs.

ex Colocotronis,

is

Co.

viz.,

sold even

without the consultation of Mr. Carr.

I remain, Gentlemen,

Yours

truly,

Stefanos Xenos,

For the Greek and Oriental Steam

Navigation Company.

309

No. 42.
Stefan OS Xenos, Esq.,

To G.

15.

Carr.

For Sundries under Agreement dated 25 Apl. 1865.

June, 18G5.

Charges.

Westcott, Salary per Month,

Housden,

25

370

No. 43.
Laurence Pountney Place,
9th October, 1865.

My dear

Sir,

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your acceptances to Theologos and Carnegie '^ ,1000 at 3 m/d, and ,1000 at

6 m/d, from the 30th ult., also the Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation
Company's acceptance to A. lovanoff, at 4 m/d, '^ <1500, making
together 3500, being the consideration for the goodwill of the

Levant and Black Sea line of steamers, and for their furniture,
fittings, &c., at

No.

Fenchurch

9,

St., as per

our agreement.

I remain, yours very truly,

G. B. Cakr.
S.

Xenos, Esq.

No. 44.
9,

Fenchurch

Street,

25t7i Oct.,

1865.

G. B. Carr, Esq.

Dear

Sir,

I hand you herewith two scrip certificates of shares

in

the

No. 42,

Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation Company, Limited

for

100 shares, paid up

to

1600

viz..

and No. 39, for 31

as collateral security for my acceptances "^

shares, paid up 496
100 due 2nd April; and if
1000 due 2nd January, and

these acceptances are not paid at maturity, I hereby authorize you

to dispose of the shares, for
to

be paid over to

you

me

or if

which I enclose
any

transfers, the surplus

deficiency, I will

pay the same

'with, interest.

I remain, dear Sir,

Yours very

truly,

Stefanos Xenos.

to

371

No. 45.

(7/r7^

page 282.)

7,

Great WtncJiester Street,

8th

May, 1865.

Messrs. Theologos and Carnegie,

Galatz and Loudon.

Gentlemen,

In consideration of
Limited, of

^32

each,

Company,

and which not more than 5 will be

called

hereby appoint you agents of the company for

for six months, I

the river

Danube and

with the

directors,

terms to be not

hundred

yoiir subscribing for three

shares of the Anglo-Greek Steam Navigation and Trading

all its ports,

which

less

shall

and guarautee

this

appointment

The

be continued for three years.

than those allowed you

when

agents for the

Levant and Black Sea Navigation Company.

Stepaitos Xenos.

(Signed)

No. 46.
Messrs. Overend,

Gumey, and

Co.

May

10th, 1861.

Gentlemen,
I received your very esteemed letter of yesterday, and, in

answer, I agree on

my

part,

Steam Navigation Company,

and in behalf of the Greek and Oriental

to every point of its contents

same time I take the opportunity

to

at the

thank you most sincerely for

your extreme kindness and libcraUty, assuring you that I shall

spare neither trouble, pains, nor indeed any sacrifices, to
said steamers answer, and thereby prove to

make the

you that I

am

not

imworthy or imgrateful of the great and generous confidence you

have shewn me. I cannot say more for the present, and would
rather leave facts to speak for themselves.

Yours

truly,

Stefanos Xenos.

bb2

372

No. 47.
Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co.,

Lombard

Street.

London, 26th March, 1862.

Gentlemen,
"We have to request that you will give a guarantee to
Messrs.

Masterman and Co.

March, 1862, at 90 days'

thousand pounds, in

for twenty-five

Hamburger and

Co., dated 2/14

due 27 June, 1862, and in con-

respect of drafts of Messrs. J.

sight,

sideration of your agreeing to do so,

we hereby

charge the whole of

the SS. ships, and the mortgages thereon lodged with you, with

the due payment of the amount of the said guarantee, and undertake to pay you the said

sum

of twenty-five thousand pounds on

we hereby

the said 27 June, 1862, and in default thereof

you

to sell the said securities as

pay any

you may deem

fit,

authorize

and engage to

deficiency.

No. 48.
Iron Ship-Building Yard, Hehhurn Quay,
Oateshead-on-Tyne, IQth Now., 1860.
S.

Xenos, Esq.,

My

dear

Sir,

I could not reply to youi' note yesterday, as I

trying the screw yacht's engines.

you that everything went on

of 11 knots, but I

rubbed down.

am

to

my full

am much

satisfaction.

sure she will go more

was out

pleased to inform

"We got a speed

when everything

I enclose your certificate of

official

gets

number, and

both vessels will leave here in company for London to-morrow

night,

and I trust they

will have a favourable

run up.

I regret the

delay that has occurred very much, but the whole cause has been
for the engines.

If they

had been got ready

as promised to

me,

the vessels would have been with you by the middle of September.
I,

however, trust you will find them to your satisfaction, and have

the opportunity of enjoying them long.

I am.

Yours

faithfully,

Andw.

Leslie.

373

No. 49.
Lombard Sired, 13 March, 1801.
Dear

Sir,

"Would
for

tlio

6000, which

is

Smyrna bo of any use to you ? She is offered

2500 less than we got for her. Let us know

to-morrow.

Yours

truly,

William

Bois.

G. B. Carr, Esq.,

Laurence Pountney Place, E.G.

No. 50.
Lombard
Dear

We
on

Street,

24 Dec, 1861.

Sir,

acct. of

have financed 25,000 on Mastcrman, due 27 March,

Greek and Oriental Steam Company, and endorse

we

in respect of the same, which

shall

letter

be obliged by your getting

signed and returned to us.

We

remain,

Yours

faithfully,

OVEKEND, GtJENET, AND Co.

G. B. Carr, Esq.,

Laurence Pountney Place, E.G.

No. 51.
OVEREND, GtJRNEY, AND Co.

To

the Editor of the Times.

to

send you the enclosed

Sii',

Allow mo
received from

my

son, Mr. D.

letter, this

Ward Chapman, on

moment

his hearing of

Mr. Edwards's evidence in the distressing prosecution of Overend

and Co.

It speaks for itself,

and though

it

management

and I believe

does not exempt

of the house,

it

him from

it to

be perfectly true

his share of

blame

in tho

conveys a very different impression


374
from that which the ingeniuty of counsel, speaking in the interest
of his clients,
I

was

calculated to produce.

would not say a word,

to the deep

affliction of

at such a

moment

as the present, to

add

the Gurneys, in which nobody can participate

more than myself; but on such a point, in which the highest moral
principle is involved, it would be a dereliction of duty to keep
silence.

I shall feel greatly obliged if you will insert this cemmunication,

as the subject is exciting such universal interest.

I remain,

Sii',

Your obedient

servant,

D. B. Chapmak.

Boehampton, Jan. 28, 9 a.m.

No. 61a.
Tours, Jan. 26,

My

dear Father,
I have received your letter of the 25th

need not say has caused

man

It

to feel.

is,

me

the deepest pain

it

inst.,

is

which I

possible for a

of course, the business of Ballantine to enlist the

sympathy of the court and the pubUc for his clients, no matter at
whose expense ; but I can with a clear conscience, as if I were
about to enter into the presence of

my

Maker, challenge the whole

world to show, or even to state a single instance in which I have

sacrificed the interest of

smallest particular, to

my

Overend, Gurney, and Co., even in the

own, or those of any of

my friends. With

regard to the transaction with Mr. Edwards, given in his evidence,

at the time

was

offered

it

took place I was in no sort of want of money, and

by himself

as a simple deposit at

5 per cent,

it

interest.

I fully acknowledge the extreme imprudence, and, as events have

turned out, the impropriety of accepting the

offer,

but

my

private

him never weighed one iota with me in my dealings for the house with him. The true state of the case was this
that after the commencement of the wild advances which resulted

transactions with

in the embarrassments

and eventually the ruin of the

firm,

Edmund

Gurney consulted with Mr. Edwards, who happened to be in the

house upon some business connected with some bankrupt estate in
which Overend, Gurney, and Co. were interested, and was so pleased

375
with the sagacity which he thought was shown by Edwards, that

ho consulted him during a whole year upon many of what I may

call the illegitimate

the end

oi'

At

advances which the firm had then made.

the year he

made

most casual consul-

himself, with the

tation with me, a present of the .5000 mentioned in Edwards's evi-

Edwards, as he himself has since

dence.

stated,

and which in aU

subsequent negotiations with him has never been denied, said, in

thanking Edmund Gurncy, " I hope, Mr. Gumey, that this large
is not intended as a farewell, but that I may hope that I
may reckon on the continuance of my relations with the house."
Edmund Gurney's reply was " Friend Edwards, I do not see how
we are to get on mthout thee." Not long after this J. H. Gumey

payment

came up, and was frightened

the house.
of anything
in the

He

at the

found Edwards,

Kko

of the involvements of
to that

time no idea

in the concern, confidentially engaged

difficulties

management

amount

who had up

of these accounts.

He had

several private con-

H. Gurney's teUing him

that the house was in a mess, but that there was nothing which it

versations with him, which resulted in J.

could not perfectly pull through, at the same time begging

to continue his supervision,

and

to

keep him

(J.

him

H. Gumey) con-

At the end of the year

Edwards asked that his position should, in some way or other,
be secured to him and, indeed, I had considerable difficulty in
Now, the position
persuading him not to ask for a partnership.
we were in was simply this Here was a man who, not through
me, notwithstanding my engagements with him on the subject (on

tinually informed of the state of affairs.

my

extreme reticence as regards the

what he was pleased

to call

secrets of the house),

had become possessed of

to

have forced us

to

sufficient

knowledge

have put up our shutters within twenty-four

hours of his revelations,

if

he had chosen to make them.

Now, I

ask you what you would have done under such circumstances?

Would you not have soothed him down in the

and made the best terms in your power ? I

best

way you

will say

cordd,

myseK, that

any share that I might have had in the settlement vrith Edwards I
would repeat again to-morrow. With regard to his statement that
I have never accounted to him for the money, it is simply not true,
as I paid him the interest regularly, and considerable amounts on.
account of the principal and it was only at his own wish that I
;

did not include

him

in the list of creditors

ferring to rim the chance of

ever started afresh.

Now

my

under

honourably

my

deed, he pre-

papng him

in case I

a few words Mith regard to the great

376
I neither began the accounts with Mr. Mare,

losses of the house.

which resulted in the MiUwaU Company, iior with Mr. Lever and
the Atlantic Mail Company, nor with Mr. Xenos, all those three
people being

among the

of their looking
tions

and

upon me

bitterest enemies I have, in consequence

as the person

who

stopped their depreda-

but I confess to have taken the view that those accounts

were necessary

their kindred ones

Bank-

to be kept out of the

ruptcy Court by every means in our power,

if

we wished

to retain

the solid business which I always believed to be at the bottom of

our embroilment.

Eut

appears that I not only miscalculated

it

the power of the house, but also the extent of the assistance which
in time of need could bo brought in.

Let

me

state further a fact

worthy of some consideration that during the nine months in

which the limited company was in existence, they managed to lose
the

sum

of 1,300,000

old firm

by transactions

at least this is stated

entirely irrespective of the

by Mr. Harding

in

his evidence.

I will only add, that I was entirely unaware of Edwards having

received any commission from any person with

factory to

me

you

keenly of

but, whether

many most

whom

I hope this explanation

ing on behalf of the firm.

it is

he was deal-

may be

satis-

my conscience accuses
in my private capacity,

so or no,

culpable follies

but of disloyalty to the house never.

Believe me, your affectionate son,

D. "Wakd Chapman.

No. 52.
To

the Editor of the Times.

Sir,

The remarks

me

to ask

you

which seems

to

by Mr. Edwards

My

in your columns to-day

for permission to explain a

upon

this case induce

very great misconception

have arisen from the reference made to

in his evidence before the

my name

Lord Mayor.

connexion with Messrs. Overend, Gurney, and Co. com-

menced in the

early part of 18G1,

when

they requested

me

to take

the superintendence of the works then in progress at Mdlwall, the

property of Mr. C.

J.

Mare.

yearly salary of .1500.

I accepted that appointment at a fixed

I continued as such superintendent until

the formation of a company; in 1863, to purchase and work the

377
establishment

the buildings and machinery (the erection of which

was commenced by Mr. Marc) being then completed.

I had no further or other employment from Messrs. Overend,
Gurucy, and Co., except in connexion with those works.

Although I certainly had frequent transactions in business

"with

Mr. Edwards after his connexion with Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co. had ceased, I never was a member of any firm called
*'

Edwards and O'Beirno," nor did any such firm

exist,

to

my

knowledge.

No advances were ever applied for to Messrs. Overend, Gurney,

and Co. by any firm or co-partnersliip of which I was a member,
nor was I ever engaged in any pursuits which required such
advances.

I am, Sir,

Your very obedient

J.

36, Sackville Street, Piccadilhj, Jan. 28,

servant,

Ltstek O'Beienb.

^^

Gross HE 945 G8X26

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