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GIFT OF
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CYCLOPAEDIA
OF
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.
r
CYCLOPAEDIA
OP
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS
ANECDOTES;
COMPRISING
INTERESTING REMINISCENCES AND FACTS,
REMARKABLE TRAITS AND HUMORS,
MERCHANTS, TRADERS, BANKERS, MERCANTILE CELEBRITIES, MILLIONNAIRES,
BARGAIN MAKERS, ETC., ETC.
IN ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES.
DESIGNED TO EXHIBIT, BT
NEARLY THREE THOUSAND ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS,
THE
PIQUANCIES AND PLEASANTRIES OF TRADE, COMMERCE, AND GENERAL
BUSINESS PURSUITS.
ASTOR,
GIRARD,
McDONOGH,
BARING,
ROTHSCHILD,
BIDDLE,
TOURO,
LORILLARD,
OUVRARD,
LABOUCHERE,
LONGWORTH,
PERKINS,
BATES,
APPLETON,
BAYARD,
LEROY,
BARKER,
LAFITTE,
STEWART,
RUSSELL,
LENOX,
COOPER,
SHAW,
STEIGLITZ,
HOWQUA,
GRESHAM,
LOWELL,
BUSSEY,
GOLDSCHMID,
PEABODY,
MORRIS,
VANDERBILT,
HOPE,
NOLTE,
RIGGS,
JEEJEEBHOY,
HOTTINGUER,
BROOKS,
GIDEON,
GRINNELL,
GRACIE,
RIDGWAY,
SLATER,
LEE,
COUTTS,
GRAY,
FRANCIS,
FUGGER,
BELMONT,
CHILD,
DEXTER,
TATTERS ALL,
MORRISON,
HUDSON,
WHITNEY,
HOPPER,
DE MEDICI,
LAWRENCE,
STURGIS,
COPE,
ETC., ETC., ETC.
Long life to COMMBECE ! What lives not through It ? What is all fresh life, all movement, in reality, but trade, exchange,
gift for gift ! BBEMEK.
Come, ANECDOTE ! with all thy graces come,
Relieve the grave to mirth thy rights afford,
And crown the sparkling glass and hospitable board. COOKE.
I am persuaded that every time a man smiles but much more so when he laughs it adds something to this fragment of
life. STEKNE.
A dinner of fragments is often said to be the best dinner. " GUESSES AT TBUTH."
BY ERAZAR KIRKLAND. Wu^t ; ^
EMBELLISHED WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIVE CUTS,
NEW YORK :
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY.
LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN.
1868.
fi.j^
//
ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.
PREFACE.
THE design and scope of this work will be found as clearly indi-
cated and as amply set forth on the Title page, as is requisite to the
most complete understanding of the plan which it involves and the
character of the matter embodied in its pages. As there stated, it is a
collection, original and selected, of the choicest, most striking and
recherche ANECDOTES relating to BUSINESS MEN and COMMERCIAL PUE-
SUITS, from the earliest trading transactions of which any record can be
found down to the present time. It is in no sense intended as a work
of biography, history, statistics, or collated facts, only so far as either
of these has been found associated, anecdotically, with some episode of
Business Character or Dealing, illustrative of the latter in their various
aspects of the gay, the ludicrous, the witty, the ingenious, the droll,
the original, the unique laughter-provoking, side-shaking, wonder-
exciting, &c. ; with such these pages abound.
The Anecdotes here given necessarily pertain both to persons and
things alike to the Celebrities of traffic in all ages and nations, and to
the multitudinous Objects which give to traffic its name and import.
Every country, as well as people, has here its personal representative
exhibiting, in all their kaleidoscopic lights aiid shades, the idiosyncra-
sies, customs, and animus peculiar to it, in bargain and sale ; every
clime its happy illustrations, in the productions native to it, or which
enter into its commercial exchange : the whole forming, as it were, a
sort of mental Pantechnicon, or Bazaar, where are to be seen deline-
ated, in endless variety, and as pictures hung upon a wall, the curiosi-
ties incident to the genius and craft of THE MART !
Perhaps no volume ever issued from the American press has fur-
nished, in a compendious form, so fruitful a display of the unique and
marvellous in human nature, on its commercial side, as this. Indeed, it
has the merit, whatever that may be, of being the first work of the
kind which has ever appeared, in this or any other country, devoted to
the Humorous phase of Trade, and Traders. Collections of anecdotes
having reference to art, science, literature, morals, the drama, etc.,
some of them possessing high merit, and attaining a wide circulation
vi PREFACE.
have at different times been sent forth for public favor ; but not one, it
is believed, of all these, has ever touched, or but very slightly, the field
of pleasantries and piquancies here spread out to view. Our volume,
therefore, being thus sui generis, offers no opportunity of winning praise
by comparison, or of suffering from disparagement by contrast with any
other work of its kind. But, however the fact might be fn this respect,
it would not stand in the way of an honest claim in behalf of the work,
of being as perfect in its character as the sources of material available
to that end would permit. No time has been spared, no means and
facilities left unimproved, no expense or labor withheld, to render these
pages tempting to every lover of pithy, pointed, sparkling, and mirth-
ful reading.
It is not too much to say, that the anecdotes, witticisms, and memo-
rabilia, which are here presented, of such monarch merchants as Astor,
Rothschild, Girard, Baring, Lafitte, Jacob Barker, De Medicis, Lorillard,
Howqua, Bates, Peabody, Lawrence, Hope, Touro, &c., &c., would
form, of themselves alone, one of the most delectable of volumes. But
these are only a few out of many scores of mercantile notabilities who
have flourished during the past, or are yet on the stage of action, and
of whom it is the object of this book to present the most lively and
pleasing incidents illustrative of their professional character, moods,
and dealings. And here it will not be impertinent briefly to observe,
that, as every undertaking must have its limits, so in the case of the
present work, it has been found a point of necessity to exercise a re-
straining hand, that the several divisions might not become too bulky
or diffuse. Arising from this consideration, there are some characters,
more or less noteworthy, whose names are not here to be met with, but
to which we would gladly have given place. It is believed, however,
that this omission rarely involves a name of extensive renown, but
applies rather to those whose fame, living or posthumous, is restricted
to particular localities or circles ; and, as almost every business com-
munity, large or small, is known thus to have its " representative men,"
those of strongly marked individuality in their calling, it is apparent
that no task could be more impossible than to attempt to give, without
discrimination, the current reminiscences of such a multitude.
In the prosecution of our purpose, every important catalogue, both
American and foreign, has been carefully consulted, with a view to
examining whatever might promise aid to our efforts ; and not a single
library of note, in our largest cities, has been left unexplored for mate-
rial, in the way of biography, travels, adventure fresh, racy, and rele-
vant in the preparation of this work. Besides these invaluable means,
the best private sources within the circle of men of letters have been
resorted to, and the suggestions and assistance thus personally extended
have added greatly to the pleasantness of our task, as well as to the
value of its results.
PREFACE.
But the perplexities attending a nice discernment in the selection of
matter for this volume have by no means been slight. The first requi-
site, of course, in the qualities of an anecdote, is that of truth. Where
this is wanting, the narration, however agreeable or well told, falls off
at once ninety per cent, in its interest and import. It becomes a mere
fable, and should be thus entitled. The number of so-called " anec-
dotes " coming within this latter class, and which might have had their
nominal appropriateness in these pages, is very large ; they have been
rejected in every case where they could not stand a fair test of authen-
ticity. Many others, of the genuine cast, have been abridged or con-
densed ; and others still have been revised or rewritten, so as more
nearly to conform to fact and reason, or that they might appear in a
more perspicuous dress to the reader. There is yet another class and
one which forms an exception to the observation just made with refer-
ence to credibility namely, the bristling fantasias of commercial satire,
burlesque, &c., which have been allowed a welcome place in almost
every department. These explain themselves, and may be said to con-
stitute one of the richest and most attractive features of the work.
It is believed that the general arrangement and classification of this
volume are scarcely susceptible of improvement. They are such as to
relieve the matter of all stiffness, formality, and tediousness, while they
at the same time open up, at the reader's will or fancy, and in pleasing
diversification, all the various spheres and phases of commerce, business
life, and its individual appertainments. It is not claimed, however, that
there are no instances to be found, where portions of one department
might not as appropriately and perhaps more so have had a place
under some other specialty. The difficulties of perfect precision in this
respect, in such a work, are obvious, and were frequently felt in the
allotment of its contents. For any incongruities that may thus be
manifest, a lenient criticism is asked.
Our acknowledgments are due, and are here most gratefully ten-
dered, to those librarians in our principal cities who have so freely and
courteously opened the treasures of their alcoves to our use ; and also
to the many editors, authors, and merchants, who have not only encour-
aged us by their warm approval of our work, but have favored us with
their advice and friendly offices, and with the happy effusions of their
pens, with which to enliven our volume.
The magnificent collections of standard periodical literature, now to
be found complete in almost all our great libraries, and embracing full
sets of the Edinburgh, Westminster, Gentleman's, Fraser's, Black wood's,
Eclectic, Harleian, Jerrold's, Dublin, Punch, Notes and Queries, Cham-
bers', Household Words, The Leisure Hour, <fcc., these, in addition to
our American publications of similar character, furnish a vast and
bountiful storehouse, inviting and rewarding the research of the scholar.
All these have been made readily accessible to us ; and, though the
PREFACE.
labor of painstakingly examining their contents has certainly been for-
midable, it has yet been richly remunerative for the purposes of this
volume.
The choice sippings of Punch will be relished by ah 1 who love to
drink at that fountain of mirth, satire, and facetia? ; and Mrs. Parting-
ton, that brusque old wit or witch will be found to grace, by her
weird presence, the same exhilarating category. The pages of the now
venerable, but always sprightly and inimitable Knickerbocker, have
been drawn upon for some of those " saws " whose teeth always have
a point ; and the " Drawer " of Harper's, that charming repository of
keen blades and fancies, has been approached like a bundle of golden
jack-straws, from which we might extract, here and there, a dainty
waif, without taking all. From the files of Hunt's and Homans' mag-
azines, we have culled not a few of the admirable morceaux of com-
mercial biography and the humors of mercantile genius, which give to
those serials so peculiar a value ; and the same observation is pertinent
to the more youthful Continental, especially the series of brilliant per-
sonal sketches from the facile pen of Mr. Frothingham. Of the
writings of Mr. Richard B. Kimball and " Walter Barrett," from
which we have taken an occasional anecdote or vivacious passage, it
may truly be remarked that those authors have succeeded in imparting
the delight of romance to the counting-house themes which they have
made their specialty ; and the great popular favor which their works
have received, evinces the widespread taste for the pleasantries of com-
mercial literature, under the inspiration of a genial hand.
Having wrought, to the best of our ability, in the field from which
this CYCLOPEDIA or ANECDOTES has been garnered, it is sent forth with
the consciousness that, whatever defects or deficiencies may be discover-
able, it has at least been the aim of the editor, from the inception of
the volume to its completion, to spare neither time, labor, nor cost, in
rendering it as rich and perfect of its kind as seemed humanly possible.
INTKODUCTION.
' Every class of readers requires a book adapted to t'tee//!" D'IsRAELl.
IT is generally admitted by those qualified to speak authoritatively in such
matters, that the term ANECDOTE may be used to designate collections, either
of the recorded acts of noted individuals, of remarks made by them, or of
extracts from their private writings as well as their published works ; or gen-
erally, of particulars respecting them and their calling detached incidents,
narratives, and experiences ; personal tastes, traits, and habits ; eccentricities,
witticisms, &c., &c. It is thus, in its most enlarged and comprehensive sense,
that the word is employed in this volume, and applied distinctively to those
engaged in BUSINESS PUKSUITS.
That the ancients were given to the wit and raillery conveyed through anec-
dotes, may reasonably be supposed from the fact that no less a person than
Julius Caesar compiled a book in which he related the l>on-mots of Cicero ; and
Quintilian informs us, that a freedman of that celebrated wit and orator com-
posed three books of a work entitled De Jocis Ciceronis ; and Gellius has
filled his Noctes Attica3 with anecdotes which he heard from those distin-
guished characters whose society he frequented in Rome. Procopius gave the
title of Anecdotes to a book he published against Justinian and his wife
Theodora ; and other similar collections of incidents in the lives of eminent
men have been published. Muratori gives the title, Anecdota Greca, to several
writings of the Greek Fathers found in the libraries, and first given to the
world by him. Martene and Durand have given a Thesaurus Novus Anecdoto-
rum. Becker, Bachmann, Heinbach, and others, have made collections, and
called them Anecdota. The Orientalists, more than others, were particularly
fond of these agreeable collections; and the fanciful titles with which they
labelled their variegated miscellanies, sufficiently attest their delight.
The first eminent person of modern times, whose jests and opinions have in
this way been transmitted to posterity, is Poggio Bracciolini, who was secretary
to five successive popes. He and his friends were accustomed to assemble in a
hall to discuss the news and scandal of the day, and at these meetings they
communicated to each other entertaining anecdotes. The pointed jests and
humorous stories which occurred in these unrestrained conversations were
collected by Poggio, and formed the chief materials of his Facetise, printed
in 1470.
One of the most curious of such collections is considered to be the Wai-
INTRODUCTION.
poliana, founded upon the life and sayings of Horace Walpole, who was distin-
guished for his resources of anecdote, wit, and telling remark, as well as for his
epistolary qualifications. The most celebrated of the French collections of
anecdotes is the Menagiana the best known, the fullest, and most valuable.
Other works of this kind that may here be named are the Conversations of
Luther, Boswell's Life of Johnson, Selden's, Johnson's, and Cowper's Table
Talk, the Percy and Arvine collections, &c., &c.
It would be a tedious as well as profitless task, however, to go over the
dusty past, with a view to describing the character, or discussing the merits,
of the various works of this kind which have appeared at different times and
in different countries. It will suffice our immediate purpose to say, that, among
them all, no volume of anecdotes, wit, and amusement, relating to the votaries
of Trade and Commerce, as such, is numbered, notwithstanding the universality
of those occupations, and the vast numerical preponderance of those engaged
in them.
The present volume, then, may be said to be the first in the pleasing domain
of Commercial Incident, Novelty, and Humor. And if it be true, as has by
some one been remarked, that there is no species of composition so delightful as
that which presents us with personal anecdotes of men notable in their peculiar
calling illustrating the- genius of their adaptation to and success in buch call-
ing, as well as their domestic traits, and peculiarities of temper then a claim
for no small credit may with justice be put forth in behalf of the present work,
the abundant pages of which are stored with the rarest, the best, and most
striking of such memorabilia. They will be found to be a " salad " alike for
the " solitary " and the " sociable " entertaining, from their variety, and curi-
ous, as presenting a lively image of those whom they thus portray, in their most
interesting relations and doings. If men reason more correctly on paper, they
usually display their feelings and convictions with more truth in that unpre-
meditated conversation, and in those natural outgushings of wit, which they
give play to in the familiar haunts of business, and under the free-and-easy
influence of home surroundings. Few are so cautious or artificial that they do
not sometimes drop the mask in the society of their friends, and express just
what they think or feel, when they entertain no apprehensions of being watched
and noted. In many instances, however, anecdotes are to be regarded rather as
affording an idea of the casual turn of thinking and acting, of those whose
conversations they detail, or whose deeds they record, than as authorities for
settled opinions. Thus, a spirit of contradiction, a wish to display ingenuity,
to astonish, or merely to support conversation, may often lead men to maintain
ideas in colloquial intercourse, which they perhaps never seriously held, or at
least would be ready to disclaim on mature deliberation.
It being the nature of anecdotes to involve or exemplify more or less of Wit,
it is well for those who use or listen to them to bear in mind that such an ele-
ment is rarely calculated to have any influence on reasoning, other than to dis-
turb it. To determine, however, the precise character, or to give a definite
meaning, to the term wit, is indeed difficult. According to one, both fancy and
judgment are comprehended under that name ; but this idea is far from being
the one generally adopted, and the word has perhaps passed through more sig-
nifications, than any other in the English language. At one time, it used
to denote a superior degree of understanding, and more particularly a quick
and brilliant reason; but it came subsequently to be regarded as consisting
INTRODUCTION. XJ
in lively and ingenious combinations of thought; and was afterward very
neatly described to be such an assemblage of ideas as will give delight and
surprise ; and from this it has ultimately come to be regarded as ludicrous;
surprise.
But, in addition to the pleasure to be derived from anecdotes on account of
the wit which may characterize them, and which carries with the recital both
relish and stimulus, there is also the very active element of Curiosity, in the con-
stitution of the human mind, and which craves and welcomes every opportunity
of gratification. This feeling of curiosity oftentimes rises to eagerness and
enthusiasm. There is an anxiety to know all that is possible to be learned of
those who have occupied a prominent position in their sphere of life. It is
not, merely, that every circumstance derives value from the person to whom it
relates ; but an apparently insignificant anecdote often throws an entirely new
light on the character of a man's actions. Great deeds, though they shed a
broad and lasting lustre round the reputation of those who have achieved them,
yet occupy but a small part of the life of any individual ; and mankind are
never unwilling to penetrate through this bright halo surrounding one or more
illustrious deeds, to see how the interior or remaining intervals are filled up ; in
a word, to look into the every-day details, to detect incidental foibles, and to
ascertain what qualities such persons have, or had, in common with the great
mass of men, as well as distinct from them.
D'Israeli very philosophically remarks, that " every class of readers requires
a book adapted to itself." It was in this conviction that the book now offered
to that numerous and influential portion of every community the Business
class had its origin ; fortified by the well-known fact, that anecdote forms an
element of positive force and profitable effect in the transactions of the count-
ingroom and shop as much so, perhaps, as in any other profession. And why
should it not be so ? An anecdote in point, occurring to a man of business,
when he is plying the arts of trade, whether as buyer or seller, will naturally
give spur to his thoughts, and perhaps be the means of balancing things in his
favor, when all other expedients and every other recourse would have proved
unavailing. This is a principle as rational as truth itself, and the value of
which will be found most amply unfolded in the contents of this volume.
That all pleasantries ought to be short, has long since passed into an axiom.
Due regard has been paid to this sentiment, in the preparation of these pages.
Nor has it been any part of the purpose of this volume, to make it a mere lum-
ber room of the relics and dotage of far-back ages a few things good and fresh
mixed up with many stale and inferior wares. A special characteristic, too, of
mercantile or business men, is that of action of ready doing, rather than loqua-
cious talking ; a quality of which Rothschild, of the Old "World, and Girard,
of the New, may be cited as memorable examples. Anecdotes are brief, or
should be all over in a short time ; and, if they hit the mark, the object is
gained. This collection treats of the business classes on a similar plan : their
acts, sayings, achievements, fortunes, customs ; shop talk and " conversations
commercial ; " curious annals and interesting data in all the departments of
trade ; all the turnings and windings of mercantile life ; apt maxims, ingenious
or philosophical thoughts ; testimonies and examples of virtues, of vices, and
of abuses, in all their ramifications ; types, pictures, and images ; signs, shows,
and wonders ; all things, in short, that have either wit, or humor, or sparkling
ideas in them, or a more original or novel spirit than ordinary, here enter as
xii INTRODUCTION.
ingredients, and are interwoven in pleasing variety a distillation of whatever
is pointed or pungent the milledulcia extracted from the choicest and innu-
merable sources.
The opening department of this volume that which presents Business
Celebrities in their more distinctively biographical aspect forms one of the
most interesting of the series. It is the vestibule, or porch, as it were, to the
rest ; and the endeavor has been to arrange it with that care and completeness
which should distinguish matter of such a character. To render biography
generally attractive, it is indispensable that its basis should be that of truth.
Without this, it necessarily wants the great superiority of the narrative of real
events over that of mere fictitious creations ; viz., that of recording what has
actually occurred in real life. How important an element this is in awakening
the sympathies, may be seen in children, who, when particularly fascinated by
any story they are told, almost invariably end by asking, " But is it all true ? "
The fact, also, that biography deals with personal characters, admits of its
expansion into many topics, both interesting and amusing. As the delineation
of character is its object, and the events of individual life its principal subject,
it not only admits of, but requires a thousand incidents and descriptions, which
are essential to a right understanding of the characters portrayed. Such details
enable the reader to clothe the characters in which he is interested in the actual
habiliments in which they were arrayed ; they bring before one's eyes the busi-