saw that the stock of a certain article,
necessary for culinary purposes, was
becoming scarce, and that the supply
would be limited ; they forthwith sent
orders and agents to buy up that parti-
cular article, and thus swept the mar-
ket. The demand for the article in-
creased as is usual in proportion to
its scarcity, the rice went up, and the
house cleared within one week, at the
expense of tens of thousands of con-
sumers in very humble circumstances,
hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Half-a-Million Profit by One of Gi-
rard's Operations.

IN the year 1813, an interesting cir-
cumstance occurred in the business
operations of Girard, through his bank,
by which he accomplished an enter-



174



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



prise of great importance to the city of
Philadelphia, by the increase of its
trade, as well as to his own funds in
its profits, besides the advantages which
were furnished to the Government by
the duties which accrued to the nation-
al treasury. It happened that his ship,
the Montesquieu, was captured at the
mouth of the Delaware river, as was
alleged, by a British frigate, and as
this vessel had an invoice cargo of two
hundred thousand dollars consisting
of teas, nankeens and silks from Can-
ton, it was determined by the captors,
in preference to the hazard of being re-
captured by an American ship in any
attempt to carry their prize to a British
port, to send a flag of truce to Mr. Gi-
rard, in order to give him the offer of a
ransom. Applying to his well-stored
vaults, the banker drew from them the
sum of ninety-three thousand dollars in
doubloons, which was transmitted to
the British commander, and his vessel
was soon seen coming into port with
her rich cargo, and which, notwith-
standing the price of the ransom, is
supposed, by the advanced value of
every article on board, to have added
a half a million of dollars to his for-
tune.

American Merchants of the Olden Time
Joseph Peabody.

JOSEPH PEABODY, of Salem, Mass., a
name known wherever American com-
mercial enterprise has been heard of,
built and owned eighty-three ships,
which, in every instance, he freighted
himself; and for the navigation of
which he shipped, at different times,
upward of seven thousand seamen. From
the year 1811, he had advanced thirty-
five to the rank of shipmaster, who en-
tered his employ as boys. He had per-
formed by these vessels the following
voyages, viz. : to Calcutta, thirty-eight ;
Canton, seventeen; Sumatra, thirty-
two ; St. Petersburg, forty-seven ;
other ports in the north of Europe,
ten ; the Mediterranean, twenty, before



the war of 1812. The voyages per-
formed by his vessels to the West In-
dies, Spanish Main, and along our wide
extended coast, are unnumbered. The
aggregate of his annual state, county,
and city taxes paid into the treasury,
amounted to about two hundred thou-
sand dollars. A business of such vast
magnitude and enterprise has rarely,
for so long a period, been conducted by
the energy and industry of a,n indi-
vidual.

Gresham's Fortunate Letter.

THOMAS GRESHAM, as is recorded in
history, was one of the first English
merchants that traded to the East
Indies; and, having fitted out several
ships, he miscalculated the time at
which they would return a circum-
stance that caused him much embar-
rassment. He, however, soon recovered
from this temporary disquietude. One
day, while despondingly walking about
the Bourse, or Exchange, which then
had its location in Lombard street, a
sailor came up and presented him with
a letter from the captain of one of his
ships, which contained Jhe gratifying
information that two of his ships had
arrived safe from the East Indies ; and
that the box, which the bearer w r ould
deliver, contained some diamonds and
pearls of great value, as a sample of the
immense riches the ships had brought
home. This peculiar and somewhat
romantic incident is said to be an ex-
planation of the statue of Gresham, in
the old Royal Exchange of London,
which represents him as holding an
open letter in his hand.

Private Mercantile Finances and

Royal Fleets.

A SINGLE merchant secured Queen
Elizabeth against all the danger with
which she was threatened by the soi-
disant invincible armada of Spain.
When the queen was apprised of the
designs of Spain, she had no ships ca-







SIR THOMAS GllRSHAM'S FORTUNATE LETTER.



SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES.



175



pable of being opposed to the Spanish
fleet ; as a part of those which were
lying in the ports and docks could only
be used after twelve months. Mr.
Thomas Sutton, however, the distin-
guished merchant who founded the
Charter House, being well acquainted
with the state of the French finances,
knew that the Spanish fleet could not
set sail, but through the medium of bills
which were to be drawn upon the Ge-
noese Bank. He therefore conceived
the idea of buying up all the paper or
bills that could be met with in every
commercial town in Europe, and to
deposit them in the Bank of Genoa,
that by his large remittances he might
have that bank so in his power, as to
incapacitate it, whenever he chose, from
giving any aid to the Spaniards. Being
well aware that it only required to let
those remittances remain at Genoa, un-
til the season should obstruct the sail-
ing of the fleet, he calculated that these
exchange operations would cost about
forty thousand pounds sterling, and he
proposed to the queen to extricate her
at this price from the dilemma. The
proposal was accepted, and carried into
effect with so much secresy, that Phil-
ip's hands were tied, and he could not
send out the fleet until the following
year.

Portuguese Pilgrim in the Streets of
Venice.

Ox a morning of summer, in the year
1498, a poor Portuguese pilgrim, clothed
in rags, and who had wandered on foot
from his native hills, appeared in the
streets of Venice, and announced to its
citizens that one of those daring naviga-
tors sent out by his king, had doubled
the Cape of Storms, and discovered a new
route to India. He was surrounded and
eagerly questioned by a throng of prin-
ces, merchants, and artizans. His an-
swers struck terror in every heart. They
saw at once that the partition wall of
their commercial monopoly was broken
down ; they saw the lucrative trade of



the east transferred frcm the Lagoon to
Lisbon and the Tagus ; they saw that
the rich merchandise which they gath-
ered and dispersed throughout Europe,
was destined to pass through other
hands ; they saw their ships rotting in
their docks, and their sailors wander-
ing idly about the streets ; they heard
the last motion of those looms which
had produced the choice silken and
woollen fabrics in which the nobles
of Europe clothed themselves ; in a
word, they rightly fancied they saw
the destruction of that commerce
whence came all their wealth, their
luxury, and their pride ; that com-
merce which had sent forth with the
third army of the Crusaders, two hun-
dred ships, and with the fourth, five
hundred ; that commerce whose migh-
ty "pulsations had been felt at the far-
thest extremities of the earth. Here
was the remote, but the chief cause of
the Commercial Fall of Venice I

Shopkeepers and Warriors.

WHEN Napoleon applied to England
the contemptuous epithet of a " nation
of shopkeepers," he paid her a higher
compliment than he intended ; it was
an unintentional tribute to the power
she had acquired by trade, an extorted
homage to that commercial policy by
which her merchants had become the
arbiters of Europe of those elements
of strength which the shopkeepers of
the Royal Exchange and Threadneedle
street had furnished to her rulers, by
which she alone was enabled to pre-
scribe boundaries to the ambition of
the great Captain, and say to the migh-
ty wave of Gallic usurpation, " Thus
far shalt thou go, and no farther."
Military prowess was held in check by
mercantile combinations, and the shop-
keepers proved an overmatch for the
warrior.



176



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



Murdered Merchant Watched by his

Dog-.

AN account, well attested, is related
of two French merchants, who were
travelling to a fair, and, while passing
through a wood, one of them murdered
the other, and robbed him of his money.
After burying him, so as to prevent dis-
covery, he proceeded on his journey.
The dog of the person remained, how-
ever, by the grave of his master ; and,
by his long and continued howling,
attracted the notice of several persons
in the neighborhood, who, by this
means, discovered the murder. The
fair being ended, they watched the re-
turn of the merchant. The murderer
no sooner appeared in view, than the
dog sprung furiously upon him. He
was apprehended, confessed the crime,
and was executed. The kindness of
the merchant had secured even the at-
tachment of his dog to such a degree,
that not even death could sunder the
noble animal from the loved form of
his master.

Aged Merchant Saved from Bobbery
by the Weather.

AN aged merchant was one day re-
turning from market. He was on
horseback, and behind him was a valise
filled with money. The rain began to
fall with violence, and the good old
man was soon wet to his skin. At this
he was vexed, and indulged in some
pretty audible murmurings that the
weather should prove so bad while he
was journeying.

He soon reached the borders of a
thick forest. What was his terror on
beholding, on one side of the road, a
robber, with leveled gun, aiming at
him and attempting to fire ! But the
powder being wet by the rain, the gun
did not go off, and the merchant, giv-
ing spurs to his horse, fortunately had
time to escape.

As soon as he found himself safe, he
said to himself, " How wrong was I,
not to endure the rain patiently, as sent



by Providence. If the weather had
been dry and fair, I should not, proba-
bly, have been alive at this hour, and
my children would have expected my
return in vain. The rain which caused
me to murmur, came at a fortunate mo-
ment to save my life and preserve my
property." It is almost needless to
add, that thereafter the good merchant
made the best of the weather, which-
ever way it turned up, indorsing with
a good will the old adage, that it is an
ill wind indeed that blows no good to
some one.

English Merchant and Spanish Beggar.
IT is related that an English mer-
chant in the neighborhood of Madrid,
having no money in his pocket, gener-
ously gave a handful of choice cigars
to a beggar who approached him : the
poorest Spaniard will be more gratified
with a cigar than with money, so far as
his personal feelings are concerned, as
it is a compliment. Three years after-
ward, this merchant was seized hear his
country house by a band of robbers.
While they were settling his ransom
they were joined by an absent comrade,
who instantly dismounted, and, ap-
proaching the Englishman, whom he
had at once recognized, saluted him,
and asked if he did not remember hav-
ing given, at such a place and time, a
handful of cigars to a beggar; then,
turning to his comrades, he said, " This
is my benefactor whoever lays a hand
on him lays it on me."

Good Word for Girard.

ONE of the most ingenious and plau-
sible estimates of Mr. Girard's character
as a business man and the most favor-
able which has ever appeared, is that
uttered by Mr. Everett: He told me
himself (says Mr. E.), that at the age
of forty, his circumstances were so nar-
row, that he was employed as the com-
mander of his own sloop, engaged in
the coasting trade between New York



SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES.



177



or Philadelphia and New Orleans;
adding that on a certain occasion he
was forty-five days in working his way
up from the Balize to the city. Few
persons enjoyed less personal popularity
in the community in which he lived,
and to which he bequeathed his prince-
ly fortune. If this proceeded from de-
fects of personal character, it is a topic
to be discussed only in its proper place.
Of the effect upon the public welfare of
the community of such a fortune in
one's hands, freedom of speech may of
course be indulged in. While I am far
from saying that it might not have
been abused by being made the instru-
ment of a corrupt and dangerous influ-
ence in the community, I have never
heard that it was so abused by Mr.
Girard ; and, on general principles, it
may perhaps be safely said, that the
class of men qualified to amass large
fortunes by perseverance and exclusive
dedication to business, by frugality and
thrift, are not at all likely to apply this
wealth to ambitious or corrupt designs.
As to the effect in all other points of
view, I confess I see nothing but public
benefit in such capital, managed with
unrelaxing economy ; one-half judi-
ciously employed by the proprietor
himself in commerce the other half
loaned to the business community.
What better use could have been made
of it ? Will it be said, divide it equal-
ly among the community ; give each
individual in the United States a
share ? It would have amounted to
half a dollar each for man, woman, and
child; and, of course, might as well
have been sunk in the middle of the
sea. Such a distribution would have
been another name for annihilation.
How many ships would have furled
their sails, how many warehouses would
have closed their shutters, how many
wheels, heavily laden with the products
of industry, would have stood still, how
many families would have been reduced
to want, and without any advantage
resulting from distribution ?
12



In a country like this, where the laws
forbid hereditary transmission, and en-
courage equality of fortune, accumula-
tions of capital, made by industry, en-
terprise, and prudence, and employed
in active investments, without minis-
tering to extravagance and luxury, are
beneficial to the public. Their posses-
sor becomes, whether he wills it or not,
the steward of .others ; not merely, as
in Mr. Girard's case, because he may
destine a colossal fortune after his de-
cease for public objects, but because,
while he lives, every dollar of it must
be employed in giving life to industry
and employment to labor.

Had Mr. Girard lived in a fashion-
able part of the city, in a magnificent
house; had he dazzled the passer-by
with his splendid equipages, and spread
a sumptuous table for his " dear five
hundred friends," he would no doubt
have been a more popular man. But
in my apprehension he appears to far
greater advantage, as a citizen and a
patriot, in his modest dwelling and
plain garb ; appropriating to his per-
sonal wants the smallest pittance from
his princely income ; living to the last
in the dark and narrow street in which
he made his fortune, and, when he died,
bequeathing it for the education of or-
phan children. For the public, I do
not know that he could have done bet-
ter : of all men in the world, he proba-
bly derived the least enjoyment from
his property himself.

The Banker's Seven-Shilling Piece.

IT was during one of the great na-
tional panics, that a gentleman who
may be called Mr. Thompson was
seated, with something of a melancholy
look, in his dreary back room, watch-
ing his clerks pay away thousands of
pounds hourly. Thompson was a bank-
er of excellent credit there existed,
perhaps, in the city of London, no safer
concern than that of Messrs. Thomp-
son & Co. ; but at a moment like the



178



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



one referred to, no rational reflection
was admitted, no former stability was
looked to. A general distrust was felt,
and every one rushed to his banker's to
withdraw his hoard, fearing that the
next instant would be too late forget-
ting entirely that this step was that of
all others most likely to insure the ruin
that was sought to be avoided. The
wealthy citizen named sat gloomily
Watching the outpouring of his gold,
and with a grim smile listening to the
Clamorous demands on his cashier;
/or although he felt perfectly easy and
secure as to the ultimate strength of his
resources, yet he could not altogether
suppress a feeling of bitterness as he
saw constituent after constituent rush
in, and those whom he fondly imagined
to be his dearest friends eagerly assist-
ing in the run upon his strong box.

Presently the door opened, and a
stranger was ushered in, who, after gaz-
ing for a moment at the bewildered
banker, coolly drew a chair, and ab-
ruptly addressed him :

" You will pardon me, sir, for asking
a strange question, but I am a plain
man, and like to come straight to the
point."

" Well, sir," impatiently interrupted
the other.

" I have heard that you have a run
on your bank, sir."

"Well?"

" Is it true ? "

" Really, sir, I must decline to reply
to your most extraordinary query. If,
however, you have any money in the
bank, you had better at once draw it
out, and so satisfy yourself; our cashier
will instantly pay you," and the bank-
er rose, as a hint to the stranger to
withdraw.

"Far from it, sir; I have not one
3lxpence in your hands."

" Then may I ask what is your busi-
ness here ? "

"I wish to know if a small sum
would aid you at this moment ? "

" Why do you ask the question ? "



" Because if it would, I would gladly
pay in a small deposit."

The money dealer started.

"You seem surprised; you don't
know my person or my motive. I'll at
once explain. Do you recollect some
twenty years ago when you resided in
Essex?"

" Perfectly."

" Well, then, sir, perhaps you have
not forgotten the turnpike gate through
which you passed daily? My father
kept that gate, and was often honored
by a few minutes' talk with you. One
Christmas morning, my father was sick,
and I attended the toll bar. On that
day you passed through, and I opened
the gate for you. Do you recollect it,
sir?"

" Not I, my friend."

"No, sir; few such men remember
their kind deeds, but those who are
benefited by them ought not to forget
them. I am perhaps prolix ; listen,
however, only a few moments, and I
have done."

The great banker had become inter-
ested, and at once assented.

" Well, sir, as I said before, I threw
open the gate for you, as I considered
myself in duty bound I wished you
' a happy Christmas.' ' Thank you, my
lad,' replied you ' thank you ; and the
same to you ; here is a trifle to make it
so," and you threw me a seven-shilling
piece. It was the first money I ever
possessed, and never shall I forget my
joy at receiving it, nor your kind smile
in bestowing it. I long treasured it,
and as I grew up, added a little to it,
till I was able to rent a toll myself.
You left that part of the country, and I
lost sight of you. Yearly, however, I
have been getting on; your present
brought good fortune with it ; I am
now comparatively rich, and to you I
consider that I owe all. So this morn-
ing, hearing accidentally that there was
a run on your bank, I gathered all my
capital, and brought it to lodge with
you, in case it can be of any use ; here



SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES.



179



it is " and he handed a bundle of
bank notes to the agitated Thompson ;
"in a few days I will call again."
Snatching up his hat, and throwing
down his card, he walked out of the
room.

Thompson undid the roll it con-
tained thirty thousand pounds ! The
stern-hearted banker for all bankers
must be stern burst into tears. The
firm did not require this prop ; but the
motive was so noble, that even a mil-
lionnaire sobbed ; he could not help it.
This house is still one of the first in
London.

The thirty thousand pounds of the
turnpike boy has now grown into some
two hundred thousand pounds. For-
tune has well disposed of her gifts.

Commencing with Three Tobacco
Boxes Jacob Barker.

JACOB BARKER'S disposition for com-
mercial pursuits manifested itself at a
very early period his first essay in this
line being with three tobacco boxes.
The history of the tobacco boxes was
this : Mr. Barker was, as a relaxation
from the fatigues of attending store and
other matters for his brother James,
permitted to go as cabin boy in his
packet to New York and Boston two
or three times a year. On one occa-
sion, the passengers presented him with
thirty-one cents. This he invested in
Boston in three iron tobacco boxes, and
took them to Nantucket, where he sold
two of them for a penny apiece profit ;
the other got a little rusty, and was
sold at first cost. When at Nantucket,
forty years after this, he met a poor old
man hobbling along with the aid of a
staff, who abruptly observed, " Jacob,
will you take a piece of tobacco ? " at
the same time presenting the box.
Jacob replied, " No, I thank you, I do
not use tobacco in that way," when
the old man said, " Do you know that
box?" This brought its sale to the
recollection of Jacob, who seizing his
hand, said, "Is this you, Mr. Ellis?



How do you do ? I am glad to see
you looking so well after so long a
period."

Washington as a Business Man.

AT the age of thirteen, Washington
studied the intricate forms of business
with great ardor. He copied out bills
of exchange, notes of hand, bills of sale,
receipts, and all the varieties of that
class all being remarkable for the pre-
cision and elegance with which they
were executed. His manuscripts, even
then, were of the utmost neatness and
uniformity, the diagrams always beauti-
ful, the columns and tables of figures
exact ; and all in unstained and unblot-
ted order. His business papers, ledg-
ers, and daybooks, in which no one
wrote but himself, were models of exact-
ness. Every fact had its place, and
was recorded in a plain, clear hand-
writing, and there was neither inter-
lineation, blot, or blemish. One of his
rules, at this immature age, was, " Let
your discourse with men of business be
short and comprehensive."

From 1759 to 1764, Washington was,
in some measure, an active merchant ;
for, in that calmest period of his event-
ful life, he regularly exported to Lon-
don the product of his large estate on
the Potomac. The shipments were
made in his own name, and to his cor-
respondents in Bristol and Liverpool,
to which places his tobacco was con-
signed. In return for the articles ex-
ported, it was his custom, twice in each
year, to import from London the goods
which he desired to use ; and as an in-
stance of the accurateness with which
he conducted his commercial transac-
tions as an importer, it is stated that
he required his agent to send him, in
addition to a general bill of the whole,
the original vouchers of the shopkeep-
ers and mechanics, from whom pur-
chases had been made. So particular
was he in these concerns, that he
recorded, with his own hand, in books






180



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



prepared for the purpose, all the long
lists of orders, and copies of the multi-
farious receipts from the different mer-
chants and tradesmen who had sup-
plied the goods. In this way he kept
a perfect oversight of the business;
ascertained the prices; could detect
any imposition, mismanagement, or
carelessness, and tell when any advan-
tage was taken of him of which, if he
discovered any, he did not fail to re-
mind his correspondents.

Present Prosperity of the Rothschilds.

HE who does not delay for casual-
ties, and has knowledge enough to per-
ceive that in all great affairs the success
not only depends on the choice and use
of the most favorable moment, but espe-
cially on the pursuit of an acknowledged
fundamental maxim, has the two prin-
ciples which are never neglected by
this banking house, and to which be-
sides to a prudent performance of its
business and to advantageous conjunc-
tures it owes the greatest part of its
present wealth and renown.

The first of these principles was that
which caused the five brothers to carry
on their business in a perpetual and un-
interrupted communion. This was the
golden rule bequeathed to them by
their dying father. Since his death,
every proposition, let it come from
whom it may, is the object of their
common deliberations. Every impor-
tant undertaking was carried on by a
combined effort, after a plan agreed
upon, and all had an equal share in the
result. Though for several years their
customary residences, being in the
great capitals of Europe, were very
remote, this circumstance could never
interrupt their harmony ; it rather
gave them this advantage, that they
were always perfectly well instructed
as to the condition of things in every
metropolis, and thus each of them, on
his part, could the better prepare and
initiate the affairs to be undertaken by