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    ¦ August 13, 1854.] THE LEADER. 7$3

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    Lottr Teabs I*T Both Hemispheres. Fifty ...

    article . He had -fire dbiWren—four kmis , John , Thomas , Francis , Charles , and a daughter , called Elizabeth . Two of these sons , John and Francis , established themselves , under the firm ofjohn and Francis Baring , at London , originally with a view of facilitating their father ' s trade in disposing of his goods , and so as to be in a position to import the rawmaterial to be required , such as wool , dye-stuffs , & c , themselves directly from abroad . Thus was established -the house which—after the withdrawal of the elder brother John , whoiretirad to . Exeter—gradually , tinder the firm- ' name of Francis Baring and Co ., and eventually , under the dirm-name of Baring , Brothers and Co ., rose to the highest rank of mercantile eminence in the commerce of the world . " Sir Francis , who , under the Ministry of the Count Shelburn , father of tlie present Marquis of Lansdowne , had become his intimate friend and adviser in financial matters , having in the year 1793 received the title of Baronet , was already Styled by the latter the Prince of Merchants , He had become somewhat feeble and very deaf when I fir 3 t got personally acquainted with liim . On the occasion of one of tny visits to him , bo told me that he bad kept at his business for thirty years before he considered himself entitled to keep

    an equipage . Upon another occasion , when I spoke to him of my project in establishing myself in . New Orleans , after the ^ termination of iny missi on , he remarked , ' Usually , my young friend , that cornmissian-bueiness is the best in which the commissions take this direction '—here he made a motion with his hands , as if throwing something towards him—* but wliere the business goes thus !'—motioning naif he was throwbig-something from him . Tliis amounted to saying , in other words , that receiving consignments was a better business than executing commissions . Three of his sons , Thomas , Alexander , and Henry , entered the London establishment ; but the first , who was intended to have carried ontiie father ' s name , irfter the death of the latter , on the 12 th of September , 1810 , assumed the name of Sir Thomas , and withdrew from the house , as the third also found occasion to do- at a later period . The latter was passionately foud of play , and indulged in it with so much success , that lie several times broke ' Eutreprise Generate Des Jeux , ' of Paris . But the sight of one of the lieads of such a house , one night after another , in the great gambling establishments , produced a bad effect ; and even if it did not impair his credit , it in no slight degree damaged his respectability . This was felt at head-quarters , and ah understanding ; was come

    to for liis withdrawal from the firm . " Alexander Baring , the second son nf Sir Francis , had received a portion of his education in Hunan , had then completed it in England , and commenced his mercantile career in the hqu-ic of Messrs . Hope , where a friendship sprung up between him and Mr . P . C . Laboiicheiv , which led to the latter ' s marriage , at a later period , with liis sister , Maria Baring . When the Messrs . Hoiks retired to England , in consequence of the occupation of Holland by the revolutionary French army ., under Picliegriie , and after Alexander Baring had left the House , he deterinmed to visit the United States of North America . At his departure , his father confined liis advice to two especial recommendations , one of which was to purchase 2 io uncultivated land , and the other not to marry a wife there : ' Because , ' said he , uncultivated , lands can be more readily' bought than sold again ; and a wife is best suited to the home in which she wasraised , and cannot be formed or trained a second tirrte . ' However , Aksander had not passed one year in the United States before he forgot both branches of his fatberJs advice . Not only did he purchase laFge tracts of land in the western part of the State of Pennsyivania , and lay oitt a not inconsiderable capital ( 100 , 000 dols . at least ) in-thetlien District and now State of Maine , and that too under the annexed condition of

    bringing a number of settlers thither within a certain term of years , but also , in 179 S , wlien just twe « ty-four years of age , he married Anna , the eldest daughter of Mr . William Bingha . ni ,, in Philadelphia ; , who * was at that time considered the richest man in the United States , died was then a member of the Senate . The inheritance he had to thank her for , at the death of her father , amounted to 900 ^ 000 dols . She bore him nine children , of which seven are still living . The eldest of these , called William Bingham , after his grandfather , is the present Lord Ashburton , and has readied the age of fifty-tree . liis wife is a Lady Sandwich , and their .. marriage has remained childless . After bis ' death , his title , alonsj with th « greater part of his fortune , will pass to the second son , Francis , wl )» is married to a daughter of the Duke Bassano , a former State Secretary of Napoleon . This gentleman usually resides at Paris , and is the eldest head of the London house , in the management of whose business , hgwever , lie seldom takes any active part . He has two sons . The favourite from the first , of his father and mother , both title and foiiune will pass entirely , according to their wishes , into the hands of him who in their eyes deserved the preference . " In l' & 22 , ! Nolte is at Paris . He tells us of his interview with Lafitrte , the Paris l > anken

    '" I h : id more or less extensive connections with all the great bankers of P ^ iris , except Jacqusa Laiitte , who , as a native Frenchman—he came from Bayonnc—kept himself at tlie head of tlie others , who were mostly Swiss . A very pressing letter of introduction , from Alexander Baring himself , made moid ; length acquainted with him . He was then owner of the former Hotel de 1 'Empire , and had his various offices on the ground floor . His own oountmg-room was in a great hall , where , upon a very broud dais of mahogany , four steps high , stood his huge writing-desk . Before him , at the foot of the duis , were some twenty sirm-chitirs , in half circle ; behind him , right and left , a dozen speaking tubes in the hall served as means'Of communication with the heads of the various departments -which composed . his establi s hment . The . arrangements were princely . As I entered I found most of tJio . arm-chains tillol by exchange brokers . I mounted the four steps , and prosented . to the chief of this gathering my letter of introduction , which , after a glance at its contents , ho laid bcliind him , and , graciously waived me to one of the empty chairs . After some minutes a-word was whispered into one of the speaking tubes , and a clerk appeared from within , to whom Mr . Lafittc gave my letter , and then beckoned to me . With all due revorenco I draw

    nearliiij morcantilo majesty , . and received from liis own mouth a iwlite invitation to visit him on next Sunday , at the Maison sur Seine , a country-scat which he had just purchased from Government , and which Louis 2 £ IV . hud built . ' Come curly , ' ho said , ' nnd we will talk at our cuse , while promenading in tho pnrk . ' I made my appearance on Sunday , about threo o ' clock , 'was received by the steward , nnd shown into tho reception i-ooms , library , billiard room , Gsdaon , & c , after which 1 was told that I would find M . Lniitto walking in " the park . Thereupon 1 took for my oompanion an elderly Englishman , who appeared to bo boring liinirtell in the library . Wo soon met tho master of tho house , in company with two very simply-dressed , woll-manncrcd Englishmen , one of whom wore something thon unusual in Frondi society— -a Bnmmer costume , white rtrilHnp ; trousers , fine cotton stockings , and shoca . Both s ]) oko Fronoh well . Tho perfoction of English cotton manufactures npiMwcd to bo the tc > i * K 5 of oonveraiition ; and when wo returned to the honBo 1 liml decided tl > ut tho two gentleman were great Manchester spinners . Al . Lalitto , as usual , led tho coiiwovsation , as tlie JfruMeh any , il tenait la coma ; that is , ho spoke out whatsoever caino iixlo his head , interrupting others , nnd starting coiuitleaa topica that had nothing to do with tho mutter in hand On reaching tho drawing-rooms wo found Maduino Latitte , with her only dniightor , vufVMMw vimitini

    " "" «•«* - * A **< «» - * mw « " ») hvivjui £ j \ jfitfj * jfjlJliJ | l « IJIWDL \ Jl ItllUllI Ur / iJt / tJll Hrll U"l > Ullt * . 7 in tho chamber ,. among thorn M . ( Jiiasimir Porrior , and m . Ununfriont , to whom M . Latitto intmiluecd mo poraonally . At table ono of tho lingliwhinan waa placed at JMndaino LaliLto ' o right liand , tUo otlxor at hor husband ' s . 1 concluded , by thia distribution of tho .. places of honour , that thor must bo , * probubly , owners of several grout cotton factories , with enormous ( iredits at Lulltto ' s , which roguhited tho proportion of his great nolitancafl to them . M . 'lailUto , ' whoaetHlUntivoncHa lind aayot found no obstacle , rattled away , lift told a great detvlabmvt the ' hundred days , ' android ho liad novor ailtnirod Napoleon ; nnd that during tho Limo when hu wna daily nont for , and consulted by Mil * omporor , ho had lonimod to know him well and had discovered thai ho positessud tlio art of mulling hiinsolf popular iu tho highest dugreo . Hla waa ( Uiito conlLluutiul with mo , ' suid Lalltto , unoko with > ul any rcunonoc , nnUcfnconiddo to mo a notnhlo remark about our nation . "The Fronoh , " ho nnid , are ^ Tfsoplo whom on « muHt know how to go-vorn wiUli iuto h of iron , lint , with velvot giavctt . My roaduru may havo iituird tliia ; but « remark which loll /' win tho Jipa of maaairw l . ullttoa xujht hand neigUlour i * nowur ' IJight , » M he , ' H ib mo—but he very oiun . lor ^ ot to put Ina glovoa on . Thia wa « ho true , and « o aprotioa , that all who hoard ft uurot out i . uigUing . 1 askod niynaxt nui ^ hbour who tho witty wutk'niiin wiw , nnd Io . u-jumI , to my nurprwe , tlmt ho vrnntm hmt \ poraou than tho colobratod Maniuiii of Lu « i » downo : hia aomj > MiK ) n was UttA Jiriatol . ' . i " | tor < unn » r M . I . iUitUi continual h ' m disoouming , and diapl : » y < d nroat powar of retaining UioaltoHtion of luaguoata : houhvaya hud a liulu cfrulo round him vvhioh 1 l . rmuJ the m » ru \ vUUn ; ly bocautn It gavo mo an ojiportuuily to abaorvo tho ronuukablu apriority of au

    Tvnglish parliamentary speaker , like Lord Lansdowne , over a French fadteur de discours aud phrase-hmiter . Laiitte , in his attempts to develop amd render comprehensible the use and method of the Trench Chamber of Deputies , met with constant difficulties in the answers and remarks of his English listener . ' Faire preuve de ca-pacitey said he , ' c ' estle premier devoir d ' un deputd quand il s ' agit de parler . ' The simple answer of the marquis was , ' Chez nous on ae prend la parole quo pour pousser a la roue et avancer les afftirea—to do the business of the nation—covnme nous disons en Anglais . ' " The next anecdote is not new , but deserves repeating : — " Chantrey was a farmer ' s son , and had studied painting in his youth , but with no great success . At a family feast , where his mother wished to regale her guests with a pasty , he conceived the idea of moulding a hen in dough , and patting it on the top of the pasty This hen was his golden egg-laying goose , for it commencad that fortune which grew before his death to 15 , O 0 QJ . per annum . The fowl -was so exquisitely natural , that the fame of it spread far and wide , and Chaatrey , after several other attempts , recognised his proper vocation to be that of a sculptor , and went to London . Here he earned a poor livelihood bv Dortrait

    painting , and at last saved enough to procure a little sculptor ' s studio . He then wont to the celebrated Home Tooke , who had broken a stout lance witn Junius , and had been prosecuted by Pitt as a demagogue and public disturber , and obtained from him several sittings . When the bust was finished , Oliantrey had not money enough to cast it in plaster ; but he got it at last , and took the bust to the sculptor Nollekens , at that time at the head of the art world in London- He was too late , however , for the exhibition . Though a man of cool phlegmatic temperament , Chantrey was ' cruelly disappointed . ' ' Let us see what you have liere , ' said Nollekens , and Chantrey uncovered the bu & t . At the first glance , Nollekens started with amazement . ' What ! ' he cried , 'is that your first work ? ' Scarcely liad Chantrey said yes , when he added , ' Well , it is too perfect to be kept from the pablic , ' and though the exhibition was full , Nollekens took back one of his own works , and placed the ticket upon Tooke ' s bust and the bust in the exhibition . The consequences were unexampledj but well merited . I Lave seen it fifty times , and always with fresh pleasure ; for it bore the unmistakeable stamp of Truth , and to all who had seen Took or not , it appeared like a living being , who would answer if-addressed . Before the forty days of exhibition were ov £ r , Chaatrey told me he had received orders for 5000 ? . worth of busts . "

    In 1837 , N " olte has nn . interview ¦ with Queen Victoria , and gets into sad trouble thereby . He had .. dete . rmin . ed ' . to ; do ' . a favour to " a very worthy young artist , " as he calls hiin , Mr . Henry Weeks , who wished to make a iaedallion portrait of the Queen . This honour Nolte was resolved to procure for him . He succeeded , and here , is the result : — " She gave him threa sittings , and this bust , the firat of the Queen , was a real masterpiec e , and obtained a great deal of attention at the Exposition of 1838 . I had suggested to Weeks to fasten up the great quantity of back hair wliich the Queen wore on the back of her head , and to replace the comb by a snxall crown . Tile suggestion was successful , aud pleased everybody , particularly her Majesty , when she first saw the bust . The medallion f ortrait was alsosuccessfnl , and the plate taken from it by Bogardus' ' self-acting tracer , ' Was the finest specimen of art that had yet appeared . Neither Collas' machine , nor the stiffly moving one of Bates , had the soft well formed lines of Bogardus' invention which imitated the best productions of Eaphael Morgher . " The Baroness Lehzen had procured permission for me to present some twenty copies o £ this to her Majesty , and Weeks and myself -were requested to come to Buckingham Palace . 1 could not avoid remarking that all persons seemed to have a very faTourable impression in reference to the Queen ' s personal appearance , and that tlie usual answers to any iaterr 6 gations on that sulnect were , — ' she is most beautiful—vou never saw the like . '

    '_ ' On my arrival at Windsor , I was sent into a room , where the baroness soon came in her riding dress , with the skirt thrown aver her arm . ¦ " 'Ah ! ' she said , ' you are there . " Iwill tell her Majesty . You will not have to wait long . * 114 She had just returned from accompanying the Queen in a ride . In a little while 1 heard a rustle , and said to myself , ' Inamoment the Majesty of England will stand before thine eyes . * " The door opened , and a young lady , with a couple of heavy locks fallen about her face , entered hastily , followed by the baroness and two ladies of honour . The Queen entered suddenly , and evidently without premeditation , and went directly to the bust which , was placed on rather too lofty a pedestal , and repeated two or three times , 'It is very fine . ' " Her Majesty then came to me , who had opened a handsome portfolio , containing the engravings . She was astonished at the reli « f ; lifted one of them , and turned it to see if it were not embossed .

    " I had prepared answers to expected qu « stions on the nature of the machine , bat , in a moment , she gave me a nod , and Weeks another , and with one more glance at her bust , departed , followed by a lady of honou * r . ' The other lady , Lady Caroline ( Javendisli , and the bnfoness romainod , nnd having 6 omewhat critically examined the engravings , fisted me a great many questions . Then the baroness inquired if it were my intention to get the portraits of other European sovereigns . I answered yes ; and . mentioned tho King of the Belgians as the next , because I knew that lie was her friond and patron , aud had procured her her post near the Queen . "As 1 returned from tho castle , I met with Mr . Fozard , tho Queen ' s riding master , with whom I had become acquainted on my former visits to Windsor , who entered into a lively conversation with me in reference to her Majesty , narrating several anecdotes , coloulated to illustrate her natural buoyancy of spirits and unaffected , simplicity of heart , -when , released from tho trammels and restraints of her royal position . " Mr . Fozurd seemed justly proud of having been the Queen ' s equestrian preceptor ; and spoke highly nnd oven enthusiastically of her Majesty's manner of riding , and stilted that ho

    had semi but few ladies who , in his opinion , wero more graceful aud more dexterous in the management of their high-bred steods . " In the Court News appeared a short notice of tho honour her Majesty had done mo ; and I saw no result , save a good ono , from it all . Nevertheless , two days nfterwurds I was arrested in my house , in Ldgewure-rond , nt the suit of Duke Charles of Brunswick . I had taken a contract from his companion , Huron Andlau , for sabretaches , sword and bayonet slioaths , and knapsacks ; for which tho duko had puid 50 , 000 francs on noeoant , and had promised to pay all within two months . This contract was not fulfilled , and tho belligerent Uuko iustnntly commenced si suit , without a word of advioo to mo . The question was , simply , whether I was bound by the whole contract before tho duke had f ' uliiliod liu part ; but ho was fond of huysuita , us his numerous ensos in IJugland proved . " 1 hud hitliurto lived unsuod , and this ouo only served to complete my distress . Sa soon as Baron Andlau heard of this suit , lie brought wio 8000 franus . out of 10 , 000 which had not been pind in the ubovo-numod sum of 50 , 000 , and said that tho agent in tho trans- < ivction would bo accountable for the other 2000 . Tho baron had served tho duko as long as the unworthy nature of tho latter would permit , but there vvora other grounils for thoir separation , 'which took plnco soon alter . Ho now brought , mo buck tho money , for fear of certain posbibk expositions , wliiuh would Jinvo lost him tho duke ' s conlidonce . Tho case

    was decided nguinat mo , nnd I vms condemned to p : \ y kn . uk the whole sum , without regard to the fact thai . I hud expended 230 ^ 000 IVhuch in tho contract . There should luivo boon an appeal , but iny clork , whom I left in Paris , on my journey to Homo , seoinc ; how diillcultios wore thronging about mi 1 , lost his head , nnd did nothing , except soil all tho alioaths and knnpsacks tluit lind been bought for about half their cost . I wus utterly lwliilvtu on my return from liome , aud was nem-ly penniless when 1 wont to England . " Of coui' 80 1 could do nothing without money . Tho duko had sworn in London to my iiiilobtuJik'W , < m . l thai suliked to put wo in prison , llo know my ciroujnetunoos porloutly well ; and although assunul tlinl my inipiiiDiiuu'iit would not procure restitution ot his advances , yet lii . i evil natun * forbade him to bu kind to any ono whom ho liml n » his power . 1 lciniod , too , tlint ho wiis angry boenu . io tho Qiumjii liml rocoivod mo , whilo Ji « was torbiddon tho ooui-t for ever . 1 could havo gotti'ti bail , Init was uimblo to p « y « lawyer , and mi 1 dotonniiKfil to bear uiy futo ws it cuiiu \ 1 had two roasonit for tins . I'lrat , t » i » t tlio llousoof Commons was Uiun occui / iod wiih tho « ju «» tioi > of inijjriuoninont lor Uobt , and everybody wiu walling fur Uio rwuh ol' Lhoir iU-libo « ui . m « j ami nocoml , that , my honest Irlcnd Einnnui-l Bo . noulll , thon rwidont in London , w .-w l » 1 « 1 »«» «» arningliia inuttovs with tin .- duku ' ti Holleitor . . , .. . ,, . " My old fi-iond fciiogmond KUckov dlnoororo . l my wlwronhoutu by ncoiilont . Ho onmo to hoc mu . and iwombcU to u « t mo tho ' libcriicw , n . » inoly , lour h ^ uiiko miles about tho prtaou

    ¦ August 13, 1854.] The Leader. 7$3

    ¦ August 13 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 7 $ 3

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 12, 1854, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12081854/page/19/