Chronicles and characters of the stock exchange

by of the Bank of England John Francis

Although shares in life assurance companies form part of the professed business of the Stock Exchange, yet the better class rarely reach the hands of the brokers. They are held in such high and deserved estimation, that they remain in the possession of families for generations, passing as heirlooms, with the same confidence in their value as if they were freehold. As an instance of this, it was noticed in the papers that the first public sale of the stock of the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation occurred in 1812.

The charge of employing official information to speculate in the funds has often been brought against public men. These accusations have often been made with cause, but generally with caution. In August, 1805, however, a letter was received by the head of the government, signed by Ambrose Charles, a clerk in the employment of the directors of the Bank of England, in which Lord Moira, a cabinet minister, was accused of availing himself of his official information to speculate in the stocks. The name of the broker employed by his Lordship was given; and letters which implicated him were said to have been publicly exhibited on ’Change. The underlings of newspapers were declared to be in communication with the accused nobleman; and the document concluded with the offer of proving these assertions, should Lord Grenville require further information.

The letter was too important to be overlooked; and the prime minister gave the required interview to the writer, who, persisting in his assertion, calmly and confidently declared its truth; and was proceeding with his story, when, with a dramatic effect rarely witnessed off the stage, the door of an adjoining apartment was opened, and the accused confronted his accuser. There appears to be no other evidence of what passed at this interview than that given by Ambrose Charles, which, being entirely favorable to himself, cannot be trusted. No proof was tendered of the assertion; but the morning on which the letter had been sent, the writer remarked to a fellow-clerk, “I have done a deed which will immortalize me.” The subject was made a matter of legal inquiry; affidavits from all who had been named as having inculpated his Lordship evinced his complete innocence, and the entire evidence proved the falsehood and folly of the criminator. The charge was eventually dismissed as untenable; and the whole affair can only be regarded as one of those morbid cravings after notoriety which arise equally from a diseased brain and an idle vanity.

In 1807 and 1808, a general and feverish love of speculation was abroad. Joint-stock companies were the feature of the day; canals, bridges, and life assurance being the great favorites, which, if injurious to the speculator, were beneficial to the country. To this period London owes Waterloo and Vauxhall bridges, with many more of those public works forming to the foreigner objects of so much interest.

It has lately been the custom to speak with contempt of joint-stock associations, although it is to such bodies that England is indebted for her greatest and her grandest undertakings. The Bank of England, which has been called the bank of the world,—the railways, which bear comfort and civilization to the remotest hamlets,—the canals, which convey our commerce and irrigate our lands,—our docks, which contain the wealth of the East and of the West,—our life-assurance companies, which comfort many a desolate hearth and home,—are the result of joint-stock companies. The evil is passing; but the good is permanent.

A similar outcry is always raised against projectors and speculators. Swift employed his pen in ridiculing them; Scott introduced one to turn him into contempt; Addison employed his fine genius in satirizing them; Steele wrote one of his best essays on them. The smaller herd of wits have swelled the cry; and they to whom mankind are preëminently indebted are named with contempt, and treated with derision. The projectors of all great works have been disdainfully regarded at one period or another. The men who first planned our bridges have been neglected; the promoters of railways, which are now paying well, and rejoicing our rural homesteads with the polish and the luxury of cities, were a by-word to the mass. And yet the finest minds of the day are employed in projecting. The discoverer of steam-power was a projector; Arkwright was only a projector; Thomas Gray was the same. What does not England owe to men who bore the burden and the heat of the day in the introduction of projects, which, once household luxuries, they have made household necessities! The cottage of the poor is comforted, the mansion of the rich is gladdened, with works for which projectors were ridiculed and speculators ruined. We cannot cast our eyes around without these works meeting our view. They add a grace to our persons, they cheapen our luxuries, they adorn our homes.

The mere man of routine thinks it a sacred duty to laugh at those of whose services he is glad to avail himself; while the banker, the merchant, and the moneyed tradesman first treat him as an intruder, and then buy shares in the discovery they disdainfully rejected. The world is rich in the names of those who have benefited and been neglected by their fellow-men.

One of the greatest capitalists of the reign of George III. died in 1808. Mark Sprot, a name which will recall many a pleasant anecdote to members of the Stock Exchange, born a younger brother, with a younger brother’s portion, achieved, by his own exertions, one of those fortunes which arose out of the loans of the French war. In 1780 he settled in London, with moderate means; and, from occasional visits to the Bank and Stock Exchange, formed an intimacy with the members of the moneyed interest. He soon saw that, with small risk, he might make great gain, and commenced a career which ended in splendid success. In 1799, he was one of the contractors for the lottery; and, in 1800 and the three following years, he was at the head of those who bid for the loans.

During the trial of Lord Melville, Mark Sprot was examined, in consequence of having borrowed money from Mr. Trotter. The latter, on a comparatively trifling income, had built a splendid mansion; and as attention had been drawn to the circumstance, Mr. Sprot’s name was involved. When examined by the committee, and asked whether he did not act as banker to members of both Houses, “I never do business with privileged persons,” was the shrewd, but daring reply. This answer originated, probably, from the following anecdote.

On one occasion a broker applied to Mr. Sprot, and with great sorrow told him that he was a ruined man. Mr. Sprot was surprised, for he knew the speaker was careful, industrious, and not likely to speculate. He asked the cause, and the broker replied, that he had been employed largely by a principal, who, the prices having gone against him, had refused to pay his losses. Mr. Sprot immediately inquired his name; and on being told it was a noble earl, of whose resources he was well aware, could scarcely believe he heard correctly.