new ships could not be built, nor, and a very serious misfortune it was, could old ships be repaired. Many of the ships put into commission at the renewal of war were, consequently, merely patched up, and scarcely in a state to keep the sea. There appears therefore to have been some foundation for the opinion implied by Mr. Pitt, when he said : “I admire the dauntless valour, I extol the splendid achievements, I acknowledge the vast renown of Lord St. Vincent. To him we are indebted for shedding extraordinary lustre on our national glory. But between His Lordship as a commander at sea, and His Lordship as first lord of the Admiralty, there is a wide difference."

Lord St. Vincent's remains were privately interred on Wednesday, March 26th, in the family vault at Stone; and in the evening of the same day, the House of Commons addressed His Majesty, praying "that he would be graciously pleased to give directions for erecting in the cathedral church of St. Paul a monument to the memory of John Earl of St. Vincent, as a testimony of his distinguished eminence in the naval service of his country, and as a particular memorial of the important victory which he gained over the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, on the 14th of February, 1797.” Both Houses of Parliament subsequently concurred with the crown in continuing to the Viscount of St. Vincent the whole pension of 3000l. which had been granted to the Earl and his heirs male; 1000l. of which, having been originally granted by the Irish Parliament, could not be attached to the viscounty in 1801, when His Majesty was pleased to extend that honour collaterally.

275

No. XIII.

JOHN JULIUS ANGERSTEIN, Esq.

To the talents, enterprize, and good faith of her merchants, Great Britain is mainly indebted for her present wealth, prosperity, and grandeur; and in no member of the commercial body were those qualities ever more strikingly exemplified than in the venerable and deeply-lamented subject of the present memoir.

John Julius Angerstein was descended from a respectable Russian family, and was born at St. Petersburgh, in the year 1735. About the year 1749 he came over to England, under the patronage of the late Andrew Thompson, Esq., an eminent Russian merchant.

Young Angerstein was employed during some years in Mr. Thompson's counting-house, and, when of age, was introduced by his worthy patron to Lloyd's. It can scarcely be necessary to add, that this is a coffee-house which derived its appellation from the circumstance of having been originally kept by a person of the name of Lloyd; and that, many years ago, it became the resort of a considerable body of English merchants, and other men of business, especially brokers and underwriters, who assembled, as their successors to this day assemble, to divide among themselves, and to become responsible to one another for, the loss occasioned by ships being either captured, burnt, wrecked, or subjected to any other injury in the course of their voyages. Considering the immense value frequently trusted on the ocean in one bottom, such casualties would be too great for any individual to hazard, however extensive his property and enterprising his spirit.

In consequence of his natural abilities and his unwearied application, added to the constant observance of the excellent master from whom he received his commercial education, Mr. Angerstein soon became eminent as a broker and underwriter. In this last character, when his name appeared on a policy, it was a sufficient recommendation for the rest of the underwriters to follow, without further examination. Policies sanctioned by his subscription speedily acquired so great an authority, that for some years they were, by way of distinction, called " Julians."

This celebrity daily increased. The circle of his connections in trade, and the powers of his vigorous and active mind, gradually expanded, until Mr. Angerstein attained the highest degree of commercial importance. To reach that eminence, great personal sacrifices were necessary; but, steady to his purpose, none of the temptations by which youth is beset were powerful enough to seduce him from the regular pursuit of an object which demanded incessant toil and unwearied perseverance.

Previously to the erection of the present suite of apartments, the insurance business was carried on in a more circumscribed place in Pope's Head Alley. The frequenters of Old Lloyd's, finding the rooms extremely unhealthy, as well as inconvenient, on account of their size and situation, agreed to open a subscription for the purpose of obtaining a more suitable establishment. To carry this salutary measure into execution, a committee was appointed, and a considerable sum was raised, but a number of years elapsed before any great progress was made towards the accomplishment of so desirable an object. At length Mr. Angerstein called a meeting of the subscribers, and, having obtained their willing consent to invest him with a temporary authority, he, in his own name, procured for their accommodation the large and lofty apartments formerly occupied by the Company of the British Herring Fishery. When even these at last became too small, in consequence of the increasing prosperity of the empire, he made a fresh purchase, and, by adding the Merchant Sea

men's Office to the former, rendered it the most complete establishment of the kind in Europe. Great public good, as well as private advantage, resulted from his labours in this respect; for the magnitude and convenience of the new arrangement put an entire stop to the transaction of business in private offices scattered throughout the metropolis, and thus economized time, which is only another word for money, in the dictionary of an English merchant. In short, Lloyd's coffee-house has ever since been a kind of empire within itself- an empire of almost incalculable resources; and which, in conjunction with the grand mart of business below *, holds commercial sway over the trading part of the universe.

Among the many great services which Mr. Angerstein rendered to the interests of this coffee-house, the following was by no means the least important. It was formerly but too common a practice, when vessels had acquired a bad name, from their imperfect state, to send them to some port where they were not known, and, by re-baptizing, to make them pass for ships of fair character. To remedy this evil Mr. Angerstein applied for and obtained an Act of Parliament, by virtue of which every owner was prohibited from changing the name by which his vessel was originally distinguished. The benefit resulting from this measure is incredible.

Another prominent object of public good effected by the zeal and activity of the subject of this memoir, was the issuing of a loan of exchequer bills for the relief of trade, in the year 1793. About that time there was an alarming want of confidence in the commercial world. This arose from a variety of causes, and, among the rest, the non-arrival of fleets, with remittances, long expected from various quarters. The existing situation of France, also, materially contributed to the depression of trade. To re-establish commercial credit, Mr. Angerstein exerted himself; and, after much opposition from some of the first merchants in the city, who were not so well convinced as himself of the benefits of the measure, he

The Royal Exchange.

was the sole means of procuring from Mr. Pitt a loan through the medium of exchequer bills. This loan had for its purpose to assist merchants in partially realizing a sum of money to an immense amount, which lay dormant in colonial produce. The measure was found to be fully adequate to the exigency; yet it is but simple justice to remark, that Mr. Angerstein was quite disinterested in its operation and success, except as far as every good citizen may be said to be interested in the establishment and diffusion of public advantage.

We have now to notice an event in Mr. Angerstein's life which we confess we cannot regard with the satisfaction that results from the contemplation of every other part of his active and honourable career. We mean his suggestion to the Minister of the advantage which the revenue would derive from the imitation of foreign countries, in the establishment of a state-lottery. In consequence of that suggestion, a lottery was immediately proposed, and sanctioned by Parliament ; Mr. Angerstein and his friends engaging to take half the tickets issued. We are persuaded, that if Mr. Angerstein had sufficiently considered the erroneous principle of the measure, or if he could have foreseen a hundredth part of the evils which have been occasioned by its practice, he would have been the last man in the world to countenance, much less to originate, so unwise and so pernicious a proposition.

The share which Mr. Angerstein had in the establishment of the lottery led to his taking a decided, active, and important part in the public loans, required by the exigencies of the state during the late perilous and protracted war. For many years Mr. Angerstein's list, in consequence of the eagerness which the wealthiest portion of the banking and commercial world manifested to be upon it, ranked among the most respectable, in the annual competition for this great pecuniary

contract.

A spirited and successful enterprise of another kind is next to be recorded. Every body remembers, or has read of the atrocities of a being, better known under the name of the MONSTER, than that of Renwick Williams, whose horrid delight it was to pursue and maim defenceless women. This