The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-23 00:00:00

The Thellusson Bank,

Of the six millionnaire bankers of the last cen-
tury, the last-named, Mr. Peter Thellusson, rose
into fame in a very singular manner. Mr. Thellusson
was born at Paris, in 1735, the son of Mons. Isaac
rhellusson, a native of Geneva, who was established
as banker in a good way of business, which he ex-
tended considerably by the assistance of a clerk,
afterwards famous in history as M. Necker, the
Minister of Finance during the French Revolutioe.
Mons. Isaac Thellusson, appreciating the value of
xis clerk, admitted him after a time into partner-
ship, so that the firm thenceforth became Thellusson
and Necker. When Peter Thellusson had grown
up into manhood, he was likewise admitted as mem-
ber of the Paris firm ; but the that throes of the
revolution which were felt ever after made him,
resnaess at his desk, end he resolved on emigrating:
to London and eetablisbing an English branch bank
in connection with the house of Thellusson and
Necker. A man of great sagacity and extraordinary
perseverance, coupled with a desire for making
money which amcunted to an all-absorbing paesiont
Mr. Peter Thellusson found success at his door, and
in a few years built up one of the first banking
establishments in the British metropolis. But,
however great his wealth, he still yearned for more;
and pondering day and night over this one great
object of hia life, he at last hit upon an extraordi-
nary expedient for multiplying the fortune amas-ed
be. him to an unheard of extent. In April, 1796,
he pm, his name to a last will and testament which
made the itollee of Thellusson for ever memorable.
Under this several legacies wero left by Mr
Peter Thellusson to his wife, his three sons and
three daughters, amounting together to about
£IOO,OOO, and the rest of his fortune, valued at.
above £600,000, was made over to trustees, to
accumulate and to be laid out by them in the pur-
chase of estates in England, until such tine as all
his children, and the male children of his sons and
grandsons should die, after which the whole p-o-
--perry was directed to go to the nearest lineal male
descendants bearing the name of Thellussorre
Among these descendants, the property was their
to be distributed in the following manner :—Tne
immense estate—grown up into gigantiodimeneions
by the action of interest and compound interest--
was to be divided into three equal shares: the first
to go to the male descendants of the testator's eldest
son, another to the second son's male descendants,
and the remaining to the male heirs of the third-
In case of failure of male descendants of any one of
the three his share was to go to the other two; and
if there was a failure of two, then the whole three
lots was to be consolidated into one vast propertYe
constituting by far the largest territorial fortune
ever known in Europe, or indeed in the world.
Finally, in the event that there should.
remain no lineal male descendants, the testator di-
' reeted that the whole estate should be sold, and the
proceeds applied to pay off the national debt. This
was the grandest of all the grand schemes of !are
Peter Thellusson--to pay off the public debt off
Great Britain! The very idea is bewildering to,
the ordinary mind.
Peter Thellusson's calculations seemed beautifully
correct; and evidently not the shadow of a doubt
existed in his mind that by the simple accumula-
tion through three or four generations his wealth
would swell into dimensions compared with which
the fortunes of Kings and Emperors would be
mere beggarly trifles. Unfortunately, the tes-
tator had left one item out of calculation—the
tact of the existence of a British institution called.
the Court of Chancery, at the shrine of which
there worship a host of long-winded gentlemen, all
anxious to participate in the pleasing action of in-
terest and compound interest. In July, 1797, Mr.
Peter Thellusson shut his eyes, directed, no doubt,•
eagerly towards the future and the countless wealth
accumulating for other Theliuseons after generations
to come ; but after lietle more than a year, in the
month of December, 1798, two bills were alreedi
filed in the Court of Chancery against the
the one by the widow and her sons and three
daughters and the husbands of the two then Liar-
ried, and the other by the acting trustees or
the bulk of the property. The validity of the will:
was established by the Lord Chancellor and judges of
the Court of Cnancery ; nevertheless, the gentlemen
of the long robe were not all inclined to give up the it
valuable priz‘3. For years and years to come, bill 6,
spplinf,ions, and injunctions in re Theilusson k, pt
cropping up in the law courts, and legal miners
kept digging inn) the wonderful estate with as
hearty energy as any miners in the Australian gold
fields. Poor Mrs. Tnellueson got sick over it, ect‘..
died of a broken heart—or a broken purse--r-L
January, 1805, seven years after her ealcuietieg
husband. All the three SUDS of Peter Thellusson
had seats in the House of Commons, and the
eldest, Peter Isaac Thellusson, obtained an Irish
peerage, and chleg,d into Baron Rendlesbetv;
For all this the family not did greatly pravf:t_ie
in the world, and having once got into the mealier
of the hononratle Court of Chancery, never came
co
fu t
theoithem
ge
ntlearrgiaeinn'ef robe, the eight,' or
UuErttillelonthge assiduous working

hundred millions sterling which Peter Thellusson
had calculated upon for his great-great-grandchil-
dren dwindled down to very modest proportions,
not at all conspicuous among the thousands of first
class fortunes at present assessed to the income tax.
There are now no more millionaire Thellussens ; no
more members of the family in Parliament; and no
more banking establishments bearing the famous
name. Peter Thellusson, besides overlooking the
Court of Chancery, made one fundamental mistake
in his calculation. lle did not remember, or perhaps
did not know, that large wealth, as it must be
acquired, so must be kept together, by active human
brains and industrious human hands. Interest and
compound interest alone will not do it.—Railway
News.
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