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

The Thellusson Bark,

Of the six millioiznaire 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
Thellusson, a native of Geneva, who was establiuhed
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
ginister of Finance during the French Revolntiou.
Mons. Isaac Thellusson, appreciating the value of
his clerk, admitted him after a time into partner-
ship, so that the firm thenceforth became Thellueson
and Necker. When Peter Thellusson had grown
up into manhood, he was likewise admitted as mem-
ber of the Paris firm ; but the first throes of the
revolution which wore felt ever after made him
restless at his desk, and he resolved on emigrating
to London and establishing 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 amounted to an all-absorbing passion
Mr. Peter Thellueson 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 his life, he at last hit upon an extraordi-
nary expedient for multiplying the fortune amassed
by him to an unheard of extent. In April, 1796,
he put his name to a last will and testament which
made the house of Thellusson for ever memorable.
Under this will several legacies were 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 time as all
his children, and the mole children of his sons and
grandsons should die, after which the whole pro-
perty was directed to go to the nearest lineal male
descendants bearing the name of Thelltesson•
Among these descendants, the property was then
to be distributed in the following manner :--The
immense estate—grown up into gigantic dimensions
by the action of interest and compound interest--•
was to be divided into three equal shares : the first
to go to the male clescen dants 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 make descendants of any one of
the three his share was to go to the other two ; end
if there was a failure of two, then the whole three
lots was to be consolidated into one vast property,
constituting by far the largest territorial for tune
ever known in Europe, or indeed in the World.
Finally, in the event that there should
remain no lineal male descendants, the testator di'
rected 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 Mr,
Peter Thellusson—to pay off the public debt ei
Great Britain 1. The very idea is bewildering to
the ordinary mind.
Peter Thellusson's calculations seemed beaut Hull)
correct; and evidently not the shadow of a clout,'
existed in his mind that by the simple Eecuniula.
tion through three or four generations his we Alit
would swell into dimensions compared with whiet
the fortunes of Kings and Emperors would b'
mere beggarly trifles. Unfortunately, the tes
tator had left one item out of calculation--til
fact of the existence of a British institution caller
the Court of Chancery, at the shrine of .whic;
there worship a host of long-wiaded.gentlemen,
anxious to participate in the pleasing action of ie
terest and compound interest. In July, 1797, All,
Peter Thellusson shut his eyes, directed, no doubt
eagerly towards the future and the countless viet'it
accumulating for other Theliussons after generation
to COMB ; but after little more than a year, in til,
month of December, 1798, two bills were elres!ut,
filed in the Court of Chancery against the v'4l'e
the one by the widow and her aces and thr
daughters an e'&
("
& the husbands of the two then teal
_
ried, and
Oa other by the acting trustees ,
the bulk of the property. The,validity of the vin,
was establishted by the Lord Chancellor and judges'
the Court of Chancery ;;nevertheless, the gentlEttlei
of the long robe were not all inclined to give up
valuable prize. For years and years to come, 1
applications, and injunctions in re Thellueson kee)
cropping up in the law courts, and legal win
kept digging into the wonderful estate with",
hearty energy as any miners in the Australian
fields. Poor Mrs. Thellueson got sick over it, ti
✓
died of a broken heart—or a broken Purse-.li
sc
January, 1805, seven years after her caleula
husband. All the throe eons of Peter Thellu
su
t/
had seatii in the House of Commons, an- .
eldest, Peter Isaac Thellusson, obtained as
peerage, and changed into Baron Eondleshaii
Lee
For all this the family not did greatlY Pr°:h
in the world, and having once got into the
A
of the bonourah le Court of Chancery, Dever re,aig
out of them again. Under the assiduous wt
of the gentlemen of the long robe, the elg°l2tY

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. He 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.
ONEY