The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-28 00:00:00

TEE LATE BARON BRUCK.

The following sketch of the career of the late
Austrian Finance Minister is taken from "Men of
the Time :"
" Baron Von Charles Louis Bruck, one of the
most eminent of the modern school of Austrian
statesmen, was born October 18, 1798, in the duchy
of Berg, on the Rhine. The early youth of,Bruek
was spent in the army of his country. He made
the campaign of 1814-15 in the Prussian service ;
and on the restoration of peace visited London, to
seek a position in the army of the Hon. East India
Company, but was not successful. Ix the year 1821,
weary of the monotony of garrison life, he set out
for the south of Europe, intending to join the
Greek insurgents, subjects of the Sultan. Arrived
at Trieste, he found some difficulty in procuring a
passage to the scene of his expectations, and im-
proved the interval of delay by making the 'ac-
quaintance of several persons of considerable local
influence, to whom he was recommended in his'
letters. Before he could perfect the arrangements -
for his departure he received intelligence from
Greece which convinced him of the hopelessness of
his projected journey. While uncertain as to his
future course of life, overtures were made to him
by Trieste merchants, who had remarked the
energy and practical turn of his character. He re-
solved to accept the appointment of Secre-
tary of the Trieste " Azienda Assicuratrice," a
Maritime Assurance Company, which was obtained
for him through the friendly zeal of Herr von
Reyer •i and having married the daughter of Herr
liuschek, another merchant of the same city, thence-
forth regarded Trieste as his home. The Assur-
ance Company failed, and it was Bruck's business
to liquidate its affairs. The skill with which he
accomplished this task so increased his reputation,
that when, in 1830, he came forward with a plan of
fusing all the small maritime assurance societies of
Trieste, and consolidating them into one powerful
association, he found the commercial community
prepared to receive his proposition with a readiness
that revealed the extent of the reputation which, in
a shalt time, he had acquired. Difficulties presented
themselves on every hand; established interests,
private influence, and the power of custom, had to
be struggled with—and this by a young man, and a
stranger. But to all these Brick's energy proved
itself superior, and in 1833 he saw his scheme in
operation. This important association, which was
first announced as the Trieste Lloyds, but has long
been known as the Austrian Lloyds, originally con-
fined itself to the business of maritime insurance,
like our own great society of underwriters, from
which it borrowed its name. In 1836, however, it
extended its operations, and sought further to faci-
litate the commerce of the Mediterranean and Levant
by the establishment of a system of steam-packet
communication, which has obtained a world-wide
repute, And is the greatest achievement of unaided
commercial enterprise an Austrian can boast. The
Lloyds packets at first made only the passage be-
tween Trieste and Venice ; they now afford the
traveller the means of conveniently visiting all the
principal seaports of the Adriatic, the Mediter-
ranean, and the Black Sea. Until 1845 Bruck was
the chief director of the Austrian Lloyds. Intent
upon founding a powerful maritime corporation,
capable not only of insuring a mercantile pre-
dominance, with which large returns would be
inevitably connected, but also of determining an im-
mense affiux of business to the port of Trieste, and
of raising the consideration of Austria throughout
the east, Bruck pervailed on the shareholders to
forego a dividend during the early years of the
association, and apply the profits as new capital for
the extension of their undertaking. At the end of
the year 1846, even before Bruck resigned the active
direction of the Lloyds, the company had a capital
of 3,000,000 florins, and a surplus income, available
for dividends, of 198,000 florins. It has since deve-
loped its resources to a much greater extent ; and
although, whether as en insurance or navigation
society, it is immensely infirior to our English com-
panies—it is an institution which every Austrian
must regard with national pride. It has contributed
immensely to augment Austrian influence in the
East; it has trebled the population of Trieste, and
caused it to become an important centre of Mediter-
ranean trade ; it has made possible the existence of
an Austrian navy ; and it has done this, doubtless,
under the smile, but without the aid of a Govern•
ment. The year 1848 saw Bruck called to a new
and more prominent scene of activity. The grave
occurrences which at that period shook the founda-
tion of every state in Germany arc well known. Jo
the midst of these, Trieste received a summons to
send its best representative to a national assembly,
to meet at Frankfort, and deliberate on the affairs of
the entire German nation. Bruck was elected by his
fellow-citizens, and was proceeding to the Maine,
when the Imperial Austrian Government appointed
him its Plenipotentiary to the Lieutenant of the Ger-
manic Empire, the Archduke John. The Vienna
Cabinet saw that it/was:necessary to introduce new,
courageous, and practical men to the eznwice of the
state, and as such Bruck, who, in his character of
member of the Bourse committee had long been in
intercourse with the Government, was recognised
and employed. What fair opportunities were lost
by the representatives of Germany at Frankfort is
too well known. Bruck strove for the unity of
Germany, and strove in yftin, During his residence