The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1861-11-27

1 '''N "iVNHlR cNilhl
The surface OF modern England is, to use a
| g. illogical term, one vast deposit, the oNcrtion.
| ofcNtinct tribes Of fortune makcr,. For a.sc,-
| q 'd The ttct Is one "a the many spccit!.,c, nl
| orr island history, every isouuatiOu or two has
| lrpductd some new -p ',ivs oi million I'rrs a,r,c
| "rnpal ION or trItlic or SQUIRE OF .,ain which
| ,nh''ed new men TO build fortunes, aud dy-
/ ii'. iuund families or will away great c,trr.
| ne Norman conqucrcrs were the ffst, md
| ul tAem We have some accounts, and of
| 'n'u succcSsois, the continental advcntu-
| i'rs, the gay and polished men Of southern
| france, who talked the imyge dor, AMI w4om
| he Norman kings loved and nottcI. while In,
| lrop'c cursed. but Of the first grand mutation
| ~ ',propclt y-mauagcd civil oNpcdents. ia, vas,
| 'iies which preceded aud accompanied tht tru-
| sl'cs, We have no account whatever. a thinl
| Ui England changed hands, and the puzzle i,
| where the purchasers got the money from Some
IN he traced as traders sulsniil lhs wool ,s,rs
and Insurers, but We suspect tho cccc,tstics tound
most of the funds. The Wars Of the Roses
| shifted lands from hand to hand but did moi
very greatly change tho class; and for the nrlt
mutation ON grand scale We must pass on to
the scquestratiun OF the monsterics.
COURT FAvoRs
From that day, and up, to the death Of Queen
Arnc, court favor was the surest road to fortune
IL was the only pursuit, indeed, which Woull, in
few wears, raise an unknown man TO the status
OF an English peer. II man pleased iicnry
the Eighth, were II only a. his fire sctccn, he
rusc at once 10 wide possessions. and En,and
owes much to tile race founded by lucky court
gossip oi the kind. Tho Cocils are great prors
TO this day on the lands Elizabeth bestow.
ed. William made his Dutch hvortcs the
rivals of the greatest houses In Europe,
| AMI they continue such anil oven states
men not distinguished by such ndvidious lar.,-
csscs found that place implied also enormous
wealth. These were only the great prizes in
| Nhss1 1..FN I...tN e. N..I Al.
status appeared others, who from generation 10
generation, purchased out tho landed families
The woOostaplcr was probably tho first and
bought much Of abbey Lands Then camo the
nonopoist and the lawyer, Mompsson and Ia.
con, on a less notorious scale. Tho goldsmith,
~ he was called, or money dealer, aq we now
call him, followed next with interest at sixty
Per cont. and habit, or report belicd him, Of
| local regrating.
THE SArons
| Nobody saw the Indians make their money
nnl 20 their rise was considered PROD igious, bat
their wealth never came up to the popular idea
| lhc largest sum ever taken out Of India was
| probably Mr.. rlow's-c900 900; tho nexl
| Gives and the next, either NeTelot's or Van
sttarts. Hal the latter retained his Ian ls his
| successor would have been among tho riches,
| men of earth, one item In his property being
| about q third Of Calcutta. The Indians. how
ever had no estates TO keep up, confused proper
and, though rcrutcd princes, they did not found
many families, rot half 20 many as the stockbro-
kcrs, who, up 10 the opening Of the revolutions
afy war, were probably pdr crc,hepcs, the
fortune makers. Then came tho glorious dly
when every man who could make out bill
against government made a fortune; when
contractor for fat beasts, mere clrcasc butch
er made thrcc-q quarters Of n million aud founded
family, which has won It's place in tho highest
rank oi the untitled gcntryj aud then, too, came
the strangest change in the position Of a class
ever recorded In our history.
room PEERS.
The peers became the wellthcst men In the
land. We are 70 accustomed to them, "a such,
that we regard wealth and the pccragc as ma
turily allied, vet II IL certain that towards
the end Of the last century the peers were
a pluperised class. The riot Of three rcign~,
aided by some commercial causes, hLd
done its work. lord was, IN public es-
timation, poor and proud. Satirsts never wea-
ried Of contrasting the fat citizen with the pau
per grandce, and merchants warned their daugh-
tiers of adventurous lordlings as they would now
warn them against Italian counts and German
barons. They still, however, retained their
lands, mort gagged up to the lips, when the mar
vcllOus prosperity which succeeded 1903 sud
denly overlook them. Rents rose to figures
which seemed fabulous, population increased
the cities expanded over their fields, the mar
vellous growth Of London poured gold into the
laps Of the owners Of the s0il, passion for en-
tcrprise seized upon the class they
became miners, qulrrymen, traders en-
gincers, patient and most acute ag-
riculturists. The war had purged them
out, and in fifty years they had become the rich
est class for their number in Europe, and hal
lived down the outcry against them, till al this
moment the highest idea great noyclsts can
give us Of wealth, power and luxury combined
are in the Lord Monmouth or Lord Steynes.
THE LoAS-MoSdER.
The war produced also the great loIn-monger,
the man Of whom Rothsch.ld is accepted as a
typc, contractors like Cuyrard, who took Charles
the Seventh, Of Spain, IA q partner-wc mean
lilInly as registered partner, rcspon siblc
tOi debts-and houses like the Hope, and Bar
ings who sent lad to America to buy all
tho cotton in the world, mildly exposlula-
ted with an agent who purchased "A small
Kingdom in Canada, and subsequently on
j. 5, Olded partner who iIst LOught the whole
{, ritOGy round Mexico, the city; and then
compelled the legislature o annul his incon-
y,lient bargain as Injurious to the s4ieiy Of the
state. The contractor followed, but he brings
us to the present day, when no single class can
be- pointed to as first layorite OF fortune. The
loln-monger is still powerful, and so Is the
spoculntor but bankers accumulate fortunes like
those of the highest mobiles, and a linen-draper
left tho other day cash which would pur-
chase ioe.siHlple Of the Woburn estate,
The rate OF fortunes has enormously increased.
Pitt thought IL useless TO tax fortunes above
a million, and now men die every day whose
heirs chuClc over the saving produced by his
want Of foresight. 4 opium has ce Ised to bl
even a citizens goal, and there are ttalesmen
| in London whose incomes, while in trade, exceed
a Great fortune Of the time Of the second George.
Very enormous realized fortunes, properties
| that are prOdIci more than ECO, 900 year,
are however, still very scarce. Only fitty-seyen
are returned to the English income tax, and
though that is palpllly erroneous amount, It
may he doubted II there are thousand iudi-
viduals with that amount in the world There
are none In France aud Italy beyond a few
working capitalists, a few remaining in
Germany, a considerable number In Russia, and
perhaps 80 individuals In America. There are
per haps ten private incomes in India Of that
amount, az many in South America, and few
officials in the eastern world accumulate very
considerable sums, but there the list ends and
despite the enormous increase Of wealth, and the
depreciation of money as Its representative, the
man who possesses ESQ 900 a year in security
may still rank himself as belonging to the creme
de Ia creme Of the plutocracy Of the world.
How the SOHth Carolina Daniseis Love.
The following is verbatim copy of letter
found At Port Royal by a soldier connected with
Gen. Sherman's expedition. Who does not
envy Ffanklin1 ..a.. ...... ...... .......
SoUTH CAROLINA, LANCASTER DISTRICT,
February the 18th 1850.
Dear sir 1t Ia with pleasure l embrace tho
present time 10 adreaa on mat~r ~ ''-'""-'--' -