The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-09-01


cluded from the markets Of Europe, and
when the continental trade was Of inn
menseiy great importance to Us, that Mr..
Thornton, who was then carrying On busi-
ness il connection with bis brsthe ae q
general merchant and ship broker, threw
himself with fearless resolution, to break
the prohibition Of English trade with the
continent. Napoleon had made the most
desperate efforts to destroy the whole Of
our foreign commerce. To enforce his de-
cfees an entire division Of the Erench
army, under the command Of Gen. Rape,
was stationed at Dmtzic, and evary port
"a y Northern Germany was very jealoasly
20 On 1ne occasion Richard Thornton was
on board vessel Of his own, entering the
Beltic, when she was encountered by .
Danish gunboat, and the story goes that
the Englishmen, carrying q gun Or t~o Of
his own, as was not unusual in those days,
refused the summons to surrender and
showed fight, vietoriously beating OF the
Rade, after q vigorous cannonade, In
that year (1810t he got q commission
from the Admiralty to purchase as much
hemp rs could be procured from Russia
for the rigging Of our feet. - This errand
was Of c0urse attended with some personal
danger, since all the English had aed or
been expelled from Riga and st. Peters
burg. u But Richard Thornton was not
likely to be deferred ~ such, fisks.a He
landed al, Mcneil and succeeded in. obtain
ing and conveying to England several
thousand TONS Of hemp for the use Of our
government, IN spite of difficulties which
would haye bafaed any Ordinary man, =,
=, .Asplendd recompense awaited him two
years afterwards: An, express. communi-
cation reached him from brother who
was IN the country ct the time of the
French inyasion Of 1872 He was apprised
of the fact of Napoleon's retreat from
Moscow three days before it was known
either 10 our minisbers or to any other per
sons IN London, and he pro6ted BY II to
the extent of something over 81 ,O0O, 900.
The civil war which broke, ont, with q
short interval, in the kingdoms Of Portu-
gal and Spain, excited Mr.. Thornton SYM
patby. He saw the utter rottenness OF the
Mgueite pretensio1s in Portugal, % well
as OF the Carlist party in Spain, and he
judged that By subscribing towards their
overthrow he might do good sact and
make geod thing Of it,, Military NUM-
tons were laid up. in the Azores, to- BE-
ready for the user of Don Pedres adhe-
rents, either to replace him or his daughter
on the Portuguese throne. ,sf 9gizsd sr
1t was Mr.. Thofnton who advanced .
great deal of the money for these prepara-
tons, and who, when Don Pedso'e army
took the field, contracted for its equip
ment, finding everything the soldiers re-
quired. That enterprise vas successfully
concluded in 1884 by the friendly inter-
vention of the English government. Yet
scarcely had our young protege got safely
seated on the throne at Lisbon than we
had to assist another infant queen against
another pretender. Mr.. Thornton did not
hesitate to take the odds in favor of the
Spanish heiress, as before of the Portu-
/ gnese. He contributed mach to the rails
| ing Of the first loan on her behalf, and
I what with his claims as 3 bondholder,
heavy debts which they owed him, &c., he
xas ., creditor of the young Peninsular
government of not less than two millions
sterling. With this immense stake he
never failed among the Peninsular bond
holders to avow his own opinion that those
governments would ultimately redeem
their credit es1 s1ztg $50 b
Mr.. Thornton WAS q member and I'M
I derwriter at Loyds since 1898. Scorning
the precautions Of ordinary underwriters,
who are in the habit Of dividing fheir re-
sponsibilities with one another, 90 that the
loss Of d single vessel and her cargo would
fAA perhaps, on twenty or thirty persons,
Mr.. Thornton has taken leonine share OF
the most tempting and lucrative hazards.
\ No other man wenld be disposed, even Tor
! q premium Of seventy per cont, to ubder.
! take the insurance Of five hundred thou
4 sand dollars on one bottom. Mr.. Thorn.
4 toD,' until his retirement from that scene
Poi action, was beyond compafisoh the
4 greatest man at Doyds, aud, although
+ Sing1e-handed, his Oeerafions. fivalled
I those of the great Marine insurance com
4 pa1ies which have fourished 90 largely in
these days. Previously to the great war
1 With Rassia, he would sometimes insure
for the Imperial Government such q thing
4 as q -stsam figate built In the English
dock yards and once, it is said. having
entered into similar liability toward that
or another foreign State, on being asked
| BY 4 friend how he could insure the ships
Of different European kingdoms, be said,
isOh, if they lose the men-of-war that !
have i insured lean pay fNr the them in then
Mr.. Thornton was also one pc, Of the larges,
| holders Of foreign secntities. He was no
y ted for the extent and multiplicity Of bis
inyestments as%elI as his ideMro9s gseo1
such opportunities as have frequently
been presented the variable moods and
opinions of the stock exchange. But or
binary trade had not been Mr.. Thornton's
resource. He sometimes won largely on
the affairs of the turf, and at other times
has taken considerable bets on the results
of a military campaign or q ministerial