The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-02-20
Noted English Money Lender.

Samuel Lewis might have been called
the prince of usurers- He belonged 10
was at the head of It, and was not to
be confused with practitioners OF the Cor
don type. He did not prey upon the poor
and needy. but lived upon the follies Of
his time .,,. L.
money upon paper, and every name on It
in stDebrett'' and there is little reason to
n money 'h lender sieSe and few Of the young
spendthrifts who have dragged honorable
got there without q little friendly assist
ance from Sam Lewis.
He stuck to his own line of business.
Time and again he was offered trading
bills-trading bills of the most unlfn-
peachabIe characterize discount He alb
soluteiy refused have anything to do with
them That class OF business was not IN
his way.
together heartless, but when once he had
established a monetary connection with
man 1t was not his fault II the mt
macy, usually so satisfactory in its re-
suits to Sam" Lewis, were broken on
When once he had made an agreement
with a man he kept him to 1t to the very
letter.
An excellent instance of this is to be
found in a letter which Sir George Lewis
addressed to the Times in April, 1888, on
In the year 1884, wrote Sir George "a
rich Australian sent his son to England
to be educated at Cambridge. He had an
years old. In December, 1894, ne made
the acquaintance of Samuel Lewis of
issory notes at three months. one for
ESQ. dated December 4. 1884; one for e50O
dated January 27. 1Ss5-togethers 81. 500.
Samuel Lewis gave him $3.50;
Directly the father heard that his son
was in the hands of a money lender he
telegraphed to the manager of one of the
Australian banks in London to send his
son back by the next boat This was
done, but the young mans university ca
reer was ruined The bank manager
then came to me- and I saw Samuel Lewis
and offered to repay him the amount he
had advanced, with per cent interest
He refused the offer, and I then told him
that as the UNDERGRADUATE was under age
the claim could not be legally enforced
against him. Samuel Lewis replied: 9
have his letter, in which he states that he
obtaining money by false pretenses' I
said that was not possible, because he
g. 1886 I forwarded to Samuel Lewis $3.50
together with 610e for interest. and he
returned to me the undergraduates prom
issory notes for 81 800, together with the
discriminating letter"
no less an authority on money lending
questions than the late lord chief Justice
and LORD Russel OF k1llowsn was Sc
we're critic of the business of usury-once
gave him no mean testimonial It was at
en Th eiose OF ne I9 las fsea
brought by Mr. Lewis to recover from H.
subaltern in the Life Guards. the sum Of
411,000 odd on two promissory notes which
he had signed at the request Of Lord
of Abergayenny- The defense put for
ward by Mr.. Clay was that he was not
liable, because he was induced to sign
the bills without knowing their nature
by means Of a fraudulent trick practiced
was afterward proved, had covered the
main portion of the bills with blotting
Commenting during his summing up. on
business of bill discounting and money
lending was not a very popular one, but
carried 1t on. The plaintiff had been for
thirty years at the same address in Cork
show that he deserved other than the
name Of man who was honorably en-
It is typical of the scale upon which
Sam" Lewis conducted his business that
in a period Of two or three years the
and Lord William Neviu embraced an
amount of something like eS0. GOO
In character Sam Lewis was what is
he chose be extremely engaging in a
the other hand, If he had desire TO
make himself agreeable he took no pains
to disguise the fact. He had keen sense
Of humor, and his ready wit often stood
He lived in a beautiful house in Gros-
have been few better known or more pop-
ular hostesses than Mrs. Sam Lewis,
who is noted for her dinners and her driv-
SAM Lewis horses were finer than
most people, s in town The stables Of
N me mouse . IN S5rosvenor square are built
being lodged on the first floor
Sam Lewis often Iaughingly confessed
that he had so much money that he had
no idea what to do with it. To get rid OF
some Of his superfiuous wealth he made
habit Of going annually to Monte Carlo.
He often complained, however. that he
was so unlucky in his object that he
made more than he lost On one famous
occasion. indeed: he broke the bank. and.
IN despair OF being able to spend the
whole of the money. he distributed half
of It among the poor of Marseilles This
is not the only instance Of his generosity;
dered up and down Bond street-a favor
tie custom of his-he was not likely to go
empty away
He was in fact rather proud of his mu-
wording. the gilded youth upon whom
he loved to practice his usurfous arts:
and those who knew him well say that
gain as from a queer. half humorous
principle of spelling the Egyptians he
evolved from a curious and excepfiona1lv