New-York tribune., 1901-02-03
"SAM" LIE WIS.
THE MOST NOTED ENGLISH MONEY
LENDER. HIS PERSONALITY
AND METHODS.
From The London Mail.

Samuel Lewis might have been called the
prince of usurers." He belonged 10 a profess. .on
of it. and not to be confused with practi-
TONERS nf the Gordon type. lie ill not prey
upon the poor and needy, but lived upon the
fOlieS Of his time.
He said once that he had million of money
on paper. and every name on it in "Debrett,"
and there Is little reason to doubt the state
ment He was the society money lender. and
few Of the young spendthrifts who have
dragged honored family names into the bank
ruptcy and other courts got there without 4
little friendly assistance from Sam" Lewis
He stuck to his own line of business Time
and again he offered trading illustrating
bills II thr most unlinpeachable character t"
discount He absolutely refused to have any
thing to 30 with them. That class Of business
was not in his way
He was not entirely rapacious, nor altogether
heartleSS, but when once he had established L
monetary connection with a man it was not his
fault if the intimacy. usually 50 satisfactory in
its results To sam" Lewis. were broken off
When once he had made an agreement with a
man he kept him To il To the very letter
in letter which Sir George Lewis addressed
To The Times in April. 1898, on the subject
of West End tfsurcIS."
In the year 1881" wrote Sir George. IA rich
Australian sent his son 10 England To be e'iu-
Gated at Cambridge He had an allowance of
December. 1851 he made the acquaintance of
samuel Lewis. of Curk-st.. To whom be gave
three promiSsory notes at three months one for
tIlO. dated December . 1891; one for t-dtt
dated January Ia. lSS5 and one f1r SOD dated
January i~N-t-tbSttftG, ti-.ft HdIuu't
Lewis gave him t.i-o
Directly the father heard that lis son was
in thu hands of u money lender H. telegrapht'i
To the manager OF one Of the Australian banks
i'm London To send his son back by the next boat
This was done. but the young mans university
career Was ruined Tn. bank manager then
came To- me. and Samuel Lewis and offered
10 repay him the amount he had advanced. with
:, per cent interest. He refused the offer. ami
then told him that aS the undergraduate was
under age the claim could not be- legally en-
forced against him. Samuel Lewis replied.
have his letter. in which n" states that ne Is 'i
age. and | can prose- ute hIm Tor "btaihlhE
money 10y fals. prrtcnces.' said that was not
possible because he was not now in the country;
ON January =, lSSti rWar!ed to Samuel
Lewis 1000 together with tlo0 for interest and
a.. returned To ne thr undergraduates promiS-
sorry notes for tl.y'n. together with the incrlmi-
HatIn. letter"
such we're samuel LcAis's methods. yet II"
los, am authority on money lending Questions
than th, late Lord chief Justice and Lord Rus
sell ~ killnWen was a severe critic "t the buSl-
uc-S of usury save him no mean teStt-
ucniIL II At IA" clos" of the famous
Sp-udcr-t lay case
IN. action 1T 5. ..Ii h,. remembered. was brought
by Mr Lewis recover from IL. Sprnter-Ciay.
NJ tEIt time wealthy suoait'rn IN the LII
Guards tho sum nt Il l.Whp odd On two promiS-
sorry notes Whi n h" had signed at thr Tr'lurS,
# Lord William Sewn. the SON of the Marquis
of Ahcrravruuy. The defence put forward 10y
Nir clay was that b" MAS not liable because ne
was induced - sign IN" bills without knowing
their u..tur. hy ans of trauiulcnt trick prac-
used ,y I ORD William N~vilI who. rs indeed it
Was aftrrNard proved. had covered the main
portion OF th,. bills with hlotting Paper
Commenting during his summing up ON the
l-trt that sam Lewis had played in the matter.
he said His tMr LrWiS'sl business Of hill dis
coLntinl: and money lending was not very
popular one. but let them At least be- just 10
thos.. " no carried IL The plaintiff had been
for thirty years u TN" same address in COrk-St-,
and there had been attempt tp show that ne
deserved othrr than the name of a man who was
h"noTahy cnGdS-I
u is typical Of the scale upon which sam"
Lewis conducted his husin' IS that in a period "f
two or three years the monetary transactions be
tween EimS If and Lord William Nrvin EN-
br;ipcd an amount of sonnet hing Ike f!oNm
In character sam" Lewis what Is best d,'
rh",i As bluff" lie could. ii he chose he "N-
tlcnIcly engaging in SomcW hat rough and
ready way hat. the other hand II he had no
dcSir. make himself agreeable H. took no
rams 20 disguise tn, fact. lie had a keen SENSE.
ut Euuor. ard his ready Wit often stood him in
GOOD stead
He liked in a beautiful house in tirosvennr
better known or more popular hostcs|es than
Mrs sam" Lewis. who is noted for her dinner!
and her driving capabilities.
sam I.rNiSS horses Were finer than most
peoples IN town. The stables of the house in
tiruSvenur square built in Il somewhat GU
riouS fashion. the horses being lodged ON the
first flGor
san Lewis often lauShiuGly confessed that
n" hau 50 much MONEY that he had no idea what
to DO with 1t. To get rid Of some of this super
fiuous wealth he made "A habit OF going annually
to Monte carlo He often complained. however.
that ne Was 50 unIucky in his object that h.
made more than he lost. ON on" famous coca
sion indeed he broke the bank. and in despair
of heing able To spend the whole of the money,