CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM The 'I'lst-'^te of Cnas. i-Tuil Cornell University Library HF5349.G7 B15 Appendix to Georae BailHe's ^g"g^^,P ° 3 1924 030 180 453 olln Overs APPEMDIX ,TQ, GEORGE BAILLIE's MAR R A T I V OF THE MERCANTILE TRANSACTIONS OF THE CONCERNS OF GE0EGE B^miLIM ^AWB C?0^S HOUSES. FROM THE Y,EAR 179.3 TO 1805 INCLUSIVE, J! x' •:'.v PRINTED FOR JOHN BO,OTH, DUJKE-STREET, PORTIAND-PIACE ; BY CVKBEE, ivy-lane. ^ 'm ^^ Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030180453 APPENDIX. " DEAR SIR, No. 1. " Springfield, Nov. 12, 1797. " IN compliance with your wish to know what I thought might " ic the amount of your fortune at the time we left the West Indies, in- " dependent of the estates: I can only say, that to the best of my recollec- " tion, it was my opinion at that time, that your share of profits from the " business transacted at St. Vincent, might amount to between AO and 50,0001. " I cannot, however, speak with any accuracy, not having at present any ** documents by me from which I can judge. ^ " / am, my dear Sir, " Your's, sincerely, " ARCHIBALD ALVES:' " George BailUe, Esq.'" N No. 46 No. 5. "GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " SIR, 'Liverpool, Jan. 12, 1799. " IN order that I may be more explicit in the reply which you re- " quired, I will mention as briefly as p&ssikk what you stated to me in pre " sence of Mr. John Bolton, viz. " That a difference had arose between/ you and your Jour partners upon " xiarious points xvhich xvas submitted to three gentlemen of the first respec- " tabiiity, muti^ally cho^QTi as arbitrato7's ; after these gentlemen had sat for " some days upon the business, that Mr. P. C. Bruce, one of thfi three arii- '^ trators, was appointed to call upon you to announce the particulars of the " intended eward, dnd^ at same time to deelm^, that what .was coiled charges " brought against ymi- had nof- nmde the hast imptx$den otk them, (the-arbi- " traters,) to your prejudice,' that they xmre quiPe irrevatent to the husiness '* submitted to them) dnd therefore could make no part of tie tmayd; that npon " this ytm wrote to Messrs. Maitland, Bruce, and- Hihbert, (arbitrators,) " that nothing could be more cmnpleat or satisfactory to you, than their in- " tended decision upon the matter of business referred- to them, but at the " same time, requested they would enter into a minute inquiry as to all and " every charge brought against you, for it was impossible your mind could " be relieved without a full investigation, and that you not only wrote upon " thi^ business but penanally ^treated them most earnestly to take it in " hand, as such attempt upon your character mad^ yqu fp/kite miserablt ; " that the gentlemen expostulated with you upon entering on such trifling " charges, perfectly unconnected with the business left to their decision ; that, " however, by persevering, you prevailed upon them to take up the only " charge that appeared of any importance, viz. That you had reported, at " the 'compting-house of George BealUe and Co. upon your return from " Bath, in March 86, that you had given me your bond for 1200/. stating " therein, that in case I did not receive payment of my bond, due by the "late James Baillie for that sum in five years, that then you considered " yourself 47 ^urstlf bound to pay the money ; tlmt in consequence of this, memorandum an entrance wa» mad&; or ordered to be. made, by Mr. Lang, in the books of George Bmllie and Co. debiting the estate of the late James Baillie to me Thomas Phillips, for your G- BtnHUes assumption of this debt of I'iOO/. ; that nothing further had occurred in this business, until, to your utter asto^m'skfnetit, a charge brought against you in Nov. 97, and after- tmrds-, the same renewed in a different and more fonm.da.ble shape in 98, that ttieVit sofrn^ as to state^ that the xvhoje xvas a fabrication ; that no such transacfiori ewr took place, as you Mated, to have passed between you and we, at Bath, mFek9e; and in order to convince the oi her parties, (who,- to a.ns'a^r certain purposes, seemed t^ualiy anxious to lay hold of any thing to your prejudice,) of yottr guilt, and to prejudice tkff arbitrators against you, and to muke it more eompleat, M%\ Lang direciedy that the entry in the books of George Beillie and Co. in thi^ transaction, should be reversed and done '(may entire,ly, which was done mthout year knowledge' That Mess^rs, Maitland, Bruce, and Hibbtrt. agreed^ ta enter upan this formi- dable charge, the former xvas requested by the otbers., to exmnine you, xvho upon producing a copy of th^ bond yon gave me at Bath, in Feb. 96, and lacking one or tzm questions, he,, t^d all of them immediately compleaily acquitted you of the charge, as totally void of all foundation ; and Mr. Maitland said he would make a point of calling upon your partners to let them knoxo the result, which he did at the "eompting- house, and saxv only Mr. Lang ; that upon this you called the partners together, at the 'comp- ting-house, and told them your tnind very freely upon the whole of their most eMraordimry conduct ; and, particularly, as to the charges, and the one you was examined upon, and asked Mr. Lang what he had to say for himself f his reply was. That he xvas not as yet convinced ; you then said, that no one could have a xoorse opinion of another than you had of him, and that you would prosecute him or them for the attempt they made upon your character. " Upon which, Mr. Lang mentioned, that J, Captain Phillips, told him " what he had stated; your reply xvas, that you was sure L never told him " any thing of the kind, but that my being then absent upon the coast of " Africa was the cause of his coming forxvard xvith such a lame excuse ; and, " lastly, after you had been some time in Scotland, in September, last year, "an 48 " an application was made, in the usual way, by Mrs. Phillips, for the " interest of the bond which had been always regularly paid, yet was now " refused, until one of your clerks came forward and said he would pay it " out of his own monies if the house did not take it up. " Having related what you mentioned, I shall noxo state what occurs to ''' me of the transaction. I lent the late James Baillie 1200/. upon bond, " zvhich became due about the time of his death; hearing you was at Bath, " I applied to you for the payment, but you told me there was no funds " of James Baillie s at that time in hand. I then mentioned the circum- " stance of my building a new ship, that 1 was much in want of money, but " if it was not perfectly convenient for you to pay James Baillie s bond^ •' the next thing I had to require was your giving me your own bond as an " additional security, upon which, if necessary, money 7night be raised; this ^^ you agreed to, upon condition of the time being extended for five years, " but at same time mentioned that there might be funds in hand earlier, pro- " bably as soon as September 87, in which case it would be paid ; to this I " agreed, and a bond was made out for the 1200/. which was signed^ sealed} " and delivered me in February 96, and nothing farther occurred in the " business. "I am shocked beyond expression to see that your four partners should " attempt to come forward in such an unwarrantable manner to injure your " character, and I trust you will not fail prosecuting them, or the instigator, " Mr. Lang, xmthout delay ; and I shall be ready to go up to London at " any time you think proper, and to declare, upon oath, that the transaction " happened exactly as has been stated by you and myself in this letter, and " that what Mr. Lang has stated, as from me, is a falsity, the whole " without any foundation whateve?', and I do tiot know but it may be in- " cumbent upon me to call him to account for his conduct upon this occasion; " it is a matter for further consideration. My transactions with you and "your house at. St. Vincent's, has not been much short of 100,000/. in which " L have had the greatest satisfaction. " This is the first time I have heard your character called in question, and " I hope, as L said before, you will not let it pass over with iynptniity, for- I 2 " do 49 <' do think a more diabolical attempt ne'ver was made. I doiit see what 'ad- " vantage could derive to you from mis-stating the transaction, and Mr. " Lang, at first, must have meant it as a humbug upon the other partners, " to injure you with them and the arbitrators, and never expected it would "■ be brought fortmrd, and investigated as a regular charge against you. " I find a copy of your bond to me was sent up to London by Mrs. Phillips, " and my attorney, Mr. S. Wilcocks, and now in the hands of the arbitrators, " but the original of it, and the late Jamps Baillie's bond is in my posses- " siojt ; and, if necessary, I will send them both to you in London, or take " them up myself, if my presence should be any way necessary ; at any rate, " ifs probable, in the course of six or eight weeks, I may be in London, *' when my attorney, Mr. Stephen Wilcocks, will make his appearance also. " I am, Sir, " Most respectfully, " Your very obedient servant, (Signed) " THOMAS PHILLIPS:' SigHed in the presence of John Bolton. " p. S. I had nearly forgot to congratulate you more heartily upon the " compleat vict. 4. " London, Nov. 21, 1804. " SIR, " IN consequence of some malicious and unfounded reports " having been propagated and industriously circulated zmth respect to " the qff'airs of George Baillie and Co. I, as the principal in that house, " have thought it necessary, for the credit and satisfaction of all the " numerous and respectable persons connected and dependant upon it, " both here and in the West Indies, to call in a few of the principal " bill-holders (now in this city) to investigate the concerns of the house, " and the tnanagement thereof; the result of which, accompanied with " their report, I have now the pleasure to inclose you, together with " a copy of George Baillie and Go's, letter and statement, all of which " I trust will prove perfectly satisfactory to every unprejudiced man ; " and I shall be happy, at all times, to give such further information as '* any of the parties interested may think proper to require. " I am, Sir. " Your most obedient Servant, " GEORGE BAILLIE." " London, 54 London, Q9th Oct. 1804, " MESSRS. SWANZY, TIMPERON, AND BUTLER. Gentlemen, " WE calculate that there is a certainty of our having^ " a larger property in cash, bills, and produce by us, on or before the " \st of January next, than will satisfy every, demand against us; we " m^ean every debt, of all descriptions, that is due up io, that dhy ; so " that, from the first of January, 1804, to the ^Vst of December fol- " lowing; twelve months, we shall have paid to the amount q/" 496,000?. " The whole 'of the enga^tments of the house, after the 3\si day of " Dec. next, we annex you a list of — they amount to 558,&30l 18.9. \d, " — and we see nothing likely to prevent our payments comiiig home " full as rapid next year as they have done this ; there is no probability " of any obstruction^ in any quarter. The diily island from wliith we " were under apprehensions, was Trinidad. We have actually received, "from the house in that island, good remittances to the extent of " 130,000Z. exclusive of 'iQ,OQOl. noted and protested bills, about 10,000/. "of which we know will be taken np here, and prevented from being " sent back under protest. This is exclusive of 2i2,000/. of bills returned to " that island under protest for non-payment ; and, at this tnoment, we " are not more than 4,000/. in advance for the Trinidad house. The " sales, in that and the other islands, were made by extended credits, " a great proportion of which only becomes due the latter end of this " year, and etirly in the next ; so that the collections are made nearly "as 55 " as fast as they become due; and, it is evident, we have not required " much indulgence. We expect several running ships in February, " March, and April, with large remittances. We are, however, con- "Jident, so?}ie indulgence will be required in the spring and summer " months ; we mean, before the first convoy arrives next year : — to " what extent, we cannot say, but it cannot be long. Our debts are " solely confined to nine mercantile houses ; all of which are men of " fortune and long experience in business, and of great respectability. " We do not know, at this moment, of 100/. bad debt made by our " house here, or any of our connections in the West Indies. — Every " thing, they or we, have engaged in, has succeeded. — The profits are " very considerable, and there have been no losses ; there consequently " cannot be a doubt of every debt we owe being discharged, from the " remittances made by the different houses, on account of the balances " due by them. " With a very moderate indulgence, such as has already been granted, " we do not see a probability _ of any ^obstruction to things coming " round as we have mentioned ; but, should any such occur, our Mr. '* Baillie is ready to dispose of one, two, or three of his estates, at a "fair valuation, to make up any deficiency, when it is thought neces- " sary to be done by a few of the principal bill-holders. At all events, " our Mr. Baillie is anxious to dispose of one or two of his estates, as " soon m a sidtahle purchaser can be found. As Mr. Swanzy, Mr. " Twemlow, and Mr. Butler have, at Mr. Baillie's request, investigated " the books and the concerns of the house, they will be able to give *• any further information that may be required at any meeting that is " called of the bill-holders, either in London, or Liverpool; and we " request that this letter may be read at any such meeting, or that it " may be shewn to any of the bill-holders, as we have no doubt that it 3 . " will 56 " will he satisfactory to them, it being as exact a statement as we can " make out, and the correctness of it may be depended upon. " We are, Sirs, " Your very humble Servants, . « GEORGE BAILLIE and CO. " P. S. We have now upon hand, of noted bills, upwards o/" 60,000/. " besides a very considerable sum returned to the different houses in the " islands under protest, L. s. d. Amount of Gr. JS. (§' Go's, acceptances, from the 1st of ) T „ -r f 335, l/l 6 8 January 1805, to 1st of January 1806. ) Ditto from 1st January 1806, to 1st of January 1807. - 200,516 11 6 Ditto from 1st January 1807, to 1st of January 1808. - 15,816 12 1 Subsequent to 1807. .-- 7,426 7 10 L. 558,930 18 1 ** It may be satisfactory to those connected with the house, to be *' informed by me, who established and has continued to have the en- " tire management of it, that neither George Baillie and Co. nor " myself, have ever speculated ; and that all the houses abroad are *' notorious for their caution and prudence. " GEORGE BAILLIE.- " London, 67 ^' London, lOth Nov. 1804. « IT appears that the house of George Baillie and Co. on the \st " January, .1804, were under engagements as follow : £ s. d. Payable in 1804 496,184 11 7 1805 1 335,171 6 8 1806 200,516 11 6 ,. 1807 15,816 12 1 Subsequent to 1807 7,426 7 10 Total amount Z. 1,055,115 9 8 L. s. d. Of which has been paid from the 1st January, 1804, to) - the 1st September following ..--..) ' There are funds in hand — say bills accepted and cash - -32,132 11 11 Expected to be arranged for here soon with sundry per-^ sons, including 18,000/. of the noted bills, that/ ^, ,_^- _ there is every reason to thmk will be accepted prior C to 31st December next - ------- } , Remittances expected and advised from Surinam, Deme--^ rara, St. Vincent, Tobago, Trinidad, St. Kitt's, St. ( 70,000 Tbemms's, &c, on or before 5 1st December next X. 534,074 14 8 -<> *' Exceeding in amount the total of payments in 1804 by 37,8901. Ss.-ld, ** hit in i)rder to provide against disappointments, call the surplus only ** 10,^0/. t9 go towards the payment of the January bills, in which Q. " month, 58 / month, February, March, April, and May, several armed running ships are expected with large remittances in bills and produce : and ample funds will follow by the regular convoys of the year. " London, 20^A Nov. 1804. " OiST the '2.9th of October, the amount of noted bills on hand was " 60,000/. since which, about 4,000Z. have been accepted, which leaves " a balance of 56,0001. independent of a considerable sum returned to " the West Indies under protest. " From the above statement, and the information given in George " Baillie and Cos. letter of the 29th October to Messrs. Swanzy, Tim- " peron, and Butler, and other particulars zoell knozcn to many of " the bill-holders of the very prosperous situation of the house and their " connections, it is evident that in common times they would not be " under the necessity of asking any indulgence. On the contrary, " had not the war taken place so suddenly, there is every prospect of " their having at this moment, in hand, not less than 100,000/. more " than was necessary to_ meet their engagements. " Since the \Oth November the funds in hand, with rcliat can be •' otherwise immediately brought forward, have increased so much, that " thci'e is a sufficiency to pay every demand up to the \st November, " (this month) and a considerable sum remaining. George'Baillie and " Co. have therefore announced their intention of liquidating the bills of " September and October. GEORGE BAILLIE and CO." " London, .19 " London, 20^A Nov. 1804. " WE, the undermentioned bill-holders of George Baillie and " Company, having didy considered a letter from said house, dated " 'i^th October, 1804, accompanying a statement of their affairs, and " taken into mature consideration the subject thereof, ,are of opinion, " That every possible exertion has been made by the house of George " Baillie and Co. and their connections in the West Indies, to meet " their acceptances at maturity. " That the effect of these exertions has exceeded the assurances made " by the house to its bill-holders, and surpassed the most sanguine ex- " pectations of its best friends ; and has enabled the parties to discharge "all engagements up to the \st September last, f 1804 J mth the ex- " ception of a very few bills which have not been presented for pay- " ment, and to leave funds more than sufficient to meet every bill and " other demand on the house up to \st November (this month). ■ " It appears to us, that the amount of engagements discharged or "liquidated by the house of George Baillie and Co. between the Isf. " January and the \st September of this year (180A) is 370,642/. 2s. 9d. " a sum of such magnitude as to warrant a fair expectation that a " continuance of the same exertions will produce the most salutary effects^, -*' and must impress the minds of the bill-holders with well-founded can- " fidence in the house and its connections. " Advices from the West Indies authorise a belief that funds are now " en the way, which, in addition to those in the possession of the house, 2 " will 60 " mil enable it to discharge all its engagements for the present j/eat—^ " the whole amount whereof between the 1st January last and the Sl^t " December, 1804, is 496,184Z. and leave a considerable surplus appli- " cable to debts subsequently becoming due ; and that the affairs of the " concern appear to be in a prosperous train for the ultimate liquidation " ff all demands on it. *' We have reason to believe that Messrs. George Baillie and John " Jaffray are possessed of a very considerable private property, inde^ ** pendent of the advantages which may result from the business done *' by the house of George Baillie and Co. since the establishment there-- ** of, and which, we are assured, has been attended with very eonsider- " able profit. " We have every reason to believe the connections of tliat house in the " West Indies are of the greatest respectability^ and possessed of large " properties. " And it is our opinion, that the bill-holders will best consult their " own interest, by continuing the indulgence already granted to Messrs. " George Baillie and Co. or by extending it as circumstances may render " necessary, as they will thereby uphold the credit of the house and its " connections abroad, and enable them to continue those exertions which " have hitherto been attended with such happy results. "Thomas Hugan. "James Swanzy- ^ Jos. TiMPERON. " Thomas Edwards. " Richard Butler. " John Marman." No» 6) No. 5. "GEORGE CASE, Esq, " Liverpool. " London, ApRiL 5, 1804. , " DEJR SIR, " AS you are aware that a considerable time past, I have resided " in the house of Messrs. George Baillie and Co. and have interested myself " in their affairs, you mil not be surprised that I should address you on the "present occasion, on the subject of them, "It is now upwards of three months since Messrs. George Baillie and Co. "first entertained apprehension^ that the delay in obtaining remittances "from the West Indies, occasioned by this sudden and uncrpected icQr, " might render it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to pi^ovide for their " acceptances in the regular order of their becoming due. On these appre- "hensions, acquiesced in by the other houses, rvas founded the late applica- " tion to government for a loan to the London merchants, which proving " unsuccessful, Messrs. G. B. and Co, felt themselves bound to make every " possible exertion to continue their payments, and the result has been, " that with the assistance of their friends, and some considerable remittances ^^ which have arrited in the interim, they have been enabled since the 1st of "January, to take up their bills, to the amount of upwards of "■ '^ From the pressing and reiterated orders to the houses in the JVest Indies, " to collect remittances of every sort, and to take up every ship that can be "procured to bring home produce. From the advices Messrs. G. B. and Co. " have received, of running ships being nozv on their passage, and from the " extretnely favourable accounts given in their last letters, of the prospects " in the West Indies, it is possible they may yet continue to make good their *'^ payments; but when I mention that their engagements for this month only, K " a?twunt 62 " amount to upwards of 80,000/., and that they have in tangible property of " every description, not more than about a fourth of that sum to meet them ; " and when it is considered that the running ships, although now due, may be " delayed many days, or even captured or lost, either of which events would " make it impossible for the proceeds to come in aid of the payments for the " present month, you will doubtless agree in opinion,, that though by a conti- " nuation of active exertion, by the further assistance of their friends, and by " the speedy arrival of the above, and further remittances, of which the houst " has yet no positive advice, they may possibly still go on for some time, " yet that under circumstances of such doubt and uncertainty, it is now " become the paiiful duty of Messrs. G. B. and Co. to make those dependent " on them, generally acquainted zvith their situation, and that some plan " should be arranged preparatory to that necessity tohich may, and, indeed^ " considering every circumstance, which I fear must arise, for its adaption. f " Inclosed I send you a sketch of the situation of the affairs of the house, "which will, I trust, satisfy the most sceptical bill-holder, that beyond the " temporary inconvenience to which he may be exposed, he has notjhing to ap- " ptehendfrom his bills not being paid in the regular order of their becoming *' due. Indeed, as it is well known that the house has done an immensity of good. " busii7ess, has never speculated, and has made no bad debts, I should not have " deemed it necessary to enter into any detailed statement of their situation, " zvere it not that many of the gentlemen interested, are not so xvell ac~ " quainted with me as you are, and ther^ore would not, probably, be satisfied " with an assurance upon which I pledge my character and credit, namely, " that having made myself intimately acquainted with the nature of the house, " and its actual situation at this moment, X have not the slightest doubt that if "-a few months be allowed them to get home their property, by a general. " extension of the dates of their acceptances (say not less than six months) and " that no public calamity happens in the West Indies, to dry up tlie sources of " their remittances, they will be able to pay every creditor, with interest, a»d. " have a lai'ge surplus reujaining. " Having thus freely stated the situation of the house, I take leave ta " suggest, as a measure which, in my opinim, it will be ta the interest of all ^'j)arties to adopt : that on their stopping payment, y they shall be obliged^ 4 to 6S ** to do so, the bills shall be protested (so that the claims of the holders on the " drawers and indorsers may not be prejudiced) and that six months' time be " allowed from the dates of their becoming due respectively, and zvhich indul- " gence I trust will not be objected' to by any person, when it must be evident " that it is to the last degree important to the interests of all, that the ar- " rangements of the house should not be disturbed, or their affairs directed ^^frorn their present course. I have now only to add, that I hope you and " the other gentlemen to whom I have sent copies of this letter, as being of " my particular acquaintance and largely concerned, will lose no time in con- " vening, with as little publicity as may be, a meeting of the bill-holders of " Liverpool, of which I enclose a list, and that you will have the goodness to ^'-fmour me with the result of their deliberations on this important affair ^ as soon as possible, and should it he the desire of yourself and the other " gentlemen, that I should attend at Liverpool to give any further explana- " tions, 1 will make a point of doing so, on receiving notice to that effect, " and will bri^g with me any papers that may be required, though I beg leave " to suggest, that my doing so might create an alarm, which in its effects " would greatly counter- balance any benefit that might be supposed to result *'from my personal attendance in Liverpool, and this at a time when I may ** be useful in London. ^^^ " / am^ " Respectfully, Sgc. %c. (Signed) ''SIMON COCK." Copies of the above tetter Avere at same time sent to Messrs. Bolton, Ingram & Butler, and some others of the principal bill-holders. G. B. 64. No. 6. '^ JOHN BOLTON, E^q. " Liverpool. M,.«j \i\*;>; " London, April 7, 1804. . '• " Mr DEAR SIR, w " I must refer you to what Mr. Goek has zcrote. Our ipmj- " ments are now becoming so eery heavy (say 80,000?. j>er month) that " I really begin to be alarmed, and it is not to be wondered at zchen we '^depend entirely upon the arrival of ships that were to sail about the "middle of February from Demerary, and the latter hid of the same "month from Trinidad. I ti-ust they will bring us largely in pro- " duce and bills, but I doubt much their coming in time to enable us_ *''to malce our payments for this month. The consequences of a sudden, " stoppage, without a previous arrangement, and a thorough knowledge " of the situation of the house being well understood, would, I am " convinced, he not only very unpleasant to my oxen feelings, but vei^ " injurious to the credit of all those who are known to hold our accept- " ances. Indeed, my uneasiness would chief y arise from the inconve- " nience that you and my other friends were likely to suffer in case of " a sudden ihntUr*; without any previous meeting^ of those interested, " to arrange the needful : this, I hope, now will be I'emedied. Upon " these occasions, houses under difficulties are too often inclined to con- " ceal their situation, until the very last moment, when it is too late. " I cannot be blamed on this score, for I have long since foreseen " what was likely to happen. I am, however, happy to say, that things *' are in .the most' prosperous irain-in all dir^etiou^, and sis -montiis " extension will bring.evcry thing rottnd, so as to tneet the engagements. " Could I possibly have been spared to run out to the If est Indies in " August €5 " August last, I plainly see I could haw supplied the house with full " means to answer their engagements. Our friends in the West Indies " are very solid, good people, but they move by far too slow, for such " times as these require more exertions than I have been able at this dis- " tance to drive them to. They are at last roused, but I fear too late " to save our credit. Instead of making sacrifices, by their exertions to " remit us largely in produce, (which they f idly expected,) I am happy " to say there is every prospect of their getting great profits. " Mr. Cock has been for some weeks in our house at South-street, and " is now as fully acquainted with our affairs as I am myself, and it is a " great corhfort to me to have the assistance of a man of his integrity " and abilities, and at this particular juncture, it is really of the " utmost consequence to those who are connected with the house, for, " upon all these occasions, there are evil-disposed persons that might, " and would be raising stories that might be very injurious to the credit " of the bill-holders. When people know that Mr. Cock is in full pos- " session, and has a perfect kiiowledge of all the concerns of the house, " what he says, as a disinterested man, and as a man af great integrity '* and abilities, will be paid inore attention to, than what might be " stated by those interested; a great deal depends upon the first impres- " sion that is made— if it was unfavourable, it would not be easily re- " moved; whereas, by a little management or previous arrangements, " the result will be most favourable : and, indeed, the magnitude of the " transactions of the house, makes something of this kind absolutely " necessary, in order to prevent as much inconvenience as possible to the " the parties who hold our acceptances. " I am, my dear sir, Sj-c. SfC. (Signed) " GEO. BAILLIE." " P. S. It is of the utmost consequence that the present order of things " should not be disturbed, and that every thing should be done to give con- ''\fidence here and abroad, all of which mil facilitate our opci^aiions." s No. 66 No. 7. To LORD RE jr. ''MY LORD, " TOUR Lordship will probabli/ see a printed statement of "facts to which this letter will be annexed, as well as some extracts of " letters addressed by you to me. You must be sensible I have much to say " on these subjects, but connected as you are in relationship with me, I shall " spare you, more, I confess, for the saTce of our mutual relatives, than for " any personal esteem or regard for you. T would, however, suggest, that " the declaration produced by your lordship, in vindication of your cha- " racter, was given on the testimony of the arbitrators, who never had any "facts stated to them immediately respecting it, as really I did not think ^^ you of sufficient consequence, even to bring your name forzvard on the " arbitration of matters of business, and as to any inquiry into your oxen " immediate conduct toxvards me, or as to the gratitude xvith xvhich you re- " turned my efforts to forward your prospects in life, the arbitrators re- -fused to iavestigate these matters, and, consequently, nothing appearing "for or against your behaviour, they had, in fact, nothing either to ap- " prove or condemn. Your gratitude to me has met xoith its Just rexvard, "as I understand your best friend, Mr. Lang, after having made use of " you as a mere tool to ansxver his own purposes, has, as soon as he could "do this with any decency, recommended you to xoithdraxo from the par t- " nership, and to retire to the Highlands in order to improve your paternal " property, I trust you xvill have leisure, in your solitary retreat, to reflect " upon the injustice you have done the man, xvho fostered atid protected you, " xvhen you most stood in need of a friend and protector, a fact too xvcll " known to make it necessary for me to enter into fwther particulars in " this place. " / cannot 67 " / cannot close this short address without recommending to your at- " tentive perusal, that part of my narrative and appendix, in which I am " exposed to censure, merely from being too zealous in the promotion of your " interest, at the hazard of offending those very men, with whom you have " thought proper to associate as my opponent, though they, from the first, " exerted every nerve against your admission as a partner in the house " of George Baillie and Co. on any terms. " You and those very disinterested gentlemen may possess the happy talent " of reconciling little iticonsistencies of this nature, on the score of prudence or " necessity, but I suspect you will find it a more arduous task to persuade " the public, that, in my case, you have not mostcompletely verified the assei^- " tion, that there are men in this world so lost to every sense of feeling and " duty as to return ' evil for good.' " That I rather wish to reverse this, will surely be evident, when I advise " you thus seasonably ' to depart in peace, repent and sin no more, lest a " worse thing befal you.' " I am, my Lord, " Your Lordship's " Most obedient servant, " GEORGE BAILLIE." No. 68 No. 8. '' To Mr. LAm. " SIRy "YOU have l^een so industrious Jor some years past in at- " tempting to ruin my character, by misrepresenting my conduct and the " situation of my house, that I cannot let you escape with impunity, while " I am doing ample justice to the merits of your adroit coad/utors, in the " grand work of calumny and slander. " The frst of my acquaintance with you was in 1789, when I was re- " turning to the West Indies : we took a passagein the same ship for St. " Vincent; when you arrived in that island you took up your quarters at " my house, thence you proceeded to Grenada, and- I saw no more of you " until my arrival in this country, in August, 1793, xehen I was on the " eve of forming a house, and taking up the concerns of the late James " Baillie. We met frequently and you were extremely anxious to become one "ofmy partners, as you often insinuated, that you were the very man whom •' I wanted to manage. the counting-house business. I had several others in " viezv, but by your perseverance you succeeded in persuading me, that you " were the best caiculated to answer my purpose, but Ixvould not absolutely " engage until I had fixed with such other partners as should complete the " connection*. Mr. Henckman, zvho was an acquaintance of mine, camefor- " xoard, and I was in treaty with him, but he would become a partner on no " other terms than that you should be altogether excluded, and that his " brother should be admitted. I told Mr. H. that my health being indf- "ferent, it was of consequence to have you, as you were well acquainted " xvith the concerns, and understood the counting-house business in this " city better than it could be expected any East-Indian could do. Mr. H. * An East-India gentleman of large fortune. 2 " told m " fold me confidentialli/^ that if I teas determined upon faking you, fie must *' give up all idea of the partnership; so the proposed connection with him fell to " the ground. Mr. Turing then appeared as a candidate, recommended by Sir " JValter Farquhar ; he called upon me with a letter from Sir Walter, then " Doctor Farquhar, and we had some conversation on the business. I after - " wards introduced him to you, but as the 50,000/. proposed to be advanced " by Mr. Turing, consisted only of a mortgage debt, secured on property of " Lord Charlemont's, in Ireland, I feared it could not be made useful, and " hesitated as to fixing with him ; in the mean time, Mr. R. Payne, " my banker, introduced Mr. Morgan to me, this gentleman was well known, " as being a man of gract property, and concerned in loans and large money " transactions ; he was very anxious to become a partner, and said he would " bring 100,000/. in cash, if required ; when I mentioned this you were clearly " 9f opi?iion, that Mr. Morgan was the very man, and that he should have " the preference to Mr. Turing ; this was also the opinioti of Mr. Payne, " and several others. I, hoxvever, had great objections to Mr. Morgan, on " account of his habits in business being totally different from those xvhich " our concern were to be engaged in, and was persuaded he xvoutd get inti- " midafed at the idea of our coming under long acceptances for 4 or "500,0001.; the consequence would be serious if he should take alarm, as " that nlarm would spread among others ; I therefore thought it best not to " run the risk. You were anxious, to a great degree, for Mr. Morgan, " and told me that you had given him every reason to believe that I had " agreed : Mr. Turing, on the other hand, seemed quite disappointed at the " idea of Mr. Morgan having the preference, and actually insisted upon it ■" with me, that he had a prior claim, and that I had committed myself to " that effect; hexvas perfectly right, and I at once closed xvith him, and " gave up all idea of Mr. Morgan. You did not at all relish this, and I " recollect, perfectly xoell, your saying, that you were persuaded Mr. Turing " could not, for some years, realize his mortgage ; I was of a different opi- " nion, and actually laid a bet of 51. on it with Mr. Thornton, who xcas ^^ present, and joined you in opinion, that Mr. Morgan ought to have had " the preference, on account of his money. I told you both, that it xoas " now too late, for I had already agreed xvith Mr. luring. Then the next " question was, as to yourself, your capital, S^c. ^c. You said you would T " bring 70 *' bring in 20,0001. ; ti) xvhich I consented. Some days afterwards you proposed " Mr. Nathaniel Snell, and to make short of it, he was to bring in 30,000/. " At this time it was understood, that Mr. C. Snell Chauncey was retiring "from business, and that the advantage of the few concerns he had would " centre in our new firm, so that with the business of the late James Baillie, " my own, and this of Mr. C. Snell Chauncey s, I evidently saw it would be a " very considerable and advantageous connection. When I first talked over " the share and capital with you, I thought the 20,000/. and 30,000/. which "you and Mr. Snell were to bring in was ready money, but it appeared " otherwise when it was too late for me to make any objection ; it turned " out to be only the PFest India mortgage lent you and Mr. Snell, by Mr. " C. Snell Chauncey, and for your proportion of which it was necessary I " should be one of the sureties. It was nevertheless settled that the part- " nership should consist of you, Mr. Turing, Mr. Snell, and myself At " this time Mr. M'Kay, now Lord Reay^ was left in a very awkard situ- " ation, having been a clerk in the late James Baillie's 'compting-house ; he " xvas nearly connected ivith me ; his father was my uncle ; and I was very " desirous to serve this youtig man, as you knotv. I asked him to stay at " my house* to save him from expence, and offered to make him an al- " loxcance of 150/. or 200 1 a-year until something could be done for him. " / shortly afterxvards determined to admit him into the nexo house for a " small share ; this was not approved of by you nor Mrs. Baillie, Sgc. As, " however, it depended upon myself I did not ask the opitiion of any one^ " this xvas very unexpected, and Mr. M'Kay expressed his gratitude to me in " Vfiry strong terms. We commenced our operations under the firm of " G. B. and Co. and I considered that you xvould be very useful, but in this I " S0071 found myself disappointed, and gave you a hint of it. We xvere at this " time in Nav Court, Swithins Lane ; you told me, that you never could be so " attentive as if you resided in the same house; that it would be a vast advan- " tage f xce had a house in a good situation, rchere you and your mother "and sister could live, and have the compting-house adjoining. I agreed to * Which he did for fifteen or eighteen months. " purchase 71 "purchase a house in Finsbury Square, in hopes of its having the effect of ^^ your being more steady and attentive; ivhen, however, this took place, " and we were settled some time in the house, I found there was no altera- " tion in your conduct for the better, you then told me, that the concern '■'^ would benefit much if you were married, that then you should become a ^^ steady man of business and would be always at home. I was anxious to " listen to any thing that was likely to produce so good an effect, and you were "married to a very amiable lady; but this did not alter your conduct much, and " I was obliged to become a regular counting-house man ; and, for months, " came and breakfasted there, during this time you had a variety of plans, " you complained that Mr. Turing had not brought in his 50,0001. and only " a mortgage that was useless, and that it was very hard to be dividing the " profits with a man who was of no service to us. Mr. M'Kay, now Lord Reay, " you also stated as being a very useless partner, and that he brought in " nothing, and that therefore, he ought not to have been admitted. Mr. " Snell, you thought, could be easily persuaded to retire, for the very idea " of guaranteeing Guineamen, would make .him xvithdraw, and that we two " could carry on the business very well, and divide the profits between us ; " or that Mr. Vaux, an old schoolfellow of yours, might be admitted for a " small share to do the counting-house business. I would not hear of any " change, you, however, persevered to endeavour to remove Mr. M'Kay ; "hardly a day passed, but you had some fault of him to relate tome, and " every attempt xvas made by you to prejudice me against him ; it would take " a quire of paper to enumerate all that passed : suffice it to say, that I " would not hear of any change whatever ; when you found this, and that my " opinion of you was not very favourable, you thought of another plan, ** which was, to get these gentlemen to Join you to remove me from the " house, they were unacquainted with what you had attempted against them ; " and, upon your telling them, as I suppose, a plausible story, that I " conducted and managed the whole business from the commencement, then " near four years, without any consultation xvith my partners, that I en- " grossed the whole consequence, both here, and in the JFest Indies, that " they were mere cyphers ; on the contrary, you insinuated if they joined " you, that you would make them all men of consequence with larger shares, " and these arguments had the desired effect. The first intimation I had of a .. " revolt. n " revolt, in Nov. 1797, was from Mr. Turing (who, I suppose, was sentfor- *'■ ward hy you) he stated that I had High, Lozv, Jack, and the Gnme, that " they were all cyphers, and that he was determined not to be considered "so any. longer; that the business was now simplified, and that they would " all take upon them the management of it. I evidently sazv your ob- "ject, and that this honest man, was an instrument in your hands. There " zvas a combination formed, in which, however, I had not the least idea " that Lord Reay was in any shape implicated ; I considered him my "friend ; but as I did not require, as I thought, any assistance to combat " the business, I allowed his Lordship to remain neuter. We had a great " deal of bickering from the month of October, till December, at last, comes *' a revolutionary letter, signed by yourself, Turing, Snell, and Lord Reay, " saying, that you assumed to yourselves the sole management of the bu- " siness, ^c. Sgc. The three former did not surprize me; hut when I saw " Lord Reay's name I was shocked beyond comprehension. His Lordship " and I dined together the day before, at Mr. P. C. Bruce' s, I sat next " to him, and before we parted he received a letter from Mr. Turing, " and went, that evening, to meet you, Turing and Snell, at some coffee- *'■ house, zvhere he signed the letter above-mentioned. How you could recon- " cile it to yourself to induce a young man, who, you knew, was under such " great obligations to me, to come forward in such a hostile manner, " without any cause, is really a circumstance not the most favourable to "^ your moral character, since you did not hesitate to sacrifice all his claims " to gratitude, because, you could not, it seem^, effect the revolution without '^ him. You then all joined in undoing what I had previously done, and " in taking up concerns that I had rejected ; and * " sioners of the Exchequer, so as to excite distrust, and desired them to pursue " me immediately ; a fonduct which proved most offensive to my feelings, a^ " a merchant and a man of honour. Mr. King and Mr: Calvert's object, zvaS " the same as your own, namely, to injure the credit of our kouse here, and at " Demerary ; where they, as well as you, had also houses, which you all ex- " pected ivoidd benefit by our downfall. To your other co-adjutor, Mr: " Andreio Reid, I iiever was under any other obligation to Mm, than as " security for the goveriiment loan ; and when he first came forward, I, for " Geo. Baillie and Co. accommodated iiim, lohen he stood much in need ofcaslt, " ivith a loan of money in the funds ; / do not recollect loJiether it was five or " ten thousand pounds, but I believe it was the latter, and this Mr. Reid had '* the use of for many months. He also had his particular object, which is " unn^essary •3. 101 " unnecessary to mention in this letter. The loan was originally 5,ogE^ each^ "for you and Mr. Reid j and 2,500/. for Mr. King, and the samt*^^. Mr. " Calvert. At the time your security aiid theirs ufas released, by my finding " other securities in your stead, it teas reduced to one half, and strange to tell, *' you, who held our acceptances, not due for one, tivo, and three years, zvith- "out any security, to the amount o/ 58,000/. ; came forward in a public " manner, to withdraw your security for 2,500/. of a government loan, which *' had a prior security over all the property that we had iri our hands, and which " you zvell knew amounted to some hundred thousands of pounds. Your acting " in this extraordinary manner, was a proof of your being sensible of the *' ultimate solidity of the house ; othenvise you never zoould have attempted to " disturb the regular order of things, or to take a step which would injure our *' credit, andbring confusion and distrust on us, since it is evident, that the " government loan must be paid, even had yonr whole debt been lost. The truth *' is, yott were perfectly azvare, that with alt the confusion you could possibly ** create, there were assets enough to liquidate your debt, while your grand " object was to leave me without a sixpence ; and in this you persevered on the " malicious principle of crushing me, never to arise again. After every at- " tempt of yours failed, you then endeavoured as a member of the com- " mittee of the bill-holders, in cotijuTtction .with.Mr. Case, the patron of *' Mr. Cock, to injure my character, and supplant me in the management of *• the concerns of my house. Neither of you would hear (f any enquiry into " Mr. Cock's conduct ; my representations were stated by you both to be false ; " and you openly approved of Mr. Cock's behaviour and pi'oceedings, in his " attempt to ruin the house and my character. You actually se?it up ymir " solicitor, Mr. Slanistreet, to force Mr. Cock upon me, right or wrong ; " otherwise to give him full powers to annihilate mc altogether. Mr. Stani- " street asserted, that such was your opinion, and that my total destruction "would be the consequence, if I did not give way. Conduct so ijisolcnt and ** over-bearing ims never heard of before^ to a ma7i who had any reputation to " lose, nor could it ever be sanctioned by the bill-holders in general, or any " men of honour and probity ; it would have been, in fact, as arbitrary and " unjust as any act of Buonaparte's government ; thank God I have defeated, and ** surmounted the malicious designs if yourself and my other enemies ; it is indeed *' a most cruel situation^ while struggling under real difficulties, to be betrai/ed "' and sacrificed by you and the very men, zohom' I called in to my assistance. 2 1> "Iunder% 102 " / und&stand that when you itere tast iti tiswn, you, in all compmhF, railed *• agaivst me ; you lamented the fate of the bUl'holders, rvh& could not bear a *' loss or disappointment ^ for yoUr part, it was well knomi, the 25,000/, " could not affect you, for that was all you said you had of our fc^er. ■ At " the very time you affirmed what is stated above, you,had upmmrds of douUe " the amount of our bills, zeh'ich you mentioned.-^I defy you to ^hew, that " I hwce ever asked your advite on any occasion, or. that I was ever under the " least obligation to you, the government loan excepted ; on the contrary as ^^ I have already asserted, you : luwe been tender 'tnany to me'-and my house. ." With respect to mo'ney matters, you wilfsee by your books and accdierits, that " both from my former and present house, 4ind also from my private accounts, " the interest account was against you. Every pm-t of your conduct, torvards " me, is full of deception and^isrepresentaiibn, which I wHlyet -prove cireitm- " stantially ; when obliged to enumerate all your 'actions and attempts to " injure my character, and the, ci'edit of my iiouse. The. task would take up " more of my time, than lean well spare at present ; suffice it tO' my, thai " as I took some pains to raise you in the eyes (f my numerous acquaintance, it '* may now prove necessary to paint you in your proper foloxfrs. ". There is 'one ^^ fact more which I cannot omit metttioning, to shew how improperly yoii " hcpve been- behaving to me. Mr. Murphy, • our agent and correspondent' at " St. Thomas, receives annually to a considerable amount of government bUls "to be disposed of and for which he sends the payments in dollars, tothepay- '' master- general at Barbadoes ; this is not only a great advantage to him in " respect to the comtnission, but in other respects is useful. After you tried ." to undermine our credit ' at Demerary,\'zvhere our windwardffiost esfeblis/i- " ment was, you continued your proceedings nil tht way. to Leeivard, as far a^- "St. Thomas; you and your agents in the West Indies were busy- in en- " dcavouring to supplant Mr. Murphy in that island; the critical'situalion " of our house was mentionedi 0id how uns&fe it was to trust atiy 'cf^otir " agents, particularly Mr, Murphy. UTou even zoent so.far as to s^, yo'ii " would grant your security for your agent Mr. DurUop, to government, if " he xvas appointed instead of Mr, Murphy, this I have from several, on whom "lean depend, andxoho heard you say so. Fortunately for me your efforts ■" have in a great measure failed ; as you are top well known for any thing you *' can alledge to make much impression; if,.however^ you persevere, and I ''find that xve are injured by your proceedings, I tcill certainly bring an . - " action 103 action against you for defamatioUy S^c. for I really think, that very heavy damages xooitld be given against you. Reflect for one momenty that while I was shewing yoif all. the attention in my power^ you were doing me clandestinely every possible injury, and honestly confess whether such pro- ceedings cem be. tolerated ■tifith impunity. Read this at your leisure; you will soon see it in print, in conjunction with other letters front and to Mr, Lang, Lord Reay, Mr. Cock, 8gc. with whom you seem to be in alliance, and then you will all, I trust, fall into that very pit xvhich you have been so industriously ^digging for me, and there, I flatter myself, you mli do penance, until you repent of your malevolence, ingratitude, and folly'. ' :,^"I amy " SIR, *'_Yoiir humble Servant, "GEO. BAILLJE.'' " P. S. It ivill be seen by my prinlied statement,' that any quarrels I hav^ '^ had with partners, and others, hcke proceeded from similar conduct,, as " yours, and I have no doubt, but you have been in the knowledge, and to a " certain degree, .encouraged tke,w-kok that hqs happfined." -. No. 104 Mr. COCK'S « r CIRCULAR J " London, October " 26, 1804. " UNDERSTANDING Mr. " George Baillie has circulated a report, '* that ie is prevtnted Jrom paying his •« hills, by my with-holding from him a " considerable balance due to Messrs. " George Baillie and Co. I think it ** proper to send you a statement of my " account with that house, as rendered " by Mr, Baillie on the 3d instant — viz. " Balance due to S. Cock and " Co. f including interest on *' cash lent, and bills dis' *' counted, 1393/. 2i. Cd.J L.2169 3 4 " Since this account was tendered, Mr. " George Baillie has negotiated an ac- " ceptance for three thousand pounds, " which I lent him in a moment of dis- " tress Mr. BAILLIE's Remarks upon Mr. Cock* s Circular. Mr. COCK says, " that the ba- lance due, S.Cock and Co, (including in- terest on casli lent, and bills discounted, 1393/. zs. 6rf. is 2169/. 35. 4fif." Answer. — Mr. Cock seems intentionally to have omitted bills and proiluce, &c. &c. to the amount of 38,000/. sterling, received from him, on the i4th and i^th August, 1 804, through the intervention of Mr. Swan» zy, and which was some time after the difie- rence took place between Mr. B. and Mr. C. and after Mr. C. had alledged, that Mr. B's concerns were indebted to him about 40,000/. If this property, amounting to 38,000/. had not been paid, Mr. Cock, instead of being the creditor of -G. B. and Co. for 2169/. 35. 4rf. would have been indebted to them 35830/. i6j. 8rf. ; and, as to the interest account, tliat seems in- tentionally mentioned, in order to impress upon the hill-holders, the idea that he was in advance ; when the fact will appear, that he had always a considerable sum more in hand than he was engaged for, which he might have made use of for any of his own purposes, if he chose ; it does not therefore follow, that because he discounted bills for us, (and upon terms, in many cases, higher than many bro- kers would have done it) and because the interest of 1393/. 2J. 6J, was in his 4 " favour 105 " tress, and/or which, being aware that " I had not charged him with it in my " books, he has not given me credit in " account : so that, according to his own •• stalement, the balance due to me on the " ist of October was 5169/. 3*. 46?. " When to this sum is added, 10,000?. *^for insurances, and sundry conimis- " sions, averages, charges 071 protested '* bills, fife. fife, it will be found that the " balance due to vie is considerably above " 15,0000/. ; against which, I hold sun- " dry parcels of produce, amounting, ac- '.' cording to the best estimate that can •' be Jormcd by the brokers, in whose " hands it is placed for sale, after de- " ducting the bills, drawn upon it, to " about 8,000/, " In making this statement, it may be proper to. add, that,sinc,e the 1st of Au- gust, when Mr. Baillie asserted that I was using 40,000/. of the property of his house, for my private purposes, I have received from him, and from others, the following large sums, and with all of which I am charged in Mr. Baillie's account beffre-meniioned ^^ViZ August favour, that it proceeded in consequence of money advanced by him— —the con- trary can be proved. In answer to the second charge, of ne- gotiating an acceptance of S. Cock and Co. for 3000/- ; this was an acceptance granted by S, Cock and Co. to Messrs. Goldsmids, about the same time that S. C. and Co. granted acceptances to the Liver- poo! gentlemen, who held bills of G. B. and Co. Messrs. Goldsmids had G. B. and Co''s. acceptable for 3000/. over due, and they also held long acceptances for 3,500/. as security — They were asked, by me, to take the same payment that others did at the time; say, the acceptances of S. C and Co. which they readily agreed to, but upon condition that the 3,500/. long bills, were to remain with them, which I consented to, so that we had funds in Mr. Cock's hands, to cover this, engagement for 3000/. and we also had 3,500/. long bills in Messrs. Goldsmids' hands, to secure the payment of S. Cock and Co's. acceptances. — By this means, we had actually given 6,500/. bills, to Messrs. Goldsraid's and Mr. C. to cover the acceptances of 3,000/. — Upon this, I determined to take up the acceptance of S. C. and Co. in Messrs. Goldsmids' hanJs for 3,000/. by which means, I got the 3,500/. long bills, and, the paper was so good, that it was readily taken by our bill- holders ; and, although I paid the cash for S. C. and Co's. acceptance, I always had it by me, ready to make use of in case of need, and would have negotiated it long before, had it not been for the laigeness of the sum ; and I determined to keep it to the 2 E 106 Li S. D. August 7 2,000 O 11 J . . . . 1,426 n 10 18 1,642 7 3 20 1,500 September 2 1,721 7 2 — 6,427 6 11 7 3,902 5 15 526 6 7 29 3,806 4 3 October 1 ....'• 9,757 12 10 L. 32,710 7 10 " In ■proof of the accuracy of my state- " merit, I shall be happy to exhibit the " accounts rendered by Mr. Baillie, to " whoever may be interested in-lhe mat- " ter, and desire to see them. " 'And as Mr. Baillie has thought pro- «' per to assert, that it has been my prac- " tice to take advantage of the bill-holder^ " who were distressed, by urging the un- '• certainly of the bills on his house being " paid, and demanding a commission of " them for my acceptances at long sights "for their bills ; I solicit the favour of *^ your sending to Mr, Stanistreet, se- " cretary to the committee of Liverpool " bill-holders, any information you may > " have the last, in hopes of bringing Mr. Cock to a settlement, when I could not ha%-e given him any thing more satisfactory than his own acceptance ; but, as he did not arrange with us before it became due, I presented it regularly for payment. As I was conscious that Mr. Cock would have a very con- siderable sum to pay over to Geo. Baillie and Co. upon a settlement ; my principal object in taking it up, .was to get back the 3,500^. long bills, lodged to secure the payment. This transaction, altogether, is the most regular that can be, although Mr. Cock insinuates otherwise, and says, it was lent me in a moment of distress, still it will appear, it did not shew much dis- tress, when I was enabled to give good bills to the amount of 6,gool. to secure the payment of 3,000/. Mr. C. says, that since the 1st of August last, when I asserted he was using the proper- ty of the house, to the amount of 40,000/. he has received from me and from others, the following large sums, to the amount of 32,710/. 7J. 10^. in proof of this state- ment; he says, he will be happy to exhibit the account rendered by me. In answer to the above, I affirm, that, since the 1st of August, no payments have been made to Mr. Cock, and the sum he states as having received in August, September, and October, was in his hands, or at his com- mand, previous to the 1st of August; al- though not r^ularly brought to his debit till the periods he mentions. So far from paying Mr. C. any thing since the 1st of August, we received from him as before- mentioned , 38,000/. through the medium of 107 have gained on this head,for the purpose of his laying the same before the com- mittee, who will, no doubt, communi- cate the same to the bill-holders at large. On the other hand, if no such case has occurred to your knowledge, J trust you will do me the justice to send me an answer to that effect. If I receive no reply, I shall take leave to conclude, that you give no credit io Mr. Baillie's assertion. " I am, Gentlemen, " I'our obedient servant, " S. COCK." of Mr. Swanzy, and since thence, at diffe- rent periods upwards of 11,000/. making in all about ^0,000/. Lastly, in respect to Mr. Cock receiving an advantage by interest and commission, I will prove that he made proposals to tteis effect, to several df the bill-holders, who were a little pressed, both here and at Liverpool, just at the time I Came forward to say we were ready to arrange for the bills of June and July, which event re- lieved their wants, and they, of course, rejected Mr. C's. demands. I know also, that he charged a doceur to more than one of our bill-holders. For further particulars, I must refer to the correspondence in the Appendix be- tween Mr. Butler and Mr. Cock. G. B. S. COCK hOS S. Cock to give up to TMr. Baillie. L. S. D. Dutch Bills - 3,500 Sundry Bills ^ 9,916 10 4 Dutch protested Bills 850 Wolf Katz Bill 1,500 All the Produce by the Elect and the Esther 0,000 L. 15,766 10 4 The above is an exact copy of Mr. Cock's state- ment, in his ovrn hand-writing, delivered me on the 12th August, 1804. G. Baillie, L. s. D. The Produce by the Fleet was estimated at 28,500 Schooner Esther 1,800 ■ 30,300 Bills .... 15,766 10 4 L. 46,066 10 4 So that Mr. C. agreed to give me up, by desire of Mr. Swanzy, the above, amounting to 46,066/. 10s. Ad. of which I received, on the 12th Au- gust, 35,000Z. and a few days afterwards 3,000/. —in all 38,000/. G. Baillie. 109 « To JOHN TURING, Esq. " My Dear Sir, " IN consequence of the conversation I had with you ** the other day, I have been induced to stay longer in town than I intended- " in order to make some arrangements. It is now necessary to come to an " explanation respecting the house at Demerary, and also that at St. Vincent. ** The bills of the former, you have desired should be disgraced, which I con- " ceive will be a very material injury to them, if not immediately remedied j " and, at one time, you determined the guarantee should be at an end, for the *' latter house, although afterwards it was continued. All this, you may sup- " pose, is very unpleasant to me, considering how particularly I am connected " with them both ; and, as it is very evident, that from not being acquainted " with the nature of this business, you would prefer closing with both j I will " just thank you to let me know if these are your real sentiments, as I wish, " very much, to relieve you, and have it now in my power to place both these " houses, (say Fraser, Alves, and Co. and James Bruce and Co.) in a quarter " where they will be, in every respect, supported to their wishes, and where " I will benefit more than if the concerns remained with George Baillie and " Co. I really think it will be a relief to you, to agree to give up both these " concerns ; and it will have this good effect, that there will hardly remain " an opening for any further disputes, for the business of the house will be so " simplified, that there will be very little occasion, for my interfering much ; "and any thing further that occurs in the way of business, which our house " does not wish to take up, I will get taken off their hands. Captain Dunlop, " in particular, I will rid the house of; as so much has been said about it. " Will you consider of this, and give me your answer as early as possible, for " I do not wish to do any thing that may be considered unhandsome towards 2 F " you 110 " you or the house? It will be necessary to determine upon these points by " Wednesday next, at farthest, being packet-day. " I am, &c. '^ G. BA^LLIE. " Devonshire Street, Portland Place, " Sunday Morning, 31st Dec. 1797, " P. S. I am glad to find you were at the counting-house on Saturday, and " hope you are getting quite stout again." , "Devonshire Street; Portland Place, Mist JanuarV, 1798. ' .^ .A -I « To JOINTURING, Esq; •'' ■ ^" MyDEAiiSiR, " THE inclosed was wiQte yesterday morning be- " fore you called. My whpje attention ha^ hitherto been taken up, for the " benefit of our joint concern, which now becomes less; necessary ; and, on ac- " count cf my losses by the calamity, it is incumbent, upon me to pay a " little more attention to my own private affairs. " Many happy new years to you, Mrs. T. " and the young ladies. " I am, " Your's truly, " G. BAILLIE." I, ■!, ni V' 0-/;;; :l ,1 n '•:?/ '. ," Devonshire, Street, ^rtland Place, " 2d January, 1798. " ToJOH^ TURING, Esq. t'^^-Mv D^AR Sift, iij'.MiO V.I.'I j; .'iJ/vft '-v/,;:, i .<' . i.ii .,..!:"■'», ii'iiJ-'i "-'ASlyoo-lisivietakea.qp the tJu'sioedSifif 'James " Bruce and Co. in a different mannSr. to what I expected, I Vi^'ill say no more " about it at present ; only that I really thought it would really be a relief to " you to give up a business you considered precarious, and at one time de- " termined should have an end. In respect to Fraser, Alves, and Co. I must " be very decided ; for the house is the most reputable in Demerary, and you " ha.ve injured them more than you are awar-e of, by objecting^ to their bills " being accepted. — To my knowledge, in one quarter thej, will lose the sale " of eight hundred slaves, unless their credit is restored immediately, and its ''.being known at Liverpool, and intlfie We«t Indies^ will be- very prejudkial. "I am so convinced of at, frotn some gircuipstances whjch have come to my ".k,nowledge, within these fevvdays, th^t J, ana fully determined that the bills " shall be taken up by another, house, if. they are not by ours ; for I have an " offer from two houses, to tafce to the business of Fraser, Alves, and Co. and " if either of them accept the bills now noted^ their business must, of course, " follow, and they must be advise^ of it by this packet. " I never approved of the bills being noted ; and, since I received Mr. " Alves's letter of 15th October, which I read to you, I am more convinced " than ever, that we have treated the house exceedingly ill, and even ac- '* cepting their bills now, cannot make up entirely for it. You will neither *' do the needful yourself, nor agree to its being done by another. I, however, " cannot look on quietly, and see them suffer so materially, when I have it «• in ray power to get them relieved. I will, therefore, expect your answer 2 '• (after 112 *' (after consulting with the other partners) by to-morrow, whether the bills " will, or will not, be accepted. '* And, I am, my Dear Sir, " Your's, truly, " G. B. ** P. S. I have never, in any concern I have been in, sacrificed the interest of " the house to my private views. If ever it should happen in the present " partnership, the parties will have themselves to blame, for driving me to " it contrary very much to my inclination. The above letters, to Mr. Turing, are those which Lord Reay alludes to as the only excuse he could make for acting as he has done. The bills of Fraser, Alves, and Co. were accepted by Mr. Lang, for the house immediately after; they wrote me and took upon themselves the management of the business ; from this, the impropriety of their conduct in noting these bills in the first instance is evident, and that it was done merely with a view to hurt my feelings. GEORGE BAILLIE. 113 ''GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. "Sloane Street, 2d Jan. 1798, " MY DEAR SIR, " ON going to the counting-house this forenoon, I received " your letter to me of this date, which I communicated to our other partners, " as I did the two letters you wrote to me yesterday, and their contents " appearing to us all of so serious a tendency, it has been judged necessary " to make you acquainted with our various sentiments ; and nothing new " having been offered, I shall beg leave to refer you to the opinions expressed " in my separate address of yesterday, and to the joint letter you will now " I wish to entertain a more favourable opinion of you than to suppose you " are capable of doing any thing to sacrifice or to injure the interestof a house, " with which you are so closely connected, and which can only be done by a " dereliction of every thing that is honourable, and nothing, in my opinion, " can justify such a proceeding ; therefore, I will not allow myself to think *' you are serious in the threat expressed in the postscript of your last letter. I remain. (C « Mv dear Sir, " Your's, very truly, " JOHN TURING." THE above letter from Mr. Turing to me will shew the frivolous excuse he, Mr. Lang, and the other partners made use of, and cannot possibly 2 G justify 114 justify them in acting as they did. I beg to refer to my letter of the 2d Ja- nuary, to which Mr. Turing and Lord Reay both allude. It will clearly shew how ignorant they are of matters of business, and that they were the tools of Mr. Lang. The letter wrote me and signed by the four partners was sent to our arbi- trators, and T«fes not returned ; it is therefore mislaid, and no copy has beea kept of it, (otherwise it should have been annexed,) which I regret much, as it would have shewn Mr. Lang in his proper colours. ^ G. BAILLIE. IN the following pages will be found copies of a few of the numerous con- gratulatory letters which I received on the arrangement I made in April last, with the bill-holders, of G. B. and Co. My letters from the West Indies, say, from the different houses connected with us, are of a similar nature, and therefore think it unnecessary to publish them. G. B. Copij of a Letter from Sir Wmimn Fulteney to George Baillie, Esq. dated l6th April, 1804. " I AM much obliged to jou for taking the trouble to commu- "nicate to me the important good news which your letter contains, and I "congratulate you very sincerely on your success. I considered your situa- "^ tion, as not only very interesting on your own account, but in a public " point of view. It gives me the greatest pleasure, because it proves not ^ " only 115 " only the good sense of your bill-holders, but the confidence which your good " conduct has produced in the minds of nven accustomed to act honourably *' themselves, and, therefore, not influenced by those narrow and selfish suspi- " cions which prevail in ignorant men, and, particularly, in the traders of " almost every trading country on the face of the globe, except in England. " This character of the English nation must ever secure to us the pre-eminence " in commerce, and I cannot help observing also, that without the aid of " the provincial banks it might have been impossible for your bill-holders to « sgave acted in the wise and noble manner they have done, but it is owing to " the general good faith and honourable dispositions of the English traders, " that the banks can safely venture to give such aid. I believe you know that " I have always been friendly to the establishment of banks, and I do believe, " that the prosperity of the trade and resources of England are, in a great " measure, due to these establishments, notwithstanding the ill-founded cla- " mours which ignorant men have raised against them. But we must look " to the excellent constitution of government with which we are blessed, as- " the source of all our prosperity. The manners of our people, the integrity, " the talents and the enterprise of our merchants are derived from that " source, and the safe use of banks and paper money are founded on the ^ manners and character of our people. (Signed) « WILLIAM PULTENEY." Copy of a Letter from Sir William Scott to George Baillie, Esq. dated 2Ath May, 1804. " I THANK you for your communications very sincerely ; you may " be assured that I feel a real satisfaction in being informed that you find " such an easy and honourable exit out of the embarrassments to which your " commerce, (like every other commerce of immense extent,) has been ca- " sually exposed. It cannot but lay the foundation of most extraordinary " stability 116 " stability in your future conduct of it, and the interruption which has •' happened will only be matter of agreeable reflection to you when you " consider that it terminates in a way so advantageous to your character and " credit. (Signed) " WILLIAM SCOTT." «» Copy of a Letter from J. J. Angerstein, Esq. to George Baillie, Esq. dated 26th June, 1804. " YOUR letter being directed to Woodlands, I did not receive " it till late last night. I am very much pleased to find, that by your good " management your very large concerns will so shortly be liquidated, and I " have been delighted to find that others have got through the winter, chiefly " occasioned by its being an open one, so that no great stop has prevented *' goods being sent to the northern parts. (Signed) " J. J. ANGERSTEIN." Copy of a Letter from the Right Honourable Lord Glenbervie to Geo. Baillie, Esq. dated 6th July, 1804. « I OUGHT sooner to have acknowledged the favour of your "letter of the I3th ultimo. I assure you that I had great satisfaction in " hearing that your commercial embarrassments have received so favourable 117 an arrangement ; a circumstance highly to your honour and credit, and ma- nifestly advantageous to an extensive and respectable part of the commer- cial world. (Signed) " GLENBERVIE." Copy of a Letter from His 'Grace the Duke of Montrose to George Baillie, Esq. dated \5th June, 1804. "I HAVE received your letter of the 14th instant, with two " iivclosures, which, as you desire, I will shew to Mr. Rose. Allow me to " express my satisfaction at the view you have of your affairs, which certainly " involve not only the affairs of many, but, from their extent, are really a " public concern. I join great personal interest, on account of your own " feelings to the public consideration of the well doing of so great a house as " that you conduct. (Signed) '• MONTROSE." Copy of a Letter from the Right Honourable Lord Seaforth to George Baillie, Esq. dated 26th April, 1804. *' THE letter I found from you on my return home last night, " gave me infinite pleasure, as I confess, when I considered the awkward situ- " ation the southern colonies have, for a long time been in, combined with your " immense concerns with them, I felt very uneasy for you. The arrangement " is every way flattering to all parties, and strongly marks the liberality and o jj " good 118 " good sense of your bill-holders, and it is as high a compliment as can be " paid to the well-known firmness and integrity of your house. I most sin- " cerely congratulate you on it. (Signed) " SEAFORTH." Copy of a Letter from Colonel Fullarton to George Baillie, Esq. dated 22rf April, 1804. " NO one can more sincerely rejoice than I do at the satis- " factory arrangement which you have made ; by these means your extensive " concerns, and very large property, will not only be secureti from the hazard " and pressure of the present period, but the great commercial interest de- " pending on your transactions will be preserved from apprehensions. In " another view, it will add to your name and reputation, while it reflects " great honor on the numerous and respectable body of bill-holders wha " have facilitated so important an operation. (Signed) " WILLIAM FULLARTON." Copy of a Letter from George Johnstone, Esq. to George Baillie, Esq. dated 3d May, 1804. "I SHOULD long since have returned you my thanks for " the papers you sent me. 3 « You 119 •* You acted wisely and manfully in adopting the course you pursued, and " the issue has been such as was to have been expected, where the parties •' were men of honour and liberality. I congratulate you on the ease of *' mind to which this arrangement must have restored you. (Signed) « GEORGE JOHNSTONE." Copy of a Letter from P. Crawford Bruce, Esq. to George Bailtie, Esq. dated ^M June, 1804. " I HAVE read, with much satisfaction, your inclosures, and " now return them. " As one of your friends, you may be assured, I have most particular gra- " tification to observe you rise like the phoenix renovated from your late tem- " porary embarrassment ; having explained matters so satisfactorily to those " with whom you are connected, and so creditably to yourself, and, I doubt " not, but that a continuance of your steady application and management " will produce all you aim at, or that your connections can desire. " We go to Taplow Lodge on Sunday, to remain for the season, and as " you propose keeping in the neighbourhood of London, both Mrs. Bruce, " and myself, shall expect the pleasure of frequently seeing you. (Signed) " P. CRAWFORD BRUCE." Extract 120 Extract from a Letter of Bartholomew Huher, Esq. to George Baillie, Esq. dated 3lst July, 1804. " ACCEPT my best thanks for your very welcome and very " interesting communication received this morning ; it has relieved my mind " from much sincere and friendly anxiety on your account. I knew that all " that could be done by man would be done by you, with that intelligence " and fortitude which you have displayed on a former occasion. " Adieu, my dear Sir. Believe me, with great truth, and with an agree- " able surprise at the success of your Herculean labours, " Your's, very faithfully, (Signed) "BARTHOLOMEW HUBER." -Copy of a Letter from the Right Honourable Lord Castlereagh to George Baillie, Esq. " IT affords me great satisfaction to find from your letter that *' the embarrassments which induced you to desire a temporary accommoda- " tion from government, in the shape of commercial exchequer-bills, have *' ceased to exist. It is always more advantageous to the individual as well " as desirable upon general principles, that he should be indebted to the " forbearance of those who have confidence in his integrity, and ultimate "■ solvency for relief, rather than obtain it by the ordinary means, which, in a "commercial country, ought to be brought into action as seldom as possible. " ^ (Signed) "CASTLEREAGH." " GEORGE 121 " GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. "Edinburgh, 1 ith July, 1797. ■ " IT is now some time since I have been here, but without " one single occurrence, to induce noe troubling you with a letter. I can " however nt) longer delay it, for f^iar you should think me neglectful ; a cir- *' Cumstance, in respect to you, could I in any way attach to myself, I should " deem unpardonable ; and which, I am sure, I could never forgive myself " for, I find Edinburgh'exceedingly dull and insipid. There is hardly any " body in it, and, but for the few friends I have got, I should be quite sick " of it long ago, I am told however, that it is very pleasant in winter ; but " I am certain, that, in the most gay -times, there will be no comparison with " London. " I have fixed on Saturday week for setting off for the north ; by that time " I expect to settle every thing here. " I found, much more to do than I had any idea of, and the unavoidable " expences of being put in possession of my own, by serving heir, being en- " feofted, and a number of other foolish ceremonies, invented by lawyers to " serve themselves, will I am afraid, exceed by far any thing I can expect ;his " year; I have, however, no reason to grumble;, at present, lean give you '* no further idea of my hopes from the estate than you had previous to my *' leaving- London, but I am clear that what was then stated as its value, is by " no means exaggerated, and the leases may retard my enjoyment of it , it is «' a satisfaction that I shall be z young men when they expire, and that I am " in the mean time so respectably employed, I am convinced it gives *' me more real consequence than all my other advantages ; and, I hope, you 2 I " will 122 " will consequently find, that I shall always retain a proper sense of grati- " tude. " I suppose London will, by this time, begin to get thin of company, arid " that you are preparing for some watering-place ; but, perhaps, the anxiety " about Lord Malmsbury's negotiation may detain you. I am, myself, very " doubtful of his success, but a few days must give some idea of the result ; you " may believe, I earnestly wish a favourable one. " I have not a word of any kind of news — Charles would inform you how " I parted with Sir Charles Ross — I have a few lines from him this morning, " wherein he says, that he is to accompany his mother. Lady Ross, the begin- " ning of next week to Bath, and that he will not be in the north before the " latter end of August. I am very sorry for it, as I found him on my way " here, a very pleasant and sensible companion, I feel much for the loss he " has sustained by the death of his only son. My mother desires her kindest '• compliments to you — I tell her you propose being down next summer, which " I assure you appears to me to gratify her. I beg you will particularly re- " meriiber me to your co-adjutors, Messrs. Turing, Lang, and Snell, and " believe me, " My dear Mr. Baillie, " Your most obliged and faithful Servant, (Signed) " REAY." 7e 123 " To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. "Tongue-House, 16th Sept. 1797, " My DfiAR Mr. Baillie, " I HAVE much pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of your " kind letter of the 24th ultimo, which got to hand only yesterday, in conse- *' quence of my dispatches being detained by accident for several days betwixt " this and Darnoch. You may believe I am happy that things go on so *' smoothly, and that you consequently are enabled to enjoy yourself so plea- " santly with your friends at Brighton — for ^y part, I have been more occu- " pied than you can well imagine, having only the week Lord Huntley spent " with me here to enjoy myself. — Since his departure, I made a toiir of the " estate with Mr. Brown ; and ever since, I have been doing nothing but " writing answers to tenants' letters, hearing their complaints and proposals ; " in short, nothing but the interest I have in it could make me bear it at all. " I shall not trouble you with any particulars, for- to give you a proper idea of *• my affairs in this part of the world in this way, would take up a great "deal, of your time, and perhaps after all, I might fail in the attempt. I will " therefore say nothing until we meet, except that Mr. Brown has given me " much more cause to raise my expectations than to depress them. I am " further happy in having it to say, as I am sure it will give you pleasure, " that, notwithstanding my estate being so tied up with leases, that I will " enjoy the next year, by a moderate rise on what is out of lease, a 1000/. per *' annum, at least. I leave this on Tuesday the 1.9th, for Dumfries, where I " shall be on the 22d. Lord Huntley has promised to meet me there, and my *' stay will depend greatly on him. I shall afterwards proceed South as " fast as possible, and full of gratitude for your indulgence altogether, *' I am much obliged to you for your kindness in interesting yourself about a " house for me, and as you think the one mentioned will suit me, I have to "beg you will so settle it with Mr. Hastier andy if you can possibly arrange "it. 124 " it, so that I shall only become the tenant about Christmas, I should like it " the better ; and that, at any rate, nothing will be done to it till my ar- " rival in town. I would 'not mind giving a trifle for that object. 1 have a *' letter from Charles — I hope he will succeed at last in his plahs — I'beg you " will remember me to him, the Davidsons, and all other friends ; and that " you will believe me, with sincere regard, " My dear Sir, &c, &c. (Signed) " RE AY." " To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " Edinburgh, -29th Oct. 1797. " My Dear Sir, " I ARRIVED here, about tliree days ago, from Gordon Castle, "and had the pleasure of receiving your's of the.lSth, from Tunbrido-e. Jt " makes me happy you still continue to enjoy good health, and that no other " things tend to cross your inclinations, but a little of the old business with " Mr. I assure you I can hardly express how it vexes me • " but I flatter myself, that ere now, it is totally settled ; and that in future " from the opinions of Smith and Hopkinson, there will be nothino- of this '• kind. " I have some little business to arrange here, whicTi, so soon as I have " executed, will be the signal of my departure South — I therefore think I shall « be in London about the 10th of next month. I shall take Liverpool in my " way, though attended with considerable inconvenience, and will follow " your directions as to Mr. Case.— I have no news. The Duchess is to be in " London 125 " London soon, and probably Lord Huntley, The Duke talks of being the re " in the spring. The whole family seem perfectly reconciled and happy, and " I assure you I found my stay with them exceedingly agreeable. Sir Charles "Ross will not be up for some time, I left him busy preparing for the re- " election &c. &c. of Mr,Dundas, for the boroughs, and I ordered him a deer " from the forest for the occasion. Your brothers, at Knockbrake and the fort, " I frequently met with, and I had the pleasure of spending some days with " both, I suppose your brother Hugh is with you by this time — if so, remem- " ber me to him — say that I have received his letter by the piper, and that I *' would write him, could I depend on his address — I wish very much to see " him, I congratulate you, most sincerely On Lord Duncan's victory. " And am, my dear Sir, " With sincere regvd, &c. &c. (Signed) " REAY," " GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " Basinghall Street, "Wednesday Morning, 3d. Jan, 1798. MY DEAR SIR, " YOU will receive, I suppose, in the course of this morning, " a letter signed by Messrs, Turing, Lang, Snell, and myself. The three " former may perhaps not excite your surprize, but it is likely mine will, and " therefore, I think it necessary to come to an explanation on the subject. " Although I have all along been acquainted with the disagreeable corres- 2 K pondence *' pondence that has existed between you and Mr. Latig, and lateJy Mr. Tur- " ing; nevertheless, it was always the intention of those gentlemen to keep me " out of the dispute, a resolution, the crisis to which matters are now unhap- " pily arrived, did not, it seems permit them to k,eep ; for I was last night " called upon, to give my opinion as a man. I consequently could not avoid " giving it according to the best of my judgment and conscience. That " opinion I founded chiefly on your two last letters to Mr. Turing,* and the " result I can assure you, can be no more disagreeable to you, than to me — ^you " know, Mr. Baillie, I have always expressed my regret at the differences that " existed in the house — for, without pretending to any superior degree of pe- " netratiori, knowing the relative situation of the partners, I could not but be •' sensible of the bad effects they must eventually tend to ; and so far as I " could, with propriety, and without the risque of offending you, you may re- " member that my advice was against the measures you proposed to take with " Mr. Lang. I have now only to add, that I trust this unfortunate business " will not cause any alteration in your sentiments of friendship towards me, and " that you will believe me, as much as ever, " My dear Sir, *' Your's mosj sincerely, (Signed) « REAY. " P. S. The letter I received while at dinner yesterday, was from Mr. Turing — " I did not mention the circumstance to you, having no idea what he wanted *' me for that night. * " R." * Mr. Baillie's two letters to Mr. Turing, and his reply thereto, are to be seen in the Appendix, to yrhich the reader is requested particularly to attend. "GEORGE 127 « GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. FiNSBURY Square, 8th Feb. 1798. " My Dear Sir, * " NOTHING whatever has occurred here, I did not think it " necessary to trouble you with any letter, particularly as Mr. DurelJ was in cor- " respondence with you, and who, I suppose, informs you of every item regard- " ing counting-house affairs. I am happy to hear you find Bath comfortable, " and that you enjoy good health and spirits. Sir Charles Ross informs me, " that your piper is universally admired, which I am not surprized at, as " he certainly plays uncommonly well. If you see Sir Charles, I beg you will " remember me to him, and also to Mr. Alexander Baillie, \S you meet. I " spent last week with Mr. Franklin, at Aspenden, very pleasantly, the weather " being tolerably good, which afforded me the opportunity of both hunting and " shooting to some effect. The house is exceedingly comfortable; and, I as- " sure you, Mrs. Franklin seems to understand housewifery as well as any body " I know. I have not yet got into my house in Saville Street, from the inactivity, " I am sure, of Mr. Kidd. Indeed I am quite out of humour with him, as I " firmly believe if I had employed any body else, I should have been in it and " settled a month ago, as least. I think Kidd, however, understands his busi- " ness. I have no news of any kind^ — I have been at one or two of the duchess's " parties, but have not seen her since her niece's death. Your brother, the co- " lonel, has been out of town for some time, but I hardly know where, as I " understand the regiment has been marching to different places in both Surrey " and Middlesex. " Lam, my dear Sir, &c. &c. (Signed) " REAY, T> * This letter was never replied to, nor had Mr. Baillie, after the receipt of it, any further com- munication with Lord Reay. Th& 128 The following are Copies of Letters from COL. FULLARTON and SIR GEORGE DALLAS, which allude to the Differences between myself and my late Partners, Lang and Co. in the Years 1798 and 1199. " DEC. 8, 1798. " To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " MY DEAR SIR, " I MENTIONED to you yesterday, that I had read your statement " of your case with the other partners of your house, and the award pronounc- " ed on the discussion. It is impossible, in my opinion, for any subject to be " more concisely explained, and more satisfactorily decided for you. It would " afford me real pleasure, to learn that any mode of reconciliation had been " brought forward, so as to relieve one of the parties* confcerned from the un- " comfortable sensations, which a breach between you and him must unavoid- " ably occasion. (Signed) « Wm. FULLARTON." •' MY DEAR SIR, * " I INCLOSE your papers.-^I have perused them with attention ; *' they are every way creditable to your character. You ought to be satisfied : " the opinions of so many honourable men in your favour are very flattering, " and ought to put your mind at perfect ease. In all these cases a conscience " void of reproach is the pedestal on which innocence proudly rests : this " seems to be your firm support, and whilst you have this to stand on, you " are placed on an eminence from whence you cannot be overthrown, (Signed) " GEO. DALLAS." " UPPER HARLEY-SRTEET, " May 1799. * Colonel FuUarton means Lord Reay. t -This letter alludes to the difference and arbitration with Lang, Turing, Snell, and Lord Reay. 3 Extracts 1^9 Extracts of Letters from Mr. JOHN SAYERS of Dublin. " I HAD little doubt, from the manly part you had from the first acted, so " highly honourable for yourself, but that every person would have acceed- " ed to whatever you might have proposed." " Your exertions will reflect honour upon you to the latest hour of your " life, and you will have to say, you have done what no man before you, " under such circumstances, ever accomplished." " The printed statement, which you sent to the house, was a very able " one, and does you infinite credit : May your exertions meet their just re- " ward is my most sincere wish." Mr. Sayers is perfectly acquainted with all our concerns, and personally known to our different correspondents in the West Indies." G. B. 2 L THE 130 THE two following Letters, frovi Mr. LANG to me, are worthy of notice, and will shew a little oj that gentleman's disposition, and how much trouble I have had with him. GEORGE BAILLIE. " london, dec. 31, 1793, " 2 o'clock. To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. « MY DEAR SIR, " I WROTE to you yesterday, and have your letter of same " date BOW before me ; we perfectly agree about advances, and, though Dr. " Bell appeared to want scarce any, it might have turned out otherwise. I " told Ashwell, yesterday, I was sure we could do nothing for Mackenzie. I " have sent out by the fleet French circular letters, ^nd on this subject you " will yourself write your St. Vincent friends :— their letters are, I think, very *• satisfactory on the whole. " Thornton is not come into the city j he is much hurt at A. B. letter. I " trust such an answer will come to-morrow as to do away all misunderstand- " ing. He writes you to come up; you will judge from the temper of the " gentlemen at Bristol whether it is immediately necessary. I fear they * will " constantly endeavour to throw obstacles in the way of every plan for the good " of the family, or to serve our establishment ; we have only to act uprightly " and fairly, and I trust we shall be under no necessity to ask favours from any " body. Is your brother, the nabob, at Bath — can you get any money from " him ? I fear much nothing will be done here with Turi?ig's botids he is a * Mr. Lang means Mr. Evan Baillie and his brother. 5 " worthy 131 «• worthy good man, but of what use is he in our house ivithout his capital, " which is wanted?* We must soon have a serious 'explanation on this head, and " his different friends must join to lend him money until he can get it himself : " This explanation will come best from you. We shall, in a few day, see if " through the Cuthberts he can get the money. I am going to the Admiralty " to apply for a convoy : I will write to Mitchell when I know how soon we " shall obtain one. Was it possible, I would be at Bath to try my luck with " the lady you mentioned, if I liked her; for I am most uxoriously inclined just " now, and your introduction, from your steady character, would be of con- " sequence to me : No doubt you will make such acquaintance with these la- " dies as to meet them when they come to town. I am sure your brother *' would make a most; excellent husband ; I advise him to get a pretty little " girl with a large fortune, and to turn his sword into a ploughshare — his bill " will meet honour. " Should you come to town, when every thing is arranged, I think Snell " would accompany you down. From T's not making his appearance, I think " he may be gone for Ealing. He thought to surprize you all with the bar- ,*' gain, and enjoined silence until it was finished : He had some trouble in ar- " ranging the terms, and bringing it to bear, and he is most sensibly hurt at *' the turn the business has taken. " I am always truly, " My dear Sir, " Your's, (Signed) « ROB. LANG." * Mr. Lang continued to annoy me about Mr. Turing's bond for 50,000l. To 132 " LONDON, FEB. 4, 1794. « To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq; " MY DEAR SIR, " I HAVE your letters of the 2d : I am hurried very much to- " day, as I must meet Mr. Layburne on an old account of Mr. Lucas's; but " I wish to answer your letter, though I may be called away before I finish it. " My writing you at Bath, was under an idea I had then got, that on the " spot some ill-natured person might push for the payment of money, that " once granted would be a precedent for others to proceed on the same way : ** if you was in town I might Jind it more pleasant to consult you occasionally ; " but I think you are right to stay at Bath, as I am myself convinced your " health will benefit by it. You know the Cause, and I will make no apologies "for some instances I myself shelved you of bad temper before you left town : " my spirits were much flurried, and it affected my temper in every instance; " it was certainly owing to Thornton, who was constantly asking me if we were " doing right, in continuing to accept,* and doubting if we were so early in the " business j saying, he wished we might find the funds, &c. &c. knowing the " concerns as he did, it was enough to alarm me who never knew the want of " money, and had engaged not only myself but Snell in the business. I have " since considered the business — wondered I was so much alarmed, and really " cannot comprehend the cause of T's acting as he did ; but it could not be a " bad one : it is under an idea of, what he calls, rubbing us up ; but was cer- " tainly too serious a thing to joke upon, and his method, I agree with you, is " not pleasant; when he has lately talked to me in that style, I have answer- " ed him so — he will not again do it, as I think. / trust I shall never neglect " any business on my hands, aiid his idea of living in the counting-house is ridi- " culous, and totally unnecessary in our line of business ; however, with the * After we had engaged for about half tlie acceptances of the late James Baillie, Mr. Lang (by the recommendation of Mr. Thornton) wanted to stop any further engagemeiUs, which would have been ruinous to all parties, and I insisted on his going on. *' same 133 " same sentiments as you have, I hope you will not differ with Thornton ; he " certainly is useful in the settlement of Mrs, Baillie's affairs, and can have no " views but what are proper. I would let him know I did not like his manner " of lecturing us, but pass it off as a joke ; as he has begun, his quitting the ad- " ministration would have a bad effect. ISIy only idea of his use in the West "Indies, is in the arrangement with R. D.Jennings and Somarsall ; those " settlements are of the utmost consequence, and I fear Arnold and Bruce's " business at St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago, and Dominique^ will not give " them time to attend to it. * / believe our sentiments as to business are very " much alike, and I am very sure that neither on that score, or on any other, " shall zve ever have any difference. I have often.thoughtyoii zoould think me of " a captious disposition, from our conversation in Swithin's Lane, before you " went awayi if you knew what an agitated mind I had at that time, you would " not wonder ; and I am really astonished, that 1 let a bugbear frighten me as I " did. Thornton's only plan, as to the West Indies, he says, is to settle with " Jennings and Somarsall, and to go to Carolina and arrange about that debt ; " the object at the latter place is of great consequence to Mr. Baillie's family, " and, indeed, to ease us of advances, we must come under in the course of the " business. I have made the most accurate calculations ; our present means " will, within a few thousands, clear the month of June, if no heavy unexpected " payment occurs ; we shall then, if we accept the bills falling due that will " not meet the crop of 1795, have, from 280 to 300,0001. to provide from the " next crop. The African concerns, and Arnold Bruce and Co. will owe about " 200,0001. which I look for; the remainder must come from the other debtors " and the estates, or be found by ourselves ; and in this, I trust, we shall not " only get on comfortably, but we shall get such early remittances as to keep us " full-handed, so as not to push our produce to market, or to require assistance of " our bankers, brokers, or othg»3. Mr. Baillie's affairs must require an advance " from us besides our name, without large remittances from Somarsall, Jennings, " and the Carolina house. " 1 must say, I thought your first letter to Mr. Davison a sharp one ; I think * The trouble I have had with Mr. Lang, from the commencement of my connection with him until we separated, is hardly to be described ; he acknowledges his disposition to be captious, whicli I certainly found it to be, to my great annoyance. 2 M " your 134 " your last is a very proper one. — I do not think his first letter means a threat. " F. and R. Smyth's bills on Greg and Wood, for 17201. are not paid, nor will " they accept them ; we send them back to Arnold and Bruce. I trust, from the " message I have sent by her clerk, just now, to Mrs, Robley, I shall get an ex- " tended acceptance to those bills. Young 1 cannot meet to-day; I will push " him as much as possible — I suppose you would not have him threatened. Mr. " Lushington does not think he is going, or can go just yet. That gentleman " is very anxious about Mure's house ; if I could get Hardie's, he would give " somewhat handsome for the freehold, I am sure, not to have us his competir- *' tors: We must arrange the business, for if we bid up one another, whoever *' gets it will pay a great deal too high a price. I have wrote you a long letter ; ** be assured I am well convinced we shall now go on smoothly ; that I loillpay " every attention to the business ; and am always ready to give way to your, " judgment and wishes.* "I am,, with great truth andregard*, " My dear Sir, your's,. (Signed)' « R. LANG."- « What have you done with the bill on Caldwell Craig, 2001. ?. Extract from Mr. LANG's Letter to Mr. BJILLIE, dated the 25 th January 1796. " I HAVE never gone neari or seen Mrs. Baillie; if she had ** wished, according to her custom, to keep me as a friend, she would, I " think, have invited me to see her ; but I suppose she knows my opinion is " against her." * My partners were such, that had I-consulted thena in- the usual way,, we never could have got on with the business; and, I am persuaded, we should have quarrelled the first week, after the connection took place, had I not acted as I did. The 135 THE following letter, from Mr. Turing to me, will shexo that we were upon the best terms as late as the Sth September,. 17-97, and that he approved of my management of the business. In November following, the difference took place, xphich was occasioned by Mr. Lang's insisting on the bills of Messrs. Fraser, Alvcs, and Co. of Demarara, being noted ; zvhich bills were accepted, immedi- ately after he and the other partners took upon themselves the management of the business, (by force) which shews that they were sensible of having acted im- properly, in refusing to comply with my request. GEORGE BAILLIE. " ST. Ann's hotel, brixton^ " Sth SEET, 1.797, « To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq, " MY DEAR SIR,. " A FEW days ago I had the pleasure to receive your favour of ** Slst ult. and I am very glad to hear you find your health improved, since you " went to Brighton, where you certainly breathe fine pure air ; and being free " from the care of business, may live regularly, take proper exercise, and en- " joy a pleasant society, which I think must all continue to your re-establish- " ment ; and as you say you mean to pass some time at Tunbridge before you " return, 1 shall hope to see you quite stout and hearty, when we meet in. ** London. " It is very satisfactory to receive such pleasant accounts from the West In- " dies, where every thing appears to be in a prosperous state, and nothing is " wanting to their speedy restoration and security but a termination of the war. " I am at a loss what to think of Lord Malmsbury's negotiation — wbile he re- " mains at Lisle there is some hope of a favourable issue ; but it would appear •'by the public papers, the Directory wish to break faith with the emperor, 136 " in retaining Mantua, and if he should be obliged to continue the war, I am " inclined to the opinion, England will not desert him, but persevere in her ef- " forts, and trust to the chapter of accidents, rather than submit to extravagant " demands from France, and restore all our conquests. However, whilst *' public affairs are in so uncertain a state, I reflect with great satisfaction on " the propriety of our resolution, not to engage in new concerns, attended with " any extraordinary risk, but to persevere in the present cautious conduct we " have hitherto observed, which, under all circumstances, has succeeded wonder- ^' fully well* I confess to you, the only thing in our connection, that now affords " me the least uneasiness, is the difference unfortunately subsisting between you " and Mr. Lang, which I do think might, and ought to be avoided, by a " little attention, and reciprocal confidence. Whenever any real cause of " complaint or difference should arise, it is surely the best way to bring the " matter to an open candid explanation, in order, if possible, to end contro- " versy, which must a^t all times be unpleasant to the parties, and every person " any ways concerned ; and I shall rejoice to find your late conversation with " Mr. Hopkinson may have this happy tendency. " I am sorry to hear Mr. Hibbert has been laid up with the' gout : I shall " give you great credit as a physician ; you prescribed with success for poor " Hopkinson, who was quite a martyr to the disorder. " I have been bathing, and drinking Buxton waters, these ten days, which " do not disagree with me, although I cannot as yet say I am sensible of any " particular alteration or effect ; however, I am determined to persevere in giv- " ing them a fair trial. I have met with some few friends here, where it is not " difficult to make temporary acquaintances, with whom any person may con- " trive to pass the time agreeably enough. The place continues pretty full of " company- A\'ishing you every thing that is pleasant, I remain, " Dear Sir, your's, most sincerely, (Signed) " JOHN TURING." * I often regretted that I had not partners whom I cogld consult, and who would take a part of the responsibility off my shoulders ; I should have been much more at my eass had I been without any partner whatever, than situated' as I was. 3 Extract 137 Extract from a Letter from Mr. Turing to Mr. G. Baillie, dated Margate, 18th October, 1796. *' I WISH you would get into parliament, in order to encrease " our influence, which we should assuredly find so useful, that it might answer " for the house to contribute to your election." Extract of a Letter from Mr. Turing to Mr. Lang, dated Buxton, 10 tk Sept. 1797, 171 reply to Letters of 2d and 9th Sept. 1797. [This was given by Mr. T. to Mr. Baillie, and it evidently shews Mr. T. approved of the manner the business was managed ; and it also shews the ori- gin of the diflPerence, which occasioned the separation.] " THE circumstances of the case, and the event, fully justify " our conduct in noting Mr. Dunlop's bills ; indeed, the matter was so self- " evident, that it did not admit of the least hesitation j at the same time, I " shall be very glad, if it should be in our power, to render him any assistance " to extricate him from his present dilemma. " I have never been sanguine in my expectation, of the success of the present " negotiation, and it would now appear the French wish to break faith with the " emperor, by retaining Mantua, which will probably prove the cause of his " continuing the war; and in such an event I do not suppose England will de- " serther ally, to patch up an inglorious temporary peace, by submitting to the 2 N " extravagant 138 "■ extravagant terms of France, and restore all our conquests. Hitherto our " business has bee?i managed with the utmost prudence, and every thing, jmder " all disadvantages, has succeeded ivonderfidly well. Whilst public affairs are " so precariously circumstanced, it certainly behoves us to be circumspect in all *' our transactions, and particularly cautious of engaging in new concerns at- " tended wxih any extraordinary risk. These sentiments I believe are also con- " formable to Mr. Baillie's opinion, who, I flatter myself, does not wish to in- " fluence or over-persuade us to embark in any concern, however flattering and *' advantageous in prospect, contrary to our inclination, as you may rememiber, " on a former occasion, he declared, if we did not consent nor approve of gua- " ranteeing, he had no objection to relinquish the business altogether j and I '' believe his chief inducement, to have any connection with Demarara, is with " the view of serving Messrs. Fraser and Alves, who cannot expect that we " should do any thing that would involve. ourselves; and as to the example of " Simon Fraser, it appears to me, his conduct can only be imputed to avarici- *' ous motives, and, perhaps, suffering himself to be influenced by Messrs. " Thornton and Baillie, who are materially interested. The business arising " from our connection with Mr. Turing's house, at Middleburgh, has proved " so trifling, that their desiring to cancel the agreement is a matter of very " little consequence." THE 139 THE folloiving is a Sketch of a Letter delivered me by John J affray, Esq. in his own hand-writing, and now in my possession. It was copied and signed by me, (by his recommendation) and sent to the Arbitrators, Maitland, Milligan, and Hibbert. It shews tliat Mr. Jaffray was perfectly acquainted zvitk all that was going on at t/iat time, for it zoas a real state of the business. « " Messrs. MAITLAND, MILLIGAN, and HIBBERT. " GENTLEMEN, " WFIEN I first determined to take upon myself the concerns " of the late James Baillie, it arose from a conviction, that unless I did so, " not only his own family would probably be ruined, but all his creditors in " this country, as well as his connections in the West Indies, would be very " materially injured. - " It was with this view, and to extricate his family and his numerous con- " nections, that I found it necessary to take in partners, whom I supposed " could support the house with money, and, therefore, on the engagements " of Messrs. Lang, Turing, and Snel), to furnish 100,0001, independent of " 10,0001. from Lord Reay, I was induced to accept them as my partners, " and to give them shares of the profits, beyond the proportion of their promis- " ed advance. A copy of the original statement, on which the house was " formed, I have already sent you, to which I mQst now request your particular " attention, as it will the more readily enable you to lay down, or form a prin- " ciple to go by for the separation. Those engagements of my partners never " were complied with, notwithstanding they have reaped the same advantage, " as if they had fulfilled their promise. If, therefore, any advance is found " necessary to be made at the separation, to extiicate the remaining concerns, " I humbly 140 «* I humbly presume, that the parties, who were under an engagement to pay " in their money seven years ago without performing it, should now be called " upon to do that which in justice they ought to have done so long ago. I " have not failed in my engagements in any one instance, and am, therefore, "entitled to very great claims; and I entertain no doubt, when the business " is minutely investigated, but you will join in opinion with me. " To your better discernment, and final determination, I submit with " respect. " I am, Gentlemen, " Your most obedient servant, «' G. B." THE following sketch of a Letter to Mrs. Baillie, in Mr. Lang's hand- luriting, and now in mj/ possession, was given me by him, recommending I xvould copy it, and send it her, which I did. As soon as he completely fomented the dif- ference between that lady and myself, he did all in his power to insi?iiiate him- self into her good graces at my expence : This conduct was not confined to her, but extended to all those I had any difference ivith in the tvay of business. DEAR MADAM, " I SEE plainly that you wish to procrastinate the discussion of " the only point between us that requires arbitration : your demand of 3,5001. " per annum. " I have 141 " I have come to a final determination, to leave you to what recourse you " may have. I have given orders to G. B, and Co. not to advance you any " further sums of money : in about six months you have had 17501. I think " it proper to advise the creditors how matters stand between us, that they " may exercise their own judgment. I have been driven to these measures — " I am sorry for them on your's, and on your family's account. I am conscious " of acting in every thing with a view to their benefit, and have done more, " and at a greater risk, than any one existing would have done. " G. B." THE following Letter from Mr. Cock will shew very clearly, upon what dis- advantageous terms he raised the money for us ; say, by giving him bills of load- ing for the Integrity's cargo, the nett proceeds of which was 76541. 1 Is. 9d. be- sides long bills for 4000/. so that we had actually 1 1654/. 1 Is. 9d. lodged with a new broker, a friend of Mr. Cock's, for the 4000/. advance. G. B. « To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " DEAR SIR, " AS I could not succeed in getting any money upon the In- " tegrity's cargo, (though I am pi-omised 40001. upon it to-tiibrrow, on my de- " positing an equal sum in long bills) I have given Messrs. Down and Co. five " thousand pounds in money to meet to-morrow's payments. 1 shall be at *' South Street between one and two to-morrow, and shall remain there the " whole of the day, when we can talk over affairs.— You recollect you are to *' dine with me, and I must get you to lend me your man servant. " I am, my dear Sir, " Your's, very truly, (Signed) « S. COCK." 2 o 142 "SIMON COCK, Esq, SIR, " WE, the undersigned holders of bills on Messrs. Geo, Baillie and Co. due in the months of November and December, being informed by Mr. Baillie, that he would be able to discharge them in the course of a few- days, provided he could procure from you payment of the balance, which, he asserts, you are indebted to the house, we request you will (at least for the present) wave any personal disagreement which may subsist betwixt you and Mr. Baillie, and come to an immediate settlement of your account, as the payment of our bills would be a material convenience to us at this time, and we shall feel ourselves aggrieved if the same is much longer delayed. We beg your answer, addressed to Mr. Butler (of the house of Messrs. In- gram, Rigby, and Butler), now in London, being the principal bill-holders for these months. We are. Sir, " Your obedient, humble Servants, (Signed) " SAM. M'DOWAL, and Co. " BENJ. THOMAS, " THO. HUSON, " ROB. KITCHEN, and Co. . " INGRAM, RIGBY, and BUTLER, " TIMPERON, and LITT, " THO. EDWARDS, " ARCHD. BROWN, and Co." " SIMON 143 SIMON COCK, Esg. " London, Jan, 18, 1805. SIR, " I RECOMIvlEND the inclosed letter to your serious consideration, and request to be favoured with an answer. " I am. Sir, " Your humble Servant, • (Signed) " R. BUTLER." " RICHARD BUTLER, Esq. . • " London, Jan. 19, 1805, « SIR, " I WILL so far suppress the feelings which your very extraordinary " letter of yesterday's date naturally excited, as to return you an answer to it : " the answer then is, that, I refer you to my correspondence with my solici- " tors, Messrs. Winter, Kaye, and Co. and to Mr. Kaye's with Mr, Baillie's " solicitor, Mr. Humphreys : these letters are in the possession of Mr. BaiJlie, " and, I have no doubt, that you were privy to the contents at the time you " presumed to write to me in the terms you did ; but, Inow recommend those " papers ioyour more serious consideration. !' I will 144 " I will take care, that the bill-holders, and those, soi disant such, who " have subscribed the letter you sent me, shall have copies of the correspon- " dence to which I have alluded. " I am. Sir, '• Your humble Servant, (Signed) "S. COCK." SIMON COCK, Esq. " London, Jan. 22, 1805. SIR, " I AM totally at a loss to find out any expressions in the letter from the bill- holders of Messrs. Geo. Baillie and Co. or of mine to you, which could have authorised you to return the answer you have thought proper to send to me. I have seen the letters to which you allude. From the knowledge I have of the sentiments of Mr. Baillie, I am confident he is very desirous of terminat- ing his diflPerences with you, and coming to a settlement of account, by ar- bitration, in the usual manner j and he would even enter into a bond for that purpose, which would be approved of by any two respectable mer- chants. Therefore, the cause of the bill-holders being deprived of the pay- ment of the bills due in Novefnber and December does not rest with Mr. Baillie. 1 have sent a copy of your letter to Liverpool for the information of the bill-holders, vvho, I am certain, will be much dissatisfied with the reply you have made to their letter. ♦* I am. Sir, " Your humble Servant, " " RICHARD BUTLER." RICHARD U5 . " RICHARD BUTLER, Esq. "London, Jan. 23, ISO'S. " SIR, " THERE is nothing contained in your letter to me of yesterday's date " which calls for a reply, except that part which relates to the arbitration ; but " even that is too flimsy not to be seen through by any man of common " sense. " Considering your letter, as I must do, the production of Mr. Baillie's pen, " I am astonished at the insult offered to the understanding of the bill-holders, " I made to Mr. Baillie a clear and explicit proposal as to the terms of an ar- " bitration, which would meet my wishes and those professed by him. After " much shuffling, he finally acceeded to that proposal : my solichor, Mr. Kaye, " was accordingly desired to prepare the articles ; he did so, and they were " approved of by his solicitor, Mr. Humphreys. Now Mr. Baillie comes for- " ward with another proposition, as absurd as it is unnecessary : after having " himself employed a gentleman of the law, and compelling me to adopt the *' same mode, he now proposes that two merchants shall settle the bond of " arbitration. Was there ever a conduct so contemptibly evasive ! but I de- " spair of bringing Mr. Baillie to any thing Hke a fair arbitration. " With respect to the account, I can only confirm what I have already said " on that subject ; that the assertion so often repeated, that the payment of the " bills, falling due in November and Deceihber, is in any degree dependent *' on any funds in my hands, is a calumnious faishood. How ^Ir. Baillie may " be prepared for those payments, I have not the means of knowing ; but of "this I am pretty certain, that he has long ago been in possession of ample " funds for the discharge of the November bills ; and his reason for postponing " it, and coupling together the months of November and December, are best " known to himself, and he will, no doubt, be called upon to assign them, " I am. Sir, &c, &c. (Signed) «S. COCK." »2 p SIMON 146 " SIMON COCKy Esq. " LojfDON, Jast. 9,6, 1805. " SIR, " YOUR last letter is equally as unsatisfactory as the former with re- " spect to the solicitation of the bill-holders of Messrs. Geo. Baillie and Co. " viz. the settlement of your account, and the paymienf of the balance you " stand indebted to that house, which is solely the cause of our being deprived " of the payment of the bills due in November and December. " You have formed a very wrong idea of the last letter I addressed to you, " which, so far from being the production of Mr. Baillie 's pen, as you insi- « nuate, was much disapproved of by that gentleman ; before I s6nt the letter " to you, I gave it to Mr. Baillie for his perusal, who thought thfe language " far too mild for an answer to your abrupt and indelicate expressions to the " bill-holders and myself: however, I trust, I shall never suffer my judgment " to be hurried away by that impetuosity, which seems so prevalent in your " last letter. " I have seen'Mr. Humphrey's letter to Mr. Baillie on the subject of the ar- " bitration-bond, which is now sent to Liverpool for the perusal of the bill- " holders, who, I have no doubt, will be equally as well convinced as myself, " that it is a complete refutation of your assertions. I have had an interview " with Mr. Baillie, in which he again declares, that it is his earnest wish to " terminate all his differences with you by arbitration; for which purpose he " will give directions to his solicitor to draw up a bond, which will be handed " to you for your approbation. " I sincerely 147 " 1 sincerely hope that these differences may be terminated amicably. They *• have been the cause of great anxiety to the bill-holders. " I am. Sir, " Your humble Servant, (Signed) « RICHARD BUTLER." " RICHARD BUTLER, Esq. " London, Jan. 28, 1805. " SIR, " IN a letter wherein you compliment yourself on never suffering your "judgment to be hurried away by that impetuosity to which you ascribe the " abrupt and indelicate expressions to the bill-holders, which seem (to you) " so prevalent ir^ my last, I should hardly have expected to find a repetition of " the assertion, that my withholding the balance which I stand indebted to the " house of Geo. Baillie and Co. is the sole cause of the bills due in November " and December being unpaid : — an assertion sufficiently indelicate and ab- " rupt, even if Mr. Baillie had on this, as on some former occasions, rendered " me a suppositious account, for the purpose of inducing the belief, that a ba- " lance was due ; but, when coupled with the facts, that he has not rendered " an account of any description, and that I have repeatedly declared, that I " am not in debt to the house, I cannot but be surprized that your judgment " should allow you to persist in the circulation of reports so groundless, and at " the same time so injurious to my character and feelings, that it should allow " you to form so mean an opinion of the good sense of the bill-holders, as " that they should apply to themselves expressions provoked by, and addressed " to 148 " to you : or, that they will not see through, and be dissatisfied with the un- " founded pretence upon which Mr. Baillie has retained, for such a length of " time those funds, which ought to have been applied to the payment of the " November bills. " However successful the efforts which have been employed to mislead the " bill-holders in this respect may hitherto have been, I am so satisfied, that " they will shortly require and receive a full explanation, that I should not " have deemed it necessary to reply to your letter of the 26th, had you not " mentioned that a letter. from Mr. Humphreys to Mr. Baillie on the subject of " the arbitration-bond is sent to Liverpool for the perusal of the bill-holder?, " who, you have no doubt, will be equally as well convinced as yourself, that " it is a complete refutation of my assertions. " As such appears to be the object of this letter, and as I have made no as- " sertions on that subject, but what will be found in Mr. Kaye's letter to me, " I hope, sir, that through your interference, Mr. Baillie may be induced to " depart from his general practice, and furnish me with a copy of that letter, " that I may, on this occasion, know what is imputed to me, and that, if an " answer should be necessary, I may lay it before Mr, Kaye, who will, no " doubt, give it all the attention it deserves. " I am. Sir, *' Your most humble Servant, (Signed) " S. COCK." SIMON 149 *' SIMON COCK, Esq. " London, Feb. 1, 1805. « SIR, " IT appears, from the different letters I have received from you, that " it is not your intention to give any satisfactory information on the business, *• which has produced the correspondence betwixt you and myself, and which " is so interesting to the holders of the bills on Messrs, Geo. Baillie and Co. " due in November and December j I shall, therefore, decline entering any " farther on a subject, which, from your mode of proceeding, is not likely to " produce any effect in facilitating the operations of Mr. Baillie for the relief " of the bill-holders. I shall, however, take the liberty of observing to you, " that the suppositious account, to which you allude in your last letter, cpuld " not be made out by Mr. Baillie, in a regular manner, for want of the items* *' which were in your possession at the time the account was rendered to you. " Mr. Baillie is now in a simjiar predicament. " You have not sent in the account sales of the produce, which was con- *' signed to Messrs. S. C. and Co. consequently the balance which you owe to " Messrs. Geo. B. and Co. can only be ascertained by the supposed valuation " of the property in your hands. " Mr. Baillie is likewise unacquainted with the exact amount of the remit- " tances you have received in bills from the different correspondents of the " house. '* It is the opinion of Mr. Baillie, that you must have been in cash long " since for the different consignments made to you, and in possession of " the account sales ; therefore, if you be inclined to hand these over to him, " you will be furnished with your account current. With respect to the asser- " tion, that you are not indebted to the house, I am inclined to think it will 2 Q " prove 150 " prove as inaccurate as some others you have made on former occasions. " When you brought in your first account, stating a balance to be due from " Messrs. Geo. Baillie and Co. for upwards of 43,0001. which, so far from " being the case, you have delivered into the hands of Mr. Baillie, through the «' medium of Mr. Swanzy, bills, bills-lading, &c. to the amount of 38,0001. " and, again, at the time you thought proper to send your printed circular to " the bill-holders, you asserted, that there was a considerable balance due to " you, and you have since paid, through the medium of the same gentleman, " 8,5001. " Mr. Baillie does not presume, that the balance due from you is any thing " equal to the amount heretofore received from you : it is, however, of suffi- " cient magnitude to be necessary for the payment of the November and De- " cember bills. Before the termination of our correspondence, I wish you " would, plainly and unequivocally, state to me whether you will, or will not " furnish Mr. Baillie with a statement of all the transactions which have taken " place betwixt you and the house of Messrs. Geo. Baillie and Co. subsequent " to the first of August last; and likewise send in the account sales you have " now in your possession, and the account of produce, &c. which is unsold. " It is my intention to return to Liverpool in a short time, and it will be ex- " pected, by the bill-holders, I should have a specific answer to this request. " I should have answered your letter sooner, had I been able to procure a " copy of Mr. Humphreys' letter to Mr. Baillie, which was sent to Liverpool " without being copied ; therefore, I have been obliged to apply for one from " from Mr. Humphreys, which I now inclose for your perusal. " I am, Sir, " Your humble Servant, (Signed) " RICHARD BUTLER. RICHARD ••>. 151 RICHARD BUTLER, E^q, " London, Feb. 2, 1805. SIR, " THERE is no part of your very improper letter to me, of yes- " terday's date, which is not already answered by my former letters, and espe- " cially by that which I wrote at the same time to Mr. Kaye, and which, no " doubt, will come under your inspection. must request, that you will not take the trouble of writing any more let- " ters to me, because I shall not impose on myself that of answering themj " and, indeed, I am yet to learn what authority you have for intruding yours " upon me. " I am. Sir, " Your most obedient Servant, (Signed) " S. COCK." " P. S. If you should persist in thus teazing me with unmeaning jargon, you " will force me (a little prematurely, perhaps) to declare a fact, which, in " that case, must go through yOur medium to the bill-holders, that probably " neither you nor Mr. Geo. Baillie will much relish." SIMON 152 « SIMON COCK, Esq. "London, 4th Feb. 1805. « SIR, " THjE answer you have been pleased to make to my last " letter is just as I expected; totally irrevalent to the subject on which I " addressed you. You will please ■t O 't c fer to the letter written by the bill- " holders, which I transmitted to youj you will therein find, that you ■"TP^y " requested to correspond with me on the business, which was communicated " to you by these gentlemen; this, therefore, is my authority for correspond- " ing with you ; independently of which, I conceive, I have a just right for " enquiring after the funds of Messrs. George Baillie and Co. which, in " fact, are a part of my property, as a bill-holder of that house. " The remittances made by the establishments in the "West Indies are " intended to be applied to the liquidation of their drafts on Messrs. George " Baillie and Co. " Mr. Baillie has asserted to me, that he is unable to make arrangements " for the payment of the bills due in November and December, in conse- ** quence of your withholding the funds, which are necessary for that pur- " pose ; and, as you have not thought proper to render any account current, " all the parties interested in the affairs of Messrs. George B. and Co. must " presume, you stand indebted to that house. " I have sent to Liverpool, (and intend to send the same to the "West " Indies,) copies of the correspondence which has taken place betwixt you " and myself, for the perusal of the bill-holders. It 153 *' It will be for these gentlemen to judge of the propriety of your ct»n- " duct in refusing to give any satisfactory answer to the queries which have " been put to you. I should not have taken the least notice of your " letter, were it not for the postscript you have made to it. I expect you " will immediately make known to me the fact to which you allude. "It is my- earnest wish that the bill-holders should be informed of any " circumstance which has taken place betwixt Mr. Baillie and me. " I am certain you can advance nothing to my prejudice, which you can " substantiate ; therefore, if you presume to take any liberties either with " my character, or that of the gentlemen with whom I am connected, you " may rest assured you shall not escape with impunity ; I will order a prose - " cution to be commenced against you ; therefore, you will, no doubt, take ' '' care not to make a precipitate reply. " I am, Sir, " Your humble Servant, \ (Signed) "RICHARD BUTLER." Sr "RICHARD " SIR, 154 « RICHARD BUTLER, Esq. " LoKDON, 6th Feb. 1805. " I RECEIVED your letter of the 4th instant, yester- '^ day. " The fact to which I allude, is, that certain bills were drawn on Messrs* *' George Baillie and Co. which were accepted by Mr. Baillie, after a pro- " raise made by him, (to two of the gentlemen, afterwards appointed a com- " mitteee of bill-holders,) that he would not accept any more of such bilisj " this, I say, he did contrary to his promise, and his duty to his creditors. " The fact, I assert without the fear of contradiction or prosecution ; I feel, *' however, the obligation which your kind caution naturally imposes. If you *' wish to let the bill-holders know what part I took in these transactions, " you can shew them my letter to you of the 25th of July ; and Mr. Baillie " may furnish them with a copy of that letter which I wrote for his house, *' about the same date, for the purpose of deterring you, or the house in " which you are concerned, from drawing further bills j which letter was " entered in the letter-book, but, as I have been informed, was not sent. " I have repeatedly said, and Mr. Baillie so well knows, that I have re- " ceived no remittances on account of his house, with which he is not fully " informed; or any account sales of produce which have not been handed " over to him ; in fine, that he is as well acquainted with the state of my " accounts as myself, that I shall say no more on the subject. " I am, Sir, " Your humble Servant, (Signed) « S. COCK." REMARKS. 155 BEMARKS. IT is perhaps necessary to give, some explanation concerning the bills drawn on Mr. Baillie, ^hich Mr. Cock is pleased to call accommodation- bills. Mr. Baillie was pleased to consign to our house, at Liverpool, a quantity of sugar, with orders not to dispose of the same till the markets were more favourable. As there was a considerable advance made for freight, duties, &c. Mr. B. wrote to me, that I might draw upon the house for the same. I could not, however, expect a reimbursement for this ad- vance till th^ property was disposed of i therefore, I sent to Mr. B. the ac« ceptances of hishduse to a larger amount than I intended to draw, to be held as collateral security. I drew bills at three months 'date, and pi'ovided Mr. Baillie with good negotiable bills fofthe amount, before my drafts arrived at maturity, so that Mr. Baillie was not put to the least inconvenience, nor brought under any advance ; this I repeated several times, and have always taken care to provide for the payment of my drafts : Mr, Baillie in this business may be considered merely as my banker. (Signed) RICHARD BUTLER. MR. BUTLER was appointed by the bill-holders to correspond with Mr. Cock, and I refer to the above, which are copies of the letters that have passed between them, G. B. ■ Mn, 156 ''Mrs. BAILLIE, " HaTlcy-street. : If "' Devonshire Street, IVednesday Evening, 27th Feb. 1805. ** MADAM, " AS I have received no answer from you, to my letter of the *' 19th instant, I take it for granted that you mean to pass it over unnoticed. " I now enclose you a copy of Mr. Brockbank's letter to me, mentioned in " my last. I regret, exceedingly, that in consequence of your proceedings, 1 " am obliged to publish these two letters, with other documents, and they " shall be sent to the printing-office to-morrow evening, in case I do not hear " from you. I have been cruelly treated by you, and surely there never was " an instance of greater ingratitude ; your best friends cannot venture to vin- " dicate such conduct. " I am. Madam, " Your very humble Servant, « GEO. BAILLIE." " GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. *' Surry Road, Blackfriars, 26th Feb. 1805. " DEAR SIR, " IN answer to your application, I beg leave to inform you, thatthesimplecoptractcreditorsof James Baillie, Esq. under the deed of " trust 1.57 "trust of July, 1796, of his estate and effects, were entitled to interest on *' their debts, and I well remember giving frequent assurances to them under *• the sanction of Messrs. G. Baillie and Co. and the conimittee of creditors, " for the payment of it, and even with signed accounts current from the " house, and many of them urged, in mercantile usage, compound interest, " but, I uniformly gave my opinion against it. That the creditors were en- " titled to interest, indeed, may be easily ascertained, by reference to the " bills given by you and Mr. Thornton, before Messrs. Geor_ge Baillie and Co. " took up the concerns of Mr. B's. estate, for all those bills include interest, " and whether -the acceptances were, or not binding, in that character, I " have no doubt of their being adjustments of accounts so as from thence " to carry interest. Having understood, long before your communication, " that an arrangement was made by Messrs. Lang, Turing, and Co. for pay- ." ment of the simple contract creditors, in exclusion of interest, or some " part of it, and in violation of the original transaction; I have, also, in an- " swer, to give you my opinion, that under all the circumstances, and allow- " ing the funds to be ample to satisfy creditors, it must have required g,reatef " dexterity than I can comprehend, to induce those creditors to come into " any settlement to debar them of interest, and that it will be very difficult to *' substantiate it in case of litigation. You'll remark, however, the reasons " given to the creditors are not before me, and I am, therefore, in the situa- " tion of not having heard both sides. •' Your other question, respecting the assignment of debts to Mr. Smith " and Mr. Dean, being fair and honourable, or otherwise, on the part of " Messrs. G. Baillie and Co. strikes me with no small degree of astonishment. " In the critical situation of the very extensive concerns of the late Mr. Baillie, *' it was of the first importance to his creditors and family to get an exten- " sion of payment, in order to re-establish the Bacolet plantation, and to " collect his debts, &c. but which could not be done without the consent of " the creditors, some of whom, to the amount of about 4900/. would not *' grant such extension, or execute any deed, but persisted in bringing " actions, or having their debts purchased; and Messrs. George Baillie " and Co.. in order to effectuate the general arrangement, paid the consider- " ation for such debts, and took the assignments in question. The validity "Jn equity rule of those deeds was, before their execution, remarked on by 2 s " xne. 158 " me, but the idea that Mrs, Baillie could depart from, the right course, and " agitate such a question, was deemed so improper on my part as to be con- " strued into an iJliberal insinuation against her honor, and I was. obliged to " pocket a reproof, for, as I then thought, and still think, doing my duty. — " I can fairly ask, would any other mercantile house have then employed a " capital in the purchase of debts postponed as those were, to specific lega- " cies, extensive allowances, payment of advances made, and to be made, to " re-establish a West-India estate, enormous specialty debts and interest, *' with hands tied up for five years, running the loss of compound interest *' as it turns out for seven or eight years, and then subject to be paid share " and share alike, with a very heavy list of creditors, amounting, at the end "of five years, to 120,000/. and upwards, and all the property forming the " security, (though saved nearly from perdition in September, 1793, by your " enterprising spirit, at an unparalleled hazard through your engagements, " and, also, indemnities to Mrs. Baillie, and Messrs. Lang, and Turing,) " at the very time in the greatest want of succour from the experience, " connections, pecuniary strength* and respectability of your house, and^finally " resting on the prosperity of colonies reaking with calamities almost too dread- " ful to recur to. I say, would any man not bereaft of his senses have so *' parted with his money, without looking to some reward for his risk ? My " answers to you are, that no one would ; and that the assignments were ""' fair and honourable on the part of the house, and I can, from my con- " science, avow to you, that the difference on the sums paid and those to be " ceived, in case the deeds were treated as valid, would not be equivalent •' for the riski, and although; it is a rule in equity, that a trustee shall not " purchase in securities, say, on land or bond, in England, so as to avail " himself of more than his money advanced, and interest, yet nearly all rules " are subject to exceptions; and, under all the circumstances of this case, " and the very bad grace with which Mrs. Baillie could shew her face in a " court of equity, to set aside the assignments. I really think, an attempt " so fraught with wrong, may be resisted with success, and, even if acceded " to, and not under release by deed from the house, may, and ought to be, " reclaimed. I am aware, that Mrs. Baillie may say, that she is an execu- * Which incurred advances and guarantees, as I am informed, exceeding 400,000?. 3 ♦* trix. *' trix, and must pursue a strict line of conduct ;" but, I have to answer, that " the v^hole arrangement 6f the affairs of the late Mr. B. is deviated from a ^' course of administration, and that, after payment of debts, her prior " sweeping-claims, which I estimate at more t'han 60,0007. and the lega- *• cies and devises to Mr. Alexander Baillie will nearly place all the beneficial " interests under the* will in' them,' but should it be otherwise, her sons and " daughters, (except one,) being of age, can assent to Mess. G. B. and Go's. *' claim urider the assignments. " Permit me to add a few remarks regarding my own situation in these " two transactions, for they present to my mind a very great abuse of me, as " a professional man ; with confidence in the honor and rectitude of Messrs. •' George Baillie and Co. and the committee of creditors, and expressly " under their direction and authority, I gave the best and strongest as- " surances in my power, for months, (say years,) to a very numerous and " respectable body of creditors in a concern so extraordinary in magnitude, " as to place on me the eyes of much of the mercantile and plantation in- " terest, and I succeeded and satisfied every creditor, (say 110 to 112, one " half with terms for debts nearly to 'lQ0,e00/.) that interest would be paid " on the simple contract debts; ahd, four or five years afterwafdsj in viola- " tion-of such assurances, and to benefit Mrs. Baillie, an arrangement was *' made, through another solicitor, for piayment of the debts without interest, ♦'bringing on me reprodches for deception, ahdSvorking an extensive in- "jury. In like'man:rter, deeds prepared by me perfectly fair and honorable, " and sound in my judgement, under all thecrrctimstarices, are impeaphed *' or vacated, or about to be so, and the money of Aiessrs. George Baillie arid "Co. in equity and' honesty put into Mrs. Baillie 's pocket, subjecting me *' again, behind my back, to reproach for the loss sustained by thern. " Your commiiriicatiou having induced me thoroilghly to review the busi- " ness done by me in the "affairs of the late Mr. B. I feel much satisfaction " in stating what I believe will be confirmed by you and Messrs. Lang and " Co. and also the committee of creditors, that no one thing that could be- *' nefit the estate was undone by me, and that my incessant exertions were, " in every instance, crowned with' success beyond the most sanguine ex- " pectations of all concerned j and when I turn my mind, in particular to " the 160 " the first reference with Mr. Macnamara, and fixing him in it, and the mon- " strous and unfathomable accounts, and want of vouchers for any court of "law and. equity, and with such a man to deal with, I can, with a firm " conscience subscribe, that I have been, and am, " Your faithful humble Servant, (Sign^ed) " JOS. BROCKBANK*." "London, 19th Feb. 1805. " Madam, " AS an attempt has been made to ruin my character, and " overset all the regular plans, for the liquidation of my extensive mercSntiie " concerns ; which, although the diabolical schemes have been completely " firustrated, and the promoters will, I trust, fall into the very pit they " have dug for me : still it is necessary to shew the numerous connexions " and those dependant upon the house, how matters stand. I have, therefore, " prepared a state of facts, that you will, 'ere long, see in print ; and to which " I must beg leave to refer for many particulars respecting your late worthy " husband's concerns ; which will make it unnecessary for me to repeat in " this letter. My arrival in this country, and the manner in which I took up " Mr. Baillie's concerns, &c. &c. are fully explained therein. It will be con- " firmed by that statement, and what all around me well know, that my " management, exertion, and enthusiasm, have been the means of saving you " and your family from ruin, it being clear, that they would not have had a * Messrs. Brockbank and Wilson were the solicitors employed by Messrs. G. B. and Co. in the concerns of the late James BailUe. *' sixpence 161 " sixpence left, had I not taken upon myself tlie sole direction, and manage- " ment of these extensive concerns. I must now mention the reward that I " have met with from you, for all that I have done, and how you proceeded to " persecute me. Previous to the calamity in St. Vincent and Grenada, when " you were praising me to my face for all the good offices I was doing for you, " you were abusing me in my absence, to such a degree, that I was obliged " to speak seriously to you on the subject, which you must recollect, as I gave " you a severe reprimand. When the calamity in Grenada happened, and your " estate of Barcollett, was entirely destroyed, and, in short, the other concerns " of your late husband very much injured and deranged ; you then, and not "before, insisted upon your full annual allowance left you and your children " by the will of your husband, say 3,500/. per annum. You seem to have " entirely forgot the creditors, and the immense sura due to them ; which, " when I took up the business, amounted to upwards of 700,000/. and you " imagined, that, as I had undertaken the management of the concerns ; I was *' liable to you for the allowance, whether your husband's estate became solvent " or not. You said, you and your family could live for 1750/, per annum. I " offered you that sum, and to let the remainder lay over until the debts were " nearly paid, but you positively refused. A meeting of your friends was " called, Mr. Gordon, Sir W. Farquhar, Mr. Hamilton, &c. &c. and this " sum again tendered ; but you authorized your friends to say, that you must *' have to the full extent of what was left you and the children annually, placed " to your credit. You consulted Mr. Gibbs, and other lawyers, in hopes that " you could insist upon my complying with your views ; but you found you " had not the least chance, and I was obliged to stop your allowance, until " you became more reasonable ; knowing, that the creditors would tear the " estate to pieces, if it was for a moment thought by them, that you had more " than what was considered reasonable. " As I would not agree to give you the sum you required, you laid down " your carriage, discharged your servants, took a small habitation at Hamp- " stead, where you retired with all the appearances of poverty ; invited your " friends to see you in this distressed situation, which you attributed entirely " to me ; and told them the grievances of being obliged to borrow 5/. from '■ one, and 10/. from another, to sell your plate to a third, and some wine " to a fourth, &c. This melancholy story was related much to my prejudice i 2t "in " in short, that I was the cause of the whole. You moreover added, that my " conduct had brought a dropsy upon you, to which you would fall a sacrifice : " at the very time you did this, you contiaued your house in HarJey Street, " and your house at Ealing grove, and you had the cellars of both well supplied " for many years. It would take up. a quire, of paper to repeat all that I have " heard of your extraordinary proceedings on this occasion ; still, I bore the " whole with patience, and proceeded in the direction of your husband's " affairs as if nothing had happened. A meeting of the creditors was called " to refer it to them, and a committee appointed ; the question of your allowr- " ance was agitated : many of the creditors thought 500/. enough, some talked " of 1,0C0/. but none exceeded 1,500/, I was asked my opinion, and I said ■" 1,500/. per annum, would be very handsome, which was immediately fixed, " and I desired the committee to communicate the same to you, and that I would *' add ZOOl. a year to it out of my own pocket, to make it 1,800/. if you re- " quired it, but that the estate could not afford more than 1,500/, This was " 50/. above the sum you required, or thought necessary, for the support of " yourself and family. When this was reported to you, you refused it with "disdain, and threatened to throw the whole into confusion, unless your " allowance was increased. Every attempt was made by you for this purpose^ " though unsuccessful j and to make short of it, you were at last obliged "to accept of the sum proposed by the. committee, say 1,500/. At this •' time, the prospect was gloomy, and you firmly believed what Mr. Gor- " don told you, that your husband's estate was insolvent, and that you had " better secure as much as you could out of the ruins. All idea of the creditors " being paid, or any hopes of a reversion, W3S quite out of the question with " you. My opinion was perfectly different. I always said, there would be " a reversion of upwards of 100,000/. The great point with me, was, to keep " the creditors quiet, and get them to .sign a deed, then made out, and which " they would not do, until they ascertained the impartiality of my conduct " towards you, for if I had given way to what you wanted, the deed would " never have been signed, and the whole would have been lost for ever. I " must here mention a letter from Mr. M'Kay, (now Lord Reay) which ac- " companies this, and will shew the money you received up to the 1st. January, " 1796, 8,624/. at which time, your complaints were great. I always (not- " withstanding the calamity) expected there would, by proper management, " be a large reversion ; the great matter, as I said before, was to keep the cre- " ditors 165 " ditors in good humour ; what you did not receive then, would afterwards be '^' made up to you, with interest, besides the advantages of a large property " being secured for your children. Things have just turned out as I always " expected ; but, had you been allowed to act as you were advised by Mr. " Gordon and others, whose narrow contracted ideas, would never suit the " embarrassed state of such extensive concerns ; every effort of mine for " your salvation, must have proved abortive, so that in the struggle to do what " was right, and what I thought was for the benefit of yourself and family; " contrary to your ideas, or what you were advised to do :^ — I say, in that *' struggle we quarrelled, and have never since spoken, nor have you allowed " any of your children to come near me. The last request of your brother-in- " law, Mr, Alexander Baillie, to you, just before he died, was, to make up the "difference with me- he intreated me to meet you halfway, to which I " agreed most readily. Mr. Bolton was deputed, by him, to reason the matter " with you, as he was so 111 at Bath, that he could not come to town. Mr. " Bolton had my authority, before Mr. Alexander Baillie, to say any thing " he chose ; he accordingly called upon you, and after a long conversation, he " returned to me, and observed, that it was impossible a reconciliation could " take place, you were so inveterate against me. A second attempt was " made by another mutual friend, equally unsuccessful, which forced me to re- " linquish the object, and I at last gave it up as entirely hopeless. You con- " tinued your attacks, in all directions, to injure me ; and make me appear as " having treated you most cruelly*. You have mortgages upon my estates for " large sums of money paid off upwards of seven years ago, but you refused "to discharge them, from the idea of its embarrassing me; while I had " the power I migbt have discharged them, had I not considered it a thing " that could be done at any time; in this instance, therefore, you have taken a " very unfair advantage of my fnadvertency to my own interest, while I was " devoting all my attention to forward your's. I had transactions with your " late husband for many hundred thousands of pounds ;. every sixpence, as I " have already mentioned, is discharged several years ago, and our account ba- " lanced, and had 1 been, or were I now, inclined to litigate, several charges " must be given up in. my favour. * A bill in chancery must be filed in order to compel Mrs. B, to cancel the mortgages. " Yoa 164 " You obtained from the heirs of Messrs. Fraser and Bannatyne, a power " to receive, from Mr. Alves and myself, the balance due to the^m from my " late concerns ; which, owing to the losses by the insurrection, &c. could not " be paid for a long time, this power was got soon after my house made a tempo- " rary demur, and instead of acting as others did, in giving the indulgence we " required, you made an immediate demand ; with which, as I could not " comply ; without the smallest hesitation, you filed a bill in chancery against " the very man, who saved you and your family from ruin, and this at the very " time every other creditor of the house came foward in the most handsome " manner, yourself being the onrly person, who had taken any ofFensive mea- " sures against me or the house. " I must here mention, that Messrs. Fraser and Bannatyne, to whose estate " the money is due, were insolvent, and owed your late husband 20,000/. of " which, he said, he never could get paid any part, unless I took them into " my house, therefore, in order to enable them to do this, and to meet the " views of my friend, I agreed to admit men, that were of no use in respect '■ to credit or otherwise, and all the reward I have yet received from you, for " this, and other benevolent acts, you must allow has been stated in this ad- " dress. Such conduct is wholly insufferable, and compels me to shew how " very ill I have been treated, by you in particular, and how grossly matters *' have been in general misrepresented. Nothing could possibly induce me to " trouble you at present, but the peculiar situation I am placed m, and the " various attempts which have been made on several occasions to injure my " credit and reputation. " I have been as delicate with you in this letter, and in my printed statement " as existing circumstances would permit, it being my earnest wish, in every " possible case, to spare your feelings, as the widow of my worthy relation, " for whose memory, I shall ever cherish the most grateful respect. I had " nearly forgotten the behavior of Mr. Thornton, who was admitted as an " assistant, instead of which, his conduct was such, as to place you in a most " awkward situation, in which, however, I protected and defended you, so " that you were not the least affected by his misconduct. I cannot h.elp men- " tioning your- very iiorlhy friend and adviser, Mr. James B. Gordon, to 1 " whom 165 *' whom I applied to be your security, with myself, for 150/. (which was only " for your appearance) for which you were to be arrested ; he refused, saying, " that in all money matters, he would not interfere ; though, as for as advice, " he was at your service on all occasions j but it could not be expected that *' he would come under any advance or engagement: — Such was the conduct " of your great friend, and if you had been allowed to follow his advice, and "- that of your other friends, equally useless, you and your family would have " been, this day, beggars. I took all the risk and responsibility of every de- " scription upon myself, which was immense, and when we came to a settle- " ment of accounts, they were so clear, that there were only two things which " you objected to, which are as follows : " At the time the award was closed between Messrs. Lang, Turing, Snell, "Lord Reay, and myself, there were two matters which were left unsettled, " as they could not then be ascertained ; being disputed by you. One, *' the commission upon all G. B. and Go's, bill engagements for James " Baillie and. Co, to the amount of some hundred thousands, for which I, " as acting for the family of your late husband, thus stipulated ; that they, " G. B. and Co. should receive, upon their engaging for and paying all the " African bills, the same commission as your late husband would have " charged the drawers, had he been alive, viz. one and a quarter upon pay- " ing, and one and a quarter upon receiving the remittances from the West " Indies. " I understood, that you were advised by Mr. Evan Baillie to resist the " payment of this commission ; alledging, it could not be received, and that " half per cent, upon paying, and half per cent, upon receiving, was fully *' sufficient, though I will venture to assert, that, Mr. Evan Baillie would not " have entered into similar engagements at the time for twenty per cent. " The other disputed matter which you said Mr. Evan Baillie also advised " you not to pay, was this, from the alarm which he, (Mr. Evan Baillie) " originally excited, respecting the concerns of his late brother; several of " the tradesmen offered to sell their demands for 10^. in the pound, among " which were two of my acquaintances, Mr. William Mauduit and Mr Lan- 2 u " caster. 166 " taster. At this tirtie, it was necessary, in' order to prevent actfons from' •' being brought against the estate, to get the tradesmen to sign a deed, graiit* " ing an indulgence of four er five years, Mr. Mauduit and Mr. Lahtaitef " ^(veretWo of the principal peoples and r&uch respected and looked up to' " by the others. I endeiavoured all in rt^y p'ower to prevail upoh them to " sign the deed, which VvaS then prepated-, kttowing that their signature afone " would influehce the rest to follow their example ; I assured them that " there woVild be, at least, a feversion of upwaHds of 100,000/. if indulgence •' was granted, but this, and every other argument I could make use nf, '■ had no effect ; they positiv^ely refused, and determined to sell their debts foi "lO^inthe pound; and I, finding every attempt unsuccessful, and' to pre- *' vent things being thrown into confusion, promised Mr. Mauduit and Mr, " Lancaster that, if they would sign the deed, I would get a friend, upon " their assigning over the debt, to pay them the money. It was stipulated " that they should not mention this expedient, for although two or three of " the debts might be purchased in this manner, more could not be under- " taken by the parties, and to this Messrs. Mauduit and Lancaster agreed, •' which had the desired effect; for 1 then got the deed s5gtie*d by all the " rest, who immediately followed their example. The purchase &om Mr, " Mauduit and Mr. Lancaster was made with the money of my late house, •' say, George Baillie and Co, and on their account; but as I did not wish " them to appear in it, the debts were assigned over by Messrs. Mauduit and " Lancaster to Mr, Dean, then confidential head clerk to G. B. and Co. and " now, in that situation, with Messrs, Lang, Turing, and Co. It was ex- " ceedingly inconvenient for the house to advance this money, and the " prospect of profit, situated as they then were, was no object whatever • " but, however inconvenient, it was absolutely necessary ; for, until Mauduit " and Lancaster signed, the other tradesmen would not agree to the deed in " question. It seems, Mr. Evan Baillie recommended you to resist the pay- " ment of this also ; so that the accomplishment of a transaction, which was " so essentially necessary to save your late husband's afl^airs from downright " confusion; and, for which, I richly merit a great deal of credit; is now, " it seems, the only flaw that can be brought forward in the whole of my " conduct in all my extensive transactions, which Mr. Cock has been able, " from you and Mr. Lang, to discover, and which he magnifies into a mighty " charge 167 " ctiar^e against me, by telling the story in hi? own way, and crowing over *' it, as a fo«l speck in the character of the immaculate Mr. Baillie, as he is "pleaded to state it, who now accuses said Cock of taking undue advantage " of the firn^ of Kj. B. and Co.; if Mr. Cock relates this as it really happened " it wil( be highly to ray credit. I have lately heard^ that some years ago, " a compromise was made between you and Messrs. Lang, Turing and Co. *' wherein you gave up the disputed, commission of two and half per cent. " upon the advantage of the ^ebt bought from Mauduit and Lancaster, 8fc. " being made over to you, so that Messrs. Lang, and Co. have still to ac- " count to me for one quarter of the commission account, or the difference " between one per cent, and two and half per cent, which they have received " from your late husband's estate. They never have thought proper to give " me any intimation of it, whereas;, had it been money expected from me, " I should soon have heard of it, but when Mr, Lang has money to pay, he " keeps very quiet on the subject, so that with this sum, and the money " received on my account from the West Indies, say, about 1400/. he has a " large balance to pay me, waving the relinquishment of my security to " Mr. Snell-Chauncey, for him, (Mr. Lang,) which I have often attempted " in vain to get -cancelled, and though this has constantly been promised, "the performance seems quite as distant as ever 5 it was for 5000/. or " 10,000/. " It will be allowed, by all who know what I have done, that you never " ought to have objected to the above-mentioned transactions ; they are "fair, just, and honburable ; but what will your friends say when they hear " further, that the respectable tradesmen, who have given you a period of " seven years indulgence, their debts, I believe, amounted to upwards of " 30,000/.* acknowledged accounts ; for which they were promised interest " me, as acting for you, and they could have recovered it by law, and can, " at this moment, by equity : what will they say, when they are told, that " these debts were agreed to be paid (by your agent, Mr. Lang, who is ca- " pable of any business of this kind,) on no other conditions, than that the in- * The simple pontract debts, for which interest ought to have been paid, amounted to near 10,0001. " terest 168 " terest of seven or eight years should be given up to a family that had 120,000/. " reversion at least ; in consequence of the deception and misrepresentation of " Mr. Lang, respecting the situation of your concerns, the creditors gave " way with much murmuring, even to this day. It is evident, Mr. Evan " Bailiie was your adviser in all that you have done ; I wish I could " give him any credit for assisting, in the least, by advice or otherwise, " my great operation, in extricating your extensive and intricate concerns j on *' this subject I shall say no more to you at present. " If the worthy man, who is no more, could rise and view such proceed- ** ings, how mortified would he be. " I am astonished, that for the credit of your family, you would allow re- *' spectable men, who have been so indulgent, to be such great sufferers, and. " particularly, where there was no necessity for it, there being such a large " I will here declare, that I never attempted to benefit myself at the ex- " pence of your concerns ; on the contrary, I have taken immense risk and " responsibility without any advantage, except the small commission re- " ceived by the house ; and here I cannot omit mentioning the circum- " stance of the only property of your husband's that was brought to sale " in the West Indies, the North Brook Estate : I wrote to Messrs. Arnold and *' Bruce, who were your attornies and mine, if it went under its real value " to purchase it in my name, that I would run the risk of any loss ; whereas " I announced to them, and to you here, that any profit on the resale of it " you should have. It was bought in for me, and they sold it afterwards^ " to Dr. Stewart, at a much less profit than I expected, which displeased " me much ; the advantage, however, you got, and I regretted for your " sake, it was no more. " The foregoing facts are submitted to your most serious reflection, and " much will depend on the impression they may yet make on your mind, as " to their ultimate publication to the world in my own defence j I, therefore, 5 " give 169 « give you this last opportunity of doing my character that justice which was " many years ago due to my unremitting exertions on your behalf. " I am, Madam, " Your very humble Servant, « GEORGE BAILLIE." « P. S. Mr. Brockbank, of the house of AVilson and Brockbank, was our attorney, and was employed in your concerns ; he has seen what I have stated, and has confirmed it by a letter under his hand. " G. B." « GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. « £ath. " 1st Jan. 1796. «' MY DEAR SIR, " I RECEIVED your's in due course, and I would have " answered it yesterday had not Mr. Lang been writing to you. The packet " is this morning arrived, but I don't think she brings any thing particular, as " matters seem to be exactly in the same situation they have been in since "^ the arrival of the Scipio; Mr. Lang says, however, he will write you what " news there are, so I beg leave to refer you to him. The remittances only " amount to about 1600/. I observe what you say of a certain lady, my opi- *' nion of her has long been established, and I assure you I am determined 2 X " that 170 " that our intercourse with each other will be as little as possible. She i* " an unprincipled d — 1. " The sums she has received are as follows : L. For sundry debts, &c. &c. previous to 7th Sept. 1793, - 3.957 Family expences since 7th Sept. 1793 to 1st May, 1794, 797 Ditto, 1st May, 1794, to 1st May, 1795, 1720 Ditto, 1st May, 1795, to 1st Jan. 1796, 2150 " Mr. Brown has done nothing yet for the Tartar, nor does he think there " is any prospect of it at present ; at least, any thing that can be advanta- " geous for the ship. Captain Dunlop has come to no resolution, but he " says, he is perfectly willing to go out with Captain Jones, if you advise «it. " I hope you are getting the better of your cold. Wishing you many " happy new years, I remain, « My dear Sir, " Your's most sincerely, (Signed) « ERIC MACKAY." THE calamity happened in 1795, this letter is dated 1st January, 17&6, when Mrs. Baillie was complaining to all her friends how ill I behaved, and that I would not allow her a sufficiency to support her family. I was then at Bath, and wrote to Mr. Mc. Kay, now Lord Reay, to send me a state of her account, as it was unpleassant to hear such reports, and the above is his reply. She has had 8624/. in two years and four months, and when the simple contract creditors had not received, for some years afterwards, principle or interest. G. B. 171 THE following are sundry letters, and an extract of a Letter, from John Bolton Esq. to which I request the reader's particular attention. These are selected from a voluminous correspondence on the same subjects, and in the same style. G. B. " To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq, " LIVERPOOL, JUNE 24, 1802. " MY DEAR SIR, " I HAVE before me your favour of the 21st, and I vsrill thank " you to give me your guarantee for the different houses you name therein, as " well as your sentiments, vfhat directions I should give my vessels. " The King George and Bolton are directed to Barbadoes for orders, and I " have the Neptune nearly ready for the same voyage. The Elizabeth goes to " the Gold Coast again, and Capt. Giles will be up in London early the next " week, to chuse her cargo, when I shall desire him to call on youi I feel " surprized 1 have heard nothing of the Horatio since she left Demarara. — Pray " is she selling with your house at St. Vincent. " I am truly your's, (Signed) " J. BOLTON." " Messrs 172 " Messrs. WILLIAM M'KENZIE, and Co. ", Demarara. " LIVERPOOL, KOV. 2, 1802. " GENTLEMEN, " IN consequence of my friends, Messrs. Fraser, Llttledale, and " Go's determination of selling no more African cargoes, and of closing their " mercantile concerns in your colony ; and, likewise, from the very long and *' grpat intimacy, that has subsisted between me and our mutual good friend, " Mr, ^G. Baillie, (and after consulting him) I have ordered all my African " ships to your address without restriction or limitation. They are all sailed " from hence, and put down at foot of this as I think they may arrive : The " two first are directed to Barbadoes, but the six following to Demarara, " where I hope you will sell them all, as I am persuaded they will not do so " well elsewhere ; and I shall be satisfied with your good management to them, " being convinced you will use every exertion for my interest, in disposing of " their respective cargoes, and also in placing me on the most liberal footing, as " to the sight of the bills, that the nature. of the sale will admit of. I have *' said thus much at the desire of Mr. Baillie, who will write to you on the sub- ** ject, and for your government, in making due provision for their sale. — " Hoping to hear from you when convenient, " I am, very respectfully. Gentlemen, " Your most obedient servant, (Signed) " J. BOLTON." King George - - - James Phillips - - - From Bonny. Bolton John Reddie - - - Ditto. Neptune ----- Thomas Bushel - . Ditto. Elizabeth James Giles - - - Gold Coast. S Christopher 175 Christopher - . - - John Hurd - - - - Windward Coast. Governor Wentworth - John FotherJDgham - Ditto. Horatio Daniel Cox - - - Gold Coast. John - - - . - John Roach - - Bonny, J. B. " To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " LIVERPOOL, JA.V. 29, 1S03. " MY DEAR SIR, " I WAS this morning favoured vikh. yortiPs of the £7th, and I as- " sure you I think myself fortunate in the Neptune selling with your house in " Demarara ; and I am also of your opinion, that the Surinam and Demarara " markets will be the best in the West Indies ; and I beg you will confirm my " wish to M'Kenzie and Co. to sell all my ships. The King George is got " safe to the Havariuah, and I hope may do welL I trouble you with two *' bills for acceptance, say James Murphy on your house for 45711. 5s. lid. " and Samuel Wells Gordon, on Nelle and Hunt, for 7501. The Bolton is got *' in from Barbadoes — has averaged at 531. JOs, Bills on Daniels at 9, 12, and " 15 raoDlhs. " I am truly, " .My dear Sir, your's, (Signed) " J. BOLTON." 2 Y EXTRACT. J74 EXTRACT. " LIVEREOOL, FEB. 14, 1803,, " MY DEAR SIR, " I RECEIVED your favour of the 12th this morning, inclosing " my acceptance for 27171. 12s, 6d. which I now return you, having provided " for it at Mr. Denison's as accepted j I am, notwithstanding, equally obliged " to you. (Signed) " J. BOLTON." " To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. -> *' LIVERPOOr, MAY 28, 1803. " MY DEAR SIR, " I HAVE this day taken the liberty of valuing on your house for " 10161. 3s. in five bills, as advised them, which I will thank you to honoqr, as " due provision will be made for payment of them. " I am extremely anxious that some immediate steps should be taken by our ** government, to recover the colony of Deraarara ; for if they delay it, the French " will surely get possession. Can we do any thing from hence to promote it ? " Pray give me your opinion on the subject. I expect the Elizabeth soon ; they " would not suffer her to load for Holland, * I am truly, '' My dear Sir, your's, (Signed) " J. BOLTON." "To 175 " To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " LIVERPOOL, MAY 1, 1804. « MY DEAR SIR, " I RECEIVED your letter this mornmg, annexing extracts of let- " ters. I can only say you are aMiberty to put your consignments into what " hands you please ; but I can assure you, neither Mr. Aspinall nor Mr. Case " would have been so easy, or satisfied about your concerns, had it not been for " me, nor the bill-holders in general j for I have all along stated to them, I knew " your business perfectly, and that I conceived the paper as good as my own ; " and, in regard to Mr. Leod's observation, I am not surprized at it, as he knows " I forced him out of the former house ; but I can assure you, no man could be " more delicate and circumspect, than I have all along been, respecting your " house, and I named it to nobody at Demarara but Mr. Littledale, and that in " confidence. "When I recommended to Mr. Cock, what Mr. Case agreed with *' me in, to take immediately the advantage of the extension, agreed to here by " the bill-holders, it was to bind some I found much inclined to refuse ; and as ** no written agreement was entered into, many will I fear still. •' I am just going to drill — excuse this scrawl. (Signed) '' J. B." Mr. KAYF, 176 " Mr. KAYE, " Of the House of Winter, Kaye, and Co. " SIR, " IT is well known to all my enemies, that every thing in your power *' has been done, for years past, to harrass me. Your antipathy to me originated, I " suppose, from my not employing you as a professional man, when I first com- " menced business in l?93, and from my objecting to (what I conceived to be) " most exorbitant charges, which you rendered in against ray house at the time^ " the exchequer loan was granted. You then were, and still continue, soricitor " to the Board of Exchequer, for the loan to the St. Vincent and Grenada mer- " chants, where your supposed influence induced the unfortunate applicants to " give way to your insolence and extravagant demands : I, among others, was " obliged to submit with reluctance. The trouble and vexation, to which " you have been the means of subjecting me at that board, are beyond concep- " tion ; and so inveterate is your rancour against me, that all my enemies fly to " you, for the moment, in preference to their own men of business, when they; " have any object to litigate with me ; Messrs. Lang and Co. Mr. Cock, Mr- " JafFray, Mrs. Baillie; the junto of Messrs. Andrew Reid, John Bolton* " Thomas King, and A. Calvert, have all availed themselves of this hostility, " as will appear by the letter to the Board of Exchequer, which you wrote for " their signature. When my house demurred in their payments, the noble " manner in which the bill-holders came forward, to grant the indulgence we " required, is well known ; the liberality and confidence shewn are beyond " example : yet, when all this was going on, you recommended Mrs. Baillie to " file a bill in chancery against me, as will be seen by my letter to that ladyf " You knew well that I had saved her and her family from ruin, and still you " encouraged her to proceed against me so impToperly as she is now doing ; " you advised one of our bill-holders to enter an action against us, which, «' upon explanation by me, he immediately dropped. Another bill-holder ap- " plied to you ; we offered to arrange the debt, and put it upon the same foot- " ing with that of others, for the same month ; to this you would not agree " without we paid your charges, to which I objected. The sum was 4001. 1 " and 177 ** and for this you immecliately arrested me ;* I gave security; you then com- " menced an action, which I defended ; and it will appear, that your client " would have been in cash, for this 4001. debt, three months sooner, had you ** taken my offer, and waved your charge of 31. At this moment you are the " only person who is prosecuting me ; — look round, and view the magnitude " of our concern — examine the report of the principal bill-holders —and read *' my statement of facts — and then, I am convinced, if you have a grain of ge- *' nerosity or feeling in your composition, you will be ashamed of your proceed- *' ings ; adverting to the old adage, " Better late than never," I wish you a ** speedy reformation, and am. Sir, " Your very humble servant, (Signed) " GEORGE BAILLIE.* ** P. S. What excuse can you possibly make for advising Mrs. Baillie not to " release the mortgages on my estates, which had been entirely paid off ** seven years ago ?" « To EVAN BAILLIE, Esq. M. P. Bristol. « SIR, " IT is with much reluctance I now take up the pen, on "a subject ** which has so long since occurred ; but it seems a variety of unforeseen events " make it absolutely necessary for me to relate, as near as I possibly can, what " passed between you and myself upon the. death of your worthy brother, " James, in the arrangement of his various and extensive concerns. As you " were the only executor to whom the family, and all connected, could look up, " you commenced your operations by attending at the counting-house of James ** Baillie and Co. and investigating the concern, in order that you might be the " better able to judge of the most eligible plan to be adopted for the preserva- ^ tion of : the family, and their numerous connections. Your report every day '* became more and more, imfavourable, so much so, that some of the creditors Mr. Kaye sent two bailifis to the counting-house of George 'Baillie and Co. 2 z " offered 178 " offered their debts for lOs. m the pound. Your opinion .was, that, Froaj'the " embarrassed and critical state of things, added to the immense engagements, *• say between 7 and 800,0001. it was impossible for you to move in any other " way, than by the regular course of administration; to pay first thcigovern- *' ment debt, then the bond debts, and, lastly, the foreign bills, and tradesmen's " accounts ; this mode of proceeding would have been ruinous to the estate, *' and all connected with it: the foreign bills, amounting to between 4 and " 500,0061. would have returned to the West Indies under protest, and proper- " -ty brought to sale at a very unfavourable moment,; and it was evident, under " such measures, there would be no chance of saving the connections from ruin, '• or leaving any reversion to the family. My statement of facts, together •' ;with my letter to Mrs. Baillie and others, are so full on this subject, that it is " nnnecessary for me to enlarge upoh it here ; — sufEce it to say, that there was *• no other prospect left to save all, than my coming forward and establishing a "' house of business, and taking great risks and responsibilities upon niyself ; " this was also the opinion of Mrs. Baillie, and all jhose connected with the " house. On account of your being an executor, and so nearly connected " with the family, it might reasonably be supposed, that you would have en" " couraged my zeal to become their commercial protector ; instead of which, " I am sorry to say, you not only threw cold water on my ardour, but you also " threw every difHculty in my way,'that you could suggest against my enterpris- " ing spirit, at that time. You must recollect, when Mr. Hinchman (an East " India gentleman of large fortune) wapted to come forward to joih me, you, " in the presence of Mr. Brown and Mr. Rene Payne, objected 'to give up the " advantages, arising from Bacolet estate, to the house that I was then forming, " which astonished Mr. R. Payne so much, that he exclaimed—" Mr. E. " Baillie, we executors are not to commence merchants ; whoever takes up the ** concerns ought, in my opinion, to have Bacolet estate, which is the only good • " thing we have to give up." I then was under the necessity of telling you, " that it was an unfortunate circumstance for the family, your having been ap- " pointed an executor, for yoii would neither do the needful yourself, nor encoa- " rage any other to undertake it ; on the contrary, you were doing every thing *' to discourage and even to crush my efforts at the very onset of the business. *' Mrs. Baillie, upon this being represented to her, declared to me, that you *' would be the ruin of her and her children, and that, if I was prevented from 3 " coming 179 " coming forward as proposed, there was not the least hope of saving a six- " pence for the family; the more obstacles you threw in the way, the morent " roused me to exertion, and with no small indignation at your behaviour ; all "these difficulties did not intimidate me — I determined to come boldly for- " ward, and take this great load of risk, responsibility, and trouble, upon ray " shoulders. Mrs. Baillie proved the will, and delegated all her power to me, ■' which placed the whole property in my hands. Nothing was now left for " you to do, but to see that I gave Mrs. Baillie the necessary security and in- " demnity which you must have done completely, as she has, since I differed " with her, been heard to say, that you certainly bound me down well. The " next step you took was to demand from me payment of between 8 or 10,0001. " belonging, to your brother, Alexander, and son, which was in the hands of '' yburbrother's house, J. B. and Co. and as I had taken up the concern, you *' said you expected I would liquidate this debt. I thought it hard that this " money should bfe so very soon called for by you and your brother's family, " who, instead of distressing the estate, ought to have come forward with a fur- " ther sum forits relief. My partners were highly displeased, and requested 1 " would resist the payment ; but I was given to understand by your brother, " Alexander, that as you and he were executors, you could give yourselves a " preference ; — in fine,. to get rid of you, I gave the, acceptance of my house for " this sum, and it became payable, soon after the account arrived of the insur- " rection at St. Vincent and Grenada — say in May, 1795. The bills were in " your possession, and 1 requested of your brother, Alexander, to ask you for " two or three week's indulgence upon them ; he answered, that it was not con- " venient for you to grant it. AVe had about that time applied for the govern- " ment loan, but the general opinion was,, that we should not succeed : this, " and the effects of the calamity, injured our credit to such a degree, that we " ^found it difficult to meet our engagements., It, however, happened, that " just as the acceptance in yout hands became due, I saw a prospect of our '• success with government ; I therefore paid it; but had I not seen my way " clear, I was determined (and I told Mr. Lang so) that the house should stop " payment on the very day your acceptance became due, which event, I have " reason to think, you fully expected. This,, and many other measures, in " which you persevered to frustrate my plans, aggravated me so much, that " I could no longer bear it with any patience. 1 wrote a narrative of your " whole 180 " whole conduct, and sent it to you ; in short, for many months we were not " upon speaking terms. Any man of business will easily see that, from your *' situation, you had it much in your power to obstruct my progress for the be- " nefit of your deceased brother's estate, or at least to prevent things going on " smoothly ; your views were seconded by that old fox, Mr. James B. Gor- " don, and through him yoii gave me much trouble ; you did not appear in " this unnatural warfare, but you were active enough behind the curtain the *' whole time, and you have ever since been a thorn in my side the same way ; " every hostile act of Mrs. Baillie's I may safely, more or less, attribute to you ; " at any rate, you might have prevented them had you been a peace-maker, " instead of fomenting differences. Some years afterwards, when her coh- ** cerns were brought nearly to a close, and out of all danger, she applied to " you to see if there was a,ny thing that you could object to in my proceedings., " It seems there was wothing that you could make any handle of, except the " commission which we charged on our payments, and the debts of Mauduit " and Lancaster, bought through our means, and with our money : I must refer " to my letter to Mrs. Baillie, and' to the letter of Mr. Brockbank, who was " our solidilor at the time, -for particulars respecting these matters. — You ac- '* knowledged that it was your opinion' that we ought to give these up, and I " am convinced there is not another respectable merchant in the city would " have been of the same way of thinking. " Mr. Lang would never have attempted a revolution in the house of G. B. *• and Co. had he not been certain of your approval and support. Mrs. Baillie *' would never have acted as she did towards me, had she not been advised " and encouraged by you and Mr. Gordon; in short, I attrlbuteall my trouble " and anxiety to your concealed hostility ; had I been known to have had your " countenance, even without any assistance or responsibility fjx)m yoif, it " would have been a protection to me, and prevented the different attacks *' made upon me. No man could have expected that you would have come " forward yourself to act as I did, -and take upon yourself so much responsibi- " lity ; and, although it might not be a pleasant reflection for you, that I, who " was early in life under the pati^onage- of yourself and your brother, ^should haVe *• started up and undertaken,. and cotnplfeted, a thing that you asserted was im- " possible to be done i yet, I think, the saving of your brothers's family and " their 181 " their connections'(who' were your old acquaintance) from ruin, opght to have *' made you wave any prospect of adyantjige;to yourself, and any pergonal feel- " ing as to me. Reflect for a moment, how much trouble and vexation you " might have saved me, by only shewing that countenance and protection " which was due to me as a near relation, independent of my other claims. If " you were magnanimous enough to set jealousy and envy aside, I am sure *' you would readilyacknowledge all the merit due to me on this occasion ; and " now I will close by saying, that I must acknowledge I entertain that opinion " of your abilities, that no man was more capable than yourself to undertake " the management of a concern of such magnitude as this, provided there was " neither risk nor responsibility attached to it ; but, situated as thing^' were, " you were the most Unfit man in England to have had any thing to do with *' it, and,, it, was evident, there was no prospect of its being extricated, except " by my coming forward, who was well acquainted with it, and who had the " entire confidence of the connections here and in the West Indies. It is clear " to me, and to all those who understand the business, that had I not luckily " come home at the moment I did, and prevented the concerns from going " into your hands, the distress to the family and connections would have been " inconceivable. I was ten years under your patronage in the West Indies, " and when I came to look round, and saw that none depending on you had suc- " ceefled, and that my prospects were gloomy in the extreme, I determined " to withdraw, and connect iriyself entirely with your brother, James, trusting " that I should never be in your power again ; but, unfortunately for me, as I *' have already stated, I was placed in a situation that enabled you to harrass " me, which you have done most completely, without intermission, ever since " the year 1793. Had your hostility been manly, open, and avowed, it might *• have hurt me much less than it has done. Notwithstanding I had such good " materials, it was my earnest wish to have, if possible, avoided bringing you " or Mrs. Baillie forward in my pamphlet. I gave her an opportunity of doing *• that justice to my character, which she long since ought to have done, in- ** stead of which, she returns me my letters without -a single line, but accom- " panied with a very extraordinary letter from an Irish gentleman, Mr. Hig- " gins, who is nearly connected with her family by marriage. Whether you " were consulted in this business or not is best known to yourself, yet it is a " cruel circumstance, while engaged in such a good cause, dnd labouring un- 3 a " der 182 " der real difficulties, that I should be thus opposed by the very people who " ought to have been foremost in protecting me. « I am, Sir, *' Your very humble servant, (Signed) " GEO. BAILLIE." « P. S. The debts due to the simple contract creditors of your late brotherls « estate, exceeded considerably 100,0001. and, except a very few, they " were not paid for six or seven years after you received the 8 or 10,0001. " alluded to : How much more creditable would it have been for you, to " haye, at least, granted the same indulgence that others did." Robert Lang, Esq. " Devonshire Street, Portland Pbace, " 25th March, 1805. «< SIR, " SINCE I last wrote you, which will accompany this in my Appendix, " I find your friend Lord Reay has been threatening me in his usual vulgar and " unmanly style: he has repeated a number of your false accusations, and •' though with so much plausibility, I am convinced that none but men of " weak minds and little experience of mankind will pay any attention to them: " you never will attempt to bring forward any of them in print. I defy you, " Lord Reay, or any other man to substantiate the least charge against me, " although I have been in very trying situations j I am conscious that I never " committed an act that will for a moment lower me in the estimation of any " of ray friends. If this will be proved, which there can be no doubt of, it " is a matter of consideration, what punishment you deserve, or whether the " law of the country can reach you. "You 183 " You never would have attempted the revolution in the house, had it not " been for the calamity at St. Vincent, and Grenada, which happened in " April, 1795, just as the crop was commencing; you knew well that the " remittances from my concerns in that year, would have been ample ; this " will be seen by your own letters. Although we were fully supplied by the " government loan, to meet every disappointment in the way of remittances " from my concerns arid others, and while the house was thus supported *' by government, you came forward to attack me ; before my concerns re- " covered the effects of the insurrection at St. Vincent, you stated, that they " ovve:d largely ; while on the other hand, you should have stated, that the " house received a loan from government to the full extent of every disap- " pointment of remittances from mine, and the other concerns. It Wag evi- " dent, the house had no money capital to bear any disappointment of the " kind, although, from your conversation, you endeavoured to impress people ■" with an idea that you, Mr. Snell, and Mr. Turing, brought in a large sum of " of money; when the fact was, that you brought in none; on :the contrary; " the concerns of William Snell, and Co. to which the mortgages and other " claims were attached, and which you brought in as your and Mr. Snell's " capital of 50,0001. I say these very concerns, handed us over by Mr. Charles " Snell Chauncey, (instead of receiving any thing from them) had considerably " above fifty thousand pounds of the loan advanced upon them, in order to " make them productive. ■" Remittances to the extent, at least, of eighty thousand pounds, would have " been received from my concerns at St. Vincent, in the year 1795, had not " the insurrection happened; and although no bad debts were made, after such " a dreadful calamity, it was evident things could not be brought round to " what they were for several years. Your object was to attack me before I " recovered the effects of this disaster; and what facilitated your operations " was, my giving up the property of the late James Baillie, and the power " invested in me.* I say agreeing to their being given up to the house of G. B. " and Co. you then lost no time in commencing your opewffionV and it was * A complete authority over the concerns of the late James Bp^JUe, was vested in me from the year 1793, to the year 1796, at which period the risks and responsibilities had nearly terminated, and I gave up the powers vested in me to the house : as soon as this was done, and that 1 had no longer any check upon Mr. Lang, his hostility commenced. G. B. " next 184 «' next to a miracle, that I was not completely sacrificed ; fortunately all your " attempts have wholly failed, as far as I can discover; if, however, I find that « you have injured me or the credit of my house, by your deception and mis- *' representation, I shall certainly bring an action against you, when, I trust, " such conduct will not pass unpunished by an English jury. " And, I am. Sir, " Your humble Servant, « GEORGE BAILLIE. « P. S. Instead of owing 80,00Ol. as you asserted, it will appear by my " statement annexed, that after assuming and placing to my debit sundry debts " due by my concern and others, to the amount of 64,0001. there still remained " a balance due, and awarded to me by the arbitrators, to the amount of " 12,8911. 14s. * « G. B.' I >• " To Lord Reay. « Devonshire Street, 20th March, 1805. «' MY LORD, " HAVING already written you of the 28th ult. which will " appear in the Appendix, I should not have again addressed you, had it not *' been for your persevering in grossly misrepresenting my conduct ; and that " in so plausible a manner, that it may possibly make some impression upon " the minds of men who are not sufficiently acquainted with your character, " and the circun#6|:^nces attending our difference : what you state, as having *' fi-om Mr. Lang, fican hardly think you so weak as to believe j and if you " are, you ought to be pdWshed severely for propagating such misrepresentations, " which you never will presume to put into print as you threaten ; knowing, *' as you must do, the seriou^ consequences that must result to you from such 5 " proceedings. 185 •"proceedings. Several of your letters to me will appear in the Appendix, " down to the 3d January, 1798, on which occasion, I had an explanation •'*' with you; and you seenied so sensible of your error, that you promised to " get Mr. Lang, and the other partners to do away the revolutionary letter, " upon which I set off for Bath, and expected daily to hear from you that it " was done; instead of which-comes a letter from you dated the 8th of Febru- " ary, 1798, (copy of which you will also see in the Appendix) totally irrevalent " to the subject, this letter I did not reply to, and have never since had any " communication with you. You joined the opposition, without giving me " the least previous notice of your intention, you went over to what you con- " sidered the strongest^party, and deserted you friend and patron. It will re,- " quire no better proof than your own letters, to condemn you in the estimation " of those persons to whom you have related your story: I must particularly " request their attention to your letter of the 3d January, 1798, wherein you •• assign as a reason for your extraordinary conduct, the two letters which I " wrote to Mr. Turing, of the 31st December, 1797, and 2d January, 1798, " copies of which accompaity this; any man of business who will peruse these " letters to Mr. Turing, must approve, rather than censure my conduct. You " know that I have letlfers in my possession, from some of the most respectable " mercantile gentlemen in the kingdom, who have, after investigation con- " demned your proceedings, and call them unwise and ungrateful. Mr. Lang *' attacked me after I was weakened, and before I could recover from the ef- *' fects of the calamity at St. Vincent. Whatever Mr. Lang's views might " have been, it is evident, you ought to have acted Very differently to what *' you have done ; and I am sorry to say, that your connexions have great rea- " son tabe ashamed of you j and, leaving you to reflect upon your ungrateful " conduct, I remain, ^' My Lord, I " Your Lordship's very humble SeiVant, " GEORGE BAILLIE." P. S. The letters I allude to, I am prevented from publishing, as I have not got the permission of the parties, but I will shew them toany of your friends Dvho chuse to call upon me. 3 B The 186 The Correspondence with Mr. Case and Mr. Stanistreet, for the Liverpool Cojumittee. « SIMON COCK, Esq. " London, 2d August, 1804. " SIR, " WE request you will communicate to Mr. Stanistreet, that "we are now ready to arrange for our acceptances, which became due in " June last : we annex a list of the bill-holders for that month : our intention •' is to pay them in such bills as our house have received (which we have no " doubt will be agreeable to them) and for that purpose we beg they may send " their bills to their correspondents here ; and, as all the bills have the endorse- *' mentsof the houses in the West Indies, as well as ours, they will.please to give " directions to have our acceptances given up, when we deliver the other " bills: we also send a list of the bill-holders for July, in order that they may " send our acceptances to their correspondents, as in case we cannot manage " to arrange for them now, we will certainly settle them as soon as the fleet " arrives, which we trust will be in the course often days, or a fortnight. The " fear of any of our bill-holders being put to any inconvenience, makes " us exceedingly anxious to relieve them as expeditiously as our funds will " admit : and we think the favourable prospect* of future remittances willen- " able us to meet their wishes. " We remain, dear Sir, " Your humble Servants, (Signed)" « GEO. BAILLIEand Co. P. S. In order to save you trouble, we think it will be better for you to forward the letter to Mr. Stanistreet. To 187 « To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " Liverpool, 2d August,. 1804. " DEAR SIR, " I HAVE been this day favoured with your letter, together " with its inclosure. Believe me, my dear Sir, I do most cordially rejoice *' with you, upon such an uninterrupted continuance of your very pleasing " prospects. I think your endeavours to lessen the inconveniences of your " bill-holders, as explained in your letter, shew much feeling ; but, as you have " given me the option of delivering your letter to Mr. Butler, I have thought it " best at present to with-hold it : particularly, as you mention your intention "of writing officially, 'erelong, to Mr. Stanistreet, upon the subject. This " short delay will give you a further opportunity of digesting your plan, " which is important, and will not be the worse for being still better and " better considered. " In great haste, I remain, " Dear Sir, " Your's, &c. « GEO. CASE." LON- 188 " GEORGE CASE, Esq. "London, lOth Aug. 1804. " I HAVE had a very serious quarrel with Mr. Cock, par- " ticulars of which shall be forwarded to you on Monday, and I trust that " you will suspend your opinion on my conduct, until you hear both sides of " the question. If I am wrong, I shall be ready to acknowledge it ; but I ^' am convinced that you will find I am perfectly right. If the gentlemen at "Liverpool, think it advisable under all the circumstances, to give the ^ofe " management of our business to Mr. Cock, I shall readily comply, and with- " draw. Our difference originated, from* my saying that I was convinced " there was property sufficient to pay the bills for June and July; and my " eagerness to accomplish this, it seems, has given offence to Mr. Cock, and " also the mode which I determined to adopt (in preference to taking his ac- " ceptances) which he said would never give'satisfaction. My wish is to make *' things as palatable to our bill-holders as possible ; and I am actually in treaty " now with a banker in the city, to lodge with them all our remittances, and " to allow us to draw upon them, at a certain date, in favour of the bill-hol- " ders. I am as yet uncertain whether I shall succeed.; but I think it rather " probable that I shall. My whole time and thdughts are taken up for the good " of all concerned ; and, from the arrangements that I have made, nothing " can look more favourable than the prospects of the concern, altogether. If " I am to have inspectors over me, it ought to be some of the principal bill- " holders — their interest and mine are the same ; in short, I shall take care, '"that neither the bill-holders, nor the house, shall suffer on account ofaoy "difference betwixt Mr. Cock and me. We are now arranging our account " with Mr. C. and all 1 require is, that he ihall pay me over the balance which " he has in his hatids, in order to make good my engagements of paying the bills " of June and July, which I pledge myself to do, and have a large surplus 5 " over m V over. I have called in Mr. Swanzy ; who, I have no doubt, will see that " every thing is properly arranged between Mr. C. and myself j indeed, I sub- " mit to his decision, any points in dispute. I cannot suffer one sixpence to " remain in the hands of any one, while there is a sixpence due on the score " of our bills. " I am, &c. G. B. " P. S. Unfortunately, my partner, Mr. JafFray, and myself, had a dilFe- " rence a few days ago, upon the subject of his speculating in the funds ; " which I insisted he would give up, or I would be obliged to call in the bill- " holders.. He has certainly desisted from it — but he has never forgiven me "to this day. He is perfectly ignorant of our business, and J never had any " assistance rendered to me by him, either* in regard to advice or otherwise. •'.No man would be fitter than Mr. Swanzy, who, with any two of the Liver- *' pool gentlemen, say yourself and Mr. Aspinall, would I, think, enable us to " go on very smoothly — I require relief, and not to be constantly teazed as I " have beenj^ " What I mention to you above in confidence in regard to Mr. jaffray, I was "•necessitated to tax him personally vyith, this very day, in the presence of " Mr. Swanzy and Mr. Cock ; it, no doubt, was a very serious circumstance, " and you will see the propriety of noi repeating it to any person. " This accounts for Mr. JafFray's taking part with Mr. Cock ; indeed I am " convinced, it is very much owing to Mr. JafFray, that Mr. Cock has acted " as he has done ; at least, I suppose his getting Mr. JafFray in any shape " to join him, has encouraged him in acting towards me as he has done. I " really think that although it|is unpleasant, it will be productive of some good ; " for the more the concerns of the house, as "Well as my private concerns and "conduct, and my man^ement of the whole, are known, the more it will raise " the credit of the house. I request you will have the goodness to shew this 3 c " letter 190 " letter to our mutual friend Mr, Aspinall, who I see has returned the bills " we sent him, which lam convinced must have been done in consequence of " misrepresentation. If Mr. Aspinall sends the bills to me, I will return hini " a banker's acceptance at four]months ; and likewise to yourself, for what was " sent you, if you require it. " GEORGE CASE, Esq. "London, llthAucirsT, 1804. " DEAR SIR, " I YESTERDAY mentioned to you some circumstances re- " lative to a dispute with Mr. Gock, because I would not allow him to per- " suade me, that it was not in my power to meet the acceptances of George " Baillie, and Co. for June and Jtdy, without his assistance. I shall now give " you a more particular account of this affair ; which, it seems, was intended " by Mr. Cock, as the means of obtaining a dictatorial power over me, and " securing all the property belonging to G. B. and Co. in his hands, for the " purpose of making the be^ terms he could for his own interest with the bill- " holders ; one of whom, lately (:ompIained of him to me, for having charged " one per Cent, for taking up my acceptances, due in June and July, and " granting his obligations for the same, at three and four months date. How " far he has extendfed this plan I am not certain, but this instance proves his ** disposition, whijcb is very disagreeable to my feelings j for, I have been " most anstiously engaged to lessen the burthens of the bUl-ho]der$, and I can *' never allQw atommilisipn to be extortipd from them, under pretext, that '- 1 have Qot the means of immediately paying -the bills in June and July. Per- " cejving a disposition in, Mr. Cocjc, to thwart all my plans for the benefit of " the bill-hj(?lders, I earnestly set about making- a statement of G. B. and Co's' " effects in^hand, in order to convince Mr, Cock that I had the power of " accomplishing 191 " accomplishing my plan of paying every bill up to the 1st August, for which ** purpose it was necessary that Mr. Cock should immediately render me an " account of the effects of G. B. and Go's, in his hands j so that the balance " due from him, with the other property in my hands, might be applied to " meet my acceptances due in June and July. *• Mr Cock perceiving by this, that I was determined on my purpose, ap- *' peared very much dissatisfied ; and^ having framed his account, delivered the «' same to me, asserting that G. B. and Co. owed him a balance of 40,000/. " This assertion very much astonished me for the moment — but having ex- " amined his account, and perceiving it erroneous in as much as he had " omitted in thejirst instance to credit us for the proceeds of produce, being " cash received 18,000/. and next desiring to retain in his hands long bills, to " the amount of 12,000/. to secure to him the premium of insurances effected " since February last, amounting to about 9,000/. and not in course of payment " until next year. Added to this, he asserted that one-third of the amount of " hills zoas agreed, in the presence of you and Mr. Aspinall, to remain in his " hands, over and above the amount of his acceptances. Besides, he constantly " dwelt on the very great sum he was in advance, and the consequent risk he " had run,, and thought that his great influence with the gentlemen of Liver- " pool, zvouid induce me to submit to everything lie saidi thereby Insinuating " the consequences that must result to me on any difference with him : but he " is very much mistaken if he thinks to intimidate me, when I have men of " so tnuc^ honour to deal with and, stand on such high ground, and only desire " to forward their interest. " Had I submitted to all tbese ideas of Mr. Cock's, I should have had the " mortification to find that there was little or nothing to pay the bills in June *' and July ; which is my great objept. All the foregoing, you will find clearly ^' proved to you, by refering to the papers which accompany this letter : and, ^' I am happy to say, that after I receive from Mr. Cock the considerable sur. " plus of eiFects, which by the intervention of Mr. Swanzy, he has agreed to " return, my funds are fully adequate to my expectations, and equal to meet " the acceptances of G. B. and Co. up to the 1st August. After which, " I shall still have a considerable balance in band j and wlien tlie large remit- 5 " tanceg 192 " tances in the next fleet arrive, I shall then come forward and astonish, and " gratify all concerned with G. B. and Co. by the exertions of myself and " friends in the "West Indies. " There is one shing I very much regret, having ordered my friends, in the " West Indies, to send so much property into the hands of Mr. Cock, not " only what he has already received, but a much more considerable sum, which " will arrive to him by next convoy — and they now write to me to know if they " shall continue to do so ; but I have directed every species of property to " flow into its regular channel, so that the bill-holders may be immediately •" paid as it is received by G, B. and Co. ; for, having discovered these disposi- " tions in Mr. Cock, I can no longer allow the property to come into his " hands j and when you have considered all the circumstances, the arduous " task I am engaged in, with the long experience I have had in business, " you cannot wonder at my feeling myself very much hurt in being thus dictated " to; nor can I any longer submit to be controuled in such an ^overbearing "manner, by a young man totally unacquainted with the nature of our busi- " ness, and who seems to forget the true interests of all concerned. " I shall now conclude this letter by saying, that it is impossible for me to " detail in writing at present, all the grievous circumstances that I have laboured " under — but if you can with.conveniency to yourself, and without creating " any alarm in Liverpool (for which there is not the least occasion) come up to "• town, you will then be able to judge of the whole of this transaction, and be " fully satisfied of the propriety of all my conduct ; and probably prevent Mr. " Cock from josing his character, which his hasty manner has subjected him to; " for, notwithstanding all that has happened, I have still -every desire to save " him if possible from censure. — And submitting all these papers in confidence " to you and Mr. Aspinall, " I remain, &c. (Signed) «' GEO. BAILLIE." *• LiVERPOOt* 193 ''GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " Liverpool, 12th August, 1804. " DEAR SIR, *' I have this day received your letter of the 10th, which *' appears, to me, to lay the foundation for a most complete overthrow of that " wise system, for the settling' of the affairs of your house, which, if cordially " acted upon, could not fail of giving entire satisfaction to all parties con- " cerned. Sure 1 am that if the differences between yourself and Mr. Cock, " are not immediately settled, I mean, before a disclosure of them is made to *' your bill-holders and the public, there will be an instant suppression of con- " iidence in you, which will never be regained. I have known Mr. Cock, " many years, I have known him to have been entrusted with matters of the "greatest delicacy and importance, and he has always conducted himself with " unusual ability, and vyith the greatest honour. Your bill-holders will not, in *' my opinion, stoop to the investigation of which of the two may have been " in the wrong ; but, finding a want of mutual cordiality and confidence, and " concluding that the affairs of your house, cannot be profitably conducted " under such unfavourable circumstances will at once resoit to those measures " your active friends have thus far made unnecessary. In short, without a " settlement of your differences, I see nothing for you but that world of diffi- " culties and anxiety, which the plan agreed to by yourself and bill-holders, " would most effectually prevent, and which nothing else can. Let me then "implore you, for your own sake most particularly, to bury in oblivion all that " has passed, to restore your confidence in Mr. Cock, (fori am sure he will be " found to deserve it) but that confidence must be unlimited and unqualified. " If he is fit for the public confidence of your bill-holders, he is fit for the " private confidence of yourself; and, that he is fit for both, no man that " knows him, will hesitate to acknowledge. I have shewn your letter to Mr. " Aspinall, whom I found in possession of one from Mr. Cock, occasioned by 3 D " the 194 " the return ot the bills, which Mr. Cock recommends him to keep. Mr. " Aspinall thinks exactly as I do, upon the contents of this letter: indeed it " is with his concurrence and advice that I write it, both of us having a con- " firmed opinion that the most unpleasant consequences will inevitably and in- *' stantly ensue, if what we recommend is not forthwith adopted. " I remain, dear Sir, " Your's most faithfully, " GEORGE CASE. *' Sunday Noon — in great haste. " GEORGE CASE, Esq. "London, 17th Aug. I80*f " DEAR SIR, « I SHOULD have wrote to you had I not been in hopes of " hearing from you in reply to my second letter. " Although I have every inclination to sacrifice my feelings, it is impossible " for me to sacrifice my character, my fortune, and the interest of the bill- " holders, I will make it appear that Mr. Cock has been of very little ser- " vice to my house, and I am persuaded, if I had never seen him, that the " credit of the house would, at this moment, stand higher than it does that " the utmost confidence would be placed in me by all concerned, that every ■*' thing would be going on smoothly, and that every acceptance which our " house is under up to the 1st day of September next, would, at this moment " be discharged. Mr. 195 " Mr. Cock's letters and statements are filled with deception and misrepre- " sentations to such a degree, that nothing but a public investigation will sa- " tisfy me ; and if I do not rebut every charge against me, and clear up " every thing to the satisfaction of the bill-holders, I shall not think myself " worthy of their future confidence, nor will I require it; but if I clear up *' every charge, and satisfy them that I have studied their interest, and that *' of all interested ; and that, in short, in the whole management and arrange- *' ment I have done more than any other man would have done, then I expect,. " instead of censure, that I shall have their public approbation, *' Whatever faults Mr. Cock has been guilty of, I will not bring them for- *' ward as any excuse for my doing an improper act ; I therefore rest solely " upon the rectitude of my conduct, and when that is investigated I will bring " forward my charges against Mr. Cock, which are of a very serious nature j " I have entirely lost my confidence in him ; and when that is the case^ and " I can give good reason for it, I have no doubt of being supported in this " dispute by every man of honour ; and, notwithstanding your great attach- " ment to Mr. Cock, and that it is said you will not interfere in the business, " or my concerns, if I do not immediately make up the difference ; still I " cannot bring myself to think for a moment, that you will desert your own " interest, and that of the bill-holders ; and that, at all events, before you " make up your opinion on the business, that you will come up and see " with your own eyes how matters stand. " I do not think, that in such a matter of importance, either Mr. Cock's " statement or mine should be operated upon : — for God's sake come up, and ** don't let any hasty steps be taken, there being no necessity, for all is going " on smoothly under my management; and, notwithstanding, the most ex- " traordinary attempts that ever were heard of, are made use of to prevent " my making good my promise to pay the June and July bills ; still I am, " at this moment, ready to do so, and I am only waiting until the bill- " holders for April, May, and June, send in their demands, which will be " paid in bills at ninety days sight, as good as Bank paper; and I am deter- *' mined, in the course of next week, to pay the July bills. 1 "If 196 " If I am right, it is your interest, and that of the bill-holders, to support " me ; if I am wrong, the sooner some other is appointed, in my stead, the " better. " The eyes of the public will be fixed upon the conduct of all who should " take an active part in this business ; and I am, in my own mind, perfectly "satisfied, that you will support that character which you have always " had for ability, probity, and disinterestedness ; in short, that you will do " what is right I have no doubt of. I am so much occupied with my packet " letters and the business of the house, that I really cannot enlarge more " fully at present, and, " I remain, dear Sir, *' Your s most faithfully, (Signed) " GEORGE BAILLIE." " P. S, There is one of Mr. Cock's letters to me that I did not send you, *' as it was in possession of Mr. Swanzy, wlio requested, when there was a " prospect of accommodation, to allow him to destroy it : I told him he " might keep, but not destroy, it ; now I have requested him to give me " the letter, which, although I am told Mr. Cock has sent you a copy of it, ** you shall, to-morrow, have one from me to be sure of it. WILLIAM 197 '* WILLIAM STANISTREET, Esq. " Liverpool. " LoNDOX, Aug. 18, 1804. " SIR, " OWING to an unfortunate difference having taken place be- *' tween our Mr. Baillie and Mr. Cock, the communications to you of the *' state of our concerns, have not, probably, been so regular or so exact as it " ought to be. We request your attention to the inclosed copy of a letter " which we have this day wrote to the bill-holders for June and July. Our " Mr. Baillie does not ask for friendship, or favour, but rests solely upon the •' rectitude of his conduct ; and he asserts, most positively, that from the " commencement of the present concern with Mr. JafFray, to the present day, " there is not one single particle that can be alledged to his prejudice ; in- " deed he will feel much c[isappointed if he does not get great applause " from all interested, for his extraordinary, and, we may say, unheard of *' exertions, in the great concern which he directs. " The misrepresentations of Mr. Cock are very alarming, and nothing but " a thorough investigation will satisfy Mr. Baillie, and for that purpose he " hopes that two or three of the Liverpool gentlemen will come to town, " when they can be joined by one or two from this city and Bristol, and the *' result of such an investigation we have no doubt of: in the mean time, Mr. " Baillie will take care that the concerns of the house will not be interrupted, " and that all will go on smoothly, and the more the situation of the house is " known, as well as Mr. Baillie's good management in the conducting of " it, &. &C. the more confidence every person interested will have. " We are. Sir, &c. &c, (Signed) " GEORGE BAILLIE and CO." " P. S. Our Mr. Baillie will go much further than the present concern ; if " Mr. Cock can alledge any thing to his prejudice from his first commence- 3 E " ment 198 " ment in business, near thirty years ago, he will relinquish the high ground " upon which he now stands. Mr. Baillie has wrote more particularly to " Mr. Case and Mr, Butler, who, no doubt, will communicate the contents " to you. A FEW Lines fr&m Mr. Case, dated 2Sth August, 1804, intro- ducing Mr. Stanistrect to me, has been mislaid. They merely stated, in strong terms, that Mr. S, teas invested with full power and authority to express the sentiments of the Liverpool committee, ^-c. S^c. G. B. ^'GEORGE CASE, Esq. " London, 30th Aug. 1804. " DEAR SIR, " I OBSERVE by your letter that you had not received the " amount of your June bills, which was not our fault, for they never were " presented till yesterday, when they were immediately settled. I observe " you returned Davidson and Graham's bill for 1 100/. although at a long " sight, it is one of the best acceptances we had in our possession, and " for which the cash can be got for here ; and it was accompanied by bills, " every one of which you can receive the money for if you chuse ; and, " upon the whok, it was one of the best lots we paid away for July ; — in •' such cases, if there was a cast in favour of any one in such a division, it 4 " ought 199 " ought to be for you, and it was certainly intended as such , for had you " been paid in bills at sixty days sight, no fault could be found, as you " was fully entitled to it ; but I know that you are one of the last men upon " our list that would require any kind of preference, and I am sure you would " not have returned the bill had you known what others received, or had it " not been for misrepresentation, which was, I am persuaded, the cause of " Mr. Aspinall's returning his bills ; for your's and his were the only ones re- " turned : and you are the last man that I should have supposed would " have been dissatisfied with what we paid you. It, however, happens that "it is pefectly convenient to give you a shorter bill for Davidson's, as we have " a larger proportion of short paper left than I expected, and those that have " applied last will not be the worst off, as we have a large surplus after paying " all the bills up to the 1st of this month. •' I will say no more on' the subject of Mr. Cock, as myself, and all around " me, are every day more and more convinced that what I have done is for " the advantage of the house, of the bill-holders, and of all interested in " every quarter, and when a proper tjme arrives,. I shall certainly insist upon " Mr. Cock bringing forward his charges, every one of which is totally void " of foundation ; and, in my opinion, he never will attempt to follow them " up: but I certainly will not suffer the least impression to my prejudice to " remain in the breast of any one, when I have such ample means of clearing " up, so completely, every particje he has attempted to propagate against me, •' The charges against him are very serious, and I certainly will bring them " forward, I have sent Mr. Butler a real state of facts which he can give " you and Mr. Aspinall a perusal of; it will soon be seen, that this difference t' with Mr. Cock, though attended with much trouble to me, is the most for- " tunate thin^ thai ever happened for all intexested. " I aiBj my dear Sir, " Your very humble Servant, (Signed) " GEORGE BAILLIE." « GEORGE 200 GEORGE CASEy Esq. "London, 30th Aug. 1804. " SINCE writing the above, I have received your's of the " 28th, by which I observe, that Mr. Stanistreet is coming up, which I am " exceedingly glad of. — Be assured every attention will be paid to your re- *' commendation. " It is most unaccountable how my letter of the 17th could have miscarried. " I was so particular that I thought it impossible any accident could have " happened. I must make further inquiry into this j in the mean time I " send you a copy of it. " I remain, &c. &c. (Signed) « GEORGE BAILLIE." " P. S. Mr. Cock not chusing to pay us 182/. I9s. 9d. the balance com- " ing to us on arranging for your bills, we have drawn upon you of this date " at four months for the same, which you will please to return to us ; and, at " the same time, inform us of the proceeds of the two cargoes you sold *' for us. " Mr. Baillie is astonished at the expression of Mr. Case, as to the critical " situation of our house : be trusts that he will shortly convince him that " there is no ground for such an idea ; and that the concerns of the house are " in the most prosperous situation ; that this difference with Mr. Cock is most " fortunate for all interested, and that things are going on very smoothly. « G. B. and Co." " GEORGE 201 *' GEORGE CASE, Esq. " London, 3d Sep, 1804. " Dear Sir, * " THE inclosed letter from Mr. Rigby was received this day, " to which I refer you. I trust that my conduct through life has been " marked for decision and rectitude. I have been engaged in many things " of importance, but all have been quite a bagatelle to the present differences " between myself, Mr. Cock, and Mr. JafFray, and all that I will at present " say, is, that, if I live I will, in a very short time, not only extricate my- " self with the greatest honour, but I will bring disgrace upon Mr, Cock " and Mr, JafFray, and all of them who have attempted to espouse their " cause without investigating the cause of dispute. " As Mr. Stanistreet will be with you before this comes to hand, I must ** beg leave at present to refer you to what passed when he was in London ; " it is ^likely I shall have occasion to write you again soon ; in the mean " time it must be pleasant to you, who is so much interested, as well as my- " self, to see such favourable accounts from the only quarter where there was " any doubts, *' I am, dear Sir, " Your very humble Servant, « GEORGE BAILLIE." * The letter from Mr, Rigby was inclosed to Mr. Case, which gave a very favourable account of our funded concerns, 3 F "GEORGE 202 " GEORGE BAILLIE, and Co. " S. COCK, Esq. " Liverpool, 4th Sep. 1804» " GENTLEMEN, " MESSRS. Case, Bolton, and Asplnall, the committee ap- " pointed by the Liverpool bill-holders of Messrs. George Baillie and Com- " pany, have had a very long interview to day, and have taken into their " most serious consideration the correspondence which has passed on the sub- " ject of that house, and the communications made by me of the interviews I " have had with Mr. Baillie, with Mr. Jaffray, and with Mr. Cock. " Without entering, at present, into a discussion of the causes of dif- " ference subsisting between the parties, they entirely concur in one opinion *' and one sentiment, that nothing but the return of Mr. Cock to the exer- " cise of those functions, with which it was assumed, at the general meeting. " of bill-holders, he was invested, can possibly avert from the bill-holders, " and from the house of Messrs. George Baillie and Company, also, the im- " pending evils which so imminently threaten, even a momentary continuance " of his suspension. In a concern of this immense importance to so many " persons, who are deeply and most materially affected in a speedy removal " of this misunderstanding, Messrs. Case, Bolton and Aspinall, look only " to the common interest, abstracted from all private feelings ; and, knowing^ " well the evils which would result from its becoming an object of public " discussion, deprecate the event of a public meeting of the bill-holders on *' the occasion. " They unanimously declare, that the first proposition of Messrs. George " Baillie and Co. (viz. that of placing some other person than Mr. Cock in •' the situation which Mr. Cock held,) cannot be received : and, that the " other proposition, (viz. that of composing a committee to investigate the " disputes. 203 *' disputes, wuh a power of reference to a general meeting,) is attertded with " immense danger, and with insuperable difficulties. They cannot, there- " fore, entertain either of them, and they see no relief whatever for the pre- " sent situation of the different parties, but to bring back things at once, to " the situation in which they were when the indulgence of time was given " by the general meeting ; and, which alone, can obviate the necessity of " calling another. " To Messrs. George Baillie and Co. and to Mr. Cock, the committee *' would, therefore, propose, and they urge it with earnestness, proportioned " to its magnitude and importance, that Mr. Cock should resume his former " situation with respect to the affairs of Messrs. George Baillie and Com- " pany, but with a defined and well understood authority. — That Messrs. " George Baillie should continue their exertions for payment of their ac- " ceptances within the extended time, or within any further time which may " hereafter be given. — ^That Mr. Cock shall have the inspection of all the " books, papers, and accounts of the house, and also of each partner, in- " dividually, (as far as the house can be interested in the private affairs,) " and shall correspond with the committee on them. — That Messrs. George " Baillie and Co. and Mr. Cock, shall consult together on all occasions, on " which it shall appear to either of them to be requisite to do so j and, that " whenever they disagree, a communication shall be immediately made to " the committee, whose directions shall be implicitly followed, on that and " all similar occasions, unless it should be thought requisite by the committee " to call a general meeting for instructions ; and that, for Mr. Cock's re- *• mUneration, some specific agreement should take place between the par- " ties. " The committee having thus endeavoured to trace the outline of a plan,. ** which promises to prevent furture disagreements, and to restore a confi- *' dence now nearly lost, even hopes that the adoption of it would very mate- " rially tend to reconcile the differences which have already taken place ; and " should a reconciliation of the past not be fully accomplished, it seems to " the committee, that infinitely less danger would be likely to ensue by a fu- " ture adjustment, after means have been thus devised and adopted for the 3 " future 204 " future management of the affairs : mutual friends might, with proprietj', "then be called on to interfere, or to decide, and the utmost beneficial con- " sequences to all parties would, most probably, be the result " The committee most earnestly request that the parties will take this into " their consideration ; that they will suspend all private feelings so long as " the general good will be prejudiced by their being entertained ; and that, " with one common interest, and in one common cause, no exertions may be *' spared, which promise to conduce to the general good. " Should the outline of this plan be adopted, and which the committee ** most earnestly recommend, and which is, in their opinion, the only plan " which can be resorted to for the general good, the more minute parts " and arrangement of it may be determined more at leisure. At the pre- " sent, the committee wait with extreme anxiety the answers of Messrs. " George Baillie and Co. and of Mr. Cock. " Mr. Baillie will have the goodness to communicate this to Mr. Forbes, •" and Mr. Cock to Mr. JafFray. " I have the honour to be, " Gentlemen, " Your most obedient Servant, « WILLIAM STANISTREET. " By order of the committee." ** Messrs. 205 . Messrs. CASE, ASPINAL, and BOLTON, " Liverpool, " LONDON, SEPT. 6, ISCft. " GENTLEMEN, " I RECEIVED Mr. Stanistreet's letter of the 4tb, to " George Baillie and Co. wrote by desire of your committee^ and I now sit *'.down to reply to it as fully as my time will admit. " It is now about a month since the difference took place between Mr. " Cock and myself; that difference arose entirely in consequence of my " writing to Liverpool, that we had funds to pay the bills of June and July, " and requested, at the same time, that Mr, Cock would deliver in his ac- " count, in order that I might know exactly to what extent I could go to re- " lieve the bill-holders. " Mr. Cock wrote to Liverpool in direct contradiction to my assertion, " saying, that we were not able to meet the June and July bills ; and, in " order to alarm and convince me of it, he, after being hard pressed, handed " me an account, — balance against our house of upwards of 40,000/. I " must refer you to my narrative in Mr. Butler's hands, for particulars. Suf- " fice it to say, at present, that it will appear, instead of having 40,000/. to " pay him, he will have about that sum to pay us, a great part of which we " have already received (through the intervention of Mr. Swanzy). *' It can be clearly proved, that Mr. Cock has lost sight of the interest of " the bill-holders, that, his accounts are to an alarming degree irregular, and '* that his views have been solely confined vto benefit himself at the expence " of the bill-holders, and the house ; and, that in order to alarm me so much, " and to force me to submit to his proceedings rather than to be brought into " public notice, he has brought charges of the most serious nature agaii;!; 3 G " me. 206 •' me, not one particle of which is there the least foundation for, all his " statements being filled with deception and misrepresentations. This being " the real state of facts, I wrote to Mr. Case, and urged the necessity of " an immediate enquiry, in order that it might be ascertained where the " error lay, and pressed him to come up that he might, with his own eyes, " see how matters stood, and that a general meeting should be called upon " ajjpatter of so much importance, in order that all interested might be in- " formed of the nature of the dispute ; and that they, without inclining to ** either party, should determine what was their interest to do : — this meeting " was opposed, it was considered as improper by your committee ; and you " sent up Mr. Stanistreet to London, not as I expected, to investigate or inform " himself as to any particulars relating to the business which occasioned the " difference, but solely to have my answer to certain questions. " Mr. Stanistreet returned with the following recommendation ; — That three * out of the four of the principal bill-holders should come to town, who, with " one from Bristol, and one from London, might investigate all the charges and " differences between Mr. Cock and myself ^ or, that a general meeting might " be called, when the bill-holders would have an opportunity to appoint such " as they thought proper to investigate the differences, and afterwards make *' a report to them who would at once determine what was best to be " done. " As soon as he arrived at Liverpool, the letter of the 4th was forwarded " to G, B&illie and Co. Before I could answer it, I thought it necessary to " niake the foregoing preamble. " If all that I have stated in this letter, and In my narrative, be proved, " (which I pledge myself to do,) every disinterested man will at once see " that the return of Mr. C. to act in concert with me is utterly impossible. — " The principle assumed by Mr. Stanistreet, by desire of your committee, " namely, that Mr. C's. return to the business can avert impending evils, is " an assumption utterly denied. The contrary position, that his return would *' be productive of incalculable and inevitable mischief of the most exten- " sive and calamitous nature to the bill-holders and all concerned, is clearly " demonstrable J 207 " demonstrable : Messrs. George Baillie and Co. are thereforie most anxious " for a general meeting, in order to take the sense of the bill-holders at " large ; for,. to assent to your demand of continuing Mr. Cock in a situation " of trust, or having any further connection with him, must be considered as " compromising the sacred confidence and interest of my friends abroad, the " interest of the bill-holders, together with the interest of the house ; and, *' lastly, my character and (though the least consideration of all) my personal " feelings. \ " I cannot allow that public discussion would be unfavourable j on the " contrary, it must redound to my honour and credit, and give confidence to " all, provided there is a fair, open, and candid investigation. I shall have " no objection to a committee of the bill-holders ; it is wltat I solicit ; their " interest and mine is the same, and we cannot have any difference. If it is " thought proper to appoint any person or persons, except the committee, " to inspect into my conduct, it ought to be a man of the first respectability, " and who has no other views but the interest of the bill-holders. As I have " already said, their interest and that of the house is the same. When a ge- " neral meeting is called, full and ample time should be given to all in- " terested, so that there may be a full meeting, and that I may go down to " Liverpool or send some person to represent me. Justice requires that " Mr. Cock may have an opportunity to correct, rectify, or explain in his " own way, any part of my statenaerit to which hf may object, and that " the same privilege should be allowed to myself.— -This is the practice of "all courts i it is the usage of common §ense, and is founded on the law " of nature, which entitles every man to defend himself; for otherwise, what " would be the consequence ?— innocence might often perish in the dark, and " malevolent accusation be alone in^iebted for its triumph to the secrecy of « its msxk. " I know I have to contend with a man who has a number of personal " friends among the bill-holders, bat I ask neither fevour or friendship, and " depend solely on the rectitflde of my-conduct, and on the bill -holders see- ding their own interest. "It 208 " It can be clearly proved that I have prevented Mr. jaffray from ruining *' himself and the house, and that I am now struggling hard to prevent Mr. « Cock from ruining the house, and all connected with it. " I have the honour to be, « Sirs, " Your most obedient Servant, (Signed) . '' GEORGE BAILLIE." " GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. "Liverpool, 9th Sept. 1804. " SIR, " I AM directed by the committee of Liverpool bill- " holders, to express their surprise and disappointment at your answer to my *' letter of the 4th instant, respecting the future management of the affairs of the " house of George Baillie and Co. And the more so, as the committee had, the " day before, received a reply from Mr. Cock, which was, in every respect, " satisfactory ; and •which promised, if you had paid the attention to the " recommendation of the committee, which it flattered itself it had a right to " expect, a continuation of the confidence reposed in your house. *' It is, however, plain from, your letter, that any further attempt to bring " about a reconciliation between Mr. Coejc and you will be in vain. And, " since the committee is thus deprived, by you, of the assistance it would " have derived from Mr. Cock ; and of the confidence which his superin- 4 " tendence $09 ♦' tendence g^v? to the bill-holders at Igrge }-^?nd it js now become impos, " sible, with efFect, to carry into effect the resolution of the meeting, which " directed the correspondence on the affairs pf your house to be carried on •* between Mr. Cock and myself; I am directed, under these circumr " stances, to request from you, in the name of the committee, particular " information what arrangements you have made, or are about to make, for " payment of your acceptances in August, September, and October ? (when " the time given at the general meeting expires) what the payments will " consist of? and when they will be made? And also to request from you, " a particular statement ©f the affairs of the house of Messrs. George Baillie " aad Co,; in what isjands, and from what houses, the proceeds are to come? " when they may be expected, and how they are secured ? and the parti- " culars of the engaifen^ents pf your concern j ,and, also, a disclosure of your ^* own private affair^, as far as the bilj^hplders may be interested in them. " I am. Sir, *' Your most obedient Servant, « WILLIAM STANISTREET." *WILLIJM STANISTREET, Esq. " London, Sept. 12, 1804. " SIR, *' I AM to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th, *• wrote by desire of the committee of bill-holders at Liverpool; and, with all " possible deference and respect to their opinion, I must again beg leave most " unequivocally to deny, (from the perfect knowledge I have of the affairs of 3 H . *' the 210 " the house,)that it could derive any assistance whatever from the services of " Mr. Cock. On the contrary, (I speak from facts within my own knowledge) " that his interference has been an incumbrance and a great prejudice to the " house and the bill-holders, at the same time creating a confusion and per- " plexity in the transactions, which of themselves were simple — and this I " have it in my power most satisfactorily to substantiate, whenever the oppor- *' tunity is given me; and that in place of his superintendance adding confi- " dence, whatever good effect his appearing to be my assistant had, in the first " instance, I have the most convincive proofs, latterly, that no effect of that " kind attaches to him — at the same time I have no hesitation to say, that I " candidly believe the committee, from the want of that full and detailed infor- " mation, which fell within my notice, might very naturally get into a mis- " take, such as you state. As I am convinced, had Mr. Cock been again ad- " mitted to have any thing to do with the business, the consequences would " be found of the greatest prejudice, and a remedy would probably be ap- " plied when it was too late, which I must again say, I have it in my power " most satisfactorily to substantiate, were the opportunity given me; and lament " that the committee, in shutting out all enquiry, have permitted themselves " to be misled on a point, at once so important, and capable of being made " so obvious, that no partial statements, which have been made for the pur- " pose of influencing their minds, could have resisted, for a moment, the truth " of what I assert. " I trust I shall have it in my power, to convince the committee, ere long, " of the propriety of my conduct, and that no solicitude so strongly prevails " with me as that of the interest of the hill-holders, in which indeed, my own " interest is inseparably involved. " As the fleet is now near at hand, I defer, until their arrival, to enter upon " the particulars which the committee require, but be assured I shall not then " delay giving them every information that they wish for, and that I shall do " with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction now and hereafter. In the mean- " time, it must give the commhtee pleasure to hear, tbat we have this day re- " ceived very satisfactory letters from Demerara, accompanying bill remittan- 211 « ees to the amount of 24,000/. and a promise of from 10,000/. to 15,000/. " more, in a few days thereafter. *' I am^ Sir, " Your very humble servant •(Signed) « GEORGE BAILLIE' « WILLIAM STANISTREET, Esq. " London, Sept. 14, 1804. SIR, ct I HAD the pleasure of addressing you, for " the information of the committee, on the 12th Instant, in answer to your favour " of the 9th, to which I beg leave to refer. " Two circumstances have occurred to my mind, as important to advise •'with the committee upon, which occasions my troubling you at this time, " and upon which, I shall esteem myself obliged to them for their sentiments. " The first circumstance to which I allude, is that of Mr, C's. acceptances of " our drafts, which are now running ; granted in liquidation of the engage- " ments of the house sometime since, amounting to about 40,000/. ; to cover " which, he has long since been put in possession of adequate funds, for which 2 " I am 212 *' I am persuaded he is at this moment in cash; responsible, however, as the, " house is, at the same time, for his acceptances. "The question, therefore, is, how that responsibility for so large an amount *• can be best protected under these circumstances ? — Mr. C's. acceptances not " falling due for some time to come, say, none sooner than the ]8th of next " month, and from that to December ; would it not be proper that Mr. C. should " deposit the funds he received to meet these acceptances (as was always " intended by me) at Messrs. Down and Co. (where, at my particular desire, " an account was opened for that purpose) until the respective periods of their " appropriation arrived, by his acceptances coming to maturity ? I feel much " anxiety on this account; in case of any accident happening to Mr. Cock ; " which, God forbid, it would make a difference to the house of near " 80,000/. " The other object that I wish to consult the committee upon, and to have " their advice, is this: — It is well known to them that a considerable portion •' of the remittances I expect by the fleet, and from Havannah, &c. &c. will " be in the name of S. Cock and Co, — now the question is, what is to be done •' should Mr. C. refuse to hand over to me either the bills of lading or bills of " exchange, upon any pretence whatever, so as to have the effect, either of " detaining the funds, or to divert them from the purpose of being applied by " me, in liquidation of our engagements, or in any respect to protract «o de- " sirable a thing to the bill-holders ; and an object, at the same time, so very " agreeable to myself. I am the more anxious on this subject, from Mr. C. hav- " iT»g already attemf^ed to detain the funds of the house that came into his hands *' in other instances ; and, what greatly adds to my alarm, is the violent manner " in which he (supposed by the consent of Mr. Jaffray) seized upon the letters " of the house, whioh came by last packet, by iBt«rc^ting them previous to " their delivery at the counting-house ; aad, a^fter opening theoa, e£Bt such as " he thought proper to me. *' I shall esteem myself gnealtly obliged to you to be possessed, as soon as " possible, of the sentiments of the committee on these points, and shall have " great pleasure to i«giidate ray proceedings according to what they may deem " most ai3 most advisable. These matters are of too great importance for me to decide upon myself without first communicating them to the committee. " I am, with respect, Sir, " Your most humble Servant, (Signed) " GEORGE BAILLIE. " GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. *'SIR, " I HAVE not had an opportunity of laying before the com-- *' mittee, your letter of the 14th of September, until^to-day j and I am now *' directed to reply to it. ** The two circumstances, to which you allude in that letter, have been " produced by your own means, and the total diregard which you have " paid to the recommendation of the committee, respecting Mr. Cock's con- " tinuing to act as inspector of the affairs of Messrs. Geo. Baillie and Co. " precludes it from making any observations on those circumstances, except *' that the committee feels it a duty owing to Mr. Cock, to state, rhost ex- *' plicitly, that each gentleman, composing it, is entirely satisfied with the " honour, and the propriety of conduct of Mr. Cock, in the affairs of Messrs. " Geo. Baillie and Co.. — And his decided opinion that nothing can restore the " confidence of the bill-holders at large, in that house, but the compliance of 3 I " Mr. 214 *' Mr. Baillle with the terms of the proposition of the committee, contabed in " my letter of the 4th instant. " I am, Sir, " Your obedient Servant, " WILLIAM STANISTREET. "Liverpool, " 20th September, 1804. " I am directed by the committee to send to Mr. Cock, a copy of your " letter of the 14th Sept. and of this answer." "William Stan istreet, Esq. " TtTNBRiDGE Wells, Sept. 20th, 1804. '« SIR, " BEING in daily hopes of hearing from you in answer tp ray let- " ter of the 14th, I am now enabled to give you some further particulars, which " at that time prevented me from doing. The difference between Mr. Cock " and myself, arose entirely from his objecting to my giving out that we were " ready to pay the bills of June and July, and also to objecting to my mode of " arranging such payments, by giving the bills we received in lieu of our ac- " ceptances. It appears to me very evident, that Mr. Cock's objections arose " from the following reasons j viz. 1st. It would prevent his extorting from the " distressed bill-holders a commission, or other advantages for granting his " own acceptances to them, and keeping back the knowledge of our being " ready to pay. 2dly, He would be obliged to come to a settlement of ac- " counts 215 " counts, and refund the large balance, about S8,000l. of which he has already " refunded, through the interference of Mr. Swanzy. 3dly, He would lose " the accommodation of the good paper which he expected would be put into " his hands, and his own acceptances taken as before, at four month's date. " Now as he never could be supported by his friends uhder such circumstan- " ces, he very artfully made up a story, without foundation, that the cause of •' our quarrel arose from his pressing an investigation of my private accounts. " It must be very evident, that this false assertion has made some impression " upon the minds of the committee to my prejudice, by your desiring to have " the particulars of my private concerns, as far as relates to the bill-holders, " vvhich I am extremely happy you have given me an opportunity to do; and *' I herewith send you an exact copy from the books of the house, by which " you will at once see, that the assertion of my private concerns being the *' cause of the embarrassment of the house, is as false as it is malicious: J have " no private books nor accounts : every thing goes through the books of the " house, the same as any other individual : the crops of my estates and remittan- " ces from my old outstandings come to them, and they pay the bills drawn for " the current expences and my own private house-keeping ; for which purpose, " I take occasionally a few hundreds, and lodge it at my private bankers (Coutts " and Co.) and draw as I have occasion: now you will plainly see that all my *' transactions are strictly correct and regular. I brought the business and the " connection, and I took Mr. JafFray into the concern for the sake of his money ; " from what he stated, I had every reason to expect 50,0001. sterling from him " for the support of my private concerris and the house, and I firmly believe I " should have got this sum, had he not imprudently, and without consulting " any body, got dabbling in the funds, and which, when I saw it might be his " ruin, and the ruin of the house, I insisted upon his closing; and threatened " to call in the bill-holders, which had the desired effect : but Mr. JafFray and " myself have never been upon any terms since ; and this and my not settling " (as he insisted upon) a partnership uncultivated lot in Demerary, in sugar, " which would have occasioned an advance of 30,0001. is, I truly believe, the " only cause that can be assigned for Mr. JafFray forming a party with Mr. " Cock against me, and of course it encouraged Mr. Cock to act as he has " done. With my own partner against me, and supported by the committee, " he thought hinaself so formidable (my health being miserably bad) that I must 3 " surrender 216 ''surrender at discretion, in which he has been most egregiously mistaken. ** Although you have not asked for Mr. Jafiray's account, I now send it to you " along with my own, say, an exact copy from the books, by which you will " see that instead of his having 50,0001. in the house, as he has told Mr. " Swanzy and others, he has only 22,000/. I annex you a copy of his note to " Mr. Kerr, our head clerk : the original is in my possession, which I have " shewn Mr. Swanzy and others. It was in consequence of this order, he drew " 24,0001. out of the house, that we quarrelled, and came to an explanation ; *' and to all around me it is clear that I have saved the house from ruin j first, " as to what I have mentioned as respecting JafFray being involved in the " funds ; and afterwards, by resisting the proceedings of Mr. Cock, and the " coalition between him and Mr. JafFray, for which I expect in due time to " get the greatest credit from the. committee and the bill-holders. The com- " mittee have already got a state of the engagements of the house, and as soon " as I can arrange with Mr. Cock, they shall have an answer to their other "enquiries. Until I get entirely rid of this worthy gentleman, he will keep " us all in hot water. I fully expect he will change his quarters ; for as a " neighbour, (say in the same house,) who shews every inclination to give so " much trouble, does not by any means, suit me. I want relief; and, in short, " it is the interest of the bill-holders that I should have it, that I should get en- " tirely rid of Mr. C. and it is evident, that they and the house have suffered " much by his ever being admitted into my confidence, or to have any thing to " say to our concerns. It however was done with the best intentions, and " although it has failed, there can be no blame attached to me on that score. (Signed) «' GEO. BAILLIE." "William 217 i •' \Vm. Stanistreet Esq. "TuNBRiDGE Wells, 24th Sept. 1804. « SIR, " I AM favoured with your's of the 20th instant, wrote by di- " rection of the committee, to which I have now to reply. " Give me leave, Sir, in the first place to observe, that your letter does not " coutain any ansiver to the object of my last address, on the two points therein " stated, namely. What would be the most eligible mode of securing the bill- " holders, and eventually the house against any contingency that might arise " from Mr. C — 's outstanding acceptances, upon which the house are respon- " sible, as drawers and indorsers. And in what manner of application to *' Mr. C. thqj^inds of the house lately come into his possession, and also those " soon expected, were to be transferred into my hands, for the purpose of most "speedily and effectually, arranging the payment of the August and September "bills. As I wished- to have consulted the committee on these' important *' points, in particular the first, as involving eventually the responsibility of the " house. 2d. As contemplating the immediate relief of the bill-holders ; I " was in hopes they would have communicated thereon, and what would have " been the most advisable mode to pursue, in order to obtain these desirable " ends. I am sorry, however, to find that I am disappointed in that, as well " as in your not adverting in the least, to the information which I hoped it " would have been satisfactory to the committee to have received, in regard to " the bill remittance, and the communication respecting the further- prosperous ** situation of the connections of the house in the West Indies. In respect to " what you say of my being the means of Mr. C. coming under acceptance " for the house, or of his coming into possession of the funds of the house, as " a matter of censure to me, you must be sensible it was done with the best •' intention (however mistaken) and with a view to facilitate the payments to " the bill-holders, though at the expence of a sacrifice to the house. 3 k " But 213 " But admitting. Sir, a moment, that I had been the means, are you acquainted " with any principle moral or political, that would justify a perseverance in " error, merely because erroneous measures had bjeen adopted ? I hope- 1 may be -" allowed to say, that it would be better to retract the error, as in the present •' instance : aad although you are pleased to express yourself on this occasion *'in a manner insulting to my feelings, yet, Sir, the interest of the bill-holders " induces me to wave all personal considerations, from a sense of tb© duty that " I owe to them. I cannot, however, pass unnoticed altogether, what you " say, as to the opinion of the committee in respect to Mr. C. and the strained *' compliment of approbation which you are pleased to introduce, at my ex- " pence, of the honour and propriety of his conduct in the affairs of Messrs. •' G. B. and Co. : I need only observe on the subject, that I did not apply to " the committee for their opinion on that poirrt, and I am sorry to be forced •' to say, that I entirely differ from them upon it, insomuch that by reversing^ " the above compliment, you will then approximate to what is the well known. " and real fact; " As to Mr. C — 's returning to have any thing to do in the affairs of my " house, I considered it as a subject totally set at rest : I need only repeat, " that no such thing can ever happen. I have had entirely enough of his *' good services and proper conduct, to be quite satisfied that it would have " been greatly to the interest of the bill-holders, and of the house, to have had " much less of them. We have already had rather too much of a good thing ; so " much that it now requires some strong physic to work it off. I have not the " least objection to your sending a copy of this to Mr. C. that he may be able " to shew it to his friends, with all the other documents that you have been •' pleased to furnish him with, which, no doubt, will aid him in making up " his printed narrative, which, I understand he promises to indulge the pubJic " with for their amusement. " I am. Sip, " Your very humble Servant, " G. B." "William ^19 " William SrAirisTREET, Esq. ' " LON-DON, 10th OcroBER, 1804. " SIB, " ALTHOUGH I have not been favoured with any answer to the " letters that I had tte pleasure to address to you under date the 20th and 24th " uh. for the information of the committee of Liverpool bill-holders, I think it " may be proper for their further satisfaction, to communicate to you mypro- " ceedings since that time. " Having advised the respective bill-holders for the month of August of my " being prepared to arrange with them for the payment of the bills of that " month, you will probably be already acquainted with that circumstance. " The only material occunrence that I have now to advise you of in addition to. " the above, will be found in the.inclosures now forwarded, to which I beg " I'eave to refer, and which regards a final arrangement with Messrs. S. C. and '« Co. and Mr. S. C. by which, when brought to a conclusion, which I hope •' to do in a few days, I have the gratifying satisfaction to acquaint you, for " the information of the committee, that I shall be enabled thereby, together " with remittances daily expected, to relieve the bill-holders of the whole en- *' gagements of the house up to the 1st of November. " I am, Sir, " Your very humble Servant, (Signed) " GEORGE BAILLIE. " P. S. Mr. Swanzy waited upon Mr. Cock with my letter, addressed to " Messrs. Swanzy, Timperon, and Butler. Mr. C— 's reply to that letter 1 " you no " you have inclosed; and I also beg leave to send you herevi'ith, for the " perusal of the committee, a copy of Mr. Swanzy's letter to Messrs. " M'Dowal and Co. : and I trust, ere long, to be able to send some further " documents which will be equally satisfactory to you. As Mr, Butler hap- " pened to be in London, and being a considerable bill-holder, I requested " of him to join Mr. Swanzy and Mr. Timperon, in getting this and other •' matters arranged." « To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. « SIR, I BEG to inform you, that a meeting of the committee ofbill- " holders is summoned for Tuesday next, to take into consideratipn some " correspondence, including your letter, addressed to me, of the lOlh instant, *' and its inclosures. — After which I shall have the honour of communicating " to you the sentiments of the committee, " I am, Sir, " Your obedient servant, '• WILLIAM STANISTREET. "Liverpool, " 13th October, 1804. GEORGE 2^21 " GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " SIR, " THE meeting of the committee of bill-holders was held " to-day, when your letter, to me, of the 10th instant, and its inclosures, were " taken into consideration. " It will give sincere pleasure to the committee to learn that you have been " able, as you expect, to relieve the bill-holders of the whole engagements of " the house, up to the 1 st of November. And they wish very, much to be " informed what is the amount of the remittances, when received, to which " you allude. " It does not occur to the committee that the other parts of your letter, " or of the inclosures, require any other answer, than what may be collected " from our former correspondence. " I am. Sir, " Your obedient Servant, " WILLIAM STANISTREET." " Liverpool, v « 15th October, 1804." 3 t ''WILLIAM 222 " WILLIAM STJNISTREET, Esq. "London, Oct. 25, 1804. " SIR, " I RECEIVED both you letters of the ISth and l6th instant, " written by direction of the committee, the contents of which are less in- " tercsting than 1 flattered myself they would have been from the late com- " muiiications I had made to them, in respect to the payment of the August bills " (which I have now the pleasure to say, are retired) as well as the measures " I had pursued, (with the concurrence of Messrs. S. T. and B.) with a view " to adopt the most prompt arrangements to meet the September bills, and also " those of the present month. Notwithstanding the efforts that have been " made, I am sorry to say we have not as yet succeeded in procuring a settle- " ment with Mr. Cock, and until I receive the balance in his hands, I shall " not be enabled to proceed a step further in the liquidation of our engage- " ments : and, from the communication received yesterday from him, through *' Mr. Swanzy, I have no hopes of a speedy settlement. Your embassy to *' this city would have been much more approved of by myself and by the bill- " holderSj, had you been directed by the committee, to have insisted upon Mr. " Cock paying the balance he owea G. B. and Co. and any further sums that " might come into his hands. Instead of this, your orders seemed to be to " dispossess me, and place Mr. Cock in my stead, which you said both the " commitee and the bill-holders would approve of: — As you did not succeed " in this favourite object, you have, by direction of the committee, encou- " raged Mr. Cock to persevere, by openly and avowedly approving of all his " conduct, and disapproving of mine. — Under the circumstance of being sup- '' ported in this manner, by the committee, in all his measures, how can it be " expected that I can bring Mr. C. to a settlement. I am only astonished that '* he and Mr. Jaflray, in consequence of the encouragement given them by the " committee here, have not proceeded to more violent measures. As you 5 " have. 223 " have, by their orders, openly disapproved of my conduct, it is but fair to " tell you, that the bill-holders, and every one who knows the business, dis- " approve highly of the whole of the proceedings of the committee, including " your mission to this city, by their desire. The bill-holders also complain, " and very justly, that they are kept all along in the dark as to your pro- " ceedings, in consequence of which, I have found it necessary to give " them every information in my power ; and, as soon as you will authorise " Mr. Cock to come to a settlement, I shall be enabled to give further very " satisfactory information. I will now conclude this letter, by declaring, that " if the plans of you and the committee had succeeded, the consequences " would have been, the entire ruin of the house and the majority of those " connected with it ; whereas, by resisting your plans, it is evident to all, that ** the concerns flourish, and every thing comes round beyond example. I have *' made another effort to bring Mr. Cock to a settlement, as you will see by " the inclosed letters. " I am. Sir, " Your very humble Servant, (Signed) " GEORGE BAILLIE." " WILLIAM 224 " WILLIAM STANISTREET, F.sq. " LIVERPOOL, "London, 29th Oct. 1804. " SIR, " YOU will herewith receive copy of Mr. Cock's last letter " to Messrs. Swanzy, Timperon, and Butler; and copy of my letter to those " gentlemen, in reply to it. — I shall certainly consider the committee responsi- " ble to our house, and to the bill-holders for any bad consequences that may " arise in consequence of the proceedings of Mr. Cock, and his with-holding " the funds of the house now in his hands, and his seeming determination not " to give up what in future comes to him — He very artfully takes no notice of " the 38,000/. which we received from him, through the intervention of Mr. " Swanzy — In short his letter altogether is full of evasion, deception, misrepre- " sentation, and abuse, and, as I said in my last, it is well-known that the " committee have given him every possible support and encouragement, I " shall consequently hold them collectively and individually answerable for the " result in due time. You will very soon hear further from me, with such '' further information and documents, as will be as satisfactory to the committee " as those they have already received. " I am. Sir, ' " Your very humble Servant, (Signed) « GEORGE BAILLIE. " P. S. Mr. Cock's acceptance, per 3,000/. which we took up from Messrs. " Goldsmid's and paid the cash for, we always intended to present for payment " provided 225 " provided he did not settle his accounts with us, before it became due, so that " had we not presented it, the balance of his account would only have been *' 2,000/. against us, but if the 38,000/. which we have received, had remained *' in his hands, he would have been in our debt 36,000/. I may even call it " 37,000/. as there are 1,000/. acceptances of his, at long dates, which we have " engaged to take up." " GEORGE BAILEE, Esq. and Co. SIR, " HAVING been apprised that the bills given by Messrs. " S. Cock and Co. for those on Messrs. Geo. Baillie and Co. due in April and " May, and deposited with me and my partner Mr. Eden until discharged, " have been 'punctually honored ; it becomes our duty, under the terms of the " engagements, entered into by us with all the parties, to deliver up to you the " bills so discharged ; and you will, therefore, receive them accompanied with " this letter. *' I have received your letter, Mr. B's. of the 25th instant, and its inclosure. — " It is certainly pleasurable to the committee to hear that you have retired all '• the bills due in August. And it will be gratifying to them to hear from you " that you are prepared to do the same in respect of those due in September, " and in the current month. 3 m "The 226 " The committee wish to know, from, you, the particulars of the bills due " in each of these two months. The funds in hand, applicable to each of " of them, and the expectances; and when the arrangements for payment of " each month are likely to be complete. " With the payment of the latter bills, the appointment of the committee " will cease. 1 am, Sir, " Your humble Servant, "WILLIAM STANISTKEET." " LlVERPOOl, " 29th October, 1804." By mistake no copy was kept of Mr. Baillie's letter to Mr. Stanistreet, of the 15th of November; which merely stated George Baillie and Co's being prepared to arrange for their acceptances in the month of September. Wi LLIAM 227 " William Stanistreet, Esq. " Liverpool. London, 19th November, ISO*. " SIR> " Mr, Cock has grven every assurance to Mr. Swanzy and " others of the bill-holders, that he will immediately pay over to George " Baillie and Co. the large balance which he has so long had in his hands. " This will fully enable me to settle our acceptances up to the 1st of No- " vember, and I have therefore, thought it best to arrange for the bills of " September and October at the same time, which you will please mention to " the committee, and to the other gentlemen concerned, for which purpose I " send you a list annexed. " And, I am Sir, " Your most obedient Servant, (Signed) " GEORGE BAILLIE." " Messrs, 228 " Messrs. George Baillie and Co. " Liverpool, 20lh November, 1804. " SIR, " I have communicated to Messrs. Aspinall, Bolton, and Case, •' your letter to me of the 15th instant, notifying that you were prepared to " arrange for your acceptances due in the month of September last, " It having been mentioned to one of those gentlemen that some houses " have lately sent out bills to the West Indies; and that Messrs. Brickwood *' and Daniels were pursuing an action against you for a considerable amount *• I am desired by them to request from you, particular information on the " subject; and particularly, when the bills, in respect of which any proceed- '* ings have been taken became due, and when they were sent out, or at what " time actions were commenced. For although, as a committee of general *' bill-holders, the appointment of those gentlemen has ceased : yet as, with *' respect to bills due previous to 1st November, it will for some time exist: " they are anxious to obtain every possible information. " They also request to know what progress is made in the arrangement for " the bills due in October, and what funds are in hand, and may be expected " for that purpose, with the particulars of the bills due in that month. '* I am. Sir, " Your obedient Servant, " WILLIAM STANISTREET. " P. S. Accident prevented this being sent last night. I have this morning " received your letter of the 19th, and shall communicate it to the com- " mittee, and the bill-holders named in it. If the proposed arrangement " should procrastinate the bills due in September, I am afraid it will not be " approved of, not being consistent with the promised payment in priority. " W. S. " Cist November, 1801-.'' 1 " George 229 " George Baillie, Esq. " Liverpool, 22d November, 1804. " SIR, " I have communicated your letter of the 19th instant, to the "committee; and they direct me to say, that after having advised that you " was prepared to arrange for the bills due in September, they are of opinion, " that no time should be lost, with respect to those bills, on account of the " depending arrangement for the bills due in October. " I am. Sir, '• Your obedient Servant, " WILLIAM STANISTREET. " P. S. Your's of the 20th, with its inclosures, received this morning, are with " Mr. Case; and shafl be sent round to Mr. Bolton, and Mr. Aspinall." 3 N " William 230 " William Stanistreet, Esq. " 24th November, 1804. «' SIR, " I HAVE received your letters of the 20th, and 22d instant, " which I will not fail to reply to ; in the mean time, I beg leave to inclose, •' for the perusal of the committee, sundry printed papers, respecting the pros- '' perous situation of the concerns of the house, and George Baillie and Co. " can have no doubt of receiving the approbation of the committee for an " event so much to their own advarftage, and that of the numerous respectable " persons which they have represented. " I am, Sir, " Your very humble Servant, " GEORGE BAILLIE.'* " WILLIAM STANISTREET, Esq. " Liverpool. "London, 29th Nov. 1804. " SIR, " INCLOSED I send you a letter from Mr, Swauzy to " me, in consequence of a remark made in a letter wrote by Mr. Cock, " and 231 " and which letter, he said, he would forward to the committee ; it is, there. " fore, necessary that they should have Mr. Swanzy's observations, and also " mine, on that subject. " When I commenced paying the bills of June last, it appeared by my cal- " culation, that I had much more than sufficient to pay the whole of our " acceptances for that month in bills at ninety days sight; I mean, including " property in Mr. Cock's hands, amounting to about 40,000/., 30,000/. of " which I considered equal to bills at ninety days sight ; I therefore com- " menced our payments to Mr. Swanzy,.and others, upon the idea that the " very next day I should receive this sum out of Mr. Cock's hands. I was, •' );o vever, disappointed, and put off for some days : in the mean time, " M^'Sc.rs. Ingrams and Butler, Mr. Aspinall, and some others, sent in our " acceptances for payment, and I was obliged (in consequence of not re- " ceiving the funds from Mr. Cock) to pay them in bills at longer sights than " ninety days. — At this moment, Mr. Cock exclaimed that I was giving pre- " ferences, by paying Mr. Swanzy, and others, shorter bills than Messrs. " Ingrams and Butler, Mr. Aspinall, &c. Sec. had received, although he " knew that he himself was the cause of it, and, I am persuaded, he kept " back the funds on purpose to prevent my paying in the equal manner I at " first intended, in order to be able to make this charge. I, however, in a " few days thereafter received about 35,000/. in bills, produce, &c. &c. from " Mr. Cock, through the intervention of Mr. Swanzy, about 30,000/. of " which, as I stated before, I converted into bills at ninety days sight, and " gave notice to Messrs. Ingrams, Aspinall, and others, that I was ready to " change the bills I gave them for bills at ninety days sight ; this is the real " state of the business, and nothing, in my opinion, can be more malicious " than the insinuation that Mr. Swanzy had got a preference. I was as in- " capable of giving it, as he was of receiving it. He always declared his " willingness to accommodate, in taking even longer bills than were given ta "others J and, in short, has been of the greatest use to the house in a va- " riety of ways, which, in fact, was serving all most essentially, and they " ought to consider it as such. In justice to him, I ought to mention these " circumstances, particularly at a time when it is evident to me, Mr. Cock's 3 232 *' views are to create a jealousy, by my giving, as he says, a preference to " Mr. Swanzy ; and the intent is still worse, by wishing to insinuate that, as " an interested man, no declaration of his can be depended upon. In short, " he wishes to do away all confidence, in order, as I suppose, that he may " be called on to protect the Liverpool interest. Whoever knows Mr. " Swanzy, cannot, for a moment, give the least credit to such malicious " insinuations. " I am, Sir, " Your very humble Servant, (Signed) « GEO. BAILLIE." " P. S. I would recommend to the committee to be very cautious how " they reflect upon Mr. Swanzy or myself, in consequence of the misrepre- " sentations of Mr. Cock, and I think they ought to be particularly guarded *' in respect to their acting or giving the least credit to the contents of a " pamphlet said to be in their hands, and in the hands of one or two others *' at Liverpool, and which Mr. Cock will never attempt to bring into public ** notice, well knowing that he cannot prove a single particle to my preju- *' dice, and that the whole must be as false as his printed letter to the bill- *' holders. I had nearly forgot that Mr. Swanzy, among other responsibilities *' is one of my principal securities for the government loan j and, 1 declare " thaj he has derived no advantages whatever from me or the house, and that " I am convinced his sole motive for coming forward in this way, is for the *' general gpod of all concerned. WILLIAM ^233 " WILLIAM STANISTREET, Esq. " Liverpool. "London, 3d Dec. 1804. " SIR, " I AM now to reply to your letter of the 20th ultimoj making " eiiquiry as to sundry matters, viz, " The action brought against the house by Messrs. Brickwood and Daniel, " for 5000/. in answer to which I have only to observe, that the house were " indebted to Cornelius Stevenson, of New York, for this sum received on his "account, and which we made use of by paying our acceptances; on this " account I thought it proper that the house should lodge with me, who was " Mr. Stevenson's attorney^ security for the account, which they did, by a " bill at long sight, and a West India mortgage. These securities I handed " over to Messrs. Brickwood and Daniel, who had a power of attorney " from Mr. Stevenson, and it was agreed with them to pay the whole off when " the October fleet arrived. — They, however, took the alarm, at the conduct " of the committee in supporting the contumacy of Mr. Cock against the " principal in the_ house, and entered an action which I am now defending, " and they would have got their money two months sooner than they will " now receive it, had they remained quiet. " Secondly, As to the bills gone out, I do not know of any, except one " sent out by Mr. King, (from pique,) say, for 637/. lOj-.; and I sent another " bill out for a larger amount since then, which his house at Demerary must " pay with damages, as they owe the acceptor money to a large amount ; — *' the other bill returned, is one for 1300/. in the hands of Lang, Turing, " and Co. ; they are at this moment in possession of a larger sum of mine. So " sav. 234 " say, cash, which they have retained for some years, and I can, only by a bill ** in chancery, force them to pay it : besides this, I am security for Mr, Lang^ " to Mr. Snell Chauncey for 5000/. and I have not been able to get released, " although Mr. Lang has been promising me to have it done for these two " last years, and I must at last force him to do it. " Lastly, As to the prospects of paying our acceptances for September and '• October, I am going on with it as fast as possible, and I should suppose it " will be completed in the course of eight or ten days. I find the committee " have sent copies of my letters to Mr. Cock, but they have never sent me co- " pies of any of his, so that from this circumstance, and many others well known, *' I will leave the bill-holders to judge whether they have acted with that im- " partiality which, from their situation, they ought to have done, in common " justice to our house, and the bill-holders, whom they have represented. I " trust they will take a proper opportunity of explaining these circumstances " to the satisfaction of the bill-holders. " I firmly believe, that if the committee had acted in that fair, open, and *' impartial manner, that was expected from them when appointed, the bills " I have mentioned would not have returned, nor would the action have " been brought by Messrs. Brickwood and Daniel. It is wonderful that " their proceedings altogether, did not throw the whole concern into the " greatest confusion. I shall not take any merit to myself, as it was my " duty to act as I have done, and to prevent the regular order of things from " being disturbed. I am. Sir, &c. &c. (Signed) « GEORGE BAILLIE.' " WILLIAM 235 Mr. STANISTREET. " No. 16, Devonshire Street, "Dec. 21, 1804. " SINCE I wrote you last I have received from Mr. Hum- " phrys the enclosed copy of Mr. Cock's letter to him of the 16th. I now " send you copy of my letter to Mr. Humphrys of the 18th inst. on that " subject, in order that he might communicate the same to Mr. Cock. As " all these letters have been sent to Liverpool 1 think it is but right that *' you should have them for the information of the committee. I think " it probable that Mr. Cock will want to have their opinion before he finally *' decides as to his answer to Mr. Humphrys ; he has taken already my *' attention very much from the main object, by which the concern and the " bill-holders must suffer, therefore the sooner he can close accounts with " them by arbitration the better for all parties. Please communicate this to " the committee. " I am, &c. &c. (Signed) « GEORGE BAILLIE." To ^36 " To Edmund Thornton, Esq. " SIR, " HAVING in this publication addressed several of your acquain- " tance who have been very active in their endeavours to crush me and my " connections, and your name having been mentioned, I do not think the " statement would be complete without the following detail : " Soon after I established the house of George Baillie and Co, you of- " fered your services to me gratis j saying you were a perfect idler, and " would be, glad to assist me in my operations in the counting-bousej of which " I accepted, and considered myself obliged to you. You further offered to "join me in the power of attorney from Mrs. Baillie, to which Mr. Evan Baillie" " and Mrs. Baillie agreed, but not until I became responsible for your conduct j " and in the agreement with Mrs. Baillie, it was stated, that you were intro- " duced at my particular, desire. After we had engaged to a large amount, " you alarmed Mr. Lang, by saying, that you would recommend our not ac- " cepting further for James Baillie's estate, which occasioned some altercation " between that gentleman and myself; and I insisted upon his going on, as the " consequences would be dreadful if we either stopped engaging, or allowed " the bills then become due to return to the West Indies. No remittapces " would have come home to us, and we should not have been able to meet " our engagements; this was the first part of your conduct that I disapproved ; " the next was as follows: when I was absent (at Bath) you engaged to the " amount of 30,0001. by acceptances, per procuration of Mrs. C. Baillie, in " favor of the tradesmen to whom James Baillie's estate was indebted ; I was " not consulted until it was accomplished, and much was I alarmed on recol- " lecting that I was responsible fdr the whole of your proceedings. When the " bills became due, there were no funds to pay them ; by this imprudent step " much uneasiness was occasioned to me ; actions were brought and defended " and finally compromised. You were, at the above period, indebted to James 5 " Baillie's 237 ** Baillie's estate about 5 or 6,0001. which you agreed to pay with the crops of " your estate at Grenada, which I fully expected ; but to my utter astonish- " ment, you proposed to arrange it by a bond of the late James Baillie's to " Doctor M. Adair, which you took up from that gentleman, by granting your " own at six or seven years with a mortgage upon your estate at Grenada. As " I had agreed with Dr. Adair to let the payment of his bond lie over for " some years upon the interest being regularly paid, I certainly disapproved of " your interfering for your own benefit, and to the detriment of James Baillie's " estate : I candidly told you that I would not agree to the arrangement, as " there were particular circumstances attending that bond which would ena- " ble me to insist upon Dr. Adair's cancelling his agreement with you, which " you know I actually did oblige him to do after you had been at a considera- " ble expence for drawing mortgages, &c. to secure the payment to Dr. Adair. " The particulars of this are also notorious, and completely verified what had " often been asserted, that by giving you an inch you would not hesitate to " take an ell. You managed little Lang (as you called him) so dexterously, " that he became quite subservient to your schemes: instead of making things " easy for me, I found you and this manosuvering gentleman always conspired " to throw every difficulty in the way of my operations to benefit James " Baillie's estate. Finding it impossible to go on smoothly, and my eyes being " now open and disapproving much of your measures, I was obliged to tell you " that I had no further occasion for your services j and in consequence, you " withdrew from the field of action, after having involved Mrs. Bailiie and " myself in enormous risks and responsibilities, without either the one or the " other to yourself; assuming all along, let me here emphatically remark, the •• pre-eminent character of stanch friend, and zealous and disinterested bene- " factor to the family. I now^ had to contend with Mr. Lang only, whom " I kept in very good order, though a tight rein was necessary to be kept over " him. I must not omit mentioning the difficulty that 1 had at Ealing Grove " previously to your admission as my assistant, to prevail upon Mrs. Bailiie to " see you ; when we arrived there, she shut herself up, and when I got admit- " tance to her and listened to her story, I, with great difficulty, removed her " prejudices against you, by saying how anxious you were to be useful to the " family, &c. &c. : she then consented to see you, and received you very kindly, *' a circumstance which I never mentioned to you, though I. have occasionally 3 p " brought 238 " brought it on the carpet before others. Sensible as you must have been of " the necessity of the funds of James Baillie being got in as speedily as possi- " ble, to answer the very extensive engagements we had entered into, I submit " it entirely to your own reflection, vphether the transaction with Dr. Adair " was consistent with the confidential situation in which you were placed by " me as acting for James Baillie's estate. " I am. Sir, " Your very humble Servant, « GEORGE BAILLIE." Extract of Letter from Edmund Thornton, Esq. to G. Baillie, Esq. " WILL you comply with Mrs. Baillie's request ? I have wrote " her that she must have forgot my dismission, and that I have not acted in " her late husband's affairs for many months past." " Thomas 239 " Thomas King, Esq. « SIR, " THE manner of your withdrawing your security for the o-o- " vernment loan, will be seen in my letter to Mr. Bolton : the object of you " two upright gentlemen was evidently the same, viz. to destroy the credit of " my house, and of our connections in the AVest Indies, in order thereby to " benefit yourselves in a manner that can be easily conceived by those who " know you, without any further explanation. This becomes still more evident " from the circumstance of your sending out a bill of our's under protest for " 6371. 10s. when you were assured of its being settled here in a fortnight " thereafter. I understand your relation and agent Mr. Jackson writes, that " a number of our bills were returned to Demarara, waiting only for the deci- " sion on your's for which he had brought an action; an assertion false and •' malicious in the extreme, as there is not the least foundation for it j on the " contrary, your's is the only bill of our acceptance returned to that colony j " and from what I hear, I .think it will be twelve months at least before you " are in cash for it ; and if the decision is such as is expected, no damages will " be awarded you. I have been informed that you have taken great liberties " in talking of our imprudence; and predicting that we should be 250,0001, " short of our engagements on the first January last ; the printed report of our " principal bill-hqjders will prove the very reverse, and that you are completely " mistaken, for we had fully enough to meet all our engagements to the first " January. When you talk in this way, you should consider and look well at *' your own conduct; for let me ask you, whether it was a prudent measure " your fitting out an African ship from Rotterdam, under Dutch colours, for " four hundred slaves ; which vessel was some months ago captured and con- " demned; the value of ship and cargo at Demarara, the place^of destination, " would exceed 30,0001. sterling. This vessel and cargo I find are entirely " your own property, and a total loss to you, as you cannot, under the circum- " stances, recover from the underwriter ; the business is well known at Lloyd's: 5 " now 240 " now I should be glad you or your associates would mention any imprudence " of mine, as I will venture to assert it is not in your power to bring forward " a single instance. I cannot omit mentioning the conduct of yourself and " Mr. Shoolbread, acting as two of the committee of James Baillie's creditors ; " I stood boldly forward to protect their interest, and would not give way to " Mrs. Baillie's unreasonable requests, to the prejudice of the simple contract " creditors of J, B. and Co. ; you ought really to take shame to yourself, con- " sidering the situation you were in (chairman of the committee) for not de- " fending the interest of those who appointed you, and preventing their being " imposed upon by the misrepresentations of Mr. Lang, so as to deprive " them of the interest due them upon debts, for which they gave an in- " dulgence for seven or eight years, and upon which I, as representing " Mrs. Baillie, positively promised them interest before they granted such in- " dulgence. When you have been alarming people about our situation, and. " misrepresenting the real state of our affairs, you ought to have considered " that you had your all embarked in the same bottom with us, say at Dema- " rara; and if any thing had happened to it, your situation would not have " been a particle better than our own. You will have reason to blush at " your conduct, if you consider maturely all the circumstances: reflect for a " moment on the numerous respectable gentlemen of your acquaintance, who " all are interested in the welfare of our house, and freely acknowledge, " whether you are not doing them a great injury, which, I trust, they will not " pass over with impunity. You will see this letter annexed to my statement " of facts in print, together with sundry other letters to some gentlemen with " whom you seem to be particularly intimate, and, « I am. Sir, " Your humble Servant, " GEORGE BAILLIE. •' P. S. I annex copy of Wm. Mc. Kenzie and Go's, letter to you, and copy of " their answer to your agents Messrs, Bothamley and Jackson. "G. B." " Thomas 241 " Thomas King, Esq. " London. " DemararAj bih Dec. 180k " SIR, " WE were presented a few days ago, by your agents here, with " one of our drafts, on Messrs. George Baillie and Co. sent out by you with " protest for non-payment, to which we positively refused payment^ for rea- " sons, which, no doubt, they will transmit to you. Our letters from that " house had previously intimated, that such was your intentions : our astonish- " ment was therefore the less on seeing it, though, at first, we could hardly " bring ourselves to conceive, that a gentleman bearing the respectable cha- " racter which we have heard of you, could have acted in a manner so con- " trary to the very liberal conduct shewn by all the other bill-holders, and to " which you certainly can be no stranger. " We can, therefore, ascribe this step to no other motive than that of a sel- " fish nature ; or a still meaner one, that of hurting the reputation and credit " of our house, arid of our friends Messrs. G. B. and Co. to which idea " the indelicate mode of informing us of the return of this bill adds some " weight. So obvious to us is this conclusion, that we deem it proper to make " the following observations to the source from whence these motives spring: " Evil intentions generally draw on them their own punishment ; and you " seem to have forgot that people in this country, of respectable connections " at home, are not without their influence here. We therefore have to assure " you, that so far from your views succeeding, on the one hand, our character "and credit stand too high to be injured by the return of a petty bill, while " it exposes your object universally to light : on the other hand, we have to "observe, that bill which would have been paid by Messrs. G. B- and 3 Q " Co. 242 , " Co. shortly after presentation, on the arrival of the fleet, as promised by them, " and as stated in the protest, will take months to recover in*this colony. " Our courts of justice, are also courts of equity; so that the entire merits " of the case will be maturely weighed before damages are awarded. " We shall not neglect to lay before them the several papers relating to the " very handsome and liberal conduct shewn by all the other bill-holders, whose " well-grounded confidence must have been rewarded by the ample remit- " tances we have made. They will serve as such a striking contrast to your " mode of acting, as we are convinced, will at once decide their miads against " the general claim of damages in such cases. " We are, Sir, " Your obedient Servants, (Signed) ' .«Wm. M'KENZIE and Co." " Messrs. BoTHAMLEY and Jackson. " THE payment of any acceptance of Messrs. George Baillie "*• and Co. returned to this country, will be resisted to the last extremity, " In consequence of the difficulties in procuring remittances, owing to the " changeable situation these colonies have been in, and the peculiar grievances 5 " attending 243 " attending collections In a neighbouring one, Messrs. G. B. and Co. were " under the necesshy of requesting a suspension of payment from their various " bill-holders. " This was, after an inspection into their affairs, and a perfect conviction of " the justness of the plea, most unanimously agreed to by the great majority, " with hardly an exception. " It would therefore be unjust, in the highest degree, while we are in duty, " as well as Interest bound, to strain every nerve for the purpose of not disap- " pointing the expectations of men of such liberal principles, to withhold any " of the funds we are collecting, in order to take up bills sent out from motives " of a contrary, and indeed of a most selfish nature. " When such steps are taken by men, who, from their own connection with " these colonies, ought to be sensible of the difficulties that have existed, " and even still exist, the opposition to payment will be the greater. (Signed) "W1.5. M'KENZIE and Co." STAR 244 STAR AND GARTER, 10th April, 1804; At a meeting of the bill-holders of Messrs. George Baillie and Co. at eleven o'clock in the forenoon; PRESENT, Messrs. John and James Aspinall, Messrs. Ingram, Rigby and Co. •Ralph Abram and Go. • Gabriel James and Co. John Ainsworth, Robert Kitchen and Co. Moses Benson, Sam. M' Dowal and Co. P. W. Brancker and Co. Mullion, Lenox and Co. John Bolton, Thomas Marshall and Co. Wm. Begg and Co. Mullion and Bibby, Brown, Huson and Co. Thomas Mather and Co. Archd. Brown and Co. John and James Parr, Wm. and Jas. Brade, Thomas Parr, George Case and Co. Capt. John Pince, Thomas Clare and Co. Septhen, Charles and Co. Jonathan Fisher and Co. Benjamin Thomas, Graham, Hayes and Co. Tarleton, Rigg and Co. Hardman, Wright and Co. John Weston and Co. Sent to, but absent, Messrs. Bridge and Keale, Crokat and Steven- son's assignees, Fisher, Brocklebank and Co. George Greaves, and Co. T. and E. L. Hodgsons, Benjamin Maudsley, IS'ielson and Heathcote, Ogle and Walton, and Robert Sellars. George Case, Esq. is called to the chair. The chairman read a letter from S. Cock, Esq. to him, dated 5th April, and the general statement of Messrs. George Baillie and Go's 245 Go's, affairs, inclosed in it ; and a part of another letter, of the same date, from Mr. Cock, to him. The chairman communicated to the meeting, the result of an in- terview, which he, Mr. Benson, and Mr. Bolton, had had yesterday, with Messrs. Leyland, James Gregson, and Heywood, representing the three Liverpool banks ; and who, he said, approved of an exten- sion of time for the acceptances. The postcript of Mr. Bolton's letter, respecting the London and Bristol bill-holders, was then read, by which it appeared, that their concurrence might be expected. After much discussion, and time given for deliberation, in detached parties, it was then fully understood to be the opinion of the meeting. That it was advisable for the holders of bills, accepted by Messrs. George Baillie, and Co. and falling due at any period previous to the first day of November next, not to return such bills to the West Indies, nor to commence any proceedings against either the drawers or acceptors of them, previous to that time. But that Messrs. George Baillie and Co. should, in the mean time, pay those bills in the order they severally became due, from the proceeds from time to time arriv- ing, as far as the proceeds would extend. But this opinion was given subject to the concurrence of all the other bill-holders of Messrs. George. Baillie and Co. And the owners of ships were requested to communicate this opi- nion to the captains of their ships who held bills. Messrs. Bolton, Case, and John Bridge Aspinall, were appointed a committee. The correspondence was directed to be carried on between Mr- Cock, and Mr. Stanistreet, and to be communicated by the committee to the persons interested, as occasion may require. (Signed) WILLIAM STANISTREET, Secretary. 10th April, 1804. 3 R "Messrs, UQ " Messrs. Samuel Mc. Doual and Co. « LoNBON, 3d Sept. 1804. « GENTLEMEN, *' I RECEIVED your favour of the SOth ultimo; it is certainly " important to your house, myself, and many others, that theafeirs of George " Baillie, and Co. should be managed by persons most likely to bring them " to a favourable issue. I was present on Saturday, at an interview between " Mr. Stanistreet and Mr. Baillie : the intructions of the former, appeared, to " go no further, than to put this question to Mr. B. " Should the Liverpool " committee deem it expedient to invest Mr. Cock with the entire managc- " mentofthe affairs of your house, will you consent thereto?" I take it for " granted, that Mr. Stanistreet had further instructions, in the event of this " being acceded to ; for it is impossible to suppose he was sent merely to ask " a question, which might have been put and answered by post. I was sur- " prised to find he cautiously avoided all inquiry into the nature and extent " of the dispute between Mr. B. and Mr. C. : a measure essential to the " coming to an equitable determination. Than myself, no man entertains " for Mr. Cock, a higher respect or opinion, but the present is a case of too " great magnitude ; my interest is too deeply involved to be determined en- " tirely thereby. I put all personal considerations out of the question, and " neither will identify myself with Mr. C. or Mr. B. but consider the " question as it ought to be considered; as referring to our interests, as fer *' as is consistent with the equity of the case. If it can be shewn that Mr- " B. has given an undue preference j has used the funds of the house to an " amount sufficient to occasion its embarrassments j if he has neglected the " interests of the bill-holders j if he has refused to accede to propositions " proved to be advantageous; if it can be shewn, he has in a flagrant manner, '* broken any ifnportant engagement (implied or understood) entered into " between him and the bill-holders j if his judgment is defective; if he has 1 " lost 247 " lost the confidence of the correspondents of the house In the West Indies 3 " if these things can be proved, then, certainly, he is unft longer to con- *' duct the affairs of the house of G. B. and Co. But otherwise, it would be " monstrous to say, " Mr. B. you shall no longer manage your own affairs-; " you have quarrelled with Mr. Cock — as a punishment for which, the only " man on earth to whoni you object shall replace you." *• For my part, though I have taken some pains, yet it has been ineffectuaF *' to discover sufficient proof in support of any charge brought against Mr. B. " and I do aver, that «o far as 1 have been able to judge, his conduct, as it *' respects the bill-holders, has been deserving of their praise ; and I do most " conscientiously believe, (in support of which, I have Mr. Cock's own opi- " nion, given subsequent to the dispute) he is the man most likely to conduct ** the affairs of Greorge Baillie, and Co. to a favourable issue. I will go so far "" as to say, which I do not believe to be the fact, that, supposing him culpable " or imprudent, or both, to a certain extent, still under certain conditions and " superintendence, do I conceive him as the most proper person, on the- " ground that he has the entire confidence of all in the West Indies. They " are either his near relatives or personal friends ; strangers alike to Mr. Cock "or Mr. JafFr'ay; this is a consideration of great moment, inasmuch as I very " much doubt whether they would remit a shilling to the latter, though placed " by the creditors in the ostensible situation it is suggested, unless that arrange- " ment is acquiesced in by Mr. Baillie, who is advised by his solicitor, (a maa " of eminence and ability) to proceed to bankruptcy, rather than to submit. " I hope and trust this matter will not be determined by the personal influence " or canvas of either party ; but that it will he decided on its own merits, " and in a manner most likely to obtain the only end in view, " The_ interest " of all parties.*' I must confess the conflict i| unequal ; Mr. B. stakes his " reputation, his property, and the interests of his nearest connexions : Mr., "Cock can lose only his expectations; neither his property or character is " joined in the issue. It is proposed, for three gentlemen from your town, ia " conjunction with Mr. Anderson of Bristol and myself, to form a committee •' to inquire and determine on all matters in dispute, which, if adverse to any " party, gives the option of appeal to the bill-holders at large. I very much "wished to decline being one of the number, though I have cautiously " avoided 248 "avoided committing myself on any point; yet am I free to acknowledge, " my view of the matter has given a bias in favour of Mr. B. not from personal -" feeling, for w^as I capable of deciding a matter of such importance on such *' ground, I should be unworthy to be consulted. But from the interest which *' I take in the house of G. B. and Co. and therefore, perhaps having rather " prejudged the question, I am unfit to sit as an arbitrator. However, on *' consideration, I find this is an objection to almost every bill-holder of conse- *' quence, and perhaps to none more than the gentlemen forming your commit- " tee, who in reality seem already, decided in a line of conduct, founded more on " the personal opinion of Mr. C. than on the result of inquiry. Upon the " whole, therefore, a committee such as proposed will be desirable ; if ob- " tained without recourse to a meeting of bill-holders (with you) so much the " better; from the complexion of the business this is not likely: the result of " such a committee will be extremely beneficial, determine as they may. You " are at liberty to make any use of this you please: the subject is so important *' and various, that the limits of a letter are barely sufficient to touch on the *' leading points. « I am, &c. &c. (Signed) "J. SWANZY. "" Monday. " P. S. I have this day had a long conversation with Mr. Cock, to whom " I expressed my opinion, that if the bill-holders partially insisted on his having " the management of the affairs of G. B. and Co. without Mr. Baillie's con- " sent, every thing would be thrown into confusion. I am happy to say his " conduct was such as I expected from him. He shewed a copy of a letter " to the committee, declaring his willingness to relinquish every wish to remain " longer in the house of G. B. and Co. unless at their pressing instance: all " that he required was, that his character should be completely cleared from any " aspersions that may have been thrown on it. I trust his moderation will " produce the desired effect of letting matters go on in their former channel, " the 249 " the only one likely to be beneficial j and that the bill-holders with you, will " not insist on Mr. Cock's being appointed to act even in conjunction with Mr. •' B. but that some other person or persons may be placed in a situation to be " able to give satisfactory information. That person, I think it necessary to " say, I will not be, as already have I created suspicions, which I never did, " or ever will merit. " I am, &c. (Signed) "J. S." The above is copy of a letter which Mr. Swanzy (one of the principal bill- holders) wrote in September last, to Messrs. M' Doual and Co. of Liverpool. " Andrew Reid, Esq. " Devonshire Street, Portland Place, 28th Fee. 1805. SIR, " IN case you have not kept a copy of your letter to me of the " 26th March, 1798, I now send you one, in which you declare your senti- " ments in the following words : " I cannot forget the handsome, liberal mariner in which you assisted me " with lOfiOOl. three per cents. " After expressing yourself as you have done, I am at a loss to conceive, " how you can reconcile your late proceedings towards me, with the acknow- " ledgment of the friendly assistance afforded you in time of need, and that " without any security whatever. If you possessed the least particle of deli- " cacy, friendship, or gratitude, instead of withdrawing yourself as you did, " at such a critical period, without any cause, you would have embraced, *' with the utmost eagerness, the opportunity of coming forward on the occa- 3 s " sion 250 " sion of the temporary embarrassment under which' my house laboured from " the unexpected war : I mean with your countenance, which might have *' been of service to me, without your involving yourself to the extent of one " shiUi?ig. I informed you that you were one of my executors and trustees, " which proved the confidence I had in youj we were from the same part of " Scotland, and long acquainted ; all this was generally known : judgd then " of the fatal consequences of your being the very first to give way, provided " your example had been followed by all the others connected with the house. " Mr. Bolton, who (I also thought) was my most particular friend, joined you, " as did Mr. King and Mr. Calvert. You four came forward to withdraw *' your security for the government loan, and wrote a letter, the most oflFensive " that could be to my feelings, to the commissioners of the exchequer loan, " desiring them immediately to proceerd against me, and to release you. Your " security was originally for^,000l. and when it was withdrawn and another " placed in your stead, it was reduced to 2,5001. I consulted a gentleman " of the law, who assured me, that government had, in this case, a prior claim " to every other upon all my property, from the moment you signed the bond " of security ; and that such was preferable to any mortgage that could be " granted by me to you, and could be immediately acted upon by you in case "of a default; this is clearly the case; so that when your responsibility, " was reduced to one half, say from 5,0001. to 2,50Ol. with interest, my pro- " pcrty was considerably increased, since you originally came forward, besides " the addition of some hundreds of thousands in the way of business, which " came since into my hands, belonging to others, which was also liable to your " debt ; and it was well known and allowed by all those connected with us, " that the government loan must be paid in preference to any other demand: " all this you also were sensible of, but you pretended to be much alarmed, " and impressed the same idea upon the other securities, with some of whom " you succeeded ; all this could be done with no good intention : thus were " you endeavouring to shew your great caution and prudence at the risk of " my destruction. Your conduct and Mr. Bolton's, so far from occasioning " me to despond, as it might be supposed to do, had a contrary effect; it " roused me to make extraordinary exertion, and it had the same effect upon *' many others connected with me. Look at the prosperous situation of our " concerns announced in print, under the hands of some of the principal bill- 5 " holders 251 "holders: and see also the liberal conduct of these gentlemenj and of the " others connected with us. " Will not this make you blush at your conduct ; particularly when you " learn that all your attacks, and that of your other friends to injure me have " failed j and that I am in the full possession of the tunds, with the uncon- " trouled management of the business of our house ; is not this a very con- " vincing proof of the confidence our bill-holders have in me? I now leave " you to reflect upon the impropriety of your conduct altogether, and how " much more creditable it would have been for you to have acted in a difFe- " rent manner from whiat you have done, and. I am. Sir, " Your very humble Servant, « GEORGE BAILLIE. " P. S. T must here menfion, that at the time you first desired your security " to be withdrawn, had you wished or asked for any further security, it would " have immediately been granted without the least hesitation, as every incum- " brance upon my properties was then paid off, the government loan only " remaining." To 252 " To G. Baillie, Esq." " Liquor Pond Street, 26th March, 1798. " MY DEAR SIR, " I send you inclosed a letter which I received some days ago " from Mr. Lang ; I wished to put off any discussion upon it until we could " meet; but as I find it is uncertain when you will be in town, I think it best " to bring the matter to immediate issue. " I cannot forget the handsome, liberal manner in which you assisted me " with 10,0001. three per cents, and when you afterwards applied to me to " become your security to Mr. Vaux, I had not a moment's hesitation in " agreeing to it : but as there is a clause in our articles (in common I believe " with all the articles of partnership) which prohibits a partner becoming " security for any one without the consent of the whole, I thought it best that " all the partners of our house should join in the security to Mr. Vaux as the " loan from your house was for their benefit, than that I should apply for their " consent to give my own separate guarantee. You told me at the time, and " I repeated it to my partners, that Mr. Vaux had declined to continue his " guarantee, unless you furnished him with some additional security to 10,000J. "three per cents, which you offered to place in his name, and this circumstance " led them to suppose that our guarantee to Mr. Vaux, was only to remain " so long as we kept your three per cents. A transaction of this sort is quite " foreign to what they have been in the habits of transacting, and I would *' rather not press it upon them. If you will get Mr. Vaux to accept of my " individual security instead of that which he now holds, I shall be ready to " give '^53 " give it as soon as I am called upon, and you may depend that the three per " cents or their equivalent, will be ready to answer your occasions. " I shall be glad to hear from you on this subject, in the mean time, " I remain. My dear Sir, " Your's, most sincerely, (Signed) « ANDREW REID." Mr. Raid's applications to me on various occasions, have been readily ac- ceded to by me, and I was always happy in having an opportunity of serving him ; and in no one instance have I been under any obligation to him, except his security for the government loan. G. B. THE following letter will shew Mr. Lang's opinion of Mrs. Baillie's claim upon me, which she never attempted to make until the calamity happened at St. Vincent and Grenada, and as she thought her husband's estate was insolvtnt, she was determined to look entirely to me for her 35001. per annum. After giving me a great deal of trouble, and finding that neither the 3 T gentlemen 254 gentlemen of the law, nor the creditors would support her, she was obliged to abandon her claim and to accept of l^OOl. from the estate allowed her by the creditors, until such time as the concerns recovered the effects of the calamity. GEORGE BAILLIE. " To George Baillie, Esq. " FiNSBURY Square, 5th Dec. 1795. "-dear baillie, "THERE is nothing that makes your presence necessary in " the city ; no news. A letter from Smith, of Philadelphia, remitting 1 OOOl. " on his own account, and saying, he should draw on us soon for about " 1,5001. sterling. Have you wrote to St. Vincent's, about the remittance on " that score. We have a letter from Mr. Shedden, on the part of Captain " Wells, of the Echo, wishing to interfere to prevent a law-suit about his share " of the ship, and this letter ought to be answered, but I will postpone it until " Monday: I fear we are wrong in retaining that money. I wish you had " settled amicably about Mrs. Baillie's business : she is behaving in a most •' singular manner, and I have seen her drift a long time. It never was in her " own contemplation or that of her friends, or of any body that you should pay " this money, but in advance, if necessary, on account of the estate: and I am " convinced that she never could maintain it as a claim against you; but the " present dispute leads to much trouble, I think, if Gardiner gains his suit, "few will sign the deed: at any rate, many hold out, and if he gains it, the " money must be paid, for the injunction (it strikes me) can he of no service in " this case; that can only delay Execution in a suit against the estate, and not " against Mrs. Baillie. If you can bring Mrs. Baillie to your terms, and " which are but right well, and good; but it will not be done readily, and I " doubt if you will at all ; if you do not, her affairs go to ruin, and you, though " not directly, will have speedily much trouble, guarding her against the bonds •' and perhaps against the acceptances: you think you will not : I would rather " not run the risk, and I do not see the use of it. 1 would propose to Mrs. •' Baillie to give her an obligation, that whatever act she now did, or in future 5 " should 255 " should at your request do, should by no means do away any part of your " agreement. I would state that Mrs. Baillie had started claims you could no " way allow; but as the discussing them at this moment was highly prejudicial " to the interest of all parties, it was agreed that they should be submitted to " arbitration at the expiration of — years, or if Mrs Baillie preferred it, nothing "done from this time should preclude Mrs. B — 's remedy at law. If Mrs. " Baillie is not very ill advised she will agree to this, and I can see no objec- " tion on your part equal to the ease it will give you. The affairs will then go " on smoothly: you will have the funds to pay the bonds; the acceptances will " be done away, and allowing Mrs. B. 1. per annum at present, of which " 1. will go from the estate; all that will be left to discussion hereafter " will be Mrs. B— 's claim for the remainder of the 3,5001. which on any other " principle but that you will be fully repaid from the estate, I do not scruple " to call unjust and every worse epithet: and if more than that, you should " make advance for that purpose vs^as meant, it was trick and design, and I " am sure what no court of equity could allow. " God knows, the benefit from Mrs. Baillie's business is little, and what it " did not appear any other person was willing to do any thing for: the saving " of the damages on the bills and laio-suits, was your intended quid pro quo for '• the large pecuniary advantages ; and which, though a term in the deed not " heeded, you was not consulted upon it any more than the very objection- " able paragraph absolutely refused by you; the present circumstances " were not in contemplation, and had you been asked. Do you engage J. B — 's " estate should always produce 3,5001. for Mrs. B. &c. you would have refused " it no doubt, and it never would have been asked. If you agree to postpone " this discussion on the merits of the agreement, and Mrs. Baillie refuses it, all " her supposed rights remaining as they are, there is an end of the business • " you should then tell her you could no longer find her bail if actions were " commenced, or money on any account, and she would then have to refer to " her friends and advisers, and though she would trouble you under the agree- " ment, she would suffer severely, which for the family's sake, I should be " sorry for ; and those who are at the bottom of the business would have much " to answer for. I think if Mrs. B. considers, she will still see that if she does " not ruin it, her husband's estate will pay her all her claims; and then what " is 256 "is this squabbling about? I do not think her so mercenary as to prefer a " certainty for herself to a fortune for her children, " I find nothing was done yesterday, and that you wish now to leave this " business to arbitration; it is better some time hence for various reasons, and " for the sake of easing you mind your run the risk of much perplexity. " If Gardiner gets his money in the course of a month, it will be a very " different thing to what it would be if the deed had been signed : at the same " time was I a juryman, I would not allow Gardiner's claim against Mrs. " Baillie, as he did riot look to her when he took the bill, nor did Dorruns, who " discounted it. Claiming on her is a, lawyer's idea, and the letter of the law •' may give him his cause; if so, Lancaster and others follow the same step, " and who is to pay the money? I am sure I am right, that the injunction, if " gained, will not defer judgment in Gardiner's action ; if Wilson is with you, " ask him if it is not so. " I kept your servant whilst I have made an intended note a long letter, " and I know not if I have expressed my inteiitions clearly; your opinion " ought to be better than mine in this case, and I give mine with diffidence, " but with a wish that things may go on smoothly, and that all the world may " not know the disputes with Mrs. B. and she say you are bound for all her " acceptances, and the bond debts of her husband, which she will if you do " not agree, and if you cannot settle them the idea will not raise your credit. " If you follow my plan, you will only be postponing the question of her " right to 3,5001. per annum; and right or wrong the case will not be altered " five years hence, and affairs may come round to make it of no consequence, " and if they do not you will be only where you are. " Excuse my interfering, but I am interested on your account, and very *' anxious on every account that matters should be amicably settled. " I am, my dear Sir, " Your's, faithfully, (Signed) " ROBT. LANG." " Mrs. t51 " Mrs. BAILLIE. . " DEVONSHIRE STREET, FEB. 28, 1805. " MADAM, " MY letter to you of the 19th inst. together with Mr. Brock- *' barvk's will appear in this appendix, and to which I refer. I endeavoured " all in my power to avoid bringing you forward to public notice, on account " of our connections, and your being the widow of my worthy friend, whose ** memory I shall always respect ; yet I found, that your persevering to injure " my character, and to persecute me so unjustly and improperly, made it ne- " cessary for me to come forward in the manner I have done ; and, though it " may appear harsh to some people, it must bfe allowed, by all who know the " particulars, that I have borne much lighter upon you than you deserve, and " that I have not said a word more than what might be thought necessary to "justify my conduct, and refute your erroneous misrepresentations of it. You " expect to shelter yourself under your garb, and, as you say, being an inno- " cent woman, with a large family, and totally ignorant of business, &c. &c. " and that it was cruel ip bring you forward, or contradict any thing you said " or did, right or wrong : be assured such arguments will not have any effect " with the gentlemen connected with me or my house. I must here mention, " that when I was upon the eve of coming forward to take up your concernsj " and save you and your family from ruin, several persons assured me that it *• was impossible I could remain long upon good terras with you : all this I " knew perfectly. Your conduct, and Mr. Evan Baillie's, I evidently foresaw " would be such as to give me much trouble ; but I had no idea you both *• would have gone so far as you have done : I, however, determined nothing " should intimidate me from coming forward to do what I conceived my " duty, and what, under all the circumstances, was absolutely necessary. " You say that, situated as I was with your late husband's estate, I had no al- " ternative: allowing it for a moment to be so, was it to follow, that I should " meet with every opposition from you and Mr. Evan Baillie; and ought you " not both to have gone hand-in-hand with me for the general good .' Consider 3 u " what 258 " what the consequences would have been, if I had been deterred by the " magnitude of the engagements and responsibility, added to the obstacles " which you and Mr. Evan Baillie were likely to throw in the way ; — nothing " but total ruin to your family would have ensued, 1 had transactions with " your late husband for sums amounting to above a million ; every sixpence I " owed him or his estate has been paid some years ago; and as to the de- " raand, for which you have now filed a bill in chancery, as administratrix to •' Fraser and Bannatyne, against me, I am convinced, that if you accounted " for the monies of mine, detained by your agent, Mr. Lang, in the hands of " Lang, Turing, and Co. for the payment of this very demand, and also the " overcharges, and some matters which you have not allowed, but ought to " have accounted for, there would be nothing due to you : I mean, that these " different sums would fully balance your demand, on account of Fraser and " Bannatyne's estate. You will see in the Appendix, a letter to me from Mr, " Lang, of the 5th December, 1795, giving his opinion fully of your conduct " and proceedings, which he all along disapproved of, although you have now " shut his mouth by giving him your business. 1 cannot omit mentioning " here, that you told me your worthy husband intended to have left me an " executor, but that Mr. Evan Baillie disapproved of it, saying, it would be *' improper, considering that I had an extensive account to settle with the " estate. " I am. Madam, " Your very humble servant, " GEO. BAILLIE.'* M rs 259 « Mrs. BAILLIE. " PEVONSHIRE STREET, MARCH 12, 1805. «' MADAM, " I RECEIVED a note from your Irish champion, Mr. Hjg- *' gins, saying, that he advised you to return my letter unanswered ; I there- " fore would not have troubled you any further, had it not been for a circum- *' stance respecting that gentleman, which I omitted mentioning to you be- " fore : viz. " When he (Mr. Higgins) was on the eve of marriage with your daughter, " your friend, Mr. J. B. Gordon, was the first who told me of it, and asked my " opinion : I answered, that I thought it a very eligible match, but having " understood Mr. Higgins's fortune was made by contracts under government, " and commissioners being appointed to enquire into the expenditure in the " West Indies by commissaries, &c. I thought it would be very prudent to se- " cure Miss Baillie's own fortune, and, if possible, what was to be settled on " her, in such a manner as to prevent its being in any shape in the power of " government ; although, from what I heard, I thought Mr. Higgins might " extricate himself: Mr. Gordon said, he was very much obliged to me for the " information, as he was just going to give directions respecting the deeds of " settlement. I heard nothing further of this till some time afterwards, when " it was mentioned, that Mr. Higgins was highly displeased with me, as you " had told him that I had endeavoured to prejudice and alarm the family at his " being involved by government claims; you must, therefore, have stated the " conversation I had with Mr. Gordon very differently indeed to what it was. " Every thing that I have done for the benefit of your family, you have attempt- " ed to misrepresent in a similar way ; so that, between you and Mr. Gordon, " you have hatched a story that there was not the least foundation for. My " last letter to you, and what was connected with it, is printed, and this also *' will 260 ** will be sent to the press immediately, in order that it may appear how shame- " fully you have treated me, who have saved you and your family from utter " ruin. *' I am, Madam, " Your liumble servant, " GEO. BAILLIE." ** P. S. Inclosed is copy of a sketch of a letter, (now before me) in Mr. " Lang's hand-writing, and which he recommended my writing and send* " ing to you, which I suppose was done." Mrs. Baillie has returned all my letters unanswered, and referred me to her solicitor, Mr. Kaye. G.R « Mrs. BAILLIE. " DEAR MADAM, " I SEE plainly that you wish to procrastinate the discussion of the only point between us that requires arbitration : your demand of 3,5001. per annum. I have come to a final determination to leave you to what re- course you may have. I have given orders to G. B. and Co. not to advance you any further sums of money ; in about six months you have had 17501. 4 "I think 261 " I thitik it proper to advise the creditors how matters stand between us, that ** they may exercise their own judgment. I have been driven to these mea- " sures — I am sorry for them on your's and on your family's account. I am " conscious of acting in every thing with a view to their benefit, and have done " more, and at a greater risk, than any man existing would have done. " I am, &c. " G. B." " The above is sketch of a letter in Mr. Lang's hand-writing, which he re- " commended my copying and sending to you, and which I suppose was •' done." ROB. LANG, Esq. " LONDON, MARCH 30, 1805. " ^IR, " I HAVE already written you two letters, which will appear in " this Appendix, and should not again have addressed you, had it not been " for the following material circumstance that has been omitted. " You asserted, that I wanted to engage the late concern of G, B. and Co. " in which we were partners, in a variety of matters which would have involv- " ed it considerably : the Very reverse is the real fact. I would not listen to " any application whatever, except such as was immediately connected with, " and likely to facilitate the winding up of the late James Baillie's concerns. " Many proposals were continually made to you, and whoever flattered your " vanity always got encouragement, and the unpleasant task of rejecting fell 3 X " to 262 " to my lot ; and here I must remark, that you often brought me into scrapes, - " and were the means of several differences which I had, in consequence of " your giving greater encouragement to the applicants than you were justified " in doing: Indeed, to three houses, say one at Grenada, one at Antigua, and " one at St. Vincent, you actually went so far, as to give them reason to think " you would take up their business : I was at Bath, and when I came to town " I had the greatest difficulty to get rid of the parties, who insisted you had *' gone so far that you could not be off. Out of delicacy to the houses I shall " not mention their names. Your letters in my possession, and other docu- " ments, which I am ready to shew at any time, will prove that we have had a " most narrow escape ; for, although there might not be ultimately any loss, " our advances would have been on this occasion much greater than we could " have borne : I calculate they would have exceeded 70 or 80,0001. Novv I " defy you to mention a single instance, where I had undertaken any thing that " did not succeed, and that was not absolutely necessary to be engaged in for " the liquidation of the extensive concerns we took up. Nothing was ever ob- ^' jected to that was proposed by me, except the engagements for Fraser, Alves, ^' and Co. by whose concerns we always had great accommodations, and which •' was the best business we had : This was objected to entirely from pique, " and because they were friends of mine j and, strange to tell, these very bill;, '" upon which the difference arose, and which you encouraged Mr, Turing to " protest, were immediately accepted by you as soon as the revolutionary letter " was written to me, and that you thought yourself at the head of the business, " as were also the bills in favour of Mr. Dunlop, both of which you noted in *' the first instance, because I recommended their being accepted. •' It is evident from what has happened, that you seemed greatly at a loss to " find out any cause for a quarrel ; so ignorant were the other partners respect- " ing the business, and so great was the influence you got over them by your " flattery, &c. that you could with ease bring them at any time to your way of " thinking, which will be considered as a very material reason for my not hold- " ing consultations, for the consequence would have been a complete quarrel " at the commencement of our business : you knew the danger of such an ■" event, and you also knew how unnecessary and ridiculous, it would be to '' hold consultations with people who knew nothing of the matter j indeed 3 " such 263 " such a measure was never expected or thought of by them, until you found " it necessary to accomplish your views ; and often did I regret being so situ- " ated, with such a load of responsibility upon my shoulders, that I could de- *' rive no assistance whatever from my partners by advice or otherwise; where- *' as, if I had been ^^onnected with a different description of men, I should " have been very apt to have left every thing to their management : indeed, the " state of my health would have induced me to have done it, and to have con- " fined my interference solely to giving my advice occasionally. — In short, I " must consider myself very unfortunate in the choice I made of partners in " this country ; it however must clearly appear, that nothing but necessity " could have induced me to have connected myself with you and all the " others, (Lord Reay excepted). No advantage could ever arise from his " being admitted a partner, and I did it with no other view than to serve hini: •' and save him from destruction, as you know well. " I am. Sir, " Your very humble servant, « GEO. BAILLIE." Copy of a Letter from Rene Payne, Esq. of the House of Smith, Payne, and Co. to George Baillie. *' MY DEAR BAILLIE, « I THANK you for the communication you have just made " me, but nothing has been told me by Mr. John Smith, which you may attri- *' bute to their4^hinking me partial to one side. " Almost immediately after my reply to your note, I met with Lang, and « dropped to him some expressions which certainly tended to put him upon his ♦' guard. 264 " guard, upon the matter that was then in agitation ; and it was quite, in time " for that purpose; I thought it made him think. To-morrow, at twelve, I leave " town for Northamptonshire, but I hope to be better; for at this moment I *' feel most violent rheumatics. If any material thing passes in my absence, I *' shall be happy if you communicate it to me : by sending your note to Loth- " bury it will be forwarded ; but the address is R. P. Sulby, near Walford, Nor- " thamptonshire. " I wish you better, and I am, most sincerely, " Your's, (Signed) " RENE PAYNE." " SATURDAY MORNING. " The firm of the new house is S. T. L. and Co." The above letter will shew that my friend, Mr. Rene Payne, in the matters of dispute, took my side of the question, and Mr. John Smith the part of Lang, Turing, and Co. in which *he was very active; indeed, he was the only person who openly sanctioned their proceedings. " To GEORGE BAILLIE, Esq. " DEAR SIR, " I INCLOSE a note I received from Mr. L. in consequence of " my application to ship an assortment of goods to Labay, that things might •' be kept a going in the small way until some permanent establishment is " formed for Grenada. You know my plan is to quit, but in the meantime I " must not abandon the house, nor is it my interest to lead you into viany thou- *' sands advance as this' letter states. W5 " My whole fortune, as well as your's, is pledged in the winding up of the late Mr. Baillie's concerns, and so situated, it would have a bad look if I was to make application to either Simon Fraser, or any other house in London. *' I submit all this to your consideration, and shall be perfectly satisfied how- ever you determine, only let me have your answer in writing, in order that I may shew the concerns abroad that your house declined it. " I am your's, very truly, (Signed) « EDMUND THORNTON." " SUNDAY NOOU. " The bearer waits to bring your answer into the city, as Captain Groom is *' to call respecting the chartering his brig, and I must be either off or on with " him to-morrow." ' Mr. Lang wrote to Mr. Thornton that I objected to the shipment mentioned in the above letter, saying, it was my opinion