I I -T %* '*r S^ STJI=:FXjE3M:EI >' 1-1 -inA-i /) .1-;' i.. V ■■» V« ■IvV^.t < I i • ' • • • I I I I 1 «•• . • • • 1 1 " " .*. : •'• * %•. . SUPPLEMENT TO 3VEISS HIOXjT'S "Autobiographical Sketch." -♦th, 1875. Sir. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of yesterday's date. Though yom- style is remarkably discursive, you have failed to make any reference to the only subject which f proposed for your consideration in my note of tlie 22nd inst. 1 Can only concluae that you decline a settlernent i)y arbitration, even of friends whom you have known from boyhood. The inference is plain. Your statements and mine being diametrically opposed to each other, it becomes necessary for nie to establish my veracity, and this I purpose d.oing by the evidence of your own letters and your own testimony under oath. Once ♦It wnB, fl(,ul tk'BB, this profMirid sympiithy which itiduced Mr I'/, to 8UR«cst,in coiiverBatioii with aiidtlipr iimty, ,a J'«w weti«r, but in six months heuce or perhaps sooner, it will be at a premium of 3 or 4 per cent. We will not commence active business till July, but I feel con- .".dent thnt by the end of the year we will have a good balance of prolit. This is the new Bank in which T have lately got my appointment, but that is not the reacon why 1 recommend it to you. 1 lirmly believe that it will be one ol' the most prosperous institutions here, and Quebecers ': generally are of the same opinion— in fact they consider it their duty to support it, being sort of a national affair. Now I hope dear C. that 1 have said enough to convince you that by this investment you will get the highest rate of interest ■.consistent iviih security. This is a delicate subject for me to .treat on, as you may suppose I have my own interest at lieart, but you may rest assured that if you put the matter ■ in my hnnds and give me a power of attorney to act for you, I vnll do the best I can. So much for business, and i hope you will interpret this in the kindest way possible. Ever yours, e: It so happened — and I now look upon the circumstance as Providential— that I answered this letter on the same sheet of paper wiiich [addressed to Mr. E's moth-r^r. She kindly prcberved all my letteis during my twenty years' wanderings, and they h;ive been of great service to me in the compilation of my '' Autobiographical Sketch." LETTER No. 5. 64, Hotel del Prado, Havana. May 10th, 1866. Many, many thanks, dear E , for your kind letter and friendly advice, which, believe me, I take jnst as you fineant it, and thank you heartily for it. With regard to What I have invested here, I refer you to my letter to C , but you will be as glad as he to know that I have yielded to your advice, and intend to sell out on receipt of the July dividends. Then, dear E , if 1 can invest in your new Bank, at eight per cent, I shall be most happy to do so, and certainly if it can benefit you in any way, it would be an additional inducement. It need not be " a delicate subject" for you to write about, dear E , for no suspicion of the disinterestedness of your advice would ever enter my head. I am not suspicious by nature, thank Grod 1 much less should 1 be so of one of my own friends. Ever yours affectionately, C. In a letter which I wrote to Mr E 's mother on the 8th December in the same yea;, I also addressed the following lines to him : — " Un what terms could I purchase your Bank shares — must they be cash ? And do you and C continue to think them a perfectly safe investment and sure to pay eight per cent ?" In a letter which I addressed to his mother, dated '' Groton, August 16th, lcS69," there occurs the following passage: — "! trust to hear to-day from E of the receipt . of the cheque which I sent him last Monday for some lit. -J, to be invested in Bank shares." When I found, a few months later, that he had invested my money with private individuals and not in Bank shares as he proposed and I intended, it gave me no uneasiness whatever, lie assured me that he had good security (he mentioned that he held a mortgage on some iron as security from a Mr. J ) and my faith in his judg- ment and integrity was implicit. Had he tested it by asking me to sign any paper blindfolded, I would have unhesitatingly done so. I have no copies of my letters to him, except those already given, but I have often challenged him to produce the remainder. The same tone of confiding affection and implicit trust would be found run- ning through each, with, now and again, the expression ot my reliance (unnecessary though I deemed it, in view of his denunciation of all speculation) that he would ever make security the Jirst consideration. I had already learned the lesson, as my readers are aware, at the cost of several thousands in the South. Proceedmg to Peru m the fall of 1870, 1 recommenced remitting to Mr. E ■ early in the following year, and continued doing so until the termination of my career as a teacher, with the exception of $1051 invested in a Life Insurance Company in Lima. My Dear C. LETTER Xo. C. Quebec, November 27th, 1871. You may notice that I hiwe erased the (1) lithographetl lioading of this sheet — the rea>OD is that I no longer belong to that institution, having quit the connection about the middle of this month There are to be two new Banks openetl here in the spring, of one of which I have been promised the managershi[), but my present in- tention is to go into business if I can get the partner- ship that I expect I will not now, dear C , have the same opportunities of turning it (2) over for you as I had when in the Bank. I have realized so far an average rate of ten per cent, after deducting the interest on amounts paid out. (.')) I propose now to invest in a business (with which I m^iy be connected myself) ior five yesirs and hear- ing interest at eight per cent, per annum, to be specially secured by the transfer to your name of certain barges, (4) which will also be insured for your account. (5) (1) Union Bank of Lower Canada. — C. E, 11. (2) My money.— C. E. H. (.■>) It will be shewn that at the date of this letter. She writer had already lost a lai-ge amount of my funcis in speculation — having bouglit 4lJ0 shares in the lioyal Canadian Bank some months previously, — C. E. H. (4) I ascertained on the 150th July, IS73, after my re- turn to Quebec, that the security consisted in a mortgage on a scow to the amount of two thousand, six hundred dollars , and at the samu tinn- I was made awure th.it my name had, by virtue of the power of attorney, been signed to a document giving Mrs, H, H. W. (a creditor of Mr. E's) a Claim on that mortgage to the extent of five hundred dollars ( >n the 9th of August, 1873, I also saw in the office of an elder brother of iMr. E. a document, the whole of which was in the handwriting of tlie latter, and to which my name was attarhed, stating that of the f(,ur thousand three hundred dollars loaned to J. H. & Co., I declared that " two thousand, one hundred dollais really belong to ?ilrs. H. H. W." I made an extract from the paper then and there.— C. E. If. (.5) Having repeatedly during the lirst week in August, ]S73, asked Mr. E for the Insurance Policy, without success, my kind friend, Mr. A. J. M instituted enquiries and finally ascertained that the said scow had been insured on the 7th May, 1873 in the Western Assurance Co., to the amount of two thousand, nine hundred dollars, oji account of Messrs. J. II. & Co., Agents. Th(?re was no mention of my name whatever in the doc- ument. Thanks to my friend's interference, an assignment — 8 — I have explained the nature of the transaction to C and he agrees with mo that it will be as safe and profitable an investment as you can make, with my personal guarantee which I am willing to give. The money you must bear in mind is not to be used in the business to be subject to the vmcertainty of trade, but is to be specially secured as men- tioned above, and as I will have control of the property for you, I have no hesitation in recommending it. (6) It is im- possible to make a. permanent investment now at a better rate than eight per cent. iLiitk good securitg. I intend to invest H 's money in the same way, if she is agreeable — in fact, it will require your's and hers together to enable me to make the investment, as I doubt it I can arrange for a smaller amount. I do not intend, dear C , to run any risk (beyonrl what there is in all human affairs) with your money. If it were to be used in business altogether on personal security it would be worth more, but then you might lose the principal, and I think it has been earned too dearly to be trifled with. Please let me know by return mail if you consent to this, as if it is to be done at all, it must be done quickly. I am sorry that you lose so much on your remittances to me (about 27^ per cent) but I do not see any way in which you could remit more profitably ; if you keep your money in Lima until you return with it yourself, I think you would still lose the same percentage when you withdraw it. Your affectionate E. This letter reached me without delay, and an answer in' the negative from both parties concerned, was returned by the steamer which left on the following day, but the in- vestment was evidently so exceptionally favorable in Mr. E's opinion, that his devotion to our interests determined of two thousand, five hundred dollars of the Insurance Policy was made to me on the 6th of August, 1873. — C.E.Il. (6) At the examination of the Insolvent, Mr. E , under oath at the office of the Assignee early in the following year, I put this question to him — viz : "Was it solely with a view to mg interests that you entered into the arrangement without awaiting my answer ?" Mr. E replied " 1 believe it was solely for your interests." I then asked him " Did you believe it a better investment for me than Bank stock or real estate ?" He answered " I thought it was, considering it was for a term of yjars, and that ten per «ent of the principal was to be rej)aid annually." What amount of truth lies in these replies, 1 leave for the decision of any man of busiuosa.— C.E.II. -._. — • him not to wait for the reply for whicli he hid asked. At the time, however I never doubted the reasons which lie gave me in his next letter for the precipitancy with which he had acted. My faith remained unshaken, and after making the investment ah-eady alluded to in the Life Assurance Co. in Lima, I recontinued my remittances to Quebec, {where I had friends to look offer iiieinl) to tlio end of my stay ir. Peru. (.S'ee Letter Ko. 4. ■ Besides the Deed of Assignment dated Jan. 16th, 1873, making me responsible to Mrs. H. H. W. for the sum of Five Hundred Dollars, secured on my mortgage on the Scow, I noticed on the Custom House Register of that vessel (a document apparently of some importance, as it was written on parchment) an entlor.sement niAiking over my entire claim to Mrs. H. H. W. — not even limiting it to the five hundred dollars ! When this was pointed out to Mr. E. ho said it was " a mistake of no consequence." My good friend, Mr. A. J. M. however, seemed to be of a different opinion, and took immediate measures for the correction of a "mistake" of six months' standing. It would be v/earisome to enter into the details of the little fiction by which Mr. E endeavored to account for the Five Hun- di'ed oUar claim for which ho had tried to ni:ike me re- sponsible to Mrs. H. H. W. That it was entirely spurious is shewn by the fact that her attorney withdrew it, by a deed of re-assignment dated June 9th, 1^74, a copy of which is in my possession, as well as of all letters, papers and docu ments alluded to in this supplement, witb the exception of the Custom House Register, which belongs to the i)resent owner of the Scow, and is, I presume, in his keeping. 1 shall he happy to submit all or any of these papers to the inspection of any one so desiring it. I will now add some of the questions which 1 had pre- jiared in writing, and put to Mr. E personally at the examination of the Insolvent, under oath, at the office oi' tlie Assignee in the month of March, 1874 ; and the answers which he gave to each. I took them down in writing at tlie time, and the Assignee's clerk also registered several of the questions and answers at my request : Qncft. At what date did your partnership with Mr. J . commence ? — 10 — A71S. I think in April 1872 ; it is registered in the Court House. Qnes. What amount of capital did you put into the business ? Ans. I put no specified amount. Ques. How much oi" it belonged to you personally ? Ans. None. Ques. What amount did Mr. J bring into the firm ? Ans. Whatever his business was worth. Ques Having written to ask my consent to the invest- ment, why did you not await my reply? Ans. I did not consider that it was essential to await your consent, because 1 held a power of Attorney from you to use your money as I thought best, and the nature of the investment contemplated, rendered it necessary to decide before receiving an answer. * (Here follow the two questions and answers already re- corded in the note referring to Letter No. 6: — Ques. Why did you invest Mrs. H. H. W's money in yom* firm in my name without asking my consent or her's ? Ans. It was more convenient at that time to have the money in one name, Ques. Why, and by what right, did you sign my name to a document, dated Dec. 23rd 1872, declaring that of the $4300 loaned to J. H. & Co. " $2200 really belonged to Mrs. H. H. W. ?" Ans. I don't recollect any such document. Ques. Did you not believe that when I gave you a Power of Attorney on my departure for Peru in 1870, I did so solely with a view to the security of my own interests? Ans. Yes, and with a view to get as much interest for your money as possible. Ques. Did I not give you reason to believe that my faith in your integrity and judgment was implicit ? Ans. I think you did. Ques. Shortly before my departure from Quebec in 1870, did I not i^lace my sealed Will in your hands, telling you to ''take care of it, as it concerned you more than anybody elseV Ans. I don't remember ; I think you did. — 11 — Ques. When did your speculation in the Royaal Cnadian Bank stock take place ? Ans. I believe in 1871. Ques. Did you not tell me on the 25th July, 1873 that you had lost a thousand dollars of my money in that specu- lation ? Ans. I can't remember what I told you at that date. Ques. Was the money you used in that speculation your' s or mine ? Ans. I kept your funds in my name at that time I believe. Ques. Did you speculate in my name or your's? Ans. In my own name. Ques. Did you not know that I gave you the Power of Attorney to invest my money in my name and not in yours ? Ans. No, I don't think I did know it; the Power o^' Attorney explains itself. Ques. You wrote tome Nov. 27th 1871, '* 1 think your money has been too dearly earned to trifle with" also " I ilo not intend to run any risk (beyond what there is in all liLiman affairs) with your money." How do you reconcile tills assurance with your disi^osition of my funds ? Ans. 1 was disappointed. Ques. Why was I not informed of your loss of my money at the time it occurred ? Ans. I did not think it necessary to advise you then. 1 have stated my case. On which side truth and justice lie, I leave to the decision of my readers. C. E. II. No. 1 Grande Alloc, Quebec. Juno 15 th, 1875. • ; *, • » • , . • » • ••,.', . • . • • ', '/ • • * • •*•••••••••* • ••• »r» ».»