abroad, for such amounts as my partner could see his way to
meet at maturity. I also had a private arrangement with my partner for
obtaining what I called accommodation bills. These were in the form of
promissory notes, issued in my favour, and payable in London by myself;
they were not to enter into the books of the firm, and I was to be
entirely responsible for them. I may here also explain that the
partnership between me and my agent was not known, except to the
customers of the firm abroad and to my own clerks at home. Thus, under
the pressure of large obligations I was not at the moment in a position
to meet, joined to an extreme horror of the very idea of bankruptcy,
involving as it did the loss of a lucrative and steadily-increasing
branch of my regular business; I resorted to an expedient to preserve
my character and position which I afterwards found the laws of my
country declared to be a serious crime, to be expiated only by the
complete and utter ruin of both.

During all this time my private and social relations were without
reproach; neither was I without opportunity, gladly embraced, of doing
good service to the trade with which I was connected, and also to my
country. In the year 1860 I was chosen a director of the Chamber of
Commerce in the city where my business was chiefly transacted. In
connection with the international treaty between Great Britain and
France, I was selected by my co-directors to classify and place average
permanent values on the manufactures of the district, in order to
regulate their admission under that treaty with France. I performed the
task to the entire satisfaction of the Chamber, and was afterwards sent
to Paris as one of a deputation appointed for the purpose of giving Mr.
Cobden the most efficient aid towards the completion of his glorious,
and happily successful, project. Owing to the very strong protectionist
feeling on the part of the French manufacturers, great difficulties
were encountered; but, after the deputation had made two visits to
Paris, they were finally overcome. It was universally acknowledged that
if it had not been for the presence of practical men in Paris on that
occasion, the treaty would have been completely inoperative, so far as
concerned the important manufactures which I as one of the deputation
represented. For my share in these transactions I received the thanks
of the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, also the
commemorative meda