Abstract
‘The spirit of emancipation is gaining ground every day and operates in all countries in accordance with the genius of the people,’ said Henry Hope in a letter of 9th August 1787 to the French banker Laborde de Méréville. In Hope’s view, the French government was still so strong that it had no reason to fear the evil consequences of the development; but in the Republic the picture was gloomier: ‘here … everything has been upset, and it can only end in absolute tyranny, whether by the Prince or by the people-the inevitable outcome of the complete anarchy which reigns today.’1
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References
Chapter Fifteen Page 431
Letter of 9th August 1787 to Laborde de Méréville, Paris, ‘Private Correspondence begun 19th June, ended 31st Dec. 1787’ (hereafter abbreviated to P.C. ′87), 82.
Letter of 9th August 1787 to Laborde de Méréville, Paris, P.C. ′87, 84.
Letter of 21st February 1788 to Bohl Bros., Cadiz, ‘Private Correspondence 1788’ (hereafter abbreviated to P.C. ′88), 190.
Page 432
In his letters to Laborde, Hope made it appear that he was inpossession of detailed information.
Letter of 7th August 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 81. Cochineal prices in Amsterdam had indeed declined steadily since 1770, albeit a mild recovery took place during the years of the American War of Independence. Since December 1786 the monthly average had been f 7.80 per pound. The yearly averages since 1770 had been as follows: 1770: f 13.83; 1771: f 14.99; 1772: f 13.68; 1773: f 11.41; 1774: f 11.14; 1775: f 10.28; 1776:f 8.62; 1777: f 9.74; 1778: f 10.06; 1779: f 10.08; 1780: f 10.55; 1781:f —.—; 1782: f 10.56; 1783:f 9.15; 1784:f 7.62; 1785: f 7.96; 1786: f 7.91. N.W.Posthumus, Nederlandsche Prijsgeschiedenis, 1 (Leiden, 1943), 422. Hope was also counting on a new arrangement for official trade with the West Indies delaying future imports of cochineal. Letter of 5th February 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C.′88, 131.
Laborde, Hope’s correspondent, became well known for his advanced political views. He was among the architects of the Declaration of Human Rights, and he swore the Oath of the Tennis Court. He will certainly have been on the side of the Patriots in the party conflicts in the Republic. This was evidently no impediment to a friendly exchange of letters with Henry Hope. Nouvelle Biographie Générale, xxVII (Paris, 1858X381-384.
Letter of 7th August 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 80. On 28th July, Henry Hope wrote to the Swedish Minister of Finance, Ruuth, complaining of ‘the thanklessness of the political circumstances in this country, which has a dominant influence on business, especially at the present time, when the Stock Exchange is feeling the effects of bankruptcies which add to the discomfort and mistrust.’ Letter of 28th July 1787 to Baron de Ruuth, Stockholm, P.C. ′87, 61.
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Concerning Voûte: Nieuw Nederlandsch Biographisch Woordenboek, 11, 1508–1510. Transactions between merchants, such at took place in Rouen, were viewed by Hope as unusual: ‘We find that in Rouen everything is traded between the merchants and not thro’ brokers, by which means a great deal of time is required and more skill than generally falls to the share of merchants in the detail of selling and buying.’ Letter of 9th October 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 189.
Voûte was subsequently to render valuable services to the Company during two missions to St.Petersburg in connexion with Russian and Polish loans (supra, Chapter Five, passim, 158-172). Voûte had written to Hope on 9th April 1787 concerning the potential market for cochineal in Russia. By then, however, Hope had already written to Ryan on the matter.
Hope fixed the arroba at 23 1/8 Amsterdam pounds (of 494 grams) and the suron or seroon at just under 8 7/10 arrobas. A seroon thus weighed 200 Amsterdam pounds, or nearly 98.8 kilograms. Letters of 16th and 18th April 1788 to Thos. Littledale, Rotterdam, P.C. ′88, 347, 349. W.C.H.Staring, De binnen-en buitenlandsche maten, gewichten van woeger en tegenwoordig, met hunne onder linge vergelijkingen en herleidingen (Schoonhoven, 1902), 91, 106. The par value of the ducat can be put at 2 1/2 guilders; at the rate of exchange ruling when the speculation was set up, it was worth f 2.30. Staring, Maten en gewichten, 146. Posthumus, Prijsgeschiedenis, 1, 585. The two Paris houses concerned were Boyd Kerr & Co and Vandenyver Frères & Co.
Letter of 17th August 1787 to J.&F.Baring. London, P.C. ′87, 97. As Henry Hope had not referred to these two centres in his original plan, we may assume that he was influenced by Baring.
Page 434
Letter of 30th August 1787 to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C. ′87, 116.
Letter of 31st August 178710 J.&F.Baring, London, P.C.’87, 126. Posthumus, in his Prijsgeschiedenis, states that the average price for cochineal in August 1787 was f 7.80 or 26 shillings per pound.
At the rate of exchange ruling in August 1787, the livre can be put at f 0.45. The limits in Marseilles thus lay between f 6.75 and f 6.98, and those in Rouen between f 9.00 and f 9.45. Bournissien and Councler also received letters of credit; these were drawn on Cottin & Fils and Jauge in Paris, because drawing too heavily on a single house might have attracted attention. Like Ryan, they could not draw on the credits until the purchases had been completed.
Bournissien replied to the letter of 30th August on 6th September (P.C. ′87, 140). Councler’s reply was sent on 10th September (P.C. ′87, 149). Ryan replied to Hope’s letter of 17th August on 7th September. These dates show that the estimated transmission times were correct (P.C. ′87, 187). A normal letter took 3-4 days longer to reach Cadiz.
Sutherlands & Bock were given a price limit of 165 roubles per pood for cash, or 180 roubles for 12 months’ credit. One pood can be put at 16.38 kilograms. If we assume that the rouble at that time was worth f 1.85, we arrive at a price of f 9.25 or thereabouts per Amsterdam pound for cash. Letter of 21st August 1787 to Sutherlands & Bock, St.Petersburg, P.C. ′87, 102. The house was also authorized to buy up cochineal in Moscow.
Letter of 21st August 1787 to R.Sutherland, St.Petersburg, P.C. ′87, 99. The preparations for the war against the Turks had greatly increased Russia’s financial commitments abroad.
Page 435
Letters of 1st and 8th September 1787 to B.Roosen, Hamburg, P.C. ′87,129, 136. Hope estimated the stock in Hamburg to be between 50 and 100 seroons. Roosen put the figure at 20-25, but he was later obliged to revise this figure. This instance shows how difficult it was for even a local merchant to accurately assess the quantity available.
Letter of 17th September 1787 to Bournissien Despreaux & Fills, Rouen, P.C. ′87, 145.
Letter of 1st October 1787 to Bournissien Despreaux, Rouen, P.C. ′87, 166-167.
Page 436
These averaged 65 ducats per arroba for seroons, and 63¾ ducats for sobernales. Letter of 18th October 1787 to Th.Ryan, Cadiz, P.C. ′87, 200.
The Five Gremios asked 66 ducats per arroba for cash. Letter of 4th October 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 180.
Letters of 10th and 18th October 1787 to Th.Ryan, Cadiz, P.C. ′87, 194, 201. Letter of 12th October 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 196.
On 4th October 1787 Hope wrote to Baring, advising him of the arrival in Marseilles of 25 seroons from Cadiz. On 28th September, 65 seroons had arrived in London (P.C. ′87, 177). On 13th November, two vessels carrying 90 seroons arrived in London, and later a further 50 seroons reached Amsterdam. Letters of 23rd November and 4th December to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 269, 303. In addition, small quantities continued to arrive from Mexico-in all some 280 seroons, in three ships-a portion of which was bought by Ryan on a rising market, at prices up to 68 ducats per arroba. Letter of 19th October 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 207.
This report from Ryan did not reach Hope until 27th November. The breakdown, according to quality, was as follows: The colour, i.e. black or grey, was determined by the method of treatment of the cochineal insects after collection. Heating them in an oven caused them to turn grey, while contact with hot iron turned them black. Letter of 30th November 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 291.
Letter of 27th November 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 287.
Page 437
Letters of 7th and 11th September 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 134, 137. De Bruyn had bought 244 seroons on 11th September. The information available indicated that a further 243 seroons were held by other houses. On 7th September the stock which had not been purchased was described as ‘not in our way,’ but by 11th September opinions had changed. The price paid for the 244 seroons averaged 26 schellingen (f 7.80) per pound.
Letters of 25th and 28th September, and 9th and 12th October 1787 to J. &F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 152, 158, 189, 195.
Since 30th October the price had remained at 30 schellingen (f 9.00) per pound. The gaps in the monthly quotations in Posthumus’s Prijsgeschiedenis for the months of October and November can be filled in with figures of f 8.40 and f 9.00 respectively.
Letters of 4th and 28th September 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 130, 160-163. By 28th September, Hope’s brokers had succeeded in purchasing only 393 seroons. At the end of November, Baring’s stock totalled 798 seroons. The price rose from 14 shillings and 8 pence in early September to about 17 shillings in October and November.
Letters of 24th and 27th September 1787 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′87, 149, 158, and 25th September 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 152. By the end of the 15-day purchasing period, Councler held 159 seroons. In Amsterdam some saw it as an (unsuccessful) operation on the part of English speculators. Others had earlier burned their fingers on cochineal.
Page 438
Letter of 1st October 1787 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′87, 168.2 Councler was thus free to go to 18-18½ livres per pound, but in fact he bought only 6 seroons at 18 livres. During November and December he went no higher than 17.1 livres. By the end of November his purchases totalled 265 seroons.
Letters of 17th, 20th and 27th September 1787 to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C.′87, 145, 147, 153, and 28th September 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 158. Hope had authorized Bournissien to pay up to 24 livres for small parcels. Bournissien also bought up parcels in Le Havre and others which were en route to that port.
Letters of 17th and 27th September 1787 to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C. ′87,145, 154, and 21st September to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 148. In the last of these, Hope wrote: ‘We have found that a house here (i.e. in Amsterdam) has started up as a buyer.’ He thereupon raised the price to 26½-27 schellingen per pound, but only managed to secure 20 seroons. By the end of November, Bournissien had bought 108 seroons.
Letters of 8th November 1787 to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C. ′87, 239-240, and 9th November to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 241. Baring had informed Hope about a counterspeculation involving 90 seroons. Hope ultimately accepted 27 seroons at between 24.5 and 25.1 livres per pound, but declined a further 40. Bournissien’s reply to Hope’s ‘insinuations of suspicion of unfair dealings’ struck Hope as ‘plausible.’ Letter of 1st January 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 2.
Page 439
The original limits were 165 roubles per pood for cash, or 180 roubles for 12 months credit. The ruling price, however, was 180-185 roubles for 12 months credit. Hope therefore consented to an increase to 185 roubles for credit, or 170-175 for cash. Letter of 5th October 1787 to Sutherlands & Bock, St.Petersburg. P.C. ′87, 176. On the same day, however, Sutherlands & Bock wrote to say that the price for 12 months credit had risen to 195-200 roubles, and the cash price to 180-185 roubles. Upon receipt of this news, Hope authorized the house to go to 180-190 roubles for cash, or 200-210 with credit, but in such a manner as to produce averages of 185 roubles for cash or 205 for credit. Letter of 19th October 1787 to Sutherlands & Bock, St.Petersburg, P.C. ′87, 203. In his correspondence with Baring, Hope made no reference to suspicions of bad faith on the part of Sutherland. But as a quid pro quo he asked to be allowed to discount payments against credit at the low rate of exchange ruling at the time.
Letter of 18th December 1787 to Sutherlands & Bock, St.Petersburg, P.C. ′87, 350. The average price for credit sales was just under 200 roubles per pood.
The rules prescribed in the Koran related to kermes, a dyestuff obtained in the Mediterranean region by drying the bodies of scale insects of the same name. Cochineal, however, had secured a firm place in the Moslim countries because of its fine bright red colour.
Letter of 6th November 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 233.
Letters of 9th and 16th November 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 240, 247.
Page 440
It was Hope’s intention to have the cochineal sent to Amsterdam via Lyons and Strasbourg. As ‘compact and valuable goods’ were involved, the transport costs would not exceed 4 % ad valorem, and the journey would not take more than four weeks. The cochineal would have to be packed in barrels, each of which could hold six seroons. If the full barrels were too heavy for the carts, the contents could be reduced to four seroons. When filling the barrels, the cochineal was to be consolidated in order to prevent powdering as a result of friction. Letters of 22nd October 1787 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′87, 211, and 16th November 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 247.
Hope also considered chartering a vessel in Leghorn, or arranging for a British silk carrier to call at Marseilles. Letter of 7th November 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C.′87, 281.
Letters of 16th November 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 247, and 23rd November to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′87, 265. On 17th December 1787, Hope enquired of Councler concerning the composition and powers of the Chamber of Commerce in Marseilles. His action was prompted by questions put to him in connexion with a plan to establish a similar body in Amsterdam with the aim of finding the causes of the decline in Holland’s trade and proposing suitable remedies. Hope viewed the plan as ‘une idée bizarre de quelques individus ambitieux.’ The date given by Westermann for the draft Articles of Association, i.e. 1786, thus appears to be too early. Letter of 17th December 1787 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′87, 343; J.C.Westermann, Kamer van Koophandelen Fabrieken voor Amsterdam, Gedenkboek, 1 (Amsterdam, 1936), 3-4, Appendix 1.
Letter of 24th December 1787 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′87, 366.
Letters of 3rd and 10th December 1787 to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C. ′87, 293, 326, and 11th December to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 334-335. Even after giving permission for these sales, Hope did not entirely abandon the idea of ‘keeping up a circulation.’
Letter of 1st January 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 2. On 17th December 1787 Hope instructed Ryan to send 600 seroons to Rotterdam, but on the 31st he issued amended orders providing for 300 seroons to go to Rotterdam and 200 to London. The Rotterdam consignment was subsequently increased by 100 seroons. The 400 seroons were accepted in Rotterdam by Thos. Littledale & Co., on behalf of Hope, at the end of April 1788 and provisionally placed in their warehouse. Littledales were requested to complete the inward clearance with the minimum of fuss, ‘in an easy and satisfactory manner,’ Letter of 18th April 1788 to Thos. Littledale & Co., Rotterdam, P.C. ′88, 349.
Page 441
Letter of 4th December 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 305.
Letters of 14th December 1787 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′87, 337-338; 17th December to Thos. Ryan &Co., Cadiz, P.C. ′87, 344, and 17th December to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C. ′87, 344.
Letters of 24th December 1787 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′87, 368, and 17th December to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C. ′87, 344.
Page 442
Councler was frightened by a rumour concerning the arrival of 1,000 seroons in January 1788. Hope attributed the rumour to regret and anger on the part of sellers and outsiders, but privately those concerned were none too sure of their ground in view of ‘Ryan’s defective information.’ Letters of 24th December 1787 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′87, 367; 30th November, 21st and 28th December 1787 to J.&F.Baring. London, P,C. ′87, 290, 363, 374; 1st, 15th and 22nd January, 5th, 12th and 19th February 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 1, 60, 96, 131, 145, 179; 18th February 1788 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′88, 164; and 10th and 24th January 1788 to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C. ′88, 37, 105.
Letters of 31st December 1787 to Thos. Ryan & Co., Cadiz, P.C. ′87, 378; and 4th and 8th January 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 13, 31. Bohl Bros. & Co. was a German house.
The 63 seroons shipped to London in the ‘Hesther’ proved to have come from owners who had sold other parcels to Ryan. Hope was informed that no export duty had been paid on the consignment. Baring succeeded in laying hands on 50 of the 63 seroons. Hope complained to Baring about the ‘defective conduct of our factor’ (i.e. Ryan). Letters of 1st, 4th, 15th and 22nd January 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London P.C. ′88, 1, 13, 62, 96; and 21st February to Bohl Bros. & Co., Cadiz, P.C. ′88, 192.
Letter of 7th January 1788 to Bohl Bros. & Co., Cadiz, P.C. ′88,20. Hope made it appear to Bohl that the Company was acting on behalf of third parties.
Hope wrote to Bohl on 7th January; the four ships together carried 516 seroons and 29 sobernales. Letters of 1st and 5th February 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 121, 131.
Page 443
Letter of 21st February 1788 to Bohl Bros. & Co., Cadiz, P.C. ′88, 189-190. The order to Bohl to implement Instruction Number One was given on 31st January 1788 (P.C. ′88, 119). On the same day, Ryan was given permission to purchase the bulk of the new stock at 70 ducats. He was also authorized to take an option on large parcels at 75-78 ducats per arroba and, if necessary, to give a bonus of 1 ducat. For the stock as a whole, Ryan’s buying limits were competitive with those imposed on Bohl; for smaller parcels, they were less favourable. After all that had happened, this order can scarcely be taken seriously; in all probability it served as a’ safety net’ beneath Bohl.
Letter of 21st February 1788 to Bohl Bros. & Co., P.C. ′88, 193.
Hope assured Bohl that Ryan’s purchases were not made on behalf of the speculators. Ryan had probably secured some of the parcels which had changed hands at 72 ducats. At the same time, Ryan was addressed in an encouraging tone in order to prevent large-scale sales-and with them a decline in prices. The order given to Ryan on 31st January was cancelled in a letter dated 31st March (P.C. ′88, 224). Letters of 14th and 21st February, and 3rd March 1788 to Thos. Ryan, Cadiz, P.C. ′88, 154, 189, 221.
On 14th March, Hope reported to Baring that the purchase by Bohl of 48 seroons had served to raise the price of current grades to 78-80 ducats, and that of the highest grades to 85-88 ducats. By then, the 500 seroons which had arrived in January had practically disappeared from the market.
Page 444
Letters of 29th February and 4th March 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 212, 226.
The ‘parr of the market’ for Marseilles had originally been fixed at 98 ducats. This was subsequently lowered, first to 85-90 and then to 74-84 ducats. Letters of 21st, 24th and 31st January, and 14th February 1788 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′88, 88, 101, 115, 148.
Letter of 14th February 1788 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′88, 150.
Letter of 14th March 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 260.
Page 445
Letter of 31st March 1788 to Vve Councler & Fils Ainé, Marseilles, P.C. ′88, 306.
Letters of 28th February and 6th March 1788 to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C. ′88, 208, 232.
Letters of 27th March and 7th April 1788 to Bournissien Despreaux & Fils, Rouen, P.C. ′88, 290, 328.
Page 446
Letters of 18th and 28th March 1788 to Sutherlands & Bock, St.Petersburg, P.C. ′88, 269, 295; and 14th March to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 263-264.
Letter of 8th April 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 330. The fact that Barings had only a one-fourth share in the purchases will certainly have contributed to their optimism and boldness. The purchases up to this date totalled just over 5½ million guilders.
Letter of 8th April 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 331. The same guarded tone is discernible in the letter of 28th March 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 296. Voûte had again been abroad in March. He returned on the 21st, but it was the 26th before he found time to discuss the cochineal affair with Hope. Letter of 25th March 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 288.
Bohl wrote to Hope on 18th March. Hope’s letter of 21st February had reached him round about mid-March. Letter of 10th April 1788 to Bohl Bros. & Co., Cadiz, P.C. ′88, 335. Hope was not willing to take over any cochineal which Ryan might buy. Letter of 10th April 1788 to Thos. Ryan & Co., Cadiz, P.C. ′88, 333, 335.
Page 447
Letter of 24th March 1788 to Bohl Bros. & Co., Cadiz, P.C. ′88, 281. Bohl was authorized to buy a further 50-100 seroons; Hope was anxious that the price should not drop below 75 ducats, preferring to see it rise to 80. On 10th April, Hope confirmed to Bohl the receipt of the latter’s letter of 18th March. Letter of 10th April 1788 to Bohl Bros. & Co., Cadiz, P.C. ′88, 335. On 11 th April Hope wrote to Baring: ‘By letters from Cadiz we have advice of the arrival of The Confidence from Vera Cruz with 295 surons cochineal & that The Mentor & St.Raphael were daily expected with about 400 surons more.’ (P.C. ′88, 339). When a letter dated 18th March refers to ‘daily expected,’ one of 24th March which takes three weeks to reach its destination cannot be in time.
Letter of 11th April 1788 to J.&F.Baring, London, P.C. ′88, 339, 340.
For Hope, with a three-fourths share, this meant a loss of cf 1,588, 194.8.0. Of this sum, cf 400,000 was written off.
The figures quoted here were obtained from the ‘Cochineal Account’ which appears in ‘Balance of Several Accounts Anno 1793,’ folios 8-24. Infra, Appendix F-1-11-111.
The selling prices are expressed in guilders and cents (in conformity with Posthumus’s Prijsgeschiedenis) and in schellingen. No distinction is made between the terms ‘bale’ and’ seroon’ in these accounts.
Page 448
Between 1790 and 1794 a total of 518 seroons were exported to Russia.
In 1788, 62 seroons were sold at a profit of cf 0.22 per pound. From then on, losses were suffered: in 1789, cf 0.27 per pound on 211 seroons; in 1790, cf 0.94 per pound on 142 seroons; in 1791, cf 0.67 per pound on 52 seroons; in 1792, cf 1.99 per pound on 104 seroons; and in 1793, cf 3.15 per pound on 2 seroons. The 2 seroons in 1793 were cochineal dust and thus of lower value.
In 1788, Hope’s average selling price was cf o. 10 above the mean of the quotations over the year. In 1789, it was cf 0.19 below, in 1790 cf 0.55 below, in 1791 cf 0.49 below and in 1792 cf 1.70 below.
In September 1787 De Bruyn had purchased 244 seroons at an average price of 26 schellingen, or cf 7.80 per pound. This corresponded to the average of the quotations for the months January to September 1787 inclusive. Posthumus, Prijsgeschiedenis, 1, 422.
The profit on the remaining 40 % was no more than cf o. 15 per pound.
The low selling prices achieved by the speculators show that their stock was indeed ‘dead stock’ and that the demand at that time was little greater than the normal supply. It is unlikely that the steady decline in selling prices was caused by reduction in quality, for the article had good storage properties.
38 seroons went to Paul Thoron & Co. and M.A.Qm.Salomon Fua in Constantinople, 22 to J.J.Guérin in Aleppo and 6 to Alexandria.
Page 449
Supra, 123. In view of the fact that, according to the account of 1793, 198 seroons and 61 sobernales were held by Sutherland, a claim by Hope relating to the speculation must have existed. A further 75 seroons were consigned to Wm.Porter & Co. in 1793. 2 Labouchère sold the claim to Lawrence C.Brown, the former partner of William Porter, for cf 25,000. Brown was in financial difficulties, partly as a result of errors in speculation and partly because of the Russian government’s anti-British attitude. Letters of 6th/18th September 1811 from P.C.Labouchère, St.Petersburg, to G.Thomson Rowand & Co., Moscow, and 6/18th September 1811 from P.C.Labouchère, St.Petersburg, to Lawr.C.Brown, St.Petersburg.
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© 1974 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
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Buist, M.G. (1974). Cochineal in the Patriotic Era A Speculation which Went Awry. In: At Spes non Fracta. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-8858-6_15
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