means rare instances of the effects of impure
virus, warn us to adopt the very simple remedy
within our reach.

             GOING INTO BUSINESS.

    IN THREE PARTS.  PART THE FIRST.

"How is it possible for me to commence
business on my own account, when I have no
capital?"  This was the question I put to a
friend who advised me to begin as a merchant
in London, after the failure of some schemes by
which I had hoped to better my condition in
life.  "And I am not only without money, but
also without credit," I continued, "for who
would give credit, in the way of business to a
man who is utterly unknown in the City!"

"My dear sir,"  was the reply, "you are far
too timid; at the present day, if a man has
knowledge and energy of character, he does not
require either capital or credit to commence
trade with, and to get on in the mercantile
world.  I know a Greek gentleman who is about
to start a firm in London, and who wants
an Englishman well acquainted with business
to enter into partnership with him.  I will give
you a letter of introduction to him, and I hope
you may be able to arrange matters to your
satisfaction."

Armed wth a note from my friend, I called
upon Mr. Velardi, the Greek gentleman who was
about to set up in business as a merchant, and
who wanted an English partner.  I found him
in the office of a fellow-countryman, up three
pair of stairs, somewhere behind Austin Friars.
He read the letter, and at once proceeded to
talk over the matter which had brought me to
see him.  His intention was to start,
simultaneously, mercantile offices in London, Smyrna,
and Odessa, as one firm.  In each of the latter
towns he told me he had already a partner, and
he now wanted one for London; would I accept
the situation?  No mention was made of capital,
but he informed me that I should have a third
of the net profits of the English firm.

As it was a case of this or nothing with me, I
gladly consented to join the new firm, the
preliminary terms being as follows: First, I was
to join him as partner for three years certain,
and during that time I was to Be allowed to
draw "on account" of my future share of the
profits, which were to be declared every half
year, the sum of twenty pounds a month.
Second, I was to give up the whole of my
time to the affairs of the firm, and more
particularly was to keep the books and write all the
English letters of the house.  Third, if required,
I was to be ready to go abroad at a
day's notice, on the business of the firm, and
to reside in either Smyrna or Odessa for such
time as the head partner might direct.  Fourth,
and lastly, I was not to accept any bill nor
sign any cheque or draft, for the firm, without
special leave or order.  The latter clause in our
agreement —which was drafted so as to be
afterwards duly drawn out in proper form by a
solicitor—appeared somewhat strange to me.  But
as I was only too glad to get anything whatever
to do, I did not question details too closely.

Mr. Velardi was a fair average specimen of
the Greek merchant as found all over the
world.  He was about thirty years of age, wore
a short-cut and very black beard, dressed well,
was gentlemanly in his manners —courteous, in
fact, to a degree, except when he was getting
the worst of a bargain, when he would rave and
rant like the lowest Houndsditch Jew.  Besides
his own language, he spoke English, French,
and Italian, well; a little Russian too, and
had some knowledge of Turkish.  He had served
as a clerk in a merchant's office in Syra, and also
in Odessa.  He had been in business on his
own account for five years, during which time he
had suspended payment twice, but had always
managed to compound with his creditors for two
or three shillings in the pound.  Of all kinds of
trade and business in every part of the world he
had a most thorough knowledge, but exceeded
above everything in the theory and practice of
foreign exchanges.  With the help of a pencil
and a scrap of paper, he would in three minutes
— gabbling as fast as possible all the time to
himself in Greek —show how that, according
to the various exchanges of the day, he
could, by drawing on Amsterdam, sending the
bill to be sold at Hamburg, and there
purchasing bills on New York, which were to be
sent for sale to Madrid, and the proceeds
invested in paper on Brazil, turn two, three,
four, or five per cent.  In transactions of this
nature —which were to me much the same as
Greek Iambics would be to a Calcutta Hindoo—
he often embarked, for he had correspondents
in every part of the known world; and, what is
more, he generally gained by such dealings, or,
if he did not gain, he hardly ever lost.

The London firm which he established, Mr.
Velardi called VELARDI, WATSON, AND Co.;
I being Watson; Co. being a myth.  At Smyrna,
the firm was Velardi and Co.; at Odessa it
went by the name of Velardi Brothers.  But,
so far as I could make out, the only bona fide
partner in the three firms —or, at least, the only
person who had any real power over the business
done by all these houses—was the Mr. Velardi
with whom I was associated in London.

Our capital was not large.  Mr. Velardi had
three hundred pounds in a London bank, and I
had nothing.  Yet, on these very limited means,
we did business to an amount which astonished
me, and often made me fear that the pace was
too good to last.  When we first started, Mr.
Velardi used to get such bills as he drew upon
his foreign houses endorsed by one of his more
wealthy and better-known countrymen in London;
but the necessity for this proceeding soon
wore off, and as he became better known, his
drafts were sold readily upon 'Change, although
at first only to a moderate amount.  That
amount, however, soon got larger, as it
became known that our firms in Smyrna and
Odessa drew largely upon us, and that those
bills were always met at maturity.