Loe, I, that lately was a _Man_ of Fashion,

The _Bug-beare_ and the _Scarcrow_ of this Nation,

Th’ admired mighty _Mounte-banke_ of _Fame_,

The Juggling _Hocus Pocus_ of good name;

The _Bull-begger_ who did affright and feare,

And rake, and pull, teare, pill, pole, shave and sheare,

Now _Time_ hath pluck’d the _Vizard_ from my face,

I am the onely Image of disgrace.

My ugly shape I hid so cunningly,

(Close cover’d with the cloake of honesty),

That from the _East_ to _West_, from _South_ to _North_,

I was a man esteem’d of ex’lent worth.

And (Sweet Sir _Thomas Dodger_,) for your sake,

My studious time I spent, my sleepes I brake;

My braines I tost with many a strange vagary.

And, (like a Spaniell) did both fetch and carry

To you, such _Projects_, as I could invent,

Not thinking there would come a Parliament.

I was the great _Projector_, and from me,

Your Worship learn’d to be a _Patentee_;

I had the Art to cheat the Common-weale,

And you had tricks and slights to passe the Seale.

I took the paines, I travell’d, search’d and sought,

Which (by your power) were into Patents wrought.

What was I but your Journey man, I pray,

To bring youre worke to you, both night and day:

I found _Stuffe_, and you brought it so about,

You (like a skilfull _Taylor_) cut it out,

And fashion’d it, but now (to our displeasure)

You fail’d exceedingly in taking measure.

My legs were Screws, to raise thee high or low,

According as your power did _Ebbe_ or _Flow_;

And at your will I was Screw’d up too high,

That tott’ring, I have broke my necke thereby.

For you, I made my _Fingers fish-hookes_ still

To catch at all _Trades_, either good, or ill,

I car’d not much who lost, so we might get,

For all was _Fish_ that came into the Net.

For you, (as in my Picture plaine appeares)

I put a _Swine’s face_ on, an _Asses eares_,

The one to listen unto all I heard,

Wherein your Worship’s profit was prefer’d,

The other to tast all things, good or bad,

(As Hogs will doe) where profit may be had.

_Soape_, _Starch_, _Tobacco_, _Pipes_, _Pens_, _Butter_, _Haye_,

_Wine_, _Coales_, _Cards_, _Dice_, and all came in my way

I brought your Worship, every day and houre,

And hope to be defended by your power.

Sir _Thomas Dodgers’_ Answer.

Alas good _Tenter-hooke_, I tell thee plaine,

To seeke for helpe of me ‘tis but in vaine:

My _Patent_, which I stood upon of late,

Is like an _Almanacke_ that’s out of _Date_.

‘T had force and vertue once, strange things to doe,

But, now, it wants both force and vertue too.

This was the turne of whirling _Fortune’s_ wheele,

When we least dream’d we should her changing feele.

Then _Time_, and fortune, both with joynt consent,

Brought us to ruine by a Parliament;

I doe confesse thou broughtst me sweet conceits,

Which, now, I find, were but alluring baits,

And I, (too much an Asse) did lend mine eare

To credit all thou saydst, as well as heare.

Thou in the _Project_ of the _Soape_ didst toyle,

But ‘twas so slippery, and too full of oyle,

That people wondered how we held it fast

But now it is quite slipp’d from us at last.

The _Project_ for the _Starch_ thy wit found out,

Was stiffe a while, now, limber as a Clout,

The Pagan weed (_Tobacco_) was our hope,

In _Leafe_, _Pricke_, _Role_, _Ball_, _Pudding_, _Pipe_, or _Rope_.

_Brasseele_, _Varina_, _Meavis_, _Trinidado_,

Saint _Christophers_, _Virginia_, or _Barvado_;

_Bermudas_, _Providentia_, _Shallowcongo_,

And the most part of all the rest (_Mundungo_[58])

That Patent, with a whiffe, is spent and broke,

And all our hopes (in fumo) turn’d to smoake,

Thou framdst the _Butter_ Patent in thy braines,

(A Rope and Butter take thee for thy paines).

I had forgot _Tobacco Pipes_, which are

Now like to thou and I, but brittle ware.

_Dice_ run against us, we at _Cards_ are crost,

We both are turn’d up _Noddies_,[59] and all’s lost.

Thus from _Sice-sinke_, we’r sunke below _Dewce-ace_,

And both of us are Impes of blacke disgrace.

_Pins_ pricke us, and _Wine_ frets our very hearts,

That we have rais’d the price of _Pints_ and _Quarts_.

Thou (in mine eares) thy lyes and tales didst foyst,

And mad’st me up the price of _Sea-coales_ hoyst.

_Corne_, _Leather_, _Partrick_, _Pheasant_, _Rags_, _Gold-twist_,

Thou brought’st all to my _Mill_; what was’t we mist?

_Weights_, _Bon[60] lace_, _Mowstraps_, new, new, _Corporation_,

_Rattles_, _Seadans_,[61] of rare invented fashion.

_Silke_, _Tallow_, _Hobby-horses_, _Wood_, _Red herring_,

_Law_, _Conscience_, _Justice_, _Swearing_, and _For-swearing_.

All these thou broughtst to me, and still I thought

That every thing was good that profit brought,

But now all’s found to be ill gotten pelfe,

I’le shift for one, doe thou shift for thyselfe.

The first loans to Government, in a regular form, took the form of

Tontines, so called from their inventor Lorenzo Tonti. A Tontine is a

loan raised on life annuities. A number of persons subscribe the loan,

and, in return, the Government pay an annuity to every subscriber. At

the death of any annuitant, his annuity was divided among the others,

until the sole survivor enjoyed the whole income, and at his death, the

annuity lapsed. As an example, a Mr Jennings, who died in 1798, aged

103—leaving behind him a fortune of over two millions—was an original

subscriber for £100 in a Tontine: he was the last survivor, and his

income derived for his £100 was £3000 per annum. Our National Debt

began in 1689—by that, I mean that debt that has never been repaid,

and dealings in which, virtually founded Stockbroking as a business.

The Bank of England started business on 1st Jan. 1695, and, from that

time, we may date the methodical dealing in Stocks and Shares. Of

course there were intermediaries between buyer and seller, and these

were termed “Stock brokers.” They first of all did business at the

Exchange, but as they increased in number their presence there was not

desirable, and they migrated to ‘Change Alley, close by. These gentry

are described in a little book, published in 1703, called, _Mirth and

Wisdom in a miscellany of different characters_.[62]

“_A Stock Jobber_

“Is a Rational Animal, with a sensitive Understanding. He rises and

falls like the ebbing and flowing of the Sea; and his paths are as

unsearchable as hers are. He is one of _Pharaoh’s_ lean kine in the

midst of plenty; and, to dream of him is, almost, an Indication of

approaching Famine. He is ten times more changeable than the Weather;

and the living Insect from which the Grasshopper on the Royal Bourse

was drawn, never leap’d from one Place to another, as he from one

Number to another; sometimes a Hundred and a half is too little for

him; sometimes Half a hundred is too much; and he falls seven times a

Day, but not like _David_, on his knees, to beg pardon for former Sins,

but to be made capable of sinning again. He came in with the _Dutch_,

and he had freed us from as great a Plague as they were, had he been so

kind as to have went out with them. He lives on the Exchange, but his

Dwelling cannot be said to be the Place of his _Abode_, for he _abides_

no where, he is so unconstant and uncertain. Ask him what Religion he

professes, he cries, _He’ll sell you as cheap as any Body_; and what

Value such an Article of Faith is of, his Answer is, _I’ll give you

as much for a Debenture, as the best Chapman thereabout shall_. He is

fam’d for Injustice, yet he is a Master of _Equity_ in one particular

to perfection, for he cheats every Body alike, and is _Equal_ in all

his Undertakings. The Den from which this Beast of Prey bolts out

is _Jonathan’s_ Coffee House, or _Garraway’s_; and a Man that goes

into either, ought to be as circumspect as if in an Enemy’s country.

A Dish of tea there, may be as dear to him as a good Purchase, and

a Man that is over reach’d in either, tho’ no Drunkard, may be said

to have drank away his Estate. He may be call’d a true Unbeliever,

and out of the Pale of the Church, for he has no Faith. Is a meer

_Tolandist_ in secular Concerns, at the very minute that he is ready

to take up any Goods upon Trust that shall belong to his Neighbour.

_St Paul’s_ Cathedral would be a Mansion-House fit for a Deity indeed,

in his Opinion, did but the Merchants meet there; and he can give you

no subtantialler a Reason for liking _Salter’s Hall_ better than the

Church, than because of its being a House of Traffick and Commerce, and

the Sale being often held there. He is the Child of God in one Sense

only, and that is by reason of his bearing His Image, but the Devil in

many, for he fights under his Standard. To make an end of a Subject

that is endless; he has the Figure of a Man, but the Nature of a Beast;

and either triumphs over his Fellow Adventurers, as he eats the Bread

of other People’s Carefulness, and drinks the Tears of Orphans or

Widows, or being made himself Food for others, grows, at last, constant

to one place, which is the _Compter_, and the fittest House for such an

unaccountable Fellow to make up his Accounts in.”

Jonathan’s was, especially, the Coffee House which stock jobbers

frequented. Addison, in the first number of the _Spectator_, says,

“I sometimes pass for a Jew in the assembly of Stock Jobbers at

Jonathan’s”; and Mrs Centlivre has laid one of the scenes in her _Bold

Stroke for a Wife_, at Jonathan’s: where, also, was subscribed the

first foreign loan, in 1706.

There was a Stock Exchange hoax in the reign of Queen Anne. A man

appeared, galloping from Kensington to the City, ordering the turnpikes

to be thrown open for him, and shouting loudly that he bore the news of

the Queen’s death. This sad message flew far and wide, and dire was its

effects in the City. The funds fell at once, but Manasseh Lopez and the

Jews bought all they could, and reaped the benefit when the fraud was

discovered. In 1715, too, a false report that the Pretender had been

taken, sent the Funds bounding up, to the great profit of those who

were in the secret of the hoax.

About this time the demon of gambling was rampant, every one wanted to

find a short road to wealth; naturally, there were plenty of rogues to

ease them of their money, but the most colossal stroke of gambling was

the South Sea Bubble, the only parallel to which, in modern times, is

the Railway Mania, in 1846.

The South Sea Company was started in 1711, to have the monopoly of

trade to the South Seas, or South Coast of America, a region which was,

even then, believed to be an _El Dorado_. As a trading company it was

not successful, but, having a large capital, it dealt with finance. On

22nd Jan. 1720, a proposal was laid before Parliament that the Company

should take upon themselves the National Debt, of £30,981,712, 6s.

6-1/2d. at 5 per cent. per annum, secured until 1727, when the whole

was to be redeemable, if Parliament so chose, and the interest to be

reduced to 4 per cent., and “That for the liberty of increasing their

Capital Stock, as aforesaid, the Company will give, and pay into his

Majesty’s Exchequer, for the purpose of the Public, and to be applied

for paying off the public debt provided for by Parliament, before

Christmas, 1716, the sum of three millions and a half, by four equal

quarterly payments, whereof the first payment to be at Lady Day 1721.”

On April 7, the South Sea Company’s Bill received the Royal Assent, the

£100 shares being then about £300.

On April 12, the directors opened their books for a subscription

of a Million, at the rate of £300 for every £100 Capital, which

was immediately taken up, twice over. It was to be repaid in five

instalments of £60. Up went the shares with a bound; yet, to raise

them still higher, the Midsummer dividend was to be declared at 10 per

cent., and all subscriptions were to be entitled to the same. This

plan answered so well, that another million was at once raised at 400

per cent.; and, in a few hours, a million and a half was subscribed at

that rate. The Stock went up higher and higher, until, on the 2nd of

June, it reached £890. Then, so many wanted to sell, that, on the same

afternoon, it dropped to £640. The Company set their Agents to work,

and, when evening came, the Stock had been driven up to £750, at about

which price it continued until the bank closed on the 22nd June.

Very soon, a third Subscription was started, at the rate of £1000 for

every £100, to be paid in ten equal payments, one in hand, the other

nine, quarterly. The lists were so full that the directors enlarged it

to four millions Stock, which, at that price amounted to £40,000,000.

These last subscriptions were, before the end of June, sold at about

£2000 premium; and, after the closing of the transfer books, the

original Stock rose to over £1000 per cent. At the same time, the first

subscriptions were at 560, and the second at 610 per cent. advance.

This set every one crazy, and innumerable “bubble,” or cheating,

companies were floated, or attempts made thereat. Speculation became so

rampant that, on June 11, the King published a Proclamation declaring

that all these unlawful projects should be deemed as common nuisances,

and prosecuted as such, with the penalty of £500 for any broker buying

or selling any shares in them. Among these companies was one “for

carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what

it is.” Another was “for a wheel for perpetual motion, one million”;

and another “for the transmutation of quick silver into a malleable

fine metal.” Society was, for a brief time, uprooted.

The apogee of the Company had been reached: from this time its

downfall was rapid. The Stock fell, and fell. The aid of the Bank of

England was invoked, but it came too late; goldsmiths and brokers

began to abscond. On December 12, the House of Commons ordered that

the Directors of the South Sea Company should, forthwith, lay before

the House an account of all their proceedings; and, on Jan. 4, 1721, a

Secret Committee of the House was ordered to report upon the Company.

Then Knight, the cashier of the Company, absconded; and a reward of

£2000 was offered for his apprehension. On Feb. 15, the Parliamentary

Committee made their first report—and a pretty one it was—bribery all

over the place, and especially among the members of the Government. The

bubble was pricked and thousands were ruined. Certainly, the fortunes

of those directors, who had any, were seized for the benefit of the

swindled, and only a small percentage of their wealth was allowed them

for their subsistence. Finally, it was settled that the £7,000,000

which the Company stood pledged to pay over to the Government, should

be remitted, and every Shareholder should receive £33, 6s. 8d. on £100

Stock: all else being irretrievably lost. Over the misery entailed on

the avaricious public who were gulled, it is best to draw a veil, and

use the episode as a warning.

Swift wrote a poem 60 verses long, on _The South Sea Project_, 1721,

from which I extract the following:

“There is a gulf, where thousands fell,

Here all the bold adventurers came,

A narrow sound, though deep as Hell,—

_’Change Alley_ is the dreadful name.

Nine times a day it ebbs and flows,

Yet he that on the surface lies,

Without a pilot, seldom knows

The time it falls, or when ‘twill rise.

Subscribers, here, by thousands float,

And jostle one another down;

Each paddling in his leaky boat,

And here they fish for gold, and drown.

* * * * *

Meantime, secure on Garraway cliffs,

A savage race, by shipwrecks fed,

Lie waiting for the foundered skiffs,

And strip the bodies of the dead.”

There were street ballads, of course, such as _The Hubble Bubbles_, A

Ballad, by Mr D’Urfey, and one which I give _in extenso_. A _South-Sea_

Ballad: or, Merry Remarks upon _Exchange Alley_ Bubbles. To a new tune,

call’d _The Grand Elixir_: or _The Philosopher’s Stone discovered_:

In _London_ stands a famous Pile,

And near that Pile, an Alley,

Where Merry Crowds for Riches toil,

And Wisdom stoops to Folly:

Here, Sad and Joyful, High and Low,

Court Fortune for her Graces,

And, as she Smiles, or Frowns, they show

Their Gestures and Grimaces.

Here Stars and Garters do appear,

Among our Lords, the Rabble,

To buy and sell, to see and hear,

The _Jews_ and _Gentiles_ squabble.

Here crafty Courtiers are too wise

For those who trust to Fortune,

They see the Cheat with clearer Eyes,

Who peep behind the Curtain.

Our greatest Ladies hither come,

And ply in Chariots daily,

Oft pawn their Jewels for a Sum,

To venture’t in the Alley.

Young Harlots, too, from _Drury Lane_,

Approach the _’Change_ in coaches,

To fool away the Gold they gain

By their obscene Debauches.

Long Heads may thrive by sober Rules,

Because they think and drink not;

But Headlongs are our thriving Fools,

Who only drink and think not:

The lucky Rogues, like Spaniel Dogs,

Leap into _South Sea_ Water,

And, there, they fish for golden Frogs,

Not caring what comes a’ter.

‘Tis said that Alchimists of old,

Could turn a brazen kettle,

Or leaden Cistern into Gold,

That noble, tempting Mettle:

But, if it here may be allowed

To bring in great with small things

Our cunning _South Sea_, like a God,

Turns nothing into all things.

What need have we of _Indian_ Wealth,

Or Commerce with our Neighbours,

Our Constitution is in Health,

And Riches crown our Labours:

Our _South Sea_ Ships have golden Shrouds

They bring us Wealth, ‘tis granted,

But lodge their Treasure in the clouds,

To hide it ‘till it’s wanted.

O, _Britain_! bless thy present State,

Thou only happy Nation,

So oddly rich, so madly Great,

Since Bubbles came in Fashion:

Successful Rakes exert their Pride,

And count their airy Millions;

Whilst homely Drabs in Coaches ride,

Brought up to Town on Pillions.

Few Men, who follow Reason’s Rules,

Grow Fat with _South Sea_ Diet;

Young Rattles, and unthinking Fools,

Are those that flourish by it.

Old musty Jades, and pushing Blades,

Who’ve least Consideration,

Grow rich apace, whilst wiser Heads

Are struck with Admiration.

A Race of Men, who, t’other Day

Lay crush’d beneath Disasters,

Are now, by Stock brought into Play,

And made our Lords and Masters:

But should our _South Sea Babel_ fall,

What Numbers would be frowning,

The Losers, then, must ease their Gall

By Hanging, or by Drowning.

Five Hundred Millions, Notes and Bonds,

Our Stocks are worth in Value,

But neither lye in Goods, or Lands,

Or Money, let me tell ye.

Yet, tho’ our Foreign Trade is lost,

Of mighty Wealth we vapour,

When all the Riches that we boast,

Consists in Scraps of Paper.

CHAPTER XX

First mention of the Stock Exchange—Attempt at hoax—Daniel’s

fraud—Berenger’s fraud—Bubbles of 1825—The Railway Mania—30th Nov.

1845 at the Board of Trade—The fever at its height—The Marquis of

Clanricarde pricks the bubble.

In 1734 an Act was passed (7 Geo. II., c. 8) entitled “An Act to

prevent the infamous practice of Stock jobbing,” which provided that

no loss in bargains for time should be recoverable in the Courts, and

placed such speculations outside the Law altogether. It was a dead

letter, but was in force till 1860, when it was repealed.

The first mention of the Stock Exchange as such, is in the _Daily

Advertiser_ of Thursday, July 15, 1773. “On Tuesday, the Brokers and

others at New Jonathan’s came to a Resolution that, instead of its

being called New Jonathan’s, it is to be named the Stock Exchange,

which is to be painted over the door.” And here they abode until, in

1801, the Stockbrokers laid the first stone of a building of their own:

having purchased Mendoza’s boxing room, the Debating Forum of Capel

Court, and buildings contiguous to that site.

On May 5, 1803, an attempt was made to hoax the Stock Exchange, which

was partially successful. On that day, at half-past eight in the

morning, a man, booted and spurred, and having every appearance of

having come off a long journey, rushed up to the Mansion House, and

inquired for the Lord Mayor, saying he was a messenger from the Foreign

Office, and had a letter for his lordship. When he was told he was not

within, he said he would leave the letter, and begged the servant to

place it where the Lord Mayor should get it the moment of his return;

which duly happened. The letter ran thus:

“Downing Street, 8 A.M.

“To the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor,—

“Lord Hawkesbury presents his compliments to the Lord Mayor, and is

happy to inform him that the negotiations between this country and the

French Republic have been amicably adjusted.”

Thinking it genuine, the Lord Mayor published it, and wrote to Lord

Hawkesbury, congratulating him; but the forgery was soon exposed.

Meanwhile, Consols opened at 69, and, before noon, were over 70, only

to fall, when the truth came out, to 63. Of course, all transactions,

that day, were made null and void. Although £500 reward was offered,

nothing was ever heard of the perpetrators of this swindle.

Under date of Aug. 20, 1806, the _Annual Register_ says: “A most

atrocious fraud was committed on a number of gentlemen at the Stock

Exchange, it being the settling day, by a foreign Jew, of the name of

Joseph Elkin Daniels, who has, for a long time, been a conspicuous

character in the Alley. Finding that, in consequence of the great

fluctuation of Omnium, he was not able to pay for all he had purchased

at an advanced price, he hit upon a scheme to pocket an enormous sum

of money, and with which he has decamped; £31,000 Omnium was tendered

to him in the course of Thursday; in payment for which he gave drafts

on his bankers, amounting to £16,816, 5s., which were paid into the

respective bankers of those who had received them, to clear in the

afternoon. Having gained possession of the Omnium, he sold it through

the medium of a respectable broker, received drafts for it, which he

cleared immediately, and set off with the produce. On his drafts being

presented, payment was refused, he having no effects at his bankers.”

A hue and cry was raised after him, and he was soon discovered in

the Isle of Man, whence he could not be taken without the Governor’s

consent. This was obtained, but there were so many similar rascals

taking sanctuary in the Island, that it was not deemed prudent to

execute the warrant in the daytime, and Daniels was arrested at night.

Great was the uproar in the morning when the rogues found their

companion had gone, and an indignation meeting was held to protest

against the violation of their rights. He was brought before the Lord

Mayor on 16th Sept., but, owing to some technicalities, he was let go,

although he had to make his appearance at a Commission of Bankruptcy.

In 1814 there was an attempted fraud on the Stock Exchange, which

was the most daring ever perpetrated. It was executed by one Charles

Random de Berenger, a French refugee, and an officer in one of the

foreign regiments. It was alleged that, with him, were associated Lord

Cochrane, the Hon. Andrew Cochrane Johnstone, and several others. It

appears from the evidence on the trial, that, early in the morning of

the 21st of February, a gentleman, dressed in a grey greatcoat over

a scarlet uniform, on which was a star, knocked at the door of the

Ship Inn at Dover, and said that he was the bearer of very important

despatches from France. This gentleman, all the witnesses swore, was

Berenger.

He sent a letter, signed R. Du Bourg, Lieut.-Colonel, and Aide-de-Camp

to Lord Cathcart, to Admiral Foley, the Port Admiral at Dover, advising

him that he had just arrived from Calais with the news of a great

victory obtained by the Allies over Bonaparte, who was slain, in his

flight, by the Cossacks, and that the Allied Sovereigns were in Paris.

Berenger posted up to London, which he entered, having his horses

decked with laurels, in order to make a stir. It was felt on the Stock

Exchange. _Omnium_, which opened at 27-1/2 rose to 33; but, as the

day wore on, and no confirmation came of the news, they receded to

28-1/2. Business in that Stock was done, that day, to the tune of half

a million of money. Lord Cochrane and others had, previously, given

instructions to sell Omniums for them, on the 21st of February, to an

enormous amount. One deposed that, on that date, he sold—

For Lord Cochrane £139,000 Omnium

” Cochrane Johnstone 120,000 do.

” do. 100,000 Consols

” Mr Butt 124,000 Omnium

” do. 168,000 Consols

And he further deposed that he always considered that any business he

did for Mr Butt was to be placed to Lord Cochrane’s account.

Another stockbroker sold for the same three gentlemen £565,000 Omnium.

Another had sold £80,000 on their account, and yet another had had

instructions to sell a very large sum for the same parties, but had

refused.

In the end, Lord Cochrane and Mr Butt were condemned to pay to the King

a fine of a Thousand Pounds each, and J. P. Holloway Five Hundred;

and these three, together with De Berenger, Sandon, and Lyte, were

sentenced to imprisonment in the Marshalsea for twelve calendar months.

Further, Lord Cochrane, De Berenger, and Butt were to stand in the

pillory for one hour, before the Royal Exchange, once during their

imprisonment. This latter part of their punishment was, afterwards,

remitted. Lord Cochrane’s name was struck off the Navy List, he was

expelled from the House of Commons, his Arms were taken down from

his stall, as Knight of the Bath, his banner torn down, and kicked

ignominiously out of Henry VII.’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

By very many he was believed innocent, and, on his seat for

Westminster being declared vacant, he was enthusiastically re-elected.

He escaped from custody, was captured, and had to serve his time. On

June 20, 1815, he was told his imprisonment was at an end, if he would

pay the fine imposed upon him; and, on July 3rd, he reluctantly did

so, with a £1000 bank note, on the back of which he wrote:—“My health

having suffered by long and close confinement, and my oppressors having

resolved to deprive me of property, or life, I submit to robbery, to

protect myself from murder, in the hope that I shall live to bring the

delinquents to justice.”

On the very day he was released, he took his seat again in the House of

Commons; and, in 1832, he received a “free pardon,” was restored to the

Navy List, gazetted a rear-admiral, and presented at a Levée!

The year 1825 was remarkable for the number of bubble companies which

were floated or not, and for the dreadful commercial panic which

ensued, during which over seventy banks collapsed in London, or the

country. Over £11,000,000 were subscribed to foreign loans, and

£17,500,000 to different companies. In Parliament there were presented

439 private bills for companies, and Acts were passed for 288. Horace

Smith sings of them thus:

“Early and late, where’er I rove,

In park or square, suburb or grove,

In civic lanes, or alleys,

Riches are hawked, while rivals rush

To pour into mine ear a gush

Of money making sallies.

‘Haste instantly and buy,’ cries one,

Real del Monte shares, for none

Will yield a richer profit;

Another cries—‘No mining plan

Like ours, the Anglo-Mexican;

As for Del Monte, scoff it.’

This, grasps my button, and declares

There’s nothing like Columbian shares,

The capital a million;

That, cries, ‘La Plata’s sure to pay,’

Or bids me buy, without delay,

Hibernian or Brazilian.

‘Scaped from the torments of the mine,

Rivals in gas, an endless line,

Arrest me as I travel;

Each sure my suffrage to receive,

If I will only give him leave

His project to unravel.

By fire and life insurers next,

I’m intercepted, pestered, vexed,

Almost beyond endurance;

And, though the schemes appear unsound,

Their advocates are seldom found

Deficient in assurance.

Last, I am worried Shares to buy,

In the Canadian Company,

The Milk Association;

The laundry men who wash by steam,

Railways, pearl fishing, or the scheme

For inland navigation.”

In 1845 began the most wonderful era of gambling in modern times, the

Railway Mania, which rose to such a height that it was noticed on Oct.

25. “During the past week there were announced, in three newspapers,

eighty-nine new schemes, with a capital of £84,055,000; during the

month, there were 357 new schemes announced, with an aggregate capital

of £332,000,000.”

On 17th Nov. _The Times_ published a table of all the railway companies

registered up to the 31st October, numbering 1428, and involving

an outlay of £701,243,208. “Take away,” it said, “£140,000,000 for

railways completed, or in progress, exclude all the most extravagant

schemes, and divide the remainder by ten, can we add from our present

resources, even a tenth of the vast remainder? Can we add £50,000,000

to the railway speculations we are already irretrievably embarked in?

We cannot, without the most ruinous, universal and desperate confusion.”

The _Annual Register_ for 1845 gives a graphic account of an incident

in the Railway Mania. “An extraordinary scene occurred at the office

of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade, on this day (Sunday,

30th Nov.), being the last day on which the plans of the new projects

could be deposited with the Railway Board, in order to enable Bills to

authorise them, to be brought before Parliament, in compliance with the

Standing Orders.

“Last year, the number of projects in respect of which plans were

lodged with the Board of Trade, was 248: the number, this year, is

stated to be 815. The projectors of the Scotch lines were mostly

in advance, and had their plans duly lodged on Saturday. The Irish

projectors, too, and the old established Companies, seeking powers

to construct branches, were among the more punctual. But, upwards

of 600 plans remained to be deposited. Towards the last, the utmost

exertions were made to forward them. The efforts of the lithographic

draughtsmen and printers in London were excessive; people remained

at work night after night, snatching a hasty repose for a couple of

hours on lockers, benches, or the floor. Some found it impossible to

execute their contracts; others did their work imperfectly. One of the

most eminent was compelled to bring over four hundred lithographers

from Belgium, and failed, nevertheless, with this reinforcement, in

completing some of his plans. Post horses and express trains, to bring

to town plans prepared in the country, were sought in all parts. Horses

were engaged days before, and kept, by persons specially appointed,

under lock and key. Some railway companies exercised their power of

refusing express trains for rival projects, and clerks were obliged to

make sudden and embarrassing changes of route, in order to travel by

less hostile ways. A large establishment of clerks were in attendance

to register the deposits; and this arrangement went on very well until

eleven o’clock, when the delivery grew so rapid, that the clerks were

quite unable to keep pace with the arrivals. The entrance hall soon

became inconveniently crowded, considerable anxiety being expressed

lest twelve o’clock should arrive ere the requisite formalities should

have been gone through. This anxiety was allayed by the assurance that

admission into the hall before that hour would be sufficient to warrant

the reception of the documents. As the clock struck twelve, the doors

of the office were about to be closed, when a gentleman, with the

plans of one of the Surrey railways, arrived, and, with the greatest

difficulty, succeeded in obtaining admission. A lull of a few minutes

here occurred; but, just before the expiration of the first quarter of

an hour, a post chaise, with reeking horses, drove up to the entrance,

in hot haste. In a moment, its occupants (three gentlemen) alighted,

and rushed down the passage, towards the office door, each bearing a

plan of Brobdingnagian dimensions. On reaching the door, and finding it

closed, the countenances of all dropped; but one of them, more valorous

than the rest, and prompted by the bystanders, gave a loud pull at the

bell. It was answered by Inspector Otway, who informed the ringer it

was now too late, and that his plans could not be received. The agents

did not wait for the conclusion of the unpleasant communication, but

took advantage of the doors being opened, and threw in their papers,

which broke the passage lamp in their fall. They were thrown back into

the street; and when the door was again opened, again went in the

plans, only to meet a similar fate. In the whole, upwards of 600 plans

were duly deposited.”

Mr Francis, in his “History of the English Railway,” says: “The daily

press was thoroughly deluged with advertisements; double sheets did not

supply space enough for them; double doubles were resorted to, and,

then, frequently, insertions were delayed. It has been estimated that

the receipts of the leading journals averaged, at one period, £12,000

and £14,000, a week, from this source. The railway papers, on some

occasions, contained advertisements that must have netted from £700

to £800 on each publication. The printer, the lithographer, and the

stationer, with the preparation of prospectuses, the execution of maps,

and the supply of other requisites, also made a considerable harvest.

“The leading engineers were, necessarily, at a great premium. Mr Brunel

was said to be connected with fourteen lines, Mr Robert Stephenson with

thirty-four, Mr Locke with thirty-one, Mr Rastrick with seventeen, and

other engineers with one hundred and thirteen.

“The novelist has appropriated this peculiar portion of commercial

history, and, describing it, says, gravely and graphically: ‘A Colony

of solicitors, engineers and seedy accountants, settled in the purlieus

of Threadneedle Street. Every town and parish in the kingdom blazed out

in zinc plates over the doorways. From the cellar to the roof, every

fragment of a room held its committee. The darkest cupboard on the

stairs contained a secretary or a clerk. Men who were never seen east

of Temple Bar before, or since, were, now, as familiar to the pavement

of Moorgate Street,[63] as the Stockbrokers: ladies of title, lords,

members of Parliament, and fashionable loungers thronged the noisy

passages, and were jostled by adventurers, by gamblers, rogues and

impostors.’

“The advantages of competition were pointed out, with the choicest

phraseology. Lines which passed by barren districts, and by waste

heaths, the termini of which were in uninhabitable places, reached a

high premium. The shares of one Company rose 2400 per cent. Everything

was to pay a large dividend; everything was to yield a large profit.

One railway was to cross the entire Principality without a single curve.

“The shares of another were issued; the company formed, and the

directors appointed, with only the terminal points surveyed. In the Ely

railway, not one person connected with the country through which it was

to pass, subscribed the title-deed.

“The engineers, who were examined in favour of particular lines,

promised all and everything, in their evidence. It was humorously said,

‘they plunge through the bowels of mountains; they undertake to drain

lakes; they bridge valleys with viaducts; their steepest gradients are

gentle undulations; their curves are lines of beauty; they interrupt no

traffic; they touch no prejudice.’

“Labour of all kinds increased in demand. The price of iron rose from

sixty-eight shillings to one hundred and twenty per ton. Money remained

abundant. Promoters received their tens and twenties of thousands.

Rumours of sudden fortunes were very plentiful. Estates were purchased

by those who were content with their gains; and, to crown the whole,

a grave report was circulated, that Northumberland House, with its

princely remembrances, and palatial grandeur, was to be bought by the

South Western. Many of the railways attained prices which staggered

reasonable men. The more worthless the article, the greater seemed the

struggle to obtain it. Premiums of £5 and £6 were matters of course,

even where there were four or five competitors for the road. One

Company, which contained a clause to lease it at three and a half per

cent., for 999 years, rose to twenty premium, so mad were the many to

speculate.

“Every branch of commerce participated in the advantages of an

increased circulation. The chief articles of trade met with large

returns; profits were regular; and all luxuries which suited an

affluent community, procured an augmented sale. Banking credit remained

facile; interest still kept low; money, speaking as they of the City

speak, could be had for next to nothing. It was advanced on everything

which bore a value, whether readily convertible, or not. Bill brokers

would only allow one and a half per cent. for cash; and what is one and

a half per cent. to men who revelled in the thought of two hundred? The

exchanges remained remarkably steady. The employment of the labourer

on the new lines, of the operative in the factory, of the skilled

artisan in the workshop, of the clerk at the desk, tended to add to

the delusive feeling, and was one of the forms in which, for a time,

the population was benefited. But, when the strength of the kingdom

is wasted in gambling, temporary, indeed, is the good compared with

the cost. Many, whose money was safely invested, sold at any price, to

enter the share market. Servants withdrew their hoards from the savings

banks. The tradesman crippled his business. The legitimate love of

money became a fierce lust. The peer came from his club to his brokers;

the clergyman came from his pulpit to the mart; the country gentleman

forsook the calmness of his rural domain for the feverish excitement

of Threadneedle Street. Voluptuous tastes were indulged in by those

who were previously starving. The new men vied with the old, in the

luxurious adornments of their houses. Everyone smiled with contentment;

every face wore a pleased expression. Some, who, by virtue of their

unabashed impudence, became provisional committee men, supported the

dignity of their position, in a style which raised the mirth of many,

and moved the envy of more. Trustees, who had no money of their own,

or, who had lost it, used that which was confided to them; brothers

speculated with the money of sisters; sons gambled with the money of

their widowed mothers; children risked their patrimony; and, it is no

exaggeration to say, that the funds of hundreds were surreptitiously

endangered by those in whose control they were placed.”

The Marquis of Clanricarde, in a speech, spoke very boldly as to the

status, social and financial, of some of the subscribers to Railway

Companies. Said he: “One of the names to the deed to which he was

anxious to direct their attention, was that of a gentleman, said to

reside in Finsbury Square, who had subscribed to the amount of £25,000:

he was informed no such person was known at that address. There was,

also, in the Contract deed, the name of an individual who had figured

in the Dublin and Galway Railway case, who was down for £5000, and who

was understood to be a half-pay officer, in the receipt of £54 a-year,

but, who appeared as a subscriber in different railway schemes, to the

amount of £41,500. The address of another, whose name was down for

£12,200, was stated to be in Watling Street, but it appeared he did

not reside there. In the case of another individual down for £12,500 a

false address was found to have been given. Another individual, whom he

would not name, was a curate in a parish in Kent; he might be worth all

the money for which he appeared responsible in various railway schemes,

but his name appeared for £25,000 in different projects, and stood for

£10,000 in this line. Another individual, who was down for £25,000, was

represented to be in poor circumstances. A clerk in a public company

was down for upwards of £50,000. There were several more cases of the

same kind, but he trusted that he had stated enough to establish the

necessity of referring the matter to a committee. There were, also,

two brothers, sons of a charwoman, living in a garret, one of whom had

signed for £12,500, and the other for £25,000; these two brothers,

excellent persons, no doubt, but who were receiving about a guinea and

a half between them, were down for £37,000.”

CHAPTER XXI

The Comic side of the Railway Mania—“Jeames’s Diary,”

&c.—Universal Speculation as shown by Parliamentary Return—Rise

of Discount—Collapse—Shareholders not forthcoming—Widespread

Ruin—George Hudson.

Not particularly exaggerated is “Railroad Speculator” in _Punch_ (Vol.

viii., p. 244):

“The night was stormy and dark, the town was shut up in sleep: Only

those were abroad who were out on the lark, Or those who’d no beds to

keep.

I passed through the lonely street, The wind did sing and blow; I

could hear the policeman’s feet, Clapping to and fro.

There stood a potato man, in the midst of all the wet; He stood with

his ‘tato can, in the lonely Haymarket.

Two gents of dismal mien, and dank and greasy rags; came out of a shop

for gin, swaggering over the flags:

Swaggering over the stones, these shabby bucks did walk; and I went

and followed those seedy ones, and listened to their talk.

Was I sober or awake? Could I believe my ears? Those dismal beggars

spake of nothing but Railroad Shares.

I wondered more and more: Says one, ‘Good friend of mine, how many

shares did you write for? In the Diddlesex Junction line?’

‘I wrote for twenty,’ says Jim, ‘but they wouldn’t give me one’; His

comrade straight rebuked him, for the folly he had done.

‘Oh Jim, you are unawares of the ways of this bad town: I always write

for five hundred shares, and _then_ they put me down.’

‘And yet you got no shares,’ says Jim, ‘for all your boast’: ‘I

_would_ have wrote,’ says Jack, ‘but where was the penny to pay the

post?’

‘I lost, for I couldn’t pay that first instalment up; but here’s

‘taters smoking hot—I say, Let’s stop, my boy, and sup.’

And, at this simple feast, the while they did regale, I drew each

ragged capitalist, down on my left thumb nail.

Their talk did me perplex, All night I tumbled and tost; and thought

of railroad specs, and how money was won and lost.

‘Bless railroads everywhere,’ I said, ‘and the world’s advance; Bless

every railroad share in Italy, Ireland, France; for never a beggar

need now despair, and every rogue has a chance.’”

But, should anyone wish to watch the progress of the Railway Mania,

I would recommend a perusal of _Punch_, Vol. ix., in which appears,

_inter alia_, _Jeames’s Diary_, by Thackeray, afterwards published as

_The Diary of C. Jeames De la Pluche, Esq._ The idea was started on p.

59, under the heading of—

A LUCKY SPECULATOR.

Considerable sensation has been excited in the upper and lower circles

in the West End, by a startling piece of good fortune which has

befallen JAMES PLUSH, Esq., lately footman in a respected family in

Berkeley Square.

One day, last week, Mr James waited upon his master, who is a banker

in the city; and, after a little blushing and hesitation, said he had

saved a little money in service, and was anxious to retire, and to

invest his savings to advantage.

His master (we believe we may mention, without offending delicacy,

the well known name of Sir GEORGE FLIMSY of the firm of FLIMSY,

DIDDLER, and FLASH,) smilingly asked Mr JAMES, what was the amount of

his savings, wondering considerably how—out of an income of thirty

guineas, the main part of which he spent in bouquets, silk stockings

and perfumery—Mr PLUSH could have managed to lay by anything.

Mr PLUSH, with some hesitation, said he had been _speculating in

railroads_, and stated his winnings to have been thirty thousand

pounds. He had commenced his speculations with twenty, borrowed from

a fellow servant. He had dated his letters from the house in Berkeley

Square, and humbly begged pardon of his master, for not having

instructed the railway secretaries, who answered the applications, to

apply at the area bell.

Sir GEORGE, who was at breakfast, instantly rose, and shook Mr P. by

the hand; LADY FLIMSY begged him to be seated, and partake of the

breakfast which he had laid on the table; and has subsequently invited

him to her grand _dejeuner_ at Richmond, where it was observed that

Miss EMILY FLIMSY, her beautiful and accomplished seventh daughter,

paid the lucky gentleman _marked attention_.

We hear it stated that Mr P. is of very ancient family (HUGO DE LA

PLUCHE came over with the Conqueror); and the new Brougham which he

has started, bears the ancient coat of his race.

He has taken apartments at the Albany, and is a director of

thirty-three railroads. He purposes to stand for Parliament at the

next general election, on decidedly conservative principles, which

have always been the politics of his family.

Report says, that, even in his humble capacity, Miss EMILY FLIMSY

had remarked his high demeanour. Well, ‘none but the brave,’ say we,

‘deserve the fair.’—_Morning Paper._

This announcement will explain the following lines, which have been put

into our box, with a West End post mark. If, as we believe, they are

written by the young woman from whom the Millionaire borrowed the sum

on which he raised his fortune, what heart would not melt with sympathy

at her tale, and pity the sorrows which she expresses in such artless

language?

If it be not too late: if wealth have not rendered its possessor

callous: if poor MARYANNE _be still alive_, we trust Mr PLUSH will do

her justice.

JEAMES OF BUCKLEY SQUARE.

A HELIGY.

Come, all ye gents vot cleans the plate,

Come, all ye ladies maids so fair—

Vile I a story vil relate

Of cruel JEAMES of Buckley Square.

A tighter lad, it is confest,

Never valked vith powder in his air,

Or vore a nosegay in his breast,

Than andsum JEAMES of Buckley Square.

O Evns! it vas the best of sights,

Behind his Master’s coach and pair,

To see our JEAMES in red plush tights,

A driving hoff from Buckley Square.

He vel became his hagwiletts,

He cocked his at with _such_ an hair;

His calves and viskers _vas_ siech pets,

That hall loved _Jeames_ of Buckley Square.

He pleased the hup stairs folks as vell,

And o! I vithered vith despair,

Misses _vould_ ring the parler bell,

And call up JEAMES in Buckley Square.

Both beer and sperrits he abhord,

(Sperrits and beer I can’t a bear,)

You would have thought he vas a lord,

Down in our All in Buckley Square.

Last year he visper’d, “Mary Hann,

Ven I’ve an ‘under’d pound to spare,

To take a public is my plan,

And leave this hojous Buckley Square.”

O how my gentle heart did bound,

To think that I his name should bear.

“Dear JEAMES,” says I, “I’ve twenty pound,”

And gev him them in Buckley Square.

Our master vas a City Gent,

His name’s in railroads everywhere;

And lord, vot lots of letters vent

Betwigst his brokers, and Buckley Square.

My JEAMES it was the letters took,

And read ‘em all, (I think it’s fair),

And took a leaf from Master’s book,

As _hothers_ do in Buckley Square.

Encouraged with my twenty pound,

Of which poor _I_ was unaware,

He wrote the Companies all round,

And signed hisself from Buckley Square.

And how JOHN PORTER used to grin,

As day by day, share after share,

Came railway letters pouring in,

J. PLUSH, Esquire, in Buckley Square.

Our servants’ All was in a rage—

Scrip, stock, curves, gradients, bull and bear,

With butler, coachman, groom and page,

Vas all the talk in Buckley Square.

But O! imagine vat I felt

Last Vensdy veek as ever were;

I gits a letter, which I spelt

“Miss M. A. Hoggins, Buckley Square.”

He sent me back my money true—

He sent me back my lock of air,

And said, “My dear, I bid ajew

To Mary Hann and Buckley Square.

Think not to marry, foolish HANN,

With people who your betters are;

JAMES PLUSH is now a gentleman,

And you—a cook in Buckley Square.

I’ve thirty thousand guineas won,

In six short months, by genus rare;

You little thought what JEAMES was on,

Poor MARY HANN, in Buckley Square.

I’ve thirty thousand guineas net,

Powder and plush I scorn to vear;

And so, Miss MARY HANN, forget

For hever JEAMES, of Buckley Square.”

But, joking apart, there is no exaggeration in Jeames. Look at a

“Return to the Order of the Honourable the House of Commons, dated 8th

April 1845, for an Alphabetical list of the Names, Description, and

Place of Abode of all Persons subscribing to the Amount of £2000 and

upwards to any Railway Subscription Contract deposited in the Private

Bill Office during the present Session of Parliament,” and amongst the

names will be found many of the leading nobility, large manufacturing

firms, names well known in commerce and literature, mingled together

in a most heterogeneous manner. The same columns shew a combination of

peers and printers, vicars and vice-admirals, spinsters and half-pay

officers, M.P.’s and special pleaders, professors and cotton spinners,

gentlemen’s cooks and Q.C.’s, attorney’s clerks and college scouts,

waiters at Lloyd’s, relieving officers and excisemen, barristers

and butchers, Catholic priests and coachmen, editors and engineers,

dairymen and dyers, braziers, bankers, beer sellers and butlers,

domestic servants, footmen and mail guards, and almost every calling

under the sun.

These, it must be remembered, were subscribers for £2000 and upwards;

those who subscribed for less, were supposed to be holders of

£21,386,703, 6s. 4d. in Stock.

The first blow given to this frightful gambling was on Thursday, 16th

Oct. 1845, when the Bank of England raised its Discount, which had such

a disastrous effect, that by Saturday, people began to be alarmed, and,

as Mr Francis describes the situation, “Money was scarce, the price

of stock and scrip lowered; the confidence of the people was broken,

and a vision of a dark future on every face. Advertisements were

suddenly withdrawn from the papers; names of note were seen no more as

provisional committee men; distrust followed the merchant to the mart,

and the jobber to the Exchange. The new schemes ceased to be regarded;

applications ceased to be forwarded; premiums were either lowered, or

ceased to exist. Bankers looked anxiously to the accounts of their

customers; bill brokers scrutinised their securities; and every man was

suspicious of his neighbour.

“But the distrust was not confined to projected lines. Established

Railways felt the shock, and were reduced in value. Consols fell one

and a half per cent.; Exchequer Bills declined in price, and other

markets sympathised. The people had awoke from their dream, and

trembled. It was a national alarm.

“Words are weak to express the fears and feelings which prevailed.

There was no village too remote to escape the shock, and there was,

probably, no house in town, some occupant of which did not shrink

from the morrow. The Statesman started to find his new Bank Charter

so sadly, and so suddenly tried: the peer, who had so thoughtlessly

invested, saw ruin opening to his view. Men hurried with bated

breath to their brokers; the allottee was uneasy and suspicious: the

provisional committee man grew pale at his fearful responsibility:

directors ceased to boast their blushing honours, and promoters saw

their expected profits evaporate. Shares, which, the previous week,

were a fortune, were, the next, a fatality to their owners. The

reputed shareholders were not found when they were wanted: provisional

committee men were not more easy of access.

“One Railway advertised the names and addresses of thirty—none of

whom were to be heard of at the residences ascribed to them. Letters

were returned to the Post Office, day after day. Nor is this to be

wondered at, when it is said that, on one projected line, only £60 was

received for deposits which should have yielded £700,000.

“It was proved in the Committee of the House of Commons, that one

subscription list was formed of ‘lame ducks of the Alley’; and that, in

another, several of the Directors, including the Chairman, had, also,

altered their several subscriptions to the amount of £100,000, the very

evening on which the list was deposited, and that five shillings a man

was given to any one who would sign for a certain number of shares.

“Nothing more decidedly marked the crisis which had arrived, than the

fact that every one hastened to disown railways. Gentlemen who had been

buried in prospectuses, whose names and descriptions had been published

under every variation that could fascinate the public, who had

figured as committee men, and received the precious guineas for their

attendance, were eager to assure the world that they were ignorant of

this great transgression. Men, who, a month before, had boasted of

the large sums they had made by scrip, sent advertisements to papers

denying their responsibility, or appealed to the Lord Mayor to protect

their characters. Members of Parliament who had remained quiet under

the infliction, while it was somewhat respectable, fell back upon their

privileges when they saw their purses in danger. There is no doubt that

an unauthorised use of names was one feature of fraudulent Companies,

and that, amid a list of common names, it was thought a distinguished

one might pass unnoticed. The complaints, therefore, of those who were

thus unceremoniously treated were just; but the great mass of denials

emanated from persons who, knowingly, encountered the risk, and meanly

shrunk from the danger.

“It is the conviction of those who are best informed that no other

panic was ever so fatal to the middle class. It reached every hearth,

it saddened every heart in the metropolis. Entire families were ruined.

There was scarcely an important town in England, but what beheld

some wretched suicide. Daughters, delicately nurtured, went out to

seek their bread; sons were recalled from academies; households were

separated: homes were desecrated by the emissaries of the law. There

was a disruption of every social tie. The debtor’s jails were peopled

with promoters; Whitecross Street was filled with speculators; and the

Queen’s bench was full to overflowing. Men who had lived comfortably

and independently, found themselves suddenly responsible for sums they

had no means of paying. In some cases they yielded their all, and began

the world anew; in others, they left the country for the continent,

laughed at their creditors, and defied pursuit. One gentleman was

served with four hundred writs: a peer, similarly pressed, when offered

to be relieved from all liabilities for £15,000, betook himself to

his yacht, and forgot, in the beauties of the Mediterranean, the

difficulties which had surrounded him. Another gentleman, who, having

nothing to lose, surrendered himself to his creditors, was a director

of more than twenty lines. A third was Provisional Committee man

to fifteen. A fourth, who commenced life as a printer, who became

an insolvent in 1832, and a bankrupt in 1837, who had negotiated

partnerships, who had arranged embarrassed affairs, who had collected

debts, and turned his attention to anything, did not disdain, also, to

be a railway promoter, a railway director, or to spell his name in a

dozen different ways.”

But a notice of the Railway Mania would be very incomplete without

mention of George Hudson, the Railway King. He was born at Howsham, a

village near York, in March 1800, was apprenticed to a draper in York,

and subsequently became principal in the business; thus, early in

life, becoming well off, besides having £30,000 left him by a distant

relative. In 1837 he was Lord Mayor of York, and the same year was

made Chairman of the York and North Midland Railway, which was opened

in 1839. In 1841 he was elected Chairman of the Great North of England

Company, and, afterwards held the same position in the Midland Railway

Company. He speculated largely in Railways; and in the Parliamentary

return, already alluded to (p. 270) his subscriptions appear as

£319,835.

He came to London, and inhabited the house at Albert Gate,

Knightsbridge (now the French Embassy) where he entertained the Prince

Consort, and the aristocracy generally. He was elected M.P. for

Sunderland in Aug. 1845, and again served as Lord Mayor of York in

1846. The Railway smash came, and year by year things went worse with

him, until, early in the year 1849 he had to resign his chairmanship

of the Eastern Counties (now Great Eastern), Midland, York, Newcastle

and Berwick, and the York and North Midland Railway Companies. He went

abroad, where he lived for some time, and tried, unavailingly, to

retrieve his fortune. In July 1865 he was committed to York Castle for

Contempt of the Court of Exchequer, in not paying a large debt, and was

there incarcerated till the following October.

He fell so low, that in 1868 some friends took pity on him and raised a

subscription for him, thus obtaining £4800, with which an annuity was

purchased. He died in London, 14th Dec. 1871.

In conclusion, as a place for gambling, the Stock Exchange is of far

greater extent than the Turf. The time bargains and options, without

which the business of the Exchange would be very little, are gambling

pure and simple, whilst the numerous _bucket shops_, with their

advertisements and circulars, disseminate the unwholesome vice of

gambling throughout the length and breadth of the land, enabling people

to speculate without anyone being the wiser. It is needless to say,

that, as on the Turf, they are the losers.

CHAPTER XXII

Permissible gambling—Early Marine Assurance—Oldest and

old Policies—Lloyd’s—Curious Insurances—Marine Assurance

Companies—Fire Insurance—Its origin and early Companies—Life

Insurance—Early Companies—Curious story of Life Insurance.

But, paradoxical as it may appear, there is a class of gambling which

is not only considered harmless, but beneficial, and even necessary—I

mean Insurance. Theoretically, it is gambling proper. You bet 2s.

6d. to £100 with your Fire Insurance; you equally bet on a Marine

Insurance for the safe arrival of your ships or merchandise; and it is

also gambling when you insure your life. Yet a man would be considered

culpable, or at the very least, negligent and indiscreet did he not

insure.

Of the different kinds of Insurance or Assurance, as it is

indifferently called, Marine Assurance is the oldest, so old, that no

one knows when the custom began, as we see by the preamble of 43 Eliz.,

c. 12 (1601).

“AN ACTE CONCERNINGE MATTERS OF ASSURANCES, AMONGSTE MARCHANTES.

WHEREAS it ever hathe bene the Policie of this Realme by all good

meanes to comforte and encourage the Merchante, therebie to advance and

increase the generall wealthe of the Realme, her Majesties Customes

and the strengthe of Shippinge, which Consideration is now the more

requisite, because Trade and Traffique is not, at this presente,

soe open as at other tymes it hathe bene; and, _whereas it hathe

bene tyme out of mynde_ an usage amongste Merchantes, both of this

Realme and of forraine Nacyons, when they make any greate adventure

(speciallie into remote partes) to give some consideracion of Money

to other persons (which commonlie are in noe small number) to have

from them assurance made of their Goodes Merchandizes Ships and Things

adventured, or some parte thereof, at such rates and in such sorte as

the Parties assurers and the Parties assured can agree, whiche course

of dealinge is commonly termed a Policie of Assurance; by meanes of

whiche Policies of Assurance it comethe to passe, upon the losse or

perishinge of any Shippe there followethe not the undoinge of any Man,

but the losse lightethe rather easilie upon many, then heavilie upon

fewe, and rather upon them that adventure not, then those that doe

adventure, whereby all Merchantes, speciallie of the younger sorte,

are allured to venture more willinglie and more freelie: And whereas

heretofore suche Assurers have used to stand so justlie and preciselie

upon their credites, as fewe or no Controversies have risen there upon,

and if any have growen, the same have from tyme to tyme bene ended and

ordered by certaine grave and discreete Merchantes appointed by the

Lord Mayor of the Citie of London, as Men by reason of their experience

fitteste to understande, and speedilie to decide those Causes; untill

of late yeeres that divers persons have withdrawen themselves from that

arbitrarie course, and have soughte to drawe the parties assured to

seeke their moneys of everie severall Assurer, by Suites commenced in

her Majesties Courtes, to their great charges and delayes: FOR REMEDIE

_wher of be it enacted_,” &c.[64]

The Oldest Policy of Assurance I have been able to find is mentioned

in the 6th Report of the Royal Commission on Historical MSS., where

it is catalogued “1604. A Charter partie, An Assurance of fish from

Newfoundland.”[65]

Mr F. Martin, who wrote an exhaustive book on the _History of Lloyd’s

and Marine Insurance_, says: “The earliest English policy of marine

insurance, which we have been able to discover, bears date 1613,

and though not a document issued actually by underwriters, but, to

all appearances, a copy made for legal purposes, with some lawyer’s

notes attached, may be found historically interesting. The discovery

was—with others subsequently to be referred to—the result of long

and laborious researches among the, as yet, only partly known literary

treasures of the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The original is among

the Tanner manuscripts, numbered 74, fo. 32, and the manuscript is

endorsed, ‘Mr Morris Abbott’s pollesye of Assurance dated the 15 of

ffebruary 1613, 11 Jacobi.’”

A very old policy hangs, framed and glazed, on the wall of the

Committee Room at Lloyds, dated 20th Jan. 1680, and it is for

£1200—£200 on the ship and £1000 on the goods. The ship was the

_Golden Fleece_, the voyage from Lisbon to Venice, and the premium was

£4 per cent.!

Underwriting marine risks was in private hands, and although the

underwriters had, some of them, offices of their own, most of the

business seems to have been done at Coffee Houses, such as Hain’s,

Garraway’s, or Good’s; and there was also a central office at the Royal

Exchange, as is shown by several early advertisements, one of which is

the following, from the _City Mercury_, No. 255 (1680):

“Whereas Mr Daniel Parrot caused a Politie to be made Septemb. 28

last, on the _Charles of Plymouth_, from Newfoundland to Cadiz, which

is subscribed by several Insurers, and the Politie lost, and a new

Politie made: It is desired that all persons that have subscribed the

Politie would come into the Insurance Office, and subscribe the new

Politie, that it may be known who the Insurers are; and if any one has

found the old Politie, they are desired to bring it to Mr Tho. Astley,

at the Insurance Office on the Royal Exchange, and they shall be well

rewarded.”

The origin of the present Corporation of Lloyd’s was in the Coffee

House of Edward Lloyd, who, in 1688, lived in the very busy commercial

thoroughfare of Tower Street, as appears from an advertisement in the

_London Gazette_ of 18/21 Feb. 1688, relating to a robbery. In 1691 or

1692 he moved to a more central situation, at the Corner of Abchurch

Lane and Lombard Street, where, in the summer of 1696, he started the

famous _Lloyd’s News_, of which the Bodleian Library has a complete

set, with the exception of the first seven numbers. It only reached

seventy-six numbers, when it was discontinued for the reason given in

No. 138 of the _Protestant Mercury_, Feb. 24/26, 1696 (1697). “Whereas,

in _Lloyd’s News_ of the 23rd instant, it was inserted, That the House

of Lords Received a Petition from the Quakers, that they may be freed

from all Offices, which being groundless and a mistake, he was desired

to rectifie it in his next: But return’d for Answer, it was added by

the Printer, that he would Print no more at present.” And it remained

in abeyance till 1726, when it was resuscitated under the title of

_Lloyd’s List_, a name which it now bears.

Lloyd’s Coffee House served its purpose to the Underwriters for a time,

but they found it inconvenient, and wanted a place of their own, so

they took rooms in Pope’s Head Alley, which they called New Lloyd’s

Coffee House, whilst they were looking out for suitable permanent

premises. Here, towards the end of 1771, seventy-nine Underwriters met,

and each subscribed £100 towards building a “New Lloyd’s.” After a

considerable amount of house hunting, it was reported by the Committee,

on Nov. 24, 1773, “that after many fruitless researches to obtain a

Coffee House in Freeman’s Court and other places, they had succeeded

with the Mercer’s Company for a very roomy and convenient place over

the North West Side of the Royal Exchange, at the rent of £180 per

annum”: and this selection being approved of, they moved into their

new quarters on 5th March 1774. There they have abode ever since,

except for a brief period when the Exchange was re-building after its

destruction by fire in 1838.

The underwriters did not always confine themselves to marine risks.

Malcolm, writing in 1808, says: “The practice of betting is tolerably

prevalent at present, and by no means confined to any particular class

of the community. In fact, I am afraid it might be traced very far

back in the history of our Customs; but it will be sufficient, for the

information of the reader, that I present him with an article from the

_London Chronicle_ of 1768, which, I think, will remind him of some

recent transactions in the City.

“‘The introduction and amazing progress of illicit gaming at Lloyd’s

Coffee House is, among others, a powerful and very melancholy proof of

the degeneracy of the times. It is astonishing that this practice was

begun, and has been, hitherto, carried on, by the matchless effrontery

and impudence of one man. It is equally so, that he has met with so

much encouragement from many of the principal underwriters, who are, in

every other respect, useful members of society: and it is owing to the

lenity of our laws, and want of spirit in the present administration,

that this pernicious practice has not, hitherto, been suppressed.

Though gaming in any degree (except what is warranted by law) is

perverting the original and useful design of that Coffee House, it may,

in some measure, be excuseable to speculate on the following subjects:

Mr Wilkes being elected Member for London, which was done from 5 to 50

guineas per cent.

Ditto for Middlesex, from 20 to 70 guineas per cent.

Alderman B—— d’s life for one year, now doing at 7 per cent.

On Sir J—— H—— being turned out in one year, now doing at 20

guineas per cent.

On John Wilkes’s life for one year, now doing at 5 per cent.

N.B.—Warranted to remain in prison during that period.

On a declaration of war with France or Spain, in one year, 8 guineas

per cent.

And many other innocent things of that kind.

But, when policies come to be opened on two of the first Peers in

Britain losing their heads, within a year, at 10s. 6d. per cent.; and

on the dissolution of the present Parliament, within one year, at 5

guineas per cent., which are now actually doing, and underwrote chiefly

by Scotsmen, at the above Coffee House; it is surely high time for

administration to interfere; and, by exerting the rigours of the laws

against the authors and encouragers of such insurances (which must be

done for some bad purpose), effectually put a stop to it.’”

In the secretary’s room at Lloyd’s hangs the following policy:—“In

consideration of three guineas for one hundred pounds, and according to

that rate for every greater or less sum received of William Dorrington;

we, who have hereunto subscribed our names, do for ourselves, and

our respective heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, and

not one for the other or others of us; or for the heirs, executors,

administrators and assigns of the other or others of us, assume, engage

and promise that we respectively, or our several and respective heirs,

executors, administrators, and assigns, shall and will pay, or cause

to be paid, unto the said William Dorrington the sum and sums of money

which we have hereunto respectively subscribed without any abatement

whatever.

“_In case_ Napoleon Bonaparte shall cease to exist, or be taken

prisoner on, or before, the 21st day of June 1813, commencing from this

day. London 21 May 1813.”

Although originally intended for the Insurance of Marine risks only,

other policies can be taken out at Lloyd’s—such as Fire; against

Burglary—although this was also insured against during the South Sea

Mania, under the title of “Insurance from housebreakers”; against

any lady having twins. _À propos_ of this, there was an underwriter,

some years ago, at Lloyd’s, named Thornton—who was fond of writing

speculative risks, especially overdue ships, and who died very wealthy.

He had a bet with a fellow underwriter—that he should pay him £1000

for every child the Queen bore; but, if there should be twins, at

any time, then Mr Thornton was to be paid £20,000. Insuring that a

race horse shall run in a particular race; on interest under a will;

employer’s liability to workmen; accidents by tram-cars; solvency of

commercial firms; earthquakes; and during the six months preceding

the Queen’s Jubilee of 20th June 1897 a vast amount was underwritten,

guaranteeing the Queen’s life till that date—and also assuring that

she should pass through certain streets. But these policies are not

recognised by the Committee, and, should the underwriter fail, they do

not rank for dividend out of the caution money held by the Corporation.

Besides Lloyd’s Association, where each Member underwrites the amount

he chooses, there are Marine Insurance Companies, which are of great

utility for the large sums they underwrite. These are not all English,

there are many foreign Marine Insurance Companies having Offices in

London, as may be seen by the following list, which is very far from

being complete:—Baden Marine, Bavarian Lloyd Marine, Boston Marine,

Canton Marine, German Marine, Italia Marine of Genoa, Nippon Sea and

Land, North China, Rhenish Westphalian Lloyds, Switzerland Insurance,

Yangtze Insurance Association, &c., &c., &c. The first English Marine

Insurance Companies were the Royal Exchange and the London, both

established in 1720.

Insurance against Fire began the year following the Great Fire of

London (1666), and the first Company for Assurance against Fire was the

Phœnix, established about 1682, first at the Rainbow Coffee House, in

Fleet Street, and, afterwards, near the Royal Exchange. Their system

was to pay 30s. down, and insure £100 for seven years. The second was

The Friendly Society, in Palsgrave Court, without Temple Bar, which

was the first (in 1684) that insured by mutual contribution, where you

could insure £100 for seven years by paying 6s. 8d. down and an annual

subscription of 1s. 4d. And, thirdly, The Amicable Contributors, at

Tom’s Coffee House in St Martin’s Lane (commenced about 1695), where a

payment of 12s. would insure £100 for seven years, at the expiration of

which time 10s. would be returned to the assured. This Society seems

to have changed its name to the Hand in Hand Fire Office, who gave up

their two establishments, at Tom’s Coffee House, and the Crown Coffee

House, behind the Exchange, to more suitable premises in Angel Court,

Snow Hill, and notified the change in the _Gazette_ of 1st Jan. 1714.

This Insurance Company (The Amicable) is generally considered to be the

first institution for the Insurance of Lives, although Life Annuities

had been in practice for a long time, but a writer in _Chambers’

Encyclopædia_ (Vol. vi., p. 175, ed. 1895) says that it did not begin

life business until 1836. The same writer continues: “The earliest

known Life Assurance Company was established in 1699, and called

the ‘Society of Assurance for Widows and Orphans.’ This was what,

now, would be called an _Assessment_ Company. It did not guarantee a

definite sum assured, in consideration of a fixed periodical premium;

but, by its constitution it was to consist, when full, of 2000 members,

who were to contribute 5s. each towards every death that occurred

amongst the members.

“The earliest life assurance policy, of which particulars have been

preserved, was made on 15th June 1583, at the ‘Office of Insurance

within the Royal Exchange,’ in London. Full details of this Policy have

been preserved, because it gave rise to the first authentic disputed

claim. The policy was for £383, 6s. 8d., to be paid to Richard Martin,

in the event of William Gybbons dying within twelve months, and the

policy was underwritten by thirteen different persons who guaranteed

sums of from £25 to £50 each. The premium was at the rate of 8 per

cent. William Gybbons died on the 28th May 1584, and the underwriters

refused to pay because he had survived twelve months of twenty-eight

days each. The Commissioners appointed to determine such cases, held

that the twelve months mentioned in the policy meant one full year,

and they ordered the underwriters to pay. These appealed to the Court

of Admiralty, which had jurisdiction in such cases, and where, in

1587, two judges upheld the decision of the Commissioners, so that,

eventually, the underwriters had to pay.”

Mr Francis[66] tells us of the first known fraud in Life Assurance.

“About 1730, two persons resided in the then obscure suburbs of St

Giles’s, one of whom was a woman of about twenty, the other, a man,

whose age would have allowed him to be the woman’s father, and who was,

generally understood to bear that relation. Their position hovered on

the debatable ground between poverty and competence, or might even be

characterised by the modern term of shabby genteel. They interfered

with no one, and they encouraged no one to interfere with them. No

specific personal description is recorded of them, beyond the fact that

the man was tall and middle aged, bearing a semimilitary aspect, and

that the woman, though young and attractive in person, was, apparently,

haughty and frigid in her manner. On a sudden, at night time, the

latter was taken very ill. The man sought the wife of his nearest

neighbour for assistance, informing her that his daughter had been

seized with sudden and great pain at the heart. They returned together,

and found her in the utmost apparent agony, shrinking from the approach

of all, and dreading the slightest touch. The leech was sent for; but,

before he could arrive, she seemed insensible, and he only entered the

room in time to see her die. The father appeared in great distress, the

doctor felt her pulse, placed his hand on her heart, shook his head,

as he intimated all was over, and went his way. The searchers came,

for those birds of ill-omen were, then, the ordinary haunters of the

death-bed, and the coffin, with its contents, was committed to the

ground. Almost immediately after this, the bereaved father claimed from

the underwriters some money which was insured on his daughter’s life,

left the locality, and the story was forgotten.

“Not very long after, the neighbourhood of Queen Square, then

a fashionable place, shook its head at the somewhat unequivocal

connection that existed between one of the inmates of a house in

that locality, and a lady who resided with him. The gentleman wore

moustaches, and though not young, affected what was then known as the

Macaroni style. The Captain, for that was the almost indefinite title

he assumed, was a visitor to Ranelagh, was an _habitué_ of the Coffee

Houses; and, being an apparently wealthy person, riding good horses

and keeping an attractive mistress, he attained a certain position

among the _mauvais sujets_ of the day. Like many others at that period,

he was, or seemed to be, a dabbler in the funds; was frequently seen

at Lloyd’s and in the Alley; lounged occasionally at Garraway’s; but

appeared, more particularly, to affect the company of those who dealt

in life assurances.

“His house soon became a resort for the young and thoughtless, being

one of those pleasant places where the past and the future were alike

lost in the present: where cards were introduced with the wine, and

where, if the young bloods of the day lost their money, they were

repaid by a glance of more than ordinary warmth from the goddess of the

place; and to which, if they won, they returned with renewed zest. One

thing was noticed, they never won from the master of the house, and

there is no doubt, a large portion of the current expenses were met

by the money gambled away; but, whether it were fairly, or unfairly

gained, is, scarcely a doubtful question.

“A stop was soon put to these amusements. The place was too remote

from the former locality, the appearance of both characters was too

much changed to be identified; or, in these two might have been traced

the strangers of that obscure suburb, where, as daughter, the woman was

supposed to die; and, as father, the man had wept and raved over her

remains. And a similar scene was, once more, to be acted. The lady was

taken as suddenly ill as before; the same spasms at the heart seemed

to convulse her frame; and, again, the man hung over her in apparent

agony. Physicians were sent for in haste; only one arrived in time to

see her, once more, imitate the appearance of death; whilst the others,

satisfied that life had fled, took their fees, ‘shook solemnly their

powdered wigs,’ and departed. This mystery, for it is evident there was

some conspiracy, or collusion, is partially solved when it is said that

many thousands were claimed and received, by the gallant captain from

various underwriters, merchants and companies with whom he had assured

the life of the lady.

“But the hero of this tradition was a consummate actor; and, though

his career is unknown for a long period after this, yet it is highly

probable that he carried out his nefarious projects in schemes which

are difficult to trace. There is little doubt, however, that the

_soi-disant_ captain of Queen Square was one and the same person who,

as a merchant, a few years later, appeared daily on the commercial

walks of Liverpool; where, deep in the mysteries of corn and cotton, a

constant attendant at church, a subscriber to local charities, and a

giver of good dinners, he soon became much respected by those who dealt

with him in business, or visited him in social life. The hospitalities

of his house were gracefully dispensed by a lady who passed as his

niece; and, for a time, nothing seemed to disturb the tenour of his

way. At length it became whispered in the world of commerce, that his

speculations were not so successful as usual; and a long series of

misfortunes, as asserted by him, gave a sanction to the whisper. It

soon became advisable for him to borrow money, and this he could only

do on the security of property belonging to his niece. To do so, it was

necessary to insure their lives for about £2000. This was easy enough,

as Liverpool, no less than London, was ready to assure anything which

promised profit, and, as the affair was regular, no one hesitated. A

certain amount of secrecy was necessary for the sake of his credit;

and, availing himself of this, he assured on the life of the niece

£2000, with, at least, ten different merchants and underwriters in

London and elsewhere. The game was once more in his own hands, and the

same play was once more acted. The lady was taken ill, the doctor was

called in, and found her suffering from convulsions. He administered a

specific, and retired. In the night he was again hastily summoned, but

arrived too late. The patient was declared to be beyond his skill; and

the next morning it became known to all Liverpool that she had died

suddenly. A decorous grief was evinced by the chief mourner. There was

no haste made in forwarding the funeral; the lady lay almost in state,

so numerous were the friends who called to see the last of her they had

visited; the searchers did their hideous office gently, for they were,

perhaps, largely bribed: the physician certified that she had died of

a complaint he could scarcely name, and the grave received the Coffin.

The merchant retained his position in Liverpool, and bore himself with

a decent dignity; made no immediate application for the money; scarcely

even alluded to the assurances which were due, and, when they were

named, exhibited an appearance of almost indifference. He had, however,

selected his victims with skill. They were safe men, and, from them, he

duly received the money which was assured on the life of his niece.

“From this period he seemed to decline in health, expressed a loathing

for the place where he had once been so happy; change of air was

prescribed, and he left the men whom he had deceived, chuckling at the

success of his infamous scheme.”

Nowadays, everything insurable can be insured; you can be compensated

for accidents; if your plate glass windows are broken, if hail spoils

your crops, or if your cattle die; the fidelity of your servants can

be guaranteed: in fact, this field of permissible gambling is fully

covered—whilst betting on horse racing rears its head unchecked, stock

jobbers thrive, bucket shops multiply, and so do their victims.

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_HUTCHINSON, T._

LYRICAL BALLADS BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AND S. T. COLERIDGE, 1798.

Edited with certain poems of 1798 and an Introduction and Notes by

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STATE TRIALS: POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. Selected and Edited by H. L.

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A HISTORY OF ETON COLLEGE, by Lionel Cust, Director of the National

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Edited by R. Brimley Johnson and N. Erichsen.

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_Love’s Comedy_, which marks a transition from the early romantic to

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contain brief introductions, bibliographical and explanatory rather

than critical, and such annotations as may be necessary.

The volumes will be printed in pott quarto, and they will cost, as a

rule, 2s. 6d. net. or 3s. 6d. net. each.

EARLY VOLUMES.

HENRIK IBSEN

“Love’s Comedy” (_Kjærlighedens Komedie_).

MAURICE MAETERLINCK

“Intérieur.”—WILLIAM ARCHER.

“La Mort de Tintagiles.”}

“Alladine et Palomides.”}—ALFRED SUTRO.

VILLIERS DE L’ISLE ADAM

“La Révolte.”}

“L’Evasion.” }—THERESA BARCLAY.

SERGIUS STEPNIAK

“The Convert.”—CONSTANCE GARNETT.

EMILE VERHAEREN

“Les Aubes.”—ARTHUR SYMONS.

AUGUST STRINDBERG

“The Father” (_Fadren_).—N. ERICHSEN.

OSTROVSKY

“The Storm.”—CONSTANCE GARNETT.

BRIEUX

“Les Bienfaiteurs.”—LUCAS MALET.

HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ

“On a Single Card.”—E. L. VOYNICH.

Arrangements are also in progress with representative dramatists

of Germany, Spain, Italy, and other countries. Further translations

have been promised by Dr GARNETT, Messrs WALTER LEAF, JUSTIN HUNTLY

MACCARTHY, G. A. GREENE, &c.

_KNAPP, ARTHUR MAY._

FEUDAL AND MODERN JAPAN, by Arthur May Knapp. 2 vols., with

24 photogravure illustrations of Japanese life, landscape and

architecture. Small fcap. 8vo, ¼-bound, white cloth, blue sides,

gilt top. 8s. net.

The work of one who has frequently visited, and for a long time resided

in Japan, thus enjoying peculiar advantages for observation and comment.

The scope of the book includes a study of the history, religion,

language, art, life, and habits of the Japanese.

Though written in a thoroughly appreciative spirit, it avoids the

indiscriminating praise which has characterised so many works on

Japan; and while covering ground which has become somewhat familiar,

it presents many fresh points of view, and furnishes much information

heretofore inaccessible to the ordinary reader.

_ROSSETTI, DANTE GABRIEL._

THE BLESSED DAMOZEL, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. With an Introduction

by Wm. Michael Rossetti, a reproduction in Photogravure of D.

G. Rossetti’s crayon study for the head of the Blessed Damozel,

and decorative designs and cover by W. B. Macdougall. Fcap. 4to,

1/4-bound, art vellum, gilt top. 5s. net. (_See Special Prospectus._)

The poem given here is as it originally appeared in _The Germ_, and

consequently the version is one hitherto practically inaccessible.

Mr W. M. Rossetti’s Introduction deals fully with the history of its

composition and the changes through which it subsequently went.

_Illustrated London News._—“A fine bit of decorative art and an

excellent sample of modern format. The frontispiece is very beautiful.

Mr Macdougall’s designs are rich.”

_The Sketch._—“It is really beautifully illustrated. The book is a

veritable art treasure.”

_Speaker._—“This artistic and singularly interesting volume.”

_Birmingham Gazette._—“Every page contains a broad framework of

beautiful design, in which the artist manifests his power in glorious

sweeping lines and delicate tracery. A treasure to be appreciated. The

noble poem is nobly decked out in every respect.”

_Manchester Courier._—“The decorative designs are at once original,

harmonious and beautiful. A work which will be welcomed alike for its

high literary value, and for the high artistic standard to which it

attains.”

_HOUSMAN, CLEMENCE._

THE UNKNOWN SEA. A Romance by Clemence Housman, Author of “The Were

Wolf.” Crown 8vo, art vellum, gold top. 6s.

_Literature._—“On the conception of Christian the author may be

congratulated. He is ideal without sentimentality, and his sacrifice

and death have the poignancy of reality, symbol though he is of the

world’s greatest idea.”

_Guardian._—“Decidedly powerful and effective. Its author has

certainly a spell by which, like the ancient mariner, he can force

people to listen to and accept his tale.”

_Pall Mall Gazette._—“The story is a powerful one, stirring the

imagination with vague suggestions of mystery, and compelling interest

throughout. For those who can appreciate fine writing, moreover, the

style itself will prove an added attraction, and will not only sustain

the reputation which Miss Housman has already made, but will also

enhance the lustre of the talented family of which she is a member.”

_St James’s Gazette._—“The qualities that commend this book are its

fitting impression of the supernatural, its studied and generally

successful use of words, and its appreciation of the beauty of visible

things. It achieves an absolute effect of beauty, an effect of a kind

extremely rare in English that is not verse. The book has beauty and

sense—not, thank Heaven, common sense!—in it, and is quite remote

from the common trash of the book market.”

_Nottingham Daily Guardian._—“‘The Unknown Sea’ is not a popular

novel; there is too much really fine work in it for that, but hardly

a page fails to indicate the author’s delicate methods and robust

individuality.”

_SINJOHN, JOHN._

JOCELYN. A Monte Carlo Story by John Sinjohn, Author of “From the Four

Winds.” Crown 8vo, art canvas. 6s.

_Daily Mail._—“The love, as love, is shown with such intensity that it

sets the reader’s heart athrob, and the Riviera setting is aglow with

colour and life.”

_Outlook._—“He has set it against a charmingly painted background

of warm Southern atmosphere and Mediterranean scenery, and he has

drawn, in the persons of the delightfully commonplace Mrs Travis and

Nielson—the polished cosmopolitan and professional gambler, with an

unsuspected strain of tenderness beneath his impassive exterior—two of

the best comedy characters that we have encountered in recent fiction.”

_Manchester Courier._—“A powerfully written story. The analysis

of character is good, and the depiction of life in the Riviera is

excellent.” _BURROW, C. K._

THE FIRE OF LIFE. A Novel by C. K. Burrow, Author of “Asteck’s

Madonna,” “The Way of the Wind,” etc. Crown 8vo, cloth. 6s.

_St James’s Gazette._—“A clever story. The smoothly-written little

tale with its rather ambitious title is a real pleasure to read,

because it has a wholesome, manly tone about it, and the characters do

not appear to be bookmade but of real flesh and blood.”

_Saturday Review._—“A good, careful, full-blooded novel of a kind that

is not common nowadays.”

_Outlook._—“It has a point of view, a delicate sensitiveness, artistic

restraint, subtlety of perception, and a true literary style. Mr Burrow

proves himself an artist with many sides to his perception.”

_Literary World._—“Had we passed it by unread ours would have been

the loss. A charming story based on somewhat conventional lines, but

told with such verve and freshness as render it really welcome. Mr

Burrow has admirably succeeded in writing a really interesting story,

and, which is more uncommon, he has well individualised the different

persons of his drama. ‘The Fire of Life’ should figure in the list of

novels to be read of all those who like a good story, and like that

good story well told.”

_Manchester Courier._—“The whole book is full of ‘fire,’ full of

‘life,’ and full of interest.”

_Nottingham Express._—“The author’s style is clear and crisp, with a

purity of diction it would be difficult to surpass.”

_PHILIPS, F. C._

MEN, WOMEN AND THINGS, by F. C. Philips. Author of “As in a

Looking-Glass,” etc. Crown 8vo, buckram cloth. 3s. 6d.

_Daily Mail._—“There is hardly one of them which is not enjoyable. Mr

Philips’s manner is suggestive of the manner of Gyp. He is a capital

chronicler of the surface things of life.”

_Manchester Courier._—“The author has deservedly secured favour as a

writer of smart stories. In the present volume of short sketches we

have the usual vivid delineation of character, clever dialogue, and at

times good use of incident. The volume is decidedly entertaining.”

_Country Life._—“Everything that is written by the author of ‘As in a

Looking-Glass’ is clever. There is ingenuity as well as pathos in these

stories.”

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Good News from New England...._ _Written by_ E. W. _Lon._ 1624.

[2] See Longfellow’s _Hiawatha_, for Indian gambling.

[3] _A View of Ancient Laws against Immorality and Profaneness._ By

John Disney. Camb. 1729.

[4] Pieces used in playing the _ludus latrunculorum_, before alluded to.

[5] Riotous person.

[6] Masks.

[7] Harl. MSS., 6395.

[8] The London Spy.

[9] The Works of Mr Thomas Brown, edit. 1705.

[10] “Memoirs of the Lives, Intrigues, and Comical Adventures of the

most Famous Gamesters and Celebrated Sharpers in the Reigns of Charles

II., James II., William III., and Queen Anne,” by Theophilus Lucas,

Esq. London, 1714. 8vo.

[11] The same as our Heads and Tails.

[12] Anecdotes of the “Manners and Customs of London during the 18th

Century,” by J. P. Malcolm. Lon. 1808. 4to.

[13] A Short and Plaine Dialogue concerning the unlawfulnes of playing

at Cards, or Tables, or any other Game consisting in Chance.

[14] I fail to see how this is made out.—J. A.

[15] Edit. 1875 (Gairdner), vol. iii., p. 314.

[16] Leland’s _Collectanea_, vol. iii., Appendix, p. 284.

[17] Pack.

[18] Her Majesty’s apartments at Whitehall Palace.

[19] Of Bromham, Bedfordshire.

[20] Strype’s Stow’s Survey, ed. 1720, Book iii., p. 148.

[21] For complicity with the Duke of Somerset.

[22] Probably Tregonwell Frampton, Keeper of the King’s running horses

at Newmarket, a position he held under William III., Anne, and George

I. and II.

[23] The Popish Kingdome, or, Reigne of Antichrist, written in Latin

Verse by Thomas Naogeorgus, and Englished by Barnabe Googe, 1570.

[24] Cant term for false Dice.

[25] Croupiers.

[26] Local Records, &c., of Remarkable events. Compiled by John Sykes.

Newcastle, 1824, p. 79.

[27] _Gent.’s Mag._, V. xxvi. 564.

[28] When he was on his travels, and ran much in debt, his parents paid

his debts; some more came out afterwards; he wrote to his mother, that

he could only compare himself to Cerberus, who, when one head was cut

off, had another spring up in its room.

[29] Cannot be found in Solitudo, sive Vitæ Patrum Eremicolarum, &c.

Johann & Raphael Sadeler. 1594.

[30] Afterwards General Scott.

[31] This painting was bought at the Strawberry Hill Sale, by Arthur’s

Club House, for twenty-two shillings.

[32] Afterwards Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey, Knt., G.C.B., who fought at

Trafalgar.

[33] “The Gaming Table, &c.,” by A. Steinmetz. Lon. 1870.

[34] Ladies then wore their hair very high-combed over pads of horse

hair.

[35] The guests paid a small sum each into a pool (generally the

snuffer tray) for every new pack of cards used, and this was popularly

supposed to be a perquisite of the servants.

[36] “The Gaming Calendar,” by Seymour Harcourt: Lon. 1820.

[37] Life, Adventures, and Opinions of Col. George Hanger, written by

himself. London, 1801.

[38] In some houses in this age the lady of the house is paid fifty

guineas each night by the proprietor of the Faro table.—G. H.

[39] Reminiscences, 1st Ser.

[40] Reminiscences, 3rd Ser.

[41] Reminiscences, 4th Ser

[42] The Greeks—a poem, by Ελλην. Lon. 1817. 8vo.

[43] Reminiscences, 3 Ser.

[44] After Crockford’s death the club-house was sold. It was

re-decorated in 1849, and opened as “The Military, Naval, and County

Service Club,” but this only lasted till 1851, when it was turned into

a dining-house, called the “Wellington.”

[45] “Racing Reminiscences.” Lon. 1891.

[46] Cumberland.

[47] Edward Bright died at Malden in Essex, 10th Nov. 1750.

[48] Truncifer is a famous horse mentioned in the metrical romance of

Sir Bevis of Hampton.

[49] Bribing.

[50] Robert Shafto, Esq., of Whitworth, M.P. for Durham, well known on

the Turf.

[51] A Miss Alicia Meynell, daughter of a respectable watchmaker of

Norwich, aged 22—but not married to Col. Thornton.

[52] Capt. Kelly, owner of Eclipse.

[53] “A History of English Lotteries,” by John Ashton, London. 1893.

8vo.—_Leadenhall Press._

[54] A catalogue of the MSS. in this room has been published in the

Seventh Report of the Historical MS. Commission.

[55] Brighton.

[56] June 29.

[57] Cox’s Museum. A collection of Automata, &c.

[58] Trashy Tobacco—from the Spanish _Mondóngo_, paunch, tripes, black

pudding.

[59] Fools: but there was also a game at Cards called Noddy, supposed

to have been the same as Cribbage.

[60] Bone lace.

[61] Sedan Chairs; said to have been introduced into England in 1581,

and first used in London in 1623.

[62] Also published in 1708 as _Hicklety Picklety_.

[63] From Moorgate Street 83 prospectuses, demanding £90,175,000, were

sent out. Gresham Street issued 20, requiring £17,580,000.

[64] Commissioners were appointed to hear and determine such cases.

[65] In the collection of MSS. belonging to Lord Leconfield, at

Petworth House, Sussex.

[66] “Annals, Anecdotes, and Legends of Life Assurance.” John Francis.

1853: Lon.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.

—Superscript letters have been redered with a carat character: a^b.

End of Project Gutenberg's The History of Gambling in England, by John Ashton