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Title: Chronicles and characters of the stock exchange
Author: John Francis
Release Date: April 28, 2023 [eBook #70656]
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES AND CHARACTERS OF
THE STOCK EXCHANGE ***
Transcriber’s Note
Italic text displayed as: _italic_
_The whole of this Work is contained in the Bankers’ Magazine for 1850._
CHRONICLES AND CHARACTERS
OF THE
STOCK EXCHANGE.
BY
JOHN FRANCIS.
AUTHOR OF
THE HISTORY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND, ITS TIMES AND TRADITIONS.
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED STOCK TABLES FROM 1732 TO 1846; DIVIDENDS ON BANK
OF ENGLAND STOCK FROM 1694 TO 1847, &c.
BOSTON:
WM. CROSBY AND H. P. NICHOLS,
111 WASHINGTON STREET.
1850.
INSCRIBED,
BY PERMISSION,
TO SAMUEL GURNEY, ESQ.
THIS VOLUME, RECORDING CITY SCENES, AND RELATING TO CITY
TRANSACTIONS, IS, TO SAMUEL GURNEY, ONE OF LONDON’S MOST EMINENT
CITIZENS, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY
HIS MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT,
JOHN FRANCIS.
PREFACE.
To gather the many remarkable incidents connected with the National
Debt; to present an anecdotical sketch of the causes which
necessitated, and the corruptions which increased it; to reproduce
its principal characters; to detail the many evils of lotteries;
to relate the difficulties in the early history of railways; to
popularize those loans, of which the Poyais, with its melancholy
tragedy, and the Greek, with its whimsical transactions, were such
striking exemplars; and to group these subjects around the Stock
Exchange, is the object of a portion of the present volume.
Any work which tends to familiarize the origin and progress of the
National Debt, which shows that it was raised for no idle cause, and
increased for no trifling purpose, may be useful in the consideration
of that encumbrance which must, sooner or later, be reduced or
repudiated.
The volume does not profess to be statistical,—there are abundant
works of a financial kind upon the subject. Mr. Van Sommer’s valuable
Tables, to which the writer acknowledges his obligations, and which,
with Mr. Wilkinson’s Law of the Public Funds, should be possessed
by every member of the Stock Exchange; the works of McCulloch, of
Hamilton, of Grellier, of Fenn, render such a production unnecessary.
The present volume is a popular narrative of the money power of
England, intended to be at once interesting and suggestive.
_Shooter’s Hill._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
_Ancient Mode of supporting Governments.—Ignorance of Political
Economy.—Mercantile Greatness.—Early Supplies.—Tulip
Mania.—Accession of William._ 1
CHAPTER II.
_The Earliest National Debt.—History of Tontines.—Of the Money
Interest, its Origin, Extravagance, and Folly.—Royal Exchange.—First
Irredeemable Debt.—Tricks of the Brokers.—Jobbing in East India
Stock.—False Reports.—Importance of the English Funds.—Picture of
the Alley.—Systematic Jobbing of Sir Henry Furnese, Medina, and
Marlborough.—Thomas Guy, a Dealer in the Alley._ 6
CHAPTER III.
_Enormous Bribery by William.—Increased Taxation.—Speech of Sir
Charles Sedley.—Wrongs of the Soldiers.—Defence of William.—Moral
Disorganization of the Country.—First Exchequer-Bill Fraud.—First
Foreign Loan.—Romantic Fraud in 1715.—Political Fraud of ’Change
Alley.—Interference of the House of Peers.—First Hoax._ 12
CHAPTER IV.
_Charitable Corporation Fraud.—Its Discovery.—Appalling Effects
and Remedy.—Marlborough’s Victories, their History, and the Loans they
brought.—Augmented Importance of the Stock Exchange.—Dislike to the
Members.—Increased Loans.—Difficulties in procuring them.—Statement
of Sir Robert Walpole.—Gifts of Contractors to Clothiers.—First Payment
of Dividends by the Bank.—South-Sea Anecdotes._ 19
CHAPTER V.
_Life of Thomas Guy.—Imposition in Sailors’ Tickets.—Foreign Loan
attempted.—Sir John Barnard.—Expresses of the Jobbers.—Foreign
Commissions.—Origin of Time-Bargains.—Attempt to stop them.—Its
Inadequacy.—Proposal to reduce the Interest on the National
Debt.—Opposition of Sir Robert Walpole.—New Mode of raising
Loans.—Comparative Interest in Land and Funds.—Punishment of
Manasseh Lopez.—The first Reduction of Interest.—Life of Sir John
Barnard._ 25
CHAPTER VI.
_Origin of New Loans.—Fraud of a Stock-broker.—East India
Stock.—Sketch of Sampson Gideon, the great Jew Broker.—East India
Company.—Restriction of its Dividends.—Liberality to its
Clerks.—Important Decision.—Robbery at Jonathan’s.—Curious
Calculation concerning the National Debt._ 31
CHAPTER VII.
_Crisis of 1772.—Indian Adventurers, their Ostentation, their
Character.—Failure of Douglas, Heron, & Co.—Neale, Fordyce, &
Co.—Sketch of Mr. Fordyce.—His Success in the Alley.—Alarm of his
Partners.—His Artifice.—His Failure.—General Bankruptcy.—Liberality
of a Nabob.—Reply of a Quaker.—Witticism of John Wilkes.—War of
American Independence.—Artifices of Ministers.—Anecdote of Mr.
Atkinson.—Value of Life on the Stock Exchange.—Longevity of a
Stock-broker._ 39
CHAPTER VIII.
_Invention of Lotteries.—The First Lottery.—Employed by the
State.—Great Increase.—Eagerness to subscribe.—Evils of
Lotteries.—Suicide through them.—Superstition.—Insurances.—Spread of
Gambling.—Promises of Lotteries.—Humorous Episodes.—Legal
Interference.—Parliamentary Report.—Lottery Drawing.—Picture of
Morocco Men.—Their Great Evil.—Lottery Puffing.—Epitaph on a
Chancellor.—Abolition of Lotteries._ 45
CHAPTER IX.
_Wholesale Jobbing.—Insurance on Sick Men.—False
Intelligence.—Uselessness of Sir John Barnard’s Act.—Origin of the
Blackboard.—Opposition to Loans.—Lord Chatham’s Opinion of
Jobbers.—Inviolability of English Funds.—Parisian
Banking-Houses.—Proposition to pay off the National Debt.—Extravagance
of the Contractors.—Lord George Gordon’s Opinion of them.—Members’
Contracts.—New System adopted.—Abraham Goldsmid.—Bankers’ Coalition
broken by him.—His Munificence.—His Death.—Sensation in the
City._ 54
CHAPTER X.
_Curious Forgery.—Its Discovery.—Loan of 1796.—Its Management.—French
Revolution and its Effect.—List of Subsidies to Foreign
Powers.—Removal of Business from ’Change Alley.—Erection of the
present Stock Exchange.—Loyalty Loan.—Preliminaries of Peace.—Its
Effect.—Hoax on the Stock Exchange.—War renewed.—Great Fraud on the
Jobbers.—Its Discovery.—Rights of Stock-brokers._ 62
CHAPTER XI.
_Unfounded Charge.—Joint-Stock Companies.—Speculators.—Mark
Sprot.—Sketch of the House of Baring.—Policies on the Life of
Bonaparte.—Rumors of his Death.—David Ricardo.—Forgery of Benjamin
Walsh.—Excitement of the Nation.—Increase of the National
Debt.—Sinking Fund.—Unclaimed Dividends.—Francis Baily._ 72
CHAPTER XII.
_Review of the National Debt.—Opinions.—Bolingbroke.—Financial
Reform Association.—Extravagance of Government.—Schemes for paying
off the National Debt.—Review of them.—Proposals for
Debentures._ 82
CHAPTER XIII.
_Progress of Invention.—Public Roads.—Steam.—Duke of
Bridgewater.—Canals.—Railroads.—Thomas Gray, their Pioneer.—His
Difficulties.—Proposals for the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway.—Monopoly of the Canals.—Parliamentary Inquiry.—Extraordinary
Opinions of Witnesses.—The Claims of Thomas Gray.—Value of Canal
Property._ 89
CHAPTER XIV.
_Monetary Excitement.—Approaches to the Stock Exchange.—Gold
Company.—Equitable Loan Company.—Frauds in Companies.—Loan to Foreign
States.—Poyais Bubble._ 96
CHAPTER XV.
_Loan to Guatemala.—Dispute concerning it.—Greek Loan.—Its
Mismanagement.—Asserted Jobbing.—Mr. Hume.—Dr. Bowring.—Quarterly
Review.—Proposed Tax on Transfers._ 103
CHAPTER XVI.
_Sketch of the Life of Rothschild.—Comes to England.—Introduction of
Foreign Loans.—Large Purchases.—Anecdotes Concerning Rothschild.—His
Difficulties and Annoyances.—His Death and Burial.—Last Crisis on
the Stock Exchange._ 109
CHAPTER XVII.
_Legends of the Stock Exchange.—Mr. Dunbar.—Duke of Newcastle.—French
Ambassador.—James Bolland.—Extraordinary Incident.—Fortunate
Adventure.—Morals and Manners of the Stock Exchange.—Its Constitution
and Arrangements._ 118
CHAPTER XVIII.
_Life Assurance.—Its Benefits.—Its Commencement.—Suicide of an
Insurer.—Insurance of Invalid Lives.—The Gresham.—Sketch of the West
Middlesex Delusion._ 125
APPENDIX.
_The Anatomy of Exchange Alley; or a System of Stock Jobbing. Proving
that Scandalous Trade, as it is now carried on, to be Knavish in its
Private Practice, and Treason in its Public._ 135
_Stock Tables; Dividend Tables._ 153
CHRONICLES AND CHARACTERS
OF THE
STOCK EXCHANGE.
CHAPTER I.
_Ancient Mode of supporting Governments.—Ignorance of
Political Economy.—Mercantile Greatness.—Early Supplies.—Tulip
Mania.—Accession of William._
The national debt has been designated by some a national nuisance;
by others it has been termed a national necessity. In the earlier
history of the world, when war was a war for dominion, and spoliation
followed conquest, the victor returned rich with the treasures of
conquered states, and his captive paid trebly the expenses of the
war. It was thus that the mistress of the world became an emporium
for the gathered wealth of temples, for the gorgeous ornaments of a
subdued aristocracy, and for the gold which had filled the treasury
of barbarous but luxurious nations. These accumulations, together
with annual tributes, prevented the formation of a public debt. The
Goth, when he poured from his barren recesses upon the cultivated
plains of Italy, ignorant of political economy as a science, felt it
as a principle, and more than repaid the expenses of his foray by
exacting the riches of imperial Rome. Modern Europe teaches us to
similar purport; and Napoleon, in those wars which, to some a memory,
are to others history, acted upon the same plan, and made Paris a
receptacle for the spoil of many nations.
In the early annals of England, the feudal system prevented the
creation of a national debt. The Saxon serf was compelled to follow
the banner of his Norman master. The Norman baron, at the command
of his sovereign, called his followers to the field, and having,
if successful, enriched himself, retraced his path to his mountain
fastness and his island home. In these rude ages the art of levying
money was unknown; and victorious armies were often dispersed for
want of funds. The conqueror of Pavia was compelled to disband 24,000
men because he could not raise taxes to support them; and it is a
suggestive fact, that when, during the reign of the third Henry, it
was necessary to procure £50,000, and a tax of £1 2_s._ 4_d._ was
levied on each parish in England, it only produced about £9,500,
there being but 8,500 parishes; so ignorant were the authorities of
the very machinery of the state they governed.
From a very early period, the mercantile capacity of England has been
developed; and her insular position, which at once suggested and
favored commerce, was taken advantage of by laymen and churchmen.
Bishops entered into speculations in herrings, and abbots did not
disdain to unite the smuggling with a more saintly calling. But
there were other and more legitimate followers of that pursuit which
has since made the name of an English merchant a symbol of English
greatness. Among these, William de la Pole stands prominently
forward; and the founder of the House of Suffolk is familiar to the
student of commercial history. William Canyng—that name so intimately
connected with the fortunes of “the marvellous boy who perished in
his pride”—and Richard Whittington—dear to household memories, and
the founder of many princely charities—were others whose munificence
was only surpassed by their wealth.
A slight sketch of the tyranny and injustice employed by our earlier
monarchs in the production of revenue, may not be unamusing to the
readers of the present volume. The records of the Exchequer prove
that barbaric acts were performed to obtain money; that justice was
openly bought and sold; that the supreme judicature of the country
could only be approached by bribes to the monarch. The county of
Norfolk paid a large sum to Henry I. to secure fair dealing. Yarmouth
paid heavily to prevent a king from violating his own charter.
Commerce was controlled, and trade was harassed. Corporations and
monopolies were created at the monarch’s pleasure; and, as nothing
was too small to escape his notice, so nothing was too large to
escape his grasp. The wife of Hugh de Neville paid two hundred hens
to enjoy the society of her husband twelve hours in prison; and an
abbot paid largely for permission to secure his wood from being
stolen. To mitigate the king’s anger, or obtain the king’s services,
money was equally necessary. When peer and prior were sufficiently
strong to resist, or sufficiently poor to escape, the farmer and the
peasant were visited. The approach of the court was like the approach
of the plague; and men ran to conceal their effects and their persons
until the royal plunderer had passed.
Extraordinary emergencies caused extraordinary expenses; and the
call to arms which resounded throughout Europe when Peter the Hermit
preached deliverance to the captive Sepulchre, was responded to by
Richard I. with the vehemence and energy of his character. To compass
his aim, he mortgaged the customs and he farmed the revenues. He
exacted money from his subjects in proportion to their wealth, and
declared he would sell London itself rather than forego his cherished
object. He feigned the loss of his signet, to procure fees; and, to
crown all, resumed, on his return, the property he had previously
sold, on the pretence that he had no right to alienate it.
King John adopted the notable plan of imprisoning the mistresses of
the priests, confident that the money he could not obtain from their
cupidity he would from their lust. Henry III. seized the merchandise
of his subjects, and borrowed a large sum besides, for which he paid
a high interest, and which the Parliament refused to discharge.
Edward I. seized the money and plate of monasteries and churches,
feigned a voyage to the Holy Land, and, when funds were collected
to aid him, kept the money, and refused to go. Edward III. erected
monopolies, exacted loans, levied arbitrary fines, imposed arbitrary
taxes, and, notwithstanding the determined remonstrances of the
Commons, claimed the right of doing so at pleasure.
Richard II. pawned the jewels of the crown, sold the furniture of the
palace, went from place to place in the fashion of one soliciting
alms, and was deposed partially because he extorted large sums which
he never repaid. The reign of Henry V., brilliant as it was, would
have proved yet more so, had an authorized mode of raising supplies
been then organized. Although he took from all quarters, sold his
jewels, and borrowed on the security of his crown, he was often
compelled to stop in a career of the most splendid success for lack
of money. Edward IV. was called the handsomest tax-gatherer in his
kingdom; and when he kissed a widow because she gave more than he
expected, it is said she doubled the amount, in expectation of a
second kiss. Henry VII. adopted all modes and methods; and, having
levied a benevolence, made a large claim on those who lived frugally,
because they must have saved by their frugality; while, if they lived
splendidly, they were dealt with as opulent. It must, however, be
recorded of this monarch, that he lent money, without interest, to
many merchants whose capital was not sufficient for their commercial
operations. When the eighth Henry attempted to raise a forced loan
of unusual amount, with unusual rigor, the people said, if they were
treated thus, “England was bond, and not free.” The county of Suffolk
rose in arms; and had not even this man’s stubborn spirit quailed
before it, the resistance would have changed into rebellion. No
sooner had the monarch exhausted all Parliamentary supplies, than he
carried out, on a grand scale, the robberies he had often achieved
on a small one, by seizing the accumulated property of the monastic
classes. In 1522, he required a general loan of ten per cent. upon
all property from £20 to £300, and a higher rate on larger sums. By
courtesy, it was termed a loan; but when, seven years afterwards, a
subservient Parliament acquitted him of all obligation to pay it,
a harsher name was recorded in the minds, than the tongues of the
people dared to express.
To the English sovereign a certain power over commerce had always
been intrusted; but Elizabeth stretched her prerogative, and granted
monopolies by scores. Prices rose enormously, and the evil was felt
by every family in the realm. The House of Commons remonstrated. When
a long list of patents for monopolies was read, one sturdy member
demanded, “Is not bread there?” “Bread!” quoth one. “Bread!” cried
another. “Yea, bread!” said Mr. Hackwell; “for, if care be not taken,
bread will be there before next Parliament.” Nor was this all: the
coach of the chief minister was surrounded by the populace; menacing
murmurs were heard cursing patents; and indignant voices declared
that the old liberties of England should not be encroached on by new
prerogatives. With admirable sagacity, the queen saw the necessity
of yielding, and did it while she could with grace and dignity. But
this sovereign improved upon the plans of her predecessors,—she
kept the temporalities of bishoprics in her own hands for years,
and appropriated the landed property of sees. Under the name of New
Year’s gifts, she extorted large sums from the frequenters of the
court; she ordered companies to lend her money,—to borrow, if they
did not possess it,—and, if she had more than she required, she would
return part, provided they would pay her interest for that on which
she paid them nothing. To the citizen of the nineteenth century
this must appear a fable; but it is a recorded fact, that Elizabeth
borrowed money from the citizens, found she had more than she
required, and, instead of repaying it, re-lent it to them at seven
per cent. on the security of gold and silver plate.
Charles I. seized the money of his merchants; and his bonds were
hawked about the streets, were offered to the people as they left
church, and sold to the highest bidder. The Commonwealth were
debtors, on the security of the forfeited estates. Charles II. took
money from France, shut up the Exchequer, borrowed from his friends,
and did any thing rather than run the risk of being again sent on
his travels. Thus, it would seem, the exchequer of the earlier
monarchs was in the pockets of the people; that of Henry VIII. in the
suppressed monasteries; Elizabeth in the corporations; and Charles
II. wherever he could find it.
The abdication of James II. and the arrival of William III. form
an era in the history of the monetary world. The plans adopted by
the latter to crush the power of France, and raise the credit of
England, were the commencement of that great accumulation known as
the National Debt, and the origin, though remote, of that building
celebrated throughout Europe as the Stock Exchange. The rapid sketch
now presented of the mode in which money was supplied confirms the
remark of Mr. Macaulay, that “there can be no greater error than
to imagine the device of meeting the exigencies of the state by
loans was imported into our island by William III. From a period
of immemorial antiquity, it had been the practice of every English
government to contract debts. What the Revolution introduced was the
practice of honestly paying them.”
The earliest instance of that fatal love of speculation, so ruinous
to the character and credit of all who possess it, occurred in 1634;
and the history of the tulip mania in Holland is as instructive as
that of any similar period. In the above year, the chief cities of
the Netherlands engaged in a traffic which destroyed commerce and
encouraged gambling; which enlisted the greediness of the rich and
the desire of the poor; which raised the value of a flower to more
than its weight in gold; and which ended, as all such periods have
ended, in wild and wretched despair. The many were ruined, the few
were enriched; and tulips were as eagerly sought in 1634, as railway
scrip in 1844. The speculation was conducted on similar principles.
Bargains were made for the delivery of certain roots; and when, as
in one case, there were but two in the market, lordship and land,
horses and oxen, were sold to pay the deficiency. Contracts were
made, and thousands of florins paid, for tulips which were never seen
by broker, by buyer, or by seller. For a time, as usual, all won,
and no one lost. Poor persons became wealthy. High and low traded in
flowers; sumptuous entertainments confirmed their bargains; notaries
grew rich; and even the unimaginative Hollander fancied he saw a
sure and certain prosperity before him. People of all professions
turned their property into cash; houses and furniture were offered
at ruinous prices; the idea spread throughout the country that the
passion for tulips would last for ever; and when it was known that
foreigners were seized with the fever, it was believed that the
wealth of the world would concentrate on the shores of the Zuyder
Zee, and that poverty would become a tradition in Holland. That they
were honest in their belief is proved by the prices they paid; and
the following list shows that the mania must indeed have been deep,
when goods to the value of 2,500 florins were given for one root:—
Florins.
2 Lasts of wheat 448
4 Lasts of rye 558
4 Oxen 480
3 Swine 240
12 Sheep 120
2 Hogsheads of wine 70
4 Tons of beer 32
4 Tons of butter 192
1000 Pounds of cheese 120
1 Bed 100
1 Suit of clothes 80
1 Silver beaker 60
Another species commonly fetched two thousand florins; a third was
valued at a new carriage, two gray horses, and a complete harness.
Twelve acres of land were paid for a fourth; and 60,000 florins
were made by one man in a few weeks. But the panic came at last.
Confidence vanished; contracts were void; defaulters were announced
in every town of Holland; dreams of wealth were dissipated; and they
who, a week before, rejoiced in the possession of a few tulips which
would have realized a princely fortune, looked sad and stupefied
on the miserable bulbs before them, valueless in themselves, and
unsalable at any price. To parry the blow, the tulip-merchants held
public meetings, and made pompous speeches, in which they proved
that their goods were worth as much as ever, and that a panic was
absurd and unjust. The speeches produced great applause, but the
bulb continued valueless; and, though actions for breach of contract
were threatened, the law refused to take cognizance of gambling
transactions. Even the wisdom of the Deliberative Council at the
Hague was at fault, and to find a remedy was beyond the power of the
government. Many years passed before the country recovered from the
shock, or commerce revived from the depression which followed the
Tulipomania; and which, not confined exclusively to Holland, visited
London and Paris, and gave a fictitious importance to the tulip in
the two greatest capitals of the world.
CHAPTER II.
_The Earliest National Debt.—History of Tontines.—Of the
Money Interest, its Origin, Extravagance, and Folly.—Royal
Exchange.—First Irredeemable Debt.—Tricks of the Brokers.—Jobbing
in East India Stock.—False Reports.—Importance of the English
Funds.—Picture of the Alley.—Systematic Jobbing of Sir Henry
Furnese, Medina, and Marlborough.—Thomas Guy, a Dealer in the
Alley._
The creation of a national debt has been attributed to the Dutch, but
is really due to the Venetians. The immediate treasury of the Doge
was exhausted; money was necessary; and the most eminent citizens of
that great republic were called upon to redeem the credit of their
country. A Chamber of Loans was established, the contributors were
made creditors, four per cent. was allowed as interest, and she,
“Who once held the gorgeous East in fee,
And was the safeguard of the West,”
resumed her credit, and increased her power.
So fruitful a source of wealth was not allowed to fall into
desuetude. The Florentine republic, experiencing a deficiency in
her revenue, established a mount, allowed five per cent. interest,
and, says Sir William Blackstone, these laid the foundation of our
national debt. The Dutch were not long following the example. When
the great persecution occurred, which forced the Spanish Jew—the
aristocracy of the chosen race—from the place of his nativity, he
brought with him to Holland the craft and the cunning of the people.
He taught the Dutch to create an artificial wealth; and the people of
that republic, by its aid, maintained an attitude of independence,
which rendered them so long the envy and the hatred of the proud
states which surrounded their territory. Their industry increased
with the claims upon them. They cultivated their country with renewed
perseverance; they brought the spices of the rich and barbarous East
to the shores of the cultivated and the civilized West; they opened
new sources of profit; their merchant-vessels covered the waters;
their navy was the boast of Europe; their army was the scourge of
the great Louis in the height of his pride and power. The markets of
Holland evinced a full activity; the towns of Holland increased in
importance; and the capital of Holland became the centre of European
money transactions, partly in consequence of the great bigotry which
banished the Jew from Spain.
When, therefore, the chief of that small yet powerful republic was
called to sit upon an English throne, he brought with him many of
those whose brains had contrived and whose cunning had contributed
to produce these great changes; and from his reign, whatever evils
may have arisen from a reckless waste of money, there commenced
that principle which, for a century and a half, has operated on the
fortunes of all Europe,—which proclaimed that, under every form
and phase of circumstance, in the darkest hour of gloom as in the
proudest moment of grandeur, the inviolable faith of England should
be preserved towards the public creditor. Up to this period, the
only national debt on which interest was acknowledged was that sum
which had been seized on in the Exchequer; and even these dividends
were irregularly paid. Many debts had been incurred by our earlier
kings, but all the promises and pledges which had been given for
their redemption were broken directly the money was gained; and it
remained, we repeat, for William, whatever his errors may have been,
to establish the principle, that faith to the public creditor must be
inviolate.
The reign of William was productive of all modes and methods of
borrowing. Short and long annuities, annuities for lives, tontines,
and lotteries, alike occupied his attention. The former are still in
existence, the two latter have fallen to decay. The lotteries have
been expunged from the statute-book, and their evils will be fully
developed at a fitting period; while to the brain of a Neapolitan,
and the city of Paris, William was indebted for the knowledge of the
tontine. Lorenzo Tonti, in the middle of the seventeenth century,
with the hope of making the people of France forget their discontents
in the excitement of gambling, suggested to Cardinal Mazarin the idea
of annuities, with the benefit to the survivors of those incomes
which fell by death. The idea was approved by the Cardinal and
allowed by the court. Parliament, however, refused to register the
decree, and the scheme failed. Tonti again endeavoured to establish
a society on this plan, and to build by its means a bridge over the
Seine; but the unfortunate inventor christened it Tontine, and not
a man in Paris would trust his money to a project with an Italian
title. A complete enthusiast, he allowed Paris no rest on his
favorite theme, and proposed to raise money for the benefit of the
clergy in the same way. The Assembly reported on the scheme, and
the report contained all that could flatter the projector’s vanity,
but refused a permission to act on it; and again it was abandoned.
The idea, however, which could not be carried out for the people,
which was refused for the benefit of the city, and not allowed for
the clergy, was claimed as a right for the crown; and in 1689, Louis
XIV. created the first tontine to meet his great expenses. From this
period they became frequent; and William was too determined to humble
the pride of his rival, not to avail himself of this among other
modes of raising funds.[1]
The moneyed interest—a title familiar to the reader of the present
day—was unknown until 1692. It was then arrogated by those who saw
the great advantage of entering into transactions in the funds
for the aid of government. The title claimed by them in pride was
employed by others in derision: and the purse-proud importance of men
grown suddenly rich was a common source of ridicule.
Wealth rapidly acquired has been invariably detrimental to the
manners and the morals of the nation, and in 1692 the rule was as
absolute as now. The moneyed interest, intoxicated by the possession
of wealth which their wildest dreams had never imagined, and incensed
by the cold contempt with which the landed interest treated them,
endeavoured to rival the latter in that magnificence which was one
characteristic of the landed families. Their carriages were radiant
with gold; their persons were radiant with gems; they married the
poorer branches of the nobility; they eagerly purchased the princely
mansions of the old aristocracy. The brush of Sir Godfrey Kneller,
and the chisel of Caius Cibber, were employed in perpetuating their
features. Their wealth was rarely grudged to humble the pride of a
Howard or a Cavendish; and the money gained by the father was spent
by the son in acquiring a distinction at the expense of decency. They
were seized upon by the satirist and the dramatist as a new object of
ridicule; and under various forms they have become a stage property.
The term which they had chosen to distinguish them became a word of
contempt; and the moneyed class was at once the envy and the laugh
of the town. Nor was it until that interest became a great and most
important one, that the term assumed its right meaning, or that the
moneyed contended with the landed interest on a more than equal
footing. The former have always clung to the house of Brunswick; the
latter have often used their exertions against it. In time, however,
the moneyed became a landed interest, and vied in taste as well as
magnificence with the proudest of England’s old nobility. Among these
was Sir Robert Clayton, director of the Bank, whose banqueting-room
was wainscoted with cedar, whose villa was the boast of the
Surrey hills, whose entertainments imitated those of kings, whose
judicious munificence made him the pride of that great city to the
representation of which he was called by acclamation. But there were
other and less reputable directors of the great Bank; and a pamphlet,
published shortly afterwards, drew public attention to acts which
either prove that morality in one commercial age is immorality in the
next, or that some of the governors of the corporation were wofully
deficient in the organ of conscientiousness.
In the Royal Exchange, erected for less speculative and more
mercantile pursuits, were the early transactions of the moneyed
interest in the funds carried on. In 1695, its walls resounded with
the din of new projects; nor could a more striking scene be conceived
than that presented in the area of this building. The grave Fleming
might be seen making a bargain with the earnest Venetian. The
representatives of firms from every civilized nation—the Frenchman
with his vivacious tones, the Spaniard with his dignified bearing,
the Italian with his melodious tongue—might be seen in all the
variety of national costume; and the flowing garb of the Turk, the
fur-trimmed coat of the Fleming, the long robe of the Venetian, the
short cloak of the Englishman, were sufficiently striking to attract
the eye of the painter to a scene so varied. There, too, the sober
manner of the citizen formed a strong contrast to the courtier, who
came to refill his empty purse: and there also, as now, might be seen
the broken-down merchant, pale, haggard, and threadbare, haunting the
scene of his former glory, passing his now valueless time among those
who scarcely acknowledged his presence, and, as he had probably dined
with Duke Humphrey, supped with Sir Thomas Gresham.
“Trampling the Bourse’s marble twice a day,
Though little coin thy purseless pockets line,
Yet with great company thou art taken up,
For often with Duke Humphrey dost thou dine,
And often with Sir Thomas Gresham sup.”
A new impulse had been given to trade, and the nation was beginning
to feel the effect of the Revolution. William had already tried his
power in the creation of a national debt: jobbing in the English
funds and East India Stock succeeded; and the Royal Exchange
became—what the Stock Exchange has been since 1700—the rendezvous of
those who, having money, hoped to increase it, and of that yet more
numerous and pretending class, who, having none themselves, try to
gain it from those who have.
The charter granted by William to the Corporation of the Bank of
England is the first instance of a debt bequeathed to posterity.
Annuities had hitherto been the mode of raising supplies; and the
day, therefore, which witnessed the establishment of the Bank is
worthy of notice, as being also the day on which William laid the
foundation of an irredeemable national debt.
It was soon found that the duties appropriated to the various
payments of interest and annuities were insufficient to meet the
claims. In 1697, the national debt amounted to twenty millions, and
the revenue was deficient five millions. The payment in consequence
grew uncertain, and the moneyed men of the day, watching the course
of events, made large sums out of the distresses of government. “The
citizen,” says an old writer on the subject, “began to decline trade
and turn usurer.”
To prevent this, a law was passed against the stock-brokers and
jobbers, which limits the number of the former, enacts some severe
regulations, and makes some severe remarks upon the entire body.
At this period the broker had a walk upon the Royal Exchange devoted
to the funds of the East India and other great corporations; and
many of the terms now in vogue among the initiated arose from their
dealings with the stock of the East India Company. Jobbing in the
great chartered corporations was thoroughly understood. Reports and
rumors were as plentiful then as now. No sooner was it known that
one of the fine vessels of the India Company, laden with gold and
jewels from the East, was on its way, than every method was had
recourse to. Men were employed to whisper of hurricanes which had
sunk the well-stored ship; of quicksands which had swallowed her
up; of war which had commenced when peace was unbroken; or of peace
being concluded when the factories were in the utmost danger. Nor
were the brains of the speculators less capable than now. If at the
present day a banker condescends to raise a railway bubble 50 per
cent., the broker of that day understood his craft sufficiently
to cause a variation in the price of East India Stock of 263 per
cent.; and complaints became frequent that the Royal Exchange was
perverted from its legitimate purpose, and that the jobbers—the term
was applied ignominiously—ought to be driven from a spot polluted by
their presence. Mines of gold, silver, and copper were so temptingly
promised, that the entire town pursued the deception. Tricks and
stratagems were plentiful; the wary made fortunes, and the unwary
were ruined.
In 1698, the dealers and jobbers in the funds and share market,
annoyed by the objections made to their remaining in the Royal
Exchange, and finding their numbers seriously increase, deemed it
advisable to go to ’Change Alley, as a large and unoccupied space,
where they might carry on their extensive operations.
“The centre of jobbing is in the kingdom of ’Change Alley and its
adjacencies,” said a pamphleteer a few years after. “The limits are
easily surrounded in about a minute and a half. Stepping out of
Jonathan’s into the Alley, you turn your face full south; moving on
a few paces, and then turning due east, you advance to Garraway’s;
from thence, going out at the other door, you go on still east into
Birchin Lane; and then, halting a little at the sword-blade bank, you
immediately face to the north, enter Cornhill, visit two or three
petty provinces there on your way to the west; and thus, having boxed
your compass, and sailed round the stock-jobbing globe, you turn into
Jonathan’s again.”
The English funds were assuming a greatness they have ever since
maintained. The Hebrew capitalist, who came over with William,
had increased the importance of the jobbers by joining them. The
English merchant—even at this early period—found that money might
be gained in the new operation; and ’Change Alley, so well known in
Parliamentary debates and the correspondence of the time as “the
Alley,” was for a century the centre of all dealings in the funds.
Here assembled the sharper and the saint; here jostled one another
the Jew and the Gentile; here met the courtier and the citizen; here
the calmness of the gainer contrasted with the despair of the loser;
and here might be seen the carriage of some minister, into which the
head of his broker was anxiously stretched to gain the intelligence
which was to raise or depress the market. In one corner might be
witnessed the anxious, eager countenance of the occasional gambler,
in strong contrast with the calm, cool demeanor of the man whose
trade it was to deceive. In another the Hebrew measured his craft
with that of the Quaker, and scarcely came off victorious in the
contest; while in one place, appropriated to him, stood the founder
of hospitals, impressing with eagerness upon his companion the
bargain he was about to make in seamen’s tickets.
It was soon felt practically that the air of England is cold and its
climate variable. The more respectable among the jobbers, therefore,
gathered beneath the walls of one of those coffee-houses which formed
so marked a feature of London life in the eighteenth century, until
the chance became a customary visit, and the coffee-house known as
Jonathan’s became the regular rendezvous of all the dealers in stock,
and consequently the scene of transactions as extensive as any the
world ever witnessed.
In 1701, the character of those who met in ’Change Alley was not
very enviable. It was said, and said truly, that they undermined,
impoverished, and destroyed all with whom they came in contact. “They
can ruin men silently,” says a writer of the period, with great
vehemence; “undermine and impoverish, fiddle them out of their money,
by the strange, unheard-of engines of interest, discount, transfers,
tallies, debentures, shares, projects, and the devil and all of
figures and hard names.”
Every thing which could inflate the hopes of the schemer was brought
into operation by the brokers. If shares were dull, they jobbed in
the funds, or tried exchequer bills; and if these failed, rather
than remain idle, they dealt in bank-notes at 40 per cent. discount.
These new modes of gambling seized upon the town with a violence
which sober citizens could scarcely understand. Their first impulse
was to laugh at the stories currently circulated of fortunes lost and
won; but when they saw men who were yesterday threadbare pass them
to-day in their carriages,—when they saw wealth, which it took their
plodding industry years of patient labor to acquire, won by others
in a few weeks,—unable to resist the temptation, the greatest of the
city merchants deserted their regular vocations and speculated in the
newly-produced stocks. “The poor English nation,” says a writer, “run
a madding after new inventions, whims, and projects; and this unhappy
ingredient my dear countrymen have in their temper,—they are violent,
and prosecute their projects eagerly.”
No sooner had the members of the jobbing community taken their
quarter in ’Change Alley, than the city of London was seized with
alarm, and tried to keep the brokers at the Royal Exchange. They
grew indignant at their deserting so time-honored a place, and bound
them in pains and penalties not to appear in ’Change Alley. Pocket,
however, triumphed over prerogative; brokers resorted where bargains
were plentiful; ’Change Alley grew famous throughout England; but
it was not till nearly a century and a quarter after its first
transaction, and a quarter of a century after ’Change Alley ceased to
exist as a sphere for the stock-jobbers, that the ancient and useless
provision not to assemble in ’Change Alley was expunged from the
broker’s bond.
Among those who employed their great fortunes in the manner alluded
to was Sir Henry Furnese, a Director of the Bank of England.
Throughout Holland, Flanders, France, and Germany, he maintained a
complete and perfect train of intelligence. The news of the many
battles fought at this period was received first by him, and the fall
of Namur added to his profits, owing to his early intelligence. On
another occasion he was presented by William with a diamond ring,
as a reward for some important information, and as a testimony of
this monarch’s esteem. But the temptation to deceive was too great,
even for this gentleman. He fabricated news; he insinuated false
intelligence; he was the originator of some of those plans which at
a later period were managed with so much effect by Rothschild. If
Sir Henry wished to buy, his brokers were ordered to look gloomy
and mysterious, hint at important news, and after a time sell. His
movements were closely watched; the contagion would spread; the
speculators grew alarmed; prices be lowered 4 or 5 per cent.,—for in
those days the loss of a battle might be the loss of a crown,—and Sir
Henry Furnese would reap the benefit by employing different brokers
to purchase as much as possible at the reduced price. Large profits
were thus made; but a demoralizing spirit was spread throughout the
Stock Exchange. Bankrupts and beggars sought the same pleasure in
which the millionnaire indulged, and often with similar success.
The wealthy Hebrew, Medina, accompanied Marlborough in all his
campaigns; administered to the avarice of the great captain by an
annuity of six thousand pounds per annum; repaid himself by expresses
containing intelligence of those great battles which fire the English
blood to hear them named; and Ramilies, Oudenarde, and Blenheim
administered as much to the purse of the Hebrew as they did to the
glory of England.
In the midst of these excitements arises a name which, to the
dwellers in London, is well known. Thomas Guy, the Bible contractor,
was a frequenter of ’Change Alley; and here, duly and daily, might be
seen that figure, which the gratitude of his fellow-men has rendered
familiar in the statue raised to his memory.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The tontine is simply a loan raised on life-annuities. In
consideration of a certain amount paid by a certain number of
persons, government grants to each a life-annuity. As the annuitants
die, their shares are divided among the survivors, until the annuity
granted to the whole becomes centred in the longest liver; at his
death the transaction ceases.
CHAPTER III.
_Enormous Bribery by William.—Increased Taxation.—Speech of Sir
Charles Sedley.—Wrongs of the Soldiers.—Defence of William.—Moral
Disorganization of the Country.—First Exchequer-Bill Fraud.—First
Foreign Loan.—Romantic Fraud in 1715.—Political Fraud of ’Change
Alley.—Interference of the House of Peers.—First Hoax._
The Parliamentary records of William’s reign are curious. The demands
which he made for money, the hatred to France which he encouraged,
and the frequent supplies he received, are remarkable features in his
history. Every art was employed; at one time a mild remonstrance,
at another a haughty menace, at a third the reproach that he had
ventured his life for the benefit of the country. The bribery during
this reign was the commencement of a system which has been very
injurious to the credit and character of England. The support of
the members was purchased with places, with contracts, with titles,
with promises, with portions of the loans, and with tickets in the
lottery. The famous axiom of Sir Robert Walpole was a practice and
a principle with William; he found that custom could not stale
the infinite variety of its effect, and that, so long as bribes
continued, so long would supplies be free. Exorbitant premiums were
given for money; and so low was public credit, and so great public
corruption, that, of 5 millions granted to carry on the war, only 2-½
millions reached the exchequer. Long annuities and short annuities,
lottery-tickets and irredeemable debts, made their frequent
appearance; and the duties, which principally date from this period,
were most pernicious. The hearth-tax was nearly as obnoxious as the
poll-tax. The custom and excise duties were doubled. The hawker and
the hackney-coach driver, companies and corporations, land and labor,
came under his supervision. Births, burials, and bachelors were
added to the list, and whether a wife lost a husband, or whether
a widow gained one, the effect was alike. Beer and ale, wine and
vinegar, coal and culm, all contributed to the impoverished state;
and although some who looked back with regret occasionally indulged
their spleen, the general tone of the Parliament was submissive.
Still, there were times when the truth was spoken; and truths like
the following were unpleasant:—
“We have provided,” said Sir Charles Sedley, “for the army; we have
provided for the navy; and now we must provide for the list. Truly,
Mr. Speaker, ’tis a sad reflection that some men should wallow in
wealth and places, while others pay away in taxes the fourth part of
their revenue. The courtiers and great officers feel not the terms,
while the country gentleman is shot through and through. His Majesty
sees nothing but coaches and six, and great tables, and therefore
cannot imagine the want and misery of the rest of his subjects. He is
encompassed by a company of crafty old courtiers.”
The corrupt transactions which tended so greatly to increase the
national debt are very remarkable. The assembled Commons declared in
a solemn vote, “it is notorious that many millions are unaccounted
for.” Mr. Hungerford was expelled from the lower house for accepting
a bribe of £21; and the Duke of Leeds impeached for taking one of
5,500 guineas. The price of a speaker—Sir John Trevor—was £1,005,
and the Secretary to the Treasury was sent to the Tower on suspicion
of similar practices. Money-receivers lodged great sums of public
money with the goldsmiths at the current interest. Others lent
the exchequer its own cash in other persons’ names; and out of 46
millions raised in 15 years, 25 millions were unaccounted for. The
Commissioners of Hackney-coaches were accessible, and peculation in
the army was discovered by a chance petition of the dwellers in a
country town. By this it appeared that the inhabitants of Royston in
Hertfordshire had large claims made upon them for money, by colonels,
captains, and cornets, in addition to the food and lodging which
was their due. A few independent members took up the question; the
public supported them; and at this juncture a book was delivered at
the lobby of the house, which asserted that the public embezzlement
was as enormous as it was infamous, and that the writer was prepared
to make discoveries which would astonish the world. The offer was
accepted; a searching inquiry was made, and defalcations were
discovered so great, that all wonder ceased at the increase of the
national debt, and at the decrease of the national glory. The abuses
in clothing the army were plain and palpable. The agents habitually
detained the money due to the soldiers, and used it for their own
advantage, or compelled them to pay so large a discount, that they
were in the utmost distress.
The subaltern officers were not better off. Colonel Hastings,
afterwards cashiered for the offence, made them buy their raiment
of him. If they hesitated, he threatened; if they refused, he
confined them. In 1693, an inquiry was made into the application of
the secret-service money, when great and deserved animadversion was
passed upon those through whom it circulated. The power possessed by
government under such abuses may be imagined. They were sure of the
votes of those who had places and pensions, and they were sure also
of the votes of that large class of expectants which always haunts a
profuse ministry; and thus “the courtiers,” as the ministerial party
was long designated, could baffle any bills, quash all grievances,
stifle any accounts, and raise any amount of money.
These discoveries inflamed the people, and murmurs that corruption
had eaten into the nation became general. Court and camp, city and
senate, were alike denounced. The pamphleteers spoke in strong
language. “Posterity,” said the author of one, termed The Price
of the Abdication, “will set an eternal brand of infamy upon
those members, who, to obtain either offices, profitable places,
or quarterly stipends, have combined to vote whatever hath been
demanded.”
It has been the fashion of a certain class to decry William because
he founded the national debt. But the war which he waged was almost
a war of necessity, and could not be supported without liberal
supplies. There was, however, with William a personal pride in the
contest. He had been taught, from his boyhood, hatred to France, and
almost in boyhood had checked the universal dominion aimed at by
Louis. With him, therefore, opposition to France was a passion; and
he who, at the age of twenty-three, bade defiance to the combined
power of the two greatest nations of the modern world, remembered,
as soon as he reached the English throne, that proud, though bitter
moment, when, surrounded by French force, his people determined to
let loose the waters which their skill had confined, and from the
homes and hearths of their fathers bear their goods, their fortunes,
and their persons, and to erect in a new land the flag they would
not see dishonored in the old. When, therefore, William of Orange
became monarch of England, his first thought was the humiliation of
France. To this point he bent the vast energies of England and his
own unconquerable will; for this only was his crown valuable, and for
this purpose was the power of England strained to the utmost tension.
The importance of France was then at its height. Louis sought to sway
the councils of Europe; and whoever else might have succumbed, the
statesmen of England had been in his power, and a monarch of England
in his pay. He saw, therefore, with dislike which was not attempted
to be concealed, the throne mounted by one who was resolved, not
merely to maintain its ancient greatness, but to quell the power of
its ancient rival. Louis sheltered the abdicated king, and encouraged
his mock court and his mock majesty. This was sufficient proof of his
feeling; nor were other indications wanting: and it is a complete
fallacy to suppose that the debt was unnecessarily incurred; in it
lay the power of William and the safety of the land.
Had the new king employed the arbitrary mode of levying supplies
of the earlier monarchs; had he made forced loans and never repaid
them; had he seized upon public money, and wrung the purses of public
men, the country might as well have been governed by a James as a
William, and would in all probability have recalled the exile of the
unfortunate House of Stuart. The evils of William’s reign were in
the facts that his power was not sufficiently established to borrow
on equitable terms; that the bribery, abuses, and corruption of men
in high places increased with their position; and, above all, that,
instead of paying his debts by terminable annuities, he made them
interminable. Lord Bolingbroke declares, that he could have raised
funds without mortgaging the resources of the nation in perpetuity,
and that it was a political movement to strengthen the power of the
crown, and to secure the adherence of that large portion of the
people by whom the money had been lent.
The war was necessary, and the contraction of the debt equally so;
for, although William engaged in the contest with something like
personal pride, it was essentially a national war. A free people
had driven away the Stuarts; a despotic king would have forced them
back. If ever, therefore, a contest directly interested both subject
and sovereign, it was that which created the national encumbrance;
and England was fortunate in the man she had chosen to champion
her rights. The contest, which dated from 1688 and ended in 1697,
which cost us 20 millions in loans and 16 millions in taxes, was
only closed because both nations were fatigued. It produced no great
results, no grand achievements, no lasting peace. It did but prove
that the strength which had departed from England during the two
previous reigns had slumbered, but was not withered. The earlier
history was, as many of England’s great wars have been, comparatively
unsuccessful. The parties into which the nation was divided prevented
the unanimity necessary to great deeds. They agreed only in robbing
the people. Public principle was with them a public jest. Incapacity
and corruption pervaded all branches. By corruption a Parliamentary
majority was procured, and through incapacity the commerce of the
country was decaying. Talent was only employed in devising its own
benefit; patriotism was perverted; national virtue was forgotten; and
the allies found that on sea and land the enemy had the advantage.
The navy was daring, but divided; the admirals were accused of
disaffection. While the foe was intercepting our merchandise in
the Channel, the vessels of England were building in the docks. On
the sea, our own peculiar boast, we were dishonored; our flag was
insulted; and English admirals retreated before French fleets. Ships
of war were burnt; merchant-vessels were sunk; and a million of
merchandise was destroyed.
But the clamor of the people reached her councils. It was said
our plans were betrayed to the enemy; treachery was justifiably
suspected; and all who were familiar with the period will join the
writer in thinking it not only possible, but probable.
During these trials the spirit of William remained unchanged; and,
rejecting all overtures from France, he exhibited to the world the
soldiership for which he was remarkable. At Namur he fought in the
trenches, ate his dinner with the soldiers, animated them with
his presence, shared their dangers, and won their hearts. Namur
capitulated, and the scene changed. The French power was shaken in
Catalonia; its coasts were assailed; its people were suffering, and
Louis, whose great general was dead, was sufficiently humbled to
renew his proposals for peace, which, after nine years’ war, costing
Europe 480 millions of money and 800,000 men, was gained by the
pacification of Ryswick.
A deep thinker of the present day has said of the war anterior to
1688,—and the argument is supported by that school of which Cobbett
was chief,—“The cost happily fell upon those who lived about the
time,—it was not transmitted to posterity, according to the clever
contrivance devised in a more enlightened and civilized age. They
spent their own money, and not that of their grandchildren. They did
as they liked with their own labor and its results; they did not
mortgage the labor of succeeding generations.”
Men do not argue thus, ordinarily. The case is very similar to that
of a land-proprietor mortgaging his estate to defend it from a
suit which endangers it. His posterity may regret, but they cannot
complain; they know it is better to have the estate partially
mortgaged than not to have an estate at all. It seems, to the writer,
similar with the national debts of the reign of William. He was
bound to defend the people who had chosen him; war was then, as
now, a popular pastime; and William is no more to be blamed that he
was not in advance of the time, than the nobles of the present day
are to blame because they bring up their younger sons to be shot at
for glory and a few shillings a day, instead of seeing, as their
successors will probably see, the anti-progressive and anti-Christian
nature of the principle thus supported.
The one great evil was, that the difficulty of getting money tempted
William to borrow on irredeemable annuities. Had he borrowed only on
annuities terminable in a century, he would have attained his money
at a little extra cost, but the pressure on the people would have
decreased year by year, the credit of the government have increased,
and the discontent of the nation been less.
If, however, any blame be attached to the government of William, how
much greater must be that which is attached to succeeding ministries.
They knew, for they felt, the evil of perpetual debts. Sir Robert
Walpole said, when the nation owed 100 millions it would be ruined;
but he, and those who preceded with those who followed him, persisted
in neglecting the only principle of action which could save the
country. It is the misfortune of governments to abide by that which
is only venerable from its antiquity, and persist in following
precedents when they should act upon principle. They forget—and the
fact cannot be urged too strongly—that government is a progressive
science, and that improvement is a law of nations as well as of
nature.
In 1696, while the gold was being recoined, exchequer-bills,
principally for £5 and £10, were introduced. Being issued on the
security of government, they supplied the place of coin, and were
found a great convenience, acting as state counters, which passed as
money, because the people knew that the government would receive them
at full value. The Lords of the Treasury were authorized to contract
with moneyed men to supply cash; and though these bills were at one
time at a discount, their credit rose daily, until they reached 1 per
cent. premium. They at first bore no interest; but when they were
reissued, £7 12_s._ per cent. per annum was paid, and they became a
favorite investment. The genius of Mr. Halifax invented them; and it
has required no genius on the part of succeeding ministers to issue
a supply whenever the wants of the government have demanded them.
When it is not convenient to pay these securities off, and they have
accumulated to an amount which attracts the notice of the Opposition,
or is calculated to depress the price, the consent of Parliament is
procured, and they are liquidated by being added to the fixed debt of
the country. They now form a regular supply to the ministry, and are
part of the floating or unfunded debt of England, bearing a premium
or discount in proportion to the credit of the nation.
The first fraud in exchequer-bills occurred within a year of their
creation; when receivers-general, members of Parliament, and deputy
accountants formed a confederacy fraudulently to indorse some of
these securities, to which their position gave them access. The
robbery was discovered; and a Mr. Reginald Marryot, one of the
accomplices, saved himself by discovering the plot. The House
of Commons expelled from its members the men whose dishonor was
increased by their position; and, as the estate of Mr. Charles
Duncombe, one of the accused, was worth £400,000, they fined him
£200,000, being the amount wrongfully circulated. In the House of
Lords it fell to the Duke of Leeds to give the casting vote. Mr.
Duncombe’s estate was saved, but the Duke’s credit suffered, for he
gave his decision in favor of the defaulter; and it was said that Mr.
Duncombe paid no inconsiderable sum for the benefit he received at
the hands of his Grace. The charge was never brought home; but the
Duke’s after-conduct gave a sufficient coloring to the suspicion.
The first foreign loan was negotiated in ’Change Alley in 1706. The
victories of the Duke of Marlborough had raised the pride of the
English people; and even ’Change Alley possessed a somewhat similar
feeling. When, therefore, his Grace proposed a loan of £500,000 to
the Emperor, for eight years, at 8 per cent., on the security of the
Silesian revenue, it was received with acclamation, and was filled in
a few days by the first commercial names of England.
During that period, which, now a romantic, was then a terrible
reality, when it was known, in 1715, that the best families in
the North of England had assembled in arms to change the dynasty,
no pains were spared by the jobbers to procure correct and to
disseminate false intelligence: and it was with mingled feelings of
alarm and pity that the inhabitants of a small town between Perth
and the seaport of Montrose—where James embarked after his unhappy
expedition—saw a carriage and six, travelling with all the rapidity
which the road would allow. It was known that the rebel army was
dispersed; that its chiefs were scattered; and that the unfortunate
Stuart was wandering through the country, with life and liberty alike
endangered. It excited, therefore, no surprise in the village when
the carriage was surrounded, and the apparent prize conveyed with
great ostentation towards London. Letters soon reached the city that
the fugitive Stuart was taken, and the letters were confirmed by the
story related, which quickly reached London. The funds of course
rose, and the inventors of the trick laughed in their sleeves as
they divided the profit. By this time the jobbers must have reached
a somewhat high position, as, the same year, one Quare, a Quaker
and a celebrated watchmaker in ’Change Alley, having successfully
speculated in the shares and funds with which it abounded, was
of sufficient importance to invite to the marriage-feast of his
daughter, Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough, and the Princess
of Wales, who, with three hundred guests of distinction, graced the
wedding entertainment.
But ’Change Alley was notorious for other dealings than those in
the funds. When that desperate struggle for power occurred between
the old and new East India Company; when their varying claims
were on every man’s tongue, and their bribes in every man’s hand;
the election of a member of Parliament was an affair of moment.
The partisans of each Company sided with their friends; bought
boroughs; shed their money lavishly and largely; used every art that
self-interest could devise; and so extensive was the interference
of the brokers, that the only question heard in ’Change Alley was,
“Is he for the New or the Old Company?” It was the touchstone of
a principle more sacred than the Hanoverian succession, and more
important than England and Hanover united. It was probably found
profitable; and it was said in 1720, that elections for members
of Parliament came to market in ’Change Alley as currently as
lottery-tickets.
The first political hoax on record occurred in the reign of Anne.
Down the Queen’s Road, riding at a furious rate, ordering turnpikes
to be thrown open, and loudly proclaiming the sudden death of the
queen, rode a well-dressed man, sparing neither spur nor steed. From
west to east, and from north to south, the news spread. Like wildfire
it passed through the desolate fields where palaces now abound, till
it reached the city. The train-bands desisted from their exercise,
furled their colors, and returned home with their arms reversed.
The funds fell with a suddenness which marked the importance of the
intelligence; and it was remarked that, while the Christian jobbers
stood aloof, almost paralyzed with the information, Manasseh Lopez
and the Jew interest bought eagerly at the reduced price. There is no
positive information to fix the deception upon any one in particular,
but suspicion pointed at those who gained by the fraud so publicly
perpetrated.
The invasion of 1715, as it caused extra expenses, demanded extra
grants. The House of Commons voted them; but the House of Peers, a
portion of which possessed strong Jacobite feeling, attempted to
modify without mending it. Though they did not reject the bill, the
lower house resented the mere interference. At an early hour on
the morning of the 13th February, Lord Harcourt went to the House
of Peers, and made an anxious search for precedents of amendments
to money bills. The search proved unsuccessful, as, since the
Restoration, the Commons had defended their right of not allowing
the Lords to make any alterations in these acts. A committee was
appointed, and the Peers fought bravely for their claim; but though
the court was willing to support them, money was so immediately
necessary, that, at the request of the government, they yielded under
protest.
CHAPTER IV.
_Charitable Corporation Fraud.—Its Discovery.—Appalling Effects and
Remedy.—Marlborough’s Victories, their History, and the Loans they
brought.—Augmented Importance of the Stock Exchange.—Dislike to the
Members.—Increased Loans.—Difficulties in procuring them.—Statement
of Sir Robert Walpole.—Gifts of Contractors to Clothiers.—First
Payment of Dividends by the Bank.—South-Sea Anecdotes._
In the early part of the eighteenth century, a prospectus was issued
to the commercial world and the members of ’Change Alley, in which
the wants of the needy and the infamy of the pawnbrokers, the purest
philanthropy and a positive five per cent., were skilfully blended.
It was shown that then, as now, the poor were compelled to pay a
greater interest than the rich; that thirty per cent. was constantly
given by the former on a security which the usurer took care should
be ample; and it was proposed that the wealthy capitalist should
advance, for the benefit of the needy, a sufficient sum to enable
the company to lend money at five or six per cent. The proposal
proved eminently successful. A capital of £30,000 was immediately
subscribed, a charter obtained, and the “Charitable Corporation,”
the object of whose care was the necessitous and industrious poor,
appeared to flourish. For some years the concern answered, the
poor received the assistance which they required, and the company
was conducted with integrity. In 1719, however, their number was
enlarged; their capital increased to £600,000; an augmentation of
business was looked for; cash credits were granted to gentlemen
of supposed substance; and the importance of the corporation was
unhappily recognized by that numerous class of persons compelled
to pay in maturity for the excesses of youth. They acted also as
bankers, and received deposits from persons of all classes and
conditions. Its direction boasted men of rank, its proprietary men of
substance, and its executive men of more capacity than character. The
cashier of the company was a member of the senate; Sir Robert Sutton,
a director, was one of his Majesty’s Privy Council; and Sir Archibald
Grant, who took a prominent part in the affairs of the corporation,
was also a member of the lower house. Every confidence was reposed in
such a body, and it was regarded as a rich and prosperous society.
Under these circumstances, the surprise of the public may be
conceived when it was first whispered, and then openly announced,
that the cashier, with one of the chief officers, had disappeared
in company. The alarm spread to the proprietors; the public
participated; the poor assembled in crowds; the rich clamored for
information; a meeting was called to inquire into the case, when
a most pernicious, but scarcely comprehensible, piece of villany
was unravelled, and a most disgraceful tissue of fraud discovered.
£30,000 alone remained out of half a million. The books were
falsified; money was lent to the directors on fictitious pledges;
men of rank and reputation were implicated; suspicion and censure
followed persons of importance. Some managers were found to have
connived at scenes so disgraceful, that their character was lost for
ever. Many had concerted active plans of fraud, which ended alike in
their own ruin and the ruin of the corporation; while others were
guilty of personally embezzling the funds of the company. Petition
after petition was presented to the Commons. A bill was brought in
to prevent the defaulters from leaving the kingdom; and the scorn of
all England pointed at the men who, under the guise of charity, had
enriched themselves. The interest which was taken in the discovery
by the entire country attracted the attention of the Jacobites; and,
as one of the party had fled to Rome with the spoils, the Pretender
endeavoured to enlist the sympathy of the nation, through one Signor
Belloni, who wrote to the committee, stating that the refugee had
been seized and placed in the castle of St. Angelo. The Whig party,
ever jealous of the Pretender, voted that the letter should be burned
by the hangman at the Royal Exchange.
The distress occasioned by this bankruptcy was appalling, pervading
nearly every class of society. Large sums had been borrowed at high
interest. The small capitalist was entirely ruined; and there was
scarcely a class in English life which had not its representative
and its sufferer. The poor were unable to get their goods; the rich
were robbed of their jewels; families accustomed to affluence were
starving; delicate women, hitherto irreproachable, were compelled to
exchange their persons for bread. Similar evils have been known to
exist during sieges; and, in the public streets of Lisbon, women of
unblemished virtue offered themselves for sale during its occupation
by the French; but the writer believes there is no other parallel in
commercial history.
All that the wisdom of the senate could devise was attempted to
mitigate the evil. The revenge of the losers was appeased by several
members being expelled the house; their fear of loss was reduced by
the confiscation of the estates of the offending parties; a lottery
was granted for the advantage of the sufferers; and though a dividend
of nearly ten shillings was eventually paid, the fraud of the
Charitable Corporation was remembered long after the evils caused by
it had ceased to exist.
The next great increase of debt was through the War of Succession in
Spain, to the crown of which several princes laid claim. According
to the ordinary rule of inheritance, the Dauphin, by virtue of the
marriage of Louis XIV. with the eldest sister of the king, should
have succeeded; but as all right to the throne had been solemnly
renounced on the marriage, it was supposed that the claim was
vacated; and the principal powers of Europe, knowing the necessity
that so great an inheritance should not descend to any state
possessed of territorial importance, formed the celebrated partition
treaty.
By this, France, England, and Holland agreed that Spain, the Indies,
and the Netherlands should descend to the Archduke Charles, and,
in return, that France should be possessed of the rich province of
Lorraine. There is no doubt that governments regard treaties in
proportion to the physical rather than the moral necessity to abide
by them; and France, under Louis Quatorze, was no exception to the
rule. A succession of cabals in Spain gave the latter the influence
he required. His ambassador won the court and city; the Archbishop of
Toledo was of his party, and gained the Spanish king, who, sick body
and soul, priest-ridden, a prey to mental and physical agony, was,
after a succession of intrigues, induced to fix his name to that will
which annexed the splendid possession of the empire of Spain to the
grandeur of France.
At once Louis violated the partition treaty, accepted the noble
legacy for his grandson, and sent the whole court of France to
accompany him to the Pyrenees, that frontier which he said in his
pride had ceased to exist. When the news reached William, he was at
the Hague, but instantly returned to London. Vigorous preparations
were made; but he did not live to see the declaration of the war,
which began in 1782, agitated Europe for thirteen years, and added so
much to the great debt of which this volume treats.
England, Holland, and the Empire were opposed to France, Spain,
and Bavaria; and the war thus commenced was a memorable contest.
Marlborough and Peterborough, than whom England boasts none greater,
made her name a word of dread for many years. The knight-errantry
of Peterborough conceived schemes which only his ardent and
fiery imagination could achieve. He took towns by storm, under
circumstances little less than marvellous; he reduced the largest
and strongest cities of Europe with a handful of soldiers; he made
forced marches, shared the fatigues of his men, and took entire
reinforcements prisoners. With 3,000 troops he harassed a regular
army, cut off communications, and raised sieges; he forced towns with
horse-soldiers, and chivalrously mortgaged his estates to pay the
expenses incurred in the cause of his country.
The victories of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, were more
important to the nation than those of the adventurous Peterborough;
and if his glory was tarnished by the love of gold, yet the name
of Marlborough as a captain is unsullied. The battle of Blenheim
was his first great achievement in the War of Succession, and it
made the people consent to pay the additional taxes imposed upon
them. Innumerable trophies,—hundreds of flags and standards, tents,
cannon and mortars, casks and barrels filled with the precious
metals,—evinced the glory of the contest, and added to the pride of
the nation. The thanks of the House were voted to the Duke; medals
were struck in his honor; Addison celebrated him in poetry; but
dearer far to Marlborough than medal, poetry, or thanks, was the
rich manor and the noble mansion of Woodstock, voted to him by the
nation. Scarcely had the people recovered from the joy occasioned
by the battle of Blenheim, and from the increased taxation which
ensued, than another battle—that of Ramilies—seized them with
delight. Forgetful of the consequences, men talked of the old days
of England,—of the ancient victories of her armies,—of the time
when the great Cromwell made the English name terrible,—and, in
their excitement, they magnified the grandeur, and diminished the
cost. The pride of Louis was indeed humbled. He made proposals for a
congress; he tampered with the Dutch; he besought the interposition
of the Head of the Church; he offered to cede Spain, Milan, Naples,
or Sicily; and felt bitterly the consequences of having provoked
the vengeance of the island he hated. Ambition had, however, seized
upon the nation; conquest only was thought of; and, remembering the
glory of the past, the English people deemed themselves entitled
to some privilege for the blood which was shed. They forgot that
a new campaign would bring new costs; and they forgot, what their
successors yet feel, that every fresh victory brought a fresh loan.
Oudenarde, the third of that splendid series of victories which has
made the name of Marlborough renowned in the land, was followed by
Malplaquet, the glory of which was superior to its results, and the
blood of which was shed to maintain the court influence of the Duke.
But a change of ministry brought a change of measures; and a
Tory government refused to maintain a Whig policy. The ministers
triumphed, and the treaty of Utrecht was concluded. Then arose that
war of words which enlisted the pens of Steele, of Addison, of Swift,
and of a host of other and lesser spirits. The Tories said the
Whigs had sold us to the Dutch, to fill the pockets of Marlborough.
The Whigs said the Tories had sold us to the French, to facilitate
the return of the Pretender. The waste of life, the suspension of
trade, the accumulation of debt, without an adequate return, were so
terribly evident, that the Commons remonstrated, and told her Majesty
that £35,302,107 of the supplies were not accounted for.
It must be evident that every fresh war, every new loan, and every
public peculation, increased the importance of the members of the
Stock Exchange; and when men saw the broker and jobber assuming a
position the public was unwilling to grant, they mistook the effect
for the cause; and a hundred voices were raised, and a hundred
essays written, to prove that the brokers of ’Change Alley were the
bane of the nation. A member could hardly make a financial speech,
a pamphleteer write a political pamphlet, or a dramatist employ his
pen for the public, without dragging in the jobber as an illustration
and a cause of the misery of England. Those who had lost their
money in the many speculations with which the ’Change abounded,
deemed also they had earned a right to decry it. The following is
a specimen of their opinion:—“It is a complete system of knavery,
founded in fraud, born of deceit, and nourished by trick, cheat,
wheedle, forgeries, falsehoods, and all sorts of delusions; coining
false news, whispering imaginary terrors, and preying upon those they
have elevated or depressed.” Archibald Hutcheson, whose life was
afterwards endangered from the determined manner in which he opposed
the South-Sea bubble, says that the jobbers vied with the first
nobility in the kingdom. Pope wrote,—
“Statesmen and patriots ply alike the Stocks,
Peeress and butler share alike the box;
And judges job, and bishops bite the town;
And mighty dukes pack cards for half-a-crown.”
At any rate, it is certain that, if the national glory was
aggrandized, the national debt increased in proportion. From 16
millions to 54 was fearfully felt,—thirty-seven millions and a half
being raised by loan, besides thirty millions in taxes, during the
war of the Spanish succession.
In 1716, great difficulty was experienced in procuring a loan of
£600,000. The interest offered was four per cent.; and while the
propriety of the loan was being debated on the second evening, Mr.
Lechmere entered the House hastily, and told them that only £45,000
had been subscribed. Sir Robert Walpole instantly rose, and said,
“I know that the members of the Stock Exchange have combined not to
advance money on the loan. Every one is aware how the administration
of this country has been distressed by stock-jobbers.” The interest
of four per cent. appeared so low to men accustomed to the enormous
premiums of a few years previous, that they treated the proposed
terms with contempt, and enlisted the sympathy of the public by
reporting that it was the first step towards the reduction of the
interest on the national debt. When the same minister proposed a
loan of £1,700,000, to supply a deficiency, the opposition was so
great, that, had not Sir Robert appealed to an empty exchequer, and
declared that the debt had been incurred by a previous government,
he would have been refused. The feelings of the House were greatly
incensed by the discovery that the money was jobbed away with
unequalled recklessness; and public-spirited men were not wanting
to resist, in the name of the country, such shameless expenditure.
They protested, because—and the protest drawn in 1729 would do for
1849—“the national debt ought not to be increased when the taxes are
heavily felt in all parts of the country; when our foreign trade is
encumbered and diminished; when our manufactures decay; when our
poor daily multiply; and when national calamities surround us.”
The report of the commissioners appointed to inquire into public
accounts sanctioned the opposition which such men as Sir John Barnard
gave to unjust demands. They proved that colonels received large
sums from clothing contractors, as premiums for their favor, and
that £1,400 had been given for a single contract. “The practice,”
said the report, “is so notorious and universal, that it wants
no representation.” Some barefaced practices were related in the
same document; nor can there be any wonder that, with such gross
mismanagement, it was said,—“The army was in the field, no money in
the treasury,—none of the remitters would contract again. The Bank
refused to lend £100,000 on good security. The navy was 11 millions
in debt, and the yearly income greatly deficient.”
In 1717 the Bank first undertook the payment of dividends to the
national creditors, previous to which they were paid quarterly;
when, however, they were undertaken by the Bank, this plan was found
inconvenient, and since that period they have been paid half-yearly.
Sir John Blunt was the projector of the South-Sea bubble, which, in
1720, produced such extraordinary effects in England. As the scheme
did not at first prove successful, rumors were spread that Gibraltar
and Port Mahon would be exchanged for Peru. The stock soon rose to
1,000 per cent., and the excitement lasted till September, by which
time it had sunk to 150. Several eminent goldsmiths and bankers were
obliged to abscond; and every family in the kingdom felt the shock.
In other works the anecdotes of this memorable period have been
presented in proportion to their effects upon commerce; in the
present, those only will be given which either affect the Stock
Exchange or possess a general interest.
On May 15th, 1719, the king went abroad, and many who went with him
sold all their funds. The Bank of England was accused of assisting
the bubble by lending money, for the first time, on the security of
its stock; “and this,” said Mr. Aislabie, “furnished an additional
supply of money to gamesters in the Alley.” The stories of the period
are very widely spread, and prove how all ranks were affected. The
Marquis of Chandos embarked £300,000 in it, and the Duke of Newcastle
advised him to sell when he could make the tolerable profit of
cent. per cent. The Marquis was greedy, hoped to make it half a
million, and the advice was declined. The panic came, and the entire
investment went in the shock.
Samuel Chandler, the eminent nonconformist divine, risked his
whole fortune in the bubble, lost it, and was obliged to serve in
a bookseller’s shop for two or three years, while he continued to
discharge his ministerial duty.
The elder Scraggs gave Gay £1,000 stock, and, as the poet had been
a previous purchaser, his gain at one time amounted to £20,000. He
consulted Dr. Arbuthnot, who strongly advised him to sell out. The
bard doubted, hesitated, and lost all. The doctor who gave such
shrewd advice was too irresolute to act on his own opinion, and lost
£2,000; but, with an enviable philosophy, comforted himself by saying
it would be only 2,000 more pairs of stairs to ascend.
Thomas Hudson, a native of Leeds, came to London, and filled the
situation of government clerk. Having been left a large fortune, he
retired to the country, where he lived until, tempted to adventure
in the scheme, he embarked the whole of his fortune in it. After his
loss he came to London, became insane, and Tom of Ten Thousand, as he
called himself, wandered through the public streets, a piteous and
pitiable object of charity.
One tradesman, who had invested his entire resources in the stock,
came to town to dispose of it when it reached 1,000. On his arrival
it had fallen to 900, and as he had decided to sell at 1,000, he
determined to wait. The stock continued to decline, the tradesman
continued to hold, and became, as he deserved, a ruined man.
Others were more fortunate. The fine mansion of Sir Gregory Page, at
Blackheath, was made out of the profit made by his guardians; and two
maiden sisters, who sold the stock at 970, reinvested their money in
navy-bills, at a discount of 25 per cent., which in a very short time
were paid off at par.
The wags of the day were not idle. A pretended office was opened
in ’Change Alley to receive subscriptions for raising one million.
The people flocked in, paid five shillings for every thousand they
subscribed, fully believing they would make their fortunes. After a
large sum had been subscribed, an advertisement was published, that
the people might have their money without any deduction, as it was
only a trial to see how many fools might be caught in one day.
Similar anecdotes to these are scattered over the private and the
public histories of the period; but they have been rendered too
familiar by recent works to narrate them in the present volume.
CHAPTER V.
_Life of Thomas Guy.—Imposition in Sailors’ Tickets.—Foreign Loan
attempted.—Sir John Barnard.—Expresses of the Jobbers.—Foreign
Commissions.—Origin of Time-Bargains.—Attempt to stop them.—Its
Inadequacy.—Proposal to reduce the Interest on the National
Debt.—Opposition of Sir Robert Walpole.—New Mode of raising
Loans.—Comparative Interest in Land and Funds.—Punishment of
Manasseh Lopez.—The first Reduction of Interest.—Life of Sir John
Barnard._
In 1724 died the founder of Guy’s Hospital, and a sketch of this
remarkable man’s career is a curious picture of the period. The son
of a lighterman and member of the senate,—one year the penurious
diner on a shop-counter, with a newspaper for a table-cloth, and
the next the founder of the finest hospital in England,—at one time
a usurious speculator, and at another the dispenser of princely
charities,—the wearer of patched garments, but the largest dealer in
the Alley,—beginning life with hundreds, and ending it with hundreds
of thousands,—Thomas Guy was one of the many remarkable men who,
tempted from their legitimate pursuit, entered into competition with
the jobbers of the Stock Exchange, and one of the few who devoted
their profits to the benefit of a future generation.
His principal dealings were in those tickets with which, from the
time of the second Charles, the seamen had been remunerated. After
years of great endurance and of greater labor, the defenders of the
land were paid with inconvertible paper, and the seamen—too often
improvident—were compelled to part with their wages at any discount
which the conscience of the usurer would offer. Men who had gone
the round of the world, like Drake, or had fought hand to hand with
Tromp, were unable to compete with the keen agent of the usurer, who,
decoying them into the low haunts of Rotherhithe, purchased their
tickets at the lowest possible price; and skilled seamen, the glory
of England’s navy, were thus robbed, and ruined, and compelled to
transfer their services to foreign states.
In these tickets did Thomas Guy deal; and on the wrongs of these
men was the vast superstructure of his fortune reared. But jobbing
in them was as frequent in the high places of England as in ’Change
Alley. The seaman was poor and uninfluential, and the orders which
were refused payment to him were paid to the wealthy jobber, who
parted with some of his plunder as a premium to the treasury to
disgorge the remainder. By these means, and by fortunate speculations
during the South-Sea bubble, Mr. Guy realized a fortune of £500,000.
It must be borne in mind, that, a century and a quarter ago, half a
million was almost a fabulous fortune. It was only to be acquired by
speculation in the funds, and by ventures which merely commercial
dealings failed to produce. In the literature of the past century,
a “plum” is mentioned as the great prize of a lifetime, and as the
extent of mercantile ambition. The enormous sums lately realized were
then almost unknown, or arose from some chivalrous adventure, such as
marked the lives of a Robert Clive or a Warren Hastings; and it was
left for the present century to witness the achievement of fortunes
which in the past would have been beyond credence.
In attaining so great a result, Mr. Guy was doubtless assisted by
his penurious habits; but he did not possess a penurious mind. The
endower of a princely charity, the founder of alms-houses, the
enricher of Christ’s Hospital, the support of his relations, and the
friend of the poor, must be regarded as one of those contradictory
characters which, at all periods and in all portions of the world,
have marked the human race. His dealings in the Stock Exchange were
continued to a late period of his existence. In 1720, he speculated
largely in the South-Sea Stock; and in 1724 he died, at the age of
eighty-one, leaving by will £240,000 to the hospital which bears his
name. His body lay in state at Mercer’s Chapel, was carried with
great funeral pomp to St. Thomas’s Hospital, and on February 13th,
1734, just ten years after his death, a statue was erected to his
memory in the square of that asylum, partially raised by profits from
the hard earnings of English seamen.
It was, indeed, to this improvidence in supplying funds to meet the
demands for the navy that the South-Sea Company owed its origin. So
largely had the unpaid sailors’ tickets increased, that nine millions
were unprovided for. Cash was scarce, the holders were clamorous, and
Parliament, as a premium for forbearance, erected them into that body
which ended so disastrously for the commercial interests of England.
In 1730, a loan of £400,000 was attempted for the Emperor of Germany.
’Change Alley was ready to advance it on sufficient interest and
sound security; but Sir Robert Walpole brought in a bill to prohibit
his Majesty’s subjects and others resident in the kingdom from
advancing money to any foreign state, without license from the king
under his privy seal. The opposition experienced by the minister was
very strong. The great city commoner spoke against the bill, and it
required all the power of Sir Robert Walpole to counterbalance the
influence of Sir John Barnard in a matter pertaining to business.
It was very natural that men’s minds should be turned to that
portion of the town which, ever and anon, gave signal symptoms of
great frauds, great gains, and great gambling; and Sir John Barnard
endeavoured, in 1732, to draw the attention of the House of Commons
to the dealings and the doings of the Stock Exchange. It had, even
at this early period, a complete and organized system. The expresses
of its rich members came from every court in Europe, and beat—as the
expresses of jobbers always have—the messengers of the government.
Sir Robert Walpole not only declared this, but with great _naïveté_
added, “It is because they are better paid and better appointed.”
The very fact that brokers did beat the government despatches was
regarded as a crime; and the public continued, year by year, to pour
its maledictions on the frequenters of ’Change Alley.
The funds were said to be the nursery of fraud. In the leading
companies the interest of the citizen was sacrificed to the jobber.
The whole town was converted into a corporation of brokers and
usurers, which could lie the government into credit one week and
out of it the next. The magistracy of the city encouraged it, and
the aristocracy of the city pursued it. ’Change Alley was called
a gaming-house publicly set up in the middle of London, towards
which the heads of our merchants and tradesmen were turned instead
of to their legitimate pursuit; and it was said that £80,000 were
paid annually by foreigners in the shape of commissions to the
brokers of the Alley. But it was to the bargains for time that
public attention was principally pointed by the city member. The
origin of these bargains is obvious, and may be traced to the
period of six weeks in each quarter, when the bank books were—as it
was then thought—necessarily closed to prepare for the payment of
the dividend. As no transfer could be made during this period, it
naturally enough became a practice to buy and sell for the opening.
The habit grew by what it fed on; and, in time, periodical dates
for the payment of funds, purchased or sold when it could not be
transferred, were fixed on by the Stock Exchange Committee, at
intervals of about six weeks. As in these transactions the possession
of stock was unnecessary, and the payment of the difference in the
price was sufficient, bargains for time became common, and not only
English, but foreign capitalists, were attracted by the chance of
gain, while the Hebrews flocked to ’Change Alley from every quarter
under heaven.
In consequence of the view which Sir John Barnard took of these
facts, he succeeded in carrying that enactment which, intended to
prevent gambling in the funds, has been utterly and singularly
powerless in its effect. It provided that no loss in bargains for
time should be recoverable in the courts, and placed without the
pale of the law all such speculations. One hundred and sixteen years
have passed, the act is still in force, and speculative bargains
have not only increased, but form the chief business of the Stock
Exchange. The greatest corporation in the world has availed itself
of the principle, and the effect of the statute is, not to prevent
respectable men from speculating, but to make rogues refuse to
pay their losses, knowing that, while the law is inefficient, the
blackboard of the Stock Exchange is their only punishment. To such
men such punishment is ridiculous; they only feel through the purse,
and in that they know they are safe by virtue of an act in which they
rejoice.
That a feeling of gambling was encouraged is indisputable, and the
attempt of Sir John Barnard was, therefore, honorable. But this
propensity seems a natural principle of humanity. The savage in a
state of nature, and the peer at the highest point of civilization,
alike indulge in it. Every man who trades beyond his power to
pay, every merchant who purchases goods on delivery, is, strictly
speaking, a gambler; and it is well known to be a common practice of
the first merchants to buy goods for arrival without the slightest
intention of receiving them, and directly a profit can be gained, or
too great a loss averted, they are resold without even the bill of
lading being visible to the buyer.
It is these things which lead to disgraceful bankruptcies. The
intelligent author of “Partnership en Commandite” says:—“On the
banks of the Danube, the Vistula, the Rhine, and the Tagus,—on
the shores of the Baltic and the Mediterranean,—on the plains of
Poland,—I have met with men who have asked me for charity, because
they had been ruined by connection with some of the first English
houses.”
The first effect of Sir John Barnard’s Act was serious; and bargains
for time, or the “race-horses of ’Change Alley,” as they were termed,
were said to have expired. It was soon found, however, that to make
the brokers responsible would answer every purpose; and business
flourished as gayly as if the father of the city had never had an
existence.
Though this measure was with difficulty passed, the wonder is that it
passed at all, as the reasoning brought in its favor was very slight;
and the following is a fair specimen of the speeches in its behalf:—
“The broker comes to the merchant, talks of the many fatigues and
dangers, the great trouble and small profits in the way of trade.
He then tells him if he will allow him to dig in the rich mine of
’Change Alley, he could get more in a day than he could by his trade
in twelve months. The merchant is persuaded, he engages, goes in for
some time, and is quite undone. His just creditors are surprised.
‘What,’ say they, ‘this man had a good stock to begin with, and he
has had a good trade for several years; he never lived extravagantly;
what is become of his effects and his money?’ They inquire, and find
that the whole was gamed away in ’Change Alley.”
The fears of the brokers outran their discretion as soon as the bill
passed into law; and the maledictions poured upon Sir John were
loud, deep, and frequent. They thought that the principal and most
profitable part of their trade was departed; and it was declared—how
truly, time has since shown—that it would be only possible to get
an estate by the slow, dull way of commerce. Every effort was made
to ruin his reputation and his character; but both were too firmly
established to receive any injury from the malevolent stories which
were currently circulated.
A proposition was made in 1737, by the same gentleman, to reduce the
interest on the national debt from four to three per cent. Nothing
could be more just than this, as the public might either receive
their principal in full, or one per cent. less interest. The House
was at first disposed to entertain the proposal with the fairness it
merited; but the moneyed men rose in a body, and Sir Robert Walpole,
fearing to disoblige them, fearing to lose those votes on which
he had hitherto relied, and envying also the popularity Sir John
might acquire, determined to crush the scheme. He interested the
king and queen; he employed his ministerial power; he intimidated
some, he bribed others, he puzzled and persuaded more; until,
his purpose being effected, the bill—than which nothing could be
more reasonable—was rejected. The popular feeling attributed this
opposition to the royal family, who possessed great funded property;
but to popular feeling, unless it rose to a storm, as with the Excise
Bill, Sir Robert Walpole was very indifferent.
In the same year, an inquiry being instituted into the books of
the Bank of England, it was calculated that ten millions were held
by foreigners in the English funds; a remarkable proportion of the
amount at which the national debt then stood.
In the reign of George II. a new mode of raising loans was adopted.
Instead of varying the interest according to the state of the
money-market, the rate was fixed from three to five per cent., and
the subscribers remunerated by an additional amount of stock. It was
the first public announcement that the debt was perpetual; and has
made the present principal two fifths more than the sum originally
advanced. In the earlier history of borrowing, the government named
its own terms; and as this generally afforded a profit, the loan
was soon filled. If, however, the ministerial proposals were not
sufficiently liberal, the executive altered the terms to the real
value of money; and it is by no means an uninstructive fact, that
it was found in 1748, after a close calculation, that for thirty
previous years land had produced a higher interest than the funds.
Although an act had been passed by which it was declared illegal for
one individual to have more than twenty lottery-tickets allowed him,
it soon became notorious that the rule was flagrantly and frequently
violated. Manasseh Lopez, whose dealings on the Stock Exchange
entitled him to be termed a leader, had bribed the commissioners to
permit an indirect violation of the law, by accepting a long list of
feigned names as candidates for tickets. He was prosecuted by the
Attorney-General, and sued in the Court of King’s Bench. A fine of
one thousand pounds was awarded as punishment; but as he had made
more than fifty times the amount, it might be regarded as a very
successful speculation.
The first reduction in the interest of the national debt—from four
to three per cent.—was effected in 1750, and was received with a
storm of indignation similar to that which arose in 1737, on the mere
attempt. Sir John Barnard, to whom every thing connected with the
funds was of importance, is mentioned as having proposed it to Mr.
Pelham, who brought it forward in the House of Commons. The best men
in the city protested against so bold a measure, and the foes of the
minister encouraged the opposition of the fundholder; his friends
overwhelmed him with entreaties to withdraw the motion; and every
engine which could be brought into operation by the moneyed interest
was employed. Reasons which time has since repudiated, fallacies
which almost repudiated themselves, evils which had no existence save
in the brain of the prophet, were freely circulated. It was said that
the landed gentry and the noble families of England would be ruined,
and their children would become beggars; that the interest of younger
sons’ portions would not enable them to associate with the cooks and
coachmen of their elder brothers; and that merchants, shopkeepers,
and tradesmen would be ruined. The farmers would lose their farms;
families would be undone; and such a deluge of distress be brought
upon all ranks, that the consequences would be fatal to that “free
and happy constitution” which has been so often ruined in the brains
and in the prophecies of partisans.
Its first reception was so lukewarm by the minister’s friends, and
the opinions of the people so strong, that, coupled with the previous
failure of a similar measure, its miscarriage was confidently
calculated. “Mr. Pelham,” says the flippant chronicler of the times,
“who has flung himself entirely into Sir John Barnard’s hands, has
just miscarried in a scheme for the reduction of interest, by the
intrigues of the three great companies and other usurers.” Horace
Walpole mistook the voice of his little circle for the voice of the
country. The scheme did not miscarry; and it is remarkable that this,
the first reduction in the interest of the national debt, was planned
in a most masterly manner, and reflected great honor upon Sir John
Barnard. A loss of one per cent. upon the income of an annuitant is
important, and acts prejudicially upon all with limited means. To
obviate this evil, if the fundholder declined receiving his capital,
the interest was reduced from 1750 to 1757 only one half per cent.,
3½ being paid during that period; after 1757 it was reduced the
remaining half per cent. The great resources of England have ever
been regarded with wonder by foreign nations; and they looked with
astonishment on the power of a people which, after a heavy war and an
increased debt, enabled the state to repay its creditors or reduce
its interest.
The name of Sir John Barnard, the father of the city, its honest
representative for six sessions, the remodeller of the Stock
Exchange, and the reducer of the interest on the national debt,
occupies a prominent place in all questions connected with the funds.
Born of the same persuasion as William Penn, he retained during life
much of the simple honesty of the creed he originally professed; and
even Sir Robert Walpole respected him, although he was constant in
his opposition to bad measures, and could never be bought nor bribed.
“I address myself to you, Mr. Speaker, and not to your chair,” he
said, when Sir Robert Walpole, secure in a majority, withdrew the
attention of the Speaker; “I will be heard; and I call that gentleman
to order.” Lord Chatham gave him, half in jest and half in earnest,
the proud title which was afterwards appropriated to himself, of “the
great Commoner.” His pride was indomitable. The members of the Stock
Exchange, who were always spoken of with great contempt by Sir John,
thoroughly detested him, and greatly helped to fan the unpopularity
which fell upon him when he opposed public feeling, as, with a most
unbending integrity, he invariably did, if his conscience prompted.
“He grew,” said Horace Walpole on one occasion, “almost as unpopular
as Byng.” On commercial subjects his opinion was greatly regarded.
When any remarkable feature in financial politics occurred, the town
echoed with, “What does Sir John say to this? What is Sir John’s
opinion?” And he had the honor of refusing the post of Chancellor
of the Exchequer in 1746. It is somewhat at variance with the proud
character of the man, that, from the time his statue was erected in
the Royal Exchange, he never entered the building, but transacted
his business in the front. The blood of Sir John Barnard yet flows
in the veins of some of the best houses in the commercial world, his
son having married the daughter of a gentleman known in contemporary
history as “the great banker, Sir Thomas Hankey.”
CHAPTER VI.
_Origin of New Loans.—Fraud of a Stock-broker.—East India
Stock.—Sketch of Sampson Gideon, the great Jew Broker.—East
India Company.—Restriction of its Dividends.—Liberality to its
Clerks.—Important Decision.—Robbery at Jonathan’s.—Curious
Calculation concerning the National Debt._
The Spanish war, and the war of the Austrian succession, was the
origin of the next increase of the national debt. It was alleged
that the commerce and the merchants of Great Britain were injured
by the Spaniards; that the subjects of England were sent to the
Spanish mines; and though one remonstrance followed another to the
court of Madrid, promises were more plentiful than performances from
the haughty Spaniard. The people were excited to believe that their
honor was insulted; a dramatic exhibition was made at the bar of the
House of Commons; and this war, partly to please the populace, partly
to heal the wounded national pride, and partly to secure British
subjects from the right of search in American seas, was openly
declared in 1739. The heralds were attended in their progress by the
chiefs of the opposition, and the Prince of Wales drank success to
England at Temple Bar; but Sir Robert Walpole, as he heard the merry
peal from the city steeples, muttered, “They may ring their bells
now, they will wring their hands before long.”
The misfortunes with which the campaign opened justified the
minister’s prophecy, and the war was violently attacked in the
House; but the majority of Sir Robert was an irresistible argument,
and calamity continued to mark the progress of the British arms.
An armament, with 15,000 sailors, and as many soldiers, completely
equipped, failed disgracefully before Carthagena. The squadrons of
our admirals were dispersed. Fontenoy witnessed a signal defeat,
and Tournay was taken. Scotland was entered by a Stuart, under
circumstances which promised success. England was threatened with
invasion; the vast armies of the English allies, paid by English
money, raised by loans through the Stock Exchange, were inactive
or defeated; and it was only when a more promising aspect was shed
over our efforts, when the assistance of Russia would have assured a
supremacy, and British fleets had intercepted the treasures of France
and Spain, that the ministry, tired of a war which brought so many
reverses, and alarmed at the voice of public opinion, consented to
treat for peace.
But their treaty was as disgraceful as their war. The principal
cause of the latter, the right of search, was not even alluded to;
no equivalent was received for forts restored to the enemy; and, for
the last time in English history, the nobles of the land were given
as pledges for the country’s faith. “The whole treaty,” says one
historian, “is a lasting memorial of precipitate counsel and English
disgrace.” It is melancholy to add, that this unhappy war added
£31,333,689 to the permanent debt, took £15,080,000 in taxes, and,
says a pamphleteer of the day, “increased the contemptible crew of
’Change Alley.”
The early mode of raising money was somewhat curious. When a new tax
was imposed by Parliament, any person might advance any sum not less
than £100. For this, a tally was given at the Exchequer, with an
order for repayment of the principal, and the payment of interest.
The sums thus advanced were to be paid off in regular order, as the
money arising from the tax was received. But as this was generally
found to be insufficient to redeem the loan, it became necessary
either to prolong the term, or raise a new loan to pay off the old
one.
The interest on loans during the reigns of Anne and William was very
uncertain. In the reign of George II. a new principle was adopted.
Instead of varying it according to the state of the money-market,
the rate was generally fixed at 3 or 3½ per cent., and the necessary
variation made in the sum funded. In consequence of this practice
having prevailed, the principal of the debt now existing amounts to
nearly two fifths more than the sum actually advanced.
As early as 1762, a stock-broker, named John Rice, met the fearful
penalty so liberally awarded to crime by the civil code of the
eighteenth century. A client of Rice, for whom he was accustomed to
receive her dividends, was, under false pretences, induced to grant a
power to sell as well as to receive the interest. As the temptation
to speculate on the Stock Exchange is great, the temptation to divert
property from its legitimate channel is equally so, when confidence
or carelessness has granted the power. The stock-broker sold all
his client’s money, employed it to meet his losses, and kept up his
deception by sending her the dividends as usual. The lady, moved by
doubt, or by some cogent but unknown cause, intimated to Rice her
intention of visiting the city. Unable to restore the money, the
conscience of Rice took the alarm, and he fled, leaving with his
wife £5,000 of the misappropriated property. Ignorant of his evil
deeds, and anxious to join her husband, she embarked for Holland. The
weather proved rough; the vessel was driven back; and the persons
sent in search of the husband apprehended the wife, who yielded the
money in her possession, leaving herself entirely destitute; and it
is to the credit of the directors of the South-Sea Company, that they
settled a small pension on the unhappy woman.
The search continued for Rice, who was discovered in the old town of
Cambray, where he had taken up his residence. The English ambassador
at Paris applied for his delivery; the misguided man found that
Cambray was no city of refuge for him; and the last sad penalty of
the law was enacted on the body of John Rice, the stock-broker.
In February, 1674, the jobbers were taken by surprise, and a sudden
fall of fourteen per cent. in India Stock occurred, owing to an
unexpected war in the East. The incident is only remarkable, that
from this period, marked by a fall in their stock to so large an
extent, commenced the political greatness of the Company. A violent
dispute had arisen between Lord Clive and the directors; but their
foreign affairs assumed so serious an aspect, that the latter were
forced to yield. Every vessel brought alarming tidings. The natives,
unable to bear the oppressive exactions to which they were subject,
arose and defied the government. The directors of the Company
grew alarmed. They forgot their feuds, they remembered only their
dividends, and called Clive to their rescue. But Clive refused to act
so long as one Sullivan, his bitter enemy, occupied the position of
chairman; and as the proprietors would have removed the whole court
of directors rather than miss the services of Clive, Sullivan not
only lost his chairmanship, but was within a single vote of losing
his seat as director. During this exciting period, so great was the
bustle, that Cornhill and Cheapside were filled with the carriages of
the voters; and from this dispute, which commenced with so ominous a
fall in their stock, may the territorial dignity of the East India
Company be dated.
Sampson Gideon, the great Jew broker, as he was called in the
city, and the founder of the house of Eardley, as he is known to
genealogists, died in 1762. This name, as the financial friend of
Sir Robert Walpole, the oracle and leader of ’Change Alley, and the
determined opponent of Sir John Barnard, was as familiar to city
circles in the last century as the names of Goldsmid and Rothschild
are to the present. A shrewd, sarcastic man, possessing a rich vein
of humor, the anecdotes preserved of him are, unhappily, few and far
between. “Never grant a life-annuity to an old woman,” he would say;
“they wither, but they never die.” And if the proposed annuitant
coughed with a violent asthmatic cough on approaching the room-door,
Gideon would call out, “Ay, ay, you may cough, but it sha’n’t save
you six months’ purchase!”
In one of his dealings with Mr. Snow, the banker,—immortalized by
Dean Swift,—the latter lent Gideon £20,000. Shortly afterwards,
the “forty-five” broke out; the success of the Pretender seemed
certain; and Mr. Snow, alarmed for his beloved property, addressed a
piteous epistle to the Jew. A run upon his house, a stoppage, and a
bankruptcy, were the least the banker’s imagination pictured; and the
whole concluded with an earnest request for his money. Gideon went
to the bank, procured twenty notes, sent for a phial of hartshorn,
rolled the phial in the notes, and thus grotesquely Mr. Snow received
the money he had lent.
The greatest hit Gideon ever made was when the’ rebel army approached
London; when the king was trembling; when the prime minister was
undetermined, and stocks were sold at any price. Unhesitatingly
he went to Jonathan’s, bought all in the market, advanced every
guinea he possessed, pledged his name and reputation for more, and
held as much as the remainder of the members held together. When
the Pretender retreated, and stocks rose, the Jew experienced the
advantage of his foresight.
Like Guy, and most men whose minds are absorbed in one engrossing
pursuit, Mr. Gideon was no great regarder of the outward man. In a
humorous essay of the period, the author makes his hero say, “Neither
he nor Mr. Sampson Gideon ever regarded dress.” He educated his
children in the Christian faith, but said he was too old himself to
change. Being desirous to know the proficiency of his son in his new
creed, he asked, “Who made him?” and the boy replied, “God.” He then
asked, “Who redeemed him?” to which the fitting response was given.
Not knowing what else to say, he stammered out, “Who—who—who gave you
that hat?” when the boy, with parrot-like precision, replied in the
third person of the Trinity. The story was related with great unction
at the period.
“Gideon is dead,” writes one of his contemporaries, in 1762, “worth
more than the whole land of Canaan. He has left the reversion of all
his milk and honey, after his son and daughter, and their children,
to the Duke of Devonshire, without insisting on the Duke taking his
name, or being circumcised.” That he was a man of liberal views, may
be gathered from his annual donation to the Sons of the Clergy, from
his legacy of £2,000 to the same charity, and of £1,000 to the London
Hospital. He died in the faith of his fathers, leaving £1,000 to the
Jewish synagogue, on condition of being interred in the burying-place
of the chosen people.”
The question of the sinking fund has greatly occupied the attention
of financial men, and upon few schemes have so many and such various
opinions been given. To view the subject by the light of common
sense, it seems palpably absurd that more money than was necessary
should be borrowed for the sake of paying it again, or that, while a
surplus fund remained in the Exchequer, new loans should be raised.
Paine afterwards declared it was like a man with a wooden leg running
after a hare,—the more he ran, the farther he was off.
The first sinking fund is usually called Sir Robert Walpole’s,
because it was adopted by him; but its author was the Earl of
Stanhope. The taxes, which had at first been for limited periods,
being rendered perpetual, proved greater than the charges they were
meant to defray. The surpluses, therefore, were united under the
name of the Sinking Fund, and appropriated for the discharge of the
national debt.
The opinion which Dr. Price has since so strongly urged was very
prevalent; and as much anxiety concerning the debt existed, it
was considered important to apply this surplus invariably to the
discharge of the great debt, and to borrow by new loans when the
public exigencies required it. Thus, although from 1718 to 1731 was a
period of peace, the following sums were borrowed:—
1718 £505,995
1719 312,737
1720 500,000
1721 1,000,000
1725 500,000
1726 370,000
1727 1,750,000
1728 1,230,000
1729 550,000
1730 1,200,000
1731 500,000
—————————
£8,418,732
The money procured by the sinking fund for the discharge of the
national debt, from 1716 to 1728, amounted to £6,648,000, being a
trifle more than the debt contracted during the same period.
In 1728, it was found that the principle could not be preserved; and
the interest of the loan of that and the following year was charged
on the fund, while the additional taxes imposed to pay the interest
of the loans were applied to increase it. A short time after, the
plan of preserving the sinking fund inviolate was abandoned; and in
1733, £500,000 was taken to meet the expenses of the year; in 1734,
£1,200,000 was taken for the same purpose; and in 1735, it was even
anticipated, and the principle, in effect, abandoned. From that time
its operations grew feeble, its produce was often devoted to other
purposes, and it was found necessary to have recourse to it when the
expenses exceeded the revenue, and no new taxes were imposed. In the
peace which followed the treaty of Utrecht,—a period of twenty-six
years,—£7,231,508 was the amount of debt discharged by the sinking
fund; and in war the produce was applied to the expenses of the
year,—loans being raised for the additional sums required.
This fund produced at its commencement, in
1717 £323,439
From 1717 to 1726, both inclusive 577,614
” 1727 ” 1736 ” 1,132,251
” 1737 ” 1746 ” 1,062,170
” 1747 ” 1756 ” 1,356,578
” 1757 ” 1766 ” 2,059,406
The further and feeble operations of this fund are unnecessary to
trace, as, although it continued nominally in the accounts of the
Exchequer until 1786, when Mr. Pitt’s sinking fund was introduced,
it did little in peace, and nothing in war. From 1717 to 1772 it
produced but twenty millions, being about £357,000 annually.
If the increase to the debt last recorded was caused by a disgraceful
war and a powerless ministry, that which followed was no less
remarkable for the brilliancy of its operations and the greatness of
its achievements. Since the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the English
and French East India Companies had been fighting for supremacy, and
the animosity spread to the colonies. A British force was cut off
in America, and some French vessels were taken on the West India
seas. War seemed necessary, and, when commenced, proved at first
sufficiently humiliating. Hanover was attacked by France, and petty
German princes were subsidized to defend it. Minorca, commanded
by Blakeney, a superannuated general, was taken by Richelieu, a
superannuated fop. Braddock was defeated in America; Admiral Byng
refused to engage the French fleet; and an outcry arose for his life,
which appalled the men who governed the councils of the country.
Shops were filled with libels; walls were covered with satires. The
English people, rarely yielding to the thirst for blood, demanded
that of the unpopular admiral; and the prime minister trembled for
his neck. Our navy could scarcely keep the sea, and the army was
commanded by men desirous only of seeking emolument and avoiding
risk. Enterprise and energy were absent. In the West, our power was
paralyzed; in the East it was endangered. From every county in the
kingdom, from every town in the empire, vengeance was demanded. The
Duke of Newcastle vacated the place of prime minister; a change was
effected; and from that period a succession of conquests filled
the kingdom with pride, and raised the fame of the country. The
accession of Mr. Pitt to the post of prime minister was felt in every
department. France, attacked on some, and menaced on all points,
suffered disastrous defeats, retired from Germany, and saw her West
and East Indian colonies wrested from her. In one action, thirty-six
sail of the line, fifty frigates, and forty-five sloops were taken or
destroyed, and the sea swept clear of the fleets that had insulted
our coasts and our colonies. Triumph after triumph, conquest after
conquest, and, it must be added, loan after loan, were witnessed.
Goree and Guadaloupe were taken. The Heights of Abraham beheld the
fall of Wolfe and of Quebec; Montreal was subdued; and the total
cession of Canada followed. The fleet to which the French court
had confided its American possessions was destroyed, and captured
standards were borne through the streets amidst triumphant shouts,
which deadened the roar of the cannon.
The accession of George III. did not interfere with the conduct of
the war. Nineteen millions were voted the first year of his reign;
and though Mr. Pitt retired from the councils of his Majesty, the
contest was carried on with the same energy; while the system of
subsidies was continued with a profusion which has been rarely
paralleled. Triumphs such as these produced their effects on the
opponents of England. Spain and Portugal were anxious for peace;
France was impoverished, the plate of her monarch converted into
money; and, in 1762, a just and honorable peace was concluded.
It is remarkable, also, that public distress was never less apparent
than during this war; and the rare picture was presented of a people
supporting without murmurs the trials and the taxes of a wide and
costly contest. Prosperity and wealth at home hid the price at which
the victories were purchased abroad. London was never more thriving;
and the importance of several manufacturing districts dates from
the success of the seven years’ war. During this period, the whole
continent of America fell into our power. Twenty-five islands were
captured; twelve great battles won; nine fortified cities, and
forty forts and castles, taken. One hundred ships of war and twelve
millions of specie acquired; sixty millions added to the national
debt, and fifty-two millions raised by taxes.
To produce the peace which followed this contest, bribery was
resorted to, and the public money wasted. “The peace of 1763,”
said John Ross Mackay, private secretary to the Earl of Bute, and
afterwards Treasurer to the Ordnance, “was carried through and
approved by a pecuniary distribution. Nothing else could have
surmounted the difficulty. I was myself the channel through which
the money passed. With my own hand I secured above one hundred and
twenty votes on that vital question. Eighty thousand pounds were set
apart for the purpose. Forty members of the House of Commons received
from me a thousand pounds each. To eighty others I paid five hundred
pounds apiece.”
The continued corruptions produced continued irregularity. George II.
said he was the only master who did not see his servants remunerated;
adding, to Mr. Pelham, that if the civil list were not paid, he would
find another minister. Remonstrances on the injury to the national
and individual interest were so frequent, that the king declared he
would inspect the accounts himself.
The Duke of Newcastle, then prime minister, bowed, and promised
to send the papers; and the following morning, a cart loaded with
official accounts was paraded in the court-yard of the palace. With
much violence, the monarch demanded the cause of the display. “They
form a portion of the accounts your Majesty desired to inspect,” was
the reply; “there is another wagon-full on the road.”
One specimen of the accounts his Majesty had offered to investigate
was, however, quite sufficient; and the public complaint remained
unalleviated.
In 1742, £1,384,000 6_s._ 3_d._ was under the sole direction of the
Earl of Orford for secret-service money, of which £50,077 18_s._ went
to the newspapers; and the amount of this supply expended in the six
weeks preceding the resignation of the Earl of Orford was more than
during the three previous years.
In 1766, the House of Commons compelled the East India Company
to rescind a vote which the excitement of the time had induced
them to pass. The success of Lord Clive, the important commercial
consequences to which it led, and the plunder which rewarded the
victories of the soldier, had fired the brains of the East India
proprietary. The most extravagant reports were promulgated, and
half-yearly dividends of fifty per cent. were confidently promised.
The value of the stock rose enormously; and the directors divided at
the rate of thirteen per cent. per annum. When it was found that the
corporation were enabled to divide thus liberally, Parliament, under
the pretence that it might lead to a dangerous panic, interposed
with a strong hand, directed that the annual dividend of the Company
should be limited to ten per cent., and that all accumulations
beyond should accrue to the state. Great opposition was evinced.
The corporation, having paid liberally for their charter, would not
quietly submit to an interference which so materially decreased its
value; and, having formerly bribed with success, tried the same
process, but without the same result. The changes in the opinion of
the “independent” members, as they were bribed by the Company or awed
by the minister, were somewhat curious; and the cause of Charles
Townshend’s tergiversations was probably only a type of many. Having
dealt largely in India Stock, he cried up the Company’s claims to
serve himself. He then sold out at a profit, and cried them down
to serve his friends. It was a complete South-Sea year. A third of
the House of Commons was deeply engaged in the traffic; and jobbing
was the thermometer by which patriots were made or marred. “From
the Alley to the House,” said Walpole, “is like a path of ants.”
Most of the members were in Mr. Townshend’s position, and the East
India Company were, therefore, restricted in their dividends. The
result was, that this corporation is worthy the study of others
in the liberality with which it rewards the labors of its clerks.
Acting on the fine Mosaic principle, that the ox shall not be muzzled
which treadeth out the corn, the Company have made their servants’
interests their own; they have made them understand that their old
age shall be liberally protected if they faithfully serve; they have
made them know that their widows and orphans shall not be forsaken;
and they have, therefore, made them feel that the service of such a
company is a pleasure, and not a pain; a love, and not a labor.
It is the curse of English commerce, of English banking, and of
English trading generally, that, while large fortunes are made by the
principals, the clerks are often remunerated at a rate inferior to
that which the merchant pays his favorite domestic. The small number
necessary to produce a great income takes away all excuse for this
penury; and as four or five are frequently sufficient to produce
annual thousands, it is to be regretted that, while the principal
seeks the most luxurious abode which wealth can produce, the clerk
goes to some cheap suburban home, in which, with his family, he can
scarcely unite respectability with life.
In corporations and in public offices this is peculiarly hard. The
additional salary would not be felt, and there is a responsibility on
the clerks which demands that their payment should be proportioned to
it. It is an honor to them that, with the lax notions entertained of
corporate and national property, the frauds should be so rare; but
it is a dishonor to commercial nature, that, considering the profits
made by merchants, the daily intercourse they hold with their clerks,
and the trust they are compelled to place in them, they pay in so
small, and work in so great a degree. It is a most suggestive fact,
that, where the functionaries are remunerated the worst, the frauds
are most numerous.
But there is another evil felt by the stipendiary. His personal
treatment is not in accordance with his claims as an educated man.
The coldest look and the haughtiest answer are reserved for him. The
smallest amount of intercourse necessary to business is awarded him.
The common courtesies of life are denied him. The merchant too often
enters his counting-house without recognition, and leaves it without
an adieu.
In similar establishments abroad, the clerks are treated with care
and kindness. They are not made hourly to feel the great gulf between
them and their wealthy superiors. They visit the homes of the latter;
they are confidentially consulted; they are allowed time to think;
they are treated as men, not as animals. And thus it was in England
in the olden time. The merchant of that school invited his clerk to
his home, took an interest in his affairs, and recognized him as a
friend. They worked the fortunes of the house together, and, if the
merchant was repaid by his clerk’s fidelity, the latter was often
admitted into the firm he had served. This is not so now. But the
master is the greatest loser; for there is no service so fruitful as
that which arises from kindness, or so grateful as that which has its
root in affectionate respect.
An important point was decided against the presumed privilege of the
city in 1767. Two gentlemen, wishing to purchase stock, employed
friends, not brokers, to procure it. The chamberlain, deeming this
an invasion of the civic prerogatives, commenced proceedings against
them. In both cases, however, the defendants gained the day. “And,”
says the authority, “it is now settled that every person is at
liberty to employ his friends to buy or sell government securities
without employing a broker.”
Some of the frequenters of Jonathan’s were dexterous manipulators,
and, however the speculator might congratulate himself on his
success in the Alley, it occasionally happened that he found himself
lightened of his profit. Thus, in one day in the above year, no fewer
than four brokers were robbed of their pocketbooks, containing large
amounts of property. The thief was taken; but, in place of expressing
contrition, he gave a voluntary and unexpected opinion, that one man
had as much right to rob as another, and that he was only acting as
an honorary magistrate, in taking that of which they had cheated
their neighbours.
In 1771, a somewhat curious calculation was made, that if the debt of
130 millions were counted in shillings at the rate of 100 a minute,
it would occupy one person 49 years, 158 days, and 7 hours. The same
person also declared its weight in the same coin to be 41,935,484
troy pounds; and that it would require 279,570 men to carry it.
CHAPTER VII.
_Crisis of 1772.—Indian Adventurers, their Ostentation, their
Character.—Failure of Douglas, Heron, & Co.—Neale, Fordyce, &
Co.—Sketch of Mr. Fordyce.—His Success in the Alley.—Alarm of his
Partners.—His Artifice.—His Failure.—General Bankruptcy.—Liberality
of a Nabob.—Reply of a Quaker.—Witticism of John Wilkes.—War of
American Independence.—Artifices of Ministers.—Anecdote of Mr.
Atkinson.—Value of Life on the Stock Exchange.—Longevity of a
Stock-broker._
The crisis of 1772 has been entirely overlooked by those who have
bestowed their thoughts upon such subjects. It had its origin in a
variety of circumstances; but the exciting cause was the failure
of the bank of Douglas, Heron, & Co., established in 1769. It was
the period when the success of adventurers in our Indian empire had
contributed to the wealth of England. Immense sums were accumulated
in a few months. Large purchases of land were made at high prices.
All the early and late symptoms of speculation were apparent.
The vast fortunes brought home were ostentatiously displayed. A
contempt for the slow gains of trade, a feverish excitement, and an
ungovernable impatience to be rich, marked the period. The nabobs
were not disposed to hide their wealth under a bushel. They built
magnificent mansions, and mistook ostentation for taste. They raised
the prices of all articles of consumption; they were bowed to before
their faces, and dreaded behind their backs. Dark deeds were told
of them; and the shrewd peasantry shuddered as the massive carriage
rolled by, which held the man whose wealth had been obtained at
the expense of his humanity. The ephemeral literature of the day
is filled with the popular opinion of the character; and the nabob
is commonly represented as a man with a bad liver and black heart.
Scott, with his exquisite conception of the ludicrous, makes one of
his characters define a nabob as “one who comes frae foreign parts,
with mair siller than his pouches can hold: as yellow as oranges, and
maun hae a’ thing his ain gate.”
For thirty years the public was filled with impressions of their
wealth and crimes; and so late as twenty years ago, Lord Clive was
described to the writer as keeping memorials of his guilt in a box
beneath his bed, and as having destroyed himself because his past
enormities were too great for his conscience to bear. The drama, the
story, and the poem, were colored with their eccentricities; while
newspapers occasionally recorded facts which marked that, in some at
least, a fine generosity was mixed with their grossness.
The effect, however, of these things was to make money plentiful; to
raise a spirit of emulation, and a thirst for gold. In addition to
this, the banking-house of Douglas, Heron, & Co. circulated its paper
with a freedom which had an effect upon the population of Scotland
remembered to the present day. Discounts for a time were plentiful.
Bills presented by farmers, and accepted by ploughmen, were readily
cashed. As is usual in these cases, the dashing character attained by
the bank attracted those who should have known better; and many, who
boasted of their foresight, paid for their presumption.
In 1771, the result of reckless trading was apparent; and Douglas,
Heron, & Co. failed. The shock was felt throughout the empire. The
Royal Bank of Scotland tottered to its base; the banking-houses of
England shook with a well-grounded fear; and the great corporation
of the Bank of England was beset on all sides for assistance, but
from none more vehemently than from Mr. Fordyce, of the house
of Neale, Fordyce, & Co.,—a firm which, from its position, the
importance assumed by its partners, and the known success of some
of its speculations, was generally supposed to be beyond suspicion.
The career of the man who thus craved assistance was somewhat out of
the ordinary way of his craft, and may, perhaps, prove interesting,
as the sketch of an adventurer in whose power it lay to make or mar
the fortunes intrusted to him; and also as a specimen of the mode in
which the Stock Exchange is sometimes resorted to by bankers with the
balances of their customers.
Bred a hosier at Aberdeen, Alexander Fordyce found the North too
confined for any extensive operations, and, repairing to London as
the only place worthy his genius, obtained employment as clerk to a
city banking-house. Here he displayed great facility for figures,
with great attention to business, and rose to the post of junior
partner in the firm of Roffey, Neale, & James. Scarcely was he thus
established, ere he began to speculate in the Alley, and generally
with marked good fortune.
“The Devil tempts young sinners with success”;—
and Mr. Fordyce, thinking his luck would be perpetual, ventured for
sums which involved his own character and his partners’ fortune.
The game was with him; the funds were constantly on the rise; and,
fortunate as daring, he was enabled to purchase a large estate, to
support a grand appearance, to surpass nabobs in extravagance, and
_parvenus_ in folly. He marked the “marble with his name” upon a
church which he ostentatiously built. His ambition vied with his
extravagance, and his extravagance kept pace with his ambition. The
Aberdeen hosier spent thousands in attempting to become a senator,
and openly avowed his hope of dying a peer. He married a woman of
title; made a fine settlement on her Ladyship; purchased estates in
Scotland at a fancy value; built a hospital; and founded charities
in the place of which he hoped to become the representative. But a
change came over his fortunes. Some political events first shook him.
A sensible blow was given to his career by the affair of Falkland
Island;[2] and he had recourse to his partners’ private funds to
supply his deficiencies. Like many, who are tempted to appropriate
the property of others, he trusted to replace it by some lucky
stroke of good fortune, and redoubled his speculations on the Stock
Exchange. Reports reached his partners, who grew alarmed. They had
witnessed and partaken of his good fortune, and they had rejoiced in
the far ken which had obtained the services of so clever a person;
but when they saw that the chances were going against him, they
remonstrated with all the energy of men whose fortunes hang on the
success of their remonstrances. A cool and insolent contempt for
their opinion, coupled with the remark, that he was quite disposed
to leave them to manage a concern to which they were utterly
incompetent, startled them; and when, with a cunning which provided
for every thing, an enormous amount of bank-notes, which Fordyce had
borrowed for the purpose, was shown them, their faith in his genius
returned with the possession of the magic paper; and it is doubtful
whether the plausibility of his manner or the rustle of the notes
decided them.
But ill-fortune continued to pursue Mr. Fordyce. His combinations
were as fine, his plans as skilful, as ever. His mind was as
perceptive as when he first began; but unexpected facts upset
his theories, and the price of the funds would not yield to his
combinations. Every one said he deserved to win; but he still
continued to lose. Speculation succeeded speculation; and it is
remarkable, that, with all his great and continued losses, he
retained to the last hour a cool and calm self-possession. After
availing himself of every possible resource, his partners were
surprised by his absenting himself from the banking-house. This, with
other causes, occasioned an immediate stoppage, and a bankruptcy
which spread far and wide. But Mr. Fordyce was not absent long.
He returned at the risk of his life; the public feeling being so
violent that it was necessary to guard him from the populace while he
detailed a tissue of unsurpassed fraud and folly. He manfully took
the blame upon himself, and exonerated his partners from all, save an
undeserved confidence.
It need hardly be added, that the assistance earnestly begged by Mr.
Fordyce of the Bank of England was refused. Whatever impression might
be entertained by others of his house, the corporation to which he
applied was equally aware of his speculative propensities, as of the
sphere in which he indulged them; and they refused assistance, upon
a well-founded principle, to the man who employed his customers’
capital and his own energies in incessant speculations on the Stock
Exchange. Fordyce, however, only advanced the crash. The Scotch
bankers were the cause; and the Bank of England saw the necessity
of stopping the dangerous game commenced by the Bank of Ayr. The
failures continued in the commercial world. He broke half the people
in town. Glyn and Halifax were gazetted as bankrupts;[3] Drummonds
were only saved by General Smith, a nabob,—the original of Foot’s Sir
Matthew Mite,—supporting their house with £150,000. Two gentlemen,
ruined by the extravagance of the city banker, shot themselves.
Throughout London the panic, equal to any thing of a later date,
but of shorter duration, spread with the velocity of wildfire, and
part of the press attributed to the Bank the merit of supporting the
credit of the city, while part assert that it caused the panic. The
first families were in tears; nor is the consternation surprising,
when it is known that bills to the amount of four millions were in
circulation, with the name of Fordyce attached to them.
The attempts of the speculating banker to procure assistance were
earnest and incessant. Among those to whom Mr. Fordyce went was a
shrewd Quaker. “Friend Fordyce,” was the reply of the latter, “I
have known many men ruined by two dice, but I will not be ruined by
Four-dice.”
In 1774, the number of Hebrew brokers was limited to twelve; and
the privilege was always purchased by a liberal gratuity to the
Lord Mayor. During this year, the mayoralty of Wilks, one of the
privileged being at the point of death, Wilks, with characteristic
boldness, openly calculated on the advantage to be attained, and was
very particular in his inquiries after the sick man. The rumor, that
Wilks had openly expressed a wish for the death of the Hebrew, was
spread by the wags of ’Change Alley, and the son of the broker sought
his Lordship to reproach him with his cupidity. “My dear fellow,”
replied Wilks, with the readiness peculiar to him, “you are greatly
in error. I would sooner have seen all the Jew brokers dead than your
father.”
“It is the nature of colonies, as of children, at a certain period
in their history, to cease to be dependent upon their parents. By
judicious counsel and control they may be retained, but they must
eventually separate; and, with the one as with the other, the future
influence of the parent depends upon that parent’s behaviour during
the nonage of the child.” Such was the opinion of William Pitt,
first Earl of Chatham; and it is to be lamented that the behaviour
of England to her American children was not likely to be remembered
with kindness, when the tie was violently broken. The story of that
disastrous war, when men of the same ancestry and the same habits
were arrayed in hostility, when they who spake the same tongue spake
it only in unkindness, is pitiable and humiliating. From the time
when the inhabitants of Boston refused to be taxed, to the signing of
the treaty with the young republic on terms of equality, the measures
adopted were as severe as they were injudicious; and to the obstinacy
of George III. may be traced the cause and the continuation of the
contest, and the increase of the national debt. The first blow was
struck at Boston. On the evening of December 16th, 1773, a number of
citizens, disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded the vessels containing
the tea which they would not allow to be taxed, and discharged it
into the water, while other cargoes were not only refused a landing,
but were sent back with contempt.
When the news reached London, various restraining measures were
passed. The place which had witnessed the outrage was declared
closed for all exports and imports; and though the bold stand of
the provincials astonished the mother country, it was supposed to
be but temporary. It was soon found, however, that Boston was not
alone; other provinces joined; and British America called a general
congress. Magazines were formed; ammunition was provided; plans were
drawn up for the defence of the country; and a large body enrolled,
termed minute-men, engaged to turn out at a minute’s notice. Every
contingency was prepared for; and an aspect called rebellious by
the mother country was boldly presented. The first blood was shed
at Lexington, where British soldiers fled before American militia.
Emboldened by success, they reduced two forts, took Montreal,
and attempted Quebec. Nor was England idle in the struggle. An
addition to the land and sea force was voted; loans were raised;
reinforcements were ordered to Boston; and the military ardor which
had seized the Americans found fuel on which to expend itself.
With fire-arms formed by themselves; with weapons wrought from the
plough; with artillery so clumsily fashioned that it burst more often
than it discharged; with men who had only the determination to die
free rather than live bond,—the American generals beat the veteran
troops of England. Her forts were taken, her forces surrounded, her
armies destroyed, and her officers made prisoners. The principal
powers of Europe looked with delight upon a struggle between the
soldiers of the mother country and the raw recruits of the colony;
between discipline on the one side and patriotism on the other; on
the entire power of England baffled by men from the pen and from the
plough, from the shop and from the counting-house. The loans of this
disastrous period were most unpopular. The increased taxation which
followed was drawn with the utmost difficulty from the pockets of the
people.
Political misfortunes and military disasters made the subjugation
of America chimerical. Earl Cornwallis surrendered himself and his
army as prisoners of war; and when the contest was extended to
Europe,—when England stood alone against Holland, France, Spain,
and America,—when our navy was defeated,—when the English coast and
harbors were insulted, our West India Islands ravaged, and our trade
swept away,—the discontents of the country increased, and the debates
in the House grew violent and acrimonious. “You sheathe your sword,
not in its scabbard, but in the bowels of your countrymen,” said one;
and on some unhappy boast of driving the Americans into the sea,—“I
might as well,” said Lord Chatham, “think of driving them with my
crutch.” The people grumbled at defeat following defeat, at trade
crippled, at taxes augmented, and debts enlarged.
Loan succeeded loan; a cry arose about the corruption of contracts;
and the feeling of discontent increased so strongly, that the
stubborn obstinacy of the king, who said he would sooner lose his
right arm than his colonies, was compelled to yield to a unanimous
resolution of the Commons, that the House would consider as enemies
all those who advised the continuance of the war. Had any other
monarch sat upon the throne, the large accumulation of debt would,
probably, have been avoided; and England would now be spared the
painful task of looking back upon “a nation convulsed by faction;
a throne assailed by the fiercest invective; a House of Commons
hated and despised; a rival legislature sitting beyond the Atlantic;
English blood shed by English bayonets; our armies capitulating; our
conquests wrested from us; our enemies hastening to take vengeance
upon us for past humiliations; and our flag scarcely able to maintain
itself in our own seas.”
Such was the aspect of public affairs during a war which cost
thirty-two millions in taxes, and added one hundred and four millions
to the national debt.
In 1778, when a loan was proposed, the usual number of applications
was delivered from the bankers, merchants, and members of the Stock
Exchange. To their surprise the answers were not received so soon
as usual; and, as political events were threatening, the applicants
grew anxious. The funds fell greatly; and, when the replies came,
it was found that the whole of this unfortunate loan was fixed upon
them. Had the funds risen, the members and the minister’s friends
would have had a good portion; but, as the scrip was sure to be at
a discount of three per cent., the whole was divided among those
who were either without interest or were opposed to the government.
In 1781, on a new loan being proposed, the same houses applied; but
as the scrip went to a premium, it was divided with due regard to
senatorial interests; and many who had lost on the last loan had no
opportunity of retrieving on the present.
Prior to the allotment, one firm was waited on by a stranger, and
told, that, if they would add his name to their list, they would be
favorably considered. The house declined the proposal, and sent in a
tender for two millions; when, to their surprise, they received, with
an allotment of £560,000, an intimation that the odd £60,000 was for
the gentleman who had waited on them, and of whom they knew nothing.
£240,000 was nominally given to another house; but of this £200,000
was for members whose votes were desirable. Mr. Dent, the head of
the house of Child, and a senator, received £500,000, being two
thirds of his tender; while Drummonds and other bankers, not members,
received only tenths and sixteenths of the sums they requested. Some
applicants, without Parliamentary interest, though as good as any in
the city, were totally neglected, while “to a number of mendicants,”
said Mr. Fox, “obscure persons, and nominal people, were given large
amounts.”
The mendicants and obscure people, thus politely alluded to by the
great gambler, were the Treasury and Bank clerks, to whom a portion
of the loan was usually presented as a compliment for their services.
It is curious to notice the increase of applications for the loans
so constantly required. Thus, in 1778 only 240 persons applied; in
1779 the number increased to 600; in 1780, to 1,100; and in 1781 it
reached 1,600.
In 1785, Mr. Atkinson, said to be an adventurer from the North, was
a great speculator. That he acted with judgment may be gathered from
the fact of his dying possessed of half a million. A curious, but
not a parsimonious man, he occasionally performed eccentric actions.
During one of the pauses in a dinner conversation, he suddenly turned
to a lady by whom he sat, and said, “If you, madam, will trust me
with £1,000 for three years, I will employ it advantageously.” The
character of the speaker was known; the offer so frankly made was as
frankly accepted; and in three years, to the very day, Mr. Atkinson
waited on the lady with £10,000, to which amount the sagacity of the
citizen had increased the sum intrusted to him.
It is probable, although the fact is difficult of attainment, that
the lives of the members of the Stock Exchange are, at the present
day, less valuable than the ordinary average of human life. The
constant thought, the change from hope to fear, the nights broken
by expresses, the days excited by changes, must necessarily produce
an unfavorable effect upon the frame. Instances, however, of great
longevity are not wanting; and one John Riva, who, after an active
life in ’Change Alley, had retired to Venice, died there at the
patriarchal age of one hundred and eighteen.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] “The stocks have got wind of this secret,” said Horace Walpole,
“and their heart is fallen into their breeches, where the heart of
the stocks is apt to lie.”
[3] Sir Thomas Halifax had not a high reputation for liberality.
During a severe winter, when requested to join his neighbours in a
subscription for the poor, and told that “he who giveth to the poor
lendeth to the Lord,” he replied, “He did not lend on such slight
security”; and it is curious, that, when he afterwards applied to a
rich neighbour for assistance, a similar reply, couched in similar
language, was given to his application.
CHAPTER VIII.
_Invention of Lotteries.—The First Lottery.—Employed by the
State.—Great Increase.—Eagerness to subscribe.—Evils of
Lotteries.—Suicide through them.—Superstition.—Insurances.—Spread
of Gambling.—Promises of Lotteries.—Humorous Episodes.—Legal
Interference.—Parliamentary Report.—Lottery Drawing.—Picture of
Morocco Men.—Their Great Evil.—Lottery Puffing.—Epitaph on a
Chancellor.—Abolition of Lotteries._
The history of lotteries is one of those anomalies which it is the
duty rather than the pleasure of the annalist to record. A minute
picture, however, of the progress of these institutions, is as
necessary to the financial annals of the Stock Exchange as it is to
the development of the social history of a people. Invented by the
Romans to enliven their festivities, they were to that luxurious
people a new excitement; and the prizes distributed to their guests
were in proportion to the grandeur of the giver. Fine estates,
magnificent vases, and beautiful slaves, with other and less
expensive prizes, gratified at once the pride of the founder and the
cupidity of the guest.
The application, however, of lotteries to the service of a state
originated at Genoa, the government of which established the
principle for its own benefit. The Church was not long in following
the example at Rome, where the inhabitants deprived themselves of
necessaries to share the chances which their excited imaginations
magnified a hundredfold.
The first on record in England was drawn in 1569. The harbors and
havens of the whole line of coast were out of repair, and the only
mode of procuring money was by lottery. The prizes were partly in
money and partly in silver plate, and the profits to be applied to
the above purpose. But the drawing was a very important task; and, as
400,000 lots were to be drawn, night and day for nearly four months
were the people kept in a state of excitement. The time occupied must
have been somewhat tedious; and, as this was the first lottery, and
there were but three offices in London, it is to be supposed that
the drawing of that period bore the same proportion to the drawing
at a later time, that the coaches then bore to the railroads now. In
1612, another lottery was allowed for the benefit of the Virginia
colonies, in which a tailor gained the largest prize of 4,000 crowns.
But thus early was it found that lotteries and demoralization went
hand in hand. Sanctioned by the state as a source of gain, they were
found equally profitable to private individuals; and the town teemed
with schemes which brought wretchedness and ruin in their train. In
March, 1620, however, they were suspended by an Order in Council;
but it was only a suspension, and the evil was once more revived by
Charles I., who, to assist a project of conveying water to London,
granted a lottery towards its expenses. That which the first Charles
allowed for so great a purpose, the second of the name allowed as a
boon to those whom he could reward in no other way. It was in vain
for censors to preach, divines to sermonize, or the House of Commons
to legislate. While there was the chance of a great gain for a small
risk, men ran in crowds to subscribe. Those who could not pay a large
sum found plenty of opportunities to gamble for a small amount, and
penny lotteries became common.[4] In 1694 they were again employed by
the state, William III. having appealed to the propensities of the
people, and raised one million by the sale of lottery-tickets, the
prizes of which were funded at four per cent. for sixteen years. The
voice of the moralist continued to be raised; and the public papers
show, that, directly the state sanctioned the nuisance, the evil
increased tenfold, and that schemes were introduced which were a loss
to all save the promoters. “What a run of lotteries we have had!”
says one. “With what haste they all put in their money! What golden
promises they made!”
The anecdotes connected with these abominations, the grim, grotesque
despair of the losers, and the eager delight of the gainers, was for
the time the great entertainment of the town. Men ran with eager
haste after the lotteries of merchandise; and “the people were
tickled,” says a pamphleteer, “with the proposals of prodigious
profits, when the proposers intended it only for themselves.” The
writer concludes somewhat vehemently:—“Indeed, the people have been
so damnably cheated, they have no need of dissuading, and their own
sufferings are sufficient to convince them it is their interest to
forbear.”
The system of lotteries sanctioned and employed by the legislature
was a terrible temptation to human nature. The chance, however
remote, of gaining a large sum by a small risk, with the feeling
of anxious and not unpleasing excitement, rendered lotteries a
favorite phase of English gambling; for the voice of the people had
not spoken so peremptorily the great truth, that the state must
not purchase a nation’s wealth at the price of a nation’s morals.
That which a government employs as an instrument of wealth, is
sure to be followed by the people to a lower extent, but in a more
mischievous manner. In 1772, lottery magazine proprietors, lottery
tailors, lottery stay-makers, lottery glovers, lottery hat-makers,
lottery tea merchants, lottery snuff-and-tobacco merchants, lottery
barbers,—where a man, for being shaved and paying threepence,
stood a chance of receiving £10,—lottery shoe-blacks, lottery
eating-houses,—where, for sixpence, a plate of meat and the chance
of sixty guineas was given,—lottery oyster-stalls,—where threepence
gave a supply of oysters and a remote chance of five guineas,—were
plentiful; and, to complete a catalogue which speaks volumes, at
a sausage-stall in a narrow alley was the important intimation
written up, that for one farthing’s worth of sausages, the fortunate
purchaser might realize a capital of five shillings. Quack doctors—a
class which formed so peculiar a feature in village life of old—sold
medicine at a high price, giving those who purchased it tickets in a
lottery purporting to contain silver and other valuable prizes.
The eagerness of the populace grew with the opportunity. The
newspapers teemed with proposals; and the rage for gambling reigned
uncontrolled. Every ravenous adventurer who could collect a few
articles advertised a lottery. Shopkeepers, compelled by the decrease
of business, took the hint, and disposed of their goods in lottery.
Ordinary business among the lower tradesmen was greatly suspended.
Purchasers refused to give the full price for that which might be
obtained for nothing. Large profits were procured upon worthless
articles; and in 1709, so great was the eagerness to subscribe to
a state lottery, that Mercers’ Hall was literally crowded with
customers, and the clerks were insufficient to record the influx
of names. It was, however, from those which were termed “little
goes,”—which drew the last penny from the pockets of the poor
man,—which saw the father gambling and the daughter starving, the
mother purchasing tickets and the child crying for bread,—that most
evil arose. The magistracy, not always the first to interfere, grew
alarmed, and announced their determination to put in practice the
penalties which, if earlier enforced, would have been beneficial,
but, unhappily, were incompetent to put down that which they might
easily have prevented. It was found, also, impossible to restrain in
private adventurers the wrong that the state sanctioned in public.
It was known that lotteries were injurious to morals and to manners;
it was known that crime followed in their wake; it was known that
misery and misfortune were their attendants; but the knowledge was
vain, and remonstrance useless, under the plea of the necessities of
the state.
Lotteries continued to be employed by ministers as an engine to draw
money from the pockets of the people, at a price alike disgraceful
to the government and demoralizing to all. The extent to which the
evil had reached may be inferred from the fact, that money was lent
on these as on any other marketable security; that, in 1751, upwards
of 30,000 tickets were pawned to the metropolitan bankers; and this,
when, to have an even chance for any prize, a purchaser must have
held seven tickets; and it was ninety-nine to one that, even if a
prize were drawn, it did not exceed £50.
Suicide through lotteries became common. The streets swarmed with
unhappy wretches, who, while they suffered for the past, were making
imaginary combinations for the future. All arts were resorted to.
Lucky numbers were foretold by cunning women, who, when their art
failed, shrouded themselves in their mysticism; and if fortune
favored them, paraded their prophecies to the public.
The most gross and revolting superstition was practised to discover
lucky numbers. Rites which surpassed the darkest imagination of a
Maturin, and ceremonies which appear like relics of the elder world,
were resorted to for the same purpose.
It was in vain that the smaller lotteries were put down; they only
gave way to an evil which preyed upon the very vitals of English
society. Insurance, an art upon which hundreds grew rich, while
hundreds of thousands grew poor, was commenced with terrible success.
Those who were unable to buy tickets, paid a certain sum to receive
a certain amount if a particular number came up a prize. A plan like
this was available for all, as the amount could be varied to the
means of the insurer.
It is almost impossible to describe the many iniquities, the
household desolation, the public fraud, and the private mischief,
which resulted from insuring. Wives committed domestic treachery;
sons and daughters ran through their portions; merchants risked the
gains of honorable trade. “My whole house,” wrote one, “was infected
with the lottery mania, from the head of it down to my kitchen-maid
and post-boy, who have both pawned some of their rags that they might
put themselves in fortune’s way.” The passions and prejudices of the
sex were appealed to. Lovers were to strew their paths with roses;
husbands were plentifully promised, and beautiful children were to
adorn their homes through the lottery. And all these glories were
promised when Adam Smith declared, as an incontrovertible fact, that
the world never had, and never would, see a fair lottery. So great
were the charms of insuring, while the chances were so small, that
respectable tradesmen, in defiance of the law, met for this illegal
purpose, on the following day to that on which some of their body had
been taken handcuffed before a magistrate. The agents were spread in
every country village, and the possession of a prize was an absolute
curse to the community. Its effects were witnessed alike in the shock
it gave to industry, and the love of gambling it spread among the
people. It is due to those whose voices were lifted up against these
abominations to say, that their appeals to the good feeling of the
government were incessant; but the state replied in that language
which is so unanswerable when held by a firm government, that the
necessities of the state overbalanced the evils of the lottery.
Nor could ignorance be pleaded of its fatal effects. The domestics of
the senators themselves purchased shares with their masters’ money;
and members of the lower and upper house were unable to resist the
fascinations of the game they condemned. The most subtle language was
not wanting to support the cause. Scripture was used to defend it;
and as the Bible was perverted by the supporters of the slave-trade,
and lately by the discoverers of the virtues of chloroform, so was
it now wrested to prove the antiquity and sanctity of lotteries. “By
lot,” they said, “it was determined which of the goats should be
offered to Aaron. By lot the land of Canaan was divided. By lot Saul
was marked out for the kingdom. By lot Jonah was discovered to be the
cause of the storm.”
There are many incidents, which, recorded in contemporary annals,
have been either overlooked or disregarded as insignificant. There
is, however, nothing insignificant connected with so important a
topic, and nothing ought to be overlooked on an evil which has eaten
to the very heart of society, and which may again be used by some
unscrupulous minister for some unscrupulous purpose. The declaration
of Sir Samuel Romilly, that “whenever the House voted a lottery, they
voted that the deserving should become depraved,” with the additional
assertion, that “the crimes committed would be chiefly bought off by
the paltry gain to the state coffers,” was entirely disregarded.
Let it be remembered that a chancellor declared “he could not
see that lotteries led to gambling,”—that though the Corporation
of London presented an earnest petition for their abolition, as
injurious to commerce and injurious to individuals,—that though Lord
Mansfield said the state exhibited the temptation and then punished
for the crime to which it tempted,—that though, on one occasion,
out of twenty-two convicts who left the country, eighteen commenced
their career with insuring,—that though forged notes were encouraged
from the carelessness with which lottery-office keepers received
and passed them,—that though it was iterated and reiterated that no
circumstances conduced so much to make bad wives and bad husbands,
bad children and bad servants,—that though men threw themselves into
the river from the infatuation of their wives,—though the plate of
respectable families was pledged to assist the mania,—that though the
poor-rates were increased, and the consumption of excisable articles
diminished, during the drawing,—that though the gambling and lottery
transactions of one individual only were productive of from ten to
fifteen suicides annually,—that though half a million sterling yearly
came from metropolitan servants,—that though four hundred fraudulent
lottery-offices were in London alone,—that though no revenue was
ever collected at so great an expense to the people,—that though
families pawned every thing they had, sold the duplicates, and were
reduced to poverty,—that though women forgot the sanctities of their
sex,—that though the parishes were crowded with applicants who had
reduced themselves by insurances,—that though perjury was common,
and small annuitants squandered their resources,—that although all
these pictures were drawn, and statements made, so publicly and so
prominently that they could not fail to reach even the obtuse ears
of a dominant ministry,—yet it was not until 1826 that the evil
was abolished. A similar pressure may recall the evil. It is of no
importance to argue that lotteries are forbidden, and that the morals
and the minds of the people are more regarded. Lotteries have been
repeatedly forbidden, but they have been invariably renewed when the
coffers of the state were low; and the morals of the people are a
minor point compared with the balance-sheet of the nation.
The melancholy history was occasionally enlivened by episodes, which
sometimes arose from the humor, and sometimes from the sufferings of
the populace. It is recorded as a fact, that, to procure the aid of
the blind deity, a woman to whom a ticket had been presented caused a
petition to be put up in church, in the following words:—“The prayers
of the congregation are desired for the success of a person engaged
in a new undertaking”; a singular contrast to others, who sought the
midnight gloom of a church-yard to secure them the good fortune so
eagerly craved. Romantic incidents often checkered the history. Old
bureaus with secret drawers, containing the magic papers which led to
an almost magic fortune, were purchased of brokers, or descended as
heirlooms.
The evils in country places were more vividly impressed on the mind
from the smallness of the population. In a village near town, a
benefit-club for the support of aged and infirm persons existed for
many years. Among the members was one who, in trying his luck, gained
£3,000. The effect was feverish and fatal to the peace of the little
community. The society formed to nourish the sick and clothe the
needy, was converted into a lottery-club. The quiet village, which
had hitherto vegetated in blessed peacefulness, rang with the sound
of prizes, sixteenths, and insurances. People carried their furniture
to the pawnbrokers, while others took their bedclothes in the depth
of winter to the same source. The money thus procured was thrown
away upon lotteries; and the prize of £3,000 was destructive to the
happiness of the place.
Up to the year 1780, although these many evils were well known,
insurances, and every species of gambling connected with the lottery,
were legal. But the malady grew so violent, that, after much urging,
a step was taken in the right direction. Insurances were declared
illegal, and prohibited under very heavy penalties. So many, however,
were imprisoned,—and perjury was not wanting for the sake of the
penalty,—that some check was necessary. A law, therefore, was
made, preventing any one from suing save the Attorney-General; and
some idea may be formed of the extent of the evil from the fact,
that, between 1793 and 1802, upwards of one thousand were punished
with imprisonment. But the determination to insure surpassed the
determination to punish. The officers of government were absolutely
defied. Blood, in defence of that which the law declared illegal,
was freely shed. So organized was the system, that two thousand
clerks, and seven thousand five hundred persons known as “Morocco
men,” with a numerous staff of armed ruffians, were attached to the
insurance-offices. Committees were held three times a week; measures
were invented to defeat the magistrates; money to an enormous extent
was used to bribe the constabulary; while to those who refused to be
bribed, a bold and insolent defiance was offered, with threats, which
the officers well knew would be executed at the risk, or even the
certain sacrifice, of life.
In 1805, Parliament again took cognizance of the evil. The reiterated
declarations of the press, the repeated assertion of members of
the senate, the universal voice of the country, coupled with the
notorious fact, that crime continued to follow the system, compelled
government to appoint a committee of the House to report upon it. The
attendance of all who could give any information upon the subject was
required, and a volume of evidence printed, which, though it must
have opened the eyes, could not open the hearts, of the ministers.
Time, instead of softening or subduing the misery, had extended
its ramifications into the highest, as it once had been confined
to the lowest, society. The middle class—ordinarily supposed to be
freest from vice—had gradually succumbed. The penniless miscreant
of one day became the opulent gambler of the next; and the drawing
of the lotteries might be marked by the aspect of the pawnbrokers’
shops, which overflowed with the goods of the laborer, with the
ornaments of the middle class, and with the jewels of the rich.
Servants went to distant places with the purloined property of their
masters, pledged it, and, destroying the tickets, insured in the
lottery. Manufacturers discharged those workmen who could not resist
the temptation. During the drawing of the prizes less labor was
done by the artisans. Housekeepers of the lower order were unable
to pay their taxes; money was begged from benevolent societies;
and men, pretending they were penniless, were fed and housed by
the parish while embarking in these chimerical schemes. Felons,
on the morning of an ignominious death, named lotteries as the
first cause; and often, if a dream pointed to a particular number,
crimes were committed to procure it, which led to transportation
instead of fortune. Individuals presented themselves to insure,
with such unequivocal marks of poverty in their appearance, that
even the office-keepers refused their money; and yet, such was the
indefatigable love of adventure, that many would come in at one door
as fast as they were shown out at the other.
“When I have caught a great many in a room together,” said one
witness, “I have found most of them poor women, and in their pockets
twenty or thirty, and even sixty, duplicates on one person. Their
pillows, their bolsters, their very clothes, were pledged, till they
were almost naked.”
“First,” said Mr. Sheridan, “they pawned ornaments and superfluities,
then their beds, the very clasps of their children’s shoes, the very
clothes of the cradle. The pawnbroker grew ashamed of his profession.”
A walk near the spot where the prizes were announced painfully
evinced the progress this terrible delusion had made, and the classes
to which it had extended.
Hundreds of wretched persons, the refuse of society, the very dregs
of the people, might be seen waiting with frightful eagerness until
their fate was decided. The courtesan was there, forgetting for a
time her avowed pursuit; the man who the night before had committed
some great crime; the pale artisan with his attenuated wife; the girl
just verging upon womanhood; the maid-servant, who had procured a
holiday to watch her fortune; weary forms and haggard faces, mingling
with the more robust and ruffianly aspects,—yet all bearing one
peculiarity, that of intense anxiety,—marked the purlieus of the
place where the lottery was drawn. The oath which shocked the ear,
the act which shocked the eye, the scurrilous language of the boy
ripe in mature iniquity, the scream of the child dragged from its
rest, to mingle in scenes it could not comprehend, formed a pictorial
group which Hogarth alone could have given to posterity, as an
evidence of civilization in the nineteenth century.
But it has been said, that the mischief was not confined to the
poorer classes. Persons of the first consequence entered into
insurances for a great amount. Instances are not wanting, in which
gentlemen of large landed property, guilty of no other extravagance,
lost all their cash, sold their estates, and died in the poor-house.
The “Morocco men,” so called from the red morocco pocketbooks
which they carried, were remarkable features in the lottery, half
a century ago. They began their lives as pigeons, they closed them
as rooks. They had lost their own fortunes in their youth, they
lost those of others in their age. Generally educated, and of bland
manners, a mixture of the gentleman and the debauchee, they easily
penetrated into the society they sought to destroy. They were seen
in the deepest alleys of Saint Giles, and were met in the fairest
scenes of England. In the old hall of the country gentleman, in the
mansion of the city merchant, in the butlery of the rural squire,
in the homestead of the farmer, among the reapers as they worked on
the hill-side, with the peasant as he rested from his daily toil,
addressing all with specious promises, and telling lies like truth,
was the morocco man found, treading alike the finest and the foulest
scenes of society. They whispered temptation to the innocent; they
hinted at fraud to the novice; they lured the youthful; they excited
the aged; and no place was so pure, and no spot so degraded, but,
for love of 7½ per cent., did the morocco man mark it with his
pestilential presence. No valley was so lonely, but what it found
some victim; no hill so remote, but what it offered some chance; and
so enticing were their manners, that their presence was sought, and
their appearance welcomed, with all the eagerness of avarice.
And little were they who dealt with these persons aware of the
characters with whom they trafficked. Of bland behaviour, but gross
habits, the nature of their influence on the unpolluted minds with
which they had to deal may be judged from the fact, that some of the
morocco men ended their days at Tyburn; that transportation was the
doom of others; and that the pillory was the frequent occupation of
many. To such men as these were the morals of the people exposed
through the lottery. Nor, if the opinion of a member of the senate
can be trusted, was the lottery-office keeper much better. “I know of
no class of persons in the country,” said Mr. Littleton, “excepting
hangmen and informers, on whom I should be less disposed to bestow
one word of commendation.”
The wonder is, not that the public was tempted so much, but that
it was seduced so little. Puffing, by the side of which the power
of a Mechi and a Moses waxes dim, was employed to assist the
contractor. Myriads of advertisements were circulated in the streets.
The newspapers, under all forms and phases, contained stories of
wonderful prizes. Horns were sounded; huge placards displayed; false
and seductive lures held out; houses hired for the sole purpose of
displaying bills; falsehoods fresh every day; and fortunes to be
had for nothing. Puffs, paragraphs, and papers circulated wherever
the ingenuity of man could contrive. The public thoroughfares were
blazoned by day and lighted by night with advertisements.
With such a picture of crime as has been presented to the reader,
he may not think the quiet satire of Mr. Parnell on the Chancellor
unmerited. He said that the following epitaph ought to be placed on
his grave:—
“Here lies the Right Honorable Nicholas Vansittart, once Chancellor
of the Exchequer, who patronized Bible Societies, built churches,
encouraged savings’ banks, and supported lotteries.”
The attention bestowed on the subject, the mass of intelligence
collected, the evidence given by competent parties, produced
considerable notice, and the report condemned the evil the committee
had examined.
“The foundation of the lottery,” it said, “is so radically vicious,
that under no system can it become an efficient source of gain, and
yet be divested of the evils and calamities of which it has proved so
baneful a source.
“Idleness, dissipation, and poverty are increased; sacred and
confidential trusts are betrayed; domestic comfort is destroyed;
madness often created; crimes subjecting the perpetrators to death
are committed.
“No mode of raising money appears so burdensome, so pernicious, and
so unproductive. No species of adventure is known where the chances
are so great against the adventurers; none where the infatuation is
more powerful, lasting, and destructive.
“In the lower classes of society, the persons engaged are, generally
speaking, either immediately or ultimately tempted to their ruin;
and there is scarcely any condition of life so destitute and so
abandoned, that its distresses have not been aggravated by this
allurement to gambling.”
Notwithstanding the strong nature of this report, the labors of the
committee were fruitless. Various attempts at amelioration were made,
but the evil was not finally abolished until the year 1826.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] Mr. J. B. Heath says of the early lotteries, in his valuable
volume entitled “Some Account of the Grocers’ Company,”—“There is not
one entry in the accounts to show that the prizes were ever paid,”
and quotes various documents to prove that they were very difficult
to procure. “The science of puffing,” adds this gentleman, “which in
our times has attained such perfection, was unknown at that period,
and in lieu of placards and advertisements, the more direct mode was
adopted of personal solicitation.”
CHAPTER IX.
_Wholesale Jobbing.—Insurance on Sick Men.—False
Intelligence.—Uselessness of Sir John Barnard’s Act.—Origin
of the Blackboard.—Opposition to Loans.—Lord Chatham’s
Opinion of Jobbers.—Inviolability of English Funds.—Parisian
Banking-Houses.—Proposition to pay off the National
Debt.—Extravagance of the Contractors.—Lord George Gordon’s
Opinion of them.—Members’ Contracts.—New System adopted.—Abraham
Goldsmid.—Bankers’ Coalition broken by him.—His Munificence.—His
Death.—Sensation in the City._
The following picture of wholesale jobbing, drawn from public and
private documents, from correspondence, from newspapers, and from
Parliamentary history, will show that gambling was equally pursued in
high places as in ’Change Alley.
Letters from abroad, containing false intelligence, were forwarded
to, or forged by, senators; names of importance were fraudulently
used; the news was promulgated, and funds raised or lowered according
to the wish of the contriver. But if the jobber was cheated in one
way, he took his revenge in another. The domestics of public men
were bribed by him; the secretaries of men in office were paid by
him; the mistresses of ministers were accessible to him; and, it is
said, even their wives were not seldom in the pay of members of the
Stock Exchange. Nor did many hesitate to declare that men in office
not only made profit of the news they really received, but that they
promulgated false intelligence, knowing, from their position, it
would be received as true, at the expense of their own character, and
to the ruin of the men who trusted them.
Another practice had obtained a notoriety so bad and baleful, that
it became necessary to stop its progress. Directly it was known that
any great man was seriously ill, insurances on his life, at rates
in proportion to his chance of recovery, were made. These bargains
were reported in the papers; and the effect on an invalid who knew
his health to be precarious may be imagined, when he saw in the
_Whitehall Evening Post_, that “Lord —— might be considered in great
danger, as his life could only be insured in the Alley at ninety per
cent.” The custom grew so rapidly, and the evil was so serious, that
the principal merchants and underwriters refused to transact business
with brokers who engaged in such practices.
Of a less questionable character was the habit of insuring property
in any besieged city; or the yet more common mode of paying a premium
to receive a certain sum, should the city be taken by the day named
in the contract. The Spanish ambassador was accused of insuring
£30,000 on Minorca, during the seven years’ war, when the despatches
announcing its capture were in his pocket.
The newspapers were the vehicles generally employed to spread false
intelligence; and an almost invariable success attended those who
made use of the press to promulgate, in bold type and inflated
language, “bloody engagement,” “rumored invasion,” or “great
victory,” to assist their city operations. Every class, from the
maiden who jobbed her lottery-ticket, to the minister who jobbed
his intelligence, was involved in the pursuit. All these bargains
were for time, and continued to prove that the act by which Sir John
Barnard hoped to abolish gambling was useless; and it is an anomaly
in the history of our great debt, that bargains in the very funds
which were raised to support the national credit are disallowed by
the national legislature. It is a law which has been tried and found
wanting. It does not prevent, in the smallest or slightest degree,
the system it was meant to crush; and it adds to the immorality of
the speculator and the risk of the broker, by allowing the former to
repudiate his bargain at the expense of the latter.
Under the early loan-acts, tallies were delivered to the first
contractors. When a sale was effected, the name of the purchaser was
indorsed upon the tally, and from that entered into the government
books, for the convenience of paying the dividends to the right
person. This clumsy machinery was afterwards abolished; but though,
in 1717, the transfers and dividends of the national debt were first
undertaken by the Bank, it was not until 1783 that the present method
of transfer was adopted.
The origin of the blackboard—that moral pillory—of the Stock Exchange
occurred in 1787. “There were no less than twenty-five lame ducks,”
said the _Whitehall Evening Post_, “who waddled out of the Alley.”
Their deficiency was estimated at £250,000; and it was upon this
occasion the above plan was first proposed, and a very full meeting
resolved, that those who did not either pay their deficiencies or
name their principals should be publicly exposed on a blackboard to
be ordered for the occasion. Thus the above deficiencies—larger than
had been previously known—alarmed the gentlemen of ’Change Alley, and
produced that system which is yet regarded with wholesome awe.
During the administration of Mr. Pitt, in 1786, a sinking fund
was again attempted; the various branches of revenue being united
under the title of the Consolidated Fund. One million was annually
taken from it, and placed in the hands of the Commissioners for the
Redemption of the National Debt, and was applied in purchasing such
funds as might be deemed expedient at the prices of the day. The
interest of the debt thus redeemed, the life-annuities which fell in,
or the annuities which expired, were added to the fund, the interest
of which, when the principal amounted to four millions, was no longer
to be applied to it, but remain at the disposal of Parliament.
The difficulties which every minister met in every new loan, were
more in proportion to the power of the opposition, than to the
fairness or necessity of the demand. In unpopular wars, these
difficulties were doubly increased. In the American contest, the
whole population demanded peace; and nothing but the obstinacy of
“the best farmer and worst king,”—nothing but a corrupt Parliament,
wholesale places, a dominant aristocracy, and large premiums to the
moneyed interest,—could have carried Lord North through the session,
enlivened by his humor, and the enmity created by the war. The loans,
therefore, of this period were fiercely attacked; ’Change Alley
fiercely denounced; and the plans of the government hotly contested.
The mode of conducting the loans was then, as before, made conducive
to the majority of the ministry, at the expense of the people. Out
of 60,000 lottery-tickets, 22,000 were given to a few members,
producing £44,000 profit. When the system was attacked, precedent,
the bane of official people, was quoted; and because it was known
that, in 1763, Mr. Fox had £100,000, Mr. Calcraft and Mr. Drummond
£70,000, the Governor of the Bank £150,000 for the corporation, and
£50,000 for himself, and other members similar sums, it was deemed a
sufficient and an unanswerable defence. But though by such methods
the minister got the votes of the House, he found it more difficult
to get the money from the public after it was voted. In 1779, he was
greatly troubled to procure it on reasonable terms. From bankers he
went to contractors, from contractors to stock-jobbers, and from
stock-jobbers he went back to the bankers, paying a much higher rate
than they at first demanded. “It was but yesterday,” writes Horace
Walpole, “that Lord North could tell the House he had got the money
on the loan, and is happy to get it under eight per cent.” The loan
of 1780 brought them again into disrepute. Half was given to members
of the House of Commons; more than three millions was allotted to one
person; and, without regard to the welfare of the nation, the price
was determined at a rate so favorable to the contractors, that, from
no cause save the low terms on which it had been taken, the scrip
arose at once to eleven premium. In 1781, it was said that Lord
North had made an infamous bargain in a bungling manner; and that,
in 1782, he had made a bungling bargain in an infamous manner; and
this was solemnly protested against as an improvident operation, a
corrupt job, and a partial distribution. There cannot be a doubt that
the mode of conducting these loans was detrimental to the national
interest, and conducive to that of the Stock Exchange. There were
three plans up to this period. The first was in the offers of private
individuals, stating the sum each would advance; the second was an
open subscription at the treasury; and the third a close subscription
with a few. By the first, the members of Parliament were bribed;
and by the third, the bankers; then the principal contractors were
enriched. Their interest, and it was great, with their votes in the
House, and they were many, were, therefore, at the disposal of the
government. In 1783, out of a loan for £12,000,000, £7,700,000 were
given to bankers. So disgraceful was the whole affair, that Lord
John Cavendish was compelled to apologize for the terms on which it
had been granted, because “the former minister had left the treasury
without a shilling.” By attempting to please men of all parties, Lord
John, as usual, pleased none. He was abused by some for dividing it
among so small a number; he was rated by others for allowing so many
to have a share. Mr. Smith, of the house of Smith & Payne, made a
formal complaint that he had been neglected in the allotment; that
his firm was the only one left out; and that, in consequence, a
stigma of a very disagreeable character was attached to it. By the
explanation, it appeared that another house of the same name had
been accused of tempting customers from the various bankers, by
giving portions of the loan to those who would secede. The meanness
had been attributed to Smith, Payne, & Co., and Lord John omitted
them in consequence from his list. Mr. Smith was very irate on the
subject; and although his Lordship explained, as the explanation
was unaccompanied by a share of the loan, it was, probably, very
unacceptable to the indignant banker. Although this gentleman saw no
harm in receiving a portion of the loan, other bankers had higher
views. Mr. Martin, believing that, as a senator, he ought not to
contract, lest it might bias his votes, conscientiously refused to
accept any portion of loan or contract; and thus sacrificed his
pocket to his principle.
When jobbing occurred in the senate, who can wonder at the jobbing
in the funds, or at the strong feeling which such contemptible
squabbling created, and which fell upon the members of the House of
’Change as fiercely as on the members of the House of Commons?
“Such gentry,” said one, “coin disaster to sink the funds without
cause. If gospels mended mankind, there should have been a new
sermon preached on the mount, since ’Change Alley was built, and
money-changers were driven out of the temple all over Europe.” “Ten
thousand lies are propagated every week, not only by both sides, but
by stock-jobbers. Those grave folks, moneyed citizens, contribute
exceedingly to embroil and confound history, which was not very
authentic before they were spawned.”
Lord Chatham was not backward in expressing an opinion of those whom
he designated “the cannibals of ’Change Alley.” “To me, my Lords,” he
once said, “whether they be miserable jobbers of ’Change Alley, or
the lofty Asiatic plunderers of Leadenhall Street, they are equally
detestable.” The same strong feeling animated him when he was told
that one of his measures had caused a decline in the stocks. “When
the funds are falling, we may be sure the credit of the country is
rising.”
A finer spirit—and that spirit is the principle which has pervaded
the whole public transactions of England—was evinced when the same
nobleman was advised to retaliate on the Dutch merchants,—who had
committed several outrageous frauds on the English,—by seizing their
immense property in our funds. “If the Devil himself had money
there,” he replied, “it must rest secure.” To his Lordship, and to
the political assertion he made, that “not a gun should be fired in
Europe without England knowing why,” it was of the utmost importance
that the integrity of the nation should be maintained.
During the American war, many of those in arms had property in the
funds; and the provinces, as bodies corporate, had money in the
same securities. It is to the credit of the revolutionists, that,
though they fully expected this property would be confiscated,
they persisted in their course; and it is equally to the credit of
England, that their capital was as secure, and their interest as
regularly paid, as if they were not in open rebellion.
Not only in loans were the people wronged and robbed,—the word is
harsh, but expressive,—the contracts for the public service exhibited
also the most gross and glaring favoritism. From time to time the
evil was exposed; Parliament grew violent, and the public waxed
wroth. Every quarter of a century, an inquiry was instituted, and the
whole ended partly in some influential person being disgraced, and
partly in an expression, that “the said frauds and abuses were one
great occasion of the heavy debt that lies upon the nation.” A few
specimens may serve to indicate the wrongs which, from time to time,
have aggrandized an unpopular government, have swollen the pockets of
the few, and increased the wants of the many.
The borough-monger, who for years had been in possession of a pocket
borough, found his property disturbed, and his constituents tampered
with, by the contractor, who, as a candidate for the honor of the
forum, was marked by vice, extravagance, and folly. As a member of
the senate, he assumed the purity of the patriot, complained of
the absence of economy, and declared how much cheaper the public
business might be accomplished. He teased the minister; he perplexed
the Parliament; he puzzled the government; until, by giving him a
job, the patriot was turned into a contractor, and from that hour he
marked the public money as his own. If the First Lord of the Treasury
were indolent, the contractor availed himself of his sloth; if
ignorant, he taught him, and made the country pay for the lesson.
The very name of a contractor was odious, and their luxuries were
bitter in the eyes of the people. Their abodes were like those of
princes; their daughters wedded with nobles; the follies of their
sons were the talk of the town; they died possessed of fortunes which
kings might envy; and, as nearly all were members of Parliament,
attention became pointed at men whose mansions and whose manors,
bought with public money, challenged public notice.
“The minister,” remarked Mr. Fox, “said to him, ‘I will give you a
contract, if you will give me a vote.’ The contractor replies, ‘Now
I have given you a vote, give me a contract. I voted that we had
forty-two ships when we had but six, and that the French fleet did
not consist of thirty-two ships. You must not, therefore, quarrel for
twopence a gallon on rum, or a farthing on a loaf of bread.’”
Lord George Gordon, shortly before his extraordinary conduct in 1780,
said,—“This dunghill of contracts has given an ill air to our whole
proceedings. It has got abroad, and proves very offensive to the
public nostrils. Our constituents begin to smell a rat. They nose
us in the lobby, and call us tailors and shoemakers, cobblers and
cabbage-salters, potato forestallers, sour-krout makers, and swine
contractors. The dignity, reputation, and fair fame of the Commoners
is smothered and sinking in porter and salted cabbage, shoes,
sour-krout, and potatoes.” Lords of trade ordered pewter inkstands
by the hundred, sold them, and purchased silver ones with the money
they produced; or ordered green velvet bags for official papers, and
employed the velvet of which they were composed to make court dresses.
Under the Pelham administration, members received regular stipends
in bank-notes, from £500 to £800 yearly, varying according to the
influence or ability of the senator. “This largess I distributed,”
added the person who took charge of the delicate department,—and
the particulars are worth enumerating,—“in the court of requests
on the day of the prorogation of Parliament. I took my stand there;
and as the gentlemen passed me, in going to or returning from the
House, I conveyed the money in a squeeze of the hand. Whatever
person received the ministerial bounty, I entered his name in a book
which was preserved in the deepest secrecy, it being never inspected
by any one but the king and Mr. Pelham.” This book was afterwards
demanded of Mr. Roberts, the almoner, but he resolutely refused to
yield it except by the king’s express command, or to his Majesty in
person. In consequence of his refusal, the king sent for him to St.
James’s, where he was introduced into the closet. He was then ordered
to return the book in question, with which injunction Mr. Roberts
immediately complied. At the same time, taking the poker in his hand,
his Majesty put it into the fire, made it red hot, and, while the
ministers and Mr. Roberts stood round him, he thrust the book into
the flames, where it was immediately reduced to ashes.
These evils were so manifest and manifold, that, after various
attempts to pass a measure which should be some check on government,
a bill was introduced, by which all contracts were made subject to a
species of auction, although the minister was not compelled to accept
the lowest offer.
During the debates which were held upon the subject, many other facts
were elicited, which confirm all the previous remarks, and prove
the iniquity with which the money of the country was disposed of.
One member possessed a contract producing £30,000 a year more than
the legitimate profit. Mr. Alderman Harley made £37,000 too much by
another. On a contract for remitting gold, £35,000 was paid more than
was necessary. At an earlier period it was discovered, that, out of
16,000 tuns of beer contracted and paid for, only 7,000 tuns were
delivered. The rum contract was granted at fifty per cent. above
a remunerating price. The transport service paid twenty per cent.
too much. Millions were lying for years in the hands of favorite
placemen, favorite agents, and favorite contractors, while the
country was borrowing at an exorbitant interest; and, after a careful
perusal of the evidence, there can be no doubt that the charge of
corrupting the House was true; nor was it in the nature of a member
of Parliament in the eighteenth, any more than in the nineteenth
century, to possess profitable contracts, the continuation of which
depended on war, and yet speak honestly and earnestly for peace.
The names of Abraham and Benjamin Goldsmid will recall to the memory
of many of our readers the forms and features of these magnates of
the money-market. Of singular capacity, and of equally singular
good fortune, the firm of which they were the members rose, from
comparative obscurity, to be the head and front of ’Change Alley.
Prior to 1792 they were little known,—Mr. Gurney, the eminent
bill-broker, regards them as his predecessors,—but by that year they
occupied an important position, and became successful competitors for
the national loans. They were the first members of the Stock Exchange
who competed with the bankers for the favors of the Chancellor,
and diverted from their purses those profits which were scarcely
a legitimate portion of banking business. The combination of that
interest being thus broken, the bargains for public loans became
more open; there was no confederation to limit and lower the prices;
and the ministry and country reaped the benefit in improved terms.
The house of Sir William Curtis, whose fortunes were founded in
this manner; of Dorrien and of Boldero, names which, great in their
day, have almost passed from the roll of city bankers; of Grote,
now better known as the philosophical historian of Greece; were
all competitors, three quarters of a century ago, for those loans
which the necessities of the country made so frequent. Nor were
people wanting who openly accused the entire banking interest of an
unfair confederation to realize their views. This interest was first
attacked by the boldness of Abraham and Benjamin Goldsmid; and it is
easy to imagine the feelings of the bankers when unknown men reaped
the prize which they had hitherto gathered.
The daily papers bore an almost daily testimony to their munificence.
Naturally open-handed, the poor of all creeds found kindly
benefactors. On one day, the grandeur of an entertainment to royalty
was recorded; and on the next, a few words related a visit of mercy
to a condemned cell. At one time, mansions, vieing in architectural
beauty with those of our nobility, were described; at another, some
great and gracious act of charity was recorded. Entertainments
to princes and ambassadors, reviving the glories of the Arabian
Nights, were frequent; and galleries, with works of art worthy the
magnificence of a Medici, graced their homes. They were awhile
Fortune’s chief and most especial favorites. When, in 1793, the old
aristocracy of England’s traders fell, as in 1847, and the Bank in
one day discounted £4,400,000, their losses amounted but to £50.
Prizes, under circumstances little inferior to romance, followed
their purchases of lottery-tickets; and they knew, as if by instinct,
a bill of exchange with a bad name to it.
The brothers had faced the storm of life in their earlier years.
Fortune, which crowned their efforts, proved that prosperity had no
power to divide them; and when, in the early part of the nineteenth
century, Benjamin Goldsmid destroyed himself, the survivor felt the
loss so severely, that he never recovered the shock. The death of
Benjamin caused no abatement in the benevolence of Abraham Goldsmid;
and one who knew him well has written with enthusiasm of his “general
philanthropy, his ready munificence, his friendly demeanour, his mild
and unassuming manner.”
Many anecdotes, singularly illustrative of his kindly feeling, are
still remembered. It is stated that, on one occasion, noticing a
great depression in the waiter who usually attended him where he
dined, he inquired the cause, ascertained that it was pecuniary,
gave the astonished man double the amount he required, and refused
to listen to the thanks of the recipient. Another story is extant
to the same purport. He became acquainted by accident with one of
those simple and single-minded country curates, whose poverty was the
disgrace, and whose piety was the glory, of the Church of England.
This was the man for Abraham Goldsmid at once to appreciate and
to benefit. He obtained all the necessary particulars, and in a
few weeks a letter was received, which told the curate he had been
allotted a share of a new loan. The letter was a mystery to the
country clergyman, who placed it on one side, with a confused notion
that a hoax was intended. He had not long to wait. The next day
brought a second letter, and with it comfort and consolation, in the
shape of a large sum which had been realized on the allotment. These
things are pleasant to record; and it is doubtful whether the check
gave most pleasure to the wealthy Hebrew to write, or the country
curate to receive.
In 1810, the houses of Baring and Goldsmid were contractors for the
ministerial loan of fourteen millions. But Sir Francis Baring dying,
the support of the market was left to his companion. The task was
difficult, for a formidable opposition had arisen, which required the
united energies of both houses to repress. It was the interest of
this opposition to reduce the value of scrip, and it succeeded. Day
by day it lowered; and day by day was Mr. Goldsmid’s fortune lowered
with it. He had about eight millions in his possession; and with the
depression of his fortune, his mind grew dispirited and disordered.
Another circumstance occurred at this particular moment to increase
his embarrassment. Half a million of exchequer-bills had been placed
in his hands to negotiate for the East India Company; and the latter,
fearing the result of the contest on the Stock Exchange, claimed the
amount. His friends did not rally round him, as at such a moment, and
with such a man, his friends should have done; and Abraham Goldsmid,
dreading a disgrace, which his sensitive and honorable nature
magnified a hundredfold, after entertaining a large dinner-party,
destroyed himself in the garden of his magnificent residence, in
Surrey.
This sad event created a sensation in the city, unparalleled by the
loss of any single individual. The death of the great loan-contractor
was regarded as of national importance. Expresses were sent with the
news to the king and the Prince of Wales. The funds fell three per
cent. The journals united in eulogizing the man whose death they
recorded. The jobbers of Capel Court crowded in anxious inquiry. The
merchants of the Exchange assembled before the accustomed time. The
thoroughfares resounded with rapid questions and hurried replies.
Little or no business was done; and, it is said, the great question
of peace or war never created a similar confusion. The jury recorded
their opinion, and, when the remains were carried to their home, the
procession was followed by a crowd, who, partaking of his charity
in life, thronged to honor him in death. Sobs and suppressed moans
attested the reality of their sorrow, and bore a fitting testimony to
his worth. The high-priests and elders paid every distinction which
the Mosaic ordinances allowed; but, in conformity with the commands
of the great lawgiver, they withheld from him the customary rites;
and unconsecrated ground received the remains of Abraham Goldsmid,
the Hebrew suicide.
In 1792, another sinking fund was established, of one per cent.
on the nominal capital of each loan, to which the interest on the
capital redeemed by this fund was to be added. When annuities for
lives, or for a longer term than forty-five years, were granted, the
value which would remain after forty-five years was to be estimated,
and one per cent. on that value set aside for their redemption.
This fund was to be kept separate, and applied to redeeming debts
contracted subsequent to its institution; and this, it was estimated,
would redeem every loan in forty-five years from its contraction.
£400,000 was granted in aid of the previous sinking fund; and
£200,000 annually till 1802, when the grant was rendered perpetual.
All money saved by the reduction of interest was also to be added;
but, as no savings occurred, this clause might as well have been
omitted. In 1798, however, the application of one per cent. on the
capital of the loans was deviated from, as the claims of the war were
too pressing to allow of its application.
CHAPTER X.
_Curious Forgery.—Its Discovery.—Loan of 1796.—Its
Management.—French Revolution and its Effect.—List of Subsidies to
Foreign Powers.—Removal of Business from ’Change Alley.—Erection
of the present Stock Exchange.—Loyalty Loan.—Preliminaries of
Peace.—Its Effect.—Hoax on the Stock Exchange.—War renewed.—Great
Fraud on the Jobbers.—Its Discovery.—Rights of Stock-brokers._
On the 2d of November, 1793, as Mr. Martin, broker of ’Change
Alley, was occupied in his business, he was applied to by a young
man of somewhat effeminate appearance and of good address, to sell
£16,000 scrip. As Mr. Martin was explaining to the applicant that an
introduction was necessary, a Mr. Lyons, also a member of the Alley,
esteemed a reputable person, passed, and the young man, to remove
Mr. Martin’s doubts, immediately pointed to Mr. Lyons, as thoroughly
aware of his respectability. The latter, on being questioned, said
he knew the stranger intimately, at the same time expressing his
dissatisfaction at not being employed by him. The introduction was
sufficient for Mr. Martin, and he sold that day £10,000 out of the
£16,000 intrusted to his care. The seller, by some curious chance, or
for some subtle reason, did not make his appearance to receive the
proceeds, nor did he leave an address to which it might be sent. On
the following morning, however, Mr. Martin received a visit from him
at his private residence; but, on being informed that the whole of
the stock was not sold, his demand for payment was delayed. The day
on which the remainder of the scrip was disposed of was a holiday at
the Bank, and from this simple circumstance arose the discovery of a
curious fraud. The business at the Stock Exchange on public holidays
is trifling, and the buyer, instead of hurriedly depositing the
scrip in his pocketbook, had leisure to remark that there was some
irregularity about it. Mr. Martin at once stepped over to the Bank,
checked the document, and discovered the forgery.
The scheme to which this gentleman had so nearly fallen a prey was
cunningly contrived. The effeminate applicant to Mr. Martin was
the sister of Lyons, disguised in male attire,—Lyons having placed
himself in the way at the proper moment to give the necessary
character; and, had it not been for the chance circumstance
alluded to, would have profited largely by the deceit. The scheme
failed; Lyons was apprehended; and, rather than give his sister
the affliction of appearing against him, he pleaded guilty; thus
sacrificing the slight chance of life which remained, to spare the
feelings of her whom he had betrayed into crime.
In 1796 a loan for eighteen millions was proposed. The usual
inquiries were made by the interested parties, and the Chancellor
of the Exchequer positively declared that it should be conducted
upon principles of free and open competition. The day was appointed
to arrange its preliminaries. Mr. Mellish, Mr. James Morgan, and
Mr. Boyd, were competitors; and when they had assembled, Mr. Boyd
requested a few words in private with the Chancellor. The request
was granted; and the surprise of Messrs. Mellish and Morgan may be
conceived, when the Chancellor, on returning, proposed, that, if the
latter bid for the loan, Mr. Boyd should be at liberty to supersede
them on paying half per cent. above the highest offer. This was
decidedly and indignantly refused; and the Chancellor, without any
other proposition, at once agreed to take the terms offered by Mr.
Boyd, although it was fully understood by all that there should be no
final settlement on that day. The real causes of this extraordinary
proceeding are difficult to ascertain; but the excuse offered by
the Chancellor was, that Boyd had some claim on government, in
consideration of the previous loan not having entirely expired.
Allowing this, the state had no right to remunerate Mr. Boyd at the
expense of others; and as very little of the previous scrip remained
in his possession, it was, whatever partisanship might allege in
excuse, a gross dereliction of public duty, and a great misdirection
of public interest, to allot a loan without competition, at a loss
of £499,500 to the public. At any rate, the contract was notified as
open, the Governor of the Bank was authorized to declare it so, and
the Chancellor expressed no doubt upon the subject.
There was much comment at the time. There was also a curious story in
circulation of bills to the amount of £700,000 having been drawn on
the treasury in fictitious names, and with fictitious dates; and it
was asserted that, when the loan was contracted, it was absolutely
known by the Cabinet that the king’s speech would inevitably raise
the funds, and add five per cent. to the gains of the contractor.
Before the first payment, £2,160,000 was the profit on a contract for
eighteen millions.
During the loans so frequently mentioned, it was curious to witness
the bidders arising at early dawn; waiting from two until ten in the
morning, and then see them rush, with all the eager impetuosity of
gain, to grasp a share of the proffered good.
When it became known that, on the 12th of May, 1789, an insurrection
had broken out at Paris, it was but little imagined that its effects
would press upon the resources of England for ever, increase her
taxation, and embarrass her councils; and as news came from time to
time of the excesses of the mob, the destruction of the Bastille, and
the murder of the monarch, it was received in accordance with the
political principles of the listener.
The first effect of the revolution shook the state to its foundation.
A strong democratic tendency passed through Europe, and England
shared the peril. A feeling of public wrong was prevalent. A fierce
movement convulsed the populace. Debating societies were established,
and the misgovernment of the nation was exposed. The public-houses
were filled with orators, and the cry for reform was incessant. The
press teemed with warnings and appeals. Societies corresponding with
the Jacobin clubs of Paris were established. Some of the first men
in England welcomed the revolution with enthusiasm, while the masses
hailed it with delight. The Convention was congratulated; and it is
surprising that, with democratic principles, a democratic spirit, and
a numerous array of men of rank on the popular side, England should
have preserved her constitution.
William Pitt, the minister of the day, took a bold and determined
position. “It is not reform they want,” he said, “it is revolution.
They wish to react the troubles of France; to murder the king; and
establish a republic.” The people petitioned, and were neglected.
They agitated, and were punished. The youth of England clamored for
more freedom; and revolutionary principles spread far and wide.
Persons of rank and property were alarmed, and formed associations
against anarchists and levellers. Parliament was summoned before its
time; the Alien Bill was passed; the naval and military forces were
augmented; and when the French Convention declared they would assist
the disaffected subjects of all monarchical governments, the English
ministry demanded a disavowal. The demand was refused; the French
ambassador was ordered to leave the kingdom; and, in 1793, the war
which added so terribly to England’s encumbrances was declared.
At this time the position of revolutionary France was remarkable.
From the commencement of the change, the princes of Europe regarded
it with dislike; and the death of Louis was sufficient to decide all
crowned heads against the movement. So soon, therefore, as war was
declared, treaties were formed with the principal Continental powers.
In six months, seven treaties of alliance, and six of subsidies, were
concluded. Sweden coalesced with Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The
German empire followed. Bavaria, Suabia, and the Elector Palatinate
joined the hostile league. Naples followed the example of the Holy
See; and the young republic, menaced from without and divided within,
saw her territory invaded by half a million of the most warlike
troops in Europe.
But the danger was met boldly. The combined armies which were to
destroy democracy and establish kingly supremacy were checked at the
first onset. The republic resolved to conquer, and the waste of life
was disregarded. Conscriptions were frequent; reinforcements arrived
constantly; and the army of the allies gave way. But to roll back
the tide of war was insufficient for a victorious and a military
people. The invasion was carried from their soil, and the invaders
were dishonored on their own hearths. A great man had arisen; and
Italy fell before the genius of Napoleon. Holland was conquered;
Prussia and Spain sued for peace; the savage Russ and the disciplined
Austrian alike gave way before the fierce enthusiasm of the soldiery,
and the greatness of the captain.
In the mean time, the aspect of affairs in England was alarming.
Ineffectual trials for high treason agitated the people. Every effort
to pervert casual discontent into determined rebellion was made. The
price of provision was high; the system of subsidies impoverishing;
and taxation saddened the homes and hearts of the people.
The emperor had received seven millions, Prussia a million and a
half; and a host of minor powers had coalesced from similar causes.
But if the trials of the people were fearful, the difficulties of the
government were numerous. Disaffection among the populace, a powerful
and organized opposition within the House, a general hatred of the
war without, an oratory unsurpassed in the senate, an invective
unsurpassed in the street, an empty exchequer, a starving people, and
quarterly loans, were difficulties which even the fine eloquence of
William Pitt, and the large majorities he commanded, found it hard to
surmount. Riots which endangered the royal person ensued; hundreds
of thousands clamored against the taxation which oppressed them; and
England seemed on the brink of revolt.
But a yet more dangerous era awaited the land. The navy, which had
saved us from invasion, mutinied; the gold of the country followed
her subsidies; the Bank of England ceased to pay her notes in specie;
the power of France increased; Austria only remained to check
the republic on the Continent; and Lodi witnessed a defeat which
paralyzed the Imperial power. The passage of the Alps followed; and,
within thirty miles of his capital, humiliating terms were dictated
to the Emperor of Austria.
England now stood alone against France. An invasion was threatened;
but it stirred a spirit of resistance which will long remain
a memorable passage in English history. Every village had its
volunteers, every corporation its company; and, whatever their
defects may have been in the eyes of military science, there was
scarcely a man who would not have marched to certain death to
preserve the freedom inherited from his fathers. Song and sermon
alike inspirited them; night after night watch-fires were prepared on
the lonely hills of the country; and the slightest sound or symptom
of invasion would have called forth its devoted sons and servants.
These things are greatly to the praise of our countrymen; and the
following list of subsidies, up to 1801, will prove it was no trifle
with which they contended, when they strained every power to meet the
financial difficulties of the time:—
Prussia 1794 £1,223,891 10_s._ 6_d._
Sardinia, 1793 to 1796 500,000 0 0
Emperor, 1795 and 1796 6,220,000 0 0
Ditto 1797 700,000 0 0
Portugal 1797 247,205 0 0
Ditto 1798 120,013 13 0
Russia 1799 825,000 0 0
Emperor and Elector of Bavaria 500,000 0 0
Emperor 1,066,666 13 4
Russia 545,494 0 0
Bavaria 501,017 6 0
Emperor 150,000 0 0
——————————
£12,599,288 2 10
But though England witnessed the power of the republic aggrandized
on the Continent,—though the blood she had shed and the money she
had spent were ineffectual on land,—she yet retained her ancient
supremacy at sea. The name of Nelson was a word of dread; and the
maritime force of France was crushed by that victory which crowned
a series of splendid successes in the Bay of Aboukir, and which,
known as the battle of the Nile, went like a trumpet call throughout
Europe. The despondency of the Continent passed away; the system
of coalition, so dear to William Pitt, was again called forth; and
Austria, Russia, Turkey, and Naples once more joined the victorious
island. Loans were again made. Germany had another million, Russia
half that amount, and other sums passed to other powers. But the
exertion was vain, the loans were fruitless; and in 1802 that peace,
of which it was said “every man is glad, but no man is proud,” was
concluded in the treaty of Amiens.
In the same year the sinking funds were united, to assist in
discharging the debts then existing; and one per cent. on loans
subsequent to 1802 was again appointed, to swell the amount. This
fund at its commencement was limited to four millions, but this
limitation was repealed; and the application of expired annuities,
and of saving by the reduction of interest, was also repealed.
In the latter part of the century, a beneficial change was made
in the provision for the naval expenses. Prior to this period, £4
per man per month was the allowance to meet the entire cost of the
department; after this time, the expenses of the navy were supplied,
like other charges, from the loans periodically raised.
Though the discontent of the English people was often roused, yet
the stories which were occasionally circulated,—of forced loans in
France,—of Parisian banking-houses being surrounded by soldiers,—of
money-chests violated, and of moneyed men plundered,—had considerable
effect in quieting them. It is probable that many of these were
inventions; some of them were understood to be so; but when it is
known that entire yearly incomes were often collected, and called
income-tax, there are few financial follies of our neighbours which
we should not be inclined to credit.
A curious proposition to pay off the national debt was very seriously
made in 1798. A profound disquisition upon the evils which arose
from it, and the ruin to which it was leading, was followed by an
intricate array of figures, a close calculation of the population,
and an analysis of their incomes. Somewhat excited by the grave
beginning, the public were not a little disappointed to find that,
by deducting one day’s provision per week for a certain time, and
allowing compound interest on it, the great financial difficulty
of the day might be overcome. The volume was privately printed,
in quarto, at considerable expense; but whether it emanated from
a lunatic asylum, or whether it sent the writer to one, cannot be
ascertained.
It must be evident from the brief record of the war just given, that
business in the funds had increased greatly. Prior to 1801, the
market of ’Change Alley, in the coffee-house where the brokers met,
was, as a public place, open to any who chose to make it his resort.
The jobber who reckoned his transactions by hundreds of thousands was
jostled by the man who was disposed, either morally or materially, to
pick pockets; while the loans which had increased the national debt
to 550 millions, the exchequer-bills, which were circulated as freely
as the government dared, and the companies, which were augmented in
proportion, formed an amount of business that, in the opinion of the
principal persons, demanded a building to bear some proportion to
the importance of its transactions. It was resolved, therefore, to
choose a plot of ground as near the Bank as possible, and to meet
the required expenses by private subscription. Whatever errors may
be indigenous to the Stock Exchange, illiberality can scarcely be
classed among them; and so successful were the proceedings, that, on
the 18th of May, 1801, Mr. William Hammond, chairman of the committee
of management, laid the first stone of the first building erected
exclusively for the business of the Stock Exchange. Beneath the stone
the following inscription, engraved on copper, was placed:—
“On the 18th of May, in the year 1801, and forty-one of George
III., the first stone of this building, erected by private
subscription, for the transaction of business in the public
funds, was laid in the presence of the proprietors, and under
the direction of William Hammond, William Steer, Thomas Roberts,
Griffith Jones, William Grey, Isaac Hensley, Jo. Brackshaw, John
Capel, and John Barnes, managers; James Peacock, architect. At this
era, the first of the Union between Great Britain and Ireland, the
public funded debt had accumulated in five successive reigns to
£552,730,924. The inviolate faith of the British nation, and the
principles of the constitution, sanction and secure the property
embarked in this undertaking. May the blessing of that constitution
be secured to the latest posterity!”
To secure respectability in the members, vote by ballot was adopted,
and ten guineas per annum fixed on as the subscription.
The peace of 1801 was a welcome respite to all save the members of
the Stock Exchange; where it was said, “There were not commissions
sufficient to pay for summer excursions, nor confidence enough to
make a bankrupt.” Great efforts had been made to reduce the price,
which continued to ascend; although Goldsmid was said to have stood
in the market and sold to any amount at the lowest price of the time.
The attempt proved vain; and the endeavour to control public opinion
was paid for by this house to the amount of £180,000.
It was difficult to believe, at first, that war had really ceased.
There was a continued excitement until the treaty was signed; all
places of public resort were thronged with inquirers; betting ran
high about the articles; the chances of exchequer-bills and new
lotteries were discussed; and when the truce was announced in the
city, it was also announced that the preliminaries of a new loan
would be arranged. Talleyrand was talked of as having employed
his information and capacity in gaining large sums; foreigners
generally were busy in making or marring their fortunes; and it was
ascertained that, in 1803, they held upwards of eighteen millions of
government securities. When it was known that the preliminaries were
signed, the tumultuous joy of the nation is beyond expression; and
Lloyd’s was instantly crowded. The people ran about, congratulating
one another on the happy event; the different steeples displayed the
union-flag by day, and at night a general illumination took place;
consols rose from 59 to 66½, and there were twenty-one defaulters on
the next settling day.
The loan, known as the loyalty loan, attracted much attention in the
early part of the century. The period at which it was contracted
was a critical one for the empire. Abroad, Prussia and the princes
of the Empire had withdrawn from the confederacy against France;
Austria demanded assistance; Holland was bound by fear to the
French republic. Stagnation of trade, scarcity of specie, want of
provisions, and discontent among the people, marked the period at
home. The supplies for the year were difficult to obtain; an appeal
was made to the loyalty of the nation, and that appeal was answered.
Some subscribed in the hope of gain; others to curry favor; and,
with all these various interests, eighteen millions were subscribed
in a few days. As an additional inducement, it was promised that
the capital, if claimed, should be repaid within two years after a
definitive treaty of peace. The peace of Amiens came in 1802, and
the holders were, therefore, entitled to demand, on the 27th of
March, 1804, £100 sterling for each £100 stock, although the latter
was at a heavy discount. It need hardly be added, that the claim was
made; and, as money was not sufficiently plentiful, it was arranged
that, for every £100 of the three per cent. loyalty loan, £100 Navy
five per cent. should be given, and for the difference between the
money-price of the latter and £100 sterling, the holder should
receive the amount in three per cents. The whole entailed a heavy
loss upon the country, and this was more to be regretted, because
upwards of eight millions of this loan had been gathered by the Jews,
and by two city banking-houses.
A few months evinced the uncertainty of the peace. Jealous and
watchful, both powers stood ready to renew the combat. The First
Consul insulted our ambassadors; dismantled fortresses; annexed
whole countries to France; sent armies against the free citizens of
Switzerland; demanded the banishment of French emigrants, and the
abridgment of the liberty of the press; until, unable to subdue their
passions, the love of peace which had once swayed men’s minds changed
to a fierce desire for war. In May, 1803, the English ambassador
demanded an explanation, and was insolently told that Great Britain
was unequal to cope with France.
During this period great anxiety prevailed throughout London,
concerning the completion of a negotiation on which so much depended.
The more thoughtful hoped that the peace of the world would not be
disturbed; and great was the pleasure, therefore, of these good
citizens, when, on the 5th of May, 1803, in passing the Mansion
House, their attention was arrested by the following letter,
conspicuously displayed in the place usually allotted to important
information. It was short, but to the purpose:—
“Lord Hawkesbury presents his compliments to the Lord Mayor, and
has the honor to acquaint his Lordship, that the negotiation
between this country and the French republic is brought to an
amicable conclusion.”
The glad tidings soon reached the Stock Exchange, and the funds
rose to seventy on the opening of the market. In a short time,
however, suspicion was aroused. Men doubted, though they scarcely
knew why; and the price fluctuated, with a downward tendency. Many
of the members, as they arrived from their residences at the West,
where the news ought to have reached, were utterly ignorant of the
intelligence. The faith of the bulls failed them, and the boldness
of the bears increased. It soon became confidently asserted that
the news was fictitious; and when the treasury received information
of the report and its origin, a letter was sent by the authorities,
terming the important document a scandalous forgery. Amid a
confusion, an uproar, and a noise, at that period unprecedented, the
Lord Mayor communicated in person the contents of his second letter.
Business was immediately suspended; the guilty and the guiltless were
alike suspected; and when a price was named, it was at a reduction
of seven per cent. A subscription was entered into to assist in
discovering the parties implicated; all bargains were declared void;
and the only important result was in a number of actions at law, the
benefit of the legal profession, and the impunity of the projectors.
The 16th of May was a memorable period for the country and for the
Stock Exchange. The personal insult offered by the French Consul to
the representative of his Majesty; the evident determination of the
same people to break all ties and truces, rendered an appeal to arms
once more necessary; and on that day the fierce and fatal war which
followed the truce of Amiens,—which desolated the fairest fields of
Europe,—which crushed the ambitious man who provoked it,—and which
added two hundred and sixty-three millions to the national debt,—was
proclaimed.
In 1806, Joseph Elkin Daniels, a conspicuous character in the Alley,
and known for some time as a dealer in securities, availed himself of
the confidence of the members of the Stock Exchange, to perpetrate a
fraud as novel as it was notable. As a dealer in the funds for time,
he was well known; and his frequent transactions, combined with the
trust which his character had achieved, gave his broker a confidence
in his proceedings of which he proved utterly unworthy. The time was
an important one. The Continent was struggling against the iron yoke
of Bonaparte. Austria was making that last great struggle with her
enemy which ended at Austerlitz; rumors were plentiful, and the price
of stock varied greatly, when the man Daniels came to the broker, and
desired him to buy omnium on account. The price was high, but his
request was complied with. Omnium continued to advance, and Daniels
continued to buy, although the price increased from ten to thirteen
premium. When the broker had completed his orders to the amount of
£30,000, he grew anxious for his money, and applied for payment.
Daniels, however, quieted him by saying, he was so sure the price
would rise, that his friends would lend him on the security of the
stock, to enable him to make the most of his speculation, and that
he should, therefore, hold the entire amount. The statement seemed
a fair one. Daniels was believed to be honest, and the broker handed
him £30,000 omnium, for which Daniels gave him his draught on Smith,
Payne, & Smith.
The first part of this man’s fraudulent scheme was now acted. He knew
the check would not be presented until the afternoon, and that he
was, therefore, free from danger for a few hours. He immediately took
the omnium to other brokers, represented to them an urgent necessity
for money, sold it, and having been paid checks for the amount,
immediately presented them to the bankers on whom they were drawn,
and received the amount in cash. He then went to all whom he knew, or
would trust him, borrowed money on the security of his own checks,—a
common practice on the Stock Exchange,—with remarkable boldness,
remained in London until near the hour when he knew his own draught
would be presented and refused, and then left, laden alike with gold
and a guilty conscience.
The total amount of fraud was estimated at £50,000. Telegraphic
notices were transmitted to the principal ports of the United
Kingdom; the Lord Mayor despatched officers in all directions;
the chief sufferers went express to various places, on the chance
of detaining him; and every exertion was made to bring to justice
the man who had violated every principle of common honesty, and so
greatly shaken the honorable confidence of the members of the Stock
Exchange. Two thousand seven hundred pounds which he had strangely
left at his banker’s, were attached; two hundred guineas were offered
for his apprehension; his lodgings were examined, and the property
found was seized by the officers of justice.
The search was too active not to be successful; and Daniels was
discovered in the Isle of Man. Here a new difficulty arose. The Manx
laws protected the culprit, the governor’s permission being required
to apprehend him; and, when procured, so numerously was the island
peopled with men like Daniels, that the officers, afraid of arresting
him in open day, took advantage of night to remove their prisoner.
The proceeds of the robbery were found; and when his departure was
known, the island rose tumultuously at the violation of a right on
which the safety of half the population depended.
Great excitement was caused by his arrival in England; but, after
a careful legal consultation, it was decided that he could not be
convicted on any criminal charge; and Joseph Elkin Daniels escaped
the legal penalty of that fraud which gave so severe a shock to the
members of the Stock Exchange.
In the same year, it was ascertained that the amount of foreign
property in the British funds was twenty-two millions; and it is
scarcely out of place to mention, that, by some patient calculator,
it was found that one guinea invested at the Christian era, at five
per cent., compound interest, would have increased to a greater sum
than could be contained in five hundred millions of earths, all of
solid gold.
In the early part of the present century an attempt was made to
resist the tax paid to the city, of forty shillings per annum,
by stock-brokers, as unreasonable and unjust. Various members of
the body refused to pay; the corporation and the brokers were at
issue; and, in 1805, a hundred summonses were applied for, though a
few only were granted, to test the disputed right. Among these was
one to Francis Baily, who undertook the championship; and from the
conviction that the claim was unjust, refused in the above year to
pay the sum demanded. As the justice, though not the law, is yet
doubted by some, a brief retrospect of the various acts affecting
brokers may not be out of place.
The act of 8 and 9 William III., c. 32,—alluded to in an earlier part
of the volume,—was the first that could affect stock-brokers, as in
that reign they and their misdeeds began to flourish. The following
forms a portion of the preamble to the act:—
“Whereas divers brokers and stock-jobbers have lately set up and
carried on most unjust practices, in selling and discounting tallies,
bank-stock, bank-bills, shares and interest on joint stock, and
other matters, and have and do unlawfully combine to raise or fall
the value of such securities, for their own private advantage; and
whereas the numbers of such brokers and stock-brokers are very much
increased within these few years, and do daily multiply,—be it
enacted, that from and after May, 1697, no person shall act as broker
until licensed by the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen of the said
city of London.
“That the number of brokers shall not exceed one hundred, and that
the admittance fees shall not exceed 40_s._
“That the names of the brokers shall be publicly affixed on the Royal
Exchange, in Guildhall, and other public places in the city.
“That any persons acting as brokers without being admitted as
aforesaid, shall forfeit £500, and persons employing them £50; and
that any person not being a sworn broker acting as such, shall
forfeit £500, and for every offence stand three times in the pillory.
“That all brokers shall keep a book, to be called the Brokers’-book,
to enter contracts, and in cases of omission, forfeit £50 for every
offence.
“That they shall not receive more than ten shillings per cent. for
brokerage. That, if they shall deal in any articles on their own
account, they shall forfeit £500, and never act as brokers again.
“That no person buying or selling tallies, corn, or any other
provision, or coal, shall be esteemed a broker within the meaning of
the act.”
In 1707, this, which was for ten years, expired; and although
various petitions, according to the interest of the petitioner, were
presented, it was not renewed. A new act was then brought in, by
which a yearly tax of forty shillings was levied against all brokers;
and it is doubtful whether this would have been passed, had not a
deficiency been created by the repeal of one concerning specie.
In 1711, a committee of the House was appointed to consider the acts
relative to brokers; and a recommendation ensued to revive the act of
1697. In compliance with this, a bill was brought in, read a first
and second time, but was not passed; and in the reign of Queen Anne,
the charge for brokerage of 10_s._ per cent. was reduced to 2_s._
9_d._ It is now 2_s._ 6_d._
In 1746, and in 1756, new bills were brought in, but rejected, which
materially affected stock-jobbers; and in 1765 it was ordered that
a bill be brought in to restrain the ill practices of brokers; but
this, like the others, was not passed.
The ground of defence occupied by Mr. Baily was somewhat subtle. In
1806, this gentleman published a pamphlet, called “The Rights of
Stock-jobbers defended,” in which he explained his principles of
action, and detailed the course which had been taken. He says:—“The
right of the city of London to call upon stock-brokers to be sworn
in before the Court of Aldermen, has long been contested and opposed
by that body. It is resisted by them, in the first instance, under
the impression that they are merely agents, and ought not to be
considered as brokers more than many other persons, who, under the
name of tailors, merchants, and tradesmen, act by commission in the
purchase and sale of goods.”
With these ideas Mr. Baily contested the right, not, as those who
knew him will readily credit, from narrow views or confined notions,
but because he believed he was supporting a principle founded in
justice. These views, however, he found it impossible to maintain. A
case was produced by the city, in which it was decided that a person
buying and selling stock came within the meaning of the act; and the
efforts of Mr. Baily proved futile.
For those who feel disposed to investigate the subject, a list of
acts relating to brokers will be found in the Appendix.
In 1807, Lord Henry Petty proposed a new plan for a sinking fund;
which, however, was only a revival of the principle of borrowing with
one hand and spending with the other; and, as the ministry which
planned it were not long in office, it was not continued after the
first year.
CHAPTER XI.
_Unfounded Charge.—Joint-Stock Companies.—Speculators.—Mark
Sprot.—Sketch of the House of Baring.—Policies on the Life
of Bonaparte.—Rumors of his Death.—David Ricardo.—Forgery of
Benjamin Walsh.—Excitement of the Nation.—Increase of the National
Debt.—Sinking Fund.—Unclaimed Dividends.—Francis Baily._
Although shares in life assurance companies form part of the
professed business of the Stock Exchange, yet the better class rarely
reach the hands of the brokers. They are held in such high and
deserved estimation, that they remain in the possession of families
for generations, passing as heirlooms, with the same confidence in
their value as if they were freehold. As an instance of this, it was
noticed in the papers that the first public sale of the stock of the
Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation occurred in 1812.
The charge of employing official information to speculate in the
funds has often been brought against public men. These accusations
have often been made with cause, but generally with caution. In
August, 1805, however, a letter was received by the head of the
government, signed by Ambrose Charles, a clerk in the employment of
the directors of the Bank of England, in which Lord Moira, a cabinet
minister, was accused of availing himself of his official information
to speculate in the stocks. The name of the broker employed by his
Lordship was given; and letters which implicated him were said to
have been publicly exhibited on ’Change. The underlings of newspapers
were declared to be in communication with the accused nobleman; and
the document concluded with the offer of proving these assertions,
should Lord Grenville require further information.
The letter was too important to be overlooked; and the prime
minister gave the required interview to the writer, who, persisting
in his assertion, calmly and confidently declared its truth; and
was proceeding with his story, when, with a dramatic effect rarely
witnessed off the stage, the door of an adjoining apartment was
opened, and the accused confronted his accuser. There appears to be
no other evidence of what passed at this interview than that given
by Ambrose Charles, which, being entirely favorable to himself,
cannot be trusted. No proof was tendered of the assertion; but the
morning on which the letter had been sent, the writer remarked to a
fellow-clerk, “I have done a deed which will immortalize me.” The
subject was made a matter of legal inquiry; affidavits from all who
had been named as having inculpated his Lordship evinced his complete
innocence, and the entire evidence proved the falsehood and folly of
the criminator. The charge was eventually dismissed as untenable; and
the whole affair can only be regarded as one of those morbid cravings
after notoriety which arise equally from a diseased brain and an idle
vanity.
In 1807 and 1808, a general and feverish love of speculation was
abroad. Joint-stock companies were the feature of the day; canals,
bridges, and life assurance being the great favorites, which, if
injurious to the speculator, were beneficial to the country. To this
period London owes Waterloo and Vauxhall bridges, with many more
of those public works forming to the foreigner objects of so much
interest.
It has lately been the custom to speak with contempt of joint-stock
associations, although it is to such bodies that England is indebted
for her greatest and her grandest undertakings. The Bank of England,
which has been called the bank of the world,—the railways, which bear
comfort and civilization to the remotest hamlets,—the canals, which
convey our commerce and irrigate our lands,—our docks, which contain
the wealth of the East and of the West,—our life-assurance companies,
which comfort many a desolate hearth and home,—are the result of
joint-stock companies. The evil is passing; but the good is permanent.
A similar outcry is always raised against projectors and speculators.
Swift employed his pen in ridiculing them; Scott introduced one
to turn him into contempt; Addison employed his fine genius in
satirizing them; Steele wrote one of his best essays on them. The
smaller herd of wits have swelled the cry; and they to whom mankind
are preëminently indebted are named with contempt, and treated with
derision. The projectors of all great works have been disdainfully
regarded at one period or another. The men who first planned our
bridges have been neglected; the promoters of railways, which are
now paying well, and rejoicing our rural homesteads with the polish
and the luxury of cities, were a by-word to the mass. And yet the
finest minds of the day are employed in projecting. The discoverer
of steam-power was a projector; Arkwright was only a projector;
Thomas Gray was the same. What does not England owe to men who bore
the burden and the heat of the day in the introduction of projects,
which, once household luxuries, they have made household necessities!
The cottage of the poor is comforted, the mansion of the rich is
gladdened, with works for which projectors were ridiculed and
speculators ruined. We cannot cast our eyes around without these
works meeting our view. They add a grace to our persons, they cheapen
our luxuries, they adorn our homes.
The mere man of routine thinks it a sacred duty to laugh at those of
whose services he is glad to avail himself; while the banker, the
merchant, and the moneyed tradesman first treat him as an intruder,
and then buy shares in the discovery they disdainfully rejected.
The world is rich in the names of those who have benefited and been
neglected by their fellow-men.
One of the greatest capitalists of the reign of George III. died in
1808. Mark Sprot, a name which will recall many a pleasant anecdote
to members of the Stock Exchange, born a younger brother, with a
younger brother’s portion, achieved, by his own exertions, one of
those fortunes which arose out of the loans of the French war. In
1780 he settled in London, with moderate means; and, from occasional
visits to the Bank and Stock Exchange, formed an intimacy with the
members of the moneyed interest. He soon saw that, with small risk,
he might make great gain, and commenced a career which ended in
splendid success. In 1799, he was one of the contractors for the
lottery; and, in 1800 and the three following years, he was at the
head of those who bid for the loans.
During the trial of Lord Melville, Mark Sprot was examined, in
consequence of having borrowed money from Mr. Trotter. The latter, on
a comparatively trifling income, had built a splendid mansion; and as
attention had been drawn to the circumstance, Mr. Sprot’s name was
involved. When examined by the committee, and asked whether he did
not act as banker to members of both Houses, “I never do business
with privileged persons,” was the shrewd, but daring reply. This
answer originated, probably, from the following anecdote.
On one occasion a broker applied to Mr. Sprot, and with great sorrow
told him that he was a ruined man. Mr. Sprot was surprised, for
he knew the speaker was careful, industrious, and not likely to
speculate. He asked the cause, and the broker replied, that he had
been employed largely by a principal, who, the prices having gone
against him, had refused to pay his losses. Mr. Sprot immediately
inquired his name; and on being told it was a noble earl, of whose
resources he was well aware, could scarcely believe he heard
correctly.
He knew him to be in possession of large landed estates; and, when
informed that his Lordship had refused to give any reason except
that it was not convenient, Mr. Sprot told his visitor not to be
alarmed, that he would not press his claim, and concluded by making
an engagement with him to visit his Lordship.
Together they went, and were received with patrician dignity. Mr.
Sprot deliberately detailed his business, and received the cool
reply, that it was not convenient to pay. But the energetic jobber
was not a man to bow before rank, unless accompanied by worth; and
Mr. Sprot unhesitatingly declared, that, if the account were not
settled by a certain hour next day, he would post his Lordship as a
defaulter. The latter grew alarmed, and attempted to conciliate; but
the conference closed with the repeated determination of Mr. Sprot
to post him. Long before the hour appointed, however, his Lordship’s
solicitor waited on the broker to arrange the payment; and thus the
honor of the earl was preserved, and the credit of the broker saved
in the money-market, through the acuteness and determination of Mark
Sprot.
In 1810, an application was made to Parliament for permission to
erect and secure to the public the right of admission to an open
market for the sale and purchase of national securities, on the
ground that the public ought not to be excluded from the room in
which business in the public funds is contracted. The bill was
introduced by Sir William Curtis, and rejected by the senate.
The history of the house of Baring—which, though generally regarded
as mercantile, is largely connected with the loans—has been termed an
evidence of the power of a few active young men to advance themselves
to immense fortune, and to distinguished marks of favor from the
sovereign. Various origins are attributed to the members of the firm,
and the Herald’s College has been employed to give the dignity of
ancestral honors to the family. In 1793, the first baronet of the
name was created, and the signal services of Sir Francis to the East
India Company, of which he was a director, were greatly appreciated.
It has been stated,—but as the writer is uncertain of his authority,
he gives it with caution,—that they were originally German weavers,
who came over to London, and, being successful in business, were,
through the interest of William Bingham, of Philadelphia, appointed
agents to the American government. Considering, therefore, the
large resources at their command, it is not surprising that, during
the loyalty loan in 1797, the head of the house made one hundred
thousand pounds for three consecutive days; or that, in 1806, it was
sarcastically said, “Sir Francis Baring is extending his purchases so
largely in Hampshire, that he soon expects to be able to inclose the
country with his own park paling.”
In 1805 this gentleman, the first algebraist of the day, retired from
business with a princely fortune, and shortly afterwards died, full
of years and honors. A green old age, a career closed at the pinnacle
of prosperity, and a death-bed surrounded by sons and daughters, whom
the descendant of the German weaver had lived to place in splendid
independence, was his enviable lot. The great commercial house which
he had raised to so proud a position was continued by his sons, and
may be considered the most important mercantile establishment in the
empire. Freehold estates to the amount of half a million, besides
enormous personal property, rewarded his great capacity, and his yet
greater integrity.
The house of Baring, notwithstanding some periods when doubt and
almost dismay hung over it, yet retains the power and position
bequeathed by Sir Francis; and, as an instance of the fortune and
capacity of its members, it may be mentioned that the late Lord
Ashburton, when bearing, as Sir Robert Peel feelingly expressed it,
the honored name of Alexander Baring, realized £170,000 in two years
by his combinations in French _Rentes_.
From 1810 to 1815, the business in every department of the Stock
Exchange increased greatly. Loan after loan came rapidly forward,
was as rapidly taken, went to a premium, was merged in the funded
debt, and was succeeded by fresh demands for fresh loans. The public
feeling was so strong, even during those fearful campaigns which
preceded the fatal field of Austerlitz, when the futile threat
of invasion was frequent, and “the army of England” assembled at
Boulogne, that no ministry could have maintained its power unless
it had been a war ministry. And when the event of that battle,
known as the “battle of the three emperors,” was made public, when
the entire powers of the Continent were at the feet of Napoleon,
and William Pitt, the soul of the coalition, died from fear of the
calamities that threatened, the people of England were unchanged in
their resolute defiance. Enmity towards the French was an article of
faith. Hatred to their leader was taken from the mother’s breast, and
nourished by the stories which day by day engrossed the public mind,
or violated public feeling. At one time, the commercial world was
excited with the story that all the specie in all the private banks
of France had been seized. At another, some cruelty which outraged
humanity passed current with the vulgar. Stories of the conscription
harrowed the feelings of parents; tales of insurrection, suppressed
with heartless cruelty, raised the indignation of the child. The
evening fireside derived its great attraction from the talk about
Bonaparte; and it is no exaggeration to say, that nurses stilled
their querulous charges, or that mothers hushed their children, with
that dreaded name. Policies were opened on his life; and so uncertain
was it considered in 1804, that fifty-five guineas per cent. were
paid to insure it for one year. No fiction was more favorite or more
frequent than that which detailed his death; and in this the powerful
invention of the romancer was often proved. Poison and steel, the
dagger of the conspirator and the bullet of the republican, were
constantly asserted to have ended his career. On one occasion, it
was universally credited that the great Corsican was no more. A
despatch had been received by Lord Grenville announcing his death,
and circumstantially detailing its manner. No doubt was entertained;
the funds rose, and the news spread. Some very loyal persons set the
bells ringing in a suburban village, and the whole affair bore the
aspect of truth. The story circulated wore an appearance of romance
entirely in keeping with the career of the man whose death was
announced. It was stated that Napoleon, having called a council of
war, to which he had invited one of the wild chiefs of the desert,
who professed attachment till he could procure revenge, had been
shot by him in open council; and, on the signal thus given, the wild
hordes of the desert had slain Bonaparte and his devoted followers
in the land so recklessly invaded. News was not then so frequent,
information was not so widely diffused; and the document was credited
much longer than it would have been a quarter of a century later. It
deserves to be mentioned as a curiosity, that the forgery was not
attributed to members of the Stock Exchange, but to a pair of “state
speculators,” assisted by “members of the lower House.” But though
it was not caused by them, they felt its effect in the fluctuating
price, and several were ruined by the ingenious device of these
“state speculators” and “members of the lower House.”
Among the names conspicuous in the city for character and capacity,
stands that of the great political economist, David Ricardo, who, at
the early age of fourteen, was introduced by his father, a Hebrew
of the Hebrews, to the mysteries of the Stock Exchange. The mind
of the younger Ricardo was of an inquiring character. He began to
study the principles of the creed in which he had been educated. The
result was his secession from the faith of the ancient people, and
his abandonment to his own resources by his father. Those resources
were small; but his conduct and character had interested the members
of Capel Court, and, to their honor, with a liberality which not
unfrequently distinguishes them, the oldest and most influential
came to his assistance. The extraordinary powers of Mr. Ricardo were
soon developed in the acquisition of a considerable fortune; and,
having hitherto employed but little time in study, he amply and nobly
redeemed his lost hours. At twenty-five he commenced mathematics, and
with great application studied chemistry and mineralogy, fitted up a
laboratory, formed a collection of minerals, and bestirred himself
with all the energy of his character. These sciences, however, he
soon abandoned, and, having accidentally become acquainted with Adam
Smith’s “Wealth of Nations,” he employed his great thought upon the
subject of political economy, in which he soon became distinguished.
He led the van in the bullion controversy; his principles were those
on which the present bank charter is founded; and, in 1817, he
published that great work on his favorite science so familiar to the
commercial reader.
His reputation preceded him to the senate; and his opinions on the
above subjects were deferred to with respect. When Mr. Peel’s bill
was introduced, in 1819, his name was called for from all sides
of the House; and, in 1823, David Ricardo, an acute, patient, and
comprehensive thinker, a firm and faithful friend, and an honor
to the body of which he was a member, died, at the early age of
fifty-two.
Few trials, which were not for life, have excited so much interest
in the city, as that in which Benjamin Walsh—a member of the senate,
a member of the Stock Exchange, and a confessed felon—stood at the
bar of the Old Bailey, on the charge of defrauding Sir Thomas Plomer.
The bench was crowded with the rank and respectability of the city.
The melancholy appearance of the prisoner, his grave bearing, and
dejected countenance, excited the interest of the spectators, and
spoke the regret of the culprit.
In 1811, Sir Thomas informed his broker, Mr. Benjamin Walsh, M. P.,
that, having bought an estate, it would be necessary to sell out a
large amount of stock to complete the purchase. Mr. Walsh advised
Sir Thomas not to sell directly, as there was every prospect of the
funds rising; and, the title of the estate not being complete, this
advice was complied with. About the middle of November, however, Mr.
Walsh changed his opinion, and repeatedly urged Sir Thomas to sell
his stock, alleging his belief that the price would fall. Again the
broker’s suggestion was complied with; but, as it was sold before
the money was required for the estate, it was recommended by the
prisoner that, to prevent it from lying idle, exchequer-bills should
be purchased with the proceeds. Sir Thomas again consented, and gave
a check amounting to £22,000 to Mr. Walsh, who promised to lodge
the notes at Goslings’, the bankers to Sir Thomas, and hand the
latter their receipt. In the evening, however, he presented their
acknowledgment for only £6,000, and making some excuse for not having
paid in the remaining exchequer-bills, promised to deliver them on
the following day; adding that, as he had not settled for them, he
had repaid the difference to the account of Sir Thomas. The latter,
on his way home, called at his bankers’, and found that, though
the £6,000 in exchequer-bills had been deposited, the check of Mr.
Walsh for the £16,000 had been received too late for presentation.
No suspicion was, however, attached to the transaction until next
day, when the check was refused payment. Sir Thomas was immediately
informed, and an inquiry instituted. It was soon found that the money
thus iniquitously gained, had been disposed of in paying his brother
£1,000, in purchasing £11,000 American stock, and in investing £500
in Portuguese doubloons. The prisoner was found guilty; but certain
points, reserved for the judges, being interpreted favorably, he was
discharged from Newgate, and expelled from the House of Commons.
In 1813, Mr. Vansittart introduced a modification of Mr. Pitt’s
sinking fund; and, among other objects, proposed to rescind the
alterations of 1786 and 1792, and to restore them to the position in
which they would have stood if no such alteration had taken place.
By this Mr. Vansittart designed to provide that relief which the
public would have obtained from the original plan, _to restrain
the excessive increase of the sinking fund_, and to secure the
redemption of each loan within a period of forty-five years from its
commencement. For these purposes it was proposed,—
1st. That, as a sum equal to the debt of 1786, bearing an interest
nearly equal to the interest of that debt, is now vested in the
hands of the commissioners, so soon as the interest of the redeemed
debt shall be equal to that of the debt of 1786, that debt shall
be declared discharged; and the sums hitherto appropriated for the
interest and sinking fund shall be appropriated to bear the charge
of future wars; and that no new taxes shall be imposed for new loans
till the same amount to a sum equal to the interest of that released.
2d. That, as loans to the extent of £86,796,375 were charged on the
consolidated fund in 1802, without any sinking fund attached to them,
it is proposed, in order to place the public creditors in a position
equal to that they held in 1792, that the one per cent. sinking fund
on the above sums be replaced to it.
3d. That, as the amount of exchequer-bills has much increased, a
sinking fund of one per cent. shall be annually provided for any
addition to the exchequer-bills in circulation, for the discharge of
which no funds are provided.
4th. That, instead of allotting the sinking fund of one per cent.
to discharge each separate loan, the whole funds shall be united,
and applied to discharge the first contracted loan; and that each
successive loan shall be redeemed, and its charge released, in the
order of its contraction, by the united produce of the sinking
funds appropriated for the redemption of the loans contracted since
1792; but the whole sinking fund created by the act of 1786 to be
continued, and applied until the total redemption of the debt.
During the latter part of Bonaparte’s career, the price of the funds
varied enormously. In the course of an hour, a difference of eight
and ten per cent. was not unknown. The loans were as eagerly sought
as they were frequently made; nor is this surprising, when it is
remembered that eighteen and twenty per cent. occasionally rewarded
the scrip-holder.
The pulse of the people was feverish, and easily excited; and the
papers of the day display the intense anxiety which hung over the
public mind during the eventful years of 1814 and 1815. The prices
of the funds dropped and rose like a barometer. It is scarcely an
exaggeration to say, that they were regarded as an oracle; and, while
the public professed to disbelieve all Stock Exchange rumors, simply
because they were so, they continued to inquire the variations in the
price, and almost regarded them as a cause rather than a consequence.
The annals of the world contain no more exciting period. For years,
the English had seen battle after battle won by the great conqueror.
They had seen disciplined armies vanquished by raw levies; veteran
troops cut to pieces by young conscripts; and the prestige of his
name had haunted them for the fourth part of a century. To destroy
his power, they had submitted to painful privations; they had borne
with taxation which almost amounted to tyranny; they had levied loans
which enriched the few and impoverished the many.
The national debt had increased to 800 millions; and now the reward
had come, and the people read with undisguised and unlimited
pleasure, of field after field yielding to British prowess; of towns
stormed; of achievements which made them proud of the name they bore;
until that prophecy, which had been derided for years, became a
lasting fact; British troops paraded in triumph through the streets
of Paris; and men felt that their sufferings and their sorrows had
not been vain, but that the treasure they had lavished had reaped its
reward.
So important to our financial department was the close of this
war, that the decrease of the expenditure was at once declared to
be two millions per month; and, accustomed as the money power of
England had been to loan succeeding loan, the Stock Exchange could
scarcely understand the declaration of the Chancellor, that he
neither intended to ask for money, nor to touch the sinking fund.
The immediate effect of the battle of Waterloo on the funds was only
three per cent., nor was it until the capture of Napoleon became
positively known, that they rose to their previous price.
It is not unworthy of remark, that, from 1688 to 1814, sixty-three
years witnessed bloody and expensive wars, while only sixty-one years
were employed in recovering from the effects of so demoralizing a
system.
The well-known attempt to defraud the Stock Exchange occurred in
1814; but the features of the hoax were so like that of 1806, and
its effects so similar on the members, that a brief notice is deemed
sufficient. Prior to February, 1814, various brokers were employed
by persons, some of whom were not accustomed to speculate in Capel
Court, to purchase government securities to the amount of £826,000.
Among other and less important individuals, were Lord Cochrane
and Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, M. P., who, when information arrived
that some French officers had landed at Dover, with the news of
Bonaparte’s death, took advantage of the consequent rise, to sell the
stock they had previously purchased. In a short time, however, it was
discovered that the “French officers” were fictitious, and that the
news was false. Every endeavour was made to discover the inventors
of the plot; suspicion was pointed at persons who had bought so
largely and sold so well; and Lord Cochrane, Mr. Johnstone, M. P.,
with several more, were tried for conspiracy, and found guilty. The
committee of the Stock Exchange did not, as in the previous case,
cancel the bargains made, but left the parties to the remedy which
the law provided. Mr. Johnstone fled from the country, and Lord
Cochrane was dismissed from the navy. But public opinion has reversed
the decree, and reinstated his Lordship in that service of which he
was the pride and the ornament.
In consequence of the above fraud, it became necessary to serve
certain law processes on many of the members; and an attorney’s
clerk, ignorant of the custom of the Stock Exchange, or confident in
the sanctity of his mission, ventured boldly in. The solemn character
of the law was no defence, and scarcely was his errand known, when
he felt as willing to retire as he had been anxious to enter. The
disgraceful mode in which a stranger is usually treated by the
jobbers and brokers was carried out in its fullest extent, and it
was not until he had received his initiation into the manners of the
members that he was allowed to leave the mart dedicated to Mammon.
In 1815, the first French loan was negotiated in London. The fall of
Napoleon, the return of Louis le Gros, the personal expenses of the
monarch, and the pecuniary concessions of the government, demanded
a supply to which French capitalists were unequal; and a successful
attempt was made to borrow in the English market.
In the following year an act was passed, authorizing the transfer of
stock upon which no dividend had been claimed for ten years, to the
commissioners for the reduction of the national debt.
It has been the writer’s duty in another work to advocate the cause
of the holders of unclaimed dividends. The unfairness with which they
are treated is neither to be palliated nor justified. The eagerness
and anxiety of government to obtain money is too often gratified at
the expense of morality; and it is thus with the unclaimed dividends.
Every difficulty is thrown in the way of the public; and, though the
above act distinctly ordains that, _immediately after the transfer,
the names, residences, descriptions, and amount shall be kept open
for inspection at the Bank_, it is useless for the public to apply,
as they are politely, but peremptorily, refused all information. It
is only fair to conclude that this is at the instance of government,
as the Bank receive no benefit from their violation of the act of
Parliament.
It is not often that the repudiation of a dividend causes a rise in
the price of the stock; such, however, was the case in a loan of five
millions to Austria, the interest of which was to be remitted by the
Emperor. Shortly before it became due, intelligence arrived that
Austria was unable to meet the claim. The stock at once rose two per
cent., as it was known that the faith of England was pledged to the
fundholder, and that henceforth the interest must be provided by the
English government.
A laudable endeavour was made in 1821 to abolish the system of
gambling known as options; and, after a serious consideration, the
committee of the Stock Exchange resolved, that any member guilty of
the practice should be expelled the house. It was soon found that
rules are more easily made than followed; and a powerful opposition
was organized, in which the Hebrew party took the lead. Large sums
were subscribed towards the erection of a new building; and the
schism grew so serious, and numbered such important parties in
its ranks, that the committee deemed it wise to make an amicable
arrangement, and abandon the resolution they had so hastily made.
Up to 1822, the Royal Exchange was the theatre in which business in
the foreign funds was transacted. When, however, this business became
a feature of sufficient importance, a foreign Stock Exchange was
formed in connection with Capel Court.
A very important question became mooted concerning these loans. On
several occasions, when bargains for time were made, and the loser
refused to pay his differences, the broker made them good, believing
his principal was not liable under the act of Sir John Barnard. At
last the question was legally argued; and it was ascertained from the
decision of several judges, that the provisions of the above act did
not extend to loans for foreign countries.
Francis Baily—a name as well known in the scientific as in the
monetary world—retired from the Stock Exchange in 1825, and the man
who, in the midst of the most exciting pursuit in the world, was
worthily chosen president of the Royal Astronomical Society, sheds
an honor on the class to which he belonged, and should have been an
exemplar to the men with whom he associated.
As a boy, studious beyond his years, he was called—half jestingly,
half seriously—the philosopher of Newbury; and, having left school at
fourteen, remained in a mercantile situation until he was twenty-two,
when, for the mere love of adventure, he embarked for the New World,
travelled through a great part of the far West, and passed eleven
months among the aborigines, without once meeting the shelter of a
civilized roof.
In 1800, he went on the money market, where he soon became
conspicuous, publishing, within a few years, many works which were
justly regarded with great favor; and, in 1806, defended, though
unsuccessfully, the rights of the brokers. In 1814, he drew up the
report of the committee on the great fraud of that year, arranged the
evidence against the perpetrators completely and conclusively, and
was one of those men of whom the Stock Exchange—from which he retired
with a fortune won by uprightness and intelligence—was not worthy.
The triumphs of Mr. Baily in his favorite pursuit are recorded in the
minds of all who prize the science which he so dearly loved. A list
of his labors would be misplaced in the present volume; but Sir John
Herschel has recorded them in his memoir of the scientific member of
that place which is too much open to the reproach, that it narrows
men’s minds as much as it enlarges their purses.
CHAPTER XII.
_Review of the National Debt.—Opinions.—Bolingbroke.—Financial
Reform Association.—Extravagance of Government.—Schemes for paying
off the National Debt.—Review of them.—Proposals for Debentures._
The period at which the present narrative has arrived does not appear
ill adapted for a prospective and retrospective glance at a debt
which, in 121 years, has increased from £660,000 to £800,000,000,
which is the great problem of the day, and the great difficulty
of legislators. It has been seen that the debt was not increased
without strenuous opposition; and it need not be said that there were
alarmists a century ago, as there are alarmists now; that, as each
successive million was added, men were not wanting to declare the
ruin of the country; or that prophets were plentiful with omens of
evil. Bolingbroke wrote,—“It is impossible to look back without grief
on the necessary and unavoidable consequences of this establishment,
or without indignation on that mystery and iniquity which hath been
raised upon it, and carried on by means of it. Who can answer that
a scheme which oppresses the farmer, ruins the manufacturer, breaks
the merchant, discourages industry, and reduces fraud to a system,
which drains continually a portion of our national wealth away to
foreigners, and draws most perniciously the rest of that immense
property which was diffused among thousands into the pockets of the
few,—who can answer that such a scheme will always endure? The whole
art of stock-jobbing, the whole mystery of iniquity mentioned above,
rises from this establishment, and is employed about the funds; and
the main-springs which turn, or may turn, the artificial wheel of
credit, and make the paper estates that are fastened to it rise or
fall, lurk behind the veil of the treasury. That luxury which began
to spread after the restoration of Charles II. hath increased ever
since, from the growth of wealth among the stock-jobbers, from this
system. Nothing can be more certain than this,—that national luxury
and national poverty may in time establish national prostitution.
The immense wealth of particular men is a circumstance which always
attends national poverty, and is, in a great measure, the cause of
it. We may already apply to our country what Sallust makes Cato say
of Rome,—‘Public want and private wealth abound in all declining
states.’”
A reference to the tracts, pamphlets, and broadsides, which were
given to the world in the early part of the century, will prove that
public attention was constantly drawn to the growing difficulty; but
the writers committed the great error of pointing their darts at
the stock-jobbers. They persisted in regarding the consequence as
the cause; nor was it, Mr. Alison thinks, until after the peace of
Ryswick, that the great evil was regarded with any thing like alarm.
This gentleman, in his “Military Life of Marlborough,” draws the
following vivid picture, and the writer can confirm it from a careful
perusal of contemporary documents:—
“The finances of Great Britain,” he says, “as they were managed in
former times, could never have sustained the cost of such a war for
a tenth part of the time. But expense now seemed no obstacle to the
government. A new engine of surpassing strength had been discovered
for extracting capital out of the country; and the able statesmen
who had it in their hands felt it to be not less serviceable in
consolidating the internal power, than in meeting the external
expenses of the new dynasty.
“When this system first began, the nation was not sensible of the
important consequences to which it would lead. They thought it could
only be a temporary expedient; and that, though it might, perhaps,
lead to a few millions being added to the national debt, yet that
would be all. Though from the first, accordingly, its progress was
viewed with a jealous eye by the thinking few, it made but little
impression upon the unthinking many, before the peace of Ryswick.
But when the War of the Succession began, in 1702, and continued
without intermission, attended by daily and increasing expenditure,
for ten years, the apprehensions of a large part of the nation became
excessive. At the Revolution the national debt was £661,000; by 1710
it exceeded £50,000,000.
“The wars in which William was of necessity engaged, the loans
which they rendered unavoidable, and which the commercial wealth
of the nation enabled it to advance, and the great increase in the
expenditure of the Exchequer, all conspired to place a vast and
unprecedented amount of patronage in the hands of government. This
was systematically directed to buy off opposition in Parliament,
and secure a majority in the constituencies. Corruption, in every
possible form, from the highest to the lowest, was employed in all
parts of Great Britain, especially among the urban electors, and with
such success, that almost every measure of government passed without
difficulty through both Houses of Parliament. The nation had shaken
off the prerogatives of the crown, but they had fallen under the
domination of its influence. The gold of the Exchequer was found to
be more powerful than the penalties of the Star-Chamber.”
Almost every one professes to consider the debt as a drain upon
the resources of the nation; as a nightmare upon the chests of the
people; and as a millstone which will sink England below her proper
position. Most of our political writers affect this view. All our
alarmists make it their theme. Hume wrote,—“Either the nation must
destroy public credit, or public credit must destroy the nation.”
Sir Robert Walpole said,—“When the debt reaches 100 millions, the
nation will be bankrupt.” In 1735, Lord Hervey, in his memoir of
George II., remarked,—“I do not see how it would be possible for the
country, on any exigence, or for the support of the most necessary
war, to raise one million a year more than it now raises”; and in
1777 the third earl wrote as a note,—“What would my father have said
had he seen seventeen millions raised in a year?” Lord Bolingbroke
declared the debt was sinking England into the gulf of inevitable
bankruptcy. Cobbett was perfectly rabid in his attacks on those whom
he invariably classed as Jews and fundholders, predicted the ruin of
England in half a century, and proposed, in 1832, a plan which would
have ceased the interest on the national debt in twenty-seven years,
and have classed England among the repudiators.
Adam Smith thought that the practice of funding had gradually
weakened every state which had adopted it. Paine openly predicted the
Bank and the government would perish together in a few months. Mr.
Tierney said, in 1817, such a state of things could not go on. Sir
James Graham proposed, in 1827, a reduction of thirty per cent. Mr.
Baines thought it might be ultimately necessary to make a general
contribution to extinguish a large portion of the debt; and the late
Earl Grey talked in early life of “taking the bull by the horns”;
although he failed to fulfil in his age the promise of his youth.
If prophecies such as these have been plentiful, the following
extract, at once a picture and illustration of the period when the
nation first commenced to borrow, will prove that other views are
entertained by many, and that there is a large class who, however
they may deprecate the great evils arising from the debt, consider
that it has been beneficial to the interests of England.
“The era of the Revolution is chiefly remarkable for the new dynasty
having taught the government how to raise taxes in the country, and
thus brought England to take the place to which she was entitled
in the scale of nations, by bringing the vast national resources
to bear upon the national struggles. That which the Stuarts never
could effect by appeal to honor, spirit, or patriotism, William and
Anne soon accomplished by bringing into play, and enlisting on their
side, different and less creditable motives. They no longer bullied
the House of Commons, they bribed it; and, strange to say, it is to
the entire success of the gigantic system of borrowing, expending,
and corrupting, which they introduced, and which their successors
so faithfully followed, that the subsequent greatness of England
is mainly to be ascribed. It was the system of managing the House
of Commons by loans, good places, and bribes, which provided the
sinews of war, and prepared the triumphs of Blenheim and Ramilies.
William tripled the revenue, and gave so much of it to the House of
Commons that they cordially agreed to the tripling. He spent largely;
he corrupted still more largely; he made the national interest in
support of taxation more powerful than those operating to resist it.
The memoirs recently come out give details of corruption so barefaced
and gross, that they would exceed belief if their frequency, and the
testimony to their authenticity from different quarters, did not defy
disbelief.”
It is now known, that when Walpole’s ministerial supporters were
invited to his ministerial dinner, each found a £500 note under his
napkin.
It is one great evil of the present age, that it persists in
regarding the debt as perpetual. Immediately the expenditure is
exceeded by the revenue, there is a demand for the reduction of
taxation. We, a commercial people, brought up at the feet of
McCulloch, with the books of the national debt as a constant study,
with the interest on the national debt as a constant remembrancer,
persist in scoffing at any idea of decreasing the encumbrance; and
when a Chancellor of the Exchequer proposes a loan of eight millions,
we growl and grumble, call it charitable, trust for better times, and
read the opposition papers with renewed zest.
There is no doubt that the resources of the nation are equal to far
more than is now imposed; but it can only be done by an efficient
revision of our taxation; and this will never be effected till the
wolf is at the door. A war which greatly increased our yearly imposts
would, with the present system, crush the artisan, paralyze the
middle class, and scarcely leave the landed proprietor unscathed. The
convertibility of the note of the Bank of England would cease; and
it would be impossible to preserve the charter of Sir Robert Peel in
its entirety, while twenty-eight millions were claimable yearly in
specie, and the gold of the country went abroad in subsidies.
In an earlier portion of the volume, the writer briefly advocated
annuities as one mode of treating the national debt. There would in
this be no breach of faith to the present public; there would be
no dread of a general bankruptcy; there would be no need of loans;
and, had this principle been carried out, the national debt would be
yearly diminishing. In ten years nearly two millions of terminable
annuities will expire; and it behoves the government to inquire
into the effect which the conversion of the interminable debt into
terminable annuities would have on the money market.
It is absolutely idle for the Financial Reform Association to
think of effectually lowering the taxation of the country while
twenty-eight millions are paid for interest; and it is to be feared
that great evil will accompany whatever good they may achieve.
That there are many offices which might be abolished; that it is a
rule in England that the least worked should be best paid; that an
extravagant system of barbaric grandeur exists; that the army and the
navy, the pulpit and the bar, are conducted unwisely; and that great
men are paid great salaries for doing nothing,—are indisputable;
but it is equally so, that great savings have been effected, and
that great efforts are making to economize further. There is a faith
pledged to the public servant as much as to the public creditor; and,
whether he be a colonel or a clerk, a man of peace or a man of war,
it is impracticable, imprudent, and unjust to attempt that which
would as much break faith with him, as to cease to pay the dividends
on the national debt would be to break faith with the national
creditor.
These things are paltry and puerile compared with that which,
excepting a total revision of taxation, can alone materially meet the
difficulties of England; and the gentlemen of the Reform Association
are aware of this. They may cut down salaries; lower the defences of
the country; abolish expensive forms and ceremonies; amalgamate a
few boards of direction; reduce the civil list; and do away with all
sinecures. But the evil is too vast, and the difficulties are too
gigantic, to be met in so simple a manner. Nor will these gentlemen
be satisfied with it while there are 800 millions at which to level
their Quixotic spear. Repudiation was darkly alluded to at one
meeting of the Association; and, though it has since been denied, it
is to be feared that time only is required to ripen the attempt.
Mr. Henley, a few months ago, brought forward a motion to deduct ten
per cent. from all official salaries, and the motion was deservedly
negatived. But such motions, when meant to meet a great difficulty,
are too contemptible to notice; and would only pauperize the feelings
of those who are already almost pauperized in purse. Let Mr. Henley
think of the salaries paid at the Custom-House, the Post-Office, and
Somerset House, before he again introduces a proposal on a principle
so broad that it is unworthy a statesman, and insulting to an
educated, an intelligent, and a trustworthy class.
To reduce or pay off the national debt may be gigantic, but it is not
impossible; and the writer closes the present chapter with a review
of some of the proposals which have been laid before the public.
In 1715, a pamphlet was published, entitled, “A Method that will
enable the Government to pay off that Part of the Public Debt which
is redeemable by Parliament,” by which twenty-one millions were to
be paid in seventeen years, by bills of credit without interest.
Soon after the accession of the present royal family, Mr. Archibald
Hutcheson presented a plan which excited much attention at the
time, and is well entitled to recapitulation; and his principal
propositions were,—
1. That the sums severally assessed on the lands of Great Britain
for the land-tax of 1713 be made payable as a rent-charge in fee for
ever, out of the several respective lands, redeemable at any time by
the proprietors paying twenty-two years’ purchase.
2. That the said rents, or the money raised by redemption or
assignments of the same, be applied to the discharge of the public
debt.
3. That one tenth part of all annuities for life, and all other rents
issuing out of the aforesaid lands, and of all sums of money secured
by mortgage, and of all other debts which affect lands, be entirely
remitted to their respective proprietors.
4. That the proprietors of such land be empowered to sell so much
of them as shall be sufficient to redeem the aforesaid respective
rent-charges.
5. That one tenth part of all the debts secured by public funds be
remitted.
6. That one tenth part of all the other net personal estates of all
the inhabitants of Great Britain, which affect land and public funds,
be applied to the payment of the public debt.
7. That 2_s._ in the pound be made payable yearly out of the salaries
and perquisites of all offices and places.
8. That the legal interest be reduced to four per cent. per annum.
9. That, for the effectual securing of the payment of such public
debts, for which there either is at present no provision, or the
provision made by Parliament appears deficient, all funds granted for
any term of years be made perpetual, until the principal and interest
of all the said public debts be fully paid off; and that the interest
of such public debts as at present have defective or no securities
be paid out of the yearly produce of the said funds; and that the
remainder only of such produce, over and above the interest of the
said public debts, be applied towards the sinking of the principal
money.
10. That provisions may be made by an excise on apparel, or some
other excise, sufficient to produce one million per annum in lieu of
the land-tax, till all the public debts are discharged.
In 1715, Mr. Asgill published his plan for the more speedy redemption
of all the perpetual funds; two millions were to be raised in
specie, and deposited in a bank, to support the circulation of
twenty millions of exchequer-bills at three per cent., with which
all the redeemable debts were to be paid off. As an annual interest
of £1,182,454 10_s._ 5_d._ was then paid for these redeemable debts,
and as the interest of the two millions to be borrowed at six per
cent., and of twenty millions of exchequer-bills at three per cent.,
amounted only to £720,000, the public would thus have acquired a
sinking fund of £462,454 10_s._ 5_d._
In 1719, Stephen Barbier proposed to pay the public debt. The plan
of this gentleman was to convert forty millions of the debt into
notes, bearing one per cent. less interest than the original fund,
which was thus to be converted; the conversion was only to take place
at the request of the creditor, who might thus at any time obtain
both principal and interest. These notes were to be current in all
pecuniary transactions, and were to be paid in specie, six months
after they were presented for payment.
Such were the chief propositions at the commencement of the
eighteenth century. It would be impracticable to follow the numerous
schemes which have since been propounded, but a few of the later
plans may not be uninteresting. In 1819, a proposition was made which
boldly grappled with the immediate difficulty. Estimating the entire
private property of the kingdom, on the lowest calculation, at two
thousand five hundred millions, it suggested that all such property,
including all claims on the government, in respect of money lent and
advanced, should be declared liable to a contribution of fifteen per
cent.
In 1821, a “practical scheme” appeared, the leading points of which
were,—
That all the annuities must be consolidated, viz.:—
The 3 per cents at 65
3½ ” 73½
4½ ” 81
5 ” 100
That an assessment of twenty per cent. be laid on all property and
funds so consolidated.
That an assessment of five per cent. be laid on private property not
in the British funds.
That fixed property, except buildings, be valued at twenty years’
purchase.
That this assessment be converted into a redeemable income-tax, at
the option of the proprietor, at five per cent. per annum.
That a similar assessment, for the term of ten years, be levied on
net profits of trade and agriculture.
In 1827, it was proposed to pay one half the debt by an assessment
of twelve per cent. upon the entire capital of the country; and, in
1832, another “practical plan” was suggested; “to impose a loan of
twenty per cent. upon all the net real property, excepting those
whose possessions are less than £100; the amount to be paid either at
once, or by instalments, within five years.”
To impose a tax of five per cent. for one year upon all incomes of
not less than £100 a year, arising from profits of artists and other
professional men.
To abolish all internal taxes, excepting the land-tax.
Other propositions have appeared, but they have been entirely
disregarded. The evil day has been deferred, and will continue to
be so; but it affects all good citizens to bear in mind that it
must eventually arrive; and some future historian will record that
the ruin of England arose from the greatness of her national debt,
because her citizens were deficient in that abnegation of self which
alone could grapple with a great difficulty, save a great country,
and alleviate the sufferings of a patient and enduring people.
In 1817, the ministry debated the advisability of altering the mode
of registering the accounts of the national debt. Many complaints had
been made by bankers and merchants, of the long period employed by
the Bank of England in preparing for the payment of the dividends;
and they contended that six weeks were unnecessary; or, if necessary,
that some new method should be tried by which the annoyance might be
remedied.
The suggestion was taken into consideration, and the system of
debentures very generally debated. After much mature thought, it
was decided that, though the plan answered very well with foreign
securities, the English debt was too gigantic, and the plan would
involve too great a risk to be entertained. After much discussion
in the journals, and a few questions in the House, the idea was
abandoned; nor was it until thirty years from the above time, that
the objection of the bankers was met; and, by the arrangements of Mr.
William Ray Smee, now in operation at the Bank of England, the stocks
closed only three instead of six weeks.
CHAPTER XIII.
_Progress of Invention.—Public Roads.—Steam.—Duke of
Bridgewater.—Canals.—Railroads.—Thomas Gray, their
Pioneer.—His Difficulties.—Proposals for the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway.—Monopoly of the Canals.—Parliamentary
Inquiry.—Extraordinary Opinions of Witnesses.—The Claims of Thomas
Gray.—Value of Canal Property._
It is not unworthy of remark, that many of the greatest efforts of
intellect are within the scope of the writer; as most of those works
which have from time to time benefited the world, both socially and
physically, have been assisted by the money power of England. Nor
will the inquirer be backward in comparing the singular difficulties
with which all inventions requiring great capital contended in the
last century, with the remarkable facility which marks their progress
in the present, if they fairly promise, as most grand inventions do,
to interest the entire community, and pay ten per cent.
The annals of invention have ever been those of opposition; and the
history of locomotion has been singularly illustrative of this.
The journey from city to city, and from county to county, was once
painfully slow. It is a subject of ridicule in the present day. A
great feature with novelists, a few years ago, was to represent the
incidents of a long inland journey. The memory of the reader will at
once recur to “Tom Jones,” to “Humphrey Clinker,” and to the humorous
scene drawn by the modern master of fiction in the opening chapter
of “The Antiquary,” as some illustration of the liabilities of the
traveller.
It is easier to ridicule than to reason, and safer to prophesy defeat
than to predict success. The minds of the mass generally depreciate
that which is beyond them; some fancy that they elevate themselves
by lowering others; while the many, who bigotedly view all change
as evil, doggedly refuse to acknowledge the good till they reap
the fruit; and it is probable that the loudest grumbler in the
railway-carriage of the present day was the loudest declaimer against
locomotives a quarter of a century ago.
When the turnpikes were extended from the metropolis to the country,
many of the counties petitioned Parliament against so heinous an
attempt upon vested rights. The rustic gentleman grew eloquent
upon the subject of rendering London accessible, and drew pictures
of desolation, in which the grass was to grow in the streets, in
which rents were to be reduced, cultivation was to be lowered,
and the producer ruined. The toll-bars of the newly-made roads in
the eighteenth century were torn to the ground, and the blood of
a prejudiced people was shed in their defence. The first “flying
coaches,” though six days were employed to do that which is now
done in six hours, were met with invectives. It was said that they
would be fatal to the breed of horses and the art of horsemanship;
that saddlers and spurriers would be ruined; that the inns would be
abandoned; and, above all, the Thames, as the great nursery of our
seamen, would be destroyed. The post, that grand social benefit,
was denounced, in Charles II.’s reign, as a Popish contrivance; and
the first attempt to light the streets—an attempt which only made
darkness visible—was vehemently attacked.
When the Margate steamboat, with its six hours’ journey, superseded
the Margate hoy, which occupied almost as many days, the coach
proprietors, under the idea that Margate was their peculiar property,
and its visitors their particular prey, petitioned Parliament to
support the coaches, at the expense of the steamers. A century and
a half since, it was thought a great effort to run a coach between
Edinburgh and Glasgow in three days; it is now done in one hour;
and, only a century since, it occupied thirty-six hours in doing
that which is now accomplished in four. Although this tediousness of
transit was partially owing to what were by courtesy called roads,
it must be remembered that then, as now, there were the prejudices
of the people with which to contend; and, perfectly content with the
existing state of things, the country gentlemen were most strenuous
in their objections to the introduction of stage-coaches, on the plea
that their wives would lose their domestic habits through travelling
too frequently, and cease to be worthy housewives to the squirarchy
of England.[5]
The floor of the House of Commons was covered with memorials from
inkeepers and petitions from postboys. They merely indicated the
selfishness of the memorialists, tired the patience of the senators,
and wasted the time of the nation. But petitions in favor of “no
progress” were not the only mode of opposition. When the Lea was made
navigable, the farmers became furious, broke down the banks, and
injured the river. Still, with the progress of the nation, the roads
continued to improve. Transit became easier, more rapid, and cheaper;
and just as the world was congratulating itself on the perfection of
its highways, a new plan was proposed.
It soon became public, that a strange, eccentric nobleman, known as
the Duke of Bridgewater, had a queer crotchet in his head to create
a water-carriage, by cutting canals. It began also to be rumored,
that this same eccentric Duke, seriously determined to finish what he
had commenced, had reduced his personal expenses to £400 per annum,
and given up the remainder of his rental to carry out his project.
The many had no hesitation in declaring him insane; but his Grace
scarcely thought of their opinions as he proceeded with his task;
and the remarkable firmness of the Duke of Bridgewater, aided by
the great mind of John Brindley, his architect, produced an effect
which has already survived the pecuniary results at which he aimed.
It is impossible in the present volume to do justice to the resolute
character of the Duke, or to the obstacles overcome by the skill of
Mr. Brindley. Stupendous mounds of earth were removed, which seemed
to demand Titanic power; supplies of water were procured sufficient
to exhaust mountain springs and mountain rivulets; aqueducts were
built far above the surface of the river, rivalling those which
conveyed water to the Eternal City from the mountain recesses.
At last the prejudices of the ignorant multitude were uprooted, and
the scientific few delighted. They who had gone to scoff remained to
praise; and an engineer, who had sneeringly said they had heard of
castles in the air, but now they were to see them realized, began to
wonder as much at his own opposition as at the simple grandeur of the
work he had derided. The chief business of the Duke’s agent was to
ride about the country, borrowing money on the promissory notes of
his Grace, whose bond for £500 was refused in the city, where great
purposes are little regarded unless they promise a great percentage.
In five years the attempt was crowned with success, and the effect
upon commerce became manifest. Liverpool received the manufactures of
Manchester at a cheaper rate, and Manchester was supplied with goods
from places hitherto comparatively inaccessible. The neighbouring
woods and vales were visited by the pale denizen of the factory on
the day of rest; and passengers were enabled to travel along that
canal which they owed to the patient endurance and undeviating
firmness of Francis, Duke of Bridgewater, and to the singular ability
of his unrivalled architect, to both of whom personal comfort and
public praise were nothing in comparison with the achievement of a
great idea.
But a new power was in progress, which was to realize all the visions
of a day-dreamer, and almost to annihilate both time and space. The
progress and development of railways is one of the most interesting
features in locomotion. About 1646, a Mr. Beaumont was ruined in
attempting to convey coals in carriages of a novel construction. The
necessity of some improvement in the conveyance of this article was,
therefore, thus early recognized. Thirty years afterwards, a saving
of thirty per cent. was effected by some tram-roads near Newcastle;
and as information spread, and the great dogma that _time is money_
began to be appreciated, further improvements were made. The wooden
roller of the wagon was changed for an iron wheel with cast-iron
rails. Plenty of claimants were found for this imperfect alteration,
although soon after it was necessary to adopt a rail fixed a few
inches above the ground. The next improvement was that which detached
the horse, and made him follow the wagon; and when the road was
constructed with two inclines, so that a descending train of loaded
coal might draw up an empty one, it was thought that all which human
ingenuity could effect had been achieved; and at this point it is
probable the rail would have remained, but for the great discovery of
steam-power, and its application to practical purposes. About 1760,
coeval with the introduction of iron rails, Watt entertained the idea
of employing steam as a moving power; but the design was abandoned;
nor was it till 1802 that the attention of engineers was devoted to
locomotive engines on railroads; when a patent was taken out, and
the principle tested with success at Merthyr Tydvil.[6]
The name of Thomas Gray in connection with railroads ranks at
present among the many whose ideas were derided by the very men who
afterwards adopted them. From an early period he formed the opinion
that railways would become the principal mode of transit. It was his
thought by day; it was his dream by night. He talked of it until
his friends voted him an intolerable bore. He wrote of it until the
reviewers deemed him mad. Coaches, canals, and steamboats were, in
his mind, useless. His wisdom and far ken shadowed forth the path
which the purse of others consummated; and, while the projector
died steeped to the lips in poverty, the speculators realized great
profits. His conversation was of a world which his companions could
not comprehend. To appropriate the idea of Mr. Macaulay, there were
fools then as there are fools now; fools who laughed at the railway
as they had laughed at the canals; fools who thought they evinced
their wisdom by doubting what they could not understand. For years
his mind was absorbed by these dreams; and there was something
magnificent in all his projects. He talked of enormous fortunes
realized; of coaches annihilated; of one great general line;—and he
was laughed at. He went to Brussels; and when a canal was proposed,
he again advocated railways. At last he put his thoughts into form;
wrote “Observations on a Railroad for the Whole of Europe”; and was
ridiculed; the work being suppressed, lest men should call him mad.
In 1820, however, he published a book which he called, “A general
Iron Railway, or Land Steam Conveyance,” which attracted great
notice. There was something so pertinacious in the man, and something
so simple in his scheme, that, though it became the custom to laugh
at him, his book went through many editions. When from Belgium he
came to England, true to his theme, he went among the Manchester
capitalists. The men who passed their lives among, and owed their
fortunes to the marvels of machinery, were not yet equal to this.
They listened graciously, and with a smile, something akin to pity,
dismissed him as an incorrigible visionary. But opposition was vain;
nor was Thomas Gray the man to be easily laughed down. He continued
his labors, he continued to talk, to memorialize, to petition, to
fill the pages of magazines, until the public mind was wearied and
worried.
The first result of Gray’s great scheme was with the capital of
those men who had previously derided him. The men of Manchester
found they were paying too much for the cost of conveyance, and
availed themselves of the idea they formerly denounced. A railway
was projected between Liverpool and Manchester, and then commenced
that ignorant opposition, of which one of the blue books contains
such pregnant proof. By this it appears clearly that the transit
between Liverpool and Manchester had long been insufficient. It
was stated in evidence, that places were bespoke for goods, like
places at a theatre. “It is not your turn yet,” was a common
reply, if extraordinary energy were required; and it was clearly
proved that the monopolizers would only send as much cotton as
they chose, arbitrarily fixing the quantity at thirty bags a week.
The fifty-five miles by canal occupied as long as the distance to
New York. The boats were too few to convey the goods; and on one
canal the proprietors received for their yearly dividend the amount
of their original investment. In vain were the agents importuned
to render conveyance more rapid and less expensive. The monopoly
remained with the owner of the canal, who, blinded by a long course
of success, could not see that, with the increase of business, an
increased communication must be opened; and it is singular that,
when the railroad was first contemplated, and its promoters applied
to the agent to take some shares, an answer worthy of an autocratic
government rather than a commercial age was given, of “all or none.”
The shrewd merchants of the North chose the latter alternative.
The difficulties, therefore, with which the new invention had to
contend, were legion; and the Parliamentary inquiry, already alluded
to, produced one of the most remarkable blue books ever published.
A few extracts from the folio will evince the extraordinary ideas
entertained on the subject, the extraordinary ignorance evinced by
men regarded as scientific, and the yet more extraordinary prejudice
which marked the progress of opinion on railway transit. It is,
however, right to say, that the friends and foes of the proposed
scheme were equally unscrupulous in their endeavours to forward their
interests, as levels were taken without permission, strawberry-beds
destroyed, cornfields trodden down, and surveys taken by night, at
the risk of life and limb. On the other hand, guns were discharged at
the intruders; the land was watched incessantly; and the enthusiasm
of the great engineer of the line narrowly escaped being cooled in a
horsepond.
The objections urged by the opponents of the railway were worthy
their cause. It was contended by them that canal conveyance was
quicker; that the smoke of the engines would injure the plantations
of gentlemen’s houses; and one witness, more imaginative than
perceptive, described the locomotives as “terrible things,” although,
on further questioning, he admitted he had never seen one. It was
boldly declared, that a gale of wind would stop the progress of
the carriage; that there would be no more practical advantage in a
railway than in a canal; that Mr. Stephenson was totally devoid of
common sense; that the plan was erroneous, impracticable, and unjust;
and that the tendency of the railway would be to increase the price
of carriage. It was declared to be based on fraud and folly; that
balloons and rockets were as feasible, and that the whole line would
be under water for two and three weeks in succession.
“It is quite idle and absurd,” said one, “to say the present scheme
can ever be carried into execution, under any circumstances, or
in any way.” “Whenever,” said another, with the authority of an
oracle, “Providence in Lancashire is pleased to send rain or a little
mizzling weather, expeditious it cannot be.” A third gave it as his
opinion, that no engine could go in the night-time, “because,” he
added, more Scripturally than soundly, “the night-time is a period
when no man can work!”
It was said that no one would live near a spot passed by the engines,
that no houses would let near a station; and that all property on the
line would be frightfully deteriorated. Not content, however, with
proving the impracticability of the plan, the most frivolous causes
were adduced to show why this, the grandest national project ever
brought forward, a project which has changed the face and features of
the land, the commerce of the country, and the social habits of the
rural population, should not be allowed to pass.
The public services of a railroad were put in competition with the
annoyance which an individual would receive from the smoke of the
engines coming within 250 yards of his house; and it was pathetically
asked, “Can any thing compensate for this?” Gentlemen objected
because it would injure their prospects, and land-owners because it
would injure their pockets! Pictures of ancient family residences
destroyed by the smoke were vividly drawn. The claims of unprotected
females and reverend gentlemen were strongly urged; and pathetic
representations were given of families, who had lived for centuries
in their ancestral home, leaving the dwelling-place of their youth,
and going to another part of the town.
“Mr. Stephenson,” it was boldly declared, “is totally devoid of
common sense. He makes schemes without seeing the difficulties.”
“Upon this shuffling evidence, we are called to pass the bill.” “It
is impossible to hold this changing Proteus in any knot whatsoever.”
“It is the greatest draught upon human credulity ever heard of.”
“There is nothing,” said one, “but long sedgy grass to prevent the
train from sinking into the shades of eternal night.” “They cannot go
so fast as the canal,” said another. A third appealed to the pocket.
“If this bill succeeds, by the time railroads are set going, the
poor, gulled subscribers will have lost all their money; and, instead
of locomotive engines, they must have recourse to horses or asses,
not meaning to say which.” Those whose interests would be affected
decided that “locomotives could not succeed”; and numberless were
the sneers at the idea of engines galloping as fast as five miles an
hour. One sapient gentleman thought the trains might go at four miles
and a half in fine weather, but not more than two and a half in wet.
“When we set out with the original prospectus,” was the remark of the
counsel, “we were to gallop I know not at what rate. I believe it
was twelve miles an hour, with the aid of a devil in the form of a
locomotive sitting as postilion on the fore-horse, and an honorable
member sitting behind him to stir up the fire, and keep it up at full
speed. I will show they cannot go six. I may be able to show we shall
keep up with him by the canal.” “Thus, Sir, I prove that locomotive
engines cannot move at more than four miles and a quarter an hour;
and I show the scheme is bottomed on deception and fallacy.”
Turnpike trusts were to be ruined, and therefore railroads were not
to be forwarded; and it was deemed unanswerable to say that the
canal interests would be hurt by the rail. Though it was proved by
others that more money had been offered for land if the line passed
through than if it did not, it was of no importance in the eyes of
those who, blinded by selfishness, refused to be convinced. The
war-cry on one side was the venerable “vested rights”; on the other,
“progress.”
Men prosily and pathetically talked of tempting Providence by
travelling at the rate of twelve miles an hour. The fine breed of
English horses would be deteriorated, and our cavalry be worsted at
the first onset. The prosperity of a great community was said to be
involved in the contest; and the question whether a few miles of
railway would peril the welfare of the kingdom, was openly discussed.
Stable-boys joined in the contest, and urged the greatness of their
claim; the porters proved how important a class would be sacrificed
to so unimportant an end; and the clergy, alarmed lest the rustic
should neglect the Sunday sermon to see the passing train, added
to the number of petitions. A million horses were to be thrown
out of service, and eight millions of oat-growing acres to be
abandoned. Gentlemen with neither sense nor science wrote treatises
to demonstrate the danger of travelling more than ten miles an hour,
and, at the same time, left on record their want of sympathy with
crack-brained speculators.
But if the opponents were thus bitter in their attack upon the new
scheme, they were equally ingenious in their defence of the canal.
It was described as never subject to drought; the frost never
stopped it; the sun never lowered it; accidents never happened on
it. Its friends were also hardy enough to contend, that a saving of
nine miles an hour was not sufficient to justify the attempt; and
“therefore,” added one who supported this argument, “I do protest
against the despotism of the Exchange at Liverpool striding across
the land of this country.” The reply to all these objections is in
the fact that some thousands of miles are now open to the public.
The Manchester and Liverpool Railway succeeded; but no reward was
conferred upon Thomas Gray. Other railways followed, and were
successful; but no notice was taken of Thomas Gray. The great railway
mania came; but Thomas Gray was nothing in the eyes of excited
speculators, greedy of gain. An endeavour was made by some of the
friends of Gray to win for him the public sympathy; and the poor,
old, broken-hearted man, when he respectfully begged for a situation
on one of those railways which he had so greatly forwarded, was
refused.
“The claim of Gray,” said the _Westminster Review_, “is, that he
found the railway and the locomotive in the condition of mere miners’
tools, dragged them to light, and proclaimed them as the means of
universal progress. He published a practical plan, in 1820, which
was scoffed at on all hands; but in 1830 was made a fact by George
Stephenson, though in 1829 it was almost considered a certain thing
that the haulage on the Liverpool and Manchester would either be
performed by horse-power or by stationary engines.”
The truth of these assertions has never been called in question.
The railway press has generally recognized it. Public subscriptions
for the public benefactor were proposed. A petition in his favor
was forwarded to the House of Commons. But Thomas Gray was poor,
and without influence; and has added another name to those who have
benefited and been buffeted by mankind. Neglected by the directors
of the great works he had pioneered into existence; neglected by
the state, whose profits from railway stamps and railway duties are
mainly owing to him; neglected by the great mass of men, who avail
themselves of the conveyance which once they derided; the “railway
pioneer,” that title which to the last he so dearly loved, died
steeped to his lips in poverty, while the speculators reaped large
gains.
It is a curious circumstance in financial history, that Lord Francis
Egerton, the representative of the great canal projector, received
shares which produced a clear profit of more than £100,000, to
prevent his opposition in the House of Peers; although it is a most
suggestive fact, that, with the increase of railway travelling, canal
property has absolutely improved. The following is the price of
shares in 1824:—
OLD BIRMINGHAM CANAL.
Original Cost. Value in 1824. Annual Dividend.
£140 £2,840 £100
STAFFORD AND WORCESTER.
£140 £960 £40
TRENT AND MERSEY.
£200 £4,600 £150 and bonus.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] The road to Paddington, now known as the New Road, was hotly
contested by the Duke of Bedford, on account of the dust it would
create, and the view it would abridge. Walpole wrote, that the Duke
was never in town to feel the dust, and was too short-sighted to see
the prospect.
[6] The attempt of Mr. Ogle to run locomotives on the public roads
must have cost him many thousands; and nothing but the same popular
prejudice which attempted to prove that engines on railroads would
send horses mad with fright, prevented this great attempt from
becoming general. The reader must remember the grave shaking of heads
which met Mr. Ogle’s cherished design, as similar heads have always
been shaking at novel propositions.
CHAPTER XIV.
_Monetary Excitement.—Approaches to the Stock Exchange.—Gold
Company.—Equitable Loan Company.—Frauds in Companies.—Loan to
Foreign States.—Poyais Bubble._
The excitement of 1824 and 1825 has usually been considered in
reference to banking and the Bank of England. It is the writer’s
present purpose to draw attention to the social and moral evils of
the period; and, by a simple detail of some curious incidents and
dangerous adventures arising out of it, to draw attention to the
great and crying iniquities which obtained.
The readiness with which shares were attainable first created a
class of speculators that has ever since formed a marked feature in
periods of excitement, in the dabblers in shares and loans with which
the courts and crannies of the parent establishment were crowded.
The scene was worthy the pencil of an artist. With huge pocketbook
containing worthless scrip; with crafty countenance and cunning eye;
with showy jewelry and threadbare coat; with well-greased locks and
unpolished boots; with knavery in every curl of the lip, and villany
in every thought of the heart; the stag, as he was afterwards termed,
was a prominent portrait in the foreground. Grouped together in
one corner might be seen a knot of boys eagerly buying and selling
at a profit which bore no comparison to the loss of honesty they
each day experienced. Day after day were elderly men, with shabby
faces and huge umbrellas, witnessed in the same spot, doing business
with those whose characters might be judged from their company. At
another point, the youth, just rising into manhood, conscious of a
few guineas in his purse, with a resolute determination to increase
them at any price, gathered a group around, while he delivered his
invention to the listening throng, who regarded him as a superior
spirit. In every corner, and in every vacant space, might be seen
men eagerly discussing the premium of a new company, the rate of a
new loan, the rumored profit of some lucky speculator, the rumored
failure of some great financier, or wrangling with savage eagerness
over the fate of a shilling. The scene has been appropriated by a
novelist as not unworthy his pen. “There I found myself,” he writes,
“in such company as I had never seen before. Gay sparks, with
their hats placed on one side, and their hands in their breeches
pockets, walked up and down with a magnificent strut, whistling
most harmoniously, or occasionally humming an Italian air. Several
grave personages stood in close consultation, scowling on all who
approached, and seeming to reprehend my intrusion. Some lads, whose
faces announced their Hebrew origin, and whose miscellaneous finery
was finely emblematical of Rag-fair, passed in and out; and besides
these, there attended a strangely varied rabble, exhibiting, in all
sorts of forms and ages, dirty habiliments, calamitous poverty, and
grim-visaged villany. It was curious to me to hear with what apparent
intelligence they discussed all the concerns of the nation. Every
wretch was a statesman; and each could explain, not only all that had
been hinted at in Parliament, but all that was at that moment passing
in the bosom of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.”
The entrance to the Stock Exchange became at last so choked up, that
nothing but a fine of £5 on those who stopped the way had any effect
in dispersing the nuisance.
Among the companies which sprung up daily was one to make gold; and
success was declared to be undoubted. The shares were all greedily
taken; and it was then advertised, that, as the expense of producing
one ounce of gold would cost double the value of the produce, the
company would be dissolved, and the deposits kept to pay expenses.
The capital of a mining company was divided between fifty
proprietors, whose advertisements and puffs were disgraceful. The
meanest utensils of the peasantry were declared to be silver; and,
although there were but ninety-nine mines in the whole district,
the company professed to have purchased 360. In a place containing
5,000 inhabitants, it was affirmed the projector possessed 3,000
mines; and, although they had been previously abandoned after a loss
of £170,000, they were purchased at a high price, and puffed to an
enormous premium.
The Equitable Loan Company was another specimen. In paragraphs
calculated to excite the sympathy of the public, the directors
denounced the profits of the pawnbroker, arraigned his evil
practices, and delicately concluded by hinting that a company formed
upon the most philanthropic principles, and paying forty per cent.,
would soon be formed. The philanthropy might have been proclaimed for
centuries, but forty per cent. was irresistible. The Duke of York
good-naturedly lent his name; members of Parliament were bribed with
shares; and when it was honestly said by one, that the bill would
never pass the House, the triumphant reply given was, “O, we have so
many on the ministerial, and so many on the opposition side, and _we
are sure of the saints_!” The shares, however, went to a discount;
both opposition and ministerial members lost all interest in the
nefarious doings of the pawnbrokers, and the philanthropy of the
saints faded with the fading vision of forty per cent.
The Bolivar Mining Company boasted of “mountains, not mines,” of
metals. A railroad was projected to cross from Dover to Calais. A
loan of £225,000 was proposed for Patagonia; another in derision
advertised for the Lilliputians and Houyhnhnms of Swift’s political
satire; and, to assist them all, a parliamentary steam company
announced to pass more rapidly the bills before the House.
At the formation of another mining company, the utmost magnanimity
was evinced. Rules were passed that none of the directors should
hold more than 200 shares, that all which remained should be brought
honestly into the market, and that every thing should be fair. But
this moderation waxed weaker as their power increased. Thousands of
shares were allotted among the managers, and locked carefully up. A
resolution was passed, that no director or officer should be required
to pay deposits; and then, employing the most respectable brokers to
purchase 1,000 shares with the money of the company, they created
a sensation in the market, and sent them to a premium. The person
who sold the mines to the company was employed to report upon their
value. Opinions the most flattering were given of property absolutely
worthless; and, as a proof of the greediness of one party and the
incapacity of the other, it may be mentioned that a mine, the full
value of which was £400, was purchased at £11,000; and that £121,000
were paid for some which, in almost every instance, were exhausted.
When the Lower Rhine Steam-Navigation Company was announced, it
became a great favorite. Large quantities were sold for the account;
and, as the settling time approached, the premium rose to 28. The
sellers were unable to deliver the shares, and their difficulties
became serious. To meet them, new receipts were printed, closely
imitating the old, the name only of the banker being changed. The
deceit was discovered. A committee sat to elucidate the fraud, and
the supposed concoctor was expelled from the Stock Exchange. The
circumstance excited great attention at the time; and many more were
said to be implicated than it was in the power of the committee to
reach.
Another peculiar feature of the period was to be found in the loans
which preceded and accompanied the memorable era when the public was
wild to lend its capital to foreign states, and the resources of the
borrowers were scarcely regarded. The dividends of the English funds
were scoffed at; the general rate of percentage was increased in
the eyes of the many; Patagonian or Lilliputian securities, which
promised eight per cent., were eagerly looked for; and solid loans
were followed by visionary dividends.
It is a somewhat curious fact, that directly the Navy five per
cents were reduced, the people rushed wildly into new securities
to retrieve their loss, and missed in the promises of the one the
certainty of the other. In 1822, foreign states which, in some cases,
had not even attained the freedom for which they fought, became
creditors to the English public to the amount of £10,150,000.
Chili, after a protracted resistance to the mother country, found
success followed its efforts. Lord Cochrane gave his powerful support
to the navy; and, in 1818, a large tract of coast was declared by him
in a state of blockade. The vigor of his Lordship proved too much
for the royalists; and in a short period a free constitution, with a
popular government, was appointed. But neither the free constitution
nor the popular government could do without money. The Chilian
republic, therefore, borrowed one million of the English people, at
six per cent., and, having received the cash, thought it unnecessary
to pay the interest after 1826.
Peru, a place so interesting to the historic reader, from its early
discovery, its connection with the Spaniards, and the cruelties of
Pizarro, exhibited another specimen of loan-contracting. After years
of violent commotion and of resolute resistance, her independence
was proclaimed; but independence did not produce quiet, and the name
of Bolivar became known in a sanguinary and protracted war. The
Spaniards refused quietly to yield their territory; Lima surrendered
to Spanish troops; and though they were dispossessed by Bolivar,
and Peru became safe from subjugation, doubt, distrust, and anarchy
remained. During this period, the opinion of the English people may
be guessed from the fact, that they lent, in 1822, £450,000 at six
per cent., and that it was contracted for at eighty-eight per cent.
Colombia, which only dates its history as a nation from 1819,
followed. During the contest which preceded its independence, the
insurgents were supplied with implements of war and ammunition from
this country, on the security of debentures bearing ten per cent.
interest; and when the great battle, in which Bolivar the hero of
American independence obtained a complete victory, and consummated
the freedom of Colombia, was fought, the new state borrowed two
millions at eighty-four per cent.
Poyais was another instance of English liberality. £200,000 were
lent on a security so visionary, that not one dividend was ever
paid; while sadder and more sorrowful effects than this followed.
Adventures which commercial history has rarely paralleled marked its
progress; and sufferings, which make us shudder at the recital were
the result of the delusion. But little known out of a particular
circle, the name of the Poyais settlement is never mentioned there
but with feelings of unmitigated detestation.
A Scotchman, named Gregor MacGregor, claiming to be chief of the
clan which bears his name, formed the idea of creating a settlement
on the shores of the Black River. The first appearance of this
man in a public character was in the service of the patriots of
Spanish America. Under the florid title of “General of Brigade of
the Armies of the United Provinces of New Granada and Venezuela,
and General-in-chief of the Armies destined against the Floridas,”
he succeeded in seizing a place known as Amelia Island, which he
proposed to use for purposes of aggrandizement. His views proving
fallacious, he vacated it, and was next heard of as carrying, with
a trifling force, the rich town of Portobello. Here he addressed to
his men a manifesto, in which gold and glory, plunder and patriotism,
equally occupied its periods. Scarcely was it issued, however, ere
the force of MacGregor was surrounded, and the great general could
only save his life by leaving his followers, leaping out of the
window in his shirt, and swimming on board his ship. It is probable
that, during these campaigns, the idea of a settlement first occurred
to MacGregor, as, not long after their conclusion, he proposed a
plan of emigration about to be related; a plan by which colonization
was to extend to that part of America known as the Mosquito country.
The more pleasing title of Poyais was given; the Stock Exchange was
employed to circulate some bonds for a loan of £200,000, at eighty
per cent., on the security of the country; and a land renowned
for its inhospitable climate was puffed into a most undeserving
celebrity. Every device of human ingenuity was practised. Books were
published in which the climate of paradise seemed uncongenial by that
of Poyais. The air was soft and balmy; the sun and sky were alike
fructifying; the soil yearned to yield its fruits; the water ran over
sands of gold. Grain was to grow without sowing. Tortoise-shell,
diamonds, and pearls were plentifully promised; and, to the least
imaginative, the most glowing realms of the Pacific grew pale in
comparison with a region where the sun was ever bright, and the soil
ever yielding. Labor would be superseded, life commenced in hardship
would end in luxury; while gorgeous pictures of “the finest climate
and most fertile place in the world,” excited the undisciplined
imagination of those who had the money necessary to convey them
thither. A song, to be paid for by a company of Poyais lancers, was
chanted in the streets; and the attention of the passing crowd was
attracted by hired ballad-singers. The new home was to be graced with
a knight of the Green Cross, a colonel to command, three legislative
houses to guide its affairs, and a sovereign in the person of Gregor
MacGregor, under the romantic title of Cacique of Poyais. An agent
was employed to make sales of land, and, unhappily, the applicants
were numerous.
Nor was this all. An engraving was published, in which a church
attracted the religious sympathies of some, and a bank the mercenary
thoughts of others; while a theatre gave an air of civilization and
luxury the scene.
Tempted by such descriptions, two hundred and fifty persons embarked
for the land of promise; their lives, their fortunes, and their
families engaged in a scheme which led to destruction. The mere
adventurer was drawn by the beauty of the settlement, the fineness of
the climate, and the hope of making a fortune. The son of the soil,
who had amassed a capital which in Great Britain was unable to save
him from a poor-house, but promised in Poyais a sufficiency for life,
gathered his family together, sold his little furniture, reserving,
with Scottish piety, the Bible which had often consoled his Scottish
hearth, and sought an unknown clime, and a new home for his household
deities. Notes, payable at the Bank of Poyais, were given in exchange
for notes of the Bank of Scotland, under the plea that the latter
would not circulate in the Mosquito country. At length, the barks
which were to conduct the settlers were entered at Leith harbour; and
under different auspices, but with similar results to those which
marked the Darien expedition from the same port, they left the spot
which many were destined to see no more.
Their arrival at the Black River was ominous. As their vessel neared
the new country, a gun was fired, and colors hoisted, to announce
the coming of the emigrants. Every moment they looked anxiously out
for some symptoms of the settlement. Every eye was strained to see
the spire of the church which, in all their dreams, had decorated
their home. Every heart beat with a strange, unwonted anxiety as they
came near the place which had been pictured in such vivid colors. No
great powers of imagination are necessary to conceive their watchful
expectation, as hour after hour passed, and their signals remained
disregarded; or with what a bounding joy they must have seen the
first boat, conveying three white people, approach the ship. The
delusion was brief; and a few words damped their hopes and destroyed
their visions, by the information that it was a savage, sterile,
and desolate spot. Greatly dispirited, they commenced a sad and
sullen journey up the creek. With a burning sun and sky above, no
traces of civilization around, exhausted by the climate, and galled
by insects which the heat of the air nourished in great size, they
proceeded with an almost funereal melancholy to their city of refuge.
The young and ardent asked for gold and gems; the old and cautious
looked at the situation, as, with an anxiety they could not conceal,
they questioned of the soil, its capabilities, and its cultivation.
“Lo!” wrote one who suffered greatly in this disastrous expedition.
“Lo! they said it was all swampy.” By the shades of evening they
landed, and eagerly looked for their future home. It was too dark to
see where the old town of St. Joseph’s formerly stood, as its site
was covered with bushes; and new town there was none, save a couple
of huts, scarcely worthy the name. The next day, the terrible heat
of the climate demanded shelter; but, with every possible exertion,
it occupied three days in clearing sufficient ground for their
habitation. Some wept at sight of the desolate spot; others gnashed
their teeth; while many, yielding to despair, threw themselves on the
ground, and declared themselves abandoned of God and man. The more
hopeful were employed in pitching tents, and had scarcely commenced
landing the goods, on which their safety depended, when a great
gale arose, and the vessel was blown away; nor did they hear of her
until a month had elapsed. Their situation was not only painful and
perilous, but almost hopeless. Hardy as they were, and fit to battle
with any fate, they bore with them those for whose safety they would
gladly have perilled their lives.
The young child and the aged grandsire, alike incapable of
restraining their wants and wishes, were there. The mother and the
infant, the maiden and the matron, had each her representative.
“Bushes were around, and the moon above,” wrote one of the survivors.
Night brought its fearful malaria, day its yet more fearful sun;
and who can imagine the first dig of the spade which, as it sunk
deeply into a soil, half mud and half water, sunk more deeply into
the heart of the unhappy agriculturist. They sowed corn, and the sun
withered it as it rose from the ground. They planted potatoes, and as
they sprung up, they perished from the great heat. A further danger
appeared to the settlers. They were told by the king of the Mosquito
nation, that no grant would be recognized by him, and that they must
acknowledge allegiance or quit his territory. In these circumstances,
it was deemed advisable for a deputation to wait upon his Majesty;
and over sandy beaches they took their way. Weak from want of food,
weary from want of rest, their journey proved one of toil and
trouble. The rainy season was fast approaching; sickness and death
decimated the wanderers; and vainly did they make desperate efforts
to avert their impending fate. One party procured a boat, and started
in search of aid; but, unhappily, forgetting to take water, died ere
it could attain help. Others bought a canoe, and, with Indians to
guide them, were scarcely at sea, ere their treacherous companions
plundered and flung them overboard. Those who remained had yet to be
acclimated; and sickness added to the sufferings they had already
endured. Eating salt provisions, drinking impure water, burning by
day and shivering by night, on the borders of a creek which bred
disease, with a fatal malaria around, they were unable to resist the
ague, which in its worst form seized upon them. Without help and
without hope, far from home, in an inhospitable country, sickness
seized upon one and all. It spared neither age nor sex, neither
strength nor decrepitude. The most resolute fell beneath its power;
the weakest felt its fatal influence; and so fearfully was the colony
at one time situated, that not one could lift a finger to assist the
other. Death ensued; and the only portion of the soil gained by many
was that which gave a grave. The mortality was two thirds.
But these were not the only evils. In September, 1824, it was said,
“Another thing, in the shape of a Poyais loan, has been brought
into the market.” Great as the excitement was, there were not many
disposed to risk their money; but those who did were persons who had
saved a small amount, which, though insufficient to live upon, was
sufficient to excite a desire for more. By this class a considerable
sum was advanced; and the ruin which fell upon them was tremendous.
Their despair was loud, but useless. The Poyais loan was an epoch
from which many dated for the remainder of their lives; and the
figure of one of these unhappy speculators must still be familiar
to some readers, as she wandered daily through the offices of the
Bank of England, and the purlieus of the Stock Exchange, exposed to
all the annoyances which fall upon those who earn their bread in
the public thoroughfares. The Poyais scrip was destined to a lower
employment still. It was used during the mania for foreign loans
in 1836, as a mode of jobbing, the turn in which, suited to the
pockets of those who dealt in it, varied from a halfpenny to a penny,
according to the demand.
Emigration received a great shock; and “to be served like the Poyais
settlers” was a common excuse of the poor and unthinking. If,
however, the Stock Exchange proved indirectly injurious to the great
cause in this instance, one of its members has done more towards its
assistance than is often effected by individual exertion. The efforts
of Mr. Benjamin Boyd will form an important chapter in some future
history of our Australian colonies; as, from his determined energy,
an impulse has been given to emigration which no future official
supineness can eradicate.
Steam-navigation to Australia is greatly desirable; and governments
which, as the present volume proves, often lavish their money
unworthily, should at least be ready to assist in achieving so
great and beneficial a fact. All local objections are overcome. The
difficulty of the “barrier reef” is proved to be an idle dream; and
the time will yet arrive when men will wonder that a few thousand
pounds should for years have retarded steam-navigation to colonies
important alike to the commerce, the comfort, and the civilization of
England. The writer gives the following, to show that the few words
he has said are not unsupported:—
“We unhesitatingly and confidently reply, that for all this the
colony has to thank Mr. Benjamin Boyd. With this gentleman solely the
movement originated; by him and his family it has been maintained
and supported. To this cause Mr. Boyd has devoted his individual
labor; he has lavished his wealth on it; he has enlisted in it the
activity and talent of his own relations, and that of their numerous
and influential friends; he has supplied them with information and
advice, and urged on their flagging zeal, when requisite, up to the
formation of the Colonization Society, and the commencement of the
Colonization Crusade now in progress. And in this course he has
persevered, in spite of obstacles cast in his way by the colonists
themselves, in spite of obloquy and ridicule from men who were to
benefit by his exertions, but on whose ignorance and supineness his
stirring activity was a bitter and ceaseless censure.”
CHAPTER XV.
_Loan to Guatemala.—-Dispute concerning it.—Greek Loan.—Its
Mismanagement.—Asserted Jobbing.—Mr. Hume.—Dr. Bowring.—Quarterly
Review.—Proposed Tax on Transfers._
Guatemala was a further specimen of loan-making. According to custom,
Barclay & Co. announced that they were appointed agents to the
above state, and were prepared to receive tenders for a loan to the
amount of £1,500,000. The house of Powles & Co. stood highest on the
list; and it was publicly stated that their offer of sixty-eight
per cent. was accepted. The first payment was to be made on the
22d of September, 1825; and should either of the instalments not
be paid, those previously received were to be forfeited. The price
was considered low; and Mr. Alderman Thompson took £10,000 of the
loan, at an advance of five per cent., paying £4000 as a deposit
to Barclay & Co., as the agents. When the sixth instalment became
due, Powles & Co. advised Mr. Thompson not to pay it, as a serious
disagreement had arisen between the government of Guatemala and their
agents.
It appeared that Barclay & Co. had induced Powles & Co. to allow
their names to appear as contractors for the whole, while Barclays
were the real possessors of a million of that stock, the whole of
which they publicly announced had been taken by Powles. The news,
however, reached South America; and the government, indignant at this
conduct, repudiated the acts of Barclay, refusing to pay any dividend
on the loan. Under these circumstances, the purchaser declined to pay
any more instalments, and Barclay declared the previous deposits to
be forfeited.
Mr. Thompson appealed to the courts of law; but law and equity rarely
go hand in hand. The defendants contended that six per cent. was
usurious; the justice of the case was one thing, but international
law was another; and it was, therefore, a triumph,—but one which
few would envy,—when the Vice-Chancellor “confessed that the case
appeared such as would entitle the plaintiff to the equitable relief
prayed; but, as contracts for loans were illegal if the contractors
were at war with an ally of England, it could not be entertained as a
subject of suit.”
It is not to be wondered at that this willingness to lend found a
corresponding willingness to borrow. It was not alone the South
American states that came into the market; nor was it only republican
dictators who were anxious to borrow. Denmark accepted £3,000,000,
Portugal took £1,500,000, and Russia £3,500,000.
From this period up to 1825, loans to foreign places—foreign powers
they cannot be called—were very frequent. Brazil borrowed £3,686,200
in 1824, and in 1825 two millions more. Buenos Ayres followed the
good example, received one million, and then omitted to pay the
dividend; while Mexico took £6,400,000. The emancipation of this
country from the yoke of Spain was a fair specimen of the liberal
principles of the Liberals of this period. Augustin Iturbide matured
a plan to emancipate Mexico; and, having expelled the Spaniards,
established a regency, nominated by himself, formed of his own
creatures, and controlled by his own will. The army was with him, the
usurpation of the throne followed, and the dictator was proclaimed
emperor. The crown was made hereditary, his sons were to be princes,
a million and a half of dollars were settled on him, and all the
accessories of royalty were established.
A million and a half of dollars were more easily voted than procured.
Money was scarce, and the new emperor exacted it with severity. The
people grew disgusted; the opposition saw its time; disaffection
spread to the troops; and Iturbide tendered his resignation to the
senate he had formed. It need scarcely be added, that the dividends
were as difficult to get from Mexico as they were from Peru.
But the Greek loan was the most extraordinary feature of the period;
and with it is concluded the present rapid sketch of the bubbles of
1825.
The history of its mismanagement is one of those strange records of
which the writer has seen so many during his search into the by-ways
of financial history. It must be in the memory of many, that, for
some years previous to 1824, the arm of the Greek was lifted in
resolute, though almost hopeless, resistance against the Ottoman.
When the intelligence reached England, that the nation whose tongue
was classic, whose statuary was regarded with despairing wonder,
whose records formed one of the finest pages of history, was, after
centuries of subjugation, striving to obtain freedom, a genuine
enthusiasm pervaded English society. The antique grandeur of Greece
was remembered; the ancient glory of her people brought to mind;
names which had roused the enthusiasm of schoolboys were repeated;
the clime which had produced the great men of a great age was in
every man’s thought; dreams of renewed glory were in every man’s
brain; and on every man’s tongue, and in every man’s heart, were
the virtues of that past world revived. Of this feeling the subtle
Greek availed himself, and negotiations were entered into to procure
a loan. The proposal was favorably received by the Stock Exchange.
In 1824, two agents of the Greek government, or deputies, as they
were popularly called, arrived in London; and loans to the amount
of £1,602,000 were raised for the service of Greece. This sum was
not placed uncontrolled in the power of the deputies, the sanction
of Mr. Edward Ellice, Mr. Joseph Hume, and another, being necessary
to its appropriation. After much hesitation, 50,000 sovereigns were
despatched to aid the cause; but when they arrived, the government of
that unhappy country refused to give any pledge as to their worthy
employment. The emissaries declined to part with their treasure
without; and, to the alarm of the Greeks, they saw this large amount
sailing from their shore. Any pledge would now have been given; and
the English emissaries were followed with protestations and promises,
which meant nothing but an earnest desire for the gold. Scarcely had
the ill-fated vessel returned, ere the yellow fever attacked the
crew. Helpless and dying, they reached the Asiatic coast; and their
money was taken by the Greek government with an avidity which did not
affect disguise.
Mismanagement marked the progress of the cause in Europe as in
Asia. Two excellent Swedish vessels were offered for £47,000. Time
was success, and, instead of purchasing vessels ready for action,
contracts were made with America for two frigates at £160,000. A
cavalry officer was appointed to superintend the naval department,
and in two months and a half five steamboats were to be placed
at the disposal of Lord Cochrane. “Within a few weeks,” said Mr.
Ellice, rather more pompously than to the purpose, “Lord Cochrane
will be at Constantinople, and burn the Turkish vessels at that
port. Cochrane will suffice for admiral and general. He will clear
Greece of the Turk.” “Give yourselves no further concern about the
matter,” said Sir Francis Burdett, speaking as familiarly of war as
of reform; “your country shall be saved.” But though Sir Francis
Burdett and Mr. Ellice said it, the country was not saved. After
spending £155,000 on two frigates, £50,000 more were required to
finish them. This was not forthcoming, and the vessels were seized.
All seemed anarchy and confusion. Schemes of the most extravagant
character were propounded. Three very important towns were to be
besieged and carried by one thousand men. A free press was to shed
light and lustre around. Improvements which were impracticable, and a
constitution which could not be carried, were promised.
During this unhappy period, the news of cities burned to the ground,
and forts stormed, of besieged places sacked after months of heroic
resistance, aroused the public; and a storm of indignation was poured
upon projectors, deputies, and proprietors. The flagrant enormities
of the management were exposed, the military projects discussed, the
financial artifices denounced; and attention was pointed, through the
report of the committee, at two, whose voices, loud in the cause of
Greece, were said to be louder in their own. Joseph Hume, a member
of the senate, and John Bowring, a linguist and a scholar, were
on the committee. Reports which touched the honor of both were in
free circulation. Political feeling, perhaps, prompted many of the
remarks; and the public press asserted that to which no honorable
man could submit. Mr. Merle, at a public meeting, said “he had been
told that certain portions of the Greek loan had been appropriated to
Mr. Hume; that those bonds had not been taken up; and that they had
afterwards been sold at a great loss to the Greek government.”
“Mr. Hume,” wrote a daily paper, “has been publicly accused of fraud
and hypocrisy, in throwing upon the Greek nation the loss which
attended a speculation of his own, while acting in the assumed
character of a friend to the cause.”
It was proved that one million had been wasted in commissions and
military preparations, in Stock Exchange transactions and Stock
Exchange jobbing. The Greek deputies received allowances larger
than those paid to the diplomatic agents from great courts. Mr.
Hume, in his ardor for Greece, had £10,000 assigned him of the first
loan. The price fell sixteen per cent., and his ardor was said to
have fallen in proportion. Alarmed at a loss so great, the senator
endeavoured to release himself from the burden; but when he applied
to the deputies and contractors, he was met with the reply, that, had
the stock risen, he would not have returned the gain. The argument
was sound, but the head is obtuse when the purse is endangered; and
Mr. Hume—clear-headed generally—could not see the fairness of the
position. After some correspondence, the deputies agreed to take
it off Mr. Hume’s hands, at thirteen instead of sixteen per cent.
discount; thereby saving Mr. Hume £300 out of the loss of £1,600
which he first feared. In time, the Greek cause grew prosperous, the
stock rose to par, and Mr. Hume, with a singular power of perception
compared with his previous notions, claimed the £1,300 which he had
lost. The surprise of the deputies may be imagined, and they must
have had curious ideas of the way in which the friends of Greece
wished to serve her. Mr. Hume, however, was powerful; Mr. Hume was a
senator; and to Mr. Hume was accorded a privilege for which others
might have looked in vain. But a further question arose. Mr. Hume,
remarkable for the closeness of his calculations, discovered that £54
was due for interest. This he applied for, and this was granted.
The defence of Mr. Hume was comprised in the assertion, that, some of
his actions having been misinterpreted, because he was a proprietor
of stock, he had determined to part with it. The deputies offered to
save the friend of the cause so great a loss; and Mr. Hume thought
the conclusion at which they had arrived a sound one. After some
correspondence, they agreed to take his stock at thirteen per cent.
discount, the market price of sixteen per cent. being but nominal.
Mr. Hume wished to be relieved entirely; but this the deputies
declined. Shortly after, Mr. Hume was informed that these gentlemen
would pay him the sum he was deficient; and as he considered this as
fair, and not as a favor, he also considered he was entitled to the
interest. “The worst that any one can say of me,” concluded Mr. Hume,
“is, that I may have evinced an OVER-ANXIETY TO AVOID A PECUNIARY
LOSS.” Mr. Hume probably remembers his over-anxiety to the present
day.
The case of Dr. Bowring was equally memorable. The sum of £25,000
had been allotted to this gentleman, and his horror and alarm may be
conceived when he saw it decline to a discount of eighteen per cent.
The doctor was very vehement in his applications. He represented
his great services; he worried the unhappy deputies; he placed his
cause before them in such vivid colors, that the stock, which had
fallen to eighteen per cent., was taken off his hands at only ten
per cent. loss. When it rose to par, he imitated his illustrious
fellow-laborer, and applied to have it returned. He was reminded that
he had parted with his stock; but the doctor, blessed with a short
memory, professed to have forgotten the very circumstance which it
had cost him an agony to compass. The letters of Dr. Bowring were
somewhat naïve. “I am still the holder of a considerable sum, and I
hope we shall see the loan rise to a good price for _the benefit of
every body_.” “_As the difference to me is a serious one, and to the
Greek government of little importance_, I hope you will oblige me by
allowing the return of the £25,000 scrip.”
There were statements and counter-statements in the journals; there
were pleadings and special pleadings in the magazines; there were
eloquent papers in the Westminster Review, to prove it was all right;
and there were powerful articles in the Quarterly, to prove it was
all wrong. “The economical Mr. Hume’s over-anxiety for scrip,” said
the latter, “the erudite Mr. Bowring’s various translations of stock,
the romantic partiality displayed for per cents by Orlando, have
been sufficiently discussed. Public opinion is quite made up in all
these details; and when the sacred cause of insurrection all over
the world shall again need a loan, the suffering patriots may allow
such statesmen to plead their cause, to clamor about their wrongs,
to weep over their miseries, to dabble in metaphysical, poetical,
and periodical departments, provided they do not meddle with the
pecuniary.”
A poem was extensively circulated, in ridicule of the affair, and
with an extract, the present account of the Greek loan is concluded:—
“O, when the bubble burst, ’t were sweet to mark
How cash and cant roared in alternate bark!
Here, ‘Missolonghi’s fall the spirit shocks’;
There, ‘Were that all,—but, O, the price of stocks!’
Here, ‘Brimful now is misery’s fatal cup,
The Turks have blown another fortress up!’
There, ‘Forts blown up? I’ve heavier news to tell;
The scrip, the scrip will be blown up as well!’
One cries, ‘The cause is lost!’ Another, ‘Zounds,
Who cares? I’ve lost my four-and-fifty pounds!’
Snuffles a saint, ‘I sorrow for the cross;
But nineteen discount is a serious loss.’
Whispers a sinner, ‘Why, the thing must fall;
But, ’t was a very pretty bubble after all!’”
The following extract from Dr. Shelton Mackenzie’s “Partnership en
Commandite,” will form a fitting conclusion to the history of the
foreign loan excitement of 1825:—“Upwards of twenty-five millions
sterling were advanced in foreign loans, of which the show of paying
even the smallest dividend is scarcely kept up. Taking into account
the foreign loans, the investments in foreign funds, and the amount
advanced for foreign railways, about 100 millions sterling have gone
out of this country in the last twenty-five years. Three fourths of
this immense capital are irretrievably sunk.”
“I always,” said a retired financier of great capacity, “tell my
brokers to sell when the Whigs come into office, as they are sure
to lower consols with the credit of the country.” To intimate that
the Whigs were in office in 1831, is to say that their financial
difficulties were great. In this year curiosity was raised to know
the mode which the Chancellor would adopt to meet the deficient
revenue; and great was the surprise of the commercial public when
this gentleman boldly proposed, that, upon every transfer of funded
property, a tax of 10_s._ per cent. should be placed. From this
source he reckoned upon £800,000. It need hardly be said, that
the city received the proposal with such a burst of contemptuous
derision, that the unhappy Chancellor in a very short time consented
to abandon it.
In the following year the reform question startled many capitalists,
and large sales of funded property were made. Some, alarmed at
what appeared more like revolution than reform, when they heard
of “moral demonstrations” to be made by two hundred and fifty
thousand determined men; of soldiers detained in their quarters on
Sunday, to sharpen their swords; of mutiny among the Scots Greys;
of business suspended, and all the usual accompaniments of great
changes,—determined to sell securities which a day might render
worthless. The dealers narrowed their personal operations to a limit
consistent with safety; while others sold all, and purchased in
foreign funds. The feeling of these individuals was evinced by the
fact, that they bought chiefly in Russian funds, as affording greater
security.
For a considerable number of years, many, who, not members of the
Stock Exchange, yet dealt in its securities and acted as brokers,
employed the Rotunda of the Bank of England for their transactions.
The broker who had no counting-house made it his place of business;
and his clients waited there until the transfer was ready, or the
business was arranged. As a theatre for jobbing, it interfered with
the Bank; but Mr. Curtis, governor of that establishment, turned them
out somewhat unceremoniously; and, when he afterwards failed in
business, so great was his unpopularity with those he had summarily
dismissed, that the news of his bankruptcy was received with three
cheers by the members of the Stock Exchange. It is impossible to
give a fact more suggestive of the manners of the men from whom so
disgraceful a token of triumph emanated.
The great increase in the business of the foreign funds called for
additional space; a room was, therefore, opened for the dealers; and
from this arose the Foreign Stock Exchange, which for some years
maintained a separate committee, chairman, and deputy-chairman. It
now forms part of the edifice known as the Stock Exchange.
The number of members varies. It has reached 1,000, it has descended
to 400, and it now numbers about 800.
CHAPTER XVI.
_Sketch of the Life of Rothschild.—Comes to England.—Introduction
of Foreign Loans.—Large Purchases.—Anecdotes concerning
Rothschild.—His Difficulties and Annoyances.—His Death and
Burial.—Last Crisis on the Stock Exchange._
The eminent abilities of Nathan Meyer Rothschild were inherited
from his father, who, educated for the synagogue, distinguished
himself as a financier, and, though engaged in the uncongenial sphere
of a counting-house, became a learned archæologist. Frankfort,
Berlin, Vienna, London, Naples, and Paris, have alike witnessed the
prescience of the money-making Rothschilds; and it is reported that
the first great success of Meyer Anselm, the father of the house,
originated in the possession of the fortune of the Landgrave of Hesse
Cassel, which he saved from the grasp of Napoleon, and which must
have been to a commercial man of the utmost importance.[7]
By his own report, Nathan Meyer Rothschild came to Manchester because
Frankfort was too small for the operations of the brothers, although
the immediate cause was some offence to a customer; and it is
characteristic of the intrepidity of the man, that, with scarcely any
hesitation, and with an absolute ignorance of the English language,
he came to the country in which he realized such great results. On
Tuesday he told his father he would go to England, and on Thursday
he started. With £20,000 he commenced his career; and in a short
time his capital was trebled. At Manchester he soon saw there were
three profits to be made,—in the raw material, the dyeing, and the
manufacturing. It need hardly be added, that his great mind had
stomach for them all, and that, having secured the three, he sold
goods cheaper than any one else. This was the foundation of that
colossal fortune which afterwards passed into a proverb; and, in
1800, finding Manchester too small for the mind which could grapple
with three profits, Rothschild came to London. It was the period when
such a man was sure to make progress, as, clear and comprehensive in
his commercial views, he was also rapid and decisive in working out
the ideas which presented themselves. Business was plentiful; the
entire Continent formed our customers; and Rothschild reaped a rich
reward.
From bargain to bargain, from profit to profit, the Hebrew financier
went on, and prospered. Gifted with a fine perception, he never
hesitated in action. Having bought some bills of the Duke of
Wellington at a discount, to the payment of which the faith of the
state was pledged, his next operation was to buy the gold which was
necessary to pay them, and when he had purchased it, was, as he
expected, informed that “government required it.” Government had it,
but doubtless paid for the accommodation. “It was the best business
I ever did!” he exclaimed triumphantly; and he added, that, when the
government had got it, it was of no service to them until he had
undertaken to convey it to Portugal.
In 1812, Meyer Anselm, the head of the house, died at Frankfort. A
princely inheritance, unbounded credit, and solemn advice never to
separate, were left to his four sons. From this period, Nathan Meyer
Rothschild was regarded as the head, though not the elder of the
family; and skilfully did he support and spread the credit of the
name. Previous to the advent of Mr. Rothschild, foreign loans were
somewhat unpopular in England, as the interest was receivable abroad,
subject to the rate of exchange liable to foreign caprice, and
payable in foreign coin. He introduced the payment of the dividends
in England, and fixed it in sterling money, one great cause of the
success of these loans in 1825.
Although Mr. Rothschild was commonly termed a merchant, his most
important transactions were in connection with the Stock Exchange. It
was here that his great decision, his skilful combinations, and his
unequalled energy, made him remarkable. At a time when the funds were
constantly varying, the temptation was too great for a capitalist
like Mr. Rothschild to withstand. His operations were soon noticed;
and when the money-market was left without an acknowledged head
by the deaths of Sir Francis Baring and Abraham Goldsmid,—for the
affairs of the latter were wound up, and the successors of the former
did not aim at the autocracy of the money-market,—the name of Nathan
Meyer Rothschild was in the mouths of all city men as a prodigy of
success. Cautiously, however, did the capitalist proceed, until he
had made a fortune as great as his future reputation. He revived all
the arts of an older period. He employed brokers to depress or raise
the market for his benefit, and is said in one day to have purchased
to the extent of four millions.
The name of Rothschild as contractor for an English loan made its
first public appearance in 1819. But the twelve millions for which
he then became responsible went to a discount; it was said, however,
that Mr. Rothschild had relieved himself from all liability before
the calamity could reach him. From this year his transactions
pervaded the entire globe. The Old and the New World alike bore
witness to his skill; and with the profits on a single loan he
purchased an estate which cost £150,000. Minor capitalists, like
parasitical plants, clung to him, and were always ready to advance
their money in speculations at his bidding. Nothing seemed too
gigantic for his grasp; nothing too minute for his notice. His mind
was as capable of contracting a loan for millions, as of calculating
the lowest possible amount on which a clerk could exist. Like too
many great merchants, whose profits were counted by thousands, he
paid his assistants the smallest amount for which he could procure
them. He became the high-priest of the temple of Janus; and the
coupons raised by the capitalist for a despotic state were more than
a match for the cannon of the revolutionist.[8] From most of the
speculations of 1824 and 1825, Mr. Rothschild kept wisely aloof. The
Alliance Life and Fire Assurance Company, which owes its origin to
this period, was however, produced under his auspices; and its great
success is a proof of his forethought. None of the loans with which
he was connected were ever repudiated; and when the crash of that
sad period came, the great Hebrew looked coolly and calmly on, and
congratulated himself on his caution. At his counting-house a fair
price might be procured for any amount of stock which, at a critical
time, would have depressed the public market; and it was no uncommon
circumstance for brokers to apply at the office of Mr. Rothschild,
instead of going in the Stock Exchange.
He was, however, occasionally surpassed in cunning, and, on one
occasion, a great banker lent Rothschild a million and a half on
the security of consols, the price of which was then eighty-four.
The terms on which the money was lent were simple. If the price
reached seventy-four, the banker might claim the stock at seventy;
but Rothschild felt satisfied that, with so large a sum out of the
market, the bargain was tolerably safe. The banker, however, as much
a Jew as Rothschild, had a plan of his own. He immediately began
selling the consols received from the latter, together with a similar
amount in his own possession. The funds dropped; the Stock Exchange
grew alarmed; other circumstances tended to depress it; the fatal
price of seventy-four was reached; and the Christian banker had the
satisfaction of outwitting the Hebrew loan-monger.
But, if sometimes outwitted himself, there is little doubt he made
others pay for it; and, on one occasion, it is reported that his
finesse proved too great for the authorities of the Bank of England.
Mr. Rothschild was in want of bullion, and went to the governor to
procure on loan a portion of the superfluous store. His wishes were
met, the terms were agreed on, the period was named for its return,
and the affair finished for the time. The gold was used by the
financier, his end was answered, and the day arrived on which he was
to return the borrowed metal. Punctual to the time appointed, Mr.
Rothschild entered; and those who remember his personal appearance
may imagine the cunning twinkle of his small, quick eye, as, ushered
into the presence of the governor, he handed the borrowed amount in
bank-notes. He was reminded of his agreement, and the necessity for
bullion was urged. His reply was worthy a commercial Talleyrand.
“Very well, gentlemen. Give me the notes! I dare say your cashier
will honor them with gold from your vaults, and then I can return
you bullion.” To such a speech the only worthy reply was a scornful
silence.
One cause of his success was the secrecy with which he shrouded all
his transactions, and the tortuous policy with which he misled those
the most who watched him the keenest. If he possessed news calculated
to make the funds rise, he would commission the broker who acted
on his behalf to sell half a million. The shoal of men who usually
follow the movements of others, sold with him. The news soon passed
through Capel Court that Rothschild was bearing the market, and the
funds fell. Men looked doubtingly at one another, a general panic
spread, bad news was looked for, and these united agencies sunk the
price two or three per cent. This was the result expected; and other
brokers, not usually employed by him, bought all they could at the
reduced rate. By the time this was accomplished, the good news had
arrived, the pressure ceased, the funds arose instantly, and Mr.
Rothschild reaped his reward.[9]
But it was not an unvaried sunshine with this gentleman. There were
periods when his gigantic capital seemed likely to be scattered to
the four quarters of the globe. He lost half a million in one English
operation; when the French entered Spain in 1823, he was also in the
utmost jeopardy; but, perhaps, the most perilous position in which he
was placed was with the Polignac loan, although his vast intelligence
again saved him, and placed the burden on the shoulders of others.
With this, however, he suffered greatly, as the price fell thirty per
cent.
He had, also, other sources of apprehension. Threats of murder were
not unfrequent. On one occasion, he was waited on by a stranger,
who informed him that a plot had been formed to take his life; that
the loans which he had made to Austria, and his connection with
governments adverse to the liberties of Europe, had marked him for
assassination; and that the mode by which he was to lose his life was
arranged. But though Rothschild smiled outwardly at this and similar
threats, they said, who knew him best, that his mind was often
troubled by these remembrances, and that they haunted him at moments
when he would willingly have forgotten them. Occasionally his fears
took a ludicrous form. Two tall, mustachioed men were once shown into
his counting-house. Mr. Rothschild bowed, the visitors bowed, and
their hands wandered first in one pocket, and then in another. To the
anxious eye of the millionnaire, they assumed the form of persons
searching for deadly weapons. No time seemed allowed for thought;
a leger, without a moment’s warning, was hurled at the intruders;
and, in a paroxysm of fear, he called for assistance, to drive out
two customers, who were only feeling in their pockets for letters
of introduction. There is no doubt that he dreaded assassination
greatly. “You must be a happy man, Mr. Rothschild,” said a gentleman
who was sharing the hospitality of his splendid home, as he glanced
at the superb appointments of the mansion. “Happy! me happy!” was the
reply. “What! happy when, just as you are going to dine, you have a
letter placed in your hands, saying, ‘If you do not send me £500,
I will blow your brains out!’ Happy! me happy!” And the fact, that
he frequently slept with loaded pistols by his side, is an indirect
evidence of a constant excitement on the subject.
The name of this gentleman, the entertainments given by him, the
charities to which he occasionally subscribed, and the amount of
his transactions in the money-markets were blazoned abroad. Peers
and princes of the blood sat at his table; clergymen and laymen
bowed before him; and they who preached loudest against mammon bent
lowest before the mammon-worshipper. Gorgeous plate, fine furniture,
an establishment such as many a noble of Norman descent would
envy, graced his entertainments. Without social refinement, with
manners which, offensive in the million, were but _brusque_ in the
millionnaire, he collected around him the fastidious members of the
most fastidious aristocracy in the world. He saw the representatives
of all the states in Europe proud of his friendship. By the
democratic envoy of the New World, by the ambassador of the imperial
Russ, was his hospitality alike accepted; while the man who warred
with slavery in all its forms and phases was himself slave to the
golden reputation of the Hebrew. The language which Mr. Rothschild
could use when his anger overbalanced his discretion, was a license
allowed to his wealth; and he who, when placed in a position which
almost compelled him to subscribe to a pressing charity, could
exclaim, “Here, write a check,—I have made one —— fool of myself!”
was courted and caressed by the clergy, was fêted and flattered by
the peer, was treated as an equal by the first minister of the crown,
and more than worshipped by those whose names stood foremost on the
roll of a commercial aristocracy. His mode of dictating letters was
characteristic of a mind entirely absorbed in money-making; and his
ravings, when he found a bill unexpectedly protested, were translated
into mercantile language ere they were fit to meet a correspondent’s
eye. It is painful to write thus depreciatingly of a man who
possessed so large a development of brain; but the golden gods of
England have many idolaters, and the voice of truth rarely penetrates
the private room of the English merchant. Mr. Rothschild’s was a
character which may be serviceably held up as a warning. There was,
however, an occasional gleam of humor in him, sternly as his thoughts
were devoted to heaping up riches. “I am as much as you,” he said
to the Duc de Montmorenci, when his title was granted; “you style
yourself the first Christian baron, and I am the first Jew baron.”
He was a mark for the satirists of the day. His huge and somewhat
slovenly appearance; the lounging attitude he assumed as he leaned
against his pillar in the Royal Exchange; his rough and rugged
speech; his foreign accent and idiom,—made caricature mark him as
its own; while even caricature lost all power over a subject which
defied its utmost skill. His person was made an object of ridicule;
but his form and features were from God: his mind and manners were
fashioned by circumstances; his acts alone are public property; and
by these we have a right to judge. No great benevolence lit up his
path; no great charity is related of him. The press, ever ready to
chronicle liberal deeds, was almost silent upon the point; and the
fine feeling which marked the path of an Abraham Goldsmid, and which
brightens the career of many of the same creed, is unrecorded by the
power which alone could give it publicity. Dr. Herschel, indeed, said
that Mr. Rothschild had placed some thousands in his hands for the
benefit of his poorer brethren; but thousands spent in a career of
thirty-five years, by one who counted his gains in millions, assume a
narrow form. The Jewish code prescribed a tithe; but Jewish laws are
often abrogated, when Jewish ceremonies are closely followed.
At last the time arrived which proves a millionnaire to be a man.
Mr. Rothschild’s affairs called him to Frankfort, and he was seized
with his last illness. The profession there could do nothing for him,
and, scarcely even as a last hope, Mr. Travers, the eminent surgeon,
made a rapid journey to see if English science could avail the dying
Crœsus. The effort was vain, and the inevitable fate was well and
worthily met. There appears even a certain degree of dignity in his
resignation to the last struggle, and something touchingly manful
in the wording of the will which was to surrender to others the
gold won by the sweat of his brain. Breathing an almost patriarchal
simplicity, it recommends his sons to undertake no great transaction
without the advice of their mother, of whom he speaks with tender and
even touching affection. “It is my special wish that my sons shall
not engage in any transaction of moment, without having previously
asked her maternal advice.”
The first intelligence of his death was received by the same method
which had so often contributed to his success. Beneath the wings
of a pigeon, shot in sport at Brighton, were discovered the words
“_il est mort_.” The intelligence created an intense sensation,
as the uninitiated were ignorant that his illness was dangerous,
and calculations were plentiful as to the amount of his fortune. A
greater tumult than had been produced since the violent death of his
predecessor, marked the precincts of the Stock Exchange, as it was
impossible to tell the tendency of his speculations, or what effect
might be produced by his unexpected demise.[10]
His remains were brought to England. The Austrian, Russian, Prussian,
Neapolitan, and Portuguese ambassadors assisted at his funeral;
and his sons, who were deeply affected, attended him to his last
resting-place. The coffin which contained his massive remains was
elaborately carved and gorgeously ornamented, looking like some
splendid piece of man’s cunning, destined for the boudoir of a lady,
rather than the damp of the grave.
His children inherit his business; but they do not inherit his
position in the stock-market. They are competitors for government
loans; but, though with the name remains a certain _prestige_ of its
former power, they do not appear willing to entertain the extensive
and complicated business in the funds in which their father delighted.
The few anecdotes recorded of the gentleman whose life has been
so imperfectly sketched, form a portion of many which have been
carefully collected. A good life of Nathan Meyer Rothschild would be,
to some future Tooke, a complete and perfect key to the financial
history of the early portion of the nineteenth century.[11]
The last crisis in the Stock Exchange which it is the writer’s
purpose to record was that memorable era, in 1836, when a
convulsion—scarcely equalled in degree, though limited in its
extent—made bears and bulls alike bankrupts.
For many years previous, the business of Capel Court had been
decreasing. The attempts made to excite public feeling were
insufficient to produce much result. Consols remained without those
great and sudden movements so beneficial to the members; little
was done in shares; and it was remarked that the Stock Exchange
had become a monetary dead sea; that the carriage seemed likely to
be exchanged for the wheelbarrow; the breaking of credit for the
breaking of stones; and that, when the eagle eye of the hungry broker
and jobber looked round for dupes, all was barren.
At length the spell was broken. The attempt of Don Pedro to seize the
crown of Portugal afforded the members an opportunity of exercising
their vocation; and it has been confidently said, that, long before
a loan was attempted, their money was employed in assisting the
above expedition. Every art was used to blacken the character of Don
Miguel. Every trick was attempted to excite sympathy for Don Pedro.
Private memoirs were published, and anecdotes related. Truths were
distorted, and falsehood not unfrequently perpetrated. Paragraphs
made their constant appearance, in which “our ancient ally” was
represented as suffering from a most intolerable tyranny. Unbearable
torture and insufferable trials were the lot of the Portuguese
people; darkness and dungeons the doom of the aristocracy. The Tagus
was red with the blood of the populace; and the “tower of Belem,”
said a writer in Fraser’s Magazine, “emitted more doubtful and
indescribable sounds than its predecessor of Babel.”
All these things tended to prepare the mind of the English
capitalist. But a further temptation was offered. The revenues of
the kingdom were portrayed in glowing colors. It was said that Don
Miguel could, but would not, pay the interest of the existing debt,
and that Don Pedro could and would. The scheme proved thoroughly
successful. The note of expectation being thus sounded, a band of men
was engaged, vessels were hired, and, with the aid of English money,
English men, and English ships, Oporto was taken. The public mind
was now ripe for a loan. The success was magnified, the achievement
enlarged on, and £800,000 were demanded on the security of some
port-wine. The money was lent; Don Miguel fled to Rome; and the young
queen was installed in his place. A further loan of two millions
followed; the interest was difficult to pay, the dividends were
capitalized, and great excitement pervaded the Stock Exchange at the
rumors which were currently circulated.
But another important movement was going on in connection with loans
to Spain. The principal powers of Europe had agreed that Spain
and Portugal should assist each other in the expulsion from their
respective territories of Don Carlos and Don Miguel, and that the
other courts should assist the belligerent parties. From this treaty
arose an auxiliary force raised in England to assist the youthful
queen of Spain, and “The British Legion” is yet named with derision.
From the courts and from the alleys of St. Giles’s, from the town
jail and from the rural workhouse, came half-clad, wretched, and
miserable beings, who preferred being shot to being starved. Efforts
to gain commissions were made by as motley a crew. Youths from the
counting-house and from the shop were assiduous in endeavouring to
attain them. Gentlemen with small incomes and no knowledge of war put
forward their pretensions; and the officers were, in their way, a
match for the men.
With all these disadvantages, the legion secured the success of the
cause for which it fought; and, after a series of battles, Don Carlos
was compelled to fly from the territory. A loan of course became
advisable; and, although the interest on the previous debt could not
be paid, it was proposed to advance an additional four millions.
It need scarcely be said that, to procure this, promises were as
plentiful as ever. The property of the Church was to be confiscated,
and the Church itself to be upset, rather than not remunerate the
bondholder. By means of deferred stocks, active stocks, and passive
stocks, bargains were concluded, and, for a time, all was excitement
in the foreign market. Every kind of security became sought for;
however worthless, it had a price; however valueless, it found a
buyer; and the debts of states which had never paid one dividend,
which were scarcely in existence, and which had not any revenue,
advanced 100 per cent.
But the market became overloaded, and holders began to realize. Every
packet from abroad bore foreign securities, and the price drooped.
During the fever, Spanish Cortes stock, which in 1833 was 16½, was
forced to 72. Portuguese was done at 102, and every foreign stock
rose in proportion.
By May, 1835, the market became overloaded; all were sellers; the
price drooped; and on the 21st the panic commenced. Spanish stock
fell at once sixteen per cent.; the scrip went to three discount; and
the lower the price, the more anxious were the holders to sell. Every
one grew alarmed; and those who had bought as a permanent investment
parted with all their interest. Private gentlemen, who had been
tempted to buy, hurried with heavy hearts to their brokers; and the
Stock Exchange may be said to have groaned beneath the burden.
To add to the distress, the greatest holder turned bear; and it is
difficult to describe the confusion with which the market closed
on the evening of the 21st of May. Some were rejoicing at their
deliverance, though suffering a large loss, while others were
absolutely ruined. In many panics there had been hope. They were
known to be alarms which time would rectify; but there was no hope
for the holder of foreign stock; it was worthless, and it was known
to be worthless. Every one felt assured that no dividend would ever
be paid upon it; and when this was remembered, men cursed the fatuity
which had led them to buy waste-paper, and execrated the greediness
which had lured them to ruin. Those who the week before possessed
securities which would have realized hundreds of thousands, were
reduced to bankruptcy. Brokers who had kept to their legitimate
business were defaulters; most who had bought for time were unable
to pay their differences; while respectable men, who had laughed
at speculation, and thought themselves too clever to be taken
in by companies, had ventured their all on the faith of foreign
governments. Establishments were reduced, families were ruined,
delicately-nurtured women were compelled to earn their bread. Death
ensued to some from the shock, misery was the lot of others, and
frantic confusion once more marked the alleys and the neighbourhood
of Capel Court. Consternation reigned paramount, and almost every
third man was a defaulter. All foreign securities were without a
price; the bankers refused to advance money; the brokers’ checks
were first doubted, and then rejected; nothing but bank-notes would
be taken; and, with a desperation which will never be forgotten,
the jobbers closed their books, refused to transact any business,
and waited the result in almost abject despair. The stocks bore no
price, the brokers ceased to issue their lists, and the blackboard
was found inadequate to contain the names. Differences to the amount
of ten millions were declared; and the entire wall would have been
insufficient to contain the names. The practice was, therefore,
dispensed with, and an additional time allowed to settle the accounts.
To mitigate the evil, the principal holders of foreign securities
formed themselves into a society to purchase all stock below forty;
but it was found inadequate to meet the catastrophe in the house,
while out of it the excitement in Spanish, Portuguese, and other
foreign funds created evils which never met the public eye, but which
are yet felt by innumerable private families.
During this period, the Royal Exchange, previous to the assembling of
the merchants, witnessed a curious scene, and beheld a motley group
of speculators; and, says Mr. Evans, in his work on the city, such
was the rage for shares in companies which had arisen out of the
general excitement, that the beadle was obliged to drive them away,
as the frequenters of ’Change could not get to their places. In the
height of this speculation, some of the dabblers made a price of one
farthing per share on a railway now promising to be the first in the
kingdom, but of which there were then no buyers.
With the above panic the present chronicle of the Stock Exchange
closes. To have brought it to 1849 would have involved living men
and their actions, and to some future historian must be left the
many whose names assume so important a position in English financial
history.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] “The prince of Hesse Cassel,” said Rothschild, “gave my father
his money. There was no time to be lost; he sent it to me. I had
£600,000 arrive unexpectedly by post; and I put it to such good use,
that the prince made me a present of all his wine and linen.”
[8] In 1824, it was said that public attention was so entirely
absorbed by financial operations, that the movements of Mr.
Rothschild and a few London capitalists excited an intensity of
expectation scarcely inferior to the march of armies.
[9] The intelligence of this gentleman was so good, that he was the
first to announce the Paris revolution of July to Lord Aberdeen, and
the victory of Waterloo was known to him some days before it was made
public.
[10] Mr. Salomons attributed the difficulties which followed his
death to the sudden withdrawal of the dexterity with which he managed
the exchanges, as Mr. Rothschild prided himself on distributing his
immense resources, so that no operation of his should abstract long
the bullion from the Bank.
[11] For a Memoir of Rothschild, see the Bankers’ Magazine, Vol. II.
p. 473, _et seq._
CHAPTER XVII.
_Legends of the Stock Exchange.—Mr. Dunbar.—Duke of
Newcastle.—French Ambassador.—James Bolland.—Extraordinary
Incident.—Fortunate Adventure.—Morals and Manners of the Stock
Exchange.—Its Constitution and Arrangements._
The early part of the present chapter is devoted to anecdotes, which,
though difficult to prove, yet bear in themselves every appearance
of reality. Many legends are thus in the debatable ground between
truth and fiction; and those which are selected are chosen from their
resemblance to fact, rather than from the actual knowledge of their
veracity.
In 1761, Mr. Dunbar, a West-Indian merchant, finding his affairs
were less prosperous than usual, sought “the Alley,” as it was
then termed, to retrieve his failing fortunes. From some private
information, he believed that he had good grounds for supposing a
peace would soon be effected, and that the funds would rise. He
therefore ordered his broker to buy £100,000 for the account; told
him the opinion he had formed, with the intelligence on which it was
based; and the latter, in violation of his oath, jobbed extensively
on his own account as well as for his client. February passed away
without the expected peace, and Mr. Dunbar paid the difference.
Confident in his views, he continued the operation; but each
account-day proved that the price had been against him, and with
great difficulty did he find money to pay the amounts due. In July,
unable to pay cash, he gave notes of hand to the broker, who agreed
to receive them. No objection being made, the account was continued
on for August. In that month the prospect of peace revived, the funds
rose, and Mr. Dunbar, seeing a chance of paying the greater part
of his losses, went with all speed to ’Change Alley. His distress
may be imagined, when he was coolly told, that, since he had given
notes of hand, no account had been opened, and no advantage could be
reaped from the rise in price. The act of Sir John Barnard rendered
any appeal to law useless; but, as Mr. Dunbar became a bankrupt, the
members of the Stock Exchange subscribed to pay the amount claimed,
in order that so flagrant a case might not become public.
One of the loans raised by the Duke of Newcastle, when prime
minister, fell, from some unforeseen accident, to three per cent.
discount. His Grace, thinking he had made an unfair bargain, or
fearing the jobbers would not lend to him again, convened a meeting
of those who had taken it, who, as well as the Duke, were greatly
frightened, not knowing what project to adopt. At length one of
them—said to be Samson Gideon—desired the minister to walk with
him into another room. There they remained for a few minutes, and
then returned in high spirits, telling the others to go home and be
perfectly easy, as care should be taken of their interest. Gideon
went immediately to ’Change Alley, and, buying up the scrip as fast
as it was offered, produced an immediate rise to one per cent. above
par.
Gambling in the funds has not been confined to commoners; and the
French ambassador at the Court of London was guilty of a deception
which marks the name of the Count de Guise with infamy. Availing
himself of his political position, he traded in English securities,
and, by the aid of his secretaries, made large sums. While success
attended the ambassador’s operations, he received the profit,
and rejoiced in his good fortune; but when a long run of bad
luck dissipated his gains, and made demands upon his purse, his
Excellency denied all knowledge of the transaction, refused to pay
the balance, retired to France, and commenced a prosecution against
his subordinates. But this was not sufficient to exonerate him
with thinking people. A memorial was published by his secretaries;
and the evidence they gave satisfied every impartial mind that the
ambassador of the Most Christian King had abused his trust, duped his
dependents, and defrauded the stock-broker.
About the middle of the eighteenth century, one of the constant
dealers in ’Change Alley, although in a small way, was James Bolland;
a man of low extraction, but of great mind, of immense impudence,
and unrivalled crime. There was nothing at which he would hesitate
to obtain money, to spend on the Stock Exchange; and, having
once commenced, he soon found that the legitimate profits of his
trade—that of a butcher—were not sufficient to support him. He
formed, therefore, a wooden weight, which, resembling one of fifty
pounds, weighed only seven pounds; and, in his capacity of tradesman
to St. Thomas’s Hospital, employed his roguery with great success.
From butcher he turned sheriff’s officer, revived every past
iniquity, invented new frauds, and spent his money in buying
lottery-tickets, to which pursuit he was passionately attached. He
robbed the broker whom he employed, alike of his mistress and his
money; and with the latter bought the place of city marshal. The
citizens, however, discovered that his character was scarcely equal
to his impudence, and refused to maintain their bargain.
Every moment he could spare was passed on the Stock Exchange,
where his pursuits were marked by a singularly bad fortune. Every
speculation went against him; he never drew a prize in the lottery;
and, finding there was a chance of his becoming penniless, he added
forgery to his long list of crimes. The fraud was discovered, the
penalty was paid at Tyburn; and James Bolland adds another to the
many proofs of the truth of the old adage.
A century ago was the hanging century; and a great fraud was
committed towards its close on the East India Company. The leading
witness—the only witness who could prove the guilt of the accused—was
accustomed to visit a house in the neighbourhood of the Bank, to be
dressed and powdered, according to the fashion of the day. Shortly
before the trial came on, a note was placed in his hands, informing
him that the attorney for the prosecution was desirous of seeing him,
at a certain hour, at his private residence, in or near Portland
Place.
At the time appointed, the witness proceeded to the house; the door
was opened, and the footman, without asking his name, ushered the
visitor into a large room, where, discussing some wine upon the
table, sat a group of gentlemen, in earnest conversation. “There is
a mistake,” exclaimed the new-comer, thinking he had been shown into
the wrong room. “No mistake, Sir,” interrupted one, in a determined
tone, while the remainder sat quietly, but sternly, by. Unable to
comprehend the scene, and, in some alarm, the visitor prepared to
leave the room. “There is no mistake,” repeated the same person,
unostentatiously stepping before the door. “I am,” he continued,
“brother to that gentleman who is to be tried for forgery, and
against whom you are the chief witness. Without your evidence he
cannot be convicted; the honor of a noble house is at stake; and
your first attempt to escape will lead to a violent death. There is
nothing to fear, if you remain quiet; but all whom you see are sworn
to detain you until the trial be over, or,” he added, after a pause,
“to slay you.” The witness was a sensible man; he saw the determined
looks of those around, and thought it best quietly to acquiesce.
In the mean time great surprise was excited in the city. That the
missing man had been inveigled away was universally believed; and
every endeavour was made to track him. Whether the calmness with
which he bore his confinement deceived his jailers is not known; but
it is certain that he effected his escape from the house, although
not so securely but that his captors were after him before he could
get out of sight. A mob collected; his pursuers declared he was an
insane nobleman, and that they were his keepers. The mob shouted with
delight at the idea of a mad lord; and the unfortunate man was on the
point of being again confined, when a chariot drove up. The inmate,
a lady, desired the coachman to stop, and listened to the counter
statements of the pursued and his pursuers. Remembering the current
story of a missing witness, she opened the carriage, he sprung in,
the door was closed, and the lady, to whom he told his story, ordered
her coachman to drive with all speed to the Old Bailey. It was the
last day; the case, which had been postponed, was being tried; and
the missing witness was just in time to place the rope around the
neck of the unhappy forger.
In the memorable year 1815, a member of the Stock Exchange found
that, notwithstanding all his exertions to save his credit, his
name stood every chance of gracing that blackboard on which so many
appeared during the eventful period. Melancholy and meditating, he
wandered forth, scarcely knowing the direction which he took, until
from London Bridge he gazed gloomily upon the “dark flowing river,”
half doubting whether its depths would not be his best abiding-place.
In this mood he was hastily greeted by a voice he knew; and, turning
round, was rapidly informed of news which at once turned his thoughts
back to that world he had felt inclined to quit. The stranger had
just arrived from the spot where the great battle of modern history
had been fought; and the ruined jobber become the depositary of a
secret which at once restored his spirits. Hastily learning all the
particulars which might affect him, he retraced his steps, found
the price unaltered, and the news, therefore, unknown. Without
hesitation, he made large purchases of stock. All that was to be
procured he bought; and, as the secret which had that morning sent
him gloomily away was not even guessed, he was able to purchase very
largely. He availed himself of his opportunity; and ere long had
cause to congratulate himself on his good fortune, as, when the news
arrived, the price rose sufficiently to clear all his difficulties,
and leave him a profit of £20,000.
The morals and the manners of the Stock Exchange are difficult to
treat. Morals too often fade before money-making; and manners are
regarded as unnecessary in the same eager pursuit. Nor is Capel
Court an exception. When the fate of a jobber depends on the turn
which the market may take,—when sorrow or success hangs upon a
word,—when family, friends, and fortune are in the balance, and a
rumored falsehood may sink or save,—it is not in humanity to resist
the temptation; and it has, unhappily, become too general a practice
to stop at no invention, and to hesitate at no assertion, which may
assist the inventor. From this cause the Stock Exchange is rarely
mentioned with that respect which it merits, as the theatre of the
most extensive money transactions in the world. Public opinion
punishes the many for the few. The great mass of its members have
not power to disseminate an untruth. The brokers, bound not to
speculate on their own account, have no interest in doing so; the
small jobber cannot influence the price; many are too high-minded to
avail themselves of dishonorable methods; and it is, therefore, to a
particular class that the Stock Exchange owes its false reports, its
flying rumors, and its unenviable notoriety. Capel Court is, indeed,
a complete anomaly. There are men of high character and station in
its body; there is every endeavour made by its executive to abolish
all which tends to make it despicable; the greatness of its dealings
are unequalled; some of its members are members of the senate; others
are honorable in spite of the temptations which surround them; it is
consulted by chancellors, and taken into the councils of ministers;
peace or war hangs upon its fiat; and yet the Stock Exchange is
seldom named, out of the city, but with contempt; and a Stock
Exchange man is, like the moneyed man in the early reign of William,
despised by the landed, and looked down upon by the mercantile,
aristocracy. One reason, perhaps, for this is, that the great mass
of their transactions are without the pale of the law. All their
time-bargains—and the Stock Exchange might close to-morrow if these
were abolished—are illegal. They are, strictly speaking, gambling
dealings, which our judicature refuses to recognize; and the dealers
are gamblers, whom the legislature will not acknowledge.
The tricks which are resorted to are numerous. The penniless
speculator can enter into transactions which may retrieve his
fortunes, or consolidate his ruin. It is said to be a not uncommon
trick for two persons to agree together in the following manner:—one
buys and the other sells for the account to the largest amount for
which each can procure credit. One must lose, and the other must
gain. One becomes a millionnaire, the other a defaulter. The former
receives a large amount, the latter is declared on the blackboard.
A division of the spoils is afterwards privately effected; and the
gainer pursues his avocation in the funds, while the loser becomes a
prosperous gentleman.
The public cannot be too decidedly warned against the dangers to
which they may be exposed in legitimate transactions. On one
occasion, a merchant having requested his broker to purchase a
certain amount of stock, and having concluded the business, was
surprised in the evening to hear his broker announced as a visitor.
Some remark being made, the latter stated that a dispute had arisen
with the jobber about the price which was in the receipt, and he
should be glad to take it with him as an evidence of his correctness.
Knowing that a stock receipt is in itself of no value, the buyer
readily complied. His visitor thanked him, and from that moment was
never heard of. The receipt was false, the names were forged; and,
secure in the possession of all evidence against him, the broker
sought a foreign land in which to enjoy his unrighteous gains.
If the morals of the Stock Exchange be as described, its manners are
as curious. It is not long since the papers reported a limb broken
in sport. The writer has perused in the journals occasional duels
which have arisen from the “fun” of the members; and the courtesies
of life are wanting if a stranger ventures among them. When this is
the case, instead of the bearing of gentlemen, the first discoverer
of the intruder cries out, “Fourteen hundred fives!” and a hundred
voices reëcho the cry. Youth or age is equally disregarded; and the
following description of what occurred to an unhappy visitor will
attest the truth of that which has been asserted:—
“Not long ago, a friend of my own, ignorant of the rule so rigidly
enforced for the expulsion of strangers, chanced to drop in, as
he phrased it, to the Stock Exchange. He walked about for nearly
a minute without being discovered to be an intruder, indulging in
surprise at finding that the greatest uproar and frolic prevailed in
a place in which he expected there would be nothing but order and
decorum. All at once, a person, who had just concluded a hasty but
severe scrutiny of his features, sent out, at the full stretch of
his voice, ‘Fourteen hundred.’ Then a bevy of the gentlemen of the
house surrounded him. ‘Will you purchase any new Navy five per cent.,
Sir,’ said one, eagerly, looking him in the face. ‘I am not——’; the
stranger was about to say he was not going to purchase stock of any
kind, but was prevented finishing his sentence by his hat being,
through a powerful application of some one’s hand to its crown, not
only forced over his eyes, but over his mouth also. Before he had
time to recover from the stupefaction into which the suddenness and
violence of the eclipse threw him, he was seized by the shoulders,
and wheeled about as if he had been a revolving-machine. He was then
pushed about from one person to another, as if he had only been the
effigy of some human being, instead of a human being himself. After
tossing and hustling him about in the roughest possible manner,
denuding his coat of one of its tails, and tearing into fragments
other parts of his wardrobe, they carried him to the door, where,
after depositing him on his feet, they left him to recover his lost
senses at his leisure.”
In a graphic picture of the Stock Exchange, drawn by one who had
every opportunity of testing its truth, the following will confirm
the above description, and affords an interesting evidence of the
civilization of the Stock Exchange in 1828:—
“I turned to the right, and found myself in a spacious apartment,
which was nearly filled with persons more respectable in appearance
than the crew I had left at the door. Curious to see all that was to
be seen, I began to scrutinize the place and the society into which
I had intruded. But I was prevented from indulging the reflections
which began to suggest themselves, by the conduct of those about
me. A curly-haired Jew, with a face as yellow as a guinea, stopped
plump before me, fixed his black, round, leering eyes full on me, and
exclaimed, without the slightest anxiety about my hearing him, ‘So
help me Got, Mo, who is he?’ Instead of replying in a straightforward
way, Mo raised his voice as loud as he could, and shouted with might
and main, ‘Fourteen hundred new fives!’ A hundred voices repeated
the mysterious exclamation. ‘Fourteen hundred new fives!’ ‘Where,
where,—fourteen hundred new fives,—now for a look; where is he?
Go it, go it!’ were the cries raised on all sides by the crowd,
which rallied about my person like a swarm of bees. And then Mo,
by way of proceeding to business, repeating the war-cry, staggered
sideways against me, so as almost to knock me down. My fall, however,
was happily prevented by the kindness of a brawny Scotchman, who,
humanely calling out, ‘Let the mon alone,’ was so good as to stay me
in my course with his shoulder, and even to send me back towards Mo
with such violence, that, had he not been supported by a string of
his friends, he must infallibly have fallen before me. Being thus
backed, however, he was enabled to withstand the shock, and to give
me a new impulse in the direction of the Scotchman, who, awaiting my
return, treated me with another hoist as before, and I found these
two worthies were likely to amuse themselves with me, as with a
shuttlecock, for the next quarter of an hour. I struggled violently
to extricate myself from this unpleasant situation, and, by aiming a
blow at the Jew, induced Moses to give up his next hit, and to allow
me for a moment to regain my feet.
“The rash step which I had taken was likely to produce very
formidable consequences. All present were highly exasperated. The war
became more desperate than ever. Each individual seemed anxious to
contribute to my destruction; and some of their number considerately
called out, ‘Spare his life, but break his limbs.’
“My alarm was extreme; and I looked anxiously round for the means of
escape.
“‘You ought to be ashamed of yourself to use the gentleman in that
sort of way,’ squeaked a small, imp-like person, affecting sympathy,
and then trying to renew the sport.
“‘How would you like it yourself,’ cried another, ‘if you were a
stranger?’ shaking his sandy locks with a knowing look, and knocking
off my hat as he spoke.
“I made a desperate blow at this offender. It did not take effect,
from the expedition with which he retreated, and I had prudence
enough to reflect that it would be better to recover my hat than
to pursue the enemy. Turning round, I saw my unfortunate beaver,
or ‘canister,’ as it was called by the gentry who had it in their
keeping, bounding backwards and forwards between the Caledonian and
his clan and the Jew and his tribe.
“Covered with perspiration, foaming with rage, and almost expiring
from heat and exhaustion, I at last succeeded. I did not dare to
reinstate it, but was forced to grasp it with both hands, in order
to save what remained of it. I baffled several desperate snatches,
one of which carried away the lining, and was now trying to keep the
enemy at bay, afraid again to attack the host opposed to me, but
not knowing how to retreat, when a person who had not previously
made himself conspicuous approached and interfered. ‘Really, you had
better go out’; at the same time pointing to a door I had not seen
before.”
Comment is unnecessary; and, however the practice may be repudiated
by the members when out of the house, there are few who would not, in
it, act in a similar disreputable mode.
The constitution of the Stock Exchange is simple. Governed by a
committee of twenty-eight, with a chairman and deputy-chairman,
annually elected by the members, their power to expel, suspend, or
reprimand is absolute; their decision final; and that decision,
adds one of the rules, “must be carried out forthwith.” In cases
of expulsion, the committee should not consist of less than
twelve; and of these, at least two thirds must concur in the
sentence. No bill or discount broker, no clerk in any public or
private establishment,—excepting those to the members of the Stock
Exchange,—no one in business, either in his own name or in that
of his wife, can be received as member. Every applicant must be
recommended by three members of two years’ standing, who must each
give security for £300 for two years. The committee meets every
alternate Monday, at one o’clock; but a special meeting may at any
time be called by the chairman and deputy-chairman, or by any five
members. Brokers and jobbers, or dealers, as they are politely
termed, are not allowed to enter into partnership; and, when a
defaulter is excluded, his clerk is excluded with him.
Directly the books are closed at the Bank of England, the price of
stocks, excepting only bank stock, is quoted without the dividend.
When a defaulter, or one who cannot or will not pay the just claims
on him, is posted, a libel is avoided by the following words:—“Any
person transacting business with A. B., is requested to communicate
with C. D.”
The rules of the Stock Exchange amount in number to 159, and are
calculated to meet every difficulty. The charge to the public for
buying and selling English stock is 2_s._ 6_d._ per cent.; and the
following, taken from the third edition of Mr. Robinson’s valuable
“Share Tables,” is the commission on shares:—
_s._ _d._
Under the value of £5 1 3 per cent.
Amounting in value to £5, and under £20 2 6 ”
” ” £20, ” £50 5 0 ”
” ” £50 and above 10 0 ”
The terms used on the Stock Exchange have been in vogue for more
than a century; and the origin of many may be traced to the early
transactions in the stock of the East India Company. Buying for the
account has been described; but “bull” and “bear,” “backardation” and
“continuation,” are understood only by the initiated.
“Bull” is a term applied to those who contract to buy any quantity of
government securities, without the intention or ability to pay for
it; and who are obliged, therefore, to sell it again, either at a
profit or loss, before the time at which they have contracted to take
it.
“Bear” is a term applied to a person who has agreed to sell any
quantity of the public funds, of which he is not possessed, being,
however, obliged to deliver it against a certain time.
“Lame Duck” is applied to those who refuse or are unable to fulfil
the contracts into which they have entered.
“Backardation” is a consideration given to keep back the delivery of
stock, when the price is lower for time than for money.
“Continuation” is a premium given when the price of funds in which a
person has a jobbing account open is higher for time than for money,
and the settling day is arrived, so that the stock must be taken at
a disadvantage. In this case a percentage is paid to put off the
settlement, and continue the account open.
“Jobber” is applied to those who accommodate buyers and sellers of
stock with any quantity they require. The dealer or jobber’s profit
is generally one eighth per cent.
The “Broker” is the person employed by the public to sell or purchase
stock at a certain percentage.
“Omnium” is a term used to express the aggregate value of the
different stocks in which a loan is usually funded.
“Scrip” is embryo stock, before the whole of the instalments are paid.
CHAPTER XVIII.
_Life Assurance.—Its Benefits.—Its Commencement.—Suicide of an
Insurer.—Insurance of Invalid Lives.—The Gresham.—Sketch of the
West Middlesex Delusion._
The day on which the first life-assurance office was established is
worthy of remembrance by the great mass of the middle class. Faulty
in construction, and erroneous in detail, it was the enunciation
of a great principle, the birth of a great blessing. Innovations
were not made in the eighteenth, any more than in the nineteenth
century, however, without opposition; and when, in 1706, the Amicable
commenced business, prophets were plentiful in declaring it must
fail, while others announced that it would open the door to gambling,
and was flying in the face of Providence. But the excellence of the
principle triumphed; and, although one uniform rate prevailed for the
sick and for the sound, for the old and for the young, the Amicable
succeeded. The pale face of the invalid was no objection; the purple
hue of him who fared sumptuously was no preventive. The man on the
brink of the grave, and the youth on the verge of manhood, paid the
same premium; and for £5 per cent. per annum, and £7 10_s._ per cent.
entrance-money, every one was enabled to insure his life. Such was
the primitive plan of the first life association.
The London Assurance and Royal Exchange corporations followed,
in 1720. In 1762, the Equitable was established; and, although a
trifling progress was made, the clumsy plan of equal payments,
without reference to years, was perpetuated, and five per cent. paid
by all. When, however, the rates were varied in proportion to age,
when sick men were rejected, and only the healthy taken, a step was
made in the right direction; and life assurance began to flourish
with a vigor which astonished even its promoters.
It is believed that England is the only state in which the insurance
of lives has never been prohibited. The Dutch, a commercial people,
refused to legalize it until a recent period; and in France it was
long deemed unlawful, “because it is an offence against public
decency to set a price upon the life of a freeman, which is above all
valuation.” Another great objection was the fear that individuals
might destroy themselves to enrich their families; and though this
exaggerated view of the case is provided for in modern policies, yet
the following anecdote will prove that the fear was not altogether
groundless. So early as the middle of the eighteenth century,
the clause which excluded the representatives of suicides from a
participation in the amount insured excited attention; and an office
was established, which, for a corresponding increase of premium, paid
the amount to the relatives of the self-murderer. One man, deeply in
debt, wishing to pay his creditors, and not knowing how, went to the
office, insured his life, and invited the insurers to dine with him
at a tavern, where several other persons were present. After dinner
he rose, and addressing the former, said, “Gentlemen, it is fitting
you should know the company you have met. These are my tradesmen,
whom I could not pay without your assistance. I am greatly obliged to
you; and now——” Without another word he bowed, pulled out a pistol,
and shot himself.
The number of insurances was, at first, necessarily very limited; the
mode in which the directors transacted business, the premiums they
required, the determination to take none but lives which were almost
faultless, the pernicious plan of occasionally resisting the payment
of policies, the absence of much opposition, all tended to reduce
the business. When, however, the capital of the country increased,
and men looked earnestly about them for new modes of investment,
the profits and the principles of life assurance were anxiously
investigated, its demands inquired into, its difficulties overcome;
and though from 1706 to 1806 nine offices had been found sufficient,
yet from 1806 to 1846 the desire spread so rapidly, that no less
than one hundred and eleven were established. In 1820, there were
only twenty offices in the United Kingdom; in 1830, their number was
exactly doubled; in 1840, they had again doubled; and from 1840 to
1845, they increased in the same proportion.
The success which has attended these companies has induced
capitalists to invest their money in similar schemes, and the result
has been, that during every period of excitement new associations
have been started, with new claims to patronage. Those claims were
put prominently forward to benefit themselves; and life assurance
companies cannot greatly benefit their promoters without benefiting
others. The constant advertisements, the names of their directors,
the statement of their terms, the peculiarity of their constitution,
pressed upon general attention, the public mind gradually became
possessed with the idea that life insurances were for every class,
and business increased. Every objection was met, every demand
grappled with; and there is now, probably, not a man in London who
cannot, in a smaller or greater degree, provide for those he may
leave behind. The principal offices were proprietary; and the entire
gain went to the shareholder. But the insurers began to see that the
profits made by a corporation might as well be made by themselves;
and companies which joined the proprietary with the participating
principle followed. Another movement was that which divided the
entire profits among the assured, reducing the premium as the company
prospered; and so thoroughly is the value of life understood, that
a society, commencing on this plan, with fair premiums and fair
management, is as safe as a company with a capital of half a million.
But there were other difficulties to be met, as a pernicious plan
obtained of disputing the payment of policies when the life fell in,
on trivial and often unjustifiable grounds; the advantages of the
system being greatly reduced owing to the desire for gain of the
proprietary offices. To meet this, a society is now established,
termed the Indisputable, which holds the policy inviolable when once
granted.
There still remained one class for whom life assurances were
unavailing. The anxiety for profits of the companies, the
determination to divide good dividends, the extreme desire to take
none but unexceptionable lives, produced an evil, at first view,
irremediable. The stringent regulations, the declarations required,
the personal examination, and the private inquiry, produced an
unhappy effect. Average lives were declined, and for him whose health
was not perfect, there was no chance. The healthy, but nervous man,
whose pulse, when examined, beat like a steam-engine, was very often
refused; and stories of rejected applicants, which speak volumes,
are prevalent. One gentleman was declined because he was deaf, as
he ran more risk of being run over. Another was refused because he
had been three times bankrupt, and his system might have suffered.
A third was too full of health, and might die of apoplexy. A fourth
was deficient, and might die of decline. The old companies were
absolutely determined to take no life but what was unexceptionable.
The consequence was, that men in rude, robust health, if blind in
one eye, or deaf with one ear, were often rejected; and there are
innumerable instances of the refused party living to a good old
age; while cases are not wanting, in which, after outliving doctor,
actuary, and half the board of directors, the very man who, thirty
years before, was refused at any price, was gladly taken by the same
company at the ordinary premium.
The possessor of sound health, who has provided for his family,
cannot comprehend the misery occasioned to the invalid by the
conviction that his application will be rejected; and in a country
where men labor long in an impure atmosphere, there are too many
whose lives are early damaged. To these, every allusion to life
assurance was an agony; and it is difficult to enter thoroughly into
the distress of him who knew he would die penniless, when a sudden
sickness possessed him. Unnerved both mentally and physically, he
saw his last hour approach. Loathing the trifling luxuries which
sustained him, because they would impoverish his family; dreading the
footsteps of the physician, as he thought of his fee; the love of his
wife was no comfort, the voices of his children no pleasure; for he
knew that his death would leave them to public or private charity.
Such was the position of the individual rejected by a life office.
But even this want has been responded to. Many offices now profess
to take invalid lives at an increased premium; and two are really
devoted to this particular risk. The Invalid and Medical Life
Assurance Company first began, and was successful; and the Gresham,
lately established, has proved that the class for which it is
specially intended is numerous. Much may depend upon the judgment of
the medical officer; but so great is the anxiety to insure, that the
premium is of less importance to the insured than in ordinary cases,
and the office is able to protect its interest. The idea has been
supported and approved by actuaries generally. The success of the
Gresham is a proof of its merit. Every man of feeling must cordially
agree in the principle; and the speech of Mr. Marshall, cashier
to the Bank of England, is one of many proofs that the insurance
companies, a quarter of a century ago, were ignorant of their own
interests.[12]
“I myself,” said that gentleman, “fell under the class of declined
lives, and for the whole of my life have been deprived of the
advantages which are offered by life assurances. One-and-thirty years
ago, I had the misfortune to break a blood vessel in my lungs, and
had I proposed to any office, that fact, as an honest man, I must
have stated, and that statement would have caused my rejection. From
that time to this I have enjoyed perfect health, and I stand before
you this evening, a strong and healthy man, a living example of the
value of this society, and I present to you a fact, to show that this
is likely to be a profitable investment.”
Another society deserves notice, from its admirable plan of uniting a
benevolent principle with the benefit derivable from life assurance,
and from its addressing a class, to the families of which life
assurance is the only barrier against absolute poverty. That class
has been hitherto but little thought of, though there is none on
whom it would be better bestowed, than on the clerks of England.
Industrious, faithful, and intelligent, they are almost compelled,
by virtue of their position, to maintain an appearance beyond their
means. With incomes which just enable them to pay their debts, and
which provide for no contingencies, they are to a great degree
incapacitated from insuring their lives; and solacing themselves,
therefore, with the idea that a small insurance would be of no
avail, they feel that they cannot afford a great one. To this class,
therefore, a society which specially provides for its wants is a
great benefit; and a kindly feeling between the clerk on the one
side, and his superior on the other, is encouraged, to the advantage
of both, through the Provident Clerks’ Mutual Life Assurance
Association.
Many instances might be given of the value of this society; and
the writer trusts that the few lines in which he has honestly and
earnestly indulged, for the sake of pointing attention to those
offices which he deems deserving notice, may be regarded in the light
in which they are written.
The cause of life assurance has occasionally received severe blows;
and though, perhaps, less fraud has been attempted in these than in
other companies, yet there is one instance of deception, so boldly
planned and so successfully executed, as to stand out in strong
relief in the history of life assurance.
About the year 1837, the provincial papers were filled with
advertisements, drawing attention to the peculiar claims of the
Independent West Middlesex Life and Fire Assurance Company. Its
capital was stated to be one million; it was declared to be a legal
corporation; and Acts of Parliament, dated from 1696, were boldly
quoted. Cautiously did the promoters proceed in the metropolis,
where they did not at first advertise, contenting themselves with
establishing agencies in various parts of the country, and publishing
advertisements in country papers. An imposing array of names as
directors, declared to be of the first character and respectability,
was promulgated; and when such names as Drummond and Perkins appeared
in the list, the uninitiated believed the one to be the great banker,
and the other the rich brewer, bearing the same names. To add to the
delusion, the Bank of England was advertised as their bankers; and
when they opened handsome premises in London, Dublin, Edinburgh, and
Glasgow, the minds of the many were thoroughly deluded. Some notion
may be formed of their intention from the fact, that they not only
insured lives on smaller premiums than other offices, but gave larger
annuities for smaller sums. According to their tables, a man of
thirty, by paying £100, could obtain £8 yearly, and could insure his
life at £1 15_s._ per cent.; thus making a clear interest of £6 5_s._
per annum.
The deed of the company—for, strange to say, it had a deed—was signed
by any one who chose; and the law-stationer applied indiscriminately
to all who came near him. Any one who asked for a situation was made
a governor. A schoolmaster, who requested a clerkship, was made a
director. An errand-man was employed as manager. A boy of sixteen
was appointed to a seat at the board. One director had been tapman
to a London tavern; another had been dismissed from his employ as a
journeyman bell-hanger; a third had been a gentleman’s servant; all
had orders to dress well, to place rings on their fingers, and adorn
their persons with jewelry; fines being instituted if they omitted to
wear the ornaments provided.
The advertisements which blazoned the pretensions of the company, the
puffing to which they resorted, the declaration that they had taken
£40,000 in one year, together with the terms they offered, attracted
that numerous class determined to get every thing cheap. Premiums to
a large amount were procured by them, and they prospered.
The attention of the established assurance offices had long been
drawn to these transactions; and it was known that a great crash
must one day come; but they had not sufficient courage to declare
the iniquity. It was left, therefore, to individual energy to
expose their doings, and to individual resources to support the
consequences. In March, 1839, Mr. Peter Mackenzie, editor and
proprietor of the _Scotch Reformers’ Gazette_, having investigated
the question, and made careful inquiries which satisfied him of the
nature of the company, commenced a series of articles in that paper,
warning the public against transacting business with them. The task
was difficult and dangerous; but it was boldly met, and skilfully
supported. The following extracts from the journal of Mr. Mackenzie
will show the earnest spirit in which he grappled with his task:—
“In a word, we raise our voice and warn the public to beware of this
so-called Independent West Middlesex Insurance Company.” “It is a
false and fictitious company.” “No better than a parcel of tricksters
in London, disowned, repudiated, or condemned by every respectable
person.” “Will the mere statement of a parcel of swindlers in their
own favor entitle them to public favor, or secure public confidence?”
“Nor shall we rest contented till we chase them out of every town
and city in her Majesty’s dominions, or till they are fairly seized
by the strong arm of justice.” “We defy the confederated band of
swindlers, from the highest to the lowest.”
The wild fury of Mr. Mackenzie’s opponents may be conceived. They
declared him to be a false and malicious calumniator. They published
counter-statements, assumed the aspect of injured and of innocent
men, and instituted separate actions against him for £12,000 damages.
One of the agents had been in London, and had the audacity to state,
on his return, that the deputy-governor of the Bank of England had
personally assured him of the respectability of the association.
Mr. Mackenzie, however, procured and published a denial from that
gentleman; and this increased the hatred of the accomplices. Two
thousand pounds were placed at the disposal of their law agents, to
destroy Mr. Mackenzie, who appears to have been one of those not
easily moved from a righteous purpose. He continued his articles, he
continued to warn the public; and though, when the actions brought
against him in 1839 were dismissed in 1840, they raised new suits,
he persisted in his bold defiance, and did not hesitate one moment
in the task he had undertaken. They could not, however, long conceal
their practices; and one fine morning, the entire gang absconded,
taking with them from the premises every article of furniture, after
having realized, in four years, a booty of £250,000.
The distress which pervaded the middle and the lower classes was
great. Applications to magistrates were frequent. Aged men, who had
invested their all, went to the workhouse; servants, who had bought
annuities with the savings of a life, were obliged to commence anew.
Parents, who imagined they had provided for their children, were half
broken-hearted. Day by day brought some new case, and day by day
evinced the importance of being contented with a fair and legitimate
percentage.
There is no knowing to what extent the evil might have reached
had not the boldness of Mr. Mackenzie induced him to attack the
Independent West Middlesex Company. The longer such an association
lasts, the more numerous are its constituents; and to the above
gentleman the thanks of the entire country are due, for performing,
at a personal risk, and at a personal sacrifice of £700, a great
public service.
The following extract from a letter, evincing the amenity of
disposition and choice of language of the person who conducted the
delusion, may prove an interesting close to the above narrative:—
“Thou art a scoundrel, and thy son no better. I give you and your
lying rascal of a ——— notice, that if you or he should dare to
publish any slander relative to my character, I shall instruct my
solicitor to prosecute you, perjured scoundrel. You base wretch,
swear against your own handwriting! What! swear you never borrowed
any money of me for the office. O wicked wretch! I have your
signature, and my solicitor has seen it. Base, base, base, base!
Hang thyself with thy friend!
“P. S. I have heard you have again plundered the office. O, how
many times, you wretch!”
FOOTNOTES:
[12] The writer can add his personal testimony to the necessity
of some such office. Twenty years ago, he suffered similarly to
Mr. Marshall, and has since been debarred from the benefit of life
assurance, although in possession of good average health. There are
a thousand other cases; and the fact that the Gresham gradually
increases in business, and has in the first year granted policies
to the amount of £150,000, producing nearly £6,000 yearly, is very
suggestive of the public requirements. The fact, also, that in such
a company no death has occurred during the first twelve months, is
honorable to the skill of its medical officer.
APPENDIX.
THE
ANATOMY OF EXCHANGE ALLEY;
OR,
A SYSTEM OF STOCK-JOBBING:
PROVING THAT SCANDALOUS TRADE, AS IT IS NOW CARRIED ON, TO BE KNAVISH
IN ITS PRIVATE PRACTICE, AND TREASON IN ITS PUBLIC.[13]
The general cry against stock-jobbing has been such, and people have
been so long and so justly complaining of it as a public nuisance,
and, which is still worse, have complained so long without a remedy,
that the jobbers, hardened in crime, are at last come to exceed all
bounds, and now, if ever, sleeping justice will awake, and take some
notice of them, and if it should not now, yet the diligent creatures
are so steady to themselves, that they will, some time or other, make
it absolutely necessary to the government to demolish them.
I know they upon all occasions laugh at the suggestion, and have the
pride to think it impracticable to restrain them; and one of the top
of the function the other day, when I casually told him that, if they
went on, they would make it absolutely necessary to the legislature
to suppress them, returned, that he believed it was as absolutely
necessary for them to do it now as ever it could be. But how will
they do it? It is impossible, said he; but if the government takes
credit, their funds should come to market; and while there is a
market, we will buy and sell. There is no effectual way in the world,
says he, to suppress us but this, viz., that the government should
first pay all the public debts, redeem all the funds, and dissolve
all the charters, viz. Bank, South Sea, and East India, and buy
nothing upon trust, and then, indeed, says he, they need not hang the
stock-jobbers, for they will be apt to hang themselves.
I must confess, I in part agree that this is an effectual way; but
I am far from thinking it the only way to deal with a consideration
of usurers, who, having sold the whole nation to usury, keep the
purse-strings of poor and rich in their hands, which they open and
shut as they please.
But before I come to the needful ways for restraining those people, I
think it will be of some service to expose their practices to common
view, that the people may see a little what kind of dealers they are.
And first, they have this peculiar to them, and in which they outdo
all the particular pieces of public knavery that ever I met with in
the world, viz., that they have nothing to say for it themselves;
they have, indeed, a particular stock of hardware, as the braziers
call it, in their faces, to bear them out in it; but if you talk
to them of their occupation, there is not a man but will own it is
a complete system of knavery; that it is a trade founded in fraud,
born of deceit, and nourished by trick, cheat, wheedle, forgeries,
falsehoods, and all sorts of delusions; coining false news, this way
good, that way bad; whispering imaginary terrors, frights, hopes,
expectations, and then preying upon the weakness of those whose
imaginations they have wrought upon, whom they have either elevated
or depressed. If they meet with a cull, a young dealer that has money
to lay out, they catch him at the door, whisper to him, “Sir, here is
a great piece of news, it is not yet public, it is worth a thousand
guineas but to mention it; I am heartily glad I met you, but it must
be as secret as the black side of your soul, for they know nothing
of it yet in the coffee-house; if they should, stock would rise ten
per cent. in a moment, and I warrant you South Sea will be 130 in
a week’s time after it is known.” “Well,” says the weak creature,
“pr’ythee, dear Tom, what is it?” “Well, really, Sir, I will let you
into the secret, upon your honor to keep it till you hear it from
other hands; why, it is this,—the Pretender is certainly taken, and
is carried prisoner to the castle of Milan; there they have him fast.
I assure you, the government had an express of it from my Lord St——s,
within this hour.” “Are you sure of it?” says the fish, who jumps
eagerly into the net. “Sure of it! why, if you take your coach and go
up to the secretaries’ office, you may be satisfied of it yourself,
and be down again in two hours, and, in the mean time, I will be
doing something, though it is but little, till you return.”
Away goes the gudgeon with his head full of wildfire, and a squib
in his brain, and, coming to the place, meets a croney at the door,
who ignorantly confirms the report, and so sets fire to the mine;
for, indeed, the cheat came too far to be balked at home; so that,
without giving himself time to consider, he hurries back full of the
delusions, dreaming of nothing but of getting a hundred thousand
pounds, or purchase two; and even this money was to be gotten only
upon the views of his being beforehand with other people.
In this elevation he meets his broker, who throws more fireworks into
the mine, and blows him up to so fierce an inflammation, that he
employs him instantly to take guineas to accept stock of any kind,
and almost at any price; for the news being now public, the artist
made their price upon him. In a word, having accepted them for fifty
thousand pounds more than he is able to pay, the jobber has got an
estate, the broker two or three hundred guineas, and the esquire
remains at leisure to sell his coach and horses, his fine seat and
rich furniture, to make good the deficiency of his bear-skins; and,
at last, when all will not go through it, he must give them a brush
for the rest.
There are who tell us, that the Exchange Alley improvements made upon
the news of the Pretender’s being taken, were part of the plot, that
the late Earl of Mar having concerted the voyage of Voghera, and how
and in what manner the report of the Pretender’s being there should
spread, who it should amuse, and how at one blow it should spread
east to Vienna, and northwest to Paris, and so on, forgot not to
contrive it, as at once should serve political ends in Italy and at
Vienna: so, on the other hand, it should not fail to serve a private
view in Exchange Alley; and, at the same time that he deceived some
of the Whigs who he owed a large grudge to for shrewd turns at
Preston and Dumblain, he might also raise a tax upon them towards the
incident changes of his wandering circumstances.
I do not aver this story to be true, but the concert is so exact, and
the nature of it so agreeable to the stock-jobbing art, nay, and to
the artists also, whose correspondents are very punctual, especially
since it is said that Mr. T——’s chief agent was formerly my Lord
M——r’s broker; that I won’t affirm it may be true; but this I will
venture to say of it, that if we are often served thus, the Pretender
may very easily raise a hundred thousand pounds a year in Exchange
Alley, for the carrying on an invasion, and lay the tax wholly upon
his enemies the Whigs, which, by the way, I leave them to consider of.
But now that I make good the charge, viz., that the whole art and
mystery is a mere original system of cheat and delusion, I must let
you see, too, that this part of the comedy may be very well called,
“A Bite for the Biter,” for which I must go back to the broker and
his gudgeon; the moneyed gentleman finding himself let into the
secret, indeed, and that he was bitten to the tune of £300,000 worse
than nothing. After he had, unhappily, paid as far as his ready
money would go, of which piece of honesty they say he has heartily
repented, and is in hopes all that come after him will forgive him
for the sake of what followed, stopped short, as he might well,
you’ll say, when his money was all gone, and bethinks himself, What
am I doing! I have paid away all this money like a fool; I was drawn
in like an ass, by the eager desire of biting my neighbours to a
vast sum, and I have been fool enough in that; but I have been ten
thousand times a worse fool to pay a groat of the money, especially
since I knew I could not pay it all. Besides, who but I would have
forgot the nature of the thing I was dealing in, and of the people
I was dealing with? Why, is it not all a mere body of knavery? Is
not the whole system of stock-jobbing a science of fraud? and are
not all the dealers original thieves and pickpockets? Nay, do they
not own it themselves? Have not I heard T. W., B. O., and F. S., a
thousand times say they know their employment was a branch of highway
robbing, and only differed in two things; first, in degree, viz.,
that it was ten thousand times worse, more remorseless, more void
of humanity, done without necessity, and committed upon fathers,
brothers, widows, orphans, and intimate friends; in all which cases,
highwaymen, generally touched with remorse, and affected with
principles of humanity and generosity, stopped short, and chose to
prey upon strangers only. Secondly, in danger, viz., that these rob
securely; the other, with the utmost risk that the highwayman run,
at the hazard of their lives, being sure to be hanged first or last,
whereas these rob only at the hazard of their reputation, which is
generally lost before they begin, and of their souls, which trifle
is not worth the mentioning. Have not I, I say, heard my broker, Mr.
——, say all this and much more, “That no man was obliged to make good
any of their Exchange Alley bargains, unless he pleased, and unless
he was in haste to part with his money, which, indeed, I am not; and
have not all the brokers and jobbers, when they have been bitten too
hard, said the same thing, and refused to pay?
“Pray, how much did old Cudworth, Ph. C—p—m, and Mr. G——g, eminent
jobbers, monarchs in their days of Exchange Alley, break for? And how
much did they ever pay? One, if I mistake not, compounded at last for
one penny per pound, and the other two for something less.
“In a word, they are all a gang of rogues and cheats, and I’ll pay
none of them. Besides, my lawyer, Sir Thomas Subtle, tells me there
is not a man of them dares sue me; _no, though I had no protection to
fly to_; and he states the case thus:—
“‘You have, Sir,’ says Subtle, ‘contracted to accept of stock at a
high price; East India at 220, Bank at 160, South Sea 120, and the
like. Very well. They come to put it upon you, the stock being since
fallen. Tell them you cannot take it yet; if they urge your contract,
and demand when you will take it, tell them you will take it when you
think fit.
“‘If they swagger, call names,—as rogue, cheat, and the like,—tell
them, as to that, you are all of a fraternity; there is no great
matter in it whether you cheat them, or they cheat you; ’tis as it
happens in the way of trade; that it all belongs to the craft; and,
as the Devil’s broker, Whiston, said to parson Giffard, tell them you
are all of a trade. If they rage, and tell you the Devil will have
you, and such as that, tell them they should let the Devil and you
alone to agree about that, it is none of their business; but when he
comes for you, tell them you would advise them to keep out of the
way, or get a protection, as you have against them.
“‘After this, it is supposed they will sue you at law. Then leave
it to me; I’ll hang them up for a year or two in our courts; and if
ever in that time the stock comes up to the price, we will tender the
money in court, demand the stock, and saddle the charges of the suit
upon them. Let them avoid it if they can.’
“This is my lawyer’s opinion,” says he to himself, “and I’ll follow
it to a tittle; and so we are told he has; and I do not hear that one
stock-jobber has begun to sue him yet, or intends it; nor, indeed,
dare they do it.”
This experiment, indeed, may teach understanding to every honest
man that falls into the clutches of these merciless men, called
stock-jobbers; and I give the world this notice, that, in short, not
one of their Exchange Alley bargains need be otherwise than thus
complied with. And, let these buyers of bear-skins remember it, not a
man of them dare go to common law to recover the conditions; nor is
any man obliged, farther than he thinks himself obliged in principle,
to make good one of his bargains with them. How far principle will
carry any man to be just to a common cheat, that has drawn him into
a snare, I do not, indeed, know; but I cannot suppose it will go a
very great length, where there is so clear, so plain, and so legal a
door to get out at.
It must be confessed that, if the projected story of the taking of
the Pretender was acted in concert between Rome and Exchange Alley,
between my Lord Mar and a certain broker, as fame reports,—either
the broker is the devil of a Jacobite, or my Lord the devil of a
broker,—it must be acknowledged it was a far-fetched trick, and
answered the end in Exchange most admirably.
Nor can all the world tell us any other end that it could answer; for
as to the pretences of deluding the imperialists on shore, or the
British men-of-war at sea, and so the better to facilitate the escape
of the Pretender to Spain, I undertake to prove that this is absurd
and ridiculous; for the Pretender was embarked at Netunna, and gone
away to sea thirteen days, at least, before this whim of people taken
at Voghera was talked of.
As to the amusements among the Courts at Vienna, Paris, and London,
they amounted to nothing at all, answered no end; neither prompted
any design on one hand, or hindered any thing on the other. In a
word, we may challenge the world to tell us any one turn that was
served by it, or end answered by it, but this in Exchange Alley.
Nor was this so inconsiderable a design as not to be worth while to
form such a juggle, though a great way off; and, as far off as it
is, if we may believe the report of those who remember the machines
and contrivances of that original of stock-jobbing, Sir F—— C——.
There are those who tell us letters have been ordered, by private
management, to be written from the East Indies, with an account of
the loss of ships which have been arrived there, and the arrival
of ships lost; of war with the Great Mogul, when they have been in
perfect tranquillity; and of peace with the Great Mogul, when he was
come down against the factory of Bengal with one hundred thousand
men;—just as it was thought proper to calculate those rumors for the
raising and falling of the stock, and when it was for his purpose to
buy cheap, or sell dear.
It would be endless to give an account of the subtleties of that
capital ch—t, when he had a design to bite the whole Exchange. As he
was the leading hand to the market, so he kept it in his power to
set the price to all the dealers. The subject then was chiefly the
East India stock, though there were other stocks on foot, too, though
since sunk to nothing; such as the Hudson’s Bay Company, the Linen
Manufacture stock, Paper stock, Saltpetre stock, and others, all at
this day worse than nothing, though some of them then jobbed up to
350 per cent., as the two first in particular.
But the East India stock was the main point. Every man’s eye, when he
came to the market, was upon the brokers who acted for Sir F——. Does
Sir F—— sell or buy? If Sir F—— had a mind to buy, the first thing he
did was to commission his brokers to look sour, shake their heads,
suggest bad news from India; and at the bottom it followed, “I have
commission from Sir F—— to sell out whatever I can”; and perhaps they
would actually sell ten, perhaps twenty thousand pounds. Immediately
the Exchange (for they were not then come to the Alley) was full of
sellers; nobody would buy a shilling; till perhaps the stock would
fall six, seven, eight, ten per cent., sometimes more. Then the
cunning jobber had another set of men employed on purpose to buy, but
with privacy and caution, all the stock they could lay their hands
on; till, by selling ten thousand pounds at four or five per cent.
loss, he would buy a hundred thousand pounds stock at ten or twelve
per cent. under price; and, in a few weeks, by just the contrary
method, set them all buying, and then sell them their own stock again
at ten or twelve per cent. profit.
These honest methods laid the foundation, we will not say of a fine
great stone house, on a certain forest, but it certainly laid the
foundation of an opulent family, and initiated the crowds of jobbers
in that dexterity in tricking and cheating one another, which, to
this day, they are the greatest proficients that this part of the
world ever saw.
By this exactly-concerted intelligence, he then knew how to turn the
wages (a sort of jobbing then in mode, and which grew so infamous
that they were at length obliged to suppress it by Act of Parliament)
which way he pleased, and by which he got an immense sum of money.
How often did the gentleman run down true news as if it had been
false, and run up false news as if it had been true, by the force of
his foreign intelligencers! How often coin reports of great actions,
to serve a turn! It is too late a trick to be forgot by many that
were bit by it to the bone.
In a word, the putting false news upon us is nothing but an old trade
revived,—though, it must be confessed, this of the Pretender has been
a masterpiece,—and the worthy projector who has the credit of it must
pass for a dexterous manager as any the university of Exchange Alley
has bred up for thirty years past.
It had, also, one particular in it for which it was very remarkable.
Sham reports, false news, foreign letters, &c., are things that have
been often trumped upon us, as above; and the town have been, not
long ago, cheated to a good round sum that way; but then they have
been soon detected, the morning news has been set to rights in the
afternoon, or the evening’s heat has cooled by morning. But this
trick had a fatal duration, for it held us near a fortnight in a firm
persuasion of the thing; and even then it continued but suspected
only for some time longer, and was yet longer before it was fully
detected; and even at last it was hardly conquered till the Jacobites
laughed us out of it, and the Pretender was looked for nearer home.
The assurance with which it was carried about the several places from
whence it was written, made it so effectually be swallowed down,
that really people saw no room to question the truth of it for a
great while. It was written from Rome, from Leghorn, from Genoa, from
Turin, and from Paris. Nay, it was even believed at court, and almost
everywhere else.
Exquisite fraud! Who could have believed that this had been born in
Exchange Alley, sent over to Rome, agreed to there, and executed in
such a manner as to cheat, not the town only, but all Europe!
The authority that every one found attended the report, supported it
so that it possessed us all; even those whose concern for the fact
extorted tears from them, were not undeceived. Thus the hucksters
had time to play their game, and they made hay while the sun shone;
for, if we may believe common fame, bargains, contracts, and
agreements for stocks, bear-skins included, amounted in that time to
some hundred thousands of pounds; nay, some say to two millions and
better, most of which was to the loss of the believing party.
But what tricking, what fraud, what laying plots as deep as hell, and
as far as the ends of the earth, is here! What cheating of fathers,
and mothers, and brothers, gulling widows, orphans, cozening the most
wary, and plundering the unwary! And how much meaner robberies than
these bring the friendless even to the gallows every sessions!
But I must not stop here. The story of the Pretender is over; that
trump is played; and the artful gamester is wanting a new trick,
after having played so many already that one would think invention
was at an end; yet they have found it out, and we are just let into
the secret.
Hitherto, craft and knavery appears to be their method; but we shall
trace them now a little farther; and, like true hussars, who plunder
not the enemy only, but their own army, as the opportunity presents,
so these men are now come to prey upon the government itself.
Let us look into the late lotteries; had not a piercing eye detected
the roguery, and not the fall of other things taken off the edge of
the people’s fancy for venturing. These artists have brought up the
tickets to sixteen shillings apiece, advance, even before the act was
passed. That this could not be but by securing the possession of all
the tickets in their own hands, except such select tickets as were
not to come to market, I say this could not be but by connivance,
and this every one knows; and that this connivance again could not
be but by some higher people than those that were named to it, this,
also, every one may know. Who they were, is none of my business
to inquire, though it is easy to guess. It is very hard when our
statesmen come into a confederacy to bite the people, and when dukes
turn stock-jobbers. Yet that this was done is most certain; and what
was this but making a property of the power that might be in their
hands, the better to bite the people? For if the Parliament appointed
£500,000 in tickets, to be given out at a certain rate that was low
and reasonable, was it not to encourage the people, on whom the
rest of the national burden lies? And if, by the craft and knavery
of jobbers, the people are made to pay £600,000 for them, which is
much about the case, pray, why not pay the hundred thousand pounds
to the public, either to pay off a hundred thousand pounds of debt,
or to make the burden of the current year a hundred thousand pounds
lighter?—of which, I am sure, there is need enough.
It has been, indeed, our happiness, that a worthy member, being
informed of this abominable cheat, detected it, and laid it before
the House; upon which a vote was passed to make void all bargains
make for tickets before the act was passed; so the biters were
bitten; and a certain Sir George —— was obliged to refund; but the
roguery of the design was never a jot the less for that.
But the fatal influence of this growing evil does not end here,
and I must trace stock-jobbing now to its new-acquired capacity of
intermeddling with the public, assisting rebellion, encouraging
invasion; and if I do not bring the stock-jobbers, even the Whigs
among them, to be guilty of treason against their king and country,
and that of the worst kind, too, then I do nothing.
Had the stock-jobbers been all Jacobites by profession, or had the
employment led them by the necessity of their business to put king
and nation, and particularly their own, to bargain and sale; and
had the feeling of news been their property, and they had an act
of Parliament, or patent, to entitle them to the sole privilege of
imposing what false things they pleased on the people, I should have
had much the less reason to have complained of their roguery, and
have rather turned myself to the rest of them people, who are the
subject they work upon, and only have stood at Exchange Alley end,
and cried out, “Gentlemen, have a care of your pockets.”
Again, had it been a private club, or society of men, acting one
among another,—had the cheats, the frauds, and the tricks they
made use of, in which the English rogue was a fool to them, being
practised upon themselves only, and, like gamesters at a public
board, they had only played with those that came there to play with
them; in this case, also, I should have held my tongue, and only put
them in mind of an old song, every stanza of which chimed in with,
“Tantararara, rogues all, rogues all.”
But when we find this trade become a political vice, a public crime,
and that, as it is now carried on, it appears dangerous to the
public, that, whenever any wickedness is in hand, any mischief by the
worst of the nation’s enemies upon the wheel, the stock-jobbers are
naturally made assistant to it, that they become abettors of treason,
assistant to rebellion and invasion, then it is certainly time to
speak, for the very employment becomes a crime, and we are obliged
to expose a sort of men who are more dangerous than a whole nation
of enemies abroad, an evil more formidable than the pestilence, and,
in their practice, more fatal to the public, than an invasion of
Spaniards.
It is said by some, that the principal leaders in the jobbing trade
at that time, and to whom most part of the satire in this work ought
to be pointed, are Whigs, members of Parliament, and friends to the
government; and that, therefore, I had best have a care of what I say
of them.
My first answer is, So I will. I will have a care of them; and, in
the next place, let them have a care of me; for if I should speak the
whole truth of some of them, they might be Whigs; but I dare say they
would be neither P—— men, or friends to the government very long; and
it is very hard his Majesty should not be told what kind of friends
to him such men are.
Besides, I deny the fact. These men friends to the government! _Jesu
Maria!_ The government may be friendly to them in a manner they do
not deserve; but as to their being friends to the government, that
is no more possible than the Cardinal Alberoni or the Chevalier de
St. George are friends to the government; and, therefore, without
reflecting upon persons, naming names, or the like,—there will be
no need of names, the dress will describe them,—I lay down this
new-fashioned proposition, or postulatum, take it which way you
please, that I will make it out by the consequences of what I am
going to say.
1. That stock-jobbing, as it is now practised, and as is generally
understood by the word stock-jobbing, is neither less or more than
high-treason in its very nature, and in its consequences.
2. That the stock-jobbers, who are guilty of the practices I am
going to detect, are eventually traitors to King George, and to his
government, family, and interest, and to their country, and deserve
to be used at least as confederates with traitors, whenever there are
any alarms of invasions, rebellions, or any secret practices against
the government, of what kind soever.
This is a black charge, and boldly laid, and ought therefore to be
effectually made out, which shall be the work of a few pages in the
following sheets.
1. I lay down this as a rule, which I appeal to the laws of reason
to support, that all those people who, at a time of public danger,
whether of treasonable invasion from abroad, or traitorous attempts
to raise insurrections at home, shall willingly and wittingly abet,
assist, or encourage the traitors invading or rebelling, are equally
guilty of treason.
2. All those who shall endeavour to weaken, disappoint, and disable
the government in their preparations, or discourage the people in
their assisting the government to oppose the rebels or invaders, are
guilty of treason.
All that can be alleged in contradiction to this,—and perhaps that
could not be made out neither,—is, that they are not traitors within
the letter of the law; to which I answer, if they were, I should not
satirize them, but impeach them. But if it appears that they are as
effectually destructive to the peace and safety of the government,
and of the king’s person and family, as if they were in open war with
his power, I do the same thing, and fully answer the end proposed.
As there are many thieves besides housebreakers, highwaymen, lifters,
and pickpockets, so there are many traitors besides rebels and
invaders, and, perhaps, of a much worse kind; for, in a dispute
between a certain lord and a woman of pleasure in the town, about the
different virtue of the sexes, the lady insisted that the men were
aggressors in the vice, and that, in plain English, if there were no
whore-masters, there would be no whores; so, in a word, if there were
no parties at home, no disaffection, no traitors among ourselves,
there would be no invasions from abroad.
Now, I will suppose for the purpose only, that the people I am
speaking of were not disaffected to the government; I mean, not
originally and intentionally pointing their intention at the
government; nay, that they are hearty Whigs, call them as we please;
yet, if it appear they are hearty knaves, too, will do any thing
for money, and are, by the necessity of their business, obliged, or
by the vehement pursuit of their interest, that is to say, of their
profits, pushed upon things as effectually ruinous and destructive to
the government, as the very buying arms and ammunition by a protest
Jacobite, in order to rebellion, could be, are they not traitors even
in spite of principle, in spite of the name of Whig; nay, in spite of
a thousand meritorious things that might otherwise be said of them,
or done of them?
A gunsmith makes ten thousand firelocks in the Minories, the honest
man may be a Whig, he designs to sell them to the government to lay
up in the tower, or to kill Spaniards, or any of the rest of the
king’s enemies; a merchant comes and buys some of them, and says they
are for the West Indies, or to sell into France. But upon inquiry, it
appears they are bought for rebellion; the undesigning gunsmith comes
into trouble, of course, and it will be very hard for him to prove
the negative, that when he has furnished the rebels with arms, he had
no share in the rebellion.
To bring this home to the case in view, who were the men who, in
the late hurry of an expected invasion, sunk the price of stock
fourteen or fifteen per cent.? Who were the men that made a run upon
the Bank of England, and pushed at them with some particular pique,
too, if possible, to have run them down, and brought ’em to a stop
of payment? And what was the consequences of these things? Will
they tell us that running upon the bank, and lowering the stocks,
was no treason? We know that, literally speaking, those things are
no treason. But is there not a plain constructive treason in the
consequences of it? Is not a wilful running down the public credit,
at a time when the nation is threatened with an invasion from abroad,
and rebellion at home? Is not this adding to the terror of the
people? Is not this disabling the government, discouraging the king’s
friends, and a visible encouragement of the king’s enemies? Is not
all that is taken from the credit of the public, in such an occasion,
added to the credit of the invasion? Does not every thing that
weakens the government strengthen its enemies? And is not every step
that is taken in prejudice of the king’s interest a step taken in aid
of the designed rebellion? The kindest thing that can be said of a
certain triumvirate of jobbers, whose hands have been deepest in this
part of the work, and who, indeed, had more obligations upon them
than any other men in the town, to have assisted the public interest
and advanced the credit of the nation, is, that they did not think
what they did, and that this excuse may not serve them another time,
I may soon furnish them with an anatomy of some of the conduct of
that little body of Number Three, that when they see their mistakes
with the eyes that other men see them, they may at their leisure give
a better turn to the measures of unbounded avarice.
I now, that I may not be said to speak without a precedent, I humbly
refer to those moneyed gentlemen to a case recent in memory, and
even in their own, which, though indeed they may think fit to have
forgotten for a time, they will all call to mind when they hear of it
again; and this was the case of two goldsmiths (knights also, and one
of them member of Parliament, too) in Fleet Street, who pushed at the
Bank of England at the time that the Pretender’s invasion from France
was in its preparation. One of them, it was said, had gathered a
quantity of Bank-bills, to the value of near £100,000, and the other
a great sum, though not so many, and, it was said, resolved to demand
them all at once.
Let the gentlemen I point at look back to the printed papers that
year; let them inquire what construction was put upon it; let them
inquire how the government resented it; how my Lord Treasurer
Godolphin looked upon it as a mine formed to blow up the queen’s
affairs, and how, in a word, all the friends of the government took
it to be such a step in favor of the Pretender, as was impossible to
consist with duty to the queen.
Let them inquire farther, with what difficulty Sir R—— Ho—— wiped
off the imputation of being a favorer of the rebellion, and how
often, in vain, he protested he did it with no such view, and how
hard the Whigs were to believe him. Sir F—— C——d, indeed, carried
it with a higher hand, and afterwards pretended to refuse the bills
of the Bank; but still declared he did it as a goldsmith, and as a
piece of justice to himself in some points in which the Bank had, as
he alleged, used him ill. But, in general, it was looked upon as an
open affront to the government, and an abetting and countenancing the
invasion of the Pretender from abroad, and the rebellion intended at
home. Nor was the government, much less were the authors of private
papers and prints, wanting in letting them know it; nay, if I am not
misinformed, they were threatened with being treated as enemies to
the government; and if things had gone on to extremities, they had
doubtless been marked out as persons the government were to take care
of.
Now I only speak in plainer words; it was said then, that such men
as endeavoured to run down the public credit were enemies to the
government. I know no distinction in the case, that should require
so much tenderness. Every subject of King George, who is at the same
time an enemy to King George, is a traitor; and every overt act of
that enmity, it being his duty to his utmost to favor, aid, and
support the government, is an overt act of treason, let it be gilded
over with what fine words the persons please, ’tis the same thing, if
it is not literal treason, and within reach of the statute, yet the
crime is in itself of the same nature.
And let any one tell me what is the difference between two dealers
in Paris credit in the time of a French invasion, and three dealers
in paper credit in the time of a Spanish invasion, or what sanctity
in Birchin Lane more than in Fleet Street, that one should be a
protection for the same practice that was resented so justly in
another.
Were those stock-jobbers sincerely and heartily in the interest of
King George and his government, as they pretend loudly, what run
could there be upon the Bank, what ebb of credit, what sinking of
stock? The honest Whigs, who were friends to the government at that
time, mentioned above, who not only knew their duty, but how to make
it seasonable and useful, acted after another manner. When others
ran upon the Bank with all the fury possible, they carried all the
money thither they could gather up; nay, I could name a man in this
city, who, having but £500 in the world, carried it all into the Bank
to support the credit of the public; and the story being told to
her Majesty by the late Lord Treasurer Godolphin, the sense of such
fidelity so moved the queen, that she sent him a hundred pounds as
a gift, a royal token of her accepting such an act of loyalty; and
caused my Lord to give him an obligation from the Treasury to repay
him the whole £500 if any disaster to the Bank should have made it
doubtful.
Where ’s the like courage and conduct to be found now? Is it in
being? Are the gentlemen less able? Or is it that they have not the
same zeal for King George as that honest citizen had for the queen?
Or do they doubt the king being as sensible of the service? Or what
is the matter that the public credit had rather met with injurious
juggling and jobbing upon it, than real support, either from Exchange
Alley, Birchin Lane, or some other places less noted?
Let those men reflect a little upon the circumstances the public
credit must have been in by such mismanagement, if the Spanish
attempt had been made, and if these easterly Protestant winds had not
chopped in, by which Providence has given the government time to put
itself in a posture of defence, so as now not to be afraid of them;
and if the capital stock of the persons interested in the funds is
now sunk a million in the real value of them as they stood before
even at the market, which is nothing but what the matter of fact will
justify, to what degree would the same current, if it had gone on,
have sunk the estates of all the moneyed men in England?
In what manner would money have been raised upon a new credit for
any immediate exigencies that might have happened? And should the
government have been supported,—nay, though the Parliament had
granted funds,—while these men had made all credit ebb, perhaps, to
twenty-five or thirty per cent. discount? And is not this, then, a
species of treason and rebellion?
It was very remarkable, that, in the juncture of those things, the
Jacobites could not refrain taking notice how easy it was to set
the citizens plundering the Bank, and even the Exchequer, too; for,
had this gone on, the funds, which are, in effect, the Exchequer
itself, would have gone down hill hand in hand with the Bank; credit
would have borne equal pace in one as well as in the other; and the
government would no more have been able to borrow, than the Bank
would have been able to pay.
It is scarce fit to enter into a description of all the mischievous
consequences which necessarily follow running down the public credit,
in case of such dangers as I have mentioned above. If I should fully
describe them, it would appear incredible. Every one will allow that
this practice of the jobbers, carried on a little farther, would
indeed appear to be the worst kind of treason.
But it is needful, after having said thus much of the crime, to say
something of the place, and then a little of the persons, too. The
centre of the jobbing is in the kingdom of Exchange Alley, and its
adjacencies. The limits are easily surrounded in about a minute and a
half, viz., stepping out of Jonathan’s into the Alley, you turn your
face full south; moving on a few paces, and then turning due east,
you advance to Garraway’s; from thence, going out at the other door,
you go on still east into Birchin Lane; and then halting a little
at the Sword-blade Bank, to do much mischief in fewest words, you
immediately face to the north, enter Cornhill, visit two or three
petty provinces there in your way west, and thus having boxed your
compass, and sailed round the whole stock-jobbing globe, you turn
into Jonathan’s again; and so, as most of the great follies of life
oblige us to do, you end just where you began.
But this is by way of digression; and even still, before I come to
the main case, I am obliged to tell you that, though this is the
sphere of the jobbers’ motion, the orb to which they are confined,
and out of which they cannot well act in their way, yet it does not
follow but that men of foreign situation (I mean foreign as to them,
I do not mean foreign as to nation); nay, some whose lustre is said
to be too bright for the hemisphere of a coffee-house, have yet their
influence there, and act by substitutes and representatives. But
first I must speak to originals.
C——, a man of brass sufficient for much more business than he can
be trusted with, is said to manage for three blue ribbons, and for
four or five cash-keepers, who tell more money than their own. He
fetches and carries with such indefatigable application, that he
is said never to fail his appointments to a minute, however remote
from one another. Wherever he appears, he makes an Exchange Alley in
his person, and a court in his audience; he is himself a Jonathan’s
coffee-house in little; though he be at a cockpit, he realizes
Exchange Alley in every place, and yet he rather is directed than
directs; and, like a certain great general, famed for more fire than
phlegm, is fitter to drive than to lead.
S—— has twice the head, but not half the business as C—— is said to
have, yet he gets more money for himself, and C—— gets more for other
folks. S—— is as cunning as C—— is bold, and the reserve of one with
the openness of the other, makes a complete Exchange Alley man. C——
jumps at every thing, and as he got the start of the world at his
beginning, by venturing more than he was worth, so he deals now with
all men as if they ventured more than they are worth. Originally he
was a bite, which, in modern language, is a sharper; or, being fully
interpreted, may signify the head-class of the fraternity called
pickpockets.
T——, a gamester of the same board, acts in concert with C—— and S——,
and makes together a true triumvirate of modern thieving. He inherits
the face of C——, with the craft of S——, but seems to take state upon
him, and acts the reserved part more than either; yet even this, too,
is all grimace, for wherever he can be sure to kill, he can’t fawn
like an Irishman.
They are all three of yesterday in their characters, yet they are old
in their crime, viz., of resolving to be rich at the price of every
man they can bubble. Their first blow was aimed at the Bank, but
there they were outwitted; and the great Lord Treasurer Godolphin, in
the late reign, gave them their just characters from that action. The
defeat they met with there sticks so close to them, that they reserve
the measures of their revenge, not to cool, no, not till the charter
of the Bank shall expire.
However, their wings being clipped by the clause then obtained in an
Act of Parliament,—that no society, corporation, &c., should issue
out bills of credit as a bank, but the Bank of England only,—they
were obliged ever since to turn stock-jobbers, or, if we may speak
properly of them, they are the stock-jobbers’ masters; for they have
so many bear-skins pawned to them at a time, so much stock deposited
with them upon bottomrée, as it might be called, that indeed they may
be called the city pawnbrokers; and I have been told, that they have
had fifty stock-jobbers and brokers bound hand and foot, and laid in
heaps at their doors at a time.
The next trick they tried, and which was, indeed, the masterpiece of
their knavery, was the getting an assignment of the forfeited estates
in Ireland into their hands. Indeed, they began the world upon this
prospect, and expected to have had the whole kingdom of Ireland
mortgaged to them. But here, too, they were disappointed, and had
they not found a man that had as much money as themselves, and more
honesty, that bargain of the forfeited estates had been the last they
had made in the world.
The endeavours they use to cheat that gentleman, after he had
delivered them from a blow that would have blown them up, is
another black part of their story that remains to be told, for the
illustration of their character, at another time; but in the interim,
’t is enough to say, that he who delivered them as fools, knew how to
deliver himself from them as knaves; and so they were dropped out of
the Irish bargain, to their great mortification.
Now they stand ready, as occasion offers, and profit presents, to
stock-job the nation, cozen the Parliament, ruffle the Bank, run up
and down stocks, and put the dice upon the whole town.
They had another flap with a Fox-tail, to the scandal of their
politics, in the late vote about the tickets of the lottery which
I mentioned above. What market they will make of it is well enough
known. But the plot was never the less cunning, and ’t is certain the
knavery is not the less visible for the miscarriage. I come next to
their more modern management.
Whenever they call in their money, the stock-jobbers must sell; the
bear-skin men must commute, and pay differences money; then down
come the stocks, tumbling two or three per cent.; then the tools
must sell and their masters buy; the next week they take in stocks
again, then the jobbers buy, and the managers sell. Thus the jobbers
bite their friends, and these men bite the jobbers, _qui sarpat
sharpabitur_,—Exchange Alley Latin: they that are let into the secret
will understand it.
The truth is, it has been foretold by cunning men, who often see
what can’t be hid, that these men, by a mass of money which they
command of other people’s, as well as their own, will, in time, ruin
the jobbing trade. But ’t will be only like a general visitation,
where all distempers are swallowed up in the plague, like a common
calamity, that makes enemies turn friends, and drowns lesser
grievance in the general deluge. For if the reprisal trade should
adjourn from Exchange Alley to Birchin Lane, it may seem to be like
the banishing usury from the city of Rome, which transferred it to
a Jew at Genoa, a monk at Naples, and a banker at Venice, who, it
was said, had no less than seven-and-twenty principalities in Italy
mortgaged to them at a time, besides two kingdoms, seven duchies, and
the jewels of the crown of France.
Having thus given the blazing characters of three capital sharpers of
Great Britain, knaves of lesser magnitude can have no room to shine;
the Alley throngs with Jews, jobbers, and brokers; their names are
needless, their characters dirty as their employment: and the best
thing that I can yet find to say of them is, that there happens to
be two honest men among them,—Heavens preserve their integrity; for
the place is a snare, the employment itself fatal to principle, and,
hitherto, the same observation which I think was very aptly made upon
the Mint, will justly turn upon them,—that many an honest man has
gone in to them, but cannot say that I ever knew one come an honest
man out from them.
But to leave them a little, and turn our eyes another way, is it
not surprising to find new faces among these scandalous people, and
persons even too big even for our reproof? Is it possible that stars
of another latitude should appear in our hemisphere? Had it been Sims
or Bowcher, or gamesters of the drawing-rooms or masquerades, there
had been little to be said; or had the groom-porters been transposed
to Garraway’s and Jonathan’s, it had been nothing new; true gamesters
being always ready to turn their hand to any play. But to see
statesmen turn dealers, and men of honor stoop to the chicanery of
jobbing; to see men at the offices in the morning, at the P—— house
about noon, at the cabinet at night, and at Exchange Alley in the
proper intervals, what new phenomena are these? What fatal things may
these shining planets (like the late great light) foretell to the
state and to the public; for when statesmen turn jobbers, the state
may be jobbed.
It may be true that a treasurer or cash-keeper may be trusted with
more money than he is worth, and many times it is so; and if the man
be honest, there may be no harm in it: but when a treasurer plays
for more money than he is worth, they that trust him run a risk of
their money, because, though he may an honest man, he may be undone.
I speak of private, not public treasurers.
Indeed, it requires some apology to say such a one may be an honest
man; it would be hard to call him an honest man, who plays away any
man’s money that is not his own, or more than he is able to pay again
with his own. But if it be dishonest to play it away, that is, lose
it at play, ’tis equally dishonest to play with it, whether it be
lost or no; because, in such a case, he that plays for more than
he can pay, his master runs the hazard more than himself; nay, his
master runs an unequal hazard, for if the money be lost, ’tis the
master’s, if there is gain, ’tis the servant’s.
Stock-jobbing is play; a box and dice may be less dangerous, the
nature of them are alike a hazard; and if they venture at either what
is not their own, the knavery is the same. It is not necessary, any
more than it is safe, to mention the persons I may think of in this
remark; they who are the men will easily understand me.
In a word, I appeal to all the world, whether a man that is
intrusted with other men’s money (whether public or private is not
the question) ought to be seen in Exchange Alley. Would it not be
a sufficient objection to any gentleman or merchant, not to employ
any man to keep his cash, or look after his estate, to say of him he
plays, he is a gamester, or he is given to gaming and stock-jobbing,
which is still worse, gives the same, or a stronger ground of
objection in like cases.
Again, are there fewer sharpers and setters in Exchange Alley than
at the Groom Porters? Is there less cheating in stock-jobbing than
at play? Or, rather, is there not fifty times more? An unentered
youth coming to deal in Exchange Alley is immediately surrounded with
bites, setters, pointers, and the worst set of cheats, just as a
young country gentleman is with bawds, pimps, and spongers, when he
first comes to town. It is ten thousand to one, when a forward young
tradesman steps out of his shop into Exchange Alley, I say ’t is ten
thousand to one but he is undone: if you see him once but enter the
fatal door, never discount his bills afterwards, never trust him with
goods at six months’ pay any more.
If it be thus dangerous to the mean, what is it to the great? I see
only this difference, that in the first the danger is private, in the
latter public.
It has not been many years since elections for members of —— came
to market in Exchange Alley, as current as lottery-tickets now,
and at a price, like these, much above what any Parliament allowed
them to go at. While this was carried on, a great many honest men
exclaimed against it, and exposed it; nay, several Acts of Parliament
were proposed for regulating elections, and preventing bribery and
corruption; but all this would not do, and this, indeed, was one of
the happy consequences of that otherwise necessary act for triennial
Parliaments; and I firmly believe, that it is owing very much to the
late suspending that act for a time, that these things are not come
to market again.
It may easily be remembered, that the first occasion of the Exchange
Alley men engaging in the case of elections of members was in King
William’s time, on the famous disputes which happened between the Old
East India Company and the New; which, having held a great while,
and having embarrassed, not the city only, but the whole nation, and
even made itself dangerous to the public business, it was expected
it should be fully decided by the House of Commons. To this end, the
members of both companies, with all the trick, artifice, cunning, and
corruption, that money and interest could arm them with, bestirred
themselves to be chosen members.
Brokers rid night and day from one end of the kingdom to the other,
to engage gentlemen to bribe corporations, to buy off competitors,
and to manage the elections. You will see the state of things at that
time, and the danger this stock-jobbing wickedness had brought the
public to, if you please to read the following exclamation of the
honest freeholders at that time, which was presented to the public
by way of complaint. The thing was laid before the king first, and
before the Parliament afterwards; and it was his Majesty’s sense of
the consequence, that made him resolve to bring the two East India
Companies to unite their stocks; for, in a word, the stock-jobbers
embroiled the whole nation.
There was a book published some years ago, and when the stock-jobbing
people were thought as willing, yet not quite so daring or so
cunning, as they are now; it was entitled, “The Villany of the
Stock-jobbers.” Indeed, it set them out in their true colors, and for
some time gave them a little shock; for the truth was, they jobbed
King William and the government at that time at such a rate, that,
in spite of the invincible valor and resolution of the soldiery,
in spite of the most glorious prince and most vigilant general the
world had ever seen, yet the enemy gained upon us every year; the
funds were run down, the credit jobbed away in Exchange Alley,
the king and his troops devoured by mechanics, and sold to usury;
tallies lay bundled up like Bath faggots in the hands of brokers and
stock-jobbers; the Parliament gave taxes, laid funds, but the loans
were at the mercy of those men; and they showed their mercy, indeed,
by devouring the king and the army, the Parliament, and, indeed, the
whole nation, bringing that great prince sometimes to that exigence,
through unexpressible extortions that were put upon him, that he has
even gone into the field without his equipage, nay, even without his
army; the regiments have been unclothed when the king has been in the
field, and the willing, brave English spirit, eager to honor their
country, and follow such a king, have marched even to battle without
either stockings or shoes, while his servants have been every day
working in Exchange Alley, to get his own money of the Stock-jobbers,
even after all the horrible demands of discount have been allowed;
and, at last, scarce fifty per cent. of the money granted by
Parliament has come into the Exchequer, and that late, too late for
that service, and by driblets, till the king has been tired of the
delay, and been even ready to give up the cause.
We have just now had a test of their cunning on the subject of the
invasion. These were the men that made the first advantage of the
news; immediately those that were to put stock upon any man at a high
price tendered it, the accepters, forced by the demand, call in their
money on their hand, pay the difference, the price falls, a general
run upon the Bank follows, and stock-jobbing began it.
Say this was no design, yet if every alarm of the foolish, or the
timorous, or the false, is capable to set the humor afloat by the
agency of Exchange Alley, is as dangerous to the public safety as a
magazine of gunpowder is to a populous city.
But if it be by design, then, whenever the Pretender is to be pawned
upon us by any foreign power that can but talk of lending five or six
thousand men, our public credit is at his mercy, by the agency of
Exchange Alley and the brokers.
The story of the invasion from Spain, we hope, is now over. Indeed,
at the worst, I saw no such reason to be surprised to that degree
as was the case here. Let us look back, and see what injury to the
public has the very rumor been! what damage to credit! what stop to
trade! what interruption to our general commerce! besides sinking
above a million sterling upon our estates; and every farthing of
this is occasioned by the stock-jobbers, and in the consequence of
their contrivance, and by no other means; for as to the design of
an invasion, or that they resolved to come hither at all, though we
have evident proofs of that, because some of them have been actually
landed, yet we cannot yet resolve the question positively, whether it
was ever worth our being so much alarmed, as we have been in Exchange
Alley.
While these sheets were at the press, we had another little test of
their knavery to the public; and it is not at all owing to them that
the thing ran no farther. The contrary winds and storms, &c., had
disappointed the king’s enemies, and the Spanish fleet was driven
back to Spain in a shattered and defeated condition, as appears
by the public account of those things: but in the interval of this
news came an account, on the other hand, that some of the party
were arrived in Scotland, that they had beat it up, notwithstanding
all the opposition of nature, the hindrances of winds and seas.
Immediately stocks fell two per cent., nor did the good news of
the defeated return of the rest animate these men to keep up the
interest, by which it appears that they are acted more by the bad
principle than by the good; that they choose rather to do evil than
to do good; that they sink faster than they rise, and are willinger
to do harm than good to the government.
From whence I infer, that the government, looking upon them as they
really are, rather enemies than friends to the general interest,
should rather incline to root them out than preserve them. AMEN.
ENGLISH FUNDS.
HIGHEST AND LOWEST PRICE OF THREE PER CENTS IN EACH YEAR, FROM 1731
TO 1848.
Highest. Lowest.
1731 99 94
1732 101 96
1733 103 92
1734 94 90
1735 98 92
1736 113 100
1737 107 105
1738 106 102
1739 105 97
1740 101 98
1741 101 98
1742 102 98
1743 103 100
1744 99 90
1745 92 85
1746 89 75
1747 86 81
1748 91 76
1749 102 91
1750 101 98
1751 103 97
1752 106 101
1753 106 104
1754 104 102
1755 101 90
1756 90 88
1757 91 86
1758 98 89
1759 88 79
1760 83 76
1761 88 66
1762 87 63
1763 96 82
1764 86 80
1765 91 85
1766 90 87
1767 91 87
1768 93 88
1769 89 84
1770 87 78
1771 88 81
1772 95 87
1773 87 86
1774 89 86
1775 90 87
1776 90 81
1777 80 76
1778 72 61
1779 64 59
1780 63 60
1781 59 56
1782 61 53
1783 68 58
1784 57 54
1785 71 55
1787 78 69
1789 81¼ 71⅝
1790 80⅞ 70½
1791 89¾ 75¾
1792 97¼ 72½
1793 81 70½
1794 72⅜ 62¾
1795 70½ 61
1796 70⅝ 53¼
1797 56½ 47½
1798 58 47¼
1799 69 52⅝
1800 67¼ 60
1801 70 54¼
1802 79 66
1803 73 50¼
1804 58⅞ 53¾
1805 62 57
1806 64⅝ 58½
1807 64⅜ 57⅝
1808 69⅛ 62⅝
1809 70⅜ 63⅜
1810 71 63¼
1811 66¾ 61¾
1812 63 55⅛
1813 67½ 54½
1814 72½ 61½
1815 65¾ 53⅞
1816 64⅝ 59½
1817 84¼ 62
1818 82 73
1819 79 64⅞
1820 70¼ 65⅝
1821 78¾ 68¾
1822 83 75⅜
1823 85¾ 72
1824 96⅞ 84¾
1825 94¼ 75
1826 84½ 73⅞
1827 89½ 76¾
1828 88⅜ 80⅞
1829 94¼ 85⅝
1830 94¼ 77½
1831 84¾ 74⅞
1832 85¾ 81⅝
1833 91¼ 84¼
1834 93 87½
1835 92⅞ 89¼
1836 92¼ 86⅝
1837 93⅞ 87⅞
1838 95¼ 90⅝
1839 93⅞ 89¼
1840 93⅛ 85¾
1841 90½ 87¼
1842 95⅛ 88
1843 97⅛ 92⅛
1844 101¼ 96½
1845 100⅝ 91⅞
1846 97¾ 93¼
1847 94 78¾
1848 89½ 80
LOANS RAISED SINCE 1793, WITH THE RATES OF INTEREST.
Year. Amount. Per cent.
1793 £4,500,000 £4 3_s._ 4_d._
1794 11,000,000 4 10 9
1795 22,600,000 4 15 8
1796 18,000,000 4 14 9
” 7,500,000 4 12 2
1797 18,000,000 5 12 6
” 16,120,000 6 6 10
1798 17,000,000 6 4 9
1799 3,000,000 5 12 5
” 15,500,000 5 5 0
1800 20,500,000 4 12 2
1801 28,000,000 5 5 6
1802 25,000,000 3 19 2
1803 12,000,000 5 2 0
1804 14,500,000 5 9 2
1805 22,500,000 5 3 2
” 1,500,000 5 16 4
1806 20,000,000 4 19 7
1807 14,200,000 4 14 7
” 1,500,000 4 16 4
1808 10,500,000 4 14 6
1809 14,600,000 4 11 7
1810 13,400,000 4 4 2
1811 12,000,000 4 13 6
1812 22,500,000 5 5 7
1813 27,000,000 5 8 4½
” 22,000,000 5 6 2
1814 24,000,000 4 14 1
1815 36,000,000 5 12 4
1835 15,000,000 ” ” ”
1847 8,000,000 3 7 6
A LIST OF ACTS RELATIVE TO BROKERS.
13 Edward I. Statute 5 Anno 1284.
1 James I. ” 21 1604.
8 and 9 William III. ” 32 1697, expired 1707.
6 Anne ” 16 1707.
10 ” ” 19 1711.
6 George I. ” 18 1720.
3 George II. ” 31 1730, for Bristol.
7 George II. ” 8 1739.
DIRECTORS OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND
FROM 1694 TO 1847.
Sir John Houblon 1694
Michael Godfrey ”
Sir Thomas Abney ”
Sir James Bateman ”
Brooke Bridges ”
George Boddington ”
James Denew ”
Sir Henry Furnese ”
Sir William Gore ”
Thomas Goddard ”
Sir Gilbert Heathcote ”
Sir William Hedges ”
Sir James Houblon ”
Sir John Huband ”
Abraham Houblon ”
Sir Theodore Janssen ”
John Knight ”
Samuel Lethieullier ”
John Lordell ”
William Patterson ”
Robert Raworth ”
Sir William Scawen ”
Obadiah Sedgwick ”
John Smith ”
Nathaniel Tench ”
Sir John Ward ”
Henry Cornish 1695
Edward Clarke ”
Sir John Cope, Sen. ”
Peter Godfrey ”
Anthony Stevens 1695
Sir William Ashhurst 1697
Robert Bristow ”
Samuel Bultell ”
John Page ”
Sir Francis Eyles ”
John Shipman ”
Sir Nathaniel Gould ”
Samuel Lock ”
Sir Peter Delme 1698
William Dawsonne ”
Francis Stratford ”
Peter Gott ”
Sir Richard Levett ”
John Devinck 1699
John Rudge ”
Richard Perry ”
John Reynardson 1700
William Desbouverie ”
Josiah Diston 1701
John Gould ”
John Hanger ”
Humphrey South ”
Sir Robert Clayton 1702
Sir Gerard Conyers ”
Abraham Hill ”
Samuel Heathcote ”
Charles Chambrelan 1703
Sir William Hodges ”
Sir Charles Peers 1705
Sir Thomas Scawen 1705
Sir John Cope, Jun. 1706
James Dolliffe 1708
John Emilie ”
William Gore 1709
Sir Justus Beck 1710
William Henry Comellissen ”
John Dolben ”
Jeremiah Powell ”
Sir Denis Dutry 1711
Heneage Fetherstone ”
Sir Philip Jackson ”
John Ward, Jun. ”
Sir George Thorold ”
Mr. Robert Atwood 1712
Richard Cary ”
Sir Joseph Hodges ”
Sir Randolph Knipe ”
Christopher Lethieullier ”
Matthew Raper ”
John Edmonds 1713
Sir Richard Houblon ”
Richard Chiswell 1714
Sir William Jolliff ”
Henry Lyell ”
William Thompson ”
Sir John Eyles 1715
Mr. Barrington Eaton 1716
John Francis Fauquier ”
Humphrey Morice ”
Moses Raper ”
Sir Joseph Eyles 1717
Sir William Humphreys 1719
Richard Du Cane 1720
Samuel Holden ”
Bryan Benson 1721
Thomas Cooke ”
Delillers Carbonnel 1722
Nathaniel Gould ”
Henry Herring ”
Hon. Horatio Townshend ”
Sir Edward Bellamy 1723
Matthew Howard ”
John Olmuns ”
Sir Francis Forbes 1724
William Fawkener ”
Sir John Heathcote 1725
John Nicoll 1726
Sir Francis Porten ”
Stamp Brooksbank 1728
James Gaultier ”
William Hunt ”
William Snelling ”
Clement Boehm 1729
Joseph Paice, Jun. 1730
Matthew Raper ”
James Spilman ”
Robert Alsop 1731
John Bance ”
Henry Neale 1732
Robert Thornton ”
Charles Savage 1733
Benjamin Lethieullier 1734
Benjamin Longuet ”
Sir John Thompson ”
Christopher Tower ”
John Eaton Dodsworth ”
Frederick Frankland 1736
Samuel Trench ”
Alexander Sheafe 1737
Richard Chiswell, Jun. 1738
Sir John Lequesne ”
Benjamin Mee ”
Mark Weyland ”
Claude Fonnereau 1739
Charles Palmer ”
John South ”
Matthew Beachcroft 1741
Robert Nettleton ”
Thomas Whateley ”
Merrik Burrell 1742
James Lever ”
Theophilus Salwey 1742
Robert Marsh 1743
James Theobald ”
Robert Salusbury 1744
Peter Thomas ”
Bartholomew Burton 1746
Godfrey Thornton 1748
John Weyland ”
Thomas Winterbottom 1749
Charles Boehm 1750
Matthew Clairmont ”
Samuel Handley ”
Richard Stratton ”
Harry Thompson ”
Sir Samuel Fludyer 1753
John Sargent ”
William Cooper 1754
Philip De la Haize ”
Sir Thomas Chitty 1755
Peter Du’Cane ”
Edward Payne 1756
Thomas Plurner ”
Peter Theobald ”
Robert Dingley 1757
James Sperling ”
Henry Plant 1759
Samuel Beachcroft 1760
Gustavus Brander 1761
Daniel Booth ”
John Cornwall ”
Peter Gaussen ”
James Haughton Langston ”
Edmund Wilcox ”
William Bowden 1763
William Ewer ”
Richard Neave ”
John Fisher 1764
Christopher Hake, Jun. ”
Thomas Thomas 1765
Edward Darell 1767
William Halhed ”
Lyde Browne 1768
George Drake ”
George Hayter ”
Benjamin Hopkins ”
George Peters ”
Mark Weyland ”
Roger Boehm 1769
Matthew Howard ”
Benjamin Branfill 1770
William Snell ”
Samuel Bosanquet 1771
Martyn Fonnereau ”
Godfrey Thornton 1772
Daniel Giles, Jun. 1774
Christopher Puller ”
Thomas Dea 1775
Richard Clay 1776
Thomas Raikes ”
Benjamin Mee, Jun. 1777
John Sargent, Jun. 1788
William Cooke 1780
Samuel Thornton ”
Thomas Scott Jackson ”
Job Matthew 1781
Joseph Nutt ”
Thomas Boddington 1782
Benjamin Winthrop ”
Beeston Long, Jun. 1784
James Maude ”
Isaac Osborne ”
Sir Brook Watson ”
John Harrison 1785
Bicknell Coney 1786
John Whitmore, Jun. ”
Peter Isaac Thellusson 1787
Moses Yeldham 1788
William Manning, Jun. 1790
John Pearce ”
John Puget ”
Thomas Lewin 1791
Peter Cazalet 1792
William Mellish 1792
Edward Simeon ”
Alexander Champion, Jun. 1794
George Dorrien ”
Jeremiah Harman ”
Nathaniel Bogle French 1796
Charles Pole ”
Thomas Amyand 1798
Thomas Langley ”
Ebenezer Maitland ”
Peter Free 1800
Jeremiah Olive ”
Henry Smith 1802
Stephen Thornton ”
John Bowden 1803
Cornelius Buller ”
Alexander Baring 1805
John Josiah Holford ”
John Baker Richards ”
Samuel Drew 1806
Henry Davidson 1807
John Stainforth ”
Sir Robert Wigram ”
John Campbell 1808
William Haldimand 1809
George Blackman 1810
William Tierney Robarts ”
John Horsley Palmer 1811
Andrew Henry Thompson ”
Sir Thomas Neave 1812
Richard Mee Raikes ”
James Pattison, Jun. 1813
William Ward 1817
Samuel Hibbert 1819
Timothy Abraham Curtis 1820
John Rae Reid ”
Sir John Henry Pelly 1821
David Barclay ”
John Cockerell ”
Henry Porcher ”
William Cotton 1822
John Benjamin Heath 1823
William R. Robinson 1825
James Morris 1827
William Thompson ”
Humphrey St. John Mildmay 1828
John Oliver Hanson 1829
Charles Pascoe Grenfell 1830
Abel Lewes Gower ”
Sheffield Neave ”
Rowland Mitchell 1833
Christopher Pearse 1834
Henry Davidson 1835
Bonamy Dobree ”
Thomson Hankey, Jun. ”
Henry James Prescott ”
Robert Barclay 1837
John Malcolmson ”
John Gellibrand Hubbard 1838
Charles Frederick Huth ”
Alfred Latham ”
Thomas Charles Smith ”
Thomas Matthias Weguelin ”
Edward Henry Chapman 1840
Kirkman Daniel Hodgson ”
William Little 1842
David Powell ”
Francis Wilson ”
Arthur Edward Campbell 1843
Thomas Tooke, Jun. ”
Henry Lancelot Holland 1844
Thomas Newman Hunt ”
ANNUAL DIVIDENDS OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND,
From 1694 to 1849 inclusive.
Per cent.
1694-1697 8
1698 7
1699 9½
1700 10¾
1701 9
1702 12
1703 16½
1704 15¾
1705 15½
1706 18¼
1707 7¾
1708 12½
1709 8½
1710 7½
1711 7
1712 8
1713 8
1714 8
1715 7¾
1716 8
1717 8
1718 8
1719 7½
1720 7½
1721 6
1722 6
1723 6
1724 6
1725 6
1726 6
1727 6
1728 5½
1729 5½
1730 5¾
1731 5¾
Dividends, with the highest and lowest prices of Bank of England
Stock.
Year. Dividend. Highest. Lowest.
1732 5¾ 152 109
1733 5½ 151 130
1734 5½ 140 132
1735 5½ 146 138
1736 5½ 151 148
1737 5½ 151 142
1738 5½ 145 140
1739 5½ 144 115
1740 5½ 144 138
1741 5½ 143 135
1742 5½ 143 136
1743 5½ 148 145
1744 5½ 148 116
1745 5½ 147 133
1746 5½ 136 125
1747 5 129 119
1748 5 129 117
1749 5 140 128
1750 5 136 131
1751 5 142 135
1752 5 149 141
1753 4½ 144 135
1754 4½ 135 130
1755 4½ 162 119
1756 4½ 121 114
1757 4½ 120 115
1758 4½ 123 116
1759 4½ 123 109
1760 4½ 114 101
1761 4½ 116 98
1762 4½ 119 91
1763 4½ 131 111
1764 4¾ 127 112
1765 5 136 126
1766 5 139 135
1767 5¼ 159 142
1768 5½ 170 158
1769 5½ 175 149
1770 5½ 153 105
1771 5½ 155 134
1772 5½ 153 144
1773 5½ 143 139
1774 5½ 146 139
1775 5½ 146 141
1776 5½ 143 134
1777 5½ 138 128
1778 5½ 120 107
1779 5½ 118 106
1780 5½ 116 109
1781 5¾ 119 105
1782 6 124 109
1783 6 134 112
1784 6 118 110
1785 6 142 111
1786 6 158 138
1787 6 160 145
1788 7 178 158
1789 7 191 169
1790 7 188 164
1791 7 204 178
1792 7 219 171
1793 7 180 161
1794 7 169 153
1795 7 180 152
1796 7 180 142
1797 7 146 115
1798 7 138 118
1799 7 176 134
1800 6¾ 175 154
1801 7 190 148
1802 7 207 178
1803 7 193 136
1804 7 169 146
1805 7 197 167
1806 7 223 191
1807 10 235 208
1808 10 240 224
1809 10 288 235
1810 10 276 273
1811 10 251 229
1812 10 232 212
1813 10 242 211
1814 10 266 234
1815 10 262 219
1816 10 262 215
1817 10 294 220
1818 10 292 207
1819 10 267 210
1820 10 226 215
1821 10 240 221
1822 10 252 235
1823 8 246 204
1824 8 245 227
1825 8 299 196
1826 8 223 193
1827 8 217 200
1828 8 215 203
1829 8 218 208
1830 8 203 194
1831 8 204 189
1832 8 208 185
1833 8 213 190
1834 8 225 211
1835 8 225 208
1836 8 219 199
1837 8 212 203
1838 8 208 201
1839 7 206 177
1840 7 179 156
1841 7 173 157
1842 7 173 165
1843 7 185 172
1844 7 211 185
1845 7 215 199
1846 7 211 199
1847 7 206½ 180
1848 7 202 183
1849 7 200 188½
* * * * *
BANK HOLIDAYS.—At the Bank of England the only holidays in
the dividend offices are Good Friday and Christmas. In the
transfer offices, besides the above, May 1st and November 1st.
East India House and Exchequer,—Good Friday and Christmas.
Custom-House,—Christmas, Good Friday, Prince of Wales’s birthday
and the Queen’s birthday, November 9th and May 24th.
IN IRELAND.—Banks, Custom-House, &c., Good Friday, Christmas, and
Queen’s birthday.
IN SCOTLAND.—New year’s day, King Charles I. martyrdom, Queen’s
marriage, Queen’s birthday, Good Friday, Charles II. restoration,
Queen’s accession, Queen’s coronation, Gunpowder Plot, and
Christmas day.
FLUCTUATIONS OF THE ENGLISH FUNDS IN 1846-47.
_Table showing the Highest and Lowest Prices of the principal Funds
of the London Market, from November, 1846, to October, 1847._
[1] _Months._
[2] _Bank Stock._
[3] _3 per ct. reduced._
[4] _3 per ct. Consols._
[5] _3 per ct. Annuities, 1726._
[6] _New 3¼ per ct._
[7] _New 5 per ct._
[8] _Long Annuities, expire 1860._
[9] _Long Annuities, 30 Years exp. 1859._
[10] _Long Annuities, 30 Years. exp. 1860._
[11] _India Stock._
[12] _South Sea Stock._
[13] _Exchequer Bills, £1,000._
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
1846:
November, {206½ 93⅞ 95 94 95⅞ 118 9⅞ 9¾ 10⅛ 258 103⅞ 14_s._
at 1½_d._
{204 93⅛ 94 94 95⅛ 118 9 9 10 255 103⅞ 6_s._ pm.
December, {207¼ 94⅞ 95½ 94⅞ 96½ 121 9⅞ 9¾ 10⅛ 254¾ 105¼ 14_s._ ”
{205 93⅞ 95 94¼ 95⅝ 121 9 9 10 254¾ 104¼ 8_s._ ”
1847:
January, {206½ 94 93¾ 91¾ 95¾ 114 9⅞ 9¾ 9¾ 254¾ 103¾ 15_s._ ”
{203½ 90¾ 91⅛ 91 93 114 9 9 9 249 100 5_s._ ”
February, {205 91⅝ 91½ 89⅜ 93½ 9⅝ 9½ 9½ 251 101¼ 10_s._ ”
{202½ 90⅝ 90⅜ 89¾ 92⅜ 9 9⅜ 9 249 100¼ par.
March, {205½ 91½ 90⅞ 88¾ 93⅜ 9⅝ 9⅜ 9⅝ 251 99¼ 7_s._ pm.
{203½ 90⅝ 88⅛ 88¾ 90⅞ 9 9⅜ 9⅛ 250 99¼ 1_s._ ”
April, {200½ 87⅜ 88¼ 88⅝ 118 9⅛ 8⅞ 9¾ 246½ 97⅜ 10_s._
at 2_d._
{190 84⅜ 85⅛ 86 118 8⅞ 8¾ 9¼ 244 95½ 1_s._ pm.
May, {196 87½ 88⅝ 85⅜ 89⅛ 117 9 8¾ 9¼ 244 98½ 10_s._dis.
{188 85¼ 86⅜ 85⅜ 87 117 8⅞ 8¾ 9 240 96¾ par.
June, {197½ 89½ 88⅞ 91¼ 118 9⅛ 9⅜ 9½ 246 12_s._ pm.
{195 86¾ 87¾ 88⅝ 113 9 8⅞ 9⅜ 246 3_s._ ”
July, {198 89½ 89¼ 87¾ 91⅝ 115 9⅛ 8⅞ 8⅞ 246½ 98⅝ 15_s._ ”
{195 88⅛ 88 86⅞ 90⅜ 115 9 8⅞ 8¾ 244 97⅜ 10_s._ ”
August, {198 89 88⅝ 90¾ 118 9⅛ 9 8⅞ 244 98⅝ 10_s._ ”
{195 86⅞ 86¼ 88⅝ 118 9 8¾ 8½ 239 95⅛ 2_s._ ”
September,{197½ 88¼ 87½ 89⅝ 112 9⅛ 9 8¾ 241 17_s._ ”
{195½ 86¾ 85⅛ 88¼ 112 9 8⅞ 8¾ 236 11_s._ ”
October, {186 82⅞ 85¾ 83⅜ 115 8½ 8½ 8¾ 238 par.
{180 78¼ 79¼ 79½ 115 8 7⅝ 8⅜ 238 30_s._dis.
1847:
November, {189 83⅞ 85½ 85½ 8⅝ 8¼ 8¾ 235 93¾ 2_s._ pm.
at 2_d._
{185 81 82 81¾ 8⅛ 8 8½ 228 91¼ 20_s._dis.
December, {189 85⅜ 86 86¾ 8⅝ 8½ 8⅞ 235 94½ 12_s._ pm.
at 3_d._
{186½ 84 85½ 85½ 8½ 8⅜ 8 235 92½ 2_s._ pm.
1848:
January, {202 89⅞ 89½ 90⅜ 90¾ 114 9 8¾ 8½ 243 96 35_s._ ”
{187 84⅞ 85⅞ 89¼ 86 108½ 8⅝ 8½ 8⅝ 227 93 12_s._ ”
February, {202 89⅞ 89⅞ 87½ 90¾ 9 8⅞ 8¾ 245 98 41_s._ ”
{191 81¾ 81½ 82½ 8½ 8⅝ 8¼ 230 95¾ 5_s._ ”
March, {194 82⅞ 83⅜ 79⅞ 83¼ 8⅞ 8½ 8½ 253 89¾ 35_s._ ”
{191 80¼ 80⅝ 82⅞ 8⅝ 8⅜ 8¼ 86 13_s._ ”
April, {189 81 82⅝ 82¾ 104 8⅜ 8¼ 8½ 231½ 88¼ 45_s._ pm.
at 2½_d._
{185½ 78½ 80 79½ 8⅛ 8 8¼ 227 85 33_s._ pm.
May, {193 82¾ 84⅜ 82½ 83⅞ 108 8⅝ 8⅜ 8¾ 234 92⅝ 47_s._ ”
{189 81½ 83¼ 80⅛ 82½ 107 8⅜ 8⅛ 8½ 229 90 30_s._ ”
June, {193 84½ 84¾ 81½ 85 111 8¾ 8⅝ 8¾ 234 92⅝ 41_s._ pm.
at 2_d._
{189 82¼ 83⅞ 81 83¼ 8¼ 8⅛ 231 90⅛ 32_s._ pm.
July, {198½ 89 88⅞ 84 89⅛ 109 9⅛ 8⅞ 8⅝ 245 97½ 52_s._ ”
{190 85 85⅞ 85⅝ 8⅜ 8½ 8⅜ 239 96⅛ 32_s._ ”
August, {199 87½ 87⅛ 87¾ 112 9 8⅝ 8¾ 243 97¼ 39_s._ ”
{196 85¼ 85⅜ 85⅜ 109 8⅝ 8⅜ 8⅜ 238 21_s._ ”
September,{198 86⅜ 86¼ 87¼ 8⅞ 8⅝ 8⅝ 240 95 31_s._ ”
{196 85⅞ 85⅝ 86½ 8¾ 8½ 8½ 235 22_s._ ”
October, {190 84¾ 86¾ 84¼ 85⅛ 112 8½ 8½ 8¾ 237 95¼ 40_s._ ”
{183 83¼ 84⅛ 84⅛ 84 108½ 8¼ 8⅛ 8½ 234 92¾ 29_s._ ”
1848:
November, {190 86¼ 87½ 85⅜ 89 8½ 8⅝ 8⅞ 237 95⅞ 45_s._ pm.
at 2_d._
{188 84⅝ 85⅞ 85⅜ 8½ 8⅜ 8⅜ 232 94 36_s._ pm.
December, {191½ 88⅞ 89⅜ 89⅜ 8⅞ 8⅝ 8⅞ 241 96¾ 42_s._ ”
{188½ 86¼ 87⅜ 89¼ 8¼ 8⅝ 8⅜ 237 94⅞ 37_s._ ”
1849:
January, {196 91⅝ 91¾ 88⅞ 92¼ 9 8⅞ 8¾ 245 98⅞ 51_s._ ”
{188½ 88⅞ 88⅞ 87¼ 89¼ 8¾ 8½ 8¼ 238¾ 96¾ 40_s._ ”
February, {197¼ 94½ 94½ 95½ 120 9⅓ 8⅞ 8¾ 249 102 53_s._ ”
{193 91⅛ 91⅛ 92¼ 116 8⅞ 8⅝ 8¼ 243 100 39_s._ ”
March, {196 92¾ 92¾ 93⅞ 119½ 9⅛ 8⅞ 8⅞ 245 100¾ 45_s._ ”
{193 91 90½ 91½ 8⅞ 8¾ 8½ 240 99⅛ 35_s._ ”
April, {194 90⅞ 93¾ 90½ 91¾ 8⅝ 8⅜ 8¾ 248 101 49_s._ ”
{191½ 90 91⅛ 90 91 9⅛ 8¼ 8⅜ 243 44_s._ ”
May, {195 91⅛ 92⅝ 91¾ 8⅝ 8⅜ 8¾ 250 100⅝ 49_s._ ”
{192½ 89¼ 90⅛ 90⅛ 8⅜ 8¼ 8¾ 245 99⅛ 44_s._ ”
June, {195 92⅝ 92¾ 89¼ 92⅝ 8¾ 8½ 8⅞ 252 100¼ 48_s._ ”
{193½ 89¼ 90⅛ 90⅛ 8⅜ 8⅜ 8¾ 250 44_s._ ”
July, {200 93¼ 93¾ 91⅜ 94⅛ 9 8⅝ 8⅝ 253¾ 103 51_s._ ”
{195 91½ 92⅛ 92¼ 8⅝ 8⅝ 8½ 251 102⅞ 44_s._ ”
August, {200 93⅛ 93 90⅛ 94⅛ 118¼ 9 8¾ 8¾ 255½ 102¾ 51_s._ ”
{198½ 92 92½ 92⅝ 8⅝ 8⅝ 8½ 252 101¼ 40_s._ ”
September,{200 92⅞ 92⅞ 89¼ 94 8⅞ 8⅝ 8⅞ 254 102⅜ 42_s._ ”
{199 92½ 93⅛ 93¾ 8⅜ 8⅝ 8½ 252 35_s._ ”
October, {198½ 91¼ 92⅝ 91 92⅜ 8½ 8¼ 8½ 257 102½ 47_s._ ”
{196 90⅛ 91⅜ 90⅞ 91¾ 8⅜ 8⅛ 8¼ 254 100¾ 41_s._ ”
FOOTNOTES:
[13] The above tract appeared in 1719.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX
TO
CHRONICLES AND CHARACTERS
OF THE
STOCK EXCHANGE.
Page
Alison, Remarks on the National Debt, 83
Annuities, Policy of, 85
Asgill, Mr., on reducing the National Debt, 87
Baily, Francis, Defence of the Brokers, 72, 81
Bank of England,—First Charter, 27th July, 1694, 9
” ” First payment of Government dividends, 23
” ” Directors of, from 1694 to 1847, 156
” ” Dividends of, from 1694 to 1849, 161
Barbier, Mr., on the National Debt, 87
Barclay and Co., Bankers, Operations of, 104
Baring and Goldsmid, Anecdotes of, 61, 75
Barings, Sketch of the House of, 75
Barnard, Sir John, Opposition to the Stock Exchange, 26
” ” Act against Stock Gambling, 27
Blackboard, Notices of the, 55, 120
Blunt, Sir John, Originator of the South-sea Bubble, 23
Bolland, James, Execution of, for forgery, 119
Bolingbroke, Remarks on the National Debt of England, 82, 84
Bonaparte, Policies on the life of, 79
Bowring, and the Greek Loan, 106
Bridgewater Canal, 90
Brokers, Acts against, 71
’Change Alley, Origin of, 10
Charitable Corporation Frauds in London, 19
Chatham, Lord, Opinions of ’Change Alley, 57
Clayton, Sir Robert, notice of, 8
Cochrane, Lord, Fraud of, 80
Consols, Highest and Lowest Prices of, for 120 years, 153
Daniels, Joseph Elkin, Fraud of, 69
Douglas, Heron, & Co., of London, Failure of, 39
Dunbar, Speculations of, 118
East India Company, Stock of, 9, 18
” ” Restriction of its Dividends, 37
Elizabeth, (Queen,) Numerous Monopolies granted by, 8
Equitable Loan Company, Charter of, 97
Exchequer Bills, First Fraud in, 17
Exchange Alley, Anatomy of, 135
Fordyce, Alexander, Fraud of, 40
Foreign Loans contracted, 17
Fox, Charles James, Anecdote of, 58
Frauds and Forgeries, 32, 40, 69, 77, 80, 100, 119
Furness, Sir Henry, Anecdote of, 11
French Revolution, Effects of the, 64
Germany, Attempted Loan for, 26
Gideon, Sampson, the Jew Broker, 33, 118
Goldsmid, Abraham and Benjamin, 59
” Suicide of, 60
Gordon, Lord George, Anecdote of, 58
Gray, Thomas, Plan for Roads, 92, 94
Greece, Loan to, 104
Guatemala, Loan to, by English Capitalists, 103
Guise, Count de, Notice of, 119
Guy, Thomas, Anecdote of, 12, 25
Hebrew Brokers, Number limited to Twelve, 42
Hume, David, Remarks on the National Debt, 84
Hume, Joseph, and the Greek Loan, 105
Johnstone, Cochrane, Fraud of, 80
Joint Stock Companies, Speculations in, 73
Life Insurance, Notices of, 125, 127
” ” Indisputable Company, 127
” ” Policies on Diseased Lives, 128
” ” Fraudulent Companies, 130
Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, 93
Loans to Continental Powers, 104, 115
” New, Frauds, &c., 44, 154
” Since 1793, and Rates of Interest, 154
Lopez, Manassez, Punishment of, 29
Lotteries, Invention of, 49
” Employed by the State, for Revenue Purposes, 47
” Evils of, and Frauds in, 49
” Abolition of, 53
” Effects of, 50
Loyalty Loan, Subscriptions to, 68
Marlborough’s (Duke of) Victories, Effects of, 21
MacGregor, Gregor, Notice of, 100
Mining Companies, Speculations in, 98
Moneyed Interest, Origin, Extravagance, and Folly of the, 7
National Debt (The), Remarks on, 1, 6, 23
” ” Proposal to reduce the Interest on, 28
” ” Increase of, 1740-1766, 32, 35
” ” Curious Proposition to pay off, 66, 86
” ” Review of, 82
” ” Smith, Paine, Hervey, Graham, on, 84
Newcastle, Duke of, Notice of, 118
Petty, Sir Henry, Proposal for a Sinking Fund, 72
Pitt, William, Policy of, 64, 65
Plomer, Sir Thomas, Fraud on, 77
Portugal, Loan to, by English Capitalists, 115
Poyais Fraud, Disastrous Effects of the, 100
Ricardo, David, Notice of, 77
Rice, John, Execution of, for Forgery, 32
Rothschild, Notices of, 109, 111
” Death of, 114
Royal Exchange, (The) Notice of, 8
Secret Service Money, 37
Sedley, Sir Charles, Speech of, 13
Sinking Fund, the Origin of the, 34, 55
Spanish Stock, Fall in, 116
Speculations of 1825, 108
South American Loans, 99, 103
South-sea Bubble, Notices of the, 23, 25
Sprot, Mark, Death of, 74
Stephenson, on Railroads, 94
Stock Exchange, Increased Importance of, 22, 76
” ” Opposed by Sir John Barnard, 26
” ” Origin of the Blackboard, 55
” ” Removal of, 67, 108
” ” Increase of Business, 1810-15, 76
” ” Morals and Manners of the, 121
” ” Rules of the Board for its Members, 124
Time Bargains, Origin of, 27
Tontines, History of, 6
Tulip Mania in Holland, Sketch of, 4
Vansittart, Mr., Modification of the Sinking Fund, 78
Walpole, Sir R., Opposition to the German Loan, 26
” ” ” to a Reduction of Interest on National Debt, 28
” ” Adoption of the Sinking Fund, 34
” ” Remarks on the National Debt, 84
Walsh, Benjamin, Trial of, for Fraud, 77
Wilkes, John, Anecdotes of, 42
William III., Modes of raising Money for War Purposes, 7
” Enormous Briberies of, 12
” Increased Taxation under, 13
” Defence of his Policy, 14
Transcriber’s Notes
pg 32 Changed: conscience of Rice took the the alarm
to: conscience of Rice took the alarm
pg 36 Changed: was carried through and approved by a phcuniary
to: was carried through and approved by a pecuniary
pg 147 Changed: said to manage for three blue ribbonds
to: said to manage for three blue ribbons
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