Chronicles and Characters of the Stock Exchange

CHAPTER IV.. _charitable Corporation Fraud.—Its Discovery.—Appalling Effects

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 2s. 4d. 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.

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