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.