SOUTH SEA PLAYING CARDS.
It is pretty generally known that, during the South Sea mania, a pack of playing cards was published in illustration of the prevailing folly. Each card contained a caricature of one of the numerous bubble companies, with a pertinent verse underneath. These cards are now extremely rare. I never saw a complete set, nor do I know where one is to be found. Some time ago a friend kindly furnished me with a copy of all the verses (except one), and as I am not aware that they have been printed separately, I beg to forward a transcript for preservation in "N. & Q.;" not because I think they have any excellence to recommend them, but because it is desirable that so curious a record of a very extraordinary time should not be entirely lost.
Perhaps some of your correspondents can supply the missing verse:—
SPADES.
Ace. River Douglas.
"Since bubbles came in vogue, new arts are found
To cut thro' rocks, and level rising ground;
That murmuring waters may be made more deep,
To drown the knaves and lull the fools asleep."
Two. Grand Fishery.
"Well might this bubble claim the style of grand,
Whilst they that raised the same could fish by land;
But now the town does at the project pish,
They've nothing else to cry but stinking fish."
Three. Cleaning the Streets.
"A cleanly project, well approved no doubt,
By strolling dames, and all that walk on foot.
This bubble well deserves the name of best,
Because the cleanest bite of all the rest."
Four. Fish Pool.
"How famous is the man that could contrive,
To serve this gluttonous town with fish alive.
But now we're bubbled by his fishing pools,
And as the men catch fish, the fish catch fools."
Five. York Buildings Water Company.
"You that are blest with wealth by your Creator,
And want to drown your money in Thames water,
Buy but York buildings, and the cistern there
Will sink more pence than any fool can spare."
Six. Insurance on Lives.
"Come all ye gen'rous husbands with your wives
Insure round sums on your precarious lives,
That to your comfort, when you're dead and rotten,
Your widows may be rich when you're forgotten."
Seven. Stockings Company.
"You that delight to keep your sweaty feet,
By often changing stockings, clean and neat,
Deal not in stocking shares, because I doubt
Those that buy most 'ere long will go without."
Eight. Puckles Machine (Bullets round and square).
"A rare invention to destroy the crowd
Of fools at home, instead of foes abroad.
Fear not, my friends, this terrible machine,
They're only wounded that have shares therein."
Nine. Welsh Copper.
"This bubble for a time may current pass,
Copper's the title, but 'twill end in brass;
Knaves cry it up, fools buy, but when it fails,
The losing crowd will cry 'lots splutter a'nails.'"
Ten. Providing for and employing all the Poor of
Great Britain.
"The poor when managed and employ'd in trade,
Are to the public welfare useful made.
But if kept idle, from their vices spring
W——s for the stews, and soldiers for the king."
Knave. Raddish Oil.
"Our oily project with the gaping town,
Will surely for a time go smoothly down.
We sow and press to carry on the cheat:
To bite Change Alley is not fraud, but wit."
Queen. For erecting Hospitals for taking in and
maintaining Illegitimate Children.
"Love on, ye jolly rakes and buxom dames,
A child is safer than venereal flames;
Indulge your senses with the sweet offence,
We'll keep your bastards at a small expence."
King. An inoffensive Way of emptying Houses of Office.
"Our fragrant bubble, would the world believe it,
Is to make human dung smell sweet as civet;
None sure before us ever durst presume
To turn a ... into a rich perfume."
CLUBS.
Ace. Lute-string Co.
"These crafty managers have play'd for years
The world as many tricks as dancing bears,
By bubbling too they broke their ancient rules;
They first made lute-strings, but they now make fools."
Two. Paste board Manufacturing Co.
"As empty sayings flow from windy fools,
So pasteboard bubbles rise from paper skulls.
Madness must surely be the town's disease
When knaves get money by such whims as these."
Three. Trade to Harborough.
"You that delight to take up foreign linen,
At Harbro' made, a little town near Bremen,
Encourage trade abroad for time to come,
And, like kind fools, neglect your own at home."
Four. Saltpetre.
"Come all ye black infernal powder makers,
And Rocketeers that deal in squibs and crackers,
Buy petre stock, let me be your adviser,
'Twill make you (tho' not richer) much the wiser."
Five. For Bleaching Coarse Sugars.
"Fair tattling gossips, you that love to see
Fine sugar blended with expensive tea,
Since you delight in things both dear and sweet,
Buy sugar shares, and you'll be sweetly bit."
Six. Fatting of Hogs.
"Come all ye bacon making, greasy rogues
That want good names for your meagre hogs,
Send them to us, and at a small expence,
We'll fat 'em up with offal, blood, and grains."
Seven. Rose Insurance from Fire.
"Projecting sure must be a gainful trade,
Since all the elements are bubbles made;
They're right that gull us with the dread of fire,
For fear makes greater fools than fond desire."
Eight. Buying Seamen's Tickets.
"As the case stands, the Wapping wives all buy
The seamen's tickets for a small supply;
But 'tis no matter whether spendthrift slaves
Are choused by Wapping w——s, or bubbling knaves."
Nine. Liverpool Fresh Water.
"This town does to our Western Islands deal,
And serves 'em with malt liquors, and with meal,
Both excellently good! then how in nature
Can people brew fine drink, yet want fresh water."
Ten. Bleaching of Hair Company.
"Here dirty brown, dark red, and yellow hair,
Are bleach'd to colours that are fine and fair,
Then blended,—so that half the w——s in town
Contribute to adorn one addled crown."
Knave. Freeholders Company.
"Come all ye spendthrift prodigals that hold
Free land, and want to turn the same to gold,
We'll buy your all, provided you agree
To drown your purchase-money in South Sea."
Queen. Lending Money on Bottomry.
"Some lend their money for the sake of more,
And others borrow to increase their store;—
Both these do oft engage in Bottomree,
But curse sometimes the bottom of the sea."
King. Irish Sail Cloth.
"If good St. Patrick's friends should raise a stock,
And make in Irish looms true hollands duck,
Then shall this noble project, by my soul,
No longer be a bubble but a bull."
HEARTS.
Ace. Hemp and Flax.
"Here hemp is served for stubborn rogues to die in,
And softer flax for tender skins to lie in,
But should the useful project be defeated,
The knaves will prosper, and the fools be cheated."
Two. Manuring of Land.
"A noble undertaking, but abused,
And only as a tricky bubble used;—
Much they pretend to, but the public fear,
They'll never make corn cheap, or horse-dung dear!"
Three. Coal Trade from Newcastle.
"Some deal in water, some in wind like fools,
Others in wood, but we alone in coals;
From such like projects a declining nation
May justly fear a fatal inflammation."
Four. Water Engine.
"Come all ye culls, my water engine buy
To pump your flooded mines and coal-pits dry:
Some projects are all wind, but ours is water,
And tho' at present low, may rise herea'ter."
Five. Royal Fishery of Great Britain.
"They talk of distant seas, of ships and nets,
And with the style of Royal, gild their baits;
When all that the projectors hope or wish for
Is to catch fools, the only chubs they fish for."
Six. Erecting Houses of Office in Britain for Strangers
and Travellers.
"A useful project merrily advanced,
Tho' chiefly by town-nightmen countenanced,
Design'd to sweeten the North British nation,
And put close stools and bedpans out of fashion."
Seven. Building Ships to let to Freight.
"Who but a nest of blockheads to their cost,
Would build new ships for freights when trade is lost?
To raise fresh barks must surely be amusing,
When hundreds rot in docks for want of using."
Eight. Drying Malt by the Air.
"Of all the windy projects now in vogue
To fleece the fool, and feed the cunning rogue,
The malting bubble seems to be most fair,
Because our maltsters own they work by air."
Nine. English Copper and Brass Company.
"The headlong fool that wants to be a swopper
Of gold and silver coin for English copper,
May in Change Alley prove himself an ass,
And give rich metal for adult'rate brass."
Ten. Exporting Timber from Germany.
"You that are rich and hasty to be poor,
Buy timber export from the German shore;
For gallowses built up of foreign wood,
If rightly used, may do Change Alley good."
Knave. For Erecting Salt-works in Holy Island.
"Here by mixt elements of earth and water,
They make a mud that turns to salt herea'ter,
To help the project on among Change dealers,
May all bad wives, like Lot's, become salt pillars,
Since crowds of fools delight to be salt sellers."
Queen. Curing Tobacco for Snuff.
"Here slaves for snuffs are sifting Indian weed,
Whilst th' overseer does the riddle feed.
The dust arising gives their eyes much trouble,
To show their blindness that espouse the bubble."
King. Whale Fishery.
"Whale fishing, which was once a gainful trade,
Is now by cunning heads a bubble made,
For round the Change they only spread their sails,
And to catch gudgeons, bait their hooks with whales."
DIAMONDS.
Ace. Sir J. Lambert's Improvement of Land Company.
"The famous knight that is the sole projector,
Of this new bubble, is a South director;
But 'twod be better taken at his hands,
To raise poor South Sea, than improve poor lands."
Two. Greenland Trade.
"This project was to catch, to cut or boil,
Huge whales and other monstrous fish to oil;
A stinking bubble tho' of late so dear,
Yet now the greatest sharers stink for fear."
Three. [Wanting.]
Four. Insurance on Horses.
"You that keep horses to preserve your ease,
And pads to please your wives and mistresses,
Insure their lives, and if they die we'll make
Full satisfaction, or be bound to break."
Five. Bahama Islands.
"Rare fruitful isles, where not an ass can find
A verdant tuft or thistle to his mind.
How then must those poor silly asses fare,
That leave their native land to settle there?"
Six. Insurance on Ships.
"In vain are all insurances,—for still
The raging winds must answer heaven's hill;
To what wise purpose do we then insure,
Since some must lose whate'er the sea devour?"
Seven. Rock-salt.
"You that are willing to preserve your meat
In winter savoury, and in summer sweet,
Encourage this salt project, and your coin
Will turn to some account—at least to brine."
Eight. Settling Colonies in Acadia, N. America.
"He that is rich and wants to fool away
A good round sum in North America,
Let him subscribe himself a headlong sharer,
And asses' ears shall honour him or bearer."
Nine. Pennsylvanian Company.
"Come all ye saints that would for little buy
Great tracts of land, and care not where they lie,
Deal with your Quaking friends, they're men of light;
The spirit hates deceit, and scorns to bite."
Ten. Purchasing Estates illegally detained.
"You that have dormant titles to estates,
Piled on your closet shelves to feed the rats,
Sell them to us, we'll gratify your spite,
And plague the rogues that roil you of your right."
Knave. Coral Fishery.
"Coral, that beauteous product only found
Beneath the water and above the ground,
If fish'd for as it ought, from thence might spring
A Neptune's palace for a British king."
Queen. Furnishing Funerals to all Parts of Great
Britain.
"Come all ye sickly mortals, die apace,
And solemn pomps your funerals shall grace;
Old rusty hackneys still attend each hearse,
And scarecrows in black gowns complete the farce."
King. Temple Mills.
"By these old mills strange wonders have been done,
Numbers have suffer'd, yet they still work on;
Then tell us, which have done the greater ills,
The Temple lawyers, or the Temple Mills?"
JNO. SUDLOW.