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.