izing the astonished man of science by the collar; "come
before the syndic, and you shall see." In spite of his remonstrances, the
traveller was led through the streets followed by a mob of persons. When
brought into the presence of the magistrate, he learned, to his
consternation, that the root upon which he had been experimentalising was
worth four thousand florins; and, notwithstanding all he could urge in
extenuation, he was lodged in prison until he found securities for the
payment of this sum.

The demand for tulips of a rare species increased so much in the year
1636, that regular marts for their sale were established on the Stock
Exchange of Amsterdam, in Rotterdam, Harlaem, Leyden, Alkmar, Hoorn, and
other towns. Symptoms of gambling now became, for the first time,
apparent. The stock-jobbers, ever on the alert for a new speculation,
dealt largely in tulips, making use of all the means they so well knew how
to employ, to cause fluctuations in prices. At first, as in all these
gambling mania, confidence was at its height, and every body gained. The
tulip-jobbers speculated in the rise and fall of the tulip stocks, and
made large profits by buying when prices fell, and selling out when they
rose. Many individuals grew suddenly rich. A golden bait hung temptingly
out before the people, and one after the other, they rushed to the
tulip-marts, like flies around a honey-pot. Every one imagined that the
passion for tulips would last for ever, and that the wealthy from every
part of the world would send to Holland, and pay whatever prices were
asked for them. The riches of Europe would be concentrated on the shores
of the Zuyder Zee, and poverty banished from the favoured clime of
Holland. Nobles, citizens, farmers, mechanics, sea-men, footmen,
maid-servants, even chimney-sweeps and old clothes-women, dabbled in
tulips. People of all grades converted their property into cash, and
invested it in flowers. Houses and lands were offered for sale at
ruinously low prices, or assigned in payment of bargains made at the
tulip-mart. Foreigners became smitten with the same frenzy, and money
poured into Holland from all directions. The prices of the necessaries of
life rose again by degrees: houses and lands, horses and carriages, and
luxuries of every sort, rose in value with them, and for some months
Holland seemed the very antechamber of Plutus. The operations of the trade
became so extensive and so intricate, that it was found