when the strength of the Kingdom is wasted in gambling, temporary,
indeed, is the good, compared with the cost. Many, whose money was
safely invested, sold at any price, to enter the share market. Servants
withdrew their hoards from the savings banks. The tradesman crippled his
business. The legitimate love of money became a fierce lust. The peer
came from his club to his brokers; the clergyman came from his pulpit to
the mart; the country gentleman forsook the calmness of his rural domain
for the feverish excitement of Threadneedle Street. Voluptuous tastes
were indulged in by those who were previously starving. The new men vied
with the old, in the luxurious adornments of their houses. Everyone
smiled with contentment; every face wore a pleased expression. Some,
who, by virtue of their unabashed impudence, became provisional
committee-men, supported the dignity of their position in a style which
raised the mirth of many, and moved the envy of more. Trustees, who had
no money of their own, or who had lost it, used that which was confided
to them; brothers speculated with the money of sisters; sons gambled with
the money of their widowed mothers; children risked their patrimony; and
it is no exaggeration to say, that the funds of hundreds were
surreptitiously endangered by those in whose control they were placed."

But Railways had been projected, and, in order to carry them through, the
plans must, by law, be deposited with the Board of Trade, before, or on
30 Nov.; and, on this occasion, there was a scene, which is very well
told in the _Annual Register_:

"An extraordinary scene occurred at the office of the Railway Department
of the Board of Trade on this day (Sunday, 30 Nov.), being the last day
on which the plans of the new projects could be deposited with the
Railway Board, in order to enable Bills to authorise them to be brought
before Parliament, in compliance with the Standing Orders.

"Last year, the number of projects, in respect of which plans were lodged
with the Board of Trade, was 248; the number, this year, is stated to be
815. The projectors of the Scotch lines were mostly in advance, and had
their plans duly lodged on Saturday. The Irish projectors, too, and the
old-established companies, seeking powers to construct branches, were
among the more punctual. But upwards of 600 plans remained to be
deposited. Towards the last, the utmost exertions were made to forward
them. The efforts o