mpany was down for upwards of
50,000 pounds. There were several more cases of the same kind, but he
trusted he had stated enough to establish the necessity of referring the
matter to a Committee. There were, also, two brothers, sons of a
charwoman, living in a garret, one of whom had signed for 12,500 pounds,
and the other for 25,000 pounds; these two brothers, excellent persons,
no doubt, but who were receiving about a guinea and a half between them,
were down for 37,000 pounds."

The story of the collapse is so admirably told by Mr. Francis, that I
prefer giving his version than writing of it myself:

"Money was scarce, the price of stock and scrip lowered; the
confidence of the people was shaken, and a vision of a dark future on
every face. Advertisements were suddenly withdrawn from the papers,
men of note were seen no more as provisional committeemen; distrust
followed the merchant to the mart and the jobber to the Exchange.
The new schemes ceased to be regarded; applications ceased to be
forwarded; premiums were either lowered, or ceased to exist. Bankers
looked anxiously to the accounts of their customers; bill brokers
scrutinised their securities; and every man was suspicious of his
neighbour.

"But the distrust was not confined to projected lines. Established
railways felt the shock, and were reduced in value. Consols fell one
and a half per cent.; Exchequer bills declined in price, and other
markets sympathised. The people had awoke from their dream, and
trembled. It was a national alarm.

"Words are weak to express the fears and feelings which prevailed.
There was no village too remote to escape the shock, and there was,
probably, no house in town some occupant of which did not shrink from
the morrow. The Statesman started to find his new Bank Charter so
sadly and so suddenly tried; the peer, who had so thoughtlessly
invested, saw ruin opening to his view. Men hurried with bated
breath to their brokers; the allottee was uneasy and suspicious, the
provisional committeeman grew pale at his fearful responsibility;
directors ceased to boast their blushing honours, and promoters saw
their expected profits evaporate. Shares which, the previous week,
were a fortune, were, the next, a fatality, to their owners. The
reputed shareholders were not found when they were wanted;
provisional commit