ittee had
allowed them to possess. The return of little Principal afforded me a
key to the surrounding group, without which their peculiar merits would
have been lost to the world, or have remained individually unknown, like
the profit of many of the modern speculations. "You must not suppose,"
said Principal, "that great talents make great wealth here, or that
honourable conduct and generous feelings command respect--no such thing;
men are estimated upon 'Change in proportion to the supposed amount
of their property, and rise or fall in the worldly opinion of their
associates as prosperity or adversity operates upon the barometer
of their fortunate speculations; a lucky hit will cause a dolt to
be pointed out as a clever fellow, when, the next turn of the market
proving unsuccessful, he is despised and insulted: so much are the
frequenters of 'Change influenced by the most sordid and mercenary
feelings, that almost all of them are the willing dupes of riches and
good fortune. However, as you are strangers here, gentlemen, I will
introduce you, _entre nous_, to a few of the characters who thrive by
the destruction of thousands of their fellow-creatures. The bashaw in
black yonder, who rests his elephantic trunk against a pillar of the
Exchange, with his hands thrust into his breeches pockets, is the Hebrew
star--the Jewish luminary, a very Shiloh among the peoples of his own
persuasion, and, I am sorry to say, much too potent ~124~~with the
orthodox ministers of George the Fourth. The fellow's insolence is
intolerable, and his vulgarity and ignorance quite unbearable.
He commenced his career in Manchester by vending trinkets and
spectacle-cases in the streets of that town, from which station he
gradually rose to the important occupation of a dealer in _fag ends_,
from which he ascended to the dignity of a bill-broker, when, having
the command of money, and some wealthy Hebrew relatives conveniently
distributed over the Continent for the transaction of business, he took
up his abode in London, and towards the termination of the late war,
when a terrible smash took place among some of his tribe, he found means
to obtain their confidence, and having secured, by the aid of spies, the
earliest foreign intelligence, he rapidly made a colossal fortune in the
British funds, without much risk to himself. It is said he can scarcely
write his own name, and it only requires a minute's conversation to
inform you of the general ignora