fore two opposed parties there; the one interested in the rise of stock, called Bulls,-the other wishing the fall of them, and called Bears; both using every effort and stratagem to effect their respective objects. The public who engage in this game must employ some of these members as brokers, and pay them a commission. The real buying and selling of stock for the public transacted here are, as I have already stated, comparatively trifling in amount to the fictitious bargains which are made the means of gaming here, and which constitute the main business of the place. It may also throw a little light on the nature of the game to state, that the rise or fall of the funds depends respectively on the scarcity or the glut, real or artificial, of stock: and that public events affect the price on the principle, and in proportion, that they make money abundant or scarce; or that they add to, or diminish, the national means of paying the public debt. With this much of explanation, we will now introduce the reader to the scene of action. Let him imagine himself in the large hall of the Stock Exchange, on the morning after the arrival of important news-the near prospect of a war, issuing of press-warrants, or unexpected mention of a loan by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. No business being allowed to be done before 10 o'clock, until that time the members, assembled in unusual numbers, and for the most part deeply interested in the consequences of the news, saunter about, read newspapers, or chat in groups, waiting quietly the signal to begin. This is given by the senior door-keeper, who, as the time approaches, mounts several steps from the floor, and holds extended a large watchman's rattle, his eye fixed sidelong on the clock. At the appointed moment he springs the ill-omened instrument; and suddenly all quit their quiescent state, and rush simultaneously into one dense cluster-shouting, struggling, and vociferating with deafening clamour; some offering to sell; others bidding to buy; each party saying and doing whatsoever they think calculated to produce their own effect on the market, and in particular to establish the first or opening price, as may suit their respective purposes, this being an important point in tactics here. On such occasions when the news is very important, and its effects consequently rapid and considerable, ruin and riches are the results, respectively, to many present before the clock has struck the next hour. We have seen those who left their homes in the morning possessed of many thousands, leave the spot to return thither in the afternoon not worth a shilling. We have on these occasions seen a man stand, and even retort the banters and practical jokes of those around him, who in the course of the last hour had lost 10,0007. sterling; while another, more sensitive, stands gazing with wildness and dismay at the struggle which is going on before him, and at the sight of his whole property being swept away by the course which the market is taking. This state of things often continues, with short intervals of abatement, during the whole morning; few men, however, have bodily strength enough to continue long in the heat, noise, and pressure of this raging group. Some retire awhile, hoarse and pale, to recover their strength; but, urged by the cries which proceed from the mass, (for each party proclaims its triumphs, as the

price rises or falls, with deafening shouts,) they rush again into the arena and resume the fray. Hitherto all has been keen, intense seriousness, heightened sometimes by disputes and personal feelings into wildness and fury, when it frequently happens that the whole scene becomes changed in a moment, as if by magic or the effect of a sudden phrensy-every one knocks off his neighbour's hat, turns the flaps of his coat over his head and shoulders, or pelts him with paperbombs charged with saw-dust; they slap, bump, and jostle each other: Bartholomew-fair, or the most exhilarating moment of a breaking-up for the holidays, presents nothing equal to it for noise or extravagance; and the whole frolic generally ends with "the Black Joke, or some other popular tune; sung in full chorus by all present; even those who have been ruined in the course of the morning mingling with wild mirth with the rest, partly from habit, and partly to conceal their distress from their companions, which would, if suspected, deprive them of a last desperate chance of retrieving their fortunes. All this may seem at first sight mere childish folly and extravagance; but it is perhaps an instinctive effort of nature to recover from the effects of the violent and overstrained action to which their spirits have been exposed. This interlude is, however, of short duration, and in a few minutes all is deep, concentrated, furious excitement again. On these occasions it sometimes happens, that one of those dense yellow fogs, which often darken and choke up the narrow parts of the city, throws a deep gloom over this struggling group; the aspect and confusion of the scene becomes then diabolical; lamp-light is substituted, and hardly serves with its yellow glaring light to distinguish the anxious agitated countenances passing alternately from light to darkness, while much of the picture is hidden in what a painter would call-frighftul masses of shade.

This knot of men, so occupied, form what is called the "StockMarket:" the price which is established by them is that which is quoted in the newspapers, and affects the property of all holders of, or speculators in, the funds. Passing over, however, the large class of persons who are interested in these fluctuations in the character of stockholders, and confining ourselves to those who make them the medium merely of gambling, it may be estimated perhaps that five thousand persons are, on an average, interested in this way in the actions and effects of this cluster of men at the Stock Exchange, precisely in the same manner that the persons who surround a gamingtable are in the result of the game there. About 1000 of these are connected with the house, and are pretty generally therefore on equal terms with each other; the other, and larger part, are the public, who engage, through the medium of their brokers, in this desperate and unequal game. It would obviously be wholly impossible to show in detail the effects of the place and business of which we have here given a true but bare outline, acting as it does so extensively, and on so large a number of persons.

The imagination of the reader may, however, with a little aid, follow out the effects which proceed from this centre, with something like general accuracy of detail: let him, in the first place, imagine the close of a day on which a great rise or fall has taken place, and the unfortunate party, consisting of some two or three thousand

individuals, returning severally to their homes, in all the various states of depression according with their losses, or the firmness of nerve with which they support an evil great to all men, but vital and overwhelming to a city-man. Other men have a variety of pursuits, tastes, habits, and resources; money supplies their expenses but does little more but to the city-man, it is everything-support, credit, occupation, amusement, distinction. What must be the feelings with which such a man returns to a family, whose sole dependence is on him, and who perhaps, unconscious of exposure to risk or danger, have been reduced to utter poverty by the events of the day. It is not, however, our design to give in any degree a heightened description of this part of our subject, or to excite painful interest by minute, defined, and individual detail, much less by allusion to those tragic and extreme cases which sometimes occur; enough will be done in this way if the reader suffer his imagination to dwell for a moment on the mass of varied calamity which must necessarily proceed from such sudden and intolerable transitions from affluence to destitution, operating too so extensively on all sorts of people-often the most pampered and helpless. The evil is not, however, confined to London, or to those who frequent the City; but has a tendency to spread its infection to all who are in any way connected by business with the government funds. Gaming is, indeed, the most universal and easily awakened of all our passions: its hazards and chances unbind that boundless and almost terrific love of excitement which lurks deeply in the soul of man, and affords a glimpse of its latent and illimitable energies.

We have now spoken of the losing party; that of the winner may be treated much more briefly. The gainers are ultimately much less in numbers than the losers; the principle of the few and the many obtaining very strikingly in these affairs. They, on the other hand, experience all the intoxicating effects of suddenly acquired wealth: the imagination of the reader may here also easily supply the absence of detail, by supposing the state of mind in which a man returns home to dinner, richer by 10,000l. than he left it in the morning; a circumstance of, by no means, unfrequent occurrence in times of loans and great changes to the frequenters of this place. Hence the men of enormous wealth, large landed proprietors, members of parliament, &c. whose names grow bulky in a season, and manifest the rankness of the soil from which they spring. It is obvious also, as what is gained by one person is lost by another, that the fortune of one man of enormous wealth is the accumulated property of many : perhaps it may be stated as an average, that the breaking up of twenty men goes to the fitting out of one of these first rates; and among the public who engage systematically in the business of the Stock Exchange, this is perhaps a moderate estimate of the proportion the losers ultimately bear to the gainers.

It will readily be conceived, that the men who are devoted to so peculiar and engrossing a pursuit, are distinguishable from other classes of the community, and even from those with whom, nominally, as men of business, they are apparently intermingled; they have, in fact, not the slightest pretensions to the character of men of business, and have no more direct connexion with trade than the members of the

Jockey Club or of the betting-room at Newmarket. The phrase of good or bad times apply not at all to them, or in a sense directly opposite to its usual application: all they want is fluctuation in the prices of stock; and, consequently, times of storm and disaster are to them, as to birds of prey or Cornish wreckers, times of activity and harvest they are, therefore, a separate and distinct class, and have, as might be expected, peculiarities of character, and manner, and appearance. Some persons indeed, who affect, like Sancho's kinsman, a fine palate in these matters, pretend that they can always distinguish a Stock Exchange man from others, by a kind of off-hand, reckless, slangish manner of doing things, and a mixture of the City and Tattersall's in his dress and appearance. The sudden changes and appalling risks, to which their occupation subjects them, cannot also be favourable to health or tranquillity. Thews and sinews, indeed, that seem proof against any exertion, are shattered to pieces by the constant anxiety and agitation of this pursuit: pale, anxious faces crowd the canvas, though, if a pun be allowable on so grave a subject, they can never be said to be without a "speculation in their eye."

As it is well known that the Israelites play an active and conspicuous part on the Stock Exchange, it may be expected that mention will be made of them here. They are, as individuals, scarcely distinguishable from the rest; but, acting in their national spirit, they cling together pretty much in their schemes, and agree at least in trying to spoil the Egyptians: they are, also, perhaps more reckless and obstinate in encountering large and decisive hazards than the Gentiles. Some of them have acquired immense wealth; but it is often attended with remarkably little improvement in manner or appearance. We have seen a Jew worth a quarter of a million, who still retained completely the look and manner of his brethren, who obligingly present baskets of oranges to the public at the Bank, with the astounding offer of ten for sixpence! Singing in the Stock Exchange has been mentioned, but only as affording occasional recreation: it serves, however, much more important purposes; all slight violations of the rules of the house, or indeed any conduct in a member that gives displeasure to the rest, exposes him to a regular sort of musical pillory -the culprit is surrounded by a compact and imperious circle of choristers, and forced to stand in that awkward and insulated situation, while "God save the King," or some other popular song, is being sunghe then takes off his hat, makes a bow all round, and is released. Often, however, when he thinks he is about to escape, either because his offence has been grievous, or else that the singers are in unusually good voice, an encore is called for, and in no case, that we know of, evaded on the plea of hoarseness or indisposition. In some instances, however, singing has been made the instrument of more condign punishment. On one occasion a member, whose conduct was supposed to have compromised the character of the house with the public, was surrounded and sung to in the above-mentioned manner, whenever he made his appearance in the house: being a man of strong nerves and animal spirits, he bore it pretty well for some time, hoping that he should soon be allowed to transact his business quietly and com

fortably again, as usual; but these singing areopagites, not thinking him an object for mercy, continued to encircle him whenever he entered the house; and, however urgent his business, insisted on first treating him with the old tune, till at last his spirits, and even his health began to fail, and he was finally obliged to sacrifice a lucrative connexion and retire from the house, being, although a loyal man, unable to bear "God save the King" any longer.

This place is, indeed, favourable to hoaxing and practical jokes of all kinds; a soil where they attain to a peculiar luxuriancy of growth and vigour. In general, any thing like resistance to the merry or serious inflictions of the main body is quite useless and bad policy. One instance, however, occurs to us of an old Hebrew, who wrought his deliverance by giving battle with a singular sort of weapon. The only crime that old Nathan had been guilty of was, we believe, the oddity of his dress and appearance: these, however, always drew on him the mosquito attacks of some point device beaux, who used to twig his flapped waistcoat and large powdered wig and pig-tail, whenever he waddled across the house. One day one of his Hebrew brethren, seeing him much tormented by his enemies, cried out, by a sudden inspiration, "Vig 'em, Nathan:" the hint was not neglected by the poor pestered Israelite, who, laying hold of his bell-rope of a pig-tail, swung his wig, all powder and grease, round in all directions, leaving its impression in white on many a well-cut masterpiece of Stultz and Nugee. Eyer after this lucky thought, the cry of "Vig 'em, Nathan," was always sure to clear a way for him through his foes, however compact and resolute. This love of fun and frolic is not, however, at all inconsistent with the darker and more pernicious character of the place: even the more important fact, that the members are generally, as individuals, as honest, liberal, and friendly men as any in existence, is also perfectly reconcileable with it to those who have observed how much our notions of right and wrong, on particular subjects, are influenced by example and custom. Although, therefore, the picture is not entirely without light tints and playful features, yet, as a whole, we do not scruple to represent the Stock Exchange as an enormous, though, perhaps, irremediable evil ; and to counsel the inexperienced to avoid the attraction of its risks and time-bargains as they would the current of a whirlpool. All that can be fairly said in mitigation is, that it is the direct offspring of our past financial system, and that it has often enabled England to carry forward its political plans, which must, without it, have been abandoned. It may be said also, that no one can reasonably complain, on his own account, of an evil which he encounters, if at all, willingly. We are not indeed ourselves of that school of legislators that would interfere to guard men from falling into ditches, or from running against posts: personal prudence is the only adequate protection against the mania of speculation, as it also is against all the other evils of life; and every man with its aid can, if he pleases, legislate for himself as strictly as his fears or his exposure to temptation may require.