of the Bill by the Lords, the approach of cholera, and in part of the aforesaid brouillard, makes up this mixture in his sagacious skull into a firm belief and expectation that consols will be lower: accordingly, on reaching the Stock Exchange, he sells 20,0007. consols at 82, we will suppose, for the next account-day; which we see by the paper is the 24th of November: by doing this, he becomes a "bear," that is, one who sells and engages to deliver, on a distant day, stock which he does not actually possess. It is very evident therefore, that, as he does not really possess the stock which he stands engaged to deliver on the 24th of November, he must buy it in again in the interval, and cause it to be delivered by some one else on his account: a fall will enable him to do this at a profit, as a constant advance of price would oblige him to do it at a loss: and this transaction involves the main part of the machinery of Stock Exchange business. A fall or rise of one per cent will be a gain or loss of 2001. to him, respectively. But to make clearness double clear, we will suppose the reverse transaction of the above :-B, richer in hope, though not in cash, than A, takes quite an opposite view of the case; he has slept well, eaten a good breakfast-two rolls and a mutton chop, with his Bohea, and therefore firmly believes that the Lords will not be such fools as to persist in rejecting the Reform Bill; as to cholera, it will be kept off, as Bonaparte was, by that precious salt water which has already done us so many good turns (which our vanity accounts for by more intrinsic causes):-B therefore, on arriving at the Stock Exchange, boldly buys 20,000l. consols; that is to say, with 1000l. at his bankers', he engages to take 20,000l. consols on the 24th of November, and becomes by this transaction a "bull,” that is, one who stands engaged to take what he has not either means or intention of taking: it is obvious, therefore, that on or before the settling day, he must dispose of this stock again, either to him of whom he has bought it, or some one else. The difference of the prices at which B buys and sells this stock, is to him the whole result of the transaction, and the only points in which from the first he is at all concerned. This seems so very clear, that we are almost ashamed of having so laboured the point; but the fact is, that persons unversed in the business are seldom found to enter very readily into these matters. Those, however, are only individual cases, and we feel that it would be unreasonable to expect the reader to be able from them, though involving the leading features of Stock Exchange speculation, to imagine in any thing like an adequate degree the immense and multifarious transactions which constitute 66 an account;" as well might we expect by detailing the single achievement of Shaw the lifeguards-man at Waterloo, to convey a notion of the general movements and various manœuvres of that important day we will therefore, taking a more general and comprehensive view of the affair, endeavour to give the reader some idea of " an account."

At this present time of writing, business is done in consols for the 24th of November next, as may be seen by the newspapers (in which the price of consols for the "account" may be always seen quoted separately from the price of the same stock for the time preNovember, 1831.-VOL. II. NO. VII,

Y

66

sent); that is, we are now in the November account. On the one side are marshalled that part of the Stock Exchange, and their principals or employers out of the house, who are going for a rise;" that is, who think that the price of consols (for this stock is almost exclusively the vehicle of speculation) will rise; and have accordingly bought largely with the view of gaining by that expected event. It is not an exaggeration to suppose that this party stand engaged to take on the above-mentioned day many millions of stock more than they have the means of paying for. Opposed to them are the other part of the Stock Exchange, and their principals, who are " going for a fall;" that is, who, expecting a fall, have sold largely for the account-day, with the view of gaining by such decline. It is also equally probable, that this party have engaged to deliver, on the 24th of November, many millions of stock more than they really possess. While the day on which these engagements are to be stood to is at a distance, the price of stock is for the most part influenced by public events-peace or war; revenue; conduct of ministers; often by the fiat of a few merchants and speculators in the Bank parlour, &c. but when the important day approaches, the influence of these external causes, with the exception of the last, diminishes greatly; and the causes which affect the price of stock are chiefly to be sought for within a narrower circle-the antagonist parties themselves, the close and personal combat of the bulls and bears. The day approaches, we are even at the 23rd of November. Millions of stock are to be taken on the morrow, which the bulls have no means of paying for; millions, on the other hand, are engaged to be delivered, which the sellers do not possess. The great question now is, can the buyers take more than the sellers can deliver? or can the sellers deliver more than the buyers can take? On these points depends the rise or fall of the price :-the question must speedily be brought to issue; every thing indicates the deep concentrating interest of the time, like two approximating armies on the eve of a battle, separated only by a ravine, or a stream-a single night: they muster in all their strength, closely watching each other's slightest movements, and concerting the manoeuvres of the coming day. The great point of tactics at this moment is, on the part of the buyers, to persuade the sellers that they, the former, can take to more stock than the latter can deliver; or, on the part of the sellers, to persuade the other party that they can deliver more stock than the buyers can take. In the former case, to continue the figure of a campaign, the buyer gains the day by the retreat of his adversary without coming to the issue of a contest: the bear turns tail and retreats, that is, he becomes anxious and willing to buy in the stock which he has engaged to deliver; and the other party of course, taking advantage of his alarm, demands and obtains an advanced price: if, on the contrary, the buyer's nerves fail them first, the bull gives way, and the stock which he engaged to take is sold to his triumphant adversary at a lowered price. Thus the affair is often quietly settled before the final day and without contest.

This, however, is frequently not the case; and the struggle is delayed till, and the question to be decided at, the last moment.

We

will suppose this to be the case: it is now the morning of the 24th of November, the bulls and bears are confronted with each other, in actual and bodily contact; one engaged to take, the other to deliver many millions of stock more than they are able, respectively, to perform: ten o'clock strikes and business begins, often with more than ordinary order and quietness; but it is the stillness of deep and concentrated interest and anxiety; the chill and suspended breathing of armies approaching to, and not yet warmed by, the conflict. Not, however, to hack this figure of a battle too much, and to beguile the reader into imagining that they are actually going à pas de charge to bayonet each other, and that he really hears the cries of the wounded as plainly as in the "battle of Prague," that is, before Hummel and Moscheles (Heaven bless 'em !) had pushed from our music-stools that once favourite piece, in listening to which we have often thought ourselves galloping, gallantly and pleasantly enough, over the retreating Austrians-not I say to aggravate our voice to such a touching pitch, we will drop the long metaphor of war, and proceed in plainer language to detail the settlement of this apparently difficult and interesting state of things, leaving to the reader's imagination the noise, struggle, and confusion of the scene. The regular progress of settlement then is simply thus: the buyers continue to take, and the sellers to deliver, stock, until it is apparent which can hold out longest, which can outflank the other. As soon, for instance, as it becomes evident that the buyers can take more stock than the sellers can deliver, it is pronounced a "bear account;" the bear is transfixed by the bull: this latter clamours out to his adversary for the stock which he has engaged to deliver him; but the poor bear has no more to deliver, and offers to buy in the balance of his adversary: this is the signal for a sudden rise in the price; and the defeated bruins are obliged to buy in all they are deficient in, from their triumphant and often merciless conquerors. It will, we think, be unnecessary after this to state in detail the reverse of this case; that is, when the sellers pour in more stock than the buyers can take, and pay for; and the bull, overpowered, is obliged to sell the balance at a great disadvantage to the victorious bear. The clamour, the struggle, and wild confusion of the scene, as the climax approaches to its full, can hardly be imagined, except, perhaps, by supposing, to assist the fancy, the contents of both our Zoological Gardens turned loose into Exeter Hall, to assist the theological disputes of some turbulent Bible Society, if there be such. have, we confess, been so carried away by the epic nature of the subject we have been treating of, that we hardly know how to descend to points of less and accessorial interest: the allusion to the epic reminds us, however, that we have altogether omitted one element in that species of composition-an enumeration or catalogue raisonnée of the chiefs and leaders of the Stock Exchange. It must not thence be supposed that an equality of power and influence exists here any more than in other bodies of men, whose talents are called forth by deep and exciting interests; or that the chiefs are deficient, as critics remark of those of the Eneid, in striking and distinctive qualities. We confess, however, that it would be more

We

easy to parallel them with those of our Milton, than with the Achilles and Diomedes of old Homer, as the scene itself must be allowed to resemble Pandemonium much more than the plains of Troy there is, however, this discrepant circumstance in respect to both poets, their great chiefs and leaders are well known, and always conspicuous, both in council and the fight; while the greater movers of Stock Exchange affairs, whether Gentile or Jew, are little seen or known, even to the bulk of the members of that place. We should despair of giving within any thing like our limits, any distinct idea of the occult agency and secret machinations which occasionally are brought to operate on the funds, either suddenly deluging the market with stock, and occasioning a rapid fall; or, on the contrary, sweeping away all the floating stock, and, by an artificial scarcity, causing as unexpected a rise. These great capitalists and operators have, it is true, their agents and organs in the house, who, in general, soon get known to be such; and the great point with lesser speculators is, to watch their course, and follow, as well as they can, in the wake of the great leviathans. Others there are, acting independently of secret combinations by the help of their own powers, intellectual and physical, who distinguish themselves among their fellows, and acquire, in many instances, riches as well as distinction in this singular and irregular avocation: but, though tempted, we cannot indulge in any notice of them on the present

occasion.

It may seem, we are aware, that we have treated these matters with a tone of levity not very consistent with the fatal effects which, in our former Article on this subject, we have assigned to them; and there would be some truth in such an accusation: but the fact is, that such levity is the tone of the place itself, and of the scenes which we have been describing. Man, even in his better feelings, is fashioned by the plastic force of circumstances: the soldier, however kindly moulded, sees unheedingly his comrades fall beside him in the day of battle; the same causes operate in the Stock Exchange, where sympathy is exhausted and deadened by the rapidity and frequency with which men drop ruined beside us, and are thrown overboard out of sight. The smallest portion of commiseration bestowed on each quietly succeeding case of disaster would soon exhaust the stock of sympathy of the best supplied" man of feeling :" although far removed as we now are from the scenes of these events, it may be said that we cannot exactly plead this excuse for our seeming want of seriousness on this occasion; yet be it remembered that as the old charger, when he hears the bugle sound, forgets his age and altered condition, and fancies himself again ranging in the rank and charging with his troop, so we, warming our old imaginations by reverting to these scenes and events, have been, for the time, unwittingly actuated by the same ideas and feelings which were once and for so long a period familiar to us.

KAREL.

DECEMBER, 1831.

ORIGINAL PAPERS.

THE PACHA OF MANY TALES.-No. V.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE KING'S OWN."

HUCKABACK.

THE Pacha had repeated his perambulations for many nights, without success; and Mustapha, who observed that he was becoming very impatient, thought it advisable to cater for his amusement.

Among those who used to repair to Mustapha when he exercised his former profession, was a French Renegade, a man of considerable talent and ready invention, but a most unprincipled scoundrel, who, previous to the elevation of Mustapha, had gained his livelihood by daring piratical attempts in an open boat. He was now in the employ of the Vizier, commanding an armed zebeque which the latter had purchased. She passed off as a government cruiser, but was in reality a pirate. Selim, for that was the name which the Renegade had adopted when he abjured his faith, condemned every vessel that had the misfortune to meet with him, taking out the cargoes, burning the hull, and throwing the crews overboard, with the privilege of 3wimming on shore if they could. By this plan he avoided the inconveniences attending any appeals from the jurisdiction of the High Court of Admiralty, which he had established upon the seas.

The consequence was, that his cruises were more successful than ever, and Mustapha, who was not content with pillaging the Pacha's subjects on dry land, was amassing a large fortune at their expense by his maritime speculations.

Occasionally, bales or packages would be recognised when landed as having the identical marks and numbers of those which had been shipped from the quay but a fortnight before; but the Renegade could always give a satisfactory explanation to the Vizier; and after a Jew, who could not bear the idea of parting with his property without remonstrance, had been impaled, people shrugged up their shoulders and said nothing.

Now it occurred to Mustapha, that Selim might be able to assist his views. He talked fast and loud, vaunted his own exploits, curled his whiskers as he swore to the most improbable assertions, and had become a general nuisance and terror since he had obtained the Vizier's protection.

Mustapha sent for him, and, as a preliminary question, inquired if ever he had read the Arabian Nights.

December, 1831.-VOL. II. NO. VIII.