THE TACTICS OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE. 653 



m high stool and a desk, in some dark alley in the purlieus of the 

 Stock Exchange, make a merchant. For no other right to that appel- 

 lation have the crowds of these soi-disant traders who are seen on 

 the Exchange from the hours of ten till three, and who derive a pre- 

 carious subsistence from stock-jobbing many of them by this fatal 

 pursuit have been reduced from affluence to indigence. These men 

 may be called the Cossacks of the Stock Exchange, and let the 

 young tactician beware of them, or before he can look round they 

 will be upon his flanks and line of communication, for there is no 

 species of trickery and roguery with which these fellows are not fa- 

 miliar. As an instance of this, a few months ago a gentleman, a 

 large holder of shares in the South American Mining Companies, 

 was prevailed upon to sign what in the jargon of the Stock Exchange 

 is called a round robin, or in other words, an engagement to support 

 the market coute qui coute. No sooner had he done this, than two of 

 the vagabonds, parties to the transaction, privately sold to a large 

 amount, with a view of depressing the market, and thus made him 

 instrumental to his own ruin. 



In pursuing this fatal system of play, too much discrimination and 

 judgment cannot be exercised in the selection of a broker. There 

 are in this class, doubtless, many men of the highest integrity, and 

 who are sometimes let in for large sums ; though from the opportu- 

 nities they have of hedging, it is seldom to the extent they would 

 lead you to imagine ; but, on the other hand, there are among them 

 some villains of the deepest dye. The battery of invective, too, they 

 open on the unfortunate defaulter on these occasions is truly terrific. 

 Compared to their abuse, the language of Billinsgate is " the sweet 

 south, or a soft Ionian measure." Some time ago, a young friend of 

 ours became a defaulter to a considerable amount; his brokers having 

 failed, by all the cajoling they were masters of, to extort from him a 

 bill, which would have been a legal acknowledgment of their ficti- 

 tious claim, tried what threats would do, and, by way of climax, 



threatened him with a visit from the notorious Colonel Ch ty, 



" Tell your friend, the Colonel," replied the young gentleman, 

 coolly, " that if I find him within rifle-distance of my father's park, 

 I will effectually put an end to his bullying career ; and let me tell 

 you, that one who, like me, has for months past been in the daily 

 habit of picking off the Miguelites across the Douro, is not likely to 

 miss his mark." 



Of the numerous schemes concocted in the City for picking the 

 pockets of the public, none have been attended with more success 

 than mining companies. It is true that the disastrous results of the 

 South American speculations for some time discredited these opera- 

 tions ; but of late a revulsion has been produced in the public mind, 

 and under the specious pretext of developing the mineral riches of 

 our own island, Cornwall has been selected as the theatre of opera- 

 tions. Thus, in the course of a few months, companies have been 

 brought out, bearing the high-sounding title of " British Copper 

 Mining Company" " Albion Mining Company," and so forth. Con- 

 sidering the characters of the individuals by whom similar schemes 

 have been concocted, one might logically question the existence of 

 M.M. No. 108. 4 P 



