654 PANDEMONIUM ; OR, 



these mines. But not to dilate upon this subject, we shall endeavour, 

 by the following rough sketch, to convey to the minds of our readers 

 some faint idea of the nefarious manner in which they are conducted: 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 



DIRECTORS. 



Duncan Camclo (Chairman), a canny Scotchman, exercising the trade of 

 wine and spirit merchant. 



Christopher O'Faquin, a low Irish Stock-jobber. 



Dr. O'Faquin, a curious compound of the quack and the knave. 



Captain Ashtree and Dr. Camelo, two respectable gentlemen, who appa- 

 rently have forgotten the old adage of " Noscitur a sociis" 



SCENE. A large Room in a narrow Street of the City ; Directors are disco- 

 vered sitting at a long table covered with papers. 



Capt. Ashtree (rising). Mr. Chair, the preliminary business of this 

 board having now been disposed of, I rise to offer a few observations 

 of the highest importance to the interests of the company over which 

 we preside. Gentlemen, surrounded as I am by men of such distin- 

 guished talent and ability (hear, henr!), by men of such high honour 

 and rigid integrity (immense cheering), I hail the present moment as 

 the proudest of my life. Gentlemen, we have a public duty to per- 

 form. The object of this association, and I say it with the proud 

 feelings of a patriot, are to develop the mineral riches of our own soil, 

 which, to every well-wisher of his country, will be a source of bitter 

 regret should so long have been allowed to lie dormant, while mil- 

 lions of British treasure have been buried in the exhausted mines of 

 South America. Gentlemen, unlike the concoctors of those nefarious 

 schemes, we seek not by golden visions to delude a too confiding 

 public. Our motto, gentlemen, is honour and honesty, our deter- 

 mination, to faithfully discharge the trust reposed in us (hear, hear !) 

 Gentlemen, you must all be aware that the affairs of this company are 

 in a critical state (groans). We are deeply involved, without having 

 the adequate funds to meet our engagements ; the shares of the com- 

 pany, too, from the very general opinion entertained out of doors, 

 that it was organized by a set of stock-jobbing swindlers, for the sole 

 purpose of getting up a rig (marks of indignation), are at a discount in 

 the market, and the result is that we have at this moment 500 shares 

 still on hand. Now, gentlemen, as we have a public duty to perform, 

 I move that these 500 shares be immediately taken up by the mem- 

 bers of this direction, to enable the company to meet its engagements 

 (violent marks tf disapprobation on the part of the O'Faquins). 



Dr. O'Faquin. By the powers ! gentlemen, and is the honourable 

 member, who has just sat down, after imagining that any rasonable 

 man will be cajoled by his balderdash? Sure! and if we have a 

 public duty to perform, does it not consist in taking care of our own 

 pockets ? Talk of honour and honesty, indeed ! make money any 

 how is my motto. Blood-and-ouns ! when by the blessing of God I 

 became a director of this company, it was with the expectation of 

 filling my pockets at the expense of the public ; and does he think 



