156 
TULIP. 
“ It is well known that in Holland the Tulip 
became, about the middle of the sevententh 
century, the object of a trade unparalleled in 
the history of commercial speculation. From 
1634 to 1637, inclusive, all classes in all the 
great cities in Holland became infected with 
the Tulipomania. A single root of a particu¬ 
lar species, called the Viceroy, was ex¬ 
changed, in the true Dutch taste, for the 
following articles :—two lasts of wheat, four 
of Rye, four fat oxen, three fat swine, twelve 
fat sheep, two hogsheads of wine, four tuns 
of beer, two tons of butter, 1000 pounds of 
cheese, a complete bed, a suit of clothes, and 
a silver beaker — -value of the whole of 2,500 
florins. For a root of the species Semper 
Augustus, 4,600 florins were given, together 
with a new carriage, two grey horses, and a 
complete harness. The trade was followed 
not only by mercantile people, but also by 
the first noblemen, citizens of every descrip¬ 
tion, mechanics, seamen, farmers, chimney¬ 
sweeps, Ac. &c. Some of the poorest people 
gained, in a few months, houses, coaches and 
horses, and figured away like the first cha¬ 
racters in the land. In the space of three 
years, as Hunting tells us, more than ten mil¬ 
lion were expended in this trade, in only one 
tow’n of Holland. 
“ The evil rose to such a pitch, that the 
States of Holland were under the necessity of 
interfering ; the buyers took the alarm ; the 
bubble, like the South Sea Scheme, suddenly 
burst, and as in the outset, all were winners, in 
the winding up, very few escaped without loss.” 
