Exchange Alley with its coffee-houses wvere no longer crowded with adventurers; many of whom, having laid out their substance in those airy purchases, now found themselves to be utterly undone; whilst, on the other hand, such as had dealt in them to great advantage became extremely shy of owning their gains." But the great mother of all the delusions and impositions soon felt that, though her progeny had become her rivals, in their life was involved her own. It was the spirit of gambling and madness that the mob of minor projects excited and fed by which the South Sea Company itself was sustained. From the day on which they were put down is to be dated the beginning of a decline in the price of the Company's stock, from which it never recovered. When the scire facias came abroad South Sea stock was at 850; by the 2-2nd of August it had fallen to 820; by the 30th, to 780; by the 8th of September, to 680; by the 20th, to 410; by the 29th, to 175. By this time all faith in the possibility of its being kept up at a price above its original cost and real value was irretrievably gone; the bubble was burst; the delusion over; the drunkenness passed away, and only exhaustion, aching, and repentance left. "And now, towards the close of this year of marvels," says Anderson, winding up his narrative, "were seen the great losses of many families of rank, and some of great quality, and the utter ruin of merchants before of great figure, and also of certain eminent physicians, clergy, and lawyers, as well as of many eminent tradesmen; some of whom, after so long living in splendour, were not able to stand the shock of poverty and contempt, and died of broken hearts; others withdrew to remote parts of the world and never returned." But, as we have intimated, the hurricane which so greatly disturbed the air in rapidly passing through it probably made it purer and healthier for a long time to come.
The reign of George II. may be conveniently regarded for our present purpose as divided into three periods of nearly equal length—the first extending from 1727 to the year 1739, during which, with the exception of the short war with Spain, which George I. had left as a legacy to
