TO THE READER. This book has been on the anvil of thought two or three years. During that period it has assumed protean shapes; the practical results will be found in the succeeding pages. Collecting, as is my custom, from time to time, everything of importance bearing upon topics financial and mercantile, it may be readily imagined that I should not allow to escape the extraordinary revelations which have marked the last decade ; more particularly the Facts, Failures, and Frauds so prominently portrayed in the progress of commercial life. The first notion was not to have compressed these, for the most part, painful narratives into a single issue, but to have extended them to a series, the materials at command and in store being sufficiently ample for the purpose. But on reflection , and after a great mass of matter had been preliminarily arranged, my time having meanwhile become more fully absorbed, that determination was altered, and on consultation with my friends, the Brothers Groombridge, it was agreed that one comprehensive volume should be the medium of communication between me and the public. The work, notwithstanding it has entailed a considerable amount of labour, and no small share of expense, is not put pretentious or infallible production. To some of the views objections may be taken; and individuals whose conduet may have encountered criticism, will, probably, be tempted to think that they have scarcely merited the con As in the majority of instances the verdict forward as a demnation. But of a Civil, or the sentence of a Criminal, Court has clearly adjudged guilt and awarded punishment, any vindictive prompting cannot be supposed to have dictated the opinions advanced. One great object, and one alone, induced me to engage in the task of selecting and arranging these remarkable histories, viz., to bring together a complete record of the astounding frauds and forgeries, with other attendant circumstances, which have of late so frequently startled the commercial community from their propriety; and hence, while endeavouring to diversify and render interesting each particular narrative, no chapter or section is presented without corroborative evidence of the internal truth of its contents. The trials, and other legal proceedings, possess a value beyond the mere interest of the moment. Collated and published in this shape, they will be always at hand to establish dates, and other minutiæ that may arise, and be available either for the publicist, moralist, or statist, who may desire to consult them at any future period. The work, in some degree, though presented in a more attractive guise, may be considered as supplemental to the Commercial Crisis, 1947-48, and antecedent to the History of the Crisis, 1857-58, now prepared, and about to be brought forward. The whole of these volumes will exhibit, in a more complete form than already exists, a vast mass of important and interesting information connected with the course of trado during the last twenty years. BIRCHIN LANE, LOMBARD STREET, January 12, 1859. THE RISE AND FALL OF MR. GEORGE HUDSON, M.P. The Railway System-Its Early Introduction and Progressive Expansion- State of Business anterior thereto—The Appearance of Mr. Hudson on the Scene, and his Assumption of Power in Railway Circles-Subsequent Dis- The Age of Appearance-Watts's magnificent but brief Career-His Success as a Man of Fashion and Wealth-His luxurious Mode of Life, alleged Sources of Income and Theatrical Speculations-Failure of the Latter, and the Discovery of his gigantic Frauds—The Investigation at the Globe Assurance Office The Trial of the Delinquent, and his Suicide in THE DELINQUENCIES OF MESSRS. STRAHAN, PAUL, AND BATES. The Surprise created by the Failure-The Blow to Confidence in the Private Banking Interest - The Antecedents of the House--The Position and Relations of the Partners Social Standing of Mr. Strahan, and the Reli- gious Habits of Sir John Dean Paul-Distressing Disclosures respecting the Appropriation of Securities—The Bankruptcy of the Firm, and sub- sequent Criminal Proceedings against the whole of the Partners 106-163 |