was raised by these means to near four hundred; but, after fluctuating
a good deal, settled at three hundred and thirty, at which price it
remained when the bill passed the Commons by a majority of 172 against
55.

In the House of Lords the bill was hurried through all its stages with
unexampled rapidity. On the 4th of April it was read a first time; on
the 5th, it was read a second time; on the 6th, it was committed; and
on the 7th, was read a third time, and passed.

Several peers spoke warmly against the scheme; but their warnings
fell upon dull, cold ears. A speculating frenzy had seized them as
well as the plebeians. Lord North and Grey said the bill was unjust in
its nature, and might prove fatal in its consequences, being
calculated to enrich the few and impoverish the many. The Duke of
Wharton followed; but, as he only retailed at second-hand the
arguments so eloquently stated by Walpole in the Lower House, he was
not listened to with even the same attention that had been bestowed
upon Lord North and Grey. Earl Cowper followed on the same side, and
compared the bill to the famous horse of the siege of Troy. Like that,
it was ushered in and received with great pomp and acclamations of
joy, but bore within it treachery and destruction. The Earl of
Sunderland endeavoured to answer all objections; and, on the question
being put, there appeared only seventeen peers against, and
eighty-three in favour of the project. The very same day on which it
passed the Lords, it received the Royal assent, and became the law of
the land.

It seemed at that time as if the whole nation had turned
stockjobbers. Exchange Alley was every day blocked up by crowds, and