A mania for
stock-gambling spread over England, and the people seemed to have lost
their wits. The most tremendous excitement prevailed. The crisis came, and
it was realized that the scheme was a fraudulent one. Some of the biggest
operators sold out their stock, and a panic ensued. Consternation came upon
the bubble capitalists, and financial ruin stared them and their dupes full
in the face.
"The country was stirred to its very foundations. Parliament was called
together, and the books of the company were examined. The 'Bubble' had
burst, as it did in Bombay. The private property of the directors was
confiscated. The ruin brought about by this enterprise, rightly called a
'Bubble,' was beyond calculation; but it taught its lesson, as such affairs
always do."
"We are approaching the harbor," said Mrs. Woolridge, who was not much
interested in the South Sea Scheme, though her husband and Louis listened
to the explanation very attentively.
"We are, madam. You see to the northward of us two peninsulas. The one the
more distant has two hills on it. The first is Malabar Hill, and the other
Cumballa Hill. This is the aristocratic quarter of Bombay. The huge
bungalows of the rich merchants and higher government officials are here.
The scenery, natural and artificial, is very fine, and Asiatic magnificence
prevails there.
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