had been pronounced impossible.* Mysterious decree of Providence that England should be deprived of Huskisson, not the most brilliant, but probably one of the wisest, certainly one of the most progressive, statesmen of his time, upon that day, which was to be the introduction of a social and commercial revolution, second only to that brought about by the discovery of printing, whereby "the course of modern history was altered, and the pulses of public life began to flow."

The regret which Mr. Deacon Hume, and those who thought with him, felt for the loss of Mr. Huskisson, apart from personal connection, was very great—the representative of the political economists had passed away-the parliamentary expositor of the principles of commercial freedom, as far as those principles had been developed, was no more-and his death created a void which was not to be presently supplied by any living statesman. Like him, whose life it is the object of this volume to portray, he had a natural talent for finance; and it had been cultivated with the most unwearied application. "His information and research had penetrated into every corner of our financial and commercial system." The knowledge of all other members of Par

* The engine was the "Rocket," the rough type of its myriad successors. "An Olympic engine-race came off at Rainhill, when the 'Rocket' won, attaining during its trial trip a maximum velocity of twenty-nine miles an hour, or about three times the speed that one of the judges declared to be the limit of possibility. The shares of the company rose ten per cent., for they were relieved from the proposed expense for fixed engines and engine-houses; and a social revolution was predicted by discerning spirits. The 'Rocket' was the morning star of the new era."

liament upon questions of finance, as Lord Brougham once went so far as to say, was as dust in the balance when compared with his resources. His acquaintance with the variously conflicting interests of the greatest commercial empire in the world was perhaps unequalled. His life had been mainly devoted to the study of one particular subject; and he had justly earned the character, which was not generally accorded to him until many years after his decease, of being the safest, as well as the most intelligent, of the financial statesmen of his day.

If he was proud of anything, it was of being sought out to represent the town of Liverpool in Parliament. The growing prosperity of that town, he observed with great satisfaction. "A prosperity," he would often remark, “which was not to be ascribed to extensive charters, or to privileged companies, but to the industry, the enterprise, and the good sense of individuals; there being no town in the kingdom which contributes so much in proportion to the revenue of the State, or a town which requires so little of that revenue to be expended upon it." When he considered, too, that with a population of 150,000 persons Liverpool was, and we believe is still, with a population of more than double that amount, "without a barrack, a guardhouse, or a single company of soldiers, a mind like his could not but silently inquire, whence arose this beautiful order? or fail to discover the solution of the question in the activity which seeks and receives general employment, while in the lesson which this

D

inculcates, he doubtless saw a fresh proof of the necessity of giving expansion and growth to the industrial powers of the country.

Dreadful catastrophe which changed a day of public rejoicing into one of national mourning for his loss! Saddening consideration, that "out of half a million of people assembled on such an occasion of festivity Death should have stricken a foremost man of the world, and left the rest unscathed! That of all that multitude

whom the morning of the 15th of September, 1830, had poured forth to swell the triumph, at night, he only should be missing!”

335

CHAPTER III.

FAUNTLEROY - MR. DEACON HUME DISCOVERS

REMARKS OF SIR ROBERT PEEL.

HIS FORGERIES

"We are easily shocked by crimes which appear at once in their full magnitude; but the gradual growth of our wickedness, endeared by interest, and palliated by all the artifices of self-deceit, gives us time to form distinctions in our own favour; and reason, by degrees, submits to absurdity, as the eye is in time accommodated to darkness."-DR. JOHNSON.

In the autumn of the year 1824, the country was startled by the discovery of a series of most extraordinary forgeries; amounting altogether to no less a sum than 353,000l.

The discovery originated with Mr. Deacon Hume. Having had occasion to go to the Bank of England, respecting the transfer of the property of a family of eight orphan children, for whom with Mr. Fauntleroy and Mr. Goodchild, he was a trustee, he found that his name had been forged to a letter of attorney, for the sale of 10,000l., three per cent. annuities, and that the stock had long since been sold out. Alarmed at the discovery, he addressed himself to Mr. Goodchild, and as he more than suspected, so he found, his signature also had been forged.

The circumstances of the case, which need not be

more particularly noted, left no room for doubt as to the criminal. They proceeded the same evening to the police-office in Marlborough Street, and obtained from Mr. Conant, the magistrate, a warrant against Mr. Fauntleroy, of the firm of Marsh, Stracey, Fauntleroy, and Graham, in Berners Street. Mr. Conant was astonished and distressed at the application, for he was personally acquainted with Mr. Fauntleroy; but upon the information of Mr. Hume and Mr. Goodchild, he granted a warrant for his apprehension. That evening, Mr. Fauntleroy was from home. The officers watched the house, but to no purpose, during the night. The next morning, about ten o'clock, his usual hour of business, he was seen to enter the bank. Mr. Goodchild, in the absence of Mr. Hume, preceded the officer in entering the bank, and was engaged in conversation with Mr. Fauntleroy, in a small room, when the officer entered, made known his name and business, and at the same time produced his warrant. Mr. Fauntleroy became dreadfully agitated and exclaimed," Gracious Heaven! cannot this business be settled?" The officer begged of him to make no noise, but to walk out quietly for a few minutes, and they would talk about a settlement. Mr. Fauntleroy then signed a few blank cheques, with an unsteady hand, and having given them to one of his clerks, told him he was going out for a moment, and putting on his hat, he walked on without observation by the side of the officer, who immediately conducted him to the private house of Mr. Conant. Mr. Fauntleroy now became