victory had been gained, and peace was certain.
He immediately ordered a post-chaise and four
horses to be prepared, inquired the residence of
Admiral Foley, and, with the appearance of
great haste and excitement, wrote the following
letter:

"To the Right Hon. T. Foley, Port Admiral, Deal.

"Sir,—I have the honour to acquaint you that
L'Aigle, from Calais, Pierre Duquin, master, has
this moment landed me near Dover, to proceed to
the capital with despatches of the happiest nature.
I have pledged my honour that no harm shall come
to the crew of L'Aigle. Even with a flag of truce
they immediately stood out for sea. Should they
be taken, I entreat you immediately to liberate them.
My anxiety will not allow me to say more for your
gratification than that the allies obtained a final
victory; that Bonaparte was overtaken by a party
of Sachen's Cossacks, who immediately slayed him,
and divided his body between them. General
Platoff saved Paris from being reduced to ashes. The
allied sovereigns are there, and the white cockade is
universal. An immediate peace is certain. In the
utmost haste, I entreat your consideration, &c. Signed

"M. DU BOURG, Lieutenant-Colonel, and
" Aide-de-Camp to Lord Cathcart."

A special messenger was despatched to Deal;
and the letter reached the admiral between three
and four o'clock. The morning proved foggy;
the telegraph (the old hill telegraph) could not
work, and Admiral Foley was thus saved from
an involuntary deception. Immediately after the
letter was forwarded, Du Bourg entered the
post-chaise, and with every appearance of haste,
departed for London. Wherever he changed
horses, the news was spread, and the postboys
were rewarded with Napoleons. On his arrival at
Bexley-heath, the intelligence was acquired that
the telegraph could not have acted; on which
he told them not to drive so fast. He then
added that the war was over; that Bonaparte
was cut into a thousand pieces; and that the
Cossacks fought for a share of his body. At
the Marsh-gate, Lambeth, he entered a hackney-
coach, after informing the postboys that they
might spread the news as they returned. In
the mean time, the information had reached the
Stock Exchange; and by a little after ten in
the morning, the market was filled with rumours
of general officers, despatches for government,
victories, and post-chaises and four. Expresses
from the various places where Du Bourg had
changed horses, poured into the principal
speculators. The funds rose on the news. Application
was then made to the Lord Mayor for
confirmation of the important tidings, but, as his
lordship had received no intelligence, the funds
declined again.

On the morning of the same day, about an
hour before daylight, two men dressed like
foreigners landed in a six-oared galley, called on
one Mr. Sandon at Northfleet, and handed him a
letter purporting to be written by a person whom
he had formerly known, begging him to take the
bearers to London, as they had great public
news to communicate. The request was
complied with. Between twelve and one o'clock in
the afternoon of that day, three persons, two of
whom were dressed as French officers, proceeded
in a post-chaise and four, the horses of which
were bedecked with laurel, over the then narrow
and crowded thoroughfare of London-bridge.
While the carriage proceeded with an almost
ostentatious slowness, small billets were
scattered among the anxious crowd, announcing
that Bonaparte was dead, and that the allies
were in Paris. The occupants of the carriage
drove in this manner through Cheapside, down
Ludgate-hill, over Blackfriars-bridge, and rapidly
to the Marsh-gate, where they got out, took
off their military hats, put on round hats, and
speedily disappeared. The news again spread
far and wide; and the Stock Exchange was once
more full of exaggerated reports. The funds
rose. How could they resist such accumulated
evidence ? The aide-de-camp of Lord Cathcart
at Dover; two foreigners at Northfleet with
despatches; private expresses from various
places; all tended to convince the members
that there must be some foundation for the
reports. Application was made to the ministry,
but they knew nothing. Large bargains were
made. The excitement at the Stock Exchange
is described by those who witnessed it: " To
this scene of joy," says one, "and of greedy
expectation of gain, succeeded, in a few hours,
feelings of disappointment, shame at having
been gulled, the clenching of fists, the grinding
of teeth, the tearing of hair. Some showed
their consciousness of ruin, and all desired
revenge."

A committee was appointed by the Stock
Exchange, and many circumstances proving a
conspiracy were discovered. On the Saturday
preceding the Monday on which the deception was
attempted, Consols and Omnium (the aggregate
articles of any particular loan) to the extent of
eight hundred and twenty-six thousand pounds
were purchased for various individuals, many of
whom were seriously implicated. The late Earl of
Dundonald, then Lord Cochrane, was dragged in
as one of the accused conspirators, tried on the
21st of June, 1814, with some others, at the
Court of Queen's Bench, and sentenced to
twelve months' imprisonment. His lordship
and another were fined one thousand pounds
each, and were also condemned to stand for one
hour in the pillory, but this part of the sentence
was remitted. His lordship remained for several
years under the cloud of this misfortune, steadily
affirming his innocence, and stating that he was
more sinned against than sinning. Many
influential friends believed him, and it was
reserved for her present Majesty to restore him to
his honours. His spirited autobiography,
recently published, contains his own version of
this Stock Exchange story.

This great stockjobbing fraud could only have
met with the limited success that attended it, in
a time of great warlike excitement, and defective
means of communication from place to place.
Even if we were not more honest nor scrupulous
now than our grandfathers, railways and electric
telegraphs compel us to change the plan of our
frauds.