e his
request for a second bill. He received it upon giving an obligation to
restore the first bill, if it should ever be found, or to pay the money
himself, if it should be presented by any stranger. About thirty years
afterwards (the director having been long dead, and his heirs in
possession of his fortune) an unknown person presented the lost bill at
the Bank, and demanded payment. It was in vain that they mentioned to
this person the transaction by which that bill was annulled; he would
not listen to it. He maintained that it came to him from abroad, and
insisted upon immediate payment. The note was payable to bearer, and the
L30,000 were paid him. The heirs of the director would not listen to any
demands of restitution, and the Bank was obliged to sustain the loss. It
was discovered afterwards that an architect having purchased the
director's house, and taken it down, in order to build another upon the
same spot, had found the note in a crevice of the chimney, and made his
discovery an engine for robbing the Bank.

In the early part of last century, the practice of bankers was to
deliver in exchange for money deposited a receipt, which might be
circulated like a modern cheque. Bank-notes were then at a discount; and
the Bank of England, jealous of Childs' reputation, secretly collected
the receipts of their rivals, determined, when they had procured a very
large number, suddenly to demand money for them, hoping that Childs'
would not be able to meet their liabilities. Fortunately for the latter,
they got scent of this plot; and in great alarm applied to the
celebrated Duchess of Marlborough, who gave them a single cheque of
L700,000 on their opponents. Thus armed, Childs' waited the arrival of
the enemy. It was arranged that this business should be transacted by
one of the partners, and that a confidential clerk, on a given signal,
should proceed with all speed to the Bank to get the cheque cashed. At
last a clerk from the Bank of England appeared, with a full bag, and
demanded money for a large number of receipts. The partner was called,
who desired him to present them singly. The signal was given; the
confidential clerk hurried on his mission; the partner was very
deliberate in his movements, and long before he had taken an account of
all the receipts, his emissary returned with L700,000; and the whole
amount of L500,000 or L600,000 was paid by Childs' in Bank of England
notes. In addition to the triumph of this