re of money, the soundness of currency, and
relative value of capital, with which he nightly favoured an admiring
audience at "The Crow;" for Bob was by no means--in the literal
acceptation of the word--a dry philosopher. On the contrary, he
perfectly appreciated the merits of each distinct distillery; and was
understood to be the compiler of a statistical work, entitled, _A Tour
through the Alcoholic Districts of Scotland_. It had very early
occurred to me, who knew as much of political economy as of the
bagpipes, that a gentleman so well versed in the art of accumulating
national wealth, must have some remote ideas of applying his
principles profitably on a smaller scale. Accordingly, I gave
M'Corkindale an unlimited invitation to my lodgings; and, like a good
hearty fellow as he was, he availed himself every evening of the
license; for I had laid in a fourteen gallon cask of Oban whisky, and
the quality of the malt was undeniable.

These were the first glorious days of general speculation. Railroads
were emerging from the hands of the greater into the fingers of the
lesser capitalists. Two successful harvests had given a fearful
stimulus to the national energy; and it appeared perfectly certain
that all the populous towns would be united, and the rich agricultural
districts intersected, by the magical bands of iron. The columns of
the newspapers teemed every week with the parturition of novel
schemes; and the shares were no sooner announced than they were
rapidly subscribed for. But what is the use of my saying any thing
more about the history of last year? Every one of us remembers it
perfectly well. It was a capital year on the whole, and put money into
many a pocket. About that time, Bob and I commenced operations. Our
available capital, or negotiable bullion, in the language of my
friend, amounted to about three hundred pounds, which we set aside as
a joint fund for speculation. Bob, in a series of learned discourses,
had convinced me that it was not only folly, but a positive sin, to
leave this sum lying in the bank at a pitiful rate of interest, and
otherwise unemployed, whilst every one else in the kingdom was having
a pluck at the public pigeon. Somehow or other, we were unlucky in our
first attempts. Speculators are like wasps; for when they have once
got hold of a ripening and peach-like project, they keep it rigidly
for their own swarm, and repel the approach of interlopers.
Notwithstanding all our effort