A living authoress,[1] writing of 1824, says : -" In the exhilaration of the times, men were disposed to make haste to be rich ; and the immense spread of joint-stock companies became a joke of the time- a heavy joke enough in the issue, but very merry at the moment. While this exhilaration and satisfaction were apparent on the surface of society . . . . some things were going on in by-places which make us wonder now how men could have been satisfied with a state of things so obviously needing improvement." "There were strange doings by night in the creeks and hollow ways and caves of the southern coast, and a remarkable order of passengers by day in the packets from France. Every now and then a fisherman's great boots were found to be stuffed with French lace, gloves, and jewellery, or a lady's petticoats to be quilted all through with silk stockings and lace. Here and there a nice-looking loaf of bread was found to have a curious kernel of lace and gloves ; and a roll of sail-cloth turned out to be a package of gay lute string. In the dead of the night a large body of men would work for hours, noiselessly, in the soft sands, rolling tubs of spirits, and carrying bales of goods in the shadows of the rocks, and through tunnels and up chasms, under the very feet of the preventive patrol, and within sound of the talk of the sentries. While this -
- ↑ Miss Martineau in Charles Knight's " History of England during the Peace. "
