There is human sweat
in the golden tankards. There is human blood in the crimson plush.
There are the bones of unrequited toil in the pearly keys of the
piano. There is the curse of an incensed God hovering over all their
magnificence. Some night the man will not be able to rest. He will
rise up in bewilderment and look about him, crying: "Who is there?"
Those whom he has wronged will thrust their skinny arms under the
tapestry, and touch his brow, and feel for his heart, and blow their
sepulchral breath into his face, crying: "Come to judgment!"
For the warning of young men, I shall specify but two of the world's
most gigantic swindles--one English, and the other American.
In England, in the early part of the last century, reports were
circulated of the fabulous wealth of South America. A company was
formed, with a stock of what would be equal to thirty millions of our
dollars. The government guaranteed to the company the control of all
the trade to the South Sea, and the company was to assume the entire
debt of England, then amounting to one hundred and forty millions of
dollars.
Pages:
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121