Cunningham was rather late in the market, for the volume of Dr. Price, which dispersed the assurance bubbles, was on the point of publication as he made his announcement; but the Scot was a crafty man, and his prospectus breathed benevolence, not personal benefit; it talked of charity and forgot allusion to per centages. Others might weary themselves in striving to establish a purely self-supporting institution, Cunningham struck into a new path. He showed that of the existing companies some did not ask enough, and some demanded too much. Other societies were often carried on in taverns; his fastidious taste revolted from the idea. The whole mind of this scheming man was bent upon betraying the public, and he determined to establish an Imperial Annuity and Charitable Pension Society, the terms of which should be lower than all others, while any awkward questions as to its responsibilities should be checked by pointing to a long list of patrons, against whose names should be placed large sums as donations and subscriptions. Directors were not more difficult to procure then than now, but Cunningham chose to be his own manager, and to represent his own board. Persons of rank were as proud of seeing their names to a charity as at the present day, and so plausible and persevering was the Scotchman that he soon procured duchesses and peeresses to herald his speculation. He was shrewd enough to vary his premiums to the position of the applicant. He would take less than the established rates under cover of a charitable institution; and the poor brought their money to him because they could buy a larger annuity with less cash than anywhere else. He tempted the general public with low rates of premium as he pointed to the character of a board which never met. He would sell a life annuity for whatever he could get, as he never refused an offer; and, with a list of patrons like that which he paraded at the head of his advertisements, it was almost impossible to doubt the solidity of the company. His speculation answered. He had a large office; he employed a considerable number of dependants; and the money which he gained easily he spent freely. More customers came to his office than to any other’s; for while the poor sought him with their savings, the rich advised with him as to investment. He was consulted by widows, and made the trustee of orphans. No one inveighed against mammon with more solemn sanctity, and no one received money with a more demure aspect. He gave great parties; he contrived to connect his name with a certain class of the aristocracy; he dabbled in literature, and, like an enthusiast of the present day, who is said to tell those who connect themselves with his office that neither they nor their children, nor their children’s children, can ever know want, he succeeded in impressing on the public a conviction of his worth.