Gambling in the funds has not been confined to commoners; and the French ambassador at the Court of London was guilty of a deception which marks the name of the Count de Guise with infamy. Availing himself of his political position, he traded in English securities, and, by the aid of his secretaries, made large sums. While success attended the ambassador’s operations, he received the profit, and rejoiced in his good fortune; but when a long run of bad luck dissipated his gains, and made demands upon his purse, his Excellency denied all knowledge of the transaction, refused to pay the balance, retired to France, and commenced a prosecution against his subordinates. But this was not sufficient to exonerate him with thinking people. A memorial was published by his secretaries; and the evidence they gave satisfied every impartial mind that the ambassador of the Most Christian King had abused his trust, duped his dependents, and defrauded the stock-broker. About the middle of the eighteenth century, one of the constant dealers in ’Change Alley, although in a small way, was James Bolland; a man of low extraction, but of great mind, of immense impudence, and unrivalled crime. There was nothing at which he would hesitate to obtain money, to spend on the Stock Exchange; and, having once commenced, he soon found that the legitimate profits of his trade—that of a butcher—were not sufficient to support him. He formed, therefore, a wooden weight, which, resembling one of fifty pounds, weighed only seven pounds; and, in his capacity of tradesman to St. Thomas’s Hospital, employed his roguery with great success. From butcher he turned sheriff’s officer, revived every past iniquity, invented new frauds, and spent his money in buying lottery-tickets, to which pursuit he was passionately attached. He robbed the broker whom he employed, alike of his mistress and his money; and with the latter bought the place of city marshal. The citizens, however, discovered that his character was scarcely equal to his impudence, and refused to maintain their bargain. Every moment he could spare was passed on the Stock Exchange, where his pursuits were marked by a singularly bad fortune. Every speculation went against him; he never drew a prize in the lottery; and, finding there was a chance of his becoming penniless, he added forgery to his long list of crimes. The fraud was discovered, the penalty was paid at Tyburn; and James Bolland adds another to the many proofs of the truth of the old adage.