The crisis of 1772 has been entirely overlooked by those who have bestowed their thoughts upon such subjects. It had its origin in a variety of circumstances; but the exciting cause was the failure of the bank of Douglas, Heron, & Co., established in 1769. It was the period when the success of adventurers in our Indian empire had contributed to the wealth of England. Immense sums were accumulated in a few months. Large purchases of land were made at high prices. All the early and late symptoms of speculation were apparent. The vast fortunes brought home were ostentatiously displayed. A contempt for the slow gains of trade, a feverish excitement, and an ungovernable impatience to be rich, marked the period. The nabobs were not disposed to hide their wealth under a bushel. They built magnificent mansions, and mistook ostentation for taste. They raised the prices of all articles of consumption; they were bowed to before their faces, and dreaded behind their backs. Dark deeds were told of them; and the shrewd peasantry shuddered as the massive carriage rolled by, which held the man whose wealth had been obtained at the expense of his humanity. The ephemeral literature of the day is filled with the popular opinion of the character; and the nabob is commonly represented as a man with a bad liver and black heart. Scott, with his exquisite conception of the ludicrous, makes one of his characters define a nabob as “one who comes frae foreign parts, with mair siller than his pouches can hold: as yellow as oranges, and maun hae a’ thing his ain gate.” For thirty years the public was filled with impressions of their wealth and crimes; and so late as twenty years ago, Lord Clive was described to the writer as keeping memorials of his guilt in a box beneath his bed, and as having destroyed himself because his past enormities were too great for his conscience to bear. The drama, the story, and the poem, were colored with their eccentricities; while newspapers occasionally recorded facts which marked that, in some at least, a fine generosity was mixed with their grossness. The effect, however, of these things was to make money plentiful; to raise a spirit of emulation, and a thirst for gold. In addition to this, the banking-house of Douglas, Heron, & Co. circulated its paper with a freedom which had an effect upon the population of Scotland remembered to the present day. Discounts for a time were plentiful. Bills presented by farmers, and accepted by ploughmen, were readily cashed. As is usual in these cases, the dashing character attained by the bank attracted those who should have known better; and many, who boasted of their foresight, paid for their presumption.