The abdication of James II. and the arrival of William III. form an era in the history of the monetary world. The plans adopted by the latter to crush the power of France, and raise the credit of England, were the commencement of that great accumulation known as the National Debt, and the origin, though remote, of that building celebrated throughout Europe as the Stock Exchange. The rapid sketch now presented of the mode in which money was supplied confirms the remark of Mr. Macaulay, that “there can be no greater error than to imagine the device of meeting the exigencies of the state by loans was imported into our island by William III. From a period of immemorial antiquity, it had been the practice of every English government to contract debts. What the Revolution introduced was the practice of honestly paying them.” The earliest instance of that fatal love of speculation, so ruinous to the character and credit of all who possess it, occurred in 1634; and the history of the tulip mania in Holland is as instructive as that of any similar period. In the above year, the chief cities of the Netherlands engaged in a traffic which destroyed commerce and encouraged gambling; which enlisted the greediness of the rich and the desire of the poor; which raised the value of a flower to more than its weight in gold; and which ended, as all such periods have ended, in wild and wretched despair. The many were ruined, the few were enriched; and tulips were as eagerly sought in 1634, as railway scrip in 1844. The speculation was conducted on similar principles. Bargains were made for the delivery of certain roots; and when, as in one case, there were but two in the market, lordship and land, horses and oxen, were sold to pay the deficiency. Contracts were made, and thousands of florins paid, for tulips which were never seen by broker, by buyer, or by seller. For a time, as usual, all won, and no one lost. Poor persons became wealthy. High and low traded in flowers; sumptuous entertainments confirmed their bargains; notaries grew rich; and even the unimaginative Hollander fancied he saw a sure and certain prosperity before him. People of all professions turned their property into cash; houses and furniture were offered at ruinous prices; the idea spread throughout the country that the passion for tulips would last for ever; and when it was known that foreigners were seized with the fever, it was believed that the wealth of the world would concentrate on the shores of the Zuyder Zee, and that poverty would become a tradition in Holland. That they were honest in their belief is proved by the prices they paid; and the following list shows that the mania must indeed have been deep, when goods to the value of 2,500 florins were given for one root:—