From 1810 to 1815, the business in every department of the Stock Exchange increased greatly. Loan after loan came rapidly forward, was as rapidly taken, went to a premium, was merged in the funded debt, and was succeeded by fresh demands for fresh loans. The public feeling was so strong, even during those fearful campaigns which preceded the fatal field of Austerlitz, when the futile threat of invasion was frequent, and “the army of England” assembled at Boulogne, that no ministry could have maintained its power unless it had been a war ministry. And when the event of that battle, known as the “battle of the three emperors,” was made public, when the entire powers of the Continent were at the feet of Napoleon, and William Pitt, the soul of the coalition, died from fear of the calamities that threatened, the people of England were unchanged in their resolute defiance. Enmity towards the French was an article of faith. Hatred to their leader was taken from the mother’s breast, and nourished by the stories which day by day engrossed the public mind, or violated public feeling. At one time, the commercial world was excited with the story that all the specie in all the private banks of France had been seized. At another, some cruelty which outraged humanity passed current with the vulgar. Stories of the conscription harrowed the feelings of parents; tales of insurrection, suppressed with heartless cruelty, raised the indignation of the child. The evening fireside derived its great attraction from the talk about Bonaparte; and it is no exaggeration to say, that nurses stilled their querulous charges, or that mothers hushed their children, with that dreaded name. Policies were opened on his life; and so uncertain was it considered in 1804, that fifty-five guineas per cent. were paid to insure it for one year. No fiction was more favorite or more frequent than that which detailed his death; and in this the powerful invention of the romancer was often proved. Poison and steel, the dagger of the conspirator and the bullet of the republican, were constantly asserted to have ended his career. On one occasion, it was universally credited that the great Corsican was no more. A despatch had been received by Lord Grenville announcing his death, and circumstantially detailing its manner. No doubt was entertained; the funds rose, and the news spread. Some very loyal persons set the bells ringing in a suburban village, and the whole affair bore the aspect of truth. The story circulated wore an appearance of romance entirely in keeping with the career of the man whose death was announced. It was stated that Napoleon, having called a council of war, to which he had invited one of the wild chiefs of the desert, who professed attachment till he could procure revenge, had been shot by him in open council; and, on the signal thus given, the wild hordes of the desert had slain Bonaparte and his devoted followers in the land so recklessly invaded.