Broadly speaking, it is evident that, unless the markets are disorganised by panic or by some disquieting political occurrence, the prices of the so-called gilt-edged securities are influenced by the conditions prevailing in the London short loan money market. CHAPTER XV. Panic Years. When in 1667 a Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway, demolished a fort at Sheerness, and, forcing a way into Chatham Docks, burnt all the ships assembled therein, to the consternation of the inhabitants of London, there was a run upon the banks; but a Stuart regarded both events with equanimity, for "Old Rowley" had a mind above trifles of this description, possibly because he had learnt many bitter truths in a world seldom understood by Kings. Cynics are not born--they are made; and Charles II. had drunk from that cup which sharpens the understanding. France, during 1719 and 1720, was in the throes of the Mississippi scheme, which was engineered by that notorious Scotsman, John Law; and England, in 1720, witnessed the collapse of the South Sea Company, which Sir Robert Walpole, with rare insight and unerring financial instinct, had demonstrated was a mere gamble, that, at the best, could only enjoy a temporary success, which was absolutely dependent upon a rise in the company's stock; but the Government turned a deaf ear to his warning. Scotland, we have seen, had its Darien venture in 1699; and in 1720 all England went mad over the South Sea Company, which offered to relieve the Government of part of the National Debt, and entered into an insane competition with the Bank of England for that purpose. Then occurred some spirited bidding between the two companies for this privilege; but the directors of the Bank proved themselves the less mad, and left their rival in possession of the incubus and the road to ruin. The result of the bidding gave the necessary stimulus to the South Sea Company's stock, and, seeing it going up, the public at once rushed in, when the stock rose faster than ever. In a very short space of time the fever for speculation infused itself into the blood of the whole nation. The pace became so furious that the more thoughtful among the gamblers began to see the end and to sell, with the result that, upon a memorable morning, everybody wanted to dispose of his stock--and then the bubble burst. In June, 1720, the £100 stock of the South Sea Company was rushed up to £890, and a little later it touched £1000. Then the tide turned, and, as is invariably the case, all were as anxious to sell as a few days before they had been eager to buy. Every hour intensified the panic, until at length the stock fell to £175, and the difference between the highest and lowest quotations is eloquent of the loss inflicted upon the community, for everybody who had money to invest was interested in this gigantic gamble.