But the event was such as even his sanguine spirit had scarcely ventured to anticipate.

At one in the afternoon of the 14th of July the books were opened at the Hall of the Company of Mercers in Cheapside.

An immense crowd was already collected in the street.

As soon as the doors were flung wide, wealthy citizens, with their money in their hands, pressed in, pushing and elbowing each other.

The guineas were paid down faster than the clerks could count them.