A  large  freight  of  gold  was  on  the  seas,  coming  to  their
aid,  and  due,  but  not  arrived ;  the  wind  was  high :  and
in  a  few  hours  the  people  would  be  howling  round  their
doors  again.  They  sent  a  hasty  message  to  the  govern-
ment, and  implored  them  to  suspend,  by  order  in  council,
the  operation  of  Mr.  Peel's  bill  for  a  few  days.  A
plump  negative  from  Mr.  Canning.
Then  being  driven  to  expedients,  they  bethought  them
of  a  chest  of  one-pound  notes  that  they  had  luckily  omit-
ted to  burn.  Another  message  to  the  government,  "  May
we  use  these  ?  "

"  As  a  temporary  expedient,  yes."

The  one-pound  notes  were  whirling  all  over  the  coun-
try before  daybreak,  and,  marvellous  anomaly,  which
took  Eichard  Hardie  by  surprise,  they  oiled  the  waves ;
the  panic  abated  from  that  hour.*  The  holders  of  coun-
try notes  took  the  one-pound  B.  E.  notes  as  cash,  with
avidity.  The  very  sight  of  them  piled  on  a  counter
stopped  a  run  in  more  than  one  city.
The  demand  for  gold  at  the  Bank  of  England  con-
tinued, but  less  fiercely,  and  as  the  ingots  still  came

1  A  hair  of  the  dog  that  bit  us.
LOVE  ME  UTTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.      231

tumbling  in  and  the  mint  hailed  sovereigns  on  them,
their  stock  of  specie  rose  as  the  demand  declined,  and
they  came  out  of  their  fiercest  battle  with  honor.  But
ere  the  tide  turned,  things  in  general  came  to  a  pass
scarcely  known  in  the  history  of  civilized  nations.
