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When, in May, 1832, the Duke of Wellington was very unpopular as a minister, and it was believed that he had formed a Cabinet which, it was thought, would add to his unpopularity, a few agitators got up “a run upon the Bank of England,” by means of placarding the streets of London with the emphatic words:—

TO STOP

THE DUKE,

GO FOR GOLD.

advice which was followed to a prodigious extent. On Monday, May 14, (the bills having been profusely posted on Sunday!) the run upon the Bank for coin was so incessant, that in a few hours upwards of half a million was carried off: we remember a tradesman in the Strand bringing home, in a hackney-coach, 2000 sovereigns. Mr. Doubleday, in his Life of Sir Robert Peel, states the placards to have been “the device of four gentlemen, two of whom were elected members of the Reformed Parliament. Each put down 20l.; and the sum was expended in printing thousands of these terrible missives, which were eagerly circulated, and were speedily seen upon every wall in London. The effect is hardly to be described. It was electric.” The agent was a tradesman of kindred politics, in business towards the east end of Oxford-street; and it must be admitted that he executed the order completely.