80. For furnishing the cities of London and Westminster with hay and straw. Capital, three millions.
81. For a sail and packing-cloth manufactory in Ireland.
83. For buying and fitting out ships to suppress pirates.
84. For the importation of timber from Wales. Capital, two millions.
86. For the transmutation of quicksilver into a malleable fine metal.
[18] Stock-jobbing Card, or the humours of Change Alley. Copied from a print called _Bubblers' Medley_, published by Carrington Bowles.
Besides these bubbles, many others sprang up daily, in-spite of the condemnation of the government and the ridicule of the still sane portion of the public. The print-shops teemed with caricatures, and the newspapers with epigrams and satires, upon the prevalent folly. An ingenious cardmaker published a pack of South-Sea playing-cards, which are now extremely rare, each card containing, besides the usual figures, of a very small size, in one corner, a caricature of a bubble-company, with appropriate verses underneath. One of the most famous bubbles was "Puckle's Machine Company," for discharging round and square cannon-balls and bullets, and making a total revolution in the art of war. Its pretensions to public favour were thus summed up on the eight of spades:
"A rare invention to destroy the crowd Of fools at home instead of fools abroad. Fear not, my friends, this terrible machine, They're only wounded who have shares therein."
[19] Tree, surrounded by water; people climbing up the tree. One of a series of bubble cards, copied from the _Bubblers' Medley_, published by Carrington Bowles.
The nine of hearts was a caricature of the English Copper and Brass Company, with the following epigram:
"The headlong-fool that wants to be a swopper Of gold and silver coin for English copper, May, in Change Alley, prove himself an ass, And give rich metal for adultrate brass."
The eight of diamonds celebrated the company for the colonisation of Acadia, with this doggrel:
"He that is rich and wants to fool away A good round sum in North America, Let him subscribe himself a headlong sharer, And asses' ears shall honour him or bearer."
And in a similar style every card of the pack exposed some knavish scheme, and ridiculed the persons who were its dupes. It was computed that the total amount of the sums proposed for carrying on these projects was upwards of three hundred millions sterling.