Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison. English-only reading by default; switch among English, Chinese, and Spanish, or compare languages side by side.
This chapter develops the memoir’s account of Chapter XIV. I PLAY THE SILVER KING., connecting personal narrative with the financial, legal, and prison-world setting of the period. The chapter’s opening perspective is: The next morning we all drove to Hampton Court, the creation of Wolsey, and when tired we went to the Star and Garter. There we talked over matters, and came to the conclusion we must have a hundred thousand apiece before we could afford to settle down at home.
This chapter is for readers following Bidwell’s memoir chapter by chapter, especially the section titled “Chapter XIV. I PLAY THE SILVER KING..” It is most useful for readers interested in financial crime history, nineteenth-century banking culture, criminal justice, prison memoir, and the social setting of the period.
Read “Chapter XIV. I PLAY THE SILVER KING.” as a historical memoir rather than guidance. The banking procedures, legal assumptions, public reputation, social judgments, travel conditions, and prison practices described belong to Bidwell’s nineteenth-century setting and may not match modern institutions.