Credulity is always greatest in times of calamity. — Charles Mackay

The over-bearing insolence of ignorant men, who had arisen to sudden wealth by successful gambling, made men of true gentility of mind and manners blush that gold should have power to raise the unworthy in the scale of society.

Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later.

During seasons of great pestilence, men have often believed the prophecies of crazed fanatics, that the end of the world was come.