Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Commerce, Charlatanry, Crime

    Begins by likening Peto to a Bristol stone that appears to possess 'integrity like a diamond' but does not. Proceeds to ask him for more satisfactory reassurances that his firm did not take advantage of the public in the matter of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company. Peto's firm, Peto, Brassey and Betts, had been contractors to the railway company, but collapsed during the financial panic during the middle of 1866 and suspended payments. This bankrupted the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Company, whose debenture holders lost their investments.