His position and previous character inspired
confidence, and of this he took advantage to devise a system of
borrowing money as he required it. Then, as the total amount of debt
rapidly increased, he had recourse to those commercial inventions
known as accommodation bills. This form of bill does not represent
goods or other value received, and the first endorser pays the amount
named for the obliging person who accepts it. This species of fraud is
tolerated because it is impossible to detect it, and, moreover, it is
an imaginary fraud which only becomes real if payment is ultimately
refused.
When at length it was evidently impossible to borrow any longer,
whether because the amount of the debt was now so greatly increased,
or because Castanier was unable to pay the large amount of interest on
the aforesaid sums of money, the cashier saw bankruptcy before him. On
making this discovery, he decided for a fraudulent bankruptcy rather
than an ordinary failure, and preferred a crime to a misdemeanor. He
determined, after the fashion of the celebrated cashier of the Royal
Treasury, to abuse the trust deservedly won, and to increase the
number of his creditors by making a final loan of the sum sufficient
to keep him in comfort in a foreign country for the rest of his days.
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