Several assertations proved in order to create another species of money than gold and silver Asgill, John, 1659-1738. 1696 Approx. 68 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 44 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2007-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A25994 Wing A3932 ESTC R16480 13618403 ocm 13618403 100812 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A25994) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 100812) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 832:40) Several assertations proved in order to create another species of money than gold and silver Asgill, John, 1659-1738. [2], 85 p. s.n., [London : 1696] Signed: J. Asgill, 1696. Place and date of publication from Wing. Reproduction of original in Library of Congress. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Coinage -- England -- Early works to 1800. 2006-02 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2006-05 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2006-06 Andrew Kuster Sampled and proofread 2006-06 Andrew Kuster Text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion SEVERAL ASSERTIONS PROVED , In Order to Create another Species of MONEY THAN GOLD AND SILVER . SEVERAL ASSERTIONS PROVED , &c. First Assertion . That there seemeth a Necessity of creating another Species of Money than Gold and Silver . BY Necessity I don't mean an absolute Necessity , but such a Necessity that either this must be done , or a worse thing will ensue for want of it . The past Contracts now depending in the Kingdom for payment of Moneys in Specie do far surmount all the Species of Money in the Kingdom ; and because Money is become more valuable than Bills of Credit , therefore they that have the demands of it do and will demand it ; and the more they demand it , the higher the price rises , so that the price multiplies the demands , and the demands advance the price , which renders the performance of these past Contracts to be impossible : And thus the Kingdom stands Stock-jobbed , by being obliged to deliver what they have not : And yet these Contracts ( tho' they are impossible to be performed ) are lawful , for by the Law where the Condition of a Bond is impossible , the Bond it self is absolute , and the Obligee may sue for the Penalty , and have Judgment ; and if ( in this Case ) the Plaintiffs happen to be more than the Defendants , they may have Execution too ; but if the Defendants come to be more than the Plaintiffs , there 's an end of the Law. And notwithstanding that the whole Moneys of the Kingdom stand anticipated by the past Contracts , the present Exigencies and the growing Contracts call for as much more , and 't is impossible to answer these Demands but by the Money due on the former Contracts , taking it from whence 't is already due , and lending it to the present Wants ; and thus the Publick have had the greatest part of their late Supplyes , ( which I don't observe as a misapplication of the Moneys , ( under our Necessities ) but as an Evidence of our Necessities ) Therefore for preserving the peace of the Kingdom , in relation to the past Contracts , and for raising the present and future Supplyes , there doth seem a Necessity of creating another Species of Money than Gold and Silver . Second Assertion . That this Necessity is no Cause to discourage Proceedings in publick or private Affairs , but rather to force us upon an Invention which otherwise we should not find out . All the Improvements in the World have been produced from the Necessities of Men , putting them upon Invention , according to that saying , Venter largitor Artium : Shame invented our Cloathing , Cold our Houses , Hunger our Food , Sickness our Physick , and Rapine our Laws ; Laws necessitated Trade , Trade necessitated Money , and the multiplyed occasions for Money doth now put us upon a necessity of inventing another Species of it , and therefore we must find it out . What if the Spaniards Mines were exhausted , or the Laws of their Countrey ( prohibiting the Exportation of them ) observed , must the whole World stand still ? As Silver and Gold were invented for Money , when they were to be had , so when we cann't have that , we must invent something else ( which may be had ) instead of it . The whole World once lay open for Man and Beasts to be Tenants in common of it all , but while it lay so , it was incapable of improvement , because no Man could preserve the benefit of his own Labour to himself , and this forced men upon Agreements to inclose , and that every Man should have a Property in his own Inclosure , which was the first initiating of Laws , and this Law forced Trade . For the Earth consisting of divers Veins , of different qualities , distant from one another , one man came to have occasion of something which lay in ( alieno solo ) another man's Inclosure , and so they exchanged with one another ; but the things exchanged not being always equal in value , nor to be delivered at the same time and place , put men upon an Invention of Pledges , or security for the things delivered , until the value thereof should be returned in another Commodity ; and these at first were but particular Tokens between one man and another , 'till by degrees Silver and Gold ( having acquired a certain value from the uses made of it for other things ) became the common pledge of the World , and by further degrees the Values thereof came to be ascertained by Laws , which hath advanced it to an extravagant price , contrary to the original intention of it . The sole use of Money ( as Money ) is but to keep an Account of other things by ; it is a Tool in Trade found out by the Policy of Man , and that it might not grow into any other use , the first Law of the World ( foreseeing the mischief ) forbid those that had it , from taking Interest for the Loan of it , from any but those whom they designed to impoverish by it : But since this prohibited use of it hath advanced it above its original institution , we must invent something else instead of it , as they who had the first Occasions of Money did invent Gold and Silver : And therefore this Necessity is no Cause to discourage us from proceeding in publick or private Affairs , but rather to force us upon an Invention which otherwise we should not find out . Third Assertion . That all Proposals for making Bills of Credit current Money directly , by Act of Parliament , can be of no use in this Invention . For , 1. These Proposals are Unjust , being more than the Law doth in relation to the Coyns of the Kingdom . The Law never makes the Coyns of the Kingdom to be current in any Payments but where they are agreed to be paid , but these Proposals would make these Bills current in Payments , in which they were never agreed for , therefore they are unjust . 2. They are Illegal : I mean , they are an Inversion of Laws , which the Legislative Power have no power to do ; their Name defines their power not to be absolute , but only a power of making Laws ; and the intent of all Laws being for the preservation of Life and Property , whatever violates this Intent , is no Law. Should an Act pass , that every Man in the Kingdom should kill himself , or give his Estate to any one else that would do it for him , this would be no Law , nor any Man's Life or Estate bound by it . Now some Men have turned their Properties into Land , and some into Money , and all by Agreements with one another ; and should an Act pass , that a Man who hath agreed for , and purchased 500 l. per Annum in Land , should convey that Estate to any Man who would pay him 10000 l. in Gold or Silver , this would be no Law ; then by the same parity of Reason , should an Act pass that any Man who hath contracted for 10000 l. to be paid him in Money , should assign this Contract to any one , who would convey to him 500 l. per Annum in Land , this would be no Law ; for if such Acts should be admitted as Laws , they put an end to all Laws . Men cann't deal but by Agreements with one another , and if the Law will invert those Agreements , this puts an end to all dealing , and therefore these Proposals are Illegal , by which I hope I shall not be censured as irreverent of the Legislative Power , for I mention this in reverence to those Laws of which they are the Legislators . I don't say , but one Man may by Conquest get an absolute Power over another , but this is by Usurpation and Wrong , and not by Law ; for all Laws are the Agreements of Men , and no Man ever by his own Agreement delivered himself into the disposal of an absolute Power . God himself ( tho' a supream Power , and absolute over all ) doth not demand Man to deliver himself up into his Power as absolute , but treats with him by a Law of Justice , in which he makes himself a Party , and stands obliged to the performance of several things , as the Condition of Man's Obedience , and therefore for man to assume a right of Government by an absolute Power , is to set himself above God. 3. These Proposals are impracticable , and ( should they be granted ) would be ineffectual . Suppose an Act should pass , that a tender of a Bill of 100 l. should be a sufficient tender of 100 l. contracted for in lawful Money of England , and the People should think themselves bound by this as a Law , then their study would be to evade this Law , by changing their Contracts from lawful Money of England to some other Species , As so many Ounces of Gold and Silver , which would not be construed to be lawful Money of England , and so then the Act would not reach it ; and if the Act should follow these Contracts , and be changed as often as the Contracts , it must at last be so general , that a tender of a Bill for payment of 10 l. should be a good tender for all Commodities agreed to be delivered of the value of 10 l. and so when a Man had contracted for a Horse , he should have a Bank Bill delivered him to ride on , and therefore the Proposals are impracticable , and ( if granted ) would be ineffectual . 4. These Proposals are fallacious , and carry a Cheat in the bottom ; for the Bills being given out for payment of Money , if the Law releases the payment of the Money , and makes the Bill it self a good tender , there 's nothing left to answer the Debt but the Paper or Parchment on which the Bill is written , which is worth nothing , and therefore the Proposals are fallacious , and carry a Cheat in the bottom : And for all these Reasons they can be of no Use in this Invention , of finding out another Species of Money than Gold and Silver . Fourth Assertion . That this Species must be made of something that hath all the Qualities of Money . Money hath these several Qualities : First , The Mettal of which it is made is Valuable , from the other Uses made of it ; for Silver and Gold do not receive their Value from being made Money , but Money receives its value from being made of Silver and Gold : For Money ( as Money ) hath no other value than Figures or Counters , by which Men keep Accounts with one another ; but because Money is now become a common Pledge , it must be made of something that hath in it self a real Value from other Uses , whereby whoever hath these Tokens , may purchase any Commodity with them , according to their Value in weight in all other places as well as where the Money was coined , and therefore nothing can be made Money but what is thus valuable , from the other Uses made of it . The Second Quality of Money is Durableness and Incorruption , which is also Necessary . The Third Quality is Divisibleness into greater or lesser-peices , without which it cannot be used as Money . Fourthly , The Value of each piece is certified by the stamp , without which it could not be used as Money , by the common People . Fifthly , The Title thereof is readily transferrable ; the Delivery only makes it a Title : And this is as necessary for making it money as any of the other qualities : For were the Titles of Land transferred to the Titles of Money , it would cease to be Money , notwithstanding all its other qualities ; were it necessary to have a Lease and Release , Feofment or Bargain and Sale , and ( if it came by the Wife ) a Fine , to the Transferre of every peice of money , the Charge and Trouble of this would soon reduce our Nobles to Nine-pences . Now all these qualities being Necessary to Money , nothing that wants either of these qualities can be Money , Therefore this Species must be made of something that hath all these Qualities . Fifth Assertion . That whatever is capable of all these Qualities of Money , is capable of being made Money . The Philosophers define all Substances by Qualites ; they say , That whatever hath all the qualities of a thing , ceases to be a likeness , and is become that very thing . Now I don't say , that whatever hath all the qualities of Money , doth thereby become Gold and Silver , but it becomes Money . Gold is money , and Silver is money , and yet Gold is not Silver , nor Silver Gold. Things of different Substances may be put to the same use ; Brick and Stone , Brass and Copper , Lead and Iron , may be all adapted to the same Uses , being stamped into the same Forms ; Therefore whatever is capable of all the Qualities of Money , is capable of being made Money . Sixth Assertion . That the Securities on Lands are capable of all the Qualities of Money , and therefore they are capable of being made Money . First , The Lands on which the Securities are charged , have in themselves a real Value , from the other Uses made of them , which need not be enumerated . Secondly , They are durable and incorruptible : The Earth is the great Store-house of the World , where all the magazines of Life and Defence are kept sweet and safe . Thirdly , These Securities are divisible into greater or lesser Summs . Fourthly , The Value of each Security may be certified by a stamp given to it . Fifthly , The Title of these Securities may be transferrable , by delivery only : And all this is proved by Fact ; And therefore these being all the Qualities of Money , and the Securities of Lands being capable of all these Qualities , they are capable of being made Money . Seventh Assertion . That these Securities of Lands being thus formed into the Qualities of Money , it is in the Power of the Owners of the Lands themselves to make these Securities to be Effective and Lawful Money of England , By reserving the Rents of their Lands payable in them . First , This would make them effective Money : The use of Money is to buy Commodities , now these Securities will buy Land , and therefore they will buy all Commodities . The common definition of Money , That 't is Money that buys Land , is comprehensive of all the uses of it ; for whatever will buy Land will buy all Commodities . What we call Commodities is nothing but Land severed from the Soil : The Owners of the Soil in every Country have the sale of all Commodities of the Growth of that Country , and consequently have the power of giving Credit in that Country , and therefore whatever they will accept for their Commodities is Money . Man deals in nothing but Earth ; the Merchants are the Factors of the World , to exchange one part of the Earth for another : The King himself is fed by the labour of the Ox , and the cloathing of the Army , and the victualing of the Navy , must all be paid for to the Owner of the Soil , as the ultimate Receiver , and whatever the ultimate Receiver will demand or accept , must be a Rule for the intermediate Receivers to govern themselves by : All the other Contracts of the Kingdom must follow the Reservation of the Rents ; and hence 't is that all the present Contracts of the Kingdom are agreed to be paid in Money , because the Rents of the Lands are reserved payable in it ; and therefore if these Rents were reserved in the Securities of Land , form'd into the Qualities of Monies , ( which we call Bills ) it would force other Contracts to be made payable in these Bills , and consequently make these Bills effective Money . Secondly , As they would thereby become effective Money , so they would become Lawful Money of England ; because the Law would compel the payment of them . The Law of England hath given no other sanction to Gold or Silver , than to certifie the value of it , to tell the People what it is , that when they make Contracts about it , they may know what they do . The Law saith that such a piece of Money , stamped into the King's Coin , shall be esteemed five shillings of lawful Money of England , whereby whoever makes a Contract to pay five shillings of lawful Money of England , knows what he is to deliver , and he knows that the delivery of that piece will be a good discharge of his Contract . But the Law never compels any person to make these Contracts , nor ever compels the payment of this Money , or makes the tender thereof to be a good payment , in any case , but where it so agreed between the Parties ; and this is no more but what the Law doth to any other thing contracted for , as well as Money : The Law no more admits Gold or Silver Money to be a tender for Corn , or Cattle , contracted to be delivered , then it doth admit Corn or Cattle to be a tender for Gold or Silver Money contracted to be delivered , for the Law respects nothing but the agreement of the Parties ; and by the same reason that the Law obliges the payment of Gold and Silver , it would oblige the payment of these Bills , in case they were agreed to be paid : And therefore it being in the power of the Owners of the Lands , to reserve their Rents payable in these Bills ; and the other Contracts of the Kingdom being govern'd by the Reservation of the Rents , and the Law compelling the performance of those Reservations and Contracts , it is in the power of the Owners of the Lands to make these Bills effective and lawful Money of England , by reserving their Rents payable in them . Eighth Assertion . That Lands thus formed into the Qualities of Money , are more Vseful and Valuable than Gold and Silver , or any other Commodities severed from the Soyl. First , They are more Useful : Gold and Silver serve but for one use at one time , while they are used for Money , they can be used for nothing else , and while they are used for any thing else , they can't be used for Money : But Lands may be converted into Money , without loosing their other Faculties ; they serve for both uses at the same time , the Owners keep the Possession , and receive the Profits of the Soil , while the Securities thereof are used for Money ; and this is what cannot be done in Securities of Pledges , or Pawns of Commodities severed from the Soil ; for when the Owner makes these a Security , he must part with them out of his possession , and can make no use of them 'till he hath redeemed them . 2. As they are more Useful , so they are more Valuable : What serves for two uses at once , is more valuable than what serves but for one ; if Silver and Gold could serve for Money and Plate both at the same time , or if Commodities severed from the Soil , could retain their own natural uses , and also serve for Securities of Money at the same time , they would both be double the value they now are ; for by loosing one of their uses , they loose the value at which they are valu'd in respect of that use ; therefore Lands retaining their own natural use , while they are made Money , are more Useful and Valuable than Gold and Silver , or any other Commodity severed from the Soil . Ninth Assertion . That it will be in the Power of the Bank from whom these Bills are issued , to make them more Valuable than other Money , by accepting them at a higher Rate , and that they will be Gainers thereby . The Profit of a Bank depends upon the Credit of their Bills , and the Credit of their Bills depends upon their making them more Valuable than Money ; and the making their Bills more valuable than Money depends on their accepting of them at a higher Rate than Money . Money and Bills never keep long at a par ; if Bills are not better than Money , they 'll soon be worse : If Money gets the upper Hand of Credit , it puts an end to all Credit . There is at this day no Credit in the Kingdom . Credit is when Men choose Bills rather than Money , and not when they take them only because they can't receive Money . The present Credit of the Kingdom is no more than the Credit of a man who can't pay his Debts , and therefore gives Bond , which his Creditors are forced to accept for want of money . The Bank of England have issued out Bills which they cannot pay , and so the People that have their Bills must keep them . But there is no fresh Money brought into their Bank for their Bills , without which no Credit can be maintain'd : And they finding great Demands upon them , immediately raised the Interest upon their Bills , hoping thereby to keep those Bills which were out against them from being demanded of them , and to draw in fresh Monies into them : But this proved so ineffectual , that their Bills at Interest are at no more value than their Bills without Interest , which shews plainly , that the giving Interest on Bills doth add no Credit to a Bank. For raising the interest on the Bills of the Bank , raises the Interest of Monies out of the Bank , and so keeps the Monies from them . The more a Bank raises their Interest to overtake the Money , the faster the Money goes from them , raising the Interest 1 l. per Cent. upon Bills payable at demand , raises it 2 l. per Cent. on Common Securities ; therefore a Bank should always fall their Interest as fast as others endeavour to raise it . Credit is no more to be begged or bought than it is to be forced ; giving Interest on Bills is begging of Credit , or buying of Money , which may be done by a common way of mortgaging , ( without keeping Monies to pay the principal at demand ) : And it had been Policy for the Bank of England ( when they had got the Coin raised from clipt to full Money ) to have raised the value of their Bills with it , by accepting them in Reciepts of Interest , from the Crown and others , at more than Money , and then they had kept down the Price of Money below their Bills , which is now got above them : For let Money be of what Weight it will , if those who have the Receipt of it , will accept Bills at a higher rate , this doth depreciate the Money , and keeps the Bills above them : And therefore in case this Land-Bank be established by Parliament , ( as is proposed ) 't is intended that the Interest of 3 l. 10 s. per Cent. shall be reduced to 3 l. per Cent. to all those who will pay it in the Land-Bank Bills , which will advance the Credit of the Bank , and consequently their Profit ; by enabling them to lend great quantities . A Bank is like a Merchant , whose Gains don't arise from the extravagant Profit of any particular Commodity , but from the greatness of his Trade ; for the Retailers get more per Cent. than the Merchants : Therefore it will be in the power of the Bank from whence these Bills are issued , to make them more valuable than other Money , by accepting them for more than other Money , and that they will be Gainers thereby . Tenth Assertion . That this Invention falling the Interest of Money , will advance the Rents of Lands . That this Invention ( succeeding ) will fall the Interest of Money , needs no proof : But it hath been made a Question , Whether the falling the Interest of Money will advance the Rents of Lands ? And it must be confessed , that Lands already improved to the heighth , are not capable of this advantage ; but most of the Lands in England are capable of being improved to double their present Value ; in Cities and Towns by Building , and in the Countreys by Planting and Manure , and lye unimproved for want of Money ; Therefore this Invention falling the Interest of Money will advance the Rents of Lands . Eleventh Assertion . That advancing the Value of Lands in the Purchase , is equal to advancing the Rents . That the falling the Interest of Money advances Lands in the Purchase , needs no Proof : But it hath been a Question , Whether advancing the Lands in purchase be an advantage ? because the Value of the money for which they are sold is thereby depreciated : And it is certain that the falling the Interest of Money doth depreciate the Value of it , as to the Purchase of the Soil of the Lands , but it doth not depreciate it as to the Purchase of any Commodities severed from the Soil . The Interest of Money is an Annual Profit , and therefore doth affect nothing but what hath an Annual Increase . The Soil of Land is an Annual Interest to the Owner , and therefore the price thereof rises and falls with the Interest of Money , which is Annual : But the Commodities severed from the Soil lye all in Principal , and therefore the Interest of Money being Annual , doth not affect them . The Price of Corn and Cattle don't rise and fall with the Interest of Money ; or if at any time they happen so to do , it is not caused by the Rate of Interest , but some other cause which happens at that time ; Therefore the advancing the Value of Lands in the purchase is equal to advancing the Rents . Indeed , if Men were to live with the Beasts , ranging up and down the Earth , and taking their Food where they found it , Lands would be of no value in respect of Sale ; but ever since the Commencement of the Laws of Property , Money is as necessary as Bread ; and therefore whether Land will yield a hundred quarters of Corn , or will sell for as much as will buy it , is equally beneficial to the Owner . Twelfth Assertion . That this Invention perfected will extinguish the Interest of Money upon Lands , and thereby make the Lands inestimable . The Securities of Lands are now as valuable as money , or else money would not be lent upon them : And the Reason why the Owners are forced to borrow money upon these Securities , is because they can't make money of them : If therefore these Securities could be made Money , there would be no Occasion of borrowing money upon them , and consequently the Interest of money on these Securities would be extinguished , which makes the Lands to be inestimable ; for all Value is by comparison , two things of equal goodness are the value of one another , and the purchase of Lands being valued by the rate of the Interest of money , if this Interest be extinguished , there is nothing left to make the comparison whereby to value the Lands , and therefore they must be inestimable . Pleasure and Profit are all the Accomplishments of Life ; now the natural produce of Lands supplyes all the Pleasures of Life ; and if the Policy of Man can add the profit of money to it , all the accomplishments of Life are contained in it . Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci. But this is the Invention perfected , which we must not promise our selves to see . I only mention it , to shew that the falling of Interest by th●… Invention , will be a growing improvement to Lands , even to an infinity , whereby to encourage the beginning of the Invention . I know the Mercurial Projectors of the Age skip to the top of their Notions at the first jump , like the Mother of Zebeaee's Children , who made it her first Prayer , that the two highest seats in Heaven might be reserved for her two Sons : But this shews their ignorance of Nature , who never leaps ; all ascent is by climbing , Men grow from Children , Trees from Seeds , and Learning from the Element of Letters ; I don't doubt but Lands by this Invention may be advanced to a hundred Years purchase ; but this must proceed from the Practice and Improvement of the Invention , and not the Notion of it only : If the growth of this Invention will yearly advance the value of Land one Years purchase , ( which may modestly be expected ) it is in effect doubling the present Rents . Thirteenth Assertion . That though this Improvement added to the present Value of Lands be unexpected , and surprizing , it is nevertheless plain and true , and agreeable to other productions in Nature and Arts : And though it is plain and true , it is never the less valuable , but rather the more admirable . When God had made Man , he gave him a view of all the Creatures made before him , pleasant to the eye , and pleasant to the taste , and good for food ; which was a compleat Entertainment to him , as he apprehended , for he felt no Appetite in himself , but what had a suitable Object to gratifie it . And yet all this while Man had within him a dormant Affection , ( which he did not know of ) capable of a higher Enjoyment than all his other Appetites , and this lay concealed from him , 'till the Creator presented him with his Female ; who being an Object suited to that Affection , gave him the first feeling of it . Love is an Affection contracted by the Eye , and therefore 'till the Object was produced , the Affection lay dormant , ( as Fire doth in Stones 'till they are smitten ) : If therefore the Fairest Aspect of the Creation was presented to Man , after he had ended his Expectations of being entertained with any more Objects , and consequently That highest pleasure of Life was added to him , after he had ended his Expectations of any further happiness , why should it seem strange , that other Qualities in Nature should lye concealed , 'till the Wisdom of Providence thinks fit to produce them . How many things now common in the World were kept hid from Ages past ? as the virtue of the Load-stone , and thereby the discovery of America , the use of Guns , Printing , Glass , &c. The Earth is the great Staple of the World , made by God to be manufactured and improved by Man , and perhaps the things not yet seen are greater than the things already seen . And tho' we can have no Notion of them till they are produced , yet when they are made to appear , the Concealment of them seems more miraculous than the Discovery , for the making them to appear , makes them plain , and the plain appearance of them raises an admiration , that they were never before observed . Inventions are Mysteries found out , and what is not plain , is not found out , but remains a Mystery still , so that the Author of an Invention ( 〈◊〉 make it perfect ) must thereby loose the Honour of it , and be despised , as producing a common thing . And that this may be my Fate , is the top of my Ambition ; however this proves the Assertion , That tho' this Improvement added to the present value of the Lands , seem extravagant , and be unexpected and surprising , it is nevertheless plain , and true , and agreable to other Productions in Nature and Arts : And tho' it is plain and true , it is never the less valuable , but rather the more admirable . Fourteenth Assertion . That therefore it can't be doubted but the Legislative Power will encourage this Invention , by reviving the Clauses relating to Lands , in the Act passed last Sessions , for Establishing a Land-Bank . When we address to our Superiours , for any thing to be done by them , it is Duty and Good Manners to consider , 1st . That the Notion and Intent of the thing we propose be useful and honest , in case it can be effected . 2dly . That the practice of it be made visible and plain , before we offer it : 3dly . That we prepare every thing ready for their Fiat , which is to give the Sanction ; that they may have nothing to do , but what can be done by none but themselves : Now that the Notion and Intent of forming these Securities of Lands into the Qualities of Money , and using them as Money , will be esteemed by the Legislative Power to be useful and honest , in case it can be effected , cannot remain a Doubt . Then the next Query is , Whether the practice of this Notion can be made visible and plain ? The first part of the Notion is the forming these Securities into the Qualities of Money , and this belongs to him that offers the Invention , for 't is not the Business of the Legislative Power to draw Settlements and Forms , those must be done by some one of that Science to which these Forms and Settlements relate . And that I may not seem to amuse with implicite terms , this Form is nothing but Division : The forming the Securities of Lands into the Qualities of Money , is no more than Dividing these Securities into smaller Summs . Division is the first thing in Form. In the Description of the Creation it 's said to be without Form , and void , 'till it was divided , The Light from the Darkness , and the Waters from the Dry Land ; and by these Lights , Eternity was divided , and sub-divided into Time , of Years , Days and Hours , for Man to keep his Accounts by ; for Eternity undivided is of no use to Man. Every thing is more or less valuable , as 't is more or less capable of Division . Now 'till these Securities were made divisible , all the residue of the Invention was impossible ; for if the Securities themselves are not capable of being formed into the Qualities of Money , it is not in the Power of the Parliament to make them so . But this first Part of the Invention is actually done , and hath shewed it self in all the parts of it . The 26 th . of October , 1695. was the first day of issuing out Bills charged upon Lands , ( which are the Securities thereof divided ) and these were the first Bills ( we hear of ) that have been charged upon Lands , and issued out for Money : And to give plain Instances that these Securities , so divided into Bills , are Money , the Mortgagees who had these Securities before they were divided , and were to receive the Monies due upon them , brought their Securities to the Bank , to be formed into Bills , and received back those Bills for their Money ; They brought the Bullion into the Bank , and took it back in Coin ; and for doing this the Owners of the Lands are content to pay a small Interest to the Bank , for keeping a Cash of other Monies , to answer these Bills as they are demanded , ( and this by the way may silence all Enquiries into the profit of the Bank ) : And in this manner there has been issued out forty five thousand Pounds in Bills , all which have been paid and repaid as Money , and the Bank had valued Estates for issuing out One hundred thousand pounds more , but fore-seeing the impossibility of maintaining a Credit in their Infancy , during the Regulation of the Coin , they stopt their Hands , and content themselves at present in paying their Bills already issued , and giving an undeniable demonstration of the first part of the Invention , by forming the Securities of Lands into the Qualities of Money , and thereby standing ready for the Sanction and assistance of the Legislative Power towards the perfecting of this Invention . What was passed by the Act of last Sessions , relating to Lands , and is now humbled represented to the Legislative Power , is , First , That the Subscribers may be incorporated , in order to stand seized of Lands to be conveyed to them , to prevent the charge or Fraud of Trustees . In the dividing the Securities of Lands , the Legal Estates thereof must be conveyed to Trustees , who are to stand seized in the first place for the Persons who have the Bills charged on the Lands , and afterwards in trust for the Owners of the Lands , who make the Conveyances ; and to prevent the Legal Estates from going to Heirs or Executors , there must be several Trustees in every Conveyance , which may occasion great Charge and Trouble in transferring the Securities , especially if the Trustees prove corrupt , ( which often happens in common Securities , amongst private Men ) : I have known a Mortgager forced to pay twenty Guineas to a parcel of Trustees , for sealing an Assignment of his Mortgage : Now this charge of Transferring Securities entailed on Freehold Estates , is as real Incumbrance upon them as Fines upon alienations are upon Copy-holds : And if ( as hath been observed ) the transferring the Titles of Land to Money , and making the assignment of every piece to be by Deed , would depreciate it , and incapacitate it from being Money , by the same reason the transferring the Titles of Money to Lands , and making the delivery only to be a Title , would ( of it self ) render them much more valuable ; and tho' the equitable Interests only ( which are the Bills ) can be assigned by Delivery , yet the less Charge is incident to transferring the Legal Estates , the more valuable the Lands will be , And this is the Intent of being Incorporated . A great part of the Towns and Trades in England have been incorporated by Kings or Parliaments , for the conveniency of doing their own Business . The Worsted-Weavers in Yarmouth and Lynn were each of them incorporated by Parliament , in 15 th . Hen. 8. with a power to have a Seal for their own Cloths , for no other reason than that it was before painful and costly for them to carry their Cloths to be sealed at Norwich , which they were obliged to by a former Act. And the School of Norleech in Gloucester-shire was Incorporated by Parliament , in 4. Jac. 1. upon the Opinion of three Lord Keepers , and two Judges , that they ought to be Incorporated , in order to stand seized of their own Lands ; for that the surviving Feoffee of the School-Lands went about to defraud the School , by making a long Lease to his own Son , under a small Rent . If therefore the Kings and Parliaments of England have incorporated so many Towns and Trades , for the conveniency of doing their business , and that the Parliament ( in the first of these Cases ) incorporated two Companies of Weavers , for preventing their trouble and charge in going to distant places ; and ( in the last Case ) incorporated a Countrey-School , to prevent frauds in their Trustees , can it be doubted that the present Legislative Power will deny the like conveniency for the better settling and improving all the Lands in the Kingdom ? and in this they have signified their pleasure already , by declaring ( in the Act passed last Sessions ) that the intent of the Incorporation was in order to lending Monies on Lands . The Second Thing contained in the last Act , and now humbly represented to the Parliament , is , The securing the Titles of the Lands after they are so settled : And this is intended by the Settlement already executed and practised , whereby it is declared that the Lands conveyed pursuant to that Settlement , ( as long as they stand so conveyed ) shall not be subject to any other Incumbrances than what shall be charged thereon by the Owners thereof , in the Register-Books of the Bank ; by which the Lawyers are of Opinion , that the Lands will be protected against any other future Incumbrance . But to put that out of all doubt , it was inserted in the Act , which can be no Unjustice to any , ( as a Register with a Retrospect might be ) being only the initiating of a voluntary Register , to be perfected by time . The Third Clause relating to Lands in the last Act , and now humbly represented , is , A power by publick sale to sell the Mortgaged Lands , in case the Money lent thereon by the Bank be demanded , and unpaid six years together ; and with the Money arising by sale to Discharge the Mortgage-Monies , returning the Overplus to the Owner of the Lands . And this will save Expences in Suits , which must otherwise be charged on the Lands . There are other Clauses for Transferring the Bills , Searching of Judgments , &c. for the better Security and Conveniency of the Bank. And that this Constitution may not be diverted from the end proposed and intended , we shall think it no Penalty that the Bank may be restrained from issuing out any Bills , but what shall be charged upon Lands conveyed unto them , which is more restrictive than all the Clauses drawn for that purpose by the late Opposers of the Act. Now all these being Conveniencies only , grantable by the Legislative Power , without charging any Mans Property , and the use of them seeming so necessary and advantagious , It cannot be doubted but the Legislative Power will encourage this Invention , by reviving these Clauses . Fifteenth Assertion . That it cannot be doubted but the Owners of the Lands will readily receive and use this Invention . Silver and Gold are Forreign Commodities , bought of those who are sometimes our Allies , and sometimes our Enemies , and we ( by virtue of our Agreements ) have made them Money , to the depreciating the value of our own Lands ; and shall not we ( by the same Agreements ) make Money of our Lands , which will cost nothing , and double the value of the Lands by doing it ? Never was any thing more eagerly received than Proposals for lowering the Interest of Money , insomuch that the Notions of it dispersed in common Pamphlets , brought men out of all Countreys , only to hear silly Men talk about it . Perhaps some Ceremonies may be used in the Order and precedency of coming into this Invention . When that Doctrine ( which we now profess to be our Religion ) was first vented in the World , the Priests and Rulers stood off , and would not meddle with it , because they were safely posted at the head of the Church and State , and had no occasion to expose their Reputation , by turning Projectors , and venturing upon a new thing , before they knew whether it would take or not ; and therefore they set the Publicans and Harlots ( who thought themselves to have most need of it ) to go in first , to try the Experiment ; but when they found that the thing would do , they all fell in to it one after another , 'till at last it came to be as scandalous to be out of it , as it was at first to be in it . I know the thing now proposed is New , and therefore I expect that those who are a cold must first blow this Coal , but when 't is once kindled , it can never want Fuel to maintain the Fire . We call them Fops who invent new Fashions , and yet we all follow them one after another ; some will have them in a Week , others in a Month , some in a Year after they are in , and some seven Years after they are out ; and so it is in the change of other Customs ; for if Men should be all of the same mind together , the crowd would hinder the doing the business they come about . Men fall into things one after another , as their Occasions and Inducements lead them . There is no Profit in the World made certain : All Gain depends upon the contingent Occasions and Necessities of others ; a Lawyer is not sure of Clients , nor a Physitian of Patients , nor a Landlord of Tenants , nor a Monied Man of any one to borrow of him , but they all expect the Necessities of others to support themselves by ; and therefore the present Necessities requiring the use of this Invention , it cannot be doubted but the Owners of the Lands will readily receive and use it ; and by so doing they enter into other Mens Labours , their Estates are improved to their Hands , without their Heads or Thoughts . Let but the reservation of their Leases be made thus , Yielding therefore the Summe of 100 l. in Lawful Money of England , Or in Bills of the Land-Bank , and This short Disjunctive makes the Bills Lawful Money of England , and the Owners of the Lands to be Bankers upon the Credit of their own Estates . Sixteenth Assertion . That a General Consent of the Kingdom to receive and use this Invention , would cause a sudden fall of the Price of Money , notwithstanding the practice and execution of it could not be immediately made general . By General I don't mean Universal , that every Man should set his Hand to it , but a common Approbation of it by those who know it . Men deal upon Prospects of what is like to be : Merchants and Ttraders have gotten Estates , by foreseeing the rise or fall of Commodities , and 't is observed amongst them , that an extravagant price of any Commodity doth produce a sudden fall , by putting Mens Heads to work to procure more of the same kind , or to invent something else instead of it . And did the present Owners of Money foresee a fall of it , by providing a Supply of another Species , they would part with it as they do with other Commodities , under the like apprehensions . There is no way to break Game-Houses but to keep out of them , nor any way to fall the price of Money , but to lessen the occasions of it . That therefore , &c. Seventeenth Assertion . That the Reviving these Clauses in the beginning of the approaching Sessions , will almost amount to an Vnanimous Consent of the Kingdom to receive and use this Invention ; and will thereby facilitate the raising the present Supplyes for the Government , by a sudden fall of the Price of Money . It is not intended by reviving these Clauses in the beginning of the Sessions , that the Supplies of the Government should be post-poned , but first provided for . The Government is the fence of the Kingdom , without which the Subjects cannot enjoy their Properties , and therefore to provide for our selves before the publick , is as if a Man should sow his Corn before he hath enclosed his Ground . And as our own Security obliges us to provide for future Defence , so Justice and Gratitude calls for the Arrears of the Army and Navy , who have fought upon the Honour of the Kingdom , to preserve us at home in Peace ; and therefore they who have enjoyed that repose , cannot truly call any thing their own , 'till they have made Provision to pay the utmost Farthing of so just a Debt . But the present Owners of Monies depending that there will be a Necessity of raising the value of the Coin , ( as the Term is ) will not deliver it out of their Possession to others , to receive the advantage of the rise , and 'till this matter be adjusted , they who want Money must pay Extortion instead of Interest . Now as to the thing it self of raising the Coin , to me it seems , As to past Contracts , to be an inversion of Agreements , ( of which I have before wrote my thoughts ) and as to future Contracts , to be wholly insignificant , for if I am to repay the same Money I receive , 't is no matter what the weight of it be . And upon the whole , it seems to have a Trick in it , which must be shewed but once , like the splitting of shares in Joint-stocks , to multiply them in the Hands of those whose they then are , that , before the fallacy is found out , they may sell them ( by number ) to others , who come to the right understanding of it by the fall of them in their own Hands : By which I would not be thought to reflect on those Gentlemen ( whose Opinions have seemed for it ) as designing any ill , for I own that my first apprehensions of it were different from what I have now hinted ; tho' I never read the Arguments in it , or ever concerned my self about it ; having waived the Study of it , to find out another Species besides it . And therefore I desire that what I have here offered as my present Conceptions of it , may not be taken as any part of my Argument . The Drift of this Essay is to depreciate the Value of our Gold and Silver , as it now is , by making another Species more valuable than that , by the acceptance of it at a higher rate . It is to undersell the Spaniards , by making Money of our home Manufacture , without any other charge than some Paper or Parchment ; and if the Legislative Power ( in the beginning of the approaching Sessions ) shall be pleased to declare their Resolution against raising the denomination of the value of the Coin , and will second that Resolution with reviving these Clauses , it will almost amount to a general Consent of the Kingdom to receive and use this Invention . An Act of Parliament is an Agreement of the Kingdom ; for tho' I have before ( by way of Argument ) supposed an Act to pass contrary to the Nature of Laws , yet it is not to be supposed that the Wisdom of the Legislative Power will ever do this in Fact. And I dare imitate the Prophet , to fore-tell , That a Bill of Revivor ( grounded upon these Reasons ) passed into a Law , will cause as sudden and unexpected a fall to the price of Money in England , as the Noise heard in the Camp of the Syrians did to the price of Provisions in the Seige of Samaria , and thereby give occasion to use the Acclamation of the Poet upon another Event , — Quod , optanti divum promittere nemo Auderet , volvenda dies én attulit ultrò . What Heaven durst not promise them that pray , Here 's of it self produced in a day . Eighteenth Assertion . That a Settlement of a Bank for Lands distinct by it self , without annexing it to the Supplyes of the Government , seems the best Establishment of it . The Government wanting their Supplies in Species of Gold and Silver , the Subscriptions for that purpose must be made by those who have the possession of the Money , who being ( for the greatest part ) Merchants and Traders , must thereby have the first possession of the Bank ; and they being unacquainted with the Securities of Lands , and accustomed to more present Gains then low Interest seems to them to be , they will endeavour to divert their Credit from Lands to what they apprehend more profitable , and of this we have had an Example in the Bank of England : Whereas if a Bank for Lands be established by it self , their Occasions for Money will arise by degrees , and may be raised by the Owners of the Land themselves , either in Money , or in Securities on their Lands , which ( by the assistance of this Invention ) will be equally useful as Money of Gold or Silver : That therefore , &c. Nineteenth Assertion . That a Bank thus established , will be a greater Security to the Government for the future , than a Bank set up for that purpose only . Cursed be he that divideth the Interest of the Government and People . Private Subjects have all along supplied the Government with Money , through the Bank of England as their Casheir , who have taken upon them to dispose of it as their own , and magnified themselves to the Publick for it , which hath put a Disobligation upon their Creditors , that those that have only the Receipt of the Money , should be esteemed the Owners of it : Now in this Bank here proposed , the Bank lends the Subjects , and enables them to execute the grateful office of lending the Money to the Publick with their own Hands , and to receive the Profit of it , and yet the Bank is as serviceable to the Crown , as if they lent them the Money directly , because it is incumbent on the Bank to pay the Bills , which is the most difficult part in all Accounts : And is not the Crown more secure in being supplied by a Bank , whose Securities are charged on the Lands , and their Credit supported by the Receipts of the Rents of the Kingdom , than by a Bank to which the King himself is forced to give the chiefest Credit by receiving their Bills in the publick Revenues , to his loss ? That therefore a Bank thus established will be greater Security to the Government for the future , than a Bank set up for that purpose only . Twentieth Assertion . That an Vnanimous Consent in this Establishment , would be a happy Event of the War. By the Constitution of the Government of England , the Execution of the Law is vested in the Body Politick of the King , that he may stand seiz'd thereof to the use of the Subjects , for preserving their Liberties and Estates ; and whenever that Trust is broken , the Subjects having no Court of Equity to appeal to , are driven to their Arms , and the Descent of his present Majesty with his Forreign Troops into England , was to head the Subjects against the Invasion of their Liberties , begun upon them by him , who then had the possession of the Crown , which being translated to his present Majesty , put him into the possession of the Law , and thereby the Subjects into the use of their Liberties under him . But to maintain this Possession , it was absolutely necessary to begin the War against a Forreign Power , who had made themselves formidable by unjust acquisitions from their Neighbours ; and this War hath and will cost us forty Millions of Money , directly advanced to maintain it , besides the Losses by Sea , and yet 't is the best Money that ever the Subjects spent ; for by this they have preserved the whole , which otherwise had been lost before now , and therefore according to that Saying , What is saved is got , the Expence and Loss of the War hath purchased three Kingdoms , with which we may rest well satisfied , without the fond Conceipt of the Conquest of France , which is to ask we know not what . But as a Reward to the Subjects for their Zeal and Bravery in expending so large a part of their present Possessions , to convey the Reversion of their Estates and Liberties to their Posterity , here seems a fair Opportunity offer'd ( occasion'd by the Expence of the War ) for improving their own Estates , with their Wives and Families at home , which is better than transplanting themselves to Forreign Conquests . Would but the Gentlemen of England for one Year spend as much time and pains in their several Countyes to promote this Invention , as they do to manure two Acres of Land , they would find the Improvements increasing upon them a sufficient Encouragement to proceed in it , 'till they had made themselves rich , and from their abundance the Necessities of the Poor would be supplyed . I can say truly , that the Miseries of the Poor do affect me , and yet I never had thoughts of Proposing any thing directly for their Releif , apprehending their chiefest dependance to be upon the Superfluities of the rich ; and this was the Provision made for them by the first Law of the World , which forbid the rakeing of the Corn , that the Poor might live upon the Gleanings , and the leavings of the Poor is the Provision for the Fowls of the Air — Whereas raising the Rates for the Poor , without adding something to those that are taxed , doth insensibly draw the Scot and Lot-men into the Poors-book , the Rates mulitiplying the Poor as fast as the Poor multiply the Rates — But let more be given to them who have the possession of much already , and somewhat of it will naturally fall to them that have nothing . As for the King himself , ( whose Success is our Safety ) I can't conceive him capable of any greater or less Enjoyment than his own Complacency in that Choice which hath descended upon him from Providence , to be the Deliverer of that People who have also chosen him for their Defender : And tho' his Allyance by Blood be the initiating of his Title to the Crown , yet his Election thereunto is his highest Personal Honour . To be a King is a mean thing in comparison of being made one . The Redeemer of the World was an Office of that state and dignity , that his Harbinger is declared to be the highest post of Honour that ever Man stood possessed of , and yet 't is said of this Redeemer , He gloryed not that he was an High Priest , but that he was made an High Priest : He did not magnifie himself that he was the Redeemer of the World , but that he was Chosen by God to be so . And I am glad to find my Arguments terminate here , for by this I know I have done , because I have run it where I can go no further : Nor did I know what I was going to do , when I first put Pen to Paper , or where I should begin or end , but having seen and ( for some years ) felt the extravagant rate of Money , I resolved to search the Pedigree of it , ( as Men do of Upstarts preferred above their Merit ) and if I should find it of an Honourable Descent , and absolutely necessary , I resolved to conceal it , but if I could trace its Original to be mean and inconsiderable , I resolved to expose it , thereby to vilifye it in Mens Thoughts , as not so indispensably necessary as 't is generally apprehended : Not but that Money is absolutely necessary , but not the very Money of Gold and Silver . And in pursuit of this Enquiry , I found that tho' the common use of this ( as of other things ) be obvious unto all , yet when we would dissect them , to search out the manner of their Subsistence and Operations , we find them all fastned down to the Root of Nature , by certain Fibers , which we must digg down to , and trace from thence into all the Labyrinths of Succession , feeling all our way by that thread . There are no Fractions in Nature , nor any things independant , they are all linked to one another in a continued Chain , which reaches from the Creation to Eternity : And I have so far endeavoured to imitate Nature in what I have written , as to argue from a Chain of Positions , successively depending upon one another , which is the most dangerous way of arguing , because if one Position happens to be false , it vitiates all that follow : But there is no finding out the Truth any other way . 'T is an easie matter to frame Sentences , and dance up and down with them and never be discovered whether they are true or false , because the Notions are not digested into such a Method , that either the Writer or Reader can judge of them : But when the Assertions are positive , and the Arguments to prove them follow immediately upon them , the Writer and Reader can the better judge of them , as they go along ; and if every individual be true by it self , then the whole is true altogether , or else not . And upon review of what I have written , it all seems to me to be true , or else I would not publish it ; but yet my Arguments may be fantastical and fallacious , tho' I don't know it , therefore I offer them to be scanned by others . Truth made manifest is the Foundation I have aimed at , and tho' my Assertions seem bold , I hope my Proofs do manifest them to be true ; and if in finding out the Truth I have spoken more plainly and freely of some things that have fallen into my Arguments , than otherwise I should do , I hope the Truth found out will excuse my manner of Enquiry after it . And to clench the Nail , I 'll venture to fling in a bolder Assertion than all the rest , That there is no other Foundation to build and support the Credit of the Kingdom upon , than the very thing hereby proposed : But this being a Negative ; I 'll let it stand to be falsifyed by those who will prove the contrary , by doing it . Nor do I say that there is nothing else to be done , but that this ought not to be left undone , for tho' the present Supplies could be otherwise raised , the growing Interest of Money will eat out the Kingdom , unless something be laid to the Root of it , to eat out that . The Interest of Money hath such a Spell in it , that were the whole Coin of the Kingdom but ten thousand Pounds , the Rate of Interest for that Summ would set a price upon all the Lands in England , which are computed at 15 Millions per Annum ; and the less principal Money there is , the higher the Interest rises , therefore there is no way to fall the Interest but to multiply the Principal . In the time of the Late Revolutions , upon reading a Bill in the House of Commons , Entituled , An Ordinance for suppressing the Horrible Sin of Adultery , a Member there moved that the Title might be , An Ordinance for the more secret committing the Horrible Sin of Adultery : And considering how Usury and Extortion have thriven under all the Laws made against them , the Titles of the Acts for that purpose might have been , For the more Artificial taking Extortion and Usury . Now in multiplying the Principal of Money , perhaps other Securities may be so formed , as to supply the use of Monies as well as the Securities on Lands . But the Credit of them must depend upon their Alliance with Lands , especially since the Owners of the Lands ( having Intimation of their Strength ) will be able to suppress any Credit that shall be set up in Prejudice to their Estates . And after all this , had I not a greater Authority to justifie my Assertions than all the Arguments I have used to prove them , I durst not be so bold ; but that I may not seem immodest by taking so much upon me , I own my self ignorant of many other Accomplishments , that I might attain to this , I have waved all Advantages in my Profession , to study A more convenient Settlement for Lands ; and therefore I hope the more Learned and Successful in that Science will not envy me , if I should be the Author of an Improvement in that point , and thereby entail upon my self the Despicable Name of a Projector for doing it : However as to that , every Man is either a Projector , by finding out New Forms , or a Mechanick by copying after them : And if they who give me the Character of the former , will please to accept the Title of the latter , I shall not think my self affronted : Especially since the Sages of the Law themselves , who have chosen that grave Sentence for their Motto , Nolumus Leges Angliae mutare , have been the Projectors of New Inventions in the Law , which by time have grown into Customs . The Titles of the greatest part of the Lands in England do depend upon an Invention of the Lawyers , in the manner of passing Recoveries to bar Estates Tail , notwithstanding the Statute of Westminster 2 nd . For tho' the Writs on which these Recoveries are grounded , were ancient , yet the setting up a Common Vouchee , the Appearance of all Parties without Proces , Execution and Seisin and Returns of the Writs being all done together in an instant , is a Project in the Law which by Custom hath gained the Name of A Common Recovery , and is now become a Common Assurance of Lands . And as the Titles of Lands do thus depend upon an Invention in the Law , so the manner now used for trying these Titles by Possessory Actions , ( termed Ejectments ) is an Invention in the Law , by the introducing of which the antient way of Tryals by real Actions is become so obsolete , That at a Call of Serjeants the Counts and Pleadings in Formedons being transcribed from Precedents , are delivered to these Graduates , only to be read over by them , as Reliques of the Law , amongst other Antiquated Ceremonies used at that Solemnity . And if any thing be expected from me , relating to the differences which have happened from passing the Act last Sessions , I must say no more of it here , than That all the Charges and Aspersions cast upon us from thence , and the impeaching the Justice of the Parliament for establishing another Bank , while THE Bank of England ( whose Name or Essence never extended beyond 1200000 l. limitted them by the Act ) is in being , are so vain and ridiculous , that to bind them up with the Names of God and the King , ( whom I have dared to insert in this Essay ) would render me guilty of prophaneness and irreverence . Lincolns-Inn , Septemb. 1696. J. Asgill . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A25994-e40 Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved . Proved .