THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 352 
 V.9
 
 A LETTER, 
 
 CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS ON SOME OF 
 THE EFFECTS OF OUR 
 
 PAPER CURRENCY, 
 
 AND ON THE ^:EANS OF 
 
 REMEDYING ITS PRESENT, 
 
 AND 
 
 PREFENTING ITS FUTURE EXCESS. 
 
 £onti0u: 
 
 PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND \V. DA VIES, 
 
 STRAND. 
 
 By G. SIDNEY, Northumberland-street. 
 
 1810,
 
 ADVERTISEMENT, 
 
 In offering these few pages to the Public, 
 the writer is influenced by a desite, Which 
 fie has tibt the vatiity, indeed, to suppose 
 •Urill be gratified much the sooner in conse- 
 quence of his exertions alone, to rempve 
 What he conceives to be a sorely-afflicting, 
 ^nd widely- spreading evil. Facts, however, 
 whieh seemed to him as clear as the sun at 
 ttbon-day, — Propositions which he held to be 
 of the nature of truisms — if they have not 
 isbmetimes been boldly denied, have not 
 always been candidly acknowledged, by 
 men who, in general, are able enough to see 
 and judge right. Whilst, on the other hand, 
 tenets have been avowed, and attempted to 
 be supported, which appear to him utterly 
 subversive of justice, and manifestly tending 
 to the ruin of the nation. He pretends not 
 to novelty of doctrine or argument — though 
 perchance he may have stumbled upon it. His 
 arrows, it is likely, have all been shot before.
 
 It is evident, however, that they have not 
 yet brought low the giant against which 
 they may have been directed. Whether 
 they have been sharpened or blunted — more 
 or less skilfully aimed by the present assail- 
 ant, — will be better known when their effect 
 has again been tried. It is true,^ the mon- 
 ster has hitherto borne a charm about it, — 
 but the powers which bestowed the charm, 
 will surely not permit it to prevail for ever 
 ag'ainst the arms of reason and truth. * Yet, 
 whether reason and truth do not aid it is 
 first to be determined.' And this is a ques- 
 tion within the scope of that, with a view 
 to the determination of which the dele- 
 gated Council of the Commons has actually 
 been occupied, and that council^ it is said, 
 has actually pronounced the propriety of 
 speedily dissolving the eharm, of revoking 
 the edict of inviolability, which has so 
 many years been kept in fbrce.
 
 A LETTER, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 Observations on some of the Effects of our 
 Paper Currency. 
 
 Dear * * * 
 
 I AM not surprized at seeing once more the 
 threadbare hexameter — 
 
 " Tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illls,"!!! 
 
 which, as long as the world endures, fur- 
 nished as it is with human beings, will 
 ever be applicable to the time being. The 
 triple note of admiration, however, with 
 which you have adorned the adage, is a 
 mode of punctuation which does noc appear 
 to have been adopted by any of the old 
 editors ; but is pathetically intended by you, I 
 presume, to apply to this time in particular.
 
 You cast your eyes over your old weekly 
 account book ; you notice the entries that 
 were made there, five and twenty, or thirty, 
 years ago, and are too well satisfied of the 
 fact, that the pound note and shilling of 
 1810, will not procure more than half, or 
 two-thirds, of the provisions which a guinea 
 did in those times. Should your memory 
 have failed you, which, in matters of that 
 nature, is not likely to have been the case, 
 you see it recorded, in your own legible 
 hand writing, what was the condition 
 of things in the days that are passed. — You 
 shrug up your shoulders, deprecate the 
 frequency and long continuance of wars, 
 and their numerous train of evils ; the 
 heavy weight of taxes they bring along w4th 
 and leave behind them. To these you ascribe 
 the distressing change which you know, and 
 feel, has been effected, not only in your house- 
 hold expenditure, but in the aggregate of 
 your comforts and enjoyments. — You had 
 more meat from your butcher — more bread 
 from your baker; you distributed more to 
 the infant and aged poor, well-accustomed 
 to your hospitable threshold; and, notvvith-
 
 standing you then maintained your children 
 at home, your tradesmen's bills amounted 
 to much less than they amount to at pre- 
 sent — your equipage, though not shewy, 
 was respectable — you felt easy in your cir- 
 cumstances, and were happy in the reflection, 
 that you were making a decent future 
 provision for your family. But that recol- 
 lection must now be painful to you. War 
 and its consequences are indeed severe 
 calamities — many mothers have mourned 
 for their children — many wives for their 
 husbands. Our luxuries and our comforts, 
 (to descend to a less afflicting part of the 
 theme) have been abridged — the annually- 
 allotted savings for our children have 
 increased less rapidly, if we have not 
 positively diminished them — nay, sacrilegi- 
 ously entrenched upon the very capitals of 
 our ancestors. The taxes arc truly burthen- 
 some. — But the worst evils of war we have 
 never felt, — and may this country never 
 feel them. 
 
 You are wrong, however, to attribute the 
 vast difference, \\ hich, with dismay, you be- 
 B 2
 
 hold in comparing your account of seventeen 
 hundred isnd eighty, or eij>hty-five, with that 
 of eighteen hundred and ten, solely to the 
 operation of the taxes. You say there can 
 be no doubt as to the duties imposed upon 
 your house, your windows, your horses, and 
 your carriage ; and that it is easy enough to 
 perceive, there may be a multitude of taxes 
 affecting the prices of many articles of con- 
 sumption, besides those which are the imme- 
 diate objects of taxation.^— That of thisnature 
 are taxes imposed upon articles of general 
 necessity — upon candles, soap, and leather, — ^ 
 since those who are employed in raising and 
 manufacturing these, or any other com- 
 modities, must, (at least in this country) 
 receive such wages as w411 enable them to 
 procure the former ; and if the w^ages of 
 labour be increased, the price of the articles 
 produced, or worked up by that labour, must 
 also be increased. 
 
 I will not dispute with you upon the truth 
 of the last observation, though it might very 
 candidly be questioned, whether an increase 
 *jn the \\ ages of such as are employed in
 
 agriculture does not, in a great measure, if 
 not altogether, fall upon the owner of the 
 land — so as partly,if not wholly, to exonerate 
 the consumer of the article produced. But 
 how does all this affect the point under con- 
 sideration ? What additional taxes have been 
 imposed upon these articles of necessity ? 
 Examine the several items in your aforesaid 
 weekly account book — for it affords instances 
 of many articles of necessity, whereon 
 no duties have been imposed, whilst at the 
 same time it affords instances of the vast 
 increase in their price. What has been the 
 additional duty of Excise upon candles and 
 soap, within the period of which I am 
 speaking; and have not other articles of much 
 greater importance, namely, butter, cheese, 
 corn, and butchers' meat, and fuel, continued 
 wholly free from such duty? But have not 
 likewise coarse linen, and woollen cloths, 
 continued so ? Has any additional duty 
 been laid on leather used for shoes .> 'Tis 
 true, the old duties upon salt, sugar, tea, and 
 malt, have been repealed, and heavier duties 
 are now levied upon them. But how httle 
 of these articles is generally consumed by the
 
 labourer ?* — Enough, I will acknowledge, 
 to make it questionable, whether such duties 
 ought to have been imposed — but too little 
 to raise any reasonable ground for supposing 
 that they have occasioned an increase in the 
 price of the wages of labour, sufficient to 
 account, in any degree worthy of our 
 present notice, for the increase in the price 
 of the other commodities to which I have 
 alluded. 
 
 How, then, can it be said, that the taxes 
 have occasioned this difference in price ? 
 
 * It was supposed, at the time when the additional duty 
 of five shillings per bushel was imposed upon salt, that 
 the additional sum to be annually paid by the labouring 
 class, in consequence of that duty, amounted upon an 
 average to two shillings and sixpence for each family. 
 And if any one will give himself the trouble to calculate 
 the annual sum which is paid by the same class, upon an 
 average in respect of the additional duties upon sugar, 
 tea, and malt, — (not forgetting that the use of malt is 
 very far frqin being general, even amongst the men, and 
 that of sugar and tea, almost confined to the women) I 
 doubt not he will soon satisfy himself, that it bears but a 
 very trifling proportion to the increase in the ^^'ages of 
 labour.
 
 Abandon your prejudices — no longer fancy 
 that to be the consequence of the taxes, 
 which, upon a fair examination, you cannot 
 perceive how the taxes can materially affect. 
 Their direct and indirect perceptible operation 
 is extensive and alarming enough. The cir- 
 cumstances of the times in which we live 
 have called for extraordinary exertions and 
 corresponding sacrifices. It may be worth 
 while, however, to enquire a little further 
 for the cause which has produced this rapid 
 advance in the price of goods in general, that 
 if practicable and prudent so to do, we may 
 remove it. 
 
 Does the labourer who is employed in 
 raising or manufacturing these articles of 
 necessity, though his wages be increased, 
 enjoy more of the comforts of life than he 
 formerly did ? Is he more capable of main- 
 taining hisinfant family? Does he makefewer 
 applications for assistance to the overseers of 
 his parish, than in the times when a peck 
 loaf cost him not more than twenty-pence 
 or two shillings ? — It cannot be pretended. 
 Neither, then, ought it to be pretended.
 
 8 
 
 that this advance in the price of goods pro- 
 ceeded originally from any advance in the 
 wages of labour, which itself must rather 
 have proceeded from an advance in the price 
 of goods. 
 
 We have occasionally experienced bad 
 harvests — the usual supplies of tallow and 
 potash were for a time interrupted, — and the 
 prices of grain and candles, and soap, were 
 raised accordingly. The finer sort of wool, 
 from its extreme scarcity, real or pretended, 
 has also of late been greatly enhanced in 
 value, which has led to an increase of 
 demand, and consequently of price, for the 
 coarser sorts ; but I speak not of such tem- 
 porary advances as these, which are sooner 
 or later reduced, and the particular causes of 
 which are sufficiently manifest — but of the 
 continually-growing price of almost all 
 commodities whatsoever. 
 
 Has our soil been less cultivated ? Hat^J 
 the skill and ingenuity of our engineers and 
 mechanics been cramped or lethargied ? 
 Have the labourers stood idle in the vine-
 
 yard ? On the contrary, have not exten 
 sive wastes been enclosed, brou;rht into 
 tillage, and their produce abundantly aug- 
 mented ? Where nought but rush and moss, 
 or furze and heath, grew before, are not ricli 
 liieadows and furrowed fields to be seen, smil- 
 ing with numerous flocks and herds, or with 
 loaded ears of corn ? Have not a variety of 
 ^bridges, iron rail-ways, turnpike roads and 
 canals, been formed to facilitate the convey- 
 ance of the productions of the surface and 
 bowels of the earth, to and fro, throughout 
 -all parts of the kingdom ? Have not our ma- 
 nufactories been enlarged and multiplied to an 
 extent that is amazing ? Our machinery 
 improved to such excellence, that in many 
 instances it has been brought to perform the 
 same quantity of work as formerly, nay, 
 infinitely more, with half the labour, and in 
 half the time ? and shall it be maintained, 
 notwithstanding all this, that the supplies of 
 food have been diminished, — that the work 
 of our manufactories has been retarded, — 
 that no encouragement has been afforded to 
 them, — that all things have hence become 
 more valuable, and of greater price ? Or,
 
 10 
 
 shall it be said, contrary to the reason and 
 experience of mankind, that the very im- 
 provements and facilities which we have 
 slightly recounted, have eventually tended 
 only to enable the farmer and manufacturer 
 to impose upon the consumer ? Shall it 
 not rather be confessed, that some most 
 powerful cause must have operated to pre- 
 vent a reduction oT price in the common 
 articles of food, and all other articles, the 
 production of which has been so accelerated 
 and multiplied by our agricultural and 
 mechanical improvements, and fresh-ac- 
 quired means of intercourse ? 
 
 I leave it to those who are able to shew, 
 what other cause has contributed to the 
 increase in the price of such necessaries as 
 I have mentioned, besides that which, to 
 my mind at least, is nearly adequate to the 
 effect. I mean the enormous increase of 
 money, compared with that of the commo- 
 dities which it is employed to circulate. 
 — It is a principle admitted, I believe, by all 
 who bestow the least consideration upon 
 the subject, that the quantity of money.
 
 11 
 
 whether it be bulhon, coin, or paper money, 
 (tor they all serve the purpose of a circulat- 
 ing medium) be increased in a greater ratio 
 than the quantity of commodities, uhich 
 it is employed to circulate, its value will 
 be diminished proportionably. Or, in other 
 words, the nominal, or money-priceof things, 
 will be proportionably diminished. For, 
 although it be evident that an increase in 
 the price of divers particular articles may, 
 and often does, take place, notwithstand- 
 ing the relative quantities of such articles, 
 and the money employed to circulate them, 
 together with other commodities, continue 
 the same ; yet that is a circumstance to be 
 ascribed to causes generally, if not always, 
 discoverable, — as in cases of increased 
 demand for those articles, or of taxes newly 
 imposed upon them. But if the money - 
 price of all commodities be increased in any 
 considerable degree, whilst the demand for, 
 and supply of them, appear to continue the 
 same, and no other cause for such increase, 
 than the positive increase of money, can 
 be discovered, it is natural to conclude that 
 it must proceed from this; nay the general
 
 12 
 
 increase of price, if not otherwise to be ac- 
 counted for, justifies a strong presumption, 
 that the relative quantity of money has 
 been increased, though no other proof can 
 be adduced that such has actually been the 
 case. 
 
 Had the absolute quantity of money 
 continued stationary, the nominal price of 
 the commodities, which I have above par- 
 ticularly referred to, must doubtless have 
 been diminished, in consequence of the 
 vast increase of the quantity of comm.o- 
 dities in general. The trade and commerce 
 of the country would have required it. 
 Had the quantity of money kept pace with 
 that of other commodities in general, but 
 not exceeded it, there should have appeared 
 no alteration in the price, the nominal price, 
 of the latter. — The alteration, however, is 
 most apparent; and whilst we have most po- 
 sitive evidence of the flourishing state of our 
 agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, we 
 have the strongest grounds of proof that the 
 quantity of money has increased in a still 
 greater proportion.
 
 13 
 
 For it is further to be observed, that 
 the troubles which so long agitated the 
 neighbouring country, and the calamitous 
 influence they have had upon the affairs 
 of the continent of Europe in general, must 
 have occasioned the introduction of an 
 abundance of gold and silver, in coin and 
 other articles, by those who, seeking refuge 
 from the storms of revolution and war, 
 from the pillage of public and private pro- 
 perty, consigned every thing that was 
 valuable, and, at the same time, portable, 
 to the protection of this. Even the very 
 captures which we have made, of rich 
 vessels laden with bullion, must have 
 contributed in no small degree to augment 
 the stock of money, or what is capable 
 of being used as such. But, above all, 
 it should seem that the very long-continued 
 prosperous state of our trade and commerce, 
 must of itself have provided fresh and 
 mighty means of circulation ; — that millions, 
 and tens of millions must, from time to 
 time, have been imported to settle the 
 balance of our foreign trade. So decidedly
 
 14 
 
 and so greatly does it appear to be in our 
 favour.* 
 
 There are persons, indeed, who habituate 
 themselves to doubt the truth of official 
 statements, or strive to weaken the force 
 of the arguments which are grounded upon 
 them; and whom, therefore, it may be 
 difficult to persuade, that the balance of our 
 
 * Extract from Papers lately laid before the House- 
 of Commons. 
 
 Official Value of 
 Exports. 
 
 British pro-' 
 duce and i Foreign 
 Manufac- Merchan- 
 
 ( 
 
 Official Value of 
 
 Imports. 
 
 
 f 
 
 From Eu- 
 
 From 
 
 
 rope, Afri- 
 
 East Indies 
 
 
 ca, and 
 
 and 
 
 
 America. 
 
 China. 
 
 Yrs. endg. 
 
 £' 
 
 £' 
 
 Jan.5,1808 
 
 25,453,14<9 
 
 3,401,509 
 
 1809 
 
 23,780,704 
 
 5,848,649 
 
 1810 
 
 30,406,560 
 
 i 
 
 tures. 
 
 £• 
 
 dize. 
 
 25,171,422 9,395,149 
 26,691,9621 7,862,305 
 35,107'',439115,194,324. 
 
 The actual value of British produce and ~) 
 Manufactures exported from Great Britain, / £. 
 
 according to the average prices current, and >50,242,761 
 to the declarations of the exporters, was, in V 
 the year ending 1810 J 
 
 W. IRVING, 
 Inspect. Gen. of the Imps, and Exs. of Gt. Br.' 
 
 f Account of Imports from the East and West Indies, and China, cannot 
 yet be given.
 
 15 
 
 trade has, for many years, been so decidedly 
 and greatly in our favour ; that any consi- 
 derable quantities of bullion have, in con- 
 sequence, been imported into our country. 
 Yet most persons will probably acquiesce 
 in the truth of those statements, and I do 
 not feel much inclined to spend my time 
 in arguing the matter with those who do 
 not. It will, however, be admitted by all, 
 since it has been confessed by those who 
 are chiefly interested in concealing it, that 
 the amount of promissory notes issued of 
 late years, by the Bank of England, has 
 been great beyond example ; and that, ac- 
 cording to the report which was lately deli- 
 vered to the House of Commons, upwards of 
 six and tvv^enty millions of pounds in notes and 
 dollars, of which more than one and twenty 
 millions, four hundred thousand pounds 
 were notes, hud been issued by that company, 
 and were actually in circulation, soon afterthe 
 commencement of the present year ; the 
 amount of its issues, previous to the 
 stoppage of payment in specie in 1797» not 
 having exceeded, upon an average, ten or 
 eleven millions.
 
 16 
 
 But the Mint and the Bank of England 
 are not alone possessed of this faculty of 
 making money. As the former has admitted 
 the latter to be its rival, so have they both 
 a multitude of rivals in the country Banks ; 
 and it is a circumstance not unworthy of 
 remark, that, amongst many of the lower 
 orders, and, perhaps, amongst some of 
 the higher, the notes of the country Bank are 
 preferred to those of the Bank of England. 
 Whether or not, upon any solid grounds, 
 I will not now venture to determine ; it 
 is enough to observe, that both one and the 
 other species are sufficiently abundant to 
 admit a free choice of either to any person 
 who is disposed to give for it its amount 
 in gold or silver. The competition, how- 
 ever, in this, as in every other trade, has 
 tended to reduce the value of the commo- 
 dity, which is the subject of it ; but does 
 not, perhaps, alike tend to the advantage of 
 the public. 
 
 That there should be so great an abun- 
 dance of such money as this, is not at 
 all to be wondered at. With what
 
 17 
 
 facility may these promissory notes be 
 generated ? To beget such children as these 
 requires no labour or ingenuity ; the chief 
 thought is how to dispose of them to 
 advantage, how to change them for the 
 legitimate offspring of the government, and 
 to keep the ragged brood as long from 
 home as possible ; — whither, however, 
 they are sometimes doomed to return, to 
 the utter dismay, ruin, and disgrace, at 
 their unfortunate parents. 
 
 There are, indeed, different degrees ot 
 prudence, if not of honesty, observed by 
 the many who are engaged in this new" 
 system of money making, not to say 
 coining. Some there are, I believe but few, 
 who, not venturing much into the field of 
 speculation, and contenting themselves with 
 moderate profits, limit the amount of the 
 notes they issue to the average amount of 
 the sums usually lodged in their hands, and 
 remaining uncalled for ; others, less timid^ 
 confine them, not very narrowly, to the 
 amount of their credits, their own capital 
 in the public funds, on mortgage, or on land.
 
 18 
 
 or wherever else it may happen to be vested ; 
 deeming it sufficient, if the aggregate 
 amount of these be equal to that of the 
 notes they put into circulation, and that 
 they have assets, which, in case of failure 
 of payment, may, by course of law, pro- 
 bably answer the demands of their creditors. 
 Some, on the other hand, taking advantage of 
 the easy indolence or credulity of the public, 
 without any funds at all, or such only as 
 exiht in speculation, so long as their cre- 
 dit lusts, live upon that which their credit 
 can raise for them, without care for the 
 security of their creditors or themselves; 
 or fondly trust, perhaps, to the success of 
 their speculation for enriching themselves, 
 and at the same time affording some security 
 for the eventual discharge of their engage- 
 ments. In each -of these cases, an addi- 
 tional quantity of money is created, not 
 always, it is to be hoped, in proportion 
 to the inclinations and endeavours of those 
 who create it, but according to their respiec- 
 tive well, or ill-deserved credit with the 
 public. ■
 
 19 
 
 In former times, this practice of paying 
 their own promissory notes as monev, when 
 drawn upon by their customer, either sucli 
 as had money lodged in their hands, or such 
 as was desirous of obtaining a loan from 
 them, did not prevail amongst Bankers. To 
 the former they paid back his own money, or 
 as good ; (tor it was the common coin of 
 the realm ;) and to the latter they advanced 
 part of the surplus, the otherwise unem- 
 ployed part of the surplus, which had been 
 deposited by the former, but not without 
 taking solid and sufficient security for repay- 
 ment ; and it was from this latter trans- 
 action, that the Bankers of those days 
 derived their profits, — large enough for men 
 sitting idle in their shops,, excepting that 
 they were guarding the property intrusted to 
 their care, or, at least, providing well that 
 it should be forthcoming when called for. 
 They hazarded little ; their gains, therefore, 
 were not, perhaps, always great, but they 
 were certain. 'J'he Bankers of the present 
 day, however, (I speak not of many of the 
 old-fashioned Londoners, who abide by the 
 ancient practice, so far as the wisdom of 
 c 2
 
 20 
 
 Parliament permits them ) have, in their 
 eagerness to become rich, united the business 
 of money- dealer with that of money-maker, 
 amongst others ; and the consequence is^ 
 that, instead of being freely and good- 
 humouredly served with the lawful money 
 of Great Britain, or that which the powers 
 of Parliament have, by a sort of politico- 
 chymical process, more than half converted 
 into it, when we civilly wait before their 
 counter, adoined with the needless furniture 
 of a shovel, (as if to mock their customers) 
 and humbly present them with a draft for 
 a small portion of the money that has been 
 lodged with them, they hand over to us 
 nothing but divers dirty, old, tattered, and 
 patched pieces of paper, called promissory 
 notes, of their own fabrication, which, - 
 perhaps, without being naturally very suspi- 
 cious, we may not feel content to put into our 
 pocket books, but which, it too often, I 
 will not sa^' always, happens, they will not, 
 without extreme reluctance, sometimes 
 coupled with ill language on their part, if 
 not on ou^r own, exchange at last for notes 
 of the Bank of England. To those who
 
 21 
 
 have had occasional dealings with country 
 Bankers, (not their own) this observation 
 will not, I am confident, appear over- 
 charged. 
 
 Do not, however, suppose that I think there 
 are no exceptions to this practice. — With- 
 out doubt there are amongst the class of 
 Bankers, to which I have alluded, men of 
 the highest spirit, and of most exemplary 
 liberality, — who, although, the profits of the 
 business in which they are engaged, defend 
 almost entirely upon the circulation of their 
 promissory notes, (for they deem it no crime 
 to make a profit of that confidence which they 
 know to be well merited ; nay, perhaps most 
 conscientiously believe, is, at the same time, 
 employed serviceably for the public, whilst 
 they themselves make a profit of it) would 
 scorn to compromise the character of their 
 House, by meanly endeavouring "to evade 
 the due discharge of their engagements. — 
 But the class does not consist of men of this 
 Stamp only. 
 
 Nay, the practice of issuing promissory
 
 notes, to answer the purpose of ready money, 
 is not confined to bankers properly so called; 
 1 mean those who have ih& safe custody of 
 other persons' money, according to the new 
 method; — it extends, also, to attornies, ma- 
 nufacturers, and tradesmen, to the proprietors 
 of waggons and stage coaches, to linen dra- 
 pers and tea dealers. — These, also, inundate 
 the country with their paper currency. — Not 
 a town, scarce a village, that is not furnished 
 with counting house or desk, whence the 
 flood.; issue forth.; and, as if it were decreed to 
 overwhelm and w^ash away as much as pos- 
 sible the original coin of the kingdom, paste- 
 board tokens are forced into the circulating 
 medium, as a substitute for the crown piece, 
 and the workman, who receives any payment 
 at all, is oftentimes under the necessity of 
 receiving it in that form. 
 
 i do not by this representation mean to ^ 
 insinuate that there is any greater abuse in 
 the latter practice, than in pressing upon the 
 public notes of a larger amount. The abuse 
 is not so great ; and if it be true, as t believe 
 it is, in some degree, that the scarcity of
 
 23 
 
 smallcoin or silver has at times occasioned the 
 necessity for a few manufacturers to employ 
 these tokens in paying the wages of their 
 workmen, such a practice, in such a case, 
 is hardly to be condemned, however we 
 may lament the necessity of adopting it. 
 Yet we must, at the same time, be per- 
 mitted to observe, that the additional profit 
 arising to the manufacturer is probably, in 
 most instances, alone, and independent • of 
 every other consideration, a sufficient induce- 
 ment for him to resort to it. But, what- 
 ever may be the motive, the fact is the 
 same. Notwithstanding the very narrow 
 circulation of these tokens, it is plain they 
 answer the purpose of money. The manu- 
 facturer who issues them, does not require 
 the same quantity of coin he would require 
 without them ; and may be considered as 
 adding as much or more to the public stock 
 of money than he adds to the demand for it. 
 He keeps at a distance that which he before 
 employed, or stood in need of, — and, by 
 the circulation of his tokens, although 
 extremely limited, he renders the coin more 
 plentiful elsewhere, and thus tends eventu- 
 ally to depreciate it.
 
 24 
 
 Whilst the quantity of paper money- 
 is thus made to depend upon the discretion 
 of the persons whose profits are propor- 
 tional to the share of it which they can 
 keep in circulation, it is rational to suppose 
 that, at least, so much as they expect to 
 keep in circulation they will issue. The 
 obligation which the }3ank of England, in 
 common with other Banks, formerly lay 
 under of paying their promissory notes 
 in specie, when called upon to do so, had, 
 by some persons, been considered a sufficient 
 security against too profuse an issue of 
 them ; — it was conceived by them, that the 
 quantity of paper money could not long 
 exceed the quantity of specie of which it 
 suppUed the place, that is, which was imme- 
 diately before in circulation ; that the depre- 
 ciation in value, occasioned by the super- 
 abundance of paper money, would necessarily 
 occasion its return upon the hands of those 
 who had issued it, and thus speedily restore the 
 circitlation to its due level. That such would 
 be the case were paper money at a discount 
 when exchanged for gold or silver, may be 
 true. But why should the superabundance
 
 25 
 
 of paper money necessarily occasion its 
 return ? If the credit of those by whom 
 it is issued be not dubious, it is freely taken 
 in exchange and circulated ; and it is of little 
 importanceintheopinion of thefarmer, manu- 
 facturer, or shopkeeper, whether he holds a 
 bank note or specie, whilst he knows that the 
 same quantity of goods may be procured 
 by means of the one as of the other. A$ 
 Jong as the public are content to look upon 
 them as of equal value, for what reason 
 should he endeavour to exchange one for 
 the other ? , 
 
 The case is not the same with respect to 
 money as it is with other commodities. If 
 there be a superabundance of corn, more 
 than the existing number of mouths, and 
 keenness of appetite, can devour, or more 
 houses than there are people to inhabit them, 
 it is true some of the corn, or some of the 
 houses, must remain upon hand. But the 
 superabundance of money, though it lessens 
 its value, docs not necessarily lessen the 
 demand for it. The demand for it rather 
 rises as its value diminishes — double the
 
 26 
 
 quantity of money, you double the price of 
 other commodities — consequently, you dou- 
 ble the demand for the former quantity of 
 money. He who would purchase a quar- 
 tern loaf, for which he formerly gave but 
 sixpence, must now pay a shilling for it, 
 and a shilling will therefore be requisite 
 where before sixpence only would have 
 been sufficient. Upon Hie whole, therefore, 
 the superabundance of paper money does 
 not appear necessarily to occasion its return 
 upon the hands of those who issue it. 
 
 It may, undoubtedly, be the interest of the 
 banker, or other manufacturer of paper 
 money, whose profits are derived from, or 
 closely and necessarily connected with, the 
 circulation of his own promissory notes, to 
 prevent the circulation of those of other 
 persons, more especially if he can thereby 
 ensure the circulation of his own in their 
 stead. Accordingly, whenever the former 
 happen to come to his hands, either depo- 
 sited there by customers or otherwise, it is 
 his practice straightway to return them for 
 payment in cash, or in notes of the Bank of
 
 27 
 
 England, which he may invest either in the 
 public funds, in the purchase of land or 
 houses, or in any other less harmless specu- 
 lation he may think fit, after, perhaps, 
 retaining what he conceives to be sufficient 
 to answer the demands for cash or Bank of 
 England notes, vvhich some of the holders 
 of his own promissory notes, issued in lieu 
 of those which he has thus disposed of, are 
 hkely to make upon him. But the quantity 
 of money is but httle diminished by this 
 operation ; — it is generally but a small num- 
 ber only in comparison with the whole of 
 the notes that are issued by any company 
 that are speedily thus driven back upon 
 their hands ; — were it otherwise, the profit 
 derived from issuing them would be tri\'ial, 
 and not worth the risk ; — and iLis always to 
 be remembered, that, in lieu of the greater 
 part of those which are thus driven back, it is 
 probable that similar notes of other bankers 
 are introduced into circulation. But it is 
 also further to be remembered, that as there 
 is a never- failing call for money on the part 
 of individuals, who, to have it, must borrow 
 it, of whatsoever description, and, as there is
 
 28 
 
 also a numerous tribe of tradesmen, who, 
 to obtain or preserve the ciistom of opulent 
 bankers, are willing to receive, as money, 
 their promissory notes, there are always chan- 
 nels through which they may be brought into 
 circulation. 
 
 Bat the security arising from the obliga- 
 tion of payment in specie, when demanded, 
 if it ever were a security, no longer exists. 
 The Bank of England is freed from that 
 obligation — and great apprehensions are, in 
 consequence, entertained, lest it should have 
 exceeded the capital that is to answer the 
 demands which, at some future period, may 
 be made upon it. If we do not hear com- 
 plaints against the partial protection origi- 
 nally afforded to it by the legislature, in 
 order to screen it from bankruptcy, we hear 
 complaints against permitting it any longer 
 to issue its notes without restoring its 
 former liability to pay them, when tendered, 
 with cash. It is thought folly to trust any 
 longer to its moderation and prudence ; mo- 
 deration worthy of little praise, if we reflect 
 upon the magnitude of its profits, and the
 
 29 
 
 means by which they appear to be acquired — 
 prudence, which has been tried and found 
 wanting. Little apprehension, however, 
 seems to be entertained of any unwarrant- 
 able issue from the country banks; their pre- 
 sent liability to pay with cash, or the 
 notes of the Bank of England, is considered 
 as an adequate security against any abuse of 
 the credit they enjoy — as the similar liability 
 to pay with cash was against any abuse of 
 the credit formerly enjoyed by the Bank of 
 England. 
 
 But though, as a matter of policy not 
 measured strictly by honesty, the Bank of 
 England may with safety, at present, under 
 the restrictions imposed by Parliament, put 
 into circulation any number of its notes 
 without fear of Bankruptcy, whilst the 
 private Banker is liable to that misfortune, 
 should he issue more than he could satisfy, 
 wlien presented to him for payment ; yet 
 the privilege bestowed upon the former 
 is not made permanent; it continues only 
 till the expiration of six months after tb<- 
 termination ot the war : and may at any
 
 30 
 
 time before that period be withdrawn, 
 should the legislature think fit. It may, 
 therefore, very plausibly, if not properly 
 be questioned, whether, possessing that 
 privilege, liable as it is to such uncertain 
 continuance, it is likely to be much more 
 abused than the confidence reposed in many 
 of those private Banks, whose profits depend 
 chiefly, if not altogether, upon the circu- 
 lation of their notes. 
 
 But however solid or feeble may be the 
 grounds upon which their respective claims 
 to public confidence are founded, the pro- 
 bable elFect of the restriction from pay- 
 ment, in specie, by the Bank of England, 
 is to augment the quantity of paper money ; 
 for it must, I suppose, be conceded on the 
 one hand, that, under favour of such a 
 regulation, the Bank of England may, with 
 greater safety, and, therefore, probably will 
 issue more of their notes, than when liable 
 to be called upon for payment of them in 
 cash ; nay, the very fact proves itself; and, 
 on the other, (,hat the private Banks, not 
 being under the necessity of paying in cash.
 
 31 
 
 provided they make a tender of payment 
 with notes of the Bank of England, their 
 own notes being generally in as high credit 
 as the former, are less likely to be retm-ned, in 
 order to be exchanged for them, than they 
 would in order to be exchanged for cash, in 
 case those private Banks were under such 
 necessity. Their promissory notes may, 
 therefore, be increased with les? hazard, and, 
 consequently, are in all probability increased 
 more abundantly. 
 
 But it is time to ask, whether, under such 
 circumstances as have been enumerated, 
 with such extraordinary sources of supply 
 as have been noticed, there is any reason 
 to doubt, what is the real cause of the dear- 
 ness, -or rather the increased money price 
 of provisions. Is it not plainly deducible 
 from an excess of money ? Can it seriously 
 be imagined, that when all have a power of 
 fabricating money, such as it is, part being 
 tlie representative of substantial property, 
 part mere counterfeit, — where so many do,' 
 in truth, exercise- that power to its fullest 
 extent, that the price of all commodities
 
 32 
 
 will be naturally, though enormouslj in- 
 creased ? Is it necessary to explain, step by 
 step, the whole process by which that 
 effect is produced, or barely refer to the 
 principle which has been stated, general ly, 
 above ? Is it worth while to shew that he 
 who pays only with the money, which, with 
 a scrawl of his own hand, he can in an 
 instant create, will feel less disposed to 
 haggle about the price of the article of which 
 he stands in need, than if the payment 
 were to be made with money earned with 
 much difficulty, by the sweat of the; brow*, 
 by toil and labour, — that, where it is the 
 interest of many to lend, many will bor- 
 row, — that the greater the number of bidders 
 in the market, all having plenty of money 
 at their command, by whatever means they 
 have it, the higher will the article bidden 
 for be sold, — that the farmer, manufacturer, 
 and merchant, will each, under these cir- 
 cumstances, bid higher in the markets they 
 respectively frequent, than if money were 
 scarce, and obtained only with great diffi- 
 culty. That hence labour in general, — the 
 stock to be improved by the farmer, — the
 
 3^ 
 
 raw material to be worked up by the manu- 
 facturer, and the finished article to be sold 
 by the merchant or trader, and retail dealer, 
 will all be purchased by them at an increased 
 price ; but that, having purchased at an in- 
 creased price, they will also sell at an increas- 
 ed price, or lose their accustomed profit — a 
 case not now to be supposed, — that the price 
 of the necessaries of life being thus enhanced, 
 the price of labour must be enhanced accord- 
 ingly, and hence tend to a further increase 
 of the price of all commodities whatso- 
 ever ; — and, lastly, that the longer this sys- 
 tem is continued, the more powerful will be 
 its effects, inasmuch as it feeds upon, and 
 is nourished by itself. 
 
 Though I would have it fully conceived 
 how many, and how abundant arc the 
 sources, whence the circulating medium has 
 been derived ; yet I do not mean to insinuate 
 that there still remains, in this country, the 
 total quantity of the precious metals, which, 
 from time to time, have been imported into 
 it in the manner above mentioned ; if 
 it had so remained, the price of provisions 
 
 D
 
 34 
 
 would have been yet further increased. But 
 it is not to be supposed, that the vast supplies 
 of gold and silver, with which we have been 
 furnished, should be permitted to remain at 
 home, whilst they could be employed so 
 much more profitably abroad. We know, 
 on the contrary, that the scarcity of them 
 here is extreme. Anxious for the increase 
 of the wealth and prosperity of the nation 
 at large, not with any view of private benefit 
 to themselves, it is hence, no doubt, that the 
 Bank of England, and a multitude of other 
 banks, profiting by its good example, have, 
 in the fervour of their patriotism, busied 
 themselves in providing vast supplies of 
 paper money, so as to supersede the necessity 
 of gold and silver coin and bullion, as the 
 medium of circulation at home; and thus 
 to afford to traders the opportunity of traf- 
 ficking with them abroad — a noble instance 
 of public spirit, and much to be commended. 
 But lean hardly prevail upon myself to think, 
 that the country really required of them such 
 violent exertions on their part, or that any 
 ^•eat good is necessarily to arise from 
 scouring the land of all its gold and silver.
 
 35 
 
 But they were fearful of doing too little, 
 and therefore did too much. We could have 
 proceeded very v^^ell without the assistance 
 of so much as two or three Banks in every 
 town, to shed their benign influence over 
 such of the adjacent villages as had not one 
 or more already established in them. We 
 could have spared them, and also the Bank 
 of England, the risk they have encountered 
 in putting forth their credit to such an 
 alarming extent for our sakes. We could 
 have spared them those extraordinary ex- 
 penses which they have incurred, in the 
 heavy salaries to the multiplied tribe of 
 clerks and other officers, employed in the mo- 
 ney-forming department, the mere signature 
 of one of whose names upon the notes, issued 
 by the Bank of England, has been considered 
 so laborious, from its frequent repetition, 
 that it has of late been solemnly dispensed 
 with. We could have borne the weight of 
 a few guineas in our pockets, and made room 
 for a few more in our bureaus, withotit much 
 burthen or inconvenience to ourselves, with- 
 out much injury to the nation at large, and 
 without materially cramping and disabling 
 D 2
 
 36 
 
 its commercial interest in particular. At 
 least, the total dismissal of gold, and almost 
 total dismissal of the silver coin of the 
 realm, was not, in any political view, so 
 desirable an event upon the whole, that the 
 country really required such an inundation 
 of paper money to bring it to pass. Neither 
 do I apprehend, that such an inundation, 
 like the waters of Egypt, will bring along 
 with it the plenty and riches which have 
 been ascribed to its influence — whatever 
 may be its effect in generating, and main- 
 taining, a swarm of caterpillars and locusts, 
 to devour the harvest of the husbandman. 
 
 That the diminution, nay, almost total 
 expulsion, of the precious metals, is the 
 natural consequence of constant and unli- 
 mited issues of paper money, I had imagined 
 would scarcely have been denied. If the 
 gold and silver coin, and bullion, be of such 
 little value here, that paper, which can be 
 fabricated almost for nothing, is become 
 equally valuable, stands as high in repute, 
 and answers every purpose as well — pro- 
 vide^ it bears the signature of a man of
 
 37 
 
 opulence or credit ? — if the promissory notes 
 of the company of the Bank of England, 
 who are at liberty to issue them to any 
 amount, without being under any present 
 obligation to pay in cash beyond the trifling 
 sum of a few shillings ? — if those of every 
 shopkeeper in England, Scotland, and Wales, 
 who thinks proper to issue them, and is not 
 already a bankrupt, or does not deserve to 
 become one, are to be received as of equal 
 value with gold and silver, and are circu- 
 lated as freely — of what value are either ? 
 Well, indeed, must it be worth the while of 
 cunning traders to convey the latter, whither 
 they are held in greater esteem than with 
 us. They have found how profitable the 
 traffick is, — and no sooner are the precious 
 metals poured into the country, than they 
 are poured out of it. They have thus be- 
 come scarce, because they have become 
 comparatively valueless. Even the very 
 weeds themselves, by being constantly era- 
 dicated, at last become a curiosity. Here, 
 alas ! the goodly herb is rooted up, and the 
 weed is suffered to remain, and overrun the 
 land.
 
 ss 
 
 That the deficiency of gold and silver 
 coin and bullion, and the unfavourable state 
 of the exchange, must have proceeded, if 
 not altogether, at least principally, from the 
 cause here assigned, I had, indeed, imagined 
 would have been generally understood and 
 acknow^ledged. And, truly, 1 believe there 
 are but few who do not ascribe them, in 
 some measure, to the enormous issues from 
 the Bank of England. Care, however, 
 seems to have been taken by some persons, 
 •to absolve the notes of private bankers and 
 tradesmen, from every imputation of having 
 essentially contributed to the same effect. 
 With what view, or ground of persuasion 
 they have formed an opinion of the ineffi- 
 cacy of the paper, which seems to consti- 
 tute almost the only currency, at a distance 
 from the metropolis, I am at a loss to disco- 
 ver — especially when I reflect upon the very 
 numerous manufactories and marts with 
 which the country m every direction 
 abounds. They give, however, full credit 
 for the operation of divers other causes,' 
 which have been suggested — such as the 
 diminished profit, or rather absolute loss
 
 39 
 
 from our foreign trade, — the vast expen- 
 ditures for the maintenance of our army and 
 navy on foreign stations, — the prodigal sub- 
 sidies to foreign states, — the slender supply 
 of gold and silver from the mines of South 
 America, and the multitude of pecuniary 
 interments on the Continent of Europe. 
 
 There is, however, a degree of boldness 
 in these suggestions, and of simplicity in 
 yielding credit to them, which commands 
 admiration. 
 
 That our trade should be on the decline, — 
 that our forces abroad should have exhausted 
 all our stock of specie, that had escaped the 
 capacious net of the princes we have sub- 
 sidized, unless it were before reduced to a 
 very low state indeed, to such as nothing 
 but the operation of some most powerful 
 cause could have reduced it, I thought, was 
 hardly to be credited by any one who had 
 the common means of judging of what 
 passed before them. If we do not utterly 
 deny the direct conclusions to be drawn from 
 the only documents, to which we can have
 
 40 
 
 recourse with any hope of correct informa- 
 tion upon the subject, we must admit, that 
 the vast importations of gold and silver, 
 to which I have before alluded, must have 
 proved much more than sufficient to provide, 
 not only for those scanty subsidies which 
 have lately been afforded, but also for those 
 extraordinary supplies, which, from time to 
 time, have been remitted for the mainte- 
 nance of our army and navy upon foreign 
 stations. It is not, however, to be ima- 
 gined, that sptcie alone is employed upon 
 these occasions, or that the specie which is 
 so employed is wholly lost to this country. 
 In furnishing such subsidies and supplies, it 
 is not necessary that any money at all 
 should be actually remitted from hence, pro- 
 vided the balance of trade be in our favor— 
 a circumstance which would soon restore it, 
 even if it were so actually remitted. And 
 can it be doubted, that the present peculiar 
 state of Portugal and Spain, where our 
 troops have of late been chiefly occupied, 
 {for really it is idle to talk of the recciat 
 subsidies ; and the temporary retention of 
 Walcheren, so far as it rendered necessary
 
 41 
 
 .any remittance of gold or silver, for the 
 maintenance of our troops, is not much 
 more worthy to be noticed) has necessa- 
 rily tended to increase our exportations thi- 
 ther to a considerable amount ? Desolate and 
 laid waste by a cruel war, their manufacto- 
 ries can hardly have provided, in any suffi- 
 cient degree, for the necessities of the people. 
 They must have needed assistance from with- 
 out, and have doubtless received it more parti- 
 cularly from us. The specie, therefore, with 
 which our armies have been supplied for pro- 
 curing their subsistence in those countries, 
 has thus, probably, been rendered back by 
 our merchants, in exchange for the produce 
 of our manufactories.* 
 
 * The passages which have been cited by Sir Philip 
 Francis, (p. 31 and 32 of his Reflections) from the letters 
 of Sir John Moore, may, perhaps, be thought a refutation 
 of what is above stated. Those passages, indeed, shew 
 the difficulty under which that accomplished officer 
 laboured with respect to the obtaining of money, and the 
 probability that ministers here were not well acquainted 
 with the channels through which he might have been sup- 
 plied, without actual remittances from this country, — the 
 old channels having, I conclude, been disturbed and 
 broken up, — the regular system of commercial credithaving
 
 42 
 
 And, with regard to the alleged poverty of 
 the mines of South America, or the failure 
 in remitting their recent produce to Europe- 
 taking also into account the possibility 
 of hidden treasures on the Continent, I 
 really cannot consider these causes, if viewed 
 within the extent of their probable existence 
 and operation, though co-operating with 
 those which I have just been alluding to,, 
 viewed by the same rule, as at all adequate 
 to the effect under contemplation — accom- 
 panied as they are with circumstances of 
 a totally opposite tendency, sufficient it 
 should seem at least to negative their effect. 
 
 What, indeed, may be the degree of im- 
 portance intended to be attached to these alle- 
 gations I know not. — But, unless it can be 
 shewn that the present state of the world re- 
 quires a greater stock of the precious metals, 
 
 been destroyed, or much impaired, by the violent shocb 
 which had been given to the Portuguese and Spanish 
 nations. It is pretty plain, however, that specie was at 
 length obtained, and proved so cumbersome to our army, 
 on its retreat to Corunaa, that it was absolutely thrown 
 away. 
 
 /
 
 43 
 
 than was required prior to the supposed failure 
 from South America, this latter circumstance 
 should have no effect towards producing any 
 greater absolute scarcity of them than existed 
 before. — But, whatever further supply that 
 state might require, and whatever temporary 
 deficiency may have been occasioned by the 
 sepulture of gold and silver, it is not, perhaps, 
 •too much to imagine and presume, that they 
 are well nigh, nay, much more than com' 
 pensated by other means, when we reflect 
 how great a portion of the accumulated 
 weahh of the ages which have passed since 
 the discovery of the mines in the new 
 world, — what a multitude of ingots, or bars 
 of silver and gold, which, from time to time, 
 had been formed into innumerable articles 
 of ornament and use, — what heaps of sacred 
 utensils, and offerings of richly-endowed 
 churches and monasteries, — what splendid 
 services and appendages, with which the 
 tables of nobles, dignified ecclesiastics, 
 princes, and sovereigns were furnished, have 
 been brought forth, cast into the crucible, 
 and melted down to save them from, or to 
 glut the rapacious hand of, anarchy and 
 conquest
 
 These calamities of revolution and war, 
 which have overspread the greater part 
 of civilized Europe, overturning and de- 
 stroying, in great measure, the mechanic 
 arts, the trade and commerce of nations, 
 and thus rendering unnecessary so large 
 a share of the money requisite for main- 
 taining them, have, at the same time, in 
 other respects, by injuring or impairing 
 the credit of those nations, excluded it in 
 a manner from their dealings one w^ith 
 another, and thus rendered the use of specie 
 alone almost necessary amongst them ; the 
 precious metals, therefore, have thus, from 
 the degraded state of public and private 
 credit upon the Continent, been cherished 
 there, perhaps, as much as they have been 
 despised and rejected by us. 
 
 Indeed, it is not till lately, that those who 
 are much listened to, when they raise a 
 complaint, have felt any weighty inconve- 
 nience from this almost total expulsion of 
 our gold and silver coin. So steadily was the 
 credit of our paper money, I mean the 
 paper of the Bank of England, supported.
 
 45 
 
 even when tlie holder of it was by law 
 declared incapable of obtaining payment 
 of it in specie, that the same value continued 
 to be attached to it as to the coin itself, in our 
 dealings amongst each other; and so long as a 
 pound note could procure as much bread or 
 beef as could be procured with twenty shil- 
 lings in silver, it seemed immaterial to the 
 holder, which he was master of. And so, per* 
 haps, it was. But now that we begin to open 
 our eyes a little, and to see what those 
 around us have been doing;— that the 
 country has been so drained that it is hardly 
 possible to get a suiBcieney of silver, except- 
 ing in dolhirs, to answer the common pur- 
 poses of buying and selling in a meat or a 
 fish market, — w^hen we are astonished at the 
 production of a guinea, we think of inquir- 
 ing how it has all happened, and apprehend 
 some dreadful public calamity. 
 
 And it is well if, by this lack of specie, 
 we are roused not only to inquire into the 
 cause which has led to it ; but, also, to 
 reflect, and seriously too, upon a few other
 
 46 
 
 effects, which have been wrought by the 
 same cause. 
 
 Those of our forefathers, who were 
 so lucky as to be possessed of real 
 estates, in adopting the practice of settling 
 upon their wives and younger children, 
 certain yearly incomes, or gross sums of 
 money to be paid out of the lands, which 
 they gave or permitted to descend to their 
 eldest sons, did no more than what was just 
 and reasonable ; they considered the value 
 of that land, and laid proportionate charges 
 upon it, for the above praiseworthy pur- 
 poses. In our days, I speak of a period of 
 thirty or forty years, provisions of this 
 nature answer, but in a small degree, the 
 end proposed ; that of a reasonable jointure 
 for the widow, and portions for the younger 
 children. In consequenceof the depreciation of 
 money, and of the great addition to the taxes, 
 a thousand pounds will not now purchase 
 more than a half or a third of the commo- 
 dities they would then. But the land, 
 which is charged with the payment of that 
 sum, yields double, or three times, the rent
 
 47 
 
 it then did. The eldest of the children is thus 
 jipparently enriched, (it is true) but at the 
 expense of the rest, and their widowed 
 mother, who are in reality despoiled. 
 
 But how great soever may be the addi- 
 tional rental which the man of landed 
 property may boast of, with whatsoever 
 satisfaction he may compare the fresh with 
 the faded rent-roll, and imagine that, because 
 the nominal amount of income has in- 
 creased so enormously since the days of his 
 grandfather, his powers have increased 
 accordingly ; — yet, if he examine the relics 
 of his grandmother's account book, he will 
 find that he entertains not so hospitably, 
 that he is obliged to dismiss the servants 
 and the horses of his acquaintance, his 
 friends, and his relations, from his board 
 and his stables, — to look narrowly to his 
 consumption ; or if not, to take heed of 
 the sheriff's officers. 
 
 " But all this proceeds from the pressure 
 of the taxes ;" the greater part, I will allow, 
 but not all. — For if the gentlemvin of landed
 
 48 
 
 property will give himself the trouble to 
 reflect a little, he will find that his income 
 does not keep exact pace with the price even 
 of such provisions as the taxes do not 
 affect ; and he may be well satisfied that 
 he will, in the long run, be a loser in con- 
 sequence of this depreciation of money. 
 
 Let him suppose only the case, which has 
 actually happened to himself, of a lease 
 for the term of twenty-one years, granted 
 fifteen or sixteen years ago, at a rent fixed 
 upon what was then considered a fair 
 valuation, being estimated at the value of 
 the produce of the land upon the average of 
 a few years preceding, when the price of 
 meat, of grain, and hay, and of all the 
 necessaries, as w^ell as luxuries of life, 
 were much lower than they have been of 
 later years. 
 
 The average produce has continued nearly 
 the same, or perhaps increased ; but the price 
 at vs^hich it has been sold has advanced pro- 
 digiously, so that if the lease were nowexpired, 
 the landlord would be justified in demanding.
 
 and would be paid, at least a third more rer>t 
 thanhehas hitherto receivedforit.— ^ButasXhe^ 
 price of the produce of the land which he jhas 
 let has risen, so has that of all other commo-. 
 dities, for which he has had occasion ; inso- 
 much that he has deemed it prudent to 
 abstain from so large a consumption of 
 them as formerly, rather than exceed 
 his income; and thus from time to time 
 he is compelled to lessen his enjo^vments, 
 till, by the expiration of the lease v\ hich he 
 has granted, he is enabled to lay on an addi- 
 tional rent, in proportion to the depreciation 
 of money, which has gradually taken place; 
 and the further depreciation of which 
 must subject him to the repetition of the 
 like inconvenience and loss; whereas, hadthe 
 relative quantity or ^ alue of money, and the 
 taxes, continued the same, his income, though 
 stationary, would, without the influence of 
 any other cause, have afforded him a continu- 
 anceof the enjoyments to which he had been 
 accustomed. 
 
 I have here adduced only the instance of a 
 farm, let upon lease for one and twenty years. 
 
 E
 
 50 
 
 Where leases aregranted for a greater number 
 of years, or upon lives, the loss to the land- 
 lord, it is evident, must be proportionably 
 greater. 
 
 Neither is it permitted to a landlord, in 
 fixing the rent to be paid for his land, to 
 calculate upon the probability of a future 
 depreciation of money. — The average of 
 the crops, and the price they have obtained 
 at market, for the few years last past, are the 
 only criterion by which a farmer will admit 
 the value of the land, for which he is in 
 treaty, and consequently what rent he ought 
 to pay to be estimated. As h^ is not on his 
 side allowed to stipulate for the contingency 
 of any additional taxes, which may happen 
 to be imposed upon the house he is to inha- 
 bit, its windows, or the increased rates for the 
 maintenance of the poor of the parish ; 
 neither will he allow any thing for the 
 contingent depreciation of money ; and the 
 utmost a landlord can provide for himself, 
 is an earlier determination of the lease, mani- 
 festly tending to check the improvement
 
 51 
 
 of the land, and thus eventually the solid 
 improvement of his own income. 
 
 It is plain, however, that the injury sus- 
 tained by the land owner, in consequence of 
 this depreciation of money, is but trifling, 
 compared with that sustained by others, 
 who have merely annuities, or gross sums of 
 money charged upon land.— It is the fate of 
 these, together with the stock- holder, to 
 see and feci their property sink yearly in 
 value, without the means of preventing it. 
 
 Since the vast accumulation of national 
 debt, the number of persons whose sole, or 
 chief property consists of stock in the public 
 funds, must be very considerable; if we 
 add to them the number of those whose 
 sole, or chief property consists of annuities, 
 mortgages, or other charges upon land, the 
 amount will probably appear not very 
 insignificant, compared with the land- 
 owners themselves. 
 
 But, whatever be the privations which 
 the former two may suffer from the value 
 
 E 2
 
 52 
 
 of money beingthus lowered, we shall betold, 
 that the nation at large has been benefitted 
 by it ; that it matters little how reduced in 
 circumstances those maybe who add nothing 
 to the stock of the nation, — those idle drones 
 who, without toiling, consume the fruits of 
 others' industry. — Conditioned, however, as 
 society now is, this is dangerous language 
 to employ. If the interest of the stock- 
 holder, or man possessed merely of personal 
 capital, is so little to be regarded, what 
 regard is it likely, or is it reasonable, that 
 he should pay to the interests of others } 
 Or why should the land-owner enjoy advan- 
 tages which the former does not ? Does 
 the utility of the country gentleman, busied 
 as he is with the ordinary occupations and 
 pleasures of that class, appear so pre-eminent, 
 that he is peculiarly entitled to our regard } 
 But let us consider a little further, who are 
 tlie idle drones here spoken of. Are they 
 nbt the representatives of, if not the 
 identical persons, who, in their time, 
 toiled, ere they enriched themselves ; vv^ho, 
 whilst they 'laboured to acquire independence 
 and ease to themselves, and those most dear
 
 53 
 
 to them, at the same time laboured, in 
 effect at least, to acquire wealth to their 
 country ; and, having laboured successfully, 
 supplied others with the means of enriching 
 themselves and their country in their turn, 
 or accommodated them in their distress ? 
 Are they not men who, in times of public 
 exigency, have come forward, not without 
 self-interested views I will acknowledge, 
 but at the same time, with real advantage 
 to the community, (and what would we 
 more) to tender the wealth, which their 
 industry had accumulated, for the defence 
 and service of the nation ? Is it for the 
 private, or the public debtor to upbraid them, 
 or those who represent them, as idle drones, 
 who consume the harvest they have not 
 sowed, — who deserve no pity, and no 
 redress ? 
 
 Discouraging, indeed, it is to the exertions 
 of the industrious, pressed hard as he is 
 with taxes, to find that the wealth acquired 
 with labour and difficulty, is rendered yearly 
 less availing; that the income, arising from 
 the funds wherein the earnings of a toilsome.
 
 54 
 
 frugal life, had been invested, is, together 
 with the capital itself, constantly and rapidly 
 diminishing in value; that income, which 
 he relied upon as a resource for the support 
 and comfort of himself and his widow, in 
 their declining years ; and for the maintenance 
 and education of his children in their youth ; 
 and that capital which he had cherished, 
 as the means of their eventual establish- 
 ment in the world. By this exorbitant 
 increase of money, the aged, the widow, 
 and the orphan, are effectually despoiled of 
 the full benefit of the provisions intended 
 for them; the income and capital reserved 
 for them continue stationary ;-— the fruit and 
 the trunk of the tree, do not extend or 
 enlarge themselves ; they grow not with 
 the growth of price, of all the necessaries 
 and comforts of life ; they are overshadowed, 
 and not only rendered comparatively insig- 
 nificant, but they positively lose their ibrmer 
 efficacy. 
 
 But let us now examine a iittk, how far 
 the nation hfts been really benefitted by this 
 d^reciation of money. We have heard
 
 bo 
 
 much of the advantages arising from a free 
 circulation; that the accommodation afforded 
 to the agricultural, manufacturing, and mer- 
 cantile classes, by the Bank of England, and 
 the numerous private Banks, which, from 
 time to time, have been opened in all parts 
 of the country, has contributed largely to 
 the wealth and prosperity of the nation. 
 
 That a nation, such as ours, should thrive 
 as it does, were it confined and straitened 
 in its means of circulation, no one perhaps 
 will be found to assert ; that it is necessary 
 such wide and unbounded means should 
 exist, as do at present, no one, perhaps, 
 will more readily be found to assert. The 
 money that is borrowed of a Banker, or 
 any other individual, for the purpose of 
 employing it in the cultivation of land, the 
 establishment, enlargement, or improvement 
 of a manufactory, or in extending the com- 
 merce of the country, supposing there are 
 hands enc^ngh to be engagc^d in these new 
 undertakings, as it conduces to the produc- 
 tive labour of the country, is certainly 
 employed to greater advantage, than whilst
 
 56 
 
 sleeping in the drawer or closet. But it is 
 not the great absolute numerical quantity 
 of money, or the facility with which it may 
 be obtained, that are alone to be considered ; 
 the quantity of additional productive labour 
 that it can purchase, should also be taken 
 into the account. The loan or command 
 of a pound, in the early part of Elizabeth's 
 reign, would have been as serviceable in 
 the latter point of view, as of eight or nine 
 pounds in these days. The effect of multi- 
 plying the quantity of money beyond a cer- 
 tain demand for it, beyond what is requisite 
 for the improved state of the country, is 
 to diminish the value, to increase the 
 number of figures in the column for pounds 
 in our account books, and leave that for 
 pence, a mere blank, as it often is, — it 
 can serve no good purpose whatsoever. 
 That the plough, the loom, and the wheel, 
 should stand still for want of money to 
 pay the wages of workmen ; that goods 
 should rot in a warehouse, because none 
 have money w^herewith to purchase them, 
 would, indeed, be a serious evil ; but not 
 one which need at present be much appre-
 
 57 
 
 hended ; our fears should lie rather in the 
 opposite direction. 
 
 From ihe circumstances which have been 
 alluded to, from the improved state of agri- 
 culture, and the arts in general, our trade and 
 commerce have been sw^elled to such unpre- 
 cedented magnitude, that it was neces- 
 sary there should be a proportional addi- 
 tion to the means of circulation, or that the 
 relative value of money should be increased. 
 The condition of Great Britain, at the com- 
 mencement of the nineteenth, differs so 
 widely in these respects from what it was at 
 the commencement of the eighteenth century, 
 that its trade and commerce coijd not be 
 carried on by the same quantity of circulat- 
 ing medium, without greatly enhancing the 
 value of that medium. — An evil to be avoided 
 as much as the directly opposite. But, in 
 consequence of the establishment of nume- 
 rous Banks, and a regular system of corres- 
 pondence throughout all parts of the king- 
 dom, not only has much of the money which 
 before remained idle been brought into action, 
 but Bills of Exchange and Orders have super-
 
 58 
 
 seded the use of money upon many occa- 
 sions, where it before was absolutely 
 necessary. — And hence, as well as from the 
 vast additions which have been made to the 
 circulating medium, from the many and 
 extraordinary sources which have been above 
 noticed, it has increased much more than the 
 exigency of the ease required ; as the prodigir 
 ous advance in the price of the necessaries of 
 ]ifc, as well as of almost ajl othercommodities 
 whatsoever, and the absence of gold and silver 
 money, most clearly testify. The nation, how- 
 ever, seems smitten with the magnificence of 
 its ideal riches, with the shewof the many mil- 
 lions worthproduce of its industry, itsamazing 
 commerce, gigantic revenue, and extended 
 power. — She smiles in the embraces of the 
 deity, I will not say the deity which she 
 worships, approaching her not like a shower 
 of gold; neither will I say, in a flimsy 
 tattered garb of paper, but with the superior 
 glory and effulgence of unbounded universal 
 credit. It is to be hoped, she will not, 
 like Semele, expire under those embraces. 
 
 Injurious as this practice of puttine into
 
 < 59 
 
 circulation such vast ciuantities of paper- 
 money is to the land-holder, the stock-holder, 
 and others of fixed incomes, to what length 
 is it decreed that it shall extend ? What 
 liniit is proposed to be assigned to it ? 
 Shall the liank of England, year at^er year, 
 be allowed to add millions to millions of the 
 currency, merely in order to give larger divi- 
 dends to the proprietors of Bank stock ? Is 
 it not enough that it should be excused 
 the pain, if not the disgrace, of having disap- 
 pointed the public confidence, in refusing 
 payment of its promissory notes, — without 
 being allowed to accumulate and distribute 
 amongst its members fresh and unheard-of 
 profits, by means of the unlimited multi- 
 plication of those notes unblushingly intru- 
 ded into circulation ? 
 
 The Parliament hath in its wisdom effec- 
 tually upheld the Bank of England in this 
 practice. — Yet, no doubt, originally with 
 views of high consideration. ---But is it 
 pretended, that the necessities of govern.- 
 mcnt have of late required such large supplies 
 of gold and silver, as to render it expedient
 
 60 
 
 that the Bank of England, in order to furnish 
 them, should continue to avail itself of the 
 act for restriction from payment in specie to 
 its creditors, and to augment its promissory 
 notes to the amount of one and twenty 
 millions and a half? Does not this very 
 restriction operate to the exclusion of all 
 other means v^hereby specie might be ob- 
 tained by government ? Is it not in conse- 
 quence of this restriction, that little or no- 
 thing else but paper money is brought into 
 the treasury — that the taxes are all paid 
 with notes of the Bank of England, or 
 such as are finally exchanged for them ? 
 And is it not, therefore, in consequence of 
 this restriction, that the government is 
 obliged to have recourse to the Bank of 
 England for such specie, as it may stand in 
 need of for the public service ? It is true 
 we are in the front of the stage, and cannot 
 see well what is passing behind the scenes ; 
 but, after what has passed before them, it is 
 a serious responsibility which the govern- 
 ment would take upon itself, if it were, 
 without absolute necessity, to involve the 
 Bank of England in its former difficulties ;
 
 61 
 
 or, on the other hand, to support and abet it 
 in its schemes of unfair gain. Many jears 
 have elapsed since the act alluded to first 
 shielded it from tlie peril with which it was 
 environed — the effect of unforeseen accident, 
 patriotic zeal, its own avarice, or v^ant of 
 prudence. If the intervening time has been 
 honestly and well employed, that peril 
 should have been removed long ago, and 
 its coffers should now be opened to satisfy 
 the claims of its creditors. Is it wise, is it 
 conduct worthy of Statesmen, to rest the 
 credit of a government upon that of a mer- 
 cantile body such as the Bank of England, 
 important and magnified as it is ? Suppose 
 the case of its failure, — (which no one will 
 now be bold enough to say is out of the 
 sphere of possibility,) are there not many 
 who do not scruple to afiirm, that the 
 government itself would in such a case 
 become bankrupt ? And with such an 
 enormous debt as at present incumbers it — 
 relying as it does at present upon the Bank 
 of England for every supply of specie — 
 making the promissory notes of the same 
 company equivalent to a legal tender for
 
 62 
 
 satisfaction of all claims on the part of 
 government, for taxes, and other dues from 
 individuals ; and on the part of individuals 
 for debts from governinent, how ean it ht 
 weM denied ? But is it, I ask, the mea- 
 sure of Statesmen to rest the credit of a 
 government upon such a prop as this — to 
 make its honour, its power, naj, its vcrj 
 existence, depend upon the prudence, and 
 the integrity of a mercantile company ? 
 Does it not become them, with all possible 
 speed, to rescue the government from such 
 a degraded and alarming state ? 
 
 For us, the people, it is left only to 
 lament the enormous amount of paper mo- 
 ne)% which has of late years been issued by 
 this Bank of England — it is hardly in our 
 option not to assist in the circulation of if. 
 But, complaining so bitterly as we are of th^ 
 heavy taxes, tithes, and rates, which we pay 
 of necessity in support of the government, 
 the clergy, and the poor- — it is somewhat 
 strange, that we should voluntarily subject 
 ourselves to the payment of an additional 
 imposition to the several private companies 
 of bankers, and other makers of money.
 
 resident in all parts of the kingdom. How 
 long will the folly of the nation, thus already 
 oppressed from the fullness of its circulating 
 medium, permit it to be still further increas- 
 ed by the overwhelming tide from country 
 feanks, Factories, and all the curious variety 
 of other rival offices, sources, countless and 
 exhaustless ? What ground or pretence hav^ 
 the proprietors of these, for expelling thegood 
 and lawful coinof the realm, andpouringforth 
 in lieu of it the uncalled-for engagements of 
 their own partnership and individual persons 
 — many of them mean persons, of doubtful 
 wealth, and little consideration in the 
 country ; whose joint and several securities 
 for a hundred, or a thousand pounds, no 
 prudent man would trust to ? Of what 
 estimation are they, in the scale of 
 public utility, that they should be allowed 
 to detract from the honest gains, the fair 
 inheritance of the people ? What obliga- 
 tions to them do we lie under ? On what, 
 but a short lived precedent, do they ground 
 their title to this eleemosynary tribute — this 
 share of our daily bread ? There are some 
 amongst us, 1 am aware, whose interest it 
 is to keep well with them, who occabionallv
 
 64 
 
 have need for a loan of such money as they 
 can obtain — to wit, these promissory notes^ 
 which oftentimes come thus into circulation. 
 But the great body of the people is not, I 
 trust, in circumstances so depressed — not- 
 withstanding the pressure of the times, and 
 this sad feature of them — to be subject to 
 the controul of creditors ; more especially 
 or such as are fattening upon the blindness 
 and folly of those whom they pretend to 
 serve. 
 
 Why any gentleman of moderate fortune, 
 and in his senses, who has no desire to 
 throw away his money, or render it less 
 valuable than it ought to be, should seek to 
 do any further service to the bankers with 
 whom he intrusts his money, than to allow 
 them the use of so much of it, as, from 
 time to time he himself does not stand in 
 immediate need of; — why, instead of in- 
 sisting upon payment in cash when he draws 
 upon them, he should be content to put up 
 with their flimsy fetid promissory notes, and 
 thus countenance and contribute to the de- 
 preciation of the currency of the kingdom,
 
 65 
 
 contrary to his own interest and feelings, I 
 am quite at a loss to discover. There may 
 be still, indeed, a little mystery in the busi- 
 ness — and good-natured neighbours, and old 
 women, who do not thoroughly understand 
 it, although they would not wittingly throw 
 away a counterfeit halfpenny, or pay a far- 
 thing more than the common assize price 
 for a peck loaf, will indulge their banker 
 most readily in his fancy of paying them his 
 own promissory notes instead of coin, 
 doubting not that they will pass as readily, 
 and procure as much corn or meat in each 
 of the neighbouring markets — for the banker 
 is rich, and has acquired great landed pro- 
 perty in the country. 
 
 That great and small gains are acquired 
 by these means, there can be no doubt at 
 all — the number, character, and situation in 
 life, of those who employ them, sufficiently 
 prove it. But the folly of those, who do 
 not profit h\ , but encourage it, is amazing. 
 They are blind to the consequences which 
 are so ruinous to themselves — ?o long as 
 they fancy, that tlie persons whose name is 
 
 F
 
 66 
 
 subscribed to these notes are not in jail, or 
 likely to be there, they are willing to accept 
 them as readily as cash — not considering 
 that in the very next article which they pur- 
 chase, they pay a tribute to the maker of 
 the note,-— or, if they do consider it, they 
 imagine that the tribute is so small as to be 
 unworthy of consideration, — they forget 
 what a few years since would have been 
 paid for the same article, or fondly impute 
 the difference in price altogether to the 
 operation of other causes. 
 
 But the mischief increases so rapidly, that 
 it is high time to put some check to it — if 
 we do not resolve and endeavour to put 
 down this craft of money making, it will 
 effectually put us down, unless, indeed, it 
 first ruin and destroy itself. For it is no 
 longer the mystery it was thought to be — 
 the knowledge of it is widely disseminated. 
 No more is it sought after in vain in the 
 laboratory of the alchy mist— -the art of 
 conversion is now easily acquired, and 
 practised in every corner of the kingdom. 
 The school master in every village-— the
 
 67 
 
 clerk in every counting house, with his 
 ** Easy method of Arithmetic" before him, is 
 well instructed how to calculate the com- 
 pound interest upon a pound, or a penny, 
 with sufficient accuracy to show how 
 much may be made in process of time, by 
 means of the circulation of promissory 
 notes— and the attorney, or linen draper, 
 at the next door, who has credit enough in 
 the neighbourhood to get them into cir- 
 culation, will have boldness enough to try 
 the experiment of fabricating them, fearless 
 of the explosion that may ensue. 
 
 It is putting an extreme case, and I do 
 not despair that the eyes of the public will 
 be opened long before such an event will 
 happen. But, suppose that every one who 
 is not in a state of insolvency, who has 
 property in land, or the" funds, or anywhere 
 elsCj should set about to circulate his 
 promissory notes to the full amount of the 
 value of that property, that these notes 
 should be generally received as money, being 
 considered as the representative of such 
 property — I ask, what would then be the 
 F 2
 
 68 
 
 real value of a guinea, or a guinea note?— 
 Would it buy us a pair oi shoes, or even 
 a string to tie them with ? The real case 
 before us is different only in degree, and 
 the effect, therefore, is less violent. Com- 
 paratively, a few only pledge their property 
 in this manner ; but it is to be feared, that 
 some of those few, instead of confining the 
 amount of their pledges to the value of their 
 property, considerably exceed it, as many 
 innocent persons can testify, to their 
 irreparable loss. But the effect, however 
 small it may be in the view of those who are 
 rolling in affluence, is sufficiently alarniing 
 and distressing to the multitudes who have 
 difficulties to encounter, who suffer many 
 privations of former comforts, and are 
 unable to maintain their birth-place, and 
 rightful situation in society. 
 
 It is on account of these, and many others 
 who depend upon the same fountains for 
 support, that humanity and policy require 
 even those who are not individually interested 
 in the restoration of the former value of 
 money, to exert themselves in promoting
 
 69 
 
 it. No arguments need be employed to 
 stimulate such as are so interested ; it is 
 sufficient to shew them plainly, what is 
 their real situation, and leave them to judge 
 how much worse it is soon likely to become, 
 if this pernicious system of money-making 
 be much more generally adopted, as it is 
 likely to be, unless proper means be speedily 
 devised and employed to prevent it. 
 
 It is not to be denied, that the sudden 
 restoration of the circulating medium to its 
 proper level, may prove prejudicial to cer- 
 tain interests of those who lie under engage- 
 ments for the payment of such sums as 
 may have been advanced to them, or for 
 which they have received the consideration, 
 since this depreciation of money has taken 
 place. And, no doubt, the difficulty of pro- 
 viding that perfectjustice shall be done, in every 
 case, is great. But the number of those, who 
 may be thus injuriously affected by. such 
 an event, bears but a small proportion to 
 the number of those who have long suffered, 
 and are yet sutFering, under the present 
 system and, if it be continued, will con-
 
 70 
 
 tinue to suffer from it still more and more ; 
 and who, whilst they are the more nume- 
 rous, are not the less estimable class of 
 individuals. But it is further to be con- 
 sidered, that the present system cannot last 
 for ever; it must sooner or later destroy 
 itself. The time must come, and that 
 shortly, if it has not come already, when 
 the promissory notes of the Bank of Eng- 
 land, and other Banks, will be viewed 
 with jealousy, and accepted with reluctance. 
 The competition has been already com- 
 menced; new companies are perpetually 
 obtruding themselves, to the detriment 
 of those already established ; they glean in 
 the same field, and interfere with, and press 
 upon each other, in their eagerness to pluck, 
 with unsparing h^nds, from the harvest of 
 the public. Is it not the wisest conduct, 
 therefore, to check the growing evil, and with 
 all reasonable promptitude to correct it? 
 Long, delay can serve no good purpose ; it 
 manifestly iends to ill, 
 
 But humanity again steps forward and ex- 
 claims, *' Would you ruin a multitude of
 
 71 
 
 respectable gentlemen, who, trusting to a 
 continuance of the present system, have ven- 
 tured their fortunes in the speculation of 
 Country Banking, which you are invidiously 
 pleased to call the craft of money- making ; who, 
 if you insist upon the payment of their notes 
 in cash, or notes of the Bank of England, 
 must inevitably become Bankrupts, and 
 whose Bankruptcy will assuredly effect the 
 ruin of many persons, who have kindly 
 confided in their solvency." 
 
 That their boldness in speculation might 
 terminate unfavourably, ought to have been 
 previously well weighed by these gentlemen 
 who have engaged in it. If they mounted 
 upon the wings of Icarus, they should expect 
 his fate. If any have voluntarily trusted 
 their fortunes on board a rotten vessel, or 
 foolishly depended upon the solidity of a 
 bubble for support, they have little else to 
 accuse than their own blindness and folly. 
 But I do not desire any wide calamity. 
 Let those who have soared upon false wings 
 drop, but drop gently. With prudence they 
 may ease themselves in their descent. Take
 
 72 
 
 from them, however, no more of their paper 
 money. They have profited, and v^^e have 
 SLiiFered from it, enough ah'eady. But do not 
 press clamorously and all at once for payment 
 of all that is now in circulation, for that 
 would speedily end in a refusal of payment 
 altogether. 
 
 If resolutions were publicly entered into 
 by men of consideration, in every county, 
 giving notice that they would not receive in 
 payment the promissory notes of any private 
 Bankers whatsoever, beyond a limited period, 
 suppose it were twelve or fifteen months, 
 such an expedient, at the same time that it 
 would give a caution to the customers of 
 those bankers, not to take from them any 
 more of their notes, would be a caution also 
 to the latter to call in their securities, and 
 provide for the discharge of such notes as they 
 have now in circulation ; and thus might the 
 evil, so far as it proceeds from them, be 
 remedied without any serious distress to any 
 persons engaged in Banking, except those 
 who would experience it in consequence of 
 their own rash, not to say dishonest, specu-
 
 lations ; and to whose distress, therefore, it 
 need not be the care of the pubhc to pay 
 much regard. 
 
 But that the aid of the legislature may not 
 be wanting to render more effectual the 
 endeavours of individuals, to redress the 
 whole evil complained of, it is desirable 
 that its authority should be employed, not 
 only for restoring, as speedily as is consistent 
 with public security, the liability of the Bank 
 of England to make its payment in cash ; 
 but, also, for immediately limiting the 
 amount of its promissory notes, a mea- 
 sure of itself highly conducive to the speedy 
 reproduction of the precious metals ; from 
 the want of which so much inconvenience 
 has been suffered. Without such a pre- 
 caution as this, on the part of the legis- 
 lature, the reduction, or total destruction 
 of the notes of private Banks, would tend 
 only to the further increase of those or 
 the Bank of England, which would 
 negative the desired effect of diminishing, 
 and keeping within due bounds, the quantity 
 of circulating medium.
 
 7A 
 
 Enjoying the privilege from payment of 
 their promissory notes, it cannot be thought 
 unreasonable that the Bank of England 
 should be prohibited from issuing them 
 beyond a limited amount ; but no such pri- 
 vilege being allowed to private Bankers, the 
 people themselves, w^ithout the legislature, 
 having full power to suppress their promis- 
 sory notes, the same reason or necessity does 
 not appear to prevail for its interference in 
 respect to them. If the people themselves 
 think it not worth while to make any exer- 
 tions for that purpose, it is a work of super- 
 erogation, perhaps, in the opinion of some 
 persons, for the legislature to make them. 
 Nay it may, perhaps, be considered as an 
 exercise of power, somewhat incompatible 
 with the principles of a free and commer- 
 cial people, to restrain any set of men from 
 employing the credit they enjoy in any 
 manner they shall deem most profitable 
 to themselves, provided they do no other 
 injury to the community than such as is 
 voluntarily courted iind submitted to by 
 individuals. But here the injury is done to 
 a multitude of individuals who have no power
 
 of avoiding it. But though it were not so, 
 had it not frequently been found requi- 
 site and necessary, however, to interfere 
 with the acts of divers sets of men, and of 
 public bodies, when individuals are thus inju- 
 riously, though voluntarily, affected by those 
 acts? Mostassuredlyithas ; — and the occasion, 
 perhaps, has not often been more pressing 
 than that afforded at present. If the effects, 
 resulting from the system of money-making, 
 now so commonly adopted, be in reality 
 so baneful as I have represented, and be- 
 lieve them to be, it is surely high time for 
 the legislature to interfere and put a stop 
 to them. 
 
 " But it is the excess of paper money, not 
 the moderate issue of it, that is injurious." 
 Yet more, its utility is most apparent ; 
 nay, I am willing to confess, notwithstand- 
 ing all that has been said,' that the total 
 suppression and prohibition of promissory 
 notes, (those I mean which are intended to 
 answer the purpose of money,) would be 
 attended with great inconvenience to 
 the public. The facility with which they 
 may be remitted from place to place, render
 
 76 
 
 them more useful in that respect than 
 specie ; and if means were devised for keep- 
 ing the issue of them within due bounds, 
 that is, to hmit the amount of them, to- 
 gether with the specie remaining in the 
 country, to the amount of the specie which, 
 from time to time, would be employed 
 there, in case there were no paper money, 
 little but what is good would result from 
 such a mixed medium of circulation. 
 
 But what are the means to which we can 
 have recourse, in order to accomplish this end ? 
 Suppose it were permitted to the Bank of 
 England, country Bankers, and others, to issue 
 their promissory notes to a limited amount. 
 What are the proportions which ought to 
 be assigned to the various Banks, that 
 are already or may hereafter be established 
 throughout the country ? Who are the 
 persons to compose the Board of Control 
 in this department, to arrange and assign 
 those proportions ? and what is the secu- 
 rity which ought to be required against 
 the issue of notes to a larger amount than 
 may be authorized .^ The difficulties and
 
 n 
 
 objections, which must necessarily attach 
 to any scheme founded upon a general 
 Hcense to issue them, subject to such pro- 
 visions as would be expedient, must be 
 extreme. 
 
 Were the practice of issuing promissory 
 notes payable without interest, by private 
 Bankers, tradesmen, and all others, except the 
 national Bank, altogether prohibited by law, 
 and the national Bank permitted to issue them 
 to a limited amount only, from time to time, 
 to be regulated by the legislature, according 
 to the exigency of the trade and commerce 
 of the country, which might be discovered 
 with sufficient accuracy from the price of 
 necessaries, a fair comparison of our Exports 
 and Imports, and the state of the exchange, 
 due regard being always paid to such 
 other occasional causes, as may affect the 
 price of necessaries, our trade, and the 
 exchange, independent of the quantity of 
 money ; and if such notes were in no case' 
 made a legal tender, but were faithlully 
 to be paid with specie, whenever demanded, 
 all the convenience of a paper circulation
 
 78 
 
 might be obtained free from the inconve- 
 nience, nay, the positive ill, now attending 
 it. But another and great advantage might 
 also be derived from this exclusive privilege 
 of issuing paper money. The public would 
 be justified in requiring, whilst the company 
 possessing that privilege would, doubtless, 
 gladly render a fair compensation for it, even 
 under the regulations adverted to. 
 
 But what an alarming innovation is this I 
 What a dreadful monopoly of paper- money ! 
 What total ruin to our trade ! — What a 
 sudden, what a paralysing shock to our 
 manufactures and agriculture! — What a 
 death-blow to the industry of the people ! 
 Stupendously grand, indeed, are the ideas 
 of the all-pervading beneficial influence of 
 promissory notes, as if heaven itself, in the 
 fulness of its bounty, had showered down 
 this blessing upon us, to vivify, invigorate, 
 and multiply, every herb and every beast 
 of the field that are food and raiment for 
 man — and it is natural there should be cor- 
 respondent ideas of the mighty mischief 
 which would ensue, if any considerable
 
 79 
 
 check were put to the issue of them ; but 
 I have touched upon this string before, and, 
 therefore, need not now dwell upon it. 
 Let it, however, always be remembered, 
 that neither the relative, nor the absolute 
 increase of money constitutes, or necessarily 
 contributes to the absolute increase of food 
 or raiment. Our trade, our manufactures, 
 and our agriculture, may live and flourish, 
 the industry of the people may be exerted to 
 its utmost extent; though half the money now 
 in the kingdom were absolutely annihilated ; 
 and when we are told that commerce cannot 
 exist without money, that our merchants 
 have oftentimes stood in need of more than 
 they could command or procure, — that our 
 goods have hence remained upon the hands 
 of our manufacturers, and the people sat 
 idle for want of employ, — let it be clearly 
 understood, that all this affords no proof what- 
 soever, that half the money, half the number 
 of pounds, shillings, and pence, to which the 
 gold and silver coin, and bullion, and pro- 
 missory notes of Bankers and others are 
 current, would not ansv^■cr every requisite
 
 80 
 
 purpose of trade and commerce, and afford 
 every requisite encouragement to national 
 industry, as well as the present total, pro- 
 vided the price of things in general were, 
 as they soon would be, reduced to half their 
 present price. Nor that the same lack of 
 money, of which our merchants have com- 
 plained, might not be experienced, though 
 twice the present quantity of money were 
 in circulation. 
 
 It was partly to the practice of our mer- 
 chants that I attributed the present deficiency 
 of gold and silver ; I meant not any thing, 
 however, to their prejudice. If there be 
 any real calamity arising from this deficiency, 
 let the blame fall where it ought. To trade 
 with gold and silver, as w ith other commo- 
 dities, deserves no condemnation. It would 
 be folly to prohibit it. Here they w^ere to 
 be purchased cheap. Here, therefore, it 
 was rational to purchase them and to carry 
 them elsewhere, where they bore a higher 
 price, there to be exchanged for raw or 
 manufactured produce ; and to return hither
 
 81 
 
 with that produce to be disposed of here 
 with advantage to the merchant; and, by 
 so disposing of it, to enable him again to 
 carry out gold and silver with the same 
 object and success as before ; and every 
 attempt to prevent this practice, so long as 
 there is an excess of circulating medium, 
 is not merely idle and absurd, but it is 
 mischievous and earnestly to be deprecated. 
 
 By the adoption of such a measure as I 
 have proposed, enough of the precious 
 metals would, ere long, return, the ba- 
 lance of trade continuing, as of late, in our 
 favour ; but it were well to ensure their 
 return more speedily. It were well if the 
 merchant, instead of exporting our gold 
 and silver, and importing the consumable 
 articles of luxury, furnished to him by 
 other nations, were to export the produce 
 of our own land and labour, and import the 
 gold and silver of other nations. — No danger 
 of future deficiency need be apprehended, 
 (except from such accidental causes as can 
 be provided against, if at all, only as they 
 o
 
 82 
 
 occur.) However more remote may be the 
 event, which our patriotic purveyors of 
 promissory notes have been so active in their 
 efforts (with other views, no doubt) to bring 
 to pass — I mean the emigration of pubhc 
 and private creditors — that injured multi^ 
 tude who, in consequence of the excessive 
 price of all the necessaries and comforts of 
 life in this country, would seek to enjoy 
 them in another, who would either dispose 
 of their capital in the public funds, on 
 mortgage, or elsewhere, and flee with the 
 amount in silver and gold ; or, from time to 
 time,# obtain remittances of the dividends 
 and annual produce of that capital in the 
 same form. A consummation devoutly to 
 be wished by our inveterate and jealous 
 enemy. 
 
 That these evils may beeffectually prevent- 
 ed, that the Golden Jgem^y speedily return, 
 and that we may enjoy that plenty which, 
 I trust, we should, without murmur, man- 
 fully re sign for the real service of the state, 
 when fairly called upon ; but which we
 
 83 
 
 cannot, without jealously, and discontent, 
 surrender to a tribe of speculators, who prey 
 upon the public, is the earnest wish of. 
 
 Dear ***, 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 >/;^ 1,1810. 
 
 OMISSION. 
 Page 27, line 1, after " in" insert Government Seciiritie?. 
 
 O. Sidney, Printer, Northumberland 
 Street, Strand, London.
 
 i
 
 
 wm.