THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF Illinois' 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 5875 
 
 V.5 
 
 H^fttHMS
 
 GRESHAM's LETTERS 
 
 ^ ON THE 
 
 P 
 
 SOLIDITY OF COMMERCIAL BILLS, 
 
 ENGLISH BANK NOTES: 
 
 TOGETHER. WITH 
 
 TWO LETTERS TO THE BANK DIRECTORS, 
 
 ON THE NECESSITY OF ESTABLISHING 
 
 A BOARD OF CONTROUL. 
 
 EXTRACTED FROM 
 
 « THE ORACLE AND PUBLIC ADVERTISER:'' 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. OWEN, PICCADILLY; AND B. CROSBY, 
 STATIONERS-COURT, LVD GATE-STREET. 
 
 1795.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 m 
 
 'T^HE Public is not Jo eafily deceived on almojl any 
 fubje6l as that of Finance — The Jludy of that 
 important fubjeB makes no part of the education either 
 of the Scholar, the Gentleman, or the Merchant — The 
 confequence is, that few people under/land much of the 
 matter, and thofe who do are feldom at the pains to 
 write upon it ; men of bujinefs are more profitably em- 
 ployed, and men of letters do not conftder it as being in 
 their department ; thus it is that the greatefi abfurdities 
 are propagated without any anfzver being given to them ; 
 and for the fame reafon it is, that when an anfwer is 
 given, it ought to be in as few words as pojfible. 
 
 \
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 ADDRESSED TO COxMMERCIAL MEN, 
 
 STRUCK with your apathy at a moment when 
 your commercial exiflence is at ftake, I 
 wrote the following Letters to fhew how eafy it 
 is to defend your caufe, if you had but the will to 
 do it — if you felt the neceffity. You have feen 
 an alarm fpread, that certainly influenced the 
 Bank Directors ; you have feen the public at 
 large thrown into a flate of uneafy fufpicion 
 and doubtful nefs ; you have feen thofe ravens, 
 that croak with inward joy and outward fadnefs, 
 the downfall of England, fucceed in terrifying 
 the nation, and flill you have not attempted to 
 fpeak truth, and defend yourfelves 1 ! ! 
 
 Do you think that commercial wealth is in- 
 tailed on your pofterity, or that its prefent pof- 
 fefibrs are invulnerable ? Do you defpife your 
 adverfaries, in the fame moment that you tremble 
 for vourfelves, and feel the eflPefts of their en- 
 mity? Or is it true, that what is the bulinefs of 
 all is the bufinefs of no one ? Refolve thofe quef- 
 tions with yourfelves and for yourfelves; I do 
 not interrogate you for my own information. 
 
 The hiftory of paft times, from the fall of Tyre 
 and of Carthage to the prefent day, fliews that com- 
 mercial wealth is the moft fleeting of all fublunary 
 things, and that when once gone, it never returns 
 again to the fame place. There mufl; be a caufe 
 
 for
 
 IV PREPACK. 
 
 for this, and that caufe ycai find to be nothing 
 elfe than that carelefs and avaricious apathy 
 which accompanies great wealth, againft which 
 povert)^^wages eternal war with an uninterrupted 
 though gradual fuccefs. 
 
 Rifen to the pinnacle of commercial greatnefs, 
 this is the moment of envy, and the moment of 
 danger; and when fo great a fabric has for its 
 foundation opinion and confidence y which are change- 
 able and precarious, it is fcarcely poflibie ta 
 be too much upon your guard. Could ill in- 
 tentioned men fucceed completely in fowing 
 diffidence and miftrull, tholt who have leaft 
 occafion for trufting others would imperceptibly 
 withdraw themfelves and their capitals from 
 trade and commerce; and thofe evils, which now 
 are only ideal, would at laft become real, and 
 thus the prophets of misfortune would have cauf- 
 ed their prophefy to be fulfilled. 
 
 In thefe letters, which are intentionally written 
 in a very brief manner, it is mod clearly proved, 
 that the dreaded run upon the Bank of Eng- 
 land is, if not impoflible, at leaft improbable. 
 The idea of a run originated in ignorance of the 
 real nature of the cafe; and the Director of the 
 Bank have none of thofe dangers to fear, which 
 have been induftrioufly held up before them. 
 
 Though a few pages are fufficient to demon- 
 ftrate this, yet the adiviiy and the energy of 
 your enemies muft friv iph, if you ciu not throw 
 off that indolent indifference, which has pro- 
 greiTively ruined all commercial nations which 
 have hitherto exifted. 
 
 LETTERS
 
 LETTERS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SOLIDITY OF COMMERCIAL BILLS, 
 
 AND ENGLISH BANK NOTES. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 TO THE CONDUCTORS OF THE ORACLE. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 T HAVE obferved with a mixture of indignation 
 and furprife, ihofe attacks which have for 
 fome time paft been made both on p7{lf/ic and 
 private credit in this country. 
 
 The fame men who, four years ago, were 
 occupied in difleminating difcontent, and who 
 aimed at deftroying the Conftitution by that 
 means, are now attempting the fame thing by 
 another mode. Had not the theories attached 
 to the ruinous Rights of Man been totally unfuc- 
 cefsful, thofewhofe objeft it is to caufe a Revo- 
 lution in England, would, perhaps, have fuc- 
 ceeded ere now ; they can, however, have nohope 
 of inducing people here to imitate fo fatal an ex- 
 ample. The defire of ruining the prefent order 
 of things, is, neverthelefs ftill as great as before; 
 
 B and
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 and the mode of obtaining fuccefs is, by attack- 
 ing Public Credit — and with it, that of all com- 
 mercial men. 
 
 A defire like this, is not certainly founded on 
 any good will towards the nation at large : or> 
 the contrary, it is evident, that the nation will» 
 in every refpeft, be a lofer by fuch Revolutions 
 as thofe men wifh to bring on. — Their attempts, 
 therefore, excite indignation; but it is equally 
 impoffible to fee without furprife, the cool and 
 indifferent manner in which thofe who are attacked 
 behave on this important occafion. 
 
 It is well known, that credit depends, in a 
 great meafure, upon opinions and it is by influ- 
 encing opinion, that the attack has been begun. 
 The efFe6l already produced is very confiderable; 
 the work goes on, and is greatly favoured by 
 the circumftances of the prefent times. To thofe 
 who refleft ferioufly on this bufinefs, it mufl 
 appear, that unlefs fome energetic efforts are 
 made to counteraft. thefe attacks, fuccefs will at 
 laft attend them; unlefs, indeed, fome unforefeeri 
 event arrives, which may ferve in place of the 
 efforts of men. 
 
 , , Is it pofTible that the fatal moment is arrived, 
 when thofe who pofTefs wealth have loft the will 
 and the power to preferve it? Is^ it pofTible, that 
 the efforts of thofe who afiail the rich are fet at 
 nought, becaufe they come from men who have 
 
 neither
 
 { 3 ) 
 
 neither credit nor property themfelves? Or, what 
 would be ftill more ftrange, do they await de^- 
 ftrudion and ruin motionlefs and without effort, 
 as the fafcinated traveller awaits the approach 
 of the deftroying rattlefnake? Whatever the 
 caufe may be, the effeft is certain ! ! 
 
 We fee, on the one hand, great exertions 
 making to dejiroy credit y by aEling on the -public 
 opinion •■, and on the other hand, we fee no efforts 
 made to maintain it. Thofe public prints which 
 boaft of being inimical to the Government of 
 this country, attack the credit of the ftate and 
 of the merchants: We fee Thomas Paine 
 transformed from a fpeculator on Liberty, to a 
 fpeculator on Finance; and what is more, his 
 opinions, ridiculous as they are, are circulated 
 with an uncommon degree of indujlry. Poison is dis- 
 tributed GRATIS, while THE ANTIDOTE LAYS 
 
 NEGLECTED ON THE SHELF. Thofc who are poor 
 give a little of what they poffefs to ruin the rich j 
 but the wealthy employ no means for their own 
 protection. The fame was the cafe in France 
 feven years ago. Then the Government and 
 men of property were attacked in writings, which 
 were circulated in a fimilar manner; but the Go- 
 vernment and the rich defpifed opinion — they 
 forgot that " the fpider taketh hold zvith her hands , 
 and is in Kinfs palaces .'* We all know the fatal 
 confequences of this ill-timed apathy ; and in how 
 
 B 2 ftiort
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 (hort a fpace of time thofe on whom the attack 
 was made, fuffered for their indolence. 
 
 Some pcrfons will fay, that the cafes are not 
 quite fimilar; they cannot, indeed, be expe6led 
 to be exa8:ly fo ; but the conclufion is no lefs 
 clear, that — wherever opinion has any conne6iion 
 with the exijlence of a certain order of things, the 
 efforts to change that opinion are never to he flighted. 
 
 If a general miftruft can be infpired here in 
 England — if the credit of Bankers is diminifhed, 
 then our merchants can no longer give credit 
 abroad, or make advances to our manufafturers 
 at home. The trade of England would inftantly 
 decline, and then the payment of taxes would 
 become irapra6licable. It is thus, that by at- 
 tacking Lombard-ftreet, a Revolution is at- 
 tempted at St. James's ; and it is on this chain 
 of things, that the enemies of England count for 
 fuccefs. 
 
 Our enemies would make it be believed, that 
 becaufe the quantities of gold and filver in cir- 
 culation are fmall, the circulating paper is not 
 folid ; they reprefent our Paper Credit as a bafe- 
 lefs fabric about to fall ; and they would there- 
 fore perfuade individuals to heap up gold, to be 
 cautious; theygive an hundred infidious exhorta- 
 tions, which, if liftened to, would really deftroy 
 the mercantile fyftem. Now, Gentlemen, though 
 1 admit that the quantity of gold is not great, 
 
 I am
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 I am ready to prove, that no money can be more 
 intrinfically folid than is the greateft portion of 
 paper circulating in England, fo long as the laws 
 and government are maintained. I mean in my 
 next letter to enter fairly into the quellion, 
 and expe6l to convince the moft fceptical on 
 that fubje6l, of the real wealth and Jolidity^ gener- 
 ally fpeakingt of the Banking Companies, Private 
 Banks, and Commercial Men of England. 
 
 GRESHAM. 
 
 London, 
 Sept. ii, 1796. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 TO THE CONDUCTORS OF THE ORACLE. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 'TfHE paper in circulation in England ought to be 
 divided into three clafles: 
 
 ill. Bank Taper ^ or Bank Notes. 
 
 2d. Notes of Private Bankers; and, 
 
 3d. The Bills of Mercantile Houfes drawn 
 upon their Correfpondents either at home or 
 abroad. 
 
 One great caufe of the folidity of the paper 
 which circulates in England, is the JiriEinefs of 
 the law for the immediate recovery of debts ; and 
 another is, the rigor of the law againfl ufury. 
 At firft fight, any one muft perceive that the fig- 
 nature
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 nature of an individual, or a Compan), bears as 
 a mortgage upon the whole of the property of 
 that Cornpany or Individul, in the moft com- 
 plete manner. No legal a6l whatever, nor any 
 mortgage, can in its nature be more facred, or 
 more fecure, than a fimple fignature, by means 
 of which the property of every fpecies of the per- 
 fon or perfons who gave the fignatufe may be 
 feized, without any pofTible means of defence, 
 ,or fcarcely even of delay. In thofe countries 
 where the law is not fo ftrid in this refpeft, paper 
 credit never can be fo folid as in England; 
 &nd therefore foreigners may the more eafily 
 give credit to the tales that are told of a 
 paper circulation without foundation or fo- 
 lidity. 
 
 The ftrift regulations concerning the intereft 
 of money, which is limited to five per cent, 
 under the penalty of three times the fum lent, to 
 be levied upon the lender^ is, however, the great 
 palladium of Britifh Credit. As no man gives 
 circulation to his own paper, fo it is, that thofe 
 who accept of it, in order to difcount it at fo 
 low a rate as five per cent, muft be convinced 
 of its folidity, becaufe the premium is too fmall 
 to pay/<?r any rifque. Whatever paper is therefore 
 confidered as in any degree fufpicious, is cut 
 out from circulation in the affairs on the great 
 fcalej and therefore the money market is always 
 
 kept
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 l^ept clear of all paper, except what, g.ccording 
 to the calculations of thofe who take it, is good; 
 and they mull be the beft judges, and the moft 
 fincere. Certainly, when for il. 5s. intereft, a 
 bill of lool. is difcounted for three months, the 
 man who difcounts it lays a great bet in favour 
 of its folidity. 
 
 When any paper gets into circulation (and 
 till it does we have nothing to fay to it), we 
 may confider that the perfon who firjl received it 
 as cajhy took every means he could to be inform- 
 ed of its goodnefs ; that is to fay, of the proba- 
 bility of its being pun6lually paid. Experience 
 has always (liewn, that the individual is generally 
 very clear-fighted in his own affairs; and there- 
 fore the public can have no better guarantee for 
 the general fafety of theirs. 
 
 After premiling, that the ftrift laws relative to 
 the regulation of intereft, and recovery of debts, 
 are the main barrier againft the circulation of 
 paper that is not folid, in whatever form it may 
 be, let us begin by confidering the three differ- 
 ent forts of paper, taking each feparately. 
 
 Bank Notes, iflued by Public Companies, 
 ought to be firft examined; and in doing fo, we 
 {hall find that they have a double Jecurity. The 
 capital of the Banking Company is, in the firft 
 place, anfwerable for the payment of its paper. 
 
 It
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 It is upon the inadequacy of this capital, that 
 the abfurd alarms are founded. 
 
 The Bank of England, it is aflerted, has only 
 about eleven millions of capital; I fay, aferted, 
 and I allow, that the capital on which dividends 
 are paid, is not much more — but is that the real 
 capital? Suppofing, however, for argument's 
 fake, the Bank has no more, and that there are 
 three times that quantity of notes in circulation 
 (which is alfo afTerted), does it follow that Bank 
 Notes are not folid? No, certainly. As the 
 Directors of the Bank never ijfiie one note, 
 except upon fome fecurity that appears to them 
 to be good, all thofe fecurities, as well as the 
 original capital of the eleven millions, are an- 
 fwerable for the payment of the notes ; fo that 
 the eleven millions are not the real fecurity for 
 the notes, but an extra security; it is there- 
 fore difficult to conceive how any thing but the 
 grofleft ignorance can throw fufpicion on the 
 paper of the Bank. 
 
 The enemies of England fay, with truth, that 
 there is not cafti in t^e Bank to pay the notes 
 that are out. If that were not the cafe, the Bank 
 would be an abfurd, ufelefs, and very expenfive 
 eftabliftiment. The cafh in the Bank is, how- 
 ever, in fuch quantity, as is far more than fuffi- 
 cient to pay any demand that can in the ordina- 
 ry
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 ry courfe of things occur. And as all the fecu- 
 rities lodged in the Bank are -dX Jliort dates^ it 
 follows, that in cafe of any very extraordinary 
 run, thofe fecurities would be realized quicker 
 than it would be poffible to count the fpecie 
 which might be demanded in exchange for the 
 notes. 
 
 The fecurities in the Bank are either Govern- 
 ment Securities, Mercantile Bills, or 
 Pledges of Intrinsic Value. The payment of 
 taxes is perpetukdly reiraburfing the advances to 
 Government; the bills of commercial men are 
 either paid in Bank of England notes, or in gold ; 
 therefore, as they become due, tliey either bring 
 back a portion of the Bank Paper in circulation, 
 or they bring in gold; fa that in ehlier cafe there 
 is no doubt as to the folvability of the Bank. 
 
 As to the pledges of intrinjic value^ they, our 
 greatefl enemies, will allow, would anfwer for 
 themfelves. 
 
 Such then is thtfolidity of the Bank of England, 
 that, unlefs a general bankruptcy took place, it 
 could never be in any erabarraffment, as it has 
 fecurity for every note in circulation. In my 
 next, I fhall enter more particularly into the 
 nature and folidity of this fecurity, even in cafe 
 of a general bankruptcy. 
 
 GRESHAM. 
 
 London, 
 Sept. 13, 1796. 
 
 C LETTER
 
 ( lO ) 
 
 LETTER IIL 
 TO THE CONDUCTORS OF THE ORACLE. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 A LTHOUGH the paper that circulates in 
 England is with propriety divided into 
 three clafTes; yet thofe are fo nearly conne6ied, 
 that it is difficult to treat of them feparately. 
 
 The Bank Paper refls its furety, in a great 
 meafure, upon the paper of private individuals ; 
 in confidering the folidity of the former, it is 
 therefore neceflary to confider that of the latter 
 at the fame time. 
 
 The only plea that has been alledged, or, at 
 leaft, that has been admitted, as proving that the 
 paper which circulates in England is not folid, is, 
 that there is not gold or filver enough in the 
 kingdom to pay it all off at once. This fa6l I 
 have readily admitted, and now mean to anfwer, 
 without any fpecies of illufion or fubterfuge. 
 
 In the firft place it is to be obferved, that the 
 very objeftion made to the folidity of the paper, 
 bears with it this negative conclufion, that if 
 there were gold and filver fufficient to anfwer 
 for the payment of the paper, then it would be 
 SOLID. Now it follows from the fame affertion, 
 that if there is real intrinsic value of any 
 other fort in the pofTefTion of thofe who have 
 
 iCTued
 
 ( 11 ) 
 
 iffued the paper, to call it all in, then it is solid; 
 becaufe all intrinjic values are the fame with 
 gold and filver. 
 
 It has been afferted, and I fhall fuppofe it 
 true, that there circulate in England 30 millions 
 of Bank paper, and 30 millions of private notes, 
 and that the fpecie only amounts to 25 millions 
 —Now, Gentlemen, I am willing to allow this 
 without any queftion, and I even go a little 
 farther, and fuppofe that the bills and notes 
 exceed the fpecie by 45 millions; which is 10 
 millions that I throw into the fcale in favour of 
 my opponents. 
 
 I, begin then with enquiring who are the per- 
 fons who have ilfued thefe bills, and I find it 
 to be the Merchants and Manufa^urers^ whofe 
 whole capital, in the aggregate, is anfwerable 
 for the payment of them. 1 muft therefore ber 
 gin and calculate how great a value is in reality 
 mortgaged for the payment of 60 millions of 
 paper which is in circulation, and I find that there 
 is property in poffeffion of commercial men to a 
 very confiderable amount, as follows: — 
 
 I' 
 Owing by Merchants in foreign countries, all 
 
 our debts being deduced, at leaft - - - - 10,000,000 
 
 Raw materials and unfiniflied goods of all forts, 
 in the hands of Merchants and Manufacturers 
 in Britain ----------- 14,000,000 
 
 Machines, tools, warehoufes, &c. &:c. - - . 9,000,000 
 
 C 2 Manufadured
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 Maniifaifterod goods in the fljops, warehoufes, 
 
 furnLujrej,i&c. of people in bu/inefs - j. - 56^000^00 
 Shipping belonging to Englifli Merchants - - 10,000,000 
 Capital employed in Jamaica, and other poffef- 
 fions abroad, belonging to Enghfli Merchants 1 1,000,000 
 
 Prbperty of men in trade - - 110,000,000 
 
 This" if, i'rthbiif 'including lapded eftates, 
 houfes, ready money, and other property be- 
 longing to commercial men, and thofe who have 
 bills 01^ notes in circulation, all which would be 
 sfpplied talHie liquidation of the debt, in cafe of 
 a general crafli. 
 
 Thus it would appear, that there is real value, 
 to the Amount of at ieaft twice the paper in 
 circulation, the folidity of which is therefore 
 undeniab!ie. 
 
 ^ ft'm'a^f- be faid, that all this property could not 
 cfomi^' to the hammer, and be fold at its real 
 value; and indeed it is very true that fuch an 
 operation would be impoflihlc; but likewife it is 
 rmpojik/e itkat fuch an operdfim jfJimld be necejfary. 
 
 The'-Tat grea'tet portion t)f the Bank notes 
 and bills" are circulating avwngji fkofe very men 
 who have that property So that though the pro- 
 perty of fome individiaals would come to fale, 
 yet as liie money is owing from one to another, 
 fome individuals Tivquld he^reseivmg^ while others 
 were paying. As for example: — When the 
 private Merchants paid their bills. Bank notes 
 '" '"■ to
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 to the fame amount would be drawn out of cir- 
 culation; fo that 30 millions of intrinfic value 
 would reduce the amount of paper circulation 
 60 millions; for the Bank notes and the private 
 paper are what the French call un double 
 EMPLOi ; that is to fay, one million of private 
 paper in the Bank, and the million of Bank 
 paper which difcounted it, is only in reality a 
 duplicate of the fame thing; for as foon as the 
 million of private paper is paid, the million of 
 Bank notes ceajes to exift. Now as this is the cafe, it 
 follows that the 25 millions of fpecie which exift, 
 would draw out of circulation 50 millions of 
 paper; for it mufl never be forgotten, in exa- 
 mining this matter, that the paying of the pri- 
 vate bills reduces the number of Bank notes in 
 the fame proportion: fo that every bill of a 
 thoufand pounds paid, reduces the total circula- 
 tion of paper two thoufand pounds. 
 
 The whole fpecie of the country is not indeed 
 in the hands of people who have bills to pay; 
 but more than one half of it is in the hands of 
 Commercial Men and Bankers; and therefore 
 the fpecie alone would pay off nearly one half 
 of the paper in circulation, and for the other half 
 there would remain the 110 millions as before 
 -ftated. 
 
 Thefe calculations are not very exaft, nor is 
 it at all neceflary that they fhould be fo; be- 
 
 caufe
 
 ( 14 ) 
 
 caufe they are far within bounds, and the furplus of 
 
 folvability is fo great, that to be very accurate 
 
 would not be very ufeful. I fliall, neverthelefs, 
 
 on a future day, give the grounds on which 
 
 thofe calculations are founded. 
 
 GRESHAM. 
 London, 
 Sept. 17, 1796. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 TO THE CONDUCTORS OF THE ORACLE. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 TTAVING proved undeniably the more than 
 -*--*- fufficient means of paying all the paper in 
 CIRCULATION, without fclUng one-tenth part of 
 the property of our merchants and manufa6lures, 
 even in the cafe of a general difcredit; I am next 
 to confider the time in which it would be done. 
 Of thirty millions of Bank bills, fuppofed to 
 be in circulation, more than twenty millions 
 are in the hands of commercial men. Now as 
 thofe commercial men have iflued thirty mil- 
 lions of notes, payable in two or three months, 
 it follows, that they muft provide bank notes to 
 pay their own bills with, as they become due; 
 and when this operation fhall have been finiflied, 
 there will not remain more than ten millions of 
 
 Bank
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 Bank notes in the poffeffion of the public, and 
 there will only remain ten millions of protested 
 BILLS, fuppofing even that the commercial peo- 
 ple have not been able to produce any gold, and 
 fuppofing that the bankers had no gold likewife. 
 But, Gentlemen, as it is certain, that the public 
 and private banks have very nearly half the 
 fpecie in the kingdom in their poffeffion, it 
 would follow that after paying the ten millions 
 in queftion, they would ftill have a furplus of 
 two millions or rather more. — It is to be prefum- 
 ed alfo, that the mercantile and manufacturing 
 intereft would be able, out of their no millions 
 of real property (ten of which is owing by other 
 countries) to have realized fomething from 
 abroad, we may at lead fuppofe five millions — 
 fo that a DELAY in paying the remaining five 
 millions, is all that could happen in the worft of 
 cafes 111 
 
 Thefe are demonstrative proofs, to which 
 it will be difficult to find an anfwer, fo far as they 
 apply direflly to the general mafs of notes or 
 bills iffued by mercantile men, or by banking 
 companies in aid of mercantile men. 
 
 As to the individual bankruptcies that would 
 take place amongft commercial men, that is in- 
 deed another confideration; but that has no 
 connexion with the affair, as it is itated by the 
 enemies of England ; becaufe the fame would be 
 
 the
 
 ( i6 ) 
 
 the cafe, even if the public banks had gold to 
 pay all the notes that are out, and it muft Itill be 
 kept in view, that their not having enough of 
 gold is the circumftance of which Thomas Painb 
 and the other enemies of England complain. 
 
 Such then is the fituation of our paper credit, 
 fo far as Bank notes are iffued in aid of commer- 
 cial men, when viewed on the great fcale — The 
 
 SOLIDITY OF THE FABRIC IS INDISPUTABLE, and 
 
 It belongs only to the ignorant or the malevo- 
 lent to difpute it. 
 
 That portion of notes in circulation, which is 
 iffued for the fervice of Government or the dif- 
 count of Navy or Exchequer bills, is indeed 
 different, and it comes next to be the bufinefs 
 to confider how fuch notes would in a moment 
 of crifis be withdrawn. 
 
 As the advances made by Bankers to the mer- 
 cantile intereft, are repaid by the bills becoming 
 due, fo are the notes iflued to Government 
 brought back by the taxes, which ferve the 
 Bank as 2. Jecwity : for it is to be obferved, that 
 the Bank never lends to Government, but upon 
 fecurity given for the payment. So long, there- 
 fore, as the taxes continue to be paid, the Bank 
 is fafe. — I know that the enemies of England 
 will here aflt the fame queftion that they have 
 been afking thefe eighty years. How long will 
 the Government be able to pay? To this I fhall 
 
 anfwer.
 
 ( i7 ) 
 
 anfwer, as I would concerning any individual 
 who has hitherto been pun6lual in his payments 
 — " Forever, if the bufinefs is well conduced; 
 " and if ill conduced, the diftance of tin\e will be 
 " greater or lefs according to the degree of good 
 " or bad conduft." 
 
 I will in the mod unqualified manner maintain, 
 that if the affairs of this nation are wifely 
 managed, public credit will be kept up ; but I 
 do not mean to fay, that if they fhould fall into 
 the hands of unfaithful or foolifli managers, a 
 Bankruptcy would not foon take place. — 1 fhould 
 not go quite fo far as the French, when upon the 
 eve of a general Bankruptcy they proclaimed, 
 that he who pronounced the word Bankrupt 
 fhould be infamous — I am no enthufiafl, and I 
 hope to efcape the appellation of empiric, as I 
 flick to reafon and to fad in whatever I fay, which 
 every man is bound to do, who addreffes the 
 public on a ferious fubjed. 
 
 There is yet one thing untouched iipon, and 
 that is, thofe bills in circulation which are not for teal 
 tranfaBions . — Thofe, it is true, have on various 
 occafions been the caufe of difcredit and want 
 of confidence. • 
 
 A Bill ought, as it bears upon its face, to be 
 for value received, that is well underflood, and 
 univerfally allowed; but it does not follow from 
 ' D thence.
 
 ( i8 ) 
 
 thence, by any means, that every bill which does 
 not originate in a real tranfaftion is either a bad 
 or a dangerous bill. — A bill is, as I have already 
 faid, a mortgage on all the perfonal property, and 
 on the body of the perfon who figns it ; and 
 •whether it originates in confequence of a real 
 tranfaftion or not, it is equally facred. 
 
 What will no doubt aftonifh many of your 
 readers. Gentlemen, is, that if I were to have 
 my choice of a real or a fi6litious bill, I would 
 TAKE THE FICTITIOUS ONE. That I may fpeak 
 clearly, I mean to fay that, cateris paribus^ the 
 moral chances are in favour of the JiBitiotis bill. 
 —-My demonftration is eafy and clear. A. and 
 B. have had real tranfa8;ions for a confiderable 
 time, B. owes at laft a balance of 500I. to A* 
 who is very glad to take the note of B. for the 
 money, although he has fome doubt of its good- 
 nefs, B. having for fome time paft been rather 
 embarraffed. Thus it is, that bills for real value 
 delivered, are frequently taken when they are 
 not thought perfectly good. Had the cafe been 
 different, and no real tranfadion had taken 
 place, then A. would not have indorfed the bill 
 of B. without bemg perfe£ily fatisfied as to its 
 goodnefs^ becaufe the tranfa6tion would have been 
 entirely opional. It is fair then to conclude, that 
 as the receiving fiftitious bills and indorfing 
 
 them
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 them is a voluntary aQ;, and as real bills are often 
 received from neceffity, the fi6litious bill is the 
 more folid of the two ! 
 
 As I by no means wifh, either by a quibble 
 or a fubterfuge, to delude thofe who defire to 
 fludy this fubjeft, I fhall continue the fame ar- 
 guments, and carry them flill farther in my 
 next, concerning the folidity of fictitious 
 
 BILLS. 
 
 GRESHAM. 
 
 London, 
 Sept. i8, 1796. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 TO THE CONDUCTORS OF THE ORACLE. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, , 
 
 T PROMISED in my laft to extend my argu- 
 -*■ ments ftill farther in behalf of ^(5?///owj, or as 
 they are more properly called Accommodation 
 Bills. 
 
 The appellation o'i fiEiitions conveys a meaning 
 which is not in this cafe 2, fair one. The bills fo 
 called are fiftitious, in fome degree, with regard 
 to the value received \ but they are real with 
 refpeft to the obligation incurred. Now, as it 
 happens, the obligation itfelf, and not the caufe 
 of the obligation, conftitutes the value of the 
 
 D2 bill
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 bill in law, fo, properly fpeaking, the bill is to 
 all intents artd purpofes a real and not a fifti- 
 tious bill. Even the value received is not al- 
 together a fiftion in an accommodation bill ; 
 becaufe a receipt given for the bill or the ob^ 
 ligation, -which the other party contracls, is a 
 valuable conjideratiou, the fame as in any other 
 bargain for time, or obligation to be performed. 
 
 Calling then thofe bills accommodation billSy I 
 have already proved that they are in general 
 better than bills drawn in order to pay debts already 
 contraEied, 
 
 Thofe who think themfelves very knowing in 
 this fpecies of negociation, will at once fay, that 
 I know little about the bufinefs ; for that no obli- 
 gations are flronger than thofe of men who mu- 
 tually accommodate each other with bills. It 
 will be faid, that they are fo engaged and con- 
 ne6ted, that the accommodations are by no means 
 voluntary, but mutually neceffary, and that in a 
 very high degree. This I am ready to grant is 
 often the cafe ; but ftill it does not invalidate in 
 any degree my argument. 
 
 The accommodation bill may, in its origin, be 
 df a dubious nature ; the drawer and acceptor 
 may be both men without credit; but if fo, they 
 ■will not find any one to difcount their bill, and 
 till it is difcounted the bill does not concern the 
 public. 
 
 It
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 It is till then a private affair entirely, and has 
 no connexion with the general credit of the 
 paper of the country. Before fuch a bill is 
 difcounted, it muft have acquired, by one means 
 or other, fuch a probable degree of folidity as 
 to induce fome monied men to run the rifk of 
 turning it into cafh, for the trifling advantage 
 Avhich the law allows. 
 
 I by no means intend to give dir\y general law 
 as being an univerfal one; on the contrary, I 
 know that every general rule muft have Jome 
 exceptions; but I mean in the moft decided 
 and unequivocal manner to maintain, that gene- 
 rally fpeaking, no bill that is not reckoned cer- 
 tain of being punftually paid can be difcounted; 
 and till // is difcounted^ it forms no part of the fecurity 
 for Englifli Paper Credit, 
 
 I am well aware, that in bringing forward new 
 ideas on this important fubjeft, I am liable to 
 criticifm. I have already ventured upon main- 
 taining TWO TRUTHS, that are new to the Finan- 
 cial World. 
 
 The firft is — That the private paper is only a 
 duplicate of the Bank Notes. The fecond is 
 what I have been this moment faying — That fic- 
 titious or accommodation bills, are, generally 
 fpeaking, more folid than bills drawn in confe- 
 quence of real tranfaftions. But, Gentlemen, 
 the truth which I have yet to hold out will feera 
 
 at
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 at firft light to be dill more flrange than either 
 of thefe — I mean to maintain, that the scarcity 
 
 OF GOLD AND SILVER IN TlIIS COUNTRY WILL 
 PREVENT ANY SERIOUS RUN UPON THE BaNKL 
 
 or England. This is indeed diametrically 
 oppofite to the general and univerfally received 
 opinion; but the juftice and truth of it will 
 neverthelefs foon be perceived. 
 
 Let us fuppofe, that, from fome caufe or 
 other, the public became fufpicious of the credit 
 of the Bank, and wiflied to exchange their notes 
 for gold. If England were not a trading coun- 
 try, and if the poirefTors of notes were hoarders 
 of money, then a run upon the Bank might indeed 
 be ruinous; but that is not the cafe. 
 
 Of the notes that are out, one-eighth at moft 
 circulate amongft people who have no concern in 
 trade, and no obligations to pay. Suppofe, then, 
 a run to begin, and that there are 32 millions of 
 notes out, it would go on nearly as follows: — 
 
 The avenues to the Bank would be crowded 
 with people, wifliing to change their notes for 
 gold; and 200, or at moil 300,000 pounds 
 would be changed every day. More could not 
 be paid, becaufe the Tellers could not be able 
 to do it with fuflBcient certainty. 
 
 While this was going on, the Bank would be 
 receiving half a million of its notes every day in 
 payment of the commercial bills in its polfeffton, 
 
 or
 
 ( 23 ) 
 
 or in the pofieflion of bankers. So that In ten 
 days eight millions of notes would be brought 
 in, while the Bank would only have paid three 
 millions in fpecie. 
 
 The quantity of notes in circulation Vv'ould, by 
 this time, be diminiflied one fourth \ and a want 
 of a circulating medium would be feverely felt; 
 for a very few of the guineas received at the 
 Bank would enter into circulation immediately. 
 Bank notes would therefore become fcarce, and 
 in place of bringing them in, people would join 
 earneftly in demanding them, which would im- 
 mediately reftore credit, and put an end to the 
 demand for gold. 
 
 This would not be the cafe were there gold 
 and lilver enough fully to fupply the place of the 
 7tote^, in which cafe they might all be brought 
 in; but as a circulating medium is abjohitely 
 iiecejjary, it would infallibly happen, that inftead 
 of being brought in, they would foon be in 
 greater requeft than ever. 
 
 A run upon the Bank of England is merely a 
 bug-bear, a phantom conjured up by our ene- 
 mies, and credited by the unthinking: even the 
 very caufe affigned for that run — namely, the 
 want of gold and Jilver, is the reafon why it could 
 not poffibly take place. 
 
 " There is no money in the Bank," fay our 
 ignorant enemies — " Its cellars do not contain 
 
 " one
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 " one tenth of the value of the notes which it 
 ** has ifTued'* — Do they know (thofe our ene- 
 mies) that the cellars of the Bank of England 
 may be fai-d to extend over three-quarters of 
 the known world, and that half the warehoufes 
 from Surinam to Japan would be emptied of 
 their goods before the notes of the Bank of 
 England would go unpaid. 
 
 Wherever Englifhmen carry their goods (and 
 where is it that they do not carry them?) they 
 give credit, and the whole credits and property 
 of the mercantile people of England muft anfwer 
 for their obligations-^ upon which obligations the 
 Bank Notes of England depend. — Is not their foun- 
 dation fufficiently ample? 
 
 Away then far from us, thofe pitiful apprehen- 
 fions which are engendered between the malig- 
 nity of our enemies and the pufillanimity of our- 
 felves. Our paper credit is not a bafelefs fabric; 
 and as on it our commerce depends, let us 
 refift every attempt to deftroy the one or the 
 other, whether coming from enemies without or 
 within — whether they are open or concealed 
 — whether they come from Thomas Paine, who 
 frankly confefTes he wifhes that England may be 
 humbled; or from a Lord or a Commoner, who 
 pretend to be patriots, and give their revelations 
 by way of Jerving their country! 
 
 It
 
 ( 25 ) 
 
 It is not a blind confidence that is to bewilhed 
 for or encouraged, but that confidence which is 
 founded upon reafon and experience. Two 
 things are principally to be kept in view ; let the 
 Directors of the Bank confider, that it is their 
 duty and their interejl to aid commercial men, as far 
 as they with prudence can-, and on the other hand, 
 let commercial men be guided by prudence in 
 their fpeculations, keeping always in mind, that 
 they depend upon credit, and that credit depends 
 upon good conduft and public opinion. 
 
 GRESHAM. 
 
 London, 
 
 Sept. 20^ 1796. 
 
 TO
 
 dOTE'RNC^R AWto i:)IRECTORS OF THE 
 BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ,._ GFNTLEMEN, 
 
 AFTER demGnftrating in the foregoing let- 
 ters the IMPOSSIBILITY of a RUN upon the 
 Bank of England, I think it is equally my duty, 
 as a friend to my country, to write to you as 
 the guardians and adminijirators of that Bank. 
 
 As Bank DireElcrs you have a double duty to 
 fulfil — One towards the Proprietors of Bank 
 Stock, and another towards your country. 
 
 To underftand thofe two duties well, we muft 
 examine the original intention of the charter of 
 the Bank. 
 
 Every exclujive privilege has its foundation 
 in the public good, which is intended to be pro- 
 moted by it, and to which the intereft of thofc 
 receiving that privilege is to ht fubfervient infuch 
 cafes as they are oppojite to each other. When the 
 Government of the country grants an exclufive 
 privilege, the perfon or perfons to whom it is 
 granted incur the obligation of fupplying the 
 public with the article or articles for which it is. 
 granted. 
 
 If
 
 ( 27 } 
 
 If this condition is not fulfilled the privilege 
 is forfeited, as has been repeatedly determined 
 by our Courts of Juftice, in the cafes of Patents 
 for Inventions. I take for an inftance the Char- 
 ter of the Eaft India Company ; fhould that Com- 
 pany determine not to fend any fhips to India* 
 or to fliut up its warehoufes, the privilege then 
 would go to the preventing England from having 
 any goods from India — Do you think fuch a 
 meaning could be given to that or to any other 
 exciufive privilege? I am confident you cannot 
 think fo; and I am even very well convincec^, 
 that if the Company were to put an unreafon^ 
 ably high price upon Eaft India articles, the 
 Charter would thereby be forfeited. 
 
 Now, Gentlemen, you are the Adminiftrators 
 of a Company which has an excliijive priviiege 
 for iffuing promiffory notes; that is to fay, your 
 Charter is fuch, that no other Company can 
 eftablifli itfelf upon a folid and refpeftable bafis 
 to rival you. — It is therefore, in all refpecls, 
 equwcf/ent at prefent to an exciufive privilege in the 
 ftrifteft fenfe of the terra — You will not, I pre- 
 fume, fay " that you have a right to let this pri- 
 **" vilege lay dormant^ and deprive the public of 
 " Bank-Notes altogether." The queftion then 
 comes to be, How far you have that right? 
 
 There is a dijcretional but not an- unlimited 
 j>Qwer granted to the Directors ]j who are not by 
 
 E 2 any
 
 \ <z8 ) 
 
 any means, at liberty to a6l at will ^vith regard 
 to the accommodation which they pjant the 
 public. I fay, Gentlemen, jok are -mr at liberty 
 to aEi in whatever manner yon pleafe, and that 
 you are BOUND TO accommodate all solvent 
 MEN who comply with the eftablilhed and 
 cuftomary conditions. Neverthelefs, as you 
 iriay not be inclined to think fo, I fhall reafon 
 the mfeitter in the way that you may think proper 
 yourfelves. 
 
 You will readily allow, either that you have, 
 or have not, an unlimited power depending 
 merely upon your own will and opinion. In 
 fhort, the moft you can Hiy is, that you form a 
 Jury, fitting upon the credit of your fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 My opinion is; that your power is limited* 
 but if I am wrong in that, which is pofliblej 1 
 fhall hazard the opinion, that if you, the Bank 
 Direftors, have an unlimited power to refufe 
 whatever paper you pleafe, that then the Charter 
 of the Bank is wrongly given-, and that the Minif- 
 ter of this country does not do his duty, unlefs 
 he does his utmoft to eftablifli a BOARD of 
 CONTROUL for the Bank, the fame as there is 
 for the India Company. 
 
 No power whatever (where oppofite interefts 
 are at flake) ought to be without fome controul. 
 The Conftitution of thefe kingdoms has named 
 
 King,
 
 ( 29 ) 
 
 King, Lords, and Commons, that they may con- 
 troul each other — and it was wifely done. 
 
 Shall we then have more confidence in a 
 Commercial Company, than in the Chief of the 
 Nation, who is daily controuled? The Bank 
 Directory alone is not to have any controul at 
 all. This is really too abfurd and too unreafon- 
 able! Even the French DireElory is controuled; 
 and fhall the Bank DireElory be like an Eaftern 
 Potentr'te, whofe word is a law as foon as 
 fpoken? 
 
 No, Gentlemen, if you are fufficiently unrea- 
 fonable to think fo, you will excufe me if I am 
 not foolifh enough, or complaifant enough, to 
 fubfcribe to your opinion. 
 
 I muft then repeat, that if your power is arbi- 
 trary, and without appeal, it ought not to remain 
 fo; and I will venture to give it as my opinion, 
 that if it fliould be proved to be fuch, the 
 Minifter of this country does not deferve to be 
 fuch, unlefs he eilablifhes a Board of Con- 
 troul over you ; for fuch a power as you have 
 is as inconjiftent with the fpirit of the Conjlitution, 
 as it is incompatible with the intertfts of the Nation at 
 large. 
 
 Let us next fuppofe that your power is 
 limited, the bufinefs will then be to find out the 
 limits. 
 
 The firft affair certainly is to fupply the Pub- 
 lic with Notes, upon fuch conditions as your 
 
 Charter
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 .(Phartcr permit?, and ascusTOswand experienc-e 
 warrant. 
 
 Now, Gentlemen, as your Conftituents, the 
 Holders of Bank Stock, have never fuffered any 
 ferious inconvenience, pr real lofs,from difcoum- 
 ;jing, where three Jolvable names were on a Billy I be- 
 lieve you will find it difficult to prove, that their 
 Jntereji requires you to refufe fuch Bills : and I 
 -believe, nay, I am certain, that the intereft. of 
 the Public requires, that the great majority of 
 fuch Bills fhould be difcounted. I therefore do 
 not think that your difcretionary power goes fo 
 far, as to enable yqu to refufe the major part of 
 fuch Bills, unlefs (which is not the cafe) the 
 intereft of your Conftituents required you to do 
 fo. 
 
 jii;Perhaps you may fay, that trade requires 
 xnore accommodation than your ready money in 
 the Bank will warrant your giving. Why do 
 you not then get more ready money, fince 
 your Charter was given you in order that the 
 Public might be fupplied, and fince you are 
 bound to fupply it? You may have more if you 
 will, I fhould be glad indeed to know, what 
 proportion you have fixed upon between your 
 cafh in hand and notes iffued ; for, as it is well 
 •known, that with the moft ftritl limitation of 
 difcounts, you ftill have more notes out than 
 you could,converL into gold or filver on dcma,nd, 
 there feero^ to me to be no partjcular point 
 
 to
 
 ( 3* ) 
 
 to (lop at, and I atn indeed convinced there is 
 none, nor can there be any. 
 
 Firft oF all, it is not the fum that is out, that 
 is the great point; you fiiould take the whole 
 Turn in circulation, and multiply it by the time it 
 is lent for ; and from that you may come at fome- 
 thirig like a balis for a calculation. 
 
 To make this the more clear, I fuppofe yon 
 have difcounted a bill of lOOol. at ninety days 
 date, and another of lOOol. at ten days-— By 
 the fimple rule of calculating, you w'ould have 
 to preferve in hand the fame quantity ofcafli 
 in both cafes ; but as the probability is, that 
 nine times as much would come in during ninety 
 days, as during ten — it follows then, that nine 
 times the cafh would be neceffary. 
 
 Again, if you follow this rule, you are fubjeft 
 to error ftill, though not near fo great as in the 
 other cafe; for as the whole mafs of difcounts 
 tncreafeSy fo the proportional fum of cafh necef- 
 fary decreafes^ fuppofi ng even that there is any 
 natural proportion, which there certainly is not. 
 The calculation then becomes a very intricate 
 one, which I dare venture to fay no one of you 
 ever fairly made, in which cafe you have either 
 t*Lken a wrong rule, or no rule at all. 
 
 ■it .is clearly your bufinefs to provide gold and 
 filver, if you find that it is wanted; your pri- 
 vilege is given you for that purpofe, and if 
 
 you
 
 f 32 ) 
 
 you do not do it, your privilege is in fa£i for- 
 feited. 
 
 As 1 have already proved, that much gold and 
 filver could never be called for, and that the 
 payment of the bills you had difcounted would 
 bring back the notes which you had ilfued, I 
 fhall for the prefent content myfelf with fup- 
 pofing that you have hitherto limited difcounts 
 under the falfe alarm of a run upon your ejlablijh- 
 ment I but that idea being now done away, and 
 proved to be groundlefs, I hope you will fhew 
 the public that you merit to be entrufted 
 with the direftion of a National Eftablifhment 
 upon which the profperity of our Commerce 
 depends. 
 
 GRESHAM. 
 
 London, 
 5ejpt. 265 1796. 
 
 GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF THE 
 BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 A FTER having proved, that your duty; ac- 
 -*■ ^ cording to the Charter of the Bank, re- 
 quires you to fupply the Public with Notes, for 
 which purpofe your Charter was given — let us 
 
 next
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 next take a view of the evil, which your refufing 
 to difcount good bills produces, and we fhall 
 find it too great to be Jlumbered upon — nay, to be 
 fuch as demands an immediate remedy. 
 
 The moment that good bills cannot be dif- 
 counted at the Bank, that moment every pri- 
 vate Banker is under a neceflity of limiting his 
 difcounts in a Jlill greater proportion than the 
 Bank does ; becaufe, in cafe of wanting money, 
 he cannot procure it by means of the bills he 
 has in his poflefTioi., 
 
 Each individual, in the fame n«anner, finding 
 himfelf uncertain whether he can procure money 
 when it may be wanted, becomes hampered in 
 his operations, and is obliged to keep more 
 ready money by him than he would otherwife need 
 to do, or than he is accuftomed to do. 
 
 This cannot be better illuftrated than by what 
 happens when there is a fcarcity of breads each 
 perfon then begins to hoard, not knowing that 
 he can have it when wanted. 
 
 Not only then do yon hamper and plague the 
 whole trading Nation, but you increafe the demand 
 for the very thing you refufe to give ; and I beg 
 you to confider what would be the cafe, if at 
 prefent people did not hoard up notes or cafh a 
 few days before their bills become due, in order 
 to pay them. 
 
 You, Gentlemen Diredors, are inexorable — 
 E you
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 you have no reafons to give^ nor will you hear 
 any. Your notes, and the gold which you 
 complain of wanting, are neceffary to pay bills, 
 and neither can be had in time. Bankruptcy 
 then takes place of one, two, three, and per- 
 haps of THREE THOUSAND Commercial houfes — 
 you ftill continuing to draw the purfe ftrings 
 felofer and clofer, as the danger increafes. 
 
 This, Gentlemen, is a cafe that involves the 
 fafety of the nation ultimately, and the profperity 
 of thoufands immediately. 
 
 Now I hope you will allow, that to commit 
 the fafety of a nation to any twenty-four men 
 in exiftence, let them be ever fo refpeftable, who 
 are all a5iing on one interejly is rather a dangerous 
 experiment. 
 
 Ought any fingle intereft to be entrufted with 
 the YES and the no on fo very important a quef- 
 tion, particularly aYEs or a no without deign- 
 ing to give a reafon? 
 
 1 do not wifh, in the prefent inftance. Gen- 
 tlemen, to trouble you with a long letter, becaufe 
 you muft be allowed a little time to confider the 
 matter, after having feen it demonftrated, that 
 there is no poffibility of that run upon you for 
 gold, which Thomas Paine and fome others 
 would perfuade you will come; and 1 leave you 
 to confider and refleft on the juftice of what 
 I fay, with refped to the Public remedying, in 
 
 fome
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 fome ihape or other, your want of means, or 
 want of will, to accommodate people who have 
 good bills to offer. 
 
 I know you and others will fay, that the In- 
 dia Board of Controul is a different thing, that 
 it was not grafted on an exifting Charter, but 
 added at the renewal of one. Other reafons 
 may be likewife adduced; but all thefe are done 
 away, and more than done away, by this fingle 
 faft, that the fafety of England is endangered, 
 if difcount cannot be procured upon a good 
 commercial bill, to which there are three folvable 
 names, according to the ufual acceptation of the 
 term — good bill. 
 
 I am not one of thofe who fay, that a Charter 
 is only a dreffed calf {kin, with a piece of wax 
 attached to it; but neither do I think that the 
 profperity of England is to be endangered for any 
 Charter, however facred, even if you could 
 prove, that in refufing to accommodate the Pub- 
 lic, you did not yourfelves deftroy your own 
 
 exclufive privilege. 
 
 GRESHAM. 
 
 London, 
 Se? T. 26, 1796. 
 
 P. S. After having faid, that a little time muft 
 be allowed to confider of the contents of thefe 
 letters; I hope 1 may be permitted to add, that 
 
 if
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 if the fame fyftem of difcounting is without 
 neceflity and contrary to reafon perfifted in, I 
 fhall refume the fubjeft in a more ferious ftyle, 
 and awaken the nation to the danger impending, 
 and which I will prove to be inevitable unlefs 
 a remedy is fpeedily applied. 
 
 PINIS.