The Sun.
London, England, 1819-01-26 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN.

Mg. EDITOI4,—AS personal enmity is a feeling
which I trust never to t►ring with me into any
Controversy, I shall hope to meet with a candid
belief, when I erselairn any such motive in my
present notice of STACKHOUSe's valedictory Letter
in your Paper of Saturday. But as lam firmly
persuaded that his arguments in favour of Mr.
BF.L.LAmv (however sincerely urged by him) are
dangerous in themselves, and founded upon So-
rialt, principles, I cannot allow I►is identity with
your Correspondent Terra nuns' to shelter
hint front the charge of injtedicious writing, at
lean, in the late Controversy. STACKHOUSE
complains of having been attacked, as il'unfairly.
If his arguments were either dangerous or un-
founded (and I assert they wet e both), was he not
fairly open to attack ? Ile can complain of no un-
fairness in tl' mode of ,conducting it, as ai•gu-
ment was opposed to argument—though never
Candidly answered by hint.
As an opponent to Roman Catholic pretensions,
I have read, and concurred with hint hearti;y. On
former occasions, and hope to do so agnin. But,
Sir, his having opposed Popery does not prove
him to he no Soeinian, i❑ opposition to the nrini-
fest tendency of his late arguments in favbur of
Mr. BuiLLAMY. A. Socinian must be a decided
enemy to the Romish-Faith—but he will not,
therefore, be a decided friend to the Faith of the
Established Chalets in this, country. 1 beg leave,
Sir, to tumble you with these reinalks ; as I
think (cordially allowing, STACKHOUSa his full.
merit for his former wiitings) that his present
attempt to shelter himself behind the Shield of
Protestuntism`seen►s rather intended as au excuse
for the part which he has taken in the. late Con-
troversy.. In his opposition to Popery, I will
join butt " heart and hand,"—but nu farther, as
regards-the Est “blished Church of,Boglaud.

Trusting, Sir, that the same candour which
induced you to insert STAQKHoUseS Letter, will
insure me an favourable teception ; and
returning y'on toy sincere thanks for the notice
with which y-on honotired my former Letters,
rake nay leave, and with the warmest wishes for
success to the Protestant Cause you so unduly ad-
vocate, more peculiarly of that branch of it esta-
blished in these realms, 1 have'the honour to
remain, Sir,

Your obliged, and obedient Servant-,
Jan. 24, 1819. SCRUTATOII.

*** Having closed the Controversy on the
New Translation of the Bible., in compliince wit°
the desire, and, indeed, earnest exhortations of
many friends, we are afraid to give any occasion for
its revival, but we feel it to be an act of justice
towards the present Correspondent to insert the.
above letter. We have particulir and tno,,t cogent.
reasons for expressing our hope that he will
slime his pen, to aid the determination of 'f .g Su:a_
itt fesistivy, the hither encroachments of PctrEta.

REPORT'

OF TII COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED FOR INQUIR.•

NG INTO 'Ph E MODE OF PREVENTING TUE FOR.

OEItY OF BANK NOTES

• To his Royal Highness Geeetee Prtice, of WALES, Regent
of the, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
•
In obedience to the dirt coons contained in his
.Mdesty's Commission, we proceeded, in the lat-
ter end of the month of july last, to consider the
important 'subject referredaei
Our attention was first directed to the proposals
for improVement in the forin of the notes i,sued
by the Bank of Eagland ; and it being known that
inatty pLins had bten suburitted. to that body,
which they had not thought it expedient to adojrt,
we fedi it proper, in the first instanae, to obtain
correct it format ioo
.11 PO 0 this point ; and we
thereloat tcapleated the Court of Deectors to fora
niali us aa ith an account ofsach plans. They did
• accordingly ternesh us, without delay, wiih a de-
tailed account of otre Imitated and eight projects,
regularly cheesed and arranged ; together with the
correspondence fespectiea them, a. stater
the trials to which they hard been subjecteah and
specimens of the proposed originals, attd,of she
units lions-executed by order of the Bartlaa They
also before us about seventy varieties of paper
made at their manufactory in experiments for
its improvement, in which almost every alteration
recemmended for•adeption had been tried, and, in
some instances, enticipated by their own .maier-
lecturer.
NVe have also received and answered communi-
Ca intlS from about seventy individeals, which
have been arranged and considertele and in some
Cases, a personal interview has been requested,
and held.. • - St venal of 11i'ese persons had liaen pre-
viously in conommication with the Bank; • and turf
fiud, that in
,the instance of sonic projects of su-
perior promise, the Directors had inruished to the
proposers the pecuniary means, of carrying their
ideas into effect. We have likewise sought and
obtained information as to the state of the paper
currency ill other countries ; but this has proved
of very little importance, with reference to the
object of our present inquiry. From America,
which affords.the closest parallel to the state of
England in this particular, no official-rettiret lies
yet been received, but eve have reason to think,
that in several parts of the United States, the
crime of forgery is . prevalent, and that great
ef-
forts are now making to give to the notes such a
character as may baffle the skill of the American
forger. Specimens of these improved no; es have
been communicated to us by the Agent of the
American Patentee, end have received our parti.
cider attention with regard to the practicability
of adopting the invention, in whole or in part, so
as to present a barrier to the art and skill of the
forger in this country.
Upon the general subject of the extent of for-
get-y, we do not think it necessary to recapitulate
statements which ate already before Parliament
and the public. it appeared to its, however, pro
per to obtain more particular information as .to
the course which lots been hitherto pursued by
the Batik, both with respect to the prevention,
and with respect to the detection and punishment
of the crime. Upon the former of these points,
we have received from the Directors, in Odditi9ll
to the account before alluded to, clear. and eir-
cemstaetial details. And it is butt common jus-
tice to those Gentlemen to state, that in every in-
stance our inquiries have been met by them in the
most prompt and satisfactory manner, and every
sort of useful itifthroation readily fernished. ‘Ve
feel it also pryer to adcl our opinion, formed after
an examination of ail the prejects which have
been formerly submitted to the Bank for a elrange
in the form of their notes, that no one of these
could have been adopted with such a prospect of
solid advantage to the public, as would compen-
sate the evils necessarily atteodant upon a change.
'flue invention to which we refer in the latter
part of this Reporte and on which our attention
is now principally engaged, was laid before the
Directors a short time precious to the issuing of
his Majesty's Commission, and so far entertained
by thetn,,that they advanced a large sum, of mo-
ney to the author. The. chief merit of this in-
vention consisting in the extreme accuracy of the
machinery requisite, time and application are ne-
cessary to bring it to such a state of perfection as
appears likely to answer the purpose desired.
Upon the latter of the too points above re-
ferred to, we have received from the Chief In-
spector and Ctiief Investigator at the Bank, and
also from the Solicitor, accounts of the course
pursaed in their respective departments. For
whir.d) purpose, we requested the personal attend-
ance of each of those officers, and entered into
such an examina'ion of them, its appeared to us
to he calculated to produce the necessary infor-
mation. We have also been furnished by the
Bank with the means of judging of the actuat
state of forgery, and of that degree of skill which*
appears sufficient- to deceive the public, by the
examination of forged notes of various kimla ;
and even or the tools wad instruments used by
one forger, which were taken upon him.
Whilst it is painful to observe the degree of ta-
lent thus perverted, it Is at the same time to be
remarked, that in many instances the public suf-
fer themselves to be deceived by very miserable
imitations; and it is to be feared that a similar
catelessness would very' • notch lessen the good
effects to be derived from the employment ot stt-
, petior skull and workinamhip iti the formation of
a new note. Another fact appears, proper to be
noticed here, as formitte en important ingredient
in the consideration of any pioposed plan. The
issue ot 'small notes by the Bank is necessarily
very uncertain and irregular iu its anomuta • We
find, that, to keep up the usual supply, not
.less
than fifty plates are requisite ; and it is considered
proper to have a much larger eutnher in a state of
preparation. And as it is obvi,-,usly necessary to
pteserve, as much as possible, ;dent it y in the
notea, this circumstance alone precludes the sp-
plicatiou for this purpose of many iegenious plans,
tam iP there did not exist other insuperable ob-
jections to them.
Resulting from the above statements and axe.
trtimitions, some general obA..uvations have occur-
red to us, which 'wear proper to be introduced in
this stage of. the Report. •
It bus been very commonly imauitied. that. in

consequence of the simplicity of execution in the
present Bank Notes, the nerild forl="Y of theta
Avis very generally and extensively practised, and
that often by persons without money or talent ;
and this idea has formed the basis of much of ti,e
to ironing used by many of the projectors, whose
pl.ns have been under our view. The reverse of
this we believe to be the tact ; and from the info,.
otation hefts* Its, we feel ourselves warranted in
statist; our opinion, that the great quantity of
f.,red small notes which have lately been
found in circulation, have all issued from a very
1,-,w plates only; and that the fabrication of
thrill is chiefly confined to one particular part
of the country, and car, ied on by men of skill
Mod experience, and possessed of a very cgusider-
able command of capital. Upon a coriory ob.
vation, it appeared remarkable, that whilst so
warty titterers are constantly brought to, justice,
the actilat forger shriuld very rarely indeed be de•
tested. But further investigation has led us to
think, that this fact may be accounted for; and
wit bout entering into details, which upon this
point It is better to avoid, we think that it results
.naturally from the lamentable perfection of sys-
tem to which this fraudulent traffic leas been
brought ; and we have seen no reason to doubt
that the Directors of the Bank, and their officers,
bare used every exertion in their pOwer to bring
the actual forgers to justice, though unfortunately
without success, except in very tew instances.
We cannot refrain, however, from adding to this'
statement, our Opinion, that there must be some
culpable remissness in the local plice of those
districts within which the actual fabricators of
Batik notes are more than suspected to reside,
and to carry on their trade with impunity. And
before we quit this part of the subject, we-wish
-to suggest, for •the consideration of those by
whose judgment such a question may be properly
decided, whether it might not be expedient to of,.
fey a very large reward for the appreheosion and
rooeicrion of a person actually engaged iu.farging
Bank Notes. We are aware of the objections
which exist against the system of pecuniary re-
wards, and are fully impressed with a sense of the
evils that may arise !Tom a too general adoption
of it. But the circumstances muter which he
erinse of forgery exists in this country ate 'pecu-
liar ; and it appears to us hardly possible that
those evils, which might he anticipated from the
off r of a reward in the case of some other crimes,
could follow from such an offer in this case ; and
knowing bow many individuals must be saved
from punishment by the convietion of (sae actual
forger, we venture to recommend the adoption of
this measure, to he concurrent with such an im-
provement in the form of the note as we hope to
see effected.
Having been furnished with such information
as was within our reach, relative to the sub-
ject of our inquiry, we, in •the next place,
proceeded to examine more in detail the se-
veral projects submitted to us. In pursuing
this examination, we have trot iodolged the vain
expectation of findinz any plait for a Bank-note
which shalt not -be imitable by the skill of English
artists, and ee have considered that it would ,be
utterly unsafe to rely for security against forgery
upon the employment of any process, the chief
merit of which was to consist in its being kept
secret ; of which several have been communicated
to its. Our object has been to select some plan,
of which the.process, when the principles of it
are understood, and the machinet y and imple-
ments provided, shoa'''l he simple enough to be
applied without interrt—tion to the extended
operations ,1 the Ban : ant should at the
same time comprise so mut... of superior at t. as may
oppose the greatest 'ossible difficulties, the

attett!pts pt the • and way pre >ll. such►
.
points fif :accuracy all4` ~,::cilence in wm-•

1 sought, t. a certain extent, in a combination of
cellence in various particulars ; but chiefly, as we
con reive,in the application of a principle beyond the
reach of the art of the copper-plate engraver, which
in its different processes is possessed of the most
formidable power of ;mitotic)». One plan, before
111111(1,d to, as apparently affording this advantage,
has been, with the most liberal assistance from
the Bank, for some titue past, ill a course of trial
for its greater perfection, and with a view to com-
bi!ta,ion With other improvements, satisfactory
experiments of which have already been effected.
The result, if our expect;,tions be nor disappoint-
ed, will afford a specimen of great ingenuity in
the fabric of the paper, of great excellence in the
workmanship, and- of a very peculiar invention,
and difficult machinery in the art of printing. IVe
confidently hope, that no long time will elapse
before eve are enabled to lay before your Royal
Highness that result : and we have every reason
to know, that the Bank Directors are sincerely
anxious' to adopt any plan, which shall be found,
after patient examination, to he worthy of adop-
tion. In the mean time we have thought it right
not to delay informing your Royal Highness of
the course of our proceedings. The investigation
in which we have been engaged has strengthened
rather than removed our feeling of the difficulties
with which the whole subject is surrounded. We
do not wish to represent those difficulties as pre-
cluding the propriety of an attempt to remove the
existing evils, by a change in the form of the
notes issued by the Bank of England ; but we do
feel them to be such, as to make if imperative
upon those wilt whom the responsibility rests, to
he fully satisfied that they snail produce an im
provernent, hetnre they vewtire to effect a change
All which is humbly submitted to your Royal
Hik;huess's consideration and judgment.

JOS. BANKS.
W LLIA M CONGTIEVE.
WILLIAM COURTENAY.
DAVI ES GILBERT.
.1 ER. II ARMAN.
WNT. 11. WOLL:►C'FON.
CHARLES HATCH ETV.

Sohn-square, Jan. 15, 1619.