The Sun.
London, England, 1827-12-17 00:00:00

STOPPAGE OF THE LISBON BANK.

LISBON, FRIDAY NOON, DEC. 7, 1827.—A1l
Lisbon is now in a consternation : trade, commerce,

securities, and property, are all in confusion. The,
Bank has stopped the payment of its notes in
specie; and as their notes are not a legal tender, it
is impossible to say what the mtrehants and other.
individuals who have bills to provide for will do..

By the law of this country all payments are made in
what is called " currency ;" that is, one half in
metal, and the other in Treasury bills or notes. The
principal metal which constitutes the currency is
silver, in coins called crusades, from their being
stamped with a cross, each of a value of about 2s. 3d.
The inconvenience of carrying any large sum -of
money in that sort of specie has hitherto given great
facilities to the Lisbon Bank to. issue notes, payable
on demand in those silver pieces. Those notes so
pwaeyraebales hsaacvlei
rbeeeeeinverdeg;arded always as metal, and
oc-
casion ; but this morniirilgptahret refuseslß)aayinilitenttn
) every
to ggive
silver for them, andnsenale
owbelld
roundconfusion.istheßen
Thereitfor
has been a crowd assembled
some time is a copy of a notice
.—The following
which is affixed at the entrance :
" The Direction of the Bank of Liebon informs
the public that the unexpected issue of silver in ex=
change for its notes has, on account of the exporta-
tion of that metal to foreign countries, increased to
such a height, as wholly to absorb all the silver in
their coffers.
" The Bank therefore finds itself in the painful
circumstances of not being able to continue punctu-
ally, as heretofore, to give it in exchange for its
notes ; and the Direction also states that official
information has been addressed to the Government,
requesting its assistance in making proper regulations.
The Direction also is on its part about to call into
practice all its resources fer the purpose of resuming
within the shortest space of time the payment of the
notes of the Bank.
(Signed) " THE DIRECTION OF THE BANK.
"7th Dec. 1827."
The word " Direction" is equivalent to the word.
"Directors" in England; but the persons composing
it are of a different description. Most of them have
-,verdth, though but few have the experience which
is especially necessary for the present occasion. There.
is a part of them which consists of men who have
obtained money in some retail business, which they
have subsequently increased to an enormous amount
by usurious transactions. Some persons here, with
the usual eagerness of half-educated people to bring
accusations against the opponents of their political
opinions, do not hesitate to say that those usurers
have for some time past been in the habit of collect-
ing the notes of the Bank, which they sent in daily
for payment to the amount of 50,000/. Their ob-
ject is said to be two-fold; first, to cause confusion '
in the country, so as to annoy the Constitution, and
the Prince who is now coming to put himself at its
head; and, secondly, to supply the demand which
exists in the English market for silver. I have
been assured, by persons on whose words I place
every relianee, that the packets going to Falmouth
have for some time taken large parcels of the silver
coinage. It is prohibited here, as in other .countries
to export the coin of the. realm; yet -some packets
have had 25,000/. on board.
Another vague report arises from there being, es