Star.
London, England, 1826-02-08 00:00:00

FASHION A BLE AIOVEMENTS.

DEIPARTERIM—Yesterday, the Marquis and Marchioness of
I ..mien, for their st.at, Wilderness, Kent.
The Earl of Darnley, for his seat, Cobham Hall, Kent.
The Kiri of Egrement, for Newmarket.
Captain Byng, from St. James's-square, for Yorkshire. •
AItRIVALS.-.- Yesterday, the Karl of Powis, i■ Berkeley-square.
Lord and Lady Clive, at their house in Grafton-street.
L. J. Littleton, Esq. M.P. aihis house in Portman-square.
Sir William and Lady Jane Houston, at their house in York-
s:rect.

I'a.coe Grenfell, Esq. M.P. and family, at their house in Charles-
LI yet.
Lord Itawarden, in town, from a tour.
George ltice Trevor, Esq. M.l'. and -Mrs. Trevor, at their
ilo Szrattuti-strret.
Sir 1 homas and Lady Letinard, in town.

LENT ASSIZES-MIDLAND CIRCUIT.
Before Lord Chief Justice Rim and Mr. Justice Ltrrazoaae.
Nonhampton.liire—Saturday, Feb. l i. at Northampton.
llotlandshire—,Friday, March Z, at ()Allan,.
Lincolnshire—Saturday March 4, at Lincoln.
Citi of Lincoln—Same sky, at the City of Ditto.
.osttiiiglian, :hire—Friday, March 10, at Nottingham.
lower of Nottingham—Sane day, at the Town of Ditto.
Derbyshire—Wednesday, March 15, at Derby.
Leicestershire— Monday, March '2IJ, at Leial ter.
Borough of Leicester--S.ime day, at the Borough of Ditto.
City of Coventry—Saturday, March 25, at the City of I..)aventry.
Warwickshire—Same day, at %Varwick.

NORFOLK CIRCUIT.
I3efore I.urd Chief Justice Au.TT and Mr. Justice Houton,.
rackitighanisliite—lKetinestlay, March 1, at Aylesbury.
l'ahlfordshire—Tuesday, March 7, at Bedford.
7!untingdonshire--Saturday, March 11, at I luntingdon.
rambridgeshire—Tuesday, March 14, at Cambridge.
`;orfolk—Saturday, March 18, at Thetford.
liaffulk—Saturday, March 23, at Bury St. Elaiund's.

WINDS-it FEB. 7. Yetteraisv evening the Duke of
wes.ussirv,i arrived at the Royal Lod_ge on a visit to his Masan.
Shortly after his Grace's arrival, the KING gave him an audience;
ater which he dined and passed the evening with his Nlasitsvi.
THE Lonr CH* xcet.t.t.n.—Tlie Answers given this
were--" Ills Lordship continued to get better, but was very

M R. COBBETT.III NIZETING.—A meeting was this day
boa 2. the Freemasons' Tavern, for the purpose of procuring the
',turn ot Nlr. Cubism. to Parliament. The room not being suffi-
ciently large, the meeting adjourned to the Gate-street cornet of
I r'sicoln's•inn Fields, where the Chair was taken in a coal waggon,
I,', Sir Titustaa Beim* Mr. COMESTT harangued the Meet-,
.1 at great length, against the Curti Laws, alterations in the !
Nts, Trade, the proposed arrangement with the Bank of England,
C. Sic. on which he was expatiating when our paper went to
;ao.s.—The crowd was immense).
Yesterday atteritoon, at two o'clock, a Cabinet Coon-
r• was held at the Foreign Office, Downing-street, agreeable to
'Autumn, which was attended by the Earl of liaaaowar, the Rarl
••• Imetarocti, the Earl or WESTMORLAND, and Earl HASHURST;
t r Juke of Wrt.t.tacron, the tHASZELLOIL of the Exam:man,
'lt. Secretary PELL, Mr. Secretary CANNING, Mr. Illusitnioat,
Nlaiviiis, Lord Basics% and Mr. Writs. The Council
ot close delliteration till past tour o'clock.
Yesterday, At halt-p.st four oclock, the Duke of
I.osi, as Commander-in,Chief, held a Levee at his Office In the
which occupied his Royal illighness's attention
hour. 7. h.. billowing were among those present—Gene-
-174r1 CA OCANT, Earl of :;oar Lord Fonazi, Sir Muss
Ntetti Wait I.L, I I RT, Store; Lieutenant-Generale Sir T. !Iwo?,
hr J. Lanese, 6. Mit.; Major—General STEVENSON, Lord
wruva, and ahnut thirty othets.
sterdav, the P.o tuguese Ambassador transacted
I..,u!'ess at the Foreign Offtt-e.
It is •tai..l that Sit (it.: •fiGit MvattA tr. C'nnm .oiler of
I.le FArees
wilt he succeeded forthwith by Cltoteral Sit
faunas 41101... E, and that Sir ClEollit is to be appointed Adjiitatir
Gana: in X ,ilansl.--Lorisrick Ct eriAst

CORRESPONDENCE WITH Tl-II BANK OF
ENGLAND.
• - -,--06—.
COPIES OF CONIIIUNICATIONS between the rim Lord
of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the
Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, relating
to an Alteration its the exclusive Privileges enjoyed by the Bank
of England.
Fife Douse, 15th January, MS.
GtNTLIRMEW—We have the honour of transmitting to you here:2l
with a paper, containing our views upon. the present state of the
Banking System of this Country, with our suggestions thereupon;
which we request you will lay before the Court of Directors of the
Bank of England for their consideration. We have the honour to
be, Gentlemen, your obedient humble servants,
(Signed) LIVERPOOL.
FREDERICK JOHN ROBINSON.
The Governor and Deputy Governor of
the Bank of England.
1 The panic in the money market having subsided, and
the pecuniary transactions of the Country having re-
verted to their accustomed course, it becomes important
'to lose no time in considering whether any measures
can be adopted to prevent the recurrence in future of
such evils as we have recently experienced?
However much the recent distress may have b •en
incidental
aggravated, in the judgment of some, h_y
circumstances and particular measures, there can be no
doubt that the principal source of it is to be found in the
rash spirit of speculation which has pervaded the country
for some time, supported, fostered, and encouraged by
the Country Batiks.
The remedy, therefore, for this evil in future, must
be found in an inipmvement in the circulation of country
paper ; and the first measure which has suggested itself
to most of those whe have considered the subject, is a
recurrence to a g-ld citculation, throughout the country
AS well as in the metropolis and its neighbour hood, by
a repeal of the Act which permits country banks to
issue one and two pound notes until the year 1833 ; and
by the immediate enactment of a • probibi:ion of any
such issues, at the capitation of two or three years from
the present pet iod.
It appears to us to be quite clear that such a mea-
sure would be productive of much good; that it would
operate as some check upon the spirit of speculation, and
upon the issues of country banks; and whilst, on the
one hand, it would diminish the pressure upon the Bank
and the metropolis, incident to an unfavourable state of
the exchanges, by spreading it over a wider surface ; on
the other hand, it ss 'bold cause such pressure to be earlier
felt, and thereby insure an earlier and more general
adoption of the precautionary measures necessary for
counteracting the inconveniences incident to an export
of the precious metal. But though a recurrence to a
gold circulation in the country, for the reasons already
stated, might be productive of some good, it would by
no means go to true root of the evil. -
We have abundant proof of the truth of this position,
in the events which took place in the spring of 1793,
Iwhen a convulsion occurred in the motley transactions
and circulation of the country, more extensive than that
which we have recptuly experienced. At that period,
nearly a hundred ountry banks were obliged to stop
payment, and Parlirnent was induced to grant an issue
of Exchequer Bills to relieve the distress. Yet, in the
year 1793, there were no one or two pound notes in cir-
culation in England, either by country banks or by the
Burk of England.
We have a further proof of the truth of what hks
been lolvanced, in the experience of Scotland, which
' escaped all the convulsi.ats which hare occurred in the
money market of England for the last thirty-five years,
though Scotland, during the whole of that time, has
had a circulation of one pound notes.; and the small
pecuniary transactions of that part of the United King-
dom, have-been carried on exclusively by the means of
sue+ note 3.

The issue of small notes, though it be an aggrava-
tion, cannt.t therein: e, be the sole, or even the main cause
of the evil in England.
The failures which hale occurred in England, unac-
companied as they have been by the same occurrences
in Scotland, tend to prove that there must have been
an unsolid and delusive system of banking in one part
of Great Britain, and a solid and substantial one in
the other.

It would be entirely at variance with our deliberate
opinion not to do lull justice to the Bank of England,
as the great centre of citeulatinn and commercial credit.
We believe that much of the prosperity of the country
for the last century, is to be ascribed to the general
wisdom, justice, and fairness of the dealings of the
Bank ; and we limber think, that during 'a great part
of that time it may have been, in itself and by itself
fully equal to all the important du ies and operations
confided to it. But the progress of the country during
the last thirty or forty years, in ever branch of industry
in agricultdie, manufactures,commerce, and navigation,
has been so rapid and extensive, as to make it no
reflection upon the Bank of England to say, that the
instrument, which, by itself, was fully adequate to former
transactions, is no longer sufficient, without new aids,
to meet the demands of the present tries.
We have, to a considerable degree, the proof of thi, position, in
the very establishment of so many country banks.
Within the memory of many living, and even of some of those '
now engaged in public affairs, there were no country banks, except
in a few of the great commercial towns.
The money transactions of d►e country were carried on by sup-
plies of coin and bank notes from London.
The extent of the busin_Ss of the country, and the
improvement ma•ie omen time to time in the mode of
conducting our increased commercial transactioni,
foundei on pecuniary creJit, tendered such a system
au longer adequate, and country hanks must have arisen
as in fact they diJ arise, from t!,e increased wealth and
*en, wants of the country.
The mattes of regret is n rt that country banks have
been suffered to exist without cnntroul or linii-
ration, or without the adoption of provisicns calculated j
to counteract he evils resulting from their iutprovi•
dente or eases.

would be vain to suppose th.►t we could now, by
any act of the I.egislato,e, extinguish the existing
Country Banks, ev •it if it were desirable; but it may
be w.th u our power, gradually at least, to establish a
sound sys►ern of Banking thioughout the Country; and
if such a system can be twined, the e can be little
doubt that it would ultimately extinguish and absorb
all that is objectionable and d ingewus in the present
B Inking establishments..

'Thereoppear to be two modes of attaining this object:—
First—That the Bank ut England should establish branches of
its own beily in different parts ut the Country.
Secondly—That the Dank of fingland should give up its eaclu-
sive privilege u to the number of partners engaged its banking,
cues within a certain distance from the mettupults.
It nas always aph-e 're,' to ui, than it wt.uld have beet,
very drivable that the 13,ink sh,.uld brut ttieJ the firvi
•of these plan+ ; that tol edalwitaling branch baulks, upon
d litnittd se •le; but we ate not when i.) the difli•
CUltieS sehidi would have si,tenJeJ vu.leata experiment,
•anti we are quite bAtiAieJ that it would be un, ositble tut

• • .
'the Bank, under pr.e:ent *iiiiintranees, fo ka-tit'irt4 6'
execution such a system. to the extent necessary for
providing for the wants rit fhe country:
There remiinc, therefore, only the other plin, the
surrender by the Bank of their exclusive privilege, as
to the number of partnzri, beyond a certain distance
from the metropolis.
The effect of such a nikasure would be the gradual
establishment of extensive and resp-ctahle banks in
different parts of the cduntry; some, perhaps, with
charters from the Crown, under certain qualifications,
and s' me without.

Here we have again the iidiantage of the etperience of Scotland.
In England theae are said to be between eight and
nine hunched country banks ; and it is po exaggeration
to suppose that a great proportion of them have not
been conducted with a due attention to those precau-
tions which are necessary far the safety' of all banking,
establishments, even where their property is most
ample. When such banks stip, their creditors may
ultimately bet paid the whole of their demand, but the
delay and sh ck to credit may, in the meantime, in-
volve them in the same difficulty, and it is always at-
tended with the greatest injury and suffering in the dis-
triers where such stoppages occur. If this be the case
‘s here the City of the bank is unquestionable, what
must it be alien (as too oaten happens) they rest on no,
solid foundation?

Ii Scotland there are not more than thirty banks,
and these banks have stood firm amidst all the convul-
sions in the money mar ket in England, and amidst all
the distresses to which the manufacturing and agricul-
tural interests in Scotland, as well as in England, have
occasionally been subject.
Banks of this description must necessarily be con-
ducted upon the general understood and approved
principles of banking.
Individuals are, horn the nature of the institutions,
precluded from speculating in the manner in which per-
s•rns engaged in country, and even in London Banks,
sp ciliate in England.
If the concerns of the country be carried on without
any other Bank than the &ink of England, there might
be some reason for not interfering with their exclusive
privilege; but the effect of the law, at present, is to
permit every description of banking, except that which
is solid and secure.
Let the Bank of England reflect on the dangers to
which it has been recently subject, and let its Directors
and Proprietors then say, whether, for their own in-
terest, such an improvement as is suggested in the bank-
ing system, is not desirable, and even necessary ?
The Bank of England may perhaps propose, as they
did upon a former occasion, the extension of- the term
of their exclusive rrivileAe, as to the Metropolis arid its
neighbourhood, beyond the year 1833, as the price of
this concession.

It would be Itery much to be regretted that they should require
any such condition.
It is clear that in point of security they woulj gain
by the coi:cesion proposed to them, inasmuch as their,
own safeti.h now necessarily endangered by all such
convulsions in the country circulation, as we have lately
and formerly witnessed.
In Point of profit, would they lose anything by it, for which they
are entitled to demand compensation?
It is notorious, th it at the present time their notes
circulate in no part of England beyond the metropolis
and its neighbourhood, excepi in liincashiie ; and per-
haps fur that district some special provision might
be made.

• Bat as it is the interest, so it has been and ever will
be the endeavour, of the country bankers to keep the
Bank of England note.: out of circulation in those parts
of the kingdom where their own circulation plevaill.
In this they must always be successful, whilst public
creslit continues in its ordinary state, and the exchanges
not unfavourable to this country. The consequences
are, that in such times, the Bank of England becomes
in a manner the sole depository for gold ; and, in times
of an opposite tendency the sole resort for obtaining it :
that at one period. their legitimate profit is curtailed by
an accumulation of treasure beyond what would be
required by a due attention to their own private salty
as a banking establishment; and at an ther period, they
are expi.sed to demands which endanger that safety,
and baffle all the ordinary calculations of foresight and
prudence. _

If, then, the Bank of England has no country circu-
lation except in the county above named, the only
question for them to consider is, whether, on the ground
of profit, as well as security to themselves, the existing
country circulation shall or shall not he improved ?
With :expect to the extension of the term of their
exclusive privileges in the metropo'is and its neigh-
bourhood, it is obvious, from what passed before, that
Patli.iment will never agree to it.
Such privileges are out of fashion ; and what expec
tation can the Bank, under present circumstances,
entertain, that theirs will be renewed ? But there is no
reason why the Bank of England should liok at this
consequence with dismay. They will remain a char.
tered Corporation for carrying on t►le business of bank•
log. In that character they will, we trust, always
continue to be the sole Bankers of the State, and with
these advantages, so long as they conduct their affairs
wisely and prudently, they always must be the great
centre of banking and circulation.

Theirs Is the only establishment at which the dividends due to
the public creditor can by law be paid
It is to be hoped, therefore, that the Bank will make n,
rutty In giving up their exclusive privileges, in respect to the
number of partners engaged in banking, as to any district
miles from the metropolis.
Should the Bank be disposed to consent to a measure of this
nature, in tine to enable the Government to announce such a con-
cession at.the opening of Pailiament, it would afford great facilities
to the arrangement which they may have to propose for ensuring
the stability of private credit, it, which the support of public
credit, and the maintenance of public prosperity are so materially
and closely involved.