The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-04

nOJeS long before the establishment OF the
Bank of England, and the earliest notes
of the bank established by William Pat
terson were known as bills A mer-
chant who wished to remit sum of
money to a correspondent living in some
distant place proceeded to the bank de-
posted so much hard cash, and received
bill containing a promise to pay the
sum deposited on demand. The scheme
OF Bank of England appears to have
been frequently debated during the COM
monwealth, and was seriously discussed
at meeting of the first council of trade
at MERGERS Hall after the restoration.
That great financial genius, William Pat
terson, the founder of the existing gigan-
tic corporation in Threadneedle street,
himself describing the beginning of the
Bank of England in his Proceedings at
the Imaginary Wednesdays Club" pub
lished in l7l7
The first proposal for a national bank
was made IN 1891, when the government
had contracted $4,000, 900 of debt in the
course of three years, and the ministry
had been obliged to solicit advances of
ready money from the common council of
London. Th first project of the bank
was not wei 'eceived, as the people were
yearning Tor peace, and disliked a system
which Patterson had evidently borrowed
in Holland. AT length the ministry of
William III. resolved to try the expert
ment of national bank, on the expressed
condition that if half the capital, that is
to say, 81 200, 900, were not subscribed by
August, 1899, the plan of a bank should
be abandoned. So great was the opposi-
tlOn that city merchants and gOldsmiths
made heavy wagers that one-third of the
sum asked for would never be collected
but the whole subscription was com
pleted in ten days, and the cash was paid
into the eXchequer in rather more than
ten weeks.
We can gather very graphic idea of
the early economy of the institution
founded by Patterson from paper in the
Spectator, published in March, III. Ad-
olson describes how, in one of his ram
bles, he looked into the great hall where
the bank was kept, land was not a little
pleased to see the directors, secretaries
and clerks with all the other members of
that wealthy corporation, ranged in their
several stations according to the parts
they acted in their just and regular
| economy" 1t will thus be apparent that
highly dignified and somewhat occult
chamber of deliberation, the Bank Par
lor, was, in the time of Queen Anne,
held coram publico, the directors, now
called governors, literally sitting at the
receipt of custom, and cheerfully taking
such sums of money as the city traders
cnOS6 10 l0LruSU JneLQ Win on JnG security
Of bank bills.
His survey of the great hall led 'Mr
Spectator to frame a pleasing allegory
of which the heroine was a beautiful vir-
gin seated on a throne of gold, whose
name was Public Credit. The walls, in
stead of being adorned with pictures and
maps, were hung with many acts of par
lament, including magma charta, the act
of uniformity and the act of settlement ;
and then the essayist went on to depict a
terrible vision of hideOusness tyranny
and anarchy, bigotry and atheism-fol-
lowing in the train Of a young man of
about p years of age, whose name the
writer was unable to learn. He had a
sword in his right hand, which, in the
dance, he brandished at the act of settle
ment, and "a citizen who stood sby the
Spectator whispered that he saw a
sponge in the left hand of the youthful
intruder.
"Of course, the young man of % was
the Young Pretender, and the figurative
sponge was intended to wipe out the ma
tional debt, but in the end liberty and
monarchy, moderation and religion dis
persed the demons, aud the genius OF
Great Britain, otherwise the klector of
Hanover, afterwards King George L.
made his appearance, whereupon fainting
credit revived, depleted ey-bags
sweled to their former bulk, the piles of
faggots and heaps of paper changed into
pyramids of guineas, and Joseph Addi-
son, like a stanch wing as he was, woke
''transported'' with JOY. Public credit
has been frequently menaced since the
days of the Spectator, and the Bank OF
England has had to undergo numerous
viciCSitndRS