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Ilo, k oC ,he eomp~QY; .,ú the rroprietori oC tho OlOfCS, in–
fieJd of rt'cei\·ing a regular annuity, h..vc a cJivj')cnd of the
pru6ts ari(¡eg (rom the company 's trade; which, as it is
more v.lu.ble, there Ihares gen.rally lell at a price ,"ueh
.bove th~ original vaJue.
As 10 Ihe r.lan;¡gcment of [his uniud company, all p:::r–
fons without exception. nativc~ ;¡nd forcigners, meo and
worncn, are adm:ttcd mlftlhc lS of ¡t, and 500 l. in (he
Ubck of the company glvcs the Qwner ? vote in .he gene–
ral court, anJ 2000 1. qualili{, hin> tObe choren a d'rel!or.
The direB-ors are 24 in number, ¡"eludíng che chairmaD,
aod chairman, who may be re· e1e~cd for four years
fuecelli,ely. The chairman has a (alary o( 200 1. ayear,
and e3eh of the d¡reétor! 1SO 1. The meetings or courlS of
¿irell"rs are tO be held at leatl once a-week; bUl are COO1-
manly {,ftcDr-r. being {urumoned as oq:afion require"
Out of the body of d.reélors .. re chofen reveral committees,
who haTe the peculiar Inrpeéhon of cc({¡iD brdnches of die
's bu~ ocrs; as tne committee of correrpondeAce, a
comminec of bu)'iog, a ~ommittee of uearury, a houre com.
mit~ecJ a COmOlI{(Ce of warehoures, a eOOlmitee of Ihíp"
ping, a com:nittee of accompts, a committee of.law-fulu,
and a committee tO pre,ent the growth of private Hade,
Ó" who have under them a fecretary, e.fhier, c1erks,
"arehoure-keepecs, ó,.
Ot-her ollicers o( the comp, ny are governors and (aélor.
.abroad; fome o( whom have guardo o( foldie", ana live in
.11 th< llate o( (overeign princes.
O; th, flanA o; Engla"tI_
The eompany o( the bank w•• incorponteq by parli.–
"'eor, in tne S'h aod 6th yea" o( king William and queen
Mary, by the name o( rhe Goveroor aod o( the
o( England, in eonfiderarion o( the loan 0( ',200,000 J.
granted lo (he government, for which the fubfcribcrs re–
c.ived almoll 8 per cen!. By this charter, the comp""y
are 001 to borrow uader theír cammon (cal. unlc(s by ati
of parliament; they are not tO tcade, or fufrer 'Jny perfon
io truCl for them (O trade iD any goods or mercha.odiz~;
bur they mar deal in bilis o( e"change, in buyiog or (elEng
ballion, and (oreigo gold and Glver coin, &c.
By ao al! o( parli.ment pall"ed in !t.e 8,h aod 9th ye.r of
king William!l l rhey were inlpolVered to enlarge ,heir
capital flock tO 2 .20 1,1711. lOS , It was tllenalfo enac·
Jed, that b>nk-Iloek lhoulJ be a per(onal . and not a r<'1
dlate; that no ContrOla eithcr iDwurd or writill', for buy_
íog o,' fclling bank_f!ock, Ihnuld be good iR Jaw, cnle(s
regil!ered in rhe book. o( the b,nk wi,hin (eren ', and
the (lOCK t"n.(erred in 14 day.; .and that it fh ould be (e–
Jony, without benen( of c1ergy, tO counterfeit lhe common
{calor rhe bank. or .ny realed hank· bill, or aoy bdOk· note,
Or to alter or erafe fuch bilis or notes .
By , nother aél p,ll"ed io the 7th or queen Anne. ,hc eom·
pany were i01poweraJ to augrneot lheir capi t.~1 tO 4, 40 2 ,3 13 1.
anO they !he••dvanced 400.000 1. more tu ,he go·
ycrnment, and in 17 14 they advanccd ;Ioolher 1010 oC
1,5 00.000 1.
In the Ihird ye" o( the reign o( king G eorge l . Ihe in·
1:erefl: of thcir capital flock W3S rc-duced (O 5 per cent,
wben the bank agreed to deliver up as many excheqller-bills
~s amouoted to 1,000,000 1. aod tI) ,,"ccepe "O ~nnaity of
100,000 1. .nd it w" declareo law(ul for ,he baok tO e.1J
VOL. JJI. N°. 95.
S T O
(ro01 their IllcmbeCl, in proponioo to th!ir intcre(!s in the
c:1pital Clock, fuch fUnls of mancI ;¡s in í\ f1eneral ((.I'Jrt
OlOuld h. (oonú If ..y meml'cr O~oulJ nr~te~
to r3Y his fhare of lhe moncys lo r.:dt.:d for, ;u the t,r.e
appoiotcd by norice in lhe LOldon c..;"zcuC'. Olnd ¡i"td up"n
the RO)'itl Exchanpe, it nlOuld be! Jawful for lhe ban" r;( t
onl)' to flop the dividend of fuch O1embcr, and tO ;; Pl'ly it
toward p;aymtnt of ¡he mooey in qucttino; l>uf ..Ifo 10 !!"p
the trOln~fers of tbe n. are of fu ch dcfa!Jltcr, and to charLC
him Wilh In intcrt:fl of S 1. per ceot. per ""num (or the
moncy lo (\mitted to be:. p:1id: and if the:. principal aod jote..
rd! nlOu lJ be thrce monlh. unraid. ,he b>nk nlOuld rhen
hove power 'o (tll (o rouch o( ,be Ilock I>eloogine 10 the de–
(aulter as ,,"ould ("isry ,he (ame.
Af"r thi. the b,ok reeuced Ihe intere(l o( rlo, 2,000.000 l.
leO[ to lhe governmcnt from S tO 4 per ceot. and pur.
chaCtd (ever"d other annulties, whieh were aftcC\~ard re–
dcemed by the governrnCnl. anJ the nHional detJr <.Iue (O
[he redlllced to 1,600.000 1. nut io 1 742, lhe (IH~l­
paoy eog.ged to (upply the gorernment wi,h 1,600 000 1:.
at 3 per eeoL wh:ch is now caJlcd Ihe 3 per cenL 2n–
nuit ies, fo thar the goveromcnt was now lodc.btcd tO ~t.c
company 3,200.000 J. the oge hal( carrying 4, and the 0-
ther ; per ceDL
lo ,he year t746, the ~ompany agreed tha! the (11m of
986,800 1. due ro ,hem in Ihe cxchequer.biJls un(ati, fiod,
oa tl]e dmies for liccnce, to fdl 'fpirituous liq\.lors by rctaiJ,
Ihould be e. ocdled, anú iD Jieu thereo( to accep' o( an an–
Duity o( 39.442 1. rhe int<re(\ o( thH (um al 4 per cenl.
Tbe company alfo agreed ro advance rhe runh" rum of
1,000,000 1. into the exchequer, upon the credif of the
dudes arifing by the mah and land tax, :u 4 per,ceot. (or
t xchequer· biJls to be ill"ued for that pu, pore; io confide–
ru tion ofwhicb, the company \Vere enabled to augm:of their
capital with 986,800 1. Ihe int<re(l o( which, as weJl as
thar of the.. OthH aonuities, was red\.leed te 3 1. 10 S pe r
cent. til! the 251h o( December '757, aod (,om Iha! time
to carry only 3 p" cen!.
A nd in order to enable them tO circulate the fa id exche_
quer bilis, they ellablifh.d what is now called circul.–
tion : lhe nature of which not being welJ underfiood, wc
fhall rake Ihe liberty to be a 1.,,1. more particular in it5
eXplJnótlíon than we have beeo with- regard to lhe other
lIocks.
T he o( the bank are obliged to keep cafh (u(–
ficient to an(\Ver not only the. common, but allo Olny extra–
ordioary demJnd that nuy be madc, \.lpon dl~m; and what ...
ever money they llave by them, ovec and above the fum
fuppo(eú Decell"ary (or thefe purpoles, they fmpluy in what
may be callcd the H3de or ,he company; tba! is to ray, in
di(coun,inc bilis o( exchance, in buying of gold aod filver,
and io govern.ment (ecurilies, 6 c. But whco {he bank en–
tefcd iota the. Olbove mentioned COOI raét, as they did not
kefp unemployed a larger (u m o( money IhaD what thcy
dcemed oecdrary to :1Dfwer thelC ordlnary aod extra(lrdin~ry
de:11:1ods, (hey could 001 conveniently takc out of their cur–
ren! cafh fo IJrge a rum as a milhon, \Vith which they \Vere
·d te ( the ¡:overnment. wi!hout eitha Idrl'uinc:
that(um they cmployed in di(couoting, buying gold ano fi l–
ver, &c. (which woulJ have been vcry d,fOldvant;:lgcous 10
thcm,) or inventing lome: method thOlt fhuu lJ an1wu ;lllIlhe
purpo(<s o( keeping the million in cafh. T he melhod
7 U t ,..h,ea