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<DATE>2011-09-13</DATE>
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<NAME>Taryn Hakala</NAME>
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<HEAD>SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE INTENDED Bank of England, Who&s;e Author's Name is &s;uppo&s;ed to be M^R^. <HI>Ierry Squirt,</HI></HEAD>
<P>WHEN fir&s;t I ca&s;t my Eye on the Brief Account of the Intended Bank, I thought I had met with &s;uch a Rarity, as would fully have explained the whole Tunnage Act, the Nature of a Bank in General, and the full de&s;ign of this intended Bank in Particular; but when I had peru&s;ed it, I look|ed on it as a particular Reflection on Dr. <HI>Chamberlyn</HI> and his Propo&s;al, as if he had a de&s;ign to offer both up a Sacrifice to Publick Obloquy, and not a little expo&s;ing the Members of Parliament, whom in good manners he ought to have treated with grea|ter Deference and Re&s;pect; and, take it all together, its rather a Banter, than an Ac|count of what he promi&s;ed of the Bank. Therefore for Diver&s;ion &s;ake I ventured to make &s;ome Remarks upon it. The Book having no Name to it (though approv|ed
<PB N="2" REF="2"> by &s;ome of the Bank Propo&s;ers) and the &s;ame being a &s;illy Book, &s;eems to be writ|ten, rather, to gratifie the importunity of &s;ome dull pated Fellow, that may have been concerned in the promoting of this Bank, and knew not well him&s;elf how to recom|mend it to the World, than to inform the Nation of the true Nature of it, as he ought to have done.</P>
<P>And methinks he begins very aukwardly when he tells us, <HI>That the want of a Bank, among other inconveniences, hath occa&s;ion'd much unnece&s;&s;ary Credit, to the lo&s;s of &s;everal Millions.</HI> What does he mean by that improper Expre&s;&s;ion of unnece&s;&s;ary Credit? I think it may rather be &s;aid, that the E&s;tabli&s;hing of this Diminutive Bank, hath a|mong other inconveniences, occa&s;ioned much unnece&s;&s;ary Scrible from our in&s;ipid Author, who adds, <HI>That this together with the height of Intere&s;t or forbearance of Money hath produced,</HI> What? Why nothing at all but &s;ome non&s;encical Bomba&s;t, for he infers nothing el&s;e therefrom. But he goes on in next place to tell us, <HI>That the&s;e, and &s;uch as the&s;e, were the cau&s;es that the Nature and &V;&s;e of Banks have been the Di&s;cour&s;e and Expectation of many years; but &s;till our refined Politici|ans thought it would not be &s;etled here without a Common-wealth, and this made it to be a mat|ter of Deri&s;ion, and was therefore laughed quite out of Countenance. But however the No|tion of Bands and Publick Funds</HI> (quoth our Author) <HI>were entertained by &s;ome Mercuri|al Heads,</HI> Dr. <HI>Chamberlayn</HI> he means, for here our Author having &s;aid thus much by way of Introduction, cannot yet proceed on giving an account of the Intended Bank, till fir&s;t he hath &s;ufficiently ridiculed Dr. <HI>Chamberlain</HI> and his Propo&s;als of a Bank, who tho he doth not Name him, is &s;o plain in his De&s;cription, as if he did point him out with his Fi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ger, or write his Name in a large Character, that the Man who rides a trotting Hor&s;e may ea&s;ily read it; for no other Per&s;on offered any thing like him, or took &s;o much pains publickly <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">owards the promo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ing a Bank, this la&s;t Se&s;&s;ions e&s;pecially&punc; which by his &s;everal papers Printed at his own Charge and deli|vered to the Members, doth farthe<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> appear, at which time he patientl<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> endured all the Scorn Deri&s;ion, and Contempt of many Men, and among them, po&s;&s;ibly were &s;eve|ral of the Propo&s;ers of this Bank, tho at the &s;ame time, he con&s;tantly endeavoured to po&s;|&s;e&s;s them with a right Notion of a Bank, and &s;uch a one, as would have made the Na|tion far more flouri&s;hing and happy (had they embraced i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">) than i's po&s;&s;ible for this, or any thing el&s;e, that hath hitherto yet been offer'd. Before which time, I pre&s;ume, that neither our Author, nor his Propo&s;ers even under&s;tood any &s;uch thing, nor does it appear yet by this incon&s;iderable one that they how do. However &s;ince they were plea&s;ed to &s;light the Doctor, our wor&s;hipful Author thinks fit to deride and expo&s;e him for it, though he had no occa&s;ion &s;o to do, neither doth a make any thing for his purpo&s;e, unle&s;s he de&s;igns it &s;hall &s;erve as a &s;ovl the better to &s;et off h<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">s own for he is not without his narrow de&s;ign, too) which, whether i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> will or no, will be &s;een a|non.<NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 2.</NOTE> And thus he begins in telling how <HI>the Notion of Banks was entertained by &s;ome Mercurial Heads to whom the danger of V<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">l<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">ce from the Prince being ob|jected, aid therefore invent certain imaginary Banks, which they de&s;igned to &s;ettle far enough out of the Prince's reach, and every bodies el&s;e.</HI> The truth is, 'tis well enough expre&s;t for a Buffoon, and if all were true as our Author writes, the Doctor would appear as &s;hallow Brain'd as I take our Author to be, who&s;e Head &s;eems to have more of an Heavy, Dull, Lumpi&s;h Saturn, than an ingenious Mercury; and for that he hath not Brains enough to under&s;tand the Doctor's Ba<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">k, doth therefore deride it. For no Bank in the World is better contrived for the Advantage, Security, and Satisfaction
<PB N="3" REF="2"> of the King and his People, than the Doctor's, the &s;ubject, <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span"> delivered into their own hands, and the King a large &s;upply to carry <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI>France,</HI> as well as improve his Revenue, be&s;ides the e&s;tabli&s;hing that mo&s;t de&s;irable Trade of the Fi&s;hery to this Nation; therefore how this Author can report the Do|ctor's to be but an imaginary Bank, and out of every ones reach; when the profits, and indeed the Bank it &s;elf, is all in their own Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, makes me much amazed to &s;ee &s;o great Impudence, for which he can pretend no excu&s;e unle&s;s his profound ig|norance; from thence he de&s;cends to particulars, which he &s;lightly hints at only, by which he would repre&s;ent,<NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 3.</NOTE> how <HI>the Errors and Mi&s;takes of the Lom|bard Bank, and the notion of Money did occa&s;ion their mi&s;carriage, by running coun|ter to all Mankind, anticipating Ages, and imagining ine&s;timable Value from innumerable years to come,</HI> as if 100 years were a far longer time than a perpetuity, which is al|lowed to this Tunnage Act, if not redeemable in a few years, <HI>and this did want an Act of Parliament at lea&s;t to conjure every Mans imagination into the Latitude of theirs.</HI> And as I take it, your Bank could not be what you would have it without this Act of Parliament, notwith&s;tanding it hath the full propo&s;ed Summ of 1200000 <HI>l.</HI> but I &s;hall leave it to the Doctor to an&s;wer the&s;e particulars, as being more properly his province; only the la&s;t Sentence I cannot refrain taking notice of, for that I per|ceive it was placed there for a clincher; by ob&s;erving <HI>the prodigious extravagancy of the Doctor's Genius to be as va&s;tly above and beyond, as others are below and be&s;ide the pra|ctice of extraordinary things.</HI> Here our Author's Genius hath &s;hewed his Talent to purpo&s;e, and hath &s;trained in an extraordinary manner for this flight of Fancy, and &s;eems to hug him&s;elf for his extravagant Thought, tho this whole Paragraph is cram'd with nothing but Romantique Stuff, which without doubt co&s;t him much labour of Brain in Compo&s;ing; and I can hardly believe, but that in imitation of Mr. <HI>Bayes,</HI> upon extraordi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ary occa&s;ions, he does certai<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ly take Phy&s;ick the better to clear his Peri|cranium from tho&s;e muddy Vapours, and noi&s;ome Exhalations, that commonly at other times do u&s;e to di&s;turb his little Genius. And tho I know not by what proper Name or Tide the Author is di&s;tingui&s;ht, yet however I will not call him by the Name of Mr. <HI>Bayes,</HI> that being already given to &s;everal Fops in common, but not long &s;ince reading a Comedy made on the Owls of <HI>Athens,</HI> I find a Young&s;ter one <HI>Jerry Squirt,</HI> which in all points &s;o re&s;embles our Author, that thus appears in Ma&s;querade, that one would &s;wear 'tis the very &s;ame Per&s;on, for it was the bu&s;ine&s;s of grinning <HI>Jerry</HI> to Carp and Quibble, Pun and play the Fool with every thing that came before him. And our Author being an extraordinary Fopling, its fit he &s;hould have a Name peculiar to his Nature, and therefore for the future, as well out of re&s;pect, as for brevity's &s;ake, I &s;hall call him by the afore&s;aid Name of <HI>Jerry Squirt.</HI> And now <HI>Jerry,</HI> let me tell you, that I think you &s;hould not have treated the Doctor with &s;o much di&s;repect, &s;ince he was &s;o fair and ingenuous, as to Print much of his Bank at his own charge, and &s;o freely di&s;tribute them to many others be&s;ides the Members; by which it ap|pears, there was no other de&s;ign in it, than what was Noble and Hone&s;t, full of well wi&s;hes, and mighty advantages both to King and People. But alas! What can In|genuity and good Nature otherwi&s;e expect from Ful&s;ome ignorance, than &s;uch like rude and barbarous Treatment, as the Swine that takes no other notice of Pearl than to trample them under their feet. But to our Author, who <HI>between the new-acquired Maxims of the Politicians on the one hand, and others incomprehen&s;ible Notions, it became very
<PB N="4" REF="3"> Scandalous to Countenance, or e&s;pou&s;e any thing of a propo&s;al relating to a Bank,</HI> then cer|tainly the Propo&s;ers and Contrivers of a Bank mu&s;t be very &s;candalous indeed, and on that Score be had in great contempt, &s;o then it was no wonder the Doctor could have no better Succe&s;s, &s;ince the Parliament Members (as <HI>Jerry</HI> would in&s;inuate) were a|fraid to let him into their Hou&s;e, to hear what <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e could &s;ay to his Bank, lea&s;t it &s;eems, they &s;hould become &s;candalous thereby. Well, now, <HI>Jerry,</HI> having no &s;ooner done with the Modern Politicians, who made the Name of a Bank ridiculous, and Men of incomprehen&s;ible Notions, who made it &s;candalous, but he pre&s;ently meets with another &s;ort full as bad,<NOTE PLACE="marg">p. 4.</NOTE> and tho&s;e were, <HI>the Wits on both &s;ides, who taking the advantage of the Nations being low in Credit, found no better nor hone&s;ter way to &s;upply the nece&s;&s;ities of the Government, than to rai&s;e the intere&s;t of Money to treble the value or higher, and make Merchandi&s;e of the Government,</HI> which is in effect making the Government to pay great Extortion. But, <HI>Jerry,</HI> methinks it would not have been ami&s;s, if you had well con&s;idered, who tho&s;e Wits are on whom you have made this Sawcy Reflection, that mo&s;t of them do &s;it in the Parliament Hou&s;e and 'tis they only, that have made the&s;e Acts; for no body el&s;e, you know, have the power to treble the Intere&s;t of Money, and they have thought fit, even in this very Act you &s;o much extol, to allow 8 <HI>l. per cent.</HI> which is 4 <HI>s.</HI> above the com|mon Intere&s;t to all &s;uch as will bring in their Money. If now you are &s;o bold and unmannerly with the whole Parliament, the Doctor cannot in rea&s;on expect any civiler u&s;age from you. Now for remedy of this <HI>no better nor hone&s;ter way than enhancing the price of Intere&s;t,</HI> which was but lately done, even in the two la&s;t Se&s;&s;ions of Parlia|ment, <HI>Jerry</HI> &s;aies, <HI>it was p<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">opo&s;ed &s;ome years ago, that a publick transferrable Fund of Intere&s;t &s;hou'd be e&s;tabli&s;hed by Parliament,</HI><NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 5.</NOTE> <HI>which would in cour&s;e have low|ered the Intere&s;t of Money:</HI> This now is as well &s;aid, as if Ju&s;tice Clodpate him&s;elf had &s;poken it, to make the transferable Fund that was propo&s;ed &s;ome years ago for the lowering of Intere&s;t, to be a remedy for the trebling of I<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">tere&s;t, that was never thought on till the other day. This looks exactly like our &s;hallow brain'd Author's Non-&s;ence, to put the Cart before the Hor&s;e, and make the effect preceed the cau&s;e: This is one of <HI>Jerry</HI>'s ma&s;ter pieces, &s;uch a &s;ort of &s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ff as <HI>Jerry</HI> can do no better, the Lord knows. But be it how it will, <HI>the Notion of Currency pre&s;en<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ly marr'd all the Remedy,</HI><NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 5.</NOTE> <HI>becau&s;e there was &s;omething of Coercion in the bo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">|tom, which is of &s;ufficient force to marr a good thing of this Nature, but never to mend a bad one.</HI> Why truly <HI>Jerry,</HI> t<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">is very thought of Coercion, is enough to &s;poil the currency of this Bank; for though Men are not forced to bring in their Mo|ney, yet when it is there, you &s;ay they cannot take it out again, and that's a Coercion, be&s;ides there are many unhappy Debtors, out of who&s;e hands much of this Money is call'd, in order to be brought into this Bank, who for Non-payment are con&s;train|ed to go to Gaol, or lo&s;e their E&s;tates to their mercile&s; Creditors for little more than half the Value, and this is Coercion with a Vengeance. When ever you &s;hall read the D<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ctor's Propo&s;al, you will then be &s;en&s;ible (if you have not quite lo&s;t all your &s;en&s;es, <HI>J<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">ry</HI>) that your po&s;ition of Coercion is utterly fal&s;e, and that it is of &s;ufficient force both to make a good thing of this Nature much better, and mend a bad one. For to have Bra&s;s Tickets pa&s;s, and do the Office of Money, when there is not half Mo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ey enough for the Peoples u&s;e, is a good thing or this Nature, and to have them made good by Land Security for the buying them all up again, is not to marr, but to
<PB N="5" REF="3"> make it much better; and if you think that paper Tickets are bad in re&s;pect of Money, why then to make u&s;e of bra&s;s Tickets, is to mend a bad one, for that they will la&s;t much longer, and not be &s;o &s;oon wo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e out, they are contrived in &s;maller Sums, and may be compared as Tallies to prevent Cheat. But <HI>all this while the Name of a Bank or Corporation was avoided,</HI> for the rea&s;on he told us before, that it was both Ri|diculous and Scandalous, <HI>tho the Nature of <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">oth was intended, the Propo&s;ers thinking it pru|dent, that a de&s;ign of this Nature, &s;hould have as ea&s;ie and in&s;en&s;ible a beginning as po&s;&s;ible,</HI> ay, they were afraid their de&s;igns &s;hould mi&s;carry, and &s;o they managed it like an A&s;s eating of Thi&s;tles; <HI>to prevent, or at lea&s;t gradually to &s;often, and remove the prejudi|ces, and bad impre&s;&s;ions conceived in the minds of Men again&s;t things of this kind before they are under&s;tood;</HI> they were &s;o very fearful of a Di&s;covery of their de&s;igns, that they could hardly tell well how to go about it, lea&s;t when it came to be laid open, the People in general would never endure it. <HI>But that &s;ort of People, who ought and in who&s;e power it was to encourage the &V;ndertaking, could no ways under&s;tand it;</HI> I believe &s;o too <HI>Jerry,</HI> it was not likely they &s;hould, after the manner as your propo&s;ers offered it, by piece meal, that is to &s;ay, a word or two now, and a little hi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">t of it anon; for the beginning of it, was not like the Doctor's, to be fully made known all at once, lea&s;t it &s;hould be abhorred; but to be &s;lided in <HI>as ea&s;ie and in&s;en&s;ible as po&s;&s;ible it could be,</HI> or el&s;e they were a &s;ort of Blockheads, that could not under&s;tand it in whatever manner the Propo&s;ers offered it. And what a pity it was, that this <HI>Jerry</HI> being a Man of &s;uch di&s;cerning Faculties and acute Parts, and al&s;o of a publick Spirit, was not con&s;ulted within &s;o Noble and Univer&s;al a Work as this. I warrant he would have &s;corn'd to have put them on particular undertakings, that &s;hould have produced any <HI>narrow or &s;ini&s;ter de&s;igns,</HI> but would have brought the Name of a Bank into credit with his management, and have explained the nature of i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> as well, as he hath in this learn|ed piece, which no body is the wi&s;er for. But <HI>Jerry,</HI> what per&s;ons do you repre&s;ent the Hou&s;e of Commons to be all t<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> while, to make u&s;e of &s;uch narrow and &s;ini&s;ter De&s;igns? I cannot tell how far, they may privilege you, to deal with them &s;o over familiarly; but another Man might well f<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ar his Ears of the Hou&s;e of Correction for &s;o much Sawcine&s;s; f<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">r no body el&s;e, bu<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Members had the management of &s;uch an affair. And one thing more <HI>Jerry</HI> let me whi&s;per in your Ear as a Friend, you ought in all Con&s;cience and Hone&s;ty, to have di&s;covered all the&s;e &s;ini&s;ter proceedings, and the Names of the Propo&s;ers that put them in Practice, &s;o much to the prejudice both of King and People, becau&s;e, at the &s;ame time, it hindred them from making u&s;e of Dr. <HI>Chamberlyn</HI>'s Propo&s;al, which would ea&s;ily have remedied all the&s;e incon|veniences, and you to keep a<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> this &s;o &s;ecret for &s;o long time and then to di&s;cover &s;o <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">m|puo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">n<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ly, after what manner this intended Bank was hammered out and recommend it too, as <HI>a N<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">b<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e and &V;niver&s;al Work,</HI> when it is not &s;ufficient by tenth part to &s;erve the Nation, is a crime unpardonable: But now let us proceed, <HI>As the Propo&s;er found di&s;cou|ragement from one &s;ort of Men, who could by no means reconcile this Propo&s;al to their own appr<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">|hen&s;ions; &s;o others,</HI> viz. Landed M<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">n, <HI>&s;eemed <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">o under&s;tand it too much, and would have M<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3 letters">y propo&s;ed at four or four and an half</HI> per cent. <HI>lea&s;t the Land &s;hould be di&s;couraged.</HI> This mu&s;t needs put the Money Propo&s;ers in a fearful Sweat; a<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">d therefore <HI>it wa<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> pr<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ently found convenient to put all <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">o an hazard, and expo&s;e &s;o much of the nature of the thing, and its con&s;titution, as was needful to have it e&s;pou&s;ed in Parliamen<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">, and <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span"> take its chance.</HI></P>
<P>But, quoth <HI>Jerry, tho the gilded Name of a Bank,</HI><NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 7.</NOTE> <HI>and <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">he popular one of a Corpora|tion,
<PB N="6" REF="4" MS="y"> became more formidable to the &s;en&s;es of a &s;ort of People, who wanted the Money;</HI> why how now, <HI>Jerry,</HI> how come you to give the Epithet gilded, to the Name of a Bank? For gilded things are made &s;o only to &s;et off that which hath little or no intrin&s;ick value in it. This is much like your unnece&s;&s;ary Credit; <HI>yet what by the in&s;tigation of a few covetous Men, and &s;ome who are no great Friends to the Government, divers otherwi&s;e well-meaning people</HI> (that is to &s;ay, Fools that have not yet been named) <HI>became po&s;|&s;e&s;t with mon&s;trous and frightful Ideas, and conceptions of the matter which begot whole &s;warms of Objections, which neither the Propo&s;ers, nor the Author will hardly ever an&s;wer;</HI> the&s;e he relates in a very Comical manner: <HI>How one pretended Patriot comes and &s;ays, this de&s;ign will make the King ab&s;olute,</HI><NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 8.</NOTE> <HI>nor is there any way to prevent it; another comes Cock a Hoop and tells ye a Story of his Gran&s;ire, &V;ncle, or &s;ome of the Race who have travelled abroad and never met with any Stocks or Banks, but in a Common wealth, and &s;ome that &s;ee farther into a Mil&s;tone, than others will make it plain, that it will enhance the price of Land, and utterly ruine Trade;</HI> and la&s;tly, <HI>that the Learned &s;ay, that the Money will run into Trade and none left to purcha&s;e Lands,</HI> and &s;o leaves the Objectors to confer Notes; whereas had <HI>Jerry</HI> done candidly, he would not have rai&s;ed Objections with|out an&s;wering them; however, <HI>Jerry</HI> tells us, <HI>it may be to better purpo&s;e for him to give &s;ome Brief Account of the Nature of this intended Bank, for our better Noification;</HI> ay mar|ry, Sir, this is what I have looked for all this while, and thought it very long before I came to it, there being full one half of the Book, even to page 9 &s;pent in telling how it came to pa&s;s we had not hitherto a Bank, and the great difficulty in getting of it at la&s;t, and now we have a Bank &s;uch a one as it is, without turning the Govern|ment into a Common-wealth, but whether it will facilitate the Circulation of Money, &s;o as to promote Trade, by which the effects of the Nation may an&s;wer the u&s;e, and do the Office of Money without &s;uch great lo&s;&s;es as afore&s;aid, is a great Que&s;tion, which I hope our Author <HI>Jerry,</HI> will make <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ut plain to our Satisfaction: For tho the Tunnage Act doth tell us of a Bank that might be if 1200000 <HI>l.</HI> be brought in, yet it &s;aies nothing of the Nature of it in particular, or what methods the Commi&s;&s;ioners will u&s;e in the management of it. And therefore, I hope our judicious Author <HI>Jerry,</HI> who is &s;o well skil'd in things of this Nature, and under&s;tands neither too much, nor too little of it, but hath the true, right, and ju&s;t Notion of Banks, exact to a Cows thumb, will di&s;cover the Soul and Guts of it, together with <HI>the good effects and con&s;equences that may be expected therefrom.</HI> But <HI>in the fir&s;t place,</HI> he &s;aies, <HI>it's nece&s;&s;ary to premi&s;e whatever our Notioni&s;ts may imagine to the contrary.</HI> Fir&s;t, <HI>That all Money, or Credit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 10.</NOTE> <HI>not having an Intrin&s;ick Value, to an&s;wer the Contents, or Denomination thereof, is fal&s;e and counterfeit, and the lo&s;s mu&s;t fall one where or other;</HI> ay, <HI>Jerry,</HI> that will mo&s;t certainly be found true hereafter in our &s;candalous clipt Money; and if the Directors of this Bank &s;hould give out Bills of Credit, or allow Credit in their Books of Account for many more Millions, than there is a Fund &s;etled to make good, as they may, there being no body to call them to an Account the lo&s;s mu&s;t fall one where or other.<NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 10.</NOTE> I cannot &s;o ea&s;ily con&s;ent to your &s;econd Premi&s;es <HI>Jerry,</HI> it being fal&s;e in the con&s;equence, for tho the <HI>Species of Gold and Silver</HI> be generally <HI>approved of,</HI> yet it does not follow, <HI>that every thing el&s;e is only counted valuable as compared with the&s;e;</HI> for before the Act for Payments to be made in Money, men did exchange their Goods in Specie, without comparing it with Money, and an hone&s;t Man's Word is taken for a great value, tho at the &s;ame time, he be not worth a Farthing in the
<PB N="7" REF="4"> World; which &s;hews your third premi&s;e is as bad as the former. That therefore <HI>all Credit not founded on the &V;niver&s;al Species of Gold and Silver is impracticable;</HI> for the rea|&s;on I told you before, that Goods were exchanged in Specie, and the hone&s;ty of a good Man is as well and are commonly tru&s;ted, which &s;hews it's as practicable, and will la&s;t as long as the hone&s;t Man lives; but you have recollected your &s;elf at la&s;t, and I be|lieve have con&s;idered of the Doctor's Propo&s;als, when you afterwards tell us, that <HI>at lea&s;t till &s;ome other Species of Credit be found out, and cho&s;en over and above or in lieu thereof.</HI> Indeed, <HI>Jerry,</HI> you are beholding to the Doctor for this, and if you were but half &s;o hone&s;t and ju&s;t, as you pretend to be, you would ingenuou&s;ly own your &s;elf a Plagia|ry, for the Doctor's Bank is founded on good Land Security, which gives every bra&s;s Ticket its Credit, and will make their value la&s;t full 100 Years, and this may be in lieu of your Gold and Silver; neither can it be &s;o ea&s;ily &s;eized and carried away. But however, I am glad to &s;ee you hint, as if it were po&s;&s;ible another Species of Credit may be found out; and &s;ince the Doctor hath contrived it to far better purpo&s;e, Why was it not embraced? Alas, for the rea&s;on you told us before, the fore&s;aid company of Propo&s;ers had repre&s;ented it as Scandalous. But now we have read the Premi&s;es, lets &s;ee what follows, Quoth <HI>Jerry, Thus having &s;aid what a Bank ought to be, it remains,</HI> &amp;c. Why <HI>Jerry,</HI> I perceive you have a Memory as &s;hort as your Brains are Shallow, and have forgot what you were going to &s;peak to, which was to di&s;cover the Nature of he Intended Bank, but not a word, that you was about to define a Bank in general, or tell us what it ought to be; but only that you would fir&s;t premi&s;e, &s;omething nece&s;|&s;ary towards the better under&s;tan<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ing the Nature of the Intended Bank, for a man can no more tell, <HI>what a Bank is, or ought to be</HI> by the&s;e premi&s;es, than by the rumbling of a Wheel-barrow, whether <HI>Jerry Squirt</HI> be in his Sen&s;es or no. Well, lets go on, <HI>It remains to &s;hew what this is de&s;igned, and wherein it will con&s;i&s;t:</HI> So &s;o, now at la&s;t we are come to it. <HI>This Back will con&s;i&s;t in a Revenue or Income of Eight</HI> per cent. per annum <HI>for and upon the Money &s;ub&s;cribed; and that profits and improvements can be made from the Bu&s;ine&s;s or Credit of the Bank, will be al&s;o divided among the Proprietors.</HI> O <HI>Jerry,</HI> this will tempt Men to draw their effects from Trade, becau&s;e as you &s;ay in the 4th. page, <HI>They will find the be&s;t and &s;ecure&s;t gain in making Merchandi&s;e of the Government and Nation;</HI> for this is two <HI>per cent.</HI> more than the common Int<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">re&s;t. I fear this Bank al|ready will not prove &s;o good as I hoped, for I thought a Bank mu&s;t have had a va&s;t heap of Money, that upon &s;ecurity might have &s;upplied all Mens occa&s;ions, and &s;o becau&s;e of the plenty, it would in cour&s;e have lower'd the intere&s;t of Money, for the ea&s;e of the poor Subjects, and not heightned it, for who then will lend their Money on Land Security at 5<HI>l.</HI> or 6<HI>l. per cent.</HI> when they can have 8 <HI>l. per cent.</HI> be&s;ides other im|provements? And what then wi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters"> become of the Mortgagers? Indeed and indeed <HI>Jerry,</HI> let me tell thee, that thi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> is a very pretty contrivance to beggar and &s;tarve a va&s;t multitude of Debtors, and the Poor, only to enrich a crafty company of <HI>Proprietors,</HI> which are tho&s;e few Men, that have Money, that make the people <HI>a prey to con&s;uming &V;&s;ury,</HI> and keep them <HI>under oppre&s;&s;ions they too frequently lie under,</HI> as you &s;ay afterwards in page 15th. And thus this <HI>Company</HI> or <HI>Corporation will exceed all <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">the<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">s of that kind, known in the Commercial World;</HI> What for Ex<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ortion, <HI>Jerry?</HI> Faith I believe &s;o too, for he repeats it again, <HI>has here will be</HI> 8l. per cent. per annum <HI>upon the Capital,</HI><NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 11.</NOTE> <HI>and as good and great probability of other profi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">s as ever any Company had,</HI> all this you have told us already, but Tautology we mu&s;t allow to <HI>Jerry,</HI> who I belive is a Wel&s;hman,
<PB N="8" REF="5"> and they have a privilege of telling their Story over and over again. Then <HI>as to the Security,</HI> &amp;c. &s;till you conceal the Nature of the Bank, but we mu&s;t take it as our Friend <HI>Jerry</HI> can expre&s;s it,<NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 11.</NOTE> <HI>The &s;ecurity is clear and vi&s;ible and every way e|qual, if not exceeding the be&s;t in Chri&s;tendom;</HI> I would be glad to &s;ee that made out. <HI>This Bank will always have</HI> 1200000 <HI>l.</HI> what, will they always keep &s;o much Mo|ney by them? <HI>Or</HI> 100000 <HI>l.</HI> per annum <HI>over and above the effects to an&s;wer what&s;oever Credit they may have.</HI> Suppo&s;e now <HI>Jerry</HI> they give out Credit for 10 or 20 Millions ei|ther in Books or Bybills, will the Intere&s;t of 1200000 <HI>l.</HI> at 8 <HI>l. per cent.</HI> together with 100000 <HI>l. per annum</HI> thats over and above, an&s;wer fully for the &s;aid Credit? Then for ought I can find, it will not be altogether a Money Bank, but a Bank of great Credit with a very little Money; this may &s;erve &s;ome Mens occa&s;ions in and about <HI>London,</HI> but what &s;hall the re&s;t of the Nation do? Suppo&s;e likewi&s;e, that a great part of this Money &s;hould belong to Foreigners, and they &s;hould con&s;tantly draw out their Intere&s;t every year for their pre&s;ent &s;upport, wha<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> then may or will the Nation get by that, when &s;o much Money is con&s;tantly Exported? Well, a little after you mention a &s;curvy thing, that had been better left out, for that it di&s;covers the &s;oft part of your Noddle, <HI>viz. That there will be no Dividend till after &s;ome Months notice, that &s;uch as apprehend the Security will be weakned thereby, may withdraw their effects.</HI> Why <HI>Jerry!</HI> is it po&s;&s;ible, that a Man &s;hould apprehend any weakne&s;s in the Security, when in the foregoing page, you &s;ay, <HI>its the be&s;t in Europe,</HI> and a little before, <HI>That the Security of this Bank is clear and vi&s;ible, and exceeds the be&s;t in Chri&s;tendom;</HI> and immediately after you &s;ubjoin, <HI>Thus a Society of private Men will be obliged by their E&s;tates to &s;trengthen and corroborate the publick Security of this Bank;</HI> but how all this does appear to be &s;o &s;ub&s;tantially corroborated by private E&s;tates, we have only your bare word for it, <HI>Jerry;</HI> for I cannot find it expre&s;t in the Act&punc; nor any account of the Mens Names or of their E&s;tates in Print that are tyed and engaged to corroborate the &s;aid Security, excepting the King's Revenue. This is like your canting way <HI>Jerry,</HI> but if private Mens E&s;tates &s;hould be obliged, it mu&s;t be for the &s;ake of the profits ari&s;ing from the Bu&s;ine&s;s and Credit of the Bank, which whether it will be the taking Pawns like a Lombard, o<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> giving out Bills and Tickets of Credit like the Doctors, 'tis only time and practice mu&s;t inform us, yet &s;till we &s;hall have need of this Act to conjure every Man's imagination into a good opinion of the &s;aid Bills, unle&s;s there was &s;uch plain and vi&s;ible &s;ecurity for every Bill or Ticket, to the &s;atisfaction of all Men, as is made appear in the Doctor's Bank, &s;o as there is not room left for an objection again&s;t it. Now if <HI>Jerry</HI> had di&s;covered the Nature of this Bank plainly, as at fir&s;t he promi&s;ed, and let us have known, if any body el&s;e &s;hould have been the better for it, be&s;ides the Proprietors, or that Men might be &s;upplied at any time with what Money they wanted on good Security; or how otherwi&s;e it may, and will be &s;erviceable to the Poor, and publick in General, as well as the Rich: I &s;hould have believed he had under&s;tood all he pretends to, and have thought him an hone&s;t fellow; but it is not the fir&s;t time you have broke your word, <HI>Jerry.</HI> But &s;ince you have granted, <HI>that &s;ome Men through fear of the wor&s;t, may with-draw their Effects,</HI> why may not I ask as well, what if the major part or all at once, &s;hould draw out their Money, as formerly, out of the Bankers Hands at the &s;hutting up of the Exchequer? Or what if the Managers run away beyond Sea with more Money than they are worth, there being many Foreigners in the Bank, where then will be the Fund to &s;ecure all and corroborate this Bank? And tho I doubt not but all is &s;ecure under our pre&s;ent
<PB N="9" REF="5"> King and Queen, yet another King may venture to &s;hut up the Exchequer again, who then &s;hall they &s;ue? All, or &s;ome of the Company? And what if they are all protect|ed, as the Bankers formerly were? Tho you will not trouble your &s;elf to an&s;wer Ob|jections, yet monyed Men who are many of them very timorous, will fir&s;t be an&s;wer|ed e're they'll bring in their Money, or be apt to with-draw out their Effects, when &s;warms of Objections &s;hall ari&s;e, that cannot be an&s;wered; lea&s;t al&s;o this Intended Bank &s;hould be out of all their reach at la&s;t, as you &s;aid of the Doctors. In the 12th. page you have bethought your &s;elf <HI>Jerry,</HI> and think it nece&s;&s;ary to an&s;wer one com|mon Objection, of the danger <HI>of the Change of Government,</HI> tho you will not trouble your &s;elf about &s;warms of them, and in this you are much mi&s;taken, as in mo&s;t other things, when you affirm this foundation is grounded on a Revenue that cannot fail, but with the Nation: Partly for &s;ome rea&s;ons I have &s;hewed ju&s;t be o<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e, and e&s;pecially in ca&s;es of Conque&s;t, which is and will be the greate&s;t alteration of Government. The Fund of private Gentlemens E&s;tates will be far more &s;ecure, than the Fund of this Bank, (tho confirmed by Act of Parliament) who&s;e Intere&s;t comes out of the Ex|chequer, w<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">ch will be under the Conquerors immediate management and di&s;po&s;al; but the Conquer<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">rs never trouble them&s;elves to alter private contracts made on Gen|tlemens E&s;tates, for <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">hey take another method, which is to lay heavy Taxes on them, becau&s;e the<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> will ea&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">r r<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;e more Money out of them in that manner, then if they &s;eized all their E&s;tates in their own Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">n; and therefore private E&s;tates are more &s;ecure and certain, for all this while the Nation may not, neither will it fail, but the People will go on with their Trade and Bu&s;ine&s;s &s;till as before. In the next place, <HI>Jerry</HI> being about to &s;hew how this de&s;ign may redound to the improvements of the Trade of <HI>E<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">gland,</HI> mu&s;t fir&s;t make a remarque <HI>on our Politicians,</HI> who are &s;o curious as to <HI>&s;plit</HI> every thing to an Hair, who being <HI>p<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;e&s;t with a &s;ort of factious Rea&s;on, which runs extreamly on Divi&s;ions and Separations, &s;o that when anything proves to too heavy for their Heads, that they cannot apprehend it, they pre&s;ently divide i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">, and reduce it to &s;uch confu&s;ion as no body el&s;e can under&s;tand it.</HI> Ay <HI>Jerry,</HI> you are in the right on't; for the&s;e Politicians and Mer|curial Heads do think them&s;elves the wi&s;e&s;t Men in the World, and no body under|&s;tands any &s;ence but they, becau&s;e they have the knack of Prating, and &s;tarting new Notions, and &s;warms of Objections; their Talent being not &s;o much to remove in|conveniences, as to find them out: But they are all of them mi&s;taken, and &s;o let them go for a company of conceited Momes as they are. 'Tis well for us that we have got &s;uch an em<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">nent Man of Parts, true Sen&s;e, and right Rea&s;on, as <HI>Jerry Squirt,</HI> who is &s;o dextrous in the finding out the <HI>mo&s;t &s;ecret Intrigues, and &s;uttle contrivances of all the the factious Cabals,</HI> or el&s;e he could never have given us &s;uch a notable account of the Politicians <HI>new acquired Maxims, and the Mercurial Heads incomprehen&s;ible Notions,</HI> to|gather with all the managements of the Propo&s;ers <HI>crafty de&s;igns;</HI> and tho they have en|deavoured to reduce all things to an <HI>unintelligible confu&s;ion,</HI> yet our judicious Friend <HI>Jerry</HI> is &s;o Prudent, and good Natur'd, as he will con&s;ider how this Bank may be be|neficial to both the Intere&s;t of Land and Trade, for the general good of all. How happy would it be for this Nation, if all our Politicians and Mercurial Men had but &s;uch Heads as our Friend <HI>Jerry</HI> has upon his Shoulders! then we &s;hould be wi&s;ely go|vern'd I warrant ye. But now that I may not make too large a digre&s;&s;ion, for which I hope the Reader will pardon me, &s;ince I have the Example of a great Author before me, I will return again to &s;ee the Benefit of this Bank; where <HI>Jerry,</HI> in the next place,
<PB N="10" REF="6"> hath by a lucky chance found out, <HI>that its a &s;ign Money is plenty when Intere&s;t is low.</HI><NOTE PLACE="inline">p 13.</NOTE> Sure he cannot call 8 <HI>l. per cent.</HI> low Intere&s;t? Oh no! <HI>but if the Bank can with</HI> 2 <HI>or</HI> 300000 <HI>l. circulate</HI> 1200000 <HI>l. it will be as good as a Million brought into the Nation,</HI> be&s;ides the effects encrea&s;ing, <HI>will advanctage Trade by the &s;ecure way of Re|ciepts and Payments,</HI><NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 14.</NOTE> <HI>its &s;afety from Fire, and Thieves, and other di&s;a&s;ters, which Gold and Silver are &s;ubject unto,</HI> (but not Books of Accounts, Bank Bills, or the like) all things con&s;idered, <HI>when put in practice, will naturally and gradually lower the intere&s;t of Money,</HI> that is to &s;ay hereafter, in a great many years to come. Pray, Sir, what is a million extraordinary when the Nation wants Twenty Millions? Be&s;ides, unthink|ing <HI>Jerry</HI> does not con&s;ider how many Per&s;ons are nece&s;&s;itated and arre&s;ted, out of who&s;e hands, much of this Money is called to put into this Bank for the &s;ake of the great intere&s;t, and that none of them can be &s;upplied on the be&s;t Security, when the monied Men, can have 8 <HI>l. per cent.</HI> Which way then is it likely, that intere&s;t can be lower'd? Since the act it &s;elf hath advanced the price of it. The effects of this ma|nagement, does not add &s;o much Money new coined to what we have already, but it will harra&s;s one part of the People to enrich another, and con&s;idering the King has much of this Money abroad, and none returned, or new coined, Where then is it to be had? Will it be in Bank Bills? Why then the Doctors bra&s;s Tickets are better. I hope you will not now &s;ay, that the&s;e are the groundle&s;s jealou&s;ies of Men, when every days experience makes it good, and there is &s;o general a complaint for want of Money.<NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 15.</NOTE> As to the <HI>Good effects that Banks have had in</HI> Holland <HI>and</HI> Genoua, it hath been the practice of many Years to bring to perfection there, and &s;o it will require here, but how &s;hall the people be &s;upplied in the mean time? For it cannot be expected, that the effects of the Nation will command the u&s;e of ready Money, when there is none to be had, neither will there be any yet along while, al|mo&s;t as innumerable Years to come, whatever <HI>Jerry</HI> does imagine, but we &s;hall &s;till be a prey to con&s;uming U&s;ury, and lie under <HI>the oppre&s;&s;ions</HI> of tho&s;e but <HI>few</HI> (as you &s;ay) <HI>that have Money,</HI> unle&s;s like the Doctor's Propo&s;al there had been Twenty Millions of Credit more, added to the pre&s;ent Money, then it would really have proved a mo&s;t be|neficial Bank. And tho you &s;ay, <HI>it cannot rea&s;onably be &s;uppo&s;ed to make an alteration in the Government</HI> (I hope &s;o too) but it's more likely with this kind of Fund, than that of Gentlemens E&s;tates; becau&s;e this way, it's the Subject pays the great intere&s;t of of this Bark in a continual &s;etled Tax, which like the Chimney Money, will always be unea&s;ie to them, as long as it la&s;ts. As to <HI>the unu&s;ual Oppo&s;itions,</HI> you fan&s;ie, <HI>this Bank hath met withal;</HI><NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 16.</NOTE> I never heard, that it had any at all, but it &s;eem|ed rather to be hudled up of a &s;udden, and pa&s;&s;ed privately, as it were in an hurry in the Hou&s;e, before any one had time or liberty to make Objections to it, lea&s;t the Doctor's Propo&s;al &s;hould get the &s;tart of it, becau&s;e the Doctor had fairly an&s;wered all the &s;warms of Objections, that either Parliament Men, or any el&s;e, could bring again&s;t it, and no propo&s;al ever had more; be&s;ides it had pa&s;&s;ed the approba|tion of two &s;everal Committees, e&s;pecially the la&s;t, which was Printed in the Votes: After that, it was again moved in the Hou&s;e that the Doctor might be heard, which was impo&s;&s;ible it &s;eems to bring to pa&s;s, for the rea&s;on you told us in the 5th. page, be|cau&s;e this &s;mall intended Bank was &s;ecretly carrying on at the &s;ame time in op|po&s;ition thereunto, the Propo&s;ers thinking it prudent a de&s;ign of this Nature &s;hould have <HI>as ea&s;ie and in&s;en&s;ible a beginning as po&s;&s;ible, to prevent, or at lea&s;t &s;often, and remove
<PB N="11" REF="6"> the prejudices and bad impre&s;&s;ions,</HI> viz. the &s;warms of Objections in page 7th. (which their Propo&s;ers could not an&s;wer &s;o well as the Doctor did his) and this did therefore put the Propo&s;ers on <HI>heightning Intere&s;t</HI> and particular undertakings, producing <HI>narrow and &s;ini&s;ter de&s;igns</HI> no way becoming &s;o noble a work all which the Doctor would have abominated, his propo&s;al no ways requiring the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of &s;uch unbecoming Practices. As to your thought <HI>of the Funds for Lives and Lottery,</HI> they had been much better applied to the &s;ames u&s;es with this Bank; tho I doubt, all would have been too little to an&s;wer the ends both of King and People What great Civilities you have &s;hewn to <HI>Ja|cobites, &V;&s;urers, Brokers, and the Haman</HI>'s that they &s;hould &s;o much oppo&s;e it,<NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 17.</NOTE> I cannot tell, but I am &s;ure you have not &s;hewed any at all to the Doctor, who never oppo&s;ed yours, but only propo&s;ed his own: However, you might have added a fourth &s;ort, who tho they may not be endued with &s;o large a capacity as our <HI>Jerry Squirt,</HI> yet give as good a rea&s;on for their di&s;like as any you have for your approbation of it, which is, that they think it too &s;mall a &s;um to &s;et up a Bank, and &s;erves only to make us ridiculous to the re&s;t of the World, for vexing &s;o many needy Debtors to make up &s;uch a &s;um, as a Million of Money for a Bank in a Nation, that hath lately been &s;o much drained, and do want at lea&s;t twenty Millions, which the Doctor's Pro|po&s;al would have &s;upplied, or el&s;e the Committee would never have made &s;uch a re|port of it. But after all, you &s;ay, the <HI>effects of this &V;ndertaking will be be&s;t under&s;tood in the practice thereof;</HI> I am &s;ure it cannot in the Theory you have given us, and for the practice it will be to the Nation, much after the &s;ame manner, as to a Man that wants 2000 <HI>l</HI> to pay his Debts, and you lend him but 100 <HI>l.</HI> At la&s;t <HI>Jerry</HI> is drawing to a Conclu&s;ion (make us thankful, for I am almo&s;t tired with him) <HI>reproaches are the common fa<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e of good and generous &V;ndertakings,</HI> true <HI>Jerry,</HI> but this cannot de&s;erve &s;o good terms being &s;o little, as the whole &s;um is but a 5th. part of what the King will want every year to War with <HI>France,</HI> and if the War &s;hould continue (which God forbid) two or three Years longer, what mu&s;t become of us or the Bank then, <HI>Jerry?</HI> It is the &s;mallne&s;s makes it de&s;picable, and it's lyable to all the Objections that were made again&s;t the Doctor's Propo&s;al, which you before told us <HI>cannot or will ne|ver be an&s;wered.</HI> But as you &s;aid before, <HI>The nature of Men being fond of their own Opi|nions, out of a pre&s;umptuous Principle, think none knows more than them&s;elves;</HI> little dream|ing there is &s;uch a Man in the World, of &s;uch prodigious intellects, as <HI>Jerry Squirt</HI> the great Author of the Brief Account of the little intended Bank of <HI>England,</HI> who is able to in&s;truct them both by Rea&s;on and Rule. Lord what pity it was, that you did never di&s;cover your &s;elf before to the World? That &s;o the Politicians aad Mercuri|al Heads, the pretended Patriots, the Wits on both &s;ides that under&s;tood it too much, and the Block-heads that could not under&s;tand it at all, together with all the Obje|ctors, ay and the Doctor too, might all have come to <HI>Jerry Squirt,</HI> to have been better informed in the true Nature and right Notion of Banks. Mo&s;t certainly the Doctor had never mi&s;carried, it he had gained <HI>Jerry</HI> for his Councel; but I doubt it was the cunning of the Propo&s;ers, to conceal <HI>Jerry</HI> and his Advice, till they had obtained an Act of Parliament, and then there was no Man in the World could be &s;o fit to ex|plain the Act, and give an account of the Nature of the intended Bank, as <HI>Jerry,</HI> who &s;o well under&s;ta<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ds them, and was privy to all their &s;ecret proceedings, even to <HI>their narrow and &s;ini&s;ter de&s;igns, that were no way becoming &s;o noble and univer&s;al a Work;</HI> all which, like a good Hone&s;t Man, that hates &s;uch Sordid, and vile Actions of the
<PB N="12" REF="7"> Propo&s;ers, he hath fully di&s;covered; who notwith&s;tanding the apprehen&s;ions and difficulties, that were in their way, have not been di&s;couraged from doing their utmo&s;t to bring the de&s;igned work to perfection. Well, <HI>Jerry,</HI> I allow you to be a Man of Parts, only you have one fault; and that is, you tell nothing but all you know, which was be&s;ide your Text, for you promi&s;ed only <HI>a Brief Account of the intended Bank,</HI> but in&s;tead of that, you have given us a long Account in the fir&s;t half of your Book of the want of a Bank, the mi&s;carriage of one that was good, and the &s;ini&s;ter de&s;igns, that were u&s;ed in procuring the future intend|ed Bank, thats worth nothing: Could not you have been contented to have told us the Brief Account, with|out di&s;covering by way of introduction all the &s;ini&s;ter de&s;igns, that were unbecoming your Propo&s;ers to bring it to pa&s;s? Who would tru&s;t <HI>Jerry Squirt</HI> with a Secret for the future? Tho you ridicule the Doctor and his Bank, yet you cannot accu&s;e him of any &s;ini&s;ter de&s;igns or practices. However, in &s;o doing you have done the Doctor this kindne&s;s by it, as to put the People into a farther enquiry, whether it be pra|cticable and proffitable as the Committee reported, or out of both King and Peoples reach as you &s;ay it is. One thing I had almo&s;t forgot to tell you, that it is a great pity but the World &s;hould know the Names of the&s;e Wor&s;hipful Propo&s;ers, that all due prai&s;e and re&s;pect may be given to their profound Noddles, that have taken &s;o much pains, and u&s;ed <HI>&s;uch narrow and &s;ini&s;ter de&s;igns</HI> to remove difficulties, which no Man had opportunity to lay in their way, to the hindring of this rare Off-&s;pring of their Brains from being brought to perfection; and now &s;ince they have been &s;o lucky at la&s;t, pray let us ring the Bells, and make Bonfires for Joy, that all Difficulties are &s;urmounted, all the Hobgoblins and frightful Mon&s;ters are vanqui&s;hed, all the horrid Spectres are conjured out of the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, and the de&s;igned work, even the intended Bank of <HI>England</HI> is brought to perfection.<NOTE PLACE="inline">p. 18.</NOTE> But now for a fini&s;hing <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="4 letters">k at la&s;t! The work of perfecti|on <HI>&s;eems to be re&s;erved for &s;uch a time as this, the better to enable the Government and People of</HI> Eng|land <HI>to Revive, Recover, and Tran&s;mit to po&s;terity the Virtue, Lu&s;tre and wonted Glory of their renowed Ance|&s;tors.</HI> Hum! there is Salt in this, <HI>Jerry,</HI> and admirably well &s;ea&s;oned indeed! Who's that now, that ac|cu&s;es <HI>Jerry Squirt</HI> of Reflecting on the Parliament, none but a company of vile Tongu'd People, that will always be ca&s;ting Dirt at their Betters. I would have you to know, that <HI>Jerry</HI> is as Accompli&s;hed, Well|bred Gentleman, and as rare an Orator too, as any of all your <HI>Wits, Politicians, Mercurial Heads, pre|tended Patriots,</HI> ay or your Rabble of otherwi&s;e well-meaning People too. The truth is, Friend <HI>Jerry,</HI> this is &s;uch a flouri&s;hing high Touch, as far exceeds all that ever went before, and the Parliament is &s;o high obliged to you, that for ought I &s;ee, by all means they can do no le&s;s the next Se&s;&s;ions, than go into a grand Committee of the whole Hou&s;e, and Vote <HI>Nemine Contradicente,</HI> that Mr. <HI>Jerry Squirt</HI> &s;hall have the thanks of this Hou&s;e. O, brave <HI>Jerry!</HI> in good Faith 'tis you will be Cock-a-hoop now, Pray Sir, who &s;hall have the Honour to hold your Hor&s;e? Well, <HI>Jerry,</HI> I &s;ee thou art a notable gifted Man, and one would not think there was half &s;o much in thee as there is. But for Di&s;cour&s;e &s;ake, let's turn the Tables a little, and &s;ee what would you have &s;aid Now <HI>Jerry,</HI> if your de&s;igning crafty Propo&s;ers, had offered &s;uch an excellent propo&s;al as the Doctors with twenty Millions of good Credit, and that fairly without any narrow and &s;ini|&s;ter de&s;igns with an an&s;wer to all Objections? And the Doctor &s;hould at the &s;ame time have endeavoured to promote &s;uch a Pigmy or piece of a Bank as they have got, and have u&s;ed all the narrow and &s;ini&s;ter de|&s;igns as your Propo&s;ers have done, without an&s;wering any Objections? How then might or would you have magnified and extoll'd your mo&s;t noble Propo&s;ers up to the Heavens, till you had been wrapped up in an Exta&s;ie for Joy, &s;ince you can commend them &s;o much on &s;o little occa&s;ion? And on the contrary, how would you have Ridiculed, Vilified, and Expo&s;ed the Doctor for his narrow project, carried on too with &s;uch &s;ini&s;ter de&s;igns? I believe you would have &s;o &s;hamed and di&s;graced him, that he mu&s;t never have dared to appear again, any more than a <HI>Dog</HI> that is out-law'd. Now, therefore <HI>Jerry,</HI> let me tell you by the by, that unle&s;s you could have projected &s;omething extraordinary, that would far have exceeded the Doctor's offers, it is not fair dealing to condemn a Propo&s;al, that is &s;o very good and great, and trump up another narrow one in the place of it, that hath been carryed on with &s;uch &s;ini&s;ter de&s;igns, and comes &s;o much &s;hort of doing good, as it hath occa&s;ion'd much trouble to many Subjects. Well, but for all this, <HI>Jerry,</HI> mu&s;t have one word at parting, and &s;o Farewell, <HI>viz, That this Bank will lay a Foundation of Trade, Secu|rity, and greatne&s;s within this Kingdom, for the pre&s;ent and &s;ucceeding Ages;</HI> Ay, <HI>Jerry,</HI> but I fear it will be &s;uch an inumerable many Years to come, that you and I &s;hall hardly ever live to &s;ee effected by this Mole-hill of a Bank. The truth is, you do de&s;erve a reward for recommending to the Nation &s;uch a Bank, that is thus brought to perfection, I &s;ay, <HI>Jerry Squirt,</HI> you do de&s;erve a Reward, but it &s;hould be that of a <HI>Dog|whip,</HI> which is mo&s;t fit for &s;uch a <HI>Yelper.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="colophon">
<P>Sold by <HI>Randal Taylor</HI> near <HI>Stationer Hall,</HI> 1694</P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
