<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2010-06-08</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Checklist:
x Add TEMPHEAD, change DATE, validate
xAdd DIV TYPEs, validate
xReview structure, use FRONT,BODY, BACK or rarely GROUP
xCheck PB placement and completeness, ensure sequence of N=""
xProof title page(s)
xCheck HEAD TRAILER ARGUMENT EPIGRAPH OPENER CLOSER SIGNED SALUTE BYLINE
xCheck ^, oe, abq, italic I / J, _Initals, space between &amp;c.
xCheck # @ -- UNCLEAR LB FIGURE
xCheck q; startq endq Q
xCorrect illegibles from proofsheet
xCheck illegible page, para, line, span, word, dollar signs
Final validate

Corrected [ ] illegible groups out of [ ].
Converted [ ] illegible groups to GAP DESC="illegible".
DONE</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B01787">
<STC T="W">b4758</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">51617900</BIBNO>
<VID>175155</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB N="1" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>TO THE LORDS SPIRITUAL and TEMPORAL AND COMMONS in Parliament A&s;&s;embled.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>May it plea&s;e Your Honours,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>THE la&s;t Se&s;sions of Parliaments, I pre&s;ented You with Propo&s;als for &s;etting up a <HI>National Land-Bank,</HI> and in order thereunto a Bill was brought in, by order of the Honourable <HI>the Hou&s;e of Com|mons,</HI> and was referred to a Committee, who made a con&s;iderable Progre&s;s therein: But the Bill not pa&s;sing through the Hou&s;e, for want of Time, I did not intend to put my Propo&s;als in practice until the next Se&s;sions of Parliament, fearing it might be look'd upon as a Di&s;re&s;pect to Your Honours (wherein I have al|ways been very cautious of offending) to begin a Bu&s;ine&s;s of &s;o great Importance, before I had an Authority from Your Honours for my &s;o doing: But &s;ome Gentlemen who pretended they could not under&s;tand my <HI>Scheme,</HI> while the Bill was depending before the Hou&s;e of Commons, have formed the Model of a Bank out of the Book I pre&s;ented to Your Honours; only, to make it look like a Novelty, have &s;poil'd my De&s;ign by &s;ome Alterations of their own.</P>
<P>It is doubtle&s;s <HI>a Duty incumbent upon all the Subjects</HI> (as I mentioned in my Treati&s;e, Intituled <HI>A Di&s;cour&s;e on the late Funds,</HI> which I pre&s;ented to both Hou&s;es of Parliament) <HI>to propo&s;e to Your Honours what&s;oever may occur to any of them for the Service of the Publick,</HI> and who&s;oever &s;pends his Time and E&s;tate in &s;o doing pre&s;umes he is &s;afe, and under Your Honours Protection: if not, it will certainly be a Bar to all future Ingenuity, and will for ever di&s;courage Per&s;ons from offering any thing to Your Honours that may tend to the Good of the Nation. But I am well &s;atisfied Your Honours will not countenance any, who &s;hall go about to deprive me of the Fruit of my Indu&s;try; and therefore tho I have been often told, that the Per&s;ons who are engaged in &s;etting up a Bank in oppo&s;ition to me, will certainly bear me down by an Intere&s;t too powerful for me to with&s;tand, yet I think my &s;elf &s;ecure in Your Honours Ju&s;tice and Impartiality, and in a&s;&s;urance thereof I &s;hall (God willing) proceed upon what I have undertaken, not doubting but with Your Honours A&s;&s;i&s;tance to &s;urmount all tho&s;e Difficulties, which the Igno|rance of &s;ome, and Envy of others, may lay in my way. I beg leave to &s;ub&s;cribe my Self,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Honours mo&s;t Humble and mo&s;t Obedient Servant, <HI>John Bri&s;coe.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="2" REF="2">
<HEAD>ADVICE TO THE FREE-HOLDER.</HEAD>
<P>THOSE who have made an E&s;timate of the Yearly E&s;tates, and Money of the Kingdom, have computed the former to be worth above 300 Millions, and the latter not above 5 Millions in value; and yet it is mo&s;t certain and appa|rent, That <HI>tho&s;e who have the</HI> 5 <HI>Millions, have more Credit, and are of greater account than tho&s;e who are the Owners and Proprietors of the</HI> 300 <HI>Millions,</HI> and the Landed-Men are Servants to the Monied-Men, &s;o far as the Borrower may be &s;aid to be a Ser|vant to the Lender. Now fora&s;much as this is mo&s;t undoubtedly true, and Matter of Fact, I &s;hall endeavour (with as much Brevity as I can) to &s;how the Freeholder
<LIST>
<ITEM>From whence this great Inequality ari&s;es.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The &V;nrea&s;onablene&s;s of this Inequality. <HI>And</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Propo&s;e Proper Expedients to remedy it.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The Fir&s;t and Principal Rea&s;on of this great Inequality, proceeds from a Mi&s;take, in making Gold and Silver the only <HI>Medium</HI> of our Trade and Commerce; and con|&s;equently a <HI>Living Stock</HI> to the Owners thereof, while <HI>the Land of</HI> England <HI>is a Dead Stock</HI> to the Proprietors: For tho a Gentleman may have a con&s;iderable E&s;tate in Land, yet he receives no Profit or Advantage thereby, but the bare accruing Income of &s;uch E&s;tate, and if he wants 2000 or 3000 <HI>l.</HI> altho he have an E&s;tate in Land worth 20000 <HI>l.</HI> yet he cannot be &s;upplied out of his own E&s;tate, but is forced to borrow of others at high Intere&s;t, and with no &s;mall expence of Time and Money, in examining his Title, drawing Writings, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which eats into the very Heart and Bowels of his E&s;tate. And for this Rea&s;on Gentlemen who&s;e E&s;tates are in Land, have but little if any Credit; for their E&s;tates being (as hath been ob&s;erved) <HI>a Dead Stock,</HI> upon which they cannot rai&s;e Money but with great Charge and Difficulty, none care to tru&s;t them, becau&s;e it does not appear how they &s;hall be paid: For &s;uppo&s;e a Gentleman be &s;uperlatively hone&s;t, and willing to di&s;charge his Obligations, yet the Nature of his E&s;tate (if it be in Land) is &s;uch, that if his Debts are greater than his Yearly Income will di&s;charge, he is uncapable of paying them, unle&s;s he engages his Land, which be&s;ides the Charge, does often terminate in the ruin of him and his E&s;tate.</P>
<P>Another Rea&s;on of this Inequality, is the different Tempers of the Landed and the Monied-Men, occa&s;ioned, in &s;ome Mea&s;ure, from the differing Circum&s;tances of their E&s;tates: for Gold and Silver, tho Living Stocks, yet lying in the Che&s;t are Dead E&s;tates; being no longer profitable than while they are circulating, which puts the Monied-Men upon exerci&s;ing their Wits, making them &s;harp and quick-&s;ighted, and ready to lay hold of any Thing that offers which may tend to their Advantage. For In&s;tance, when the Parliament pa&s;&s;ed an Act, granting a Bank to the Sub&s;cribers of 1200000 <HI>l.</HI> no &s;ooner were the Books laid open to receive Sub&s;criptions, but the &s;ame was filled up in 10 or 12 Days &s;pace; not a Fund is &s;ettled by Parliament, but if a Million or more in Money be wanting, it is pre&s;ently rai&s;ed, and paid in by the Monied-Men upon the lea&s;t Encouragement, and without asking many Que&s;tions; by which Means, &s;everal of them have rai&s;ed con&s;iderable E&s;tates &s;ince the War began. On the other Hand, the Landed-Men living commonly remote from, and con&s;equently being Strangers to Bu&s;ine&s;s, are contented with the Produce of their Land, and if they
<PB N="3" REF="2">can keep both Ends together they think they do well, and take little or no care of further Improvements; which makes them commonly regardle&s;s of, and deaf unto all Propo&s;als that are made for the advancing their E&s;tates. And tho they ought not to be blamed for a prudent Cautiou&s;ne&s;s, how they embara&s;s them&s;elves, or their E&s;tates with Things they do not under&s;tand, being &s;en&s;ible how difficult it is to get clear when they are once incumber'd; yet I think &s;uch again are very much wanting to them&s;elves who reject every Offer that is made them for their Advantage, without examining whether it be rea&s;onable, or whether they may &s;afely clo&s;e with it.</P>
<P>Having briefly enquired into the Cau&s;es, I &s;hall proceed to &s;how the Unrea&s;onable|ne&s;s of this Inequality, which I will do by a plain and familiar In&s;tance or Example.</P>
<P>Suppo&s;e then <HI>A</HI> hath an Ingot of Gold worth 1000 <HI>l. B</HI> hath a Bar of Silver worth as much, and <HI>C</HI> hath 100 Acres of Land of the like value; the Gold or Silver in one entire piece is u&s;ele&s;s, and will yield no Profit or Advantage to <HI>A</HI> or <HI>B,</HI> while the 100 Acres of Land which <HI>C</HI> hath in one entire piece or parcel yield him Pa&s;ture for Cattle, Timber, Fire-wood, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> without any Charge be&s;towed upon it. Now what Rati|onal Man will not prefer the 100 Acres of Land before the Gold or Silver, which will produce more Profit to the Proprietor than 10000 &s;uch Bars or Ingots? the one being a living, the other dead E&s;tates. And therefore any Per&s;on who knew not to what u&s;es Gold and Silver are converted, would doubtle&s;s believe <HI>C</HI> to be out of his Sences, to borrow of <HI>A</HI> or <HI>B</HI> one half of the &s;aid Gold, or Silver, and to make over his 100 Acres of Land for a Security to re&s;tore the &s;ame, and to give 30 <HI>l. per Annum</HI> for the u&s;e of it, be&s;ides other Charges; and yet this is the con&s;tant and daily practice of all &s;uch, who take up Money upon the Security of their E&s;tates. Now if we examine into the Rea&s;on thereof, it is no more than this: The Legi&s;lative Power hath made Gold and Silver to be the only <HI>Medium</HI> of Trade and Commerce, and hath thereby turned tho&s;e which before were dead Commodities into <HI>living Stocks,</HI> which for the greater Conve|nience of 'Trade are carried to the Mint, where they are divided into &s;everal needful Parts, and the Stamp of Authority impre&s;s'd upon them; While the Land which is a living E&s;tate, for want of being made a <HI>Medium</HI> of Trade and Commerce as Gold and Silver are, remains a <HI>dead Stock,</HI> to the great Damage of the Owners and Pro|prietors.</P>
<P>To Remedy which I propo&s;ed to the honourable Hou&s;e of Commons the la&s;t Se&s;|&s;ions of Parliament, to make Land, as well as Gold and Silver, a <HI>Medium</HI> of Trade and Commerce, and offer'd &s;everal Rea&s;ons for the &s;ame; &s;hewing how Land may in all re&s;pects be made as u&s;eful as Gold or Silver for &s;uch Purpo&s;es, but fore&s;eeing I &s;hould meet with very great Difficulties to get an Act for making Land a <HI>Medium</HI> of Trade, I thereupon applied my &s;elf to make it a <HI>Fund of Credit,</HI> which was the Purport of the Bill that was under the Con&s;ideration of the Hou&s;e of Commons, and is the De|&s;ign of my pre&s;ent Propo&s;als.</P>
<P>To accompli&s;h which I have propo&s;ed, that &s;ince no &s;ingle Man's E&s;tate is a Fund &s;ufficient for a Bank,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That Gentlemen may &s;ub&s;cribe their E&s;tates to the Value of 100000 <HI>l. per annum</HI> at lea&s;t, by which Sub&s;criptions they oblige neither them&s;elves nor their E&s;tates.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That when &s;uch yearly Value is &s;ub&s;cribed, the major Part of the Sub&s;cribers &s;hould meet together to choo&s;e Tru&s;tees, Directors, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> whom they may al&s;o di&s;place at plea&s;ure.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. That when the Tru&s;tees and Directors &s;hall be cho&s;e, the Methods of Management &s;hall be declared, which if approved of, &s;uch Sub&s;cribers as plea&s;e may &s;ettle their E&s;tates upon the Tru&s;tees of their own choo&s;ing; and tho&s;e who &s;hall not &s;ettle their E&s;tates, will be at no Charge nor Trouble, but writing their Names, and meeting once to choo&s;e Tru&s;tees, Directors, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4. That no E&s;tate which &s;hall be &s;ettled &s;hall be chargeable for more than what the Party &s;ettling it &s;hall take up of the Bank.</ITEM>
<PB N="4" REF="3">
<ITEM>5. That any Per&s;on who &s;hall &s;ettle his E&s;tate, may have up his Deed of Settle|ment on demand, if nothing be owing upon it, or upon Payment of what is due to the Bank.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. That the Profits of the Bank &s;hall be divided among all the Sub&s;cribers in propor|tion to their &s;everal Sub&s;criptions.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. That any Sub&s;criber after the Settlement of his E&s;tate, may have at any time 3 fourth Parts of the Value of his E&s;tate at 3 <HI>l.</HI> 0 <HI>s.</HI> 10 <HI>d. per cent. per annum,</HI> and pay in all, or any Part of the &s;ame when&s;oever he plea&s;es.</ITEM>
<ITEM>8. That the Intere&s;t paid by the Sub&s;cribers to the Bank, being part of the Profits of the Bank, &s;uch Sub&s;cribers who pay Intere&s;t to the Bank, will have their proportiona|ble Part of the Intere&s;t paid them back again, which they paid into the Bank.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>I might &s;ay much of the Advantages that will ari&s;e to landed-Men by this propo&s;ed Method. But it may &s;uffice to &s;ay, they will be accommodated with Money at ea&s;y Intere&s;t for the &s;upply of their Occa&s;ions, and tho their E&s;tates are not made a <HI>Medium</HI> of Trade, yet they will be a &s;ecure and certain Fund, and will con&s;equently rai&s;e them &s;uch a Credit, which without this Method it is impo&s;&s;ible they &s;hould ever attain unto: for tho a Trade&s;man may &s;cruple to take a Gentleman's Note for 1000 <HI>l.</HI> tho he knows the Gentleman is worth 1000 <HI>l. per annum,</HI> becau&s;e he knows the difficulty Gentlemen meet with to rai&s;e &s;uch a Sum out of their E&s;tates, yet none will que&s;tion his Bill for 5 times &s;uch a Sum, when he is &s;atisfied he hath an E&s;tate &s;ettled, upon which he may have 15000 <HI>l.</HI> at an Hour's warning; it being an undoubted Truth, that <HI>none have &s;o much Credit as tho&s;e who &s;tand in lea&s;t need of it;</HI> and therefore it was well ob&s;erved by the Poet,
<Q><L>Quantum qui&s;que &s;ua nummorum &s;ervat in Arca</L>
<L>Tantum habet &amp; fidei.</L></Q></P>
<P>There being therefore &s;o &s;mall a Matter required of the landed Men, as only to &s;ub|&s;cribe their Names, and to meet once to choo&s;e Tru&s;tees, Managers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> by which (as hath been already &s;aid) they are put to no charge, nor lay them&s;elves nor their E&s;tates under any Obligation by &s;uch their Sub&s;criptions; and &s;ince they are likely to receive &s;o great Advantage by the&s;e Propo&s;als, I hope they will expedite the filling up the propo&s;ed Fund of 100000 <HI>l. per annum,</HI> by their ready Sub&s;cribing. However there being E&s;tates already &s;ub&s;cribed to a <HI>Million</HI> Value. I fully determine to give the Sub&s;cribers notice in the printed News-Papers, to meet the 10th of <HI>Septem|ber</HI> next at farthe&s;t, to choo&s;e Tru&s;tees, Directors, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to whom I &s;hall then com|municate my Methods of Management, and doubt not but to convince the World that there is no &s;uch great Difficulty in rai&s;ing Money to perform what I have propo&s;ed, as &s;ome, who are Enemies to my Propo&s;al, would &s;ugge&s;t.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>J. B.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="notice">
<P>The Sub&s;cription-Books continue to lie open at <HI>Thomas Gooding,</HI> Sergeant at Law, his Chambers in <HI>Grays-Inn:</HI> At <HI>Philip Neve</HI> <ABBR>E&s;q</ABBR> his Chambers, the &s;econd Stair-ca&s;e of the Paper-Buildings in the <HI>Inner-Temple:</HI> At <HI>Lawrence Braddon</HI> <ABBR>E&s;q</ABBR> his Chambers, Number 4. the Second Stair-Ca&s;e at the New Square at <HI>Lincolns-Inn:</HI> At the Hou&s;e of <HI>Robert We&s;t</HI> <ABBR>E&s;q</ABBR> the Corner of <HI>Buckingham-Court</HI> near <HI>Scotland-yard:</HI> At Mr. <HI>John Smith</HI>'s in <HI>Exchange-Alley:</HI> At Mr. <HI>Humfry Hack&s;haw</HI>'s in <HI>Lothbury</HI> near the <HI>Royal-Exchange:</HI> At Mr. <HI>Nicholas Hayward</HI>'s Publick Notary in <HI>Threadneedle-&s;treet</HI> behind the <HI>Royal-Exchange:</HI> And at Mr. <HI>Samuel Briggs</HI> Scrivener in <HI>Guildhall-yard, London.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
