A. D. TABLE LI. An ACCOUNT of the quantity of fine SILVER coined in Twenty Shillings or a Pound sterling; the quantity of standard Silver of eleven oz. two dwts. fine, and eighteen dwts. alloy, contained in twenty shillings or a pound sterling in the different reigns from Edward I. to William IV. A similar account with respect to Gold: an account of the proportional value of fine Gold to fine Silver, according to the number of grains contained in Coins, calculated in grains and one thousand parts of Troy weight. (Taken from Essays on Money, Exchanges, and Political Economy, by H. James.) 18 Edw. III. 3 Hen. IV. 1344 1349 23 1356 30 1401 1421 1464 1465 1470 1482 1509 49 Hen. VI. 1527 18 1543 34 1545 36 1546 37 1547 1 Edw. VI. 1549 1551 5 4,933,333 5,333,000 407,990 445,080 1 to 12,901 1,760,000 1,768,000 1,902,702 160,000 169,412 1,760,000 1,911,351 160,000 174,545 1,766,000 1,902,702 159,166 174,545 1 1,718,000 1,920,064 160,000 171,940 1 1,718,000 1,858,064 157,612 154,838 1 1,718,709 1,858,064 141,935 148,487 1 1,718,709 1,858,064 128,780 129,438 1 1,718,709 1,858,064 113,001 123,274 1 1816 56 Geo. III. 1,614,545 1,745,454 113,001 123,274 1 *The coinage of debased Silver money in the fifth year of Edward VI. of three oz. three dwts. fine, ought more properly to be considered as tokens. The sum of £120,000 only was coined. The Government having taken the coinage of Silver into their own hands, there is at present no fixed price paid to the public by the Mint for standard Silver; and sup. posing the Government to continue the present Mint regulations, and to keep Gold at 77s. 10 d. an oz., as the price of Silver varies, the relative value of Gold to Silver will vary in the same proportion. M 2 165 PART II. ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT STATE OF THE NATIONAL DEBT AND FUNDING SYSTEM. FIRST PERIOD. FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III. Origin of the National Debt.-Measures adopted by the kings of England to borrow money in the earliest times.-Attempt of the kings and governments to defraud their creditors.-Resolution of the British people in insisting on being repaid the money lent.-Second method of borrowing.-Funding system introduced by William III.- carried into execution in all its essential branches in the same reign.-Original amount of the present national debt, and its total increase during the same reign.-Its progress, the measures adopted to increase it, and its total amount in the succeeding reign.-When exchequer bills first made their appearance, and when the sinking fund was first established.--How the present Consols originated, and the original amount of that stock.—State of the public debt in the time of George I. and the amount redeemed.-Its progress in the reign of George II., and amount at the death of that monarch. -Objects to which the sums borrowed in this period were applied. THE difficulties in which individuals are involved by their real wants, but oftener by their unruly passions, are the source of their debts. The debts of nations have not a different origin. When the ordinary resources of a country were insufficient to carry into effect the private views, or impolitic wars, of the despots who ruled, or the ministers who directed it, they simply resorted to the expedient of borrowing: but when the sums lent were inadequate to the increased expenditure, they had recourse to all sorts of schemes, deceptions, and contrivances, the better to delude the lenders, and allure their avarice. Such is the origin of the funding system. The kings of England, like those of all other nations, have contracted debts from the most remote antiquity. As early as the 12th century Richard I. pawned the re venues of the crown, " for the payment of monies borrowed to defray the expenses of the fanatical conquest of the Holy Land." Henry III. pawned the crown jewels, the regal ornaments, and the robes of state. Edward I. borrowed money to pay the debts of his father, in order to get his soul" out of purgatory"; as the record states, "ad exonerationem animæ Henrici patris nostri." Richard II. was deposed for extorting 1,100,000l. sterling under pretext of borrowing, which was never repaid this was one of the chief causes of the horrible civil wars of York and Lancaster ". In 1346, Edward III. ordered a sum of money to be lent to him. Henry IV. obliged the rich men of the kingdom to lend him money upon the growing taxes. (See Macpherson's History of Commerce.) But Henry VIII. escaped the punishment he so justly merited for defrauding his creditors. He compelled the parliament to pass two acts offering him all the money he had received in loans"; thus "discharging him of all obligations he had come under, and all suits that might arise thereupon." Elizabeth found the people quite indifferent as to any form of religion, but far otherwise in money matters: they insisted on the payment of the sums advanced to her predecessors; a demand she was wise enough to comply with. The political chameleon, Burleigh, counselled her to lay the foundation of public credit; and never did that versatile statesman give her better advice, during the 40 years he administered the affairs of the state. The republic contracted a large debt; and C a Stevens, History of Taxes." He was so poor, that it was more charitable to give him money than to a beggar." b Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII. p. 46. The parliament particularly insisted on the payment of 372,000l., or 1,100,000l. of our cur rency. e Par. Hist. Henry VIII. p. 6. Nares' Life of Cecil, Lord Burleigh. In the review of this |