Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Origin And History Of Promissory Notes And Paper Credit.
locked upon them as bills of exchange , and that they had been used for a matter of thirty years ; and that not only notes , but bonds for money , were transferred frequently , and indorsed as bills of exchange . ' He nevertheless continued firm in the conscientious discharge of his duty against the Law-merchant ; and the merchants were foiled in all their attempts . Nothing therefore remained , but that resourcewhich Malines tells us was the wish of good '
, many Lawyers , as ' well as merchants , in his days- — 'An Act of Parliament to establish this course in England . ' Accordingly , in the fourth year of Queen Anne , a law passed making all promissory notes recoverable by action ' in the same mianner as inland bills of exchange drawn according to the custom of merchants . ' In consequencebills obligatory under the seal of the Bank of Englandand
, , under the seals of individuals , disappeared together ; all men substituted notes of band , which were of rather more accurate spelling and terser phraseology : and ' I promise . to pay' universally succeeded to ' memorandum that I owe . ' But the time of future pajmient continued to keep its station for many years in . the body of the note ; and placing it in the beginning of the sentencein the
, present form , seems to be of very late date . On looking back there is much in this little historical outline to arrest and occupy a contemplative mind . What was recommended in vain as . a public benefit to the Grandfather ( for to King James wad the work or Ma / ines dedicated ) was at last the lucky consequence of an arbitrary act , to which the Grandson was driven by his
prodigality : and the system of Paper-credit , which thus bad its ori gin in the bad faith of the last Protestant King of the House of Stuart ; when after the revolution it had acquired strength , solidity , and body , from the establishment of the Bank of England , became amain prop and p iliarof the settlement by which the immediate heirs of the House of Stuart were excluded for ever from the throne . Much ability and talent have been employed to point out the
disadvantages resulting from the extension of the system of Paper-credit . But without entering into a controversy on the subject , it cannot be denied that we have witnessed , and still witness , the most happy effects in the public prosperity . The whole real and imaginary opulence of the nation is brought to bear effectively on commerce , like the capital t f one firm . Even vices , the most selfish , are made to
co-operate for the good of the Commonwealth . Avarice itself becomes liberal in parsimony and accumulation ; and while , by trusting the custody of its hoards to the Banker , it escapes half the torments which are its immediate and natural punishment in the eternal order of things , it furnishes funds for the advances of the manufacturer , the adventures of the merchantand the vast operations of the statesman to maintain or
, extend the happiness , power , and glory , of his country . Perhaps the pre-eminence of England among the States of Europe at this hour , corrlpared with her subordinate rank then , even after the glorious reign of Elizabeth , is more to be attributed to the force of her public credit under this system , which commands the great military powers on the Continent , than to the native strength of her own arms ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Origin And History Of Promissory Notes And Paper Credit.
locked upon them as bills of exchange , and that they had been used for a matter of thirty years ; and that not only notes , but bonds for money , were transferred frequently , and indorsed as bills of exchange . ' He nevertheless continued firm in the conscientious discharge of his duty against the Law-merchant ; and the merchants were foiled in all their attempts . Nothing therefore remained , but that resourcewhich Malines tells us was the wish of good '
, many Lawyers , as ' well as merchants , in his days- — 'An Act of Parliament to establish this course in England . ' Accordingly , in the fourth year of Queen Anne , a law passed making all promissory notes recoverable by action ' in the same mianner as inland bills of exchange drawn according to the custom of merchants . ' In consequencebills obligatory under the seal of the Bank of Englandand
, , under the seals of individuals , disappeared together ; all men substituted notes of band , which were of rather more accurate spelling and terser phraseology : and ' I promise . to pay' universally succeeded to ' memorandum that I owe . ' But the time of future pajmient continued to keep its station for many years in . the body of the note ; and placing it in the beginning of the sentencein the
, present form , seems to be of very late date . On looking back there is much in this little historical outline to arrest and occupy a contemplative mind . What was recommended in vain as . a public benefit to the Grandfather ( for to King James wad the work or Ma / ines dedicated ) was at last the lucky consequence of an arbitrary act , to which the Grandson was driven by his
prodigality : and the system of Paper-credit , which thus bad its ori gin in the bad faith of the last Protestant King of the House of Stuart ; when after the revolution it had acquired strength , solidity , and body , from the establishment of the Bank of England , became amain prop and p iliarof the settlement by which the immediate heirs of the House of Stuart were excluded for ever from the throne . Much ability and talent have been employed to point out the
disadvantages resulting from the extension of the system of Paper-credit . But without entering into a controversy on the subject , it cannot be denied that we have witnessed , and still witness , the most happy effects in the public prosperity . The whole real and imaginary opulence of the nation is brought to bear effectively on commerce , like the capital t f one firm . Even vices , the most selfish , are made to
co-operate for the good of the Commonwealth . Avarice itself becomes liberal in parsimony and accumulation ; and while , by trusting the custody of its hoards to the Banker , it escapes half the torments which are its immediate and natural punishment in the eternal order of things , it furnishes funds for the advances of the manufacturer , the adventures of the merchantand the vast operations of the statesman to maintain or
, extend the happiness , power , and glory , of his country . Perhaps the pre-eminence of England among the States of Europe at this hour , corrlpared with her subordinate rank then , even after the glorious reign of Elizabeth , is more to be attributed to the force of her public credit under this system , which commands the great military powers on the Continent , than to the native strength of her own arms ,