UPON your so earnestly repeating your Desire to me, to give you my Thoughts, or the Thoughts of the Gentlemen of this Town, relating to the Bank of Credit Projected; and to a Letter directed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives a­gainst it, and the Objections made against it with no common Applause, cryed up by the Court Interest as Unanswerable; tho' I rea­dily acknowledge my self as unfit a Person, as you could have Writ to about it, being not concerned with the Gentlemen in the Projec­tion, and but little conversant with them, and in that I pretend to little or no acquaintance in State Affairs, or in Trade; yet when I sat my self down to Read that Letters, it appeared to me so trifling, and below the Character of the Gentleman that Subscribed it; that it con­firmed me in my thoughts that the Cause was not so good, as some Others he has plead­ed, and invited me in a few Remarks to com­ply with your Request.

I frankly acknowledge, that I have been sometime of the Opinion, that a Bank of Cre­dit, [Page 2] well Founded and well Regulated, would be of the greatest Advantage imaginable to this Country; and therefore it was a real pleasure to me, when I first understood that a Number of Valuable Gentlemen were Con­certing proper measures to accomplish so desi­rable an end. But I must confess my self to have been at a Loss when they had given the finishing stroke to their first Scheme, wherein I apprehend they had left the foundation too fluctuating and changeable for a Land Bank, and that, tho' the Possessor of the Bills Emit­ted, had good Security, yet it seemed to me that they had not secured it well against one another, but had left it too precarious and de­pendent on the Caprice of every Accident, and the Probity and Justice of they knew not who, which might come after them, yet I am very ready to excuse them that they did not arrive to the best method in their first Essay; but since this great Mistake is Corrected in their last Model, viz. by every ones Mortga­ging a Real Estate in proportion to the Inte­rest he is to have in the Bank, and so to abide during its Continuance; hereby there is suita­ble provision made not only for the Credit of their Bills and Notes, but a sufficient Obliga­tion upon them to do Justice to each other, & to every man that shall be concerned with them, in case the Bank or Partnership shall come to an end; which the Author of the [Page 3] Letter himself allows to be good; which in my Opinion before was not: All that I have to do is to blow off the Cloud of Dust and Smoke, which the Author of the Letter has covered the Bank with; that when it comes to stand in its native light, we may be the better able to pass a Judgment upon it; and that I may have the advantage of standing on my own grou [...]d, (and be freed from the incumbrance of making good any of his) it will not be improper to tell you, how far I can agree with the Author of that Letter, viz. That the People as to their Trade and Business, cannot well carry on their necessary Affairs much longer, without a further Supply of Money, or Bills of Credit, page 30. But there is a necessity of supplying the People with a further convenient quantity of Bills of Credit, page 26. The Question then is, Whe­ther the Publick shall Emit these Bills of Credit; or whether it had not better be done by a Company of men in the nature of a Private Bank of Credit. I agree with the Author also in this, That I am not a-against a Bank of Credit in general, were it well founded, well regulated, page 26. I leave out the words (by the Government,) because the Consideration, whether by the Govern­ment, or otherwise comes under the forego­ing Quaery; so that the Question here is, Whether or no this Projection for a Bank of [Page 4] Credit be well Founded, well Limited, and Regu­lated? And here I cannot avoid doing the Gentlemen that Justice to say what some of their Number have informed me, namely that when they first waited on his Excellency with their first Scheme, they were desired to leave the Limitation to the General Court, that it was a proper Compliment to pay them, to de­sire them to set the Sum, which was one rea­son why there was no Limitation; but this by the way.

We agree thirdly, That the Projection of a Bank of Credit, very much imports the Prerogative of the Crown, the Constitution and Laws of the Province, the Estates and Liberties of the People; and that not only for the present, but Succeeding Generations, page 4. For I take it, that the word import when so used, generally means to be of advantage; however to deal fairly, it shall be the question, Whether it imports to their advantage or disadvantage, and which does most of all import them, the Publick or the Pri­vate Bank? I agree with him also, That it be­hooves the Government and General Assembly of the Province, and really concerns every man, that has any Interest in the Country, with great appli­cation to enquire into, and seriously consider the Nature and Consequences of this Bank or Part­nership, page 4. And so Sir, I am sufficiently warranted to make my Enquiry, and endea­vour to set things in a true light; but to find [Page 5] these things wherein we agree to confusedly [...]umbled together as they are in Mr. Attorneys Letter, that they might appear a sort of dark Arguments against a Bank of Credit, is such a fine Amusement to the Ignorant and Injudici­ous Reader, and such an odd way of reason­ing, that we could have expected it from none, but he that had lost his own eyes, or thought every body else was blind. And to be plain, when I heard of such a Letter published in Mr. Attorneys Name, I expected to find the strongest Arguments, and the fairest Pleadings that could be, against the Private Bank of Credit, from a Gentleman of so bright Parts, and so Learned in the Law, as is his general Character: Yet I must assure you, that I had not read over the first page, before I had alte­red my mind, and received this settled Idea of the whole Piece; that I should find nothing in it but Evasions, Doublings and Misrepre­sentations, and some few amusements; for I was astonished to see so fair (not to say false) a light given to the Order of the Governour and Council, which being Publick, every one has the opportunity to see and judge of the fallacy. He tells us, page 3. That the Project­ors were directed to proceed no further in the Af­fair, till the next Sessions of the General Assembly; notwithstanding all which (I am loth to say in contempt of it) the persons concerned are openly carrying on their Bank with utmost Vigour and [Page 6] Expedition. How could he Sir, so openly give us this wrong Account of the matter? My News-Letter Printed by Authority, August 23. tells me, that upon Reading, &c. Order­ed, That the Projectors or Ʋndertakers of any such Bank, do not proceed to Print the Scheme, or put the same on Publick Record, Make or Emit any of their Notes or Bills, until they have laid their Proposals before the General Assembly of this Her Majesties Province, who are always ready to Encourage and Countenance any Proposals, &c. I. A. Secr. Which Order, as it was far from for­bidding their proceeding any further in that Affair; as to the digesting their thoughts up­on it, and filling up their Number, &c. but rather suppos'd they ought to wade through all the difficulties, and bring their Scheme to its perfection, that it might be fit to lay be­fore the General Assembly; so was it, as I have been well informed, in every Article complied with, in Duty to the Government; and even to this day have neither Printed their Scheme, Put it on Publick Record, Made, nor Emitted any of their Notes or Bills; so that really Sir, what has been done by the Projectors, won't bear so much, as a, notwithstanding, much less, a, loth to say in con­tempt. Indeed, I have heard it whispered, that they have thought the Order very hard, in that they were denied the benefit of the Press, and the benefit of Public Records, [Page 7] which I shall leave: And now Sir, after so plain, and publickly known, a false Comment, upon the Order of the Governour and Coun­cil, and the Actions of the Projectors in the very Entrance of the Letter; what can be lookt for, but Arguments of the same Kid­ney thro' the whole: And I Confess when I had Read the Letter out, I should verily have thought it had been Calculated to Lull the Government into a profound Sleep, if I had not remembred that he said page 5. his design was to Awaken it; so easily do we mistake things till we are informed better. But not to give you or my self any further trouble a­bout the design of it, believing it is not laid so deep, but your penetration without be­ing put to the Wreck will fathom it. I Re­turn to the first Enquiry, since 'tis agreed there is a necessity of a certain number of Bills of Credit, or Notes to be Emitted, as a Medium in Trade, viz. Who shall Emit these Bills? Had the Government of the Country best take it on themselves? or would it not be safer to permit particular Persons in Partnership to Is­sue out, and give a Currency to their own Notes, founded on their Lands, under the name of a Bank of Credit? This is the main Enquiry which now falls under every Bodies Examination, and becomes the debate of the Town this Winter Season; and that I may give you my thoughts upon it freely, I say [Page 8] with all due Deference to Government, by all means let the Governments Notes, Emitted to pay the Publick Dues, and called in by Taxes granted as a Fund for them, have all pos­sible Honour and Credit amongst us; and if in their great wisdom they should see meet to make it a Publick Charge, to Emit a certain number of their Notes in Erecting a Bridge o­ver Charles-River, and make it a Toll Bridge, with suitable Allowances to the Colledge at present; and suppose that Forty Thousand Pounds were Issued out to make it a substantial and firm Bridge; and that a Toll upon every thing passing and carried over, should be a Fund to Call them in gradually; and after that it had cleared it self, it should be taken off from Passengers, and left only for Carts, Horses, &c. And the Colledge have the Income for e­ver, or any such Publick Charge, as Fortifying the principal Town by Sea, Erecting Stone Forti [...]ications or Garrisons on the Frontiers, or Erecting Light Houses, for the Security of Trade; and the Re-settling the Eastern Parts of the Country in a Defensible manner, in gi­ving a Bounty for the encouraging the Sowing, water-rotting, and well curing of Hemp; the encouraging them that should make the best pieces of Hollands-Duck: Which two Arti­cles alone, it is thought might so effect the ballance of our Trade, as to bring us in Silver Money; especially if a Reward of Three Pounds [Page 9] per Head were given for all Male White Ser­vants, that shall be Imported into this Pro­vince, and Bound out from the Age of Ten to Eighteen Years; the Reward to continue the Term of Twenty Years; and this would fur­nish us with Sailors, with Labourers in Hus­bandry & Fishery, & Soldiers for our Defence, whose Polls in a few years would pay it in: And whereas now they are Sold for a Term of years, for Fifteen and Twenty Pounds a Head; such a certain Reward would induce men to bring in such Numbers, that they would be Sold for Five Pounds, as they are in Pensilvania, and other Places, where such certain Encou­ragements have been given. The Debts Con­tracted by these Emissions would be the real Credit of the Country, both Serviceable and Honourable, the Strength, Support, & Exter­ternal Glory of a Country; and whereas the Trade wants a Medium to Circulate it, there would be no necessity of Laying heavy Taxes, & the Funds might be carried forwards as the Government would see cause; for I believe by this time most men of thought may see, that since Paper Notes are our only Medium, that Day we are out of Debt, we are out of Cre­dit, and must unavoidably sink, unless there should be found out some other way to save us from Ruin. So the Question comes the fairer in view, Wh [...]ther is the better of the Two, a Publick or a Private Bank?

[Page 10]I shall therefore in the next Place, give you those Reasons that are of weight with me a­gainst a Publick Bank, and Rescue the Private from the Authors Objections: For these Rea­sons may not the Publick Bank be Objected a­gainst? May there not be a danger if the Pub­lick should go on to Emit Bills on Interest, that it will be too great an Invasion of the Preroga­tive of the Crown: For I am apt to think e­very body will grant, that the Stamping of Money is a Royalty invested in the Crown; and I am prone to imagine, that Bills Emitted by Publick Authority to Lend at Interest, will carry with them many signatures of Money; especially since the Act of this Province makes them a Legal Tender, so far as no man may be Imprison'd for Debt that Tenders them; es­pecially if we Consider the difference in the Emission of these Bank Bills, that they are not paid out of the Treasury, as the Notes Obliga­tory of the Government to those they were Indebted unto, with the Publick Faith, plight­ed to Call them in by Taxes; and so tho' they are of the same Tenour, yet the manner of the Emission, with that Law cited, gives them the character of real Money; for I cannot per­swade my self to say with Mr. Attorney, that nothing can be Money properly, but Silver and Gold, because that both Copper & Brass have had the Royal Stamp, and Copper passes in small Payments, as other Money in [Page 11] Great Britain at this day; and I have also heard, that Leather was once the current Coin of Rome: And I am very much inclined to think, if the Crown of England saw cause, they could make Paper Bills, so stamped, as proper­ly Money, as any Money whatsoever. Now is there not ground to fear, when the Sove­reign has been pleased to indulge us with the Priviledges of Emitting Publick Notes for the defraying the necessary Charge in the Defence and Support of the Government, and to Con­fine us to those Occasions in the Taxes and As­sessments allowed to be made on the Inhabi­tants; would it not be looked on as an In­croachment in very deed on the Royal Prero­gative for us to exceed, and what the Conse­quence of that will be, you are a much better Judge than I am; (and I have been informed that the Gentlemen concerned, have had Let­ters from their Friends at Home, advising that by no means the Government would be Con­cerned in such a Fund) but if it should not in all the signatures of Money be a direct In­vasion of the Prerogative, on the account of its being really Money, yet would it not be a going beyond our Last? and a doing what we had no power or warrant for; for I look upon it a weak & foolish plea, some peoples mouths are filled with, viz. That we ought not to de­bate about the Power of the Government, that it tends to weaken us, and that there are [Page 12] enough that do that, and the like. I think the way to have our Powers rendred strong & durable, would be to Consider what they are, and use them, and not go to the brink, or one hairs breadth beyond them: And truly I fear there is some design in raising all this smother, to blindfold is, and lead us whence we cannot so easily return. I take it that our Charter sets us the bounds of our Power, and tells us how far we may go, and all without that is forbidden ground; now it is a plain thing, that the Governments Emitting Bills of Pub­lick Credit on Interest, is not to be found, nei­ther granted or warranted by the Charter, the boundaries thereof are Assessments and Taxes, in the necessary defence and support of the Govern­ment, and the protection and preservation of the In­habitants there.—Mr. Attorney has given it us, page 29. He was so well apprized of this Ob­jection, that he lays out his strength to remove it; tho' I think he has not been able to make it stir one inch. He tells us, there is nothing in the Charter repugnant to the Governments Is­suing a further supply of Bills, page 29. It is very true upon the Foot or Fund of Assess­ments, as they have been hitherto Emitted, for Paying the Debts, and Defraying the ne­cessary Charges of the Province; but once for all, the Charter may well be allow'd to be repugnant to all that is not fairly Con­tained in it. He says secondly, That it has [Page 13] been done once and again, on great Occasions, and the Government not blamed for it. The Government has Emitted their Bills to pay their Debts, but never to Lend at Interest, before his Letter was written, which is the matter in Controversy. The Bills the Mer­chants Tent to the Treasury, and the Trea­sury in Return, Lent the Merchants by Or­der of Government on that great Emergen­cy, were for the paying Her Majesties Sol­diers, and would not have been Emitted, but in such an Extraordinary Case, and up­on that bottom, so that it can never be made the president to Lett out Bills at In­terest: and then he would perswade us (not himself) that the words the necessary Sup­port of the Government, protection and pre­servation of the People, will allow it, and so forsooth with an (if) it is & cra, then it comes within the Charter; and I am verily perswaded (if) he were of Councel against us, he would with all imaginable Justice declare, as every reasonable man else (especially a Gentleman of the Law) would, that the evident meaning of these words are, the Charges of the Government and the War, even all such Charge as the Inhabi­tants shall be Assessed and Taxed for, and that they have not the least aspect upon a Fund for Trade, or the supplying the Peo­ple with a Medium of Exchange, & there­fore [Page 14] his thrusting the word, Government, and into a parenthesis, as to their Trade and Business, into the Sentence at page 30. is as ar­rant a piece of Sophistry as can be, akin to his fore-mentioned Arguments, and what I told you at first you must look for; I readily grant the General Court here must be Judges of their own Power; and there is no Doubt but that it is possible also they may have been, by this Letter under the Attorney Generals Hand, induced to believe that they have more than really they have. I am informed, that in May Sessions, the Sufferers by the late dreadful Fire applied to them for Relief to Lend them Money on their Lands, they did not ap­prehend it in their prudent Power so to do; & some of as good Councel as any in this Pro­vince, have declared it as their Opinion, that the Country had not the Power to form them­selves into a Publick Bank, and Emit Money at Interest, and how the Wisdom of the Ge­neral Assembly came to be of that side, I cannot say whether it is hard or easy to guess.

I cannot help reciting the words of the Charter here: We do, &c. Give, Grant, &c. To Make, Ordain, and Establish all manner of Wholesome and Reasonable Orders, Laws, sta­tutes, and Ordinances, Directions and Instructi­ons, either with Penalties or without, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to the Laws of [Page 15] this our Realm of England, as they shall judge to be for the Good and Welfare of our said Province or Territory—And for the Welfare, Support, and Defence of the Government thereof. And a little after this General Clause, comes the Power of Imposing Taxes. To Impose and Levy proportio­nable and reasonable Assessments, Rates and Taxes upon the Estates, and Persons, of all, and every the Proprietors, or Inhabitants of our said Province or Territory, to be Issued and Disposed of by War­rant, under the Hand of the Governour of our said Province, for the time being, with the Advice and Consent of the Council, for our Service in the neces­sary Defence and Support of our Government, of our said Province or Territory.

Upon which, and the Publicks Emitting Bills of Publick Credit upon Interest, we may make a few Remarks, for the Investigating of Truth, so much embarrassed by the Letter.

1. In the first place then, I would Remark, That by the Charter we have a Power to impose reasonable Taxes, to be disposed of by Warrant under the Hand of the Governour, with Consent of the Council, for Defence and Support of the Government, &c. This being our Power and Li­mitation, no Act of ours can alter the Power of Disposing: for the following words according to such Acts, can be understood I presume, no o­therwise than for the Uses Raised, yet no ways alters the foregoing Clause of the Governours and Councils Powers of Judging & Disposing of it.

2. That the Clause for Imposing and Levying [Page 16] Taxes coming after the General Power of Ma­king Laws in the Charter; can be I think un­derstood in no other sense than a Limitation of the foregoing power, and the path of our Duty, in that of Taxing the People.

3. That the Credit of every Freeholder is as much his Property as his Lands. Suppose a man gives his Obligatory Bill or Note to pay an Hun­dred Pounds on Demand, or to take again in Pay­ments, tho' he does it to serve a Friend in Dis­tress, yet so passing his Bill in his own Name, be­comes the principal Debtor, and the Possessor can look for no other, though the Person takes private Security for himself.

If the General Court Emit Bills Obligatory upon the Province, whether they are not bound in Justice and Honour to make them good as much as private men; and whether it is not creating a Debt upon the Province for such Sums as shall be so Emitted, which they must make good to the Possessor, which is a burden, and may be called a Tax with a Witness. Now it may well be Quaeried, How far a Represen­tative Body or Free State has a power over, & a right in the Credit, and the Properties of the Principals they represent? Whether a free People submit their Estates any further to their Deputies, than to pay the Proportion of the Charge that arises for their mutual support and Defence? Whether it would not be entring in such a State on the Properties of every par­ticular Person, who is Lord of his Penny▪ [...] [Page 17] only has a right of Disposing of his own. It is true, that the Representative Body are said to be the Keepers of the Peoples Purse; but that can be understood by any Freeman I believe in no other sence, than for what is, or should be a common Charge; and to state the proporti­on, if it is questionable, in a free State: May it not be much more so in a depending Go­vernment, whose Powers are Limited by Pat­tents, and are accountable for Usurped Powers; but some say the Province runs no risque, for they are to have the Profits, which are four & an half per Cent. for all Emitted, which will pay all the Charge of the Government, and the People be set free in their Taxes, and that they may gain a Stock in the Treasury—A Golden Bait. As for the Risque the Province runs in the Principal and Interest, it is not yet determined; it is judged by some, and those not the most unthinking, that it is great; in that the Security taken by the Trustees if it comes to be sued out, would be claimed for the Crown; for in our Charter we have not; as Sir Ferdinando Gorges had in his, the grant of that priviledge of the Forfeitures and Re­versions of Lands; besides the Collusion that may be introduced, by suffering Lands to be forfeited and redeemed at half price; that as to the Profits and Income which is for His Majesties Service in the Support of the Government, it being a Revenue to the [Page 18] Crown; how natural does it ly instead of a Salary for a Governour to ask at Home, in a Line or two of Instructions for himself and all his Officers, as Lieutenant Governour, Secretary, Judges, Attorney General, Captain of the Castle, Surveyor General, &c. which is not I hope the end intended, or the most grateful: Other difficulties referring to the Borrower, not pro­per to be mentioned may arise; the Crown will not want Occasions of Disposing of their Revenues, which may seem on due reflection to over-ballance the gains proposed: May it not be thought an hazard, if they should go on to Emit greater Sums on such a foundation, that the Crown may be invited to take away the Charter, and that for the sake of the Money Emitted as forfeited? And may not the Con­fusion be better thought on than expressed on such en event? May not the old Maxim be of use to us here? that in doubtful Cases the ne­gative is the safer. I am in duty bound, to suppose what has been done, was thought ne­cessary by the Government in their distress; unto whom I am sensible we owe all possible deference and respect; and I assure you, none is more ready to pay it than I am; yet in such a weighty case, truth stands the clearer in view, on a free, modest and rational enquiry: And since the Interest arising from those Bills they say will be for the support of the Govern­ment, if they will take the Attorney Gene­ral's [Page 19] Opinion; he has given it, page 28. That this Government neither can, nor ought to be main­tained in any other Method, than by the Charter, and Instructions from the Crown, and I presume this method is neither. And to Conclude this Argument, we have heard Sir, of Informations in the nature of Quo Warranto's; and this very Country has felt the weight of one, and upon the very score of Invading the Prerogative, in the Article of Money, and doing what was said we had no warrant from Charter to do; and certainly no Lover of this Country can wish them to take such methods as may be tho't to put it in any hazard of a second Quo warranto; no, none but such as have not scope enough al­ready to get Money, &c. extending Law Suits, to the enriching none but themselves. I as­sure you Sir, I am the plainer on these Heads, in that I value the Liberties of my Country so dearly, as never to esteem such its best Friends, that are willing to part with them; and yet does not the disputableness of this Power, if we should go on in such a method, shew that at least we run the risque of a second; which if it should take place, would not the Country (and with just cause) cry out, Ah! why did the Government hearken to Mr. Attorney's Letter? Ah! Mr. Attorney, why did you so amuse and slily argue them into it? And by the way, the very notion of a second Quo war­ranto, confirms what I ground much of this [Page 20] Argument upon, viz. that what is not within the Grant of the Charter, is forbidden to us, and to be avoided. If after all that has been said to the Power and Safety of the Publicks going on to Emit Bills Obligatory on the Country, which is making the Country Prin­cipal Debtor, and to Let 'em out on Land Se­curity, where is the Limitation of the Power? the Gentleman would do well to explain it; if the paying the Publick Charge and its De­fence be not the boundaries and limitation, why may they not Emit Five Hundred Thousand Pounds as a Fund of Trade, & appoint Factors for the Government, that they may have the Profit? the difference seems only to be in the prudence, not in the power; how safe then is it Living in a Community where the Estates may be charged to answer more than the va­lue upon such Projects, does not such a Power render mens properties in their Estates very precarious? especially since it is hinted, that the Representatives may be kept by the Char­ter as long as a Prince lives; we may open a door wide enough for the getting Estates; it is but dividing a number of Bills amongst them­selves, and call it for the support of the Go­vernment, according to that argument, and it is done. We have always looked upon it, That an empty Treasury is very much our Se­curity; This Government thought it so when they appointed a Committee to burn the Pub­lick [Page 21] Bills that were returned into the Treasury during the recess of the General Court; and prevents many line Schemes of Arbitrary Pow­er; a full Treasury by a stated Revenue has the contrary consequences, and may soon in­volve the poor people into unknown mischiefs. No says the Letter, page 28. The principal Pro­fits of that Money, according to the Scheme agreed on, reported by the Committee, were so settled and secured, that nothing less than the General Assem­bly could dispose of either. This is his main Ar­gument against the Objection to the Supply, &c. The Governour and Council has the draught of all Moneys that are Raised by the Government according to the Charter as, I observed before, and should the Publick Emit a large Sum as is necessary for a Publick Bank, the Income there [...] would be inviting, and I doubt not of the ways being presently found to it, for a Law contrary to the Charter being void of it self, would be no boundary; and supposing it were not so, is not the Governour an essential part of the Constitution, and is not his Council necessary? Has he it not then in his power to come to terms for his own al­lowances? Will there be any room left for Contests about settling Salaries? Will it not be done to hand? I beseech you Sir, to Consi­der when this Pandora's Box shall be once o­pened, what unforeseen accidents, what irre­parable mischiefs, confusion and misery would [Page 22] his whole People be in? This is true, if we may take what the Author of the Let­ter says, they intend to give the Govern­ment Two Thousand Pounds a year. I cannot tell whether they were no once out to make such an offer; if they mean a Governour by Government, it would be an effectual method to Enslave this Country says the Letter. Indeed I never knew that Governour and Govern­ment, were one and the same word; yet it is Observable, that the Author of the Let­ter makes them so. If the General Assem­bly says the Author of the Letter, then they neither can, nor ought, &c. Yet I believe all Government have Liberty to accept of Do­nations; but be it so that they cannot, then neither can the Government be supported by the Profits of the Publick Bank, for this is not in the Charter; and if the Authors Ar­guments were good, that the Publick could not make use of it, the Governour as he assures us, will be sole Heir of it: and then what will the gain of the Country be? Whilst I retort this Argument▪ I had almost forgot the Clause in Hudibras, that, no man turns the Case upon his own Concerns. What would become of the Fund, if the Crown should forbid it? Will not the Confusion be great on the Borrowers? Justinian was of Opinion, that nothing could be a Law that was not just. The Gentleman who should [Page 23] promote such an one, surely would have no thanks from them they represent, when they come to feel the ill effects of it; but I hope no such thing will take place. Thus Sir, I have given you some of the thoughts of the Town, and the Reasons in particular, that sway with me against a Publick Bank. The Reasons why I prefer a Private Bank, are such as the [...]e.

1. That there will be no Invasion of the Pre­rogative; for every body as well as Mr. At­torney will readily accknowledge that, they are not Money, page 11. And they may have the face and signature of Money, as much as the Bank Bills of England, that is none at all; for they carry nothing of Authority with them, but are only Notes on the Bank, passing from one to another, for so much value as is expres­sed in them; which value being deposited in the Bank, either in Lands or other imperishable Estate as the Original Fund, and the Obligation of the several Partners, to take 'em in all Pay­ments, except Specialties, under a great penal­ty, gives Credit to the several Bills or Notes issued from the Bank.

2. Nor will a Private Bank open a door of Arbitrary Power to invade the Liberties of the People, by a Governours handling at his own pleasure such Sums as he has occasion to make use of, to promote his own ends.

3. Nor is there any infringment of the Liber­ty of the People, there is no Tax requisite to [Page 24] make good the fall of the Bank, no Publick Warrantee to secure it, but only the Estates of such Gentlemen as are willing of their own accord to Mortgage 'm; that by the Security given, and their mutual agreement, their Notes should have a Currency, that they might serve the Country, and themselves in promoting the Trade of it; so that if the Bank be suppres­sed, it would hazard only their particular E­states.

4. It may be Carried on as other Merchant-like Affairs, by Factors or Trustees, without offence to the Crown, or Government; This being the head of Argument that bears the Countenance of reasoning in Mr. Attorneys Let­ter, which I shall Remark: I take it for granted, that it is the Natural Right of English to Trade, and to carry it on in such Methods, as they shall conceive to be most advantageous to them; and that in order thereto, they have a right to take one anothers Word, Note or Bond, as the Case may require, with due regard had to Justice, and the power of the Legislature, to enlarge and limit this Trade, as shall be tho't most suitable to the Honour of the Crown, & the Publick Weal: It is in the liberty of any in Trade, to enter into a Covenant, to take one anothers Notes, and that they might be better known, they may agree upon some persons to form those Notes under their hands for them; & on their making over such Security as there [Page 25] is required, for their mutual safety, for such Sums as they shall emit or take, and may agree to pay such an Interest as may support the Charge, and Lend of their Credit to others for their benefit, since there is no Statute Law bro­ken, & nothing contrary to the Common Law; so that the difference between us is not, Whe­ther the Government cannot crush such a Part­nership, for no body denies that? but whether such an Affair may be carried on in a Compa­ny, without being Incorporated, without being a breach on the Prerogative of the Crown? Thus the Private Bankers in Lumbard-street E­mit their Notes, and that on Interest too with­out being tho't so; Our Fathers about Twenty eight years ago, entred into a Partnership to Circulate their Notes founded on Land Securi­ty, stamped on Paper, as our Province Bills, which gave no offence to the Government then, and that at a time, when the Prerogative of the Crown was extended further than ever has been since; What Mr. Attorney says of the Bank of England, that they obtained an Act of Parliament for their Support is true, yet proves nothing to his purpose; for altho' a Company can manage their Affairs better, and in a short­er method, for their mutual Security by a Pat­tent or Charter of Incorporation, and with the [...]reater Security by an Act of Parliament as [...] Bank of England, by the loan of One Mil­lio [...] Two Hundred Thousand Pounds to the Nati­on [Page 26] obtained, yet it proves nothing that such Companies were any breach on the Preroga­tive; the Act of the Sixth of Queen Anne, quoted by the Author of the Letter, viz. That during the Continuance of the Bank of England, it shall not be lawful for any Body Politick or Corpora­tion, or other than the said Company of the Bank, or for other Partners exceeding six in England, to borrow or owe any Sum, or Bills, or Note Payable on demand, or at any time less than six months from the borrowing thereof; is so far from proving a­gainst the Partnership, that strong Arguments may be drawn from it, of its Lawfulness: As,

1. It appears plain, that the Limitation of the Act is to England, and that during the Continu­ance of the Bank; and so is of no force in the Plantations or Ireland.

2. That it is lawful now for the number of six.

3. It implies that they might do it, before this Act was made in favour of the Bank of England, and consequently lawful for us, where that Act never was in force, which is what we Contend for.

4. It implies that the Law of England does not look on every number of Partners to be a Cor­poration purely for their being Partners; and Mr. Attorney quoting my Lord Cook's description of a Corporation, and his applying it to the Gen­tlemen concerned in the Projection, is nothing but an amusement, and deserves no Answer, in that none of the Essentials to such a Body was pretended to by them: for a Pattent from the Crown, which gives the Form and Being to a Corporation, was but hoped for.

[Page 27]But what I would Remark with the greatest Complacency, is the applying this Law to us in New-England; for he tells us, page 12. If the same fact committed in England, by a Num­ber not exceeding six would be a breach of Law, much more may we suppose it forbidden, and made unlawful for an hundred to do it here. A nice way of Arguing, that concludes strongly, and deserves thanks for the new Invention: Be­cause Gunning upon Boston Neck is forbidden by a Law, therefore in every Town of the Country, I am apt to think that any man that is able to carry a Gun, may see the folly of such an Argument: Truly it gives me a merry turn of thought to entertain the Idea, how Mr. Attorney would crow to hear his Antagonist at the Bar plead a desperate Cause with such a mighty dint of argument as this; 'tis well he did not proceed, to give himself any further trouble to argue with the same velocity and strength, how far the Projection would be a breach on the Constitution of the Bank of En­gland; for we are not able to stand before the whiz—But did the Author of the Letter, who quoted the Law, in very deed believe it possible that it should have any influence so far over the Water? I wonder then how it consisted with his Consciencious regard to it, to advise the Publick to Erect a Publick Bank of Credit! for I would put it to his Consci­e [...]ce, whether this Law is not as point blank [Page 28] levelled at the Corporation, (which the Go­vernment is) in case they should have the thoughts of doing any such thing as private Partners, and whether it is not as possible for the Government to Set up & Establish things contrary to the Laws of England as for pri­vate Persons? and whether the offence would not be as great; and because I do not know but that the Supream Authority may see cause to crush any Bank set up here, I will add, that there is no reasonable man, nor man of Law, nor man acquainted with the nature of Govern­ment dare say, that it will be of equal perni­cious consequence, for private Persons to set up, as for the Publick; for no act of private Persons can forfeit our Charter, it must be a Publick Act to do that; all the mischief of the Private's being condemned, would be that the Bank would fall, and that the Bankers must make good their Notes; but if the Pub­lick Bank should be set up and Condemned, by that means we should be endangered in our Charter: And I am afraid there are some men in the world that would gladly lay hold of the first opportunity to deprive us of it.— The Tendency of a Publick Bank, as have been proposed, is to Unite the Power of the Country and the Cash together, which all wise people have endeavoured to keep asunder, in order to preserve their Liberties; it tend [...] to being all the People into a dependency [...]p­on [Page 29] the Court Interest; and consequently to render them Abject and Servile, which I think no Lover of his Country should pro­mote: As it is proposed at present, it tends no way to help the Landed Interest in the stocking and improving their Lands, but on­ly serves to remove the evil day a little, very little further off, and then runs them into greater distress. On the contrary, the Projection for a Private Fund of Credit, which since I began this Letter, I hear is coming out in Print, that all may judge of it, and no doubt will be acceptable to the Country; is so well founded and secured, that were they permitted to proceed and Emit their Notes, would furnish us with a Medium of Exchange; the Landed man might either be Concerned in the Founda­tion, or might borrow Credit without any fear of a sudden or surprizing demand, to the prejudice of his Affairs, might Stock his Farm, and be able to lessen his Princi­pal, as his Product would enable him; it would be a certain resort for men to bor­row Credit on any Emergency; it gives the Industrious an opportunity of improving their Lands to greater advantage, which would increase the Export of the Country, it [...]ould hurt none but the envious, who will do no good themselves, and yet are grieved at [...]hat their Neighbour does. The Pub­lick [Page 30] Charities are not inconsiderable, that are Established in it; in a word, without it, we cannot so comfort [...]y enjoy the Outward Blessings that Heaven has indulged us with. With it we may enjoy all the Conveniences of a Plentiful Cash, without running the risk of being a Prey to an invading Foe; and in that as well as in every other respect would answer our Occasions as the Mines of Peru or Potosi: But I think I hear you in the Country say, they will not pay our Rates, and there­fore will not answer our ends. In answer to which I would say, that the Bills of Credit of the other Provinces do not pay our Rates, yet have a general Currency amongst you; that the Gentlemen concern'd to promote the Pro­jection say, that whilst there is any of the Pro­vince Bills stirring, they would change them gratis, when they should grow scarce that the People could not obtain them; there is no doubt, but that the Government would Order the Treasurer to take what would answer their Occasions, that would pay the Souldiers and the other Officers of the Government, and the other Charges; then they would not have the occasion to be at the Charge nor Risque of making Bills of Credit if they saw good; it would revive the Trade of the Province, and enable them to pay their Debts; for as thing [...] are now, they cannot make Money but wi [...]h a small part of their produce, they are fo [...]ced [Page 31] to Truck them away, so that some are not a­ble, and others take the opportunity to defraud the Country Trader, and he of Consequence is not able to pay the Merchant in Boston, to the great Damage of the whole Country, as well as a Discredit to our Trade; for the badness of the Pay for want of a Medium, obliges the Mer­chant to make a great Advance on the Sale of his Goods, that they are as dear now as in the heighth of War; the Country in Course ask dear for their Produce, which occasions a great Loss in Returns, and the Dearness of both af­fects the Tradesman, and makes him ask dear for his Labour, without which he is not able to Live; so that as the state of our Com­merce is now, every thing tends to drive away the Trade from us to our Neighbours: The Fishery will fail, because they have no Money for it, and all Industry is very much crampt; in that when men have Laboured, they are obliged to go to a Shop for Goods for their Pay, which often invites, if not necessitates 'em to spend more than they want of English Goods, to the hurt of their Families; and by that means brings us more in Debt to England; all which would be remedied by the Establishing the Land Bank: And whereas the Gentlemen are applying Home for a Charter from the [...]ing to Incorporate them, that they may be th [...] better enabled to secure the Foundation and [...]he Credit of the Bills: I wish them [Page 32] good success, and doubt not the whole Country, (when they have a clear view of their best Interest) will say, Amen.—And whereas some of you in the Country object, that if such a Company goes forward, they will have all the Lands in the Country: In answer to which Objection, it would be worth while to Consider the Scheme how it is guarded, and it will easily be appre­hended that the Charge is groundless; for the Lands will be taken in at little more than half the value, and whilst the Borrow­er pays his Interest Money, the Bank will never trouble him; if he neglects that, he will stand a year longer before he can be Sued for it; and no man will let his Land go at half the value; his Neighbour will sooner buy it of him than let it go at so low a rate; but if the Bank recovers it, they must Sell it, for they have not asked leave to purchase Lands; then there is three years right of Redemption left to the Owner: if the Land sells for more, the Bank returns the Overplus, which I think sufficiently takes off the weight of that Objection: Be­sides, as it is proposed by the Publick, there will be but few Borrowers, but what are in distress to put it off the further, because they are sure of being straitened at the expiration of the five years to pay it in; [...] in this Projection, every Partner is ob [...]ged [Page 33] to take out a quarter part of what he Sub­scribes, to bring out a Medium of Exchange: But I shall tire your patience in enlarging on the pleasant Subject, in which we have a pros­pect of relief under the present and growing distress: I shall make a few more transient Remarks and Close. The Letter says, page 15. That the several Laws of this Province re­specting Money, or the Interest, are broke in upon by the Projection: It is so far from being so, that it directly has a contrary view; the Act of the Fifth of William and Mary about the Interest of Money is broke in upon, be­cause we fix the Interest at less than six per Cent. when the preamble of the Act says, for as much as the abatement of Interest has al­ways been found beneficial to the Advance­ment of Trade, and the Improvement of Lands by good Husbandry; which is the ve­ry thing we have consulted. I have with care examined all the Laws of this Province, relating to Money or Bills of Credit, and the several Acts of Parliament quoted in the Letter too many to be recited, and cannot for my life imagine that any Lawyer besides Mr. Attorney could find that they were invalidated, or in the least broke in upon by this Projection; and now that any person acting as he appre­hended in his Office as Attorney General, should insinuate to the Government, and pub­lish to the World in Print, that they have [Page 34] been all broke in upon is very strange and un­accountable: His Insinuation, page 18. That the Bills being but pieces of Paper, have no other value than what the Borrower gives 'em, is a ve­ry ungrounded (I am loth to say false) As­sertion, in that they are Notes Issued out un­der the Hands of them that are abundantly sufficient to make them good, and who were obliged not only to that, but under a Fifty Pound Penalty to take them in all Payments, and the Borrower being at his liberty, must be bubbled indeed to take them out, if they would not answer his Occasions, in page 19. he asserts, that the Projectors are only obliged to accept of them for the redemption of Pawns and Mortgages; and supposes that the Pos­sessor has neither, referring to the Tenour of the Bill: See his own recital of the Bill, page 7. Obliges, &c. to accept the same in all payments, according to Covenant made by us; (or rather see the true Form or Tenour of the Bill in the Scheme Printed) both which so manifestly contradict his Assertion, and at first sight tend­ed to mislead the Honourable House of Re­presentatives in Matters of Fact, that it is un­accountable he should offer it. As for his gross Charge of Contempt of Government, I suppose the Gentlemen will vindicate them­selves; I have heard say, they are sufficiently able, as well as obliged: his breviate of the Scheme, and his Tenour of the Bill being a [Page 35] gross misrepresentation, and his reflections made thereon, consequently ill grounded, I do not trouble you with a Confutation, they fall of themselves, page 13. He says, That the Gene­ral assembly are under a necessity of enquiring in­to the Justice, Legality, the Safety, and Publick Advantage; wherein I agree with the Author, and I believe the Gentlemen concerned, would have been glad if it had been duly weighed, and fully considered before they had been pro­hibited; and whereas no man has ever proved it to be, either unjust, illegal or unsafe, or not for the Publick Good; and the contrary I think, is sufficiently evident to any disinterested; the Gentlemen that they might proceed in their Affair without offence, (since he desires that it might be forbidden, until His Majesties Pleasure is known;) have agreed by a Humble Petition, to lay it before His Majesty, praying for a Charter of Incorporation, to enable them with the more security to Circulate their Notes founded on their Lands: The Author, page 20. and 18. seems Concerned about the Credit of the Bank Notes, and that for two Reasons; the lowness of the Interest, & the Foundation being Land and not Money, to answer the Notes: As for the Interest which is set at Five per Cent, it is [...]hat the Publick has seen reason to set theirs at, and therefore may be supposed their reason was b [...]od; the value of Money or Notes ne­ver [Page 36] was founded on the Interest, but what they would purchase of Land or Merchandizes; the Interest is justly lower'd by the abundant Se­curity required, which is considered in the na­ture of a Sum paid in hand by way of fine, as in the Leases of Lands to lower the Annual Rent. As for Land Foundation, the only measure of valuation we have left, and the best (in that Silver has altered four parts in five within this two hundred years, as is affirmed by good Authors) to found our Notes on, in that our Trade will be governed according to our produce either in our own growth, or what by our Industry we Import from others, to Ex­port by way of Returns to Great Britain, which wholly takes off the common cry by way of a­musement against it, that we are extravagant in our Consumptions, and Over-traded, which [...]ho' they may be true in themselves, are thing promoted by this, in that the Notes ca [...] not be sent off. Mr. Attorney tells us, page 30 that in what he has done, he had no private view, or separate Interest, nor any prejudice to the Gen­tlemen concerned, among whom he has many parti­cular Friends, but has sincerely aimed at the Pub­lick Good. I believe the Gentlemen concerned do not think he has treated 'em like Friends, who they say never came amongst them to reason about the Scheme; but in his Lette [...] has drest them Alamode the Spanish Inqui [...]ti­on, with horrid pictures on their Design that [Page 37] they might be delivered over to the Se­cular Power, to be punished. And as for his design and separate Interest, being one that improves his Stock by Letting Money at Inte­rest; if he had not told us so, we should have been apt to have believed the contrary, and may be worthy of a second view and Reflecti­on by him, as well as the Portion of Sacred Writ, so much abused as to be set in the Fron­tispiece of his Letter, which I shall take the freedom to repeat to his Consideration in the very words, That better is a little with Righte­ousness, than great Revenues without Right. And now Sir, I have given you a few of the many dark thoughts of the Town, relating to the Letter, and the Publick Bank Projected; as also some of their hopes of the Success of the Private. If what has been written may con­tribute to the setting Truth, and the Interest of the Country in a clearer Light in your Parts, it will be a sufficient Reward, and an entire Satisfaction,