A. D. i%5. ^ ' 671 



againft fucli unincorporated partnerfliips, pafTed in the year 1 72 1 . They 

 divided 5 per cent yearly to their proprietors until lady-day 1728, 

 when they reduced their annual dividend to 4 per cent. 



In thefe times a great number of new projeds were fet on foot in 

 London, many of which were at bottom good for nothing, and drew in 

 numbers of people to their ruin. Some of them flarted up with the 

 bank of England in the preceding year, others in this year 1695. 



Such as, I) Two land banks; the one projeded by Dr. Chamberlain, 

 a famous man-midwife, (of which more by and bye) the other by one 

 John Brifcoe. 



II) A project for circulating notes of hand, and bills of credit. 



III) Another, called the London bank, propofed to be managed by 

 the magiflrates of that city. 



IV) Lotteries ; many private ones all over the kingdom ; fome for 

 money, and fome for merchandize : the laft kind the greater cheat of 

 the two, for thereby old and decayed merchandize of many forts were 

 put off by means of thofe roguifh lotteries. 



V) Many metallic and mineral projeds, for gold, lllver, copper, tin, 

 iron, lead, lapis calaminaris, for turning copper into brafs, antimony, 

 coals, fait, &c. 



VI) Diving engines of various kinds, all come out fmce the taking 

 up of the treafure out of the fea in the Weft- Indies, called the duke of 

 Albemarle's Spanifh wreck, or Sir William Phipp's, which fet men's 

 heads at work ; and royal patents were obtained for the fole fifliing for 

 fuch wrecks in the American feas, and on the coafts of Scotland, Ire- 

 land, Spain, Portugal &c. Thefe wreck projeds made much noife at this 

 time ; and lliares for them were prefented to perfons of diftindion, to 

 give reputation to the affair, and to draw in others. Expeditions were 

 made on thefe accounts to fundry fea-coafts : by which, however, no- 

 thing was taken up but a few cannon, &c. So the patentees were lure 

 to be gainers, but the fharers under them loft all they paid in : fome of 

 whom, however, it feems, were men of good underftanding, but 

 were allured with the hopes of getting vaft fudden v/ealth without 

 trouble. 



VII) Projeds for pearl fifhing, for hollow fword blades, glafs bottles,^ 

 japanning, printed hangings, leather, Venetian metal, &c. Some of 

 which were very ufeful and fuccefsful, whilft they continued in a few 

 hands, till they fell into ftock-jobbing, now much introduced, when 

 they dwindled to nothing. Others of them were mere whims, of little 

 or no fervice to the world. A'lany of them, too, though pretended to 

 be new, were either old Englifh projeds revived, or elfe were, on this 

 occafion, borrowed from uniuccefsful ones in foreign nations. 



Moreover, projeds, as ufual, begat projeds. Lottery upon lottery, 

 engine upon engine, 8cc. multiplied wonderfully. If it happened that 



