Staiisticso 
30 § 
There is in that country, but one incorporated Hank, the Bank 
of England, liable by law no further than the amount of their incor^ 
porated capital. There are no%v nearly nine hundred provincial 
bariks, of which the partners are individually responsible as in all 
other cases of partnership, for the debts of the firm. The setting 
up of any firm, or joint stock company, and selling or transferring 
shares therein with pretence of liability no further than the joint 
stock, is made a punishable misdemeanor, by the act of 6 Geo. 1 
ch. 18, § 18, called the Bubble act. See the against Dodd^ 
9 East, 516 ; and Buck against Buck^ 1 Campb. N. P. Rep. 546. 
The Bank of England was incorporated in 1694, and its ca^ 
pital in 1746 enlarged to 10,780,000/., which by accumulated pro» 
fits has so encreased, as to be lately reckoned at 17 millions ster= 
ling. 
This Bank, receives deposits, issues notes, discounts bills at 
sixty and ninety days, and advances money to government ; who 
hold permanently 1 1,626,000/. of the bank capital, as a loan, for 
"which they pay interest. 
Bank notes are promissory notes payable on demand in the cur* 
rent coin of the nation, which formerly was silver, but is now gold^ 
Bank notes were Usually paid in guineas, till 26 Feb, 1797. But 
during the year 1796 the calls for cash were so frequent, that the 
coin and bullion in their vaults scarcely amounted to a million and 
a half sterling. To lessen this demand, they lessened their dis^ 
counts from 1 1 millions to 3 millions \ their discounts varying from 
8 to 14 millions. On the 6th Dec. 1800, the amount of Bank of 
England notes in circulation was 15,450,970/. in 1810, 21,406,930/. 
at which time the notes of private bankers was estimated at four 
times as much. This great demand for cash was attributed to the 
alarm of invasion, and had it gone on, the bank must have stopt 
payment. On this occasion, government, by the Reslrictmi act 
€>f 1797, made the bold experiment of ascertaining whether the 
national business, private and public, could not be conducted “with-* 
©ut coin, by means of the paper credit of the country, which every 
individual in it, had an interest in supporting% They forbad the 
Bank to pay out any more coin % and hitherto the experiment has 
succeeded. On 24tli July, iSll, the act passed making Bank 
notes a legal tender. ^luch controversy in and out of Parliament 
has arisen of late years as to the cause of the increased value of 
gold and silver, which the ccmniittee of the British iegislaturej 
has attributed to the stoppage of cash payments, the encreased 
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