117 
F U 
charge of the intereft of 7,SoS,o87l. originally 10,000,oool. 
capital (lock of Soutli-Sea annuities, together with charges 
of niatiagcuient. 
All that retnained of the produce of the taxes thus 
digafted into thefe three funds, after flitisfying the 
charges upon thetn, was, in the (aine year, 1716, carried 
intoatourih fund, to which was given the nanie of the 
Jinking Jund, bccaufe appropriated to the purpofe of (ink¬ 
ing or decrealing the public debt. The words of the act 
of tlie 3d of Geo. 1 . which eflabliflted this fund, are, “ that 
all the monies to arife from time to time, from the laid 
funds, being the excelfes atid furplulTes thereof, (hall be 
appropriaieil to the difchurging tiie princi[>al and interelf 
of (uch national debts as w ere incurred before tiie 25;!! of 
December, 1716, and ate declared to be national debts ; 
aitd to or for no other ufc, intent, or pnrpoje, zuhatfoever.'" 
The operations and prpgrels of this Jinking Jund form fo 
important a part of the hillory of the national debt, th.it 
a more particular account of it will here be proper. Be¬ 
fore its edabliflimcnt thei e had exilted many (mailer funds 
of the fame nature : that is, ftich duties or taxes liad becti 
provided for paying the intetefls of particular loans, as af¬ 
forded lurplufTes by which the principal itfelf was to be 
gradually redeemed : this was the common pradfice in tl:% 
reigns ot kii'g V/illiam and queen Anne. Muff of tlie 
public duties weie given for terms of years ; and at the 
end of tliofe terms they ceafed of courfe, unlefs continued 
for fartlier terms by new adls of jjarliument : and, in ge¬ 
neral, it was provided, when any money was railed, that 
the principal Ihould be cancelled cither by time, as in tlie 
cafe of tlie (ale of long and Ihort annuities, or by tlie liir- 
plufles of tlie duties charged with tlie payment of tlie iii- 
terelf. This was an excellent plan ; but it was by no 
means carried lieadily into execution. In tlie year 1720, 
nioft of the long and Ihort annuities were converted into 
redeemable perpetuities, at tlie ex}>ence of above three 
millions; and tlie (urplulies of the duties cliarged witli 
particular loans were otieii (b broken into, by being eitiier 
charged with new loans before tliey had cancelled tlie old, 
or (pent on current lervices, as to be rendered incapable 
of anfweriiig the end intended by them. In confequence 
partly of tins bad management, the public debts at the 
acceilion of the houlc of Hanover were fo nuicli increaled 
as to be generally reckoned iiifupportable ; and tlieir re¬ 
duction was made one of the ririf objeCts of parliamentary 
attention. This gave rife, in 1716, to the inftitution of 
tiie Jinking Jund, of wliicli we are now fpeaking; tlie fa¬ 
ther ol Wiucii w as, as has been generally faid, hr Robert 
Walpole, but, in reality, the earl of Staiiiiope. Upon tliis 
fund, tlie future liappinefs and glory oflhe kingdomvvere 
thought to depend ; and the law which eftabliihed it was 
•declaied to be a fundamental law of the realm. In con¬ 
formity to tills, the words of this law were made as llrong 
as they could well be; and, in order to give additional force 
to it, a repetition of it, in the fame words, was inlerted in 
an act of the 51I1 of Geo. I. c. 3. Particular notice fhould 
be taken of thete words; they order that all the furphiin. 
es of the taxes then made perpetual, fhall be applied to 
the dilcharge of the public debts, and to no other uj'e or in. 
tent whatever. When, therefore, adebt had been (laid off, 
the addition arihng Ifom tliat payment to the lurplull'es 
(or the annuity dilengaged by it) became a part of the 
fund, and, together witli it, was to be employed in dif- 
charging farther debts. And the fame being true of every 
fucceflive annuity dilengaged by every payment, the fund, 
if never niilapplied, mult iiecedarily have operated in 
finking the public debt, in the lame manner tliut money 
accumulates, vvlicii put out to bear compound interelt. 
And in tills way this fund did in fact operate for a few 
years. While in its infancy, it was waidied over witli 
great care : the improvement, and tlie inviolable applica¬ 
tion of it, were recommended in moft of the Ipeeches from 
the throne, and echoed back in theaddrelfes of thelioule 
of commons. It is particularly obfervable, that fo well 
did our minilters then underftand the nature and import- 
VOL. VlII. No. 488. 
N D. 
ance of this fund, that rather than encroach upon it, they 
frequently borrowed money in order to defray ilie^ r.e- 
celfary expences of governinent. From fonte puldications 
in 1726, itappear.s, tliat fome perfons bad been led toaji- 
preheiid tliis zeal of theniinidry would not be permanent, 
becaufe it was not their iniei clt to pay olf tlie public debt, 
on account of the dependence and influence created by it. 
In anfwering tliis objection, tiie writers on tlic lideof the 
court called (ucli an apprehenfion an indecent jealouly, 
and took upon them to afl'ure tlie public, “ that in no 
poflible exigence of affairs, could enr niinifter.s ever ap¬ 
prove of or recommend tlie alienation of the (inking 
fund.” Hapjiy would it have been for Britain ha.i tins 
proved true ; but in a little time it appeared, that ilieap- 
prciienlioiis whicli liad been (tiled indecent jealoiifies, 
were too well grounded. Men in power came Coon id fee, 
that tliis fund wtis advancing too fad in its operations,- 
and to cliange tlieir zeal fi r it into a refolution to dedroy 
it : this will abiiiidantiy appear from the following faiSls. 
Charging the income of the (inking fund virh thie pay- 
iiient'of tiie iiitereftof new loans, is an encroachment u pon 
it, no le(s iiibverlive of its efficacy, iliari depriving it of 
grufs films ; there being no dilference between taking from 
it tiie annual intered of a fiim, and tliat funi itfelf. Be. 
tween the years 1727 and 1732, fevera! encroaclimeiits or 
tills kind liad been made upon it ; but, lieing of a iefs ob¬ 
vious nature, they pafled witliout meeting with any par. 
iicular oppofiiion. The finidiiiig blow was given in tlie 
year 1733. In tliat year, in order to keep tlte land-tax at 
one diilling in the pound, as it had been the year before, 
it was necedary eitiier to borrow half a million for tiie cur¬ 
rent fervice, or to take tliis iiim from tlie finking fund. 
Tlie lad metliod was chofen, and propofed by (ir Robert 
Walpo'e to the lioiife of commons. Long and warm de¬ 
bates eiifned. A propofal to alienate, in a time of pro. 
found peace, a fund w hicli tlie law bad made facred, and 
the alienation of wliicli poJfibLt exigence of public ajfairs 
could judify, only for the fake of keeping tiie lana-tax 
for one yearatone fhilling in the pound, jud_ly kindled the 
indignation of the patriotic party. They urged tlie pro¬ 
hibition of the law, the faith of.parliameiit, and the fe- 
curity of the kingdom. Tlie propo(er of tlie alienation 
was reminded of his inconlideiicy and treacliery, in en¬ 
deavouring to beat down that very niomiment of glory 
wliich lie liad beaded of liaving ereiffed for liinifelf ; and 
fir John Barnard warned him, that lie was drawing upon 
him tlie curies of poderiiy. But all arguments w ere vain. 
The iiiinilfry pleaded that the landed intered wanted eale, 
tiiat tlierc was no occafion for being in a luirry to pay the 
national debt ; and that tiie circuniliances of tlie kingdom 
liad altered fo mucli (nice tlie edablidiincnt of tlie linking 
fund, tliat tlie competition then among the public credi¬ 
tors was, not who ihould be fird, but wlio (liould be laft 
paid. 'I'lius argued, among oHiers, fir Robert Walpole. 
His reafoiis prevailed; and tlie lioufe of commons, not 
ufed to refufe him any thing, confented. Tlie practice 
of alienating the linking fund having been tlius begun, 
went on of courfe. In tlie next year, 01 (734, 1,200,000!. 
was taken from it. In 1735, and 1736, it was anticipated 
and riiortgaged. Thus expired, after an exidence of a few 
years, the linking fund ; that facred blefiiiig, (as it was 
once thouglit,) and the nation’s only hope. Could it 
liave eicaped, it would long before tliis time liave eafed 
Britain of all its debts, and left it a much more free and 
liappy country. 
By an a6i: of the 25th of Geo. II. 1752, a change was 
made in the finking fund, wliicli it is neceli'ary to mention. 
Before tliis act, the finking fund confided only of tl e 
clear furplud'es of the aggregate, the general, and tlie 
South.Sea company’s, funos. By tlie war, which began 
in 1740, there was an addition made to the public debts 
of near thirty-two millions. 1 ids occafioned a great in- 
creafe of taxes; and the pradtice was, wlienever any new 
tax produced lefs than the intered with which it was 
chareed, to make good the deficiency out of the finking 
H h fund, 
