f 
Table of Bankruptcies from 17.48 to 1707. 
milieg tobeggary and ruin *, Or it may 
happen, that * thofe who profe/s themfelves 
the admirers of order and good govern- 
ment,” may find themielves in fuch a 
dilemma, that-either the placeman or the 
ftock-holder muft -be facrificed; and as 
felf-prefervation is the firit law of nature, 
and places and finecures are freehold pro- 
perty! itis eafy to decide which way the 
{eale will turn. Nay, there is even a 
clafs of ariftocratic -mnovators, among 
whom perhaps may be found ‘* men of 
large landed property, profeflional law- 
yers, clergy maintained by a religion 
that inculcates honefty, and fome Britifh 
fenators,"’ who, under the mafk of re- 
form, aimoonly at the revival of the old 
feudal fyitem in a new fhape; and to 
whofe views, accordingly, the confifca- 
tion in queltion would confiderably ad- 
minifter. Let us hope, however, that a 
caadid inveftigation of the claims of the 
ftock-holder, may place them on a foun- 
dation not.to be fhaken by the rafhne(s of 
the firft defcsiption of men, the cupidity 
of the fecond, or the intrigues of the 
third. Certain it is, that from whatever 
quarter (except one) fuch an attempt 
were to proceed, an obftinate civil war 
muft be the confequence; while a fair 
and equal reprefentation of the people, 
might at once relieve the induftry of the 
nation from the enormous burthen, and 
fatisfy the demands of the public credi- 
tor. 
March 2, 1798. Fr ICKL 
> . 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
NOWING that your valuable Ma- 
“\ gazine has an extenfive circulation 
in the commercial, 2s well as the literary 
world, I am induced to fubmit the fol- 
lowing article, with a lift of the number 
of commiflions of bankruptcy (taken 
from the London Gazettes) trom. the 
year 1748 to the end of the year 1797, to 
your confideration. 
~ ® Asfar as I can learn, there are about 
60,000 ftock-holders. Of thefe, however, 
it may be faid, there are many who have 
ether property, and who, of courfe, would 
Hot be entirely ruined by the act of injuttice 
wndercontemplation. But what isto become 
of the widows, the orphans, the wards of 
chancery, the aged, the imbecile,—that vatt 
train of helplefs individuals, who: have ‘no 
other means of fubfiftence than. their litte 
ainuities in the ftocks? If there. were no 
other argument -than. common. fympathy 
again it, yet the heart of every bene¥olent 
man would recoil at the proje€t. 
179 
Number of bankruptcies from ‘the year | 
1748 to the end of the year 7975. | 
Year. Number. Year. Number... . 
1748 == 130 1773, = | 507 
A: ier } Mo a. Se ae nee By 
1750 —= 16g 17 5 350 
17§t —_ 17 1776 == 435 
gv lean abies SMUG od Aaliemetdilin- yh 
1753 —= | 24% 1778) —= 656 
175402 —e so 238 779 =< 52% 
1755 283 RPBO See? oaigB 
1756 —= 279 1784 = g5B 
1757 mm 27H 2782 ee -g 5B 
17538 —- 315 1783. == $32 
2759+ > 294.0 3: 35784 ee 1 S28 
1760 —=- 22% 17385 — S502 
Ot *-n. Se 1786 —- 10 
1762 —- 230 1787, — so 
EOS a) Sas 1788 —~ 707 
1764 —- 322 1789 == 562 
1765 —« 239 1790 =~ 585 
1766 —= 342 179% == 683 
1767 == 360 1792 — 636 
1768 —- 351 1793 =~ 1302 
1769 —= 344 ©.1794 —= 326 
1779 —= 397. 1795 -—~ 708 
W7TE 9 $830. 9798 oe Qbe 
T7p24) me sy G28 1797, == .869 
———— 

Total amount, from 1748to 1797, 21,645 
The year 1793, in which the prefent 
war commenced, {tands confpicuous; the 
number of bankruptcies for that year. 
amounting to one thoufand three hundred 
and two! To fuch an alarming extent: 
had bankruptcy arrived in that year, that 
it threatened to involve confequences of 
the moft ferious national importance; and 
the interpofition of the ‘legiflature was 
thought neceflury. To ftop the tide of 
bankruptcy, to reftore private credit, and 
thereby recover the energy of the national 
commerce, parliament voted 5,000,0001. 
of exchequer bills, at an intereft of 24d. 
per diem, or 16s. per ann. ‘for the afiitt- 
ance of houtes of known folvency and re- 
putation. — al : 
“It is fcarcely more than four years 
ago, (meaning the year 1793) fays.ace- 
lebrated writer, in a late treatife on 
finance, ‘* that fuch a rot of bankruptcy 
{pread itielfover London, that the whole 
commercial fabric tottered; trade and 
credit were at a ftand ; ‘and fuch were the 
ftate of things, that to prevent, or fuf. 
pend a general bankruptcy, the govern- 
ment lent the merchants fix* millions in 



* Thisis anerror: the atual lum-granted 
by. parliament, was. five mitions; “lout-of 
which: the merchants of Londom received _ 
nearly one million ;.-at- Manchefter, about 
2§0,0col. at Liverpool, 130,000]. and at 
Briftol, 40,0601 
government 
