bonds or of certificates or of any thing else that can be seen or touched. They have a being merely in name. They mean, in fact, a right to receive interest; and a man who is said to possess, or to have a thousand pounds' worth of stock, possesses, in reality, nothing but the right of receiving the interest of a thousand pounds. When, therefore, Muckworm sells his million's worth of stock, he sells the right of receiving the interest upon the million of pounds which he lent to the government. But, the way in which sales of this sort are effected is by parcelling the stock out to little purchasers, every one of whom buys as much as he likes; he has his name written in the book for so much, instead of the name of Muckworm and Company; and, when Muckworm has sold the whole, his name is crossed out, and the names of the persons to whom he has sold remain in the book.

And here it is that the thing comes home to our very bosoms; for, our neighbour farmer Greenhorn, who has all his life being working like a horse, in order to secure his children from the perils of poverty, having first bequeathed his farm to his son, sells the rest of his property (amounting to a couple of thousands of pounds), and, with the real good money, the fruit of his incessant toil and care, purchases two thousand pounds' worth of Muckworm's funds, or stocks, and leaves the said purchase to his daughter. And why does he do so? The reason is, that, as he believes his daughter will always receive the interest of the two thousand pounds, without any of the risk or trouble belonging to the rents of house or land. Thus neighbour Greenhorn is said to have " put two thousand pounds in the funds; " and thus his daughter (poor girl!) is said to "have her money in the funds;" when the plain fact is, that Muckworm's money has been spent by the government, that Muckworm has now the two thousand pounds of poor Grizzle Greenhorn, and that she, in return for it, has her name written in a book, at the Bank Company's house in Threadneedle Street, in London, in consequence of which she is entitled to receive the interest of two thousand pounds; which brings us back to the point whence we started, and explains the whole art and mystery of making loans and funds and stocks and national debts.-Cobbett's Paper against Gold, pp. 16-18.

By this means [the funding system] the quantity of pro

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perty in the kingdom is greatly increased in idea, compared with former times: yet, if we coolly examine it, not at all increased in reality. It exists only in name, in paper, in public faith, in parliamentary security: and this is undoubtedly sufficient for the creditors of the public to rely But then, what is the pledge which the public faith has pawned for the security of these debts? The land, the trade, and the personal industry of the subject; from which the money must arise that supplies the several taxes. In these, therefore, and in these only, the property of the public creditors does really and intrinsically exist: and of course, the land, the trade, and the personal industry of individuals, are diminished in their true value, just so much as they are pledged to answer. If A's income amounts to 1007. per annum, and he is so far indebted to B, that he pays him 50%. per annum for his interest, one half of the value of A's property is transferred to B, the creditor. The creditor's property consists in the demand which he has upon the debtor, and nowhere else; and the debtor is only a trustee to his creditor for one half of the value of his income. short, the property of a creditor of the public consists in a certain portion of national taxes: by how much, therefore, he is the richer, by so much the nation, which pays the taxes, is the poorer.

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Thus much is indisputably certain, that the present magnitude of our national encumbrances very far exceeds all calculations of commercial benefit, and is productive of the greatest inconveniences. For, first, the enormous taxes, that are raised upon the necessaries of life, for the payment of the interest of this debt, are a hurt both to trade and manufactures, by raising the price as well of the artificer's subsistence as of the raw material, and of course, in a much greater proportion, the price of the commodity itself. Nay, the very increase of paper circulation itself, when extended beyond what is requisite for commerce or foreign exchange, has a natural tendency to increase the price of provisions, as well as of all other merchandise. For, as its effect is to multiply the cash of the kingdom, and this to such an extent that much must remain unemployed, that cash (which is the universal measure of the respective values of all other commodities) must necessarily sink in its own value, and every thing

grows comparatively dearer. Secondly, if part of this debt be owing to foreigners, either they draw out of the kingdom annually a considerable quantity of specie for the interest; or else it is made an argument to grant them unreasonable privileges, in order to induce them to reside here. Thirdly, if the whole be owing to subjects only, it is then charging the active and industrious subject, who pays his share of the taxes, to maintain the indolent and idle creditor who receives them. Lastly, and principally, it weakens the internal strength of a state, by anticipating those resources which should be reserved to defend it in case of necessity. The interest we now pay for our debt would be nearly sufficient to maintain any war, that any national motives could require. And if our ancestors in King William's time had annually paid, so long as their exigencies lasted, even a less sum than we now annually raise upon their accounts, they would in time of war have borne no greater burdens than they have bequeathed to and settled upon their posterity in time of peace; and might have been eased the moment the exigence was over.-Blackstone.

The funding system is not money; neither is it, properly speaking, credit. It in effect creates upon paper the sum which it appears to borrow, and lays on a tax to keep the imaginary capital alive, by the payment of interest, and sends the annuity to market, to be sold for paper already in circulation. If any credit is given, it is to the disposition of the people to pay the tax, and not to the government which lays it on. When this disposition expires, what is supposed to be the credit of government expires with it. The instance of France, under the former government, shows that it is impossible to compel the payment of taxes by force, when a whole nation is determined to take its stand upon that ground.-Paine.

The original design of the funding system, which commenced in the reign of King William, was to give stability to the revolution, by engaging the monied interest to embark on its bottom. It immediately advanced the influence of the crown, which the whigs then exalted as much as possible, as a countervail to the interest of the pretender. -Robert Hall.

That the funding system contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction, is as certain as that of the human

body containing within itself the seeds of death. The event is as fixed as fate, unless it can be taken as a proof, that because we are not dead we are not to die.

The consequence of the funding scheme, even if no other event takes place, will be to create two violent parties in the nation; the one goaded by taxes continually increasing to pay the interest, the other reaping a benefit from the taxes, by receiving the interest.-Paine.

THIS species of industry has its origin in the nature of man, and the circumstances under which he is placed; and its rise is coeval with the formation of society. The varying powers and dispositions of different individuals dispose them to engage in preference in particular occupations; and every one finds it for his advantage to confine himself wholly or principally to some one employment, and to barter or exchange such portions of his produce as exceed his own demand, for such portions of the peculiar produce of others as he is desirous to obtain, and they are disposed to part with. The division and combination of employments is carried to some extent in the rudest societies, and it is carried to a very great extent in those that are improved. But to whatever extent it may be carried, commerce must be equally advanced. The division of employments could not exist without commerce, nor commerce without the division of employments: they mutually act and react upon each other. Every new subdivision of employments occasions a greater extension of commerce; and the latter cannot be extended without contributing to the better division and combination of the former.

In rude societies, the business of commerce, or the exchange of commodities, is carried on by those who produce them. Individuals, having more of any article than is required for their own use, endeavour to find out others in want of it, and who at the same time possess something they would like to have. But the difficulties and inconveniences inseparable from a commercial intercourse, carried on in

this way, are so obvious, as hardly to require being pointed out. Were there no merchants or dealers, a farmer, for example, who had a quantity of wheat or wool to dispose of, would be obliged to seek out those who wanted these commodities, and to sell them in such portions as might suit them; and, having done this, he would next be forced to send to, perhaps, twenty different distant places, before he succeeded in supplying himself with the various articles he might wish to buy. His attention would thus be perpetually diverted from the business of his farm; and while the difficulty of exchanging his own produce for that of others would prevent him from acquiring a taste for improved accommodations, it would tempt him to endeavour to supply most that was essential by his own labour, and that of his family; so that the division of employments would be confined within the narrowest limits. The wish to obviate such inconveniences, has given rise to a distinct mercantile class. Without employing themselves in any sort of production, merchants or dealers render the greatest assistance to the producers. They collect and distribute all sorts of commodities; they buy of the farmers and manufacturers the things they have to sell; and bringing together every variety of useful and desirable articles in shops and warehouses, individuals are able, without difficulty or loss of time, to supply themselves with whatever they want. Continuity is in consequence given to all the operations of industry. As every one knows beforehand where he may dispose to the best advantage of all that he has to sell, and obtain all that he wishes to buy, an uninterrupted motion is given to the plough and the loom.-M'Culloch. Commerce is founded on the division of labour. useful commerce, all commerce occasioning wealth or power, is founded on the reciprocal advantages which attend a division of labour engaged in producing the necessaries of life. If every man produced his own food, clothing, and lodging; that is, if there were no division of labour, there could be no commerce. Every man must, at all times, be consuming the three great necessaries of life; if a man apply his labour to the production of one of these necessaries only, he must exchange part of the produce of his labour for the other two necessaries. As the division of labour increases, the number of exchangeable articles increases, and commerce increases.

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