NOTE.

THE plan for the establishment of a National Bank in Dublin was first put forward in 1720 in the form of a petition presented to the King by the Earl of Abercorn, Viscount Boyne, Sir Ralph Gore, and others. It was proposed to raise a fund of £500,000 for the purpose of loaning money to merchants at a comparatively low rate of interest. The King approved of the petition, and directed that a charter of incorporation for such a bank should pass the Great Seal of Ireland. When the matter came up for discussion in the Irish Houses of Legislature, both the Lords and Commons rejected the proposal on the ground that no safe foundation for such an establishment could be found. (See note post.)

During and after the discussion on this project in the legislature a pamphlet controversy arose in which two able writers distinguished themselves-Mr. Henry Maxwell and Mr. Hercules Rowley. The former was in favour of the bank while Mr. Rowley was against it.

Mr. Maxwell argued soundly from the ground on which all banking institutions were founded. Mr. Rowley, however, pointed out that the condition of Ireland, dependent as that country was on England's whims, and interfered with as she always had been, by English selfishness, in her commercial and industrial enterprises, would not be bettered were the bank to prove even a great success. For, should the bank be found in any way to touch the trade of England, it might be taken for granted that its charter would be repealed, and Ireland find itself in a worse state than it was before.

The pamphlets written by these gentlemen bear the following titles:
(1) Reasons offer'd for erecting a Bank in Ireland; in a letter to
Hercules Rowley, Esq., by Henry Maxwell, Esq. Dublin, 1721.
(2) An Answer to a Book, intitled Reasons offered for erecting a
Bank in Ireland. In a Letter to Henry Maxwell, Esq. By
Hercules Rowley, Esq.
Dublin, 1721.

(3) Mr. Maxwell's Second Letter to Mr. Rowley, wherein the ob-
jections against the Bank are answered.
Dublin, 1721.

(4) An answer to Mr. Maxwell's Second Letter to Mr. Rowley,
concerning the Bank. By Hercules Rowley, Esq. Dublin, 1721.

Sir Walter Scott, in his edition of Swift's works, reprints these pamphlets. The text of the present edition of "The Swearer's Bank” is based on that published in London in 1720.

[T. S.]

THE

Swearer's-B A N K:

O R,

Parliamentary Security

FOR

Establishing a new BANK

IN

IRELAND.

WHERE IN

The Medicinal Ufe of OATHS is confidered.

(WITH

The Best in Chriftendom. A TALE.)

Written by Dean SWIFT.

Si Populus vult decipi decipiatur.

To which is prefixed,

An ESSAY upon English BUBBLES. By THOMAS HOPE, Efq;

DUBLIN:

Printed by THOMAS HUME, next Door to the Walsh's-Head in Smock-Alley. 1720. Reprinted at London by J. ROBERTS in Warwick-Lane.

THE SWEARER'S BANK.

"To believe everything that is said by a certain set of

men, and to doubt of nothing they relate, though ever so improbable," is a maxim that has contributed as much for the time, to the support of Irish banks, as it ever did to the Popish religion; and they are not only beholden to the latter for their foundation, but they have the happiness to have the same patron saint: For Ignorance, the reputed mother of the devotion of the one, seems to bear the same affectionate relation to the credit of the other.

To subscribe to banks, without knowing the scheme or design of them, is not unlike to some gentlemen's signing addresses without knowing the contents of them: To engage in a bank that has neither act of parliament, charter, nor lands to support it, is like sending a ship to sea without bottom; to expect a coach and six by the former, would be as ridiculous as to hope a return by the latter.

It was well known some time ago, that our banks would be included in the bubble-bill; and it was believed those chimeras would necessarily vanish with the first easterly wind that should inform the town of the royal assent.

It was very mortifying to several gentlemen, who dreamed of nothing but easy chariots, on the arrival of the fatal packet, to slip out of them into their walking shoes. But should those banks, as it is vainly imagined, be so fortunate as to obtain a charter, and purchase lands; yet on any run on them in a time of invasion, there would be so many starving proprietors, reviving their old pretensions to land, and a bellyful, that the subscribers would be unwilling, upon any call, to part with their money, not knowing what might

happen: So that in a rebellion, where the success was doubtful, the bank would infallibly break.1

The following is an account of the proceedings of both the houses of the Irish parliament upon the subject of this proposed bank.

In the year 1720, James, Earl of Abercorn, Gustavus, Viscount Boyne, Sir Ralph Gore, Bart., Oliver St. George, and Michael Ward, Esqs., in behalf of themselves and others, presented a petition to his Majesty for a charter of incorporation, whereby they might be established as a bank, under the name and title of the Bank of Ireland. They proposed to raise a fund of £500,000 to supply merchants, etc., with money at five per cent., and agreed to contribute £50,000 to the service of government in consideration of their obtaining a charter. In their petition they state, that "the raising of a million for that purpose is creating a greater fund than the nation can employ." Soon after the above-mentioned petition was lodged, a second application was made by Lord Forbes and others, who proposed raising a million for that purpose, and offered to discharge "the £50,000 national debt of that kingdom, in five years from the time they should obtain a charter." The latter application, being subsequent in point of date, was withdrawn, Lord Forbes and his friends having acquainted the Lord-lieutenant that, "rather than, by a competition, obstruct a proposal of so general advantage, they were willing to desist from their application." The former was accordingly approved of, and the King, on the 29th of July, 1721, issued letters of Privy Seal, directing that a charter of incorporation should pass the Great Seal of Ireland. ("Comm. Journ.," vol. iii, Appendix Ix, page cc, etc.)

When the parliament of Ireland met, on the 12th of September following, the Duke of Grafton, lord lieutenant, in his speech from the throne, communicated the intention of his Majesty to both houses, and concluded by saying, "As this is a matter of general and national concern, his Majesty leaves it to the wisdom of Parliament to consider what advantages the public may receive by erecting a bank, and in what manner it may be settled upon a safe foundation, so as to be beneficial to the kingdom." The commons, in their address, which was voted unanimously on the 14th, expressed their gratitude for his Majesty's goodness and royal favour in directing a commission to establish a bank, and on the 21st moved for the papers to be laid before them; they even, on the 29th, agreed to the following resolution of the committee they had appointed, "that the establishment of a bank upon a solid and good foundation, under proper regulations and restrictions, will contribute to restoring of credit, and support of the trade and manufacture of the kingdom;" but, when the heads of a bill for establishing the bank came to be discussed, a strenuous opposition was raised to it. On the 9th of December Sir Thomas Taylor, chairman of the committee to whom the matter had been referred, reported "that they had gone through the first enacting paragraph, and disagreed to the same. Accordingly, the question being proposed and put, the house (after a division, wherein there appeared 150 for the question and 80 against it) voted that "they could not find any safe foundation for establishing a