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The stability of the bank of England is equal to that of the

British government. All that it has advanced to the public must

be lost before its creditors can sustain any loss. No other

banking company in England can be established by act of

parliament, or can consist of more than six members. It acts, not

only as an ordinary bank, but as a great engine of state. It

receives and pays the greater part of the annuities which are due

to the creditors of the public; it circulates exchequer bills;

and it advances to government the annual amount of the land and

malt taxes, which are frequently not paid up till some years

thereafter. In these different operations, its duty to the public

may sometimes have obliged it, without any fault of its

directors, to overstock the circulation with paper money. It

likewise discounts merchants' bills, and has, upon several

different occasions, supported the credit of the principal

houses, not only of England, but of Hamburgh and Holland.