the Bank to issue one pound
notes till October. The immediate cause of this alteration was a
communication which Hudson Gurney made to the Chancellor, that if
he persisted in his Bill he should send up L500,000 which he had
in Bank of England notes and change them for sovereigns, and that
all country bankers would follow his example. From this he found
that it would be impossible to persist in his original plan. The
great evil now is a want of circulating medium, and as the
immediate effect of the measure would be another run upon the
Bank, and that probably all the gold drawn from it would
disappear--for men now are anxious to hoard gold--this evil would
be increased tenfold. The whole country is in distress from the
absence of circulating medium for the common purposes of life; no
country banker will issue notes, for they are instantly returned
upon his hands and exchanged for gold. The circulation of country
notes being generally confined within a very limited extent, the
holders of them can easily present them for payment. The
circulation of a quantity of Bank of England paper will relieve
the immediate distress arising from this necessity, and the
difficulty of exchanging them for gold will ensure the continuance
of their circulation. When men find that they must take notes,
and that gold is not to be had without so much pain and trouble,
they will be contented to take the notes to which they have been
accustomed, and will think the paper of their own bankers as
good as that of the Bank of England, besides the advantage of
being less exposed to the losses arising from forgery. This is
the argument of the opponents of Robinson's Bill. It is generally
thought that the Ministers have disgraced themselves by their
precipitation and by the crudeness of their measures. Hitherto
they have done nothing towards removing the present distress, or
satisfying the minds of men, but the contrary. Robinson is
obviously unequal to the present crisis. His mind is not
sufficiently enlarged, nor does he seem to have any distinct
ideas upon the subject; he is fighting in the dark.

[3] [On the 10th of February the Chancellor of the
Exchequer moved in Committee 'That all promissory notes
payable on demand issued by licensed Bankers in England
or by the Bank of England for less than L5 shall not be
issued or circulated beyond the 5th of April next.' Mr.
Huskisson made an able sp