You might suppose they were my step-children, as they do not bear the family name of Bank or Banks, but you would be wrong in your supposition. They are my very own, their name of Stocks or Funds having been assumed to denote the exact part they play in the world.
You will please to bear in mind that Stocks or Funds are nothing more nor less than debts which the nation owes to the people whose names stand in my books. By doing this much will be clear to you which otherwise would be difficult of comprehension.
We have all experienced that a personal introduction is much more effective than writing, and therefore, without loss of time, permit me to introduce you to my eldest born, Three per Cents. Consols.
Three per Cents. was born in Grocers’ Hall in 1731, and was a baby in arms when I moved into Threadneedle-street.
The circumstances attending her birth were simple. The king, as usual, wanted money, and I managed to obtain it for him by means of a lottery. The money so obtained and lent received the name of Three per Cent. Stocks, by which name it was called until 1752, when, by consent of Parliament, my child was united to a balance of annuities granted by George I., or rather, I should say, consolidated with the annuities, and henceforth was known to the world as Three per Cent. Consols.
Of this child I could say much. She has never given me uneasiness; on the contrary, she is one of the steadiest and most reliable of my children. She is less liable to high flights and deep depression, and it is in her favour I think that old people, widows and orphans, prefer her to the rest of my family.
The next Stock, or, as she is called, Government Stock, to whom I would introduce you, is Three per Cent. Reduced, a curious name, and one which might lead you to think of her as poorer than her sisters—as, in fact, reduced in circumstances. She derived her name in this wise. Originally she was a fund or stock lent to the Government upon condition that those who contributed to it should receive four per cent. for their money, and up to the year 1750 was known as Four per Cent. Government Stock; but circumstances which I need not go into here reduced the interest to three and a half per cent. in that year, at which it remained until 1757, when it was again reduced to three per cent., and henceforth known in society as Three per Cent. Reduced.
A thorough acquaintance with these two members of my family, the way to approach them, to deal with them, and to profit by them, will enable you to understand the whole family of Stocks, and this will save me time and protect you from an old woman’s prosing about her children. All this I hope to do when next we meet. Till then adieu.
(To be continued.)