literally signifies a bench or high seat; | but as a legal term it denotes a seat of judgment, or tribunal for the administration of justice. In a rude state of society, justice is usually administered in the open air, and the judges are placed in an elevated situation both for convenience and dignity. Thus it appears that the ancient Britons were accustomed to construct mounds or benches of turf for the accommodation of their superior judges. (Spelman, ad verbum.) It is clear, however, that in very early times in this country there was a distinction between those superior judicial officers who, for the sake of eminence, sat upon a bench or tribunal, and the judges of inferior courts, such as hundred courts and courts baron, the latter being analogous to the judices pedanei of the Roman law-a kind of inferior judges, whose duties are not very clearly defined, but who are supposed to have derived their denomination a pedibus, because they decided on inferior matters, on the level ground, and not on a raised seat.

In consequence of this distinction, the king's judges, or those who were immediately appointed by the crown to administer justice in the superior courts of common law, were in process of time called justices of the bench, or, as they are always styled in records, justiciarii de banco. This term, in former times, denoted the judges of a peculiar court held at Westminster, which is mentioned in records of the reign of Richard I., and must therefore have made its appearance, under the name of bancus or bench, not long after the Conquest. This court no doubt derived its name from its stationary character, being permanently held at Westminster, whereas the curia or aula regis followed the person of the king. (Maddox, History of the Exchequer, p. 539.) This institution was the origin of the modern Court of Common Pleas, and the judges of that court retain the technical title of "Justices of the Bench at Westminster" to the present day; whereas the formal title of the King's Bench judges is "the justices assigned to hold pleas in the court of the king before the king himself." For many centuries, however, the latter court has been popularly

called the Court of King's Bench, and the judges of both these courts have been described in acts of parliament and records in general terms as "the judges of either bench" (judices utriusque banci); but the barons of the Court of Exchequer have never been denominated judges of the bench, though, in popular language,. a new baron, on his creation, is, like the other judges, said to be raised to the bench.

The phrase of sitting in banco, or in bank, merely denotes the sessions during the law terms, when the judges of each court sit together upon their several benches. In this sense it is used by Glanville, who wrote in the reign of Henry II., and who enumerates certain acts to be done by justices in banco sedentibus. Days in bank are days particularly appointed by the courts, or imposed upon them by various statutes, when process must be returned, or when parties served with writs are to make their appearance in full court. The day in bank is so called in opposition to the day at Nisi Prius, when a trial by a jury takes place according to the provisions of the statute of Nisi Prins. [ASSIZE.]

BANK-BANKER-BANKING. By the term "bank" is understood the esta blishment for carrying on the business to be described; the "banker" is the person by whom the business is conducted; and the expression "banking" is commonly used to denote the system upon which that business is managed, and the principles upon which it should be governed or regulated.

We propose to consider the subject of banks and banking under the following heads:

I. A brief historical sketch of the ori-gin and progress of banking. II. An explanation of the objects and general principles of banking, including a description of the various kinds of banks. III. The history and constitution of the Bank of England.

IV. The art of banking as carried on by private establishments and joint stock associations in London and other parts of England, and in Ireland.

merce and the arts can hardly be said to have existed, there could be no field open for the banking business; but on the revival of commerce in the twelfth century, and when the cities of Italy engrossed nearly all the trade of Europe, the necessity again arose for the employment of bankers. At first they carried on their business in the public market-places or exchanges, where their dealings were conducted on benches, whence the origin of the word bank, from banco, the Italian word for a bench. The successful manufacturing efforts of the Florentines brought them into commercial dealings with different countries in Europe, and thence arose the establishment of banks. In a short time Florence became the centre of the money transactions of every commercial country in Europe, and her merchants and bankers accumulated great wealth.

The earliest public bank established in modern Europe was that of Venice, which was founded in 1157. This bank was in fact an incorporation of public creditors, to whom privileges were given by the state as some compensation for the withholding of their funds. The public debt was made transferable in the books of the bank, in the same manner as the national debt of England is transferable at the present time; it was made obligatory upon the merchants to make their contracts and draw their bills in bank-money, and not in the current money of the city. This establishment was always essentially a bank of deposit and not of issue, and existed until the subversion of the republic in 1797. Its money at all times bore a premium, or agio, over the current money of the city. [AGIO.]

About the year 1350, the cloth-merchants of Barcelona, then a wealthy body, added the business of banking to their other commercial pursuits; being authorised so to do by an ordinance of the king of Aragon, which contained the important stipulation, that they should be restricted from acting as bankers until they should have given sufficient security for the liquidation of their engagements. Fifty years afterwards, a bank was opened by the functionaries of the city, who declared their public funds answerable for

the safety of money lodged in their bank, which was a bank of deposit and circulation.

The Bank of Genoa was planned and partially organised in 1345; but was not fully established and brought into action until 1407, when the numerous loans which the republic had contracted with its citizens were consolidated, and formed the nominal capital stock of the bank. This bank received the name of the Chamber of Saint George, and its management was intrusted to eight directors chosen by the proprietors of the stock. As a security for its capital in the hands of the republic, the bank received in pledge the island of Corsica, and several other possessions and dependencies of Genoa.

The Bank of Amsterdam was established in 1609, simply as a bank of deposit, to remedy the inconvenience arising from the great quantity of clipt and worn foreign coin which the extensive trade of the city brought there from all parts of Europe. This bank, which was established under the guarantee of the city, received foreign coin, and the worn coin of the country, at its real intrinsic value, deducting only a small per centage which was necessary for defraying the expense of coinage and the charges of management. The credit given in the bank-books for coin thus received, was called bank-money, to distinguish it from the current money of the place. The regulations of the country directed that all bills drawn upon or negotiated at Amsterdam, of the value of 600 guilders (about 557.) and upwards, must be paid in bank-money. Every merchant was consequently obliged to keep an account with the bank, in order to make his ordinary payments. The Bank of Amsterdam professed to lend out no part of its deposits, and to possess coin or bullion to the full value of the credits given in its books. Dr. Adam Smith has given an account of this bank (Wealth of Nations, book iv. c. 3). When the French invaded Holland, it was discovered that the directors had privately lent nearly a million sterling to the states of Holland and Friesland, instead of keeping bullion in their cellars in accordance with the regulations of the

S

Bank. In 1814 a new bank was established, called the Bank of the Netherlands, on the plan of the Bank of England.

The Bank of Hamburg was established in 1619, and is a well-managed institution, conducted upon nearly the same plan as the Bank of England. The Bank of England, which we have separately noticed, was opened in 1694. The Bank of Vienna, established in 1703 as a bank of deposit and circulation, subsequently (1793) became a bank of issue; and its notes were the sole circulating medium in Austria; but having fallen to a considerable discount in consequence of their excessive quantity, the Austrian National Bank was established in 1816, with the object of diminishing the paper currency, and of performing the ordinary banking functions. The banks of Berlin and Breslau were erected in 1765, under the sanction of the state. These are banks of deposit and issue, and are likewise discounting-offices for bills of exchange. During the reign of the Empress Catherine, three different banks were established at St. Petersburg; these were, the Loan Bank, the Assignation Bank, and the Loan Bank for the nobility and towns. The Loan Bank, or Lombard, or Russian Mont de Piété, was established in 1772, and makes advances upon deposits of bullion and jewels, and allows interest upon all sums deposited for at least a year. The operations of this bank as a Mont de Piété are still carried on for the profit of the Foundling Hospital in St. Petersburg. The Assignation Bank, opened in St. Petersburg in 1768, and Moscow in 1770, issues the government paper-money, and is in all respects an imperial establishment: it is now called the Imperial National Note Bank, having been changed into a Reichs (imperial) assignation bank at St. Petersburg in 1786. The Loan Bank, established in 1786, for the nobility and towns, advances money on real security. It is likewise a discount-bank, and acts as an insurance company. The Aid Bank, established in 1797, advances money to relieve estates from mortgages, and to provide for their improvement. The punctual payment of interest upon its advances is enforced by taking their

estates from the possession of defaulters until the entire debt is discharged. The Imperial National Commercial Bank of Russia, which was established in 1818 receives deposits of coin and bullion, and has a department for transferring credit from one account to another, in the manner of the banks of Amsterdam and Hamburg. It is also a bank of discount and makes advances upon merchandis of home production. Its capital, about million and a half sterling, is declared t be sacred on the part of the Russia government, and free from all taxation sequestration, or attachment, as well from calls for assistance on the part the state. This bank has branches Moscow, Archangel, and other importan commercial towns in the empire.

Th

The Bank of France, established 1803, has a capital of 3,596,000l. sterling This association alone enjoys the pr vilege of issuing notes in France, whic are for 1000 to 500 francs each. bank is a bank of deposit and circulation and has several branches. It is obliged open an account with any person who ma require it; and is not allowed to charge an commission for the transaction of ordinar banking business. Its profits result fro the use of money deposited by its cu tomers, from the issue of its own note and from discounts upon mercantile bills besides which, a charge is made ever six months of one-eighth per cent. for th safe custody of plate, jewels, and othe valuables upon which it has made a vances. The affairs of this bank at managed by a governor and deputy governor, who are nominated by th king, and by seventeen regents and thre censors elected from among the shar holders. A full statement (compte renda is published every quarter (pursuant t the law of 30th of June, 1840), whic furnishes a complete exposition of th affairs of the bank, which is one of th most flourishing and best managed bank in Europe. The official return of the operations and state of the bank for the quarter ending 25th September, 1844 contained the following items:-Sundr Cash Receipts 44,309,3801.; Cash pai 44,173,0281.; Commercial Bills dis counted 11,140,8967.; Notes outstanding

Banks have been established at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras; and in the interior of India the natives are extensively engaged in banking, but chiefly in issuing and discounting bills of exchange. Within the last few years several banks have been established in London which confine their business chiefly to particular colonies, where they have branches. II. Objects and General Principles of Banking. Banking establishments may be divided into three classes, banks of deposit, banks of issue, and banks which exercise both these functions.

Banks of deposit, strictly speaking, are those which, like the old bank of Amsterdam, simply receive the money or valuables of others into custody, and keep them hoarded in their coffers till called for by the depositors. However convenient such an establishment may be to the persons by whom it is used, it must be evident that it can contribute nothing to the general wealth of a community, and that the only means of profit which it provides for those who conduct it, must arise from payments made by its customers in the shape of commissions, or fines which partake of the nature of commissions. If, instead of burying the clipt and worn coins of which its hoards were composed, the Bank of Amsterdam had converted them into money of the proper standard, and had lent the same at interest upon proper securities, no commissions need have been required from its customers, who would in so far have been benefited: and a considerable capital being set free for the prosecution of commercial enterprises, the country might have thence derived continued additions to its wealth.

Banks of deposit, in this confined sense of the word, are now very little used, and the term is generally understood to mean an establishment which lends as well as receives the property of others, and derives its profits from charging a higher rate of interest than it allows. Some banks of this description, such as the private banks

In like manner there are few, if any, establishments which are purely banks of issue. A banker sends forth his promissory notes that he may employ to his own profit, during the time that the notes remain in circulation, the money or property for which he may have exchanged them, and by this course he gives to his establishment the mixed character of a bank of issue and of circulation. The most usual means by which a banker gets his notes into circulation is by lending them on personal or other security to customers engaged in business, who have a running account at the bank. In general, those bankers who issue their own notes likewise receive deposits: this at least is the practice in England.

Bankers and banking associations usually possess considerable wealth, and are thought deserving of confidence on the part of the public; and there can be no doubt that, so long as they conduct their business with integrity and prudence, they are of material service in giving life and activity to commercial dealings. They are, in fact, the means of keeping that portion of the floating capital of a country fully and constantly employed, which but for their agency would frequently lie dormant and unproductive for uncertain periods in the hands of individuals. Thus, while banking does not directly create capital, the issue of bank notes enables people to buy who could not buy for want of a medium of exchange. Again, a large farmer has grain and stock, and he wants to drain; but money is short. He goes to a bank and gets bank-notes on the security of his property. That is a useful operation. Another thing is, people may deposit small sums of money at a bank, which the banker lends. Thus a bank is a mean of facilitating the loan of money from the possessor of money to the farmer or manufacturer who has goods, but wants ready money. The lending of money is the operation of banking, and a bank is a centre which facilitates this lending: it enables people to lend through a banker and his connexion, who could not lend without that. But the real legal loan is the banker's. The man who puts