1694. The Bank went into operation.

1696. Bank suspended specie payments. Panic and failures.

1707. Threatened invasion of the Pretender. Run upon the Bank,--panic.
Government helped it through, by guarantying its bills at six per cent.

1714. The Pretender proclaimed in Scotland. Run upon the Bank,--panic.

1718-20. Time of the South-Sea Bubble. Reaction,--demand for
money,--Bank of England nearly swept away,--trade suspended,--nation
involved in suffering.

1744. Charles Edward sails for Scotland, and marches upon Derby. Panic.
Run upon the Bank,--is obliged to pay in sixpences, and to block its
doors, in order to gain time.

1772. Extensive failures and a monetary panic. The Bank maintains the
convertibility of its notes for several years, at an annual expense of
£850,000.

1793. War with France,--drain of gold,--Bank
contracts,--panic,--failures throughout the country,--universal
hoarding,--one hundred country banks stop,--notes as low as five pounds
first issued,--general fall of prices.

1796. An Order in Council suspends specie payment by the Bank.

1799. Numerous failures,--chiefly on the Continent. The pressure in