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money, who desired to bargain for the payment of interest AD. 1638 
in perpetuity, and did not wish to insist on having a right . Farge 
to claim the repayment of the principal at a definite date. Se 
The terms offered were criticised at the time as unnecessarily 
favourable? to the lenders, but it was certainly an advantage 
bo William to obtain the command of the money so easily. 
The new expedient thus devised proved convenient to 
the Government and popular with moneyed men, so that both 
political parties had recourse to it in turn. This financial 
policy was, however, more especially associated with the 
Whigs. Its inception was due to them, it harmonised with but in . 
their fundamental principle of keeping the resources of the or ey 
realm under Parliamentary control; and as many of their 2777le 
supporters had subscribed to the Bank, its prosperity as pany 
an institution coincided with the interest of their political 
friends. But from the first it roused the jealousy of the 
landed interest; they felt that they were placed at a dis- 
advantage, since they were heavily burdened with permanent 
taxation, by a system of finance which afforded the moneyed 
men a remunerative investment. The Tory scheme of a 
Land Bank was an attempt to organise the new finance on 
lines in which it should subserve the interests of landed 
men ; but after its impracticability had been demonstrated? 
the jealousy felt by the landed proprietors of the power of 
goldsmiths and bankers became more pronounced. For 
all that, the Tories were forced to acknowledge and rely on 
their help. So long as successive administrations had urgent 
need of money, and found men who were willing to lend it, 
they could hardly be expected to adopt the unpopular course 
of largely and immediately increasing the taxes. 
The fact that the new system was convenient is suffi- oe a 
ciently obvious, but there is some reason to doubt whether vapedient 
it was justifiable. The question whether it was really of TE hs 
man, and has inclined subsequent writers to discount his share in starting the 
Bank. Doubleday assigns a large part in the inception of the Bank to Bishop 
Burnet, who is also said to have followed Dutch precedents in the matter (Finan- 
cial History, p. 64). The Dutch debt at this time involved an annual charge of 
£1,000,000 in interest, Davenant, 1. 248. 
1 Davenant, Essay on Ways and Means, 1. 24, thought the attraction of 89), 
diverted capital from trade, Many Dutch capitalists were glad to take advantage 
of the offer. 3 See below, p. 452.