The first reduction in the interest of the national debt—from four to three per cent.—was effected in 1750, and was received with a storm of indignation similar to that which arose in 1737, on the mere attempt. Sir John Barnard, to whom every thing connected with the funds was of importance, is mentioned as having proposed it to Mr. Pelham, who brought it forward in the House of Commons. The best men in the city protested against so bold a measure, and the foes of the minister encouraged the opposition of the fundholder; his friends overwhelmed him with entreaties to withdraw the motion; and every engine which could be brought into operation by the moneyed interest was employed. Reasons which time has since repudiated, fallacies which almost repudiated themselves, evils which had no existence save in the brain of the prophet, were freely circulated. It was said that the landed gentry and the noble families of England would be ruined, and their children would become beggars; that the interest of younger sons’ portions would not enable them to associate with the cooks and coachmen of their elder brothers; and that merchants, shopkeepers, and tradesmen would be ruined. The farmers would lose their farms; families would be undone; and such a deluge of distress be brought upon all ranks, that the consequences would be fatal to that “free and happy constitution” which has been so often ruined in the brains and in the prophecies of partisans. Its first reception was so lukewarm by the minister’s friends, and the opinions of the people so strong, that, coupled with the previous failure of a similar measure, its miscarriage was confidently calculated. “Mr. Pelham,” says the flippant chronicler of the times, “who has flung himself entirely into Sir John Barnard’s hands, has just miscarried in a scheme for the reduction of interest, by the intrigues of the three great companies and other usurers.” Horace Walpole mistook the voice of his little circle for the voice of the country. The scheme did not miscarry; and it is remarkable that this, the first reduction in the interest of the national debt, was planned in a most masterly manner, and reflected great honor upon Sir John Barnard. A loss of one per cent. upon the income of an annuitant is important, and acts prejudicially upon all with limited means. To obviate this evil, if the fundholder declined receiving his capital, the interest was reduced from 1750 to 1757 only one half per cent., 3½ being paid during that period; after 1757 it was reduced the remaining half per cent. The great resources of England have ever been regarded with wonder by foreign nations; and they looked with astonishment on the power of a people which, after a heavy war and an increased debt, enabled the state to repay its creditors or reduce its interest.