It has already been stated that the notes of the General Bank were always convertible at sight into coin of the weight and standard of the day of issue, and that here lay its strength and security. The Regent, however, in all probability unwilling to restrict himself from taking advantage of depreciating the coinage at any time a favourable opportunity should present itself, divested the notes of the Bank of this excellent feature, and in the future they bore that. “The Bank promises to pay the bearer, at sight, ---- livres in silver coin, value received.” This change, also opposed by Law, struck at the very root principle of good credit. It endeavoured to make paper the standard of currency, while no guarantee was given that the coinage would remain of a fixed and unvarying value. No legislative decree, no royal proclamation, can place an artificial value upon the medium of currency, unless there is also present the indispensable element of public confidence. A paper currency can only circulate at its nominal value if there is behind it the security of a fixed coinage and a fund of specie in reserve for conversion. The Regent in issuing his new notes offered neither of these, but on account of the favour into which the Bank had been brought by Law, the confidence of the public remained as yet at least unshaken. We will see, however, at a later stage the consequences which this disastrous change involved. A further important step in the development of the Bank was the establishment of branches in the five important centres--Lyons, La Rochelle, Tours, Orleans, and Amiens. Those towns, which enjoyed the privilege of local parliaments, such as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Rouen, Grenoble, Dijon and Metz, were carefully avoided by the Regent, who anticipated that the extension of the Bank to them might provoke unpleasant opposition. Other towns, again, where no provincial parliaments existed to consult, had otherwise displayed hostility to the Bank, and these also were not honoured by the presence of its branches. “Lisle, Marseilles, Nantz, Saint Malo, and Bayonne, were distinguished by this prudent exclusion.” At the same time it was decreed that where branches of the Bank existed specie should only be legal tender up to 600 livres, notes being necessary for amounts beyond that sum, and that gold and silver were on no account, unless by special permission of the Bank authorities, to be transmitted to such towns. By these restrictions it was hoped that specie as a medium of currency would fall into desuetude and notes alone become recognised for purposes of exchange. This hope was expressed in the decree of 22nd April, 1719, which authorised the issue of 100,000,000 additional notes. “These cannot be subject to any diminution, as the specie is, inasmuch as the circulation of the Bank bills is more useful to the subjects of his Majesty, than that of the specie of gold and silver, and that they deserve a particular protection, in preference to the