A child, by name _Land Bank_, living at Exeter Change, not very far distant from Grocers’ Hall, was ridiculous enough to set up as my rival. Had she confined herself to fair play while striving to win from me public favour, I think I should rather have enjoyed it, but believing that all things were allowable in love and war, she descended to be spiteful, and being gifted with humour and wit she used them against me without mercy. Papers were circulated in all directions with the one view of injuring me. You will be able to see them, as I have preserved copies— Here is one—“The trial and condemnation of the Land Bank at Exeter Change, for murdering the Bank of England at Grocers’ Hall.” Another, which had a wide circulation, was one supposed to be my last will and testament, in which “I bequeathed my obstinacy and blunders, my self-conceit, my blindness, my fears,” and in which “I commanded my body to be burned lest my creditors should arrest my corpse.” A third contained an epitaph— “Here lies the body of the Bank of England, who was born in the year 1694—died May 5th, 1696, in the third year of her age. “They had issue legitimate by their common seal £1,200,000 called bank bills, and by their cashier two million sons—called Speed’s notes.” These papers, so widely circulated, were not without their effect, and for some time I and my people were in no enviable position. We had to struggle for a precarious existence—in fact, we had a difficulty to make the two ends meet. My notes were at a heavy discount, and I had not always the money to meet the demands of my creditors. And, just as it always happens when one is short of money, everybody wanted to borrow of me, amongst others the Government sadly pressed me for a loan. Oh dear, that was a troubled period of my life, but help came and prevented disaster by tiding me over the difficulty. It was very long before I found myself in a like dilemma, for I soon learned that to be short of money or, in fact, any difficulty in money matters, would deprive me of the confidence of the public, and that would never do; for to me, more than to anyone, confidence was money. It was cruel behaviour of the Land Bank, but fortunately, except that it gave me a period of great anxiety, it did me no permanent harm. Indeed, now that I look back upon it from this distance of time, I think it was clever of the Land Bank to handicap me, a young beginner, with her weight of merciless wit, a thing very hard to deal with, or even to trace, when once it has issued from mouth or pen. This little trouble being over, we went about our daily work in the one room as usual; work, which was gradually increasing both in quantity and responsibility, occupied us from morning till night, and the way in which we performed it called forth many a word of praise. I remember seeing the following in a journal which encouraged and pleased me greatly—