PUBLIC

The name given to the public funded debt due by government The practice of borrowing money in order to defray a part of the war expenditure began, in this country, B the reign of William III. In the infancy of the practice it wascustanary to borrow u|hjii the security of some tax, or portion of a t:ix, N't apart as a fund for discharging the principal and interest of the sum borrowed. This discharge was, however, \ery rarely effected. The public exigencies still continuing, the loans were, in most cases, either continued, or the taxes were again mortgaged for fresh ones. At length the practice of borrowing for a fixed period, or, as it is commonly termed, upon terminable annuities, wsis almost entirely abandoned; and most loans were made upon interminable annuities, or until such time as it might be convenient for government to pay off the principal. In the beginning of the funding system, the term fund meant the taxes or funds appropriated to tiie discharge of the principal and interest of loans; those who held government securities and sold them to others, selling, of course, a corre spending claim upon some fund. But after the debt began to grow large, and the practice of borrowing upon interminable securities had been introduced, the meaning attached to the term fund was gradually changed; and, instead of si gutfying the security upon which loans were adv;inced, it has, for a long time, signified the principal of the loans themselves. Owing partly, perhaps, to the scarcity of disposable capital at the lime, but far more to the supposed insecurity of the revolutionary establishment the rate of interest paid by government in the early part of the funding system was, comparatively, high. Bit as the country became richer, and th« confidence of the public in the stability of government wat increased, ministers were enabled to take measures for reducing the interest, first in 1710, and again in 1749. During tile reigns of William III. and Anne, the interest stipulated for loans was very various. But in the reign of George II. a different practice was adopted. Instead of va rying the interest upon the loan according to the state of the money market at the time, the rate of interest was generally fixed at three or three and a half per cent; the nece variation being made in the principal funded. Thus, suppose government were anxious to borrow, that they preferred borrowing in a 3 per cent stock, and they could not negotiate a loan for le than 4J per cent, they effected their object by giving the lender, in return for every.£100 advanced,.£150:! per cent, stock; that is, they bound the country to pay him or his a ignees £4 10s. a year in nil time to come, or otherwise to extinguish the debt by the payment of £150. In queues of the prevalence of this practice, the principal of the debt now existing amounts to nearly two fifths more than the sum actually advanced by the lenders. Some advantages are, however, derivable, or supposed to be derivable, from this system. It renders the management of the debt, and its transfer, more simple and commodious than it would have been had it consisted of a great number of funds bearing different rates of interest: and it is contended that the greater field for speculation afforded to the dealers in stocks bearing a low rate of Interest has enabled government to borrow, by funding additional capitals, for a considerably le payment on account of interest than would have been nece ary had no such Increase of capital been mnde. See National Debt. FUNERAL (Lat fun us), may be defined generally as the last rites performed to a deceased person, of whatever nature they may be, whether of interment, burning, em balming, . Among the ancients ceremonies of tills nature were accompanied by proce ions, and gladiatorial combats, called funeral games; and were usunlly followed, particularly where the deceased was of high rank or otherwise distinguished, by a discourse, or funeral oration, pronounced in his praise. See Sepulture, Rites or. [s. 497]