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PASSENGER DUTY-PATENT AND PATENT LAW

are levied, in transit for a locality outside the limits of the place, or on their way to a market inside the town, and to be taken back if unsold. The amount of the dues is deposited at the gatehouse on entering, and is reimbursed on presentation of the passe-debout on leaving. If the amount of the octroi tax is large the escort of an officer from one extremity of the town to the other may be obtained on payment of a fee in lieu of the deposit of the duty. Goods remaining more than twenty-four hours must be lodged in a registered warehouse.

T. L.

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PASSENGER DUTY. See TAXATION. PASSY, HIPPOLYTE PHILIBERT (1793-1880) born at Garches-Villeneuve near Saint Cloud, died in Paris. He was born on the very day of the execution of Marie Antoinette (16th October), his father being in prison as "suspect," and his mother in hiding. He began life as a soldier-left his military school in 1811, and took part in the Russian campaign as a cavalry officer. He was wounded on several occasions, and on one even left for dead; but he took part in 1814 in the defence of Paris at Montmartre. Leaving the profession of arms, he sailed for the United States. During the voyage the Wealth of Nations fell, by chance, into his hands. To pass the time he read the volume, and thus became an economist. His fine intellect served him well in the many high offices he afterwards held. Meanwhile, after his return from America he occupied himself for some ten years in cultivating an estate which he had inherited near Gisons (Eure), and his mind became matured by experience while he enriched it by study. As editor of the National of Armand Carrel he was appreciated as he deserved by the able men of various descriptions whom the revolution of 1830 brought to the surface. The district of Louviers returned him to the chamber of deputies. He was minister of finance from the 10th to 18th November 1834 (ministry of Bassano), then minister of commerce from 22nd February to 7th September 1836 (ministry of Molé), minister of finance again from 12th May 1839 to 29th February 1840 (ministry of THIERS). In 1844 he was raised to the chamber of peers. After the revolution of February 1849 had overthrown the monarchy, he became a member of the constituent assembly and afterwards of the legislative assembly; finally, the president of the republic, Louis Napoleon, made him minister of finance on 20th December 1848. He retained this post till 30th October 1849, the date when the prince-president began distinctly to modify his policy. It was during this last occasion of his holding office that he unsuccessfully proposed to levy a tax on the rent of house property as a practical solution of the income-tax. The coup d'état definitely put an end to his political career, and from that time

He

he gave himself up absolutely to economic science. He entered the institute (Académie des Sciences morales et politiques) in 1833 as correspondent, and in 1838 as member. prepared in that capacity many reports, among which may be noticed a paper in 1878, De l'histoire dans ses rapports avec les sciences sociales et politiques. A member of the economic society from 1844, he became its second president in 1845, and, on the death of Ch. Dunoyer in 1862, the first president. He was one of the founders of the statistical society of Paris in 1860, was vice-president in the second year, president in 1868, and honorary president after 1873. In all these learned societies his opinion had great weight; this was due both to his force of character and to his twofold gifts as a thinker and a practical man.

Passy wrote, besides his political works: De l'aristocratie considérée dans ses rapports avec les progrès de la civilisation, 8vo, 1826.—Des systèmes de culture et de leur influence sur l'économie sociale, 8vo, 1st ed. 1846, 2nd ed. 1853.-Des causes de l'inégalité des richesses, 18mo, 1849.-Des formes de gouvernement et des lois qui les régissent, 8vo, 1st ed. 1870, 2nd ed. (The author supports a constitutional and parliamentary monarchy.)

A. C. f.

PATENT AND PATENT LAW.* Patent, p. 74; Historical Observations on Patent Law, p. 75; Specification of Invention, p. 75; Requirements as to Validity of Patent, p. 75; Ditto as to Person of Patentee, p. 75; Investigation by Patent Authorities prior to Grant of Patent, p. 76; Duration of Patents, p. 76; Regulations as to Fees, p. 76; Provisions for insuring working of Invention, p. 76; Provisions for insuring benefit of inventions useful for public purposes to Government Authorities, p. 77; Patent Journals and Patent Libraries, p. 77; International Arrangements, p. 77.

Patent is the name for a grant by the government of a country of a privilege enabling the patentee or his licensees to "make use and exercise and vend" the invention, and to restrain any unauthorised person from using or imitating it. A patent is always granted for a limited time and a limited area.

Some economists of authority, among whom PRINCE SMITH (q.v.) holds a prominent place, maintain the proposition that the grant of patents is detrimental to the public welfare, but there is now a general consensus of opinion in the opposite direction, it being recognised that it is not only just that inventors should, within certain limits, enjoy a personal benefit from their inventive skill and labour and outlay, but that it is also beneficial to the community that inventions should be encouraged and made.

Modern patent law has contrived numerous safeguards for the protection of the public, among which the limits of time, and the requirements as to publicity, are the most important. The effect of the law is to make the invention public property after the expiration of the patent, and an inventor who has reason to

PATENT AND PATENT LAW

believe that the secret of his invention can be kept, is in a better position if he does not apply for a patent.

It is worthy of notice that in most countries having a patent law there are certain provisions which are intended to insure that patented articles should be manufactured within the country in which the patent is granted. The granting of patents in this way acts as a protection to native industry.

Historical Observations. It is generally said that patent law was first created by a passage in the statute of James I. abolishing MONOPOLIES (q.v.), which, by way of exception, reserved a right to the crown to issue "letters patent . . . for the term of fourteen years or under . of the sole working or making of any manner of new manu. facture within this realm to the true and first inventor and inventors of such manufactures," and one of the best-known writers on the subject (Kohler in his Deutsches Patentrecht, on p. 26) is of opinion that the industrial pre-eminence of England is essentially due to this circumstance. It seems hardly safe to accept the dictum of a legal writer, however eminent, for a proposition of such startling character, and it must also be observed that the statute of monopolies did not create, but only restricted and regulated, the right of the crown to grant patents.

The exception in the statute of monopolies did not, moreover, entitle an inventor to the grant of a patent as of right, but left him dependent on the favour of the crown.

Its principal importance is due to the fact that, for the first time, it recognised a clear distinction between patents for inventions and other monopolies, whilst on the other hand the public interest, which would seriously suffer if patents were granted for an unlimited period, was safeguarded by the introduction of a time limit.

In modern law the right of every inventor, who complies with certain conditions, to enjoy a monopoly for a limited period is almost universally acknowledged, though in some countries (as, for instance, in Denmark, where the first Patent Act was passed in 1894 only) the recognition of this principle is of very recent date. The patent law of the United Kingdom is regulated by the act of 1883. Patent acts were also introduced in the following British colonies and possessions at various dates:-Barbados, British Guiana, British Honduras, Canada, Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, Hongkong, India, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Mauritius, Natal, Newfoundland, New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, South Australia, Straits Settlements, Tasmania, Trinidad, Victoria, Western Australia.

Specification of Invention.-The grant of a patent is always subject to the condition that the invention should be fully described by the applicant. This is made specially clear by the United States Statute, Rev. Stat., 1874, § 4888; and by the German Statute of 1891, § 20, which requires a description so explicit that experts may by its perusal be enabled to use the invention. The law of the United Kingdom allows a provisional specification to be filed in the first instance, which

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must, however, within nine months, be followed by a complete specification (Patent, etc., Act, 1883, §§ 5 (3); 8).

Requirements as to Validity of a Patent.-The limits within which inventions are patentable vary in different countries. Novelty, originality, and fitness for industrial purposes are required everywhere, and it is also the universal practice to exclude articles intended for unlawful and immoral purposes (see, for instance, Statute of Monopolies, § 6; French Statute of 1844, §§ 1 and 2; German Statute, § 1; Austrian Statute of 1897 (which will come into force in 1900), § 1, but in some systems of law other articles are excluded as well as those just mentioned. Thus the French Statute (§ 3) excludes all medicines, and the German Statute (§ 1 [2]) excludes articles of food, articles intended for medical purposes, and all substances produced by chemical process.

Most patent laws protect inventions only as distinguished from discoveries (as to the meaning of the distinction, see Lord Justice Lindley's judgment in Lane-Fox v. Kensington and Knightsbridge Electric Company [92], 3 Ch. 424, 428, 429), but the French law protects discoveries as well as inventions (toute nouvelle découverte ou invention), excluding, however, plans and combinations relating to credit and finance (French Statute, §§ 1 and 3).

Requirements as to Person of Patentee.-In most countries patents are granted to the "true inventor" only, and in some (e.g. in the United States Revised Statutes, 1874, § 4892) the applicant must declare on oath that he is the true inventor; whilst in others, such as Austria (see Austrian Statute, §§ 29 and 4), the first applicant is presumed to be the true inventor until the contrary is proved. The expression 'true inventor" is not, however, always construed literally. Thus, in the United Kingdom it includes (1) a person who, having, in a place outside the United Kingdom, become acquainted with an invention, not being part of the common knowledge in the United Kingdom, brings it over to the United Kingdom, and then takes out a patent; (2) an inventor forestalled by a prior inventor, who did not publish his invention so as to make it part of the common knowledge (see the judgment of Jessel, M.R., in Plimpton v. Malcolmson, 3 Ch. D. 351, 556).

The German statute (§ 31), with the view of discouraging delay in the fructification of useful inventions, puts the first applicant into the place of the true inventor, subject, however, to the right of an injured person, within a specified period (see § 23), to object to the grant on the ground that the essential part of the specification was taken from the descriptions, drawing, models, or appliances of a person other than the applicant, without the consent of such person. If the objector is successful, he may be put into the same position as if he had applied for the patent in the first instance.

In most countries patents are granted without regard to the nationality of the patentee (see, for instance, Patent, etc., Act 1883, § 4 (1); French Statute, § 27), but in Germany (§ 12) and Austria (§ 7) a patent is not granted to a foreign applicant unless he appoints an agent, residing in the country in which the application is made, with full powers to represent the applicant in all

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PATENT AND PATENT LAW

proceedings relating to the patent. In some systems of law it is also provided that the subjects of foreign states must submit to the same disabilities in respect of the grant of patents as those imposed on foreign subjects in their own country (see, for instance, German Statute, § 12; Austrian Statute, § 31).

Investigation by Patent Authorities prior to Grant of Patent. This is one of the points in respect of which considerable diversity prevails. In France a patent is granted without any examination as to the patentable character of the invention in respect of which it is claimed, or of the correctness of the specification ("Les brevets dont la demande aura été régulièrement formée seront delivrés sans examen préalable aux risques et périls des demandeurs et sans garantie, soit de la réalité de la nouveauté ou du mérite de l'invention, soit de la fidélité ou de l'exactitude de la description," § 11).

In certain other countries, among which the United States, Germany, Austria, and Hungary (statute of 1895) are the most prominent, a most elaborate investigation takes place not only in respect of the correctness of the description and all formal requirements, but also as regards the merit and originality of the invention, and generally as to its patentable character (United States Revised Statutes, § 4893; German Statute, § 21; Austrian Statute, § 55).

A second method of testing the validity of 2 patent adopted by the German and Austrian laws, is the publication of the details of the application for the purpose of enabling objectors to oppose the grant, which they may do within two months from the date of the publication (German Statute, §§ 23 and 24; Austrian Statute, § 58).

British Patent Law takes a middle course between the absolute non-interference of the French system and the full inquiry of the American and German system. The official examination is confined to questions as to the correctness of the description and the completeness of the specification (Patent, etc., Act 1883, §§ 7 and 9), but as in Austrian and German law the details of the invention are published (ib. § 10), and objectors have a right to be heard within two months from the date of the advertisement. Such objections are, however, restricted in their scope, and may not extend to every ground affecting the validity of the patent (ib. § 11).

It is possible everywhere to have a patent revoked or declared void on the ground that the invention was not patentable, but in Germany this right is barred after the lapse of five years from the date on which the grant of a patent was publicly announced (Patent, etc., Act 1883, § 26; United States Revised Statutes, § 4918; German Statute, S$ 28 and 29; Austrian Statute, §§ 28 and 29; French Statute, § 30); it should, however, be borne in mind that, in countries in which a strict examination takes place before a patent is granted, the risk of invalidity is, of course, much smaller. The vendor of a patent does not as a general rule guarantee its validity unless he expressly covenants to do so.

Duration of Patents.-The maximum duration of patents is fifteen years in France, Germany, and

Austria, seventeen years in the United States, and fourteen years (but subject to extension as mentioned below) in the United Kingdom (French Statute, § 4; German Statute, §7; Austrian Statute, § 14; United States Revised Statutes, § 4884; Patent, etc., Act 1883, § 17), but in France and in the United States the duration of patents for inventions previously patented in any other country cannot exceed the term of the patent granted in such other country (French Statute, § 29; United States Revised Statutes, § 4887).

In Spain, original and new inventions not previously patented in any other country are entitled to patents for the term of twenty years; if an invention has been patented in other countries at a date not more than two years prior to the date of the Spanish application, the maximum duration of the patent is ten years; and if an invention is not new or not original, the term of the patent may not exceed five years (Spanish Statute of 1875, § 121).

The United Kingdom is the only country in which an extension of the term of a patent may be obtained on petition. The petition must be addressed to the judicial committee of the privy council, who, if they are of opinion that the patentee, having regard to the merits of the invention in relation to the public, has been inadequately remunerated by his patent, may recommend an extension of the term for a further period not exceeding seven, or in exceptional cases fourteen, years (Patent, etc., Act, § 25, and see "In re Samey and Solvay's Patent [1895]; Appeal Cases 78). A similar rule formerly existed in the United States, but is now no longer in force (United States Revised Statutes, § 4924).

Regulations as to Fees.-The continuation of the validity of a patent is generally made dependent on the payment of certain fees. In most countries these fees are payable by instalments or annually. In some countries the early instalments are lower than the subsequent ones, for the purpose of enabling the patentee, in the case of a non-successful invention, to abandon the patent without having paid a large sum in fees, and on the other hand enabling the crown to profit by the success of a successful invention (Patent, etc., Act 1883, second schedule). The principle of progressive fees is carried out most consistently by the German Statute (§ 8). Power is given in most countries to remit the fees in appropriate cases (Patent, etc., Act 1883, § 24 (2) German Statute, § 8).

Provisions for ensuring Working of Invention. -The granting of a patent may be a hindrance to industrial life, if the patentee, through want of energy or want of means, neglects to work his invention, whilst others, who would be willing and able to do so, are afraid of infringing his rights. A patentee may also take out a patent for the sole object of restraining competition with articles not manufactured in the country in which the patent is taken out, and thereby injure the trade of that country. Modern patent law tries to prevent such abuses in various ways. Thus in the United Kingdom the board of trade may compel the patentee to grant licenses on reasonable terms to any person showing that the patent is not worked in the United Kingdom, or cannot be used to the

PATENT AND PATENT LAW-PATENTE

best advantage, or that the requirements of the public cannot be supplied (Patent, etc., Act 1883, § 22); and in Germany and Austria the patent may, under similar circumstances, be cancelled altogether (German Statute, § 11; Austrian Statute, § 27). In Austria a compulsory license may also - subject to certain specified conditions. be obtained by an inventor who has so materially improved a previously patenteed invention, that, in consequence of such improvements, its industrial importance is materially increased. In such a case, however, the original patentee may in his turn obtain a compulsory license in respect of the improvement (Austrian Statute, § 21).

Provisions for ensuring benefit of Inventions useful for public purposes to government authorities. -The British statute (§ 27 [2]) provides that the authorities administering any public department may, on terms agreed upon between the parties, or in case of necessity to be fixed by the treasury, use any patented invention for the services of the crown, and similar rules exist in Germany and Austria (German Statute, § 1; Austrian Statute, § 21).

The German statute also provides (§ 23) that in the case of applications for patents on the part of the imperial authorities in connection with the purposes of the army or navy, a patent may be granted without the public announcement required in ordinary cases. In such a case the patent is not entered in the register (German Statute, § 23). Patent Journals and Patent Libraries.-All patent offices publish periodical information on inventions, which, besides serving their immediate purpose, are also generally useful. The collections and libraries which in many places (e.g. in London) exist in connection with the patent office are open to the public.

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International Arrangements.-An international congress for the purpose of securing the general protection of "industrial property including patents was held at Vienna in 1873 and at Paris in 1878, and resulted in the formation in 1883 of a "Convention pour la protection de la propriété industrielle," to which the United Kingdom acceded on the 17th of March 1887 (by virtue of the powers conferred by Patent, etc., Act 1883, § 103). The United States and a number of other states, including France and Belgium, are members of the convention; but Germany and Austria have not joined, these countries having entered into a separate arrangement in 1891, and another arrangement having been made between Germany and Italy in 1892. The principal provisions of the convention of 1883 are: (1) that an applicant for a

patent in any contracting state shall, if applying

within six (or in certain specified cases within seven) months in any other contracting state, be treated as if his application in such other state has been contemporaneous with his application in the first-named contracting state; (2) that temporary protection shall be given to articles patenteed in any contracting state and exhibited at any officially recognised public exhibition in any other contracting state; (3) that an international office shall be established at Berne, and that a journal called Propriété industrielle shall

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be published at such office. The publication of the last-mentioned journal seems to be the most important result of the convention.

Great Britain has authority to enter into mutual arrangements relating to patents with any British colony (Patentee Act 1883, § 104). [For Patents Act 1907, see PATENT, Appendix.]

The most complete collection of patent laws is the one published by Gareis, and continued by Werner, of which 7 vols. have hitherto appeared. Carpmael, The Patent Laws of the World, 2nd ed., 1889, is somewhat out of date now. Edmunds and Renton, The Law and Practice of Letters Patent for Inventions, 1890, gives a summary of foreign patent laws, but is also somewhat out of date in that respect. The latest statutes, besides the abovementioned Austrian statute of 1897, are a Russian statute (published in St. Petersburg in German), a Danish statute of 1894 (published in German in Berlin), and a Hungarian statute of 1895.

E. S.

PATENTE (Fr.) A trade tax or license imposed on all persons in France exercising a trade, profession, or industry, unless specially exempted. The patente is distinct from the license, which is limited to a small number of trades, generally those under the supervision of the department of indirect taxes, corresponding to the English excise. Trades subject to the license usually pay the patente also. The patente was first established in 1791, when the trade corporations were abolished, and was a substitute for the dues paid by those bodies. It was at first a simple tax on the rental of the place of business and residence, and applied only to certain trades, but in 1798 it was extended and converted into a double tax-one fixed, the other proportional. A law of 1844 which forms the basis of the present legislation included all trades, professions, and industries with the exception of public functionaries, professors, writers, artists, the wage-earning classes, and certain petty occupations carried on without hired assistance. The fixed duty (droit fixe) is assessed on the nature of the trade or industry, and the population of the locality, increasing with the number of the inhabitants. portional duty (droit proportionnel) is based on the rental, and in addition, in some cases, on the number of hands employed. Certain trades, the importance of which cannot be estimated by the population or the rental, are taxed on their means of production, such as the number of spindles, looms, ovens, machines, etc., or, as for shipowners, the tonnage of their vessels. The taxes are combined so as to equalise the incidence as far as possible between the different trades, as some of the most lucrative are carried on in small offices or workshops, while others, in which the profits are small, require extensive premises. For the application of the fixed duty all trades and professions are divided into eight classes. In the highest, the rate in Paris and towns with a population of over 100,000, is 400 francs (£16), descending gradually to 35

The pro

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PATERSON, T.-PATERSON, W.

francs (£18:4) in localities with less than 2000 inhabitants. In the lowest class the limits are 12 francs (9s. 10d.) and 2 francs (1s. 8d.). The liberal professions subject to the tax, such as those of architect, solicitor, barrister, doctor, etc., pay only a proportional tax of onefifteenth of the rental. Persons carrying on several branches of trade in the same building formerly paid only on that on which the tax was the highest; but a law passed in April 1893 with the view of protecting small shopkeepers from the competition of the great stores, created special taxes for those employing more than 200 hands including clerks, assistants, buyers, porters, etc., which are made to pay on each branch or speciality not exceeding sixteen in number; the tax on the number of hands employed was also made progressive, commencing at 25 francs per head for the first hundred, and increasing 10 francs (8s. 11d.) per head for each hundred beyond that number, so that with 2000 hands the last hundred pay 215 francs (£884) per head, and with 3000 315 francs (£12: 8:4). This aggravation of the tax was intended to reach two or three wellknown business centres in Paris.

Persons having several separate establishments of the same or different kinds pay the patente for each. The proportional tax on the rental is generally from 5 to 10 per cent, but in some cases it rises to 15 per cent, or descends to 2 per cent. If the proprietor does not reside on the premises his separate habitation is taxed also. The classification of trades and professions is revised every five years, to include the new ones which may have sprung up in the interval. The list is, however, very comprehensive, and contains about 1500 different occupations. The new are assimilated provisionally to the one they approach the nearest. The patente produces about £5,000,000 annually.

[Edouard Vignes, Traité des Impôts en France.Maurice Block, Dictionnaire de l'Administration.— Duvergier, Collection des Lois.]

T. L.

PATERSON, THOMAS (1828-82), wood carver, lecturer, and organiser of workmen's clubs, wrote

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A New Method of Mental Science with applications to Political Economy, published posthumously in 1886. His theory was that "in economical problems the physical and mental elements have to be differenced. . . if we apply to the physical and limited element reasonings only applicable to the mental elements or vice versa... we shall fail." Thus "labour" includes "force and "plan": no limits can be set to the possible progress of plan. Possession is physical or mental: if the latter, it need not involve interference with other people's user, or the juristic idea of property. The modern employer was a labour-seller not a leader, and Paterson's ideal was "a co-operative society in which the fittest should lead, working as much for honour as for pay."

J. D. R.

PATERSON, WILLIAM (1658-1719), mer. chant, was the founder of the BANK OF ENGLAND (q.v.) and author of the unfortunate Darien scheme (see DARIEN COMPANY). He was a vigorous opponent of inconvertible paper money, and appears to have suggested the SINKING FUND (q.v.) of 1717. His scheme for the redemption of the debt was pronounced by the Economist (October 23, 1858) "faultless." He was one of the earliest advocates of FREE TRADE, as opposed to the MERCANTILE SYSTEM. "There is not any one part of trade but might and would prosper better without than in a monopoly." "Trade is and will be capable of increasing trade, money of begetting money, and one improvement of making way for another, till the end of the world.' His pro

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posal for a council of trade is in several respects noteworthy. Among the powers to be given to this body were "to hear and determine all relating to trade . . . by the law merchant and that of the sea": to purchase and build workhouses and granaries: to have power to add unto, or allow 10 per cent to, the joint stocks of all companies . . . for manufactures... and generally to give such other encouragements... as they shall think requisite for promoting and enlarging trade and industry." Paterson further proposed that the punishment of death in cases of theft shall be changed to "the payment of fourfold," and that all "bribery, cheating. . . wilful bankruptcy or fraud" should be punished as theft. He strenuously opposed any tampering with the coinage. "Thus it happened: we tacitly determined, by our general practice, that a clipped coin was of equal value to an unclipped one. being content to take halves for wholes, were put upon accordingly. If the disease be the inequality of our coin, the remedy must consist in its equality." He held enlightened views on the self-government of colonies, and proposed to found a public library for books on trade. He was ruined by the failure of the Darien company, but received, in 1715, a parliamentary grant of over £18,000. Paterson's memory and works were rescued from prejudice and obscurity by the indefatigable labours of Mr. S. Bannister.

and so,

The Writings of William Paterson with Biographical Notices, by S. Bannister, 3 vols., 2nd ed. London, 1859, 8vo, contain his authentic works. These include, Central America in 1701 (publ. by Bannister 1857).—Proposals of a Council of Trade, 1701, 12mo.-A proposal to plant a Colony in Darien, 1701.- Dialogues upon the Union at the Wednesday Club in Friday Street, 1706 and 1717. The latter are also Upon the redemption of the National Debt and Taxes.— Bannister ascribes to Paterson Letters to J. Locke on Remedy for Diseases incident to Coin, 1696, but throws doubt on the Conferences on the Public Debt by the Wednesday Club in Friday Street, 1695, mentioned by M'Culloch in Literature of Political Economy. The account of the proceedings in

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