872 THE NATURE AND CAUSES OE

two years were induced to accept in lieu of them South Sea Stock to the amount of eleven and a half years’ purchase of theannuities, together with an additional quantity of stock equalto the arrears which happened then to be due upon them. In1720, the greater part of the other annuities for terms ofyears both long and short were subscribed into the same fund.The long annuities at that time amounted to (56(5,821/. 8$.3^r/. a year. On the 5th of January, 1775, the remainderof them, or what was not subscribed at that time, amountedonly to 136,453/. 12$. 8 d.

During the two wars which begun in 1739 and in 1755,little money was borrowed either upon annuities for terms ofyears, or upon those for lives. An annuity for ninety-eightor ninety-nine years, however, is worth nearly as much moneyas a perpetuity, and should, therefore, one might think, be afund for borrowing nearly as much. But those who, in orderto make family settlements, and to provide for remote futu-rity, buy into the public stocks, would not care to purchaseinto one of which the value was continually diminishing; andsuch people make a very considerable proportion both of theproprietors and purchasers of stock. An annuity for a long-term of years, therefore, though its intrinsic value may bevery nearly the same with that of a perpetual annuity, willnot find nearly the same number of purchasers. The sub-scribers to a new loan, who mean generally to sell their sub-scription as soon as possible, prefer greatly a perpetual annuityredeemable by parliament to an irredeemable annuity for along term of years of only equal amount. The value of theformer may be supposed always the same, or very nearly thesame; and it makes, therefore, a more convenient transferablestock than the latter.

During the two last mentioned wars, annuities, either forterms of years or for lives, were seldom granted but as pre-miums to the subscribers of a new loan, over and above theredeemable annuity or interest upon the credit of which theloan was supposed to be made. They were granted not asthe proper fund upon which the money was borrowed; butas an additional encouragement to the lender.

Annuities for lives have occasionally been granted in twodifferent ways ; either upon separate lives, or upon lots oflives, which in French are called Tontines, from the nameof their inventor. When annuities are granted upon sepa-rate lives, the death of every individual annuitant disburdens