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ther, and support one another in the
days of adversity;" for being all," he
says,
"concious that not one of them
could stand what is culled in Eng-
land a RUN, he adds, that they help
one another for the sake of what is
a common cause."

Now, to begin with the first of these, wherein this writer asks, if all the admitted great property of the Scotch Bankers would prove any defence against an unreasonable panic, I answer his question, by admitting that the great landed estates of any one of our Scotch bankers would prove no such defence; as no magician among the partners could, with a wave of his wand, convert houses and lands into cash to meet such disaster; and it would be, in fact, impossible ever literally to meet it, without each bank having coffers full of gold, like Croesus, or Henry VII. but I have already shown satisfactorily, from Dr Smith, that such hoarding of great quanti ties of the precious metals is quite inconsistent with the first principles of banking; and, moreover, as I have said, and as Mr Bradwardine, at the bottom of his heart, must admit, neither the rod of the necromancer's wand, nor that of the accumulated golden stores of the King of Lydia, or of the English monarch, are, in truth, necessary in Scotland. The safety of the bankers here has a better basis than any such things can afford. It consists of that firm, compacted support, which the whole of them give to one another; so that, if demands come, which any of them may not find it easy to answer, the others supply them with their notes, with which all parties have ever been better satisfied than they would have been with the most solid gold. But what, it may be asked, would be the consequences, if all the Scotch banks together should fail? and, no doubt, the distress would be great; but the question would be just about as wise a one as that of the timid old woman, who, with not a little anxiety, said, "Oh, what if the lift shou'd fa' and smoor a' the lavrocks!" You will observe, Sir, that, in these remarks, when speaking of pressing demands on Scotch banks, I have abstained from the use of the term RUN, because, as applicable to banks, there

is, in fact, no such word at all used in Scotland, seeing that there has never existed such a thing in this country to bear the name; Mr Bradwardine himself admitting, in the passage quoted, that it is peculiar to England; and his expression, in the description of it, being, "what is in England called a Run." If an Edinburgh trades-lad were to hear of a "run," he would immediately think of the race of the pedestrian, who went to Glasgow, as fast as the mailcoach, for a wager. He never would imagine that any running was to be either to my master, Sir William Forbes's, or any other bank of this country whatever.

The remaining two propositions of the writer quoted admit the stability of our bankers, and ascribe it to the very natural causes of all stability, namely, the wealth and property which they actually possess, and the excellent credit which all of them enjoy. But it is really difficult to argue with a man who has admitted so much as this gentleman has done, and where every thing is so clear on one side as it is here. If, therefore, Mr Bradwardine shall still adhere to his extraordinary doctrine, that such a situation of affairs as that which I have detailed, and he has acknowledged, demonstrates that "there is something rotten in the state of Scotland," he must, to use the language of the phrenologists, be either deficient in the organ of conscientiousness, in contending against his own conviction,or in that of causality, which conceals from him the truth,-or he must be far more crazy than was his poor friend Hamlet, from whom, as I believe, this his expression is borrowed.

Mr Bradwardine says, our Scotch notes go far beyond York into England; and he seems thence to say, that they may too much increase the circulating medium of that country. But really this seems to be all quite frivolous; for if they do proceed so far, it is, in the first place, the best mark of the good credit of our bankers, for none of the cheesemonger-notes go so far from home; and, secondly, as small notes are our only topic now, it must be admitted, that, except a few to bear the expense of journeying, none else of that description go into

England; and if one mail-coach carries them a few stages south, probably that of the next day brings them northward again; for they leave not the high road, as I understand, and do not mingle with the country of England at large.

It is certain that Scotch notes are of very little use in London. It is true, that a few Scotch gentlemen, who frequent the British coffeehouse, and are about going north, may receive them, but that is quite trifling, and all others in the metropolis avoid them. I well remember once, in the course of my travels, getting somehow into the possession of a London footman, who offered me at every shop in his neighbourhood, but all to no avail. When the poor fellow was fully persuaded I was no more than a piece of waste paper, and about to light a candle with me, it occurred to him to show me to his master, an eminent city attorney, and he brought him to the Scotsman who writes this for me, who was at the time in London. A golden guinea was instantly given for me in exchange to the servant, who, as it was unexpected, received it most joyfully, while my secretary told him,-"I wish I had a 'cart-load of these notes; I would give you half a-dozen of carts-load of gold for them;" which surprised the Londoner still more. This was quite true; the story owes nothing to imagination, and must aid in quieting English fears that our Scotch currency interferes with their circulation.

In the course of the parliamentary debates, a fact was alluded to, which, if unexplained, may improperly produce a wrong inference. It was said that Lancashire prospers, though there is no paper currency made and issued in that county. Now the statement is too general: for there is a paper currency both made and used there, and great benefit arises from it, though it is admitted that it is not formed of bank notes. A great part of the population of that extensive manufacturing district consists of persons who are employed at the great factories, cotton-mills, and others; and it is well known that the way in which matters are arranged there, is, that the owners of them have large stores of all kinds of

provisions of victuals and clothing, and that the workers are paid regularly, not in money, but in printed paper orders on the keepers of those stores, for whatever they may require, and up to the amount of their labour; the same plan being followed, for conveniency, at the great mills of Mr Owen, within a mile of Lanark, in our own country. Now, is not this a paper currency, though of a ruder and more imperfect kind than bank-notes, which go current into whose hands soever they may come, and are confined to the walls of no great manufactory whatever?

There is one thing in which I cannot possibly agree with Mr Malachi, and I have a far better opportunity of knowing the matter than he. He says, that the possession of gold is more apt to subject its holder to theft and robbery than the having of bank-notes; but this, in truth, is not so. From experience I know, that notes in general are more frequently stolen than guineas; because a pocket-book, which contains the first description of money, by being generally put into the coatpocket, is more easily laid hold of by a thief than a purse, which, by being deposited in the cellar of the breeches pocket, is commonly put out of the reach of the nimble hand of even a Filch himself, with all his alertness. But the question here relates, in truth, not to notes in general, but to small notes; and a Scotch guinea note, in the hands of a thief, is just as valuable to him as a golden guinea; it is of as ready a currency; and he is as free from detection in issuing the one as the other; because, whatever may be done as to the greater Dons of hundred pounders and others, the numbers of us trifling persons, the small notes, are never taken. Some of these observations apply more particularly to the exercise of the more dexterous science of pocket-picking; but all of them are equally applicable to the bolder adventure of robbery-properly so called; for, to resort to Mr Malagrowther's own instance, I have myself been robbed once and again from cattle-dealers, coming from fairs, and I passed from the foot-pads just as easily as if they had been the first gentlemen of the country, and I one

of the best-bred golden guineas: but, Sir, you must remember the famous robbery and murder of poor Begbie, the porter of the British Linen Company, a good many years ago; after which, it appeared that the robber had thrown away, into a field at Bellevue, the large notes of his booty, which he abstained from circulating through fear of detection, but that he had kept the small ones, having, as to them, no such dread. Now, I am well acquainted with the whole fact, for having had a very particular intimacy with a British Linen Com pany Note at that time, as we lay along side of one another one day, he told me the whole story. Sir, I am aware, that while Malachi and I are generally on the same side in the business, I ought not, perhaps, to fight with him about this, as the ignorant game-cocks did with one another, though they had one common feeder, who was carrying them to support the same interest at a distant cock-main; but I am desirous of being, in every respect, held to be equal to my brother of gold, and I will not yield to him, even in what some might call a defect, while the existence of the deficiency proves virtually that I am as good as he, and worth twenty-one shillings, as well as he is. Sir, I will never give up to gold one iota of respectability. On the contrary, I say, that greater respect lies with us of paper than with it, because the very existence of us always denotes that we belong to rich and commercial countries. I could show you, that bank, and bankers' notes, universally prevail where trade and manufacturers flourish, but are seldom found in barbarous and back-going countries; and this I could demonstate, by a contrast on this point between Venice, Genoa, Florence, Amsterdam, and Britain; with Turkey and Spain; keeping in remembrance, that when the banditti in Gil Blas brought in their ravished treasure, it consisted of pis toles, and not of paper. We have no such vermin in this blessed land as those; but if we had a captain Rolando and his gang, they would be just as happy to lay hold of me and my brethren as they were of the Spanish shiners.

This subject has been already much

discussed, I meant to have added a eulogium on cash accounts, which Mr Hume, with much praise, remarks as peculiar to Scotland. But that matter is now trite; and by a learned disquisition on exchanges, I intended to have shewn, that gold when brought to this country, could no more remain in it, than it would do if the guineas were all placed on a smooth, inclined plane, with its upper part at Zetland, and its lower extremity at London, when they would speedily roll southwards; but our friend, Mr Malachi, has anticipated me on this head, by his apt quotation from Mrs Glasse's works, remarking in the outset, as he does after her, that the first step towards the dressing of a hare is to catch it ; meaning thereby, of course, that gold must be first brought into Scotland before it can be used here; but he might have carried his allegory a little farther, and added, that after this hare of ours is skinned and roasted, however wonderful in natural his tory it might be, yet she would cer tainly spring into life again, and run away; that when caught anew, she would do the same, and repeat the same thing again and again; she being more sly and agile than any witch ever was, who, as frequently happens, had taken the shape and appearance of that animal.

And this, Sir, leads me to a very important enquiry, in which almost all the rest of the discussion must centre; namely, What would be the effect, in Scotland, of substituting a gold instead of a paper-currency? I will explain it, in telling you an anecdote:-During the last war, an English militia corps were quartered at Piershill Barracks; and their officers were mere John Bulls, who, to use a Fife expression, had seen few towns but Torryburn. When they came to arrange about their mess, they told the messman, an acquaintance of mine, that they must have a regular supply of bustards at din ner. Boniface was a Norlan", and had never heard of such things in his life.

"Bustards! bustards!" said he, "What are they?" "They are," answered the Solomon of a major, "charming birds; sold every day in the markets both at Salisbury and Cambridge;-pound weight for

pound weight, they are as cheap as your partridges, and we must have them from you once or twice a week." "Have them!" said my friend, "but where am I to get them?" "Get them!" replied the other, "you must just get them the best way you can; but have them we must." "Weel, weel," said the Suttler," they that will to Cupar will to Cupar, but mind you'll have to pay soundly for them before I can put them on your table; for do ye think, suppose they may be as cheap as patricks in their ain country, they can be brought north hereawa, and no be ony dearer? Ye're a' fond o' nice north-country Finnan haddocks, but think ye that I can coff them as cheap, to serve you, in the Auld Fish-market Close o' Edinburgh, as I wou'd do on the plain steens o' Aberdeen?" A correspondence was accordingly instituted with the South, and bustards were sure enough got for a month or two, but the first settling of mess-accounts put an end to furnishing them; and the gentlemen soon found, that it was wisdom to be satisfied with what Scotland could afford.

It is necessary, however, now to be grave; and the application of our illustrations, which we now are approaching, renders us as naturally so as the perusal of his book of bad debts did old Rapid in the Road to Ruin. The excellent notes of our substantial bankers are the produce of our own country, manufactured by ourselves, and deriving, from the signatures of the opulent men who sign them, such credit, as turns paper at once into valuable cash. But gold is not the produce of our own country: it is a foreign article, heavier, and of more difficult conveyance, than the bustards, and if the use of it is forced on us instead of that of notes, it too must be as severely paid for as they were. But let us calmly look at what would be the consequence of this. It would totally change every thing for the worse. A golden sovereign, when rising beauteously from the London mint, as Venus of old did from the Ægean Sea, is worth exactly twenty shil

lings; but travelling is dear, and he might incur one shilling of expence before reaching Edinburgh, and another shilling before arriving in the north of Scotland: he would then have cost in all twenty-two shillings, and he could be got for no less, so that it would have cost all, at least, that I, a guinea-note, am worth, and one shilling more to purchase him, though, in reality, he would never go for more than twenty-one shillings".

Now, these things would have two effects: first, they would make money scarcer than before, and thereby depress the spirit and adventure, and through them the trade and manufactures of the coun try; and, secondly, they would al ter the value of all commodities, to the ruin of many, and the confusion of all.

For the first of these effects of the scarcity of money we have the authority of Mr Hume: "A nation (says he) whose money decreases, is actually at that time weaker and more miserable than another nation, who possesses no more money, but is on the increasing hand."-" In every kingdom, on the other hand, (he says,) into which money begins to flow in greater abundance than for merly, every thing takes a new face; labour and industry gain life; the merchant becomes more enterprising, the manufacturer more diligent and skilful, and even the farmer follows his plough with greater alacrity and attention."

As to the second consequence, it would distressingly change the value of all things, as I shall proceed to shew: A sovereign, worth in Lon don twenty shillings, and which in Scotland can never pass for any more, has, in truth, as I have shewn, cost, say twenty-two shillings'; and whether in the hands of the importer, or any other person, it has never been got for less: now observe the effects of this on all existing engagements, whether for immediate implement or of lengthened duration. To begin with the last, suppose a tenant is to pay his rent of £.500 ayear; he must do it in sovereigns,

These are mere statements for the sake of illustration, there being no intention to state them as actual rates.

VOL. XVIII.

3 H

which have actually cost him £.550,
and thus his rent is raised on him
one-tenth part. Suppose, again, a
country gentleman with a family,
having a fine estate, which he
had been considering well worth
£110,000; that he has £.100,000
of debt; and that he has been form-
ing the rational plan of a sale, by
which he would, as he expected, be
enabled to pay off the debt and have
£.10,000 Sterling as a snug compe-
tence to his widow and children: in
consequence of the change of the
currency, it is clear that they must
be all left destitute, because he must.
now pay in sovereigns, and the
amount of them necessary for an-
swering his debt alone could not be
got a farthing under his whole
£110,000 of old value.

Let us now see what effect the change would have in another point of view. As specific money-rates are fixed for the taxes, would not the alteration of the currency have, in so far as regards the people, the effect of at once raising them all ten per cent.? Because, as they must be paid, not in notes, but in sovereigns, all persons liable in them must just expend one-tenth more of either substance or labour than formerly, to enable them to meet them. According to the common saying, a spade is a spade whatever name may be given to it, and if a man's annual expenses are increased by a Government regulation one-tenth, it is of no consequence what you call the nature of the augmentation. Let us suppose, therefore, that our rulers, instead of loading us with ten per cent. yearly in that way, from the change of currency, should lay on that amount of additional annual taxes, what then would we think? and yet this is in fact the same thing. Suppose that, during this profound peace, under the head Budget, in the newspapers, should be announced ten per cent. additional to all the taxes, what would the patriotic Joseph say to it, and what will he say to this, which is just as bad when he comes to advert to it? There is besides this difference, which is still so much farther against the proposed change, that instead of the evil having arisen out of some advantage, or supposed advantage, derived

to the country from the new loan, on the contraction of which the additional tax has been imposed, no benefit would arise on the occasion of the increase of burden through the change of currency to any others than carriers, the owners of steamboats and underwriters, in insuring and bringing of gold into the country; unless it should be to bullionmerchants abroad, who would have just so much better a market by furnishing gold for a circulating medium, to a quarter where formerly almost none was used.

And here, I am aware, an objection may be started against these latter views, which will be soon seen to be more imaginary than real. It may be said, that the small notes only are to be supplanted by gold, and not the larger ones; that when the tenant alluded to comes to pay his rent, or the country gentleman his debt, he would do it in larger notes, which had remained the same as before, and that therefore these persons would be no sufferers-but all this would be quite erroneous. The change in the value of the currency, by the abolition of the small notes, and substituting gold for them, would at the same time alter the value of the large notes, as a ten-pound note or a hundred-pound note would then denote just ten or a hundred sovereigns; and any man desirous to pay a large sum, in great notes, would, before he could procure them, have ten per cent. to give, of either work or property, more than he would have done before the currency had undergone the change. It is in vain, therefore, to say that the proposed alteration would have but a limited influence. It is clear that it would change the rate of all things, to the great vexation of the country.

These views of large transactions have more reference to the rich. The protection, however, of the poor is professed to be the great object of the proposed change; and a few more remarks remain to be made on this part of our subject regarding them, in addition to what was formerly stated. The poor never thrive but when the rich prosper; and we all remember the great misery of the country labourers soon after the arrival of peace, when the

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