ld exhibited by the latter was in itself but a
representative, and not the reality of property; that the gold to be
acquired _must be bought_; that all representation of wealth within a
country must be conventional in order to have any value; and further,
that however fragile the despised paper might appear, that it was by
convention and by law the representative of things more weighty and
more solid than metal--of the manufactures of the country, of its
agricultural produce, and, finally, OF THE LAND ITSELF; all which were
mortgaged for its redemption. It was in vain to talk to him of the
rates of foreign exchange in the mystic jargon of the Bourse. He knew
well, that when the Scottish mint was abolished, and the bullion trade
transferred to London, that branch of traffic was placed utterly
beyond his reach. He knew further, that the circulation of Scotland
did not ebb or flow in accordance with the fluctuation of foreign
exchanges, but from causes which were always within the reach of his
own ken and observance. All scrutiny beyond that he left to the bank,
in the solvency of which he placed the most implicit confidence; and
accordingly he dealt with it as freely and as confidently as his
father and grandfather had done before him, and laughed the theories
of the political economists to scorn. Such is no overcharged statement
of the sentiments which the Scottish customer entertains;--is he
right, or is he wrong? and how would the change affect him?

In the first place, he would receive no interest upon his deposit
account. This point we have already touched upon, when proving that
the banks would sustain great loss by the inevitable withdrawal of
their deposits; but of course the profit to the bank is one thing, and
the profit to the customer is another. An operating deposit account on
which a fixed and universal rate of interest is paid, is a thing
unknown in England. In that country, according to Mr John Gladstone, a
Liverpool merchant, and a declared enemy to the Scottish currency, the
bankers only give interest on deposits by special bargain, according
to the length of time that these deposits shall be entrusted to their
hands. This is clearly neither more nor less than permanent loan to
the bank, and, like every other private contract, is arbitrary. But an
operating deposit is a totally different matter, by which the
circulation of the bank paper is promoted, and which acquires actual
value from the frequency of