ABSTRACT
Dr. Adam Smith probably could not be acquainted with the secret of the actual quantity of those bank notes, of the number of which he complains; he must, therefore, have taken it for granted, that they were what he terms excessive, on the ground of the price of gold being high, and the coinage great. The traders may dwell in the suburbs, and lodge many goods there, and they may carry on at home a variety of smaller payments, while their chief cash account is with the banker, who fixes his residence among the other bankers, in the heart of the city. The larger London payments are effected exclusively through the paper of the Bank of England. The Bank of England is quite independent of the executive government. The bank itself is known to have experienced, at former times, very great fluctuations in its cash.
