Anoperationofthiskindhas，withinthesefive—and—twentyorthirtyyears，beenperformedinScotland，bytheerectionofnewbankingcompaniesinalmosteveryconsiderabletown，andeveninsomecountryvillages。Theeffectsofithavebeenpreciselythoseabovedescribed。Thebusinessofthecountryisalmostentirelycarriedonbymeansofthepaperofthosedifferentbankingcompanies，withwhichpurchasesandpaymentsofkindsarecommonlymade。Silververyseldomappearsexceptinthechangeofatwentyshillingsbanknote，andgoldstillseldomer。Butthoughtheconductofallthosedifferentcompanieshasnotbeenunexceptionable，andhasaccordinglyrequiredanactofParliamenttoregulateit，thecountry，notwithstanding，hasevidentlyderivedgreatbenefitfromtheirtrade。Ihavehearditasserted，thatthetradeofthecityofGlasgowdoubledinaboutfifteenyearsafterthefirsterectionofthebanksthere;andthatthetradeofScotlandhasmorethanquadrupledsincethefirsterectionofthetwopublicbanksatEdinburgh，ofwhichtheone，calledtheBankofScotland，wasestablishedbyactofParliamentin1695;theother，calledtheRoyalBank，byroyalcharterin1727。Whetherthetrade，eitherofScotlandingeneral，orthecityofGlasgowinparticular，hasreallyincreasedinsogreataproportion，duringsoshortaperiod，I
donotpretendtoknow。Ifeitherofthemhasincreasedinthisproportion，itseemstobeaneffecttoogreattobeaccountedforbythesoleoperationofthiscause。ThatthetradeandindustryofScotland，however，haveincreasedveryconsiderablyduringthisperiod，andthatthebankshavecontributedagooddealtothisincrease，cannotbedoubted。
ThevalueofthesilvermoneywhichcirculatedinScotlandbeforetheunion，in1707，andwhich，immediatelyafterit，wasbroughtintotheBankofScotlandinordertoberecoined，amountedtoL411，11710s。9d。sterling。Noaccounthasbeengotofthegoldcoin;butitappearsfromtheancientaccountsofthemintofScotland，thatthevalueofthegoldannuallycoinedsomewhatexceededthatofthesilver。Therewereagoodmanypeople，too，uponthisoccasion，who，fromadiffidenceofrepayment，didnotbringtheirsilverintotheBankofScotland:
andtherewas，besides，someEnglishcoinwhichwasnotcalledin。Thewholevalueofthegoldandsilver，therefore，whichcirculatedinScotlandbeforetheunion，cannotbeestimatedatlessthanamillionsterling。Itseemstohaveconstitutedalmostthewholecirculationofthatcountry;forthoughthecirculationoftheBankofScotland，whichhadthennorival，wasconsiderable，itseemstohavemadebutaverysmallpartofthewhole。InthepresenttimesthewholecirculationofScotlandcannotbeestimatedatlessthantwomillions，ofwhichthatpartwhichconsistsingoldandsilvermostprobablydoesnotamounttohalfamillion。ButthoughthecirculatinggoldandsilverofScotlandhavesufferedsogreatadiminutionduringthisperiod，itsrealrichesandprosperitydonotappeartohavesufferedany。Itsagriculture，manufactures，andtrade，onthecontrary，theannualproduceofitslandandlabour，haveevidentlybeenaugmented。
Itischieflybydiscountingbillsofexchange，thatis，byadvancingmoneyuponthembeforetheyaredue，thatthegreaterpartofbanksandbankersissuetheirpromissorynotes。Theydeductalways，uponwhateversumtheyadvance，thelegalinteresttillthebillshallbecomedue。Thepaymentofthebill，whenitbecomesdue，replacestothebankthevalueofwhathadbeenadvanced，togetherwithaclearprofitoftheinterest。Thebankerwhoadvancestothemerchantwhosebillhediscounts，notgoldandsilver，buthisownpromissorynotes，hastheadvantageofbeingabletodiscounttoagreateramount，bythewholevalueofhispromissorynotes，whichhefindsbyexperiencearecommonlyincirculation。Heistherebyenabledtomakehiscleargainofinterestonsomuchalargersum。