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Upon one occasion, in 1763, it is said to have advanced for this

purpose, in one week, about £1,600,000, a great part of it in

bullion. I do not, however, pretend to warrant either the

greatness of the sum, or the shortness of the time. Upon other

occasions, this great company has been reduced to the necessity

of paying in sixpences.

It is not by augmenting the capital of the country, but by

rendering a greater part of that capital active and productive

than would otherwise be so, that the most judicious operations of

banking can increase the industry of the country. That part of

his capital which a dealer is obliged to keep by him unemployed

and in ready money, for answering occasional demands, is so much

dead stock, which, so long as it remains in this situation,

produces nothing, either to him or to his country. The judicious

operations of banking enable him to convert this dead stock into

active and productive stock; into materials to work upon; into

tools to work with; and into provisions and subsistence to work

for; into stock which produces something both to himself and to

his country.