第785页 / 共2651页

With the same stock, therefore, he can, without imprudence, have

at all times in his warehouse a larger quantity of goods than the

London merchant; and can thereby both make a greater profit

himself, and give constant employment to a greater number of

industrious people who prepare those goods for the market. Hence

the great benefit which the country has derived from this trade.

The facility of discounting bills of exchange, it may be thought,

indeed, gives the English merchants a conveniency equivalent to

the cash accounts of the Scotch merchants. But the Scotch

merchants, it must be remembered, can discount their bills of

exchange as easily as the English merchants; and have, besides,

the additional conveniency of their cash accounts.