the hopes of the royal party; and it is highly probable, that if Charles had been able or willing to give him the assistance he required, he would have completely subdued Scotland to the king In this, however, he was disappointed; and at last, indeed after various successes, and some but inconsiderable losses, he was directed by that infatuated monarch to disband his troops, and to retire into France. To these commands Montrose reluctantly submitted; and finding it impossible to get to France direct, without running the risk of falling into the hands of his enemies, he took shipping at Stonehive, and got over to Bergen in Norway.

He then passed onwards to Paris to the queen, by whom, however, he was very coolly received. But Montrose did not cool'in his attachment to his master; he endeavoured to promote his interest at the court of Vienna, and in other places where his name and exploits were greatly admired; and, after the death of the unfortunate Charles, he espoused with the same energy the cause of his son. By him he was appointed governor of Scotland, and general of the king's forces there, as formerly; and having long urged the propriety of making a descent upon that kingdom, to which various objections were raised from different quarters, he at last landed in Orkney with a small force, but expecting to be joined by the country people. Here again he was deceived, and being attacked by Generals David Leslie and Strachan with a superior force, he was defeated, taken, and carried prisoner to Edinburgh.

Nothing could exceed the joy and exultation of the Covenanters at the capture of this formidable man, or the insult and reproach which were poured upon him on his being brought before the parliament to receive sentence of death. All this, however, and death itself, he bore with most unconquerable fortitude and magnanimity, insomuch that his very enemies could not help admiring him. He was executed on the 21st May 1650.

"Thus perished," says Mr Hume, "in the thirty-eighth year of his age, the gallant Marquis of Montrose-the man, whose military genius, both by valour and conduct, had shone forth beyond any which, during these civil discords, had appeared in the three kingdoms. The finer arts, too, he had in his youth successfully cultivated; and whatever was sublime, elegant, or noble, touched his great soul nor was he insensible to the pleasures either of society or of love. Something, however, of the vast and unbounded characterized his actions and deportment; and it was merely by an heroic effort of duty that he brought his mind, impatient of superiority, and even of equality, to pay such unlimited submission to the will of his sovereign."

The Marquis of Montrose was of middle stature, well made, of a good constitution, and great bodily strength. He had darkbrown hair, a remarkably piercing eye, an aquiline nose, and sanguine complexion. He had received a very liberal education, and showed no small talents for literature, especially poetry.

Review.

I-REPORT, together with MINUTES of EVIDENCE, and AcCOUNTS, from the SELECT COMMITTEE on the HIGH PRICE of GOLD BULLION. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 8th June 1810. Pp. 232, folio.

II. OBSERVATIONS on the REPORT of the BULLION COMMITTEE. By the Right Hon. Sir JOHN SINCLAIR, Bart. M. P. Author of the History of the Public Revenue of the British Empire. 2d edit. Lond. Cadell & Davies, &c. 1810. Pp. 64. 2s. 6d. III.-The QUESTION concerning the DEPRECIATION of our CURRENCY, Stated and Examined. By W. HUSKISSON, Esq. M. P. Lond. J. Murray, &c. 1810. Pp. 154.

THE science of money, notwithstanding the writings of Hume, Smith, and others of no small name, appears still to be in its infancy; for upon what other principle can we account for the various and opposite opinions which we find entertained and circulated by men of education and abilities on this intricate subject. Were the present question, however, to be determined by authority, the public would not long hesitate between that of Francis Horner, Henry Thornton, and Wm. Huskisson, on the one side, and of Sir John Sinclair and Mr Randle Jackson, on the other. But no question ought to be decided by balancing authorities. The opinions which are sanctioned by any respectable name deserve to be patiently considered, but should never be allowed blindly to regulate our sentiments. Laying aside, therefore, as much as possible, all partiality to the framers of the report, we shall endeavour to state the substance of it, as well as of the objections on the other side, to our readers; offering a remark or two occasionally as we proceed, and concluding by pointing out shortly wherein we consider the former to be defective, and the latter to be well founded.

It is almost unnecessary to mention that, for some time past, the course of exchange with the continent has been very much against us; and that the market price of bullion, being so much above the mint price, has led to the illegal exportation of our gold coin. This state of things naturally brought on the question, whether our paper-money be not depreciated? a question which the committee of the house of commons have endeavoured to solve in the affirmative; but which the bank directors, and their advocate Sir John Sinclair, have very strenuously exerted themselves to answer in the negative.

The committee set out by showing that there is no scarcity of gold to those who are willing to pay the market-price; and as

this is allowed by all the witnesses, who at the same time very inconsistently impute the advanced price to scarcity; we are satisfied that on this point the committee have the better side of the question. They, therefore, proceed to discover some other cause for the high price of bullion; of which they very properly remark that "no given quantity will ever be exchanged for a greater or less quantity of the same standard fineness." Preliminary to the main inquiry, however, they conceive it necessary to “state what appear to them to be the principles which govern the relative price of gold in bullion and gold in coin, as well as of paper circulating in its place, and exchangeable for it; and this forms the first part of the report." The object of coinage, they observe, is to secure to the people a standard of a determinate value, byaffixing a stamp, under authority, to pieces of gold which are thus certified to be of a given weight and fineness. This standard would be exactly conformable to that of gold in bullion, were it not that some loss is sustained by the detention of the gold at the mint; which has generally amounted to nearly £1 per cent. To this must likewise be added the loss which coin sustains by wear. This, at one period of our history, had amounted to a very serious evil; but at present it is provided against, within a certain limit, by statutory enactment. By the regulations of the mint, an ounce of gold, standard fineness, should be equivalent to £3: 17: 10; and the full weight of a guinea 5 dwts. 39-89 grains; this, when worn below 5 dwts. 8 grs. ceases to be a legal tender; thus admitting a depreciation of only 1-11 per cent. Another cause of depression is the inconveniency to trade occasioned by the law which prohibits the exportation of any bullion, unless an oath is taken that it has not been produced from the coin of the realm. All these, when taken together, would occasion a difference in the price of gold which might be sworn off for exportation, and gold in coin, or produced from it, of about 5 per cent.; and this, the committee conceives, would be the limit of the difference between the market price of gold and the mint price, while the bank was obliged to pay in specie.

This is illustrated by the nature of money transactions at Hamburg, where all large payments are made in bank money, consisting of actual silver of a given fineness lodged by merchants in the bank, who thereupon obtain a proportionate credit in the bank-book, transferable at pleasure. The silver being assayed. and weighed with scarcely any loss of time, nothing is lost by its detention. Neither can any loss arise from wear; and as the silver is allowed to be withdrawn and transported when necessary, no loss is occasioned by any inconvenience similar to what is experienced in this country. Accordingly, no such thing is known at Hamburg as a difference between the market and mint price of bullion; and the latter is not only the measure of all exchangeable

value, but an invariable measure; except in so far as the relative value of silver itself varies, with the varying supplies of that metal from the mines.

It is accordingly asserted that, from the rectification of our coin in the year 1773 to the commencement of the bank restriction in 1797, the difference between our market price of gold and our mint price never exceeded the limit of 5 per cent. occasioned by the conjoined operation of the expense of coinage, the depreciation by wear, and the obstruction to exportation. Since the bank restriction, however, it is contended that notes may be issued to excess; and as that excess in paper cannot be exported, nor, from its not being convertible into specie, necessarily returned upon the issuers, it remains in the channel of circulation, and is gradually absorbed by increasing the prices of all commodities. "An increase in the quantity of local currency of a particular country will raise prices in that country exactly in the same manner as an increase in the general supply of precious metals raises prices all over the world. By means of the increase of quantity the value of a given portion of that circulating medium in exchange for other commodities is lowered in other words, the money-prices of all other commodities are raised, and that of bullion with the rest. In this manner an excess of the local currency of a particular country will occasion a rise of the market price of gold above its mint price. It is no less evident that in the event of the price of commodities being raised in one country by an augmentation of its circulating medium, while no similar augmentation in the circulating medium of a neighbouring country has led to a similar rise of prices, the currencies of those two countries will no longer continue to bear the same relative value to each other as before. The intrinsic value of a given portion of the one currency being lessened, while that of the other remains unaltered, the exchange between those two countries will be computed to the disadvantage of the former. In this manner a general rise of all prices; a rise in the market price of gold, and a fall of the foreign exchanges, will be the effect of an excessive quantity of circulating medium in a country which has adopted a currency not exportable to other countries, or not convertible at will into a coin which is exportable."

The doctrine laid down in the first part of the foregoing quotation would perhaps require some explanation; but the principles and conclusions in general are incontrovertible.

The second branch of the report contains an examination of the present state of the exchange between this country and the continent; and here, we imagine, it is shown, in a most satisfactory manner, that the unfavourable state of exchange, which with Hamburg is 16 or 17, with Amsterdam 15, and with Paris 20 per cent. below par, is not, as the merchants in general who were ex,

be scarce, these bank debtors will necessarily offer a premium still higher than is given by any other dealers; so that in this way the evil will cure itself, and the money which had been taken from the bank will return to it almost immediately through the medium of its own debtors. Nay, the bank must receive more specie than it pays, since the interest on its advances cannot, it is plain, be repaid in its own paper, but in gold or silver.

Thus it would appear capable of demonstration, that while the bank shall confine its issues to discount upon real mercantile transactions, and obtain sufficient security for repayment, it is impossible either that an over-issue can occur; because, in all such cases, the notes represent commodities actually in the market, or that the bank itself can suffer any inconvenience, because it has always creditors to the extent of its notes in circulation, who must necessarily repay either by returning the paper, or by lodging specie in its stead.

This theory is perfectly reconcileable with the fact of a depreciation of our currency.

The means of subsistence is a limited fund, and, from the principle of population explained by Mr Malthus, and admitted by almost every person of information and judgment, this fund will never much exceed what is required to supply the necessities of the inhabitants of any country. Manufactures, however, with the produce of the mechanical arts, and every other article which minister to the comfort, taste, and luxury of mankind, may be increased almost without limit. And as these last are represented by the paper in circulation, it is obvious that as they are increased by industry, and the division of labour, their value, or the value of the paper which represents them, will be depreciated in comparison with the necessaries of life, which always bear nearly the same proportion to the population of the state. Nor is there any solidity in the mercantile argument, that no depreciation can take place where no paper is given away without value. The Spaniards and Portugueze have never been in the use of giving away the produce of their mines without value, yet we know well that a material depreciation has taken place in the value of these metals since the discovery of the mines in America; and this has arisen from their having become more plentiful; a cause which produces the same effect in regard to every other article.

Another cause of depreciation is the unparalleled increase of the public burdens, and of the national debt. This keeps a very large amount of paper-currency continually afloat in passing from the people to the government, and from the government to the people; an amount which has been increasing yearly, and with great rapidity, for these thirteen years past. The bank, however, suffers no inconveniency on this account. If it advances to government on the security of certain branches of the revenue, it is

just