book long out of print contains some new matter, especially
two chapters by Mr. F. H. Allan on the effects of the war upon Scottish banking. The Bank of Scotland was incorporated by the Scottish Parliament in 1695, at the same time as the ill-fated Darien Com- pany, whose promoter, William Paterson, was the founder of the Bank of England. It is curious that the natiosal shrewdness which was manifested in the founding of the Bank should have been so conspicuously absent from the Darien scheme. The author is frank about the mistakes—to use a mild word—that have been made by some Scottish bankers, but he is justified in commending the prudence and enterprise of his profession as a whole. The book throws many sidelights on Scottish history. It is curious to read of the Edinburgh bankers, when Prince Charles Edward was occupy- ing the town and the English troops were in the Castle, being allowed to pass the lines so that they might fetch gold from the Castle to exchange for their own notes in Jacobite hands. That was, indeed, trading with the enemy.
Previous page
