an erection as this. Shall I put your idea into
the Reiser's head ?"
Heins nodded a compassionate assent. Master
Peter continued,
" But I must carry my story complete. I must
get within those iron doors on the ground floor,
which look as if they were meant to shut in a
legion of devils. There is not a dyke on all your
coast that could not be forced more easily than
those doors, if they are as strong as they ap-
pear."
" They are thus strong. What defence can
be too strong for the forty millions of guilders
that are stored in the Bank of Amsterdam ?"
Master Peter observed to himself that he must
have a view of this treasure-chamber before he
left Holland ; an observation which Heins over-
heard, and treated with fitting ridicule, informing
the stranger that no foot ever crossed the
threshold of the treasure-chambers but those
of the reigning burgomasters, who were the ad-
ministrators of the Bank.
FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS/ 49
11 You say there are forty millions of guilders
in those chambers," observed Master Peter. " I
should have thought there had been more, con-
sidering how extensively your Bank deals with
all merchants who tread your quays."
Heins was far from meaning to say that the
Bank dealt only to the extent of these forty mil-
lions. It was not necessary that precious metal
should be kept to meet the presentation of bank
receipts which had expired. It was enough that
receipts in actual circulation should be conver-
tible ; and forty millions of guilders seemed to
him a rather striking amount of convertible cur-
rency, to be issued by one bank.
" You should remember, Mr. Snoek, that this
Bank is not like other banks, where merchants
may deal or not, as it pleases them. Your law
that every bill drawn upon Amsterdam, or nego-
tiated here, of the value of GOO guilders, must
be paid in bank money, obliges all merchants
trading in your country to have an account with
your Bank ; so that the amount of money in these
treasure-chambers is a pretty fair guide to the
extent of your commerce."
Heins observed that the law in question was
necessary, as, before it was made, the varying
quality of the metal currency at Amsterdam ren-
dered the value of bills of exchange so uncer-
tain as materially to injure the operations of
commerce. In a place to which money flowed
from all parts of the world, there must neces-
sarily be much dipt and worn coin in circulation.
While such coin was present, all that was issued,
F
50 FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS.
new and good, from the Mint, immediately dis-
appeared ; and to whatever extent the issue might
proceed, the merchants could scarcely obtain
enough good money to pay their bills. Under
these circumstances, the institution of bank-
money was most serviceable to the credit and
commerce of the country ; and the law which
compelled the payment of all bills of 600 guil-
ders and upwards, in such money, was only a new
evidence, in Heins's opinion, of the depth of
Dutch wisdom, and the fertility of Dutch ge-
nius. How well the experiment had answered
was proved by the willingness of all respectable
merchants to pay a premium for this bank money.
Though the difference between good coin and
the light money which was poured into Holland
at the time of the establishment of the Bank was
no more than nine per cent., the merchants had
been willing, from the very- beginning, to allow
the bank money to bear a more considerable
agio.
They might well be thus willing, Master Peter
thought, since their bank deposits were safe from
robbery, ;fire, and other accidents ; the whole city
of Amsterdam being bound for it.
" The city, though not the depositing mer-
chants, was very near losing much of its bank
wealth by fire,'' replied Heins, pointing to a part
of the Stadt-house which appeared newer than
the rest. " See how near the treasure- chamber
the flames must have approached ! Some say
that smoked guilders blacked the hands of the
receivers, so lately as twenty years back, when
FAMILY ARRANGEMENT3. 51
the Bank was called upon to make lartre issues of
coin, from the French having reached Utrecht."
" This proves either extraordinary confidence
in the Bank, or that it keeps an ample stock of
precious metal," observed Peter. " Monev can-
not be much wanted which remains smoked for
sixty years after a fire. However, your mer-
chants are wise to let money remain where it is
safe."
" Our bank-credits serve our objects as well
as cash," replied Heins ; " and if we called out
our funds in the shape of coin, every good
ducat would be worth no more than the base
money which foreigners set afloat in the market.
It answers our purpose better to sell our claim
for this money at a premium than to use the ac-
tual money; and thus the Bank preserves its
resources within itself."
7 " And more than preserves them. Your city
must derive a fine revenue from this Bank.
There are fees on deposit; fees on transfer;
fines for neglecting to balance accounts twice
a-year ; and no little profit by selling foreign coin
for more than is given for it, and by disposing
of bank-money at a higher agio than that at
which it is received. All this together must
amount to much more than the expenses of the
establishment."
Heins began to feel an increase of respect for
the foreign sailor, who seemed to know as much
of commercial concerns as if he had been a
Dutchman. He was also impressed by the tone
of confidence with which the stranger spoke of
UNIVERS! F 2
ILL
AT iiRRAWrt uriA."
52 FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS.
what improvements would be adopted from
abroad into his own country. It was strange to
hear him now pronouncing upon a national bank
as one of the necessary institutions of the Rei-
ser's new city. No commerce, he declared,
could proceed on equal terms between a country
that had stable banks and one that had not.
The advantages of a bank as a medium for the
transaction of business, as a rendezvous for the
balancing of bills of exchange, and, above all, as
a security, by the practice of discounting, against
all dangerous inequalities in the distribution of
money, were too great to be compared with
any other plan of mutual accommodation. The
Stadt-house might be rivalled as a building ; but
unless its noble banking institution was adopted,
no imitation could command such respect as the
original. The Keiser must establish a bank, or
the great city of the Neva would never rival that
of the Amstel, to whatever pitch of grandeur its
contemplated navy might attain.
Heins was so far propitiated by this speech
that he would have allowed the sailor to stand
immediately behind him when the procession
passed, if it had so pleased Master Peter ; but
his curiosity was too active to allow him to stand
stock still, as he was desired, when the unaccus-
tomed train of horsemen appeared in sight. He
laughed very unceremoniously at the portly
figures of the burgomasters, who appeared packed
into their seats in much fear of falling. The
saddles were very safely peaked before and be-
hind, while the swelling garments of the riders
FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS, 53
formed a cushion of defence on each side ; inso-
much that the question seemed rather to be how
they should contrive to dismount, than whether
there was any danger in their present position.
When their predecessors in office appeared in
one of the porticoes to receive the new potentates,
the work of dismounting began, amidst the solemn
officious help of a train of inferior personages ;
and this was the time chosen by Master Peter to
cross the open space from which the crowd had
been driven back, and make his way straight into
the interior of the building. A hundred hands
were held out to stop him, and a hundred voices
cried out upon his insolence. But these impedi-
ments only roused his passion. He appeared in
a tremendous fury for a few moments ; but, in-
stead of doing any act of violence, he looked
around him as if for some who would execute
vengeance for him. Meeting no friendly faces, he
dismissed his wrath, and made some mysterious
brief appeal to a man in authority, who, with no
further hesitation, opened a way for the stranger
into the court where the ceremony was about to
take place ; a privilege which none but the
officials connected with the Bank had ever before
been known to enjoy.
As soon as Heins had recovered a little from
his amazement, it occurred to him that that
which had been granted to a common sailor
would scarcely be refused to the partner of one
of the dignitaries ; and forthwith he too crossed
over ; he too attempted to pass through the
f 3
54 FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS.
portico. The observing people seemed at a loss
what to do this time. The hundred hands were
only half raised ; the thousand voices produced
only a murmur. The officers, however, knew
their duty. At a sign from the magistrate who
had admitted Master Peter's appeal, they inter-
posed their batons ; and two of them, seizing the
mortified merchant by each arm, conducted him
back among the crowd, followed by a frown from
Vanderput, and welcomed by grave jokes from his
less enterprising neighbours. There he was left
to murmur out his discontent, while the despised
Master Peter was witnessing the remarkable cere-
mony of the delivery of the charge of the Bank of
Amsterdam by one set of magistrates to their suc-
cessors. It was mortifying to Heins to hear from
liim afterwards the details of how the four great wax
lights were brought in grave procession, and put,
together with the Bank books, into the hands of
their new guardians ; how the massive bolts of
the treasure-chambers revolved amidst the si-
lence, and were returned to their staples when
the officials had entered ; how the time seemed
long while the examiners were comparing the
treasure with the account of it in the Bank books ;
how eagerly listened to was their declaration,
when they came out, that all was correct ; and
how solemn the oath then administered to them,
that they would faithfully discharge their office,
and guard the civic treasure. Of the aspect of
the ponderous keys every one could judge for
himself, as each of the new magistrates, when
FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS. 55
he re-appeared, wore a bunch of them at his
girdle, and probably felt that they constituted
the heaviest penance of the day.
Heins was pacing homewards, not altogether
so happy in his self-importance as when lie had
traversed the same ground a few hours before,
when he was crossed in his path by Slyk.
" Ha ! I thought you had been fifty miles
off," said Heins. " I was told you had settled
to the northward of us."
" News which may or may not be true," re-
plied Slyk, mysteriously. " I have more to say
to you thereupon. You must visit me ; — after
'Change time. After 'Change time, remember.
Fransje will entertain us well at table, if you
will sup. You will sup with us, friend .Snoek."
Francesca bent forward eagerly to enforce the
invitation, which Ileins accepted, after having
gazed at the sky with knit brows, and then
round upon the walls, as if looking there for a
record of his engagements. — Slyk believed he
was adding another inducement when he hint, d
that his discourse of the evening might bear
some relation to Heins's respected mother.
" How interesting Mr. Snoek is ! " was
Francesca's observation to her father, "as she
stole a glance after Heins. " How sad he looked
before he saw us just now ! He will never get
over his father's death."
11 Poor youth ! The cares of the world have
come early upon him," observed her father.
11 We must guide him in the disposal of his af-
fairs, and cheer his spirits, Fransje."
56 FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS.
Francesca needed no prompting to do so
gentle a service to the rich young merchant, who
might rise to be a reigning burgomaster, if he
could rally his spirits up to the point of ambition.
— She would not have despaired of this, if she
had seen the difference in the countenance of
Heins before and after meeting her. He reached
his own abode, consoled by the thought that if
society at large was yet unaware of his merits,
there was one personage of some consideration,
with a fair and lively daughter, who thought him
worth asking to supper.
Chapter IV.
WISE MEN AT SUPPER.
In such a country as Holland was at the time
of our story, the prime subject of interest to per-
sons engaged in commerce was the state of the
Exchange. By this, the merchants not only
found their own affairs determined, but were fur-
nished with an indication of the general condi-
tion of trade at home and abroad. As by the
Exchange, the debts of individuals residing at
a distance from their creditors are cancelled
without the transmission of money, the state of
the Exchange marks out clearly in which coun-
try there has been the greatest amount of pur-
chase, and in which of sale. It affords no indi-
WISE MEN AT SUPPER* 57
cation of the positive amount of purchase and
sale, because when this is nearly balanced be-
tween different countries, the exchange nearly
preserves its level; or, to use technical language,
is nearly at par. But the relative amount is in-
fallibly shown by the exchange of any country
being above or below par ; and this circumstance
serves to guide individuals in the conduct of their
transactions.
Instead of discharging debts to foreigners in
the manner taken for granted by Christian, —
viz., by transmitting money to a foreign land,
as they would to the grocer's or the wine-mer-
chant's in the next street, exporters and importers
were early obliged, by an absurd enactment
against the exportation of money, to devise some
expedient for paying each other without using
gold and silver. The most obvious way was to
set against one another the values of things
bought and sold, so that the balance was all that
remained to be discharged. When it did not
happen that the same firm at home had bought
of the same firm abroad to whom it had sold, it
was only necessary to find another firm at home
which had bought^ in the same market abroad,
and to exchange acknowledgments of debt, up
to the amount at which the respective debts
balanced one another ; and these acknowledg-
ments of debt served as money, in the same way
as the promissory notes of bankers. In 1190,
(which is the earliest recorded date of the prac-
tice of exchanging debts,) if an English mer-
chant sold 100/. worth of cider into Holland,
58 WISE MEN AT SUPPER.
and his Dutch connexion had sold to another
London merchant 90/. worth of fat cattle, the
readiest way of paying the greater part of the
debt was for the Dutchman to refer his cider-
selling correspondent to his neighbour, the im-
porter of cattle, for 90Z. : 10/. would still remain
due ; and as the Dutchman was prohibited from
sending it in gold and silver, he would look
about for some neighbour who had 10/. owing
to him from England, and would say, u I will
pay you 10/., if you will desire your debtor to
pay the same sum to my correspondent on the
other side the water." By this simple mutual
accommodation, the expense and risk of sending
large sums of money are avoided ; the postage,
and the stamp charged by government upon such
transactions, are the only cost incurred ; and the
whole process of buying and selling is simplified
to all parties.
The convenience of this method being found
great, it was improved as commerce increased,
till a market was established where merchants
might meet and make their exchanges without loss
of time, instead of having to run after one another
in search of what each wanted. The next thing
was to institute a class of persons whose express
business should be to manage these transactions.
These persons, the bill-brokers, 'can tell how
nearly the debts of different countries balance
each other ; and it is they who first purchase, and
then provide merchants with these acknowledg-
ments of debt, which circulate instead of money.
These disposable acknowledgments, called bills
WISE MEN AT SUPPER. 59
of exchange, bear a very small proportion to the
bargains between any two trading countries; be-
cause, where there is considerable intercourse,
the sales of one party generally nearly balance
those of the other. The nearness of their ap-
proach to a balance determines the price of those
bills which remain to be sold, or which are de-
sired to be bought. When bills are scarce, and
merchants have difficulty in procuring these
ready mean3 of discharging their debts, they are
anxious to pay a price for them, in order to be
spared the inconvenience of transmitting money.
A competition ensues, and it becomes generally
known that the country where the bills are scarce
has bought more than it has sold; that it owe*
more money than it has to receive ; that (to use
the technical term) the exchange is unfavourable
to that country. The reverse is known to be the
case when there is a superabundance of bills in
the market ; so that the merchants of a great
trading countrv anxiouslv watch the exchange-
market, not only to get their own debts settled,
but to learn the general condition of commerce.
In order to the immediate detection of an
alteration in the course of exchange, it was de-
sirable to have a certain fixed point of calculation
to which all variations might be referred. This
fixed point was called the par of the exchange,
and denoted, when it was first instituted, a per-
fect equality of exchange, both of goods and
money, between the trading parties. The ex-
change between Holland and Great Britain was
at par when the two countries sent exactly the
60 WISE MFN AT SUPPER.
same amount of wealth to each other. Sup-
posing ten guilders to go to a pound, the ex-
change would be at par when the Dutch exported
to England one thousand guilders' worth of com-
modities, and imported from England one hundred
pounds' worth of commodities. So that, so long
as ten guilders go to a pound, and Holland and
England exchange the same quantity of goods,
the exchange will not vary, really or seemingly,
from the fixed point of calculation. It is only
the one country exporting more goods than the
other which can really make the amount of value
due greater from one than the other : but, be-
cause ten guilders have not always gone to a
pound, more money has sometimes appeared to
be due from one than the other, even while the
quantity of goods exchanged has been precisely
the same, as computed in anything but the altered
money. When eleven guilders go to the pound,
while the par of exchange is still called ten, more
money will appear to be due from Holland to
England for the same quantity of goods as be-
fore ; and consequently, while the actual state of
trade will be exactly the same as before, it will
be declared on 'Change that the exchange has
turned against Holland ; ?". e., that Holland owes
more money to England than she has to receive.
However, merchants whose interest it is to watch
the course of exchange, easily distinguish the real
from the nominal variation, and learn to make
use of the fixed point of calculation with due al-
lowance for the difference caused by the altera-
tions in the value of money. TJiey a can ascer-
WISE MEN AT SUPPER. Gl
tain what they want to know of the general state
of commerce, in the midst of what would be, to
an inexperienced person, a deception ; and a
merchant who has, by any rare accident, been
prevented from going on 'Change, only wants to
know the nominal variation from par, and to
compare it with his knowledge of the respective
currencies of the two countries, to satisfy him-
self as to which ought to push its exports, an 1
which its imports.
The first question asked by one Dutch mer-
chant of another, in Heins's time, usually re-
lated to the exchange. It was that which his old
friend Jakob greeted him with this evening, as,
punctual to the appointed moment, he entered the
apartment where Francesca and supper were
waiting to honour and he honoured bv him. —
Heins saw at a glance that better entertainment
was provided for him than his wealthy parents
had ever thought fit to indulge him with. It had
been their method to surround themselves with
whatever was essential to comfort, and whatever
served as a good investment for their money ;
but, in all articles of mere consumption, they
had been frugal in a way which Slvk and his
daughter seemed little disposed to imitate.
While the Snoeks' cellars were full of choice
French wines and brandies, they drank beer only.
While preparing the richest butter and cheese
which their fat meadows could produce, their ser-
vants and children must be content with an in-
ferior kind, imported salt. Not thus was Jakob's
table furnished by his fair daughter. On the
G
62 WISE MEN AT SUPPER.
present occasion, it looked very tempting. Placed
between the windows, so that the eaters might
enjoy the amusement of observing the passers
by, without the table itself being seen from with-
out, one source of entertainment, always accept-
able to a Dutchman, was secure. There was no
lack of odoriferous foreign fruits, of flasks whose
aspect was not to be mistaken, or of more sub-
stantial delicacies from the native pastures and
decoys. This array was reflected from each
corner of the apartment by mirrors, so placed as
to exhibit every object within ken, from the
train of passengers on the bridge at the bottom
of the street, and the slow-moving barge ad-
vancing in an opposite direction, to the beau-pots
filled with tulips which stood on the floor in
corresponding angles of the apartment. What
made the aspect of the place the most dazzling
to Heins was, that there were four Francescas,
each differing from the other according to the
direction in which the gazer looked. Here, the
profile of the pretty face and the jewelled arm
were most conspicuous ; there, the closely fitting
jacket, and the knot of hair fastened behind with
a silver pin. Now, the bright eyes looked out
from between the two ringlets which curled
exactly to the same turn on the foreheads of all
Dutchwomen; and again, the yellow slipper was
seen to rest on the chauffe-pied, whose constant
use must infallibly spoil the form of the most
beautiful foot that ever trod the quays of Am-
sterdam. At the further end of this radiant
apartment leaned old Jakob, prepared with m.ies«
WISE MEN AT SUPPER. 63
tions about how matters looked on 'Change : in
the middle sat Francesca, deeming- it no affront
that such affairs were considered of the first im-
portance, even in her presence ; and between
them stood Heins, commercial con amore one
moment, and awkwardly gallant the next, till the
familiarity of the even in or meal enabled him to
make his attentions to the father and the daugh-
ter more compatible than it had at first appeared
possible to render them.
"Thev may talk of our commerce having
declined," said Slyk, " but there is no nation like
the Dutch, after all. Our refugee divines preach
to more purpose to us than they did in France,
about the wisdom of Solomon in his traffic with
Hiram, king of Tyre, and all the riches that bfl
gained thereby. U'e are a people obedient to the
Divine word, INI r. Heins ; and it pleases Heaven
to prosper our industry, in spite of seeming ob-
stacles. Even Solomon's wisdom was not taxed
to procure cedar and shittim wood in the face of
king Hiram's prohibitions; but we have done as
much in getting the exchange with England
turned in our favour, notwithstanding her late
jealous enactments."
Francesca was of opinion that Holland was
now under a special divine blessing for hating
received and cherished the Huguenots who had
been driven from France. Heins thought that
this opinion was countenanced by the fact that a
considerable part of the prosperity of the States
was derived from the industry of these very
refugees. On the other hand, England was also
a 3
64 WISE MEN AT SUPPER.
open to the Huguenots, and it was against
England that the exchange had turned.
This was a difficulty easily answered, Jakob
said. England was punished for her jealousy ;
for her unneighbourly conduct towards the States.
Was it not Heins's belief that a vast importation
of brandies, velvets, and jewellery from Dutch
vessels had been going on in England of late ?
" Certainly," replied Heins. " While we can
gain no more than two, or, at most, three per
cent, on our capital at home, we must invest it
abroad, even at some risk ; and this has been
done in England to such an extent that the
government there must be a little surprised at