"Moreover," went on John Law, calmly, "there is this further benefit to
be gained, as I am sure my countryman, Mr. Paterson, has long ago made
plain. It is not a question of the wealth of England, but a question of
the confidence of the people in the throne. There is money in abundance
in England. It is the province of my Lord Chancellor to wheedle it out
of those coffers where it is concealed and place it before the uses of
the king. Gentlemen, it is confidence that we need. There will be no
trouble to secure loans of money in this rich land, but the taxes must
be the pledge to your bankers. This new Bank of England will furnish you
what moneys you may need. Secure them only by the pledge of such taxes
as you feel the people may not resent; give the people, free of cost, a
coinage which they can trust; and then, it seems to me, my Lords and
gentlemen, the problem of the revenue may be thought solved simply and
easily--solved, too, without irritating either the people or the
Parliament, or endangering the relations of Parliament and the throne."

The conviction which fell upon all found its best expression in the face
of Montague. The youth and nervousness of the man passed away upon the
instant. He sat there sober and thoughtful, quiet and resolved.

"Gentlemen," said he at last, slowly, "my course is plain from this
instant. I shall draw the bill and it shall go to Parliament. The
expense of this recoinage I am sure we can find maintained by the
stockholders of the Bank of England, and for their pay we shall propose
a new tax upon the people of England. We shall tax the windows of the
houses of England, and hence tax not only the poor but the rich of
England, and that proportionately with their wealth. As for the coin of
England, it shall be honest coin, made honest and kept honest, at no
cost to the people of old England. Sirs, my heart is lighter than it has