And this brings us to the enquiry, whether the present note circulation of England is as extensive as would be consistent with the stability of our monetary system. It is generally well understood that it is for the advantage of the nation that the unrepresented paper issues should be carried as far as is compatible with their perfect convertibility and security. Every note issued in lieu of gold is obviously equivalent to the creation of so much additional capital; for as it withdraws a gold coin from circulation it enables that coin to become capital, while the note itself discharges the functions of a medium of exchange as efficiently as the coin for which it has been substituted. And from this it clearly follows that unrepresented notes should be issued for every gold coin in the country, with the exception of what is actually required for securing the convertibility of those notes. Whether this point has or has not been reached in the case of the English issues, will depend on the proportion that subsists between the total extent of the gold currency and the amount required as a domestic and foreign reserve. For making this comparison we have no precise data that can be relied on for perfect accuracy, but we can make a rough approximation that will answer our purpose sufficiently well. According to the computation communicated by a late Governor of the Bank of England to the Committee of the House of Commons on Commercial Distress, and which received the sanction of his official approbation, the gold currency of England and Wales may be estimated at from £40,000,000 to £60,000,000, and the silver at £7,000,000 or £8,000,000. It may be observed, that there does not seem to be any excess of silver, as the difficulty of procuring a sufficient quantity for the payment of wages in most of the large towns, is at particular seasons very considerable. On the other hand, the extent of the gold currency, at first sight, appears immoderately great. Assuming £50,000,000, or the medium estimate, to be correct, the metallic currency would be more than three times the amount of the average circulation of unrepresented notes; or even taking £40,000,000 as the more reliable computation, the proportion would still be very nearly three-fold. Or to present the same idea in different words, an average circulation of £15,000,000 of unrepresented notes, is a very small proportion of a total average currency of £55,000,000.