On my return to the drawing-room, I found the ladies were just putting
away their work and preparing to go out. I asked them where they were
going. They answered with a certain air of reserve that they were going
to the bank to get some money.
Now I had already collected that the mercantile affairs of the
Erewhonians were conducted on a totally different system from our own; I
had however gathered little hitherto, except that they had two distinct
commercial systems, of which the one appealed more strongly to the
imagination than anything to which we are accustomed in Europe, inasmuch
as the banks conducted upon this system were decorated in the most
profuse fashion, and all mercantile transactions were accompanied with
music, so that they were called musical banks though the music was
hideous to a European ear.
As for the system itself I never understood it, neither can I do so now:
they have a code in connection with it, which I have no doubt they
themselves understand, but no foreigner can hope to do so. One rule runs
into and against another as in a most complicated grammar, or as in
Chinese pronunciation, wherein I am told the slightest change in
accentuation or tone of voice alters the meaning of a whole sentence.
Whatever is incoherent in my description must be referred to the fact of
my never having attained to a full comprehension of the subject.
So far however as I could collect anything certain, they appeared to have
two entirely distinct currencies, each under the control of its own banks
and mercantile codes. The one of them (the one with the musical banks)
was supposed to be _the_ system, and to give out the currency in which
all monetary transactions should be carried on. As far as I could see,
all who wished to be considered respectable, did keep a certain amount of
this currency at these banks; nevertheless, if there is one thing of
which I am more sure than another it is that the amount so kept was but a
very small part of their possessions. I think they took the money, put
it into the bank, and then drew it out again, repeating the process day
by day, and keeping a certain amount of currency for this purpose and no
other, while they paid the expenses of the bank with the other coinage. I
am sure the managers and cashiers of the musical banks were not paid in
their own currency. Mr. Nosnibor used to go to these musical banks, or
rather to the great mother bank of the city, sometimes but not very
often. He was a pillar of one of the other kind of banks, though he held
some minor office also in these. The ladies generally went alone; as
indeed was the case in most families, except on some few great annual
occasions.
I had long wanted to know more of this strange system, and had the
greatest desire to accompany my hostess and her daughters. I had seen
them go out almost every morning since my arrival, and had noticed that
they carried their purses in their hands, not exactly ostentatiously, yet
just so as that those who met them should see whither they were going. I
had never yet been asked to go with them myself.
It is not easy to convey a person's manner by words, and I can hardly
give any idea of the peculiar feeling which came upon me whenever I saw
the ladies in the hall, with their purses in their hands, and on the
point of starting for the bank. There was a something of regret, a
something as though they would wish to take me with them, but did not
like to ask me, and yet as though I were hardly to ask to be taken. I
was determined however to bring matters to an issue with my hostess about
my going with them, and after a little parleying and many inquiries as to
whether I was perfectly sure that I myself wished to go, it was decided
that I might do so.
We passed through several streets of more or less considerable houses,
and at last turning round a corner we came upon a large piazza, at the
end of which was a magnificent building, of a strange but noble
architecture and of great antiquity. It did not open directly on to the
piazza, there being a screen, through which was an archway, between the
piazza and the actual precincts of the bank. On passing under the
archway we found ourselves upon a green sward, round which there ran an
arcade or cloister, while in front of us uprose the majestic towers of
the bank and its venerable front, which was divided into three deep
recesses and adorned with all sorts of marbles and many sculptures. On
either side there were beautiful old trees wherein the birds were busy by
the hundred, and a number of quaint but substantial houses of singularly
comfortable appearance; they were situated in the midst of orchards and
gardens, and gave me an impression of great peace and plenty.
Indeed it had been no error to say that this building was one which
appealed to the imagination; it did more--it carried both imagination and
judgment by storm. It was an epic in stone and marble; neither had I
ever seen anything in the least comparable to it. I was completely
charmed and melted. I felt more conscious of the existence of a remote
past. One knows of this always, but the knowledge is never so living as
in the actual presence of some witness to the life of bygone ages. I
felt how short a space of human life was the period of our own existence.
I was more impressed with my own littleness, and much more inclinable to
believe that the people whose sense of the fitness of things was equal to
the upraising of so serene a handiwork, were hardly likely to be wrong in
the conclusions they might come to upon any subject. My feeling
certainly was that the currency of this bank must be the right one.
We crossed the sward and entered the building. If the outside had been
impressive the inside was even more so. It was very lofty and divided
into several parts by walls which rested upon massive pillars; the
windows were filled with glass, on which had been painted the principal
commercial incidents of the bank for many ages. In a remote part of the
building there were men and boys singing; this was the only disturbing
feature, for as the gamut was still unknown, there was no music in the
country which could be agreeable to a European ear. The singers seemed
to have derived their inspirations from the songs of birds and the
wailing of the wind, which last they tried to imitate in melancholy
cadences which at times degenerated into a howl. To my thinking the
noise was hideous, but it produced a great effect upon my companions, who
professed themselves much moved. As soon as the singing was over the
ladies requested me to stay where I was, while they went inside the place
from which it had seemed to come.
During their absence certain reflections forced themselves upon me.
In the first place, it struck me as strange that the building should be
so nearly empty; I was almost alone, and the few besides myself had been
led by curiosity, and had no intention of doing business with the bank.
But there might be more inside. I stole up to the curtain, and ventured
to draw the extreme edge of it on one side. No, there was hardly any one
there. I saw a large number of cashiers, all at their desks ready to pay
cheques, and one or two who seemed to be the managing partners. I also
saw my hostess and her daughters and two or three other ladies; also
three or four old women and the boys from one of the neighbouring
Colleges of Unreason; but there was no one else. This did not look as
though the bank was doing a very large business; and yet I had always
been told that every one in the city dealt with this establishment.
I cannot describe all that took place in these inner precincts, for a
sinister-looking person in a black gown came and made unpleasant gestures
at me for peeping. I happened to have in my pocket one of the musical
bank pieces, which had been given me by Mrs. Nosnibor, so I tried to tip
him with it; but having seen what it was, he became so angry that it was
all I could do to pacify him. When he was gone I ventured to take a
second look, and saw Zulora in the very act of giving a piece of paper
which looked like a cheque to one of the cashiers. He did not examine
it, but putting his hand into an antique coffer hard by, he pulled out a
quantity of dull-looking metal pieces apparently at random, and handed
them over without counting them; neither did Zulora count them, but put
them into her purse and departed. It seemed a very singular proceeding,
but I supposed that they knew their own business best, at any rate Zulora
seemed quite satisfied, thanked him for the money, and began making
towards the curtain: on this I let it drop and retreated to a reasonable
distance.
Mrs. Nosnibor and her daughters soon joined me. For some few minutes we
all kept silence, but at last I ventured to remark that the bank was not
so busy to-day as it probably often was. On this Mrs. Nosnibor said that
it was indeed melancholy to see what little heed people paid to the most
precious of all institutions. I could say nothing in reply, but I have
ever been of opinion that the greater part of mankind do approximately
know where they get that which does them good. Mrs. Nosnibor went on to
say that I must not imagine there was any want of confidence in the bank
because I had seen so few people there; the heart of the country was
thoroughly devoted to these establishments, and any sign of their being
in danger would bring in support from the most unexpected quarters. It
was only because people knew them to be so very safe, that in some cases
(as she lamented to say in Mr. Nosnibor's) they felt that their support
was unnecessary. Moreover these institutions never departed from the
safest and most approved banking principles. Thus they never allowed
interest on deposit, a thing now frequently done by certain bubble
companies, which by doing an illegitimate trade had drawn many customers
away; and even the shareholders were fewer than formerly, owing to the
innovations of these unscrupulous persons.
It came out by and by that the musical banks paid little or no dividend,
but divided their profits by way of bonus on the original shares once in
every three hundred and fifty years; and as it was now only two hundred
years since there had been one of these distributions, people felt that
they could not hope for another in their own time and preferred
investments whereby they got some more tangible return; all which, she
said, was very melancholy to think of.
Having made these last admissions, she returned to her original
statement, namely, that every one in the country really supported the
bank. As to the fewness of the people, and the absence of the
able-bodied, she pointed out to me with some justice that this was
exactly what we ought to expect. The men who were most conversant about
the stability of human institutions, such as the lawyers, men of science,
doctors, statesmen, painters, and the like, were just those who were most
likely to be misled by their own fancied accomplishments, and to be made
unduly suspicious by their licentious desire for greater present return,
which was at the root of nine-tenths of the opposition, by their vanity,
which would prompt them to affect superiority to the prejudices of the
vulgar, and by the stings of their own conscience, which was constantly
upbraiding them in the most cruel manner on account of their bodies,
which were generally diseased; let a person's intellect be never so
sound, unless his body were in absolute health, he could form no judgment
worth having on matters of this kind. The body was everything: it need
not perhaps be such a _strong_ body (she said this because she saw I was
thinking of the old and infirm-looking folks whom I had seen in the
bank), but it must be in perfect health; in this case, the less active
strength it had the more free would be the working of the intellect, and
therefore the sounder the conclusion. The people, then, whom I had seen
at the bank were in reality the very ones whose opinions were most worth
having; they declared its advantages to be incalculable, and even
professed to consider the immediate return to be far larger than they
were entitled to; and so she ran on, nor did she leave off till we had
got back to the house.
She might say what she pleased, but her manner was not one that carried
much conviction; and later on I saw signs of general indifference to
these banks that were not to be mistaken. Their supporters often denied
it, but the denial was generally so couched as to add another proof of
its existence. In commercial panics, and in times of general distress,
the people as a mass did not so much as even think of turning to these
banks. A few individuals might do so, some from habit and early
training, some from hope of gain, but few from a genuine belief that the
money was good; the masses turned instinctively to the other currency. In
a conversation with one of the musical bank managers I ventured to hint
this as plainly as politeness would allow. He said that it had been more
or less true till lately; but that now they had put fresh stained glass
windows into all the banks in the country, and repaired the buildings,
and enlarged the organs, and taken to talking nicely to the people in the
streets, and to remembering the ages of their children and giving them
things when they were ill, so that all would henceforth go smoothly.
"But haven't you done anything to the money itself?" said I timidly.
To this day I do not know exactly what the bank-manager said, but it came
to this in the end--that I had better not meddle with things that I did
not understand.
On reviewing the whole matter, I can be certain of this much only, that
the money given out at the musical banks is not the current coin of the
realm. It is not the money with which the people do as a general rule
buy their bread, meat, and clothing. It is like it; some coins very like
it; and it is not counterfeit. It is not, take it all round, a spurious
article made of base metal in imitation of the money which is in daily
use; but it is a distinct coinage which, though I do not suppose it ever
actually superseded the ordinary gold, silver, and copper, was probably
issued by authority, and was intended to supplant those metals. Some of
the pieces were really of exquisite beauty; and some were, I do verily
believe, nothing but the ordinary currency, only that there was another
head and name in place of that of the commonwealth. And here was one of
the great marvels; for those who were most strongly in favour of this
coinage maintained, and even grew more excited if they were opposed here
than on any other matter, that the very self-same coin with the head of
the commonwealth upon it was of little if any value, while it became
exceedingly precious it stamped with the other image.
Some of the coins were plainly bad; of these last there were not many;
still there were enough for them to be not uncommon. These were entirely
composed of alloy; they would bend easily, would melt away to nothing
with a little heat, and were quite unsuited for a currency. Yet there
were few of the wealthier classes who did not maintain that even these
coins were genuine good money, though they were chary of taking them.
Every one knew this, so they were seldom offered; but all thought it
incumbent upon them to retain a good many in their possession, and to let
them be seen from time to time in their hands and purses. Of course
people knew their real value exceedingly well; but few, if any, dared to
say what that value was; or if they did, it would be only in certain
companies or in writing in the newspapers anonymously. Strange! there
was hardly any insinuation against this coinage which they would not
tolerate and even applaud in their daily papers; and yet, if the same
thing were said without ambiguity to their faces--nominative case verb
and accusative being all in their right places, and doubt impossible--they
would consider themselves very seriously and justly outraged, and accuse
the speaker of being unwell.
I never could understand, neither can I do so now, why a single currency
should not suffice them; it would seem to me as though all their dealings
would have been thus greatly simplified; but I was met with a look of
horror if ever I dared to hint at it. Even those who to my certain
knowledge kept only just enough money at the musical banks to swear by,
would call the other banks (where their securities really lay) cold,
deadening, paralysing, and the like. I noticed another thing moreover
which struck me greatly. I was taken to the opening of one of these
banks in a neighbouring town, and saw a large assemblage of cashiers and
managers. I sat opposite them and scanned their faces attentively. They
did not please me; they lacked, with a few exceptions, the true
Erewhonian frankness; and an equal number from any other class would have
looked happier and better men. When I met them in the streets they did
not seem like other people, but had, as a general rule, a cramped
expression upon their faces which pained and depressed me.
Those who came from the country were better; they seemed to have lived
less as a separate class, and to be freer and healthier; but in spite of
my seeing not a few whose looks were benign and noble, I could not help
asking myself concerning the greater number of those whom I met, whether
Erewhon would be a better country if their expression were to be
transferred to the people in general. I answered myself emphatically,
no. A man's expression is his sacrament; it is the outward and visible
sign of his inward and spiritual grace, or, want of grace; and as I
looked at the majority of these men, I could not help feeling that there
must be a something in their lives which had stunted their natural
development, and that they would have been more healthily-minded in any
other profession.
I was always sorry for them, for in nine cases out of ten they were well-
meaning persons; they were in the main very poorly paid; their
constitutions were as a rule above suspicion; and there were recorded
numberless instances of their self-sacrifice and generosity; but they had
had the misfortune to have been betrayed into a false position at an age
for the most part when their judgment was not matured, and after having
been kept in studied ignorance of the real difficulties of the system.
But this did not make their position the less a false one, and its bad
effects upon themselves were unmistakable.
Few people would speak quite openly and freely before them, which struck
me as a very bad sign. When they were in the room every one would talk
as though all currency save that of the musical banks should be
abolished; and yet they knew perfectly well that even the cashiers
themselves hardly used the musical bank money more than other people. It
was expected of them that they should appear to do so, but this was all.
The less thoughtful of them did not seem particularly unhappy, but many
were plainly sick at heart, though perhaps they hardly knew it, and would
not have owned to being so. Some few were opponents of the whole system;
but these were liable to be dismissed from their employment at any
moment, and this rendered them very careful, for a man who had once been
cashier at a musical bank was out of the field for other employment, and
was generally unfitted for it by reason of that course of treatment which
was commonly called his education. In fact it was a career from which
retreat was virtually impossible, and into which young men were generally
induced to enter before they could be reasonably expected, considering
their training, to have formed any opinions of their own. Few indeed
were those who had the courage to insist on seeing both sides of the
question before they committed themselves to either. One would have
thought that this was an elementary principle,--one of the first things
that an honourable man would teach his boy to do; but in practice it was
not so.
I even saw cases in which parents bought the right of presenting to the
office of cashier at one of these banks, with the fixed determination
that some one of their sons (perhaps a mere child) should fill it. There
was the lad himself--growing up with every promise of becoming a good and
honourable man--but utterly without warning concerning the iron shoe
which his natural protector was providing for him. Who could say that
the whole thing would not end in a life-long lie, and vain chafing to
escape?
I confess that there were few things in Erewhon which shocked me more
than this.