The Girls Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 357, October 30, 1886 | Page 8

It has always seemed to me very sad that he who had
worked so long and so persistently for my success should have been
condemned to spend the last years of his life in solitude and neglect in
Scotland, while I, his child, was gradually becoming everything that his
highest ambition could have pictured; but so it was.
[Illustration: THE OLD LADY OF THREADNEEDLE STREET.
From "Punch."]
I have often wished that he had employed those last weary years of his
in writing a history of his life. I am sure it would have interested all
classes of readers, but I suppose he was too sad and out of heart. He
was forty-one years of age at the time of my birth, having been born in
Dumfries in 1658. He was one of those who may be said to live before
their time. He possessed great ability, knowledge, and experience, and
was a great traveller, yet, with all this, his life was a series of
disappointments and failures.
His great friend, Michael Godfrey, who had worked so faithfully by his
side, would, I am sure, never have forsaken him, but he was struck
down by a ball in the trenches of Namur, in 1695, while seeking the
king in my interests.

He was a great loss to me, although I was too young at the time to
estimate it fully. He has left behind him a quaint and graphic account of
my infancy, with which I shall hope to make you acquainted later on.
Should you feel any interest in him, look in St. Swithin's Church some
day when passing, and there you will find a monument to his memory,
which records that he "died a batchelour, much lamented by his friends,
relations, and acquaintances for his integrity, his knowledge, and the
sweetness of his manners."
My name "Bank," which signifies "bench" or "high seat," I derived
from Italian forefathers, who, in early days, carried on their business in
the public places or exchanges on benches.
This business of theirs consisted chiefly in being the depositories of the
wealth of rich people, and making payments for them according to
written orders, and further in receiving money from some people on
interest, and lending it to others at a higher rate. I have been told that in
their day making a profit by lending money was not considered at all an
aristocratic proceeding, and procured for those who indulged in it the
name of usurers, a word I do not like; it savours of sordidness.
From my very birth I was educated to be reliable, steady, secure, and
faithful, and to be true and just in all my dealings.
It was made clear to me that it was the lack of these qualities in the
money affairs of the kingdom which had led to the necessity of my
existence, and I was made distinctly to understand that it was only upon
my developing largely these peculiar traits of character that I should
continue the existence thus begun.
* * * * *
My education was quite different from that of other girls. I had to learn
arithmetic almost before I could speak, and the state and condition of
kings and governments were instilled into my mind as regularly as food
into my body.

There were no novels, no light literature for me, except what I could
extract for myself out of the dry material placed before me. Still, my
mind was not warped with this peculiar bringing up, and now that I am
an old woman, I think I can see that I owe this to the character of those
who governed and directed me.
Of course, this peculiar education and training kept me far ahead of
other girls, and while they were scarcely out of the nursery, and still
enjoying battledore and shuttlecock, I was seeking information, either
by reading or conversation, concerning my forefathers, position, duties,
and property.
Young as I was, I began to feel creeping over me a sense of
responsibility, and a longing to know how best to fulfil all that was
required of me. I knew that I was rich, but how did I become so? I
knew that my riches were expected to make others rich, but how? I was
always asking questions, and sometimes succeeded in getting an
answer, which served as a clue, and sent me to search old parchments
or to make comparisons.
It was some time before I could piece the scraps of information
together, but gradually I did so, and then assuredly I saw the awfulness
of my influence and position, and determined, with God's blessing, to
be a comfort and support to the widows and orphans who trusted in me,
as well as a source of strength, security, and honour