persons; for the deposit at a clearing-house necessary to settle the
balance of commerce must tend to increase as that commerce itself
increases.

And this foreign deposit is evidently of a delicate and peculiar
nature. It depends on the good opinion of foreigners, and that
opinion may diminish or may change into a bad opinion. After the
panic of 1866, especially after the suspension of Peel's Act (which
many foreigners confound with a suspension of cash payments), a
large amount of foreign money was withdrawn from London. And we may
reasonably presume that in proportion as we augment the deposits of
cash by foreigners in London, we augment both the chances and the
disasters of a 'run' upon England.

And if that run should happen, the bullion to meet it must be taken
from the Bank. There is no other large store in the country. The
great exchange dealers may have a little for their own purposes, but
they have no store worth mentioning in comparison with this. If a
foreign creditor is so kind as to wait his time and buy the bullion
as it comes into the country, he may be paid without troubling the
Bank or distressing the money market. The German Government has
recently been so kind; it was in no respect afraid. But a creditor
who takes fright will not wait, and if he wants bullion in a hurry
he must come to the Bank of England.

In consequence all our credit system depends on the Bank of England
for its security. On the wisdom of the directors of that one Joint
Stock Company, it depends whether England shall be solvent or
insolvent. This may seem too strong, but it is not. All banks depend
on the Bank of England, and all merchants depend on some banker. If