instead of preventing, as it easily might, money panics—viz., the fear of not being able to get money-increases the mischief, from its policy of limitation.

In the Appendix to "Lombard Street," Mr. Alderman Salomons, in his reply to the Chairman of the House of Commons' Select Committee, in 1858, confirms this view, although he made the statement to prove the contrary: 1146.-The Chairman: "The effect upon the London and Westminster Bank of the pressure in November, 1857, was, I presume, to induce you to increase your reserve in your own hands, and also to increase your deposits with the Bank of England? "Yes, that was so; but I wish to tell the Committee that that was done almost entirely by allowing the bills of exchange which we held to mature, and not by raising any money or curtailing our accommodation to our customers." Yet Alderman Salomons admits that between the 11th of November and the 31st December, 1857, the bank strengthened itself by allowing bills to the value of £5,000,000 to mature; that is to say, they added to their own reserve by "not discounting for bill brokers, as heretofore, to the extent of five millions of money in seven weeks," -a most serious withdrawal of accommodation from the commercial world by one bank. Mr. Salomons fails to see, by allowing bills to mature-remaining quiescent, as he puts it-to enable the bank to meet any demand that might be made on it, that virtually, by this action, instead of helping the commercial world, this bank withdrew from commerce its usual support to the extent of five millions of money. Mr. Salomons in his evidence admitted that the opinion was "thoroughly engraved in the minds of the commercial world, that whenever you have good security it ought to be convertible at the Bank of England in some shape or way; and he said he had great doubt indeed whether the Bank can ever take a position to refuse to assist persons who have good commercial securities to offer." There cannot be two opinions upon this subject. To save individuals from ruin, to save the nation from suffering, to protect the capital of the kingdom from unnecessary loss, a change of owners, manufacturers and tradesmen having good bills to offer for discount, or good security to borrow

upon temporarily, ought to be free from any apprehension, free from any doubt, that at their own bankers, or at the Bank of England, or in some way, there are facilities and means for discounting the bills, or getting the " money" needed to carry on the commerce of the country.

The limitation of the Bank Act must be removed. There is no reason why the limit should be fifteen millions; whilst there is every reason why the Act should be altered and the sum enlarged. There is no necessity for a fixed sum. All we want is security for the notes issued the same as now enforced by the Act, and similar to the prudent action of the Metropolitan Board of Works, which, collecting a great revenue in London, has an account at the London and Westminster Bank, for which that bank makes a deposit of Consols as a security. It is a great error of judgment to rely upon suspension of the Act to save us; such actions damage the national credit. Besides, why should we repeat the risks of the past? Mr. Pitt, in 1797, feared that he might not be able to obtain sufficient specie for foreign payments, in consequence of the low state of the Bank reserve, and he therefore required the Bank not to pay in cash-said they must not; and from 1797 to 1819, the period of the Bank restriction, as it is called, the Bank did not pay its notes in gold-in reality, a suspension of payment; which was nearly repeated in 1825, when only coin was a legal tender, and the Bank had reduced its reserve to £1,027,000. Except for the "letter of licence " by the Government in 1847, 1857, 1866, it is doubtful if they could have kept on; although no one doubted ultimately that the Bank of England would always pay 20s. in the £ to every creditor and shareholder; but the law is, that it pay its notes in gold on demand. On Nov. 13, 1857, however, the banking reserve was reduced to £957,000, and the Bank only kept open through the suspension of the Act, and the "letters of licence" from the Government enabling them to borrow from the currency reserve, which was full, in aid of the banking reserve, which was nearly empty. This crisis taught the directors a lesson, and they have since taken the proper steps to avert such a catastrophe-viz., raising the Bank rate in good time, and adopting Mr. Goschen's recommendation to raise the rate

ɔy steps of 1 per cent. at a time when the object of the rise was to affect the foreign exchanges. The elevation of the rate of interest is the Bank's safety-valve. It has a double action; it lessens the demand for, and increases the supply of, money; and experience has proved that loanable capital, like every other commodity, comes where there is most need of it, where it will be best paid for. When the Bank raises its rates, or as soon as the rate of interest shows that it can be done profitably, continental bankers and others instantly send large sums here.

I quite agree with Mr. Bagehot that what we want is the "national" system-Government to be the "issue department," and to leave bankers alone; so that instead of, as now, relying on one bank, there would be many banks of equal or not altogether unequal size. In all other trades competition brings the traders to a rough approximate equality. Banking should be free, a republic with many competitors of a size or sizes suitable to the business. At present we have a constitutional monarchy, one it would be unwise to overthrow; as the credit of the Bank of England has grown with its growth, and could not be re-constructed. But it would be wise of us to gradually prepare a system, so that the banks would keep their own reserves, and rely upon themselves, instead of leaning on the Bank of England, which in its turn depends on the aid of the Government for help in a crisis.

INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS.

ARE there causes of success and failure? Can money be made by earning it, by saving it, by wisely investing it? Yes; there is no higher mission than to teach men, all men, the practical lesson that if they want anything in this world they must learn how to earn it. To acquire excellence in anything, you must work—work persistently, unceasingly. There is an idea general enough that talent is best left alone to sink or swim, but I fear many sink who might be worth the saving. The soul may perish from a sheer lack of a spoonful of soup in the mouth. Look at the vast mass of people in every country under the sun, century after century, struggling to live; born, as it were, only to know the pangs of life and death, and of nothing more. Methinks that human life is, after all, like a human body with a fair and smiling face, but all the limbs ulcered and cramped and racked with pain. No surgery of statecraft has ever known how to keep the fair head erect, yet give the trunk and the limbs health. Why? Because the attempt has never been made earnestly; for the nation could, as easily as the individual, weather all difficulties if they had pluck and patience enough to overcome them. But it is of the utmost importance that men should see that the fault is in themselves, and that our teachers should perceive that what is wanted is a motive-power to draw out what is good in people; for there is a great deal more good than is generally supposed. Why is it that men remain pigmies when they might be giants? "Man, do thy own work, and know thyself" (Plato). To make money, to be successful, it must be taught as a fact that to achieve success in any calling, every man, each in his place, must put his hand to the work as if he was working for his very life, and from a sense of honour, built upon self-reliance and self-help. To succeed, one must carnestly strive as a trader, not for the mere gain, as a doctor, not for the fees, as a statesman, not for popularity,-but from the sincere desire and firm

resolution to succeed in doing your duty in your calling; earnestly striving at the same time for the welfare of others. Is there a more miserable object than the man who has become so absorbed in the desire for wealth, so selfish in his views, that he is the slave of his own selfish desires, thereby depriving himself of all the higher pleasures his nature is capable of? A real man will toil amid obstacles, struggle against impediments, allow neither wrath nor despair to slacken his energydetermined to succeed. In fighting against a false system, or in denouncing the blighting curse of an unsound practice, one needs the tenacity and will of Hercules to cleanse the Augean stable. Such men are upheld with their disgust at the folly, as well as foulness, of any immoral system that, to their clear minds, is as loathing as it is unnecessary,―upheld because their efforts are not for the mere pursuit of gain, but a desire for the triumph of truth and virtue. "A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart" (Swift). Talents are like vigour of body, they demand to be used. You need not desire to be rich, but all need to live; so all should be able to earn a competence, and be prudent enough to provide for a rainy day. The sluggish brook, gathering its stagnant waters from miry swamps and malarious quagmires, cannot be blamed because it is not a strong, sparkling, enterprising river, giving joy wheresoever it flows. To improve the brook, we must remove the cause of its sluggishness, and give vitality to its waters. So, to get men from being the unstable, dawdling, shallow-minded beings they are, we must give them an interest in life that will move within them the spirit to be better, and have nobler objects and aims in life, than heretofore. Once set the ball rolling, who can say when it will stop? Men will be led to follow their fellows when they see the beneficial effect of continuous, persistent effort in the direction for good; and the world will not be so weary, when men see that to all, by the laws of God, is vouchsafed a consummation of desire even in this world; that reward is not withheld here below, if the proper means be taken to realize the same. Oh, for the time when the majority will not have to stand without, and look through barred gateways at the light and warmth which shines for others, but never for them! To achieve this result, men must be taught so as to comprehend clearly that