They would withdraw their deposits from the Bank; they would not assist it to stand erect amid their ruin.

But even if this were not so, even if the banks were willing to keep their deposits at the Bank while it was not lending, they would soon find that they could not do it.
They are only able to keep those deposits at the Bank by the aid of the Clearing-house system, and if a panic were to pass a certain height, that system, which rests on confidence, would be destroyed by terror.
The common course of business is this.

A B having to receive 50,000 l.

from C D takes C D's cheque on a banker crossed, as it is called, and, therefore, only payable to another banker.

He pays that cheque to his own credit with his own banker, who presents it to the banker on whom it is drawn, and if good it is an item between them in the general clearing or settlement of the afternoon.