Let us, then, assume that some day, we know not when, it may be to-morrow or it may be generations after we are dead and forgotten, a panic _may_ come. It is said that the panic will surely be hastened if the highly-strung, emotional, fear-stricken Briton _thinks_ the gold reserve is falling too low. He may never know for certain whether or not it is too low. But in some unfortunate moment, when, perhaps, he is a little out of sorts, he may _think_ it is too low, and then it will be too late. Without staying to reason, without staying even to consider whether his disorder is physical or mental, or whether a sluggish liver has blurred his vision, he is at the bank doors before the maid has had time to bring in his breakfast. And when his mighty fists smash at those doors the doom of the nation has come. What it is necessary to do, therefore, is to calm this nervous gentleman; to talk confidently and assuringly to him, to talk about politics, philosophy, poetry, the arts, anything but banking and bank reserves, and then when he is smiling to take him out and give him a good lunch. This is John Bull as some people picture him. It may be a caricature, and John may resent it as a libel upon his traits and temperament, but we must accept it as a serious fact that some people have no faith in John Bull’s common sense. Regarding John, therefore, as a highly nervous old gentleman, who can never rest because of that bank balance of his, wondering day and night whether it is safe or not, and spoiling the peace of the household by his restlessness, what we must try to do is to convince the old man that his bank balance is perfectly safe. It may seem difficult to do this when we tell him that the bank has only £15 left of his £100; but it might be equally as difficult to set his mind at rest if we tell him that the bank has only £40 of the £100, for he will want to know where the other £60 is. Even £60 is more than John can afford to lose. Well, all that we wiseacres must do now is to have a little confab together and agree upon the amount we shall tell him the bank actually has intact of his £100. Perhaps we shall agree that £15 is much too little. Perhaps to some £20 may appear to be insufficient. After talking it over and diagnosing in the most up-to-date scientific fashion John’s nervous temperament, we agree that his nervous system can be made quite normal, as normal as our own, if we say the bank has £30 of his £100, or nearly one-third. Thanks, then, to scientific calculation we have settled this problem. John will be immune now from nervous disorders, he will be able to sleep calmly o’ nights, and will settle down into a nice, comfortable, affable old party, a perfect husband, and an indulgent parent, feeling that nothing now is wanting in the best of all possible banking worlds. Great mathematicians have assured him that the banks will never fail now they have £30 of his £100 in solid gold.