seemed quite satisfied, thanked him for the money, and began making
towards the curtain: on this I let it drop and retreated to a reasonable
distance.

Mrs. Nosnibor and her daughters soon joined me. For some few minutes we
all kept silence, but at last I ventured to remark that the bank was not
so busy to-day as it probably often was. On this Mrs. Nosnibor said that
it was indeed melancholy to see what little heed people paid to the most
precious of all institutions. I could say nothing in reply, but I have
ever been of opinion that the greater part of mankind do approximately
know where they get that which does them good. Mrs. Nosnibor went on to
say that I must not imagine there was any want of confidence in the bank
because I had seen so few people there; the heart of the country was
thoroughly devoted to these establishments, and any sign of their being
in danger would bring in support from the most unexpected quarters. It
was only because people knew them to be so very safe, that in some cases
(as she lamented to say in Mr. Nosnibor's) they felt that their support
was unnecessary. Moreover these institutions never departed from the
safest and most approved banking principles. Thus they never allowed
interest on deposit, a thing now frequently done by certain bubble
companies, which by doing an illegitimate trade had drawn many customers
away; and even the shareholders were fewer than formerly, owing to the
innovations of these unscrupulous persons.

It came out by and by that the musical banks paid little or no dividend,
but divided their profits by way of bonus on the original shares once in
every three hundred and fifty years; and as it was now only two hundred
years since there had been one of these distributions, people felt that
they could not hope for another in their own time and preferred
investments whereby they got some more tangible return; all which, she
said, was very melancholy to think of.

Having made these last admissions, she returned to her original
statement, namely, that every one in the country really supported the
bank. As to the fewness of the people, and the absence of the
able-bodied, she pointed out to me with some justice that this was
exactly what we ought to expect. The men who were most conversant about
the stability of human institutions, such as the lawyers, men of science,
doctors, statesmen, painters, and the like, were just those who were most
likely to be misled by