ABSTRACT
In Cromwell's time the name and fame of England and the trade of England were very great indeed. Beginning with banking, it should be remembered that it had been the custom of the London merchants, when they had any spare cash, to put it for safe keeping in the Mint. The Civil War broke out, and during its continuance any money that merchants kept in their own offices or in their own keeping, might be stolen and carried off to one side or the other by some apprentice or employee. The English banking system differing materially from banking methods of other countries. These deposits were placed with the goldsmiths for safe keeping and might be sent for at any moment: they were deposits at call. Banking with us has a very special connotation, and the leading feature in English banking is this being responsible for deposits.
