The Press. — London, England, 1856-12-20 00:00:00

DECEMBER 20, 1856. Tt wants the courtly grace and refinement which Farren used so elaborately to work into the part. The Sir Peter of Mr. Chippendale is too like a suburban " cit," yet it has merit; and this actor seems gradually working his way into the favour of the Haymarket audience. We name these two parts first because they are best performed. The Charlet Surface of Mr. Murdoch is one of that actor's least successful impersonations. He gets through the whole of the screen scene very well, but in the auction scene (which is Charles's principal one) the actor was not "up " in the manner in which that part is usually rendered. Several good points were missed, especially in the dialogue with Rowley. The Mrs. Candour of Miss Talbot is well spoken ; but the subtle irony is not given, and in place of it we have a Mrs. Candour, broadly humorous, hurling out inuendoes from behind a fan. Miss Talbot is too erushing in her Mrs. Candour, and should learn how to tickle the victims of the scandal club. Buckstone is joyous in Sir Benjamin, and Mr. Compton is as dry as chips in Crabtree. The Joseph of Mr. Howe is in many respects a meritorious performance. It is not disgustingly hypocritical, nor too sentimentalyl whining. As ordinarily played, Joseph suggests the idea of a gentleman turned Methodist. Mr. Howe cants but little in the part. On the whole, the revival of this brilliant comedy has been one of the most successful of Mr. Buckstone's undertakings at the Haymarket. One of the pleasures in seeing The School for Scandal acted is, to witness the pleasure of the audience. The piece has every merit a play can have, except originality of character, which, however, is amply atoned for by its profusion of wit. It has con• struetion, neatness, finish, a strong plot with powerful contrast, and it fulfils the end of comedy in its satirical portraiture of scandalmongers. There is only one stage "blot " in it,—" Why did Joseph leave The room while Lady Teazle was behind the screen, and Sir Peter and Charles in the same apartment with her ?" But Sheridan is fairly entitled to plead the licence of stage invention, and Joseph had reason to fear lest Lady Sneerwell would have come up, had he not gone down to her. Never, probably (with the exception of the letters of Junius), was any English composition so elaborated as The School for Scandal. When its final revisions were effected, the author wrote at the end of the copy, " Finished, thank God—R. B. Sheridan ;" and the prompter, who had been plagued with such numerous altera tions, added, " Amen—W. Hopkins." The original copy was burnt in the late conflagration at Covent Garden, but the blaze of wit in the comedy itself will ever live with the fire of genius. M. durLiEN's BENEFIT, 011 Wednesday last, attracted one of the most fashionable and numerous audience% of the series of concerts. Miss Vining, who made so successful a debut at a moment's notice at the Sacred Harmonic Society's concert on Friday week, was rapturously applauded in both her songs. Unless we are much mistaken, she will .attain a high rank among English vocalists. THE BAL MASQUE of Monday evening next, with which the concArts will close, will surpass, it is said, any performance of the kind hitherto given in Eng land. Ttloittg alathei (fit FRIDAY EVENING. THE return of the Bank of England for the week ending the 13th inst. shows the following changes compared with that for the week preceding : Decrease in Circulation .... Increase in Public Deposits Decrease in Other Deposits Decrease in Securities Increase in Bullion Increase in Rest Increase in Reserve X 541,141 429,916 254,371 560,987 206,328 10,937 698,658 Bullion iii Both Departments .... 10,892,529 Circulation, including Bank Post Bills .. The facts shown in this comparison show a position of growing strength itt the Bank, which, combined with the general prospects of the Money Market, indicate that we may congratulate ourselves upon the crisis of the last three months having been surmounted. The addition to the Bullion brings that item up to a safe but still relatively moderate amount, while the reserve of notes is increasing in a much larger proportion. The payments on account of revenue have of course assisted in diminishing the cir• eulat'.on, and the diminution in the amount of securities has had the like effect, but we have heard no complaints of the want of bank notes, and it must be remembered that the dispersion of the dividends will shortly remedy what. ever temporary inconvenience may have been felt in this xespeet. The Public Deposits are 13"000/.—an amount that at this period must place the Chancellor of the Er chequer at his ease with regard to the January dividends. We stated in our last that the Bank return, previous to the one now published, encouraged the hope of money being a little cheaper before the end of the year. The THE PRESS. present return, as already stated, shows a position which indicates growing strength ; while there is reason to be. Have that the prospects of the Money Markets of Europe in relation to this country are becoming favorable. Under these circumstances the Bank Directors, anticipa ting the prospective improvement, yesterday reduced the rate of discount from six and a half per cent., at which it was fixed on the 4th December, to six per cent. It is understood that in some quarters this policy is scarcely ap• pro fed ; it may be called precipitate ; and its justifica tion is not very obvious to those whose engagements up to the beginning of January have been formed upon the assumption that no further change would be made until after the release of a portion of the dividends. Gene rally, however, it has given perfect aatisfaction. It has already eased the market, not only by the actual reduction, hut by the amount of confidence it has inspired in the future. Revenue payments w►ll be more easily made; and commercial operations, still cautiou•ly undertaken, will be attended with more satisfactory results. indeed, if the change had not been made this week it is probable that the Bank, which at the present period has the virtual command of the discount market, would hereafter have been justly blamed for its maintenance of unneces sarily high rates. For, during the greater part of the week the market has been irregular, discounts at one time being above and at another below the Bank minimum in the open market, a circumstance not owing exclusively to the irregularity of the demand, but to the various im pressions created by a consideration of the future. The general tendency, however, was towards cheaper rates. The Bank has now confirmed this disposition, and we think the Directors have acted wisely in not deferring the change to a time when it is probable we shall have abundant arrivals of gold, in conjunction with large float ing amounts in the hands of the public seeking invest. ment. Such a time is apparently not very distant. A reduction at that period, assuming high rates to be main• tained as long as possible, must necessarily be large, and thus we should be exposed to the danger of money being suddenly cheapened, while Rome millions were waiting for employment. We need not point out the conse quences of such policy, first from inflation and then from reaction. Every commercial man can anticipate them for himself. The Directors are evidently preparing for such a period by a gradual 'process, and in this policy they cannot fail to obtain the support of all the sub stantial interests of the country. The system under which they are bound to act has nothing to do with the question ; the question is oue of prudent and wise ad ministration, and in that character few will be found to blame the motives from which the Directors of the Bank of England have acted throughout the crisis now happily ended. The discount•houses have reduced their rates to five and a quarter per cent. for money at call, and to five and a half per cent. for deposits with seven days' notice. The joint-stuck banks allow five per cent. for deposits. As already mentioned, the Money Market has been irregular. No definite rate can be stated as the charge for discounts out of doors previously to the reduction. Yet with regard to long bills there was a general desire and some competition to obtain the best—a circumstance not unobserved by the mercantile body, and one from which favorable opinions as to the future were very soon drawn. To-day there was a steady and moderate demand at the reduced rate. The Bank of France, so far as we can learn, is still increasing its stock of bullion. We have heard that it now exceeds 8,000,0001. It is, therefore, relatively in as gocd a position in this respect as the Bank of England; and provided we were satisfied with the mode adopted to replenish its vaults we should be under no adverse impressions as to its permanent improvement. We are not quite satisfied, however, with the financial prospects of commercial France at the present moment. It is suffering from the effects of unproductive speculation, and its adjunct of scarce money; and its present state is one of transition—a state - unsettled and _ necessarily , uneasy. If the position of the Bank of France becomes etrong enough, it will, after the severe lessons of the past, be inclined to afford greater assistance to trade than to the Bourse, and then we may expect commerce to improve. The Bank is upon the way to this end, but it remains to be seen whether it will be able to accom plish any speedy improvement. At present it has neither reduced the rate of discount, which is six per cent , nor does it take any but short bills. Some changes appear to be expected in both these directions on the Ist of January. What we fear is that, by being made simul taneously and also suddenly. they may stimulate the speculative temperaments of our neighbours to an undue and dangerous stage of excitement, from which there will follow a painful reaction. We fear that a good deal of capital which ought, legitimately, to be employed in commerce, may be appropriated to speculations in Ren The exchanges have taken a turn, and become a little more favorable. Specie to the value of about 300,000/. has arrived from the United States and South America dining the week. Rather more than 240,0001. of this amount was in gold, and nearly the whole of it has been taken for France and the Continent. Some weeks ago we expressed our opinion that the reduction in the rate of exchange made by the East India Company would not cause bills to be remitted sufficient to stop, or even to mitigate, the demand for silver from India. That opinion was confirmed by ad ♦ices since received; and it is practically supported by the enormous amount which will be sent ot•t by toe packet leaving Southampton to-morrow. A por tion of the gold sent to the Continent in the course of the week has been in return for silver; and we are told that, though the supplies are just enough to keep prices from rising, they must be considerably increased if an advance is to be arrested. The following are the par ticulars of the export of specie to India by the packet leaving Southampton tomorrow Silver. 1219 Alexandria Bombay £480,120 .. Madras Calcutta Gold. .. £3,150 1 . ,: . 350 Total silver £4813,085 kt,500 Add gold 4,500 Total export English Securities have been only slightly affected by the state of the Money Market, but for a time the tone of the note published in the Moniteur, on the failure of French mediation to arrange the dispute between Neuf chatel and the King of Prussia, produced a strong feeling of depression. Indeed, we cannot say that the market is yet free from political susceptibility, seeing that the Con gress at Paris is about to open, and that the Swiss question may give rite to awkward complications, while the war with Persia threatens indirectly our pacific relations with Russia. Just now there are two parties among the dealers in public securities. One, viewing all things coukur de rose, confidently asserts that the existing difficul ties and misunderstandings will be arranged almost inime. diately without doing any harm; the other, sensitive to the slightest details, and assigning undue importance to each, almost despairs of a pacific solution in the present state of European temper. These influences, combined with the usual dullness of business at this season of the year, have deadened the market, without, however, producing an actual fall in prices. Consols, which left off last Friday at 931 to lex div., closed the same yesterday. The changes in the intermediate days have been limited to somewhat less than per cent. The note in the Monitetsr, for example, depressed them from 93i to 93& ; but the redac tion in the rate of discount caused them to rally until they touched 91, which was the highest quotation of the week. During these periods opinion has been operating pretty much as we have endeavoured to describe. At present the regulating principle seems to be the Money Market almost exclusively; bat political influences may regain the ascendant to.morrow. And so we go on, everybody feeling confident that if extraneous circumstances could be effec tually put aside, there are causes in operation which must involve higher prices than can now be obtained. To-day Consols opened at 931 to /, and remained at that quota. tion until it became known that the Bank return would be favorable, and then they suddenly improved }, closing firm at 94 to I ex div. Exchequer Bills have declined 2s. The present pre mium is 3s. to 7s. Railway Shares suffered a considerable amount of depression in the early part of the week. The contango paid on Saturday and Monday for carrying over account'', high as it was, was totally lost. The decline was not caused by a pressure of sales on the part of the public— for we never remember a time when the public held their stock more firmly—but by the natural tendency of the market created by the circumstances which depressed Consols. However, yesterday there was a complete recovery, and today it was confirmed with a slight advance. In the Foreign Market the principal movement has been in the two classes of Turkish securities, both of which have fluctuated and improved with Consols and rail- way shares. Banking Securities have not been in much demand, but prices have been steady. Commercials have advanced, owing to the satisfactory explanations given at the meeting on Tuesday. In Miscellaneous descriptions the only circumstance worth special notice has been a considerable fall, and as complete a reaction, in Canadian Land Stock. The dividend being only 305., led to a little panic, but in less than two days it entirely disappeared. Mr. Herbert Taylor has been elected a director of the Commercial Bank, in the place of Mr. Oxenford, resigned. At the meeting at which Mr. Taylor's election took place, Mr. Hunter, the chairman, gave a variety of explanations as to the position of the Bank, which completely dia. posed of some late injurious rumours. The fullness and the frankness of these explanations was appreciated by the proprietors, some of whom seemed to expect only reserve and secrecy. The course adopted, however, com. pietely won the confidence of all ; and public opinion has since shown that it is completely reassured. The London Discount Company commenced business yesterday. Several new companies are announced. One is to pur chase and work the most extensive collieries in Belgium ; and another to construct a railway between Amsterdam and the Helder, via Castricum and Alkmaar. The others are of less importance. The Lords Justices have upset the decision of Mr. Commissioner Fane, who awarded a first class certificate in bankruptcy to Mr. Mark Boyd. The certificate is to be suspended five years, and then only to be of the second class, while protection is only to commence on the Ist of February next. The Trade Reports from the provinces are satisfactory. BANK OF ENGLAND. n Aocount, pursuant to the Act 7th and Rth Victors a, cap. ai for the week ending on Saturday, the 13th day of Dec., 1866. IRRIIC TFPARTMENT. "Totes issued .... 1:24,525A15 Government Debt 111,615,100 Other Securities .. 3,459,960 Gold Coin & Bullion 10050,995 Silver Bullion .... ---• £24,525,993 I 124,325,995 BANKINO DICPARTIMT. Proprietors'Capitalal4,ss3,ooo Government Seou- Rest Public Deposite 8,300 625 DeadWeightAn.) £lO 640 867' Other Deposits Seven Day k other Notes 5,823 185 Bills 433,934,311 X 33,934,311 • Including Exchequer, Commissioners of National Debt, Savings' Banks. and Dividend Accounts. _~_ ~~~