The Sun. — London, England, 1869-02-01 00:00:00

THE HEALTH OF THE NAVY A riue-book Iraq published on naturcuty mania, containing a statistical abstract of the health of th , British Navy for the twelve months ending June 30,186' . Dr.- Alexander Mackay, whose introductory report is date: Jan. 15, 1869, states that during the period referred to the health of the navy may be considered to have bee:. very satisfactory. Compared with the average taken for a period of twelve years, there was a reduction in the ratio of cases entered on the sick list in the total force equal tc 144'2 per 1,000, and of mortality to the extent of 31 per 1,000. There was a fractional increase in the ratio of inva liding. All these ratios were slightly higher than those of the preceding twelve months, which were, however, the lowest that had occurred during a period of eleven years. The total force employed during the twelve months is estimated at 50,160, but the total number of cases entere, on the sick list was 64,997, which is in the ratio of 12'957 per thousand of mean force. The highest ratio, of cases were on the East Indies and Cape of Conti Hope stations, the west coast of Africa, China, and the Pacific, in the order named, the lowest being on the home and Mediterranean stations, and in the irregular force. The excess in the case of the. East Indian squadron is attributed to the nature of the duties devolv ing upon the vessels employed in the Red Sea in connec tion with the Abyssinian expedition. The ships on tl:is station, not so employed, were, as a rule, very healthy. A table shewing the average ratios of cases of disease and injury in the various classes of vessels, exhibits the ironclads in a very favourable light, the ratio in them being considerably lower than in any of the rated vessels, and lower than in the sloops, gun-vessels, and gunboats. The total number of deaths during the year was 558, of whom 420 were occasioned by disease, and 138 by wounds, injuries, and drowning. The total death rate was 11 per 1,000, which is below the average rate of mortality of the total force, taken for 12 years, to the extent of 31 per 1,000. TRADE AND FINANCE. The discreditable disclosures in reference to the collapse of Overend, Gurney, and Co. (Limited) will certainly tend to prolong the period of distrust and to postpone the return of confidence. It would be out of place to pass an opinion upon any part of the case now that the whole affair will be investigated before a proper tribunal. We cannot but remark, however, the deplorable state of commercial morality which the evidence exhibits. Such persons as Mr. E. W. Edwards will always be found in their proper atmosphere, but it is evident that persons of the highest credit were well aware of the state of affairs at the time of the transfer of the interest of the old firm to the limited company. The " Corner House " was held in great esteem, and no adverse rumours were able to affect its currency ; and, notwithstanding the frequent warnings given, the commercial world still trusted to their leading Louse. It now appears that the " Corner House" was the receptacle for all the bad and doubtful bills of London, and we may presume that a proportionate rate of discount was charged. The very fact of the directors caving paid so large a sum as £20,000 to Mr. Edwards convinces us that they were knowingly acting in contradic tion to the laws, and that they were aware that the information gleaned by Mr. Edwards as official assignee of the Court of Bankruptcy should not have been made use of in his private capacity. The supply of capital in the discount market is on the ncrease, owing to the payment of the dividends. There is also a larger quantity of bullion on passage to this country. From Australia we have advices of shipments to the extent of 2800,000, while the steamers from New York are bringing about £310,000 on English account. Some relief, however, may be obtained by the introduction of the new Turkish Loan, now £0 long talked of, and by the issue of the new shares of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. There is also an amount of £2,000,000 on account of the Intercolonial Railway of Canada still outstanding. The union of England and Australia by means of a telegraphic cable bids soon to become an accomplished fact. Yesterday the prospectus of the British and Indian Submarine Telegraph Company (Limited) was issued, the object of which is to lay a line direct from Suez to Bombay. The prospectus of a competing ine is understood to be in course of preparation, and may be issued to-night. It appears strange that two companies should ooze at one and the same time, to con tend for the telegraphic traffic to the East, but the commercial world have every reason to congratulate themselves on the result. As soon as the lines are completed &o Bombay, it is understood to be the intention of the directors to extend the communication to Australia and New Zealand. The latter colonies have for some time post been labouring under the want of more expeditious means of communication with the mother country, which these companies will pro. )ably supply. There is a great advantage attending the two proposed lines. They will, with the exception of the lortion through France, be worked entirely by English clerks. Oa the present telegra:)ll to India—which has Jecome notorious for it 3 delays and mitt ust wor thiness— che greater part is in the hands of foreign operators, and, owing to their natural apathy and to the numerous translations and retranslations required, very little reliant.. can be p'ace , l on the messages icceived. From these strictures, however, that portion of the line which is worked by Engli,4ll c'Erks—namely, from Mussendom, nr, the sh res of the Pers'an Gulf, to India—should be re lieved, rs t!.e staff there has always Droved an efficient (EC. There is v.- y t'e of into. est t:) petite in trade ',elle rally. Silk, however, has presented some very iaipertant features of late. Owing to the extravagance of fashion, high-class European silks were constantly on the advance in the early part of 1863 ; while Asiatic and inferior descriptions, being neglected, retrograded in value to an almost similar extent. The high rates current naturally restricted consumption, and the quotations again gave way until the whole advance obtained was lost. We fear that importers will be serious losers by the fluctuations which have occurred. It is to be hoped that some change will speedily take place in the character of the trade, which will allow of a more eNtended U3C of inferior qualities, and bring the quotations for them more into harmony with the value of other descriptions. The range in prices between inferior Asiatic and best European silks is greater now than was ever known before. Mr. James Greenwood, who three years Emeo made himself famous as tho "Lambeth Amateur Casual," iL tends on Wednesday next, and for the first time is London, to narrate ("with tho fullest particulars," it may be assmned) his experience of that memorable night of horrors. BROTHER IGNATIUS AND MISS ROBINSON.— Acting with his usual impulsive, hut withal genial fashion, Brother Ignatius appears to have amicably adjusted matters with Miss Robinson. With his consent, Miss Robin• son has preached in the new chapel in the rear of the " monastery " which has formed the subject of dispute : and Brother Ignatius has publicly stated that he sees " the image of Jesus very clearly reflected in her face and spiri: - .." The services of the police had been 9.t one time invoked by Brother Ignatius to clear the chapel. THE LAW OF BANKRUPTCY.— une of the fire. measures, we understand, the Government intend to intro. duce when Parliament meets is a bill to amend the law-of bankruptcy. The bill of last session, framed on the report of the committee which sat to consider the defects of the present system, will, no, doubt, be the basis of the intended legislation. There are two suggestions we would offer for the consideration of the draftsman, namely, the necessity of consolidating a number of its clauses, and striking out those portions of the bill which might properly come within the scope of the rules and orders. The less cum brous the character of the bill, the greater the probability of its becoming law. —Law Times. COUNTRY FIRE BRIGADES. — The organisation o: efficiently-constituted fire brigades has been a matter of serious consideration amongst many of the authorities in our country towns. Amongst those towns may be selected Market Rasen and Wragby, in Lincolnshire, and Wootton Bassett, near Swindon. These towns, each averaging a population varying from 3,000 to 5,000 inhabitants, have selected, through their committees appointed for the pur pose, the well-known " Paxton" fire-engines introduced by Messrs. Merryweather and Sons, fire-engine builders, of London, in the year of the Great Exhibition, 1851. This description of engine was designed by the above firm to inset the- requirements of the country towns, both as regards simplicity, easy management, and cost. It is stated that the fire brigades in each of the towns are fully equipped w.th fire-engine and every requisite for sums varying from £l3O to 4180. SINGULAR RAILWAY ACCIDENT. —A very curious railway accident, which, if it had occurred in the summer. when the traffic is great, would have been very serious. happened the other day on the line between Llaorws: and Llandudno Junction, which runs alontr one side of the river Conway. At Ta'yeafn, tiu station next to Llanrwst, the recent heavy rain, and the flooding of the river suddenly washer' away a quantity of the earthwork, leaving th, rails quite unsupported for some yards. The trail. leaving Llanrwst, at 1.13 met with an accident in cotse quence, for before the driver could stop the train the un supported raPs ga..-e way, and the engine and tender were precipitated into a large fissure. The driver and fireman fortunately escaped with slight bruises, as did also the few passengers in the train, with the exception of a young female whose legs were broken. A cattle truck next the tender was smashed, and a quantity of "pigs, lIIISCELLANEOUS NEWS. ARMY AND NAVY CITANGs6. The professional papers are full of important nei' They fully confirm our statement, which was ques tioned by the Globe, as to the withdrawal of a large number of troops from the colonies. The Army and Navy Gazette says that " the withdrawal of troops from certain of our colonies in reduction of the garrisons to be maintained in them " has been de cided upon. The staff will. be'reduced, the 4th West India Regiment disbanded, the Canadian and Ceylon Rifles reduced. The Broad Arrow says that the policy of concentrating the military forces of the empire as far as possible in the mother country was fully confirmed at Tuesday's Cabinet Council ; and as soon as the weather will permit, one regiment of cavalry, five of infantry, and seven bat teries of artillery will be withdrawn from North America. As regards the army at home, the Engineer Train is to be abolished, though the equipment will he kept up. The Military Train is to be reorganised. It is probable that the cavalry will be reorganised on the squadron system ; that the grades of cornet and ensign will be abolished, and the number of subalterns largely reduced (but those who have recently passed their examination will receive com missions) ; that the staff will be reduced ; and a large number of horses and drivers in tho Artillery (half of each battery) will be struck off. A great central Council is to be established at the War Office, to which all important questions in artillery and engineer matters will be referred, instead of the decisions being left to the individual heads of departments. The Council will consist of Lord Northbrook Captain Vivian, Sir H. Storks, and Colonel Milward. The changes in the navy are no l_ss serious ana organic. Mr. Childers's scheme for reducing expen diture is said to be all but complete, and will embrace the following changes :—The abolition of the office of admirals and captains superintendent of the dock yards from March 31; the abolition of all unimpor tant foreign commands, and the substitution of flying squadrons under rear-admirals ; and, according to the United Service Ga:ette, the abolition of the Royal Naval Reserve. There are to be changes also in the administrative departments. Mr. Beeby will, it is said, retire from the post of Accountant-General. Mr. Whiffin has already retired. Lord Caniperdown will probably have a seat at the Board of Admiralty, without pay, in order that he may carry on certain investigations into the victualling department. When the new patent is issued he will take the place of Mr. Trevely. n (are we to infer that Mr. Trevelyan's speech abflut the Duke of Cambridge has led to his retirement from office ?). It is rumoured that Admiral Drummond will return to the Board, and there is much else in the way of speculation which we need not repeat. THE VOLUNTEERS. " Hippophylax" writes again to the Times on the subject of the Volunteers, and refers to the answer of Colonel Loyd Lindsay. He admits that the Colonel is well qualified to plead the cause of the volunteers, but does not consider that he has refuted the statement that the volunteers enter the category of paid soldiers if they accept any payment for their services. He thin". s that if the money is to be invested for military pur poses at all, it will be more profitable to invest it in a small number of regular soldiers than in a larger proportion of paid volunteers. " Tiippophylax " also disagrees with Colonel Lindsay about the para phernalia which are required for a defensive force, and draws this deduction from the Colonel's letter, that the volunteers themselves recognise the difference between volunteering and soldiering to be the same as that between a picnic and a campaign. He concludes his remarks with the assertion that the taxpayers, who are already over weighted, object to give more money in support of such picnics, even when accompanied with competi tive sharpshooting for mugs and vases. They had rather that the volunteers should be supported on a voluntary basis, as their name implies they should be. THE BRADFORD PETITION. A correspondent writes that Mr. Ripley, who was unseated by Baron Martin on Friday afternoon, meets with a good deal of sympathy in Bradford. He began the election campaign certainly not as a popular man, but progressed rapidly in favour, and like the late member, Mr. M. W. Thompson, owed a great deal of his popularity to the ladies, who have warmly espoused his cause. When the decision was known a large throng gathered round the court, and loud cheers were raised by the friends of Messrs. Forster and Miall. Mr. Forster and Mr. Ripley were both present, and his lordship's language created a profound impression on the auditory, as he denounced in strong, emphatic, and unmistake able language the practices pursued by Mr. Ripley's agents. Mr. Forster was loudly cheered, as also was Mr. Ripley, when he left the court. The late mem ber's supporters are already on the aJert, and a pre liminary meeting was ,held on Saturday evening in order to commence another electioneering campaign. TILE F.:II:IIF.SENTATIO'N OF NO:IWIC 11. The hint of disfranchisement thrown out by Baron Marti at the recent inquiry at Norwich seems to have had its effeA in deterrin; candidates from coining for,vard in a hurry. We have already stated that Mr. Edward Warner has issued an address in tho Liboral interest, but his candidature does not please all sections of the party; and Mr. Tillett, who had to Lear the expense of prosecuting the petition against Sir Henry Stracey, has been invited to stand again. Ile appe.trs, however, to have had enough of elec tioneering for some time, for he &clines, " for the present, at to offir himse:f. Mr. Milner Gihson has been communicated with, but whether the iifut lion. gentle:l:an will try his fortune at Norwich or Manchester is not yet officially known. Mr. E. Stzaccy, tic i son of the late member, sSt t.A to have been cho3,2n b 7 the Conservatives for the vacant scat. his address has not been issued. ELECTION EXPENSES. The accounts now being published of the money paid by the respective asoirants to parliamentary h..nours throughout the Vnited Kingdom are ex tremely uninteresting, except to the most enthu sii'stic politician. In one or two isolated cases, however, it is well worth while to study the relative amounts paid by two candidates in the same county or borough. The county of Edinburgh sup plies an instance. For some years the representation was held by the Earl of Dalkeith, who, as the eldest son of the largest landed proprietor in the county, the Duke of 13ucAeuch, sat unopposed from. 185:3 till the Lte general election. His continued indisposition and consequent absence from his duties in the House of Commons led to an organised opposition ag a i ns t hi s re - e l ec ti on . The Liberals chose as their champion Sir Alexander Gibson Mait land, and after a spirited contest the noble earl WaS defeated by a large majority. The cry was imme diately raised —and. has since been re-echoed at a public dinner —that the duke's son was defeated simply through Sir Gibson Maitland's supporters commencing their operations so much earlier. One would suppose that the longer the con test the greater the expense; but the published accounts contradict this natural conclusion. Sir Gibs..Pn Maithni spent £l,OBO, whilst his opponent's electioneering expenses amounted to £4,477, or more than four times as much. As the latter polled only 005 votes, it is clear that the average sum he ex.- pended on each was LI On the other hand, the Liberal polled 1,146, sheaving that his supporters cost him £l, being one -fif t h as much. We believe that the noble earl h as t o pay dearer (in proportion) for his whistle. than any other candidate in the recent contest. THE LATE ERNEST JONES. Mr. Mitchell Henry, who contested Manchester at the general election, in opposition to the wishes of the "United Liberal Party," and was defeated in company with Mr. Ernest Jones, has nobly expressed his admiration of his late opponent. Writing from Ireland to Manchest er , he says : " What ever diff erences may conscien tiously arise in political opinions, they may, happily, be obliterated in sympathy towards a bereaved widow and family, and be forgotten, and even regretted, at the side of the grave. Should a private or other subscription be opened for the widow and family of the late Mr. Jones, please pay twenty guineas into the hands of the treasurer at once, f or me, w i t h or without my name. This is a small shar e o f sym pathy; but let me know what is proposed to be done for the sadly bereaved family." The funeral trJok place at Manchester on Saturday. TUE TRIAL OF OVEREND, GURNEY, AND CO. It will be generally admitted that the Lord Chief Justice did right when he granted the applicAtion of Serjeant Parry to remove the trial of the directors in the ill-fated Overend, Gurney, and Co. from the Old Bailey to Westminster. The prejudices of a common jury at the Central Criminal Court against what is considered " commercial immorality " are well known, and it is therefore satisfactory that such a cause célèbre will be tried before A clear-headed lawyer like Sir Alexander Cockburn and a special jury. Besides, it will give the learned Chief Justice an opportunity of displaying his match less superiority in summing up and dealing with one of the most intricate cases of modern times. As in the trial of Strahan, Paul, and Bates, the crown will undertake the prosecution, who—sup poiing the Liberals are in power at the time—will 132 represented by the learned members for Plymouth and Exeter. En passant, it is stated by a London contemporary as somewhat remark able, that within the eleven years in which Mr. John Henry Gurney represented King's Lynn, from 1854 to 1805, he sat upon the Liberal benches of the House of Commons with both the judge who is to preside, and Lord Mayor Lawrence, the com mitting magistrate. Two more letters appear in the Times concerning the charge brought against the directors. Mr. Charles John Mare, who was unseated for Plymouth in R" 8. statea that hiardinneation with Miliwall and THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY E Overena, Zurney, and Co. ceased in Febniaff.M:l, and that, though the works were carried on in the name of C. J. Mare and Co. to the end of that year, he lina nothing whatever to do with them. He regrets that Mr. Chapman permitted himself to use the word " depredations " in connection with him (Mr. Mare), and utterly repudiates the justice of any such expres sion. In conclusion, he states that the property handed over to Overend, Gurney, and Co. in 1862 was full value for the sums they had lent upon it. The other communication is from Mr. Stefanos Xenos, who simply says that his answer will be in the hands of the public in a few days, when the world will be able to judge who committed the " depredations." The plot appears to be more complicated than ever. ITALY. The Menabrea Cabinet was rudely shaken by the recent debate in the Chamber of Deputies. The assailants of the Ministry held that the grist tax had been levied without any proper preliminary arrangements ; that there was no agreement with the millers, and no means of estimating the amount of meal upon which the tax should be laid. The popular disturbances were largely owing to this want of method. The Ministers had no effective reply to this charge. It was impossible wholly to exculpate them from blame ; and a proposition by Ricasoli, that the Chamber should pass to the order of the day, unexpectedly saved them. Their majority was 50 ; on the last occasion of a party fight it was 77, and at a more remote date 100. The excesses committed by the infuriated peasantry were far more serious than the Government reports admitted. At Toligno the people nailed up the miller on the door of his mill like an owl or bat, and at Ceuto they seized two soldiers and put them fairly into the mill and ground them ! The list of killed and wounded was larger than the Government choose to admit. The Weekly Pegisler announces that several conversions have been made in Rome amongst the English, German, and American ministers, in consequence of the sermon delivered in both languages in the octave of the Epiphany. G EN. BUTLER ON TIIE CURRENCY. (From the .4 nglo-Anzerican Times.) Whatever may be the merits of the bill intro duced into the Federal House of Representatives on the 12th inst. by General BUTLER, we think there can be but one opinion of the ability with which he maintained his notion of a sound currency, which may be summed up in two words—"inconver tible paper." It may be said that the United States has that now; General BUTLER answers " No ;" the Government has one currency for the people and two for itself ; one of which he strikes at, and that one—gold. To financiers who hold to the Old World idea, that currency to be sound must be metallic, or raper convertible at pleasure into metal, the arguments of General BUTLER will give a shock. lle says the Republic has got rid of every vestige of the monarchies and slaveries of the Old World save one, and that one the power by which the masses of all nations have always been enslaved, coined money. The first despots hit upon the device of impressing their image and superscription upon metal, which thev arbitrarily made a measure of value, and the equivalent for which the property of their subjects must be exchanged. Throughout his speech runs this idea that the most powerful agent in the hands of despots is coined money. Laying it down that a currency should be uni form, sound, cheap, stable, and elastic, he goes on to show, after defining each, that in none does a metal equal a paper currency. The pro posals to return t o s p ec i e payment are met and an swered. "One sa y s , ' The way to resume specie payments is to resume.' Suppose the physician should say to the sick man, The way not to be sick is to be well,' might not the patient ask his doctor, How am I to get well ? So, a few years ago, one may remember that the way proposed for the Union armies to get to Richmond was On to Rich mond;' and I trust I may not be considered as malicious in calling to mind that our armies found some difficulties in carrying out that suggestion, which resulted in such disaster, that it was hoped that those who blindly advocated it would never again dogmatise upon any subject the difficulties of which they neither appreciated nor understood." He then takes up 11Ir. INlSCeLLoett's plan, and shows that by no Act of Congress can $100,000,000 be made to pay at par a debt of $700,000,000. Of Senator MORTON'S scheme, he observes, "Another learned, able, and intelligent gentleman, for whom we have the highest regard, in a speech of great power, supports a bill embodying a plan for the relief of our financial difficulties, which would be perfect were it not impossible." 'rids is his argu ment against the hoarding which the Senator pro posed to enable the Treasury, within a specified time, and the National Batiks to return to specie payment :—" Upon the beet authorities there are only about $1,500,000,000 of specie currency in circulation in all the nations where our bonds have been or will be taken :114 an investment, or, indeed, in the civilised world. If we should succeed in lock ing up $350,000,000 of that, or 20 per cent. of the whole currency of the world, should we not make what in technical phrase is known as a corner' on the rest of mankind, in comparison with which the late performance in that line of the Erie Railroad and New York bankers would sink into merited insig ficae.ce ? J 1 ;gain, suppose by this ingenious and novel process of borrowing we were to return to a 'state of solvency'—to use the phrase of those who insist that our legal-tenders are depreciated, failed paper,' becaus•.: not pail on demand—i.e., return to specie payments, to the state of currency before the war, could that condition be main tained ? It will be remembered that before the was the Government received all its dues and paid all its expenditures in gold and silver only, amounting to from sixty to seventy millions yearly received and paid out, and there were in the country, .as is estimated, seine two hundred to two hundred and fifty millions in specie, ex exclusive of what was hoarded, although in 1860 there were but $87,000,000 in the banks." He thus concludes this portion of his address—There is but one plan if specie payment be the only remedy, " we must wait and grow to it." After showing the superiority of a paper currency, the faults of es to give voh even is o if practicable, plan :—" the system now in force, the errors in the schemes for a return to specie payment, and the unadvisa bilitypracticable, General BuT of such BUTLER pro areturn, proceeds ed Observ ing that the amount of Legal-Tender notes now issued by the Government—say $350,000,000 —are very nearly equal the amount of the taxes and duties to be necessarily collected by the Go vernment for a series of years to meet our expen ditures—at least the variation is not material for my purpose-1 propose that, retiring the present Legal Tenders without shock to the business of the country iu the manner hereafter to be explained, the Government shall issue an amount equal to its taxes, say $350,000,000, of certificates of value, of convenient denominations, not less than one dollar, which shall be lawful money and legal tender for all debts, public and private, which by the law creat ing them are not made payable in coin, and shall be receivable for all taxes, duties, and imposts of every kind whatsoever, to be reissued at pleasure under the conditions hereafter set forth or in payment of the debts of the United States, and which shall be received for all public loans made to the United States. It will be convenient here to explain the changes suggested in this certificate of value from the present Legal-Tender note. I propose that the paper money of the Government shall be a " certi ficate," with appropriate vignettes, to prevent counterfeiting, in form like bank notes, stating its value only upon its face, with the provisions of the law creating it, instead of as now a note promising to pay a certain sum at the Treasury of the United States, which is by law to be paid only in another like it, so that no stupid person hereafter, in order to depreciate the currency and have an opportunity to declare it " failed paper," shall present it for pay ment to the Treasurer of the United States, ex pecting it to be redeemed in any other manner than is provided by law and stated upon its face. He went on to prove that the Old World faith in the precious metals was a prejudice and superstition in the masses, and a weapon of tyranny in the rulers, productive of most injurious effects, tracing the history of coined money, to which he ascribed all great panics. These panics he certainly made the most of, attributing them exclusively to a metal basis, and as contrasts he followed the career cf England through the crisis of the struggle in Europe, and the United States dur ing the war of the Rebellion. Both were saved by paper ; both went through these periods with flying colours, and both experienced during the time a prosperity in marked contrast with the periods of terrible panic and depression brought about in times of peace by the slavish adherence to a barbarous medium of exchange. lie combated the current delusion that the Government was in debted to the patriotism of the bankers and capi talists, who came forward to lend their gold in the period of its utmost need, which was exactly what they did not do ; indeed the banks hoarded, in vio lation of law and their own plighted faith, so that a dollar was not to be got from their vaults. It was the Legal-Tender Act which saved the country ; and what petition, BUTLER asks, has ever come to the House froM the" people, for relief from its grievances ? Not one ; but only resolutions of Boards of Trade and bankers, who now howl at the doors of the Capitol for payment of their bonds in gold, or, what is equivalent, a re turn to specie payments ; the very men who forced the bonds down to a discount of 60 per cent. by hoarding gold when the country needed it, make this impolitic demand, unmindful of the destruc tion of values, the starving of the labourer, and the ruin and desolation they may cause. " There fore," said BUTLER, "I stand here for incon vertible paper money—the greenback—which has fought our battles and saved our country ; which has been held by us as a just equivalent for the blood of our soldiers, the lives of our sons, the widowhood of our daughters, and the orphanage of their children. I stand here for a currency by which the business transactions of forty million people are safely and successfully done--which, founfled on the faith, the wealth, and property of the nation, is at once the exemplar and engine of its industry and power—that money which saved the country in war, and has given it prosperity and happiness in peace. To it 4,000,000 men owe their emancipation from Slavery; to it labour is indebted for elevation from that thrall of degrada tion in which it has been enveloped for ages. I stand for that money, therefore, which is by far the better agent and instrument of exttange of an en lightened and free people than gold and silver, the money alike of the barbarian and the despot." This remarkable speech had cost the indefatigable BUTLER weeks to prepare, and it is one which can not fail to add to his reputation, however erroneous may be the view it advocates, and however well and fiercely his reasons may be controverted. There is a dignity in the tone, force and originality in the argument of this speech. History is not unfairly quoted, and there is no vituperation when dealing with the reasonings of others. We believe BEN JAMIN BUTLER to be altogether wrong, that he is merely in pursuit of a chimera which has led away many a man as clever as he is. Indeed, it is the clever fellows who get entangled in these fallacies, until they, or rather their dupes, are brought up by a terrible experience. His most striking instance was the ruinous effect of contraction and panics, and the smooth easy flow of affairs during the periods of rampant paper. But can BUTLER suppose that there would be no panics but for specie ? Is he not aware that they eventuate from a quality inherent in human nature, and the best and most effectual check is coined money, while the means of inflation is invariably paper ? It matters not what may be the currency, periods of speculation and of undue values will occur, and periods of depression and de preciated values will supervene. Nor will the pre vailing tendency be checked for want of a medium so long as man ca❑ write and there are pens and paper. " Man being reasonable must get drunk," foolish is perhaps the word BYRON ought to have used, though must is true, for there are more kinds of intoxication than that caused by alcohol ; and in all, the reaction is unpleasant, but the joy and the grief, the hilarity and the gloom, come o❑ in the individual; in fits resembling in the community the sanguine periods of speculation, alternating with those of collapse. General BUTLER talks of a currency based on the debt of a nation ;—a very strange foundation for a currency ; and, notwith standing the force of his arguments, we prefer a precious metal basis. We must correct one false impression lie has endeavoured to create. - In com batting the general remark that the currency of the United States ought to be of the same value as that of the world, be asserts that it never is, nor ever has been the stamped coin being merely valued as bullion, adding "As an example, take Japan, where the standard of value is silver. In 1857, our Consul at Simoda, Mr. TOWNSEND HARRIS, informed us that gold was only as 1 to 3i in silver, while with us it holds by law, as a part of our specie standard, the rate of about 15i to 1 ; i. e., in Japan 31 ounces of silver would purchase an ounce of gold, while in America it took 151 ounces of silver to purchase an ounce of gold. How, then, can it be said that gold is the standard of value of the world, when in one country, which absorbs large amounts of our specie, it stood depreciated in comparison with silver at our standard at nearly 80 per cent." Were we arguing against General BUTLER this is the in stance we also woull have quoted, and it is a sin gular proof how things may be put. Japan was a country hermetically closed to the world, till sud denly opened about the time the Consul wrote, when the discrepancy between Japanese values and those of the rest of the world was discovered. Im mediately people in a position to do so, rushed to Japan with silver to buy gold, and DENT'S house being early in the field cleared a large sum. A stringent regulation was passed to prevent any exchange except through the Consuls aud Govern ment olliceis, for, by every device, the country was being depleted of its gold, which rose rapidly in value till the Government restrictions and the in creased cost put an end to the traffic. For a time the discrepancy adverted to by the General in duced traders to fly at Japan, as a hawk flies at a lark. But no one was told the consequence, the fact only being adverted to, while it was not even explained that the relative value in Japan could have been maintained only by again severing all connection with the outer world. MONEY AND BUSINESS. (Front the Springfield Republican, Jan. 16.) With the exception of Tuesday, when a decided strin gency was induced in the early part of the day, by reports of and the combination to lock-up greenbacks, money ha been easier during the week, under the large disbursemen for interest and dividends since the Ist. The amount now in the market is too large to give the bear cliques any chance, for a while at least, until credits have became p-o -portionately enlarged and prices distended to correspond to the existing abundance of currency. We find the "bull" interest accordingly in complete control of the market. Every day increases the receipts of currency from the Wes where the market has greatly ameliorated since the bank statement, and collections are more liberal and easy. Ship ments to the south continue light for the season ; and the large accumulations at New York are stimulating invest ments, while the recent failures are discouraging specula tions, and confining commercial operations within safer and more restricted bounds. As a consequence we find discounts slow and difficult for all but strictly prime paper. The hostile propositions in Congress, looking to a restriction of the national banks, and even a sup pression of their circulation, excite apprehension and alarm in banking circles ; and several of the New York banks, notably the Bank of the Commonwealth, have ini tiated measures to return to the State bank system. There is no small amount of threatening as to what they will do and won't do, should Congress interfere with their plea sure or their profits. We do not believe in persecuting any interest ; but such threats from the national banks are both mischievous and absurd. They can only provoke the opponents of that system to extremities, and furnish a degree of justification for whatever Congress may see fit to do with the franchises and privileges. The fact is, it has been owing to the blindness and selfishness of the banks themselves with many honourable exceptions, of course, which has caused these attacks, and which to-day gives their enemies all the hold they have. The banks have made enormous profits out of suspension and infla tion. That is plain and incontestable, and the whole body of merchants and manufacturers know and feel it. No one is disposed to quarrel with this, provided these institutions show a willingness to take their fair share of the burden of construction and resumption. If they think that, after making profits for nearly five years with which neither the mercantile nor manufacturing interests can begin to compare; and doing it without any risk, for they have had a sure thing and failure has been practi cally impossible ; and doing it without being obliged to study either economy or efficiency, for no bank could do business poorly enough in the pest five years to fall of eight per cent. dividends, Lot to speak of reserved profits. If they think that after such a feast of good things they can leave the overburdened industry of the country to carry the load alone, while they go on clearing an average of 16 per cent. on their capital, they are very much mis taken, and when, instead of corning forward promptly, re cognizing their obligations, and themselves proposing measures of contribution, they begin to bluster, and threaten to go back under State laws and throw up their charters from the general Government, they are simply giving such demagogues as Butler a ten times stronger hold upon them. As to going back to the State back sys tem, and discarding their national franchises, under which they have made so much money, just as soon as any ser vice is exacted of them in return, it cannot be done. Revo lutions do not go backward. The results of the war have been generally regarded as settling it that several things, that used to belong to State control, belong now, by the no cessities of national progress and by the inexorable logic of events, to Federal authorfty, and they will be kept there. A return to the system, or want of system, in which banks were organized under the charters of 30 odd States, without any provision for mutual redemption, or for main taining a common standard, would hardly suit the nation which waled secession out of South Carolina, and is to finish the Pacific railroad next summer. If enough of the national banks should acceet State charters to make them worth noticing, the general Government would tax their circulation out of existence in six months, if it took one per cent. a month to do it. Therefore we cannot but re gard with regret this ill-timed and irritating bluster at some of the momentary centres about the proposed action of Congress. We should earnestly deprecate the destruc tion of the national banking system, believing that nothing so good would be substituted, and therefore we deprecate anything in the attitude of the banks which invites attack and gives opportunity to artful and powerful demagogues. Only by accepting the situation in good faith and good feeling, and making their contribution to the public necessities readily and cheerfully, can they avert the evils which threaten them. Gold has stiffened somewhat during the week, and there are ludic:A:ens of an upward move ment. A good deal is being quietly laid by, whether in reli ance upon the natural course of the premium, or with a ' view to producing a corner, has not yet been developed. Governments have in general continmd their upward movement, though seriously checked on Tuesday by a rumour of new issues, which proved, in the special form in which it appeared, to be without foundation ; but which still hangs over Cie market like a threat, and serves ap preciably to restrict the rise in prices. The specific rumour was that the Secretary had agreed to deliver to a well known house, through which the secret sales have been conducted, five millions of six per cents. under the Act of March, 1865 ; and the report seemed to receive some con firmation from the fact that certain operators, who have been thought to know as much about such sales as any body, have been selling bonds heavily, in the face of causes evidently tending to an advance. The ease of money, the improving credit of the nation, and the manifest impossibility of another "look-up," would seem to leave no other chance for the "bears" than some such action on the part of the Government. The specific report, however, Mr. Van Dyck has de nied, stating that the only issue contemplated is that of some remnants of previous issues, to the amount of $500,000 or $600,000, in order to make the numbers consecutive ; and even this has not been re solved upon. So much for the explanation of the Govern ment; bat the very fact that the market needed such an assurance is a strong argument for putting it out of the power of the Secretary to do anything so foolish and mis chievous. It would be a very pretty thing, indeed, to have our bonds numbered without a break; exceedingly gratifying to Treasury clerks and officials; but that is rather a matter of taste, and the national credit is of more importance at present. The power of the Secretary to make any further issues of gold six per cents is a standing threat to the market, and is being used by speculators for injurious purposes. The matter should be promptly taken up and settled by Congress. This country has no more occasion to borrow money at six per cont. when its five per cents. are above par and advancing. The bull move ment in the stock market continues in full force, and a great body of stocks is being pushed up by a combination, which carries, as yet, everything before it. Milwaukee and St. Paul is now at 751 for the common, against 711 a week ago, and 961 for preferred, against 901; Toledo and Wabash common 631 against 611 ; Cleveland and Toledo 1014 against 1011 ; Rock Island 1281 against 1181; North-western common 831 against 821, preferred 871 against 85 ; Fort Wagner 122 against 1181; and the end is not yet.—Cleveland and Pittsburg stock is 3 per cent. lower, having suffered to that extant already from the reduction in its direction which was effected last week in the triumph of the Lane faction, by means of pur chased proxies. Mr. Lane is a first-class operator, of the Daniel Drew school, and was hardly warm in his seat be fore inaugurating some very wholesale operations, which suspiciously resemble those which have made the Erie Road a hopeless wreck. Three of the directors have pub lished a card, exposing what they regard as the fraudulent action of the board. They give the following as the sub stance of the resolutions adopted at the meeting immedi ately following the election, by which the Lane party came into power: To increase the capital stock $900,000, to declare a scrip dividend of 15 per cent., and a cash divi dend of 2 per cent. upon the scrip dividend, to issue bonds of the denomination of $1,000,000 each, secured by mort gage, convertible into stock, and be disposed of at not less than 80 cents on the dollar. To abrogate all existing byelaws of the company, to appoint an executive commit tee, with power to make byelaws and contracts, and to do all acts which the board has power to do without report ing their action to the board; to apeoiut F. A. Lane financial agent of the company, with right to possess and hold all securities, bonds and moneys of the company, without being required to give bond or security therefor ; to double-track the road, and also to construct a road from the line of the company's road to a point on the Cen ral Ohio Railroad; to appropriate $300,000, to be placed in the hands of F. A. Laae, to pay attorney fees, and to be otherwise used as he might deem expedient. If that isn't a pretty piece of work for one day, we should like to know what would be considered such. The I.IOIV direction have set out well ; and if they go on as they have begun, it is not hard to tell what Cleveland and Pittsburg will be worth six mouths from now. 'Toledo and Wabash is being largely purchased by the parties who hold Rock islan.l, with a view to advance the prices sharply on the short'. Pacific Mail has advanced from 1201 to 123:. The directors are said to hive divided the $5,000,000 of stock bought of Jerome, and aro bulling the stock heavily. The upward movement in cotton still continues, and has assumed surprising proportions. Middling uplands now sell at 29Le, and there is nothing yet to indicate that the end is reached. The custom of selling for future delivery has grown greatly into use within the past year, and the contracts for delivery in January, February, and March are to a vary large amount. Most of these were made at 211 to 231 cents ; and the parties are now buying at 29 and upwards to cover. Expert has already been checked by the advance ; and holders ar3 not generally disposed to let their stock go. The excess of receipts for the year over 1867 is now reduced to about 100,000 bales, and the present upward movement is likely to cause a still further diminution in receipts. The coal trade is comparatively dull, and the receipts show a falling off as compared with 1808. The general trade of the country is quite far, and in foreign merchandise somewhat in advance of last year. Messrs. Stokes, MeLlo.ffie, and Co. have received the fol lowing telegrams from their New York correspondents : ports, 38,000 "No; York, Jan. 27 . — Four days' receipts of cotton at all i approximate estimate of receipts f or the w' 3erBk, ' e ' oo 85;,o bales ; halos; same week last year, 83,000 b a l es . New Orleans, ooa les ; Jan. 27.--Middling from this port laid down in Liverpool, with all charges, costs 12,1 d per lb. Sa vannah, Jan. 27.—Middling costs, laid down in Liverpool with all charges, 1211 per lb. Galveston, Jan. 26. Good ordinary Texas, laid down in Liverpool, with all charges, costs 12d. per lb. All markets very weak. The a b o ve quotations include an allowance of 6 per cant. for loss in weight. The following is from the Tribune of Jan. 16:— At the close the market was strong and active, with a good demand for all the leading shares. New York Cen tral was strong, advancing to 1594. Cleveland and Pitts burg was strong throughout the day, with heavy pur chases made to cover shorts. It is understood that the present direction will not get control of the property, the laws of Ohio being much less easily evaded than those of this State, where injunctions are made and set aside wit equal facility. Governments closed strongly. The following were the bi Stocks:— Now York Manhattan Merchants' Mechanics' America Phenix • 103; Mechanics' Association 125 Seventh Ward State of New York 112 Commerce American Exchange ll3i Bauk of the Republic 122 CLOSING QUOTATIONS IN N. Y. Central 6s, 1883... 90i N. Y. Central 6s, 1887... N. Y. Central 6s, R Est.. N. Y. Central Gs, Sub'n.. N- Y. Central 7s, 1876...102 N. Y. Cen. 7; con. 76.... N. Y. Cen. 7s, '65-'76 _ _ Erie Ist Mort, Ex 102 Erie 7s, 2d Mort, 1879 98 Erie 7s, 3d Mort, 1883 92 Erie 7s, 4th Mort, 1880 86 Erie 78,5 th Mort, 1888 86 Long Dock Bonds Buff. N.Y. &E. Ist 31, 1 77 B9 Ilud. It 7s, Ist M, '69 101 Ibid. R. 7s, 3d M, '75... Harlem Ist M, '6B '72...100 Mich. C. Ist M, 69'72 _ll4 Mich. new Ist M Bs, 'B2 1101 Mich. So., 7 p. c. 2d M... 90 N. Ind. Goshen Line '6B Mich.S.&N.l.S.F'd7p.c. 95 111. Cen. 7 p. c, '7O 114 i Alton & T. 11. IFt M 9l Alton &T. 11. 2d pfd 83 Alton & T. H. 2d M. Inc. 761 Han.& t.J Land Grants 10b Ban. & St. J. Con Chi. B. & Q., Ist 31 1111 Chi. & N. West,' S. P 9B Chi. & N. W. Con Cony — Ex'n 8.... ids for Now York City Bank Bank of North America 108 Shoe and Leather l2O Commonwealth Importers and Traders' 127 Park l5O Central National Fourth National lO2 Ninth National Oriental Bank l3O Ninth National Corn Exchange l3O Continental lO5 complex derangements in which the public finances are in.. volved, and that consequently a further period of inquiry and discussion must be endured before any really practi cable measures can be reached. For this reason, the intro duction of financial measures into Congress is regarded with little interest other than as indicating the progress towel (Le a goal which is felt to be as yet far distant. Sena tor Morton's speech upon the resumption of specie pal" ments, while indicating how rapidly our logislatoes may improve their theoretical knowledge, yet shows how much the most advanced of them have to learn upcn practical finance ; for, while he estimates the stock of coin in the country at from $400,000,000 to 500,000,400, it is impossible to trace the existence of over $200,000,000 to 225,000,000, the Pacific States included. Tho Senate 11 0 also furnished another very satisfactory indication of pro gress, in taking the position, by an almost unanimous re solution, that there can be no consolidation of the debt at a lower interest, uutil the Government has redeemed its h3nour upon its demand obligations; but, coupling this conclusion with the unpractical character of the steps taken toward; resumption, there is little ground for ex pecting tlett the preseut ennlition of the debt, w:ll be e irlY changed. There a t Tears to be consider:at, probability that Congress may adopt a measure autheris'ug the en forcement of contracts for the payment of coin. Such e law, however just in principle and convenient to important commercial interests, might yet have consequences not generally apprehended. In important sections of the Smith U.S. notes are not liked and national bank currency is dis trusted. To such an ex tentdoes this feeling prevail that mall of the planters have demanded gold in payment for their 0,t.t.0n, so that several millions of coin have been sent South within the last three months, while the coin in the Sub-Treasuries at New Orleans and Mobile has boon sold to meet this demand. In the event of gold contracts being protected by law, this disposition among the planters, en courage(' as it might be by the press and the local bankers, would quite probably result in establishing the trade of the South upon a gold basis. This, it is true, would bring about specie payments in the Southern States; but it would b 3 at the expense of such n drain of gold from the North as would inflate the gold premium and seriously embarrass any effort toward gene' ral resumption. The gold premium is perhaps more closely connected with the Southern preference for gold than ) 5 generally supposed. The preference is not to be regarded as the mere expression of a temporary political prejudice , but as the revival of that predilection for hard money which has always characterized the South, and which its recent experience of a depreciated paper .currency has only helped to confirm. The peculiar indepen donee which the South derives from the cotton crop enables it to demand payment in whatever form it prefers ; and should gold receive preference among plan ters, even though in comparatively limited sections, the result must inevitably be the permanent withdrawal of n large amount of coin from the market. This is but one of several considerations at present influencing gold in favour of a higher premium. The protracted depression in the European money markets, which has induced a to nark' ably active demand for our securities and enabled us to settle large }foreign trade balances by remittances 01e bonds, is now giving place to a healthier activity. Europe has begun to place more confidence in the pacific assur ances of Louis Napoleon, and trade is consequently re' vivins with a rapidity which, during the present year, is likely to induce higher rates of interest. The Bank of England is expected every week to further advance its rate of discount—and the Bank of France has lost sinc e the close of September, 160,000,000 fr. of bullion. 'fu ll a further development of this tendency, it is not to be ex pected that foreigners will take our bonds to the same t'% tent as heretofore, except in the event of the gold pro:a l° advancing to such an extent as to make them appear rela tively cheap. Evidently, therefore, we must be Pre pared to send out more gold and fewer bonds, o r to reduce our importations. The latter alternative W e are not adopting, the importations for the spring trade having, thus far, exceeeded those of last year. What then is our position for meeting any considerable foreign de mend for gold ? Our receipts from the Pacific are lig ht. the total arrivals of California gold for the last quarter 7 1868 being only $2,800,000, against $6,100,000 in 186 and $11,000,000 in 1867. The gold movement at this po' t . during the past year has resulted in a loss of $29,600,0 00, . that is to say, the exports have exceeded the comb ined foreign imports and the arrivals from California by t hat amount. The advance in United States Bonds, foreslele (lowed in our last advices, has been realized, and at the moment the market for that class of securities shoiv'S steady tone. In some quarters there is a sanguine fee l l in favour of still higher prices, but it may be doub te t whether any further rise would not bring out an importr_ supply of stock. The demand for the reinvestment of in terest has already been, to a considerable extent, s taste d ' and, although speculative movements may produce it tern" porary rise, we are disposed to regard current prices n' affording a fair opportunity for intending sellers. General Lorenzo Thomas has been visiting L b ! South on a tour of inspection of the national cemeteries that part of the country.—Mr. George W. Childs, Of th f Philad_lpleia Ledger, gave a banquet, Tan. 11, in honour 11. W. Longfellow, which was attended by a large nuM be of Americans, artists, and eminent persons now in 1 1 ° Me i David Dudley Field has succeeded William Cullen BrY% - s as President of the New York Fur Trad e League.-- - M os ; t i 11. Grinnell, the New York papers say, w ill h e appoint-„ collector of thatport by Gen. Grant.—The handsomest in Co n gross are said to be Gen. Logan and Samuel J. Captain Kenny, U.S.A., has committed suicide at Si t *" . John Dixon, ex-clerk in the Oriental Bank of Melbour°e: Australia, was arrested in San Francisco for forger); BIM of exchange amounting to $85,000 were found Les. him Commissioner Rollins returned to Washington Jan vt Wendell Phillips, when a youth, according to the 14 , 8 1 York San, wanted to become a c hemist, but his TuO t t g i l ' e interfered.—ll. Clay Dallam, the messen ger /run' 0 electoral college of Maryland, deposited the vote a t State with Mr. Wade, the President of the Senate, Ju T3 ; h ; The Indianapolis Jour na l says :—" M rs. M a tthews, ' T . mother of the Vice-Presid en t e l ec t, h as b een f o r su ve ; b o weeks stopping with her friends in this city. Lilo 1 6 mothers of nearly all our great men, s h e is 3 11°- ,„ii woman, of great intellect ua l power. Mr Colfax owes rnu I t. P of his success to his moth er , an d h e fully a precia tf l„ o o She is a remarkably hale and h appy old lady, and in . a quiet way over the suc cess o f h er sou. H er 011 1 9 - 0 sire for his advancement seems to bo that he ma 9 placed in a position to do more good. ---- The Girard House, at the corner of West 13 0 way and Chambers'-st ree t, Phil a d e l p hi a, h as b ee n 011 'x°- ° $150,000. The purch aser was J o h n P. Huggins, ofd ° 8 joy's Hotel. Th e e difi ce was b u ilt b y th e late 3 :, Boorman, and measured 75 by 160. The price is C°lll dored remarkably low. e Mr. James Fisk, jun., h a s bou g ht out Mr. . 133te ; man, and has taken over the management of the °P ie Bouffd Company. The price paid was $60,000, W eludes the wardrobes of thirteen operas. The Ne w- 4 oi Herald gives this schedule of the property and effectthe Erie Railway Company :—Erie railroad, main l ine ' s eS, old branch roads, one city railroad, two steamboat lieco ono lice of freight barges, one ferry, one opera 110 05 ' 3 ; pi French opera comp my, ono ballot company, lot o d wardrobe, and twelve law suits." This may b ° i 4 "chaff," but it gives very little idea of what the va'-°O,ll of the property sneered at. One of the best of A°)°/libed railways, the Pennsylvania Central, might be d es6- much in the same way, minus the ventures in theatre 5t Accommodation has been secured at the g ° 0 - Vernon Hotel, Baltimore, from the 22d inst., for C° rll oa ci dory Farragut, Governors Clifford, Fish, Grahmo , „p i Aiken, Bish. p Mellvaine, Messrs. Ewarts, lAinth;bo Sears, Wetmore, Bradford, Russell, and Al'Allister, 'aro will accompany General Grant. These gel:10 01 ' 11 trustees of the Peabody educational fund. , Airs. Mrs. Eliza H. Walker, of Aburndale, and Sarah E. Ely, of Now York, have been appointed to $5 :1 1 6 the secretaries of the American board in looking ef t° io interests of the children of missionaries sent to LADVERTISEMENT.I—IIoIIoway's Ointment and - 1. , 1 1: . o Lives Saved.—How happy would those sufferers be tb whole system is in danger of breaking down throug'dis" daily drain of discharges from ulcerations and si ci f t bd eases if they only knew that a day rarely passes sr. / 41: 10 new cases of cure being brought to the knowledg e ° O O O, For ti discoverer of these peerless remedies. lee rs ' - 4 tb° burns, bad legs, skin diseases, and similar inaladie,,,, insufficiency of ordinary applications is admitted P.J i . but none thus afflicted have been disappointed in °lel- tlY '° oectations when a fair trial has b een i v on to Hello ib is intment and pills. The pain an d swelling a ttendnt an d class of ailments will diminish d a ily un d e r the ne° li/ '"' soothing unguent. Births. - I t lig htl i BIRDWOOD —On the 29th ult., at Buttfield, near ;2, -° cl, ° bridge, the wife of M a j or -G enera l W. T. Birar a daughter. ,ife °f CLIVE—On the 29th ult. at 25, Ch es t er - s t ree t, the I t ef. Lieut.-Colonel Clive, Grenadier Guards, of a d aub P l ' MoßrroN—On the 26th ult., at Worthing, the 101/' R. Moreton, of a s on . Marriages. 0, 1 ,46 0 i CHAPLIN —LANDELLS —On the 28th ult., at 5t. 54 ,, er Chelsea, James, the eldest son of R. J. Chaplio , Ao gh t Forest-hill, Kent, to Alice Isabella y oungest " 0 7. of the late E. Landels, Esq. A P li i 0 , , 0 NlELL—SricEn—On the 26th ult., at CroY“ -- l i te , j Niell, M.D., to Martha Wilson youngest dau ra , $ 9 the late John Edward Spicer, ' Esq., of Clap New Bridge-street. Deaths. , fe d l' sv, --- - ATTENEOROUGII—On the 28th ult., at B rat upto ll .44 , a, Market liarborough, James Attenborough, ' ra 75. c o - g GREEN—On the 24th ult., at 5, Kensington - P a ' er , dens, Bevis E. Green, Esq., aged 75. OA IIID KNIGHT - On the 26th. ult., at Grosveuor-park, well, George Knight, Esq., aged 76. _ro- MAunE —On the 27th ult., John Maude, Esq ., Caril clirei Leeds, aged 73. a° MOLLING—On the 29th ult. in Connaught - P lace ' Moiling, Esq., aged 85. ___4 --- -- A 0 913° 1 11 ( London : Printed and Pabliehed by WILLIAM` L 4 0 ,4 o of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE Stni C''''' - botta" Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in th e Middlotini t +sl9nday, trebtlinry 1,1968.; THE CHIEF CO3I3IISSIONERSHIP OF POLICE. The Home Secretary is still undecided as to whom he shall put in the important post so long filled by Sir Richard Mayne. The rumours in connection with the appointment are as plentiful as blackberries, but it is generally believed that the choice lies between Mr. Knox, Captain Shaw, Mr. Thomas Hughes, 31. P -., Mr. Loch, Colonel Ewart, and Colonel Henderson. The Daily .News expresses a hope that " for a post which implies a disciplinary authority over the police of three millions of people, the Government will not choose any gentleman who has publicly betrayed prejudices or antipathies with respect to particular classes of her)fajesty'S subjects." Our contemporary probably refers to Mr. Knox, who, as the presiding magistrate at Marlborough street, in the summer of 1866, rendered himself extremely unpopular among the working classes by the heavy fines and terms of imprisonment which he inflicted on great numbers of men who were directly or indirectly mixed up with the demolition of the Hyde Park railings at the Reform League demonstra tion. The London correspondent of the _reeds Mercury asserts that Sir Thomas Henry has received and declined the offer. The rumour that Mr. Hughes has been offered the post is not generally credite ; and he believes that Mr. Knox will be the final choice of the Home Secretary. CHURCH ITEMS. The John Bull says that the Latin speech which Archdeacon Denison will make on Tuesday, in pre senting the Prolocutor of Convocation to the Arch bishop of Canterbury, will contain an allusion to all the leading questions of the day, pointing out how the Church of England is to be subverted for the honour and enlargement of the Roman Church, and dealing with the need of an increase of the Episco pate, with the Ritual question, and with that of the Court of Appeal, in a masterly but most temperate manner.—The same paper mentions that in all pro bability an attack will be made upon the cathedral system by a distinguished member of the Liberal party.—Throughout the diocese of Oxford altar lights have ceased to be burnt.—The Bishop designate of Lincoln will reside in his cathedral city.—The Bishop of Honolulu is just about to start for his diocese, and will receive a commission to visit on his way the consular and other chaplaincies in British South America.—lt is reported that the Colonial Bishoprics Council intend to found a bishopric for the Falkland Islands, and another, probably, at Lima or Coquimbo, which would, we presume, displease high Churchmen as much as the bishopric of Jerusalem. The Roman Catholic papers are greatly excc.C.„ed by Mr. Ffoulkes's pamphlet. The freckly Register has declared that no priest would think of giving Mr. Ffoulkes absolution or administering the sacra ment. Sir George Bowyer writes to the same paper with regard to one of the points taken up by Mr. Honlkes—the forged decretals of Isidore—and admit ting that they were false, urges that the powers which they were supposed to confer can be as abundantly proved without them. - Thomas W. Morsman, " priest in the ancient diocese of Lincoln"—the same Anglican clergyman who a short time ago expressed his belief in the near approach of the good time when the English Church would submit itself to the Holy See —is very indignant that Mr. Ffoulkes should have written against his own Church, and asks how he can cons.Hentiously remain in it ; to which that gentle man might well reply with ato pope. The _Register is also very angry because the Church News liis had the " cool impudence " to speak of the Roman Church r.s " that new communion created in 1851." " That we are not of the Church of Laud is perfectly true (says the Register), and God be praised for that mercy; but to say that Augustine or Anselm would, if they re visited the earth, belong to that hotch-potch called the Church of England, is about the greatest absurdity ever uttered off the boards of a theatre. Fancy St. Augustine an Anglican bishop, with a wife and some fast daughters; or imagine St. Anselm paying the quarterly bill for his womenkind at Swami and Edgar's. And might we aslc, if we poor people of the ' Roman Obedience' belong to a ' new commu nion' in England, to what did the race of men who for three hundred years braved the anger of the Anglican Church r.s by law established in these realms belong Finally, a favourite correspondent of the same journal w..rns the Ritualists that every time they offer up the mass they desecrate the Blessed Sacrament, incur the penalty of Korah and his brethren, and " are dawning souls daily." Strife, bitterness, curses everywhere and on all li:nds, be ebunoeill-ccirthbeeseatv o r i ( c •lt s i N .s . - e pea re c a e cl ,, the la n d tween Church and Church, b e t ween par ty aw l par t y . there 46' Shall 1•, THE SUNNY SOUTH. While we in the far North arc sitting with open wiiidow - s and extinguished fires, our friends who have tal,:en, their annual winter flight from the dreaded English whiter to the balmy and sunny South are suffering the agonies of hard frosts and bitter blasts, without any of the solaces which an English home offers. A letter from Naples, written on Jan. 23, says: "It has been snowin g h ere nearly day. The plants around the fountains are covered with thick ribbed ice, and the bitter east wind is as piercing as I ever felt it in London. The inhabitants and the visitors are alike bewildered ; the former declare that they have never seen or felt similar weather, and the latter wish themselves safe at home. At the hotels great coats and sealskin cloaks are worn at the table dhote, as things are come to such a pass that appear ances must be sacrificed to comfort. The streets are almost deserted, and the few persons who venture out of doors appear to be enduring agonies from the celd to which they are so unused. The Neapolitans attempt to console us by assuring us that this state of things cannot last many days, and that an early spring awaits us. We live in hope." FOREIGN NOTES. .-.. ------- -.... The Times correspondent gives some particulars relative to the murder at Burgos. The decree of the Minister of Public Instruction was, as before mentioned, intended to be secret, but it was impossible to prevent the contents of a circular which was addressed to some hundreds of persons from leaking out. The clerical papers were soon able to raise the alarm, and inform their readers that the secret object of the circular was " the spoliation of the Church." At Burgos some rumours of that nature were already in ciretilation among the people, and a certain stir was perceptible in the most crowded quarters of the city on Sunday. On the following morning, however, the Governor went to the cathedral, and was admitted without opposition. The door was closed after him, and a picket of Civil Guards posted at the entrance. Soon after the voice of the archbishop was heard to cry for help, and one of the bells from the steeple sounded the alarm. The mob, apparently at that signal, went round the building, and forced a way both into the church and the cloister. The cries of the multitude were, " Death to the Governor ! " " Vice the United Church of Burgos ! " As the Governor was issuing from the door of the church which led into the cloister, he asked what the people wanted ; but these closed upon him, and on the very steps of the threshold pierced him with their daggers. He fell ;he was seen to strive to rise, but was soon again overpowered and prostrated. The murderers then tore his clothes from him, struggled for the possession of those bloody tatters as trophies, and cut even the limbs to pieces, " like famished wolves." They then threw a red scarf round the mangled body, dragged it down the steps, and through the cloister, to the square before the cathedral, where they were fallen upon by the public force which dispersed them. The Papal Nuncio was at a friendly party at the American Minister's when the news arrived at Madrid, and great care had to be taken lest be should fall into the hands of the populace. The entire diplomatic body at Madrid has declared that if any harm befalls the Nuncio they will leave Madrid. The Etenciard has received information to the effect that the candidature of the Duke of Aost3 is supported by nearly two-thirds of the members of the Cortes. TURKEY AND GREECE. Walewski arrived at Athens on Thursday morning. It is announced that the Bulgaria Cabinet has sent in its resignation, so that the French envoy will have arrived in the midst of a Ministerial crisis—a circumstance faxcnra.ble neither to prompt nor prudent resolutions. The very fact of this resignation sufficiently proves that King George is himself disposed to a conciliatory policy, but he is a constitutional monarch, and can carry out his views only by means of a Ministry which will support him. The question is whether he will, in the present state of public opinion in Greece, be able to form a Cabinet which will accept a peace policy. The hulOpendance Belge believes that the Bulgaria Ministry has resigned only under the conviction that it will be impossible to replace it, and that the last hope of peace will thus vanish. In diplomatic circles, says the same journal, it is not expected that Greece will return either a positive refusal or a full acceptance. The national vanity will be appeased by certain reservations which may possibly be dangerous. The reply of Greece, in short, will ; • .1 be OTALOI2. ' IR RAILROAD MORTGAGES. Chi. & N. W. Ist M — 'Uol. & Nab. Ist M Ex 93 Gt. Western 2(1 M '93 7B- L& Pr. du Ch. Ist M — Gal. & Chic. Est 99 Gal. & Chic. 2d M 95 & R. I. Ist M 9B Chi. R. I. & Pacific 7's 931 Cleve. & Tel. S. Fund B9 N. J. Central st M — N. J. Central 2d M — Pitts. Ft.W.,r& Ch.lst M 1001 Pitts. Ft. W.; & Ch.2d M 9 61 Pitts. Ft. W.. & Ch. 3d M 921 Clove. & Pitts. 2d M Chic. & Alton, S. F. Inc 9l Chic. & Alton, S.F. lstM 9Bi Mil. & St. Rini Ist 31 103 i Mil. & St. Paul 2d M B3 Marietta & Cin. Ist M — Morris & Essex Ist M 96i Morris & Essex 2d M 94 Joilet & Chic. Ist M — Chi. & Gt. East'n Ist M /81. N. Y. & N 11 6s Dubuque &S. City,lst M - Peninsula Ist M Ohio & Miss. Ist M 93 Ohio & Miss. Con B5 Tol. P. W. Ist M. E. D — Atlantic & G. W. Ist M 9O Money is easy at 7 per cent. on call, with a continued increase in the offerings; the receipts from the West con tinue to increase, and the banks aro in a strong condition. Commercial paper remains unchanged at 8 to 10 per cent. for best names, (From Messrs. Henry Clews and Co.'s Monthly Circular.) NEw Youx, Jan. 12, 1869. The drift of financial legislation in Congress is not yet developed with sufficient distinctness to affect materially Wall-street interests. Indeed, financiers have a settled opinion that Congress, as a whole, has not yet attained the theoretical and practical acquaintance with financial quoting uocegoary to qualify gm for unravolling the ILL rt 1 Sold the Age Obsev L ~_ 171 14, j ADVA2 bold , 4r11:19 , ~. c The l3 , ire p m ` B one - v ainli) ; 0 11 , 1(, r thirty SEA IsTati c ° p ll The K.,579 Rijn ' 1 th e se, Stront. r , qua] 'oven. Si , The ie ssion W 'ekl bi tiel op t,0,1 ThiE rais e d 4114 it ?,alp AL" 11°--- 0n153 nita Riti uartee, p 01(1 Or, 1, 0 1 , Polk Amy, The fUI he feu, 4DDliee al( 3 , R Thl , All Le r , or rn Bu4 rea, 111 u 0 111, bij Ou r Years, i orl : I Cu, r (1'4141, rln rv " o . QUI d%i s ; rt-• M N() kNew