The Sun. — London, England, 1869-12-25 00:00:00

• • --.....--• --........,,,, _ . ......_.‘• ,_.,...... 15."=,...0.1.111.,,,..........m.m..r. •••= , .....m.. i , T HE APP:IREL OFT PROCLAIMS THE rrHE SUN—LATEST EDITION to be seen in A., the Coffee Room, at the "Southampton Arms," High MAN." street, Camden-town, where all Sporting and Political even t s • , are freely discussed. BEST MATERIALS, BEST STYLES BEST WORKMANSHIP, and LOWEST 1111-1 E LATEST or SPECIAL EDITION of PRICES, at E. MOSES awl SON'S. _IL " . .fIIE , IIN" every Evening, at Eight o Clock, at Mr Every description of Clothing ready-made M um', "The Black Cap," Bi g h-street, Camden-town. or made to measure, fsr all ages, all occa . and all classes, at E. MOSES and T HI: LATE EDII .1 10 of "THE SUN "at sions N'S. ».aJ. SMITH'S, 33, Bow-street, Covent - garden. SO An immense assortment of WINTER CLOTHING in all the newest designs and PrilF, LATE EDITION of "THE SUN" at materiels, at 'E. MOSES and SON'S. . W. SMITH'S "Camden Stores," 78, Park-street, Camden- town. OVERCOATS from 19s. to £5. BOY'S OVERCOATS from 1 08 . 6 d. to 455. rrIlE LATE EDITION of " TH E SUN" at 1. JAMES SPEEDY'S, "The W e llington,"Wellington-street, For the convenienee of Ladies accom- 3 rand. panying their Sons there is a separate de partment for Bees' Clothing, and it is fur- ROYAL INSURANCE COMPANY. wished with a splendid assortment of Suits, Overcoats, and Clothine., for all occasions, T HE DIRECTORS have now the pleasure of including all the favourite designs and the submitting the following statement, showing ho most fashionable materials. 'stsstst ----.. financial position of the Company:— as= The CAPITAL available for the purpose of meeting any Orders by Post aro attended to with care urusual calamity happening to the assured is Two and punctuality, and the easy and accurate MismoNs STEELING. The amount actually paid up is system of self-measnre introduced by E. X 288,495 'l'bis, with the accumulated funds in hand, Al OS 1z...S and SON enables them to guarantee exceeds il,800:0110. a faultless fit. For the satisfaction of the public the whole of the se- Oolsrs from persons who are not known to curities belonging to the Company are annually submitted the firm should 'se accompanied by a remit- to the careful scrutiny of two independent auditors, and tanee, or a London reference. the following is as extract from their report to the last annual meeting: Any article not worn or injured will he " The whole of your books have been audited ; every sheet-fulls , exchanged, or, if desired, the document, every account, every voucher, your b ank-book, money will be returned. and every security- all have been most carefully kept, All Coeds are marked in Plain Figures, and there is not one doubtful security in the whole." from which no abatement can be made. A detailed List of the Investments of the Company, as already published, may be obtained ou application. The Stock of Hosiery and Drapery, Hats An independent valuation of tho Life Liabilities, as at end Caps, and Boots and Shoes , i s un- 31st December, 1868, has also been o btained from Mr. squalled for magnitude, variety, and cheap- S amue l B rown, th e resu lt being— ness. LIFE LIABILITIES AND ASSETS. A very large assortment of BLANKETS, from Sc. 4d. the pair. Net Value Accumu- Surplus. Cemplete Outfits for all Climates , with Namber. Assu o ra f aces lated Fund very requisite for the voyage. -- —.— -- -- Lists of Prices, with Rules for Self-men- General Life As sure, Patterns, and Fashion-sheet, gratis and surances, less re-Assurances 13,844 £765,021 £942,613 £177,622 post-free. Children's En- E. MOSES and SON'S Establishments dowinents 207 21,260 23,287 2,027 are closed every Friday evening nt sunset till Annuities (Im- Saturday evening at sunset, when business mediate and is resumed until eleven o'clock. Deferred) 421 ' 137,514 156,345 - - 18,801 E. MOSES and SON, R 14,472 X 923,825 eady-made and Be- T o t a l — —, £1,122, 9 75 £198,450 E. MOSES and SON, Ready-made and Be spoke Tailors, Habitmakers, Woollendrapers, Hatters, Hosiers, Boot and Shoe Manufae tnrer,4, and General Out Lite r for all Classes. The valuation has been made at 3 per cent. interest, and the net premiums only have been taken, so that the loadings for future profits and expenses are entirely held in reserve and not brought into the valuati , 4l. The results show a considerable Furplus in the Life branch, amounting in the whole to .£W,450. JOHN 11. IiPLAREN, Manager. JOHN B. JOHNSTON, Secretary in London. viA following are the only addresses of E. MOSES and SON:— LONDON. coirgErt or 311NontEs AND ALDGATE. NEW OXFORD-STREET, CORNER. OF HART-STREET. COtNnr: OF TOTTENHAM-COURT -ROAD AND EUSTON- R)AD. THE ATRE-ROYA L HA YM AR K ET. Boxing Night, at 7 o'clock. FOUNDED ON FACTS; Mr Compton. After which, tEW MEN AND OLD ACRES: Mr Buckstone. Concluding with HIGH LIFE BELOW STAIRS: Mr Bnckstone, Mr Kendall, Miss F. Wright, &e. Country Branch : BRADFORD, TORKSII/RE. THE CHEAPEST DIARY EVER PUBLISHED. D OCKET DIARY FOR 187 0, Second Edition, ...-. containing the following useful information:— Alminack Corporation of London Transfer Days of Public Funds Postal Information Wei?' - its awl Measures List of Barkers Stamp Ditties Army and Navy Agents Foreign Moneys Cab Cares Ministers of State _ Beady Reckoner . Al's° A DIARY, a - ranged oe the moat approved plan, and neatly printed on good writing paner, Price One Penny, or post-trea for Twopence. E. MOSES and SON, MTNORIES and A I.DGATE, NEW OXFORD-STREET, 1 LONDON, TOTTEN 11.A.:M-COU T- 1 ? OAD. And BRADFORD, YORKSHIRE. To ho obtained also at the Metropolitan Railway and other Bookstalls of Messrs. Willing and Co. x - o - ricE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that an Ex .L N 1 tracrdinary General Meeting of the Shareholders (that is those now holding shares) in the EAST INDTA IRRIGATION AND CANAL COMPANY will be held at the Company':; Offices. 8 and 9, Queen-street -place. in the City of London, on Saturday. the 15th January, 1870, for the purpose of receiving. considering, approving, con firming, adopting, or otherwise dealing with a Report to the Directors of the Company from the Committee of A p portionment, and of transacting such ether business and matters as may then be, or appear to be, necessary in rela tion to or in connection with the aforesaid Report, or the matters to which it relates, refers to, or affects. - Ti - order of the Board of Directors. Dec. 21, 1869. J. WESTWOOD, Secretary. A GENTS WANTED EVERYWIIF,RE to introdttre eommoli les valuable to every householder nigh and low. This offers a highlyremunerativeCommi-stun to Tradesmen, Travellers. Gentlemen's Servants, &e. Apply with two stamps to P. 3IARRISON, Great Orford-street,Norwieh. kOIIN (3 ()SNELL and CO.'S CHERRY 0 TOOTH PASTE is greatly superior to any tooth pow.lpr zives tho tooth a. pearl whiteness, protects the promo] from ripely, and imparts a pleanant fragrance to the breath. Price Is. 6d.—Bed Bull Wharf, 93, Upper Thames-street. London. ICOTIITNG IMPOSSIBLE. GIJA AMARELLA restores the Human Hair to its pr7stine hue, no matter at what age. JNO. GOSNELL and CO. have at length, with the aid of one of the most eminent Chemists, succeeded in perfect ing; this wonc. , rful liquid. It is now offered to the public u a morn concentrated form, and at a lower price. Sold in bottles, 3s. each ; also 55., 7s. 6(1., and 15s. each. includinz hniqh. Bed Bull Wharf, Angel passsage, 93, upper Thames street London. DE.-VUTY AND THE BEAST; or HARLEQUIN AND- OLD MoTIMR BUNCH, will be piodueed OD MONDAY. December 27, and positively withdrawn on Saturday, February 2g. Morning Performances every Wednesday and Saturday during the above period. Boy office open from 10 till 5 daily.— THEATRE-ROYAL, DRURY-LANE. T HEATRE ROYAL, II A YMARKET. Sole Lessee, Mr. Ttnekstone. Monday Evening, at Seven, FOUNDED ON FACTS. Mr Compton. At half-past Seven, the New Comedy, NEW MEN AND OLD ACRES: Mr Buckstone, Mr Chippendale, Mr Howe, Mr Rozers, Mr. Braid, Mr Bnekstone, jun.; Miss Robertson, Mrs Chippendale, Mrs. E. Fitzwilliam, Misr, C. Hill, .37.% Cunoln.line; with (by desire) HIGH LIFE BELOW STAIRS : Mr Kendal. Mr Duckstone, Mr Howe, Miss F. Wright, and Miss F. Gwynne. Box-office open daily from Ten till Five. ITEATRE ROYAL, AI)ELPHI Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. 13. WEBSTER. Monday Evening, at 7 o'clock. TUE LONG STRIKE: Mr Ilenjamln Wel . )ster, Aessrs A. Stirling, G. Edmore, J. G. Taylor, W. Eign ( o,l. :11',.s Furtado. fie. To conclude with LOST AT SEA: Mr G. Edmore, Mr A. Stirlinz, Mr Atkins, W. Ilignold, Mr C. IT. Stephenson, Miss Ros , Leolereq, Misr Eliza Johnstone, Mrs. Leigh Murray, and Mss Lennox ,4r-y. Box-oMce open daily, from 10 till 5. No fees for booking Flutes can be seeared a fortnlglit in advance.. I_IOLBORN THEATRE-ROYAL. Sole Lessee and Manager. BARRY SULLIVAN. Monday Evening. at Seven o'clock, the laughable Farce of THE 'LATH 11,( 1 AD. At 7 . 1 5. Lovell's celehrated Play (in five acts), of LOVES SACRIFICE.: Mr Parry Sullivan ; Messrs. George Honey. J. C Cowper, Charles Ilersman, I.in Payne, Lunt, Dyes, Arthur. Ake. ; Mrs. Hermann Vezin, Miss J. Ttignold, Miss Amy Fawsitt, Mrs. C. Ilorsrnan, &c. To conclude with STATE SECRETS. Principal Scenic Artist—Mr ,Tulian Hicks. Actinsf Manwer—AmonY S,'LLIYIN7 GLOBE THEATRE-ROYAL. Proprietor, Mr. Sefton Parry. Immense success of the new Comic Drama. Monday Evening. at 7, A HOUSEHOLD FAIRY : Miss Lydia Foote, Mr !I enry Neville • A t 7. , 5. Mr. Byron's new and original Comic Drama. in three Acts. written by himself, entitled NOT SUCH A FOOL AS HE LOOKS: t•ir -Imon Simple, Mr. Ti..T. flyren. Tn eonelnde with THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLDEN EGGS: Mr S. Clarke and Mrs Stephens. A. new rudest:tie, by Mr. Henry J. Fyron, in which Miss Fanny Joseph 9 will appear. is in active preparation. 7) UYAL ST It AN - 1) - 'l' 11 It E. ESole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs Swanborouszh. Monday Evening. at 7,10, AMONU TEE BREAKERS : Mr Cl trlte. Followed by THE TOODLER : Mr Clarke. After whieh, INO t Messrs Thorne. James, Fenton, Turner Mesdames Sheridan, Newton, Maitland. &e. To conclude with THE CHOPS OF THE CHANNEL cPO RUN G.—.l MIN ROBERTS supplies the LA TES r EDITION of "THE SUN" as soon as pub ithed.-4, Bath-street, City-road, E.C. TIIE "SUN" NE WSPA PEIL-G. It. G-ENIE, Sporting Library, 4, Connaught-terrace, Edgeware -road. deliver:♦ the LATE VDITION of "TH I , : SUN " at the earliesi possible moment after leaving . the press. fl is able to deliver Copies in Town, the Suburbs, and in many parts of the country at a comparatively early hour the same evening, say 10 miles ty 0 . .13 o'clock Orders by post punctually attended to TIIE LATEST EDITION of " TI I E SUN " to 1- be seen Every Evening by 810 at Mr. rOBERT MEACOCS's, kitannia. Kensal New-town. THE SUN.—LATEST EDITION to be seen every Evening, at Eight o'clock, at Mr GILLMANS, " The Wheatsheaf," High-street, ',:arndkn-town. rrIlE LA rir.sT EDITION of "THE SUN" 1. IT )11IES begs to inform his friprvis and the public ienerally that be surplit!s ll.> LATEST EDITION of "THE StIN " ns soon es Hampsteaa-road N.W. 'r H E LATES ED ITI ON of " THE SUN ac ns, pnbl he 1, containinr , nil the LATEST SEWS and STk TNTELI.D.;ENC Ly iI W ILA RRIS, Nev - spaper AgeLt, 4. Ih:el:friars-I - tau], I.ond(m, S. Ill: . 1 . 1 I I lON OF "THE SUN," givT,!4 a.ll the G N EWS of to t 3 day, may be seen t EM YMtN TON'S house, "'t he Swan and Horse Shoe," 3.: t,le ticits.in, City, E.O TIE.; LATEST EIMION of " THE SUN" may be seen at Fight o'clock cyery Evening at Mr. J. NEwrot:Ts', the Caroni Arms., IliFh-street, Cameeu-t?wn I • III'; LATEST EDITION of " I'IIE SUN " supplied, as soon ss published, FTsry Evening, by W ATA!..XA.•Df , I2. ante Brooks), Newspaper Agent, Ao. 4, ow '2 ,vezedsh Street, Oxford-street THE T,AIEST EDITION of " TUE SUN" P supplied as soon as published, every Evening, by S. WiLsON, newsagent, and special agent for the North-western District, 24, Delancey-street, Camden town, N W. sue dry c%,, • EC- 4' THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPIII. Monday Evening, at 7, THE LONG STRIKE: Mr. Benjamin Webster, Mr A. Stirling, Ur G. Belmore, Mr J. G. Taylor, Mr bignold Jf i•s Furtado, cte. Followed by LOS 1' AT SEA : %Ir G. Belmore, Mr A. Stirling, Mr Atkins, Mr W. Rignold, Mr C. H. Stephenson, Miss R. Leelereq. and Mrs L. Murray. GLOBE THEATRE-ROYAL. Every EVENING. at 7, A HOUSEHOLD FAIt:Y. At 7.5, NOT z•UGH A FOOL AS 11E LOOKS: Mr H. J. Byron. And fIE GOOSE WITH THE GOLDEN EGOS: MrJ.Clarke and Mrs Stephens. THEATRE-ROYAL, HOLBOrs. Every EVENING, EvESING, at?, r liE BATH ROAD. At 7.45. LOVE'S SACRIFICitI: Mr. Barry Sullivan, Mrs. Hermann Yezin, &c. And STATE SECRETS. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs. Swanborough. Every EVENING, at 7.30, AMONG THE BREAKERS: Mr Clarke. With THE TOODLES. And INO. Concluding with THE CHOPS OF THE CHANNEL. CEIRISTY MINSTRELS. St. James's Mill, Every Night, at Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and 8 all the year round. ZOOLOGICAL G AMENS, Regent's-pack. OPEN daily (ex apt Sundays). Admission, is.; on M'adays, Gd. Children Ln.der twelve. Gd ROYAL AL !lAMB It A. PALACE. THREE BALLETS Promenade Concert. Band of 60. Begin at 8. ls. Box-oifice open fromll to 4. LONDON, SATURDAY, DEC. 25, 18G9. Christmas has come again, with its many claims on our regard and attention, with its hopes, memo ries, and associations. The recurrence of any festival and the observance of any fixe I time must, in this chequered state of existence, be fraught with more pain than pleasure to the many, though the few may be delighted, and bail the opportunity for rejoicing. Rightly considered, however, it cannot be said that the season of Christmas is one of unrestrained mirth and festivity. There are many duties apper taining to its advent, as well as many pleasures con nected with its celebration, and, if the blessed memo ries it brings, and the bright hopes it bolds out can cheer the sinner and soothe the nfflicted, there are other and darker reflections that will intrude and cast sobering and saddening influence upon us. This is not a time when we should count our gains or num ber our population, speculate upon our chances of competition with foreign nations, or descant upon our progress or prosperity. We are to celebrate the birth of one who was born in want, and reared in poverty, to whom the glory of the kingdoms of this world were offered, and who despised the • gift. Christmas is the triumph of the poor, the feast of the untitled, or it is nothing. It is true that lie in whose honour it is kept had another inheritance, and reigned as King of Kings and Lord of Lords before he entered the manger of Bethlehem, but worldly distinctions sink into nothing in such comparison. The world in which the SAVIOUR walked has under gone many changes, and who that dwelt in those days could have drea:ned of the excellenc:.s, the beauty, and the grandeur of our modern attain ments. Art has flourished, science triumphed, and knowledge increased a hundredfold, but there is one thing needful which the care and trouble of sur rounding generations have overlooked, through in difference; or set aside from perversity. Who shall say that in what constitutes the real mea:.iag of the thing we of the nineteenth century have gained iu knowledge and increased in desire how to keep Christmas worthily ? Is the world animated by a higher sense of duty ? Does mankind seek better to copy the Divine example, which was one.; given for its pattern and encouragement. The thought is a pain ful one, but it may lend to wiser and worthier actions. To keep Christmas in m'rzh . and gaiety and not to cast a glance at its hidden purpose will be to cast aside alike our duties and our privilege. The world with its cares and its interests is almost overwhelm ing; but let us leave the present and - take a glance at the hallowed past, while we gaze at the holier future. Are we or those around us really making the most of the opportunities afforded to us? Do the thoughts of the first Advent induce and influence to make ready and prepare for the second coming of our SAVIOUR ? It is to be feared not, fur the prevail ing thought of all, or nearly all, is to win a higher place in the social rank or to lay up stores of wealth. The poor seem to be crushed down more and more in the weary struggle of life, and those who cannot hold their ground must sink to rise no more. human beings appear to have time for everything else but to care for each other ; and yet was not this the lesson that was taught them in the life of Ilitn whose birth was in a stable and whose death was on the Cross. Our streets swarm with children, who are untaught; our prisons are filled with uneducated criminals, who have found temptations in plenty, but few to counsel or assist them. Our poor are ground down, and it seems alinost impossible to aTurcl them adcgirs.te relief in their dis tre s. We are far, indeed, from r,alisiog the in spired sision of the Palmist, when he prayed that our sons might grow up as the young plants, and that our daughters might be as the polished corners of the temple. It is true that he asked also that our garners might be plenteous and full of all manner of stores, and for that benefit we seek earnestly, and will rise early, late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness. The Christmas of this year comes to us in this country surrounded with much to deplore and denounce—sin, want, and misery intrude their TOE SUN, LOINDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 25, 1869. ungainly:presence, and work their deadly ends where peace and plenty should be found, and a smiling and industrious population render thanks to HEAVEN for its manifold gifts. We are told by the philosopher that such are among the inevitable results of civili sation, and that progress must entail suffering and loss on many who come in its conquering path. If this be true, it does not speak very forcibly for the benefits that we, the heirs of all the ages, have de rived from the wisdom of centuries and the experi ence of bygone generations. Christmas, at any rate, is an old institution, and modern iconoclasm has not yet pronounced its doom. While it is honoured and cherished there is something to hope for, and let its recurrence on the present occasion lead us on to the contemplation of brighter and better days. If the poor should remember that they arc not shut out from this festival, for its LORD and 11.1AsTER had not even where to lay His bead, the rich should also think why He be-‘ c.tme poor, and take to heart the les-3ons of charity and goodwill. Many other truths might be impressed on the minds o: those who were ready to receive them, but they are sure to occur to the willing mind, and the unwil:ing will not heed or hear. They who exercise toleration and forbearance, who con sider the poor and protect the feeble, are carrying out in their lives the precepts Tihich the Founder of Christmas came on earth to inculcate. The avari cious and the sordid, the oppressor and the cruel, may join in the celebration of the season, but they cannot really enter into its meaning or its mysteries. Christmas is the beacon of our earthly road, the re minder that we mortals have of our connection with Him who once wore our nature and trod our sphere. It is a time full of hopes and meet for rejoicing, and long may the period be removed when its celebration shall be neglected, and its ad-rent pass in silence. We are told to rejoice, and the surest way of fulfill ing that Divine command will be to tread in the only course our human footsteps can follow. He whom the wise men honoured and the shepherds worshipped now inhabiteth eternity, and dwelleth in temples not made with bands; but while the world he came to save shall last, the angelic strains shall linger on its confines, and all who practise peace on earth and goodwill to men, have tuned their hearts to the me lody of the first Christmas Anthem. THE public mind will have been not unprepared for the failure of the OVEREND, GURNEY, and Co. prosecution. At an early stage of the trial the ver dict cast its shadow before. Time, which always labours on the side of mercy, had worked a visible change in popular sympathy. Long-drawn processes tell in favour of the accused, for it is only in obedience to a natural instinct that the mind shrinks from inflicting further punishment upon men who have already suffered the torture of suspense and dis grace. Delay should not, indeed, defeat justice; but in most verdicts on long protracted cases may be traced the influence of the equitable principle that much suspense is in itself an infliction which may be pleaded in mitigation of the strict letter of the law. The legal strength of the two sides, moreover, was deplorably unequal. Even with a better case, Dr. - - TCENEALY and his juniors could have had little chance against the most formidable array in the opposite camp. Small hope can be entertained of a cause, the leading advocate of which is repeatedly interrupte Iby the judge on questions of fact, and who finds it necessary to apologise for his inefficiency at the close of his address. Some effect, no doubt, is to be attributed to the influence of delay and the superior professional strength of the defence. But, in addition, it is undeniable that the defendant's case rested upon really powerful pleas. The substance of the numerous charges was that the directors, in order to transform the private discount firm into a joint-stock company, put forth a prospectus which purposely misstated the facts of the case to the public, representing a ruined concern as flourishing, and holding back important details. On the other hand, it was contended that the old firm had always possessed a splendid discount business of great earning power, and that this business remained intact up to the final catastrophe. But, besides the regular trade, the firm unfortunately had of late years em barked in speculative and illegitimate ventures, most of which had turned out badly. Heavy liabilities from this source pressed upon the "corner house," and though the discount business was unimpaired, it of course required much capital. The locking up of large sums seriously impeded the working of the regular trade, and at length threatened to stop it altogether. A. fresh supply of funds became indispensable. It was open to the firm to declare itself insolvent, but this course would have simply dissipated the legitimate business, the goodwill of which was calculated at half a million. The alternative of inviting new capital was clearly reasonable, provided it were carried out in a proper manner. The project of a company was accordingly drawn up, the capital to be a million and a half, of which the firm would take £250,000. The discount house proposed to sell its legitimate business for half a million, but to retain the liabilities arising from the speculatiOns. These liabilities were represented by a deficit of four millions upon an account of fifteen millions. The old firm were to guarantee the now company against loss from this enormous aggregate of insol vency. The securities which the partners set off against the four millions were good assets to the extent of one million, the price of the goodwill, half a million the private property of the members of the old firm, and other items. Three-and-a-half years were to be given the partners to deal with this deficiency. Meanwhile the discount business was to go on, it was hoped that the insol vency would ultimately be got rid of, and then a great career of prosperity awaited the new company. Such was the programme. Was it so - carried out as to leave reasonable ground for the supposition that a fraud was intended? There can be no doubt that the prospectus which described this scheme was of the glowing type, avoiding disagreeable topics, and altogether of that " business " character to which we are but too well accustomed. Still the question, in a criminal sense, turned on the point whether the projectors had made a reasonable calcu lation of success, or whether they had invited the public to share in a concern which they knew must inevitably come to ruin. To issue a " glowing " pro spectus is not creditable, but it is not a fraud, and cannot be held answerable at criminal law, any more than the ordinary extravagant laudation of goods by a tradesman. Both this and various other transac tions, including the total suppression of the second deed, which described in detail the arrangements by which the deficiency was to be covered, were of ques tionable morality. But various circumstances pointed to the conclusion that these doubtful acts did not amount to a criminal fraud. In the first place, the partners and. their colleagues on the new directory risked and lost large sums in the com pany. The Messrs. GURNEY and Mr. BIRKBE cic staked everything on the issue, and Mr. BARCLAY and Mr. GIBBS, although they had no connection with the old firm, invested £50,000 in the venture which they undertook to conduct. Then, again, the testimony went to prove that the estimate by which the partners hoped to cover the deficit was not at that time unreason able. The amount which the private estates actually did realise fell far short of the calculations, and so did the assets; but both these species of security were converted at an unfavourable time, after a great commercial crisis had taken place, and when sales were numerous and buyers few. Lastly, the imme diate downfall of the company is to bo attributed to an extraordinary run upon the private deposits. The public became suspicious, and withdrew its money from the bank at the rate of a million a month. Hardly any concern could withstand such a shock, and the drain, added to an increase in the rate of interest, speedily brought about the end. But for these exceptional circumstances the business might have flourished. It was the consideration that some of these influences were beyond the directors' control, and that in other respects they had coui- mitted errors of judgment rather than deliberate wrong, which led the jury to decide that the moral offence of which the defendant's were guilty did not amount to a crime. It must not be forgotten, how ever, that the moral offence is a reality. It is a fact that the public were invited to take part in an enterprise the full nature of which was not disclosed to them. It is equally a fact that the members of the firm, after bringing them selves to ruin by their own recklessness, sought aid from the public through a scheme which, though not impossible, was, as the result proved, exceedingly dangerous. To hunt men down for the sake of revenge is bad ; but to forget the wide spread disaster with which this memorable case is connected is worse. Whatever the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE may think, there is a great public question involved in this case. The doings of the directors were only one specimen of the evil which lies at the root of all these joint-stock catastrophes—the power which individuals possess under present con- ditions, of securing supplies of money for personal ends by means of a trading company. No doubt OVEREND, GURNEY, and Co. (Limited) might have done well under different circumstances ; but the primary idea in starting the concern was undoubtedly to save the original firm from ruin. It was through undertakings of this kind that the last great panic was brought about. The most prominent representatives of the evil are surely no more to be free from censure than lesser offenders. In this sense it is impossible to acquit the defendants in the late trial; and it must be admitted on every hand that Dr. THoM, in prose cuting, performed a thankless but valuable public duty. Let us hope that the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE'S advice will be taken, and that such a task will not fall to a private individual again. THE GOVERNMENT AND THE VOLUN- TEEMS. The Pall iffalt Gazette gives some most important infor mation, if it be correct, upon the Government and the volunteers. On Thursday (according to our contempo rary) Mr. Cardwell had a conference with volunteer officers of the artillery and engineer branch of the service, and propounded to them the views of the Govern ment as to future allowances and requirements. It seems that the maintenance of light field artillery will not be encouraged, and as the present grant is thought to be enough for garrison artillery and engineers, there will probably be very little alteration with respect to these branches of the force, but it is thought that some substantial support will be given to the Shoeburyness meetings of the National Artillery Asso ciation, affording, as they do, such excellent oppor tunities of giving practical instruction in gunnery. Stated as briefly as possible, the following are the alterations which the Secretary of State for War proposes to make in the volunteer regulations so far as they affect rifle volunteers. It is understood that Mr. Cardwell wishes the proposals to be considered and discussed by those who are interested, and he will confer with the officers again at the end of next month :—First, ' it is proposed to reorganise the force so as to bring it into closer connection with the regular army; to put it under the command of the district generals, but not to interfere with the functions of the lords-lieutenant. Secondly, the grant is only to be expended on " neces sari s," and the old system of payment by the adjutants, and the vouching of every item of expenditure will be reverted to. Under the head of necessaries will be classed-1. Expenses of head-quarters. 2. Caro and repair of arms. 3. Shooting ranges. 4. Travelling to and from ranges and parades. 5. Allowance to buglers. 6. Expense of uniforms and accoutrements. The War officials have calculated (supposing all companies to be eighty men strong) that Class No. 1 costs £2l per company in administrative battalions, £23 in country consolidated battalions, and £25 in metropolitan bat talions. Class No. 3 costs £l3 for administrative battalions, £l7 for consolidated, and £2l for metropolitan battalions. Class No. 6, £3 19s. 3d..—that is to say, for uniform and accoutrements complete. Provided the capitation grant is raised to 30s. per efficient, it is thought that all these " necessary " expenses will be covered. Thirdly, efficients in future will have to attend nine drills, fire sixty rounds (ten of them "volley "), or shoot out of the third class, and attend the official inspections ; or, failing that, to attend two extra drills. Fourthly, company drills must be with at least twelve files and battalion parades four companies of sixteen files. Fifthly, no charge will be made for the .conveyance of Government stores, nor for fair wear and tear of Government property, not for regi mental books and snoucuig bargts. tive battalions are, so far as discipline goes, to be put on the same footing as consolidated ones. Seventhly, com missioned officers will have to pass an examination or attach themselves for a month to a line regiment or to the county militia, and schools of instruction open to volun teer officers will probably be established. Lastly, non commissioned officers will have good service badges, and an increased allowance may, under certain conditions, be earned by them for their corps. THE OPPOSITION TO DR. TEMPLE. -- The John Bull has the following :—" Some persons Imagine that the opposition to Dr. Temple will now cease. Such might be the case if it had anything of a per sonal character in it; but this is not so. We learn on the best authority that as Dr. Temple made no declaration, and as the protests were so weighty and numerous, the gravest doubts rest, in the opinion of many best able to judge, as to the canonicity of his con secration, and of the validity of the orders which he may confer. We understand that the question of his right to hold a seat at all in Convocation will be questioned; and certainly many bishops will decline to unite with him in committees and other private business. Churchmen should also be alert to prevent any surprise in placing Dr. Temple on the list of vice-presidents of the S. P. G. We believe that no lapse of time can make Dr. Temple a rightful bishop, accordfng to Church principles and Church law; and that nothing but a public and solemn retraction of the essay will enable orthodox bishops to hold communion with him." A meeting of the Chapter of Exeter was held on Thurs day evening to receive and discuss a copy of the proposed address of the clergy of Exeter to Bishop Temple. The address, slightly amended, was agreed to after some discus sion, in the course of which it was said that however much they (the clergy) might personally disagree with Dr: Temple, yet they should receive him with hope, trust, and reverence. The tenor of their address was in accordance with this expression of opinion. The local friendly societies also met in Exeter on Wednesday night, and decided upon presenting Dr. Temple with an address, on his arrival in that city. It was understood that the friendly societies were to take part in the procession on the occasion of the Bishop's arrival. The following telegram which had been received from Dr. Temple was read, much to the satisfaction on the working men present :—" The Bishop does not arrive in Exeter until Wednesday morning. The Bishop will be very glad to receive the working men a few days later. The Bishop is very grateful for the kind feeling the work ing men have shewn towards him." The day on which the address should be presented was not fixed. Bishop Trower has declined the invitation of the Town Council to be pre sent at the banquet. The following is his letter declining the invitation :—" 9, Nevill Park, Tunbridge Wells, December 20, 1869. Bishop Trow•er acknowledges, with due feelings of obligation, the invitation which he has had the honour to receive from the Mayor and Corporation of Exeter to a chjefiner at the Guildhall on Tuesday, December 28, to meet the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of the diocese. Bishop Trower regards the con secration of that prelate (under his present circumstances) as perhaps the greatest sin with respect to the duty of fidelity to revealed truth in which the Church of England has been involved since the Reformation, and is, there , fore, constrained, notwithstanding his hearty respect for the Mayor and Corporation of Exeter, to decline being present at a festive gathering in celebration of this event." The Duke of Somerset, Lord Lieutenant of the county of Devon, and Sir Lawrence Palk, Bart., M.P., have also de clined to attend the thsciiner. The Duke declines on the grounds that he regards the reception as a city, rather than a county, reception. TERRIBLE AND FATAL WRECKS. A despatch from Dover states that the steamer M. E. Clarke went ashore on the rocks on Thursday. The Royal Wiltshire lifeboat brought ashore the crew of seventeen men, and they were taken to the Sailors' Home. The ship Providence, of Warsin, bound from Shields to Naples, was seen on the Goodwin Sands on Thursday morning. The Rams gate steamer Aid, and the lifeboat Bradford put off to her assistant. The steamer made for the vessel's port-quarter, as three or four of the crew could be seen there. The lifeboat was hauled to within ten or twelve fathoms of the wreck, which was breaking up. The master attempted to reach the boat by the hawser, as did also one of the men, but they were both washed away. Happily, they were afterwards picked up. A man and a boy were left on deck, and the former tied a rope round his waist and plunged into the water, when he sank. Efforts were made to save the boy, but a tremendous sea broke up the ship, and washed him overboard. He was picked up apparently dead, but soon afterwards was brought round. Twelve of the crew had left in their boat during the night, and it is feared that they have perished in the gale. The Cornucopia, three-masted schooner, Newcastle, for I Lisbon, with coal, got on Corton Sands at 6 p.m. on Thurs day, and came off with eight feet of water in the hold. She was run on the beach opposite the Hig lighthouse,ancl is full of water. The Catherine, from Sunderland, with coal, went ashore at Ostend on Thursday. The owner, master, and crew of the Echo brig, of Ardrossan, abandoned at sea, landed at Grimsby on Thursday. The captain and crew of the Bird, laden with coal, from Sunderland to Bruges, have been landed in Dover. Their ship foundered in the North Sea. Toy saved themselves in their own boat, and were picked up by the barque Preste, of Nova Scotia, and when off Dover were landed in a Dover boat, and taken at once to the National Sailors' Home. The whole crew aro members of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society. The John Bull states that the Archbishop of Can terbury has addressed a very kind letter to Mr. Hayman, congratulating him on his appointment to Rugby. A. few years ago an ingenious gentleman managed to get drunk free of expense almost daily in the streets of London by falling down in a fit, with a small placard on his breast, " Don't bleed me, but give me a glass of hot brandy and water." The following advertisement is cut from a daily contemporary : " Education.—Wanted, by a father, a school, where his son may receive an education to fit him for a manly and useful life, without any humbug as to nations dead and buried thousands of years ago.—Address stating terms, A., at —." The proprietors of three cafes in the Haymarket and Piccadilly were on Friday summoned at Marlborough street for breaches of the Acts of Parliament regulating the conduct of such places. Two of the defendants were fined 40s. and costs, and in the case of the other the sum mons was dismissed. The Conyocation of the prelates and clergy of I the province of Canterbury has been prorogued in Queen Anne's Bounty Office, Westminster, by the Vicar-General, Sir Travers Twiss, under a commission from his Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England and Metropolitan, pursuant to the royal writ, to Tuesday. ALLEGED PERJURY.—The case of the man Connor, who is believed to have been wrongfully convicted of per jury and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, was again before the Westminster police magistrate on Friday. Inquiries made by Inspector Humphreys shewed Connor to have been an industrious and steady man, and there was no doubt that he, with his wife and family, had suffered great hardships through his conviction. Mr. Selfe gave the poor man a small sum of money which had been subscribed for him, and condi ' tionally promised him £5 from the poor-box. THE RECTORSHIP OF ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY.— Aberdeen, Friday Evening.—For a month past party feeling has run very strong among the students of Aber deen University in respect to the election .of a Lord Rector. The gentlemen nominated for the office were Mr. Grant Duff (the rector for the past three years) and Sir William Stirling Maxwell, and at the election to-day it was found that the four nations were equally divided for the candidates, two being for Mr. Grant Duff and two for Sir William Stirling Maxwell. In these cir cumstances the decision lies with the Chancellor of the University, the Duke of Richmond, who must give his casting vote within thirty days. Apart from the equality of the nations, Mr. Grant Duff had by a small number the majority of votes. Mu. C 4 LADSTONE AND HIS CONSTITUENTS.—The following letter from Mr. Gladstone, in reply to a commu nication from the honorary secretary of the Borough of Greenwich Advanced Liberal Association, has been re ceived :—" 10, Downing-street, "Whitehall, 21st December, 1809.—Sir, I am directed by Mr. Gladstone to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th inst., asking whether it was his intention to meet. his constituents before the meeting of Parliament on the Bth of February ; and I am to request that you will inform the Advanced Liberal Association of Greenwich that Mr. Gladstone's pressing duties are of such a nature as altogether to preclude the possibility of his having the satisfaction of visiting his constituents before that time.—l am, sir, your 'obedient servant, ii,Lonnlstort WEST." PAYING TAXES. The Pall Nall Gazette will see nothing merry about Christmas, but that we have all to pay our heavy taxes at this season ; and our contemporary supplies Mr. Lowe with a hint or two for quickening the taxpayer who is behind. In some parts of the Continent it is the habit to allow the taxpayer the option of paying his duties in instal ments, monthly, quarterly, or hall-yearly as he chooses, or in a lump. He is bound to take the money himself to the tax-office, and if he makes default in a single instalment, the whole amount is at once exacted. To this plan we may add, as a suggestion of our own, that to quicken the movements of tax-payers either a discount for "prompt cash," as the shopkeepers call it, should be allowed, or, what is much the same thing, an addition should be made for interest on arrears. DEATH OP LORD BOSTON. The death of Lord Boston took place on Wednesday night at his residence in Wilton -crescent. The Right Hon. George Ives Irby, Baron Boston of Boston, Lincolnshire, in the peer age of Great Britain, and a baronet, 'MIS eldest son of George, thirdlord, by his wifejlachel Ives, eldest daughter and co-heir of the late Mr. William Drake, of Amersham. He was born 14th September, 1802, and married first, 25th January, 1830, Fanny Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Mr. Wm. Hopkins Nor they, of Oving House, Bucks, who died in 1860. He married, secondly, in 1861, the eldest daughter of Lord De Saumarez. He succeeded to the peerage on the death of his father, 12th March. 1856, and is himself succeeded in the title by his only son, the Hon. Florence George Henry Irby, who was born 9th March, 1837, and married in 1859, the second daughter of Lord De Saumarez. The deceased peer was descended from Anthony Irby, an eminent lawyer, a member of Lincoln's-inn, and a master in Chancery in the reign of James 1., who had previously represented Boston in Parliament in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Ho died in 1625, and his son, Sir Anthony, also represented Boston in the time of Charles I. The peerage was created in 1761. A PROTEST AGAINST THE LAW. Mr. W. F. Clark, the late Public Orator at Cambridge, has written a most important letter to the Bishop of Ely. He makes, with pain, the announcement that he has been driven to conclusions incompatible with the declaration he made at his ordination. "For instance (he says) in the Ordering of Deacons,' a candidate is asked whether he `unfeignedly believes all the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament.' This question, taking thewords in their natural sense, I could not now conscientiously answer in the affirmative. In the Ordering of Priests,' several of the questions addressed by the bishop to the deacons evi dently assume the infallibility of the Scriptures. The same doctrine is implied in the 6th and Bth Article, and in the 36th canon. Ino longer think it tenable. Some portions of the " Canonical Scriptures" now seem to me to be of doubtful genuineness, and others to contain erroneous statements in history, and questionable teach ing in theology and morals. There are passages in the Liturgy, which I cannot now repeat with full assent. I cannot stand beside the altar and say in the face of the congregation, " God spake these words," when I am con vinced that He did not speak them. Under these circum stances, I beg to signify to you my desire to relinquish the position of a clergyman and to resume that of a layman. Whatever laws, written or unwritten, may prevent me from doing this, I protest against as being iniquitous and immoral, because it conflicts with the natural right and bounden duty of every man all his life long, to search for and proclaim the truth." HOUND AND FOX POISONING. A form of outrage which is quite unexampled has shewn itself in the county of Kilkenny. The following facts are gleaned from the local journals :--Some disagreement of a personal nature occurred some time ago in the Hunt Club, and Mr. Bryan, M.P., was dissatisfied with the proceedings - The club failed to give the redress which he expected, and he withdrew from it. The pea santry have espoused his quarrel, and are avenging it in a very cruel way. After endeavouring, in vain to in timidate the members of the hunt, whom they hcoted and otherwise insulted, they resorted to the more disgraceful expedient of poisoning the coverts and the hounds. The avowed object is to put an end to what they call the " ascendancy hunt." For three months the crusade has been carried on. Mobs have assembled to offer obstruction, an d a placard was di s pl a yed with the words "No more hunting till Squire Bryan is satis fied." On Friday last, the gentlemen of the hunt, returning from Ballyragget, met a mob carrying on a pole the body of a fox which they had killed by poison, and as they passed through the village they raised cheers for Squire Bryan, and protested rgainst more hunting "until the people's friends are satisfied." The crowning outrage wc s committed on Monday last, when poisoned meat was thrown in the way of the pack, and nine of them were killed. Two others are not expected to recover. The result is that the hunting has been for the present given up. A meeting of members of the Club will be held on Monday to denounce these scandalous proceedings. At a time when absen teeism is so loudly complained of there is poor encouragement for country gentlemen to reside at home. No effort appears to have been made by any persons* of influence with " the people" to put an end to the mali cious acts ivhicE have deprived the members of the Kil kenny Hunt of their chief source of enjoyment. It is to be hoped that at the meeting some means will be found to deliver the county from the disgrace which now rests upon it. The Nottingham magistrates have fined a baker and miller in that town .£5 for selling flour which proved to be adulterated with alum. The Broad Arrow "hears" that the Government have decided on erecting a Military prison on Dover Heights, and that the works are to be commenced next month. The Post says that no expense was spared by the defendants in the trial of the directors of the Ovorend- Gurney Company. The costs wore fully £l,OOO a day. The Law Times says that the claim for the exten sion of tenant-right to England, which has been agitated in some of th' chambers of agriculture, has already sensibly affected the laud market, disinclining prudent persons to invest in property so threatened. It is also alarming mort gagees not a little. Mr. Thomas Salt, one of the members, a Conser vative, for Stafford, has been in the habit of giving Christ • mas gifts to some of the Stafford poor. He has this year issued a handbill, in which he states that such annual gifts are of questionable legality ; and therefore he regrets to discon tinue the old system. The consecration of the 'Ten. Archdeacon Mac kenzio, Bishop Suff►egan Nominate in the diocese of Lincoln, will (sa3 s the Nottingham Guardian) take place in the course of a few weeks. The letters patent will be made out for the See of Nottingham, and the new suffragan will devote himself almost exclusively to that county. It appears from the Catholic Directory for 1870, that the piece of building land. of about three acres in ex t•ent, bought for tho Roman Catholic cathedral, Westminster, has cost £36,500. Of this sum £21,500 have been already paid off. By the end of 1874, donations and annual sub scriptions already promised will amount to £7,000 morn; leaving a further sum of £B,OOO to be - collected and paid by 1880. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The saddest season of the year is once more upon us, remarks the Saturday Review. The external gloom corre sponds only too well to the melancholy with which we are naturally impressed. We are gathered in family parties, and are bored by people whom we love so well that our' weariness is intensified by a sense of guilt; we are sad dened more excusably by the gaps which have been made in our circle ; and many of us have madly retired into country-houses to bestow our whole tediousness upon each other with more persistency and fewer opportunities of escape. This being so, what is the rational conclusion ? We do not propose to abolish the convivial celebration of Christmas, if only for the sake of the pleasure which it really gives to some people. Children - have spirits which are not .so easily damped ; and a certain number of the poor get the tan gible advantage of a solid dinner, of which we should be very sorry to deprive them, even though it is often washed down with an undue quantity of gin. W e ma y, if we please, regard Christmas as an occasion on which we submit to be thoroughly bored for the sake of the simple minded classes. It is something to make a sacrifice at times, not only of money, but of pleasure, and even of the dignity of rational beings. If anything else should be re quired to fill up a discourse, there is a very good field of inquiry in the difficulty of maintaining the vitality of old institutions. There is undoubtedly much about the sen timents associated with Christmas which grows stronger instead of weaker as we grew older, and the essence of the celebration will doubtless remain as long as people have imaginations or a sense of religion. But it is curious to remark how dead some of the ancient forms become, and how depressing an effect they produce. We are wonder ful restorers in these clays ; we can produce a building which shall be a perfect imitation of any given period of architecture, and we could doubtless get up yule logs and boars' heads and all the rest of it with such perfect propriety as to deceive a ghost from the Middle Ages. Somehow, there are cases in which, as in the Eglinton tournament, the closeness of the imitation only serves to bring out the want of real spirit in the per _f....coanee. Christmas has some counterbalancing pleasures in its general melancholy foL-, art.. .n, .1..1 of eating and drinking is always agreeable to the flesh. If we could manage to celebrate it in such fashion that the external forms should be natural expressions of sentiment, instead of mechanical repetitions of traditional obser vances, they would cease to jar upon us,- and we might possibly make it an exhilarating occasion, in spite of a shade of melancholy which clings to all kinds of anniver sary performances. There is a certain sadness about any thing which reminds us that we are a year older; but it need not be a disagreeable sadness. How this object is to be accomplished is, however, a large question. The Spectator, in referring to the tragedy of the Fasting Girl, observes that it was a sad case, but its sadness con sists to us in the amount of folly, credulity, and supersti tious obstinacy it revealed, not in the death of the poor little girl, or of the humane though unerring means taken to discover a persistent imposture. Society, which was being preyed on, had a right to take them, and so had science, and it took them with all the limitations and pre cautions it could devise, the nurses being strictly enjoined to give the girl food if she desired it. It had been suggested that the girl's hysteria took the form of a positive ina bility to eat or drink in public, and that, therefore, the watching itself caused her death; but the hypothesis is worth less. Sarah Jacobs could speak up to the hour of her death; she was of full intelligence, and her request for food and privacy to eat it in would have been at once obeyed Neither nurses nor doctors, in fact, assisted death ; all they did was to provide that an imposture should no longer prove profitable ; and that they had a right to do, their moral position being in no way altered by the obstinacy of the performer. The Saturday Review satirizes the new custom of exchanging extraordinary articles through the medium of a weekly journal. No flight of imagination could match the strange combinations with which we here become familiar. "Fifty songs and a medicine chest" are offered for competition—a very curious old Bible for a tea-kettle, a rifle for twelve buff Cochins. Rose-trees for an iron fire-proof safe ; a Latin Dictionary for a side-saddle ; a ten-guinea portmanteau for a parrot; Beppo and Don Juan for a pair of candlesticks; which last exchange must be on the ex funto dare lucent principle. Naturally this strikes people as a delightful method of getting rid of lumber. It takes a long time to learn—sometimes it is never learnt—that rubbish is rubbish all the world over. These columns. show us the shove and impulse by which human nature strives to free itself from an incubus ; enli vened by the hope that somebody will even recognise a want in what has hitherto been a nuisance and an incum brance. It does not do, perhaps, thus to describe " Black Bee's " "large collection of preserved snakes," but we wish rather than hope that the' offers to which she is open will come tumbling in. There is no doubt, however, that parties about to marry will resent the suggestion of a huge piece of Berlin worsted-work as eligible for a wedding present. "Mandarin," who wants offers for anti macassars, must, we predict, like a great many other people, "let want be her master." We may, we trust, say the same to possessors of savage feather trimmings, for it would be a serious matter if such were to come in vogue as wearing apparel. The refrain " I want "is the pathetic note of this utterance of humanity--" I want earrings," " I want a gold locket," " I want so many yards of lace, or fur, -or glass beads ;" to which " I have" is set against. I have such and such gewgaws of which I am ' heartily tired. Sometimes the want is imparted without reasonable hope of satisfaction, as where wo read "I want a new silk umbrella." Pets are a favourite article of exchange, and the wants in this direction are startling enough. Thus "Beady" wants a small female monkey. "She must be young, and small, and not have a projecting nose." For this treasure a freezing machine, a child's dinner set, and twenty new songs are offered, and the "tenderest love and care" promised. Parrots, jackdaws, magpies are offered for jewellery, a pet blackbird for a locket and chain, five feather-legged bantams for a card-table. Pegs aro in demand. The John Bull is glad, in the interests of justice, that the prosecution has failed. But it cannot, it says, help being glad in the interests of commercial morality that it was instituted. There is, indeed, a wide difference between wilful suppression and concealment, with a view to one's own profit, or one's own extrication from ruin, and suppression and concealment, equally wilful it may be, but intended to benefit, not oneself alone, but all who are concerned. The idea that a speculative under taking can be conducted with great profit and ad vantage if only people can be persuaded to engage M it, cannot, however, justify from a moral point of view the suppression of circumstances which, if known would prevent people from so engaging in it. The shareholders had a right to form their own opinion, not to be tricked into a good thing. The risk might have appeared small to the promoters of the new company, and very likely would have appeared so to many of those who actually took shares in that company. Very likely, too, under less disad vantageous circumstances, the company might have turned out to be the good thing which its pro moters expected it to be. These are the strong points in favour of the directors • but the other side of the case must not be overlooked. The very fact that timorous people might have shrunk back if they had been acquainted with the whole arrangement rendered it more important in the interest of commercial morality that the whole arrangement should have been dis closed. That the concealment was not dictated by purely selfish motives, but by a bond fide belief that it was for the benefit of those who were to be influenced by that concealment, only palliates it, and cannot justify it. The ruin brought on so many ignorant and unwary shareholders is no less great than it would have been, had the motives of the promoters been less open to extenuating circumstances. The lesson is a sharp one, but if directors for the future abstain even from concealment dictated by the best intentions, and allow the public to judge for them selves what is and what is not for their benefit, then the lesson of these days of public humiliation and shame which have fallen upon the ill-starred directors of Overend and Gurney, will not have been learned in vain. The Economist does not believe in the rumoured dis armament. It is essentially (our contemporary says) of the season of pantomime. It arises out of Napo:eon's love of conquest. And a congress, in our contemporary's opinion, could not settle such a question. A general dis armament (our contemporary goes on) can only be effected in one way—through the individual belief of each Govern ment, acting separately, that there is little danger of any immediate strain on its military resources •, and it is just as absurd to expect that the different States of Europe, having totally different emergencies to provide against as well as totally different systems of pro viding against those emergencies, should come to a joint resolution of this kind, as it would be to expect that different banks having totally different classes of liabilities should come to any joint resolution as to the amount of reserve f und they would keep. If mutual confidence can be encouraged, if mutual suspicions can be allayed, if dynastic changes seem less and less likely, if the question of true " rectification of national boundaries " becomes a forgotten controversy, if ambitious and parvenu rulers are succeeded by commonplace sovereigns who are in the hands of their people, and who reign only because their people w i s h it—then we shall have a real disarmament but it will be one which the safest and least embroiled Powers will begin first, and the most ambitious and most embroiled Powers will be the last to join in. There is no way that we see of encouraging general disarmament except by giving guarantees that war can never be capri ciously entered on, can never be due to the mere political strategy of a single uneasy ruler. If the Emperor of the French wishes to secure a general disarmament, we should say that by far the most powerful means he could adopt for that end would be not negotiation but an act quite within his own power—to descend into a mere constitutional ruler, and give up all his powers of initiating a brilliant foreign policy unsanctioned by his Parliament. That would be a real security against sudden and unanticipated wars ; and it is of course the possibility of sudden and unanticipated wars, and not simply of wars of any kind, which compels the Powers of Europe to arm on so much more ma g nificent a scale recently than heretofore. Mr. Gold win Smith will, it is expected, return to England next year, as the American climate does not suit his .health. Some notice has been taken of an anecdote, to which the Tinzes first gave currency, of an iuterview be tween the Pope and Cardinal d o Bounechose, in which both were made to use very s t ro ng-language. Cardinal do B o n ne _ chose has since written a letter to the Universes, in whirl, Lis Eminence declares that the whole story i false," and. in every particular "a puro invention." Two medical cases are simultaneously reported. A woman in Manchester, who had ben improperly treated by a herbalist, died. Mr. T onsaid the Latham, a surgeon, attack 'under which the deceased died was such that it would have given way to proper restortives.— A gentleman named Douglas, who had basin an assistant in a regular surgery, has been fined 44 and costs at Bolton for prac tising as a surgeon without having duly qualified him self to do so by registration. 4, : 513,- 4 k;Zej, ‘,4 f Wieks , 6 , tl 7 J r ' 4 • HER MAJESTY. OSBORNE, Dec. 24. Her Majesty, accompanied by their Royal High nesses Princess Louise and Prince and Princess went out in the grounds this morning. _ Prince Leopold alit' Princess Beatrice also walked in the grounds. LATEST INTELLLGEiIO.3 (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) AMERICA. (Per French Atlantic Cable.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 2-1. The report of the occupation of Samara Bay by the United States is confirmed. lecse was obtained from the Government of President Baez, and a garrison from the United States' frigate Albany took possession on the 6th of December. NEW YORK, Dec. 24. Edwin M. Stanton died at Washington last night, aged 55, of general debility. The Guion steamship Nebraska arriTed here ,o-day. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. CLOSING PRICES. Gold closed at 1201 ; the highest quotation dur ing the day was 1201 ; the lowest, 1201. Sterling Exchange on London lOBl. 6-20 11. S. Bonds. 1882 . 1131. 66 " 1885 66 " 1867 ll5. 10-40 66 Illinois Erie Cotton—Mid. upland. 2sla. Petroleum—Standard White 3oc. Flour, extra state, $5.10c. to $5.70c. Corn, old mixed, sl.loc. FRS? Bo URSE, Dec. 24.—T, closed as follows : CE. !ee o'clock—The market 4 per Cent. End of month — 3 por Cent End of month 72 45 Credit Mobilier 207 50 Transatlantic 220 Credit Foncier 1722 50 Paris Gas 1640 RAILWA' Bank Shares 2840 ItaFan Fives 56 60 Austrian Fives — -- Ottoman Loan 333 Do. Debt 45 35 Spanish Throes Rome Debt — Deferred — 78. Cash 957 , Orleans , Western Northern ... 1125 Strasburg . 590 Lyons and Mediterranean Southern..... 5921 Sardinian ... Austrian Lombard North of Spain Saragossa Roman 52i 820 525 46 Bank of France. PARIS, Dec. 23. The following is the return of the Bank of France for the week ending to-day, together with the cor responding figures of the previous account : DEBTOR. Dec. 16. fr. c. 182,500,000 Dec. 23. fr. r. 182,500,000 -- Capital of Ole Bank Profits in addition to Capital (Art. 8, Law, June 9, 1857) 7,044,776 02 7,014,776 02 Reserve of the Bank and its branches 22,105,750 11 22,105,750 14 Reserve of landed pro perty 4,000,000 4,000,000 Notes in circulation 1,315,949,050 1,348,369,150 -- Banknotes to order and receipts payable at sight Treasury account cur- 47,365,401 95 219,870,156 42 369,355,747 90 44,554,989 - 825,004 - 9,365,453 74 46,271,819 62 231 458,259 f. , 7 361,360,48 85 43,650,081 - rent creditor Current accounts, Paris Do. branch banks Dividends payable Discounts and sundry 791,076 -- 96,425,546 67 interests Rediscounted the last six months Surplus of receipts not distributed Sundries 991,660 38 991,660 38 9,347,427 95 8,827,320 79 Total CILEDITOU. Dec. '23. Dec. 16. Cash in hand and in fr. c. fr. c• Branch banks Commercial bills over due Commercial bills dis counted, not yet due 310,082,089 19 302,625,80 3 Do. branch banks 287,275,214 292,14580 Advances on deposit of bullion 22,577,300 22,457,800 Do. branch banks 1,725,900 1,699,880 - Do. on French Public Securities 22,410,100 22,642,700 -- Do. by branch banks 9,089,900 9,051,800 Do. on railway shares and debentures 39,095,800 39,380,1(.,0 Do. branch banks Do. on Credit Foncier Bonds Do. branches 1,127,900 1,299,000 -- Do. to the State (Con vention, Juno 10, 1857) 60,000,000 60,000,000 Government Stock re serve 12,980,750 14 12,980,750 14 Do. disposable Etentes Immobalisees (Law, June 2, 1857) 1C0,000,000 100,000,000 Hotel and furniture of the Bank and landed propel ty branches ... 9,055,892 9,048 897 -- Expenses of manage ment 2,948,103 50 2,554,010 93 Sundries Total Certified by the Senator-Governor of the Bank of FraL (Signed) RoULAND• A NEW CHRISTMAS Tot—The approach of Ohristmas has brought with it the usual crop of novelties in the toy-maker's art. Anfting these one stands out pre eminent. It is the " Chameleon" Top, by far the most ingenious and interesting toy brought out since the "Zootrope," manufactured by the ingenious proprietor of the Model Dockyard, in Fleet-street ; it is the invention , we believe, of Professor Wheatstone, and is one of th minor results of that gentleman's investigation of the laws of light—one of the playthings of science in fact. Briefly described, it is a parti-coloured disc, with a spin dle through it. It may be spun by a child, and when in motion may be decorated with various other discs and appliances, which produoe the most marvellous chromatic and geometric effects. The top " keeps up" for three or four minutes, and on being touched lightly when revolv ing changes its form and colours in endless and kaloido scopio variety. " 'THE" DIARY FOR 1870.—.0ne of the meet useful, and decidedly the cheapest diary publifled, is that issued by the Messrs. Moses and Son's, of the ldiuories. From its size it is admirably adapted for the pocket, and with respect to the information contained within the little volume it is so extensive and complete that it is as handy as a book of reference as it is for the entry of daily memo ' randa. The issue of this book, at the astonishingly lout price of one penny, is a perfect wonder, and that the fr set edition, which amounted to over 100,000 copies, s hould have been already exhausted is not a matter of surprise. The book is to be had on application at either of the estab lishments of Messrs. Moses and Son's and at the railwef stations ; and, as the second edition is now ready for dis tribution, no time should be lost in securing a copy of 011() of the curiosities of the trade of the metropolis. BREAKFAST.—EPPS'S COCOA.--GRATEFUL AND CO FORTINO,—The very agreeable character of this preparationba s E a tt a i n ed by o rendered it a general f avour i te. The ' Civil Service Gazette' re.. marks :—" The s i ngu l ar success which Mr. Epps honsceopathic preparation of cocoa h as never b een sur passed by bl any experimentalist. By a thorough knowledge of the n atural laws which govern the operations of digestion and nutrition and by a careful application of the fine properties of well-selecte d cocoa, Mr Epps has provided our breakfast tables with a deli cately flavoured b everage w hi c h m t y save us man y h e avy doe tors' bill s ." Made simply with boiling water or milk. Sold only in tin-lined packets, labelled "JAMES EPPS and Co., Homo 3 pathic Chemists. L ondo n." The very extensive Distillery now beini erected at Belfast, with all recent improvements for the manufacture of Irish whisky, by Messrs. DUNVILLE & Co., who have gain ed a world-wide celebrity for their fine old Irish whisky, is to be called," The Royal Irish Distillery." HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Morning. Evening. SATURDAY ~ 26 min past 6 - 50 min past " SUNDAY 20 min past 7 50 min past l a MONDAY . 22 min past 8 57 min past TUESDAY ..20 min past 9 10 win past 10 'M 0 COM This be is closed. There vr terday. It has 1 Raphael, c A. Heath, of Bischoff F. Sattert fully suppi most active rican cred mittee to I force the 11 Railway in As the exp sited to co shilling pc: stamped 1 the dealer: in shares ence to pr rangement 60, Threat tion will foreign it are liable t much chap in countrie gands are tion be fav enterprises of the deli( tal is likel3 Pending Si must susta pension of ally derive In acidii interest nc proximo Company i of upward: the number bonds and on the 21st drawn is re UovEl 3 per Cent. I - Ditto for S per Cont.] New 4 per N•w 21 per Do. g per Annuities, 3 Do. for 30 Do (Red S Eaohcqur 1 I Do Bank of Eng D. openir Canada 4 pei nter-Coloni INDIAN lncii weir, De. Openii D oper l Do 4 pec ( Do. Enfacc Do. 5 per ( Do. 51 per D.) 5 per t Flo Do. Du. Dab., Do. Bonds ; Do. tualor FORE argentine It( Do. ACCOLV Aultrian Box Do. Brazilian 5 p 00. 4i per Do. do Do. uu Do. do. Do. 5 per )e. iCCOUI B ;ends Ayre Da 2 per C Cain, 6 per flittintl 6 per ''o. per Do. 3 wr 1 Do. 7 per Do. 6 per c 0 lo Danist►, 3 Datvii:dau Pr 1)o. Acecu: Do 8 per C Ecualor Ne EgyEtiau, 7 lio .• , ecaut Do. .£SOL 1.10. Da. A:500 I De 41 11.); Do. 7 per ( Do. XlOO Goveranits, GreeK 5 per I tioupo Gii Itomala."s Honduras do Do. Ace. ul ltetiun 5 per Do. AcCow Do Ilitremi Voxicar. 3 pE Ditto for A Dn. Do g per 0 siontevidoan Nincrish imp New Granada Do 3 per C Do. Delon. Do Laud N Peruvian d is Do Accour Do 4i per Do 44 per Do Accour Do 6 per ( Portuguese 3 Do. d( Do. dc Russian 5 ee Do 44 por Do 4 2 i per Do 3 per I Do 5 per I Do :c1( Do. Anglo Do. Do., 1866, Do. Do Nicola. Sardinian b Spanish 3 p( Do. Acc , iu Do. 1867 Divid Austruut Belgian, 44 Dutch z psi Do. 4 por French Rent 5 per Do Accom Do. Accou Do. Now Do. Passii Do. Com. Do. Accou Swedish Pr( Do Gover Do d Turkish 6 p Do Accou Do 6 per I Do Accou Do .£lOO Do 6 per Do. deco , 1 , 0 £lOO Do. 5 per Do Accou Do 6 per I Do. Accoi D, Ipor Venezuela Do 6 per Oonsols, l Do. Ac( The rei Boxer, Re Royal La Woolwich, relative to of Superin by the Co The off successful Theatre, I Gen. Fro There was performed Engineers, formed thl was comp( band. BRIT