The Sun. — London, England, 1855-12-28 00:00:00

- w -=~--=~' MONEY MARKET COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. CITY, Two O'CLOCK. The Liverpool Cotton Market yesterday closed steadily, and compared with the rates of last week prices of all kinds were the same, except bid. to 6d. for American kinds, being rather in favour of buyers. Tho sales were 6,000 bales, comprising 20 Pernam and Maranham at sid. ; 30 Bahia, 6d.; 100 Egyptian, sd. to Eid. ; and 700 Surat, 3id. to 4id. per lb. There was very little doing in the Railway Share Market, and prices were lower than on Wednesday. The pacific rumours afloat on the Continent con tinue to obtain credit in the Paris Bourse, and the French Funds, yesterday, advanced 25 centimes in the 3 per Cent. Reutes for the account, and 15c. for money. This feeling has been influenced by the publication of a pamphlet under the title of "The Necessity of a Congress for Pacifying Europe," which appears to have formed a strong impression on the minds of the public. Railway Stocks varied ; North of France rose li, Midland 3fr. 75c., Geneva 2fr. 50c., and Austrian Society sfr. ; Orleans fell 2fr. 50c., Lyons sfr., West of France 3fr. 75c. In Miscellaneous Securities there was not much alteration on previous quotations. The Bank of France dividend for the present half year is fixed at 100 fr. The Shares were not quoted on the Bourse yesterday. A table has just been issued by the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works, fixing the rates at which duties may be levied upon wheat, imported and exported from France, con formably with the laws therein made and provided for. In the departments where the markets of Toulouse, Lyons, and Marseilles are situated tho average rate is fixed at 33f. 30c. per hectolitre ; in Maran, Bordeaux, d e. , it is 32f. 81c. ; in the de partments of the Alps 33f. 50c. Of the Lower Rhine 33f. 710. ; of La Vendee, tc., 31f. 69c. ; of Moselle, ac., 32f. 75c., and of La Manche and others 32f. 35c. The Board of Trade returns for the month end ing November the 30th, present some satisfactory results as compared with those of the correspond ing period of last year. In the importation of cocoa, wheat, Indian corn, flour, indigo, flax, cur rants, palm oil, unrefined sugar and wine there was an increase, but a diminution is apparent in coffee, barley, cochineal, guano, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, brandy, tallow, and tea. Our export trade is decidedly improved. . The total declared value of all the shipments being 8,759,8491. against 6,608,4981 in 1854. The particulars of some of the principal shipments were as under : Cotton. manufactures 1854. 1855. 1,773,959 2,462,084 570,753 916,240 290,921 261,241 Ditto yarn Hardware and cutlery Woollen and wonted manu• factures Ditto yarn Linen manufactures Ditto yarn Silk manufactures 403,330 146,163 300,109 80,465 47,434 647,310 204,933 336,148 83,268 78,701 Thrown Bilk 15,996 17,110 The number of ♦essels employed in the foreign trade of the United Kingdom, this year, included a larger amount of tonnage, both as regards the entrances inwards and the clearances outwards. English Securities have remained in a heavy con slition, and Consols, which opened at 88i it, have since been 881 The market is unfavourably in- Auenced by the limited business transacted, but the Government broker is supposed to be selling daily. The New 3 per Cents. have been 88i to 89, and the Reduced 88k to 88k. Bank Stock is 2051 to 206. Exchequer Bills are marked 45., and India Bonds Bs. discount. The only Securities in which any business has been recorded up to this hour are Turkish Bonds, the 6 per Cents. being ♦ery dull at 83k, and the New Scrip 34 discount. All other Securities are consequently nominal. Messrs. D. Bell, Son, and Co. report the market for American Securities as inactive, and without alteration in price. The following aro the present quotations : GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. Redeemable. Per Cent. United States 6 per Cent. 1867-1868...103* United States 6 per Cent. Bonds 1868...104* STATE SECURITIES. California, 7 per Cent. Bonds 1870... 78 80 Maryland 5 per Cent. (Sterling Bonds) ... 90 Massachusetts 5 per Cent. (Sterl. Bonds) 98 99 Mississippi 6 per Cent. Pl. Bk Bonds lB4l-1871... 43 45 Mississippi 6 per Cent. Union Bk Bonds ... 16 18 Pennsylvania 5 per Cont. Stock Pennsylvania 5 per Cent. Bonds 1877... 78 80 South Carolina 5 per Cent. Bonds (Baring's) 1858-1863... 97 98 South Carolina 5 per Cent. Bonds (Palmer's) 1866... 83 90 Virginia 5 per Cent. (Sterling Bonds) 1888... 83! 84i Virginia 6 per Cent. Bonds 1886... 86 88 CITY Baotou 6 per Cent. Bonds (Divers) ... 90 92 Montreal 6 per Cent. Bonds 1856-4865 83 85 New Orleans 6 per Cent. Steck 1883... 80 82 RAILROAD BONDS. Illinois Central 7 per Cent. Ist Mortgage, ' net Convertible 1875... 74 75 - Illinois Central 7 per Cent. Freeland - Bonds 1860... 76 77 Michigan Central Bp. Cent. 1860... 92 94 New York Central 7p. Cent., Convert 1864... 94 91 New York Central 6 per Cent., not Convertible 1833... 80 82 Nev York aid Erie 7 per Cent. Ist Mort. gage 1867... 98 100 New York and Erie 7 per Cent. 3d Mort ge 1883... 83 85 N.York and Erie 7p. Cent. Convertible 1862... 72 74 N. York and Erie 7 per Cent. Sinking Fund Panama 7 per Cent, let Mortgage (Ster ling Bonds), not convertible 1859... 92 93* Ditto ditto 1864... 94 95 Pennsylvania Central 6 p. Cent., let Mort 1880... 88 90 * Yz dividend. The following are the nominal price■ of Foreign Stocks:—Grenada Deferred Bonds, 6 7 ; Mexican, 191 ; Peruvian, 74 6 ; ditto 3 per Cents., 52 4 ; Portuguese 4 per Cents., 48 50 ; Russian 5 per Cents., 95 7 ; ditto 44 per Cents., 88 90 ; Spanish 8 per Cents., 40} 1 ; ditto Deferred, 214 1 ; ditto Certiieates, 44 4 ; ditto Passive, 7 74. In the Railway Share Market the amount of dealing reported continues ♦ery limited, and with out particular variation in prices. The weekly re - turns published yesterday show a diminution of 1,1081. in the traffic on the Caledonian line, com pared with the corresponding week of last year, and not 11,0501., as inadvertently stated, the • figures being as follows :—for 1854, 11,258/. ; and for 1855, 10,1001. Foreign Railway Scrip is not in request, and there are no quotations for the Great Western of Canada. Mining, Banking, and Miscellaneous Shares are not much in demand. The few shares which have changed hands show no feature worth remarking upon. BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY.—CLOSING PRICES (From the Odell List. ) TinAines, done. Bank Stock 3 per Cent. Reduced Annnitiss B Bl I 8 per Cont. Consols Annuities Shut New 3 per Cent. Annuities Long Annuities, expire ith Jan. 1860 Ditto 30 Years, expire stl April, 1885... 16 5.16 India Bonds, flOOO Ditto, under £lOOO 8 d Consols for Account . 88$ Egeheqnor BilL , lid. £l000 2500 8 4 Small Ditto Bonds, 1858, 3$ per Cent.. 97s If 1859 lf ...... 97i PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY. Brazilian Bonds, 5 per Cent. Ditto Small Russian Bonds, 5 per Cent., 1822, £ Ditto 4$ per Cent . Spanish Bonds, 3 per Ditto New Deferred, 3 per Cont. Ditto Passive ........... . Turkh.h Bonds, 6 per cen t B3 1 3 Ditto for the Account B3s Ditto New Scrip, 4 per Cent. Dividends on thoTabove Payable in London. Dutch Exchange, 2i per Cent., 12 Guil... 643 THRRE o'CLOCK, Consols ........ Ditto Account Jan. 10 WRECK OF A FRENCH BRIG, AND LOSS OF FOUR LIVER.—PORTMADOC, Dee. 25. — At three p.m. yester day, the French brig Charlotte, Come, of and from Havre, for Cardiff (in ballast), came on shore on the sands about two miles S.S.W. from hence. The crew (eight in number) hurriedly took to their longboat, and attempted to land ; when in the breakers the boat cap sized ; mainly by the exertions of one man (Mr. John Roberts, Clogwyn, Harlech), four of the crew were saved, The other ftvarlvere drowned: i SHARE MARKETS. (THIS DAY.) RAILWAYS. ~t.l i Id•I RAILwATS. ki kber , lfion , A.mbg. Nottng. Beet and Enqtn. Janet. .0 al .3i al riclfast & nAnymen.. hu Rirming. Wolverb Stour Valley !96 eihd. Dinesi.. a Cheshire Juliet 27i1 an Do. Cheigh. & Birk 31 I 2! £5O and £25 CunM 9 Do., kW... 11 Myth Saynsorigina' £25 (ismd. at Xl5) )0 Bristol and Exeter... )0 'Ca1ed0nian........ ..... e. Carm. and Cardigan il. Chester ok Holyhead. 11 Cork and Bandon... 11 Cork, Black, &Pmts 8 Cornwall 11 Do. A. 8 Do. B Cr le Junction Duolin&Belfaatiunc ill Dun. P. & Aber. Jng Ji Do. Ylw 22 1! 25 al )0 East Auglian Xll Eastern Counties East. Union, A Sti 10 I De., B. Stool Do., New . 4 East Kent Fart Loncashiro Edinburgh& Glaagolt 11 Edinb. and Feeble& . Edin. Prth &Dundee 9 Forth & Clyde Jon.% .11 Furness .11 Do. Extension 10 Glasgow& S. Wester , 611 Great N. of Sootlnd. 10 Great Northern 10 Do., A. Stock 10 Do., B. Stock 10 Gt. Sth. &West.(lre ) )0 Great Western )0 Do. Stour Val. Rail Gua. Stk al Irish South-Eastern al Lancaster lk Carlisle, .41 Do., Thirds 7 Do. Nov Thirds Lancash.andlrorksh IDo. Wet. Riding Un a LlT.Creby.kSouthyt 11 London & Blackwel Load. Bright & %Cat . , Lond. and N. Woetn. ,6 i Do. Fifths 5i1Do.101.1311.,11&13...0 41)o. Elghthe 1.00 London end S. Woetn iii! Do., £5O. 18 Do., £4O 11 Lndndrryat Colon la , 11 Lndndrry. & Ennl k. htinchAd.& Li will I Do. i Shares, No. 1 !e. Do., Man. It Lin. Un 1 Metropolitan Midland Do. Birmng. it Derby 3iidld. G. West. (Iro. Do. Half Shares Newcaetle & Nwp t.Aberg. &Hrfd fq Newry & Enniskillfr al Newry Warrenpoint and Rostrovor kl Norfolk 3i Northn.Counties Un 10 North British all North Doyon, No. 1 ill Do., No. 2 Do., A Deferred... Do., B Guaranteed N. Eastorn—Bervidel Do. do. Extension Do.do. G.N.E. ?Tirol] Do. Leeds Do. York DO North London 1P N.&S.Watrn.,liami - stead, and City Jn..l 7,1 North Staffordshir 11 North Western 11 N. &S. Weatrn. Juno 1 Nuneaton, Hinckley and Leic;stor.... n. It Scottish Midland J ;hropshire Un'on ionth Devon Kl iouth Eastern youth Wales .5 Yrksh. da Riv. Dui 5 Do 4 Wore., Li Wolv l'ortaraouth -3t o ;Ugh Central St. 101 St. la St. 101 50 al St. 111 50 al 20 L 213 20 I' 25 a itainem, Wok . &Wok itookton & Darli ad 3tolkton & Hnrtlopl. Ca' Vslo no. Pref., No. Chames Hay. D.& R. UlYorstone & Lanes Vale of Neath Watorfd. & Kilkenny Waterford&Limoriek 0 I all t. 101 t. 101 25 2 `2O 0 al 0 al _ West Cornwall. 8 West End of London and Crystal Palace Xll Do. A ... 3 Do. B dl West London. Wimbledn&Croydon 5I a] 1584 314 & 2d - 4i - 12 45 - 97 - 81 - 54 - 24 1o; 75 44 12 —57 i - 316 - 3,11 pa! - 35 ... -- .. ....• ... ... .., ... 4 -.- 13 57i 31i 2 'Etna Moto this day. 22 21 3i -- 31 *ea 7 - 8 16 - 15 13 - 14 9 - 8 79 - 81 54i - $4, 16 --- ••• .... ... 5 - 4 6i - 11 - 12 8j - Si 27 - 29 17 - 19 89 - 70 50 51i 9i - 9i 17 - 18 80 - 6 - 7 87i -88 i 74 - 75 Ll 9 - 121 LO2 - 104 52 52h 52 54 70 - 76 6 - 7 0 - 7 r 761 .- 774 ~. ..... ... ••• 6 64 93 - 95 94 -- 944 14 - - 7 ; - si. -23 i -... r4i - 38 ••••• - 9i 11 - 44 .. 29J .^. ••• FOREIGN. 20 11 18 4 20 al 20 11 .00 al 25 21 ()0 al 20 5 al 5 A 20 . . 20} al 20i 1 lOU al 100 al [OO al [CO al 00 A 20 l' 20111 20 20 1) 31i al 10 al 20 al 16 al 20 a: 20 I 11 40 al 20 al 20 20 .fall 20 a] 20 li 10' al 20 t 20 al 20, al 11 Antwerp&ttotterdam 0 Do. sp. s. Oblgs. co a . in Sh. at par till '6l 0 Ardennes Belgian Eaatn. Juno. 0 Beziers to Graibelentle [i Bombay, Baroda, and Central India,ScrlT 31 Do. 611 Demerara .1 Dnteh Rhenish 11 Eastern of Francs .0 Do. New .11 East Indian, g. sp. c .0 Do. ET tenxion 01 Do. do. do., '59, do !O Gd. Tk. of CanadaA is 31 Do. St. Lawrence & Atlantic do. '0 Do. Cert. of Debon., eon. into Stk. till 13 1l Do. Comp. 6p. c., do. ,0 Gt. Central of France .11 Gt. Indian Poninsuls guar. 5 per cent. 11 Do. New 5 per cent. ll Do. :Extensions 3 Groat Luxembour Constituted Shar • 11 Do. Obligations 11 Gt.WesternofCanad• Shares . N Do. New di Do. Bds., payable's7, with option till '55.. Xll Do. do., '62, p. '55 .11 Do. do., '76, p. '60... al Do. do., '73, without option 11 Hamilton & Toronto 111 Do. 6 per crnt. 7 Lake Const. & Baslo 611 Lierrs and Tnrnhout .0 Lyons and Genova Lyons dc Mediterran. 1.11 Madras 10 Do. New 611 Maria Antonia .11 Do. do. Now dl Namur & Liege ( vith Interest) al Do. (ex interest) 11 Northern of France dl Do.2ol.Shs 31 Do. 20,. 3 p. c (fmy.B.&Ams.Shs.) .11 NorwegianTrunkPre` 1 .6 Paris and Lyons 31 Ditto Bonds ...... al Paris and Orleans .11 Paris and Rouen... ParisCaon & Cherbrg. ►ll Do _ 5 Rime and Frascati Ol Rouen and Havre di Royal Danish 5 Royal Swedish xll I Do. Obligations ..., sll Sambre and Maxie_ pal Do. 5i p. cent. Pref. is. Scinde a Do 11 Southern of Franee .6 St. Andrew's and Quebec (A), 11 West Flanders 11 Do 5 per c. Pref., .8 Western of Franco 11 Do .11 Zealand Xnetralasis, Bank of London 3ri. all British N. American 6 Chartd. Bank of Asia. 4 Clutd. Bnk. of India, Australia, Ig Chinni 50 City Colonial D Commercial of Loud [1 Eng.Soot.&&ne.Cht 11 Loud. Chart. Bk. o" Australia Ditto Now O London and County.. A) Lid. &E. Bnk g. Corp. .0 London Joint Stock. . O Lond. & Westminster 5 National Pro.of Eng 0 Do. New 2i National of troika.. 11 New South Wales._ 11 Oriental Bank of Corporation 5 Provincial of Ireland 11 DO. New 1 Royal Australn. Bkg Gold Imp Co 00 Royal British 11 youth Australia 11 Union of Australia. 2. Do. Now Union v. London 7i - 8 3 2id 3 R . , 1 a 1 - 341 - 9 - 10 p' 21 - 21} - 9i - 9 16 - 17 62 - 67 82 87 3 3f p 5f 5i par fp 3 4 2i ^ $ 1 24i - 25 21 - 2ip gg - 100 115 - 120 116 - 120 104 • 106 - 24 112 - 117 ..7-- ..,di 1 $ P 181 -14 i 2 - 3 - 51 4 - 4t 3 1 -35 i 12 .12t •.. - .•• 6 - 7 45 - 45 ii - 46 ... -pm iii -1.6 i 2 - 21 21 - 2 !I - 8 i - i P ••• - pm 3i - 4 ••• - i 29i - 30 fil l -iii 90 - 57 - 59 ii : i-d 63 7 'd, • •-• 16i IT 154 161 3 —23 d Ipp.r - 2p ... -- ..• • ••• -- •• • •••• ..... .• 30 = 41 Z 7 - 39 63 - 54 ••• .... .4 ••• •••• .. 40 - 4i* 73 - 75 8 9 30 ~- 81 Sae neat dor • yesterday. st. It 10 (61, 50 I al 20 V 10 al 10 1 10 1 , 50 4; 25 Al St. [la to Ai St.{ 11 25 1 at. u 50 al 20 al St. iti St. 1 Bt. 11 St. 11 et: 1 II St. 10 St. 101 20 1 141 et. 1 11 50 1 4' 25 25 1 St. ll 25 I it 2p 10 St. 11 St. 11 at. St. 11.1 16 1 al Bt. li 25 25 1 50 al St. 1() St. 10 10 31 20 1' 20 al 10 al 10 100 100 2 100 2 20 a 20 a 20 50 100 t. 50 11 100 2( 100 31 20 11 50 2! 20 il] 25 s] IN 2i 10 al ti ii4i a 9i i ... THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EvENINGDECEMBER 28, 1855, LINES LEASED %T FIXED RENTAL. lout of his way to get to the top of this wood-stack ; and that he would stay there for hours and hours, crowing, until he appeared in danger of splitting himself. Five weeks wont on—six weeks —and still this terrible bantam, neglecting his domestic affairs, was always on the top of the wood-stack, crowing the very eyes out of his head. By this time it was perceived that Louis had become inspired with a violent animosity towards the terrible bantam, and one morning he was seen by a woman who sat nursing her goitre at a little window in a gleam of sun, to catch up a rough billet of svood, with a great oath, hurl it at the terrible Bantam crowing on the wood-stack, and bring him down dead. Hereupon, the woman, with a sadden light in her mind, stole round to the back of the wood-stack, and being a good climber, as all those women aro, climbed up, and soon was seen upon the summit, screaming, looking down the hollow within, and crying, Seize Louis the murderer ! Ring the church bell ! Here is the body!' I saw the mur derer that day, and I saw him as I sat by my fire at the Holy-Tree Inn, and I see him now, lying shackled with cords ou the stable litter, among the mild eyes and the smoking breath of the cows, waiting to be taken away by the police, and stared at by the fearful village. A heavy animal—the dullest animal in the stables—with a stupid head, and a lumpish face devoid of trace of sensibility, who had been, within the knowledge of the murdered youth, an embezzler of certain small moneys belonging to his master, and who had taken this hopeful mode of put ting a possible accuser out of his way. All of which he confessed next day, like a sulky wretch who couldn't be troubled any more, now that they had got hold of him and meant to make an end of him. I saw him once again, on the day of my departure from the inn. In that Canton the headsman still does his odic° with a sword ; and I came upon this murderer sitting bound to a chair, with kis eyes bandaged, on a scaffold in a little market-place. In that instant, a great sword (loaded with quicksilver in the thick part of the blade) swept round him like a gust of wind, or fire, and there was no such crea ture in the world. My wonder was—not that he was so suddenly despatched, but that any head was left unreaped, within a radius of 50 yards of that tremendous sickle." Charles Dickens, again, and no one but Charles Dickens could ever have conceived, or, having conceived, could ever have written that ex quisite little story told by " The Boots," the story of a young gentleman of eight years old, who, upon a famous Christmas, long ago, ran away with a fine young woman of seven ! A story of child-love, as daintily beautiful as it is from first to last, deliciously humorous Such a tale as it is ! Blessings on the kindly, genial, loving imagination from which it emanated! Blessings on the warm, humane, generous, cordial hand by which its every syllable was penned ! The whole cluster of winter stories here grouped together under the title of the "Holly Tree Inn," conies to us as welcome, indeed, as the saying is, as flowers at Christmas—as seasonably grateful to the appetite as plum-pudding or mince-pies, as provocative of fun and frolic as a dish of snap dragon, or a bunch of mistletoe. And yet there are tales in this same Christmas number of " Household Words" so wierd-like, and ghastly, and immittigably horrible as to be sufficient alto gether to make "each individual hair" upon the hearer's sconce "to stand on end, like quills upon the fretful porcupine !" Ugh the mere thought of that ugly story of " The Ostler," or of that other horrid one about " The Poor Pensioner" —shudders the reader's skin into gooseflesh ! So— we close the number, trying to remember only " The Boots" and " The Guest," and thinking gratefully as we do so of th• genial and perfectly congenial names of Charles Dickens and Christmas Day ! A New llistory of England. By G. S. Poulton. Freeman. The chief feature in this work worthy of notice is it conciseness. It traces the history of England from the Britons to the war in the Crimea in one volume of 768 pages, in clear type. Of course it is evident from this that it can be only an outline of our eventful history, and as such it is intended. The author asserts in the preface that it is entirely for the benefit of those who have little time or op portunity foracquiring historical knowledge, and not for students or those who are possessed of the taste and means for extensive reading. It would be admi rably adapted for this purpose but for one draw back. It is the wait of that impartiality and moderation which are the first requisites in a work intended to convey information to those who are unable, from a limited education or ability, to fathom its prejudices or withstand its impression. As an instance of this want of tolerance we may quote a sentence from the first chapter :—" Some youthful readers may wonder why this monster of iniquity—the Papal system—is called The Church of Rome,' and why the monster's head is called the Pope."' Surely this is beneath the dignity of an historian, as well as scarcely in accordance with that doctrine of universal charity which the Chris tian religion inculcates. However devoted the writer may be to our own national church, let him not, as Mr. Macaulay finely observes, "fight the battles of truth with the weapons of error," and, among these, calumny and intolerance must ever be numbered. With this exception, however, the work has many merits. It is written iu a clear and simple style, and contri►es to give all the impor tant events of English history in the compass we hare mentioned. It possesses another recommen dation to those who desire to extend their know ledge with little loss of time. It brings down the history to the present day, thereby narrating all the important political events of late years. It may also claim some consideration as a work of reference, for which purpose it will be found very suitable. Manual of British Rural Sports. By Stonehenge. Routleage. This work forms a complete compendium of in structions for every species of rural sport and exer cise. The author should be well qualified to direct, for he tells us, in the preface, that for the last twenty years it has been the amusement of his leisure hours to master the arcana of the several sports peculiar to Great Britain; and, as in many of them he met with great difficulties, owing to the want of treatises sufficiently minute and explana tory, this obstacle he has sought to remove from the way of others by the present volume. He gives full and particular directions and descriptions of shooting, hunting, coursing, fishing, hawking, racing, boating, and pedestrianism, Etc. Ho also gives ample instructions for the management of horses and dogs, their training, doctoring, &c. Besides this more scientific portion, there are chap ters on less ambitious pursuits—cricket, archery, quoits, &c. The writer takes a superior view of field sports and exercises, remarking how universal the love for them has been from the earliest ages, and how much devoted to it the inhabitants of Groat Britain have always been. He regards them as a valuable auxiliary for deve loping the courage, daring, and endurance that our soldiers have so often displayed, as well as affording an essential relief to the frames of those engrossed by sedentary occupations. He regrets— as all true lovers of sport must do—that so much that is degrading and deteriorating is so often mixed up with its pursuit, but hopes that a rapid improvement may be effected in this respect. In accordance with those opinions he has omitted pugilism, bull baiting, and similar pursuits, as contrary to the law as well as unworthy of a true ]over of honest English sport. RAILWAY*, Leasiti Compisw4 London 1 , ,J N. West.' ,_t.&N.W. raledon... E. Un. tti F.. C..... GL Nrthn. 6. Count. Caldonian. iDo . 'Gt. ViCSLI New. & Berm. Erister, 'eto Si Co. forfolk. L.& N. W & Mi dld. Stoic ton Darlingt. :11idland.. lin. Conn. L. Count. IL. & N.W. Qt Northn Lancaah & Torksh. T. Draasey bi.liClea Stockt. St Darlingt Do rtW ..... estn. C:ostas trta* this day. 92 - 94 ,4 - 93 132 - 134 165 12 - 13 .16 : lin 2f - 24 8) - Al ;r = ••• ... fee —siTh ri -8 34 - 2i ' goi --- il 81 83 SHARES. Aberdeen 1)o. No.t, 7 p, 107 -- 109 104 - 106 Myth andryn - o 10 pei c. prof. (issd. at 501 Brie. & Er. .4 p. c. St. Do. 4 p. c. Shares rlaledonian £lO Chester & Holyhca " Guar. 5 per cont o. do. Prof. No. 2 .no. do. Pref. No. 2 Cork &Bandonsip.c ' Dun.Prth .& Aber. J E. Anglian Cls. ASh Do. do. Cls. B 6 p. 0 Ino. do Cis. C 7 p. o '!.astern Counties Ex io :i)i iii = ii 15 - 16 • •• '-'' ... i 4 - iii - * - ; 11 -12; tension,s p. c. No. )o. No. 2. Do. Now 6 p. o. St llstst ITn., G. 6 p. c. Do. 61., 10 per cent . Do. 101. Debentr.Sh. o. do. 4 per cent... ' , 3asit Lancash. 6 p. ate '?..&W. York. J. sthr q)d. Prth.&Drin.4p.e. 'urnomm . ilae. & 5.W.0.5 p.c . rheat Northn. 5 p. c Do. 5 p. o. Redeem. et 10 p. c. prem. Do. 44 p. c De. 5 p. c. Scrip, Red. At 5 p. c. pm... A.N. of Scot. let Pro It. S. &W. (Ireland ) Do. 4 per c. Prof. S. gt. Woetn. (Berke A: tants Ex . 5 p. 0) i lo.oon. red. 4i p.c 1 10. con. red. 4 p. c )o. irred. 4p. C. ... Do. Birm. Pref. Sh... ,Do. Chester S p. c.P.S. De. do. 5 p. 0. d 0... Do. Bum Gua. Stk Do. Chee. Gua. Sh.. Do. do. do Do. do. do. '.an. &York. F. £2 Do. 6 p. a. St ;eh Lon. & Brigh. G. 5 p. c . 'o. Pref., 5 p. c. St, bo. New Guar.6 p. e o. do. 5 per cent Lon. &N. W., Cnv. lii Itinnaton 5 p. ct T.on.& S.W. 7 per ct imudy. & Color. ISh. r,ondy. &Ennis_ Sh. vfan., She f., & in. 57 = 1i • - 115 LOS - 107 90 - 101 17. - 10 6 6{ 85 67 77 - 79 71 80 1 9 51 1 1If 94 10 6i 17 18 9 13 = 134 1 Id 131 la • •• •.• -- .... ..• ''''''' ••• - - -pi NoW £lO 4 •)o. A ill -iarypt .1z Carl. 4 p o Xll )o. 4 i per cont._ LO 0 12i - 13 i - iP lid. Consol.6 p.c.St Do. Cousol. Bristol Rirm. 6 per cent. . Do. 46 p. c. Pref. St Do. Pref. 4 6 per ccr. Do. 5/. Pref. 4 p. c. Ditto L. k 11. Pref. Si Norfolk Debenture . 'Do.Pref. 4 p. 0. Roc Do. 5 p. o. Eat Da. 56 per ct. prof Do. Way. Val. 6 P.C . North British Y. E. Berw, 4 p.a. P. ,Do. do. do Do Leeds p.c :No.) Do. do. Quarters 4' o.Vork H.& S. Per . North Staffordshire. L3l - 133 91 - 1 , 8 - 4 - 9 -99 87 -8) 2i - 34 •• ..• i id xford, Worcester, A Wolverh.Zls, 6 p.c. )o R. Fret. 101. ;cot. Cent. ,New Pre ;outh Devon )o. fixed, 4i per cent i. Eastern (Rending 92 - 94 13 14 id Pa' 211 221 92 --• 94 Ei -- 91 Ann.) of Li O. 6d. IDo. 44 per cent IDo. Fixed 4i p ;S. WalesGna.4 p. e. IDo do. p. 4i • I S.Yorkßh.4p.c.Guar. Stock.SzDar., 5 p. C. Do. do. do Stock. dr, Hard. g. 5 r. c. till July 1,'56 IV 6 pc . • . .". ~ p - 1 = MINE& 1 all lAgum - ••• 1 all Anglo Austrin. Gold ... - ••• lOs' all Anglo Californian 20 6 kustralian 1 all tustralian Cordillo - ••• 1 all &vo Maria. - I all Baden (Gd. 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Steam Navigat. Co. .- ••••• ••• 100 80 New B. & N.S. Land 18 - 22 1 all N. B. Australasian 20 15 Nr th. of EuropeSteare . . ••• Mail . 1 all Orie n t a l G as --1 2s. De. " N ew Shares" . . - ••• 5 all Peel B r• Ld. & M i nr l - 2 60 all Peninsul ar & orient& 6.) - 6 63i 100 60 50 l a o ll RE Doo Portland Newnal r osnta Co ni - ...p 2 1 an Scot. Austral. Invest " • 1 Ditto New - P 1 an South A.ustraLiand ''s - 3 95} 1 sE Sabmar. Tel. Scrip I A 20 all Do. ReLtistered. ... . s 5 I'rust& L.Co.U.Can. . 100128 'Fran DiourneilAnd 151 ;7. 16. Bnonetss yeeter ay. LITERATURE. The Dramatic Works of James Sheridan Knowles. 2 vols. G. Routledge and Co. Sheridan Knowles and Bulwer Lytton occupy undisputedly the lofty position befitting the must successful of living dramatists. Sheridan Knowles, indeed, stands forth alone as pro•ominently tha dramatist of his generation. For Sir Edward takes rank as a playwright among the most versatile men of genius in our own, or for that matter, indeed, in any other, literature. Knowles is essentially a dra matist. Lytton is a dramatist, so to speak, casually, intermittently, episodically. He is a dra matist, besides being—almost everything writer well could be—satirist, essayist., novelist, publicist, historian, translator, metaphysician, above all, peculiarly and in the very largest sense of the word, both by reason of his many splendid ro mances and of his noble epic of " King Arthur"— POET Sheridan Knowles, on the other hand, is a dramatist, and nothing but a dramatist. His re cent escapades as a controversialist, to our mind at least., going for nothing. As a dramatist, and as a dramatist alone, he has won for himself his extended and, we believe, enduring reputation. To Sir Edward, the English stage is indebted for many an exquisite production, the glory of which will prove perennial—for the most finished comedy of our time, Money, for the eloquent Richelieu and the ever-charming Lady of Lyons, to say no thing of the picturesque Sea Captain, or of the impassioned Duchesse de la Valliere, or of the inge nious .Not so Bad as we Seem. To Mr. Knowles the actors of our country were still earlier, and, if possible, still more largely, indebted than to the Admirable Crichton of our national literature—his benefactions as a play wright extend ing back over a lapse of more than a quarter of a century. What memorable names they are—the names of these glorious and beautiful dramas from the hand of James Sheridan Knowles ! What as sociations they are fraught with ! How they live in the popular recollection ! How pleasant is their mere enumeration ! Virginias, originally per formed in 1820—with Abbot as Appius Claudius, and Terry as Dentatus, and Charles Kemble as Icilius, and Macready as the heroic Centurion William Tell, first produced in 1825, with the same eminent tragedian as the hero-patriot of Switzer land. Caius Gracchus, brought out the year before with the same inimitable actor in the part of the chief tribune. Alfred the Great, performed origi nally in 1831—the hero of the piece still, as of old, Macready. The Hunchback, produced in 1832, with Fanny Kemble as Julia ! The Wife, in 1833, with Ellen Tree as Mariana 1 The Love Chase, in 1837, with Mrs. Nisbett as Constance ! Woman's Wit, in 1838, with Helen Faucit as Hero the hero ine ! Love, in 1839, with Madame Vestris as Catherine ! What actors—what actresses have shone behind the footlights of Drury-lane, of Co vent-garden, of the Haymarket, in the famous plays from the pen of Sheridan Knowles! How we cherish the recollection of them as of the last golden age of our dramatic literature, when the Drama was still in some sort in its halcyon days—before tragedy had given way to mere spectacle, and comedy to sheer burlesque 1 Besides the celebrated plays already enumerated as among the . dramatic masterpieees of Sheridan Knowles—others are included in the two volumes here submitted to our examination, such for ex ample as The Beggar of Bethnal-green, performed at the Victoria in 1834, as The Daughter, originally produced as the "Wrecker's Daughter," in 1836, as the Maid of Mariendorpt, originally performed in 1838, as John of Procida, otherwise known as " The Bridals of Messina," brought out in 1840, as Old Maids, produced, in 1841, as The Rose of Ar rayon, performed originally in 1842, and finally, as the drama of The Secretary. All of them, with the single exception of the three-act-comedy of " The Beggar of Bethnal Green"--plays in five acts, abounding with passion, pathos, wit, eloquence, poetry. Everywhere the dramatist shows himself a perfect master of "situation." His knowledge of stage effect he proves to be consummate. His skill in the discrimination of character is at times absolutely inimitable. His appreciation of the tragic element is complete and faultless, as the brimming eyes of many a crowded house have again and again attested during the representation for example of his Tell, or of his Virginius. His spark ling humour is remembered as something wonder fully delicious by every one who calls to mind the sweet, clear, silvery, ringing laugh of charming Mrs. Nisbett, as Constance, in "The Love Chase." Remembering all which, as we do, 80 vividly and so delightfully let us here accord to these two beau tiful volumes of poetry in a dramatic form, the earnest and unaffected welcome to which we believe them to be eminently well entitled. The Dramatic Works of James Sheridan Knowles have been so long out of print, whether separately or collectively, that we conceive the present holders of the entire copyright, the enterprising publishing firm of the Messrs. Routledge and Co., to have done good service to the cause of contem porary literature by the issue of this popular and acceptable edition—an edition as cheap as it is in every way excellent. Volumes, they are, not unworthy of being ranged upon our national bookshelves immediately in sequence with the writings of Fletcher, and Dryden, and Wycherley and Sheridan—affording us as they do another and not inglorious epoch in the wondrous develop ment of our splendid and prolific dramatic litera ture. The Holly Tree Inn. Being the extra number of "Household Words "—for the Christmas of 1855. Conducted by Charles Dickens. Never before was there such a groat's worth of winter's tales presented to the lovers of story for perusal in the glow, and light, and warmth of the dear old Christmas fireside ! Half a-dozen tales— and such tales I—for fourpence ! " Think of that, Master Brook." And two or three of these charm ing stories told by the most delightful writer of the ago—the most genial and incomparable his mourist, to our thinking, in the whole range of literature. No one but our glorious Charles Dickens could, by any possibility whatever, have penned that wonderful opening chapter, entitled, "The Guest," that exquisite narrative of the stranger " snowed up" one memorable Christmas in the dim, old, ghostly, cheerless, and yet right snug and comfortable " Holly Tree Inn :" whore the nameless wayfarer strives at first to wile away the tedium of his solitude by conjuring up all sorts of odd recollections about inns, good, bad, and indifferent, and where not quite succeeding in the attempt, he extracts, one after another, stories of terror or merriment, from "The Ostler,"—The Boots,"—" The Landlord," — "The Barmaid,"—and "The Poor Pensioner." Who but our matchless Boz could ever dream of such a marvellous personage as the one depicted in the following description ? " That was a good inn down in Wiltshire where I put up once, in the days of the hard Wiltshire ale, and before all beer was bitterness. It was on the skirts of Salisbury Plain, and the midnight wind that rattled my lattice win dow, came moaning at me from Stonehenge. There was a hanger-on at that establishment (a supernaturally pre serves! Druid, I believe him to have been, and to be still), with long white hair, and a flinty blue eve always looking afar off : who claimed to have been a shepherd, and who seemed to be ever watching for the re-appearance on the verge of the horinon, of some ghostly flock of sheep that had been mutton for many ages. He was a man with a weird belief in him that no one could count the stones of Stonehenge twice, and make the same number of them ; likewise, that one who counted them three times nine times, and then stood in the centre and said " I darn !" would behold a tremendous apparition, and be stricken dead. Pre pretended to have seen a bustard (I suspect him to have been familiar with the dodo), in manner follow ing : He was out upon the plain at the close of a late autumn day, when he dimly discerned, going on before him at a curious fitfully bounding pace, what he at first sup posed to be a gig-umbrella that had been blown from some conveyance, but what he presently believed to be a lean dwarf man upon a little pony. Having followed this ob ject for some distance without gaining on it, and having called to it many times without receiving any answer, he pursued it for miles and miles, when, at length coming up with it, he discovered it to be the last bustard in Great Britain, degenerated into a wingless state, and running along the ground. Resolved to capture him or perish in the attempt, he closed with the bustard ; but, the bustard, who had formed a counter-resolution that he should do neither, threw him, stunned him, and was last seen making off due west. This weird man at that stage of metem psychosis may have been a sleep walker, or an enthusia et, or a robber ; but, I awoke one night to find him in the dark at my bed side, repeating the Athanasian Creed in a terrific voice. I paid ray bill next day, and retired from the county with all possible precipitation." Who but Charles Dickens could recount so won drously the terrible story, half horrible, half gro tesque, about the grimly murder at the Swiss hos telry 7—a story recounted as follows : "That was not a common-place story which worked it self out at a little inn in Switaerlsed, while I was staying there. It was a very homely place, in a village of one nar- A Popular _History of Birds. By Adam White row, eig-zag street among mountains, and you went in at Lovell Reeve, Henrietta-street. i the main door through the cow - house, and among the This is another of Mr. Reeve's excellent series, mules and the dogs and the fowls, before ascending a great y gi bare staircase to the rooms ; which were all of unpainted which has ahead v wood, without plastering or papering—like rough packing Plants, Palms, Ferns e , n F u ield po r l e l t a an r cases. Outside, there was nothing but the straggling Mineralogy, Mollusca, Ornithology', historiesoo lZoology, y o street, a little toy church with a copper-coloured steeple, others, and promises to add accounts of Fishes, a pine forest, a torrent, mists, and mountain-sides. A and many Fossils, Insects British Lichens,British young man belonging to this inn, had disappeared eight weeks before (it was winter-time), and was supposed to and other natural marvels, to its already extended have had some undiscovered love affair, and to have gone list. The present is a "History of Birds," by the for a soldier. He had got up in the night, and dropped Assistant at the zoological Dep artment of the Bri , into the village street from the loft in which he slept with fish Muse um another man ; and he had done it so quietly, that his com- I t co mprises a familiar account ©f their classification and ne habits ssib panion and fellow-labourer had heard no movement when rendered as p being cobos ; thele, p to fo l r e m av e e r s part ace he was awakened in the morning, and they said, "Londe, concise a where is Henri They looked for him high and low, in for details of thei r habits, &c. In Ray's work, vain, and gave hi m u p. Now, outside this inn there stood, published about a hundred and fifty years since, ho as there stood outside every dwelling in the village, a coma stack of firewood ; but, the stack belonging to the inn was p u t es the number of birds at five hundred, that about a third of that number higher than any of the rest, because the inn was the richest and supposes house and burnt the most fuel. It began to be noticed, are undiscovered. At the p res e nt da y , between while they wore looking high and low, that a bantam cock, six and seven thousand species are known, and part of the live stook of the inn, put himself wonderfully this number is gradually increasing in proportion The Owlet of Owlstone Edge. By the Author of " St. Anthelin's," &c - . Joseph Masters. It would be difficult to divine the subject of this work from its title. It might be poetry or prose, romance or reality, a lecture on natural history or a child's story. But it is none of these. It con sists of a series of sketches and dissertations on the duties and difficulties of clergymen's wives. The owlet takes a survey of numerous neighbour ing parishes, and enumerates the virtues and de ficiencies of the mistress of the parsonage in each. Much good sense, a clear perception of duty, and an earnest religious feeling, are evident through out. The virtues of discretion, graciousness of manner, gentleness, and moderation, are inculcated, as well as the more important qualities of sincerity, i self-denial, and universal charity. In speaking of Sisters of Mercy, the owlet gives as his opinion that we in England have " the thing witkout the name," for that in all cases where the parson's wife has a clear idea of her duties, and a conscientious determination to fulfil them, she is a Sister of Mercy to all within reach of her beneficial influ ence. At the same time our bird of wisdom points out the errors to which they are most liable. He shows us the discontented lady, the indolent fine lady, the disagreeably good lady, the injudicious lady, and the lady who, devoting herself entirely to the care of her parish, neglects her own family. The concluding portion, which is entitled " Hoot Exemplary," draws a picture of what a parson's wife should be, in the mistress of 0 wlstone Par sonage. From its earnestness, sincerity, and prac tical character, this little volume is likely to be of extended benefit. to the increasing knowledge of the distant or de serted parts of the world. The illustrations aro not the least attractive part of the volume. They are numerous and beautiful, the colours of the various species being'given with great brilliancy. The Wonders of ecience ; or, Young Humphrey Davy. By Henry Mayhew. David Bogue. It will be remembered by all its juvenile readers that Mr. Mayhew has furnished theth with a work similar to the present in the " Story of the Peasant Boy Philosopher," a narrative of the early life of Ferguson, the Shepherd Astronother. The present volume narrjtes the early efforts and adventures of " the Cornish apothecary's boy, who, taught himself natural philosophy," and who subsequently became so eminent in the scientific world. This kind of book is a very excellent, one for juvenile readers, boys especially. It instructs them in some of the principles of science, and makes them ac quainted with the incidents in the early career of the great men it describes ; and, more than that, it awakens an interest in scientific knowledge, and shows them what man has done, and what be may do. It is handsomely bound, and has numerous illustrations, forming a most attractive and in structive Christmas present. The Spirit of the dolly. By Mrs. Owen. Routledge. Mrs. Octavius Owen is well known as a pleasing and agreeable writer. Last year she gave us the " Chronicles of the Heroines of History." Her task is now less ambitious. She has contributed to our Christmas library a domestic tale of error and and amendment, anger and reconciliation a child lost and found. " The Spirit of the Holly " is a somewhat vague personage, it not being very plain whether the writer intends her to be taken as real or ideal. The spirit of Christmas, influencing kindly words and deeds, may, however, be looked on as a household fairy, and as such we suppose Mrs. Owen intends us to take it. We could have wished there had been less of romance and more of simple daily life in the story, but to many it will be none the less attractive, and to all its readers it will form an entertaining companion for a leisure hour. THE PEACE PAMPHLET. One of the great subjects of conversatioa in Path, for some short time past, has been a certain pamphlet, which was about to appear in favour of peace, and which rumour attaibuted to the pen or to the inspiration of one placed so high as to be able to judge better than any other of the probabi lities of peace or war. The production in question has just appeared, under the title of " Necossite d'un Congres pour Pacifier I'Europe," par un flomme d'Etat. The following is a full translation of the pamphlet _ _ _ " Paris, Dec. 20. " According as the probabilities of a pacific solu- tion assume greater consistency, certain organs of the English press are endeavouring by irritating arti cles to endanger the effect of the sage resolutions and of the calm attitude of the Allied Govern ments. " In misrepresenting the form and the character of a document which it is the duty of the official parties to keep secret, a risk is run of offending the Power which Europe has applied to for concessions, when the interest of all is to facilitate the success of the proceeding now entered on. " It would be senseless to suppose that any states man of Groat Britain can behold otherwise than with the deepest regret this inconsiderate line of tactic?. " In the plans of arrangement now in course of negotiation, no one has any idea of humiliating Russia or depreciating the just share of influence and authority which she is called on to preserve in the councils of Europe. " France and England have united together for a just war, not only because it was a just one, but because their own history proved to Russia that she could yield without dishonour. "Do England and France find themselves lowered or humiliated by the obligation in which they were placed, the first to recognise the inde pendence of the United States, and the second to renounce the consequence of the Republic and of the Empire I " The result of the present struggle proves the contrary. " Yet both these concessions were wrested from them by force of arms. It was France who con strained England to abandon her colonies in North America, and it was England who, in a greater de gree than any other nation,- contributed to detach from the French territoryßelgium and the Rhenish Provinces; and yet France and England are at present closely united. " Proud of their new destinies, they assuredly ri g ht to proclaim thab, in making ab r rooorit the sacrifice of a policy incompatible with the peace of the world, Russia cannot decline in public esti mation ; butlhat, on the contrary, she must in crease in the .00nfidence and esteem of Europe, and perhaps prepare herself for a not distant future of new and precious alliances. "In that situation the duty of the statesman is to seek out under what form and in what cir cumstance the acquiescence of Russia will best be reconciled with the dignity of a sovereign who, the day on which 'he will have signed peace, will find in his enemies of the day before nothing else than brothers. " Since the Congress of Vienna five great Powers have governed Europe with'common accord. To day three of these Powers are at war, and the Spon taneous intervention of the remaining two, either in an isolated manner or in conferences, fails to re concile them. It is, then, surprising that the ordinary proceedings are insufficient to terminate a conflict of so novel a nature 7 " One hundred and twenty millions of men are engaged in the struggle ; on one side, they are dying for their faith ; on the other, for justice. Thousands of cannon aro thundering after forty years' peace ; four thousand millions of francs have been consumed in less than fifteen months, and Europe awaits from this last holocaust of blood and gold a peace which shall have no end. " Such is the present war ! "When interests so noble and gigantic aro at stake, can there be any chance of reconciling the belligerent parties otherwise than by a congress ? And is not that measure justified, moreover, by the incontestable fact, that at the sole announcement of the convocation of a congress the different po pulations would consider peace concluded ? " And why is this anticipated confidence ? It is because nobody is ignorant that the sole difficulty is to find a conclusion worthy of the struggle, and that after the fall of Sebastopol and the destruction of the Black Sea fleet, peace became possible. In fact, a new position was created by this event, and it was pointed out with clearness in the address delivered by Napoleon 111. to the exhibitors, and in the official papers of his diplomacy. " As long as a decisive success had not been ob tained, the Allies could only think of increasing their forces on the field of battle. In pursuing, at the price of enormous sacrifices, a result which would turn to the advantage of all, they could not admit that neutrality had a useful mission to Hill. But as England, France, Turkey, and Sardinia had sufficed for the task, and as the proposed aim was attained, the position of neutrals could be looked at in a more favourable light. " It was then that the Emperor, making a solemn appeal to the pressure of public o pinion with the view of terminating the w ar , exc l a imed ! Let Europe decide and declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong, for that will be a grand step towards a solution.' " He proclaimed with conviction and truth that, in the present epoch of civilisation, the success of armies is but temp orary an d that definitively it is public opini on th a t carr i es away the last victory. " Thus, in th e th ou ghts of the Allied Govern ments, the last victory will be the. conclusion of a peace. And it is public opinion in Europe which . will hays the merit and the . honour, provided . it in terferes in the negotiations, assists at their various . phases, and officially pronounces on all the minor difficulties which may issue from the discussions. " A congress c an alone offer the opportunity of doing this. " The readiness with . which the secondary States have replied to the invitation of the Emperor of tbe French proves that Europe is prepared for that ,great spectacle. " Whilst Sweden was engaging herself by a treaty, the Governments of Central Europe, of the first, second, and even of the third order, were ad dressing to the court of Russia friendly representa tions, by no means comminatory, but expressing in the clearest manner the necessity of making con cessions which would guarantee to the Western Powers the fact that the object of the war was really acquired. At the same time each of them informed France and England of the steps which it bad taken, and invited them to receive with mode ration the propositions that Russia might make. The majority of the sovereign courts are conse quently co-operating at this moment in the nego tiations. But their co-operation is isolated, non official, and without force. Thei rs are local opi nions, and disjointed ; it is not the general o pinion of Europe which they express. " In order that the gen era l op i n i on be rendered useful and imposing, th a t it may car ry away that last victory which shall definitively endow the world with peace from th e f ac t that it will leave behind it neither victors nor vanquished, it must necessarily be manifested solemnly, in an assembly of the representatives of all the States, where va rious modes of thinking may be conformed in one idea, and where the will of all may have but one voice. " In a congress, Europe will be represented and ; personified. " Ambitions will be restrained and znenis minds revivified ; above all, over the powers will be sus , pended a supreme authority, which will .ennoble the sacrifices, give to moderation the character of magnanimity, impose a salutary restraint on reli gious or national exigencies, over-excited by the contest, and render to each government a perfect liberty of action with respect to its subjects. "It would be most desirable were the idea of congress to proceed from Russia, and if, taking int* consideration as a basis of negotiations the propo sitions carried to St. Petersburg by Count Ester hazy, she were to propose to deliberate on them not only in a simple conference, but in an assem bly of all the sovereigns, and after solemn and sincere declarations on the origin, the character, and the results of the oentest. " Sach an overture would be _a more certain in dication of the pacific dispositions of the Cabinet of St. Petersburg than a pure and simple accept ance of an ultimatum which might have no other aim than to retard the recall of the Austrian am bassador. It will be remembered that a similar acceptance preceded the first ooaferences at Vienna and did not prevent their failure. If Russia were boldly to adopt this step, her language would have a character of frankness and of grandeur which, in freeing her diplomatists for ever from the reproach of duplicity, would materially facilitate the con clusion of peace. 6 ' It is only necessary to open contemporaneous history to comprehend that Alexander 11. may enter on thispath without humiliating Russia, and if he considers the much greater sacrifices which the other powers have been compelled to make for the progress of civilisation, he will bless God for having reserved to his people, in a similar crisis, a privileged position. When the hour of American independence sounded, England had no idea that the annihilation of her old colonial policy was for her commerce and her navy the germ of an unli mited development. At the moment when coalesced Europe made Napoleonian France violently return within the limits of the old monarchy, no one could foresee that the resuscitated Empire would find in the renunciation of her conquests the means of ex tendingov,er the free States of Europe an influence more powerful than that of Louis XIV. or of Napoleon I. " It has been necessary that the national honour of the two countries should suffer nearly half a century of humiliations before they eould clearly see into their new destinies and frankly resign themselves, one to the loss of her North American possessions, and the other of the conquests of tho Republic and the Empire. " But Russia, after a peace of forty years, which has changed the face of the world, softened man ners, and brought nations together in amity, enjoyed a better fate. Immediately after the struggle she was able to appreciate and appropriate the results of it ; and at the very moment at which she re nounces her old Eastern policy, she sees that that policy does not die, that it is regenerated, and that in civilising herself she triumphs. " What - idea animated Peter the Great with re spect to Constantinople ? An idea as generous and as holy as that which conducted the King Saint Louis, Richard of England, and Leopold of Austria, to the tomb of Christ. " Can we feel surprise that this idea, a living tradition of all reigns, should have been enveloped in mystery, have grown in the dark, and that when it appeared in open day, fully armed, it succumbed and became transformed into a conflict of giants? o ? for from the moment it was conceived it had that destiny. It was exclusive and incomplete, for it only aimed at the enfranchisement of the Greek communion ; it was aggressive and encroaching, for that enfranchisement implied a territorial re arrangement of Europe. " But Europe, which the creator of Russia had only seen exclusively commercial at London and Amsterdam, irreligious and dissolute at the Court of the Regent, and which could not comprehend his great conception, was at that time undergoing a grand transformation. Whilst Catherine and Ni cholas were slowly opening the road to Constanti nople for the armies of Russia, the old feudal edi fice of the West was crumbling away, and on its ruins Napoleon was founding the base of a new po licy and a new society. " At a distance of one hundred and fifty years, the ideas of Peter the Great have found before them a regenerated Europe, drawing after it al ready the Eastern world into its principles of order, justice, and tolerance, by the sole attraction of the wonders of civilisation, and raising aloft the cross in the metropolis of Islamism. " The will of Peter the Great was from that mo ment accomplished. " And teller, in the nineteenth century, Russia directed her armies and fleets on Constantinople, she committed as grave an error as if England or France had recommenced the crusades. But let her admit that error and renounce her system of isolated propagandism, let her claim her share in the collective protectorate which Christian Europe has achieved, and this claim will not be refused. Is Europe ignorant of the fact that the co-reli gionists of the Russian people compose three quarters of the population of Turkey, that the ill feeling of the Cabinet of St. Petersburg can create there enormous difficulties, and that its sincere co operation would, on the contrary, become one of the most essential elements of the pacific regenera tion of the Ottoman empire ? " Such is the truth as to the origin, the chaiac ter, and results of the struggle. " Were Russia to accept these views, and the negotiations of the cabinets to adopt at once inspi rations as liberal ; were a congress to meet with such sentiments of frankness and honour, where the conscience of sovereigns would co-operate with the talents of diplomatists to reconstruct with solidity and justice the equilibrium of Europe, who would dare to doubt of success ? " No person; "Prepared to agree, as in a family deliberation before their peers, the belligerent powers would bo authorised to conclude an armistice as a proof of the legitimate hopes which would proceed from the new form of negotiations. " Soon all the difficulties would be smoothed away ; fur it cannot be admitted that a congress of sovereigns, united to regulate, in the name of the common weal, not only the Eastern question, but all the other difficulties which had sprung up s i nce the congress of Vienna, would fail iu its efforts. "Is there a single interest which would not de rive benefit from the immediate pacification of Europe ? " Are not Prussia and Austria impatient to re cover the share of influence which has become more and mere compromised by the unsuccess of their effort ? "Does not Russia aspire to resume the course of internal prosperity, and to liquidate honourably and grandly the traditions of a policy which was generous at the epoch when it was conceived, but which has been condemned as inadequate by the progress of civilisation, and which she would have been compelled to renounce sooner or later in her own interest, as in that of the world ? " The Anglo-French alliance is eternal. It will attain its object amidst the days of misfortune as in those of prosperity. But would it not be for it a stroke of fortune to triumph at that period of the war when, having nothing further to destroy than the Baltic fleet, the interests and ideas of the two nations might be brought into apposition " Finally, if the secondary Powers of Europe contribute in a direct manner to re-establish peace, if Europe is indebted to them in some degree for the commencement of endless labours, for the re forms and benefits which will ensue from that grand event, will not a similar service rendered prove a better guarantee for such states from the eventua lities of the future than any protectorates. " The assembling of a congress will therefore be for the benefit of all. The necessity for it results from the five great Powers being unable to com e to a precise understanding. Its formation has been in, embryo since the appeal made to the general opinion of Europe by Napoleon 111. The wish for it inspires every breast, and the official proposition which will be made for it will neither meet with an adversary nor a person indifferent to it from the very day when a sovereign court shall have as sumed the initiative." PROPOSED INCREASE IN THE LIVERPOOL DOCK RATES. —At the heldhew yeekelsyte themrdeaeyt,inagreopfort was presented from the Liverpool Dock Oom rnsub•committee on rates, and adopted. This report re commended an increase on the dock rates on imports, which, on the aggregate, will augment the rates to the extent of about 10 per cent. On American cotton it is proposed to levy a rate of 6d. per bale, instead of the present rate, which averages about 4id. per bale ; South American it is proposed to fix at 3d., and East Indian at 4d. per bale- Guano and some other articles are also proposed to be raised. THE F U NERAL OF THE POET ROGlRS.—Yesterday morning the mortal remains of Samuel Rogers were de posited in their final resting p lace in the fam ily vault in the graveyard of the quiet and picturesque little church of llornsey. Thus has passed away from vas one of the lest links which connected the poets of the last genera- Oen with those of the present day. Mr. Rogers, we believe, was the last survivor of the great literary men whose works and genius served to nurture the first spark of the poetic flame in the breast of such men as Byron and Moore while they were yet school boys, and who, in their turn, in after life, as they advanced to maturity and fame, bestowed both their friendship and esteem on those whom they had learned to admire in their boyhood. Mr. Rogers was born in 1764, and had therefore, at the time of his death, reached the venerable age of 92. The j funeral was strictly private, and was only attended be the relatives and a few of the oldest literary friends. 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