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

MONEY MARKET AND 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 sd. to 6d. for American kinds, being rather in favour of buyers. The sales were 6,000 bales, comprising 20 Pernam and Maranham at sd. ; 30Bahia, 6d.; 100 Egyptian, sd. to Sid. ; and 700 Surat, 3id. to 4kd. per lb. There was very little doing in the Rail way 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. Routes 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 xose 11, 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 the average rate is fixed at 33f. 30c. per hectolitre ; in Maran, Bordeaux, &c., it is 32f. 81c. ; in the de partments of the Alps 33f. 50c. Of the Lower Rhine 33f. 71c. ; of La Vendee, &c., 31f. 69c. ; of Moselle, acc., 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 8,759,849/. 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, 462,064 570,733 916,240 290,921 261,241 Ditto yarn Hardware and cutlery Woollen and worsted manu factures Ditto yarn Linen manufactures Ditto yarn Silk manufactures Thrown silk 408,830 146,063 300,109 80,465 47,434 647,310 204,938 386,148 83,268 78,701 15,996 17,110 The number of vessels 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 dition, and Consols, which opened at 88i i, have since been 881- i. The market is unfavourably in fluenced by the limited business transacted, but the Government broker is supposed to be selling daily. The New 3 per Cents, have been 881 to 89, and the Reduced 881. to 881. Bank Stock is 2651 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 very dull at 83k, and the New Scrip 3 3 / 4 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 are the present quotations : GOVERNMENT SEM:MUM. 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 Maryland 5 per Cent. (Sterling Bonds)... Massachusetts 5 per Cent. (Sterl. Bonds). Mississippi 6 per Cent. Pl. Bk. Bonds lB4l-1871... 43 45 1870... 78 80 ... 90 .98 99 Mississippi 6 per Cent. Union Bk. Bonds ... 16 18 Pennsylvania 5 per Cent. Stock Pennsylvania 5 per Cent. Bonds 1877... 78 f'o south Carolina 5 per Cent. Bonds (Baring's) 1858-1868... 97 98 South Carolina 5 per Cent. Bonds (Palmer's) 1866... 83 90 Virginia 5 per Cent. (Sterling Bonds) 1888... 83, 84; Virginia 6 per Cent. Bonds 1886... 86 8B CITY SECURITIES. Bolton $ per Cent. Bonds (Divers) CD 92 Montreal 6 per Cent. Bonds 1856-1865... 83 85 Now Orleans 6 per Cent. Stock 1883... 80 b 2 RAILROAD BONDS. Illinois Central 7 per Cent. Ist Mortgage, not 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 New York aeci Erie 7 per Cent. let Mort gage 1867... 2 100 New York and Erie 7 per Cent. 3d Mort gage 1883... 83 85 N. York and Erie 7p. Cent. Convertible 1862... 72 74 N. York and Erie 7 per Cent. Sinking Fund 1875... 30 82 Panama 7 per Cent., Ist Mortgage (Ster ling Bonds), not convertiblo 1859... 92 93• Ditto ditto 1864... 94 95 Pennsylvania Central 6 p. Cent., lat Mort 1880... 88 90 * Ex dividend. The following are the nominal prices of Foreign Stocks:—Grenada Deferred Bonds, 61 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 41 per Cents., 88 90 ; Spanish 3 per Cents., 40} ; ditto Deferred, 21} ; ditto Certificates, 41 ; ditto Passive, 7 7i. In the Railway Share Market the amount of dealing reported continues very 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 Groat 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 AT ONE 0 CLOCK. ( Prom the 0 Orin( List. ) Ttuon-, done. Bank Stock 3 por Cent. Redvcod Annuities B B4 3 per Cent. Consols Anntitiot New 3 per Cont. Annuities Long Annuities, expire sth Jan. 1860 34 Ditto 30 Years, expire sth April, 18S5 l6 5.16 Ildis Bonds, .£lOOO .......... Ditto, tinder £lOOO 8 d consolO for Account BB4 4 Exchequer Bills, 20. £l000 8 4 Ditto Bonds, ISSB, 3i por Cent 9713 1559 IP 97i SP PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS AT ONE O'CLO( K. Turkish Bonds, 6 per cent Ditto for the Account 834 Ditto New Scrip, 4 per Cont. Dividends on theisbovo payable in London. TWO O'CLOCK. e Ditto Account ...... . 88 i 5 5 20 10 SFLENDID PRESENT FOR THE KING OF SIAM. —An inkstand, probably the most brilliant and beautiful article of the kind ever ma le, has been manufactured by Mr. Dodd, of Cornhill, intended as a present from her Ma jesty to the King of Siam. The figures, emblematic of science, and the ornamental portions generally, are executed with great taste. The inscription on the ink stand purports that it is presented by the Queen to the King of Siam, whose names arc fully set forth. WRECK OF A FRENCH BRIG, AND Loss OF FOUR LIYES.—PORTMADOC, Dec. 25.—At three p.m. yester day, the French brig Charlotte, Corrie, 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 four were drowned. 7i 100 100 11; St. St. 20, all 100 100 16 100 100 3t 1t 17 all all 10 46 10 4i SHARE MARKETS. (THIS DAY.) RAILWAYS. RAILWA lostnit Priem yesterday. 22 - 23 3# - 31 .« -- .. 7i-- 8 16 - 16 13 - 14 9 - 8 79 - 81 54i - 65 5 ••• ••• •• - - 54 47. 64 11 - 12 8 i - 8i 27 29 17 - 19 60 - 70 504 - j - 9i 17 - 18 80 - 85 6 - 7 874 - 884 74 - 75 L 29 - 122 102 104 511 5241 70 - 75 6 - 7 6 - 7 t 761 - 771 6 - - 6 94 96 94 944 14 i d tit 94i 85j 8 d 6i sid - 21 61 Id i 64 4 36 38 •M ~ •. ..• 94 -9/ - ••• ..... •• 43 - 44 28 .., 29j 67 • 68 8i - 84 5 - 11i - 12 44i 454 92 -97 81 : Ei 4i -15 i 22 - 24 101 1O 72 74 42 44 11 12 56j —57 j 31j 31:j 6 3d 2d pay ii - 25 ... -• • •• "'"" 19 - f6i 4 - 6 Aberdeen. A.mbg. Noting.l 7 lciet and Eastn. Jnnct... Belfast & Ballymena. Birming. We've rh Stour Valley Birk elhd. Lancet.. Cheshire Junet 00. Cherh. & Birk., £5O and £25 Cons Do., £2O . . . Myth & Tyne origina' £25 (isad. at £45, Bristol and Exeter... Caledonian. . Carm. and Cardigan Chester & Holyhead. Cork and Bandon Cork, Black, di Pass Cornwall Do. A Do. B Ci fell' Junction Duolin&Belfastjune. Dun. P. & Alwr. Jim Do. Nlw East Anglian Eastern Counties east. Union, A SU Do., B. Stoat Do., New A East Kent East Lancashire Edinbnrgh&Olugov Edinb. and Peebles Edin. Prth & Forth & Clyde Jan: Furness Do. Extension... Glasgow &B. West - Great N. of Scotlnd. Great Northern ... . Do., A. Stock Do., B. Stock Gt. Sth. &Wost. (Ire ) Groat Western Do. Stour Val. Rail Gua. Stk . Irish South-Eastorn Lancaster & Corlielej iDo., Thirds. Do. New Thirds Lancash.andYorksh Do. Wst. Riding lin Liy:Creby.&Southpt London & Blackwal Lond. Bright & S.Cst. Lond. and N. Westn. Do. Fifths 1Do.101.811.,M&B... • Do. Eighths ~ London andS. Westn. Do., .£5O Do., .£4O . Lndndrry& Coleraine Ludndrry. & Enntsk. Manch.Shef.k Linch, Do. Shares, No. Do., Man. Pit Lin. Un Metropolitan Midland Do. Birmng. &Derby Midld. G. West. Oro. Do. Half Shares Newcastle & Carlisle Nwpt.Aberg. &Hrfd Newry & Enniskillor Newry Warrenpoint and Rostrevor Norfolk Northn.Connties North British North Devon, No. 1 Do., No. 2 Do., A Deferred Do., B Guaranteed N. Eastern—Berwick Do. do. Extonsi on Do.do. G.N.B. ?uroh Do. Leeds Do. York North London . N.&S.Wstrn.,Hs.mi stead, and City Jn , North Staffordshiro , North Western N. & S. Westrn. June 'Nuneaton, Hinckley and Leicester.. Ox, Worc.. & Wolv. Portsmouth o.tish Central„ 3eottiehMidland Shropshire Un - on „, South Devon 'South Eastern South Wales Yrksh. & Riv. Du/ Do. Staines, Wok &Wok , tooktort 9c Darli it lkton & linrtlepl rat' Vale Do. Prof., No. I. Names Hay. D.& R Ulvorstone & Lance , Vale of Neath Waterfd. & Kilkenny Waterford&Limer , eh West Cornwall West End of London and Crystal Palace Do. A .. Do. 8.... West London Wimbledn & Croydon FOREIGN. Autweri,PaMott rdam Do. 5 p.c. Oblgs.coa. in Sli. at par till '64 Ardennes irlgian Eactn. June, Beziers to Grai straw Bombay, Baroda, an' Central India,Serii Do. Demerara >nteb Rhenish Eastern of Franco Do. New East Indian, g. 5 p.c Do. E;ten;ion..., Do. do. do., '59, do, Gd. Tk of ClinadiA is Do. St. Lawrence & Atlantic do. Do. Cert. of Debon., con. into Stk. till 'CI Do. Comp. 6 p. c., do. 'Gt. Central of Fran% Gt. Indian Peninsula' guar. 5 per cent. Do. Now 5 per cent. Do. Extensions Great Lu x emboli rr Constituted ShareF Do. Obligations Gt.WestornofCans.d Shares Do. New D o. Bds" payablo's7, l with option till '55 Do. do., '62, p. '56 Do. do., '76, p. '6O Do. do., '73, withou' option Hamilton & Toronto Do. 6 por cent. Lake Corset. & Bask Lime and Turnhout Lyons and Geneva Lyons & Mediterran Madras Do. New Maria Antonia► Do. do. New Namur & Liege ( 4rithi interest) Do. (ex interest) Northern of France D 0.201. Shs Do: 5!07. 3 p. c Bds (imy.B.& Ams.Shs. Norwe g anTrunkPro` Paris and Lyons Ditto Bonds Paris and Orleans Paris and Rouen... t ParisCaen & Chorbrg Do Rome and Frascati.: Ronen and Havre...„ Royal Danish Royal Swedish Do, Obligations Sambre and Meuse... Do. p. cent. Prof. scindi; Do.. Southern of France St. Andrew's and Quebec (A) West Flanders Do 6 per c. Pref Western of France— D 0... ...... Zealand TOINT-S' Anstralaftia Bank of London Bri. Col. Bk.&Ln. C. firitish N. American Chartd. Bank of Asia Chrtd. Bilk. of India, Australia, & China City Colonial Commercial of Lond Eng.Seot.&A.ne.Cht , Lond. Chart. Bk. 011 Australia Ditto Now I.cridon and County Lnd &E. Bnkg. Corp , London Joint Stock. Loud. & Westminster National l'ro.of Eng Do. New National of Ireland.. Now South Walee..... Oriental Bank of Corporation. Provincial of Ireland Do. Now Royal Anstraln.Bkg & Gold Imp Co Royal British , oath Australia Jnion of Australia. )o. Now . ....... ' Union o London t,./ 74 - 8 3 23,3 3} - 1 - I 1 id 34i 35 9 10 I , 21 —2li t 9; - 81 16 - 17 62 67 82 87 3 3i p 5k 51 par ip 3 - 4 2i - 31 241 - 24 2} -21 p 93 - 100 115 - 116 - 120 104 106 23 - 24 112 - 117 .. ... di .7 i Sip -15-3 i 2 - 3 4 - 51 1 - 4 35 1 i -- 3511 12 --! I 2 6 - 7 45 -45 i 44 - 4B ... - Pm 18i - - 2i 21 - 2 8 - 8i - ... - pm 3i 4 ••• - i 29i - 30 - BARIEB. 90 -- 92 56 - 58 • • • "ma oim. ii = l'a 6 .4 • in 16i --• 17 15j 164 3 -- 2i d far 2p • •• ...... ... • •A ..... •I • ••• - ••• 39 - 41 28 - 39 53 - 54 ••• .... ... . • • • v 40 - 42 73 - 75 8 9 30 31 Nes ieeps der e yester lay. all all all all THE SUN LONDON, FRIDAY EVEN I G DECEMBER 28:8 1855. LINES LEASED T FIXED KENTA 1.44. out 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 went 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 1 a be Bantam down with a violent ani mos ity t owar d s th e terribl e bantam, and r ogh billet a one morning he was seen by a woman who sat nursing her goitre t crowing a l i o t f wood, t e n w o i td withh o e w w i a o n og a dr gsalttenacmk oath, hurld oafnsu bringnit to at t catch hh iem tern u e rr dead. Hereupon, the woman, with a sudden light in her mild, stole round to the back of the wood-stack, and being a good climber, as all those women are, 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, lyin g s h ac kl e d with corde on 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 treabled 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 office with a sword ; and I came upon this murderer sitting bound to a chair, with his 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 ere 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 sayinc , is, as flowers at Christmas—as seasonably grateful to the appetite as plumt-pudding or minoti.piPsa, ASI 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-tike, 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 the genial and perfectly congenial names of Charles Dickens and Christmas Day ! RAiLwATs, &sash's: Compans Cieslas me. s yester lay. Business Jester lay. A New Bistory of England. By G. S. Poulton. Freeman. The chief feature in this work worthy of notice is its 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 for acquiring 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 au 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 witk 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 in a clear and simple style, and contrives to give all the impor tant events of English history in the compass we have 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 clay, 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. Manua/ of British Rural Sports. By Stonehenge. Routledge. 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 ho 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 ho 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. Me gives full and particular directions and descriptions of shooting, hunting, coursing, fishing, hawking, racing, boating, and pedestrianism, arc. He also gives ample instructions for the management of horses and dogs, their training, doctoring, k. e. Besides this more scientific portion, there are chap ters on less ambitious pursuits—cricket, archery, quoits, &c. The writtr 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 Great 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 au 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 these opinions he has omitted pugilism, bull baiting, and similar pursuits, as contrary to the law as well as unworthy of a true lover of honest English sport. The Owlet of Oilstone Edge. _By the Author of " St. Antholin's " 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, self-denial, and universal charity. In speaking of Sisters of Mercy, the owlet gives as his opinion that we in England have " the thing without 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. H e shows us the discontented lady, the indolent fine lady, the disagreeably good lady, the injudicious lady, and the lady who, devoting herself entirely o and n e to the care of her parish, neglects her own family. The concluding portion, which is entitled " H oo t Exemplary," draws a picture of what a p arson ' s s w o i n fe ag s e h . en F ld ro h m e, mistress it i s n ea th rn e estness, sincerity, of Ovrlst Par-prac tical character, this little volume is • likely to be of extended benefit. A Popular history of •By Birds. Adam Whit©. ___ Lovell Reev©, Henrietta-street. This is another of Mr. Reeve's excellent series, which has already given us popular histories of Plants, Palms,Ferns Field Botany, Zoology, Mineralogy, Mollusca; Ornithology, and many others, and promises to add accounts of Fishes, Fossils, Insects, British Lichens, British Crustacea, and other natural ma rvels, to its already extended list. Th e p resen t i s a "History of Birds," by the Assistant at the Zoological Department of tho Bri tish Museum. It comprises a familiar account of their classification and habits ; the former part being rendered as concise as possible, to leave space for details of their habits, (tc. In Ray's work, published about a hundred and fifty years since, he computes the number of birds at five hundred, and supposes that about a third of that number are undiscovered. At the present day, between six and seven thousand species are known, and this number is gradually increasing in proportion Bedford and Blot ~ : hley Buckghamsh. Clydesdal e Jc. Col. Stour Vy. Sud. and Hal. E. Lin. g. 6 pc B. Un. H. Sh. Glas. Barr. & Neils. Direct Do. Now Glistr.ds Dn. Fr Hrtlpl. Dk. & Railway Hull & Selby Do. t Shares. Do. Shares. Lon. Groonw Do. Preference Lon., Til., & S. Lowestoft gr. 4 per cent. Do. 6 per et. Manch. Bxtn. and Matlock Middlosbro' Redear. Midld.Bradfd Newmarket Bury Eaten N.& Est.sp.o. Do. 6 per ct. ' Do. Fixeds p Prost. & R yte Do. Shrs. A Roystn.& Hit. Shot Roth and Goole g. 5 p.o. Shrews. &Her. S. Statfordsh. Wear Valloygr 6 per cent Do Wilts&Comrst PREFE . A hordoen Do. No. 2, 7 p. c Myth and Tyne I 0 pe, c. pref. (iesd. at 501 Brio. k Ex. 4 p. c. St. Do. 4 p. c. Shares 17alecloniam £lO `Mester & Ilolyhea: Guar. 5i per cent.. )o. do. Prof. No. 2. o. do. Pref. No. 2. ork kßandonsip.e nun.Prth .di Aber. J. g. Anglian Cls. A Sh, Do. do. Cls. B 6 p. 0. rgo. do Cis, C 7 p. o. astern Counties Ex. tension, 5 p. c. No. l , no. No. 2 . 'Do. New 6 p. c. St . k Taut ITn., G. 6 p. c. 51., 10 per cent 16i. Debentr.Sh foo. do. 4 per cent gag Lanca.sh. 6 p. its tR:.&l74r. York. J. sthiF Prth.&Dnn.4p.c Furness St S.W. G. 5 p. c . Great Northn. 5 p. 100. 5 p. 0. Redeem. at 10 p. c. prem Do. 4 p. c De. 5 p. c. Scrip, Red, at 5 p. c. pm... ,It.N. of Scot. let Pre It. S. ea W. (Ireland) Do. 4 per 0. Pref. Si Gt. Wostn. (Berke k "Tants Ex . 5 p. c) Go. con. red. 4i p.a. Do. con. red. 4 p. 0. Do. irrod. 4p. c Do. Birm. Pref. Sh Do. Cheater 8 p. c.P.S De. do. 5 p. a. do Do. Birm. Gina. Stk Do. Ches. Gna. Sh Do. do. do o. do. do n. &York. F. £2l Jo. 6 p. e. Stock Lon. &Brigh. G. 5 p.c Do. Pref., 5 p. c. St Do. New Guar.6 p. c o. do. 5 per cent.. Lon. &N. W., Cot. & Nuneaton S p. ct.. Lon. & S.W. 7 per ct Londy. &Color. Sh. Londy. & Ennis.. Man., Shef., & in. New, £lO Do. £6 larypt.&Carl.4 p Do. 4. por cent Do Aid. Consol.6 p.c.St Do. Consol. Bristol A. Firm. 6 per coot. Do. 4i p. e. Pref. St Do. Pref. 4 per eeT, Do. 5/. Pr.f. 4 p. c Ditto L.& IL Pref. Si Norfolk Debenture Do. Pref. 4 p. s. Sto- Do. 5 p. c. Ext De. 5A por ct. pref Do. Way. Val. 5 p. a. 'North British N. E. Berw, 4 p.e. P IDo. do. do Do Leeds 6 p.c Do. do. Quarters 4' Do.YorkJl.St S. Pur North Staffordshire. )xford , Weraester,,t Wolverh..£ls, 6 p.e lo It. Pref. 101. Sit. cot. Cent. ,New Pro , outh Devon o. fixed, 4 4 per cent . Eastern (IteadiuF Ann.) of £1 On, 6d. Do. 4 por cent Do. Fixed 4i p o sit S. Wales Gas.. 4 p. c iDo do. 4i p. 1..... I • S,Yorksh.4p.e.Guar. Stock.&Dar., 5 p. c. Do. do. do I Stock. & Hartl. g. 5 p. c. till July 1, '56 ,Watertd.&Kilk.6 pc MINES. . 1 all Agua Fria . . . - ••• 1 all Anglo Austrin. Gold ... - ••• 10. all Anglo Californian t- i 20 6 Australian 4 1 all Australian Cordiller•• ... - ••• 1 1 all Ave Maria . --- 1 I all Baden (Gd. Duchy of, i - 4 60 1 all Blsona.rvon Iron and Coal - •• • 20 1 14 British Iron 4 - 6 35 26 Brazilia,nlmp.(isaued at i.'.5 pm.) - 2 30 ' all 90. COCACS & Cuiab 24 - 24 20 15 • 1 0. St. John Del Bea' 27 - 29 I d 1 ; i Clarendon Cons. 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Royal Mai. ... - ... 10 Si Berlin Water Works Gi - 7i 50 10 Brit. American Land 47 - 60 1.00 12.•,- Canada l3B ,5•143 St. 100 Canada Gov. 6p. of Jan. and jaly lo9i -- 110 110 5 all Crystal Palaco 2 - 2t 2i 5 5 Do. Preferenco. 4B - 44 41 I 4 all Crystal Pal. of Franc. ... - „, 1 i Duston Iron Oro .., - ~. 20 11 Eastern Steam - .. 5 all En. &A.us Cop Sna Co 1k n 25 24 Electric Telegraph 2O - 22 1 all Electric Toleg. of Ir. ... .., 5 all Gen. Iron So Collie ~. - - ... 15 14 Gen. Steam Navigat.: ... - ... 10 all General Screw Steam ~. - .., 20 10 Irish Beotroot Sugai ... - ..„ 20 10 Magdalena St. Navig ... - ... 10 all dediteran. Elea. Tel. 8 - 10 10 9 Moxican&S.Amoricn. 54 - 54 1 all Nat. Pat. Stoala Fuel ... - ... x d 10 5 Netherlands Land._ 1 - li 10 all Do. Do. - 3 6 1 Do. spcP ins at 10l 4 die- par 2 1 N. S. W. Coal & Inter. Stoma Navigat. Co. ... -•• ••• 100 80 New B. &N.B. Land 18 - 22 1 all N. B. Australasian i - 4 II 20 15 Nrth. of E u rope Steare ... - ••• 1 all Orie n t a l G as i - li 1 2s. Do. " New Shares " .. - ••• I, all Peel R r . Ld. & Minrl. 2g - 2fi 50 all Peninsular& O r i ents 63 - 66 50 10 Do. New..... - ...p 2 all Portland Iron C 0..,,. ...., - 100 60 Royal Mail Steam - . ' ••• 1 all Scot. Austral. Invest. 17ii - 1i 1 A Ditto Now i - P i i an South Austral. Land 35 - 37 p 1 ar. Submar. Tel. Scrip,.. 20 all Do. Registered. i -- t 25 5 Crubt.SE L. Co.U.Cau. .' , - ... 100) 28 Yin Dienien!N Land 131 a 0 London h N. We t. ,L. &N. W. &Mon.. E.Un.& E. C. . t. Nrthn. E. Count. Caldonlan. Do Gt. Vest] Yk. New. & Borw. Y. &NM Do BaaterT 'oto k Ca [Norfolk, L.& N. W & Midld, Stckton A Darlingt, Midland.. En. Conn. E. Count. IL.&N.W Do Qt Northn Lancash & Yorkoh. T. Brawny M. MCleaa, Stockt. k Darlingt Do I ra,w4 132 - 134 103 -105 iii - IF 1i -7 lii - S 1 - Al it7 r :: k ••• .... ~. ..• -0 ..• 131 - 1.:=3 34 - 30 so 82 SHARES. 107 - 109 104 - 106 90 - 92 92 - 94 15 - 16 6i 2 el ••• ".• A- p - 11 -12 57= 59 = 113 105 107 99 101 par 1 7 . 9 0 6 64 95 87 77 79 71 80 15 : ( 14 9i 10 66 03 17 18 84 9 13 134 1 Id 131 -us ... .... go. ... ... ... .... MR ... ...P 1.2 i -- 13 i - iP .„ ... .A 1 - 133 91 - 93 - 14 4 - 46 97 - 99 87 - 8 i 2i - 31 i 1 - - i;i 92 - 94 13 14 id ---- Pa' 21,1 22; 92 94 81 84 ... ~ .r ... -- • •• p --- ir ... - .•• 21 - Si, 92 - 94 91 - 98 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 most successful of living dramatists. Sheridan Knowles, indeed, stands forth alone as pre-eminently the 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 playwright 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 She r id an K no wles ! What as sociations they are fraught with ! How they live in the popular recollection I How pleasant is their mere enumeration ! Virginius, 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 1 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 1 The Wife, in 1833, with Ellen Tree as Mariana 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 }lave 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 I Besides the celebrated plays already enumerated as among the dramatic masterpieces 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 ragon, 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 Tirgintus. 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, so 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 f o r 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 hu mourist, to our thinking, in the whole range of literature. No ono b u t 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,"— " Trio 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 np 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 pr,- served Druid, I believe him to have been, and to be still), with long white hair, and a flinty blue eye 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 horizon, 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 ono who counted them three times nine times, and thou stood in the centre and said "I dare !" would behold a tremendous apparition, and be stricken dead. He pretended to have seen a bustard (I suspect him to have been familiar with the dodo), in manner follow ing : Ho 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 hat first sup posed to be a gig-umbrella that had been blown from some conveyance, but what ho presently believed to be a lean dwarf man upon a little pony. Having followed this ob joct 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 enthusiast, or a robber ; but, I awoke ono night to find him in the dark at my bed side, repeating the Athanasian Creed in a terrific voice. I paid my 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 ?—a story recounted as follows " That was not a common-place story which worked it self out at a little inn in Switzerlaad, while I was staying there. It was a very homely place, in a village of ono nar row, zig-zag street among mountains, and you went is at the main door through the cow-house, and among tho mules and tho dogs and the fowls, before ascending a great bare staircase to the rooms ; which were all of unpainted wood, without plastering or papering —like rough packing cases. Outside, there was nothing but the straggling street, a little toy church with a copper-coloured steeple, a pine forest, a torrent, mists, and mountain-sides. A young man belonging to this inn, had disappeared eight weeks before (it was winter-time), and was supposed to have had some undiscovered love affair, and to have gone for a soldier. Ho had got up in the night, and dropped into the village street from the loft in which ho slept with another man ; and he had done it so quietly, that his com panion and follow-labourer had heard no movement when he was awakened in the morning, and they said, " Louis, where is Henri ?' They looked for him high and low, in vain, and gave him up. Now, outside this inn there stood, as there stood outside every dwelling in the village, a stack of firewood ; but, the stack belonging to the inn was higher than any of the rest, because the iun was the richest house and burnt the most fuel. It began to be noticed, while they were looking high and low, that a bantam cock, part of the live stock of the inn, put himself wonderfully to the increasing knowledge of the distant or de serted parts of the world. The illustrations are not the least attractive part of the volume. They aro numerous and beautiful, the colours of the various species being given with great brilliancy. The Wonders of science ; or, Young Humphrey Davy. By Henry Mayhew. David Bogue. It will be remembered by all its juvenile readers that Mr. Mayhew has furnished them 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 Astronomer. The present volume narrates 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 he may do. It is handsomely bound, and has numerous illustrations, forming a most attractive and in structive Christmas present. The Spirit of the Bony. By Mrs. Owen. Routledge. Mrs. Octavius Owen is well known as a pleasing and agreeable writer. List 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 conversation in Paris, for some short time past, has been a certain pamphlet, which was about to appear in favour of peace, and which rumour attributed to the pen or to the inspiration of one placed so high as to be able to judgo better than any other of the probabi lities of peace or war. The production in question has just appeared, under the title of " Necessite d'un Congrs pour Pacifier l'Europe," par un Homme 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 Great 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 ske 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 ? " 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 territory Belgium and the Rhenish Provinces; and yet France and England are at present closely united. "Proud of their now destinies, they assuredly have a right to proclaim that, in making at present the sacrifice of a policy incompatible with the peace of the world, Russia cannot decline in public esti mation ; but that, on the contrary, she must in crease in the confidence 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 Epon taneous interventio 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 ? " One hundred and twenty millions of men are engaged in the struggle ; on one side, they aro dying for their faith ; on the other, for justice. Thousands of cannon are 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 are 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 fulfil. But as England, France, Turkey, and Sardinia had sufficed for the task, and as the proposed aim was attained, the position of neutrals could bo looked at in a more favourable light. " It was then that the Emperor, making a solemn appeal to the pressure of public opinion with the view of terminating the war, exclaimed ! ' 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 temporary, and that definitively it is public opinion that carries away the last victory. " Thus, in the thoughts of the Allied Govern ments, the last victory will be the conclusion of a peace. And it is public opinion in Europe which will have 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 can alone offer the opportunity of doing this. " The readiness with which the secondary States have replied to the invitation of the Emperor of the 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 o f th em informed France and England of the steps Shish it had 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. Theirs are local opi nions, and disjointed ; it is not the general opinion of Europe which they express. " In order that the general opinion be rendered useful and imposing, that it may carry away that last victory which shall definitively endow the world with peace . from the fact 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 voico. " In a congress, Europe will be represented and personified. " Ambitions will be restrained and menLl minds revivified ; above all, over the powers will be sus pended a supremo authority, which will ennoble the sacrifices, give to moderation the character of magnanimity, impose a salutary restraint pn 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 a congress to proceed from Russia, and if, taking into 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 contest. " Such an overture would be a more certain in dication of the pacific disposition s 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 conferences 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. 66 It is only necessary to open contemporaneous history to comprehend that Alexander 11. may enter on thispath without humiliating Russia, and if lie 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 tending over 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 could 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 the 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 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 ? No ? 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 whop, 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 charac 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 be 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 ; for 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 since the congress of Vienna, would fail in 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 more compromised by the unsuacess 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 w ar when, having nothing further to destroy than the Baltic fleet, the interests and ideas of the two nations might be brought into apposition ? 4 , 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 come 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 w ill 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 REASE IN THE LIVERPOOL OM RATES. —At the weekly meeting of the Liverpool Do c k Com mittee, held y ester d ay, a re port was presented from the sub - 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 40. 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 FUNERAL OF THE POET ROGERS.—Yesterclay morning the mortal remains of Samuel Rogers were de posited in their final resting place in the family vault in the graveyard of the quiet and picturesque little church of flornsey. Thus has passed away from ns one of the last links which connected the poets of the last genera tion with those of the present day. Mr. Rog ers, we believe, was the last survivor of the gr ea t 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 th ey a d vance d maturity and fame, bestowed both their friendship and esteem on those whom they had learned to admire in their boyhood. Mr. Rogers was bora in 1764, and bad therefore, at the time of his death, reached the venerable age of 92. 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