The Sun. — London, England, 1863-12-25 00:00:00

...„,. ~. . . .......... SHARE .51ARKFITS.—Yesterday, ONEY MARKET AND ORDINARY SHARES AND STOCKS. R l it COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. _ Closing : Business -. 2 .- Share Railways. Paid. Price. done. , This being Christmas-day, there is no information 13.14. Mr.. Wel., and Str. Val. all 8 81 to repo:t in this department of Me Sun. •th Islythe and Tyne. - - 24. The results exhibited in the Bank of England re- to .13ost.,Sleat.,annIllitl.Co all 8 8 2 9 8 4 1 at Bristol and Exeter ?rdall turn are fully equal to the expectations previously at Caledonian lOO 12J 121 1204 50 Cork and Bandon all - - 1110 EDS formed, the reserves of notes and stock of bullion 20 Cornwal1... having largely increased, while the other securities 10 Do A all - - A gets no div till tip c.p an. has ell - - l e l e na have fallen off. Annexed are the particulars :- 10 Do. B been paid ao B. 60 Dublin & Belfast June. all 37 39 Active Circulation .. .. .. Z 19,656,815 25 pun.,Pertll,BzAb. June. all 16 17 Decrease .. .. .. .. 143,690 st Edinburgh & Glasgow. 100 96 98 'rince Bullion .. .. .. .. .. 14,217.067 at Glasg. and S. Western. 100 107 109 Increase .. .. .. .. 541,593 at Great Eastern, Ord. stk 100 49 50 494 4 from Rest .. .. .. .. .. 3,235,371 at Ditto A stock at . Ditto East Anglian at 100 76 84 1, hav- Increase .. .. .. .. 8,418 at GreatNorthof Scotland 100 - - sin the Public Deposits .. .. .. 10,266,546 st. Great Northern lOO 125 127 Increase . 1,162,808 st Do A stock lOO 131 132 1321 2 4 Other Deposits.. .. .. .. 12,711,637 st Do Bdo have Decrease 553,431 at Gt. S. anti W. of Ireland 100 97 99 in land, Seven Day and other Bills .. • . 616,984 at Great Western Increase . • .. .. .. 34,725 st Do Str Val gua. stock 100 - - at Lancashire & Yorkshire 160 1111 lin Government Securities at London and hlackwall 100 72 74 •• •• 10 , 762 , 330 ) Mar- No alteration. at Lon., Bright.,& S. Coast 100 1074 1086 1084 rendon Other Securities .. .. .. 21,410,956 st Lon., Chat., and Dover 100 43 44 44 Decrease .. .. .. .. 32,763 1 8 st Lon. & North Western 100 1074 07. 10 474 star- Notes Unem p lo y ed .. .. .. 8,496,345 st Lon. & Sce,th Western 100 101. 1 02 1021 2 at llan., Shef., & Lincoln. 100 491 504 504 50 Increase .. .. .. .. 730,605 50 Maryport and Carlisle. all - - n ear -- 121 Do s shares... ..... - - w agar) at Metropolitan all 1111 1121 1121 111 4 BRITISH FUNDS--CLOSING PRICES. 4 .4. st 0 Midland 0 0 I 4 1291 1 1p 304 1304 4 4 Dial YESTERDAY. 0 Do New at Do Binning. & Derby 10 0 97 9 Bank Stock - ce the 3 per Cent. Reduced Annuities .. 9ll 1 50 &lid. Gt. W. of Ireland all - - 25 Do. 1 shares - - 31per Cent. Consols Annuities 9 ll 4 25 Mid Kent - - iblite d New 3 per Cent. Annuities 911 4 10 Do Cray Line all - India Stock, 1874 21 ex dv, for opg st North British 100 524 631 53 4 3 eat Ditto 5 pet Cent. 1870 iobUris Ditto 4 per Cent. 1888 - st Nth. Eastern-Berwick 100 1024 103 103 25 Do, G.N.E. purchase 16.13.4 -- d 4 SCI outs Ditto Enfaced Paper, 4 per Cent - at Do Leeds lOO 581 594 o Ditto 5 per Cent -100 89 93 lothing at Do York Ditto 51 per Cent - at Do Car1i51e....... , ... 100 - - Ditto ditto April, 1864 991 at ' orth London Urea - Ditto ditto Aug. 1864 or 66 - 10 Do New 5 1 2 p )3ank Stock for Account - dis 1946.4 North Staffordshire .. all 78 78 784 10 N. and S. W. Junction. all 11 111 is chil a Ditto Bonds £l,OOO --st Scottish Central Ditto under £l,OOO .•• • - at Scot N. E., Aber. stock 100 42 44 431 arouses Consols for Account, Jan. 7.. 9l/ i 4 et .Do Soot* Mid. stock.. 100 98 100 India Stock for Account, 5 per Cent.... - 10 Shrews. and Welchpool all - - Exchequer Bills, £l,OOO, 21 & 3 per Cent. 9 4 dis at Shro p shire Union lOO 51 62 T een... at South Devon 100 32 33 Ditto £5OO .. - dis 100 954 i 64 964 4 4 ato bis Ditto Small - dis st South Eastern at South Wales - - FOREIGN FUNDS-CLOSING PRICES. at S. York. and River Dun 100 97 69 [ay til l 20 staines,Wok.,andWok. all 94 101 Austrian Bonds, 5 per Cent .. -- 25 Stockton & Darlington all 15 38 4 CaS11 0 :1 25 Do Ditto 1859 - 25 Do New. 1866 8 74 74 0 Brazilian 5 per Cent - at Taff Vale.. Ditto, 1839 and 1859 .. - 10 Do B 8 5 54 n ;rs ity. Ditto 44 per Cent. , 1852-58-60 - 10 Do C 3 21 31 p . Ditto 1863 - 50 Ulster - - Ditto Scrip, 1863, £ 3O paid . 2O - - p day. Buenos Ayres 6 per Cent - - - -.I 100 1 st Vale of Neath Int Ve- Egyptian 7 per Cent at Victoria sta. and Pim.. 100 170 175 Nsult - •••• Ditto, Second Issue .. - at Waterford & Kilkenny 100 - - Greek 5 per Cent., 1824-5 , ex-Coupons.. - st West Cornwall lOO - - M' F'" Ditto Account - - Ditto Coupons - at West Midland -Oxford 100 - - Ditto Account - severa l Guatemala 5 per Cent. - st Do Hereford 100 ,- - I has i rr Ditto Account - Italian 5 per Cent.(Maremmana Railway) 7 8 1 c 1 0513 BRITISH POSSESSIONS. Mexican 3 per Cent - gee. Ditto Account 371 4 44 4 Closing Moorish Imperial 5 per Cent - Share Railways Paid. Price. Business done New Granada 134 4 14+5 .4_tlantic &St Lawrence all 60 i 2 4:312. Ditto 2 per Cent. - Bom.,Baroda&.Cent led 100 1161 1076 Ditto Deferred Bl Sk Gu. 5 per cent... Ditto Land Warrants (Hectares) - 20 Do. New . 8 1 1 p L the ; ' t Pa 20 per Cent. - 20 Do. E. 5hare5......... 71 1 1 p of the Ditto Account zo4 Buffalo and Lake ilaron all 6 64 10 Do. Preference ...... all 84 91 Ditto 41 per Cent., 1862 1 11,011 Portuguese 3 per Cent., 1853 )13, 1 Ditto Account.. - 100 Do. do. July 1, 1873 100 - - ad f ull Ditto 3 per Cent., 1856, '7, '9, 'GO, 62;3 - 100 Do. ao. June I, 181: 100 - - at Cleutta.4rS.Eastn. (Lin., 1 00 104 1(6 106 Ditto Account 49A- at Cape Town & Dock Sail 100 101 103 reniagt Ditto, 1863 - stock Eustis. Bengal gu. sp. c 100 108 109 NO' Ditto Scrip, £ls paid D Russian 5 per Cent., 1822, £St 921 20 Do. do. G Ext..... 15 4 lip knoWi l, Ditto 41 per Cent 1850.. - 20 Do. do. H do. .. 15 1 lip w hat Ditto 1860 - stock Grand Trunk of Canada lAA, 20 21 104 100 Do. Ist Pref. Bonds.. all 73 75 shrile ilt Ditto 3 per Cent., 1859 ,. 831 100 Do. ao. deferred.- - all Si 51 Ditto 5 per Cent. 1862 lOO Do. 2d Pret. Bemis.. all 65 67 ndOul i. Sardinian 5 per Cent .. - 100 Do. do. deferred...... all 50 53 O ntlail Ditto Account - 100 Do. 3d Pr ef. stock ... all 48 51 100 Do. do. deferred...-. all 38 42 Spanish 3 per Cent - •it bite Ditto Account s4f 100 Do. 4th Pref. sto sk... all 27 29 gall, Ditto New Deferred - 100 Do. do. deferred.-- all 22 24 stook GLlndia.Penui.gua.sp.c 100 1084 1091 Ditto Account - 20 Do. New gua. sp. c... 12 1t lh ipPee r. Ditto Passive - 20 Do. January, 1862 .. 8 14 tip ;EL co,o' Ditto Account n Bar Spanish Cert. of Coup not funded - gnteed per cent. 100 1051 1061 201 Gt. W. ofCanada Shares all 10 101 Ditto Account 134 4 i 20i Do. New .. ;r, ba c° Swedish, 4 per Cent - 100 Do. 6 p.c. '73 with't opt. all 92 95 nd the Turkish 6 per Cent. 1854 - 100 Do. 51 p. c. do. '77-8.... all 86 88 1014 Ditto Account - stock Madras. guar., 5p.C. .. 100 106 107 Ditto 6 per Cent. 1858 thieldi Ditto Account 6 91 stock Do. 44 p. o. Extension 100 (00 101 stock De. 44 d 0........ 100 96 100 . eque S ' Ditto 6 per Cent. 1862 - 20 Do. Fifth Extension. 2 - - Ditto Account itione d f Venezuela 3 per Cant. - 50 Melb. & Elobson's Bay. all 57 59 574 4 'ide," a Ditto Account _ 100 Do. 7 p.c. slortg. Bds. alt. - - Ditto 6 per Cent., 1862 - 20 New Br unswie,k i Cands Within Ditto Account Arena ', .. .-.. N.ll.l.C'das pc Ist f bds 100 82 84 Dividends on the above payable in London. stock Soinde ....• -... (100 106 107 carr ied Dutch 24 per Cent., Ex. 12 Gull 6 54 stock Do. Delhi 44.: 1 100 116 107 Ditto Account ... . - so Do. do 4t i 2 4 ip ) place French Rentes, 44 per Cent., Ex. 25f.... - at Do. Punjaub -'-reader ? Ditto Account Do. Do. ......... . , too - - Wm* Do. Indus. St. Flo.) 000 101 103 above Ditto Scrip (1563) £42 Bs. 3d. paid.... - pm ! The THREE O'CLOCK. COLONIAL GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. Consols, Money 914 1 3tamor- Ditt o Account - can.liov. 6 p.c.J a .t.. 1 no, an d in 1 1877-84 --.- ..... 100 105 106 106 4 - , Do. 6p. c. Feb. A 'Aug. 100 113 Its .eiterate Course of the Exchange—Yesterday. Do. 6p. c. Mar. & Sept. 100 1( 3 115 • - , Do. Ep. o. Jan.&July. 100 13 94 934 3 ered on Amsterdam - ' Do. 6 Inscribed stock 100 91 93 by the Ditto - 'Cape 6.l:tope, 6 p c,1873 i u 106 108 - Do.Ap &Oct. 1880 100 1 0 9 1 11 Rotterdam - 11 19f 12 0 4 Do. 1891 100 109 111 Antwerp .. - 25 7 0 25 75 - - I Do. Jan. & July, 1891.. 100 112 114 in in the Brussels - 25 70 25 75 - Ceylon, N0v.1878, 6p c 100 110 112 Hamburgh - 13 74 13 84 - Itilauritius 6 per cent .. 100 196 108 f F r ank Paris .. Short. 25 274 25 35 - INatal Gov. 6 per cent.. 100 118 110 lby, th e Ditto - N.B.Gov.sp.e.Ja..tJul) 100 104 106 - Do. 6p. c.Ap. & Oct. 100 I- - he g reat -- Marseilles - 25 70 25 75 -N. S.W. Gov. 5 p s., 1 8ot 10 0 100 102 Frankfort on Maine 1194 1194 - Du. sp. c.,18'/1 to len 100 101 102 de, an Vienna - 12 30 12 35 - Do. d0.,1888 &upwds 100 1011 1021 1014 o' Trieste - 12 25 12 35 - New Zealand 6 p cent. 100 110 112 Nap • feats Petersburgh - 334 331 - Nova, Scotia Gov. 6p. c. - 1 sterling, 1875 lOO 105 107 Berlin - - - - Queensland Gcv. 6p. c. 100 ill 113 ar • tiet e° Madrid ... ... -- 471 48 - IS. Aus G6p.c.1878.& up.. 100 111 113 Pe t Cadiz - 471 48 - , Vlc.Gov. 6 p.c. Ja.&July 100 1 0 7 109 . Leghorn - 25 90 15 95 -Dalo 6 p.c. An.&Ook. 100 ,1091 1104 1 1094 10 91 in th e Milan - 25 921 25 97/ --- --- - BRITISH MINES. M. ' Genoa '-' 25 875 2,5 95 Naples - 25 90 25 95 le cret v Palermo .. .--. 25 921 25 97/ 2 ;Cambrian Consol. Gold 1 4 Icl 1 4 - cliflorel Amalgamated.. - 34 E 5 e ezt rfi- M ess i na - 25 924 25 971 - Devon G. Con s . ‘Tavist., 1 56 0 670 Lisbon - 521 521 - East Bassett (Mogan).. 30 S 8 6 0 59 ded a r Oporto - 524 52f 1 East Clogau Gold Ltd. s s. i d p ar d r aultia Foreign Gold in Bars (Standard), per 0z.... £ 3 1 7 9 - East Caradon ..... ..... 2.14.6 27 28 27 4 ado' Mexican Dollars - - ,E, ST'l Russel (Tavistk 8.9.0 554 54 1 4 WI Silver in Bars (Standard) 0 - IGam.&St.Aubyn(Gwen.; 58t 8 10 ride 1 South Americ an Doublons .... - ' Great South Tolgus .... 17s 441 :ea? the• _ - ~ G. Wheal Vor (Heston 40 12 13 - IGrenville terra in' The King of the Belgians and t he Count de ba ilemd's-Foot ... 8.12 37 39 e d t ,le . Flandre left Brussels the day before yesterday, by express --.... Hingston Downs Margaret (Uny Lelant Lady Bertha 2.8.6 4 1 fit train, for the King's estate of Ardenne, at which residence _ iea ° l4 16 his Majesty will remain for a week. - Starke Valley.. war ds 4 Myndy Iron Ore (Lim ' 25 14 4 6 ip ~b , THE GREAT FIRE IN THE CITY.—In former New Setun 194 90 100 or, er'' - accounts it was mentioned that the consquences of -• North Downs 24 14 11 addit l°ll - N.Wh'i Baaset (Mogan 3.1.0 2t 3 this catastrophe would be to throw 300 hands employed by - North Wheal Crotty wile ere - one firm alone (Messrs. Grant, of Clement's-court) out of - Par Consols (St. Blazey, , - - tom Work and wages for an indefinite period. It is satisfactory 20 Providence(UnyLelnt.) 10.6.7 42 44 - South Caradon(St.Cleer, 14 415 425 dan the to say that the promptitude of this firm will be considered - S. Cam Brea (Illogan) - _ the Marvellous, when it is stated that already, within, as it were, -.... S.:Wheal Fran. (Mogan 18.15.9 60 65 e 5 A Of a ro A. sy Park 30.17.6 28 30 few hours of the destruction of their warehouses, spacious 5 famar Silv.& Lead Min. 44 4 i up . s on- new premises have been taken in Gresham-street, where the - fin Crort , 9 18 19 ed toth e West Basset (Mogan) * 14 91 104 business is being carried on with as little interruption as if _ WCI radon. (Liskeard) 5 18 20 utic °lle' nothing had happened; and not less ought their generosity - West Scion ;ulati°l3 a be approved, inasmuch that they have announced it to be - Wheal Basset (Mogan) 5 85 90 Of - Wheal Buller(ltedruth) 5 22/ 274 10 00 e their intention that the hands (males and females) are not - Wheal Kitty(U.Lelant; 2.0.6 - - I 130% i " to suffer from the misfortune, it being their intention to - WhealLudcott -- Wheal Mary Ann /Men ) 8 111 12 LOn d°ll employ them at once, and to pay their wages without de- - Wheal Beton ' duction for loss of time, It is also right to a dd that t h i s - Wheal Treia w ne y (Lis ) 7 21 22 in,___,.. . . . _ - . ,____ ~--levarl in London. - Wheal Union 3.17 24 24 ~_,,,., Closing : Business Share Railways. 1 '''' [ Price. done. 13.14. Mr.. Wel., and Str. Val all 8 81 25 Blythe and Tyne. 10 Bost.,Sleat.,andblid.Co all 8 81 st Bristol and Exeter st Caledonian lOO 120 121 1201 50 Cork and Bandon all 20 Cornwall. 10 Do A A gets no dig' all till c.p — 10 Do. B bee tip n paid to B. ell 50 Dublin & Belfast June. all 37 39 25 niln.,Perth,&Ab. June. all 16 17 at Edinburgh & Glasgow. 100 96 98 at Glaag. and S. Western. 100 107 109 at Great Eastern, Ord. stk 100 49 50 491 1 at Ditto A stock at . Ditto East Anglian at 100 76 81 at GreatNorthof Scotland 100 st Great Northern lOO 125 127 st Do A stock lOO 131 132 1321 2 1 st Do Bdo at Gt. S. anti W. of Ireland 100 97 99 st Great Western st Do Str Val guar stock 100 at Lancashire & Yorkshire 160 1111 1111 at London and Blackwall 100 72 74 at Lon., Bright.,& S. Coast 100 1071 1086 1081 st Lon., Chat., and Dover 100 43 44 44 at Lon. & North Western 100 1071 ion 1081 71 st Lon. & So'.th Western 100 101 102 1021 2 at Ilan., Shef., & Lincoln. 100 491 501 501 50 50 Maryport and Carlisle. all 121 Do t shares... ..... at Metropolitan all 1111 1121 1121 111 1 st Midland 4.4.0 Do New at Do Birming. & Derby 100 97 9 50 Md. Gt. W. of Ireland all 25 Do. 1 shares 25 Mid Kent 10 Do Cray Line at North British at Edin., Perth, & Dundee 100 25 16 at Nth. Eastern—Berwick 100 1021 103 103 25 Do, G.N.E. purchase 16.13.4 —— d at Do Leeds lOO 581 591 at Do York at Do Car1i51e....... , lOO l— et ' orth London 10 Do New 5 12 p 19.16.4 North Staffordshire 10 N. and S. W. Junction all 11 111 st Scottish Central at Scot N. E., Aber. stock 100 42 44 431 at .Do Soot. Mid. stock lOO 98 100 10 Shrews. and Welohpool all et Shropshire Union at So - nth Devon lOO 32 33 at South Eastern st South Wales et S. York. and River Dun 100 97 69 20 staines,Wok.,andWok. all 91 101 25 Stockton & Darlington all t 5 384 25 Do 25 Do New. 1866 8 71 71 0 at Taff Vale 10 Do B 8 5 51 8 10 Do C 3 21 31p . 50 Ulster 25 Do 12.10 Do 56 at Vale of Neath at Victoria sta. and Pim lOO 170 175 at Waterford & Kilkenny 100 st West Cornwall lOO at W. Hartlepool Har.&R lOO et West Midland —Oxford 100 st Do Newport 100 st Do Hereford 100 1 The King of the Belgians and the Count de I Flandre left Brussels the day before yester da y , b y ex p ress train, for the King's estate of Ardenne, at which residence his Majesty will remain for a week. THE GREAT FIRE IN THE CITY.—In former accounts it was mentioned that the consquences of this catastrophe would be to throw 300 hands employed by one firm alone (Messrs. Grant, of Clement's-court) out of work and wages for an indefinite period. It is satisfactory to say that the promptitude of this firm will be considered Marvellous, when it is stated that already, Within, as it were, a few hours of the destruction of their warehouses, spacious new premises have been taken in Gresham-street, where the business is being carried on with as little interruption as if nothing had happened; and not less ought their generosity be approved, inasmuch that they have announced it t o b e their intention that the hands (males and females) are not to suffer from the misfortune, it being their intention to employ them at once, and to pay their wages without de duction for loss of time. It is also right to add that this liberality is not to be confined to those employed in London, whose numbers are few compared to these in the establish ment in Londonderry. The same humane treatment is to be observed towards all. Such conduct is highly considerate. CANADIAN MAILS.—The -'4AN AND UNITED STATES' Canadian mail steamer Bohemian sailed from Liver pool yesterda y Portland with the Canadian mails. Be a valuable ca r go.e also took out about 70 passengers and had Stearns The Liverpool, New York, and Phila delphiamore sailed or , N l N ' Tedt e° mPany's screw steamer City of Balti with the United State sday from Liverpool for New York, Inails and a valuable cargo. In ad dition to these she als o to ok out 30 cabin passengers. REPRESENTATIO N op BUCKS.The nomination of c an didates for the repres e ri t‘tlenof the county of Bucks, r e nde r ed vacant by the elevatio n is appointed to to the peerage of the Hon. W. G. Cavendish, mix :.ake T p h l e ace the Court house, Aylesbury, Aylesbury, on Tuesda y place on the following Friday , The candid p a o tes in a g re wi Mr . ta ß e B. Harvey, Conservative, and Mr. J . Lee, Liberal. THE ROYAL ACADEMY. — Mr. John Everett Mil lais, A.R.A., and Mr. Edward William Cooke have been elected Royal Academicians. Mr. Millais, who is of a Jersey family, was born at Southampton in 1829, and has devoted himself to art from his youth. When nine years of age he entered Mr. Saes's Academy, and at 11 began to study at the Royal Academy, where he succeeded in carrying off many of the principal prizes for drawing While pursuing his studies at the Academy he took a prominent place among the young men who became known as the "Pre-Raphaelite School." Hi s p r i n cipal pictures since that period are well known. In 1853 he was elected as Associate of the Royal Academy. Mr. E. W. Cooke was born in London in 1810. Among his best known pic tures are " Brighton Sands," Portsmouth Harbour," "Mount St. Michael," "Dutch boats b,calrned," and "Hastings from All Saints Church." He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1850. THE NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION.—Lady Cunningham Fairlie h"as presented to the National Lifeboat Institution £3OO to defray the cost of a new lifeboat, which She wishes to be called The Wallace. The National Insti tution has now 13 lifeboats on the Scotch coast. The boat at Thurso is a gift to the society of Mr. A. W. Jaffray, of London, and saved the crew of 15 men of the barque Graces, of Shields, en the 12th inst. The lifeboat at Irvine, which w as also presented to the institution by Miss Pringle Kidd, of Lassw,de Bank, near Edinburgh, saved likewise a smack's crow in the early part of the present month. " PROM GRAVE TO GAY—SEVERE TO LIVELY." --The Temperance Hall at Elgin, after having been a gene ral public hall, a preaching room, and a dancing room, has St length been purchased by one who intends to convert it 14to a spirit store! hich t he s relat e d 4:)1d F) „ h. us sPeee— job es tie ors o f 00 16 re press doll° was et ;Brini er served t° that had played bj reformo a solutioo rig drawn nier to IS :orwarde d is action is told 19i oir. 13Llt )-stinatioa Ling in_ nre ect to the 1 - gs in 1 118 Dale time Honitetir? ;th in 010 instance, 101 l I say. po litica l inted ad' the Oaf' t the tself to &fe l/4 , pp „itiort as hit° ll3s articular, ral par ti• Lave bee° )cOad er° l Ita ci3e ' e gadO i cter. D WIT); fined an e navia foun ded „ y w or.: 42001 6 e PREFERENCE SHARES. Great Western Orig. 4} per cent. pf., 100 3 / 4 Great Western, 4 per cent. irred , 89 Midland 4 3 / 4 per cent. pf. stk. rd., 103 PREFERENCE SHARES AND STOCKS. London and Blackwall, 41 per cent stk., 101:2 London, Brighton, &c., 46 per cent, 1858, 105 Metropolitan 5 per cent., 108 Vale of Neatn, 4i per cent., 20} LINES LEASED All FIXED RENTALS. Ditto, 57p3r cent. , 1151 Midland h e s ter !Holyhead ref stock, 95 North Western, 17 } 17 C an Bradford , p . . • FOREIGN RAILWAY& Antwerp and Rotterdam, 8} Bahia and San Francisco (11m.) gua. 7 per cent, 181 Dutch Rhenish, 17} Eastern of France, 18/ Namur and Liege, gua. 6 per cent. pf., 201 N. Rail of Buenos Ayres, gua. 7 per cent., 102 Ottoman (Smyrna to Aidin), 12 Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean, 37 JOINT-STOCK BANKS. &gra and United Service (lira.), 116 Alliance Bank of Lona m and Liverpool (Um.), 43/ 3 Ditto, new, 281 9 Bank of Egypt, 26} Bank of Wales, lim., 91 British and American Exchange (11m.),191 Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China, 374 7 City, 108 74 Consolidated Bank, lira., East London, lim., 71 8 English and Swedish, lim., European Bank, lim., 35 4 Hindustan, chin a , and Japan (litn.), 311 2 11 Imperial Ottoman, i 8 Land Mortgage Bank of India, lim., 41 London and Brazilian (lim.), 535 London, Buenos Ayres, and River Plate, 491 Loudon Chartered Bank of Aust ra li a, 27 London and County, 5e9 7} London L onNationalDdLondonoitnt o j a and in o , didrno:Sttvlto; ditto, 261 t sc r 2t l i South l gar, England, ._ 4 80 Scinde, Punjaub, and Delhi (lim.). 7 7 5 Ditto, new issued, at £1 les., 45 35 MISCELLANEOUS. Berlin Water Works, Rm., 91 Ceylon Company, 10 Crystal Palace, 331 Ei,glish and Australian Copper, 14 2 Gen. Credit and Finance of London, lim., 64 7 6 4 Hudson's Bay, 121 1 International Financial Society, lira., 91 Italian Irrigation (Canal Cavour), Ditto, 6 - per cent. Bonds, redem. 1870, issued 90. 87 Joint stock Discount, 6,i Ditto, new, es a London District Telegraph (lim.), 11 London Financial Association, lim. , 231 M a d r as Irrigation and Canal, 3,1 Mercantile Credit Association, Um., 91 9 and 105 for Money Natal Land and Colonization Company, Bm., 51 National Discount Company, lim., 9} t Nerbudda Coal and Iron, 54 Ditto, new, 19 Rio de Janeiro City Improvements, 274 South A Wean Wag - age and Investment, o tun SUN, 'LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 25, 1863. LITERATURE. Richard Doyle's Christmas Book. Birds Eye Views of Society. Taken by Richard Doyle. Smith, Elder, and Company. " The little corky bird"—as one of the greatest of living reviewers once comically called that callow nestling perched on the familiar capital letters R.D. so often, and always rejoicingly, welcomed in the left hand corner of we don't know how many delightfully humorous illustrations—that same " cocky little bird" perched on those capital letters R. D. in perpetuo in the left hand corner of every week's number of Punch, has here taken with its right claw Sixteen successive " S ights" at Modern Society! They will b© recognised at once, of course, upon the first opening of the pages of this goodly oblong folio, as the collective reprint of the well remembered folding sketches contributed by Mr. Doyle to the Cornhill Magazine. We should premise, at once, that as they are here given in this collective edition and not folded—they appear to far greater advan tage than they did when originally published, one by one, and—folded ! There, in the Cornhill, they never appeared to us satisfactorily. Whether it was from their uncomfortably shutting together in that way like so many clumsy book-maps, or their asso ciation there with an odiously coarse, and to our fancy almost always dissatisfying jumble of embel lishments, we know not, bat the series did not ap pear to us there in the Cornhill, in any way what ever so satisfactorily as they do now in the form of this at once elegant and grotesque volume, in which Modern Society is good-humouredly turned into ridicule by the most innocent and whim sical of all our carricaturists. " Taken" these Bird's Eye Views of Modern Society are by Richard Doyle, ever-memorable among our comic artists by reason of his gloriously droll version of "Ye Manners and ye Customes of ye Englishe," and by his no less delectably laughable record of the immortal tour of the Messrs. Brown, Jones, and Robinson—long-haired little Brown, lanky Jones, fat Robinson. The drawings are engraved in outline very cleverly by the Messrs. Dalziel Brothers. The work is issued from the press, as the delightfulest apropos volume of fun and frolic, by the Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Corn pany,of Cornhill, and it should be said also, of " the" Cornhill, in whose pages these Bird's Eye Views first saw the light. Of the letterpress—hardly can it be called the explanatory letterpress—we prefer to say nothing—beyond this, at least, that it is of just the feeblest possble description. As to the Views themselves, who that knows the Corm hill, but bears them in recollection—even as they appeared there, as we have said, comparatively speaking, so very disadvantageously ? "At Home Small and Early," viewed at the time of the period of "Refreshments !" Whew ! Such a crush ! Such an agglomeration of richly dressed, hungry, thirsty, fashionable, people closely packed, and wedged, and scrunched together in one dining-room at supper time ! " A Juvenile Party"—not as Punch intimated slyly the other day with a prefix of " jolly" to it—Pam ! , But a genuine juvenile (always fashionable) party —dancing, playing, romping, coquetting, and going through every imaginable kind of merry antic in a drawing-room: here, again, allof them in full jig, and here again, in a decided state of "jam" was ! Next, "A Morning Party," with a little more breathing room and elbow room, because in the open air—" ehew ing, the nobility and gentry playing the fashionable game of the period." That fashionable game being of course—(" 0 my prophetic soul, my Uncle !") Aunt Sally. The fan of it all in the grave faces of these male and female swells so engaged—being just indescribable, " A County Ball" another crush is capitally good, better, in fact, than the majority of these highly elaborated drawings, with its multiplicity of satiric touches lavished upon the dancing, smiling, smirking, bow ing, strutting exquisites. " Bazaar and Fancy Fair," though more ambitiously designed end more minutely finished, does not appear to us, however, nearly so successful. " A State Party" may be remembered as a wonderful skit at one of those appalling social ceremonies hardly so much a Swell Dinner, as a Swell Ban quet, where, to be quite in keeping, half the guests ought surely to be Banquos. "The Pic ture Sale" abounds in Hogarthian traits of character. "At the Sea-side" is more various in fun than almost any of these cartoons. "A Popular Entertainment" represents Leotard at the Alhambra, the Oxford, or the Canterbury, or some other such noted place of musical and acrobatic amusement. "Dining Down the River," a terrible glimpseaof selfish batchelor enjoyment, is almost to our fancy the best of the whole set of these embel lishments. " Belgravia out of Doors," " Belgravia Atter Dinner," " Rotten Row in the Season," are each of them abounding in incentives to laugh ter. But better than any of the three last-men tioned, there is the almost deafening view (merely to look at) of the musical " At Home"—the last but one of the crushes. The very last of those crushes, here, being that one of the " Science and Art Con. versazione." The last of the whole set of these capital comic cartoons being "The Smoking Room at the Club"—another wicked peep in upon a select gathering of bachelor Sybarites. Altogether the work is delightfully eeasonable as a source of inno cent social amusement. It will fully sustain, though it will fail either to advance or to elevate Mr. Doyle's reputation as a keen observer and a kindly satirist of the whims and oddities of his fellow - mortals in a high state of civilisation. Dalziel's Illustrated Arabian .Nights Entertain- ments. Part I. Ward and Lock, One of the loveliest and yet also one of the cheapest illustrated periodical works now being published has with this initial number of "Dalziel's Arabian Night's Entertainments" been commenced. It is an exquisite production. Nor can we be supposed to exaggerate, in any way, when speaking of it thus emphatically, even at its very commencement, when we have said that the embellishments to the work are from the hands of artists no less gifted than Millais, and Tenniel, and Watson—J. E. Millais, the Associate of the Royal Academy; John Tenniel, the inimitable cartoonist of Punch; and that wielder of a bold, facile pencil, I. W. Watson, who is fast securing to himself a more and more brilliant reputation as on il lustrator. These drawings, moreover, as the title of the Edition in fact intimates, are in a fair way of . having fall justice done to them— carvelled upon boxwood, as their minutest lines and and dots are being, by the delicate implements most dexterously wielded by the indefatigable Dalziel Brothers. Printed from clear bold type, and upon ex cellent tinted paper at the Camden Press, the work is now, it appears, being published in sixpenny monthly instalments by the Messrs. Ward and Lock, of Fleet-street— as th e p o pular, we may be cer tain of that, as the popular edition par excel lence of the world famous " Arabian Night's En tertainments." A wonderfully bold and picturesque representation, by Tenniel, of the Sleeping Genie and the Lady, prepares us for the marvels here ac cumulated, in the way of embellishment, to the mar vellous series of romantic narratives told to the Sultan Shehriar, by his Grand Vizier's Daughter, the Princess, afterwards, in fact, the Sultana • Sheherazade. An astounding e ffigy it is, this fore-sh or t ene d, prostrate form of the sleeping, open-mouthed, snoring, snarl ing Genie ! Another while, we have that other Genie and the group of affrighted merchants ! The Fisher man and the smoking Casket he has drawn up in his net upon the beach and then opened! With a profusion 'of other sketches, scattered with lavish hands and rapid pencils among the delightful letter press. Dalziel's edition of the "Arabian Tales,' , in effect commands, what it is certain to receive, a cordial welcome —winning for itself, as it is se ture of doing, wherever it is seen, a wider and wider circulation. ~............. Christnzae Number of Punch. Although a good part of the current number of Punch is taken up with the title-page, the index, hnd the preface to that funny old gentleman's forty fifth volume, it has within it plenty of seasonable provocatives to laughter and good humour. Ths title-page is capital in more than the letters and Agures (Vol. 45) Mr, Punch is dexterously cutting out with his skates upon the ice (the ice that is not this winter)—it 'is capital, beyond this, as a comic sarcasm upon the state of things generally. The cartoon representing The Lord Chancellor Punch presenting a goodly slice of the national plum•pudding to the New Judge, with " My dear Mr. Sergeant Shee, I have rnuch.pleasure in hand ing you, &e." is excellent as a bit of well timed pleasantry. Cha»zbers's Journal— Extra (double) New Year's- day Number—"ln the Box." Every periodical must distinguish itself at Christ mas, and among the number we are glad to recognise Chambers—the patriarch among our weekly serials. The twelve stories, of very miscellaneous character, " Grave and Gay," &c., which diversify this double number, are narrated in a somewhat incongruous place—" In the Box," namely, in the jury men's box, or rather in their retiring-room, while undergoing the process of deliberation. In the first place the case is stated ;" then follows, " what Mr. Sunnyside thought of it, and his story, which calls up Mr. Drumfinch. But Mr. Crasket is not convinced, and Mr. Richards is induced to tell his story, which Mr. Watkins caps; and the. Messrs. Rooster they tell their Aunt Sarah's story, which satisfies Mr. Crasket, and the twelve are agreed, and all goes merry as marriage bells," and the public being called upon for their verdict, give it in favour of the jurymen " In the Box." Fun Almanac for 1862-1883-1864. Of all times in the year Christmas is par excel. lance the season in which Fun reigns paramount. We have before us a goodly and grotesque volume in which the Past, the Present, and the Future years are caricatured before us, after that ludicrous fashion with which the readers of " Fen" are familiar. While moralists theorise about the fight of time, there are still some jocund spirits left to make " Fun" of it. Every Boys' Magazzne. "Every Boy'' will be delighted with the coloured almanack for the coming year with which his own peculiar magazine this month pre sents him. Among the seasonable contents of this number is a most interesting narrative by Thomas Miller, entitled " Christmas Eve in the Snow," which relates a perilous adventure and marvellous escape meat and no little flutter in high polite circles, for the deposition from the throne of railwaydom of the famous original of " Jeames de la Pluche" had hardly then begun, though it was probably accelerated by the universal titters of recognition which welcomed the weekly accounts of the changing fortunes of " Jeames." The " Snob Papers," in the same periodical, were an awkward blow at conven tional abuses—Tory snobbism, Radical snobbism, Clerical snobbism, University snobbism, ellsoc genus:omne—being impartially castigated, amid great applause from the classes which, for the week, had no castigation. Mr. Charles Dickens hail entered on a professional literary career earlier than Mr. Thackeray, though he was about the same age. Mr. Thackeray followed followed him into his own domain of novels in monthly instalments. In 1846-8 appeared " Vanity Fair ," and who can forget the sensation which the pictures of " Rawdon Crawley," "Becky Sharp," the "Marquis of Steyne," and other characters created ? Mr. Thackeray's reputation as a humorist of a powerfully satirical turn of mind was hence forth made, and it was considerably increased by "Penden nis," Arthur Pendennis is one of the most charming of characters, such a one as Thackeray loved to draw—a noble, pure-minded lad at " Grayfriars" (Charter Ilouse)—plucky, but plucked, at "Oxbridge" (Cambridge)—leadin g a fine, honourable bachelor life in London till his marriage with his cousin Laura—an exquisite creation of a genius which could only draw what was beautiful and good. The gentle, loving mother, the old military uncle, are all good in their way. A natural product of this novel was the "Newcomes," a work even more noticeable for the increasing development which it exhibited of the author's surprising keenness of observation and insight into character. No man, certainly no Carthusian, can forget during a lifetime the noble cha racter of Colonel Newcome, one of the finest portraitures of a Christian gentleman ever drawn. His love for " Gray friars," exhibited on his return from India in taking his little son Clive Newcome to his old school, his dignified character when a man of property, and his grand bearing under his pecuniary misfortunes—magnus in prosperis, in adversis major—are touching in the extreme, and few readers can fail to have been moved by the beautiful account of the dear old colonel, compelled to accept the hospitable asylum of the Charter House in his old age, and dying with thoughts of school-days passing through his brain—he feebly "said, Adsum' and stood in the :presence of the Master." The characters of Sir Barnes Newcome, Bart., and his precious son Barnes are capital. In 1851 Mr. Thackeray delivered a remarkable course of lectures on the Humorists at Willis's rooms before crowded assemblages, which comprised all the intellect and the rank of London. Few can forget the lecturer's diagnoses of Swift and Sterne—how he created somewhat of a sensation by his enunciation of Swift's remark about poor "Stella," "only a woman's hair ;" and how the audience were moved to laughter at the lecturer's ridicule of Sterne's sentimen tality on a "dead donkey." These lectures were repeated in Scotland and in various parts of England; also in America, where the author was well received. "Esmond," a historical novel of the 17th century, dis closed the more serious and lofty qualities of Mr. Thackeray's genius. Subsequently, he has written the " Virginians," a work too well known to be mentioned ex cept by name. Mr. Thackeray wrote also, in 1851, the "Kickleburys up the Rhine," which, being unfavourably criticised by a con temporary, as the work of an author sceptical of the exist ence of any virtue and amiability in the world, produced from the author an "Essay on Thunder and Small Beer," which was said to have demolished the indiscreet critic. It is impossible to describe or analyse the others of Mr. Thackeray's writings at this time, his beautiful children's story of the " Rose and the Rug ; or, the Pietur es of Prince Bulbo," "Dr. Bird and his Young Friends," "Rebecca and Rowena," and " Our Street." The lectures on the "Four Georges" are noteworthy as giving a not wholly untruthful, but rather exaggerated, view of the condition of English society under their Majnties, but every one who heard and every one who has read them will appreci ate the touching account of the death of George 111., and the character of his sacred successor, who had "under his coat a waistcoat, under that another waistcoat, under that another waistcoat, and under that—NOTILING." In 1860 Mr. Thackeray was induced to become the editor of the Cornhill Magazine. His " Roundabout Papers" have been generally admired, but his " Adventures of Philip on his Way through the World" may be called a success, though not a distinguished one, The editor retired from his post a year or so ago. feeling convinced, probably, that he was too much one of the genus irrttabile to endure with patience the nuisance of correspondence and com plaints addressed to him by every post, and bombarding even his private residence. Mr. Thackeray's genius has gradually developed itself. His philosophical intellect contrived to accumulate for itself stores'of observation and of humour. In his earlier works was displayed the germ of his humour ; it was matured by prolonged reflection. His knowledge of life, indeed— of London life and Paris life—was rarely equalled. He could diarise the walks of " Pleaceman X ;" and he could delight London with the account of " Bouillabaisse" at Monsieur Terraine's in Paris— " 'Rue Neuve des Petits Cbamps' its name is— The new street of the little fields." He could also write the most wonderful Irish ballads about " O'Brine, the Oirish line," and all sorts of " chaff" of the Irish Nationalists, "vainly so called." It would be improper to speak of Mr. Thackeray's per sonal character in this place, as he has been brought so much, and at times so invidiousl3, before the public. This much may be said of him, that he was a thorough gentleman by feeling as well as by education ; that he " never wrote a line which, dying, he might wish to blot;" that he was generous to his less fortunate brethren, but that he was not popular generally in consequence of a somewhat captious and over-sensitive nature, such as was hardly to be expected in the delineator of the Marquis of Steyne and Mr. Foker. In July, 1857, Mr. Thackeray stood in the Liberal inte for the city of Oxford, his opponent being the Right Hon. Edward Cardwell. The votes were :—for Cardwell, 1,085 ; for Thackeray, 1,018. On the announcement of the poll, Mr. Thackeray, with his characteristic good feeling, told the story of Gully, the prizefighter, going up to his defeated opponent Gregson, and offering him water as an example of his own feeling towards his own victorious opponent. Some one called out (against Mr. Cardwell's friends) "It's bribery and corruption." "Why," said Mr. Thackeray, "call out bribery and corruption ?' If you know of it, prove it. lam innocent of bribery myself, and I choose to fancy that my opponents have acted with the same fairness and the same honesty." There spoke out the true English gentleman. Mr. Thackeray was called to the bar by the lion Society of the Middle Temple, May 26, 1848, though ho never practised, and never, probably, intended to do so. He lived in the Temple for come time, and some of the pleasantest of his papers in Punch are redolent of that historical seat of possible learning and undoubted good-fellowship and friend liness, as witness the poem on the demolition of " 10, Crown Office-row," said to be Mr. Thackeray's. The George Warrington of " Pendennis" will always be re membered as the model bachelor Templar—rough, cynical, generous, literary —very like Mr. Thackeray. Mr. Thackeray leaves behind him, we believe, two daughters to mourn his loss. It is no secret that one of them, inheriting much of her father's talent, Is the author of the "Story of Elizabeth" in the Cornhill Magazine. (From the Times.) Suddenly one of our greatest literary men has departed. Never more shall the fine head of Mr. Thackeray, with its mass of silvery hair, be seen towering among us. It was but two days ago that ho might be seen at his club, radiant and buoyant with glee. Yesterday morning he was found dead in his bed. With all his high spirits he did not seem well ; he complained of illness ; but he was often ill, and ke laughed off his present attack. He said that he was about to undergo some treatment which would work a perfe . ct cure in his system, and so he made light of his malady. Ho was suffering from two distinct complaints, one of which has now wrought his death. Moro than a dozen years ago, while he was writing " Pendennis," it will be remembered that the publication of that work was stepped by his serious illness. He was brought to death's door, and he was saved from death by Dr. Elliotson, to whom, in gratitude, he dedicated the novel when he lived to finish it. But ever since that ailment he has been subject every month or tit weeks to attacks of sickness, attended with violent retching. He was congratulating himself the other day on the failure of his old enemy to return, and then he checked himself, as if he ought not to be too sure of a release from his plague. On Wednesday morning the com plaint returned, and he was in great suffering all day. He was no better in the evening, and his servant, about the time of leaving him for the night, proposed to sit up with him. This he declined. Ho was heard moving about midnight, and ho must have died between 2 and 3 in the morning of yesterday. His medical attendants attribute his death to tffilsion on the brain. They add th a t he had,..ahovonepreyhs.a theuairge o. brain, weighing no less than 681 oz. He thus died of complaint which seemed to trouble him least. He died tull on of strength and rejoicing, full of plans and Monday last ho was congratulating finished four numbers of a new novel —be thealikadhss showedmanu. script in his pocket, and with a boyis h the last pages to a friend, asking h im to f ri r eacl them and see what he could make of them. When he had completed four numbers more he said he would subject himself to the skill of a very clever surgeon, and be no more , an invalid. I n the fulness of his powers he has fallen before a complaint which gave him no alarm. The prominent inciden ts of a literary mans life are not n u me rous, and there have been published so many memoirs of Mr. Thackeray in biographical dictionaries and other works that we need not go much into detail in recording dates. He belonged to a Yorkshire family, and he was descended from that Dr. Thackeray who was for some time Head Master at Harrow, and who introduced there the Eton system. His father was in the Civil Service of the East India Company, and he was born at Calcutta in ISII. Ho was educated at the Charterhouse, which he loved to describe in his novels. Then he went to Cam bridge, but he left the University without taking a de gree, and went to the Continent with a view of s,udying art. He might in those days be seen at Rome, at Weimar, and at Paris, enjoying every kind of society, chiefly that of the artists. He has described this sort of life abun &way in his tales. It was tome years after this that he turned his attention to literature. He had begun life with what might be considered a good fortune, but he lost his money and had to work. He began as a writer in Fraser's Magazine, in the days when Maginn was its ruling spirit, and, under the name of Michael Angelo Tit marsh, wrote scores of essays, reviews, tales, sketches, poems of very unequal merit, which brought him little renown and not much emolument. He contributed to other periodicals, wrote various books of travel, and worked for the publishers, any that came to him, as a barrister takes his brief from any respectable attor ney. The mass of work which he got through in this way was very great, but much of it is interest ing only as the early practice of ono who before long rose to be a master of English. On the whole, as we look back upon these writings, we do not think that if his fame at that time was unequal to his merits the public were much to blame. The very high opinion which his friends entertained of him must have been due more to personal in tercourse than to his published works. It was not until 1816 that Mr. Thackeray fairly showed to the world what was in him. Then began to be published, in monthly num bers, the story of " Vanity Fair." It took London by sur prise—the picture was so true, the satire was so trenchant, the style was so finished. It is difficult to say which of these three works is the best--" Vanity Fair," " Henry Esmond," or " The Newcomes." Men of letters may gi ve their preference to the second of these, which is indeed the most finished of all his works. But there is vigour in the first-mentioned, and a matured beauty in the last, which to the throng of readers will be more attractive. At first read ing, vanity Fair" has given to many an impression that the author is too cynical. There was no man less ill-natured than Mr. Thackeray, and if anybody doubts this we refer him to "The Newcomes," and ask whether that book could be written by any but a most kind-hearted man. We be lieve that one of the greatest miseries which Mr. Thackeray had to endure grow out of the sense that he, one of the kindest of men, was regarded as an ill-natured cynic. He produced many works besides those which we have mentioned, and among them, perhaps, " Pendennis" ought to be named as standing on a nearly equal level. Over and above this, some of his minor works are perfect in their way. There is a little tale of his—" Barry Lyndon " which the more ardent lovers of Thackeray's writing regard as his master-piece. We have mentioned enough, however, to justify the opinion that, except Mr. Dickens, no modern English novelist ranks higher than Wm. Makepeace Thac keray. As studies of human nature, and as specimens of pure idiomatic English, perhaps nothing better has been written than that which we have under Thackeray's name. There is a rich humour, too, in his writing which is very amusing. For humour and play of fancy what can be bet ter than his poems ? They are among the cleverest things in the language. Highly polished as his style was, h e wrote, at least in his latter days, with great ease. He wrote like print, and made very few corrections. What he had to say came naturally to him ; he never made an effort in his writing; and he rather despised writing which is the result of effort. This naturalness he carried into his daily life. He had in him the simplicity of the child with the experience of the man. It was curious to see how warmly his friends loved him, and how fervently his enemies hated him. The hate which he excited among those who but half knew him will soon be forgotten ; the warmth of affection by which he was endeared to many friends will long be remembered. He had his foibles, and so have we all. Some of his foibles, such as his sensitiveness to criticism, always excited the good-humoured mirth of his friends. But these foibles were as rothing beside the true greatness and good ness of the man. It was impossible to be long with him without seeing his truthfulness, his gentleness, his humi lity, his sympathy with all suffering, his tender sense of honour; and ono felt these moral qualities all the more when one came to see how clear was his insight into human nature, how wide was his experience of life, how large his acquaintance with books, how well he had thought upon all he had seen, and how clearly and gracefully he expressed himself. A man in all the qualities of intellect, he was a child in all the qualities of heart; and when his life comes to be laid bare before the public in a biography we have no doubt that, whatever intellectual rank may be assigned to him, no man of letters with anything like the same powee of mind, will be regretted as nobler, purer, better, kinder than he. Destitute Houseless Poor in the Metropolis. The following minute of the Poor-law Board has l ust been issued : The Poor-law Board have recently obtained from the several metropolitan unions and parishes returns showing the extent of accommodation provided for destitute vagrants and wayfarers, and the numbers who either received, or who were refused a night's lodging during the first week of each of the months of January, March, May, and August, 1863. It appears from those returns that, in the aggregate, ac • commodation is provided in the several metropolitan work houses for 997 such persons. But the accommodation is very unequally distributed. In some unions and parishes the provision appears to be sufficient; in others, however, it is manifestly inadequate ; and the board have reason to suppose that in the latter case a serious and unequal burden is in consequence cast upon these neighbouring unions and parishes which have in curred the expense of providing the requisite wards. The attention of the board, as the guardians are aware, has on several previous occasions been directed to this im portant subject ; and some years ago the Legislature, by the Act 7th and Bth Vict., cap. 101, sanctioned a scheme for erecting district asylums for the reception of the wandering and casual poor of the metropolis. Owing to various causes, the chief of which was a want of co-operation on the part of several of the Boards of Guar dians, that scheme, after an inquiry by a committee of the House of Commons, was abandoned. In 18.58 the Poor-law Board by a circular again referred to the defects in the mode of administering relief to vagrants and houseless poor in the metropolitan district, and endea voured to induce thaßoards of Guardians, by united action, to exercise the powers conferred upon them by the statute already referred to. Since that time the guardians, in a few instances, have provided additional accommodation, but throughout the district generally the same defects prevail. The Poor-law Board, therefore, consider it necessary at this period, when the winter is rapidly approaching, to remind those who are intrusted with the direction and ad ministration of relief of the nature and extent of the obliga tions which the law has imposed upon them. It is a fundamental principle of the poor law that every destitute person, without reference to the question of set tlement or residence, is primarily entitled to relief where he is actually destitute ; and it is the duty cf the guardians to see that all necessary and reasonable arrangements are made for affording to every such person the requisite relief whether in food, clothing, medical attendance, or lodging. To meet these requirements the parochial authorities are empowered to raise all necessary sums by local taxation. With respect to the vagrant and houseless poor, it is obvious that the kind of relief required, in the night at least, is not so much food and clothing as lodging. It is unnecessary to remark that to provide lodging for every applicant indiscriminately in this vast metropolis would encourage vagrancy and imposture of the worst de scription, and perpetuate all those evils which were pointed out by the board in their minute of the 4th of August, 1848. But the obligations upou the guardians and their officers to afford the requisite relief to all really destitute applicants is, nevertheless, imperative, and cannot be evaded. ~,_ The :next consideration , therefore, which arises is with respect to the manner in whi c h re li e f can b e provided with the least liability to abuse. there In every union, or parish no t com p r i s ed in a union, should be, either in the workh ouse or elsewh ere , propercuatan and ces of sufficient wards, according to the speciacirm wanderers, and the locality, for destitute wayfarers and Poor Law means, such as the law contemplates and the Board have frequently suggested , i condition of each applicant. s h ou ld be provided with the view of testing the real co h nd era the existing ward s an d In unions and parishes vi workhouse accommodation consider that it is the duty ofthebe insufficient the B oard Guardians or temporary, to m a k e such further arrangements , whether permanent for food andwayfarer sufficient thereshel ter,destitute, and apply in g as will insure for e ver y wanderer and actually protection and reli ef for the ni g ht. The general duties of those union officers who are respon sible t h e actual administration of reli e f may be briefly explained. Ti's w aster of a workhouse, or, in case of his absence or ina bility to act, the matron, is requi re d to admit everyappli „nt who may appear to him or her to require relief through an y sudden or urgent necessity, although such applicant no t obtained an order of ad in i ss i Qn eitherfromtheguardia guardians re lieving officer, or overseer. If the master and matron should be both absent from the workhouse, or incapable of performing their duties at the same time, it is the duty of the porter to admit and place in the receiving ward any person who may apply at the work house for relief under similar circumstances. The board have decided that the master of a workhouse within the metropolitan district may properly admit, under the above r egu l ations, any person who may be brought there by a police constable, and described as having been found abroad in a state of destitution, the presumption being that the applicant has been guilty of no offence that would autho rise his detention in custody. It is the duty of the relieving officer also, in every ease . ° l : sudden or urgent necessity, to relieve every destitute apprlo,. cant, either by offering admission to the workhoussemorayp viding, as far as practicable, all such necessaries; be actually requisite, without reference to the time t. n or to the place where the pauper has lasrosarps•of d The board are desirous of impressing P " u °directions to the guar dians the importance of giving special,nd also to the porter, master and matron of the workhouse, vagrant wards are full, that whenever the workhouse or to for admission of the residence 0 thecareful inrfeolrienviianlgl applicants order that the requi s ite relief may be supplied by l a. Printed tickets with the t h e name and residence e. re lieving officer should be provided and deli vered in such cases by the master, matron, the applicatio ns :are orporter,to be to every appli can t. t likely very numerous, and to interfere with the ordinary duties of the relieving-officer, or to require much attention troto t tara in the night, an assistant relieving officer should be appointed to attend to these cases exclusively. In several parts of the country arrangements have been made with the police to undertake the duties of assistant relieving officers of vagrants, and the Board are assured that the adoption of this plan has been attended with very beneficial results. It will be seen from what has been already stated that under the existing law, it properly and judiciously applied, sufficient arrangement may be made ler affording relief to every destitute person without incurring the risk of encou raging vagrancy. Th 3 Poor Law Board, having thus pointed out the re quirements of the existing law, and the best means of dis charging the obligations which it imposes, trust that they may rely upon the Guardians and their officers to give prac tical effect to this Minute. C. P. VILLIERS, President. Poor Law Board, Whitehall, Dec. 23, 1863. MERCY FOR SAMUEL WRIGHT, Handbills with the above heading have been oh servable in various parts of the borough of Lam beth for some days past, inviting the working men of the district to meet at the Lambeth Baths, to agree upon a memorial to the Home Secretary pray ing for the commutation of the sentence of death upon Samuel Wright, who now lies awaiting exe cution in Horsemonger - lane Gaol. We have been informed that the meeting has resulted from a wholly unsolicited movement amongst the working classes themselves, who have felt somewhat indig nent at the apparent precipitancy of the proceed., ings in the case of Wright, with whose poverty and friendlessness they are, of course, well able ! to sympathise. Last evening the large room forming in summer the well known swimming bath, and capable of holding from 2,000 to 3,000 persons, was tolerably well filled with working men and their wives. Mr. G. M. MURPHY, a gentleman well. known in Lambeth for his philanthropic efforts in the cause of temperance and other good works, was called to the chair. The meeting throughout was most earnest and enthusiastic. The CHAIRMAN said that the meeting was not held for the purpose of intimidation, but for the plirpose f of influencing the Secretary of State for the Home Department mercifully in favour of W r i ght. The t c o i r t o h u e m s tances unprecedentedof his c o s n h v o i r c t t i spacew ereon o peculi ar , owing time that h a d . intervened between the commission of the crime and the law being allowed to take its course. g e did not think that Wright was innocent; indeed, he had condemned himself, and declared he was guilty ; but, considering the provocation it was pro bable that he had received, there was reason to be-. Hove that mercy might be extended towards hire. That meeting had been held in consequence of a meeting of working men held in that building last Saturday. Many of them had known Wright, and. felt that a proper r epresentation being made to the Home Secretary might avert the extreme penalty of the law. He then read the memorial as follows " To the Right Hon. Sir George Grey, Bart., Chief Secretary of State for th e H ome Department. si The memorial of the undersigned working men in the borough of Lambeth humbly showeth ,4 That a man named Samuel 'Wright, lately re- , siding in the Waterloo - road, in. this borough, now lies in Horsemonprlane Gaol awaiting execution, he having been convicted at the late session of the Central Criminal Court of the wilful murde r of Maria Green, in the Waterloo-road aforesaid on the 13th of the current month. " That your memorialists have viewed with pain the precipitancy with which conviction and sen tence of death have followed upon the said pri soner's crime. " Your memorialists respectfully beg leave to re mind you that, although the crime was only com mitted on the morning of Sunday, the 13th instant, the prisoner was committed for trial, by both ma gistrate and coroner, on Monday, 14th, and Tues day, 15th respectively, he was arraigned at the Cen tral Criminal Court on Wednesday, 16th, and, plead ing guilty, was then and there, by Mr. Justice Blackburn, sentenced to death. " Such haste in the conviction of an offender charged with so serious a crime is, by your memo rialists, believed to be without parallel in the admi nistration of justice. "Your memorialists being, like the prisoner, possessed of very limited, pecuniary resources, can well appreciate the difficulty Wright may have felt as regards obtaining legal assistance. " They entreat you to bear in mind that whilst the prisoner would rightly acknowledge himself guilty of killing the woman Green, yet that, being ignorant of the law, he would be wholly incompe tent to take advantage of the many legal objections counsel might interpose to reduce the crime to man slaughter, or by °ther means to avert the capital sentence. "Your memorialists therefore feel that the course of the proceedings in this matter has not been cha racterised by that strict fairness which has usually distinguished the administration of the law in this country; and they are painfully conscious that, had the prisoner possessed friends or means, the trial would have been postponed, and a proper investi gation would have taken place, in the course of which any point urged in the prisoner's favour would have had due weight, " Your memorialists are informed that no evidence of premeditation on the part of the prisoner has been discovered, and they are in a position to state, on the authority of persons who have long known him, that he has borne the character of an industrious and inoff ens i ve man. " Your m emor i alists therefore pray you to advise her Maj es t y to avert any possible injust i ce towar d s the aforesaid Samuel Wright by exercising the Royal prerogative and commuting the extreme sen tence of the law, " And your memorialists will ever pray, &e, " December 24, 1863." There was an omission in the memorial purposely made and that was an allusion to the character of 1 the deceased, Maria Green. Life was dear to all, protected characters. lifeN e Nevertheless t t h h e e le s s h e m i g ht Worst as well a a s n d th t e he be lw s a tof state that he held in his hand five v affidavits, all bearing testimony to the violent temper of the deceased. He then read th e affidavits, which showed Maria G r een to be of v ery b ad temper. Ho had also lette rs from thos e Who had employed Wright, and also from his c ompanions, all testifying to his quiet, orderly behaviour. All there meditation proved , were suffici en t to justify them in ad o pti ng ground was th e probable provocation he received which might h ave driven him beyond endurance ; and, lastly , on the ground of mercy. At a ti me when all Were rejoicing, he thought it was mos t approp r i ate for them to adopt a memorial for mercy.the memoriael. wthaoTssehnecoirenpuernixe: stan ces added to th e fact that th t (Cheers.) He then moved the ad o pti on o f the memorial. Mr. WILLIAM RHODE, a bricklayer, seconded the motion. Mr, CHARLES HANCOCK, ono of those who signed a letter which has appeared in the newspapers, bore testimony to the excellent character of Wright, and to the great respect his shop ma t es en tertained for him, Some other working men having borne similar testimony, the memorial was adopted and ordered to be signed by the meeting unanimously. A cordial vote of th an k s was then passed to Mr. Murphy for his con d uct i n t h e chair. The CHAIRMA N h av i ng ac knowledged the corn. pliment, said some f r i en d s had drawn up a more elaborate memorial to the Nome Secretary which they intended to get signed by a class of inhabitants of Lambeth whose social position and influence were higher than those of the present meeting, thus show. ing that the movement was not confined to a p ar ., titular class. (Hear, hear.) The meeting then terminated, and signatures to the memorial were received. Bank of England Return, --Last Evening. A n Account, pursuant to the Act 7th and Bth Victoria, o c i Dec., 32, for the week ending utt Wednesday, the 23d day 1863: ISSUE DEP AantENT. Notes Issued Other Securities 3. 634,00 • Gold Coin Si Bullion la ,503,10 . "'"'" 428 . 153 ,160 Government D e bt .E11.,015,1C0 Silver Bullion .... £28,153,160 DANKING D ► oprietors' Capi tal .............. £14.553.000 Rest Public Deposits (in cluding Exche quer, Savings' Banks, Commis missioners of Na tional Debt, and Dividend AC- X 28,153,1 80 :PARTMENT. Government Seen- rities (including Dead Weight A nnuity) -E10,762,3 30 Other Securities .. 21.4100 56 Notes Gold and Silver 713,907 Coin counts) 10,266,546 Other Deposits 12,714,637 Seven Day and other Bills 616,984 ----:- £41,353,538 ,53S m. MARSHALL, Chief Cashie r. Dec. 24, 1863. DEATH OF MR. THACKERAY, With more than ordinary feelings of regret we have to announce the death of this distinguished contributor to the literature of the cdnntry. The learned gentleman had for some days complained of indisposition, but not of that nature to give his friends any uneasiness. Mr. Thackeray retired on Wednesday night, manifesting no symptoms calculated to occasion the least apprehension, but was found dead in his bed on Thursday morning. William Makepeace Thackeray was born in India in 1811. He was of good family, and originally intended for the bar, to which he was called in 1848. He kept seven or eight terms at Cambridge, but left the Univer sity without taking a degree, for the purpose of be coming an artist, After about thre9 years' desultory prac tice he devoted himself to literature, abandcning the de sign of making a position as a painter, and only employed his pictorial talents in illustration of his own writings. For a short time he conducted a literary and artistic review, similar in plan, to the Athenceum ; but the new journal, although characterised by great ability, p:rished in competition with established rivals, He also, with the assistance of Dr. Magian, started a newspaper; but this was unsuccessful. His first distinction was won as a writer in Eraser's Magazine, Punch, and other periodicals of charac ter. In the latter amusing periodical appeared his "Jeames's Diary," a clever satire on the follies of the rail way mania, exposing the hollow foundation upon which railway fortunes and reputations were made. His " Snob Papers," published in the same manner, have since been collected and reprinted with great success. His satire is as keen as that of Fielding. His " Paris Sketch-book" appeared in 1840. His "Irish Sketch-book," with numerous en gravings drawn by the author, was published in 1845. In the next year appeared his " Notes of a Jour ney from Cornhill to Grand Cairo ;" and in 1847 the first numbers of " Vanity Fair" appeared, in the proper name of their author. This, Thackeray's first fully-developed novel, was followed by " Arthur Pendennis," which was completed in 1851. Thackerary's greatest literary achievements will long be treasured among the masterpieces of English literature— foremost among them being " Vanity Fair," " The New comes," " Esmond," " Pendennis," " The Virginians," "The Lectures on the English Humourists," "The Lec tures on the Georges," " The Snob Papers," and a multi tude of other works of a minor and very miscellaneous character. (From the Morning Post.) The announcement of the death of Mr. Thackeray will cause a profound sensation in England—even en this happy Christmas morning. It will remind—and startlingly re mind—men of the shock felt in political and literary society when it was announced, during the Christmas festivities of 1860, that Lord Macaulay had died suddenly. The illus trious essayist had received a party of dearly-loved relatives at his house on Christmas-day —he was in excellent health; he was hard at work oa his "History of England "—two years afterwards he was dead. Mr. Thackeray, on the other hand, has been suddenly summoned away on the eve of Christmas-day—truly a mournful festival this year for the affectionate daughters who survive him. So lately as the 12th of this month Mr. Thackeray was an honoured guest at his beloved " Grayfriars," on the occasion of the anniversary of the death of Thomas Sutton, the munificent founder of Charter House; he was present in his usual seat in the quaint old chapel; he went thence to the " Oration," in the governors'-room, and, as he walked up to the Orator with his contribution, he was received with such hearty applause as only Carthusians can give to one who has immortalised their school. At the banquet after , wards he sat side by side with his old friend, John Leech, at the high table, and, in a humorous speech, proposed the health of the noble foundation which he has adorned by his literary fame, and made popular in his works. On that occasion he was apparently in the most excellent health, and certainly he was in the highest spirits. Last Tuesday he followed to the grave his relative Lady Rodd, widow of Vice-Admiral Sir J. Tremayne Rodd, K.C.8., who was the daughter of Major J. Rennet!, F.R.S., Surveyor-General of Bengal, by the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Thackeray, head m aster of Harrow School. Although for a few days past he had telt symptoms of illnes s , he was able to be out on W e d n esday night. When hi s va l e t ca ll e d hi m yesterday morning about nine o'clock he was found in his bed quite dead, lying placid, apparentl y without having suffered any William Makepeace Thackerary was born in Calcutta. He was born, like the late lamented Lord Elgin, in 1811, his father being a civil servant of the East India Company. When a boy he came over to England_ though a toy, he was not too unobservant to derive no materials for thefuture reflection and amusement of himself and the public. At St. Helena he was taken to see the dreadful "Bonet'"—once a corporal, then a renowed conqueror and kingmaker, then a mighty emperor, now a captive of homicidal and even can nibal propensities, according to the tales told to young Thackeray by his attendants. The boy who was shrewd enough to take notes of the unlucky ex-Emperor, took notes at Charter House School, to which he was sent on his arrival in England, of a different character. " The chiel was epilog them," a sharp-eyed lad, who would do more for the credit and fame of the school than any future first classman or wrangler of them all. From Charter House Mr. Thackeray went to Trinity College, Cambridge; and among his contemporaries there were Mr. Alfred Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, and the late Mr. John Mitchell Kemble, the distinguished Anglo-Saxon scholar. He did not take a degree at the university, though his knowledge of classics of Horace, at least—was amply sufficient to secure him an honourable place in the "previous examination." Mr, Thackeiary inherited a tolerable fortune from his father, Ho intended to become an artist, and in the course of hie continental tour he went to Weimar, where he saw and visited the illustrious Goethe, as may be seen by an in teresting letter of his to Mr. G. H. Lewes, in that gentle man's life of Goethe. Probably Mr. Thackeray was one of the few, if he was not the only one, of living English men who had conversed with that celebrated man. On his return to England Mr. Thackeray devoted him self to a literary life, tempered by art. He produced suc cessively " The Paris Sk etc h - book," " The Irish Sketch. theon Journey from Cornhill t o G ran d C a i ro, " an d " d Funeral of Napoleon," w hi c h ma d e a t th e time l;e little Second impression on the public or the publishers. He was, however, said to enjoy a lucrative connection with Eraser's Magazine and an i mportant daily journal. In 1841 the flood-tide of Mr. Thackeray's fortune set ,in. " The Great Haggerty Diam ond" had a ppeared—and the late Mr. John Sterling, when editor of a contemporary journal of great influence, praised it in a letter to Mr. Thos. Carlyle. The reputation of Mr. Thackeray was, however, chiefly made by his contribution s to .Puncll . lie w as not one of the ori g inal writers in that facetious periodical , bu t he be came known first as the " f at cont ributor" —his illustra Lions being as funny as his articles, which were funny. The series called " Joanna's Diary" caused great amuse- El