The Sun. — London, England, 1863-12-24 00:00:00

MONEY MARKET AND COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. CITY, TWELVE O'CLOCK. REDUCTION IN THE BANK RATE. The directors of the Bank of England at their weekly court to-day have reduced the minimum rate of interest and discount from 8 per cent., at which it was adjusted on the 3d inst., to 7 per cent. This important measure has not occasioned much surprise, because the recent tendency of monetary affairs prepared the public for it, if not this week, on Thursday next at latest. The return to ap pear this evening is understood to be exceedingly favourable es regards the bul lion, the reserve of notes, and the " other securities." Owing to the easier terms lately cur rent in the general market, the bulk of the discount business has been negotiated there, the Bank being Excluded from its ordinary share. The necessity has thus arisen for a relaxation, and it will no doubt give an incentive to commercial and other en terprises after the holidays. _ _ _ About £121,000 in bar gold was taken into the Bank yesterday. The last week's railway receipts ascertained up to this day are in round figures as under : ___ 1863. 1862. Great Western £59,330 £56,457 N orth-Western South- Western Brighton . 15,854 17,071 :Midland South-Eastern Great Northern Lancashire and Yorkshire. Bristol and Exeter 31,614 6,201 North-Eastern 54,259 Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln 16,553 Glasgow and South Western 7,537 14,910 7,800 Scottish North Eastern 4;940 4,688 These returns, compared with those of the same period of last year, are, with one or two exceptions, extremely favourable. On the Great Western there is an increase of £2,873 ; on the North Western of £7,165 ; on the South Western of £2,332 ; on the Midland of £2,088 ; on the South Eastern of £1,318 ; on the Great Northern of, £6,051 ; on the Bristol and Exeter of £123 ; on the North Eastern of £679 ; on the Manchester, Shef field, and Lincoln of £1,613; and on the Scottish North Eastern of £262. The Brighton, however, shows a decrease of £1,217 ; and the Glasgow and South Western of £263. Two O'CLOCK. At Paris this morning (according to Mr. Reuter's telegram) the 3 per Cent. Rentes were 66f. 35c. Heavy. The annexed circular has been issued this morn ing-- 40, Lombard-street, Dec. 24, 1863. Gentlemen,—We have to inform you that we have made arrangements for the combination of our business with that of our friends, Cunliffes ec Co., of 24, Lombard-street, on Ist of January next, under the style of Akxanders, Cun liffes & Company. The business will be carried on both at 40 and 24, Lombard-street, until the 15th of next month, when it will be conducted solely at 24, Lombard-street, until the premises in course of erection at 30 and 31, Lom bard •street are completed. Trusting that under the new arrangement we shall receive a continuance of your favours, we remain, yours, faithfully, A, St G. W. ALEXANDER, et CO. The effect of the reduction in the Bank rate at the Stock Exchange would probably have ISeen greater had it not occurred on the eve of the holi days. There is naturally a disposition to look for ward to the future with increased confidence in consequence of the altered aspect of monetary affairs, but the chapter of accidents is taken into consideration, and the continued diminution in the stock of bullion at the Bank of France is not lost sight of by speculators who are in the habit of taking every circumstance into careful considera tion. There is, nevertheless, general buoyancy prevailing in all the markets, and most of the favourite securities are at enhanced , quotations. Consols are about f higher, being 91 I- for money, and 911 for the account. The New Throes and the Reduced Annuities are 911 ; and Ex chequer Bills, 9s. 4s. die. India Stock, ex div. for the opening of the transfer-books, is marked 218; India 5 per Cents., 1061 ; and the Debentures, 99i. In the Foreign Market increased buoyancy has prevailed, and business is more active. Turkish 6 per Cents., 1862, are 71 I ; do, Consolides, 471 7 48 ; Mexican, 371 H ; Greek, 25/ ; Spanish Passive, 33f - ; Portuguese, 49 1 ; Italian, 70a a ; and the Confederate Loan, 37 39. In the Railway Share Market the operations have been moderately active, and prices have in most instances tended upwards. Caledonian, Great Western, Brighton, and South Western have ad vanced 55., and Great Northern A Stock, £1 Metropolitan and South-Eastern, however, have declined ss. The Foreign and Colonial lines remain at about former rates. Bank and Miscellaneous Shares continue in fair request at full prices. London and Westminster realise 80; ; London and Colonial 364 fl ; Crystal Palace Stock is quoted 331; National Shipping Company, to 1 prem.; Pacific Steam, 11- prem.; Contract Corporation, 31 41 prem.; and Consoli dated Discount, 11 2 prem. BRITISH FUNDS—CLOSING PRICES. Bank Stock — 3 per Cent. Reduced Annuities .. 94 1 al per Cent. Consols Annuities 9l} i tiew 3 per Cent. Annuities India Stock, 1874 Ditto 5 pet Cent. 1870 Ditto 4 per Cent. 1888 Ditto Enfaced Paper, 4 per Cent — Ditto 5 per Cent Ditto 5f per Cent Ditto ditto April, 1864 94 Ditto ditto Aug. 1864 or 66 liank Stock for Account Ditto Bonds £l,OOO — Ditto under £l,OOO — 0 onsols for Account, Jan. 7 9 ll I 1 I l— dia Stock for Account, 5 per Cent Exchequer Bills, £l,OOO, 2t & 3 per Cent 9 4 die Ditto £5OO .. ells Ditto Small FOREIGN FUNDS—CLOSING PRICES. Attstrian. Bonds, 6 per Cent ** Brazili ala p s it n t e o r Cent 185 9 ........ Ditto,— Ditto ,,,,vriiytttola 4 a sn. i Aciy)rii p i e : 1839 and 1859 .. t., 1852-68-60 per s o: e ; .. Per Cent 931 nos P$ 1863 , L3O paid 931 Greek 5 per Ceuts,B"24 A Ditto, Second 61)1 100 4 Ditto Account .. 18--"' ex-Coupons — Ditto Coupons ........... - 26 54 6 Ditto Account.;;;...... ... .... Guatemala 6 per Cent.. . Ditto Account. Italian 5 per Cent.(Maren io , Alexican 3 per Cent ......... ) 784 Ditto Account ........................ Iloorish Imperial a per Cent New Granada -131 4, Ditto 2 per Cent. ............... - --..." Ditto Deferred ...................... 84 Ditto Land Warrants (Hectares) .... ...._ 'Peruvian 3per Cent. ...... Ditto Account Ditto 44 per Uent., 1862 Portuguese 3 per Cent., 1853 Ditto Account *— Ditto 3 per Cent., 1856, '7, '9, '6O, 62,'3 Ditto Account ..... . 49A Ditto, 1863 Ditto Scrip, £l5 paid li pm Russian 5 per Cent., 1822, £ St 921 Ditto 4l per Cent 1850 . Ditto 1860 .............. Ditto 3 per Cent., 1859 .............. 831 Ditto 5 per Cent. 1862 .............. ardinian 5 per Cent ............ Ditto Account Danish 3 per Cent Ditto Account .. 541 Ditto New Defericd Ditto Account — Ditto Passive Ditto Account 33:1 4 31 Spanish Cert. of Coup not funded .. — Ditto Account .... 13a 1 i lveclish, 4 per Cent — Turkish 6 per Cent. 1',•;54 Ditto Account Ditto 6 per Cent. 18-is Ditto A‘teonnt 691 Ditto 6 per Cent. 1 .;(;..: _l)la° Account 7()Ti 14 1 Venezuel a 3 per Cent. d itto Account ~ 2, itto 6 per Cent., 185'2 Ditto Account .. Dividends on the above payabl e in London. Dutch2s per Cent., Ex. 12 Gail 654 D itto Acc ount* • • Fre nch Rent es , 41 per C en t., E x . 25f .. .. ! ) itto Account -Ditto Scrip (1863) £l2 Sc. 3d. paid.... pm Consol s TEIREE' O'CLOCK. , Money 9l 4 Ditto Account .. Closing Share 100 ktlantic &St Lawrenc, all 60 t 2 81 ,S Bom.,Baroda&.Cent Ina it;;, 1161 1074 Gu. 5 per cent.. 20 Do. New 20 Do. E. Shares.. 204 Buffalo and Laxe Huron all 6 61 10 Do. Preference 100 I Butralo,Brant,&Godricl, p. at. bds. Aug. 1, 11; - .: 100 Do. do. July 1, 187 100 - - 100 Do. do. June 1, 18: too - - st Clcutta.mS.Eastn.(l, , n 100 104 116 106 st Cape Town 2: Dock Scril 100 101 103 stock Eastn. Bengal gu. sp. t 100 ICB 109 stock East Indian. gu. sp. c. ion 107 118 20 Do. do. U Ext..- 15 14p 20 Do. do. H do. stock Grand Trunk of Canada iuu 20 21 101 100 Do. Ist Pref. Bonds all 73 75 100 Do. no. del erred. 100 Do. 2d Pref. Bonds., all 65 67 100 Do. do. deferred all 50 53 100 Do. 3d P. ef. stock 100 Do. do. deferred all 38 42 100 Do. 4th Pref. sisa 100 Do. do. deferred: all 22 04 stock Gt.lndiaPenin.gua.sp.c 100 1(84 1094 20 Do. New gua. sp. a l2 11 13t 20 Do. January, 1862 stook Gt. South.of India (Lim guaranteed 5 per cent. 100 1054 1064 204 Gt. W. ot Canada Sharet. all 10 101 204 Do. New -... 18 11 100'. 100 Do. 6 p.c. '73 wlth't opt. all 92 95 100 Do. 54 p. c. do. '77-8.. . all 86 88 10 Indian Branch Limited 2 1 Ir, 24 stock Madras. guar., 5p.0. .. 100 106 107 stock Do. 41 p. o. Extension 100 100 101 stock Do. 14 d 0......... 100 i 6 100 20 Do. Fifth Extension. 2 -- - stock slelb.Corp. 6p. o. 13nds. 100 - - 50 Melb. & Hobson's Bay. all 57 59 571 100 Do. 7p. c. Mortg. Bds. alt - - 90 Newßr up:smack Canda Class A and B. all 3 ft N.ltl.C'da6 pc lat pf bds 100 82 84 stock Scinde 1 (100 106 107 dock Do. Delhi lOO 116 117 so Do. do E 2 3 tp st Do. Punjaub all 1054 1164 Do. Do. . , 100 - sock Do. In cins.St. Flo, f i 101 101. 103 COLONIAL GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. eald.(iov. p.c.J &J ut) - 1877-SI ........ 100 115 106 106 - Do. 6p. c. Feb. & Aug 100 .it 3 tl5 - Do. 6p. Galan & Sept. 100 :( 3 It 5 - I Do. Sp. c. Jan.&July. 100 13 84 931 3 - Do. 5 Inscribed stock 100 91 93 - Cape G.Hope. 6p 0,187) 100 106 108 - Do.Ap & Oct. 1880 100 109 111 Do. 189( 100 109 111 - - I Do. Jan. & July, 1891.. 100 112 114 - Ceylon, N0v.1878, 6p ( 100 110 112 - 'Mauritius 6 per cent .. 100 106 108 - ,Natal Guy. 6 per cont.. 100 VII 110 iN.B.Gov. p.o.J a.&Jul) 100 fO4 106 - Do. 6p. c.Ap. & Oct. 100 - N. S.W. Gov. 5 p 1,180, 100 100 .102 p. c., 18i to lr;ie 100 101 102 - I Do. d0.,1888 drupwds 100 1014 1024 101 f - New Zealand 6 p cent. 100 110 112 - jNova Scotia Gov. 6p. c. - sterling, 1875 - Queensland Gcv. 6p. c lOO l;1 113 - lb. Aus G6p.c.1678.& up lOO 111 113 1094110 91 D V a ie.G lo o 13.6.po..ciJuatoJout.i.y 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 7 1 1 1 1 0 0 9 4 BRITISH MINES. 2 'Cambrian Consol. Gold 1 1 Id - !Wilford Amalgamated.. - 31 35 - ' Devon G. Con.. (Tavist. 1 560 s7O - East Basisett(lllogan) 3O 18 60 59 1 East Clogau Gold. Ltd. 52. id _Par - East Caradon ...... 2.14.6 27 28 275 - East Carn Brea.... - E. WlRussel (Tavistk 8.9.0 554 51 1 1 - IGamASt.Aubyn(Gwen 581 8 10 - ,Great South Tolgus l7s 4 44 - U. Wheal Vor (Helston 40 12 13 - (Grenville.. - herd's-Foot 8.12 17 39 - Ilingaton Downs 4.18.0 24 3' - ;Lady Bertha - - !Margaret (tiny Lelact 94 1 3 4 16 - .Marke Valley.. 4 \lyndy Iron Oro (Lim 24 14 1 era - New Setun 193 90 100 - • North Downs 24 14 If Basset (1110 2av 3.1.0 24 3 - North Wheal Crotty .. 2.6.9 4/ 51 - ('am Consols (st. Blaze) 20 Providence (Uny Lelnt. 10.6.7 42 44 - South Caradon(StCleer 11 415 125 -S. Carn Brea (Illogan).. - - - W heal Fran. (Mogan 11,11,9 60 65 - (Stray Park 5 famar Silv.& Lead Milt 44 - j fin Crort 9 18 19 - I West Basset (Illogan) l4 94 04 -1W Cr radon (Liskeard 5 18 20 - West Seton - !Wheal Basset (Mogan' 54 85 90 - I Wheal Buller(ttedruth) 5 224 274 - IWheal Kitty (U.Lelant;; 2.0.6 - WhealLuckott I 3.u.s 1 14 - Wheal Mary Ann ;Men ) 8 114 12 - Wheal Oeton 584 150 160 - , Wheal Tretawney (Lis. 7 21 22 --I Wheal Union 3.17 21 21 PREFERENCE SHARES. Great Western Orig. 4i per cent. pf., 100 i Great Western, 4 per cent. irred , 89 Midland 4. per cent. pf. stk. rd., 103 PREFERENCE SHARES AND STOCKS. London and Blackwall ; 41 per cent. stk., 101;2 London, Brighton. 16 per cent., 1858, 105 Metropolitan 5 per cent., 108 Vale of Neath, 41 per cent., 201 LINES LEASED A] FIXED RENTALS. Chester and!llolyhead, Ditto, 57per cent., 1151 Midland Bradford pref. stock, 96 ± North Western, 171 17 FOREIGN RAILWAYS; A ntwerp and Rotterdam, 8i Bahia and San Francisco (Um.) gull. 7 per cent. , 181 Dutch Rhenish, 17i Eastern of France, 181,- Namur and Liege, gua. 6 per cent. pf., 201 N. Rail ot Buenos Ayres, gua. 7 per cent., 101 Ottoman (Smyrna to Aidin), 12 Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean, 37 JOINT-STOCK BANKS. Agra and United Service (lim.), 1111 Alliance Bank of Lono.m and Liverpool 431 3 Consolidatedß Britisha n D k i o t f t a o i new, d les Bank, , 218ir American . 9 1, Bank ot Egypt, 26j t 9 m. Ex l c o h:ge (Um.), 191 East 7 Elningdl European i L sh o naandnß,odcna Swedish, hnh. 1 :d31 1 .2.4p. 31 Chartered Bank' of India, Australia, and China, 371 7 a City, 108 7 imperial Ottoman, 8 lan 2 11 Land Mortgage Bank of India, lim., 11 I London and Brazilian (lira.), 531 London, Bu e nos Ayres, anti River Plate, 49j Londoii Chartered Bank ot Australia, 27 London and County, 5i 17} London Joint Stock, London and South African, 264 I • Loncion and Westminster, 806 j 4 80 National Provincial of England, .i Water Ditto, ditto, 261 Scinde, Punjaub. and Delhi (Um.), 7 1 7 1 Ditto, new issued, at £1 lUs., 41 3i MISCELLANEOUS. Berlin r Works, lint 94 Ceylon Company, Crystal Pal„ e«. * E g uo, n t 4 e l ' An ' s . t j ialian Copper, 1' Gen. Cr, dit and Fan•in cc 01 Lou 2 London, lim., 61 7 61 son lnterwitional Society, lim., Italian Irrigation (C anal Cavour), ud ' Ft 191 Ditto, 6 per cent. Bonds, redem. 1870, issued 90, 87 61 Joint -stock Discount, 61 Ditto, new, 66 London District Telegraph (lim.), London Financial Association, 234 Z 'iadras Irrigation and Canal, 3 , ,1 M ercan tile Credit Association, lin t ., gi g and 14 for Malley Natal Land and Colonization Compa n y , i m 5 5 National Discount Company, lim., 9; *, Nerbudda Coal and Iron, 51 Ditto, new, 11 Rio de Janeiro City Improvements, 271 South Wean I'dortgage and InTet taunt, 61 Tat c. 23. 'rincesg a visit ;turned ence of iry are ai Park, e nter- 0 faruilY OUnte SB Florence a tour wad° its lord- s venor - 7vory at re tired ) benelic e circi' ibe Lo d wstreett ni g bY, . r. A le one. .._ an Yes. a. )israei i visit to Bool e gal high 10. Wea re r. 'ronl t" . , [al:lW ° ' ling 1135 ~/uorrO", [ng tbe sae b f how ° l ', action 0, barge B. ore the takol uP roa sting: to pri Ci' Lg4 0013 , t Cad and es*" has Fend) °P" .esout at, con' be bY Per- t 4° 3rinciP a ` and I ‘ ll. a whole ay) 010 r, and on rnalen t i ThoB. 3, Liver- L of Ju ile ` Le 23d of 31 single weea t o 1 g a all care of itendent, nd Miss place on. Paris, ly is, 19 I at the. e of the )m seve- gives no simP l Y ickets eo em, 1.11" >undays. 1p on all are 11°17 d stol ie. k i s thus iris, Oa to be far f 0 ,10 siae; ° 3 , 6 Icration , 05 p ilot° u ICB t° pt irt ol°- : tre at IL' The r• yid`' 3- dis .fter aa l i fch hao Lilt until lution /0 wa shed, iyposul - ° ()1 S aged' its, tl3 ied. inract iot d lastly, ablishea ocess of ,I. 11° I war° coultv .° f l. 4 sheet 3g PaP or, t .uri 3 c" 'l'o 6 ' pou r 6 2iCl o3 ' to fortel • is d r '„ . ' ~1g114" ". • pre. gll , a/), 41, titr.e ibuto solntio bieb r° , 10 Rhea: linagesh oce acij o- ;tcd I 1 nde o nt I 0° avccre, 31. SHARE MARKETS.--This day, ORDINARY SHARES AND STOOI4,S. Closing Business ! Paid. , Price. Railways. done. Sir., Wol., and Str. Val. Blythe and Tyne. Rost.,Sleat.,and Bristol and Exeter Caledonian ..• Cora and Bandon Cornwall Do A (A i:cts no dix till Gp c.p an.hfis Do. B been paid to Dublin Belfast June. Dun.,PerthokAb. Juuc. Edinburgh & Glasgow. Mash. and S. Westem.l Great astern, Ord. ath Ditto A stock Ditto East anglian =t GreatNorthot Scotland Great Northern Do A stock Do 13 do Gt. S. ant W. of Irelan, Great Western Do Str Val gua. stock Lancashire & Yorkshire London and Blackwal, Lon., Bright.,& S. Coast Lon., Chat., and Dover. Lon. & North Western Lon. & Scr.th Western Man., Shet., & Lincoln. Maryport and Carlisle. Do j shares... .l Metropolitan Midland Do New Do Birming. & Derb) Mid. Gt. W. of Ireland Do. 4 shares Mid Kest Do Cray Line North British Edin., Perth, & Dundee Nth. Eastern—Derwin h Do, G.N.E. purehast Do Lecds Do 1 ork Do Carlisle orth London Do New North Staffordshire N. and S. W. Junction Scottish Central Scot N. E., Aber. stock Do Scot. Mid. stock Shrews, and Welchpoo, Shropshire Union !South Devon (South Eastern South Wales ,S. York. and River Dun [ Staines, Wok.,and Wok. I Stockton & Darlington Do Do New, 1886 Taff Vale Do B Do C Ulster Do Do Vale of Neath Victoria sta. and Pim 'Waterford Kilkenny West Cornwall W. Hartlepool HarAdt West Midland --Oxiordl 1)0 Newport Do Hereford 8 8i 8 8i 82 64 12) 121 37 39 16 17 96 98 107 109 49 50 45 47 74 84 125 27 131 132 134 136 97 92 C4l 611 1111 114 72 74 1074 43 44 1071 1071 101 102 491 501 1114 112 k 1201 1304 97 C 9 522 t 32 25 t 6 1024 103 58} 594 89 90 119 121 1 2 p 78 78 11 122 126 42 44 98 100 61 G 2 12 33 951 96} 97 19 91 30} 138 38, 9 10 7 1 P 168 160 5 6i 3 2,1 3i p 83 86 170 175 BRITISH POSSESSIONS. 132 k 2 I i(B} , 02} 2 504 50 112 k Ilk 1 130 } i 96} i i THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 24, ISO. POLICE INTELLIGENCE—This Day. The Coroner for Central Middlesex and the Parish Authorities of St. Pancras. The disputed question arising out of the dismissal of the coroner's summoning officer by the St. Pan cras vestry, was resumed yesterday at the ordinary vestry meeting. The CHAIRMAN, Mr. Churchwarden Taylor, pointed out the position in which the matter stood at the present time. There were before the meeting a resolution, to the effect that the report of the com mittee presented last week should be adopted, and that the vestry should proceed to the app: intment of a beadle in the room of Murray, and have him duly sworn in by the magistrates to discharge the duties in reference to inquests; and ar amendment, to the effect that the question of the legality or other wise of Murray's dismissal, he not having been allowed to be beard, should be referred to the solicitor. Dr. COLLINS said that on a previous occasion the coroner had spoken to him with reference to nume rous complaints by medical men, to the effect that they had not received their fees for making post mortem exam:nations, alleging that the St. Pancras vestry must consequently be very negligent. He was therefore surprised that Dr. Lankester should be led to come forward new and make an attack upon a public body like that, and support the re instatement of Murray. Mr. WELLBY said that Murray had been grossly misrepresented. The beadle was a persecuted man, against whom unscrupulous means had been used, and was therefore deserving of the support and sympathy of the vestry. Dr. Lankester was a gen- tleman better qualified than any present to form correct opinions as to the character of the man, and he had declared that Murray was an excellent officer and a sober, steady, and honest man ; and if he were discharged the public in general, and the parish of St. Pancras in particular, would suffer for it ; and if they did not rescind the resolution for his dis missal, they would everywhere be set down as great noodles. A stormy discussion ensued, which resulted in the amendment being lost by 16 to 22. Capt. CAMERON moved a second amendment, to the effect that the question as to whether the resolu tion dismissing Murray was legally carried should be referred to the solicitor. He contended that it had not been carried, inasmuch as the bye-laws of the vestry provided that the amendment should be carried by two-thirds of those who voted,and not by two-thirds of the vestry; therefore the 27 who voted for the amendment for rescinding the dismissal of the officer-40 only voting—must necessarily con stitute two-thirds. The chairman declining to vote ceased to be a vestryman for the time being. There fore he considered that the amendment had been legally carried. Mr. JENKINS concurred in Captain Cameron's opinion, and seconded the motion. The amendment being put to the meeting, was lost by 23 to 13. The original motion was then put, and carried by a large majority, and The proceedings terminated. MARKETS---This Day. ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY. At a meeting of this society on Tuesday evening —Mr. CrawfUrd in the chair—a paper was read by Mr. F. Galton "On the first steps towards the domestication of animals." He stated that the object of the paper was to discuss the character of ancient civilisation as indicated by the domesti cation of animals—whether there was a golden age of ad vanced enlightenment, or whether extraordinary geniuses have existed who taught their contemporaries to domesticate animals; or whether it was possible that the instinct of savages, combined with the qualities of the animals domes ticated, sufficed to originate every instance of established domestication. The latter view of the question was the one taken by Mr. Galton, who proceeded to consider the condi tions necessary to domestication, and to notice varieties o: instances in which wild animals have been tamed by savages. The conditions under which he considered wild animals may become domesticated, when briefly stated, were—that they should atous.d in a wild state, that the natives should be hunters, that the animals should be hardy, that they should have an inborn liking for man, that they should be comfort loving, that they should be Lund useful to the savage , , that they should breed freely, and that they should be gre garious. In support of these positions Mr. Gal ton adduced the evidence of several travellers, combined with his own experience, and he mentioned many curious instances of the taming of animals by savage tribes, either for their use or for show, or merely as pets. The Indians of North America were stated, on the authority of Sir John Itiche.rdson, to bring up young bears, the women giving them milk from their own breasts; and the women in the interior of South America are said by Mr. Wallace to suckle and rear young monkeys. Mr. Galton is of opinion that the gregariousness of all our domestic species is the primary reason why many of them are extinct in a wild state. The wild herds, he observed, would inter mingle with the tame ones, some would become absorbed, the others would be killed by hunters, who used the tame cattle as a shelter to approach the wild, Besides this, com fort-loving animals would be less suited to fight the battle of life with the rest of the brute creation, and it was there- ' fore to Le expected that those varieties which are Lest fitted for domestication would be the soonest extinguished in the wild state. He believed that every animal had its chance of being domesticated, and these which fulfilled the condi tions before named were demonstrated long ago. It would follow, therefore, that the animal creation possesses no more animals worthy of domestication, at least for such purposes as savages care for. The elephant appeared to be an ex ception to the rule that domestication has always been per formed by savages. The African elephant is untamed, and is not even alive; but three of the conditions of domestica tion are wanting in Africa, for the elephants are not there sufficiently abundant, nor is the character of the country such as to admit cf their easy capture, and the animal would be useless to savages, especially in an open country like Aft ica. In conclusion, Mr. Galton said he saw no reason to suppose that the first domestication of any animal, ex cept the elephant, implies a higher civilisation among the people who established it than that of barbarian hunters. He could not believe it to have been the result of a precon ceived intention, followed by elaborate trials, to administer to the comfort of man. Neither could he think it arose from one successful effort made by an individual, who might thereby juntly claim the title of benefactor of his race ; but, on the contrary, that a vast number of half unconscious at tempts had been made throughout the course of ages, and that ultimately by slow degrees, after many relapses and continued selection, our several domestic breeds became firmly established. Professor OWEN said he agreed generally with Mr. Gal ton respecting the conditions required for the domestication of animals, though there were a few exceptions to the rule. He noticed, in the first place, that the period of the domes tication of the turkey and of the guinea-pig in Europe was distinctly marked, as those animals were introduced into the Old World from America; and yet, as they were most probably previously domesticated by the Mexicans, that• fact could not be considered a pi oof that they were not originally tamed by man in a savage state of life. The domestic cat, however, was an exception to the condition that domesticated animals were in their wild state grega rious. There are, he observed, two species of wild cats, one of which inhabits a district extending from Scotland across the north of Europe into China and Japan; the other is the wild cat of Persia ; and it is from the latter stock that the majority of our domestic cats have sprung. He conceived that the domestication of the cat indicated an advance in civilisation greater than was exhibited by savage tribes, for the use of the cat in destroying rats and mice could not be experienced until there was an accumulation of grain or other food to be preserved. With respect to the elephant he did not agree with Mr. Galton in his explanation of the, cause why there were no tamed elephants in Africa. 1L was well known the Carthaginians employed trained eles phanta in war, and the abundance of those animals in Cen tral Africa was proved by the large quantities of ivory imported from that continent, which greatly exceeded the ivory obtained from Asia. Thus, it could neither be owing to the incapacity of the African elephant for domestication nor the smallness of their numbers that negroes did not tame the elephants of Africa. Mr. POOLE and Mr. GOODWIN considered the question from an archreological point of view, from which they were inclined to believe that the domestication of animals, especially by the Egyptians, was not caused either by their Utility to man or by the other conditions insisted on by Mr. Galion. Many of the creatures that were tamed and worshipped were rather hurtful than useful to man. Mr. Markham, Mr. Wallace, and Mr. Bates, from per sonal observation among the savage tribes of South Ame rica and in the East, were of opinion that the domestication of animals was never undertaken by tribes in a perfectly savage state. Mr, CRAWFURD expressed the same opinion, and with regard to the African elephant, he contended that the cause of its not having been tamed and rendered useful in that country was to be attributed solely to the stupidity• and want of capacity of the negroes. Mr. CiAnioN briefly replied, and the meeting adjourned. BULWER'S IDIOSYNCRASY. (According to the Saturday Review.) From " Pelham" to " Caxtoniana" there has been one long soliloquy. It is clearly in the light of half. regret, half-apology for early faults, that we are to read the analysis given in this significant Preface of the earliest of the Bulwer Lytton novels. We have the frank avowal that it was written " at that crisis of thought and feeling, common enough to the boyhood and early youth of all men of genius, when all the elements. of thought are unsettled, when crude impressions are hastily received as truths; and in striving, first, to think for themselves, they question all the oracles of human fate, and dange rously interpret the ambiguous answers accorded to !heir own passionate inclinations." In the " Dis " ov,ned" we are next told to ace glimpses of a much loftier tone of mind, of greater capabilities for pathos, of grander ideals of human character, and the nobles aims of human life." The mystery of •'Devereue is derived, for variety. " not from the inferior sources of external incident, but the complicated secrets of the human heart." In the character of Aubrey, "our reason is satisfied not so much by the probability of the events as by the consummate analysis of mind and motive by which the events themselves grow naturally and inevitably out of the idiosyncrasy of their agents. Of " Paul Clifford" the design has never been apprehended before. "In form a burlesque, in essentials a tragedy," it is " a satire upon crime," a burlesque upon the false shows •of civilised life, " a genial appeal to the conscience of commanitie§ to adjust our codes to the reform of criminals es well as to their punishments , Shallow critics have been all along unaware of its ethical depth— Our author must often have smiled, whether in scorn or sadness, at the shallow criticisms which represented this work, so full of a cordial philosophy, so marked by elevated bArievelence, and so rounded into the very moral which all our statesmen have shoe laboured to shape into Acts of Parliament, as a vicious representation of heroes and high waymen Nor is " Eugene Aram" without those traits of self-portraiture which bespeak the mind of the novelist passing through a further phase of culture. There is here the imaginary study of evil in its effects upon a temperament like Clifford's in romance, but with far higher gifts of mind—" the effect of a single crime upon a magnificent intellect." In " Godolphin," on the contrary, we have the ideal view of the same influence in a less tragical aspect. " In one there is the picture of a life blasted, in the other the picture of a life frittered away." In both we see, as it were, the physician experimenting upon moral poisons in their effects upon his ideal self. Nor are we on any account to lose the truthfulness and finish of the " high-bred cynicism of Saville, or the elegant effemi nacy into which the original genius of Godol phin himself subsides, as the indolence of the epicurean gradually prevails over his finer nature. In "Ernest Maltravers" we pass on to " the type of the poetic intelligence, working out its highest ultimate destinies through the scenes and probation of actual life." In what passes between Maltravers and Evelyn is represented " that epoch in the poetic mind when, wearied with the actual world, the poet yearns for return to his early dreams, seeks to renew his own youth, and forgets that he cannot regain their former freshness, nor link inex perienced hope with the memory of errors and the fulness of sorrowful knowledge." It is in the re uaion with Alice—that is to say, " the restoration of art to nature"—that " the ideal intelligence, long at war with the practical world, is reconciled to it. " Zinoni"—the first inkling of a vein of thought in Sir Edward's imagination which has since teemed in the more astounding marvels of the " Strange Story"—dawned upon the author's brain as the "illustration of external life by symbolical phi losophy." Current rumour points to the no less potent sympathy said eyed now to exist between the same imaginative genies and spirit manifesta tions of a more vulgar kind. Such magical bias, however, is declared to be in its origin " no gloomy criminal art, but a mastery over the lawful secrets of nature, to be attained but by dauntless will, by self-conquest, by the subordination of flesh to spirit." It' his successive creations, from " Pelham'' downwards, may thus be viewed as so many reflec tions of the author's self, as in a room with many mirrors, the same law of impersonation holds even more strictly true as a key to his latest publication. Passing by the practical lessons of the " Caxtons " and "My Novel," as the expression of his sager manhood, we have in " Caxtoniana" the didactic statement of ideas which he has at other times habituated himself to clothe with the personality of fiction. By far the larger part of these two volumes may be read as simple soliloquies or confessions. Never, perhaps, since Rousseau, has a philosopher or moralist thrown so much of himself into his re flections, even when giving them their most abstract or general form, and using least commonly the first person singular. To any keen interpreter of casual hints and intimations, nothing more is wanting for a complete mental image of the writer or the man. Years which have added the last perfection to that polished style—chastening its early exuberance, and sobering the youthful tendency to inflation and bom bast—have but matured the habit of studying the world by the inner light of his own consciousness. It is in the microcosm of his own sentiments and yearnings that the very universe seems alone capable of being read and understood. What ever changes may go on without are as no thing to the importance of the alternations and vicissitudes which mark the development within. Tne laws of mind and morals are to be studied, not in reality, but in type, and that type not far to seeks Into whatever fountain Narcissus turns to gaze, there is, changed as it may be by time, the same individual image still. As Sir Edward himself says of Montaigne, " it is his own human heart, as he has tested it though his own human life, that he first analyses, and then syntheses. And out of that analysis and that synthesis he dissects into separate, members, and then puts together again, the world. Of what avail to him are the multitude of boo ks, save as they " serve only to enforce his ow n opinions and illustrate his own experience of life P" POACHING AFFRAY NEAR MACCLESFIELD. —At about 4 o'clock on Monday morning a desperate encounter • took place on the Siddingtou est ate, four or five miles from Macclesfield, between 12 or 14 gamekeepers and nearly twice their number of poachers. On the previous night the keepers of Mr. J. B, Glegg, Withingou Hall, havingeenreetpineiruyseeldutdhn their iitnthe-cie poaching gang to the estate of Mr. A where they fell in with H. in formation of a body of poachers having been seen in th e adjoining neighbourhood, mustered in force and started off in pursuit, e They traced the t e og il e a th li er with those of th e kDaven port, eeper B D i r j • Dixon, Astle Hall. The k came upon t wo ont hCaatpeessttha :err: landowner, • • their strength, and being suitably arm ed, wo formidable setting nets in a field in the occuPation 0 f A gangs search. About 4 o'clock they Siddington. It was pitch dark, and th Ir. Jabez Wright, of the strength of their opponents, eir keepers, unaware the two ga ngs closed and compelle d polinced upon them, but aloof. The latter summoned the the watchers to stand but the poachers replied with their antagonists to surrender, regular tne4e then ensued. a 'volley of large stones. A and the confusion the keepers In the darkness of the night fear of hitting the fellow-watchers; were chary in striking through less cau.tious, an d watchers; but the poachers wire set - hard blows before di, Upon each other, exchanging many perior in number a - covering their mistake. Though su periorand ' , Rea OD th p s, the made a general retreat, leaving four of their number wounded on the g round. These the keepers took into custody. A hare, a r abbit, and a quantity of netting and sticks were found upon them. The keepers tended ~.r eseaped marvellously, many of the blows in „0,,,,, ts i them falling on the heads of the unlucky ?',, u ' uc . The four captured men, Joseph Wilson, Joselill Ulayton, Thomas Fitton, and Robert Mors, were brought up at Macclesfield on Tu esday. They made no defence, but Moss and Wilson complained of the brutal ill-usage they received at the hauls of the keepers, 18 or 19 of whom (they averred), armed with spears several feet long, and double-barrelled guns, cut and slashed right and left. Wilson showed some ugly wounds on his head and face, and Moss had the back of his hand severely cut, he said, with a spear. The justices sentenced the prisoners to three months' hard labour each, and expressed an opinion thht if th e borough police officers did their duty under the p ower , which the recent Poaching Act gave them, the game pre serves in the neighbourhood of Macclesfield would be less infected with midnight marauders. The steam despatch boat E3lairear has; J ust re ceived orders to t ake p art in the works for laying a own. the new submarine telegraph line between Carth , Oran. The operations will commence on the :gena and arrival at the former place of the Dix Decembre, which h as gnus to t bind to bring over the cable. 0 .n,ng- SECOND EDITION. UN OFFICE, Tr F-PAST 4 O'CLOCK. THE REPORTED IN F. URRECTIONARY MANIFESTO IN 3IIINGARZ MILAN, Dec. 24. The Allianza publishes a s tatement that an in.. surrectionary manifesto has: been affixed in th e principal towns of Hungary'. The manifesto eqinouuces uhe establishment of a General Committee to obtain the independence of Hungary, and assume the direction of the affairs of the country under the orde rs of Kossuth. The Austrian Government is taking great pre cautions, but agitation is genore.l throughout Hun gary. MARLBOROUGH-STREET. OMNIBUS ROBBERY.—lionry Walker, a well-dressed young man, who described himself as: a carver, of High street, Reading, was charged before :`..lr. Knox, with steal ing a purse containing two rings and some money from the pocket of Mrs. Susannah Moore, a lady residing at S. Brewer•sttreet. Pimlico, while in an omnibus in Park-lane, Mrs. Moore said—Yesterday afternoon about five o'clock, I was in an omnibus at the bottom of Park•lane, near the Marble-arch, the prisoner sitting next to me. After get.• ting about half-way down Park-lane, I having my hands in my muff, I was induced to look at the prisoner in con sequence of his touching me. I observed that the prisoner was looking me hard in the face, and that his hands were under my cloak. I thought it very su picious, the more so as the prisoner got up and left the omnibus in a hurried manner, and on putting my hand into my pocket I found my purse and contents were gone. 14r. Knox—On which side of you did the prisoner sit ? Mrs. Moore—On the right hand side of me, on the side where my pocket was. Directly I discovered my loss I spoke to the conductor, the prisoner making off just at the time, and the conductor and a gentleman caugh the pri soner and brought him back. While the prisoner was away I searched the omnibus with a lady who was in it, bat could find nothing of the purse. The prisoner pro tested his innocence, but after being placed in the omnibus by the conductor the purse was found at his feet. Edward West, conductor of one of the Royal Oak omni buses, said—The prisoner got in at the top of the Edgware road, and on going down Park•lane got out in a hurried manner without giving me notice, and was going away, not having paid me my fare. In consequence of what the lady said I seized the prisoner, and he fell. On getting up he made off, but, accompanied by a gentleman, I pursued him down Chapel-street into Mount-street, where we stopped him, and the only remark he made was, "He is gone ; I'll come back with you." We then took the pri soner back to the omnibus, and not seeing a constable till we got to the Victoria Station, there gave him into custody Mr. Knox—Where was the purse found ? Conductor—On the prisoner being put into the omnibus, after it had been searched by the ladies, he went to the far end, and at his feet the purse was found. Mr. Knox—That was away from where the prosecutrix had been sitting? Conductor—lt was, sir. John Parish, 140 B, said—The prisoner was given into my custody by the conductor, and the purse and contents were handed to me. The prisoner gave his address at Reading. I have ascertained that the prisoner has been seen in company with men at the Elephant and Castle, and that he is an associate of thieves. Mr. Knox (the prisoner asking no questions)—Remanded him for a week. WESTMINSTER. THE NEW SYSTEM OF SWINDLING BY PRESENTING SRAM CHEQUES TO SHOFBEEPEBS.—A gentleman con nected wifh a West-end very extensive and old established firm, applied to the magistrate for advice how to act in the following matter. Applicant said that a man of fashionable exterior came to the house he represented, and made a trifling purchase of goods, for which he paid. He then selected some other valuable articles, and desired them to be sent to his resi dence at Chelsea. Mr. Arnold—Did he pay for them ? Applicant—No, Sir. Mr. Arnold—What was the understanding about pay ment when th 9 goods were ordered ? Applicant—He selected the things, and having done so, said they were to be sent to his house, when they would be paid for upon delivery. Mr. Arnold—What subsequently occurred? Applicant—Our porter took the goods to his address and delivered them, and although we had taken all necessary precaution, we were detrauded, for he gave the porter a cheque for the amount, which was valueless. Mr. Arnold—What instructions have you given your porter ? Applicant—That he was not to part with the goods un less he received the money, and he considered a cheque the same, Mr. Arnold—What did they say at the banking house? Applicant—That they knew nothing of the drawer, and that similar cheques had been presented by other trades men. Mr. Arnold—After you found the cheque was bad did you go to your customer P Applicant—Yes, and found he had suddenly disappeared. The clerk said to the magistrate--There is already a war rant against this offender. Mr. Arnold—That is sufficient. (To applicant)—Notice will be given you when he is taken. THAMES. DASTARDLY OUTRAGE. —Thomas Davies, a watch maker, was brought before Mr. Partridge charged with violently assaulting James Hilton, a police-constable, 457 K, who was completely disabled from the injuries he re ceived, and whose right hand was bandaged. The prisoner and others were drunk and disorderly in Narrow-street, Ratcliff, at two o'clock this morning, and upon the policeman requesting them to depart and go home, one of the party pulled his coat off, gave it to the prisoner, and knocked down the constable. When Hilton rose he was knocked down again. The prisoner then gave his friend's coat to another person, and struck the police-constable, and felled him a third time, and when he was down trampled on his hand. The constable again rose, and the prisoner, who was like a madman, rushed upon him, threw him and fell upon him. Another constable, named Thomas Bonce, No. 246 K, came to the assistance of Hilton, took the pri soner off him and secured him. The other ruffians, who were as cowardly as they were brutal, ran away when the second police constable approached, and crept into their dwellings. After some further evidence, in the course of which it was proved that the disturbance originated in apublichouse from which the rioters were turned out, and that a woman was brandishing a knife and threatening to have blood for her supper, Mr. Partridge called upon the prisoner for his defence. He gave a general denial to the charge, and called a man named Joseph Powell, who stated that the prisoner was a very respectable man and a teetotaller. Mr. Partridge—He was drunk last night. Witness—Rl only drank gingerbeer and brandy. Mr. Partridge said that was very likely to make a man inebriated, This was a very serious charge, and if police constables were not protected in the discharge of their duty no decent man would enter the force. The prisoner was a dastardly ruffian. He fined him £5, and in default of pay ment, two months' imprisonment. THE CAT A FOREIGNER.—A positive argument for the foreign introduction of cats may be founded on the terms in which they are mentioned amongst the old Welsh laws of Howell the Good (943 A.D.) They were evidently scarce at that time, for it is there laid down — "The worth of a kitten until it shall open its eyes is one legal penny ; from that time till it rhall kill mice. two legal pennies; after it shall kill mice, four legal pence, and so it shall always remain." A law of oree of our own Edwards made the killing a cat punishable with death—a remnant of barbarism only expunged from the statue-book, we believe, by the late Sir H. Peel. Both the ancient Welsh and our own law concurred in a curious penalty for killing the king's oat, "the guardian of the royal barn." The offender was mulcted in a heap of corn sufficient to cover the defunct animal when held up bp the tip of its tail with its whiskers touching the floor.—Once a Week. AN OLD BusuMAN's description of his being teat for nine hours at night in a snowstorm.--The snow was blinding me, the air was so thick that I could not see a hundred yards before me, and all the fences were now buried in the snow-drift. I fired off my gun, I shouted, but no ' answer. I floundered on, not knowing where I was steer ing, for I was quite lost. And if I had tried to make back tracks' the darkness and the heavy falling snow prevented me seeing my spor. I tried to keep to a straight line, hoping at last to find some familiar object. On I toiled, sometimes the enow.drifts in the hollows four feet deep, always above my knees ; and so great was my exertion, that in about an hour more I felt myself beaten. And although I . should r ec k on there was then at least 13 deg. cold Cel suvs, the perspiration poured off me in streams. Again I fired off my gun and shouted, but no answer. No one was likely to be out round here on such a night, and even if a cottage window had been blazing within 200 yards of me I could not have seen it. I could keep no note of time, but I fancy it must have been near midnight when I reached another clump of trees, and being now faint and overmas. tried, I sat down at the foot of one with my back to the wind; but as soon as I had sat down a complete revul sion came over me. My blood seemed all at once to stagnate, my head reeled, my eyes appeared to be starting from their sockets, and a drowsi ness which 1 had never felt before crept upon me ., I felt my life depended on moving on. If I could struggle on till the morning I might be saved. But I reckoned it still wanted eight hours to sunrise. To push on was my only alternative, and I again struck out into the waste of snow. The cold had caught one of my hands, and I had lost the use of it, and my ears and nose felt just as if I could have snapped them off like icicles. I became we a k er and weaker. Suddenly my foot struck against an ob s t ac l e. It was a sun k en f ence . The snowdrift hero j ust reached to my w a i stcoat poc k e t, and it took me a quarter of an h our to clea r t h e fence. The co ld seemed eating into my marrow. Rfy fe e t appeared to haul; ' of my legs like lumps of l ea d . My senses seemed going. I was becoming lightheaded, Stud when I rose again I reeled like a drunken man. A kind of languid indifference stole over me. I almost longed to sleep the sleep of death. In the early evening I had felt frightened. Now hope had N anished and 1 dashed on with reckless exultation. Such curious thoughts came into ray bead ; triflicg incidents of the past, long since forgotten, crowned on my mind, and the whole history of a life seemed to be condensed in the few hours of that dreadful night. I thought of suicide and loaded my gun. And then I dashed my gun in the snow. I was no longer moter of myself, my whole disposition teemed ch.lnged, I moved mechanically as in a trance,— Vide d Spring and Suinnlcr in Lapland, MARK-LANE. IMPERIAL WEEKLY AVERAGES.—Wheat, 41s 2d ; barley, 32s 6d ; oats, 19s Od ; rye, 298 4d ; beans, 34s 9d ; and peas, 33s 7d. THE Six WEEKS' AVERAGES. Wheat, 40s 6d; barley, 33s 5a ; oats, 19s 4d ; rye, 29s 8d ; beans, 35s 6d ; peas, 335 I Id. ENGLISH GRAIN SOLD LAST WEEK.—Wheat, 112,264; barley, 113,124 ; oats, 15,301; rye, 30; beans, 5,537; peas, 1,864 quarters. NEWGATE AND LEADENHALL. The supply of meat on sale at these markets is moderately large. The trade, generally speaking, is slow, at our quotations, Per 81b. by the carcase. a dad Inferior beef .. 2 10 3 2 'Middling do. .. 3 4 3 8 Frime largo do. 3 10 4 0 Do. small do. .. 4 2 4 4 Large pork .... 3 6 3 10 Inferior mutton. 3 6 3 10 edsd Middlingtnutton 4 0 4 4 Prime do .. 4 6 4 8 Veal Small pork ~ Lamb MEAT MARKETS. SOUTHALL, Dac. 23.—The suplise of stock were seasonably extensive, and the trade ruled heavy, as fol lows :—Beet, from 3s 2d to 58 Od ; mutton, 3s 8d to 6s Od ; veal, 4s Od to 4s 10d ; lamb, Os Od to Os Od ; and pork, 4s Od to 4s 8d per 81bs, to sink the offal. ROMFORD, Dec. 23.—Prime stock moved off steadily, at full prices; otherwise, the trade was in a very inactive state. Beef, from 3s 6d to sOd ; mutton, 3s 10d to 6s Od ; veal, 4s Od to 4s 6d ; and pork, 3s 10d to 4s 8d per 811 as ; suck. ling calves, 12s to 20s; quarter-old store pigs, 20s to 265; and milch cows, £l4 to £lB 10s each. METROPOLITAN CATTLE. There was a very limited supply of beasts on sale in to day's market; nevertheless, all breeds moved off heavily) at Monday's currency. Sheep—the show of which was small—were very dull, but not cheaper. The top figure for Downs was 6s per Sibs. The few calves on offer changed hands slowly, at late rates, viz., from 4s to 5s per Blbs. Next to nothing was doing in pigs, on former terms ; while milch cows were nominal in price. A portion of the stock was unsold at the close of bus Per Blbs. to E s. d, s. d. Crse. &inf. beasts 3 6 3 10 Secondquality do. 4 0 4 4 Prime large oxen 4 6 4 10 Prime Scots, Sze. 4 10 5 0 Crse. & inf. sheep 4 0 4 6 Second quality do. 4 8 5 2 Suckling calves, —s to —s 20s to 26s each. TOTAL SUPPLY. mines. link the offal. s. d. s. d. Primecrs-wool do. 5 4 5 8 Ptne. S' thdown do . 5 10 6 0 Large crse. calves 4 0 4 8 Prime small do 4 10 5 0 Large hogs 3 6 4 0 Small porkers ... , 4 2 4 6 ; and quarter-old store pigs, Beasts ... Cows Sheep Calves Pigs FOREIGN SUPPLY. Beasts . 92 Sheep and lambs .... 220 Calves Pigs BOROUGH HOP. The amount of business passing in hops was by no means extensive. Prices, however, rule firm, good and fine parcels especially being herd at extreme rates. The market is but moderately supplied with home-grown produce, and the show of foreign parcels on offer is at present less abundant than for some time. Mid and East Kents.. £5 Os to £9 Os per cwt. Weald of Rents...... 4 lOs to 6 6s 99 Sussex Yearlings .......... 3O s t o 5 Os „ Olds ........... . 1 O s to 1 108 » Belgian ............ 3 12s to 4 4s ~ Bavarian ............ 5 5 s t o 8 O S 7 I American .......... 5 5 8 to 6 Os HAY MARKZTS. SMITHFIELD. — Meadow hay, £3 Os to £4 lOs Od ; clover, £4 Os to £b lOs Od ; and straw, £1 6s to £ 1 lOs par load. Trade steady. CUMM4HLA ND..—Mewlow hay, £3 OS to £412: 6d ; clover £4 Os to £5 10s Od ; and straw, kl 63 to £1 lOs por load A fair demand. WHITECHATEL. — Meadow hay, £3 Os to £4 lOs Od ; clover, £4 Os to £5 I'Ls Od ; and straw, £1 6s to £1 lOs per load. Supply tolerably good. Liverpool Cotton Market —This Day. Cotton market remains quiet and steady. Pro• bable sales about 3,000 bales. Week's business, 21,000 bales. Americans td dearer on the week; others generally steady. SHIPPING—This Day. LONDON, Dec. 24.—Wind this day at noon—South. Westerly; light breeze, and cloudy weather. (BY MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.) GRAVESEND, Thursday Morning. Arrived, Dec. 23—Isolotilla, from Soderham; Rebecca, and Mary Elizabeth, from St. Michael's; Alice, from Mauritius • ()tiepin, from Guernsey, Alexandria; from Lisbon; Seine, from Boulogne. Sailed, Dec. 24—Lord Russell (steamer), for Dunkirk; Orwell (steamer), for Nassau. DEAL, Thursday Morning. Anchored—Jobanna Ettina, from London, for Genoa; Alexandra. from London, for Akyab. Passed —Neablem, front Demerara, for London; Earl G re y, from the west, for the nurth; ity of Bombay, from Calcutta, for London. The French Academy has decided that the recep tion of M. de Carne, who replaces M. Biot, shall take place M on the third Thursday i n J anuary, and that of I. Dutaare, w ho replaces Duke Pasrqnuailesr, ant ounce w n e c e e k s that after, the Court The the i3r presentusselsjournals season are t o ta k e place on t h e 6th, balls 13th, and 27th January, and 33 February. The Duke de Brabant left Brussels on Sunday for Nice, where his Royal highness intends to pass the winter, A letter from Genoa stat©s that an Austrian bri gantine, the Castello, 218 tons burden, laden with corn, was wrecked three nights since by running against th e new pier at the entrance of the port. The crew, consist ing of eight men, were saved, but there is every reason to tear that the captain has perished. The accident appears to have been caused by some mistake, as, though the night was dark, the kea NYUS 11(4 rough, THE CITY REMEMBRANCER, At length a day, the 14th January, at a meeting of the Common Council to be specially convened, has been ap pointed to elect a Remembrancer for the corporation of London, in the room of Mr. Tyrrell, who retired from the office about six months ago, after a service of more than half a century. By a recent resolution of the Court of Common Council, the salary has been fixed at £1,500, with an annual allowance besides of £4ot) for office expenses. The emoluments, which until now have been fluctuating, amounted to about £2,000 a-year upon an average. There are eight candidates in the field namely, Mr. James Crosby, solicitor, admitted 1828; Mr. George C. Oke, as sistant- clerk at the Mansion-house justice-room, and author of several legal works of re t atte; Mr. Samuel Spof forth, Parliamentary agent and solicitor, admitted 1850, Mr. John R. L. Walmisley, Parliamentary agent and soli citor, admitted 1840; Mr. Henry T. Riley, M.A., Cam bridge, barrister, called in 1847, and editor and translator of Liber Albus; Mr. James Pearce Peachey, barrister, called in 1851, and for three years lecturer on conveyancing to the Law Society ; Mr. Woodthorpe Brandon, registrar of the "Lord - Mayor's civil court; and Mr. H. E. Brown, Parlia mentary agent and solicitor, admitted in 1840. The lang in terval which has elapsed since the vacancy arose, and dur ing which it was uncertain whether or not the office would be amalgamated partly with that of the City Solicitor and partly with that of the Town-clerk, has operated to prevent some of the candidates presenting themselves until the eleventh hour. Others, again, were unwilling to undertake the labour of canvassing the Common Council, about 260 in number, so long as it remains a matter of doubt that. ihe Remembrancership would be maintained as a separate department of the corporation, as it had been from the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Some are understood to have declined on principle to canvass at all, preferring to de pend on their good repute, even where the coveted prize is equal in emolument to the office of an Under-Secretary of State, but without its precarious tenure. This being so, it is feared that some members of the Common Council promised their votes when the field of choice was compara tively limited, and that the wholesome rule of deur digniori, which ought to be above all other considerations, may not be allowed to prevail in the public interest. It would be difficult, perhaps, to understand how many arts are practised on these occasions in the interest of particular candidates for offices in the corporation, down to the em ployment at times of paid electioneering agents, It is not uncommon for a man to lay himself out for a place of emolument or honour before it is really vacant, and that because its possessor happens to be moribund or advanced in years. A rumcur was recently current in the city that an inhabitant of a ward canvassed for the gown which en alderman, who was ill, was supposed likely to give ups and that the moment the alderman heard of the proceeding he declared hia determination to retain his gown until the last. In the matter of the Remembrancership effortts quite as unconscionable are being made to carry theeleuctinc fl°u in a and w hi c h has just particular way. It rests with the Common c especially with the new body o f the beencandi to baffle such artifices, and see that, ever y one o elected dates has a fair chance. The ch oice they made on a recent election of a Commissioner o f Police gaye ; a Remembrancer why that gener al eatisfac lion. There is no reason and that it will do, pro should not gain equal approbation, an vided it proceeds on publ ic considerations alone. JUDGE JEFFRIES,.OF NOTORIOUS MEmaRY (point ing with his cane to a man Ettld, " At which who was end asabout to be , t s ried), Lim Said, Th em at th i s a great rog ue h; of my cane. The inan to whom he p oin t ed, looking at, end, my lord?" A CYNICAL PIIILOSOPIIF.II, has remarked—" If we all had windows to our breasts to-morrow, what a de mand there would be for blinds!" The Court Journal. Established 34 years.—See the Court Journal of Saturday, which contains a vast amount of exclusive news of public interest, and perfectly original Courtly, Fashionable, Theatrical, Naval, Military, and Sporting Intelligence, Club On Dits, Stc.; not to be found in any daily or weekly paper.—Price tid.; Stamped, 61—W. Thomas, 26, Brydges-street,'Strand ; sold by all 1 11:!wa - ageras and at the Ithilway Stations. THIRD EDITION SUN OFFICE, SEVEN O'CLOCK. Evacuation of Altona by the Danish Troops. Entry of the Federal Troops into Holstein, [REUTER'S TELEGRAM.] ALTONA, DEC. 21. At 8 o'clock this morning the Saxon regime n t of Kronpring Infantry entered the town. The Danee did not leave Altona until the Federal troops appeared. As soon as the Danes had passed out of one street it was instantly decorated by the people with the German and Schleswig-Holsiein flags amidst`great acclamations. The Federal civil commissioners are said to have alighted at the Town Hall, from the balcony of which is suspended a large German flag, The proclamation of the civil commissioners is affixed at the corner of all the streets, with pla cards of " Long live Duke Frederick of Schleswig Holstein." An appeal has also been issued to the people by the deputies of Altona, inviting the citizens and in habitants to assemble in public meeting at noon to day in front of the railway station. DEATH OF Ittn, THACKERAY—This Day. With more than ordinary feelings of regret we have to announce the death of this distinguished contributor to the literature of the country. The learned gentleman has for some days complained of indisposition, but not of that nature to give his friends any uneasiness. Mr. Thackeray retired last night manifesting no symptoms cal culated to occasion the least a pprehension, but was found dead in his bed this morning. William Makepeace Thackeray wa s b orn in; India in 1811. He was of goo d famil y , and originally intended for the bar, to which he w as call ed in 1848. He kept seven or eight terms at Cambrid g e, b ut left tho Univer sity without taking a deg re e , for th e purpose of be coming an artist. After about three years' desultory prac tice he devoted himself to literature, abandoning the de sign of making a position as a painter, and only employed his pictorial talents in illuatration of his own writings. For a short time he conducted a literary and artistic review, similar in plan to the Atheneum ; but the new journal, although characterised by great ability, perished in competition with established rivals. He also, with the assistance of Dr. Maginn, started a newspaper; but this was unsuccessful. His first distinction was won as a writer in Fraser's Magazine, Lunch., 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 Sketchbook" 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 Huruourists," " The Lec tures on the Georges," "The Snob Papers," and a multi tude of other works of a minor and very miscellaneous character. TAT TERSALLS'.-TIIIS EVENING. This being Christmas Eve very few members attended, and no transaction worthy of quotation came under our notice. Bank of England Returne—Last Evenlig. cap. 32, 3 A 2, co f o o lui r tht,epwureseukfutent to ding thoenAmrcte7dnthesandady,BtthheN-2k3 t d °" da a ' of Dec., 1863: ISEKTS DZPLATMENT. notes issued -g•1°3,18~~ Government Debt £11,015,1C0 Other Securities 3.634,90 U Gold Coin & Bullion 13,503,160 Silver A 28,153,1601 SAN KING DI Proprietors' COI' t al .............. £14.553.000 Rest 3,235,371 Fuhlic Deposits (in cluding Eiche quer, Savings' .13anks, Commis missioners of Na tional Debt, and Dividend Ac counts) Other Deposits.. 10,266,54. seve n Day „ I ; 12,714„63 other Elie .... 616,984 £28,153,160 l'ARTmtN. r. Government Secu rities (including Dead WeightAn- Other Securities 21.410,E 56 "it)/ X1 0 ,762,330 Notes Gold and Silver 713,907 00111 411,3E3 NS M. i £41.383,538 RSHALL, chief cashier. Dec. 24, 1863. Course of the Exchange--This day. 11 371 12 oi 12 Ot 25 75 25 75 13 8i 25 35 25 75 25 75 1191 12 35 12 35 33/ —,___ Amsterdam Ditto Short. Rotterdam Antwerp 3 Mttlie , I- 113 1 1 9 90 1 Brussels __ 25 70 llamburgh - 13 71 Paris m on ths, 25 70 Ditto Marseilles .. . _. - 25 70 Frankfort on Maim•• •-•• 119 f 12 30 Vienna ......... .• • 12 25 Trieste h • Petersburg —33 f Berlin Madrid ......... • - 471 48 Cadiz Leghorn M Ilan - 25 92k 25 , 7t Genoa ........ 0 Naples . ............ 25 90 25 95 ridertno Messina Li s bon —52 f Oporto Foreign Gold in Bars (Standard), per 0z.... £3 17 9 Mexican Dollars Sil ve r in Bars (Standard) 0 South Americ an Doublons ,-, 0 0 _---'-_ The Price of Gold. The quotation of gold at Paris is about 3 per milk pm., and the short exchange on London is 25.30 per .£1 sterling. On comparing these rates with the English Mint price of £3 178.404 d. per ounce for standard gold, it appear that gold is about 2-10ths per cent. dearer in London than in Paris. By advices fromllamburg the price of gold is 4241 per mark and the short exchange on London is 13.5 per £1 staling. Standard gold at the English Mint price is, therefore, about 1-10111 per, cent. dearer in London than in Hamburg. The course of exchang - e at New York on London for bills : i is t,. 60 days' sighti i s 163 to 161 per cent., and the premium gold is 49i to 4 91 per cent. At these rates th ere a profit on the i mportation of gold from the United States. JUDGES' CITAMBERS.—At the Judges' Chambers ysiterdny four learned judges attended. Mr. justice Shea beard summonses of the Court of Queen's Bench, and was assisted by Mr. Justice Blackburn. lo•day (Thursday) be Chambers will be closed till Wednesday morning. THE RUBBER OF LIFE—FOR 25,000 PEOPLE !-- Twenty-five thousand persons are engaged in Peru in ob taming India-rubber to supply the foreign demand. A DEER ALBINO !—A pure white deer was recently shot in Minnesota. It is pure milk white, with pink eyes and hoofs, and has not a spot of ,any other colour on its hide, Share; N. 18.4 3.14. 6.4.0 6 7 1201 49i 4o I I