The Press.
London, England, 1856-01-19 00:00:00

The contest of Orpheus with the Sirens .

Then Orpheus spoke, the king of all minstrels—" Let
them match their song against mine I have charmed
stones, and trees, and dragons, how much more the hearts
of man !" So he caught up his lyre, and stood upon the
poop, and began his magic song.
And now they could see the Sirens, on Authemousa,
the flowery isle ; three fair maidens sitting on the beach,
beneath a red rock in the setting sun, among beds of
crimson poppies and golden asphodel. Slowly they sung
and sleepily, with silver voices, mild and clear, which stole
over the golden waters, and into the hearts of all the
heroes, in spite of Orphena's song.
And all things stayed around and listened; the gulls sat
in white lines along the rocks ! on the beach great seals
lay basking, and kept time with lazy heads ; while silver
shoals of fish came up to hearken, and whispered as they
broke the shining calm. The Wind overhead hushed his
whistling, as he shepherded his clouds toward the west;
and the clouds stood in mid blue, and listened dreaming,
like a flock of golden sheep.
And as the heroes listened, the oars fell from their hands,
and their heads drooped on their breasts, and they closed
their heavy eyes ; and they dreamed of bright still gardens,
and of slumbers under murmuring pines, till all their toil
seemed foolishness, and they thought of their renown no
more.
What became of the heroes:—

Then Prometheus answered, the good Titan, whom
Heracles had set free from Caucasus, " I will take your im-
mortality and live for ever, that I may help poor mortal
men." So Cheiron gave him his immortality, and died,
and had rest from pain. And Heracles and Prometheus
wept over him, and went to bury him on Peliou : but Zeus
took him up among the stars, to live fur ever, grand and
mild, low down in the far southern sky.
And in time the heroes died, all but Nestor the silver-
tongued old man ; and left behind them valiant suns, but
not so great as they had been. Yet their fame, too, lives
till this day; for they fought at the ten years' siege of
Troy ; and their story is in the book which we call Homer,
iu two of the noblest songs on earth; the Iliad, which tells
us of the siege of Troy, and Achilles' quarrel with the
kings; and the Odyssey, which tells the wanderings of
Odysseus through many lands for many years ; and how
Alcinous sent him home at last, safe to Ithaca his beloved
island, and to Penelope his faithful wife, and Telemachus
his son, and Euphorbus the noble swineherd, and the old
dog who licked his hand and died. We will read that
sweet story, children, by the fire some winter night. And
now I will end my tale, and begin another and a more
cheerful one, of a hero who became a worthy king, and won
his people's love.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.-TAN. 17.

BOOKS.

Means of Insuring Uniformity oflite of Adequacy of
Supply. Longnians.
Man in Paradise. A Poem. J. E. Reade. Ditto.
The Lump of Gold, and Other POCIII . Charles Mackay.
Roudedge.
Claude de Traci. Bell and Daldy.

Hardu•icke's Shilling House of Commons. Hardwicke.
Hardwicke's Shilling Peerage. Ditto.
Punishrnent is not Education. J. W. Parker and Son.
The Book and its Mission. Hatchard.
Peace in War. Macmillan.
The Merchant's Daughter of Toulon. A Play in Five Acts.
Mrs. Ed. Thomas. may.
The English Press and Its Poets. A Satire. Cordrac
Verdello. Whittingham.

The Quarterly Review. Murray.
The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. No. I.
Doll and Daldy.

SATURDAY,

E,t trams.

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

Mn. CHARLES Meruews displays a new phase of his
versatility in The Great Gun Trick. A very perfect
imitation of the grandiloquent hautetts of the
Wizard of Covent Garden, nightly draws crowds to
the rival house; where, somewhat to their surprise
they witness, as well as an amusing transcript of the
manner, voice, stately march, and, in short, of the
lofty tout ensemble of Mr. Anderson, a clever per-
formance of some very good conjuridg tricks. A
sheriffs officer, in pursuit of Mr. Mathews, is extin-
guished, and entirely disappears, and air implacable
creditor, who emerges from the stalls in the person
of Mr. Tilbury, is not only rendered helpless and in-
nocuous by the paralysing influence of a magic chair,
but actually wheedled out of a hundred-pound note,
and his daughter into the bargain ; while his coat,
torn into shreds, is magically made whole, and his
pet dog, made up in a brown paper parcel,
suddenly vanishes, and turns up iu a basket at
the other side of the stage. The irate bailiff
is ultimately discovered in a chest of drawers, and
presented with the hundred-pound note in return
for a " little bill " for the amount which he holds
against the wizard. He is allowed to depart on his
way rejoicing, when the hero of the farce displays to
the audience the note which, by some sleight of hand,
has been retained, the officer unconsciously carrying
away in triumph the bill, and nothing else, to his
employers. The plot of the piece is very slight, and
serves indeed only as a peg on which to suspend
Mr. Mathews's excellent mimicry, by which he keeps
his audience thoroughly amused from the beginning
to the conclusion of the performance.

ANUARY 19, 1856.

one rade nnb gitg ititlligatte.

FRIDAY EVENING.
return of the Bank of England for the week
If January 12 shows the following changes com-
with that for the preceding week :
Increase in Circulation £481,514
Decrease in Public Deposits
Increase in Private Deposits
Increase in Government Securities 1,585,944
Decrease in Private Securities
Decrease of Bullion
Increase of Rest 45,350
Decrease in Reserve

return is again unfavorable. Whilst the active
rcirculatiou, inslnding Bank Post Bills, is 20,231,1741.,
its •ether liabilities on account of Public and
rate Deposits are 17,608,117/. more, making a
. of 37,8117,291/., the stock of bullion in both de-
partments is only 10,416,051/., or about 2,250,0001.
below the amount which under ordinary circum-
stances would be kept, in order to maintain the
blishment in a perfectly satisfactory condition.
bullion has never been so low since 1847;

xhilst, judging from the continuous drain, and the
uncertainty of supplies being secured, to replace the
amounts drawn out, there does not appear much
Ipeet of a turn the other way. The figures
1y point to some further action upon the ea
iges. The return is unfavorable in some other
.aspects. Although the Private Securities have
2,06,320/, by the running off of bills,
the repayment of stdrau.cea, the Reserve has gone
more than 800,000/., and it is now only
15;504,651/. against 11,11.1,1041. in the preceding week.
is partially owing to the large sum advanced to
roiernment up n the security of deficiency bills, in
• .to provide for the payment of the dividends,
tt is estimated have absorbed about 3,000,000/.

,ig the present week. The Bank has probably
:arced the Government nearly 2,000,0001. on this
noconnt, taking the position of this item in relation
Wain the corresponding return last year. The
which generally represents profit, is again
ly increased. On the whole, while this return
motes somewhat improved financial ease on the
of the public, it shows that the position of the
, and of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is not
...te so satisfactory as might be desirable under
!present circumstances.
Money has been in less demand than last week,
generally, the market has been easier, though
diminution of rates has taken place. Occasionally,
uo laarticular branches of trade, especially the
there has been considerable pressure at the
4, but on the whole neither capitalists nor large
doyers have needed much assistance, and some
; railways hare succeeded in renewing a portion
ieir debentures for periods of three and five
at four and three quarters per cent., whilst
per cent. was the average required last week.
improvement is owing in some degree to the
payment of the dividends, which has thrown pro-
bably 1,000,000/. upon the market for reinvestment,
much more to the hopes of peace, which, in-
....Jng every day, have inspired confidence, and
diminished the growing tendency to add to private
reserves. At the same time some of the elasticity of
week must also be attributed to a report current
Tuesday, that the Government are .coutem-
ig the issue of one pound notes to the amount
10,000,000/. Such a measure would at any time
great effect upon the market, for an issue to
extent would release a large mass of bullion,
rise to many new enterprises, and stimulate all
.:hes of trade, and perhaps at no time more than
a time of war. But it would be followed by a
corresponding reaction. It may even be feared that
delusive idea partially entertained this week will
succeeded by some reactionary effects, for it cer-
affected the operations of several persons who
have saved themselves from the possible con-
mences of a mistake if they had reflected that the
of one-pound notes is at this moment abso-
, prohibited by law, and that Parliament only
power to authorise their circulation. Whilst
ioney has thus been easier "out of doors," it has
been very much in demand upon the Stock
.xchange until to day, when it rather increased.
railway settlement a few days ago showed
signs of any particular pressure; indeed,
transactions then brought to a close were very
r,and the dealers experienced no difficulty in ob-
,ining all they required at the current rates of five
o five and a half per cent.
The specie arrivals of the week have been rather
considerable. The West India packet brought
700/. on Wednesday, of which 117,0001. was in
- and the rest in silver, and 4,5471. came in yes-
terday from the Peninsula. The Australian mail

1-ship Ben Nevis, which arrived in Liverpool on
Inesday, brought 150,0004 and the United State
steamer Pacific, which arrived yesterday at Live
1, brought 4,3221. Nothing has yet been hen
the Champion of the Seas, now over-due, w

JAN
ion
'run ret
ending
pared w
Ic
Ii
D
Ii
P
This red
,circulati
and its
Private
total of
partmer
below t
stances
establisl
The bu
whilst,
tincerta.
amount
prospse
clearly
.changes
.aspects.
dirninisl
:and the
,down n
A. 504,115
'This is
Govern
order
which at
.during
advance
account,
to that. i
Rest, w
largely i
:denotes
part of
Rank, in
.quite
present
Alone:
and, gen
.no &mit
.and its
colonial,
Bank, h►
employe
of the ra
of their
years at
five per
This imi
payment
bably 1,(
. but muc
creasing
diminist
reserves
the weel,
since T
plating t
• of 10,00 X
produce
this exU
•give rise
"branche!
in a tim
correspo
the delu
be SUCCE
-tainly al
might h
sequenc,
issue of
lutely
has poi
money I
not bee
Excham
The ra
no sigi
the tran
few, and
taining
to five a
The a
oonside►
170,700,
gold am
terday
steam-s 1
IVednes
steamer
pool, hi
of tho