The Press.
London, England, 1856-12-27 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

CAPTAIN MORRISON, of the English Artillery, has
written a history of Napoleon 111. The French
papers publish the flllowing letter of thanks from
the Emperor in return for a presentation copy :

Palace of the Tuileries, Dec. 6.
Sir,—When the truth is so often distorted, it is con.
soling to see a disinterested and dispassionate writer take
upon himself the task of collecting documents which
render to facts their certainty, and to intentions all their
purity. This delicate task you have been good enough to
undertake in my favour, and, as I have observed in many
passages of your work, you seem to have accomplished it.
lam very thankful. It is not for me doubtless to praise
a book which contains the narrative of my life, but I may
at least be permitted to express to you how sensible I am
of the n )ble motive which inspired the work.
Accept, sir, with my sincere thanks, the assurance of all
my sentiments. NAPOLEON.
Dn. WAAGEN has sent to the papers a letter from
Lord Bloomfield, and also another written to him
by the Procureur du Roi (Staatsamvalt), which
will serve as a complete answer to the accusa-
tions brought against him by Mr. Morris Moore.
The final sentence of the letter of the Procureur du
Roi is sufficient to establish the inaccuracy of Mr.
Moore's charge :

I therefore have no hesitation to give you herewith the
declaration that you have not stood in the remotest con-
nection with the late summons to the said ➢loore, and I
leave it to your discretion to make what use you like of
the same.—With every sentiment of respect, your obedient
servant, NOERNEA.
Berlin, Dec. 4.

Berlin, Dec. 8.
Dear Dr. Waagen,—Having seen a letter addressed to
the editor of the Times, signed William Coniogham," in
which it is said that. I had volunteered bringing forward
your name as mover of the late police proceedings against
Mr. Morris Moore, I feel it right to state to yourself that,
in the conversation alluded to, J used no expression which
could justify the supposition that I believed you had in
any way instigated these proceedings. It is true that I
spoke of the calumnious reports that had reached me,
but I did so to mark my entire disbelief in them.—Truly
yours, BLOOMFIELD.
Dr. Waagen.

1243

bankers, while the bankers themselves have had, and are
now preparing for, greater demands from their customers.
To these incidental circumstances must be added another
which was not expected, namely, a senseless run upon cer-
tain banks in Ireland. This run, by hastily placing a large
mass of Exchequer Bills and other immediately converti•
ble securities upon the market, has again abstracted
a large amount of coin : and, though it never occa-
sioned any but the smallest possible anxiety, it has
assisted to diminish the available supplies by temporarily
locking up more capital. The dealers have naturally felt
the effects of this combination of circumstances, but
though the demand upon them has consequently been
very great, we du not find that their terms have been
unduly hardened. The best hills have been done at fully
Ito j under the Bank minimum. In other cases full
rates have been charged. But, so far as our inquiries have
extended, we have heard few complaints of accommodation
being restricted General credit, indeed, stands high; and
the conviction is extending on all sides that we are upon
the eve cf great improvement. It is to this conviction
that we trace a prominent desire in Lombard-street to
obtain long bills, and also the disposition on the part of
all merchants whose capital and trade will admit, to dis-
count for the shortest possible period. Five per cent.
seems to be the minimum rate expected; but it is also
expected that when once attained that will be the average
:If money through the greater part of 18.57.
The demand for money to•day was again very active.
It may be useful to state the present rates of discount
upon the Continent. Paris, six per cent ; Frankfort and
Berlin, five per cent; Brussels, four per cent; Hamburg,
seven per cent; and at Amsterdam, five and a half per
cent.

The Bank of France has, at last, though, we believe
under considerable pressure, relaxed its rule under
which for several months past it has refused to discount
bills having more than sixty Jays to run. It will now
discount seventy-five days' bills. There is a general
desire in Paris and the manufacturing towns that discounts
should be extended to ninety days. Our letters lead us to
believe that this concession will be made before the
middle of January, and that before the end of that month
the rate of discount, which is now six per cent., will be
reduced to five and a half, if not to five per cent. Of
course this expectation is founded upon the assumption
that the stock of bullion in both the Banks of England
and of France goes on increasing. The Bank of France
has at the present moment about 8,500,0001. If it in-
creases to 9,000,0001. or thereabouts, and the policy is
continued of discouraging merely Bourse speculations by
restricting its advances upon stock and shares, the
Directors will be in a position to help legitimate trade
by reducing the rate of discount. We feel tolerably
certain that they will hesitate a good deal before they
again venture to encourage individual or associated specu-
lation at the expense of indigenous commerce ; and we
regard, indeed, their reluctance to extend the icheanee of
bills from sixty to seventy-five days, as a proof that their
policy next year will be cautiously directed, but directed
in ►he interests of trade.
The specie arrivals of the week have been very moderate.
They only amount to 200.0001., and the greater part has
been taken fur the Continent. Silver continues in
demand. About 71,0001. was reported to have arrived this
afternoon at Southampton from the United States in the
A►ayo. This, of course, is in addition ; and probably
about half of it will be retained in this country.
The exchanges are gradually improving. The process,
however, is very slow.
Business in English Securities has been interfered
with, as is always the case at this season, by the festivi-
ties of Christmas, which have taken many of the principal
dealers into the country, and by the occupation of the
clients of others in the balancing of their books. Prices,
however, have been very little affected thereby. They have
been remarkably steady, and with a general tendency to
advance rather than to retrograde. This is a highly satis-
factory feature, when it is considered that during the early
part of the week the market here, and in Paris as well,
was disturbed by apprehensions of a hostile collision be-
tween Switzerland and Prussia upon the Neufchatel ques-
tion, and by rumours first of difficulties with Russia in
our campaign against Persia, and next of irreconcileable

.
differences upon the principal questions which are to
occupy the attention of the plenipotentiaries at the ap-
proaching Congress. In fact, political questions of this
sort entirely governed the course of the market until this
morning, but it is remarkable that though the whole, or
indeed, any one of them, would involve some very serious
complications affecting the interests and the position of
this country, the range of fluctuation in Consols was less
than is often the case in calm and quiet times. It barely
amounted to a quarter per cent.—a fact which proves the
confidence felt in the future, and which may be accepted
as an indication that the tendency of things is upward.
The closing price of Consols last Friday was 94 to 1 ex
div. The lowest quotation, subsequently, has been 931 to
I ; but on Wednesday (there being no business yesterday
owing to its being Christmas lily; they closed at 931 to
94. This morning financial considerations began to
exert more influence. The change made by the Bank of
France with respect to the discount of bills ; the cessation
of the run upon the Irish banks; reports of a favorable
Bank return ; and the certainty that considerable amounts
of gold must shortly arrive ; all more or less operated
upon the minds of dealer& The opening price was 931
to 94 ex div., but they almost immediately improved to 94
to 1, and subsequently to 94 to This quotation was
not maintained, owing to the absence of business; and
the last official price was 94 to very firm. After regular
hours there was a return to 94k to and the market
finally closed firm, but quiet. The principal business of
the day was in Reduced and in the New Three per Cents.,
both of which improved one•fourth per cent.
The demand for coin, owing to the run upon the local
banks in Tipperary and Limerick, has caused extensive
sales of Exchequer Bills during the week, and they have