The Press.
London, England, 1857-11-14 00:00:00

the people such irregularities must lower the Church in their estima-
tion, and endanger the permanence of her authority. Clergymen
ought to be ashamed of doing in this underhand manner what they
dare not recommend in words. And while the emptiness of St. Paul's
and Westminster Abbey is a reproach to the religious world of London,
we sincerely trust that this unaccountable preference for an unconse-
crated building may meet with the check which it deserves.

The practice, now so common in the eager rivalry of journals for
priority of information, of anticipating events, though harmless
enough in some instances—such, for instance, as when a few days since
a certain notorious journal called attention, with a malice prepense not
to be mistaken, to the fact (?) that M. DE NIEBUHR'S death had occurred
simultaneously with the accession to the Regency of the Prince of
PRUSSIA—M. DE NIEBUHR, we need scarcely remark en passant, is in
the enjoyment of tolerable health—is extremely hurtful and much to
be deprecated when, accepting a sudden illness for certain death, the
premature decease of some distinguished person is put forth
in prominent type, to the very serious. infliction of pain upon friends
and relatives. Such a case occurred the other day at the illness of the
Earl of POWERSCOURT, when certain journals of considerable pre-
tension to accurate information took upon themselves to state posi-
tively that Lord POWERSCOURT was dead. The report was untrue. But
how much unnecessary pain was inflicted upon the relatives of the
family in London and abroad? The utmost caution should be ob-
served in the reception of reports of sudden deaths.

The commercial crisis still continues. On all sides great firms are
stopping, banks suspending payment, and the pressure on the Money
Market has been so severe and so unparalleled that Government has
been compelled to temporarily suspend the Bank Act of '4l in order
to enable the Bank to meet the exigencies of the hoar. As in 1847
the Act has been set aside that the pressure on the Money Market
might be relieved. Whether the effect of this concession wi:l be to
diminish the pressure upon the Bank will depend iu a great measure
upon the manner in which the Bank applies the resources thus placed
at its disposal. Certain fears, well or ill founded, exist at the
present moment; hence the object of this extraordinary step is to
restore confidence. But if the Bank authorities dole out their relief in
a niggardly manner, and spread over a long p3riol au am flint of
support which should he applied promptly, the suspension of the Act
will have no permanent effect; and even if it allay apveltension for
the moment, will fail to restore confidence or to relieve the real
pressure under which the commerce of this country at this moment
groans. That the high rate of interest will he maintained is probable
until the supply of money is gradually brought more into relation to the
demand. One of the main difficulties in successfully re-
gulating the currency h troubled times appears to arise
from the apprehension excited by a rapid increase in the rate
by the Bank of England, and which, fora time at least, increases the
demand as well as the supply. It is not with money us with other
commodities, that an enhanced price diminishes the demand. A rise
in the value of money, until a considerable period has elapsed, will
always in this country increase the demand ; and constituted as our
commerce is, and conducting as we do not only the commercial, but
the monetary affairs of other countries as well as our own, the liabi-
lities of our merchants must necessarily be extended over a protracted
period ; and money in a certain fixed quantity being necessary for the
discharge of their liabilities, no rise in its value can diminish their
demands, nor indeed until they shall have had time to restrict their
transactions. The process by which a panic is brought about is simple.
A pressure from some cause or the other occurs : the rate of interest
rises, and with it the disposition to retain money in hand; every
one immediately desires to secure a larger quantity than he requires
for his immediate wants, simply that he may be beforehand with a
further rise. The effect of this is to augment the stringency, and
decrease the reserve in the Money Market. The demand for money
becomes more urgent as the means for meeting that demand
visibly decrease ; doubt of the future begets apprehension of the
present, and a panic, bursts forth, in which the only con-
sideration is how to secure as much money as possible.
Looking at ail the facts of the last few weeks, can it be alleged that
money has left this country in any extraordinary quantities? And
how can it be asserted that the failure of remittances t'rom America is
the cause of the tightness of the Money Market, and of the rapid
absorption of the Bank's resources? In ordinary times there is a
certain quantity of Bills of Exchange for discount, and a certain
quantity of money wherewith to discount them. How can it
happen that the failure of the Americans to remit bills (for that is
the usual remittance) should tend to render the operations of those
who have good bills and .wish to exchange them for money, more
difficult.? That such an absence of remittances should cause the stop-
page of the firms thus disappointed is but natural ; but the anomaly of
the present crisis is that neither have the failures been at all numerous,
nor can we see any drain of gold sufficient to account for the present
position of affairs.