The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-31 00:00:00

I —Dash ii ! One 6-li-tin:Other on 'on,' said t 1.6 honlcW,
puoliating-beforehand the refusal of all his suggestions.
' I fear—l hope it is not against the rules—that she will
bring the children.'
" The children?' said the turnkey, And the rules
Why, lord set you up like a corner pin, we've a reeler
plavg! ound o' children here. Children ? Why, we swarm
with 'em. How many a you got?
" Two,' said the debtor, lifting his irresolute band to
his lip again, and turning into the prison.
" The turnkey followed him with his eyes. And yen
another,' he observed to himself, which makes three on
you. And your wife another, I'll lay a crown. Which
makes four on yon. And another coming, I'll lay half-a-
crown. Which'll will make five on you. And I'll go an-
other seven and sixpence to name which is the helplessest,
the unborn baby or you.
.As a marvellous companion-sketch to which, we
must, perforce, give that other little scene in
which William Dorrit, old and white-headed
now, the Father of the Marshalsea, is " tipped"
in coppers by a Plasterer :
" One afternoon he had been doing the honours of the
place to a rather large party of collegians, who happened
to be—g,oing out, when, as he was coming back, he encoun-
tered onefrom the poor side who had been taken in execu-
tion for a small sum a week before, had settled' in the
course of that afternoon, and was going out too. The man
was a mere plasterer, in his working dress ; had his wife
with him, and a bundle ; and Nras in high spirits.
" God bless you, sir,' ho sail in passing.
" And you,' benignantly retained the Father of the
Marsbalsea.
" They were pretty far divided,,,oing their several ways,
when the plasterer called out, `L'I say !—sir and came
back to him.
" It an't much,' said the plasterer, patting a little pile
of halfpence iu his hand, but it's well meant.,
" The Father of the Marshalsea had never been offered
tribute in copper yet. His children often had, and with
his perfect acquiescence it had gone into the common
purse, to buy meat that ho had eaten; and drink that he
had drunk ; but fustian splashed with white lime, bestow-
ing halfpence on him, front to front, was new.
" How dare you!' he said to the man, and feebly
burst into tears.
" The plasterer turned him towards the wall, that his
face might not be seen ; and the action was so delicate, and
the man was so penetrated with repentance, and asked
pardon so honestly, that he could make him no less acknow-
ledgment than, ' I know you meant it kindly. Say no
more.'

" Bless your soul, sir,' urged the plasterer, ' I did in-
deed. I'd do more byyou than the rest of 'em do, I fancy.
" What would you do ?' ho asked.
"'l'd come back to see you, after I was lot out.'
" ' Give me the money again,' said the other, eagerly,
and I'll kee7 it, and never spend it. .Thank you for it,
thank you! I shall see you again?
" ' If I live a week you shall.'
• " They shook hinds and parted. The collegians assem-
bled in Symposium in the Snuggery that night, marvelled
what had hapr Shod to their Father ; ho walked so late in
the shadows ^ ,the yard, and seemed so downcast."

Enough—the whole of this marvellous picture of
prison-life ispainfully true to nature, the marvellous
picture here painted iu magic colours by the master-
hand of our inimitable Boz—a hand that has never
drawn more wondrous seinblances of reality than
these same peopled scenes of the ancient debtors'
prison of the Marshalsea.

THE AMERICAN CLEARING-HOUSE
SYSTEM.

(From the United States' Economist.)
The following description is by Mr. George D.
Oman, the manager :
"At the hour of 10 a.m. all the banks, members of
the association, 48 in number, are represented at the
clearing-house by two clerks—one a settling clerk, the
other a specie clerk, or porter. The settling clerks
bring with them their statement, which shows first the
amount of the receipts of the hank which they represent
up to the close of the business of the previous day ;
secondly, the amount which has been added from the
morning remittances ; and lastly, the total amount which
they bring to the clearing-house for exchange, being the
amount of the first two items united. They also bring •
ticket, which informs us of the amount sent in by the
hank which they represent, and which amount we cre-
dit them with. Their statement has a column in which
the amounts to be received are to be entered. The
specie clerk or porter of each bank brings with him a
statement of the amount which the banle he represent
sends in against each of the other banks, and he also
brings the money, made up in parcels, with a slip upon
the top, stating the amount of each item of exchange,
and the total or footing of whole sum to be delivered to
each bank. His statement has a bank column headed
received by.' At ten o'clock all the clerks are called
to their places, the settling clerks upon the inside of
the counter, which is built in the form of an oval ; and
the porters upon the outside, all the banks being
arranged numerically, in the order of age, upon the
counter, and each assigned a space, which, divided off,
separates them from each other. The porters bring their
money so arranged that the top exchange is the one for
the bank next them on the right, and the last exchange
the one for the bank next to their position on the left. I 1
" At a signal from the manager each porter at the
hour of 10 precisely moves to the right, delivering to the
first bank next on his right the exchange which he has
for them, and receiving the receipts of their settling clerk
for it, who is careful to see that the exchange he receives
agrees with the amount written on the statement of the
porter of the bank from whom he receives it, and thus
the porters proceed until they have made the circuit of
the room, and celivered to each bank the exchange they
brought against them, and received their receipts there-
for, which brings them back to the point of starting
(their own desk), with all their exchanges delivered and
receipted for, This is done by us in five minutes. The ex-
changes for each bank are thus brought into the hands
of their settling clerk, who proceeds to enter them to the
credit of each bank, after which he calls them back with
his porter, and then foots his receipts, ascertaining the
amount which ho has received and the result of the ex-
change, which either makes his bank debtor to or credi-
tor with the clearing-house ; the porter then returns
home with his receipts, carrying the information of
the result of the exchange of his principals, who know
by a quarter-past 10 o'clock a.m. their position for
the day, either as debtor or creditor bank. The settling
clerk then prepares a ticket for the clearing-house, which
states the amount he brought, and his balance either as
a debtor or a creditor. From these tickets, and those
before-named as being brought by the settling clerks
when they come to the clearing-house, the entries upon
the clearing-house proof are made, and at half-past 10
o'clock a.m., the result announced. Among so many
clerks it of course seldom happens that a proof is made
at the first announcement, some errors being almost sure
to be made. For the detection of these errors the small
check tickets are used. You will notice that the proof is
based upon the settling clerk's statements, and that it is
assumed that the accounts stated on them are correct.
You will also perceive that two amounts upon the state-
ment of each settling clerk mu-t be found upon the
statement of every other bank belonging to the associa-
tion, so that in order to assure their agreement it is re-
quired of each settling clerk that he shall make out a set
of tickets from his statement, stating the amount which
by it he has sent against every other bank. After deli-
vering these tickets he proceeds to check those which he
has received, and by them reconciles the entry which he
has male ; and if the proof is not thus made, the differ-
ence must be in footing, which is found by directing the
clerks to exchange statements ani to examine each
other's footings. This, of course, detects the errors.
" A system of fines is connected with the system, 45
minutes being allowed for a proof, all errors found after
that time being fined and reported to their banks. This
insures care upon their part, and we usually make the
proof within the time allowed. Connected with the
clearing-house is a bank selected for a deposit bank, the
Bank of America acting for the association in that ca-
pacity. In this bank any bank deposits such an amount
of coin as it may see fit, taking from them a certificate of
deposit in amounts of $5OO, $l,OOO, ss,ooo,and $lO,OOO,
certifying that they have received and hold such amounts
as a special deposit payable to the order of any of the
associated banks, and that they hold such amounts in
trust as a special deposit. The bank of America now
holds in this way $6,500,000. These certificates are
need in the settlement of balances. At one o'clock all
the banks which are debtor come to the clearing-house
and pay in these certificates, and in bills and change for
sums less than $5OO clear the balance against them. At
half-past one the debtor banks having paid their balances
and taken a receipt for them, the creditor banks, by
their porters, receive the balances due them, giving a
receipt therefor, and at two o'clock the settlement is
made. This is a brief description of the business of each
day. The direct results of the above are as follows—
viz., the bringing of 43 balances into one, and the set-
tlement of such balances ; the saving of a vast number
of entries and postings, and of much time and labour
for cashiers, tellers, and porters ; the perfect independ-
ence of all banks of each other, and the facilities af-
forded by the accounts of the clearing-house for esti-
mating the standing and management of all the other
banks belonging to the association ; the transportation
of specie in the payment of balances, and many other
benefits of the same character. The indirect benefit •
are fully equal to the direct, but as they will "gest
themselves to you I will not speak of them. It is Sue.
cient to say that the system is perfectly satisfactory tie
the banks of this city, and that it tends to prornotesdend
banking, and that its s'ICceSS here has been perfect, soul
is as satisfactory to the banks as to the public."

The planet Saturn 18 a tine object at present in the
evening. At first it is in the east, moving towards the
south, and is t'ae largest star in that part of the heavema
About midnight it is directly south, and through a good
telescope it is silerularly beautiful.
SERIuI3S ACCIDENT TO SIR GEORGE GRET.—We are
sorry to learn that the Right II in. Sir George Grey has
met with an a-cident whilst hunting. The right hon..
baronet left town on Thursday evening for Coleshille
park, Berkshire, on a visit to the Earl of Radnor, with
the intention of enjoying a few days' hunting in that
neighbourhood. The Home Secretary, on Friday; 4.
tended the meeting of the Old Berkshire (Mr. Morrell
Hounds, at Buscott-park, and in the midst of the ehaix,
the right hon. baronet's horse fell, and threw Sir George
with great force on his right arm. We regret to say
that on being lifted from the ground, it was found that
the right hon. baronet lad su.tained a serious injury by
breaking the bone of his right arm just above the wrist.;'
The right hon. baronet was instantly conveyed to thee
Earl of Reduces seat, when medical aid was soon ob.J
tained, and the broken bone set with very trifling delay..
It affords us much pleasure to add that 'lip to Saturday
the right hon. baronet was going on very well, and it is,
fully believed that no danger is likely to ensue, all.
symptoms being extremely favourable. Sir George Grey
remains at Coleshill-park fe. the present, and, if no
I worse, will be in town on Thursday next to assist in the
I deliberations at the Cabinet Council to be held that day