The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-30 00:00:00

HAY MARKETS.

SMITHFIELD.—Meadow hay, £3 Os to £4 lOs Od ; clover,
£4 Os to £5 10s Od ; and straw, £1 2a to £1 lOs per load.
Trade dull.

CIIMBERLAND.—AIeadow hay, £3 Os to £4lOB Od ; clover
£4 Os to £5 10s Od ; and straw, £l4s to £1 103 per load.
Supply moderate.

WHITECHAPEL —Meadow hay, £3 Os to £4los Od ; clover,
£4 Os to £5 108 Od ; and straw, £1 2s to £1 108 per load.
Trade inactive.

STATE OF TRADE,

MANCHESTER, Jan. 29.—The uneasiness caused
by the warlike prospects of the Continent, which
ltd to all but a suspension of business some time ago
is the market for cotton cloth, continues without
much change and with much the same effect. This
market, like the Liverpool cotton market, to-day
has been very flat, and any business that has been
effected has been almost of a forced character, and
at lower prices. The state in which the money
market was at Calcutta and Bombay, according to
the latest letters, prevented many of the leading
houses from being in a position to make remittances,
and even the richest and wealthiest men were in this
position. With such advices it will not be surprising
that the houses here who are in the India trade are
not doing much just now for shipping. The yarn-
market has also been very quiet, and there has
scarcely been bUsiness enough to test prices. Some
sellers, however, seem to think the feeling is less
desponding than it has been, that prices have
reached about the lowest point, and that we may
possibly have a resumption of business next week,
provided the fears engendered by the present war
rumours should subside. During the flatness, which
has now lasted something like a month, it is
thought that a good many orders on shipping ac-
count will have accumulated, which would be exe-
cuted at present prices, if only the political horizon
should clear a little. In home trade yarns some
sellers leport rather more business, but it has not
been of much account, and there is no change in
prices.

LEEDS.—The following is the trade report of the
Leeds Chamber of Commerce for the month of Janu-
ary :—" In the woollen trade only. a very moderate
amount of business has been done in the warehouses
during the past month, as is almost invariably the
case in the month of Januery. Business has been
very quiet in the halls, the transactions having been
principally to assort stocks. The manufacturers
continue to be well employed, and are fairly sup-
plied with orders. The wool trade is without any
material change, and has been in a very quiet
state, but there has been a steady consumptive de-
mand at the same price as before. The English
wool-market has also been very quiet, prices re-
maining Without any alteration. Shorts and nails as
before. In fine flexes a moderate business has been
done, but the maaket is without much animation.
There has been no material change in prices, but
rather lower rates have been in such cases submitted
to. Tows and hemp have been very quiet. The
spinners of yarns and threads continue very busy,
but few orders have been offered. Prices are very
firm. All branches of the iron trade continue good,
and all makers continue busy. The machine makers
are alsii very busy. The engineer tool trade is very
brisk, and the works are all running full time, and
with full complement of hands. There is an in-
creasing demand for locomotives and all descriptio.
of railway plant, and large orders are in hamit
The cut nail trade continues good. In the earl
part of the month the leather trade was universally
quiet, bat during the past fortnight there has b ,en
a manifest improvement. Heavy loather has been
in good request, and there has been a good demand
for calf skins, light, shaved, and common dressing
hides. Offal of all kinds continue scarce, and sei4a
freely on arrival at advanced prices. Seed Crushing
and Oil Trades—During the month rapeseed has
varied a little in price, and is now quoted rather
dearer than last month. Rape oil is in demand, and
the consumption is on the increase in this de-
trict, as the manufacturers aro now using this oil.
Prices are very firm. Linseed is more inquired for
than last month, in consequence of the cold weather
early in the month, which caused a brisk demand
for cakes. Linseed oil is much wanted and prices
are better. The home trade is now taking the oil
as fast as it is made. Olive oil is in good consump-
tive demand at former rates. The prices at present
ruling in the producing countries are relatively
higher than here. The shoe trade is generally dull,
although some considerable contracts have been
entered into for foreign account. The paper trade
continues to be better, and the makers ere pretty
well employed. In the cattle market the numbers
shown (four markets) were—cattle, 1,821 ; sheep,
12,960. There has on the whole been a fair demand.
There has been a fair supply of wheat, the unsettled
state of European affairs has a tendency to keep
prices firm. In fine barleys a moderate business
has been done. Beans and pease are without
change. tj

ROYAL SARCOPHAGL—The Peterhead Sentinel
states that a stone has been successfully cut from the
Caicngall Granite Quarry at Peterhead, ten feet long by
about seven broad and three and a half deep ; it is to be
cut into a sarcophagus, to rest on a pedestal. Two cysts
are to be cut for the insertion of coffins, and lids left to be
cemented down. The body of the late Prince Consort is.to
occupy one cyst; and we believe it is the express wish of
her Majesty that her own remains shall be deposited in the
other, The obtaining of this stone has been a work of ex-
treme difficulty—one or two fine blocks having been re-
jected for flaws. The stone weighs above 18 tons, and will
at once be dressed and polished.

And, as compared with the month ending the 10th Jan.,
1863, the above returns show an increase of £383,439
in the circulation of notes in England, and an increase of
£593,492 in the circulation of the United Kingdom.
On comparing the above with the fixed issues of the seve-
ral banks the following is the state of the circulation :
The English private banks are below their fixed
issue
The English joint-stock banks are below their
fixed issue

£445,231

Total below fixed issue in England.... £1,694,829
The Scotch banks are above their fixed issue .. X 1,652,160
The Irish banks are below their fixed issue .... £600,354
The average stock of bullion held by the Bank of Eng-
land in both departments during the month ending the 6th
Jan. was £14,112,975, being an increase of £901,719 as
compared with the previous month, and a decrease of
£760,632 when compared with the same period last year.
The following are the amounts of specie held by the Scotch
and Irish banks during the month ending the 9th Jan.:—
Gold and silver held by the Scotch banks £2,350,667
Gold and silver held by the Irish banks 2,007,210

£4,357,877
Being a decrease of £291,831 as compared with the
previous return, and a decrease of £224,901 when compared
with the corresponding period of last year.

THE FORGET ME-NOT.—The forget-me-not is a
name which has, like the pansy, been applied to a
variety of plants. For more than 200 years it was given in
England, France, and the Netherlands to the ground pine,
Ajuga chamaspitys. From the middle of the 16th century
until 1821 this plant was in all botanical books called forget-
me•not, on account of the nauseous taste which it leaves in
the
Veronicadry s
s y
the mouth. Some of the old German botanists gave the
onrainTeeuVcie•irugmissbmotryeins.nicF mhotrtgolethteo C ha m n
wig icke, the correspond-
TinhgisDpalliainsth was in' name,
was given
English called the "speedwell," from
its blossoms falling off and flying away, and "speedwell"
being an old form of leave-taking, equivalent to " fare-
well " or "good-by." The ancient English name of
the Mysotis palustris was mouse-ear-scorpion-grass ' • the
phrase mouse-ear describing the small oval leaves, and the
epithet scorpion the curve of the one-sided racime, like the
scorpion's tail. In the days of chivalry, a plant which has
not been ascertained, was called " Souveigne vous de moy,"
and woven into collars. In 1465 one of these collars was
the prize of a famous joust, fought between a French and
an English knight. Certain German botanists, as far back
nasamt hee f
osixteenth,rget.in
ecentury,zot to
the
i‘seeint,
.however, to have given the
ysot is palustris; and borne on
the wings of the poetic legend of a lover losing his life while
gathering a pretty river-side flower for his sweetheart, and
throwing it to her, crying, "Forget me not I" with his last
drowning breath, this name is now inseparably connected
with the flower; and certainly, the lovers are more plea-
santly associated with it than the mouse's car and the
scorpion's tail,—Dickens's " 411 the Year Round."