The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-21 00:00:00

thought it possible to say for any doctor 01
and is a complete proof of the innocoo%
simple character of the happy physician's Pl'ol
THE " SATURDAY REVIEW" ON THE MoNnY'3ll,,„ii
—The reduction of the rate of discount at the 9;:oi
England to 8 per cent., and the subsequent ilel:l°,l4 tf
in the money.market which must soon lead 0 fer;iooe
laxation, may probably be regarded as markings, thie
a very gloomy and anxious period in COht Oli
There has, it is true, been no excessive diminution
rorii
time in the stock of bullion which forms the ultiraste
tary reserve of the country. It stands now at bet,7,,/pli
and 14 millions, and at the worst it was very little?
13 millions. Nor was there any difficulty in Peealo4,l
that the tendency to a foreign drain, which 511°114101
from time to time, was thoroughly amenable to C°...n11"-oei
yielded at once to the stringent remedy of a 9 10,7401
which was imposed early in September. ManYotme",o
of uneasiness, however, led to the depression fretig'
by very slow degrees, trade appears at last to be ettios
The hopeful news that was believed only a few Well
"
of the growing predominance of the reac'eltotf°
America, brought no comfort to the large sPe'c',-0,001
cotton, who saw the value of their purchases--1,00
were still to a great extent unpaid for—fall, almost;00
warning, as much as 25 per cent. The largo eige,..° cof
this article alone was enough, under such circtunsewboe
fill Liverpool with alarm ; and premonitory failures
that town and in London, gave warning that belles,„pf
surface of commerce there was much to excite alarfd7y,
prehension. The stoppage of the Leeds 13ank,a13,, d
velations which followed, came just at a tirae viee-ded
'ailing nervousness about monetary affairs Peefirctil/!
stimulus, and within a week of that time we were',
nearer to the verge of an orthodox panic than at ani 000
since 1857. The enormous extent to which new 6/11140
had drawn, or threatened to draw, upon the resource:l4o
country now became a serious source of danger;iat
collapse of some, and the depression of all the b
financial companies which had been hatched in the °
of prosperity, was a just retribution for the exeeE'`4
ness with which these new projects had beengto.
oil,
More immediate warnings were not wanting.
day passed without recording mercantile failures 000
siderable amount. Our whole commercial organ
trembling, and many firms which would have tide(' or,
times of less severity fell like rotten pears tr°l:°,l,o4:
shaken by the wind. With some few exception* .Itf
little to regret in this. But for the shock whichile6.ol
be hoped, removed much of the unsoundness WiV
begun to prevail in trade, matters would, in all PO
have culminated before long in sweeping dies:Wl%V,
was, the temptation to a rush for discount, lest W°'-ofFil
should come (the inevitable precursor and catigeble
our panics), was for a short time active eaollogoi
sober observers with alarm ; and although a° 0
never supervened, the symptoms came so near Ow
show that the quiet self-command which isbet
support of credit in difficult emergencies has
fully acquired as the experience of the last feW
led many to believe. That there is less of senseleol
times of depression, and perhaps a little morsffit
when all looks bright, than have been disploYel:1;10
periods of inflation and collapse, is all that can felt.P-
oi the spirit of modern commerce. Enough has
ble during the past two months to show that the
community are very far from being panic proof lord
if the failure of the Leeds Company had been 0;0'
the stoppage of cne or two more banking CO
which we can now look back upon as a past Pell of
pression would have culminated into a disestr°o
mercial crisis. It may be that the influence 1,1
been so universally felt will give a fresh stfir.
on a sounder basis than is implied by the el.
facture of financial companies and the flood
gambling which the American war has let
recent escape from worse evils than those which
befallen us may have been in great part due to tbBolo
the ordinary cycle had not come round, and that
not had time fully to develop the elements du'',
which it seems to need a decennial commercield
sweep away. And at the same time, without ieaoo
what seems the vain expectation of abolishing Y-104,
crises altogether, it is not unreasonable to hoPe,
hard times of this autumn may have the effect of 10
ing, if they cannot avert, the visitation of e°aoi4j
trouble which would otherwise be due some time a°•
year 1870. But in commerce, above all things, 010 F
cast horoscopes. It must suffice to congratulate °,
that the evil which seemed imminent has for we
been averted, and to hope that dear- bought o*6'll
check future imprudence.