The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-19 00:00:00

35,881,722 86,058,001

--
And, as compared with the month ending the 17th Oct.,
1863, the above returns show a decrease of £1,043,606
in the circulation of notes in England, and a decrease of
£929,047 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 .... : ...................... . £1,040,351
The English " '—t-stock banks

join

are below their

ie Eng _
fixed issue ................................ £310,421

Total below fixed issue in England.... £1,380,772
The Scotch banks are above their fixed issue .. £1,549,083
The Irish banks are below their fixed issue .... £539,510
The average stock of bullion held by the Bank of Eng-
land in both departments during the month ending the 12th
Oct. was £13,074,183, being an increase of £152,248 as
compared with the previous month, and a decrease of
£1 960,160 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 :

Gold and silver held by the Scotch banks £2,315,481
Gold and silver held by the Irish banks„ 2,036,562

£4,352,043
Being a decrease of £223,440 as compared with the
previous return, and a decrease of £94,075 when compared
with the corresponding period of last year.

THE PLANET MARS, says a weekly contemporary,
arrives at perigree on the 24th and opposition on
the 30th inst. Bearing in mind the very successful attack
made upon it in 1862, we are
glad to know that several
observers, among them Professor Phillips and the Rev. W.
R. Dawes, are again engaged upon the study of its tele-
scopic appearance. There is no difficulty this year in re-
cognising the equatorial features sketched in 1858, but cm.
sionally the planet itself has been in such a generally
clouded state that these features were of the faintest. IVe
shall endeavour to return to this subject ; in the meantime
we recommend that all with telescopes of 5 inches and
upwards in aperture should faithfully note the dark por-
tions of the planet, laying them down on a scale of 21 or 3
inches to the planet's diameter, the direction of diurnal
motion, with regard to the features, and the time, being
given with the most rigorous exactness. Mars's axial ro-
tation is so rapid that too much time should not be taken
over one drawing. Of cuurso tho central meridian is the
one to which attention should best bo directed.
A NEW CONFEDERATE CRUISER.—We have
much pleasure in being able to state that, almost at
the same time that the Florida was treacherously seized in
Bahia harbour, the Confederate flag was hoisted on a new
cruiser at least the equal of the Florida in armament, speed,
and general efficiency. The Shenandoah starts upon her
career with every prospect of emulating the fame of her
predecessors. She is commanded by Lieut. Waddell, Con-
federate States Navy, and a gallant staff of officers. Having
received her crew and armament—everything, in fact, that
constitutes her a belligerent vessel—on the high seas, far be-
yond anyneutral jurisdiction, there can fortunatelybo no pre-
tence of accusing her of any violation of municipal laws or
international obligations. It is evident that Federal com-
merce is baulked of the expected reward of the murderous
outrage in Bahia; for ulready the telegraph has advised us
of the doings of no less than three Confe6 erste cruisers, the
Tallahassee, the Chickamauga, and the Olustee, all of which
have recently issued from their own ports and are busy at
work avenging the Florida's fate. To this formidable liet
of übiquitous enemies the New York Chamber of Commerce
must now add a fourth; and CuAfedorate sympathisers,
paraphrasing the familiar "Le col est mort—vive le roil"
may exultingly exclaim—T:ae Florida P 3 gone—long live the
Shenandoah I—lndex,