The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING-, DECEMBER 27, 1852.

31. After Exchange hours the Three ' per Cents.
were 44-g ; Deferred, 24 5-16

GERMANY.

A letter from Berlin gives an account of a grand
reception there on Sunday last of officers of the
Prussian army by the Emperor of Austria. His
Majesty addressed them as follows :
"I am delighted, gentlemen, to see so large a number
of the representatives of the Prussian army, which yes-
terday I had an opportunity of appreciating. The army
of your august King has shown its fidelity and courage
in times of difficulty. The spirit of loyalty and fidelity
forms an indissoluble bond between all valiant armies.
It is this spirit that unites my army with that of Prussia,
and this is why I can here express to you my strong
conviction, that the two armies, whatever events may
occur, will be firm in the bonds of fidelity and strong
fraternity."
The same letter states that the King of Prussia
will in his turn visit Vienna.
A letter from Berlin of the 21st, in the Cologne
Gazette, says :—" The Emperor of Austria left this
city to-day at noon for Dresden, on his way to
Vienna. The King, the Queen, and the high dig-
nitaries of the Court accompanied the Emperor to
the railway station of Anhalt, where the officers of
the garrison were in waiting to receive the royal
party. The King of Hanover has returned to his
States, and the Duke of Brunswick will leave this
place to-morrow. The First Chamber adopted to-
day, by 75 votes to 13, the proposition of the Go-
vernment to convoke the Chambers only every two
years. The bill for the suppression of the com-
munal lov of 1850 has been agreed to, with one
amendment, by the committee to which it was
referred. Nothing has transpired respecting the
customs' negotiations with Austria. The absence
of the French Ambassador at the soirée given by
the Russian Ambassador, afforded matter for re-
mark. Count Charles de Hanach, brother of the
Princess de Liegnitz, lately became a convert to
the Protestant faith, at Naples ; he resides usually
in Prussian Silesia."

ITALY.
Mgr. Garibaldi has received letters accrediting
him in the quality of Pope's nuncio at the Court of
the Emperor of the French.
In its sitting of the 20th the Senate of Turin
commenced the discussion of the articles of the
Civil Marriage Bill. Marshal La Tour reminded.
the Senate that it owed some respect to the declara-
tions of the Piedmontese bishops against the bill,
and to a letter addressed by Pius IX. to King
Victor Emmanuel, and published by the Bilancia
of Milan. The Minister of Justice opposed this,
declaring that the acts alluded to were arbitrary
and deserving of no consideration, adding that the
publication of the Pope's private letter was a most
inexcusable abuse. The Chamber then proceeded
to vote. To art. Ist, which declares " that the
civil law considers matrimony solely in its relations
with civil society, leaving the duties imposed by
religion out of the question," M. Roberto
d'Azeglio had moved the following amendment :
" For those citizens who profess the religion of the
State, the matrimonial contract shall not produce
civil effects unless after the religious ceremony."
This amendment, which would at once have done
away with the principle of the bill, was rejected.
The original article was afterwards put to the vote,
and rejected by 39 votes to 38. This vote, which
virtually rejects the whole bill, caused considerable
astonishment, and was received with profound
silence, and the sitting was adjourned.
The _Risorgimento of Turin states that a pastoral
letter of Monsignor Franzoni, the exiled Archbishop
of Turin, against the law of marriage, was read in
all the churches of his diocese on the 19th.
Prince de Casigliano, Minister of Foreign Affairs
in Tuscany, has officially announced to the Chargé
d'Affaires of France at Florence the satisfaction
with which the Grand Duke Leopold, Archduke
of Austria, had learned the accession of his Imperial
Majesty to the Throne. Fresh credentials are about
to be sent to Prince Poniatowski.
The proclamation of Napoleon 111., as Emperor
of the French, was celebrated at Cagliari on the,
9th. M. Leon Fillet, the French consul in Sar-
dinia, had Te _Daum sung in the principal church
on the occasion, at which the captain and officers
of the Gomer steam-frigate, several of the French
residents, the commandant of the garrison, and the
staff were present. The cannon of the fort replied
by an equal number of guns to. the salutes of the
Gomer.

six months of the present year the custom-.'
revenue was diminished by 16,559/. as compared
with the corresponding period of 1851. The revenue
and expenditure for 1852 are severally estimated at
101,0001. ; and the revenue of 1853, which will probably
be collected under the altered tariff awaiting her Ma-
jesty's confirmation, at 96,000/: • The estimate of ex-
penditure for 1853 is therefore based on economical prin-
ciples, and amounts only to 95,000/. The probable
surplus of revenue over expenditure being thus very
small, his Excellency suggests that the only way to
execute certain reproductive public works is to borrow
money on the security of the revenue;and to appropriate
25,060/. per annum for a term of years to pay interest,
and form a sinking fund to liquidate the principal. He
therefore proposes to introduce bills for raising loans for
the following specific purposes :-60,0001. for locomo-
tive railway from the city to Port Adelaide, 100,0001. ;
for waterworks for Adelaide, 50,000/ ; for bridges over
the principal watercourses of the colony ; 40,0001.
for a tramway between Port Adelaide and Gawler
Town. The entire liquidation of the colonial bonded
debt of 85,000/., the opening up of the over-
land route to Mount Alexander, the means in pro-
gress for commencing the navigation of the Murray in
November next, the improvements at Port Eliot and the
Goolwa, the formation and improvement of various new
shipping ports at different points of the seaboard of the
colony, together with other topics, of no interest to
English readers, are successively noticed.
A gold field has just been discovered in this colony,
within 23 miles of the capital. A claim to the reward
of 1,0001., offered for the discovery of a profitable gold
field, was made about a fortnight ago, and since then
about 500 people have worked, or, rather, experimented,
upon the ground, with varying success. The ground is
swampy, and the weather having been very wet
throughout the winter, quite up to the end of August,
indeed, no thorough exploration could be attempted.
All work hitherto done has been " surfacing," and
some parties have collected a considerable amount
of the precious metal in that way. The indications
are very promising, but it will be impossible to de-
termine upon the richness or extent of the deposits
until a few weeks of dry weather have enabled
the diggers to penetrate to the rock, and analyse the
lowest stratum. The Government has adopted the
licensing system, and the regulations in use in the neigh-
bouring colonies, and has issued, up to this date, about
150 licences. The wiser portion of the colonists are
already praying that no productive diggings may be
found in South Australia.
The arrival of the Chusan at Melbourne is regarded as
an era in the history of Australia, commencing as it does
a system of intercourse between the mother country and
the colonies more speedy and regular than anything they
have hitherto enjoyed. The South Australian people
were not very well pleased that she did not pay them
a visit in passing, but they console themselves by
reflecting that when she left England the general opinion
there had consigned Adelaide to all but irretrievable
ruin. They do not fear to be overlooked again. The
arrival of the Australian at Port Adelaide on Sunday
morning last, the 29th ult., put them all in good
humour once more. The Chusan is expected to call
here in the course of a day or two on her return voyage ;
and the Australian somewhere about the 25th inst. To
have two opportunities of communicating with England
by steamer in one month is truly a wonderful and bene-
ficial change in our circumstances.
Like the winter of 1851, that just closing has been
very wet and protracted. More rain has fallen during
each of them than during any previous winter since the
settlement of the colony, and the last winter has also
been colder than any preceding one. A violent hail-
storm covered the earth with a white mantle on the
22d of July last, and revived in the minds of " old
colonists " almost forgotten memories of their father-
land. It would seem that cultivation is producing a
perceptible effect upon the seasons.
The influx of gold dust into the colony continues to be
large and steady. The overland escorts cannot make
the trip so rapidly or regularl3, as during the summer ;
but they arrive on an average once in each three weeks,
bringing from 25,000 to 30,000 ounces of gold; and a
large but unascertained quantity is constantly coming in
by ships. Prior to the end of July 88,792 ounces had
been shipped for England, of the estimated value of
315, 3451. Up to yesterday, deposits had been made
at the Assay-office, of gold to the amount of 286,675
ounces, exceeding in the colony a value of 1,021,2451.
This immense increase of capital—immense as com-
pared with the circumstances of the colony—has
caused a general rise of prices, and a slight diminu-
tion in the rate of interest. Few properties are in-the
market, excepting those which have been purchased by
speculators for resale, who are now realising handsome
profits. Breadstuffs and provisions generally have been
forced up to an unnatural price during the last fortnight
by the assumed discovery of fields in the colony, but
they are declining a little now. Good draught horses
fetch from 201. to 301. each ; working bullocks and
drays from 501. to 801. for dray and team ; sheep from
7s.' to 10s. each. The last sales of Barra shares were
effected at 1271., without dividend ; no business has been
done in other shares for many months. Money is offered
at 10 per cent. on mortgage of freeholds ; and up to 20 per
cent. on inferior securities. Gold dust realises from 70s. to
708. 3d. per ;ounce, unassayed. The present rates of
exchange are as follow :—The Banks sell draughts on
London at 31 per cent. discount at 30 days after sight;
if under 20/. at par and sight. The banks purchase bills
at 30 days at 7 per cent. discount—advancing against
gold for shipment to 60s. per ounce. The banks sell
draughts on the Eastern colonies at 5 per cent. premium,
at sight up to 501.; above 50/. at 15 days. Purchase
draughts on eastern colonies at par at 15 days.

50
50
50
25

50
40
25
25

St.
St.
St.
St.

LEICESTER-SQUARE SOUP KITCHEN.—On Christmas
day a large number of unfortunate poor were regaled with a
liberal dinner at the Leicester-square Soup Kitchen and
Hospice. In the yard adjacent to the builling, a spacious
marquee was erected for the occasion, the interior of which
was appropriately and tastefully decorated vith flags, mot-
toes, holly, and other emblems of Christmas festivity. At
one end of the marquee, a number of tables were arranged
at which men, women, and children, to the number of
about 2,500, were feasted during the day with a bountiful
supply of the usual Christmas fare, consisting of roast
beef, plum-pudding, a pint of porter, and 116. bread each.
The remainder of the marquee was occupied with nume-
rous heaps of loaves, which, together with neat and pud-
ding and malt liquor, were given to out-door recipients, and
for this purpose no fewer than 2,986 tickets were issued to
as many families, entitling them each to 2 lbs. of roast
beef without bone, 11b. plum-pudding, halfquartern loaf,
and a pint of porter ; so that, taking the average of each
family as consisting of four persons, the whole number
thus charitably supplied with a Christmas dinner, in-
cluding those who dined at the Kitchen, was 13,794.
Amongst many, other munificent donations to this charity,
Lord Ward, in the course of the mornine, forwarded a
cheque for 1001. The Duke of Cambridge furnished an
ox ; the Earl of Darnley a sheep ; Sir. 3. V. Shelley, M.P.,
a sheep ; Sir J. Cathcart, a sheep. After the repast, the
healths of the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Ward, and the rest
of the benefactors, were drank. A large concourse of des-
titute poor was, of course, attracted to the neighbourhood;
but, by means of barriers and a strong body of police, all
were relieved with great regularity.
FIRES.—Shortly after twelve o'clock on Christmas
night a fire, which was nearly attended with a serious loss
of life, occurred on the premises of Mr. H. Maybury,
hairdresser and perfumer, No. 52, Wapping High-street.
The unwelcome discovery was made by a police-constable
of the K division, who, on passing the house, observed
smoke pouring forth from the lower window shutters. He
immediately gave an alarm, but some time elapsed before
he could awake the inmates, and not until the flames had
seized upon the staircase, thereby preventing any one from
either ascending or descending by the regular means. The
affrighted occupants of the house, with the exception of a
female, managed to make their way through the dense
volumes of smoke ; and having reached one of the back
windows they happily effected a cafe retreat. The female,
however, made her appearance at one of the front windows,
beseeching the parties below to fetch a ladder and rescue
her. Three persons who were standing in the street, ap-
prehending that if she remaineclany longer in the building
she must be burned to death, induced her to jump out,
promising that they would catch her in their arms. She
did as requested, but unfortunately took too great a leap,
and fell upon the pavement, by which she was so much in-
jured as to be obliged to be removed to the hospital. The
conflagration could not be subdued until everything in the
premises, including furniture, vowing apparel, and fix-
tures, was consumed, and the bending all but destroyed.
The total loss is coneiderable, and, unfortunately, Mr.
Maybury was not insured. The origin of the misfortune
is enveloped in obscurity.--A short time
previously a fire
happened in the premises of Mr. C. Holmes, a dairyman,
No. 185, Union-street, Southvearlt. Is was caused by some
defect in the kitchen flue, which set the ceiling joists on
fire. The flames were finally extinguished, but not until
considerable damage was done._
A fire also took place in
the buildings of Mr. R. Stain, tinma,u and brazier, No. 6,
Britannia-row, Lower-road, Islington. It was occasioned
by a spark flying from a lighted caulk) upon the bedding
in the second floor, which- set the furniture in a blaze.
The fire was extinguished, but not lail the building was
seriously injured, and a great deal of the furniture burned.
Fortunately the sufferer was insured in the Sun Fire-office.
—Another fire, which was well nigh being attended with
the most disastrous results, took placo in the premises be-
longing to Mr. Charles Case, cab proprietor, Wood's-yard, 10
Old-street, St. Luke's. The flames originated, from some 25
cause not clearly ascertained, in the -provender stores over 10,
the stabling, and owing to the quantity of hay, &c., in the 1.0.6
place the fire travelled with great rapidity. The engines
of the London Brigade, from Whitecress-etreet, Watling- se.
street, Jeffrey-svere, and more distantstations, succeeded 20
in getting the flames extinguished, but not until the stores 12
were partly burned out, the roof destroyed, and the stabling
damaged by water. Fortunately the horses and other live 5
stock escaped. The stock was insured is the Westminster St.
Fire-office, and the premises were insures in the Imperial-
office. 17
LORD EGLINTON'S LAST APPOINTMINT.—The selec- 25
tion of Mr. O'Leary as the successor of Dr. O'Toole in
the Vice-presidency of the Queen's College in the west,
and which was received with so much approbation in
Dublin, has evoked a perfect hurricane of wrath at the
seat of the learned gentleman's future labours. Had 40
Galway been shaken by an earthquake, the shock could 100
scarcely surpass the "sensation ' created by this, Lord 100
Eglinton's latest act of Ministerial patronage. The 100
Galway Packet contains an ai Lick extending to two mortal
columns of type, every sentence of which breathes fire
and brimstone upon the head of the devoted Viceroy, 26
whose conduct is held up in marked and unfavourable
contrast with. the principles which guided the late Sir 5(
Robert Peel in his disposal of the Royal Professorships 5(
of Oxford, Cambridge, and Edinburgh. Nay, even 10(
Lord Clarendon is said to have " discarded all considers- 10(
tions of patronage, and conferred those offices solely ac- 2(
cording to merit."
ALARMING ACCIDENT.—On the morning of Friday the
skeleton rafters for the new iron roof of the passenger ni
station at the Junction Railway, Arbroath, extending in
length to about 100 feet, fell with a tremendous crash.
The persons at the station had a miraculous escape. Mr.
Allan, the station-master, was, however, struck on the
head by one of the rafters, and, though not dangerously,
he is severely injured. One of the wooden sheds was 2
completely smashed. The accident may be partly 2
ascribed to the very tempestuous weather and the want .
of the diagonal braces to the erection, which the work- E
men were about to put up.—Edinburgh, Courant.

TEE SHARE MARKETS.

BRITISH RAILWAYS.

Paid I RAILWAYS.

Closing Prices
this day.

100 Aberdeen .. ....“...
8 Ambg. Noting. Bost
& Eastn. June......
all Birmng. Wolverh.
Stour Valley
28 Birkenhd. Lanes.
Cheshire Junct
all Do. Chesil. & Birk.,
£5O & £25 Cons
184 Do., £20..
100 Bristol & Exeter
100 Caledonian.
all Chester & Holyhead
all Cork and Bandon
45 Dublin&BelfastJunc
all Dundee Perth &Aber-
deen Junction
all Do. New ......
all East Anglian (i. 25 L.
& E. & L. & D.)
all Do., (£lB E. & H.)
all Eastern Counties
all Eastern Union, Class
A. late E. U.
6 Do., do.
all Do., B. & C.
100 East Lancashire ._
all East & West Ind. Dk.
& Birming. June
100 Edinburgh & Glasgow
100 Eclinb.Prth.&Dundee
100 Glasgow & S.Western
100 Great Northern Stk
100 Do., 1 A. Stock
100 Do., B. Stock
all Great Southern and
Western (Ireland)
100 Great Western., ...
11 Ireh South-Easters.
all Lancaster & Carlisle..
11i Do., Third 5............
100 Lancash. &Yorkshire
15 Do., Fifths
11i Do., Wst. Riding Un
all Leeds Northern ..
all Liv.Crsby.&Southpt.
all London & Blackwall
3 Lend. Tilb. & Sthend.
100 Lond.Bright.&S.Cst.
'lOO London &N. Western
12 Do. Fifths
1 D0.,10/.5h.,M&8...0
100 London & S.Western
421 Do.,
34 Do., £4O. ......
all Lndndrry.&Coleraine
all Lndndrry. & Ennisk.
100 Manch.Shef. &Lincln.
48 Do., Man. &Lin. Un.
100 Midland
100 Do. Birming. tberby
47.1 Midland G.West.(lr.)
176 Do. a Shares ...
all Newcastle &Carlisle
100 Newmarket
14 Newpt.Aberg.&Htfd
74 Newry & Enniskillea
all- Newry Warrenpoint
& Bostrevor
100 Norfolk.. .......
all Do., New .......
31 Northn. Counties Un.
100 North British
13 North Devon, No.l
61 Do., No. 2.. ....
all Do., 1 A Deferred_ .-
5 Do., 1 B Guaranteed
176 North Staffordshire
all North Western
86 N. & S.Westrn. lune.
100 Oxford Worcester &
Wolverhampton
100 Scottish Central
'lOO Scottish Midland
100 Shrewsbury & Birmg
100 Do., L. &N. Wcatn
Guaranteed Stock
8 Shrewsby. & Herefd
all Shrewsby. & Chester
(Nor. W. Min.)
all Do. Halves, do.
20 Do. Oswestry
66 Shropshire Union . .
... Do., A.B.C.&D.fuliy
paid up at p. c.
all South Devon
100 South Eastern
all South Wales
15 S. Yorksh. River Dun
5 Do.
16t Stockton & Hartlepl.
19 Thames Haven Dock
and Railway .....
17 Vale of Neath
all Waterfd. & Kilkenny'
all Waterford&Limerick'
13 West C0rnwa11........
all West London.
1 Woodford.....
100 York Newctl. & Berw.
20 Do. Extensions. .
10 Do. G.N.E. Purchase
100 York &N. Midland..

all
all
25
20

3i -
8i -

681
24
181
24d

5i - 618
4
13 -

10 -- 111

8 -
77 -

55 60
78 - 80
29 - 31
60 - 62
82 - 83
44 - 46
121 - 123

103 106 [
95 -- 96
6i -- 74
88 -- 90
11 -- 12ip
84i -- 85
3B 31 d
2 2 d
17 -- 18}

Bs at n ess done
this day.

6i 7

106 7i 61
68 'TA 81

181 18 Ili

E
41
13i 13 i

30 29

83 2i xn.

101
95i 5
88i
84M

91
107 —108 A
125 126
4 4a p
—2 p
90 91
5' 4id
12 —3r
I'4
20 21
31
3-4 3 d
47
791
9 4804

51 53
3 d
2g 2i•
81 1
51 53
71 71
3 24 d
39 . 40
7 —6 di

181 18

9}}

11251108
i t

2i -- 21 I
g di
4 3i d
3i -- 41 P

53;1 -54 i
92 - 94
63 - 65
66 - 68

78 - 82
11

19 - 20
9} - 10
14 - 15
3 -

24 - 251
83 - 84 '
391 - 39
131 - 1.41
4 - 4

12
2 21
- 131
9 -
26 -27 A
- 10 I

73 - 74
2g - 20
59 - 60

SHARES

... -

1108 ....- 110

901 13. 90

31 30,1

80 74 i

13i i a 1

54
94
65 4

D 5 - 107

pm.

19 191
Par i i"
6 64
3 3i
3. 4
iPI

11
lfl -- 1i p
141 -- 15
181 -18 i

*i

127 - 124

1112 - 114

83g n

9R
q 7A

73i 3

81- 9--
1 -

1091 110

59i i i i

PI
152 - 155 1

... - P 1

3h - 4 p

- Si
13A - 14
-
10.
11- - 111
- I

JOINT-STO

Pm.
14 15 •

1 - 1A p

149 -- 151
- P
23 -23 A
6 - 6i
lk -- 2,i
102 -- 103
251 --

Australasia
British N. American
Colonial
Commercial of Lon-

don
English Scottish and
Australian
Lond. Chart. Bk. of
Australia

!O all
all

51 3
!Oi all

113 z,'n.

21 -
11 -

171 17
17 —18 P
par P
26 26

is = io

iprol
102 104
51

11 i

London and County
London Joint Stock
Lond. & Westminster
National Prov. of Eng .
Do. New
Natioual of Ireland
Oriental Bank of
Corporation
Do. New
Provincial of Ireland
Do. New

4 - i

BANKS

••• ......

;CI all
5 all
!O 4
10-1

Royal Australn.Bkg
& Gold Importing
Company
South Australia
Union of Australia
Do. New

10311

O 14
.0 10
5 il
5 2:1
!CI 5
?,0 4ii,
338 29
[0 10
?,0 all

••• '''

!Union, of London...

!O all
L 6 all
!O all

LO all
!CI 11
!O 10
LO 28
:0 all
!O all
!O all
!O 41
1.04 2i
!CI all
!O all
!O 4

20 17
20 2s.
84 all
20 9

I. n. 111

83,1 i i

5i 1$
5

48
73 4

BelgianEastn. Junct.
Central of France(Or-
leans & Vierzon
Charleroi & Erquelin
Demerara
Dijon and Besanon
Dutch Rhenish
East Indian

Gt. Indian Peninsula
Gd. Junct. of France
Gt. Western of Canada
Shares

Do. Bds. (Ist i55.)1857
Do. Bds. (2d i55.)1862
Luxembourg

Do. (Railway)
Do.

Do. (Canal)
Lyons & Mediterran,
Madras
Maria Antonia
Do. New

Namur & Liege (with
interest)

Do. (ex interest)
Northern of France
Do. 201. 3 p. c. Bds
(fmy.B. &Ams. Shs.)
NorwegianTrunkPrel
Orleans & Bordeaux
Paris and Lyons
Do. Bonds
Paris and Orleans
Paris and Rouen
Paris and Strasbourg
ParisCaen & Cherbrg.
Quebec &Richmond
Rouen and Havre
Sambre and Meuse
Southern of France
St. And. & Quebec (A)
Tours and Nantes
Upper India Scrip ,
West Flanders ..

1 - 2

14 - 15

2 -34 p
1d
9 9i p
2 24 p
1i —2 pad

1 -1, p

€4l
-
1
5
10 - 12 p
2- 3 p

8 -
6f -7;
35 - 36

15 - 15,

177,i 1-- liip

27; g

Do. N. per c. Pref.
Western of France

40 -- 42
39 -- 40
32i --33ixd
4i --5. p
1
21/ --213-
10i -- 111
41 -- 5

P
51 54
d I)
11 lllp

51 i

}2OI

MINES.
1 all Agua Fria — 1 p 2
10s. all Anglo Californian ... 4 1 pli 4
10 2 Australasian 5 7 p
20 5 Australian 54 64 64 7
1 all Australian Cordillera p 1*
1 all Australian Freehbld p p 1d a
1 all Ave Maria p p
1 all Baden (Gd. Duchy of) par p
1 all British Austria. Gold p ,14
20 13.5 British Iron ll 13 12 114 12
35 244 Bra.zilianlmp.(issued
at £5 pm 4 5
30 all Do. Cocaes & Cuiada 2 3
20 15 Do. St. John Del Rey 284 294 29 4 9
1 all Carsons's Creek 4
40 all Cobre Copper 4O 42 414
5 1 Colonial Gold 3;l —34 p 4
... 14 Copiapo 7 —74 7t
5 all English and Austin.
all Copper Smeltg. Co. 11 —4 d 34
20 General •—
1 all Golden Mountain d— 4 p 1
3 all Great Polgooth l4 —l4 p
1 all Lake Bathurst .: 4 p 1f
1 all Liberty —14 p
1 all Lond.&Californ. Gold
Quartz Crush. Co_ idi
1 all Mariquita.. ... * Pl 4
10 Mexican&S.'Americn. 41 44
1 all New Granada — 4 p 1$
1 all Nouveau Monde 2l —24 p 3
1 all Port Philip 4—2i p 3 4 •
1 all Quartz Rock — 4 p
50 all Rhymme Iron 24 26 254
90 104 Santiago de Cuba 8 9
1 all South Australian — 4 p 14
10 7 Tin Croft
284 all United Mexican 9 94
1 all West Mariposa. $ 14
1 all Tuba. — P
MISCELLANEOUS.
100 35 Australian Agricult. 278 272 285
324 Canada — ... [279 282 275
St. all Copper Miners of Eng ... [2BO 278
25 all Do. Preference —
5 5 Crystal Palace — 44 5
20 1 Eastern Steam —
1 1 Electric Teleg. of Ir —
15 14 Gen. Steam Navigat —
100 50 General Screw Steam ...
20 24 Irish Beetroot Sugar
10 2 Netherlands Land —
50 all Peninsular & Oriental ... 90 SO
100 60 Royal Mail Steam .' .
25 25 South Austral. Land .. 52 50 55 53
5 2 Univeral Emigration
and Colonization
100 284 Van Diemen's Land ... ... 21
1 1 Submar. Telegraph

Bleak House. Part X. By Charles Dickens.

Instead of saying " the plot thickens," now that
we have reached the thirty-second chapter of
" Bleak House," we may declare with truth that the
incidents have become involved in a confusion ap-
parently inextricable. Joe is ill. He has wandered
down into the country, far from Tom-all-alone's.
He has been cared for under the ever-hospitable
roof of Mr. Jarndyce. He has mysteriously disap-
peared. Charley has caught a fever from him—has
been at death's door—has recovered. Simulta-
neously with the restoration of her little maid to
health, dear Esther Summerson has sickened ; and
now we leave her saying to her attendant sadly,
" Come and sit beside me for a little while, and
touch me with your hand. For I cannot see you,
Charley • I am blind." Caddy is married to Prince
Turveydrop—prior to which ceremony Peepy bit
the bridegroom ! Krook, the Lord Chancellor of
the Rag-and-Bottle Warehouse is dead—has " gone
off "in spontaneous combustion. The chapter iu
which the latter occurrence is described is one of the
most frightfully powerful passages even Charles
Dickens has ever penned. It reads like a fragment
from one of the French Romancists. It smacks of
the hideous vigour of the Feuilleton. It savours of
de Balzac in a moment of distraught imagination.
As you turn over the pages a vague horror comes
over you—you shudder as at the approach of some
detestable and evil phantom. Yet the men whose
actions you are watching, whose conversation you are
listening to—in whose nameless dread you partici-
pate—are the homeliest of the homely, common,
matter-of-fact, every-day kind of people—a lawyer's
clerk, ascrivener, and a law stationer. Mr. Snagsby,
pausing at Nightfall in Cook's Court to gossip with
Mr. Weevle, then lounging at the open-door of
Krook's house, where he is a lodger, remarks
(with a sniff), that the air tastes " rather
greasy." Mr. Weevle opines that " it is chops
at the Sol's Arms" —to which conjecture Mr.
Snagsby replies that, if so, he " don't think—not
to put too fine a point upon it—that they were
quite fresh when they were shown the gridiron."
Ultimately, the two coincide in the opinion, that
" it's a tainting sort of weather." And all this
while Mrs. Piper and Mrs. Perkins are holding
their evening " confab," and. while little Swills at
the Sol's Arms is " sentimentally adjuring his
friends and patrons to Listen, listen, listen, Tew
the wa-ter-Fall!" Late on—in fact, towards mid-
night—Mr. Weevle entertains (if one may so ex-
press it at that ghostly hour, and under those
peculiarly ghastly circumstances,) his friend and
intimate, Mr. Guppy, in his apartment. Talking
there together in whispers about the subject of
their appointment—the obtaining of certain papers
from old Krook—the soots begin to fall as if the
chimney was on fire swarming down on the
table, on their clothes stuff, as Mr. Guppy
evpresses it, that " won't blow off, but smears
like black fat !" It gets too close for them.
They throw open the window in hopes of
getting a mouthful of air. Sitting on the window
ledge, William Guppy plays with the sill, tapping
it, clasping it, and measuring it with his hand, until
he suddenly cries out, " What, in the Devil's name,
is this?" And there upon his fingers—" a thick yel-
low liquor defiles them, -Which is offensive to the
touch and sight, and. more offensive to the smell—
a stagnant sickening oil, with some natural repul-
sion in it that makes them both shudder." They
examine it yet more closely, they bring the candle
to the window—and " here, from the corner it
slowly drips and creeps away down the bricks ;
here, lies in a little thick nauseous pool." It is
horrid. Krook is below in his room among the
rags and bottles, where he has been closeted
for hours with his cat, the gin bottle, and
the coveted manuscripts. At last the stipu-
lated hour arrives—twelve o'clock strikes.
Tomy Weevle creeps down stairs according to the
plan of the appointment. He comes swiftly back,
having been clearly enough dreadfully frightened.
William Guppy joins him after a word or two of
incoherent explanation, and the two descend toge-
ther, " more dead than alive," and, pushing open
the door of the back shop, find nothing living but
• the cat, snarling—" not at them, but at something
on the ground before the fire." What is this
something ?—" is it the cinder of a small charred
and broken log of wood, sprinkled with white ashes,
or is it coal ?" It is Krook, who has died. the most
horrible of deaths, "inborn, inbred, engendered in
the corrupted humours of the vicious body itself,"
that of spontaneous combustion. This is merely a
faint epitome of the chapter—a chapter constituting
one of the most hideously powerful of descriptions.
Turn we with pleasure to a previous portion
of the narrative—to that where Mr. Skimpole
after displaying the most abominable heartlessness,
sits down to the piano, sings a ballad " apropos of
our young friend "—" quite exquisitely." Com-
pensating for the solitary etching in the last num-
ber, Phiz has in this three capital illustrations.
Two doubts force themselves at this crisis in the
story upon our mind,—What has become of Joe ?
and have the MSS. in the possession of Krook been
really destroyed ?

Poets and Poetry of the Nineteenth Century. By

the Eail Of Belfast.

Longman.

A series of lectures on the above theme was
delivered in the Music Hall, Belfast, in the month
of March, 1852, for the benefit of the library fund.
of the local " Working Classes Association," by
the Earl of Belfast. These lectures are now, with
some alterations and additions, published in a
small volume appropriately dedicated to the Earl
of Carlisle, whose benevolent labours as a public
lecturer, Lord Belfast apparently seeks to emulate.
In introducing his criticisms, his Lordship mo-
destly remarks that his intention was not to throw
new light upon the immortal works that formed
the theme of his discourses ; he desired only to
arouse his hearers to a sense of their beauties, and.
to give them, at the same time, just so much of an
insight into the character and habits of the man
as would lend an additional interest to the produc-
tions of the poet. The poets of the present cen-
tury have been selected by Lord Belfast because,
in his opinion, their writings come nearer home to
' our hearts and minds than those of their predecessors.
In evidence of his meaning, he quotes Longfellow's
charming lines—

" Come read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.
Not from the old grand masters,
Not from the bards sublime ;
Read from some humbler poet
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start."
The Lectures are thus divided : Lecture I.
Poetical Literature at the close of the last
century, Coleridge, Kirke White, Wordsworth.
Lecture ll.—Moore, Keats, Scott. Lecture 111.
Byron, Shelley, James, and Horace Smith,
Hood, Barham. Lecture IV.—Southey, Crabbe,
Campbell. Conclusion.
These lectures are suggested by no spirit of criti-
cism—they breathe throughout a genial love for
the poets and their poetry ; and Lord Belfast, feel-
ing thus warmly and reverently himself, is anxious,
by this introduction to some of their beauties, to tempt
his hearers and readers to study for themselves
the " Poets and Poetry of the Nineteenth Century."
In many of his Lordship's opinions we entirely
agree, and most cordially do we sympathise with
the spirit in which the whole work is conceived.'
To add to its attractions, it is illustrated by many
fragmentary quotations, and, sometimes, an entire
poem. is given ;—thus, when speaking of Campbell,
Lord Belfast reads the " Exile of Erin" to his
hearers, because his book, " whether from long
habit, or by way of reproach at the possibility of
its being omitted, persists in opening at the place."

Ancient and Modern Colours, from the Earliest
Periods to the Present Time, with their Chemical
and Artistical .Properties. By William Linton.
Longmans.
The best definition of this volume (which is de-
dicated to Prince Albert, the President of the
Great Exhibition) is given in the words of its intro-
duction. It professes to unite the ancient CO..
lours which are recorded in history with
those which have been revealed
by the re-
searches and investigations of travellers and
men of science. Among the contributors to our
stock of knowledge on this subject, sir Humphrey
Davy stands pre-eminent, more especially in re-
ference to the colours of the Roman period • whilst
the er..cavations prosecuted in Assyria and 'Egypt,
by Layard, Rawlinson, Botta, Wilkinson, and
other eminent antiquarians, assisted by chemical ex-
aminations, have "extended. our acquaintance with
colouring matters to the remotest periods." The
various colours, ancient and modern, are here enu-
merated and described in a- manner at once concise
and comprehensive, and, in some instances, are
further explained by interesting notes. To the
artist and the chemist the collection will be most
valuable.

THE WEATHER IN IRELAND.--A storm of very extra.
ordinary violence commenced on Christmas morning,
about half-past one o'clock, and continued to rage until
four, when the wind in some degree abated. The gale
blew in terrific gusts chiefly from the west, shaking the
strongest houses, and causing considerable damage in
the destruction' of chimneys, roofs, &c. It is to be
feared that serious disasters have occurred in the Chan-
nel, as the storm came on with suddenness, and at once
assumed tremendous force. In Kingstown, Dalkey,
and for many miles around Dublin, the tempest prevailed
and caused much alarm. Since the destructive hurri-
cane in January, 1839, there has not been so awful a
storm as the present, which has followed upon the wet-
test and most inclement winter for many a year•