The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-20 00:00:00

The Price of Gold.

The quotation of gold at Paris is about l per mills pm., and
the short exchange on London is 25.221 per £1 sterling. ()n
comparing these rates with the 1:11;;iish Mint price of £3
17s. tuid. per ounce for standard gold, it appe.‘rs that gold i■
nearly 1-lath per cent. dearer in London ttian in Pith,.
By advic.s from Hamburg the price of gold is 4:48 per marl
and the short exchange on Loudon is 13.61 per £1 stcrlin,..,
Standard gold at the English Mint price is, therefere, rather
more than 1-10th per cent. dearer in London than in Item-
burg.
Tile l;Olinfe of exchange at Nen* York on London tor bale at
60 days' sight is 1091 to 101 per cent. At these rates these
is no proit nn the importa.ion of go'd from the United
States

THE CHARGE OF RAPE AGAINST AIR. SPRAGUE.—
Last night the grand jury ignored the bill against the
prisoner. An application was at once made to the Recorder
for the discharge of the prisoner, and he immediately
ordered him to be set at liberty.

Loss OF LIFE ON THE RIVER.—A melancholy
accident happened yesterday morning to an old
waterman of the name of John Lawton. belonging to Lime-
house. Ho was crossing the river opposite Deptford,
when, by some mismanagement on his part, his boat ran
foul of a vessel with such violence that it was completely
split in two, and the poor old man was immersed in the
water. The alarm was immediately given, and several
watermen and others put off to his assistance, but the un-
fortunate man instantly sank. Drags were procured, but
his body has not yet been found. Yesterday evening a
youth named Allen M'Adam was drowned in the river near
the Thames Tunnel. The deceased, together with a water-
man, was proceeding lap to London-bridge, when they ran
foul of a coal barge, by which the boat half-turned over,
throwing the boy into the water. The waterman suc-
ceeded in saving his own life.

OPENING OF THE FREE LIBRARY AT BIRMINGHAM.
—On Monday the Free Library and Reading Room
at the Midland Institute were thrown open to the public
for the first time. There were applications for vouchers to
the extent of several hundred, but as these have to be
be signed by two burgesses and examined before tickets
can be granted, the number of readers it is not possible to
estimate. The restrictions placed upon borrowers are only
of such a nature as to prevent loss of, or careless injury to,
the books. During the day the reading room was very
well frequented, and by the very class of people who were
intended to be benefited by the institution. A catalogue,
of some 170 pages, has been published for eightpence,
which will afford a ready moans of acquaintance with the
nature of the works contained in the Library. The Gallery
of Art was also visited by a large number of our towns-
people during the day.-13irminghatn I'M.
TERRORS OF AN ERUPTION.—An anecdote current
respecting a German who ascended the. mountain and
looked into the interior through one of the openings, will
assist in conveying the impression it produces on those
who follow his example. Ho was seen ascending the
mountain alone, and after an absence of several hours re-
turned ; yet not a word would he utter in reply to the ques-
tions addressed to him. The next day he was found drowned
on the edge of the sea. According to the statement of a
friend of his, he had long meditated suicide, and it is sup-
posed that he had ascended the mountain xith the inten-
tion of throwing himself into the molten lava, after the
fashion of the well-remembered man of old, whose suicide
was discovered by the mountain throwing out his sandal,
but that the German's mind was so overpowered by the
horrors of the scene he 'witnessed, that he could not carry
out his intention, and descended to find a grave in a cooler
and more tranquil fluid.—Dickertis " All the Year Round."
A SICILLU POMPEIL—We learn from the Forbidi
of Palermo that some important results have been
yielded by the excavations made on the site of the ancient
city of Solus, now called Solunto. For two years the
works have been executed systematically under the direc-
tion of a commission. Columns, pavements, and mosaics,
inscriptions, coins and domestic utensils, especially of glass,
have been found in great abe.ndance. Certain portions of
the city have been laid bare, and there is every reason to
hope that, after the completion of the arrangements now
• • ,-,r,ss for the purchase of the ground covering these
in ',too
interesting relics, many highly important discoveries will
reward the zeal and wrseverszlee of their palermitau com-
mission. Unfortunately the present moment is not pro-
pitious to the development of archaeological and historical
research in Italy ; all of us, 'more or or less, have been
caught by the whirling eddies: of politics, and much more
urgent questions relating to the present condition and to
the future prospects of the co untry absorb nearly all the
energy which elsewhere finds occupation in the peaceful
studies of the past. Even the stupendous relations of
Pompeii and of Herculane tun excite little interest, and
Chev. Fiorelli's Giornale delgli Semi, a periodical which in
France, in Germany and in. England would have found a
large circle of readers, has perished in Italy from the better
indifference of the public ! Let us hope that better times
are at hand, and that the discoveries of Solunto will infuse
fresh life and vigour into a branch of inquiries for which
this country, with such exhaustless treasures lying at her
very door, enjoys peculiar facilities, and in which therefore
she ought to bear away the p4.10u from all competitors.