The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-11 00:00:00

FRANCE.

M. Lievin, of Saint-Christ-Brioste (Somme), ac-
companied by seven others, were crossing the canal
in a small boat, when several of the passengers
moved to one side and overturned it, whereby the
whole of the party were precipitated into the water.
Some were able to swim, and reached the bank ;
and among them was a man who saw a hand raised
above the water and immediately disappear. He
recognised it as that of his son, and plunging into
the canal succeeded in saving the lad's life. He
afterwards saved another person from death. Two
men were unfortunately drowned.
A letter from Nice has the subjoined The
Empress of Russia has written a long autograph
letter from this place to the King of Holland rela-
tive to the death of the Queen Dowager. The
Empress expresses regret that her health will pre-
vent her attending the funeral, and says that she,
as well as the Czar, will be represented at it by
Baron de Budberg, Russian Minister at
Paris, and Prince Orloff, Russian Minister at
Brussels. The Empress has twice inquired by
telegraph as to the day on which the funeral is to
take place, but no positive answer could be sent.
The question in suspense is as to where the body is
to be buried. The deceased, by her will, desired to
rest by the side of her husband. He lies with his
son Alexander in the royal mausoleum at Delft, but
over-zealous Protestants are opposed to the burial
of the deceased there from religious scruples, the
Queen having professed the Greek religion."

Bo URSE, March 10.—Theemarket shows less de-
pression, and business is more active, with an im-
provement in quotations. Threes, for the Account,
are now at 67fr. 75c. Mobilier have been done at
870. Railway Shares are steady, with little varia-
tion in prices. The following are the last quo-
tations:—

41 per Cents 94 75
Do. end month —
3 per Cents. 67 60
Do. end month 67 70
Credit Mobilier
Do. end month
Bank Shares 3540

65 05
65 05
Dltaol.iejaandLmoaonnu'i
Ditto Threes —
New Mexican
Russian —
Austrian
§panish Threes
Home Debt —
Deferred

Credit Foncier 1285
Roman 73 25

Cash. Acct.
Orleans
Northern lOl5 ... 1017 50
Lyons and Mediterranean 950 ... 950
Southern 575 ... 581 25
Western 542 50
...
.. 5
Eastern
.21 25
Sardinian 3OO
"' 302 50
Austrian
Lombard 543 75 546 25
North of Spain 305 302 50
Saragossa 360 365
Ditto to Barcelona 167 50 165

1

SPAIN.•
SPANISH FINANCE.
MADRID, March 6.
Senor Castre, Minister of Finance, stated in the
Congress this afternoon that the budget would be
presented to that body within a few days, showing
a real and perfect equilibrium between the expen-
diture and receipts, and introducing great economies.
The Minister added that, if in the budget for the
present year there was some deficit, small in itself
and insignificant compared pith that of previous
years, the Government proposed to reduce the ex-
penses until such deficit disappeared. The equili-
brium of the budget and the provision of the neces-
sary means for the Treasury to cover its expenditure
were, he said, the first necessities in the present
state of things.

The new Press law introduced by the Govern-
ment has been received with unanimous disapproba-
tion by the Liberal Union press, as well as by that
of the Progressist and Democratic parties. The
Contemporaneo, of the Conservative party, says,
that its views are entirely opposed to the Bill. The
other periodicals of the Government party reserve
their opinion until they haie carefully and tho-
roughly examined the economy of the projected new
law.

THE MEDITERRANEAN,
MALTA, March 4.

The only movements of ships of war during the
past week consist of the departure, on the 25th of
February, of the river steam corvette from Tunis ;
the arrival from that port on the 2d March of the
Wanderer, steam gunboat, and the departure, this
morning, for Corfu and Zante, of the steam cor-
vette Cossack.

The Wanderer, on her way to Tunis, had to seek
shelter from a heavy south-west gale.
Her Majesty's steam yacht Enchantress reached
Gibraltar on the 20th and left for Marseilles on the
22d February, to embark at this last named port his
Royal Highness Prince Arthur for Naples, whence,
under escort of her Majesty's ship Revenge, bearing
the flag of Rear-Admiral Yelverton, C. 8., the
Prince will repair to Malta and thence to the prin-
cipal ports of the Mediterranean, Greece, and
Turkey, on a tour of several weeks.

The schooner yacht Surprise, under the command
of Captain G. Mends, R.N. and having on board
the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham and Chandos,
Lady Mary Grenville and family, and Miss Anne
Elliot, arrived at Malta on the 25th February, for
the gaities of the carnival (for which the weather
was by no means propitious), after having witnessed
at Catania the eruption of Mount Etna, which, by
accounts from thence to the 24th February, con-
tinued in full activity.
The movements at Malta between the 24th
February and lth March, of mail and merchant

steamers, landing part cargo thereat and proceeding
with the remainder to ulterior ports of destination,
consist of the Italian and Hutton Chayton, from
Alexandria, with cotton, for Alexandria and Liver-
pool ; Minerva (Hamburger), from St. Nazaire,
Gibraltar, and Carthagena, with machinery and 195
French navvies for Port Said ; Thessalia and Egyp-
tian, from Liverpool, with a general cargo from
Syra, Carthagena, and Smyrna; Izamado, from Syra,
with barley, for London ; Prosrontes, from Cardiff,
Oran, Algiers, and Tunis, for Alexandria, with
cattle and 141 Haggi or Mahomedan pilgrims en
route for Mecca; Tamanlijvas, from Oran, Liver-
pool, and Tangiers, with Mahomedan pilgrims, for
Alexandria; the Odessa (Russian), from London,
with a general cargo, for _Messina, Smyrna, Con-
stantinople, and Odessa ; Corcyra, from Patras, for
London, with a general cargo ; the Peninsular and
Oriental Company's packets Delta, from Southamp-
ton and Gibraltar, and Ripon, from Marseilles, for
Alexandria, with goods, specie, passengers, and
mails, for Suez, Aden, Ceylon, Calcutta, China,
Penang, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand ;
the Massilia and Poonah, from Alexandria, the for-
mer for Marseilles, the latter for Gibraltar and
Southampton, with goods, specie, passengers, and
mails, from Bombay, Aden, and Suez.
The Helvetia steamer, from Alexandria, with
cotton and gums, for Liverpool, having made good
her damages, left Malta on the 2d March for her
destination.

The French Messageries Imperiales steam-packet
Quirinal left Malta on the 25th February with a
general cargo, passengers, and mails for Messina,
Naples, Civita Vecchia, Leghorn, Genoa, and Mar-
seilles; the Mausilippe, belonging to the same ad-
ministration, arrived on the 27th of February.
The Etna, Italian steam-packet from Messina,
Catania, and Syracuse, with goods, specie, passen-
gers, and mails arrived at Malta on the 27th Feb-
ruary, and left on her return voyage the same
evening.

The Menendia, Ottoman steam-packet, arrived
at Malta on the 3d March from Tripoli, with goods,
specie, passengers, and mails.

Excessively boisterous weather continues to pre-
vail, and no ships bound to the westward can get
away. Several which made a start at the end of
February have been obliged to bear up. Some have
put back from the vicinity of Sardinia.
Amongst the passengers for England by the Pera
was his Excellency Sir R. Montgomery, K.C.8.,
Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjaub.
A letter from Catania of Feb. 20th says the
eruption of Mount Etna draws a large number of
visitors. On the 18th of February, 50 English
visitors arrived by steamer.
The following are extracts of letters from Messina
and Giarre, received yesterday :

" AlssslNA, Feb. 25.

" On the 22d and 23d we had a good deal of
snow, and all the mountains are now covered with
it. In Messina it lay on the ground a palm thick,
and the temperature has been piercingly cold."

" GIARRE, Feb. 22.

" The lava, which so threatened the country ,
has not made any fresh progress, it having met
with in its course a deep valley, which is
completely filled. Nevertheless, it has caused
great injury in those parts visited by it, calculated
up to the present time at 700,000 Italian lire.
Many families will be ruined. Snow has fallen on
the heights to the depth of four palms. Perhaps
this will tend to quench the lava."

Stoppage of the Bank of Attwood, Spooner,
and Co., of Birmingham,

BIRMINGHAM, Friday, Midnight.
Soon after four o'clock this afternoon it was whis-
pered here that the old bank of Attwood, Spooner,
and Co., of this town, had opened its doors for the
last time. The business was conducted as usual up
to the closing of banking hours to-day, and as usual
in the case of these old banks the last thought to
enter a man's mind would have been that anything
could happen to Attwood's. It is a fact, notwith-
standing, that the bank has stopped, and by the time
this journal reaches Birmingham the town will be in
a state of indescribable amazement and confusion,
for at this hour (midnight) the great calamity (for
such it really will be) is only known to a very few.
The deposits amount to over £700,000. The cur-
rent credit balances amount to more than £300,000,
and there is a note • circulation exceeding £20,000,
so that the liabilities are more than £1,000,000. It
was rumoured to-night, and we give it as such only,
that there are more than 2,500 depositors. Some
time since the bank entered into an arrangement for
an amalgamation with the Joint-Stock Bank
(limited). The arrangement had received the assent
of that proprietary. It was the investigation in ci-
dent to this transfer which hastened the occurrence
of to-day.
Simultaneously with the closing of the bank the
following will appear from the firm (Attwood,
Spooner, Marshall, and Co.)
"It is with feelings of the deepest concern and distress
we announce that we are compelled to suspend payment,
and this at the moment when, after several months of
negotiation, we had confidently trusted we should ob-
tain such assistance as would enable us to carry into effect
our part in the preliminary agreement for the amal-
gamation with the Birmingham Joint-Stock Bank." In this
hope we have been disappointed. Sums of money to a
large amount were drawn out of the bank some years since
by the family of the Attwoods. To this circumstance it can
be clearly shown at the proper time our failure is to be
attributed. For the last 10 years every effort has been
made to redeem the loss thus occasioned ; but this has only
been partially accomplished. The assets of the bank are,
however, still very considerable, and there are real estates
of great value belonging to the bank, and but slightly en-
cumbered. We hope that in our suspending payment we
shall be considered as taking the best and only step to in-
sure a just and equal distribution of our assets among our
creditors."

Such is the end of this Old Bank, in which the
public of this district had boundless confidence. So
sudden, unexpected, and complete a collapse has
perhaps never before been experienced. The bank
was discharging its obligations as usual up to 4
o'clock, and this evening a petition in bankruptcy
was filed.

The bank of Attwood, Spooner, and Co. was
established in 1791 by the father of the late Mr.
Spooner, M.P. ; by the death of the gentleman last
named in Nov. last, and of Mr. T. A. Attwood a
year ago, the only surviving partner left was Mr.
Henry Marshall.
The bank had a fixed issue of £26,395.

The Yelverton Marriage Case.

EDINBURGH, Friday.

The Court of Session to-day gave judgment on
Miss Longworth's petition to refer the whole cause
to the oath of Major Yelverton. The court by a
majority refused the reference, holding it to be a
matter in their equitable discretion, and that as this
was a question of status, affecting the rights of third
parties, already established by final judgment, the
petition could not be granted. The reference was of
the nature of a contract, to which contract Mrs.
Forbes and children could not be parties, and there
was no precedent for sustaining a reference in such
a case. Lord Deas differed, holding that reference
to a party's oath was a competent mode of proof ;
that the object was to ascertain the truth ; that if
Major Yelverton affirmed the alleged marriage with
Miss Longworth on oath he was to be believed ;
aud, therefore, that if the rights of Mrs. Forbes and
children were affected, they suffered no injustice
from the law, being simply in the same position as
if the first marriage had been established by evi-
dence in the cause. His lordship held that under a
reference to oath of the first marriage it would be
incompetent to inquire -whether there had been a
second marriage at all.
Miss Longworth's counsel then moved the court
to cite Mrs. Forbes, but the court decided that the
case was at an end.

TIIE CONVICT PELIZZIONI.— Upon inquiry at
Newgate Gaol yesterday, it was ascertained that no
official instructions respecting Pelizzioni's liberation had
reached the governor. That her Majesty has been coun-
selled by her Minister to grant her Royal clemency to the
condemned man is not doubted. From inquiries instituted
elsewhere we learn that the law officers of the Crown have
been consulted by the Home Secretary as to the remaining
counts of the indictment—" cutting and wounding with
intent, &c."—specially with regard to future proceedings
being taken upon them, this being stated to be the sole
reason wh7 the convict has not been already discharged.

LITERATURE.
Sedgely Court. A `iale. By the author of
"Fanny Hervey." 3 Vole. Blackwood and Son.

A simple domestic story is becoming a rarity now-
a-days, and by reason of its very rarity is of course
all the more delightful. The history of Katharine
Beaton, the sometime heiress of Sedgely Court,
will disappoint the lovers of stirring adventures, but
to those who find pleasure in the gradual develop-
ment of character, and the natural delineation of
those varied trifles, apparently light as sir, which
mould or mar, the destiny of individuals, the record
of her simple story will be full 'of interest and
attraction. In her early home at Balbeaton,
Katharine's good impulses have little room for free
exercise, continually depressed by a . rigid, un-
happy mother, when, however, later on, the
young orphan is removed to the at first
uncongenial atmosphere of Sedgely Court,
her presence diffuses sunshine around her, and
the wonderful transformation of the Arundel house-
hold vividly demonstrates how much . the wel-
fare of others may be affected by the influence of
individuals. Happy would it have been for her
parents had Katharine's happy disposition been able
to influence the ungenial home of Balbeaton. Poor
Captain Beaton, too fond of amusement at the best,
is glad to leave his melancholy and censorious wife
for congenial companions. A serious illness pro-
mises to bring about a greater mutual forbearance,
and Mrs. Beaton devotes herself to the care and
comfort of her husband ; the task of amusing him,
however, is no easy matter, as may be seen in a very
naturally described scene, entitled—