The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-26 00:00:00

THE, SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 2G, 185 4.

which Aia sox has designated "one of the most
glorious in the Russian, one of the most
disastrous in the Turkish, annals." We shall not
"do amil is " if IVQ close the present contest by
securing a quarter of a century of peace, a peace
like the 15 years which have intervened between
the press at time and the date of the Treaty of
Adrianop le—that treaty which my Lord ABER-
DEEN at the same time reminds us (rather
blunderingly) was dictated by Russia when
her aravy was "at the gates of Constan-
tinople."

It is true that, just now, the position is some-
what different from that which closed the cam-
paign of 1829. The Russian army has not passed
the Balkan, has nut reached Adrianople, has not
arrived before the gates of Constantinople. True,
also, that hitherto it has been worsted by the
Turks alone, or aided only by the Egyptian con-
tingent, in almost every successive engagement—
at Oltenitza, at Citate, under the walls of the
gloriously defended stronghold of Silistria 1
True, moreover, that Turkey in 1854, unlike
her position in 1828 and 1829, is backed by
England and by France, as well as sustained by
the enthusiasm of her own gallant p)pulation !
No matter—set every other consideration aside—
my Lord ABERDEEN has spoken—we shall not
"do amiss" if we secure peace for twenty-five
years more by some such another arrangement as
the Treaty of Adrianople ! That was the argu-
ment addressed to the House of Lords on this
very day se'nnight, Monday, the 19th of June,
1854, by the Earl of ABERDEEN, Prime Minister
of England, and that is what my Lord ABERDEEN
is about to explain to the House of Peers, and
through the House of Peers to the country, on
this very evening, Monday, the 26th of June,
1854—exactly a week having elapsed between the
declaration and (we venture to hint) the rather
needed explanation.

Perhaps the public generally will take more in-
terest in the University debate of Thursday night
than in most of its wearisome predecessors. The
proposed substitution of an Elective Council for
the old close Hebdomadal Board was pretty com-
monly understood and relished, but all the minor
points over which the initiated squabbled, and
the Government were generally defeated, nobody
comprehended, and nobody cared to comprehend.
Mr. HEYWOOD'S proposal, on the contrary, is int el-
ligible to almost every man who has heard of
Oxford. All the worshipping portion of the
community, at least, fully understand it ;
both the larger half, according to the reli-
gious census, which now are forbidden to
learn Latin and Greek, or anything else at
Oxford, and who almost to a man resent the
exclusion as an indignity, and the moiety of
church-going persons, nearly as large as that of
Nonconformists, who are divided into two seo-
tions on this question—all of these feel a deep in-
terest in the subject of Dissenters' admission to
the Universities. There can be little doubt which
is the popular view with electors, and which must
therefore sooner or later become law, whether
the Lords be restive or not. Adding the
vast numbers of liberal and intelligent
Churchmen to the entire body of Dis-
senters, the real majority against exclusive-
ness must be very large. Indeed, not only on this,
but on almost every question of the retention or
abolition of religious distinctions in public and
national institutions, the tide of conviction and
feeling is flowing strongly in the right direction.
We trust it will continue to do so, until in all
matters touching the relations between Man and
his MAKER, the profane demarcations originated or
upheld by law will be swept away for ever. We
are not surprised that many liberal hearts and en-
larged minds should be slow to see the full and
fair application of their warmly-cherished opinions,
but they will rapidly learn. A right heart is a
most successful teacher ; and we quite expect that
the pleasing symptoms of religious liberality, con-
spicuous in some of our younger senators, where
it was not much looked for, will expand into
something lunch more genial than the timid
finality of the old school of Whig Constitution-
alists.

The debate itself must be considered to have
been as triumphant as the division. A majority
of 91, in a house of 413 members, to abolish all
requisitions but the oath of allegiance at entering
Oxford University, was indeed one of the noblest
votes of the House this year. Flagrant as is the
absurdity of lads signing three or four hundred
abstruse theological propositions as a passport to
education, it is yet a marvel how 252 Members
were got together to vote against a Cabinet,
against any antiquated absurdity, and for a clean
sweep of a venerable nuisance. Indeed, the House
seemed a little frightened at itself, for good Mr.
WALPOLE having raised up some bugbears about
the horrible consequences of Dissenters obtaining
literary and scientific degrees, and the vote being
taken on the spur of the moment, a majority of
nine was gained, in a much thinner house, to
exclude Dissenters, as at Cambridge, from the
honours of learning, although they might get the
learning itself—an exclusion of little consequence
except at the University itself, since the tripos
would always show the standing of the successful
student. Thanks to the honest and stringent
examination, literary acquirements and mental
power can secure their record. This last vote, too,
may yet be reversed,

The debate, however, was the great triumph ;
it shelved that the vote was given from a pre-
dominant conviction of its rectitude. Hardly a
speaker denied the impolicy of exclusion, or the
unreasonableness of youths taking theological
oaths. Dissenters have rarely got so many soft
words in the House of late. They were, even with
the " Noes," moral and influential, and educa-
tionally useful--in short, almost everything but
suitable companions for Churchmen at Oxford.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Lord
President, while obliged, as they thought, to vote
them out of, this bill (the latter in rather awk-
ward inconsistency with his promise), yet gave
them the most honied words. As in the Church
Rates debatethe opponents of liberalityseemed cowed
by the consciousness of an indefensible principle,
and their only arguments were the House of Lords,
and the independence of Oxford ; both admitting
of very obvious answers, and both actually an-
swered to the full satisfaction of the House and
the country. Great stress was laid by some speak-
ers on the Universities being schools for the
Church, and on the importance of a religious edu-
cation, which it was assumed could be given by
the Church of England only. But the Church
will be as free as ever under any arrangement to
give its own theological instruction. In Scotland,
the Free Church and some bodies of Dissenters
have their theological institutions in voluntary
connection with the national Universities. and we
never heard it pretended that the Scotch youth
were less religious than those of England, or the
Scotch clergy inferior in theological knowledge to
our own. Sir JOHN RAMSDEN, in his highly
promising and beautiful maiden speech, most tho-
roughly exposed the irreligion generated by the
compulsory religious worship at Oxford, and
must have carried conviction on that point
to the minds of even his opponents. Indeed,
there is but one word, though we decline
to use it, by which all this cant about religion in
the business deserves to be designated. With the
exception of a few stupid old High Church pa-
triarchs, every one knows that the contention is
not for religion itself but for an ecclesiastical sys-
tem, which, as Mr. Fox observed, those who now
profit by its good things wish to keep unchanged,
upon the well-known " good old rule and simple
plan." Dissenters of every class, so far as we
can gather their sentiments from their own jour-
nals, have no wish whatever to place their sons in
the present Colleges. Some of their prominent
men, however, think that they might advan-
tageously have one of the New Private Halls
conducted on their own religious principles,
and connected with the University, not with the
College. We entirely agree with Sir. JOHN RAMS-
DEN, that such a union in education might do
very much to engender mutual respect, and often
attachment,
between parties who are now but too
much trained to mutual antagonism. On the
whole, we feel assured that the vote must do
good. Tile Liberal party at or Oif d; so far from

thinking their reasonable independence invaded,
will rather be thankful for the moral support of
the nation's Representatives.

There is no prospect of the introduction of a
" decimal coinage" during the present session.
Like other useful reforms, it has been postponed
for an indefinite period in consequence of the war ;
and from what fell from Mr. GLADSTONE on
Tuesday we fear thai; other difficulties will be in-
terposed in the way of its attainment. And yet
its advantages are universally recognised. It is
on every sido acknowledged to be " a labour-
saving machine," which would materially reduce
the amount of useless work, and greatly diminish
the chances of error in every office and counting-
house in the kingdom. Nay, more, it would
simplify our transactions with other nations, and
go a great way towards the introduction of a
uniform system in all civilised countries. It is,
indeed, strange that England should so long have
lagged behind the spirit of the age, that the
" most commercial oountry in the world" should
perversely cling to that which was deprecated by
every commercial man, and which reflected deep
discredit on the Parliament and people of the
United Kingdom.

But although all men are agreed on the un-
equivocal advantages of a " decimal" system,
there is by no means the same concurrence of
opinion as to the details of the contemplated
measure. The "unit" constitutes the great
cause of difference. The "pound" sterling has many
influential advocates. The Committee of the House
of Commons reported unanimously in its favour,
while the Decimal Coinage Association has been
expressly framed on that basis. Such powerful
support renders it exceedingly improbable that
any different " unit" should be adopted, and yet
for reasons which we have repeatedly put forward
in these columns, we are convinced that the
" pound" unit, with the several sub-denomina-
tions recommended by the Committee, would be
not only exceedingly injurious to the humbler
classes, to all those whose wages or earnings are
expended " in terms of pence," but that it would
also tend to retard, if not altogether to prevent,
the introduction to that universal system which is
so greatly to be desired. We shall look to the
latter objection in the firsis instance. There is no
other nation in the world which has so large a
" unit" as a pound, or so many as four denomi-
nations of coins specified in accounts. If the
" pound" were adopted, we should have pounds,
florins, cents, and mils—in place of francs, or
florins, and cent,, which are found sufficient in
all continental nations. We could never hope to
bring round the people of other lands to adopt
such a cumbrous system—one almost as irra-
tional, we might say as barbarous, as that now in
use. If we wanted to assimilate the coinage,
we should make up our minds to another change
scarcely-less troublesome than the first, while by
a single alteration of the right description, we
might pave the way to the speedy attainment of
the great desideratum
Looking to that which would agree with the
greatest number of other nations, there can be no
doubt that the franc or florin of twenty-pence,
which might be termed the " double franc,"
would be the most useful " unit "—far more so
than the florin of two shillings, which has been so
strenuously urged. In fact, so far as other
countries are concerned there could be no doubt
between the two florins—and the question rests
between them, for the exclusive pound could not
lee retained, rendering four denominations imper-
ative where two would otherwise answer every
purpose, while for domestic purpcses the advan-
tages of the former would be equally clear—no
alteration in the penny being required—the coin
in which the poor man's dealings are almost in-
variably conducted.
Now, in the first place, we submit that it is the
interest of the poor man that should chiefly be con-
sulted. He will receive no benefit from the sim-
plification of accounts, for he has none to keep,
and the parties who will really be served by the
alteration should pay the price—i. e., submit to
any inconvenience that cannot be avoided.
With a florin of twenty pence all the exist-
ing coins would be available—none would
occasion difficulty. We should gradually in-
troduce the cent in place of the .farthing ; but
until the latter could be called in, and altogether
withdrawn from circulation, four of them would
always be equal to one penny or five cents ; the
penny would remain unaltered, while the 3d., 4d.,
6d., and ls. would respectively be 15, 20, 30,and
60 cents, the florin of 2s. 120, and the half-
crown 150 cents, or lfl. 20e. and Ifl. 50c. re-
spectively. The introduction of the actual florin
and its sub-denominations, the franc or half florin,
10d., the quarter florin, 5d., and the five and
ten florin pieces in gold to Bs. 4d. and 16s. Bd.
present currency would be useful, and could gra-
dually be brought into circulation; but there would
be no immediate or violent disturbance, so long
as we chose to retain all or any of the coinage now
in use.

How different would this be with the pound
unit, or the florin of 2s. All the matters treated
of in terms of pence—all postage and receipt
stamps, all tolls, would be altered. The Go-
vernment or private toll proprietor would not
submit to lose 4 per cent., therefore they would
levy 20 per cent. additional. The report of the
select committee distinctly pointed to the result.
The loss on postage alone would be 400,0001.
per annum ; and if we take receipt stamps, and
other matters, public or private, it might be
counted in millions. This is a serious, and, to
our minds, an insuperable objection to the pound
unit. But it is not all. The workino,
man would not find that the five-cent piece, tene
of which he would receive in exchange for his
shilling, would in small transactions, such as lie
would be engaged in, possess a higher purchasing
power than the penny, of which he formerly re-
ceived twelve for his shilling. He would there-
fore lose 20 per cent. on three-fourths of his
earnings—a formidable reduction, when it was
not the masters or employers that would benefit,
and when, therefore, there would be no prospect
of the matter rectifying itself in time.
It is erroneous to say that the change in Ire-
land had been effected without inconvenience.
We well remember hearing loud complaints from
all but the merchants and traders. The humbler
classes were particularly strenuous in their objec-
tions to that which they asserted, and with much
apparent reason, reduced their wages by one-
thirteenth, or Bd. per cent.
By all means, then, let the agitation for a deci-
mal coinage be continued, but let it not be as-
sumed that it must be conducted on the basis of
the " pound" unit. That question is one not
merely affecting the commercial interest, but on
which some evidence should be taken on behalf of
the working classes, whose interests have hitherto
been disregarded in the discussions.

CABINET COUNCIL.—A Cabinet Council was held at
the Foreign•office, Downing•street, on Saturday after-
noon. The ministers present were the Earl of Aberdeen,
Lord John Russell, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the
Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Argyll, Viscount Palmer.
ston, the Ehrl of Clarendon, Sir George Grey, the Duke
of Newcastle, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir J.
Graham, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon. Sidney
Herbert, Sir William Molesworth, and Earl Granville
The Council sat three hours and a half.
The Duchess of Kent, attended by Lady Anna Maria
Dawson and Sir George Couper,, honoured the Opera
Comique at the St. James's Theatre with her presence
on Saturday evening.
Despatches were sent from the Colonial-office on Sa-
turday, to the Governors of Hong-Kong, Ceylon, and
Malta.
No change has been made in the Private Secretaries
of Lord John Russell. Mr. John Edward Boileau has
acted in that capacity, with Mr. Arthur Russell, during
the last as well as the present session of Parliament.—
Observer.
OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS._Mr• L. H. Noel, Mr.
Robert Thompson, and Mr. Thomas K. Gloagan are
appointed second-Class clerks, and Mr. William Ken-
rick to be acting seconciclass clerk in the Accountant-
General's Department of the Admiralty, at Somerset-
house.—Observer.
ACCIDENT TO THE DUBE OF SAXE-COW:MG.—COBURG,
June 22.—Yesterday, being the anniversary of the birth
of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, the following accident hap.
pened to him. The duke was in his carriage, when at
the entrance of the town one of the horses fell, and the
duke was pitched violently out of the carriage. By a
providential hazard, his highness was not injured. He
got up immediately and walked to the chateau, receiv-
-34,123 went, the most lively marks of satisfaction at
his escape,

MONEY MARKET

AND
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

CITY, TWO O'CLOCK.
The sales of cotton at Liverpool on Saturday
were estimated at from 8,000 to 10,000 bales, in-
cluding 1,000 American, 500 Surat, and 25 Sea
Island, taken for export. The market closed
firmly, and prices had an upward tendency. The
sales comprised 7,000 American, 200 Pernam and
Marauham, at 61d. to 7Ad.; 100 Bahia, at 64d.;
300 Egyptian, at 6d. to Bd.; 1,200 Surat, at 3d.
to 41d.; and 80 Sea Island, 50 at 11d. to is. ld.,
and 30 at is. 7d. to 2s. per lb. Railway Shares
were quiet.
The New York accounts do not present any fea-
tures of particular interest. The stock market was
dull and heavy. Cotton tended downwards. The
flour market was inactive. Very little ;was doing
in breadstuffs for export.
_ _

It is stated in a private communication from
New York, that the "Cotton yet remaining in the
interior will not be delivered as freely as was ex-
pected a few weeks since, owing to the afready
large amount controlled by planters at the ports
for which they can find no satisfactory market.
Should prices materially improve the crop will not
be limited to 2,800,000 bales. In regard to the
growing crop, there is nothing new to report.
Although the spring has been a late one, the plant
is healthy, and there is season enough yet to se-
cure a good crop."
The ship Herefordshire has arrived, with dates
of March 10, from Sydney. She has only 300
ounces of gold on board. The Prince of Wales
brine accounts of March 25. The import markets
were still dull. There is not stated to be any gold
on board.

The letters from the Continent are satisfactory
in respect to the growing crops. In Flanders
wheat is looking most excellently, and promises
an exceedingly abundantAcrop. Rye had grown
to most gigantic proportions, and the straw was of
unusual height and thickness. From the root to
the summit it measured 2 metres and 66 centi-
metres. Such a size was scarcely ever before
known. The price of bread in Belgium will be
raised 1 centime per 50 killogrammes after this
day, the 26th inst. The New Belgian Loan has
been so rapidly subscribed fur, that the al-
lotments must be particularly small. The
Russian Loan at Amsterdam is reported
to be a failure, and at Hainburgh it is stated to
have met with very little success. The French
Government has prohibited business in the secu-
rity. In England there is a standing law against
transactions in any new loan contracted for a
country with which we are at war. The Hano-
verian Government is making propositions to the
First Chambers for the establishment of a German
fleet, the representation of the people at the
German Diet, and the establishment of a federal
tribunal.

The Overland letters from India will be delivered
on Wednesday morning.
The East India Railway Company being now
in the market for the loan of a million sterling
upon debenture bonds, the question very naturally
arises, whether, since there has been such a want
of success in obtaining the capital, a revision of
the system under which the Hon. East India
Company and the Board of Control have granted
concessions should not take place. We have con-
tended from the very commencement that it was
most injudicious to concentrate into a compact
monopoly the whole railway communication of
India. Where a large amount of capital is to be
obtained, there should be a subdivision of the
amount under the guidance of different boards of
direction, so as to interest an increased number of
persons in the success of the projects, and to allow
.of personal exertion and influence at all times
more powerful than mere official working. If the
object of the East India Company, were ultimately
to bring the railways entirely under Government
control, it would be time enough to do this
when they were constructed ; and all that is
necessary is to keep them under one general
code of regulations, such as is ensured by
the presence of Mr. Melville, ex officio at each
board. However, even if a false start has been
made, there may be no motive for not now attempt-
ing some improved arrangement, and we believe
that there are parties quite competent to suggest a
plan by which the capital for the various lines
known to be imperatively necessary could be raised
in different portions with comparative ease.
The following aro the railway " calls" due in
July :

Dublin and Droclieda, Pref. 251
Lancashire and Yorkshire (P and W
Ha! es)
Netnarket (Bury Extension)
*Paris and Lyons 1 4 0 960,000
*Royal Danish..
Shrewsbury and Chester 5 per cent
Red. Pref.
Waterford and Kilkenny Pref l3 1 0 40,000
Wimbledon and Croydon
"Zealand
* The proportion called by foreign companies is
1,094,5001., but the holdings of English proprietors are
not known.
Total called in 1854 £8,500,672
The railway meetings announced are the fol-
lowing :

Date due. Call.
I£2 10 18,500

Company. Date. Pla,e, &c.
Aberdeen July 6, Radley's Hotel.
Ambergate, &c.
Central Peninsula of Portugal Aug.• 1, Lisbon.
Chester and Holyhead
Dutch Rhenish
Eastern Counties
Llanolly
London and Blackwall June 27, London Tavern.
Lucca and Pistoja July 15, Lucca.
Melbourne Dock and Railway June 30, London Tavern.
Norfolk
North British July 16, Edinburgh.
North Staffordshire
West Flanders
Ditto.
The English Stock Market has been flatter, and
with a very limited business doing, notwithstand-
ing the intelligence of the " superior" order to the
Russian army to retire behind the Pruth. The
probability of a change of Ministry, however, is
acting upon the market, for, although it is almost
universally desired that Lord Aberdeen should re-
sign, there is the usual doubt as to whether the
Cabinet would universally determine to quit with
him, and political uncertainty, after such a rise
in prices, renders the market sensitive. Consols
have been 931 18, and since at 931 a, being now
again 93i The New Three-and-a-Quarter per
Cents. have been marked 931 to 94, and the Three
per Cents. 93a to 931. Exchequer-bills have been
at 2s. discount to 2s. premium. The Bonds are at
premium. East India Bonds are at ls. premium.
Foreign securities have been very dull. Sar-
dinian Old Bonds are worth 85 to 86 : Belgian
Four-and-a-Half per Cents, are 90j, and Peruvian
Three per Cents. 51. These have been the only
bargains, except one in Spanish Passive at 4i. The
other securities are merely nominal.
The Railway Share Market has been firm gene-
rally, with moderate dealings. Great Northern
have been heavy, however, and also Caledonian.
French Shares have been at about previous rates
nominally.

The Gold Mine Shares are dull, the Joint Stock
Banks scarcely so high, and the miscellaneous shares
quieter.

BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY.—CLOSING PRICES.
(Pm' the OLicica List.)

uusinesm (Inn.
3 per Cent. Reduced Annuities 93i 3 3 4 4
34 per Cent. Annuities
9
Lung Annuities, Expire sth Jan., 1860
India Bonds, .CIOOO
Consols for Opening 19th July
Exchequer Bills, 24d.
£lOOO
£5OO 3 pld
small
1 p
Exchequer Bonds Scrip .......

- -
PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY,
Peruvian 3 per Ceat.
Sardinian Bonds, 5 per Cent.. ...... .
Spanish Bonds, 3 per Cent
Ditto Passive (Converted)
invidemis on the above payable in London.
Belgian Bonds 4i per Cent. ex. 25 fr
Dutch Exchange, 24 per Cent. 12 Gull

THREE O'CLOCK.
Consols for Opening 19th July 9l i x d

RECRUITING IN AUSTRIA.—A letter from Varna, in
the Leipsick Gazette, says :—" The recruitment has
never been effected with so much facility, the young
men showing an extraordinary eagerness to enter the
army. At Laybach, of the 35 men whom the town had
to furnish, 25 are volunteers. In Croatia, the young
men have come forward by communes to enrol them-
selves. In several places, it has not been necessary to
proceed to any drawing."
GERMAN SURGEONS FOR 'Me BRITISH FLEET. —The
Independence of Brussels publishes, on the auhority of
its Hamburg correspondent, the extraordinary state-
ment that, owing to the want of surgeons in the Eng-
lish ships in the Baltic, endeavours have been made
within the last few days in various German towns to
ezfgat,ie practitioners with the stipulation of good pay.
ARRESTS IN SICILY.—The OjEicial Journal of the
Two iicilies, of the Otb, after recounting the fact we
gave a few days ago of three political refugees, Inter-
donato, Savona, and Scarpeira having landed near
Messina, states hat when the house in which they were
was surrounded by the armed force, they nevertheless
contrived their escape under favour of the darkness of
the night ; but that subsequently two of them, namely,
Interdonato and Scarpeira, surrendered to the autho-
rities of the commune of Giardini to take their trial,

LATEST FOREIGN NEWS.

SIEGE OF SILISTRIA
DEFINITIVELY RAISED.

The following important telegraphic despatch
was received in Paris this (Monday) niorning :
" BELGRADE, June 25, 12 o'Clock Noon.—The
Moniteur of Bucharest officially declares that, in
obedience to orders from St. Petersburg, the siege
of Silistria is raised, Giurgevo is evacuated, and
the whole Russian army is about to retreat across
the Pruth.

The Turkish Embassy at Vienna has received
official acounts from the theatre of war to the 15th,
which state that Silistria can bold out for a long
time. The loss of the Russians on the 13th was
enormous. In some I: 1 a ces the ditches were full of
bodies. The Turks took two standards, and gained
possession of a battery of mortars which had been
abandoned by the Russians. The Commander of
the fort of Abdul Medjid, Hussein Bey, directed
the sortie ; the Egytian troops distinguished them-
selves in a very remarkable manner.
The Press of Vienna says :—" We learn from
Bucharest of the date of the 17th that the troops
posted near Erekli, on the road from Schtunla to
Silistria, moved on the 13th, and wore fighting with
a Russian corps of observation, on the 15th, at
Baldakidi. This advance was supported by a flank-
movement on the part of Said-Dacha from Rous-
touck by Semersikai. The Russians appeared in-
clined to withdraw. On the same day the Turks
made another sortie from Silistria and established
on the bank of the river a battery of mortars,. the
fire of which is directed on the Russian batteries in
the islands.