The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-21 00:00:00

APRIL 21, 1854.

U R S,SE LL' S. —BALL SUPPERS and
WEDDING. 'BREAKFAST & SUPPLIED fri the first Style;
public breakfasta, dinners, and •promenade suppers supplied by con
tract ; a large stock of bride cakqs fur immediate use, from one to
twenty guineas each ; 'a handsome cake ibr five
guineas, peeked and
sent to any part of the country If required, and warranted to keep 12
months.—Joni R. Puassztt., 162, Regent-street, and.2o, Ludgate-
bill, only. '

H. CH-OLERAI!
Prevented by the destruction of all noxious efduvia. T - •
• CREWS'S DISINFECTING FLUID.
RECOMMENDED BY THE COLLEGE OE PHYSICIANS.
,THE CHEAPEST-AND STRONGEST CHLORIDE OF gm.
Quarts, 2s. ; Pints, Is. ; Nalf-pinte, 6d. Said by all • Chemisti,
Druggists, and Shipping Agents, and -itt Commercial Wharf, Mile
End, London. Agents—Messrs. Thew, Ileyward,and Barren, Bush.
lane, Cannon-street, City.

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

[A summary ,of the following appeged in The
Sun of yesterday :--] • •
The General Screw Steam Shipping. Company's
steam-ship Hydaspos, .Coramander H. Bi Benson,
arrived at Plymouth yesterday morning, bringing
mails in charge of Captain G... 13. Jeffreys, R. N.,
Admiralty agent, from Calcutta, via Manritius and
the Cape, 94 passengers, and a full and valuable
cargo.Of silk and •Indigo.
Her dates are—Calcutta, January 15th ; Madras,
20th ; Ceylon,. 24th Mauritius, February Bth ;
Cape of Good Hope, 25th; St. Helena, March 6th;
Ascension, 10th ; Fa,ya.l, 4,41 13th." ~ - '
The election of, representatives in the Upper
House of Parliament at the 'Cap-!3 was nearly com-
plete. Almost every seat had been contested.
Sir (eorge Clerk, formerly Governor of Bomhah
has, it is -said, twicat .deelineiLthe governorship-at
the Cape.
The abandonment of the Orange River Sove-
reignty, where it is alleged that gold has been dis-
covered, gives great dissatisfaction to the colonists.

. The followin-g is a list of the troops at the Cape
of Good Hope :—The 2d. (Queen's), numbering
about 500 ; the 12th Foot, 00 ; the 45th, 600 ;
the 60th Rifles, 600 ; the 73d, 500 ; the 91st, 400 ;
and the Cape Corps, 1,000.
The 12th and 91st received orders in January to
prepare for returning home. They were to be re-
lieved by the 21st and 63d, since ordered to the
East.

It is considered that since Sir George Cathcart's
system of colonial government has been adopted
the present militaryforce at the Cape could be safely
reduced.

At Table Bay, on the 24th of February, the
General Screw steam-ship Sir. Robert Peel, Captain
Boxer, waiting the arrival of the English mail for
Natal. The ship Mersey, for Melbourne, and the
brig Vigilant, for Geelong, were ready for sea.
The barques Mary Ann, for Madras, the Perseve-
rance, for St. Helena, the Marie Leo Candie and
the brig Hirandelle, for Melbourne, were to leave
on the 25th. The ship Devonshire;for London, on
the 27th, and the brig Ariel, for London, in a few
days.
The HydaSpes has had a long and very tedious
passage home. On the 31st ofJanuary, four days
previous to her arrival at the Mauritius, one of the
fan-blades broke off, and, after coaling at that
place she proceeded to the Cape, where she arrived
on the 20th of February,.making the passage from
Calcutta in 37 days. On the day of her arrival at
the Cape a fatal accident occurred, which threw. a
gloom over every one on board. It appears that
the shears employed for the purpose of lifting the
broken screw previous to fixing a new one capsized,
carrying away the after guys, and, being above
the poop-deck at the time, the shears and fan
fell forward, nearly breaking through the poop.
The chief officer, Mr. Bryer, saw the danger,
pushed others, rom it, fell underneath,' ' and
was killed on the spot. The chief engineer, Mr.
Willcox, "had his arm broken, and was otherwise
injured ; lie was conveyed on shore to the hosiiital,
where every attention was paid him, and we are
happy to hear he was progressing favourably on the
ship's departure. One fireman was slightly hurt ;
the other officers and men were saved by the energy
of Mr. Bryer, who was an excellent officer.
Afterfixing a new screw and coaling, theHydaspes
left the Cape on the 25th of February • thence she
went to St. Helena and Ascension, and when
within 143 miles of St. Vincent, working against a
strong north=east trade wind and current, it' was
found that there was not sufficient -fuel OD -board
to convey her there. Captain-Benson, Captain
Jeffreys, R.N., Admiralty agent, and_ the' officers
then resolved to bear away for St. Jago for fur-.
ther supplies, but when within two hours' sail of
that island the wind died away, and the current
drifted the'steamer out to sea again.- 'lt was then
determined to bear away for St. Vincent, which
was accordingly done, but having beaten about for
five days against a strong north-east trade wind
without gaining any ground, and the stock and
water getting, scarce, it was resolved, with so large a
number of people on board, to give up the fr uitless at-
temp, and to steer for the Azores, It was, however,
fated she should encounter other disappointments,
and she experienced a succession of calms and contrary.
wina. On the 31st March she met the American ship
M- de Embiel, in.lat.' 31 28 N., and long. 36 W.,
laden with coals from Cardiff for the Havannah.
It was nearly► 'calm at the time; and•the captain,
in the most considerate manner, supplied the
Hydaspes with coal and provisions. On the 9th
of April, when within 166 miles of Fayal, -a gale
sprung up from the southward, which, in a very
heavy squall 'at 8.30 a.m., chopped round to the
S.W., thus enabling, her to lay her course for that
island, where, at 7 p.m., on the 10th of April, she
dropped anchor in Horto Bay. After coaling and
taking in supplies, she left on the 13th. Notwith-
standing all her misfortunes and stoppages, she
made the passage from Calcutta to Plymouth in
95 days.
The English and American Consuls are greatly
praised for their able assistance in coaling and sup-
plying the ship at Fayal.
Her Majesty's steamer Alecto, Captain Crofton,
was at Ascension, refitting to came home.
Among the passengers from Calcutta are Major
Huish, Capt. Fergusson, Captain Maod, Lieu-
tenants E. Smyth, 13th NJ., and W. Wilson, and
the Hon. Edward Douglas ; from Ceylon, Dr.
Donaldson ; from the Mauritius, Major Browne ;
from the Cape of Good Hope, Colonel Armstrong,
Colonel Cloete, Lieutenant-Colonel Forbes, Lieu-
tants Gore and Thompson ; and from Fayal,
Major Creagh,
The following ships were seen on the homeward
passage :
Point de Galle, January 30.-,—Her Majestys fri-
gate Fox, coming out ; February 19, -the English
ship Chieftain, from Mauritius to London, 24 days
out, lat. 34 56 S., long. 20 58 E. ; March 10, her
Majesty's steamer Volcano, steering to the east-
ward off Ascension. Ascension, March 10.—Her
Majesty's steamer, Alecto, refitting for England ;
the French ship, Bella Cabana, 29 days out, from
Havre, bound for Guadaloupe, lat. 23 43 N., long.
32 34 W. ; March 29, the English schooner Eliza
Goddard, to the southward and eastward, lat. 27
54 N., long. 35 53 W. ; March 31, the American
ship M. de Embiel, 19 days out from Cardiff,
bound to Havannah, lat. 34 28 N., long. 35 40 W.;
April 17; the ship Statesman, from Port Philip,
with golddust, out 71 days, bound to London, lat.
45 6 N., long. 17 20 W. '

GOLD AT THE CAPE.
The subject of the discovery of gold is attracting
great attention at the Cape. Some samples came
home by the Hydaspes for-the Government.
The Port Elizabeth Mercury, of the 18th Feb-
ruary, says :
" Information was received front the neighbourhood
of Bnrghersdorp, by several persons in the town, thit
gold had been discovered in the neighbourhood of Smith-
field, and that several grains of gold had been obtained,
varying in size from small particles up to nuggets of 20,
23, and 54 grains a-piece. A gentleman who arrived
yesterday from Burghersdorp, and on whose judgment
reliance can be placed, states that he has seen,.handled,
and tested in every possible way, several specimens of
the ore, and that there is not the slightest doubt left on
his mind that it is veritable gold, and that it can be ob-
tained from the neighbourhood of Smithfield in consider.
able quantities."
. The Graham's Town Journal gives the following
extract of a letter from Queenstown, dated. the
15th February
" You will have heard, ere, this reaches you, of the
discovery of gold at Smithfield. There is no doubt as
to its truth. Mr. Vowe, the magistrate of that place,
was here, and showed me a specimen in my shop yes-
terday. Ile.informs us it has been dug up in a dozen
different spots since its first discovery," -1
In addition to the various reports respecting the
disoovery.o gold in the sovereignty, the .following
extracts from private letters have been Published :
" Smithfield Court-house, Feb. 10.
" Great excitement ! Another nugget of gold has
been found, weighing 52 grains. Gold diggings within
three hours of Aliwal. Two samples of nuggets have
been sent to Graaf-Reinet by the post." - -
" ALIWAL.—The enclosed two nuggets came to _hand
just as the post was closing. Gold has been discoVered.
within a few hours of this and Smithfield. Thatthis is
-a fact, and no hoax, is almost incredible, bit
.you will
-perceive it by the specimens I-enclose. -'ingots' con!

6
1.5
z-g

'taining from 20 to 50 firains have been discovered lying
on the suifaCe. dreat excitement prevails, and a party
of six is leatringsthis very hour for-the gold diggings.
'-There is no doubt that large quantitiss will be sliscov-
ered as soon as they begin digging, in full earnest,. and,
especially with experienced then to direct thein:"
" BURMIERSDORP, Feb. 17:-=-Regarding the gold dis-
cot/I:tries, it is peeved beyond the least doubt that the
precious metal exists here, and the most sanguine-hopes
are 'entertained regarding the, quantity which Will be
found after regular mining, under men of experience,
has been established. .'A very _natural consequence of
this discovery is, that people begin to find gold veins on
every farm, and reports are current that in Albert gold
was found yeiterday. - writes on the 13th inst.,
that ' diggings Will be stopped for the next week, owing
to the meeting at Bloemfontein: This lait week proves,
beyond any doubt, that gold exists in considerable quan-
tities here. Parties have ridden out to .a shalt which has
be

en sunk by subscription, and have returned with spe-
cimens of quartz, which, being examined, produced Seve-
ral nuggets: One Of thein weighed 88 grains, -another
63, another 36, • and many small pieces were discovered
by washing.,'. About the goldin the Trans-Vaal country,
various reports before us state, that lgold has already
been found in abundance.' The boars have stopped the
:search • until the Sovereignty Lqriestlon has been settled,
and the Raad have decided on having their :own money
`for the republic."

AMERICA.

ARRIVAL OF THE 'FRANKLIN.

• SOUTHAMPTON, APRIL 20.
By the United States' mail steam.ship Franklin J.
A. Wotton commander, which arrived off Cowes this

morning on her way to Havre, we hive datesfrom New
York to-the Bth inst..-- ----
• The Franklin has $550,000-in specie, 550 bales of
cotton, and 100 packages of sundries for Havre, and
brought 134 passengers. 'ln Lat. 4kto 44, and long. 43
to 44, the Franklin passed a large number of icebergs.
This steamer brings no news of thn arrival at Phila-
delphia of the steamers, City of Glasgow and City of
Manchester. The former vessel was in her 40th day
from'Liverpool, and it was feared she was either lost or
beset by ice in the Atlantic.
The: New York Chamber of Commerce held its regular
monthly meeting on
,the 6th inst., during which, after
the transaction of preliminary business,
Mr. Walter R. Jones introduced an important series
of resolutions, having reference to the system of carrying
on maritime warfare by means of privateers, condemn-
ing it in strong language, and sustaining the principle
that free ships shall make free goads, and the neutral
flag shall give neutrality to the cargo.
Recent proceedings relative to the same subject in the

British Parliament were referred to with approbation.
The following were the resolutions agreed to :
"1. That in the opinion of this Chamber the system of
carrying on maritime warfare by means of privateers is
contrary to the dictates of sound morality, inconsistent in
its spirit with the principles of justice and humanity, and
that the time has arrived when it should not be tolerated
by the laws of civilised nations.
. . .

" 2. That the depredations of privateers on private pro-
perty occasion much individual distress and ruin on the
one hand, without any adequate national benefits on the
other. That modern warfare can be carried on effectually
without resorting to such means of individual suffering and
private plunder, which fall almost entirely on the commer-
cial classes.

"3. That the efforts now making in Europe to extin-
guish privateering by arrangements to be Consummated
among the diplomatists of the Old World call for the co-
operation of the Government of the United States.
"4. That the treaty made by the United States and.
Russia, in 1785, negotiated by the far-seeing and keen-
sighted Franklin; whereby both Governments bound them-
selves not to issue commissions to privateers, discloses the
policy of that early day, and is well worthy of our support
at this time.

" 5. - That thii Chamber notices with great gratification
the movement pf Mr. Gibson in the House of Commons, on
the Y7th of March, praying her Majesty "' to give special
instructions to the officers commanding her Majesty's
cruisers tri the event of war to abstain from interfering with
neutral vessels on account of any goods or property not con-
traband of war contained therein, and to' direct her Minis.
tare to consider the policy of entering into-treaty stipula-
.tiqns with foreign countries on the, principle that free ships
shall make free goods, and the neutral flag give neutrality
to the 'cargo ;' 'and that this Chamber consider that these
principles should be sustained by the Government of the
United States in all its negotiations with forei 4n Powers.
" 6... That in the opinion of this Chamber, in view of
the magnitude of the tonnage of this country and its rapid
increase, it is incumbent upon the Government of the
•

United. States to exert a leading influence in this reform,
whether they regard the demands of justice and humanity,
or the interests of our citizens, so much exposed on every
00011, • •
"7. That a memorial be prepared and signed by the
officers of this Chamber, addressed to the President of
the United States, asking him to open negotiations with
other powers 'for the suppression of privateering; and, also,
for the recognition of the principle that free ships make
free goods.
"8. That another memorial be prepared by them, and
addressed to the Senate. ,and. House of Representatives of
-thelrnited States, asking them to pass such laws as will
in their own opinion check and essentially put a stop to
privateering." •
Colonel Lee desired to embody in the same document
the subject of impressment of seamen. It had never been
settled by treaty with England, and was but imperfectly
understood. After some debate, it was decided to be
inexpedient to agitate the subject at the present juncture.
.This questionthus coming up on the original resolu-
tions, they were-at once adopted, and a committee of five
was appointed to prepare an appropriate•memorial to be
forwarded to the President of the United States, ,and
the representatives in Congress Messrs. Perit, Jones,
Curtis, Phoenix; and Kelly, were appointed as such
committee.

Upon the proceedings of the Chamber of Commerce
the New York Oourier and Enquirer bases the following
remarks :

" The able and emphatic resolutions of the Chamber of
Commerce against privateering not only embody the views
of our enlightened, commercial men, but .reflect the senti-
ments of the intelligent public mind throughout the
country. They are a genuine American expression of the
American sense of justice. The spirit of them cannot be
said to be new, for it has animated our legislation and our
diplomacy from the earliest period of our ll,epublie. Frank-
lin made the suppression of privateering an importatt aim
in his negotiations, even prior to the establishment of tile
Federal Constitution. Our great waiters upon international
law, toth Kent and Wheaton, have condemned the in-
justice and inhumanity of the practice in the strongest
terms, and pronounced it unworthy of a place in the great
code of nations. Our acts of Congress have prohibited
every American citizen from engaging in it against any
Power with which the country is at peace, and have taken
away from the privateers of other nations the right they
would have, under international law, of bringing their
prizes into our neutral ports. Our discouragement of pri-
vate war upon the ocean, and vindication of the rights and
privileges of neutral commerce, have in fact constituted a
distinctive American maritime policy. We took ad-
vanced ground at the outset upon these subjects, and have
always consistently maintained it. If we have effected
no actual changes in the letter of international law,
it is because the disposition of other nations has
not corresponded with our own. But American in-
fluence has all the while been operating, and the
opinions and feelings of the great European Powers have
gradually grown consonant to ours. There is reason to
believe that England and France are now both willing to
meet the United States on its own high and liberal grounds,
and combine to bring maritime law into the form long
claimed by us, and indisputably required by the rights of
humanity and the civilisation of the age. It may be said
that England'is incited by her interests in these now move-
ments lagainst privateermg. Undeniably she is. The
suppression of this speeies of warfare, which she formerly
did so much to encourage, has become to her of immense
importancb. There can be no doubt that,;if Russia were
disposed to grant, and the United States to accept and
employ, all the powers and privileges of privateering cone-
missions allowed by the law of nations as they now stand
and have stood for centuries, the approaching war would
be made three times more severe to England than it could
possibly be under other circumstances. War risks would
fall so heavily upon English commerce as to cripple it com-
pletely. British ships would be safe nowhere. A single
one of our fastest American steamers converted to priva-
teering purposes, resistless against merchantmen and defy-
ing the pursuit of then-of-war, might fill an entire ocean
with alarm. Though owned by American citizens and
manned by American sailors, she might go out of an American
port, andeven bring her prizes to American shores to be sold
after adjudication by a Russian prize court, and yet afford
England no just ground of complaint against our Govern-
ment for any infringement of the strict law of nations. We
admit, then, that it is not at all strange that the English
Governmentshould now evince such a willingness to intro-
duce into international law the securities for commerce
which the'United States have so long desired. There is no
real danger that any of these privateering rights will be
exercised. They are not only repugnant to the spirit of
our people, but are contrary to our statute law. Yet there
is an apprehension in the English mind that privateering
may be carried on to a certain extent, and it has un-
doubtedly contributed to produce the rise in English ma-
rine insurances. It is, in a certain sense, true, that what-
ever artificial cause of this kind operates against English
shipping operates in favour of ours. Heavy insurances
upon British vessels give American vessels a m nal
ad-
vantage in the carrying trade. Government
such ephemeral consideration can, divert our
feffecting
one moment, from improving the opportunity
nations
these great commercial reforms in the Ip.ve
ofercial na-
which our own permanent interests as a comet
But we are surea° that no
subject will
vialrue
a theve
tion, as well as our own unchangeable sensteodfoju'bttitchea,th
long impelled us to advocate. We ammo F
advances which, it has been announced
about to be made to our Government oiun theevislaureb
, resent -
as the re
be met in a spirit that will Speedily secure the desired end.
The New York Chamber of Commerce
tive of the commercial interests of the country, havep nobly
high purpose in carrying
—ministration will evince the same
taken the initiative' in the restatterth;ownebit:uusntdetrhsattanthd:nAgd-
it through to its final completion._th
_France
th England and will be confined to
be entered
irsednoint
into
supposed
the matter of privateering.
The time has come for a dis-
tinct and permanent recognition, in international law, of
the American principle that free ships make free goods, and
that the neutral flag Beall give neutrality to the cargo. It
never
is a principle which, this country long Do asserted, and
from which rt.will ne recede. There is no reason in
law or in equity why neutral property should not be as
safe from intrusion on sea as on shore. Engle.nd has as
-
great an interest as our own country in 'enlarging and
establishing the rights of neutrals. The time of her aupre
macy on the high washes for ever purled, and it would be
folly in her to attempt to hold Pit to tlio prerogatives she

[PItIOE SD.

once• . . . .
is.
exercised. r- It absurd in this advanced state Of eivi-
ligation, for any nation to insist, in its 'treatment of other
nations, upon- powers which have uo foundation in national
right,, and rest entirely upon arbitrary precedent. It would
be doubly absurd to insist upbn it when such a Power •as
the :United' States denies its justice, and would resist its
application in her own case to the last extremity. If we
rightly read the last debates in Parliament upon the sub-
ject, the British Government; notwithstanding 'their late
instructions to the English consul at Riga, are disposed to
adept a new
_policy in regard to the rights of neutrals co-
incident in all essential respects with our own, mutate ex-
pecting in.their communications with our .Government to
enter into a plain and permanent understanding upon the
subject. Snch an underitanding is certainlYatie to the
.
rank which both countries hold-in the scale Of natiots, and
tothei moral power of both in the affairs of the world.
"Rae
-regret to - see that there is- in some quarters
'cal° Ilßy towards the alliance of the Western Powere,vrhic.h
seems to have its sbutte in a feeling that this alliance may
be turned against American interests. There is not, the
shadow bf a reason for this. General' Cass's arraignment of
.Lord.Clarcindon's remark, that the accord between England
andgrande was perfect in regard to both hemispheres, was,
however well, meant, altogether uncalled-for and unjust.
We hatre the'beit tin possible authority. for Making this
statement. Loa Clarendon; .in alluding, to-this, hemis-
phere, had refevence Bit/ and exclusively-to the joint
action of France and Eng clin which the %lied States
shared—in Buenbs Ayres and Paraguay. There was not a
particle of -foundation for Senator Cass's imputation, and
no man was more astonished than Lord Clarendon himself
when lie first heard of it. The aimignif oyf `thhaistretw remark
ouarckwnate
s;iass
the whole context showed,, to i
which have-hitherto been rivals, had learnt to know each
other- better, and had abandoned their old business of
getting up and keeping up rival factions iii different parts
of the world. Those who know anything about the long
'and bitter contentions of France and England and Ira Plata
will nnderitand the pertinency of the filltigent" It was not
intended;to refer in any way, directly or indirectly,, pub-
licly or4o-vertly, on any construction or in any sense what
ever, dahkUnited States, or O. Spain or Cnba, or te`itny.
relations between Spain and the United States, OT to any
possible contingencies that might spring therefrom. We
have the best reasons for knowing that the Administra-
tion at Washington understands this fully. With the
information it has now before it, it would not now ven-
ture to give a moment's countenance to the imputations
of Senator Cass ; neither' can the country, without
great injustice to itself as well as to England; give them
the least credit. 'Such paltry jealousy, such exaggeration
of trifles as light as air, are utterly unworthy of a great
people, confident of their ability to maintain their rights,
and inspired with- a sense of their national dignity.
Bog-
-land-is now engaged in a noble struggle—'noble, though
it may have been, in great part, prompted by
,her own
national interests, for 'these interests are in this case iden-
tified with those of humanity and civilisation. She ap-
, 'preaches us with an open hand, and with a will ready to
unite with ne in reformations -for which we have long
laboured singly and without appropriate' effect. It is im-
possible for our Government not to meet hpr, on so just an
object, with the same cordial hearing, and, utterly 'oblivi-
ous of all petty resentments and distrusts, to settle at once
and for, ever great principles of international law demanded
alike by the necessities of commerce and the interests of
civilisation.' ' '

A telegraphic despatch from New Orleans announces
the arrival therwouthe sth inst. of the steamer El Do-
rado,;with dates from San Francisco to the -16th of
March, a fortnight liter than previous advices. The
steamer George Law was to sail from Aspinwall for
New York on the 31st of March; with 500 passengers
and $l,-000,000 in gold dust. The El Dorado reported
the gratifying fact that Lieutenant Strain and his party
of explorers were safe, and had arrived on the Pacific '
const. -The steamers leaving San Francisco on the 16th_.
of March had over $2,000,000 in treasure. The mining
accounts were still exceedingly favourable. The coun-
try was healthy, but the rainy season had been un-
usually severe. The San Francisco markets were quite
stagnant. Six failures, including two commission mer-
chants, had °mimed. Money was stringent, and real
estate bad, largely declined, in value. Colonel Fremont
had been overtaken in the mountains, going the central
route to San Francisco. Several of his party had died.
of cold and hunger. The trial of Colonel Watkins, of
the Walker Expedition, had commenced. The accounts
from Walker's. Expedition _represented that was
quartered at St. 'Vincent's, and was daily dwindling
away. • .
In the New York:markete, sterling exchange having
become firmer, had advanced t0'10.9, <the bulk of trans-,
actions, however, being effected, at 1082 to,loBl. The
stock market exhibited ,general depression in conse.
quence of the' enhanced value of money.- In railway.
shares, bonds,' and, miscellaneous stock there was a gene-
ral decline. Payments during the week were very heavy,
and not less than 23,200,000 dole. passed through the
dearini•honse on the sth Exchange, on Paris was
quoted 5.131, Hamburg; 864 to Bremen 19 The
cotton-market was irregular and unsettled, at a decline.
of te. to ie.. Ashes unaltered. Flour and meal in to-
lerably brisk request for home use 'and on speculation.
Grain quiet, more on account of theabsenn of a suitable
supply than of the demand existing. Corn was very
active,: A reduction-bit the rates of freight to. Liverpool
had tamed more to be done in corn shipments. Flour
3s. Cotton,. fd. to 11-32 per lb. Corn in ship's bags,
81d. to 9d. Corn to. Glasgow, 12d.- •

PROJECTED miNisr.gazAL ATTACK ON
.TIIE BANK OF ENGLAND.

(From, the Times of yesterday.)

The commercial paiition of the Spanish ministry is at
thia.moment by no means an eligible one; indeed, it is
some degrees lower than that of Spanish ministers has ever
been before. In 'a time of profound peace foreign and do-
mestic credit is to the Spanish minister utterly hopeless,
and without a real in the treasury he dares not aspire to
the dignity of a loan. All ho can do is to entreat her Most
Catholic Majesty's loyal subjects to pay the taxes of the
ensuing quarter in advance, in coniideration of which they
are to receive a discount of 8 per cent., and will confer a
never-to-be-forgotten favour on their obliged and very
humble servant the bankrupt Minister of Finance. Yet,.
even in this abasement of his Iberian compeer the Finance
Minister of England may find- something to envy. .The
Spaniard has no money and no credit ; but then he has no
balances in the Bank of England, and no deficiency bills:
He has no pampered and overgrown corporatiOn to set
itself up, with something of the prestige of official position
and.all the license of private action, and to warn him that
he must not expect them to lend the public its own money
except it be perfectly convenient for them to dO so. It is
probably better to beg at' Saragossa than in Threadneedle-
street, and to be a humble petitioner for the temporary use
of other people's money than our own. : •
If any one doubts the untenable nature of the position
now taken up by the Bank of England with respect to the
government, he has only to consider _what position the
Bank would occupy if all peculiar support were withdrawn
from it, as it may be within twelve months alter August,
1855. In the first place, let us suppose the Bank to lose
the management of the public debt. This would be a very
serious loss of a very handsome allowance, which no trading
eoncern would willingly give up. There can, however, be
no doubt that the mere allowance from government of
3401. per million on six hundred Millions; and 3001. per
million on the remainder of the debt, very imperfectly re-
preaents the advantages derived by the Bank from this
ageney. The convenience of depositing the dividend when
it has been received, and the confidence inspired by the
possession for a time of such yea sums of money.; naturally
attract depositors to the,private branch of •the institution.
Besides, the plan iipon.which our debt is paid, by necessi-
tating a large- accumulation of money in the hands of
the Bank four times a year, , gives •a considerable balance
to be employed for the purposes of profit, and thus indi-
rectly increases the advantages derived from Government,
connection. But the most marvellous instance of the ex-
traordinary advantages derived by the Bank" from its
connection with the Government is yet pc. come. The
Government has borrowed from the Aank eleven millions
'of its capital, for which it pays interest, and, in return,
the Bank is permitted to create fourteen millions of paper
money, which it can lend to the Government or any of its
subjects at interest. Thus the Bank is placed in that en-
viable position which is poptilarly supposed to be so difficult
to obtain—that of at once possessing and eating its cake.
The Bank has lent to the Governmentcleven millions! for
which it duly receives interest, and yet, by a prooess,
almost magical, those eleven millions are returned to its
coffers, and are just as available for the • purpoae of mpg
money as if they had never been lent at all. In
_fiect.,ptllie.
felicity of the Bank is paralleled by nothing busst:lci
of the
city of the Government, which, being posse
power of creating eleven millions of money
or any other
d employing
them in buying up eleven millions of its
t mower, of creating
-purpose it thinks proper, delegatesthen borrows from its own
that money to the Bank, and it to produce. The
operation the money it has thus enabled
same as if a landowner should
percent rent, and then
himself is very much the
lease .a farm to a tenant at
ofa_ POl3
ownland at a rack rent.
himself become sub-lessee his own
except a government whose affairs are too large
No one,and. ahetruse to be regulated by the homely dictates of
common
ghaantdalolfw hilei t
making
sense, would think of borrowing
had an unexceptionable and .facile means
mousy. and the Absurdity would not be diminished by the
,
fact that the very, money berionred was created by the agency
of the borrower, and made over to the creditor in order to
be lent to him.. To seek for a parallel one must have re
me -
course to fiction, and remember the steward of the Spanish
cavalier in " Gil Blas," who made so very great a favour
of lending him his own money. In addition to these pri-
, vileges, we must not omit the large public accounts which
are kept at the Bank in obedience to the diferen t statutes
and rulestof law, which raise the deposits of this favoured
institution to an amount whichprivatelook and
bankers
long for in vain, and enable it in its deposit branch very
greatly to counteract the restrictions placed by the law of
1844 on the branch of issue. Nor ought we, in* enume-
rating the advantages enjoyed by the Bank, to forget that,
although for all its notes above fourteen. millions the Bank
is' obliged to retain a corresponding amount of bullion,
there is an immense profit in the mere largeness of the
issue. Every fire, every loss of a coasting steamer or sail-
ing vessel, destroys a certain amount of this cur'rency, and
thus diminishes pro 'tanto the liabilities of the Bank.
When 'we consider that this institution has been in exist-
ence since 1694, and pass in our minds the innumerable
disasters which have occurred in that 160 years, we may
form some slight- idea of what the Bank has gained, and
what
.the Government might have gained by the destruc-
tion of the promises to pay. Such a return would bo a
curious one, and would form an apt sequel to the, debate.
of 'the other night. For all these advantages and privi-
leges, the value of which is so great, that, after retaining
in its hands a considerable "Rest," and paying for build-
ings enormously expensive both in their site and in their
construction, the Bank can afford to its shareholders the
not unsatisfactory dividend of 9 per cent., it
vernment annually 180,0001. pays to Go-
d in
NoW, let us suppose the arrangement contemplate
the act of 1844—a repayment to the Bank of all the funded
.and unfunded' debts of 'which it may be the holder, and
the cowmen, or- rather the averting to Government of
the power Alif managing its own debts, keeping its own
mosey, bud OV/11
.promises to pay-what would

become of this institution, which patronises Chancellossii
the Exchequer, and talks of the public money and pubhe
privileges placed in its hands as if they were its own ? Wo
are not saying whether such a step would be desirable. or
not. Many considerations besides the words and demon-
our of Bank directors and their friends must be maturely
weighed before any resolution can be arrived at on so mo•
mentous a subject; but this we say, that in the event of a
severance from Government, the Bank would immediately
sink to the level of any other joint-stock bank in the cow-
try., and cease to occupy the position in the public, eye
which it now fills. _

Without involving ourselves in the consideration of such
momentous changes, there is one step Which we alheerely
hope the Chancellor of the Exchequer will lose nO time' in
taking, for it is, dictated both by the interests of the Go.
verninent and the•. convenience of the publie.: The neces-
sity of siniki ngl
arge paymentirfor the interest oss the debt
lour times In the year has led to the system of keeping
large belasicei in the hands of the Bank of England,- and
that, again, to the practice of moderating the evil bymeene
of deficiency, bills and smaller balances: Why Should not
the yearly sums to be paid by the Bank be divided into
twelve equal pasts, each to be made payable; on the first
day of every month ? Thus the mischief of withdrawing
large sums from' the circulation, and suddenly re-issuing
them would 'he avoided, and the derangement Would be so
44141-ht as to be hardly pCrceptible. .The first'sttp tollorards
,a readjustment of the relatione between Government' and
AEI Bank would be to do away with the necessity of bor•
rowing and the excuse forlarge deposit%

I

TitE 4iINIC OF 'ENGLAND AND, 274,E
~:! ,

(F. can -the Zlaily-Nest.

The Times yesterdaY had two articles 'vindicating its
course respecting the Bank of England end the,Civil Ser-
vice, and abutsing the Liberal press, to which, by the
-abuse, it admits that itdoes not belong. Not to waste the
reada% time by preliminary remarks, we shall at' once say
of the article on the Civil Service that the Times very
complacently assumes that the monopoly plan, like free
trade,,is to confer unknown bleessings on mankind, and
erroneously asserts that falsehood and evil are eminently
barren: But free trade only conferred unknown benefits
on mankind, because the system of restriction was fruitful
of unknown evils. The proverb says that one falsehood
begets another, and one false step, whether taken by
woman or lawyer, involves, if it cannot be retraced, inn*. •
merable others. If the Times were not as ignorant as it is
assuming, it would know that falsehood and evil are as
prolific parents of their proper offspring as truth and good-
acretins a ess,oann,:ifitthe wouldGuvenronrae
not have propounded in another article
harmless scheme a plan of general plunder at the dis•
Those who oppose the Civil Service plan are not led
away, like the Tile, by assertions of would-be monopolists,
and they repudiate the assumption that examinations of
crammed aspirants for office are admirable gauges of human
intellect. That they who oppose the scheme shrink,, as
the Times says,. with unerring instinct from the practice
recognition: of the claims of intellect is obviously not true,
since they grapple with the would-be monopolists, who
assume to be intelleotual heroes, and expect to defeat them.
Following in the wake of the Rev. Rd. Dawes, M.D., Dean
of Hereford, the Times asserts that there are wanting mo-
tives for self-improvement, ,finless the Government create
them, and- it exults at the effect which the mere pro-
pounding of the scheme has had in improving the educa-
tional institutions of the country. But" the rejection of
Greek, at which the . Times exults, has long been recom-
mended by the'hiberals," while the,. Rev. B. Jewett, one
of the authors of thOscheme, advocates its retention.. The
journal has forgotten its teachers; for while they ere. fbr
an " examination on a level With the highest description
of education in the country," the education given at Cam-
bridge and Oxford, the Times contents itself with the
practical education proper to the countinghouse. Fear-
ful, too, of the effects of public discussion, now that the
subject has been ventilated, the - Times is for carrying
the scheme into effect by an order in council, though
the commissioners, in the first flush of the conception, and
in the confidence of success, recommended an act of Par-
liament. From the intellectual test of discussion in Par-
liament the Times shrinks, and suggests that 4he scheme
ShoUld be -at once carried into effect by the Executive G-
overnment. There is a conflict amongst its proposers, as
to what is to be aimed at, and how it is to be accomplished,
and their division, the result of ignorant pretensions, is
the forernnner-of defeat.

As to the Bank, the Times misstates, if it do not mis-
take, the question at issue. The poor humble Bank, the
mere creature, in its • present form, of the Executive Go.
.vetnment, has never for one moment presumed to oppose
the Chancellor's will • but those who represent commerce,
alarmed at the unusual demand made by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer on the, capital of the country, objected
to his proceedings as an injury to trade. The Times, how-
ever, assails the Bank, and summing up the privileges_ it
enjoys, and the advantages it derives from being the
'banker of the Government, threatens it with Vie loss of
them because it is not a sufficiently convenient tool for the
Chancellor. We require the Bank Charter to be abolished
for the good of the public, because its existence is a viola-
tion of the principle of free trade; the Timex, regardless
of the public and of principle, objects to it as a restraint
on the extravagance or carelessness of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer.
lirenumerating its privileges, the Times forgets the re-
straints imposed on it in con;nnction with them, and the
improper duties it is required to perform. The State con-
stitutes the Bank the regulator of the currency, and directs
the appropriation of its resources as if they belonged to.
itself: The Bank would lose nothing by losing its N.M.
leges, if it also lost its official dignity and its burdens. Re-
duced to a mere Joint-stock Bank, instead of Making a,
dividend of 9-per cent., it might make, like other . Joint-
stock Banks, 10, 12, or even 13. Such is the ignorance
however, of the pinta, that it represents the former figure
as very large„ anti as due to the privileges 'enjoyed by the
Bank ; while it is notorious that in the last 6 mouths it
has been exceeded by the gains'of every Joint-stock Bank'
'in the metropolis. In fact; the restrictions impeded on the
Bank in conjunction with its privileges prevent it making
a proper use of its resources. They are all impediments to
the free use of capital, and injure the Bank as well as the
public.
The Times assumes that the Government has exclusively
the power to issue promises to pay. Every man has the
power; ...the.Bank has the power, but selfishly Submits to
restrictions on its own issue to secure more .effectually re-
strictions on those of other men. When the Government as-
sumes the power, it invariably abuses it. Russian paper
money, to quote only one example, though there is no State of
Europe thatavill net supply others, •was debased till it fell
about 1840 from 40d., the ordinary value of a rouble,to 11 id.
It was then restored; but according to late intellkence
from St. Petersburg, the Czar had again begun to debase
it by the issue of 60,000,000 roubles, about 10,000,000/.
The Times claims such a power for the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and his quarrel with the Bank is, that it may
be a check on his possible rapacity. • " No one," it says,
"except a Government whose affairs are too large and too
abstruse to be regulated by the homely dictates of common
cense, would think of borrowing at, all, while it•had'an
unexceptionable and facile means at hand of nraldng,
money." To issue paper promises to pay by the Govern-
ment is certainly a facile means of raising a limited sum of
money, but all history is as false as the columns of the Times
if it be unexceptionable. Against Government becoming
the issuer of promises to pay, debasing the currency to any
extent it pleases, and vitiating the measure of value, there
is this- unanswerable objection, that thereiamo means of
compelling it to keep its promise. It is a debtor who can-
not be coerced. Even a revolution is powerless to make it.
pay, fig the simple and plain reason that it has nothing to
pay with. It has only taxation. Though the Times bolds
out to.the people as a lure the levying of 20,000,0001. on
themselves by the promises of the Government to pa` on
demand, they will never trust a debtor whom they have
no means of coercing, and will prefer the old lady. of
Threadneedle-street to an active and rapacious chief of the
Civil—or rather the restrictive and despotic—Service.
The real question at issue is not between the Bank and
the Government, but between the trade of the country`and
the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The balances'in- the
Exchequer and the public deposits were on the sth of April
as follows
Public Deposits. Balance in the Exchequer.
1850 9-January 5.
1851 ..... , 7,078,820 7,879,671 April 5.
1852
1853
•1854

first of
tihtewseaYsetarsighttl:eanmdoinne*lBtrkunek
1,
When We consult the'Bank returns
Now, in the three
was extremeulyaesaatiy,hit
steady
l'iavtiethe highest amount of private securities in the
we see
quarter was, in 1853, 16,385,120/. • in 1854,
16
8Prin,522g,7• .;while the average of the highest returns in the
A quarter of the three preceding years was 12,745,0001.,
Tnov;ii;g, as every one is well aware, that in 1853 and 1854
centrism °°
. required a largo addition of capital to be success-
fully carried on. It was the duty of the Government, there-
for e, which exists but for the protection of the interests of
the people, and which has unwarrantably assumed to itself
the control of the issue of Bank notes, at least not so to act
from a peddling notion of saving 100,0001., which could hot
be saved—so as to embarrass commerce. The Chancellor
however, at the very time when commerce was straitened,
made, from a mere whim of his own, large and unusual de-
mands on the means of commerce. This is the objection to
his proceedings. Re disturbed and inured trade, which
he was bound to protect; and from this charge the Times
will not divert the attention of commercial men by ridging
a cloud of dust about the profits and privileges of /the
and about the very important but abstract question of who
should issue promises to pay money.

DEATH FROM INTOXICATION.—Yesterday Mr. Brent
held an inquest on a retired City tradesman, aged forty-
two, whose death occurred under very. distressing
cumstances. It appears from the evidence of deceased's
widow that her husband was carried home hist Saturday
night in an insensible state and considering that he suf-
fered from intoxication she had laid him on the parlor
floor to sleep off the fit, as was his usual custom... She re-
mained with him until a late hour, when finding he con-
-tinned unconscious she retired to rest, having previously
taken the precaution to loosen his cravat and collar. Upon
going to the parlour the following (Sunday) morning, she
fodnd him lying-in the same position in'which she left
him the night previous, and quite dead, life having
been extinct several hours. Mr. Hetherington, pro-
prietor of the Bull and Gate, said deceased came to his
houie on Saturday night, and as he was the worse
for liquor he refused to serve him, but as he (deceased)
refused.to leave the house before he got a •glase of ruin,
witness gave it him in order to get rid of him.
_After
deceased had the glass of rum, witness requested some
persons to assist him home; which they did. Mr.
Rawlins, surgeon, performed -the post-mortem exatpi.
nation, and found that death arose from congestion:of
the brain produced by intoxicating liquer4 It further
appeared that in. the course of the evening preceding his
death the unfortunate man drank largely of bath spi-
rituouslle
and malt liquors, besides which he smoked for
andseve several-
smoker. hours
l The verdict
together.
v
medical testimony.
Ok hon
PHOTOGRAPHS or GRECIAN ANTIQITIES:-=On the
walls of the Society of Arts there p.m now'suspended- a
number of -very beautiful photographic views, by Mr.
Robertson, of Constantinople, in different part' of Greece.
The collection comprises forty views in Athens, includ-
ing the Parthenon, the Temple of Theseus, the Erec-
theum, the Temple of Victory,the Tower of the
Winds,
&c.,'three views at Egina, two at Corinth, two,at Su-
ilium, and in addition, views of the friezes of dui- Par-
thenon, and alto-relievos in the Temple of ,Viefory.
These pictures will remain on view for about a week or
ten days, and should be seen by all architects, artists,
and students of ancient history.