The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 5, 1854

" tired" in very earnest, but—this time—cer-
tainly
not of " war's alarms :" on the contrary,
of the craven pipings of the hitherto all-
influential peacemongers. Insomuch that oue
nervous versifier* (anonymously, but on that ac-
count none the less commendably) has found it in
his heart to cry out in an agony of epigrammatic
wrath—

" Britannia! rise in all thy pride,
Or ne'er thy flag unfurl :
`No little war,' the great Duke cried ;
What cries the petty Earl ?"
Everything, indeed, that has recently afforded us
the most momentary glimpse into the feeling
roused among our gallant soldiers by the events
of the past deplorable twelve months, has tended
more and more clearly to satisfy us that there has
been the bitterest heart-burnings in the army of
England—a state of things such as would have
carried sorrow to the old warrior now slumbering
by the side of NELSON under St. Paul's basilica,
had he survived to witness the calamitous occur-
rences which have illustrated the misrule of Lord
ABERDEEN ever since the " travelled Thane" un-
fortunately, for this country, and unfortu-
nately, also, for the rest of the nations of
Christendom, undertook the guidance of her
MAJESTY'S Government. It has been felt
rather than " seen" or "heard" that undue in-
fluence has been exercised at the Horse Guards,
by one who had no sort of authority, direct or
indirect for that interference—one presumed, not
without ample reason, to have rather too many
German predilections. Englishmen have revolted
from this—English soldiers especially have re-
sented the notion of affairs at Head-quarters
being directed by an individual too supple and
complaisant in temperament to be the worthiest
successor of the courtly, but iron, stubborn, un-
yielding, independent WELLINGTON.
"Bowing down, bowing down !"
may, as CHARLES MACKAY has it, be in truth
and in deed—

"The way to get on in London town !"

But every one feels it is not the most befitting
attitude to be assumed at the Horse Guards, by
the one high in authority, whether as Commander-
in-Chief, or Commanding-in-Chief. British ve-
terans look for a General made of sterner stuff
than goes to the fabrication of the elastic verte-
bra; of a courtier. Wherefore, we believe that the
rumoured changes, above particularised, will be
awaited eagerly by the vast majority of the officers
of the British army—men who would hail almost
" as one man" the advent to supremacy over that
department of the public service of the beloved
Commander who has long come to be regarded as
one of the nohlest and worthiest lieutenants of
WELLINGTON. However this may be, the feeling
of the soldiers of England is altogether against
being—Germanised. They ask themselves with
a bitter sense of abasement how it has come to
pass, so frequenly of late, that merit has been
overlooked, and promotion accorded elsewhere,
where it might least have been expected. They
cannot understand the course recently pursued at
the Horse Guards, in reference to their organisa-
tion as a body, or rather, it should be said more
correctly, their disorganisation. Neither can
they comprehend the wretched paltering of our
diplomatists to the truculent ambition of a poten-
tate who has learned how to beard us with
impunity. The soldiers of Great Britain
behold recent events in this light : and the same
view is taken also by the soldiers of our Gallic
neighbours. They ask, as another has asked—
" France leagued with England, why these fond alarms?

HOTSPUR AND DOUGLAS MATCH THE WORLD IN ARMS."
At such a juncture can any one indeed, with a
single thrill of patriotism in his veins, hearken
with indifference to a rumour of changes at the
Horse Guards, accompanied, as they are, with
feeble and scarcely audible whispers of the possi-
bility of modifications in the foreign policy of
England under a really vigorous and capable
Government !

some time. He told me to tell the Inspector that
he was no policeman, and that he was not to be
called up at that hour. I said it was an urgent
case, as one of the children was only eight months
old. He told me if it was only eight days old lie
would have nothing to do with it ; that I might
lock them all up, and that he would not be
bothered. I told him if he was a man possessed
of any feeling he would treat the case differently.
He asked me how I dared to insult him by a re-
' mark of that kind. I said the case would be
brought before the Lord Mayor, and that it would
be my duty to report the remarks he had made to
his Lordship. He told me to tell the Lord Mayor
to trouble his head about city business, and not
about his. He then shut the door, and I returned
to the house where the children were, accompanied
by the Inspector and a woman who had informed
me about the poor family. When we went into
the room, in which there appeared to be nothing
but a broken table and a broken chair, we looked
aliout, but saw no children; but in a corner where
appeared to be an old bedstead, we beheld a lump
of filthy rags, and there lay the children fast
asleep. They were covered with vermin. I heard
from the woman who accompanied me that they
had had no food the whole of the day. Of course I
made the best arrangement I could, by the direc-
tion of the Inspector, for the protection of the
children. The woman who undertook to take•care
of them was supplied by me with the money, and
she properly attended to them. They seized the
bread that was put before them, and voraciously de-
voured it. They are all under seven years old."
Such conduct requires no comment. The indig-
nant official, whose boundless wrath was excited
by the late hour in which the appeal was made to
his benevolence—he cared nothing whether the
child was eight months or eight days old. He
was not to be disturbed, or his ease interfered
with, by anything of such trivial consequence as
the life or death of a distressed family, or render-
ing assistance to four deserted children, the eldest
under seven years old. Let the Policeman " lock
them all up—he would not be bothered !" And
yet this man was singularly sensitive as to any
imputation on the humanity of which he had just
given such an extraordinary specimen. When
the really benevolent constable mentioned to him
that "if he was a man possessed of any feeling
he would treat the case differently," he flew into
a towering passion. He asked how his rude
disturber " dared to insult him by a remark of
the kind." He even sneered at the civic majesty,
and hurled contemptuous defiance at the successor
of WHITTINGTON, desiring the constable "to tell
the Lord Mayor to trouble his head about City busi-
ness, and not about his I" It is impossible to say
what might have been the result had WM. CLAYTON
dealt with the matter in a similar spirit. He,
however, supplied money to a woman who under-
took to take care of the forlorn infants. He
provided at his own expense the bread which they
seized and voraciously devoured when it was
placed before them, and thus, perhaps, averted
the necessity for another inquest and another in-
quiry, such as that which recently took place in
Marylebone. Such conduct merits the greatest
praise. It was highly commended by the pre-
siding Magistrate, Alderman HUMPHREY, who
ordered the expenses of the constable to be paid ;
but we trust that he will yet receive a more sub-
stantial token of general approbation.
We find a relieving officer of Clerkenwell,
named BENNETT, complained of on Monday for a
pertinacious refusal to receive two deserted chil-
dren—one five and the other three years of age—
who, notwithstanding the Magistrate's order,
were sent back from the Workhouse to the
Police Court, where they appeared "to be
perishing with cold and hunger." As BENNETT
possessed sufficient grace to be ashamed of his
conduct, and promised to receive the children,
we shall not further allude to his conduct. From
that of the Bethnal-green official, however, it is
clear that nothing will suffice to enforce the claims
of suffering humanity until the refusal to afford
adequate assistance in an urgent case be made a
misdemeanour and subjected to stringent pun-
ishment ; and until such refusals be re-
garded as deserving immediate and ignominious
expulsion from office. When such matters are
regarded in a proper point of view by the Guar-
dians we may hope that the disgrace will be
removed from the British name, but no sooner.

MONEY MARKET

AND
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

CITY, TWO O'CLOCK.

There is no mail in yet from Liverpool.
The ship Telegraph, arrived at Callao, had
advices of September 26th from Sydney, being a
day or two later, but we have not yet seen any
letters or papers brought by her. _

The steamer Magdalena brings the West India
mails, and over 2,100,000 dollars in specie. In the
Jamaica Assembly the proceedings had been very
uninteresting. Three bills had passed, the Road
Bill, the Spirit License Bill, and the Warehousing
Bill. The question of responsible government had
been occupying some attention. The weather had
been boistefous, with strong north and westerly
winds.

At the half-yearly meeting of the South Sea Com-
pany, held this day, the usual dividend of 12 per
cent. upon the company's stock was declared, pay-
able on the same day as the Government annuities.
The income of the company was 146,410/. 13s. 11. d.,
and the expenditure 82,0551. 10s. 5d., leaving a
balance of 64,3551. 3s. 6d. It was agreed after
some discussion that a special meeting should be
called for the purpose of considering the propriety
of separating in the new bill now before Parlia-
ment the request of power for dissolving the com-
pany from that for continuing the company for
trust purposes.
The English Stock is very dull again, and there
is a drooping tendency in prices. Consols have
been as low as 92i to 93, after having been previ-
ously at 93i. The New 3/ per Cents. have been
941- to f, and the 3 per Cents. 93 to f . Long An-
nuities are 51. In Exchequer Bills there have been
no transactions, except a bargain in the small at
7s. premium.
The Committee of Mexican Bondholders have,
by way of the United States, received a copy of
Mr. Falconnet's letter, dated Mexico, the Ist De-
cember, 1853, which he had sent by the direct
packet that is still due. Mr. Falconnet had been
obliged to defer his departure for another month,
and at the date of his letter intended to leave Vera
Cruz, by the steamer, for New Orleans, on the
22nd December, so as to be here in about three
weeks. The last report of the Committee (24th
January, 1853, pages 10 11) mentioned
that the per centage assigned to the foreign
debt of the export duty on specie, had, by
the Mexican authorities, been calculated on
the 51 per cent. charged previous to Ist of October,
1851, and not on the increased rate of 6 per cent.
then imposed, and that for want of accounts this
had only just then been discovered, though the
difference may have amounted to 50,000 dollars
annually, to the prejudice of the Bondholders.
The Government has now ordered that in future
the per centage in favour of the foreign debt shall
be calculated on the full duty of 6 per cent., levied
on the export of dollars. On the other hand, the
Government continued to appropriate the revenues
assigned to the Bondholders in Guaymas, Mata-
moros, and the ports of Yucatan, although Mr.
Falconnet had remonstrated to the Minister of
Finance on the subject.
There has been a flat market again for most
foreign securities, and with very little business go-
ing on. Mexican Bonds have declined to 232
being a fall of nearly per cent., in consequence
of the continued appropriation, by the Govern-
ment, of the amount of the Customs' duties right-
fully belonging to the Foreign creditors. Peruvian
Deferred Stock has been marked 44. Spanish
Three per Cents. are at 44k, and Brazilian Four-
and-a-Half per Cents. at 921. Russian Four-and-
a-Half per Cents. are quoted, ex dividend, 941
being kto per cent. lower.
The last week's railway receipts ascertained up
to this day are in round figures as under :

North-Western
South-Western ..

Brighton

South-Eastern.....
Great Northern .

THE SNOW STORM.

In addition to what we published in our first edition
yesterday respecting the snow-storm, some further in-
formation has been obtained from which it will be found
that the fall of snow has been general throughout the
country. It appears we were in error in stating that
the northern mails arrived in London at 11 o'clock;
this was only a small portion of them, viz., from places
on this side of Crewe, and the letters by this train were
not delivered in the City until past three o'clock. Letters
and papers from Manchester, Liverpool, and all places
farther north, were not delivered at all. Several trains
from the south and west are stopped at Crewe by the
snow, and yesterday no London papers reached Man-
chester or Liverpool. In many places in Manchester
Ike snow was a yard deep.
The trains on the line of the Great Northern were all
snow-bound. The snow was eight feet deep between
Retford and Newark, and the line was impassable all
day and night.

The foot promenades in the parks in the metropolis,
as well as the whole of the frozen waters—the ice of
which was nearly eight inches thick—were covered with
snow to the depth of nearly 18 inches. The consequence
was, that comparatively few persons ventured upon the
Ornamental waters for the purpose of either sliding or
skating.
At no period of the day was the number of omnibuses
equal to the usual supply, while cabs, at first utterly
invisible, few proprietors being willing to send their
vehicles into the streets, and few drivers willing to
take charge of them, were only obtainable with great
difficulty. Most of the omnibuses which ran drove
three, and in some instances four horses, and fully one-
half of the cabs which made their appearance had two
horses, generally tandem. As might naturally be ex-
pected under these circumstances, an adherence to the
ordinary fares was out of the question. The long stage
omnibuses, instead of 6d., charged is. and is. 6d., and
the twopenny omnibuses along Holborn and Oxford-
street, raised their fares to 6d. Cabs were difficult to
procure at any price, the ranks being almost entirely
deserted, " cabby" arguing, and in this instance with
some appearance of justice, that " once upon the rank,
he would be nailed for the sixpence, which wouldn't
pay for horseflesh in such weather." In some instances
as much as ss. was given for cabs for a distance barely
exceeding a single mile.

The mercantile firms in the City were put to great
inconvenience, and their business almost to a stand-still,
in consequence of the non-arrival of their letters, and
other despatches, at the usual hour by the mails.

The River Thames was in such a state that had the
frost of Monday night's severity continued to the present
time it must have been frozen over. As it was, the ex-
panse of the water, even near the metropolitan bridges,
was nearly covered with large blocks of ice, containing
high heaps of snow, so that steam-boats, or even coal-
barges, could not be navigated on the water. Many of
the small coal-dealers in poor neighbourhoods at once
took advantage of the state of the weather, and put an
extra 2d., and in some places 4d., per cwt. upon the
price of coal, which must have been severely felt by
their poor customers..
Last night a thaw set in, which was very general in
London, but only partial a few miles out of town. The
thaw continues to-du.
The various theatres and other places of amusement
suffered to a great extent last night on account of the
weather—most of the houses presented little more than
empty buildings. The Wednesday Evening Concert at
Exeter Hall was entirely discontinued for the evening,
it being found impracticable for the carriages conveying
the company to approach the building.
The following account of the effects of the storm upon
the various railways is derived from official information :

at 8 p.m., and ought to have arrived at Dover about 11
p.m., was delayed until half-past 9 yesterday morning,
being 10 hours behind its time. The up mail from
Dover, due at London bridge at 8 6 a.m. yesterday, did
not arrive until 12 30 p.m., while up to 3 o'clock no train
whatever had arrived from Ramsgate, Margate, or Can-
terbury. All the other up trains were considerably late,
but the down trains were despatched at the time fixed.
On the North Kent Branch the snow drifted to an
almost uniform depth of six feet. Mr. Weatherall, the
station-master at London•bridge, was arduously engaged
from 4 o'clock yesterday morning superintending large
bodies of men. employed in clearing the line.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST.

This line was completely blocked up between London
and New-cross, and had to be dug out before trains could
travel in the morning. The mail and other trains arrived
somewhat behind time, but no serious delay occurred.
The down trains were despatched as usual.