The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-26 00:00:00

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Yesterday being a holiday, the cotton and rail-
way markets at Liverpool were closed.
The overland letters from India are expected to
be delivered here on the 28th inst.

The ship Phoenician from Sydney brings dates of
August 26, and 5,250/. in gold.
There is nothing of mercantile interest in the
Continental letters.

The accounts from New York by the steamer
Africa are to the 12th inst., and are by no means
of a reassuring character. The firms which have
recently suspended payment have brought down
other establishments, and the banks, which from
their number, have been compelled to enter upon
such a race of competition, and to foster mercantile
enterprise to an extent verging upon speculation,
have in turn experienced the severity of the pressure
and the weakening of public confidence. That much
of the reaction in the United States is due to the
war must be palpable to all, although the defi-
cienc3- in the corn crops is an accessory cause. The
relations of America and Europe are now so inti-
mate that however neutrality may be supposed to
shield a country from danger, it is certain that it can-
not protect it from pecuniary loss. The idea has been
a favourite one until within the last three months,
that America had very little sympathy or concern
with the gigantic struggle that is being carried on,
but the rude monitors of dear money and failing
banks has taught the contrary, and the Message of
the President, redolent as it justly is of national
prosperity, does not conceal the prejudicial charac-
ter of the interruption to peace. That there is
anything iu the commercial position of the States
to excite serious apprehension or regret we will
not pretend to assert. They are substantially rich,
thriving, and happy, and with a Government
exchequer so amply supplied individual suffering Lt.
must certainly subside. It is to our side of the 1:
Atlantic that more of the inconvenience will now 20
be transferred. The rate of exchange on bankers' Pt!
bills had fallen ere the steamer left to 108 to 1081, St.
and private bills were done as low as 106 to 1061. lg
Making every allowance for the mistrust which has 126
created such a wide difference in the quotations for st
50
.
drafts upon England, we must accept the fact 40
as one of a nature to check the exportation of specie 25
from New York as a matter of profit, though we 2sst.
may yet find bullion coming over as upon former 8121
occasions with a very depreciated exchange, solely St:
from the difficulty of obtaining good bills. Then 50
as to the future, the sudden turn in the tide which 40
has just occurred must be due partially to artifi- 6,
cial circumstances. The pressure for money 2r
in America induces all who have credits here, Vs
whether against shipments of cotton or corn, to
draw much sooner than they otherwise would do,
and the liabilities which, under more normal condi-
tions, would be distributed over a longer period,
become crowded into one much shorter. It follows
necessarily that, when discharged, there will be a
rebound, and that the exchange will advance as
rapidly as it has fallen, and in the meantime a cau-
tious policy is indispensable. We notice among
the failures that of an extensive dry goods'
house at Boston, J. W. Blodgett and Company.
The liabilities are stated at 2,000,090 dollars,
and they are brought down by numerous
smaller suspensions at the south. The firm did a
good business with Canals. Three or four savings
banks at New York had stopped, and the Cen-
tral Bank was unable to go on. A slight insight
into the cause of this we obtain from a local jour-
nalist, who observes :
" The Clearing House closed up another bank to-day.
The Central Bank failed to make good its account this
morning, and was therefore suspended. This concern has
been putting up an elegant marble building on the corner
of Broadway and Chamber-street, at an expense of about
one hundred thousand dollars, equal to about one-third of
its capital, and the probability is that it will, when com-
pleted, be occupied for some other purpose than that ori-
ginally intended. About a year ago, new banks were
created at the rate of one per week, they are now suspend-
ing at about the same rate. We shall soon get back again
to the old number. Bill holders of the Central Bank need
be under no apprehension regarding their value. The re-
turns of this bank for the week ending the 9th instant,
were as follows :—Loans, 301,172 dols. ; deposits, 186,249
dolts. ; circulation, 83,733 dols.—Specie, 22,405 dols.
About Stocks and Shares the following informa-
tion is given
" New York central stock still rules above the market
value of the bonds, but it probably will not continue so
long. The difficulty of getting large quantities of the
stock when required, in consequence of its general distribu-
tion, deters sellers from putting out large contracts, and
prices are therefore sustained much beyond its actual
value. Holders are waiting patiently for a dividend.
Their patience will soon be exhausted, when we may look
for a greater supply of stock on the market. It was a long
time before holders of Erie Railroad stock believed that
investment was not the best on the list, and those who would
not sell at 80 or 90 percent. have since sold at 40 and 50 per
cent. It will be just so with New York Central. It will go
down as fast as Erie, and ultimately reach as low points. It
is now the highest railroad stock on the market, and it is
the most inflated, overgrown corporation in the country.
Its capital, funded and floating debt, amount to nearly
forty millions of dollars, and will soon exceed that enor-
mous sum. It must break down from its own weight, and
when it does collapse it will leave a sad wreck behind.
From the time of the consolidation it has been going ra-
pidly to decay. Under the different companies the dif-
ferent stocks were kept at a premium, and large dividends
paid, in some way, but since the amalgamation the ten-
dency has been downward, and the entire concern has be-
come dilapidated and diseased. Since the consolidation,
twelve millions of dollars have been added to its indebted-
ness, without anything to show for it, and the roadway
and rolling machinery are in such a condition that an ex-
penditure of from three to five millions of dollars will be
required to place them in decent condition. The opinion
is rapidly gaining ground that the New York Central 100
Railroad Company never will pay another dividend above
two or three per cent. per annum from its net earnings." 100
In the funds there is scarcely any business doing, 29
the attendance in the Stock Exchange being al- 2
ways limited during Christmas week. Consols 20
have been marked 91i to g. Exchequer Bills aro no
4s. to 75., and India Bonds 9s. to 12s. premium.
Bank Stock has been firm at 209. The New 3 100
100
per Cents. have been quoted 912 to 91i, the same 100
as Consols.
Foreign Securities have been rather flat gene- 120 g
rally, and more offered. Spanish Threes are 38a, 20
and the Deferred 181 to 2. Russian 41 per Cents. 5
are 871. Turkish Stock is 742 to I. The Deferred 20
Venezuela Bonds are 9 to 1. 4

The following are the nominal prices of foreign
stocks :—Grenada Deferred Bonds, 5 to 6 ; Mexi-
can 201 to 21i ; Peruvian, 68 to 70 ; Ditto 3 per
Cents., 48 to 50 ; Portuguese 4 per Cents., 41 to
43 ; Russian 5 per Cents. 97 to 99 ; Ditto 4l per
Cents., 87 to 89 ; Spanish New Deferred, 181 to
19 ; Ditto 3 per Cents., 381 to 391 ; Ditto Certifi-
cates, 51 to 54 ; Ditto Passive, 41 to 41.
For railway shares there is very little inquiry,
but the quotations are generally firm. The foreign
lines are merely nominal.
The Cobre Copper Company's shares are higher,
and also the Brazilian Imperial.
South Australian land shares are steady. Banks
are about the same, and also Crystal Palace.

BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOU .
(From the OOlcial List.)
Business done
Bank Stock . .
3 per Cent. Reduced Annuities.... ......... . 91i 1
New 3 per Cent. Annuities
India Bonds. £lOOO ... , ~,
Ditto, under £lOOO 9
Consols for Account, 10th January
Exchequer Bills, 24d.
21.000.
Exchequer Bonds 1858, 3i per Cent. —
Ditto 1859, „
99i 13
PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Peruvian Bonds, 41 per Cent. 691
'Portuguese Bonds, 5 per Cent
Ditto, IS4B, 3 per Cent 3BA
Russian Bonds, 44 per Cent
Spanish Bonds, 3 per Cent 384
Ditto New Deferred, 3 per Cent. lBi a
Spanish Committee Cert. of Coup. not fun. N p c
Turkish Scrip, paid up in full
Ditto for the Account ...... 741 i i
Venezuela Bonds, 3:) per Cent................—
Ditto Deferred, 1 per Cent 9i 9
Dividends on the above payable In l
HA LPontioa
-P AST T IVO.
Consols

NEW BIILLET.—Mr. Win. Palmer, of Feltwell, in this
county (says the Nor folk News) has just invented a ball a
suitable both for small guns and cannon, which he de- 100
scribes as far more deadly and destructive in its effects
then any yet in use. He says "It cuts, wounds, and
lacerates in such a manner that it is scarcely possible
that any animal balm should live after having bcen
struck by it. A hat would fit a common gun—say
five eighths of an inch in diameter—expands on leaving
the gun to four inches, and the instant that it touches 1010
anything, cuts in all directions. A cannon ball on the 2
same principle would cut a space of at least two feet.
The invention has been tried several times in small guns, 25
and it does not appear to affect the flight of the ball in 25
the slightest degree. It would be a very destructive 50
shot in a regiment.