The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-11 00:00:00

MONEY AND COMMERCIAL NEWS.

CITY, Two o'CLocit.
The sales of Cotton at Liverpool yesterday were
estimated at 6,000 bales, of which 500 American
were taken for export. The market closed heavily.
The sales comprised 5,000 American, 220 Perham
and Maranham, at bid. to 6id. ; 200 Egyptian, at
5/d. to Bd. ; 300 Surat, at 34yd. to 4-id. ; and 20
Sea Islands, at 2s. 2d. to 2s. 6d. per lb. Railway
Shares were quiet.
The failure which was announced on 'Change
yesterday afternoon, of the firm of .Collman and
Holsterfoht, long connected with the United States,
and well known in the cotton trade, has excited a
marked sensation, the liabilities being estimated at
300,0001. This appears a very formidable amount
on paper, but the actual loss to the creditors may,
after all, not be large, inasmuch as the firm is said to
have a surplus capital of 40,0001., after meeting all
liabilities except the forgeries of Mr. Preis, which
are said to amount to 80,000/. or 90,0001. It is a
lamentable circumstance that a respectable firm
should, by the delinquency of one firm, be
involved so seriously • but it appears that Mr.
Preis was an intimate friend of many years' stand-
ing with the managing partner of the house, and
this will account for the extraordinary confidence
displayed. A branch house exists at Liverpool,
doing an extensive business, similar to the
concern in London, and the London firm
was joined by a partner eighteen months
ago, the son of one of our eminent brewers,
with a capital of 25,000/. The author of all this
mischief, as our Mansion House report will show,
has defrauded other firms, and as the whole pro-
ceeds seem to have been lost in corn speculations,
and the sales of cargoes received were known to be
made at a heavy loss, it is unlikely there is any
" purse" or property to which the houses that have
been defrauded can look for indemnification.
The speculations supposed to be for the French
Government, may not, very possibly, turn
out to be entirely Mr. Preis's. We presume
he did hope to get clear with some very large
amount, at the first favourable opportunity.
Other houses may suffer, but no test of the real
state of trade is to be derived from this unfortunate
affair. Commerce, generally, was seldom more
prosperous ; and, except in iron, and perhaps grain,
there was rarely less speculation.

The Mexican accounts, from Mr. Falconnet, al-
though reading better, do not seem to have inspired
much confidence. A new loan on the security of
the Clergy property would no doubt be useful.
There is a very weak market for English Secu-
rities, and prices have been about per cent. lower.
Consols have been brought to market rather freely
now about to . For the
at 100 i to g, being
settling day the same quotations have ruled. Bank
Stock is still rising, having touched 225 and 226.
It is now apparent that the Corporation is expected
to make better profits with the advance in the
rate of discount. The New 3f per Cents. have been
marked 1041 to 11 ; and the Three per Cents., 101
to A- ; Exchequer Bills are 675. to 70s. premium,
and India Bonds, 78s. to 81s. premium, being
about the former rates.

In Foreign Stocks there is no elasticity. The
Turkish Loan has sunk to to premium ; Mexi-
can Bonds are 23i to ; Grenada, 12i ; and
Equad or, 5i ; Portuguese Converted have been at
42/ this is for the Five per Cents. ; Spanish De-
ferred are 23-i ; Belgian Four-and-a-Half per Cents.
have realised 981 and 99 ; and Dutch Two-and-a-
Half per Cents. have fluctuated from 66 to 67.
In the Railway Share Market there have been
moderate dealings, but prices generally have given
way a little. The lines best supported are Cale-
donian and York and North Midland. Eastern
Counties are also rather steady. The French
Shares ,are quite neglected, and merely nominal.
Upper India Scrip keeps at g premium.
The Gold Mine Shares have been much less
dealt in, and are all the turn lower. The South
Australian Copper Mines are steady, but there is
scarcely anything doing in them.
The Australian Agricultural Shares have fallen
as low as 263, but they are now up again nearly
101. per Share. The South Australian also, after
being down to 67, have rallied to 701, the arrival
of the steamer being likely to solve the doubt as to
the discovery of gold there to any extent.

BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY.
(From the Official List.)
Business done.
Bank Stock
3 per Cent. Reduced Annuities... ......
3 per Cent. Consols Annuities
New 31 per Cent. Annuities....... ......
Long Annuities, Expire sth Jan., 1860 6s i
Ditto 30 Years, Expire 10th Oct. 1859
Ditto 30 Years, Expire sth Jan., 1860 6l 3-16
India Bonds, £lOOO 7B 81
Consols for Opening 18th January
Exchequer Bills laid. March. June.
£lOO0..
£5OO 67 70
Small 67 70
PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY.
Brazilian Bonds, 5 per Cent.
Ditto New, 1852, 4i per Cent 99 8i
Equador Bonds si
Grenada Bonds, Deferred,
____

Mexican 3 per Cent... ' 23s
Ditto for the Account,
Peruvian Deferred 3 per Cent 64
Portuguese 5 per Cent. _
Ditto Converted, 5 per Cent., 1841
Ditto 4 per Cent 44gl
Russian Bonds, 5 per Cent.
Ditto 4i per Cent.....
Spanish Bonds, 3 per Cent 49 x d
Ditto New Deferred, 3 per Cent .... ... .
Spanish Committee Cert. of Coup. not fun 4 p c
Turkish Loan, 6 per Cent., 1852 g i p
Belgian Bonds, 4'A per Cent. Ex. 25fr oBi 9
Dutch Exchange 2i per Cent 664 7 x d
Ditto 4 per Cent. Certificates.
THREE O'CLOCK.
Consols for Opening 18th January look k ex al.

THE CONSERVATIVE LAND SODIETT.—At the first bal-
lot for right of choice on the Society's estates, on the Bth
instant, at the offices in Norfolk-street, one hundred
unexempted shareholders in Middlesex, Surrey, Hert-
fordshire, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Sussex, Herefordshire,
Berkshire, Nottinghamshire, 'Warwickshire, and Derby-
shire, were fortunate in the drawing, and will shortly
have to select their allotments. Fifty shareholders have
the same privilege by seniority of membership, besides
one hundred completed shareholders.

THE SPRING ENTRIES.—The various lists of entries
for the spring handicaps present a most cheering pros-
pect for the coming season. The entries are the largest
that have ever been known, and the increase in some of
them is very great indeed. Almost every horse in
training in the country is engaged, and a good many
that are in training out of the country figure amongst
the entries. In eighteen stakes, the entries for
which have been published, there is an aggregate
increase of no less than two hundred and nine horses
above the number in the same stakes this time last year.
The entry for the Chester Cup comprises six aged horses,
nine six year olds, thirty-five five year olds, eighty-nine
four year olds, and seventy-eight three year olds.—
Racing Times.
PRAYERS FOR FINE WEATHER.—Notice was given out
on Sunday morning, from the pulpits of the several Ro-
man Catholic places of Divine worship in the metropoli-
tan district, that his Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop
Wiseman had given directions for certain prayers to be
publicly sung and said after the usual public offices of the
church for the cessation of rain and stormy weather,
which -vas, from its long continuance, threatening
serious injury, in addition to the damage already sus-
tained in various parts of the country, and the shocking
disasters at sea. These prayers for fine weather are to
be continued until further orders are promulgated by
the Cardinal for their cessation.
PASSENGERS LANDING IN THE SOUTHAMPTON DOCKS
FROM FOREIGN PARTS.—The following is a return of the
number of passengers who have landed in the Southamp-
ton Docks by the various lines of steamers from differ-
ent parts of the world during the year 1852 :—From
all parts of India and China, via Alexandria, 1,236
passengers, 70 distressed British subjects, and 6,060
packages ; from the Levant, including Constantinople,
Smyrna, and Malta, 366 passengers, 80 distressed British
' subjects and 1,739 packages ; from Gibraltar,
Cadiz, Lisbon, Oporto, and Vigo, 1,258 passen-
gers, 327 distressed British subjects, and 5,289
packages ; from the West Indies, 1,553 passengers, 269
distressed British subjects, and 7,162 packages ; from
the Brazils, 739 passengers, 46 distressed British sub-
jects, and 3,639 packages ; from the United States, 233
passengers, 12 distressed British subjects, and 700 Pack-
ages ; from Maderia, 169 passengers, 17 distressed
British subjects, and 902 packages ; from Jersey and
Guernsey, 12,725 passengers, 450 distressed British
subjects, and 27,953 packages ; from France via Havre,
6,060 passengers ; 225 distressed British subjects, and
13,988 packages—making a total of 25,346 passengers ;
1,505 distressed subjects ; and 67,882 package- s. The dis-
tressed British subjects represent chiefly ahipwrecked
sailors, &c. The returns of the general passenger-traffic
flowing into this rapidly increasing port show a large
and constant increase, and the add it
Good Hope and Indian lines of communication (to be
maintained by the General Screw Steam Company)'
together with the establishment of an
emigrant depot, a
line of steamers to Australia, and a general
Oriental
extension of
operations on the part of the Peninsular
and
of
Company, will, it is anticipated, augment
the number e-
passengers landing at the port in a very important d
gree during 1853 and the succeedintr ars.
be remarked
AUSTRALIAN AND CAPE WOOLS. it y
and fluctuations to
as a singular feature of the changes
th
which inatnthlse
which our commercial relationsr
imports of Australian and Cape
nqdlb' a total importation of
only amounted to 97,-- .
13,634,6671 b., had, e
wools, su
t supply from Australia
weight of 47,626, 7081 b.
in 1851, increased to the enormous
alone (41 810 1171 b.) more than half of the entire
, ,
imports of the Unite
Kingdom in that year.
ANOTHER OVERFIA)
FLOW OF THE THAMES, &c.—Yester-
day afternoon, shortlybefore high water time, owing to
the excessive showers of rain which have fallen during
the
the water ran off the hills above
bridge in such
past few". vastdaye'bodies, as to cause the river Thames
again to overflow its banks in many places, which, as
may be supposed, did a considerable amount of damage,
to say nothing of the inconvenience occasioned thereby.

DRbrRY-LANE.

Last night, " her Majesty s servants" performed for
the first time a new five-act play, entitled Gold. Drury-
lane, it appears, is now professedly handed over to the
domestic drama, and if Mr. Smith finds this innovation
to be a better mode of filling his benches than clinging
to the " legitimate," we cannot quarrel with his choice,
though we think it would be better to plunge boldly into
the gulf than advance by slow and timid steps, such as
that of last night. Gold is essentially in character and
construction one of those dramas which we have been in
the habit of associating with the Surrey and Victoria
stage, but without the broad, unmitigated features which
give those productions so much zest and flavour. The
incidents and the dialogue have been slightly toned down
for the taste of a cispontine audience, and the appella-
tion of "five-act" which has been applied to it, gives it
a farther claim to be considered legitimate.
It is intended, so far as we can judge, to develope the
dramatic theory of Australian emigration, but the plot
itself, without the modern and contemporary features
which are introduced into it, is as old, we may
almost say, as the first melodrama. George Sandford,
a young Berkshire farmer, ruined by the repeal of the
corn laws and wheat at 40s. a quarter, resolves to mend
his fortunes by emigrating to Australia. He is madly in
love with Susan Merton, his cousin, who, however, pro-
mises fidelity until his return, which is not to take place
until he has amassed one thousand pounds, and he sails,
leaving her in charge of his brother William. In the
third act we rejoin him in Australia, in company with
one Robinson, who was introduced to us in England
avowedly as a thief, and bodily carried off before our
eyes by two officers of justice, but who in Australia
-- wonderful effects of convict discipline —we find
transformed not only into an honest man, but to a leader
and lawgiver. Shortly after their arrival the discovery
of gold in Australia takes place, and, as might be ex-
pected,
George Sandford at once makes his fortune by
the discovery of an immense " nugget," with the pro-
duce of which both at once embark for England, where
they arrive just in the nick of time. Early in the first
act we had been introduced to a Mr. Meadows a
" respectable" corn-factor, who, by various mutterings
and "aside" speeches, makes us aware that he ispeorge's ...--''
rival for the hand of Susan, and who, immediately the .`
coast is cleared by the departure of the favoured one,
commences operations both by open siege and secret un-
dermining. Mr. Meadows is the villain of the piece—in ~
top-boots and a buttoned-up coat, and therefore we are not
surprised to find him intercepting letters and practising '
other stratagems, which, however, on the principle that
all is fair in love, are but venial after all. How
nearly he succeeds may be inferred from the fact, that
he and Susan are on their way to church to get married
when George arrives, an unexpected event, which, to all
appearances, would have utterly destroyed the well-laid
plans of the corn-factor. Not at all, however ; that
gentleman was a greater villain than we took him for.
When George and Robinson proceed to display their ready
cash, the product of the nugget and sundry private washings
of Robinson's, they discover to their horror that they
have been robbed, and instead of being the possessors of
some 10,000/. are pennyless and ruined. Of course, this
at once makes matters as bad as before, and Meadows is
again triumphant, until a, Deus ex machind appears in
the shape of a magistrate, who, with some slight help
from the electric telegraph, makes it apparent that
Meadows is the thief ; and the result is that Susan is at
last assigned to her rightful suitor, and all ends happily.
It is but fair to say that the actors made the best of this
well-worn story. Mr. G. Davenport played the young far-
mer with much ability, and Miss Vining was an admirable
representative of the not very clearly or strongly-drawn
Susan. Mr. H. Wallack, as Robinson, had much to do, •
and achieved, perhaps, the most decided success of any.
Mr. E. Stirling played Isaac Levi—the most incompre-
hensible character in the piece—a benevolent Jew, who
walks about as a sort of fairy, setting everything right
when it goes wrong, paying people's debts to save them
from going to prison—turning up suddenly in Australia,
apparently for the purpose of delivering scientific lec-
tures for the benefit of the diggers ; and, lastly, appear-
ing again in England to assist in the conviction of Mea-
dows. Mr. Levi is a very scientific man indeed
throughout the piece he is continually delivering lectures
on ethnology, mineralogy, geology, and winding up with
a somewhat facetious dissertation on the moral and scien-
tific advantages of the electric wires as applied to the
" snaring" of criminals. Indeed science is pretty plenti'
fully scattered through the dialogue. Mr. Robinson
seems to be perfectly .up to the marks of genuine gold,
—quartz, mica, iron pyrites, and granite formations are
as " familiar in his mouth as household words."
Though it fell somewhat fiat last night on the ears of
the audience, we think that, as a melodrama, Gold wilt
have a pretty fair success. The scenery and other ac-
cessories are all good—a scene in the fourth act
which is stated in the bills to be an attempt to realise a
scene at the diggins, on the banks of the river Mac-
quarrie was well managed, and will of itself be a great
attraction, as everything was done to make it natural
and effective. Indeed, this part of the piece was in every
way the strongest and most successful. Despite some i
slight manifestations of disapprobation, the play wa, r a
announced for further repetition.
,k