The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-06 00:00:00

A BRILLIANT TURKISH CHARGE.

After marching thus for nearly an hour, the enemy
was seen in strong force near Zepshe. Omer Pasha,
who was with his staff between the advanced guard and
the main body, ordered the former into the wood. on
their left, in order that they might be under cover if
the enemy should open his fire upon them. Mustapha
Pasha halted, and bringing his four guns together, un-
limbered them in a favourable position to fire on the
enemy's flank diagonally, across a bend in the river.
The Bosniacs commenced firing, and the artillery re-
turned the attack, but the enemy soon disappeared in
the wood. Suleyman Bey's skirmishers were on the
same parallel, and the enemy, probably taking them for
the main body, and unable to judge their strength in a
thicket, supposed that Omer Pasha had outflanked him,
extended to the right, and took up a position on a
height, from which a murderous fire was kept up on
this forlorn hope of 300 men against 5,000. Omer
Pasha, hearing the fire recede, thought the rebels
were retreating before the main body of his troops
in the wood, and. endeavoured in vain to obtain an
accurate notion of the state of the contending
armies, which were in a manner fighting in the dark, on
account of the inequalities of the ground and the density
of the wood. The real brunt of the battle was thu,
borne by Suleyman Bey and his small battalion. Un-
able to hold his ground against such odds, and unwill-
ing to retire, he ceased firing, and ordered his men to
charge the enemies' position at the point of the bayo-
net. They closed, and rushed forwardin a compact
body; but they were repulsed by a heavy fire from the Bos
nbyiaesos'
volley after
a charge, and again they advanced, received
height,
staggered, strained to reach the summit of the
strewn with
staggered, and fell back, leaving the ground
small
lAa-erneumasbtoennishAedgation sseeeietyhmemEusaelLeesy attackedordered
the bodies of their fallen comrades.. Suleyman Bey
sprang from his horse, placed himself in front o,n, foot,
rallied his men, and, cheering, made them shout, fad•
iochah ehok, !lama!" ("Long live the Sultan ! ) as
they
was the first man at the top, laying about
fire ru elef;romemtaunar returned t
vy
e,o a tnh charge
de
struggling rg
the
rock.
him with his sword. Another shout, and the devoted
little band plunged headlong into the overwhelming
mass of the ene-ny. Every blow was a death-blow ;
not a word was spoken on either side, and for a few
minutes it seemed a wrestling match at awful odds ; but,
strange to say, more rebels fell than true men in that
onslaught ; in spite of their numerical superiority they
wavered ; a few stragglers disappeared on the other side
of the rocks ; their ranks were thinning fast by deser-
tion. A shout from Suleyman Bey, a desperate assault
of the troops, formed like a wedge, and the rebels threw
down their arms, rushed wildly down the other slope of
the hill, and did not again attempt to form their ranks.—
The Frontier Lands of the Christian and the Turk.

THE NEW LAW ON RECEIPT STAMPS.—The new law
on receipt stamps contained in the recent act of the 16
and 17 Vict. c. 59, which will take effect from and
after the tenth day of next month, is of publiaimport-
ance. On all receipts for the payment of 21. and up-
wards, the new duty is one penny, and may be denoted
either by a stamp impressed upon the paper whereon
any such instrument is written, or by any adhesive
stamp affixed thereto ; and the commissioners of the
Inland Revenue are to provide stamps of
.both`descrip-
tions for the purpose of denoting the duty. In any
case where an adhesive stamp is used for the purpose on
any receipt or upon any draft or order respectively
chargeable with the duty of one priny, the person by
whom it is given shall, before the instrument is deli-
vered out of his hand, custody, or power, cancel or obli-
terate the stamp so used by writing thereon his name
or the initial letters of his name so, and in such a man-
ner as to show clearly and distinctly that such stamp
has been made use of, and so that the same may not be
again used, and if any such receipt, &c., is not a bona
fide cancelled, the party giving the same is to forfeit the
sum of 101. An person getting off or removing, or
getting the stamp and affixing, or using to defraud her
Nlaje4y,.is to be liable to a forfeiture of 201. Persons
having receipt stamps on hand are to be allowed for the
same.
. .

Let us, then, examine the different character of our
import trade. England takes credit from no other
country. We may fairly ossert that none but British
capital is engaged in British trade. The produce of the
United States, of India, of our colonies, of South Ame-
rica. required for our consumption, is either purchased
on the spot with British capital, or it is consigned to this

- -
country- for sale as required. But in the latter case,
though held on account of the foreign pro'lucer, it is in-
variably held with British cspital. A cotton grower in
Georgia, a sugar planter in Cuba, the owner of flocks in
.Australia, the producers of indigo in Bengal, or the
coffee growers in Ceylon, may consign, and often do
consign, their respective productions to this market for
sale, either direct to our merchants or through their
agents abroad, but in all cases the bill of lading is ac-
companied by draughts to nearly the whole value of the
consignment, and almost from the day the goods enter

our warehouses, or very shortly after, our merchants
are in cash advance upon them, and continue to be so
until they are finally sold and paid for.

The practical effect, therefore, is, as we have already
said, that this country gives long credits to all the
world as regards our imports. It is hence obvious that
the relative amount of our exports and imports at any
particular moment may not represent the exact relative
amount of the payments to be made and received ; and
this chiefly at times when our trade is undergoing any
important change. Thus, during a period when it is
rapidly expanding, even though our exports may still
considerably exceed our imports, yet as the payment
for the former is, as we have shown, deferred for a long
time, while the payment for the latter is made by us
at once, and as it is the amount of payments alone
that determines the state of the exchanges, and not
of exports and imports, it may be, even in that
state of our trade, that the payments to be made
by England greatly exceed those to be received by
England, and that the exchanges may be adverse
for a time, while the immediate relation of exports
and imports is altogether satisfactory. And just in pro-
portion as the increase of our exports is rapid and large
is this'likely to be the case. For example, the exports
of the present year are likely to exceed those even of
1852 by about 15,000,0001. While, therefore, we are
receiving
g paymentsby
ree
74,000,0001., and in 1852 78,000,0001.), we are pro-
ducing and shipping the larger amount of about
the lesser for
amounts the exportsof these of
years
5 1 and(in 1851
measured 1852,
,
93,000,000/. ; and for the additional raw material and
other articles which we import, in order to enable us to
produce so greatly an increased quantity of goods, we
are paying either in advance, or at latest on their arri-
val. Our receipts are measured by the transactions of
1851 and 1852 ; our payments by the larger transactions
of 1853. The balance of payments in the meantime
must, therefore, he against the country. This, no do, bt,
can oily be for a time. In the nat'ir,il course of trade
the payments for the exports of 1853 will come round,
and the whole accounts will be adjusted,

I like manner,
anner,whouenr oeuxrpotrratsdearise i
contractingniin isheinitadis
-
versnetimes--when
always observed that, notwithstanding that fact, the
exchanges frequently turn strongly in' our favour. That
is obviously caused by the reverse of the facts which we
have just been considering. The payments due to us
and in the course of being received are upon a larger
scale than the payments to be made for our immediate
imports in respect to our diminished trade. Thus, sup-
pose the present year of extensive trade—the most ex-
tensive beyond all comparison ever known—were, from
any cause, to be succeeded by one or two years of very
adverse trade, then in those years the payments which
we should require to make for our imports on a lower
scale would be much smaller in amount than those due
to us for the extensive exports of the present year, a
large portion of which would then be in course of pay-
ment ; and in that case the exchanges would be favour-
able to England in spite of a great diminution of expo
at the moment.

It is thus that events, which have often appeared as
puzzling anomalies, are satisfactorily to be accounted
for— viz., that frequently in the face of greatly increased
exports we find the exchanges adverse, while in the face
of diminished exports we have a most favourable state
of the exchanges, they being regulated solely by the ba-
lance of payments, on whatever account they are to be
made, and not by the transactions of the moment.
The remarks which we have here made may also sug-
gest to our readers the true cause of the rapid rise in the
rate of interest, and a good reason why it should con-
tinue- high under present circumstances. To increase
our fOreiin trade alone in a single year by 15,000,0001.,
and that, too, upon a principle of giving credit to our
customers for our exports. while we pay ready money
for our increased imports, may easily suggest such an
b
lnzeo; acePtsdarti enthi
yetaaseoisl ter afdeal expenditure.uac considerablellludv
taiheragegedaePs xeh a n
in:reased demand for capital as fully to account for
i
the present high rate of interest. And let it be re-
membered that this increase of 15,000,0001. of exports
increased. profitable demand for
d
n
r
i
l
in to a greatly increased domestic trade
thereon.prepresents v
Our
even
umrat
paid,
oneya in,e)::o:eurri
measured
traderiti
eloa portion
osi
nfiotoi
n,reafelixl
extended
etl ibotneyrhhddetaee hvdr
people,
increaseieitraloorlgpos
lrfodeenu:a.r
production.
rsronnehnrssa
ae.tsaqte
aelulTeato
hninhnaetdee
l
ges. and the rate of interest directly
It would not be exactly correct
affect each other, but it is certain that they are both in-
fluenced by common causes--that a' low exchange is
usually accompanied by a high rate of interest, and a low
rate of interest by a favourable state of the exchanges.
There are other important considerations in connection
with the present state of the exchanges which we will
discuss in our next number.