The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-15 00:00:00

Under the head of discounts, the report says :

" That the ordinary discounts made by the establish-
ment from March to the end of July amounted to
nearly 700 millions, but from that period they fell off
very rapidly. Several of tho large ironmasters and
other manufacturing establishments wore also assisted to
the amount of about 34 millions. These transactions,
although opposed to the provisions of the statutes, were
of the highest importance, as without them several of
those manufactories would have been compelled to have
suspended their labours, and thousands of workmen
would have been thrown without bread into the streets.
Upwards of 215 millions of the paper from the national
discount banks were re-discounted by the B nk in Parii,
and by the branch barks, on the security of merei,'►ndise
deposited. A credit of 5,000,000;.. AS opened to till,
builders of Paris, for the advantage of the workmen on
the guarantee of the property thus erected, and a sum of
4,500,000 f. was advanced on the timber, to be cut in the
forests of the state. It is thus seen what a mass of ope-
rations was transacted; and if they were not all regular,
they were at all events of tho greatest utility. During.
all this time the Bank maintained its rate of discount at
4 per cent."
With regard to the decrease in the regular business
of the Bank the report says—

" That in January and in March, 1848, its monthly
discounts had exceeded 125 millions; in November and
December of the same year they had fallen to 20 mil-
lions. On the 16th March the pcn tfeuille of the Bank
and of its branch establishments amounted to 305 mil-
lions ; on the 28th December that sum had fallen to 165
millions, of which only 42 millions were in the head
establishment."

The comparison of the operations of 1848 with
those of 1847 give the following result :

In 18411. In 1847.
Discounts F.1,664,000,000 ... 2,661,000,000
Transfers . 5,932,000,000 ... 8,176,000,000
Cash deposits 420,000,000 ... 1,122,000,000
Showing that the operations of the Bank had fallen
off in 1848 to the amount of 3,943,000,000 f.
It appears from the report that from the apparent
hopeless state into which affairs were thrown in
March, 1848, the Bank of France had at that time a
serious thought of winding up its affairs.
The reports transmitted to the French Government
by the Consuls in Upper California, and in the
various parts of the United States, relative to the gold
and quicksilver mines lately discovered in the former
country, have awakened its solicitude, particularly as
numbers of emigrants have signified their intention
to proceed without delay to that part of the world.
In consequence, the Ministers of Marine, Foreign
Affairs, and Public Works, having placed toge•
ther the documents received from the French Re-
presentatives in America, submitted them to
a special council of men skilled in mineralogy, and
charged with the task of suggesting such measures as
it might deem advisable to take in the interest of
French industry. It has been decided by the Go-
vernment, that an engineer of mines should at once
proceed to California, to examine the nature of the
country, and from actual experience send home
accounts of a nature to enlighten French commerce
as to the real state of the case. In consequence of
that decision, orders were at once transmitted to
Brest to prepare a vessel to carry out the engineer in
question.
We read in the Ere Nouvelle:—
" The health of the prisoners at Vincennes is excellent.
Each one has a separate chamber, leading into a large
circular room, whcre the gendarmes are posted. Martin,
better known by the name of Albert, has devoted his
leisure hours to Vie education of a young bird; Quentin
has for a companion a turtle dove ; Respail has brought
up two fowls, which, by their noise and familiarity, ren-
der a visit to his chamber not very pleasant; Bari*
cultivates some fine flowers: his room is that formerly
occupied by M. do Boulogne, bishop of Troyes, impri•
slned by Napoleon for bp fidelity to the Holy See.
M. de Boulogne, during his captivity, covered the walls
of his room with religious paintings, which remain there
still. The rooms now alluded to were occupied in 1830
by the Ministers of Charles X.; magnificent views are
to be seen from the windows. Hitherto the prisoners
were not permitted to communicate with each other, but
two days back that interdiction was removed, as the ne-
cessities of their common defence rendered a conference
However, the agents were not withoutindispensable.
some uneasiness as to the result, as it is well known
what animosity the others feel against Blanqui, and
in particular Barbes, who has sworn vengeance against
him and does not even attempt to conceal his hatred."

BOURSE—PA.RIB, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 14.
THREE O'CLOCK.—The Funds were exceedingly
steady to-day, with a strong tendency upwards, which
was repressed only by the fear that the majority in the
National Assembly on M. Lanjuinais' motion would not
be a large one. Should the vote of the Assembly to-day
he of a nature to strengthen the Cabinet, there will
certainly be a further improvement to-morrow. Exchange
on London (30 days), 25 30; ditto (90 days), 25 22i.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE. FEB. 14.
Boulogne and Amiens, "A—Central of France (Orleans and
Vierzon), 10 LA —Luxembourg (10/.), 2%—Northern of
France, 9 W 3— Orleans and Bordeaux, 3X—Paris and Orleans,
311h—Paris and Rouen, 20—Paris and Strasbourg, 3
Rouen and Havre, 111 A— Sambre and Meuse, s%—Tours
and Nantes, VA—West Flanders ON ),21A—Ditto (8 4),14