The Sun.
London, England, 1849-09-20 00:00:00

(erring, uoar.l up theirmuney in preference to
bending. it net up' ti lisz..rdeus vseturc,e
Mr. De Witer-ts twelve months, or durii.g
the last three se;:',rs.
sir. CI, tea Said. it was now there yt'UTS ago slice
the discussion of this suhjset was con, menesd, nue:els,
the propriety of capitale-ing any portion of the
annual pr-fes beyond •11, maintenance of a rest of
3,000,0001. Having glanced at the course which the
previous discu,,sioes up m the matter had taken,
he proceeded to say, that the directors, in Sep-
tember, 1848, proposed a dividend of 3i. An
amendment was moved upon that occasion, with
the view to an increase of the dividend and the reduc-
tion of the rest, but it was lost, which he understood
terminated the discussion of the question. The
pro-
prietors then pressed the directors to state the amount
of rest which they conceived necessary. On the next
meeting Mr. Morris, the Governor, stated that they
conceived a rest ef 3,000,0001. sufficient
for the working of the Bank, proposing
at the same time to divide a large sum,
reducing the rest to that amount, among the pro-
prietors, which was acceded to. The matter being
thus settled, after a prolonged discussion, he thought
the proprietors had a right to complain that it hod
been again re-opened.—(Hear, hear.) Having agreed,
after much discussion, to a principle, they were asked
this day to stultify it, which seemed to his
mind a most unreasonable request, since they
were bound to maintain a rest at an
amount which would enable the Bank
in all seasons to occupy the proud position which it
at present enjoyed.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. DE WINTON explained—lf they log ked at the
business of the Bank during the last three years,
they would find that the reserve had not been used.
Besides, they now required a smaller rest than
ever, as a dead-weight of 7,000,0001. was in the
course of payment to them. Capital might not be
in much demand in London, hut in the c,untry
it was. All he wanted was to reduce the rest to
2,000,0001., which he believed amply sufficient for all
the purposes of the Bank.
The GOVERNOR then put the amendment, but only
two hands—those of the mover and seconder—were
held up in its favour.
Mr. FIELDER then moved that the dividend be in-
creased to four per cent., and entered into a long
and diffuse explanation to show that this was prac-
ticable.
Mr. DE WINTON seconded the amendment, which,
after a few words from Sir Peter Laurie and Mr.
Clark, was put and lost, ten hands only being held
up in its favour.
The original motion was then put and carried by a
large majority. •
The GOVERNOR stated, in reply to a question, that
the value of the branch banks was included in the
rest.
Thanks having been voted to the Governor,
Deputy-Governor, and Directors, the meeting
separated.

LITERATURE.
MURRAY'S HOLTIE AND COLONIAL LI-
BRARY. Nos. LXXII , LXXIIL, and LXXIV.
Another valuable biographical production has been
reprinted in a cheaper and consequently more acces-
sible form by Mr. Murray, constituting the last three
numbers of his Home and Colonial Library. The
biography in question is the popular " Memoir of the
Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Bart." The nar-
rative of the career of this distinguished politician,
whose name has acquired an enduring celebrity as
associated with the labours of Wilberforce, Clarkson,
and Brougham, in effecting the emancipation of the
negroes in our West Indian possessions, and ultimately
the general abolition of slavery, must always be re-
garded with peculiar attention. For ourselves, as
members of the next generation to his, the work pos-
sesses a particular attraction, relating as
it does to public men still living—such
men as Denman, Lushington, and Macaulay.
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton had the advantage of
representing large constituencies in the House of
Commons during a period when British legislation
Was marked by a series of very extraordinary reforms,
such reforms as that of the Parliament itself, as that
of manumitting the African race, and that also of
emancipating the Catholics. His share in these trans-
actions must ever excite the respect of those who can
at all appreciate the character of a conscientious
statesman.

THE MERCHANT TAYLORS' MAGAZINE.
A second portion of this amusing little periodical
justifies all we said respecting it on the occasion of its
first appearance. There is a bon•hommic about its
tone which cannot fail to propitiate favour, and the
majority of the contributions are jeux d'esprit of un-
forced and spontaneous fascetiousness. Commend us
to the "Philosophy of Picnics" for a good laugh;
the writer is evidently one of keen observation. The
" Life of Alcuin," too, is a paper of singular excel-
lence, notwithstanding its extreme brevity. Su is it,
in most cases, with the remainder of the publication.