The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-23 00:00:00

FRENCH FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS.

A. correspondent at Havre says that recent inci-
dents confirm the impression there are serious
embarrassments in the French Treasury. A few
days since it proposed to pay for large quantities of
grain, purchased from Marseilles dealers,
half in cash and half in bills. The
dealers, however, insisted on being paid entirely
in cash, because they were under engagements
to pay the foreign dealers in coin, and, if they did not
strictly fulfil them, further supplies might be stopped.
The Government yielded, and after some trouble
paid the full amount in coin ; but the Mar-
seilles dealers are still uneasy, lest the
delay should damage their credit. The
Government must be, for some time to comes
their principal customer, and it will not improve the

HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, JANUARY 22.

The Queen, accompanied by their Royal Highnesses
Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, and Princess Beatrice,
attended Divine service at Osborne this morning.
The Right Hon. Edward Cardwell arrived at Osborne
yesterday, and had the honour of dining with her Majesty
and the Royal family.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge is
still prevented from attending to his official duties owing
to an attack of gout.
The death is announced of Sir George Hayter,
principal painter in ordinary to her Majesty, at the age
of seventy-eights

The success of Mr. John Martin at the recent
Meath election is to be celebrated by a national banquet,
to be given on the 6th of February.

Her Majesty, it is expected, will return to
Windsor about the 3rd of next month. Prepara-
tions for her Majesty's reception are being made at the
Castle.

Mr. Gladstone forwarded on Friday a hand-
some donation to Mr. W. T. Vincent, the secretary, in
aid of the funds of the Plumpstead Soup Society, who are
distributing 500 quarts of soup twice a week.
The Law Journal says it understands that the
rumour that Sir James Duke Coleridge will be proposed
as candidate for the office of Speaker on the resignation
of the Right Hon, Evelyn Denison is unfounded.
Apropos of the rumours respecting Sir William
Mansfield and the Cabinet, the Broad Arrow says :—Sir
William has been for some time past, and still is in con-
stant consultation with the Secretary of State for War,
relative to the reorganisation of the army, but we do not
hear that his views have been found very ac-
ceptable in Pall-mall, or are at all likely to be adopted.
It is true Sir William was closeted for a long time with
Mr. Cardwell, on the day preceding his appearance in
Westminster Hall ; but, so far from inferring from that
incident that he gave expression to the policy of the
Government in his address to the volunteers, we are in-
clined to draw the opposite conclusion—viz., that he
felt at liberty to speak freely because his views were not
adopted.
THE REPORTED DEATH OF D,R.
Mr. A. J. Mott, of Liverpool, says :—" A paragraph is
quoted with the above heading from the /V atal Friend.
This paper has arrived, no doubt, by the mail which left
the Cape December 4th. If so, it gives no new informa-
tion. The report is said to have come from Zanzibar, via
Quilimane, a distance of two or three thousand miles.
Tho date of the news could not, therefore, be later than
October, and is more likely to be several -months earlier.
But the Teazer left Zanzibar on the 13th December, and
has reported from Galle that provisions were then being
forwarded to the Livingstone depot. The Natal report,
therefore, has no sort of authority, and the grounds on
which the hopes of Dr. Livingstone's safety have hitherto
rested remain unchanged.

THE NEW LAW COURTS.—The following, the
Builder has reason to believe, are the chief alterati3ns
that have been made in the form of contract for the new
law courts :—" The time for completion of the first con-
tract is extended from seven months to twelve months.
The penalty for delay is not to be enforced should
unforeseen circumstances arise beyond the contractor's
control. The contractor is not to be bound to execute
anything unless it is obviously shewn on the drawings
or described in the specification, or unless he be paid for
it as an extra. The contractor is not to be bound by
the certificate of the architect if he shall consider him-
self unjustly dealt with. The certificate of the architect
is not to be under all circumstances a condition precedent
to the contractor having the power to obtain paynrnt."
In the original form of contract the word not was omitted
from the aboye-u2entioned condition,