The Sun.
London, England, 1847-09-16 00:00:00

and
wand
8,1 to
Veal,
:kling
65 tO
61 t°

f sAll•
ON 2d

41)
e
•
linfe"
rd; of
,rdoL
,pervi

ocet
.bosl.
th ol

rll
140'1'
tio3h
t"

ill'

Olej
as .4
,ive"

ae 1°

(THIS DAY.)

" lie was not for an age, but for all time."

the Queen of 205., also to pay 3/., the amount for
7aich the articles had been pledged, or be imprisoned
or 21 days, with hard labour.
NN as locked up in default.
ury Ann Smith was charged with rAbing a sailor
riarned Thomas Santo of his handkerchief, value 33. Gd.
kit ,appeared that the parties were drinking together
athe Cock and Neptune public-house, Ratcliffe
° way, when the prisoner spilt some gin and water
er her dress, and borrowed the prosecutor's band-
' erchtef to wipe off the stains. As she did not return
lit? he asked her for it, when she immediately handed
13 what he thought was his handkerchief, but
.oTch, on getting into the street, he found was an
r4g.--(Laughter.) He went back and taxed her
th the robbery. She denied it and abused him, and
,gave her into custody.
a}
014 her defence, the woman called a man who swore
was not in the Cock and Neptune last night,
wherell'lntosh, a constable, proved apprehending
der there.
,
, BALLANTINE committed her to take her trial
for the felony.
S,

I4LE OF SHAKSPERE'S HOUSE.

t.l idte house in which, according to the best tradi-
°n, our immortal bard—Shakspere 1 was ushered
iis
t° the world, was sold to-day, at the Auction Mart,
,„3' lir. Robins. The cowering, crumbling house,
rawled over with the names of millions of pilgrims
;QM all the regions of the earth, who came to the
,„1111(' of the " soft flowing Avon," as it were, to
prostrate themselves before the shrine of the greatest
roius the earth ever produced—the shrunken,
eked, aged fabric which, with its appurtenances,
~, 541c1 not, in the ordinary course of things, fetch,
though auctioneer might o'er match his skill in set-
ting off the tenement to the best advantage, 1001.—
"as here eagerly sought for at the price of thousands.
h/'or nearly two centuries and a half the small mean
ouse, the cradle of the man whose associations are
destined, as in the past, to achieve a world of good-
t"at virtue, and charity ; to educate and civilize
trlankind from nature's own book, has been cherished
11(4 so much, we fear, from reverence for Shakspere,
but for the half-crowns and shillings which the
majesty of his genius brought to Stratford ; but will
never become, as it should have become long ago, the
operty of the nation—the spontaneous purchase of
that puissant nation which, if it were a desert, the
majesty of his genius would have rendered immortal
_ The national nature of the sale entrusted to
tills auctioneer brought a vast number of persons,
among
whom
were several distinguished persons, to
al
room
shortly of Mr, Robins. The lower room was filled
after twelve o'clock so full, that shortly before
the appointed hour at which Shakspere's house was
`utiounced to be knocked down by the hammer, one
~c4l°ek, the upper rooms were thrown open, and the
1811 up stairs was quite confounding, and quite as
energetic as at the gallery of the Surrey on a panto-
in„.!ale night, or the stalls of the Opera when Jenny
Lind is announced to sing.
Not one whit less respectful or solemn were those
Who came to witness the transfer of the house to
Other hands to-day than they who, when passing the
threshold of Shakspere's home at Stratford-upon-
t ran, raise their hands and bow down their heads in
everence, as if they were entering a church.
Mr. Robins ascended the rostrum at one o'clock
-midst loud cheers and a cry of " hats off," which
WthiLall Partially obeyed. He commenced by saying
the felt himself highly honoured in having been
-`trusted with the sale of the house in which Shak-
Zte--" Nature's poet"—was born. He agreed with
those who considered that, as the relic was a national
tle: the nation should become its purchaser, and that
it
Should stand for ages as a monument of Shakspere's
Ireatness, purchased by the subscriptions of a nation.
Le vender had no interest in the property, he simply
P``q as the trustee of several minors to whose interest
erth bound to look, and in bringing the pro-
tlY before the public for sale, he was
sorely following a course which the Court
he Chancery would have directed if it had
k " appealed to in the matter. He then gave
tjraphic description of the house and adjacent pre-
Thel,7 house, the shop of which had, up to
Within the last few years, been devoted to the trade
0:t
a butcher, was in good condition, so good that he
"no doubt it would stand for centuries. There
a ere several comfortable apartments in which
di Party might comfortably dine ; he had
nod very comfortably in one of them with a party
the his visit.—(Laughter.) Property was attached to
house which yielded a yearly rental of 30/. He
Aso read the conditions, which were of the usual
ti4ltilre• The title of the property would descend to
ePUrchaser or puchasers from the will of the mortalim-
bard himself.
tiltA Person with moustaches, who was stated to be
American exhibitor, here interposed, and called
44:11.11 Mr. Robins to prove that the house he was
ing was the identical one in which the bard was
rt.

iti)o4r. Ronms said there could be no doubt at a
lb tit it. Tradition, which pointed out the room
Ne; Ilerkeley Castle in which a fearful murder
4:3 Perpetrated, and the room in which
Lu-rile 2 the First was born, pointed out this
16-11? as that of Shakspere's birth-place. His father
poet
ha it, and there could be no doubt that the great
Per Was born in the house and spent the greater
iter:(4l of his life in it.--(Cheers.) They must take
here a matter of course. He wished that those who
ith-rfe sceptical on the point would stay away,
raad of starting doubts which had no foundation to
Of s' 11,P°°. The house was transferred from the hands
p,„-"akspere's descendants, in 1806, to the present
ra-4e3sor, and its quiet transference then presented a
ii,k„tkel contrast to the excitement which the an-
ti,;'rleetnent of its sale now produced, showing the
aheat progress made in education, and a due
greatest genius
of all that appertained to the
:test genius the world ever produced.
that time, and for many years, about 1,000 per-
:a visited the edifice in the course of a year; but
late years as many as 7,000 visited it in the
to
1311° of one year, a vast proportion of whom were
Americans. The lady who had charge of the house
vwould not enlighten her querists as to the re-
e°lle she derived from exhibiting the house ;
they could not get her to be communicative
upon that point—(Laughter)—but no doubt she de-
rived a handsome income from the exhibitionofgoitintgo
tourists. He recollected a story of a person
to Stratford, and expecting to see the midwife who
officiated at the birth of the poet—(Laughter.) He
might, perhaps, by searching the register and insti-
tuting a minute inquiry, have learned that she slept
"Q the churchyard near the poet's dwelling.
A Person, who stated that he was a solicitor,, in-
titilrecl if the trustees could legally sell the house ?
RoulNs said there could be no doubt about it,
alio produced the deed, which his audience would not
.whiNevhl'i°l to read ; he, however, read a clause of it,
the 1, stated that the trustees had full power to sell
"011se, a statement which was received
sister,
loud
o
tro-ell5. Shakspere left the house to his
known
al-tried Mr. Hart, and the house was always
i..hokspere's house, and the proprietors of it the
art Shaksperes."
Sun,
-a body here called out,
- "I'll give a thousand
LeA gentleman, whose name we could not learn,
tore handed Mr. Robins a paper, which stated that
be- `-'°rarnittee acting at Stratford and London
ibghge4 to offer 3,0001, out of the subscriptions sent
to
,37 the people, and that they were most solicitous
i',s:conie possessors of the house.—(Cheers.)
114,7 r. Robins said, on the part of the trustees he
t° state, that they waived their reserved right of
prollttirchaw—(Cheers.) All they wished was, to
ooe ect the infants left to their charge. Well, if no
b
dut any further sum to offer it will become my
411 t 3 knock the house down to the highest
,ther.--(Cheers.)
4 / he man with the moustachios here exclaimed,
A Voice--The
no objection to give 2,000/."—(Laughter.)
Vat nation has purchased it; they ad-
14ed the money.—(Renewed cheers.)
Robins said, as no higher sum was offered it
Th's duty to knock it down to the committee.
twieee house was, after the preliminary, " once,
knock' and thrice," and a smart tap with the hammer,
Ch ati clown accordingly amidst loud cheers.
tee, jets were subsequently awarded to the commit-
azid v.° the auctioneer, and to the great bard himself,
147 crowd dispersed.
result of the sale gave the greatest satisfaction

to all, save the gentleman before alluded to, who, in
its purchase, had doubtless a pecuniary object in view.
Shakspere's house, after all, will not be taken
across the Atlantic ; it will remain at Stratford•upon-
Avon.

BANK• OF ENGLAND.
(TIIIS DAY.)
The half-yearly general meeting of the proprietors
of the Bank of England was this day held, at twelve
o'clock, for the purpose of considering of a dividend.
This was also the quarterly general court of the
proprietors, appointed by the charter, held for the
purpose of confirming the late election of James
Morris, Esq., to the office ofGovernor, and of G. F.
Prescott, Esq., to the office of Deputy-Governor, and
for the transaction of the ordinary business. The

minutes of the last court having been read and con-

firmed,

JAMES MORRIS, Esq., the newly-elected governor,
:hp said—Gentlemen, I have to acquaint the court
:hat this is a quarterly general court, appointed by

',he charter, and also the usual half-yearly general

court appointed by the bye-laws to consider the
dividend. I have to inform the court that the

directors, having considered the state of the Bank's
accounts, are of opinion that a dividend should be
made of 41 per cent. interest and profits—(Loud
cheers)—for the half-year ending the 10th of October
next, without any deduction of income-tax.—(Re-
newed cheers.) It affords the directors great satis-
faction to add, that in addition to the 41 per cent.
which we are enabled to declare as a dividend, we
shall add the sum of 2(3,4001. ;to " rest."—(Cheers.)
The reason for which the directors considered it better
to recommend a dividend of 41 per cent., instead of
31 per cent. and a bonus of 1 per cent. additional, is,
that if we adopt the latter course those who have
only a life interest in the stock would not participate
in the benefits to that extent. Although we call it a
dividend of 4 per cent., we should wish it to be con-
sidered as 31 per cent. with the addition of 1 per
cent. It must not be supposed that we contemplate
declaring a dividend of 41 per cent. for the future ;
we wish the present to he considered simply as a
dividend of 31 per cent. If the profits of banking
should keep as high as they have been, it will of
course be a pleasure to the directors to increase the
dividend, and they would prefer so doing to adding
anything in the shape of bonuses.—(Cheers.) If
any gentleman has any observations to make I should
be happy to hear him previous to putting the
question.
W. FIELDER, Esq., wished to say that he most
cordially coincided in the recommendation of the
directors, and considered that it was satisfactory to
hear that the state of the Bank was in so flourishing
a state.

P. CLARK, Esq., wished to know what would be
the total amount of the "rest" after the payment of
the proposed dividend.
The GOVERNOR—After the payment of the divi-
dend the " rest" will amount to 3,270,7541. We
propose to divide 654,8781. among the proprietors ;
you will then have the total amount of " rest"
3,270,7541.
W. FIELDER, Esq.—Are we to understand that
after the payment of the dividend there will remain a
sum of 26,4001. to add to the " rest."
The GOVERNOR—That is the case.

T. Coo', Esq.—After reserving the sum appointed
for dividends they would then have a sum of upwards
of 270,0001. above 3,000,0001. He thought that the
great point to consider was how much was actually
necessary for effectually working the affairs of the
Bank. It was generally considered that a sum of
3,000,0001. was amply sufficient. If that were so
(and it was a question open to discussion) the
directors were reserving over and above that sum
about 270,0001. Now, 200,000/. would be equal to
a bonus of 2 per cent. upon the stock, while they
were at present only receiving 1 per cent. additional,
whereas if the amount of " rest" were kept down to
the 3,000,0001. they might be receiving 3 per cent.
bonus, or close upon it, and if a bonus of 2 per cent.
only were to be declared the directors might then
have a sum of 100,0001. or upwards, in addition to
3,000,0001., and which was generally considered
sufficient.—(Hear, hear.)
The GOVERNOR—The Court must be aware that in

the valuation of the assets, we were obliged to include
a considerable number of Government Securities.—
( dear, hear.) Those securities were purchased at a
time when they were of a higher value than they are
at present. If we were to take the valuation of those
securities at the sum which they would now realise,
it would as nearly as possible make a difference of
about 200,0001.—(Hear, hear.) We have, therefore,
but a slight amount of excess over that for which the
Hon. Proprietor has been arguing, namely, a "rest" of
3,000,000/.
T. COOK, Esq.—The Bank buildings were not in-
cluded in the valuation, and they had been estimated
by competent persons to be of the value of about
800,0001. or 1,000,0001. When the dividend was last
declared, the stock, amounting to about 150,0001., was
not taken into consideration. The directors have no
wish to sell that stock; large profits had been made
upon that stock, but they had not, on previous occa-
sions, been considered as profits, and the loss by the
sale of the securities (if they were soli) ought not to
be considered as loss. If 3,000,0001. of " rest" was
enough, there was at present a sum of 270,0001. be-
yond that, which was more than equal to a bonus of
2 per cent. He disapproved of adding. any unneces-
sary sum to the amount of " the rest."
W. FIELDER, Esq., wished to know whether, in
calculating the amount of " the rest" the directors had
considered those Government annuities which were
called " the dead weight," which were annuities for
the term of 44 years, upon which 540,000/. was
annually paid, and whether it was thought that the
10,000,0001. would be paid back at the termination of
the annuities?
The GOVERNOR—A certain portion is set apart for
the purpose of redeeming the cost of them.
W. FIELDER, Esq.—Was the same course adopted
with respect to another class of annuities called the
twenty-six years' annuities ?
The GOVERNOR—It was.
W. FIELDER, Esq., said that he found from the
returns of the Bank, that on the 28th of August last
the amount of " rest" was 3,368,123/., and on the 6th
of September it amounted to 3,865,933/. ; he wished
to know how the difference was to be accounted for ?
The GOVERNOR—The amount of the "rest" is made
up on the Saturday previous to the 31st of August.
The difference between the two sums referred to by
the Hon. Proprietor arose from the payment of
several sums after that period, but prior to striking
the balance of the profit and loss account.
Mr. LEVY thought that in so large a concern as
the Bank of England it was not a wise course to
screw out the last farthing for dividend. He was
satisfied if a rest of 3,000,0001. was required that the
directors should have some 270,000/. over and above
that sum. Ile did not complain about the dividend,
but he did about the small share which the pro-
prietors had in the election of the directors.
PARRY DE WINTON, Esq., thought that the direc-
tors had acted wisely in the course they had adopted.
The amount of rest had gone on increasing every
year. On the sth of September, 1845, the amount
of rest was 3,016,0001., but it was now 3,986,0001.
Ile hoped that the directors would continue to pay
the some dividend as they now proposed.
The GOVERNOR then put the question authorising
the directors to pay a dividend of 4f per cent. with-
out deduction of income-tax, which was unanimously
agreed to.
Tlie GOVERNOR—Now, as this dividend is of a larger
amount than paid last year, it will be necessary, in
ordert toof bqt
be
e pu
ri toep
rs
iue rt eo,r
st hi an totrhd ereer t
oshouldfi
rbme
tabgateneral
divi-
dend. I will therefore move that a general Court be
holden on Wednesday next, Sept. 22, at eleven o'clock
in the forenoon, in order to take a ballot upon the
pene
racent.ng followingl
oi tquestion,
eth orfe October
a tnodvbi
ezr profits:viz.:—"
t ,bTe paidat a
withoutf
od
riavnti
byd
ee
deduction
u cf
half-yeari 40
of income-tax."
The motion wa3 agreed to.
Mr. DE WINTOR said that he would now call the
attention of the meeting to a most important subject.
He alluded to the insolvency of the gentle-
man who had lately filled the chair—a
circumstance which was familiar to all present.
Upon looking back for the last eighteen years he
found that out of the nine Governors who had been
chosen during that time, six of them had been in the
same unfortunate position. It was a discredit to the
Bank that such things should be allowed to happen.
In the eyes of the mercantile world it was a sight as
police magistrate to answer
bad as that of the Bishop of La ocnhdarognesotafnpdeinttgyblaerfocreenya
questions of his creditors.
Commissioner to answer the
as a Governor of the Bank of England before the
—(L au
we (Laughter.)
ht
er;
not taken by h
How
wasthis to beao pvoridieetdor?s If some
psormee
measures;
vent the recurrence of such things, depend upon .
some measure would be framed for the purpose
by another body against their will.—( Hear, hear.)
He would call attention to the policy of the direc-
tors. He found that upon the 11th of April last the
reserve fund amounted only to 2,832,9101., and at
that time there were private deposits on calls amount-
ing to 11,277,7541., so that to pay the sum of
11,000,000/. and upwards there was only a
reserve fund of 2,832,910/. He knew that
Government had called upon them by deficiency
bills to the amount of about 3,000,000/.,
but it was the duty of the directors to provide for
that. Between the 19th of April and the early part
of the month of May the directors were compelled
to borrow on Bank Stock 3,000,0001., or there-
abouts, from funds which were already crip-
pled, and thereby adding considerably ty the