The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-16 00:00:00

CITY, FRIDAY EVENING.
TIMES.—The English Funds continue depressed,
and have again undergone some violent fluctuations,
but no new feature has to-day been manifested, and
on the.whole the agitation has somewhat subsided.
Consols for Money opened at 80i to 1, being a de-
cline of nearly a half per cent. from the closing price
of yesterday ; but they soon showed more firmness,
and advanced to 81*. The pressure for money, how-
ever, again became strong, owing to the payment of
the last instalment of 16 per cent. on the Irish Loan,
together with the final repayment of advances on
stock, &c., and the price in consequence again re-
ceded to 801. Towards the close of business another
reaction took place, and the last quotation was 804
to 81 ; but apprehensions regarding the Gazette
returns of the Bank for the week operated to check
any decided rise. For the Account Consols opened
at 81a, advanced to 821, and clord at 811 to 1.
Bank Stock left off at 180 to 182 Reduced Three
per Cents. (of which the Government broker, again
bought 15,0001. on account of the East India Gua-
rantee Fund), 791 to 80; Three- d-a-Quarter per
Cents., soi- to 81; Long Annuiti , 81 to ; India
Stock, 220 to 224 ; and India Bon , 40s. to 30s. dis.;
Exchequer-bills opened at 28 to dis., and closed
at 243. to 18s.

Two failures took place in the Stock Exchange,
the parties being a Mr. Hadlow 41d a Mr. Oakley,
but the amounts were unimportang.
At the Bank to-day the total paid in,
in connexion
with the loan instalment and with repayments of
advances, cannot, it is estimated, have been far short
of 1,100,0001.
Although to-morrow is the day fixed for the set-
tlement in the foreign market, there was not much
activity among the dealers, and prices remain exceed-
ingly depressed.
We have to-day to announce the suspension of
Messrs. Laurence Phillips, and Sons, merchants and
East India agents, by whom the following circular
has been issued :

" It gives us much pain to inform you, that in con-
sequence of the unprecedented pressure on the
money-market, and the impossibility of obtaining ad-
vances upon security, we have deemed it for the in-
terest of those parties who have claims upon us to
suspend our payments. We have confident expecta-
tions that our estate will yield a handsome surplus
over and above our liabilities, and therefore trust that
the course we have taken will, under the unfortunate
circumstances of the case, be considered satisfactory
to all concerned."

The liabilities of the firm upon acceptances (run-
ning over the next six months) are understood to
amount to about 70,000/. The assets are stated at
from 120,000/. to 125,000/., and these may be classed
as follows :—Securities in band, 20,000/. ; remittances
expected from India, 10,000/. ; ditto by the next
steamer from America, 10,000/. ; coffee plantation at
Ceylon, 8,000/. ; capital employed at Calcutta,
Madras, and Ceylon, and balances due from New
York, 75,000/., the largest portion of this item con-
sisting of the capital at Calcutta. Under these cir-
cumstances, it will be seen that the ability of the
firm to meet their acceptances was contingent upon
the receipt of the anticipated remittances, and in
some measure on sales of property in the east, and it
is therefore understood that, looking at the uncertain-
ties which now prevail, they deemed it due to the body
of their creditors not to make any immediate sacri-
fices that might have the effect, in case of disappoint-
ment in their calculations of benefiting some at the ex-
pense of others. The cause of the failure, it will be
perceived, in this instance, as in the majority of those
which have recently occurred, lies in the capital of
the house having been placed beyond early command,
and of course the nature of the result will depend
greatly on the accounts that may now come from
India as to the power of realization. Mr. Phillips
has long been respected not only for his business
character, but for a life of active benevolence, and
hence the hopes entertained by his friends of a
favourable liquidation are strongly shared by all
parties.
The failure also, of Messrs. Knapp and Co.,
bankers, at Abingdon, has been announced. This
bank was one of issue, but its fixed circulation was
only 29,316/. It was established in 1802.
Letters from Liverpool this morning report the
suspension of Messrs. Brown and Todd, provision
merchants, and Messrs. W. Steele and Co., soap manu-
facturers. The liabilities in both cases are said to
be moderate.

HERALD.—The stringent proceedings of the
Bank of England have been the leading topic of dis-
cussion in the monetary circles, the rates of interest
charged far exceeding anything known in regular
banking business for upwards of a century. As we
stated yesterday, no specific rule is adhered to, but it
is currently reported that they have exacted at the
rate of 9 per cent. on public securities, and it is
an ascertained fact that they have taken at the rate
of 71 per cent. on commercial paper with scarcely
five weeks to run. That the directors are crippled
in their position by the Charter Act does not admit
of question, for the pressure for payment of the
dividends has continued to-day with scarcely any
abatement, and in the present state of public feeling
there is no chance of the money going into the hands
which, in ordinary circumstances, supplied the means
of repaying the loans made to the Bank at the
commencement of the financial quarter. We stood
alone amongst our contemporaries in pointing out
the flagrant error committed by the directors when
they reduced the rate of interest for advances made
on public securities, compared with commercial bills,
and they are now experiencing the fruits of that
error in the manner we anticipated. In fact, as a
principle, the Bank ought to avoid advancing money
on loan on public securities even in ordinary circum-
stances, for it has a direct tendency to deceive the
public by giving them an artificial
value, whilst they
should be left entirely to their own
weight like every
other description of property. The directors mean-
while are most bitterly accused by many persons who
consider themselves to have been victimised on the
late occasion. The encouragement which the reduc-
tion of the rate of interest held out when the books
were shut for the payment of the dividends induced
many persons to deposit their stock in the belief that
there would be no difficulty from the favour shown
to get 'their loans prolonged if necessary. They
now, however, find themselves left in the lurch, and
are compelled to let their stock go for what it will
fetch in the market, when by early notice they might
have effected other arrange
the rates charged by ments. With respect to
the Bank, they practically
amount to a denial of accommodation for carrying
on any regiilar business ; and therefore no person but
those in desperate circumstances, or for the purpose
of overcoming some
temporary difficulty, will avail
themselves of it. It -- is only in the latter view that
it is preferable to a total refusal of discounts, and we
thus put the case early in the present year.
POST.—The stoppage of the highly respectable
and long established commercial house of Messrs.
Laurence Phillips and Sons was a leading topic of
conversation on 'Change, and, we may add, of very
general regret. A more straightforward, and, in all
respects, estimable firm of gentlemen, could not be
named, as connected with the mercantile interest of
this country. Messrs. Phillips and Sons represent a
house of eighty years existence, and the cause of their
suspension (fer the stoppage of the firm cannot be
justly treated as a failure) is to be traced exclusively
to the prostrate condition of the money market. A
more solvent house is not to be found, and we have
every confidence in the truth of the circular which
has been issued for the satisfaction of its creditors and
friends. The business of Messrs. Phillips
was
prin-
cipally with Calcutta, Madras, and Colombo (Ceylon).
Their liabilities are estimated at 70,000/., and their
assets at 125,0001. to 130,0001. The payments of the
establishment have been equal to 10,000/. per month,
y obtained from the
but the facilities it has usuall
Bank having, for the moment, nearly
ceased, and the
houses being
more general business of the discountingits
impeded, a continuance of transactions became
full of good bills
impossible. It suspends witht a case
other substantial
backed by dock warrants and
guarantees. Under the circumstances, such a stop-
page of payment must be regarded as most cruel, and
of an extraordinary
ascribable only to the pressure
crisis. That the firm will pay every farthing due to
its creditors, there can be no question whatever, since.
the integrity of the parties is equal to their means.

---
A FIGURATIVE STYLE.---A gallant New England
s
knight of the quill, describing a
country dance, say
'° The gorgeous strings of glass beads now glisten or;
the heaving bosoms of the village belles, like polished
rubies resting on the surface of warns apple dumplings."
The Rev. Mr. Surtees, a clergyman at Axminster,
and nephew of the Bishop of Exeter, was fined ss.
County Court on
by the judge of the Axminster
Thursday for assaulting a man named Currant in a
public-house, on his return from a confirmation at
Iloniton by the Bishop, where the Rey. Gentleman had
been assisting. An action brought against him by the
landlady of the house also to recover damages for an
assault was not sustained.
WAKEFIELD CORN MARILET, FRIDAY.-110 supply
of wheat is large, and the value of this article is 2s. per
quarter lower than last week; at this concession there is
ng dosition to sell. The
a fair demand, and no
pressiyisp checks the sale, and
late advance in the price of barle
to-day the tendency is dormant. Oats and shelling are
in limited request at rather easier prices. Beans are
fully as dear. In other articles no material alteration.