The Sun.
London, England, 1840-09-29 00:00:00

character to inspire confidence among the bondholders,
and the consequence has been a dull market all day
for the Active Bonds, the extreme quotations being
22/, and 22/ for money, and 22/ and 221 for the 16th
of next month. Portuguese Stock rose upon the re-
ceipt of int,elli4ence by the Lisbon mail of the 21st
inst., announcing the entire suppression of the revolt,
and the show made by Government of a desire to
attend to the claims of the foreign bondholders. The
New Five per Cents. advanced from 32/ to 324 to 331 ;
and the Three per Cents. from 21 f to 22 and 21i.
Mexican Consolidated Bonds of 1837 advanced to 26)s
to j; and Buenos Ayres Stock was marked 14. Dutch
Two-and-a-Half per Cents. were heavy at a fall to 491
and the Five per Cents. to 981.
Shares were almost neglected. We observe as the
only bargains officially reported, sales in the Great
Western at 16 ; the New 5 ; the South Western 13/ ;
the New North Midland f to 1 ; and the York and
North Midland 16f premium. Tha Brighton were
114 ; the Birmingham and Derby 301, and the Black-
wall 3/ discount.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
(From the Morning Advertiser.)
We scarcely deem it necessary to address our read-
ers again upon the subject of the claim of Alderman
Harmer to fill the Civic Chair for the ensuing year.
Not the shadow of a shade of an accusation has been
brought against him by the Tories, which the Adver-
tiser and its Liberal Contemporaries have not trodden
in the dust ; and, what is still further to the purpose,
we have reason to believe that no Alderman of repute
will consent either to be put in nomination in his
stead, or, if elected, to accept the office. This is as it
should be, Alderman Harmer deserves well of the
public for many acts both of public and private bene-
volence ; and Aldermen Pirie and Johnson, if we judge
of them rightly, are of too high bearing to be made
either the cat's-paws of a
party, or the instru-
ments of a personal malignity. If the Livery do their
duty this day, and during any poll that may happen to
ensue, there can be no doubt of the triumphant election
of Alderman Harmer to the ensuing Lord Mayoralty ;
but if, on the contrary, they allow themselves to be car-
ried away by misrepresented statements and unfounded
prejudices, all we have to say is, that they will not only
disgrace themselves and the cause they pretend to sup-
port, but also place it in the power of the Sheriffs and
Lord Mayor for the time being to render the representa-
tion of the City of London completely Tory. This is
a consummation not exactly to be devoutly wished ; but
if they mean that their candidate should be successful,
they must be one and indivisible proof against all preju-
dice and Tory misrepresentation.
( From the Times.)

HAIVIMERSLEY'S BANK.

(From the Circular to Bankers.)
Some fifty or sixty years ago, the old and eminent
hanking house of Herries and Co. were the only firm
inEngland who had adopted the practice of issuing notes
payable on presentation or at a few days' sight at vari-
ous large towns throughout the Continent of Europe ;
it was a circulation of the greatest possible convenience,
safety, and utility to travellers and temporary residents
in foreign countries, and it was very properly, and with
much foresight as to the consequences, so arranged by
the introducers of the practice, as to render the accom-
modation to the applicants or the public easy and eco-
nomical to them ; so that they always felt obliged for
the opportunity of resorting to it. It was also, no
doubt, a lucrative kind of business to the issuers of the
notes. The amount of this circulation must have been
greatly curtailed by the French revolutionary war ; but
still it was almost an exclusive field, and it had, as may
fairly be assumed, rendered a good return to the enter-
prising firm with whom the practice originated. The
war must terminate ; and those who were in possession
of the field of operation, and were acquainted with all
the circumstances, places, persons, and details necessary
to the conduct and management of such a business,
would have great advantages on the renewal of inter
course with the Continent of Europe. Few persons
knew anything about the extent of the profits of this
kind of banking business ; but among these few would
he the confidential clerks of Messrs. Herries, and one
of them was the late Mr. Thomas Hammersley, the
father of Mr. Hugh Hammersley, just deceased.
Mr. Hammersley quitted his position as clerk, and
entered into co-partnership with Messrs. Morland and
Ransom, under the firm of Morland, Ransom, and
Hammersley. This firm did not remain united many
years, and it was understood on its dissolution, that
there was a balance of loss to be borne by each of the
several parties. It might not be a very large one, at
least not amounting to a sum that could materially im-
pede the operations of a great and substantial London
banking firm ; but supposing it to be not more than
20,0001. for Mr. Harnmersley's share, it was to that
extent a load on that gentleman's shoulders in his subse-
quent struggles. He then, upwards of thirty years ago,
formed a co-partnership under the firm of Hammersleys,
Montelieu, Greenwood, Brooksbank, and Drewe—a
union which would seem to promise great results in pro-
fit, seeing that Mr. Greenwood was in the high tide of
prosperity as the leading army-agent, and the confiden-
tial friend of the Horse Guards, and that other mem-
ber: of the firm were capable by their connections of in-
troducing valuable business to the new banking office.
It happened, however, that the new firm was under
the principal direction of a mind deeply imbued with
the bold and confident spirit of the times, a spirit
which is in perfect contrast to that which governs the
conduct of almost all experienced bankers of the pre-
sent day. They pushed their accommodation for the
purpose of acquiring business, or they granted such ac-
cornodation on the representations of parties too readily.
Among these was a bankat Honiton, in Devonshire,whicla
failed many years since. It is said that the accommoda-
tion granted to this bank at its highest point considerably
exceeded 280,0001. It was given principally in the
shape of bills, accepted by Messrs. Hammersley and
Co., and it was an understood arrangement between the
parties that the sum of this kind of circulation to be
constantly kept afloat should be about 200,000/. Bilis
of this description, drawn on purpose to obtain Bank
notes by discounting them, could not at this day be
made to work at ail ; they even then moved heavily in cer-
-1 tain quarters; and we believe if it had not been for the
' friendly aid and co-operation of a Director of the Bank
of England, now deceased, the whole scheme of raising
money by this kind of circulation would have broken
down much sooner than it did.
Before the failure of the Devonshire Bank, Messrs.
Hammersley and Co. reduced the balance from its
highest point, which is variously stated at sums between
280,0001. and 300,0001., as well as they could by get-
ting available securities and otherwise. For the final
balance, which, after all practicable reduction had been
effected, amounted, we believe, to 180,000/., they ac-
cepted, we were many years since informed, Is. or
ts. 6d. in the pound ; consequently the real loss upon
this account would not be lest than from 160,0001. to
170,0001. It would be instructive if we could tell by
what means and gradations borrowers contrived to in-
volve Messrs. Hammersley and Co. in this large and
ruinous liability. The bankers at Honiton made a
great show of possessions in land upon which securities
for the advances would be given ; but, according to
our information, these were no further available for the
pay ment of the great debt than we have above stated.
Whether the then existing partners of the firm of Ham-
mersley and Co. took each his share of this enormous
amount of loss, or it was left as an incubus on the bank
to be liquidated by the accruing profits of that establish-
ment, we do not know. The latter seems the more
probable, seeing that the firm was gradually stripped
of every one of its members, except the lamented Mr.
Hugh Hammersley.
Whilst the firm was subject to the aforesaid influence,
viz. was under the direction principally of its founder,
Mr. Thomas Hammersley—other losses of considerable
magnitude were incurred, either by that gentleman in-
dividually, or by the house over which he presided.
There was one with an office-bearer in his Majesty's
Treasury, amounting to a sum approaching to 40,0001.
What portion of this sum may have been subsequently
liquidated by the connexions of the party on whom the
obligation rested, we do not know. Then there was a
much larger suns which Mr. Thomas Hammersley
Eng lish ad-
vanced to a firm for the manufacture of soap carried on
in the Borough of Southwark. The loss here, we be-
lieve, was little, if anything, short of 80,0001. The
history of this soap manufacture would be interesting
and instructive, it related circumstantially in detail ; we
must episodically advert to some of the leading facts,
for they are pregnant with warning to men of property,
and such as have the command of large sums of money.
,place in the An ingenious person, of the name of Phelps, pro-
fessed the art of making soap of a better quality than
when a considerable'
eanfttertnooookn
advance was established in the value of Consols. any other manufacturer of the article could produce.
market until
Nlaofeminovtehme
The profession was not a vain one—no regard Wog bad
The day has been one of uninterrupted rain, which, to the cost—as the product exhibited bore evidence. 0n
coining after a succession of similar unfavourable days, this showing he induced men of great property to join
has caused some slight fears for the state of the crops in hitn with capital without careful examination ; costly works
Scotland and Ireland, where a large part of the ry•est were raised, and the best plant was formed that labour,
has not been secured ; but the Corn Market
ing no symptoms of advancing this morning show-
inaterials, and money could furnish. They soon found,
however, that profit did not ensue from this large out- ,
Mark-lane, the rainy weather has not produced,
affect upon the Funds. lay, and Mr. Phelps then suggested that the great pro-
any particular The fire
fit lay in the making of alkali, and the firm, consequently
at Devonport was mentioned as causing a loss
of 500,000/. to the revenue of the ensuing yea undertook the manufacture of that article ; still there
hut this has has been subsequently believed to be 1.,
was no profit, and the adventure had at this stage ab-
bot of the dame. • a sorbed too much money to admit of the consideration of
very exaggerated estimate
Council ee which has
Cabinet
taken place. The .which has been •
has been the subject signalofthe .theturnedmerchants,
anxious
flag
sitting this afternoonof very
the Stock Exchange, but and would fetch their tallow in their own ships from St.
anxious conjecture on ge, but no per information Petersburgh. It was during the war ; the tallow-laden
son has pretended to v
ba a
renewed of the result ; carried one of the Danish
ships were seized, and into
but the c.•rcumstance ofGo proposition having •
Government has led l d Th. blow is an s. is was a great to the firm ; and to re-
come from the French to the opt- will take cover their property they mustered a sufficient force to
nion that the English
Cabinetthe national vathe opportunity go and attempt to cut out and retake the ship or ships,
of yielding something
to
oich alone is considerednity or national and in this they succeeded. One large ship was on its
which alone . to be
honour of France, passage home from the Danish port, with a cargo in-
wantedtermination of the aff. ' of
for the pacific
I the more patine airs
- - the sured for more than 40,0001., when the captain and crew
East. In consequen
3cuoght forward, the e
iviews which descried a smaller vessel to which they gave chace, with
the present day has bro
latter
value of Con-
part of' the 1 the intention of capturing it ; but which, when they
sols advanced in the
hafternoon and I
e,per cent. ; Came near to it, they found to be an American, with
the closing quotations were higher than the , .
wnose country we were at peace, and they dared not
opening rates. -----e--- touch it. Then then steered for London, but the ship
SUN.—The City politicians, arc much on the qu and carps were burnt before they reached port, the
Harmerscrew alone ecaping ; and the underwriters refused to
rive about Alderman .
election
aof the J • •
Owing to the celebrate() ewisli New Year's I pay one shilling, because the ship had been out of the
Day all the Markets were verydull. and in the power i prescribed course in chase of the American. In this,
of a few persons (the Jews,bei"ge
, 4S
~a body, dealers for and such other ways as great manufactures on novel
scruple ,0 avail themselves of the plans are incident to, several hundred thousand pounds
a rise), who did not
of fa.ch,g•tiossn the prices. The unfavour- , were lost by Messrs. Phelps and Co.
opportunity Devonport was lai 1
and a hold of as 1 We continue the recital. Mr. Phelps. succeeded in
able intelligence from
an Consols,
f proprietor
:the meeting of ) getting for his co-partner Mr. Bracebridge,
0_ _
one screw to press UP--
ahot ler. rile first, however, of Aston Hall, near Birmingham, the park and fine old
the Cabinet Council as
designed, can only be denomi. , mansion of which estate is now in the occupation of Mr.r
whether accidental or
nated an unfortunate event,. not an alarming one ; and ' Watt, the son of the celebrated James Waal; o
was.
with respect to the second, it is not improbable but that 13racebridge set up a bank at Warwick ; but
to
Con-
the deliberations of the Ministers may turn out favour- soon driven out of that field from sheer unfitnesshcredit
able rather than otherwise•
for Early in the day Consols duct so responsible an office ; he paid all t cever
~1.010
both Money and Time, with of the bank,. and gave it up. 'File losses, sioiftsta t
were depressed to S.neto auto
vered t ley gradually fully reco- his mercantile adventures had reducled
scarcely anything doing' 1
vered the closing value of Saturday, at which the latest straits,
\
bargains were effected this afternoon, viz. 87*
88 to I thethat lie was constrained to
for ire. interestnrthose two valuable estates of
mediate transfer, and 8 for Account. Ex- Staffordshire, and Brereton Ha
chequer Bills ranged
Nov Three-aud•a-Hali
from ss. to 7s. premium, and the behave it to be not too extravagant
per Cents. from 96i to 97. gentleman had been content to
The news from Span is still of too indefinite a and had not turned banker and soap- his reveraionary
sell
Aston Hall in
Halt in Cheshire. And we
t say that, if this
°within his income,
iv
boiler, he would at

" Alderman Harmer's election is secure," says the
only Morning Journal which has ventured to espouse his
his cause. But how ? Why, because " Aldermen
Johnson and Piria are men of too much honour to
stand against him " Of course they are. Who ever
supposed that two gentlemen, standing second and third
in the order of rotation. would " offer themselves" to
the Livery, in opposition to that Alderman who is
their immediate senior ? But the will or the wishes of
these two gentlemen have nothing whatever to do with
the question. We believe that if the Livery show that
they are determined not to have Mr. Harmer, there
will be no difficulty in prevailing on either Alder-
man Johnson or Alderman Pirie to occupy the va-
cant chair. At present, however, the duty of both
these gentlemen obviously is to say nothing whatever.
To " offer themselves" in opposition to their senior
would be obtrusive and ungentlemanly towards him.
To decline, in positive terms, would be equally un-
courteous to the Livery. The only course for them is
to maintain an entire silence until the return is made ;
and then to settle it between themselves which of them
shall accept the chair. The Livery will easily remember
that there is nothing new in electing even an unwilling
Alderman. In 1831, to secure Sir John Key's re-
election, they chose first Alderman Kelly, and then
Alderman Thompson, in conjunction with Sir John
Key, neither of these Aldermen having the least incli-
nation to serve the office. Let the Livery, then, attend
in good numbers at Guildhall to-day ; and let them
bear in mind that their course is to return Alderman
Thomas Johnson and Alderman Pirie ; and we believe
we may safely assure them, that in taking that course
they will obtain a very respectable Chief Magistrate
for the year ensuing.

NIONE Y MARKET and CITY NEWS•

(MONDAY EVENING.)

TIMES.—The Tobago papers speak of a great
mortality there. Though the island, it was said, con-
tinued free from contagion or epidemic, there had been
a calamitous mortality amongst the white population
through climaterial sickness. This climaterial sick-
ness had for the last five years produced an average
number of eases of indisposition, although rarely ter-
minating in death, to such an amount in the same
period. This sickness was brought on by the wet,
drought, and additional assiduity and increasing per-
sonal fatigue and exposure, which had of late devolved
on planters. " For," says the Tobago Gazette, " dis-
guise it as they may, nothing but disgust ac-
tuates the general body of our planters and their
relatives at the lot which has been ruthlessly assigned
to them ; and it will excite very little surprise in the
planters of other colonies to learn, that from this
colony another sixth part of its European
population have engaged berths, or are about to
engage them to leave the island. One vessel takes
near!), twenty—the Forester. No wonder if that im-
mense waste of life is to be ascribed to the increase of
personal fatigue—incessant personal watching and urging
of the labourers to their duty—that it should hasten
those who have still health and strength left to get away
to make their escape, to enable them either to person-
ally apply For the means of relief to their constituents
at home, or, failing that, to embrace some other sittia-
don less perilous to their lilies.'
No little confusion of ideas seems to have arisen out
of a rumour that the Indian mail has been stopped at
Alexandria. If that of the 4th ult. is referred to, it is
already known to have passed on ; if that of the 4th
inst., there has not been time enough since its departure
from England to ascertain the fact. The whole arises,
probably, from an intimation said to have been given by
Sir R. Stopford, that he should use his discretion in not
allowing them to go on, if he foresaw any danger of
their being stopped on the route. This, as the Admiral
on the station, it would be his duty to do in any circum-
stances, but it is a very different thing from an actual
stoppage, of which there has not yet been time to re-
ceive any account.

C H RON ICLE.--Through the intelligence received
by the Lisbon mail of the 21st instant, it be seen
that the revolt in Portugal has been put down, and
that the plan submitted to the Cortes by the Finance
INlinister in his relatorio was brought forward on the
15th instant, and passed. Onr readers will thus be
enabled to judge of the accuracy of our information on
this subject, and we think we max now safely say that
the proposal of the Minister of Finance will not meet
with much opposition in the Upper Chamber, so that
there are good grounds for expecting that something
will speedily come off for the advantage of the bond-
holders. _ •

•
The writer of an article on " the Hammersley
Bank," in the Bankers' Circular, estimates the assets
as equal to 1.55. in the pound, but we are glad to find
thlit our correspondent entertains hopes of the complete
solvency of the estate. In that case the subject re-
ferred to in his letter will be of less importance. A.
gentleman of the name of Montelieu was in partnership,
we believe, with the late Mr. Hammersley, and the
Bankers' Circular gives the firm as " Hammersley,
Montelieu, Greenwood, Brooksbank, and Drewe." We
do not know whether Mr. Montelieu be alive or not,
but it he be alive he will be able of course to explain
(assuming the statement of our correspondent to be
correct) how it happens that his name was inserted in a
Bank power of attorney, " not many months since,"
along with that of Mr. Hugh Hammersley.