The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-10 00:00:00

NAPLES.

The following appears in the Patria of Florence
of the 2d inst., under date of Leghorn the Ist :—" A
steam-boat arrived from Naples, announces that the
English fleet presented itself before that city, desiring
that the Neapolitan fortress should first salute its
flag, and giving two hours to the Neapolitan Go-
vernment to decide. The same time was given to
the KING to release the Sicilian prisoners taken by
the Neapolitan ship under British colours. The fleet
had claimed 450,000 ducats as an indemnity for the
damages of British subjects at Naples on the 15th."

MARKET NEWS.-(THIS DAY.)

1724WG8TE D 36Z ELD E 2,13 ALL.

We had a slow demand for each kind of meat to-day, at
but little alteration in prices. Beef from 2s 8d to 3s 8d ;
Mutton, 3s 8d to 4s 8d ; Lamb, 4s 4d to 5s 4d ; Veal, 3s 4d
to 48 4d ; and Pork, 3s Gd to 4s Gd per Blbs by the carcase.

MONEY and COMMERCIAL NEWS.
CITY, ()PARTICI? TO 7 [FREE.
The Cotton Market at Liverpool yesterday was heavy.
Sales 3,500 bales, all to the trade. American realised
44d. to 54d. per lb. Former rates were generally
maintained, though buyers had a slight advantage in
some instances. Railway Shares stilt had a downward
tendency; the business doing was small, and prices were
heavy.
The accounts from abroad received to-day are of an
interesting character. Private communications from
German merchants state that from the support which
Austria hopes to receive at the hands of the German
Confederation, there was some reason to doubt whether
the terms proposed by England and France, if at all
liberal to Lombardy, will be accepted, Marshal
Radetz,lty being now in a position to dictate.
The possible calamity of an European war
may however have a great influence, and we have a
right to look to the brightest side. How the Danish
matter will eventuate no one can tell, the letters re-
ceived stating that active preparations fur war are still
prosecuted.
There is mention made in the advices received to-day
from Belgium, of an intended rapprochement between
Holland and Prussia, by means of a commercial
treaty. Such, it is conceived, must prove highly
injurious to Belgium, which will have to regret
the non cultivation of stricter relations of trade with
Holland, according to the apparent inclination of the
latter power, and even the offers made. The premiums ,
established by the French Republic, in its decree of the
10th JUEe last, upon manufactures exported, are likely
to produce the effect always to be anticipated in such
cases. The Zollverein States, it is reported, will raise
materially the duties upon textile and other French
manufactures, and as early, it is said, as next month.
The Corn Market is likely to rule duller to-morrow,
and the return of flue weather operates decidedly upon
confidence in mercantile circles.
The Consol Account is being arranged to-day, and
there is a very heavy centango, the money prices not
being higher than 86i 1, while for the September
Account 861 to 87 has been paid. The pay-
ments take place to-morrow. The weather and
foreign politics will now rule the market, and
possibly act in antagonism,
Quarter per Cents. have been TBh7el
Ntoewi TEhrxeceh-
ealiqdue-ar:
bills have been 40e. to 425. premium for those of June,
and India Bonds 28s. to 325. premium. During the
account Consols have been as high as 89i, and as low
as 85k.
The Foreign Securities are quite neglected. Spanish
Three per Cents. have been 211, Mexican 161 to 16i,
and Brazilian 71. Dutch Four per Cents. have been
69 to 69i.
Railway Shares may perhaps be called a little steadier,
but there is very little doing, and no appearance of
buoyancy. These, however, are securities which ought
to be directly affected by fine weather.

ONE CLOSING
„„cls OF iiRITISTI FUNDS. O'CLOCK. PRICES.
3 per Cent. Reduced Atms, 8634% Si 8634
3 per Cent. Consols Annuities 863/44% 8614
New 314 per Cent. Anns....- . 871% 4i% 87%
LLongAnns. to expire Jan.1860
Ditto, Oct. 10, 1859 .....
India Stock
India Bonds, 1,0004 ..... 2B p 32 p
Ditto under 1,0004 ......._ 32 29 p 29 p
Consols for Account 863/4 87 863/4 86%
t,xchequer Bilk 2%d. & 2d.
1.0001. March 4O 42 p 39 p
1,000/. June ..... - ..... ....
500!. June
Small, March
.. 39-p 39 p
Small, June .... .... 34 p ;14 le

PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS. 1"-E CLOSING
O'CLOCK. nucEs.
Brazilian Bonds • 7l 71
Mexican, 5 per Cent. 1846 —
Ditto, Account 16%% 1634
Spanish 5 per Cent. 1840.
Ditto, 3 per Cent
' in 21%
Dividends on the above payable in London.
Belgian 41,! per Cent .. 67
Dutch 2% per Cent., 12 Guild.... 43% 43%
Ditto, 4 per Cent. Certificates 69% 69 69

I'RICES OF BUSINESS DONE CLOSING
RAILWAY SHARES. PAID. AT ONE O'CLOCK. PRICES.
Aberdeen 5O ......
Amber. Nott., Boston,
and Eastern Junctioa 334.--
Ayrshire and Galloway.. 2%
Belfast & County Down 16 ...... --
Birmingham and Ox-
ford Junction .... ... 20
Birmingham, Wolver- _ _ _

,
hampton, and Dudley 10 ;.... 141,4 1414
Birming., Wolverh'pton, -
and Stour Valley 13/. 145..:
Birkenhead, Lancashire, -
and Cheshire Jung 10 ...... ••• • •••••••••
Boston, Stamfd & Birm 5
Bristol and Exeter...... 85 . ... .. .
Ditto, Thirds .... .. ... 25 -
Lucking,hamihire... 14/. 4s. ~..•
Caledonian ..
Ditto. Half Shares .. 834 l3/4 x n 1 ::a xn

Do. New 101. Pref..— 8
Ditto,ClydesdaleJunc 50
Chester and Holyhead... 47%

Ditto, Preference.— 15

Clarence
Do. Ist Class, 6 per Ct. 10
Do. 2d Class, 5 per Ct. 10

Do. Governnieui Loan,
4 per Cent.
Direct London & Ports-

mouth
Dublin and Belfast June. 30
Dundalk & Enniskillen /71...... —
East Anglia, 25/., L. &
E. and L. and D...... 25 .....
_
Do., 3/. 10s.
Eastern Counties........ 20 ...... 14%1A34,
14%
Do. New Guaranteed
6 per Cent.
Ditto, Extension, 5 per .•
- • Cent, No. 1 .. 61. 13s. 4d...
Ditto ditto, No. 2...61. 13s. 4d... -.-
Do. North. & Eastern 50 _
Do., 5 per cent. : ..... 50 ... .. 51%
Do. Quarters ......... 12% _
Do. New ............... 23 ...... —•
Eastern Union, Class A
(late E. U. Shares) 25 —
Ditto, Class A, ditto... 1 ...... _
Ditto, Class B (I. &
and B.) 2O _
Ditto, Class C, ditto... 17%. .... _
Do: Scrip (6 percent.) 10 ......
.'''' ....« —
Ditto, ditto ... ......... 20 ...... _
Ditto (C. & E.) guar.
5 per cent.-- ...... 21 .....
East Lancashire
17
Ditto, New ........ .... 19 ..... ._
_.Ditto, New Quarters 6
Do., 6 per Cent. Pre-
ference Quarters ... 24 ...... _
East Lincolnshire ...... 23 ..... _
Edinburgh and Glasgow 50 ...... __
..
Ditto, Half Shares ... 15 .. ~ —
Ditto, Quarter Shares 12%...... _ -
Edinburgh and Northern 25 ...
... _
Ditto, New.. ............ 61/...... _
Ditto, Newport ......... 13
Ditto, ditto, New 33/4. .... _
Exeter,Yeovil, & Durch. 2%
Ditto, New ....• ....... 2% .
~.. ._
Glasgow, Dumfries, and
Carlisle
Glasgow,Kilmar.,& Ayr 50 ..... , _.
Ditto, New ... ..... ..-. 40 ...... _
Do. Preference Congo'. 15 ......
• ....... • ••• .
Great Northern ......... 15 ....„.
63,i 6
Do., London and York 2%...... .2
Treat South. and West.
(Ireland) ..- ........... 42%......
Great North of England.loo ... _
...
Ditto, New, 401. ..... ... 15
66 x.d.
Ditto, New, 30/ .... . .... 30 ...... _,.
Ditto, New, 151 ......... 1114.. ..
Great Western ............ 90 ... .. _
Ditto, 14 Shares ...... 50
Ditto, 12 Shares ...... 21 ..••• 193/4 ....... ...
Ditto, Fifths. ........... 20
Ditto, New 17/... ..... 13 ... .. _
Huddersfield and blanch. 28 ...... _
Ditto, Thirds ......... 9 ..... __
Hull and Selby ......•. 50 ..,...
Ditto, Half Shares ... 25 ......
Ditto, IA Shares . . ... 12%.;'...
Lancaster and Carlisle... 50
Ditto, Thirds ......... 10
Lancashire & Yorkshire 93 .....
Ditto, ditto
Ditto, 1/2 Shares ...... 43 ... ..
_ _.

Do. Quarter Shares... 171/2
Do. Fifths.... ...... .... 9 ......
Do. Sixteenths 614
Do. Thirds (Reg.)....;;• 13 .....
Do. New, Gua.6 per ct. 2% ...... 314.. 3%
Do. Liverp. and Buiy '43 ......
Ditto 1,4 (late Ilud
derstield and Shelf.) 38 ...... '• ......••••• '''''
Do.(Wakefield,Ponte-
tract, and Goole) ... 50 ..... •
Do.( W. Riding Union) 6 ....• ••••••••••••• '•
Do. (Preston & Wyre) 25 ...... 34.4 343/4
D 0.% Shares ( A)... 9 4...... - -
Leeds and Bradford 5B ......
Leeds, Dewsbury, &c.... 50 .•••••
Do., Half Shares 22E4 ...... ••• —
Do., (blue) Scrip.... 234••• ••
Leeds and Thirsk
Ditto, New ...... ..- 3O ...... ...• ••• —
Do., Prefer., 6 per CL 34••••••
Liverpool, Crosby and
Southport . 3142...•..
Liverp., Manchester, and • -
Newcastle Junction... 21h.,••••
London &Blackwall...l3/. 65.8 d.... 4% 4%
Do. Extension ..... ... 221/Q.• •• •••••• —
London, Brighton, and
South Coast
Do. Consol. Eighths. 40
Do. G uarant. 5 per CL., 9 •••••• ••• ...........
Do. Pref. Con. b per ct. 50 .. —.— ••• ............
Ditto, ditto.... 1852 50 -............—
Ditto, New Si., guar.

6 per cent. _
3
London and Greenwich 12/ lbs 4d — ............ '''
Ditto, Preference... 18, 173 2d
London and N. Western 100 .....124 12314 .. 123
Do. Quarters (L.& B.) 22 .... ..
-- 731 ... 7%

Ditto, New
Ditto, Fifths ..... .. .. 2 •••••• 7iii ...
Do. 401.Shares(L.M.) 20 ......
Do. 101. (M. & B.) A. 9 ••••••
Do. 10/. (M. Si. B.)13. 9 ...... 10% 1034
Do. 10/. (M. & B.) e. 1 ••• •• 31/e"• .. 3 iyi
LoDnod.. &NeSw.Ws7.ter.n..
..... 504 .. .. ... .. 4f/le:••••••• ••• • • 45/2I
82
Do. New 401. .. 94 ..••••
Do. Tenths (Consol.) 50 .••••• ••• •••• •••••
Ditto ditto 40 •••• -

•—•
••••
Ditto. Thirds 11/.135. 4d... --dis.
Do., New Scrip, 1848;
Pref. 7 per Cent. on
Deposit, and 5 per
Cent, on Calls ... 1/. 13s. 4d...
London, Salisbury, and
Yeovil
Londonderry&vo`'.le7a.inT;

Londonderry and Ennis-
ki!len ....•..... .. 25 ...... ... ..... ...,
Lowestoft (4 per et.) ... 20
Ditto (6 per ct.) ..... 3
Nlan::hester,llus.ton,and
Matlock. .....
rilaneliester, Sheffield,
and Lincolnshire ...100
Do. Quarters (No. 1) 18
• Ditto ditto (No. 2)... 25
Ditto ditto (No. 3) ... 7% — ..... ..... ..
Ditto, New 101. Pref... 10
Ditto, Gt.iirimshy ... 35 - •..••••• ......
Ditto ditto . ......... 11
Ditto ditto
Ditto Sheffield and
Lincolnshire . 121,x.

Do., Grimsby Dock... 171,Z —

Do. Blanchester and
Lincoln: Union..... 41.25.
Manchest. & Southampt.
Midland ........100
Do. Consolidated Pref.loo
Do., do., 501. Sharec,„.. 20
Do. ilirm., and Derbyloo
D‘).Consol. Bristol and
Binning., 6 per ct.... 100 ll7
Ditto, Brist. & Glocstr. 38
Ditto, ditto ... ...... 14/. 18s —
Ditto,Leicest.& Swan-
ninglon, 8 per ct.guar.loo
Midland Great Western
Irish
Uiddlesbro' and Redcar,
6 per cent. guar.
N ewcastie andCarlisle...loo
Do. Quarters 25
N mmarket .....,.. . 20

117%

Do. Extension .........21. 125....
Newport, Abergavenny,
and Hereford 6 ......
Newry and Enniskillen 7 •••• ..... .....
Newry, Warrenpoint,
and Rostrevor .. 17% — ........
Norfolk .......... ...........100
Do. New 201. ..
Do. Extension 5 p ct. 20
Do. Guaranteed 51/2 pc. 5
Do. do. Waveney Val. 2
Northern Counties Union 4
North British , ... 25 21%
Ditto, Halves
Ditto, Quarters;
Ditto, Extension ...
Ditto, Thirds .... .•
North & South-Western 2
North Staffordshire l2 y 2.....
North Wales . 3l/2
North-Western .....
Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton ...... 45
Reading, Guildford, and
Reigate
Royston and Hitchin 1%
Scottish Central
Scottish Midland
Ditto, New .. l7l/2— ..
Sheffield, Rotherham, &
Goole (Nor. Div.)
Do. do (Sou. Div.) ... 4
Shrewsbury and Birm... 9
Ditto ditto, Class B. 5
Shrewsbury and llerefd. 2
Shrewsbury & Chester
(Nor. W. Min.) l6
Ditto Halves ... ditto 8 .. ..............
Ditto Oswestry ...... 16
Ditto New
Do. 8 per Cent. Pref lO
Shropshire Union
South Devon
Do. Preference
South Staffordshire 514 ...... ..••••..
'outh Eastern
Do., No. 1
Do., N 0.2. .. 22 ..... .
Do., No. 4 Thirds....
South Wales 23
South Yorkshire, Don-
caster, and Goole
Swans. & Loughor & Ca-

meron's Stni. C0a1.... 6
raw Vale Extension ... 6
Thames Haven Dock

2134

6
22%

114

24th

and Railway ..,........ 171 A......
Vale of Neath -. ..
Waterford and Kilkenny 151,.,.... .. —
Waterford and Limerick 45
Watertd,Wxfrd,Wicklw,
and Dublin
Wear Valley 6 per Cent.
Guaranteed ... .. ...... 42% — -
Do. do. do. ... 25
Do. do. d 0.... 7%.....
W' est Cornwall ---
West London
Do. Do. Ist Class ... 20
Do. Do. 2d Class ... 20
Whi tehaven & Furness 13
Windsor, Staines, and
South Western ..... ... 91/2 ......
Wilts, Somerset, & Wey-
mouth ........ ........ 35 • lB% lB%
York, Newcastle, and
Berwick.
Do. Original New and
Berwick ..
Do. Extension No. 1. 15
Do. do. No. 2......... 10 - ......... --.•
Da. G.N.E.Preference 8
York and North Midland 50
Ditto, Preference ...... 10
Do. East and West Rid-
ing Extension
FOREIGN RAILWAYS.
Boulogne and Amiens... 20 -.... 6N,
Central of France (Or-
leans and Vierzon) ... 16
Ceylon
Demerara 1214 •••
L)endre Valley, 4
Direct Bombay and
Madras
Dutch Rhenish
East Indian 3l/4 — ...... „ .... .
Great Indian Peninsular ss.
•..
Italian and Austrian.... 4
Louvain Ila Sambre ... 71/ —
Luxembourg.-- ......... 7
Madrid and Valentia... 2
Namur and Liege 2O ... ..
Northern of France lO _ 5%
Orleans and Bordeaux 6
Paris and Lyons ll .....
Paris and Orleans
Paris and Rouen ... ..... 20 .....
Paris and Strasbourg ... 8 ••• ••• le ••••
Rouen and Hare
Sambre and Meuse

8114

8 "(i,

2%

LLOYD'S SHIPPING—(THIS DAY.)
LONDON, AUG. 10.—Wind W. S. W., light breeze and fine.
PORTSMOUTH, AUG. 9.—Wind W. to N. W.—Sld. Tudor,
Say, Cape of Good Hope and Calcutta.
PLYMOUTH, AUG. 9.—Wind S.W. —Sid. Civility, Beale,
Prince Edward's Island.

FALmounr, Au°. 9.—Wind W.S.W.—SId. Bth, Henrietta,
Surinam ; Courier, Rio Janeiro.
LIVERPOOL, AUG. 9.—Wind N.N.E. to W.N.W.—Arrd.
Safeguard, M`Cawley, Pernambuco ' • Fidelia, Yeaton, New
York; George, Henley, Pugwash ; Coromandel, Hubbock,
C.B. ; Laurel, Sydney, Miramichi ; Margaret and Ann, New-
foundland; 9th, Swatara,• New Orleans; Joseph Porter,
Reed, St. Stephens, N. B. ; Symmetry, Thomson, Quebec ;
Ticumoch, ditto. Sld. Bth, Iforsburg, Callao; 9th, Bellairs,
Rees, Calcutta; Echo, Bickford, Newfoundland.
MUMBLES, AUG. 7.—A quantity of wreckage, amongst it a
green chest, apparently but recently in the water, was passed
6th inst., twenty miles W.N.W. of Lundy Islands, by the
Selina, Green, from Swansea to Falmouth, put back to this
-place. A large ship's bowsprit, broken in the knight head,
and apparently but a short time in the water, was passed by
the Adelaide, from Swansea to Northam, which put back here
yesterday, after having been forty-five West South West of
Lundy Island.

PARISH OF KENSINGTON.—At a meeting of the
parishioners of St. Mary Abbot's, Kensington, held yester-
day, a memorial to the Government was adopted, praying
that the parishes of Kensington, Chelsea, Hammersmith,
Fulham, and Chiswick, should be constituted a borough, and
represented by two Members in Parliament.
APOLOGY FOR,SMITH O'BRIEN.—The courage of
Mr. Smith O'Brien in slinking, under the fire of the police at
Boulagh-common, among the cabbages in Widow Cormack's
garden, may be questioned, hut it is to be remembered that
the hero, if he crept out of the way of the bullets, betrayed no
fear of the slugs.—Punch.
CRICKET. —The match between the Eleven of
England v. Fourteen of the county of Surrey, which was
commenced en Monday, was brought to a conclusion yester-
day, at the Kennington Oval. On each day there was an
assemblage of several thousands of spectators, and as the
game progressed towards its termination, the excitement
arrived at a height which is not easy to describe. Few
matches have been played wherein there has been so brilliant
a specimen of the finer beauties of the science displayed.
By all those to whose names long scores are attached, the
hitting was of the most magnificent character. The follow-
ing was the state of the score :—England, first innings, 129 ;
second ditto, 77 ; total, 206. Surrey, first innings, 131;
second ditto, 76 ; total, 207. Surrey won by eight wickets.
THE ALLEGED MURDER IN ST. LURE'S.—Yes-
terday afternoon the inquest opened at the George, Old-
street, before Mr. Baker, coroner for Middlesex, touching
the death of Amelia Merrick, who it Was stated had died
from the violence of her husband, was resumed and concluded.
The jury returned a verdict cf " Manslaughter" against the
husband, William Merrick.

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.—FOUR MEN DROWNED.
few minutes before twelve o'clock on Friday night,
as the Thetis (steamer), from Belfast, was coining up
the Clyde, when about a mile below tge Cloch, one
of the watch observed a small boat, with four men
in her. Ile shouted to them to move out of the
way, but they paid no attention, and before the
steamer could be backed her bows caught the sail of
the small boat, but merely turned her about a little,
and in another second or so the boat was beneath the
larboard paddle, and crushed to pieces. As soon as the
Thetis could be stopped her boats were lowered, and
the steamer remained in that spot fully an hour in order
if possible to get the men saved, but no trace of them
could be found, and of their boat only a few frag-
ments were picked up. The night was very dark,
and it was possible the unfortunate men might
not have seen the steamer; this is, however, very
improbable, as a great quantity of flame gene-
rally issues from the funnel of the Thetis, which would
make her distinguishable at a considerable distance,
even on the darkest night. It is therefore conjectured
that the men were either intoxicated or asleep.
There was no sound whatever heard from any of
them, except when the boat was just beneath the
steamer's paddle, when something like a sharp cry
was heard. One of the men, it is supposed, was Dun-
can Cook, who had been previously, for a long time,
in the police force of this town ; another was one
M`Farlane, a spirit-dealer. We have not heard the names
of the other two. When they left Greenock in the even
ing they had two women in the boat, whom they landed
at Gourock. They were going to Rothesay to purchase
herrings, and were about a mile from the shore when the
steamer struck their frail craft, and sent them to a watery
grave. Cook, if it be he, has left a wife and family.—
North British Daily Mail.

REPOI{T OF THE COMMITTEE

OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS ON THE BAN!i"
ACT.°

(From Douglas Jerrold's Weekly Newspaper.)
A heavy blow and sore discouragement have at length
overtaken the bullionists. The frontless impudence of
Sir Robert Peel has met with a grave rebuke: the
flippant smile that played over the lips of Sir Charles
Wood has departed ; Mr. Jones Loyd groans in the
spirit. The House of Lords has condemned the blun-
derings of these pseado•economists, who are only
to be compared to those who in former times displayed
false lights on a rocky shore to lure vessels to destruc-
tion that they might plunder the wreck. The Bill of
1844, dissected with care and skill, is proved to be a
rank imposition, having in practice falsified all its pro-
misee. Contrasted with the meagre report of the
Commons, that of the Lords is full, searching, argu-
mentative, and worthy to be called a State paper ; it
contains a careful and impartial analysis of the evidence,
and though we are not able to bestow unqualified praise
on the commentary which accompanies that analysis, it
certainly reflects great credit on the industry and inte-
grity of those by whom it has been prepared. There
are errors in judgment which we regret to see, but
which, when exposed, we hope will be retracted, for the
Lords really seem anxious to avoid all mystification and
arrive at truth.

It appears to us that the Committee of the Peers mis-
took their duty when they confined their attention to
the Bill of 1844. That Bill is avowedly the comple-
ment of the Bill of 1819, and they ought to have inves-
tigated the major rather than the minor problem. After
an experience of twenty-five years, Sir Robert Peel
himself' avowed that the Bill of 1819 was a dead failure,
and therefore did he introduce the complementary Bill, as
a buttress to prop up the tottering fabric. Now it appears
to us that the Lords should have placed themselves on
more elevated ground, to have commanded a more ex-
tended horizon and a more comprehensive view. They
should have approached their scrutiny bearing in
mind that Mr. Horner, the chairman of the Bul-
lion Committee of 1810, mourned over his errors
before his death, declaring that " whoever attempted to
set that question of currency right without taking into
account and fully appreciating the new circumstances
that have arisen, the vast new and additional obligations
that have been entered into, since cash payments
were suspended in 1797, will inflict indescribable
misery on the country," They should have re-
membered the dying declaration of Mr. Ricardo to
his friend Sir William Heygate couched in these memo-
rable words—" Aye, Heygate, you and the few others
who opposed us on the cash payments have proved right.
I said that the difference at the most would only be
five per cent., and you said that at least it would be
twenty-five per cent." These are sounds of repentant
voices speaking from the tomb, calling on the living to
repair the unintentional wrongs inflicted by the dead,
and they should have had their due weight with the
Committee. Mr. Horner and Mr. Ricardo were the real
authors of the Bill of 1819, which they ultimately repu-
diated ; as to Sir Robert Peel, he has always lived on
the ideas of others; from the two gentlemen men-
tioned he copied the monetary system which passes
under his name, and as the founders of it con-
fessed the gravity of their mistakes, all that once
conferred authority has become null and void; the Lords,
therefore, it seems to us, ought to have investigated the
principle of cash payments as embodied in the Bill of
1819, rather than the appendix or complement to a con-
demned measure, the details of which only aggravate the
mischiefs of a system which its real authors had long
since pronounced destructive of the welfare of society
and dangerous to the institutions of the State.
Their Lordships should also have enlarged their Judi-
' cial thoughts by bringing to the aid of their intellgenee
the arguments used against the Bill of 1819 when
debated. The late Lord Ashburton, for instance,
uttered a most suggestive truth when he said "No
country before presented the continuance of so ex-
traordinary a principle as that of living under a
progressive increase of the value of money, and a de-
pression of the productions of the people." This sen-
tence does indeed solve the problem, why the " rich grow
richer, and the poor grow poorer," and why usurers
flourish where honest industry is ground to the dust. It
should have been fresh in the memories of their Lordships
that the experienced Mr. 11. Gurney observed " Shift the
matter as you may, the question before the Committee
comes to this, will you at this moment indefinitely in-
crease the weight of your taxation and diminish the
means of bearing it ?" Here is shadowed forth in pro-
phecy what has become fact—periodical distress of the
most aggravated form, civil commotion, ever-re-
curring bankruptcies through sheer misfortune,
and an annual poor-rate not falling short of
7,000,0001. sterling. Their Lordships ought to have had
present to their minds the warning words of Mr. Att-
wood, when he said, " High prices and an abundant

circulation were necessary; but neither could exist per-

manently in conjuaction with the low price of gold,
which this Bill attempted to fix. This was the source
of all their difficulties; and all measures of relief founded
on other views, as would those which were now pro-
posed, would lead them only to evils more complicated
and to greater dangers." The prediction has been veri-
fied in a thousand forms.

Had their Lordships entered upon their labours with
a full knowledge of these facts, had they contemplated
great principles,. and taken an historical retrospect of
the last quarter of a century, we think they would have
enlarged the sphere of their usefulness, by holding up
to national indignation a monetary system destruc-
tive of credit, trade, and commerce—which has added
50 per cent, to all public and private obligations—which
has cut down wages and profits, while taxes have in-
creased proportionately as the means of paying
them have been diminished—a system which places
in constant and imminent peril the very exist-
ence of the monarchy, and by driving hungry
millions to fury necessitates the augmentation of
a standing army, the enactment of penal statutes,
and places the sword and the musket in the

hands of the policemen in addition to the customary
truncheon. But we are grateful tor what the Lords
have done; and it is because they have done so much,
that we entertain the hope they will examine this ques•
tion of questions more minutely, and do still more.
We proceed circumstantially to their report. It will
be remembered that one of Sir Robert Peel's solemn
predictions in 1844 was that his complement Bill would
for ever change the nature of man and put an end to
speculation. On this presumptuous and stupid boast,
the Committee have pronounced the following stinting
condemnation :

" To those who anticipated that the Act would put
a check OR improvident speculations, the disappoint-
ment cannot be less, if reliance is to be placed (as
the Committee are confident it may) on the state-
ment of the Governor of the Bank and other wit-
nesses, .that ' speculations were never carried to such
an enormous extent as in 1846 and the beginning of
1847: If the act were relied on as a security against
violent fluctuations in the value of money, the falla-
ciousness of such anticipation is conclusively proved
by the fact, that whilst the difference between the
highest and lowest rate of discount was, in the
calaanitious years 1837 and 1839, but 2* to 2. I per
cent., the difference in 1847 rose to 61. Ittwas
of i
contemplated that the 'number and extentcom-
mercial failures would have been lessened, the deplorable
narrative of the Governor of the Beek, recording the
failure of thirty-three houses comparatively in
large business, in London alone, to the amount of
8,129,0001., is a conclusive reply. If the enormous
extent to which railroad speculation has been carried,
be considered as an evil to which a sound system of
banking could have applied a corrective, such a cor-
rective has not been found in an Act, since the passing
of which, during a period of three years, an in-
creased railway capital of upwards of 221,0001. has
been authorised to be raised by Parliament ; and when
the enormous sum of 76,390,0001. is stated on high
financial authority to have been actually expended,
on railways, iu two years and a half. If the power
of obtaining banking accommodation on moderate
terms, were consk:ered to be promoted by the Act of
1844, it cannot be said that this important object has
been attained, since it appears in evidence that in 1847,
in addition to an interest of 9 or 10 per cent. a com-
mission was also frequently paid, raising the charge to
10, 20, or 30 per cent., according to the time which the
bills had to run."

Rare pickings these for the usurers, who must surely
venerate the names of Peel and Jones Loyd, the authors
of the Bill of 1844, which placed in their hands the
power of a Shylock without the danger that accompanied
its exercise. We question if Cardinal Ximenes that,
Dominican monk, who founded the Inquisition, and Tor-
quemada, who first ascended its bloody throne, inflicted
bitterer tortures on Spain than Peel and Loyd have in-
flicted on this country, albeit the weapons were different,
the one lacerating the body, the other the heart.
How many homes have been rendered desolate, how
many have sunk into premature graves from broken
hearts, how many have been bereft of reason
and perished in a lunatic asylum, by that re-
turn to cash payments whose victims are recorded
in 1816, 1821, 1825, 1832, 1837, 1839, and 1847 ?
From the closing passages in the paragraph we have
extracted from the report, the industrious classes may
learn why their wages were reduced, and why they
were thrown out of employment; and they who
chronicle the statistics of crime may there also be
taught a lesson they have overlooked, that usury first rob-
bing labour urges the arm of labour to violence and the
plunder of property. And yet Sir Robert Peel is the
unblushing champion of usury, for he asked in insolent
triumph, last November, in the House of Commons, why
10 per cent or more should not be taken for money, if
money were worth that interest? but he screened the
important fact that he had limited money by Act of Par-
liament to bits of bullion, and thus made an artificial
scarcity the cause and the justification of the shameless
extortions be defended.
It is provided by the Act of 1844 that the Bank of
England shall only hold one-fifth of silver bullion to
four-fifths of gold bullion. The legal standard of the
continent is silver, so that a store of that metal at home
would always be available in paying the balances of
foreign trade; that would relieve our merchants, but it
would cripple the gains of the usurer, so the framers of
the Bill introduced the proportions mentioned, that they
might more effectually sacrifice the bees to the drones.
Silver is only a legal tender to the amount of 40:,.; so
that a man far wealthier in silver than his neighbour is
in gold may be driven into the Gazette, poor in the
midst of plenty, and as able to meet his engagenarnts, as
Jones Loyd is to take up his acceptances. On this most
monstrous regulation Mr. Cotton, Governor of the Bank
of England, gave the following evidence:—
"Merchants from the Pacific, whose returns are very
much in silver bullion, found when it arrived last spring,
that there was no market for it here, and that they had
to send it over to Paris for returns in bills of exchange,
and when they came back there Ras a difficulty in dis-
counting. The interval lost, which is about six weeks,

* It is understood that Lord Monteagie, form erly a
bullionist, and now half converted to sounder prit
drew up the report,