The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-10 00:00:00

MR. IVIUNTZ AND THE “ TIMES."

The controversy between Mr. Muntz and the Times
has excited much interest throughout the country,
The Times article of the 27th, in reply to Mr. Muntz's
letter, proves, we think, very little. In one respect
it is an improvement on the former articles, it
abounds less in those peculiar " flowers of rhetoric "
with which the uneducated part of the lower classes
of society are wont to supply the place of argument.
The Times may rest quite assured that the advocates
of a just and reasonable reform cf the monetary sys-
tem will not be put down by low abuse.
'We beg leave to call the attention of our readers
to a very able article which we have extracted
from The Sun, which leaves little that we think it
necessary to add on the subject. The Times, how-
ever, stands up manfully for,Oe convertibility of the
bank note. Let Mr. Manta, it says, take fifty notes
of 1,0001. to the Bank, and he will obtain sovereigns
at the
,rate of 31. 17e. 100. an ounce. Very true ;
but can the Times tell how long this may continue
the case ? When Sir Robert Peel brought for-
ward the Bill of 1844, he admitted that the con-
vertibility of the bank note had been endangered
at four several periods—in 182.5, 1832, 1837, and
1839. And haw stood the case in 1847, under
the " perfect " measure of 1644? On the 28th
October, 1847, according to the Bank return the
liabilities of the Bank amounted to 34,612,0911,
while its assets in gold and silver coin and bullion,
amounted altogether to 8,312,6911.—0 r rather less
than ss. in the pound. The deposits of the bankers
and merchants amounted at the same time to
3,580,5091, and had they, as teas talked of, with-
drawn these deposits, not one sixpence would have
remained to " convert" the paper of the Bank into
gold. But, further, by the Act of 1844, 7,665,445/.
of the gold and silver held by the Bank was locked
up in the " Issue Department," and could not be
touched ; while in the " Banking Department"
against the 20,318,175/. in the hands of the public
the Bank held only 447,2461. of gold and silver coin,
or about 54d. in the pound ! The truth is the Act
of 1844 is entirely a fair weather Act; as long as the
foreign exchanges happen to be in our favour, and
there is no demand for gold, the Bank pays away
sovreigns, but when the demand arises and the con-
vertibility of the note is tested, the system breaks
down, and after causing the ruin of thousands of
traders of undoubted respectability and solvency who
are then unable to convert their real wealth—their
merchandise, bills, or goods—into bank notes, bits of
" worthless paper," but which, being the only legal
tender, they must obtain or stop payment,—after
causing distress and entailing years of suffering on
hundreds of thousands of operatives and labourers,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer suspends the con-
vtrtibility of the bank note, and the panic ceases.
The Times speaks of these panics as an "occasional
hitch." We believe the sums already sacrificed in
these "hitches" amount to much more than the sum
total of the national debt, and all this has been drawn
from the productive classes, from the merchant, the
landowner, the farmer, the trader, and from the hard
work of the labourer and operative. The manufac-
turing districts of this country are only now recover-
ing from the effects of the "hitch" of 1847, and should
the existing money laws remain in force soother
period of depression must arrive, the effects of which
will, we fear, be even more severe than any we have
yet experienced. With no feeling of disrespect to
the Times, we call its attention to these plain facts.—
Derbyshire Courier.

BUTCHERS' CHARITABLE INSTITUTION.—The an-
nual meeting of the donors and subscribers to this charity
was held at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen-street, last
evening; Mr. John Sharp, president of the institution, i❑
the chair. The Chairman, in opening the proceedings,
stated that during the past year the society had been more
prosperous and flourishing than in any previous year of its
history. The charity had now been upwards of 22 years in
existence, and it had gradually risen in favour until it
was now one of the most important institutions of the kind
in the metropolis. His Royal Highness Prince Albert had
graciously condescended to become its patron, and had given
a handsome donation of twenty guineas. The minutes of
the last annual meeting having been read and confirmed, the
secretary then read the managing committee's report of the
operations of the society for the past year. This document
stated, in addition to the facts mentioned by the chairman,
that many now subscribers had been added to the charity
during the year, and that 1,3591. 15s. had been realised from
subscriptions, a sum exceeding the amount raised in any
former year. The subscriptions and donations collected at
the last anniversary dinner amounted to 5181. 13s. 6d. At
the last annual election ten additional pensioners were
placed upon the list of recipients of the society's bounty.
1001. had been invested in the purchase of Three per Cent.
Consols during the past year, making the total amount of the
charity's funded property 12,0431. 7s. 7d. The treasurer's
report showed the receipts of the institution for the past year
to have been 2,5591. 12s. 3d., and the expenditure 1,6871.
10s. 4d., leaving a balance of 8721. Is. 11d. in the hands of
the bankers. The report, together with the statement of
accounts, were unanimously adopted. Several formal reso-
lutions for modifying the rules, regulating the extension of
relief from the funds cf the charity, and for the re-election
of officers, were next proposed and severally agreed to; and
after voting thanks to the chairman, the meeting separated.

In Overton, Tenn., the census taken found a lady,
named Stevens, whose age was 120 yzars. She was married
at the time of Braddock's defeat. Her youngest son is a
smart lad of 70.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.—Yesterday evening war
held the first meeting after the usual recess, and three new
fellows were elected—Messrs. Smee, Cole, and Boyd. Mr.
Omry, F.S.A., set a very good example in presenting the
three works of the English Historical Society which were
wanting to complete the set already in the library. He
also presented a drawing of a memorial stone existing in
North Wales, Dr. Meligain sent a bronze lamp of about the
Sth or 9th century, with the ordinary Christian symbols,
which attracted a good deal of attention, and was thought
by some members to be of the seventh century. Mr. George
Ticknor, of Boston, United States, the author of the " History
of Spanish Literatute," at the instance of the writer of it, sent
a privately-printed volume relating to the history of his fa-
mily, which had represented the state in Congress for many
years. A paper was read from Captain Smyth, director, to
the President, in continuation of his former communication
on the subject of horologv and the very curious clock belong-
ing to the society, dated 1525, which had been presented by
King Sigismuud of Poland to his Queen Bona. It also, by
permission of the Queen, gave an account of the remarkable
clock at Windsor, which had been presented to Anna Bo-
leyne by Henry VIII.

DIABOLICAL ACT.—On Friday night last a most
diabolical act was committed at Coombe St. Nicholas, near
this town,
but fortunately unattended with any fatal conse-
quence. It appears that about twelve o clock on the night
in que-tion some scoundrel contrived to throw down the
bar chimney of Gillard's Dragon Inn, in that villdge, a
canister of gunpowder, which, immediately on reaching the
fire, exploded with great noise. The force of the shock threw
the servant girl (who was the only person then in the room,
and at some distance from the fire) on the floor, burnt a
portion of her hair off her head, and scorched her in several
places, but we are happy to state not severely. Had the
wretch perpetrated the outrage a few minutes earlier, the
consequences would have been dreadful, as Mrs. Gillard, the
landlady, had been sitting by the tire with an infant in her
lap, and had only retired just as the mischief was done. We
trust the parties implicated in the affair will be speedily
discovered. and receive the sentence which justice demands.
Sherborne Journal.

ROYAL FREEMASONS' SCHOOL YOH FEMALE
CHILDREN.—A meeting of the subscribers and friends of this
charity took place yesterday at the School, Westminster-
raad ; Mr. W. F. Beadon, in the chair. The report stated
that there were five candidates to be elected in April next to
the vacancies which had occurred. There were at present
sixty-five children in the school, who were boarded, clothed,
and educated, and out of the six hundred who had been
educated in that institution, there was not a single instance
in which they had not turned out to the perfect satisfaction
of their employers. The building committee's report spoke
most favourably of their prospects. They had lately suc-
ceeded in purchasing two acres of land on Wandsworth-com-
mon, close to the Clapham station, for the erection of a
suitable school. Ihe price they had given for this land,
though large, could not be considered exorbitant, when they
consid?red the locality and other favourable circumstances.
It was the intention of the committee to build a house, com-
bining all the improvements of the modern times with the
comforts of the olden. The state of their funds was also
most favourable, and there was every prospect that this
charity would continue to flourish. The report was unani.
mously adopted, and, after a vote of thanks to the chairman,
the meeting separated.

AFFECTION AND CONFIDENCE OF SINGING BIRDS
—These little creature; if we would narrowly watch them,
possess the most singular attractions, exhibit the most
romantic attachment. Not a movement of their master or
their mistress escapes their observation. Thoy may be
taught, easily taught, by affectionate care, to come out of
the cage, when called for, or to set on the finger and sing
when requested. A simple movement of the head, or ex-
pression of the eye, will accomplish this; whilst the reward
of a bit of hard-boiled egg, or a morsel
of loaf
sugar,
will
speedily cement an intimacy terminable only by death—the
attachment of birds knows no other limit. I have verified
this, times out of number. I have rarely found, during a
long experience of twenty-five years, any great difficulty in
taming a bird, or, indeed, an animal of any kind. Instinct,
on some occasions very closely bordering on reason, un-
erringly teaches the lower order of animals to discriminate
who are their friends, and who are their enemies. This is
demonstrable by the extraordinary familiarity, apart from
all fear, which some birds and other animals exhibit when
in the presence of their masters or mistresses, on whose
fingers I have known birds to sit and sing with the most
perfect confidence.— IV illiam liidd, in the Gardeners'
Chronicle.

NOVEL PROCEEDING.---011 Sunday last the Rev.
Mr. Harper, the recently-appointed vicar of Selby, after the
usual morning service, took his place in the pulpit, and in-
formed the congregation that he should that day commence a
practice which he had long intended to pursue—that of
preaching a sermon, not dins own composition, but written
by anott:er person. His reasons for pursuing such a course
were, first, that there were many sermons by some of the best
and ablest divines, which, in consequence of not being gene-
rally read, were rendered comparatively useless; and se-
condly, that the time which was occupied by the writing
of so many sermons every week might be employed by
him in other useful matters connecting with the ministry.
The reverend gentleman then read from a printed book
a sermon which he said he had heard preached with
great effect in the Cambridge University. The sermon
was on the subject of sin, and was evidently a produc-
tion of no common orderin regard to merit.—Doncaster
Gazette.

Suicins BY A CHILD. -On Wednesday a girl, only
twelve years of age, named Mary Ann Barnes, living with
her aunt at Hartlebury, was playing about with another
girl, when she suddenly jumped into the Stour. It appears
that she had broken a sugar basin and eaten some of its Con-
tents that morning, and being fearful of the consequences of
the act, plunged into the river. It was two hours before
the body was got out: Au inquest was held by Mr. Hughes
on Friday, and the jury found that she " Drowned herself
without any apparent cause ;" a verdict apparently, as
these kinds of verdicts usually are, quite contrary to evi-
deuce,— IVOrceeter Chronicle.