The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-23 00:00:00

THE MEDITERRANEAN.

MARSEILLES, Feb. 20.--Every ship which ar-
rives from Constantinople brings a greater or lesser
number of soldiers labouring under typhus fever,
scurvy, or frostbite. The mail steam-packet
Jourdain, which arrived on Saturday night,
brought 127 passengers, of whom eight were
seriously indisposed with typhus fever. The
steam-packet Gange, bringing the Constan-
tinople mails of the 11th inst., arrived last
evening. An officer who arrived by the Gange
states that there are 25,000 of the French army of
the East in hospital, viz., 15,000 in the Crimea,
and 10,000 at Constantinople. The prevail-
ing diseases are typhus fever and scurvy. This
statement is in some degree confirmed by a private
letter received by a shipowner here from one of his
captains employed in the transport service, in which
he says that there are 4,000 French troops in hos-
pital at Eupatoria. The mortality among the
horses in the Crimea is said to be very great. The
Commander of a transport, at present in the Joli-
ette, says that of 150 hones he took from this to
the Crimea, it was found necessary to shoot 100,
glanders having broken out among them.

HAMBURG, Fob. 19.—A shipment of rather a
novel nature, destined for Russia, has just arrived
here in an Italian :vessel from Leghorn, accoth-
panied by a Russian gentleman of the name of
Welikanoff. It consists of 148 large cases of Car-
rara marble, forming the first part of the principal
altar for the new cathedral of St. Isaac, at St.
Petersburg. There wore also two cases containing
a couple of magnificent silver vases, to servo as
ornaments to the altar.

THE NEW LOAN.

(From the Times of this clay.)

The proceedings at the Treasury yesterday will serve
to enlighten the uninitiated portion of the public as to
the way in which large sums can be won or lost on
transactions apparently with so little margin as a Go-
vernment Loan. On the Loan and the funding toge-
ther the difference between the tender first made by the
Messrs. Rothschild and the Government terms, which
they were eventually forced to accept, was ;thou', 70,000/.
It is a fair presumption thaf-, had their tender been ac
cepted, they would have derived that much more profit,
or that much less loss, by the operation, which, at this
crisis, cannot but be a speculative one. At the last quo-
tations for Ccnsols the Government minimum price could
not be considered low ; and the Messrs. Rothschild and
their friends must either have had reasons of their own
for thinking the state of affairs more in their favour,
or must have reckoned on more pliant customers
than they found in Lord Palmerston and the

Chancellor of the Exchequer. Should all go on well
at Paris, and should Consols thereupon take an
upward start, Government will have the credit of
having made a good bargain—at least, if its hard-
ness be a proof of its goodness. In what we will hope
is the very improbable contingency of a relapse into war,
no doubt the capitalists will find they have been made
an example of, and in that case the difference between a
tender at 89 and a transaction at 90 will be a provek-
ing'aggravation of their loss. The public, however, will
reasonably take the high rate of the Government mini-
mum as an element in the calculation. Where, indeed,
are they to look for confidence if not in Ministers them-
selves, who can both know and do more than anybody
else in the question of peace and war ?• These latter,
therefore, have to a certain extent the power of borrow-
ing on their own terms. Possunt, quia posse videntur.
But, while Government deserves credit for not giving
way to the compact phalanx of capitalists before them,
it has certainly provoked the censure implied in Mr.
Cap3l's complaint. He requested that in all future com-
munications with the Stock Exchange it would state the
amount of the loan at once. In the interval between
the first general announcement and that of the par-
ticular amounts some people became possessed of the
secret, and won large bets upon it. The answer was,
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had only followed
the precedent of previous loans. Tnis does not appear
to us a sufficient reply. To be sufficient it ought
also to explain how it is that a course f.und harmless
before has led is the present instance to a scandalous
result. There has been a great deal of leakage in Trea-
sury secrets lately, and it unfortunately comes at a time
when there are also unusual efforts to put the public on
a wrong scent beforehand. The operations of British
finance have so much influence on exchanges and mar-
kets that for the sake of fairness there ought to be the
most scrupulous veracity and the most absolute secrecy
in all the persons concerned in their administration ;
and we cannot say that either of these rules has been
observed of late. In this case the anticipation that the
loan would be for 5,000,0001. and the funding for
3,000,0001., especially when banked by heavy bets,
could hardly be a mere guess, though the statement
that the Government minimum would be 90 was likely
enough and round enough to be nothing more. Now
that the loan is settled we can only hope that, as Go-
vernment has made the beet bargain it could under ex-
isting circumstances, it will turn out that the contrac-
tors and purchasers have made a still better, as that
will imply the establishment of a Eecure and honourable
peace.

(From tine Tinter' City Artzcle)

At the opening of the Stock-Exchange yesterday
, morning business was in suspense until information had
been received of the price at which the new lean had
been taken. As soon as it was known that Messrs.
Rothschild bad accepted the contract at the Govern-
ment minimum of 90 (their tender having been at 891)
transactions in Console for money were entered into at
914, being an advance of an eighth on the latest price
of last evening. Subsequently the market became weak,
and a fall occurred to 90/, from which there was only a
nartial reaction, the closing official prices being 90 to
91 for money and 911- to for the account. Aft,r re-
gular hours some bargains were entered into at a further
recovery of an eighth. The transactions in the scrip of the
new loan were extensive, and the premium ranged between
and li, the last quotation being 1 to 1. The scrip of the
Exchequer funding is a quarter per cent. lower, and
left off at to if. With regard to the terms ob.:ained
by the Government, there was in many quarters an im-
pression that they are too high, and that those offered
by Messrs. Rothschild, and which were about 2 per cent.
below the closing quotation of the previous evening,
were of a fair character, according to the experience of
former loans. By leaving so small a margin of profit,
it was argued, the Government not only ran risk of
having the contract rejected altogether, but of the scrip
faling to a discount on the first day, since the Exche-
quer-bill portion of it has already been as low ass pre-
mium, although there has not been a single circumstance
to exercise an adverse influence, It was probably a
knowledge that the subscriptions sent into Messrs.
Rothschild had bean extremely large, amounting, it is
said, to 30,000,000 f., which induced the Chancellor of
the Exchequer to fix a high price as his minimum ; but
there can be no doubt that these subscriptions would
have been much reduced if it bad been supposed that
the terms would have been so close. Hence, in any
future and larger operation, that eagerness on the
part of the public which furnishes the best advantage to
the Government in all such transactions may, according
to some opinion% be considerably diminished. On the
other hand, it is assumed that the conditions demanded
are to be regarded as a favourable sign of the confidence
of the Government in the results of the peace negotia-
tions, and that the present case is, therefore, an excep-
tional one. Bank Stock closed at 2131 to 215 ; Reduced,
91,/ to 1 ; New Three per Cents., 92 ; Long Annuities,
33 ; Annuities, 1855, 16:1 ; Inia Stock, 222 to 224 ;
India-bends, 7s. to 3s. discount ; Exchequer-bonds, 974
to 98i ; and Exchequer-bills, 3s. discount to par. The
demand for money, both at the Bank of England and
out of doors, continues extremely heavy ; but the pres-
sure was mitigated yesterday afternoon by Messrs.
Rothschild returning the large surplus deposits received
by them during the past two days.

THE EXECUTION OF COFRIGAN.—This unfortunate
man is to be executed on Monday next. Preparations
have already commenced.
A letter from Bucharest mentions that General Coro-
nini, who had returnal some day., brought the news
from Vienna that peace would infallibly be concluded.
A petition was presented on Thursday in the Court
of Chancery for the winding-up of the Tipperary Joint
Stock Bank.

MINING INTELLIGENCE.L-AlthOUgh the sum required
for the new loan is not so large as was generally antici-
pated, the 5,000,0001. have to be paid up in two months,
which is more than has been generally called for in so
short a period for the first instalment of the larger loans,
and for a time, at least, we may expect money scarce,
and speculation inactive. The advance of nearly 21.
per tcn on lead ores has given a little impetus to shares
in lead mines, and Trelawny and East Rose have been
more sought after, and have improved i❑ price. Copper
is not quite so much in demand ; large quantities are
coming in from Chili; and we understand that 300 tons
of ore, yielding a produce of 30 per cent., have arrived
at Swansea front the Cape of Good ilope.—Mining
Journal of t4i