The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-15 00:00:00

CHINA.

A terrific explosion occurred at Hong Kong on
the 17th January. The powder hulk Zephyr and
Bremen schooner Themis, moored about two miles
from the Praya, and having on board 115 tons of
powder between them, blew up, and 36 men were
instantaneously killed, besides many more, number
unknown, who were drowned by upsetting of

sampans.
The Overland China Mail of the Ist February
says :—" It is said that the Chinese at Pekin have
been enthusiastic at the account which Pin Ta-jen
has given them of hi:, visit to Europe, and a desire
has been manifested in many directions to follow
his example. The establishment of a college under
the foreign professors who have come out with Mr.
Hart is looked upon with great interest, and it is
generally believed, both among natives and Euro-
peans, to be likely to have a very beneficial influ-
ence. The chief difficulty will consist in getting
professors acquainted with the language, those who
have come out being mostly beyond the age when a
language so difficult as Chinese can be acquired. It
is, however, hoped that the student interpreters in
the service of the Customs will render much assist-
ance in this respect, and that in the course of time
the institution may be set, into good working order."
JAPAN.
The Japan Times Overland Mail of the 17th of
January states that the principal political occur-
rence of the fortnight is the determination come
to by the foreign Ministers to accept an invita-
tion tendered them by Stotsbashi, the new sho-
goon to visit him at Osaka. It was believed to be
their intention to leave Yokohama for that pur-
pose in about a fortnight. " Such a visit, some
time before the opening of the port of next Ja-
nuary," adds the Japan Times, would in any case
have been necessary, as there is much to settle re-
'garding the position of the new foreign settlement,
the anchorage, the tenure of land, erection of
buildings for the Custom-house and bonded ware-
houses, residences of diplomatic agents, &c." We
read in the same paper :—" Many Japanese of high
rank have left or are leaving this country for the
purpose of being present at the French Exhibition.
We have mentioned the departure of Satsuma's
brothers and suite from Nagasaki, and almost every
mail now carries away Japanese passengers. A
large number of young gentlemen have been sent
to Europe for education, and the very best results
are to be anticipated from the evidently strong
desire manifested amongst the upper classes of
Japanese to see for themselves the nations
of the West. Nor are their efforts at self-im-
provement confined to foreign travel. A school
under French direction has been for some time
established at Beaten, near the residence of his
Excellency the French minister, and we are now
able to announce that a school and college on the
English flystem will shortly be opened at Yoko-
hama, under the direction of an English principal ;
orders were sent home the mail before last for the
necessary books. By the Alphee arrived a number
of French officers, commissioned and non-com-
missioned—all men carefully picked for the service
--whose mission, though of perhaps not so useful

a character to the people, will, when fulfilled,
materially strengthen the power of the Shogoon's
government. They have been engaged as drill
instructors to the Yedo army, which will be trained,
clothed, and armed on the French model. Already
a striking alteration is to be observed in the dress
of the native officials.
AUSTRALIA.
VICTORIA.

Parliament assembled for the despatch of busi-
ness on the 17th January. llis excellency's speech
congratulated the country on the abundance of the
harvest, and on a state of general prosperity ; the
result of Mr. Verdon's mission to England, and of
the success of the Intercolonial Exhibition. It
promised, among other measures, bills to amend the
Land Act, the Common Schools Act, the Wine and
Spirit Act, the Municipal and Local Government
Acts, the administration of justice, insolvency,
lunacy, banking, and police. It also promised a
measure dealing with mining on private property,
and mining on public reserves. No exception was
taken in either house to the subjects contained in
the address.

Banquet at Liverpool to the Layers of the

Atlantic Cable.

Last evening the members of the American Cham-
ber of Commerce at Liverpool gave a grand banquet
in the Law Association Rooms, to Sir S. Canning,
Sir J. Anderson, Mr. Cyrus W. Field, and Mr. W.
Smith. 'lhe room was beautifully decorated for the
occasion with flags, mirrors, draperies, and some
valuable objets d'art, lent for the occasion by Messrs.
Ellington and Co., and the general effect was made
unusually brilliant by the addition of about 40 extra
gaseliers.
About 100 gentlemen were present, including the
principal resident American merchants, the Mayor of
Liverpool, and the presidents of the chief commer-
cial associations of Liverpool and Manchester.
Amongst the invited guests there were Mr. C. W.
Adams, American Minister; H. T. Dudley, Esq.,
United States Consul at Liverpool ; H. Wilding,
Esq., Vice-Consul ; .Sir J. Garvock, the command-
ing officer of the district ; Commander Prowse,
R.N. ; Ilon. C. Fisher, Attorney-General of New
Brunswick, and the four gentlemen in whose hon-
our the banquet was given.

The chair was occupied by Win. Rathbone, jun.,
Esq., and the dinner was one of the most recherche
ever given in the town.

In the course of the evening the Chairman pre-
sented to Messrs. Canning, Anderson, Field, and
W. Smith a magnificent solid gold medal, weighing
upwards of three-quarters of a pound, designed and
manufactured by Wyon, and decidedly one of the
finest artistic works of the kind ever produced in
this country. One one side the words " Atlantic
Telegraph Cable" form a circle, below which is the
Great Eastern in full sail on the ocean. Under this
are the arms and legends of Great Britain and Ame-
rica. On the opposite side the name of the gentle-
man to whom the medal belongs is cut in a scroll,
below which aro the arms and legend of Liverpool.

A band of musicians, under the conductorship of
Mr. Streather, played a selection of national and ap-
propriate music in the course of the evening, and an
artistic bill of fare was ornamented with embossed
bronze fac-similes of the gold medals.

After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts had been
done honour to,

The CHAIRMAN proposed, in warm and appro-
priate terms, "The Health of Mr. Field."

After the cheering had subsided,
Mr. FIELD rose and said—Mr. Chairman, I thank
you for the kind manner in which you have spoken
of me, and you, gentlemen, for the flattering way
in which you have responded to the toast. Mr.
President and members of the American Chamber
of Commerce of Liverpool, I sincerely thank you for
the honour which you have conferred upon me by
the presentation of this beautiful gold medal, which
so gracefully commemorates the successful laying of
the Atlantic cable, and which I shall prize the more
for its having been placed in my hands by English
and American merchants who are engaged in com-
merce with my own country, It is doubly gratify-
ing to me that this presentation should have been
made in one of the greatest commercial centres in
the world, where the white sails of so many fleets
of goodly and well-laden ships speak not only of
the magnitude of its trade, but symbolise that com-
munity of friendship, as well as of interest, which
binds Liverpool to the people and the industries of
the United States. But I flatter myself that, valu-
able as this gracious memento of a great achievement
must ever appear in my eyes, it will become more
valuable to my children and their descendants here-
after, as the inestimable benefits of the Atlantic Tele-
graph are gradually realised in all their fulness by our
posterity. Thirteen years ago this very daylleft my
home in New York for Boston, and sailed from thence
to Newfoundland, to obtain the privilege of landing
cables to connect Europe with America. Crowded
although my memory is with the stirring events of
these memorable thirteen years, with all the hopes
and disappointments, the failures and successes
of that interval, which seems so long in the retro-
spect, and is yet so brief in the reality, this is no t
the time to narrate the personal achievements of
both the living and the dead who have contributed
towards the union of the two great Continents of
the world. These things are matters of history, and
history will do them justice. It will do justice to the
Governments of Great Britain and the United States
for the generous aid they gave in ships, and to the
Governments of the British North American Pro-
vinces for the valuable privileges which they so
promptly granted. It will do justice to the directors
and officers of the various companies who gave time
and labour, and administrative capacity of the highest
order, to this great enterprise. To those who so
liberally subscribed the capital, without which the
Atlantic cable could never have been laid. To the
skilful commanders, together with their officers and
men, who were engaged onboard of the various ships,
for the admirable ability which they exhibited in the
navigation of their vessels, and in the performance
of many difficult but indispensable scientific offices.
To the eminent engineers, and their efficient staffs,
who planned and perfected the machinery, and not
only triumphantly laid one cable, but by a tran-
scendent, nay, an unparalleled exercise of patience and
skill, picked up the broken cable from the eternal soli-
tude and darkness of the sea, where it peacefully rested
till the moment of its recovery should arrive. To the
distinguished electricians, and their accomplished as-
sistants, who, step by step, have discovered the laws
by which the invisible electric current, in its passage
through the ocean depths, may be as completely sub-
ordinated to the human will as the simplest piece of
mechanism, which can be felt and handled, in one of
your busy workshops ; and to the other scientific men
who, by innumerable experiments, have contributed
so largely to the accomplishment of the great end.
I think I may safely affirm that never before were so
many men brought together in one enterprise who
wore so pre-eminently fitted, by diversified endow-
ments, and by special knowledge and experience, to
solve the problem of the Atlantic telegraph. Most
fortunate, moreover, were we in finding such a ship
as the Great Eastern, and such a commander as Sir
James Anderson. The man was made for the ship,
and both were made for us. I would also give ex-
pression to the sense of gratitude we must all feel
to the Press of England and America for its sup-
port in adversity as well as in good fortune ; and
to the statesmen of all parties, on both sides of the
Atlantic, whose cordial sympathy and encourage-
ment were never once withheld. There is only one
whom I will mention by name, and this for the
reason that he is now, alas ! no more. I refer to
my illustrious friend, the late Richard Cobden,
who proposed that the profits of the Great Exhi-
bition of 1851 should be devoted to the establishment
of electrical communication between Great Britain
and the American continent. Nor must I forget
that during the thirteen years to which I have re-
ferred prayers for our success perpetually ascended
to the Almighty from Christian men and women,
who, although most of them had nothing to gain or
to lose by the undertaking, were drawn towards it
by the deep-felt conviction that if it were realised
it could not fail to serve their Divine Master's
cause by promoting " Peace ou earth and goodwill
among men." We have now laid across the At-
lantic the two most perfect cables that were ever
wade, and they are in such euelleut order that we

could at this moment transact twelve times the amour

of business we are now doing. lam therefore justified
in expressing the hope that the tariff will soon be
reduced, so as to keep the cables constantly em-
ployed, and make them not only financially suc-
cessful, but an international means of communica-
tion in the most useful, and therefore the most popu-
lar, sense. Moreover, I would permit political
intelligence for the Press on both sides of the ocean
to be transmitted at a rate which would enable its
conductors to publish, morning by morning, a full
summary of the news of the world. On the Ameri-
can side we shall soon have additional lines laid,
connecting both cables with New York ; and then
we shall always have a thorough wire for messages
to Europe, and another exclusively devoted to mes-
sages coming from this end of the line. Even now,
in New York, we often send a message to London
on our way home to dinner in the evening, and on
our return to business in the morning find the reply
on our desks ; and it is very likely that the birth of
the Princess, a very few weeks ago, was knew"
earlier on the morning of the day on which it oc-
curred in San Francisco, on the shores of the Pacific,
than it was here. I feel unspeakably grateful to
God for His goodness in permitting me to come
amongst you under circumstances so different from
the past. What a contrast does this scene present
to former appearances of mine in this great town !
Then, instead of celebrating a triumph, the goal of
our hopes seemed almost invisible in the obscurity of
an uncertain future. Then, instead of being able to
point to two cables in working order, we could only
show specimens of a cable that, we hoped and be-
lieved, would some day be laid, while we literally
went from door to door to beg for subscriptions.
" Now," to quote the eloquent language of
Mr. Bright, "to speak from the United King-
dom to the North American continent, and
from North America to the United Kingdom, Is
but the work of a moment, and it does not
require the utterance even of a whisper." We
stand, indeed, on the threshold of that glorious
future, when the telegraph will cross and recross
seas and continents, and connect together, as by the
links of one golden chain, all civilised and even semi-
civilised nations. We may live to see the day when
every one of the 35 or 40 colonies which render al-
legiance to the gracious lady who sits upon the
throne of these realms will be united to the mother
country by the electric cord ; and when a Minister
sitting in Downing-street will be able to address
the Governor of any one of those diverse and widely
scattered dependencies, and receive an answer, it
may be, before he goes down to the House to
answer some pressing inquiry. What moral advan-
tages, what pecuniary benefits will accrue from tilts
great ocean network of cables, it is not for me to
say. Your own imaginations can fill up the glow'
ing picture. But, returning to the Atlantic tele-
graph, I say with all my heart, may this fraternal
chain never be broken. May it, year by year,
bring
ra
into closer relation and warmer sympathy the tw?
great countries which ought never to be sepated
save by the ocean, which speak the same mother
tongue, which inherit the same laws, profess the
same pure faith, worship the same God. The words
of bitterness and enmity should never pass betwee.ll,
mother and child; the only rivalry which should eexistbetween Imperial Britain and Republican America
should be in the ennobling effort to outstrip etch
other in the race of civilisation, and to extend the,
blessings of civil and religious liberty throng
the world.
In the course of the evening a brief report of the,
proceedings was telegraphed to America by Mr:
York
Richard Stuart, Liverpool agent of the New
Associated Press.

"414470/-
611134

HER MAJESTY, &c•

WINDSOR CASTLE, March 14.

The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, ac-
companied by Princess Christian, and her MajestY
drove out to-day with her royal highness.
The Hon. Lucy Kerr and the Hon. Emily Cath-
cart have succeeded the Hon. Caroline Cavendish
and the Hon. Florence Seymour as Maids of
Honour in waiting.

THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES.
The Prince and Princess of Wales received to-
day the mournful intelligence of the death of the
Dowager Duchess of Glucksburg, the mother of the
King of Denmark.
MARLBOROUGH HOUSE, Thursday, 4 p.to•
No important change in the condition of her
Royal Highness the Princess of Wales bas
taken
place since the last bulletin was issued. The
in-
flammation of the knee-joint, though still eaueing
pain and interrupting sleep, is slowly diMiLliSIHOg.
ARTHUR FARRE, M.D.

JAMES PAGET.
WILLIAM JENNER, M.D.
EDWARD H. SIEVESING, M.D•

The Earl and Countess Russell entertained the
Earl of Morley, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Ilast
.1)1
and Mrs. Gladstone, Mr. Browning, at dinner
evening, at their residence in Chesham-place.
The Countess of Ashburnham had an assembly
last evening at Ashburnham House, Dover-Street, Picca
dilly, which was numerously and fashionably attended.
The Dowager Duchess of Cleveland had a small
and early party last evening, at her residence in Lower
Brook-street.

A Cabinet Council was held yesterday at the
official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, in
Downing-street. The Ministers presont were the Earl of
Derby, the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Marlborough,
the Right lion. Spencer H. Walpole, Lord Stanley, the
Duke of Buckingham, SirJ. Pakington, Sir Stafford North-
cote, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Right Hon. 11.
L. Corry, the Duko of Richmond, Lord J. Manners, and
the Right Lion. Gathorne Hardy.
Lord Robert Montagu has been appointed Vice-
President of the Council, in the room of the Right lion.
Henry Corry.
Dr. Leahy, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Cashel, has issued a pastoral letter, in which be strongly
denounces the Fenian movement, the absurdity of iron-
ginieg the success of which for a moment ho
strongli
points out to its deluded dupes.
TIIE THREATENED STRIKE OF ENGINE-DRIVERS
AND FIREMEN.—AII the memorials have now been sent in,
and deputations of drivers are to meet the directors ond
appointed days, at the request of the latter. It is expecte
that the drivers and firemen of the London, Brighton, end
South Coast Railway will meet the directors to-day. 111(3
notices of the men, which, it will be remembered, werof
e
sent in on Monday last, expire to-morrow. Mootings
the various branches of the society in which the our.°_
drivers and firemen are combined are being held daily
in

all parts of England.
THE NEW EXCHANGE AT BRADFORD.--:The rie;t.:(
Bradford Exchange, which has been erected by a on
liability company at a cost of about £30,000, was op
Wednesday; tho event being celebrated by aen°'
pu Eerie,
cheon, at which Lord F. Cavendish, MY., Mr. dative
M.P., and other gentlemen were present. The foun
stone of the new building was laid by Lord Palmerston
0'
is
1864, and it has been erected from designs prepared
Messrs. Lockwood and Mawson. The Exchange will be s
great convenience to the merchants of and a great ornaMen
to the town.
The subjoined analysis of the receipts of the
Atlantic Telegraph, Telegraph, from the opening of the line
to the,
end of last month, shows an improving state of things, and
will be regarded with interest by the shareholders :—Fro.al_
opening of line, July 28, to October 31, 96 days, at ..£2O
rate, £76,379 19s. ; average per day, £796. FrOnl Novelly
ber 1 to February 28, 120 days, at £lO rate, £98,781 lls.;
average per day, £823. From opening of line to Februsli
28, whole period, 216 days, .£l, 5,128 10s. ; average per d4Y.'
£Bll. For the month of February, £25,235 Os. 6d.; n're;
rage per day, £9Ol. Average per day to October 21, 186 '
£796 ; ditto for the month of February, £9Ol. Increase
per day, £lO5.
The latest triumph of the Atlantic cable is an'
nounced in New York papers received yesterday For
tel"
the first time in the world the closing commercial inli
gence of London and Liverpool has been published ill
New York on the same day. The cable despatch whieu,
we herewith publish, giving the closing quotations, collie'
not have left London before four o'clock p.m., and yet vas
received in New York at noon of the same day.
This
give. a little less than one hour for transmission betweon
the two cities. This despatch will probably be published
in the earliest editions of the an Francisco pavers, sub'
at
1200/1,"

MONEY MARKET

AND
COMMERCIAL ENTELLISENCB,

TWELVE O'CLOOK.

No change of importance can be reported in the
general discount market ; the supplies on offer con-
tinue abundant, and the rates remain at 2/ 3 per
cent., except in a few instances, where first-class
short-dated paper has been negotiated at 2i per
cent.

There were no gold operations at the Bank of
England yesterday. The following arc the latest
prices of bullion :—Bar gold, 775. 9d. per:standard
oz. ; bar gold, parting, 775. 11d. per oz; doubloons,
Spanish, 745. 6d. to 753. per oz. ; doubloons, Mexi-
can and South American, 745. per oz. ; United
States Eagles, 765. 24d. per oz.
Atlantic and Great Western Railway Debentures
arc firm at 32 34 ; and the Consolidated Mort-
gage Bonds at 241 251.
Ths last week's Railway receipts, ascertained up
to this day, aro in round figures as under

_ .
1867. 1866.
Great Western ... ... ... .....66,705 66,818

North Western ...

.112,353 .109,302

South Western ... 20,643 21,300

Brighton ... •.• ••• ••• .. 17 694 16,201
-...

Midland

south Eastern

49,094 48,539

20,514 19,071

Great Norther'

... ... ... 34,281 33,765

Lancashire and Yorkshire... ... 45,150 42,780

Bristol and Exeter...

••• ••• ... 6,140

5,880

,
North Eastern ... GBl9B 64,474
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln 20,694 19,648
Great Eastern ... 32,055 80,502

London, Chatham, and Dour :;; ::: 8,000 7,810
Glasgow and South-Western ... 10,190 10,803
Metropolitan ... 4,034 3,718
North London .. ... 4,736 4,532
Great Southern and Western, Ireland 9,107 7,843
Midland and Great Western, Ireland ... 5,441 4,778
North British ... ... 23,815 22,946

The returns, when compared with those of the
corresponding period of last year, are with a few
exceptions of a favourable character. On the North-
Western there is an increase of £3,051 ; on the
Brighton of £1,443 ; on the Midland of £555 ; on
the South-Eastern of £1,443 ; on the Great Northern
of £516; on the Lancashire and Yorkshire of
£2,370 ; on the Bristol and Exeter of £260; on the
North Eastern of £3,724 ; on the Manchester,
Sheffield, and Lincoln of £1,046 ; on the London,
Chatham, and Dover of £190; on the Great Eastern
of £1,553 ; and on the North British of £869;
while the Great Western show a decrease of £ll3,
and the South-Western of £657.

The return from the Bank of England for the
week ending the 18th March is not of an extraordi-
nary character. The bullion has been slightly
diminished, as also the other securities ; but there
is a considerable increase in the reserve of notes.
The public balances, owing to the collection of the
revenue, hare been largely augmented, while there
is a corresponding decrease in the private balances.
AnnExed are the particulars :
Public Deposits... £8,237,911 Increase ...Z991,888
Other Deposits 16,789,161 Decrease... 794,811
Rest ... 8,839,837 Increase... .5,499

On the other side of the account :
Government Securities £13,111,068 No alteration.

Other Securities... 18,604,404 Decrease... 48,848
Notes unemployed ... 11,187,465 Increase ...X293,630
The amount of notes in circulation is £22,495,515,
being a decrease of £447,715 ; and the stock of
bullion in both departments is £19,256,235, show-
ing a decrease of £117,730 when compared with the
former return.
The return of the Bank cf France for the week
ending this day shows the following changes com-
pared with that of last week :