The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 8, 1858.

talion consisting of the teachers and. scholars—five affect prices ; but the price of gold never varies
thousand three hundred persons who had volun- never can vary. Not all the produce of California
tarily and gratuitously. bestowed their services in a'ad Australia has influenced, nor would the digging
the sacred cause of education, and thirty thousaid ztp of 1,000 tons in gold, in the heart of England,
of the rising generation, who were profiting by change its price. The committee slur over the
their exertions. Trained soldiers—the veteran question, but they only show the specious fallacies
survivors of a sanguinary campaign—couldnot have that will be resorted to by persons desiring, under
excited half the enthusiasm that these little ones, any circumstances, to bolster up an untenable and
the future hope of the country, occasioned. vicious theory.
We congratulate the country—we congratulate
the people of Leeds—and earnestly and sincerely
we congratulate Sir PETER FAIRBAIRN, on the
splendid results as to her MAJESTY. We shall only
say that never did conqueror receive so brilliant an
ovation—never did conqueror so well merit one—
and fervently we hope that she may live long to
receive similar triumphs, although few can equal
none can surpass, that bestowed by the good people
of Leeds and their worthy Mayor.

CHANNEL ISLANDS' TELEGRAPH.

A telegram from Jersey, dated 3 p.m. yesterday,
announces the inauguration of the Channel Islands'
telegraph.
The wire works successfully.

A congratulatory address was sent by the direc-
tors to her Majesty, at the completion of which its
success was hailed by the assembled multitude with
tremendous cheering.
The streets were crowded with people, and flags
flying in all directions, ashore and afloat.
A procession, accompanied by military bands,
paraded the town.
The town was to be illuminated in the evening,
and fireworks displayed in the Royal-square and
other places.

" What is a pound ?" was the favourite question
of Sir ROBERT PEEL, when desirous of forcing his
monetary fallacies on the House of Commons. The
Right Hon. Baronet had many specimens in his
possession, and was accustomed to produce one, a
sovereign fresh from the mint, and to state that the
coin, consisting of 123.274 grains, was the only
true pound, and that all others were but mere pro-
mises to pay in that particular medium. His ob-
ject, in fact, was to introduce a purely metallic
circulation, for although paper might be retained
for convenience sake, and in order to make large
payments, he hoped eventually to be enabled to
prevent a single note from being issued, save against
the deposit of a quantity of bullion equivalent to
its nominal value. This could not, however, imme-
diately be effected. The quantity of specie in the
country was not sufficient for its actual wants. A
general collapse must have taken place, The divi-
dends on an enormous debt contracted in a paper
currency could not possibly be liquidated in gold
and silver, and sooner than hazard the payments,
in which he was very deeply interested, he was com-
pelled, to violate his principles by permitting issues
not based on bullion to the extent of £32,000,000,
of which only £14,000,000 were on securities,
which could not, however, be available for the
redemption of the notes, in the event of an universal
run for gold. That amount has since been reduced to
£31,623,995, by the stoppage of sundry provisional
banks of issue, partially counterbalanced by an in-
crease of £175,000 in the authorised circulation of
the Bank of England, There is now, therefore,
issued, of unsecured notes by the Bank of England,
£14,475,000; by English provincial bankers,
£7,707,292 ; by the Irish banks, £6,354,494 ; and
by the Scotch banks, £3,087,209.
The consistent free-traders, who desire not only
unrestricted competition in commodities, but also in
money and in currency, protest against the fixed
price of gold and the undue restrictions imposed on
the circulating medium. They say that the
" pound" should be kept as nearly as possible at
an equable rate, avoiding those constant fluctua-
tions which have inflicted so much injury on the
trade and commerce of the country, and so greatly
affected the welfare, happiness, and prosperity of
the industrial population ; that the true pound is
anything which possesses a purchasing power—or,
in other words, gives such a command over the
necessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life as has
been possessed by the pound sterling on the ave-
rage of seasons ; and that anything which mate-
rially alters that purchasing power must operate

The Marchioness of Salisbury has left Bourne-
mouth on a visit to the Earl and Countess of Hardwicke at
Sydney Lodge, Southampton. _ _

The Marquis and Marchioness of Londonderry
come to town to-morrow from the Continent, after an ab-
sence of two months.

The Earl of Radnor. and Lady Mary Bouverie
have left Castle Hill, Devon, where they have been staying
with the Earl .Forteseue, on a visit to General and -Lady
Catherine Buckley; at their seat near Salisbury.
The Earl and Countess of Wilton are shortly
expected at Heaton Hall, Lancashire, from Scotland.
We regret to learn that the Countess of Clare
has been suffering from serious indisposition in Paris. Her
ladyship's malady was of so alarming a character that Mr.
Teevan, her own medical attendant, was telegraphed for to
Paris last week. We are glad to learn that the latest
accounts of her ladyship are satisfactory.
Viscount and Viscountess Barrington and the
Hon. Mrs. George Barrington have arrived at Beckett
House, near Farringdon.
Viscount Maynard has arrived in town, from
Easton Lodge, Essex, for a few days.
RUMOURED RESIGNATION OF AN ARCHBISHOP.
—lt is very confidently rumoured in ecclesiastical circles
that Lord John Beresford intends resigning the arch-
bishopric of Armagh, and that in all probability he will be
succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Singer, Bishop of Meath, who
is one of the leaders of the Evangelical party in Ireland.
VALUE OF LAND IN KENT.—The Acrise estate,
which stretches for several miles between Elham and Can-
terbury, including four manors and extending over seven
parishes, has just been sold for £190,000, including timber,
to Mr. Mackinnon, M.P.
PRICE OF GOLD—The quotation of gold at Paris
is about par, and the short exchange on London is 25.171
per £1 sterling. On comparing these rates with the Eng-
lish Mint price of £3 17s. 101 d. per ounce for standard gold,
it appears that gold is at about the same price in Paris and
London. By advices from Hamburg the price of gold is
4271 per mark, and the short exchange on London is 13.7
per £1 sterling. Standard gold at the English Mint price
is, therefore, about 3-10ths per cent. dearer in London than
Hamburg.—The course of exchange at New York on Lon-
don for bills at 60 days' sight is about 1091 per cent., which,
when compared with the Mint par between the two coun-
tries, shows that the exchange is slightly in favour of
England; and, after making allowance for charges of
transport and difference of interest, the present rate leaves
a small profit on the importation of gold from the United
States.
EXTRAORDINARY SLAUGHTER OF SNAKES.—The
presence of an unprecedented number of the serpent brood
in this county this year has been the cause of general
remark, and has been so general over the county that every
district has been regarding itself as the most visited by the
phenomenon. They seem to have been most numerous in
the inland and marshy districts, particularly in mosses,
where they have in some cases been seen in almost incredible
numbers. As an instance of the great quantity of vermin,
we learn that a drain contractor and his men, employed in
draining at Strupster, in the parish of Canisbay, killed
between the 25th of May and the 20th of August, the great
number of 45, the length varying from 2 feet 4 inches to
3 feet 8 inches, one of them measuring 41 inches in girth.—
Northern (Wick) Ensign.
SECRET BAPTISM AND FORCIBLE ABDUCTION OF
A JEWISH CILILD.—The forcible abduction by the Roman
Inquisition of a Jewish child six years old, at Bologna, un-
der the pretence of its having been, two years ago, secretly
baptised by its Catholic niu-se, has created a most painful
sensation throughout the Jewish world. Twenty-one Sar-
dinian congregations have addressed a,joint and most pa-

unfairly either to debtors or to creditors, and re

duce the ordinary operations of commerce to mete
gambling speculations ; and that it is, therefore,
greatly calculated to depreciate commercial mora-
lity, of which we have seen many fearful instances
of late years. No man, in receiving payments,
considers the weight or fineness of the coin in
which his demand is liquidated. He only
wishes to be assured, that when he wants
to pay it away, it will be received from
him at the same rate which he allowed for it, and
once satisfied in that respect he makes no further

thetic appeal to the London Jewish Board of Deputies, soli-
citing its interference in behalf of the heart-broken family.
The Board met on Monday last, when it was unanimously
resolved to respond to the appeal. A sub-committee of
eight was appointed, with Sir Moses Montefiore at its head,
to which full power was given to take all necessary steps
required by the emergency. The sub-committee resolved
to put itself in communication with the Israelitish Central
Consistories of France and Holland ; to appeal to the press
of England ; to endeavour to enlist the sympathy of the
generous English Government in the cause ; and, if needs
there be, to send a deputation to the Pope.—Jewish

inquiry.
The above arguments are sopatent and unanswer-
able that the advocates of the Act have always en-
deavoured to show that " the price of gold is not
fixed," and that notwithstanding the interrogatory of
Sir ROBERT PEEL, alluded to in the commencement
of this article. The Committee on the Bank Acts
in their report take up this fallacy. In the 59th
clause they say, "Another misconception has often
perplexed those who have reasoned about the cur-
rency—that of supposing that by Act of Parlia•
mentthe price of gold is fixed." They then attempt
to show that if the sovereign, in place of being
" nearly equal to a quarter of an ounce troy of gold
of standard fineness, had been exactly equal to that
weight, it would have been obvious to all that the
word sovereign simply meant a quarter of an ounce
of standard gold, with the QUEEN'S head stamped
upon it by the Mint, and the price of gold, as it is
called(!) being thus exactly £4 an ounce, anybody
would have comprehended that the one was equiva-
lent to the other !" Of course they would, just as
they at present comprehend that the 123.274 grains
of standard gold are equivalent to a pound, for the
conditions of the problem are not in the slightest
degree changed by altering the amount to a quarter
of an ounce or 120 grains. But where the " mis-
conception ?" Surely that is fixing the price of
gold by Act of Parliament. On that point we shall
give an extract from a communication from a re-
spected correspondent, Mr. JAMES HARVEY, of
Liverpool, who has long been a consistent and in-
defatigable monetary reformer. Mr. HARVEY
writes— - _ _

Chronicle.
LORD CLYDE.—The Newcastle Chronicle pub-
lishes the following letter, received on Friday by Mrs. Bell,
of-Woolsington, in acknowledgment of an address that was
signed in January last by the ladies present at the ball
given by Lieut.-Col. Matthew Bell and the officers of the
N.N.Y.C. The gallant general having been much known
and held in high esteem during the time he was quartered
at the barracks in Newcastle, many years since, the ladies
were the more anxious to express the interest they feel in
his heroic career in India :—" Allahabad, June 12, 1858.
Dear Mrs. Bell,—Now that the turmoil of war is for the
moment over, and that I find myself reposing in a house, it
is with feelings of shame that I look at the kind and com-
plimentary paper which I received so long ago from so many
ladies of Northumberland, some of whom I have the plea-
sure of knowing, and many others of whom I know by name.
To their greeting I now reply. I thank them from my
heart—their memorials are dearer to me than the public
honours which have been bestowed on me—the long list of
friends and well-wishers carrying me back to home, and to
the rest which my years and long service require—to the
hope that my sword will soon be returned into its scabbard
for the last time, never to be drawn again, leaving me free
to see face to face the kind ladies who have thought
of me when I was far away.—l beg my kindest remem-
brance to Col. Bell.—Believe me, dear Mrs. Bell, very sin-
cerely yours, C. CAMPBELL."
A company is said to be in course of formation
for the purpose of affording the port of London greater
dock accommodation and increased facilities for landing and
examining goods. In the first instance it is proposed to
purchase Brewer's-quay, now owned by Barber and Co.,
and Custom-house-quay, held on lease by W. J. Hall and
Co., the proprietors and lessees of these wharves being the
principal parties in the new combination. At the same
time a connection is to be established with a dock already
constructed at Northfleet, near Gravesend, by Mr. Pitcher,
which is to be purchased and enlarged by the company.
At present Brewer's-quay has good and substantial ware-
houses, and the capacious vaults and tea-warehouses, in
Cooper's-row, are also in the possession of Messrs. Barber.
Custom-house-quay, however, greatly needs improvement.
It is suggested that it would be an important advantage for
the commerce of London if the scheme should ultimately
lead to an amalgamation of the private wharves generally
under one management. In some instances they are very
deficient in the requisite accommodation, and are conducted
with a remarkable disregard to modern improvements, the
mode of landing goods being such as existed centuries ago,
namely, by a wheel turned like a treadmill by a few miser-
able men inside. At many points, also, much valuable
space is wasted by wooden sheds filled with lumber, the site
of which would be suitable for extensive buildings. The
desire is that the whole of the quays between London-
bridge and the Tower should be united, and that Billings-
gate-market, which constitutes one of the greatest obstruc-
tions to the business of the port, should be removed to a
more suitable position.
STATE LIV ERIES FOR THE SHERIFFS ELECT.—

" Is the price of gold fixed ? Most certainly it
is when coined. The bullionists on the Bank Act
Committee, in their report, deny that the price is
fixed, but they forget not only that the five dwts.
and three grains of gold, which is coined into a
sovereign, is not only weighed and assayed, but it
is endowed with a money denomination, it becomes
by an act of coining, 205., and the law declares it
legal tender for 20s. of debt or 20s. of taxes. To
put a parallel case :—Suppose a sack of corn was
declared by law to be always worth 205., and was,
moreover, declared by law to be a legal tender for
debts and taxes, would not the price be fixed, and
would it not regulate the price of all corn accord-
ingly" ? He then pertinently asks :—" Is it by
maintaining such transparent fallacies that they
hope to maintain their rotten, ruinous system."
It is the giving " a moneyed denomination" to
the gold that the price is fixed as it would be in.
corn if a moneyed denomination were given thereto.
The mere division of a quarter of wheat into eight
bushels does not fix its price, but let it be enacted
that two or three bushels of a certain quality shall
be
metakennt
o alwaysf
a s a
b pound in liquidation of debts or
taxes,pay-
ande t
re
ainthatt d
na
large
public quantity
of corn
must
storehouse,
from which an equal quantity must be delivered to
every person bringing a pound, so that, in fact, a
person bringing a pound must receive three bushels
of corn, or a person biinging three bushels of corn
must receive a pound, then the price will be fixed
to all intents and purposes.
Under the present law the price of corn varies
according to the laws of supply
from day to day,
and demand. A good harvest, either in England,
Russia, will materiallyin the United States, or in

The state liveries for Mr. Alderman Hale and ICl;Deputy
Conder (of Walbrook), who are appointed to fill the office
of Sheriffs of London and Middlesex for the ensuing a y ,
are not marked by that gorgeous character which have' pre-
vailed in former years ; but, on the contrary, exhibit an
elegant though unostentatious plainness. The suits for
coachman and footman for Mr. Deputy Condor, comprise
coats of a rich superfine cloth, in colour of a dark or navy
blue, but in the style of an ancient court suit, which is
bordered with two rows of silver lace of a beautiful pattern,
between which, as a Chaste relief, is a handsome lace of
rich blue silk. The hips and flaps have a similarly
arranged tasteful decoration. From the shoulders de-
pend a noble aiguilette of silver cord, intertwined
with dark blue silk, manufactured expressly for
the occasion, and having a most pleasing effect. The
buttons (of silver) are exceedingly neat, and exhibit a
chased 'undulating design. The vests are of white cassi-
mere, as are also the small-clothes, each having a silver and
blue silk lace decoration, the small-clothes ornamented with
silver garters and silver bullion tassels. Mr. A. Surr, the
under-sheriff to Deputy Conder, has a plain livery to corres-
pond, consisting of blue cloth coats and vests, with small-
clothes of blue plush with silver. The state hats are of the
finest beaver, most tastefully got up with very handsome
bordering and loops of silver and blue silk lace and silver
bullion tassels. The whole of the above have been manu-
factured by Messrs. H. J. and D. Nicoll, of Regent-street,
in a manner reflecting the highest credit upon that estab-
lishment, by whom also the state liveries for Mr. Alderman
Hale, sheriff elect, and his under-sheriff, T. Jones, Esq.,
have been constructed with equal taste and skill. These
consist of coats, and the other garments corresponding in
style with the foregoing, the prevailing colour being a deep
claret for the coats, the vests of white cassimere, and the
small-clothes of scarlet plush, having tassels, aiguilettes,
&c., of rich gold lace and bullion, relieved with lace of
scarlet silk.
that
modelof
OF this
LmAaNg
KEW GARDENS.—The sacred Indian lotus of the
Hindoos, or bean of Egypt, is now producing. its flowers of
marvellous and gorgeous beauty, in the tropical aquarium.
A
maD
gnificent plant
KENT.
—is
TinhtehAe oldcry museum.
VALUE
Estate,
_
stretches for several miles between Elam and Canter-
bury, includes four manors,extends
, and over seven parishes,
has Just been sold f
mukiawni, or £190,000, including timber, to Mr.

LATEST NEWS.

FRANCE.

PARIS, TUESDAY.
The Emperor, private letters state, has found so

much benefit from the sea breezes at Biarritz that

his Majesty will stay there somewhat longer than
he originally intended. As was the case last year,
an auditor of the Council of State goes down every

day with despatches and the correspondence of the
various ministries for his Majesty.
A letter from the island of Cos, in the Archipe-
lago, says :—" Abdullah-Bey, the Governor of the
island of Cos, sent to prison without any motive a
Greek subject named Clapas, and without making
any notification of the fact to M. Avenat, the
Greek consul, or to the other European consuls in the
island. M. Avenat, on hearing of what had been
done, demanded the release of Clapas, but Abdul-
lah-Bey, instead of acceding to the application, in-
sulted the person who brought the message, and
afterwards M. Avenat himself. He also ordered
Clapas to be scourged, and applied the same punish-
ment to the consul's interpreter. He also gave M.
Avenat a slap in the face, and threatened that Clapas
should not leave the prison alive. It is expected
that the Greek Government will demand the re-

AUSTRALIA.

lease of Clapas, and the exemplary punishment of
Abdullah-Bey, whose hatred to Christians in gene-
ral, and the Greeks in particular, is but too well
known." It is this incident most probably which
led to the statement in the Nord that the consular
agents of France, Russia, the United States, and
Greece had been murdered.

PLYMOUTH, WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

The ship Hougomont, 1,200 tons, Capt. Dalton,
belonging to Messrs. Dunbar, of London, has
landed five passengers here. She has a cargo of
wool and copper ore, 3,000 ounces of golddust, and
128 passengers.
The Hougomont is 108 days from Melbourne,
having left on the 22d of May. She touched at
Pernambuco, Aug. 1, and left on the same day.
In lat. 29.25 south, long. 20.44 west, she spoke
the barque Maria Tharson, from Marseilles for
Bourbon.

In lat. 36.32, long. 32.4 west, July 81 she spoke
the ship Sarah, out 38 days—Callao—Cork ; lat.
36.46, long. 40.15 west, the bark Somerhill, 98
days out from Belfast ; lat. 42.11 north, long. 34.17
west, August 30, the schooner Envoy, 28 days, from
Pernambuco for Plymouth ; lat. 48.7 north, long.
11.32 west, September 5, Joshua Waddington, from
Akayab, 154 days, for Falmouth.

AMERICA.

LIVERPOOL, SEPT. 7.

A letter from Damascus states that Mgr.
Clement, bishop of the Greek Catholic Church, has
resigned his office, and retired to the monastery of
St. Basil, at some distance,from Sayda. The cause
of the resignation is that many of his clergy and
flock were deeply offended at his having endea-
voured to have the Gregorian calendar adopted.
Letters received at Brussels announce that King
Leopold passed three days at Geneva, and left on
the 4th to continue his excursion into Germany..
The Duke de Brabant left Brussels the day before
yesterday to visit the principal metallurgical esta-
blishments in the province of Hainault. Baron
James de Rothschild and several other directors of
the Northern Railway Company were expected at
Charleroi, to be present at the works of Saint
Martin when his Royal Highness shall arrive there.

The screw steam-ship Great Britain, Capt. Gray,
has arrived from New York with advices to the 25th
August, which, as to political and commercial news,
have been anticipated by the telegraphic accounts
via Halifax, received by the Niagara. She brings
84 passengers, and specie valued at 60,000 dols.
A telegraphic despatch from Leavenworth, dated
the 20th August, states, with regard to the Kansas
election, that official returns from 26 counties give
the following result :—" Whole votes, 13,380," giv-
ing, in American phraseology, " a majority of 9,648
against the English proposition."
As a wind-up to the Atlantic telegraph fetes, the
crew of the United States frigate Niagara were to
have a public reception at the Cooper Institute,
New York, on the 26th of August. Captain Hud-
son, Mr. Cyrus Field, Mr. Everett, and the officer.,
of the frigate were to be present. , The crew in a
body, with music and banners, a model of the ship
and a section of the cable, were to arrive at the
institute at half-past 7 in the evening.
A letter from Charleston, of August 24th, states
that there was no abatement in the ravages of
yellow fever, the weather continuing unfavourable.

The Milan Gazette of the 4th states that the
Archduke Governor-General arrived there the
previous day from Venice, and proceeded imme-
diately by special train to the Royal villa of Meuza.
The Gazette de France makes the following ob-
servations on the article which the Siecle published
the preceding day on the respective naval forces of
France and England, and in which it declared that
the best mode of preventing all collision between
the two countries was to increase the number of
their mutual relations :

" This conclusion is much less haughty than
the commencement, but everything cannot be
asked for at once. The Siecle, we hope, will some
day understand that what it asks from England
is to sign the warrant for her own destruction,
which she certainly cannot agree to. England
has no army, and, being a naval power, she only
relies on her fleet. She must, under pain of be-

ing no longer counted in the councils of Europe,
continue to be not a but the maritime power.
From the day that she shall admit an equal on the
seas she will have taken her place among second-
rate powers. This is admirably well understood in
England, and it is for that reason that such fury is
now felt against Cherbourg and against our navy,
This Tim lie also understood in France. France,
as we have before said, may live at peace with
England, but not in alliance or friendship with her."
The same journal, referring to Mr. Roebuck's late
observations at Sheffield, says :
" In the midst of much exaggeration there is a
groundwork of truth in the speech of Mr. Roebuck.
England is an isolated nation, and she can
only be so in the world. That circumstance is
at the same time, her strength and her danger.
Her isolation keeps her clear of many agitations
which periodically- disturb the continent, but, in
placing her out of the reach of them, it also keeps
her out of the way of that assistance which the
continental nations can render to each other. Eng-
land is a nation condemned to live alone. Let us
not then disturb her in her solitude, but also let
us not endeavour to seek from her any support."
BOURSE, Sept. 7.—The market has been very
buoyant, and a further rise has taken place on all
securities, but chiefly on Rente. Threes have been
done at 72fr. 60c., and 72fr. 70c. ; Mobilier at
880 fr. and 905 fr.; Austrian, 687 fr. 50c. to 692 fr. 50c.;
Orleans, 1,385 fr. and 1,395 fr. 50c.; Northern, 970 fr.
and 975 fr.; Southern, 585 fr. and 590 fr.; Eastern,
Mfr. and 750 fr. ; Geneva, 622 fr. 50c. and 625 fr.;
and Russian, 515 fr. and 5171 r. 50c. The following
were the closing quotations
per Cents. 95 50
Do. end month 95 75
3 per Cents
Do. end month - 72 55
Bank Shares. 3150
Cr6dit Mobilier 885
Do. Account 887 50
RAILWA.YB.

Credit Foncier 650 .--
Belgian 4} —
Piedmontese (5)
Roman 9l 25
Austrian
§panish Threes
Home Debt 39 75

Cash. Account.
Orleans
Northern
New ditto B2O .. 817 50
Lyons and Mediterranean 835 _
.. 832 50
New ditto — _
.. _
Geneva . 630 .. 630
Midi
Western 640 .. 635
Eastern
Grand Central —
.. ,_..
Sardinian 475 .. 475
Austrian 687 50 .. 690

MR. SPOONE.R'S PROPOSED REPORT ON THE
BANK ACTS.

(From the Derbyshire Courier.)
Whatever opinion may be entertained on the

Bank Charter Act, there is little difference of opi-

nion as to the report which the Bank Acts- Com-
mittee have published to the country. The sup-
porters as well as the opponents of the Act of 1844
regard the committee's report as a complete failure.
It enunciates no " general principle" of currency,
and it propounds no remedy for the periodical
panics to which, under the Bank Charter Act, the
country is exposed.
We invite attention to the short, but comprehen-
sive and judicious, report which Mr. Spooner pro-

posed.
Much has been said about over speculation, and

a large portion of the evidence adduced was taken
to prove the extent to which speculation has, of
late years, been carried.

Mr. Spooner clearly points out the cause of this
speculation, and the consequent effects.
"It has been proved," he says, " before your
committee that the very low rate of interest neces-
sarily created by the reaction incident to former
panics, and by the Bank of England being com-
pelled by law to purchase gold by the issue of their
notes, whether they. wanted gold or not, stimulated
speculation to so great a degree that all prices rose
except the price of gold, which, being fixed by law,
could not rise, and consequently it became the
cheapest article.of export, and left the country.
This created a demand for gold on the Bank, cora-1
pelling the Bank to counteract that demand by
contracting its issues. This necessity of contraction
being observed by commercial men, the effort
became general to secure bank notes while they
were to be had, and thus was added to the real
demands for commerce a pressure arising fromhoard-
ing, which would not have occurred had not the
Bank been unduly restricted in its issues."
This is a plain statement of fact. The Act of
1844 first stimulates speculation by over-isssues,
and then produces panic by under-issues of bank
notes.

Mr. Spooner condemns the principle of both Acts,
those of 1819 and 1844. "The Act of 1819," he
says, "being wrong in principle, was productive of

LAW INTELLIGENCE (THIS DAY)

CITY SHERIFFS' COURT.
(Before Mr. Prendergast, Q.C.)
ELLIOTT V. WOOD-TROUBLING A NUDGE.

The plaintiff in this case is a tailor, of Cheapside, for whom
Mr. Dalton appeared, and defendant, represented by Mr.
T. Beard, of Basinghall-street, is an accountant, of Basing-
hall-street.

This was an action upon a bill for clothes, and a dis-
honoured bill of exchange for £5 10s. The bill for £5 10s.
had been paid to plaintiff by defendant on account of goods
delivered, of which he was merely the endorser, it being
now in the hands of plaintiff. Several items in the plain-
tiff's bill were disputed—and indeed Mr. Beard pleaded a
set-off, which turned the tables, and made plaintiff indebted
to defendant £2 14s.
Considerable discussion arose in reference to an item of
£1 ss. which had been erased from the bill, which plaintiff
believed had not been done in his presence.
His Honour examined plaintiff very strongly upon that
point, but Mr. Dalton said his client had sworn as much as
necessary, adding (to the judge), "And now I'll trouble you
to allow me to go on with the next. item."
His Honour—No, sir, you won't trouble me at all. I
will conduct the proceedings as I please, and when there is
a doubt existing in my mind, I will adopt what course I
please to remove it. I have to decide, and of course I must
satisfy myself. In reference to a charge of £2 10s. for a
coat, which defendant disputed, it app eared that plaintiff
had made a coat for £2 25., and defendant returned it, say-
ing it was not good enough, when plaintiff made another,
charging £2 10s. His Honour was of opinion that some
price should have been fixed by plaintiff. Defendant must
take up the dishonoured bill.
Mr. Beard—lt was taken as cash.
His Honour—Oh, no ; it was merely acknowledged as
an acceptance.
Plaintiff said he had informed defendant of the dishonour
of the bill the day following.
Mr. Beard asked how the notice was given ?
Plaintiff—By letter.
Mr. Beard—Can you prove posting ?
Plaintiff—No, but defendant called upon me two or three
days afterwards.
Evidence was then given that defendant had told plain-
tiff to take the bill to• Messrs. King and George, solicitors,
and instruct them to sue in his (defendant's) name.
George Wilson, acceptor of the bill, said the bill was an
accommodation bill. It was given without any considera-
tion.

Cross-examined—l have never received anything from

Mr. Woods.

I owe him nothing. He never was security

for me for a loan. I was security for him. I put my name
to a bill for £lOO for him. This is for his accommodation.
His Honour—That is not the way to pay a tailor's bill.
Mr. Beard called defendant, who denied plaintiff's evi-
dence, but his Honour said plaintiff must have a verdict.
Upon the question of time, Mr. Dalton said defendant
had a very large brass plate up—:
Mr. Beard—And very little business.
His Honour thought the defendant should not have Bet
up such a defence, but he might have time.

the panics of 1822 and 1825, and of the monetary
pressures of 1836 and 1839. A system wrong in
principle, being really and more rigidly carried out,
as the Act of 1819 has been by that of 1844, could
not fail to produce aggravated mischief ; hence the
more terrible effects produced by the panic of 1847,
and the pressures of 1855-6, so paralysing to in-
dustry and trade, terminating
,in the still more de-
structive panic of 1857. The evils and impracticability
of the system are pointed out in the evidence re-
corded by Mr. Alexander, Mr. Twells, Mr. Chap-
man, Mr. Capps, Mr. Foster, Mr. Lloyd, and
others."

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—(This Day.)

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

Mr. Spooner repeats the propositions which he
submitted to the Committee on the commercial
distress, in 1848, and which facts have fully
vindicated :—" That so long as the Acts of 1812
and 1844 remain in force, alternations of prosperity
and adversity will continue. That a remedy, at
once easy and safe, would be found in the creation
of a national paper money, to be issued on the gra-
dual repayment of the debt due from the Govern-
ment to the Bank of England; in the payment of
the dividends and Government annual expenses."
This issue of paper money would be limited in
amount the amount proposed being about
£20,000,000. It would be issued in notes of con-
venient amount for general circulation—Ll and
upwards—and would be a legal tender in all pay-
ments.

ROBBERY THROUGH DISTRESS.—Joseph Wheeler, a
respectable-looking man, about seventy years of age, was
charged with stealing two ladies' boots, value 75., the pro-
perty of Mr. Charles Sadler, bootmaker, 3, Eagle-place,
Piccadilly.
John Taylor, shopman to the prosecutor, said that about
five the previous afternoon he was sitting• behind the desk
in the shop unobserved, when he saw the prisoner cut the
two boots from others that were hanging at the door and
walk away, putting them in a handkerchief while doing so.
He went out and stopped him, and on arriving at the
station he said he had done it through distress, as he had
had nothing to eat since the previous morning.
Simmons, 118 C, said the prisoner was quite sober at the
time.

The purchasing power of these notes would be
maintained at an equable value by the obligation of
Government to receive back the notes which they
issue in payment of taxes.
Mr. Spooner observes that the professed object of
the Acts of 1819 and 1844 was to give the country
a steady and uniform currency, that is, a currency
in which the price of commodities should be steady.
But, " the evidence establishes the fact that not only
are the acts now in force powerless to prevent ex-
treme fluctuations, but that they are the fruitful
source of those evils, rendering all trading and mer-
cantile undertakings unsafe, and bringing, in a vast
number of cases, total ruin upon those who contract
monetary obligations on reliance upon the continued
value either of money or commodities."
This is a plain but not a bit less a philosophical
explanation of the evils of our moneytary system.
The truth is that Peel's Bills produce an effect
exactly the opposite to their professed object.
They " keep the promise to the ear, and break it
to the hope."
Make, said Peel, the bank note convertible into
123 grains of gold, and you secure an equable cur-
rency and avoid fluctuations in the value of the
pound and its purchasing power. The bitter ex-
perience of nearly 40 years has proved that the
fluctuations in the value of money, in the rate of
interest, and in the purchasing Power of this pound
of 123 grains of gold, have been greater, more
violent, and more ruinous than were ever before

known.
Mr. Spooner has laboured for many years in this
important national cause. Undeterred by opposi-
tion, ridicule, and the calls of self-interest, he has
fought a good fight on the side of truth and justice.
Peel, prejudice, and the common nonsense of the
country, have been against him. But he has un-
flinchingly advocated the cause of productive in-
dustry, and of the working classes of his fellow-
countrymen with untiring zeal and admitted ability
and talent.
The currency question is the question of the poor
hard-working labourer and operatives of England,
as opposed to the rich capitalist and money lender.
The bullionists have had their own way. And
what do we see in 1858 ? Why the bullionist
committee on bank acts, positively bankrupt in even
plausible sophistries to support Peel's bills, unable
to point out one single remedy for acknowledged
evils, and afraid even to lay down a " general
principle" of monetary legislation !
The poor, weak, contemptible report of the com-
mittee is a triumph for currency reformers in gene-
ral, and for the old, tried, staunch friend of
currency reformation (Mr. Spooner) in particular.

The prisoner (sobbing) said he had been driven to it by
hunger.

Mr. Bingham said it was strange so respectable looking
a man as he seemed should do such a thing. There was a
relieving officer in each district, who was bound to attend
to him and relieve his hunger. Poor ignorant people might
not know better, but he must have done so.
Committed for three months.

DISTURBING A CONGREGATION..--Thomas Smithson, a
tailor, was charged with creating a disturbance at the
Catholic Chapel, Warwick-street.
From the evidence of Beard, the constable of Golden-
square, and who also holds an office at the chapel, it ap-
peared that on the previous night, while the service was
going on, the accused walked into the chapel in a beastly
state of intoxication, and was with difficulty removed,
having greatly disturbed the congregation by his behaviour,
,and on being ejected, and when outside, commenced shout-
ing in a violent manner. Fined 10s.