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

BANK OF ENGLAND.

The general court of proprietors of the Bank of
England was held in the Bank parlour yesterday
Mr. H. Launcelot Holland, governor of the Bank

presiding.
The notice calling the meeting having been read,
The GOVERNOR said that was the half-yearly
general court of proprietors, and was held for the
purpose of declaring a dividend. It afforded him
and the court of governors considerable satisfaction
to meet the proprietors with what they believed
would be considered a satisfactory result of the half

year's trading. From the accounts which had been
made up, which had, as usual, undergone a most
careful scrutiny, they found that the net profits of
the half year ending the 28th February amounted
to £792,492 13s. sd., making the amount of rest on
that day £3,828,338 14s. 6d. After a dividend of
5} per cent. for the half-year, the amount of rest
stood at £3,027,793 14s. 6d. The proposition of the
court of directors was therefore that the half-yearly
division of interest and profit be made on the sth of
April next of 5i per cent., clear of income-tax.
Mr. MoxON wished to know whether there was

likely to be any discussion in Parliament upon, and
an inquiry instituted into, the provisions of the
charter.

Mr. BOTLEY, F.R.S., thought it would be a source
of great profit if the Bank took money upon deposit.
Mr. GUEDALLA said the Bank did take money on
deposit.
Mr. BOTLEY knew it ; but they did not allow in-
terest upon it. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) He con-
sidered that the Bank of Australasia, which allowed
interest upon deposits at call, stood as high in posi-
tion in the colony as the Bank of England did in
this country. He urged that what was a source of
profit to joint-stock banks would be a source of
profit to the Bank of England. The general opinion
of the press of the country was, he said, in favour
of the course he recommended. They were told
many years ago that the Bank of England would be

the last to allow interest upon deposits at call ; but
he trusted that the court of governors would see
their way to fal'ing in with the wishes of the pro-
prietors in this respect.
Mr. WHITE thought the remarks of the last speaker

were out of order, and not at all to the point as to

whether they should declare a dividend or not. The
question moot ed by the hon. proprietor had been
answered again and again. It was answered by
Lord Overstone (when Mr. Loyd), who gave it as
his opinion that it was not advisable to take deposits
as the hon. proprietor suggested.
Mr. JONES wanted to know what the governors

considered good banking securities, as the member
for London had said that if the Agra Bank had
applied with good banking securities it would have
been assisted.

The GOVERNOR, 111 reply, said he did not think
the court would wish him to go into a definition of
what they considered good banking securities. The
proprietors generally appeared satisfied with the way
in which things were conducted, and therefore they
must leave the management in the hands of the
court. (Cheers.) The doors were always open,
and though they, of course, would give a preference
to their customers, yet if any strangers came the
court and governors would decide upon the question
of securities to the best of its judgment. (Cheers.)
As to receiving money upon deposit, and allowing
interest upon it, they came to the conclusion long
ago that they could not do so. 11, ith regard to the
amount of railway debentures held, it was rather
over £3,00u,000. The court cotsil3red them fair
and good security. They endeavoured to take only
the best, but they looked upon them as first-class
security.
The dividend was then declared, and the proceed-
ings terminated with a vote of thanks to the gover-
nor and court.

THE TRIAL OF MR. EYRE.—It has at length been
fixed that the case of Mr. Eyre is to come on at a special
meeting of the Market Drayton bench on Monday, the
25th inst. If a committal should take place, the case can-
not come on at the Shropshire spring assizes, as they are
held the previous week.
A SHORT BUT BRILLIANT CAREER.—An affect-

ing ceremony took place three days back at the military
school of St. Cyr, on the occasion of the burial of a pupil, a
young Pole named Boguski, aged only 20, who died from
the effects of a wound received three years back in the
Polish insurrection, in which he took part. At the battle
of Kasialek he fell, struck'with a sabre cut, a lance thrust,
and two musket balls, one of which traversed his leg, and
has now, after a long interval of time, proved fatal.
Boguski was then taken prisoner by the Russians, but
contrived to escape while his wounds were still scarcely
healed, and, coming to Paris, obtained admission to St.
Cyr after a brilliant competitive examination. The funeral
oar was followed by a deputation of the Polish emigrants
in Paris and the whole of the pupils. General Baron de
Gondrecourt, the governor of the establishment, was ono
of the pall-bearers, and pronounced a funeral oration ever
the tomb.—Galigmani.

ASSASSINATION AT A BALL.—A distressing event
lately took place at Castellar, a little commune of the
Alpes-Maritimes, near Menton°. All the young people of
the place being assembled in a dancing-room, ono of the
young men was seen to fall suddenly to the ground, whilst
a young woman, 21 years of age, his partner, brandished a
poniard, and was prepared to inflict a second blow on him
having already desperately wounded him in the stomach.
The author of the crime was at once arrested. She de-
clared that she had acted from s motive of vengeance, the
young man having led her astray formerly with a promise
of marriage, which he never fulfilled. In the morning of
that day she had summoned him to keep his word, and,
upon his refusal, had determined on making the dancing-
room the scene of her revenge. She was at first locked up
in the prison at Mentone, and afterwards sent on to Nice.
The young man continues in an alarming state.
A NEW GLOWWORM, with " Green" and "Red"
Fires.—A nevi glowworm, with two fires, has been found,
remarks the Intellectual Observer, in the Grand Chaco,
Argentine Republic. William Parkins, Esq., F.R.G.S.,
writes from Rosario, Oet. 20, 1866, to William Bollaert,
Esq., F.R.G.S. : —"I think I have made a discovery in
natural history, and which you may make known to the
scientific world. I found the female of the most extra-
ordinary Elateride ever heard of, at least that I know
of. It is a most brilliant glowworm, one inch and
half long, with two fires. The body emits a
most vivid flame of the ordinary greenish phos-
phorescent colour, while the head presents the appear-
ance of a bright glowingred coal of fire. The reflection on
a piece of paper is also of the two colours. I never saw
anything so beautiful." Mr. Bollaert adds, "This is doubt-
less one of the Cocuyos family. One, the Pyropborus noc
tilucos, is described as the South American Cocuyo, or
glowworm. Mr. Bollaert has noticed glowworms in the
West Indies, North and South America, but never in such
abundance and beauty as in the wilds of Western Texas ;
still he never observed but ono light, the green.