The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-22 00:00:00

DICREASE.

Commercial bills £Blo,ooo
Notes 426,640
Current accounts 226,640

Notice has been given by the Natal Land and
Colonisation Company (Limited) that interest at
the rate of 7 per cent. per annum, payable half-
yearly, on the Ist January and Ist July, will be
allowed on the amount of calls paid in advance on
the shares of this company, provided that such
amounts be paid over before the Ist day of June
next.

Atlantic and Great Western Railway Debentures
are steady at 31k 32} ; and the Consolidated Mort-
gage Bonds at 23k 24.
The directors of the St. John d'El Rey Mining
Company (Limited) have received the following
report, dated Morro Velho, Feb. 16, 1867 :—Pro-
duce for January, 50,845 oitavas ; from 5,411 tons
ore, yield, 8,946 oitavos per ton. Cost for January,
£10,722 ; profit for do., £8,904. Produce 10 days
of February, 15,153 oitavas ; yield, 8,825 oitavas
per ton.
The Essex from Melbourne has brought gold to
the amount of £1,500 only, and the Deutchland
from New York has brought £39,20D.
Business in the Foreign and Colonial Produce
Markets, during the last few days, has continue d
very quiet. Sugar, however, continues at full rates,
while superior qualities of coffee maintain former
'values. Rice, owing to the small supplies on offer,
is a shade dearer, but tallow has been in limited re-
quest, at slightly reduced rates for present and for -
ward delivery.

The traffic returns on the Melbourne and Hob-
son's Bay United Railway for the week ending 2Tth
December, 1866, were £3,390, against £3,297 in
the corresponding week of the previous year ; to
the 3d January, 1867, £4,775, against £4,719 ; to
the 10th January, £2,705, against £2,387 ; and to
the 17th January, £2,353 against £2,203 in the
previous year.

Two o'CLocc

A slight improvement has been observable in the
English Stock Market, owing to a few speculative
purchases. Consols, since the opening, have im-
proved *, being 91 91/ for money, and 911 1 for the
account. The New Threes arc 89-1 1 ; and Reduced
Annuities, 891 ; Exchequer Bills for March, 153
to 18s. prem. ; and for
,June, 18s. prem. ; India
Stock, 218 ; ditto 5 per Cents., 109! 110 ; ditto 4
per Cents., 931 ; ditto Enfaced 5 per Cents., 103
; and ditto Bonds, 425. prem.
In the Stock Exchange there is in most descrip-
tions of Foreign Stocks a decline. Italian has
declined 1, to 531 1 ; Mexican 1, to 171 1 ; Spanish
Passive 1, to 211 22 ; the Certificates *, to 141 1 ;
Russian Scrip 1, to 21 1 prem. ; but the Chiliau
Scrip has advanced k, to 2 1/ dis., and Greek 1, to
151 j ; Danubian Scrip remains at 11 1 dis.
Business in the Railway Share Market has been
very inactive, and increased depression has prevailed
in values. Great Western have declined 11 ; Great
Eastern, 11 ; Caledonian, 1 ; Brighton, London,
Chatham, and Dover, North Western, Metropolitan,
Midland, and South Eastern, each /.
The Foreign and Colonial lines remain without
any material change in values.
Bank Shares are quiet, London and County being
dealt in at 561 ; Union of London at 44 ; Impe-
rial Ottoman at 81 ; and City Bank at 13.

Almost'anemia and Finance Shares exhibit less
firmness. Atlantic Telegraph 8 per Cents. have
declined to 68/ ; Hudson's Bay Company, to 161;
and Rio de Janeiro Improvements to 194. Pe-
ninsular and Oriental Steam, however, . have im-
proved to 614 624 ; and Berlin Waterworks to 124.

In American Securities Illinois Shares have ad-
vanced 1, to 791 i ; but Erie Shares have declined
i, to 391 i ; and United States 5-20 Bonds if, to
74i I.

MINING ➢iARKET.
FRIDAY, Two o'Clock.

To-day there has been an active demand in the
Market for Prince of Wales, Great Retallick, Seton,
Grenville, Providence, Great Laxey, North Crofty,
and Great North Laxey. Annexed are the latest
quotations:—

Bryn Gwiog, —; Chiverton Moor, 71 8 ; Chon-
tales Gold, 21 3 ; Clifford Amalgamate, 61 71; Cocks' Kit-
chen, 12 13; Drakewells, 12s 6d 15s; East Basset, 20 21 .
East Caradon, 5 ; East Caw Brea, —— ; East Lovell:
10 11; East Russell, 3131 ; East Wheal Grenville, 21, j ;
Great Limey, 17 18 ; Great North Laxey, 25s 30s ; Great
Ttetallack, 31; Great South Tolgus, —s —d —s ;
Great Wheal Per, 21 22 ; Marko Valley, 4 4; ; North
Crofty, 5f 6; North Roskear, ——; North Treskerby,
; Prince of Wales, 55s0d 5756 d ; Prosper United, ;
Providence Mines, 33 35; Rosewall Hill and Ransoms
United, —s Od —s Od; South Condurrow,— —; South
Grenville, —s —d ; South ilerodsfoot, ——; Tincroft,
15 16 ; West Caradon, ——; West Chiverton, 60 621;
West Seton, ——; West Drakewells, 8s lOs ; Wheal
Basset, 64 66; Wheal Buller, 22 24 ; Wheal Chiverton,
771 ; Wheal Grenville, 20s Od 25s Od ; Wheal Seton, 104
106.

BRITISH FUNDS-TWO O'CLOCK.
GCTERNMENT FUNDS.
Der Cent. Consols - 90+ 1+
Do. Account, April 10 9l+
8 per Cent. Reduced B9+ + } i
Nevi 3 per Cent B9+ 1
lievr 2+ per Cent. Jan. 1894 —
Do. 5 per Cent. Jan. 1873 —
Annuities, 30 yrs, expire sth Jan., 1880
Do. for 30 yrs, expire sth April,lBBs —
Do (Red Sea Telegraph), Aug., 1908 —
3 Vet., March. I 4 iil Ct., June.
14:xchequer Bills, £l,OOO, 4 per Cr. 18 pm I 18 pm
Do £5OO ,,
Do £lOO & .C2OO „ 15
Bank of England Stock, 6+ per Cent ...

INDIAN GOVERNMENT SECURITIES.
Inman Stock, 101 per Cent., April 1874 218
Do. Account
Do. 5 per Cent. July, 1889
Do. 4 per Cent., Oct. 1888
Do. Certificates
Do. Enfaced Paper 4 per Cent
Do. 5 per Cent., Jan. 1872
Do. 54 per Cent., May 1879 _
Do. l)eb., 5 per Cent., Aug. 1873
Do. Bonds, 5 per Cent., £l,000
Do. under £1,000
FOREIGN FUNDS—TWO O'CLOCK.
Argentine Republic, 6 per Cent
Austrian Bonds, 5 per Cent, 1859
Brazilian 5 per Cent
Do. 41 per Cent., 1852-58-60
Do. 1863
Do. 5 per Cent., 1865 —
bo Account 731 21
Do. £lOO Bonds —
Buenos Ayres 6 per Cent —
DJ 2 per Cent. (Deferred 3 per Cent )
eLiliau 6 per Cent —
Do. 41 per Cent —
00. 6 per Cent A —
Do. , B
Do. ,', 1867
~
to. "" Scrip, £2O paid ll dCis
, ,lar), b ,
mo per Cent.
~
nba, 6 per Cent.
.oanish 3 per Cent., 1825 —
4a. 5 por Cent., 1864 ... --

'anubian Principalities, 7 per Cent
E inador New Consolidated, 1 per Cent —
Do., Provisional Land Warrant
Do Deferred
elgyptian 7 per Cent Bll 1
Do. Second Issue •
Do. £lOO Bonds
tio. Do. 1861 B4
Do. £lOO Bonds Bl/
Do Government Railway Debentures B2 11
Greek 5 per Cents., 1824-5, ex Coupons
Do. Account
D. Coupons
Do. Account
G -.atemala 5 per Cent
1 .uian 5 per Cfr t 1865
Do, Account
Do. Marommana Railway
ximr. 3 per Cent
Ditto for Account
1861
Do 6 per Cent. Anglo-Freud.,
.lontevidear. per Ct.nt
+.l oorish Imperial 5 per Gout
Ne v Granada l3l
Do 3 per Con
Do. Deferral
Do Laud Warrants ( hectares)
Pe -uvian 5 per Cent., 1865
Do Account 65
Do 41 per Cent., 1865
Do 41; por Cent. (Uribarren)
Do 41 per Cent., 1862
Do Account
Portsguese 3 per Ct., 1853, '6,'7, '9,'60,'2,'3 411
Kussian 5 per Cent., 1822, £ St
Do 41 per Cent. 1850
Do 41 per Cent., 1860
Do 3 pat Cent., 1859
Do 5 per Cent., 1869 BB} 1
Do. 5 per Cent., 1864 9Ol 11
D Anglo-Dutch, 1866, all paid BBl
Do. do. £25 paid 2l pm
Diviieuds on the above payable in Loudon. •
Austrian, o per Cent., Ex. 10 Florins
4} per cent., Ex. 25f.
Dutch 2.*.per Cent. Ex. 12 Guil,
Do. 4 per Cent. Certificates
French Rentos, 3 ner-Cent., Ex. 25f. —
Italian 3 per Cent. 1851, Ex. 25i.
Do. Account
TWO O'CLOCK.
Consols, Money Ol /-
W. Account 9l/

The Monastery of Mount St. Bernard.

(From the Westminster Gazette•)

In the county of Leicester, partially isolated
from the strife and bustle of the world, in a bleak
and lonely district, amid the rocky hills of Charn-
wood Forest, stands the Cistercian Abbey of
Mount St. Bernard. There are few places to be
met with in England of equal extent, so com-
pletely divested of all natural beauty, presenting
such a barren and uncultivated aspect as that part
of the country in which the abbey is situated. It
is, beyond all question, a spot not likely to influ-
ence the minds of those who dwell in its solitude
with a favourable idea of the world they have left
behind them, or chill the ardour of those who be-
lieve that the only true happiness to be met with,
even in this life, is in our aspirations after a
higher and a purer state of existence in the world
to come. There are, however, places far more void
of natural fertility, and at the same time wear a
more pleasant and luxuriant aspect. It has neither
the wild beauty of mountain scenery, nor the
terrific grandeur of the desert, but it is a dull,
uninteresting tract of country, diversified only by.
stupendous rocks, whose elevated forms, uncloathed
by a vestige of verdure, are exposed to every
blast of winter.

The site of this abbey, however, does not differ,
in one particular at least, from those on which,
generally speaking, the ancient monasteries of this
country were constructed. I mean in point of lone-
liness of situations. If we observe, we shall find
that scenes the most remote from the busier haunts
of society some mountain solitude or lonely
height looking out upon the sea—were invariably
selected as the foundations of religious houses.

The abbey of Mount St. Bernard, in Charn-
wood Forest, was founded in the year 1835, ex-
actly 300 years having elapsed from the suppres-
sion of the larger monasteries by King Henry
the Eighth in 1535. This abbey belongs to that
branch of the Benedictine Order called Cistercian
—from Citeaux, where St. Stephen Harding, an
Englishman, built the first abbey in 1098.
St. Stephen was born in Dorset, and received his
education at the monastery of Sherboue, in the
same county. Ile, having left England, travelled
to Paris and Rome, visited several of the monas-
teries in Italy, and eventually settled down in the
abbey of Malesme, in the diocese of Langres. But
the discipline in this community becoming re-
laxed, he, together with St. Robert and Alberic,
withdrew to the desert of Citeaux, in the vicin-
ity of Dijon. Here these pious and holy men
restored all the most perfect usages of ancient
monasticism, as practised by the primitive Chris-
tians of the Church. The fame of their sanctity
soon spread into distant countries; and in a few
years monasteries of the Cistercian Order were
founded in almost every nation of Christendom.
The Abbeys of Fontaines, and Riveaux, in York-
shire, and Tintern Abbey, in Monmouthshire, were
houses of the Cistercian Order. The Monks of
this order never eat flesh meat, fish, or eggs, and
the only animal food of which they partake is milk
and cheese. Their Lent is much longer than that
observed by the rest of the Church. It com-
mences on the 14th of September, the Feast of the
Exaltation of the Cross, and terminates at the
Festival of our Lord's Resurrection. They also
observe silence, and never speak except to the
Abbot, or with his permission. They also till the
ground attached to the monastery. They rise every
morning at two o'clock, and on the great festival
at midnight for the celebration of matins.
When the Monks received the grants of the
land on which the Abbey of Mount St. Bernard
is built, five of them commenced the foundation
of the present monastery. For the first year
they lived in a miserable hut, which was incapa-
ble of sheltering them from the inclemency of
the weather. By the aid, however, of the faith-
ful, and particularly by Thomas Gisborne, Esq.,
M.P. for Derbyshire, A. P. De Lisle, Esq., of
Garendon House, and the Earl of Shrewsbury,
they were soon able to raise the present beauti-
ful monastery. Convenient to the abbey is St.
Mary's Colony, which is under the direction of
Thomas A. Carroll, Esq., a most able and in-
telligent gentleman, who Llas not only suc-
ceeded in preserving it from utter ruin, but
also in raising it to be one of the first institutions
of its sort in the empire. The Abbey of Mount
St. Bernard has been of late an object of much
curiosity. It has been visited by strangers from
all parts of the kingdom, and we believe few
leave it (however they may differ from the re-
ligion observed within its walls), without finding
their prejudices greatly softened by the kindness
and generous welcome they receive from the
monks.

The Cistercian Order has an undoubted claim
upon the English nation. It was founded by an
Englishman in a country not his own, who was
honoured as a great servant of God during life,
and enrolled in the catalogue of the saints after his
death. There was a time when the advice of
Stephen Harding was respected by Englishmen,
and the beautiful ruins of Fontaines, of Riveaux,
and of Tintern bear honourable testimony to
the respect with which they revered his me-
mory. But when these abbeys—which is our sad
consolation to behold only in ruins—were plun-
dered, and the monks either massacred or driven
into exile, the memory of St. Stephen was obli-
terated from the English mind. For three hundred
years his name was scarcely whispered, and the
abbeys wherein obedience was paid to his religious
precepts became silent and deserted. But can
we say that we have outlived this long nigh tof re-
ligious darkness? Can we point to the Abbey of
Mount St. Bernard as the revival of that insti-
tution, which. lived on in an unbroken line from
Augustine to Pole, and to embrace which so
many of the ancient monarchs of this coun-
try left their thrones, as well as our ancestors
their homes and everything they held most dear
in the world. Yes, the progress of toleration
has inspired us with hopes sufficient to awaken
high anticipations of a, successful future.
We believe that the
:aspirations of the heart
after spiritual perfection are best satisfied by a
monastic life. We, therefore, hope that the day
is not far off when monasticism will again flour-
ish in this country, and when abbeys will be met
with everywhere throughout the length and
breadth of the land, as in the times long passed
away.