The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-31 00:00:00

FRANCE.

PARIS, July 30.—Two o'clock.--Business in the
markets for Stocks and Shares continues very re-
stricted, whilst quotations—with the exception of
Italian Fives, which have retrograded no less than
lf. 15c.—have undergone no sensible change. The
above-named Stock is now being dealt in at 51f. 80c.
Three per Cents., for Account, remain unvaried at
Saturday's closing prices—viz., 681. 85c. Credit
Mobilier Shares have declined 2f. 50c., to 653 f., and
Credit Foncier 5f., to 1,295. Comptoir d'Escompte
are 3f. 75c. lower —viz., 876 f. 25c. In Railway
Shares Austrian show a decline of If. 25c., and
Lombard of sf. A fall of in Consols is tele-
graphed from London.
Three o'clock.--The market has closed as fol-
lows :

.41 per Cents 96 75 Bank Shares 3565
Do. end month — Italian Loan 5l 90
.3 per Cents. 6B 80 Do. end month 5l 85
Do. end month 6B 85 Mexican Loan —
Credit Mobilier ... 651 25 Do. Bonds —
Do. end month ... 655 Spanish Threes
Credit Foncier — Home Debt —
Do. end month 1292 50 Deferred

LITERATURE.

Etchings by John Leech. One Volume, William

Tegg.

Fifty-one etchings by John Leech—six of them
illustrative of Theodore Hook's " Jack Bragg,"
twenty-six of Albert Smith's " Christopher Tad-
pole," and the remaining nineteen of W. H. Max-
well's " Hector O'Halloran"--make up a volume,
for the publication of which, who will not be grate-
ful to Mr. Tegg, of Cheapside ? Although Leech
was to find, later on, that his forte lay in pencillings
upon boxwood far rather than in scratching the var-
nish off copper plates with the point of his etching
needle, these easier manifestations of his rare gifts as
a pictorial humorist, have a delightful interest for
all who appreciate his unrivalled genius as a comic
draughtsman. Many of the etchings here collected
together for the first time, apart from the letter-
press they were designed to embellish, we know by
heart, and have laughed over years ago to our
heart's content. Grouped together in their present
form, they make a most acceptable table-book for
the drawing-room, full of fun as they are, and set-
ting even the sourest faces (as they are safe to do)
on the broad grin when the leaves are turned 'twixt
thumb and finger.

BiErger's Lenore. Translated by John Wynniai
Grant. Murray and Co.

Often as Gottfried August Burger's wierd
Ballad of " Death and the Maiden," otherwise
better known, the wide world over, under that
Maiden's name of " Lenore," has been done into
English, and that too upon occasion by masters of
German and English as rarely gifted as the great
author, or compiler rather, of " The Minstrelsy of
the Scottish Borders "—a happier translation, upon
the whole, has hardly ever been achieved, even by
the best among his nine or ten English predecessors,
than the one upon his successful completion of which
Mr. Wynniatt Grant may well receive our congra-
tulations. It is at once flowing and literal—but
best of all it is a translation into idiomatic English
from the thoroughly idiomatic German original.

Mattie : A Stray. By the author of " Owen : a
Waif." One Volume. Chapman and Hall.

Another of the popular tales penned during the
last few years by the writer of " High Church" and
" No Church" is here re-issued as the eighty-second
volume of the Messrs. Chapman and Hall's two-
shilling series known as the Select Library of Fic-
tion. Although Charles Lever and Harrison Ains-
worth are among the contributors to that Library,
and although Mrs. Trollope and Mrs. Gaskell, Mrs.
Gore and Mrs. Oliphant, Whyte Melville and
Geraldine Dewsbury are in the same enterprise—the
homely tale here told about " Mattic : a Stray,"
is not unworthy of taking its place at the end of
the long bookshelf already loaded with its eighty-'
one predecessors.

A Waif on the Stream. By S. M. Butchers. One

Volume. Triibner and Co.

A Waif of a very different kind from the one
just above mentioned—(poor Owen to wit)—is this
modest little collection of fugitive pieces in verses,
by a writer with whose name we do not remember to
have been previously acquainted. The preface is so
deprecatory, in its tone, of anything like serious or
searching criticism, that it would be out of place to
deal in any way severely with lucubrations so in-
troduced to us. Happily, we can recognise in them
no call for severity of any kind in the way of direct
reprehension. The verses are harmonious and
graceful throughout—repeatedly, moreover, evidenc-
ing, on the part of the authoress, a gift of sensi-
bility so rare, of its kind and in its intensity, as of
itself to influence us, as we read, as with a spell of
fascination.

Search. One Volume, pp. 60. L. Booth.
A painful little book to read, although the argument
enforced within these sixty pages, is one that we
should exult to believe might yet be acted upon
throughout the land, among rich and poor alike,
in the palace and in the cottage. It is an argu-
ment penned directly in the interests of humanity,
and in the interests also of morality and of common
decency. " Both mother and child are doing well"
would henceforth be far more frequently than they
have been hitherto, the happy staple of Home News,
here in England, were the suggestions of " Search"
sagaciously and systematically carried out—in the
revision, that is to say, of the whole scheme of the
application of the science of obstetrics.

A Bundle of Epigrams. By Dufferiah. One Vol.
Mann Nephews.

A -whimsical little half-crown volume of jeux
d'esprit, all of them short--some short and sweet,
some short and sour. There are seventy of them
in all, so that there are enough and—to spare !
Dufferiah calls himself on his title-page, Incumbent
of Horsehair-cum-Chintz—from which it may be
understood at once that his motto might almost be
" Easy does it," as, with a half shut eye and a care-
less stroke of the pen on paper, he pokes fun at his
readers, upon all sorts of themes, good, bad, and
indifferent, now well, now badly, now, indifferently.

Several pamphlets dropping in upon us during the
last few days are so seasonably apropos as to deserve
at least enumeration at our hands. Carl Barthe-
lemy's " Sure Preventive for Asiatic Chole?a" (PP.
70) is among them. Then there is Dr. George
Johnson's brochure (pp. 32) " On Epidemic Diarrhcea
and Cholera." There is besides these upon the same
al -important subject the Epidemiological Society's
" Report (pp. 93) of the Council on Cholera
_Hospitals." Following. very acceptably close upon
the heels of Lord Cranborne's Indian Budget, we
have a reprint of a paper (pp. 42) on " The Indian
Empire and our Financial Relations therewith," a
paper read before the London Indian Society a
couple of months since by Robert Knight of the
Times of India. Besides this, published by Simms
and Company, of Manchester, we have in a valu-
abe pamphlet of 82 pages octavo, a copious record
o f lth
the
" Transactions of the Manchester Statistical
Society."—Season 1865-66.

GREAT AUCTION SALE OF THE EARL OF STAM-
FORD'S SPORTING DOGS.--Yesterday the kennel of
sporting dogs, the property of the Earl of Stamford and
Warrington, were submitted for sale under the hammer by
Messrs. Tattersall. The dogs had been on vitw last week,
and the kennel consisted of seven brace of pointers
of the most fashionable blood and pedigree, and were bred
by his lordship at his seat at Dunham Massey. The dogs
were highly hroken, and have been regularly shot over to
grouse and black game. There was a large attendance of
the elite of the sporting world, and competition
ran high for all the pointers ; and for three
young broken dogs—Sam, Pilot, and Staley—there
was quite a furore to beconaci the purchasers
and they were knocked down to an average bidding of 40
guineas each. The deerhounds consisted of three-and-a-
half brace of celebrated dogs, and were fine specimens of
Scotch blood. These dogs have distinguished themselves in
deerstalking in the Highlands, and are duly entered for
sporting in the approaching season. There was less com-
petition for these dogs, but they realised very high figures.
At the annual meeting to-day of the Australian
Agricultural Company, Mr. Edward Hamilton,
M.P., in the chair, the report presented stated that
the net revenue amounted to £30,388 2s. 6d. (Ac-
count B), and that on the 31st December Last the
accumulated profits available for distribution as
dividends amounted to £14,525 16s. 9d. (Account
C). In the month of February last this balance
was reduced by the payment of £5,000 to the pro-
prietors, so that the balance due to them on the
operations of the Company, up to the 31st Decem-
ber, 1865, now stands at £15,388 2s. 6d. The cash
in London amounts to £11,753 ss. lid., and out of
this sum the directors recommend that a dividend
0

f 10s. per share, free of income tax, be declared,
and that it be made payable on Tuesday, the 14th
day of August next.
At a meeting held to-day of the shareholders of
the East London Bank, the report of the directors
stated that, notwithstanding the severe and continued
monetary depression which has prevailed during a
period of the last half-year, the directors are enabled
to recommend the payment of a dividend at the rate
of 5 per cent. per annum, and make the usual pro-
vision for the reduction of the amounts expended on
bank premises and preliminary expense. This will
absorb £3,750, leaving £2,568 ss. 3d. to be carried
to profit and loss new account. The rebate on cur
rent bills has been calculated at 10 per cent.

"
rt DIEII

HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, Monday.
The Queen walked in the grounds this morning
with Princess Louise, attended by Lady Augusta
Stanley.
The Prince and Princess of Wales visited her
Majesty this morning.

Prince Leopold went out, attended by Lieutenant
Stirling.

Accident to Her Majestfils 'ohip

PLYMOUTH, Tuesday.
Her Majesty's armour-plated iron screw steam-
ship Achilles, 26, Capt. Edward W. Vansittart,
having been refitted at Devonport, left Hamoaze
this morning under her own steam, aided by two
tugs on her port side and one on the starboard side.
Shortly before 8 o'clock she struck the eastern side
of the Winter Rock, which lies in the northern
part of the Sound ; her head was then south-east.
She was backed off immediately. The Achilles
afterwards proceeded outside the Breakwater, ap-
parently to try her speed at the measured mile, but
having immediately afterwards returned to the Ad-
miralty anchorage in the Sound, it is supposed she
has incurred some damage.

At the time of the accident it was about high
high water. Wind W.N.W., a strong breeze.
The rock is marked by three buoys.

THE HOUSE-HUNTER'S CATECHISM.--As I am not
much of a business man, my future mother-in-law
insisted on writing me down a list of questions—a cate-
chism for landlords. They were not complementary to
judgment, but they were still essential, as Mrs. Masterman
pithily observed. They ran somewhat in this way :—"Rent?
Number of rooms ? If a store-room? Mind the coal-cellar.
Ask what taxes. Look at the gas. Try the bells. Fell all the
walls. Stamp on the floors to see if they are strong for danc-
ing. Make a note of the wall-papers. Who are your neigh-
bours Turn on the water. Look at the kitchen grate. Is
the house dangerous for robbers ? (Bad grammar, Mrs.
Masterman.) How long since occupied last ? When built ?
If lumber-room ? Go on the roof. Look down the chim-
neys. See if the wine cellar is damp. Opserve fastenings'
Measure all the rooms. Ask rent of neighbouring houses
Price of meat, poultry, and fish. Price of wages ? Size of
hall ? Number of stairs ? If main drainage ?" " Why,
Mrs. Masterman," I remarked, "it would take a surveyor a
week to answer all these questions." "Edward," said that

august and terrible personage, laying down her cards (we
were playing whist at the time), 'if you love Lizzie, and
if you love me, you will not negleCt a single question."—
Dickens's "All the Year Round."

FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES.—New York possesses
the magnificent Astor Library, containing about 100,000

volumes in every department of literature, open freely to
the public for reference every day from nine to five. It
has also a City Library freo, open daily from ten to four;
an Apprentices' Library—established solely fcr the use of

apprentices and females in the employ of mechanics and
tradesmen, and open freely to this class from eight in the
morning till nine in the evening; a Medical Library, free,
open from ten to ten ; a Printers' Library, containing more
than 4,000 volumes, also free ; and now there is every pro-
spect of another free Library being added on a large scale.
Boston, by a special act of the Massachusetts Legislature,
in 1848, was provided with a free public library, and had
granted from the City funds 5,000 dollars a year for its
maintenance. Immediately on its establishment energetic
citizens contributed largely in books and money towards the
preliminary expenses, and a citizen of London (Mr. Joshua
Bates), connected with Boston by business and personal ties,
presented a sum of £lO,OOO sterling for the purchase of
books. Throughout the United States, libraries—readily

•
accessible to all in search of knowledge—are numerous, and
oue result is that in intelligence, in acquaintance with litera-
ture and knowledge of the best writers in their language,
the American people are unequalled in the world. But it

was not left for democratic institutions to set an example in
this respect—France possesses more than 100 public lib-
raries, open free to all corners, without distinction of per-
son, rank, or country ; Austria and Prussia together have
nearly 90 ; Bavaria has 17 ; Belgium 14 ; and other .Euro-
pean kingdoms have a fair share. Until the passing of Mr
E wart's Act, in 1850, for enabling Town Councils to esta-
blish public libraries and museums, England had the unhappy
pre-eminence of being without a single strictly free public
library. Paris now possesses seven perfectly free public
libraries, Vienna has three, and Berlin two. The library
of the British Museum was, and is still, we think, properly
available to readers only under certain restrictions. The
libraries of Sion College and of Dr. Williams' also were and
are subject to restrictions which prevent their free use by
the public. These three libraries, however, are, at the pre-
sent moment, notwithstanding the activity of provincial
towns, the only libraries available for inhabitants of this
great city of London, and the restrictions to which we have
referred, including the hours during which they are open,
render them totally useless for the man of business, the
clerk, the mechanic, and the artisan. Many smaller towns
and cities throughout E ngland have voluntarily taxed the m-
selvesunder the provisions of the act of Parliament referred
to and have established libraries,most of which are rendering
immense service to the cause of education. London,
which of all other cities in the world owes most of its po-
sition to the intelligence, education, and activity of its
citizens, stands, to our thinking, degraded and disgraced for •
its apathy in this matter. Is there no public spirit among
our bankers and merchants equal to that which has made
John Jacob Astor's name one to be carried down to the
remotest posterity, accompanied by the thanks and bless-
ings of those whose intellectual advancement has been
promoted by his princely liberality ? Is the accumulation
of wealth alone the object of ambition to our citizens, and
have they no desire to contribute aid towards the elevation
and improvement of the masses ? We hear of political
reform till we are sickened with the very name—and re-
cognise it only as the war-cry of a party and the rod flag
of political antagonism—but this branch of social reform,

the truest and surest of all reforms, is left unheeded and
uncared for. Among the bankers, merchants, and traders of
our city there are men who have felt it an honour to enrol

themselves in the ranks of literature, whose fame hereafter
will depend more upon their contributions to literature and
science than to anything they may have done in the accu-
mulation of wealth, such men—honoured and re-
spected in all circles, possessing the confidence and
respect of their fellow-citizens, we call upon to
be up and doing in this matter. Let them initiate
measures for the establishment of a Free Public Library
in this city—a library which shall be an honour to the first
city in the world. The contribution of their wealth, and,
more than all, the influence which their active exertions
will give to such a movement, is sure to rally around them
a body of supporters whose energies and exertions will bo
irresistible. It is apathy, not opposition, that has to be
overcome; antiquated prejudices doubtless prevail—penny-
wise-and-pound-foolish difficulties may be urged, but theso
are mere cobwebs, which will be swept away with ease by
a body of determined men. The aim of such a movement
as we speak of should be to induce the Corporation of tho
City of London to grant an eligible and central site for a
building, and to contribute from its funds a sum towards

the expenses of erection and endowment ; such sum to be
supplemented by voluntary contributions, and we have
such confidence in our fellow-citizens that we believe indi-
vidual subscriptions will be by hundreds and even thou-
sands of pounds towards such an object. Apart from the
benefit which will result to the inhabitants of this city
from such a library, a movement iu this direction on the
part of the metropolis will set in motion similar active

exertions throughout the country; and we hope the day is
not far distant when our country will stand first among
the nations of the world in the activity of its educational
institutions, and the extent of its means for imparting
knowledge.—From Trdbner's Literary Record, July, 1866.
THE MONEY MARKET SIX MONTHS Aao.—BUt

though 7 per cent. might be a good sign, there were
certainly bad ones in the commercial wealth on New
Year's-day. There had been in the autumn a terrible
crash in the Indian markets, especially at Bombay. Much
money had been lost. Financial companies and banks
had already begun to totter. There was an uneasy feeling
abroad, was it unreasonable ? The country was committed
to a fearful amount of new expenditure. Every kind of
outlay was in motion ; railways, English and foreign, re-
constructions of London, of provincial towns, and of maul
foreign ones also. Hotels, docks, warehouses, works of
sewage, new mines, were absorbing prodigious quantities
of capital. The City forgot, no one took heed that capita
laid out on works which yield no return fur years was
capital destroyed, money lost for the moment, was real
poverty increased, was diminution of means and wealth,
absolutely without compensation at the time. A railway'
in construction is as pure, as true a destruction of wealth
as the digging and filling up of holes in the ground ; it is
only when the traffic flows in, and an income makes its
appearance, that it ceases to be a most effective generator
of poverty. Works of this nature, impoverishing for the
time, and remunerative only at distant periods, had been
commenced in unheard-of numbers : and misgivings begun
to be felt as to the pressure which their congletiori,
might exercise. Bonamy Price, M.A., in The Gentleman

Magazine.
REPRIEVE OF THE NOTTINGHAM :MURDERESS.-""
Jane Revill, sentenced to death at the last Notts
Assizes for the murder of her child, has been respited
during Her Majesty's pleasure. The respite was made
known to the unhappy young woman on Saturday evening,
when she was so overcome by the intelligence that she
was unable for some time to give utterance to her feelings.
After her condemnation she bocame very dejected, but
since the remission of the sentence she has become com-
paratively cheerful.