The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-13 00:00:00

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The Bank Returns.

The Bankers' Magazine furnishes the returns of the cir-
culation of the private and joint-stock banks in England
and Wales for the four weeks ending the 15th of Sept.
These returns, combined with the circulation of the Scotch
and Irish banks for the same period, and the average cir-
culation of the Bank of England for the four weeks ending
the 12th of Sept. (the nearest date furnished by their
returns), will give the following results of the circulation
of notes in the United Kingdom when compared with the
previous month :

Aug. 18, , Sept. 15, ----
)
1806. I 1866. Increase.) Decrease.
Bank of England 25,091,333: 23,913,481. . 1,147852
Private Banks 2,496,1021 2,506,632 10,49 _,
Joint-stock Banks 2,155,1101 2,170,790 24,680
----.---- -----
Total in England. 29,74i,635; 28,929,953 ...... 1,112,682
Scotland... 4,286,486 4,264,786 21 700
Ireland 5,143,635: 5,266,37, 122,741
---,
United Kingdom 39,172,756 38,161,115 £1.011.61i

IX L,011,611

And as compared with the month ending the 16th of
Sept., 1865, the above returns show an increase of
£1,375,508 in the circulation of notes in England, and an
increase of £662,516 in the circulation of the United
Kingdom.

On comparing the above with the fixed issues of the
several banks the following is the state of the circulation :
The English private banks are below their
fixed issue ... X 1,525,934
The English joint-dock banks are below their
fixed issue

~. 1,038,345

Total below fixed issue in England ,£2,564,279
The Scotch•banks are above their fixed issue... 1,515,51:5
The Irish banks are below their fixed issue 1,08,118
The average stock of bullion held by the Bank of Eng-
land in both elePartments during the month ending the 12th
of• Sept. was £15,693,557, being an increase of £1,872,668
as compared with the previous month, and an increase of
.£1,396,408 when compared with the same period last year.
The following are the amounts of specie held by the
Scotch and Irish banks during the month ending the 15th
of Sept. :

Gold and silver held by the Scotch banks ~. £2,364,660
Gold and silver held by the Irish banks .„ 2,081,602

£4,446,262
Being an increase of £3,059 as compared with the pre-
vious return, and a decrease of £9,138 when compared
with the corresponding period last year.

EXCAVATIONS AT THE LOUVRE.—.The court of
the Louvre is now an object of peculiar interest to the
Parisian public, owing to the excavations that are going
on there, by order of the municipality, for the purpose of
elucidating certain obscure points in history. Similar ex-
cavations undertaken near the French theatre a few years
ago lad to the discovery of the exact site of the second
gate bearing the name St. Honor 6, and also of the ravelin
which defended it, the ditch of the wall built by Charles
V., and the breastwork on the top of which Joan of Arc
was wounded. The immediate object of the present exca-
vations in the court of the Louvre is to ascertain the site
of the foundations of the fortress built by Philip Augustus,
the plan of which has been nearly reconstructed from a
minute examination of a considerable number of printed
documents. Such was the precision of the orders given to
the workmen that at the very first strokes of the pickaxe
the trench was discovered, which corresponded to one of
the principal entrances. By continuing the line, the work-
men soon reached the foundations of the two towers flank-
ing that entrance. These towers are constructed of excel-
lent stone, well hewn, and in a perfect state of preservation.
A sower has been found, which. receives the water of the
inner court, and emptied them between the two towers
into the ditch. It has been further ascertained that the
principal staircase was polygonal ; and that the donjon
keep was situated precisely where tradition had supposed
it to be placed, its remains being not much below the level
of the court. A variety of remains of foundations have
been discovered, the existence of which was not suspected,
but which unfortunately run under the present. palace be-
tween the Pont do Arte and the Tour de lfforloge.

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,
effort
etragar.

HER MAJESTY.

BALMORAL, Thursday.
The Queen went out in the morning, accom-
panied by Princess Christian, and drove in the after-
noon, accompanied by Princess Christian and Prin-
cess Louise.

Baron von Ucchtritz has arrived on a mission
from the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, to announce the
accession of Duke George.
Major Elphinstone, C. 8., has arrived at the
Castle.

The Return of the Princ3 and Princess of

Wales from Scotland•

On Thursday morning their Royal Highnesses the
Prince and Princess of Wales closed their visit to
the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Dunrobin
Castle, and, accompanied by the infant Princes
Victor and George, and attended by Lieutenant-
General Knollys and the Hon. Mrs. Coke and ser-
vants of the Royal household, proceeded in several
carriages to the railway terminus at Bonar Bridge,
the northern extreme of the Scottish Railway sys-
tem. Their royal highnesses and suite, after taking
leave of the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, pro-
ceeded by railway to Perth, where they dined, and
at 7.30 in the evening took their departure for Lon-
don, the prince and princess occupying a saloon
carriage in the auxiliary mail train, which reached
the terminus of the North-Western Railway, Eus-
ton-square, at 10.25 yesterday forenoon, being
nearly an hour beyond time. Several of the pri6ce's
carriages and two forgons were in waiting to con-
vey their royal highnesses and retinue to Marlborough
House. We understand the Queen of Denmark is
hourly expected to arrive in this country on a visit
to the prince and princess, and that her Majesty is
expected to remain about three weeks. It is doubt-
ful if the King of Denmark will be able to visit
England this autumn.