The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-19 00:00:00

State of Trade.

MANCHESTER, Dec. 18.---We have bad a fair
amount of business in shipping yarns at id. to 4-d.
per lb. advance in the prices of last Tuesday. There
would have been still more doing but for the yet
higher rates asked by many spinners, and the market
closes very strong, with an upward tendency. The
market for home trade yarns has also been very
strong, with rather more than an average business,
at id. per lb. advance on the lowest rates of last
week. The market for yarns generally shows an
improvement. The large sales of cotton at increased
rates at Liverpool have also acted as usual on our
cloth-market, but the increased prices manufac-
turers have been induced to demand have by no
means been conceded by buyers. We still have a
good general inquiry for cloth, but there is no dispo-
sition to operate for more than small quantities at any
noticeable advance on the quotations of last week's
sales. Prices are nominally higher, but we close with
business restricted within very narrow limits at the
advance asked. Messrs. John Slagg and Co. report
of this day's cloth-market :—" We have again an
excited and advancing market in Liverpool, followed
as usual, by increased quotations for yarns. In ap-
plying this advance to goods, however, we find busi-
ness at once checked. In few cases has any advan-
tage been realised on last week's rates, though quo-
tations are throughout nominally higher.
CARDIFF, 17th.—The steam coal trade is active.
The mail-packet companies are taking considerable
quantities for their coaling stations abroad, and
some of the foreign Governments are in the markets
for supplies of Welsh steam. The docks are full of
vessels chartered for coal cargoes on foreign account.
There is a steady increase in the requirements of the
metropolitan and midland markets, as well as in the
quantity aent by railway to Birkenhead for ship-
ment. Active measures are being adopted at many
of the works to sink to the lower measures, and new
collieries arc being opened. The reduction of wages
at the ironworks will not effect the collieries ; in fact
many proprietors experience the greatest difficulty
in obtaining a sufficiency of skilled labour. The iron
trade in the Aberdare Valley has hitherto been
tolerably good ; but the continued depression is
beginning to be felt most seriously, and a curtail-
ment of operations is being carried out. At the
Cyfarthfa works upwards of 1,000 hands have been
thrown out of employment in consequence of
three of the furnaces being blown out. The works
are chiefly employed upon foreign orders, the ma-
jority of which are on American account, and con-
tracts from that quarter keep gradually coining in.
With the other foreign markets business generally
of a quiet character. There is a slow sale for pig-
iron, and the demand for tin plates is less active.
LEEDS, 18th.—This has been a quiet day in the
cloth halls, there having been a thin attendance of
buyers, and only a small quantity of goods were
sold. The goods purchased included a few assort-
ments of plain cloths, mixture coatings, tweeds,
and hair lists. The reports from the country
clothiers are quite as good as they have been for
some time, and, though there is a feeling of quiet-
ness throughout the trade, there is a hopeful feeling
as to an improvement after the Christmas holidays
and the settlement of the present year's accounts.
ROCHDALE, 17th.—At to-day's flannel market
there was :a moderate attendance of buyers, but
they purchased so sparingly that but a small plan_
tity of goods changed hands. Fine and mediu
fancies keep their pitre well, lnd fully as many of
these goods were sold as of heavy ones. The manu-
facturers keep well employed,
though
their stocks
are slightly on the increase, and it is not expected
that there will be much increase in the demand till
the commencement of the new year. Notwithstand-
ing the general quietness in both the flannel and the
Yorkshire goods trades, prices keep steady. The
local wool trade, too, is quiet. Late prices, however,
are in moat cases maintained, but they are lower
than they were a few months since.

Antlui

ociety.

Yesterday evening an ordinary meeting of this
society was held in their rooms, in St. Martin's-
place—Dr. Charnock in the chair. The first paper,
read by Col. L. Fox, described some discoveries re-
cently made during excavations near London-wall,
which seem to prove that so recently as the period
of the Roman occupation of this country a large
portion of London was built upon piles, and that, as
an object of archaeological interest, it may be com-
pared with the lake habitations of Switzerland. Be-
low the surface soil, at a depth of about 9 feet, there
is a bed of peat, of nearly equal thickness, in which
the unmistakable remains of "kitchen middens," and
piles, driven apparently for theyurpose of support-
ing habitations, were found ; and among the peat,
at different levels, were found numerous objects of
Roman manufacture, including urns, tiles, bronze
and bone implements, and some made of iron. The
piles were of oak, from six to eight inches square,
pointed at the end; and in some instances they
were driven perpendicularly a few inches into the
substratum of gravel. Numerous bones of ani-
mals were mingled with the shells in the kitchen
middens, most of which had been broken longitudi-
nally to extract the marrow. Among the bones,
many specimens of which were exhibited on the
table, were those of the bos longifrons and the rein-
deer, now extinct in this country, and the fossil bone
of an ibex from the Pyrenees. These objects had
apparently been deposited at various periods during
the growth of the peat-bed, which it is supposed
must have acquired the thickness of 9ft. during the
Roman occupation of London. Two human skulls
were also found, one of which was declared to be of
the Roman type, and the other of a much lower
organisation. The peat-bed was situated about 19ft.
above the present high-water mark of the Thames,
and it is conjectured to have extended to the river,
and that while arclaealogists have been exploring
with great assiduity the relies of lake habitations in
foreign countries, they have overlooked the exten-
sive remains of similar habitations in the city of Lon-
don. What gives peculiar interest to this discovery
is that it shows the comparatively modern date
of the construction of lake habitations, which, when
first made known in Switzerland, were supposed to
belong to a pre-Adamite period of man's existence.
It shows, at the same time, the rapid accumulation
of peat under circumstances favourable to its growth,
and thus contradicts some geological speculations as
to the length of time required for the growth of
ancient peat beds. The puzzling circumstance is the
discovery of the bones of animals supposed to have
been extinct in this part of Europe ages before the
invasion of the Romans, associated with bronze and
even with iron implements, and with tiles on which
the name of Vespasian is impressed.
At the conclusion of the paper, the Rev. Dunbar
Heath and Mr. Carter Blake, who had visited the
excavation, confirmed the correction of Colonel
Lane Fox's description, and Mr. Blake stated that
the bone of the ibex was more ancient than the
bones found in the " drift." Mr. Charlesworth sug-
gested that the bones of extinct animals might
have been found and fashioned into implements by
a race of men who lived subsequently to the
existence of those animals, and that would account
for the apparent incongruity. All the objects were
deposited in the peat, and were not found on the
gravel beneath it.

A second paper was then read by the Rev. Dun-
bar Heath, on the way iu which large bodies of
mute men would acquire language from small bodies
of speaking men. The paper was an elaborate ex-
position of Mr. Heath's views respecting the origin
and dissemination of language, to accord with what
is called Grimm's law. He contended that language
could be much more easily taught to mutes than a
new language could be acquired by men who had a
language of their own. Mr. Pike refuted this
opinion, and as several other gentlemen wanted to
speak on the question the discussion was adjourned.

Archaeological Investigations in Westmore-

land.

During the whole of last week the Rev. W. Green-
well, of Durham, acco:npanied by the Rev. James
:..iimpson, vicar of Kirkby Stephen ; the Rev. Chas.
M. Preston, vicar of IVareop ; the Rev. T. Tastier,
of Carlisle ; the Rev. Charles Pixel', of Skirwith ;
and Mr. It. Hewitson, of Ellergill, have made in-
vestigations in five sepulchral tumuli, situate in the
mountainous country in the vicinity of Appleby,
Brough, and Kirkby Stephen. The researches have
been of the most interesting description, the excava-
tions, yielding the remains of the ancient Britons,
both burnt and unburnt, and in two cases showing
the practice of the Anglo-Saxon adoption of older
barrows for their burials, one .of which was disco-
vered as recorded just 100 years ago, and another
important illustration last week in a barrow slightly
to the South of Kirkby Stephen, a British burial
having been disturbed to insert the rough log coffin
and body of, as shown by the funeral accompani-
ments, an Anglo-Saxon, of which the details were of
value. The details of the openings show the follow-
ing results. The first barrow examined, at Sand-
ford, in the parish of Warcop, was all of sand, 72
feet in diameter, and five feet high, but somewhat
ploughed down. On the surface at the centre were
one or possibly two unburnt bodies gone very
much to decay to allow of position being traced, or
anything more than to recognise that bone was pre-
sent. Some charcoal was under and about the bones,
and with it a single flint chipping. Close by were
once two other barrows and a circle of stones, one
barrow and a circle being quite gone ; the other re-
mains, but was opened in 1766, slightly larger than
the one opened last week. It is recorded that near
the surface at the apex were found an iron sword
and some other iron articles—no doubt the accom-
paniments of an Anglo-Saxon later burial. Below
this was a pile of stones (conical), and beneath was
a cist containing a deposit of burnt bones. The next
barrow opened was at ,
Amoy, in a hollow on high
ground. Ile mound was of stones, 31ft. diameter,
and 3ft. high, placed upon a slight gravel hill, and
a circle of stones put round the base. Five feet
E.S.E. of the centre, just above the surface of the
ground, the remains of two unburnt bodies were
found, which had either been deposited after break-
ing up, or had been disturbed after burial and re-
interred--the latter seeming probable. In the cen-
tre, an oval hollow six inches deep and one and a
half feet diameter, contained a burnt body. There
were a few animal bones in the cairn, but not a ves-
tige of charcoal. The fifth barrow was of a very
remarkable description. It was situate about a mile
south of Kirkby Stephen, on the crown of a hill,
and was formed of stones and earth, was 28ft. in
diameter, and one and a half feet high, but partly
destroyed by the Ordnance Survey people. In the
centre, in a hollow 2ft. Sin. below the surfaceirouofis
the
ground, a wooden 'offin was found of a curious
de-
scription, containing a burial. The coffin had been
formed in this wise--a rough outer slab of a large
tree had been first slightly hollowed, and at the
head a piece of wood was placed upright, and down
each side from the head were similar slabs about 2ft.
long, forming partial sides. The coffin lay north-
west by south-east, the head to the north-west. It
was 6ft. long, 2ft. 3in. wide at the head, and Ift. Din.
at the foot. At 3ft. 6in. from the north-west end were
two circular holes through the bottom, as if for
binding down the body, which had gone thoroughly
to decay. The remains had been covered with sedges
and flag leaves, and over them the branches and
bark of birch. Where the chest should have been
was found a bed of blue glass, speckled with red
and yellow, and on the south side of the coffin,
where the head should have been, was a shallow
bronze bow or dish, much decayed and fragmentary,
the rim and the centre of the bottom being nearly
perfect, however. The bowl is about three and a
half inches in diameter. Over the coffin blue clay
had been placed, with yellow clay on cull side,both
intentionally deposited as found. A few inches—
six or eight—from the south side of the coffin, and
about eight inches above it, was a burnt body in a
hollow in the natural surface, the bones beingat the
south side of this hollow, and the place of burning
being apparently to the north of it. Some charcoal
and pieces of burnt bone were under the side and
almost to the centre of the coffin. There seemed no
doubt but that the burnt interment was the primary
one, and that it was partly disturbed, as shown by
the cut into it and the place of burning, to form the

•
grave for the later burial in the coffin, and in so
doing some of the burnt bones and earth fell to the
bottom. The coffin burial is thought to be Anglo-
Saxon, as is indicated by the bead and the bowl,
both being not uncommon. Unfortunately no
skulls have been obtained. There is one singular
feature—there was a very slightly chipped arrow-
head of flint near the bronze bowl, but it is possible
and probable this fell down from the burnt British
burial. It is of the leaf shape, but is so like a na-
tural flint that it is submitted to Mr. J. Evans,
F.S.A., of Hemel Hempstead, for opinion.

Merchant Taylors' School.
-.*--

The winter speeches were delivered yesterday—
familiarly called " The Doctors'-day"--at the con-
clusion both of the half-year and of the half-yearly
examination, held as usual by the Venerable Arch-
deacon Browne, the Rev. Charles Matheson, and
Professor Hall. At two o'clock the Rev. Dr.
Hessey, the head-master, introduced the Master of
the Company, the Wardens, the Examiners, and
the members of the Court into the large school-
room, where a vast gathering of old pupils and of
the boys and their friends were assembled to receive
them.

Dr. Hessey announced the prizemen for the half-
year, and adverted to the satisfactory circumstance
that at Oxford in 1865 and 1866 Merchant Taylors'
men had appeared ten times in the first class lists.
In the evening a grand banquet was given by the
Master and Wardens in honour of the day.
After the toasts of " Church and Queen," " The
Royal Family," " The Army and Navy" (for which
Colonel Beadle and Sir C. Nicolson responded),
and " The Lord Mayor, the Magistrates, and
Sheriffs,"
The MASTER proposed " The Two Houses of
Parliament," coupling with the toast the name of a
gentleman who, in spite of the clamour of faction,
and of all that professional demagogues were able
to say, had deserved well of his country, and earned
the gratitude of his fellow-citizens—Mr. Lowe.
(Cheers.)
Mr. LOWE said—There was a time when no man
could have thrown upon him an easier or a more
agreeable office than that of returning thanks for the
House of Commons. It was, in fact, a sort of rhe-
torical bed of roses. The sympathies of the audience
went so heartily with the efforts of the orator, his
feelings and those of the nation were so entirely in
unison, that the man mustindeed have been a novice
in his art who could not command a cordial approval
from every assenkly while descanting on such a
theme. But times are changed. The House of
Commons, which used to be the admiration of most
foreign countries, and the pride and glory of our
own, the cynosure of our institutions, the gem of our
history, so that at the very name of it every English
heart beat more proudly--that institution which
we have cherished for GOO years, and which in these
600 years has ripened, matured, amplified, expanded
until we thought we had made it an instrument of
Government such as the world had never seen before
placed in the hands of any nation—that noble insti-
tution is becoming a scoffing and a by-word among
certain classes in this country. (Hear, and laughter.)
It has become among those persons the target at
which every shaft is aimed, the flag which they like
to drag and trample upon. It is with no common
emotion, then, that I rise to return thanks for the
toast you have so kindly received. In my humble
judgment the House of Commons has not during the
recess received that treatment from assemblies of
Englishmen to which its glorious past and its most
useful and industrious present fairly entitle it.
(Hear, hear.) Ihave never asked more for the House
of Commons than this, that it should be tried by the
same test as is applied to all other institutions in
this country ; that if it is objected to people should
point out in what respect it has failed; if it is thought
to have failed, that the specific faults which have
led to its failure should be pointed out, and that
remedies should also be suggested, not vaguely and
at large, but specifically and definitely. This is the
challenge I have given. It has never been replied to,
and therefore, n twithstanding all the obloquy
poured upon us—notwithstanding that some critics
have not been satisfied with pas,iing in review our

intellectual defects, but have even described our
physical deforwities, :33 that we, who for our ages,
are, perhaps, as good-looking as others, arc pub-
licly-denounced as little-minded, hump-backed, one-
eyed scoundrels—(laughter)—notwithstanding all
this obloquy, I will venture to speak up for the
House of Commons, and will say that you will pro-
bably get a worse before you Beta better. (Cheers.)
I wig say further that in the House of Commons you
have an assembly eminently intelligent, and that no
one acquainted with its debates can fail to be sur-
_ _

prised how admirably members who are not in the
habit of addres-ing the house acquit themselves
with ability when it is necessary that they should
speak, though they may not have had sufficient

energy or adequate inducement before to display
that ability. It was also eminently business-like,
and I do not believe there is an assembly in the
world which goes through the same amount of la-

bour with the same amount of care, attention, and
ability. (Hear.) Then it is au orderly assembly.
Though it is more numerous than any other assem-
bly, it keeps its members in order, or assists its
Speaker so to do, better than any assembly which
ever existed ; and this, without the aid of a bell,

without the necessity every now and then of sus,

pending the sitting for half an hour ; in short, with
out any of those mechanical devices which are re

quired elsewhere. (A. laugh.) I will say, moreover,
that as a body we are pure ; our hands are clean ;

_ .
no " wire-pullers," no " lobbyers" frequent our
lobbies to induce us to prostitute our high offices for
the purpose of individual gain. (Elear.) Then I
think I may also say that in the course of the last

30 years the llouse of Commons has erected a dur-

able monument to its own memory in the improve-
ments which it has made in our Government. No
institution is perfect, and we have our defects. But
I zecur to the point I started with—before you
change us away make quite sure that you are going
to get something better in exchange. (Cheers.) Re-

member, the House of Commons amalgamates with

all parts of the Government. If you injure it you
injure every department of the public service, from
the highest to the lowest. My voice was therefore

raised strongly not against all change, but against
any change that was hasty and ill-considered, be-
cause every change is irrevocable ; and if a wrong
step be taken, it is by no means to be measured by
the direct injury which it occasions, but the mis-
chief which it works indirectly cannot be calculated.
(Cheers.) As this, therefore, is the first opportunity
which I have had for many months of speaking in
public on this subject, I am most anxious to express
the hope that these things will be well considered
and cautiously dealt with. Like every good Eng-
lishman, I am prepared to bow to the majority of
the intelligence and property of the country ; and I
have no doubt that whatever they do, if deliberately
done, will be well done. But let nothing be done
in a hurry. Let us think well before parting with
the certain good we have and accepting the very
doubtful good which is promised in exchange for it.
(Cheers.) The House of Peers is, of course, in-
volved in every consideration I have mentioned.
One great problem to be thought over is this—are
you prepared to part with theslefouseof Peers;
changeers;and,
if not, are you not bound to e that any
you may make in the constitution of the House of
Commons is of such a nature that it will be enabled

still to work on in harmony with the House of

Peers ? (Hear, hear.) With these observations I
beg to return my most sincere thanks for the favour
which you, at least, are still inclined to show to
those most venerable and, I think, most beneficial

institutions. (Loud cheers.)
" The Examiners," " The Masters and Wardens
of the other City Companies," and " The Visitors"

were the next toasts.

In responding to the last, Archdeacon HALE said
he had regretted and opposed the removal of
Charterhouse, but he now received consolation from
the thought that the glorious playgrounds would

still be occupied by young boys, and that the great
work of a public school education would still
prosper in the midst of the metropolis.

Choy Cuni Chung is the name of a Chinese
school-teacher in San Francisco.