The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-06 00:00:00

EVENING, FEBRUARY 6, 1

of peace, that he had on that ground arranged for
its cessation in 1860, and maintained that that
agreement ought to be adhered to. Lord DERBY
decidedly took on this point the same view as Mr.
DISRAELI and Mr. GLADSTONE. Lord JOHN
RusszLL and Mr. GLADSTONE in the strongest
terms demanded that the naval and military ex-
penditure should be reduced to the old peace
standard—and all demanded that the great ques-
tion whether we are to have an expenditure that
requires the tsar rat• of Income Tax should be
settled forthwith. The country and the House
have every encouragement, therefore, to force
economy on the Government.
Nit only the Manchester School, but the
Peelites, and the Derbyites demand a peace
expenditure, which means two things, the cessa-
tion of the war elevenpence, and of the unjust
arrangement of the tax itself, at least, in 1860.
We renew, therefore, our oft-repeated advice,—
AGITATE 1 AGITATE I AGITATE !

But the nation has additional grounds for en-
couragement. The Leviathan is, to use a " Hi-
bernicism," once more "turning its back upon
itself." Any degree of tergiversation on the
part of " the leading journal" is by no means
uncommon, nor should we think it worth while to
notice it, so far as the Times itself is concerned.
But we have recently pointed out the direct con-
nection between Downing-street and Printing-
house-square. The complicity being indicated by
the very suspicions similarity between the views
of the journalist published in the morning, and
of the Financial Minister expressed in the after-
noon. The exact figures, too, 80,00,0001., being
spoken of in both gnat ters, proved that
there had been previous consultation. On
the 23c1 ultimo the Times declared that
the money was wanted to discharge an existing
obligation, and to counteract an exhaustion in
actual process ; so the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer first tells us that he must have the money,
and then suggests the mode which he hopes will
be the least distressing to our feelings. It then
asserts that "it is only a choice of evils," and that
"it is scarcely worth while to talk very strongly
about the Income Tax before ye know the extent
of the necessary evil, and how much money is
wanted. All anticipations are useless when we
must shortly know the facts of the case, and it is
equally useless at this moment to protest against
any tax that may happen to be galling us."
Again on the 26th ultimo ..t announces that
" the oscillations of the War Income Tax question
are beginning to yield to the strong attraction of
I the year 1858, and show evident signs of settling
down at that point in the compass;" that "the
letter of the Act is kept as a slight convenient
intrenchment in the distance, not for the purpose;
of actually retiring behind it, because that would be
illiberal and cowardly, but rather for the purpose
of pointing to and producing the impression on f
the enemy that you might tale advantage of itsi
protection if you liked, and that therefore he must
not push you too far ;" adding " With respect to
this single year's continuance cf the War Income
Tax, it is perhaps not worth while, under all the
circumstances, to fight against cur destiny." All
its arguments were to the effect that it was a
question of expenditure, not of taxation, and
that we should patiently and submissively await
the announcement of the intentions of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, and nct complain if the
" pettifogging quibble," or "slight convenient
intrenchment in the distance" were made avail-
able. Even yesterday it followed in the same
)
course. It declared, that "the whole tax is ac-
tually doomed to extinction as a peace tar. Not
only the war 9d. (q. 11d.), but the peace 7d.,
lies under sentence of death, to be, carried into
execution this timo 66-co years." , . " The
road has been rough and the lane a long one, but
at any rate the turning is well in view." The
whole tenour of its remarks counsel submission to
destiny, in the shape of the will and pleasure of
Sir G. C. LEWIS.

But now nous changons tout cela. The nation
fortunately did not accept the sinister advice ; a
storm was raised about the ears of the Minister,
and he has seen the necessity of reefing his sails
before the coming storm. The Times has received
an opportune hint, and this day declares that
" the British people have wisely determined to be
rid of this most grievous impost 1 To be rid of
the war 9d. now, and the other rd. as soon as
possible, is the ruling desire of all classes, from
peers to the pettiest tradesmen." . . . " The
most that can be expected is to be rid of the extra
Income Tax.
"For the present let no
. . •
Minister be able to urge, as an excuse for keeping
on a fraction of the Income Tax, the pretext that
any section of the community is in the least de-
gree indifferent to its abolition." What, then,
would have been the case if they had submitted
to their destiny, as counselled by the Times ? Let
possible. Mean-
this twhi i e
wv tahraenis:sltvi
fie
etdh aitne
an
ci ge
empatiinfg
extraordi-
nary change, not as the opinion of the journalist,
but as an echo from Downing-street—as the first
fruits of the earnest and indefatigable agitation
that has been inaugurated. But we are only at
the very commencement of our task ; the same
course that has triumphed against the extra war
charge will suffice to insure an equitable adjust-
ment thereof—distinguishing between permanent
and precarious incomes, between the proceeds of
accumulated and realised property and the fluctu-
ating wages and earnings of industry. One more,
then, we repeat to the people Agitate I Agitate !
Agitate 1 and final and complete success must at-
tend your exertions..

Follow the successful precedent of EIGHTEEN
HUNDRED AND SIXTERN. Cut off once more the
supplies—cut them off in February—and we shall
then have estimates shaped to what we will pay,
not to what a Government would like to spend.

In another part of our present impression will
be found a report of the proceedings at the Annual
Meeting of the London and County (Joint Stock)
Bank, which took place yesterday. After the
recent instances of mismanagement and criminal
misconduct in connection with other establish-
ments of a like nature, it must be a source of
gratification to the reader to light on a report so
satisfactory as that which the Directors were
enabled to present. Despite the shock given to
public confidence by the miserable exposures to
which we have referred, the London and County
Bank, under the existing management, has, it
will be seen, yielded a dividend of 6 per cent.
on the last six months, or 11 per cent. on the
entire year ; and this without any " cooking of
the accounts," or any of the wretched subterfuges
which have so often been resorted to to gull the
shareholders and the confiding public. On the
contrary, everything fair and above board—a
straightforward balance-sheet checked by a public
tions for the future testifying to the integrity of
thecc ou
Directors. Glancing over the
and accompanied by recommenda-
a
Report, we
find the gross profit of the Bank for the half-
year, including balances brought forward from the
last account, and after making provision for bad
and doubtful debts to amount to 119,2571. 35.
4d, leaving after deduction of all charges a
net profit of 38,081/. 9s. 6d. From this
Amount it is the lax Per out! dividend
_

(free of Income Tax) has been declared,
leaving, after the subtraction of 5001. added to
the Provident Fund of the Bank for the bygone
year, a balance of 7,795/. 14s. 3d. ! A highly
satisfactory result, it must be admitted, and,
taken in conjunction with the increase of capital
decided on, affording conclusive proof of the caution
and forethought of the management. Though late
in the field with their Report'owing to the nume-
rous country branches of the Bank, whose accounts
had to be duly inspected in order to make up the
general balance-sheet, the Directors, it must be
confessed, have made up for the delay by a field-
day well calculated to inspire confidence in the suc-
cess of the Bank, whatever it along with others
may have to encounter in the present year. The
tug of 1856, however, through which it has come
so triumphantly, is not likely to be equalled,
much less exceeded, by any in 1857, so that with-
out any drawback the shareholders may be con-
gratulated on their prospects.

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, FEB. 5.

Prince Albert and the Prince of \Vales skated on the
ice in the Home-park yesterday afternoon, attended by
the gentlemen in Waiting. Several officers of the garri-
son had the honour to join their royal highnesses.
The Queen, accompanied by Princess Feodore of
HoLenlohe-Langenbu.rg, and Princess Amelia of
Hohenlohe-Schillingfurst, and attended by the ladies
in waiting, was present.
The band of the let Life Guards played a selection
of favourite airs during the skating.
The fourth dramatic performance at the Castle took
slams this evening. Sbakspere's play, in five acts, of
King Richard II.," was selected, and the parts were
filled according to the following programme :

KING RICHARD IL
Mug Itiaiord IL
Edmund
of York) of Langley (Duke{
-Uncles }Mr. Cooper.
to the
John of Gaunt (Duke al King. }Mr. Walter Lacy.
Lancaster)
Henry, sum amed Bolingbroke (Duke e
of Hereford),son to John of Gaunt, Mr. Ryder.
afterwards King Henry the Fourth
Duke of Aumerle, son to the Duke
}Mr. Brazier.
of York
Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk Mr. J. F. Cathcart.
Duke of Surrey Mr. Raymond.
Earl of Salisbury
Earl Berkley
Bushy Mr. Rolleaton.
Bagot }Creatures to King Richard {Mr. Warren.
Green Mr. Barsby.
Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy (his son)
Lord Ross
Lord Willoughby ...
Bishop of Carlisle
Sir Pierce of Exton
Sir Stephen Scroop
First Gardener
Second Gardener
Groom Mr. Cormack.
Queen to Richard II Mrs. Chas. Kean.
Duchess of Gloucester Mrs. Taman.
Duchess of York - Miss Desborougb.
Lady attending on the Queen Miss M. Daly.
Shortly after 8 o'clock her Majesty the Queen and the
Prince, with the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal,
and the elder portion of the Royal Family, and a large
number of the nobility, entered the theatre (St. George's
Hall), and the performance immediately commenced.

Sir Alexander Spearman had an interview with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday at his official re-
sidence in Downing-street.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat
yesterday. The appeal from the Prerogative Court,
"Bremer v. Freeman and Bremer," was continued.
Lord Panmure had a dinner party on Wednesday at
his ressdence in Bel rave-square. The company included
Sir Henry Storks, Mr. Bouverie, Col. Ramsay, Col.
Dundas, Mr. and Lady Elizabeth Duncan, Mr. and
Mrs. Ellice, and Captain Ratnsay.
Lord John Rugsell was at Nice at the time of the
King's visit, and his Majesty, Count Cavour, and other
Italian statesmen, have expressed themselves very much
pleased with his lordship's conversation.
The Earl of Harowood was somewhat better yesterday.
His lordship, we regret to learn, is still in a very precari-
ous state. _

Mr. Botfield has left the Clarendon for his seat in
Shropshire.
General Prim has charged General Za.vala to defend
him before the military tribunal by which he is shortly
to be tried.

The Moniteur du Loiret Pays that everything that
Verger wrote during his imprisonment has been burnt by
the authorities.

CHURCH RATES.—From Easter, 1853, to Easter, 1854,
465,0001. was received as church rate ; 448,0001. was
spent, and the sum borrowed was 313,0001.
The anneal meeting of the Madras Railway Company
is called for the 19th instant, and that of the East Indian
Ifun Oumt,*..y for the 20th inst.
Major-General Sir W. F. Wiliiams, Commandant of
Woolwich Garrison, having obtained leave of absence,
Colonel Hardinge, Ta7.H., has succeeded temporarily to
the duties of ;he department.
Mr. Tom Taylor, whose " Still Waters Run Deep"
was so much admired at the last of Mr. Onley's theatrical
entertainments at the Old Wells, has written a new
drama, which is in the bands of Mr. Wigan, and will be
produced as soon as that gentleman can permanently re-
turn to the stage.—Cheltenham Paper.
Mr. A. Wigan contradicts a report that has reached
him in his sick room—namely, that be. either act►vely or
permissively, sanctioned Mr. James Rogers' donation
to the Lambeth police poor-box. " Had I been aware,"
he writes, "of that gentleman's intention, I should have
done all in my power to dissuade him from such an ex-
hibition of bad taste."

The Bank of England have intimated that they wil;
henceforth, in the case of such of their customers as keep
their drawing accounts exclusively with them, cease to
restrict their discount accommodation to bills not having
more than three months t,o run. Long bills will there-
fore be received from these parties in the same manner
as they are received by private bankers from their custo-
mers at such rates as the state of the market may from
time to time render expedient.
Mr. Joseph Ewart, M.P., will ask the First Lord of
the Treasury, this evening, whether it ie the intentionlof
the government to make any recognition of the services
of Sir John M‘Neill and Colonel Tua.,ch in the Crimea.
On going into committee or, the army estimates, Mr.
Palk will move that the reports of Sir John M`Neill
and Colonel Tulloch, and of the Board of General Offi-
cers, be taken into consideration, and to move certain
resart ions. _ _

A sale has been announced at the Commercial Salo
Rooms of some samples of new East India fibres imported
by the East India Company with the view of ascertaining
the adaptability of these products to supply the wants of
papermakers and others. The company some time back
instructed their officers at different stations to send
respectively a few tons of such fibres as their districts
might furnish, and it is said that some of those already
received are likely to prove of great value whenever they
shall be brought here in sufficient quantities to induce
manufacturers to arrange for the use of them.
A meeting is about to be held of persons interested in
engineering science in connexion with a proposal to esta-
blish a company for carrying out a patent of Messrs.
Wethered Brothers, of Baltimore, for reducing the con-
sumption of fuel in steam-engines by mixing common
steam with superheated, either before of when it reaches
the cylinder. The saving is alleged to be more than 30
per cent., and a report made to the Admiralty has been
published, in which that result appears to have been
attained in a trial made some months back on board her
Majesty's steamer Dee.
An Auctioneers and Land Agents' Exchange has just
been formed in London to facilitate the transactions of
that branch of business by a perfect system of registra-
tion of properties for sale and investments wanted, as
well as to add to the standing of the persons engaged in
it by excluding from the advantages of the institution all
those who may have acted unprofessionally or forfeited
a character for respectability and probity. The members
must be either land agents, auctioneers, or estate agents,
and they are to be subject to the rules and regulations
of the committee in a manner analogous to that at the
Stock Exchange.
EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN STEAM-SHIP COMPANY.—
SOUTHAMPTON, Thur,day.— This day the formation of
this new company was celebrated by a splendid dejeuner
on board the Golden Fleece, to which 100 persons sat
down. The company has been formed for the purpose
of establishing lines of steam-ships from Southampton to
the United States, the Brazils, and South America. The
company's ships comprise, eight of the screw steam-ships
of the General Screw Cmpany—viz , Calcutta, Argo,
Queen of the South, Lady Jocelyn, Hydaspes. Jason,
Golden Fleece, and Indiana. These ships, which mi.
finally cost 700,0001., have been purchased for half that
sum, and the sole management of the company is vested
in Messrs. Croskey and Co., who have taken its direction
without any reward until a dividend of 6 per cent. shall
be paid to the shareholders.
GRAND DINNER GIVEN BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE
METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS.—Tue chairman of
the Metropolitan Board of Works gave his annual dinner
yesterday, at the Albion, to the Lord Mayer and Sheriff,
the metropolitan representatives in Parliament, and the
members of the Metropolitan Board of Works. The
Right Hon. Sir B. Hall, M.P., the Right Hon. Lord
Robert Grosvenor, M.P., Sir John V. Shelley, Al.p
. Sir Charles Napier, M.P., Sir J. Duke, M.P., Montagu
Chambers, Rig., M.P., Alderman Cubitt, M.P.,Pellatt, Beg., M.P., W. A. Wilkinson, Esq., M.P
Henry Pownall, Esq., chairman of the Middlesex " and
magis-
trates, were among the guests present. About 70 gen-
tleman sat down to dinner.

---THE PRIVY COUNCIL OFFICE AND THZ SOCIETY OF
ARTS EXAMINATIONS —The Lord President of her
;Majesty's Privy Council having placed at the disposal
of the council of the society the pi ivilege of nominating
two candidates as competitors in an examination recently
held by the civil service commissioners for clerkships in
the Privy Council Office, the council of the society re-
commended to his lordship Robert Abbot, of Leeds, and
William. Matthew Taylor, of WincLor, both of whom
had distinguished themselves at the society examinations
in June last. The council have pleaiure in announcing
that their candidates have been successful, standing first
and fourth on the list. There were 21 peleoted &we-
titora rAnd AT. TACZUCiegt

857.

LATEST N WS.

PERSIA.

We have intelligence from Constantinople to the
30th ult.

Russia demands from Persia to occupy the pro-
vince of Mazanderan.

The Persian mountaineers have pillaged the rich
sanctuary of Meragha Whild. ; the garrison having
gone to Feroozabad to repress an insurrection.

The fortifications of Bushire have been recon-
structed by the Eirllisb, who have. left two regi-
ments, and marched up the Kaub to attack Moha-
mora, which commands bath the province of Fars
and the road to Shiraz.

ALEXANDRIA, JAN. 24.
The English are about to occupy Mohammrad
and Bender AU, two towns on the Persian Gulf.

Bender-Abbaz, an important post on the coast of
the kingdom of Persia., being occupied by the
Imaum of Muscat, an ally of the English, will, it
is supposed, be respected by the latter.

The Teheran Gazette, the official organ of the
Court of Persia, under data of the 26th of the
month of Raby-el-Thany, 1273 (24th of December,
1856) has the following on the capture of Bushire
by the English :
" From the commencememt of the dispute be-
tween Persia and England it never was the inten-
tion of the Government of his Majesty the Shah to
break off, friendly relations with the Cabinet of
London, or to eAcite hostilitiia agabitst that Power.
" The Persian Government has at various times
manifested its good intentions in an official docu-
ment. It always had that object in view, on which
it has based its line of conduct; which, moreover,
has been shown by its acts.
" In fact, on the one hand it gave instructions to
its Ambassador and full powers to hold interviews
with the English Ambassador at Constantinople, to
settle the dispute in a manner conformable to the
dignity and interests of the two Governments.
Considering these intentions it had daily expected
to hear that the dispute had been honourably set-
tled between the Ambassadors, and friendly rela-
tions restored between the two Governments. On
the other hand, the Persian Government had
issued strict orders to the frontier authorities not
to commence hostilities against the English. For
these same reasons it had not made the necessary
preparations for the defence of the frontier and of
Bushire.
" There had always been two regiments stationed
in garrison at Bushire • that garrison was com-
manded by the Sartip ilahomet Ali-Khan, who
died some time since, by the will of God, of a natu-
ral death.
"It was after the death of the commander of the
garrison of Bushire that the commander of the
English troops in the Persian Gulf, without adher-
ing to the customary forms of sending the declara-
tion
of war to the Representatives of the Court of
Persia, or at least of making the declaration to his
Highness Prince Fehmassib-Mirza, Governor-Gene-
ral of the province of Fars, restricted himself to
writing a letter couched in vague terms, which he
sent to Bushire and to other ports in its vipinity ;
this letter was accompanied by a printed sheet on
the subject of the declaration of war of the East
India Company.
" On the morrow of that day the Commander in
question already landed his troops and seized upon
the fortress of Bahmani, which was defended only
by a handful of tufenktchi (men armed with guns)
of Tenguistan ; from thence he advanced on
Bushire, which be captured without striking a
blow, the Persian troops not having received the
order or the permission of his Majesty the Shah to
attack the English troops."