The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-01 00:00:00

THE _FAILURE OF 111 R. NICHOLSON.

The circumstances attending the failure of Mr.
Nicholson are stated to be very discreditable. He
appears to have operated most extensively and reck-
lessly, without regard to consequences, and princi-
pally on his own account. In previous settlements, it
seems, he secured large profits, but these have again
been lost, and now, after exhausting his own resources
and those of his friends—for he has borrowed pretty
generally—ha leaves heavy differences unadjusted,
and disappears without any attempt to make an
arrangement. His engagements have included
description of security—Consols,
almost every
India Stock, Midland, Lancashire and Yorkshire,
Mercantile Fire, and some of the various mining
shares. In the confusion and distrust occasioned by
the event the brokers and dealers have not been able
to trace the absolute extent of the deficiency, but it
is well ascertained that it will be large and far
above the amount which either the position or the
credit of the defaulter should have allowed him to
incur. A balance more extensive than anticipated
has been attached at his bankers', so that a divi-
dend will be available, though it is thought not of
a respectable character. Instances of irregular
proceedings with regard to moneys obtained from
his friends and his own clerk are reported, but
these may yet be capable of explanation. It is
alleged that his relatives are unacquainted with his
retreat, the general supposition being that he has
crossed the Channel for Boulogne. Although the
general features of this case are very discouraging,
the consequences will not be so disastrous as those
experienced by the default of Mr. A. Cooper. Not-
withstanding severe losses have been in special in-
stances made, no one, it is hoped, will be seriously
compromised and reduced to the painful alternative
of suspending. The operations of Mr. Nicholson
have been in favour of a rise ; those of Mr. Cooper
were, it will be remembered, for a fall. They have
both, to use a technical expression, been "cut to
pieces," although under different phases of business,
by adverse markets. The trustworthy members of
the Stock Exchange are sorely annoyed at these
announcements, which detract greatly from the
character of the establishment, and some are tempted
to refer to the good old days when competition was
less extensive, commissions were more numerous,
and the house, as a body, was in a more prosperous
position.—Morning Herald.

Letters from the provinces allude to the endea-
vours making by millowners and manufacturers, where
they can afford it, to close their establishments, or other-
wise to shorten time to the lowest possible limit, in order to
cope with the altered appearance of the export trade.
The advices from Paris state a probability that
the Bank of France will find it necessary to adopt a further
advance of the rate of discount to 6 per cent. The efflux
of gold to pay for wheat bought in this country and else-
where continues, although the withdrawals since the last
monthly statement have already amounted to more than
X 2,000,000.

THE CHAMPION PLOUGHMEN OF ENGLAND.—
The three ploughmen of the great rival plough-makers—
Ransoms, Howards, and Hornsby s —have just met at two
important matches, " open to all England," the latter of
which came off on Saturday at Northampton. A youth,
hardly five feet high, sent by Howards, of Bedford, beat
his older and forolidable rivals iu both contooto,