The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-18 00:00:00

the gold of which we are the holders, of which there
is some 16,000,0001. lying idle in the coffers of the
Bank, and the further sum of 50,000,0001. now
circulating from hand to hand, in consequence
of our absurd prohibition of a small note currency
will be reduced to about one-half its present nominal
value. By our present laws we are prevented from
using this bullion while its value remains, and it can
only be relieved by the issue of notes of small deno-
minations, and the abolition of the restrictions as to
silver. At present the Bank of England is limited in
the amount of silver which it is allowed to retain on
hand. The injurious Effects of the restrictive enact-
ment were painfully perceptible during the
commercial critis of 1847, when a merchant,
with a large quantity of silver bul-
lion, was unable to obtain an advance upon
it or to sell it. This drove the silver, which is now
likely to become so valuable, out of the country. A
great and comprehensive measure of monetary reform
is now clearly essential. The bullionists per-
ceive that necessity as clearly as any others in the
community, and, therefore, there is every reason to
suppose that the question will be brought under the
consideration of Parliament during the ensuing
session. The industrious classes must, however, be
vigilant in order to guard their own interests, and to
see that they are not again sacrificed at the shrine of
Mammon by their ruthless tat•kmasters.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

\Ve have received the P.tris journals of yesterday.
On Monday M. JULES DE LASTEYRIE presented
he report of the Committee to which "as referred
he proposition of M. VICTOR LEFRANC for an amend-
ment of the Electoral Law of the 31st May. The
Committee recommend the rejection of the proposi-
tion. The report states that the law of the 31st May
has disfranchised upwards of three millions of voters.
The report was ordered to be printed and circulated
previous to the debate.
The mail train to Calais was blown off the line on
Sunday night by the violence of the storm. A col-
lision with an up-train was the consequence, and
several persons were seriously injured.
On Monday a religious service was celebrated in
the chapel of the Invalides, in commemoration of the
10th anniversary of the bringing of the remains of
the Emperor NAPOLEON to France. The centre of
the chapel was fillEd with old soldiers of the Imperial
army, and with servants of the family. Invalids,
bearing their lances, formed a line from the altar to
the principal gate, and along this the Marshal.
Governor JEROME BONAPARTE passed, preceded by
the clergy, and accompanied by Generals PETIT and
GOIIRGAUD, and a numerous staff. He was re-
ceived on entering the chapel by the beating of
drums and the music of the band of the litth Regi-
ment. Several Representatives of the People, among
others M. ARDATECCI, M. NAPOLEON DARE, &c.,
and M. JEROME BONAPARTE, occupied the choir, and
the galleries were filled with ladies, nearly all of
whom wore deep mourning. When the ceremony
was concluded the clergy conducted the Marshal to
the chapel of Saint Joseph, in which the remains of
the IstrE.Rott are provisionally deposited. Here
some prayers were said, and many of the old soldiers
present wept. The Marshal afterwards passed the
Invalids in review ; also a number of old Imperial
soldiers, who had assembled in their old uniforms.
The Marshal distributed some crosses of the Legion
of Honour, and he was greeted with shouts of " Vive
le nom de Napoleon ! vive l'Empereur !"
The Bourse opened dull, but after some time
it became more animated, and Government stock
closed more firm.

The Five per Cents. opened at 94f. and rose
to 9.5 f. 15c., at which they closed : the Three per
Cents. closed et 57f. 30c.
BUSINkSS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, Dxc. 17.
Boulogne and Amiens, 9;R—Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 16A—Duth Rhenish, 31,4—Great Indian
Peninsula, 2 —Namur and Liege, 81,4—Northern of France,
1514—Orleans and Bordeaux, 234—Paris and Rouen, 261/2
—Paris and Strasbourg, 9% Roue' and Havre, 10A—
Sambre and Meuse, 3%—Tours and Nantes, 51,i.

SPAIN.
Madrid journals of the 11th have arrived.
NARVAEZ left Madrid that morning for AranjuEz.
The Heraldo an official contradiction e:
publishes __

the rumour of a Ministerial crisis. BERTRAND DE
Lis has been elected President, and GONZALEZ Ro-
MEE° Vice-President of the Budget Committee.
The Chambers did not meet on the 11th. On that
day a sort of panic prevailed in the Stock Exchange
among the holders of shares in the Bank of San Fer-
nando, in consequence of the Government having, it
was said, resolved to suppress in the budget of the
Minister of the Interior the 14,000,000 reals it has
hitherto allowed that establishment; the fall was
from 64 to 53 reals per share. The directors of the
bank intended to make energetic remonstrances
against the proposed measure.
The English squadron, under the command of
Vice-Admiral Sir WILLIAM PARKER, arrived at Bar-
celona on the 6th.

MADRID BOLSA, 11.—Three per Cents., 34
15-16 cash, and buyers, 15 16 sellers, after the
close; Five per Cents., with current coupon, 1.2 i ;
Ciupons, 9 to 7; Passive Debt, 3; ; Exchange on
London, 50 30.

wages of labour will participate in the general im-
provement, and the pressure of taxation will be mate-
rially lightened. The drones in the national hive will
alone be the sufferers. The income of the landholder
will practically be diminished to one-half its
present amount, but he will still receive as
much as he was entitled to, according
to the scale in operation when the obligation was con-
tracted. It must not be forgotten that money was
abundant at the time the debt was incurred ; the
bank-note was inconvertible ; the labour of the
country was fully employed ; corn maintained an
average price of 87s. lOd. per bushel. The pound
note was practically only worth 13g. in specie, and
the amount of the liability should, in common justice
to the tax-payer, have been liquidated at the same
rate. But the mcneyocracy were in the ascendant ;
their influence prevailed in the national councils,
and the Acts of 1819 and 1844 were passed, the
effect of which, according to the admission of Sir
CHARLES WOOD, was to double the purchasing power
of the pound sterling, to give it a twofold command
over necessaries and comforts, and thus to give
double payment to the public creditor; or, to look at
the reverse of the picture, to make the over-toiled
artizan or operative, whose labour was mortgaged be-
fore he came into the world, work twice the number of
hours, in order to satisfy the demands of the public tax-
gatherer. This gross and palpable injustice will at last
be remedied, and some of the fetters struck off from
the limbs of the "English slave." Yes, " slave," for
what is a slave but one who is compelled to give his
labour for the benefit of another, to toil and work at
the direction of his taskmaster ?
But England will in one respect be a heavy loser—