The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-24 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—The noble truths you give utterance to, and
the spirit of independence you manifest upon all oc-
casions when the public interests are concerned, and
more particularly when the interests of the navy are
discussed in the columns of your invaluable Journal,
these, Sir, induce me to offer you some observations ;
and, if you think them worthy of publication, they
are at your service.

I am- an officer, that would be glad to be employed
if I could; but, in the present state of things, that
cannot be ; nevertheless, I am alive to every thing
that affects that profession to which I have the honour
to belong; and the more so, when the interest of my
country, and, perhaps, the salvation of that country,
are at issue.

The pamphlet of Prince de Joinville on steam navi-
gation is making great talk everywhere, stirring
,the
hearts and minds of this excitable people in no small
degree ; and this, coupled by a " pale cast of thought"
in reference to past events, may work wonders, and
nerve the French to accomplish anything ; and it
would be strange, indeed, that the man who brought
the dust of the great Napoleon across the Atlantic,
should not inherit, more or less, the spirit that once
animated that dust. It behoves, then, the British
people to be " up" and thinking ; and it also behoves
the British Government to do
justice, before it is too
late, to the claims and merits of the old war officers
and men, by giving them that trifling article " the
cheap defence of nations." And wise it would be,
too, if the Admiralty, without delay, were to listen
to, and adopt, the suggestions of the gallant Napier,
by suffering the old officers to retire.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your very humble servant,
A CAPTAIN IN THE NAVY.
Paris, May 20, 1844.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sin,—The unfortunate man Crouch is, on Monday.
to suffer by one of the most un-Christian laws that
ever disgraced a Christian country; and it may be
said, with truth, that it is almost the only relic we
have of the darkest ages—ages when the foulest
crimes that human beings could commit stained our
national character. Those flagrant vices have long
since ceased—enlightenment and religion have eradi-
cated them—and yet this most obnoxious and de-
grading law still retains its place upon the British
statute-book. What are our Government? Are they
Christians ? Did ever Christianity sanction death ?
Let them examine the 'Sacred writings. They say
the laws of England are based upon the laws of God.
Is this a fact ? Can we dare assume that, when an
individual renders himself amenable to .the laws of
who was the most merciful
that
g
society, society is invested with ft power to take away
his
he said " the laws are a terror to evil doers," that
those who should profess to be his followers should
i;e fe v
visited
enact such as to deprive a human being of existence ?
Didte dthtahte llaebiondes of man, contemplate, when
If mercy was extended to the "vilest of the vile,"
by the mighty Jehovah and his dearly-beloved Son,
shall man extinguish so noble an emotion and
.yet
escape with impunity? What is the object of punish-
ment but to benefit the criminal ?—this was the
rrimary cause for its ill§titi4tion. But what good can
esult to the aoonied to death by his execution a few
days subsequent to his conviction ? He is frequently
not in a state to receive 9)444 epsolatlen, and he
is hurriccl into the psi. epee of his Maker with all his
guilt upon his head. Is there not some responsibility
attached to those who framed this law ?—somP, re,t
sponsibility to him wiin /1,114 it hit° iorce r Yes ;
he re whose—tat. both judge and judged
iliiill appear, will not hold those guiltless who liars
been instrumental in the murder of immorP
orpatgro,
Humanity sickens at the bare contemplation that
man has doomed his brother to die. Christianity ever
has, and does condemn it, and repudiates with disdain
%ny Attßitt whieh is matt to ehvge it ppfin her ;
and, let e rPmerl.l*ro that time is npt fgr di§t
tent when these tiatTaroWs Rnd wined acts will re-
coil with fury upon the perpetrators, and whelm them
with confusion—with torment—with despair. May
this attract the attention of those in authority, that
they may not add another crime to the many they
must inevitably b 9 charged With..-Yonra
May ga, 4844, BENJAMIN.

SAVINGS BAracs.—Wednesday, on the motion of
Mr. Masterman, a statement was issued of tlit3 4111?-lint of tll
separate surplus fond, tc4' IF.Rin7 ipAppitst, bOongi.pU
finste6 of satingr b,p, 19,1 Y Op lag§ oros 01111pussiimer§
ottUe iettOrqn to tbQ Qui at clay
1€14! 404 rs tbilt IBS aaparaie surplus fund of Great Bri-
tain amounfet, at the period mentioned, to 321,468/.135. 2d.,
and of Ireland, 11,3281 14s. 4d. ; making a total of
332,797/. 7s. 6d. not bearing interest.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.
FROM T 1413 MORNING PAPERS OF TUIS DAY.
CITY, THURSDAY EVENING.
TIMES.—The weekly return of the Bank of England to
be made under the new system will, it is supposed, be on the
principle set forth in the forms which we give below, though
of the actual form itself nothing is known at present. To
understand the figures it is necessary to bear. in mind the
return of the Bank of England published on the 26th ult.,
as the forms are made on the assumption that the sums
there set down as denoting an average denote a fact. This
return was as follows
LIABILITIES,

ASSETS.

Circulation
Deposits ...... 13,615,000 Bullion

£35,042,000 I £38,165,000
Supposing the Bank to appropriate from its bullion
1,015,00 U to the banking department for immediate use,
leaving 15,000,0001. in the issuing department as a basis for
circulation, the total circulation will be 29,000,00001.—that
is to say, the 15,000,0001. and the 14,000,0001. allowed to be
issued on securities. The return shows 21,427,000/. which is
the amount held by the public, and therefore the remaining
7,573,000/. lies in the Bank in the shape of notes in deposit,
and balances the account of the issue department. The new
return for this department wou;d therefore be as follows :
LIABILITIES. ASSETS.

Notes with the On security .. 14,000,000
public
Notes in the Bank 7,573,000 -

£:29,000,000

£29,000,000

Turning now to the banking department, we find that
under the head of assets there must be securities to the
value of 8,150,0001., that being the. difference between the
22,1500001. shown in the return, and the 14,000,0001. re-
served by the issuing department; notes to the value of
7,573,0001., as shown by the issue account; and coin, as-
sumed to be 1,015,000/. The liabilities shoW the single item
of deposits, taken from the April return, with the " rest" as
a balance. We now have the banking return complete as
follows :

LIABILITIES.

Assns.

Deposits ..... 13,615,000
Rest

Securities . 8,150,000
Notes 7,573,000
Coin ... 1,015,000

£16,738,000

£16,738,000
If it be intended to introduce the proprietors' capital into
the account, 14,553,0001. must bo, added to the aide of liabi-
lities, and a similar amount of securities to the assets, so that
the balance of " rest". will remain precisely the same.
SU N.—The English market closes at about the prices
of this morning, Consols for Money and the settling day
being 991 f. There was no alteration deserving notice
in any ut the other investments, although discounts are
rather dearer in the general bill market. The Three per
Cent. Annuities of 1726 were quoted 99.
The Foreign market remained in the same listless
state. Portuguese Converted at 46i, and Spanish as in
the morning. Russian receded a little, being 1171.
Colombian were 14 to*.
The additional transactions in Railway Shares have
been these: —Bristol and Exe:er were 101 to 111, Chester
and Holyhead -I, Edinburgh and Glasgow 16, Great
Western 42k, Croydon 6+ to 51, Ditto Scrip 91, Man-
chester and Birmingham 14 to 13k, Newcastle and Dar-
lington 20:1, North Midland Half 4, Ditto Thirds 711-,
Norwich and Brandon si, South-Eastern 31 to 13-, York
and North Midland 66, and Rouen and Havre 10 prem.
Blackwall have been 94, Brighton 31 , and Thames
and Medway 91 to 9+ discount. London and West-
minster Bank Shares were 6+ premium.