The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-06 00:00:00

Do. 41 per Cent., 1852 —
Do. do., 1818....
Do. do., 18 i() 67 i
Do. do., 1863 —
Do. 5 per Cent., 1865 —
Do Account 771 1
Buenos Ayres 6 per Cent —
Do 2 per Cent. (Deferred 3 por Cent )
Cuba, 6 per Cent.
Cailian 6 per Cent —
Do. 41 per Cent —
Uo. 6 per Cent., B .
Do., 1867
Do., 7 per ,Cent., 1866 —
Do., Scrip £32 paid
Col.'mbian, 6 per Cent.
Danish 3p ,r Cent., 1825.
Danubian Principalities, 7 per Cent —
Do 8 per Cent., 1867 671 7
Equador New Consolidated, 1 per Cent —
gyptiar, 7 per Cent —
Do. Secoud Issue —
D•'. .£5OO Bonds
Do. £lO6 Bonds —
Do. 1864
Do. 1500 Bonds —
Do. £lOO Bonds ..... 921
Government Rail way Debentures ..... 03i 1
Greek, 5 per Cent., 1824-5, ex Coups —
Do. Account
D. Coupons
Do. Account
Peravion 5 per Cent. 1665
Do Account
Do 41 per Cent. (Uribarren)
Do ,4 per Cent.. 1662
Do Account

P irtutruase 3 nor Ct., 1853, '6, '7, '9,'60,'2,'S 404
Do. do., 1'67 394
Do. do., Scrip, £lO paid — pea
Russian 5 por Cent., 181:2, £ Si —
Do 4i per Cent. 1850
Do 44 per Cent., 1860
Do 3 per Xent., 1859
Do 5 per Cent., 1`?62
Do. Anglo-Dutch, 1861, £lOO Bonds 894
Do. do. £B4 15s. do.
Do., 1866, £lOO Bonds 894 i i
Do. do. £B4 15s. do B5l
Sardinian, 5 per Cent —
Spanish 3 per (Jen . —
Do Account ...
Do Now Deferred —
Do Account
Do Passive —
Do Acc'ant _

Do Corn. Cert. of Cott;. not funded
Do Account
Tu:kish 6 per Cent.
Do Account
Do 6 per Cent. 1858
Do Account ... 621
Do £lOO Bonds 6B
Do 6 per Cent., 1862
Do Acmunt
Do £lOO Bonds...
Do. 1863
Do 5 per Cent., 1865
Do Account
Do 6 per Cent., 1865 531 41
Do 4 por Cent., Guaranteed
Venezuela, 3 per Cent.
Do 6 per Cont., 1862
Do 6 per Cent. 1864
Dividends on the above payable in Londot.
Austnau b per Cent. Ex 10 Florins
4+ per cent., Ex. 25f.
Dutch 2i per Cent. Ex. 12 Gull,
Do. 4 per Cent. Certificates ....
French Rentes, 3 per Cent., Ex. 25f.
Do Account
It%Hai, 5 per Cent. 1831, Ex. 25i.
Do. Account
TWO SIJLOOK.
Consols, Money 93,1
Do. Account, March 931

TfiE MEMBERS FOR_OLDHAM ON PUBLIC

TOPICS.

Last evening Mr. Hibbert and Mr. Platt, the members
for Oldham, addressed a crowded meeting of their consti-
tuents in the Oldham Town Hall. The Mayor of the
borough (John Robinson, Esq.), presided,
Mr. RIBBER; M.P., reviewed at convderable length the
history of the reform question, and justified the course
which he had taken with respect thereto during the last
session of Parliament. He said with regard to the
Irish Church he objected to its ' atal disendowment.
The question of land tenure was surrounded with many
difficulties. They were not, however, insuperable.
From the report of the Devon Commission, published in
1845, it appeared that whilst in England and Scotland a
farmhouse and buildings •were always attached to the land,
in Ireland the erection of buildings and the making of fences'
devolved upon the tenant, and they came under the head of
improvements ; yet for these improvements he received no
compensation, even though he was turned out at the end
of his first year's tenancy (hear, hear). No wonder, then, that
the Irish people should call out for tenant right. The
report referred to said :—"lf substantial security were
offered to the occupying tenant for his permanent improve.
ments, a rapid change for the better '-ould take place
—a change calculated to increase the strength of the
empire and the tranquillity of the country (applause).
He asked that the principle upon which we bad treated
Scotland should also be applied to Ireland. We could not
stand the continued risings which took place in Ireland.
They were our reproach and shame, and neither the Legisla-
ture nor the people of this country ought to rest satisfied
until that shame and reproach were wiped away (ap-
plause). He should be prepared to support any measure
which be thought would conduce to the happiness of Ire-
land. The Irish question could not be postponed ; it was
pressing question, and must at once be taken in hand by
the Government (hear, hear), Much had been said of
late on the subject of education. No doubt the best thing
would be, if were establishing a new system, to let the
State undertake purely secular education ; but in the face of
strong religious opinions and prejudices they must deal with
the q estion as they found it. Under the circumstances he
believed the best plan would be to pass a bill like that
which was to he introduced by Mr. Ellice this session,
which would establish compulsory rating for the
upport of schools where they did not already
exist, and leave those schools to local management,
whilst connecting them with a central department in
London. But he would go even further; he would
like to see a system which, though it at first
only dealt with places where education was most urgently
needed, might be adopted throughout the length and breadth
of the laud (hear). He approached the subject of trade
unions not without some fear. Yet it would be wrong
to withhold his views from them. He regarded trade
unions as an established fact, and 1. was not desirable
to put them down (hear, hear). He would rather
legalise them :
he would give wot kinginer the right of
combination. It was important, especially to employers
and employed, to representatives of capital as. well as
representativesinovfollvaebdousr,ho
thatuld bt eh e broughtqtlestlo questions
twhichhe light those
f
day
organisationslf
that was done, much of the difference of opinion!
which now existed would be dissipated, and all classes wouln
work together more amicably than they had hitherto done.
The funds of those associations, moreover, should be pro-
tected as the funds of ordinary benefit societies were pro.
weed. T,ade unions could not be supported on the prin-
ciple of interfering with the right of free labour. Outrages
like those lately peipetrated at Sheffield should be sup-
pressed ; at the same time all trade unions must not be in
volved in the sin of those outrages. lie was sure that work-
ing men would see it to be to their interest that these
'natters should be fully discussed and put upon a proper
footing (applause). He could not take leave of the meeting
without reflecting on the great progress which had been
made in this country since the Reform Act of 1832 in
everything that tended to the promotion of civil and reli-
gious liberty.
Mr. PLATT, M.P., said he did not believe that the
House of C/mmons would tolerate church rates much
longer. Then there were the Universities ; these ancient
seats of learning which once were crowded, bad fallen into
the hands of a single class, and the people, for whose
benefit they were founded, derived little benefit from
them. The object of his hon. colleague and himself would
be to throw open the doors of those universities to as
many as could avail themselves of them (applause). With
regard to reform, lie considered that the re-distribution
provided by Mr. Disraeli's bill, so long as the minority
clause existed, would be practically valueless. That clause
must be got rid of. He should support household suffrage
in counties as well as boroughs, and give the voter the pro-
tection of the ballot (applause). As to education, if they
were to have compulsory rating, it seemed to him that a
secular system should be adopted, whilst, at the same time!
the denominational system might be continued an
extended.

THE INCIDENTAL PROMOTION OF TALR.--ChaM-
pagne promotes talk, acting in a moment almost like a
charm, insomuch that the observer will frequently note
that in a company, previously disposed to silence, that
buzz which is so dear to entertainers will begin to be
heard in but a few minutes after this friendly liquor has
begun to circulate. It developes ideas and gives courage--
both valuable qualities for would-be talkers. Its effect
is only temporary, it is true, but a temporary outburst is
something, and, besides, the dose can be repeated. Are
there not more bottles beneath the sideboard ? Eccentric
objects about the table, again, are valuable as promoters.
I once knew a fan that did great service in this way.
The figures which were painted upon it were intended to
tell a story, but what that story was nobody could exactly
make out. Everybody had a different view of it and a
new explanation. Each new suggestion gave rise to an
argument, in the course of which many brilliant things
were sure to be said, first on one side and then on another.
"The lover has deserted her, she is crying bitterly, and
the mother is expostulating," says one. " Mother!" cries
another. " There is no mother in the case. They are
both mere girls, and this young rascal in the pigtail has
forsaken ono of them, and has taken up with her rival,
who, by the way, seems very glad to get him." From a
quarter of an hour to twenty minutes would sometimes
be got through by means of discussions of this sort in
connection with this fan, and will any one say that the
owner of such an instrument as this is not a
benefactor to society ? And there are other engines for
squeezing talk out of a company of dry and sterile guests
besides ladies' fans. I have known a pair of ingenious,
but efficacious, nut-crackers, made by the village car-
penter, to promote talk among parsons staying together
in the country, and who had travelled over each other's
minds to a considerable extent. I have seen great things
done by means of a set of Apostle spoons, or a collection
of dessert plates, each one with a different design on its
surface. Much may be accomplished with the aid of
such inanimate accessories. Not many days since it was
my fortune to make one at a table where the conversa-
tion, which had been doing very well, but was just be-
ginning to flag, was entirely renovated by some newly
imported French crackers, which wo pulled at dessert, and
in the inside of each of which was a pattern of some ar-
ticle of dress, with trimmings and all other appurtenances
complete,--Cprnia Magazine•