The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-13 00:00:00

arranui

LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 13, IS, V.

tin common with all who have directed their atten-
tion to the mode of administering relief to the neces-
sitous poor in Scotland, we have long entertained the
conviction that that system required very careful re-
vision. There is no feature more prominent, per-
haps, in the national character of the Scotch than
their charitable consideration for the claims of all
their indigent compatriots. When the administra•
tion of the funds contributed for so sacred a purpose,
under the influence of kindly feelings so generally
cherished, is found to be so defective as to leave
beyond the scope of its action a vast majority
of those whom it professed to reach, we may
safely conclude that the principles on which it is
based are essentially faulty. For this reason
we have been induced to :watch, with much

solicitude, the discussions upon a measure lately
introduced into Parliament by the Lord-Ad-
vocate, for amending the poor-law of Scotland.
On many accounts we have always been disposed to
consider that the principle of the existing law in
question was really good in itself; and that it might
have continued to operate beneficially, after making
all allowance for the altered condition of circum-
stances and relations which the increase of popula-
tion and the development of manufacturing capital
had produced within the last five-and-forty years—
had not its expansion been cramped and its
energy paralyzed by ill-judged attempts to adapt
their action to the requisitions of a harsher utilitarian
scheme of impracticable universality.
We believe it to be as likely that the differences of
genius, or sentiment, or usages subsisting between
different nations and races, demand corresponding dif-
ferences in the legislation to be provided for the relief
and management of their respective poor, as the dif-
ferences of their moral and social institutions. To
attempt establishing and working one :and the same
scheme of poor-law relief for England, Ireland, and
Scotland seems a fallacy so self-evident. But there
may be, on the other hand, inherent evils in such a
system intrinsically and universally demoralising and
destructive, and it is evident from the reperts and com-
munications received from ministers of the kirk and
parochial authorities, that one such evil pervades
the existing poor-law of that country. If it was an
objection of insuperable gravity to the adminis-
tration of the English Poor Law, prior to 1833, that
under it a large proportion of the wages paid for
agricultural labour was charged upon the rates, how
much more reprehensible is the admitted practice in
Scotland of eking out the utterly inadequate sub-
sistence levied for the poor in virtue of the existing
law, by authorising the paupers to supplement the
wretched pittance doled out to them by begging from
door to door ! This permissive sanction does not go
merely to encourage mendicant vagrancy, but it holds
out a premium to pauperism to relieve the legal fund
for its relief by throwing itself on those very sources
of irregular maintenance which it is the object of all
statutory enactments and police regulations on the
subject, in either countries, to-cut off.
From the statements of the Lord Advocate, on
Wednesday evening last, it appears, that the existing
law, in its terms, makes full provision for the poor of
Scotland ; and puts into the hands of those who have
the administration of that law the power of assessing
all parties liable to contribute under it to any extent
which may be necessary for that purpose. It is from
no indisposition to do justice to the merits of the Lord
Advocate's Bill that we propose very briefly to in-
quire—on the assumption that the existing law en-
ables, as the Learned Lord tells us, the authorities
charged with its administration to assess all parties
liable to any extent adequate to the making full pro-
vision for the support of the poor—how has that
power been exercised ? With what satifactory results
to the poor ? From the statistics embodied in some
of the returns that have just been brought before
the House, we collect one or two remarkable results.
Of the counties of Ross, Cromartie, Inverness,
Caithness, Sutherland, and Argyle, the total popu-
lation, in 1841, was 340,928. The total amount
received by assessment, and contributions at church
and from private sources, was for that year 7,6821.
Of the total population, 8,463 were reported to be
legally entitled to relief as impotent or destitute poor,
and more than double that number were returned as
equitably entitled to demand similar poor relief.
Among the latter it was administered to 1,174,am0ng
the former to 4,798. Thus the average of relief
administered to each of this number of poor persons
per week was 20., exclusive of what additions the
individual may have realised, to this legalised pittance,
by " begging from door to door." Truly the terms
of the existing law may be, as the Lord Advocate
remarked, very extensive. But the practical susten-
tation provided under it must yield but an homoeopa-
thic aliment for its unfortunate recipients.
To remedy such a state of things, however, will
prove a task of much more difficulty and trouble than
will be readily believed by the benevolent but impa-
tient philanthropist. We transfer to our columns a
letter addressed to the Lord Advocate, which carries
a signature that needs no prefatory commendation at
our hands. We may be apt to believe that the writer
permits his apprehensions to be too readily excited by
exaggerated apprehensions ; but we must concede the
praise of great good sense and moderation to the tone
and spirit in which his views are developed. We
quite concur in holding that it is far more essential
well to consider and digest the scheme and details of the
new measure in this session, with a view to carry it
lout into law in the next, than, from the mere desire
to avoid delay, to precipitate a vote upon it before the
rising of the House of Commons. We find it difficult,
moreover, to dispute the force of the case cited to
show that the operation of the new law upon its pre-
sent scheme and detail, may prove ruinous in some
districts of Scotland, to the landlords and other classes,
if it be modelled too closely "upon the wide, strag-
gling, and uncertain basis of the present law." In the
parish which has supplied the illustration it has been
the practice of the Kirk Session to give aid to as great
a number of the poor requiring it as it was found
possible to afford. On the clear rental of that parish,
amounting to 2,7001. per annum, the charge for the
poor under the new law would be no less than
37 per cent. Now this is certainly a very startling
statement ; and, from peculiar circumstances connected
with the tenure of land in Scotland, we have no
doubt that the result would be as the writer anti-
cipates, that although, nominally, the greater pro-
portion may appear likely to be contributed by the
feuars and heritors, the burden must really be
borne by the landowner. Again, we have reason to
know, that the possessors of estates in the north-west
highlands and islands of Scotland have, in many
cases, within the last few years, through the extinc-
tion of the once lucrative manufacture of kelp, been
compelled to abandon, as he states, their lands, and
migrate to distant colonies. How are the present
possessors to contribute from their fearfelly dimi-
nished rentals, these increased contributions to the
support of the poor ? Both these points are well
worthy mature deliberation and inquiry before the
Legislature, ere its sanction be given to anew poor-law,
however unexceptionable in principle, or excellent in
many of its details. But there are other considera-
tions suggested, of which we cannot too strongly cor-
roborate the force and importance. One of these re-
gards a great general principle, namely, that the grant
of this sort of aid to the poor, in any given case, under
the existing law, shall not, of itself, as necessarily con-
stitute a right in the same party to receive it under
the new law. The laxity of the rule under which
this aid has hitherto been extended, would render it
equally dangerous and absurd to give it, under a new
system, anything like the same application. Even Scot-
tish Jurists of high eminence have held that the relief
in question is rather to be considered under the existing
law "as an aid than for maintenance." The next
point which we trust will be distinctly affirmed by
the decision of the Legislature, is that under the new
law power should be given to the parties entrusted
with its executive administration, to fit up temporarily
old houses, and other existing accommodations, for the
purposes of poor-houses, at least for a given and ade-
quate period, and so as to give to parishes and unions
ample opportunity for ascertaining the wants and re-
quirements of' parishes and unions, before committing
themselves to the adoption of needlessly expensive
constructions, devised by the costly fancy of the
parish-union architects. All these will be found
topics well entitled to very serious investigation, and
we do hope that for once the people of Scotland may
not have occasion to reproach the Imperial Legisla-
ture with its habitual indifference to questions of
purely kcal interest and importance to that country.

If the real sentiments of the American people were
to be collected from the tone adopted by that portion
of their newspaper press which assumes to represent
the democratic principle of the federal constitution,
we should be compelled to conclude that the entire
population of the Union supported the President's
policy on the Oregon and the Texas questions, and
were for immediate war at all hazards with Great
Britain. But the Commercial Advertiser has cau-
tioned us against being misled by the " angry talk"
of its compatriot newspapers. It assures us that " it
is a great mistake to suppose that the deep-rooted and
operative sentiments of countries like Great Britain
or the United States are habitually expressed by their
fluent orators and writers." It is very true that the
Commercial Advertiser speaks with equal disparage-
ment of the relation which the declarations of the

English press bear to the national sentiment. Having
a very clear conviction, in common with ninety-nine
out of one hundred men in the United Kingdom, of
the fallacy of this latter opinion, we are content to
leave it where we find it. But we have now before
us the most signal evidence to the general correctness
of the assumption in respect of the democratie press
of the States, in an article published in the
New York Herald, which, for insolent mendacity
gross ignorance, presumption, and folly, we
have never seen equalled in the most transcendent
flights of Yankee journalism. The blustering arro-
gance of this journalist passes, we suppose, for some-
thing extremely forcible and impressive with its very
extensive body of readers, for an extensive body we
believe them to be. But it impresses an Englishman
with a very humble idea-of the average intelligence,
or the good sense of the public, to find it possible
that they can endure, and even sanction, such pitiful
attempts at intimidating the greatest nation of the
earth, by noisy bullying and ridiculous bravado.
With regard to the Oreg-n question, there is one
consideration that we cannot too strongly impress
upon the attention of our readers. To the evils of
war, in the abstract, we assume that no honest man
at this time of day can be so insensible as not to
deprecate their resuscitation to the last moment that
it can be avoided, as the most fatal of moral and
social afflictions that retard the progress of human
improvement. In a war between America and
England there must necessarily be the super.
added aggravations that attach to all contests
between cognate races, speaking one and the
same language, and living under laws and
usages derived from one common stock. Next to a
civil war, a war between two states standing in such
relation to each other involves perhaps the greatest
collision of kindred interests, and habits, and associa•
tions. Entertaining these views, we shall not be sup-
posed to undervalue by one iota the gravity of such a
catastrophe as a war with the United States. We
speak of it with a full appreciation of its responsi-
bilities, its liabilities, and its tendencies. We bear
in mind the circumstances that most make such a war
one of intense and exterminating animosities as long
as it shall last. All this, however, conceded, we
cannot too much depricate the illogical and unstates-
manlike argument that we see occasionally suggested
in English as well as American papers, founded on
the comparative worthlessness and remoteness of the
Oregon territory. It would be easy for us to show
that so far as regards the territorial worth of the
Oregon, this argument is based on deficient or inac-
curate information as to the geography and statistics
of that region. So far as regards its remoteness
the argument proceeds on a total oversight of the
numerous and growing relations of the Oregon with
other territories, the development of which may be
calculated on any clay to precipitate hostilities. Now,
since it is apparent, upon authority which all the sub-
terfuges of Mr. GREENBOW or Mr. POLK can no
more shake than they could have shaken the intrepi-
dity of VANCOUVER and other British discoverers on
that coast, that all the rights of prior discovery and
legal possession—taking, in the first instance, and of
subsequent occupation—de facto, are in our favour;
since the rights acquired under these titles by British
subjects have been largely improved to the advan-
tage of British commerce and the extension of Bri-
tish influence; since they have become the objects of
especial recognition and protection in treaties exe-
cuted between this country and other independent
powers ; since the actual British proprietary on the
soil, holding immediately under the English Crown,
is an association—the North West Company, which
now incorporates in its own constitution the still
utore ancient rights of the Hudson's Bay Company ;
since this proprietary is established under a royal
charter, conceived in the most express and specific
terms, and granted by the SOVEREIGN of these
realms ;—on all these accounts, the value or the
worthlessness of the Oregon is absolutely beside
the question. We have solemnly affirmed our
claim. The antagonist claim of the United
States has been as solemnly and unconditionally
repudiated by the Prime Minister in Parliament,
with the concurrence of all parties in the Legislature.
Therefore, the national honour is now distinctly com-
mitted to the vindication of our title to the Oregon.
It cannot be compromised. Were it the most worth-
less property in the world, such, for example, as a
money bond, or any other undertaking, to pay upon
honour of the Federal Government or of one of the
States—a Pennsylvanian bond or National States
Bank debenture ; if we had once taken this tone and
attitude upon it, we could not possibly recede from
that position. For ourselves, we have little doubt
that the steady maintenance of that position will pre-
clude all necessity for ulterior demonstrations. If
the Government of the United States, contemptible as
it is in respect of any power of independent decision
or action, could really be insane enough to provoke
in the present dilapidated condition of its material
forces of its army, its navy, its forts, the exposed posi-
tion of its principal cities and towns on its Atlantic
sea board, and at the certain risk of bringing upon
the coasts of its southern and its western States a
servile war, waged by the free blacks of St. Domingo
and the British West India Islands, reinforced by
their emancipated brethren of Cuba and the
cruelly used slave races of Georgia, Ala-
bama, and the Carolinas. There are ye
other disabilities pressing upon America, which
must incapacitate her, or paralyse her powers of re-
sistance. An influence to which her utilitarian
spirit will be far more susceptible, we opine, than to
suggestions of moral justice, or national dignity, is
sapping, if we may credit the American papers, the
foundation of her political existence. Bankruptcy
appears to be fast gaining ground from the ex-
tremities to the heart of the Union.

A paper says :—" The interest upon the funded debt
of the Commonwealth, in August, will not be paid.
That you may rely on. It is utterly impossible
' under existing circumstances,' says a prominent
Member of the House."

This is, to say the least of it, a graceful attitude
to assume at the commencement of a struggle in
which the wealthiest and most powerful empire of the
Old World is to be defied! But it is an exquisite
commentary on the balderdash of the New York
Herald, which reasons on the rhodomontades of
Irish agitation excitement in Dublin, as if they
were all Gospel truths, or calculated to scare one
English bosom, the resolution of which has once been
formed, on a question of national honour, and sym-
pathies, such as that of the Oregon. But here we
pause. It is by no means our intention to do the
New York Bobadil the honour of repeating his
miserable little barkings at British greatness.

Madrid journals of the 4th inst. have been received•
The Chamber of Deputies had adopted by a large
majority a resolution authorising the Government to
regulate the public debt. During the discussion which
took place the Minister of Finance said there was no in-
tention either to raise a new loan or increase the taxes.
The interest of the debt was large, amounting to
330,000,000 reals (3,300,0001.), but Spain had ample
means to meet all her engagements, provided she be
well governed, and the resources at her disposal be pro-
perly applied.

The Chamber was to take into consideration on the
sth inst. the project of law lately presented by the
Minister of the Interior, authorising him to negotiate a
loan of 15,000,000 reals, to be applied to the construc-
tion of roads.

The Three per Cents. closed at 34 for cash, and 35t
at 60 days; the Five per Cents. at 254 at 60 days; and
the Debt without Interest, at 8 13-16 at 60 days.

The Bill for arming the fortifications of Paris has
been adopted in the Chamber of Deputies, by a ma-
jority of 227 to 131—majority. 96. The clause for
depositing the artillery in the town of Bourges, not to
be removed but in the event of war, was agreed to,
with the consent of the Government. The affair is
thus settled to the satisfaction apparently of all parties,
with the exception, perhaps, of the Marquis DE LA
ROCHEJAQUELIN, and a few other Legitimatists. In
reference to this Bill, the Journal des Debats makes
these remarks :—" Every ene is agreed as to two points
—first, that hi time of peace the fortifications of Paris
should not be armed ; and, secondly, that in order to
quiet every apprehension, the artillery to be employed
on the fortifications should not be placed too near the
capital. Marshal SOULT, President of the Council,
when he introduced the Bill, at present before
irtlieizerrflyyescant
toirdo.ensm. military
the Chamber,. designated Bourges as the town in
which. it was proposed to deposit the artillery and
proposed,
storesb3'
Committeeailnt on nn
additionaldthe edßfoilrellhathuases
ea,ffotthretaritfin:ehas
military
tions of Pans shall be deposited at Bourges, and shall

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 13, 1845.

not be transported to Paris except in case of war. M.
BETHMONT by his amendment required that the artillery
should not be removed to Paris except by virtue of a
special law. We candidly confess that we find no
essential difference between M. BETIIMONT'S amend-
ment and the clause proposed by the Committee. The
guarantee is the same. The Bill having. declared that
artillery cannot be transported to Paris except in
case of war, suppose that a Minister was so audacious
as to violate the clause of the Bill, and to arm the
fortifications in time of peace, or under a pretext of
war, not really serious, would not the Chambers be at
hand? And can it be seriously asserted that ;n
order to encompass Paris with cannon a Ministry would
violate the constitution ? But it is manifest that a Mi-
nistry which would be capable of making such an attack
on the fundamental law of the kingdom, on the Cham-
bers, and on the entire nation, would not be arrested by
a clause in a Bill. Whether the law shall so declare
it or not, the period at which the fortifications of Paris
should be armed will ever be a Parliamentary question
as long as there shall exist in France a constitution.
The charter does not declare that the Chambers shall
discuss questions of peace and war. It says apparently
the contrary. It declares that the KING may declare
war and conclude treaties of peace ; and still a single
example cannot be given of the KING having declared
war or signed a peace without the intervention of the
Chambers. It is not solely because treaties of peace,
like declarations of war, almost always induce a vote Ibr
supplies—it is because Ministers are responsible for
every act of the ICING, and that as a last result every
act must be discussed at the tribune."

According to the Revue de Paris, a grand congress of
kings and queens will take place at Paris in the course
of the ensuing summer. That journal says :
" The report that several crowned heads are soon to arrive
at Paris is daily more and more confirmed. Well informed
persons affirm that this meeting of ' constitutional' sovereigns
will take place in July. The illustrious personages who are
to be the guests of the King of the French are the Queen of
England, the young Queen of Spain, tlke King and Queen of
Naples, and the King of Holland. Louis Philippe and his
family will do those several sovereigns the honours of France
and Paris. The Duke and Duchess de Nemours will go and
meet her Britannic Majesty, who will first arrive ; the Prince
de Joinville will repair to the frontier of Spain in order to re-
ceive the young Queen of that country ; the Duke d'Aumale
will proceed to Maiseilles and receive his uncle, the King of
Naples ; and the Duke de Montpensier will receive the King
of Holland, who will come by sea, and land at Dunk-irk. In
order to give a suitable reception to those august visitors, the
apartments formerly occupied at the Louvre by Henry IV.
will be, in addition to the Tuileries, thoroughly repaired and
sumptuously furnished." _ _

The Journal des Debaits publishes extracts from let-
ters received from Macao, announcing that there is a
probability of the revocation of the law in China against
the propagation of the Christian religion, but we can
place no confidence in the accounts transmitted to that
journal from China, for they are generally either mere
rumours or some fictions of the writer. The following
is the statement :

" We have received letters from Macao containing intel-
ligence which, if it be confirmed, will produce a lively sensa-
tion in Europe, and do great honour to the French mission in
China. It is nothing less than the abolition of the religious
edicts which forbids the Chinese to embrace and practise
Christianity. We know that these edicts, after having been
revoked under the reign of the Emperor Khan Hi, were again
brought into force,'about a century ago, on the advice of the
Tribunal of Rites ; and, until these latter times, at least, have
been put into execution by the Chinese magistrates with
the utmost rigour. Thus Christianity has found a double ob-
stacle to its introduction into the middle empire; for, on
one hand, were the laws which interdicted foreigners from
penetrating into the interior of the empire ; and, on the other
hand, the Chinese who, if left to themselves, would be inclined
to embrace the religion of the Gospel, are restrained by the
pains and penalties denounced by the edicts. It is these edicts
which it is now in contemplation to abolish. To obtain this abo-
lition, the French mission, as may be well believed, could not
make any direct propositions to the Chinese commissioners. It
was only by influential means that it ought or could act.
Thus the first overtures came from the Chinese negotiators
themselves, from Ki Yng, the representative of the Emperor,
and from the treasurer, Hu An. Ki Yng has a liberal and
philosophical mind. Far from having any prejudice or anti-
pathy against Christianity, he repeats, both in personal con-
ference and in his written correspondence, that a religion
which forbids evil and commands good cannot be a false one.
He adds, that as this religion is professed by the great Em-
peror of the French, and by the noble nation of which he is
sovereign, the abolition of the law which forbids its exercise
in China would be the best means of confirming a friendly
alliance between the two countries. In a word, he offered his
mediation with the Emperor and the Tribunal of Rites to
obtain a revocation of the anti-Christian edicts."

The papers publish accounts from Algiers to the
Ist inst., giving details of the stuck made by the
Kabyles on a French convoy, which had left Tenez for
Orleknsville, in which some persons were killed on
both sides, and ten French soldiers were made prisoners.
Troops were assembling at Milianah for an expedition
against thEse Kabyles, and Marshal BITGEAUD was to
lea Algiers for that place on the 3d. No doubt re-
mained that ARD-EL-KADER was about to make another
demonstration in some quarter, but it was uncertain
where he would appear. No business of importance was
done in the French Chambers on Saturday.
On the Paris Bourse on Saturday the Three per Cents.
closed at 86f. 15c.; the New Loan, at 86f. 60c.; the Five
per Cents., at 121 f. 10c. ; Orleans Railroad shares,
1,2151. ; Rouen, 1,020 f. ; Vierzon, 820 f.; Havre, 870 E;
Avignon, 1,0001.; Basle, 2681. 75c.; Belgian Two-and.
a•.llalf per Cents., 62f. 20c. ; Spanish Actives, 401.
Spanish Three per Cents., 42f.; Spanish Passives, Bf.

SHARES IN THE NEW LINES.
Orleans and Bordeaux, 210 f. to 225 f. premium ; Boulogne,
170 f. ditto ; Troyes and Montereau, 67f. 50c. ; Paris and
Lyons (Lafitte), 18f. 50c. ; ditto (Ganneron), Bf. 50c. ;
Northern Line (Lafitte), 30f; ditto (Rosamel), 7f. 50c. ;
Tours and Nantes (Mackenzie), 121. 50c. ; ditto (O'Neill),
32f. 50c. ; Lyons and Avignon (Lecointe), 30f. ; ditto (Talabot),
32f. 50c. ; ditto (Compagnie Meridionale), 12f. 50c. ; Bordeaux
and Toulouse (Mackenzie), sf. ; ditto and Cette (Espeleta),
17f. 50c ; Ci elle and St. Quentin, If. 50c. ; Paris and Stras-
burgo, 825 f., for the end
(Ganneron), 15f. ; Dijon and Mulhausen, 61.25 c.
LYONS, MAY 7.—Avignon and Marseilles 1,038 f. for the
oel
fiAdmo2oaffy. 3f:31
ra
Orleans
the
eeaPrla,
s 5r
tiashn ad; nc
Orleans
roOlredraleneaasunanis:
d 7 ‘l,l2,ifeci ;
ditto; Boulogne, 665 f. Paris and Rouen,
r n
ditto ; Montereau, 580 f., ditto.

COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRYSPONDINT.)
ROYAL VISIT TO OSBORNE.
At six o'clock the Lightning steamer arrived off Osborne
House, and her Majesty and suite embarked in the barge,
intending to land on the sands, but it being dead low water,
and the royal barge drawing 4 feet water, it could not be
accomplished; she was therefore rowed round by Norris
Castle into Cowes harbour, and a landing made at East
Cowes.
Royal salutes were fired from the several R.Y.S. yachts in
the roads, from the Castle, ROC.S. House, and from a
Swedish barque. Her Majesty was received on her landing
by the Earl of Errol and his daughter, with whom her Ma-
jesty most cordially shook hands, as did Prince Albert.
The Corporation of Newport propose presenting an address
to her Majesty, if she will allow her privacy to be intruded
on by their visit ('tis strange her Majesty's known wish for
retirement should be so intruded on), and no small confusion
has been created amongst the Mayor, Aldermen, and Coun-
cillors to obtain suitable dresses, they never before having
appeared in corporation robes.
But for the passage of the royal barge up the harbour,
nobody at Cowes would be aware of the Royal Family being
so near them. Almost the whole of the supplies necessary
for the royal establishment are found at Osborne, or supplied
from London ; and the town is as dull and quiet as in mid-
winter. There are very few houses taken, much lass than
in any former season. It is supposed that her Majesty's
talked-of visits prevents those coming who generally resort
here at this season ; and her Majesty bringing no company,
and living so strictly private, there are no calls for accom-
modation for visitors, and trade suffers accordingly.

of France (Rosamel), 214 ; Paris and Lyons (Laffitte's),
English, 27 ; Paris and Lyons (Ganneron'a), 2%; Sambre
and Meuse, 10s. ; Tours and Nantes, 58s. 6d.
MANCHESTER STOCK EXCHANGE, MAY 10.—The sales
are :—Barnsley Junction, 54 1/8 ; Birkenhead, Manchester,
and Cheshire Junction, 10% 3/4 ; Birmingham and Glouces-
ter, New Shares, 4% ; Caledonian, 11 ; Cambridge and Lin-
coln, 734 ; Churnet Valley, 6% ' • Clitheroe Junction, 2 13-16
prem. ; Direct Northern, 31/2 ; Dublin and Galway, 4;
Eastern Counties, 19 11-16; Glasgow and Dumfries, 255.
265. ' • Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal, 714
; Leeds and Thirsk, 6 ; Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manches-
ter, 10%; Leeds and West Riding Junction, 11 9% ' • Lon-
don and Windsor, 10s. prem. ; London and York, 41A %;
Manchester and Birmingham, 571 A ; Ditto, New Quarters,
714 % ; Manchester and Buxton, 5%; Manchester and
Leeds, 149; Ditto, Half Shares, 671/ 661/2 ; Ditto, Quarter
Shares, 19 ; Ditto, Sixteenth Shares, 8 ; Newark and Sheffield,
4%; North Wales, 3; North Western. 44 ; Nottingham
and Mansfield, 2%; Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction,
1% 3/4 ; South-Eastern, No. 1, 143/4 ; Ditto, No. 3, 63/4 %;
Southport and Euxton, 23✓ ; Trent Valley Continuation and
Holyhead Junction, 2% % ' • Welsh Midland, 2 prem. ; West
Yorkshire, 3%; Great Northern of France (English), 5% %.
Some curious statistics of banking firms in the metropolis
are given by Mr. Gilbert in an analysis from the Parliamen-
tary returns, completed since the new Act came into opera-
tion, He states that:—
" The particulars required to be returned by the Act, and
stated in the Gazette are the name of the firm or Company ;
the name, residence, and occupation of the persons of whom
the Company or partnership consists, and the ipame of the
place or places where the business is carried on.
"The London banking establishments consist of sixty part-
nerships, each not having more than six partners, and of five
public companies, which are usually styled joint-stock
banks. The former may be divided into three classes:-
1. Those who are members of the Clearing-house.
2. Those located east of Temple-bar, but are not members of
the Clearing-house.
3. Those located west of Temple-bar,
" The names of 40 of the private banking firms end in
Co.' In 3 instances there is no partner represented by the
Co.' In 17 instances the Co.' represents the partners of
the same name as other partners mentioned in the firm.
There are 13 instances in which the name of the firm does
not correspond with the names of the partners, and three in
which the names do not occur in the same order.
" In the firm of Messrs. Barnett, Hoares, and Co., there
are three partners of the name of Hoare. In the firm of
Messrs. Charles Hoare and Co., there are five partners of the
same name. The firm of Jones and Son is represented by
Mr. Alfred Jones. There is also a partner named Jones
in the Smithfield Agency Banking Company. In the firm
of Messrs. Glyn, Halifax, Mills, and Co., there are two part•
ners of the name of Mills. In the firm of Messrs. Curries
and Co., there is also a partner of the same
name. In the firm of Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smiths,
there are five partners named Smith. There is also a partner
of the name of Smith in the firm of Messrs. Child and Co.
In the firm of Messrs. Williams, Deacon, and Co. there are two
partners of the name of Williams. There is also a partner of the
name of Williams in the firm of Messrs. Cockburn and Co. ;
and there is a partner of the same name in the firm of Messrs.
Ransom and Co.
"The total number of places at which the business of private
bankers is carried on in London is sixty—of which forty-
seven are to the east, and thirteen to the west of Temple-
bar.
" The occupation of the partners—all are described simply
as bankers, except Sir John W. Lubbock, who is described as
a merchant, and Mr. Young, of the firm of Weston and
Young, who is described as banker and brewer.
" The residence of the Partners.—Three Banking firms have
returned all their partners as resident at the place where the
business is carried on. Three other firms have each two
partners resident on the bank premises. Seven others have
each a partner resident at, the bank. Most of the other
bankers reside in London, or within an easy distance. Some
reside at a considerable distance in the country."
The market for the English Securities has to-day been
tolerably firm. Consols for present transfer have been 98%
to 99, and for Account 99 to 99%. Exchequer-bills are
545. to 565. premium, and East India Bonds 70s. to 71s. ; the
New Three-and-a-Quarter per Cents. 1003/4 to 100%. The
steamer from Halifax is expected about Thursday next, but
there is not by any means so much interest felt for the news
she may bring upon the Oregon question, as before the Great
Western arrived, since it is conceived that the matter will
now be left to the calm consideration of the American and
English Cabinets, the populace of the United States having
been much less excited than usual. Bank Stock has im-
proved to 209 and 210, and India Stock to 278.
The Foreign Funds are not quite so well supported as on
Saturday. Spanish Three per Cents. have been 41%, and
the Passive 8114 to 8%. Portuguese Converted are 661,4 to 67,
being an improvement. Mexican Bonds are quoted 371/8 ;
Dutch Two-and -a-Half per Cents. have been 63% %; and
Belgian Four per Cents., 99.
There is a good deal of business doing in Railway Shares,
and prices appear to be maintained in most instances.
ONE CLOSING
PRICES OF BRITISH FUNDS. O'CLOCK. PRICES
Bank Stock
3 per Cent. Reduced
3 per Cent. Consols
New 314 per Cents 100%3/q 100%
Long Annuities to expire Jan. 1860 111/4 1114
Ditto 30 years, Oct. 10,1859
Ditto 30 years, Jan. 5, 1860 11% 11%
India Stock
India Bonds, 1,0001 .1/
'
Ditto under 1,000/. ...... 70 71 71
Consols for Account...... .....
Exchequer Bills, 1,0001., 11Ad.
Ditto 5001. .
Ditto Small ........ 56 54 57 pm. 57
ONE CLOSING
PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS. O'CLOCK. PRICES.
Columbian Bonds, ex Venezuela. 15%
Mexican, 5 per Cent. 1837.........
Ditto, Account 37% 37%
Ditto. Deferred
Portuguese Bonds, 5 per Cent
Ditto, Converted 6676% 77 77

_
SSpanishs per Cent. 1840.
Ditto, Passive
Ditto 3 per Cent.
Ditto, Account 41% 41
__ 71 ....

Belgian 4 per Cent.
Dutch, 21/2 per Cent
Ditto, 4 per Cent., Certific 97% 97%
PRICES OF CLOSING
PAID. A ONE O'CLOCK. PRICES
BAILWAY SHARES
Aberdeen
Armagh, Coleraine, and
Portrush l%
Birming. and Gloucesterloo 136 135
Ditto 1/2 Shares
Bristol and Exeter
Do. New
Bristol and Gloucester... 30 ...... 59
Caledonian
Cambridge and Lincoln 11/2 ...... 7%%
Chester and Holyhead... 5
Chichester and Brighton 10
-4 /

--A
Churnet Valley
Coventry, Bedworth, and
Nuneaton ........ ...... 114 ......
Cornwall
14 Direct Northern
Dublin and Belfast June. 2%
Dublin, Belfast, and
Coleraine
Dublin and Galway-- 21A
4 33/4 33/4
Dublin and Mullingar... 9% 414 414
Eastern Counties 25 ... 197/8%
Ditto Perpetual, 5 per
Cent, Isio. 1....5/. 13s. 411 lts Iy2
Edinburgh and Glasgow 50
Ditto, New Quarters.. 21/2 6
Great South. and West.
(Ireland)
Ditto Extension
Great North of England..loo
Ditto New
Ditto New
Great Western BO ......184 186 184 lB6
Ditto % Shares 5O 104
Ditto Fifths
Guildford, Fare'm,Ports, 21/..... 43/4
Hull and Selby 5O lO6 105 ... . ... 104%
Ditto Quarter Shares 12% 22% 221,
London and Birminghm (Stock)
Do. New Thirds
London and Blackwell. 16/. 13s. 4d. TB% ......
London and Brighton... 50
London and Croydon, 13/. 15s. 9d. 18 4 17%
Do. New l3s 4d %
Do. Guaranteed 5 per
Cent.
London and Greenwich 12/ 15s 4d... 11
Do. Preference ...18117s 2d 24li 2414
London and S. Western 411 6s 10d 78
Do. New
London and York 2%.. 414% 414
London, Salisbury, and
Yeovil
Londonderry &Coleraine 21/L...... 33/4 3l/2
Londonderry and Ennis-
killen 2I,E 4
Lynn and Ely
Manchester and Leeds... 73
Do. % Shares
Do. Quarters
Do. Sixteenths ..... ... 214 714 73/4
Manchester and Birmin. 40 —
Do. Quarters 4 .... 9
Midland... 100
Do. New
Midland,l3irm.,Derby 100 116
Newcastle and Darling.
ton Junction ... 25 ...... 48
Do. New Brandling... 10
Newcastle and Berwick VA 121434 13
Newry and Enniskillen. 21f; ..... 43/4% 4
Newark and SLeffield ... 1 A 4% . 4Xi
North British
Do., New ... ..... ..... 1
Northern and Eastern... 45
North Kent -
North Wales
Perth and Inverness ... 212
. 2%
Rugby, Worstr, & Tring 1
Scottish Central
South Eastern & Dover 33/ 2s 4d... 39 40
Do., No. 1 8
Do., No. 2.
Do., No. 3
South Wales .. 2% .... 51/2- 514
Trent Valley 2 ... . 1814% 18 ... .. 18
Trent Valley and Holy-
head Junction
Waterford and Kilkenny 1
West Yorkshire ......
Wilts, Somerset, & Wey-
mouth
mouth
Yarmouth and Norwich. 20
York and North Midland 50
.
Ditto 1/2 Shares ...... .. 25
FRENCH RAILWAY.
Boulogne and A miens... 4 10 •. 10
Dijon and Mulhouse ... 2
Great North. of France.. 4
Do. do. (Rosamel's 2
Jamaica Junction........ I% 4% 4%
Lyons and Avignon
Namur and Liege
Orleans and Bordeaux... 2 ...... 101,i ...... ..
Over Yssel 413 s 4d 54% 'A
Paris & Lyons, Laflitte's 2
Paris and Lyons, Gan-
neron's, ... .. ............ 2
Paris & Lyons, (Calon's) 2 17
Paris and Rouen ......... 20
42
Royal North of Spain ... 2
Sambre and Meuse
~... 4

Within the last few weeks a new disease has been
very prevalent in the dairies in and around the metropolis. It
chiefly attacks cattle in the hinder extremities, paralysing the