The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-29 00:00:00

NegENiniii

LITERATURE.
DRA WING-ROOM SCRAP-BOOK.
Rsher, Landon, 1814.
The re arc, not less than thirty-six plates in this
Annus I, many of which are executed in a style and
with a tinis'n far superior to the ordinary run of such
engravings. Among them is a half-length portrait,
engra red by 801 l from an original painting by
Carr;eck, of the great Irish agitator, Daniel O'Connell.
He is represented sitting in an easy chair, in an atti-
tude of deep contemplation, with one hand lightly
pressed against his breast, and the other hanging
carelessly over the arm of the chair. Doubtless Ire-
land is the subject of his musing, but from the staid
and somewhat pensive expression of his countenance,
we infer that he entertains no very sanguine hope of
carrying a repeal of the union. "My Youth's Best
Friend," which is placed in the title-page, is a very
carefully finished engraving. A young girl, whose
back is turned towards the spectator, is in the act of
embracing her mother—an elderly lady, with a very
sweet and placid expression of countenance. The
attitude of the daughter is full of grace and ease, and
though we cannot see her face, we entertain a firm
conviction that she is exceedingly good-looking. The
flower-vases on the table, the handsome gold mirror
on the wall, the bird-cage hung up to the ceiling, and
the half-opened window through which we get a
glimpse of some of the luxuriant trees in the gardens ;
—these minor details give variety to the picture, and
consequently add to its effect. The " Prince of
%Vales and the Prince?s Royal" are portraits of her
Majesty's two eldest children, which, it seems, have
baon painted by Ross, in pursuance of the royal com-
mand. The faces of the children beam with health
and good-humour. "Give an Obolus to Belisarius"
is engraved from an original painting by David. The
picture is by no means deficient in expression, but
there is far too much exaggeration about it. The
countenance of the blind, supplicating Belisarius, in
particular, is full of grimace, when it should have
worn an air of touching, melancholy resignation.
But this is the painter's fault, the engraver has ac-
quitted himself with skill and judgment. The literary
department of the Drawing-Room Scrap Book, which
consists of a variety of prose and verse sketches illus-
trative of the different embellishments, is under the
superintendence of the authoress of the "'Women in
England," which is a sufficient guarantee that the
articles are above mediocrity, if they be not em
nently distinguished by genius.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.
PROSE THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
CITY, THURSDAY 14;VENING.
TIMES.—The following ni•tice was issued this after-
noon by the Bank of England :
" Bank of England, Nov. 28, 1844,
" The Governor and Company of the Bank of Eng-
land are ready until further notice to receive applications
for loans upon the deposit of approved bills of exchange
not having more than six months to run, Exchequer
Bills, and East India Bonds, such loans to be repaid on
or before the 17th of January next, with interest at the
rate of 2i per cent, per annum, and to be for sums of not
leas than '2,000/. each."
The above does not differ from former notices, except
that the interest is 2i, instead of 3 per cent. ; but it is
tolerably evident that the expectation of such a reduc •
Lion has prevailed in the Money-market fur several days
past, and that to this is to be ascribed the recent rise and
great firmness of the Consol-market. The Directors in
this case are pursuing that course a% hick they have
already intimated it was their intention to do, of forcing
business on such terms as the state of the Money-
market would permit, considering themselves quite as
much in the character of private as in that of chartered
bankers. It will effectually prevent that rise in the
value of money which before was generally anticipated
as likely to take place.
We have received a letter from a Correspondent con-
taining some queries respecting the Bank returns, and
the position of that Company. The first is—" The
Bank having reduced their Government securities to
13,539,775/, as stated in the last return, which is nearly
half a million less than the securities required as the
basis of their issue, how is it that the 14,000,000/. still
appears to their credit in the issue department 2"
In answer to this, it is sufficient to point out that the
14,000,000/. in the issue department is formed of
11,015,000/. original debt due from the Government to
the Bank, and which is so expressed in the return, and,
added to this, 2,984,9001. of securities to make up the
amount of 14,000,000/, This latter small sum probably
consists of Exchequer Bills or funded stock. These
form the basis of the issue of notes according to the last
Act, and they have nothing whatever to do with the
amount of 13,539,7751., which is the amount which the
banking department, and not the issue department, holds
of Government securities, and which varies according to
the amount which the Bank has for investment. Thus,
when the public deposits on the 12th of October were
upwards of 8,000,000/, the Bank had upwards of
16,000,000/. invested in Government securities ; and
now that after the payment of the dividends the public
deposits have been reduced to below 4,000,000/, the Go-
vernment and other securities held by the Bank have
been diminished in a corresponding proportion, and this
has taken place, as was recently observed, without mate-
rially altering the amount of notes in circulation ; the
difference in which at the two periods above alluded to is
below 300,0004
The fact, therefore, being, as is apparent both from
the wording of the Act and the nature of the returns,
that the 14,000,000/. in the circulation department is
totally distinct and separate from the item headed " Go-
vernment securities," in the banking department, the
next query of our Correspondent, regarding the neces-
sity of altering the amount of the first of these sums in
the return, in proportion as the second varies, does not
require further answer.
The last of his inquiries, as to " whether the dead
weight annuity is not held by the Bank of England as
security for a portion of the debt of 11,015,000/. due to
them by the public 2" appears to require no other reply
than a reference to the Act, and the periodical returns.
The 11,015,0004 is put down in the circulation depart-
ment distinctly by itself as the " Government debt ;"
while in the banking department the Government secu-
rities held by the Bank are explicitly stated to include
the " dead weight" annuity ; and it is well known to all
who are also in the least degree acquainted with the
subject, that the two transactions are perfectly distinct
in their nature, and owed their origin to two dissimilar
transactions at very different periods, the one taking its
rise from money advanced to Government at the estab-
'ishment of the Bank, and becoming increased by subse•

quent additional loans ; and the "dead weight" annuity
being a sum paid for a limited period of years to the
Bank in compensation for money advanced to Govern-
ment after the close of the last war.
POST.—The Bank, it will be recollected, have, since
the appearance of their September notice, been giving
money on bills at the rate of two-and-a-half, and on
notes at the rate of three per cent. ; so that there is in
the present announcement less to remark upon than
would at first view be supposed. The exchanges con-
tinue favourable to this country, and, lately, the institu-
tion has been recovering a portion of its treasure. There
was consequently no motive for making money dearer
by an advance in the charge for interest. With respect
to an increase in the stock of bullion, however, it may
be observed that no importance is to be attached to the
matter. The accession of 100,0001. more or less was
owing, no doubt, to the purchase last week of an impor-
tation of half a million of dollars from Mexico or else-
where, and this shows the uselessness of making compa-
risons of returns issued at intervals of a single week.
The Bank returns require to be looked at quarterly, or
perhaps rather oftener. An examination of the items
upon this system will enable bankers and others to see
what is the governing policy of the Board of Directors,
and what the course of the foreign exchanges. On the
whole, the reduction of the Bank rate to-day has been
regarded as a measure by no means unfavourable to
speculative enterprise.

SUN.—The arrangement of the Account has produced
a further rise this afternoon in the value of Consols, which
close at 1001 for Money, and at 101 to k for the 17th
January ; New Three-and-a-Quarter per Cents. were
109 ; and the Three per Cents 994 to 100.
Ihe Foreign Bonds drooped a little. Spanish Five
per Cents. were 234 to 24 ; and, the Three per Cents.,
354 to ; Portuguese Converted, 53 ; Mexican Ac-
tives 35i to 364 ; Belgian, 101} ; and Dutch Two-and-
a-Half per Cents., 624 to 63k.
Tho additional transactions in Railway Shares have
been these :—Cambridge and Lincoln were f to 4 ;
Great Western, 664 ; Birmingham, 119 ; London and
York, 1f ; Midland, if ; Newcastle an Darlington,
37 to 36; Richmond and \Vest-End Junction, f; South -
Eastern, 44; Ditto, New, if 7 ; York and North Mid-
land, 50i to 50 ; Ditto, New, 25i ; Ditto, Selby Scrip,
46f ; Ditto, Extension, 13 ; Boulogne and Amiens, 24 ;
Orleans and Vierzon, 94 ; Ditto and Bordeaux, 44 to 5;
Paris and Lyons, 1; Paris and Orleans, 214 ; and Ditto
and Rouen, 19} to f premium. Birmingham and Glou-
cester hare been 5; Direct Northern, k ; Eastern Coun-
ties, 114 ; Blackwell, 91 ; Greenwich, 34 ; Midland and
Birmingham and Derby, 21 ; and West London, 17
discount.

DR. KEENAN'S SYSTEM OF
PHYSIOLOGY.

Last night Dr. Keenan concluded his short course of
lectures at the Western Literary and Scientific Institu-
tion on his new system of Organic Chemistry, which at-
tributes the nervous energy to the generation of electri-
city in the lungs. In applying his theory to practice he
attempted to show the peculiar actions of various kinds
of food and air on the animal strength and spirits, and
he illustrated his opinions by reference to the constitu-
tion and temperaments of the inhabitants of different
climates. The vivacity of the French he attributed to
the dryness of the air of France, and he contrasted the
energy of the Afghans with the lassitude of the Ben-
galese, in exemplification of the different effects of dry
and moist air. The humidity of the air in England
was, he affirmed, the cause of our sombre dispositions,
but though the climate of Ireland is at least equally hu-
mid, he dilated on the great cheerfulness of the people,
notwithstanding their potato° diet, in confirmation of his
theory—the effect i❑ their case being attributed to their
more frequent exposure to the air. In this instance, as
in many others during the course of Dr. Keenan's lec-
tures, his facts either did not bear out his theory, or
they had little relation to it. He dwelt much, and with
great truth, on the bad effects of cultivating the mind so
exclusively in children, without sufficiently attending to
their physical condition ; but admitting, as probably
most of his audience would, that the want of air and
exercise is prejudicial even to mental development, it
does not follow, as a necessary consequence, that the air
inhaled generates electricity, and that the size of the chest
indicates health merely because it shows there is a large
galvanic battery in action within. Dr. Keenan regretted
that the limited time of these lectures would not allow
him to enter into details, and that much of his theory
might therefore be considered as assumption without
proof ; but if the great principle were admitted that the
nervous influence is caused by electricity generated in
the lungs, all the lesser effects might be deduced there-
from. He was loudly applauded at the conclusion of the
lecture.

LIVING IN CARNIARTIIEN.—It is satisfactory to us
to know that the wages, added to the privileges of the
working classes in this vicinity, are superior to those of
the same class in many parts of England, while they
have house-rent and provisions much cheaper. It may
be interesting to our distant readers to learn the prices
of the luxuries of living in Carmarthen ; our London
friends in particular will be astonished at finding that in
the market last Saturday might be bought—fine geese
at 2s. each; a fine young turkey, 3s. 3d. to 3s. 6d. ; a
pair of ducks, 2s. 2d. to 2s. 6d. ; and fowls from ls. to
Is. 6d. a couple. Our poultry is certainly not so large
ai that from Norfolk, but for succulency and delicacy of
flavour it is not to be surpassed. Beef, mutton, and
pork are to be bought at 4d. and 4id. ; picked joints of
the finest meat, sd. We have a most plentiful year of
potatoes ; they may be bought, fine and goad, at Is. the
bushel, 60 to 65 pounds to the bushel. Fresh butter,
26 ounces to the lb., at Is. 6d. Eggs are now 24 a shil-
ling, in the summer they are 36. Good heavy oats, 40
pounds to the bushel, are at Is. Ild. to 2s. Cheap, how-
ever, as all this appears to be, we are quite outdone in
Jersey, which, being a free port, is enabled to import
duty free from Britsny, one of the cheapest provinces of
France, provisions, wines, &c., at very low rates. There
(in Jersey), a turkey is 2s. to 35.; ducks, Is. 6d. a pair ;
gunpowder tea, ss. per lb. ; double refined sugars, 4d.
to 6d. per lb. ; and Brazil sugar, 3d. Very good port
and sherry at 245. the dozen, claret at 18s. to 24s the
dozen, brandy, 4s, the gallon ; very fine and old do.,
7s. ; Hollands, 2s. 10d. to 3s. 4d. the gallon. The prices
are still further reduced by the English shilling passing
for thirteenpence. Add to all this, there are no taxes,
and there is not a tull-bar in the island.—Carmarthen
Journal.

GAS EXPLOSlON.—Yesterday afternoon, about
four o'clock, a man, named Edward Al‘Donald, 50 years
of age, in the employment of the Equitable Westminster
Gas Company, Ilorseferry-road, entered an excartion in
the Vauxhall-road with a lighted candle in his hand, for
the purpose of examining the various joints of the main
gas-pipe, when presently a quantity of
gas, which was
escaping from a small aperture in the pipe, ignited, and
exploded with a loud report, and before Al‘Donald could
effect his escape his clothes caught fire, and his Mee and
hands were frightfully scorched and burnt. Ho remains
in a state of great suffering.

' On Wednesday considerable sensation was created
here (Liverpool) by a rumour that Captain Launcelot
• Reed, the commander of the Sir Charles Napier, of St.
Stephen's, had been maliciously and dangerously stabbed
by one of his crew on the high seas. We regret t 9 state
that the rumour turned out to be correct. It appears
that the Sir Charles Napier, a fine ship of 714 tons, new
measurement, left St. Stephen's for Liverpool on the
25th of last month, with a cargo of deals consigned to
the firm of David Cannon, Son, and Co., of South Castle-
street, in this town. Upon the morning of the 16th
instant she was overtaken by a squall in lon. 26 W. The
captain immediately ordered the men to take in sail, but
perceiving that one of the crew, Samuel Brown, was
much more tardy in his movements than the urgency
of the case demanded, he gave"- the fellow a push, with
a view of making him execute his work with greater ra-
pidity. Brown instantly made a plunge at the captain
with something he held in his hand, which could not be
distinguished in the grey of the morning, but which af-
terwards turned out to be a sheath-knife, one of those
dangerous instruments in such common use among sea-
faring men. The captain gave him a blow in return,
which threw him back against the long-boat, and then
seized hold of him for the purpose of taking him aft and
putting him in confinement. Whilst he was in the act
of removing him, Brown several times endeavoured to
stab him with the knife, but, fortunately, none of the
stabs took effect. When, however, the captain had suc-
ceeded in getting him as far as the mainmast, the fellow
gave him a dreadful stab in the abdomen. The captain
seems at this moment, and not before, to have been con-
scious of the deadly instrument with which he was as-
sailed, and of the imminent danger he was running by
putting himself within arm's length of such a scoundrel,
for he called out to the mate that he was murdered. The
mate and several of the hands ran to his assistance; and,
about this period, Mr. Porter, jun., the supercargo, and
son of the owner of the vessel, Mr. William Porter, of
St. Stephen's, run on deck and saw them removing the
captain into the cabin. Mr. Porter had the captain's
clothes immediately taken off, and then discovered that
a great portion of his bowels were protruding through
the wound in the abdomen. The wound was then in-
cised, the bowels were put back, and the wound was
sewed up and dressed. It was then found that the cap-
tain had received two other stabs a little below the left
shoulder-blade, and that there were no fewer than
eleven cuts made with the knife in the pea jacket he
was wearing at the time the murderous assault was com-
mitted. Those cuts had evidently been given whilst he
was conveying Brown aft, and when so many ineffectual
attempts were made by the fellow to plunge the knife its
some part of his body. Since then, the captain lay in
such a state as to be incapable of being removed from
the cabin floor, and has been suffering the most excru-
ciating torture. Brawn was placed in irons on th e
instant, and kept closely confined in the store-room.
The ship arrived in the Mersey about half-past eleven
o'clock yesterday, and upon casting anchor in the river
off the Clarence Dock, the captain was conveyed ashore
in a steam-boat, and has been placed under medical
care. Brown was taken into custody by constable
Greaves, and lodged in Bridewell. He will, in all pro-
bability, be brought before Mr. Rushton to-day, and
ordered to be remanded until such time as the captain
may be able to appear against him, if that period shall
ever arrive, which, under the dangerous circumstances
of his case, is extremely doubtfuL The captain is a
married man, only twenty-nine years of age, and Le-
longs to Liverpool. His sister formerly kept a public-
house here, known by the name of the Lighthouse.
Brown is twenty-four years of age, and shipped from
St. John's, New Brunswick. It was reported he was an
American, but we understand that this is not the case,
and that he is a British subject.---Gore's Advertiser of
yesterday.

lIATLE RAILWAY COMPANY.—Yesterday the ad-
journed half-yearly meeting of this Company was held
at the Office of the Company in New Broad-street,
at which A. L. Gower, Lg., presided. The secretary
read the report of the Directors, from which it appeared
that the business of the railway was proceeding in a very,
satisfactory manner. The income was not only sufficient
to pay the interest of borrowed capital, but left a small
surplus. Great benefit was expected to arise to this
Company from the establishment of the West Cornwall
Railway. The Directors, under this impression, had
matured an agreement between this Company and the
West Cornwall Railway Committee, subject to the ap-
proval of the meeting. The solicitor to the llsyle Rail-
way Company read the draft agreement, from which it
appeared that this Company was to guaranree a sum of
four per cent. per annum to the other Company, by way
of a lease of the West Cornwall Railway, the cost of
which was estimated at 180,0001. Mr. L. Vigers entered
at some length into the great advantages which would
accrue to the Hayle Railway Proprietors by this agree-
ment, by which they would have a large surplus to be
divided, after the payment of the four per cent. to the
other Company—the estimated revenue being about
60,0001. After some discussion, the report of the Di-
rectors and the draft agreement was received and adopted.
Three Directors were then elected, when a vote of
thanks was passed to the Chairman, and the meeting
adjourned.

TRIBUTE TO Morocco.—The tribute, or protection
douceur, or whatever other name diplomacy may give to
this unreasonable exaction of Morocco from nations
with which she has little or no intercourse, has hitherto
been regularly paid by Sweden, amounting to 29,000
dollars annually ; but since the accession to the throne
of King Oscar, the Government have come to the de-
cided resolution that, excepting the amount due for last
year, which they agree to pay, not one dollar more shall
go out of the public purse for this purpose. The amount
annually paid by Denmark has been 25,000 dollars, of
which two years are at present due, and, on the same
conditions as Sweden, the Government of Denmark have
come to the determination that the present payment must
be considered in full of all claims on this score for the
future as well as for the past. From the dilatory cha-
racter of Barbary diplomacy, it must be impossible to
predict when a final adjustment may take place, but it
is anticipated that the intervention of England and
France will ultimately bring about the desired arrange-
ment. Be that as it may, whether success or failure
attends the endeavours of the mediating party, one thing
is certain, that Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, are
firmly resolved to pay no more tribute, even should the
consequences force them to establish cruisers off the
coast of Morocco for the protection of their commerce.
THE STATR APARTMENTS AT WINDSOR CASTLE.--
It was expected that these apartments, which have been
wholly closed to the public since Saturday last, would
eh
ffa
eveet beenhavi n
go pbeeneedn
isasguaeidn
onto W-morrow
evoeruidnegr toythesat.
terday morning, however, this order was countermanded;
and they have now been commanded to be closed until
after the 12th of next month, when the whole
. suite will
be required for the magnificent entertainments to be
ISiaiest.i to numerous illustrious and dis-
tinguished honour of the investiture of the
reigning Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha as a Knight
givenby her
guests,
Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
DARING HIGHWAY ROBBERY.--yesterday informa-
tion was received at Bow-street that on the night of the
20th inst., as Mr. John Downer, of Rudford, Sussex,
was
returning from Petworth Fair, he was stopped about a
mile from Petworth by four men, who forcibly pulled
him from his gig into the road, and while three men
held him down in the road, a fourth gave him a violent
b low-on the herd with a blud
eon, which rendered him
insensible. They then robbed-him of a silver hunting
watch, several memorandums and bills, one for 371., in a
yellow money bag, three or four sovereigns, and some
silver. Two men are in custody on suspicion of being
concerned in the outrage, and are remanded until the
pth