The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-30 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1544.

jury of the county of Surrey, in sessions assembled, do pre.
sent—That it is the opinion of the grand jury, in the present
improved mode of administering the public justice of the
country, that the institution of grand juries, though at the
time they were established they were of great value, is now
not only unxecessary, but actually injurious to the public in-
terests : First, because the careful investigation of the cases
by the committing magistrates, aided by professional men,
who appear for the prosecution, and in the defence of the
accused, have fully sifted the case in its preliminary stages.
By this the institution of grand juries is rendered unneces-
sary. Secondly, the opportunity for tampering with wit-
nesses, in order that the evidencegiven before the grand jury
may induce them to ignore the bill, although the evidence
given before the magistrates fully justified the committal of
the prisoner. Thirdly, that the province of the grand jury is
often abused by having bills preferred which relate to accu-
sations that have never been previously investigated by ma-
gistrates, and which are often the result of a desire to extort
money from the parties accused, or for the purposeof revenge.
" For these reasons the grand jury consider their functions
are no longer beneficial, that they are often injurious, and
might be well dispensed with."
The presentment was signed by the foreman and the whole
of the grand jury.
The Chairman remarked that the presentment was a very
important public document, and he understood that a similar
one had been made in another place. It was not, however,
in the province of the magistrates to offer any opinion on the
subject, but he trusted it would receive that proper attention
which its importance demanded by the official authorities, to
whom it would be forwarded.

At the weekly meeting of the Anti-Corn-law League
which, as usual, took place last night in Covent-garden
theatre, after Earl Dixie, who was in the chair, bad
addressed the audience in a speech replete with useful:
statistical facts all tending to show the ruinous im-
policy of the bread-tax, Mr. HOLLAND, a gentleman
from Worcestershire, bore personal testimony to the
rapid progress that the principles of free trade were
making in that county ; and added—in reference to
the recent establishment of monopoly institutions—
that " through the means of these institutions the
farmers had been taught to think, and not only had
they learned to think, but also to act for themselves.
Living among farmers as he did, he really believed that
since the existence of Protection societies, and through
their becoming so rife, the free-traders had gainel con-
verts among the agriculturists of Worcestershire." These
remarks fully bear out what we predicted in The Sun,
when we first heard of the establishment of monopoly
institutions. We then stated that these institutions
would serve no other purpose than to increase the',
spread of free-trade principles, if only from the defec-
tive reasoning of their chief pamphleteers and speakers,
and their shallow and obviously selfish appeals to the
passions and prejudices cf the agriculturists. Far
better that the Protectionists had kept a still tongue
in their heads, and contented themselves with the
exertions of their Conservative mijority in Parlia-
ment; the rottenness of their favourite system of mo-
nopoly would not then have been made so obvious
to the generality cf reflective people, as it now is;
but they could not deny themselves the pleasure of
entering the arena of controversy, and getting up
an agitation on their own account, by %%ay of coun-
teracting the efforts of the League ; and now, as
might have been foreseen, their superficial argu-
ments, false statistics, fabricated facts, and angry
appeals to the prejudices of the agriculturists, have
recoiled on their own heath. The farmers—vast num-
bers of whom are no longer the obtuse dolts that
they were twenty years ago—have seen through
their motives and fathomed their profoundest rea-
sonings ; and the consequence is, that the engi-
neer is literally " hoist with his own petard."
When a party has notoriously little or nothing to say
for itself worth attending to, and can put forth no other
plea in its favour th.m present power, the wisest
thing it can do, is to preserve a sort of dignified reserve
and taciturnity ; to avoid everything that may prp-
yoke a close discussion ; and to trust fur the main-
tenance of its system to the power that it may possess
in Parliament and elsewhere. The Protectionists
seem, at length, to be awakened to a conviction
,of
this truth, for we no longer fin 1 them attempting to
rouse the country in their behalf by dint of sophis-
tical speeches and still more sophistical pamphlets :
but they are wise too Lite ; the mischief is already
done; they have shown hundreds of agriculturists,
what they did not know before, the utter rot-
tenness of the foundation on which the mono
poly system is based; and it is of little
use to shut the stable-door when the steed is
already stolen. Mr. COBDEN, who took just
the right view of the South Lancashire elec-
tion, and whose observations made a deep im-
pression on his audience, told an emi.
nently characteristic anecdote of the high-minded
independence of a certain body of electors. "In the
contest of 1837," said the Hon. Member for Stock-
port, "he had been at an inn where there were sitting
a number of persons decorated with ribbons of the
colour of the Whig party--blue, that of STANLEY and
TowNELET. A shrewd countryman, who was in the
same room, observed that at a future election they
would wear other colours. Since that time
the proprietor of the land upon which those
independent electors were tenants-at-will, had
changed politics, and he (Mr. COBDEN) had
seen the same men at a subsequent election with
the favours of the opposite party on their coats. But
again the property was sold, and at the last election
the same tenants-at-will were again to be seen in their
blue favours." Oh virtuous times—oh immaculate
purity of election ! Who, after an anecdote like this
could :dare to advocate the ballot? But after all,,
these weather-cock electors were by no means so
criminal as might be supposed, fur they were merely
imitating, in their own limited sphere of action,
our own discreet Premier, and putting into practice
his favourite doctrine of expediency. It was expedient
for their interests that they should vote at one time
for a Whig, and:at another for a Tory, and accordingly
they did so ; and, apparently, with as much free and
easy indifference as Sir ROBERT PEEL evinces, when
impelled by circumstances, he throws out a word of
encouragement, now to the free-traders, and now to
the monopolists. Doubtless, it was by the votes_ of
expediency-courting electors, like those so honours
ably distinguished by Mr. COBDEN, that the South
Lancashire election was lost. Had each man been
left free to act according to the dictates of
his own conscience, there is little or no doubt
that the free-trade candidate would hare been
placed at the head of the poll by an overwhelming
majority. Even as it is, there is much more cause
for rejoicing, than for desponding over the result of
the contest, for it is now placed on record that the
supporters of the good cause—notwithstanding all the
Conservative artifices resorted to against them—have
polled upwards of four hundred more than they polled
in the year 18371

The administration of justice in this country, the
forms by which it is clogged, and in many instances
prevented, afford ample opportunities for reform. But
in every stage of that process, the obstacles which
present themselves are great beyond all conception.
An unpaid magistracy, the great majority of whom
have gained the magisterial authority, solely as one
step in the ladder of aristocratical distinction, and
who have become justices of the peace, merely to ex-
cite awe and raise veneration in the breasts of the
neighbouring clodpoles, oppose all attempts to estab-
lish responsible, efficient, and competent stipendiary
tribunals. The same body, proud of the still further
distinction, which the grand jury-box confers, and of
the importance which the grand jury-room brings
with it, uphold the necessity of that second investi-
gation, before a body of themselves, of cases which
have been previously inquired into by the separate
wisdom of portions of their number. And although,
in these days no one would think of establishing a
court for the ascertainment of probable guilt, by a repe-
tition of only a portion of the evidence which seemed
to warrant a primary committal, still the grand jury
is generally supported as an ancient institution of the
country, by men who, having thought but little on
the subject, connect the name with the boasted pri-
vilege of Englishmen,—trial by jury.
We have long thought the grand jury system a
nuisance, and we are delighted to see that we are at
length supported in cur views by men who, from
actual experience, are the best qualified to judge. The
following protest is worthy of every attention, and we
call the public mind to ‘v(::gh and consider it. It
was delivered this week to the Chairman of the Surrey
Sessions :

No man has done more for the simplifying and
amending the law than Sir ROBERT PEEL—few men,
with all his faults, have laboured more to curb the
insolence of magistrates than Sir JAMBS GRAHAM :
let them look well to the subject ; and if in the aboli-
tion of grand juries, they shall deem it necessary to
abolish an unpaid and irresponsible magistracy, and
to replace it by legal stipendiary investigators of
charges, they will earn the thanks and approval of the
great majority of the country.

In our last article on Sir ROBERT PEEL'S Cur-
rency Speech of the 20th instant we intimated that
the Premier had advanced some propositions respect-
ing the silver element of our currency, too remark-
able not to call for special notice. We had, accord-
ingly, selected some passages for extract and com-
mentary, with a view to the exposition of the signal
fallacies and palpable mistakes on the part of the

Premier, which they involved ;—mistakes of the most

unaccountable nature as to the facts and data as-

signed by him; and fallacies inevitably consequent on
the illogical conclusions he had thereby been led to—
when we received a copy of "An Enquirer after

Truth's Letter to the Premier ; in reply to his Speech
on the Bank Charter Act." In the " Enquirer after
Truth" we detect, if we do not greatly err, the

author of '• The Minister Mistaken ;" and it is cer-

tain that he has wielded in this instance the same

arms which he employed on his former tilt

against the Bullionists, with still more tremendous
effect against the Premier,—the venturous but
luckless disciple of the late Mr. HIISKI3SON -" Sed
imper congressus Achilli." Finding that the "En-
quirer after Truth," in many instances, completely
concurs in the views we have expounded (in The Sun
of Thursday last, especially) of the suicidal inconsis-
tencies accumulated in Sir ROBERT'S speeches of the
7th and the 20th instant, and that he, in others, re-
markably confirms the course he had proposed to
take in dealing with the further "extracts" in ques-
tion; we had availed ourselves of the opportunity
thus afforded us to incorporate the latter in the notice
of the " Letter to the Premier," which will be found
in another part of our columns.

To that notice we entreat the attention of our
readers. The author of the pamphlet has made out a

case so irresistible and so convincing against the Pre-
mier, in this last attempt of his to tamper with our

monetary system ; that we cannot see what escape re.

mains to Sir R. PEEL from between the two horns of the

dilemma, on one of which the " Enquirer after Truth"
has impaled him. Either he is, on his own recorded
statement, the most presumptuous and incompetent

statesman who ever dabbled in the statistics of money
and money legislation in this country, or he is the
most disingenuous, tricky, and selfish Minister, who

ever lacked the courage to avow the true motives of an
indefensible policy, the manliness to acknowledge its
disastrous consequences, or the spirit to retrieve, where

he could no longer be blind to them. He must be

content to know that he is now convicted of the most

gross and culpable ignorance of the fact on which he
admits that his propositions, in reference to the re-
newal of the Bank of England Charter, are founded.

If the data he has cited as those which authenticate

the measures which he recommends for the adoption
of Parliament, falsified as they have been in his speech

of the 7th instant, have not been so misstated in igno
norance or misrepresentation—on what other by

pothesis are we to account for their fabsifi

cation ? But if he has thus blundered in

stating such all-important premises, —no mat-
ter whether in error or designedly—what it

his amount of fitness to direct the councils of i

nation, of whose interests he has thus hazarded the

fatal compromise on a question, the universal nature

" We, whose names are here subscribed, being the grand

has always been remarkably free. From the earliest
times to the present, with the exception of fourteen
years, from 34 HENRY VIII. to 1 ELIZABETH (1543 to
1557), the standard fineness of English silver coin
was 11 oz. 2 dwts. fine silver to 18 dwts. alloy; and
even lb six of those fourteen years, the standard was
11 oz. 1 dwt. to 19 dwts of alloy; so that, with the
exception of, properly speaking, only eight years, the
standard of our silver coin has always been the same
from the Anglo-Saxon times to the present day." . •
. . " Your intention, doubtless, was to say, that the
weight ofthe coin had been diminished, by which a great
alteration had been made, not in the name, but in the
intrinsic value of the pound from the time of WILLIAM
the Com:amigo& to ELIZABETH. This is true. The
pound weight of silver was coined from 1066
to 1601 (omitting the eight years of de-
basement) successively into 205., 20s. 3d., 22e. 6d.,
255., 305., 375. 6d., 455., 605., and 625. But how
utterly incompatible these facts are with the
Premier's definition of a pound, as " a quantity of
the precious metals of certain weight and certain fine-
ness—a certain definite quantity of gold—a definite
quantity of the precious metals," his own historical
examples had shown, and the "Enquirer after Truth"
still more happily proves. It never occurred to the
philosophical sagacity of the Premier to make any
allowance, in estimating the worth of a certain quan-
tity of silver throughout a period of nearly eight
centuries, or any given proportion of that period, for
the effect of the discovery of America, and the mines
of Potosi, for example, or the value of the commo-
dity. From the earliest times " till the year 1600, the
proportions of silver and gold were generally recog-
nised as ten to one. Ten ounces of silver were worth
one ounce of gold." Now, as silver accumulated
from being raised with so much less labour
in the New World than in the Old, this
relative value gradually changed until the
proportion became 1540 1. This subject is so large,
and is so ably treated in detail, as is also the fluctua-
tion of the gold pound, in the pamphlet to which we
refer, that we dare not pursue it in this place. We
will therefore take but a single illustration, and it is
from the same author. He says, addressing the
Premier :—" But your wish, apparently, was to con-
tinue one pound in coin at the same value which it
possessed in the last two yedis of the reign of ELIZA-
BETH. Unfortunately, Sir, for your consistency, our
pound sterling underwent four alterations after that.
In 1604, only three years after the last alteration, the
gold pound of the value of 20s. in silver was coined
at the weight of 154 grains ; which gives for the
pound sterling, both in gold and silver, the value of
255. of our present money. In 1625, it was coined
of the weight of. 140 grains, which makes the pound
sterling in gold and silver equal to 225. 9d. of our
present money. In 1675 it was reduced to 129 grains,
being still of the value of 205., which makes the pound
sterling worth only 21s. of our present money (this
gold pound was afterwards called a guinea) ; and in
1815 it was coined of the weight of 123 grains,

or nearly so, which is its present weight.
Of these changes you appear to have been
uninformed." And with this plain account of the Pre-
mier's unpardonable error in dealing with the sub-
ject of the weight and the measure of value, and the
unceremonious but just remonstrance with which it
is followed up by the " Enquirer," we shall for the
present quit this branch cf the question :—" Conceiv-
ing that as the same weight was found in the silver
pound its value was the same,—and that, for conve-
nience sake alone gold was substituted for silver in
1774 as the standard measure of value—you concluded
that when the pound troy of silver was coined into
66 shillings (four of which were retained for seignor-
age), we were brought practically to the same mea-
sure of value which we had in 1601. I trust, Sir,
you are now satisfied that this was an error of yours ;
and since this erroneous assumption of the antiquity
and uniformity of the measure of value which you
recommend is made the reason of your new currency
measures ; I earnestly hope that you will fur the
the present suspend any further proceedings in rela-
tion to this business, and allow the country a little
longer respite to consider what steps it may be pru-
dent to take in the present posture of affairs. When
such mistakes as these are made by one who is con-
sidered an oracle on the subject of currency, it is
time to pause and look about us."

We call the attention of our readers to a state-
ment made by the Chief Justice of the Queen's
Bench this day, in the case of the QUEEN V. BLAKE
AND OTHERS. The other Judges concurred in the
reasons assigned for granting a new trial, and it will
be seen that it applies to the Irish State trials, and is
at utter variance with the directions of the Irish
Chief Justice and two other Judges in their address
to the jury.

had bornemakingwaslatelyonetriedattwowho
fo ra t
gh ee i
)pdu
character,rp
Stafford, for having stolen a gown and petticoat, and
society, the wages of labour, the transactions of the
was sentenced to seven years' transportation. It is
highest amount and of the lowest, the payment of the
now believed that she merely took the goods to wear
National Debt, the provision for the national expen- on some particular occasion, without any intention of
diture on the one hand, and the command which the keeping them. She heard the judgment, and remained
. coin of the smallest denomination has over the neces- stupified ; in twenty-four hours she was a lunatic,
with
series of life on the other—are all affected by the no hopes of reco-
decision to which Parliament may come on that great
very. She was a remarkably handsome girl, but
question which lam about to submit to the considers- and is now in the infirmary
tion of this Committee."—(Speech, May 7.) What from the period of her sentence her health visibly
declined, and her hair has actually turned grey."
is the tremendous responsibility of that judge who
Had the punishment of this poor creature been duly
shall have misdirected the jury assembled to try a proportioned to the offence she had committed, and
question of this fearful, this awful magnitude ? he mitigatory circumstances of her case been taken
In what did this misdirection consist ? What have
into consideration by the magistrate who tried her,
been the data which have been falsified in his
she would not have been in the distressing—the hope-
statement ?
less condition in which she now is ; the ends of jus-
We have, in former articles, endeavoured to show tice would have been quite as satisfactorily answered;
the precise passages which supply the answer to these
and the girl herself—wretched victim of the undue
questions, and we reserved for the present occasion
-severity of magisterial law—would, most probably,
an exposition of his proposals about silver—so far as
have been reclaimed—for she is specially described
it may be possible to collect what is meant to be done as having " borne a good character," up to the un-
by a Minister, who is so nervously anxious to show
fortunate moment when.l. she yielded to temptation—
that he cannot make up his mind as to what he should
and, warned by humi lilting experience, hare become
do. We shall not pain the reader by again can-
for the rest of her days an irreproachable member of
trasting the Right Hon. Baronet's " clear conclusion"
society. But the opportunity of retrieving herself
that bullion, in reference to that upon which the
Bank of England, and other banks of issue, shall
was not afforded her; her first offence was visited, as
itf had been her twentieth; no distinction was made
make issues of notes, shall be understood to mean i
"gold only," with his supplementary contrivance that between her case and that of the most hardened
as to one-fourth of the Bank of England's
veteran thief; but precisely the same punishment
was awarded to her, as would have been awarded to a
issues that bullion may be in silver. It BARRINGTON, or a Major SEMPLB, had they been
seems little necessary, moreover, to retail after
convicted of the same theft. This is no solitary
Sir ROBERT such trite truisms as that "there
would be a great advantage in having a stock of instance of the injudicious and impolitic harshness of
silver in the Bank, which could be used for the recti-
magisterial decisions. Scarcely a week passes, but
fication of the exchanges, and for other advantages of some case or other occurs in our metropolitan police-
a commercial nature ;" or his profound discovery courts, or our provincial quarter-sessions, illustrative
the undue that " silver is of advantage to the merchants of this of severity of, or.the undue lenity of, those
country in enabling them readily to make remittances who sit in judgment. Not unfrequently it happens
to India, and China, and other places." Probably, that raw lads, who have scarcely yet entered their
Sir ROBERT imagined that the public generally were teens,
are subjected to the dreary horrors of a gaol
not aware that silver is the principal medium of remit-
parentsfor offences, for which a good flogging from their
or guardians would have been quite punish-
does, in these two great branches of our trade. He
does, however, admit his fears that the advantageous ment enough; and when the term of their imprison-
means must be abandoned "if Parliament insist on ment expires, and they are turned loose once again on
confining the issues of the Bank to gold, and gold
the world, what with the humiliation they have en-
alone." But the Right Hon. Baronet is so egregiously
dured—inflicted on them at a time of life when the
absurd in the first principle of his argentine doctrine feelings are most exquisitely sensitive—and the polluted
that we cannot omit the duty of once more, and in a society they have perforce kept, when they have heard
more precise manner, indicating the more salient
principle and honour laughed to scorn, as the mere
idle dream of fools and visionaries, they have become
evidences of his blundering.
In his attempt to show "what constitutes the callous to all just and generous impulses, and quit the
measure of value in this country," he declared that prison in a far different frame of mind to that in
which they entered it—namely, as desperate, deter-
" the whole foundation of his present proposals rested
mined reprobates. It is incalculable the mischiefs
on the assumption, that according to law, and the
that are done to society by this indiscriminate mode
ancient monetary policy of this country, the meaning
of punishment on the part of magistrates. Many a
of a pound is neither more nor less than a certain
oor wretch, who has been banished for life, or ex-
quantity of gold with a mark upon it." We exhibited
plated his crimes on the scaffold, may trace his utter
the groundlessness of this assumption in our paper of
ruin to the injudicious harshness with which he was
Thursday last; but our present business is with the
, visited for his first offence, and which precluded all
historical illustrations into which he expatiated.
"In chance of his rethrmation. As exercised by too
the reign of Wiemasi the CONQUEROR " (he says) " a many
of our magisterial authorities, law makes
pound of silver was the pound of account." "A Pound
almost as many rogues as it condemns, and never fails
represented both the weight of the metal, and denomi-
to cut out a prodigious deal of work thrice a year for
nation of the money. By subsequent debasements of " Nemo repente fuit
our going Judges oF Assize.
the currency, a great alteration was made, not in the
turpissimus," says the old Latin 'proverb, and there is
name, but in the intrinsic value of the pound sterling;
much wisdom in this aphorism, for in the great ma-
nor was it until a late period of ELIZABETH'S reign, jority of cases it is by degrees only that men become
that silver, then the standard of value, received that !
hardened criminals ; and were they to be treated for
determinate weight which it retained without varia-
tion, with constant refusals to alter it, until 6 an opportunity of
by their Judges, and allowed
their first offence with consideration and humanity
when gold was practically substituted for silver as ,
subse-
the exclusive standard of value."becoming
1 quent career might be altered, and instead of
reformation, the whole complexion. of their
The " Enquirer after Truth," addressing Sir Ro •
the pests .of society, and ending their lives on the
BERT on this portion of the speech, writes, " De-
basements have reference to some greater admixture gallows,and industrious
of alloy than before with the precious metals. This citizens, and, night and dap,
v find cause to bless the
they might become honest
happens to be a charge from which the English coin i judge who treated their first fault with so much dis-

crimination and considerate forbearance. But magi'.
trates seldom think of these things ; they do not
trouble their heads with nice distinctions, but con-
found all shades of guilt together; and seem to ima-
gine that their duty begins and ends in awarding the
same measure of punishment to the hardened as to the
inexperienced offender.

The intelligence from Madrid, which is to the 22d
inst., is entirely destitute of interest. Preparations
were still going on at Barcelona for the reception of
the " idolised QUEEN " and her "immortal mother,"
epithets applied to them by a Barcelona journal.
The Three per Cents. closed at 29 for cash, and
29 9-16 at 60 days; and the Fire per Cents. at 201.

In the French Chamber of Deputies, on Monday,
the President having taken the chair, read to the
Chamber a letter from the Prince DE LA MOSKOWA,
announcing the death of his father-in-law, M.
JACQUES LArTITTE. The President next drew the
names of th• members of the grand deputation who
were to attend his funeral, and when he had con-
cluded, voices from different parts of the hall ex-
claimed that the assembly would assist in a body at
the ceremony. A discussion then commenced on the
state of foreign affairs, but chiefly on the old and
worn-out subject—the recal of M. DUPETIT THOUARS,
when M. GUIZOT moved a vote of 600,000 f. for ex-
traordinary missions. M. BERRYER commenced the
debate in a speech which made no impression on the
Chamber, and had not concluded at the adjournment.
He therefore resumed it on Tuesday, and made an
attack on M. GUIZOT, for succumbing to the English
in the affair of Otaheite, and also in allowing them to
occupy the whole of New Zealand. We find nothing
in the speech, however, that can interest the English
reader, if we except the following attempt to rouse
, his sleepy hearers:—" What," said he, "is not only
Admiral DUPETIT THOUARS to be disavowed, but
must his disgrace be communicated through a British
medium ? Is it an Englishman who is to put under
the nose of our Admiral the Moniteur, containing
this insolent decision ? Is it an Englishman who is
charged to say to a French Admiral, 'Begone,' and
to Captain BItUAT, Je vous chasse 1" This pro-
duced what the French reporters called a " movement."
M. GUIZOT in his reply said, " That he conceived
the violence of the attacks directed against the acts of
the Administration was the right of the Opposition,
and the principle of the Constitution:l Government;
but he could not conceive that it should stoop to the
perversion of facts in order to substantiate its charges.
In reference to the occupation of New Zealand, he
said, that island had been repeatedly visited, from
1790 to 1814, by British navigators, who had taken
possession of it in the name of Great Britain. The
Government, however, did not sanction that occupa-
tion, and it was only from 1815 to 1838 that com-
panies had endeavoured to prevail upon England to
act upon that occupation. It was not true, as M.
BERRYER had asserted, that Captain HOBSON had re-
ceived no instructions from his Government. Those
instructions were of July, 1839, and enjoined him to
negotiate a treaty with the chiefs for the cession of
the northern islands, and in February, 1840, a treaty
to that effect was signed by 512 chiefs of that island.
In April following, a similar treaty was concluded
with the chiefs of the southern island. Their regular
occupation by England was an accomplished fact."
After repeating his former arguments in reference
to the recal of Admiral DUPETIT THOUARS, he con-
cluded by declaring, that if the present Cabinet
carefully avoided all that might tend to weaken the
good intelligence existing between two great nations,
in no instance had it been guilty of an act of com-
plaisance derogatory to the dignity and interests of
the country. M. TIIIERS, M. BARROT, and several
other Members were expected to speak.
On Tuesday the Monthly Committees were re-
newed, when the Government had a great majority
in seven out of the nine. M. 'DREES was elected by
a majority of only one.
The Funds have again advanced. On Tuesday the
Three per Cents. had risen to 84f. 75c., at which
price they closed.

THE BOURSE-TUESDAY, MAY 28.

First Highest Lowest Last
Price. Price. Price. Price.
French Five per Cents •• • l2l 80 .. 122 .. 121 80 • . 122
Four por Cents.
Three per Cents.... • 84 60 • • 84 65 .- 84 60 .. 84 60
Bank of France 3065 ..3070 • 3065 ..3070
Latlitte Bank, I,ooof. Shareslloo ..1120 . • 1100 ..1115
5,000 f. SharessoBo .. 5105 ..5080 ..5105
Belgian Bank.... .. . ...... . 660 .• 660 .. 660 . • 660
Belgian Fives, 1831.. •..• . • . lon .. ion • • lon .. lon

1840 .•• • • • • • 106.

.. 106

106 .. 106

1842 .•....•• 109 .. 109 .. 109 109
Spanish Threes •.••••• • •• • • 351 .. 351 • . 351 .. 351
Active .. •• ••••• • •• 32f .. 32/ .. 32/ •• 32/
Passive 5l .. 51 .. .. 51
Portuguese Five per Cents.• 461 • • 461 .. 40 • • 4Gf
Neapolitan.-- •• .. 102 50 .. 102 55 .. 102 50 .. 102 50
Roman, ax div. •• lO4 104/ .. 104 104 k

THIS DAY'S NEWS.

MONE Y AND COMMERCIAL NEWS.

CITY, QUARTER TO THREE.
The Cotton Market at Liverpool was dull yesterday, but
without any alteration in prices. Sales 3,000 bales, including
400 American on speculation, and 400 fur export, and also
400 Pernambuco for export. There was no alteration for the
better in the Railway Shares, which were dull.
Still we have to notice the absence of late arrivals ; and it
is very justly made a matter of complaint that Government
should have sent out a ,ten-gun brig into the Channel, in-
stead of a steamer, to assist the wind-bound vessels.
Parties interested in railways, and especially the advocates
of the atmospheric principle, are looking with interest to the
report of three Commissioners appointed by the German
Confederation to!examine into the merits of Philip Wagner's
electro-magnetic invention. The investigation is stated to
have already commenced.
The Belgians continue to creep on slowly but surely with
the extension of their foreign markets. They have now es-
tablished sailing packets from Antwerp to Bahia.
Accounts have been received from Wellington, New Zea-
land, to the 14th December. The natives were still rather
threatening; and owing to the apprehension of Awaho for
the crime of murder, they had dispatched messengers
to summon armed parties from various neighbour-
ing parts. The settlers, however, do not appear
to be under serious apprehensions. The colony was de-
pressed in its agricultural resources, owing to the non-settle-
ment of the land claims, but its trade is progressing as
regards flax, oil, and wood. Imports were tolerably abundant,
and very low in value comparatively to the supply.
The Stock Market is firmer, but not actually buoyant.
Consols are 994 to 994 for Money, and 994 to 994 for Account.
They have, therefore, not yet regained what they lost on the
Account day. Exchequer Bills have been lower, 725. to
70s. premium, and India Bonds have been quiet at 945. prem.
Bank Stock has further advanced, being 199 to 200. The
New Three-and-a-Half per Cents. are 1024 to 4 ; the Re-
duced, 1014 to 4; and the Three per Cents., 984 to 984.
Spanish Bonds opened higher, but have had a ten-
dency since to go down again to their previous range.
The Five per Cents. have been 234 to 4, and the Three per
Cents. 354 to 4, being at present 344 to 35. Mexican have
ruled steady at 354 to 4 ; Portuguese Converted have been
heavy at 46 ; Russian Bonds have been firm at 1184 ; and
Dutch Two and a Half per Cents. at 614 to 4.
Some of the Railway Shares continue to droop. Birming-
ham and South-Eastern are lower again ; Great Western have
improved a little ; and Brighton are firmer.
BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.

(From the Official List.)

.
Bank Stock 199 200
3 per Cent. Reduced Annuities ....... .......
3 per Cent. Consols. Annuities...... ...............
3% per Cent. Annuities, 1818 101.,.
3% per Cent. Reduced Annuities iul%
New 3% per Cent. Annuities ..... ....
India Bonds,l,ooo .......... ... ..........
Ditto under 1,000 926
Bank Stock for Account
Consols for Account ............ ...........

Exchequer Bills, 1 id. I%d. -
1,0001. ..... .. ..... — ..... ....... pm.
5004.-- ............. — ............ 70 pm.
Dltco Small
Ditto Advertised — 69 pm.
FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK
Mexican Bonds, 1837, 5 per Cent.
Portuguese Bonds, 5 per Cent. -
Ditto Converted 46
Russian Bonds, 1822, b per Cent llB4
Spanish Bonds, Five per Cent 1840 .........
Ditto for the Account
Ditto Three per Cent.
Ditto for the Account
Dutch 2% per Cents 6114
Ditto for the Account
Dutch 5 per Cents lOO5
New Loan 1837. 5 per Cents....
CLOSING PRICES.
BRITISH FUNDS.
- -

Bank Stock
i per Cent. Red 9t+% Ditto Bonds
3 per Cent. Cons.
3% per Cent. Re I
New 3% per Cent 102% Ex. Bills, I,OOS. 1 lid... 72 pm.
New 5 per Cent......
Long Annuities to expire Ditto Small - 72 pm.
Jan. 1860 Bank Stock for Acct.... 199%
Oct. 1859 Consols for Acct 99%
Jan. 1860... ....... .. ilndia Stock for Acct —