The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-09-20 00:00:00

THE THEATRES

THE THEATRE ROYAL opened last night with the
popular new comedy of "Masks and Faces! or before and
behind the Curtain." The principal characters were per-
formedby Mrs. Stirling and Mr. Compton, who are engaged
for a limited number of nights. At this theatre we per-
ceive with much pleasure Mr. W. Farren is announced to
give a series of performances prior to his final retirement
from the stage. Mr. Farren will be supported by Mrs.
Phillips and Mr. Robson, from the Royal Olympic Theatre.
We are also gratified to learn that it is intended to give a
series of grand Operas, Italian and German, at this house,
commencing at the end of next month._

AT THE ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE., the amusements of
the week, like those of several weeks preceding, have been
chiefly such as to afford scope for displaying the pecu-
liar and varied talents possessed by Mrs. Fitzwilliam and
Mr. Buckstone • the " Ascent of Mount Parnassus"
being still a leading and attractive feature in the enter-
tainments. On the whole, there has been considerable
variety in the pieces performed, and the theatre has been
fairly attended. Among the novelties recently produced,
was one entitled " Cruel Kindness," which was so well
received as to call for its repetition. The burden of the
acting, in this piece, unlike those generally in which Mrs.
Fitzwilliam and Mr. Buckstone appear, does not devolve
on those performers, but was sustained, and, on this
occasion, most creditably sustained, by Mr. and Miss
Cathcart. The elocution and acting of the former were
of a high and gratiring order, while the lady displayed no
small amount oftalent, tempered by judgment and good
taste. Several new scenes were introduced, painted ex-
pressly for this piece ; one, in particular, a forest scene
by moonlight, was spirited and truthful. On Friday
evening, Mr. Buckstone took, what is termed, his farewell
benefit at this house ; the performances commencing with
Brinsley Peake's comedy of " The Sheriff of the County,"
followed by the new drama of " Snapping Turtles," and
" The Ascent of Mount Parnassus"—the two latter pieces
from the pen,,of Mr. Buckstone. In " The Sheriff of the
County," Mr: Buckstone, as Pansey, was irresistibly
comic. His hits were generally telling as well as laugh-
able. The character is one requiring tact and stage ex-
perience, rather than histronic power, and Mr. Buckstone
being a master in both these walks of his profession,
brought them beautifully into play, and. frequently con-
vulsed the house with laughter. is by-play in general
was capital, and being introduced with propriety, it had
often the effect of rendering a scene highly comic, which
would otherwise have been eminently dull. Mrs. Fitz-
william, as Kitty Crawley, was, as she always is, natural,
pleasing, good-natured, and engaging. The other
characters in the play were in general respectably per-
formed; the Ensign Tardigrade, of Mr. F. L. Villiers;
and the Nonpariel, of Mr. Frederick Younge, being
entitled to considerably higher commendation, In " The
Snapping Turtles," Mrs. Fitzwilliam and Mr. Buckstone
had the matter all to themselves, and they succeeded in
keeping the audience in high good humour. " The
Ascent of Mount Parnassus" concluded the performances,
and was received with its usual 'need of approbation. On
Saturday, the new play of "Cruel Kindness" was again
repeated, and met with aod reception. It was followed
by " Good for Nothing" and " The Ascent of Mount
Parnassus."

POLICE COURT-YESTEEDAY.

ROBBERY BY AN OFFICE BOY.—A lad named Robert
Laird was placed at the bar, charged with stealing a frock
coat from the office of Mr. Michael Belcher, cotton broker,
Exchange-buildings. The prisoner is a son of police officer
520.—Mr. Clough stated that the prisoner, who is an
office boy in the employ of Mr. Belcher, was brought to
the office about a fortnight ago, by a pawnbroker in
Fontenoy-street, charged with having stolen the coat.
—The pawnbroker stated that the prisoner offered it to
him for sale for five shillings, and having reasons to be-
lieve that he had obtained it by improper means, he gave
him in charge. On questioning the prisoner at the police
office, he stated that the cashier at Mr. Belcher's had
given him the coat, and his story being believed, he was
discharged, Since that time, however, it had been aster-.
tained that the coat belonged to Mr. Belcher, and that the
prisoner had stolen it from the office. In the mean time-
the prisoner had absconded from home and gone to Ire-
land. He returned on Saturday, when his father, officer.
520, brought him to the police office, and he was again.
given in charge. Mr. Belcher yesterday identified, the:
coat as his property. The cashier was at present in Soot,
land, but it was altogether unlikely that he could& have,
given it to the prisoner. Several articles had lately- been
missed from the office, and on Saturday last ha (Mr.
Belcher) received a note from Mr. Bean, of the Albion,
office, in whose employ the prisoner formerly was,. cau-
tioning him to be aware of him. Mr. Bean stated, that
he had, whilst at the Albion office, endeavouredtto prevail
upon the other boys there to steal the type and other
articles.—ln answer to a question, the prisoner's father
stated that he was not aware, before now, that the prisoner
had been guilty of such practices.—The magistrate said
it was a very painful case. The prisoner was evidently a
boy of a very bad character, for it was clear• that he had
not only stolen the coat, but in addition to. this, he had
endeavoured to prevail upon other boys to. steal printing
type from the Albion of prisoner was remanded
for a week. /
P/CKING POCKETS.—EIIen Melville was committed for
three months, for attempting to pirk the pockets of a
lady in London-road, on Saturday afternoon, about half-
past four o'clock.
ROBBERY OE WEARING. APPAREL.—A woman named
Harriet Appleton, a domestic servant, in the employ of
Mrs. Moore, in Hawk-street, was charged with stealing a
quantity of wearing apparel, the property of her mistress,
and pledging the same with Mr. Perry, pawnbroker, in
Brownlow-hill. The prisoner had formerly been in the
habit of frequenting the night asylum, to which she ob-
tained admission by a false representation. She was
committed for trial at the borough sessions.
COMMITMENT.--A named John Baker was charged
by police-officer 639, with stealing a bottle of ale from a
cask in Duke's Dock. The officer saw the prisoner coining
from the dock with something under his coat, and on exa-
mining him he found that he had a bottle of ale secreted.
On making inquiry at the dock, it was ascertained that
the property had been stolen. The prisoner was com-
mitted for fourteen days.

AN OFFICER in the Liverpool Pollee force, named
Isaiah Taylor, was on Thursday last convicted in the
penalty of £5 and costs, or, in default, to be committed for
a month, on a charge of fraud. He had received a silver
watch from the master of a flat trading to Chester, to
keep secure for him, which he had not only failed to re-
deliver, but which, on being questioned afterwards by
his superior officers, he said he had not received. He
had, however, taken it to a watchmaker's shop, where it
was subsequently found.
OPENING SAFETY LAMPS.-At the Worsley petty ses-
sions two colliers, named John Greenhalgh and Richard
Barry, were charged with breaking the rules of the colliery
on the estate of the late Duke of Bridgewater, by removing
the tops of their Davy lamps, while at work, to light their
tobacco-pipes. Mr. Ridyard, inspector of the Worsley
coal mines, caught them in the act on Tuesday, and, as the
prisoners had been fined for this offence three times before,
it was considered desirable that they should be made an
example of in a more public manner. Although the
observance of the rules is absolutely necessary for the
preservation of the lives of the miners, yet they are so
reckless as to break them continually. A good deal of
conversation took place upon the question in court, but
the case was ultimately settled by the offenders agreeing
to sign a form of submission, to be made public, acknow-
ledginF their fault, and promising not to offend again on
condition of forgiveness.

COMMERCIAL 4, MONETARY NEWS.

MONDAY NIGHT.

THE money market has been in a state of
unnatural excitement during the week, owing to a
combination of causes. The public funds have, in
consequence, experienced a decline in value, from
which the recovery has been very slight, and com-

from a disinclination- to enter into any new engag
• -- - -

o a-
s until some more satisfactory opinion can be
formed as to the probabilities of the future. The
returns of the Bank of England published on Fri-
day last, show that the drain on their stock of
specie had not concluded, as the diminution was
about £300,000, and this circumstance, coupled
with another rise in the minimum rate of discount,
led to an alarm in the money market, which was
greatly augmented by the recent reports from the
East of the warlike preparations in Turkey. The
whole of the depression may, however, be attri-
buted solely to feeling, with little reference to the
probabilities arising from actual facts, and the ob-
vious deductions from them. Indeed, it is the mis-
fortune attending commercial affairs, since the
railway panic in 1846-7 that judgment has had
to give way to mere impulse upon important ques-
tions, so that panics have sometimes originated
with hardly a justification. This is particularly
the case at the present time, when an undue im-
portance is attached to the rise in the rate of dis-
count and the withdrawal of specie. Although there
is a balance left of more than sixteen millions,
fresh importations are daily being received, and
the amount of unemployed rates in the Bank is
£7,669,090, a margin, it might be conceived, ample
for all contingencies. The occurrence of these
paroxysms of tightness is attributed by many to
the operation of the Bank Restriction Act of 1844,
by which the Bank is prohibited from issuing notes
beyond its stock of bullion added to £14,000,000.
Such a restriction is positively useless for any
real benefit, inasmuch as it is virtually inopera-
tive, and is absolutely injurious whenever it
is attempted to be brought into action, as was
evident in 1847, when the Government were called
upon to guarantee indemnity for a breach of the
Act. It is therefore no security for monetary sta-
bility, and productive of unnecessary alarm,. which
sometimes tends to precipitate the evil dreaded.
The present state of commercial affairs should tend
far more to inspire confidence than mistrust. In
almost every department of industrial` activity,
trade, until within the last few weeks, has been in
a healthy state, commercial operations generally
have been singularly free from speculative move--
ments, and even the state of the weather whiihr at
harvest time, is of more than ordinary importance,
has been particularly favourable. The only dis-
couraging influence has been that arising from the
affairs between Russia and Turkey, upon which we
have commented elsewhere, and this has now been.
placed on a footing which completely absolves.
England from the necessity of any active= operation
in favour of Turkey.
The reports from all the manufacturing districts
show an evident disinclination to operate beyond
immediate demands, owing to the uncertainty
which prevails, not only in political affairs, but also
as to the conduct of the operatives, many of whom
are either out on strike for higher wages, or have
threatened such a movement. As these 'influences
are, however, antagonistic, they may help to neu-
tralise each other.
The SHARE MARKET has been very unsettled
during the past week. On Thursday, when the
Bank-rate was raised to 4*, prices declined;; since
it has rallied again,. caused by bears repurchasing.
The public buy sparingly, though a further slight
decline would bring m good buyers.-Chester and
Birkenhead, 171 ; Caledonians, 28: 2 :
Chester and Holyhead, .17i; . Eastern Counties,4l2*;
East Lancashire, 17' 16 13-16 ; Lancashire and
Yorkshire, 68 78 4 7 -L-t, 2.4 * 7 *; Leeds Northern,
132: London Stock,. 103 102* I 2 I-- Ditto
Eighths, id ; Sheffield Stock, 21 1; • ifidland
Stock, 5918 4 * 1-121 ,2 1 5 4 * 4 A North
British, 6i; Dover Stock, 18i -1-4 11-16
11-16 ; York and North 'Midland, 24 231 ;:Great
Southern and Western Pref. Eighths, 8.1; St.
Helen's R. and C. 5 poi- cent. Stock, 109 -; North
Union A Stock, 255 ; Liverpool Fire and Life In-
surance, 61 I * Ip.
The return from theatank of England fbr the
week ending the 10t1r.of Sept., gives the following
results, when compared -with the previous week :-
Public deposits ... £1.5251,CL10; Increase £549,412
Other deposits ... 10,862,058; Decrease 155,255
Rest ... ... 3,641,708; Increase 7,185
On the other side of the account-
Government securitiesXl2,767,olB; Decrease 6,158
Other securities ... /4,957,874; Increase 411,680
Notes unemployed ... 7,669,090; Decrease 21;605
The amount of notesin circulation is £22,197,680,
being a decrease of '2268,265 ; and the stock of
bullion in both depart nents is £16,201,352,5h0wing
a decrease of £298,716, when compared with the
preceding return.
CorroN.-The several circumstances we have
alluded to above have had the effect of almost pa-
ralysing operations,. beyond the demands to enable
spinners to complete the contracts they have in
hand. The sales during the week ending on Fri-
day amounted•to only 28,200 bales ' • and, as the
consumption is computed to be about 37,000 bales
weekly, the manufacturers' stocks must be consi-
derably reduced; and lead to a great demand When-
ever industrial activity may be resumed. Prices
have, howevers, been fairly maintained; the re-
duction in th%quotations being only *d. per lb.
We have no subsequent improvementto notice, as
the sales on Saturday and TO-DAY amounted to only
9,000 bales, including 2,000 chiefly for export.
The previous:rates being barely supported.
PRODUCE.-In Sugar, no change to notice, the
sales, which are again chiefly to the refiners,.
amount- to 1,100 hhds. B.P. and 3,000 bags of
Bengal:. Foreign : 400 cases good' brown Bahia
sold at 21s. ; 1,300 bags white Pernambuco, at
245. to 255. per cwt. in bond; and 200 hhds. Suri-
nam, at 325: 9d., duty paid. /41b sales in Molasses.
At public, sale, Jamaica Co&e- sold at extreme ,
rates, and the business in Foreign was done at'
steady prices. Of Rice, 1,100 bags Bengal sold-
at 135.. 6d., and 1,200 bags. Arra,can, from 6s. to
10s..per cwt. Of Rum, in. the absence of supply,
the- business was limited. In Tea a good business
was:dsne in the Hohow and Pekoe kinds .of Con-_
you ;. the former at rather easier rates„ but-.the
latter at full previous prikes. The transactions, in
all' common blacks and greens have been on a,very.
limited scale. Saltpetre, without change, 1,200,
bags disposed of at 265. 6d. to 30s. ; and 200 tons.
Nitrate of Soda, at 17`s. to 17s. 6d. per cwt. Tur-.
pentine in demand,, and prices again. slightly ad-.
vanced. American Rosin in brisk' demand. in
Hides no transactions. Olive oillimited. re-
quest. Seal Oil sold' at £33 ss. to• £33 10s. ; Cod,
£32 ; and Ameaan, Sperm, £B7 10s. per ton;
pale Rape Oil, £4l to £42 per ton ; and brown
at £4O; Linseedi3Oil in limited demand; at 285.. 9a.,
to 295. per cwt.. American Spirits of Turpentine,
495. to 50s. 6dl, per cwt, Palm Oil in active de-
mand,
and 750 tons on the. spot sold, at £36 15s.
to £37 10s. and 2,050 tons to arrive at £37 to
£37 10s. per ton. A largo business has been done
in Tallow,, at 535. to 545.6 d, for Petersburg Y.C. ;
and 525.. to 535. per ewt,. for South American.
Upwards; of 200 tons American Lard sold at 58s.
to 595.. per cwt. • Petersburg clean Hemp, £34 to
£35 per ton. }folders of Jute firm, at £22 10s. to
£24 ss. per ton, being extreme prices. To-DAY
then, is no change to notice in Sugar. The busi-
ness, including Saturday's sales, comprises 100
Barbadoes,, at 325. to 425. for grainy ; 110
hhds. Antigua„ at 335. 6d. to 375. 6d. ; 1,500 bags
Benares, at 375. to 38s. 6d. • and 1,100 bags,
Madras, at 31s, per cwt. The sales in Molasses
consist of 400 puns. Barbadoes, at 17s. from the
quay ; and 70 puns. St. Lucia, at 15s. 6d. per ewt.
50 puns. Trinidad Rum have realised 2s. 9d. per
proof gallon from the quay. The Tea market wears
a firmer appearance, but operations are limited,
pending the delivery of the China letters ; common
sound Congou 11d. per lb. in partial demand.
There has again been a speculative demand for
Rice, a cargo (500 tons) of Arracanhavingbeen sold
for the Continent at 11s. 3d., floating conditions,
and 9,000 bags to arrive at lls., besides 500 bags
on the spot at the same price, and 600 bags broken
Bengal at its. per cwt. 150 bags Saltpetre sold
at 265., and 275. 6d. for 8-1- and 51 per cent. re-
fraction. 600 bags Sago Flour, to arrive, at 205.6 d.
per cwt., and 80 cases Castor Oil at 4d. per lb.
WooL.-The business of the week has not been
animated, which may be accounted for by the affairs
in the East assuming a more unsettled aspect, and
the increasing firmness in the money market,
together with the approaching sales, which com-
mence here to-morrow, and will continue until
Monday next, for which buyers are holding back.
About 14,000 bales will be offered at this series,
being the largest sales ever held here, consisting
chiefly of East India, Turkey, Portugal, Peruvian,
Russian, Buenos Ayres, and Egyptian. With the
present aspect of affairs generally, the result of
these sales are not expected to be very encouraging,
though there is no very particular, decline in prices
looked for,