The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-01 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 1853.

the Court at Windsor a little time ago. So far good ; but
Mr. CHARLES KEAN sustains Macbeth! I may not—
shall not—say one word to the prejudice of this gentleman
and scholar ; he is, moreover, one of my earliest play-
actor acquaintances; he aims well, but misses; has true
devotion to his fallen art, is in possession of a large for-
tune, which he lavishly lays out in having his dramas
mounter! in style never surpassed even by MaCREADY,
and he went far into a fortune in this way. CHARLES
KEAN, :however, is only a melodramatic interpreter of
classical plays. His Hamlet, here and there, goes
beyond mere mechanism ; but, ah me ! don't men-
tion Macbeth. It is also lamentable, even in these
degenerate days, that CHARLES KEAN'S gifted wife—
she of the silver voice—the Rosalind,—the matchless in a
hundred plays, where the tender, the lovely, the warm,
the devoted, the rincere, the sweet, the elegant, in every
relation of life—child—lover—wife—unfortunate it is that
she should essay, rather than eschew the great chara:Aer
of Lady Macbeth. I noticed some liberties taken by
CHARLES KEAN' with WILLIAM SHAKsperte. Daring !
Liberties of transposition. Omit if you will, CHARLES,
but don't alter " sweet WILLIAM'S" intents. Every
stranger in London,—yea, every one at all imbued,—
blessed with a love of SHAKSPERE, ought to go and witness
Macbeth at the Princess's. If the visitor be at all musi-
cally given, especially if attached to ecclesiastical music,
the manner in which this department—such an odd word
here—is rendered will gratify. Bless us ! WILLIAM
SHAKSPERE swallowed upby MATTHEWLOCKE! At Drury.
lane the house has been very shy. No wonder. This
theatre has been so—with exceptions " few and far between"
—every night since ELLtsTos, " Prince of Liars ;" KEAN,
the elder, CHARLES YOUNG, JAMES WALLACK, and half-
a-score of others of " mark and likelihood," appeared
on one night,—a common occurrence. Then the bucks
thought nothing of turning out seven shillings and six-
peuce each for admission : the pit was always too crowded,
unless half-a-dozen nnadcaps—yet merry and wise, after
" chopping" it at one of the taverns in the " loved obscu-
rity" of the neighbouring court, roughed it, and got
possession of the seat immediately behind the fiddlers.
Halcyon days—or rather nights ! The people at HER
MAJESTY'S Theatre have not yet made up their minds
how to proceed. They are to open, and that right early.
I am surprised that such knowing ones as are to be found
in the Committee of Management, with BENJAMIN
LUMLEY, a decent lawyer enough, at their head, and
deeply interested, should have imagined for a moment
that Mr. CARDWELL, your old friend, was so green as to
sanction a bill such as the Opera one, limiting liabilities
to the amount of money paid. I know the Government
was prepared to give immediate consent to a most liberal
measure—perhaps on account of the prestige of the house,
but, as I have hinted, Mr. CARDWELL, the mouth-piece
on the occasion, considered the measure untenable.

COMMERCI4L AND MONETARY NETT S.

MONDAY NIGHT.
THE weekly returns of the Bank of England show
only a small diminution in the stock of bullion,
and no alteration having been made with reference
to the minimum rate of discount, the public funds
maintained their firmness until the receipt of news
respecting the war in ;Montenegro caused them to
give way a mere trifle. This serves to show the
general confidence in the soundness of monetary
affairs, and the little cause for apprehension as to
the maintenance of commercial credit, arising from
the bona fide nature of the great bulk of mercantile
transactions. With reference to the probable effect
of recent gold discoveries upon our future com-
mercial operations—a question which is likely to
become of some importance—we have received a
recently published work, entitled, " Remarks on
the production of the Precious Metals, and on the
depreciation of Gold," by Monsieur Michel Cheva-
lier, translated by D. Forbes Campbell. The
translator appears to have taken great interest in
the views of his author, which he has amplified by
notes and addenda. He enters into some elaborate
calculations, in order to show the probable quan-
tities of gold and silver at present in use ' • and
upon this supposition endeavours to found an
hypothesis as to the effect of a large addition to the
supply of gold ; the result he arrives at being a
general advancement in the value of all other com-
modities in a corresponding degree to the presumed
depreciation in the value of gold. It would be little
service to follow him through his speculative cal-
culations ; because, until it can be shown that gold
is actually used as an equivalent for other commo-
dities in commercial exchanges, they have really
very little bearing on the question. To suppose
that a pound is a quantity of gold dependent upon
its presumed value, varying according to supply
and demand, as in other commodities, is altogether
erroneous. A. pound troy weight of gold of 22
carats fineness is coined into the nominal value of
.Cl 6 1 10. ouch orwaroign, thoroforo,
presents 123'274 grains of standard gold, whether
the quantity be large or small, and forms the stand-
ard upon which every other commodity acquires a
nominal value. If this metal, therefore, formed the
universal medium of exchange, any large additions
to the supply for ordinary uses would but slightly
affect the nominal value of other commodities
arising from the additional facilities for purchasing.
In actual commerce, however, gold has but little to
do with business, which must therefore be less
sensibly affected. In the great majority of transac-
tions, whether foreign or domestic, between mer-
chants and traders, and even many consumers, we
have virtually a paper currency in the . general
use of bills and bankers' cheques ; and confining our
attention to this country, if upon a rough calculation
we compare the annual amount which actually
changes hands with the presumed value of gold in cir-
culation, we shall find that the latter forms but a small
proportion of our circulating medium. If we take
the proportion at five per cent, and argue upon
the hypothesis that the quantity of gold being
doubled in amount, it will diminish in value in the
same ratio, its effect upon the value of other com-
modities would only be to the extent of two and a
half per cent.: a difference too trifling to excite
any serious apprehension. Too much stress has
been laid upon the effects of the enormous discoveries
in Mexico and Peru upon the revenue of Spain in
the seventeenth century, but it should be recol-
lected that at that time the science of commerce
was but little known and practised, and the pre-
cious metals entered far more largely than at pre-
sent into all mercantile transactions. Now, how-
ever, these discoveries serve to enrich the settlers
in California and Australia, and by so doing create
more profitable markets for the products of the
industry of the old countries. In this respect both
parties must benefit, and we may safely banish any
of those fears in which some writers on tile subject
have indulged, of the sovereign being reduced in
value to ten shillings instead of twenty.
The reports from the cotton manufacturing dis-
tricts show a dulness in most descriptions of lower
qualities of goods, being a slight reactionary move-
ment after the recent activity, and arising, in a
great measure, from apprehensions of increased
supplies of the raw material, As, however, there is
a considerable improvement in actual consumption,
arising from new markets for exportation and the
more general employment at home, it is not be-
lieved that the depression can be of long continu-
ance, notwithstanding the additional supplies. But
at these times it is not unusual for spinners to
withhold from purchasing beyond their immediate
necessities, and as their stocks are not large, they
must soon resume their purchases in order to
keep pace with their consumption. From Leicester
and Nottingham, and from the woollen districts,
the reports are of continued activity in almost all
descriptions of goods; and this cannot fail to ope-
rate beneficially upon our staple manufacturers,
notwithstanding their present complaints of dulness.

The Return from the Bank of England for the
week ending the 19th February gives the following
results when compared with the previous return :
Public deposits .. £6,738,059; Increase £498,762
Other deposits .. 12,081,941 ; Increase 69,363
Rest .. .. 3,313,109 ; Decrease 815

On the other side of the account—
Government securities £13,619,393 ; Decrease £29,207
Other securities .. 14,177,702 ; Increase 386,944
Notes unemployed .. 9,667,595 ; Increase 172,970
The amount of notes in circulation is £22,080,690,
being a decrease of £224,395 ; and the stock of
bullion in both departments is £18,3 14,61 7, show-
ing a decrease of £8 7,74 3 when compared with
the previous return.

ISSUE DEPARTMENT

Notes issued .. £31,748,285

Govrnt. Debt.. £11,015,100

Other securities 2,984,900
Gold coin & bu1n.17,729,131
Silver bullion .. 19,154

£31,748,285

£31,748,285

BANKING D
Prop.'s capita1.£14,553,000
Rest. 3,313,109
Public deposits. 6,738,059
Other deposits . 12,081,941
7-day, &c. bills. 1,344,913