The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-04 00:00:00

"The banks of the dark-rolling Danube,"

and the honest Turks, is a bit of relief from these double-
dealing soi-disant Christians. Oxim PA.CHA. has strength-
ened the force at Kalafat, by reinforcements from St. Sophie
and Widdin, to 50,000 and 150 pieces of cannon, and Col.
DIED, of the French army, has been made general com-
manding the forward movement by which this large force
will be thrown upon Bucharest and the rear of the Rus-
sians who have so rashly rushed across the river. Let us
wish them good speed. As to the Vienna telegraph, it is
keeping up its character by inventing all sorts of stuff
about Russian fleets that are always coming out of Sebas-
topol, but vanish into thin air on their exit. Its last
exploit is to tell us that the English and French fleets
cannot get out of Beicos Bay, where they have been lying
for two months in inglorious idleness, " for want of coal."
Tis is a good joke ; and they came back to that very
station on the: 22nd of January last, for the convenience
of meeting the numerous coal-laden tenders that lay there,
" to warm the good old nose" of old DUNDAS, who has not
had his steam up since. I hope, as old Lord Durzcalf
said when he saw the Dutch Admiral, WysTxrt, bearing
down at Camperdown, " There's the enemy, gentlemen •
he's a hard Winter, so mind you keep up a good fire !"
In the name of woollen nightcaps, gruel, and mustard
foot-baths, how much longer is our, wintering at Beicos
to last ? Old CHARLEY NAPIER has started from Kiel
and gone northward to Kjoge Bay, and therein, it seems
he is off among the half-thawed icefloes to Aland, at the
month of the Gulf of Bothnia, which he means to seize for
Queen. VICTORIA ; and we hope, when it is given up, it will
be to Sweden, from whom the ruthless robber Russia
wrested it in 1809. Aland has a garrison of some two or
three thousand Russians—the German and Danish papers,
of
course, say 8,000. We may expect news from the north
soon.
The advantage of the telegraph was experienced at the
goose Lords late on Friday nighty. House irdneedDEnotretfei
peppering given
to the to 'Ministers b
Mr. DISRAELI on the war answer to Her Majest"sYmanes
It is necessary that the answer shall be yScommuni-
cated to the Sovereign as soon as possible, with great form,
the Lords going to the palace in state, with white staves
and so forth. Lord ABERDEEN did
not know when the
would be pleased to receive their Lordships'
QM
er, and sent off a
_;the noble Earl had scarcely telegraphic message to Buckingham
Palace at midnight on Friday
great coat when a return was made
time to button up his
Monday It was cleverly managed.
saying three o'clock on M
That not very reputable character filthy Duke of PARMA
uc ,
filt lucre" (L ca),
known here twenty Years ag
has been killed by a soldier in
ha house of ill
face with his hunting
he
having struck said soldier in t e
whip. The murderer has not been taken. This occur-
rence, in a country where assassinations are frequent, does
not seem to have aroused much indignatiaonea. mong the.
subjects of the defunct duke. So much for for IT an
It is pleasant to write about good wine, pleasan er some-
times to drink it ; those who have much, or any, in their
bins, had better husband it while they may. In an even-
ing lately, I met some of your real wine men; holders,
one of them especially, an Englishman too, of that good
old-fashioned wine, Madeira, to a prodigious extent. He
knows the value of his Madeira ; he loses much yearly by
its being in dock ; it has been twice to the East Indies,
and there it remains under the cobwebs ; nobody would
buy it at any price. There is a fashion in all things,
said the Madeira merchant, and he kept his wine as I have
said. Ile - . -4-1-.* that the taste of

thirty or forty years since will return, and that his Madeira
will remunerate him after all. There are others in Mark-
lane, and Pudding-lane, Square of Billiter, and Crutched
Friars, where wine merchants most abide, think also in
the same way. At all events, they are going to keep
their wines up to the highest figure. One of the parties
referred to, and just returned from a business and pleasure
run through the wine countries, had drunk his strength-
ening. Xeres in Spain, life-giving Claret and Burgundy in
France, the clear and inspiring wines of heavy Germany—
heavy in everything but their hocks—vinous. The red
wines of Lisbon also. Wherever he went, the vine garden-
ers were pulling up, root and branch, every inch of grape
trunk they could find. Whole sunny mountain sides of
Spain, France, Germany, and Portugal are at this moment
laid waste. The gentle twigs, they say, make excellent
firewood, and the smoke is fragrant—as good as incense.
It is all very fine; bon fires will do capitally in six weeks
after we have begun to smash Russia's pickle tubs, and
stop its game for two or three centuries yet to come ; bat
it must have been a sorrowful sight to see, burning as
brushwood, the tender vine stalk, that erst had aided
life's best blood. A poison—a deadly blight, not under-
stood, has come over it everywhere ; hence, in the countries
mentioned, the old vines are up-rooted—burnt, and new
ones are being planted in their places. The plague is
genre in character, affecting the currants of Zante, &c.
The vine gives no grape of which wine can be made in less
than seven or eight years. But there is a great deal in Eng-
land ? in cellars of the wine countries ? No doubt of it.
But that will not supply the demand long. Brandies also
come in for a share of the deficit; and though last, not least,
in pharmacy and chemistry—super-tartrate of potash—
cream of tartar, made from all unutterable lees of wine
manufactured; this same cream of tartar has already
risen beyond the purchase of common drysalter, or
drugger. Keep your wines and brandies, there will be a
huge rise in prices before long, and, sooth to say, I am
sorry therefor.
A message from the SOVEREIGN to the Houses of Lords
and Commons is at all times an interesting ceremony.
That of Monday was the most imposing of the present
period. The House of Peers was crowded, and the side
galleries were filled with peeresses and their daughters,—
all of them well aware of what was to come. Nor were
they disappointed. A mere trivial message—if, indeed,
one of such a character can proceed from the Palace—is a
matter of more than ordinary interest in parliament. The
bearer of the message to the peers is the LORD CHAMBER-
LAIN in common instances; he appears at the table in the
Windsor uniform—blue with red facings—the latter now,
however, entirely obliterated by a covering of rich gold
embroidery. The Minister bears the white wand of office,
with which he approaches the table. The peers, who have
hitherto been sitting in a free and easy style, some wear-
ing their hats, others uncovered, all assume the latter
mark of respect. The same course of proceeding is
adopted in the lower house, but with much less of
decorum ; for, if any ten or a dozen members should
happen to be hatted when the message is brought in,
there is grand confusion, and "Hats off; hats off," re-
sounds from all parts of the house with as much fervour,
strength of lungs, and absence of ceremony, as if the
sounds were uttered in the gallery of a minor theatre, or
at the Old Bailey when a criminal comes out at eight
o'clock on a Monday morning. On the present occasion,
HER MAJESTY'S faithful Commons behaved as usual.
HER MAJESTY'S declaration of war was received with
marked attention from both houses.

It gives me much satisfaction, and it has surprised me,
that Mr. Justice TALPOURD has left £30,000 to his bereft
widow and family. Those who best knew the late able,
amiable, and accomplished judge, did not anticipate so
mueh. It is usual, when the Morning Post announces
the death of a scion of a distinguished house, to add that
"the following families are in consequence placed in mourn-
ing,—so and so." I can testify that the sons of literature,
from Punch upwards, are all clad in mourning for TAL-
FOTTED.

One of the most elegant yet appropriate structures in
the metropolis is the new Stock Exchange : it forms a fine
contrast to the outré character of most of the modern
public buildings at the west end. The members of the
Stock Exchange are going to improve their manners,
especially as regards their future treatment of strangers,
who, heretofore, when they unluckily found themselves
within the precincts of " Omnium," ran the risk of being
nearly killed,—the hat of the unsuspecting interloper
being first knocked over his eyes, to the ruin, nearly, of the
optics ; the entire ruin of the hat, certain damage to the
nose, and then the casualties : item, a dislocated collar bone;
item, a broken arm ; item, a broken rib; item, all garments
torn to shreds. This is no fancy's sketch. " Young man,"
said a worthy alderman and member of the Stock Ex-
change, to a gawky lad with several yards of gold chain
about his chest, "young man, this is no place for you; go
out as fast as you can." He did not regard the good advice,
and was " bonnetted." There is to be no more of this ;
not that strangers are to be allowed to roam through the
new sanctum at will. Visitors are to be admitted brought
in by a member, but no tarrying; the "secrets of the
prison-house" might else be disclosed. The public can
have no cause to find fault with the arrangement.

The Opera season began on Saturday night as brilliant
as possible. Every seat was occupied. The opera was not
Italian opera, however, and therein was a drawback to the
habitue. Beyond the epic overture- o William Tell, all
else is declamation, neither Italian, nor French, nor Ger-
man, and certainly not English ; but with the unrivalled
artistes employed, and the elaborated instrumentation of
the score, there was enough to gratify all, but the perhaps
over fastidious. There is a good subscription for the sea-
son, which is only to run forty-six nights ; the shortest I
remember. A vast number of stars among the visitors
will be absent, and I am afraid the omnibus box will pre-
sent a mournful gap. It did not so on Saturday evening
—nearly the whole heap that used to occupy it,
like as many "riant hidalgos," being off to fight before
even a second Saturday shall have come round.
ALBONI, the greatest contralto in the world, evidently
has no friends. She may strain her voice to the crack of
it —no, not so bad, but to the crack of doom—she must be
contented to be the queen of contralti. But oh ! genius
of pipes and strings ! the musician's toast—she has deter-
mined to sing only in soprani parts. Matchless as Arsace,
she will be simply ridiculous in the imperial purple of
Semiramide. Has she, indeed, no friend to council her
from this conduct? It would appear she has not. This
is the reason ALBoNI is not in the programme this
season.

COMMERCIAL ti• MONETARY NEWS

MONDAY NIGH=.

THE week seems to have been one of panic, for
the cause of which it may be difficult to account ;
as although it may be attributed to the official
declaration of war with Russia, such an event had
been so long anticipated as to form no sufficient
grounds for extraordinary alarm. All descriptions
of public securities fell much below their real
value, and it was anticipated that the Bank
Directors would raise the rate of discount. Thurs-
day, however, passed over without any change
being made, and public confidence began slowly to
recover • but it is hardly anticipated that the
funds will; go much higher until some definitive
opinion can be formed as to the probabilities for
the future. The Bank Returns, on Friday, show
an increase in the circulation to the extent of
nearly half-a-million, and a decrease in the stock
of bullion of only £193,557. The arrivals of specie
during the week amounted to nearly £BOO,OOO,
principally in gold, and there have been two or
three arrivals since. The exports are supposed to
amount to £300,000, so that the next account will
probably show an increase.
The war with Russia being now apparently
inevitable, though its nature and duration are
beyond all probability of reasonable conjecture, its
possible effect upon commerce is still open to com-
ment. If we were to judge simply by the experi-
ences of the last war, the most gloomy forebodings
might be indulged in of its disastrous effects, not
only upon our foreign trade, but also upon monetary
affairs ; but this conclusion would be by no means
a just one, for several reasons. In the last war,
notwithstanding our brilliant naval victories, we
had not undisturbed controul over the ocean, but
our mercantile fleets required the protection of
armed convoys, a necessity at all times difficult
and dangerous, involving delay and expense, but
ill suited to the requirements of the present
state of commerce. Of little value would lib the
sailing qualities of our boasted clipper-ships, if
their wings were clipped in order to keep pace
with slowing-going vessels, so that all might
share the advantage of convoy. Now, however,
the war is confined to the comparatively insignifi-
cant localities of the Baltic and the Black Seas,
each efficiently blockaded by a powerful fleet, while
itncsia. being our only enemy, our merchant ves-
sels may roam the oP.an with little or nothing to
fear from cruisers or foes or. any lAnd_
cir-
cumstance, of itself, will tend in a considerable
degree to diminish the inconvenience or hindrance
to commerce from active hostilities, as, with the
exception of the trade with Russian ports—which,
as we showed last week from official documents,
as of no very great extent—our mercantile trans-
ictions with the rest of the world need not be
interrupted. Our exports to Russia are very
small in amount, and it is our supplies of Hemp
and Tallow which will be chiefly interfered with,
although means will no doubt be found, notwith-
standing the war, to compensate for these. The
more important consideration, however, is, as to the
effect of the war on monetary affairs • and if we
may judge by the panic last week in public securi-
ties, the danger appears to have been considerably
overrated. We are not now, as formerly, engaged
in a struggle with the rest of Europe, and squan-
dering immense sums to subsidise unwilling and
inefficient allies, but lending our support to other
powerful States, each of itself almost sufficient for
the task, but together invincible, without reference
to • the doubtful policy pursued by the German
Powers. The maintenance of an ample contingent,
well appointed, has shown, by the slight addition
to the estimates already incurred, how much may
be done with prudent economy ; and the resources
of Great Britain are ample to accomplish consi-
derably more than has already been done, without
any very great pressure. Should circumstances,
however, occur to call for still further aid, and
Russia find support where strict neutrality was
promised, the calls upon the Exchequer may be
extended, and still leave Great Britain free from
any serious ground for apprehension. The recent
panic, it would appear, has been caused by fears