The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-03-14 00:00:00

Enlistment Act, has reference chiefly to the navy, and
may be taken as a warning to yachtsmen—a warning at
present altogether unnecessary ; for there is not an owner
of a yacht throughout the breadth and length of the land
(qy. water), who would not put both his craft and men at
the QUEEN'S disposal—this is known—were they needel,
which they are happily not. Instances, and glaring ones,
have occurred, where men-of-war's men have been
" ,educed" to yacht service by easier, cleaner, and safer
work, larger pay, and better provisions. One remarkable
case was that of the late Marquis of SLIGO—as loyal a
subject as ever breathed in Ireland, and as hearty a fellow—
a twenty stone man—as ever quaffed claret in England, and
who, before he died, was one of the best governors that ever
resided in Jamaica; he was found guilty of this act; he
had a trim yacht, and wouldn't have a lubber aboard. His
taste got him imprisonment. But a great change has come
over, not the hearts, but the minds of men since Lord
Smao's memorable offence against the government. Lord
ELLENBOROUGH, one of the clearest-headed peers in the
house, made some excellent remarks on the pay and con-
dition of the British sailor, towards the end of the week.
Your readers may depend that a finer, a younger, a stouter
and stronger, aye, or a more loyal set of men never went
afloat in the cause of England than have just sailed.
The farewell dinner to Sir CHARLES NAPIER, at the
Reform Club, was in the best possible taste, apart from
the mere creature comforts of the table. To refer
to the speeches would be a waste of time ;
suffice
it that Sir CHARLES never looked smarter—this is not
saying much, by the by—in his life. PALMERSTON cer-
tainly gave him scope enough ; for the noble HoME
SECRETARY laughed pretty well during the whole delivery
of his address,—a pleasant characteristic which was not
thrown away upon the admiral, who laughed and tumbled
out his granite sentences in the broadest Scotch,—if lam
any judge of that vernacular,—save and except when he
was compelled to touch on the sad death of his favourite
son on board the ill-fated Avenger, some years since. The
admiral has been "up and doing" everywhere ; but he
nearly lost the honour, they say, of paying his humble
duty to the QUEEN at the levee. He went there in grand
fig : his uniform nicely touched up, the gold-lace tenderly
brushed with powder, you would almost have thought he
had ordered a new coat for the occasion—but he hadn't.
Just as he was preparing to make his obeisance he received
a message from the Admiralty, commanding his immediate
attendance there ; and I believe, for the first time in his
life, NAPIER appeared in the court-yard of " my lords" in
full dress. With all this parade of dining, there be some
(and good judges, too,) who think the dinners might as
well have stood over till the return.

Death's doings during the past few days have been of a
very marked character in high places. The death of Sir
Jolly CONROY has caused much sorrow and regret in the
Royal Household. Sir JOHN might have been almost looked
upon as the first preceptor of Her Majesty the QUEEN. In
constant attendance on her august mother, Sir Jouzi was
much esteemed by both,—as those may remember who,
upwards of twenty years ago, in the autumn season were
in the habit of visiting that health-promoting place,
Ramsgate, then the favourite resort of the Duchess of
KENT and the Princess VICTORIA.. Sir JOHN was ex-
ceedingly affable in his intercourse with the inhabitants ;
and, when he had to return to London on the business of
his Royal Mistress' Household, he generally took a berth
aboard of one of the steamers, and not unfrequently had
rain all the way to London-bridge. On those occasions he
took a social hand at cards, with anybody so inclined, for
6d. a corner, just to give zest to the pastime. During one
of those visits King LEOPOLD landed at the port of Rams-
gate rather unexpectedly. Sir JOHN had had the royal
carriages in waiting on the pier, but withdrew them, seeing
no appearance of his Belgic Majesty ; shortly after he was
steamed up, landed, and driven to the royal residence in a
miserable creaking "fly," much to his own amusement
and that of the inhabitants. The death of the Marquis of
LONDONDERRY is regretted by persons of all shades of
politics—soldier and civilian. In the demise of this
dauntless soldier, we have a most remarkable example of
the vanity of all things sublunary. Heroic and manly,—
chivalrous to a fault—he was fidgetty about trifles, even
in the pit of the Opera-house, when gentlemen strolled in
that parterre. He was fond of state. A very mal-apropos
paragraph appeared lately in a Dublin paper, to the effect •
that Lord CASTLEREAGH, the present marquis, was piqued
at Lord ABERDEEN for not calling him to the House of
Peers in his father's lifetime, according to promise. This
raised the ire of the now marquis, who publicly denied
(which was unnecessary) that ever such application was
made. The late marquis was very deaf and near-sighted,
which led to frequent contretemps in the House of Peers,
such as being pulled to his seat by the coat-tail, when
speaking to a question which had been " over and done
with ;" or addressing the house when the Sovereign was
about to enter, not hearing even the melodious
sound of the silver trumpets. The noble marquis took the
" corrections" of his brother peers like a good child. One
of the finest sights on a review day was to see the marquis
on horseback, in full uniform, and the marchioness—a
capital horsewoman—galloping along the lines, with the
jaunty hussar-jacket gracefully slung over her shoulder.
Two peerages have now fallen into the family. The
death of the learned Dr. DEmsoN, Bishop of Salis-
bury, successor to Dr. BURGESS (the brother of the sauce
man), is another notable event. In the space of two days,
the Coalition Ministers have a bishopric and a colonelcy in
the Guards to give away.

COMMERCIAL di. MONETARY NEWS.

MONDAY NIGHT.

THE near approach of the time when the import-
ant
question will have to be decided whether the
peace of forty years' duration is to be broken, or
the Czar of Russia succumb to the demands of
united Europe, has had a paralysing effect upon
monetary and commercial affairs, and everything of
a speculative character appears to have been in-
definitely postponed. It is true that there have been
fluctuations in the price of the public funds, accord-
ing as the reports of movements abroad have been
deemed to be favourable or otherwise ; but the
changes have been slight, owing in a great measure
to the demand for investment hampering the ope-
rations of speculators for a fall. The returns of
the. Bank of England show a decrease in the stock
of bullion to the extent of £377,262, owing to the
demands from the continent and the necessary
provision for the warlike expeditions. JjKhe other
changes are not of any importance. TM returns
of the Bank of France, up to the 9th instant, show
for the first time, for many months, an increase in
the stock of bullion in that establishment to the
extent of about £450,000. The arrivals of specie
during the week have been about £750,000, of
which above three-fourths was silver, and the
exports have been nearly the same sum, the greater
part being gold to Paris.
Money for commercial purposes has been rather
easier, and nothing having occurred to disturb the
confidence which generally prevails, it is expected
that the bank directors, at their meeting, on Thurs-
day, will reduce the minimum rate of discount from
5 to 41 per cent. Subscriptions for the new
French loan of ten millions are now open, both in
London and Paris, the option being Four-and-a-
, Half per Cents. at 92.50, or Three per Cents. 65.25,
these prices being about 2i per cent. below the
current quotations. The instalments being one-
tenth on subscribing, and the remainder in fifteen
monthly payments.
Business in the manufacturing districts has been
quiet, owing to the disinclination to enter into any
speculative transactions until the effect of the
impending war upon trade and commerce shall be
more correctly ascertained. Under the circum-
stances, business transactions are confined to
demands for immediate consumption, prices remain-
ing with little or no alteration.
_ _

The corn trade has felt the full force of the
recent fine weather so favourable for the young
wheat crop and for fanning operations. The
markets everywhere are declining ; and as arrivals
both of Wheat and Flour continue to be large, with
the promise of very extended importations from
Canada soon after the navigation of the river St.
Lawrence is open, there is no doubt that prices
will go still lower. It is too early to speculate on
the productiveness of the next harvest, but appear-
ances were never more favourable, owing to the
early winter, the heavy snow, and the dry weather
at seed time.-

Our SHIRE MARKET has been very dull and
inactive all week, without any material change in
prices. A momentary decline was produced by a
false rumour circulated on Thursday respecting the
Eastern question, the effect of which, however,
was very transient. We annex this day's prices :
Lancashire and Yorkshire, 66i 11.- 1; Lancaster
and Carlisle, 121 p ; London Stock, 101; ; Sheffield
Stock, 211 ; Midland Stock, solitifill;
Birmingham and Derby, 34 : Dover Stock, 1811-16
1 -I ; York and North Midland, 238 ; Royal In-
surance, lip.
CorroN....The business has been comparatively
dull, owing to the demand being confined to the
actual wants of the trade, and some shipments being
forced on the market, caused prices .to recede
about 1-16 d., chiefly on middling qualities. The
sales for the week, up to Friday, amounted to
41,320 bales, of which 6,140 were on speculation,
and 4,210 for export. TO-DAY, the advices per the
Canada were received, showing diminished receipts
at the southern ports. The market here was more
steady, and prices were firmly maintained, though
we cannot notice any quotable alteration. The
sales to-day were about 6,000 bales. The following
is a comparison of present prices, with those of the
corresponding period last year :

1853. 1854.
New Orleans, middling' 51
fair 6l 6i
Upland, middling si 5 11.16
fair .5 e 6+
PuonrcE.—The markets have presented few
features worthy of notice. Sugar has been in good
demand, at full prices. In Tea, little Join Palm
Oil and Tallow, in good demand.—To-D.t,. Sugar
for refining purposes continues in good `request,
the sales, including Saturday's business, comprising
135 hhds. Antigua, at 345. 3d. to 355. 6d. ; 500
hhds. Demerara, at 325. 9d. to 355.; and 1,900
bags Madras, at 30s. 9d. to 31s. per cwt. There
is nothing to notice in Molasses. Of Rum, 40
Demerara, 37 to 38 per cent. ovenproof, hare