The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-05-17 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

Two or three hundred pounds out of Jolts BULL'S
pocket is not much in the picture way ; it is being made
a fool of ! If a ZURBARAN was wanted for the Gallery,
why not bid against the KING of PRUSSIA'S man of busi-
ness, who bought a beautiful bit, by that master, in his
unmistakeable clear manner, for about half the money
we have paid for the treacle-daub referred to ?
Of mere chit-chat in decent society, towards the close
of the week, Sir ROBERT PEEL and BERNAL OEBORNE'S
shooting at each other in nubibus, that is, in imagination,
has afforded a little scope ; according to that foul-mouthed
hag rumour, the two lads were down in the Essex marshes
like a couple of donkeys,—nothing of the sort. There
was nothing said of BERNAL OSBORNE by Sir BOBBY
which, on the question at issue, could have provoked the
bile of a batrachian—a frog, about the coldest piece of
materialism Professor OWEN and your correspondent are
acquainted with. PEEL and OSBORNE are bricks both,
though on the opposite side of the house. I hope your
gracious readers will excuse my too frequent use of the
architectural symbol. The gentlemen named are per-
fectly unlike each other in manners, habits, and education,
except that they are both " spicy." I have known the
whig OSBORNE tear up the card of a foolish antagonist
full twenty years ago, without infringing the laws of
honour, and knowing he might have my advice or
pistols, if he wanted either, for we were both at the

•
same place at the same time. Then for Sir ROBERT
PEEL, he is very " loud." This phrase now has super-
seded " fast," though it has nothing to do with high words
or loud talking, both the most abominable things under the
sun. The present Sir ROBERT is by no means so quiet as
his father, even when of the same age ; I don't think he is
•

so well educated, but he is a fine dashing fellow, taking
after his mother, Lady PEEL, a common occurrence for a
first child. The late Sir ROBERT, as we all know, was
called spitefully Orange PEEL ; the present baronet is
dark-complexioned, with a moustache to match, appa-
rently more cared for than his immortal part. Sir ROBERT
is the man Count D'ORSAY was—nobody can come near
him in fashion ; GEORGE WOMBWELL is old enough to be
his father, and snappish enough to be placed among the
canine curiosities of the Zoologicals, still he is a prime
creature ; ADOLPHUS FITZCLARENCE is growing careful ;
Lord ASHBURTON, strong and healthy, finds he must be
quieter, seeing he has to support the gravity of the
second baron's coronet ; and TOM DUNCOMBE is now
never to be seen in the same heap either in om-
nibus-box or on the Mall ; JAMIE MACDONALD,
with his silver locks, and moustache and whiskers
black as " Nox and Erebus," with his confr re,
the smart soldier and smart man, H.R.H. the DUKE of
CAMBRIDGE, are all we have left. Sir ROBERT PEEL
shewed much feeling for his father's memory in scarcely
lifting the blinds of the town mansion until the other day.
I have not seen him lately at the opera, trying to get into
his box, with a red tie about his throat. The box-keeper
sarred him right by refusing his admission,and reminding
him where he was. While on the subject of good man-
ners, let me add, that since Count D'ORSAY and his
sagacious poodle—the latter made immortal by LANDSEER
—have gone the way of all flesh, Sir ROBERT might have
his drive without the French article peering over the
leathers of his cab, as wise looking as if he were a minister
of the coalition. LANDSEER has been sketching all the
week at Osborne—lots of new subjects, beastly and birdly
of course. His old dad died lately, close upon ninety.
He beat me at bagatelle not long before. How delightful
to hear the old cock crow ; but such a bore to talk to—
he was so deaf. He mentioned, just before he died, that
"he had a knocking at the door"—a little premonition.
The father of all the LANDSEERS rallied—it was no go—
yes—it was going, gone ! He was a merry creature, Old
LANDSEER. Shortly before he shuffled off the mortal
coil, he kicked up a row with me, because I kindly, but
foolishly, substituted Lafitte for old strong Port, which I
humbly feared might be too potent for the old man.
" Can't cheat me," he said. I looked—felt soft—and
allowed the first LANDSEER to have his way. Bless the
name! The finest portrait of modern times was that of
Old LANDSEER, by his son, in the Academy last year.
The admirers of the beautiful in nature had a treat of
rare excellence furnished forth at the Horticultural
Society's Gardens, Chiswick, on Saturday. The elite
of the fashionable warld was present, if such a phrase be
admitted, seeing the Duke of DEVONSHIRE—the near
neighbour of the gardens—was absent, being at present ill
with his annual visitor, hay fares. The flowers were
transcendantly beautiful, and varied in the extreme.

" Each
Vied with its fellow plant in luxury
Of dress."
But, alas ! they were chiefly stove and hot-house. The
day was fine, at least as fine as a hot 81111 and apiercing east
wind would allow it. However, it was a splendid change
from the rain, hail, wind, and storm of thunder and
lightning of most previous exhibitions in the same spot,
when satin shoes were metamorphosed on pretty feet into
ancle-jacks of sand and slush. I was much gratified to
notice such a vast combination of foreign specimens, of the
family of Orchidece especially; some of our old English
flowers I was even still more gratified to observe not
only not despised and rejected, but in the place of honour.
"Oh, my love is like the red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June."
So runs one of the loveliest of Scotia's songs. Though
we have not yet had June, we have the roses. Cape and
other heaths called Ericas were in abundance, of almost
every colour and size. Magnificent, doubtless, but
methought not half so beautiful as our own dear old
mountain heather. Foolish association of ideas—made up
of base recollections of boyhood—playing truant and other
mischiefs ! There is a peculiar interest attached to the
exotic flowery families. Time is within the remembrance
of not very old gardeners when we had scarcely a flower.
except in the greenhouse of the rich and curious, that was
not of old English rearing. Now, by the last twenty
years' exertions of the Horticultural Society and others,
we havo hundreds of new specimens, gathered by travellers
in all parts of the world, two of the chief of whom, named
DOUGLASS and CUNINGHAM, Scottish lads, trained to
such pursuits, were sent abroad to " botanize" under the
auspices of the society. The specimens new to science
sent home by these young men were wonderful, and are
now to be found in every part of the United Kingdom.
But the gatherers have literally gone to their " long
homes." Dounr,Ass was wandering through the woods
in the Sandwich Islands, picking up a plant here, another
there, and unwittingly fell headlong into a pit-fall made
for the capture of wild bulls, one of which was at the
bottom, and, mad by captivity, gored the helpless botanist
to death !

The chief company at the Horticultural Gardens left
before six o'clock, scant time to drive to town, dine, and
dress for the Opera,—the first night of VERDI'S Ripoletti.
I have already given 'VERDI'S character as a composer of
Italian opera ; he knows the art of construction well
enough ; he is a good grammarian ; master of instru-
mentation ; knows which instruments should " come in"
in such and such places, and give effect to such and such
phrases ; he has a keen eye—say ear—to effect ; his suc-
cession of chorus, solo, and concerted piece of all sorts,—
snatch appropriate, of recitative,—all are there correct, in
their proper places—methodical ; a critic with learning,
without heart, cannot find fault. If the ingredients of
grand opera enumerated above are there, what the deuce
else do you want ? Mens divinior / In his new opera,
VERDI has done wrong ; whether owing to laziness or
affectation, he gives no overture,—a few bars—mediocre—
the curtain rises. A vile fault, VERDI. There is more in
the construction of such overtures as those to Don
Giovanni, Semiramide, Tancredi, and Barbiere,
shadowing forth most musically the whole story and scope
of the work to follow,—than is to be found in a century of
Rigoletti. In the new opera, however, VERDI now and
then gives a gleam of melod; ; he feels that something of
the sort ought to be there, 'but no sooner is the tympa-
num conscious of this. than its unhappy owner is driven
into a fit by sound and fury. Rigoletti is VERDI'S best
work—there are two or three good bits in it ; MARI() and
RONCONI, indeed all the artists—for there was no shuf-
fling—ably vindicated the maestro; and the management
has lavishly mounted the opera. The house was a galaxy.

COMMERCIAL AND MONETARY NE [t S.

MONDAY NIGHT.
THE maiden financial operation of Mr. GLAD-
STONE, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, for reducing
the interest of the National Debt, does not appear
to have been as successful as was anticipated. His
plan was the compulsory conversion of the South
Sea and other three-per-cent. annuities, to the
amount of about Ten Millions, into three new kinds
of stock, severally distinguished as £3 10s. per
cent., £2 10s. per cent., and Exchequer Bonds
bearing interest at £2 15s. per cent., with the ad-
dition of accepting a further voluntary conversion
of other stock limited to Thirty Millions in the two
last-named descriptions. It was believed that the
plan would meet with general favour, as during the
discussion the funds maintained their value ; but
within the last few days they have been slightly de-
pressed, and, notwithstanding the publicity which
has been given to the Finance Minister's scheme, it
has been very coldly responded to, and, for the
present at least, must be considered a manifest
failure. Up to Saturday night the whole amount of
the new stocks which had been accepted were :
£3 10s. per cent. Stock £47,074 Bs. 6d.
£2 10s. ditto 1,193,456 16 6
Exchequer Bonds

Total £1,244,031 ss.
The last item is but a miserable fraction of an issue
which it was deemed requisite to limit to Thirty
Millions, so great was to be the demand for it, and
shows the reed on which they leant, when the Minis-
terialists concluded that they had secured in Mr.
GLADSTONE the fountain of financial wisdom.
Another point worthy of observation is, that by far
the greatest preponderance of choice is given to the
£2 los. per cent. stock, which was the most ob-
jected to, on the ground that it increased the nominal
capital of the National Debt, and thereby rendered
future reduction or extinction snore difficult of
operation. Money during the last week has not been
so easy, and as the returns from the Bank of England
show an decreasing stock of Bullion, notwithstanding
the continued receipts of gold, it is evident that the
excess of imports over exports is having a sensible
• effect upon the balance of trade, as is further shown by
the unfavourable state ofthe rates of foreign exchange.
It has so long been the practice to attribute all our
commercial prosperity and industrial activity to
Free-trade policy, that it was difficult to disabuse
the public mind of an impression so strenuously
persisted in; but the truth is every day becoming
more apparent, that while to the gold discoveries in
California, and especially Australia, may be attri-
buted the great impetus which has been given to our
home trade, the same cause has operated to miti-
gate, if not avert, the monetary disarrangement and
commercial distress which would inevitably have
resulted from excessive importations, had there been
no counteracting influence. Some elaborate state-
ments have recently been published of the yield of
gold in Australia, from which it appears that in the
year ISSI it amounted to £1,105,825, while during
the year 1552 it had increased to £12,440,199, cal-
culating at the Mint price of £3 17s. 10 (.1. per
ounce. The same authority states that the pros-
pects for the future are equally good ; for, although
there may not be the same extraordinary discoveries
of huge nuggets, the reports of which gave such an
impetus to emigration, the steady application of
scientific skill will more than probably yield an
ample return.

'the manufacturers still pertinaciously cling to
their desponding opinions of the Cotton trade, if
the Manchester Guardian may be received as the
organ of this important interest. But, in spite of
their dolorous complaints, and their adherence to
the advice not to purchase more than required for
immediate consumption, they are compelled to admit
that demand and prices still keep up, and that after
all the warnings about excessive supply, in order to
alarm the Liverpool holders, the stock of Cotton has
considerably diminished, and it may yet be a ques-
tion whether it will be sufficient for the increasing
consumption. The subject in dispute has been
simply as to the difference between supply and
demand, as affecting future prices, and while the
manufacturers, for their own interests, have been
taking the extreme view on one side, the holders in
our market have refused to take the alarm so inge-
niously raised, but have steadily maintained their
ground, and present circumstances appear fully to
justify the wisdom of such a course, and to lead to the
inference that the manufacturers have overshot their
market. In connection with the Cotton trade a new
subject of difference has arisen in what are called the
new terms for arranging the frauds on the buyers of
falsely packed Cotton. By the old system all
sticks, stones, and other rubbish, fraudulently placed
in bales, were returnable to the importer at the price
paid for them. On the suggestion, however, of the
American Chamber of Commerce, of Liverpool, and
with the concurrence of the Directors of the Cham-
ber of Commerce, and the Commercial Association,
of Manchester—all able authorities it may be sup-
posed—it was determined by the Cotton Brokers'
Association, of Liverpool, that all returns shall
either be replaced by an approved quality, or paid
for at the prices of the day when the return shall
take place. This arrangement has been objected
to, on the grounds, as stated by the Allanchester
Guardian, that if the market should rise, the buyer
will hardly trouble himself to send back an inferior
Cotton which has become worth almost as much as
will be allowed to him, and if the market should
fall, the buyer will receive back less than he paid.
Such an objection shows more strongly the desire
to make a complaint than any sound reason for it.
If the buyer receives less than he bargained for, by
the false packing, the only equitable remedy is to
replace the deficient weight of good Cotton by an
equal quantity of the same quality, or, as is pro-
posed, to repay him a sum at which he could re-
place it for himself at the market price of the day.
By this mode the buyer hap substantial justice, and
is left altogether independent of fluctuations in
value, which is thus thrown upon the seller. So
far from relaxing the stringency of rules affecting
such transactions, the new arrangement tends
rather to increase it, and, no doubt, will operate in
this respect to the advantage of the buyer.
The return from the Bank of England, for the
week ending the 7th of May, gives the following
results, when compared with the previous week :
Public deposits .. £ 4,265,469; Increase £331,147
Other deposits .. .. 12,201,614 ; Decrease 721,006
Rest .. 3,146,809 ; Increase 25,822
On the other side of the account—
Government securities £13,221,3b2 ; the same as before.
Other securities .. 13,608,166 ; Increase 101,421
Notes unemployed .. 8,274,393 ; Decrease 410,015
The amount of notes in circulation is £23,469,845,
being an increase of £345,290 ; and the stock of
bullion in both departments is £18,225,221, shov-
ing a decrease of £129,273, when compared with
the preceding return.

ISSUE DEPARTMENT.
Notes issued'.. £31,744,210 Govrnt. Debt.. £11,015,100
Other securities 2,984,900
Gold coin & bu1n.17,725,086
I Silver bullion .. 19,154

£31,744,240

£31,744,210

BANKING D
Prop.'s capita1.X14,553,000
Rest 3,146,809
Public deposits. 4,265,469
Other deposits . 12,201,614
7-day, &c. bills. 1,418,032

£35,584,924