The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-05-20 00:00:00

1, hints pretty plainly

amendment,

. .
veraing the concession made to that country, being
carried through the house, and adopted by the

government

It is into ,at the legislative business of
a great empire should he arrested, and the earnestly
expressed demands of the maiority of that empire
should be delayed, by the furious talk of a few
noisy declaimers, whose sole object is to delay
time, unless indeed they have another object, viz"
to render the British parliament contemptible in,
thousands of foreign visitors now
~tiled in our metropolis. How interesting it
st be to all who look with dhlike upon our con-
_Jon, and our recent policy to be told that for 90
years the whig govern tnent has been kept in power by
" the Irish Brigade !" how instructive it. ought to
be to Ireland herself to be told that a policy that has
ruined her farmers, beggared her gentry, and is ra-
pidly expatriating her labourers, has been carried
out mainly by the instrumentality of a body of men
who publicly glory in having sold themselves to a
party whom they despise!! These inflated patriots
stood calmly by whilst selfish philosophers and
quacks were preparing for their country an abyss
of misery not to be found in any Christian land ;
they are silent now with the spectacle of thiB misery
before their eyes ; and they have been and are silent
because they are not representatives Qf the Irish

aerable tl

eyes of the

stitut

people, but the slaves of a priesthood and a system
which only exist in their plenitude of power and
arrogance where the masses, over which they rule,
are sunk in ignorance, poverty, and degradation.
Twenty years ago it would have been treated by our
very liberal statesmen as ungenerous and unjust to
insinuate that Roman Catholic members could use
the privileges conceded to them for any other pur-
pose than to promote the interests of the entire
community. With what storms of rhetoric he would
have been overwhelmed, who had dared to assert
that the priesthood, and not the constituencies, of
Ireland would dictate the policy and the votes of
her members. Yet for twenty years, we are assured
by the very wise member for Dublin, we have had
an "Irish brigade" sacrificing the industry and capi-
tal of their country to wring from a weak and truck-
ling faction concessions to Popery ; and we have
now that brigade, at the same bidding, declaring
their willingness to plunge Ireland into a scene of
bloodshed and rebellion if the Imperial Parliament
ventures to compel Popery to be loyal to the
throne.

This state of things must have an end. If we
cannot legislate promptly to repel the insolence of
the Pope and his creatures, there are other and
more direct modes to get rid, at least, of their pre-
sence in the country they are insulting and dis-

turbing

WE are really at a loss to know how any journal,
aspiring to be a director of public opinion, or even
content to report actual facts, could have been led
to promulgate such a statement as the following,
which we find in the Manchester Guardian of Satur-
day, headed " from our Liverpool correspondent."
The writer is speaking of last week's panic in the
cotton market :

" This panic, at all events, is entirely local in its cha-
racter ; and is produced by no course of adverse trade at
home or abroad, but solely by raising cotton to an
unnatural price,—and, consequently. it will soon pass
over. In 1825, 1836, and 1847, there was vast over-
trading to India, China, and other places; now the con-
trary is the fact,— j/ anything, we are almost in the
oilier extreme."

"Entirely local !" Singular that the same wish
to realize cotton, which, pushed to an extreme
length last week, might have brought upon the
commercial world so many calamities, has been felt
not only in Liverpool, but in Manchester, in Lon-
don, in Glasgow, and even in the United States of
America ! This panic has been " produced by no
course of adverse trade, at home or abroad." Why,
it is notorious that we have had the very state of
circumstances during the last twelve months, which
the writer says we have not had. With a full
trade, our present stock of cotton, admitting an
increase of imports to the extent of 100,000 bales,
and an increased estimate of the crop in America
of 50,000 bales, would have been little enough for
onr consumption, and prices of the raw material
would not have been found so very "unnatural."
But we have not had a full trade. We have thrown
away the chief dependence of the manufacturer—.
the home market.

And now, with respect to the assertion, that we
have not been overtrading. Our exports of cotton
goods up to April sth, to India, China, and several
other leading markets, have been much more than
in the corresponding period of last year. The two
former markets, it is notorious, have been glutted
with our fabrics ; and the returns of sales have
been miserable. We have been doing a most un-
profitable trade with the United States of America.
There is scarcely a single foreign market just
now which offers a fair prospect of export opera-
tions. Under all these circumstances, is it a very
great wonder that the public, and capitalists espe-
cially, with the question weekly presenting itself
whether the Bank of England is to raise the rate
of discounts, should be afraid of holding a raw
material, the consumption of which they have a
right to suspect has, for the present at least, reached
its maximum ? Such apologies as these for a
declining trade will not do. They merely serve to
throw dust in the eyes of a few weak people, and
to stave off the day when the sensible portion of
the community will set about placing their affairs
upon a more sound and legitimate footing.

Mr. J. J. Lowndes, barrister-at-law, will preside at the
county court during the present sitting.
The Bishop of Chester will consecrate the new Church
for the Blind on Sunday next, after which his lordship
will preach.
A special meeting of the Birkenhead Commissioners
was held on Saturday evening. A report of what took
place will be found in our advertising columns.
The steam-ship Pacific would leave New York on the
10th, and will no doubt arrive early to-morrow. The
splendid new screw steam-ship Lafayette would leave
Philadelphia for this port on the same day.
We understand that the Rev. Henry Carpenter will
commence on Sunday evening next, a course of three
lectures, on the Errors of the Church of Rome. with spe-
cial reference to the Bible and Tradition. The lectures
will be continued each alternate Sunday evening.
TIP- screw steam-ship City of Glasgow arrived out at
Philadelphia on the 3d instant, after au excellent passage
of only 161 days. She encountered very stormy weather
and head-winds during the passage. This vessel was
a Ivertised to leave that city on the 15th instant, and had
a full compliment of passengers engaged.
FREQUENT CommmAt.s.—Yesterday, at the Police-
court, a m=in, for picking pockets, wes committed to
prison for three months, who had previously been simi-
larly punished no fewer than nine times.—A decently
dressed woman, for shoplifting, was committed for three
months, who had before endured alike punishment on ten
different occasions, besides having been discharged about
an equal number of times.
We understand that the Mayor of Leeds, and other
gentlemen from that town, will visit Liverpool to-morrow
to inspect our Town-hall, in order to report to the council
of Leeds as to its arrangements and general character.
. poration of Leeds contemplate the erection of a
erdid new 'Town-hall at a considerable outlay. We
the deputation will be entertained at dinner by
pitable chief magistrate on Thursday evening.
.VATAI. RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—On Saturday afternoon

The enr

rain from Preston to :Mane

,:,ter, on

the Lancasbire and Yorkshire Railway, wr.s approaching
the Pendleton station, (about a mile and a half from
Manchester,) where there is a sharp curve, the engine
ran off the line and turned completely over. The stoker

was thrown from the engine and killed on the spot, by
the engine falling upon him. The driver was dangerously
hurt. Fortunately, the carriages remained upon the
line. and none of the passengers sustained any injury.

THE STIPENDIARY MAGISTItATE.—We wrillerstand that
Mr. Mansfield, who formerly was attached to this circuit,
has accepted the office, render vacant by the death of Mr.
Rushton, at a salary of £lOOO per annum. The learned
entleman has been warmly recommended by Barons
nd Alderson, and several of the other judges, and

we Lave no doubt the appointment will give the greatest
satisfaction. It is the intention to have two courts, one
of which will be presided over by the honorary magis.

Z 031.0 GIC A GA IRDENS.—BA LLET COMPANY.—InacIdi-
)n to the spectacles and other amusements for the sea-

son, which 'have been received with such enthusiastic
applause, t he proprietor introduced last night the celebrated
ballot company of Mons. Le Clerm. which appeared in a
popular semi-scrio belief, cnti;led "Prenez Garde." The
success of Ihe piece was unequivocal ; and we learn that
the entertainments are in future to he diversified by simi-
lar performances and light vaudevilles, a license for the
purpose having been duly obtained.

. .
TFIE CORNWALLIS-STREET BATAS.—We understand
that on Saturday these baths were crowded by persons
anxiou3 to avail themselves of the benefits presented by
the institution. Upwards of £2O was taken during the
day, and in the evening so choked was every corner of the
building by the eager ap; licants that at half past eight it
was deemed necessary to close the doors for the night as
no more could possibly be accommodated. The rnostlu-
dicrous devices were resorted to, to procure towels for the
bathers. The total receipts forthe week were £74. 9s. 101,
and the number of baths were no fewer than 4976.

COURT OF PASSAGE.—This court was opened yester-
day before Charles Crompton, Esq., the learned assessor.
The cause list contains one demurrer, and sixty issues. In
reference to this court, it appears a practice prevails
which operates rather oppressively against gentlemen
summoned as jurors. After the jury has been empanelled,
those not required for that day, but who have attended
their summonses, are detait.ed in courr, much to their
annoyance. This practice is the more loudly com-
plained of, as a course more in accordance with considera-
tion for the time of tradesmen is observed in the criminal
court.

SUICIDE BY A SOLDlER.—Yesterday morning 8 private
soldier belonging to the 28th regiment of foot, named
Thomas Ryan, committed suicide in an eating-home, in
Porter-street. A little before midnight, Mrs. Downey,
wife of the proprietor of the eating-house, entered the
bed room which had been occupied by Ryan on the pre-
ceding right, alarmed at his non-appearance, when the
cause at once appeared by the horrid spectacle of his life-
less corpse; which was suspending from one of the bed-
posts. The body was instantly cut down, and Mr. Stew-
art, surgeon, of Great Howard-street, called in, but his
efforts were ineffectual, the vital spark was extinguished.
An inquest will be held on Wednesday.
CHORLEY WATER WORKS.—O❑ Tuesday the Liverpool
Water Works Company appeared before a committee of
the House of Commons, in opposition to the Chorley
Water Works Money Bill, with an array of five counsel,
witnesses, &c. After hearing objections, the committee
stated that the Liverpool company had no locus standi
for their opposition. The counsel on behalf of the Chor-
ley Water Works Company were not called upon to reply.
One ground of objection alleged by the Liverpool com-
pany was the decrease of population in Chorley, as shown
by the late census.-=Preston Chronicle.—[We believe
that this decision will seriously interfere with the prospect
of the supply of water which Liverpool will obtain from
Rivingtosl, as the inhabitants of Chorley have now, we
are informed, power to obtain an unlimited quantity be-
fore a drop can reach this town.] •

.Atro_4

MR. DUNCAN'S LECTURE YESTERDAY.

(CONTINUATION FROM PAGE 3.)

to Liverpool there would be a panic here. But suppose,
instead of a million ounces of coined sovereigns being ex-
ported, a million ounces of gold plate, equa in purity to
sovereigns, were exported, it would not produce the
slightest disturbance in any part of the country. Nay, if
we were to pack up all the gold plate belonging to wealthy
families in the kingdom, place the articles on board an
American steamer for the express purpose of having them
sunk on the broad Atlantic, not the slightest disturbance
would take place in any of the greet marts of com-
merce. (Loud applause.) What, then, was the in-
ference? We were net inconvenienced because we
sent away wealth in the shape of gold, but because we
sent away our legal tender, we sent away our money. the
instrument of exchange. And when we were told—as we
were by the Times in 1847—that we were a poor nation,
that was why we were suffering. Statisticians tell us
that we have in this country six thoussnd millions of
wealth, but so many sovereigns do not exist upon the face
of the earth. We were told that we were a pauperised
nation, and were driven to extremities, simply because we
had got rid of a few thousand ounces of gold. This he
took to be the most monstrous fallacy that ever was
palmed upon an intelligent people ; and how, he might
be asked, did he account for its existence ? Simply
and solely because the merchants of Liverpool, for
instance, and the merchants of all the other ports
of the country had not permitted their minds to dwell
long enough upon the subject. There was an excellent
remark some time ago in the Liverpool Standard. Gentle-
men it was said were asking whether there would be a good
crop of wheat, of cotton, or of sugar; but none of them
think of asking whether there will he a good crop of
money. (Laughter and applause.) Now, it was a re-
markable thing that although money was the good half
of a bargain, his mercantile audience, who were very
astute and shrewd, and who would be offended if they
were told that they did not look at both sides of a
question, yetlooked at only oneside of this question. There
was one mode of illustrating the subject, which he thought
must come home to the minds of the gentlemen whom
he had the honour to address. lie had frequently corn-
pared our monied system to an inverted pyramid. When
Lord Ripon, formerly Mr. Robinson, was Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Mr. Neatham made a calculation, showing,
that when the country is prosperous, there are 300 mil-
lions sterling of bills of exchange and promissory motes
constantly floating. Now, this was the credit super
structure. On what did it rest? It rested upon the
basis of 30 millions of gold; consequently a million
of gold sustains 10 millions of credit circulation. Knock
away 10 millions of gold, and 100 millions of credit would
fall; take away 20 millions, and 200 millions of credit
fall ; but if they took away 30 millions of gold, (a misera-
ble sum, not more than one-half of our annual taxation,)
the whole country would be reduced to a state of barter ;
there was not a single instrument of exchange by which
we could buy or sell.—(Applause.) Now Mr. Jones
Loyd was a great authority on these subjects—(laughter),
or considered to be so. Unfortunately he had had an
influence most pernicious, in the opinion of the most
competent merchants, on the determinations of the legis-
lature ; but in order that his audience might judge of the
real merits of that gentleman as a reasoner, lie should
just read to them a short extract of the evidence which he
gave before the bank committeeinlS4o, and they could then
decide for themselves, whether a banker coming to such
conclusions was a fit guide to gentlemen extensively en-
gaged, asthey werein tr..de and commerce. If they said that
the answer which he gave to the questions which were put
were rational, then lie certainly must say, that the
opinion which he entertained of Liverpool wisdom would
be much changed. (Laughter.) 11e was asked by the
committee:—" Do you think that the internal trade of
the country should be regulated and maintained by
as steady and equable prices as possible ?" And to this
he answered : " The idea of regulating the trade of the
country by equable prices, I might say so with proper
deference to the committee, seems to me to be nonsense."
Now he denies, they would see, that we ought to have
equable prices; he thinks that we ought to be in a state
of spasm, sometimes very high, sometimes very low; so
that our merchants must indulge no hopes of steady busi-
ness, but become a race of gamblers and speculators.
The next question was :7

" By the Committee.—Have you ever considered what would
be the effect upon the minds of the industrious classes if their
wages fluctuated with the exchanges ; or what would be the
feeling of the internal trading community towards the sole
bank of issue were their stocks to be subjected to sudden
depressions by the sale of foreign stock, or the payment of the
instalment of a foreign loan occasioning temporary depressions
of exchanges ? Mr. Jones Loyd.—l must admit that I have
never reflected upon such topics, because I am quite sure that
if I was to make the attempt I should only lead my own intel-
lect into great confusion, and coins to no satisfactory or useful
result either to myself or to the community."

Now it was impossible that his intellect could be in greater
confusion ; but one thing was certain as a practical result,
that although panics had taken place from 1816 to 1819,
the great panic of 1825, and the panic of 1837, 1839, and
lastly, the panic of 1847,—although these panics, it was
well known, had caused in their aggregate, a greater loss
of property to the merchants of England, than would
pay off the National Debt, yet it was equally certain
that Mr. Jones Loyd had been no sufferer during these
convulsions. (Hear, hear.) The system had been ex-
tremely advantageous to him, and when he said that there
should be no equality of prices in the markets, it would
have been a great advantage if he had told us thnt there
should be no inequality in the rate of discounting bills ;
(applause) for they had it in 1847, upon the evidence of
Mr. William Brown, that the rate of interest not only
rose to 9 per cent., but that there was' a commission of
12 and even 20 per cent. given. These were enormous
sums, which, of course, no legitimate business could pos-
sibly stand. Now, what happened in this year of 1847 ?
According to Mr. Home, a tolerably good calculator, not
less than SCO millions of property was lost to this country.
Why lost ? Because four millions of coined sovereigns
went over to New York. But they came back imme-
diately, and it was simply the internal trade of the
country which produced the calamity. (Hear, hear.)
The lecturer further quoted from the evidence of the go-
vernor of the Bank of England to shew the scarcity of
gold in the coffers at that time, and asked why should the
Bank of England stop payment simply because it could
not control the demand of gold for its notes ? It was
compelled to contract its issues and take the chance of
further demands not being made upon it. Yet such was
the desperate condition of affairs that on the 25th Octo-
ber, afteravast number of West India and other houses had
failed, the government began to relent. It did not
relent till it had seen the sacrifice of some of the
oldest and most experienced merchants in the country ;
but so soon as the danger was imminent, so soon as the
water was rising to the height of the Bank of England,
then Lord John Russell and Sir Charles Wood stepped in
and suspended the act of parliament which had caused the
loss of millions and the ruin of thousands. It was only
when the country was exposed to anarchy and revolution
that the nefarious bill of Peel's, passed in 1844, was sus-
pended. The bill of 1844 had gone on smoothly enough
until it was tried ;—like a new boiler which looked well,
but, so soon as tried by steam, burst, spreading devasta-
tion around. This bill was looked upon by Peel, and
those who followed him, as a grand measure of wisdom ;
but in three years it was a failure, and what did
government do then ? It did an act unparalleled
in baseness. There never was in the history of
the world such a usurious bargain between the First
Lord of a Treasury and a bank establishment. They
said to the Bank of England, " we hold you harm.
less against violating the Act of Parliament, but dont
lend any money unless you get eight per cent. ; and recol-
lect eight per cent. is an enormous profit ; we, the govern.
ment, shall go shares in the transaction." It should be
borne in mind that the Bank of England was simply a
joint stock company, and there never was a more disgrace-
ful compact made. (Applause.) Mr. Duncan next
treated of the " convertibility" of hank notes, showing
that exchangeable would be a better term, for, if
a currency would not exchange for goods, it ceased
to be a currency. He and those who thought with
him were not such blockheads as to say that they
would advocate an inconvertible currency; it was a
contradiction of terms ; but they said this, that the note
should be converted into gold, not at an arbitrary
fixed price, fixed by Act of Parliament.. in defiance of
every principle of free trade, but that it should be ex-
changeable into gold at market price of gold on the day
when the exchange took place. (Applause,) Mr. Duncan
said he was sorry to detain the company, but he felt that
it was not sufficient to point out the defect without
shadowing forth a remedy. Ile should be happy if
encouraged to go into the question some other day ; but.
would now endeavour in a few words to show what he
meant by a reformed currency. Our currency now was
altogether based on a contradiction. In the first place,
by the Act of 1844 the Bank of England was permitted to
issue eleven millions of absolute inconvertible paper upon
a debt due the Bank of England by the Government. and
three millions more upon floating Exchequer bills, making
altogether fourteen millions of notes, which might be
issued upon the strength of a debt without any metallic
basis whatever. Then the country banks were permitted
to issue eight millions of inconvertible notes ; then six
millions were in like manner granted to the Irish
and three to the Scotch banks. These altogether made
thirty-one millions of inconvertible paper, without any
metallic basis whatever. Then if the Bank of Eng-
land had ten millions in its cellars, it was permitted to
issue notes to that amount ; if it had nine millions, the
issue must be contracted accordingly. Thus it would be
seen that the major part of the issues are inconvertible,
and not upon a metallic basis ; the minor part was ; and
wasthe devoidrefore tem n was
beauty
in lywoitrsthplersosp,osritnicoensit.
Now what did he, and those who thought with him, pro-
posey and
instead of .this? They said the wealth of the
country in round numbers was six thousand millions ; it
might be seven or eight,—he would not quarrel about
that. That was national property, and it was the basis
for issuing the representative of value. Mr. Duncan then
went on to show that, by a judicious system of paper
money, the annual taxation of the country, amounting
to fifty millions, could be most efficiently met. He pro-
posed that when government took a vote for money, they
should merely take the privilege of issuing fifty million
£1 notes; these would go into circulation, be returned in
the shape of taxes, cancelled, and fresh ones sent out.
Government, he showed, stood to the country both in
the position of a debtor and a creditor. Now, did any
one think there was any novelty in this 2 Not at all.
They were in the habit of performing the same opera-
tion every day of their lives, but they were doing
it on a minor scale. (Hear, hear.) :What was a
postage stamp, but one of these instruments ? (Hear,
and applause.) There was not any one who refused to
give a sovereign of gold for 240 penny stamps, but they
had not in themselves any value. What was the cense-
cjnenoe The Post=office revenue, which was two mil-
hoes, might be colieeted in postage stamps ; but if symbolic
money of this kind. could raise two millions, why
not five,
eight, fifty millions. (Applause.) It had been well ob-
servedb y *gentleman whom he saw present in the audience,
what s bungling optima it would be if they went by Mr.

apolause.) He moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Duncan.
Mr. FOSTER (Mann, Foster, and C 0.,) seconded the
motion. which was carried by acclamation, and the meet-
ing broke up.

COMMERCIAL AND MONETARY NEWS.

Monday Night

Our Sharemarket has been declining, with scarcely a
rant', all week. London Stock has receded from 129 to
1241, Midlands from 64 to 531, and other stocks in pro-
portion. The fall:is attributed to cotton disasters, to the
scarcity of money, and to sales made by the public from
disappointment at the Exhibition traffics. To these
causes the effect of several failures both in the London
and provincial markets must be added. The prices of
to-day are the lowest of the week. We think to-night that
some slight indication of a cessation of the decline may
he discerned, though no material rise is looked for
for a few weeks. We annex this day's quotations :

Caledonian, 13& 1; Chester and Holyhead, 211 ; Eastern
Counties, 7 ; Old Leeds, 601 591 1; Do. Fifths, 7 1-16 d ;
Leeds and Tbirsk, 161 ; London stock, 1241 -,!;; Do. new
Quarters, 4 1- 341) ; M'chester Shef and L'ccln, 30 291;
Midland, 59 19 8 ; Do. Halves, 15 1d ; North Stafford-
shire, 7d • North Union A, 241 ; Old Dovers, 26 51 • ;
York and North Midland, 24 2 1 Gt. Southern and
Western (Irish),.4ol. _ _ _ _ __ _ _ . _

,•
The anticipations which have been indulged in of a
large increase of railway traffic, following the opening of
the great Exhibition, have thus far not been realised, as
will be seen from the following comparison of the returns
of 18 of the principal lines likely to derive advantage from
it :

Return published May 3,
„ May 10,
„ Alay 17,

£209,662
£216,558
£208,067

The middle statement contains only a portion of the
week of the opening of the Exhibition ; the first gives a
clear week before, and the last a clear week after, during
which, on most of the lines, the admission had been
reduced to ss.

It is becoming an acknowledged fact that the article,
flour, in this country is cheaper than the raw material,
wheat, of which it is composed. In other words, we can
import flour, ready prepared for consumption, at a lower
price than we can manufacture it from foreign or home-
grown grain. We have this fact exemplified in the prices
of the two commodities, as given in Mr. Burn's Monthly
Colonial Circular for this month. The price of wheat
in the last week of April, 1851, was 38s. 7d. per quarter,
against 375. 10d. in the same week of 1850. The price of
flour, however, in 1851, was 20s. per 19G lbs., against
225. 6d. in April, 1850. The fact is obvious that there is
a bonus in favor of the importation of foreign-manu-
factured flour, and a serious discouragement offered by
the present scale of duties to the industry of the British
miller.

We continue steadily increasing the balance of trade
against this country. A return of the imports of grain
and flour for the month ended May sth is now before us,
of which we give the money value in round numbers, com-
puted in accordance with the present market prices :

Wheat
Barley
Oats ..
Ryc
Pease

Qrs. -if
. 337,754.... 675.000
. 115.502.... 130,000
.100,250 95,000
. 1,899.... 2,300
. 6,324.... 8,000
. 171,120.... 245,000
. 119,755.... 175,000
4
. 1 000.... 1,000
Cwts.
. 416,495

245,000

£1,578,196

Pones Lloyd, stick with some sort of seal upon it a penny POPISH TOLERATION TO BRITISH
piece into the post-office along with a letter. (Laugh- PROTESTANTISM.
ter.) Then they came to the question of the money of
commerce:- With the money of commerce the govern- 1 During the last week it has transpired that one of the
ment had no right to interfere whatever. (Loud stipulations, exacted by Pope Pius the 9th, in his con-
applause.) Mr. Duncan lucidly enforced this position, cordat with Spain, is, that the exercise of worship, accord-
and said, that he and those who thought with him I ing to the forms and tenets of the Protestant religion, is
wanted to make banks more secure than they had not to be tolerated in that country. We have now before
ever been made by any bullionist. They proposed that lus another instance of the bigotry and persecuting spirit
parties wishing to establish a hank should offer securities which animates the present occupant of the Papal See.
to government, with a power of sale, and then be per- In Florence we have residing a considerable population of
mitted to issue notes to one-half or two-thirds of the English families, resorting there in search of health, or to
amount of the property so deposited. (Applause.) Was repair delapidated fortunes. As a concession to the reli-
not this much better than the present system ; for now gious opinions of this population, said now to amount to
we clid not know whether a banking concern was solvent 12,000 persons in Florence, with an additional number in
or not. In case of disaster through bad management, it Pisa and other towns of Tuscany, the government of that
was clear that the holders of the notes of a bank so con- province, in IS3S, permitted the opening of a Protestant
stituted would have 20s. in the pound available at the chapel. Since that year no hindrance has been offered
Treasury. (Applause.) Mr. Duncan concluded by to the ministrations and services performed there ; but,
showing, that if the question was to be decided on the 9th of January last, a letter was addressed by the
by the authority of names, there were only two who Duke de Casigliano to the British Charge d'affaires,
could be quoted in favour of the present state of stating that information had been received by the Tuscan
things—that was Mr. Jones Lloyd and Sir Robert government, that they " had been informed that in the
Peel ; while, on the other hand, he could quote Anglican chapel, in the Via del Maglio, all those who
150 names of eminent men in ancient and modern times chose to take part, in the service are freely admitted, and
who had been in favour of a symbolic currency. He it is even known that the custom of praying and catechis-
quoted from several historians to show that the dissolu- ing, in the Italian language, has been introduced there.
tion of the Roman empire was caused by metallic money. Many Catholics, Tuscan subjects, imbibe there pinciples
and dependence upon foreigners for a supply of food, and and sentiments contrary to the dominant religion, and
almost all the ancient as well as modern anthorities, inclu- publicly propagate the same !"
ding Adam Smith, had condemned metallic money in the Suppose it were so. It would only show the weak hold
strongest terms. which Rome has upon her dupes, when the mere fact of
_ _ _

The lecture was listened throughout with great atten- the doctrines of christianity being preached in a language
tion, and portions of it, especially the references of the understood by the people excites her fears. That she
lecturer to past monetary crises, were warmly applauded. does entertain such fears is plain from the declaration of
The suggestion as to giving free liberty of import to the Duke de Casigliano, that the Tuscan government is
articles of produce, not raised in this country, deeply sensible of the duty of not tolerating such an
was also most favourably received. Considering, indeed, abuse (0 and of opposing a state of things which, corn-
the peculiar position of the market for our leading: raw bined with other efforts made, of the same character and
materials, and the cares which it was calculated to excite with the same object, would infallibly lead to the weak-
in the minds of the frequenters of our Exchange, the I ening of the Catholic religion in Tuscany.
. .

attendance was much more numerous and influential than The -practices in question are denied. They are invented
could have been anticipated. At the conclusion of the as mere pretexts for intolerance. And yet this is done at
lecture, after Mr. Duncan had expressed his readiness, if a time when Rome is clamouring and whining alternately
an opportunity offered, to go more into details as to his for an increased status in every Protestant country. The
plans than time had allowed him, British residents in Florence and other beggarly Italian
Mr. TORR, of the firm of Messrs. Littledale and Co., cities would do wisely to leave localities where they are
rose to move a vote of thanks to Mr. Duncan. He said alternately fleeced and bullied ; and live in contented state
he was sure they would agree with him that they had all in their own Protestant land, under the shelter of their
been informed upon a subject on which they wanted in- own free institutions.
formation ; and that they were greatly obliged to Mr.
Duncan for giving them the lecture. AN, he thought, On Saturday at noon, the British and North American
would agree that they had heard facts, and having done Royal Mail steam-ship Canada, Captain Harrison, left
so, he trusted they would use their best exertions to rid i the Mersey for Halifax and Boston, with upwards of sixty
themselves of the iron chain which now fettered passengers (considered a large number for this route), and
and rendered hazardous commercial operations. (Loud a moderate cargo of merchandise.

DREADFUL FIRE AND Loss OF LIFE.—On Sunday
morning, about two o'clock, a fire broke out in the Rose
and Crown Tnn, Love-lane, Eastcheap, London, by which
the premises were destroyed. Soon after the alarm was

given several parties presented themselves at the front
windows calling loudly for help, but ere assistance could
be rendered a body of flames burst from the lower windows,
and nothing further was seen or heard of the unfortunate
creatures. When the fire was subdued the ruins were
searched, and the bodies of four persons were discovered—
three in the attics and one on the second floor, all
shockingly disfigured. The parties deceased are the pro-
prietor of the house, his mother-in-law, the potman, and
a lodger. The servant girl was seriously injured.
JEWELS AT THE GREAT EXHIBITION.—The " Moun-
tain of Light" we have already noticed. In addition to
this, we may observe that the East India Company have
now the Durria-i-Noor, or " Sea of Light," a diamond set
as an armlet, with ten smaller stones around it ; a necklace
of 224 pearls, and a shorter one of 104 smaller pearls ;
a necklace of four large rubies, a pair of emerald armlets,
a carved emerald and diamond turban ornament, an eme-
rald and diamond bridle and martingale, a gold mounted
saddle, set with diamonds, emeralds, and rubies ; a mag-
nificent brocaded robe, richly decorated with pearls; and
an emerald girdle, the stones in which are of immense
size, and most of these of very fine quality.
THE NATIONAL SOCIETY'S MEETING.—A resolution
favourable to the Committee of Council having been
announced by Mr. Girdiestone, Mr. Denison has given
notice of the following amendment upon it :—" That this
meeting deeplyregret that her Majesty's Government con-
tinue to disallow the equitable claim of members of the
Church of England—as set forth in the resolution of the
annual meeting of this Society, June 6, 1849—that
founders of Church Schools, who see fit " to place the
management of their schools solely in the clergyman of
the parish and the bishop of the diocese," should not, on
that account, be excluded from state assistance towards
the building of their schools.
GAS FOR HEATING. —An interesting addition has been
made to the curiosities of the Royal Polytechnic Institu-
tion, London, in the shape of an extensive apparatus for
illustrating the applicability of gas to culinary and heating
purposes. The apparatus has been supplied by the Gas-
fitters' Association, and the chamber in which it is con-
tained was opened to private inspection on Wednesday.
One of the principal objects is to show that gas may
easily be made the means of cooking a sumptuous banquet
or the simplest bachelor's dinner. Baths, too, may be
heated by gas both in the most expeditious and most eco-
nomical manner. As an instance, 45 gallons of water can
he heated in about six minutes at the trifling cost for gas
of IW. In fact there is no process requiring artificial heat
to which gas has not been made applicable.
A FEW GEMS AT TnnExu IDITION—The works in chased
silver are of great variety. We may instance one or two
pieces, the subjects of which are from the story of " Paul
and Virginia," and there are others on subjects martial and
equestrian. There are two " Goodwood Cups" exhibited,
which attract great attention, the one representing the Con-
test for the Banner; theother, Old English Equestrianism.
There are also two Elizabethan pieces, representing the
Queen mounted on horseback, with all the profusely de-
corated trappings, and rich parade of that period ; and a
piece having for its subject a Mexican throwing a " lasso"
over a wild horse. Here also we have the more delicate
department of jewellery and works in hair. These bring
us to the fittings and furniture of a bedstead, composed
entirely of needlework. The tester has for its subject the
" Night " of Thorswalsden. It is worked in light
colours, and accompanied with decorations in which are
combined the forms and hues of no less than 51 different
flowers ; and visitors are informed that it comprises
1,600,000 separate stitches. The valances and other por-
tions of the furniture are worked in a similar style.
ANCIENT ARMOUR.—A private view was on Saturday
afforded to a number of persons interested in such things
of a very splendid and extensive collection of ancient
armour and warlike weapons of the middle ages, in the
front of the gallery of Saville-house, Leicester-square,
London. The armour, which consists of three suits of
horse armour and upwards of 100 suits of tilting and in-
fantry armour, together with rapiers, daggers, partisans,
halberds, axes, &c., contains very rare specimens of hel-
mets, and some weapons of a very peculiar construction.
The greatest portion of the suits is of German manufacture,
of the Isth and 16th centuries, and is exceedingly rich.
Some specimens are much earlier. Many of the swords are
real Toledos, and some of the helmets Italian and Venetian.
They are arranged with skill and taste, clay figures being
employed. The collection was formerly in the armoury
of the Emperor Maximilian, whose tilting suit is remark-
ably fine. There is also a curious suit worn by the dwarf
of the Emperor. This collection illustrates the history of
the warlike days; of two or:three centuries ago, and is well
worth the visits of the antiquary and the man of historical
research.

FOREIGN VISITORS TO THE EXHIBITION.—On Friday,
Mr. Mason, a Spanish merchant of the City, appeared
before the sitting magistrate, at Guildhall, London, in
company with several Spanish gentlemen, to ask his
advice and assistance in enforcing a contract which the
complainants had made with a company in Madrid to
bring them to London to see the Great Exhibition, pro-
viding them with board, lodging, and other necessaries, a
carriage, and defraying the expenses of their various visits,
and,after staying ten days in London, to take diem back to
Madrid by way of Paris, remaining there eight days, and
treating them to all the entertainments in London.
''he charge was £5O per head. The contract stated that
the accommodation should be of the best description, and
that a box at the Opera should be engaged for their
use. They complained that the contract was being
broken in various ways—chiefly by putting them into the
gallery of the Opera, instead of the boxes • not providing
the carriage until 12 o'clock at noon, when the day was
half gone. They had no complaint on the score of board
and lodging, being comfortably provided for in a boarding-
house in Woburn-place; but they were afraid the Spanish
Company with whom they had contracted were about to
abandon their contract altogether.—Alderman Salomons
said, that as it was a foreign contract, he had no juris-
diction over the case.—Mr. Mason then retired.
THE PRESENT " PROSPEROUS" STATE OF LONDON
UNDER FREE TRADE.—The most remarkable and unex-
pected result of the Great Exhibition has been in the very
limited number of visitors to the metropolis since its
opening. So far from any difficulty being experienced in
providing accommodation for the shoals of strangers who
were to have poured into London this month by land
and sea, the hotel and lodging-house keepers complain
that the establishments were never so empty at this pe-
riod of the year. In the West-end and the streets run-
ning off the Strand the lodging bills in the windows of
every house are so many evidences of their vacant state.
Hundreds of persons, who have laid out large sums of
money in fitting up and furnishing houses for the recep-
tion of lodgers, find now that their speculation is likely
to prove the reverse of profitable. A person who, we un-
derstand, opened a boarding and lodging-house, capable
of accommodating upwards of 100 guests, had one solitary
inmate during the first week of the Exhibition. But
these accounts of the stagnation of business are not con-
fined to the hotel and lodging-houses ; there has been a
serious diminution in the passenger traffic on the rail-
roads, and every branch of trade in the metropolis has suf-
fered an extraordinary depression. The tradespeople and
shopkeepers at the West-end complain loudly of business
being at a complete standstill ; the places of public amuse-
mentthey
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The Crystal Palace will be the sole attraction, and, like a
huge Maelstrom, it will swallow up the time, money, and
attention, not only of all strangers, but of the great mass of
inhabitants of the metropolis for months to come. From
£2,000 to £3,000 have been daily taken at its doors during
the past week, yet we do not exaggerate when we say that
millions of the middle and lower classes at home and
abroad, have deferred visiting the exhibition until the
price of admission be reduced to ls. Cheap trains will
bring up thousands and thousands of industrious opera-
tives from every part of England, but these are not the
people who can afford to spend money freely ; their ex-
penses will necessarily be regulated upon the most econo-
mical scale, and their outgoings will scarcely compensate
for the loss which the departure of the wealthy and fa-
shionable visitors will occasion. On the whole, therefore,
we cannot but lament the severe loss which London must
sustain fram an event which it was calculated would
direct an increased stream of wealth into the usual chan-
nels of Made and industry.—Slinday