The Express.
London, England, 1866-02-02 00:00:00

THE RELATIONS BETWEEN ITALY AND

PRUSSIA.

The Italian Ga=etta Ufficiale of the 29th ult.
contains the following :
• '

- - -
Yesterday morning, at 11 o'clock. his Majesty gave •
private audience to his Excellency Count Usedorn, Privy
Councillor. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plecipo.
tentiary of his Majesty the King of Prussia, who bad the
honour of preventing to his Majesty our august Sovereign
the insignia of the Black Eagle, an order of the Royal
House, wad the Grand Cross of the Red Eagle. The recep-
tion took place in the grand apartment of the Royal Palace,
and in uniform. The minister of the Ring of
Prussia delivered the following speech on this
occasion :—" Sire,—The King, my august master,
has charged me to present to your Majesty, as
I have the honour to do, the insignia of the Black
Eagle, so order of his House, and also the Grand Cross of
the Red Eagle, with the royal letters theretuito relating.
Your Majesty will see in this a fresh proof of the sincere
friendship and esteem which the King never ceases to
cherish for your Majesty. Under the guidance of your
Majesty, and with the concurrence of friendly sovereigns.
Italy continues to conciliate the sympathies sod identify
herself with the interest" of all Europe ; the international
alliance recently effected is commercial affairs between Italy
and Germany is afresh sod striking manifestation of this. The
close union of these two nations, unknown is past yews,
is ma of the grand results of our time ; it will perpe-
tuate itself, sire, under your auspices, and your Majesty
will enjoy during lees end hinny yeltle the fruit' of your
own work." His Majesty replied in the followisg tore :
—"The friendship of his Majesty the King of Prussia is
all the more precious to me because it is based upon • tan-
ditioesl uniformity of sympathies sod reedeneiee between
our royal houses, and promises • future to Germany sad
Italy worthy of two great assess. The sentiments ex-
pensed by your august sovereign on this occasion ere • fresh
pledge of the good understanding which neutrally ought to
MZibetween our two governments. I offer the meet
ly wishes fee the prosperity and the complete seepage
4111 Ffnalik,"

(TWOPENCE

TRZ TINIAN MOVEMENT.--SZIZIIItZ OF
ARMS IN DUBLIN.

DUBLIN. THURSDAY NIGHT.
At 2 o'clock this day the police seized in a store-
house, in Longford-lane, 160 pikes complete, 260
pike handles, 90 pikes of wood for handles., and
1 c
the
owner of Minnie
of thenierifle premises,blets has has
Mr.
ataken
Whelan, a
tailor,
into custody.
A very numerously attended meeting of noble-
men, country gentlemen, merchants, and prefer
'tonal men, including men of all parties and creeds,
was held to-day, at the Rotund°, for the purpose
of taking into consideration the condition of the
country, and what steps should be taken to pre-
serve peace and order. The Marquis of Downshire
presided. The speakers were the Earl of Erne,
the Earl of Charleinont, Colonel Knox Gore, Lord
James Butler, Mr. Napier, Lord Clermont,
Sir Percy Nugent, Sir Victor Brooke, and
Mr. A. Parker. Three resolutions were
unanimously adopted—First, that the Fexian con-
spiracy had produced among the loyal inhabitants
a feeling of well-founded alarm, and that it was the
imperative duty of the government to use the most
prompt and effective means to crush a co=
so destructive-to the peace and pn,styrity of I t
and also to afford full protection to the loyal and
well-disposed of all classes. Second, that the go-
vernment be requested so to iocresse the military
force in this country that no place where suitable
accommodation can be found for troops shall be
withoutthem, toawe tLe evil-disposed and encourage
the well-affected and loyal of all classes acd creeds.
Third, that it is the duty of all classes of the well-
affected and loyal of all inhabitants of Ireland to
co-operate in maintaining inviolate the British
connexion, the authority of our gracious Queen,
and to support the executive in the defence of pro-
p party, law, order, and religion.
The special commission did not sit to-day.

A SERMON FOR THE SULTAN.

(From tile Levant Herald, Jan. 24.)

•
During the past week an incident occurred at
the palace which has been much, though not ppuublicl7,
talked of in Stamboul, and which is worth recording at •
typical, but happily vanishing, trait of "Old Turkey." As
our local readers are aware, the Sultan is subjected dtirlog
the first week of Ramszan to a course of Koranic prelec-
tions bye select ',emptily of moltabs, who. changing daily,
expound to his Majesty the deep things of the faith with a
freedom of address which the Sheikh-al-Islam himself would
not vesture on soy other season of the year. On the
evening in question it fell to the turn of en octoge-
narian hodja named Garr N union Effendi, the muderris a
Haraidie, to take up the parable, and this he did with •
" faithfulness," from the old conservative point of vie*,
which is every te,r becoming rarer, and which on this
occasion the extreme age of the censor alone excused.
Taking al his text a plunge of the very narrowest oldie-
dory, he began by saying that he would avail himself of
the full liberty of the occasion to tell his Majesty of a few
home truths, in the interest of the imperial soul and of
Islam in pneraL He then reminded the Sultan that one
of his highest and proudest titles was the " Shadow of
God"—first mourned by Soleyivan the Magnificent—but,
said the hodja, " Y our Majesty has entered on • course of ac-
tion which is unworthy of this semi.divine nominative ; you
are wandering from the straight line of orthodoxy, and pee-
=Mimi yourself to be beguiled into open imitation of the
bifidels. What do we faithful wait with roam, with iron
ship, or with telegraphs— that prime invention of Shelton?
When our ancestors conquered Asia from Satuarcaod to the
Marmora, they took no thought of roads, but swept over
mountain sad plain as Allah had made both. But now
your Majesty, forsooth, must have not merely roads but
railroads, devices of the infidels to get into and overrun
our country. What too, do we wept with iron ships
We do not mean to conquer Franuistas, and amid not
if we would. Nor, w..rat of all, do we want telegraphs,
which the Devil and the (Swore together have devised for
their owe evil ends against us sad our country. Paine,
then, Vioestireet of the Prophet, and, abandoeung one and
all of these trescherous novelties, fall back on, and be
contort with, the ancient simplicities of oar faith and
nation. When your predecessor, held fast to these, the
Osmaolis were great and paramount. Then we had Do
debts, no banks, no loans ; now we are overrun and borne
down by all three. Bet, Shallow of Allah, the fault is Doe
yours. Yoe are surrounded by evil councillors, by
disloyal and half infidel ministers who regard only
their owe intereste and are nothing for Islam. OM rid of
them, and rally roiled you true Mamulmene who
will preserve the country from these and all like mimes
inecorations.* Slightly regularised in expreasios, such
—reported to us at second-band from en 'sr-witness of she
harangue—was the straits in which the old tory lectured
the Sultan for nearly a couple of hours, till, unable to
bear it logger, his Majesty raised his heads and made the
usual sign for going to prayers. As the prischmeet had
bees heard by an audience of some twetty primes, the
' affair was all over Stamboul the neat day, to the con-
siderable displeasure, it is said, of the Grand Vizier and
more than one of the other ministers, to whom the pein
of truth mingled with the much senile and bigoted non-
mom of the harangue was iodiffereetly agreeable.

The Cattle Plague Commissioners met yesterday,
the Ist February, at the House of Commons, Principal
Floor, Room 1L Pressot—Earl Spencer, Lord Comber's*,
Mr. Lowe, Dr. Berne Jones, Dr. Quoin, Dr. Parks, Mr.
M'Clean, Professor Spooner, and the Secretary.
THE HIINTERIAN MUSECSI.—A moat interesting
and valuable addition has just been made to the above col-
lection in the purchase by the council of the Royal College
of Surgeons of England of the skeleton of the premised
whale, the " taliena mysticetua" of Lioncus, or better
known in commence as the northers right whale, an animal
which has been destroyed io such large ambers by expo•
dittoes fitted out hoes the ports of thy, and other conotriee
that the species is threatened with epeedy extinction.
Noteritlistandieg this great slaughter, it is curious to add
that no skeleton bag ever been brought to England, although
the osteological characters off the soinial offered such re-
markable peculiari:iss that comparative anatomists had long
been desirous of studying the perfect skeleton, as oppor-
tunity now afforded oy this judicious purchase of such a
rare animal, which has now been mounted by that skilful
articulator, Mr. Flower, under the supenoteodenee of Mr.
Flower, F.R.S., the conservator of the muse. It may
sot be meerally known that upwards of 250.0001. bare
been *Reseda on this collec•im from the hoods of the
college, exclusive of perliamentery mots.
THE PRESIDENTSHIP OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
Yesterday evening a meeting of the Royal Academicians was
held at their house in Trafalgar-square, to decide on the
election of a president in the room of Sir Charles Eastlake.
decessed. On the 24'h ult., Sir Edwin Lendsear was
elected by a large majority of the Royal Academicism who
were then present, but he declined to serve. So skiing a
feeling, ho.ever, was evinced that lie should be the SOW
president that an adjournment was at (Ace agreed upon
until last night. At that meeting it appeared that Sir
Edwin Landover persevered in his intention not to serve, and
the result has been that Mr. Francis Grassi. M.A., wee
elected president. He is the fourth von of Mr. Francis
Giant, of Engrg/do% Perthshire, and a brother of General
Sir J. H. Grant, G.O 3. At the commencement of hie
artistic career, be applied himself to the panting of
sporting piece's, bat abueloeing this part of the profession,
be devoted himself to the higher breaches of the art, sad
in 1831 &alined at the Royal Academy. In 1842 be was
elected an eseceiste. end is 1851 was advanced to the rank
of a Royal Academician. Mr. Grant married the Mere of the
Duke of listlasd.
THE SCOTCH RAILWAY Soninite.—AL meeting of
shareholders is the Caledonian, North British, and Glasgow
sad Sonth-Western Railways was held in Glasgow on
Wednesday, to reedy** report from a committee appoisted
by a similar meet ng on 21st December last. 'I he object
W the shareholders war, it will be remembered, to induce
the directors of the several companies to 'gem to postpone
or abandon some of the schemes of extension, alteratioa,
sic., so largely announced by them, and the execution of
which would involve so lavish an expenditure of
capital. The committee reported that they bed ob-
tained interviews with the directors of each company
with the result of inducing a withdrawal of several of the
new schemes. Indeed, so auseessfal had their operations
been that they are disabled to estimate the schemes am
withdrawn as representing as expenditure of no lees than
7,786,0001., though even for three left intent be the aced'
meat the still enormous sumo( 3,345.584 f. will be reqedred.
The report was unanimously adopted ; as were trubsequeot
resolutions in accordions with its object. The Rev. Mg.
Msikiam attempted to introduce discussion on esside'y
traise, bat the meeting declined to setertain the irrelevant
subject.
The foundation-stone of the great City offices now
IS am mo. erection for the City Offices Company was laid
yesterday in the preernee of the members of the beard and
the directors, by Mr. Edward Memernaso, cue of the di-
rectors. This building, when finished, will add another
maismedal palace to she bomber already ocesplesed is Ike
Oily. The site extends from Bishopegatiestmet is
to
Old Broadoteeet.
The drum was hoisted at Liverpool yourday
evening, signifying a summed= of gales.