The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-27 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.
The Duke of Somerset, as First Lord of the Ad-
miralty, held a levee yesterday at the Admiralty,
Whitehall. The following officers attended :—Ad-
miral Bethune, Admiral Sir J. Scott, Capt. R. B.
Oldfield, Capt. A. J. Curtis, Capt. E. W. Turnour,
Capt. M. H. Haswell, Capt. J. Walford, Capt. A.
M. L. Lyons, Capt. T. R. Sulivan, Capt. J. M.
Bruce, Capt. T. Fisher, Capt. Sir T. M'Clintock,
Capt. H. E. Edgell, Capt. W. J. Lake, Capt. E. A.
Sotheby, Capt. H. Broadhead, Capt. W. B. Bolland,
Commander F. Rich, Commander J. W. T. Saulcz,
Commander E. Madden, Commander W. Arthur,
Commander R. Scott, Commander W. M. W. Dou-
glas, Commander D. Walker, COmmander J. R.
Alexander, Commander W. A. B. Home, Comman-

der J. C. Soady, and Lieut. J. D. Curtis.
The Emerald, 34, screw, Capt. A. Cumming, has
shipped her four-bladed screw in readiness for her
third experimental trial, which will take place at
Portsmouth in the early part of next week, if she
should not, in the meantime, be ordered to accom-

pany the Channel fleet to Flushing.
The Powerful target ship has been brought:down
Portsmouth harbour, and placed alongside the dock-
yard to receive a fresh supply of armour-plates for
testing by the gun of the Stork gunboat. Three
plates have arrived from the Elswick Ordnance

Company, and two others are expected to arrive to-
day from France. The trial of these latter IE3
naturally looked forward to with much interest.

Orders were received at Portsmouth yesterday
for the Channel fleet, now lying at Spithead under
the command of Rear Admiral Robert Smart, K.H.,
to sail at 1 p.m. to-day for Flushing to escort her
Royal Highness the Princess Alexandra of Den-
mark in the passage across from the Continent to
England.
In addition to the line-of-battle ships and other
vessels which, in accordance with orders to that
effect, are being prepared to join the flotilla to be
stationed at tne Nore on the arrival of the squadron
conveying her Royal Highness the Princess Alex-
andra, on the 7th proximo, orders have also been
received at Chatham for four of the screw gunboats
attached to the steam reserve in the Medway to

take part in the display. The vessels composing
the squadron will be the Formidable, 34, 2,289 tons,
Capt. W. G. Luard, flagship of Vice-Admiral of the
Red Sir W. J. Hope Johnstone, K.H., Commander
in-Chief at the Nore ; the Cumberland, 70, 2,214
tons, Capt. T. P. Thompson, flagship of the steam
reserve ; the Leander, 51, 2,760 tons, 400 horse
power, attached to the first division of the Chatham
steam reserve ; the Revenge; 73, 3,322 tons, 800
power, Capt. C. Fellowes, flagship of Rear-
Admiral of the Red R. Smart, commanding
the Channel fleet; the Warrior, 40, 6,109 tons,
1,260-horse power, Capt the Hon. A. A. Cochrane;
the Black Prince, 40, 6,109 tons, 1,250 horse-power,
Capt. J. F. B. Wainwright; the Resistance, 16,
3,710 tons, 600 horse power, Capt. C. Chamberlain ;
the Defence, 16, 3,720 tons, 600 horse power, Capt.
A. Phillimore, and four gunboats. No orders have
yet been received for the Wellesley, 72, Commander
R. Studdert, training-ship at Chatham, to join the
squadron, and as time and expense would have to
be incurred in preparing her for the service it is not
probable that she will take any part in the naval
display.
The Vigilant, 4, 250 horse power Commander
Hobson, fitting for the East Indies, will be ready to
leave the Medway on Tuesday next, when she is
ordered to proceed round to the Thames, to join the
Racoon, 22, 400 horse power, Capt. the Count Victor
Gleichen.
The whole of the State barges, gigs, shallops, and
other boats belonging to the Admiralty are to be
placed in store at Deptford dockyard, and not at
Sheerness, as previously ordered.
service,
placed
The 50-gun sailing frigates, and other vessels
ordered to be fitted at Chathaanniy
are, it appears, not to faorrmspameceianit
on which they will be employed .
OR board, and will only hhaev requirede
foferrthaebseeurtvilcBe
It is probable that they will be used
theil
months.
the transport service. The vessels selected to be
fitted are the Nankin, 60 ; the Worcester,
Chichester, 50 ; the Isis, 27 ; and the Diamond', 27.
Vice-Admiral of the White Sir Michael Seymour,
G.C.8., will on Monday next succeed Vice-Admiral
of the Red Sir Henry William Bruce, K.C.13., as
Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth. We regret
to hear that Viee-Admiral Sir H. W. Bruce is still ,
suffering from severe indisposition.
An Admiralty order has been received at Chatham
directing that every person in the Gov..rnment em-
ploy is to have a holiday on March 10, and that the
whole of the public establishments are to be closed.
The entrance-gates of the dockyards, Royal Marine
\
barracks, and naval hospitals are to be illuminated
in the evening.

THE ARMY.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge,
Field-Marshal Commanding•in-Chief, held a levee
yesterday at the Horse Guards, It was attended
by nearly 200 officers.
A considerable number of the non-commissioned
officers and men of the Royal Engineers, having
completed their course of surveying, topographi-
cal, an I school instruction, an order has been
IgehnatthCat om, dbierecti
selectedng a number
to be
received at the head-quarters of the Royal Engi-
neeroft h
e ni establishment,ost i
ntell
employed on the Ordnance Survey. The 7th
(Capt. Sim's) company of
Royal -
Engineers will pro-
ceed from headquarters to Dover,
during next week,
to be employed on the fortifications
the coast. As the work on at that part of
be employed will h
we principallywhich the. company will
mining, the non-
commissioned officers and men of various trades
transferred
to the 7th company, on its arrival from
Nova Scotia, '
are again tojoin: their former com-
panies.

—OYAL ENGLISH OPERA, COENT- ----
he asked the hon. and gallant member to defer the
R 1
GARDEN. 1 matter that he might see Mr. Reed, and procure a
i, nder the Management of Miss Louisa Pyne and Mr. W.
suit able apology.
Harrison. sole Lessees. Mr. ROEBUCK said the offence was to the House,
THIS EVENING, to commence with the Second and
Third Acts of LURLIN E : Miss Sara Dobson, Miss Thirl-
wall, and Madame Laura 13.xter ; Messrs. Geo. Ferrell. A. and the apology should be made at the bar.
Cooke, H. Corgi, Patey, and C. Lyall.
The motion that the letter was a breech of pri-
Conductor—Mr. A. Mellon.
en- vilege was then carried, and it was ordered that
After which. the Grand Comic Chris:thane Pantomime,
titled HARLEQUIN BEAUTY A.NDtTHE BEAST.
Doors open at half-past rs---1. 'ommence at 7. Mr. Reed be called to the bar of the House this
day.

THEATRE-ROYAL, DRURY-LANE.—
Lessee and Manager, !dr. Edmund Falconer.
THIS EVF,NING, BONNIE DUNDEE; or, The Gather-
ing- of the Clans. IllesErg. Henry Lorraine, Edmund Phelps,
:Sinclair, Chas. Selby, Henry Haigh; Mrs. D. P. Bowers,
airs. Edmund Falconer, &c.
After which, the Grand Pantomime of LITTLE GO DDY
TWO SHOES.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE
Lossee and Manager, Mr Lindus.
THIS EVENING. an entirely new and original romantic
drama, in four acts, by Lewis Filmore, Esq., entitled THE
WINNING SUIT. Messrs. Marston, Vezin, Stephens, Fitz-
James, tc. ; Miss Amy Sedgwick, Miss Murray, and Mrs. H.
Marston.

After which, the New Grand CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME,
" RIQUET WITH THE TUFT ; or, Harlequin and Mother
Zhipton." Mr. G. Belmore, Mr. C. Se ton, Misses Gray and
'Hudspeth, Mr. Milano, Mr. R. Power, Miss A. Collinson, and
31r. Halford.

NEW THEATRE-RO YAL, ADELPHI.-
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, the new comedietta, entitled A
GREY MARE. Mr. J. L. Toole and Miss Marie Wilton.
After which, A VALENTINE : Messrs. J. L. Toole, Paul
Bedford, Miss Kate Kelly, and Miss Seaman.
To be followed by "GEORGE DE BARNWELL :
or, Harlequin Follyin the Realms of Fancy." Miss Woolgar,
Miss K. Kelly, Miss Seaman ; Messrs. J. L. Toole, P. Bed-
ford, S3ephenson, C. J. Smith. Harlequin, Mr. John Lauri ;
Columbine Miss Caroline Adams; Clown, Mr. W. Hildyard ;
ntaloon,, Mr. J. Paulo. The eelebrited Arthur and
Lertrand.

Commence at 7.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAY.—Morning, Bh. 30m.—Afternoon, 9h. 15m.
To-mottnow.-Morning, 9h. 55m.—Afternoon, 10h. 35m.

THE WEDDING SUN.

ON TUESDAY, 10TH MARCH,

Will be published

AN EXTRAORDINARY EDITION OF

Zile Sun.
SUPERBLY PRINTED IN COLOURS,

With Illustrations by the First Artists.

THE SUN OF THAT DAY,

Altogether unprecedented in Newspaper

Printing,

Will form an appropriate
MEMORIAL OF THE PRINCE'S MARRIAGE,

Comprising within it
MEMOIRS of the PRINCE and PRINCESS,
IN DANISH AS WELL AS IN ENGLISH,

WITH

A Full Account of the Marriage Ceremony.

(Terms for Advertisements, One Shilling per Line.)

Price of the Wedding Sun, 6d. ; Stamped, 7d.
Orders received by all Newsagents, and at THE SVN
Office, 112, Strand, W.C.

~;:k .Thr
.i.1.1111"111.0.6‘

LONDON, FRIDAY, FEB. 27, 1663.

To the House of Lords, yesterday,
Lord NORMAIIBY called attention to the state-
ments which bad appeared last week in the German
newspapers referring to Mr. Odo Russell's inter-
view with the Pope, and the reported demand of
Cardinal Antonelli as to the right of Mr. Russell to
address the Pope in such terms.
Earl RUSSELL was ignorant of the version of the
affair given in the German newspapers. He had
written no letter saying that the Pope would be
compelled to leave Rome. He thought such an
event unlikely, inasmuch as the recent change of the
French Foreign Minister showed that the Emperor
of the French intended to continue the occupation
of Rome. Cardinal Antonelli had asked Mr. Rue-
Fell in what capacity be appeared at Rome, and had
observed that owirg to the excommuniation of
the King of Sardinia, it would not be agreeable to
the Papal Court to receive the attache of an em-
bassy flora Tulin, and in consequence Mr, Russell
had been made an attache to the Foreign Office
direct. If he had spoken to Cardinal Antonelli on
State affairs, it toss in consequence of the Cardi-
nal's having spoken to him in a confidential, though
not an c menner.
The Earl of DEE BY said that Earl Russell bad
not answered the most important part of the ques-
tion, which was, whether he had anyreason toknow
that Cardinal Antonelli had written a despatch to
Mgr. Chigi declaring that Mr. Russell's representa-
tiens were so incorrect that he had determined not
to recognise him in an official capacity, but only as
a private individual. The question was, who. her a
person accredited by the British Government was
to be received as a private individual.
Earl RUSSELL said he had no information on the
subject.

'l 'be e
writ:rePadabaiicsecGoaradens in
and
Protection Bill
Services it, -will: time, and the English Church
?ems Bill passed through committee.
After some
the University of
Durham, their Lordships adjourned.
Commons
adjourned.
In the House of
the committee on the Corrupt
Sir G. GREY fixed
on Nrotnult Practices Bill
kr the second reading
Sir F. SMITII drew attention to
pri,,iicae. In the debate
otea question of
make
some
the navy
breach of
estimates he had felt bound to
on the appointment of Mr. Reed as chief eoenrsetginrcu,
tactrtlko constructor
of the navy, and he had asked whether that
man had ever built a ship, as, if not, he considered
the appointment to be dangerous and improper. To
his great surprise, he had that morning received a
letter from Mr. Reed, calling upon him to say why
he had made a false and libellous statement in Par-
liament concerning him, and otherwise couched in
offensive terms. He thought the House would feel
with him that members were not to be subjected to
attacks of this kind in the performance of their
duty.

The letter having been brought np and read st
the table,

Lord C. PAGET said the letter was a most im-
proper one, and clearly a breach of privilege, but

The Prince and Princess of Wales' Annuities
(
Bill was read a third time and passed.
On the order for going into a committee of sup-
ply Mr. H. BAILLIE moved that where differences
of opinion had arisen with the native princes and
peoples of India the questions at issue ought to
be referred to the Privy Council. The hon. gen-
tleman charged the Indian Secretary with having
in several instances broken the promises made in
her Majesty's proclamation, more especially with
respect to the Nawab of the Carnatic. The native
princes were waiting for the decision of the House
to know whether the treaties they held were worth
the paper they were written on. He asked that
when disputes arose they should not be decided by
the Minister for India, who was an interested party,
but that they should be referred to her Majesty's
Privy Council, which was admitted by the natives
of India to be a just and fair tribunal.
Mr. SMOLLETT seconded the motion.
Sir C. WooD defended the Indian Administration,
and said he was most anxious to carry out the pro-
mises of the proclamation. He hoped the House
would leave such questions to be dealt by the
Government.
After some remarks from Colonel SYKES in
favour of a disinterested tribunal, the motion for
going into committee was carried by 104 to 24.
The House then proceeded with the consideration
of the Navy Estimates, and agreed to the following
votes :—£165,322 for the Admiralty-office; £299,695
for Coastguard service ; £71,961 for scientific
branch ; £133,316 for home establishments ;
£36,370 for establishments abroad; £1,112,878 for
wages to artificers at home; £69,957 for wages to
artificers abroad; and £1,334,051 for naval stores.
A discussion took place on the first of these votes,
when Mr. LINDSAY, Admiral WALCOTT, Mr. BEN-
TINCK, and others objected to the system of naval
administration, and the continual official changes at
the Admiralty, Sir M. PETO remarking that dur-
ing thirty years there had been 17 first lords and
100 other changes in the Lords of the Admiralty.
Lord C. PAGET defended the present system.
After a lengthened discussion, the vote for naval
stores was agreed to, upon Lord PALMERSTON pro-
mising that no steps should be taken towards the
construction of the five wooden ships alluded to,
until the House had an opportunity of seeing an
estimate of the comparative time and expense of
building them of wood or of iron, and had had an
opportunity of expressing an opinion on the subject.
The Post-office Savings Banks Bill and the Bills
of Exchange and Notes (Metropolis) Bill were read
a second time.
Leave was given to bring in several bills of
minor importance, and the House adjourned..

Political affairs in Prussia are rapidly approach-
ing a crisis, and we can only hope that the rumours
which have been current on the Bourse at Berlin as
to probable changes in the Ministry may prove to
be founded on fact. It is said that owing to the
strenuous opposition offered by some members of the
Prussian Cabinet to the Prime Minister's foreign
policy, Herr VON BISMARK has tendered his re-
signation, which was, according to the news, nei-
ther accepted nor withdrawn. The KING is doubt-
less loath to part with so congenial a coadjutor, but
it he persist much longer he will be driven to a
very unpleasant alternative. The debate in yester-
day's sitting of the Chamber of Deputies was a very
stormy one ; it lasted six hours, a somewhat unusual
length for the Prussian Chambers, and the policy
of the Government was severely censured. The
report of the committee appointed to inquire into
the proposition that the Government should
be requested to maintain neutrality with
regard to the Polish insurrection, and insist
on the disarmament of fugitives of both
parties, was presented by Herr VON SYBEL, who
called upon the Chamber solemnly to disavow the
policy of the Government, and told the Ministers
they had only to choose between lamentable retreat
and inconceivable danger. GRAF VON EILENBERG
then, in the name of the Government, denied that
the insurgents who were arrested near Thorn had
been given up to Russia ; they had only been sent
across the frontier. He also said that the state-
ment of Prussian troops having entered. Russian
territory was false. Notwithstanding these asser-
tions on the part of the Government, the speech of
Herr VON BISMARK gives little encouragement to
the friEnds of liberty and order. He declared that
the Ministry had been unable to state its views;
that the proposal of the opposition was sym-
pathetic with the insurrection. The Govern-
ment could not, ho said, discuss a question
which affected European policy, as if the present
state of uncertainty and suspicion were not disturb-
ing half the Cabinets and peoples of Europe ! The
Chambers must not form conjectures as to the pur-
port of the convention, but what are they to do if
' the Ministry refuse to give them authentic infor-
mation ? Can they consent to trust the honour and
dignity of their country in the hands of such men
as Herr VON BISMARK and his coadjutors? The
Convention, says the Prussian Minister, expressly
stipulates that the consent of the respective Govern-
ments is requisite on each occasion of troops passing
the frontiers, but what is the use of such a condi-
tion when the Prussian KING and his Ministers are
more despotic than the CZAR himself, and at least
1 as ready to resort to harsh and violent measures
to crush down an uprising people ? Herr VON
BISMARK asserted that the expressions used by Earl
1 RUSSELL were totally inapplicable to the Convention
signed by the Government, as would be proved
when the text was published—a little too late to
raise objections. If Herr VON BISMARK speak truth,
the secret has been very carefully kept, for he de-
clares that Count BERNSTORFF was not acquainted
with the text of the treaty when questioned by Earl
RUSSELL. It strikes us as highly improbable that
a diplomatist of such high standing was not, at
least, aware of the general character and tendency
of the Convention, and we suspect his admissions to
Ithe English Minister are more to be trusted than
Herr VON BISMARK'S attempt to pacify % suspicious
Chamber. The Government, says the Prime
Minister, has nothing to retract, but what
that means in the Prussian Minister's view is
not altogether clear. The sitting, after a
stormy debate, was adjourned until this day,
1 and we shall await the further report of its
proceedings with interest. Whatever stay be the
attitude assumed by the KING and his Cabinet,
we may confidently trust that the honour and inde-
pendence of Prussia will be safe in the hands of
her popular representatives.

An interesting meeting was held a few even-
ings since at Whitehall-gardens, at which many of
the most active friends of the working
classes were
present. The subject under discussion was the
social and sanitary economy of the dwellings of
the
Poor--a practical question of vital importance
to the
wellbeing of a large portion of our popula-
-1 tion, which is
enthusiasm for gveeureyrtiaipptritnocibpe lost l
es orsitghh o
et
advocacy
Trion th
e
1
enthusiasm at
ue
of wholesale reforms. In the midst of the vast im-
provements, which are ehanging the face of the
metropolis, the difficulties which have always
attended the supply of proper accommodation for
the labouring classes are likely to be considerably
increased. The Bishop of LONDON, who filled

the chair at the meeting in question, remarked on
the startling changes produced by the recent addi-
tions to our railway system, and observed that in
one parish the incumbent suddenly found himself
deprived of nearly all his parishioners. The streets
may be demolished and forgotten, but the human
beings, though forgotten, are still existing ; and,
as the Bishop justly observed, it is a solemn duty
to do all that can be done to save them from the
moral and physical evils resulting from the crowd-
ing of several families into a single house, perhaps
even a single room. A speaker of considerable
authority was Dr. LANKESTER, who, in the course
of his duties as coroner, has had many opportunities
of witnessing the mischief produced by the ill-re-
gulated homes of our working families. The whole
state of things among the hard working classes,
said Dr. LANKESTER, was most distressing, and
needed stringent remedies. One of these remedies
is in the hands of the people themselves, in spite of
any legislative indifference or the inaction of land •
lords, but it is unfortunately the very last they
are willing to apply. We allude to free ventilation,
a luxury which very few in this crowded city allow
themselves to profit by to the fullest possible extent.
We hear a great dealabout the benefits of country air,
change of air, &c., from people whose moms are
kept continually closed in, and who shrink from an
open window as a dangerous imprudence. The
terror of " draughts," the fear of " catching cold,"
instilled into successive generations, outweigh all
the arguments, remonstrances, and warnings of the
advanced and enlightened science of the present
day. The evil is by no means restricted to the
dwellers in the densely populated streets of cities,
for anyone who has lingered along a country road
on a fine summer's day, may have been surprised
to notice the closed and curtained windows which
carefully exclude every breath of the balmy
summer air, while the loiterers in the lanes and
waysides are generally few and far between. Yet
that air and exercise are the two great preservatives
of health we need neither precept nor example to
show us. The theories are readily admitted, but a
host of prejudices start up to oppose the daily
practice. Let such as plead guilty to the indict-
ment, more especially if they be heads of families,
weigh well the result of Dr. LANKESTER'S experience.
He said that he found the children of respectable
artisans suffered more from the want of space
and fresh air than even the inhabitants of the back
slums, because the former were kept indoors while
the latter ran about the streets—" the air out of
doors even in the worst localities being far purer
than that of even the large and aristocratic rooms
at the West-end." " The neglect of ventilation,"
he went on to say, " even by the wealthy was
wonderful—among the poor it was almost univer-
sal." Such is the view of a gentleman who, from
his position as Coroner, as well as from his previous
professional experience, is well qualified to pronounce
an opinion. We can scarcely hope, however, for
any rapid improvement in this particular, althougb,
if we could attain it, there is little doubt that the
spread of contagious diseases would be perceptibly
checked as well as the general health of the public
greatly improved.

We cannot pass laws to make people open their
windows for a given time in the twenty-four hours,
but we can certainly interfere to provide sufficient
means of ventilation when they are inclined for it
—proper drainage, and, above all, a limited number
of inhabitants. The evils attending the over-crowd-
ing of rooms and houses have been so often dwelt upon
that they have become almost platitudes. They are
so great as to secure the intervention of the Legis-
lature, but although the Common Lodging-house
Act has produced most beneficial effects, there are
unhappily, still loopholes by which it is often evaded.
It appears to us that, without trenching on the
boasted privilege of an Englishman, some of these
might be prevented. For instance, Lord SHAFTES-
BURY declared that unscrupulous landlords and
tenants often eluded the provisions of the bill by
pretending that all the inmates of a house or room
were members of their own family. Such a fraud
as this could be easily detected by the police, and
one or two heavy fines would check an imposture
only attempted for gain. Various useful sugges-
tions were made by other speakers at the meeting,
and we trust the friends of health and progress
will follow the advice given by Mr. KINNAIRD,
M.P., and assist the beneficial settlement of these
important questions by rendering them the powerful
support of public opinion.

IRE L AND.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAM,)

THE POLISH INSURRECTION.
OSTROWO, FEB. 26 (Evening).
The insurgents have taken the manufacturing
town of Opatowek, near Kalisch.
Prussian troops have been despatched from this
city to the Russian frontier.

FRANCE.

PARIS, FEB. 27.

The ffloniteur of this morning publishes the reply
of the Washington Cabinet to the overtures of
France for the re-establishment of peace.
The full text of the reply has already been pub-
lished in the English journals.

PARIS, FEB. 26.
At to-day's sitting of the Senate further petitions
were laid upon the table in favour of Poland.
The report of the Committee upon these petitions
will not be made before next week.
The Pays of this evening says :

" The Cabinet of Washington bas replied to the
proposition of mediation made by France. Mr.
Seward considers it impossible to open immediate
negotiations for peace. According to the Cabinet of
Washington a more practicable means would be for
deputies from the dissentient States to comeito Con-
gress, where projects of arrangement could be dis-
cussed and, if adopted, submitted to the sanction of
a National Convention.

The Opinion Nationale says that the agitation,
or rather the indignation, is increasing in Prussia,
and never did greater unanimity exist between the
people and the Chambers. We have just seen the
report of the commission charged by the Chamber
of Deputies to examine into the propositions of
Messrs. Hoverbeck and De Carlowitz, relative to
the intervention of Prussia in the affairs of Poland.
The commission has expressed its unanimous
opinion that the conduct of the Government has
perfectly justified the declaration made to the Cham-
bers by Messrs. Hoverbeck and De Carlovitz.
The Constitutionnel says that the news just re-
ceived from Poland, by Cracovia and Breslau,
are all quite favourable to the cause of the
insurgents. An encounter took place some days
since between the Poles and the Russians in the
environs of Kutno. At the end of this combat the
body of Russians, whose commander was killed,
had to beat a retreat and retire to the Prussian
frontier. In another encounter at Biala the insur-
gents again obtained the advantage. Therefore the
insurrection does not appear to decrease, as was
asserted by some of the Russian despatches' some
days back.
The Pays asserts that all the news and des-
patches from Germany coincide in declaring
that it is the universal opinion that the
attitude of the Chamber of Representatives in
Berlin, seconded by the manifestation of public
opinion throughout Europe, will stop the Prussian
Government in the dangerous course that it has
entered upon.
Le Sleds observes that the treaty of 1856 was too
hastily concluded. It was thought to save Sweden
by the destruction of Bomarsund, and Turkey by
that of Sebastopol. What should have been done
to protect all at once was to reestablish Poland.
So long as this essential balance to the European
equilibrium is out of place there will be no durable
peace. The Polish people, after a thousand
protests, have now come back to that form
of protest which alone has a chance of
success. Those who do not recognise that her hour
has come are wanting in political perception. We
do not hesitate, says the Siecle, to affirm that Rus-
sia is committing suicide by pursuing an impossible
object. Blinded by the vainglory of preserving a
conquest acquired by an injustice that has
provoked the censure of Europe, she will ex-
haust herself fruitlessly. Internal convulsions
will agitate her in her turn, and as she has not the
homogeneousness of the Polish people she will be in
greater danger. The article concludes by saying
that the petitions will be presented to the Senate,
where certainly they will receive a different recep-
tion from that accorded to M. Jules Favre by the
Corps Legisiatif. Public opinion imperatively
exacts a very different attitude!
BOURSE, Feb. 26.—The market opened firm, and
business w ,s done at an improvement on the closing
rates of yesterday, but the advance was not long
maintained, and quotations are now again at 69f.
55c. for the Threes for Account. Railway Share
Market quiet. The market left off as follows
lt per Cents .. 98 50 Bank Shares 3360
Do. end month.... Credit Fonder 1455
3 per Cents ...... 69 65 Piedmontese Fives
Do. end month.... 69 60 Italian Loan 69 55
New 3 per Cents .. Russian
Do. end month.... Austrian
Credit M0bi1ier....1172 60 Spanish Threes 52 75
Do. end m0nth....1170 Home Debt

DUBLIN, Feb. 26.

RAILWAYS.
Cash. Account.
Orleans llOO 1098 75
Northern .... 1025 .. 1025
New ditto
Lyons and Mediterranean 1182 50 .. 1185
Gen Ava .
Southern
Western
Eastern
Sardinian 368 75
Austrian
Lowbard
North of Spain
Saragossa 685 687 50
Ditto to Barcelona

The sound of the hammer has been heard all
night through the city of Dublin from the work
men preparing for the illumination on the night
of the marriage. The illumination proposes to
surpass in dazzling effect anything we have had in
this country. The merchants whose places of
business are in Sackville-street are uniting their
resources in order that a satisfactory result may be
produced. Nelson's pillar is to be illuminated
from the base to the summit, adorned with fanciful
devices in gas of every colour, as if hung round
with wreaths of flowers. The apparent supineness
of the civic authorities has roused the citizens to
do great things on this occasion. But though
the corporation is slow in its movements, and the
Lord Mayor seems too full of the idea of " Irish
distress" to indulge heartily in the festive mood,
he will, no doubt, take his proper place and do the
right thing, or he would sadly disappoint his con-
stituents.

PRUSSIA.

BERLIN, Feb. 25.

An illustration of hurried justice on circuit oc-
curred at Armagh yesterday. The case of "Ken-
nedy v. Lloyd," which had been tried at the last
assizes, came on for trial now again. But the
Judge was due that day at Downpatrick, and
nothing could be done but enter the case as a
engine& Counsel remarked on the extreme hard-
ship to which his client was subjected by the post-
ponement of the case, as he was in attendance for
several days with no fewer than seven witnesses
from Downpatrick, and had incurred great expense
in preparing for the trial.

Yesterday and to-day have been days of suspense
and rumours. People run about talking of a crisis,
and the quidnuncs are on tenterhooks to find out
who is the coming man. Lists of probable Cabinets
are discussed and extravagant conjectures hazarded.
As possible Premiers have been named, the two
Manteuffele (the ex-Minister and the General),
Count Goltz (the present Ambassador at Paris),
M. von der Hey dt, and others still less likely. It
has been suggested that a Ministry might be
formed by Prince Hohenzollern, with Prince Wal-
demar of Schleswig-Holstein as Minister of War ;
M. von Bonin, M. Gneist, end one or two more
from the Left Centre, filling up some of the
minor departments with non-political men, now
high functionaries in the different Ministries. It is
certainly possible that such a Ministry might be
formed—of course on the basis of a legally-esta-
blished two-years' term of military service, which
would necessitate a rifacimento or reorganisation of
the army--and that it might command a working
majority in the chamber. There is only one obstacle,
and that is the extreme improbability that the
King would make up his mind thus to fly in the
face of Prince Charles and the military Camarilla,
to throw his feudal friends overboard and himself
into the arms of the liberals. The Berlin public
may be mistaken in imagining that there is any
crisis at all ; just as M. Auerswald and his friends,
who yesterday held conclave and expected to
be sent for, may prove completely in error as to
their chances of office. If the King does change, it
is to be hoped it will be to some purpose., and that
he will not recur to the wavering advisers who so
frittered away his popularity and their own reputa-
tion during their late period of office, and, by their
endeavours to conciliate everybody, perfectly suc-
ceeded in disgusting all parties. Such a well-mean-
ing, weak-minded, and irresolute Administration as
the Auerswald-Schwerin-Patow Cabinet is the last
thing to be desired. M. Patow is considered quite
impossible even by his own friends. What the Libe-
rals say, however, is that any change must be for
the better. the departure from office of the present
Premier, 'who has accumulated upon his head an
unusually large load of dislike and contempt,
would give general satisfaction, but there is
great room for a doubt whether it will just now
take place. I desire, however, to give no opinion
as to what may or may not occur in a month,
a week, or even in the course of the next 48
hours; for the circumstances of the time and the
characters of the men chiefly concerned are such
that nothing can be foreseen or pronounced impos-
sible. Considering the combined weakness and
obstinacy of
the principal personage, and the in-
fluences to which he has of late been subject, it is
hard to believe in such a change as would utterly

The Belfast Bank has been defrauded to the
amount of £4,000 in notes and gold, by a person
named Roberts, the cashier of the Ballymena
branch. The Northern Whig says that Roberts
left Ballymena on Saturday last, by the evening
train, and was seen carrying a large portmanteau.
On Monday morning he was not to be found, and
it was immediately afterwards discovered that gold
and notes, to the amount of £4,000, had been
taken away. The police have not yet succeeded in
getting any clue to Roberts, and it is supposed that
he has escaped to America.

COVENTRY WEDDING FAVOURS.—The looms of
Coventry, 'which, till within the last few weeks,
were, in the majority of instances,
standing idle, are now
to a very great extent actively employed in the manufacture
of ribbons for making up into rosettes for the royal mar-
riage. Another advantage—and not the least of those which
Coventry will reap from the present movement, as it affords
some additional prospect of permanent employment in future
—arises from the fact that the stock of white ribbons in the
hands of warehousemen and manufacturers has become
utterly exhausted, and as there is a constant demand, even
in times of depression, for white ribbons for the trimming
of ladies' bonnets, it necessarily follows that the weavers
will have to work hard for a considerable time, in order to
replenish that stock. The execution of orders for the usual
spring tide have also, we believe, been to a great extent de-
ferred in consequence of the pressure of business arising
from the present extraordinary requirement of white rib-
bons. It will thus be seen, that there is every probability
of the weavers of Coventry deriving very great and per-
manent advantage from the universal patronage which the
country has bestowed upon them on this ocoMion

dash the hopes of the Absolutist party, infuriate
some of the King's most constant associates and in-
timate advisers, and give to the Constitutional cause
in Prussia a prestige and a prospect it has never yet
enjoyed. Two other circumstances make against a
change of Ministry at the present moment—namely,
the fear of appearing to yield to foreign pressure,
and the consideration that the convention originally
proceeded from the King and his generals, not from
M. Bismark, who, in fact, is merely the secretary
or notary who draws up his master's acts. M.
Bismark doubtless had early cognizance of what
was going on ; and it has even been said that the
statement that he had no part in originating the
notable project, is a false report spread by his order
and by a certain M. Hahn, at the Ministerial press-
bureau, on whom are fathered most of the rumours
circulated that can in any way, direct or indirect,
benefit the Ministry or injure its opponents. But,
according to probability and to the best opinions,
the negotiation was commenced without his being
consulted, and all the blame due to him is that
which would attach to a coachman w ho, finding his
master bent upon being upset in a ditch, should
conscientiously look out for a steep bank and a
deep place instead of laying down the reins and
declining complicity in an act of suicide.
As regards the famous Prusso-Russian conven.
tion, it is now supposed by many that it will be
desisted from, and, if not cancelled, that it will at
least be allowed to remain a dead letter. Of course
there are plenty of reports afloat concerning it.
According to one, a despatch from Paris to Berlin
insisted that it should not be carried out. It may
be doubted whether things have gone so far as that.
In diplomatic circles here it is suspected that the
convention was communicated to the French Govern.
ment on Friday (on which day Count Goltz had an
audience of the Emperor), while it is affirmed as
positive that, up to Saturday at least, no copy of it
had been supplied to the English Government.
We are left to choose whether to attribute
this to mere neglect and clumsiness, or to an
idea of conciliating the French Emperor, and
trying to detach him from England in this matter.
The papers state that Sir Andrew Buchanan, who
left Berlin on Monday morning for Strelitz, had an
audience of the King on Sunday. When the Eng-
lish and French Legations at Berlin were elevated,
at the request of the Prussian Court, into Embas-
sies, people were disposed to smile, and deem it
superfluous, but with the present Prussian Govern-
ment one is inclined to think it highly desirable
that the representatives of the Western Powers
should be able to communicate with the King with-
out the interference of a Bismark.

The Crown Prince left this morning for Carlsruhe,
whence he will proceed to England, in company
with the Grand Duke of Baden, for the marriage
of the Prince of Wales. His stay in England is not
expected to be long,