The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-23 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTERS TELEGRAM.)

SPAIN.
MADRID, FEB. 22 (Evening).

The Official Gazette publishes a decree reducing
the rate of interest to be allowed by the Bank of
Deposit to 3 per cent. for sums deposited for two to
six months, to 6 per cent. for nine months, and to
7 per cent. for one year.

ROME.
ROME, FEB. 22 (Evening).

The Giornale di Roma of to-day says :—" 571
convicts belonging to the provinces annexed to
Piedmont have been surrendered by the Papal
Government to the French authorities, who have
already transported them to their new destination."

RUSSIA AND BOKHARA.

ST. PETERSBURG, FEB. 23.

The Journal de St. Petersburg contradicts the
statement published by the Bombay papers that
Russia had sent valuable presents to the Khan of
Bokhara, and says that since 1858 no Russian am-
bassadors has gone to that country. It also denies
that a numerous body of labourers are engaged in
making roads to Bokhara, and points out that as
Tuschkend is not in Russian occupation, it is im-
possible for Russian authorities to have proclaimed
in that city a remission of taxes for two years.

THE PRISONERS IN ABYSSINIA.
ALEXANDRIA, FEB. 11.

Intelligence received here from the confines of
Abyssinia states that no change for the better has"
taken place in the State of Abyssinia affairs. The
captives, Messrs. Stern, Rosenthal, and the English
Consul, have not only not been set at liberty, but
have suffered from great violence. According to
information received from different authorities the
prisoners find themselves placed in the most pitiful
condition, as the rainy season has gravely affected
their health. The ostensible cause of ill treatment
on the part of the King seems to lie in the discovery
which his Majesty made in the journal of Messrs.
Stern and Rosenthal as to his maternal descent.
Mr. Stern mentioned in his confiscated papers
that the King's mother had been a vendor of kosso, a
medicinal fruit that is constantly used by the Abys-
sians. Mr. Stern was quite right in his assertion,
for it is quite true that the King's mother was a seller
of kosso, whereas his father was a relation of Ded-
jaji Comfoo, the Governor of Dembea, who beat
back several times the Egyptian troops that came
from Sennar. In the beginning of his reign the
King (who was then a true liberal man, and not a
despot, as he has become since the death of Mr. Bell,
his adjutant, who kept him in a moral check), often
used to say, "If I do not help the poor people, they
will complain of me before God, for I myself have
been a poor man."

Had Theodoros been a man of Napoleon's stamp
he would not have felt ashamed of his descent,
nor would he have had recourse to the absurd idea
of being descended from King Solomon, who had a
son, as the Abyssinians say, called Menelei, who
was sent to Ethiopia, which was then subjected to
the Queen of Sheba. Hence the royal family of
Abyssinia consider themselves to this day as the
lineal descendants of Solomon, an idea to which
King Theodoros attaches the greatest importance,
and which he is said to have strongly stated
in his late correspondence with Napoleon to out-
do the latter in respect of genealogy: Theodoros,
very angry at Mr. Stern's assertion, wished to know
the source from which he had derived his informa-
tion. As he would not mention the name of his in-
formant, the King ordered him (Mr. Rosenthal) to
be beaten and put to the Abyssinian rack, i.e., the
wrist of the hand and the upper part of the arm of
both gentlemen were firmly tied with ropes, in
consequence of which the blood was forced out of
the tips of the fingers. After the prisoners had con-
fessed the rack was removed, but one may imagine
how dreadfully they suffered. Whether the efforts
made by the English Government in behalf of the
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PRUSSIA.
__BERLIN, FEB. 20.

The bill authorising the Minister of Commerce to
establish branches of the Prussian Bank in German
non-Prussian towns has been referred by the Cham-
ber to the Committee on Commercial Affairs,
augmented by seven members. it is believed that
the committee will recommend the adoption of the
bill. The Minister of Commerce intends to pro-
ceed immediately afterwards with the establishment
of a branch at Hamburg.

Public attention is eagerly directed to the debate
about to open in the Chamber upon the railway
question. A resolution proposed by Herr Michaelis,
one of the editors of the National Zeitung, and seve-
ral other members of the progress party, demands
the postponement of the definitive vote upon the
railway bills until the Budget of 1865 has been
agreed to. The reason stated is that these bills
imply either a guarantee of interest on the part
of the State, or a loan to provide funds for
constructing the projected lines. But, say the
movers of the resolution, the Chamber cannot au-
thorise the Government to conclude any loan before
it shall have recognised the right of the Chamber to
control the Budget. The Budget, however, in-
cludes the army Bill, upon which agreement be-
tween the contending parties has already been
declared impossible, so that a second dead-
lock seems impending. The progress party
will support Herr Michaelis's resolution,
which, though considered by part of the
Left centre premature, will probably be carried.
Should such be the result, a dissolution is generally

expected,
It is still denied that the Government has any in-
tention of consulting Schleswig-Holstein notables
upon the Ministerial proposals as to Prussia's future
relations towards the Duchies. People add that
such a step would not be justifiable, as the only
question hitherto has been concerning eventual pro-
positions, which could only settle future relations
in case the Duchies should be conBtituted an inde-
pendent State