The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-03 00:00:00

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Rio.—Exehange on London, 251- to 25; on
Paris, 385 ; and on Hamburg, 730.
Exportation of coffee since the depart ure of the
last mail.--For the United States, 115,529 ; for
the Channel, 17,235 ; for Havre, 7,128 ; for Mar-
seilles, 6,791 ; and for the Mediterranean, 18,188
bags. Stock, £130,000 bags.

The price of good first was 6,100 to 6,300 roil.

FRANCE.

PARTS, THURSDAY.

M. Billault's prefects are, as you see, striking
down newspapers and reviews with a vigorous arm.
Nobody likes an ex-Liberal for such work. Since
the last eight years six journals have been sup-
pressed. viz.:—The Opinion, Publique, A ssemblee
Nationale, Spectateur, Revue de Paris, Corsair,
and Univers. As for the avertissements they are
too numerous to mention, and yet flippant func-
tionaries have the assurance to declare that they
desire nothing more earnestly than a free and frank
discussion.

The Three per Cents. closed to-day at 67f. 50c.
for the end of the month, and the Four-and-a-Half-
per Cents. at 96f. 77e. ; Orleans railway shares,
1,345 f. ; Great Northern, 900 f. ; Strasburg, 630 f.
Paris to Lyons and the Mediterranean, 880 f. ;
Western of France, 570 E ; Bordeaux and Cette,
491 f. 25c.; Bank of Credit Mobilier, 732 f. 50c.;
Austrian Railways, 497 f. 50c.

Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 71c. ; money,
251. 7c. ; three months, paper, 24f.85c. ; money, 24f. 821 e.

NICE.

The following letter has been received from Nice,
dated Monday last :
" The county of Nice, of which the annexation to
the French empire appears at present probable, is
a small country situate between the Var and the
highest of the chain of mountains known as the
Maritime Alps, which begin at the junction of
the Alps with the Appenines, near the Col do
Tende, and are continued to the sea. It is
formed of two principal basins, that of the
Var and that of the Roye. The country is
generally poor, as may be imagined from the
following statistics, founded on official documents.
The superficies of the arable land is 28,405
hectares ; vines, 2,546 ; meadows, 34,976 ; gardens,
1,692 ; olive grounds, 9,195 ; chestnut plantations,
1,214 ; woods, 28,204 ; pasture lands, 177,672—
total, 283,904 hectares. The population of the
county of Nice, according to the census taken in
1858, is 125,000 inhabitants; that of the town of
Nice is 44,000, including the strangers, who only
remain during the few months in winter. The
following historical details are interesting under
existing circumstances. The foundation of Nice
is duo to a colony from Marseilles, and dates
as far back as 300 years before the birth of our
Saviour. The colony remained dependent on Mar-
seilles until the reign of Augustus Ca3sar, who placed
it under the jurisdiction of Cemelennin, a Roman
town, of which the ruins are still to be found
near Nice. In 584 Nice passed under the domi•
nion of Childebert, King of Austrasia, and from
that period until 1838 it remained attached to
Provence, under the houses of Aragon and of
Anjou. In 1838, tired out with the 'dissen-
sions between the families of Anjou and do Duras,
the inhabitants gave themselves up to Count Rouze
Amedee VII., and from that period until 1792
formed part of the domains of the Princes of Savoy.
The circumstances connected with the annexation
of Nice to France deserve notice. The French
troops, under the command of General Anselme,
were received at Nice with enthusiasm, and a
similar reception was given to another body under
General Montesquieu, when they entered Chem-
bery. Immediately after the entrance of the French
troops two deputies were sent to the Convention
by the inhabitants of Nice to demand their annexa-
tion to France. One of these was Blanqui, the
father of the political economist, and he explained
the wishes of his fellow-citizens at the sitting
of the Convention the 21st October, 1792.
The President immediately placed the reso-
lution among the orders of the day, but on
the observation of Barrere that previous to the
annexation of one nation to another the
wishes of the people should be fully and freely

expressed, the Convention declared that they
could not entertain the question until the people
had voted on it. The electors of Nice assembled on
the 9th December, and Blanqui again presented
himself before the Convention on Jan. 11 to renew
his demand. The annexation was finally voted at
the proposal of Cambon on the 31st of the same
month. The attachment of the population of Nice
to the House of Savoy was much shaken by the sup-
pression of the free port in 1852. That measure pro-
duced a strong protest to which 10,000 names were
attached, being nearly the entire of the adult male
population. The annexation of the county of Nice
to France will add but little to the territorial pos-
sessions of the latter, but it will give her a magni-
ficent strategical position. With the Alps as her
frontier, it will be impossible for an Al 7 st ro- S ardinian
army to invade Provence as has frequently been
done ; and, moreover, the harbour of Villafranca
will be a ♦aluable acquisition for France from its
magnificent position."

TILE C_HIIVA, CALCUTTA, AND BOMBAY

MAILS.

SOUTHAMPTON, FRIDAY MORNING.
The Ceylon, steamer, Captain Evans, has arrived
with these mails.
She left Alexandria on the 18th ult., Malta the
22d, and Gibraltar the 28th, and bring 86 passen-
gers, two packages of specie (value not stated),
2,674 bales of silk, four cases of valuables, and
general cargo.
The Ceylon spoke the Delta, steamer, on the 22d
ult., and the China on the 28th, both bound for
Alexandria; also the Sultan on the 31st, bound for
Lisbon.

Tier Majesty's ships Exmouth, Renown, Liffey,
Argus, Scourge, Lapwing, and Caradoc were at

Malta.

The British squadron at Gibraltar comprised the
Marlborough, Caesar, Victor Emmanuel, Agamem-
non, James Watt, Doris, Scylla, Cadmus, Quail, and
Redpole.
Exchanges at Gibraltar on the 26th were—Lon-
don, 511-. to 51; Paris and Marseilles, 5.33 ; Genoa,
5.37

The Coquette gunboat was to leave Gibraltar for
Portsmouth on the evening of the 28th.

The latest advices from Totuan contained no news
of importance from the seat of war. The Spaniards
were actively carrying on their preparations for
the siege of the city.
Several small vessels, laden with provisions, &c.,
had availed themselves of Marshal O'Donnell's offi-
cial order opening the port of Tetuan for the intro.
duction of all kinds of supplies by Spaniards or
foreigners without restriction.
The Spaniards had established a hospital for sick
and wounded at the Customhouse of the port of
Martin, and the engineers were erecting fortifica-
tions near the same spot.

The action. of the 23d was a very unimportant
affair. Several steamers had arrived at Malaga
with sick and wounded officers and men from the
seat of war in Africa.

The brig Margaret, with iron ore from Newcastle,
had put back to Gibraltar, from Cape St. Mary's,
with cargo shifted, vessel leaky, and crew refusing
to proceed.

The crew of the lonian barque, which vessel was
abandoned of Muros, coast of Galicia, had been
brought to Gibraltar by the French Government
steamer Tanger, to be forwarded to their homes by
the first opportunity.

PRESERVATION OF LIFE FROM SBIP-

WRECK.

Yesterday a meeting of the Royal National Life-
boat Institution was held at its house John-street,
Adelphi. Thomas Chapman, Esq., F.R.S., in the
chair. There were also present Sir Edward Per-
rott, Bart., Admiral M'Hardy, George Lyall, Esq.,
M.P., and several other gentlemen.
The Secretary read the minutes of the previous
meeting.
The silver medal of the institution was voted to
Captain Wasey, R.N., inspecting commander of the
coast-guard at Fleetwood, and to John Fox, cox•
swain of the lifeboat, in admiration of their gallant
and persevering conduct in putting off on two oe:
casions in the society's lifeboat stationed at that
place, and rescuing seven men from the schooner-
Ann Mitchell, of Montrose, and the Jane Roper, of
Ulverstone. The brave crew of the lifeboat also
received £22 10s. for their intrepid services. This
was reported to have been a most brave and per-
severing service, a portion of it having been pet-
formed during a dark and stormy night. Indeed
so much so that the steam-tug which towed the life-
boat out had given her up as lost. Capt. Wasey re-
ported, however, that the lifeboat's behaviour on the
occasion far surpassed the crew's anticipations.
Rewards amounting to £34 10s. were also Toted
to the crew of the Redcar lifeboat, which is in con-
nection with this institution, for rescuing on two
different occasions the crew of 11 men from the
Prussian wrecked brig Fortuna, of Memel, and also
two men from a fishing coble, which was found in a
disabled state off Redcar.
A reward of £6 was also voted to the crew of the
institution's lifeboat stationed at Thorpness, for re-
scuing, on the morning of the 24th ult., three out of
eight of the crew of the brig Pallas, of Shield',
which during a heavy gale of wind was wrecked on
Sizewell Bank. The vessel had struck about mid-
night. The master and four of his crew immedi-
ately took to their boat. She was, however, no
sooner launched than she capsized, drowning in-
stantly the five poor men. The remaining three men
had held on with difficulty to the rigging. With
the dawn of the day the lifeboat saw their perilous
position, and took them off in a very exhausted
state.
Rewards amounting to £52 were also Toted to
the crews of the lifeboats of the institution stationed
at Newbiggin, Carnsore, Barmouth, Llanddurn, and
Portmadoc, for putting off with the view of render-
ing assistance to ships' crews in distress.
The second service clasp of the institution and £1
were also voted to Daniel Shea, coxswain of the
Padstow lifeboat, and £1 to John Knight, in ac-
knowledgment of their gallant conduct in wading
into the surf and rescuing, at much risk of life, two
of the crew of the ship James Alexander, which,
during a heavy gale of wind, was wrecked near
Padstow on the 22d inst. The remainder of the
crew, 25 in number, were saved by the rocket ap-
paratus, under the directions of Mr. Tregido, chief
hiso onewerotfed rathbeTery,
coastguard at New Quay, who, with
very much distinguished him-
self on the occasion by rushing into the surf to re•
move an obstruction to the free working of the
apparatus.
The silver medal and £1 were also voted to Mr.
John Dyer, in testimony of his brave conduct in
wading into the surf, which three or four times
completely immersed him, and saving the master of
the schooner Beverley, of Youghal, the remainder
of the crew having been saved by the rocket ap-
paratus.
A reward of £4 was also Toted to a boat's crew
of two farmers and their two servants, for saving
the crew of five men, and the master's wife, of the
brigantine Eagle, which, during a gale of wind and
in foggy weather, was wrecked on the coast of the
Isle of Man. The vessel at the time was rolling
fearfully. The master's wife, having been lashed
to the rigging, was compelled to throw herself into
the sea. Fortunately, however, she was soon picked
up, although nearly exhausted, by William Qustt-
rough, and afterwards safely brought ashore.
A reward of £6 10s. was also voted to the oreir
of the institution's lifeboat at A.rklow for putting
off and saving nine men from the ship Anne Mit-
chell, of Glasgow, which, during foggy weather and
a tremendous sea, was wrecked, on Monday last, on
those dangerous banks. In vain had some fishing
smacks and the Ruby steamer, of Bristol, attempted
pi eviously to rescue them • and it was with sons*
difficulty the noble lifeboat successfully 11COODP
plished her humane object.
It was reported that Englishmen resident in
Australia, China, the East and West Indies, and
Russia, had forwarded to the institution some con-
tributions, as tokens of their admiration of its im-
portant and philanthropic operations.
During the past month lifeboats had been for-
warded to St. Andrew's, in Scotland, and to the
vicinity of Carmarthen Bay.
The Admiralty presented to the institution
valuable series of charts of the coasts of the British
Isles, on which are marked the lifeboat and rocket
stations.

It was stated that the Royal Victoria Yacht
Club had decided to present the cost (£380) of
.11
lifeboat station on the Isle of Wight to tho insti-
tution.

The late Mr. Edwin Cuthbert had left the'
society a liberal legacy of £5O.
Admiral Sir Thomas Herbert, K.C.8., and Sir
Edward Perrott, Bart., were elected vice-president?
of the institution. For the past nine years Sit
Edward Perrott, Bart., had been most zealous gin ,
active in aiding to carry on the important work °I
the Lifeboat Society.