The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-26 00:00:00

Lifeboat Services.

BIDEFORD, DEVON, Feb. 24.—During a gale from
W.N.W. yesterday (says A. (;cosset, Esq., collector
of Customs), the brig Altivo, of Lisbon, bound from
London to Cardiff in ballast, was observed on shore
inside the South Tail in Bideford Bay. The Apple-
dore lifeboat, named the Hope, of the National
Lifeboat Institution, was promptly launched and
proceeded towards the wreck, and on nearing her
met the crew of 10 men in their own boat. The
lifeboat then took them in tow, and safely brought
them through the breakers, and landed them at
Appledore. It was most fortunate that the lifeboat
met them just at the right moment, as they got from
under the lee of their ship, otherwise their boat to a
certainty would have been swamped, their being a
very heavy sea on. The cost, amounting to £340,
of this lifeboat, was defrayed by Mrs. Ellen Hope,
as executrix of the late Rev. F. W. Hope.

NEW LIFEBOATS.—The National Lifeboat Insti-
tution sent on Saturday a new lifeboat to Culler-
coats, near Tynemouth, Northumberland, and two
days previously, one to Cahore, on the coast of
Wexford. The Cullercoats lifeboat is 33ft. long,
and is the gift to the institution of Peter Reid, Esq.
The boat is named The Palmerston, after the
late much-lamented Lord Palmerston. The Cahore
lifeboat is 32ft. long, and is the second lifeboat pre-
sented to the institution by Gen. Sir Geo. Bowles,
K.C.B. The committee have named the boat The
Sir George Bowles. Sir George's first boat is sta-
tioned at Howth, near Dublin, and last winter it
was the means, during a heavy gale of wind, of say.!
ing a shipwrecked crew. Sir George was so pleased
with the performance of the lifeboat on the occa-
sion that he decided to present to the institution
the cost of another lifeboat. The Lifeboat Society
has now ten lifeboats on the Northumberland coast,
on which it has expended upwards of £5,000. All
the lifeboats, numbering 27, on the Irish coast, be-
long to the Lifeboat Institution, and it has expended
on them upwards of £13,000,

REMARKABLE COINCIDENCE.—On Friday, Feb.
23, 186'6, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in
retutning from hunting, changed his attire, and lunched
at the Angel Hotel in Grantham, accompanied by his grace
the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Beaufort, the Earl of
Wilton, and several othet noblemen. It occurred to Mr.
Boyall, the landlord of the hotel, that just 653 years ago,
that very day, viz., on Feb. 23, 1213, as the patent rolls of
his reign prove, King John held his Court in the same
room that the Prince of Wales then occupied. This fact
was duly made known to his royal highness and party by
Mr. Boyall.

A DANGEROUS LEAP.—Swain, a Liverpool bride-
well keeper, having occasion to travel on Friday from
Liverpool to Walton Gaol, by some mistake got into an
express instead of a train which stopped at the Walton
station. As his bu.liness was important, he imprudently
resolved to leap out of tho train at Walton, but his temerity
nearly cost him his life, awl ho now lies in a most critical
state.

BOURSE, Feb. 24, Two o'clock.—There is to-
day a total absence of the buoyancy which has
characterised the markets for stocks and Shares
during the past two or three days. Transactions are
exceedingly rare, and quotations have generally re-
ceded. Threes for the Account are doing at 691 r.
37ic., or a fall if7c. ; and Mobilier Shares at
681 fr. 25c., a decline of 2fr. 50c. Italian fives are
quoted at 61fr. 421 c., or sc. less. The Railway
Department also evinces much weakness, and the
rates are generally lower. Three o'clock.—The
market closed on the following quotations :

por Cents 99 50
Do. end month
3 per Cents. 69 321
Do. end month 69 32
Credit Mobilier
Do. end month
Bank Shares 3690
Credit Foncier 1340
Italian Loan 6l 50
Do. end month 6l 471
RAIL'

Roman 69
Ottoman Fives 39 25
Mexican Loan 4B
Do. Bonds 3OB 75
Russian —
Austrian
Spanish Threes
Rome Debt —
Deferred

Orleans
Northern
Lyons and Mediterranean
Southern
Western
Eastern
Sardinian .
Austrian

Cash. Aeut.
... 867 50
1120
886 25
.„ „. 555

Lombard
North of Spain
Saragossa
Ditto to Barcelona
Roman

- - ... 543 75
- - 147 50
- - 402 50
~. 400 -
- - 177 50
- - 231 25
- ... 102 50
- - 122 25

C'ose of the Prussian Chambers.

BERLIN, Feb. 23.

The immediate cause of the close of the Prussian
Chambers was the ill-success of the motion of De-
puty Reichensperger and the Catholic members for
an address to the King. The motion was rejected
yesterday, after an animated debate, by a very
large majority.
Count von Bismarck then demanded the word,
and read the two Royal decrees, amidst the breath-
less silence of the House :

" We, William, by God's grace King of Prussia,
&c., have, in accordance with Art. 77 of the Con-
stitution, commissioned the President of our Mi-
nistry, Count von Bismarck-Schonhausen, to close
the present session of the two Houses of the Diet
of our kingdom in our name upon the 23d inst. We
therefore humbly summon both Houses of the Diet
to assemble for that purpose upon the said day, at
1 p.m., in our royal castle at Berlin.
(Signed) " WILLIAM."

" We, 'William, by God's grace, King of Prussia,
&c., do ordain, in virtue of Art 52 of the Constitu-
tion, as follows :
" 1. Both Houses of the Diet are hereby pro-
rogued until the close of the present session.
" 2. Our Ministry is charged with the execution
of this decree. (Signed) " WILLIA3I.”
(Countersigned by all the Ministers.)

The reading of these documents seemed to take
the House completely by surprise. President
Grabow perused the decrees, and then said—
" As I read these royal orders, it appears that
we are to hold no further sittings until the
close of the session, and that we are prorogued
at once. Gentlemen, this is therefore our
last sitting in the eighth legislative period.
You will not expect from me, as I had no previous
knowledge of the royal order impending over us,
any detailed statement of the labours we have al-
ready accomplished, and of those still remaining to
be performed. As you are yourselves aware, a great
portion of our work is left undone. We can only
close to-day's sitting with the heartfelt wish that,
as in my opinion proceedings of every sort will en-
sue, the Prussian people will back up its represen-
tatives, and, as hitherto, rigidly observe the consti-
tution. The measures likely to follow in conse-
quence of the prorogation and close of the Chambers
have been already announced in the course of our
sittings, but I trust that we, who have up to the
present time supported right, law, and the consti-
tution with all our strength, will let these still be
our aims in future. Gentlemen, as we are not to
meet here again, I close our last sitting with the
cry, Long Live his Majesty the King !' "
Upon the assembly of the Chambers at the Castle
this afternoon, Count von Bismarck, the President
of the Ministry, read the following speech in the
King's name s—
" Illustrious, noble, and honourable Gentlemen
of both Houses of the Diet,—HisMajesty's Govern-
ment opened the present session of the Diet, not in
the expectation of the immediate solution of the
pending constitutional. conflict, but in the hope that
the strong desire of the Prussian people for agree-
ment would find sufficient echo among the represen-
tatives to render possible the co-operation of the
bodies of the State in the establishment of useful
laws ; and to alleviate, by common action in the
service of the fatherland, the evils of the opposition
offered by the Chamber of Deputies to the Crown
and to the Upper House. In this hope the Go-
vernment opened the Diet by desire of his
Majesty the King, without upon its part afford-
ing fresh food to the disagreement or injuring
the bases of a future understanding. The
first manifestation which followed thereupon
from the Chamber of Deputies was a speech from
its president, in which he gave expression to the
hostile feeling of the majority of the house, by base-
less and provocative reproaches against his Majesty's
Government. The further action of the house was
in accordance with this proceeding. It was not
directed towards peace, but towards strife—not de-
voted to the bills laid before it, but dedicated to the
attempt to discover opportunities for attack upon
the Government in directions which the constitution
' has not brought within the sphere of action of the
representatives, and with regard to which their
efforts necessarily remained fruitless. In this way
the union of the Duchy of Lauenburg with the
Prussian Crown, hailed with joy by the whole
country, was disputed, and therewith the constitu-
tional right of the King to conclude treaties impos-
ing no burdens upon the State. In this way an un-
constitutional attack was made by the resolution of
February 10 upon the independence of the courts,
guaranteed by Article 86 of the constitution, in con-
junction with the attempt to injure the well-founded
reputation of Prussian jurisprudence among the
people, and publicly to assail the honour of a
judicial bench whose impartiality now, as for cen-
tuaries, has contributed to the fame of our country.
By a further resolution the Chamber of Deputies
has violated article 46 of the constitution, and attri-
buted to itself privileges of the Executive power be-
longing to his Majesty alone, as it undertook to
give instructions to officials with regard to the
duties of their office. In face of these assumptions
the Government was compelled to ask itself whether
results favourable to the prosperity and the internal
peace of the country were to be expected from the
continuance of the labours of the Diet. His Majesty
wished the consideration of this question postponed
until the Chamber of Deputies should have discussed
a motion in which expression was given to the
efforts at mediation of a minority. But the course
of this debate has not been able to remove the ap-
prehension of the Government that the country
would be drawn into more serious disagreements by
the course adopted by the Chamber of Deputies,
and that the settlement of existing disunion would
only be rendered more difficult at a future period.
To prevent this, his Majesty the King has ordered
that the sittings of the Diet opened on the 15th

The iron cased ship Research, 4, 200 horse power,
Commander R. A. E. Scott, arrived in Chatham
harbour on Thursday afternoon from Cowes, where
she had been in attendance on her Majesty, and,
after having had her powder and shell removed into
the magazines at Upnor Castle, proceeded up to the
dockyard early on Friday morning. She was brought
up alongside the floating shears. She is ordered to
be do,:led in cne of the available docks at Chatham
for the purpose of having the deck over her central
battery extended into a complete upper deck con-
tinuously with the poop and forecastle, this addition
having been ordered by the Admiralty with the
view of promoting the comfort of the crew in work-
ing the sails during inclement weather. In order
to allow of*the guns in her battery to be fired both
ahead and astern in a line with the vessel's keel,
the sides of the Research will be indented like those
of the Pallas, ironclad corvette. The officers speak
in the highest terms of the vessel. Although her
engines are decidedly of too small power (only 200
horse) for a vessel of the size of the Research, dur-
ing her recent passage from Waterford to Ports-
mouth, which was a very stormy one, she attained a
speed of upwards of 11 knots an hour, assisted by
her sails.

A ship's launch, No. 10, fitted with engines by
Messrs. Rennie, and driving a pair of twin screws,
working independently, was tried at Portsmouth on
Friday, under the supervision of Lieut. Michell, of
H.M.S. Asia. The trial of a ship's boat fitted with
screw machinery can never, under ordinary circum-
stances, be attended with any great interest; but the
boat's trial, in the present instance, was so far novel
and out of the ordinary course of such trials, that
each screw was driven by a single engine in lieu of
the ordinary method by a pair of engines. Surface
condensers were also fitted to each engine, the -ob-
ject in this arrangement being not so much to ob-
tain a vacuum as to supply the engine with fresh
water, a feature of great importance in the fitting
of these small engines. The substitution of one for
the usual two cylinders in the driving of each shaft
also necessarily lessens the number of parts and
simplifies the general arrangement. The launch
drew lft. 7in. of water forward, and 2ft. 10in. aft.
The load on the safety valve was from 751 b to 801 b,
and the pressure in the cylinders 651 b. The maxi-
mum number of the screw's revolutions was 391,
and the minimum 293. The diameter of the screws
2ft. 6in., aLd their pitch 3ft. 6iu. The mean speed
of the boat in her runs over the measured mile
proved to be 7.500 knots. The trial was consi-
dered to be satisfactory, and had not the beers
primed during the trial a more favourable result
even might possibly have been obtained .
The Royal Alfrt_cd, 18, 4,041 tons, 800-horse
power, partially ironcased frigate, on Friday re-
ceived her three iron lower masts under the shears
of Portsmouth dockyard, with a view to her being
rigged. The masts were manufactured by the
Messrs. Finch, of Chepstow, and are considered to
be of excellent material and manufacture.

Her Majesty's despatch boat Nassau has been suc-
cessfully launched from Pembroke dockyard. She
is a very handsome little vessel, built of wood.
Her Majesty's ship Dee, from Woolwich, has
arrived at Pembroke dock with machinery and
stores for the dockyard.
Her Majesty's 2-gun, double screw, iron and wood
vessel Vixen, built by Mr. Charles Lungley at
Deptford-green (loci:yard, and received at Wool-
wich on the IGth of January last t 3 be fitted for
service, was on Saturday masted and rigged down,
and will be docked this morning for completion.
The Admiralty yacht Vivid, Commander Timothy
Sulivan, having been fitted with a chart-home on
the bridge, will also be placed in dock this morning,
at Woolwich, to be examined preparatory to return-
ing to her moorings in ordinary off the dockyard
for special service.

Her Majesty's 17-gun sloop Chanticleer paid out
of commission last week at Woolwich by Comman-
der Fenwick, from the Mediterranean, was on
Saturday hauled under the shears in the inner basin,
to be brought forward for a new commission, and
the iron paddle vessel Antelope, in dock at Wool-
wich, is ordered to be ready for the pennant on the
31st of May next.

The Unicorn hired transport, Capt. Horn, was on
Saturday hauled into the outer ►basin of Woolwich
dockyard, to ship 400 tons of machinery and vic-
tualling-stores for Ascension and the Cape of Good
Hope.
On Friday, Mr. E. J. Reed, the Cbief Construc-
tor of the Navy, proceeded to Paris on a visit to the
French School of Naval Architecture. lie will be
absent about a week.

The Simoom, screw iron troopship, Capt. Thos.
B. Lethbridge, went out of Portsmouth harbour on
Wednesday and on Friday to Spithead to test her
capstans and anchorage gear. On the Ist proximo
she will embark at Portsmouth the 92d Regiment,
Gordon Highlanders, for conveyance to Dublin.
From Dublin she will proceed to the Mediterranean
and convey the 22d Regiment from Malta to New
Brunswick, and thence proceed to the West India
Islands, where she will be employed in effecting a
relief of troops in the different garrisons, on the
completion of which she will return to England.
The Tamar, screw iron troop ship, Capt. Stir-
ling, will embark the 75th. Regiment at Portsmouth
on the 2d proximo for transport to Dublin.
The 72d Highlanders, from India, under com-
mand of Major Crombie, arrived at Edinburgh, by
special train from London, on Wednesday morning,
the first visit of the regiment to Scotland for about
40 years, nearly the whole interval having been
spent in foreign service. The same day the left
wing of the 71st Highlanders, under Capt. Dalgleish,
left Edinburgh Castle for Aldershot, the band of the
newly arrived 72d playing " Home, sweet home,"
while the 71st were taking their departure. The
71st have arrived at Aldershot. The marching-in
strength was 19 officers, 44 sergeants, 26 drummers,
547 rank and file, 85 women, and 95 children. The
regiment is stationed in A, B, and C lines, North
Camp.
The 31st Huntingdonshire Regiment, under the
command of Col. Eagar, is under orders to proceed
from Aldershot to Portsmouth on March 6. The
31st will be relieved at Aldershot by the 52d Regt.
from Portsmouth.

The 14th Hussars, who have been stationed at
Aldershot since May, 1864, have left the camp for
,Hounslow, Kensington, and Hampton Court. Three
troops marched on Monday last, five on Wednes-
day, and the remainder of the regiment on Saturday.

The 74th Highlanders, under the command of
Col. APLeod, left Aldershot on Tuesday for Dover.
Detachments from the brigade of Foot Guards
have been ordered to Aldershot for rifle practice,
and on arrival will be quartered in I and K lines,
North Camp.
The three brigades of infantry at Aldershot formed
up in line of contiguous columns on the Queen's-
parade, at half-past ten on Thursday morning. The
troops were inspected by Lieut.-Gen. Sir J. Yorke
Scarlett, K.C.8., and, after marching past, were
exercised in a variety of field movements, changes of
position, and formations, occupying about an hour
and a half. Tho regiments present were the 13th
Prince Albert's Light Infantry, the 17th Leicester-
shire, the 28th North Gloucestershire, the3lst Hun-
tingdonshire, the 63d West Suffolk, the 69th South
Lincolnshire, and the 92d Gordon Highlanders.
On the same day the cavalry and artillery of the
division marched out in different directions.

The 62d Regiment is expected to leave Pembroke
dock in a few days.
An order was on Friday received at Chatham,
directing the reinforcement for the 2d battalion of
the King's Own Regiment, placed under orders some
few weeks since for Malta, to embark for Nova
Scotia, to which station the service companies are
ordered to proceed. The officers who embark with
the detachment are Licats. F. R. Sandys, and J.
W. G. Telfer.
Colonel IL H. Crofton has been appointed to the
command of the Ist Division Depot Brigade, Royal
Artillery, in the Chatham district, and will join
headquarters on the 27th inst.
Capt. Pooklington and Ensign Carleton, 2d.bat-

HER MAJE ST Y.

WINDSOR CASTLE, SlaidaY:
The Queen, accompanied by Princess Loaf"
drove in the grounds yesterday afternoon.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer arrived at the
Castle, and had an audience of the Queen.

THE QUEEN'S COURTS.—We have authority to
o.
state that, in consequence of the lamented death of Sir b
Phipps, the Queen has postponed the Court appoietity
her Majesty to be held on Tuesday, the 27th inst., t° "t
day, March 9, at the same hour. The dates of the °t"-1,
Courts announced to be held by her Majesty have bete6;
changed to the following days : Thursday, March -o
Friday, March 23 ; Thursday, April 12 ; Monday, gaY t

and Tuesday, June 19.
Her Majesty the Queen has presented to the
British Museum one of the Roman tombs recently
covered upon the crown property at Old 'Windsor. 111°1
other tomb her Majesty has presented to the town
Windsor, and it is to be deposited in the contemplated loo'
museum in connection with the Literary and Scientific
stitution of the borough, for the accommodation of ~, Whic
a now building, to be called the Albert Institution, 113 :a
be erected on the Bachelor's Acre, a vacant site in th

centre of Windsor.
PRINCE ALFRED A POST CAPTAIN.---FriCl3l
night's Gazette contained the following announcement
" Admiralty, Feb. 23.—Lieutenant his Royal Ilight-f
Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, K.G., has been the
promoted to the rank of Captain in her Majesty's Fleel;..
It wilt be thus seen that the Prince has escaped from eel
ing in the rank of Commander, and will, no doubt, be al3-4
pointed to the command of a rated ship—perhaps the B°Y,
Alfred, which will be soon ready for the pendant.--Afis
and Navy Gazette.
to
APPOINTMENTS.—Lord Kinnaird will succee- $
the lord-lieutenancy of Perthshire, vacant by the dent!): r°:
the Earl of Kinnoul. Mr. Mallet, C. 8., and Mr. 3Drieri
C. 8., have been appointed British Commissioners to nec
into effect the fourth artille of the recent treaty vt'iti'
tria. Mr. R. Graham has been appointed her Males
Consul in the Balearic Islands.— Sunday GMT*.

Declaration of War between Spain and rerii‘
By the arrival of the steamer Peru, from Pallt'-'hat S

highly important intelligence has been received t113°,..
treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, has been es,le t
eluded between Chili and Peru, and that the latter."
ha.s:declared war against Spain.
The Peruvian fleet, consisting of the frigates Apur' teaf
40 guns, and Amazonas, 40 guns; and the corOil"
America, 16 gnus, and Union, 16 guns, 11311
CO
to effect a juncture with the Chilian fleet,dgoa
o
sisting of the Esmeralda, 16 guns, Cavadonga, 4 g',ol-
Muipu, 2 guns. This fleet is under positive orders todro,
nience immediate hostilities against the Spanish Sclu3io4s
The Peruvian Government has prohibited Slinnv,-05-
resident in Peru from quitting the country, andB.tiv
port is now required by every person going abroani
out exception.
the
The treaty was ratified and signed at Santhvg°:n :1W
30th December, 1865, by the President of the 011113- tae'
public, Jose Joaquin Perez, and countersigned b)''re
rico Errazuriz. ,
The ratifications were exchanged on the 14th of AlO
1866, in the saloon of the Department for Foreign op
at Lima, between Tonibio Pacheco Peruvian SecLofof
for Foreign Affairs, and Domingo Santa Marin, Th,"-vair
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentia'y of the
lie of Chili.

50
SEBASTOPOL.--The Cronstadt Messenger Pl' ,t
followinglj
account of the works executed in the Pe: of
Sebastopol
between the Ist of January and the I°tooir
November, 1865 :—ln the first line, which runs RohlA oil
stantine Point on the North side to Alexander ro-
the south side, the Varna, ship of the line, has beerli vra
tirely removed, and the Salaphail partially, the
e
parts only remaining. The Tri-Sviatitclia, is in 11irof'
the same state. The greater part of the Oural lla
"
war and of the Sizapol still remain under weter. tiot
the second line, where the vessels had bee/40"
chequer-wise between the batteries Michael 0-006
14 on the north side, and the Nicholas and P3tdroote'
on the south, the vessel Jaqoudul has been Of
pletely removed, and the Khrabry, Tchestestio: 0-
Rostislaw, and Sviatoslaw in part, the lower I)(l',,,,stie°
the hulls only remaining below. The Twelve
is also partially removed, and its hull is to be o,isbe,o
ate
means of floating butts, an operation which wih
tb
tended with great difficulty. The getting up° 111!
Mario and Constantino has not been commence' 14109
frigate Kagoul has been wholly raised, and sottiell°-beeo
of the frigates Midia, and Micevria. There he'lreopper'
already recovered 2,200 pounds (36 tons) c'fac 0116 t
5,500 p. (90 tons) of iron, 1,200 cannons, 4,0 v, Os-
-12,000 cast-iron ballast pigs, 100 chain cables, an
quantity of miscellaneous stores. ish
4.51°
GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN ON NEBRAS..aslatc,
irrepressible gentleman writes from Omah, N°l)„r-h'4, tb
c;t)
follows :—"Oinab. This is the New Chicago. ""'-
half-way station to China. Paris and P i 3 -.'
This of
Two ocean ferries and a continental railway. - erg
laud for ton millions of sheep and countless cotre
cattle. This is the city where five railroads wille -I.leo
from Chicago and two from St. Louis. This is cunt`tl,4,
of the bottle. Idaho, Montana, and a dozen .to ill'
of gold, silver, coal, and iron pour their treasures 1: sucl
half-way station down two thousand miles a rive Iv 'l3;
pastoral lands. Such soil, yearly enriched siilrie,ebore at
luge, thousands of years old. Such climate• t
no old men in Nebraska, and the grave-3'0'15 lisefeet);'
sparsely populated. Nearly everything 1,35's Sect,
thirty, forty per cent. Everybody makes none?:0.
Toil ti%r
hospitality, such churches and schools•
Anaf
conic this way. They want a territory, a 11..°Util't1,%'
future. Men of thought and men of action, Bled °rol
I intend establishing towns, building cities, and T-)°,l
up fortunes at every station along the Pacific-1°,150D, 04
week I bought five hundred acres of land in "'l'
by the fall shall have one hundred cottages there°
the 4th of July the President and Cabinet
and open the first ono hundred miles of the w°rl.(
way. Then the Platte Valley will declare its I°
dance." lutists cornoo,