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

country.

FRANCE.

PARIS, FEB. 26

The Moniteur of this morning says :—" Certain
papers announce that a society has been formed at
Rome, having for its object the development of the
resources of the Papal Government, and that this
society is placed under the direction of M. Vuille-
frey, a member of the French Senate."

The latter portion of this statement is entirely
without foundation.

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 69fr.
371 c., or a fall 7c. ; and Mobilier Shares at
681 fr. 25c., a decline of 2fr. 50c. Italian fives are
quoted at 61fr. 42ic., or sc. less. The Railway
Department also evinces much weakness, and the
rates are generally lower. Three o'clock.—The
market closed on the for

4i- per Cents 99 50
Do. end month —

3 per Cents. 69 321
Do. end month 69 32i
Credit Mobilier 677 51.)
Do. end month
Bank Shares 3690

Credit Foncier 1340
Italian Loan 6l 50

Do. end month 6l 47}

RAIL'

lowing quotations :
Roman 69
Ottoman Fives 39 25
Mexican Loan 4B
Do. Bonds 303 75
Russian —
Austrian
Spanish Threes
Rome Debt —
Deferred

rAYS.
Cash.

Orleans
Northern
Lyons and Mediterranean
Southern
Western
Eastern
Sardinian .
Austrian
Lombard
North of Spain
Saragossa
Ditto to Barcelona
Roman

Amt.
- - 867 50
- - 1120
- - 886 25
- - ... 555 -

- - 543 75
- - ... 147 50
- - ... 402 50
- - 400 -
- - 177 5G
- 231 25
102 50
- - ... 122 25

Close 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 Hoases 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) '6 WILLIAM."
(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 arc 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 :
" Illustrious, noble, and honourable Gentlemen
of both Houses of the Diet,—llisMajesty's Govern-

merit opened the present session of the Diet, not in
the expectation of the immediate solution of the
pending constitutional conflict, but in the hopethat
the strong desire of the Prussian people for agree-
, meat 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 pow, 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

- -
January should be terminated. By his Majesty's
order I therefore declare the Diet of the kingdom
closed."

Naval and Military Intelligence.

--..__

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 docked 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 if t. 7in. of water forward, and 2ft. 10in. aft.
The load on the safety valve was from 751 b to 801 b,
and the pressure is the cylinders 651 b. The maxi-
mum number of the screw's revolutions was 304,
and'the minimum 293. The diameter of the screws
2ft. Gin., and their pitch 3ft. 6in. 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 boilers
primed during the trial a more favourable result
even might possibly have been obtained .
The Royal Alfred, 18, 4,011 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 docl:yard.
Her Majesty's 2-gun, double screw, iron and wood
vessel Vixen, built by Mr. Charles Lungley at
Deptford-green dockyard, and received at Wool-
wich on the 16th of January last to 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-house 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 Chief Construc-
tor of the Navy, proceeded to Paris on a visit to the
French School of Naval Architecture. He 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. M'Leod, 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. The regiments present were the 13th
Prince Albert's Light Infantry, the 17th Leicester-

shire, the 28th North Gloucestershire, the3lst Hun-
tingdonshire, the 63d Wrest 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 Lieuts. F. R. Sandys, and J.
W. G. Telfer.

Colonel R. 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. Pocklington and Ensign Carleton, 2d bat-

~,~"

• talion of the sth Fusiliers, have been placed under
orders to embark for the Cape of Good Hope, r°
join their service companies.
Five companies of the 14th Regiment, the regi-
mental headquarters at present stationed at Ports-
mouth, will leave that garrison on the 28th inst. for
Sheffield, to join detachments of the regiment pre-
viously sent there from Tynemouth,
Capt. Loraine White, who has been for some years
barrack-master at St. James's Park, has been al)-
pointed a military knight of Windsor, in the room
of Major D. J. Macdonald, K.H. Capt. White has
serued in the Peninsula and at Waterloo. He served
on the expedition to the Elbe and IVeser, under
Lord Cathcart ; in the Peninsula, under the Duke
of Wellington ; and in the campaigns in Flanders
and France, under Lord Lynedoch and the Duke
of Wellington. Capt. White has received the war
medal with three clasps as well as the medal for
Waterloo.

A pay-corporal of the Bth company of Royal En-
gineers, named Tylor, stationed at Woolwich, has
succeeded in fraudulently appropriating and escaping
with about £2OO. The loss of a large portion of this
Ellin will, it is feared, fall on Capt. Wheatley, who
recently left Woolwich and joined the mounted
corps at Aldershott, and Lieut. Crawford, now in
temporary command of the company. Corporal Tylor
was in the habit of drawing the men's working pal
from the Royal Arsenal, and in his capacity of pal"
corporal he was intrusted with funds to discharge the
current bills. This, it appears, he had neglected to
do, alleging falsely to the various tradesmen that
his captain had authorised him to defer the paY-
ment from time to time on some trivial excuse. 011
Saturday, the 18th inst., he was found to be absent
from the pay-call, at which the company was assem-
bled, and he has not since been heard of.

The following appointments have been made at the
Admiralty :—Commander Edward J. Brooks to be
Inspecting Commander in the Coastguard Service,
vice the Hon. Henry W. Chetwynd, whose period
of service has expired ; Dr. William D. Smyth, stir'
geon, to the Brisk ; Arthur R. F. Bailey has been
nominated to a Naval Cadetship ; William Henry
Keats, first-class assist.-engineer, to the Prince
Albert ; James Morris, chief engineer, to the Ds'
gard, for service in the Antelope ; Robert Madge,
chief engineer, to the Fisgard, for service in the
Zebra ; Robert E. Horne, chief engineer, to the
Cumberland, for service in the Collingwood, vice
Urquhart ; William Frederick Capps, chief wi'
neer, to the Fisgard, for service in the Foxhound ;
James Stocks, first-class assist.-engineer, to the
Indus, for service in the Vestal ; Henry Braynt
master's assistant, to the Prince Consort; and Dun"
can A. Richmond, master's assistant, to the Black
Prince.

0 4,
7:r9
Tort einglar.

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, Sunday
The Queen, accotr.panied by Princess Louise,
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 t°
state that, in consequence of the lamented death of Sir C•
Phipps, the Queen has postponed the Court appointed bY
her Majesty to be held on Tuesday, the 27th inst., to Fri'
day, March 9, at the same hour. The dates of the other
Courts announced to be held by her Majesty have been
changed to the following days : Thursday, March 16;
Friday, March 23 ; Thursday, April 12 ; Monday, May 14;
and Tuesday, June 19.

Her Majesty the Queen has presented to the
British Museum one of the Roman tombs recently die"
covered upon the crown property at Old Windsor. Tl 5
other tomb her Majesty has presented to the town °f
Windsor, and it is to be deposited in the contemplated local
museum in connection with the Literary and Scientific In-
stitution of the borough, for the accommodation of which
a new building, to be called the Albert Institution, is to
be erected on the Bachelor's Acre, a vacant site in the
centre of Windsor.

PRINCE ALFRED A POST CAPTAIN.-Friday
night's Gazette contained the following announcement
" Admiralty, Feb. 23.—Lieutenant his Royal HighnesB
Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, K.G., has been this d 5
promoted to the rank of Captain in her Majesty's Fleet:
It will be thus seen that the Prince has escaped from serv-
ing in the rank of Commander, and will, no doubt, be
pointed to the command of a rated ship—perhaps the RoY*l
Alfred, which will be soon ready for the pendant. -Aryl
and Navy Gazette.

APPOINTMENTS.—Lord Kinnaird will succeed to
the lord-lieutenancy of Perthshire, vacant by the death of
the Earl of Kinnoul. Mr. Mallet, C. 8., and Mr. Moriero
C. 8., have been appointed British Commissioners to C'
into effect the fourth arti;le of the recent treaty with jos-
tria. Mr. R. Graham has been appointed her MaiestP
Consul in the Balearic Islands.— Sunday Gazette.

Declaration of War between Spain and Pero'

By the arrival of the steamer Peru, from Panama, the
highly important intelligence has been received that
treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive has been con'
eluded between Chili and Peru, and that the latter POO'
has:declared war against Spain.
The Peruvian fleet, consisting of the frigates Apurimac'
40 guns, and Amazonas, 40 guns ; and the corvettes
America, 16 guns, and Union, 16 guns, had sailed
to effect a juncture with the Chiiian fleet, COilei
sisting of the Esmeralda, 16 guns, Cavadonga, 4 guns, as
Maipu, 2 guns. This fleet is under positive orders to °lit-
mence immediate hostilities against the Spanish squadr°il.
The Peruvian Government has prohibited Spaniards
resident in Peru from quitting the country, and a Pa,
;
port is now required by every person going abroad, Wit
out exception.
The treaty was ratified and signed at Santiago on the
30th December, 1865, by the President of the Chiliaa n
public, Jose Joaquin Perez, and countersigned by Freda'
rico Errazuriz.

The ratifications were exchanged on the 14th of Janii3/1s
1866, in the saloon of the Department for Foreign -A-ga/...,"
at Lima, between Terribio Pacheco, Peruvian Seereiau
for Foreign Affairs, and Domingo Santa Maria, -6°‘:,°12..1
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the B°P"
lie of Chili.

SEBAsToroL.---The Cronstadt Messenger gives thnef
following account of the works executed in the poll "
Sebastopol between the Ist of January and the 10th of
November, 1865 :—ln the first line, which runs from Caul;
stantine Point on the North side to Alexander Point °
the south side, the Varna, ship of the line, has been :11;
tirely removed, and the Salaphail partially, the In";
parts only remaining. The Tri-Sviatitclia is in neBrf.
the same state. The greater part of the Oural reant3
war and of the Sizapol still remain under water•
the second line, where the vessels had been 011,130
chequer-wise between the batteries Michael and ;`.-t;
14 on the north side, and the Nicholas and Paul I)°°n
on the south, the vessel Jaqoudul has been c°l
pletely removed, and the Khrabry, Tchesma,
Rostislaw, and Sviatoslaw in part, the lower perti°ll,,:s
the hulls only remaining below. The Twelve APO
is also partially removed, and its hull is to be raised ~-1
means of floating butts, an operation which will be the
tended with great difficulty. The getting up of
Marie and Constantine has not been commenced. .`"s
frigate Kagoul has been wholly raised, and some porti°,l3o
of the frigates Midia and Micevria. There have be'n
already recovered 2,200 pounds (36 tons) of c°P;,
5,500 p. (90 tons) of iron, 1,200 cannons, 4,000 Waist
12,000 cast-iron ballast pigs, 100 chain cables, end 5

quantity of miscellaneous stores.
GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN ON NEBRASIC.A.---alli°
irrepressible gentleman writes from Omah, Nebrasinil
thß
follows :—" Omah. This is the New Chicago. list s.
half-way station to China. Paris and Pekin in
Two ocean ferries and a continental railway. This rs 7, the
of
land for ten millions of sheep and countless herds
•a
cattle. This is the city where five railroads will cl‘
from Chicago and two from St. Louis. This is the • 9
of the bottle. Idaho, Montana, and a dozen Lenguts,linis
of gold, silver, coal, and iron pour their treasures int°ll"ch
half-way station down two thousand miles of river. P
pastoral lands. Such soil, yearly enriched since the "'
loge, thousands of years old. Such climate. Titer° but
no old men in Nebraska, and the grave-yards ar6 e
no
sparsely populated. Nearly everything pays twg itch
thirty, forty per cent. Everybody makes moneY• to
hospitality, such churches and schools. Tell the boYs a
come this way. They want a territory,
future. Men of thought and men of action, clear the tying
I intend establishing towns, building cities, and fPetast
up fortunes at every station along the Pacific Boa' , sea
week I bought five hundred acres of land in Dinah' 00
by the fall shall have ono hundred cottages thereon• tit
the 4th of July the President and Cabinet must come °}l..
and open the first one hundred miles of the world's big
way. Then the Platte Valley will declare its inderen
deuce." a frontier, al:lIv c!: