The Press. — London, England, 1854-02-25 00:00:00

~ FEBRUARY 25, 1854. politan bridges over the Thames, for the purpose of ascertsiaing whether they were adequate to the necessities of traffic ; whether any new bridges should be built, or the tolls upon proprietary bridges bought up and extinguished. SMITH O'BRIEN. Replying to Mr. Beathish, Lord PALMERSTON announced the intention of Government to grant a pardon to Smith° . Brien, who had honourably refrained from imitating the otample of his fellow-convicts, who had es caped by breaking their parol. lortign ai (colonial PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. Rum, February 23. THE answer of the Emperor Nicholas to the auto graph letter of the Emperor of the French, which ar rived on Saturday in Paris, and was followed by a brief paragraph in the Muniteur announcing the refusal of the Czar to treat on the proposed basis, produced an immediate fall in the funds of two francs. Baron James Rothschild, who always believed in the pro. bability of a peaceful termination of the Eastern difficulty, is said to have lost several millions by this (to him) unexpected event. General I'ellisier will embark from Algiers on the 15th of next month, with an army of 15,000 men. Generals Canrobert and Macmahon will sail with Vieir divisions from Marseilles and Toulon. The ex- King Jerome Bonaparte will not have the command in chief, as stated in the newspapers, but his son Napoleon will command the army of reserve. The treaty, offensive and defensive, between France and England left Paris for London yesterday. Among a list of French subjects who are allowed to accept and wear foreign decorations there appear the names of M. de Nieuwerkerke, Director-General of Museums, for the cross of Commander of the Order of Leopold ; and M. Horace Vernet as a Knight of the Crown of Oak of the Low Countries. Admiral Baron Roussin, a senator, and member of the Board of Longitude, died yesterday after a long and severe illness. He entered the service in 1793. A commission has been named by the Minister of Agriculture to make experiments and report upon the different methods proposed to prevent the dis ease of the vine. The wood of the cactus is allowed to be imported from Algiers into France free of duty. The French Government is much preoccupied at this moment by the discovery of a serious and widely ramified conspiracy which has just been brought to light. A great number of arrests were made in the outskirts of Paris yesterday : about 500 were effected at Les Batignolles, just beyond the Baniere de Clichy. The conspiracy, it is said, was to have broken out on the anniversary of the revolution of 1848 (Feb. 24), and was not intended to be confined to a simple manifestation, but to have been an open insurrection. Thanks to the measures taken by the authorities and their incessant vigilance, the machi nations of the enemies of order are again frustrated. Mme. la Baronne Brunow, wife of the late Russian Ambassador in London, with her daughter, and accompanied by the Count Wolowski, and her suite, landed at Calais on the morning of the 21st, and proceeded at once by railroad to Cologne. Her excellency was received on the pier by M. Henry Dupont. Vice-Consul of Russia. The transport of warlike stores and ammunition has ceased during these few last days on the rail ways of the North and of Strasbourg. It is estimated that two hundred waggons have been laden with cannons of all sizes, with mortars, bullets, and other materials for war. These were partly furnished by the arsenal and foundry of Douai, partly by that of "La Fere," and were all conveyed to Mt t: , . M. Barra, Minister Plenipotentiary of France at Brussels, has presented to the King, in the name of his Sovereign, the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, and at the same time a letter from the Emperor of the French. M. Firmin Rogier, Minister Plenipotentiary of Belgium in Paris, has been directed to remit to the Emperor Napoleon the answer of bis Sovereign with the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold. The mission of Prince Napoleon to Brussels is believed to have fully succeeded in gaining the confidence of King Leopold and his Government, and in establishing a mutual good feeling and the most friendly relations between the two Courts. FRANCE. The refusal of the Czar to accept the terms proposed by the Emperor Napoleon in his autograph letter was announced officially in Paris on Sunday last. The Monitcur of the next day contained the following article on the subject:— "We announced yesterday that the Emperor had re• ceived a reply from St. Petersburg. " In his letter to the Emperor the Czar discusses the conditions of arrangement which were proposed to him, and declares that he cannot enter into any regotiation, except upon the basis which he has already made known. THE PRESS, " This reply leaves no chance open for a pacific solution, and France must be prepared to maintain by the most effective measures the cause for which the persevering exirtions of diplomacy have been unable to secure the victory. While, theretOre, he undertakes to defend with greater energy the rights of Turkey, the Emperor reckons on the patriotism of the country, on the close alliance with England, and on the sympathies of the Governments of Germany. " Those Governments have constantly declared that they wished as resolutely as ourselves to maintain the balance of European power, and to cause the integrity and independence of the Ottoman empiic to be respected. Nor has any other question ever entered into this dis cussion. " Our attention is directed towards Austria, whose position calls on her to play an active mid important part on the present occasion. hut Austria Las always declared herself with great firmness in favour of those points which were laid down in the protocol of the Vienna Conference dated December the nth. "We have every confidence in the trustworthiness and chivalrous character of the young Emperor of Austria, and we find, besides, a guarantee for the disposition of his ov ern ni et t in the interests of his people—interests which are identical with our own. " Under the general circumstances of European politics, France, strong in her loyal and disinterested intentions, has nothing to fear from the impending struggle. She knows, besides, that she may rely on the energy as well as on the wisdom of the Emperor." Respecting the terms in which the Russian answer was couched nothing definite is known, except that it contained this sentence:—" I have the firm confi dence that my troops will reply in the same manner as they replied iu 1612." This, insinuation conveyed in this vaunt has deeply wounded the susceptibilities of the French people. The following details have been puhlished of the manner in which the French Emperor's letter was conveyed to the Czar:— " The reply of the Emperorof the French arrived at St. Petersburg on the oth inst. N. de Castelbajac immediately apprised Count Nesselrode that he wished to present a letter to the Czar from the Emperor of the French. Al though it is contrary to Russian Court etiquette to speak to the Emperor of Russia on public business after four o'clock in the afternoon, Count Nesselrode apprised M. de Castelbajac that he might present himself at the Palace, although the Emperorwas suffering from the gout. M. de Castelbajac consequently delivered the letter on the after noon of the oth. The Czar appeared to be painfully affected on reading it. He then spoke a few words, in a low tone, in Russian, which M. de Castelhajac did not understand. He recovered his composure almost imme diately, and told M. Castelbajas that he would return an answer in a few days." A later number of the official journal contains a second article on the Eastern question, takinr , great credit to the Government forthe straightforward con duct shown in publishing the diplomatic correspon dence relating thereto. Frazee, it adds, seeks not to pursue its policy by intrigues and mystery, but by frankness and sincerity; and therefore there is no motive for concealment. In allusion to the revolu tionary feelings in Italy and Greece, it declares plainly that if any persons take advantage of the present disturbances in the East they will do so in direct opposition to the interest of France. " The French Government will never adopt a doublelated policy, and thus, while defending the integrity of the Ottoman empire at Constantinople, it cannot suffer that integrity to be violated by aggressive acts from Greece, nor can it, while the flags of France and Austria are united in the East, allow any attempt to be made to separate them upon the Alps." It is said that an order has been issued from the French Minister of Marine to have five ships of the line added to the squadrons in the Black Sea. The third battalion of Chassetirs of Vincennes, now quar:ered at Lyons, has been ordered to march to Toulon, and the 6th of March is stated as the day of embarkation for the expeditionary army. It is now believed that that force will amount to nearly 70,000 men. Though Prince Napoleon will not have the command-ita chief, it is yet reported that he will proceed to Turkey with a division of the army under his orders. Letters from the depart• ments speak of numerous detachments as constantly on the move toward the south. It is reported that a loan of 200 millions of francs, in Three-per-Cent. Stock, at 64f. 10c., has been con cluded between the french Government and Baron de Rothschild, the Bank of France, and the Re ceivers-General. Several arrests were effected in Paris on Tuesday from the ranks of the Republican party. It is said that the Minister of the Interior threatens to suppress the Assemblie Nationale, whose Russian tendencies have excited some remark of late. General de Castelbajac whose return from St. Peterburg was annuinceS in several journals, has not yet arrived in Paris. BELGIUM. M. Drouyn d'Lhnyt has addressed a letter to the French Charge d'Afleires at Dresden, with reference to the late visit of Prince Napoleon to Belgium, which the French Ilinister says had no Political object, but was merely to respond to the overtures of King Leopold that relations of friendship and 175 good neighbourhood might be maintained between the two countries. The authorities of Brussels have of late shown great st►ictness in enforcing the police regulations respecting foreigners, and in part►cular that which obliges all parties on arriving in that city to transmit at once to the police notice of their arrival and their address. Several French political refugees, who had succeeded in eluding that obligation, have been lately discovered and expelled from the Belgian territory. M. do Kisseleff is still at Brussels, and has been entertained at several grand banque►.s. Lent Howard de Walden, the British Minister at Brussels, gave a grand soirke yesterday week. No Russian diplomatist was present at it. DENMARK. The Minister of War has ordered the fortress of Kronberg, at F.lsinear, to be disarmed, and the can non to be sent to Frederica and Nyborg. AUSTRIA. By the latest accounts from Vienna it appears that the Austrian Goventment shows a stronger resolu tion to take an active part in the present crisis, espe cially since the failure of the last overtures for peace made by the Courts of Vienna and Paris to that of St- Petersburg. The Emperor of Austria has intimated his deter mination not to assent to the arrangements for the neutrality of Germany projected by the Saxon and Bavarian Governments at the instigation of Russia. 25,000 more men are to be sent immediately to the south-eastern frontier. To calm the ft ars of the public, it is, however, officially announced that his Majesty is still doing all in his power to maintain peace. SPAIN. The only news from Madrid of any interest states that the Generals Concha and O'Donnell have been scratched off the Army List. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. - - - Sir Hamilton Seymour had not, at the (late of the last advises, yet communicated his recal to the Russian Government. The Emperor Nicholas has been suffering from illness, which is variously ascribed to gout, erysipelas, and billious fever. Prince Paskiewitsch has been summoned from Warsaw to St. Petersburg. An imperial ukase was issued on the 14th, order ing a new levy of nine men out of every I,(X$). The different fleets and armies will be ready to open the campaign by the 15th of April. The utmost activity prevailed in every department of the Government, and preparations for war are made on the most extensive scale. In Finland 100 gun-boats are to be got ready, and 00,000 Russian troops are to occupy the coasts of the Gulf of Bothnia, the Finish regiments being sent to other quarters. The visit of the Grand Duke Constantine to Helsingfors nag be, n post poned. From Poland it is again stated that the troops in the Russian fortresses in that kingdom have been marched to th.t seat of war, and their place supplied by Cossacks. All the Turkish consuls in Russia are about to give in their resignation. Turkish subjects are placed under the protection of Austrian agents, but only for six months, dating from the declaration of war by the Porte. Foreigners are leaving St. Peters• burg and Moscow in numbers. According to commercial letters from St. Peters burg, of the Ulth inst., the prices of imported goods continued to &chance, in anticipation of a blockade, and the rate of exchange had declined to :17;d.—a point at which shipments of gold to England would prove profitable. It was doubtful, however, if any would be made, since, although no prohiLition had been issued, the merchants would hesitate to incur displeasure by such a step, and the first exportation that might be attempted would probably be the signal for restriction. In the event of a continued decline, considerable sums would notwithstanding be smuggled out of the country. Respecting the war in the Caucasus, there has appeared a report from Gen. Wrangel, containing the aeconnt of an expedition against the Tschetcben, at the Pass of Chancel. The mountaineers are said to have made a stubborn resistance, to have broken through the Russian line, and taken several prisoners, besides the waggons and oxen, but were at. length defeated with the less of 300 men and 100 horses. The Russian loos was trifling. A telegraphic despatch from Bnyharest, dated 10th February, states that between the night of the oth and 10th February a battery of twelve guns was established by Gen. Schilder on the island of Ruma dan, opposite the Turkish flotilla, stationed under the guns of Rutschuk. At daybreak on the 10th the battery opened its fire. The Turks were taken by surprise. One of their steamers was considerably damaged, and six large vessels were rendered quite lift