The Press.
London, England, 1855-12-01 00:00:00

On the 17th November last, we announced
that we had reason to believe proposals for
Peace had been submitted to the Emperor
NAPOLEON, and had been favorably received by
him. There was no contradiction of this
statement from our great contemporaries, and
not the usual ignorant and impertinent com-
ments from our small ones.
On Saturday last, the 24th November, we
repeated more positively and precisely that
these proposals, approved of by the Emperor
of the FRENCH, had been formally submitted
to our Cabinet, and were under its considera
tion. There was again a discreet silence
among the journals of authority ; the smaller
fry, especially the Globe, were sportive about
canards. The Globe is the " gent " of the
newspaper press, and as fine and funny about
public affairs as if it were at Cremorne. At
length there are some partial, hesitating, and
equivocal contradictions of our announcement
by our French contemporaries. They think
they can declare that Russian proposals for
Peace have not been forwarded and recom-
mended to the British Government by the
Emperor of the FRENCH.
This is safe. The proposals for Peace have
certainly not been delivered to the Emperor
NAPOLEON by the Russian Minister at Paris,
for there is none; nor, we scarcely need add,
have they arrived from St. Petersburg by the
post. But proposals for Peace have been sub-
mitted to the Emperor of the FRENCH, and
approved by him. It is quite unnecessary to
state by the intervention of what Government
this took place; whether by Sweden, or Bel
gium, or some other Power. We shall not be
piqued into communicating what may be in-
expedient, to satisfy the curiosity of our less-
informed contemporaries. They will scarcely
pretend that either the French or the British
Government, after what passed at Vienna,
would revive negotiations without not only au
assurance of the sincerity, but of the practical
sincerity of Ruo3ia. Accordingly, after a period
of active communications between Paris and
London, our readers may rely that on Monday,
the 19th of November last, the proposals to re-
open negotiations for Peace on " satisfactory "
terms were formally delivered to the British
Government, and that, in consequence, a
Cabinet Council was summoned, and sat the
next day (Tuesday) for upwards of three hours
on the subject. From that moment until the
present, unceasing communications have taken
place between all parties and Powers in-
terested, and we have reason to believe with a
far more favorable effect than in our last num-
ber we presumed to anticipate.
The French journal Le Pays declares that
our articles are written to embarrass Lord
PALMERSTON ; that THE PRESS is the organ of
Mr. DISRAELI, and that Mr. DISRAELI is an
unqualified partisan of the Peace-at-any price
Policy. Our foreign contemporary will permit
us to observe that his assertions are in every
respect erroneous.
In the first place, our articles have not been
written to embarrass Lord PALMERSTON, but
with the hope of directing the public mind of
this country, misled and debauched on the
subject of the War, to a train of thought and
feeling more in harmony with the true interests
of England and mankind. In the second
place, we have no pretension to be the organ
of Mr. DISRAELI, or of any individual, however
distinguished. All we aspire to is, to be the
organ of real Conservative opinions, both
foreign and domestic; and to place before our