The Press.
London, England, 1854-02-18 00:00:00

lortign an Colonial iittllignut.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE.
PARIS, February 10.
THE letter addressed by the Emperor of the French
to the Emperor of Russia produced an immense
effect in Paris and the departments. It was con-
sidered as the last parting word of peace, which
would be met by no favourable reply. The public
funds fell considerably on its publication, and have

since continued to decline. It is said that no
written answer will be made by the Czar, but
a verbal one will be brought by the recalled French
Ambassador at St. Petersburg, M. de Castelbajac.
The Patrie, having stated that this answer had
already been received by the Emperor at the moment
his letter appeared in the Meniteur, received a severe
rebuke and contradiction in the official journal, and
also a second avertissement. The onerous part of
the affair is, that the friends of the Patrie affirm that
this information emanated from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
M. de Rothschild is reported to have signed yester-
day a contract with the French tiovernment for a
loan of 150,000,000 f., and engages to refund to the
Bank of France the sums lately advanced.
L'Ami de la Religion, a religious journal as its
name indicates, has just received a premier aver-
tissement fur an article which appeared in its columns
containing an attack on the law of primary instruc-
tion. This law has given great offence to the clergy,
and caused the retirement of many of that body front
the Board of Public Instruction, and among other
distinguished prelates that of the Cardinal Uousset.
An important law is preparing for the abolition of
la mort eivile. Under the present code any person
condemned to civil death can accomplish no legal
act, or administer to his own property or that of his
children, he being in the eye of the law non extant.
The projected visit of the Duke and Duchess of
Brabant to Paris is adjourned for the present.
On Tuesday the Emperor, accompanied by the
Minister of State, the Prefect of the Seine, and the
Prefect of Police, inspected at the Port St. Nicholas,
on the river Seine, the screw-steamer called Laronsi-
guiere of 700 tons, just arrived from Bordeaux.
His Majesty was received on board by the owners,
Messrs. Montani, of Paris, and Festugit•re (bro-
thers), of Bordeaux, and by the builder of the vessel,
M. Arman. The Emperor inspected every part of
this ship, constructed upon an entirely novel plan,
and destined to solve the question whether under
any imi roved system Paris can become a seaport.
The present undertaking has fully succeeded, having
contended with heavy weather at sea, and arrived in
Paris by the river Seine—a feat hitherto considered
impracticable for large vessels. His Majesty ex-
pressed his entire satisfaction at the result obtained,
and then proceeded to view the works carrying on at
the Louvre, and thence returned to the Tuileries.
An Englishman calling himself Cavendish, and
declaring himself to belong to the noble family
bearing that name, has been condemned by the
Assize Court of the Seine to fifteen years' imprison-
ment, with hard labour (travattx forces), for swin-
dling. He was an old offender, and had married
several women, all living. His last victim was the
proprietor of Meurice's Hotel, in the Bite de Itivoli.
The case of Mrs. Adrian Hope was brought before
• the courts again, and she obtained an order to ke&p
her children until a divorce should be obtained in
, England; and further, that the sum of 30,000 francs
• should be paid to her by Mr. Hope within three days.
Both rarties are residing (of cottrle separately)
in Paris at this moment.

152

The arrival of the Prince of Saxe Coburg, Regent
of Portugal, is shortly expected. He will be accom-
panied by his son Dom Pedro, King of Portugal :
they are going to Brussels on a visit to their relative
King Leopold. It is said that a marriage is likely
to take place between the youthful King and the
Princess Charlotte of Belgium.
The picture drawn of New Caledonia by the French
papers, and the announcement that this territory has
been taken possession of by order of the Emperor,
with a view of using it as a penitential settlement,
have struck terror into the hearts of many a bold
demagogue. The tall stature and abominable ugli-
ness of the natives, joined to the accomplishment of
cannibalism, render an obligatory residence among
them anything but tempting.
At the bat costume to be given at the Tuileries the
Emperor will appear in the costume of Henri Deux.

FRANCE.
The following is the text of the autograph letter
from the Emperor Napoleon to the Czar, which is
stated to have been delivered by M. Castelbajac be-
fore quitting St. Petersburg. The letter was pub-
lished in extenso by the Moniteur on Tuesday last
" Palace of the Tuileiles, Jan. 29, 18.54.
" Sire,—The aifference which has arisen between your
Majesty and the Ottoman Porte has assumed such a grave
aspect that I thick it right myself to explain directly to
your Majesty the part which France has taken in this
question, and the means which suggest themselves to me
in order to avoid the dangers which menace the tranquillity

of Europe.
" The note which your Majesty has just sent to my Go-
vernment, and to that of Queen Victoria, endeavours to
prove that it was the system of pressure adopted from the
commencement by the two maritime powers which alone
involved the question in bitterness. On the contrary, ac-
cording to my view, the matter would have continued a
Cabinet question if the occupation of the two principalities
had not suddenly transferred it from the region of discus-
sion to that of fact. Nevertheless, although your Majesty's
troops had entered Wallachia, we advised the Porte not to
consider that occupation as a warlike act, thus proving
our extreme desire for conciliation. After I had consulted
with England, Austria, and Prussia, I proposed to your
Majesty a note, designed to give satisfaction to all. Your
Majesty accepted it. We had hardly, however, been in-
formed of this good news when your Minister, by explana-
tory commentaries, destroyed all the conciliatory effects of
it, and thus prevented us from insisting at Constanti-
nople upon its pure and simple adoption. The Porte, for
its own part, suggested some modifications in the note, to
which the representatives of the four powers at Vienna
were not indisposed to agree. They were not, however,
agreed to by your Majesty. It was then that the Porte,
wounded in its dignity, its independence threatened, and
being compelled to raise an army to oppose that of your
Majesty, preferred to declare war rather than remain in
a state of uncertainty and humility. The Porte had claimed
our support ; the cause of the Porte appeared to us to be a
just one, and the English and French squadrons were
therefore ordered to the Bosphorus.
" Our attitude in reference to Turkey was that of a pro-
tector, bat it was passive. We did not incite her to war.
We unceasingly addressed to the ears of the Sultan the ad-
vice of peace and moderation, persuaded that this was the
best mode of coming to an agreement, and the four powers
consulted together again, and submitted to your Majesty
some other propositions. Your Majesty, on your part, ex-
hibiting the calmness which arises from the consciousness
of strength, contented yourself with repulsing from the left
bank of the Danube, as in Asia, the attacks of the Turks ;
and, with the moderation worthy of the chief of a great
empire, your Majesty declared that you would act on the
defensive. Up to that period, then, we were, I may say,
interested spectators, butsimply spectators, of the dispute,
when the affair of Sinope compelled us to take a more de-
cisive part. France and England had not thought it ne-
cessary to send troops to the assistance of Turkey Their
flag, thertilbre, was not engaged in the conflicts which took
place upon land. But at sea it was very different. There
were at the entrance to the Bosphorus 3,000 guns, the ex-
istence of which proclaimed loudly enough to Turkey that
the two leading maritime powers would not allow her to be
attacked by sea.
" The affair at Sinope was for us as painful as it was
unexpected ; for it matters little to us whether or not the
Turks wished to convey munitions of war to the Russian
territory. In fact, Russian ships attacked Turkish vessels
in the waters of Turkey, while those vessels were riding
quietly at anchor in a Turkish port. The Turkish vessels
were destroyed, in spite of the assurance that there was
no wish to commence an aggressive war, and in spite of
the vicinity of our squadrons. It was no longer our policy
which received a check, it was our military honour. The
Round of the cannon-shot at Sinope reverberated painfully
in the hearts of all those who in England and in France
respect national dignity. There was a general partici-
pation in the sentiment that wherever our cannon can
reach our allies ought to be respected. Out of this feeling
arose the order given to our squadrons to enter the Black
Sea, and to prevent by force, if necessary, the recurrence
of a similar event. Thence arose the collective notification
sent to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg, announcing that, if
we prevented the Turks from making an aggressive war
upon the coasts of Russia, we would also protect the
Turks upon their own territory. As to the Russian fleet,
in prohibiting eta navigation of the Black Sea, we placed
it upon a different condition, because it was important
during the war to preserve a guarantee equivalent in force
to the occupation of the Turkish territory, and thus facili-
tate the conclusion of peace by having the power of
looking a desirable exchange.