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

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.