The Press.
London, England, 1854-03-11 00:00:00

THE COASTING TRADE BILL.

The third reading of this bill on Tuesday was pre-
faced by a brief discussion, in which the Hon. H. T.
LIDDELL, the member for Liverpool, warned the
Government of the perils which the measure might
entail if not carefully watched, and exhorted them to
lose no opportunity to obtain reciprocal concessions
from foreign countries. Other members repeated
this warning and advice.
In replying, Mr. CARDWELL urged that reciprocity
was most likely to be obtained by our discarding all
attempts at protection, and then affording to fordigr.-
ers a tempting example, by showing them the splendid
results of free competition. The Government, he
added, had lost no occasion of preparing the way for
reciprocal privileges, having already obtained the
promise of some valuable concessions from Holland.
Mr. Cardwell hinted, even, as a consequence not
altogether beyond hope, that English shipowners
might hereafter be admitted to engage in the United
States coasting trade, including the important traffic
with California.
The bill was read a third time, and passed.
RELEASE OF STALE PRISONERS.

In reply to Mr. T. Buncombe,
Lord PALMERSTON said that her Majesty had been graciously
pleased to extend the same clemency to Frost, Williams, and
Jones, as to Smith O'Brien." (Hear, hear.) He might take that
opportunity of stating that her Majesty had also extended her
indulgence to two gentlemen—(laughter)—Martin and O'lloherty
—who had been transported at the same time as Smith O'Brien.

EXECUTIONS.
Mr. CR►UFURD, on Thursday, moved for leave to bring in a
bill to enable executions to issue in any part of the United King-
dom, under a judgment obtained in any court in England, Scot-
land, or Ireland. Ne explained the state of the law and the evils
resulting from it, which be proposed to remedy by extending the
principle of mutuality.
The Loan ADVOCATE cordially approved the object of the bill,
and thought it an important step iu a right direction.
Leave was given to bring in the bill.

{foreign atO Qt Mid nttiligtitte.

FRANCE.

The receipt and general tenor of the reply sent by
the Czar to the autograph letter transmitted to him
by the Emperor Napoleon have been for some time
known in Paris. The document itself, however, is
published in extenso in the Petersburg Gazette, where
it appeared about the same day that the original let.
ter reached the hands of the Sovereign to whom it
was addressed, the 24th ult. The following are the
principal paragraphs of the epistle
" ST. PETERSBURG, Jan. 28 (Feb. 9), 1854.
" Sire,—l know not how better to reply to your Majesty
than by repeating, since they are my own, the concluding
words of your Majesty's letter, ' Our relations should be
sincerely friendly, and repose upon identical intentions,
the maintenance of order, the love of peace, respect for
treaties, and reciprocal goodwill.' In accepting, your Ma-
jesty says, the programme which I had traced, your Ma-
jesty affirms that you have remained faithful to it. I ven-
ture to think, and my conscience tells me so, that I have
not departed from it. For in the affair which divides us,
and which did not originate with me, I have all along
sought to maintain friendly relations with France. I have
with the greatest care avoided coming into collision on
this ground with the interests of the religion professed by
your Majesty. I have made for the maintenance of peace
every concession both in form and substance that was pos-
sible consistently with my honour ; and, in claiming for
my coreligionists in Turkey the confirmation of the rights
and privileges acquired for them long ago at the price of
Russian blood, I asked for nothing but what was founded
upon treaties. If the Porte had been left to itself, the dif-
ference which holds Europe in suspense would have been
long since settled. A fatal influence has thrown itself in
the way of an arrangement. By exciting gratuitous suspi-
cions, by encouraging the fanaticism of the Turks, by mis-
leading their Government as to my intentions, and the
real import of my demands, this influence has imparted to
the question such exaggerated proportions that war has
been the consequence.
• • • • • •

"'Your Majesty attributes to the occupation of the prin-
cipalities the fault of having suddenly removed the ques-
tion from the domain of discussion to that of fact. But
your Majesty loses sight of the fact that this occupation,
purely eventual as it was, was preceded, and to a great ex-
tent brought about, by an anterior fact of great gravity,
that of the appearance of the combined fleets in the neigh-
bourhood of the Dardanelles ; besides which, long before,
and while England still hesitated to assume a menacing
attitude towards Russia. your Majesty had been the first to
send your fleet to Salamis. This offensive (blesaanle) de-
monstration certainly announced but little confidence in

MARCH 11, 1854.

me. It was calculated to encourage the Turks, and to pa-
ralyse beforehand the success of the negotiations, by exhi-
biting France and England as ready to aid their cause at
all events. In the same manner your Majesty attributes
to the explanatory commentaries on the Vienna note the
impossibility in which France and England found them-
selves to recommend its adoption to the Porte. But your
Majesty may remember that our comments followed, and
did not precede, the pure and simple non-acceptance of the
note ; and I think the powers, if they had seriously desired
peace, were bound to insist on this adoption, purely and
simply, instead-of permitting the Porte to modify what we
had adopted without change.

" Besides, if any portion of our commentaries had given
rise to difficulties, 1 offered at Olmutz a satisfactory solu-
tion, and one which appeared so to Austria and Prussia.
Unfortunately in the interval a part of the Anglo-French
fleet had already entered the Dardanelles, under the pre-
tence of protecting the life and property of French and
English subjects, and, to enable the whole of the fleets to
enter without a violation of the treaty of Itt4l, it was ne-
cessary for the Ottoman Government to declare war against
us. My opinion is, that, if France and England had wished
for peace as much as I do, they ought at any price to have
prevented this declaration of war, or, when war was once
declared, they ought at least so to have acted as to confine
it within the narrow limits which I desired to trace for it

on the Danube, so that I might not have been torn by force
from the purely defensive system which I wished to pur-
sue. But from the moment when they allowed the Turks
to attack our Asiatic territory, to take one of our frontier
posts (even before the time fixed for the commencement of
hostilities), to blockade Akhaltsykh, and to ravage the Ar•
menian provinces, from the moment when they left the
Turkish fleet free to convey troops, arms, and ammunition
to our coasts, could it be reasonably expected that we
should patiently await the result of such designs ? Was it
not to be supposed that we should do somethingto prevent
their execution? The affair of Sinope occurred: it was
the forced consequence of the attitude adopted by the two
powers, and the event certainly could not have appeared to
them unexpected. I had declared that I wished to remain
on the defensive, but that was before the explosion of the
war, while my honour and interests allowed me to do so,
and while the war was restrained within certain bounds.
•
*
• • • •

" I learn from your Majesty, for the first time (for the
verbal declarations made to me here have hitherto said no-
thing of the kind), that, while protecting the revictualling
of the Turkish troops in their own territory,the two powers
have resolved to interdict us from the navigation of the
Black Sea—that is to say, apparently the right to revictual
our own forts. I leave it to your Majesty to judge whether
that is, as your Majesty says, to facilitate the conclusion of
peace, and if in the alternative presented it is permissible
for me to discuss—to examine even for a moment—your
Majesty's propositions for an armistice for the immediate
evacuation of the principalities, and for the negotiation
with the Porte of a convention to be submitted to the four
Courts. Would you, sire, in my place accept such a pro.
posal ? Would your national feeling allow you to do so ? I
boldly answer, No, you would not. Grant me, then, on my
part, the right to think as you would do yourself. What-
ever your Majesty may decide, it is not to threats that you
will see me give way. My confidence is in God and my
right, and Russia, I will answer for her, will show herself
in 18.54 what she was in 1812.
" If, however, your Majesty, with less indifference to my
honour, will frankly return to our programme—if your
Majesty will extend to me a cordial hand, as I now at this
last moment offer you will willingly forget everthing
insulting (blessante) to 'me in the past. Then, sire, but
then only, we may discuss, and come to an understanding.
Let your Majesty's fleet confine itself to preventing the
Turks from carrying further reinforcements to the theatre
of war. I promise willingly that they shall have nothing
to fear from me. Let them send a negotiator. I will re-
ceive him in a befitting manner. My conditions are known
at Vienna. It is upon that basis alone that I can treat. I
pray your Majesty to believe in the sincerity of the senti-
ment with which I am, sire, your Majesty's b
NICHOon ami,
LAS."

The Moniteur of Monday published an official cir-
cular from M. Drouyn de l'Huys to the French diplo-
matic agents, commenting upon the letter of the
Czar and his Russian manifesto. " The publication
of those documents," it says, " destroys the last
hopes in the wisdom of the Cabinet of St. Peters-
burg; and that hand which had become honoured
by the firmness with which it had offered a support
to Europe, shaken in its foundations, opens now a
course to passions and chances. The French Go-
vernment, afflicted at the inutility of its efforts and
moderation, declines the responsibility, which must
rest with Russia, which will have to render an account
to history and to God."
A loan of 25 million francs (10 millions sterling)
was on Monday agreed to by the Legislative
Assembly in a unanimous vote. 23t members were
present, and it was also determined that the
Assembly should go up in a body to present the
pro jet du Int to the Emperor. This ceremony took
place accordingly next day, with no little parade.
The procession of senators was headed by M.
Billault, President of the Assembly. They were
received by the Emperor and Empress in full state.
The presentation of this vote of credit was then
made, andaccompanied by an interchange of com-
plimentarya speeches between his Majesty and the
President.
On Sunday the Emperor, accompanied by the
Duke of Saxe Coburg Gotha and Lord De Ros, re-
viewed 10,000 troops on the Place du Carrousel.