The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-25 00:00:00

THE CONFERENCES

Considerable sensation was created yesterday in
this town by the receipt of a telegraphic communi-
cation of a portion of the Sunday letter of the Times
correspondent in Paris, which indicated some
rupture having taken place at the sitting of the
Congress on Saturday. In that letter the corres-
pondent in question asserts his fears that we are at
this moment more distant from a pacific solution
than we were ten days ago. He says :—" The
change, I believe, to be owing to the demand put
forth yesterday by the Prussian plenipotentiaries
to be admitted to sign the treaty of peace on the
same footing and in the same character- as if
Prussia had been a party to the alliance through-
out, as if she had accepted all the obligations
involved in it, had joined in the ultimatum, and had
declared that she nould abide by all its conse-
quences. Such, it seems, are the pretensions of
Prussia at this moment, and I believe that in these
pretensions she has-the support of Russia, if not
of others." Now a reference to the letter of our
own Paris correspondent of Sunday's date, will
shew, that he, with equal if not superior sources of
information, with his cotemporary, entertains no
such dread. On the contrary, he informs us that
the Treaty will be signed by the Plenipotentiaries
either this day or tomorrow. The views of our
correspondent receive confirmation to some extent
from the communication addressed on Sunday to
the Globe of last night, in which we read the
following :—" Contrary to what was expected, the
Congress assembled yesterday ; but I am not in a
position to inform you whether the treaty of peace
was definitively signed, though what I hear on
good authority might perhaps justify one less
scrupulous in announcing its signature to have
taken place. Whether the treaty be dated March
22 or March 24 is, however, of very little moment,
for I have reason to know that all the essential
points are formally settled and paraphecl.' By
this day week there is no doubt the treaty will be
ratified at St. Petersburg, and the proclamation of
peace may officially take place before the 31st."
The Russian organ Le Nord, of Sunday, goes
still further, and declares that the commission has
actually terminated its labours, and that peace was
to be signed yesterday or to-day (Monday.)
The Debats says that, according to information
which it has reason to believe correct, nothing has
occurred in the Congress to warrant the announce-
ment made by nn English journal, that the armis-
tice will be prolonged to April 30. The Debats"
agrees in the opinion generally entertained, that
the treaty of peace will be signed before the 31st
of this month, and that, consequently no prolonga
tion of the armistice will be necessary.
The writer in the Times stands alone in his con- 1
jectures as to the procrastination of peace, and the
following extracts from the Siecle will not serve 1
him in aid of his views :

The Siecle conveys intelligence from St. Peters-
burg which shadows forth, according to this autho•
rity, some, of the leading articles of the expected
treaty 1. Russia consents to the neutralisation of
the Black Sea. 2. Sebastopol is not again to
become,'s war depot, and the reconstruction of the
fortresses is prohibited. 3. Nicolaieff is to be
reduced to a commercial port. 4. Russia is to
abandon, her protectorate of the Principalities.
5. Russia renounces certain territories in Bes-
sarabia, which leaves the navigation of the Danube
perfectly-free. 6. A commission is to be appointed
to trace the new frontiers in this district. 7. The
fact of a Russian soldier passing the Pruth is to be
looked upon as a casus belli by the contracting
Powers. To which might be added " a revision
of the Asiatic frontiers of Turkey. to accomplish
which, a commission will also be appointed."