The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LOND'ON, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 6, 1854.

THE NEWSPAPER PRESS DIRECTORY
and ADVERTISER'S GUIDE, thoraugely Revised, and in
a new and popular form, is now ready. Price One Florin.
C. Mitchell, Red Lion-court, Fleet-street, and all booksellers.

ENT ERING CLERKS.-WANTED,
in a Large Wholesale lieu e, TWO YOUNG MEN, fully
capable of Entering Lace, Haberdashery, &c. Apply, by letter only,
to W. W., F. Wood, Station. r, 24, Milk-street, Cheapside.

THEATRE ROYAL DRURY-LANE.-
Lessee, Mr. E. T. g vIITII. —On WED ESDAY MORNING,
March 3, GRAND NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION in AID of a
FIJND for the support of the WIVES and CHILDREN of the
BRITISH SOLDIERS who have been sent as an exneditionary force
on foreign service. The Lessee has placed the Theatre, free of ex-
pense, for a performance of THE CORSI :AN BROTHERS, in
which Mr. G. V BROOKE (who on this occasion gives his services
gratuitously) will appea-, under the immediate patr mage and spe-
cial desire of the Lord Mayor, the Sieriffi. and civic authorities, and
the following illustrious patronesses, who have signified their Inten-
tion of attending on this occasion:—
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge.
Her Ronal ess the Princess Mary of Cambridge.
The Lady Mayoress.
Her Grace the Duchess of Hamilton.
Her Grace the Duchess of Beaufort.
Her Grace the Duchess of Montrose.
Her Grace the Duchess of gomerset.
Her Grace the Duchess of Inverness.
The Most Noble the Marchioness of Aylesbury.
The Most Noble the Marchioness of Londonderry.
The Most Noble the Marchioness of Blandford.
The Right lion. the Countess of Chesterfield.
The Right Hon. the Countess of Kinnoutl.
The Right Hon. the Countess of Glengahl.
The Right Hon. the Countess of Desb >rough.
The Right Hon. the Countess of Derby.
The Right Ho I. the Countess of She burne.
The Right Hon. the Countess of Wilton
The Right Hon. the Countess of Desert.
The Right Hon. the Countess of Don ughmOre.
The Right Hon. the Viscountess Palmerston.
The Right Hon. the Viscountess Maidstone.
The Right Hon. the Viscountess Nerrpo,t.
Lady Sophia DirlettUZ.
Lady Colville.
Lady Raglan.
The Hon. Mrs. Anson.
Mrs Disraeli.
Mrs. 3. +tanley, C.
The Lord Mayor, with his usual kiciness and generosity, has con-
sented to act as treasurer, and to wheal subscriptions may be sent
The entire receipts to be forwarded to the Lord Mayor and Lady
Patronesses, to form a public fund for the above purpose. Door
open at half-put one, and commence at two o'clock precisely. —Sub-
scription_ received by the Coin nercial Bank of Lon ion, Henrietta-
street.
The Lessee also begs leans to inform the nobility and gentry that
;,his Theatre will be placed at the disposal of the 'Lady Patronesses
Ibr a Fancy Fair, or Bazaar, o s Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
April 12, 13, and 14, on which occasion the entire Pit will be covered
over for their accommodation ; and all articles intended to be for-
warded as a present for this national purpose, will be entered in a
book, with names and addresses of donors.

THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE.
Lessee, Mr. E. T. Smith.
The Last Week bat Three of Mr. G. V. BROIKE'A Eitragement
previous to his sailing for California and Australia.
THIS EVENING, MAliCli 6,
Will be performed THE VENDETTA; or, The Corsican Br
then. The principal characters by Mears. U V. Brooke and T.
Mead.
To conclude with MIDAS. The principal character by Miss
Featherstone.

THEATRE ROYAL, HAYM kRICET.
Under the management of Nir. lauckstone.

TEII3 EVENING, Nissen 6,

Will be performed GUY MANNERING. Supported by Messrs.
W. Farren, Elliott Galer, Compton, it 'gem Howe, Clark, Corri, and
Cullenford; Miss Cushman (as Meg Merrilies), Miss Julia Harlan I,
and Mrs. L. S. Buckingham
After which, the Grand C HMS TM,AS PANTOMIMr., call d
lIARLEQUINI AND THE THREE BEAR • ; or, Little Silverhair
and the F sines. Columbine, Miss M Brown ; II trleguln, Mr. J.
Marshall; Pantaloon, Mr, W. A. Barnes; Clown, Mr. H. Marshall.

ROY %L PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-,iTRE ET.
under the Managemmt of Mr. Cuaat.ks KEAN.
THIS EVENING, Mallon 6,
Will be performed RICHARD THE THIRD Principal ohirac-
ter by Mr. C. Kean.
After wklch will be presented the new Grand CHRISTMAS PAN-
TOMIME, entitled HARLEQUIN AND Tit& -MILLER AND
HIS MEN; or, King Salamandar and the Fairy of the Azure
Lake. Harlequin, Mr. Cormack ; Clown, Mr. Huline; Pantaloon,
Mr. Paulo; and Columbine, Miss Desborough.

LYCEUM THEATRE.
Under the Management of Madame Vestris.
THIS EVENING, MARCH 6,

Will be performed, A BACHELOR OF ARTS. Characters by
Messrs. C. Nta.thews, F. Matthews, and Baker; Alias F. Hughes.
After which, the original Fairy Extravaganza, calle 1 ONCE
UPON A TIME THERE WERE TWO KIWIA. Characters by
Messrs. Roxby, F. Matthews, and Bland; Madame Vestris, Misses
St. George, Eglanton, Mason, Martindale, alis, Wadham, and
Foote.

To conclade with PATTER VERSUS CLATTER. Principal
character by Mr. Charles Mathews.

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI.
Proprietor, Mr. B. Weluter.—Directress, Madame Celeste.
THIS EVENING, Meson 6,

Will be presented the highly Popular New Nautical Melo-drama
in five taolcaux, with new scenery, the Sea of Ice, &c., new
dresses and appointments, callel TIM T am!. OF GOLD; or,
THE LOST SHIP AND TUE WILD FLOWER OF MEXICO.
Principal characters by Messrs. B. Webster, Keeley, Paul Bedford,
Madame Celeste, &c.
To conclude with THE SERIOUS FAMILY. Characters by
Messrs. B. Webster, Leigh Murray. PArselle, and Keeley ; ors L.
Murray, Misses Woolgar, Fanny Maskell, and Laidiaw, and Mrs.
Keeley.

ROYAL. OLYMPIC TfIEtTRE.
Lessee and Manager. Mr. A. Wigan.
THIS ETENISG. Maacn
Will be performed TO ORLI, SE REN•SON Supported by Messrs
Emery, Robson, and Leslie ; Mrs. Stirling and Miss Wyndham.
To be followed by PLOT A.S'Lli P ssION. Prlncipat crotracters
by Messrs. a. Wigan, F. Robson, Emery, Leslie, White, Franks,
and ii. Ccoper ; Miss E. Turner, and Mrs. Stirling
After which, TUE BENGAL TIGER. Principal characters by
Messrs. Alfred Wigan, and F. Robson ; and Mrs. Wigan and MIS,
Marston.

STRAND THEATRE.

Bole Lessee, Mr. F. W. Allcroft.—Directress, Miss Rebecca Isa:rs.

THIS EMSNING, AlDacia
Will be performed THE HEART OF AN IRISHMAN. Princi-
pal characters by .Messrs. G. Hodson, Herbert, and Miss Noel.
Followed by the ANONYMOUS LETTER.
After which, THE WATERMAN. The principal character by
Miss G. Hodson, Scc.
To conclude with THE CORKONIAN lIRITHERS. Paddy and
Tim Mulligan (the Brothers), Mr. G. Hodson.
Stalls, Is.; Boxes, 35.; Pit, l+. 6d; tlallery. 6d. ; Private Boxes
It. lls. 6d., to be nad of Mr. Allcroft, IS, New Bond-street.

ASTLEY'S EUROPE'S NATIONAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. William Cooke.
Triumphant success of the New Spectac'e. LAST NIGHT of the
PANTOdIEME.
THIS EVENING, Mancn 6,

Ana during the week, wilt be presented the new, grand, and
romantic spectacle entitled TILE .VOOD‘IA.,'S ROB*: ; or, The
False Knight—the Woodman's Horse by the pet steed, Beauty,
xpressly trained by Mr. William Cooke.
After which, -lcenes of the ARENA..
To conclude with the Comic Pantomime of BILLY UrIT rON'S
JOURNEY TO BRENTIORD ; or, Harlequin and the Ladies'
Favourite.

Box-office open from E!even till /VII', Stage Manager, Mr. W.
West.

HIGH WATER AT' LONDON BRIDGE.
T:irm DAY ---liorning 21 min.fifter. 6 I Evening 41 min.aft. 6
ro-Nfoaaow— Morning 2 inin.after 7 Evening 25 nin.aft. 7

THE WEATHER.-SUN OFFICE, MARCH 5.

THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
51 —high est since noon yesterday.
40 —lowest this morning and during the night.
44 —this day art noon.

BAROMETER, 30'77—falling.
WIND, S.E.—Light breeze, with fine, cold, sunshiny
weather.

MARCH 6.
46 highest since noon yesterday.
35—lowest this morning and during the night.
37—this day, at noon.
BAROMETER, 30'57—falling rapidly.
WIND, S. to S.E.—Light breeze, with heavy fog. Hoar
frost in the night.

;,27
. ' , (.§l.lll

LONDON, MONDAY, MARCH 6, 1854.

The Emperor NICHOLAS, it appears, has not
only answered his " good friend"—the Imperial
Chief of 30,000,000 of Frenchmen—but has
given the signal of battle to his own subjects
through the medium of a most warlike, and, we
must add also in truth, a_ really blasphemous,
Proclamation.t.s His Majesty the CZAR speaks in
his autograph epistle .of confidence being in
kzen and. in his own Right. He talks, moreover,
in his manifesto, of his hitherto 'not having ceased '
to wish, as
he protests, indeed, that he still wishes,
the cessation of bloodshed. Mark that ! His
" Right !" and his continued wish for the " cessa-
tion of bloodshed t" After the mission of MEN
SCIIIKOFF
to Constantinople_after the passage of
the Pruth by his soldiers under GORTSCHAKOFF—
after the attacks made successively (though un-
successfully) upon Citate and Oltenitza—after the
sanguinary conflicts in the Caucasus and the in-
human butchery at Sinope, '
After all these mon-
strous and notorious acts of aggression—open
and unprovoked aggression upon one who
was
supposed to be a mush weaker neighbour—the
Russian AUTOCRAT talks now, forsooth, of his
" Right," that is to say, of the justice of
hip cause,
and of his desire to bring about the " cessation.
of bloodshed:4 Nay, after the Sinope massacre,
he talks of his confidence in GOD
Even more
than all this, he has the unexampled effrontery,
not to say the heinous impiety, to close his mani.
festo to the Russians with the exprossion of a hope
that, in the approaching 3tr uggle, Lia
_ ALMIGHTY may
assist them to approve themselves worthy of their
fathers in the last generation. adding, somewhat
in the same profane spirit of affected piety which
some months back induced him to close a docu-
ment, which was nothing less than a tissue of
gross and wilful misstatements, with the sublime
versicle of the Royal PSILIIIST—" In to DOMINE
speravi : non confundar in xternum "_adding
here, with kindred profanity, this extraordilArY
ejaculation ; " With this hope [that Lope

the assistance of the ALMIGHTY], combating for
our persecuted brethren, followers of the faith of
CHRIST, with one accord let all Russia exclaim—
' 0 LORD, our Redeemer ! whom shall we fear ?
May GOD be glorified and his enemies be scat-
tered !'" Assuredly we cannot be guilty of any
tr in saying that seldom before have
thex HOLYavaganNceAarßs been more flagrantly dragged
e through the mire and blood of an infamous
conflict by the hands of a great political blas-
phemer.
It is impossible, at the same time, not to detect
through all this affected confidence, the CZAR'S
secret desire too ward off, even now, the blow im-
pending over his empire from the armaments,
both military and maritime, of the two most
powerful races of Christendom. He says, no
doubt, in his letter to the Emperor of the FRENCH
—" menaces will not induce me to recede."
But the whole tone of that communication, though
haughty at moments, cannot but be regarded, corn-
ing as it does directly from the hand of this mighty
AUTOCRAT of all the Russias, as really on the whole
somewhat meek and conciliatory. Listen to him—
"lf your Majesty should frankly return to our pro-
gramme—if you should proffer me a cordial
hand, as I now offer it to you at this
last moment—l will willingly forget what has
wounded my feelings in the past then, Sire,
but then only, we may discuss, and perhaps we
may come to an understanding." Fine words
enough—but picture to yourself, 0 unbiassed
beholder of these occurrences ! picture to
yourself the Emperor NICHOLAS, on the
Bth of February, sitting down in his Cabinet
at St. Petersburgh, and writing about his
" wounded feelings !" As we have already but
just now remarked—after the mission of MEN-
SCHIKOFF, and the aggression of GORTSCHA KOFF, and
the massacre at Sinope, and the seizure of the two
Principalities ! Effrontery could not assuredly
surpass this—yet the effrontery of the CZAR is
altogether exceeded, as we have said, by his bias.
phemous allusions at the same time to DIVINE
PROVIDENCE.

Nothing now remains to be learnt beyond the
reply of the Emperor NICHOLAS to the final de-
mand sent to him simultaneously by the Four
Allied Governments. The nature of that
reply may be readily anticipated. It may
be the more readily anticipated now after
the appearance of this autograph espistle to
the French EMPEROR, and especially after the
appearance of this most insensate and flagitious
Proclamation. War, then, to the knife—guerre
a routrance—in the Black Sea, in the Baltic, on
the Danube, in the Caucasus. And then indeed
" GOD defend the Right" in that supreme junc-
ture, when France and England, side by side,
shall be fighting against Russian Barbarism the
battle of Civilisation.

We fully share the mortification of all sincere
Liberals at the postponement of the second read-
ing of the New Reform Bill, but can neither join
in unfair denunciation of its author, nor in over
sanguine hopes of what a month may bring forth.
We would not be unfair to Lord JOHN himself ;
he has every inducement to stand by his bill ;
for, although from his own confession he would
have preferred a 5/. borough franchise, all the
other parts probably are quite after his own
neart. The tables we published on Thursday,
and which we repeat to-day, more enlarged,
show what an inconsistent amount of petty
boroughs are still enfranchised, while so many
larger towns remain unrepresented. The minority
clause in the counties is specially favourable to
Whig landlords, and no future Reform Bill will
be tolerated which lets off Whigs and Tories so
easily as these two arrangements. Radicals will
insist on more, and will get it. Hence, we think,
Lord JOHN'S strong aristocratic prepossessions
guarantee his earnestness for the present bill.
Something considerable is due, also, to his man-
liness in bringing it forward while the clouds of
war were gathering ♦ery thick, and when all the
croakers and hostile at heart were calling upon
him to alter his course. He then stoutly refused
even to shorten sail ; and now that the storm is
' all but ready to burst, he ought to be permitted
to lay-to, without damage to his sincerity or his
courage. We were proud of his genuine English
boldness at the time, and are willing to give him
the benefit of it now. We will not deny, also,
that the main reasons he gave for postponement were
practical and obvious ones. The Ways and Means
will occupy the time at least till the 13th ; for while
there will be, we are confident, an unflinching
determination to find them, the method of doing
so may give rise to very serious and protracted
debates. Then the final message from the CZAR
will be arriving, and even we confess to a wish
not to have the Reform discussions just at that
time. Our hearts and heads will, in spite of our-
selves, be fuller of something else. If, as every
one seems to think, the answer will be war, that
will absorb us for a time, and well, if we get our
mental balance for another mouth. If it be that
the very apparition of NAPIEIi in the Baltic has
frightened the brutal bully of St. Petersburg
into concession, then, indeed, will the British
public need to watch with Argus eyes that secret
diplomacy does not present us with another blue
book, after the mischief is (tone, of gulled Minis-
ters, of all our vast preparatory expenditure for
nothing, and of Russia still master of its stolen
territories ; still impudently barring two large
seas against the fleets of the most civilised nations
of Europe; and still but hybornating during the
blasts of European indignation, ready to resume
its savage activity when the sunshine of general
peace returns. The character of the bill, there-
fore, and the reasons assigned by Lord JOHN,
together with his whole bearing on the subject,
give us hope that postponement only is meant.
On the other hand it is not easy to forget Lord
JOHN'S past. We gladly give him the benefit of
his appeal to his determined fight for the first
Reform Bill. Still we are haunted by the recol-
lection of liberal pledges abandoned, and party
plans renounced, under the pressure of an incon-
veniently large opposition. Lord JoHres name is
too closely associated with an " Appropriation
Clause" now quite turned to dust ; with " Fina-
lity" of the first Reform Bill, renounced in due
time, and solemnly interred at the birth of the
second one, which latter was, indeed, little better
than a substitute for finality under the name of
Reform. Now, however, we have at least a sche-
dule A and a schedule B worth having, though
leaving ample scope for two more schedules quite
equal to them. Church Rates, Endowing Irish
Priests, the Eight Shilling Duty, a Durham
Letter, ending in an Ecclesiastical Titles Act ;
such things again will remind us that 14)rd.
jaws eau yield to the exigencies of office, and
work on pretty patiently too,_ Fully believing,
therefore, that lie would prefer to make the last
great inprovelnent on his own Reform Bill -which
it is lil4oly,.as he may hope, to receive in his life-
time, we yet meet remember that, like TIONER'a
heroes, he can run, and run away, too, as well as
fight.
Again, if reports be true, of which probably
imagination rather than knowledge is the parent,
he has not a very unanimous or cordial Cabinet
with him. For ourselves, we see no reason why
the Bill should be at all objectionable to the vete-
ran Statesman whose name is most prominent in
these reports. It will rather benefit than injure,
in all likelihood, the party with which he has
acted so long in later years. Setting aside,
however, Cabinet difficulties, of which, except by
conjecture from character, we ought to know no-
thing, the House of Commons can hardly be
really well disposed towards such a measure. All
the members to be unseated must, to a man, in-
wardly dislike the bill. Then it would seem the
Tory county members do not relish, as we ex-
pected they would not, the thought of a RUSSELLITE
Colleague. Some even of the borough members
appear to be in no small affliction at the prospect
of forming but two-thirds of the representatives of
their large constituencies; and others, as if nothing
would please, are angry that a third colleague is
not allotted to them. All this added to the gene-
ral antipathy of the great Conservative party to
any reform, presents a formidable array of indi-
vidual and party hostility; a large part of it, too,
being rather ashamed to manifest itself openly,
would gladly ride, oft under coyer of a factious

motion like Sir E. DERING'S. It would not be
inconsistent with Lord JOHN'S antecedents to quail
before such determined enemies and unwilling
allies. We must own, however, that it may be
good strategy in debated questions to leave the
enemy in a position which every day's discussion
will weaken, and especially not to give them
the benefit of a device by which they will, in the
same act, lay claim to Liberal principles, while
they are joining Conservatives to defeat a liberal
measure.

With some apprehension about his eventual
firmness, therefore, we give Lord JOHN RUSSELL
credit for sincerity. He must prefer to pass his
bill if he can. If he cannot, the fault will be
with recreant-hearted Liberals, and perhaps with
the country. It wants, indeed, many of those ma-
nifestly popular points, such as the ballot, house-
hold or municipal suffrage, and a self-consistent
distribution of representatives, which would arouse
irresistible enthusiasm out of the house ; but still
we maintain, with such an old and consistent re-
former as Mr. HUME, that the bill is worth
having. The abolition of so many petty
boroughs, the deduction of one member from
others, the abolition of the hateful ratepaying
clauses, the enlargement of the county qualifica-
tion, and even the miserably small lowering of the
borough franchise, are all worth having ; and no
declamation will satisfy a thoughtful Liberal that
any member of Parliament who, by a direct or
indirect movement, attempts to burke this bill is
himself an honest Liberal. With the hope that
the measure will be pressed after the Easter holi-
days, it is a decided advantage to have the three
bills, for England, Scotland, and Ireland be-
fore us, previously to the debate on the
second reading. An advantage to the full
and fair consideration of the whole scheme
we mean, for what effect it may have on Irish
members, if many of their constituencies are dealt
with, as in all reason they ought to be, it is but
too easy to divine ; an effect no way favourable
on their vutes. The mere introduction of these
bills looks, at least, as if it were intended to
proceed with all of them. It would otherwise
have been easy to excuse their non-appearance
till the principles for all had been decided on the
second reading of the. English Bill.

The majority of the South-Eastern Railway
Company Board have been virulently attacked in
consequence of the manly and decisive course
which they have adopted for the purpose of dis-
tinctly and unequivocally ascertaining the true
sentiments of their constituents. It would, in-
deed, be difficult to discover any line of policy
that would please the malcontents, who are pre-
pared for censure in any and every step taken by
those whose power they covet, and whose places
they would gladly fill. Although thoroughly
alive to the importance of the decision that must
be come to at the forthcoming meeting, although
aware that a crisis has arrived on which the future
welfare and prosperity of the undertaking must
mainly if not altogether depend, they yet cavil at
the issue of proxy-papers duly stamped, and in con-
formity with the law, to every proprietor who may
be unable to attend on the appointed day. They
speak of the expense, as if it were not a matter
of the most trivial importance in comparison to
the other matters involved in the result. The
half-crown which it may cost to obtain the views
of the proprietors of Stock—to the amount of
many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pounds—
is deplored •as if it were an instance of the utmost
prodigality
and recklessness of expenditure, and
is treasured up, with other accusations, to be
hurled against the devoted heads of the Directors
whenever the opportunity may arise. The dig-
nified and unanswerable vindication of the step,
which appeared in our impression of Saturday,
must, however, remove every undue impression
that could be formed in reference-thereto; proving,
as it does, that the omission thereof would have
been a piece of very culpable negligence, for which
the managers would have justly merited the cen-
sure of the shareholders.

It is impossible not to perceive that the mal-
contents are endeavouring to raise a question of
want of confidence in the management—to change
the direction of affairs per fas aut nefas. To
achieve this object, to worm themselves into the
positions from which they hope to expel the pre-
sent occupants, they are prepared to do any act,
however prejudicial to the best interests of the
general body of proprietors. They endeavour,
then, to get up an unreasoning and parrot-cry
against " extensions"—thinking that they may be
enabled thereby to induce timid and weak-minded
persons to change their opinions, and to rescind
the resolutions at which they had formerly arrived,
and that persons, without due examination, will
condemn a project adopted by the Board after the
most mature and anxious consideration, and not
then objected to by a single proprietor.
It is paying but a very sinister compliment to
the proprietors generally to suppose that they
could be guilty of so much fickleness and incon-
sistency, or that a state of things may be pro-
duced

-(‘ Where gentry, title, wisdom
Cannot conclude but by the yea and n*
Of general Ignorance."
Where

---" It must omit
Real necessitieS, and give way the while
To unstable slightness ; purpose so barr'd, it follows
Nothing is done to purpose'"

This is not what the proprietors desire. It is
not consistent either with their reputation or
their interests. The bill now before Parliament
for making the Lewisham and Bromley line had
been long since sanctioned and approved of.
It was merely postponed, not abandoned.
The notice of its temporary withdrawal
was to avoid any pretext for hostility with the
Brighton Company, with whom negotiations were
then pending—negotiations which have proved
hitherto abortive, but which most probably will
terminate in arrangements highly beneficial to all
parties concerned, and more especially so to the
South-Eastern proprietors. Indeed, the situation
of the lines distinctly points out the propriety not
merely of a cordial alliance, but of a perfect
amalgamation by which their interests may be for
ever rendered " one and indivisible." To the
satisfactory settlement of these matters, the con-
struction of the Bromley and Lewisham line is
indispensable ; for, as Mr. MACGREGOR justly
remarked in a former circular, "it is of
every consequence that the position of the South-
Eastern Company be maintained, and its equitable
proportion of the future joint earnings be se-
cured."

If, then, the proposed line should not prove
remunerative, it might still be of vital importance
that the sanction of Parliament should be ob-
tained. to its construction. , But, inasmuch as those
most competent to speak authoritatively on the
point, who have closely scrutinised the prospects
of the undertaking, founding their estimates as to
the probable results on the best data, are decidedly
of opinion that it will prove remunerative, and
would be well worth carrying into practical execu-
tion, independently of their relation 'Leith any other
company or companies, and although it were not
required for the purpose of self-defence, it seems
clear that it should not be lightly or wantonly
rejected, and that the decision of a matter of
such vital importance to the well-being of the
South-Eastern Company should not be left to
chance. The Directors then would, as we have
stated, have been guilty of culpable negligence
had they not issued these proxy papers, about
which the interested parties, who see thereby the
inevitable defeat of their machinations, have
raised so loud an outcry. Where the effect of the
decision might be, that the conduct of the com-
pany's affairs, and management of its concerns,
might pass into the hands of a clamorous minority,
whose objects were " of a passing and transient
character, perchance inimical to the permanent
interests of the company," it was surely desirable
that the sense of the proprieters should be fully
and fairly- ascertained. This was the more im-
perative, as some of those who have faithfully
conducted the affairs of the company for nine
years have once more to appeal to their
constituents, and it is intended to put forth
the whole strength of the opposition against their
re-election. What proprietor would abstain from
Toting under ;ucla circumstances I Those who

could by any possibility attend would do so, while
those unable to do so would hasten to confide

their proxies to men on whose steadiness and con-
sistency they could place implicit dependence.
Where, then, is the unnecessary expense ? Where
the cost that might so easily have been avoided ?
What signifies it whether the amount came from
the pockets of individual proprietors or was de-
ducted from the dividends that might otherwise
be paid to these same proprietors? The objection
is, indeed, one of a very captious and untenable
character, for, as the Directors truly declare, the
right of voting by proxy would be a dead letter
if the means of voting by proxy papers were not,
when necessary, supplied. Every one at all
familiar with the proceedings at railway meetings,
when a poll has been called for, must be well
aware of the numerous objections taken to the
form and sufficiency of the proxies, arid of the
many instances where parties have been thereby
practically disfranchised. The object, then, of all
persons desirous of eliciting the real opinions of
the shareholders, and of allowing the views of
every man to be represented at the meeting,
should be in favour of the step so judiciously
taken ; and from which it is clearly perceptible
that the Board do not fear the result of
appeal, while their opponents, who complain of
the measure, are desirous of being enabled to re-
sort to the tactics in use on such occasions, and
to obtain a result which does not coincide with the
views of the majority. It is scarcely necessary
to add, although we do so to prevent the possibi-
lity of misconception, that the proxies so issued
are not necessarily in favour of any person or any
line of policy, but that each person may fill in
the name of any proprietor to whom he may think
proper to entrust his vote...

We repeat the circular for illustration :
" South-Eastern Railway, Linden-bridge
Terminus, March 3, 1854.
Gentlemen,—lf anything were wanting to show the ne-
cessity for union iu the direction of your affairs it is to be
found iu some of the papers lately pot forth.
"The circular of February the 16th, signed by the chair-
man only, was submitted to the full board of nine directors
for consideration, and was finally, in its published form,
sanctioned by a majority of six, three dissentient directors
opposing it.

" Voting by proxy is secured to you by act of Parliament,
to enable each shareholder, when unable to attend, to expreis
his opinion and sen;dments through his proxy, in whom he
places confidence and trust. It is of the highest moment,
therefore, in order to obtain tho decision and government of
your affairs by the majority, that papers stamped as required
by Parliament should be issued and place i in your hands, to
be used at your discretion and by your own free judgment,
for the control and administration of your affairs. It has ever
been an attentive m irk of our duty to court your opinion on
questions of moment, when the views of the proprietors at
large should be taken ; for, unless the board of directors sup-
plied to the shareholders the means of voting by proxy, it will
be obvious that each shareholder, unapprised of the necessary
form and the stamp to be affixed, would be deprived of the
exercise of that right of represent* his opinions at the meet-
mg which the Legislature intended.
" The circular of February 16, therefore, thus opens and
leaves the question and decision to all the shareholders,
carefully
pointing out that the insertion of any other pro-
prietor's name, instead of the chairman's, will make the en-
closed paper of proxy equally available in favour of the name
substituted as you may think proper.
" Unless the means of so representing yourselves at the
meeting were c fired for and provided, you will readily see
that the conduct of your affairs might drop into the hands of
a minority, whose object may be of a passing and transient
character, perhaps inimical to the permanent interest of the
company.
" In either case the expense, which has been greatly over-
stated, is the same, whether defrayed by yourselves person-
ally, or by the company out of your own assets. But in prac-
tice the right of voting by proxy would be a dead letter if the
means of voting by proxy papers were uot, when necessary,
supplied to you for your use.
" The bill for making the Lewisham and Bromley line
was before Parliament before the resolution of the company
with regard to the outlay of further capital, passed on the
17th of March, 1853. It had previously received the careful
and anxious consideration of a full board, and no objection
to it had been offered by any proprietor. It was withdrawn
only on prudential motives, to avoid any hostility with the
Brighton Comeany, who, p •nding negotiations with us, and
without our knowledge, proposed to amalgamate with the
South-Western. In the judgment of the majority of the
board it will be remunerative ; but it was important not un-
necessarily to disclose an opinion which might suggest au
opposition to deprive you of its advantages.
" It would have been a mere waste of time and expense to
have convened a meeting to deliberate on the initiatory step
of re-proposing that which previously existed. Our duty
was to replace you in the former position, with everything
prepared, in order that at the right time you should decide.
" These are the plain facts, and we leave them to weigh
against the statements which have been made. You will be
enabled by the proxy papers placed at your disposal to assert
your own opinions, and to enable the sense of the proprietors
at large to bo fairly and fully obtained ; and a week still re-
mains within which you may forward them to the secretary.
" Our anxiety is natural, that no misrepresentation for a
moment shall be abroad of the good faith aad earnest atten-
tion with which we watch over your interests and regard your
confidence.—We have the honour to be, gentlemen, your obe-
dient faithful servants,
" JAMES MAC GREGOR, Chairman.
JAMES RENSHAW, Deputy Chairman.
HENRY RICH.
CHARLES IRONSIDE.
HENRY LEWIS SMALL
ROBERT BROWNE."

ARRIVAL OM THE GUARDS AT
GIBRALTAR.

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation
Company's ship Indus, which reached Southampton
yesterday afternoon, brings intelligence of the safe
arrival at Gibraltar of the Ripon, having on board
the battalion of Grenadier Guards—all well—after
an exceedingly fine passage of six days from South-
ampton.
The Orinoco, with the battalion of Coldstream
Guards, had been in sight on the horizon through-
out the voyage, but would pass the Ripon at Gib-
raltar, as she would not stop to coal.

POST-OFFICE LONDON DIRECTORY.

SUPPLEMENT FOR 1854. Kelly and Co.

According to annual oustom, the proprietors of
this mammoth directory of the metropolis, par
excellence "the" London Directory, have issued
before the spring arrives, and long before Easter
commences, an ample (pp. 124) and peculiarly ac-
ceptable supplement. It is a supplement givinc, us
in a new form—corrected up to the last moment—
an additional directory both Postal and Parliament-
ary. The latest changes are therein introduced.
Changes caused, some of them by removal, some of
them by death, some of them by promotion. An
ample peerage is prefixed. It would be difficult to
speak in too high terms of praise of this remark-
able mass trf useful and valuable information.

COLOURED MAPS OF TIIE "SEAT OF

WAR."

BY JAMES WYLD.

- -
Several additional maps, illustrative of the "Seat
of War," have been recently issued from the esta-
blishment of this eminent geographer. Like their
predecessors, they are worthy of their publisher's
reputation. Their minuteness and their authen-
ticity are alike in the highest degree commendable.
Conspicuous among the maps last presented to the
community by Mr. Wyld are the following :—A
masterly sketch of the whole line of the river
Danube, from Hirsova up to Orschova, extending
on the left bank far northward into Wallachia,
and on the right bank far southward into Bulgaria.
An admirable chart of the East Sea, or Baltic, in-
cluding the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland—tracing
out, moreover, in midsea, between Sweden and
Russia, a clear red line of demarcation. An excel-
lent chart of the Black Sea has also to be particu-
larised—a chart embracing, besides the Euxine,
the lesser seas of Azof an+l Marmora. The appear-
ance of these singularly useful and meritorious
maps will be welcome, we doubt not, to all the
more intelligent masses of our population.

CA.BINEr COIINCIL.-1 Cabinet Council was held on
Saturday afternoon, at the Foreign Office, Downing.
street. The Ministers present were the Earl of Aber-
deen, Lord John Russell, the Marquis of Lansdowne,
the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Duke of Argyll,
Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of Clarendon, the Duke
of Newcastle, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir
James Graham, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon.
Sidney Herbert, and Sir William Molesworth.
The Earl and Countess of Sefton entertained a large
party at Croxteth Hall during the past week, on the
occasion of the Liverpool Spring Meeting, including the
Earl and Countess Craven and Lady Elizabeth Craven,
Sir Frederick and Lady Bathurst, the Viscount and
Lady Seaham, Mr. Henry and Lady Sophia Des Vceux,
Captain Molyneux, &c.
The Duke and Duchess of Somerset entertained Lord
Glenelg, Lord Seymour, Mr. Babbage, and a small party
at dinner on Saturday evening, in Park-lane, after which
her Grace attended Lady Palmerston's party.
The Marchioness of Ailesbury has arrived in Gros-
venor-square, frmu visiting the Duke of Rutland, at
Belvoir Castle.
The Earl and Countess of Ashburnham and family
have arrived at Ashburnham House, so long the seat of
the mission from the Czar, and where the great Autocrat
sojourned during his brief visit to England, from Ash-
burnham-place.
His Excellency Sir Henry and Lady Bulwer, who
have been passing the winter at Brighton, have returned
to town.

ARRIVAL OF SIR H. SEYMOUR IN ENGLAND.—Dover,
Sunday Evening, 7.3o.—His Excellency, Sir 11. Sey-
mour, family and suite, save arrived at Birmingham's
Royal Ship Hotel here, from Calais. There is a very
thick fog here. Her Majesty'spacket Onyx, with his
excellency on bard, got ashore. He was consequently
rowed four miles in a boat ; all, however, arrived quite
well, and were not alarmed. The packet is safe, and
dill iloat next tide.
_

MONEY MARKET

AND
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

CITY, TWO O'CLOCK.

The sales of cotton at Liverpool on Saturday
were estimated at 4,000 bales, including 500 Ame-
rican on speculation. The market closed heavily
without alteration in prices. The sales comprised
3,400 American, 40 Pernam and Maranhani at
68d. to 7d., 50 Bahia at Gild, 100 Egyptian at
bid. to 7-Id., and 400 Surat at 3(1. to 3id. per lb.
Railway shares were flat, at a decline of to 1 per
cent.

The corn trade is dull this morning.
The public sales of wool have concluded, 55,101
bales having been offered altogether, and of which
47,671 bales were colonial. The series opened at
the full average rates of October and November for
Port Philip and Sydney flocks, but Sydney after-
wards became a little cheaper. Cape of Good Hope,
of good clean quality, was scarce.
The gun trade at Birmingham are much disap-
pointed at the Government having in contempla-
tion the transfer of the manufacture of Ordnance
guns from that town to Woolwich. The manufac-
turers, it is urged, have expended large sums of
money in the erection of extensive works and ma-
chinery, the best mechanics have been secured, and
the highest amount of perfection attained. A seri-
ous derangement in the event of such contempla-
tion being carried out, will therefore accrue
to this branch of local industry.
The railway meetings announced are the fol-
lowing :

Date. Pla, 0, &c.
Aberdeen

Caledonian _

. Mar. 22, Glasgow..

,
Charleroi and Erquelines Mar. 21, Charleroi.
Chester and Holyhead Mar. 18, Euston Station.
Edinburgh and Glasgow Mar. 7, Glasgow.
Glasgow and South-Western Mar. 8, Glasgow.
Graissessae and Beziers..
Maria Antonia
Mid. Gt. Western of Ireland Mar. 14, Dublin.
Rouen andHaYre Mar. 30, Paris.

Sambre and Meuse
Do. Do.
South Eastern
Toun., Jurb., Land. & Haslt Mar. 27, Brussels.
Western of France.. Mar. 30, Paris.

At the special meeting of the shareholders of the
Waterford and Kilkenny Railway, to receive a
statement from the directors relative to the present
condition of the company—Mr. Haddo in the
chair—the cha'rman and Mr. Bates, another direc-
tor, addressed the meeting, and explained the
present financial difficulties, and stated that the
liabilities of the company amounted to about
17,0001., irrespective of a very large sum claimed
by the contractor. One of the most pressing of
these liabilities was a sum of about 3,0001. duo to
the Government Loan Commissioners, and failing
the prompt payment of this it was probable the
railway might be taken possession of by the Com-
missioners. The assets in debentures, &c., were
about 14,0001., but the directors were utterly un-
able to get these debentures taken up. There
was also 2/. a share which could, with the
consent of the meeting, be called up on the pre-
ference shares, which would amount to 80,000/.—
Mr. Taylor, of Dublin, said, that at the request of
the Irish shareholders he had come over especially
to attend the meeting. They found that every one
of the promises of the directors had remained un-
fulfilled, and that their management of the line had
been so bad, and so little dependence was placed
on the company, that although 28 miles of the rail-
way were opened, passengers and goods were sent
by cars on the road, instead of by the railway.—
Mr. Dowling took the same view as to the manage-
ment, and said that the chairman of the Irish South
Eastern Railway had written to state that it was
impossible there could be a junction with the Wa-
terford and Kilkenny while it was so conducted.—
After such corroborative proofs, the meeting wisely
appointed a committee of investigation, which is to
report to a special meeting on the 14th April next.
Accounts of the Ist instant from Vienna, state
that the new loan was now considered to be decided
upon. The price at which it would be issued is
92, or according to other versions 90, and the
amount would be 40 to 50, instead of 60 millions of
florins in 4 per cent. lottery obligations. There
would be an annual drawing, however, and the
numbers drawn would bear interest afterwards at
5 per cent. This part of the scheme has caused
the lottery obligations of 1834 and 1839 to fall
during the last few days more in proportion than
the other national securities.

The text of the treaty of commerce between Bel-
gium and France has been published, and is some-
what voluminous. The duties upon yarns and
piece goods are regulated according to a new scale.
France admits Belgian coal duty free; also stone
or building materials, and upon straw hats, dtc.,
there is an abatement of 20 to 50 per cent. _

The opinions of City men are rather divided as
to the course which the Chancellor of the Exchequer
will adopt in raising the means of carrying on the
war. If his present necessities can be met by an
issue of 2,000,0001. Exchequer bills, there will be
no need of a loan, as fresh taxation will come in
aid, but otherwise it would be advisable to borrow
while the money market is strong, since an issue of
five millions of floating securities would be too
large. Probably Mr. Gladstone will take power to
fund if requisite.
There has been a dull market for public securi-
ties, the speculators not appearing disposed to ope-
rate until the budget is known, but, upon the
whole, rather a firm tone prevails, with an expecta-
tion of temporary improvement, if a loan be not
required. Consols have been quoted 90g to 91 for
transfer, and 90g. to 90q for account. Exchequer
Bills have declined to 13s. premium, in anticipation
of a further issue. East India Bonds have been at
Bs. premium. Bank Stock has been steady at 220 ;
East India Stock has realised 235.

Foreign Securities have been passive, but not
weaker. Mexican Bond: have been done at 24} g,
and Peruvian 3 per Cents. at 451. Spanish 3 per
Cents. have been quoted 371 • Russian 5 per
Cents. are supported at 85 to 86, and the 4-; per
Cents. at 80. Dutch 4 per Cents. have been
marked 84i :I. Sardinian Stock is 77 to 781.
Railway Shares are rather cheaper again, the
decline in most of the English lines being about
per cent. French shares have been merely no-
minal. _ _

The current prices for the Jamaica Mines not.
officially quoted are as follows :—Metcalfe, k dis-
count to par ; Sue River, 4 discount to par ; Port
Royal, to k premium.
In the Foreign and Colonial Mining Market there
is no business doing.
Australasia Bank Shares are about 10s. lower,
but most of the others, including British North
American, steady.
The shares of the Land Companies have been
slightly iu favour of buyers.

BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOL)K.
(From the Olicial Li3t.
Business done
Bank Stock ......... ....... ..... . ..... ...... 220
per Cent. Reduced Annuities
3 per Cent Consols Annuities 9O„ a
New 31 per Cent. Annuities 92g t

India Stock 23-
India Bonds, £lOOO
Consols for Account 16th March
Exchequer Bills, ld.
£1000
£5OO l3 P
Small l3 P

PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Wexican 3 per Cent.
Peruvian 3 per Cent.
Russian Bonds, 5 per Cent.
Ditto for the Account B5 6
Dia) 4i per Cent •. 80
Sardinian Bonds, 5 per Cent 77 Si
Spanish Bonds, 3 per Cent 37; it
Dividends on the above payable in London.
Dutch Exchange, 2} per Cent. 12 Gun 55
Ditto 4 per Cent. Certificates ...„
HALP-PA ST TWO.

Consols 9oi 1
Ditto 3,Larch Account 9oi ii

LIEUT. O'REILLY'S PLAN OF SEBASTOPOL HARBOUR.
—On the 6th ult. Lieut. Montagu O'Reilly, of the Retri-
bution, 24, steam-frigate, Capt. the Hon. H. R. Drum-
mond, had the honour of a private audience of the Sultan
to present a plan of Sebastopol harbour and fortifications,
which were sketched by that officer when the Retribu-
tion so boldly entered that inviolable port with des-
patches. His Majesty graciously accepted the diagram
and view, and expressed himself gratified by this second
indication of the lieutenant to afford information in the
highest degree interesting. The Turkish chief officers
of state were all strictly attentive to Lieutenant O'Reilly,
who partook with them of seasonable refreshments.
Soon after the cruel affair at Sinope Lieutenant Mon-
tagu O'Reilly furnished the Sultan with a► correct sketch
of the remains of his frigates, their positions in that
bay, &c.

LATEST FOREIGN NEWS.

THE WAR IN THE EAST.

The Moniteur of this day (Monday) publishes a
circular of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to French
diplomatic agents, on the letter of the Czar awl
the Russian manifesto. The publication of those
documents, says, destroys the last hopes in the
wisdom of the abinet of St. Petersburg ; and it
adds that that hand which had become honoured
by the firmness with which it had offered a support
to Europe, when it was shakan in its foundations,
opens now a course to passions and chances. The
FrenchrGovernment, it continues, afflicted at the
inutility of its efforts and niofleration, declines the
responsibility that must rest with Russia, which
will have to render an account to history and to
God.

The great topic of interest yesterday in Paris, is
the letter addressed by the Emperor Nicholas to
the Emperor of the French in reply to the latter.
It is considered on all sides a tissue of the most
barefaced misrepresentations—of statements which
have been repeatedly refuted. The part which
appears to have most excited resentment is the
allusion to 1812. True, it is said, the French
army was destroyed during that terrible campaign ;
but it was not destroyed, not by Russian valour in
the field, but by the fire of Moscow and the rigour
of t ie elements ; and the fact of the Russians hav-
ing been beaten whenever they encountered the
French is shown by the latter having penetrated
to the heart of the empire.
The last accounts from St. Petersburg state that
the Russian Government was indefatigable in its
exertions to excite the fanaticism of the population.
Every day processions traversed the streets and
exhibited to the people the relics of the saints of
the Greek Calendar. The clergy everywhere urge
the true believers to take arms for the defence of
the orthodox faith. The Government on its side
published bulletins containing accounts of victories
supposed to have been gained by the Russians in
Asia. Those demonstrations dispirit both the
merchants and upper classes.
Advices from Constantinople, of the 20th ult.,
state that the news of the rupture between Russia
and the Western Powers had been received with
the liveliest satisfaction. On the 18th the French
steam-frigate Mogador returned to the Bosphorus,
after a reconnaissance as far as Kaffa, where she
saw six Russian line-of-battle ships and several
frigates.
The coast of Albania has been declared in a
state of blockade, and the Viceroy of Egypt has
been requested to send into the Adriatic the
squadron which he intended for Constantinople.
A. telegraphic despatch, dated three days later,
mentions that Zuinit Paella was to leave on the
4th March for Salonica, to quell the insurrection,
which hail greatly increased.
Tho English steamer Niger was likewise to go
thither on the same day.
Four daughters of the Sultan wore said to have
been betrothed.

From Athens, Feb. 24, we learn that the Eng-
lish frigate Diamond and the French steamer
Promethee have left for Prevesa. A body of Mon-
tenegrin marauders, having invaded Albania, had
been defeated by the Turks, with a loss of 300 men.
The Vienna journals publish the letter of Prince
Alexander of Servia to the Sultan, on receiving the
firman confirming the privileges of the Servian
nation, and the address of the Senate to the Prince
on the same occasion. The letter is as follows :

"Your Majesty, in your inexhaustible solicitude for
the welfare and tranquillity of your people, deigned to
send me in the month of Rebjoi Fwel, 1270 (1854) a fir-
man which confirms the privileges of the Servian nation.
I have had the happiness to receive this striking and
precious testimony of the kindness of your Majesty from
the hands of Elten Paella, and I have caused the firman
to be proclaimed, with sentiments of profound re-
spect and devotedness to your Majesty, at Belgrade, in
the usual solemn form. I have also directed the firinao
to be published in all the districts of the country, in
order that this new proof of the kindness of your Ma-
jesty may be known throughout the whole country.
This manifestation of your Majesty's favour is for me
a proof of the solicitude which animates you for the
welfare and tranquillity of Servia. The prerogatives
accorded to Servia by the late glorious Sultan Mah-
snood, enumerated in the hatti-scheriffs of 1829, 1830,
1834, and 1838, have founded the present prosperity of
Servia. Your Majesty in confirming these privileges,
and in promising to the Servian nation other proofs of
your kindness, consolidates the welfare of the country,
as much by the privileges accorded as by those in
prospect. The Servian nation and its Sovereign believe
themselves obliged by this generosity to entertain heart-
felt gratitude to your Majesty. As their fidelity has up
to this day been firm under all circumstances, so it will
preserve it for the future, in order to render itself worthy
of your Majesty's kindness, and to obtain in the future
new proofs of your inexhaustible grace. I and all my
subjects pray the Almighty is the most fervent manner
to grant a long and happy life to your Majesty, for the
happiness of your subjects. I humbly pray the Most
High also to cause your Majesty to preserve your kind-
ness to me and the Servian nation.
"ALEXANDER KARAGEORGEWITCH.
"Belgrade, 26th Jan. (7th Feb.)."
The address of the Senate is as follows :

" Gracious Sovereign, the Senate has received, with
your !eaur of the 28th inst., a translation of the Impe-
rial firman, confirming the rights of the Servian
nation, which was lately read and made puhlic, in
presence of the members of the Senate and of other
persons invited, as well as the reply of your Highness
to the Sultan, to thank him for the proof of interest which
he has been pleased to accord. The Senate unanimously
concurs in the sentiments of fidelity and devotedness
which your Highness expresses towards the Sultan, and
is convinced that the Servian nation will also share in
them. In virtue of the rights conferred by Sultan
Mahmoud in 1245, 1246, 1249, and 1254, and confirmed
by the present hatti-soheriff, the Senate regards it as its
duty to support your Highness in the sense of the con-
stitution, whi h offers the possibility of preserving the
benevolence which the Sultan testifies to you, and of
rendering ourselves worthy of the Imperial favour mari-
fested in the firman.

" General E. STEPHANOVICH,
" J. IVANOTICH, First Secretary.

" Belgrade, Jan. 29 (Feb. 10)." _
A letter from Koenigsberg of the 27th ult. states
that, on the preceding day, messengers, with a
million of gold roubles, passed through that place
from Berlin for St. Petersburg.

THE CZAR'S ANSWER TO THE FRENCH
EMPEROR'S AUTOGRAPH LETTER.

Iu the St. Petersburg Journal of 12 (21) February
we read as follows :

" The Moniteur Universel having in its official
part published a letter addressed to H.M. the Em-
peror by the Emperor of the French, we are autho-
rised, while re-producing that document, to publish
at the same time the answer of our august Sovereign :
" ' ST. PETERSBURG, JAN. 23 (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 good-
will., ' In accepting, your Majesty says, the pro-
gramme which I had traced, your Majesty affirms that
you have remained faithful to it. I venture 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 col-
lision on this ground with the interests of the religion
professed by your Majesty. I have made for the main-
tenance of peace every concession both in form and sub-
stance that was possible consistently with my honour,
and in claiming for my co-religionists 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 difference 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 suspicions,
by encouraging the fanaticism of the Turks, by mis-
leading their Government as to my intentions, and the
this influence has imparted
real import of my demands,
to the question such exaggerated proportions that war
has been the consequence.
"` Your Majesty will permit me not to dwell too
much in detail upon the circumstances treated of
according to your Majesty's own point of view,
which are connectedly stated in your letter. Many
acts of mine, not correctly appreciated, as I think,
and more than one fact distorted, would require to
be put right, in such a way at least as I understand
them, long dev.,lopments not of a nature to be
entered upon in a correspondence between sovereign
and sovereign. For instance, your Majesty attributes to
the occupation if the Principalities the fault of having
suddenly removed the question from the domain of dis-
cussion 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 extent brought about, by
an anterior fact of great gravity, that of the appearance
of the combined fleets in the neighbourhood of the Dar-
danelles, 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 (blessante) demonstration
certainly announced but little confidence in me. It was
calculated to encourage the Turks, and to paralyse be-
forehand the success of the negotiations, by exhibiting
Franco 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 seri-
ously desired peace, were bound to assist ou this adop-
tion, purely and simply, instead of permitting the Porte
o modify what we had adopted without change,
" Besides, if any portion of our commentaries had
given rise to difficulties, I offered at Ohuutz a sa-
tisfactory solution, 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, uhder the pretence of protecting the life
and property of English and French subjects, and to
enable the whole of the fleets to enter without a viola-
tion of the treaty of 1841, it was necessary for the Otto-
mon Government to declare war against us. My opinion
is that if France and England ha wished for peace as
much 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 limit. which I desired to trace for it
on the aoluhe, so that I might not have been torn by
force from the purely defensive system which I wished
to pursue. 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
comint i:ceitient of h e4ilities), to blockade Akhaltsykh,
and to ravage the Armenian provinces, from the moment
when they left the Turkish fleet free to convey troops,
arms, and ammunition to our coasts—could it be reason-
ably expected that we should patiently await the result
of such designs ? Was it not to be supposed that we
should do something to 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 un-
expected. 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 was was restrained within certain
bounds. Was that done which ought to have been done
to prevent these:bounds from being passed ? If the part
of a spectator, or of that of a mediator even, was not
enough for your Majesty, and you desired to make your-
self the auxiliary of my armed enemies, it would have
been more loyal, sire, and more worthy of yourself, to
have told me so frankly at first, and to have declared
war against me. Every one would then have known
what part he had to play. But to impute to us as a
crime api.,9 coup, an event which you did nothing to
avert, is that an equitable proceeding ? If the cannon of
Sinope echoed painfully in the hearts of all those who in
France and England have an intense sentiment of
national dignity, does your Majesty think that the me-
naciug presence at the mouth of the B ,sphorus of the
three thousand cannon's mouths, of which your Majesty
speaks, and the report of their entrance into the Black
Sea, are facts which remain without an echo in the heart
of the nation whose honour I have to defend ? I learn
from your Majesty, for the first time (for the verbal
declarations made to me have hitherto said nothing
of the kind), that while protecting the re-victual-
ling 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, ap-
parently the right to re-victual 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 proposal ? 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. Whatever your Majesty may decide, it is
not to threats that you will see me give way. My con-
fidence is in God and my right, and Russia, I will
answer for her, will show herself in 1854 what she was
in 1812.

" 'lf, 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 mine, I will willingly for-
get everything 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 it-
self to preventing the Turks from carrying further rein-
forcements to the theatre of war. I promise willingly
that they shall have nothing to fear from me. Let them
send a negotiator. I will receive him in a befitting man-
ner. 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 sentiment with which
am, sii e, your Majesty's bon ami,
"'NICHOLAS."'