minister for foreign affairs, addressed to the various
French diplomatic agents. M. Drouin de Lhuvs exposes
the fallacy of the attempt to ascribe the Russian occupation
of the Turkish provinces to the conduct of France
and England. After reviewing the negotiations down
to the departure of Prince Menschikoff from
Constantinople, M. Drouin de Lhuys proceeds thus:—

"It was at such a conjuncture, sir, that Prince Menschikoff
quitted Constantinople, breaking off all diplomatic
relations between Russia and the Porte; and that
it devolved upon the Powers, bound by their traditions
and their interests to maintain the integrity of Turkey,
to trace out for themselves a line of conduct.

"His Imperial Majesty's government, in accord with
that of her Britannic Majesty, thought the situation too
menacing not to be narrowly watched; and the French
and English squadrons speedily received orders to
anchor in Besika Bay; where they arrived, in the middle
of the month of June.

"This measure, one entirely of precaution, had no
character of hostility towards Russia. It was imperiously
called for by the gravity of the circumstances,
and amply justified by the preparations for war which
for several months past had been making in Bessarabia
and the harbour of Sebastopol.

"The motive for the rupture hetween the Cabinet of
St. Petersburg and the Porte had, so to speak, disappeared.
The quiestion which might have been raised on
the sudden at Constantinople, was that of the very
existence of the Ottoman empire; and his Imperial
Majesty's government will never admit such vast
interests to be mooted ('se trouver en jeu') without
instantly claiming that share of influence and action
which properly belongs to its power and its rank in the
world. To the presence of a Russian army upon the
land frontier of Turkey, the French government had
the right and the duty to reply by the presence of its
naval forces at Besika, in a bay freely open to the ships
of all nations, and situated without those limits which
treaties prohibit the passing in the time of peace.

"For the rest, the Russian government was soon
about to take upon itself to explain the necessity for the
movement of the two squadrons. For on the 31st of
May, when it was impossible to know at St. Petersburg,
where the news only arrived on the 17th of June, the
resolution that might be adopted by France and
England, Count Nesselrode sent to the Porto, in the
form of a letter to Redschid Pasha, a final ultimatum,
with a brief delay, and which contained a very clearly–
expressed threat of an approaching occupation of the
Danubian Principalities.

"When this decision had been come to with a
solemnity which no longer permitted a government
jealous of its dignity to modify it—when, by a circular
dated June 11, his Majesty the Emperor Nicholas caused
his resolution to be announced to Europe, as if to render
its execution more irrevocalile—our squadron was yet
at Salamis, and that of England had not left the port of
Malta.

"This simple comparison of dates suffices, sir, to
show from what quarter proceeded that initiative now
sought to be denied, while the responsibility of it is
thrown upon France and England: it is also sufficient
to prove that between the communication made to Paris
and London of the proposition made directly to
Constantinople by Count Nesselrode, and the rejection of
that ultimatum, time was materially wanting for the
governments of his Imperial Majesty and her Britannic
Majesty to exercise their influence at Constantinople one
way or the other. No, sir, I say it with all the force of
conviction, the French government in this grave debate
has nothing to reproach itself with: it repudiates from
the depths of its conscience no less than before Europe
the responsibility imputed to it; and, strong in its
moderation, appeals in its turn, without fear, to the
judgment of the cabinets. Setting aside the so different
objects of the two demonstrations, there was perhaps a
sort of analogy between the respective situations when
the Russian army was on the left bank of the Pruth,
and the English and French fleets cast their anchors at
Besika. The analogy has disappeared since the passage
of the river, which forms the limits of the Russian and
the Ottoman empires. Count Nesselrode seems to admit
this when he supposes the squadron to be already within
sight of Constantinople itself, and represents the military
position taken up by the Russian troops on the banks of
the Danube as a necessary compensation for what he
calls our 'maritime occupation.'

"The English and French forces do not by their
presence outside the Dardanelles infringe existing treaties.
The occupation of Wallachia and Moldavia, on the
contrary, constitutes a manifest violation of those treaties."

It appears, from replies made by our ministers to
questions put to them in Parliament, that an answer by
our government, similar in tenor to that of France, has
been sent to St. Petersburg.

It is reported that the Emperor of Russia has agreed
to take into consideration the propositions lately made
by the Western Powers with the consent of Turkey.
What these propositions are, remains unknown, nor is
anything known with certainty as to their reception. In
the meantime, it is stated that Russia continues to pour
troops into the Turkish provinces, as if with the view of
a permanent occupation; and that the French and
English fleets remain in Besika Bay.

Some agitation has been created in Paris by the
alleged discovery of a conspiracy against the life of the
Emperor and Empress. As they were going to the
Opera Comique, on the 5th ult., the police observed a
group of men whose vehement manner of applauding
looked suspicious. On their watching narrowly, the
hilt of a dagger was seen in the breast of one man, and
the police arrested the whole group. A circular from
the police reported the arrest next morning, loosely
estimated the number at "ten or twelve," and declared
them to be "members of the old societies."

The news from China is of a most striking character.
The great rebellion continues to make progress, and it
appears that the rebels are Christians. Sir George
Bonham has visited their army near Nankin, and the
following details are given on his authority:—The
insurgents are Christians of the Protestant form of
worship, and anti–idolators of the strictest order. They
acknowledge but one God, the Heavenly Father, the
All–wise, All–powerful, and Omnipresent Creator of the
world; with him, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind;
and also the Holy Spirit, as the last of the Three
Persons of the Trinity. Their chief on earth is a
person known as "Tae–ping–wang, the Prince of Peace,"
to whom a kind of divine origin and mission is ascribed.
Far, however, from claiming adoration, he forbids in
an edict the application to himself of the terms
"Supreme," "Holy," and others, hitherto constantly
assumed by the Emperors of China, but which he
declines receiving, on the ground that they are due to
God alone. Tlieir moral code the insurgents call the
"Heavenly Rules;" which on examination proved to
be the Ten Commandments. The observance of these
is strictly enforced by the leaders of the movement,
chiefly Kwang–tung and Kwang–se men; who are not
merely formal professors of a religious system, but
practical and spiritual Christians, deeply influenced by
the belief that God is always with them. The hardships
they have suffered, and the dangers they have
incurred, are punishments and trials of their Heavenly
Father; the successes they have achieved are instances
of His grace. In conversation they constantly recur to
that special attention of the Almighty, of which they
believe themselves to be the objects. With proud
humility and gratitude they point back to the fact, that
at the beginning of their enterprise some four years
ago, they numbered but 100 or 200; and that, except
for the direct help of their Heavenly Father, they
never could have done what they have done. "They,"
said one, speaking of the Imperialists, "spread all kind
of lies about us. They say we employ magical arts.
The only kind of magic we have used is prayer to
God. In Kwang–se, when we occupied Yung Gnan,
we were sorely pressed; there were then only some
2000 or 3000 of us. We were beset on all sides by
much greater numbers; we had no powder left, and
our provisions were all gone; but our Heavenly Father
came down and showed us the way to break aut. So
we put our wives and children in the middle, and not