our dear subjects will come to our aid. We invite them
to do so; commanding them to take at the same time
the oath of fidelity both to us and to our heir, his
Imperial Highness the Cesarevitch Grand Duke
Nicholas Alexandrovitch.

"Given at St. Petersburg, the 18th day of the month
of February [2d March] of the year of grace 1855, and
the first year of our reign.  ALEXANDER."

The young Emperor received the Diplomatic Body on
the 7th and delivered to them an address containing
some remarkable expressions.

"I am persuaded, gentlemen, that all your courts feel
sincere sorrow at the misfortune which has befallen us;
I have already received proofs of it from all sides: they
have greatly moved me, and I stated yesterday to the
Ministers of Prussia and Austria how much I
appreciated them. I solemnly declare here before you,
gentlemen, that I remain faithful to all the sentiments
of my father, and that I will persevere in the line of
political principles which served as a rule to my uncle
the Emperor Alexander, and to my father. These
principles are those of the Holy Alliance. But, if that
alliance no longer exists it is certainly not the fault of
my father. His intentions were always upright and
loyal; and if recently they were misunderstood by some
persons, I do not doubt that God and history will do
him justice. I am ready to contribute to a good
understanding, on the conditions which he accepted. Like
him, I desire peace, and wish to see the evils of
war terminated: but if the conferences which are
about to open at Vienna do not lead to a result
honourable for us, then, gentlemen, at the head of my
faithful Russia, I will combat, with the whole nation,
and I will perish sooner than yield. As to my personal
sentiments for your Sovereign [here the Emperor
addressed Baron de Werther, Minister of Prussia] they
have not varied: I have never doubted the fraternal
affection and friendship which his Majesty the King
always had for my father, and I told you yesterday how
grateful I am to him for it. I am deeply sensible of the
kind words which the Emperor has caused to be
transmitted to me on this occasion. [This was addressed
to Count Esterhazy, Minister of Austria.] His Majesty
cannot doubt the sincere affection which my father
entertained for him at an epoch which he himself has
recalled by the order of the day addressed to his army.
Be kind enough, gentlemen, to communicate my words
to your respective courts."

Count Nesselrode has issued, under date March 10, a
circular to the ministers of Russia at foreign courts, to
inform them of the intentions of the Emperor. Count
Nesselrode states that the Emperor, "in a childlike
spirit of piety, accepts as his heritage two obligations
equally sacred;" to use all his might for the defence of
Russia, and to devote himself to the completion of that
work of peace the bases of which were sanctioned by
the Emperor Nicholas. In order that the intentions of
his father may be fulfilled, the Emperor Alexander has
renewed the instructions of the Russian plenipotentiary
at Vienna. Those intentions are thus defined—

"To restore to Russia and Europe the blessings of
peace. To confirm the freedom of worship and the
welfare of the Christian peoples of the East, without
distinction of rite. To place the immunities of the
Principalities under a collective guarantee. To secure
the free navigation of the Danube in favour of the
trade of all nations. To put an end to the rivalries of
the Great Powers respecting the East, in such a manner
as to preclude the return ot new complications. Finally,
to come to an understanding with the Great Powers
respecting the revision of the treaties by which they
have recognised the principle of closing the Dardanelles
and the Bosphorus, and in this way to arrive at an
honourable settlement."

The conferences at Vienna have been proceeding
actively. The Russian Minister, had agreed to the first
two of the points proposed by the Allies as the basis of a
negotiation for peace. But the most important point,
the adoption of measures to put an end to Russian
preponderance in the Black Sea, had not been entered
upon.

NARRATIVE OF LITERATURE AND ART.

Hardly a single book of mark has appeared
during the past month. The leading publications have
been romances. From Mr. Kingsley we have an
Elizabethan fiction called Westward Ho; from Miss
Jewsbury, Constance Herbert; from a third novelist,
Thorney Hall; from a fourth, The Wife's Trials; from
Sam Slick, Nature and Human Nature; and the author
of " Mary Barton " has published North and South.
The war supplies some few volumes as usual. Mr.
Burckhardt Barker gives us an Historical Account of
the Crimea; Mr. George Fowler a History of the War;
a lady who has long resided in the Crimea, and whom
this war expelled, has briefly but intelligently described
its Towns and Inhabitants; a fourth book on the same
subject, translated from the journal of a Prussian
Professor and botanist, is called The Crimea and Odessa;
and two sketches by Captain Biddulph have appeared,
with letterpress explanations, illustrating the Assault of
Sevastopol. Some serials, too, are of course continued.
Mr. Bell adds the third volume of Chaucer to his
Annotated Edition of the English Poets; the twelfth volume
of Mr. Hughes's edition and continuation of Hume and
Smollett is published; Mr. Bohn adds a volume of Addison,
a volume of Professor Smyth's Lectures on Modern
History, the Exemplary Novels of Cervantes, and a
volume of Philip de Comines, to his various Libraries;
Mr. Bentley adds to his series the completion of Mr.
Jesse's England Under the Stuarts; and Sir W. Hamilton
issues the sixth volume of his edition of Dugald Stuart's
Works. But never was the list so scanty of miscellaneous
books of interest. Mr. Wrightson publishes a History
of Modern Italy. Mr. Stirling reproduces from his
larger work on the Spanish painters his account, with
several additions, of Velasquez and his Works. A boy's
book of adventures, from the German of Garstaecker,
Frank Wildman, has been translated by Mr. Lascelles
Wraxall. Doctor Davy has put together, under the
title of The Angler and his Friend, a series of piscatory
colloquies and excursions. The Rev. R. C. Singleton
has begun a translation into English rhythm of the
Works of Virgil. An American writer has published
here, a book upon southern life and peculiarities,
called Our World, or the Democrat's Rule. On the other
hand, Mr. Thomas Ryle, in a volume of indignant
criticism questions altogether the value of the democrat's
rule, that is, of American Liberty and Government.
Mr. Samuel Bailey writes a first series of
Letters on the Philosophy of the Human Mind. Dr.
Forbes Royle discusses, in a clear practical way, the
Fibrous Plants of India. Mr. Wathen describes the
Golden Colony, giving that name to Victoria in 1854.
The Rev. J. Taylor publishes an elaborate volume on
the True Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. Mr.
Montagu Lyon Phillips discusses Worlds Beyond
the Earth. Mr. W. A. Newman writes a Life of
John Montagu, intended to illustrate his judicial
career, and some recent public affairs, at the Cape
of Good Hope. Mr. Oxenford translates Hellas, a
volume of criticism on the Greeks, from the German of
Friedrich Jacobs. Sir George Grey describes the
ancient traditional history of the New Zealand race in a
volume on Polynesian Mythology. From Mrs. West we
receive a volume of Frescoes and Sketches from Memory.
Miss Goldsmid translates from the German of Philippsohn,
the Development of the Religious Idea in Judaism,
Christianity , and Mohamedanism. Mr. Mayor
illustrates Cambridge in the Seventeenth Century, by
reproducing, with enthusiastic notes, contemporary lives
of Nicholas Ferrar by his brother John and by Doctor
Jebb. And finally (for thus early this month's list
comes to its close), we receive from Mr. Buckingham the
first and second volumes of his Autobiography.