23 DECEMBER 1854, Page 1

The response which the King of Prussia makes to the

invitation of the Allied Powers, to subscribe the treaty of the 2d December and join in the alliance, is a mission intrusted to a special envoy; who will explain, it is said, to the Governments of France and England, the reasons why Prussia cannot accept the stipulations of the treaty, and will offer new propositions which she proposes to substitute. That the Allied Powers will not suffer Prussia to stay their progress with new negotiations, we might infer from the whole course of their own conduct, and particularly from the manner in which the invitation has been conveyed to Prussia. It is rather remarkable. Prussia was not invited to join in the treaty until after the exchange of ratifications had absolutely bound the three parties in a firm compact. Mystification is donu- nant in Berlin, or even there it would be known that no Baron lisedom on a special mission—no share in caasting-trade, thrown open by the Second Chantber---wonld stop the Three Powers in those active preparations which the state of the Continent now renders peremptorily necessary. They continue ; and the compli- ment of the order of St..Stephen from the Emperor Francis Joseph to the Emperor Napoleon, subsequently to the ratification of the treaty, is a sign that the union is more than diplomatic. Russia is as little delaying her active measures as the Allies are. From direct sources of information on which we can rely, as well as from the public statements, we are aware that Russia is strengthening herself against attack wherever attack is supposed to be contemplated; is making tight against the returning storm. -The Allies must do the same ; and even in "Germany" the sense

• of the vital necessity has penetrated. Prussia runs her own risk in dallying, at such a time, with "special envoys."