On the 2d March the Russian Prince, attired in the plainest manner without a decoration of any kind, had an interview with the Grand Vizier, and was by him referred to Fuad Effendi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Fuad Effendi had, however, uniformly distinguished himself by his determined opposition to the advances of Russia: Prince Menschikoff, therefore, haughtily declined to hold communication with him. As was expected, Fuad sent in his resignation, and great was the consequent delight experienced at the Russian embassy. Nor was that satisfaction altogether unfounded, for Fuad Effendi was undoubtedly one of the ablest men in Turkey. He was succeeded by Rifaat Pacha, a man of considerable talent, but by no means competent to cope with the daring policy of the Czar. Prince Menschikoff, indeed, now regarded the game as in his own hands, for he was provided with an autograph letter from the Czar, authorizing him to treat as a personal insult to Nicholas himself, any hesitation on the part of the Sultan or his advisers to accept the propositions submitted by him. It is evident enough that Russia was at this time ill-informed as to the feeling both of England and France on the subject of the “Eastern question,” or she would hardly have ventured to commit herself so far as she did in the demands addressed to Rifaat Pacha by Prince Menschikoff, on the 19th April, 1853, of which the following is an abstract: “1. A definite firman securing to the Greek Church the custody of the key of the Church of Bethlehem; of the silver star pertaining to the altar of the Nativity; of the grotto of Gethsemane (with the admission of the Latin priests thereto for the celebration of their rites); the joint possession by the Greeks and the Latins of the gardens of Bethlehem. “2. An immediate order on the part of the government for the thorough repair of the cupola of the temple of the Holy Sepulchre to the satisfaction of the Greek Patriarch. “3. A guarantee for the maintenance of the privileges of the Greek Church in the East, and of those sanctuaries already in the exclusive possession of that Church, or shared by it with others.” The note containing these demands, and some others of minor importance, was couched in rather menacing if not insolent language, while the reply of the Porte was firm, temperate and dignified; expressive of its readiness to do all that could be fairly demanded of it, and concluding with a declaration of its inability to accede to such violation of its independence and national rights as was implied in the Russian note; appealing at the same time to the emperor’s own sense of justice and honor.