The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-03-29 00:00:00

611 e D-gitg 6itua.

THURSD..4Y, 31-ARH 29, 1860.

THE DAY'S NEWS.

In the Iloue of Commiins yesterday, on the
order of-the day, for going into committee on the
Church-rates Abolition Bill, Mr. gewdegate
moved his amendment to consider in committee
the p*roptietyfof establishing, in lieu of church-
rates, a charge on all hereditaments. Mr. Cross
seconded the aMendment, Lord ;.J.„, Manners
opposed
_the amendment ; he 'wished the bill to
go up to the Lords, there to meet its legitimate
fate. Mr. Walter said. that there were only two
alternatives possible—One the repeal of the deci-
sion of the House or Lords in thel3raintieC case,
the, other the total abolition of the tax'. ,Ho did
not believe the first to be' possible; and as he did

not-see the use of continuing to agitate the ques-
tion,' heVotild oppose the amendment. He was
quite 'prepared to rely on the voluntary system

for the maintenancew/of ecclesiastical fabrics.
After ,a lengt:hened,diseuesion,.the sHouse divided
the .finifindinent, which was negatived by 222
to 49; majority, 173. The House then went into
committee on the bill. Some amendments, of

•
which notice had been given, were then with-
drawn. The bill passed through contrnitteeamid
loSd cheers. The 'House west into Committee of
Stipply, when certain votes were taken on account
of, the army estimates.. ()tithe motion fOr going
into committee on the Income-tax Bill, Colonel
Dunne Wished to have an opportunity of moving
that the tax in Ireland be . reduced to 9d. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer said that that could
be: done, on, the report. The bill then pasSed
through committee.
We have. three , days' later news from New
York, .by •the North American at Queenstown ;
but it• is' not important: 'They have hanged two
more of the Harper's Ferry conspirators.,, From.
Mexico the accounts are as warlike as before.
Late intelligence from Switzerland informs us
that the popular excitement on the subject of the
French aggression was spreading, and increasing
in intensity. It was -being demanded ,of the
Federal Government, that the Imperial aggressor
should be resisted by fOrce; and a virtual Mobi-
lisation of the Federal Militia has been proposed
in !the Grand Council of. the Swiss Confederation.
SWitzerland may not 'obtain :the'SittArial'aid of
any of the Great Powers ; but she mast have the
warm .'sympathy Of them all,—France; of 'course,

excepted.
There is no certain intelligence yet as to thc
evacuation of Rome by the French troops ; but.
the .prevaleht *opinion appears to be, that i ist
fully resolved upon, and will not now be much
longer delayed. When it has taken place, it is
said that-Rothe will 'be' protected by the 'Ponti-
fical troops, such as they are, and Neapolitan'
forces will be, authorised ,to enter, the Marches.
Ode wouldthinkit was an inopportunernement,
for the withdrawal of Such protection,—only that.
the Pontifical Government have been' getting dis-.
trustful. of-a reliance tipon,it, in the altered state
_of feeling between the French Emperorand the
Sctvereign Pontiff, and the altered circumstances-:
altogether in which they are respectivelyplaced.,
The:"Anti-Papal, demonStrations that are taking.
plade at Rome would seem to require a strength-
ening, iather than awithdrawal of military pro-
ieetion ; only the Pope' and his.Couneil, no doubt,/
feel it to be essential that such protection should
be in all respects, and at all times, , The-
rumour that General Lamoriciere has left Paris
for Rome, to take the chief cdmmand of_ the
'Pope's troops, is most important, at' such a crisis,
if true. .
Th© admission of the Times of yesterday, that
" the ratification .of the commercial treaty would
never have taken place if the aggression of
France. had: been foreseen," is very 'significant,
It evidently, being interpreted, means, that
_Englapd7—or,:ratlacr her Coalition Ministry-has`
been taken in. It clearly implies this, and a'.
great deal more. One can scarcely! suppose it
__possible; indeed, that such a treaty would for a
moment have been entertained, had our Govern-
ment had their _eyes open to ascertain what was
in the wind.

•
l•
The Morning Herd-let'thinks that the change
that has taken place in 'our attitude towards
France will not affect-, the treaty very much.
" There may lie aofew persons who were 'hot' per
sulided of its incalculable mischief, and who may
perhaps be convinced. by the last phase of the
alliance ; but the majority, of the public have long
regarded it as the greatest state blunder of the
age, and a fresh illustration can but make them
more intimately acquainted with its actual and'
possible conseqaences. ..All that call be done is to
take care that Ministers :are, not, guilty of anyr
unprincipled co*liation or friendly meaction for
the sake of gaining an advantage which. either
the letter of the ireatY or the peduliat inclination
of. the French GoVernment does' not accord us."
This may be.all very true. But suppose that not
only our attitude towards France is changed, but
our relations with that country become reversed,
what then ? -rho alliance 'is virtually at an end
already ; and We have all seen how precious little
store the Eniperor sets, by treaties. There is not,
'then, it is to befeared, much chance of this treaty
being worked out by France, with any vise
giving England even her due under its provisions.
The journal inclines towards that view
of. the treaty which is conveyed in the last
sentence 'of out preceding paragraph. Whatever ,
the French Emperor, it is. observed, "leaves in
'the dark or keeps •in the background, whatever
he does not specify or distinctly express, we, may
be sure will be. against. us. Every figure in the
treaty will be preserved to the rigour. Is' it not
a .bargain ? We have made it and we are
answerable for it. So let not the fond
. .
com-
mercial public dream that there is any gain in
the generalities of this document. ' Not exceed-.
ing ' never be read 'less.' What the
Emperor is not bound .to give, that will he not

give. Should the treaty be found to work ever
so injuriously to British interests, and should
whole classes find themselves as much at fault as
the myriads whom French bigotry once drove
from her shores, there will be no escape. We
have bound ourselves as much as Napoleon's own
subjects, and to an Emperor who can interpret a
treaty as well as a constitution." Just so.. And
the worst of it is, that they who have negotiated
and prepared the bond, are just those who are
now complaining 'that Napoleon has duped and
deceived them !

The only too long-delayed aoknoWledgment of
Ministers to Parliament and the country, of their:
discovery of the perfidious character of the French
Emperor, appears not unnaturally to have pro-
duced a most unfavourable effect upon the Funds.
The description of Lord Johrtßusscll's declaration,
in the City Article of the Daily News, as a "plain
intimation to France that a persistence in her
policy of aggression will not merely shatter the
Anglo-French alliance, but lead to a combination
between:England and other. Powers in Clefenoeiof
existing treaties," may be taken, no "doubt,' as a
pretty correct indication of the meaning that has
been put upon it on 'Change,—" where," it is
added, "it elicited general 'approval to-day, but
caused an immediate alarm in the stook-market."
No wonder, indeed, that such should be its effect ;
for not only have high hopes, under Ministerial
representations, been built upon that ill-starred
alliance, but the shattering of it, under such cir-
cumstances, may well excite alarm for the peace
of EirOpe,—More particularly, should. there now
be any such combination as that suggested.
The Herald says of the Reform Bill, that if it
has not , yet, . like Lord John Russell's former
Bill, been withdrawn., "it is not because it
has exited any interest in the House or in the
country. We are certain," continues our con-
temporary, " that if the Commons said what
they really think, there are very few members of
the house who did not feel.sorely disappointed
.by the failure of the count-out the other night.
No legislative measure affecting the interests of
every class in the community has ever been
received .with such universal apathy. It really
seems as if it were doomed to perish. It is in the
world, but not of it. No one cares a single rush
whether it passes its second reading or not before
the Easter holidays." But then appear-
ances must be kept up, and engagements'
must not be quite set at nought. No one- really
values. the measure,—except the advanced Radi-
cal, who takes it for as much as it is worth as an
instalment. A Radical orator at a Reform meet-
ing at 'Manchester, 'the day before yesterday,
thus alluded to it He hardly knew, how to
speak of this Reform .Bill; for worth,.for
for principle, for honesty of appearance, it was
the most miserable bantling that ever issued
from a miserable' progenitor. He could compare
it to nothing but those things which had a sort
of resemblance without having any substance.
It was literally the smallest thing that ever
microscopic vision was called upon to gaze at.
He- had 'nothing .to give to it but his most utter
undisguised contempt." Still they will receive
it, they deClare, as an advance in the democratic
direction they are going,—as a means, such as it
is, to their revolutionary ends.

THE state of Europe has on two successive occa-
oniss become unsettled under English Whig-
Liberal Administrations. This is a ,great,
pregnant fact. Had Lord DERBY'S Ministry not
been upset by party intrigue in 1833, we are of
those who remain thoroughly persuaded that
England would never have joined with France in
going to war with Ilussia,—one of the most
suicidal acts, it is .now all but universally
acknowledged,' of which a country circumstanced
as this is could well have been guilty,—a war
which not only cost us many millions of money,
and an enormous sacrifice of human life,' but
hits lost us the respect and gained us the dis-
trust, of those to whom we may yet have to
look in a day of necessity, when our ally in that