Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-02 00:00:00

A HAPPY NEW YEAR !

This is a greeting that we offer to our readers,
first of all, in their individual capacity. As our
friends and patrons, we gratefully hail them, on
this our entrance upon another of the appointed
rounds of time, with the good, old. English saluta-
tion of—A HAPPY NEW YEAR. Following so
closely-, as the occasion does, upon that moi.e
sacred opportunity, which throughout Christen-
dom is, so universally appreciated as the "hallowed
time ;" being, in fact, the common counterpart to
that joyous congratulation of A MERRY CHRIST-
MAS; it is a greeting aptly expressing and en-
forcing the feeling of good-will which gives its
charm to the season, and one, therefore, most
intimately affecting the interests and happiness
of 'society—which not only has a pleasing signi-
ficance in itself, but is calculated to exert a bene-
ficial influence among mankind. •
But in the next place, our salutation is to be
taken as possessing a more general meaning, and
a more universal range of application. As public
journalists, we have to do with society in its col-
lective, rather than its individual characteristics.
It is with the public affairs of the nation, rather

r ;j ! ~

than the private concerns of those who constitute-
it, tliii—w—e-liave to To. Not-that
one can always OterloOk 'the individual in the
tease And,_ certainly, there must needs bv.-_se.
parate sympathies, even where there is a national
itrreement in design or " A nation's
character," it has been well observed, "is theS;am
of its splendid deals : they constitute one common
patrimony; the "nation's inheritance : they awe
foreign powers—they arouse and animate our own.
people."

it is not, however, into the past that.we would
now wander. We refer to the present; and look
forward to the fnture—the present, as the:
threshold of another New Year ; the future; in
the prospect with which the circumstances of the
time present us. The past year, it is true, has
had much. to. 'de in the constitution Of these cir-
cumstances. Look at it in one of its more pro--
minent features as to us a year of peace ; or, in
another; as one of prosperity. It is the Coniainid
influences of these happy properties of the year
that has just closed upon us, that make the pro-
mises of that on which we are now entering so
hopeful and so encouraging. And for this, we
verily believe; the country is mainly indebted to
there having been a Conservative Government
during full one-half of the past year—and that
the most difficult, the most anxious, and the most
eventful half. The Derby Ministry carefully kept
us out of all foreign entanglements, and thereby
preserv=ed to us the blessings of peace, at tie-
same time that they so directed the interne'
economy of the country, as to advance its mateitia
progress, and promote its general prosperity;
But l'Or this, we might have been in no situation
to offer congratulations on a HAPPY NEW YEAp..
And if there be one thing more than another
which infuses confidence into such congratula-
tions, it is the national consciousness, that not
only is the present party-coloured and -unstable
Ministry, vigilantly watched by a strong and
tive
vow emergencyo
ni t tahy a Opposition.tar nf
this
i may arise,—
alars
inC
knows anylsela that out o
h.
ment, but patriotic
body,uawho
united
h
Govern-
ments
can at once be formed, with Lord Derby, as
before;: at its 'head; on which the country may,
confidently and happily rely for the safety of its
most valued institutions, and the security of its
highest interests. As a London contemporary,
reviewing the 'past year, truly says, " it is at
home, -after all, that we find the best reason
for content. Never did the people of Eng 7
land present a more united front to meet
any -danger that may threaten. All clows
are satisfied. The attempt to sow discoid
between rich and poor has signally failed.
Even the Papal agitation, got up to influence a
weak Ministry, is harmless. Not in England
only, but in Ireland, the common sense of all but
the most bigoted and ignorant Romanists revolts.
against the debaSing theories of the Ultramon--
tanists ; and the voice of reason protests against
the absurdity of the cry which is raised by Irish
Liberals to stifle the freedom of Italy. In other
respects there is much to be thankful for. Crime
is diminishing.
_Trade is flourishing. Money is
plentiful. The revenue is increasing. We have-
recovered from the crisis, and we have not yet for-
gotten its warnings." Such, then, are the grounds
on which so confidently to rest one's hope of
realising the seasonable salutation .of a HAPPY
NEW YEAR. May nothing arise to disappoint it !
But it is in a Conservative policy that, under
Providence, the nation must put its trust, if the
national happiness is to be fully secured, and the
national progress rightly directed ; and it is on
this account that, if the prospects with which we
have entered on the year 1860 are not to 'be
blighted, we must look forward to the speedy
advent of another Conservative Administration--
one liberal and enlightened in its Constitutional
principles, and honest and uncompromising in
maintaining them.
_

Paites, and the
Papacy—a
advisable
suppose, even,
all
eFuosnierthseettlseautiesufatctoifonthoef
matter,it
_.s
that the, out-and-out defenders of the
past and present
political aspect should bring
smamtlegrßeolmasasn thcaatnhozsn—yinwiotusld
them.. seh-es down
from mere theories and fancies, and place them-
selves with the rest of the world face to face with
o continental
the circumstances of the position.
In the . first place, the solution offered. in the
new to Europe..
Fouristatesmen ; one of
yedra ago, something of the same sort was.
recentinder tri:emph noticelet
fis not entirely
the prominent actors in recent events being - its
virtual a, uthor and its principal advocate. The
plan put- forth through Count akvouß, in 1856,
was .so far like the present one, that it bore
in it the same main feature—namely, the pre-
servation of the Pope's independent political status-
along with the curtailmeht of his territory. The -
Pope, therefore, as 3T —Sovereinm Lord
as some one has chosen to put it—of Rome
proper, is not a mere vision conjured up before-
the daring fancy of a French statesman, but a,
well-known practical mode of rescuing an incom-
petent government from difficulties hitherto.
found insuperable. .

Secondly, our theorists are apt to forget that
theran is concerningitself to effect, is not originated in the interests
of Pius ix.'s discontented subjects,
arffgeecmt,ent which Europe
but out of
consideration of the ruler's own difficulties, with
a view of rescuing him from a dangerous position
which threatens him with universal confusion
and the loss of everything, and of confirming him in:
the retention of just that which he says is essential
to the safe administration of his spiritual govern—
ment. Taking an ideal view of his ecclesiastical'
character and its accidents, he declares that he can-

not be a subject. Unfortunately, the actual cir—
cumstances of his position very evidently, make-
apparent that practically he cannot remain a,
Sovereign. It is in his interests, therefore, that-
some modification should, if possible, be intro- -
duced into the conditions of his temporal rule,.
which shall reconcile his necessity as Pope, with_
his Weakness, and incompetence, and danger, as.
temporal ruler. There are, in short, two con-
ditions to be met, as affecting him rather than his;
subjects : the one negative, the other positive. He
cannot establish political stability and contentment
among his subjects; it is a necessity of his char;