Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-11 00:00:00

TIMBER, DEALS, &c.

Messrs. Forsyth, Bell, and Co., of Quebec, in their
Annual Prices Current, dated 23rd December, 1859,
say :—The business of the past season has been very
variable, timber opening at comparatively low prices,
and becoming better in July and August from the anti-
cipation of a large tonnage which however was not
verified. This added to the markets in England being
by no means remunerative caused a great dulness in
October and November, and the markets closed heavily
for White 'Pine. So many vessels having been put
bad( in comecinence of biisterons weather will
materially strengthen prices in England and we
look for a healthy feeling them between this and

THE DAY'S NEWS.

From France and. Italy there are still too many '
signs of warlike complications. The appoint-
ment of General M'Mahon to the command of
the French army in Northern Italy, numbering
fifty thousand men, and the rumour that Marshal
Canrobert is to be sent to Rome as ambassador
And commander-in-chief of the French troops
there, .are looked upon as indications of being pre-
pared for the worst. And, further, the imme-
diately expected departure of the Papal Nuncio
from Paris, and of the Duke de Grammont from
Rome, although the former is said to be merely
on. leave of absence, and the latter to be removed
in consequence of his services being required in
Constantinople, are in any .7iew very significant
events. In. Rome it is now believed, in poli-
tical circles, that war is _ inevitable. The
Papal troops, it .is expected, reinforced. by Austrian
offieers and soldiers, will enter the Legations, in
whiCh case it is naturally supposed that the King
of Sardinia will rend an army to the aid of the
nomegnese. Similar anticipations seemed to be
entertained by the King of Naples ; and accord-
ingly he is said to be taking .aetive steps for
greatly increasing .his army.
'By a later telegrem from Paris, it will he seen
that Marshal Canrobert is- going to 'Rome, not as
successor to the Dike de Grammont, but for the
purpose „of carrying :to the Papal government
certain propbsitions, which if not accepted by the
Pope, will be followed by an order from Paris_ for
the evacuation of Rome by the Frenek troops—a
step, the etinseqUences of which might easily be
predicted. :It is expected that, if these French!
proposals are rejected by the Sovereign Pontiffr-
and the army of occupation should leave his
capital, it will be moved into Central Italy, to
reinforce the !body of troops already stationed'
there, '

The manner itt which the process of recruiting
for the Papal army is now being carried on, in
various quarters, as we have already had occasion
to remark, seems likely to entail serious conse-
queues. The conduct of the Cabinet of Vienna_
appears especially objectionable, At that capital
an Austrian General diieets the operations of the
Papal recruiting service, and the elite of their
veteran troops, disbanded on account of the re-
duction of their own army, are transferred into
the army of the Pope. To such proceedings on
the part of Austria the term " disloyal" has been
applied ; and it is urged in certain quarters that
she thereby frees France from the engagements
entered into at Villafranca and Zurich. The
dismissal of Count Walewski is said to have pro-
duced a great impreSsion at Vienna.
The laudable promptitude shewn by the people
of this country in establishing -Volunteer Corps,
the very salutary effect of the movement upon
the rest of Europe, and the necessity for such
organisations now becoming a, permanent institu-
tion among us, were very clearly and conclusively
set forth by the Earl of Clarendon, at a meeting
at Watford, on Monday - evening. He very
opportunely urged, that although the Emperor
Napoleon might not desire war with England,
yet in the event of his death there is no knowing
whether or not the next Government of France
would continue to entertain the same friendly
sentiments. ;His Lordship called attention to
the fact that it was now the well-known
determination
,of Louis Napoleon that France
should never be without the means of trans-
porting at Vast fifty thousand men to any place
at a given time, and, therefore, that, in the event
of a declaration of war against this country, a
decisive blow might be struck at us within forty-
pight hours----a period so brief that any rising of

the people to meet it world be but brave men
rushing to destruction
.; unless beforehand well
prepared, and properly organised and equipped
by such a volunteer movement as the present.
His lordship concluded his patriotic a ddress by
urging that no efforts should be spared in com-
pleting and perfecting the Volunteer Corps which
are as yet only in their infancy.

The Times published yesterday an interesting
letter from Mr. Benjamin Scott, Chamberlain of
London, in which he claims for England the prior
discovery of the new inferior planet, the honour
of which was supposed to belong to France. Most
of our readers are doubtless aware that it is to
M. Leverrier the world owes that wonderful
illustration of the heights that may be scaled by
the human mind,---the prediction of the existence
of a planet that had never been beheld by any
mortal eye, and which was subsequently searched
for and found, and is now known as the planet
Neptune. M. Leverrier, -however-, made-a- second
prediction of a similar . kind', which ,has also
been found correct, and it now turns out that
such a body had been observed long before
the great French astronomer arrived at the corl-
viction of its probable existence. The new
planet is said to have been seen by a Mr. Loft, an
Englishman, so long ago as 1818, and is described
in a work published by the celebrated Dr. Dick,
in 1837, and.again by Mr. B. Scott, about Mid-
summer, 1847. A Dr. Lesearbault observed it
only last Spring, so that Mr. Scott would seem
to have made good the right of England to the
honour of the first observation. We understand
that the newly discovered planet performs its
revolaiion round the sun in nineteen days and
seventeen hours—rather a short year, as we
would think.

The community of Liverpool does not now re-
quire to be told of the benefits conferred on a
numerous class of the youth belonging to the
port, through the judicious liberality of those
who originated and have successfully carried out
the system of education and nautical training
afforded by the rules established on board the
frigate Conway. Although fully aware of the
advantages referred to, and warmly appreciating
the efforts made, the general public can hardly
be conversant with all the exertions put forth by
the committee for the purpose of elevating the
status and perfecting the system of tuition followed
in the institution—for it is now recognised as one of
the educational institutions of Liverpool. On this
account we refer with pleasure to a corres-
pondence between Mr. James Beazley, the chair-
man of the committee of management, and his
Grace the Duke of Somerset, First Lord of the
Admiralty, relative to a well expressed wish on
the part of the ccmmittee for the establishment
of two naval cadetships as prizes among the
pupils of the 'Conway. That the application has
been so far unsuccessful, does not in any degree
impugn its merit, or detract from the value of the
institution itself. To the value and importance
of the establishment, the Times of yesterday, in a
leader on the subject of the correspondence
referred to, pays the following high, yet
well-deserved tribute. "So munificent have been
the local subscriptions in aid of this object that
the. School-frigate of the merchant navy appears
endowed upon the model of Sandhurst itself. A
certain number of boys, sons of deceased officers in
the merchant service, receive an education which
is entirely gratuitous ; others are maintained
upon terms only half covering the expenses
incurred for their benefit ; and it is hoped that in
the end, and on conditions more or less beneficial,
as many as 140 boys may find support or in-
struction on board the Conway. Of such an in-
, stitution it is impossible to speak otherwise than
in terms of praise. We cannot, of course, pronounce
on the actual success of the establishment at
this early period of its existence ; but as far as
we can judge, it appears to reflect much
honour on its promoters and supporters."
In terms 'equally Complimentary the "leading
journal "comments on the public benefits to be
derived from the successful working of this excel-
lent nautical school of training, and we congratu-
late the Chairman and Committee of Management
on the position which they have been able to
establish for the institution they represent, and
also for themselves in the eyes of the nation and
of the world.

AFTER the constant spur which is given to our
apprehensions by the air of mystery thrown over
all the modes .of official utterance by Continen-
tal Courts, and especially. the Court of Frande, it
is not an unpleasant contrast to turn to the frank
and unreserved ways of speech of the American
Government. This is the single virtue left to be
enjoyed in pre-eminence by the Anglo-Saxon
race ; plainness of speech and a disinclination for
the obscurer artifices of diplomacy. When
the American President speaks, it is not im-
possible that he may speak very arrogantly
or very childishly, or very insultingly, or very
imprudently. But there are no knots of wits
a tcwololeoctfeidn
teorriverretathtieonsm,easnsadgeeach a
with
s
doubtful"their
wiseacres
dozen
a s
fall every hour, according as this or that inter-
pretation happens to be in most currency or most
favour. 'Much to our satisfaction the Presiden-
tial chair is not any more than our own throne
set about with epigrams and apothegms and
dark sentences and other fireworks of speech.
We 'should not think war any the less probable
beCause of President BUCHANAN'S sententious
assurances, that—the Presidency is peace ! Nor
should we be necessarily impelled to give him
the character of transcendent mental power and
foresight by lofty insinuations that he alone of
mankind understood his epoch. We may con-
gratulate our cousins upon having inherited from
4 character which; at all events, renders it

natural to be, as our own English idiom has it,
" fair and above board."

We don't know that there is much difference-
between a Queen's speech and a President's
message, except in the matter of length. They
are equally free from the affectation of secresy
and the pretence of over-candour, and equally
careful to inform the world of many things the
world knew before. But it is not often that they
announce the inauguration 6f any novel line of
policy, or any unexpected national measures.
The fact is both the Sovereign of England and
the President of America, when they come forth
-in their° official character, as a sort of Heads of

Parliament, do so as mere spokesmen of their
country; and in reality do little more than regis-
ter the particular stage of progress which it has
achieved. The message is seldom more than a
mirror of the American mind, tinged with some
predominant phase of the moment.

It' was a cruel necessity fora President 13u-
CIIANAN, that his message should open so omi-
nously and on such an ugly subject as slavery.
To this necessity recent events compelled him-
tHoi.e'ica,kaeneatstakeoesnsiodeecraasbiolen dthigiliai;,ydionwian o tsitceiinsng
Con-
stitutional stitutional doctrine. He even characterises any
infringement of the old pro-slavery agreement
among the several States of the Union in Scrip-
tural language, as a loosing of the silver cord, and
a breaking of the golden bowl! He thinks
that the jeopardy into which the happiness and
lives of so many are thrown, by revolutionary
disturbances infinitely outweighs the oppression
and degradation of millions of black fellow-
creatures, and in fact reckons of nothing but of the

" danger to their cherished institutions." Nay,
he seems to be proud of the discomfiture of
anti-slavery principles, and congratulates the
Congress upon the legal decision which affirms a
slave to be the chattel of his owner.

It must be considered in any case a heavy
misfortune for America, that this one " cherished
institution" sets her very near the bottom
of the family of nations. Liberty, as a
principle, may be only fitting under cer-
tain circumstances, and for certain subjects;
but it is- at least clear that America disavows
anything but a very qualified and modified idea
of it. Louis NAPOLEON has a great deal to say
in excuse of an arbitrary and domestic policy ;
he pleads the unpleasant necessity of his Lam-
bessa and Cayenne. So may the Constitution of
America embrace and " cherish" the system of
human slavery on pleas of necessity ; but it in
quite impossible for the moralist to place
the oppressors of the East and the oppressors of'
the West on a different footing. They cannot, at
all events, reproach one another. There lives.
not a despot in the-world at 'whom America is.
justified in casting a stone.

This singular juxtaposition of an oppressive-.
system, and a strong national sentiment of free-
dom, would lead the moralist to conclude that the-
latter represents no moral principle, but is,.
after all, only the practical result of an en-
ergetic national selfishness which has gained
power enough to 'resist successfully the sel-
fishness of individual rulers and tyrants. In
the free States of Greece, in haughty re-
publican Rome, we see the same juxtaposi--
tion, the same union of the dead and the
living body. This strong sentiment of freedom,
then, which struggled so vigorously in the breasts
of Greek and Roman, and struggles now with
equal ardour in the breast of Englishman and
American, is perhaps after all not so much cs,
philanthropic or generous inspiration, as a mere-
manly instinct of regard for self-interest and
happiness. Otherwise how is it that the .American
feels so little sympathy for his oppressed negro.
brethren ? That he is not only content to
see them in their degradation and helplessness,
but that he employs every means, and even
makes laws, for the purpose of preventing their
emergence from it, or making themselves fit for free-
dom ? The mediaeval conqueror looked upon his
people as cattle, fit only to be subjects of oppres-
sion or sport for himself and his favourites. 'What
difference can be discerned between him and the
Ameriean legislator, who treats the negro as only
a chattel good for nothing but for the pr4fit he
brings in to his owner ?

THE LATEST NEWS.

jBY BRITISH AND IRISH KAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.]

FRANCE.

PARIS, Jan. 9.

In' the month of August last, when the Confer—
ence of Zurich threatened to be dissolved, the
English Cabinet proposed to the French Govern-
ment to come to a special agreement between
France and England .for the settlement of the
affairs of Central ItalY. Count Walewski, in
order to Prevent the proposals of Lord John
Russell being accepted, tendered his resignation,.
which was, however, withdrawn on the publica.—
tion of a note in the Moniteur, of the 9th of Sep—
tember last, in favour of the restoration of the
Grand Duke of Tuscany. The object of Lord
Cowley's journey to London is to resume the
negotiations which had been interrupted. The
dismissal of Count Walewski was already decided.
upon when Lord Cowley left Paris after the re-
ception on New Year's Day, but it is premature to
assert that his Lordship has been the bearer of
certain proposals as the basis of an agreement
between France and England, either in the form
of a protocol or of a treaty. There is, for the
present, no other negotiation going on than to
resolve upon a basis which might become the,
point of departure for negotiations with the other
Great Powers, England having always recognised
the principle that the territorial arrangement of