Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-07 00:00:00

deemed probable or even possible to be brought
into the field against the new order of things.
It will be observed, from our, telegraphic in-
telligenCe, that Marshal Vaillant has been relieve&
of the chief command of the army of occupation
in Italy. The reason for doing so has not reached
us,—but it cannot have been for any want of
popularity on his part with the civilians at least,
for we learn that on New Year's Day the Marshal
was presented with a congratulatory address by
the municipality of Milan,—an opportunity of
which he thought proper to avail himself
for the purpose of saying that the French army
in Italy remained only to maintain internal order
and the independence of the country which had
been so recently won upon the field of battle.-
He is to be succeeded in the command by Marshal
MacMahon.

The Hungarian cause, if for a time necessarily'
allowed to remain in static quo, is not forgotten?
but on the contrary seems to enlist the warmest
sympathies of at least one heroic spirit. We-
allude to the pregnant fact that, at the dinner
given to Garibaldi the other day at Turin, the
General proposed a toast " to Hungary, the sister
of Italy." -

.;
Ihe important Constitutional question as to the
right of Frenchmen to petition the Senate in be-
half of any changes that may be deemed by them
desirable in the existing laws of the Empire, it
seems, has-hitherto been attended with serious legal '
doubts ; but it is now thought to have been set at
rest and established, in consequence of a favour-
able report drawn up by the most eminent juri-
consults of the French bar. How- far the
exercise of this right will be actually recognised
or' permitted, remains to be seen; but its prac-
tical value, even if its existence, in the abstract,
be admitted, we fear may be accurately estimated
at nil, under the present 'critical state of affairs
in that great country.
A member of the English house of Commons
'has just been at Rome, paying his respects to the
amiable but unhappy Pio 'Nono. We mean the
" Liberal" Mr. Bowyer, M.P., whom the Popi'
has decorated with the Grand Cross of the Pon-.
tifical order of St. Gregory ! Who shall say that,
the Pope has not got an independent friend in
the English legislature ; or that he fails to appre-
ciate those who may hold themselves forth as
such ?

Another solemn lesson has just been read to--
the great commercial community of this country:
by the severe punishment inflicted upon Hugheso
the absconding bankrupt, who has been con-
victed of obtaining money fraudulently, and
refusing t,-) surrender on being called for
in the Bankruptcy Court,l—for which latter
offence he has been sentenced to tea
years' penal servitude. We can easily un-
derstand the " astounding" effect which the
announcement of such a penalty is said to have
produced upon. the miserable convict. Let us
hope that the moral sense of business men in
England will speedily--nay, at once—be ef-
fectually aroused; and that they will universally
see and practically acknowledge that in every:
'relation 'of life, " honesty is the best policy."
A deputation from the Liverpool Land and.
Houselowners: Association waited upon the
Health Committee, by appointment, at the Town-
hall, yesterday, to state their objections against
the proposed new bye-laws. The deputation was
received, as might have been expected, with the
utmost courtesy. The statements made by the
members of it were attentively listened to, and
at the conclusion of the interview, the Health
Committee adjourned till Wednesday.
Among our telegraphic intelligence we are,
enabled to present our readers with an outline (1
the proceedings which took place in Birmingluurr
at 'a meeting held there last night, on the subject
of Parliamentary Reform. The chair was occupied
by the Mayor of Birmingham, and the principal
speaker was Mr. Bright, M.P., who addressed
the assembly at great length.

As the meeting of Parliament draws nigh, there
is a question more really important than the
assembling of a Congress and the chances of $
Reform Bill,' suggesting itself to Englishmen ;
and that is, what are violent and unreasonab
men about to do with the material interests of
the Church? The affairs of a body so intimately
connected with the religious history and habits
of a whole nation as the Church of. England,./10
more, to do with the ,real life of peoples than
systems of political representation, and alleg( d
rights of national sovereignty.