Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-17 00:00:00

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS.

. .
J. 1-10 WARD
Begs to intimate his winter stock of PIANO-FORTES and
HARMONIUMS embraces every variety, and by,the best mak-
ers, including Collard and Collard, Broadwaod, Nutting and
Addison, Alexandre, ke., &c.

D'ALBERT'S ALBUM, for 1560, beautifully illusted, Z 1 Is.
VERDI'S ALBUM, containing 25 favourite Songst, 7ra 8. 6d.
MENDELSSOHN'S Two-part Songs, complete, 55.
BOOSEY'S and CHAPPELL'S Operas, and 6s. each.
BEETHOVEN'S SONATAS, arranged by Charles Halle.
MENDELSSOHN'S LIEDER OHNE WORTS (bound,) 78.6 d.
CHRISTIE'S SONG-BOOK, 4s.
NOVELLO and COCKS' cheap Oratorios and Masses.
CHRISTMAS CAROLS.
SHEET MUSIC, Half-price, and Post Free.
Liberal allowance to the Profession.

Concertinas, Aocordeons, Flutinas, Guitars, Violists, and
Drums.
Harp, Guitar, and Violin Strings,
And all Articles connected with the Music Trade.
Rat'Ains RESILICING, and POLISHING, by the best workmen.
Tuning icy the year (8 times), 21s. ; if paid ix advance, 17s. 6d.
All Instruments sold at this Establishment Guaranteed.
Every possible advantage offered to the public in Exchange,
Purchase, or Hire, at
J. HOWARD'S
PIANO-FORTE AND MUSIC DEPOT,
OROSS-STREET, MARKET-SQUIRE, BIRKENHEAD.

SOUTH AFRICAN PORT 3 0 ... 12 0
PI SHERRY 2 6 ... 10 0

SPIRITS. •
Per Qrt. Per Gal.
s. d. .s. d.
WHISKY, Finest old Islay Malt
~ Ditto Campleton Malt . '
Fine old Scotch Malt
„ Jameson's five-year-old Irish'
Good Grain ' - 3 0 12 0
BRANDY, Hennessy'S or Martell's 8 0 ... 32 0'
„ Ditto in cases, 725. per dom
HOLLANDS, Best quality and strength...(bot.): 4 0
~..
GIN, fall strength, Best London 3 0 ... 'l2 0
~ Ditto ditto Plymouth., „ 3 0,...,12 0
RUM, Finest old Jamaica
„ Good old 3 0: ... 12 0
PORTER AND ALES.
Doz. Qts. Pts.
s. d. s. d.
PORTER, Meux's Best London Double Stoat— 6 0 ... 3 6
„ Guinness's Best Dublin Stoat
ALE, Allsopp's East India Pale
„ Best Edinburgh or Alloa 6 0 ... 3
Fine mild
CIDER 4 6 ... 2 9

(IN -CASKS).
Ikleux's London and Dublin stout 28s. and 335. 1 fair
Guinness's Dublin Stout 2ss. Hall
Allsopp's East India Pale Ales 3ls. Barrel:
IN SIX, NINE, AND EIGHTEEN GALLON CASKS.

6 Gals. 9 Gals. 18 Gals.
Brown's Preston, Ale XX 9s. ... 13s. .„ 255.
Ditto Ditto, XXX

All Bottles, &c., to be gidven in exchange, or paid for on
elivery.
Goods delivered free within five miles.

ADAMS'S Large 2s. Gd. WORK BOX, lined
With Silk.

68, CHURCH-STREET,
(opposite Old Post Office Place.)

To Morunas AND NtiIISES.—To supersede the tardy use of
the fine tooth comb in the nursery, and to cleanse the hair and
skin, preventing animaleulx, obtain Greer's Patent Anti-Vermin
Lotion (perfumed), 3d., 6d., awl Is„ at the Anti-Vermin Office,
49, Brownlaw-hill.
It is a well-known Malan% that.!Wtme is money "—the terms
are relative; so to save ens..is to•save the other. We save
both time, and economise:patience, and present good tempers,
when .we •have o, • good•PEN--a• but one upsets patience and
temper. Preserve all, then, by purchasing your steel pens and
other stationery at E. T. Hall's wholesale steel pen warehouse,
23, South John-street. John Gillott's, Thomas Lowe's, G. W.
Hughes, and other maker's, on sale at Is. per grass. Good
Pen Holders, 2d. per dozen.

The latest edition. Just published. Sent free per post far
three stamps, or may be had on application. TEETH : Tams
Loss AND RESTORATION. On the best means of restoring teeth,

by the new principle of self-adhesion, with vulcanised gum:
coloured India-rubber in lieu of bone or gold, and by means of
a flexible gum, without springs or wires, and without extract-
ing roots, at half the ordinary cost. By Messrs. Gabriel,
Dentists to the Prince D'Ottajana. A multum in parvo bro-
chure, which all requiring the aid of a dentist will do well to
peruse, as, emanating from such a source, it may be confi-
dently relied on.--- United Service Gazette. Dental Establish-
ments : 134, Duke-street, Liverpool ; 33, Ludgate-hill, and
110, Regent-street, London. Note name and number. Estab-
lished 1815 Vide diploma.

, -
EXTRAORDINARY AND 'USEFUL INVENTION.—There is nothing
that housewives complain of with greater truthfulness than
the breaking of some favourite piece of glass, valuable china,
or earthenware. In hundreds of cases such thing cannot be
matched, and of course cannot be mended. The latter want
has been obviated by an extraordinary and effective inveetion,
by Mr. Adshead, el Derby Pottery, near Derby. It is a cement
that may be said to heal in a perfect manner, all cracks and
breaks in the articles spoken of, and not only in these, but in
marble, alabaster, &c. The benefit of this article need not be
dwelt on. We have seen some of its effects at Mr. Hall's, our
neighbour's, and the glass that has been cemented by it is
stronger in' that part than in any other. The article is very
cheap, and no house can be long without it. Mr. Hall is the
agent for its sale in Liverpool, and all interested can judge for
themselves by looking in at his establishment. Agent for
Liverpool, E. T. Hall, 23, South John-street. Sold in bottles,
Is. each ,or cent free en receipt of sixteen postage stampb.
N.B.—None are genuine except bearing the signature, "E. T
Hall
REFORMATORY SCHOOLS.—The Gazette of Friday con-
tains notification that the Wellington Farm School,
near Pennycnik, in the county of Edinburgh, has been
certified by the Secretary of State as fit to be a Refor-
matory School for Boys. Also, that the certificates
granted by the Secretary of State to the unlernien-
tioned Reformatory Schools, have been withdrawn, viz.:
—The Berks Reformatory School at Reading, iu the
county of Berks ; the Norfolk Reformatory at Catton,
in the county of Norfolk.
LORD MACAULAY'S UNPUBLISHED HISTORY.—We
t(lnverness Cowie ,1 are indebted to a literary'friend for
he following, , which may be .fully relied upon
There are stories going the round, to the effect
that -Lord Macaulay's MSS. of the next two volumes
of his history .are illegible. The -fact is that the
fifth volume is quite finished and- right. It abounds in
interest, chiefly of the Queen Anne period, and of the
contents respecting the privileges of the Lords and Cora-
mons ; with descriptions of the inner life of the country'
never before published, or indeed discovered. Volume
six is so far advanced as only to need a little arrange-
ment from Lord Macaulay's great friend, Mr. Ellis, who
is left his literary executer, Lady Trevelyan is chief
executor, almost' everything being left to her ; and in
her hurry preparing to go out to Sir Charles, at Ma-
dras, the precious MSS. and other valuables are for the
present deposited in Drummond's bank safe—not to be
kept there long, I hope."'
SHOCKING MURDER IN FRANCE.--A frightful mur-
der was committed three nights ago .at Lyons, on a
person named Bertholon, a house agent in that city.
lie had returned home at a rather late hour, and
when his clerk came to the house on the follow-
ing morning he found his employer lying dead in-his
bed, with his head laid open by a blow from a hatchet.
A day or two before he had received some large sums
of account of proprietors, by whom he was employed,
and it was probably for the purpose of obtaining pos-
session of the money
.that the crime was committed.
The Gazette de Lyons, in speaking of this crime, says :
" Everything indicates that M. Bertholon was struck
during his sleep. What is inexplicable is that three
dciors fastened with Fichet's locks had to be opened in
order to reach him, but that the doors present no trace
of having been forced. Only one-half of the valuable
securities which M. Bertholon had in his possession were
stolen."

COMMERCIAL REFOR-M-1- F.RANCt.

(Fran the . Times.)

In a letter to M. Fould the Emperor announces that
" the moment has arrived," or, as Sir Robert Peel used
to say, " the time ha.s now come," " for applying our-

selves to the means of giving a greater development to
national wealth. Foreign commerce must be developed
by the exchange of products. Agriculture must be first
. .

improved, and industry freed from all impediments that
place it in a position of-inferiority. A general system
of sound political economy alone can, by increasing
the national wealth, spread prosperity among the
working classes." The Emperor then goes on to state
his intention to exempt from all duties primary articles
indispensable for industry. For these purposes the duties
on wool and cotton are to be suppressed, the duties on
sugar and coffee are to be progressively diminished, the
means of internal communication are to be improved,
canal dues are to be lowered, loans are to be granted to
agriculture 'and' industry, the prohibitions of the tariff
are to be suppressed, and commercial treaties with
foreign countries are to be negotiated. A hundred and
sixty millions of francs, nearly six millions and a-half
sterling, are to be applied to the execution of great
public works. The Emperor concludes with the expres-
sion of his opinion that the present difficulties in foreign
affairs will obtain a peaceful solution, that the legisla-
ture will assist him in giving effect to these views, and
that he thus hopes to found a new era of peace, and to
insure its blessings to France.
As to those parts of the plan which relate to internal
improvements, we do not presume to offer any opinion,
nor are we disposed, as at present advised, to regard
with favour any proposition for a return to the exploded
practice of negotiating commercial treaties ; but as to
the general charActer of the measure thus sketched out,
there can be no difference of opinion, at leak on this
side of the Channel. Were we, indeed, actuated
—by that narrow jealousy of which we have so
often been accused, we should regret •to see
France entering on a course which must inevitably,
make her in a few years, with her splendid
climate, her active and industrious population, and her
unrivalled taste and dexterity in the practical applica-
tion of scientific principles, a rival far more formidable
than England has ever yet known. Instead of seeking
to grasp at ready-made, prosperity France has at last
some prospect of beginning fairly at the beginning, of
obtaining for herself cheap coal and cheap iron, the
constituent elements of manufacturing success, of basing
commerce on increased production, a large mercantile
navy upon commerce, and a thoroughly effective fleet
upon her mercantile navy.
We gladly admit that in this proposition the Emperor
of the French gives to England and to Europe the very
best security for the continuance of peace. Prohi-
bition leads to war by building up barriers between
nations, while Free Trade spreads the spirit of peace
by overthrowing them. Never, till a system like this
be fairly inaugurated, will England and France know
how necessary they are to each other, or appreciate
the full extent of that suicidal folly which would waste
in mutual conflict resources designed for their own
good, and for the benefit of the world. A few years
of such commercial intercourse as exists between
England and the United States or our Australian or
American Colonies would render war absolutely im-
possible, and give to other nations a security better than
that of Treaties, and more durable than the goodwill of
governments. All honour to the Emperor of the French
for the bold inauguration of this great social revolution !
Here is indeed " an idea" that was worth fighting for,—
an idea not barren nor one-sided, but fruitful and•cos-
mopolitan ; giving confidence for the present and hope
for the future, and sure to realise an amount of good
which it is rarely granted to a ruler of mankind to
dispense to his fellow-creatures.

(From the Morning Herald.)
The more intimately the commercialinterests of France
and England are connected the more durable will be the
bond of amity between the two peoples. Of course, it is
not to be supposed that our astute ally will be guilty of
the same piece of Quixotism as ourselves. The advances
he makes, we may be quite sure, will demand a similar
spirit of concession in those who will benefit by the change.
The reciprocity will not be all on one side, and we, who are
prepared to profit by his liberality, shall of course be re •
quired to meet him half-way. Unfortunately, the Emperor
comes at the wrong time. The falling-in of the annuities
will hardly pay the bill for our defences. Then there is the
income tax to be taken off, there is the " tax on know-
ledge " to be removed, and there are the malt duties to
be considered. However, we shall not grudge the
revenue on wine if it consolidates the friendly feeling of
the two nations ; and if the Emperor chooses to admit
our coal and iron, and linen, free, we certainly cannot
impose a prohibitory export duty, notwithstanding the
obvious inconvenience to which it may expose us.
We have every reason to believe that a commercial
treaty is now being negotiated between the French and
English Governments, by which a large reduction
would be made in the French tariff on coal and iron,
woollen and linen manufactures, and our duties on
French wines would be also considerably lowered.
Before we know the exact nature of the terms of the
new engagements we must withhold our judgment. A
commercial treaty requires the most delicate handling,
and it is obvious that the present is not a time when
we can afford rashly to diminish our income from any
source. It must be remembered that the duty on
French wines affects only those classA who can well
afford the burden ; and that there are other interests
incidentally connected with the question of the re-
moval of this duty which will have to be consulted
before the step is finally decided upon. It may be
worth while, for instance, to inquire what would be '
the effect of a reduction of the duties on French wines
on the consumption of malt liquors, and ultimately on
the revenue derived from the malt duties, and how far
the excise duties could be maintained in face of any con-
siderable reduction on French wines. These are con-
' siderations which must be hereafter discussed. In the
meantime we hail with pleasure the French Emperor's
return to the programme of the early days of the
Empire. - He has overcome greater difficulties. He will
probably be successful in his contest with the ironmasters
and manufacturers.

Mn. G. RENNIE,—We are happy to learn that Mr.
Rennie, the eminent engineer, is so far recovered from
his serious accident, that he was able to be removed
from his bed, to which he had been confined for six
weeks, to a sofa on Thursday last. Mr. Rennie con-
tinues to progress favourably, but• slowly. One of his
legs was so fearfully lacerated, that some weeks will
elapse before he can possibly walk.
SUDDEN DEATHS AT BOURGES.—At Bourges, a few
days ago, two sudden deaths occurred in the same house,
at a few minutes' interval. A physician, Dr. Bfunet,
called on one of his_ relatives, M. Lemercier, a retired •
professor, who was indisposed, and whilst conversing
with him the latter sank down and died. Dr. Brunet
was examining him, when Madames Brunet, his mother,
who had called to visit Di. Lemercier, entered the room,
and not having been informed of• the sad event she was
so shocked at the sight of the dead body that she fainted.
She was placed in an arm chair, but in a few seconds
breathed her last.
of ARCHITECTURALopen
competition Co
is iPof ET
quitenlONs Th
recent
—e present
growth.system
e
was nothing at all similar to it at any former period,
nor does actual experience say much in its favour, for if
people sippose that the very best of the designs offered-
is invariably the one selected, they are greatly mis-.
taken. Perhaps the most that can be urged in
recommendation of it is, that it affords unknown
talent the opportunity of manifesting itself ; yet that
seeming advantage is completely nullified, unless there
be competent discernment on the part of those who, how-
ever ill-qualified for such a duty, take upon themselves
the office of judges. Far differently was it in the palmy
days of mediaeval architecture, when its destinies were
lodged in the hands and directed by the most intelligent
class of the community, men who were deeply in earnest,
and who could not afford to be otherwise, the advancement
of architecture and art generally being part of their well-
calculated and not unsuccessful policy. Generous as it may
seem to throw competitions open to all who chose to engage
in them, it is, in reality, no better than asking—at least, in-
ducing—architects to set to work and communicate their
ideas unreservedly, with no more cheering prospect before
them than the probability of no more than their
labour for their pains. The greater the number of
competitors the greater that of the disappointed ;
and there is this hardship quite peculiar to the
architect, that, be an unsuccessful design ever so
meritorious—likelier than not, even more so than the
accepted and premiated one--it is not recognised as
a production of art. It is not even so much as what
painters call a " pot-boiler," except that the dozen or so
of sheets of cartridge paper wasted (?) upon it will help
to keep up a brisk blaze beneath a boiler filled with
nothing more luxurious than water gruel. The fact,
however, is by far too melancholy and too humiliating
for pleasantry.—Bnilding -News.