Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-07 00:00:00

Orrn

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 1859.

THE DAY'S NEWS.

The discussion upon the Government Reform Bill
continues with unabated vigour, and the more it is
discussed, the more it is condemned. Lord Bury
has written a letter, in which he says it would be
very unwise to pass the measure, which far from
quieting the public mind, would only ensure another
agitation next year. He adds : "I so far agree with
Mr. Disraeli, that mere numbers are no criterion by
which to apportion representation ; but it is sophistry
to argue that numbers—the industrious working
classes—should, therefore, remain unenfranchised.
My wish is to see our constitution enlarged and
extended—not set aside, or, as Mr. Disraeli calls it,
'reconstructed.' lam convinced that the constitu-
tion affords the means and the machinery for that
extension. It is because I hold that conviction that
I would rather see no Reform Bill than trust the
reconstruction of the constitution to men whose
promises have proved so wholly illusory. It is
because I hold that conviction that I am not afraid
to extend the franchise to very many who, I
believe, regard law and order with as much reverence
as I do."

The Globe announces that Viscount Hardinge has
resigned the office of under Secretary of State for the
War department.
According to advices from Berlin, Lord Cowley
will leave Vienna on Wednesday next. In the mean-
time we read in the hadcpendance :—" According
to generally believed rumours Count Buol has de-
clared his opinion that the bases for negoeiation
proposed by Lord Cowley are worthy of considera-
tion. It is said that the Minister for Foreign Affairs
of his Apostolic Majesty have replied to the pro-
posals emanating from England by counter-proposals,
according to which his Sovereign is ready to accept,
in exchange for the protection of the secondary
Italian States, a guarantee from all the important
European Powers of the exclusive protectorate of
Austria, on condition, however, that this guarantee
should apply in no way to Piedmont. This State
would be thus compelled to maintain a strict neutra-
lity—a political position for which she would have
very little taste, considering her present relations
with the other States of Italy."
The accounts from Paris are far more pacific.
The Moniteur, on Saturday, had an article
setting forth that the serious condition of
Italian affairs has attracted the atten-
tion of the Emperor, whose endeavours are to
conclude an alliance in furtherance of the interests
of France. The Emperor has promised the King
of Sardinia to protect him against any aggressive
acts of Austria, but his promises extend no further.
The Emperor denies that France is now making
warlike preparations ; she has not exceeded
the effective force she is accustomed to have
during peace. Assuming that preparations in the
arsenals have received any extraordinary impulse,
it is only because changes were necessary in our
artillery, and in the whole of our fleet. All our
naval preparations are limited to the arming of
four frigates and four transports, to meet imminent
emergencies. It is quite absurd to represent the
Emperor as pushing. on war, and to cast on him
alone the responsibility of uneasiness, and of having
caused warlike preparations in Europe. Where can
any one point out words, diplomatic notes, or acts,
implying the wish of the Emperor to provoke
war. The Emperor is now examining the various
reasons of the present complication, but this must
not be regarded as any provocation of war on his
part. Besides, to examine these questions is to
meet them in a diplomatic way, and nothing
authorises the belief that the issue will not be
favourable to the consolidation of peace.
It is reported that the King of Naples has
offered to furnish the Pope with four batallions
of Swiss troops. The reasons which have induced
the Emperor to relinquish his intention of calling
his troops from Algeria are unknown. His reso-
lution was very suddenly taken.

The King of Naples continues seriously ill, and
there had been another rumour of his death.
The Austrian despatch of Feb. sth, addressed to
the representatives of Austria, at the different
Courts of Germany, is published in extenso. War
is considered in this Cabinet document as
the possible consequence of the intention
of Austria, to defend against every attack, her
rights in Italy, and satisfaction is expressed
at the state of public opinion in Germany,
which is united in an energetic prosecution against
a return of the days of the Confederation of the
Rhine. The despatch makes known the grounds
which have induced the Cabinet to believe the
moment is not come for the German Confederation
to take decided measures ; but it advises the
German Governments mutually to comm unicate
with each other their convictions on the dangers
of the future, so that the full certainty might be
established, that in case of need Germany would,
at the proper time, act in union with Austria.
The River Amoor Company has had an estimate
drawn out of the expense of establishing an
electric telegraph which will cross the whole of
Eastern Russia and Siberia, and end at the Pacific.
The Czar has conceded to a joint-stock company for
the construction of a railway from the Don to the
Volga. By this means, the Mediterranean, the
Black Sea, the Sea of Azoff, the Caspian Sea,
Central Asia, and the most distant regions of
Siberia, will be placed in communication with
Odessa, Vienna, Paris and Lo ndon.

A Marseilles despatch states that Russia has an
army of 60,000 men on the Pruth, and that her
army in Georgia has just been largely augmented.
Prince Milosch is represented as adopting more
hauteur towards the Porte, and his relations with
Austria are becoming more embittered.
A letter from Jassy, the capital of Moldavia,
says Austria refuses to affix her visa to passports
delivered in the name of Prince Couza, but the
representatives of the Powers make no difficulty
about so doing. The Moldo-Wallachian authorities,
by way of reprisal, refuse their visa to Austrian
passports.
The Moniteur denies the statement of the Paris
correspondent of the Times as to an angry conver-
sation respecting Italy between Prince Napoleon and
Count Persigney.
The steamer Pacific sailed from Galway on Satur-
day, with 212 passengers.