Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-27 00:00:00

SARDINIA.

The bill for intrusting the full powers of the Constitution
to the King, consists of the following two clauses, which
received the assent of the Chamber in an extraordinary
sitting on Saturday :—Article first : In case of war with
the empire of Austria, the King should be invested with all
the legislative and executive powers, and may, under
ministerial responsibility, take, by royal decrees, all the
Measures necessary for the defence of the country and our
institutions. Article second : The constitutional institutions
remain unchanged, the Government of the King having
the power, during the war, provisionally to limit the freedom
of the press and individual liberty.

THE LORD MAYOR'S EASTER

DINNER.

The speech of the Earl of Derby was longer than is usual
on the occasion of these civic banquets. His Lordship
announced that-England had made one more effort for peace
within the last twelve hours. We have transmitted a pro-
posal to Paris and Vienna, offering to settle the points in
dispute by mediation, on one of these two points, viz.,
either the immediate disarmament of the three Powers
—Austria, France, and Sardinia, or an agreement that
each army shall remain in its present position, and a state of
truce, if not of peace, pending the mediation. Lord Derby
insisted that our neutrality must be an armed neutrality ;
but he disclaimed all desire to commit this country
one way or another, while casting upon Austria
the responsibility of taking the first step to promote hostili-
ties. Whatever the consequences of that step may be,
Austria will have brought them on herself. But Lord
Derby did not intend by any means to exonerate Sardinia
from blame.

ELECTION NEWS.
Sir Allan McNab has become a candidate for Brighton.
Mr. Edwin Chadwick has retired from Eversham, being
supported by neither party.
Mr. Torrens McCullough has retired from Reigate.
Mr. Robert Lowe is opposed by a Conservative at Comm.

THE BOROUGH ELECTIONS.

The bulk of the city and borough elections in England
take place on Friday. The nomination in one metropolitan
borough will take place on Wednesday, in eight cities and
boroughs on Thursday, in 109 on Friday, and in one on
Saturday. Intelligence of the nomination day has not yet
been received in the case of about 60 cities and boroughs.

MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE. - At the dinner given by
the Lord Mayor of London to Her Majesty's Ministers, on
Monday evening. last, Sir John Pakington, in responding to
the toast of " The British Navy," perpetrated, what, in his
uncontrolled imagination, he thought a joke. He said :
" Whatever varieties of opinion there may be around these
tables, no one will hardly expect that I should be disposed
individually to pay any great compliment to the late parlia-
ment. (A laugh.) lam sure I shall be forgiven if I say
that that was a China Parliament, and that I think it ought
to be broken." The only apology the friends of the right
hon. gentleman could offer for the above was, that it
occurred late in the evening. The unfortunate Firstt.
Lord of the Admiralty is said to have returned borne in a
cab, looking very wretched

MEETING OF REFORMERS.