Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-02-09 00:00:00

policy, and the most powerful rulers are compelled to'
respect its decrees.
The Advertiser says—The speech is very mysterious
it may read any way; one part betrays a somewhat paci-
fic tendency, the other is quite warlike.
The Paris correspondent of the Herald says :—The ques-
tion of peace or war still hangs undecided in the balance:
The Emperor's Speech is not considered as giving any
assurance of peace, and it skilfully evades the eventuality
of possible hostilities. The general impression it has
produced is excessively unfavourable. The Emperor's
language may mean either peace or war, and has caused
disappointment both among the peace and war party.
The writer adds : - It is reported that the preparations at
Marseilles and Toulon have been countermanded, but
there is reason to believe that such is not the case. On
the .contrary, four trains chartered by Government daily
arrive at Marseilles, and fourteen millions of cartridges
are stored in forts.

The Paris correspondent of the Times says that some think
the Emperor's speech warlike at the bottom ; some think
it pacific, but with its pacific character disguised so that,
in point of fact, either peace or war may be expected
from it, and therefore that it does not dispense with the
necessity ,of Europe remaining still prepared against
eventualities. War, if it does not take place this spring,
as so often apprehended, may be merely adjourned. As
the public had hoped that the speech would be completely
pacific, its effect has not been so satisfactory as mit,ht be
desired. A certain shade of approbation was given
during its delivery to the allusion to the Bordeaux
declaration of the pacific spifit of the Empire.
The Globe says:—"The result of the attentive con-
sideration given to the weighty words of the man upon
whose breath hangs the peace of Europe, is a feeling of
relief from the immediate apprehensions which have so
long weighed upon the public mind. The frank and
fearless expression of the opinion. of the British parlia-
ment has been attended with an immense moral effect on
the Continent, and, it is believed, has powerfully influ-
enced the terms of the French Emperor's manifesto. An
immediate outbreak is no longer anxiously apprehended
Nevertheless, a deeply rooted feeling of
remains behind. The Emperor's speech suggests no
solution of the existing difficulties ; his policy remains as
closely veiled as ever. If his intentions are as pacific as
his words imply, what is the meaning of the enormous
armaments which he has set ou foot, and of the note
of war which his instruments have been instructed
to raise on every side ? 'Why, too, is Sardinia—
a state which is powerless without French aid—
encouraged to adopt an attitude of provocation towards
Austria which renders a military collision, with' its
momentous consequences, highly probable ? These are
the considerations which have suddenly checked, the
animation in commercial circles in Paris and London, as
shown in the important rise and subsequent collapse in
public securities. .Public confidence has received a rude
shock from the events of the last few weeks, and will not
swiftly revive, even at the bidding of the Emperor. The
commercial classes feel no security in contemplating the
probable future developments of that dark and tortuous
policy which has so suddenly blasted the brilliant promise
of the new year. They require practical proofs of the
spirit of conciliation and moderation, of which the
Emperor speaks so much, but with which his acts accord
so littl(

uneasiness