"The visit of the King of the French was rendered especially welcome to me, inasmuch as it had been preceded by discussions which might have impaired the good understanding happily esta blished between the two countries.

"I regard the maintenance of this good understanding as essential to the best interests of both; and I rejoiced to witness that the sentiments so cordially expressed by all classes of my subjects on the occasion of His Majesty's visit were entirely in unison with my

own.

plication of Charitable Donations and Bequests.

66

I recommend to your favourable consideration the policy of improving and extending the opportunities for academical education in Ireland.

"The report of the commission appointed to inquire into the law and practice in respect to the occupation of land is nearly prepared, and shall be communicated to you immediately after its presentation.

"The state of the law in regard to the privileges of the Bank of Ireland, and to other banking establishments in that country,

"My Lords and Gentlemen,

"I have observed with sincere satisfaction that the improvement which is manifest in other parts of the country has extended to Ireland.

"The political agitation and excitement which I have had heretofore occasion to lament, appear to have gradually abated, and, as a natural result, private capital has been more freely applied to useful public enterprises, undertaken through the friendly cooperation of individuals interested in the welfare of Ireland.

"I have carried into effect, in the spirit in which it was conceived, the Act for the more effectual ap

occupy your attention.

"The health of the inhabitants

of large towns and populous districts in this part of the United Kingdom has been the subject of sion, the report of which shall be recent inquiry before a commisimmediately laid before you.

'It will be highly gratifying to me if the information and suggestions contained in that report shall enable you to devise the means of promoting the health and comfort of the poorer classes of my subjects.

"I congratulate you on the success of the measures which three years since were adopted by Parliament for the purpose of supplying the deficiency in the public revenue, and arresting the accumulation of debt in the time of peace.

"The Act which was passed at that time for imposing a tax upon income will shortly expire.

"It will be for you, in your wisdom, to determine whether it may not be expedient to continue its operation for a further period, and thus to obtain the means of

adequately providing for the public service, and at the same time of making a reduction in other taxation.

be

"Whatever may be the result of your deliberations in this respect, I feel assured that it will your determination to maintain an amount of revenue amply sufficient to meet the necessary expenditure of the country, and firmly to uphold that public credit which is indispensable to the national welfare.

"The prospect of continued peace, and the general state of domestic prosperity and tranquillity, afford a favourable opportunity for the consideration of the important matters to which I have directed your attention; and I commit them to your deliberation, with the earnest prayer that you may be enabled, under the superintending care and protection of Divine Providence, to strengthen the feelings of mutual confidence and good-will between different classes of my subjects, and to improve the condition of my people."

The Address in the House of Lords was moved by the Marquis Camden, and seconded by Lord Glenlyon. Each of these noblemen confined themselves pretty closely to the topics contained in the Royal Speech, declaring their accordance with the sentiments which were expressed in it. Lord Glenlyon, made, however, some allusion to the Queen's visit to Scotland, and hoped that the loyalty exhibited by the people on that occasion might be taken as a proof of the public confidence in Her Majesty's Ministers.

The Marquis of Normanby observed, that so far from being inclined to move any amendment upon the Address, he approved of

all that he had yet heard of the measures to be proposed by Government; but in agreeing to the Address, he by no means pledged himself to the measures to which it referred. He deprecated Lord Glenlyon's notion that the manifestation of loyalty towards the Monarch is to be taken as a token of approbation of the Ministry. Turning then to the affairs of Ireland, Lord Normanby said that he agreed that the excitement in Ireland had much abated, but he regarded it as less owing to any particular measure than to the people's being aware of the impracticability of Repeal. The ill success of the conciliatory measures he imputed to what had taken place two years ago, and especially to Sir James Graham's declaration that “ concession had gone far enough." He found fault with the Charitable Bequests Act, because the Roman Catholic Prelates had not been consulted about it when it was framed. With the concession already made it was inconsistent to refuse recognition to the territorial titles of those Bishops. The result of the Tenure of Lands Commission had been unmixed evil; if political excitement had abated, individual outrage and crime had increased. He agreed as to the increased prosperity in the manufacturing and commercial interests, but it must not be forgotten that there was an ebb and flow in those matters. With respect to the sanatory condition of the people, he approved of the feelings displayed in the Speech from the Throne. He concluded by announcing that he should not at present bring forward any measure, of which he had given notice, on the subject of Ireland, waiting to see the Ministerial measures.

The Duke of Richmond complained, that while their lordships were called upon to express their satisfaction at the national prosperity, no mention had been made of the agricultural body, or of the losses to which it had in the last year been subjected. There was a Board of Trade which represented commerce and manufactures, why was there not also a Board of Agriculture? He regretted also that no promise was held out of an alleviation of the hardship with which the Incometax bore upon the agricultural

tenant.

The Earl of Hardwick did not at all sympathize with the regret that had been expressed, that the agricultural interest had not been more explicitly noticed in the Speech; he thought, that if freed from all legislative enactments, agriculture would ere long share in the general prosperity, but at the same time he believed that if measures were devised to afford it relief, they would receive attentive consideration.

The Duke of Montrose deprecated interference with the currency of Scotland.

Lord Wharncliffe pointed out that the language of the Speech referred to Scotch banking, but said not a word of " currency."

Lord Brougham, in a short speech, expressed his general concurrence with the Marquis of Camden. He made some allusion to the Income-tax, saying that, "if the question was whether to abandon the Income-tax or to keep it, and if any other less grievous tax could be substituted, he had no doubt that the Income-tax must be given up. But that was not the ground upon which the question must be

put: the question was, whether any other taxes could be given up that pressed upon the productive powers of the industry of the country, which oppressed our trade and manufactures; the Insurance-tax, for instance, which sent a large proportion of insurances to Amsterdam. Those were bad manufactures of taxes, if he might so express it, which pressed upon the raw materials of our manufactures; and if by relinquishing them we could give an impulse to our trade and manufactures, and at the same time relieve the consumers in the lower and middle classes of society, he should be ready, with all his strong prejudices against an Income-tax, to support a proposal for continuing the tax; so that it was a mere question what those other measures were, and not a question abstractedly as to the Income-tax." He then referred briefly to the state of Ireland, attributing much of the improved tranquillity in that country to the recent State prosecutions. He congratulated the House on the good results likely to ensue from the late arrival of Louis Philippe on our shores. The effect of the visit of the King of the French, and the reception which he met with in this country, was not confined to our gracious Sovereign who received him and the brilliant court which surrounded her, or even to the people of this country, all classes of whom thronged to hail his arrival and saw his departure with regret, but across the Channel, in France, the happiest effects had been produced by His Majesty's reception here.

The Marquis of Lansdowne after guarding himself from the impression, that because he moved no amendment he acquiesced in all

the sentiments that had been expressed, proceeded to refer to several topics that had been touched upon. With regard to the Income-tax, he said, there could be no doubt that the public would readily enough regard the Speech which the Ministers had advised Her Majesty to make as a species of advertising for advice, a demand for suggestions, a significant hint which in many quarters would be well understood; and the meaning of which was, that the Ministers must continue the Income-tax if they sought to relieve the more productive branches of industry from the weight of fiscal burdens. There could be no doubt that the effect of such a proceeding on the part of the Government would be to bring to their ears a great deal of advice between the present time and the period at which the Budget might be brought under the consideration of the other House of Parliament. Upon that influx of advice he begged most heartily to wish them joy-he congratulated them upon the quantity of disinterested counsel which they were likely to receive. But, though he supported the present Address, he by no means agreed to the continuance of the Income-tax. It was an impost to the continued existence of which he could not bring himself to consent, unless it were clearly shown to him that its maintenance would have the effect of relieving the industrious classes from burdens which oppressed manufacturing skill and checked commercial enterprise.

After referring with approbation to the proposed extension of academical education in Ireland, Lord Lansdowne expressed his opinion that the better state of feeling

which had grown up in Ireland was rather to be ascribed to the judgment pronounced by the House of Lords in the case of Mr. O'Connell. He then proceeded in reference to the subjects of difference which had been adjusted between this country and France, in the case of Tahiti, to inculcate the necessity, in every instance, of entering at the earliest period upon a full and explicit explanation. Without this, every insignificant island might become a plague-spot, and every unimportant transaction might be sufficient to disturb the peace of Europe. He objected altogether to the system of protectorates, which, as now constituted, he considered to be an entire innovation.

Lord Aberdeen, in reply to the observations of the noble Marquis on the subject of mutual explanation, declared that the satisfactory adjustment of the questions respecting Tahiti had in this very manner been accomplished. The question of protectorates had not been in any degree involved. A subordinate officer, without instructions and without authority, had exceeded his duty; a representation of the circumstances, founded upon justice and urged with moderation, was made to the French Government; and thus a settlement was arrived at, of which neither party had any reason or felt any inclination to complain. He had asked nothing which he should not himself, in a similar case, have conceded, and upon this principle the negotiation had throughout proceeded.

Lord Campbell then introduced the subject of Law Reform, and drew from the Lord Chancellor an explanation of the course he meant

to adopt in the ensuing session; and after a few words from Lord Brougham, the Address was unanimously voted, and the House adjourned.

In the House of Commons the Address was moved by Mr. Charteris, one of the members for the Eastern Division of Gloucestershire. He began by congratulating the House on the general prosperity of the country, as evinced by the steady improvement of our trade and commerce at home and abroad. He regretted that he could not call this prosperity universal, inasmuch as in the agricultural districts with which he was himself more immediately connected, there existed at present great distress, caused by the failure of the crops. He congratulated Her Majesty on the friendly state of our foreign relations, which he considered would be much confirmed by the visit of three foreign monarchs, who had all been the guests of Her Majesty, to our shores within the preceding twelve months. He particularly insisted on the good consequences likely to result from the visit of His Majesty the King of the French, which he looked upon as a security for peace, and of renewed and prolonged amity between France and England. He hoped that a brighter day was about to dawn upon Ireland, in consequence of the abatement of agitation in that country, and of the introduction of measures which, being based on the principles of impartiality and equality between contending sects, were calculated to remove the remnants of national animosity, and to unite all in the love of our common country. Such a measure was the Charitable Bequests Act of last session, which he considered as a

first instalment; and he looked forward for the Academical Education Bill promised by the Government, and to the contemplated measure for the improvement of the tenure of land in Ireland, as instalments which were to follow. He congratulated the House on the increase of the income derived from the excise, which he considered as a sound test of national prosperity. He likewise congratulated it on having placed the banking system of England on a safe footing, and hoped that in dealing with the same system in Scotland, they would interfere as little as possible with existing interests. He looked forward with confidence to a great amelioration in the moral condition of the poor from the general sympathy which had lately been excited for them in the minds of the higher and middling classes; a sympathy which was testified by the numerous plans which were now daily promulgated and discussed in all quarters.

Mr. Thomas Baring, M. P. for Huntingdon, in seconding the Address, insisted upon several of the topics which had been noticed by Mr. Charteris. He, too, was of opinion that the maintenance of peace, of so much importance to the happiness of the world, would be confirmed by the recent visit of foreign sovereigns to this country. He hoped that the visit of the Emperor of Russia to this commercial country would induce him to agree to some relaxation of the commercial restrictions on the introduction of the produce of England within his dominions, and that the visit of the King of the French would remove those feelings of bitterness which had grown up in consequence of the events at Morocco and Tahiti. The inter