increased enjoyment of the necessaries and comforts of life
which cheapness and plenty have bestowed upon the
great body of her people.

"Gentlemen of the House of Commons—Her Majesty
has directed the Estimates for the year to be laid before
you. They have been framed with a strict regard to
economy, while the efficiency of the various branches of
the public service has not been neglected.

"Her Majesty has seen with satisfaction the present
state of the revenue.

"My Lords and Gentlemen—Some of the measures
which were postponed at the end of the last session for
want of time for their consideration will be again laid
before you. Among the most important of these is one
for the better government of the Australian Colonies.

"Her Majesty has directed various measures to be
prepared for the improvement of the condition of
Ireland. The mischiefs arising from party processions, the
defects of the laws regulating the relations of landlord
and tenant, the imperfect state of the Grand Jury Acts,
and the diminished number of electors for members to
serve in Parliament, will, together with other matters
of serious consequence, form the subjects of measures to
be submitted for your consideration.

"Her Majesty has learned with satisfaction that the
measures which have been already passed for the
promotion of the public health are in a course of gradual
adoption; and her Majesty trusts that, both in the
Metropolis and in various parts of the United Kingdom,
you will be enabled to make further progress in the
removal of evils which affect the health and well-being
of her subjects.

"The favour of Divine Providence has hitherto
preserved this kingdom from the wars and convulsions
which, during the last two years, have shaken so many
of the States of the Continent of Europe. It is her
Majesty's hope and belief that, by combining liberty
with order, by preserving what is valuable and amending
what is defective, you will sustain the fabric of our
institutions as the abode and the shelter of a free and
happy people."

The Earl of ESSEX moved the address, which was
seconded by Lord METHEUN. The Earl of STADBROKE
moved, as an amendment, the insertion of the words
"great body of the people," following the passage;
"But we feel compelled humbly to represent to your
Majesty, that in many parts of the United Kingdom,
especially in Ireland, various classes of your Majesty's
subjects connected with the land are labouring under
severe distress; which is attributable, in our opinion, to
recent legislative enactments, and aggravated by the
operation of local taxation." This amendment was
seconded by the Earl of DESART. The Earl of CARLISLE
opposed it. He ascribed the lowness of the price of
corn to temporary causes, failure of the Irish potato
crops, &c. The trade of agriculture was not decreasing;
on the contrary, he understood that a greater breadth
of wheat had been sown during the last year than had
ever been the case before; and the applications for
enclosures of land were seventy-two, affecting 48,065 acres
—the largest amount for which application had been
made in any one year. With regard to any change of
policy founded on these complaints, whatever might be
the case on the well-ordered estates of their Lordships,
there was scarcely a by-lane in the rural districts, or a
back street in their large towns and cities, that would
not cry out loudly against any such attempts. The
Duke of RICHMOND handled the usual protectionist
topics. Earl FITZWILLIAM and Earl GRANVILLE
supported the address; the latter declaring that the question
raised by the Protectionists was exclusively one of rent.
The Earl of WINCHELSEA warmly declared that the
Saxon blood in the veins of the English tenantry and
labourers would not let them consent to be trampled
upon. Lord BROUGHAM said that free trade could not
be the case of the existing distress, for the distress was
much greater in France, a protected country. Lord
STANLEY said that he maintained all the opinions that
he had ever expressed as to practical impolicy of the
experiment that had been adventured, and as to the
impracticability of obtaining reciprocity from the countries
which compete with us. He believed that a moderate
protective duty would be advantageous to the revenue
and the agriculturist without being injurious to the
consumer; but he would not then call upon their
lordships to interrupt the great experiment now trying.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE replied to Lord Stanley;
and, on a division, the address was carried by 152 to 103.

On the 4th, Lord STANLEY questioned the government
with respect to our relations with Greece. He was
surprised that within twenty-four hours of her Majesty's
declaration of the existence of amicable relations with
all foreign powers, the public should have been informed
of the blackade of the Piræus by Sir W. Parker. He
asked if this step had been taken in consequence of
instructions sent to the admiral; and, if such instructions
had been issued, whether they would be laid before
Parliament. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE replied that
he hoped that the interruption of amicable relations
towards Greece would be temporary, but the proceeding
in question was founded on a long series of events, and
that it had only been resorted to when all others had
failed. He had no objection to lay the papers before
the house, and he believed they would contain the
fullest justification of the course adopted by the
government.

On the 5th, the Bishop of LONDON moved the first
reading of the Clergy Proceedings Bill, calling the
particular attention of their lordships to a clause establishing
a new tribunal for all cases of heresy and false doctrine.
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY expressed a hope that
the bill might be carried into law in the course of the
present session; and Lord BROUGHAM expressed his
high satisfaction at the measure.

Lord MONTEAGLE, after inquiring the intention of
the government as to the Railway Audit Bill, observed
that there were at this moment no less than sixty-one
railway bills before the house, or in the private bill
office. Earl GRANVILLE stated, that if the railway
interest did not shortly propose an audit bill, he would
early state what measures the government would take
on the subject. The noble earl also announced, in reply
to Lord Beaumont, that the government would introduce
a bill similar to that of last session, to enable those
companies to wind up who were unable to carry out
their projects.

Some further explanations respecting the dispute with
Greece were given, on Monday the 11th, by the Marquis
of LANSDOWNE. In answer to a question from
Lord Stanley, he stated that the good offices of France
had been accepted by the British government, though
the offer had been at first declined by Mr. Wyse, who
did not know whether his acceptance would be
sanctioned at home. The nature of our pecuniary claims,
and the amount of our pecuniary indemnity, formed
the only question on which the good offices of France
had been accepted. The dispute as to the islands of
Sapienza and Elaphonisi had been excluded, as resting
entirely on other grounds.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved the second reading
of the Ecclesiastical Commission Bill, explaining
that its principal provision was for the separation of the
financial from the ecclesiastical duties of the commission,
the former being transferred to two paid and responsible
commissioners, one to be appointed by the Archbishop
of Canterbury, and the other by the crown. The bill
was read a second time without opposition.

On Tuesday the 12th Earl GREY, in answer to some
observations from Lord STANLEY respecting the late
disputes in consequence of Transporting Convicts to the
Cape, observed that the order in council, which had
now been revoked, was never intended as the foundation
of a system. The government had no intention of
transmitting convicts to any colony which had not
expressed its willingness to receive them. But there
were special circumstances of difficulty attending the
disposal of the Irish detenus in Bermuda, who were very
different from the ordinary class of convicts, and for
whom it was thought no unfairness towards the inhabitants
of the Cape to provide an asylum in the colony.

On Thursday the 14th, the Earl of LUCAN, in moving
for certain returns relative to the Irish poor law,
referred to the debts that almost every union had incurred
throughout the country. He wished to know what was
to be done to extinguish those debts? Great destitution
prevailed everywhere. Even magistrates on the bench,