NARRATIVE OF PARLIAMENT AND POLITICS.

The Queen opened the Session of Parliament on
Tuesday, the 12th instant, with the usual formalities.
Her Majesty delivered the following speech—

"My Lords and Gentlemen—I have called you
together at this unusual period of the year, in order that,
by your assistance, I may take such measures as will
enable me to prosecute the great war in which we are
engaged with the utmost vigour and effect. This
assistance I know will be readily given; for I cannot doubt
that you share my conviction of the necessity of sparing
no effort to augment my forces now engaged in the
Crimea. The exertions they have made and the victories
they have obtained are not exceeded in the brightest
pages of our history, and have filled me with admiration
and gratitude.

"The hearty and efficient cooperation of the brave
troops of my ally the Emperor of the French, and the
glory acquired in common, cannot fail to cement still
more closely the union which happily subsists between
the two nations.

"It is with satisfaction I inform you, that, together
with the Emperor of the French, I have concluded a
treaty of alliance with the Emperor of Austria, from
which I anticipate important advantages to the common
cause.

"I have also concluded a treaty with the United
States of America, by which subjects of long and difficult
discussion have been equitably adjusted.

"These treaties will be laid before you.

"Although the prosecution of the war will naturally
engage your chief attention, I trust that other matters
of great interest and importance to the general welfare
will not be neglected.

"I rejoice to observe that the general prosperity of
my subjects remains uninterrupted. The state of the
revenue affords me entire satisfaction; and I trust that
by your wisdom and prudence you will continue to
promote the progress of agriculture, commerce, and
manufactures.

"Gentlemen of the House of Commons—In the
estimates which will be presented to you I trust you will
find that ample provision has been made for the
exigencies of the public service.

"My Lords and Gentlemen—I rely with confidence
on your patriotism and public spirit. I feel assured
that in the momentous contest in which we are engaged
you will exhibit to the world the example of a united
people. Thus shall we obtain the respect of other
nations, and may trust that, by the blessing of God, we
shall bring the war to a successful termination."

The Commons withdrew to their own House; the
Peers adjourned, and met again at five o'clock when
the business of the evening began.

The Duke of LEEDS moved, and Lord ASHBURTON
(in the absence of the Earl of Abingdon) seconded the
Address.—The Earl of DERBY began by saying that he
had no intention to move any amendment. It was not
the time for considering whether the war might have
been avoided. The nation, as one man, is pushing
forward with an abnegation of self, unparalleled in
history; it was not the Government who were appealing
to the country, but it was the country that was urging
upon the government the prosecution of the war. He
cordially concurred in the language of the speech with
regard to the hearty and efficient cooperation of the
Emperor of the French; and his satisfaction was
increased by knowing that Sir James Graham and
Sir Charles Wood, who not long ago entertained such
different views, also concurred in that language.
Lord Derby then alluded to the deeds of the army.
My Lords (he said) when I remember that, of that
numerically small army which was sent out from this
country a few months ago, probably not one in a hundred
of the privates, and probably not one in ten of the
officers, had ever before heard a shot fired in anger;
when I remember that they went forth, at the first
outset of their campaign, to pine away in inaction, and
that their ranks were thinned by disease—morally
depressing, if anything could depress their indomitable
courage; when I remember that an army composed of
such materials, so weakened, so dispirited, was led to
invade the dominions of a powerful enemy, having
carried with them nothing but what was absolutely
necessary for their march, and hardly sufficient for their
equipment and provision; when I remember that such
a body of men, under such circumstances, found themselves
in front of a force numerically superior, intrenched
upon heights, fortified with all the skill and all the
power which the might of Russia could supply, and
fortified upon ground the natural difficulties of which
were such as to impede even an active man in the
ascent, although not checked by the enemy; when I
remember that those heights were bristling with batteries,
from which shot and shell were poured which
mowed down the ranks of our men as they ascended that
glorious but bloodstained hill; when I remember that
in the face of numbers not inferior to their own, against
all the difficulties of position, against all the opposition
of the most powerful artillery, they advanced, weakened
in numbers, falling by scores, but the survivors closing
their ranks and pressing forward with indomitable
courage; when, under these circumstances, hand to
hand, that body of men who had never before heard a
shot fired repulsed a veteran army from a position so
fortified, from which it had been the boast of Russia
that no army could dislodge them in less than three
weeks, whereas this great success was achieved by our
raw army in the course of three hours; when we
remember that within a fortnight afterwards, the
position of our men being changed, they being the besieged
instead of the besiegers, they were assailed by an
army seven times their number; when we recollect that
our troops were called to the conflict from successive
and continuous labour at the intrenchments, suffering
from cold, from privation, from hunger, in some cases
from all but nakedness: when we remember that they
were placed under the disadvantage of a surprise in the
darkness of a foggy morning; when I find that these
men, who won the heights of Alma in the course of
three hours from a numerically superior army, resisted
the assault of an army seven times stronger than
themselves, and for eight hours maintained the unequal
contest, sometimes even without ammunition, our troops
on those bloodstained heights being reinforced and supported
by a portion of their gallant allies; when I remember
these deeds of arms—ay, and even the unfortunate
but astounding charge made by our gallant cavalry,
—I say that no words can do justice to the merits of
such brave and heroic soldiers. I say that when we
read the history of that campaign—when we read it, not