they had a longer time to consider it, for all the amendments
proposed were restrictions on the principle of the
bill, and he thought that the bill would go forth with a
greater chance of success if these amendments had not
been introduced. People might be foolish enough to be
deceived by groundless expectations, but the principle
of the bill was on one hand to limit the expenditure,
while in the nature of things it was likely to limit the
profits. They had no right to consider that in passing
this bill they had discovered anything new. Under the
common law any two persons under a special contract
could limit their liability, and all they proposed was
that a general measure should supersede the necessity
for special contracts.—Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY
obtained the insertion of a clause, giving the Board of
Trade powers to appoint an auditor to investigate the
accounts of any company obtaining limited liability
under the bill.—On the motion of the Lord CHANCELLOR,
a clause was also added, applying the provisions
of the winding-up amendment act to companies, &c.,
receiving certificates of limited liability.—The bill was
then passed.

On Tuesday, August 14, after some routine business,
Parliament was Prorogued by Commission. The royal
commissioners were the Lord Chancellor, Lord Granville,
the Duke of Argyll, Lord Stanley of Alderley, and
the Earl of Harrowby; and having taken their seats on
the woolsack, and the commons having been summoned
to the bar, the Lord Chancellor read the royal speech as
follows:

"MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN: We are commanded
by her Majesty to release you from further attendance
in parliament, and at the same time to express the
warm acknowledgments of her Majesty for the zeal and
assiduity with which you have applied yourselves to
the discharge of your public duties during a long and
laborious session. Her Majesty has seen with great
satisfaction that while you have occupied yourselves in
providing means for the vigorous prosecution of the
war, you have given your attention to many measures
of great public utility. Her Majesty is convinced that
you will share her satisfaction at finding that the
progress of events has tended to cement more firmly
that union which has so happily been established
between her government and that of our ally the Emperor
of the French; and her Majesty trusts that an alliance
founded on a sense of the general interests of Europe,
and consolidated by good faith, will long survive the
events which have given rise to, and will contribute to
the permanent well-being and prosperity of the two
great nations whom it has linked together in bonds of
honourable friendship. The accession of the King of
Sardinia to the treaty between her Majesty, the
Emperor of the French, and the Sultan, has given
additional importance and strength to that alliance;
and, the efficient force which his Sardinian Majesty has
sent to the seat of war to co-operate with the allied
armies will not fail to maintain the high reputation by
which the army of Sardinia has ever been distinguished.
Her Majesty has commanded us to thank you for
having enabled her to avail herself, as far as has been
found to be required, of those patriotic offers of extended
service which she has received from the militia of
the united kingdom, and for the means of reinforcing
her brave army in the Crimea by the enlistment of
volunteers from abroad. Her Majesty acknowledges
with satisfaction the measure which you have adopted
for giving effect to the convention by which, in
conjunction with her ally the Emperor of the French, she
has made arrangements for assisting the Sultan to
provide the means which are necessary to enable him to
maintain in efficiency the Turkish army, which has so
gallantly resisted the assaults of its enemies. Her
Majesty, in giving her assent to the bill which you
presented to her for the local management of the
metropolis, trusts that the arrangements provided by
that measure will lead to many improvements conducive
to the convenience and health of this great city. The
abolition of the duty on newspapers will tend to diffuse
useful information among the poorer classes of her
Majesty's subjects. The principle of limited liability
which you have judiciously applied to joint-stock
associations will afford additional facilities for the
employment of capital; and the improvements which
you have made in the laws which regulate friendly
societies will encourage habits of industry and thrift
among the labouring classes of the community. Her
Majesty trusts that the measures to which she has given
her assent for improving the constitutions of New South
Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, and for bestowing on
the important and flourishing colonies of Australia
extended powers of self-government, will assist the
development of their great national resources, and
promote the contentment and happiness of their
inhabitants. Her Majesty commands us to say that
she has been deeply gratified by the zeal for the success
of her Majesty's arms, and the sympathy for all her
soldiers and sailors manifested throughout her Indian
and colonial empire; and her Majesty acknowledges
with great satisfaction the generous contributions which
her subjects in India and the legislatures and
inhabitants of the colonies have sent for the relief of the
sufferers by the casualties of war.

"GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS: Her
Majesty commands us to convey to you her cordial
thanks for the readiness and zeal with which you have
provided the necessary supplies for carrying on the war
in which her Majesty is engaged. Her Majesty laments
the burdens and sacrifices which it has become
necessary to impose upon her faithful people; but she
acknowledges the wisdom with which you have
alleviated the weight of those burdens by the mixed
arrangements which you have made for providing those
supplies.

"MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN: Her Majesty has
commanded us to say that she has seen with sincere
regret that the endeavours which, in conjunction with
her ally the Emperor of the French, she made at the
recent conferences at Vienna to bring the war to a
conclusion, on conditions consonant with the honour of
the allies, and with the future security of Europe, have
proved ineffectual; but those endeavours having failed,
no other course is left to her Majesty than to prosecute
the war with all possible vigour; and her Majesty,
relying upon the support of parliament, upon the manly
spirit and patriotism of her people, upon the never-
failing courage of her army and her navy, whose
patience under suffering and whose power of endurance
her Majesty has witnessed with admiration, upon the
steadfast fidelity of her allies, and, above all, upon the
justice of her cause, humbly puts her trust in the
Almighty disposer of events for such an issue of the
great contest in which she is engaged as may secure to
Europe the blessings of a firm and lasting peace. On
your return to your several counties you will have
duties to perform little less important than those which
belong to your attendance in parliament. Her Majesty
trusts that your powerful influence will be exerted for
the welfare and happiness of her people, the promotion
of which is the object of her Majesty's constant care,
and the anxious desire of her heart."

The LORD CHANCELLOR then declared the parliament
stood prorogued to Tuesday, the 23rd of October.

In the HOUSE OF COMMONS, on Monday, July 30, the
house went into committee on the Limited Liability
Bill.—Mr. WILLIAMS moved that the amount of capital
required for shares should be as low as five pounds.—
Mr. BOUVERIE, who, in the previous sitting had moved
that the shares should be ten pounds, now hoped that
the committee would agree to a compromise, and fill up
the blank with ten pounds, twenty per cent, to be paid
up.—After some discussion, the suggestion of Mr.
BOUVERIE was agreed to.—Mr. CAIRNS proposed that any
company of not less than six members, associated under
a deed of settlement for any purpose (except banking
or insurance), and having its capital stock divided into
shares as aforesaid, may obtain from the registrar of
joint-stock companies a certificate of limited liability.—
Mr. BOUVERIE opposed the amendment, and after some
discussion the committee divided—for Mr. Cairn's
amendment, 27; against it, 39; majority against the
amendment, 12.—Mr. CAIRNS then proposed to omit
that part of the clause which provided that not less than
twenty per cent, of the nominal amount of the shares