ceeding on a different principle. But he maintained, that when this was carried to excess, it ought to be corrected. He admitted to the noble and learned lord, that indi⚫ viduals and bodies of individuals ought to be protected in their rights; but it should never be forgotten that they possessed those rights, and ought to exercise them, not for selfish purposes, but for the general benefit. All that the bill tended to do was to suspend the exercise of the elective franchise in the boroughs in question during the interval which the expected dissolution would occasion, thereby leaving the question for the determination of the new parliament precisely in the state in which it was at present.

Earl Grosvenor further explained the misapprehension which had taken place with respect to what had fallen from him at an earlier period of the evening, and expressed his conviction that no noble lord could for a moment suppose him capable of palliating the dreadful atrocity recently contemplated. On the question immediately before their lordships, he entirely concurred in the opinion of his noble friend who had just sat down.

The earl of Lauderdale expressed his satisfaction that his noble friend had a fuller opportunity of explaining his observations. The noble earl then moved, that the further discussion of the question before their lordships be adjourned for a fortnight.

On this motion their lordships divided

In the commons, the same day, Mr. Hume detailed the cruel treat ment of the master and crew of the brig Charles, of Aberdeen, by the governor of Teneriff; and concluded with moving for several papers relative to the transaction in question.

After some conversation, in which Mr. Brougham, Mr. C. Hutchinson, Mr. C. Forbes, and lord Castlereagh joined, Mr. Hume withdrew his motion.

In answer to a question from Mr. Knox, lord Castlereagh stated, that it was not intended to renew the Irish insurrection act, it being hoped that the measures taken by gentlemen of the country, supported by the troops and by the police, would have the effect of repressing the disturbances occasioned by the ribbon-men.

House of lords, Feb. 28.--The archbishop of Canterbury, the lord chancellor, the marquis Camden, and the earls of Liverpool and Westmorland, having taken their seats on the woolsack, as royal commissioners; and the commons, with the speaker, attending at the bar; the royal assent was given by the commis- · sioners to the mutiny, the expiring laws, the annual indemnity, and the Irish elections bills.

The lord chancellor then delivered the following speech:

"My lords and gentlemen, "We are commanded by his majesty to inform you, that it is a great disappointment to his majesty, that on this first and solemn occasion he is prevented by indisposition from meeting you in person. It would have been a consolation to his majesty to give utterance in this place to those feelings with which his majesty and

the

the nation alike deplore the loss of a sovereign, the common father of all his people. The king commands us to inform you, that in determining to call, without delay, the new parliament, his majesty has been influenced by the consideration of what is most expedient for public business, as well as most conducive to general convenience. "Gentlemen of the house of

commons,

"We are directed by his majesty to thank you for the provision which you have made for the several branches of the public service from the commencement of the present year, and during the interval which must elapse before a new parliament can be assembled.

"My lords and gentlemen,

"We are commanded to inform you, that in taking leave of the present parliament, his majesty cannot refrain from conveying to you his warmest assurances of the sense which his majesty entertains of the important services which you have rendered the country. Deeply as his majesty lamented

that designs and practices such as those which you have been recently called upon to repress should have existed in this free and happy country, he cannot sufficiently commend the prudence and firmness with which you have directed your attention to the means of counteracting them. If any doubt had remained as to the nature of those principles by which the peace and happiness of the nation were so seriously menaced, or of the excesses to which they were likely to lead, the flagrant and sanguinary conspiracy which has lately been detected must open the eyes of the most incredulous, and must vindicate to the whole world the justice and expediency of those measures to which you judged it necessary to resort, in defence of the laws and constitution of the kingdom."

The lord chancellor then prorogued the parliament to Monday the 13th day of March next. But on the 29th of February the late parliament was dissolved by royal proclamation, a the new parliament to meet on the 23d of April.

HE new parliament assembled on the 23d of April: the first 40 members were, as usual, sworn in by the lord steward of the king's household, and they, under a commission from him, swore in

others. The former speaker, the right honourable Manners Sutton, was unanimously rechosen to that high and important office.

House of lords, April 27.-At ten minutes before two o'clock

this day, his majesty arrived in state at the house of lords, and immediately afterwards took his seat on the throne. The imperial crown of the realm was not carried; and the principality of Wales having now merged in the crown, that distinct symbol of royalty no longer has place. His majesty wore his large military hat, with the lofty plume.

The usher of the black rod was then sent to command the attendance of the house of commons in the house of peers.

The speaker instantly obeyed the summons, and presented himself at the bar, attended by about 100 members.

At two o'clock precisely the king commenced the following speech :

"My lords and gentlemen,

"I have taken the earliest occasion of assembling you here, after having recurred to the sense of my people. In meeting you personally for the first time since the death of my beloved father, I am anxious to assure you, that I shall always continue to imitate his great example in unceasing attention to the public interests, and in paternal solicitude for the welfare and happiness of all classes of my subjects. I have received from foreign powers renewed as surances of their friendly disposition, and of their earnest desire to cultivate with me the relations of peace and amity.

"Gentlemen of the house of

commons,

"The estimates of the present year will be laid before you. They have been framed upon principles of strict economy; but it is to me matter of the deepest regret that the state of the coun

try has not allowed me to dispense with those additions to our military force which I announced at the commencement of the last session of parliament. The first object to which your attention will be directed is the provision to be made for the support of the civil government, and of the honour and dignity of the crown. I leave entirely at your disposal my interest in the hereditary revenues; and I cannot deny myself the gratification of declaring, that so far from desiring any arrangement which might lead to the imposition of new burthens upon my people, or even might diminish, on my account, the amount of the reductions incident to my ac cession to the throne, I can have no wish, under circumstances like the present, that any addition whatever should be made to the settlement adopted by parliament in the year 1816.

"My lords and gentlemen,

"Deeply as I regret that the machinations and designs of the disaffected should have led, in some parts of the country, to acts of open violence and insurrection, I cannot but express my satisfac tion at the promptitude with which those attempts have been suppressed by the vigilance and activity of the magistrates, and by the zealous co-operation of all those of my subjects whose exertions have been called forth to support the authority of the laws. The wisdom and firmness manifested by the late parliament, and the due execution of the laws, have greatly contributed to restore confidence throughout the kingdom, and to discountenance those principles of sedition and irreligion which had been disseminated with

such

such malignant perseverance, and had poisoned the minds of the ignorant and unwary. I rely upon the continued support of parlia ment in my determination to maintain, by all the means intrusted to my hands, the public safety and tranquillity. Deploring, as we all must, the distress which still unhappily prevails among many of the labouring classes of the community, and anxiously looking forward to its removal or mitigation, it is in the mean time our common duty, effectually to protect the loyal, the peaceable, and the industrious, against those practices of turbulence and intimidation by which the period of relief can only be deferred, and by which the pressure of the distress has been incalculably aggravated. I trust that an awakened sense of the dangers which they have incurred, and of the arts which have been employed to seduce them, will bring back by far the greater part of those who have been unhappily led astray, and will revive in them that spirit of loyalty, that due submission to the laws, and that attachment to the constitution, which subsist unabated in the hearts of the great body of the people, and which, under the blessing of divine pro. vidence, have secured to the British nation the enjoyment of a larger share of practical freedom, as well as of prosperity and hap. piness, than has fallen to the lot of any nation in the world."

The speech occupied seven minutes in the delivery. The commons then returned to their house, and his majesty descended from the throne, and shortly after their lordships adjourned till five o'clock. The address to his majesty was

subsequently moved in the house of peers by viscount Granville, and seconded by lord Howard of Effingham. It was agreed to unanimously.

In the house of commons, the address to the throne was moved by sir Edward Knatchbull, and seconded by Mr. Wilmot, and agreed to without a dissenting voice.

House of commons, April 28. -The report of the address was brought up by sir E. Knatchbull, and unanimously agreed to.

Before the question was put, however, lord A. Hamilton addressed a few words to the house, respecting the late disturbances in Scotland; which produced an interescing statement from the chancellor of the exchequer upon the subject of emigration, which the noble lord recommended as the most effectual remedy for the distresses of the manufacturing population. The right honourable gentleman observed, that 50,000%. which was voted last year for the purpose of promoting voluntary emigration, had been considerably exceeded; and that the number of those who had availed themselves of this assistance, in order to proceed to the new colony at the Cape of Good Hope, amounted to upwards of 5,000 persons. When the last accounts were received from them, they had performed part of their voyage in good health, and had the prospect of terminating it prosperously. Government, he added, was fully disposed to extend every necessary aid to those who might wish to emigrate, but they could not venture to do so without mature consideration.

April 29.-Lord G. Beresford informed

informed the house, that he had it in command from his majesty to apprise them, that the king would be graciously pleased to receive their address in Carlton palace at four o'clock this day. At which hour the speaker proceeded in state to Carlton palace, accompanied by the members.

May 1.-The speaker read his majesty's answer to the address in consequence of his majesty's speech, and the same was ordered to be entered on the journals.

On the motion of Mr. Vansittart, pursuant to precedent at the commencement of a new reign, an address was agreed to in reply to his majesty's answer.

May 2.-On the motion of Mr. M. A. Taylor, a select committee was appointed to inquire how far it is practicable to compel persons using steam engines with furnaces to erect them in a manner less prejudicial to public health and public comfort.

The same member also obtained leave to bring in a bill to punish, with fine and imprisonment, the offence of furiously driving stage-coaches, to the imminent danger of life and limb.

Mr. alderman Wood said, he had been applied to by seven individuals for a warrant to apprehend a person named George Edwards. Four of the parties deposed to some material facts affecting the safety of that house; but others were of too horrible a description for him to repeat. They involved a plot, not merely to effect the de. struction of that house, and the honourable members within it, but of one of the highest person ages in this kingdom, and of his majesty's ministers also. At present, he should only move, that

George Edwards be brought to the bar for a breach of the privi leges of that house.

Mr. Hume seconded the mo

tion.

Mr. Brougham regretted that there appeared to be a disposition to treat the subject with levity. Spies, like executioners, were odious, but their services were, in some cases, necessary; only care should be taken that, whilst employed to give information, they did not become the active instiga. tors of crime.

Mr. Canning denied that there had been any intention to treat this subject with levity. The contrary had been the fact; the only objection to the motion had been its form; and all he now rose to submit to the consideration of the house was, that as this discussion, in its present shape, could not be proceeded in with advantage, it should at present proceed no fur

ther. Motion withdrawn.

The house having gone into a committee on so much of his majesty's speech as relates to the civil list, Mr. Vansittart moved three resolutions, the 1st, granting to his majesty, towards defraying the expenses of the civil list, 850,000%. for Great Britain; the 2d, granting 270,000l. for England; and the 3d, for carrying the proceeds of the hereditary revenues to the consolidated fund.

The resolutions were, after some observations from sir H.· Parnell, colonel Davies, Mr. Tierney, and others, agreed to, upon an understanding, that the discus sion thereon should take place on the report.

May 4. Further petitions were presented respecting the dangerous state of London bridge.

D

Sir