PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 569, 24 October 1862, Page 3

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

THE QUBEIs's SPKECIi.

Thursday, August 7, being the last day of tha session, their lordships met at two o'ciock, when the House was prorogued by commission. The Lords Commissioners were the Lord Chancellor, Earl Kussel, Earl St. Germans, Lord Kingsdown, and Lord Wenslcydalo.

It cannot be said that the public took much interest in the closing ceremonial, which certainly did not appeal very strongly to their favor. With the exception of the five noble lords who, as commissioners, had donned their scarlet robes, the attendance of peers was was scanty in the extreme, being limited to the Bishop of Chichesicr, Earl Fortesque, Marquis of Clanricarcle, Eoil Beauchamp, Lord Denman, and the Marquis of Bath. There was a fair sprinkling of ladies in the strangers' gallery, and they also filled- the back bench on the Opposition side of the House, •while one of the. side galleries exhibited.a few

black-coated visitors, relieved by two or three in Indian costumes ; afld yet with all this, from the dreary waste of empty benches in the Imdy of the House, the chamber^wore an extremely bare aspect.

The Lord Chancellor ordered the Usher of the BUck \lnt\ to desire the attendance of the Commons to hoar the royal commission read.

The Speaker of the Commons having arrived at the bar, attended hy an unusually large body of members of the Lowt>r House.

The commitsion was iead, and the royal assent given iv the customary form to n number of hills.

The Lord Chancellor then read, in a clear and distinct tone, tho Queen's S t ieceh, announcing the prorogation. It was as follows :—

"My Lords and GfiNTiiMicrr, "We aio commanded by her Majestey to release you from further attendance in Parliament, ii ml, at the saina time, to convey to you her Majesty's acknowledgments for the zeal and assiduity with which y:)ii have applied yoursehes to the performance of your duties during the session now brought to a "close.

"Her Majesty commands us to inform you that her relations with foreign Powers are friendly and satisf ictory, and thai her M ijesty trusts there is uo danger of my disturbance of the peace of Europe.

" Tlie civil war which has for some time been raging among the State? of the Xoith American Union, has. unfortunately, continued in unabated intensity ; and tlie evils with which it has been attended have not been confined totho American continent. But her Majesty, having, from the outset, determined to take no part in that contest, has seen no reason to depart from the neutrality to which she has steadily adhered. " Disturbances have taU'n place in s.wie of the frontier pr>vinces of the Turkish empire, and her Msijesty Ims instructed her ambassador at Constantinople to attend a conference to be held in that city by the representatives of the Powers who we.te p rties- to the treaty of Paris of 1856. Her Majesty trusts tint the questions to bj dealt with in that conference will be settled in a manner consistent with the treaty engagements of the abies, and in accordance with the just rights of the Sultan, and the welfare of the' Ch.risti.au inhalitiints of his dominions.

"Her Majesty's forces in China, together with those of theEmpeiorof tlie French, have lately been employed, in co-operation with those of the Emperor of China, in protect ing some ot tho chief seats of Biitish comerec. in China from injury by the civil war which is laying waste portions o"f that vast empire.

'•Her Majesty commands us to inform you that she lias concluded a commercial treaty with the King of the Belgians, by winch the trade of her Majesty's subjects in Belgium will be placed, generally, on the footing of the most favored nation. " Gextluaien of the Housk or Commons, "Her Majesty commands us to convoy to you her warm acknowledgments for the liberal s"upplies which you have granted for the service ot the present year ; and her Majesty thanks you for bavins 1 also made provision towards placing her Majesty's dockyards and arsenals iv a permanent state of defence. "My Lords akd Gkxtlemex, " ncr Majesty commands ns to express to you the admiration with which she has witnessed "the undiminished zeal and the patriotic spirit which continue to animate her volunteer forces, ns well as the military efficiency which they have attained.

£ " Her Majesty has observed with satisfaction the kindly intercourse which Ini3 subsisted between her Majesty's subjects aud the numerous foreigners who have been attracted tbi3 year to the United Kingdom, an I her Majesty trusts that the interchange of mutual courtesies will strengthen the foundations of international friendship and goodwill.

" Her Majesty has given her ready assent to an act for carrying into effect the treaty which Her Majesty has concluded with the President of the United States for the suppression of the slave trade ; and Her Majesty trusts that the co-ope-ration of the United States Navy with her oirn may go far to extinguish the desolating crime against which that treaty is directed.

" Her Majesty earnestly hopea that the steps which have been taken for rendering more effectual the aid provided by Parliament for the extension of education among the poorer classes of her subjects will tend to, promote an object of great national importance.

''Her Majesty has given her willing assent to many measures of public utility which you have submitted to her during this session.

" The severe distress which prevails in some of the manufacturing districts has inspired Her Majesty with deep concern and warm sympathy, mingled with admiration of the manly bearing and exemplary fortitude with which the pressure has been endured. Her Majesty trusts that the act; for enabling boards of guardians to provide additional means of relief will mitigate that distress.

" The act for rendering more easy the transfer of land will add to the value of real property, will make titles more simple and secure, and will diminish the expense attending purchases and sales.

" The act for the better regulation of merchant shipping, her Majesty trusts, will prove advantageous to the maritime commerce of the country.

" The act" for better regulation of parochial assessments will tend to a more equal distribution of local taxation ; while the act for the administration of highways will, her Majesty's trusts, improve the means of communication in many parts of the country.

"'The act for establisning a uniformity of weights and measures in Ireland will amply a remedy to inconveniences which have been much felt and complained of as affeoting the trndiug transactions in that part of the United Kingdom ; and the act for amending tlie law relating to the poor will extend to the poorer classes of her Majesty's subjects in Ireland better meaus of obtaining relief and medical attendance.

" In returning to your several counties you will still have important duties to perform, and her Majesty fervently prays that the blessing of Almighty God may assist your efforts, and may direct them to the attainment of the object of her Majesty's constant solicitude — the welfare and happiness of her people."

The commission, proroguing Parliament until Friday, the fith of October, was then read, and the Lord Chancellor declared Parliament prorogued until that day.

The Speaker and the members of the House of Commons then retired from the bar, and the proceedings, which were of a purely formal character, terminated at ten minutes to eight o'clock.