The Press. — London, England, 1856-02-02 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 2 s 1856. Ipore6ings in Varliamcnt. OPENING OF THE SESSION. PARLIAMENT was opened by the Queen in person on Thursday. The usual ceremonies were observed on this occasion. The House of Lords was thrown open at noon, and the peeresses' gallery, with the cor ridors and galleries through which the Queen would pass, were soon filled with a brilliant crowd of spectators. Outside the House the royal route was lined by dense bodies of people. Shortly before two p.m., the royal procession, consisting of six carriages and her Majesty'sstate coach, escorted by a troop of the Life Guards, left Buckingham Palace, and proceeding, amidst the heartiest reception of the people, down the avenue and through the Horse Guards, arrived at the Palace of Westminster in twenty minutes. Her Majesty on reaching the Victoria 'rower was received by the great officers of State, and then con ducted to the Robing-roam. After a short interval, the Queen, leaning on the arm of his Royal Highness Piince Albert, entered the Chamber of Peers, attended by the Mistress of the Robes (the Duchess of Suther land), the Lord Chancellor, the Marquis of Lans downe, bearing the Crown, arl Granville the Sword of State, and the Marquis of Winchester the Cup of Maintenance. _ _ _ Her Majesty having ascended the throne, the Commons were summoned to the bar, and the Queen opened the session of 1856 with the following gracious SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. My Lord.' and Gentletnen, Since the close of the last session of Parliament, the arms of the allies have achieved a signal and important success. Sebastopol, the great stronghold of Russia in the Black Sea, has yielded to the persevering constancy and to the daring bravery of the allied forces. The naval and military preparations for the ensuing year have neces sarily occupied my serious attention ; but while determined to omit no effort which could give vigour to the operations of the war, I have deemed it my duty not to decline any overtures which might reasonably afford a prospect of a safe and honourable peacs. Accordingly, when the Emperor of Austria lately offered to myself and to my august ally the Emperor of the French, to employ his good offices with the Emperor of Russia, with a view to en deavour to bang about an amicable adjustment of the matters at issue between the contending powers, I con sented, in concert with my allies, to accept the offer thus made, and I have the satisfaction to inform you that cer tain conditions have been agreed upon which I hope may prove the foundation of a general treaty of peace. Negotiations for such a treaty will shortly be opened at Paris. In conducting those negotiations I shall be careful not to lose sight of the objects for which the war was under- taken ; and I shall deem it right in no degree to relax my naval and military preparations until a satisfactory treaty of peace shall have been concluded. E. Although the war in which I am engaged was brought on by events in the south of Europe, ray attention has not been withdrawn from the state of things in the north, and, in conjunction with the Emperor of the French, 1 have concluded, with the King of Sweden and Norway, a treaty containing defensive engagements applicable to his domi nions, and tending to the preservation of the balance of power in that part of Europe. I have also concluded a treaty of friendship, com merce, and navigation with the Republic of Chili. 1 have given directions that these treaties shall be laid before you. Gentlemen of the House of Commons, The estimates for the ensuing year will be laid before you. You will find them framed in such a manner as to provide for the exigencies of war, if peace should unfortu• nately not be concluded. My Lords and Gentlemen, It is gratifying to me to observe that, notwithstanding the pressure of the war, and the burdens and sacrifices which it has unavoidably imposed upon my people, the resources of my empire remain unimpaired. I rely with confidence on the manly spirit and enlightened patriotism of my loyal subjects for a continuance of that support which they have so nobly aflorded me, and they may be assured tluit I shall not call upon them for exertions beyond what may be required by a due regard for the great interests, the honour, and the dignity of the empire. There are many subjects connected with internal improvement which I recommend to your attentive con• sideration. THE PIIESS. The difference which exists in several important par ticulars between the commercial laws of Scotland and those of the other parts of the United Kingdom has occa sioned inconvenience to a large portion of my subjects en gaged in trade. Measures will be proposed to you for remedying this evil. Measures will also be proposed to yon for improving the laws relating to partnership by simplifying those laws, and thus rendering more easy the employment of capital in commerce. The system under which merchant shipping is liable to pay local dues and passing tolls has been the subject of much complaint. Measures will be proposed to you for affording relief in regard to those matters. Other important measures for improving the law in Great Britain and in Ireland will be proposed to you, which will, I doubt not, receive your attentive considera tion. Upon these and all other matters upon which you may deliberate, 1 fervently pray that the blessings of Divine l'rovidence may favour your councils, and guide them to the promotion of the great object of my unvarying solici tude—the welfare and the happiness of my people. THE ADDRESSES. The opening night of tee session was occupied in both houses by a brief debate upon the Address, though no amendment was moved in either. The Earl of GosFoun, in the Lords, moved the Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne, and alluded to the prospects of a speedy peace, which he trusted would be safe and honourable : A short time back the duty which he was now called upon to perform would have been comparatively light and easy, for it would have been a task of no great ditticulty, and one which required no great amount of eloquence, to persuade their lordships to a vigorous and, as regarded the enemy, a destructive pursuance of the war. A short time back but few of their lordships, and fewer still out of doors, would have been opposed to such a course, and, for his own part, he felt no hesitation in saying that it would have been most congenial to his own feelings ; for of the justice and necessity of the war he had never entertained the slightest doubt or misgiving He must confess that he had himself looked forward with joyous anticipation to the probable result of the campaign of MO. The scene was, however, changed, and he, with feelings strongly enlisted on the side of a vigorous prose• cution of the war, found himself suddenly and, he must confess, somewhat reluctantly transformed into an advo- cate of peace. Every Christian man must, of necessity, feel that a state of peace was prefetablc to a state of war, and, indeed, the main justification of all war, and espe cially of the war in which the country was engaged, was the endeavour to obtain a substantial peace All other considerations must give way, and they were bound to use their best endeavours to obtain so desirable a result as a safe and honourable peace. But let him not he misunderstood. He had already stated that he had become, somewhat reluctantly, an advocate of peace. He would add that he was so only conditionally upon our being able to arrive at an agreement upon terms safe and honourable to ourselves and to our allies—terms calcu• lated not only to effect the object of the war, so far as Russian aggression on Turkey might be concerned, but to curb the aggressive policy of Russia in other quarters — terms such as our successes entitled us to require. His lordship then briefly noticed the various para graphs in the Royal Speech, and congratulated the house upon the successes already achieved by the allies. The Earl of ABINGDON, in seconding the Address, rejoiced over every sentence of the Royal Speech, and particularly over the annoutcement of pacific negotiations : Nothing could be more congenial to the feelings of the people than the statement in the Speech, that our naval and military preparations should in DO degree be relaxed until a satisfactory treaty of peace should be com pleted. He rejoiced that the negotiations were to be con ducted in Paris, the capital of that illustrious prince Mho swayed the destinies of a people renowned in arms, and foremost among the nations of Europe in all the arts of civilisation. (Hear, hear.) He could not find words sufficient to express his admiration of the conduct of that illustrious prince and the people over whom he reigned in having come forward in so honourable a manner, forgetting all former occurrences, and entering into so cordial an alliance with this country. The Earl of DERBY assured the house that no party feeling should interfere with that unanimity so essential to the best interests of the country, but at the same time he claimed a right to criticise the Speech from the Throne:— My lords, I go along with the Address in answer to that which, in constitutional phrase, I must call her Majesty's moat gracious Speech ; but, having said so, I must be permitted to deal with that speech as it is. and not as it is lint—(a laugh)—to deal with it as the speech of the Ministers, and not as the speech of our gracious Sovereign ; and I do so because I feel that in my comments on that speech I may make use of some expression and apply some terms that would hardly be complimentary or even fitting if they were addressed to the Sovereign. (Hear, hear.) We are not accustomed to look in documents of this kind for ornaments of stele, or for any great elegance of diction or language; and long experience has induced us to be perfectly satisfied with the plain and intelligible 101 English of the First Minister of the Crown in conveying his intentions to the louse. (Hear, hear.) But I must venture to say that of all the documents of this kind that ever came under my observation, I never met with one that could so little pretend to the graces of diction, or even to the intelligible conveyance of information to the house. (Laughter.) Of course, lam ignorant by whom the para graphs relating to the war may have been flamed; but if they were the suggestion of my noble friend opposite, to whose department they principally belong, it must have been at the close of one of those exhausting attacks to which he as well as lam unfortunately subject—( a laugh) —or under the influence nut more exhilarating of that meagre diet which is their necessary accompaniment. (A laugh.) The Speech is redolent of water.gruel. (Great laughter.) It reminds me of nothing more than those documents which in our early school days we were accustomed to prepare, and which went by the name of " themes," in the composition of which the object was to accomplish the allotted task, and fill up the six and thirty lines of writing, taking special care not to exceed the *Round limit, but within that limit to dilute with the largest possible amount of feeble and unmeaning language the small modicum of sense. (Laughter.) The omissions in the Speech were remarkable. There was no notice taken of India, or of our colo nies—nothing said about our commerce or finances — no allusion made to the state of our relations with America, and but little indication given of those measures intended to be brought under considera • lion of the Government. Lord Derby then came to the Speech itself : Now, in the Speech this day delivered from the Throne we commence with a paragraph so bare, so bald, so meagre, that I am at once warranted in drawing that distinction which I have already done between the Speech of the Sovereign and the Speech of the Minister. We have a bare announcement in the first paragraph that. " since the close of the last session of Parliament, the alms of the allies have achieved a signal and important success—that Sebastopol, the great stronghold of Russia in the Black Sea, has yielded to the persevering constancy and to the daring bravery of the allied forces." One of the noble lords who either moved or seconded the Address has spoken of the glowing encomiums which were psased by her Majesty's Government on the gallantry and bravery of the troops ; but all I can say is, that never was praise so faint for achievements so great, and never was a reception so ungracious given to heroic endurance, to unparalleled bravery, and to sufferings all but unparalleled, or to exer tions that have achieved results which it was almost im possible to hope any amount of gallantry or endurance could have accomplished. (Cheers.) The warm, kindly, and womanly sympathy shown by her Majesty for the sufferings of her soldiers gave assurance that had she been left to the promptings of her own heart, her language would hava been very different : My lords, if her Majesty had followed the dictates of her own judgment, 1 think I know what would have been the tone in which she would have addressed you. Her Majesty would have expressed a deep sense of gratitude to that Almighty disposer of all events without whom arms can do nothing—(Hear, hear)—and would have asked you to join in the expression of a nation's gratitude towards those brave men who, under that mighty Providence, have been enabled to achieve so important a success. Lan guage such as that would have gone to the hearts of many and many thousands in this country. (Hear, hear.) Language such as that, addressed by the Sovereign to her Parliament, would have kindled anew and strengthened the flame of loyalty winch burns among your troops, and would have encouraged them to those deeds of daring upt n which such a paragraph ai I have read is calculated to throw a damp. (Hear, hear.) The allusion to the fall of Sebastopol contained an erroneous statement. The northern side was still held by Russia, and her great stronghold bad not, therefore, yielded to the daring and valour of our troops, however great that daring and valour might have been. He could not blame her Majesty's vernment for entering upon negotiations, but the paragraph in the Speech alluding to the event was highly unsatisfactory : We are told that " the Emperor of Austria lately offered to myself and to my august ally the Emperor of the Fran, h to employ his good offices with the Emperor of RUSSif, with a view to endeavour to bring about an amicable at . - justrnent of the matters at issue between the contendit g powers." I doubt not that this is a correct statement of the facts, and that the Emperor or Austria has applied to the Emperor of the French and to her Majesty for their sanction to these negotiations with the Emperor of Russia in order to the attainment of peace; but I confess that it would to me have borne a more gratifying appearance if the Government had been enabled to state that the Im• peror of Austria had applied for the sanction of the Em peror of Russia to employ his good offices with tl Sovereigns of France and England ; for, from the language of the Speech—and I doubt not that language was well considered—dap impression in Europe, and I fear it is a correct impression, will be that, after all, we are virtually applicants to Russia for peace, and that Russia is not the applicant. ("No, no," from the Ministerial benches.) Noble lords opposite say " No, no." The statement they make is this—that Austria has applied for your consent to employ her good offices with Russia towards obtaining the assent of Russia to certain con,iitions in which you have signified your concurrence. Now, if in that case you are not the party seeking for peace—you having given your assent to the conditions, and applying for the concurrence of Russia—and if Russia is not the party preserving the right to grant those conditions or to refuse them, I con•