The Press.
London, England, 1855-08-18 00:00:00

THE PROROGATION.

The long session of 1854-55 was brought to a close
on Tuesday, when the following Royal Speech was
read by the Lord Chancellor, as her Majesty's Com-
missioner, in the House of Lords :

My Lards 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 your-
selves to the discharge of your public duties during a lung
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 at-
tention to many measures of great public utility. Her
Majesty is convinced that yon will share her satisfaction at
finding that the progress of events has tended to cement
more firmly that union which has so happily been estab•
lished between our Government and that of our ally, the
Emperor of the French, and her Majesty trusts that the
alliance founded on a sense of the general interests of
Europe, consolidated by good faith, will long survive the
events which have given rise to it, and will contribute to
the permanent wellbeing and prosperity of the two great
nations whom it has linked together in the bonds of ho-
nourable friendship. The accession of the King of Sar-
dinia to the treaty between her Majesty, the Emperor of
the French, and the Sultan, has given additional impor-
tance and strength to such 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 required, of
those patriotic offers of extended service which she has re-
ceived from the militia of the United Kingdom, and for
the means of reinforcing her brave army in the Crimea, by
an 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 Sul-
tan to provide the means which are necessary to enable
him to maintain the efficiency of the Turkish army, which
has so gallantly withstood 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 metro-
polis, trusts that the arrangements provided by that mea-
sure will lead to many improvements conducive to the con-
venience and the health of this great city. The abolition
of the duty on newspapers will tend to diffuse useful infor-
mation among the poorer classes of her Majesty's subjects.
The principle of limited liability which you have judi-
ciously applied to joint-stock associations will afford addi-
tional facilities for the employment of capital, and the
improvements which you have made in the laws which re-
gulate 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 these important and flourishing colonies an extended
power of self-government, will assist the development of
their great national resources, and promote the content-
ment and happiness of their inhabitants.
Her Majesty commands us to say that she has been
deeply gratified by the zeal and success of her Majesty's
arms, and by the sympathy for her soldiers and sailors
manifested throughout the 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 to the relief of the sufferers by the casualties of the

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

777' A

have alleviated the weight of those burdens by the
mixed arrangement 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, alio
made at the recent Conferences at Vienna, to bring the
war to a conclusion on conditions consistent with the
honour of the Allies and the future security of Europe,
have proved ineffectual, but those endeavours having
failed no other course is left to her Majesty but to prose-
cute the war with all possible vigour. Her Majesty rely-
ing upon the support of Parliament—upon the manly
spirit and patriotism of her poople—upon the never-
failing courage of her army and navy, whose patience
under buffering, and whose power of endurance, her
Majesty has witnessed with admiration—upon the stead-
fast fidelity of her Allies, and, above all, upon the justice
of her cause, humbly puts her trust in the Almighty Die.
poser 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 the people, the
promotion of which is the object of her Majesty's constant
care and the anxious desire of her heart.

NEW BILLS.
The Royal assent was given, by commission, on
Tuesday to a numerous batch of bills. Thu list
included the following public measures, which are
now acts of Parliament :

The Turkish Loan, Exchequer Bills (7,000,0001.),
Metropolis Local Management, Sale of Beer, Limited
Liability, Ordnance Board, Customs Law Consolidation,
Customs Tariff Acts Amendment and Consolidation, Crimi-
nal Justice, Charitable Trusts, Despatch of Business of the
Court of Chancery, Crown Suits, Court of J udicature( Prince
of Wales Island), Schools' Grants Securities Application,
Dwellings for Labouring Classes, Office of Speaker, Mei%
chant Shipping, Fisheries, Chinese Passenger-ships Amend-
meut,Passengeis Act Amendment, Turnpike Acts Continu-
ance ( Ireland), Sale of Spirits (Ireland), Navigation Works
(Ireland ), Crime and Outrage ( Ireland ), Lunatic Asylums
( Ireland) Advance, Publicliouses (Ireland ), Diseases
Prevention, Public Health Act, Metropolitan Buildings,
Militia Ballots Suspension, Militia Pay, Militia Officers
Qualification, Lunatic Asylums Registration Act Amend-
ment, Dissenters' Marriages, Coal Mines Inspection,
Burials, Consolidated Fund ( Appropriation), Religions
Worship, Trinity College ( Dublin ), Union of Contiguous
Benefices, Westminster Improvement, Island of Tobago
Loan, and Youthful Offenders ( No. 2), Bills.

THE RETURNS OF THE METROPOLITAN REGIS
are still of a satisfactory character, and show that i
the public health is not so good in London
as in districts that are subject to more favorable
conditions, it is in a better state than is usual at this
season of the year. In the week that ended last
Saturday the total number of deaths registered was
993, of which 482 were those of males, and 511 those
of females. In the corresponding weeks of 1849 and
1854, when so many lives were attacked by cholera,
the deaths rose to nearly double that number, to
1,909 in the former year, and to 1,832 in the latter;
and in the other corresponding weeks of the series of
years 1845-54 the number in four instances consider
ably exceeded 1,000. The deaths of last week oc-
curred in an increased population, and the present
rate of mortality is, theretore, comparatively low.
THE prospectus has been issued of a new Canadian
railway, the Lake Huron and Baal() Railway, with
a capital of 500,t)00/. currency, or 410,0001. sterling.
It is intended, it appears, to form a Canadian com-
pany, under special act of the Colonial Legislature,
to take a lease in perpetuity of the incomplete works
of the Buffalo, Brantford, and Goderich Railway, a
line one hundred and fifty seven miles long, extending
from the foot of Lake Erie to Lake Huron. Of this
line eighty-two miles are now open, thirty-two may
be made ready for traffic in a few weeks, and the
remaining portion, consisting of forty-two miles, is
about one-third made, and will require from twelve
to eighteen months to finish. The total sum ex-
pended is stated at 714,0001. sterling, and a further
amount of 320,0001. sterling is estimated to be re-
quired for its completion and equipment. The
rental to be paid 'by the new to the old company is
fixed at 30,0001. per annum for seven years, such
rental to afterwards increase by 2,5001. per annum to
a maximum of 40,0001. per annum, which last-named
sum is equal to a dividend of rather less than 0 per
cent. per annum on the capital of 714,0001. already
expended. Until the line is opened to Goderich it is
intended to allow out of capital, if needful, 6 per cent.
interest upon the deposit and calls, but an anticipa-
tion is expressed that this interest, will be defrayed
out of the earnings of the line between Buffalo and
Stratford. The shares are of 951. currency, or
201. 10s. sterling, each, with a deposit of N. 10a.
sterling per share.