The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-28 00:00:00

PROROGATION

OF

PARLIAMEN T.

HOUSE OF LORDS—(This DAY).
The ceremony of proroguing Parliament by Commission
bears a striking contrast to that of opening the same by a
Royal Speech from the Throne by her Majesty in person.
Then all is splendour and magnificence, but on occasions
like the present it is a dull, languid, and to the uninitiated
an almost unintelligible memo'''.

The time fixed for the assembling of their lordships was
half-past ene, and on entering the noble chamber at that
hour the Lord Chancellor and the other Peers nominated
in the Royal Commission, are discovered sitting on a
bench in front of the Throne, which, on occasions like the
present, has been divested cf its faded red calico covering.
The three clerks of the house, in their long black gowns
and horsehair, occupy their usual place at the table, and a
few ladies in morning dress are to be observed sitting in the
places usually occupied by the leading members of " her
Majesty's Opposition."
The Royal Commission having been read,
The Lone) CHANCELLOR directs the Usher of the Black
Rod to inform the Commons that their attendance was re-
quired in the House of Psers to hear the Commission
read.
The Usher of tho Black Rod, after bowing twice or
thrice, retires, or rather ‘: backs out," of the house; and
after a few minutes' pause, a somewhat hurried tramp is
heard proceeding along the hard and slippery tessalated
pavement between the two :louses. The Commons arrive
within the house and take their places at the bar, the
Speaker, with " Black Rod," occupying the roost promi-
nent
situation.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then announces that her
Majesty, not thinking fit tc be present on this occasion,
"has directed her Commission to issue to give her consent
to the several public and private bills;" and he directs that
the Clerk should read her Commission.
The first part of the ceremony consists in one of the
Clerks at the table rising by the side of a vast area of parch-
ment and reading for a quarter of an hour the contents of
that most interesting document. At particular passages
which, we suppose, the Clerk considers to be particularly
good, he faces right about to the Commissioners, bows full
low, and calls one of the Commissioners by his name. The
peer thus addressed takes off his cocked hat, responds by
another low bow to intimate, we suppose, that he is not in-
sensible of the honour conferred on hint. Each of the Com-
missioners is named in turn in the course of this volumi-
nous reading, and each of course acknowledges the distinc-
tion in the same manner as the first-mentioned noble lord
The last line of the parchment having been read, the Lord
Chancellor informs the Commons that, in obedience to her
Majesty's commands, and in accordance with the commis-
sion just read, her Majesty had given her royal assent to
the bills, and the clerks are required to pass them in the
usual form.
The " passing" of the bills is rather a curious affair.
Clerk No. 1, who has just deciphered the huge parch-
ment, stands on one side, and clerk No. 2 on the other
side of the table. Clerk No. 2 reads the title of the
bill, and makes at the same time a profound bow to the
Commissioners, and clerk No. 1 also bows at the same mo-
ment with mechanical precision.
After bowing to the Commissioners, clerk No. 1 turns
his head half-way round to the Commons, and exclaims,
with awful dignity, "La Rein° remercie sea loyal subjects,
accepte leur benevolence, et ainsi le vent." Then follows
the announcement singly of a list of bills which are passed
by, the same amount of bowing, but in this case the form
of incantation by which they are converted into acts of
Parliament is more brief, the words used by the clerk being
simply " La Roine le vent."
Amongst the bills receiving the Royal assent were the
following •
Exchequer Bonds.
Consolidated Fund (Appropriation).
East India Loan.
- Local European Forces (India).
Spirit Duties.
Law and Equity.
Titles to Land (Scotland).
Rifle Volunteer Corps.
Crown Debts and Judgments.
Landlord and Tenant (Ireland).
Fortification (Provision of Expenses).
Customs (No. 2).
Stamp Duties (No. 2).
Defence of the Realm.

Excise.
Weights and Measures (Ireland).
Chancery Evidence Commission.
Solicitors and Conveyancers.
Roman Catholic Charities.
Endowed Charities.
Naval Discipline.
Church Temporalities (Ireland).
Union of Benefices.
Mines Regulation and Inspection.
Gunpowder, &c.
Poor Relief (Ireland).
Divorce Court.
Trustees and Mortgages, &c.
Savings Bank and Friendly Societies.
Peace Preservation (Ireland) Act Amendment.
Militia Pay.
Tenure and Improvement of Land (Ireland).
Tramways (Ireland).
At the conclusion of this part of the day's proceedings,
the Royal Speech proroguing Parliament was read by the
Lord Chancellor as follows :

HER MAJESTY'S SPEECH

' MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,

" We are commanded by her Majesty to release you from
further attendance iu Parliament, and at the same time to
convey to you her Majesty's acknowledgments for the zeal
and assiduity with which you have applied yourselves to
the performance of your important duties during the long
and laborious session of Parliament now about to close.
"Her Majesty commands us to inform you that her re-
lations with foreign Powers aro friendly and satisfactory;

and her Majesty trusts that there is no danger of any in•
terruption of the general peace of Europe. Events of con.

siderable importance are, indeed, taking place in Italy ;
but if no foreign Powers interfere therein, and if the Ita-
lians are left to settle their own affairs, the tranquillity of
other States will remain undisturbed.

"The proposed Conferences on the subject of the cession
of Savoy and of Nice to France have not yet been held.
But her Majesty confidently trusts that, in any negotia-
tions which may take place, full and adequate arrangements
will be made for securing, in accordance with the spirit and
letter of the Treaty of Vienna of 1815, the neutrality and

independence of the Swiss Confederation. That neutrality
and independence were an object to which all the Powers
who were parties to the Treaties of Vienna attached great
importance, and they are no less important now, than then,
for the general interests of Europe.
"Her Majesty commands us to assure you that the
atrocities which have been committed upon tke Christian
population in Syria have inspired her Majesty with the
deepest grief and indignation. Her Majesty has cheerfully
concurred with the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of
the French, the Prince Regent of Prussia, and the Empe-
ror of Russia, in entering into an engagement with the
Sultan, by which temporary military assistance has been
afforded to the Sultan, for the purpose of re-establishing
order in that part of his dominions.

" We are commanded by her Majesty to inform you that
her Majesty greatly regrets that the pacific overtures
which, by her Majesty's directions, her Envoy in China
made to the Imperial Government at Pekin did not lead to
any satisfactory result, and it has, therefore, been neces-
sary that the combined naval and military forces which
her Majesty and her ally the Emperor of the French had
sent to the China Seas should advance towards the
Northern Provinces of China, for the purpose of supporting
the just demands of the Allied Powers.
6" Her Majesty, desirous of giving all possible weight to
her diplomatic action in this matter, has sent to China, as
special Ambassador for this service, the Earl of Elgin,
who negotiated the Treaty of Tien-sing, the full and faith-
ful execution of which is demanded from the Emperor of
China.