The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-08-12 00:00:00

PROTESTANT BURIAL PLACE AT MADRID.

In reply to another question by Sir R. Itscus, whether
an application had been made to the Spanish Government
for the grant of a Protestant burial-place at Madrid,—
Lord PA LMERSTON said, that by treaty British subjects
in Spain were entitled to burial-grounds ; that the Eng-
lish residents at Madrid had for some time past had a
burial-place, which was situated too near the centre of the
city ; that her Majesty's Government had been in corre-
spondence with that of Spain on the subject of changing
the site for a new one, which had been granted, but he
was sorry to say the grant was accompanied by conditions,
arising out of the laws of 'Spain in regard to religious
opinions, which he regretted.
Some further questions were put and answered before
the arrival of her Majesty at the House of Peers, and the
appearance of the Ircoman Usher of the Black Rod, whose
summons was obeyed by the Speaker and the members
present.
PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

The session of 1851 was closed on Friday by the Queen
in persol. The doors of the house were thrown open at
twelve o'clock, soon after which, peeresses, and other
ladies who had obtained tickets from the Lord Chamber-
lain, began to arrive, and the benches in the body of the
house, the side galleries, and the north gallery were
speedily filled with some of England's fairest and noblest
daughters, attired in costumes of every colour, and pre-
senting an array of grace, beauty, and fashion which such
occasions alone can produce. The attendance of the corps
diplomatique was very numerous, and there were many
other distinguished foreigners present. In the west gal-
lery, an Indian gentleman of rank, attended by an inter-
preter, in their native costume, attracted considerable
notice. Among the peers present were the Duke
of Wellington, the Duke of Newcastle, the Marquis of
Lansdowne, the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Earl of Car-
lisle, the Earl of Minto, the Earl of Enniskillen, the Earl
of Devon, the Earl of Harrington, the Earl of Mountca-
shell, Earl Grey, the Earl of St. Germans, Earl Granville,
Lord Stanley, (of Alderley,) &c. The Bishops of London,
Norwich, and Ossoit, were also present, as were the Chief
Baron of the Court of Exchequer, and Mr. Justice
Patteson.

About a quarter past two o'clock the booming of the
park artillery announced the arrival of the Queen, which
was confirmed within a few minutes by the usual flourish
of trumpets. Shortly after, her Majesty entered the house
in the usual state, leaning on the arm of Prince Albert,
and preceded by the Duke of Wellington, carrying the
sword of state. The Marquis of Lansdowne bore the
crown and velvet cushion, and the Marquis of Winchester
appeared with the cap of maintenance. The Queen
looked remarkably well, and was handsomely attired in a
white brocade satin dress, with a tiara and stomacher of
diamonds; and her Majesty was attended by the Duchess
of Sutherland, as mistress of the robes, and one of the
ladies in waiting ; two youthful pages bearing the cum-
brous crimson velvet train. The whole house having risen
on her Majesty's entrance, the Queen, after taking her
seat on the throne, was graciously pleased to motion the
assemblage to be seated. The " faithful Commons" were
then summoned to attend the Queen by the Deputy Usher
of the Black Rod ; when they made their appearance a few
minutes after. Her Majesty appeared to watch with some
interest their progress through the long avenue which
leads from the new House of Commons to the House of
Lords, and which enables the Queen when on the throne
to see through the vista the Speaker of the lower house
on his chair. Lard John Russell and Lord Palmerston
were at the head of the members who came to the bar.

The SPEAKER holding the Consolidated Fund Appro-
priation Bill in his hand, delivered an address to her
MAjesty.
The QUEEN then gave her royal assent to the Conso-
lidated Fund Appropriation Bill, and also to the following :
—Merchant Seamen's Fund Amendment; Facilitation of
Purchases of Estates ; St. Alban's Bribery Commission ;
Relief of Poor Continuance ; General Board of Health (No.
3) Bills.
Her Majesty then read in a clear and impressive manner
the following royal speech, which had been handed to her
by the Lord Chancellor :
" My Lords and Gentlemen,—
" I am glad to be able to release you from your at-
tendance in Parliament, and I thank you for the diligence
with which you have performed your laborious duties.
" I continue to maintain the most friendly relations
with Foreign Powers.
" I am happy to be able to congratulate you on the
very considerable diminution which has taken place in the
African and Brazilian slave trade. The exertions of my
squadrons on the coasts of Africa and Brazil, as3isted by
the vigilance of the cruisers of France and of the United
States, and aided by the co-operation of the Brazilian
government, have mainly contributed to this result.

" Gentlemen of the House of Commons,—
" I thank you for the readiness with which you have
granted the supplies necessary for the service of the year.
" My Lords and Gentlemen,—
" It is satisfactory to observe that, notwithstanding
very large reductions of taxes, the revenue for the last
year considerably exceeded the public expenditure for
the same period.
" I am rejoiced to find that you have thereby been
enabled to relieve my people from an impost which re.
stricted the enjoyment of light and air in their dwellings.
I trust that this enactment, with others to which your
attention has been and will be directed, will contribute to
the health and comfort of my subjects.
" I thank you for the assiduity with which you have
applied yourselves to the consideration of a measure
framed for the purpose of checking the undue assumption
of ecclesiastical titles conferred by a foreign Power.
" It gives me the highest satisfaction to find that, while
repelling unfounded claims, you have maintained inviolate
the great principles of religious liberty so happily esta-
blished among us.
"The attention you have bestowed on the administra-
tion of justice in the courts of law and equity will, I trust,
prove beneficial, and lead to further improvements.
" I have willingly given my consent to a bill relating to
the administration of the land revenues of the Crown,
which will, I hope, conduce to the better management. of
that department, and at the same time tend to the pro-
motion of works of public utility.
" It has been very gratifying to me, on an occasion
which has brought many foreigners to this country. to
observe the spirit of kindness and good-will which so
generally prevailed.
It is my anxious desire to promote among nations the
cultivation of all those arts which are fostered by peace,
and
which in their turn contribute to maintain the peace
of the world.

",In closing the present session, it is with feelings of

gratitude to Almighty God that I acknowledge the gene-
ral spirit of loyalty and willing obedience to the law which
animates my people. Such a spirit is the best security at
once for the progress and-stability of our free and happy
institutions."

The LORD CHANCELLOR, kneeling at the foot of the
throne, received back the copy of the speech, and, having
been commanded by her Majesty, prorogued Parliament
in the following terms :—lt is her Majesty's royal will
and pleasure that this Parliament be prorogned till -Thurs-
day, the 4th day of September next ; and this Parliament
is accordingly prorogued till Thursday, the 4th day of
September next.
Her Majesty bowed and rose, the whole of the House
rising also ; the Commons made their bow, and the royal
procession left the house as it had entered, amid the blast
of trumpets and the thunder of cannon. The brilliant
crowd broke up and shifted about like the colours of a
kaleidoscope through the house, and the session of 1851,
be it for good or for evil, was at an end.

LISTENING TO TILE QUERN'S SPEECH.—The almost
painful silence of this gorgeous still-life in the House of
Lords is suddenly and rudely broken by disorderly sounds,
like those which follow the opening of the pit door of a
theatre, or which precede the battering in of a house at a
riot. The Speaker of the House of Commons answers
the summons of his liege lady the Queen, as if he were
the schoolmaster with a mob of unmannerly boys at his
heels, and is propelled to the bar of the House with the
frantic fear of being knocked down and trampled upon by
the rush of A transient cloud passes over the
royal countenance, but it is rapidly succeeded by a pro-
longed smile at the ludicrous efforts of a couple of hun-
dreds of her eager Commons to squeeze themselves into a
space only ample enough for a hundred. The account of
a sufferer in the scramble is amusing :—" I happened,"
said Joseph Hume in his place in Parliament on the fol-
lowing evening, "to be twenty-fifth from the Speaker;
but both sides of the bar were so filled that I neither saw
the Queen nor heard her voice. I was knocked against a
corner, my head was knocked against a post, and I might
have been much injured if a stout member, to whom I felt
much obliged. had not come to my assistance. (Hear,
hear, and laughter.) It was no laughing matter." Mr.
Hume recollected, moreover, that on a similar occasion
the coot of a member of the House, who now fills a high
office abroad, had been torn and his shoulder dislocated.
Before the hubbub of the bar has quite subsided, the Lord
Chancellor, kneeling on the step of the throne, presents
to the Queen the manuscript of the speech. Its appear-
ance is that of a piece of mus c, so unskilfully stitched
with ribbon to a cover, that the royal reader is more than
once interrupted by a difficulty in turning over the leaves.
At the words, " My bolds and gentlemen," increased ef-
forts are made at the bar towards silence. The Queen
pauses for an instant ; but when she resumes, not a sound
is beard but her voice. The elocution of the speech was
perfect. Nature has combined in Queen Victoria's voice
sweetness, youthfulness, and fulness ; and art has taught
her to deliver it with exceeding purity of tone, and with-
out the smallest effort. Every syllable, therefore, entered
every sound pair of ears in the house, except those placed,
unhappily like Mr. Joseph Hume, more than twenty-five
removes from the Speaker—not of the speech—but of the
House of Commons. The music of the last words has
scarcely passed into silence before the Queen rises, and
bows to the spectators; who also rise in a body. Prince
Albert hands her from the throne, and the short proces-
sion returns to the Prince's chamber in the same order as
it entered. This ends the ceremony which has lasted but
very little over ten minutes. In five minutes more the
Howe of Lords is left to the sole occupation of the dapper
gentleman in black.—Dickens' Household Words.

FOREIGN AND COLONIAL.

ARRIVAL OF THE ASIA.
LATEST FROM AMERICA.

The British and American Royal Mail Steam-ship Asia,
Captain Judkins, which left New York on the 30th ult.,
arrived in the river on Sunday afternoon, at one o'clock,
having accomplished the run in ten days, twenty-four
hours, and thirty minutes. She brought £128,300 specie,
and 149 passengers.

The advices by this arrival are altogether unimportant.
With reference to the Tehuantepec question, the Ameri-
can journals state that the United States Cabinet is likely
to enter into a negOciation with the Mexican Government
to recognise, by a special treaty, the right of Garay's
successor to carry on the works on the route. Other
reports point to a more energetic course on the part of the
United States Secretary of State.
Several of the emigrants shipped from Ireland, by the
Marquis of Lansdowne, are wandering beggars in the
streets of New York.

The clipper ship Racer, built at Newburyport, had
arrived at New York, and was to leave shortly for Liver-
pool. She will register about 1,630 tons, and is to be
commanded by Captain H. W. Stelle, formerly of the
Andrew Foster. She has three decks, and is long, pretty,
and sharp. She cost 120,000 dollars, and is the first
clipper-ship ever built for the New York and Liverpool
trade.

Jenny Lind arrived, on the 26th ult., at Niagara Falls,
on a private visit, having previously, at Rochester, received
a party of six Ojiboway Indians, who, at her request, sang
some of their war songs, and were repaid by the songstress
warbling the echo and bird songs. Jenny intended, after
giving a few more concerts, to embark, about the 16th
instant, for Liverpool, via New York.
The company lately authorised to make a canal or rail-
road between the rivers Atrato and San Juan, in New
Grenada, have in view a route, where a boat canal was
actually made, and for some years in u:e, towards the close
of the last century.
The New York papers are filled with reports of insur-
rection in Cuba, and combats disastrous to the Spanish
troops, but little credit can be attached to them. In one
engagement, it is said, the Cubans mustered 200 men,
and the Spaniards 300. After a vigorous contest, the
latter retreated, having lost 21 killed, including the cap-
tain, and 18 wounded. The loss on the Cuban side was
slight—only two or three men having been killed. Tvvelare
of the Spanish soldiers deserted. The effect of this battle,
it is said, increased the confidence of the insurgents, who
soon increased their number to over 1000 men. There are
rumours of other engagements ; and the New York Herald
thus concludes an article on the subject generally :
" According to all appearances, the reports of the success
of the insurgents have been much overrated, and no
serious or general outbreak has taken place in that island.
On the other hand, we are not disposed to conceal what we
really believe, namely, that, before many 3 ears, Spain
must lose Cuba. It may not occur this year, or next ;
but that such will be the case. sooner or later, no man
with his senses about him can deny."