§ His Majesty went in state to the House of Peers to Prorogue the Parliament.
§ The House of Commons having been summoned to attend his Majesty, a great many Members, with the Speaker at their head, appeared at the bar of the House of Peers, when
The Speakeraddressed his Majesty in the following terms:—
"May it please your Majesty—We, your Majesty's faithful Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, attend your Majesty at the close of a laborious and most important Session. Your Majesty was graciously pleased, at the commencement of the Session, to recommend to our careful consideration, the Estimates for the current year; and, Sire, it is with sincere gratification that we have found ourselves enabled to accomplish your Majesty's paternal wish by a great reduction in their amount. But, Sire, it would ill become me at this moment to attempt to enumerate all the various measures, 1413 however important and necessary in themselves, yet of usual Sessional recurrence, which have come before us. This Session, Sire, has been peculiarly marked by matters most difficult m themselves, most pressing in their immediate emergency, and yet lasting in their effects upon the highest interests of the country. Among these measures I would advert to your Majesty's injunction upon us that we should deliberate on the present state of Ireland, with reference particularly to the payment of tithes in that country.
"Sire, we have deeply deliberated on that painful and difficult subject, and we have passed a Bill, which we hope may afford the necessary protection of their legal claims to the Established Church, and which we hope may also form the basis of future measures calculated to remove the present causes of complaint.
"But, Sire, of all the questions, that which has most engaged our time and attention, paramount to all, from the earnestness with which it was called for; from the difficulties and intricacies with which it was embarrassed, from the great change it was productive of, and from the lasting effects it was to produce—of all the measures we have had to shape, to contend with, and to complete, the most prominent has been the great measure of the Reform in the Commons' House of Parliament.
"Sire, it is not within the range of mortal intellect at once to embody and bring to maturity of perfection so vast a scheme; but. Sire, we have laboured with incessant assiduity, with honesty of purpose, and we hope results may prove, with security to the State and contentment to the country.
"Sire, I dare not longer address your Majesty than to present you with our last Bill of Supply, intituled 'An Act to apply a Sum out of the Consolidated Fund, and the Surplus of Ways and Means, to the Service of the Year 1832, and to appropriate the Supplies granted in this Session of Parliament;' to which, with all humility, we pray your Majesty's Royal assent."
The Royal assent was then given to the above-mentioned Bill, and also to the Greek Convention, the Forgery, the Chancellor's Salary, the Coach Duties, the India Juries, the Tithes Composition (Ireland), and the Party Processions (Ireland) Bills.
§ His Majesty then delivered the following Speech:—
1414§ "My Lords and Gentlemen,
§ "The state of the public business now enabling me to release you from a further attendance in Parliament, I cannot take leave of you without expressing the satisfaction with which I have observed your diligence and zeal in the discharge of your duties during a Session of extraordinary labour and duration.
§ "The matters which you have had under your consideration have been of the first importance; and the laws in particular which have been passed for reforming the Representation of the People have occupied, as was unavoidable, the greatest portion of your time and attention.
§ "In recommending this subject to your consideration, it was my object, by removing the causes of just complaint, to restore general confidence in the Legislature, and to give additional security to the settled institutions of the State. This object will, I trust, be found to have been accomplished.
§ "I have still to lament the continuance of disturbances in Ireland, notwithstanding the vigilance and energy displayed by my Government there, in the measures which it has taken to repress them. The laws which have been passed, in conformity with my recommendation at the beginning of the Session, with respect to the collection of Tithes, are well calculated to lay the foundation of a new system, to the completion of which the attention of Parliament, when it again assembles, will of course, be directed.
§ "To this necessary work my best assistance will be given, by enforcing the execution of the laws, and by promoting the prosperity of a country blessed by Divine Providence with so many natural advantages. As conducive to this object, I must express the satisfaction which I have felt at the measures adopted for extending generally to my people in that kingdom, the benefits of education.
§ "I continue to receive the most friendly assurances from all Foreign Powers; and, 1415 though I am not yet enabled to announce to you the final arrangement of the questions which have been so long depending between Holland and Belgium, and though, unhappily, the contest in Portugal between the Princes of the House of Braganza still continues, I look with confidence, through the intimate union which subsists between me and my allies, to the preservation of the general peace.
§ "Gentlemen of the House of Commons,"
§ I thank you for the supplies which you have granted me, and it is a great satisfaction to me to find, notwithstanding large deductions from the revenue occasioned by the repeal of some of the taxes which pressed most heavily on my people, that you have been enabled, by the exercise of a well-considered economy in all the departments of the State, to provide for the service of the year without any addition to the public burthens.
§ "My Lords and Gentlemen,"
§ I recommend to you, during the recess, the most careful attention to the preservation of the public peace, and to the maintenance of the authority of the law, in your respective counties. I trust that the advantages enjoyed by all my subjects, under 1416 our free Constitution will be duly appreciated and cherished; that relief from any real causes of complaint will be sought only through legitimate channels; that all irregular and illegal proceedings will be discountenanced and resisted; and that the establishment of internal tranquillity and order will prove that the measures which I have sanctioned have not been fruitless in promoting the security of the State, and the contentment and welfare of my people."
The Lord Chancellorthen declared, that it was his Majesty's most gracious pleasure that Parliament should stand prorogued until Tuesday, the 16th day of October.