HL Deb 20 November 1837 vol 39 cc15-31
The Lord Chancellor

read her Majesty's Speech, and the same having been again read by the clerk at the table,

The Duke of Sussex

rose and said: My Lords, did I not feel satisfied that the sentiments contained in the Speech delivered from the throne this day, as well as the language employed in communicating them to you, were of a nature to preclude the necessity—I would almost say the possibility—of discussion, and were I not equally certain that the correspondent answer to that Speech which I shall have the honour to propose to your Lordships for your consideration and approval, is one in which you may safely concur without compromising any of your opinions as to the manner of carrying into effect the objects alluded to therein, I should feel great hesitation in presenting myself to your notice. My Lords, we can have but one object, and but one feeling—that of assuring our Sovereign of our loyalty and attachment to her person, of our readiness to meet her wishes, and give effect to her benign intentions, by devoting our most serious attention and consideration to discussing those measures which are most calculated to promote the best interest of the country, and the welfare and happiness of our fellow-subjects. Time and circumstances, my Lords, often give an additional consequence to events which of themselves are already of considerable importance; such I conceive to be the case at the present moment. The annual opening of a Session of Parliament is always an object of great interest, when considered as one of the constitutional modes by which the Sovereign comes into immediate communication with the other two branches of the legislature; and it receives additional importance when one reflects upon the consequences which may result from our deliberations, involving the consideration of measures in which the welfare of the people, as well as private interests, are most deeply concerned. If such be the case in the common march of human events, how greatly is that importance increased by a new Parliament being called together, whether it be occasioned by the usual progress of its course towards a termination, or, from ministerial changes, when the Sovereign wishes to ascertain the free opinion of the nation, and more particularly so when the necessity of the measure is in consequence of the demise of the Crown; the law of the country being imperative, that upon the decease of the Sovereign a new Parliament shall be summoned after the expiration of six months at the latest. This, then, is the position in which we are placed at this juncture, and when we advert to the age of our youthful Queen, ascending the Throne of her ancestors by the right which the constitution has given, at the expiration of one month only after the period fixed by the statutes for considering the Sovereign of age and capable of assuming the reins of government, I cannot but hope that your Lordships will agree with me in the propriety and the duty imposed upon us of availing ourselves of the opportunity afforded by her Majesty's speech on opening the Parliament to approach her Majesty with the assurances of our devotion to her person and of our determination, by our counsel and advice, to give that support to the Crown which will enable it to maintain the rights and liberties of the people, as well as its own dignity. To our support her Majesty has already appealed, in her gracious declaration, when, appearing before her Privy Council for the first time, she said "That she placed her firm reliance upon the wisdom of Parliament, and upon the affections and loyalty of her people:" which sentiments she repeated on the prorogation of her Parliament in the month of July last, and all your Lordships have heard them repeated this day, sanctioned, too, as I shall never cease to remember, by the oath and the sign manual of the Sovereign. This, my Lords, is the first time that we have had an opportunity afforded us of responding to that appeal, likewise of noticing those gracious expressions which were uttered by her Majesty at the close of the last session of Parliament—expressions which never can be effaced either from my heart or mind—"I perceive with satisfaction that you have brought to maturity some useful measures, amongst which I regard with peculiar interest the amendment of the criminal code and the reduction of the number of capital punishments." "I hail this mitigation of the severity of the law as an auspicious commencement of my reign." What kind, what generous, what gracious expressions, uttered with the greatest energy and dignity, calculated to convince every bystander and hearer that those sentiments were in accordance with her own, and emanated from a benevolent, generous, and warm heart, and that, too, on meeting for the first time her Parliament! From such a circumstance I cannot resist to express my hope and belief that when the chroniclers of this country shall have to record the annals of this reign, which has begun so auspiciously (and I pray God to continue for many, many years), they will not have to write in characters of blood, but have to commemorate the triumph and glorious consequences of peace—the strict observance of the laws of the country—the security of person and property—the diffusion of knowledge—the advancement of arts, manufactures, and science—the general occupation and employment of all classes of society, and the extension of commerce over the whole surface of the globe. My Lords, it must afford your Lordships great pleasure to have learned by the speech from the throne the assurance of a continuance of the friendly disposition and earnest desire on the part of all foreign powers to cultivate and maintain with this country the relations of amity, as well as the expression of her Majesty's satisfaction thereon, and her hope to promote the best interests of her subjects by securing to them the blessings of peace. That the civil war still afflicts the kingdom of Spain must be equally a subject of regret to your Lordships as to her Majesty; at the same time your Lordships must feel grateful for the frank communication that her Majesty intends to execute with fidelity the engagements of the Crown with the Queen of Spain, according to the stipulations of the treaty of Quadruple Alliance, as it has been always considered the pride and honour of this nation to observe with fidelity those treaties which ever have been signed betwixt this country and any foreign power. Your Lordships will, no doubt, have derived great pleasure in learning that a treaty of commerce has been concluded between this country and the confederation of Peru and Bolivia; and the hope that has been afforded us by her Majesty that she will soon be enabled to communicate similar results from negotiations now carrying on with other states. As the paper will be laid before your Lordships, it will then become your duty to discuss the details and decide upon the merits of such treaty; but I do think that any means which are afforded us of extending and securing our commercial relations in foreign parts must be an object of great interest and satisfaction to your Lordships. The next point recommended to the consideration of your Lordships is the state of the province of Lower Canada. As this is a subject upon which there may exist a variety of opinions, and as my object is to secure unanimity on the present occasion, I shall not venture to enlarge upon the topic, but confine myself merely to the observation, that it is a matter involving very weighty questions, to which no doubt your Lordships will, at a proper time, give all due attention; but I cannot refrain from remarking a singular occurrence connected with that country, namely, that its annexation to the British crown forms, a paragraph in the first speech delivered by his Majesty King George 3rd, of blessed memory, from the throne, on his accession. His Majesty, in speaking of the reduction of the province of Canada expressed his "satisfaction at the glorious event" and added, "that it was effected almost without effusion of blood, and with that humanity which makes an amiable part of the character of this nation." I trust, therefore, that when the concerns of that province are brought under the consider- ation of your Lordships' House, that those same feelings, so lauded by that revered monarch, will be the guide of your deliberations. Although the civil list is a subject which more immediately belongs to the Other House, still I cannot avoid expressing the gratification I feel at the noble, generous, and disinterested manner in which her Majesty has placed unreservedly at the disposal of Parliament those hereditary revenues which were transferred to the public by her immediate predecessor, and of the confidence she feels that Parliament wilt make a suitable provision for the support of the honour and the dignity of the Crown. The example, no doubt, was set by the late King, and a more disinterested or kinder Sovereign, or a King who had more at heart to lighten the burdens of his people and secure their liberties did certainly never exist; but yet at the close of his reign that compact ceased, when the Crown might reclaim all its previous revenues. It is therefore highly satisfactory to learn that her Majesty, following the steps of her beloved uncle, has nobly and unreservedly resigned for her life those rights which William 4th was pleased to surrender; and I have no doubt that the confidence which the Queen has reposed in the hearts of a generous people will be responded to by a provision suited to her station, and in accordance with their affections and the reliance they place in her assurance of strict and rigorous economy in every department. Her Majesty, in adverting to the external peace and domestic tranquillity which at present happily prevail, recommends to your Lordships the consideration of such measures of reformation and amendment as may be necessary or expedient. With this view, and under the conviction that the better and more effective administration of justice is amongst the first duties of a Sovereign, her Majesty requests your Lordships' attention to those measures which will be submitted to you for the improvement of the law. As these measures are not specified in the Speech from the Throne, I do not deem it right to occupy your Lordships' time upon the subject, but merely express my delight at the good which we may expect from such a communication, while I admire the constitutional motive which has prompted this suggestion. Your Lordships' attention will alga be naturally directed to that course of legislation which was interrupted by the necessary dissolution of the last Parliament; and in so doing, her Majesty particularly refers to the inquiries which have already been made into the condition of the poor in Ireland, and laid before Parliament, and one you to consult whether it may not be safe and wise to establish by law some well-regulated means for the relief of the destitute in that country. Her Majesty further adds, that the municipal government of the cities and towns in Ireland calls for better regulation; and also remarks, that the laws which govern the collection of tithe composition require revision and amendment. All these questions, my Lords, are connected immediately with the concerns of Ireland, and I am aware that in alluding to them I am treading upon dangerous ground, because they may tend to a premature discussion as to the mode of carrying them into effect, although we may all agree in the necessity and importance of their final settlement; but I cannot refrain from making this observation, that in considering those matters your Lordships ought to bear in mind that the interests of that part of the United Empire are deeply connected and identified with our own, that you had already begun to take them into consideration before the dissolution of the last Parliament, and that her Majesty had expressed a hope that though your labours at that time had been interrupted, yet that they would have the beneficial effect of advancing the progress of legislation in a new Parliament. It is therefore in per. feet accordance with that opinion that her Majesty has reminded you of these circumstances; and I have no doubt that your Lordships will readily answer to the call, and I think that I may appeal with confidence to the support of the noble Duke opposite (Wellington) who took an opportunity to declare towards the end of the last Parliament his sincere wish and desire to see a conclusion put in Parliament to all those questions. His wish was, that Parliament should not have a contest every year on those questions; and he would only add, that if, in the next Session, he and the noble Viscount should occupy the relative situations which they then did, he should be perfectly ready to concur, on all those subjects, in any reasonable manner in which the noble Viscount might propose. I trust, my Lords, that in referring to this declaration of the noble Duke, for whom I profess the highest respect as well as gratitude, in common with all your Lordships, for the services which he has rendered his country, that I am not out of order; and I make this appeal to the noble Duke with the greater confidence, as I am aware of his high honour and integrity, and the ardour and activity which he always evinces whenever he takes up a subject, and which he particularly showed on the occasion when the Poor-law Bill of this country occupied the consideration of this House, and the honest and disinterested testimony which he afterwards bore to the sound principles upon which that Bill had been founded, and the good effect which had resulted from its working. I believe, my. Lords, that I have now stated to your Lordships all the points contained in the gracious Speech which has been delivered from the Throne. I trust I have done so without hurting or offending any noble individual who has listened to me. My object has been to conciliate and gain the kind feelings of every noble Lord present; as I conceive it to be of the utmost importance that it should go forth to the nation at large that we are unanimous in our loyalty to our Sovereign, that we are most anxious to support the Crown, and to co-operate with her to forward those measures which are best calculated to promote the peace, welfare, and happiness of the nation, and thereby ensure her the affection, gratitude, and confidence of a free and devoted people. Many of your Lordships are but just come up to town, and, therefore, can only have learned by the papers the scene which took place on the 9th of November, when her Majesty condescended to visit the citizens of London. Words cannot express the manner in which the Queen was received by the immense population congregated on that occasion, The loyalty, affection, and respect which were shown towards her Majesty are beyond the power of description, and, therefore, I shall not make the attempt; but this I will say, that the anxiety which appeared, from the highest to the lowest, to mark their attachment to her person, combined with the wish of affording her the least inconvenience, threw a solemnity upon the whole proceeding, and proved how dearly she lives in the hearts of all her subjects. It is this point which I wish particularly to impress upon your Lordships, that you may by your acts manifest your concurrence with, and thereby confirm, those warm affections which so happily exist at the present moment in the breast of every true Briton, to the glory and honour of our youthful and gracious Queen. I have now only cordially to thank your Lordships for the kind attention with which you have listened to my humble Address, which I can assure you came from my heart. I have done it with the view of testifying to my niece and my Sovereign my loyalty and my affection, and, independently of this, I have done it from my feelings of affection for the Duke of Kent, her dear and lamented father, whose kindness I never can forget; and I must be permitted further to observe, that I, with the illustrious Prelate now the head of the Church, and the noble Duke then president of the Council, were among the first to witness the birth of that illustrious Princess, and I trust that the interest which the noble Duke feels in her, will lead him, like me, to co-operate in the promotion of the measures to which I have referred. My Lords, I have done; I hope that your Lordships will allow this Address to be read by the clerk, for the state of my eyes, my Lords, are such as to prevent me from so doing, and with confidence I submit it to the consideration of this House.

The Address having been read by the clerk,

Lord Portman

rose to second the address, and said: My Lords, I cannot but feel that I am placed in a situation of peculiar difficulty in rising to second the address which the illustrious Duke has proposed for your adoption. I feel that I am placed in great difficulty, because the speech of the illustrious Duke must have had such great weight with your Lordships, that, compared with anything which I can offer to you, it must make my words almost of no effect. I must, therefore, entreat your Lordships to extend to me the greatest share of that indulgence, which, upon former occasions, you have been pleased to show towards those noble Lords, who have been similarly circumstanced to myself. I cannot but feel, looking at myself, individually, that among all your Lordships I should have been the last to have been selected for this honour; for, my Lords, I must confess it to be a high honour to be allowed to second the illustrious Duke upon this occasion in moving the first address to her Majesty from this House, or, I ought rather to say, the first address from her first Parliament. I cannot, my Lords, but be willing, to believe, that I have been called to this task more out of compliment to the inhabitants of this metropolis than to myself. I say this, my Lords, because you will all be aware that I am the only one of your Lordships' House who has ever been intrusted with the representation of any part of the constituency of this great town. Looking, then, at my situation as a compliment intended to them, I trust that your Lordships will feel that I have not improperly accepted the honour. After what the illustrious Duke has stated to you, it will be my great anxiety not to make use of any expression which can disturb that unanimity which is on all hands allowed to be so extremely desirable on the present occasion. Therefore, if in the course of the few observations which I may feel it my duty to address to your Lordships, I should unfortunately make use of any such expression, I trust your Lordships will impute it to my want of judgment, and not to any intention on my part to disturb the unanimity which it is so desirable on all accounts to maintain. In reference to the various topics of the Speech from the Throne I would venture to observe, that it must be gratifying to your Lordships that Parliament has been called together at this early period for the purpose of forwarding business in such a manner, that we may hope to receive in this House measures for our consideration at a period of the year when your Lordships are disposed in large numbers to attend. Upon the subject of our foreign policy, I will only congratulate your Lordships upon the continuance of peace, and express a hope that the country may long be blest with its continuance. "With respect to the civil war in Spain, that, my Lords, is a subject which probably hereafter will have to be discussed by your Lordships; but I would venture to observe in passing, that it must have appeared to all of your Lordships that, at all events, that war is continued without the wish of any considerable portion of the inhabitants of that country; but, my Lords, I am sure you will all feel that a treaty which has been made, it is the duty of this country to maintain. My Lords, with reference to the treaties of commerce to which her Majesty has been pleased to allude, of course when they come before this House it will then be time to sift their contents, and ascertain whether they are founded upon that safe and sound system of reciprocity which may make them lasting, and, if I may use the expression, fair to both parties concerned; for if treaties of commerce are not founded on a fair basis to both parties, speculations may be encouraged, but lasting good cannot be hoped for. My Lords, upon the subject of Lower Canada, I am sure it would be most indiscreet in me to attempt to dilate, because it is one of those peculiar subjects which require to be discussed with the greatest calmness, and to be looked at in all its bearings most cautiously, most deliberately, and with the utmost patience. There is, my Lords, a subject alluded to in the speech, which perhaps peculiarly relates to the other House of Parliament, but upon which I may, perhaps, be permitted to say a few words, namely, her Majesty's gracious communication upon the subject of the Civil List. With respect to her Majesty's recommendation of the greatest economy being observed in the preparation of the estimates, I am quite sure your Lordships will all feel grateful to her Majesty for that kind feeling towards her people which such a recommendation cannot but manifest. But, my Lords, with reference to the Civil List, it it with great satisfaction I have heard it stated, that her Majesty has surrendered to the country that which her late royal predecessor was pleased to surrender. I consider it a mark of great wisdom not to depart from the precedent established by a Sovereign of great experience, and who was able to enter into the consideration of these matters in a manner which cannot be expected from her Majesty. I think it, therefore, wise on the part of her Majesty to have followed the precedent of the late King, and that it will be wise in us, my Lords, to meet it in a friendly spirit; for upon this point I would beg to observe, that it will afford to your Lordships an opportunity of showing that gratitude which you cannot help feeling towards the Sovereign for the kind and considerate manner in which, upon all occasions, she has conducted herself towards her people. My Lords, we are placed in a peculiar situation; we have a Sovereign on the Throne born in this country, educated in this country, and coming to the crown at an age that altogether frees her from being mixed up with any political or party differences; and who, moreover, has been taught that she is alone to consider the welfare of every inhabitant of the empire, and that her sole duty is to promote their prosperity by every means in her power. My Lords, you will all remember that at the prorogation of the late Parliament, her Majesty stated to us her anxiety to do | everything in her power to compose and allay animosity and discord, and she has graciously repeated that sentiment in the Speech from the Throne this day, adding that the early age at which she has been called to the sovereignty of this kingdom rendered it a more imperative duty that, under Divine Providence, she should place her reliance upon the cordial cooperation of Parliament, and upon the love and affection of all her subjects. My Lords, I am sure we shall all be disposed to follow the example, if I may venture to call it an example, which the inhabitants of this great metropolis have so recently displayed. The illustrious Duke has alluded to it in a manner much more powerfully than I can do, for he was present on the occasion, but I am fully aware that a sentiment of attachment and loyal affection towards her Majesty pervaded all classes of the community, as was visible, on that memorable day. No doubt, my Lords, among the great mass of people then assembled, some were attracted by mere idle curiosity, and mingled with the crowd for the sake only of amusement; but, my Lords, of this I am most assured, that none retired from witnessing the scene which that day presented to them, without feeling an increased attachment to their Queen; for of her Majesty it may most truly be said: Instar veris, enim, vultus ubi tuus Affulsit populo, gratior it dies Et soles melius nitent. Her Majesty was pleased in the course of her Speech, to advert to the internal peace and domestic tranquillity which at present happily prevail, as very favourable for the consideration of such measures of reformation and amendment as may be considered expedient. I am confident that your Lordships generally concur with me in the propriety of following up that advice, by endeavouring to clear off some portion of that arrear of unavoidable imperfections and abuses which has accumulated for centuries. Her Majesty was also pleased to direct your Lordships' attention to that course of legislation which was necessarily suspended by the dissolution of the last Parliament. I think it is most wise that Parliament should endeavour, before any new topic whatever is introduced, to clear off all the arrears before it. It is most important that your Lordships should calmly and patiently re-consider those subjects which have from time to time occupied us, and that you should endeavour to bring them to a settlement, satisfactory to all parties interested in them. Her Majesty has been pleased, first of all, to advert to the inquiries which have been made into the condition of the poor in Ireland. I should be sorry to say one word calculated to excite any difference of opinion upon that subject, but I cannot help expressing a hope that we may be able to devise some means that may be acceptable to all parties for providing a certain and sure refuge for those who are absolutely destitute. However, above all things, my Lords, I trust you will consider the subject well before anything like the English law of settlement shall be established in Ireland. There' is one point connected with this subject, which appears to me, my Lords, to be most important—I mean, that in considering this question, we ought to regard it purely as an Irish question, and ought not to suffer ourselves to be led away by any consideration as to the beneficial effects to be derived to England or any portion of its inhabitants. My Lords, with reference to the Irish corporation measures, I trust that we shall be able to find some means for remedying those evils which all admit now to exist, and that, at the same time, we shall succeed in framing an Act of Parliament that may give to the inhabitants of the towns in Ireland a due share in their local administration. I think it is good for all men to be enabled to rise in their stations, whether the dignities be of one class or another, and that by having legitimate objects of ambition they may hope by good conduct to merit the support whether of their fellow-citizens or the Crown, and obtain a step in society and attain to distinction in their native place. My Lords, the next topic adverted to in the Speech from the Throne is one which has been so often detailed and so long agitated—I allude to the Irish tithe-laws—that it is time we should find some method, if I may use a common expression, of giving and taking, by which that question may be brought to a proper and satisfactory settlement. I am glad that these three topics have been mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, because I would entreat you to refer back to the first united Parliament which sat in this country, and ask your Lordships to read the speech of the then Duke of Montrose, who moved the first address in the united Parliament. In it he held out to Ireland the brightest hopes, the fairest promises of extending the liberality of England towards heron all occasions, and said he believed that no imagination could conceive the height and happiness, the power and riches, to which Ireland would be raised, when fostered by her sister country. My Lords, we have yet to perfect that which was then held out, and I trust her Majesty may have the happiness of seeing measures devised which, during the long reign we all anticipate for her, may secure to Ireland that happiness which was promised her at the union. With reference to the improvements in the law which are referred to, it may naturally occur to your Lordships that the topics alluded to are those which have already been under your consideration—the abolition of imprisonment for debt, an improvement in the discipline of the ecclesiastical courts, the despatch of equity business, the settlement of the charities of boroughs—a matter of great consequence to the poor within those boroughs—and an arrangement of the boundaries of the boroughs, with reference to the police of those boroughs; and I trust that measures with reference to these and many other matters will be speedily brought under the consideration of Parliament. My Lords, with reference to the state of this country, to which her Majesty is pleased to allude, it becomes me to say but little, though I cannot avoid expressing my happiness that all interests of the country appear to me to be in a sound and satisfactory state. I am aware that it is always unwise to talk too much of national prosperity, and that it is most dangerous to endeavour to persuade people that they are in a better condition than, perhaps, they find themselves to be; therefore I wish it not to be understood that I am prepared to state that the country is in such a state of prosperity as I once re- membered to have heard of when in the House of Commons; but, nevertheless, my Lords, I believe it is in a sound and satisfactory state. Her Majesty has been pleased to express her confidence in the loyalty and wisdom of Parliament, and her anxiety for its cordial co-operation. This is a declaration which only a constitutional Sovereign has the happiness and privilege to make; but, my Lords, it comes to us with an authority which I think is greatly augmented by the youth of our Sovereign. I consider that a weight is given to that request which we should hesitate long ere we refuse it; on the contrary, my Lords, we ought to show ourselves ready cheerfully to acquiesce in it; for, my Lords, you will all agree with me in thinking that the most noxious weed in the human mind is prejudice—the most fatal disease is an overruling and impatient party spirit. It is the first duty of Parliament to combat with those pernicious influences, and to endeavour to unite into one only party all the people of this nation. It is our duty to extend to all the blessings of the British constitution—it is our duty to afford to all the equal protection of the law—and it is our duty to attach every man to the institutions of the country, by purifying them from all those, if I may so say, abuses which time and human infirmity must create in everything. And, my Lords, the way to effect this object is to hold ourselves as an example of freedom from prejudice, and of a disposition to concede minor matters for the public tranquillity and happiness. My Lords, if I may venture to trouble your Lordships with a quotation apposite to this subject, I would request you to look back to the first speech of her Majesty Queen Anne, who told her Parliament that, in dealing with all as equally well affected to her service, she hoped to see no heats or animosities prevailing among themselves. But to carry you back to the Queen, her predecessor, I would point your attention to a sentence of the Lord Keeper Bacon's first speech before Elizabeth, when he advised the Parliament somewhat in these words:—"You will in this your assembly coolly and patiently hear all good councils, and clearly forbear from all manner of contentions, and from the use of all sophistical arguments, because contentious disputations are not suited to consultations on weighty matters, besides which they cause much expense of time, and few good consequences spring from them." My Lords, I may perhaps again remind you—for upon this subject I own I feel strongly—that we open our business day by day by praying for wisdom, and that we may be enabled to lay aside all private interests, prejudices, and partial affections; and that as asking for that blessing, I think we are bound to show that we desire to the utmost of our power to extinguish all minor party differences for the purpose of arriving at a satisfactory conclusion of our labours, so as to deserve the confidence of the Sovereign and of the people, of whom I am prepared to maintain, as I have no doubt all your Lordships are likewise prepared to maintain, that we are a part. We may look back to history for a precedent; we may look for a similar occasion, for a like necessity, but we shall find none; for there never was a time, there never were circumstances so peculiar as those under which her Majesty has ascended the Throne. This is a moment when we are bound peculiarly to look to that which is the best advice for her Majesty, and bound also to look to that which is best for a people increased in civilization, and educated more extensively than at any former period at which a Sovereign has ascended the Throne; I say this is the time of all others when, without abandoning our principles—for I cannot for one moment suppose that any one of your Lordships would, for any consideration, abandon that which you conceive to be a right principle of action, but maintaining our principles, and acting as if we were friends and not as foes, as if we desired to convince one another in carrying out the details of legislation on our principles—I say that this is of all times the time when we should lay upon the altar of our country our own peculiar views, and make our only study be—useful and practical legislation. I say, my Lords, this is the time, ——simul alba nautis Stella refulsit Et minax (quod sic voluere) ponto Unda recumbit. I am obliged to your Lordships for the patient attention with which you have heard me. I trust I have not said any thing calculated to disturb the unanimity of your Lordships this night, and beg, with humble submission, to second the address.

The Duke of Wellington

My Lords, I have great satisfaction in rising upon this occasion to give my assent to the Address moved by the illustrious Prince opposite in answer to the Speech delivered by her Majesty from the Throne. My Lords, I have so little objection either to that gracious Speech or to the address moved by the illustrious Prince, that I should have thought it unnecessary to address one word to your Lordships upon the subject, if it had not been for the purpose of expressing my respect for her Majesty and likewise for the illustrious Duke who has moved the Address on this occasion. I shall certainly follow the example of his Royal Highness, and of the noble Lord who has seconded the Address, in making no observations either upon the Speech or the Address which can in any manner occasion any irritation of feeling or difference of opinion on the part of any noble Lord on either side of the House. My Lords, I sincerely congratulate your Lordships that on this first occasion upon which her Majesty has addressed the Parliament called by herself, it is in the power of this House to return an answer to her Majesty which shall be unanimous! It is impossible that any noble Lords could have addressed themselves to your Lordships with more judgment and discretion than the illustrious Prince and the noble Lord who last addressed you. My Lords his Royal Highness has been pleased to advert to a certain fortunate event at which I was present at the same time with his Royal Highness. I perfectly recollect that event, and I have always considered with the utmost interest the object of it. My Lords, I hope that during every moment of the remainder of my life I shall witness the prosperity of her Majesty's reign, and her individual happiness. I can say no more, my Lords, to express my feelings towards that illustrious individual. My Lords, I likewise recollect the expressions to which the illustrious Prince has adverted, and which fell from me at the termination of the last Session of Parliament. My Lords, I have not by any means changed my intentions upon those subjects; and I will only upon this occasion add, that those subjects have been adverted to in the Speech from the Throne, and also in the Address moved by the illustrious Prince, and seconded by the noble Baron in such a manner as to facilitate the intentions of which I spoke last Session. I will not trouble your Lordships further, except to express my anxious hope that this Address will be allowed to pass unanimously.

The address was agreed to nem. con. and was ordered to be presented with the usual forms.