§ This day being appointed for the Prorogation of the Parliament by Her Majesty in Person, the necessary arrangements were made for Her Majesty's reception. This being the first occasion on which this august ceremonial has taken place in the New House, the preparations were of a most magnificent character, and the benches 687 were crowded with. Peers, Peeresses, and Members of the Diplomatic Corps.
§ Her Majesty entered the House, accompanied by the PRINCE ALBERT, and attended by the Great Officers of State, shortly after Two o'clock, and being seated on the Throne, and the Commons (who were sent for) being come with, their Speaker, he made the following speech to Her Majesty:—
§ "MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN-,
§ "We, your Majesty's faithful Commons, attend your Majesty with the Bill by which the Supplies are completed for the present year. They have been granted with a strict regard to economy, as also with a disposition to make ample provision for all branches of the public service.
§ "During the progress of the Session which is now about to terminate, we have maturely considered various measures for the practical improvement of the law, and for the amelioration of the moral and social condition of the people. And where it has not been possible to bring these measures to a satisfactory conclusion, we hope to have prepared the way for sound and useful legislation in future Sessions of Parliament.
§ "We have passed Acts to regulate the disposition and transfer of lands in Scotland, and whilst carefully adhering to the established principles of law, we have given increased facilities for dealing with real property in that country, which must tend greatly to increase its security and value.
§ "We have found it necessary to place a further limitation on the hours of labour of young persons employed in factories; and by giving more time and opportunity for their religious and moral instruction, and the exercise of their domestic duties, we have elevated the character and condition of a large and industrious class engaged in manufacturing operations.
§ "There is, however, one subject of paramount importance to which your Majesty was graciously pleased to direct our attention at the commencement of the 688 Session, and which called for long and anxious deliberation.
§ "For many months past your Majesty's subjects in Ireland have been suffering from the combined effects of famine and its too frequent consequence — disease; requiring large pecuniary aid, and prompt and energetic measures to arrest their fatal progress, and to prevent an almost total disorganization of society in many parts of that kingdom.
§ "No exertion has been wanting on our part to meet this terrible calamity. Every restriction on the importation of food has been suspended, and every resource of legislation employed, to mitigate what no human wisdom could avert — this awful visitation of Divine Providence. Nor, in providing for this emergency, have we been unmindful of the permanent welfare of that important part of the United Kingdom. We have encouraged the development of its vast capabilities and the industry of its inhabitants, by giving every possible stimulus to public and private enterprise, whether directed to the improvement of land, or to the establishment and construction of fisheries and harbours; and, profiting by past experience, we have extended and rendered more effective the provisions of the law for the relief of the destitute poor, thereby bringing into new and closer relations, and connecting by ties of mutual interest, the proprietor and cultivator of the soil.
§ "To those measures for the temporary relief and for the permanent improvement of Ireland, our labours have been assiduously devoted; and nobly and generously have our efforts been responded to by all classes of your Majesty's subjects, who, following your Majesty's gracious and benevolent example, from the highest in the realm to the humblest, have made every sacrifice which the urgency of the case demanded to alleviate sufferings unexampled in their intensity, and borne with a fortitude and resignation equally unexampled by that afflicted and loyal people.
§ "We now tender to your Majesty a Bill 689 for appropriating the various sums voted out of the Consolidated Fund, to which we humbly beg your Majesty's Royal Assent."
§ And the Royal Assent having been given to several Bills, Her Majesty was then pleased to make a most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament; as follows:—
§ "My Lords and Gentlemen,
§ "I have much Satisfaction in being able to release you from the Duties of a laborious and anxious Session. I cannot take leave of you without expressing My grateful Sense of the Assiduity and Zeal with which you have applied yourselves to the Consideration of the public Interests.
§ "Your Attention has been principally directed to the Measures of immediate Relief which a great and unprecedented Calamity rendered necessary.
§ "I have given my cheerful Assent to those Laws which, by allowing the free Admission of Grain, and by affording Facilities for the Use of Sugar in Breweries and Distilleries, tend to increase the Quantity of Human Food, and to promote Commercial Intercourse.
§ "I rejoice to find that you have in no Instance proposed new Restrictions, or interfered with the Liberty of Foreign or internal Trade, as a Mode of relieving Distress. I feel assured that such Measures are generally ineffectual, and in some Cases aggravate the Evils for the Alleviation of which they are adopted.
§ "I cordially approve of the Acts of large and liberal Bounty by which you have assuaged the Sufferings of My Irish Subjects. I have also readily given My Sanction to a Law to make better Provision for the per- 690 manent Relief of the Destitute in Ireland. I have likewise given my Assent to various Bills calculated to promote the Agriculture and develop the Industry of that Portion of the United Kingdom. My Attention shall be directed to such further Measures as may be conducive to those salutary Purposes.
§ "My Relations with Foreign Powers continue to inspire Me with Confidence in the Maintenance of Peace.
§ "It has afforded Me great Satisfaction to find that the Measures which, in concert with the King of the French, the Queen of Spain, and the Queen of Portugal, I have taken for the Pacification of Portugal, have been attended with Success, and that the Civil War which for many Months had afflicted that Country has at last been brought to a bloodless termination.
§ "I indulge the Hope that future Differences between political Parties in that Country may be settled without an Appeal to Arms.
§ "Gentlemen of the House of Commons,
§ "I thank you for your Willingness in granting Me the necessary Supplies; they shall be applied with due Care and Economy to the Public Service.
§ "I am happy to inform you, that, notwithstanding the high Price of Food, the Revenue has, up to the present Time, been more productive than I had Reason to anticipate. The increased Use of Articles of general Consumption has chiefly contributed to this result. The Revenue derived from Sugar, especially, has been greatly augmented by the Removal of the prohibitory Duties on Foreign Sugar.
§ "The various Grants which you 691 have made for Education in the United Kingdom, will, I trust, be conducive to the Religious and Moral Improvement of My People.
§ "My Lords and Gentlemen,
§ "I think proper to inform you, that it is my intention immediately to dissolve the present Parliament.
§ "I rely with Confidence on the Loyalty to the Throne and Attachment to the free Institutions of this Country which animate the great Body of My People. I join with them in Supplications to Almighty God, that the Dearth by which we have been afflicted may, by the Divine Blessing, be converted into Cheapness and Plenty."
§ Then the LORD CHANCELLOR, by Her Majesty's Command said—
§ "My Lords and Gentlemen,
§ "It is Her Majesty's Royal Will and Pleasure, That this Parliament he prorogued to Tuesday the Twenty-first Day of September next, to be then here holden; and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Tuesday the Twenty-first Day of September next."