Lords Sitting of 14 August 1855

MINUTES.
ROYAL ASSENT.—Consolidated Fund (Appropriation); Exchequer Bills (£7,000,000); Customs Tariff Acts Amendment and Consolidation; Customs Laws Consolidation; Excise Duties; Turkish Loan; Office of Speaker; Trinity College (Dublin); Dwelling Houses (Scotland); Religious Worship; Slave Trade (Sherbro); Youthful Offenders (No. 2); Crown Suits; Merchant Shipping Act Amendment; Turnpike Acts Continuance (Ireland); Militia Officers' Qualifications; Fisheries (British
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Islands and France); Turnpike Acts Continuance (No. 2); Sale of Spirits (Ireland); Turnpike Trusts Arrangements; Lunatic Asylums and Regulations Acts Amendment; Militia Ballots Suspension; Island of Tobago Loan; Coal Mines Inspection; Court of Judicature (Prince of Wales Island); Bills of Lading (No. 2); Crime and Outrage (Ireland); Lunatic Asylums (Ireland) Advances; Navigation Works (Ireland); Ordnance Board; Sale of Beer, &c.; Passenger Act Amendment; Metropolis Local Management; Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Acts Consolidation and Amendment; Chinese Passenger Ships; Metropolitan Buildings; Despatch of Business, Court of Chancery; Charitable Trusts; Criminal Justice; Public Houses (Ireland); Public Health Act (1854) Continuance and Amendment; Diseases Prevention; Militia Pay; School Grants Security for Application; Public Health (No. 2); Dwellings for Labouring Classes; Burials; Limited Liability; Union of Contiguous Benefices.

PROROGATION OF THE PARLIAMENT— SPEECH OF THE LORDS COMMISSION- ERS.
The PARLIAMENTwas this day prorogued by Commission.
THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS,namely, the Lord Chancellor (Lord CRANWORTH), the Lord President of the Council (Earl GRANVILLE), the Lord Privy Seal (the Duke of ARGYLL), Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY (President of the Board of Trade), and the Earl of HARROWBY (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster), being seated at the foot of the Throne, and the COMMONS preceded by their Speaker being present, the ROYAL ASSENT was given to several Bills.
THE LORD CHANCELLOR, on behalf of the LORDS COMMISSIONERS, then delivered the following Speech:—
My Lords, and Gentlemen,
"We are, commanded by Her Majesty to release you from further Attendance in Parliament, and at the same Time to express the warm Acknowledgments of Her Majesty for the Zeal and Assiduity with which you have applied yourselves to the Discharge of your Public Duties during a long and laborious Session.
"HER MAJESTY has seen with great Satisfaction, that while you have occupied yourselves in providing Means for the vigorous Prosecution of the War, you have given your Attention to many

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Measures of great Public Utility. Her Majesty is convinced that you will share Her Satisfaction at finding that the Progress of Events has tended to cement more firmly that Union which has so happily been established between Her Government and that of Her Ally The Emperor of the French; and Her Majesty trusts that an Alliance founded on a Sense of the general Interests of Europe, and consolidated by good Faith, will long survive the Events which have given rise to it, and will contribute to the permanent Well-being and Prosperity of the Two great Nations whom it has linked in the Bonds of honourable Friendship.
"THE Accession of The King of Sardinia to the Treaty between Her Majesty, The Emperor of the French, and The Sultan, has given additional Importance and Strength to that Alliance, and the efficient Force which his Sardinian Majesty has sent to the Seat of War to co-operate with the Allied Armies will not fail to maintain the high Reputation by which the Army of Sardinia has ever been distinguished.
"HER MAJESTY has commanded us to thank you for having enabled Her to avail Herself as far as has been found to be required of those patriotic Offers of extended Service which She has received from the Militia of the United Kingdom, and for the Means of reinforcing Her brave Army in the Crimea by an Enlistment of Volunteers from abroad.
"HER MAJESTY acknowledges with Satisfaction the Measure which you have adopted for giving Effect to the Convention by which, in conjunction with Her, Ally The Emperor of the French, She has made Arrangements for assisting The Sultan to provide the Means which are necessary to enable
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Him to maintain in Efficiency the Turkish Army, which has so gallantly withstood the Assaults of its Enemies.
"HER MAJESTY, in giving Her Assent to the Bill which you presented to Her for the Local Management of the Metropolis trusts that the Arrangements provided by that Measure will lead to many Improvements conducive to the Convenience and Health of this great City. The Abolition of the Duty on Newspapers will tend to diffuse useful Information among the poorer Classes of Her Majesty's Subjects. The Principle of Limited Liability which you have judiciously applied to Joint Stock Associations will afford additional Facilities for the Employment of Capital, and the Improvements which you have made in the Laws which regulate Friendly Societies will encourage Habits of Industry and Thrift among the Labouring Classes of the Community.
"HER MAJESTY trusts that the Measures to which She has given Her Assent for improving the Constitutions of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, and for bestowing on the important and flourishing Colonies of Australia extended Powers of Self-Government, will assist the Development of their great natural Resources, and will promote the Contentment and Happiness of their Inhabitants.
"HER MAJESTY commands us to say that She has been deeply gratified by the Zeal for the Success of Her Majesty's Arms, and by the Sympathy for Her Soldiers and Sailors, manifested throughout Her Indian and Colonial Empire; and Her Majesty acknowledges with great Satisfaction the generous Contributions which Her Subjects, in India, and the Legislatures and In-

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habitants of the Colonies, have sent for the Relief of the Sufferers by the Casualties of War.
Gentlemen of the House of Commons,
"HER MAJESTY commands us to convey to you Her cordial Thanks for the Readiness and Zeal with which you have provided the necessary Supplies for carrying on the War in which Her Majesty is engaged.
"HER MAJESTY laments the Burthens and Sacrifices which it has become necessary to impose upon Her faithful People, but She acknowledges the Wisdom with which you have alleviated the Weight of those Burthens by the mixed Arrangements which you have made for providing those Supplies.
My Lords, and Gentlemen,
"HER MAJESTY has commanded us to say, that She has seen with sincere Regret that the Endeavours which, in conjunction with Her Ally The Emperor of the French, She made at the recent Conferences at Vienna to bring the War to a Conclusion on Conditions consistent with the Honour of the Allies and with the future Security of Europe, have proved ineffectual. But, those Endeavours having failed, no other Course is left to Her Majesty but to prosecute the War with all possible Vigour; and Her Majesty, relying upon the Support of Her Parliament, upon the manly Spirit and Patriotism of Her People, upon the never-failing Courage of Her Army and Her Navy, whose Patience under Suffering and whose Power of Endurance Her Majesty has witnessed with Admiration, upon the stedfast Fidelity of Her Allies, and above all upon the Justice of Her Cause, humbly puts Her Trust in the
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Almighty Disposer of Events for such an Issue of the great Contest in which She is engaged as may secure to Europe the Blessings of a firm and lasting Peace.
"On your Return to your several Counties you will have Duties to perform little less important than those which belong to your Attendance in Parliament. Her Majesty trusts that your powerful Influence will be exerted for the Welfare and Happiness of Her People, the Promotion of which is the Object of Her Majesty's constant Care and the anxious Desire of Her Heart."
Then a Commission for proroguing the Parliament was read.
After which
THE LORD CHANCELLORsaid;
"MY LORDS, AND GENTLEMEN,
"By virtue of Her Majesty's Commission, under the Great Seal, to us and other Lords directed, and now read, we do, in Her Majesty's Name, and in obedience to Her Commands, prorogue this Parliament to Tuesday the Twenty-third Day of October next, to be then here holden; and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Tuesday the Twenty-third Day of October next."