THE QUEEN'S SPEECH.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 67, 20 March 1871, Page 3

THE QUEEN'S SPEECH.

London, February 9. — Parliament reassembled to-day. Following is the Queen's speech delivered at the opening of the session. Lords and Gentlemen: At an epoch' of such moment to the future fortunes of Europe, I am especially obliged to avail myself of your counsels. The war which broke out in the month of July, between France and Germany, has raged until the last few days with unremitting and likewise unexampled force; and its ravages may be renewed after a few clays more, unless moderation and forethought, prevailing over all impediments, should sway the counsels of both the parties whose well-be-ing is so fatally concerned. At the time when you separated, I promised a constant attention to the subject of neutral obligations and I undertook to use my best endeavours to prevent the enlargement of the war and to contribute, if opportunity should offer, to the restoration of an early and honorable peace. , In accordance with the

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first of these declarations, I have maintained the right and strictly discharged the duties of neutrality within the sphere of the two countries, originally engaged. Cherishing with care the cordiality of my relations with the belligerents, I have forebore from whatever might have been construed as gratuitous or unwarranted interference between the parties, neither of whom had shown a readiness to propose terms of accommodation, such as would, bear promise of acceptance by the other ••• I have been able on more than one occasion to contribute towards placing the representatives of the two contending countries in confidential communication, but until compelled by the surrender of Paris, no further result had been obtained. The armistice now being employed for the convocation of an Assembly in France, has brought about a pause in the constant accumulation on both sides of human suffering, and has rekindled the hope of a complete accommodation. I pray that this suspension may result in a peace compatible for the two great and brave nations involved — with security and with honor, and likely, therefore, to command the approval of Europe, and to give reasonable hopes of a long duration. It has been with concern that I have found myself unable to accredit myself with an ambassador, in a formal manner, to the Government of Defence which has existed in France since the revolution of September, but neither the harmony nor the efficiency of the correspondence of the two members has been in the slightest degree j impaired. \ 1 The King of Prussia has accepted the title | of Emperor of Germany, at the instance of the chief authorities of the nation. I have offered my congratulations on an event which bears testimony to the solidity and independence of Germany, and which I trust may be found conducive to the stability of the European system. I have endeavored, in correspondence with other powers of Europe, to uphold the sanctity of treaties and to remove any misapprehension as to the binding character of their obligations. It was agreed by the powers which had been parties to the treaties 1 of 1856 that a conference should meet in London. This conference has now been for some time engaged in its labors, and I confidently trust the result of its deliberations will be to uphold both the principles of public right, and the general policy of the treaty; and at the same time, by the revision of some of its conditions, in a fair and conciliatory spirit to exibit a cordial co-operation among the Powers with regard to the Levant, and greatly regret that my earnest efforts have failed to procure the presence at the conference of any representative of France, which was one of the chief parties to the treaty of 1856, and which must ever be regarded as a principal and indispensable member of the great Commonwealth of Europe. At '.different times several questions of importance have arisen, which are not yet adjusted, and which materially affect the relations between the United States and • the Territories and people of British North America. One of them in particular, which concerns the fisheries, call for an early settlement, lest the possible indescretion of individuals shohld impair the neighborly understanding which it is on all grounds so desirable to cherish and maintain. I have, - therefore, engaged in an amicable communication with the President of the United States, in order to determine the most convenient mode of treatment for these matters. I hav.e suggested the appointment of a joint commission, and I have agreed to the proposal of the President that this commission shall be authorised at the same .. time, and in the same manner, to receive the consideration of the American claims growing out of the circumstances of the late war. This arrangement will, by common consent, include all claims for compensation which have been, or may be, made *.• by each Government, or by its citizens, upon the other. The establishment of a Prince of the House of Savoy on the throne of Spain by the^jfree choice of the popularly elected representatives of the Spanish nation, will, I trust, insure for a country which has - passed with so much temperance and selfcontrol through a prolonged and trying Hicrisis, the blessings of a stable governme,nfr. I am, unhappily, not able to state that '.-tlse Inquiry which was instituted by the i> Government of Greece into the history of the shocking murder perpetrated during last spring at Diles, had reached a termination answerable in all respects to my just expectations ;, but I shall not desist from my' endeavors to secure the complete at-, tainment of the objects of the inquiry. Some valuable results, however, have in the meantime been obtained for the exposure, and the suppression of a lawless and corrupting system, which has so long afflicted the Greek peninsula. The anxiety .which the massacre at Tientsin, on the 21st June last, called forth has happily been dispelled, and, while it will be my earnest endeavor to provide for the security of my subjects and their trade

in those remote corners, I count on your concurrence in the policy that I have adopted of recognising the Chinese Government as entitled to be dealt with in its relations with this country in a conciliatory and forbearing spirit. The Parliamentary recess has been of anxious interest in regard to foreign affairs, but I rejoice to acquaint you that ray relations are, as heretofore, those of friendship and good understanding with the sovereigns and states of the civilised world. \ Papers illustrative of the conduct of my Government in relation to the several matters on which I have now summarily touched, will be duly laid before you. In returning to domestic affairs, I have first to inform you that I have approved of a marriage between my daughter, the Princess Louise, and the Marquis of Lome, and I have declared my consent to this union in a council of gentlemcu of the House of Commons. The revenue of the country flourishes, and the condition of trade and industry may, though with partial drawback?, be declared satisfactory. The estimates of the coming year will be promptly laid before you. The lessons of military experience afforded by the war have been numerous and important. The time appears appropriate for turning such lessons to account by efforts more decisive than heretofore at practical improvement. In attempting this you will not fail to bear in mind the special features in the position of this country, so favorable to the freedom and security of the people, and if the changes from the less to a more effective and elastic system of defensive military preparations shalbbe found to in-' volve, at least for a time,j an increa^of various charges, your prudence and patriotism will not grudge the tost, as long as you are satisfied that, the end is important and the means judicious. ]yo tkflfe will be lost in laying before you a bpsor the better organisation of the aj^PFand the auxiliary land forces of thevf^own, and I hardly need commend it to your anxious and impartial consideration. j

Theee is something a|vful, says the correspondent of the Time's, in getting up every morning and going to a battle as regularly and calmly as if one was going out partridge shooting. Yet for the last three days I have been driving to the scene of slaughter aud hack again to the same quarters in the evening until the plain has been invested iu my eyes with a frightful familarity, and my laudmarks are the same stiffened corpses, which have not yet been removed, aud which are scattered for miles over the fields. Day after day to pass the same ditch an3r s ;see the same contorted features and glassy eyes which thrilled one with horror the first time still staring at one, to try new roads in order to uvoid the ghastly sights of the old ones, but to obtain fresh evidences of the great area over which the fight has been extended, aud after passing across the battle fields of three successive days to find on the fourth a new battle going on at tbe point where the last oue left off — all this is calculated to produce a sense of distress difficult; to describe. In no places do the dead lie very thick together, here and there 20 or 30 may be counted in a group, but as a general rule they are sparsely but widely dotted over the plains. Now aud then, where a shell hns burst in the middle of a battery of artillery, may be seen men and horses together, but the French fire had not been sufficiently good to render such sights common. A Splendid opportunity has presented itself of testing the value of the principle of protection, by the siege of Paris. Tbe "native industry" of two millions of people, comprising some of the best artificers in the world, has been more effe&tyally protected against external competition by the "Prussian army thau would have been possible by a cordon of customhouses. In fact, native industry hea been master of the situation in Paris, Not only so, but it has achieved one of the greatest desiderata of the protectionists — id has kept all its money at home, Under these circumstances, we may expect to hear, so soon as the siege is raised, that the inhabitants of the French metropolis, self-contained and self-sustained, have all become unprecedently rich during the period they have been so completely protected. As the diminution of imports is, according to our new lights in political economy, an evidence of the increasing prosperity of the community which dispenses with them, their total cessation must be a vast, unqualified blessing. We wonder none of our hustings' orators have referred to the siege of Paris when they aave been anxious to " point a moral " in favor of protection. — Argus. Figaro prints the following bit. of information : — "Lord Eldon, who has just died in London, has left all his fortune to the lunatic asylum of Bedlam. 'I leave,' said he in his will, 'to madmen a fortune I owe to madmen/ Lord Eldon was a lawyer."