OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. Tuesday, January 31.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 509, 19 June 1850, Page 3

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. Tuesday, January 31.

The Parliament was opened to-day, with the usual formalities, and the Lord Chancellor read the following speech ;—; — * "M» Lords and Gentlemen, " We are commanded by her Majefcly to assure you that her Majesty has great satis faction in again having lecourse to the advice and assistance of her Parliament. " The decease of her Majesty Queen Adelaide has caused her Majesty deep affliction. " The extensive charity and exemplary virtues of her late Majesty will always render her memory dear to the nation. " Her Majesty happily continues in peace and amity with foreign powers. " In the course of the autumn, differences of a serious character arose between the governments of Austria and Russia on the one band, and the Sublime Porte on the other, in regard to the treatment of a considerable number of persons who, after the termination of the civil war in Hungary, had taken refuge in the Turkish territory. " Explanations which took place between the Turkish and Imperial Governments have, fortunately, removed any danger to the peace of Europe, which- might have arisen out of these differences, her Majesty having been appealed to on this occasion by the Sultan, united her efforts with those of the government of France, to which a similar appeal had been made, in order to assist, by the employment of her good offices, in effecting an amicable settlement of these differences in a manner consistent with the dignity and independence of the Porte. " Her Majesty has been engaged in communication with foreign states, upon the measures which might be rendered necessary by the relaxation of the restrictions formerly imposed by the Navigation Laws of this country. " The governments of the United States of America and of Sweden have promptly taken steps to secure to British ships, in the ports of their respective countries advantages similar to those which their own ships now enjoy in British ports. "With regard to those foreign states whose navigation laws have hitherto been of , a restrictive character, her Majesty has received from nearly all of them assurances which induce her to hope that our example will speedily lead to a great and general diminution of those obstacles which previously existed to a free intercourse by sea between the nations of the world. " In the summer and autumn of last year, th 6 United Kingdom was again visited by the rafiges of the cholera ; but Almighty God, in Mi mercy, was pleased to arrest the progress of mortality, and to stay this fearful pestilence. " Her Majesty is persuaded, that we shall best evince our gratitude by. vigilant precautions against the more obvious causes of sick-, neif, and an enlightened consideration for those who are exposed to its attacks.

" Her Majesty, in her late visit to Ireland, derived the highest gratification from the loyalty and attachment manifested by all classes of her subjects. Although the effects of former years of scarcity are painfully felt in that part of the United Kingdom, they are mitigated by the present abundance of food, and the tranquillity which prevails. " Her Majesty has great satisfaction in congratulating you on the improved condition of commerce and manufactures. It is with regret that her Majesty has observed the complaints which, in many parts of the Kingdom, have proceeded from the owners and occupiers of land. Her Majesty greatly laments that any portion of her subjects should be suffering distress ; but it is a source of sincere gratification to her Majesty to witness the increased enjoyment of the necessaries aud comforts of life, which cheapness and plenty have bestowed upon the great body of her people. " Gentlemen of the House of Commons, •• Her Majesty has directed the estimates for the year to be laid before yon. They have been framed with a strict regard to economy, while the efficiency of the various branches of the public service has not been neglected. Her Majesty has seen with satisfaction the present state of the Revenue. " My Lords and Gentlemen, " Some of the measures which were postponed at the end of last session, for want of time for their consideration, will be again laid before you. " Among the most important of these, is ! one for the better government of the Australian colonies. " Her Majesty has directed various measures to be prepared fur the improvement of the condition of Ireland. The mischiefs arising from party processions ; the defects of the laws for regulating the relations of landlord and tenant ; the imperfect state of the Grand Jury Acts ; and the diminished number of electors for members to serve in Parliament will, together with other matters of serious consequence, form the subject of measures to be submitted for your serious consideration. "Her Majesty has learned with satisfaction that the measures which have already I been passed for the promotion of the public health, are in a course of gradual adoption ; and her Majestry trusts that both in the metropolis and in various parts of the United Kingdom, you will be enabled to make further progress in the removal of evils which affect the health and well-being of her subjects. " The favour of Divine Providence has hitherto preserved this Kingdom from the wars and convulsions, which, during the last two ! years, have shaken so many of the states of the Continent of Europe. It is her Majesty's hope and belief that, by combining liberty with order, by preserving what is valuable, and amending what is defective, you will sustain the fabric of our institutions, as the abode and the shelter of a free and happy people." Their Lordships adjourned during pleasure.