neral was that feeling, that all ranks of men looked to their removal as their only hope. Even the loyal addressers could not approve of the conduct of administration. It was impossible that the country could go on and pay the enormous taxes with which it was burthened. How, indeed, could it be expected, that with an income so decreased, such an overgrown system of taxation could be discharged? The whole landed property of the country at 25 years purchase could not meet the demand upon us. It was time, then, to promote conciliation, and to try what could be done to save the country. It could no longer be said, "sufficient, for the day is the evil thereof." No man could look on the state of the industrious classes, and see their means consumed and themselves driven into pauperism, without raising his voice against the system from which such alarming and progressive evils flowed. The poor-rates had increased beyond all precedent; it was calculated that this tax alone was adequate to the whole rental of the country. Did ministers think this subject also unworthy their attention? It was in vain to avoid these subjects; if we passed them over to-day, to-morrow they would force themselves upon us. The only way to escape the ultimate danger with which they menaced us was, to look them now fairly in the face. He was convinced, that if the people found that their exertions were met by a respondent wish on the part of government, they would bear cheerfully whatever it was necessary for them to sustain, until an effectual remedy could be applied to the grievances which destroyed their resources, and neutralised their industry. The hon. member concluded by repeating his earnest wish, that the agricultural state of the country should be seriously taken into consideration.

Mr. Tierney said, it was with great satisfaction that in rising to speak, on the first day of the session, on the address in answer to the Speech from the throne, he felt himself freed from the necessity of troubling the House with any amendment. He knew, from long experience, that, as a mark of respect to the Crown, the course always adopted in the House was, never to move an amendment unless the address contained something which pledged gentlemen to an opinion contrary to that which they really entertained. The gentlemen on his side of the House came,

however, to the consideration of the question under circumstances of considerable difficulty and disadvantage. They now, for the first time, heard the Speech, and they were immediately called on for a decision. This was a practice only of late years. Formerly it was customary to read the Speech at the Cock-pit the night before the meeting of parliament, which placed gentlemen on a perfect equality. Although he did not mean to offer any amendment, he hoped the House would forgive him if he did not pass by the Speech without remark. Taking it as a whole, there was nothing in it to provoke discussion. He never heard a Speech from the throne less likely to call forth the observations of a friend, or to provoke the animadversions of an enemy. It was as moderate and correct as a speech, placed by ministers in the mouth of his majesty, could be supposed or expected to be. He was extremely glad to hear that the continuance of peace with foreign powers was likely to remain uninterrupted; because, notwithstanding all that was said about the improvement of the revenue, he was convinced that the stability of the finances of this country depended on the duration of peace; for though they might uphold their finances, until circumstances produced a new war, yet, taking every thing into consideration, he could not avoid looking to that period with great dismay. Therefore, it gave him pleasure to find that the friendly disposition of foreign powers was not likely to be interrupted. The next point in the Speech was, that his majesty observed with great concern the recent occurrences that had taken place in Italy. This was not the proper opportunity for entering into a discussion on the events which had taken place there. But he thought the ministers of this country would not do their duty if they stood by, in a neutral attitude, and did not prevent the great powers from exercising acts of aggression against the small ones. He felt some mortification, after the millions they had expended to secure the peace of Europe, when he found that they were to confine themselves to humble, to very humble hopes, that that peace would not be disturbed by the recent events which had been alluded to. There was a time when a different tone would have been held; and he hoped ministers would, in a proper manner make known to those who were likely to disturb the tranquillity of Eu

the King should select and point out. Of course it would be for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to point out the mode of carrying the details into execution; but still the recommendation usually came from the Crown in a more distinct and specific shape than in the present instance. The manner of doing it appeared to him here to be unnecessarily cold; it would have been, in his opinion, better at once to have been explicit, and stated, fully and unequivocally, what were the whole of the intentions of his majesty's ministers towards the Queen, and by so doing putting an end to a painful and distressing subject, which had for the last nine months agitated the country from one end to another. Ministers should have avoided any thing like ambiguity on such a subject, and not have gone out of their way to use the term "new arrangements;"-a phrase which looked as if something more was intended than met the eye. It was his intention to have also expressed his surprise that nothing had been explicitly said upon the subject of agriculture; a subject upon which, however, his observations had been anticipated by his hon. friend near him (Mr. Curwen). Commerce and manufactures were in a very distressing state; and agriculture was on all sides pressed upon. The next topic in the Speech was where the King used these words:" In the discharge of the important duties imposed on you, you will, I am confident, be sensible of the indispensable necessity of promoting and maintaining, to the utmost of your power, a due obedience to the laws, and of instilling into all classes of my subjects a respect for lawful authority, and for those established institutions under which the country has been enabled to overcome so many difficulties, and to which, under Providence, may be ascribed our happiness and renown as a nation." Now one would really have thought from events lately recorded in the gazette, that this duty of inculcating a due respect for the laws was almost unnecessary. There was another topic which the Speech did not omit to notice; it was that which spoke of the satisfaction which his majesty had received from the loyal Addresses which had been voted to the throne from different parts of the kingdom. He was glad that those things had given his majesty satisfaction; but it was very remarkable, that the loyal Addressers did not express affection or attachment to any thing in the shape of a man in this country, but

his majesty. It was said, indeed, that his majesty had received with satisfaction those assurances of attachment to his person and government; if by government was meant the Constitution, they would all agree upon the subject. But if by government was meant the King's ministers, he would be glad to be shewn the single address which declared any attachment to them or expressed any approbation of their conduct. He had not seen in any news-paper, or any were else, oue solitary address to that effect, not one which said a word about the matter. Ministers were too modest to require any such thing. They shrunk, no doubt, from their own commendation, but certainly their ability for bearing much eulogy had not of late been put to the test (a laugh.) No, the Addressers confined themselves to general expressions of loyalty, and observations upon the existence of blasphemy and sedition, along with the old story of the licentiousness of the Press. But it was very remarkable that there was nothing in the Speech from the throne about either the press, blasphemy, or sedition, yet those subjects had been for some time agitating the country, and made the pretext for convening numerous meetings. It was evident, therefore, from the loyal Addresses themselves, that all men were heartily tired of ministers, and wished to get rid of them. These Addresses, however, were easily got up; they arose out of nothing but the failure of the measures advised by ministers in the last session. For their own convenience, and to recruit their shattered resources, ministers then had parliament prorogued, and employed two months in prevailing once rtain boroughs and corporate bodies to vote what they called Loyal Addresses, while in the mean time, in many instances, where a respectable county meeting was demanded, to animadvert upon the late measures of the government, the sheriff interposed obstacles in the way, and did all in his power to prevent it. He did not forget. that in the discussion on the bills for Regulating Public Meetings during last session, the advocates of ministers had stated, that it would add a dignity to the right of petition, to put meetings for that purpose under the control of the sheriff; but now it appeared to be equivalent to obstructing the right of petition. He must say, that, in some instances, the conduct of the sheriff had been quite outrageous. But, whenever meetings had

been allowed to be couvened, whether in, whig or tory counties, as they were called, to vote addresses expressive of loyalty, they could not refrain from tacking to them amendments condemnatory of the conduct of ministers, to whom the country was aware that it was indebted for more evils than to the licentiousness of the Press. Even so late as yesterday, one of the strongest tory counties (Oxford,) was glad to adopt an amendment against them. His majesty had, however, relieved the country from any alarm which was attempted to be sounded by the cry of blasphemy and sedition, in not noticing these topics in the Speech from the throne. The expressions of loyalty had, however, given heartfelt satisfaction to his majesty, and on that account alone he was glad of them; though he believed they gave no satisfaction to any other person in the kingdom.

Lord Castlereagh said, he did not rise on account of any thing which had fallen from the right hon. gentleman who had spoken last; on the contrary, he thought he had gone through the several topics of the Speech from the throne, with much eandour, and a great deal of good temper. He might be allowed to say, however, that when, in an early part of the evening, he had seen the right hon. gentle man driving into the field of the hon. and learned member, he was led to believe that the debate would be a long and stormy one, and he did not know at what period of the morning they would be enabled to separate. Now it appeared that he had been mistaken, and for all that had happened, they might as well have proceeded at once to the ordinary business, as have consumed the early part of the evening in a very novel and use less kind of debate. But, though it could not be objected to the Speech from the throne, that it contained any topic which could excite a debate, they were, nevertheless, told, that important matters had been omitted which it should not have passed over. An hon. gentleman opposite (Mr. Curwen,) had brought before the notice of the House the agricultural interests. He could assure the hon. gentleman that government did not look with indifference on them or on any of the interests in which the prosperity of the country was bound up; but he believed that the distress of which he spoke, arose more from the internal circumstances of the country, than the state of the laws as

they affected agriculture, and the produce of the land. Ministers would be always ready to hear from that hon. gentleman, or from any other, such plans of relief as could have a practical result. Such suggestions as could be usefully adopted, when made upon former occasions, had not been unattended to. The right hon. gentleman who spoke last, had forcibly animadverted upon the necessity of cultivating that pacific system which was so agreeably dwelt upon in the opening paragraph of the Speech. He could assure him, that he did not overrate the importance and value of a continuation of peace more than his majesty's ministers did; nor could he have a more fixed determination to maintain peace by all the means which were consistent with the honour,' dignity, and safety of the country. With reference to the continental relations of the country, he should be happy at the proper time to give the right hon. gentleman every explanation for which he might think proper to call. He would then see that the fundamental policy of this country, in its late intercourse with foreign powers, was uniformly pacific; but were they therefore to be called upon to intermeddle with the internal arrangements of other powers? Were they to be called upon on every occasion to direct and control what other states might think necessary for their own interests, or for what they thought or felt to be their own interests? Was it to be enforced as a part of the policy of this country, that England should interfere with whatever arrangements other powers should adopt for their own security? He was sure that such a spirit of intermeddling would ill accord with that pacific spirit which was so well described as being the best policy for England to inculcate in her relations with other states. If this country meant to remain at peace, she must not show too great a desire to intermeddle with the internal affairs of other nations. England was a power eminently maritime in her character, and could only appear on the Continent under the pressure of imperative circumstances. Certainly not, without a commanding and unavoidable necessity, for the purpose of controlling or intermeddling with arrangements which had no reference to her own interests. Whenever the proper time should arrive, his majesty's government would be prepared to shew, that the language which had been held by this country, and the

principles on which that language had been founded, were perfectly consistent with its character. This, however, he begged leave at once to say, that it must not be inferred that Great Britain was of necessity a party to all the deliberations and conclusions consequent on those discussions, at which a British minister might be present. We had our own interests to watch over; and in his opinion it was an additional proof of the confidence happily existing among the great powers of Europe, that they received at their meetings the ministers of powers, who were not immediately connected with the measures in progress; in order that their respective governments might, nevertheless, have the satisfaction of knowing the exact nature of those measures. He hoped he had said enough on this part of the subject, and he would therefore reserve any further observations for a future opportunity. With respect to what had fallen from the right hon. gentleman upon the state of the revenue, the House would of course expect the fullest information from his right hon. friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; but as his right hon. friend might not feel himself called upon to rise in the course of the present evening, it would perhaps be as well if he shortly stated what was meant in the Speech upon that head. What the Speech intended to convey was this: that the revenue of the year had not decreased in comparison with the former year, notwithstanding the deficiency in the Irish and in the foreign trade, at the commencement of year, the latter had, however, considerably increased towards the close of the year; The Speech, it was true, gave credit for a part of the increase of revenue to the operation of the new taxes; but, independent of these, it gave credit for an increase in that revenue itself. The right hon. gentleman had said, that the estimate of the new taxes was 3,200,0001. and the receipts 2,200,000l. leaving a deficit of 1,000,000l. Now, that was not the fair way of putting it, for the right hon. gentleman should have born in mind, that 700,000. of the new taxes had been received during the last year, which, if added to the 2,200,000l., or as the fact was, 2,300,000/. made an increase of 3,000,0007. in the revenue. And had it not been for the falling off of 600,000l. in Ireland from local causes, and of between 600,000l. and 700,000l. early in the year in our foreign trade, the aggregate amount

the

of revenue would have been 4,000,0001.; from which deducting the 3,000,0001. new taxes, there would have remained a surplus of about 1,000,000. In the early part of the last year, there was certainly a marked falling off in the commerce of the country, but that depression had ceased; and looking at the last half-year, there was great reason to entertain the hope of a complete return of our commercial prosperity. Although every man must regret that there still existed much local pressure and distress, he appealed to the House, whether, in the situation of those districts which were suffering most when parliament last inquired into the subject, there was not a marked improvement. Not only were the wages of the manufacturers in general increased, but. those wages were rendered more applicable to the wants of the individuals, by the reduction which had taken place in the price of the necessaries of life. There was every reason to hope that this favourable state of things would become still more satisfactory.-Now with respect to that part of his majesty's Speech which related to the provision to be made for the Queen, he did not understand the right hon. gentleman to make any complaint, but that it would have been more becoming if his majesty's ministers had advised his majesty to suggest some specific sum, as that which he would recommend for their adoption. If the right hon. gentleman thought that the word" word" arrangements" in his majesty's Speech meant any thing more than that which parliament might consider a suitable provision for her majesty, he was much mistaken. It was more consistent with the uniform practice, in speeches from the throne, to call the attention of parliament generally, and not particularly, to such subjects. In messages, particular sums had, at various periods, been recommended, but not in speeches from the throne. Of course it would be the duty of his majesty's government to propose to parliament the sum which, in their view of the subject, was the most expedient; and he would therefore now give notice, that on Wednesday in the next week he would make a proposition to the House on the subject. He fixed Wednesday, because Monday and Tuesday were days over which parliament were in the habit of adjourning. On Wednesday, therefore, he should propose what his majesty's government considered would be a