THE ROYAL SPEECH.
Parturiunt Ministers, et nascitur the customary Speech from the Throne. An able and much-in-earnest contemporary anticipates that Ministers will have rather a bad time of it, though he thinks they will manage to get through ; and he sketches the outline of a Queen's Speech which might pass muster. But when did he learn that the imaginative Chancellor of the Exchequer would be con- tent with passing muster P Not at all : this is bound to be the most striking speech from the Throne ever delivered ; and in Booth there are the materials for it. The Queen's Speech has simply to record events according to the views which are well known to be those of the present Cabinet, and it will be not only passable, but, to use the common phrase, "as interesting as a novel."
Her most gracious Ministers will naturally begin by expressing their satisfaction at meeting the. new Parliament; a satisfaction redoubled by observing that their people have at the election nobly and overwhelmingly supported that policy which has for so many years been the policy of each successive Ministry for the time being, and which has resulted in so glorious a measure of pros- perity for the empire at large. Her Majesty will be advised to give her royal assurance that her present Ministers will be peculiarly enabled to continue that policy, not only because it originated with their own political an- cestors at an early period of our history, but because, by a happy combination of circumstances, they possess the confidence of the only section of their people hitherto opposed to freedom of com- merce with all the world.
Justified in that course by the practical results of the commerce which they have assisted in emancipating, and among the most conspicuous results of which is the large influx of gold from Aus- tralia, her Majesty's Ministers will lay before Parliament measures to complete that policy, by further alleviating the burdens on the shoulders of the people,—removing the special burdens from land, to lay them upon the wealthier classes of the community ; remov- ing burdens that press upon capital, by extending the Income-tax to a wider range of incomes ; and at the same time lightening the burden of taxes upon the labouring classes, by reposing them upon the land.. The policy which more especially called her Majesty's present advisers to the helm of state has been completely successful. No further inroads have been made by the Democracy during the pe- riod in which her Majesty's Ministers remained unsupported by their Parliament ; under that policy, firmly but temperately sus- tained, the country has been restored to tranquillity ; and if a dis- tinguished statesman, not long since sitting at the ear of Eve, and inheriting a destiny of resistance to royal authority, is still pur- suing undisguised machinations against Order and the Throne, there will be no ground for serious apprehension so long as her Ma- jesty's present Ministers are supported by the confidence of their people. The recent high tides in her Majesty's river Thames have given rise to apprehensions for the fulfilment of a prophecy by her Ma- jesty's present prophet ; but that prophecy was only conditional, and her Majesty's Ministers have taken measures to save society throughout their own term of office.
The state of Ireland is more encouraging than it has been for a long series of years. The operation of measures promoted by her Majesty's Ministers in relieving encumbered estates both from i their pecuniary liabilities and their landlords, the emigration pro- moted by her Majesty's subjects in North Anierica, the wholesome compulsion of the potato, the moral effect of the Queen's Colleges and National Education patronized by the present Lord-Lieu- tenant, and the measures taken to allay religions animosities so long prevailing in that country, are repaid by the gratitude of the Irish people ; who, appreciating the munificence of the English Parliament, forbear to press a return of those gifts which that Parliament delicately made under the name of "advances." The gentlemen of the House of Commons will be informed that the Estimates will be laid before them, and that they have been framed with the strictest economy consistent with a due regard to the efficiency of the public service. Notwithstanding the immense flow of gold from the Australian Colonies, her Majesty's Ministers forbear to indulge their desire to send out proportionate streams of emigration to those countries. It is deemed a preferable economy to continue the emigration of people to the 'United States, which is paid for by the relatives of the emigrants; and thus a saving of public money is effected.
From all her Majesty's Colonies the most satisfactory assurances are received. The supplies of convict labour sent to Western Aus- tralia will extend their benefits to the neighbouring colonies; an extension of which the colonists are fully sensible. Measures have been taken to support the Caffre war, so as to sustain the reputa- tion of our arms in future years. The people of the West Indian Colonies, so peculiarly interested in questions of free trade or other- wise, repose a special confidence in her Majesty's Ministers, and will no doubt follow the example of their agricultural brethren at home, in cheerfully sacrificing their peculiar views to the, support of a Ministry whose continuance in office is incompatible with those views, -but so highly beneficial on some other grounds to her Majesty's subjects in the West Indies. Jamaica, however, has ex- pressed a disposition to compromise her claim by accepting in lieu thereof a closer connexion with a prosperous neighbouring Repub- lic; an arrangement for which her Majesty's Ministers have not failed to afford due facilities. Canada has been tranquillized by the measure for restoring to the clergy those reserves of land which a previous Ministry had doomed to confiscation under popular clamour. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have recog- nized the attention to their interests in the resolute protection of their fishing-grounds against the encroachments of foreign rivals. With Foreign Powers her Majesty continues to maintain the most friendly relations. Some difficulty arose, respecting fish, with the great American Republic ; but her. Majesty is enabled to announce that it has been promptly settled on the principle of concession to the stronger compulsion ; and the spirit which is eager to give ample satisfaction on proper 'urgency is correctly appreciated by her Ma- jesty's powerful ally.
A neighbouring Potentate has recently succeeded in saving so- ciety in his own country : her Majesty's Ministers necessarily feel the greatest sympathy with a policy and an achievement so like their own.
Other Continental Powers continue to manifest the most amicable disposition towards her Majesty's Ministers. If some sacrifices to maintain these propitious relations are demanded from British sub- jects travelling abroad, they will know how to make such sacrifices with a due regard to the safety of their country from hazardous aggressions. Various measures for the reform of abuses, as soon as they shall be proved to have the unanimous assent of a loyal people, are looming in the future. One measure will be introduced forthwith, to sum- mon the Convocation of her Majesty's Clergy for the despatch of business. It is expected that a. public discussion, between the Right Reverend Prelates of Oxford, Hereford, Manchester, Exe- ter, and other dioceses, and the various parties among the elergy whom they represent, will contribute to the solidity of the Church Establishment and the religions peace of the country. Her Majesty will commend her Parliament to their labours with a confident hope that, under her present Ministry, the session will be distinguished by unprecedented unanimity, debating be sub- dued to a decorous formula, and every proposal on the part of Go- vernment carried without a division.
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