Almighty God, that tranquillity, good order, and willing
obedience to the laws continue to prevail generally
throughout the country. It appears to me that it is a
fitting time for calmly considering whether it may not
be advisable to make such amendments in the act of the
late reign relating to the representation of the commons
in parliament, as may be deemed calculated to carry
into more complete effect the principles upon which that
law is founded. I have the fullest confidence that in
any such consideration you will firmly adhere to the
acknowledged principles of the constitution, by which
the prerogatives of the crown, the authority of both
houses of parliament, and the rights and liberties of the
people, are equally secured."

The Earl of ALBEMARLE moved the Address; and it
was seconded by Lord LEIGH.—The Earl of DERBY
said that the subjects treated of in the royal speech were
multifarious, and inconsequentially strung together.
He lamented the absence of all allusion to the condition
of the agricultural interest. He then referred to the
subject of papal aggression, which her Majesty's government
had legislated for superficially and not substantially.
He maintained that the act of last session had been
ostentatiously set at defiance, and he invited the government
to say whether they were satisfied with it. On
the subject of friendly relations with foreign powers, he
expressed a conviction that there must have been some
serious cause which had induced her Majesty to dispense
with the services of one of the most able servants of the
crown. He was not bound by any official reserve from
speaking openly on the subject of the relations of this
country with France. It was not for them to canvass
the morality or the acts of the French government, since
it had been backed by the will of the people. He firmly
believed that the Prince President was fully disposed to
maintain friendly relations with this country, but if
anything was likely to destroy that disposition, it was
the unjustifiable tone assumed towards him by a large
portion of the public press. He proceeded to point out
the dangers and uncertainties of the state of public
affairs in France, and the necessity of adopting such
measures of defence as might make invasion impossible.
He promised his co-operation, and that of those who
acted with him, for such a purpose. He then, in a
warning tone, and from the example of France, vindicated
the necessity of maintaining the territorial aristocracy
of England—the best guarantee of constitutional
government, and the surest conservators of a well-
founded liberty. The noble earl then adverted to the
question of the disastrous war at the Cape, which had
been attended by many blunders. Turning to the
subject of Ireland, he expressed his surprise that the
government should have taken credit for the tranquillity
of the south and west, which sprang from an emigration
so vast as to be called the exodus of the Irish people.
In the north, their administration of justice for the
purpose of suppressing outrage had experienced a double
failure. From Ireland the noble earl turned to the
subject of the new constitution for New Zealand, and
having disposed of that topic, he reminded their
lordships that the financial prosperity of the country was
founded on the unpopular income-tax, and that the past
year was one of serious commercial losses, and low
commercial profits. In conclusion, he expressed his conviction
that there were not 500 reasonable men who
considered a new reform bill necessary. The essential
utility of the House of Commons was, that it appropriately
represented all classes, that the large communities
did not overpower the small, and he trusted that it was
not intended to destroy the permanent influence of the
land by increasing the already large democratic powers
possessed by the great towns. If such was the principle
of the new bill, he regarded it as a step in a dangerous
direction, and would give it such opposition as lay in his
power to offer.—Earl GREY went over several of the topics
adverted to by Lord Derby. With reference to the state of
agriculture, he thought that there was every reason to
regard it hopefully; and those who conceived that the
present policy should be reversed, ought, once for all, to
bring their views forward for discussion, but first they
ought to settle with their supporters whether it was a
duty for protection or revenue that they wanted. As
to papal aggression, he had never looked to acts of
parliament, but to the feelings and convictions of the
mass of the people as our safest defence, but the act
which had passed last year was not a dead letter. He
concurred with the Earl of Derby in the tribute he had
paid to the character and talents of the late Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, and he regretted deeply that
circumstances had deprived her Majesty's government of the
benefit of his counsels. He entirely joined in repudiating
the tone of the public press with reference to
France. He confided in the amicable assurances
received from foreign powers, but thought that
something should be done to place the country in a state
of greater security. As to the emigration from Ireland,
it was a voluntary effort, which had only fulfilled his
anticipations, and was carried on without expense to
the country, and in a manner most honourable to the
Irish character. He believed that Ireland would
improve greatly under the process, but the security of
life and property there must first be established. The
noble earl defended, or rather apologised for, his colonial
policy in New Zealand. He vindicated, also, the
financial relaxations of recent years; and, with reference
to the contemplated measure on the representation, he
assured the house that the existing balance of political
power among classes would not be disturbed.—Lord
BROUGHAM expressed his concurrence in what had been
said by the Earl of Derby and Earl Grey as to the tone of
the press of this country in discussing the internal affairs
of France, and the character and conduct of the Prince
President.—The Earl of HARROWBY stated his impression
that the public press had faithfully expressed the
opinion of the country with reference to French affairs,
and as an individual peer he could not omit that
opportunity of saying that the newspapers had a perfect right
to discuss openly and fearlessly the political and social
condition of their nearest neighbours, as they did the
state of Austria, Russia, or any other continental power.
—The Earl of MALMESBURY closed the debate by
adopting the same views on that subject as had been
expressed by the Earl of Derby.

On Thursday the 5th, the Duke of WELLINGTON
took occasion to express his Approval of Sir Harry
Smith's conduct while in command at the Cape:—"I
approve entirely," said the Duke, "of the conduct of
the troops in all their operations. I am fully sensible
of the difficulties under which they laboured, and of the
gallantry with which they overcame all those difficulties,
and of the great success which attended their exertions.
My firm belief is that everything has been done by the
commanding general, by the forces, and by his officers,
in order to carry into execution the instructions of her
Majesty's government. I have had the honour of
holding the command of her Majesty's armies in India,
and of superintending the conduct of different military
operations in the same part of the world under three
separate governors-general. I am proud to say that I
have observed no serious error in the conduct of these
late operations. Certainly Sir Harry Smith has
committed some errors, as others have done before him.
These operations by the Caffres are carried on by the
occupation of extensive regions, which, in some places
are called jungle, in others bush; but which in reality are
thickset wood—the thickest that can be found anywhere.
The Caffres having established themselves in these
fastnesses with the plunder on which they exist, their
assailants suffer great losses. The Caffres move away
more or less with great activity and celerity, sometimes
saving, sometimes losing their plunder; but they
always evacuate their fastnesses. Our troops do not,
cannot, occupy those fastnesses. They would be useless
to them, and, in point of fact, the troops could not live
in them. Well, the enemy moves off, and is attacked
again, and the same operation is renewed time after
time. The consequence of this, to my certain
knowledge is, that under the three last governors some of
these fastnesses have been attacked no less than three
or four times over. On every occasion this is
accompanied with great loss to the assailants. There is,
however, a remedy for this state of evil. When a fastness
is stormed it should be totally destroyed after its
capture. I have had some experience in this kind of
warfare, and I know that the only mode of subduing an
enemy of this description is by opening roads into his