PROCEEDINGS OF PARLIAMENT.
Tuesday, 28th January.—The Prince Regent came to the House of Lords with the usual state at three o'clock, and opened the Session of Parliament with the following speech from the throne:
My Lords and Gentlemen,
It is with the deepest regret that I am again obliged to announce to you, that no alteration has occurred in the state of his Majesty's lamented indisposition.
I continue to receive from Foreign Powers the strongest assurances of their friendly disposition towards this country, and of their earnest desire to maintain the general tranquillity.
The hostilities to which I was compelled to resort, in vindication of the honour of the country, against the government of Algiers, have been attended with the most complete success.
The splendid achievement of his Majesty's fleet, in conjunction with a squadron of the King of the Netherlands, under the gallant and able conduct of Admiral Viscount Exmouth, led to the immediate and unconditional liberation of all Christian captives then within the territory of Algiers, and to the renunciation by its government of the practice of Christian slavery.
I am persuaded, that you will be duly sensible of the importance of an arrangement so interesting to humanity, and reflecting, from the manner in which it has been accomplished, such signal honour on the British nation.
In India, the refusal of the Government of Nepaul to ratify a treaty of peace which had been signed by its Plenipotentiaries occasioned a renewal of military operations.
The judicious arrangements of the Governor-general, seconded by the bravery and perseverance of his Majesty's forces, and of those of the East India Company, brought the campaign to a speedy and successful issue; and peace has been finally established, upon the just and honourable terms of the original treaty.
Gentlemen of the House of Commons,
I have directed the estimates of the current year to be laid before you.
They have been formed upon a full consideration of all the present circumstances of the country, with an anxious desire to make every reduction in our establishments which the safety of the empire and sound policy allow.
I recommend the state of the public income and expenditure to your early and serious attention.
I regret to be under the necessity of informing you, that there has been a deficiency in the produce of the revenue in the last year; but I trust that it is to be ascribed to temporary causes; and I have the consolation to believe, that you will find it practicable to provide for the public service of the year, without making any addition to the burdens of the people, and without adopting any measure injurious to that system, by which the public credit of the country has been hitherto sustained.
My Lords and Gentlemen,
I have the satisfaction of informing you, that the arrangements which were made in the last Session of Parliament, with a view to a new silver coinage, have been completed with unprecedented expedition.
I have given directions for the immediate issue of the new coin, and I trust that this measure will be productive of considerable advantages to the trade and internal transactions of the country.
The distresses consequent upon the termination of a war of such unusual extent and duration, have been felt, with greater or less severity, throughout all the nations of Europe, and have been considerably aggravated by the unfavourable state of the season.
Deeply as I lament the pressure of these evils upon this country, I am sensible that they are of a nature not to admit of an immediate remedy; but whilst I observe with peculiar satisfaction the fortitude with which so many privations have been borne, and the active benevolence which has been employed to mitigate them, I am persuaded that the great sources of our national prosperity are essentially unimpaired, and I entertain a confident expectation, that the native energy of the country will at no distant period surmount all the difficulties in which we are involved.
In considering our internal situation, you will, I doubt not, feel a just indignation at the attempts which have been made to take advantage of the distresses of the country, for the purpose of exciting a spirit of sedition and violence.
I am too well convinced of the loyalty and good sense of the great body of his Majesty's subjects, to believe them capable of being perverted by the arts which are employed to seduce them; but I am determined to omit no precautions for preserving the public peace, and for counteracting the designs of the disaffected: and I rely with the utmost confidence on your cordial support and co-operation, in upholding a system of law and government, from which we have derived inestimable advantages, which has enabled us to conclude, with unexampled glory, a contest whereon depended the best interests of mankind, and which has been hitherto felt by ourselves, as it is acknowledged by other nations, to be the most perfect that has ever fallen to the lot of any people.
