My Lords and Gentlemen,

In opening the present parliament I stated that never, at any time, had subjects of greater interest and magnitude called for your attention.

The manner in which you have discharged the duties thus commit. ted to you, now demands my warmest regard, and enables me to close a session, not more remarkable for its extended duration, than for the patience and persevering industry which you have employed in many laborious inquiries, and in perfect. ing the various legislative measures which have been brought under your consideration.

I continue to receive from my al. lies, and from all foreign sovereigns, assurances of their friendly disposition.

I regret that I cannot yet announce to you the conclusion of a definite arrangement between Holland and Belgium; but the convention, in conjunction with the king of the French, I concluded in May last, with the king of the Netherlands, prevents a renewal of hostilities in the Low Countries: and thus affords fresh security for the general continuance of peace.

Events which have lately taken place in Portugal have induced me to renew my diplomatic relations with that kingdom, and I have accredited a minister to the court of her most faithful majesty Donna Maria.

You may rest assured I look with great anxiety to the moment when the Portuguese monarchy, so long united with this country by the ties

of alliance, and by the closest bonds of interest, may be restored to a state of peace, and may regain its former prosperity.

The hostilities which had disturb. ed the peace of Turkey have terminated, and you may be assured that my attention will be carefully directed to any event which may affect the present or the future independency of that empire.

Your investigation, carefully prosecuted during the last session, has enabled you to renew the charter of the bank of England, on terms which appear to be well calculated to sustain public credit, and to secure the usefulness of that important establishment.

The laborious inquiries carried on by committees of both houses of parliament, for several successive sessions, have also enabled you to bring the affairs of the East India Company to a satisfactory adjustment. I have the most confident expectation that the system of government thus established will prove to have been wisely formed for the improvement and happiness of the natives of India, and by the opening of the China trade, a new field has been afforded for the activity and the enterprise of British commerce.

The state of slavery in my colonial possessions has necessarily occupied a portion of your time and attention commensurate with the magnitude and the difficulty of the subject. Whilst your deliberations have been guided by the paramount consideration of justice and humanity, the interests of the colonial pro

prietors have not been overlooked. I trust that the future proccedings of the colonial legislatures, and the conduct of all classes in my colonies, may be such as to give full effect to the benevolent intentions of the legislature, and to satisfy the just expectations of my people.

I observe with satisfaction that the amendment of the law has con. tinued to occupy your attention, and that several important measures have been adopted, by some of which the title to property has been rendered more secure, and the conveyance of it more easy; while by others the proceedings in courts both of law and equity, have been made more expeditious, and less costly.

The establishment of the court of privy council is another improvement which, while it materially assists suitors at home, will, I trust, afford substantial relief to those in my colonial possessions.

You may rest assured that there is no part of your labours which I regard with a deeper interest than that which does, by well considered amendments of the law, make justice easily accessible to all my subjects. With this view I have caused a commission to be issued for digesting in one body the enactments of criminal law, and inquiring how far, and by what means the criminal process may be assimilated to the other branch of our jurisprudence.

I have also directed commissions to be issued for investigating the state of the municipal corporations throughout the United Kingdom. The result of their inquiries will enable you to procure those means which may seem best fitted to place the internal government of corporate cities and towns on a solid foundation, in respect of their finances, their government, and their po

lice. In the mean time, two important acts have been passed for giving constitutions, upon sound principles, to the royal and parliamentary burghs of Scotland, and your attention will hereafter be called to the expediency of extending similar advantages to the unincorporated towns of England, which have now acquired the right of returning members to parliament.

It is with the greatest pain that I felt myself compelled to call upon you for additional powers to control and punish the disturbers of the public peace in Ireland. This call was answered, as I confidently anticipated, by your loyalty and firmness. I have not found it necessary, except in a very limited degree, to use the powers thus confi. ded to me, and I have now the satisfaction of informing you that the spirit of insubordination and violence which had prevailed to so alarming an extent, has in a great measure subsided. I look forward with anxiety to the time when the painful necessity of continuing those measures of great but unavoidable severity shall cease; and I have given my assent, with unqualified satisfaction, to the various salutary and remedial measures which, during the course of the present session, have been proposed to me for my acceptance. The act which, in pursuance of my recommendation, you passed with respect to the temporalities of that branch of the united church which is established in Ireland; and for the immediate and total abolition of vestry assessments, and the act for the better regulation of juries, both as to their civil and criminal functions, affords the best proof that full reliance may be placed on the parliament of the United Kingdom for the introduction of such beneficial improvements as may insure the

council of last November. I have therefore, at present, no official communication to make to you on the subjects contained therein; but I cannot, at the same time, avoid expressing to you personally my own anxious desire, that, availing your. selves of this opportunity, you would give a patient and favourable consideration to any measures of amelio ration which, in your wisdom and experience, you may think could with safety be adopted, for, important as it is, that amelioration in the condition of the slave should be progressive, the advantage at the present moment of any effectual step of this nature, emanating from your selves, would be doubly great, extending its beneficial influence over the feelings alike of the lowest individuals in this colony, and of the highest authorities of the mother country. The gratitude of the slave would be due, where it might most safely be directed, to the immediate representatives of his master, and the committees of the imperial legislature would acknowledge with peculiar satisfaction, by any instance of spontaneous co-operation in the objects of their labours from such a quarter.'

The reply of the assembly was. perfectly cordial as respects his excellency, but the house used the following remarks in reference to the powers of the British parliament, and the proceedings of the anti-slavery party in E: gland.

"This house was no party to the measure by which an inquiry was obtained in one house of the British parliament, by the West India proprietors residing out of this island; nor do we admit that the house of commons can institute any effectual inquiry in relation to the social institutions of this island, or its internal affairs. To understand the laws

of any society, and the influence of customs and habits over those laws, a personal residence among the inhabitants of the country is indispen sable. No evidence can convey over 4500 miles those circumstances which most materially affect the welfare of a people, and which to be appreciated must be seen. Countries might be mentioned where the laws in theory have been considered perfect, but where, after centuries of legislation, the people are starving and wretched. This, we are proud to say, is not the case in Jamaica, notwithstanding all the defects incident to the state of slavery, originally forced on us by Great Britain.

"As this house never did recognize the resolutions of parliament in 1823: as this house never did admit the right of the house of commons to legislate on the internal affairs of Jamaica, even when the West Indies were indirectly represented in parliament, we never can concede that a house of commons, which is to exist upon the principle that actual representation should be the foundation of legislation, can justly claim to legislate over us, their free fellow countrymen, in all respects their equals, but who have not, and cannot have, any voice whatever at their election, by whom, in consequence, we are not repre. sented: who are strangers to our condition and interest, and whose attempts to dictate to us would consequently upon their own principles, the principles of their own existence as a legislative body, be ty ranny, and not legislation.

66

Experience prevents us from deluding ourselves with the hope of a dispassionate and impartial result from the proceedings of any committee of the commons house in relation to the West Indies, nor are

confidence rely upon our aid in enacting every measure which may be required to discourage seditious and inflammatory language, of the evil effects of which the recent disasters and our present sufferings have furnished most melancholy proofs.

"No endeavour of this house shall be wanting to unite all classes of our society; and your excellency may depend upon our zealous co-operation in every effort directed to maintain the honour of our sovereign, and to promote the welfare of this island.”.

To these remarks the noble earl made the following reply:

"Mr. Speaker, and

Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,

"I return you my most sincere thanks for those portions of your address personal to myself, in which you express confidence in my character, and approbation of the first acts of my government. These assurances acquire even additional value from their being shared, as you state them to be, by all classes of your constituents. I have also heard with much satisfaction, that it is your intention to take measures for preserving inviolate the public faith, as well in relation to the garrison, as in all other prospects, so far as is compatible with that consideration for the distresses of our constituents, which it is your peculiar province to show, and in which distresses I most truly sympathize.

I wish that, consistently with my sense of duty, I could here close my reply, and refrain from expressing to you the supreme surprise, t deep disappointment excited in my mind, by various sentiments, and by much of the general tone of your address. The speech with which I thought fit to open your session