MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
A.D. 1845
Parliament was opened by the queen in person on the 4th of February. The speech first referred to the prosperous state of trade and commerce; to the royal visits made to her majesty by the Emperor of Russia and the King of France; to the estimates for the ensuing year; and to the peace which at this time prevailed in Ireland. Her majesty continued:—“I recommend to your favourable consideration the policy of improving and extending the opportunities of academical education in Ireland. The report of the commission appointed to inquire into the law and practice in respect to the occupation of land is nearly prepared, and shall be communicated to you immediately after its presentation. The state of the law in regard to the privileges of the Bank of Ireland, and to other banking establishments in that country, and in Scotland, will no doubt occupy your attention. The health of the inhabitants of large towns and populous districts in this part of the United Kingdom has been the subject of recent inquiry before a commission, the report of which shall be immediately kid before you. It will be highly gratifying to me if the information and suggestions contained in that report shall enable you to devise the means of promoting the health and comfort of the poorer classes of my subjects. I congratulate you on the success of the measures which three years since were adopted by parliament for the purpose of supplying the deficiency in the public revenue, and arresting the accumulation of debt in the time of peace. The act which was passed at that time for imposing a tax upon income will shortly expire. It will be for you to determine whether it may not be expedient to continue its operation for a further period, and thus to obtain the means of adequately providing for the public service, and at the same time of making a reduction in other taxations. Whatever may be the result of your deliberations in this respect, I feel assured that it will be your determination to maintain an amount of revenue amply sufficient to meet the necessary expenditure of the country, and firmly to uphold that public credit which is indispensable to the national welfare. The prospect of continued peace, and the general state of domestic prosperity and tranquillity, afford a favourable opportunity for the consideration of the matters to which I have directed your attention; and I commit them to your deliberation, with the earnest prayer that you may be enabled, under the superintending care and protection of Divine Providence, to strengthen the feelings of mutual confidence and goodwill between different classes of my subjects, and to improve the condition of my people.”