ts, and take in coal and water; the general
impetus that would be given to trade by providing, at the
water's edge, a site for the erection of warehouses; and the
hundred other conveniences proper to a maritime city;--all
these considerations prove to my mind the propriety of
proceeding energetically with a work so national in its
character that no part of the islands can fail to share in
many of its advantages. To your wisdom it belongs to consider
in what way the funds necessary to effect this great
improvement may be best procured.

It is gratifying to me, on commencing my reign, to be able to
inform you, that my relations with all the great Powers,
between whom and myself exist treaties of amity, are of the
most satisfactory nature. I have received from all of them,
assurances that leave no room to doubt that my rights and
sovereignty will be respected. My policy, as regards all
foreign nations, being that of peace, impartiality and
neutrality, in the spirit of the Proclamation by the late
King, of the 16th May last, and of the Resolutions of the
Privy Council of the 15th June and 17th July, I have given to
the President of the United States, at his request, my solemn
adhesion to the rule, and to the principles establishing the
rights of neutrals during war, contained in the Convention
between his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, and the
United States, concluded in Washington on the 22d July last.

I have exchanged my ratification for that, by my great and
good friend, His Majesty Oscar, King of Sweden and Norway, of
the treaty concluded at my Court on the 1st day of July, 1852.

I have ordered my Minister of Foreign Relations to inform you
of all treaties with foreign nations negotiated under the late
reign, of the progressive steps by which the sovereignty and
independence of this Kingdom have become so generally
acknowledged, and of the transactions generally of the
Department under his charge.

I have committed an important mission to the Honorable William
L. Lee, Chancellor of the Kingdom and Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, and have accredited him as my Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, from which mission
I anticipate important results for the benefit of you all,
which will be made known