apathy
of the British government in reference to the offence of the offenders.
It was the cause of much bad feeling to England in the higher circles
of Vienna; yet it impressed the government of his imperial majesty, and
other foreign governments, with the fact, that the people of England
sympathised with liberal policy, and hated cruelty and oppression; that
no European state could be guilty of the atrocities which Austria had
committed, and hold the respect or esteem of the English people.

PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY.--OPENING OF THE SESSION.

Parliament was opened by commission on the last day of January. The lord
chancellor read the royal speech from the throne. The speech referred
to the leading events, the history of which have been already related
in this chapter. It also gratified the house by the intelligence that
Sweden and the United States of America had taken steps to reciprocate
the advantages conceded to the ships of these nations. Her majesty
referred to her visit to Ireland with great satisfaction, and the
countenances of the audience expressed sympathy with these statements.
The address to her majesty in the Lords, was moved and seconded by the
Earl of Essex and Earl Methuen. The former complimented the press
in eloquent and judicious terms for the great services which it had
rendered to the cause of law and order during the tumultuous seasons
that had so recently passed. An amendment was proposed declaring that
recent legislative enactments, and heavy local taxation, oppressed the
agricultural interest and caused distress. The mover of this amendment
was the Earl of Stradbroke, and it found a seconder in the Earl of
Desart.

It was obvious thus early in the session that the Protectionists
were prepared to urge their principles, and if possible compel the
legislature to retrace its steps on the subject of free trade. "Out
of doors" this produced anger and discontent among the numerous
and powerful classes who had carried the free-trade agitation to a
successful issue. It had the effect of lowering the reputation of the
conservative party for wisdom, discretion, and disinterestedness. The
leaders of the party were boldly reproached by the press as anxious to
sustain their luxurious living by taxing the necessaries of the people,
and the House of Lords was denounced by the popular press, and at
popular meetings, as "a normal school of agitation,"--the title given by
Lord Lyndhurst as speculatively a