Colored News.
London, England, 1855-08-11 00:00:00

THE COLORED NEWS.

have separate interests and distinct feelings, then may it be
justly feared that the liberties of the nation will be buried
amidst the corruptions of a House of Commons. The Lords
are indefinite in number, excepting the lords spiritual ; of
these there are two archbishops, and twenty.four bishops,
who are supposed to hold certain ancient baronies under
the king; in right of which they have seats in the House
of Lords, where they intermix their votes with the temporal
lords. The lords temporal consist of the peers of Great
Britain, in their several orders and degrees of dignity, as
dukes, marquisses, earls, viscounts, barons. Some of them
sit by descent, as do all ancient peers : some by creation,
as in the case of all new-made peers; others, since the union
of Scotland, by election, which is the case of the sixteen
peers who represent the body of the Scotch nobility ; and
twenty-eight peers for Ireland, besides one archbishop and
three bishops. The number of lay lords is indefinite, and
may be increased at the will of the crown. At present the
number of peers, temporal and spiritual, is about 410.
The Commoners in parliament consist of knights, elected
by the counties ; and of citizens and burgesses, elected by
the cities and borough-towns. There are 658 members.
The Lords, except on state occasions, mingle together pro-
miscuously, only observing the ministerial or opposition side
of the house. The archbishops and bishops sit on a bench
by themselves. Across the room are woolsacks, continued
from ancient custom ; and the chancellor, being of course
the speaker of the House of Lords, sits on the first woolsack
before the throne, with the great seal or mace lying by him;
below these are forms. On the other woolsacks are seated
the judges, masters in chancery, &c., who give their advice
in points of law. The Commons sit promiscuously ; the
speaker only has a particular seat; he is elected from
amongst their own body, and has an elevated chair at the
upper end of the house ; the clerk and his two assistants sit
at the table below the speaker, towards the middle of the
house, dressed in robes. The seat on the floor, to the right
hand of the speaker, is called the treasury-bench ; being
the usual position of the members of the government. The
side immediately opposite is ocenpied by the leading mem-
bers of the opposition. When a member of the House of
Commons speaks, he addresses the speaker only. If what
he says be answered by another, he is not allowed to reply
the same day, unless personal reflections have been cast
upon him ; but when the commons, in order to have a
greater freedom of debate, have resolved themselves into a
committee of the whole house, every member may speak to
a question as often as he thinks necessary. In the House
of Lords they vote, beginning at the lowest peer and ascend-
ing to the highest, every one answering " Content" or
"Not content." When a bill is objectionable, it is often
proposed " that it be read this day six months," so as to be
deferred until the next session, or that the period should
fall when the house is not sitting. "The order of the day,"
often called for to put an end to some discussion not pre-
viously announced, implies that the matter on the journal
should be brought forward in preference ; and " that the
previous question" should be put, is a another mode of
defeating a measure proposed. " A call of the house" can
be insisted on by any member, so as to ensure a full attend-
ance ; the penalties of disobedience being severe. Cries of
" question' and " spoke" implies impatience at a departure
from the topic, or the efforts of a tedious orator ; while
"hoar" is a monosyllable of double meaning, implying
either derision or attention. In the House of Commons
they vote by " ayes" and " noes ;" and if it ho doubtful
which possess the greater number, the house divides. If
the question relate to the introduction of anything into the
house, then the "ayes" go out; but if otherwise, the "noes"
go out. In all divisions the speaker appoints four tellers,
two of each• opinion. In a committee of the whole house
they divide by changing sides, the " ayes" taking the right,
and the " noes ' the left of the chair, and then there are but
two tellers. Forty members are sufficient to form a house,
and eight a committee. There are coffee rooms attached to
each house, for the accommodation of the members only :
many of whom dine there during a long debate. Strangers
from the gallery may get sandwiches, &c. at the bar as a
favour ; but they are not permitted to enter the rooms.
The whole is under the superintendence of the housekeeper.
Should the bell ring to announce that a division is about to
take place, and to direct the messengers and officers to lock
all the doors leading to the house or its lobby, an amusing
spectacle is beheld ; members arc seen running in all direc-
tions, with the utmost haste, to get into the house before
the fatal key is turned. For the accommodation of
"strangers," as all spectators are indiscriminately called,
there is a gallery, but strangers are compelled to -with-
draw previous to a division. It is understood that visitors
yiinngthe 2s.
6d.
are present by courtesy, although a ticket from a member
will ensure admission; the former mode of paying
having been suppressed. Within a few
years,
seen to takeae
of Woodfall and Dr. Johnson, any
memorandum was instantly told to put away
hisa ll eprayi)
er, or
at the
was turned out altogether ; and yet a special
g
other extremity is now filled with gentlemen openly and
undisguisedly • taking notes of what is passing, for the
known purpose of reporting the debates in the newspapers.

ODouns.—Odours resemble very much the notes of a musical
instrument. Some of them blend easily and naturally with each
other, producing a harmonious impression, as it were on the sense
of smell. Heliotrope, vanilla, orange blossom and the almond
blend together in this way, and produce different degrees of nearly
simUar effect. The same is the case with citron, lemon, vervain,
and orange peel, only these produce a stronger impression, or
belong, so to speak, of a higher octave of smells. And again,
patchouly, sandal-wood, and vitivert form a third class. It
requires, of course, a nice and well-trained sense of smell to per-
ceive this harmony of odours, and to detect the presence of a dis-
cordant note. But it is by the skilful admixture, in kind and
quantity; of odours pre:hieing a similar impression, that the most
delicate and unchangeable fragrances are manufactured. When
perfumes which strike the same key of the olfactory nerve are
mixed together for handkerchief use, no idea of a different scent is
awakened as the odour dies away ; but when they are not mixed
up,,n this principle, perfumes are often spoken cf as becoming
sickly or pint, after they have been a short time in use. A change
of odour of this kind is never perceived in genuine Eau-de-Cologne.
Oils of lemons, juniper, and, rosemary are among those which are
mixed and blended together in this perfume. None of them, how-
ever, can be distinguished by the ordinary sense of smell; but if
a few drops of hartshorn be added to one ounce measure of the
water, the lemon smell-usually becomes very distinct.

[Auct-sT 11, 1855.

3uipiriftl

Since our last the Royal Assent has been given in the House of
Lords to a number of bias

A conversation took place between Lord BROUGHAM and
the Loan CHANCELLOR, having for its objeet to remove from the
public mind the impression that the progress of law reform is
slower than it ought to be.

Some explanation took place respecting the withdrawal of the
Government grants to the Royal Society.
The Downing-street Public Olhces Bill was read a second time,
after an explanation of its provisions by Lord REDESDALE.
The message from Hi r MAJESTY relative to the additional
supplies for the war was communicated to the House.
Lord PAN murtE, in answer to the Earl of ELLENBOROUGH,
stated that there was no truth in the report of General BEATSON'S
assassination.

The remainder of the evening was occupied with discussions on
the Turkish loan and the general conduet of the war, which was
severely criticised by the Earl of ELLENBOROUOU and the Earl
Of gARDWICKE.
The House of Commons was occupied in Committee with the
Limited Liability Bill.

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called
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then e foratt ge
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inogh intoo f t
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in promotion and the distribution of honours in the two services.
A number of votes were taken, chiefly for educational, scien-
tific, and religious purposes.
W n e
A complaint by Mr. V. SCULLY, respecting the transmission of
newspapers to the British colonies, gave rise to a discussion of
some interest; and a number of votes on the Civil Service Esti-
mates were agreed to, as were those for the supplementary naval
and transport and packet service estimates.
The Sale of Beer Bill, intended to repeal the restrictions im-
posed upon public houses by the Beer Bill of last session was con-
sidered in Committee, after a division in which the postponement
of the measure was negatived by a majority of 62 to 10.
The Carlisle Canonries Bill was, after a sharp discussion and
a division, virtually withdrawn, and the Union of ContiguouS
Benefices Bill passed through Committee.
Has 'AI/assent- intimated the necessity
A number of votes were then taken in Committee of Supply,
after which a message from Ha
of additional supplies for carrying on the war.
Mr. STAFFORD called attention to certain statements respect-
ing the medical department of the army in the Crimea.
Mr. Ditoswirs adverted to the report that a good service
pension of 1:100 per annum had been granted to Lord George
Paget, and inquired into the nature of the special services by
which thas reward was earned.—Mr. PEEL explained that the
pension was given to Lord G. Paget as having been the senior
regimental Colonel engaged in the cavalry charge at Balaklava.
Unless a title of nobility were a disqualification, he (Mr. Peel)
could see no motive for objecting to this grant. There were
six or seven pensions to be given by the Commandersin.Chief ;
Lord G. Paget was the senior Colonel of cavalry ; he led his
troops most gallantly against the foe, rallied them on the other
side, and brought them back ; and, under these combined cir-
cumstances, if he had been excluded from the pension, an in-
ference must have arisen that he was in some manner un-
worthy of it.—Some further criticisms on the grant were
offered by Colonel LIMDSAY and Sir W. GALLWEY.—Lord PAL-
MER3TON submitted that the discussion of the subject was
inopportune, and observed upon the indiscretion which the
House would commit if it persisted in interfering with matters
that ought to be left to the unfettered control of the Crown and
the Commander-in-Chief.—Notwithstandme the protest of the
Noble Viscount the subject was pursued' for some further
time, and was at length dropped, the House going into com-
mittee of supply.
Among the votes agreed to in Committee of Supply, which gave
rise to numerous questions and explanations, was tevote of credit
for £3,000,000 to provide for the additional expenses of the war.
A motion by Major Reed, calling upon the Government to
assemble parliament before concluding any peace, was, after a
brief discussion, withdrawn.
The Limited Liabilities Bill was read a third time and passed.
Among the questions asked was one relating to the admission
of soldiers in uniform to the gal:ery of the House, which was
ruled by the Speaker in their favour, on condition that though in
uniform they should be unarmed.
Pursuant to notice Mr. I.aing called attention to the recent
conferences at Vienna, and moved for copies of the correspondence
which had subsequently taken place. He knew that almost all the
great bankers and other mercantile firms in Europe were of opinion
that the proposals submitted by Count Buol were such as might
have been accepted without any disparagement of national honour.
—Sir GEORGE GREY said Her Maj-sty's Government would not
be justified in laying the papers before the public without first
obtaining the concurrence of the French Government. The Right
lion. Baronet then contended that the government were justified
in insisting upon the limitation of the naval power of Russia in the
Black Sea, as that appeared to be the most effectual means which
could be adopted by the Western Powers with a view to securing
the independence of Turkey, and at the same time ensuring the
peace of Europe. (The Right Hon. Baronet then read extracts
from Lord Clarendon's instructions to Lord .1. Russell, for the
purpose of showing what were the views and intentions of tier
Majesty's Government.) The House would recollect that the
Government had been blamed in not having broken up the Con-
ferences when it became obvious that Russia declined to submit
to terms which limited her aggressive policy, but Her Majesty's
Ministers were unwilling to break off the negociations so long as
there appeared to he any hope of bringing about an honourable
peace. The French Government had taken the same view. But even
assuming that the proposition had been accepted by the Govern-
ments of England and France, and rejected by Russia, there was
no certainty that Austria would place itself side by side with the
Western Powers. Had the Government accepted the proposition
it would have been necessary to keep up a fleet in the Black Sea,
without even the prospect of securing a safe, permanent and hon-
ourable peace. But, independent of these considerations, it
should be borne in mind that Her Majesty's Government would
not be justified in acceding to the Austrian proposal without the
co
ig ncurrence of France. Any disarrangement on that point
mht endanger the alliance of France a matter more entitled to
consideration than the prosecution of the war, as to the satisfact-
tory issue of which he did not despair. Mr. Gnansroxx admitted
that the production of the papers was entirely in the discretion of
the Government, and he thought that the Hon. Member would
act unwisely if he pressed his
motion. He considered, however,
that the Right lion. Baronet had not justified the Government in
the continuance of a war which cost the Allies so much blood and
treasure. He was at -a loss to know upon what principle Her
Majesty's Minister continues the prosecution of the war. It was
rot to the French Government but to Her Majesty's Ministers
that the responsibility attached, for, according io a statement in
the Moniteur, the Emperor had rejected the Austrian proposals,
being anxious to maintain the alliance with England.

A UGUST 11, 1855.]

Artlitills.

History of my Life. By George Sands, Feuilleton of La
Presse.
MADAME DUDEVANT'S work has now been before the town
for some time, but her snatches of life and real character
charm us more than ever as she proceeds. How glad we
are that she donned male attire, since disguised as a student,
she `• mobbed it" among a party of intelligent young Berri-
chons, and learned Paris by seeing all that men see, by hear-
ing all that men hear, by plunging wherever men plunge, for
the sake of getting artist education—of getting it cheap—
and of getting it without being misunderstood or molested
by the husband whose children she brought to her garret-
home, there to enjoy maternal care and pious training !—The
pseudonyme George Sand, which Madame Dudevant assumed,
was adopted by her in all humility, and in no revolutionary
assumption of the style and sympathies of Kotzebue's as-
sassin. Strange, indeed, are her details of Parisian life ;
how attentively ought one to listen to her account of a regu-
lar French emeute. She was in the gardens of the Luxem-
bourg with her daughter when the street battle of Cloitre
Saint-Mery broke out—gained her garret with difficulty—
pacified the little girl who was screaming with terror—and
out-watched part of the night on her balcony. That was
the night when fifteen of the seventeen insurgents who kept
the bridge of the Hotel Dien were surpristd by a column of
the National Guards,—and when " fifteen of these unfortu-
nate creatures," says M. Louis Blanc, in his Histoire de
Dix Ans,' " were cut to pieces and flung into the Seine,"—

"The d•ty of the 6th of June was a day of awful solemnity, even
seen from a point far above it, as I saw it. All circulation was
forbidden ; the troops guardea the bridges and the entrance of the
adjacent streets. From ten o'clock in the morning until the end of
the execution, the long perspective of deserted qunis had, in the
broad sunshine, an aspect belonging to a city of the dead,—as if
cholera had carriod thence its last inhabitant. The soldiers who
guarded the issue of the streets looked like phantoms, stricken
with amazement. Motionless, and (as it were) petrified,—ranged
all the way down the parapets, they did not vary by words or
gesture the physiognomy of that dreary solitude. No living beings
were to be seen, at certain moments of that day, save the swallows,
skimming the waters with a restless rapidity, as if that unwonted
dead calm had frightened them. Hours passed—hours of that grim
silence, only broken by the shrill cries of the martins wheeling
around the precincts of Notre Dame. Then, in an instant, the
birds would hide themselves in the old towers, and the soldiers
shoulder their arms, which had been piled on tne bridges. Orders
were given to them iu a low voice. Their ranks opened to admit
bands of folk on horseback, crossing each other—these pale with
anger—those broken down and bleeding. Then the shut-up people
came out to the windows and on the roofs, eager to plunge a look
into the scenes of horror about to take place in the Cite. The
sinister sound had begun. The rounds of musketry, doing duty
for funeral peal, became regular. Sitting on the balcony, and
amusing Solange in the room to prevent her looking out, I could
count every assault and every repulse. Presently burst out the
cannon. Seeing, as I did, the bridge crowded with litters and
biers, which came back from the Cite, leaving a red track behind
them, I conceived that an insurrection to be so murderous must
have been important ; but the firing died away. * * Then, again,
came a time of silence,—then the inhabitants came down from the
house tops into the streets,—and the porters of the houses, those
expressive caricatures of Property in alarm, began to cry to one
another with an air of triumph, ' It's over now ! '—while the con-
querors, whom they had only looked at before, came back again in
triumph. The king made the round of the quaffs. The citizens
and the soldiers fraternized at the street corners. The army had
been in earnest. It had, for an instant, believed that a second
July revolution was come."

Few who read even the foregoing paraphrase will deny that
the scene is painted with the hand of an artist skilled in dark
tragedy. But these student days had their comedy as well
as their tragedy. In the company of her playfellows, Ma-
dame Dudevant made some curious acquaintances, and en-
countered some amusing adventures. One day, for instance,
she took a last womanly leave of the English Convent, where
she had so narrowly escaped becoming a nun, in her former
search for extraordinary sensations—from the Convent she
went home, got into her manly boots, and joined her com-
rades, " the boys" of Berri, in a party, to see Debureau—
the Grimaldi of Paris within and without the barriers. Listen
to her description of a really clever clown :

" Gustave Papet who was the rich man, the milord of our
Berrichon association, treated all the pit to barley-sugar; and after-
wards, as we left the theatre famished, he took three or fuur of us
off with him to supper at the Vendanges de Bourgogne. On a
sudden, the fancy seized him to a,k Deburcau, whom he did not
know the least in the world. Back went Papet into the theatre,
found Debureau taking off his clown's clothes in the cage which
served him for a dressirg•room, took him by the arm and brought
him to us.—Deburcau was charming in his manners. He would
not allow himself to be tempted by the smallest drop of champagne,
being afraid, said he, on the score of his nerves, and having need
of the most complete calmness for his acting I have never seen
an artist more serious, more conscientious, more religious in his
art. He loved it with passion, and spoke of it as of a serious
matter; speaking of himself, at the same time, with an extreme
modesty. He studied without ceasing, and never became weary of
study, in spite of the eon' inual and even extravagant exercise. He
was not anxious that the admirable finesse of his countenance and
his originality of composition should be appreciated by artists, or
seized by persons of lively spirits. He cared only to satisfy him-
self and to realize his fancies ; and these fancies, which appeared so
spontaneous, were studied before-hand with extraordinary care.
I listened to him with great attention. He did not attitudinize in
his talk ; and I saw in him in spite of the buffoonery of his walk,
one of those great artists who deserve the title of master."

In the course of her very entertaining book, our fair
authoress gives a very extraordinary, not to say laughable,
account of the perils which beset success in the literary
world, inadvertently coinciding with every word which has
fallen from Charles Dickens on the same subject. Her
money was begged from her as fast as it was made, her
leisure was laid waste by malignant or rapacious intruders.
Priests forced themselves in, anxious to convert her,—misun-
derStood females entreated her to get them engaged at
theatres,—social reformers bombarded her with schemes for
the renovation of society,—poets of the people came and
begged, threatening that if money was not sent they would
commit suicide. One of these, by the way, when benefi-
cently sought out in his garret gave no sound or sign of
life,—and on the door being burst open by Madame Dude-
uant and her emissary, the wretch was found eating sausages!
Then, there were English tourists who arrived to scoff, to
stare, or to sympathise (note-book in hand),—some of whom
she mystified by saying unintelligible things to them. Never,
in short, have the pains of notoriety in authorship and art
heen tabulated with more animated earnestness than by our
autobiographer. We earnestly recommend a perusal to our
readers.