The Sun.
London, England, 1836-04-15 00:00:00

THE GREAT SEAL.

There is nothing of which one hears so frequently, or of
which so little is known, as the Great Seal. The state-
ment, so often made in giving an account of the proceed-
ings in the Upper House, of the Lord Chancellor carrying
it before him, is altogether a fiction. His Lordship
merely carries before him a bag in which it is deposited
when he receives it from the King, or when, on his re-
tirement from office, he delivers it up into his Majesty's
hands. This bag is embroidered with tassels of gold, silver,
and silk, beautifully worked together. His Majesty's
arms are on both sides. The bag is about twelve inches
square. The Great Seal is made of silver, and measures
seven inches in diameter. It is in two parts, and is at-
tached to the letters patent by a ribbon or slip of parch-
ment inserted at the bottom of the instrument through
a slit made for the purpose. The ends of the ribbon or
parchment are put into the Seal, and the wax is poured
into an orifice left at the top of the Seal for the purpose.
The Seal is one inch and a half thick when fixed to receive
the wax. The impression of the Seal is exactly six inches
in diameter, and three quarters of an inch in thickness.
The obverse represents the King on horseback, habited
in a flowing mantle, holding a marshal's baton in his right
hand ; in the back ground is a ship in full sail, surrounded
with the legend Gulielmus Quartus Dei Gratia Britan-
niarurn Rex. Fidei Defensor ; under the foreground of
the figure is a trident within a wreath of oak. The re-
verse represents the King crowned, and in his coronation ,
robes, holding the sceptre and mound seated in St. Ed-
ward's Chair ; on his right hand is Britannia, Peace, and
Plenty,; on his left Neptune holding his trident, Reli-
gion and Faith ; over the head of the King are the arms
of England surrounded with palm leaves, and under his
feet a caduceus, the whole within a border of oak leaves
and acorns. On every new accession to the throne a new
Seal is struck, and the old one is cut into four pieces and
deposited in the Tower. The die for the present Seal was
struck by Mr. Benjamin Wynn, and is allowed on all hands
to be unrivalled as a work of art.—Random Recollections (1
the House of Lords.

DIGNITY and GRAVITY of the PEERS

The scenes of confusion so common in the other House,
are of very rare occurrence in the Lords. in the latter
place, one's cars are never assailed by the zoological
sounds so frequently to be heard in the Lower House.
The art of cock-crowing has yet to be learned by the
Peers ; nor have any of their Lordships yet afforded evi-
dence of possessing the enviable acquirement of braying
like a certain long-eared animal, yelping like a dog, or mew-
ing like the feline creation. You hear no sounds in the
Upper House resembling those emitted by a Scotch bag-
pipe or an Italian hand-organ. There are no ventrilo-
quists there ; if you wish to see exhibitions, and hear sounds
of this descriptions, you must descend to the Lower
House, where you cannot fail to form a very exalted opi-
nion of the talent's of the principal performers.
In the Lords, the triumphant party never even cheer, in
the usual acceptation of the term, however great the vic-
tory they have achieved over their opponents. The an-
nouncement of the result of every division is heard in un-
broken silence. In the course of the debates—however
high party feeling may run on each side of the question—
you never witness any other demonstration of that feeling
than in an occasional " Hear, hear !" Or it may be, your
ears are greeted with cries of " Order, order !" from the
opposite side, when any Member is transgressing, or is sup-
posed to be transgressing the rules of the House, either as
regards the respect due to some Peer individually, or to
the House in its collective capacity. You are struck with
the gravity which usually characterises the proceedings in
the Upper House. The contrast will appear singularly
striking, if you have been in the other House in some of
its more noisy and uproarious moods. The gravity, indeed,
of the proceedings in the Lords, often verges on dullness;
still you cannot fail to be struck with the superior talents
and business habits of their Lordships.-L-Random Rccollec•
Lions of the House of Lords.