The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-28 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS—(Tiers DAY).

The ceremony of proroguing Parliament by Commission
bears a striking contrast to that of opening the same by a
Royal Speech from the Throne by her Majesty in person.
Then all is splendour and magnificence, but on occasions
like_the present it is a dull, languid, and to the uninitiated
an almost unintelligible ceremony. _ _

The time fixed for the assembling of their lordships was
half-past one, and on entering the noble chamber at that
hour the Lord Chancellor and the other Peers nominated
in the Royal Commission, are discovered sitting on a
bench in front of the Throne, which, on occasions like the
present, has been divested of its faded red calico covering.
The three clerks of the house, in their long black gowns
and horsehair, occupy their usual place at the table, and a
few ladies in morning dress are to be observed sitting in the
places usually occupied by the leading members of "her
Majesty's Oppo,sition."

The Royal Commission having been read,
The LORD CHANCELLOR directs the Usher of the Black
Rod to inform the Commons that their attendance was re-
quired in the House of Peers to hear the Commission
read.

The Usher of the Black Rod, after bowing twice or
thrice, retires, or rather "backs out," of the house; and
after a few minutes' pause, a somewhat hurried tramp is
heard proceeding along the hard and slippery tessalated
pavement between the two houses. The Commons arrive
within the house and take their places at the bar, the
Speaker, with " Black Rod," occupying the most promi •
nent situation. _ _

The LORD CHANCELLOR them. announces that her
Majesty, not thinking fit to be present on this occasion,
"has directed her Commission to issue to give her consent
to the several public and private bills ;" and he directs that
the Clerk should read her Commission.

The first part of the ceremony consists in one of the
Clerks at the table rising by the side of a vast area of parch-
ment and reading for a quarter of an hour the contents of
that most interesting document. At particular passages
which, we suppose, the Clerk considers to he particularly
good, he faces right about to the Commissioners, bows full
low, and calls ono of the Commissioners by his name. The
peer thus addressed takes off his cocked hat, responds by
another low bow to intimate, we suppose, that he is not in-
sensible of the honour coiferred on him. Each of the Com-
missioners is named in turn in the course of this volumi-
nous reading, and each of course acknowledges the distinc-
tion in the same manner as the first-mentioned noble lord.
The last line of the parchment having been read, the Lord
Chancellor informs the Commons that, in obedience to her
Majesty's commands, and in accordance with the commis-
sion just read, her Majesty had given her royal assent to
the bills, and the clerks are required to pass them in the
usual form.

The " passing" of the bills is rather a curious affair.
Clerk No. 1, who has just deciphered the huge parch-
ment, stands on one side, and clerk No. 2 on the other
side of the table. Clerk No. 2 reads the title of the
bill, and makes at the same time a profound bow to the
Commissioners, and clerk No. 1 also bows at the same mo-
ment with mechanical precision.

After bowing to the Commissioners, clerk No. 1 turns
his head half-way round to the Commons, and exclaims,
with awful dignity, "La Reine remercie ses loyal subjects,
accepte leur benevolence, et ainsi le vent." Then follows
the announcement singly of a list of bills which are passed
by, the same amount of bowing, but in this case the form
of incantation by which they are converted into acts of
Parliament is more brief, the words used by the clerk being
simply " La Reine le vent."
Amongst the bills receiving the Royal assent were the
following :
Exchequer Bends.

Consolidated Fund (Appropriation).
East India Loan.
Local European Forces (India).
Spirit Duties.
Law and Equity.
Titles to Land (Scotland).
Rifle Volunteer Corps.
Crown Debts and Judgments.
Landlord and Tenant (Ireland).
Fortification (Provision of Expenses).
Customs (No. 2).
Stamp Duties (No. 2).
Defence of the Realm.

Excise.
Weights and Measures (Ireland).
Chancery Evidence Commission.
Solicitors and Conveyancers.
Roman Catholic Charities.
Endowed Charities.
Naval l)iscipline.
Church Temporalities (Ireland).
Union of Benefices.
Mines Regulation and Inspection.
Gunpowder, &c.
Poor Relief (Ireland).
Divorce Court.
Trustees and Mortgagee, &c.
Savings Bank and Friendly Societies.
Peace Preservation (Ireland) Act Amendment.
Militia Pay.
Tenure and Improvement of Land (Ireland).
Tramways (Ireland).
At the conclusion of this part of the day's proceedings,
the Royal Speech proroguing Parliament was read by the
Lord Chancellor as follows :