The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-10 00:00:00

proposed, Mr. DARBY GRIFFITHS called attention to
the great inconvenience now incurred by the faulty
arrangements of seats. The hon. in
forcibly declared that " it was a monstrousemb etrhingeryto
have a House not large enough for the members
who were entitled to sit in it." It certainly seems
very bad management to have had the House so
constructed that there are only 170 seats in which
members can really hear what is going on. The
consequence is great loss of time, because those
who are desirous of good places have to come down
an hour before prayers, and differences arise
that might have been prevented by better manage-
ment. As for the moral aspect of the question,
Mr. GetrEnts complained that no provision was
made for those who did not belong exactly to
either party. " Members of Parliament now
exercised an independent judgment, and they
had a right to expect that there should be neu-
tral benches for hon. gentlemen who wished to
maintain an independent opinion." A semi-circular
form is that in which the seats are arranged in most
of the legislative assemblies in foreign countries, and
it removes many objections, besides offering advan-
tages. Mr. COWPER, as usual, was against
all improvements, and seemed to consider
that things should remain in state quo. The right
hon. gentleman was equally inexorable concerning
the improvements that had been suggested for the
Ladies' Gallery, and seemed determined to follow
out the principle of doing with to-day the same as
we did with yesterday. Mr. HORSMAN, in alluding
to the subject, said that it was a satisfaction to hear
the existence of independent members made men-
tion of, and that they deserved to be treated with
the consideration formerly their portion. The right
hon. gentleman made some amusing remarks on the
real state of things, declaring that the division of
the house into two parties is a proposition that can-
not be fairly established, and proceeded to carry the
war into the enemy's camp. He observed that "it
is the courtesy of the house which gives to the
Government the undisturbed occupation of that
bench, for I apprehend that any member of this
house might go and sit where the Chancellor of the
Exchequer is now sitting." Mr. HORS3IAN said that
he did not think the house had become more tolerant
since it had become more liberal. That is likely
1 enough, because it is always a distinguishing
feature of those who profess Liberalism to
a great extent that they have little or
no sympathy with those who differ from them. The
right hon. gentleman declared that it was a serious
thing for those who, like himself, came down from
taking part in the committees upstairs, and wished
to speak in the debates of the night, if they were
obliged to take their seats an hour before, or else lost
their places. Mr. HORSMAN declared that he and his
friends were not so small a party as some imagined,
and those new arrangements did not suit conveni-
ence and comfort, and thanked the hon. gentleman
for having made a " suggestion which brings back
the house to the old courtesies and the old
practices, in which there was always a
great deal of good sense and good feeling,
and much of which might be adopted without taking
away from the efficiency of the House." Mr. GLAD-
STONE did not seem to pay much heed to the matter,
but said that the existing arrangements worked well.
Certainly the present juncture is not a very pro-
pitious one to choose for enlisting the services of
the occupants of the Treasury benches on behalf of
independent members. Mr. GLADSTONE ignored,
or affected to do so, that there was a party to be
classed under the name of independent, and said
that members of such individual distinction as Mr.
HORSMAN would, in courtesy, have a seat
reserved for them, as the House had done in the
L., C/ DV r...V: .ill- C ..0 EeJuilik.,A- made a more prietidai
suggestion when he asked the First Commissioner
of Works if the dining-room could not be enlarged,
because it was too smali ; and it was of importance
that this evil should be rectified, or else the House
would be liable to be counted out over and over
again. It is to be hoped that the remarks of Mr.
LEEMAN will be attended to, for he drew attention
to the bad state of the atmosphere in the committee
rooms of the two houses, which is such as to injure
health in the hot months of the year.
A postponement of the bill for the Patent-office
was moved by Mr. BAIRD, on account of the great
inconvenience that existed in its arrangement, but
the Attorney-General explained this provision
was: only temporary until the general policy of
the Patent Laws had been determined upon, so
that the rule was agreed to. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer, in moving a string of resolutions
on the Crown Lands Act, explained that, among
other provisions, the bill would transfer the
forestal rights of the Crown on Epping Forest
to the Board of Works. It is to be trusted
that in this case better care will be taken
to preserve the place from the encroachments
which have threatened to ruin it altogether
and deprive the Londoners of it as a place of public
resort. In the discussion of the Civil Service Esti-
mates Sir3l. RIDLEY mentioned that " many compe-
tent authorities believed that gas was most injurious
to pictures, especially in London, where the gas
was most impure, and truly said that the
matter should be carefully considered, because it
should be an object to preserve our national collec-
tion as long as possible, and not to expose the pic-
ures to the injurious influences inseparable from the
ghting of the picture galleries by gas."

The Easter festivities have come off with great
éclat at the Mansion-house, and one or two little
incidents served to give a variety to the ordinary
form of a civic banquet. Royalty was represented
by his Highness the Commander-in-Chief, and
Parliament by Mr. GOSCHEN, who showed that
however new to office he might be he had not failed
to acquire the necessary art of speaking without a
meaning. The ingenious manner in which he
framed his discourse, so as neither to offend his
hearers of any party nor commit himself, excited
some amusement, though Mr. GOSCHEN is of course
in reality an advocate of the Government measure.
The most interesting feature in the evening's
entertainment was not, however, in any way con-
nected with the all-engrossing political topic of the
day. The presence of the United States Minister
and the absence of that distinguished American
to whose munificent liberality our poorer classes are
tegcilv,inard
giving utterance,
the LORD M
enhehalkfvoefß
thean
itinydoebf
osoppnoriutuclni
citizens of London, to those sentiments of
sog grace-
fully ' and admiration which have -
fully expressed by her MAJESTY ast the
had b been
oo representa-
tivehoped of the whole community.
that Mr. PEABODY would
have been among the
hospitable
table,
guests at the LORD MAYOR'S
but with that modesty and
which especially distinguished him, Mr. PEABODY
declined the honour, beinc, no doubt aware that it
was intended to render him in some manner the guest
of the evening.
The LORD MAYOR, in referring to
the great country which cl
citizen, commented upon
the
m sprovidential
0 manner
in which a man had been raised up to occupy the
chief post in the national councils, who was espe-
cially suited to the moment. It is gratifying, said
the LORD Alaroß, to find in Alicia a position a man