The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-04-03

A View ef the English Parliament.
London letter contains very in;eres ting
description of the English Parliament ia ses !.
sion, from which the following will give our
readers fair idea Of the scene:
The American Minister has the privilege of
issuing daily two tickets for each house, and
these. with proper impartiality, are given to
American citizens in the O, der in which they
are applied for, and handed TO the orkeeper
aiter having been sent in and countersign ned
admit the holder" But the simpler process
OBTAIN pass directly from a member, and
tnose VINO have no acquaintances in the
House TO whom they can send for one, may
always get it by giving a shilling to one of the
porters about the door, who will soon return
with the necessary document
little before four O'Clock, the hour for the
opening OF the House. persons holding tickets
Ior the gallery (the only part to which stran-
gers are a0mitted) are allowed TO pass into a
waiting room, where they remain till four
O'Clock when they file up stairs in the order
IN which they entered, exhibiting their passes
sevsfai times on the way, and reaching the
eaiiery door, are finally admitted by the guar.
dian So you see it is something of an opera
tioh 10 get into tue gallery OF the House Of
Commons.
went in with the crowd at four O'Clock,
anu secured good seat i'll the corner OF the
gallery, where had an excellent view of the
Honse The strangers gallery is on the oppo-
site side from the Speakers chair, the hall be-
ing In the form OF 4 parallelogram. On either
come up 20 snooze and lounge during the
prosy and Nninteresting debate. Opposite,
and above the Speakers chair, is the report
ers' gallery, where fifteen gentlemen of the
craft were sitting, plying their pencils At
rapid rate. Back Of this, but entirely separa-
ted from it by network of wire which
reaches to the ceiling is the ladies' gallery.
imprisoned behind this, the fair ones can catch
but faint glimpse OF the body Of the House,
and should suppose could hear nothing at all;
ana certainly they are not in a position to iu-
f1uence, by their smiles or frowns any OF the
members,
Such is the upper part OF the hall. Below,
where the members sit, the benches are ranged
iengthwlse, rising On each side, with an aisle
between them ten or twelve feet wide, divid-
ing the ministerial from the opposition party.
AZ the cad OF this aisle is the Speakers chair,
or rather box, for il resembles an old fash
Toned watch-box with the door open, more
than anything else l could think OF. The
Speaker, without any hammer with US the
connection between Speaker and hammer
seems inseparable.) but dressed in a long black
robe, and full, flowing, powdered wig, sits
IN 1t, and before him with similar robes, but
wigs OF not quite so great length, sit the Clerk
and his two assistants. The members are
ranged on the benches on either side-the min
ls'erlal party on the right, and the opposition
on the LETT OF the Speaker. The members sit
with their hats on, taking them Oft, however,
when rising to speak. Foreigners, and Eng
llshmen in particular, have amused them.
selves to no little extent with their descrip-
lions of the scenes i'll our House Of Represent
atlves. and have described members as sitting
with their legs over their tables, and in other
equally elegant positions. The members OF
the House Of Commons have no tables before
them, but they certainly do lounge upon their
benches quite as much as l have ever seen our
Representatives on theirs.
When l entered the gallery the members
enis, and the documents We're all dul tabled"
or rather. l should say, "bagged,'' for they
were put into large black bag which hung Oh
the side of the Clerks desk and which, as fast
as it became full, was carried off and replaced
by an empty one. BY the time this prUSy
business was over, it was getting late, and
began TO look about me TO see where the chan
deiiers were with which the hall was to be
lighted. There were none in sight, and not
even burner of any description presented
itself 10 assist in solving the problem of how
the house was TO be Illuminated, when sud-
denly flood of mellow, sof,ened light fell
upon the faces of the members below and,
looking to the ceiling, l saw whence it came.
The ceiling is Of translucent stained glass, and
above il are the lights, and the effect of this
arrangement is to light up sufficiently the
whole house without any glare.
When the usual preliminary business had
been completed, a member of the opposition
asked Lord John Russell for some additional
information upon the subject of the annexa-
know, the Cabinet is directly coVkronted with
the peoples representativ and SHeac1i even
ing in the House OF Commons ready TO an
swer any ques ton which may be put TO them.
Lord John rose to reply, and the House, which
up to that time had been little noisy, became
hushed and still. Lord John Russell is a lit
tie man, with head almost entirely bald, and
a little grey whisker. He was dressed in a
suit Of black, displaying no shirt bosom, and,
from the distance at " which saw him, should
say that he looked rather "seedy." He speaks
slowly and without any gestieulation, and no
attempt at oratory, but in plain, straighttor-
ward manner, proceeded to explain and de-
fend the course which the Cabinet had taken
on the Savoy question. He was listened to
with great attention, the silence only being
broken by the Occasi ,nsl "he ar" shear" from
the administration side.
When he had finished, some member of the
opposition made \ few remarks, attacking the
doctrine of the right of popular sovereignty,
and of The people to decide upon their form of
government, AS main ntained by the English
Cabinet in the case OF Central Italy, and put
the CUES ton direct to Lord Paimers ton, why
the sa me doctrine was not good as applied 10
the IoAian Island. F! This, OF course, drew
down a shear from the opposition, and Pal
lnere ton rose to reply. For man over seven-
~, he is certainly finely preserved, and in his
dress, which Was scrupulously neat, and his
general bearing, Involuntary brought up 10
my minds eye Dickens 'hIodel of Deport-
mcnt" Lord Palmerston is pOrtly, and norId,
with head nearly smooth and gives but lit.
tie sign Of age when speaking, except u slight
tottering, or shaking of the legs. His voice is
firm and pleasing and his manner much more
agreeable than that OF Lord Johns. He COM
menced by putting down with a very plain
answer the opposition member who had at
tempted to badger him about the lonian
Islands, by simply stating that the parallel did
not hold good, AS the monarchs OF Central
Italy had abandoned their people and LETT
them without government, while England
had not yet run away from the 1onian Islands.
I <,- aa,lxy han al nd
to the point, and when he closed there was
hushed murmur Of applause. lie was sfol-
lowed on the other side by Disraeli, whom l
shal! leave for a future letter.
Having heard considerable of English OratO-
ry. nv impression is that 50 tar rs elegance of
expression, brlliancy and magnetic effect are
concerned the celebrated English speakers do
not equal ours. Their speeches read better
than they sound, while with most of our
speakers believe the opposite to be the case.
They are more thorough in the examination OF
the su blects in hand. Superficial gaudiness
will not make statesmen in England.
THE GREATEST DUEL ON REcoRD.-An old
Mississippian furnishes the following to the
Woodyille (Miss.) Republican:
The famous duel in which forty or more
gen ntlemen We're engaged, in 1e2s, is still re-
mem bered in Natchez. Col. jim Bowie, the
famous fighter and inventor OF the knife which
bears his name, used to spend great deal OF
his time in Natchez. He was challenged by
gen tlernan OF Alexandria, La, whose friends
to the rumber of wenty or more accom- pan led
him to Natchez 10 fair play, knowing
Bowie was desperate man, and had his own
friends about him. All parties went upon
the field. The com ba tants took their places in
the centre, separated from their friends in the
rear or enough not TO endanger them with
their balls. Behold the battle array thus -
Twenty armed Louisianians fifty yards BE-
hind their champion and his seconds aud sur
-con, and opposite them, AS far behind Bowie
4 nd his seconds and surgeon. twenty armed