The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-03-29
The Queen and Disraeti at the
Opening of Parliament.

The Queen and Disraetf at the
Opening of Parliament.
Louis Jenningss london Letter to n. Y. Herald.l
Victoria sat with her eyes bent upon
the ground, stolid and Indifferent, nor
did she once raise her eyes until the
Lord Chancellor had finished reading the
speech. Then she waited minute or
two, couple of lords stepped forward
and lifted up her robes, and she de-
scended the steps of the throne and went
straight to the Princess of Wales, kissed
her slightly, and turned her own cheek
to be kissed. She scarcely smiled. Then
she offered her hand to the Duke of Cam
bridge and the Duke of Teck, who stood
close by, and both bent low and kissed
it. Lastly she held her hand to the
Prince of Wales, who came down step
or two from his chair rather hurriedly,
and took his mothers hand and kissed
it. All this had very pretty look,
speaking as it did of home affections,
which are better than state ceremonials,
and it dispelled the impression which
the cold and lifeless manner of the Queen
could not but create during the quar-
ter of an hour she had been in the House.
Her Majesty bowed very slightly to the
House, and some one clad in the long scar
let robe of peer, with three ermine bars
signifying that he was an earl, and bear
ing in his hands huge sword-the sword
of state-moved in front of her, and the
procession filed out and the Prince and
Princess followed, and the buzz of con-
versation began again.
But where. all this time, was one
whom most people were no less anxious
to see than the Queen herself? Where
was the famous Benjsmin Disraeli of old
times, the Earl of Beaconsfeld of to-day
I 1t may seem incredible, but tell you a
fact when 1 say that although he occu-
pied the most prominent position in the
pageant except that taken by the Queen
herself, scarcely one in ten saw or recog-
nized him, and three experienced jour-
nalists who went there to write descrip-
tion of the ceremony asked me if I had
seen him. When told them where he
stood, and what he carried, they laughed,
thinking that either had been deceived
or was jesting. The official programme
of the procession, however, will satisfy
them, for in that is the following line:
The sword OF state, born by the Earl of Beacons-
Aeld."
Perhaps if all eyes had not been di-
rected so curiously to the Queen, the i'm
movable figure at her left hand would
not have escaped attention. His face
half buried in the collar of his long red
cloak-a pallid face, with one thin dark
curl falling over the forehead, and the
scabbard of the "sword of state" halt
concealing the features of the man who
bore it-thus stood Benjamin Disraeli,
the adventurer who has known how
to wait, and to whom all good things have
fallen. AS he stood looking down on the
great audience before him, what thoughts
and recollections must have chased
through his mind. From the lowest rune
of the ladder he has climbed to the high
est, slowly and painfully, but always
with patient steps and firm grip, present
ing a dauntless front and an invincible
resolution to the world. There was Nc
one in that vast throng whose life pre-
sented so many wondrous contrasts
whose career was half so fraught with
romance, as that of the statue-like figure
which stood close beside the Queen, thu
greatest debater left in Parliament, thu
present prime minister of England. A
few hours later he took his seat on on,
of the red benches and addressed himsel
to the work of the moment with the calm
dignity and supreme tact which hav,
never failed him at any trying moment
The Duke of Argyll delivered one of hi
impetuous and hot-headed attacks upol
the ministry, and the Earl of Beacons
field answered him by recalling tn
House to a sense of the gravity of tn
question at issue. "It is a question il
which is involved the existence of EN-
pires. 1t is only by bringing our minds
free from all passion, to calm an
sagacious consideration of this subject
and viewing it as statesmen, that we ca
secure the great interests of this country
which are too often forgotten in declams
tion." 1t was not long reply, but
was sufficient. The feeling of the Hous
r was strongly with its newest member
and he sat down amid general cheers
Thus ended Disraeli's first day in th
House of Lords. That he will become
true leader of men there, if his life
spared, no less than he has proved hin
self in the House of Commons, it needs n
prophet to foretell.
/, AS I left the house the royal carriage
/ were just passing along ParliameI
Street; the bells were ringing, the peopl
, cheering, the rays of sun shining bright
8 on the helmets and breast-plates of th
troops. Not for years has the Quee
4 been so wellreceived, and the "hurrahs
of the people did not seem to be who'll
% without effect upon her, for I overtoo
|. the cavalcade in st. James's Park, and
4 observed that she smiled as she slight
IS inclined her head to the throng on eae
side of her. The image, however, that
find most clearly stamped upon my min
" after all is over, is not of somewh
cross-looking and red-faced lady, or of
big, burly, bald gentleman called Il
Prince of Wales-but of bent fgu
!, half hidden in robes of state; white fa
= in which the fire and gleam of intelle
e efface the traces of care and anxiety al
e age, keen and thoughtful eye, surve
Is ing the Peers and Commons of Engla1
a from the side of royalty itself. In my
d collections of the day the picture
le Benjamin Disraeli will survive long
1t than the forms of Queen or Princes.