The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-03-29
The Queen and DisraeH at the
Opening of Parliament.

The Queen and DisraeH at the
| Opening of Parliament.
Louis Jennings's London Letter to N. Y. Herald
Victoria sat with her eyes bent upon
the ground, stolid and Indifferent, Dol
did she once raise her eyes until the
Lord Chancellor had finished reading the
speech. Then she waited a minute ol
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 a 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.
letrobe of peer, with three ermine bars
signifying that he was an earl, and bear.
ing in his handsa 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
whem most people were no less anxious
to see than the Queen herself? Where
was the famous Benjamin Disraeli of old
times, the Earl of Beaconsfeld of to-day
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 l had
seen him. When l 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.
field"
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" hall
concealing theafeatures of the man who
bore it-thus stood Benjamin Disraeli
the "adyenturer" 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 thought.
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 Away
with patient steps and firm grip, present
ing dauntless front and an invincibl,
resolution to the world. There was nj
one in that vast throng whose life pre-
fsented so many wondrous contrasts
whose career was half SO fraught will
romance, as that of the statue-like fgur
which stood close beside the Queen, tn
greatest debater left in Parliament, tn
present prime minister of England.
few hours later he took his seat on on
of the red benches and addressed himsel
to the work of the moment with the cain
dignity and supreme tact which haY
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 sense of the gravity of tn
question at issue. cit is a question i
which is involved the existence of en-
pires. 1t is only by bringing our mind
free from all passion, to a calm an
sagacious consideration of this subjec
and viewing it as statesmen, that we ca
secure the great interests of this countr,
which are too often forgotten in declam;
tion." 1t was not long reply, but
was sufficient. The feeling of the Hous
was strongly with its newest membe
and he sat down amid general cheer
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 needsn
prophet to foretell.
As 1 left the house the royal carriag,
were just passing along Parliamer
Street; the bells were ringing, the peop
cheering, the rays of sun shining bright
: on the helmets and breast-plates of tt
troops. Not for years has the Quee
, been so well received, and the "hurrahs
of the people did not seem to be who'll
. without effect upon her, for 1 overtoo
the cavalcade in st. James's Park, and
= observed that she smiled as she slight
: inclined her head to the throng on eac
side Of her. The image, however, that
find most clearly stamped upon my min
r. 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 a bent figu
!, half hidden in robes of state; white fa
+ in which the fire and CLEAN 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 Englal
q from the side of royalty itself. In my
d collections of the day the picture
e Benjamin Disraeli will survive long
n | 4bo,, fbo for,,,of nuoo,, -, D.,,oo.