The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-09-12
Lord Beaconsfeld in the House or
Lords.

dOIOS.
Alinost on the stroke of five O'Clock
the Lord Chancellor took his seat ON
the woolsack, and order was proclaim
ed. h cen at this moment was
really most imposing and picturesque
The painted windows of the House Of
Peers make a twilight in the place.
which mars somewhat its effect when
as 1t yesterday was but lust
as the proceedings began it ocCNrred~ %
somebody, who doubtless .hSs l.,n.
stlfiing with the heat of tria,aiouse. TO
cause n Of the stained windows high
up under the groined and painted
ceiling to be suddenly lifted. With
this there streamed in a broad. bright
Hash OF clear sunshine which illumina-
ted two-thirds of the House as with a
kind of calcium-light, and threw a sort
OF glow into the shadows which yelled
the rest and brought out vividlv every
point and fleck of colour in the gale
rles and on the floor. AS if he had
waited for this electrical effect, the
Premier at the same moment appeared
from behind the throne, walking slow
~ and with some apparent difficulty.
his eyes cast down. and his head thrown
a little on n side, towards his place
on the administration benches to the
right of the woolsack. As he emerged
there went up a low, gradually swell
ing cry Of Hear, hear which is the
most extravaganza approach to a cheer
ever permitted in this illustrious BODY,
n which rose in the galleries to the
high-water mark Of positive applause.
Many of the fair women clapped their
hands softly together, and in the
strangers gallery certain irrepressible
mortals actually ventured to strike on
the floor with their anes, to their own
imminent peril, since if they had not
been packed in as close as figs in a
drum they would no doubt have been
promptly hailed forth and cast head
long from the highest battlements Of
the Victoria TOwerinto the scandalized
Thames. would he speak, now that
he had Gomez was the question that
ran around the House. IF he is not
well enough to speak," a bitter Liberal
to my seat in charge of a gracious lit
tie doorkeeper with a gold collar like
the Order of the Garter around his
chubby neck-'If he is not well enough
to speak he is perfectly capable of
coming down to the House to die, like
Lord Chatham; and if he does he has
suborned Providence into putting anO-
Their Duke of Richmond there all ready
to catch him when he falls" Whether
he had come to speak or die was left
for a few moments in suspense. The
regular business of the House had to be
followed. Lord Truro made a rather
inaudible little speech about the i'm
propriety of requesting the girls at Cor
ton College to pass their time in vivi-
section, which provoked some ripples
of %sllvery laughter from the ladies in
the gallery. Lord Rosebery left his
place on the left of the woolsack. and
d~exterously pushing forward with his
foot what seemed to be a large roll of
carpet, announced that he had in
charge a petition from Scotland con-
corning roads and bridges and the
rights of Glasgow which he meant, if
possible, to put upon their lordships'
table, and which against all probability
and to the credit of his athletic train
ing, he did in fact contrive to place
upon their lordships' table with a sin
gle, quick and decided effort, to his
own great amusement and that Of the
House. Like the inburst of the sun
shine, this little episode relieved the
tension of the Gene so happily that
Lord BeacOnsfield himself might have
cOntrived it as the most felicitOus pos
sible preparation for the quiet, slow,
almost Indifferent way in which he be-
gan his speech.