Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-03-23
THE CANADIAN PARLIAMENT,
A Humorous Description of Its Opening.
A Solemn Ceremony.

A Humorous Description of Its Opening.
A solemn Ceremony.
All the members were seated when we
were let in upon them. l recognized
some of the members, for / am not
ashamed to admit that know a few of
them personally. A newspaper man
gets so hardened in time that he is not
ashamed to admit anything. 1t is no
part of my duty. of course. to offer any
suggestions to the leader Of the opposi-
ton. still would like to say to him that
if he had fewer empty benches on his
side of the house he would have more
success in combating the measures of
the government.
We all sat in solemn silence. doing
nothing at all, something after the
fashion of congress. when suddenly there
came three solemn. measured raps at the
door They could hardly he called raps.
They were much too dignified for that.
They were knocks, as if somebody struck
a very solid block of wood with a reason
ably heavy sledge hammer. a man
dressed in black, with a sort of regalia
over his shoulders, who had been sitting
quietly near the door. opposite the
speaker, here assumed a look of pleased
surprise. rose and threw open the doors.
He was much astonished to find there a
gorgeousy dressed individual. and each
of them bowed to the other ceremoni-
ously, and then the person who knocked
told him confidentially that he had some-
thing very particular to say to the
speaker. The first gentleman with the
collar said he would see about it. and
then advanced and bowed to the speaker
and told him that a messenger from the
governor general was at the door and
wanted to know what he was going to
do about it. The speaker, instead of
ordering him to be fired out, as he prob
ably would have done if | had raped in
such a startling way, requested the man
with the collar to tell the other gentle
man to advance and give the counter
sign and speak his mind.
The messenger bowed civilly when he
received the speakers permission to adj
vance, and then came on, as it We're. by
installments. A press man told Inc he
was the Black Rod. The Black Rod took
a couple of steps forward, bowed very
low. then took a few more steps and
bowed again. Finding that nobody
threw anything at him he apparently
gained courage, made third advance
and third bow and spoke. He said
that the governor general required the
immediate attendance of the speaker.
the members of the house and myself in
the senate chamber. He repeated this
message in French for my benefit. which
l beg to assure him was needless
trouble, as understand English quite as
well as | do other languages, and then
retreated backward as gracefully as he
had advanced, bowling three times.
Then we all made break for the
senate chamber. 1t was a circus coming
down that narrow stairway. ! missed
the first stepin the dark, and took nearly
the entire press of Canada as | tobog-
gained to the bottom. The honorable
members of the commons are graciouslv
allowed to stand in the senate chamber.
packed like sardines. while the message
is read. There is a resplendent throng at
the other end Of the large room. and
under sunset canopy the governor
general sat with his uniform on and Il
cooked hat on his head. This hat was
not removed except for brief moment
when he addressed the gentlemen of the
senate and the commons. The chairs of
the senate We're filled with the ladies
of the arstocracy in evening dress,
toilets as handsome. and. no doubt as
expensive, as one would see on similar
occasion in London. in the large and
roomy galleries ware the ladies of the
democracy, not quite so eXpensively
dressed, but every bit as good looking,
bless 'em.
The governor read his message first in
English and then in French. When he
had finished the company rose and began
shaking hands with each other And
that is how Lord Landsdowne and my
self opened the first session of parliament
for the year 1888. Luke Sharp in De-
troit Free Press.