The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-12-08
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LONDON IN THE SEASON.
Impressions Received from q First View Of
the Houxe of Commons.

Impressions Received from q First View OF
the House of Commons.
The first impression one gets of the
chamber of the house of commons is
that it is SO very small. 1t does not
surprise you to find the house of peers
a hall of somewhat limited proportion.
That seems to be in keeping with the
exclusiveness of its memb ers. But the
house of commons sounds so momen-
tous. and such great things have been
carried out there that one rather looks
for something grand and imposing and
impressive. And when you take your
railing to look down upon the high
hats of the mem bers, you feel that
you are rather in a private chapel than
in Legislative hall. and that by reach
ing out your hand you could almost
touch the speaker in his high chair.
which always wickedly suggested
Punch-and-Judy show to me, and the
top of which, / was grieved to note, was
not busted. i found it very hard at
first to grasp the fact that the gentle
men sitting on the benches. or walking
in and ont, and making little bows to
the speaker whenever they did SO,
whether he was looking at them or
not, were the real men themselves of
whom we have read. and with whom
Punch's Essence OF Parliament" and
the illustrated papers have made Us
familiar. 1t was interesting to think
you were hearing before anyone else
the speeches or the argument that
were to be read the next morn
ing in America and India. Going
to the house day after day was
like procession of first nights"
given with star cast ] caught my
self commenting with some surprise on
how like the men were to their pic
lures, and that there really was lat
ticed grating. and that the shadowy,
moving figures behind it, like the
ghostly jury in THE Bells" were real
women and young girls, guarded from
view like slaves in a harem; and that
there were mace and gangway and
p 1naster-of-arms with a sword, just as
Harry Furniss draws him. and a re-
porters' gallery. where Warrington and
Balfour did wear CATERS and Mr.. Glad
stone high-pecked collars: and that the
Irish mem bers were as obnoxious as |
had been led to believe they would be;
and that the lord chancellor in the
upper house looked just as he did in
Iolanthe. 1t was like seeing one of
Shakespeare plays on the stage for the
first time after one had studied it only
from the book. What impressed me
most bout the house was the air of
good breeding which prevailed there,
and the strictness of the etiquette-the
fact that the members might not read
a newspa per within its limits, and the
courtesy with which they bowed and
gave to each other the full title. 1t
seemed so coy and comforta ble-legis-
lation made easy, as it were-the colors
were so harmonious and the coats of
arms so numerous, and the ubiquitous
policemen in the lobbies and halls out
side SO obsequious, that mem
ber's life, one thought, must be a
happy one. And they have such
amusing privileges outside the house.
Their hansoms may, for instance,
go through any block at Water
loo bridge, no matter how heavy
the traffic may be, and if they are cab
met ministers they can 60 through
block anywhere. If L were a cabinet
minister / would take hanson by
the hour. and spend my money riding
around to find blocks that | might be
let through, and so make other people
envious And inside the house they
are allowed to ask their friends to din
ner, AMI to wear their hats ali the time
and everywhere, even, or especially
for some of the liberals are silly enough
to make point of it-when the prince
of Wales takes his seat over the clock,
Richard Harding Davis, in Harpers
Magazine.