Year: 1860

taOleS, ana 10 Otner equally elegant POSITIONS.
The members of the House of Commons have
no tables before them, but they certainly
do lounge upon their benches quite as much
as l have ever seen our Representatives. on
theirs.


When I entered the gallery the members
were presenting petitions from their con-
stituents, and the documents were all duly
"tabled," or rather, 1 should say "bagged," !"
for they were put into large black bag
which hung on the side of the Clerks desk,
and which, as fast as it became full, was
carried off and replaced by an empty one.
By the time this prosy business was over
with it was getting late, and l began to look
about me to see where the chandeliers were
with which the hall was to be lighted.
There was none in sight, and not even a
burner of any description presented itself to
assist in solving the problem of how the
house was to be illuminated, when suddenly
flood of mellow, softened light fell upon the
faces of the members below, and looking to
the ceiling l saw whence it came. The
ceiling is of translucent stained glass, and
above it are the lights, and the effect of this
arrangement is to light up sufficiently the
whole house without any glare.


When the usual preliminary business had
been completed member of the opposition
asked Lord Ohm Russell for some additional
information on the subject of the annexation
OF Savoy and Nice to France. Here, you
know, the Cabinet is directly confronted
with the peoples representatives, and sit
each evening in the House of Commons
ready to answer any questions which may be
put to them. Lord John rose to reply, and
the House, which up to that time had been
a little noisy, became hushed and still.
Lord John Russell is little man, with a
head almost entirely bald, and little gray
whisker. He was dressed in a suit of black,
displaying no shirt bosom, and from the
distance at which l saw him, I should say
that he looked rather "seedy." He speaks
slowly and without any gesticulation, and
no attempt at oratory, but in plain,
straightforward manner, proceeded to ex-
plain and defend the course which the Cab
met had taken on the Savoy question. He
was listened to with great attention, the
silence only being broken by the occasional
"hear," "hear," from the administration side.


When he had finished, some of the men,
bers of the opposition made few remarks,
attacking the doctrine of the right of popu-
lar sovereignty, and of the people to decide
upon their form of government, as main
tanned by the English Cabinet in the case of
Central Italy, and put the question direct to
Lord Palmerston, why the same doctrine
was not as good as applied to the Ionian
Islands This, of course, crew down
!" hear - from the opposition, and Palmerston
rose to reply. For man over seventy, he
is certainly finely preserved, and in bis ad-
dress, which was scrupulously neat, and his
general bearing, involuntarily brought up
to my minds eye Dickens" Model Depart
ment." Lord Palmerston is portly, and
horid, with a head nearly smooth, and gives
but little signs of age when speaking, except
a slight tottering, or shaking of the legs.
His voice is firm and pleasing, and bis man.
ner much more agreeable than that of Lord
Johns.


He commenced by putting down with
very plain answer the opposition member
who had attempted to badger him about the
Ionian Islands, by simply stating that the
parallel did not hold good, as the monarchs
of Central Italy had abandoned their people
and left them without government, while
England had not yet run away from the
Ionian Islands. He spoke for nearly an
hour, eloquently and to the point, and when
he closed there was hushed murmur of APP
plause. He was followed on the other side
by Disraeli, whom l shall leave for future
letter.


Having heard considerable of English
oratory, my impression is that so far as ele~
gance of expression, brilliancy and magnetic
effect are concerned, the celebrated English
speakers do not equal ours. The speeches
read better than they sound, while with most
of our speakers believe the opposite to be
the case. They are more thorough in the
examination of the subject in hand. Super
fetal gaudiness will not make statesmen in
England.