And Thus I Now, For The First Time, Saw The Whole Of The British
Nation Assembled In Its Representatives, In Rather A Mean-Looking
Building, That Not A Little Resembles A Chapel.
The Speaker, an
elderly man, with an enormous wig, with two knotted kind of tresses,
or curls, behind, in
A black cloak, his hat on his head, sat
opposite to me on a lofty chair; which was not unlike a small
pulpit, save only that in the front of there was no reading-desk.
Before the Speaker's chair stands a table, which looks like an
altar; and at this there sit two men, called clerks, dressed in
black, with black cloaks. On the table, by the side of the great
parchment acts, lies a huge gilt sceptre, which is always taken
away, and placed in a conservatory under the table, as soon as ever
the Speaker quits the chair; which he does as often as the House
resolves itself into a committee. A committee means nothing more
than that the House puts itself into a situation freely to discuss
and debate any point of difficulty and moment, and, while it lasts,
the Speaker partly lays aside his power as a legislator. As soon as
this is over, some one tells the Speaker that he may now again be
seated; and immediately on the Speaker being again in the chair, the
sceptre is also replaced on the table before him.
All round on the sides of the house, under the gallery, are benches
for the members, covered with green cloth, always one above the
other, like our choirs in churches, in order that he who is speaking
may see over those who sit before him. The seats in the gallery are
on the same plan. The members of parliament keep their hats on, but
the spectators in the gallery are uncovered.
The members of the House of Commons have nothing particular in their
dress. They even come into the House in their great coats, and with
boots and spurs. It is not at all uncommon to see a member lying
stretched out on one of the benches while others are debating. Some
crack nuts, others eat oranges, or whatever else is in season.
There is no end to their going in and out; and as often as any one
wishes to go out, he places himself before the Speaker, and makes
him his bow, as if, like a schoolboy, he asked tutor's permission.
Those who speak seem to deliver themselves with but little, perhaps
not always with even a decorous, gravity. All that is necessary is
to stand up in your place, take off your hat, turn to the Speaker
(to whom all the speeches are addressed), to hold your hat and stick
in one hand, and with the other to make any such motions as you
fancy necessary to accompany your speech.
If it happens that a member rises who is but a bad speaker, or if
what he says is generally deemed not sufficiently interesting, so
much noise is made, and such bursts of laughter are raised, that the
member who is speaking can scarcely distinguish his own words.
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