places in the very limited space allotted to them in the House of Lords. At the opening of Parliament by the Queen in 1851, Mr. Joseph Hume complained in the House of Commons that he had been roughly treated in the Upper Chamber dur ing the ceremony. " I neither saw the Queen nor heard her voice," said he, plaintively. " I was crushed into a corner; my head was knocked against a post, and I might have been much injured if a stout member, to whom I am much obliged, had not come to my assistance." On another occasion a member had his coat torn and his shoulder dislocated during the scrimmage. When the Sovereign is present, the spec tacle in the House of Lords is full of color and ablaze with jewels. The Queen sits on the throne, a magnificent oaken chair, richly carved and raised on a crimson dais at the end of the chamber. She wears a miniature crown of diamonds round a white cap, from which long white streamers depend at each side. The robe of state, a long, sweeping, ermine cloak, is thrown loosely over her shoulders, so as not to hide the broad blue ribbon and the star of the Order of the Gar ter, which she wears over her customary black dress, the splendid necklace of dia monds, and the flashing Koh-i-noor on her breast. The Prince of Wales in his robes sits on a chair to the right of the throne, while grouped around are the officers of state in scarlet and gold. The crimson benches are crowded with the peers in their scarlet robes, with the bishops in their black, flowing robes and lawn sleeves of liberal amplitude; and the galleries around are bright with the fair faces, the variegated dresses, the diamonds and flowers of peeresses and other ladies of high degree. This brilliant picture is magni
ficently framed by the dark oak panelling of the chamber. The speech, which, written by the prime minister and approved by the cabinet, gives a forecast of the business of the session, is usually read by the sovereign, or by the Lord Chancellor, at her command. When Her Majesty is absent the most conspicuous figures in the ceremony are five personages sitting all in a row on a bench beneath the throne, and wearing scarlet robes trimmed with white fur, and black three-cornered hats. The center figure is the Lord Chancellor, the president of the House of Lords; and the four others are the Lords High Commissioners, who are appointed by the Queen to act on her behalf when she does not open Parliament in person. The Clerk of Parliament, by which title the chief clerk in the House of Lords is designated — a gentleman robed in gown and wig like a barrister in a court of justice — reads the Royal Commission, a huge piece of parch ment liberally spotted with red sealing-wax, which is the royal authority for the opening of Parliament. Then the Lord Chancellor, still retaining his seat, his head covered by his curious black hat, reads " The Queen's Speech," and Parliament is opened. The Speaker and the members of the House of Commons troop back again to their own chamber. The Speaker takes the chair, bows to the assembly, and without a word disappears from the House. The Com mons assemble again at four o'clock; the Speaker reads the Queen's speech; an ad dress in answer to the speech is moved and seconded by two members of the party in office; and a debate ensues in which the policy of the government is criticised by the opposition, and defended by the minis terialists.
