362 UANDOM hecollections of the house of lords. 



" The ceremony usually commences at a quarter past two in the afternoon. 

 As early as twelve there is always a large attendance of Peeresses, Peeresses' 

 daughters, and other female members of the aristocracy, all in full dress. The 

 attendance of Peers on such occasions is usually limited ; their absence is 

 chiefly owing to a wish to accommodate the ladies with their seats. The 

 number of ladies generally present when the King opens a new Parliament, 

 or a new Session of Parliament, in person, is from two to three hundred. 

 Notwithstanding the extremely unfavourable state of the weather on the 

 opening of the present Session, the number of female members of the aris- 

 tocracy could not have been much under two hundred and fifty. As the pre- 

 sent House is of such very limited dimensions, a considerable number found 

 it impossible to procure comfortable seats in the body of the House, and 

 therefore stationed themselves in the two side galleries, which extend along 

 that part of the House nearest the throne. The scene, altogether, when the 

 King arrived, was one of unusual splendour. In the side galleries, as just 

 mentioned, and along the two first rows of benches on either side of the floor, 

 with the exception of the Ministerial bench, and that occupied by the leaders 

 of the Opposition, — the ladies were ranged, arrayed in their most splendid 

 apparel; while the other parts of the House were occupied by the Peers, the 

 Foreign Ambassadors, and other distinguished persons from every court in 

 the world maintaining at the present time a friendly understanding with this 

 country. The Peers were all clothed in the robes of state peculiar to tl;eir 

 respective ranks. The Foreign Ambassadors, and the other distinguished per- 

 sons from foreign courts, were also dressed in the court costume of their dif- 

 ferent countries. The Foreign Ambassadors have a place allotted to them- 

 selves on the seats immediately behind Ministers. Between the Ministerial 

 bench and the right of the throne are, as observed in the previous chapter, 

 the seats appropriated to the Lord's Spiritual, on which the Bishops sat, 

 dressed in full canonicals. Outside the bar were the members of the House 

 of Commons, headed by their Speaker. The gallery for strangers was on this, 

 as on all similar occasions, shut to the public. Peers' orders, which on other 

 occasions command the instant admission of those who are fortunate enough 

 to procure them, always go for nothing when the King opens Parliament in 

 person; and also, indeed, when it is opened by commission. Nothing but the 

 signed and sealed order of the Lord Great Chamberlain will prove a passport 

 to any one. The select character of the company, even in the strangers' gal- 

 lery, on such occasions, may, therefore, be at once inferred. The parties 

 consist, in a great measure, of the male relatives or friends of Peers. 



" As on all similar occasions, the firing of cannon announced the arrival of 

 his Majesty outside the House. In a few minutes after, the flourishing of a 

 trumpet intimated that he was on the eve of making his entrance. The Peers 

 ail rose ; the King made his appearance and advanced to the throne. He 

 seated himself on it, and then desired the Lords to resume their seats. When 

 he is absent they usually sit with their hats on their heads ; when he is pre- 

 sent they are all uncovered, as a mark of respect to him. Shortly after, when 

 the necessary arrangecients were completed, and every one who had taken 

 part in the forms was in his proper place, the speech, written out, as it inva- 

 riably is, in large, legible penmanship, on two or three folio sheets of paper, 

 was put into his hands. He instantly, after looking first at the Lords, who 

 were all in the immediate vicinity of the throne, and then at the Commons 

 outside the bar, commenced reading the speech. A breathless calm ensued, 

 which was preserved to the close. 



" In person the King is about the middle height. He can scarcely be said 

 to be corpulent, but his stoutness approaches to it. His shoulders are rather 

 high, and of uuusua breadth. His neck has consequently an appearance of 

 being shorter than i' is in reality. He walks with a quick but short step. He 

 is not a good walker. I know of no phrase which could more strikingly chaiac- 

 terise his mode of walking, than to say — " he waddles." The latter is not a 



