THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 



351 



throughout the crust of the globe, 

 being a third of the entire number 

 known to us. This interesting fact 

 would seem to favour the opinion 

 maintained by Sir Isaac Newton, 

 that all the planetary bodies are 

 composed of the same matter as the 

 earth. Light, heat, and the power 

 of attraction are the ligaments, so 

 to speak, by which our connection 

 is maintained with the other plane- 

 tary masses. Humboldt suggests 

 that another bond of union, or 

 mode of contact, subsists betwixt 

 our own and the other planets, if 

 we admit shooting-stars and me- 

 teoric stones to be planetary aste- 

 roids. " Meteoric stones," he re- 

 marks in the Cosmos, "are the only 

 means by which we can be brought 

 into possible contact with that 

 which is foreign to our own planet. 

 Accustomed to gain our knowledge 

 of what is not telluric solely 

 through measurement, calculations, 

 and the deductions of reason, we 

 experience a sentiment of astonish- 

 ment at finding that we may exa- 

 mine, weigh, and analyse bodies 

 that appertain to the outer world. 

 This awakens, by the power of the 

 imagination, a meditative spiritual 

 train of thought, where the untu- 

 tored mind perceives only scintil- 

 lations of light in the firmament, 

 and sees in the blackened star that 

 falls from the exploded cloud no- 

 thing beyond the rough product of 

 a powerful natural force. 



THE HOUSE OF LORDS A VISIT IN 

 THE DUKE'S DATS. 



No description can do justice to 

 the gorgeous appearance of the 

 House of Lords. The length of the 

 house is 91 feet, the breadth 45 

 feet, and the height 45 feet. A 

 gallery 3 feet wide, having only one 

 row of seats, and accessible a! one 

 to the Peers and their families, 

 runs along either side of the house. 

 At the upper end is the throne, at 

 the lower are the galleries for re- 



porters and strangers. The inte- 

 rior of the house is of Riga wains- 

 cot, richly and elaborately carved. 

 The throne and other parts are of 

 carved oak, the simple beauty of 

 which is much obscured by gilding. 

 The arrangements for ventilation 

 are concealed in the space (about 

 30 feet) betwixt the- ceiling and 

 the ridge. The ceiling is divided 

 by massive moulded beams into 

 eighteen principal, and these again, 

 into smaller compartments, the 

 ground being blue, bordered with 

 ivd and gold, and blazoned with 

 the royal badges of the United 

 Kingdom. There are six trace- 

 ried windows on each side 

 "storied windows richly dight." 

 The piers between the windows are 

 occupied by eighteen canopied 

 niches, intended to receive statues 

 of the chief barons who secured 

 Magna Charta from King John. 

 Around the jambs of the windows 

 is painted the inscription, " Vivat 

 Regina," many times repeated. 

 The wall behind the throne is paint- 

 ed in fresco. One of the paintings, 

 by Mr. Dyce, represents the bap- 

 tism of Ethelbert, the first Chris- 

 tian king of England ; another is 

 Edward III. conferring the Order 

 of the Garter on Edward the Black 

 Prince ; a third, Henry, Prince of 

 Wales, committed to prison for 

 assaulting Judge Gascoigne ; the 

 latter two painted by Mr. Cope. 

 At the lower end of the house are 

 two frescoes, by Mr. Maclise, repre- 

 senting the spirit of chivalry and 

 the spirit of law ; and one by Mr. 

 Horsley, the spirit of religion. 

 The whole of the carvings and en- 

 richments, with which tin 1 walls 

 are profusely st added, bear heraldic 

 or symbolic designs. As for the 

 throne, " it beggars all description." 

 It is exquisite alike in design and 

 workmanship, but its more sub- 

 stantial extvllrnrirs an' thrown 

 into shade by the extreme prodi- 

 gality of its gilding. It consists of 



