TEN MINUTES WITH HER MAJESTY. [From Dickens' "Household Words."]

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 565, 13 September 1851, Page 4

TEN MINUTES WITH HER MAJESTY. [From Dickens' "Household Words."]

In divulging the details of a highly distinguished honour, we aie not, we hope and believe, committing any breach of confidence. A desire to giatify the paidonable curiosity of our readers, in common with all classes of the community, respecting the person of our admired and belored Sovereign, will not, we feel sure, be construed harshly. We are, indeed, incapable of ludely bursting the golden bonds of etiquette that doth hedge the throne. To guard against the imputation of boasting of a Ligher privilege than that really extended to us, we thiuk it right to mention at once, that the business which took us into the presence of the " Highest Personage in the Realm," was not of a private nature. The memorable morning was a bright one in February — the fourth of the month. The sky was cloudless; a brilliant sun gave to it that cheering character which — from the good foitune her Majesty experiences whenever she travels, or appears publicly — has passed into a proverb, as " The Queen's Weather." The conveyance in which we were approaching the palace — that of Westminster — was suddenly stopped at Charing Cross. A great crowd had collected between that point and our destination. A long qtieue of carnages — of which our llansoni formed the last joint — had been brought to a btjnd; and when, after a time, we were permitted to move on, we perceived that not only the streets, but the fronts of the houses, were thickly lined. Individuals of every ago, size, and condition, occupied the pavements. The houses were decorated with a bright variegation of lovely faces, prettily framed in bewitching bonnets. Every window was filled ; every balcony crowded ; even the roofs of the public offices were tenanted. Head over head appeared on the stops of doors ; the owners of apple-stalls, fitting them up as temporary standing-places, realised small fortunes; and, on giades of seats protected by crimson awnings, and built over areas, reclined the beauty and chivalry of eighteen hundred and fifty-one ; recalling the dny=. of the " Tiltyard," whose site they uctnnlly overlooked. The standing aimy of spectators gave the docile Life Cuaids and patient policemen but little trouble to keep the can iageroad clear ; for tbey passed the time pleasantly in viewing the procession of ladies and great officers of state who weie slowly drawn along on the same en and as ourselves. The stopping of a hackney cabriolet at tho entrance of that portion of her Majesty's Palace of Westminster which is devoted to the deliberations of the second estate of the realm in Parliament assembled, is not calculated to produce such solemn impressions upon the attendant police and rnarsbals'men.as when emblazoned panels are diawn up, under the auspices of a Court coachman and a full-bottomed wig. On alighting, theiefore, the only mark of attention wo received, was from an official ; who, with the anxious look of one who thinks he has encountered an intruder, demanded a sight of out credentials. One glance at the signature of the Lord High Chamberlain, in the corner of our caid, sufficed to dispel his anxiety ; and, with a bland smile of welcome, he waved his truncheon towards the staircase it was necessary for us to mount — the same which, at no distant period of time, was to be piessed by the feet of Royalty. In expectation of that event, more loyal bubjects lined the avenues, and stood on the stairs. In fact, from the drawingroom door of Buckingham Palace, to the foot of the throne in the House of Lords, an unbroken lane of human beings ranged themselves to behold the Queen. No one who enters the House of Lords for the first time can suppress an emotion. As an assemblage of florid ornament, as a specimen of gorgeous decoration, this chamber ia, perhaps, unsurpassed in the world; but whether the emotion be that of sober reverence for the high functions performed in it, or such a flash of mental^ exhilaration as is called up by the first view of a surprisingly gaudy ball-room, it is not necessary to enquire. It must be owned, however, that a ceiling blazing with gold, abase of burning red, a throne of burnished brass, and galleries enamelled with coloured mastics, can Bcarcely be consonant with, or expressive of the impoitant interests gravely discussed by the Peers of Great Britain. Yet, ,at the performance of a stale ceremony, when the whole house is surrendered to the Court tnd to the fair sex, the scene is not unharmonious. When we entered, the peeresses' gallery was untenanted; but a group of privileged ladies, in full dress, had already assembled upon the back benches on each side of the floor. Both groups were fast augmented by fresh arrivals, who were ushered into seats by goodnatured individuals, in black silks and brass badges. The honest, familiar pleasantry of the most active of these ushers would have astonished those who associate Courts with nothing but stately formality. To one bevy of beauties he smilingly obsorvee, '' Ah ! you'ie on the Peers' benches—that will never do. This way, if you please !" And the ladies flutter nfter him to a back seat. lt Will you sit a little closer, if you please V Le asks of several other ladies, regardless of the amplitude of brocades and the probable crushing of satins. Frigid formality — for which the vulgar invariably give the aristocracy credit— is not to be met with even in the House of Lords, on the opening of Parliament ; a buzz of conversation commences; above which rises, now and then, the music of a merry laugh. Presently a few peers, in their red and ermined robes, drop in ; then an ambassador or two ; and conversation becomes geneial. As the appointed hour approaches, the House fills ;—; — the Peeresses' gallery is soon fully occupied. The picture of a peeress, present to the imaginations of the million, is that of a tall lady, with a long train, a diamond stomacher, and jewelled hair glistening under an arch of ostrich feathers. That is an Old School portrait. It is all altered now. Only one arching plume could we espy ; not a single train ; a display of precious stones far from overwhelming ; — an array of costume, in short, of which the hackneyed epithet, " an elegant simplicity," is the true expression. When you look round on an ordinary assemblage of ladies of middle rank at an evening paity, you will see the same general appearance as that which is presented in the Peeresses' gallery, and in. the body of the House, on the opening of Parliament. The hands of the clock move on. Bishops, lay Peers, Judges, Ambassadors, converse in knots, on the vacant spaces around the throne, the wool-sack, and the clerk's table, and the hum of gossip grows louder and louder. " There," to borrow a sentence — not unworthy of a footman— from De Foe, " you see blue and green ribbons sitting [and standing] familiarly, and talking with the same freedom as if they had left their quality and degrees of distance at home." It is a huge conversazione. The even tenour of the buzz, reverberating from every corner, is only interrupted by the clanking of the spurs and accoutrements of the military lords and the officers of the guard. The good-tempered little gentleman in black threads his way upon the floor of the House with increased alacrity. More visitors and less room ! His entreaties to his fair charges to economise sittings are redoubled. At length he has found the last visitor a seat, and many eyes are turned towards the clock ;-— the hands have passed the figure *' II." A slight but sudden lull denotes that experienced ears have heaid the booming of distant cannon. Her Majesty has started from Buckingham Palace ; and her approach is gradually heralded to us by the deadened sound of successive salutes. Conversation ceases, and a groat fluttering ensues. Every peer finds his allotted place. The Lord Chambei lain, the State Officers, the Gentlemen at Arms, and other officials, retire into the Prince's chamber, through doors on each side of the throne, to receive their mistress. Now, there is not a sound. So sudden and dead a silence in so dense a crowd— nine-tenths of which (may they forgive us for adding ! ) are women excites surprise. A pattering noise comes from outside. It con hardly be rain, for the sun floods the chamber with his light through the livid countenances and parti-hued figures of the glass kings and queens. GueSß again !—! — Hail, perhaps ! Oh, no ! — so great is the stillness within, that what you hear from without are the -nrheels of passing vehicles grinding their gritty way on the gravel. The grinding increases, and then suddenly etops. You think you can distinguish a cheer, muffled by the thick walls. The Queen is alighting. During a very few minutes all eyes are turned towards the little door on the right Bide of the throne. Silently, without the faintest note of preparation, it opens. Two heralds appear ; then two more ; then the Lord Chamberlain ; and next, the Queen and Prince Albert, attended by the Mistress of the Robes, and the great Officers of the State ; including the Lord Chancellor end the Duke of Wellington. Every being in the House rises. The Queen— her Land in that of Prince Albert— mounts the steps of the throne, her train boine by two pages, and spread over the back of the state chair by the Duchess of Sutherland. She sits: then rises; and, with graceful gesture, bids the assembly to be seated. The Prince reclines in the arm-chair on the left side of the throne. The pause which ensues while the Usher of the Black Rod departs to summon the " Faithful Commons" would be painful, wero we not occupied in taking a survey of the magnificent spectacle aa it is now arranged. The Queen, richly, tastefully, and not gaudily robed— her Lead-dress a tiara of diamonds, foiuied like a muial

crown — addresses a few pleasant whispers to the attendant Duchess. The Prince is not within speaking distance of his consort, and sutveys the House in the ghtteting uiiiloun and jack-boots of a Field-Marshal. The Duke of Wellington holds eiect the sword ot slate on one side of the Queen ; on the other, the Maiquis of Winchester displays the cap of maintenance, and beside him, upon the extended arms of the Maiquis of Lansdowne, rest the cushion and the crown. The sensation of beauty communicated through the eye when it drinks in an endless variety and exquisite groupings of colour, is tbat which predominates, on viewing the scene in the mass, from above. Below, two large patches of spectators, arrayed in every tint and texture of female attire, are fnnged by thpred robos of the lay peers on the bottom benches, and tapoied off one side by the lawn sleeves of the bishops ; while, in theJPeeresses' gnllery, similar hues are repeated — from the black silk of the mourner to the white .sitm of the bride. On the right of the throne, in the Abassadors' box, is a more compact kaleidoscope of colours. Tbo red Fez cap of the Turkish envoy, and the sky-blue uniform of the Foreign Minister of one of the Noitliern Courts, toll out conspicuously from the rpst. Opposite, on the left of the throne, a group of Life-Guards and Gentlemen-at-Aims make a gorgeous display of scarlet and gold. The Judges of the land, packed together on the woolsack under their powdered wigs, look like a blooming bed of cauliflowers. The almost painful silence of this gorgeous still-life is suddenly and rudely bioken by disorderly sounds, like tho&e winch follow the opening of the pit-door of a theatre, or which precede the battering in of a house at a riot. The Speakei of the House of Commons, answers the summoiib of his liege lady the Queen, as if be were a schoolmaster with a mob of unmannerly boys at his heels ; and is propelled to the bar of tlie House with the frantic fear ot bem<> knocked down and trampled upon by the rush of M.L"s. A transcient cloud passes over the Royal countenance, but is rapidly succeeded by a prolonged smile at the ludicrous effoits of a couple of hundit'ds of her eager Commons to squeeze themselves into n space only ample enough for a bundled. The account of a suflerer in the scramble is amusing: — "I happened," said Air. Joseph Hume, in his place in Parliament on the following evening, "to le the twentyfilth from the Speaker, but both sides of the bar were so iilk'd, that I neither saw the Queen nor heard her voice. I was knocked against a corner; my head was knocked against a post, and I might have been much injured, if a stout member, to whom I felt much obliged, had not come to my assistance. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) It was no laughing ninttei." Mr, Hume recollected, moieover, that on a similar occasion, the coat of a member of the House who now fills a high office abroad, had been torn, and that his shoulder was dislocated. Before the hubbub at the bar has quilo subsided, the Lord Chancellor, kneeling on a step of the throne, presents to the Queon the manuscript of the speech. Its appearance is that of a piece of music, so unskilfully stitched with libbon to a cover, that tke royal reader 19 more than once interrupted by a difficulty in turning over the leaves. At the woids, '• My Lords and Gentlemen," increased efforts are made at the bar towards silence. Ihe Queen pauses for an instant; but when she resumes, not a sound is heard but her voice. lv her clear, fiesh, distinct toni's, Queen Victoria pxpresses her satisfaction at again meeting herPailiaincnt. She continues to maintain relations of peace and amity with Foreign Poweis. She is much gratified tbat the German Confederation and the Government of Denmark are putting an end to hostilities which threatened the peace of Europe, and that the Government of Brazil has taken new and efficient measures, to abolish the tl atrocious" traffic in blares. The '• Gentlemen of the House of Commons" are assured, as usual, that the Estimates of the coming year have been framed with a due regard to economy, and to the necessities of the public service. "My Lords and Gentlemen" are again addressed in terms of satisfaction at the prosperity of the country, with tho exception of the owners and occupiers of land ; but a hope is expressed that the prosperous condition of all other classes will eventually diminish even their difficulties. Here there is ashoit pause. And the following 1 sentences are read with a slight elevation of tone: — " The recent assumption of certain ecclesiastical titles conferred by a Foreign power, has excited strong feelings in this country, and large bodies of my subjects have presented addresses to me, expressing attachment to the Throne, and praying that such assumptions should be resisted. I have assured them of my resolution to maintain the rights of my Crown, and the independence of the nation, against all encroachment, from whatever quarter it may proceed. I have, at the same time, expressed my earnest and firm determination, under God's blessing-, to maintain unimpaired the religious liberty which is so justly prized by the people of this country." After announcing measures for the better administration of justice, and for the registry of deeds, the peroration closes the political brief. The cover is folded over, and the manuscript handed to the LOl d Chancellor. The elocution of the speech was perfect. Nature has conbined in Queen Victoria's voice, sweetness, youtbfulness, and fulness; and Art has taught her to deliver it with exceeding puiity of tone, and without the smallest effort. Eveiy syllable, therefore, entered every sound pair of ears in the House ; except those placed, unhappily like Mr. Joseph Hume, more than twenty-five removes from the Speaker — not of the speech — but of the House of Commons. The music of the last words has scarcely passed into silence before the Queen rises, and bows to the spectators, who, also rise in a body. Prince Albert hands her from the throne, and the short procession retires into the Prince's chamber in the same order as it entered. This ends the cpremony, which has lasted but little over ten minutes. In five minutes more the House of Lords is left to the cole occupation of tho dapper gentleman in black. We have heard a great deal of the powers of the Press, and have experienced the wonders of the electric telegraph ; but those who had the privilege of spending teD minutes with her Majesty, in opening Parliament, must have been a little startled oh reaching Whitehall, to be offered an evening newspaper containing the Queen's speech ; the-last sentence of which from the Queen's lips had hardly died on the ear. Wonder, too, would be increased by the recollection that although the Reporters' gallery was filled, not one of the Gentlemen of the Press had taken a note. By what magic then, could the speech have been so quickly printed? Eveiybody knows that the '* Queen's Speech" does not deseive its name. It is not the Queen's ; nor is it a speech ; it is a document. The First Minister sketches it, subsequent Cabinet Councils reduce it to shape, and it is then submitted to her Majesty. When returned with her appioval, the speech is divulged (at a ministerial dinner) to the non-cabinet members of the administration. Thus the mere topics of the manifesto ooze out at the Clubs the night before the speech is spolcen. But it is the actual text which the public is eager for ; and, that no time may be lost, emissaries from the London evening papers appear at the Treasury about the time her Majesty is piepaiing her toilette, at Buckingham Palace, for the ceremony. The moment the first gun announces that the procession is in motion, the evening paper envoys are obliged with copies of the document ; and before the Queen has done speaking in the House her words are in type. Formerly the Gentlemen of the Press were locked in a room in the Treasury till the cortege was on its way back. Some years ago an escape was made from this official durance, which caused some amusement. The editor of the Government paper in Dublin was most anxious to start for Liverpool by one o'clock, to catch the packet for Dublin. The speech was handed some time before that hour, and the key was turned as usual. Presently, however, the clerks and messengers were alarmed by frantic cries of " Fire !" They opened the door, — the room was filled with smoke. The editor, in the confusion, made his escape, leaving the frightened clerks to extinguish the harmless sheet of brown paper he had intentionally ignited. We, of the present day, improve on the Irish Editor's plan. His was a fire escape ; ours are lightning conductors. It is at such a time as this that the wonders of the Electric Telegraph become startlingly apparent. The City of Edinburgh is about four hundred miles from Buckingham Palace. While the State Procession is wending its slow way back from Westminster, the wires are charged ; and — marvellous fact ! — at the samt moment that Her Majesty is alighting at the steps of the Marble Hall, several of her lieges in the Scottish capital are beginning to read her speech ; which has taken no moTe than fifteen minutes to transmit. She dines at Windsor ; and before tho banquet is over, tho text, leibulim et literatim, of what she had utteied at a quarter pa3t two, hos reached Dublin. Before the Royal family has retired to ruA, the speech 11 in every principal town m the Kingdom. In these cases there had been no anticipation, for the speech was lend off at the London Telegraph Station ftom the evening papcis.

CBOV WILL'S PUIIIIAN MIMY. " Tnr airay wbich now (1(347) became supreme in tbe state," says TJionrs liabington Macaulay, in Ljs eloquent "llistory of England," >l wa& au army very dif-

ferent from any that has since boon soon among us. It was raised foi home service. The ranks were composed of per&ous superior m station and education to the multitude. '1 hese persons, sober, inoi a!, diligent, and accustomed to reflect, had beeu mduced to take up arms, not by the pressuie of want, not by the love of novelty and license, not by the aitsi ts of leci mting officers, but by leligious and political zeal. 'llie boast of the soldiers, as we find it recoided in tbeir solemn lesolutions, was, that they weie free-born Englishmen, who had, of their own accoid, put their lives in jeopardy for the liberties and religion of England, and whose right and duty it was to watch orev the welfare of the nation which they had saved. *' A fotce thus composed might, without mjuiy to its efficiency, be indulged in some liberties which, if allowed to any other troops, would have proved subversive of all discipline. In general, soldiets who should form themselves into political clubs, elect delegates, and p.iss resolutions on high questions of state, would soon break loose from all control, would cease to form an army, and would become the worst and most dangprous of mobs. Nor would it be safe, in our timp, to tolerate in any regiment religious meetings, at which a corpoial versed in Scripture should lead the devotions of Ins less gifted colonel, and admonish a back-sliding major. But such was the intelligence, the giavity, and the self-command of the warriors whom Cromwell had tiaineel, that in their camp a political organization and a religious oiganization could exist without destroying military organization. The same men who, off duty, were noted as demagogues and field prencheis, were distinguished by steadiness, by the spirit of order, and by prompt obedience on watch, on dull, and on the field of battle. "In v. ar tins strange force was irresistible. The stubborn courage characteristic of the English people w\i<-, by ti c system of Cromwell, at once regulated and stimulated. Other leaders have maintained ouler as ituct; other leaders have inspired their followers with a zeal as ardent; but in his camp alone the most rigid discipline was found in company with the fiercest enthusiasm. From the time when the army was remo- ; delled to the time when it was disbanded, it never f uind, either m the British Islands or on the Continent, an enemy who could stand its onset. In England, Scotland, Ireland, Flanders, the Puritan wairiors, often surrounded by difficulties, sometimes contending against thieefold odds, not only never failed to conquor, but never failed to destroy and break in pieces whatever force was opposed to them. They at length came to regard the day of battle as a day of certain triumph. " But that which chiefly distinguished the armyof Cromwell irom other armies, was the austere moiahty and the fear of God which pervaded all ranks. It is acknowledged by the most zealous Royalists, that m that singular camp no oath was heard, no drunkenness or gambling was seen, and that during the long dominion of the soldiery, the pioperty of the peaceable citizen and the honour of woman were hpld sacred. If outrages were committed, they weie outrages of a very i different kind from those of winch a victorious army 13 generally guilty. IS T o servant-girl complained of thp rough gallantry of the red-coats; not an ounce of plate was taken from shops of the goldsmiths ; but a Pelagian sermon, or a window on which the Virgin and child were painted, produced in the Puritan lanks an excitement which it required the utmost exertions of the officers to quell. One of Cromwell's chief diflicul- \ ties was to restrain his pikemen and dragoons from in- ! vading by main force the pulpit of ministers whose discourses, to use the language of that time, were not savoury ; and too many of our cathedrals still bear the marks of the hatred with which those stern sphita regarded every vestige of Popery."

The Japanese System of Sklf-Lmmolation. — The system of self-immolation constitutes a singular trait in the national character. In some cases it iscompulsoiy ; in others voluntary. All military men, with the immediate dependants of the emperor, find all persons holding appointments under government, who may be guilty of certain crimes, are under the neceßßityof ripping ihemselves up, on receiving orders to that effect. In contemplation of such an event, all persons affected by the ordinance, carry with them when travelling, in addition to their ordinary habiliments, and the dress worn in cases of fire, a suit appropriate to the occasion. It cons sts of a white robe and a kerrimon (or oloak) of ceremony of hempen cloth, and destitute of armorial bearings that are usually displayed. Theoutsideof the house where the ceremony takes place is hung with white. The ceremony itself is thus regulated. On the order of the Sovereign being communicated to the offender, he forthwith despatches invitations to his fi iends for a specified day. The visitors aie regaled with zikhi (a strong water distilled from rice,) when a certain quantity has been di unk, the host takes leave of his friends preparatory to a sucond leading of the order for his death. This being done, usually, among the highest, in presence of the secretary and the government officer, the condemned man makes a speech, and oilers some complimentary addiessto the company. Then inclining his head forward, he unsheathes his cattan, and inflicts two ga&bes on his abdomen, one houzontal and the other perpendicular. A confidential servant, who is stationed for the pupose in the rear, immediately smites off the head of his master. The deed as before obseived is in some instances voluntary ; in case of consciousness of guilt entailing death on the offender, to avoid disgrace or to gratify revenge. In regaid to the latter point, M. Caron lelates a remarkable instance, which occurred within his own knowledge. It appears that two high officers of the Couit met on the palace stairs and jostled each other. One was an iiascible man, and immediately demanded satisfaction. The other of a placid disposition, represented that the circumstance was accidental, and tendered an ample apology, representing that satisfaction could not reasonably be demanded. The irascable man however would not be appeased, and, finding he could not provoke the other to a conflict, suddenly drew up his robes, unsheathed his cattan, and cut himself in the prescribed mode. As a point of honour, his adversary wa3 under the necessity of following the example, and the irascibl e man before he breathed his last, had the gratification of seeing the object of his passion dying beside him. To peform this act with dexterity and precision is considered a high accomplishment; and the youths of Japan bestow as much pains under efficient tutors to acquire the ait, as European youths take to become elegant dancers or skilful horsemen. — Memoirs of the Empue J ef Japan m the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century.

Tuc Bible. — Dr. Play fail c, in a sermon preached before the University of Cambridge, about the year 1573, says — " Before preaching- the Gospel of Christ, no Church ha\p existed but the temple of an idol ; no priebthood but that of Paganism ; no God, but the sun, the moon, or some hideous image. In Scotland stood the temple of Mars ; in Cornwall the temple of Mercuiy ; at Bangor the temple of Minei va ; at Maldon the temjjle of Victoria ; at Bath the temple of Apollo ; at Leicester the temple of Janus ; at York, where St. Peter's now stands, the temple of Belona ; m London on the site of St. Paul's Catbedral, the temple of Diana; at Westminster, where the Abbey rears its venerable pile, a temple of Apollo/ Who can read such a statement of facts well authenticated as they are, and consider what that country now is, without acknowledging the vast obligations under which we are laid to Divine revelation? What but tho Bible has produced this mighty moral renovation? The Lirn or a Gentleman.— He gets up leisurely, breakfasts comfortably, reads the paper regulaily, drosses fashionably, lounges fastidiously, eats a tart gravely, tattles insipidly, dines considerably, drinks superfluously, kills time indifferently, sups elegantly, goes to bed stupidly, lives uselessly.