Part 96 (1/2)
The hum of conversation immediately subsided.
A clerk, in a wig and gown, appeared at the great door, holding a cus.h.i.+on worked with _fleurs de lis_, on which lay parchment doc.u.ments.
These doc.u.ments were bills. From each hung the _bille_, or _bulle_, by a silken string, from which laws are called bills in England and bulls at Rome. Behind the clerk walked three men in peers' robes, and wearing plumed hats.
These were the Royal Commissioners. The first was the Lord High Treasurer of England, G.o.dolphin; the second, the Lord President of the Council, Pembroke; the third, the Lord of the Privy Seal, Newcastle.
They walked one by one, according to precedence, not of their rank, but of their commission--G.o.dolphin first, Newcastle last, although a duke.
They reached the bench in front of the throne, to which they bowed, took off and replaced their hats, and sat down on the bench.
The Lord Chancellor turned towards the Usher of the Black Rod, and said,--
”Order the Commons to the bar of the House.”
The Usher of the Black Rod retired.
The clerk, who was one of the clerks of the House of Lords, placed on the table, between the four woolsacks, the cus.h.i.+on on which lay the bills.
Then there came an interruption, which continued for some minutes.
Two doorkeepers placed before the bar a stool with three steps.
This stool was covered with crimson velvet, on which _fleurs de lis_ were designed in gilt nails.
The great door, which had been closed, was reopened; and a voice announced,--
”The faithful Commons of England.”
It was the Usher of the Black Rod announcing the other half of Parliament.
The lords put on their hats.
The members of the House of Commons entered, preceded by their Speaker, all with uncovered heads.
They stopped at the bar. They were in their ordinary garb; for the most part dressed in black, and wearing swords. The Speaker, the Right Honourable John Smith, an esquire, member for the borough of Andover, got up on the stool which was at the centre of the bar. The Speaker of the Commons wore a robe of black satin, with large hanging sleeves, embroidered before and behind with brandenburgs of gold, and a wig smaller than that of the Lord Chancellor. He was majestic, but inferior.
The Commons, both Speaker and members, stood waiting with uncovered heads, before the peers, who were seated, with their hats on.
Amongst the members of Commons might have been remarked the Chief Justice of Chester, Joseph Jekyll; the Queen's three Serjeants-at-Law--Hooper, Powys, and Parker; James Montagu, Solicitor-General; and the Attorney-General, Simon Harcourt. With the exception of a few baronets and knights, and nine lords by courtesy--Hartington, Windsor, Woodstock, Mordaunt, Granby, Scudamore, Fitzharding, Hyde, and Berkeley--sons of peers and heirs to peerages--all were of the people, a sort of gloomy and silent crowd.
When the noise made by the trampling of feet had ceased, the Crier of the Black Rod, standing by the door, exclaimed:--
”Oyez!”
The Clerk of the Crown arose. He took, unfolded, and read the first of the doc.u.ments on the cus.h.i.+on. It was a message from the Queen, naming three commissioners to represent her in Parliament, with power to sanction the bills.
”To wit--”