THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY.
A MAGAZINE OF LITERATURE, ART, AND POLITICS.
VOL. XII.—AUGUST, 1863.—NO. LXX.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by TICKNOR ANDFIELDS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District ofMassachusetts.
AN AMERICAN IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
Having in a former number of this magazine attempted to give someaccount of the House of Commons, and to present some sketches of itsleading members,1I now design to introduce my readers to the House ofLords.
1Atlantic Monthly for December, 1861.
It is obviously unnecessary to repeat so much of the previousdescription as applies to the general external and internal appearanceof the New Palace of Westminster. It only remains to speak of the halldevoted to the sessions of the House of Lords. And certainly it is anapartment deserving a more extended notice than our limits will allow.As the finest specimen of Gothic civil architecture in the world,perfect in its proportions, beautiful and appropriate in itsdecorations, the frescoes perpetuating some of the most striking scenesin English history, the stained glass windows representing the Kings andQueens of the United Kingdom from the accession of William the Conquerordown to the present reign, the niches filled with effigies of the Baronswho wrested Magna Charta from King John, the ceiling glowing with goldand colors presenting different national symbols and devices in mostelaborate workmanship and admirable intricacy of design, it isundeniably worthy of the high purpose to which it is dedicated.
The House of Lords also contains the throne occupied by the reigningsovereign at the opening and prorogation of Parliament. Perhaps its moreappropriate designation would be a State-Chair. In general form andoutline it is substantially similar to the chairs in which thesovereigns of England have for centuries been accustomed to sit at theircoronations. We need hardly add that no expense has been spared to giveto the throne such intrinsic value, and to adorn it with such emblems ofnational significance, as to furnish renewed evidence of England'sunwavering loyalty to the reigning house.
In pointing out what is peculiar to the House of Lords, I am aware thatthere is danger of falling into the error of stating what is alreadyfamiliar to some of my readers. And yet a traveller's narrative is notalways tiresome to the tourist who has himself visited the samelocalities and witnessed the same scenes. If anxious for the "diffusionof useful knowledge," he will cheerfully consent that the curiosity ofothers, who have not shared his good fortune, should be gratified,although it be at his expense. At the same time, he certainly has aright to insist that the extraordinary and improbable stories told tothe too credulous voyageur by some lying scoundrel of a courier orsome unprincipled valet-de-place shall not be palmed upon theunsuspecting public as genuine tales of travel and adventure.
The House of Lords is composed of lords spiritual and lords temporal. Asthis body is now constituted, the lords spiritual are two archbishops,twenty-four bishops, and four Irish representative prelates. The lordstemporal are three peers of the blood royal, twenty dukes, nineteenmarquises, one hundred and ten earls, twenty-two viscounts, two hundredand ten barons, sixteen Scotch representative peers, and twenty-eightIrish representative peers. There are twenty-three Scotch peers andeighty-five Irish peers who hav