a mere puppy, which, indeed, some say I remain to this day. The
date was August the 19th, 1841, and from seat where Strangers were
admitted in the old House (the temporary building occupied whilst
BARRY was erecting this lofty pile) I looked on at the opening of the
first Session of the Fourteenth Parliament of the then United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, appointed to meet at Westminster in the
fifth year of the Reign of HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA.

[Illustration: "The Sphinx is Silent," 1876.]

Remember it as if it were yesterday. It was MELBOURNE's Ministry; but
he of course sat in another place. On the Treasury Bench, distinctly
visible under his hat, was JOHNNY RUSSELL, Colonial Secretary and
Leader of the House of Commons. At a safe distance from him sat PAM,
then in the prime of life, and at the time holding the post of Foreign
Minister, in which he was able to make a remarkably large number of
people uncomfortable. There was Sir GEORGE GREY, Chancellor of the
Duchy, whilst a sturdily built gentleman, then known as the Right Hon.
THOMAS BABBINGTON MACAULAY, was Secretary for War; HENRY LABOUCHERE
(not the SAGE OF QUEEN ANNE'S GATE) was President of the Board of
Trade, and Master of the Mint; whilst FRANCIS BARING was Chancellor
of the Exchequer, all untroubled by the necessity of constructing a
Budget since he knew he would never be called on to bring one in.

On the Front Bench opposite was Sir ROBERT PEEL with JAMES GRAHAM at
his right elbow. In modest retirement at the end of the Bench sat a
young man, of full height, and good figure, with a mass of black hair
crowning a large, well-shaped head. Remember noticing how carefully
the hair was parted down the middle, in a fashion then unusual with
men. His face was pleasant to look upon, even mild in its expression;
but from time to time, more particularly when he spoke, there
flashed from beneath his dark and bushy eyebrows a pair of eyes that
shone like stars. This was the Mr. G. of those days, whose highest
Ministerial office, as yet, had been the Under-Secretaryship for the
Colonies, held for a few months six years earlier.

[Illustration: "W.E.G.," 1860.]

Big House on this first night, as Houses were counted then, when the
number of Members was considerably less. First business was to choose
SPEAKER. SHAW-LEFEVRE (not the Member for Bradford, but a forbear)
had been SPEAKER in last Parliament; re-elected now, PEEL, who, by
the lifting of a fing