counter cheer; we rise and wave our hats; and then quickly,
quietly, even with a subdued air, we walk out and leave the halls of
Parliament silent, dark, and echoless.

CHAPTER XIX.

HOME RULE IN THE LORDS.

[Sidenote: A brilliant scene.]

The brilliancy of the scene in the House of Lords on September 4th, when
the fight over the Home Rule Bill began, was undeniable. Standing at the
bar, in that small space which is reserved for members of the other
Chamber, and looking out at the view, it was, I thought, one of the most
picturesque and brilliant spectacles on which my eye had ever rested.
The beauty of the House of Commons is great. But it is undoubtedly
inferior in beauty to the House of Lords. In the House of Commons the
roof is a false one, for the original loftiness of the ceiling was found
too great to allow anyone to be properly heard. But in the House of
Lords, where the acoustic properties are still extremely bad, the
anxiety to hear its members has not yet proved great enough to induce
them to make any change in the roof, with the result that the Chamber
gives you an impression of loftiness, spaciousness, and sweep, such as
you do not find in the other. And then the walls at the end obtain
additional splendour from the fine pictures that there stand out and
confront you--pictures full of crowded life, movement, and tragedy. The
Throne, too, with all its gilded splendour, remains, even in its
emptiness, a reminder of that stately and opulent lordship which our
institutions give to a great personage above all parties and all
classes.

[Sidenote: Lovely woman.]

In addition to all this, the House of Lords has made provision for the
appearance of lovely woman, which contrasts most favourably with the
curmudgeon and churlish arrangements of the House of Commons. In the
House of Commons women have to hide themselves, as though they were in a
Mahommedan country, behind a grille--where, invisible, suffocated, and
crowded, they are permitted to see--themselves unseen--the gambollings
of their male companions below. In the House of Lords, on the other
hand, there is a gallery all round the house, in which peeresses and the
relatives of peers are allowed to sit--observed of all men--prettily
dressed, attentive--a beautiful flower-bordering, so to speak, to the
male assemblage below. The variety and brilliancy of colour given by
their fashionable clothes adds a great richness and opulence and
lightness to