f the room in tones
that were not less eloquent for being silent. Here the FIRST GENTLEMAN
OF EUROPE had displayed the rounded symmetry of those calves which
had defied the serried legions of the French and, in their lighter
moments, had captured the wayward fancies of the fair or mitigated the
harshness of a statesman. This was the chamber where the SAILOR KING,
bluff but not undignified, had jested with his intimates, had smoothed
a frown from the rugged brow of WELLINGTON or held his own against the
eagle glance of GREY; the chamber where the great QUEEN, conscious of
her august destiny, had consecrated to grief such moments as could
be spared from the needs of Empire; the chamber where her son had
laboured for peace and extended the bounds of friendship; the chamber
where a DISRAELI, repaying scorn with scorn, may have spread his
snares, and a GLADSTONE, overwhelmed by the torrent of his own
eloquence, may have fallen into them.

Nothing was wanting to complete the solemnity of the spectacle.
Outside, the scarlet-coated sentries paced rigidly on their accustomed
rounds, and the populace, hemmed in by the strong arms and the panting
forms of the constabulary, cheered to the echo its favourites or
exchanged with one another the harmless sallies that give pleasure to
a crowd. Within, the KING himself, his face now clouded with anxious
thought, now lit with hope, gave a cordial welcome to the more
unwonted of the guests he had summoned to his presence, while busy
courtiers filled the corridors with an importance which lost nothing
in weight from being unwarranted by knowledge or experience. Lackeys
in the gorgeous liveries of the most brilliant Court in Europe were
in attendance, ready to minister to those whose failing strength might
need refreshment, or to execute with intelligence and despatch the
humbler duties pertaining to their office.

Nor were the chiefs unworthy of the scene to which they had been
called. There was the Speaker, LOWTHER, his brow beaming with the
good-humour which enabled him to abate pomposity without injuring
the feelings even of the pompous, and to calm with a happy phrase the
agitated waters of debate. There were ASQUITH, strong in the affection
of his friends, and LLOYD GEORGE, braced to action by the invectives
of his foes. There were LAW and LANSDOWNE, staunch defenders of the
citadel in which the last of the Tories, stern and unbending as ever,
had sought refuge. Waterford had sent JO