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HOUSE OF LORDS.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

.MILITARY SINECURES.

AGRICULTURE TO BE DONE IN…

MARKETS.

LINES ON HEARING AN ÆOLIAN…

.MISCELLANY. -

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MISCELLANY. f R COSTUME OF THE COMMISSIONERS, AND OF LORD BROUGHAM IN PARTICULAR.—Of the costume of the learned, noble, and dis- tinguished personages who occupied the woolsack, as his Ma- jesty's Commissioners, it would be difficult for any one, not acquainted with the art of robing, or initiated into the mysteries, which are, no doubt, familiar enough to the keeper of the ward- robe or groom of thevstole, to give an accurate description. Its general effect, however, may be described in one single word- it was grotesque. The Lord Chancellor wore his ermined scarlet robe, adown which, on either shoulder, hung the long grey pen- dant flaps or wings of the judicial wig, not unlike the falling ear-lags of the white or grey elephant of Ava or Siam and on the e'xtreme point, or crown of the head, just large enough to cover the black patch which distinguishes a serjeant's wig, as though indicating a broken skull, was placed a most diminutive and insignificent flat triangular hat, which, not coming down over any part of the block, or having any hold whatever on the rotundity of the seat of intelligence, might be literally called" a skull cap," though affording so little protection to the small spot it covered, that it might have been blown away by the least breath of wind, or pushed off by the touch of a feather. We remember well, on an occasion of visiting a Levantine consul at Joppa in Palestine, in the year 1816, a tolerably near parallel to this grotesque appearance, which is thus described in the volume recording the event The consul himself soon arrived, and presented one of the most singular mixtures of European and Asiatic costume that we "had yet witnessed. His dress con- sisted of the long robes of the East, surmounted by a powdered bag-wig, a cocked-hart, with anchor buttons, and black cockade, and a gold-headed cane, all of the oldest fashion." We thought, at the time, that the figure and costume of this old gentleman were the most ridiculous that could be imagined but we had not then seen a Noble Lord presiding on the woolsack as a Royal Commissioner, and we now give the palm of grotesque- ness to the Lord High Chancellor of England over the Levantine consul-the British peer leaving the Asiatic merchant an im- measurable distance behind. We have often heard the people of Yorkshire speak of the curious exhibition of Henry Brougham, the county member, when sworded, hatted, spurred, and mounted, as a knight of the shire in the Castle Yard at York but it could have been nothing to this appearance of the same person on the woolsack; and both how incomparably less 'dignified than the simple dress and commanding air and manner of the earnest senator in the House of Commons, clothed in all the glory of impassioned eloquence, robed in the majesty of truth, and crowned by the coronet of a free nation's admiration Oh dignity! how little are thy true elements appreciated and under- stood The noble duke, marquis, earl, and baron, who acted as the Chancellor's supporters, and shared the woolsack with him, were not quite so grotesquely dressed as the first peer of the realm but why should the heads of a President of a delibera- tive Council, a First Lord of the Treasury, a Postmaster-Ge- neral, or a Director of the board of Trade, be covered with cocked- hats at all ? and especially the towering pyramidal, and sergeant- major-like kind of hats, trimmed with feathers, and looped with broad silver lace, which were worn on this solemn occasion by the noble personages named ? We may truly say of rank and talent, as of genuine beauty it is- When unadorned adorned the most," and we are sure that all the four personages, who dressed and played their parts in this first scene of Parliamentary Drama, would not only look far more respectable in the eyes of others, but feel much more comfortable in their own, when they came to undress themselves in the disrobing room, than they did before and if it is by law that they are thus ollliged to make themselves both look ridiculous and feel uncorafortable, the sooner such a law is repealed the better.—Buckingham on ike opening of Par- liament. THE SCEXE IN TIIF, LORDS'.—THE LADIIS.—The scene in the House of Lords on this occasion, to those few who could ap- proach near enough to enjoy a full view of it, was altogether very brilliant. His Majesty was seated on the throne, attended by the great officers of state. The peers were in their robes, the foreign ministers in their respective dresses of office, the judges in their scarlet gowns, the bishops in their lawn sleeves, and on both sides of the House, on the benches of the peers, extending from the throne to the bar, or barrier which kept the Commons distinct from the Lords, were ranged from 800 to 400 superbly dressed ladies, all plumed with ostrich feathers, many adorned with costly jewels, and from the elegance of their costume, the surpassing beauty of many of their persons, the intelligent ex- pression of their eyes and lips, and the general air and carriage of graceful motion which characterized them, presenting a sight not often to be witnessed even in England, and certainly not to be seen in any other country of the world with which we are acquainted, to the same extent and perfection as here. What the Turkish ambassador, who was among the strangers present, must have thought of such a realization of the favourite hoaris of the faithful, as was here pourtrayed before him, it would be diffi- cult to say but we conceive his description of this scene of bril- liant beauty, when he returns to Constantinople, will be deemed fabulous by many and if believed at all, will excite in the harems of the seraglio, where it is sure to penetrate, an anxious wish on the part of the sultan's ladies to be admitted to this open display of their beauties now hidden from all admiring eyes, by being immured in the solitude of confinement: and to all it must at least prove this truth, that female loveliness is capable of being greatly heightened, even in its beauty, by intellectual cultivation; and that the dignity of man is never more con- spicuous than when woman is made a participator with himself in all the high and refined pleasures which intellectual pursuits afford. Mr. W. Brougham is about to attempt to carry a bill to es- tablish a General Registry of all Deeds and Instruments re- lating to real Property in England and Wales." It is rumoured that some of the newly-elected Members of Parliament decline attending the Speaker's levees and dinners, on the ground of the formal etiquette as to dreess, &c., with which they are conducted.—-Morning Paper. FRANKING Pill VILLE, F,All communications with Members of Parliament, and petitions, are conveyed free of postage, if marked Petitions to Parliament," and not above six ounces in weight. THE CHURCH .-The Ministry of England have proposed to fix the income of the Archbishops of Ireland at £ 10,000. The French Chamber of Deputies have just fixed the stipend of the Archbishop of Paris, the Catholic Primate of France, at 25,000 francs, or exactly one thousand pounds. The Archbishop of Canterbury receives alone, to do with as his own, more than the incomes of all the eight Archbishops of Spain and each sinecure Bishop of the Protestant Church of Ireland receives as much as ten Spanish Bishops while it is an understood matter, that the incomes of the latter must be ex- pended chiefly in works of charity.—Morning Chronicle. A short time since, som" of the more Piberal members of the clergy presented a memorial to the Bishop of London, on the subject of Church Reform. His Lordship replied in terms of sharp rebuke, one of their propositions being, to increase the number of Bishops and pay them less.—Essex Independent. A clergyman in Suffolk has retired from the magisterial bench, declaring it as his opinion that the office of a civil magistrate was incompatible with his duty as a minister of Christ. Worcester Herald. POOR LAWS.-It is stated that the report of the poor law com- mission will reveal the astonishing facts, that the amount of money mis-spent or lost by the malversation of the parochial functionaries is between two and three millions annually, and that the total expenditure for the poor may be reduced at least one third, and the poor be better treated, and the progress of pauperism be checked. In Bethnal green, one of the metropolitan parishes, there are now five hundred houses already deserted, almost entirely in consequence of the pressure of the poor rates. The paupers in and out of the workhouse are nearly 2000. The whole of the rates for the parish amount to upwards of £6000 quarterly, of which £ 5000 is collected. It is said the advocates for a national rate are numerous. DRUNKENNESS.—New York papers say, that fifteen hundred drunkards went to their grave in that city, within a month. M. de Montbel, one of the Ministers of Charles the Tenth, who signed the ordonnances of July, 1330, has been condemned to a fine of 400,000 francs, or £ 15,000, as his share of the da- mages caused to the city of Paris during the revolution. By making with a diamond a slight cut from the top to the bottom of the convex side of glass used for lamps, it is prevented from cracking, notwithstanding the heat to which it is exposed. The incision affords room for the expansion produced by the heat; and the glass, after it is cool, returns to its original shape, with only a scratch visible where the cut is made. THE Fox is distinguished from other canine animals by the elongated shape of the pupil of the eye, which contracts in a strong light, but opens and assumes a circular form in twilight or at night. In this respect the fox resembles the cat, for the pupil of the dog is round in other particulars the organisation of the fox and dog are precisely similar. If taken quite young, the fox can be tamed, but lie seldom entirely loses his savage nature. Instances have, however, occurred of a domesticated fox showing nearly as much attachment to his master as a dog. The fox's olfactory nerves, as is well known, are very acute. Like the dog and the wolf, he runs his game by the scent. Pre- paratory to the change of weather, or the approach of a storm, he howls dismally.—Entertaining Press. A virtuous King, in an unguarded moment, ordered one of his subjects, who was innocent, to be put to death. "Oh! King," said he, my punishment ends with my life thine be- gins at the close of mine." He was forgiven. A King ought to nourish his people, even with his own substance because he holds his kingdom of his people. Every subject is the soldier of a just king. A DECOY LORD.—A person, commonly called a Noble Lord, it is notorious, receives generally from a gaming house in St. James's-street, £ 600 per annum, to inveigle young gentlemen fortune to the play tables thus the gaming-house seldom v, ,-so^ customers. The Noble Lord is sometimes paid by checks, some- times with notes and the wine merchant that serves the esta- blishment, who was introduced to the business of supplying the celebrated proprietor of the gaming-house, is obliged to give the Noble Earl a per ceatage. What a thorough and high-bred scamp !—really, better men have been hanged REVENGE.—A gamekeeper belonging to the Marquess of Staf- ford took away the gun of a burgess of Newcastle, who was sport- ing on the forbidden grounds, and accompanied the act by words of insult. The pride of the burgess was hurt, ai. l he vowed, in bitterness of spirit, that he would be revenged. The slumbering energies of a powerful though humble foe were aroused, and that act of arbitrary power was the means of wrenching from the proud nobleman the dictatorship of a borough which had long been an heir-loom in his family. A PATRIARCH.—The St. Petersburgh Gazette states that there is living near Polosk, on the frontiers of Lithuania, an old man named Demtarius Crabowski, who is now 168 years old. This Russian Methuselah has always led the humble but tranquil life of a shepherd, assisted by his two sons, the eldest of whom, Paul, is 120, and the younger, Anatole, 97 years old. COMPETITION WITH IRELAND.-A new tuberous root has been successfully introduced into this country from Chili it is called the Oxalis r.reaeta, bears a yellow flower, is ornamental to the garden, and as an edible, superior to potatoes. CURE FOR SMOKEY CHIMNEYS.—A wire-gause front to be fitted over the place of about twenty-two wires to the inch, the effect of which is said to be instantaneous. It appears that the Lady of the first Lord of the Admiralty, who was brought to bed on Friday, has given her spouse the honours attached to his official renk—namely, a doidile salute Colonel Williams, M.P. for Ashton, seemed to excite some surprise in the House the other night, when he stated that he had never seen his constituents till he came to thank them for electing him. The House surely forgot how many of the sche- dule A. men never saw their constituents either before or after their election and some of them for the best of all possible rea- sons, because they had none. STRIKING CRITICISM.—A Critic, in speaking of Covent-garden debutante, last Monday, says-" Dancing is a facalt de parler." —This is new. It will next be discovered, by some sage, that speaking is a sort of dance, and the tongue and the toe will be invited to shake hands. STRANGE PRELIMINARY TO MATRIMONY.—In the islands called the Cyclades, the male inhabitants of which are chiefly brought up to the business of sponge diving, no young man is allowed to marry uutil he can descend with facility to a depth of twenty fathoms in the sea.— [The bachelors of the Cyclades first tumble over head and ears in love," and then, by way of cool- ing their passion, jump" over head and ears" to a "depth of twenty fathoms in the sea Now, whether these gentlemen marry a cunning shrew, and are worried to death, or yet drowned in qualifying themselves for the holy state of matrimony," in either case they fell a victim to the deep. J FINE FEATHERS!-—A Welsh paper, describing the terrible effects of a thunder-storm, states that it kiiled three cows, and stripped a fourth of its plumage. We hear that it also deprived a ilock of geese of their bristles. THE FINE ARTS.— Sir Charles WethereII is sitting for his por- trait to a celebrated artist; the picture is intended for the Me?-- chant Tailors' Hall. A DUTCH TRANSLATION.—A Dutch poet has translated Ad- dison's Caio into the language of his country in the celebrated soliliquy, the first line, "It must be so Plato thou reason'st well The Dutchman has thus translated-" it is a very true thing Mynheer Plato, you're up to suajj' POMPOSITY.—"You must be phlcghboiofilised!" said a pom- pous physician to a poor invalid. I can't, I can't, indeed replied the sick man. You must be bicd cried Sir Pompous to which the other rejoined, Well, you may do that; but as for the other thing you talked of, I'm sure I couldn't hear it." NFGHO WAGGERY.— Amongst the numerous stories tf)ld of negro drollery, which amongst many short-sighted people is nelu as an evidence of intellect, is the following :-An old negro, who had been sold and resold again and again, with the estate to which he belonged, and had thus passed the ordeal of the owner- ship of individuals of many nations, was asked, by a student of the natural history of man, which nation he liked the best. He replied, Massa, me like um Spaniard berry much me like um Frenchman good berry, not like um Spaniard. Me like English buckra. sometime. Me no like um Dutchman. But, massa, worsei- an all, me no like um Cotchman; dam Cotchman no good for um Nigger." Why so 1" asked the interrogator. Golly, massa," was the reply, "um dam Cotchman him gib poor Nigger him fish wib only one yeye." The fact was, that a frugal native of the North, having made the discovery that his estate was not so profitable as he could wish, became the first in- ventor of the process of splitting herrings in twain, and thus making one negro ration do the work of two.