The Pembroke County Guardian and Cardigan Reporter

OUR LONDON LETTER. [RY OUR ARTIST COI&REMNIIZXT.] The opening of Parliament by the King was a brilliant spectacle. A cheering crowd lined the route of the procession, in spite of the threatening weather, and, fortunately, no rain fell during the Royal progress. His Majesty appeared in excellent health and spirits, and kept up a conversation with the Earl of Sefton, who accompanied him in the state coach. The absence of the Queen in Denmark, and of the Prince and Princess of ,Wales in India, caused the procession and the subsequent ceremony in the House of Lords to lack soie of the magnificence which usually characterises these occasions. Still, the great glass coach in which sat the King and the Master of the Horse, drawn by the eight Hanoverian cream horses with gilt trappings, while the Yeomen of the Guard STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. walked by the side, was a gorgeous sight. In- side the House of Peers their lordships had long waited patiently for his Majesty's com- ing. At length the Royal procession arrived at the Victoria Tower of the Houses of Par- liament, beneath which the Great Officers of State were waiting to accompany the King to the Robing Room. Led by the heralds in their magnificently ornate tabards, the whole company ascended the staircase to the Cham- ber, and his Majesty took his seat on the Throne, from which the Royal Speech was to be read. The various officials in their brilliant Court costumes took up their posi- tions about the Royal person, and the mem- bers of the House of Commons having ap- peared at the Bar, headed by the Speaker, his Majesty proceeded to read his Speech, which was described by those who heard it ps a model of faultless elocution. The Government's programme, as fore- shadowed in the King's Speech, has caused A greater amount of general satisfaction than is usually the case. The portion dealing with Domestic Reforms was particularly welcomed by all sections of the Opposition, especially by the Labour party. An Education Bill was promised for England and Wales, and a Trades Disputes Bill, which will presumably place the trade unions in the position they were thought to occupybefore the Taff Vale de- cision. The debate on the Speech by the House of Commons turned mainly on the Chinese Labour question. Mr. Dickinson, in Court- dress, moved the loyal Address, and Mr. Acland, who was attired in grey uniform, seconded. Mr. Dickinson referred to the triumph of Liberalism in London, and marie some remarks about the triumph of Free itrade, :which appeared to be little to the F,, JTHB KING AND THB COMMONS. liking of the temporary Leader of tfle vppc- sition, Mr. Chamberlain. His criticisms of Mr. Dickinson provoked many cries of dis- sent, and for over an hour he belaboured the new Government, especially deriding the use made during the election of the Chinese Ordinance. Our turn will come," he said, with a confident smile, while the occupants of the Government benches shook with derisive laughter. The Prime Minister, in rising to reply, said that the new Leader of the Oppo- sition, who regarded it as his business—ac- cording to his recent utterances-to harass the Government, had not fulfilled his task very ably. The Government did not feel the least harassed. His reference to Mr. Cham- berlain as the Leader of the Leader of the Opposition" provoked much laughter. Mr. Keir Hardie's speech was, on the whole, com- plimentary to the Government, but his re- mark that the interests of most of the Mem- bers were diametrically opposed to those of the workers provoked loud cries of protest. Mr. Gibson Bowles, .formerly Unionist Member for King's Lynn, has been selected as Free Trade candidate to oppose Mr. Bal- four. The meeting of the City of London Liberals, which unanimously adopted him, by a curious coincidence met just as the ex- Premier returned from his visit to *he Bil- lingsgate Fish Markets. In his speech Mr. MR. GIBSON BOWLES. Bowles replied to those who considered it bad taste to oppose the defeated Prime Minister. It might be bad taste," he said, "if politics were a millinery establishment, and if the question at stake were the shape of a new hat or the difference between two shades of ribbon." He rejected with scorn the idea that political considerations and the prosperity of the City should be sacrificed on a question of taste. In his election address Mr. Bowles declares himself an out-and-out Free Trader, and urges the electors to vote purely on the Fiscal issue, without reference to supposed claims of official position. Mr. Mason, who previously declared his intention of fighting Mr. Balfour, with or without the support of the Liberal party, has withdrawn in favour of Mr. Bowles, thus leaving the issue clear. In the midst of the political storm and stress comes an item of news which carries us back in imagination to strenuous battles fought in years gone by. The Gladstone Memorial, which has occupied the Royal Academician, Sir W. B. Richmond, for many months, is now finished, and is being forwarded to Hawarden. It consists of two life-sized recumbent effigies of Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone, and in each case the likeness is wonderfully convincing. The figure of the great statesman is robed in the academical dress of a Doctor of Laws, and at his feet an owl, the symbol of wisdom, is perched. Mrs. Glad- stone is represented in the homely lace cap in which the popular imagination always pic- tures her. A large cross lying between the THE HAWARDEN GLADSTONE MEMORIAL. two figures, each of which clasps it with one hand. is a beautiful and apur.opriate svmbol A* fas?. v.-nien sustained uoin. lire memorial is to be erected in the side chapel of the Parish Church at Hawarden, where the venerable pair whose lives it celebrates were wont to worship. The effigies are to repose on a marble base, supported by yellow marble pilasters. Silver statues representing Homer, Dante, and others of Mr. Gladstone's favourite authors will occupy prominent posi- tions. Over all broods the beautiful form of the Angel of Watchfulness, supporting the pillow on which the heads rest. This will be a notable addition to the treasures stored away in our country churches. Miss Alice Lee Roosevelt, America's Prin- cess," has now become Mrs. Nicholas Long- worth, and all America rejoices with the happy pair. They were married in the same room of the historic White House in which the beloved Nellie Grant was wedded to Mr. Sartoris many years ago. Of the dozen White House brides of former years, Mrs. Sartoris is the most famous, and her presence at the Roosevelt wedding made an interesting addition to the list of distinguished persons who attended that ceremony. The marriage service was conducted by the Bishop of Wash- ington, in the presence of nearly 1,000 guests. THE ROOSEVELT WEDDING. Although the parties stood on a raised plat- form, very many of those present failed to get a view of the brief proceedings. The happy pair afterwards sat down to a magnificent breakfast with their guests. Mrs. Longworth has her full share of that vivacity which is the birthright of most American girls, as an inci- dent which occurred at the breakfast-table skews. Finding herself unable to cut the wedding cake with a knife, she borrowed an officer's sword, and made a gallant and successful attack with it. The more than ordinary popularity of the match is no doubt partly due to the fact that although the bride has been courted by many wealthy and titled foreigners she has chosen one of her own countrymen for her husband. One of the several interesting weddings which arc attracting public attention just now is that of Lord de Clifford and Miss Evelyn Chandler, who is better known as Miss Eva Carrington, of the Aldwych Theatre. The engagement was kept a secret from all except the, most intimate friends until the very last moment, and the only people present at the ceremony besides the parties most concerned were the bride's mother and Mr. Laurence Oliphant, who acted as witnesses. The marriage took place by special licence at the St. Pancras Registry Office. Arrangements had been made for the ceremony to take place at St. Margaret's, THE PEER AND THE GIBSON GIRL." Westminster, but the eager couple could brook no delay. The bride arrived at the office in a carriage from Russell-square, and a few minutes later the bridegroom druve up in a hansom. Miss CI. ller wore a travelling i/uooumc ui aiu'K grey, in readiness ror tne motor tour with which the honeymoon com- menced. After motoring about the country for a couple of days, Baron and Baroness de Clifford set off for Paris as a preliminary to starting for Africa. The Baron is a soldierly young nobleman, who has been a Yeomanry Lieutenant, and has done a little service in Egypt. The bride is a charming brunette of nineteen, with large, dark eyes and a very graceful figure, and is nearly six feet high. His Lordship is twenty-two, and, for so young a man, has travelled a good deal.