L'homme qui rit. English

  CHAPTER VI.

  THE HIGH AND THE LOW.

  All at once a bright light broke upon the House. Four doorkeepersbrought and placed on each side of the throne four high candelabrafilled with wax-lights. The throne, thus illuminated, shone in a kindof purple light. It was empty but august. The presence of the queenherself could not have added much majesty to it.

  The Usher of the Black Rod entered with his wand and announced,--

  "The Lords Commissioners of her Majesty."

  The hum of conversation immediately subsided.

  A clerk, in a wig and gown, appeared at the great door, holding acushion worked with _fleurs de lis_, on which lay parchment documents.These documents were bills. From each hung the _bille_, or _bulle_, by asilken string, from which laws are called bills in England and bulls atRome. Behind the clerk walked three men in peers' robes, and wearingplumed hats.

  These were the Royal Commissioners. The first was the Lord HighTreasurer of England, Godolphin; the second, the Lord President of theCouncil, Pembroke; the third, the Lord of the Privy Seal, Newcastle.

  They walked one by one, according to precedence, not of their rank, butof their commission--Godolphin first, Newcastle last, although a duke.

  They reached the bench in front of the throne, to which they bowed, tookoff and replaced their hats, and sat down on the bench.

  The Lord Chancellor turned towards the Usher of the Black Rod, andsaid,--

  "Order the Commons to the bar of the House."

  The Usher of the Black Rod retired.

  The clerk, who was one of the clerks of the House of Lords, placed onthe table, between the four woolsacks, the cushion on which lay thebills.

  Then there came an interruption, which continued for some minutes.

  Two doorkeepers placed before the bar a stool with three steps.

  This stool was covered with crimson velvet, on which _fleurs de lis_were designed in gilt nails.

  The great door, which had been closed, was reopened; and a voiceannounced,--

  "The faithful Commons of England."

  It was the Usher of the Black Rod announcing the other half ofParliament.

  The lords put on their hats.

  The members of the House of Commons entered, preceded by their Speaker,all with uncovered heads.

  They stopped at the bar. They were in their ordinary garb; for the mostpart dressed in black, and wearing swords. The Speaker, the RightHonourable John Smith, an esquire, member for the borough of Andover,got up on the stool which was at the centre of the bar. The Speaker ofthe Commons wore a robe of black satin, with large hanging sleeves,embroidered before and behind with brandenburgs of gold, and a wigsmaller than that of the Lord Chancellor. He was majestic, but inferior.

  The Commons, both Speaker and members, stood waiting with uncoveredheads, before the peers, who were seated, with their hats on.

  Amongst the members of Commons might have been remarked theChief Justice of Chester, Joseph Jekyll; the Queen's threeSerjeants-at-Law--Hooper, Powys, and Parker; James Montagu,Solicitor-General; and the Attorney-General, Simon Harcourt. Withthe exception of a few baronets and knights, and nine lords bycourtesy--Hartington, Windsor, Woodstock, Mordaunt, Granby, Scudamore,Fitzharding, Hyde, and Berkeley--sons of peers and heirs topeerages--all were of the people, a sort of gloomy and silent crowd.

  When the noise made by the trampling of feet had ceased, the Crier ofthe Black Rod, standing by the door, exclaimed:--

  "Oyez!"

  The Clerk of the Crown arose. He took, unfolded, and read the first ofthe documents on the cushion. It was a message from the Queen, namingthree commissioners to represent her in Parliament, with power tosanction the bills.

  "To wit--"

  Here the Clerk raised his voice.

  "Sidney Earl Godolphin."

  The Clerk bowed to Lord Godolphin. Lord Godolphin raised his hat.

  The Clerk continued,--

  "Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery."

  The Clerk bowed to Lord Pembroke. Lord Pembroke touched his hat.

  The Clerk resumed,--

  "John Holles, Duke of Newcastle."

  The Duke of Newcastle nodded.

  The Clerk of the Crown resumed his seat.

  The Clerk of the Parliaments arose. His under-clerk, who had been on hisknees behind him, got up also. Both turned their faces to the throne,and their backs to the Commons.

  There were five bills on the cushion. These five bills, voted by theCommons and agreed to by the Lords, awaited the royal sanction.

  The Clerk of the Parliaments read the first bill.

  It was a bill passed by the Commons, charging the country with the costsof the improvements made by the Queen to her residence at Hampton Court,amounting to a million sterling.

  The reading over, the Clerk bowed low to the throne. The under-clerkbowed lower still; then, half turning his head towards the Commons, hesaid,--

  "The Queen accepts your bounty--_et ainsi le veut_."

  The Clerk read the second bill.

  It was a law condemning to imprisonment and fine whosoever withdrewhimself from the service of the trainbands. The trainbands were amilitia, recruited from the middle and lower classes, serving gratis,which in Elizabeth's reign furnished, on the approach of the Armada, onehundred and eighty-five thousand foot-soldiers and forty thousand horse.

  The two clerks made a fresh bow to the throne, after which theunder-clerk, again half turning his face to the Commons, said,--

  "_La Reine le veut_."

  The third bill was for increasing the tithes and prebends of theBishopric of Lichfield and Coventry, which was one of the richest inEngland; for making an increased yearly allowance to the cathedral, foraugmenting the number of its canons, and for increasing its deaneriesand benefices, "to the benefit of our holy religion," as the preambleset forth. The fourth bill added to the budget fresh taxes--one onmarbled paper; one on hackney coaches, fixed at the number of eighthundred in London, and taxed at a sum equal to fifty-two francs yearlyeach; one on barristers, attorneys, and solicitors, at forty-eightfrancs a year a head; one on tanned skins, notwithstanding, said thepreamble, the complaints of the workers in leather; one on soap,notwithstanding the petitions of the City of Exeter and of the whole ofDevonshire, where great quantities of cloth and serge were manufactured;one on wine at four shillings; one on flour; one on barley and hops; andone renewing for four years "the necessities of the State," said thepreamble, "requiring to be attended to before the remonstrances ofcommerce"--tonnage-dues, varying from six francs per ton, for shipscoming from the westward, to eighteen francs on those coming from theeastward. Finally, the bill, declaring the sums already levied for thecurrent year insufficient, concluded by decreeing a poll-tax on eachsubject throughout the kingdom of four shillings per head, adding that adouble tax would be levied on every one who did not take the fresh oathto Government. The fifth bill forbade the admission into the hospital ofany sick person who on entering did not deposit a pound sterling to payfor his funeral, in case of death. These last three bills, like thefirst two, were one after the other sanctioned and made law by a bow tothe throne, and the four words pronounced by the under-clerk, "_la Reinele veut_," spoken over his shoulder to the Commons. Then the under-clerkknelt down again before the fourth woolsack, and the Lord Chancellorsaid,--

  "_Soit fait comme il est desire_."

  This terminated the royal sitting. The Speaker, bent double before theChancellor, descended from the stool, backwards, lifting up his robebehind him; the members of the House of Commons bowed to the ground, andas the Upper House resumed the business of the day, heedless of allthese marks of respect, the Commons departed.