Then the doorkeepers.

Apropos, a good story is told of the late man Williams, who figures in the front of Hayter's picture of the Reformed House of Commons in the tea-room. He was known, and is still remembered by many members of the House, but particularly by those who unfortunately came into contact with him in his capacity of Cerberus. A certain retainer of the Liberator (and, of course, an expectant, too), who had been for some years pursuing many failing avocations within the walls of the political arenas of the Irish metropolis, thought it high time to try his hand on the other side the water in the obtainment of some more lucrative employment, and which he hoped to do, like many others, through the influence or agency of his patron.

"What do you want?" said Williams, when he made his appearance at the door of the House of Commons. "Move out of the passage." "I want to see Dan O'Connell," said he, "the member for all Ireland."

"Give me your card. Move out of the passage."

"What card? I will write my name on a scrap of paper if that will do; and if that won't, and if you want to know who I am, my friend, I will tell you. Before long I'll be member for Kilkenny-that I willand by this and by that, the very first motion I make in the House after I have taken my sate will be, ye spalpeen, to have you taken out of your broadcloth, and stuffed into plush!"

But a thin attendance of members, most of whom are standing round the table writing their names on slips of paper, and disappear to deposit the same in a glass receptacle, over which an official of the House keeps guard-a sort of lottery-and as they draw the numbers, they can follow the Speaker into the House of Lords, at the bar of which but a small proportion of the M.P.s find standing room.

A good many how-de-dos, a good deal of talk as to Reform, and fresh troubles, political and warlike, looming.

Big Ben, not Disraeli, has been recast; Big Pam (not Lord Palmerston) is as sound as a bell, and not cracked. The monster mortar is one yard in diameter across its muzzle, and so can project an infernal machine or ball one yard thick, which can be thrown as far, if not farther, than any smaller shell; it will contain a charge of 500lbs. of powder!

That

Apropos of Lord Palmerston, who has fathered this pocket-pistol, a foreigner, writing five years ago, says: "He has a telling answer to every question; but, withal, he does not get personal and offensive. He is a general favourite, and every one is silent when he rises. is Lord P., the notorious Lord Firebrand, he who, according to the opinion of the continental politicians, thinks of nothing but the most convenient means of overthrowing all the thrones in Christendom."

"The Matrimonial Causes and Divorce Bill" works so well, that above two hundred causes are now on the list. No wonder either, as its parent, the Attorney-General, like every other member in the House, could not make head or tail of it. Curious enough, though, the Proctors, its direst enemies (now they are to receive compensation), no longer find fault with it. Their consolation is, that at any rate if they do not get quality they will quantity.

"Follow the leader," so I go to the table and write my name on a

piece of paper as others are doing, but I observed they were chiefly the new members, and I began to "smell a rat," as it is called; however, I placed my paper, having carefully folded it up, in the glass emporium, over which the ci-devant official of the House stood sentry. "Bribery and corruption" fell from me as I threw my name in, and he smiled.

The Black Rod makes his appearance, summonses the House to the presence of her Majesty; the Speaker descends from his chair, and some one begins calling out the names as they are taken from the glass conjuring receptacle. There is a murmur, and a palpable rush. Names! all my eye! It is evident, in a moment, that there is no order; order is out of the question; all are mingled in one common mass, pressing on. I make a rush and get close behind the Speaker, and on my right flank, but a little more in advance, was the burly figure of the M.P. for Leitrim. I felt my flank was protected, for it flashed upon me all at once that the old hands would, in all probability, be awaiting the advance of the Speaker, and rush down upon us from the different lateral passages and openings which crossed our route at right angles. Scarcely had we got into the Circular Hall before I found my presentiment realised, and ten or a dozen M.P.s charged straight upon our column, but a little en échelon, and we staggered again; but Leitrim was to the fore, and if it had not been for the interposition of his body, and his positively butting the avalanche with his shoulder, the Chancellor of the Exchequer might have been bowled over. Two more shocks of this sort did we bear before reaching the door into the Lords, which was not thrown open until the moment the Speaker, at the head of the column, arrived close to it. I kept my place well up to this, thanks to the shelter afforded by Leitrim. It was evident that this would be the moment that the crush, par excellence, would con"Order! Order!" Quite out of the question-it was every one for himself. They are a long time opening the door, and the crowd from behind press us up tight against it, and the very breath is squeezed out of one's body. Order, indeed, or management!

summate.

I had witnessed the first drawing-room held by her Majesty in Dublin-her first visit to Ireland-and there saw warriors faint, and the mass sent dripping into the presence of royalty; I was at that drawing-room in London which witnessed the scenes at the barrier, and saw one lady, pass ing fair but under forty, perform a regular summersault over a bench left across the entrance to the pen-room, and I saw it attempted to be represented in Punch afterwards,-but neither of these performances could for a moment be compared to this rush of her Majesty's faithful Commons, so anxious were they to get into her presence. Then comes the noise of a bolt being withdrawn. And the door is attempted to be thrown wide open by the servants; but they can only partially succeed, as the head of the column, pressed from the rear, are hurried-forced, pushed nolentes volentes-through the aperture. In they go, shouting, hustling, roaring, like a mill-race let loose as the sluice is raised; and I hear an oath, distinctly an oath, from some quarter. It was not, in all probability, from a member. Any one might have come in; I am sure was not from a member-that could not be, he would have been out of order.

it

What a disgraceful proceeding! yet they tell me it happens time after

time, and no attempt is made to better the arrangement. Well, I see that it will be vain to attempt the centre, so making a race as hard as ever I can, I seize upon a capital place high up on one side. I get my elbows placed on the railing, and feel sure I cannot be dislodged; the crowd in the rear fills up the space in a moment, and the noise subsides. The sight is imposing, and I have a capital view of the fair occupants of the Lords' places. They had to take off their cloaks just before her Majesty arrived, and now presented a very décolleté appearance, some very much over-dressed; amongst them, most conspicuous, was she of the gold tiara and silk stockings with their cotton tops. Her scarlet opera cloak was not there, of course, but the magnificent pair of very white shoulders were in its stead. What a pity that a little bit of false economy should have disenchanted one with this fair one!

ALEXANDRE DUMAS IN ST. PETERSBURG.*

Ir is just twenty-four years back since Alexandre Dumas I. bound himself by a solemn pledge to his readers that he would perform the periplus of the Mediterranean, and spite of the bad jokes this promise entailed on him, he has kept his word like a man. Up to the present he has made four voyages or tours of inspection about the littoral of the Middle Sea, and expended for that purpose 51,000 fr., from which deduct 10,000 fr. granted him by the Minister of Public Instruction. What he saw he has described, as we all know, famously in some thirty volumes; but he has still a portion of his task to accomplish. He has yet to visit Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor, and the adjoining countries; and although the managers of the Messageries Impériales, so soon as they heard of his scheme, offered him free passage for self and secretary, he must have a yacht, for he was not going to make an every-day tour. His soul was thirsting for combats with truculent pirates in the sunny Ægean, and he had hopes of meeting with his Haïdée, for which consummation he, too, was ready to endure a shipwreck. Hence M. Dumas very wisely ordered a three-mast lugger of 65 tons, entirely made of cast steel, with a tenhorse power engine. Unfortunately, the builder, though the first in France, required five months to build the vessel, and during that period Alexandre I. was doomed to inactivity. Under these circumstances he accepted an invitation to be present at a wedding in St. Petersburg, and thought he might as well come back via Astrakan. This excursion gave birth to the new romance of travel, to a portion of which we propose calling our readers' attention.

The Russian Count Koucheleff Bezborodko, while making the grand tour, remained for a while at Paris, where he had the felicity of making M. Dumas's acquaintance. An intimacy sprang up between them which led to the historian being invited to be present at the marriage of Count

* De Paris à Astrakan. Par Alexandre Dumas. Tomes I.-III.

Koucheleff Bezborodko's sister, as we before stated. There was nothing surprising in the fact of a young lady being married, but the bridegroom was a celebrity, being no other than the renowned spirit-rapper Home. How could Dumas refuse such an invitation, or the temptation to make a chapter or two out of the bridegroom's history? which he does something after the following fashion. Home-Daniel Douglas Home-was born at Currer, near Edinburgh, in 1833. His mother, prior to his birth, had a vision, in which she saw him seated at table with an emperor, an empress, a king, and a grand-duchess, which was, of course, eventually realised. At the early age of three years he began indulging in second sight, and must have been rather an uncomfortable boy to live with, for he was continually predicting deaths, which came about with perfect accuracy. At the age of ten, however, fearing that the boy's gifts would be wasted at home, his parents transferred him to America, where his talent soon became fully developed. So sure as he gained a new friend, so surely did he predict his decease before long, and, finally, his mother became the object of his visions. But this was not all; he began to be tormented by spirits who evinced their presence by the usual rappings. Some clergymen were called in to exorcise the demon, but were utterly foiled, and Home's fortune was made. The Americans flocked in to see him, but his aunt, whom he lived with, growing tired of the perpetual polking of the chairs and tables, shovel and tongs, frying-pan and kettle, turned him out of doors. At last, the spirits finding his company rather slow, deserted him en masse; but he became, instead, a somnambulist. After amassing enormous sums at Boston, his health failed him, and he proceeded to recruit on the Continent. At Florence he became the occasion of an émeute: it was a very long time since a sorcerer had been burned in that city, and the worthy people desired to make an example of the American. He managed to escape to Naples, where the spirits left him once more, "on urgent private affairs," on the 10th of February, 1856, with a promise of returning that day year punctually. Home now thought it time to take some precautions, and went to Rome, where he became a Catholic, and was honoured by an interview with the Pope, on condition that he came in the company of a priest. It is evident from this that Pio Nono was not quite assured of his power over the spirits. From Rome the magician went back to Paris, and consulted Father Ravignan on the subject of his spirits. The father consoled him by stating that since he had become a Catholic the spirits had been exor cised, but Home could not believe this; the spirits were Scotch, and, consequently, horribly obstinate. They had promised to come back, and would keep their word; and so they did. Of course it was not long ere Home was invited to the Tuileries, where he effected wonders, if we believe only half the stories that were current about him. At any rate, the empress adopted his sister as a mark of her satisfaction with him. From Paris, Home proceeded to Baden-Baden, where he held six séances. Soon after, an old English lady died, leaving him six thousand a year, and he was enabled to become a gentleman at large. He went once more to Rome in the beginning of 1858, where he formed the acquaintance of Count Koucheleff, and eventually fell in love with his sister. Soon after the return of the count and his party to Paris, Home desired to know the great Dumas, who was introduced by him to the count and

countess. As was perfectly natural, they formed a tremendous affection for the great historian of France, and insisted on his accompanying them to Petersburg. For a while he refused, but as the count declared that he would break off the match with Home unless Dumas consented to go, how could he refuse? This explanation was necessary to prove the falsehood of the assertions that M. Dumas went to Russia to write a new piece for the Théâtre-Français, or to acquire the collar of St. Stanislaus. We regret we cannot find space for the description of the journey to Berlin, in which our author gives a most humorous account of the dilemma in which the Prussian conductors are placed by a favourite cat, about whose proper mode of conveyance no regulations are laid down. They know exactly what to do with dogs, but the other animal was a novelty to them. After a grand consultation, however, they consented to let it ride with the countess. At Berlin, owing to the fulness of the hotel, M. Dumas and his secretary were obliged to sleep in a bath-room. We note this fact, not so much for its curiosity, but because the world likes to know the smallest movements of its emperors and kings: then why should we not chronicle such a simple event in the life of the kaiser of literature? On board the steamer running from Stettin to Cronstadt, M. Dumas naturally formed the acquaintance of the traditional Englishman, who was going to Borneo to see the sun at midnight on the 24th of June, the only night of the year on which the phenomenon is possible. He had made the same voyage the year before, but enjoyed such a comfortable sleep on that memorable night that he could not make up his mind to get up, so he deferred the treat for another year. How curious it is, by the way, that only Frenchmen fall in with these Anglais pour rire; we have probably travelled about Europe rather more than M. Dumas, and yet we do not remember once meeting with a single specimen of English fatuity, such as always run in the way of Frenchmen. But, possibly, we are prejudiced.

On board the steamer, M. Dumas also formed the acquaintance of a Prince Galitzin, a family so numerous in Russia that they are numbered. Thus a czar said to one of them: " Why, you are numbered like the fiacres." "Yes," was the smart reply, "and like kings, sire." The sight of Cronstadt leads M. Dumas off at once into a history of Peter the Great, of which we can only say that what is true is not new, what is new is not true. We will quote one anecdote, however, to show that M. Dumas's right hand has not forgotten its cunning, even in writing Russian history:

The Strelitz had formed a conspiracy against Peter, and it was arranged that they should fire a house: Peter would run up at the first glare of the flames, and would mingle with the crowd to extinguish it. A blow of a dagger will put an end to him, and to all those heretics with whom he pollutes the sacred soil of Russia.

Midnight is chosen for the hour of execution.

At eleven they will meet to sup: wine and strong liquors will not be spared. Strength must be given to those whose courage might fail.

But, before supper, two of the accomplices lose heart: they ask to be introduced to the Czar, and confess all to him.

Peter takes his measures. He summons the captain of his guard, and orders him to surround the house where the conspirators are to meet, at half-past eleven precisely.