under discussion was a Bill introduced by Lord Morpeth, a member of the Whig administration, relative to Irish Parliamentary Voters. A Bill of the same name, introduced by Lord Stanley, now a Conservative, but who had been, a short time since, a minister of the Whig government, was so different in some of its clauses, that it appeared all the Conservatives had agreed to vote against the second reading of this Bill, and of course all the Ministerialists were gathered together to vote for it; and almost all the sixty-one members who were not present to vote this evening had, what is called, paired off: that is, a Conservative who wished to be away, agreed with a Liberal who also wished to be away, that neither of them would vote, and this neutralizing of each other's votes is called pairing off. We were admitted into the body of the house somewhere about six o'clock on Thursday evening, and there we sat until half-past two on Friday morning, about eight hours and a half. Shortly after we entered the house an influential gentleman among the Conservatives told our friend that the Ministers would have a majority of six, and about eight o'clock he said another ministerial member had posted home from Vienna, and that the majority of votes would most probably be seven; and to prove how accurately he made his calculation, the Ministers had a majority of five; one of the persons who was expected to vote with the Ministerialists voted with the Opposition, and

thus accounted for the variation. The gentleman in question is sometimes called the whipper-in of the Conservatives, that is to say, he urges all to vote, knows where every member is, and if he intends to be in the house or not. This must be a troublesome office.

The present House of Commons is a temporary affair only. The former place where they met was destroyed by fire a few years since; and a magnificent erection for the Houses of Lords and Commons is now building close to the Westminster Hall, and very near to the present building. The Speaker, who is one of the members, is the chairman; he is seated in a raised chair near the extremity of the large room, and where he can see all the members. On his right hand, on seats raised one above the other, the ministers of the day and their friends sit; the most influential on the upper front seat, called the treasury benches, nearest to the Speaker. The opposition members sit on the left hand of the Speaker, and are arranged according to their importance to their party, similar to their opponents opposite. The Speaker is much disfigured by wearing an immense wig of whitish hair and a black gown, and, seated at a table before him, are three persons similarly attired in wigs and gowns, who are not members, but are Clerks of the House, and keep the records. And upon the table is laid a beautiful silver gilt ornament, three or four feet long, called the mace. When the house

is in what is called Committee of the House, Mr. Bernal, member for Rochester, sits at the table, and the Speaker does not sit in the chair; but Mr. Bernal, who is called Chairman of the Committees, acts then exactly as if he was the Speaker. In a raised chair, at the opposite end to the Speaker, is seated Sir William Gossett, the serjeant-at-arms, who is to preserve order below the bar, and to take into custody any member, or other person, upon the command of the Speaker, who may do anything contrary to the usages of Parliament; when he wishes to withdraw for a short time, John Clement, Esq., deputy serjeantat arms, takes his seat. When we entered the house Mr. Gisborne was addressing the house from the ministerial side, and there were not then perhaps one hundred members in the house, and then Mr. Cholmondeley answered from the opposition; Mr. M. J. O'Connell replied to him, and Mr. Tennent opposed the second reading, and Mr. W. Roche spoke in favour of it. This was all what soldiers would call light skirmishing; and now what they call the big guns began to go off. Mr. Shaw, the Recorder of Dublin, from the opposition benches, in a very lengthy but good speech, spoke against the Bill, and this called up the great Irish agitator, Mr. Daniel O'Connell. He spoke upwards of two hours, addressed the house in most energetic terms, imploring the members, for the safety and welfare of Eng

land and Ireland, "to do justice to Ireland," by placing her upon the same footing as England in all things. He spoke most feelingly-most forcibly, and with his large figure, clear distinct voice, and peculiar Irish pronunciation, he attracted much of our attention, particularly when he said very loudly,-" Grant this Bill, and you "will take away much of my powerful influence: "I call upon you to disarm me by doing justice "to my country." He was very many times loudly cheered by the members who sat on his side of the house.

Strangers are not allowed to be present in the House of Commons by the strict rules of the house; and, in fact, they are supposed never to be present: but in a gallery behind the Speaker's chair are forty or fifty reporters for the different newspapers, who are writing down in short-hand all that is said, and who go out and are relieved at stated periods; and it is a fact that although on the morning of the 26th of February, the debate did not close nor was the division declared, until near three o'clock, every speech that was made in the house was printed just as delivered, in the several newspapers, and, soon after eight o'clock, was laid upon the breakfast tables of the inhabitants of London. The Speaker is supposed to be ignorant of these people being present, as they are behind him; and the strangers admitted by the members into the gallery over which we sat, and the persons

near us who were admitted by the Speaker, would be ordered immediately out of the house if any member were to rise and say, "Mr. Speaker there are strangers in the house," he would then call out, Strangers must withdraw." And whenever any member chooses to divide the house, that is, to request persons to vote upon any subject, all visitors have to go out instantly.

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We were, as a matter of course, dressed in our costume; and, sitting in the foremost seat allowed for strangers, we had a capital view of all the members, and could hear remarkably well nearly everything that was said; and consequently every member could see us. We fancied once, when Mr. O'Connell was speaking, that he observed and alluded to us. He was looking towards us, and at that time in his most forcible manner he said, "Mind what you are doing, the eyes of the whole world are upon you;" or words to that effect. It might be fancy, but such was our impression at the time.

After Mr. O'Connell had finished his speech, Sir Robert Peel, (who was formerly first minister of the crown, and who has been for some time leading man of the Tory party,) rose, and looking very angrily at Mr. O'Connell, attacked him for sometime for the threats that he (Mr. O'Connell) had indulged in towards England; he said "He "has spoken in a tone totally unworthy of the representative of the Irish people. In a tone and

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