But I Came At Last To Find That The Word
Lady Signified A Female Or A Decently Dressed Man.
Any arrangement
for classes is in America impossible; the seats intended for
gentlemen must, as a matter of course, be open to all men; but by
giving up to the rougher sex half the amount of accommodation
nominally devoted to ladies, the desirable division is to a certain
extent made.
I generally found that I could obtain admittance to
the ladies' gallery if my coat were decent and I had gloves with me.
All the adjuncts of both these chambers are rich and in good
keeping. The staircases are of marble, and the outside passages and
lobbies are noble in size and in every way convenient. One knows
well the trouble of getting into the House of Lords and House of
Commons, and the want of comfort which attends one there; and an
Englishman cannot fail to make comparisons injurious to his own
country. It would not, perhaps, be possible to welcome all the
world in London as is done in Washington, but there can be no good
reason why the space given to the public with us should not equal
that given in Washington. But, so far are we from sheltering the
public, that we have made our House of Commons so small that it will
not even hold all its own members.
I had an opportunity of being present at one of their field days in
the senate, Slidell and Mason had just then been sent from Fort
Warren across to England in the Rinaldo.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 48 of 531
Words from 12636 to 12901
of 142339
