Houses can only be obtained by members’ orders; as the benches appropriated in this way are few in number, such admissions are highly prized, especially when any important debate is expected. On the occasion when the Queen visits the House of Lords, to open or prorogue Parliament, visitors are only admitted by special arrangements. Among the multitude of interesting objects in this stupendous structure, the following may be briefly mentioned. The _House of Peers_ is 97 feet long, 45 wide, and 45 high. It is so profusely painted and gilt, and the windows are so darkened by deep-tinted stained glass, that the eye can with difficulty make out the details. At the southern end is the gorgeously gilt and canopied throne; near the centre is the woolsack, on which the Lord Chancellor sits; at the end and sides are galleries for peeresses, reporters, and strangers; and on the floor of the house are the cushioned benches for the peers. At either end are three frescoes—three behind the throne, and three over the strangers’ gallery. The three behind the throne are—“Edward III. conferring the Order of the Garter on the Black Prince,” by C. W. Cope; “The Baptism of Ethelbert,” by Dyce; and “Henry Prince of Wales committed to Prison for assaulting Judge Gascoigne,” by C. W. Cope. The three at the other end are—“The Spirit of Justice,” by D. Maclise; “The Spirit of Chivalry,” by the same; and “The Spirit of Religion,” by J. C. Horsley. In niches between the windows and at the ends are eighteen statues of Barons who signed Magna Charta. The _House of Commons_, 62 feet long, 45 broad, and 45 high, is much less elaborate than the House of Peers. The Speaker’s Chair is at the north end; and there are galleries along the sides and ends. In a gallery behind the Speaker the reporters for the newspapers sit. Over them is the Ladies’ Gallery, where the view is ungallantly obstructed by a grating. The present ceiling is many feet below the original one: the room having been to this extent spoiled because the former proportions were bad for hearing.