The Chamber of Deputies for this unparalleled occasion was newly-decorated with the greatest lavishness. Exquisitely upholstered chairs, resembling thrones in their sumptuousness were provided for the occasion. The walls of the chief chamber in which the Court was to be held were beautifully decorated and made to appear like fine ivory, set in square slabs edged with gold: on each of the squares paintings of exquisite workmanship relieved the coldness of the pure cream-coloured ivory ground, while silken draperies skilfully embroidered with gold, in richest designs hung in graceful folds from windows and doorways. On the wall immediately behind the President’s chair were suspended valuable paintings, the frames of which were composed of solid gold, whose corners were set with gems of great value. Although much was done to please the eye in this temple of luxury, nevertheless, there was naught provided to tempt the palate. The imagination of the ministers might revel in richest surroundings, but only the plainest fare was provided in the anterooms for their entertainment. With these regulations, we may be sure, that the matter under consideration was not drawn out unduly, for who would remain in a place where the pleasures of the table were so scantily considered? No time being lost in gastronomical or bibulous gratifications the delegates were enabled to bestow assiduous attention upon their duties, and listened carefully to the charges brought by the Easterners against their governors. They denounced emphatically the system of vice-government which was rife with abuses, and explained that from the very commencement they regarded this foreign intrusion as a degradation to their nation. They pointed out that they were an ancient people, possessing all the prestige of ages of civilisation, who could not forget the glories of bygone centuries; for thousands of years they had been governed by their own rulers, in true Eastern magnificence; at a period so remote that their present rulers were then mere barbarians, unknown to the civilised world. With such a past as theirs; their country possessing such classic associations, standing proofs of which they had everywhere: in the perfect architecture; in their ancient literature, all of which reminded them of their former prestige and splendour. The time had arrived that they could no longer ignore the duty that lay before them, namely, to demand the restoration of their natural rights which had been filched away from them by fraud and deceit without their consent or desire. ‘Yes!’ continued the speaker, ‘every inch of our territory has been surveyed and measured by the foreign intruder, and the products of our labour taxed heavily to uphold in luxury the children of the invader.’