As regards the passage quoted by Mr. Jackson from the _Edinburgh Review_, the reviewer would probably allow that he had overlooked the new standing order of 1845; and Mr. Jackson will perceive that the recognition of the presence of strangers does not legalise the publication of speeches. The supposed difficulty in the way of legalising publication is, that the House of Commons would then make itself morally responsible for the publication of any libellous matter in speeches. I do not see the force of this difficulty. But the expediency of the existing rule is not a proper subject for discussion in your columns. CH. Whatever the present practice of the House of Commons with respect to strangers may be, it does not seem probable that it will soon undergo alteration. In the session of 1849 a Select Committee, composed of fifteen members, and including the leading men of all parties, was appointed "to consider the present practice of this House in respect of the exclusion of strangers." The following is the Report of the Committee _in extenso_ (_Parl. Pap._, No. 498. Sess. 1849): "That the existing usage of excluding strangers during a division, and upon the notice by an individual Member that strangers are present, has prevailed from a very early period of parliamentary history; that the instances in which the power of an individual Member to exclude has been exercised have been very rare: and that it is the unanimous opinion of your committee, that there is no sufficient ground for making any alteration in the existing practice with regard to the admission or exclusion of strangers." This Report confirms the statement of Mr. Ross (p. 83., _antè_), that within his experience of thirty-one years no change has been made in the present rule of the House upon this matter, which, it would seem, dates very far back. The Speaker was the only witness examined before the Committee, and his evidence is not printed. Arun. * * * * * REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES. _Morganatic Marriage_ (Vol. ii., p. 72.).--According to M., Ducange has connected this expression with _morgingab_; but I have looked in vain for such connection in my edition of the _Glossary_ (Paris, 1733). The truth most probably is, that _morganatic_, in the phrase "matrimonium ad morganaticam," {126} was akin to the Gothic _maurgjan_, signifying, "to procrastinate," "to bring to an end," "to shorten," "to limit." This application of the word would naturally rise out of the restrictions imposed upon the wife and children of a morganatic marriage. C.H. _Umbrellas_ (Vol. i., p. 415. 436.; ii. 25.).--In Swift's description of a city shower (_Tatler_, No. 238., October 17. 1710), umbrellas are mentioned as in common use by women: