Palace and Hovel; Or, Phases of London LifeKirwan, Daniel Joseph
History
Palace and Hovel; Or, Phases of London Life
Kirwan, Daniel Joseph
London (England) -- Description and travel; London (England) -- Social life and customs
The middle-sized gentleman, inclined to baldness, wearing a brown
coat and a mixed trousers, with straps at the bottom of the latter,
and who has a slight fringe of whiskers and a round bright eye, is no
less a personage than the Marquis of Hartington, Postmaster-General, a
member of the Cabinet, heir presumptive to the Dukedom of Devonshire,
the Earldom of Burlington, Baron Cavendish in Derbyshire and Baron
Cavendish in York, chiefly celebrated for his advocacy of the
Confederacy in Parliament, and a man of not exceedingly great calibre
as a debater or thinker; but from the possessions which he will one
day inherit in this broad and merry England, a man of most decided
influence and power. He has for his family motto, "Secure in Caution,"
and generally sticks to it in the House.
In his young days, it is hinted that the Marquis of Hartington was in
the habit of going home very late with his night key in his coat-tail
pocket, and at one time it is said that the notorious "Skittles,"
(since dead,) had emblazoned on her handsome brougham--presented her
by the Marquis--the crest of the now steady and religiously inclined
Postmaster-General of Great Britain. He is just now conversing with a
tall, black-whiskered man, of sharp features and equally sharp accent,
in drab clothing. This is George Armistead, M.P. for Dundee, formerly a
Russia merchant, and said to be a good man on committees.
A medium-sized, dark-faced, and portly person in black clothes walks
in slowly by the Speaker and seats himself, with his hat bent forward
over his eyes, and having a book, whose leaves he is cutting, in his
hand. This is Alexander James Beresford-Hope, one of the two M.P.'s for
Cambridge University--the other being the Right Hon. Spencer Horatio
Walpole, whose mother was Countess of Egmont.
Mr. Beresford-Hope is part proprietor of that well known weekly
and satirical journal, the _Saturday Review_, and is or has been
a writer for the same sheet. During the Civil War in America, Mr.
Beresford-Hope spoke early and often in support of the Confederacy
while in Parliament, and also wrote a book favoring Jefferson Davis
and his cause. In this course he had no more ardent colleague than the
gentleman who now approaches him with his head moving from right to
left, in a nervous fashion--I mean William Henry Gregory, member for
Galway.
[Sidenote: PEERS IN THE GALLERY.]
Mr. Hope is no doubt a good liver, and is a member of the Carlton,
Athenæum, University, Oxford and Cambridge, and New University Clubs,
where, possibly, he has a great opportunity to study cookery as a fine
art. His fellow member from Cambridge, who stands toying with his watch
chain and drumming on the floor, bears the imposing name of Spencer
Walpole, and has no decided individuality in the House. Both Hope
and Walpole are Conservatives, and are sadly shocked at the continued
majorities of Mr. Gladstone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account