27.
The Houses of Parliament from Whitehall.
Let us cross the road to the Houses of Parliament, first glancing at them once more from the outside. We see the two lofty towers, visible, when the weather is clear, from every hill round London. This is the Victoria Tower, named after Queen Victoria, and this is the Clock Tower. When Parliament is sitting by day a flag is flown from the Victoria Tower, and when it sits after dark a powerful electric light shines from the Clock Tower, so that all men may know that laws are being made for the government of the Empire.
28.
Westminster Hall—Interior.
We will enter the building through Westminster Hall, which was part of the Old Westminster Palace of the Kings of England. Set round it are statues of our past Kings and Queens. Formerly the Parliament met to give counsel, and the Judges sat to give justice, in the King’s Palace, but in more recent times the business of the country has become so great that it cannot well be housed in a single building. The Palace of Westminster has, therefore, been given wholly to Parliament, and has been rebuilt, except for this splendid Hall, which has been preserved.
29.
House of Lords—Interior.
30.
House of Commons during Debate.
Let us pass on, and look for a moment into the House of Lords in the morning when it is empty, and the sun is shining through the windows. Here is the throne upon which the King sits when he opens the session of Parliament each year. Parliament consists of two bodies of men, who are known as the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Lords are the great dignitaries of the realm—the chief landowners, merchants, lawyers, and bishops. The Commons, on the other hand, though many of them are rich and clever men, do not help to make the laws because of their position in the State, but because they are elected by the people of England to tell the King what the people wish for. Here is one of the most celebrated of Englishmen, the late Mr. Gladstone, speaking in the Commons as the King’s Prime Minister. It is the Prime Minister’s duty each evening to tell the King what the Commons have said, and so, though the King is not there, the King and the Commons work together for the government and peace of the Empire.
31.
Cabinet Council.
These two large assemblies, the Lords and the Commons—each of them containing several hundred men—could not conduct the detailed business of the country. A small number of them, therefore, are chosen to be the King’s Ministers, and the Ministers form a Committee or Council, which is called the Cabinet. Here is a picture of a Cabinet Meeting. It meets privately; no one knows what the Cabinet says in its discussions—we only know what it decides to do. Presiding over the particular Cabinet shown in this picture is another great Englishman, now dead, the late Lord Salisbury. Among the other Ministers you will see Lord George Hamilton, who was at the time Secretary of State for India.
32.
The Treasury.