TALBOT2583

London

5^th Feb. 1833

My dear mother

Today I went to the House at one, found it crowded, & many people whom I knew & had not seen for a long time. G. Finch ¹ told me he had left his lady in the country, still he found a house in Town; he had just taken 22 Upper or Lower} Brook S^t

Kit, Sir C. Lemon, & Kerry ² were in the House – In about an hour’s time Black Rod summoned us to the House of Lords, we made a lane for the Speaker to go first, in his robes, & then everybody made a rush to follow him. There was a most tremendous squeeze. At length we got into the H. of Lords, & some minutes elapsed before the hubbub subsided. When silence was restored the king ³ spoke his speech, very audibly & impressively so that I could hear it all, tho’ I could not see him. The part about Ireland created a sensation among the auditors. When he ceased, a little opening in front of me enabled me to see him seated on his throne with the crown on his head. The peers were in full Robes of state, & both sides of the House thronged with Ladies with headdresses of feathers. I then returned to the Commons where I found O’Connell ⁴ giving notice of a bill he meant to bring in next Thursday regarding Ireland, & another bill that day week, and another that day week, and so on for 7 or 8 successive weeks. He was followed by Hume ⁵ & a host of other members, each giving notice of a bill, so that we shall have enough.

I then went home to dinner – and now I have written this, I am going back to the House, where I expect to find Lord Ormelie ⁶ moving the address, or somebody moving an amendment to it.

Your aff^te son

Henry

I have a book just come out entitled “ Memories & Correspondence ⁷ of Sir James Smith, ⁸ President of the Linnæan Society, edited by Lady Smith ⁹ his widow.” I bought it thinking it might contain 2 letters I wrote to Sir James from Corfu, & accordingly there they are. It is curious to see in Print what one has forgotten to have written, it is so long ago.