Queen's weather" does not quite seem accession of Edward VII. The evening of to have become " King's weather" with the the first Court of the reign was about winter. The storm of wind and rain did most unpleasant that we have had this
not, however, quite prevent a knot of people gathering outside Buckingham Palace to witness the arrival of Royal and distinguished guests. But it prevented their seeing anything more than the dripping carriages, for the unfortunate reporters who were told off'to describe the scene for their journals have recorded that it was impossible through the streaming glass of the carrie windows to recognise a single one Ge the occupants. But for those fortunate beings who had the entree of the Palace the brilliant scene within gave full compensation for the discomfort of the journey. The extensive alterations and redecorations which have been going on within the Palace for a twelve months are nearly completed; the beauty of the reception rooms has been greatly augmented; and the arrangements made for the comfort of guests are a great improvement on the condition of things which used to prevail, when the crush used to necessitate the sweeping up after a Court function ofa considerable amount of wreckage from ladies' dresses. The establishment of evening "Courts" in the place of the old Brawing-rooms" is cordially welcomed by Society, and the first experiment has proved a decided success.
The King's Dinner.
For some little time past there have been rumours that one form of celebration of the King's Coronation was to be colossal dinners to the poor of London, all provided at the expense of a single philanthropist; and most people who attempted to guess the philanthropist's_ name naturally hit upon Sir Thomas Lipton. Now, however, it has been Most! officially ly announced by the Lord Mayor of London that the giver is no other than the King himself, and that the sum he means to devote to the object is £30,000, for which sum it is estimated that a square meal and a lasting memento of the occasion in the form of a cup can be provided for half-a-million poor lo. The whole cost to be borne by the King, the only assist. ance to be received from the others being voluntary work inthe organisation of dinners, and the loan of halls and other places in whids the dinners can be held. A suggestion has been made that the entire Tale million should be fed in marquees in Hyde Park, but the idea is preposterous. Nothing but chaos could result from the attempt. The Metropolitan Borough Councils are each forming 2 co.umitiee to arrange for the dinners within its own locality; and the first step will be to ascertain what proportion of the funds shall go to each Borough. Kensington, for instance, will wire a much smaller sum than Poplar. "the paupers in the workhouses will not be included. 'They willnodoubt have a celebration of their own, especially as the Local Government Board has intimated that its auditors will allow the local authorities throughout the country to spend the ratepayers' money within reason in celebrating the Coronation.
A Storm in the Commons, Last night was the stormiest that has been experienced in the Commons since the war began. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman began it. Ordinarily he is a good-tempered man, who wins the respect and esteem: even of his political opponents by his courtesy; but his attitude on the war has aroused bitter feelings among many of his followers, as well as among the Unionists, and the recent Liberal revolt seems to have soured him. Sir Henry last night took advantage of an opportunity, which the business of the fouse afforded, to "endeavour to obtain from his Majesty's Government information with regard to the state of affairs in South Africa and the present position of the military operations;" and he adopted an intensely acrimonious tone. He accused the Government of meeting criticism "with personal attacks and even with personal insults," and went on to accuse them of malignant slanders used for party purposes." Mr. Chamberlain replied in kind. The Speaker, having allowed the phrase "malignant slanders" to pass, the Colonial Secretary retorted by accusing Sir Henry of malignant slanders—"of slandering his countrymen, of slandering the soldiers in the field, of slandering the Sreaker opposed, and explained that " mal-Government opposed to him." Then the dignant slanders" was an unparliamentary expression and that he had only allowed it to pass in Sir Henry's case because he was not clear to whom the phrase was applied; and a member can say what he likes about those outside the House. Sir Henry then withdrew the phrase, and Mr. Chamberlain withdrew the retort.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.