Victor Hugo - The Man Who Laughs - Cosmopolitan University 2

peerages--all were of the people, a sort of gloomy and silent crowd.
When the noise made by the trampling of feet had ceased, the Crier of
the Black Rod, standing by the door, exclaimed:--
"Oyez!"
The Clerk of the Crown arose. He took, unfolded, and read the first of
the documents on the cushion. It was a message from the Queen, naming
three commissioners to represent her in Parliament, with power to
sanction the bills.
"To wit--"
Here the Clerk raised his voice.
"Sidney Earl Godolphin."
The Clerk bowed to Lord Godolphin. Lord Godolphin raised his hat.
The Clerk continued,--
"Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery."
The Clerk bowed to Lord Pembroke. Lord Pembroke touched his hat.
The Clerk resumed,--
"John Holles, Duke of Newcastle."
The Duke of Newcastle nodded.
The Clerk of the Crown resumed his seat.
The Clerk of the Parliaments arose. His under-clerk, who had been on his
knees behind him, got up also. Both turned their faces to the throne,
and their backs to the Commons.
There were five bills on the cushion. These five bills, voted by the
Commons and agreed to by the Lords, awaited the royal sanction.
The Clerk of the Parliaments read the first bill.
It was a bill passed by the Commons, charging the country with the costs
of the improvements made by the Queen to her residence at Hampton Court,
amounting to a million sterling.
The reading over, the Clerk bowed low to the throne. The under-clerk
bowed lower still; then, half turning his head towards the Commons, he
said,--
"The Queen accepts your bounty--_et ainsi le veut_."
The Clerk read the second bill.
It was a law condemning to imprisonment and fine whosoever withdrew
himself from the service of the trainbands. The trainbands were a