e conquest,
and has been continued, like other matters of form, which sometimes exist
for ages after the real substance of things has been altered; and judge
Blackstone expresses himself on this subject in the following words:--"A
badge, it must be owned, (now the only one remaining) of conquest; and
which one would wish to see fall into total oblivion, unless it be
reserved as a solemn memento to remind us that our liberties are mortal,
having once been destroyed by a foreign power." (De Lolme.) Under the
walls of the _legal_ parliament, there is held an _illegal_ parliament,
composed of _livery_ men, who assemble in the members' servants
waiting-room. Every year, a speaker or chairman is chosen, and each
member addresses the other by the title his master bears. In case of
disputes, &c., the speaker (who sits in an elevated chair) decides, and
if there is any unparliamentary conduct, the party is fined.

This _ground_ parliament has powers peculiar to itself, and never
interferes with the _upper_ parliament under the same roof, its powers
not being so great as the "_Senatus populusque Romanus_." It is an annual
parliament, but does not extend to universal suffrage. The members vacate
their _seats_ or _stands_, when discharged by their masters in the
_upper_, or legal parliament. This parliament prints no journals, its
_acts_ not extending beyond the room, except when the _Irish members turn
out_ in palace yard. N.B. No member can be admitted till the fees are
paid. For further information relating to this self-elected parliament,
see the rules and regulations over the mantelpiece in the room.

P.T.W.

* * * * *

FINE ARTS.

* * * * *

THE COLOSSEUM.

_(For the Mirror.)_

The legitimate name of Mr. Hornor's colossal edifice in the Regent's
Park, we believe, was first set forth as the Gyrorama, Girorama,
Panopticon, or General View. The Catholic Church of Berlin, although
diminutive in proportion to the Marylebone wonder, is, with the solitary
exception of the Pantheon at Rome, the only structure, perhaps, that
bears any resemblance to it in form and feature.

The porch, or, more properly speaking, the oropylaion, or
fore-temple, is about the height of our Pantheon facade in Oxford Street;
and the apex of the dome may probably correspond in elevation with the
roof of that building. The whole effect, however, when viewed from the
great squar