No. CCCCXXXVIII. APRIL, 1852. Vol. LXXI.
| The Earl of Derby, | 387 |
| My Novel; or, Varieties in English Life. Part XX., | 410 |
| American Military Reconnoissances, | 448 |
| Our London Commissioner, | 460 |
| The Commercial Disasters of 1851, | 473 |
| The Mother's Legacy To Her Unborn Child, | 491 |
| The Appeal to the Country, | 498 |
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No. CCCCXXXVIII. APRIL, 1852. Vol. LXXI.
On Friday evening, the 27th February1852, the House of Lords presenteda magnificent and profoundlyinteresting spectacle. Vanishing daylightwas being succeeded by thatartificial illumination which graduallygave a new aspect to the gorgeousfabric, vivid with innumerable heraldicemblazonments, within which wasabout to be enacted a scene of vitalconcernment to the greatest empireupon earth. And the interest of thatscene was centred in one individual,not yet within the House, and whosearrival all were awaiting with anxietyand expectation. A nobleman ofancient lineage, of chivalrous honour,of uncompromising character andcommanding abilities, the acknowledgedleader of the most powerfulparty in the country, and fresh fromthe presence of his Royal Mistress,who had cheerfully intrusted to himthe direction of public affairs at a momentouscrisis, was about to indicatethe principles on which his policywould be based. He was to do thisin the presence of fervent friends andfierce opponents; of persons representingall the great interests of thecountry, and professing to regard,and many sincerely, the very existenceof those interests as in jeopardy;exponents of every shade of politicalopinion; the representatives of allthe leading civilised nations of the