Note 155 — Chapter VI

Queen Eleanor was a remarkable woman. At the age of thirteen she was the author of a heroic poem, and in the following year became a wife. Piers of Langtoft describes her as

[156] Naunton's "Fragmenta Regalia," p. 38.

[157] "The Fyrste Dyaloge in Englys, between a Doctoure of Dyvynyte and a Student in the Lawes of England" (1539).

[158] Judicature Act of 1873, section 24.

[159] His barbarous treatment of the wretched Anne Askew is notorious. For denying that the sacramental blood and wine lost their material elements after consecration, Anne was condemned to be tortured, and the Lord Chancellor with his own hands stretched the rack on which the unfortunate woman was bound, in the hope of extracting a confession. It must, however, be admitted that Wriothesley's heart was not entirely impervious to emotion, for when, as Lord Chancellor, he announced the death of Henry VIII. in the House of Lords, he could not refrain from bursting into tears.

[160] He was, however, an able lawyer, and reserved his orgies for private life. "If my Lord Jefferies exceeded the bounds of temperance now and then in an evening, it does not follow that he was drunk on the bench or in council." (Campbell's "Lives," vol. iii. p. 595 note.)

[161] Roger North's "Life of Lord Guilford," vol. ii. p. 167. (The word roiled, so we are informed, was an import from the American plantations.)

[162] "If we wish to be in a state of security," he said, in 1859, "if we wish to maintain our great interests, if we wish to maintain our honour, it is necessary that we should have a power measured by that of any two possible adversaries."

[163] H. Crabb Robinson's "Diary," vol. iii. p. 453.

[164] "Commentaries," vol. iii. p. 47.

[165] Sir Robert Harley, Chancellor in 1757, was not made a peer until 1764. In 1830, Brougham took his seat on the Woolsack as a Commoner, and at least one other Chancellor has since followed his example.

[166] Roscoe's "Eminent British Lawyers," p. 258. Other Chancellors were sprung from equally humble origin. Edward Sugden, afterwards Lord St. Leonards, was the son of a barber. To him is attributed a repartee similar to that made many years earlier by Colonel Birch, M.P., who was taunted with having in his youth been a carrier. "It is true, as the gentleman says, I once was a carrier," replied Birch. "But let me tell the gentleman that it is very fortunate for him that he never was a carrier; for, if he had been, he would be a carrier still." See Burnet's "History of His Own Time," p. 259.

[167] Hawkins's "Memoirs," vol. ii. p. 312.

[168] He declared, on a famous occasion, that his debt of gratitude to His Majesty was ample, for the many favours he had graciously conferred upon him, which, when he forgot, might his God forget him! Wilkes, who was present, muttered, "God forget you! He will see you d——d first!" while Burke remarked that to escape the memory of the Almighty would be the very best thing Thurlow could hope for.

[169] Page 430.

[170] Twiss's "Life of Eldon," vol. i. p. 214.

[171] Lord Ellenborough was once asked by his hostess after dinner to cease conversing with his host—a judge—and to give the ladies some conversation, as he had been talking law long enough. "Madam," he replied, "I beg your pardon; we have not been talking law, or anything like law. We have been talking of one of the decisions of Lord Loughborough."—Campbell's "Lives," vol. vi. p. 251.

[172] Bagehot's "Literary Studies," vol. i. p. 150.

[173] Like Lord Bacon, too, he compiled an indifferent "Anecdote Book." Bacon's "Collection of Apothegms," was supposed to have been taken down from his dictation all on "one rainy day," but neither the brevity of the time nor the inclemency of the weather is a sufficient excuse for so poor a production.

[174] These occasionally took the form of lampoons in verse, such as the following:—

[175] "There never was anything like the admiration excited by Brougham's speech. Lord Harrowby, G. Somerset, Mr. Montagu, and Granville told me it was in eloquence, ability, and judicious management beyond almost anything they ever heard."—Lady Granville's "Letters" (to Lady G. Morpeth, 5 October, 1820), vol. i. p. 181.

[176] The Duke of Wellington once chaffed Brougham, saying that he would only be known hereafter as the inventor of a carriage. The Chancellor retorted by remarking that the Duke would only be remembered as the inventor of a pair of boots. "D—— the boots!" said Wellington. "I had quite forgotten them; you have the best of it!"

[177] Russell's "Recollections," p. 138.

[178] Blackstone's "Commentaries," vol. iii. p. 47.

[179] Lord Eldon, who dearly loved a joke, wrote as follows to his friend, Dr. Fisher, of the Charter House, who had applied to him for a piece of preferment then vacant—

"Dear Fisher,

"I cannot, to-day, give you the preferment for which you ask.

"I remain, your sincere friend, "Eldon. "Turn over."

(On the other side of the page he added) "I gave it to you yesterday."

"Life of Eldon," vol. ii. p. 612.

[180] The same difficulty arose in 1878, when Queen Victoria solved it by following the precedent set in 1831, and divided the Seal between Lord Cairns and his predecessor.

[181] "The Runnymede Letters," p. 230.

[182] Hakewell gives a list of Hungerford's predecessors in the Chair, which includes Sir Peter de la Mare, commissioned by Parliament to rebuke Edward III. for his misconduct with Alice Perrers, and imprisoned for so doing.

[183] Phillips's "Curran and his Contemporaries," p. 88.

[184] July 16, 1610.

[185] Palgrave's "House of Commons," p. 51.

[186] "The Institutes of the Laws of England," fourth part (1648), p. 8.

[187] Carlyle's "Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell," vol. i. p. 88. Until comparatively recently it was not permissible for a Speaker to leave the Chair until, at the instigation of some member, the motion "that this House do now adjourn" had been put. In this connexion a pathetic story is told of Speaker Denison. On one occasion the House broke up rather hurriedly, and the necessary formula for releasing the Speaker was forgotten. He was consequently compelled to remain a lonely prisoner in the Chair until some good-natured member could be brought back to set him free.

[188] After his dismissal from the House of Commons, Sir John Trevor lived quietly at home and amassed money. His miserly habits became notorious. Once when he was dining alone and drinking a bottle of wine, a cousin was introduced by a side door. "You rascal," said Trevor to his servant; "how dare you bring this gentleman up the back stairs? Take him instantly down the back stairs and bring him up the front stairs!" In vain did the cousin remonstrate. While he was being ceremoniously conveyed down one staircase and up the other his host cleared the dinner table, and he returned to find the bottles and glasses replaced by books and papers. Campbell's "Lives of the Chancellors," vol. v. pp. 59-60.

[189] Sir Arnold Savage, Speaker in Henry VI.'s time, was so voluble, and addressed the King so often, and at such length, that the latter's patience became exhausted, and he asked that all requests from the Commons might hereafter be addressed to him in writing.

[190] In 1818, on the election of Manners Sutton.

[191] Dr. Johnson's "Debates in Parliament," vol. ii. p. 2.

[192] Of his nominee for the Speakership Lord John declared that he had "parts, temper, and constitution." "And he has," he added, "besides the principle of common honesty, which would prevent him from doing wrong, a principle of nice honour, which will always urge him to do right. By honour I do not mean a fashionable mistaken principle, which would only lead a man to court popular reputation, and avoid popular disgrace, whether the opinion on which they are founded is false or true; whether the conduct which they require is in itself just or unjust, or its consequences hurtful or beneficial to mankind. I mean a quality which is not satisfied with doing right, when it is merely the alternative of doing wrong, which prompts a man to do what he might lawfully and honestly leave undone; which distinguishes a thousand different shades in what is generally denominated the same colour, and is as much superior to a mere conformity to prescribed rules as forgiving a debt is to paying what we owe." "Parliamentary History," vol. xvi. p. 737.

[193] D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 449.

[194] "The Rolliad."

[195] Horace Walpole's "Letters," vol. vii. p. 340. (This Speaker's criticism of the royal expenditure on a later occasion roused the animosity of George III., and cost him the loss of the Chair.)

[196] May's "Constitutional History," vol. i. p. 503 n.

[197] "People say, when you get on the blind side of a man, you get into his favour; but it is quite the reverse with the members when they get on the blind side of the Speaker." Pearson's "Political Dictionary," p. 53.

[198] When Trevor was Master of the Rolls, a post he combined with that of Speaker, it was said that if Justice were blind, Equity was now seen to squint!

[199] Barnes's "Political Portraits," p. 218.

[200] None of these chairs is to be found at Clandon, nor has the Onslow family any record of their existence, so perhaps the story of this particular perquisite is nothing but a legend and a myth.

[201] Pellew's "Life of Sidmouth," vol. i. p. 368.

[202] "Diary of Lord Colchester," February 2, 1796.

[203] Dalling's "Historical Characters," vol. ii. p. 181.

[204] Townsend's "History of the House of Commons."

[205] "Croker Papers," vol. ii. p. 164.

[206] Pellew's "Life of Sidmouth," vol. i. p. 66.

[207] "Ceremony," says Selden, "keeps up all things; 'tis like a penny glass to a rich spirit, or some excellent water; without it the water will be spilt, the spirit lost."

[208] They even carry lighted lanterns, though the whole place is ablaze with electric light!

[209] D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 630.

[210] Sir George de Lacy Evans (1787-1870) was the last member honoured by being allowed to retain the seat in which he had received his vote of thanks.

[211] Grant's "Random Recollections," p. 7.

[212] "Hudibras," vol. i. p. 120. During the first years of the Long Parliament Elsynge brought so much distinction to the position that his authority was said to be greater than that of the Speaker (Lenthall). His abilities, "especially in taking and expressing the sense of the House," became so conspicuous that "more reverence was paid to his stool than to the Speaker's chair."—Wood's "Athenæ Oxonienses," vol. iii. p. 363.

[213] Hatsell's "Precedents," vol. ii. p. 251 n.

[214] D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 688.

[215] "Modus Tenendi Parliamentum," p. 46.

[216] Torrens' "Life of Graham," vol. ii. p. 30.

[217] Elsynge's "Parliaments of England," pp. 160 and 161.

[218] D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 549.

[219] Townsend's "History of the House of Commons", vol. i. p. 228.

[220] "The Order for Proceeding to the Parliament" (from the MS. at the College of Arms).

[221] For a particularly servile speech of this kind see "The Sovereign's Prerogative," p. 7.

[222] "Observations, Rules and Orders collected out of Divers Journals of the House of Commons," p. 25.

[223] A peer in support contended that otherwise a Jew might become Lord Chancellor. "Why not?" asked Lord Lyndhurst, in an undertone. "Daniel would have made a very good one!" (Atlay's "Victorian Chancellors," vol. i. p. 61.)

[224] Failure to take the oath only prevents a member from sitting within the Bar, voting in divisions, and taking part in debate. It does not disqualify him from the other privileges of membership, nor does it render his seat vacant.

[225] In 1792 a sample dagger was sent from France to a Birmingham firm, who were asked to make 3000 more of similar pattern. They thought the order suspicious, and consulted the Secretary of State. Burke happened to call at the latter's office, saw the dagger there, and borrowed it. During the Second Reading of the Aliens Bill he hurled this weapon on to the floor of the House, exclaiming, "Let us keep French principles from our heads, and French daggers from our hearts!" The Commons were not impressed, and only laughed, while Sheridan whispered to a neighbour, "The gentleman has brought us the knife, but where is the fork?" Another attempt at dramatic effect, equally unsuccessful, occurred on the second reading of the Reform Bill in 1831. Lord Brougham spoke for four hours, fortified by frequent draughts of mulled port. At the end he exclaimed, "By all the ties that bind every one of us to our common order and our common country, I solemnly adjure you—yea, on my bended knees, I supplicate you—reject not this Bill!" With these words he fell upon his knees, and remained in this attitude so long that his friends, fearing that he was suffering as much from mulled port as emotion, picked him up and replaced him on the Woolsack.

[226] Bradlaugh is not the only politician who has failed to interpret the words of the Oath in too literal a sense. Walpole became possessed of some treasonable letters written by William Shippen, a Jacobite and violent opponent of his. Walpole sent for Shippen, and burnt the incriminating papers in his presence. Later on, when Shippen was taking the oath of allegiance in the Commons, Walpole, who stood near and knew the other's principles to be as treasonable as ever, smiled. "Egad! Robin," said Shippen, "that's hardly fair!"

[227] Hatsell adds that it was contrary to custom for members so introduced to appear in top-boots. Hatsell's "Precedents," vol. ii. p. 85.

[228] Peeresses cannot claim the right to be present, but are allowed to attend in accordance with a privilege of long standing, which adds much to the beauty of the ceremony. Judges have always enjoyed the right of attendance. In old days they took a prominent part in the public business of the House, but were not regular members, and, though they gave their legal opinions upon constitutional questions before Parliament, could neither vote nor join in debate.

[229] If Parliament is opened by Commission, Black Rod is sent to desire (not to command) the attendance of the Commons, and the King's Speech is read by the Lord Chancellor.

[230] O'Connell's "Experiences," vol. i. p. 9.

[231] Hatsell says that such expressions were "very opprobrious," and might not unfitly have been applied "to the Peasants of France or the Boores of Germany." "Precedents," vol. i. p. 237.

[232] In 1860 such occurrences were prevented by the seats being balloted for by the Commons. "The faithful Commons being elected by ballot," as we read in "The Times" of January 25, "not now as formerly rushing in like the gods in the gallery on Boxing Night; on the contrary, they came steadily up to the Bar, the Speaker leading, and on his right Lord Palmerston." Today the system of balloting is again employed, and a much larger space both on the ground and in the galleries is allotted to the Commons.

[233] The Cockpit was pulled down in 1733, but the name continued to be given to the Treasury meeting-room. See Dodington's "Diary": "Went to the Cockpit to a prize cause," p. 72 (1828).

[234] "November 20, 1798. Called on Sir Francis Burdett, who had just been reading in the newspaper the King's intended Speech to-day (which for some sessions past has been published the morning before it is spoken)." Holcroft's "Memoirs," p. 229.

[235] It was burnt by the hangman in Palace Yard. Waldegrave's "Memoirs," p. 89.

[236] Twiss's "Life of Eldon," vol. ii. p. 359.

[237] O'Flanagan's "Lives of the Irish Chancellors," vol. ii. p. 541. (The same simile was used by Boswell. See Croker's "Dr. Johnson," vol. iii. p. 41.)

[238] Forster's "Sir John Eliot," vol. i. p. 405.

[239] Select Committees met in 1837, 1848, 1854, 1861 and 1871, and a Joint Committee of both Houses considered the question in 1869.

[240] Pryme's "Recollections," p. 220.

[241] Scobell's "Rules and Customs of Parliament," p. 19.

[242] "Orders, Proceedings, Punishments, and Privileges," etc. ("Harleian Miscellany," vol. v. p. 259.)

[243] Forster's "Grand Remonstrance," p. 206 n.

[244] Torrens' "Life of Melbourne," vol. ii. p. 375.

[245] Grant's "Recollections of the House of Lords," p. 407. Lord Alvanley was the sporting peer who out hunting met a well-known West End artist in pastry who was having some trouble with his horse. "I can't hold him," said the confectioner, "he's so devilish hot!" "Why don't you ice him, Mr. Gunter?" said Lord Alvanley.—(Maddyn's "Chiefs of States," vol. ii. p. 214.)

[246] Harford's "Recollections of Wilberforce," p. 93. An exception to this rule was made on November 4, 1909, when, in accordance with the general wish of the House, the Speaker permitted the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to speak, although both had already joined in the debate on the previous night.

[247] Sir Wilfred Lawson was once sarcastically referred to as "the honourable and amusing baronet" (See "Men and Manners," p. 152.)

[248] "Orders, Proceedings, Punishments, and Privileges of the Commons" ("Harleian Miscellany," vol. v. p. 8).

[249] "The House has a character of its own. Like all great public collections of men, it possesses a marked love of virtue and an abhorrence of vice. But among vices there is none which the House abhors in the same degree with obstinacy" ("Works and Correspondence," vol. iii. p. 215).

[250] The last instance of this occurred on May 6, 1884, when Lord Waveney was addressing the House.

[251] "I must say that it (the House of Commons) would be a better machine if men were a little less vain, and would adopt a policy of silence. If they would be anxious to get through the business of the House without so much anxiety for self-exhibition as I have sometimes observed, I think the House of Commons might do a good deal more work, and very much better work than it does at present."—Speech at the Fishmongers' Hall, April 27, 1881.

[252] Grant's "Recollections," p. 53. Nowadays no member can make this motion more than once.

[253] Molesworth's "History of the Reform Bill," p. 214.

[254] See "Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion," p. 219.

[255] With regard to those well-worn expressions, the "sense" of the House and the "feeling" of the House, it has been stated that the House of Commons has more sense and feeling than any one who sits upon its benches: "The collective wisdom of Parliament exceeds the wisdom of any single head therein."

[256] Pike's "Constitutional History," p. 267.

[257] Peeresses may also claim this as a right.

[258] Townsend's "History," vol. i. p. 253.

[259] Raikes's "Journal," vol. i. p. 320.

[260] "Table Talk," p. 109.

[261] Hatsell's "Precedents," vol. ii. p. 241 n.

[262] Lord Russell's "Essays and Sketches," p. 346.

[263] Oldfield's "History of the House of Commons," vol. i. p. 420.

[264] "Diary and Letters of Mme. D'Arblay," vol. iv.

[265] D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 341.

[266] Ward was expelled for forgery. He is referred to in Pope's "Dunciad"—

"As thick as eggs at Ward in pillory."— Book iii. line 34.

[267] "Lex Parliamentaria," pp. 94, 101.

[268] Sir Walter had lodged information of scandalous words spoken by certain individuals. See Lister's "Life of Clarendon," vol. iii. p. 125.

[269] Petyt's "Miscellanea Parliamentaria," p. 64.

[270] In bygone days his duties evidently entailed much pedestrian exercise, as may be gathered from an Order of the House issued in Queen Elizabeth's time. "Upon Motion of the House" (say the records), "in regard to the Infirmity and Pains in the Sergeant's Feet, he is licensed by the House to ride a Footcloth Nag." "Observations, Rules, and Orders Collected out of Divers Journals of the House of Commons" (1717), p. 138.

[271] "Rot. Parl;" vol. v. 239-240.

[272] Cockburn's "Life of Jeffrey," vol. ii. p. 354.

[273] Nicholas's "Proceedings of the Privy Council," vol. vi. p. lxv.

[274] "Modus Tenendi Parliamentum," p. 28.

[275] "Brief Register of Parliamentary Writs," p. 672.

[276] Forster's "Grand Remonstrance," p. 316 n.

[277] Townsend's "History," vol. iii. p. 377.

[278] "Letters," March 7, 1731.

[279] The last "call" of the Lords took place in 1901 on the trial of Earl Russell.

[280] Grant's "Recollections," p. 52.

[281] Fox asked Sir Fletcher Norton the same question. "What will happen?" replied the Speaker: "hang me if I either know or care!" "Life of Sidmouth," vol. i. p. 69 n.

[282] In 1834 Lord Althorp and Sheil were locked up by the Sergeant-at-Arms, by order of the Speaker, until they had apologised to the House and one another for the use of unparliamentary language. Cf. O'Connell's "Recollections and Experiences," vol. i. p. 169.

[283] Forster's "Sir John Eliot," vol. i. p. 238.

[284] Mountmorris's "History of the Irish Parliament," vol. i. p. 77.

[285] Palgrave's "House of Commons," p. 18. (The Speaker, however, does not appear to have thought it necessary to call upon the member for Coventry to withdraw his fierce and unparliamentary expression.)

[286] Andrew Marvell's "Works," vol. ii. p. 33. (Sir Philip Harcourt might well have anticipated the remark made by the Georgian monarch who, while leaning out of a window, received a severe blow from a footman who had mistaken the royal back for that of his fellow-domestic, James. "Even if I had been James," the King plaintively exclaimed, "you needn't have hit me so hard!")

[287] "Diary," December 19, 1666.

[288] Reresby's "Memoirs," p. 231.

[289] "Extracts of the Journals and Correspondence of Miss Berry," vol. ii. p. 35.

[290] Samuel Rogers' "Recollections," p. 112.

[291] Townsend's "History," vol. ii. p. 93.

[292] Campbell's "Lives of the Chancellors."

[293] Grant's "Recollections of the House of Lords" (1834). (This is not the only instance of a well-known quotation passing unrecognized in Parliament. In 1853, when Bishop Wilberforce made a good-humoured attack on Lord Derby, the latter remarked that a man might "smile and smile and be a villain," and thereby caused much excitement among the Lords, who had not recently studied their "Hamlet.")

[294] "Quarterly Review," vol. cxlv. p. 247.

[295] "Letters of Runnymede," p. 6.

[296] Trevelyan's "Life of Macaulay," vol. ii. p. 76.

[297] "La France et L'Angleterre," par F. de Tassies. (Quoted in O'Connell's "Recollections," vol. i. p. 261.)

[298] Thomas Moore's "Memoirs," vol. ii. p. 296.

[299] Miss Martineau's "History of the Peace," vol. ii. p. 381.

[300] Cockburn's "Life of Jeffrey," vol. i. p. 317.

[301] Duncombe's "Life of his Father," vol. i. p. 115.

[302] Brougham's "Life," vol. iii. p. 117.

[303] Supra, p. 131.

[304] Townshend's "Proceedings of Both Houses," p. 252.

[305] Regulations in the Journals, March 23, 1693.

[306] "L'lllustre enceinte présente souvent l'aspect d'une assemblée de yankees beaucoup plus que celui d'une réunion de gentlemen." Franqueville's "Le Gouvernement et le Parlement britaniques," vol. iii. p. 74.

[307] Timbs' "Anecdotal Biography," vol. i. p. 234.

[308] Pryme's "Recollections," p. 114.

[309] Harford's "Recollections of Wilberforce," p. 94.

[310] Grant's "Recollections," p. 140.

[311] Hayward's "Essays," pp. 364-5.

[312] Bell's "Life of Canning," p. 251.

[313] Pryme's "Recollections," p. 235.

[314] Lord Colchester's "Diary," vol. i. p. 45.

[315] "Quarterly Review," vol. xxii. p. 496.

[316] Moore's "Life of Byron," 185.

[317] Barnes' "Reminiscences," p. 203.

[318] Prior's "Life of Burke," vol. i. p. 337.

[319] Moore's "Life of Sheridan," vol. i. p. 523.

[320] He never received the promised £1000. (See Harrington's "Personal Sketches of His Own Times," vol. i. p. 429.)

[321] "Cornwallis Papers," vol. i. p. 364 n.

[322] "Burke ... By whose sweetness Athens herself would have been soothed, with whose amplitude and exuberance she would have been enraptured, and on whose lips that prolific mother of genius and science would have adored, confessed, the Goddess of Persuasion." Prior's "Burke," p. 484.

[323] Townsend's "History of the House of Commons," vol. ii. p. 427.

[324] Forster's "Biographical Essays," vol. ii. p. 197.

[325] Vol. vii. pp. 339-367.

[326] Pryme's "Recollections," p. 218 n.

[327] O'Flanaghan's "Lives of the Irish Chancellors," vol. ii. p. 128.

[328] Townsend's "House of Commons," vol. ii. p. 394.

[329] Morley's "Life of Gladstone," vol. i. p. 143.

[330] Roper's "Life of More," p. 16.

[331] MacCullagh's "Memoirs of Sheil," vol. ii. p. 99.

[332] Speaking on Church reform, Sheil once said that when this was effected, "the bloated paunch of the unwieldy rector would no longer heave in holy magnitude beside the shrinking abdomen of the starving and miserably prolific curate." Francis's "Orators," p. 274.

[333] Raikes's "Journal," vol. ii. p. 256.

[334] Barrington's "Personal Sketches," vol. i. p. 213. (Curran once made a happy retort to Roche. "Do not speak of my honour," said the latter, "I am the guardian of my own honour." "Faith!" answered Curran, "I knew that at some time or other you would accept a sinecure." Philips's "Life of Curran," p. 59.)

[335] "Memoirs," p. 89.

[336] Whitty's "History of the Session" (1852-3), p. 7.

[337] "Journal," vol. i. p. 342.

[338] "Accustomed in their courts to consider every matter of equal importance," says Barnes, "they adopt the same earnest and stiff solemnity of manner, whether they are disputing about violated morality or insulted liberty, or about a petty affray where a hat, value one shilling, has been torn in a scuffle." "Parliamentary Sketches," p. 79.

[339] D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 666.

[340] "Life of Sidmouth," vol. i. p. 119.

[341] Harford's "Recollections of Wilberforce," p. 95. (Guilford hastily resumed his seat, shortly afterwards applied for the Chiltern Hundreds, and retired into comfortable obscurity.)

[342] His first effort in the Irish House, in 1709, was singularly abortive. "Mr. Speaker, I conceive——" he began. "Mr. Speaker, I conceive——" he stammered out again. Shouts of "Hear! hear!" encouraged him. "I conceive, Mr. Speaker——" he repeated, and then collapsed. A cruel colleague at once rose and remarked that the hon. gentleman had conceived three times and brought forth nothing! O'Flanagan's "Irish Chancellors," vol. ii. p. 8.

[343] Moore's "Life of Sheridan," vol. i. p. 348.

[344] Forster's "Biographical Essays," vol. ii. p. 195.

[345] Dr. King's "Anecdotes of His Own Time," p. 114.

[346] "Eloquence," said Bolingbroke, "must flow like a stream that is fed by an abundant spring, and not spout forth a little frothy water on some gaudy day and remain dry the rest of the year."

[347] Dalling's "Historical Characters," vol. ii. p. 175.

[348] Barrow's "Mirror of Parliament" (1830).

[349] Sir J. Mackintosh's "Memoirs," vol. ii p. 192.

[350] Grattan used to walk about the park at Windsor haranguing the oaks in a loud voice. A passer-by once found him apostrophising an empty gibbet. "How did you get down?" asked the stranger politely. O'Flanagan, "Irish Chancellors," vol. ii. p. 416.

[351] Letters, vol. ii. pp. 328-9.

[352] "Lord Colchester's Diary," vol. i. p. 23.

[353] "Pitt spoke like ten thousand angels," wrote Richard Grenville to George Grenville in November, 1742 ("Grenville Papers," vol. i. p. 19).

[354] "Memoirs," vol. i. p. 490.

[355] Prior's "Life of Malone," p. 361.

[356] Samuel Roger's "Recollections," p. 80.

[357] "Memoirs of Thomas Moore," vol. iv. p. 215. (Francis Howard compared Pitt's eloquence to Handel's music, see "Memoirs of Francis Howard," vol. i. p. 149.)

[358] "Letters to his Son," vol. ii. p. 329.

[359] "Letters," ii. 121.

[360] "The hon. gentleman has applied to his imagination for his facts, and to his memory for his wit," is a remark he made in different forms on more than one occasion. See Harford's "Wilberforce," p. 167; Brougham's "Sketches," vol. iii. p. 294, etc.

[361] Stapleton's "Life of Canning," p. 21.

[362] "Men and Manners in Parliament," pp. 56-59.

[363] Mr. R. Tennant, member for Belfast, in 1834, on O'Connell's motion for a repeal of the Union, made a speech which he had learnt by heart and sent to the papers, which lasted three and a half hours. Grant's "Recollections," p. 66.

[364] Wraxall's "Memoirs," vol. iii. p. 402.

[365] "Men and Manners in Parliament," p. 109. (Further on the writer describes the peculiarities of another member who used to fold his arms tightly across his chest when he spoke. Thereafter a constant struggle went on, the arms restlessly battling to get free, and the speaker insisting that they should remain and hear the speech out, p. 130.)

[366] "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding."

[367] "Don't quote Latin. Say what you have to say and then sit down!" was the Duke of Wellington's excellent advice to a young member. Walter Bagehot, on the other hand, stated that he had heard an experienced financier say, "If you want to raise a certain cheer in the House of Commons, make a general panegyric on economy; if you want to invite a sure defeat, propose a particular saving!" "The English Constitution," p. 136.

[368] Dalling's "Historical Characters," vol. ii. p. 39.

[369] "Essays," vol. ii. p. 206.

[370] Sir H. Crabb Robinson's "Diary, Reminiscences and Correspondence," vol. i. p. 330.

[371] On Sunday, August 8, 1641, both Houses attended divine service at St. Margaret's Church at 6 a.m., after which they sat in the House all the morning, and in the afternoon the King met them in the banqueting room at Whitehall. "Duirnall Occurrences," p. 80.

[372] Forster's "Grand Remonstrance," p. 342.

[373] Elsynge's "Ancient Method of Holding Parliaments," pp. 114-115.

[374] The judicial sittings of the House begin at 10.30 a.m.

[375] The proceedings very often resemble those of the old Irish House of Lords, which we find recorded in the Journals as "Prayers. Ordered, that the Judges be covered. Adjourned." See Charlemont's "Memoirs," vol. i. p. 103.

[376] Palgrave's "House of Commons," p. 45.

[377] The fact of any single member taking objection to a motion is sufficient to include it among "opposed" business, and in an assembly of partisans it would be too much to expect that any private member's Bill should avoid giving grounds of objection to at least one opponent.

[378] May, p. 430.

[379] In 1641, during the Long Parliament, Hyde was appointed Chairman of Committees, so as to get him out of the way, that he might not obstruct business by too much speaking. Parry's "Parliaments of England," p. 354.

[380] Lytton's "Life of Palmerston," vol. i. p. 115.

[381] Pellew's "Life of Sidmouth," vol. i. p. 76.

[382] The right of "counting out" the House was not exercised until 1729. On May 19, 1876, the Commons failed to "make the House" for the first time since April 4, 1865. See Irving's "Annals of Our Time," vol. ii. p. 197.

[383] Pearson's "Political Dictionary," pp. 23-4.

[384] "The Manner of Holding Parliaments Prior to the Reign of Queen Elizabeth." "Somers Tract," p. 12.

[385] "Diurnall Occurrences," p. 8.

[386] In 1909, during the temporary absence of the Chaplain, the Speaker read prayers himself.

[387] "Parl. Hist." ii. 1072. Butler refers to them in "Hudibras":

[388] Noorthouck's "A New History of London," p. 180. Scenes of a similar character occurred in the reign of George III., when the Gordon rioters stormed the Houses of Parliament, shouting "No Popery!" In 1871, a mob of matchmakers marched to Westminster to protest against a tax on matches, and were dispersed by the police. In still more recent times female deputations in favour of Woman's Suffrage, accompanied by a mob of inquisitive sightseers and a section of the criminal classes, have besieged the Palace of Westminster in a vain attempt to gain admittance to the House of Commons.

[389] When during Garibaldi's visit to London, some one suggested that he should marry a wealthy widow with whom he spent much of his time it was objected that he already had a wife living. "Never mind," said a wag, "we will get Gladstone to explain her away!"

[390] Palgrave's "House of Commons," p. 41.

[391] Bagehot's "English Constitution," p. 181.

[392] "Edinburgh Review," January, 1854, p. 254.

[393] Hakewell's "Modus Tenendi Parliamentum," p. 142.

[394] Bills of the most fantastic kind are from time to time introduced, though they seldom see the light of a Second Reading. In 1597 a member, Walgrave by name, brought in a Bill to prevent the exportation of herrings to Leghorn, "which occasioneth both a very great scarcity of Herrings within the Realm and is a great means of spending much Butter and Cheese, to the great inhancing of the prices thereof by reason of the said scarcity of Herrings."—D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 562.

[395] Lord Waldegrave's "Memoirs," p. 133.

[396] In June, 1835, however, a Mr. Fox Maule was refused permission to bring in a Bill "for the better protection of tenants' crops in Scotland from the ravages committed on them by several kinds of game."—Grant's "Recollections," p. 38.

[397] Our ancestors were not always so well-mannered in their methods. Once when a Bill had been returned to them from the Lords with an amendment to a money clause, they expressed their active disapproval by literally kicking it along the floor of the House, and so out at the door. "Parl. Hist.," vol. xvii. p. 515.

[398] It may be observed that among the many traditionary differences of opinion entertained by the two Houses is a divergence as to the proper spelling of the word "seigneurs."

[399] A Conference of both Houses has not been held since 1836.

[400] The Clerkship of the Parliaments is an ancient office, dating from the commencement of the fourteenth century. It was originally held by an ecclesiastic, to whom were assigned, in times when the two Houses sat together, the clerical work of Parliament. The Clerk of the Parliaments is appointed by the Crown under Letters Patent, and can only be removed by the Crown on an address from the House of Lords. Up to the year 1855, the post was a lucrative sinecure, worth about £7000 a year, the actual duties of the office being performed by the Clerk Assistant. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Clerk of the Parliaments enjoyed the privilege of nominating and appointing all the clerks on the House of Lords establishment, but in 1824 the appointment of the two other Clerks at the Table was transferred to the Lord Chancellor. He still, however, appoints all the other clerks, regulates and controls the duties and promotion of the staff, appoints the Librarian and his assistant, and exercises superintendence over the Library and the Refreshment Department of the House. It is his duty to attend all the sittings of the House, to call on the Orders of the Day, and to invite peers to bring forward their Bills or Motions. He also performs functions analogous to those of the Speaker in the Commons, when he signs Addresses to the sovereign, other Addresses of thanks or condolence, the minutes of the daily proceedings, and all the returns ordered by the House. As registrar of the Court of Final Appeal, he takes the instructions of the judicial authorities upon all questions relating to appeals, and keeps a record of all judgments, etc. Lastly, and this is perhaps not the least important of his duties, he gives the Royal Assent to Bills.

[401] D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 683, and Townshend's "Proceedings of Parliament," p. 322.

[402] In 1810, another system was temporarily introduced, the members ranging themselves on either side of the House and being counted by the tellers. Croker, when Ministerial teller, once accidentally missed out a whole bench full of Government supporters, thereby reducing the Ministerial majority by about forty. The Opposition teller watched the error with a smile, but did not feel called upon to correct it. See "The Observer," March 11, 1810.

[403] In the Session of 1881 the number of divisions was about 400; in 1908, including the autumn Session, the number was 463, and in 1909 the House of Commons divided 918 times.

[404] Only fifteen ties are known in the history of Parliament On April 3, 1905, Speaker Gully gave a casting vote on the Embankment Tramways Bill, as did Speaker Lowther, on July 22, 1910, on the Regency Bill.

[405] This right of protest recorded in the Journals of the House is still occasionally exercised.

[406] "Life of Lord George Bentinck," p. 314.

[407] Ewald's "Biography of Walpole," p. 419.

[408] "Chambers' Journal," December 26, 1886, p. 819.

[409] Porritt's "Unreformed House of Commons," vol. i. p. 509.

[410] Until a few years ago all "whips" were underlined twice and in urgent cases five times.

[411] "Ode to the Doctor." (Bragge Bathurst, Lord Sidmouth's brother-in-law, and Riley, his brother, were place-hunters who felt bound to applaud their patron.)

[412] House of Commons "Journals," vol. x. 291.

[413] D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 334.

[414] Pinkerton's "Voyages," vol. ii. p. 506.

[415] "Report of the Select Committee on the Establishment of the House of Commons" (1833), pp. 84-5. (To-day the messengers and doorkeepers, of whom there are about a score, earn regular salaries ranging from £120 to £300. Except for a share in the fund for messengers and police to which members may or may not contribute, no gratuities of any description are allowed to them.)

[416] The familiar way in which Pearson addressed members seems to have been generally condoned on account of his long service. Once when General Grant, who had boasted that he would march victoriously through America with three thousand men, asked the door-keeper how long a certain member would speak, Pearson replied, "As long, General, if he was allowed, as you would be in marching through and conquering America!" Pearson's "Political Dictionary," p. 10.

[417] Ibid., p. 6.

[418] "Life of Lord Hardwicke," vol. i. p. 489.

[419] Greville, "Memoirs," vol. iii. p. 389.

[420] Boyd's "Reminiscences," p. 49.

[421] Doyle's "Recollections," p. 174.

[422] Grant's "Recollections," p. 16.

[423] G. W. E. Russell's "Sir Wilfrid Lawson," p. 227.

[424] "Works," vol. ii. 327.

[425] Ladies of rank often attended the Saxon Witenagemots, and in the reigns of Henry III., Edward I., and Edward III. certain abbesses were summoned to send proxies to Parliament. (See G. B. Smith's "History," vol. i p. 11.) In the sixteenth century the right to elect a member for the rotten borough of Gatton was in the hands of a woman. See Porritt' s "Unreformed House of Commons," vol. i. p. 97.

[426] "Observations, Rules, etc.," p. 162.

[427] No. 812, June 2, 1711.

[428] Townsend's "Memoirs," vol. ii. p. 461.

[429] "Letters and Works of Lady M. W. Montagu," vol. ii. p. 37. (I have described this incident at length in "A Group of Scottish Women," pp. 137-8.)

[430] "Memoirs," 4 April, 1829.

[431] See A. Young's "Autobiography," p. 17. (Election Petitions were tried before the whole House, and thus resolved themselves into mere party struggles. In 1770, Grenville moved that they be referred to small committees.)

[432] Pearson's "Political Dictionary," p. 34.

[433] Grantley Berkeley's "Recollections," vol. i. p. 369.

[434] "Life and Letters," vol. ii. p. 66.

[435] "Posthumous Memoirs."

[436] Grant's "Recollections," p. 17.

[437] "History of the Peace," vol. iii. p. 375.

[438] Berkeley's "Recollections," vol. i. p. 359.

[439] "Next to religion," he says in his "Autobiography" (i. 309), "my chief aim is to enrich my posterity with good blood, knowing it to be the greatest honour that can betide a family, to be often linked with the female inheritrices of ancient stock."

[440] Forster's "Grand Remonstrance," p. 124 n.

[441] Cromwell's "Letters and Speeches," vol. i. p. 79.

[442] Cook's "History of Party," vol. i. pp. 357, 582.

[443] May's "Constitutional History," vol. i. p. 422.

[444] Hawkins' "Life of Johnson," vol. xii.

[445] For example: Sholming for Cholmondeley, Ptit for Pitt, and Gumdahm for Wyndham.

[446] Raikes's "Journal," vol. ii. p. 321.

[447] Coxe's Pelham Administration, vol. I. p. 355.

[448] Campbell's "Lives of the Chancellors," vol. vi. p. 93.

[449] "Morning Chronicle," June 14, 1788.

[450] Samuel Rogers' "Recollections," p. 67.

[451] O'Connell's "Recollections and Experiences," vol. i. p. 220.

[452] Grant's "Recollections," p. 48.

[453] Walpole's "Memoirs of the Reign of George III.," vol. i. p. 261.

[454] In the heyday of parliamentary corruption, when a critical division was impending, Sir Hercules Langrishe was asked whether Sir Henry Cavendish had as usual been taking notes. "He has been taking either notes or money," he replied, "I don't know which."

[455] On one occasion, in the hurry of dispatching his nightly missive, Lord Randolph Churchill accidentally enclosed a quantity of tobacco in the box which he forwarded to Queen Victoria, much to Her Majesty's amusement.

[456] Hansard's "Debates," 1st series, vol. xv.