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PARLIAMENT 

PAST  AND  PRESENT 


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PARLIAMENT 

PAST  AND  PRESENT 


A  POPULAR  AND  PICTURESQUE  ACCOUNT  OF  A 
THOUSAND  YEARS  IN  THE  PALACE  OF  WESTMINSTER, 
THE  HOME  OF  THE  MOTHER  OF  PARLIAMENTS 


ARNOLD   WRIGHT  AND   PHILIP   SMITH 


[n'n'n'n 
fa'n'n'n 

bddd 


WITH     643     ILLUSTRATIONS 

INCLUDING 

EIGHTEEN     COLOURED     PLATES     AND     A 
PHOTOGRAVURE    PLATE 


LONDON:  HUTCHINSON  V  CO..  PATERNOSTER  Row 


•511. 


FHI.VTZD  liy 

IHZM  I,    «>  ,-,,s,    ASI)  viXEY,   LD., 
UatfOll  ASI)  AYLE8BUIIY. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP. 

INTRODUCTORY    . 

PARK 
1 

C11AP. 

•     XX. 

I. 

OLD-TIME  PARLIAMENTS  AND  PARLIAMENT 
MEN  ......... 

9 

XXI. 
XXII. 

II. 

MEMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  —  THE  SIX- 

XXIII. 

TEENTH  CENTURY   

17 

III. 

MEMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  (continued)  — 
THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

25 

XXIV. 
XXV. 

IV. 

MEMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  (continued)  — 
THE  COMMONWEALTH 

15 

XXVI. 

V. 

MEMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  (cmitinncj)  — 
THE  RESTORATION  AND  THE  REVOLUTION 

XXVII. 

OF  1688     .        .       ..       ...... 

51 

XXVIII. 

VI. 

THE  SPEAKER  AS  HOST  —  PARLIAMENTARY 

COSTUME  

57 

XXIX. 

VII. 

SOCIAL  ASPECTS  OF  PARLIAMENTARY  LIFE 

—  WINING  AND  DINING  . 

67 

XXX. 

VI  IL 

THE  LOBBY  

77 

XXXI. 

IX. 

LADIES  AT  THE  HOUSE      .... 

86 

XXXII. 

X. 

MEMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  (continurd)— 
THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  . 

95 

XXXIII. 

XI. 

WESTMINSTER  HALL:  ITS  HISTORY  AND 

XXXIV. 

XII. 
XIII. 

TRADITIONS     ...... 
WESTMINSTER  HALL:  MEMORABLE  TRIALS 

THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  PALACE  BY 
FIRE.                       i       .       .      '.       ,' 

133 

148 

164 

XXXV. 
XXXVI. 
XXXVIL 

XIV. 

CORONATION  CEREMONIES  AT  THE  PALACE 

173 

XV. 

MFMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  (continued)  — 
THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  . 

2CO 

XVI. 

THE  PRESS  GALLERY        . 

221 

XVI  L 

THE  DESIGN  OF  THE  XEW  PALACE 

231 

XVIII. 

DETAILED  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  HOUSE 

OF  LORDS        

237 

XIX. 

DETAILED  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  HOUSE 

251 

THE  LIBRARY 260 

BELOW  STAIRS  AT  ST.  STEPHEN'S        .  265 

THE  CLOCK  TOWER  AND  BIG  BEN       .  275 
THE  CRYPT  CHAPEL  AND  CLOISTERS  AND 

THE  JEWEL  TOWER     ....  285 

ST.  STEPHEN'S  CHAPEL  .       .       .       .283 

PARLIAMENT    IN    BEING  —  ROYAL 

SPEECHES 297 

PARLIAMENT     IN      BEING  —  THE 

SPEAKER      .        .        .        .  .318 

SPEAKERS — FAMOUS  AND  INFAMOUS    .  329 

PARLIAMENT  IN  BEING — THE  HOUSE  OF 

COMMONS  AT  WORK     ....  361 

CALLED  TO  THE  BAR — PARLIAMENTARY 

PRIVILEGE 380 

THE  HOUSE  AT  PRAYERS      .        .        .  39(1 
IN  COMMITTEE        .        .        .        .'.400 

LORD  CHANCELLORS — FAMOUS  AND  IN- 
FAMOUS         .        .        .        ...        .  422 

THE  VICTORIAN  PARLIAMENTS  .  .  409 

„  „  „  (continmd)  480 

„  „  „  (concluded)  504 

THE  PRECINCTS  OF  THE  PALACE.        .  535 

THE    MINISTERIAL    ANNEXE    OF    THE 
PALACE  OF  WESTMINSTER  .       .       .564 

APPENDIX  : — 

Parliaments  of  England       .        .         .  579 

„            „     Great  Britain      .        .  580 

„             „     the  United  Kingdom  .  580 
„          and    Conventions    of    the 

Estates  of  Scotland  .  580 

„            in  Ireland        .        .        .  680 
Lord  Chancellors  and  Keepers  of  the 

Great  Seal 581 

Speakers  of  the  House  of  Commons    .  583 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PHOTOGRAVURE    PLATE. 
Interior  of  the  old  House  of  Commons  in  St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  1793 


FroHtinjiirce 


COLOURED   PLATES. 


Queen 

William  Cecil,  Lord  P.urghley    ...... 

Henry  St.  John,  Vim-omit  IJolingbroke  .         ... 

Charles  James  Fox      ........ 

The  Court  of  Chancery  in  the  reign  of  George  I.  .        . 
Simon  Franer,  Lord  Lovat  ....... 

A  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  at  the  Fleet 
Prison,  1729  ......... 

The  opening  of  Parliament  by  King  Edward  VII.       . 
A  yeoman  of  the  Guard      .....        .        . 


Fati'iffagr 

24 
41 

.       97 
121 
.     137 
161 


201 
241 
265 


Facing  page 

The  Houses  of  Parliament,  from  Lambeth  Pal::ee     .         .  297 

The  Right  Hon.  William  Court  Gully,  K.C.     .                 .  353 

The  Marquis  of  Salisbury,  K.G 377 

The  Right  Hon.  Warren  Hastings     .        .   .     .        .        .  393 

Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of  Clarendon 433 

Henry  John  Temple,  thin!  Viscount  Palmerston,  K.G.  .  465 

Benjamin  Disraeli,  Earl  of  Beacoiisfifld,  K.G.          .         .  491 

The  Right  Hon.  William  Ewart  Gladstone       .         .         .  527 

Downing  Street 569 


vi 


List    of    Illustrations 


OTIIKK    ILLISIHATIONS. 


MM 

I 


New  Palace  Yard  .        .         , 

Merrure  (a  umiinval  |*tnling  from  St. 

Mepbsu'*Chip*l) 

Eo**ac*  (a  mediaeval    i  aa.ting  fn>m    St. 

Stephen  *  Chaprl  > 1 

The  King's  Ct  an  pion 5 

'Ike  famous  trial  of  Charles  I.  In  West- 
minster Hall  in  January,  1649      .        .  8 
Tbe  House  of  Commona  mace      ...  4 
Ibe  Royal  ban|Uet  at  tbe  coronation  of 

Geoiye  IV 6 

Sketch  made  by  Hogarth  at  tbe  trial  of 

Lord  Lovat  in  March,  1747  ...  6 

l-ord  llruugham 6 

The  Crvi*  Chapel         .    '  ...  7 

Sir  Hubert  I'.  .-I 8 

Loi.l  I'.lln  eMoll 8 

Alfred  suhmiitin!:  the  law  to  tl.e  tt  itnn    .  9 

Kd»..,.l  1 10 

II.  mi  111.  renewing  Magtia  Charta    .  II 

tiexffrey  Chaucer 12 

Parliament  of  E  Iward  I IS 

A  view  of  the    Palace  and  Abbey  in  the 

seventeen  h  century       ....  14 
Richard  II.  |i«s*ini:  sentence  of  banishment 

on  the  Dukes  of  Hen-ford  and  Norfolk  15 
Ibe  Parliament  in   which    Richard    II. 'a 
i,  -i-^  i  iiit  ion  was  declare.  I,  and  the  Duke 

of  l*stuaat«r  recognised  as  King  .        .  16 

Sir  1  bun  aa  Mute 17 

Canlinxl  Wolary 18 

An  intrusion  upon  the  Coinn.ona  in  the 

Cliapter  House 1» 

latimer  preaching  before    King  Edward 
VI.  in  tbe  "  preaching-}  lace"  at  We«t- 

mins'er  ...  ...  SO 

Sir  Nichul.v  Bacon 21 

Queen  Eliialwth  in  Pailiamenl  ...  22 

V  ill-am  Cecil,  Lord  Unrghley    ...  23 
Bud  s-eye  view  of  tbe  Palace,  taken  from 

Agga's  map  of  Westminster  ...  24 

James  L,  and  VI.  of  Scotland      ...  25 

Sir  Wal.er  Raleigh 26 

Parliament    in   session    in    the   reign   of 

Jan  e<  1 27 

Westminster  ITall   and  Abbey,  f.om  tbe 

Tillage  of  Charing 28 

Sir  Edward  Coke 29 

Sir  John  Glanvilla       .  19 

John  S«lden  .        .  • 80 

The  House  of  Lord*  in  the  time  of  Cha  lei 

I 81 

The  children  of  Ci.arle*  1 82 

Chatled.      . 88 

The  Star  Chamber 84 

A  scene  in  the  Honwof  Loids    ...  85 

Tbomaa  Wen' worth,  Earl  of  Stratford         .  86 
A   memoiable  scene   In    the    House    of 

Common* 87 

A  vtew  of  tl  e  Palace  and  Abbey         .        .  SS 
John  Harn|<den    .       .       .        .    •   .       .89 

William  Lrntball         .  .        .        .  8!> 

A  famous  scene  in  the  house  of  Common.  40 

The  train-hands  leaving  London         .        .  41 

St  Stephen's  Chapel 42 

The  defence  of  Ruing  House       ...  43 

"  Pride'.  1'urve" 41 

Tbe  Great  Sen)  of  the  Commonwealth         .  45 

Oliver  Cromwell 46 

The  expulsion  of  meinWrsfium  the  Houae 
of  Common*  by  Cnimwell   on  April 

20lh.  1658 47 

Queen  Henrietta  Maria         ....  48 
"  ThI*  House  la  to  let'          ....  40 
General  Monk  declaring  fur  a  free  Parlia- 
ment        50 

IliiUtri.le  Whitelock 51 

Andrew  Marvell 62 

lleorge  Villiers,  second  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham           f.2 

The  ..it  o  I.  on  Sir  John  Coventry        .        .  M 

Sir  John  Coventry 54 

Parliament  ottering  the  Crown  to  William 

and  Mary 55 

Sir  John  Trevor 56 

Tl.,  sue  bed  in  tbe  hiieaker's  house  .        .  57 
Speaker  Adilington  (af.erwarda  i.ord  Sid- 
month)  68 

The  H|>e.iker's  State  coach  ....       59 

'I  he  S|«aker'a  Library i'0 

The  Right  lion    William  Conn  linlly         .  61 
Mrs.  (iu My  in  her  boudoir,  with  her  private 

secretary 61 

Mr.  KdwardOnlly,  tbe  Speaker  a  sectetary      «•-' 

Mi~Mielley  Gully 62 

T*w  Speaker'*  8  ate  tHniof-Boooi      .        .      C8 
Tbe  1C. -I  Dialling-Room  In  the  Si*a-.ei'a 

.: 64 

Elws>,  the  miser 66 


MOT 

From  one  House  to  another.  *6 

Wine  cell  in  of  tbe  House  of  Common*       .      67 
'Ibe  V.U-tui*  vat  .  68 

Mr.  John  llellan.y « 

Tue    overmantel    In     the     Dining  U.-.m, 

H»iii-<  of  Common.        ....      70 

The  Illegal  bar 70 

'he  House  of  Comn  on*  Dining- Room        .      71 
Tu*  il'.use  of  Common.  Dining  R  "«n  :  The 

Miniateia'  table 71 

The  Itonw  of  lairds  Dining- KOUIII       .         .       72 

Ctiarle*  Dicken. 78 

He-tmin-t-i  Hall 74 

I'ne  Commons  hi.b  whisky  vat  ...      75 

The  1  obbr  Iwr 76 

Ibe   lower   Ixibby  of  tbe  oil    House    of 

Common* 77 

Tbe  orange  girl 78 

°l  he  I  obhy,  Houae  of  Cotillions  .        .        .      79 
Charles  Jalnea  F,.x  s*  Deinoithene*     .         .       80 
The  ins  Munition  of  the  Hiuht  Hon.  S|«ncer 
Peneval  in  the  Lobby  of  tbe  Hollar  of 
Commons  on  May  llth,  1812         .        .      81 
A  tablet  in  St.  st.-iih.-n1*  Hall             .        .      82 
The  Siieaker'a  procesaion      ....      88 
Tue   door   of  the   House  of  Common*   by 
which     the     l*eginl..tive    Chamber    i* 
entered  from  the  Ixibby        ...       84 
Coriidor  from  Common*  Lobby  to  Confer- 
ence-Room      85 

A  medimval  episode  in  Parliament      .        .      86 
A  lady  petitioner  at  the  liar  of  the  HOUM 

in  1688 87 

The  Duchess  of  Gordo 88 

Tbe   Duchess  of  Qneenaberry  (as  a  milk- 
maid)       .59 

The  old  Hotue  of  Comn. on.  M) 

A  scene  outside  the  House  of  Lonla  in  1738      91 
Outside  entrance   to    Ladiea'    Gallery    of 

present  House 92 

Present  House  of  Comn. on.,  showing  ladies' 
grille  above  tbe  Reporter*'  Galkry      . 
The  Terrace :  Afternoon  tea         .        .        . 
Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford   . 
O}iening  of  Parliament  by  Queen  Anne 


Joseph  Addison 
Sir  Richard  S'eele 


Articles   of    Union    presented    by   Com- 

mlxioners  to  Queen  Anne  In  1706  .  99 

Sir  Robert  Walpole  .....  100 
Tbe  Uouae  of  Commons  in  Sir  Robert  Wai- 

pole'*  Administration  .  .  .  .101 

11  The  origin  and  eaeenoe  of  a  itr  aid  excise  "  102 

William  Pulteney,  Earl  of  Baih  ...  108 
The  guinea  lost  by  Walpole  to  PulMney  in 

a  bet  made  in  the  House  .  .  .  104 
The  liii'ht  Hon.  Henry  Pelhani  .  .  .101 

George  llubb  Dodlngton.  Lord  Melouulje  .  105 

Horace  Wal|x>le,  fourth  Earl  of  Orford  .  104 

Interior  of  the  Honae  of  I  ord*  In  1742  .  107 

The  Duke  of  Newcastle  and  Lord  Holland  108 
The  Houae  of  Commona  in  the  eighteenth 

century  .......  10S 

Thomas  IVIIuim  Holies,  Duke  of  New- 

castle, K.<;  .......  100 

William  Pitt,  first  Karl  of  Chatham  .  .  110 

KiclianHiivmillx.  Karl  T.-mpl.-,  K.C.  .  Ill 

The  Iliirht  Hon.  William  I"-  ar.1  Hamilton  112 

Ni'»  l':il:ioo  Yard  in  tbe  eighteenth  century  118 
Cli&rle*  ToiMi-1,.  u.l.  Lord  Cbatham'«  Cluin- 

celhirof  the  Bxcheipier  .  .  .114 
A  Mctioti  of  the  wondotfnl  ta|iestry  haii'.-- 

iir.'-  which  adorned  the  walUof  the  old 

II.  UT  of  Lords  .....  IK. 

Charlea  Lonnoi,  third  DnVe  of  Kichmond  110 
The  fatal  seizure  of  the  Earl  of  Chiith.xn 

in  the  House  of  Lor<U  on  April  7(h, 

177H          .....  .117 

Kntmnce  to  tin-  old  lloiue  of  Lords  in  the 

nchtii'iiih  century  .  .  .  .118 
Ixnd  North,  aftvrwaid*  *eKH»l  &irl  of 

.i.iilford         ......  II" 

J<.hn  Wllke*  .......  1-" 

"The  complent  vermin  ciUhor"  .  .  121 

I1  .|oll.-l    I!:,,,,.  ......  1 

Ilillke'i.  "  ilasri'iT  fli.-*-rh  "      ....  128 

Iti.-h.-ird  llriii'l.-v  Sli.-iid.m  .         .        .         ,  IM 

Interior  of  thr  II.  .11  .....  1  C  .....  i,,.m.  in  1742.  1  '.'.'. 

Tbe  Riuht  lion.  Rdiniind  llurke  .  .  !-'•• 
Charle*  Jamea  Km  as  a  youiitt  man  . 

Char  es  .lam™  For        .....  127 

\!..«  ...  W,  -imiluter     .....  12< 

'laming  at  Altmuk'n  ....  12'.' 

The  Itiulit  Hon.  Ai:hurl)n»low.  .  ISO 

I'liv  liik'ht  Hon.  William  Pitt  .  .  .131 
Statue  of  W.  Pitt  at  the  entrance  to  St. 

Stephen'.  II.  ,11  .....  1J2 
Statue  of  C.  J.  Fox  at  the  entrance  to  SL 

I          Stephen's  Hall  .  182 


William  Rufus IIS 

Yi-w  of  Wr.tndn.UT  In  IS.'rt  ...  184 
luteiior  of  We*tmln.tw  Hall  in  the  middle 

of  the  seventeenth  century    .        .        .     186 
We-tminster  In  the  early  |aut  of  tbe  seven- 
teenth centnrr 186 

General  view  of  Westminster  Hall  .  .  137 
Edward  the  Black  P.ince  ....  188 
Henry  III.  and  the  barons  .  .  .  .  IM 

K.I. laid  III 140 

Tbe  Painted  Chamber  .  .  .  .  •  .  141 
The  Commons  entrance  to  Westn.intter 

Hall .142 

Tbe  lving-in-s'at»  of  the  Right  lion.  W.  K. 

(ila.lrt.ine  in  We.lmin.ter  Hall     .         .     148 

Samuel  l*epys 144 

Staircase  in  Westminster  Hall  .  .  .141 
'I  he  Drat  day  of  term,  Westminster  Hall  .  145 

Peter  the  Great 14<t 

Old  Palace  Yard  in  the  eighteenth  century     147 

Sir  John  S,»ne,  R.A 148 

The    old    landing  place   for   the  Palace  of 

Westn  in.ter 149 

Sir  Thou  as  More 160 

.lubn  Fi.her,  lli.hopof  K<vheitfT        .         .     160 

Henry  VIII.  in  We.tmin.ter  Hall       .        .     151 

"Ihr  tnie  maner  of  tbe  Sit'ing  of  the 

I  ..r.Uand  Commons  of  1>oth  howaesof 

Parliament  upon  the  trjal  of  Thoma* 

Earle  of  Stratford,  Lord  Lieutenant  of 

Ireland" 153 

Tbe  trial  of  Cbarle*  I.  in  Westminster  Hall  158 
The  death  warrant  of  Charle*  I.  .  .  .  164 
Tbe  funeral  of  Cbarle.  I.  .  .  .  •  .  155 

Dr.  Sacheverell 156 

Tbe  acquittal  of  the  seven  bisho}ia      .        .     157 
A  quaint  print  of  Ixml  Kilmamockaml  the 
other  rebel  lords  issued  at  the  time  of 
their  trial  in  Westminster  Hall    .        .    158 
The  trial  of  Simon  Fraaer,  Lord  Lovat.  In 
Westminster  Hall  before  both  House* 

of  Parliament 169 

Sketches  made  by  Hogarth  at  tbe  trial  of 

Lord  Lovat 160 

fbe  execution  of  Robert  Shirley.  Earl  of 
Ferrers,  at  Tyburn,  May  5th,  17UO,  for 
tbe  murder  of  hia  steward,  Mr.  John- 
ton 161 

The  Duchess  of  Kingston  ....  162 
The  trial  of  Warren  Hastings  In  West- 

minater  Hall 168 

The  burning  of  tbe  House*  of  Pailiament, 
October  16th,  1S84,  a*  seen  from  the 

river 164 

St.   Stephen'*  Chapel,  looking  eaat,  after 

the  nre .165 

The   Houae  of    Lord*  and  tbe  House  of 
Common*,  aa  they  were  before  the  fire 
of  October  16th,  1RS4    ....    166 
Ruins  of  the  House  of  Lords  and  the  .louse 

of  Common*  after  the  fire      .        .        .     167 
Tbe  Cloister  Court,  St.  Stephen'*  Chapel, 

after  the  fire  .  ...    168 

Dean  Ireland !<•'.' 

Tablet  in  St.  Stephen's  Hull        .        .         .169 

Sir  Charle*  Barry 170 

The  new  House,  of  Parliament  .  .  .  171 
The  new  Palace  at  Westminster  .  .  .  17- 

The  coronation  chair 173V 

The  Crown  offered  to  Harold  by  the  |ieople     174 
The  coronation  of  Harold  at  Westminster  .     174 
The  coronation  of  Henry  VI.        .         .         .     175 
Ki.'li.ii.l  1 1.  in  his  coronation  ndie..     .         .     176 
The  coronation  pioonwiun  of  Edward   VI. 
pntceeding  from   the  Tower  to  We»t- 
min«l<T  on  February  l!«th,  K>47    .        .     177 
The  coronation  of  Henry  IV.                           .      17^ 
Queen   Elir-itielb'a  river    coronation    pro- 
cession     179 

Charle.  I.  in  hi*  colon, iti.nl  rol»ea        .         .     180 
The   coronation    of   Charl.s   II.    in   West- 
minster Abbey        1~! 

Th..  Champion  |>eiforiiiim;  the  ,<-i,-mony  of 
the  challrngi'  in  Westminster  Hall  at 
the  colon. ition  «f  .lame.  II.    .         .         .     182 
The  coronation  .H-remonv  in   Westminster 

Hall  -.lame.  II 18S 

Herb  women  in  the  comnation  procession 

of  James  1 1.    .        .  ...     184 

The  coronation  procession  of  (iourge  II.  .  186 
Ttiiiniphal  arch  erected  in  \\.-tiiniiKler 

Hall  for  the  coronation  of  Georgr  II.  .     186 
The  coronal  inn  of  George  111.      .  .     1  "7 

The  Court  of  Claims 1S8 

Procession  of  the  regalia  at  the  coronation 

.1  <;eorgelV 180 

George  I V.  in  hi*  coronation  robe*      .        .     UK) 
Tbe- coronal  ion  of  George    IV.    in   West- 
minster Abbey  191 


List    of    Illustrations 


vii 


PAGE 

192 


194 
194 

195 
196 
197 

198 

109 
200 
101 
202 
202 
203 
204 
104 
105 

206 
207 

207 
208 
2C9 
210 
210 
211 


The  crown  of  George  IV.  ..  .  . 
The  coronation  procession  of  George  IV. 

from  the  Abbey  to  Westminster  Hall  .     103 
Miss  Fellowes        .        .        .         .        .         . 

Queen  Car.  line     ...... 

The  coronation  banquet  of  George  IV.  in 

Westminster  Hall  ..... 
The  alb  used  by  Queen   Victoria  at  her 

coronation      ...... 

The  coronation  of  Queen  Victoria  in  West- 

minster Abbey       ..... 
Queen   Victoria's  coronation  timid--    and 

stole        ....... 

The  cope  or  imperial  mantle  worn  by  Queen 

Victoria  at  her  coronation     .        .        . 
The  Right  Hon.  George  Canning         .         . 
A  caricature  by  Gillray  of  Sheridan    .         . 
The  Duke  of  Portland  ...  . 

Canning          ...  ... 

I  ord  Brougham     ...... 

The  Rev.  Sydney  Smith       .        .        .        . 

'•  A  box  of  useful  knowledge  "  .  .  . 
Tl.e  Right  Hon.  George  Canning  .  . 
The  Marquis  of  Lomlondei  ry  ,  better  known 

as  Lord  Castlereagh        .        .        .        . 
The  House  of  Lords  as  fitted  up  in  1SS5 

after  the  fire  ...... 

Ihe  House  of  Commons  as  fitted  up  in  1835 

after  the  fire  ...... 

Viscount  Palmerston     ..... 

Sir  Robert  Peel     ...... 

The  Duke  of  Wellington      .        .        .        . 

I  ...i.l  KM.  .11    ....... 

William  Wilberforce    ..... 

Queen  Caroline     ......    21 

Lord  Erskine         ......     212 

The  trial  of  Qneen  Caroline  in   the   ..1  1 

House  of  Peers       .....    213 

Earl  Grey      .......    214 

Queen  Caroline  returning  from  the  House 

of  Ixirds  after  her  trUl.  .  .  .215 
"  The  House  wot  kreps  bad  hours"  .  .  216 
The  carrying  of  the  second  rending  of  the 

first  Reform  Uill  in  the  Honse  of  Com- 

mons      .......    217 

"  Bringing  up  inir  bill"       .        .        .        .218 

The   Reform  Bill  of    1832    receiving   the 

Royal  assent  in  the  House  of  I  ordfl      .     T19 
George  Trout         ......     220 

Head  of  a  news)iaper  of  the  sevent«-en'li 

century  .......    221 

Edward  Cave         ......    222 

In.  Johnson  .......     123 

William  W..«lfall         .....    224 

Daniel  O'CnuiwIl  ......    2i5 

Mr.  Justin  McCarthy    .....     2LT. 

The  Press  Unitary  of  the  House  of  Com- 

mons       .......     227 

Si.  Kdward  Clarke,  K.C.,  M.I'.    .         .        .    128 

The  Tress  Gallery  of  the  II.  -u*-  ..f  I  onls    .    2.!l 
Mr.  II.  W.  Lucy    .  ....     '.30 

'I  be  House  of  Commons        .        .        .        .    231 

The  Victoria  Tower,  from  the  gniden  .        .     132 
The  Houses  of  I'm  liamrnt.  from    lamWth 

Bridge     .......     233 

The  twise  of  the  Victoria  Tower  .        .        .     234 
Tbe  Houses  of  Parliament,  from  Parliament 

-Siuare    .......     235 

The  \  ictoti.i  Tower       .....     136 

Th«  entrance  to  the  Honse  of  L'.rdR    .         .     237 
"The  Death  of  Nelson"       .         .        .         .188 

The  King's  Rolring-l<o»n  i     .         .         .        .     2£9 

The  Kind's  P»om<r-|{oom  :  Another  view 

of  the  a)iartii  ent  .....  239 
"The  Heeling  of  Wellington  ami  Rlucher 

after  Waterl'io"  .....  ?40 
The  House  of  Lords  ....  241 

Ihe  Peers'  chamber  :  View  from  the  wool- 

212 

.....     248 
The  Roy.il  (iallery  as  fitted  up  for  the  trial 

of  1.01,1  Itnxell  .....  243 
The  Prince's  Chamber  .....  244 
ThctturofUw  HonMof  Loidi  .  .  244 

Fresco  in  the  Peer.-*'  robins-room  :  "  Moces 

bringing  i\o\\  n  the  Tables  of  Ihe  lj««f  "  245 
Painting  in  the  Peers  robing-rooni  :  "  'I  be 

Judgment  of  Daniel  "    .  245 

Frescoes  over  the  Strangers'  Gallery  in  the 

House  ..f  I.  on  Is  .....  246 
Fheplace  in  the  Prince's  ClrmiU-r  .  .  247 
The  (V-iiLi.il  lull,  showing  the  last  s'atne 

of  Mr.  Gladstone  .....  248 
-St.  Stephen's  II,  ill  .....  249 
St-itue  of  Sir  Charles  Barry.  ...  250 
Fresco  in  the  Commons  corridor:  "The 

Lost  Sleep  of  Arir\H"  ....  2.1 
Bmtof  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  .  .  252 
Mr.  llcniy  l>.  Eiskine,  C.V.O.  .  .  .252 
The  legislative  Chamber,  Honse  of  Com- 

nioDs        .......     253 

The  S|«akei'«  seal,  House  of  Commons      .    254 


PAGE 

Part  of  the  cloister  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel    256 
Newspaper-room,  House  of  Commons         .     256 
Members'  smoking-room,  House  of  Com- 
mons        257 

Grand  staircase,  house  of  Commons  .         .     258 
"  Aye "   Division  Lobby,  House   of  Com- 
mons       259 

14  No  "  Division  Lobby,  House  of  Commons    259 
The   Library  (map-room),  House  of  Com- 
mons       260 

The  Library,  Honse  of  Colim-ons        .         .     261 

Joseph  Hume 262 

Sir  Thomas  Erskine   May,   K.C.B.   (Lord 

Farnborougb) 262 

The  Library,  House  of  Commons        .         .     2u3 
The   old  key  :  A   relic  of  the  Gunpowder 

Plot 264 

The  manuscript  journals      ....     264 

The  gunpowder  conspirators        .         .        .     265 

Etchings  by  George  Cruikshank  .  .     266 

Facsimile  of  the  letter  to  Lord  Montengle  .    267 

An  arch  of  the  cellar  under  the  ..1,1  House 

of  Lords  in  which  ttie  gunpowder  was 

placed  by  Guy  Fawkes  and  his  'brother 

conspirators    .         .        .         .        .        . 

The  signatures  of  Guy  Fawkes  before  and 

af  n-  torture 

Old   lantern   pieserved   in  the  Ashmolean 
Museum,  Oxford    ..... 
Execution  of  some  of  the  gunpowder  con- 
spirators at  Tyburn        .... 
The  fire  always  kept  burning  at  the  bottom 
of  the  Clock  Tower  for  the  purpose  of 

ventilation 

Wool  used  in  the  Ventilation  Department 

for  filtering  the  air        .... 

Chambers  for  the  supply  of  fresh  air  under 

the  House  of  Commons 
Big    fan    exhauster,    Ventilating    De|>ar'- 

ment 

The  radiators  under  the  House  of  Lords 
Electric  switches  under  the  Honse  of  Lords 
Old     Clock     Tower,     Westminster,     from 
Hollar's  drawing  of  New  Palace  Yard 
Gallery  over  clock  face,  Big  Ben 
The  Clock  Tower,  from  the  roof  of  West- 
minster Hall 

The  lop  of  the  Clock  Tower          .        .        . 
Hil!  lien  :  The  clock  works  .         .        .        . 
The  mechanism  for  striking  Big  Ben  . 
I  nsi.le  the  clock  face,  Big  Ben     .        .        . 
Inside  the  lantern,  Big  Ben          .         . 

"  Big  Ben  " 

The  helfr 


sack 
The  Royal  Gallery 


268 
MB 
S89 
STO 

271 

271 


273 
274 
274 

878 

276 


273 
270 
280 
281 
282 
fS3 
284 
2S5 
286 
587 
288 


A  section  of  the  Crypt  Chapel 

Font  in  i be  Crypt  Chiqwl  •    .         .         • 

The  Cloisters,  U<m*e  of  Commons 

The  Oratory *  , 

The  Jewel  Tower 

The  nM  standards,  Jewel  Tower  .     £90 

ImjKmnded   false  measure*   in   the    Jewel 

Tower  museum  .     '  *  .     291 

The  Jewel  Tower £9. 

One  of  the  pointings  on  the  wall  of  M. 

Stephen's  CUa|*l 203 

One  of  the  basso-relievos  in  the  centre  of 

the  groin*  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel         .     294 
A  figure  of  an  angel  which  appeared  in  the 

ornamental     stone- woik    of    old     St. 

Stephen's  Chapel  cloisters     .         .         .     294 
Repix-Kiiiation  of  the  Saviour  as  sern  in 

the  masonry  of  the  nM  Sr.  S'eph«*n'a 

Chujiel  cloisters 294 

Sacrt-d  monogram  used  in  the  ornninenta- 

tion    of   the  oM   St.   Stephen's  Chnpul 

cluister* 294 

A  i  MM  n  ml    bearings    from     8tv     (Stephen's 

Chapol £»5 

Henry  V.  in  Parliament  ....  £('7 
Henry  VII.  and  his  Council  ...  198 
Kdward  t.  addressing hU  subjects  .  .  299 
Edward  VI.  and  his 'Council  ...  800 
Henry  VI.  opening  1'arliament  with  his 

n  other  . 301 

Charles  II.  on  his  way  to  open  Parlian  ent  302 
The  Hutiae  of  Peer*,  with  Henry  VIII.  on 

the  throne      .        .        .        .  .    303 

Geoige  II  I.  on  his  throne  in  tfe  Pouse  of 

Lords 304 

(ieorge  1 1 1.  attacked  by  a  mob  .  .  .305 
'Ihe  King's  llobing-Room,  House  of  Lords, 

aa  it  was  before  the  fire         .        .        .    306 
George  IV.  going  in  state  to  open  Parlia- 
ment       •         .807 

William  IV.  proroguing  Parliament  .  .  808 
'I  In:  o]H-ning  of  Parliament  by  Queen 

Victoria 809,  310 

The  Royal  Entrance  to  the  House  of  Lords  311 
The  Koyal  Staircase,  House-  <>f  Lords  .  .  3L2 
The  Royal  Throne,  Hou*e  of  Lords  .  .  S13 
The  Yeomen  of  the  (iuard  searching  the 

vaults 314 


The  opening  of  King  Edward's  first  Parlia- 
ment        315 

King  Edward  going  to  open  his  first  1  arlia- 

U  It'll  t:  .  .  .  .  .  .  .316 

King  Edward  about  to  read  his  speech  in 

the  House  of  Lords        ....     317 
William  of  Wykeham  .  ...     318 

Sir  John  Popham 3.9 

Sir  Harbottle  Urimston,  Bart.  .  .  .  3LO 
The  Right  lion.  Arthur  Onslow  .  .  .321 
The  Speaker's  House  :  River  Front  .  .  322 
The  Right  Hon.  Charles  Abbot,  first  Lord 

Colchester 323,  304 

The  Right  Hon.  James  Abercromby  .         .     324 

The  Speaker's  House 325 

"  A  parting  compliment"  ....  326 
St.  Stephens  Chapel  and  the  Speaker's 

House 327 

"  Caught  napping" 328 

Cardinal  WoL*ey  .  .        .  3£9 

Richard  III 330 

Sir  Christopher  Wray 331 

Mural  paintings  in  St.  S  ephen's  Chapel    .    332 

Henry  VIII 333 

St.  Stephen's  Chapel 334 

Sir  Robert  Hell 335 

The  Speaker's  Courtyjml,  from  the  south- 
west         336 

Procession  of  the  Lords  and  Commons  from 

Westminster  to  St.  Paul's     .         .         .     337 
The  Speaker's  Courtyard,  from  the  sonth- 

ejtst 33S 

Sir  Edward  Coke 339 

Speaker  William  Lenthall  .  .  .  .340 
Lenthall  being  carried  back  to  the  Chair 

by  Presbyterian  apprentices         .        .     341 
Entrance  from   New   Palace    Yard   to   the 
Speaker's  Courtyard  in  the  old  Palare 
Speaker  Francis  Rous .         ...       ,,. 
Bust  of  Oliver  Crnmwell      .... 
George  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle 
The  Parliamentary  buildings  and  Speaker's 
House     ....... 

Sir  Edward  Seymour 

Speaker  Charles  Wnlfran  Cornwall 

'Ihe  Right  Hon.  Henry  Pumlas,  Viscount 

Melville.  

Water-gate,  New  Pal-ice  Yard 

William  Wjudham,  firs.  Uaton  Grenville 

361, 

Charles  Manners  Button,  Viscoun*  Canter- 
bury         

Charles  Shaw  Lffevre,  Viscount  Eversley  . 
John  Evelyn  Denison,  Viscount  Osaington 

855, 
I  he  Right  Hon.  Arthur  W.  Peel,  Lord  Peel 

307, 
llenry   Bouverie  Bran-1,  Viscount  Hamp- 

den 358, 

The  Houses  of  Parliament,  as  seen  from 
the  Victoria  Tower        .... 
Speaker's  Corridor,  House  of  Commons 
It--  House  is  constituted     .... 
Induction  of  the  Speaker-Elect   .         . 
St.  Margaret's  Church,  We*tminsfer  . 

Swearing  in  members 

Lower  smoking-room,  House  of  Commons 

Vote  Office     .         .         .      •   . 

Lower  waiting-hall,  House  of  Commons     . 

Making  a  House 

Presentation  of  sheriffs  at  Westminster 
liu-iiM'-s  indicator,  sni"king-rooin,  House 

of  Commons  .        . 
St.  S  ephen's  Porch,  OM  Palace  Yard 
Group  of  Vo'e  Office  messengers . 
Mayor  and  sheriffs  attending  at  the  Bar    . 
The  "-Aye"  Division  Lobby        .-•      .      •  , 
A  Btomge  room,  Vo  e  Office 
Passage  of  the  second  Home  Rule  Bill 
The  1'owt  Office,  House  of  Common*  .    .    . 
The  Deputy  Speaker's  Office 
"  D-vishnn"  :  A  cnriiature          .  ,'.  J.      "  .  ' 

John  Helden '   ,' /  ' 

The  Speaker  reprimanding  an  offender  .,"  , 
David  Jenkins      .         .         .         .'.,'*:  :','  '• 
The    Sergeant-at-ArniB    of    the    House  'of 
.  Commons  ill-treateJ.  in  the  City  .'        .'. 
The  Commons  Corridor        .... 

Samuel  Pepys '    '    . 

Titus  Oates SSif, 

Colonel  Wardle 

Mrs.  Clarke  at  the  Bar         .... 

Mrs.  Clarke 

'Ihe  Right.  Hon.  Spencer  Perceval 

Sir  Francis  BurdeLt 

The  liar  of  the  House  of  Commons     . 
The  editor  and  publisher  of  the  ff lithe  at 

the  Bar 305 

St.  Margaret's  Church,  Westminster   .         .     396 
Porch    of    St.    Margaret's    Church,    West- 
minster   397 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots 393 


342 
3-13 
341 
345 

34(i 
347 
348 

349 
350 


353 
354 


499 

359 
360 
361 
8ti2 
3i,3 
364 
365 
366 
3t>7 
3(iS 
319 

370 
371 
372 
373 
374 
375 
376 
377 
378 

3SO 
38 1 


383 
3S4 
885 
S87 
388 
8S9 
3*K) 
391 
392 
393 


Viii 


List    of    Illustrations 


Westminster  Abr»T      .....    UN) 

Sir  Benjomin  Rndyerd         ....     400 

Wesluilnsur    Abbey   >nd    8'.     Margaret's 
Chim-h  ....... 

The  ItiKlit  Him.  Thonis*  Townahend  . 

Intt  1  1..  t  at  St.  Margaret  •  Church       .        . 
S'atueof  Ollter  CniniwrU.         .         . 
The  \>n.  Airhdea.-!*  Wilberforce      .        . 


.  15 


401 
40-.' 
403 
404 
40'> 
400 
408 


Tapwlry  in  the  Painted  Chaiulier        .      40T 
An    Hit.  ii.  'I     Mew.    showing    th«    alu-irnt 

t»pe.tiy.  at  the  Painted  Chamtier         .  40V 

li.  .  N..».-li   .......  410 

June*,  fir.1  Karl  SUuihu|«  .         .         .         .411 

Tl.e  Dilkeof  Wharloli  .....  412 

Tlir  South  >c.i  llulible          .        .        .        .418 

Charles,  Karl  .if  SnndeiUnd        .        .         .414 

Thomas  llatiihridiie      .....  41& 

General  Oglellion*       .....  4W 

The    Guards   escorting    the    Government 

l..(ii-ij  wheel  t..  lie  drawn     .        .        .417 

Lord  Cochrnne      ......  418 

Mr.  Smith  0'Brieii,  M.  P.,  In  custody         .  419 

The  Hitln  II.  .11.  (V.il  J.  Rhode*        .        .  430 
The  S.nlh  African  Committee    .         .         .421 

Archbishop  William.  .....  422 

Thomas  a.  Beck  et  ......  423 

Stephen  Gardiner.  Bishop  of  Winchester   .  4:'4 

Turk  Home  .......  4-.T, 

I.  .td  Keeper  Coventry          ....  4'Jii 

Francis  bacon.  Bitmn  Verulani  and  Vis- 

oonnt  St.  Albans  .....  427 

John  Finch.  l...i  .1  Finch  of  Fordwick         .  428 

Edward,  Baron  Littleton  of  Monnslow       .  4C9 

K.l.var.1  Hyde.  Karl  of  Claiendon       .        .  430 

The  disgrace  of  |j>rd  Clarendon  .  .  .  481 
Sir  Orlando  llridgvii  an  .  .  .  .432 
Anthony  A-hl.-j  Co.,|».r,  Ant  Earl  of 

Shaftesbnry  ......  433 

lleneage  Finch',  I  onl  Nottingham      .         .  484 

Francis  North,  Lord  Gtlilfoid      ...  484 

James  II.  in  hit  Palace  at  Whitehall  .         .  485 

(Jeorge,  nnt  Uird  JeKirys   ....  434 

Jeffrey*  recof>nised  at  the  Red  Cow  Inn  .  487 
Jaiues  II.  ilioppmg  the  (ireat  Seal  into  the 

1  hanm  .......  488 

John,  Lord  Homers      .....  450 

Tl.oma-.  Parker,  Bail  of  Mmxlesfleld  .        .  440 

l»rd  H  ii.-'in;      ......  441 

Francis  Atterbury,  Bishop  <if  Rochester    .  442 

Sir  Peter  King      ......  443 

<  -I,:,,  I,.,.  |x>id  Talbot  .....  444 

Philip  York.-,  first  Earl  of  Hardwicke        .  445 

Hubert,  Lord  Henley  .....  446 

Charles  Pralt,  first  Earl  Camden         .         .  447 

l...id'lhiploK        ......  44S 

John  Kcutt.  Kail  <if  EWon  ....  449 

•Ihonias,  flmt  Banm  Brskine,  K.T.  .  .  450 
John  Singjctoii  Coplcj  .  Baron  I.yndharst 

451,460 
Henry  Peter,  first  Baron  Brongl  ani  and 

Yaux      .......  452 

Sir  Edward  linrteniihaw  Sudden,  Lord  St. 

I  coiiard-i        .         .         .         .     '    .         .  458 

Sir  Frederi.-  Thmiurr,  Lord  Chclmsfonl     .  454 

.l..hn.  I  ord  Can.|>nell  .....  455 

lli,-h:ii.l  Bethel),  Lord  Westbury        .         .  45.', 

The  woolsack        ......  456 

Sir  Hugh  MacCnlniimt  Caims,  Karl  Cairns  457 

Sir  Roundel)  Palmer,  Earl  of  SflU.nie       .  4&T 

Sir  Iliinlinp'  liilfnrd,  Kin  I  "f  Iliilnbury      .  4.'>« 

Sir  Vsirrar  Herwhell,  Lord  llerschell         .  45H 

I  ..r.I  John  IIU—-II        .....  450 

'•  We,  thegieoi  I.  c.r  Enilind!"  .        .        .  460 

Oneen  Victoria's  tii  -t  Council     .        .        .  4K1 

Williuiii  Ijiinb,  aeumd  Viaconnt  Melbourne  4ti2 
Charles,  secoi.d  Earl  Grey  .  .  .  .4133 


MM 

The  Duke  of  Wellington.  K.O.  ,  .  .  «H 
KilK.ml  Stanley,  fourteenth  Karl  of  IVrhy  466 
Benjamin  Ut»raeli,  Earl  of  lleaoumneld. 

K.O  .......     4i  -,  47»,  508 

l>aniel()'Conn<-ll          .....    408 

gneen  EliiaU-th  ..t  Tilbury  Fort         .        .     4'  '.> 
Ibonia*  lUliini;l..ii.  I  ..id  Macaulay     .     470,471 
-ir  II,  .....  a»X...nT.ilfouid.          .          .          .     47» 

Sir  Hubert  Peel.  Knit  ......     473 

The  liiuht  II.  .11.  W.  K.  i.l,  i.l.i,  „„•      474. 
H.niv   J..hn  lelnide,  third  Viscount   Pal- 

!,,,  •!>(,,  ii,  K.li  ......     475 

'ieorue   Hamilton  Gordon,  fourth  Earl  of 

AlM-nlf.-ii,  K.I;  ......     476 

Dumeli  sflrst  iiivech  In  the  House  of  Com- 

mons     .......    477 

The  oiH'tiinK  of  Parliament  by  (jueen  Vic- 

toii.i  In  1S48  ......     478 

U:.ll.ll.i  Colklfll     ......       4>0 

The  Hiitht  Hon.  John  Iliiuht      .        .        .4-1 

The  Itivhl  Hon.  Georye  Canninff        .        .     4>'.> 

lh«  Hon.  Charles  Pelhani  Villiers     . 

1  onl  i  ii-,  .rue  Hentinck          .... 

The  M.  .,,-.-  of  Commons  in  1846  . 

.lohii  Aithui  -  Koebuck,  M.P. 

Adniii.il  Illake  l>efor*  Tnnis 

Henry  Pelham,  fourth  Duke  of  Newcastle, 

is  ........ 

John,  firnt  Earl  Itniuell,  K.O.      . 

Sidney  Herbert    ...... 

Earl  liranville       ......     490 

The  Houses  of  Parliament  and  We«tn  innter 

Hall,  as  Men  from  Parlhin.cnt  Si|nare  4°1 
The  execution  of  Montrose  .  .  .  .  492 
Geonre  Doitftlna  Cam)ibe]|,  eighth  Dnle 

...f  AivjH         -  ....     4PS 

John,  tii  -t  I  oi.l  Campbell  ....  •)<<:< 
The  Maruuii  of  Salmbnry  .  .  401,517,510 
Henry  Howard  Molyneux,  fourtli  Earl  of 

Carnarvon      ...... 

The  House  of  Lords  Library  :  T!ie  Queen's 

it"  Mill  ....... 

Robert  Lowe,  Viscount  Slit-i  hr.H-ke    . 
William  PIIKC  Wood,  Ufiron  llatheiley 
Samuel  Plin.aoll   ...... 

Hilbt  of  Queen  Victoria        .... 

Mr.  'Ihoiutu  Hurt,  M.P  ..... 

The  MOIIM-  of  Coiiiiiinus  :  A  division  called 
Mr.  John  Burns,  M.P  ..... 

Tie  Kifht  Hon.  W.  E.  Forster    . 

Sir  Maucherjee  M.  Bhownagpree,  K.C.l.E. 

Chin  !••-  Stewart  Pnruell      .... 

The  House  of  Lords  during  the  Home  Ritle 

delate,  September  dtb,  1£!>3 
Charles  BradlatiKh        ..... 
Sir  llalph  A.  Goasett  ..... 
Charles  Braill.uiiih  at  the  liar    . 
l^nd  Hiin,f,,l|,h  S|H'iicer  Chuichill 
The  Duke  of  .Mailhorouuli  at  Blenheim     . 
Mr.  n.Jn.iir-  r.Hiin  at  the  House  of  Com* 

n  ons      ....... 

The  Right  Hon.  A.  J.  Balfour  . 
The  Kiplit  Hon.  W.  II.  Sn.ilh  . 
Sir  Stiiflord  Henry  Nortluote,  firat  Earl  of 


405 

497 
408 
.'00 
501 
502 
&4 
DM 
:»'. 

ro; 
508 

.'.flit 
510 
510 
511 
512 
513 

514 

515 
516 


Mr.  ClianilieilHin'H  room  at  tho  House  of 


516 


The  Iti^t.t  Hon.  .li.-.'ph  Cliamberlain 
l  or.l  KiiHsellof  Killowen  ... 
Sir  Charles  Fnxlerick  Hamond,  M  P. 
Sn  William  Iliii,  ..,111  .... 
'MR-  lliirht  Hon.  John  Morley 
'I  he  Itiuht  Hon.  Sir  II.  ni  \  H.  Fowler 
S,r  llrtiia  mill  Stone,  M.P  ..... 
"  Out  of  the  WiHul  "  ..... 
The  Rii-lii  Hon.  William  St.  John  F. 
Brodrick  .  .  .  . 


511 

519 
.     520 
.     521 
K2,  525 


_'-. 
LOT 


MM 

TU    Riuht    Hon.   Bjienow  O.   CaTeodUh, 
eiiilith  Dak*  of  Dnmhln.  K  li.         .    529 

Thr  KiKht  II, .11.  li.  ,l»,t  II.  A»|illlli  .  530 
I  hi-  Inuht  II. .n.  Mr  Henry  Campbell- 

Itannrtman,  (i.C. 11.       .         .  .     6X1 

The  late  Mir  John  Madura  .  .     6*1 

Mr.  George  Wyndham,  M.P. 
Archibald   Philip  Primros.,  Aftli   K-ul   ..f 

llosebery,  K.li 5X8 

1he(inu>dsulraue,  Hoiwiaf  Ixirds  .  fO4 
Old  Palace  Yard  In  the  eiKhtoenth  century  5S5 
Itiul.liniM  on  the  eastern  side  of  New 

Palace  Yard 5M 

Thr  lill->ard,  Westminster          .         .         .     &S7 

William  Kymio 518 

Sir  Walter  HaleiKh LSI! 

William  lj>u,l,  Anl.l.i.lH.pof  Csjitnlmry  .  540 
The  famous  Geor^Una,  Ducheas  of  1 

shire Ml 

The    llliie  Boar's  Head  Inn.  Kinu  Mi»et, 

Westminster 542 

The  ancient  precinct*   of    the    Palace  of 

Westminster 543 

Kirn  Street  Gate,  Westminster  .  .  .544 
DM  Star  Chamber,  W.-»tmiiist»r  .  .  .'.4r, 
Tablet  affixed  Ui  umrk  the  (msition  of  the 

i )ld  Star  Chamber  .        .        .     .'.!.'. 

An  eligiiNMineut  of  the  resolution  convey- 

iiiK  Ihe  thanks  of   the   House  to  the 

volunteer  and  yeomanry  cor|«,  1&03    .     546 

John  Pym 547 

Edmund  Waller 548  ' 

Hugh  Peters 548 

St.itiie  of  Richard  Corar  de  Lion  in  Old 

Pal.,,-..  Yard     .          .  ...      549 

Gilliert  liurnet.  Bi.hop  of  Salisbury  .        .     550 
Aicade  oonnectinp  the  House  of  Commons 
« if  h  the  WmtiniiiKter  Siation  of  the 

Histrict  Railway 551 

St.  Maigarefs  Church  and  the  north  tran- 
sept of  Westminster  Abbey  .        .        .552 
Entrance  to    the    Chapter    Ilonar,   West- 
minster   553 

The  Chapter  House,  Westminster  .  .  554 
Westminster  Abbey,  the  Ctuqiter  House, 

etc. :  A  bird's-eye  view  ....    S5S 
The  interior  of  the  Chapter  Ilniue,  West- 
minster   556 

The  Chapter  House,  Westminster,  as  it  is 

arranged  to-day 657 

Xew  Palace  Yard 558 

The  Oratory 559 

The  Cloister  Court 500 

Old  Palace  Yard Mil 

Westminster  Abbey,  from  the  Jewel  Tower  562 
1 1, .idling  the  Union  Jack  on  the  Victoria 

Tower 50S 

Whitehall  Gate 

Whitehall 56S 

Benjamin  Franklin 666 

SUiraue  at  the  Foreign  Office     .  .    567 

Ml.. I.  S    Sandal* 568 

Nelxon  and  Wellington  in  the  waitinK-iiH.in 

at  the  Colonial  I  I'llcc,  Septemlx-i  - 
The  Hon.  Sir  Schomberg  McDonnell  .         .     570 

Lord  Snlishury's  room  at  the  V i^n  '  Htire    571 

Lord   Salisbury's  room  at  tl,.-  l'uv\  Si.il 

Ofllce 572 

Room    at   the    Foreign   Oltice   where  the 

I'll, li,, 'i  (',,un,  il-  in-  held      .         .         .     '>73 
No.    10,    I'owniiiLi    Stteet:    Tlie    private      _ 

secretary's  rtxuu 574 

No.    in,    llowniiii;   Sini-t:    The    Conmil 

Chamber 678 

C-ipUun  1'.  1).  Butler 576 

No     in.    Downing   Street :    The    "  Pitt  ' 

.linilitf-roonl 577 


t<-i.l,  '•  SH  ""• 


.— In  the  note  to  the  illustration  on  ]>.  78  "the  eighteenth  century"  shonM  Iw  read  for  "the  seventwnth." 
urirr  »il>i,  "''//'I  Jxitliwr  <-i«/;wr"  ;  line  10,  same  |Kr,ft-,  shollhl  luwl,  "  .Y.<//u  i*t!l-*rn-*  rnl/"i.'     'I  lie  not*  to  th 


Line  8,  p.  103,  -.hoiil.! 

-,111:111    on    p. 


•  We.ldeihniiie"  »hould  n-ail  ••  Wrdd.-ilmin. 


NEW   PALACE  YAKD. 

This  is  probably  the  oldest  view  extant.    On  the  right  is  the  old  Clock  Tower  ;  in  the  centre  is  the  conduit  from  which  flowed  wine  on  great 

occasions.     The  picture  is  from  an  original  etching  by  Hollar. 


INTEODUCTOEY. 


TOE  ancient  Palace  of  '  Westminster.  What  a,  host  of 
memories  the  name  awakens  !  How  much  it  implies  in  the 
history  of  England  and  the  building  up  of  the  British 
Empire !  In  mere  point  of  antiquity  there  is  nothing  to 
compare  with  it  amongst  the  great  secular  buildings  of  the 
Western  world.  It  had  been  a  Royal  residence  five  hundred 
years  before  Catherine  de  Medicis  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
Tuileries  and  the  virile  brain  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain  conceived 
the  grandiose  idea  of  the  Escurial.  Even  the  Vatican,  vener- 
able as  are  its  traditions,  did  not  come  into  existence  until 
nearly  two  hundred  years  after  Edward  the  Confessor  first 
held  his  Court  at  Westminster,  and  it  was  almost  double  that 
period  before  Rome  became  the  recognised  residence  of  the 
Popes.  By  its  side  the  marble  glories  of  the  ruined  palaces 
of  the  Moguls  in  India  and  the  sumptuous  splendours  of  the 
Alhambra  are  but  things  of  yesterday.  Amid  all  its  vicissitudes, 
dynastic  and  national,  it  has,  with  the  brief  interregnum  of 
the  Commonwealth,  remained  throughout  the  thousand  years 
of  its  existence  a  Royal  Palace.  In  a  legislative  sense  its 
record  is  an  equally  remarkable  one.  Before  the  Golden  Bull 
of  Charles  was  issued,  and  while  the  Hanseatic  League  was 
yet  in  its  infancy,  it  was  the  home  of  a  Parliament  pro- 
mulgating laws  and  exercising  a  real  if  limited  influence 
over  the  affairs  of  the  nation.  Its  position  amongst  legislative 
centres  is  unique.  The  home  of  the  Mother  of  Free  Parlia- 
ments, it  is  to  the  Capitol  at  Washington  as  the  adult  to  the 
little  child.  To  write  the  history  of  the  building  fully  is  to 
write  in  broad  outline  the  history  of  England.  Every  great 
national  movement  either  had  its  origin  there  or  was  directed 
from  its  precincts  :  it  has  been  associated  with  every  great 
name  in  the  history  of  the  country,  from  the  Venerable  Bede 
to  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  whose  picturesque  lying  in  state 

1 


diifval  paint- 
St. Stephen's 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


, 


in  the  ancient  hall  of  Rufus  is  still  fresh 
in  public  memory. 

Few  of  those  who  daily  pass  the 
stately  modern  building  which  ri>es  in 
its  (iotliic  magnificence  from  the  river- 
side quite  realise  what  a  wonderful 
pedigree  the  place  baa ;  fewer  still,  ]M*rhaps. 
u]>|ireeiate  all  that  its  hi.-tory  emlwxlies. 
We  are  not  n  sentimental  people,  and, 
though  we  are  moderately  proud  of  our 
ancient  institutions,  we  do  not  gush  about, 
them.  Yet  there  is  scarcely  a  yard 
of  land  of  the  five  acres  which  form 
what  was  the  ancient  Royal  demesne 
that  has  not  it>  story,  which,  when 
x  adequately  told,  thrills  the  least 
imaginative.  Pageantry  and  tragedy 
have  mingled  their  elements  in  its 
history — now  brightening  the  halls 
of  the  Palace  with  music  and  gaiety, 
now  darkening  its  precincts  with  the 
sombre  shadows  of  conspiracy,  or 
reddening  its  flags  with  the  blood 
of  traitors  and  martyrs.  Kings  have 
been  born  and  have  died  there.  The 
Palace  has  seen  at  once  the  most 
despotic  display  of  Royal  authority 
and  the  most  arbitrary  exercise  of 
the  popular  will.  It  has  been  the 
scene  of  the  domination  of  the  most 
bigoted  form  of  ecclesiasticism  and 
the  narrowest  creed  of  Puritanism.  Nowhere  have  so  many  great  reputations  been  made  in 
the  field  of  statesmanship ;  in  vain  should  we  seek  a  quarter  where  so  many  mighty  men 
have  fallen.  The  whole  atmosphere  of  the  place  is  redolent  of  sensations  which  .-fir  the  pulse 
and  kindle  the  imagination.  To  the  British-born  there  is  no  spot  on  earth  to  equal  it.  It 
has  for  him  all  the  sanctity  of  a  Mecca  and  all  the  glowing  interest  of  a  Paris. 

As  becomes  this  cradle  of  an  Imperial  race,  its  origin  is  enshrouded  in  mystery.  In  the 
dim  records  of  a  far  remote  day  we  grope  in  vain  for  certain  light.  The  fabled  Isle  of 
Avallon  of  Arthurian  romance  has  scarcely  attached  to  itself  a  greater  measure  of  legendarv 
lore  than  that  to  be  found  in  the  early  history  of  this  little  spot  of  English  ground  washed 
by  the  rushing  waters  of  the  Thames.  As  Thorney  Island — the  Isle  of  Thorns — it  emerges  in 
faint  and  uncertain  fashion  in  the  quaint  memorials  of  the  old  Saxon  chroniclers  as  the  home 
of  a  religious  fraternity  attracted  thither  rather  by  the  forlornness  of  the  situation  than 
because  of  any  advantage  that  attached  to  it  by  reason  of  its  proximity  to  the  homes  and 
haunts  of  men.  In  loco  terribili  are  words  used  to  designate  it  in  the  oldest  of  the 
documents  known  to  exist  in  reference  to  it,  and  we  may  imagine  that  the  phrase  was  not 
misapplied.  Dank  and  damp,  the  surface  of  the  island  only  a  few  feet  above  the  tideway, 
f'--tering  mud-banks  fringing  it  on  every  side,  it  must  have  been  a  veritable  Slough  of 
Despond.  But  its  very  wretchedness  was  its  strength.  The  holy  fervour  which  induced  men 
to  establish  themselves  amongst  the  forlorn  sedge-beds  and  thickets  of  the  island  conferred 
ni'iin  it  a  rare  distinction  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  that  superstitious  age.  They  saw  in 
the  spot  the  scene  of  a  glorious  act  of  renunciation — the  home  of  a  body  of  men  thrice 


THE   KING  S  CHAMPION, 

Who  formerly  at  the  Coronation  Banquets  rode  into  Westminster  Hall  and  challenged 
to  mortal  combat  any  ono  denying  the  right  of  tbe  King  to  the  Cro»u. 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


I 


•nil.   HOUSE  OF  COMMONS 
MACE. 

Not  the  "Inuble"  which  Croni- 
-1KJ  orders!  to  be  removed,  hut  n 
later  .  ik..f  the  tin.eof  Charii'.II. 


l>le>-ed    of    (MM!.     The    tradition,   once    established,    grew    in    strength 
with   the    lapse   of   time. 

Eventually  in  the  seventh  century  or  thereabouts  there  arose 
out  of  the  once  deserted  mud-flat  a  group  of  monastic  buildings, 
rude  and  nna>suniing  no  doubt,  but  still  sufficiently  im]H>-.ing  to 
confer  additional  lustre  upon  the  settlement.  These  were  the  germs 
of  a  settlement  which,  amid  various  vici>~itudcs.  exi.-ted  until  the 
reign  of  Canute,  when  a  new  inti-rr-t  was  conferred  upon  the  site  by 
the  erection  of  a  Royal  residence  there.  The  Danish  King  resided  a 
good  deal  upon  the  island,  and  tradition  fixes  upon  it  as  the  M-ene 
of  the  famous  incident  of  his  ordering  the  tide  to  retreat.  Kut 
intimate  as  Canute's  connection  with  We>tmin>ter  must  have  been, 
it  is  with  the  name  of  his  successor,  Edward  the  Confessor,  that  to 
nil  time  the  chief  glory  of  creating  this  great  centre  of  English 
life  and  tradition  will  be  associated.  The  pious  King,  delicate  in 
constitution,  monkish  in  training  and  moods  of  thought,  was  drawn 
to  this  sj>ot  by  a  thousand  ties  of  sentiment,  and  by  the  overmastering 
force  of  religious  feeling.  In  his  mind  grew  up  gradually  the  con- 
ception of  erecting  on  the  site  cou-erruted  by  the  holy  fervour  of 
generations  of  religious  men  a  noble  minster  which  should  be  at 
once  a  monument  to  their  zeal  and  an  abiding  testimony  to  his 
own  faith.  To  the  better  superintend  the  work  he  established  his 
home  in  close  proximity  to  the  site  selected  for  the  splendid  edifice 
he  had  it  in  his  mind  to  rear.  What  Edward's  Palace  was  like  is 
purely  a  matter  for  conjecture.  Most  probably  it  was  an  unassuming 
building  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the  monarch  and  of  the 
simple  times  in  which  he  lived.  But  if  architecturally  hvignih'cant, 
it  has  left  its  mark  on  the  pages  of  history. 

Frail  in  constitution,  the  Confessor  only  lived  just  long  enough 
to  witness  the  completion  of  the  great  work  of  his  life.  On  Holy 
Innocents'  Day  (December  28th)  in  1065  he  set  forth  from  the 
Palace  to  play  a  prominent  part  in  the  splendid  ecclesiastical 
pageant  which  accompanied  the  consecration  of  the  Abbey.  The 
effort  cost  him  his  life.  To  quote  the  pathetic  account  which  has 
come  down  to  us  through  Ailred,  Abbot  of  Rievaulx,  on  returning 
from  the  ceremony  "  he  laid  his  head  down  uj>on  the  couch,  and 
began  to  be  sorely  pained.  While  he  lay  sick  he  forbade  his 
attendants  to  weep;  and  seeing  his  Queen  mourning  and  wailing, 
•Mourn  not,  my  daughter,'  said  he,  'I  shall  not  die  but  live;  and 
passing  from  the  country  of  the  dead,  verily  I  hope  to  behold  the 
good  things  of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living.'  So,  having 
commended  himself  wholly  unto  God,  in  the  faith  of  Christ  and  the 
hope  of  His  promise,  old  and  full  of  days  he  departed  from  the  world." 

An  unpretentious  structure,  of  which  the  St.  Edmund's  or  Painted 
Chamber  was  the  main  feature,  situated  in  close  proximity  to  the 
monastery  and  occupying  a  portion  of  what  we  now  know  as  Old 
Palace  Yard,  was  the  heritage  into  which  William  the  Conqueror 
came  on  his  subjugation  of  the  country.  But,  poor  as  it  was  archi- 
tecturally, he  was  quick  to  recognise  the  value  of  the  traditions  which 
attached  to  it.  Crowned  in  the  Abbey,  before  the  tomb  of  the 
Confessor,  he  made  the  Palace  one  of  his  Royal  residences,  and  is 
even  said  to  have  enlarged  and  improved  it.  According  to  old 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Tlii*   sketch  VM    n:ade  by  Hogarth 
at  the  fatnoufl  trial  of  Lord   Lovat  in 

:I-UT  II. ill  in  M.'iich,  174T. 


chroniclers,  Elfric,  Ablwt  of  Peterborough,  was  tried  before  him  there,  and  great  councils  were 
held  there  in  the  years  1074  and  107G.  These  were  the  beginnings  of  the  judicial  and  legislative 
s\>ti  in  which  in  the  succeeding  centuries  wa<  to  see  such  wonderful  fruition  on  the  sain  •  >pot. 

It  was,  however,  left  to  the 
Conqueror's  son,  he  of  the  red 

hair,   to    give    to    the    1'alac i 

Wotminster  that  imposing 
character  which  in  later  years 
was  to  attract  to  it  the  notice 
of  men.  I5y  him  was  conceived 
the  magnificent  idea  of  West- 
minster Hall,  a  building  which 
is  still,  after  the  lapse  of  eight 
centuries,  without  a  formidable 
rival  in  its  own  line.  That 
wonderful  structure,  in  which 
grace  and  elegance  are  in  singu- 
larly happy  fashion  combined 
with  majesty  and  strength, 

stamped  emphatically/  this  little  plot  of  ground  on  the  hanks  of  the  Thames  as  the  home 
and  centre  of  English  authority.  The  common  people  recognised  in  it  at  once  a  symbol  of 
power  and  a  pledge  of  the  enduring  character  of  the  order  of  things  upon  which  it  was 
based.  William  Rufus's  successors  accepted  it  as  a  convenient  and  stately  instrument  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  spirit  of  pageantry,  which  in  those  days  was  no  unimportant  factor  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  popularity  of  ruling  princes.  Thus,  as  the  years  rolled  by  and  one  Norman 
King  succeeded  another  u]K>n  the  throne,  the  Palace  of  Westminster  grew  in  size  and 
importance;  so  much  so,  that  in  1174  we  find  Fitzstephcn  speaking  of  it  as  "an  incompar- 
able structure."  Its  development,  however,  was  gradual,  like  the  Constitution  which  was  being 
built  up  within  its  walls.  The  records  are  too  scanty  to  enable  us  to  say  positively  when 
the  various  parts  of  the  Palace  were  constructed,  but  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
nearly  all  the  earlier  Kings  had  a  hand  in  the  work.  To  Stephen  is  attributed  the  erection 
of  the  chapel,  which  was  destined  to  be  the  home  for  centuries  of  the  English  Parliament. 

His  successor,  Henry  II.,  was  responsible  for  the 
famous    suite   of    apartments    consisting    of   the 
Painted    Chamber,  the    Prince's    Chamber,  and  a 
third   room    known   as   the  Parliament  Chamber. 
The    Third    Henry    also    added    largely   to    the 
Palace.     Harsh  tyrant  though  this  monarch  was, 
he  was  a  great  patron   of   the   arts,  and   spent 
a  not   inappreciable   portion  of  his  resources   on 
the  embellishment   of   the   Royal 
residence.     The  artistic  glories  of 
the  Painted  Chamber  were  in  large 
measure    due    to    his    initiative. 
These    consisted    of    a    series    of 
paintings  representing  the  battles 
of     the     Maccabees,     the     Seven 
Brethren,    St.   John    habited    as 
a     pilgrim     presenting     a     ring 
to    Edward     the    Confessor,    the 
canonisation    of    the    King,    and 
numerous  black-letter  inscriptions, 


LORD   BROUGHAM. 
A  tkrtt  '.11  itatore,  •bowing  Urongbani  on  the  wootack. 


Introductory  7 

chiefly  from  Scripture.  Admired  in  the  Middle  Ages  as  consummate  specimens  of  the 
decorative  art  of  the  period,  it  was  their  fate  in  later  times  to  be  concealed  from  public  view 
until  an  accident  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  revealed  their  existence.  They  were  then 
carefully  examined  and  copied,  with  the  happy  result  that  we  have  to-day  exact  reproduc- 
tions of  pictures  which  are  amongst  the  earliest,  if  not  absolutely  the  earliest,  examples  of 
oil  painting  executed  in  this  country. 

A  great  fire  which  devastated  the  Palace  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  gave  that  King 
an  opportunity,  which  he  did  not  miss,  of  connecting  his  name  with  the  building.  Besides 
reconstructing  damaged  portions  of  the  old  structure,  he  rebuilt  the  chapel  which  was- 
erected  by  Stephen.  In  Brayley  and  Britten's  history  of  the  Palace  doubt  is  cast  upon  the 


1'HE  CUVl'T   CllAl'ti.. 


One  of  the  few  renaming  part*  of  the  old  Palace  of  Westminster.     It  was  recently  used  at  the  baptism  of  onn  of  the 

grandchildren  of  the  Speaker. 

existence  of  a  first  edifice,  because  the  records  dealing  with  the  expenditure  on  the  building 
of  the  chapel  say  nothing  of  the  reconstruction,  but,  on  the  contrary,  speak  of  foundation. 
But  Walcott,  a  more  modern  authority,  definitely  asserts  that  a  chapel  was  built  by  Stephen 
in  1141  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Palace,  and  he  cites  facts  to  show  that  it 
was  a  not  unimportant  factor  in  the  life  of  the  Westminster  of  that  day.  At  the  hands  of 
Edward  II.  the  chapel  benefited  but  little;  but  to  his  reign  is  attributed  the  erection  of  the 
Court  of  Exchequer,  a  famous  apartment  designed  in  the  elegant  style  of  the  period,  which 
stood  to  the  north-east  of  Westminster  Hall.  It  was  left  to  Edward  III.  to  give  to 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel  the  ornate  character  which  it  bore  until  in  a  ruthless  age  it  was 
diverted  from  its  sac-red  purpose. 

Important  as  Edward  III.'s  work  at  the  Palace  of  Westminster  was,  it  will  not  compare  in 
point  of  interest  with  that  of  Richard  II.     This   King   undertook   an    elaborate   rearrangement, 


8 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


SIB  HOBKRT   TKKI.. 
From  &  portrait  by  John  Linnell  in  the  National 

l'"I!  I   lit   <  i.lll.'l  \  . 


,ORD  PALMEB8TOM. 


An  early  portrait  from  the  01  iuin.il  in  the  Nation*! 
Portrait  (iallery. 


amounting  to  -,i  n-fi instruc- 
tion, of  \Ve~tmin.-ter  Hall. 

and  In-  also  made    exten- 

shc  adiiit  ions  to  the  Royal 

apartments.     The  comple- 

tion  of  this  work  saw  the 

Palace  of  Westminster  in 

its    condition    of    great  c-t 

grandeur.     Thereafter    its 

liisiory  is  little  more  than 

a  record  of  misfortune  and 

misdirected      effort.        In 

1512,     in     the     reign    of 

Henry  VIII..  there  was  a 

great  fire,  which  destroyed 

a  very  large  portion  of  the 

Palace.         This    virtually 

sealed    the     fate    of    the 

building  as  a  Royal  resi- 
dence. Less  than  a  hundred  years  later  it  was  entirely  given  over  to  the  Legislature,  and  the  Law 
Courts.  Fire  had  then  devastated  much  of  the  old  Palace.  Royal  neglect  had  aggravated  the 
condition  of  what  was  left  of  the  place.  The  subinissive  House  of  Commons,  which  Queen 
Klizabeth  so  imperiously  lectured,  sat  in  the  ancient  Chapel  of  St.  Stephen,  sadly  degenerated  from 
its  mediaeval  splendour,  but  still  free  from  the  defacements  introduced  by  Wren.  The  "  other  House '' 
found  a  home  in  the  old  Court  of  Requests,  a  building  which  occupied  the  site  of  the  Lesser  or 
White  Hall  of  earlv  Norman  days.  Hard  by  was  the  historic  apartment  known  as  the  Painted 
Chamber,  which  tradition  assigns  as  the  death-place  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  Dilapidated  as  it 
must  have  been,  it  probably  still  retained  something  of  its  old  beauty,  and  when  the  two  Houses 
met,  as  they  were  wont  to  do,  in  conference,  they  must  have  been  confronted  with  the  exquisite 
series  of  paintings  which  conferred  upon  the  apartment  its  name.  Westminster  Hall  wore  then 
the  siime  grand  and  impres>ive  aspect  which  now  characterises  it,  but  the  south  end,  instead 
of  being  occupied  with  a  great  flight  of  steps  leading  to  spacious  exits,  was  completely  closed 
in.  On  its  west  side  were  groups  of  buildings,  the  most  important  of  which  were  on  the 
site  of  the  old  Court  of  Exchequer  at  the  north-eastern  end.  On  the  opposite  side  of  Palace 
Yard,  about  the  Star  Chamber,  was  another  heterogeneous  group  of  offices  and  residences, 
inhabited  rather  by  Royal  than  Parliamentary  officials.  There  was  no  sort  of  design  or  form 
about  the  Palace.  It  was  a  mere  aggregation  of  buildings,  a  few  of  great  architectural  beauty 
and  significance,  but  in  the  main  of  conspicuous  meanness.  So  the  Palace  continued  for  another 
three  centuries,  until  the  great  fire  worked  a  beneficent  change. 

In  the  pages  which  follow,  some  of  the  remarkable  incidents  in  the  strange,  eventful  history 
of  this,  fascinating  spot  from  earliest  times  will  be  described,  and  the  reader  will  he  shown 
how  has  been  built  up  there  that  splendid  Constitution  which  has  been  an  inspiration  and  an 
example  to  all  the  civilised  nations  of  the  world.  Simultaneously,  the  attempt  will  be  made 
to  picture  the  life  of  this  home  of  the  Mother  of  Parliaments  at  different  periods,  and  to  bring 
out  the  interesting  story  of  the  growth  of  the  majestic  pile  which  has  arisen  on  the  ashes  of 
the  old  Palace  of  Westminster. 


A  very  larye  number  of  the  picliirci  in  tlti*  work  are  bring  reproduced  from  phatoyrapht  tpecially  taken  for  Alcstrt. 
llutcliiniun  $  Co.,  tcho  reterve  all  their  right!.  Mettri.  Ilutchinton  ,$•  Co.  detire  to  thank  all  thote  icho  have  helped 
the  u<>rk  by  granting  facilitift  for  the  taking  of  photographi  or  gicen  permiuion  for  the  reproduction  of  intt-rettinj 
relict  or  picture*;  and  they  tipecially  acknowledge  the  courtety  of  ilntrt.  \Calker  and  Cvckertll  in  giving  prrmiuum 
for  tkt  \uf  of  their  terirt  »f  photographi  of  picture!  from  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


CHAPTER    I. 

OLD-TIME  PARLIAMENTS  AND  PARLIAMENT  MEN. 

PARLIAMENTARY  institutions  in  one  form  or  another  have  been  in  existence  in  this  country  from 
a  very  early  period.  They  are,  indeed,  as  Blackstone  says,  coeval  with  the  kingdom  itself.  In 
Saxon  times  there  was  the  Witenagemot,  or  assembly  of  the  wise  men  of  the  kingdom,  to 
represent  the  nation.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  National  Councils,  feudal 
gatherings  over  which  the  King  presided  as  supreme  overlord,  dealt  with  State  affairs. 
Parliaments,  in  the  sense  in  which  we  are  concerned  with  the  term,  however,  did  not  appear 
on  the  national  horizon  until  after  the  Great  Charter  had  been  extorted  at  the  point  of  the 
sword  from  the  unwilling  John.  They  were,  in  the  first  instance,  ambulatory  in  character, 
meeting  at  the  convenience  of  the  Court,  now  at  Oxford,  now  Lincoln,  or,  again,  at  Windsor  or 
St.  Albans.  An  official  return  published  in  1879  gives  the  year  1264-5  as  that  in  which  the 
first  complete  Parliament,  embracing  knights,  citizens,  and  burgesses,  met.  This  was  summoned 
by  Henry  III.  under  the  coercion  of  his  powerful  nobles,  who,  enraged  at  the  long-continued 
misgovernment  of  the  King,  insisted  upon  his  ratification  of  the  rights  conferred  by  the 
Charter,  by  the  establishment  of  an  assembly  in  which  the  national  voice  should  be  heard. 
Subsequent  concessions  made  by  the  same  monarch  under  duress  laid  the  enduring  foundations 
of  that  structure  which  is  at  once  the  envy  and  the  admiration  of  the  civilised  world. 


ALFKED   SUBMITTING   THE   LAW  TO   THE   WITAN. 
Thi.-t  picture  is  one  of  a  number  designed  to  decorate  the  new  Houses  of  Parliament,  but  was  never  used  for  that  purpose. 


10 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


\Tho 


EDWARD    I., 

i  bom  in  the  Palace  of  We»tmliut*r,  ami  who 
rebuilt  St.  Stephen's  Ch.i|«-l. 


Meeting  in  We.-tminMer  Hall,  or  in  some  convenient 
chamber  of  the  Palace,  both  branches  of  the  earliest 
Parliament*  sat  together  and  deliberated  in  common. 
Tin-re  is  a  quaint  picture  in  exi-tence,  unquoticinahlv 
the  earliest  pictorial  representation  of  Parliament,  which 
shows  a  sitting  of  the  estates  of  the  realm  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  I.  The  work  is  a  copy  of  an  ancient  drawing 
formerly  in  the  College  of  Arms,  London,  and  about  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century  in  the  possession  of  the 
Karl  of  Buchan.  It  represent.-.  ;i-  explained  in  Smith's 
"Westminster,"  Kdward  I.  sitting  on  the  throne,  with 
Alexander,  King  of  Scotland,  on  his  right  on  a  lower 
seat,  and  Llewellyn,  Prince  of  Wales,  on  his  left. 
Beyond  King  Alexander,  on  a  lower  seat,  is  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  below  Llewellyn  sits  the 
Archbishop  of  York.  A  woolsack  figures  prominently 
in  the  centure  of  the  picture,  and  on  it,  in  front  of 
the  throne,  are  four  persons,  who  are  easily  distinguish- 
able as  the  Chancellor,  the  two  Chief  Justices,  and  the 
Baron  of  the  Exchequer.  Two  other  woolsack  are  placed 
at  right  angles  with  the  former,  and  on  each  of  them  sit 
four  persons,  the  whole  no  doubt  composing  the  Judicial 
Bench.  Behind  these  persons,  and  with  their  faces  towards 
the  throne,  are  two  individuals,  apparently  clerks,  standing 
uncovered,  with  something  like  documents  in  their  hands. 
Behind  these  clerks  is  a  cross  bench,  on  which  sit  seven  persons,  covered,  all  with  their  faces 
towards  the  throne.  All  are  robed,  but  the  right-hand  man  appears  to  be  seated  higher  than 
the  rest,  and  has  a  chain  around  his  neck.  The  explanation  put  forward  by  antiquaries  is 
that  this  body  is  the  "  faithful  Commons,"  and  that  the  individual  with  the  chain  is  the 
Speaker,  "whose  office  at  that  time  apparently  was  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  now  foreman 
of  a  jury — to  collect  their  opinions  individually,  and  to  declare  the  result  collectively,  in  the 
name  of  the  whole  body."  To  continue  the  description  of  the  picture  :  each  side  of  the  room 
contains  two  benches  at  right  angles  with  the  throne;  those  on  the  left  have  two  bishops  and 
five  peers  on  one  seat.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  front  bench  of  these  two,  and  on  a  separate 
seat  which  stands  more  to  the  front,  sits  the  Prince,  the  son  of  King  Edward,  who  was  after- 
wards Edward  II.  The  mitred  abbots  are  accommodated  on  the  other,  or  right,  side  of  the 
House,  and  with  them  are  placed  six  bishops.  Various  attendants  are  introduced,  such  as  a 
nobleman,  uncovered,  bearing  a  sword,  who  stands  behind  Prince  Edward,  and  a  herald,  un- 
covered, who  figures  near  the  attendant  noble. 

This,  as  the  most  authentic  representation  we  have  of  a  mediseval  Parliament  in  being,  has 
a  remarkable  interest  for  the  constitutional  student  who  is  concerned  in  tracing  the  development 
of  Parliamentary  institutions.  A  somewhat  similar  illustration,  it  may  be  mentioned,  figures  in 
Fidiles'  Life  of  Wolsey,  showing  the  House  of  Lords  as  it  was  in  the  Cardinal's  time.  It  is 
accomiwnied  by  an  interesting  explanation  by  Anstis,  (Jailer  King  at  Arms.  This  authority 
describes  the  cross  bench  containing  the  seven  persons  as  a  continuation  of  the  barons'  bench, 
the  other  part  of  it  being  close  to  the  side  wall  of  the  House  aud  behind  the  earls'  bench. 
The  man  with  a  chain  round  his  neck  is,  in  his  opinion,  not  the  Speaker,  but  the  Prior  of 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  The  Commons  in  this  row  are  repre.-ented  as  standing  at  the  Bar.  and 
not,  as  in  the  earlier  picture,  as  an  integral  part  of  the  Hi>n-e. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem  in  our  modern  eyes,  women  were  an  essential  ]>art  of  thei-e 
early  deliberative  assemblies.  We  find,  for  example,  that  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  the 
Abbesses  of  Shafte-bury,  Berking,  St.  Mary  of  Winchester,  and  of  Wilton  were  summoned  to 


11 


12 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Westminster.  Again,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  a  number  of  ladies  of  high  birth,  including 
Mary,  Countess  of  Norfolk,  Alienor,  Countess  of  Ormond,  Anne  Desi>encer,  Countess  of  Pembroke, 
nnd  Matilda,  Countess  of  Oxford,  were  required  by  writ  to  give  their  attendance  in  the 
National  Council  Chamber.  It  is  possible  that  the  summoning  in  most  cases  was  a  more 
matter  of  form.  At  all  events  there  is  evidence  that  a  custom  existed  of  allowing  jieeressi^  t<> 
be  represented  by  proxy,  and  that  this  continued  until  as  late  as  the  time  of  Henry  VI II.  In 

that  monarch's  reign  a  suit   was    brought   by  a   Mr.  Wymbish,  who   had    married    Barmi le 

Talboys,  to  secure  recognition  of  his  right  to  sit  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  behalf  of  his 
wife.  His  claim  was  rejected  on  the  ground  that  as  he  had  no  chililivn  there  could  be 
no  right  of  representation.  After  this  the  custom  of  female  representation  by  proxy  fell  into 
disuse,  and  when  Elizabeth  mounted  the  throne  it  seems  to  have  disappeared  altogether. 

As  far  as  the  general  representation  in  these  earlier  Parliaments  is  concerned,  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  of  a  particularly  inspiring  kind.  For  many  years  the  popular  delegate 
was  a  humble  individual  admitted  on  sufferance  to  the  company  of  his  betters  to  aid,  in 
spasmodic  and  ill-defined  fashion,  in  ministering  to  the  material  needs  of  his  sovereign.  A 
knight  of  the  shire,  with  local  propertied  interests  demanding  his  attention,  or  a  bur^'.-s. 

with  claims  of  an  even  more  urgent  character  upon 
his  time,  he  went  unwillingly  to  Westminster.  In 
those  days  the  roads  were  bad  and  dangerous  to 
travel,  and  there  was  little  in  town  life  to  compensate 
for  the  perils  and  expense  of  the  journey,  which  was 
in  some  cases  protracted  to  weeks. 

As  for  the  dignity  of  the  position  which  now 
makes  membership  of  the  popular  House  so  great 
an  object  of  ambition  to  many,  it  was  non-ex  i -tent. 
The  representative,  especially  if  he  sat  for  a  town, 
oftentimes  excited  compassion  rather  than  envy.  He 
was  a  sort  of  upper  servant,  who  had  arduous  and 
occasionally  unpleasant  duties  to  perform,  and  whose 
opinions  were  of  so  little  account  that  he  was  only 
allowed  to  express  them  by  proxy.  Like  any  other 
servant,  he  had  his  wages.  These  varied  according 
to  the  period.  In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century 
they  appear  to  have  stood  at  two  shillings  a  day, 
and  even  less,  judging  from  an  entry  in  the  Canterbury 
records.*  A  century  later  they  had  risen  to  something 
like  five  shillings  a  day  for  each  day  spent  either  in 
attendance  in  Parliament  or  in  travelling  to  or  fro 
between  Westminster  and  the  borough.  Where  a 
town  wished  to  be  particularly  generous,  it  sometimes 
brought  the  allowances  up  to  as  much  as  ten  shillings 
per  diem.  But  for  the  most  part  the  honour  of  semi- 
ing  a  representative  to  Parliament  was  so  little 
appreciated  that  the  townsmen  were  only  too  glad 
of  an  excuse  to  get  rid  of  the  obligation.  It  is  on 
record  that,  as  a  special  favour,  Richard  II.,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  action  of  the  inhabitants  of  Colche.-ter 
in  fortifying  their  town,  absolved  them  for  five  years 

fl°m  the  obligation  of  sendi"g  burgessps  to  I>;'Hi"- 
ment.  Ed  ward  III.  granted  a  similar  '-privilege"  to 

•  "1444-8.     In  this   vcnr  the  wage  of  John  Mulling,  who  represented  the   city  in   Parliament,  was  reduced  from 
two  shillings  to  twelve  pence  a  clay."— Historical  .MS.,  uth  Report,  p.  145. 


Old'Time    Parliaments    and    Parliament    Men 


PARLIAMENT   OP    EDWARD    I. 

Thi»  curioiu  and  interesting  picture  i«  probably  the  earliest  authentic  view  in  existence  of  Parliament  in  session.    It  is  from  an  ancient  picture  in 

the  i»ossession  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries. 

the  county  of  Northumberland,  out  of  consideration  for  their  poverty  owing  to  the  raids  of  the 
Scots.  On  like  grounds  Lancashire  enjoyed  the  felicity  of  being  unrepresented  in  several 
Parliaments.  It  sometimes  happened  that  the  payment  was  made  in  kind,  as  in  1463,  in  the 
case  of  Sir  John  Strange,  the  member  for  the  then  important  seaport  of  Dunwich,  who  agreed 
to  take  "a  cade  and  half  a  barrel  of  herrings  for  his  fee." 

Occasionally  the   constituency  deemed   itself  fortunate  in  finding   an   individual   who  would 


'4 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


A  VIEW   OF  THE  PALACE  AND  ABBEY    IX    THE  SEVI'.M T.KN'I  II    CIMI   i:V. 
The  feature  of  this  jtictnre  ii  the  tree-embowered  garden  on  Die  river  side  of  the  Palace. 

represent  them  at  Westminster  gratuitously.  A  case  of  this  kind  was  that  of  Sir  Robert 
1 1  it  d  1:1  in,  Anne  of  Denmark's  Attorney-General  and  Judge  of  the  County  Palatine  of  Ely, 
who,  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  undertook  to  serve  the  borough  of  King's  Lynn 
gratuitously,  "in  consideration  of  which  tender  care  for  their  pecuniary  resources,  the 
Corporation,  on  the  occasion  of  his  passing  through  the  town  on  his  way  to  Ely  in  July  1G10, 
entertained  him  handsomely  and  gave  him  a  gratuity  of  twenty  pounds."  These  were  indeed 
halcyon  days  for  the  aspiring  public  man.  But  there  was  a  reverse  to  the  picture.  Tin- 
hiring  implied  constant  service,  and  if  this  was  not  rendered — well,  the  paymaster  could  dock 
the  wages.  That  this  was  done  is  shown  by  the  records  of  the  Parliament  of  50  Edward  III., 
where  note  is  made  of  the  fact  that  the  wages  of  the  Knights  of  Gloucester  and  Oxford  were 
disallowed  "because  they  neglected  their  work."  A  statute  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
indicates  that  at  that  later  period  the  principle  of  no  work  no  pay  still  obtained.  This  sets 
forth  that  the  law  and  custom  of  Parliament  was  "that  no  members  have  writs  to  levy  their 
expenses  but  those  who  staid  to  the  end  of  the  session,  such  only  excepted  who  had  licence 
to  depart,  who  should  have  their  expenses  down  to  the  time  of  departure  provided  they 
returned  to  the  performance  of  their  duties."  This  loss,  adds  the  ordinance,  "  was  accounted  a 
great  disparagement,  yea,  punishment,  in  former  times,  making  them  contemptible  in  the 
counties  and  cities  for  which  they  served."  Marvell,  who  sat  for  Hull  at  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  was  one  of  the  last  Parliamentary  representatives  to  receive  wages.  The 
last  formal  record  of  a  payment,  however,  is  in  1681,  in  the  case  of  Thomas  King,  who  sat 
for  Harwich,  and  instituted  successful  proceedings  against  the  borough  for  arrears  of  salary  a* 
member. 

Long  before  the  system  of  payment  of  members  was  finally  abandoned,  a  practice  had 
arisen  of  fining  members  for  laxity  of  attendance;  As  far  back  as  1382  an  "ordinance  for 
the  more  regular  attendance  in  Parliament"  was  made,  inflicting  pains  and  penalties  on 
absentees.  This  declared  that  "all  and  singular  persons  and  commonalities  who  shall  henceforth 
have  summons  of  Parliament  shall  come  as  they  were  bound  to  do  and  had  been  accustomed 
in  ancient  times";  and  it  went  on  to  say  "that  whatsoever  person  who  shall  thenceforth  have 
such  summons,  be  he  Archbishop,  Bishop,  Abbott,  Prior,  Duke,  Earl,  Baron,  Banneret t,  Knight 
of  County,  Citizen  of  City,  Burgess  of  Borough,  or  other  singular  person  or  comnionalty 
whatsoever,  shall  be  absent  or  shall  not  come  on  such  summons,  if  he  cannot  reasonably  and 
honestly  have  excuse  towards  the  King,  shall  be  amerced  and  otherwise  punished."  In  the 
troublous  times  of  Mary,  a  body  of  members,  thirty-seven  in  number,  who  kept  away  from 
the  House  to  avoid  participation  in  the  persecuting  measures  of  the  reign,  were  criminally 
prosecuted  and  fined.  A  like  fate  overtook  some  absent  repTOBentativea  in  the  twenty-third 


Old-Time    Parliaments    and    Parliament    Men  15 

year  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  when  fines  of  £20  were  imposed  on  knights  and  £10  on  burgesses. 
Again,  in  Stuart  days,  when  the  great  struggle  between  the  Parliament  and  the  King  was  in 
progress,  repeated  efforts  were  made  to  keep  members  up  to  the  mark.  The  first  method 
adopted  to  secure  punctuality  of  attendance  was  a  fine  for  absence  at  prayers.  A  shilling, 
which  went  to  the  "poor-box,"  was  the  regular  impost.  It  happened  that  the  very  day  after 
an  order  penalising  absent  members  in  this  fashion  had  been  passed  (in  October  1641),  the 
Speaker  himself  was  late.  Thereupon,  according  to  the  indefatigable  D'Ewes.  the  first  systematic 
reporter  of  Parliamentary  proceedings,  "  Sir  H.  Mildmay  stood  up  and  said  to  the  Speaker  he  did 
hope  that  hereafter  he  would  come  in  time ;  which  made  the  Speaker  throw  down  twelvepence 
upon  the  table."  D'Ewes  argued  ingeniously  that  the  order  was  to  fine  "  after  prayers,"  and 
that,  therefore,  the  Speaker  had  not  transgressed ;  but  "  the  Speaker  having  cast  down  his 
shilling  would  not  take  it  up  again." 

In  1647,  according  to  Kush worth,  more  stringent  measures  were  adopted.  On  October  9th 
in  that  year,  a  "  call  of  the  House  "  was  ordered,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  members  being 
found  absent,  the  House,  after  debating  the  subject  all  day,  "  ordered  that  such  members  as 
have  not  appeared  according  to  summons  shall  pay  the  sum  of  £20."  It  is  not  clear  that  the 
fine  was  ever  paid,  but  whether  so  or  not,  the  measures  adopted  were  not  very  effectual, 
judging  from  the  frequent  references  to  the  same  subject  in  subsequent  debates,  and  the 
repeated  orders  of  the  House  passed  to  enforce  attendance.  With  the  dawn  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  system  had  disappeared.  There  had  then  come  into  Parliament  the  sport-loving, 
pleasure-seeking,  hard-drinking  and  swearing  country  gentleman  of  the  Squire  Western  type, 
and  with  his  advent  Parliamentary  representation  became  fashionable.  To  be  a  member  of 
Parliament  was  to  be  a  personality.  So  far  from  requiring  to  be  paid  for  services,  men 
of  position  were  only  too  eager  to  pay  for  the  privilege.  In  process  of  time  enormous 


UK  II.VHD  ii.  PASMNC;  SKXTKNCI-:  OF  IIANISIIMENT  ON  THE  DUKE  OP  HEREFORD  (AFTERWARDS  HENRY  iv.) 

AND   THE   EAKL   MARSHAL,   THE  DUKE  OP  NORFOLK. 

The  episode  took  place  in  one  of  the  apartments  of  the  Palace,  probably  in  the  Painted  Chamber. 


i6 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE   PARLIAMENT    IX    WHICH    KICHABD    II.'S   RESIGNATION   WAS   DECLARED   AXD   THE   DUKE  OP   LANCA.-ll.U 

(IIKXHY    IV)   EECOGXISED  AS   KINU. 

fortunes    were    squandered  on  a  single  election,  such  was  the  social  lustre  which  a   seat   at   St. 
Stephen's  shed  upon  its  occupants. 

In  dealing  with  the  personal  aspect  of  the  old  Parliaments  we  have  somewhat  outstripped 
our  narrative,  and  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  a  considerable  period  in  order  to  resume  once 
more  the  thread.  When  Parliament  was  last  seen  in  action  it  was  as  a  single  body,  conducting 
its  deliberations  oftentimes  in  the  actual  presence  of  the  King.  This  system  continued  until  as 
late  as  the  eleventh  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  when  a  separation  was  decreed,  partly, 
probably,  for  reasons  of  State,  partly  for  prosaic  considerations  connected  with  the  difficulty  of 
finding  accommodation  in  the  Palace  for  the  increasing  numbers  brought  together  by  the  meetings 
of  Parliament,  now  held  with  a  certain  regularity.  It  was  in  the  ancient  Chapter  House  of  the 
Abbey  across  the  way  that  the  faithful  Commons  found  a  refuge.  In  this  beautiful  old  building, 
consecrated  already  by  many  great  traditions,  the  Commons  House  set  itself  to  establish  an 
independent  position.  There  it  continued  for  the  best  part  of  two  centuries,  making  history, 
and  consolidating,  meanwhile,  the  power  of  the  people.  The  last  sitting  was  held  on  the  day 
of  Henry  VIII. 's  death.  There  is  a  curious  story  connected  with  the  members' departure.  This 
is  to  the  effect  that  on  one  occasion  the  Commons,  forgetting  the  solemn  purpose  of  their 
assembling,  became  so  riotous  and  created  so  great  a  turmoil  that  the  Abbot  waxed  indignant 
at  the  profanation,  and  collecting  a  sufficiently  strong  party  turned  the  whole  legislative 
company  out  of  his  house  and  swore  that  the  place  should  not  again  be  defiled  with  a  like 
nibble.  It  is  an  amusing  tale,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  it  has  any  greater  foundation 
than  many  other  picturesque  fables  with  which  the  pages  of  history  are  strewn.  The  likeliest 
explanation  is  that  the  accession  of  Edward  VI.  gave  greater  freedom  to  ministers  of  state, 
and  so  paved  the  way  for  the  return  of  the  Commons  to  the  Palace,  where  their  presence  was 
desirable  frotn  many  points  of  view. 


CHAPTER    II. 


MEMORIES  OF  ST.   STEPHEN'S— THE  SIXTEENTH    CENTURY. 

THE  popular  branch  of  the  Legislature  migrated  from  one  famous  building  to  a  not  less  historic 
one.  Its  new  home  was  the  Collegiate  Chapel  of  St.  Stephen,  a  glorious  fane  which,  as 
history  clearly  shows,  had  a  foremost  place  amongst  the  great  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  the 
country  in  decorative  beauty  and  architectural  dignity.  Here  it  remained  located  for  the  next 
three  hundred  years,  gathering  to  it  a  wealth  of  tradition  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any  purely 
secular  building  in  the  country.  Looking  back  upon  those  records  of  three  centuries,  so  crowded . 
with  events  of  high  national  importance,  so  strangely  moving  in  their  personal  associations,  it 
is  impossible  not  to  regret  that  the  name  now  alone  remains  of  the  historic  edifice.  We  could 
have  wished  to  see  the  place  where  the  battles  of  English  freedom  were  fought — to  have 
surveyed  the  stage  upon  which  were  enacted  some  of  the  greatest  dramas  in  the  world's  political 
history.  But  if  the  material 
substance  is  not  there,  the  grace- 
ful shadows  of  old  time  linger, 
reminding  us  of  the  departed 
glories  of  a  spot  which  will  ever  be 
sacred  ground  to  the  Englishman. 
Compared  with  what  it  was 
afterwards  to  become,  the  popular 
chamber  at  this  period  upon  which 
it  first  entered  into  possession  of 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel  was  an  in- 
significant body  indeed.  Known 
familiarly  as  the  ^Nether  House, 
it  acted  up  to  its  title.  Just 
before  its  removal,  when  the  im- 
perious Wolsey,  acting  as  the 
jackal  for  his  Royal  master, 
bounced  into  the  House  "  with  his 
maces,  with  his  pillars,  his  pole- 
axes,  his  crosse,  his  hatte,  and 
the  great  seal,  too,"  to  demand 
a  subsidy  of  a  fifth  part  of  every 
man's  goods — as  barefaced  an  act 
of  regal  spoliation  as  ever  was 
attempted — he  was  received  by 
Sir  Thomas  More,  the  Speaker, 
on  his  knees,  and  an  abject  apology 
was  tendered  for  the  silence  of  the 
members,  who  were  "  abashed  at 
the  sight  of  so  noble  a  personage,  SIU  THOMAS  MOKE. 

Who  Was  able  to  awe  the  Wisest  and  From  a  ^inting  afusr  IJolbein,  .howing  the  famous  Speaker  of  the  House  uf  Commons  and 

most  learned  men  in  the  realm."  Lord  chancellor  at  the  age  of  47. 


18 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


It  was  in  a  more  self-reliant  spirit  that  the  Parliament  of  Kdward  VI.  addre«cd  itself  to 
its  duties,  and  the  sanctioning  of  the  Pook  of  Common  Prayer  will  live  as  a  splendid 
monument  of  its  courage  and  devotion  to  the  public  interests.  Hut  the  growth  in  jiower 
indicate, 1  by  the  |>assing  of  this  and  other  beneficent  legiMation  was  only  transitory.  When 
in  NoveinU»r  1553— the  same  year — the  Commons  r-ciit  through  their  Speaker  a  ine-.-age  to 
lv>ueen  Mary  protesting  against  her  projected  union  with  Philip  of  Spain,  they  accepted  meekly 
a  rebuff  conveyed  to  them  in  terms  intended  to  be  discourteous.  ••  We  have  heard,"  said  the 
indignant  Queen,  "much  from  you  of  the  incommodities  which  may  attend  our  marriage  we 
have  not  heard  of  the  commodities  thereof — one  of  which  is  of  some  weight  with  us — the 
commodity,  namely,  of  our  private  inclination.  We  have  not  forgotten  our  Coronation  oath. 
We  shall  marry  as  God  direct  our  choice,  to  His  honour  and  our  country's  good."  Far  more 


to  their  discredit  than 
shown  iu  jacketing 
the  feeble  opposition 
cut  ing  measures  of  the 
when  there  was  a 
pockets  being  touched 
re-establish  the 
a  show  of  real  spirit 
lators.  Then  their 
to  their  swords,  arid 
ominous  murmurs 
as  well  as  the  ability 
pro]>erties,  that  the 
back.  Their  attitude 
ever,  serves  but  to 
light  the  general 
acterised  their 
If  the  Commons 
rods  by  Mary,  they 
scorpions  by  Elizabeth, 
the  great  Queen  re- 
l«tience  which  she 
conceal  the  encroach- 
sidered  them,  of  the 
Alxmt  the  only  touch 
in  her  numerous 
is  in  her  reply  to  the 
that  she  should  take 
Unlike  her  sister, 
resent  the  Parliament's  essay  at  match-making. 


c  uiins.u.   \VOI.M:V. 

The  great  eccleeiast  antl  Minister   of  tlie    it  i-n    ..f   11,-nry   \  III.     Hi* 
chief  rraidvnce  wan  York  Pluce  (now  Whitehall). 


the    pusillanimity 

quietly  this  snub  \\a~ 
made  to  the  perse- 
bigoted  Queen.  Only 
pro>pe.-t  of  their 
by  a  proposal  to 
monasteries  was  there 
on  the  part  of  legis- 
handsweiit  menacingly 
there  were  such 
about  the  dispoMtion 
to  defend  their  own 
Court  prudently  drew 
in  this  instance,  how- 
bring  into  the  >tronger 
servility  which  char- 
actions. 

were  scourged  with 
were  whipped  with 
Imperious  by  nature. 
garded  with  an  im- 

liever       attempted       to 

inents,    as     she    con- 
popular  aut  horit  y . 
of  softness  to  be  found 
speeches  to  the  House 
address  of  Parliament 
to   herself  a   husband. 
Kli/aheth      did      not 
"She    intended."    she    said,  "to  spend    her 


own  life  for  the  good  of  her  people  ;  and  if  she  married  she  would  choose  a  husband  who 
would  be  as  careful  for  them  as  herself.  If,  on  the  contrary,  she  continued  in  her  present 
mind,  she  could  not  doubt  that  with  the  help  of  Parliament  the  succession  might  be  secured, 
and  some  fit  governor  might  be  provided,  peradventuve  more  beneficial  to  the  realm  than 
such  offspring  as  might  come  of  her."  "Children,"  she  added,  were  uncertain  blessings,  and 
for  herself  "it  would  be  enough  that  a  marble  stone  should  declare  that  a  Queen  having 
reigned  such  a  time,  lived  and  died  a  virgin." 

The  graciousness  of  this  mes>:igc  uas  so  little  maintained  in  subsequent  communications 
that  the  wonder  will  ever  \ye  how  her  Majesty  brought  herself  to  the  frame  of  mind  to  meet 
such  HI.  intrusion  into  her  private  affairs  with  the  honeyed  words  she  did.  For  the  most 
]>art  her  I'titude  towards  the  popular  chamber  was  that  of  a  schoolmaster  towards  a  body  of 


t.  n,i  ordinal  dratctny  by  A.  D.   Mc(.af>u"'t.-. 

AN    INTRUSION    UPON    THE   COMMONS    IN    THE   CHAPTER   HOUSE. 

"  The  imperious  Wolsey  bounced  into  the  House  to  demand  a  subsidy  of  a  fifth  of  every  man's  goods." 

19 


20 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


rebellious  pupils.     When  importuned  n  second  time  to  marry,  the  j)eers  on  this  occasion  joining 

in  the  petition,  she  replied  scathingly,  "she  was  not   surprised  at  the  (', ions;  they  had  small 

experience,  and  had  acted  like  boys;  but  that  the  birds  should  have  gone  along  with  tin-in, 
she  confessed  had  filled  her  with  wonder."  The  tine  contempt  for  the  ('ominous  which  the 
Queen  showed  in  this  instance  took  a  deeper  note  when  it  fell  to  her  to  dis>ohe  1'arliament 
somewhat  later.  Enraged  at  the  attitude  of  the  House,  she  stood  forward  and  delivered  an 
explosive  harangue,  in  which  in  familiar  parlance  she  gave  the  Commons  "a  hit  of"  her  mind" 
— and  a  considerable  bit  too.  "  I  have  in  this  assembly  found  such  dissimulation  where  1 
always  professed  plainness,  that  1  marvel  thereat;  yea,  two  faces  under  one  hood  and  the  Uxly 
rotten,  being  covered  with  the  two  visors,  sin-cession  and  liberty — which  tliev  determined  must 
be  either  presently  granted,  denied,  or  deferred  ;  iu  granting  whereof  they  had  their  de-ire. 
and  denying  or  deferring  thereof — those  things  being  so  plaudable  as,  indeed,  to  all  men  they 
are — they  thought  to  work  me  that  mischief  which  never  foreign  country  could  bring  to  pa-s. 
which  is  the  hatred  of  the  Commons."  "Henceforth,"  she  said  in  conclusion,  "whether  I  live 
to  see  the  like  assembly  or  no,  or  whoever  it  be,  yet  beware  how  you  prove  your  prince'.-. 
jwtience  as  you  have  now  done  mine." 

Elizabeth's  bark  was  worse  than  her  bite,  and  after  this  violent  tirade  she  sent  the 
Commons  away  "with  comfortable  words."  But  that  she  could  bite  on  occasion  was  proved 
a  few  years  later,  when  an  attempt  was  made  by  an  over-venturesome  member  to  thwart  the 
imperious  lady's  will.  The  trouble  arose  out  of  the  discussion  of  two  bills  resj>ecting  Church 
rites  and  ceremonies.  Hearing  that  these  were  before  the  House,  Elizabeth  sent  express 
commands  that  from  henceforth  no  bills  concerning  religion  were  to  be  considered  without 
the  prior  approval  of  the  clergy.  In  fear  and  trembling  at  their  Royal  mi.-tiv->°s  an^er.  the 
Commons  sent  up  the  measures  to  the  Queen,  humbly  beseeching  her  Majesty  "not  to  conceive 


Sll'ius    I.ATIMEB   PREACHING    BEFORE    KIMS    KDWARD    VI.    IX   THE   "PREACHING-PLACE"  AT    WKSTMlNs  n.l:. 


Memories   of  St.   Stephen's — The   Sixteenth  Century        21 


an    ill   opinion  of  the  House  if  so  it 
were   that    her    Majesty    should    not 
like   well  of  the  said  bills,  or  of  the 
parties    that    prepared    them."      The 
anticipation   of  trouble    was    speedily 
fulfilled.     On    the   following   day   the 
Treasurer  of  the    Household  reported 
"that  her  Majesty  seemed  utterly  to 
mislike    the    first  bill,  and   him  that 
brought    the  same  into   the   House." 
Her    further    will    and    pleasure    was 
that  the  measure  should  be  abandoned. 
Thus  brought    up,  the    Commons   re- 
sponded   like  a    well-whipped    hound 
— the  bills  were  promptly  abandoned 
But  there  was  one  man,  Peter  Went- 
worth,  who  did  not  relish  the  subser- 
vience of  the  House  and  the  growing 
insolence  of  the  Crown.     He  held  his 
peace   at    the    time,    but  when    some 
little  while  after  the  episode  described 
her  Majesty  sent  down  a  message  to 
the     House     commanding     them     to 
refrain  from    all    further   speeches    or 
arguments  touching   the    business   of 
the   Queen    of  Scots   and    the    Duke 
of    Norfolk,    upon    which    there    had 
been    some    debate,    he    as    soon    as 
opportunity  presented  broke  out  into 
decidedly  unparliamentary,  if  not  un- 
constitutional    language.       "  In    this 
House,  which    is   termed    a  place   of  free  speech,"  he  remarked,  "  there  is  nothing  so  necessary 
for   the    preservation    of   Prince   and    State    as    free    speech ;    and    without    this    it   is    a    scorn 
and   a    mockery  to   call    it    a    Parliament    House,    for    in    truth    it   is   none   but   a  very  school 
of  flattery   and   dissimulation.      Two   things,    Mr.    Speaker,   do   great   hurt   in   this   place :    the 
one   is   a    rumour   that    the    Queen's   Majesty  liketh   not    such   a   matter — whosoever  preferreth 
it  she  will  be  offended  with  him  ;  or  the  contrary.     The  other  is  a  message  sometimes  brought 
into   the    House,    desiring   that   this   or   that   complaint   should  not  be  mentioned.     He    wished 
such  rumours  and    messages  were  buried  with  the  father  of  them    in    hell."      The   House   was 
horrified  at  this  rank  blasphemy,  and  still  more,  no  doubt,  at  the  daring  criticism  of  the  Lord's 
anointed.      "  Out  of  a  reverent  regard  of  her  Majesty's  honour,"  they  stopped  him  from  further 
committing  himself,  and  to  additionally  dissociate  themselves  from  his  sentiments  ordered  that 
he  "should  be  presently  committed  to  the  Serjeant's  ward  as  prisoner,  and  so  remaining  should 
be   examined    upon   his    said    speech    for    the    extenuating    his    fault    therein,    by   a   committee 
consisting    of  all    the    Privy  Council  being  of  this  House  and  other  members."     As  a  sequel  to 
the  examination,  which  was  conducted  in  the  Star  Chamber,  Wentworth  was  sent  to  the  Tower, 
where    he    remained  for  a  month,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  Her  Majesty  graciously  sent 
word  to   the    House   that  he    had    been  sufficiently  punished.     The  obsequious  Commons  hardly 
knew    how    to    express  themselves  in  words  fulsome  enough  to  show  their   appreciation    of  the 
•  Jiiccn's    magnanimity.     A    harangue  was  delivered    by   the    Lord    Chancellor   on    her    Majesty's 
clemency    and    goodness,  and    members  were  exhorted  to  take  the  incident  to  heart,  "  lest  that 
in  forgetting  our  duties  so  far,  we  may  give  just  cause  to  our  gracious  Sovereign  to  think  that 


M  P.    NICHOLAS    BACON. 

Father  of  the  illustrious  Lord  IJacon.  Lonl  Keejier  in  the  reijBfn  of  Elizabeth 
Remarkable  in  hi*  later  years  for  his  corpulence.  This  occasioned  the  Queen's  remark 
"Sir  N'ichola*'*  Bool  lodges  well." 


22 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


this  her  clemency  hath  given  occa- 
sion of  further  Iwldness,  and  thereby 
so  much  grieve  and  provoke  her, 
as,  contrary  to  her  most  gracious 
and  mild  considenit  ion,  she  be 
const  mined  to  change  her  natural 
clemency  into  necessary  and  just 
severity." 

In  January  1580,  on  the  meeting 
of  a  new  Parliament,  u  further  oppor- 
t unity  occurred  for  the  House  to 
testify  its  lack  of  backlxme.  Paul 
Went  worth,  brother  of  the  previous 
culprit,  having  brought  forward  and 
secured  the  passing  of  a  motion  in 
favour  of  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
at  the  Temple  Church,  and  decreeing 
that  Parliamentary  proceedings  should 
commence  every  day  with  a  sermon, 
Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  the  Vice- 
Chamberlain,  came  hot-foot  from  the 
Palace  to  deliver  a  sarcastic  message 
from  the  Queen  to  the  effect  that 
"  she  did  much  admire  at  so  great 
a  rashness  in  the  House  as  to  put 
in  execution  such  an  innovation  with- 
out her  privity  and  pleasure  first 
made  known  to  them."  The  effect 
of  the  Queen's  words  was  electrical. 
Members  almost  tumbled  over  each 
other  in  their  eagerness  to  support 
a  motion  of  this  tenor  :  "  That  the 
House  should  acknowledge  their 
offence  and  contempt,  and  humbly 
crave  forgiveness  with  a  full  purpose 
to  forliear  committing  the  like  for 
the  future."  Degradation  could 
scarcely  further  go;  but  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  there  were  still  some  who  were  not 
prejwired  to  allow  the  House  to  be  ridden  over  rough-shod  without  so  much  as  a  protest. 
Peter  Wentworth,  undeterred  by  previous  experience  of  the  weight  of  the  Queen's  strong  right 
arm,  on  the  assembling  of  Parliament,  and  unmoved  by  a  fiery  speech  from  the  throne  in 
reprobation  of  "idle  heads  which  will  not  stick  to  hazard  their  own  estates,  which  will  meddle 
with  reforming  the  Church  and  transforming  the  Commonwealth,"  presented  a  petition  "desiring 
the  lords  of  the  Upper  House  to  join  with  them  of  the  Lower,  in  imploring  her  Majesty  to 
entail  the  succession  of  the  Crown,  for  which  they  had  already  prepared  a  bill."  The  defiance 
was  too  deliberate  to  pass  unnoticed.  Swiftly  the  bolt  descended,  not  only  upon  the  daring 
Wentworth,  but  UJKMI  his  seconder  and  two  other  members  who  had  sjKjken  in  favour  of 
the  measure.  In  durance  they  remained  for  some  time.  It  might  be  supposed  that  by  this 
time  the  protesters  had  suffered  enough  to  com  hire  them  that  the  game  was  a  dangerous 
one.  But  there  was  something  of  the  sttiblx>rnness  of  the  Parliamentarians  of  a  succeeding 
generation  in  their  temperament;  and  when  another  Parliament  met,  in  1593,  the  dauntless 
1'eter  Wentworth  was  found  at  the  fore  courting  the  Queen's  displeasure  by  reviving  the 


I,>II;I;N  I:I.I/.AHKTII   IN   I'.UM.IAMK.NT. 

The  chamber  here  represented  is  an  ancient  chamber  of  the  Pnlace  erected  in  the 
twelfth  century.     The  Commons  are  (thown  crowding  at  tin-  !>.n. 


Memories  of  St.   Stephen's — The    Sixteenth    Century       23 


question  of  the  succession.  The  usual  result  followed,  as  a  matter  of  course.  Wentworth  was 
soon  occupying  his  old  quarters  in  the  Tower,  and  Sir  Henry  Bromley  and  two  other  members 
who  had  been  guilty  of  like  indiscretions  were  enjoying  a  less  exalted  martyrdom  in  the  Fleet. 
A  timid  protest  was  raised  in  the  House  against  these  imprisonments,  but  nothing  came  of  it; 
and  meantime  another  member,  a  Mr.  Morrice,  brought  himself  into  hot  water  by  daring  to 
draft  two  bills  touching  the  abuses  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts.  They  never  came  formally 
before  the  House,  but  the  Queen  got  news  of  them,  and  she  sent  for  the  Speaker,  with  the 
consequence  that  the  unfortunate  member  was  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer— of  all  persons— and  he  was  dealt  with  as  the  heinousness  of  his  offence 
demanded.  Morrice  was  the  last  of  the  victims  of  Elizabeth's  caprice.  When  a  new  Parliament 
met  her  infirmities  were  creeping  on  her,  and  the  assertive  spirit  which  had  distinguished  her 
relations  with  the  popular  representatives  in  earlier  times  was  no  longer  what  it  was.  To  the 
close,  however,  she  continued  to  make  the  Commons  "  know  their  place.''  They  realised  that 
though  the  rein  was  loose  it  was  still  firmly  held. 

The  Parliament's  abject  submissiveness  in  the  face  of  Elizabeth's  domineering  treatment 
cannot  be  denied  or  wholly  extenuated.  Even  Hatsell,  its  faithful  servitor  and  admirer,  is 
compelled  to  acknowledge  that  a  lamentable  lack  of  spirit  was  shown  in  meeting  the  repeated 
encroachments  of  the  Crown.  Elizabeth,  on  her  part,  we  may  readily  believe,  held  the  popular 
representatives  in  wholesome  contempt.  Susceptible  though  she  was  to  flattery,  she  could  not 
tolerate  the  fulsome  adulation  with  which  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Commons  to  overwhelm 
her.  After  the  defeat  of  the  Armada,  when  she  was  addressed  by  the  Speaker  (Crooke)  and 
told  in  the  customary  insincere  style  that  "  the  peace  of  the  kingdom  had  been  defended  by 
the  mighty  arm  of  their  dread  and  sacred  queen,"  Elizabeth  bluntly  replied,  "No,  but  by  the 

mighty  hand  of  God,  Mr.  Speaker."  There  was  here  the  honest  dislike  of  the  strong  mind 
for  the  cringer,  and  almost  the  whole  history  of  Elizabeth's  Parliament  is  one  of  abasement 
and  "  whispering  humbleness.1'  Its  position  of  degradation  is  well  illustrated  by  an  incident 

which  occurred  shortly  after  Elizabeth's  death. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  opening  of  Parliament 

"the  faithful  Commons"  crowded  to  the  Upper 

Houx'.  as   was  their  wont;    but  the  way  was 

barred  to  them  by  a  Yeoman    of  the  Guard, 

1'rian     Tash     by     name,     who     seeing     them 

approaching,  slarnmed  the  door  on  them  with 

the  contemptuous  words.  ••  (ioodmen  burgesses, 

you    come    not  here."      The    "  goodmen  bur- 
gesses "    had  to  pocket   their   affront   as   best 

they  could  ;    but  the  time  was   coming  when 

they  were  to  be  held  in  very  different   esti- 
mation.    A  mighty  leaven  was  working  which 

was    destined    to  bring  the   popular   chamber 

into   a   position    of  undisputed  authority  and 

eminence. 

Servile  as  Elizabeth's  Parliaments  mostly 

were,  they    left   a   conspicuous   mark   on   the 

statute  book  of  the  country.     The  system  of 

poor  law  administration  which  is  in  operation 

to-day  was  founded  by  them.     To  them  also 

belongs  the  honour  of  the  initiation  of  the  laws 

relating  to  the  maintenance  of  highways,  the 

building  of  bridges,  and  the  administration  of 

charitable  trusts.     In  all  directions  there  was 

steady  development  in  the  domain  of  domestic 


WILLIAM  CECIL,   LORD   BURGHLEY. 

This  quaint  picture  of  Elizabeth's  great  minister  is  reproduced  from  an 
engraving  of  a  portrait  in  the  Bodleian  Gallery,  Oxford. 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


government.  Norwasthe 
period  unfruitful  in 
higher  constitutional 

achievements.  Thcpowvr 
of  the  ]>eo|>le's  repre- 
sentatives to  control  their 
own  affairs  wa-  averted 
on  several  occasions,  aiul 
nut  unsuccessfully  ;  and 
tlie  right  of  the  House  of 
Commons  to  deal  with 
Contested eldd  ion  n-t  urns 
was  al><>  upheld.  \Vilh 
a  monarch  less  able  and 
determined  than  Kli/u- 
betli  there  is  little  douht 
that  the  constitutional 
struggle,  which  subse- 
quently burst  upon  the 
country,  would  have  been 
lia.-tfiied  liy  many  years. 
As  it  was.  it  was  only 
by  packing  the  House 
of  Commons  wilh  her 
subservient  tools,  and 
by  the  exercise  of  arts 
and  artifices  which  she 
knew  so  well  how  to 
practise,  that  the  Queen 
held  her  own  so  well  as 
she  did. 

Elizabeth's  con- 
nection with  the  Palace 
of  Westminster,  apart 

from  her  frequent  appearances  upon  it.s  Parliamentary  stage,  was  a  very  close  one.  She  had 
a  jiortion  of  the  old  buildings  reconstructed  for  her  use.  and  occasionally  lived  there,  holding 
Court  with  the  magnificence  characteristic  of  her  reign.  In  one  apartment,  standing  upon  the 
site  of  the  Old  Court  of  Exchequer,  at  the  north-ea>t  corner  of  We-tmin>tcr  Hall,  according  to 
tradition,  she  was  accustomed  to  divert  herself  with  music  played  by  musicians  placed  in  a 
gallery  which  occupied  one  end  of  the  room.  Another  apartment  clo>e  by  was  used  by  the 
Queen  as  a  sleeping-chamber,  and  was  identified  with  her  name  long  after  she  had  pas>ed 
awav.  \Ve>tmin>ter  then,  as  A^a-'.-  m^p  .shows,  was  a  widely  different  place  to  what  it  i* 
to-dav.  But  it  was  not  without  its  advantages  fn.m  the  residential  standpoint.  The  rherthen 
was  the  great  highway  between  the  City  and  the  We-t  ;  and  the  proximity  of  the  Palace 
(iardens  to  it  facilitated  the  arrangi  mints  lor  tiio-e  water  paireanls  iu  which  the  Virgin  Queen 
Found  so  much  enjoyment.  Taking  it,  all  in  all.  the  Klixabethan  period  of  St.  Stephen's  wa- 
one  of  the  most  interesting,  as  well  a^  important,  in  the  history  of  the  Palace. 


•'m$i'  i)  fil 

mi 


.KVE    V1K\V    OF    Till:    I'AI.ACi:.    TAKKN     IKOM    AUCASS    .MAI'    OF    WKST.M  1 XM  IIU. 


the  paint  ins; 

i<i   G.illn 


QUEEN    ELIZABETH. 


The  fjrcat  moiurch,  whose  rcij^n  \\ttiicsscd  such  a  splendid  advance  in  the  power  :ind  prestige  at  the  countrv.  l:amous  in 
constitutional  initials  for  her  vigorous  speeches  in   Pnrlkiment. 


CHAPTER  III. 


MEMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  (continued)— THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

IT  was  a  remarkable  transition  from  the  sway  of  the  masculine  Elizabeth  to  that  of  the 
pedantic,  logic-chopping  James.  As  one  writer  well  puts  it,  ''  it  was  as  if  the  Crown  had  passed 
not  from  a  woman  to  a  man,  but  from  a  man  to  a  woman."  Vanity  was  a  marked  characteristic 
of  both  inonarchs,  but  there  was  this  difference,  that  while  Elizabeth's  native  shrewdness  always 
prevented  her  from  allowing  her  weakness  to  militate  against  her  personal  interests  or  those  of 
the  State,  James  was  so  oppressed  with  a  sense  of  his  individual  importance  that  he  continually 
pushed  matters  to  extremes  merely  to  assert  his  personal  dignity. 

From  the  very  outset  of  the  reign  there  was  friction  between  the  King  and  Parliament. 
A  disputed  election  return,  the  imprisonment  of  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  the 
Fleet  for  debt,  in  violation  of  the  privi- 
lege of  Parliament,  and  the  committal 
to  the  Tower  of  Sir  Christopher  Pigott, 
member  for  Bucks,  for  words  used  in 
the  House,  each  in  its  turn  provided 
material  for  controversy.  In  all  these 
cases  James  prudently  abandoned  his 
claims  when  he  found  that  they  were 
untenable ;  and  this  circumstance,  com- 
bined with  the  influence  of  the  discovery 
,  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  to  which  we  shall 
have  to  refer  at  greater  length  in  a 
subsequent  chapter,  tended  to  disarm  the 
Commons.  Even  when  he  a  little  later 
ventured  upon  the  extreme  course  of 
levying  imposts  without  the  consent  of 
the  Commons,  there  was  no  other  action 
on  their  part  but  a  dignified  protest, 
followed  by  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  pass 
a  Bill  rescinding  the  illegal  taxation. 
For  years  the  wrangling  went  on,  inter- 
mitted by  violent  acts  of  usurpation  on 
the  part  of  the  King  connected  with  the 
raising  of  funds,  and  disgraceful  episodes 
such  as  the  execution  of  Raleigh  on  a 
charge  of  treason  fifteen  years  old. 
James's  temper,  never  very  sweet,  com- 
pletely broke  down  on  several  occasions. 
After  one  particularly  irritating  struggle 
with  Parliament,  in  1611,  he  wrote: 

"Wherein  We    have    misbehaved    we    know  From  the  painting  by  Faul  van  Somer. 

not,  but  .   .   .  our  fame  and  actions  have  JAMES  i.,  AND  vi.  OF  SCOTLAND. 

been  tossed   like  tennis    balls  among    them,  In  whose  reign  the  struggle  for  constitutional  liberty  commenced. 

25  4 


26 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


and  all  that  spite  and  malice  durst  do  to  disgrace  and  inflame  us  hath  been  used.     To  be  short, 
this   lower    House    by   their    Ix'haviour    have    perilled    and    annoyed    our    health,    wounded    our 
reputation,    emboldened    all    ill-nut utv<l    jieojile,    encroached    upon    many   of  our    privileges,   and 
plagued    our    people    with    their    delays."      A    few   years    later,    maddened    by    the    tenacious 
assertion  by  the  Commons  of  their   privileges,  James  sent  for  them  to  Whitehall,  and  tore  up 
all  their  Hills  before  their  faces.      This    insult    was    only  a  prelude   to   an    even    more   dramatic- 
display  of  contempt  for  the  pretensions  of  the   jiopular  chamber.     This  was  the  outrage  on  the 
Journals  of  the  House,  which  is  recognised  by  most  writers  as  one  of  the  great  conventional 
landmarks. 

The  incident  arose  out  of  a  protracted  dispute  as  to  the  arrest  of  a  certain   Sir    Kdw\n 
Sandys,  who  was  committed  to  prison  for  something  said   in   the  course  of  a  debate   in   the 
House.       The    House    had  promptly  challenged  the  King's  right  to  arrest;    and    James,    while 
disclaiming   that   Sandys  was  arrested  for  his   speech  in    the   House,    as    promptly    asserted    liis 
right    "to    punish    any    man's    misdemeanours    in    Parliament,    as    well    during    their     sitting 
as  after,"  and  his  intention  to  exercise  that  right  when  "any  man's  insolent  behaviour'1  there 
should    render   it    necessary  so  to  do,     further  passages  of  arms  ensued;    and  then  the  llmi-e. 

on  December   18th,   1621. 
••-itting  by   candlelight" 
— a  most  unusual  circum- 
stance— caused        to       be 
entered  in  the  Journals  of 
the     House     the     famous 
protest.      Drawn    up     by 
Coke,  Noy,  Glanville,  and 
other  well-known  members 
of  the   time,  it  put   very 
succinctly  and  forcibly  the 
rights  of  Parliament.      It 
affirms  "that  the  liberties, 
franchises,    privileges,  and 
jurisdiction  of  Parliament 
are  the  ancient   and  un- 
doubted    birthright      and 
inheritance  of  the  subject- 
of  England  ;  and  that  the 
arduous  and  urgent  affairs 
concerning  the  King,  State 
and  defence  of  the  realm, 
and    of    the     Church     of 
England,      and      of      the 
making   and    maintenance 
of    laws    and     redress    of 
mischiefs    and    grievances 
which  daily  happen  within 
this  realm,  are  proper  sub- 
jects and  matter  of  counsel 
and  debate  in  Parliament, 
and  that,  in  the   handling 
and    prosecuting   of  tho-e 
businesses,  every    member 
sin  WAI.TKU  HAI.KK;M.  of  the  House   hath,  and  of 

«,,„,  during  hi.  l.,lvc  yMirf  lni|.ri«.nment  In  the  Tower,  o.mi|m«l  hi.  great  ••  Hktory  of  the  p(mil  ..:„]. t    ol](r|1f    f«   I....... 

World."    Ue  wm.  behfvded  in  Old  Palace  Y.r.1  in  1618.  gOOflllgllt    OUgllt   tO    ll.lU, 


Memories  of  St.   Stephen's — The   Seventeenth  Century     27 


PARLIAMENT   IN  SESSION   IN   THE   REIGN   OP  JAMES   I. 
The  picture  gbowg  a  prisoner  kneeling  at  the  bar  receiving  an  admonition  from  the  Speaker. 

freedom  of  speech  to  propound,  treat,  reason  and  bring  to  conclusion  the  same  ;  that  the 
Commons  in  Pad  lament  have  like  liberty  and  freedom  to  treat  of  those  matters  in  such  order 
as  in  their  judgments  shall  seem  fittest;  and  that  every  such  member  of  the  said  House  hath 
like  freedom  from  all  impeachment,  imprisonment,  and  molestation  (other  than  by  censure  of  the 
House  itself)  for  or  concerning  any  bill,  speaking,  reasoning,  or  declaring  of  any  matter  or 
matters  touching  the  Parliament  or  Parliamentary  business;  and  that  if  any  of  the  said 
members  be  complained  of,  and  questioned  for  anything  said  or  done  in  Parliament,  the  same  is 
to  be  showed  to  the  King  by  the  advice  and  assent  of  all  the  Commons  assembled  before  the 
King  give  credence  to  any  private  information." 

This  was  the  ever  memorable  declaration.  It  was  well  calculated  to  arouse  resentment  in 
a  monarch  whose  special  pride  it  was  that  he  was  endowed  with  absolute  powers.  But  James's 
anger  went  beyond  all  ordinarv  bounds.  He  dispersed  the  House  by  a  compulsory  adjournment, 
and  commanded  that  the  Journal  Book  should  be  sent  to  Whitehall.  Then,  having  torn  out 
the  offending  page,  he  in  his  turn  "entered  of  record"  an  Act  of  Council  which  describes  the 
why  and  wherefore  of  his  action  : — 


28 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


"  WIIITKIIAI.U  30  Dff.,  1621. 

"  His  Most  Excellent  Majesty  coming  this  day  to  the  Council,  the  Prince  his  Highness, 
and  all  the  Ix>rds  and  others  of  his  Majestie's  I'rivy  Council  sitting  alxuit  him.  :md  all  the 
judges  then  in  London,  which  were  six  in  numlx-r.  then-  attending  njxin  his  Majesty;  the 
Clerk  of  the  Commons  House  of  Parliament  was  called  for,  and  commanded  to  produce  his 
Journal  book,  wherein  was  noted  and  entries  made  of  most  passages  that  were  in  the  Commons 
House  of  Parliament;  and  amongst  other  things  there  was  written  do\\n  the  Form  of  a  Pro- 
testation concerning  sundry  Liberties,  Privileges,  and  Franchises  of  Parliament  ;  with  which  Form 
of  Protestation  his  Majesty  was  justly  offended." 

The  document,  goes  on  to  give  reasons  which  his  Majesty  thought  fit  that  the  Protestation 
should  be  utterly  annihilated,  and  concludes  : — 

"These  things  considered,  his  Majesty  did,  this  present  day,  in  full  Assembly  of  his  Council, 
and  in  the  presence  of  the  judges,  declare  the  said  Protestation  to  be  invalid,  annulled,  void 
and  of  no  effect ;  and  did  further,  manu  su/'t  proprid  (with  his  own  hand)  take  the  said 


WESTMINSTER   HALL   AND   TIIK   ABBEY    FlloM    Till:   VII.LACE   <>T  CHAIilM;. 
On  the  right  U  St.  Jamn't  Palace,  ill  the  centre  an  old  conduit,  and  to  the  left  a  public-homo. 

Protestation  out  of  the  Journal  book  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Commons  House  of  Parliament ;  and 
commanded  an  Act  of  Council  to  be  made  thereupon,  and  this  Act  to  be  entered  in  the 
Register  of  Council  Ca>i'-." 

At  the  House  of  Commons  to-day  the  curious  visitor  may  see  in  the  library  the  jwiges  of 
the  Journal  which  James  mutilated.  They  are  mute  yet  eloquent  evidences  of  a  singularly 
small  action — small  in  the  spirit  which  prompted  it — which  has  exercised  a  vast  influence  on 
the  course  of  history. 

James  was  not  content  with  the  simple  cxci>ion  of  the  otl'ending  entry.  He  followed  his 
Order  in  Council  up  by  a  jKimpous  proclamation,  in  which  he  denounced  certain  "ill-tempered 
spirits  and  evil  affected  and  discontented  persons."  who,  "alter  daring  to  treat  of  our  high 
prerogatives  and  of  sundry  things  that,  without  our  special  direction,  were  no  tit  subjects  to 
be  treated  of  in  Parliament,  had  per.-iiaded  the  rest  in  an  unseasonable  hour  of  the  day  and 
a  very  thin  House  'to  conclude  and  enter  a  protestation  of  their  liberties,'  in  such  ambiguous 
and  general  words  as  might  serve  for  future  times  to  invade  most  of  our  inseparable  rights  and 
prerogatives  annexed  to  our  imperial  crown  ...  an  usurpation  that  the  majesty  of  a  King  can 
by  no  means  endure." 


Memories  of  St.   Stephen's — The   Seventeenth  Century     29 


SIR   EDWARD   COKE. 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  1W>3.    Mainly  instrumental  in 
carrying  the  famous  Petition  of  Right. 


may  have  my  prayers  to  God  for  you,  and 
procure  the  love  of  me  and  a  happy  end  of 
this  Parliament."  A  little  more  than  twelve 
months  after  the  delivery  of  this  curious 
speech  "the  wisest  fool  in  Europe,"  as  Sully 
called  him,  died  at  Theobalds,  in  Essex. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  James's 
feeling  for  the  House  of  Commons  was  really 
the  contemptuous  one  which  his  public  acts 
appear  to  indicate.  In  his  heart  of  hearts  he 
probably  had  a  wholesome  respect  for  the 
j»wer  vested  in  the  people's  representatives, 
even  under  the  restrictions  imposed  upon 
them  by  Royal  interpretations  of  the  Consti- 
tution in  his  own  and  his  predecessors  reign. 
Colour  is  given  to  this  view  by  a  story 
related  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  who  was  one  of 
twelve  members  appointed  to  wait  upon  James 
;it  Newmarket  in  1620  with  a  protest  against 
the  King's  unconstitutional  acts.  Seeing  the 
deputation  approaching,  the  King  called  out 
in  sharp  tones,  "  Chairs !  chairs !  Here  be 
twal  kynges  comin."  Another  characteristic 
anecdote  told  of  him  is  that,  mounting  a 
horse  which  usually  was  very  quiet,  but  now 
began  to  bound  and  prance,  his  Majesty 


Following  the  course  of  this  proclama- 
tion came  the  arrest  and  the  committal  to 
the  Tower  of  Sir  Edward  Coke  and  Sir  Robert 
Philips,  two  of  those  most  active  in  the  draft- 
ing of  the  protestation ;  and  the  consign- 
ment to  various  prisons  of  Selden,  Pym,  and 
Mallory,  three  other  leading  protesters.  A 
further  trio  of  conspirators — Sir  Thomas 
Crew,  Sir  Dudley  Digges,  and  Sir  Peter  Hay- 
man — were  exiled.  The  despotic  measures 
taken  were  not  without  their  effect.  No 
really  serious  constitutional  disputes  arose  to 
disturb  James's  peace  from  this  period  to 
the  end  of  the  reign.  So  complacent  did 
he  become  under  the  soothing  influence  of 
these  placid  days,  that  in  meeting  his  last 
Parliament  on  February  12th,  1624,  we  find 
him  speaking  in  a  vein  of  exaggerated 
friendliness.  "  I  am,"  he  said  by  way  of  pre- 
face, "your  own  kindly  King,"  and  then, 
having  enlarged  upon  his  extreme  anxiety 
to  maintain  the  liberties  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  he  proceeded  to  remark :  '•  Let 
not  any  stir  you  up  to  law  questions,  debates, 
quirks,  tricks,  and  jerks,  but  continue  your- 
selves in  that  honest  modesty,  whereby  vou 


SIR  JOHN  GLANVILLE. 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  during  ''  the  Short 
Parliament"  (1640). 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


exclaimed.  " The  dei'l  i*  my  saul,  sirrah,  an  you  he  not    quiet.  I'se  send  yon  to  (lie  five  hundred 
kind's  in  the  House  of  Common-." 

Varvini;  estimates  have  been  formed  of  .lames's  character,  hut  there  is  n  remarkable 
agreement  amongst  all  historians  that  it  was  his  abuse  of  authority  (|iiite  as  much  as  his  son's 
misgovern  incut  which  brought  about  the  great  struggle  which  less  than  twenty  years  later 
deluged  Kngland  with  blood.  The  public  mind  was  genuinely  alarmed  at  the  successive 
encroachments  of  the  Crown,  and  in  this  condition  it  was  peculiarly  receptive  of  views 
antagonistic  to  the  extreme  application  of  doctrines  enhancing  the  status  of  the  sovereign. 

Charles  I.,  on  his  part,  was  unfortunately  too  much  the  son  of  his  father  in  temperament 
to  perceive  the  drift  of  events.  Instead  of  attempting  to  allay  suspicion  by  the  adoption  of 
a  strictly  moderate  and  un  pro  vocative  policy,  he  seemed  to  go  out  of  his  way  to  raise 
questions  calculated  to  excite  controversy,  liarely  had  he  been  twelve  months  on  the  throne 
before  he  was  involved  in  a  furious  dispute  with  Parliament  over  their  right  to  call  in  question 
the  actions  of  his  favourite  minister,  Buckingham.  This  nobleman  had  brought  himself  into 
hid  odour  by  his  gross  mismanagement  of  the  Cadi/  expedition,  and  a  demand  was  made  for 
his  impeachment.  To  this  Charles  replied  in  a  message  couched  in  a  strain  of  haughtv 
insolence;  and  when  the  Commons,  in  defiance  of  his  strongly  expressed  views,  proceeded  to 
draw  up  articles  of  impeachment,  he  promptly  caused  to  be  arrested  the  two  members  who 
had  been  most  active  in  the  business.  These  were  Sir  John  Kliot,  a  Coniishman  of  good 
family  and  blameless  life,  who  was  destined  to  fall  a  victim  to  the  ]x>piilar  cause,  and  Sir 
Dudley  Digges,  a  less  ardent  patriot,  who  was  ultimately  won  over  to  the  Koval  side.  The 
Commons,  justly  indignant  at  this  despotic  act.  assembled  with  stern  faces  to  consider  their 
course  of  procedure.  The  Speaker's  call  to  proceed  to  the  orders  of  the  day  was  received  with 
angry  shouts  of  "Sit  down  !  sit  down  ! 
No  business  till  we  are  righted  in 
our  liberties."  An  obsequious  Court 
functionary  beseeched  the  House  "  not 
to  move  his  Majesty  with  trenching 
on  his  prerogative,  lest  \ou  bring  him 
out  of  love  with  Parliaments."  But 
members  were  not  to  be  moved  by/ 
such  considerations.  .  "To  the  Bar ! 
to  the  Bar!"  cried  many  voices,  and 
so  the  tumult  continued  until  the 
House  perforce  had  to  be  adjourned. 
The  Peers  supported  the  Commons 
in  their  protest,  and  at  the  end  of 
eight  days  Charles  was  reluctantly 
constrained  to  release  his  victims. 
The  episode  ought  to  have  lx>en  a 
lesson  to  the  infatuated  King;  but, 
instead  of  that,  it  only  seemed  to 
act  as  an  incentive  to  further  deeds 
of  violence. 

In  all  disputes  he  came  off 
second  best.  At  length,  wearied  with 
related  rebuffs,  he  dissolved  Parlia- 
ment in  indecent  haste,  peremptorily 
saying,  when  asked  to  allow  the 

J/ords  a  longer   sitting.   '•  No,  not   a 

.     „  .  .  .JOHN  SI:I,I)I:N. 

minute.       After  this  came  attempts 

,  .         .  A  ilmtiliKUixlinl  <i]>|«nrnt  »l  Clmrlen  I  '»  ]<)licj-.     lie  wiu  ninmiitlvil  t.i  tin'  Tcm. 

tO  Mise  taxation  Without  t lie  authority  ,,„  ,|,,.  ,ii».,|ini<.n  i.f  ItnlUnirnt  In  K.W.  ni.il  mmiim-.l  n  i  UK,,,,,.,  until  104. 


Memories   of  St.   Stephen's — The   Seventeenth  Century      31 


THE  HOUSE   OF   LORDS   IN  THE  TIME  OP  CHARLES   I. 
Showing  the  King  on  the  throne,  with  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temi»ral  in  their  robes. 

of  Parliament,  followed  by  the  memorable  protest  of  Hampdan  and  other  patriots,  who  declined 
to  pay  the  illegal  exactions,  and  were  imprisoned  as  a  consequence.  Their  detention  created 
a  flame  in  the  country  which  was  not  to  be  extinguished  until  the  unhappy  Charles  had  been 
sent  to  his  doom,  and  the  last  vestiges  of  monarchical  institutions  had  disappeared. 

It  does  not  lie  within  our  province  to  go  in  any  detail  into  the  events  of  this  stormy 
period  in  English  history,  so  familiar  to  all  constitutional  students.  Our  purpose  will  be  served 
by  touching  upon  a  few  of  the  more  stirring  episodes  in  the  great  struggle  which  occurred 
within  the  Palace  of  Westminster,  and  for  the  most  part  under  the  venerable  roof  of  St. 
Stephen's  Chapel.  The  first  move  in  the  strange,  eventful  drama  was  the  summoning  of  the 
Parliament  of  1628.  This  body,  in  point  of  intellect  not  less  than  influence,  was  one  of  the 
in»>t  remarkable  that  had  ever  met  at  Westminster.  Daniel  Webster,  the  great  American 
orator,  once  declared  that  the  oratory  which  marked  it  was  amongst  the  finest  he  had  ever  read. 
The  compliment  is  not  undeserved.  Fragmentary  as  the  records  are,  they  supply  examples  of 
eloquence,  characterised  bv  a  loftiness  of  sentiment,  a  wealth  of  telling  illustration  and  a  graceful 
imagery  such  as  are  rarely  encountered.  A  terrible  earnestness,  there  can  be  no  question, 
<ravc  an  unwonted  stimulus  and  elevation  to  the  debates.  "  The  eyes  of  Christendom  are 
upon  us,"  said  one  speaker,  and  that  was  the  feeling  which  dominated  the  assembly.  They 
were  not  mere  delegates,  registering  settled  decrees,  but  men  to  whom  the  destinies  of  a  nation 
were  entrusted.  The  general  note  of  the  debates  was  sombre,  as  befitted  the  seriousness  of  the 
times.  But  they  were  not  without  an  occasional  gleam  of  grim  humour.  One  singular  incident 
which  Isaac  D'Israeli  relates  may  be  recalled  in  this  connection.  The  House  was  one  day  sitting  in 
startled  astonishment  at  an  overbearing  message  received  from  the  King,  when  a  whimsical, 
crack-brained  jwlitician,  Sir  James  Nethersole,  got  up  and  entreated  leave  to  tell  his  last  night's 
dream.  The  inconsequentially  of  the  interruption  amused  the  House,  but  Nethersole  replied 
to  the  laughter  by  saving  that  "  kingdoms  had  been  saved  by  dreams."  Allowed  to  proceed, 
he  said  "  he  saw  two  good  pastures ;  a  flock  of  sheep  was  in  the  one,  and  a  bell-wether  alone 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 

in  the  other;  a  great  ditch  was  between  them,  and  a  narrow  bridge  over  the  ditch."  The 
S|*>aker  here  inter|>osed  with  the  remark  that  -it  stood  not  with  the  gravity  of  the  House  t.i 
listen  to  dreams";  but  the  House  was  inclined  to  hear  him  out.  "The  sheep  would  sometimes 
go  over  to  the  liell-wether,  or  the  liell-wether  to  the  sheep.  Once  both  met  on  the  narrow  bridge, 
and  the  question  was  who  should  go  bark,  since  IxitH  could  not  go  on  without  danger.  One  sheep 
gave  counsel  that  the  sheep  on  the  bridge  should  lie  on  their  bellies  and  let  the  liell-wether 
go  over  their  backs."  The  application  of  this  dilemma  he  left  to  the  House.  Kliot.  Wentxvorth. 
and  Coke  protested  against  the  interpretation  of  dreams  in  the  House,  and  generally  jwor 
Nethersole  was  snubbed ;  but  to  him  belongs  the  credit  of  brightening  an  otherwise  dark 
page  of  history. 

The  outcome  of  this  Parliament  was  the  historic  Petition  of  Kight — an  ever  memorable 
landmark  in  the  fight  for  freedom.  In  this  document  it  was  demanded  "that  no  man  hereafter 
be  compelled  to  make  or  yield  any  gift.  loan,  benevolence,  tax.  or  suchlike  charge  without 


THK  CI11I.DKKN   OK  ClIAItl.KS 


Marr  (afterwardi  Prince**  of  Orange)  ;  Juntos  Dnkeof  York  (afterward*  JKIUM  II.);  Cliurlro,  Prince  nf  Wale*  (afterwards  Cbarlm  II.)  ; 

Elizabeth  (died  unmarried) ;  Anne  (died  in  infancy). 

common  consent  by  Act  of  Parliament;  that  none  be  called  to  answer  or  take  such  oath,  or 
to  give  attendance,  or  be  confined  or  otherwise  molested  or  disquieted  concerning  the  same  or 
for  refusal  thereof;  that  no  freeman  in  any  such  manner  as  is  before  mentioned  be  imprisoned 
or  detained;  that  your  .Majesty  would  Ix*  pleased  to  remove  the  said  soldiers  and  marines. 
and  that  your  people  may  not  be  so  burthened  in  time  to  come;  that  the  aforesaid 
commissions  for  proceeding  by  martial  law  may  be  revoked  and  annulled;  and  that  hereafter 
no  commissions  of  the  like  nature  may  issue  forth  to  any  person  or  persons  whatever,  to  he 
executed  as  aforesaid,  lest  by  colour  of  them  any  of  your  Majesty's  subjects  he  destroyed  or 
put  to  death  contrary  to  the  laws  and  franchises  of  the  land."  After  some  evasions  Charles 
was  eventually  driven  to  accept  this  momentous  document  in  the  form  of  a  hill.  But 
the  surrender  was  only  in  form.  An  attempt  to  draw  still  tighter  the  lionds  of  privilege 
in  the  matter  of  the  tunnage  and  poundage  dues,  which  Charles  had  established  without  the 
assent  of  the  Commons,  broke  down  the  barrier  of  restraint  which  he  had  imjiosed  on 
himself.  Angered  at  the  new  demand  sprung  upon  him,  he  put  in  an  unexjtected  appearance 


From  the  picture  palntld  in  1631  by  Daniel  My  tent, 

CHAELE8  I., 
Whew  arbitrary  exercises  of  the  Royal  prerogative  resulted  in  the  great  Civil  War. 


34 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE   STAR  CHAMBER. 

The  home  of  the  dread  tribunal  which  figured  so  prominently  in  the  constitutional  struggle 
which  preceded  the  Civil  War. 

at  the  House  of  Lords  on  June  26th,  and  prorogued  Parliament,  openly  avowing  that  he 
did  so  to  cut  short  the  remonstrance,  to  which,  if  it  went  on,  he  "  might  give  a  harsh 
answer." 

In  the  new  session  the  old  questions  were  revived  with  fresh  vigour.  With  indomitable 
determination  Eliot  and  his  fellow-patriots  urged  the  illegality  of  the  tunnage  and  poundage 
dues.  When  the  King  found  they  were  not  to  be  silenced  he  adopted  new  tactics :  he  tried 
with  greater  success  to  muzzle  the  Speaker,  and  so  frustrate  their  aims.  The  occupant  of  the 
chair  of  that  day  was  Sir  John  Finch,  a  poor  invertebrate  creature,  who  was  peculiarly 
susceptible  to  such  pressure  as  the  King  could  put  upon  him.  The  scene  in  which  he  disclosed 
the  full  force  of  the  Royal  influence  is  one  of  the  most  curious  in  the  history  of  Parliament. 
On  March  2nd,  1629,  Sir  John  Eliot  went  down  to  the  House  with  a  remonstrance  against  the 
King's  arbitrary  acts  in  the  matter  of  tunnage  and  poundage,  but  the  Speaker  declined  to 
read  it.  Thereupon  Sir  John  Eliot  read  the  document  himself,  and  the  Speaker  was  asked  to 
put  the  question.  Finch  replied  that  he  was  commanded  otherwise  by  the  King.  Selden 
protested  against  the  view  that  the  Speaker  could  refuse  to  discharge  his  functions ;  but 
Finch's  answer  was  that  "he  had  express  command  to  rise  as  soon  as  he  had  delivered  his 
message."  Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he  prepared  to  leave  the  chair.  In  an  instant  a 
dozen  hands  were  outstretched  to  hold  him  back.  The  Privy  Councillors  present  endeavoured 
to  free  him,  but  Holies  declared  "  he  should  sit  still  till  it  pleased  them  to  rise " ;  whereupon, 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  Finch  exclaimed,  "  I  will  not  say  I  will  not,  but  I  dare  not."  Selden 
remarked  that  he  "  ever  loved  his  person  well,  yet  could  not  choose  but  much  blame  him  now — 
that  he,  being  the  servant  of  the  House,  should  refuse  their  command  under  any  colour,  and  that 
his  obstinacy  would  be  a  precedent  to  posterity,  if  it  should  go  unpunished.  For  that  hereafter, 
if  we  should  meet  a  dishonest  Speaker  (and  we  cannot  promise  ourselves  to  the  contrary),  he 
might,  under  pretence  of  the  King's  command,  refuse  to  propose  the  business  and  indictment 
of  the  House;  he  therefore  wished  him  to  proceed."  Finch,  however,  was  not  to  be  moved. 
-With  weeping  and  supplicatory  orations"  he  declined  to  do  what  was  required  of  him.  As 


Memories  of  St.   Stephen's — The  Seventeenth  Century     35 


the  House  could  not  get  on  with  the  Speaker,  they  determined  to  do  without  him ;  and 
Holies,  amid  great  cheering,  read  a  statement  which  denounced  as  an  enemy  to  the  kingdom 
any  one  who  might  introduce  Popery  or  Arminianism,  or  aid  in  the  exaction  of  poundage  and 
turmage.  Charles,  who  was  in  the  House  of  Lords  at  the  time,  hearing  that  the  Commons 
were  sitting  in  defiance  of  his  orders,  sent  word  that  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  was  to  leave  with 
the  mace.  Immediately  the  key  was  turned  in  the  door  of  the  House  to  prevent  that 
functionary  from  leaving.  Then  Charles  sent  the  captain  of  the  band  of  pensioners  to  force 
the  door;  but  this  extreme  step  was  rendered  unnecessary  by  the  rising  of  the  House.  Eight 
days  later  the  Parliament  was  dissolved,  the  King  in  his  speech  attributing  the  step  to  "the 
undutiful  and  seditious  carriage  of  the  Lower  House."  Immediately  afterwards  Eliot,  Selden, 
Strode,  Holies,  and  other  eminent  patriots  were  by  Charles's  order  cast  into  prison.  Eliot 
remained  in  custody  until  his  death,  and  Selden  did  not  regain  his  liberty  until  four  years 
after  his  arrest. 

Eleven  years  elapsed  before  another  Parliament  was  summoned — years  full  of  events  of 
the  highest  significance  and  importance.  In  the  interregnum  Charles  ruled  without  a 
Parliament,  laying  up  for  himself,  by  his  illegal  exactions,  principal  amongst  which  was  the 
historic  Ship  Money,  a  store  of  popular  ill-will  which  was  soon  to  overwhelm  him  with  its 
force.  The  new  Parliament,  known  in  history  as  the  Short  Parliament,  in-  contradistinction 
to  its  famous  successor, 
immediately  proceeded 
to  the  discussion  of  the 
popular  grievances, 
taking  up  the  thread 
where  it  was  dropped 
eleven  years  before. 
This  was  the  last  thing 
that  Charles  wanted,  and 
he  therefore  brought  the 
sittings  to  an  abrupt 
close  by  a  dissolution 
within  three  weeks  of 
the  meeting.  A  Parlia- 
ment, however,  had  now 
become  a  necessity  to 
his  existence.  The  ex- 
chequer was  empty,  the 
illegal  imposts  could  no 
longer  be  relied  on  to 
furnish  even  moderate 
funds ;  and,  meanwhile, 
the  Scotch  invasion  had 
cast  upon  the  King's 
Government  an  onerous 
burden  of  a  kind 
which  it  was  impossible 
to  evade.  All  these 
circumstances  tended  to 
influence  the  King  to 
resort  yet  once  more  to 
constitutional  methods. 

„,,  T>      l  •  f          t.  From  an  original  drawing  by  A.  D.  McConnicl: 

A   SCENE    I.V   THE  HOUSE  OP    LORDS. 
Summoned  On  Stafford  delivering  up  his  sword  on  hia  impeachment  for  high  treason. 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


November  3rd,  1640,  was  the  great  assembly  which   will   be  known   to  all  time  as  the   Long 

Parliament — "a   Parliament  which  many,  before   that  time,  thought  would   never   have   had   a 

beginning,  and  afterwards  that  it  would  never  have  had  an  end."     Charles  viewed  its  meeting 

with  feelings  of  anxiety ;   and   well   he   might,  for   there   was   a   spirit  abroad   in   the   country 

which  augured  ill  for  its   deliberations.     Not   many  days  intervened  after  the  opening  of  the 

Parliament    before    striking    proof   was    given    of    the    stern     determination    of    the    popular 

representatives  to  compel  retribution  for  |«ist  wrongs  and  ensure   guarantees   for   future    liberty. 

Its    first   action    was   to   pass   a   bill   enacting    that    the    interval    between    Parliaments    should 

never  exceed  three  years.      Next   it  declared   the   illegality  of  Ship   Money,  and   annulled   the 

judgment  which  in  the  interregnum  had  been  passed  against  Hampden  for  non-payment  of  the 

impost.      The   Star    Chamber  and   other  unconstitutional   tribunals   inimical    to   the   liberty   of 

the  subject,  too,  went 

the  most  dramatic  dis- 

spirit    of    Parliament 

against   Strafford,  the 

the    King,    who    had 

authority  stink  in  the 

by    his     dragooninga 

Meeting  on  November 

Commons      proceeded 

question    without   un- 

Upon     the     dauntless 

vidious  duty  of  taking 

he  announced  that  he 

highest  importance  to 

and    moved   that   the 

cleared    of    strangers, 

the  keys  placed  on  the 

delivered   a   long   and 

denunciation  of  Straf- 

the     impression     pro- 

that  the  House  decided 

ment.     Forthwith  the 

and    Pym     was     sent 

House    of    Lords     to 

tion    come    to.       As- 

of  the  Peers'  chamber, 

members      of     the 


From  it  copy  of  a  painting  by  ran  Dyct. 

THOMAS   WEXTWOBTH,    EARL  OP  STBAFFOBD, 

Minister  of  Charle»  I.,  whose  policy  of  "  Thorough  "  brought  him  to 

the  BcaffoU. 


by  the  board.  But 
play  of  the  remorseless 
was  the  action  taken 
saturnine  Minister  of 
made  the  name  of 
nostrils  of  the  nation 
and  his  exact  i.m-. 
llth,  the  House  of 
to  deal  with  the 
necessciry  ]  nvface. 
Pym  devolved  the  in- 
the  initiative.  Hising, 
had  a  matter  of  tin- 
lay  before  t  he  llmi-e. 
House  should  be 
the  doors  locked  and 
table.  This  done.  In- 
exciting  harangue  in 
ford.  So  great  \\a> 
duced  by  his  oratory 
for  instant  impeach- 
doorj  were  unlocked 
as  messenger  to  the 
announce  the  resolu- 
sembling  at  the  bar 
with  many  leading 
Commons,  he  said : 
name  of  the  Commons 


"I    do    here,    in    the 

now  assembled  in  Parliament,  and  in  the  name  of  all  the  Commons  of  England,  accuse  Thomas, 
Karl  of  Strafford,  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  of  high  treason ;  and  they  have  commanded  me 
further  to  desire  your  lordships  that  he  may  be  sequestered  from  Parliament  and  forthwith 
committed  to  prison."  Intensely  dramatic  in  itself,  the  situation  was  made  doubly  impressive 
by  the  appearance  upon  the  scene  shortly  afterwards  of  Strafford  himself.  It  is  stated  that 
he  entered  the  chamber  while  the  Peers  were  deliberating  upon  the  message  delivered  by 
Pym.  "With  a  proud  glooming  countenance"  he  made  for  his  place;  but  the  Lords  intervened 
and  he  was  ordered  to  withdraw  until  he  was  summoned.  Later  he  was  called  in  and  ordered 
to  kneel  and  yield  himself  up  a  prisoner  to  Black  Rod.  He  essayed  to  speak,  but  the  Ixirds 
would  not  hear  him;  and  delivering  up  his  sword  he  went  out  of  the  chamber,  "no  man  capping 
to  him  before  whom  that  morning  the  greatest  of  England  would  have  stood  discovered." 
Charles,  to  his  lasting  dishonour,  delivered  up  his  lieutenant  a  sacrifice  to  the  wolves.  Strafford 
was  executed  on  May  12th,  1C  11. 


From  an  original  draieing  by  A.  1),  JUcC'orntiek. 

A   MEMORABLE  SCENE   IN   THE   HOUSE   OF  COMMONS. 
"  Some  wared  their  hate  over  their  heada,  and  others  took  their  sworda  out  of  their  belts,  setting  the  lower  part  on  the  ground.' 

C7 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 

Meanwhile,  the  work  of  establishing  barriers  to  withstand  the  encroachments  of  the  Crown 
proceeded  apace.  A  bill  was  passed  and  received  the  Royal  assent  enacting  that  Parliament 
should  not  be  dissolved  without  the  assent  of  the  Commons.  Following  this  came  the  drafting 
of  the  Grand  Remonstrance,  a  narrative  of  popular  grievances  and  a  statement  of  public 
rights— "an  appeal  to  the  nation  rather  than  an  address  to  the  Crown."  A  House  worked  to 
the  highest  state  of  tension  gathered  on  November  23rd  to  discuss  the  pronouncement. 
Opinion  was  evenly  divided  as  to  the  policy  of  some  of  the  clauses,  and  so  great  was  the 
heat  engendered  that  it  seemed  at  one  time  that  there  might  be  bloodshed.  Lent  hall,  the 
Speaker,  exercised  a  moderating  influence.  A  little  joke  perpetrated  on  the  occasion — we  may 
assume  to  calm  the  assembly — has  become  historic.  In  the  course  of  the  proceedings  Mr. 
John  Digby,  member  for  Milborne  Port,  came  in  and  seated  himself  upon  the  ladder  by  which 
members  usually  went  up  to  the  seats  under  the  gallery.  Observing  him,  the  Speaker  desired 
him  to  take  his  place  and  not  to  sit  upon  the  ladder  "  as  if  he  were  going  to  be  hanged." 


From  a  painting  by  O.  Arnold,  made  about  1803. 

A  VIEW  OP  THE.  PALACE  AND   ABBEY. 
A  comparison  of  tlili  picture  with  that  on  i«g»  14  nil!  show  the  great  change*  in  the  river  front. 

According  to  the  narrator,  sombre  as  was  the  prevailing  feeling,  the  House  was  greatly  amused 
at  this  sally.  The  mirth,  however,  was  transient.  After  the  Remonstrance  had  been  carried 
at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  by  the  small  majority  of  but  eleven  votes,  a  motion  was  made 
by  Mr.  George  Palmer,  a  lawyer,  in  favour  of  the  entering  on  the  records  of  the  names  of 
those  who  protested,  with  a  view  to  the  determination  of  the  question  whether  the  right  to 
protest  existed  in  the  House.  Loud  cries  of  "  All !  All ! "  burst  from  the  benches  upon  which 
the  King's  party  sat.  "'All!  All!'"  says  D'Ewes,  "  was  cried  from  side  to  side;  some  waved 
their  hats  over  their  heads,  and  others  took  their  swords  in  their  scabbards  out  of  their  belts 
and  held  them  by  the  pommels  in  their  hands,  setting  the  lower  part  on  the  ground ;  and, 
if  God  had  not  prevented  it,  there  was  very  great  danger  that  mischief  might  have  been  done." 
The  members  finally  parted  in  peace,  but  it  was  with  the  feeling  that  the  night's  work  was 
pregnant  with  mighty  consequences  for  the  nation.  Cromwell  declared  that  had  the  Remon- 
strance not  been  carried  he  would  have  sold  out  and  left  England  the  next  morning. 

The  gulf  between  the  King  and  the  Commons  was  immeasurably  widened  by  the  passing 


Memories   of  St.   Stephen's — The  Seventeenth  Century     39 


JOHX   HAMPDEN, 

The  famous  patriot  whose  resistance  to  payment  of 
Ship  Money  was  a  landmark  in  the  constitutional 
struggle  preceding  the  Civil  War. 


of  the  Grand  Remonstrance.  It  was  becoming  increas- 
ingly clear  that  only  the  arbitrament  of  arms  could  settle 
the  issue.  At  this  juncture  Charles,  with  that  strange 
capacity  for  always  doing  the  wrong  thing  which  dis- 
tinguished him  throughout  his  reign,  resolved  upon  the 
foolish  step  of  arresting  the  popular  leaders.  He  was 
doubtless  largely  influenced  on  the  occasion  by  the 
Queen,  whose  hatred  of  Parliament  had  become  almost 
a  disease.  Sir  William  Coke  has  left  behind  him  a 
curious  account  of  the  events  of  the  period,  which 
indicates  the  malign  part  her  Majesty  played  in  this 
scene  of  the  Great  Tragedy.  From  this  it  is  to  be 
gathered  that  an  ineffectual  attempt  having  been  made 
on  January  3rd  to  secure  the  arrest  of  one  member  of 
the  House  of  Lords  and  five  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
a  long  and  warm  debate  ensued  in  the  Eoyal  chamber, 
as  the  result  of  which  Charles  resolved  that  he  would 
himself  demand  the  members  the  next  morning.  A 
night's  reflection,  however,  brought  him  to  a  sense  of 
the  folly  of  the  projected  course.  "  He  went  to  the 

Queen's    apartments   early,    and    finding  Lady    Carlisle    with    her,    took    her    Majesty    into    her 

closet,  and   there  having  put  to   her  all    the   hazards   of  the  attempt  and  all  its  possible  con- 
sequences, declared  that  he  must  abandon  it.     Whereat  the  Queen,  no  longer  able  to  contain 

her  passion,  is  said  to  have   violently  burst   out,  '  Allez,  poltron !     Go  pull  these   rogues  out 

by  the   ears,   on  ne  me  revoyez  jamais  ! ' '     Thus  taunted,  the  King  could  but  persist  in  his 

dangerous   mission.     So,  gathering   together   two 

or  three  hundred    soldiers,  and   attended   by   his 

nephew  Charles,  the  Elector  Palatine,  he  directed 

his   way    to    Palace    Yard.      Warning    had   been 

conveyed   to    Pym   by  Lady  Carlisle  of  the  pro- 
jected raid,  and  four  of  the  five  members  marked 

out    for    vengeance — Pym,    Hampden,    Hazlerig, 

and  Holies — had  been  packed  off  by  boat  to  the 

City.     The   fifth,    Strode,    determined   to    remain 

and  face  the  King,  but  he  was  eventually  forced 

from  the  House  by  his  friend,  Sir  Walter  Earle, 

just  as  Charles's  force  was  entering  Palace  Yard. 

Advancing  through  Westminster  Hall,  and  leaving 

his  soldiers  there,  Charles  sent  word  that  he  was 

present.     In    response   to  his  summons  the  door 

was    immediately   opened,   and,    accompanied    by 

his  nephew,  he  passed  in,  eagerly  glancing  as  he 

walked    up    the    floor   at    the   place   where    Pym 

was  accustomed  to  sit.     Charles  uncovered  as  he 

entered,    and    the    House   uncovered   also.      Ap- 
proaching  the  chair,  the   King  said  to  Lenthall, 

"  By    your   leave,    Mr.    Speaker,    I    must    borrow 

your  chair  a  little."     What  followed  is  faithfully 

recorded  in  an  account  prepared    by   Rushworth, 

the     clerk,    from    careful    notes    made     at    the 

time.      "  '  Gentlemen,'  said  the  King  in  halting 

sentences,  '  I  am  sorry  of  this  occasion  of  coming 


WILLIAM   LKNTHALL, 


Tlie  well-known  Speaker  of  the  Long  Parliament,  who  was  In 
the  chair  when  Charles  I.  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  rive 
members. 


40 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


From  tht  picturt  ty  Copley. 


A  FAMOUS  SCEXE  IS  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 
Cliarle*  demanding  the  five  members— Pjm,  Hampden,  Huzlerig,  Holies,  and  Strode. 

unto  you.  Yesterday  I  sent  a  Sergeant-at-Arms  upon  a  very  important  occasion  to  apprehend 
some  that  by  my  command  were  accused  of  high  treason ;  whereunto  I  did  expect  obedience 
and  not  a  message.  And  I  must  declare  unto  you  here,  that  albeit  no  King  that  ever  was  in 
Kngland  shall  be  more  careful  of  your  privileges  to  maintain  them  to  the  uttermost  of  his 
power  than  I  shall  be ;  yet  you  must  know  that  in  cases  of  treason,  no  person  hath  a  privilege. 
And,  therefore,  I  am  come  to  know  if  any  of  these  persons  that  were  accused  are  here.' 

"Then  casting  his  eyes  upon  all  the  members  in  the  House,  he  said:  '1  do  not  see  any 
of  them :  I  thinke  I  should  know  them.  For  I  must  tell  you,  gentlemen,  that  so  long  as  these 
persons  that  are  accused  (for  no  slight  crime,  but  for  treason)  are  here,  I  cannot  expect  that 
the  House  will  be  in  the  right  way  that  I  do  heartily  wish  it.  Therefore  I  am  come  to  tell 
you,  that  1  must  have  them  wheresoever  I  find  them.' 

"Then  his  Majestic  said:  'Is  Mr.  Pym  here?"  to  which  nobody  gave  answer.  'Well,  since 
I  see  all  my  birds  are  flown,  I  do  expect  from  you  that  you  shall  send  them  unto  me  as  soon 
as  they  return  hither.  But  I  assure  you,  on  the  word  of  a  King,  I  never  did  intend  any 
force,  but  shall  proceed  against  them  in  a  legal  and  fair  way,  for  I  never  meant  any  other. 
And  now,  since  I  see  I  cannot  do  what  I  came  for,  I  think  this  no  unfit  occasion  to  repeat 
what  I  have  said  formerly,  that  whatsoever  I  have  done  in  favour  and  to  the  good  of  my 
subjects,  I  do  mean  to  maintain  it* " 

The  speech  ended  with  a  reiteration  on  the  [>art  of  the  King  of  his  expectation  that  the 
impugned  members  should  be  sent  to  him,  and  then,  his  eye  lighting  on  the  Speaker,  he 
asked  him  whither  they  had  gone.  Falling  on  his  knees,  Lent  hall  answered  in  these 
memorable  words:  "I  have  neither  eyes  to  see  nor  tongue  to  speak  in  this  place  but  as  this 
House  is  pleased  to  direct  me,  whose  servant  I  am  here;  and  I  humbly  beg  your  Majesty's 
pardon  that  I  cannot  give  any  other  answer  than  this  to  what  your  .Majesty  is  pleased  to 
demand  of  me."  Baffled  at  all  point*,  the  King  strode  out  of  the  now  excited  House,  the 
members  the  while  crying  out  aloud,  "  so  he  might  hear  them,''  "  Privilege !  Privilege !  " 


Frflnt  It*  battilin^  /'/  ll»f  .Vu/iV'»M/ 
P.'ilfjil   (ijllrrr,  itlril'HlrJ  la  Mart  Ghrf 

WILLIAM  CECIL,   LORD  BURGHLEY. 

The  famous  minister  ol  state  of  Queen  Klizabcth,  and  the  direct  ancestor  of  the  Marquess  m  Salisbury.  An  illustrious 
st.iicsm.in.  «ln>  did  much  to  build  up  the  greatness  of  l:m,'l.in-l. 


Memories  of  St.   Stephen's — The   Seventeenth  Century      41 


Repnxltical  by  ptr  Motion  nf  tin  Art  Cnivn  .-    /  /;,.,,•  /,,,,/.  j.intc  of  the  jiictun  by  C.  W.  Cope. 

THE   TRAIN-BANDS   LEAVE   LONDON. 
A  fresco  in  the  Peers'  corridor  depicting  the  setting  out  of  the  train-bands  to  raise  the  siege  of  Gloucester. 

Thus  terminated  this  perhaps  the  most  moving,  and  in  its  consequences  most  momentous, 
c|ii-'>de  that  ever  pa^ed  within  the  ancient  walls  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel.  The  accuracy 
to  the  smallest  detail  of  the  description  given  of  it  by  Rushworth  is  beyond  question.  The 
Lnde&tigable  clerk  took  copious  notes  during  the  progress  of  the  dramatic  scene,  and  Charles's 
quick  eye  noting  this,  he  sent  for  the  report,  and  subsequently  returned  it  to  Rushworth  with 
corrections. 

The  natural  consequences  of  the  King's  arbitrary  conduct  followed  quickly.  A  wave  of 
indignation  swept  over  the  metropolis,  which  elevated  the  five  members  to  the  position  of 
popular  heroes.  Safely  protected  in  that  "stronghold  of  liberty,"  the  City,  they  were  feted 
and  caressed  by  the  populace,  while  there  were  ominous  manifestations  of  anger  against  the 
King.  Still  Charles  was  unable  to  read  the  signs  of  the  times.  With  phenomenal  obstinacy, 
he,  on  the  morning  after  his  abortive  visit  to  St.  Stephen's,  proceeded  to  the  City  to  secure 
if  |>ossil>le  the  persons  of  the  five  members.  Again  his  intentions  were  frustrated  by  a  sturdy 
determination  to  protect  the  upholders  of  constitutional  liberty.  Charles,  chagrined  and  empty- 
handed,  returned  to  Whitehall  amid  increasing  murmurs  of  "Privilege!  Privilege!"  uttered 
by  the  citizens  who  thronged  the  streets.  Convinced  at  last  of  the  fatal  error  that  he  had 
committed,  and  apprehensive  of  the  consequences,  Charles  on  January  5th  discreetly  withdrew 
i"  Hampton  Court,  never  to  return  to  London  again  save  as  a  prisoner.  Meanwhile,  the 
Commons,  through  the  agency  of  a  specially  appointed  Committee,  which  sat  first  at  the 
(iuildhall  and  later  at  the  Grocers'  Hall,  had  been  actively  occupied  in  concerting  measures 
for  effectively  protecting  its  rights  from  further  encroachments. 

6 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Tliis  body,  in  conjunction  with  the  City  authorities  made  arrangements  for  the  sale 
return  of  the  five  members  to  We-tniinster  to  resume  their  Parliamentary  duties.  The  event 
took  place  on  the  morning  after  Charles's  withdrawal,  and  it  assumed  the;aspect  of  a  triumphal 
progress.  Escorted  by  the  sheriffs  and  two  thousand  of  the  City  trained  Kinds  and  a  vast  body  of 
citizens,  the  intrepid  Commoners  were  conducted  to  London  Bridges  where  thev  emharked  with 
their  escort  on  boats.  As  the  imposing  fleet  moved  up  the  river  it  was  greeted  with  vociferous 
acclamations  from  the  thickly  lined  shore.  At  Westminster  the  Speaker  and  leading  memlx-rs 
of  the  House  received  the  party,  while  a  body  of  four  thousand  Buckinghamshire  yeomen  massed  in 
the  background  made  an  imposing  guard  of  honour.  Following  this  came  excited  dehate>  in 
the  House,  with  the  adoption  of  strong  measures  to  secure  the  inviolability  of  the  Constitution. 
The  floodgates  of  passion  were  now  widely  opened,  and  nothing  could  stem  the  torrent.  Ineffectual 
efforts  were  made  by  the  King's  friends,  who  realised  the  temper  that  was  abroad,  to  induce 
him  to  surrender  to  Parliament,  at  least  for  a  time,  some  portion  of  his  authority,  especially 
over  the  Army.  But  the  King  was  adamant.  "  Not  for  an  hour,"  was  his  reply.  Withdrawing 
to  York,  he  made  preparations  for  the  inevitable  conflict. 

For  the  next  five  years  the  interest  was  transferred  from  the  Council  Chamber  to  the 
battlefield,  where  Cavalier  and  Roundhead  fought  for  the  mastery  on  each  side  with  the  tenacity 
of  a  stubborn  race.  Into  the  details  of  the  bloody  struggle  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter.  The 
proceedings  at  Westminster  did  not  again  assume  a  special  importance  until  the  closing  period 
of  the  war,  when  Presbyterians  and  Independents  contended  for  domination  in  the  National 
Councils.  That  singular  inteniecine  strife  was  an  aftermath  of  the  war  which  seemed  likely 
at  one  time  to  rend  the  Parliamentary  party  in  twain  and  produce  consequences  as  disastp'u- 
as  those  of  the  war  itself.  Cromwell's  statesmanship  and  military  genius,  however,  served  in 
the  long  run  to  give  a  consistency,  if  not  a  unity,  to  the  National  Councils.  The  methods 


8T.   BTKPUEH  >  <  HAI'KI.. 
Exterior  of  the  famoni  home  at  the  Hoiue  uf  Commoni  u  it  appeared  in  the  eighteenth  century. 


Memories  of  St.   Stephen's— -The   Seventeenth  Century      43 


Reproduced  by  ptnuiuioH  of  the  Art  L'nioti  oj'  London  j'roiti  their  large  plate  of  tlte  picture  by  C.  W.  Cope. 

THE   DEFENCE  OP  BASING   HOUSE. 
A  franco  in  the  Peers'  corridor  illustrative  of  the  memorable  defence  of  Basing  House  by  the  Cavaliers  against  the  Parliamentary  Army. 

adopted  to  suppress  the  Presbyterian  party,  which  had  secured  control  of  the  Parliamentary 
machinery,  were  as  drastic  as  any  that  Charles  had  ever  ventured  upon.  By  a  demonstration 
in  force  of  the  Parliamentary  Army,  in  which  the  Independents  were  overwhelmingly  strong, 
Denzil  Holies  and  ten  other  leaders  of  the  Presbyterian  party  were  forced  to  withdraw  them- 
selves into  exile,  and  the  Commons  were  compelled  to  pass  an  Act  dealing  with  the  Militia  on 
lines  approved  by  the  Army.  A  temporary  reaction  was  caused  by  a  counter-demonstration  by 
the  City  apprentices,  who  invaded  the  Parliamentary  precincts,  and  by  sheer  physical  force  com- 
pelled the  distracted  Senate  to  rescind  their  previous  decisions.  But  the  strength  of  Independent 
influence  in  the  Army  served  to  rectify  this.  Marching  to  London  from  Hounslow  Heath,  the 
great  armed  force  reinstated  in  the  chair  Speaker  Lenthall,  who  had  been  ejected  in  favour 
of  Mr.  Harry  Pelham,  a  Presbyterian  nominee,  and  it  by  other  measures  asserted  its  power 
as  well  as  its  intention  to  direct  the  course  of  Parliament.  Yet  another  effort  was  necessary, 
however,  before  the  complete  predominance  of  Independent  views  was  assured.  This  was 
the  historic  ejection  of  malcontent  Presbyterians  known  as  "  Pride's  Purge,"  so  called  from 
the  name  of  the  colonel  who  directed  the  operation.  In  its  flagrant  disregard  of  all  Parliamentary 
dignity  and  right  the  outrage  was  even  grosser  than  that  which  Charles  had  perpetrated. 
Placing  a  regiment  of  horse  about  the  House,  and  stationing  a  formidable  force  of  foot  in  the 
lobby  and  precincts,  Colonel  Pride  took  up  his  position  in  the  lobby  with  a  list  of  members  in 
his  hand,  and  with  Lord  Grey  by  his  side  to  aid  in  their  identity.  As  the  legislators  passed 
out  a  body  of  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  them,  all  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion,  were 
arrested.  Included  in  the  ranks  of  detenus  was  Mr.  Prynne.  This  sturdy  legislator  did  not 


44 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


at  nil  relish  the  purge.  He  demanded  "  by  \\lmt  authority  and  commission,  and  for  what  cause, 
they  did  thus  violently  seize  on  and  pull  him  down  from  the  House";  to  which  Pride  replied 
by  pointim;  to  the  armed  soldiers  standing  round  altout  him  with  swords,  muskets,  and 
matches  lighted.  Prynne  then  protested  against  !iis  arn->t  as  a  high  lireach  of  the  privileges 
of  Parliament  and  an  affront  to  the  House,  and  hi-  said  that  .-tir  he  would  not  of  his  own  accord. 
Pride  wasted  no  further  time  in  argument.  He  pushed  I'mm.-  into  the  Queen's  Court. 
where  already  were  gathered  a  number  of  prisoners.  Meanwhile,  the  llou>e,  hearing  of  the 
occurrence,  sent  out  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  to  demand  the  release  of  the  imprisoned  members. 
Pride,  however,  was  not  to  be  intimidated.  When  a  second  message  had  been  brought,  more 
urgent  than  the  first,  he  gave  orders  for  the  detention  of  the  Bergmnt-at-Arau,  ami  continued 
with  his  arrests.  As  soon  as  he  had  completed  his  full  tale  he  sent  some  two-thirds  of  the  party 


*  an  tnff)fi<  ' «re  by  Ceorge  Cuttf,;tiote. 

"PBIDE'S  PCBOE." 

Th«  forcible  expulsion  of  Prmhyterian  members  from  tlie  House  of  Commons  by  Colonel  Pride  on  December  Oth,  1648. 

about    their   business   with   injunctions   never  to    show   their  faces  again   at    St.    Stephen'^,   and 
relegated  the  remainder  to  prison. 

Pride's  audacity  accomplished  its  piiq>o.se.  It  wsvs  a  Commons  entirely  amenable  to  tin- 
Army  which  now  addressed  itself  to  the  question  of  the  disposal  of  the  King.  On  December  JJ:!rd 
the  thinned  House  commenced  its  deliberations  on  this  grave  issue.  The  appointment  of  a 
Committee  to  draw  up  a  charge  and  hear  witnesses  was  followed,  on  January  2nd.  l(>4i),  by  the 
passing  of  a  resolution  asserting  that,  "by  the  fundamental  laws  of  this  kingdom,  it  is  treason 
in  the  King  of  England  for  the  time  being  to  levy  war  against  the  Parliament  and  King  of 
England,"  and  adding  an  ordinance  "for  erecting  a  High  Court  of  Justice  for  the  trying  and 
judging  Charles  Stuart.  King  of  England."  The  Lords  declined  to  accept  this  ordinance; 
and,  though  there  was  a  feeble  effort  to  effect  a  compromise,  the  Commons  were  left  in  the 
end  to  conduct  the  impeachment  alone,  under  circumstances  which  we  shall  describe  in  a  later 
chapter. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


MEMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  (continued)— THE  COMMONWEALTH. 

THE  death  of  the  King  left  the  way  clear  to  the  establishment  of  the  Commonwealth,  towards 
which  many  of  the  keener  spirits  of  the  Parliamentary  party  had  been  working  from  the  very 
outset  of  the  Civil  War.  Even  before  the  disappearance  of  the  monarchy  in  the  tragedy  of 
Whitehall,  the  Commons  had  settled  upon  a  new  Great  Seal  of  curious  design.  On  one  side  was 
a  map  of  England,  Ireland,  and  the  islands  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  with  the  arms  of  England 
and  Ireland.  On  the  obverse  side  was  a  representation  in  bas-relief  of  the  House  of  Commons 
sitting,  with  the  motto  :  '•  In  the  first  yeare  of  Freedome  by  God's  blessing  restored,  1648."  Apart 
from  the  historic  importance  which  attaches  to  this  relic,  it  is  interesting  as  embodying  one  of 
the  earliest  authentic  pictures  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  action. 

No  room  for  doubt  was  left  as  to  the  spirit  in  which  the  new  Government  was  to  be 
conducted.  Less  than  a  week  after  Charles's  execution — on  February  6th,  1649 — the  Commons 
agreed  to  a  resolution  declaring  that  "  the  House  of  Peers  in  Parliament  is  useless,  dangerous, 
and  ought  to  be  abolished  "  ;  and  abolished  it  was — for  the  moment.  Close  upon  this  declaration 
came  a  denunciation  of  monarchy 
as  a  principle  ''  unnecessary, 
burdensome,  and  dangerous  to 
the  liberty,  safety,  and  the  public 
interest  of  the  people  of  the 
nation."  Legislative  force  was 
given  to  these  sentiments,  and 
it  seemed  that  the  country  was 
to  settle  down  peaceably  to  an 
era  of  ultra-democratic  govern- 
ment. But  the  spirit  of  unrest 
was  abroad,  and  for  the  next  few 
years  Cromwell  was  engaged  in 
battling  witli  influences  inimical 
to  the  order  which  he  had 
established.  At  length,  wearied 
of  the  effort,  and  perceiving  that 
his  safety  rested  in  his  assumption 
of  dictatorial  powers,  he  decided 
upon  the  forcible  suppression  of 
the  Long  Parliament.  The  story 
of  this  famous  coup  d'etat  is  in 
keeping  with  the  whole  of  the  his- 
tory of  this  extraordinary  period. 

Cromwell  was  engaged  in    a  THE  GREAT  SEAL  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH, 

COnSllltat  ion     with      the      principal  Aa  altered  in  ICSl,  showing  the  House  of  Commons  sitting. 


45 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


officers  of  the  Army  and  his 
frit-lids  at  tin-  Cockpit  on  April 
2<>th.  1(55:5,  when  news  \\as 
brought  I  iy  Colonel  IngoltMiy 
that  the  Common-  were  mi  the 
point  of  passing  an  Art  fur  their 
di>-oliition.  which  they  had  been 
di-cu-Min;  fur  -niir-  time.  Im- 
mediately lie  put  hiniM'lf  at  the 
hi-ud  of  a  posse  of  soldi. TV.  and. 
marching  down  Kins,'  Street. 

proceeded   t  <•  t  In-   House   of 

Commons.  Quietly  taking  his 
seat  in  his  aecii-t'>nied  place 
without  interrupting  the  tlehati-. 
he  awaited  development-.  Ili- 
opportunity  came  when  the 
Speaker  arose  to  put  the  question. 
Then,  doffing  hi>  liat.  lie  am-e 
toaddre-sthe  House.  (Intwardlv 
his  manner  was  calm,  hut  his 
speech  betrayed  the  extreme 
irritation  lie  felt.  According  i" 
Ludlow,  he  overwhelmed  tin- 
House  "with  the  vilest  n- 
]iroaehes.  charging  them  net  t" 
h-ive  a  heart  to  do  anything  for 
the  puhlic  good;  to  have  espoused 

the  corrupt  interest  of  Pre-1  >\ter\ 
and  the  lawyers,  who  were  tin- 
supporters  of  tyranny  and  oppres- 
sion; accusing  them  of  an  intention  to  perpetuate  themselves  in  power,  had  they  not  been  forced 
to  the  passing  of  this  Act  (the  Act  for  the  dissolution),  which  he  affirmed  they  designed  never 
to  observe;  and  thereujxin  told  them  that  the  I^ord  had  done  with  them,  and  had  chosen  other 
instruments  for  the  carrying  on  of  His  work  that  were  more  worthy."  A  pause  in  his  torrent 
of  invective  brought  Sir  Peter  Went  worth  to  his  feet  with  a  reply  couched  in  defiant  laneiia^e. 
He  told  Cromwell  that  "this  was  the  h'rst  time  he  had  ever  heard  such  unbecoming  language 
U'iven  to  the  Parliament,  and  that  it  was  the  more  horrid  in  that  it  came  from  their  servant. 
and  their  servant  whom  they  had  so  highly  trusted  and  obliged."  He  would  have  said  more; 
but  the  (ieneral.  stepping  into  the  middle  of  the  House,  cried  out:  "Come!  come!  1  will  put 
an  end  to  your  prating."  Then,  "walking  up  and  down  the  House  like  a  madman  and  kicking 
the  ground  with  his  feet,  he  shouted,  'You  are  no  Parliament:  I  say  you  an-  no  Parliament  ; 
I  will  put  an  end  to  the  sitting.  Call  them  in  !  call  them  in  ! '  A  file  of  soldiers  entered,  and 
the  fifty-three  members  of  which  the  House  was  composed  were  driven  out.  with  word-  of 
obloquy  addressed  to  them  individually  by  Cromwell.  Turning  then  to  the  table  and  taking 
up  the  mace,  he  said.  'What  shall  we  do  with  this  bauble?  Here.'  he  added.  addre>sing  one 
of  the  soldiers,  'take  it  away.'''  "After  he  had  thus  brought  all  into  disorder."  savs  Ludlow. 
"Major-General  Harrison  went  to  the  Speaker  (Lenthall)  as  he  sat  in  the  chair,  and  told  him 
that,  seeing  things  were  reduced  to  this  ]«iss,  it  would  not  be  convenient  for  him  to  remain 
there.  The  Speaker  answered  that  he  would  not  come  down  unless  he  were  forced.  'Sir.'  -aid 
Harrison,  'I  will  lend  you  my  hand';  and  thereupon,  putting  his  hand  within  his.  the  Speaker 
came  down."  Cromwell  finally,  after  sei/ing  the  records  and  snatching  up  the  Act  of  Dissolution 


OLIVr.lt   CKd.MWKLL. 

One  of  tlie  but  portrait!  extant  of  the  Lord  Protector.     It  represent*  him  at  the  «ge  of 
fifty-eight,  a  year  before  his  death. 


47 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


that  was  ready  to  pass,  put  the  document-  under  his  clunk.  commanded  the  doors  of  flu-  House 
to  be  locked,  and  stalked  out  on  his  n-tuni  to  Whitehall.  Tin-  next  day  some  wag  jdi.-ted  on 
the  locked  door  a  pajM-r  with  tlie  inscription.  "This  house  to  be  let,  now  unfurnished." 

Exciting  as  the  incident  mu~:  have  lieen — thrilling  in  its  intensit  v  — Scolx-ll.  the  clerk, 
found  it  possible  to  indite  a  record  of  tlie  proceedings  in  the  Journal.  He  wrote:  "201  h  April, 
1653. — This  day  his  Kxcellency  the  Lord  (ieneral  dissolved  this  Parliament."  The  faithful 
official's  devotion  to  duty  nearly  cost  him  dear.  Six  years  later,  when  the  whirligig  of  time 
had  brought  by  its  revolutions  the  discredited  Hump  back  to  place,  if  not  (()  power,  he  \\a- 
haled  to  the  Bar  and  called  upon  to  explain  how  he  came  to  put  his  pen  to  so  gro»  a  tid>e- 
hood  as  that  the  Parliament  had  been  dissolved.  Scoliell.  with  deep  contrition,  acknowledged 
his  fault;  but  the  offence  wa-  regarded  as  too  grave  to  be  lightly  diMni»ed.  and  a  Committee 
of  Inquiry  was  appointed  to  consider  what  should  be  done  with  the  over-conscientious  clerk. 

Distasteful  as  Parliaments  had  become  to  Cromwell,  he.  like  his  Royal  predeee--or.  found 
it  impossible  to  get  on  without  them.  After  remaining  locked  for  ten  weeks,  the  doors  ..| 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel  were  thrown  open  to  accommodate  an  assembly  of  Cromwell's  own 
selection,  which  is  known  in  history  as  ''the  Little  Parliament."  or  by  the  sobriquet  givci, 
it  by  loyalists,  by  reason  of  the  quaint  patronymic  of  one  of  its  fanatical  members.  ••  the  Praise- 
God  Barebones  Parliament."  Soon  the  extravagances  of  this  curiously  assorted  body  gave  the 
General  reason  to  repent  his  action  in  bringing  it  into  exigence.  Property,  religion,  law— all 
came  within  the  range  of  its  levelling  and  subversive  decrees.  Tithes  were  pronounced  to  be 
an  institution  which  the  Gospel  had  swept  away,  marriage  was  treated  as  purely  a  civil 

contract,  and  the  Court  of  Chancery  \\a- 
declared  "a  mystery  of  wickedne--  and  a 
standing  cheat."  and  abolished.  At  la-i  a 
crisis  was  precipitated  by  the  Parliament's 
meddlesome  interference  with  the  ark  of  tin1 
Covenant— the  Army.  The  dispute  led  to  tin- 
voluntary  surrender  by  the  Parliament  of  their 
powers  into  Cromwell's  hands  on  December 
12th,  1653,  at  Whitehall.  With  a  show  of 
reluctance  Cromwell  accepted  the  .surrendered 
trust;  but  as  only  four  days  later  he  allowed 
himself  to  be  installed  with  much  pomp  a> 
Lord  Protector  in  Wot  minster  Hall,  the 
absolute  sincerity  of  his  display  of  regret  i> 
open  to  considerable  doubt. 

In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  "the 
Instrument  "  which  gave  the  colour  of  legality 
to  his  government,  a  Parliament  was  summoned 
to  meet  at  We.-tmin>ter  on  September  :ird. 
1654.  The  assembly  was  opened  in  due  form, 
a  speech  from  the  Protector  delivered  in  tin- 
Painted  Chamlx-r  taking  the  place  of  the 
customary  speech  from  the  throne.  In  tin's 
Cromwell  spoke  of  the  occasion  as  the  great e-t 
that  Kngland  had  ever  seen,  for  to  the  Parlia- 
ment were  entrusted  the  dotinies  of  three 
nations  with  the  territories  Ix-longing  to  them. 
He  concluded  with  the  expression  of  a  hope 
that  the  new  House  would  put  the  finishing 

HENRIETTA  MARIA,  stone  on   the  national    fabric.     The  Protector's 

c«iaortofCbartei.aiidnioth«tof  chnrie«it.andJame«ii.  ardr-nt    aspirations   were    very   far   from    being 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's — The    Commonwealth        49 


/t  /s   an  Ou/c 


"  THIS   HOUSE   13   TO   LET. 
A  contemporary  satirical  print  descriptive  of  Cromwell's  expulsion  of  the  members  from  the  House  of  Commons. 

realised.  Such  were  the  tendencies  of  the  Parliament  that  he  was  glad  to  be  rid  of  it  five 
months  after  its  assembly.  Another  interregnum  ensued,  and  then  a  fresh  trial  of  constitutional 
methods  was  made  in  order  the  more  effectively  to  carry  on  the  war  proceeding  at  the  time  witii 
Spain.  The  new  Parliament,  which  met  on  September  17th,  was  subjected  to  a  careful  pre- 
liminary process  of  sifting.  In  this  way  a  body  more  to  the  taste  of  the  Protector  was  secured. 
So  completely,  indeed,  was  it  in  sympathy  with  him,  that  after  it  had  been  sitting  for  a  short  time 
it  decided,  to  approach  him  with  a  proposal  that  he  should  assume  the  title  of  King.  Cromwell, 
when  the  new  scheme  of  government  was  first  presented  to  him,  gave  an  indecisive  answer. 
A  further  representation  from  the  Commons  elicited  from  him,  on  May  8th,  1657,  a  final 
refusal.  "  His  Highness,"  however,  though  not  a  King  in  name,  became  one  in  fact.  Widely 
extended  powers  were  conferred  upon  him  under  a  scheme  that  Parliament  had  drawn  up,  and 
on  June  26th,  robed  in  purple  and  ermine,  and  with  all  the  great  officers  of  State  about  him, 
he  took  the  oath  of  fealty  to  the  new  order.  The  creation  of  a  House  of  Peers  followed. 
"This,"  says  Macaulav,  "was  the  least  happy  of  his  contrivances,  and  displeased  all  parties. 
The  Levellers  were  angry  with  him  for  creating  a  privileged  class.  The  multitude,  who  felt 
ii'>].cct  and  fondness  for  the  great  historical  names  of  the  land,  laughed  without  restraint  at 
a  House  of  Lords  in  which  lucky  draymen  and  shoemakers  were  seated,  to  which  few  of  the 
old  nobles  were  invited,  and  from  which  almost  all  those  old  nobles  who  were  invited  turned 
disdainfully  away.  .  .  .  His  second  House  of  Commons,  though  it  recognised  him  as  Protector, 
and  would  gladly  have  made  him  King,  obstinately  refused  to  acknowledge  his  new  Lords.  He 
had  no  course  left  but  to  dissolve  the  Parliament.  'God,'  he  exclaimed  at  parting,  'be 
judge  between  you  and  me.'" 

With  the  close  of  this  Parliament  terminated  Cromwell's  essays  in  constitutional  govern- 
ment. During  the  remaining  short  period  of  his  life  he  ruled,  as  he  was  well  able  to  do, 
without  any  other  aid  than  that  of  his  friendly  advisers.  The  accession  of  his  son  Richard 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


li:j>r<*iuadl,ypt>i*iuioiiof  Hit  Art  I'nion  of  London  fivm  Uittr  largt  plate  of  thi  pictun  6y  S.  It.  " 

GGNEBAL   MONK  DECLARES   FOB  A   FREE   PARLIAMENT. 
A  fresco  in  the  Commons'  corridor  showing  Monk  signing  the  declaration  which  paved  the  way  for  Charles  II. 'i  return. 

brought  a  new  Parliament,  elected  on  a  wide  franchise  and  invested  with  all  the  old  powers, 
into  existence.  Its  reign  was  short-lived.  Assembling  on  January  27th,  1659,  it  met  with 
a  violent  end  on  October  13th  following.  On  that  day,  Major-General  I^ainbert,  the  clnVi  of 
the  malcontent  military  party,  by  force  majeure  suppressed  the  sittings.  His  plan  was  \ery 
simple — simpler  even  than  that  of  Cromwell.  Stationing  his  forces  about  the  Palace,  he 
barred  the  approaches  to  the  Parliament  House  to  members.  "Do  you  not  know  me  '•  " 
said  SjH-aker  Lent  hall  to  one  of  the  guards  who  stopped  his  coach.  "If  you  had  been 
witli  us  at  Wilmington  Bridge."  responded  the  soldier,  "we  should  have  known  you."  Hut 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel  was  not  to  remain  long  untenanted.  On  December  26th  the  Hump 
of  the  old  Long  Parliament  was  called  together.  It  was  a  sorry  apology  for  the  popular 
a>sembly.  I/entliall  was  again  in  the  chair,  lending  what  weight  he  might  to  its  deliberations ; 
but  many  of  its  most  influential  members  held  aloof,  and  those  who  attended  lacked  the 
cohesheness  which  is  essential  to  the  authority  of  an  assembly  of  the  kind.  As  a  convenient 
stopgap  it,  however,  played  a  not  inconsiderable  part  in  the  preliminary  arrangements  for  the 
Ue>i  oration  which  followed  u]  on  -Monk's  declaration  in  favour  of  a  Free  Parliament;  and  when 
it  expired  by  its  own  act,  on  April  25th,  1600,  it  did  so  in  a  certain  odour  of  sanctity. 

The  Long  Parliament  will  live  as  the  most  protracted  and  stirring  in  the  whole  course 
of  English  hi-tory.  It  existed  in  one  form  or  another  for  nearly  twenty  yeai>.  the  period  covering 
the  whole  range  of  the  tremendous  struggle  between  Crown  and  people.  \Yhate\er  may  !»• 
thought  of  Mime  of  its  actions,  it  will  alwavs  doerve  the  respect  and  veneration  of  KiiLjli-hmcii 
as  the  instrument  by  which  their  constitutional  liberties  were  won  and  the  principles  of  government 
otal-li.-hed  on  an  enduring  foundation. 


CHAPTER   V. 


MEMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  (continued}— THE  RESTORATION  AND   THE 

REVOLUTION   OF  1688. 

WITH  the  final  disappearance  of  the  Long  Parliament  terminates  the  period  of  absorbing 
and  continuous  dramatic  interest  in  the  Parliamentary  history  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
An  era  was  now  entered  upon  which,  though  accompanied  by  some  exciting  episodes,  was 
comparatively  devoid  of  interest  from  a  constitutional  point  of  view.  The  Convention  Parlia- 
ment, which  seated  Charles  II.  on  the  throne,  has  a  special  importance  of  its  own,  which  may 
be  noted.  This  body  assembled  about  a  month  before  the  King's  return,  the  Lords  by  virtue 
of  their  own  authority,  and  the  Commons  in  pursuance  of  writs  issued  in  the  name  of  the 
keepers  of  the  liberty  of  England,  by  authority  of  Parliament.  "  The  said  Parliament,"  observes 
Blackstone  in  his  ':  Commentaries,"  "  sat  till  December  29th,  full  seven  months  after  the 
Restoration,  and  enacted  many  laws,  several  of  which  are  still  in  force.  But  this  was  for  the 
necessity  of  the  King,  which  supersedes  all  law ;  for  if  they  had  not  so  met  it  was  morally 
impossible  that  the  kingdom  should  have  been  settled  in  peace.  And  the  first  thing  done  after 
the  King's  return  was  to  pass  an  Act  declaring 
this  to  be  a  good  Parliament  notwithstanding 
the  defect  of  the  King's  writs.  It  was  at  that 
time  a  great  doubt  among  lawyers  whether  even 
this  healing  Act  made  it  a  good  Parliament, 
and  held  by  very  many  in  the  negative,  though 
it  seems  to  have  been  too  nice  a  scruple.  And 
yet,  out  of  abundant  caution,  it  was  thought 
necessary  to  confirm  its  Acts  in  the  next  Par- 
liament, by  Statute  13  Car.  II.,  c.  7  and  c.  14." 

Charles  II.'s  first  Parliament  was  in  other 
and  less  reputable  ways  quite  as  great  a 
constitutional  curiosity  as  the  Convention 
Parliament.  It  lasted  from  May  8th,  1661,  to 
January  24th,  1679 ;  and  from  the  long  period 
of  its  existence — eighteen  years — was  known  as 
the  Long  Parliament,  until  that  designation  was 
allotted  to  the  assembly  of  the  Great  Rebellion, 
to  which  it  more  properly  applied.  The  name 
by  which  it  is  now  recognised  in  history  is  the 
IViiHoiiary  Parliament— a  term  of  opprobrium 
which  has  reference  to  the  venality  of  its 
members,  many  of  whom  accepted  allowances — 
I M -11 -ions — not  only  from  the  King,  but,  what 
\va>  a  lower  depth  of  infamy,  from  the  King  of 
France.  Charles  was  in  the  habit  of  attending 
tin-  debates  in  the  Peers'  chamber  during  this 
Parliament.  He  said  that  he  found  them  as 
good  as  a  play,  and  probably  he  did,  for  he  so 

51 


BULSTEODE  WHITELOCK, 


A  famous  member  of  the  Long  Parliament  and  an  active  supporter 
of  the  Commonwealth. 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


AXDl!i:\V    .MAUVr.I.I.. 

The  poet,  who,  u  member  for  Hull,  was  one  of  the  last  recipient* 
•  if  wagt.  f»r  Mrvicea  in  Parliament,  lie  was  a  ttnriiy  opponent 
of  the  Court  iwrtjr  in  the  reign  of  Charle*  II. 


contrived  it  lliat  then-  should  be  no  lack  of 
animation.  Hishop  liurnet  states  that-  at  lir-t 
ho  sut  decently  on  tin-  throne.  l>ut  becoming 
\\earied  of  tin-  restraint  lie  would  leave  his  seat 
ami  stand  by  the  lire,  an  art  ion  which  drew  a 
crowd  altoiit  him  that  broke  all  the  decency  of 
tin-  Mouse.  The  familiarity  of  the  King  with 
1'arliainent  engendered.  a~  it  was  calculated  to  do, 
conteni]it.  This  quality  peeped  mil  in  manv 
ways,  hut  nn«-t  <-ons|.iciioiisly  in  his  aiidaci,,ii- 
••  fooling"  of  the  asseinlily,  as  old  Pepys  calls  it. 
in  KiliT. 

Summoned  to  meet  on  July  2.")th,  the  mo-t 
awkward  period  of  the  year  for  men  whose  ind  , 
were  almost  purely  agricultural,  memhers  tro.'ped 
to  Westminster  in  expectation  of  having  important 
liiisiness  to  transact.  I'.ut  when  the  King  fomul 
that  thev  were  intent  on  exploiting  grievances 
they  had  against  him,  on  the  pi. -a  of  being  pre- 
vented from  attending  by  important  business.  In- 
directed  them  to  adjourn  for  four  days. 

On  the  reassembling  of  the  Houses  at  the 
time  appointed,  greatly  to  their  astonishment  "tin- 
King,  having  made  a  very  short  and  no  plea-ing 


speech,  told  them  that  he  did  think  he 
should  have  had  occasion  for  them,  but  had 
none,  and  therefore  did  dismiss  them  to  look 
after  their  own  occasions  until  October." 
'•Thus,"  adds  the  diarist,  -they  are  dismissed 
again  to  their  general  great  dislike  (I  believe 
the  greatest  that  ever  Parliament  was)  to  see 
themselves  so  fooled,  and  the  nation  in  certain 
condition  of  ruin,  while  the  King,  they  see, 
is  only  governed  by  his  Court  and  women 
and  rogues  about  him." 

Parliament  appears  to  have  submitted 
meekly  to  this  high-handed  treatment,  but 
there  were  some  who  were  not  prepared  to 
condone  the  King's  follies,  public  and  personal. 
One  of  these  was  Sir  John  Coventry,  who 
had  the  courage  to  stand  up  in  the  House 
and  denounce  the  immoralities  of  the  King, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  oppose  the  lavish 
grants  of  money  by  which  his  infamies  were 
supi>orted.  This  double  offence  brought  down 
upon  him  the  anger  of  the  King,  who  decided 
uiHJii  a  characteristically  brutal  revenge.  "The 
.Merry  Monarch."  according  to  liurnet,  ''sent 
some  of  his  guards  to  watch  in  the  street 
where  Sir  John  lodged,  to  leave  a  mark  on 
him."  The  bravoes  "went  thither,  and  as 


From  UK  pninting  by  Si,    ' 

vii.i.n:i:s.  SI:CIIM>  IHKI:  or  nrcKisiiilAM, 
Courtier  and  comiuuiion  of  Cliai  le»  1 1. 

"  A  man  *o  rariotu  that  he  Mem'd  to  1>e 
Not  one,  but  all  mankind'*  cj.ii 


From  an  original  dralring  by  A.  If. 

THE  ATTACK   ON   SIB  JOHN  COVENTRY, 
Made  at  the  instigation  of  Charles  1 1.  in  revenge  for  a  speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

53 


54 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Slit  JOHX  COVENTRY, 
A  conspicuous  member  of  Charles  II.' g  Parliaments. 


Coventry  was  idling  home  they  drew  about 
him.  lit-  Mood  ii]>  to  tin-  wall,  and  drew  tin' 
flambeau  out  of  his  M-rvanl's  hand,  and  with 
it  in  tin' oni'  hand  and  his  sword  in  the  other. 
he  defended  himself  so  well  that  hi-  got  more 
rredit  liy  it  than  by  all  the  actions  of  his  life. 
He  wounded  some  of  them,  but  was  disarmed, 
and  then  they  cut  his  no-e  to  the  bone. 
aff.iir  was  managed  under  the  orders  of  the 
Duke  of  .Monnioiith.  to  who>e  house  the  ruffians 
repaired  after  performing  their  task."  A  bill 
decreeing  the  banishment  of  the  perpetrators 
of  the  outrage  was  passed,  but  of  eom>e  the 
instigators  of  the  vile  biisine—  e-eaped  un- 
punished. 

In  keeping  with  the  character  of  this 
outrage  outside  the  House  was  a  violent  >cene 
which  occurred  within  the  House  of  Commons 
on  May  Kith,  1675.  The  episode  arose  out 
of  some  confusion  as  to  the  result  of  a  motion 
in  Committee  of  Supply  respecting  the  English 
regiments  in  the  French  army,  which  \\a-  a 
burning  topic  of  that  day.  The  tellers  on 
reaching  the  table  differed  in  their  reports 
as  to  the  figures.  Thereupon  there  wen- 
shouts  of  "Tell  again."  with  opposing  shouts  of  '-Keport."  Tremendous  disorder  enxied  : 
leading  members  jumped  upon  the  table,  and  their  followers  crowded  about  them  with  gestures 
and  loud  cries  of  defiance.  There  was  a  particularly  violent  altercation  between  Lord  Cavendish 
and  Sir  John  Hanmer.  It  was  alleged  by  some  that  the  feeling  between  the  two  ran  so 
high  that  the  former  spat  in  the  latter's  face.  While  there  is  some  doubt  as  to  this,  it  is  an 
indisputable  fact  that  there  was  something  very  near  a  free  fight.  When  the  tumult  had 
continued  about  half  an  hour,  the  Speaker,  who  of  course  was  not  presiding  at  the  time. 
entered  of  his  own  accord,  and  making  his  way  at  a  slow  pace  up  the  floor,  took  the  chair. 
His  presence  and  influence  had  the  effect  of  restoring  order;  members  gradually  resumed  their 
Beats,  and  a  little  .later  those  most  prominent  in  the  fracas  were  induced  to  get  up  in  their 
places  and  declare  that  they  would  not  allow  their  rc.-entment  at  what  had  passed  to  be 
carried  outside  the  chamber. 

Corrupt  and  venal  as  this  Parliament  was  at  one  period,  it  eventually  became  a  sharp 
thorn  in  Charles's  side.  It  set  itself  steadily  to  oppose  the  pretensions  of  the  Crown,  and  took 
up  a  strong  line  on  ecclesiastical  questions  antagonistic  to  that  held  by  the  King.  Y\  hat 
was,  perhaps,  an  even  greater  sin  in  Charles's  eves,  it  maintained  a  tight  hold  on  the  ptme-gtringa. 
In  1G77  the  relations  between  the  King  and  Commons  were  particularly  strained.  The  quarrel 
was  over  the  King's  foreign  alliances,  which  Parliament,  not  without  reason,  regarded  with  grave 
suspicion.  Charles,  furious  at  the  representations  of  the  Commons  on  the  subject,  decided  to 
dissolve  Parliament.  When,  on  May  liSth.  the  decision  was  announced,  there  was  ;m  extraordinary 
scene  in  the  popular  chamber.  The  Speaker,  having  adjourned  the  House  to  July  16th.  without 
naming  place  or  hour,  suddenly  left  the  chair.  There  were  cries  that  he  should  come  back,  and 
an  unseemly  struggle  took  place  for  the  possession  of  the  mace;  but  the  Speaker'-  party  \\ere 
too  powerful,  and  he  got  away  in  regular  form  with  the  mace  borne  before  him,  followed,  howe\n. 
by  reproachful  cries.  The  Parliament  lingered  on  for  some  little  time  after  this,  a  constant  and 
growing  source  of  irritation  to  the  King.  Its  activities  were  finally  cut  short  by  its  dissolution  on 
January  21th.  Ki7i). 


55 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


SIH   JOHN   TREVOR, 

The  "  corrupt  Sjwiker,"  expelled  from  the  ch.iir  for  accept- 
ing a  bribe. 


Charles's  Inter  Parliaments  arc  remarkable  fur 
tin-  adoption  of  the  terms  Whig  and  Tory  as  dis- 
tinct ive  party  names.  Maeaulay.  \\lio  gives  1079  as 
the  year  in  which  the  nieknaine-  \\ere  tirst  used. 
ii"U-s  as  a  curious  circum-tance  tliat  one  of  them 
has  a  Scotch  and  the  other  an  Irish  origin.  "I'oth 
in  Scotland  and  in  Ireland  misgovernment  had  called 

into   exigence   bauds    of  desperate    Inell.  whose    ferocit  V 

was  heightened  1^  religions  enthaautHn.     In  Scotland 

some  of  the  persecuted  Covenanters,  driven  mad  bv 
o])]iression.  had  lately  nuirdered  the  I'riinate.  had 
taken  up  arms  against  the  ( ioverninent.  had  ohtained 
some  advantage-  against  tin-  King's  forces,  and  had 
not  been  put  down  until  .Monmotith.  at  the  head  of 
some  troops  from  Kn gland,  had  routed  them  at 
1'othwell  1'ridge.  These  xealots  were  nio>t  numerous 
amongst  the  rustic-;  of  the  Western  lowlands,  who 
were  vulgarly  called  Whigs.  Thus  the  appellation 
of  Whig  Wit*  fastened  on  the  Presbyterian  x.ealots 
of  Scotland,  and  was  transfei-rcd  to  those  Knglish 
politicians  who  showed  a  disposition  to  oppose  the 
Court  and  to  treat  Protestant  Nonconformists  with 
indulgence.  The  bogs  of  Ireland  at  the  same  time  afforded  a  refuge  to  Popish  outlaws,  much 
resembling  those  who  were  afterwards  known  as  Whitelioys.  These  men  were  then  called 
Tories.  The  name  of  Tory  was  therefore  given  to  Englishmen  who  refused  to  concur  in 
excluding  a  Roman  Catholic  from  the  throne." 

It  is  to  the  party  system  thus  organised  that  may  be  attributed  the  strong  >tand  made 
in  James  II. 's  reign  against  the  infractions  of  the  popular  liberties,  and  the  bloodies-  Revolution 
of  1688.  This  great  movement,  which  firmly  seated  a  new  dynasty  on  the  throne,  required 
the  creation  of  a  second  Convention  Parliament,  Hrought  into  existence  as  the  result  of  a 
conference  of  peers  held  at  the  City  (iuildhall  immediately  after  James's  ignominious  flight, 
this  assembly  met  at  Westminster  on  January  22nd.  1(JS<).  and  sat  with  the  usual  form>  of 
a  Parliament,  minus,  of  course,  a  Royal  speech.  It  settled  the-  |  reliminaries  for  the  new  reign 
and  for  the  immediate  carrying  on  of  the  government,  and  then  passed  on  to  the  consideration 
of  the  Declaration  of  Rights — that  great  charter  on  which  the  modern  government  of  this 
country  is  ha-ed.  The  Declaration  was  agreed  to  with  praiseworthy  celerity,  and  its  terms 
were  subsequently  embodied  in  a  measure  known  as  the  Hill  of  Rights.  The  last  act  in  tin- 
drama  was  the  formal  ottering  of  the  Crown  to  William  and  Mary  in  the  Hanijiu  t  ing  ||,,u-,- 
Whitehall  (now  the  United  Service  Museum,  on  February  llSlh,  1689.  The  Convention 
Assembly's  work  did  not  end  with  this  historic  event.  A  week  later  it  formally  declared  itself 
a  Parliament,  and  as  such  transacted  business  until  January  27th,  1690,  when  it  was  dissolved. 
The  Parliamentary  history  of  the  remaining  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  contains 
little  that  is  of  special  importance  from  our  standpoint.  The  one  incident  of  dramatic  inteie-t 
was  the  ejection  of  Sir  John  Trevor,  the  Speaker,  from  the  chair  for  corruption.  This  shameful 
business  we  .shall  leave  for  treatment  to  a  subsequent  chapter.  Meanwhile.it  will  be  sufficient 
to  say  that  it  .supplies  a  not  unfitting  finale  to  an  era  in  Parliamentary  government  in  which 
venality  was  a  recognised  principle  of  administration,  and  in  which  the  honour  of  the  Crown 
itself  was  involved  by  sordid  relations  with  foreign  powers. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


THE  SPEAKER  AS  HOST— PARLIAMENTARY  COSTUME. 

IT  may  not  be  unprofitable  or  without  interest,  before  taking  up  the  thread  of  our  narrative, 
to  step  outside  the  strenuous  political  arena  at  St.  Stephen's  to  examine  some  of  the  lighter 
phases  of  Parliamentary  life.  \Ye  have  seen  how  the  old-time  Parliament  man  comported 
himself  on  the  public  stage  in  times  of  stress  and  peril.  Let  us  now  endeavour  to  discover 
what  were  his  habits  and  actions  when  away  from  the  blaze  of  the  footlights. 

At  the  head  of  the  social  as  well  as  the 
political  system  of  the  House  of  Commons  is 
the  Speaker.  He  occupies  the  position  not 
only  by  virtue  of  his  office,  but  by  the  force 
of  the  sanction  which  is  given  by  the  arrange- 
ments made  by  Parliament  for  his  convenience 
and  comfort.  A  superb  suite  of  sumptuously 
furnished  rooms  forms  the  official  residence 
of  the  Speaker.  The  oak  panellings,  the 
carved  stonework,  and  the  mullions  and 
tracery  of  the  Gothic  windows,  all  accord 
cidmirably  with  the  traditions  which  cluster 
around  the  Chair.  One  feels,  in  passing 
through  these  ornate  apartments,  that  they 
embody  something  of  the  spirit  of  respect 
and  almost  of  reverence  which  the  British 
people  feel  for  the  president  of  the  popular 
chamber.  Nor  is  the  sentiment  without 
justification.  To  receive  an  invitation  to  a 
Speaker's  reception  is  a  cherished  ambition 
of  every  young  member.  The  appearance 
of  that  member's  name  in  the  dinner  list 
gives  him  a  cachet  at  Westminster  which 
hardly  anything  else  of  the  kind  could  confer. 
Full  social  recognition,  in  fact,  is  to  the  budding 
legislator  what  presentation  at  Court  is  to 
the  aspiring  young  damsel. 

The  dinners  themselves  are  no  ordinary 
functions.  As  everything  is  done  by  rule  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  so  are  there  im- 
mutable regulations,  sumptuary  and  other- 
wise, for  these  entertainments.  Uniform  or 
Court  dress  is  indispensable.  Many  and 

THE  STATE  BED  is  THE  SPEAKERS  HOUSE,  ingenious   liave   been  the  attempts  to  escape 

the    operation  of   the  rule ;    but   never   with 

Which  a  Royal  guert  wonld  probably  occupy  if  he  wished  to  sleep  at  tte  ' 

raiace  or  w»tmin.ter  a.  G«orge  iv.  did  the  night  before  hi.  coronation.         success.     1  he  only  relaxation  which  has  been 

57  8 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


mode,  at  all  events  in  recent  years,  was 
during  the  short  Parliament  of  1885, 
when,  as  there  were  a  dozen  Ijibour 
members  in  the  House,  and  they  were 
sufficient  of  themselves  to  form  a  dinner 
party,  the  late  Speaker  (Ix>rd  Peel), 
witli  characteristic  kindness  of  heart, 
invited  them  in  a  body  to  dine  with 
him,  and  to  wear  whatever  costume 
they  pleased.  But  this  was  quite  an 
informal  gathering,  and  does  not 
properly  enter  into  the.  account.  As 
a  rule,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  re- 
strictive stipulations  have  not  proved 
an  insuperable  bar  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  Speaker's  hospitality,  even  on 
the  part  of  the  most  pronounced 
Democrats.  The  tradition  still  lingers 
in  Parliamentary  circles  of  how  the  late 
Mr.  Biggar  figured  at  one  of  Mr.  Peel's 
dinner  parties  in  ivll  the  glory  of  Court 
raiment,  and  of  how,  after  faring 
sumptuously  and  exchanging  confi- 
dences with  some  of  the  most  distin- 
guished guests,  he  threw  a  cloak 
around  his  spare  form  and,  marching 
over  Westminster  Bridge,  mounted  a 
tram  car  and  so  proceeded  to  his  humble 
home  at  Clapharn.  Though  in  essence 
formal  functions,  the  dinners  are  by  no 
means  dull.  There  is  only  one  toast — 
'•The  King" — and  there  is  plenty  of 
time  for  conversation.  When  the  guests 
are  well  matched,  as  they  invariably  are,  thanks  to  the  tact  of  the  Speaker's  secretaryj'the  talk 
is  interesting,  and  the  friendly  interchange  of  views  which  there  takes  plac&^ic  is  not  too 
much  to  say,  has  laid  the  foundations  of  many  strong  friendships. 

The  origin  of  the  Speaker's  dinners  and  receptions  affords  an  interesting  subject  of 
speculation.  Probably  they  do  not  date  much  beyond  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when 
Mr.  Addington  (afterwards  Lord  Sidmouth)  had  a  set  of  apartments,  including  the  Cry] it  Chapel. 
placed  at  his  disposal  for  residential  purposes.  There  was,  no  doubt,  a  Speaker's  re>iden<e 
before  that  time,  but  it  could  not  have  lieen  large,  and  any  entertaining  done  in  it  mu>t  have 
been  on  a  modest  scale.  However  that  may  lie.  it  is  not  until  we  get  almost  to  the  dawn  of 
the  last  century  that  we  find  any  record  of  the  formal  hospitality  now  so  common.  One 
of  the  earliest  authentic  records  of  it  is  contained  in  a  tiny  little  book  in  the  po»e-Mon  of 
Lord  Peel,  which  escaped  the  fate  of  so  many  of  the  less  important  archives  of  the  House  on 
the  occasion  of  the  fire.  This  volume,  no  bigger  than  a  housekeeper's  account-book  and  quite 
as  unpretentious  in  appearance,  sets  forth  in  faded  characters  those  who  dined  at  the  SpeakeiV 
table  in  the  year  1800.  The  dinners  then  were  held  weekly,  usually  on  Saturday  but  occasionally 
on  Sunday,  at  what  we  should  deem  the  unearthly  hour  of  half-past  1i\e  the  present  hour  i> 
eight);  and,  as  we  state  elsewhere,  the  trysting-place  was  the  Crypt  Chapel,  or  rather  a  portion 
of  it  divided  from  the  rest  for  dining  purposes.  Here,  according  to  the  record,  all  the  great 
men  who  then  assisted  in  the  making  of  English  history  assembled  repeatedly  during  the 


SPKAKKIt  ADDIXGTOX   (AFTEKWAKIIS    I.dllll   SinMOfTIl). 
During  \vbote  tenu  of  office  the  Speaker's  residence  wan  greatly  en  I 


The    Speaker    as    Host — Parliamentary    Costume 


59 


session.  On  the  very  first  page  are  the  names  of  Pitt,  Dundas,  and  Grenville  as  diners  on 
February  1  st ;  and  turning  overleaf  we  find  that  the  guests  on  the  following  Saturday  included 
Fox,  Sheridan,  Lord  John  Russell,  Coke,  and  Erskine.  Another  party  a  week  or  two  later 
brought  Pitt,  Lord  Castlereagh,  Dundas,  Pelham,  and  Addington  together ;  and  diving  at  random 
into  the  pages  we  find  such  familiar  names  as  Palmerston,  Whitbread,  Windham,  \Vilberforce, 
and  Townshend  frequently  occurring.  Those  long  past  dinner  parties,  we  may  imagine,  were 
no  sedate  formal  gatherings.  With  two  such  convives  at  the  board  as  Sheridan  and  Fox,  the 
talk  must  have  drifted  into  familiar  channels,  and  as  the  bottle  circulated  so  no  doubt  also  did 
the  good  stories. 

Lord  Colchester  has  left  us  in  his  Diary  a  full  and  entertaining  account  of  a  Speaker's 
dinner  which  he  attended  about  that  period — to  be  precise,  on  February  2nd,  1796.  On  the 
occasion  twenty  sat  down  to  dinner  "  in  a  vaulted  room  under  the  House  of  Commons,  looking 
towards  the  river."  The  guests  were  served  on  plate  bearing  the  King's  arms  by  "three 
gentlemen  out  of  livery  and  four  men  in  full  liveries  and  bags."  All  the  party  wore  full  dress. 
"  The  style  of  the  dinner  was  soup  at  the  top  and  bottom,  changed  for  fish,  and  afterwards  changed 
for  roast  saddle  of  mutton  and  roast  loin  of  veal.  The  middle  of  the  table  was  filled  with  a 
painted  plateau,  ornamented  with  French  white  figures  and  vases  of  flowers.  Along  each  side 
were  five  dishes,  the  middle  centres  being  a  ham  and  boiled  chicken.  The  centre  course 
had  a  pig  at  top,  a  capon  at  bottom,  and  the  two  centre  middles  were  turkey  and  a  larded 
guinea  fowl.  The  other  dishes  were  puddings,  pies,  puffs,  blancmanges,  etc.  The  wine  at  the 
corners  was  in  ice  pails  during  the  dinner — Burgundy,  Champagne,  Hock,  and  Hermitage." 
Lord  Colchester  adds  that  only  one  toast  was  given — "The  King" — and  that  the  company  after 
partaking  of  coffee  and  tea  broke  up  at  nine  o'clock. 

From  this  description  it  may  be  gathered  that,  excepting  in  a  gastronomic  sense,  the 
functions  have  not  greatly  changed  in  the  course  of  the  century  that  has  elapsed  since  the  above 
entry  was  written.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  strange  if  they  had,  for  he  would  be  a  bold  Speaker 
who  would  dare  to  introduce  any  striking  innovations  in  social  customs,  which,  though  based 
on  no  written  authority,  are  as  sacred  as  the  procedure  of  the  House. 

A  chapter  dealing  with  the  hospitality  dispensed  by  the  official  head  of  the  popular  branch 
of  the  legislature  affords  an  appropriate  opening  for  a  reference  to  the  by  no  means  uninteresting 
question  of  the  dress  and  equipment  of  members.  Costume  plays,  and  it  has  ever  played,  an 
important  part  in  the  life  of  Parliament.  If  we  regard  the  term  in  its  wider  sense,  we  find 
that  it  has  left  a  trail  on  the  orders  of  the  House  of  Commons  which  is  traceable  through 

the  centuries  to  the 
present  day.  At  one 
time  it  is  swords  that 
are  the  subject  of 
regulation ;  at  another, 
spurs.  Again,  it  is 
hats,  or  it  may  be 
gloves.  Even  the 
serious  work  of  the 
House  is  affected  by 
the  personal  equip- 
ment of  a  member. 
Unless  he  wears  his 
hat  in  certain  circum- 
stances he  is  not  in 
order  and  cannot  be 
TUB  SPEAKER'S  STATE  COACH,  heard  ;  in  other  con- 

Lait  u«ed  when  the  member*  of  the  Honae  of  Commons  waited  on  the  lite  Qneen  Victoria  at  Buckingham  ' 

Palace  in  1897.     It«  exact  weight  i.  2 j  ton«.  bareheaded          he         is 


6o 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


equally  at  fault,  and  will  inevitably  be  called  to  account  by  the  Chair.  In  fact,  from  the 
moment  the  member  goes  down  to  \\Y-tmiu~trr  until  he  quits  the  legislative  precincts,  he  is 
continually  having  brnught  t»  his  mini!  tin-  philosophy  of  clothes  as  exemplified  in  Parlia- 
mentary traditions  and  praci  ire. 

In  the  earliest  time-,  when  the  regular  sittings  of  Parliament  were  much  more  formal 
and  ipectaeolv  than  they  are  at  the  present  day.  the  dros  of  members  had  largely  an  oflirial 
diameter.  As  is  shown  in  the  quaint,  old  painting  of  Parliament  in  Kdvvaid  I.'s  time  to 
which  reference  has  previously  been  made,  the  whole  assembly  wore  the  robes  of  their 
respective  orders.  Possibly  this  may  have  been  an  exceptional  sitting,  either  at  the  opening 
or  close  of  a  Parliament.  But  from  the  fact  that  the  King  in  those  days  personally 
presided  at  the  joint  sitting  of  the  two  Houses,  it  may  be  assumed  with  a  fair  degree  of 
safety  that  the  custom  of  robing  was  habitually  observed.  In  later  times,  when  the  two 


Till:    SI'KAKKH  S    I.1I1I1AI1Y. 

The  room  it  a  continuation  of  the  stately  suite  of  ajwrtnienu  which  comprise  the  House  of  Commons  library. 

branches  of  the  Legislature  had  separated,  a  less  formal  system  doubtless  obtained,  and 
the  dress  of  members  was  not  in  any  material  degree  different  from  that  of  people  in  the 
ordinary  walks  of  life. 

Arms  seem  to  have  been  universally  worn  from  the  earliest  period.  Occasionally  badges  urn- 
donned  with  (lie  lethal  weapons,  to  indie-ate  the  partisan  sympathies  of  the  wearers.  Thus  a 
Parliament  of  the-  reign  of  Edward  II.  came  to  be  known  as  the  "  Parliament  de  la  liond"  from 
the  circumstance  that  the  Barons  wore  coloured  bands  ujion  their  sleeves  as  a  demonstration 
of  their  united  antagonism  to  the  two  Spencers.  Another  Parliament — that  of  the  fourth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VI. — was  nicknamed  the  "Parliament  of  Bats"  because  its 
members,  being  prohibited  from  wearing  swords,  equipped  thrm-ehcs  with  long  wooden  staves. 
The  custom  of  wearing  swords  was  a  dangerous  one  when  jwirty  feeling  ran  high  and  hot 
words  were  exchanged  across  the  floor.  Following  the  passing  Of  the  Great  Remonstranre  in 
1641,  there  was,  as  already  noted,  an  exciting  scene  in  which  lueiiilx-rs  would  have  "catched  at 
each  other's  locks,"  and  "sheathed  their  swords  in  each  other's  bowels,"  but  for  Hampden's 
timely  intervention.  Isolated  encounters  arising  out  of  the  habit  of  carrying  arms  were 


,<l>ttlo  itprcially  taken  itt  kis  private  room, 

THE   BIGHT  HON.   WILLIAM  COURT   GrLI.Y, 
The  present  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons. 


MBS.    GULLY   IN   HEH   BOUDOIR,   WITH   HER   PRIVATE   SECRETARY. 

61 


62 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Mi:.   I:I>WAH;>  cri.i.v.  Tin:  BPSAKSRfl  s::citi:TAHY. 
Who  acts  at  intermediary  between  the  Sjwiker  nnd  member*. 


not  uncommon.  They  led  eventually 
to  the  rigorous  exclusion  of  the  sword 
from  the  legislative  Chamber  by  the 
order  of  the  House.  Before  this  oc- 
curred, the  Speaker  had  lieen  en- 
dowed by  the  House  with  special 
authority  to  suppress  duelling  with  a 
stern  hand.  On  January  31st,  1041, 
in  consequence,  no  doubt,  of  the  in- 
creasing acrimony  of  the  debates,  an 
order  was  passed  "  that  the  Speaker 
shall  have  a  warrant  to  apprehend 
and  stay  such  members  of  this  House 
as  he  shall  be  informed  do  either 
send  challenges  or  receive  or  entertain 
challenges."  A  little  more  than  four 
years  later— on  April  28th,  1645— a 
further  and  more  wide-reaching  rule 
was  passed.  It  was  to  the  efl'ect  "  that 

if  any  quarrel  happen  between  any  gentlemen  or  others,  in  any  place  within  the  cities  of 
London  and  Westminster  and  the  lines  of  communication  (the  House  not  sitting),  that  upon 
information  thereof  to  Mr.  Speaker,  he  shall  have  power  to  send  for  the  parties  and  secure 
their  persons  till  the  House  be  acquainted  with  it,  and  take  further  order."  That  this  authority 

to  the  Speaker  to  act  the  role  of  peacemaker 
was  exercised  from  time  to  time  there  is  ample 
evidence  to  show.  The  most  conspicuous  instance 
of  his  intervention  is  supplied  by  the  incident  of 
the  quarrel , between  Lord  Cavendish  and  Sir  John 
Hanmer  over  the  result  of  a  division,  an  account 
of  which  has  been  given  in  an  earlier  chapter. 
On  that  occasion  Lent  hall  extracted  from  each 
of  the  leading  parties  in  the  fracas  a  promise 
that  the  quarrel  should  not  be  carried  outside. 

Before  the  Stuart  period,  during  which  this 
lively  episode  occurred,  the  House  had  witnessed 
some  curious  developments  in  costume.  By  no 
means  the  least  striking  was  that  which  was 
introduced  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  The 
petticoat  robes  of  Plantagenet  times  had  just 
been  expelled,  and  the  trouser  as  an  article  of 
everyday  costume  had  made  its  appearance.  The 
new  garment  as  then  worn  was  a  fearful  and 
wonderful  article.  It  took  the  form  in  most 
cases  of  trunk  breeches  of  enormous  size,  the 
artificial  distension  being  secured  by  st lifting  the 
interior  with  wool,  tow.  hair,  or  anything  that 
came  handy.  So  cumbersome  were  they  that 
special  arrangements  had  to  be  made  to  relieve 
the  wearers  of  the  burden  when  indoors.  In  the 
Ilarleian  MS.  it  is  stated  that  "over  the  seats 
in  the  Parliament  House  were  holes  two  inches 
square  in  the  wall,  in  which  were  posts  supporting 


Ml—  SHELLEY  GULLY, 
Whu  nbly  avUU  Mn.  Gall;  ID  her  Kclul  ilr.tie.. 


The    Speaker    as    Host — Parliamentary    Costume 


&  scaffold  round  the  rooms  for  the  use  of  those  who  wore  great  breeches  stuffed  with 
hair  like  woolsacks."  The  scaffolds,  it  is  added,  continued  until  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  when 
they  were  taken  down,  the  fashion  having  then  gone  out.  In  connection  with  these  extra- 
ordinary articles  of  attire,  Holinshed  relates  an  amusing  story:  "A  prisoner  appearing  before 
a  judge  to  answer  an  accusation  against  him  at  the  time  that  the  law  prohibited  wearing  baise 
stuffed  into  the  breeches,  was  told  that  he  wore  his  breeches  contrary  to  the  law.  He  began  to 
excuse  himself  of  the  offence,  and  endeavouring  by  little  and  little  to  discharge  himself  of 
that  which  he  did  wear  within  them,  he  drew  out  of  his  breeches  a  pair  of  sheets,  two  table- 
cloths, ten  napkins,  four  shirts,  a  brush,  a  glass,  and  a  comb,  night-caps  and  other  things  of 
use,  saying,  'Your  Highness  may  understand  that  because  I  have  no  safer  a  storehouse,  these 
pockets  do  serve  me  for  room  to  lay  up  my  goods  in,  and  though  it  be  a  straight  prison, 


THE  SPEAKER'S  STATE  DINIXO-ROOM, 

A»  It  appeared  before  one  of  the  Speaker's  Parliamentary  full-dress  dinners. 

yet  it  is  a  storehouse  big  enough  for  them,  for  I  have  many  things  more  of  value  yet  within 
it."  With  a  laugh  the  judge  dismissed  the  prisoner,  only  stipulating  that  he  should  restock 
his  storehouse  with  the  articles  with  which  he  strewed  the  Court. 

The  gargantuan  trunk  breeches  and  the  exaggerated  ruffs  and  furbelows  gave  place  to 
a  quieter  style  of  costume.  Puritanism,  which  was  then  making  itself  felt,  was  opposed  to  the 
fripperies  of  the  beans  of  Elizabeth's  Court.  It  even  looked  askance  at  spurs,  for  we  find  it 
recorded  by  D'Ewes  that  on  a  certain  day  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  the  Virgin  Queen's 
reign,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  of  the  day  "admonished  that  none  should  enter 
with  their  spurs,  not  to  offend  others."  Subsequently  action  was  taken  from  the  Chair 
relative  to  the  practice.  "Mr.  Speaker  showed  to  the  House  that  some  particular  members 
found  themselves  aggrieved  that  the  ancient  order  for  putting  off  their  spurs  before  they  came 
into  the  Parliament  House  was  not  observed,  which  he  prayed  might  be  done."  Others,  it  is 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 

further  stated,  suggested  that  boots  and  rapiers  should  be  taken  away,  "but  nothing  was  done 
thereon."  The  prohibition  against  the  wearing  of  spurs  continued  for  many  years,  but  in 
process  of  time  it  became  rather  a  tradition  than  a  decree.  How  it  was  read  towards  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  shown  by  the  following  extract  from  I/>rd  ColcheMei's 
Diary  :  "March  18th,  179G.— No  luisine-s  in  House  of  Commons;  but  Popham,  an  old  Ml', 
represented  to  me  that  I  was  disorderly  in  wearing  my  spurs  in  the  House,  as  none  Imt 
county  members  were  entitled  to  that  privilege." 

So  far  as  clothing  was  concerned,  the  House  in  the  Stuart  period  came  to  be  divided  much 
as  it  was  on  political  matters.  The  stern,  unbending  Parliamentarians  adopted  a  plain,  severe 
form  of  attire — a  long  cloak,  with  the  sugarloaf  hat  and  top  boots.  In  striking  contrast  to  them 
were  the  adherents  of  the  Court,  who  wore  long  curls  flowing  gracefully  from  under  a  plumed 
hat.  and  whose  cloak  served  rather  to  accentuate  than  to  conceal  the  richly  embroidered  vests 
which  were  a  characteristic  part  of  their  costume.  Sir  Philip  Warwick,  describing  Cromwell's 


THE   KED   IHtAWlXU-ROOM    IN"   THE  SPEAKEKS1   HOUSE, 
So  called  from  the  colour  of  the  decorations. 

first  entrance  into  the  House,  shows  very  clearly  the  distinction  between  the  two  parties  in  this 
matter.  "I  came  one  morning  into  the  House  well  clad,"  he  says,  "and  perceived  a  gentleman 
speaking  whom  I  knew  not,  very  ordinarily  apparelled,  for  it  was  a  plain  cloth  suit,  which 
seemed  to  have  been  made  by  an  ill  country  tailor.  His  linen  was  plain  and  not  very  clean  ; 
and  I  remember  a  speck  or  two  of  blood  upon  his  little  hand  which  was  not  much  larger  than 
hi>  collar.  His  hat  was  without  a  hatband,  his  sword  stuck  close  to  his  side,  his  countenance 
swollen  and  reddish,  his  voice  sharp  and  untunable,  and  his  eloquence  full  of  fervour."  During 
the  Commonwealth,  (his  plainness  of  costume  noted  in  the  case  of  Cromwell  on  his  first 
appearance  at  St.  Stephen's  became  the  rule.  A  solemn,  sober-garbed  a-sembly  gathered 
during  those  eventful  years  to  do  the  nation's  business  in  the  peculiar  style  which  marked  the 
j>eriod.  (In  the  He>t  oration  there  was  a  reaction  from  the  rigid  suppression  of  the  Puritanical 
regime  in  the  House  of  Commons,  as  elsewhere  in  the  country.  Legislators  blossomed  forth 
into  the  gayest  of  beaus  and  fops.  Long  hair,  embroidered  vests,  laced  ruffles,  and  perfumed 
handkerchiefs  were  everywhere  in  evidence.  Never  had  the  dull  old  interior  of  St.  Stephen's 


The    Speaker    as    Host — Parliamentary    Costume  65 


ELWKS,   THE   MISER, 


Chapel  been  so  resplendent  with  colour.  But  the 
mode  passed.  When  the  troubles  with  the  Second 
James  brought  the  House  back  to  the  serious  con- 
cerns of  life,  the  members,  with  their  indifference  to 
constitutional  innovations,  put  off  their  smart  clothing 
and  once  more  came  down  to  the  level  of  a  work-a- 
day  existence.  The  Speaker,  meanwhile,  was  left 
largely  to  his  own  devices  as  far  as  costume  was 
concerned.  In  the  absence  of  an  official  garb  he 
customarily  donned  the  dress  of  the  period  in  the 
style  which  best  pleased  him.  As  in  the  case  of 
the  general  body  of  legislators,  he  wore  his  hat,  only 
removing  it  when  addressing  the  House.  The  covered 
head  implied  no  disrespect  in  those  days.  On  the 
contrary,  as  in  Eastern  countries  to-day,  it  was  a 
breach  of  manners  to  be  seen  without  the  hat  in 
company.  To  this  period  are  to  be  traced  the  rules 
affecting  headgear  in  the  House  of  Commons,  which 
strike  the  visitor  as  so  curious  when  he  first  makes 
acquaintance  with  them.  Early  in  the  eighteenth 
century  the  Speaker  was  endowed  with  a  wig  and 
official  dress,  and  the  hat  in  his  case  lost  its 

A  wealthy  member  of  Parliament  noted  for  his  penurious  habits.     cirmifjpnn    p  • 

The  eighteenth  century  ushered  in  a  new  sartorial  era  in  Parliament.  The  prevailing  note 
was  a  stiff  formalism.  Full  dress  was  the  rule,  and  those  who  had  orders  habitually  wore  them. 
Walpole  invariably  addressed  the  House  with  the  broad  blue  riband  of  the  Garter  conspicuous 
across  his  breast.  The  elder  Pitt  never  failed  to  appear  in  dress  coat  and  tie  wig,  as  if  prepared 
for  a  levee.  Lord  North  was  also  a  great  stickler  for  the  proprieties  in  dress,  and,  in  allusion 
to  his  Garter,  was  most  frequently  referred  to  as  "the  noble  lord  with  the  blue  riband."  The 
scene  at  all  times  was  one  of  much  brilliancy;  but  it  had  an  added  touch  of  splendour  on 
the  night  of  a  great  debate,  when  the  benches  were  full.  Then  the  glitter  of  stars  and  the 
challenging  colours  of  the  ribands  of  the  Orders  of  the  Garter  and  the  Bath,  with  the  eager, 
animated  faces  on  the  back  benches  appearing  from  under  the  grey  powdered  wigs,  which  were 
universally  worn,  gave  a  distinction  to  the  assembly  which  it  cannot  lay  claim  to  in  these  times 
of  levelling  broadcloth  and  ostentatious  contempt  for  display  in  the  everyday  affairs  of  life. 

While  the  general  character  of  the  eighteenth-century  Parliaments  was  a  dignified 
splendour  of  attire,  there  were  exceptions  to  the  rule  of  smart  dressing.  One  of  these  was 
John  Elwes,  the  miser,  who  sat  in  three  successive  Parliaments  for  Berkshire.  Elwes  was  a 
character  of  his  day.  Though  his  income  was  many  thousands  a  year,  he  would  hang  about 
Palace  Yard  in  the  hope  that  some  brother  member  would  give  him  a  lift  home,  and  when 
he  arrived  there  he  would  often  turn  into  bed  after  a  frugal  meal  to  save  light  and  firing. 
His  costume  was  in  keeping  with  these  penurious  habits.  He  is  said  by  his  biographer  to 
"  have  nearly  reached  that  happy  climax  of  poverty  which  has  more  than  once  drawn  to  him 
the  compassion  of  those  who  passed  him  in  the  street."  The  only  concession  he  made  to  his 
dignity  as  a  member  was  to  keep  a  special  suit  for  the  Speaker's  dinners  and  for  other  social 
gatherings.  In  the  course  of  the  session  the  Speaker  and  the  political  leaders  became  well 
acquainted  with  this  costume,  and  the  joke  went  round  that  no  one  had  a  right  to  take 
offence  at  Elwes,  "  as  he  had  the  same  habit  with  everybody."  In  the  House  on  one  occasion 
an  accident  happened  to  the  old  man  which  was  a  standing  Parliamentary  joke  for  years 
afterwards.  "  Elwes,"  says  Harford,  "  wore  a  wig ;  it  looked  as  if  it  might  have  been  picked  off  a 
hedge  or  a  scarecrow.  At  that  time  we  used  to  wear  dress  swords  occasionally  at  the  House: 
for  instance,  if  going  to  the  opera.  One  day  Bankes,  whose  carriage  is  stiff  and  lofty,  had  on 


66 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


\\a> 


I'KuM    cixi:    llot'SE   TO   AXOTHKK. 


his  sword  and  was  seated  next  to  Elwes,  wlio  leant  his  head  forward  just  as  Bankes  was  rising 
up  to  leave  his  place,  when  the  hilt  of  his  sword  came  in  contact  with  Klwes's  wig,  which  it 
whisked  off  and  Iwre  away.  The  House  was  instantly  in  a  roar  of  laughter.  I  never  shall 
forget  the  scene.  There  was  old  Klwes  without  his  wig,  darting  forward  to  reclaim  it,  ami 
Bankes  inarching  on  quite  unconscious  of  the  sword  knot  which  he  wore,  and  wondering 
what  the  laugh  was  about." 

The  advent  of  the  nineteenth  century  saw  the  end  of  the  old  grand  style  in  Parliamentary 
costume.  Gradually  the  knee-breeches,  the  wigs,  the  silk  stockings,  the  silver  buckles,  and  the 
da/.zling  ribands  gave  place  to  the  sober  and  unpretentious  garb  of  modern  life.  What  there 
daily  display  took  the  form  of  bright  ties,  bottle-green  waistcoats,  and  other  affectations 

of  the  Dandy  Era.  These 
lingered  on  beyond  the 
j>eriod  when  the  men 
of  the  Young  England 
coterie  had  outgrown 
i  heir  little  weaknesses. 
But.  they  were  faint 
reminiscences  of  departed 
glories.  The  old  spirit 
is  only  truly  revived. 
and  that  transiently,  at 
the  beginning  of  a  session, 
when  the  members  for 
the  City  of  London,  in 
accordance  with  imme- 
morial usage,  take  their 

Wal|«ile  lowing  from  the  HUIIM  of  Common*  to  the  Home  of  Lenin.    In  the  background  appear*  a  case  ,  _, 

with,  above  it,  the  wonls  "  Denf.  Snuff  Shop."  SCatS     On      the       Ireasurv 

Bench,  and  the  mover 

and  the  seconder  of  the  Address,  attired  in  uniform,  make  pleasant  oases  of  colour  in  a 
desert  of  black  broadcloth. 

But  if  the  taste  for  fine  clothes  has  waned  in  Parliament,  our  legislators  have  diminished 
nothing  in  their  deference  for  .the  rules,  written  and  unwritten,  which,  as  we  have  already  indicated, 
affect  headgear.  The  hat,  indeed,  has  been  elevated  almost  into  a  parliamentary  fetich.  Without 
the  aid  of  a  hat  a  member  cannot  properly  reserve  his  seat,  though  lenient  Speakers  have  on 
some  occasions  sanctioned  the  use  of  gloves  for  this  purpose.  A  hat,  again,  must  be  worn  if  a 
member  speaks  to  a  point  of  order  during  a  division;  but  he  must  beware  of  keeping  it  on 
while  a  message  from  the  Throne  is  being  read,  or  when  he  is  entering  or  leaving  the 
Legislative  Chamber.  For  a  member  to  go  uncovered  habitually,  however,  is  a  heinous  offence 
against  etiquette.  By  usage,  the  only  persons  who  are  allowed  to  leave  their  hats  in  the 
cloak-room  are  the  Whips.  The  bare  head  in  their  case  is  the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  tin- 
office  they  fill. 

Before  quitting  the  subject  of  costume,  a  few  words  may  perhaps  be  said  about  an  old 
habit  once  widely  prevalent  at  St.  Stephen's,  as  in  general  society  —  that  of  snuff-taking.  The 
snuff-box  was  at  once  the  sign  of  good-breeding  and  the  mark  of  good-fellowship.  Jt  \v.i> 
carried  as  the  cigarette-case  is  to-day,  and  was  even  more  in  evidence  in  the  legislative 
precincts  than  is  that  adjunct  of  modern  civilisation.  In  an  old  engraving  showing  Wai  pole's 
passage  from  the  House  of  Commons  to  the  House  of  Lords  he  is  represented  as  pacing 
through  a  chamber  by  the  walls  of  which  is  a  glazed  cupboard  containing  tins  of  snuff.  It 
was  apparently  the  stock-in-trade  of  some  enterprising  salesman  who  had  gained  access  to  the 
House,  as  it  was  easy  enough  to  do  in  those  days  with  a  little  interest.  In  more  recent 
times  a  generous  Legislature  used  to  indulge  its  genteel  weakness  at  the  national  expense, 
and  in  the  Estimates  every  year  was  an  allowance  for  snuff  for  the  use  of  members. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  OF  PARLIAMENTARY  LIFE— WINING  AND   DINING. 

A  SUBJECT  of  much  interest  for  the  historical  investigator  is  the  rise  of  what  is  known  as  the 
Kitchen  Department  of  the  House  of  Commons.  In  our  backward  glance  into  the  past,  we 
feel  anxious  to  know  something  of  the  inner  life  of  the  legislator  at  old  St.  Stephen's.  How 
were  his  needs  and  his  comforts  ministered  to  ?  How  grew  up  that  social  life  which  now  plays 
so  prominent,  and  in  some  eyes  so  important,  a  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  nation's  repre- 
sentatives at  Westminster?  In  a  sentence:  How  did  the  House  of  Commons  become  "the  best 
club  in  London  "  ? 

When   we  essay  to  answer  these   questions,  we   are   confronted  with   a   lamentable    paucity 

of  material.  Antiquarian  writers  and 
annalists  tell  us,  with  great  wealth 
of  detail,  the  story  of  St.  Stephen's 
in  its  architectural,  its  historical, 
and  its  political  aspects.  But  they 
are  for  the  most  part  silent  as  to  the 
everyday  life  of  the  place.  It  is 
only  by  piecing  together  the  casual 
statements  of  gossipy  writers,  and 
unearthing  an  occasional  fact  from 
old  official  documents,  that  we  are 
able  to  form  a  picture  of  life  at 
Westminster  no  farther  back  than 
a  century  ago.  We  probably  shall 
not  be  wrong  in  assuming  that  the 
absence  of  information  is  explained 
by  the  prosaic  fact  that  there  is 
really  no  story  to  tell.  It  has  to  be 
remembered  that  there  is  a  vast  gulf 
between  the  social  and  domestic 
customs  of  to-day  and  those  of  our 
ancestors  in  Tudor,  Stuart,  and  even 
Georgian  times.  Now  we  turn 
night  into  day.  Our  forbears  reversed 
the  custom,  and  began  the  day  in 
the  middle  of  the  night.  The  dinner- 
hour  was  in  the  forenoon,  and  rarely, 
if  ever,  later  than  midday.  It  is 
recorded  that  when  Charles  II.  pro- 
wise  CELLARS  OP  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS,  ceeded  from  the  Tower  to  Westminster 

In  which  are  stocked  tb«  supplies  purchased  DJ  the  Kitchen  Committee.    Usually  there  on      the     day     of     his      Coronation,     he 

is  wine  to  the  value  of  several  thousand  pounds  in  the  vaults.  "  dined  "  in  the  early  forenoon.       This, 

67 


68 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


doubtless,  was  an  exceptional  case  of 
early  dining,  and  as  the  meal  was 
followed  by  the  banquet  in  Westminster 
Hull  later  in  the  day,  the  phrase  may 
be  regarded  as  implying,  not  the  Kng- 
lish  dinner,  but  the  French  (ISjruner, 
to  which  Charles's  stay  abroad  had,  we 
may  take  it,  made  him  ]>artial.  leav- 
ing, however,  this  incident  out  of  the 
question,  there  is  ample  evidence  to 
show  that  at  that  period  the  fashionable 
hour  for  dinner  was  about  the  time 
that  our  modern  legislators,  if  they  are 
specially  early  risers,  are  getting  out 
of  bed. 

The  hour  of  meeting  of  the  House 
of  Commons  was  fixed  to  suit  this 
habit  of  early  rising.  It  was  once  as 
early  as  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Towards  Stuart  times  the  practice 
l>ecame  fixed  of  a  meeting  lasting 
from  eight  until  twelve  o'clock.  At 
the  latter  hour  the  member  was  free, 
unless  his  attendance  was  required  on  a 
Committee,  when  he  had  to  look  in 
again  for  a  short  time  in  the  after- 
noon. 

With  such  arrangements  as  those 
obtaining,  there  was  no  opportunity 
for  social  relaxation  within  the  pre- 
cincts, and  no  need  for  the  elaborate 
machinery  which  is  now  in  operation 
to  minister  to  the  creature  needs  of 
the  members.  What  refreshment  was 
required  was  doubtless  obtained  at  one 

or  other  of  the  numerous  coffee-houses  and  taverns  which  clustered  about  the  old  Palace 
like  limpets  upon  a  sea-wall.  For  social  intercourse  there  were,  besides  these  establish- 
ments, a  number  of  more  pretentious  and,  perhaps,  more  select  coffee-houses  in  King  Street, 
win-re  the  legislator,  freed  from  the  day's  business,  could  drop  in  and  talk  political  "simp" 
over  a  foaming  tankard  of  strong  ale  or  a  cup  of  sack.  Even  the  simplest  refreshment,  there 
is  good  reason  to  believe,  was  unobtainable  in  the  precincts  a  couple  of  centuries  ago,  and 
perhaps  at  a  considerably  later  period.  "Pray  thee,  keep  warm  as  thou  can,"  said  Dame  Alice 
Kenyon,  writing  under  date  January  12th,  1693,  to  her  husband,  Roger  Kenyon,  at  Wot  in  luster — 
"  Pray  thee  keep  warm,  and  take  something  in  thy  pocket  to  the  House  to  supp  off.  Thy  age 
and  weakness  require  it."  l 

There  was  no  doubt  a  certain  freedom  of  manners  in  these  earlier  Parliamentary  days. 
which  made  any  special  catering  the  less  necessary.  Members,  as  we  may  gather  from  this 
affectionate  appeal  of  Dame  Kenyon,  were  accustomed  to  take  their  own  provender  to  the 
House,  and,  it  may  be  surmised  from  certain  entries  in  the  Journals  referring  to  the  practice 
of  eating  nuts  in  the  Chamber,  they  were  not  ashamed  to  consume  it  there.  Indeed,  we  know 
from  the  direct  statements  of  contemporary  writers  that  the  faithful  Commons  openly  regaled 

1  Historical  MS.,  14th  Report,  Ap.,  p.  281. 


THK    VAI.ENTIA    VAT. 

TbU  huge  venel  In  the  Commons  cellar  i»  capable  of  holding  1,000  gallons      It  u 
never  drawn  below  a  minimum  of  400  gallons 


Social  Aspects  of  Parliamentary  Life — Wining  and  Dining  69 


themselves  with  bread  and  cheese  at  the  trial  of  Charles  I.1  Nor  was  it  alone  in  the  matter 
of  eating  and  drinking  that  our  ancestors  allowed  themselves  latitude.  They  appear  to  have 
smoked  pretty  nearly  as  the  fancy  took  them,  even  actually  profaning  the  precincts  of 
the  Legislative  Chamber,  if  we  accept  the  following  order  of  the  House,  dated  May  23rd,  1693, 
in  its  plain  meaning :  "  That  no  tobacco  be  taken  by  any  member  in  the  Gallery,  nor  at  the 
Table  sitting  at  Committees." 

The  need  for  proper  accommodation  was  not  seriously  felt  until  the  House  took  to  sitting 
to  the  unconscionably  late  hours  of  five  and  six  in  the  evening,  as  it  did  towards  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  This  change  in  Parliamentary  custom  almost  necessarily  involved 
a  corresponding  change  in  private  habits.  Attempts  to  snatch  an  advantage  of  a  lax  opponent 
were  as  common  then 
as  now,  and  the  member 
had  to  be  well  within 
hail  if  he  wished  to 
maintain  the  position  of 
his  party,  which  meant 
to  him  personally  prob- 
ably a  very  great  deal. 
In  this  way  a  supply  of 
refreshments  within  the 
precincts  became  practi- 
cally a  necessity.  Before 
or  about  the  period  when 
special  arrangements 
began  to  be  made  there 
was  a  pleasant  custom 
of  members  "  dropping 
in  "  on  a  congenial  spirit 
and  enjoying  such 
hospitality  as  he  had  to 
offer.  \Vilberforce,  who 
lived  very  conveniently 
in  Palace  Yard,  was  one 
of  those  who  kept  open 
house  in  this  way.  The 
stream  of  diners  would 
begin  about  threeo'clock, 
and  there  would  usually 
be  a  party  of  about 
twenty.  "  It  delighted 
us,"  said  Mr.  'Wilber- 
force,  "  to  see  our  friends 
in  this  way,  especially  as 
it  gave  us  the  oppor- 
tunity of  talking  upon 
any  important  points  of 
public  business,  without 
any  great  sacrifice  of 
time.  Those  who  came 

1  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  here  to  note  that  at  the  proceedings  of  the  South  African  Committee  it  was  Mr 
Cecil  Rhodes's  daily  custom  during  the  period  of  his  examination  to  have  brought  in  a  large  glass  of  stout  and  a 
plate  of  sandwiches,  which  he  partook  of  while  giving  evidence.  But,  of  course,  there  is  a  broad  distinction  between 
a  sitting  of  a  Select  Committee  and  a  sitting  of  the  House. 


MB.  JOIIN   BELLAMY, 

The  founder  of  the  Kitchen  Department  of  the   House  of  Commons.    Aa  proprietol  of  "Bellamys 
Kitchea  '  he  was  intimate  with  Fox,  Sheridan,  and  the  younger  Pitt. 


70 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THK  ovi:mi.\NTi:i.  ix  TIIK  IMXIXC-HOOM.  imi  -r.  m-  COMMON*. 

A  magnificent  «)>ecimen  uf  the  wood-earring  which  U  a  feature  of  th«  adornment  of  the  llo 


up  late  put  tiji  with  a 
mutton  diop  or  lx-ef  steak. 
Tin1  Duke  of  MontroM- 
called  in  one  day  as  we 
were  thus  employed,  hut 
del-lined  taking  anything. 
Seeini'.  luiwi-viT.  s<>  many 
around  him  busy  with 
knife  and  fork,  he  said.  •  I 
cannot  n-»i>t  any  longer.' 
and  down  he  sat  to  a 
mutton  chop.  •  Ali.  I>uke,' 
said  I,  'if  your  Kivnrh 
cook  could  M-C  you  now.  lu> 
would  he  <|iiiteatiYontcd.'  " 
Burke  was  another 
who  wa-  accustomed  In 
receive  his  friends  in  tlii> 
delightful  fashion.  lli- 
nihui'/f  was  of  the  happy- 
go-lncky  order— not  di>- 
similar.  in  fact,  from  that 

of  his  friend  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  who  never  knew  to  a  dozen  or  more  how  many  friends  In- 
had  asked  to  dinner.  An  amusing  story  is  related  hy  Prior  in  illti*tration  of  the  great  orator'* 
carelessness.  "Having  been  detained  late  in  the  HOIIM-.  lie  asked  Fox,  Lord  John  Cavendish, 
and  two  or  three  more  of  the  party  to  sup,  when,  on  announcing  the  object  of  their  visit  to 
.Mrs.  Burke,  a  look  of  annoyance  and  despair  sufficiently  told  of  the  ill-provided  state  of  the 
larder.  A  pause  ensued.  'Surely,'  said  the  host,  with  a  comic  face,  -there  is  Ix-ef  enough?' 
Fox  and  two  or  three  others,  making  an  apology  for  momentary  al»ence,  hurried  off  to  a 
neighbouring  tavern,  provided  themselves  each  with  a  dish  of  such  fare  as  could  be  procured, 

and,  amid  much  laughter 
fV'iiu  all  jmrties — ]«irticu- 
larly  the  master  of  the 
IIOIIM-.  who  cracked  some 
jokes  on  their  skill  as 
waiters — passed  an  amu>- 
ing  evening." 

As  far  as  the  Mouse 
of  Commons  is  concerned. 
it  was  not  until  177:. 
that  any  >tcps  of  a  definite 
character  were  taken  to 
provide  refreshment-,  regu- 
larly. In  that  year  Mr. 
.loh n  Bellamy,  on  assum- 
ing the  duties  of  deputy 
housekeeper,  was  urged 
by  niemlters  to  make  <m 
his  own  account  arrange- 
ments for  a  supply  of 

THK    1U.KGAI.   IIAK,  ...  .  ,  .. 

eihliles    for    consumption 

Otherwije  the  Stranger*'   Bar.  at  which  refrMhmenU  are  Bold  to  vuiton  without  thn  eanction  of  a  . 

licence.  on    the   premises.     As  he 


THE   HOUSE   OP  COMMONS   DINING-ROOM, 
A  fine  apartment  with  windows  overlooking  the  river. 


THE    HOUSE    OF  COMMONS    DINING-ROOM  :    THE    MINISTERS'    TABLE. 
This  table  is  by  courtesy  absolutely  reserved  for  members  of  the  Government.     Usually  it  is  fully  occupied. 

71 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 

had  only  two  rooms  at  his  di>]«>sal.  and  these  of  no  great  si/.e.  he  at  first  demurred1  to 
undertaking  the  re»|>onsibility.  but,  on  Ix-ing  pressed,  he  agreed  to  see  what  could  be  done. 
He  fitted  up  his  quarters  in  unpretentious  fashion,  and  provided  a  few  simple  viands,  such 
as  joints  of  beef  and  sandwiches.  In  this  way  came  into  existence  an  institution  which 
flourished  for  more  than  half  a  century,  and  won  for  its  originator  a  certain  degree  of  fame. 
The  story  that  William  Pitt  on  his  death-bed  cried.  "Oh,  for  one  of  Bellamy's  pies!"  no 
doubt  is  aj>ocryphal ;  but  the  mere  gossiping  association  of  the  two  personalities  indicates  that 
the  shrewd  old  housekeeper  made  his  mark  in  his  own  jwirticular  line. 

Dickens  in  his  "Sketches  by  Boz  "  gives  a  racy  description  of  '-Bellamy's"  as  he  knew  it. 
when  early  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  past  century  he  made  acquaintance  with  it  as  a 
-Parliamentary  reporter.  There  were  then  two  rooms  used  for  dining,  in  such  close  proximity 
to  the  House  that  the  laughter  and  conversation  of  the  diners  floated  into  the  chamber  with 
the  odour  of  the  viands.  Associated  with  these  rooms  was  a  little  bar  place  with  sash  windows, 
where  sat  in  state  Nicholas.  Bellamy's  butler.  "An  excellent  servant  Nicholas  is — an  unrivalled 
comjxnmder  of  salad  dressing,  an  admirable  preparer  of  soda  water  and  lemon,  a  8j>ecial  mixer 
of  cold  grog  and  punch,  and  above  all  an  unequalled  judge  of  cheese."  No  description  of  him, 
however,  is  necessary,  for  if  the  visitor  has  one  atom  of  observation,  "  one  glance  at  his  sleek, 
knowing-looking  head  and  face,  his  prim  white  neckerchief,  with  the  wooden  tie  into  which 
it  has  been  regularly  folded  for  twenty  years  past,  merging  by  imperceptible  degrees  into  a 
small  pleated  shirt  frill,  and  his  comfortable-looking  form  encased  in  a  well-brushed  suit  of 


THE    IH'l  -I.    OF    LOHDS    DI.MNC-KOOM, 
.Similar  in  it*  general  arrangement*  to'the  Common*  dining-room,  bat  under  aepamto  management. 


1  See  evidence  of   Sir.  John  Bellamy,  the   aon,  given  before  the  Select  Committee  on  House  of  Commons  Officer* 
and  Keen,  presented  to  the  House  August  12th,  1833, 


Social  Aspects  of  Parliamentary   Life — Wining  and   Dining       73 


black,    would    give   you  a  better 
idea   of  his    real    character   than 
a  column  of  our  poor  description 
could  convey."    But  the  real  centre 
of    interest    at    Bellamy's    is   the 
kitchen,    where    you    are    called 
upon    to   notice    "  the   large    fire 
and  roasting  jack  at  one  end  of 
the    room,    the    little    table    for 
washing  glasses  and  draining  jugs 
;;t  the   other,  the  clock  over  the 
window    opposite     St.    Margaret's" 
Church,  the  deal  tables  and  wax 
candles,    the   damask  table-cloths 
and  bare  floor,  the  plate  and  china 
on    the    tables   and    the    gridiron 
on  the  fire.     Here,  as  the  division 
is  not  expected  for  half  an  hour 
or  two,  a  few  members  are  loung- 
ing away  their  time,  in  preference 
to    standing   at   the    Bar    of  the 
House,  or  sleeping  in  one  of  the 
side    galleries.  .  .  .  That  female 
in  black,  not  the  one  whom  the 
Lord's  Day  Bill  Baronet  has  just 
chucked     under    the     chin,     the 
shorter  of  the  two,  is  'Jane,'  the 
Hebe  of   Bellamy's.      Jane  is  as 
great   a   character  as  Nicholas  in 
her   way.      Her    leading  features 
are  a  thorough  contempt  for  the 
great    majority    of  her    visitors' ; 
her  predominant   quality    love  of 
admiration,    as    you    cannot    fail 
to   observe  if  you  mark  the  glee 
with    which    she    listens    to    something    the    young  member    near  her  mutters    somewhat  unin- 
telligibly   in    her    ear   (for    his    speech    is   rather   thick    from    some   cause   or   other),    and    how 
playfully  she   digs  the    handle   of  a   fork    into   the  arm  with  which  he  detains  her  by  way  of 
reply.     Jane  is  no  bad  hand  at  repartees,   and   showers  them  about  with  a  degree  of  liberality 
and    a    total   absence    of  reserve    or    constraint  which  occasionally  excites   no    small  amazement 
in    the    minds    of    strangers.      She   cuts  jokes   with    Nicholas   too,  but    looks   up    to    him    with 
a  great  deal   of  respect ;   the  immovable   stolidity  with  which    Nicholas   receives   the   aforesaid 
jokes    and   looks    on    at    certain    pastoral  friskings    and    rompings    (Jane's    only  recreations,  and 
they  are   very    innocent,   too)  which   occasionally    take    place    in    the    passage,    is  not  the   least 
amusing  part  of  his  character."     The   patrons  of  the  establishment  are  hit  off  in  a  few  ready 
touches.      One  of   them    is    "  a    spare,  squeaking    old    man  .  .  .  who,  elevating  a  little  cracked 
bantam   sort  of  voice  to  its  highest  pitch,   invokes  damnation  upon  his  own  eyes  or  somebody 
else's  at  the   commencement  of  every   sentence    he  utters."     He  is    "a  very   old  frequenter   of 
Bellamy's,  much  addicted  to  stopping  '  after  the  House  is  up '   (an  inexpiable  crime  in  Jane's 
eyes),  and   a   complete  walking  reservoir  of  spirits  and  water."      His   companion,  an  old   peer, 
has  a  large  tumbler  of  hot  punch  brought  him,  while  he  "  damns  and  drinks  and   drinks  and 
damns   and    smiles."     "  Members   arrive   every  moment   in  a  great   bustle   to   report  that    '  the 

10 


/he  portrait  by  D.  Macliu,  R.A. 

CHARLES  DICKENS, 

Who  was  for  several  years  in  the  Roportere' .Gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons.     Writer  of  a 
spirited  description  of  Bellamy's  kitchen  in  "Sketches  by  II.  /.." 


74 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Chancellor  of  tin-  Kxchequer  is  ii|>,'  and  to  get  glosses  of  brandy  and  water  to  sustain  them 
during  the  division  ;  jieople  who  have  or.lered  su|>j>er  countermand  it  and  pn'jMire  to  go  down- 
stairs, when  suddenly  a  liell  is  heard  to  ring  with  tremendous  violence,  and  a  cry  of  'Division' 
is  heard  in  the  jwssage.  This  is  enough  :  away  rush  members  pell-mell.  The  room  is  cleared 
in  an  instant;  the  noise  rapidly  dies  away;  you  hear  the  creaking  of  the  last  boot  on  the 
last  stair,  and  are  left  alone  with  the  leviathan  of  beef  steaks." 


tlit  pieturt  !>y  Thomas  SanMy,  R.A. 


WESTMINSTER   HALL. 
Showing  the  inns  and  coffee-houses  which  were  once  a  characteristic  fcatnre  of  New  Palace  Yard. 

Bellamy's,  though  rough  and  ready,  as  may  be  gathered  from  Dickens's  lively  description, 
was  not  at  all  plebeian  in  its  charges.  Members  who  can  now  purchase  a  bottle  of  excellent  claivt 
for  a  shilling,  and  obtain  a  hot  meal  for  the  same  sum,  would  move  the  suspension  of  the 
Constitution  if  they  had  to  pay  the  prices  demanded  of  their  predecessors  at  the  beginning  of 
the  century.  A  sandwich  cost  a  shilling,  a  glass  of  wine  and  water  or  negus  was  Is.  6d.,  port 
and  sherry  cost  6«.  per  bottle,  claret  10s.,  and  madeira  8s.  On  the  other  hand,  it  should,  in 
justice  to  the  shade  of  the  immortal  Bellamy,  be  stated  that  he  provided  cold  meat,  with  bread,  beer, 
and  cheese,  for  2a.  Qd.,  the  same  with  a  salad  and  tart  for  3s.  6d.,  while  5s.  (>  I.  scrured  the  m»-t 
expensive  dinner  that  could  be  had,  this  consisting  of  "steaks,  veal  pie.  mutton  chops  to  anv 
extent,  with  tarts,  salads,  pickles,  beer,  toasted  cheese,  etc,"1  surely  the  most  indigestible  menu. 
that  a  legislator  ever  sustained  eloquence  upon.  The  business,  however,  was  undoubtedly  a  very 
fine  one.  K  ooms  and  furniture  were  provided  at  the  national  expense,  tliere  was  very  little 
risk,  and  there  was  a  certain  business  at  the  highest  rates.  .Moreover,  the  practice  of  supplying 
wine  to  members  with  their  meals  led  to  lucrative  transactions  outside  the  House,  and  so  the 
foundations  were  laid  of  a  business  which  exists  to  this  day  in  Westminster. 

It  was  in  human  nature  that  the  establishment  of  this  prosperous  connection  of  the  Bellamy 
1  Mr.  John  Bellamy's  evidence  before  the  Select  Committee  of  1833. 


Social  Aspects   of  Parliamentary  Life — Wining  and  Dining       75 


family  with  the  House  should  provoke  envy.  Many  were  the  attacks,  open  and  covert,  made 
upon  the  system.  For  example,  in  a  little  work — a  veritable  chronique  scandaleuse  hereafter 
to  be  mentioned — written  by  a  chief  doorkeeper  of  the  House  and  published  in  1793,  a  Bellamy's 
sandwich  is  thus  defined :  "  Two  small  slices  of  bread  and  butter,  almost  transparent,  with  a  thin 
piece  of  stale  ham  or  beef  between  them,  and  used  to  keep  the  people  in  the  gallery  from  famishing 
from  eleven  o'clock  until  the  next  morning.  N.B. — Bellamy  charges  a  shilling  for  them,  and 
they  don't  stand  him  above  twopence.  .  .  .  '  Bellamy's  profit,'  as  Dick  Rigby  once  said,  when 

Cook  was  appointed  Paymaster-General  with  him,  'is  a  d d  sight  more  than  my  guineas."' 

These  grumblers  notwithstanding,  the  system  lasted  many  years  after  its  founder  had 
departed  this  life  full  of  years — leaving  a  handsome  fortune  behind  him.  It  would  probably 
also  have  survived  the  life  of  his  son  had  not  the  destruction  of  the  old  Houses  of  Parliament 
and  the  construction  of  the  new  building  brought  prominently  to  the  front  the  question  of  the 
refreshment  arrangements.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1848  that  anything  definite  was  done. 
In  the  session  of  that  year  a  Select  Committee  was  appointed  "to  inquire  into  the  proposed 
arrangements  of  the  Kitchen  and  Eating  and  Accommodation  Rooms  for  members  and  officers 
of  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  New  Palace  of  Westminster,  and  to  report  whether  any  and 
what  improvements  could  be  made  in  the  present  system  of  supplying  refreshments."  A  report 
was  in  due  course  forthcoming,  recommending  the  appointment  of  a  Sessional  Committee  to 
control  the  arrangements  of  the  Kitchen  and  Eating  Departments.  Effect  was  given  to  the 
Committee's  proposal,  and  the  new  regime  was  installed  immediately  the  Commons  entered 
into  occupation  of  its  new  home.  Apparently  its  operations  were  not  regarded  with  entire 

approval  by  "the  trade,"  for  a  petition  was 
presented  by  hotel  and  tavern  keepers  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  House  com- 
plaining of  the  facilities  for  indiscriminate 
refreshment  afforded  by  the  department  within 
the  precincts.  The  Kitchen  Committee,  to 
whom  the  matter  was  referred,  declined  to 
vary  their  plans,  believing  them  to  be  essential 
to  the  convenience  of  members  and  of  visitors 
to  the  House ;  but  they  stated  that  "  as  a 
protection  to  other  parties "  they  had  been 
careful  to  give  strict  instructions  that  no 
refreshments  whatever  should  be  sold  in  the 
halls  of  the  House  upon  those  days  when  the 
House  and  its  Committees  were  not  sitting. 

Once  established,  the  system  of  direct 
official  supervision  of  the  creature  needs  of 
members  was  never  abandoned.  Changes, 
however,  have  been  made  in  it  from  time  to 
time,  to  meet  the  growing  demands  imposed 
upon  the  department  by  the  extension  of 
facilities  for  social  intercourse  and  the  lengthen- 
ing of  the  hours  of  business.  For  a  period 
the  actual  work  of  catering  was  left  to  a 
contractor,  who  received  a  grant  from  the 
public  funds  and  supplied  refreshments  at 
fixed  rates.  Eventually  the  Committee  took 
the  duties  into  their  own  hands,  and  worked 
the  dePartme°t  ™der  a  manager  in  the 

Sam6      ^     a§      tllC      h°US6      COmmittee     °f     "> 

consumption.  ordinary  club.     This  arrangement  still  obtains, 


76 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE   LOBBY   BAK, 

Where  legislators  obtain  light  rcfroshn.cnt*  daring  the  sittings  of  the  Hor.se.     Strangers  are  not 
served  here  unless  introduced  by  members. 


and  gives  general  satisfaction. 
as  in  the  selection  of  the 
personnel  of  the  Committee 
care  is  taken  to  appoint 
members  of  bu.-ino.-s  aptitude 
and  practical  experience  in 
the  work. 

The  Commit  too  holds  its 
meetings  in  the  office  of  the 
Sergeant-at-Arms  fortnightly, 
Mud  a  nib-Committee  of  seven 
members  meets  weekly,  the 
purchase  of  wines  and  spirits 
forming  an  important  part  of 
their  deliberations.  Extreme 
care  is  taken  in  the  selection 
of  stock.  The  practice  is  for 
well-known  \\ine  merchants 
to  submit  samples  in  bottles 
which  bear  no  indication  of 
their  origin.  These-  are 
numbered,  and  the  members, 
with  pencil  and  paper  beside 
them,  note  down  their  opinion 
of  each  as  it  comes  under 
review.  When  the  tasting  operation  is  completed,  notes  are  compared,  and  the  order  is  given 
to  the  sample  which  meets  with  the  greatest  approval.  So  experienced  are  the  Committee  in 
the  process  of  selection  that  it  rarely  happens  that  there  is  any  great  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  which  is  the  best  wine  submitted. 

One  of  the  features  of  the  Commons  cellar  is  the  Valentia  vat,  so  named  after  the  popular 
Whip,  Viscount  Valentia.  This  is  a  huge  vessel  capable  of  holding  one  thousand  gallons  of 
Scotch  whisky,  ten  j'ears  old,  15  u.p.  It  is  never  drawn  below  a  minimum  of  four  hundred 
gallons.  A  smaller  vat  of  Irish  whisky  contains  three  hundred  gallons.  The  wine  cellars  are 
methodically  arranged  with  bins  of  bottled  wines,  and  among  them  are  a  selection  of  the 
lioyal  sherries  from  Buckingham  and  St.  James's  Palaces  and  Windsor  Castle. 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  catering  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  a  staff  of 
twenty  cooks  are  employed,  and  that  the  total  number  of  meals  served  during  last  session 
exceeded  one  hundred  and  eleven  thousand.  The  tariff  is  arranged  to  suit  all  pockets.  For  a 
modest  shilling  the  frugal  member  can  obtain  a  meal  adequate  for  bis  simple  needs.  An 
inclusive  charge  of  2s.  secures  a  plain  dinner  of  three  courses.  An  additional  shilling  com- 
mands a  more  elaborate  meal ;  while  if  a  member  spends  5s.  he  can  fare  most  sumptuously  on 
all  the  delicacies  in  season.  The  wine  list  is  framed  on  lines  as  comprehensive  as  those  of  the 
bill  of  fare.  A  bottle  of  excellent  claret  costs  r.o  more  than  IQd.,  and  a  bottle  of  light  hock 
or  graves  may  be  obtained  for  Is.  Champagne  (1893  wine)  ranges  from  6s.  the  bottle  to 
8«.  6d.,  and  a  bottle  of  the  1884  vintage  of  a  first-class  brand  costs  no  more  than  15s.  These 
charges  are  indicative  of  the  principles  upon  which  "  the  best  club  in  London  "  is  worked. 
The  aim  which  is  kept  steadily  in  view  by  successive  Kitchen  Committees  is  to  cater  on  the 
broadest  lines  and  at  the  most  moderate  rates.  I  low  well  they  have  succeeded  the  almost 
embarrassing  popularity  of  the  House  of  Commons  dining-rooms  abundantly  testifies. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  LOBBY. 

A  GREAT  Parliamentary  institution  is  the  Lobby.  It  is  at  once  the  green-room,  the  news 
exchange,  and  the  playground  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Everybody  of  importance  who  is  in 
the  House  or  of  the  House  is  to  be  found  there  during  the  evening.  Great  questions  of  policy 
are  discussed  and  sometimes  settled  there.  Within  its  limits  are  Parliamentary  friendships 
cemented,  and  occasionally — very  occasional ly— are  differences  exacerbated.  On  its  flags 
representatives  of  the  Press  exchange  confidences  with  Ministers,  and  find  the  pabulum  for 
those  political  notes  which  are  now  a  standing  dish  in  the  columns  of  every  leading  newspaper. 
No  part  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament  is  so  cosmopolitan  in  its  interests  and  sympathies ;  none 
is  so  broadly  cynical  in  its  way  of  looking  at  things.  In  a  word,  it  is  the  most  interesting 
centre  that  there  is  in  the  whole  of  the  vast  building. 

When  we  come  to  inquire  into  the  genesis  of  this  famous  annexe  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  we  are  confronted  with  more  than  the  ordinary  difficulty  pf  investigating  old 
institutions.  Official  records  are  non-existent,  tradition  has  little  to  say  on  the  subject,  and 
biography  and  history  still  less.  The  fact  is,  the  Lobby,  as  we  know  it  to-day,  is  in  the  main 
a  purely  modern  development.  A  Lobby,  no  doubt, 
there  ahvavs  was,  from  the  time  the  faithful 
Commons  had  their  meeting-place  in  St.  Stephen's 
Chapel,  but  it  was  a  mere  ante-chamber  into  which, 
all  and  sundry  were  admitted,  from  personal  servants 
of  members  to  expectant  placemen  and  casual  idlers. 
Necessarily,  in  the  circumstances  it  was  a  centre 
for  the  exchange  of  gossip,  and  those  who  wanted 
to  know  how  the  political  world  was  wagging  resorted 
thither.  Old  Pepys,  in  his  day,  seems  to  have  been 
a  fairly  frequent  visitor.  Amongst  several  references 
to  the  place  in  his  Diary  is  the  following:  "  Jun.  14, 
1659-60. —  Nothing  to  do  at  our  office.  Thence  into 
the  Hall ;  and  just  as  I  was  going  to  dinner  from 
Westminster  Hall  with  Mr.  Moore  (with  whom  I  had 
been  in  the  Lobby  to  hear  news)  I  had  spoke  with 
Sir  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper  about  my  Lord's  lodgings." 

That  the  Lobby  was  a  lively  spot  on  occasion 
may  be  gathered  from  various  resolutions  which  the 
House  found  itself  constrained  to  pass  from  time 
to  time  in  the  interests  of  order.  "  That  the 
S. •!•_," 'ant-.-it-Arms  and  his  messengers  do  take  all 
possible  care  to  keep  the  Lobby,  passages,  and  stairs 
of  the  House  clear  of  all  idle,  loose,  and  disorderly 
persons,"  is  the  injunction  which  the  House  passed 
on  January  27th,  1699,  and  it  is  again  and  again 
repeated.  "  Lacqueys  and  footmen "  were  in  most 
instances  specifically  mentioned  as  of  the  class  upon 

77 


THE      LOWEB     LOBBY     OP     THE     OLD     HOUSE     OF 

COMMONS. 

It  was  here  that  members'  footmen  anil  servants  were 
accustomed  to  congregate,  oftentimes  to  the  great  annoyance 
of  the  House. 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


\vliom  the  officials  should  have 
their  eye;  but  "Papists"  w 
also  singled  out,  the  House  pro- 
claiming that  they  must  not 
"presume  to  come  into  West- 
minster Hall,  the  Court  of 
Keenest-;,  or  Ix)bby  of  this  House 
on  the  sitting  of  this  Parlia- 
ment," and  directing  that  the 
order  be  posted  up  on  We>t  minster 
Hall  gate  and  in  the  Lobby, 
and  that  the  Sergeant-at-Arms 
should  take  into  custody  all 
•us  offending  against  it. 
Occasionally  at  that  period,  no 
doubt,  with  the  lacqueys  and 
disorderly  persons  who  throngeil 
the  Lobby  there  mingled  people 
who  had  serious  business  to  dis- 
charge. A  case  in  point  is  to 
be  found  in  the  "  Autobiography 
of  Dr.  George  Clarke,"  in  the 
Leyborne-Popham  MS.,1  where 
he  relates  the  circumstances 
attending  his  dismissal  by  the 
Prince  of  Denmark,  and  mentions 
that  while  the  Prince's  agent, 
-Mr.  Nicholas,  was  acquainting 
him  with  the  Prince's  coinm:ni<l> 
in  the  Lobby  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  "a  footman  came  to 
Mr.  Nicholas  and  told  him  the 
Prince  must  speak  with  him  im- 
mediately." 

What  the  Ixibby  was  like  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  we  are  able  to  judge 
from  an  extraordinary  work  called  "Pearson's  Political  Dictionary,"  published  in  1793.  Joseph 
Pearson  was  for  many  years  princii«l  doorkeeper  at  the  House,  and  as  he  was  described  when 
the  work  was  published  as  "the  late,"  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  his  experience  must  have  gone 
well  back  into  that  century.  The  old  adage  that  no  gentleman  is  a  hero  to  his  valet  tinds 
exemplification  in  this  worthy  doorkeeper's  pages.  He  jotted  down  freely  and  frankly  his  view> 
of  men  and  things,  and  he  spared  neither  rank,  age,  nor  sex  in  his  confidences.  A  more  personal 
—  it  may  be  said  a  more  scandalous — legacy  was  never  left  to  posterity  by  any  official  of  the 
House.  It  has,  however,  one  saving  merit.  It  gives  us  a  picture  of  contemporary  Parliamentary 
life  and  manners  such  as  we  could  not  possibly  otherwise  obtain.  The  work  is  made  up  of 
entries  under  different  headings.  The  Lobby  is  described  as  "a  place  crowded  with  members 
and  other  servants,  and  noisy  as  a  Jews'  synagogue  till  the  High  Constable  and  his  assistants 
clear  it  of  all  strangers  except  those  reporters  who  have  been  too  lazy  to  come  in  time  to  get 
into  the  gallery,  and  who  in  that  case  write  all  the  debates  in  the  Lobby."  There  is  a  nota 
bene  to  the  following  effect:  "The  members  shouldn't  choke  up  the  fireside,  nor  come  whisking 
in  from  the  different  coffee-houses  just  to  know  who's  speaking,  and  when  the  debate  is  over." 
A  character  of  the  Lobby,  described  under  another  head  with  a  wealth  of  coarse  detail,  is  the 

1  nUtorical  MS.,  Lej borne-Popham  MB.,  p.  283. 


THE  ORANUE-lilKL. 
A  iirll-known  I.obbjr  character  in  tit  eighteenth  century. 


a  photo  ly  W.  S.  Campbell.      Copyright,  Hutchiiuon  it  Co. 

THE   LOBBY,  HOUSE   OP  COMMONS. 

The  door  on  the  right  of  the  reader  is  the  entrance  to  the  Legislative  Chamber.    At  the  door  on  the  left  the  party  Whips  are  posted  and  take  note 

of  members  as  they  enter  and  leave  the  building. 

79 


8o 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


CHARLES  JAMES  FOX   AS  DEMOSTHENES. 

One  t  f  the  many  caricatures  published  of  Fox.     It  lias  a  satirical  reference  to 
liia  fondness  for  platform  oratory. 


orange-woman,  who,  "with  her  black 
cl<>ak  thrown  aside  a  little,  her  black 
and  black  hair  covered  by  a 
slight  curtained  Unmet,  u.-ed  to  sit 
.  .  .  with  a  basket  of  oranges  on  one 
hand  and  hard  biscuits  on  the  othrr. 
chiefly  for  the  use  of  my  friend  Charles 
Fox,  who  seems  more  relieved  by  a 
biscuit  in  a  hot  debate  than  I  am  by 
a  bumper  of  brandy."  She  usually 
appeared,  the  observant  doorkeeper 
tells  us,  in  "  clean  white  silk  stockings, 
Turkey  leather  shoes,  and  pink  silk 
bhort  petticoat."  Her  dress  was  of 
"  clean,  nice,  light  cotton,"  but  some- 
times towards  the  end  of  the  session 
>he  would  appear  in  "a  sprigg'd  pencil'd 
member's  muslin  gown,  with  a  thin 
gauze  neckerchief  by  way  of  enamel." 
to  display  her  charms  to  greater 
advantage.  A  reference  to  the  trading 
operations  of  this  character  is  made  in 
the  following  lines  from  the  Rolliad 
— that  singular  political  anthology 
which  the  Parliamentary  wit  and 
wisdom  of  the  eighteenth  century 
produced  : — 

O     take,  wise  youth,  the  Hesperian  fruit,  of  use 
Thy  lungs  to  cherish  with  balsamic  juice. 
With   this  thy  parched  rocf  moisten ;  nor  con- 

rama 

Thy  hours  and  guineas  in  the  eating-room : 
Till,  full  of  claret,  down  with  wild  uproar, 
Vou  reel,  and,  stretch'd  along  the  gallery,  snore. 


But,  to  return  to  our  old  friend  the  doorkeeper.  Under  the  heading  "Going  Home"  we  have 
the  following:— "A  signal  for  dinner.  Mem:  I  can  always  tell  the  members  invited  to  take 
their  mutton  with  the  Speaker,  by  their  pushing  out  first."  "  Dinner  Bell "  is  explained  as 
"  a  bell  rung  upon  the  winding  up  of  a  debate,  for  the  members  upstairs  at  Bellamy's  to  come 
down  and  do  as  they  are  bid.  N.B. — A  good  excuse  for  some  to  leave  their  bills  unpaid." 
"Smoking  Room"  is  thus  ironically  defined:  "Formerly  this  was  a  room  for  members  to 
smoke  their  pipes  in.  Now  the  only  use  of  it  is  for  them  to  write  franks  for  the  reporters  b}* 
way  of  currying  favour  with  them  for  good  speeches.  It  is  likewise  used  by  the  gallery  people 
to  talk  politics  in  when  they  are  driven  out  of  the  House  on  a  division." 

There  are  other  references  less  cognate  to  the  subject  in  hand,  but  equally  interesting 
from  the  glimpses  they  give  of  the  Parliamentary  manners  of  a  century  since.  "Alice's," 
for  example,  is  described  as  "a  coffee-house  frequented  by  members  for  soups,  which  Bellamy 
can't  make,  and  other  refreshments,  while  Burke  is  speaking.  Mem. :.  He  never  rises  but  I 
have  directly  to  open  the  door  to  let  members  out."  Again  we  are  told  that  "  Jacobs's "  is  "  a 
well-known  house  kept  by  a  black  fellow  of  that  name  in  Old  Palace  Yard,  and  frequented 
by  servants  of  members,  who  have  a  sort  of  rendezvous  there  till  the  Ix>rds  and  Commons  are 
"p."  "Here,  too,"  the  veracious  author  proceeds,  "bills  are  frequently  brought  in.  The 
Knights  of  the  Whip  and  party-coloured  tribe  here  fancy  themselves  as  great  as  their  masters, 


The    Lobby 


8l 


and  are  always  talking  of  the  speeches  they  have  made,  and  when  their  House  will  be  up. 
Bills  are  read  a  first,  second,  and  third  time,  and  Master  Jacobs  obliged  after  all  to  set  up  a  Devil  to 
Ix>rd  Thurlow,  a  Doctor  to  the  Speaker,  Welsh  rabbit  to  Lord  Kenyon,  and  three-farthings' 
worth  of  vinegar  to  Sir  Pepper  Arden,  and  a  thousand  other  articles,  for  the  rogues  have,  all  of 
them,  the  impudence  to  use  their  masters'  names." 

The  impression  left  by  Pearson's  scandalous  jottings  is  that  the  legislators  of  old  days 
were  prone  to  conviviality,  and  in  this  respect  at  least  he  did  them  no  injustice.  The 
amount  of  drinking  —  open  unbridled  drinking  —  a  century  or  two  ago  was  appalling.  It  was 
no  dishonour  to  the  greatest  to  be  seen  under  the  influence  of  drink  in  public  —  rather  the 
contrary.  It  was  a  noble  weakness  which  differentiated  the  man  of  spirit  from  the  mere 
huckster.  In  the  Restoration  period  the  proceedings  of  the  House  of  Commons  were  not 
infrequently  stained  by  drunken  orgies.  Pepys  mentions  one  instance  which  was  brought 
under  his  personal  notice.  "  Told  how  Sir  Allan  Brodrick  and  Sir  Allen  Apsley  did  come  drunk 
the  other  day  into  the  House,  and  did  both  speak  for  half  an  hour  together,  and  could  not 
either  be  pulled  or  bid  to  sit  down  and  hold  their  peace,  to  the  great  contempt  of  the 
King's  servants  and  cause."  In  the 
eighteenth  century  the  conditions,  if 
anything,  were  worse.  For  example, 
on  July  loth,  1716,  we  find  Lord 
Stair  writing  to  Lord  Cathcart  :  l  "  The 
Duke  of  Leeds  is  laid  up.  A  hack- 
ney coach  had  like  to  have  broken  his 
leg  t'other  night  when  he  was  got 
drunk."  Again,  on  December  4th, 
1722.  Lord  Cathcart  writes  to  a  friend 
giving  an  edifying  account  of  some 
midnight  frolics  of  the  Duke  of 
Wharton  and  himself.  He  states  that 
he  and  his  friends  were  drunk,  and 
adjourned  to  a  Committee  of  the  whole 
House.  "  We  met  with  the  Duke  of 
Wharton  as  well  refreshed  as  I.  He 
proposed  to  survey  all  the  ladies  in 
the  galleries.  .  .  .  He  proposed  to 
knock  up  Argyle  ;  I  the  King."  The 
end  of  it  was  that  the  roysterers 
knocked  up  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  who 
received  them  well.  Yet  another 
instance  of  the  drinking  customs  of 
the  eighteenth  century  is  supplied  in 
a  letter  of  the  Marquis  of  Kockingham 
to  Sir  George  Savile  dated  from  Went- 
\\orth,  March  24th,  1768.  In  this  the 
writer  says  :  "  I  have  not  suffered  in 
health  by  the  fatigues  of  body  or  of 
mind.  I  have  had  a  good  quantity 
of  madeira.  On  Monday  last  I  was 
very  tolerably  drunk  by  five  o'clock, 
and  though  I  went  through  a  variety 
of  ceremonies,  such  as  attending  the 
assembly,  supping  and  drinking  with 


THE  ASSASSINATION-  OP  THE  RIGHT  HON.  SPENCER  PERCEVAL  IN 
THE  LOBBY  OP  THE  HOUSE  OP  COMMONS  ON  MAY  UTII,  1812. 


Historical  MS.,  vol.  ii.  p.  2G. 


11 


82 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


mnnv  com|wnies.  I  walked  home  alx>ut  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  lifter  having  kept 
myself  in  fact  continually  drunk  or  elevated  for  eleven  hours.  I  had  a  MTV  good  night's 
rest,  and  was  not  at  all  the  worse  for  it  the  next  day."  A  final  contrilmtion  t<>  the  volume 
of  evidence  is  supplied  in  a  jmssage  contained  in  a  letter  written  by  Sir  (iilhcrt  Klliott, 
afterwards  Lord  Slinto,  in  1788.  This  administrator,  after  an  expiv—i.m  of  surprise  at 
the  way  in  which  the  great  orators  of  the  House  of  Common*  rermieiled  their  drinking 
habits  with  their  public  exertions,  wrote:  "Fox  drinks  what  I  should  call  a  great  deal. 
though  he  is  not  reckoned  to  do  so  by  his  omijinnioiis  ;  Sheridan  <-\, -e— ively,  and  Grey 
more  than  any  of  them;  but  it  is  in  a  much  more  gentlemanlike  way  than  our  Scotch 
drunkards,  and  is  always  accom|>anied  by  clever,  lively  conversation  on  snltjeets  of  im- 
portance. I'itt,  I  am  told,  drinks  as  much  as  anybody,  generally  more  than  any  of 
his  com[Hiny,  and  he  is  a  pleasant  convivial  man  at  table."  It  hardly  needs  to  be  said 
that  we  have  advanced  enormously  from  the  manners  of  these  "good  old  time.-."  Hani 
drinking  in  high  political  places,  if  not  unknown,  is  so  exceedingly  rare  as  to  be  practically 
non-existent. 

Turning  from  this  interesting  question  of   Parliamentary  morals,  we  mu>t  now  touch  UJK>Q 

an  incident  in  the  history  of  the  Lohbv  which 
caused,  at  the  time  it  happened,  a  thrill  of 
horror  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  three  kingdoms.  We  refer  to  the 
a>sassination  of  the  Hon.  Spencer  Perceval 
by  the  madman  Hellingham.  The  event 
occurred  on  May  llth,  1812,  under  cir- 
cumstances which  will  take  little  time  in 
the  relation.  On  the  day  named,  Perceval, 
having  besn  summoned  from  I>owning 
Street  to  a  sitting  of  the  House,  walking 
rapidly  through  the  Lobby,  was  about  to 
enter  the  door  of  the  Ix-gislative  Chamber, 
when  a  tall  man  in  a  tradesman's  dress, 
who  was  Banding  by,  raised  a  pistol  and 
fired.  The  shot,  which  was  at  almost 
point-blank  range,  took  immediate  effect 
in  the  statesman's  heart.  "Perce\al 
walked  on  one  or  two  paces,  faintly  uttered, 
'  Oh !  I  am  murdered,'  and  fell  on  the 

floor.  The  affair  had  been  so  instantaneous  that  no  one  knew  what  had  happened.  Perceval 
had  fallen  at  William  Smith's  feet;  and  Smith,  till  he  raised  up  the  body,  had  not 
recognised  the  murdered  man.  An  officer  of  the  House  called  out,  'Where  is  the  rascal  that 
fired?'  and  the  tall  man  rose  up  from  his  .-eat.  and  said,  '1  am  the  unfortunate  man.' 
General  Gascoigne  seized  the  man  with  so  much  violence  that  he  said  afterwards  that  he 
feared  his  arm  would  have  been  broken.  Other  members  in  the  meantime  assisted  in 
securing  the  assassin.  The  man  was  searched ;  and  another  pistol,  still  loaded,  and  some 
papers  were  found  on  him.  Perceval's  body  had  by  this  time  been  placed  in  a  room  in 
the  Speaker's  house.  Medical  aid  had  been  called  in,  to  pronounce  all  such  aid  useless. 
.  .  .  The  shot  by  which  Perceval  had  fallen  had  been  heard  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
For  the  moment  the  business  of  the  day  was  not  interrupted;  a  moment  later  a  confused 
whisper  that  some  one  had  been  shot  ran  through  the  House.  A  rush  was  made  to  the 
door,  and  the  truth  became  known.  The  Speaker  was  summoned  from  his  house  by  the 
intelligence  (the  House  was  in  Committee  at  the  time),  and  took  the  chair.  The  assassin 
was  led  up  to  the  table  between  two  of  the  officers  of  the  House.  General  Gascoigne,  the 
member  for  Liverpool,  identified  him  as  John  Bellingham;  the  Shaker  detained  him  till  a 


responding  tablet 
tlw?  opposite  (Call  mark 


A  TABLET    IS   ST.    STEPHEN'S   BALL, 
T»  enabl*  rUiton  to  locate  the  poinU  of  interest  in  the  old  building. 


THE  SPEAKER'S  PKOCESSIOS. 

A  ttately  function  nhich  i>  a  daily  prelude  to  the  titling  of  the  Houje  of  Commons.     As  the  procession  proceeds  through  the  Lobby  all  heads  are 

bared  in  token  of  respect. 

83 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Middlesex  magistrate  was  obtainable,  and  then  liad  him  escorted,  under  a  strong  guard  of 
memU-rs,  to  tin-  prison  r«t mi  of  tin-  S-rgeant-at-Arms."  ' 

The  murderer  proved  t.i  In-  tin-  son  of  a  Huntingdonshire  land  surveyor,  who  had  lifcii  in 
fontinemeiit  as  a  lunatic,  and  lind  died  insane.  Hellingham.  there  is  little  doulit.  was  himself 
mail.  hut.  as  Ixomilly  put  it  at  the  time,  his  was  "a  >pecies  of  madnev  which  probably,  for 
•  -runty  of  mankind,  ought  not  to  exempt  u  man  from  being  answerable  for  his  actions.'' 
The  only  conceivable  motive  for  the  crime  \\;i»  a  grudge  against  1'erceval  because  lie  would 
not  interfere  to  secure  BeUinghatn'l  release  from  prison  in  Russia,  where  lie  was  incarcerated 
for  five  vears  for  deht.  Insine  or  not.  however,  the  a--:is-in  received  short  shrift.  It  so 
hap]H-ned  that  the  assi/es  were  being  h,.!d  at  the  time,  and  advantage  was  taken  of  the  circum- 
stance to  bring  him  t«i  immediate  trial.  Within  seven  days  of  the  commission  of  the  crime 
his  Unly  was  swinging  from  the  gallows. 

This  tragic  atViir.  it  should  he  stated  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  took  place  in  the  I/>bhy  of 
the  old  House,  and.  therefore,  at  a  s]K>t  near  the  western  end  of  St.  Stephen's  Hall.  A  tahlet. 
to  lie  found  there  gives  the  exact  limits  of  the  old  Lobby,  and  also  indicates  the  position  of 
the  door  from  which  it  was  entered  from  West  minster  Hall  by  Perceval  on  the  fatal  dav. 

The  present  I/ihhy,  though  it  can  hoast  no  old  associations  and  has  no  dark  episode  to 
Main  its  history,  is  yet  not  without  its  own  special  features  of  interest.  During  the  great 

struggle  over  the  quest  ion  of  Mr.  Kradlatigh's 
admission  to  the  House  it  was  the  scene  of  some 
lively  encounters  between  the  officers  of  the  Mouse 
and  the  pugnacious  champion  of  heter.»|ox\. 
About  the  same  period  it  was  often  in  a  ferment 
of  excitement  over  the  differences,  public  and 
private,  arising  out  of  the  Home  Kule  debates. 
Feeling  ran  so  high  at  tinr.-s  that  it  was  only 
by  the  good  offices  of  peacemaker!  and  the  dis- 
creet management  of  the  officials  that  breaches 
of  the  i>eace  did  not  occur.  These,  however, 
were  but  transitory  ebullitions.  The  prevailing 
mood  of  the  Lobby  is  a  cynical  good-humour, 
which  as  a  rule  rises  altogether  superior  to  the 
mere  spirit  of  faction.  Nothing  is  commoner 
than  to  see  members  engaged  one  hour  in  the 
most  heated  altercation  across  the  floor  of 
the  House  and  the  next  exchanging  banter  in 
the  best  of  temper  in  the  Lobby  on  the  inci- 
dent -  of  the  debate.  There  is  amongst  mendier* 
a  pleasing  spirit  of  camaraderie  which  knows 
no  distinctions  of  rank  or  divisions  of  politic-; 
and  nowhere  is  it  more  manifest  than  in  the 
Lobby.  Here  the  stern,  unbending  Tory  of  the 
old  school  may  be  seen  arm-in-arm  with  the 
most  uncompromising  of  Radicals  ;  here  we  m  iv 
find  the  scion  of  a  noble  house  which  has 
possessed  the  strawberry  leaves  for  general  ion.- 

hobnobbing  with  the  Laliour  member  who  perchance  was  only  a  few  years  previously  earning 
his  living  a>  a  working  miner;  here,  not  improbably,  you  mav  come  across  an  i/ilrn iixiyi'niit 
Nationalist  cheek  by  jowl  with  some  fanatical  Orangeman  on  a  matter  of  business  routine. 
Nor  an-  the  amenities  of  the  Lobby  confined  to  mere  trivial  courtesies.  When  Mr.  Mradlaugh. 
after  many  rebuffs  and  humiliations,  got  his  Oaths  Bill  through  the  House,  the  man  to  first 

1  "The  Life  of  the  Hon.  H|K-nccr  I'erceva!,"  p.  •.".»•;. 


THK  DOOB  OF  THK  HofSK  OK  COMMONS  BY  WHICH  Till: 

LEGISLATIVE:  CIIAMISKH  is  ENTKKKD  FKOM  THK  LOBBY. 

On  weh  >lde  are  curioiu  hooded  doorkee|i«»'  bora. 


The  Lobby 


CORRIDOR  FROM  COMMONS  LOBBY 
TO  CONFERENCE  ROOM. 


offer  him  his  congratulations  was  Sir  John  Mowbray, 
the  late  venerable  member  for  Oxford  University  and 
"  Father "  of  the  House.  Similarly,  when  Mr.  Parnell 
vindicated  himself  from  the  charge  of  writing  the 
notorious  Pigott  letters,  it  was  the  late  Sir  Walter 
Barttelot,  an  old  and  highly  respected  Conservative 
member,  who  broke  down  the  barrier  of  suspicion 
which  existed  between  the  Uncrowned  King  and  his 
brother  members  by  cordially  felicitating  him  upon 
unmasking  his  slanderers.  These  are  but  typical 
instances  of  the  temper  and  feeling  which  govern  the 
relations  of  members  in  this  ante-chamber  of  the  House. 
It  is,  indeed,  only  on  very  rare  occasions  that  the 
angry  passions  which  provoke  tempestuous  outbursts  in 
the  J louse  find  their  echo  here. 

Politically,  the  Lobby  is  important  as  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Whips  of  the  various  parties.  Night 
in.  night  out,  these  vigilant  guardians  of  the  party 
interests  keep  watch  and  ward.  No  one  goes  out 
unchallenged.  It  would,  in  fact,  be  as  easy  for  a 
camel  to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  as  for  a 
member  to  come  in  or  go  out  unobserved.  As  the 

hour  approaches  for  a  division  the  Lobby  fills  up,  and  in  process  of  time  it  becomes  a  seething 
mass  of  humanity.  Then  the  bells  tinkle,  and  stentorian  cries  of  "Division"  are  sent  echoing 
and  re-echoing  through  the  corridors,  until  they  finally  lose  themselves  in  one  expiring  shriek 
in  New  Palace  Yard.  Members  pour  in  from  the  smoking-rooms  and  libraries  to  swell  the 
crowd  which  is  massed  about  the  principal  door  like  a  swarm  of  bees  about  a  hive.  There 
is  a  confused  hum  of  conversation,  growing  less  every  minute  until  it  finally  dies  away,  and 
the  Lobby  is  left  in  solitude  save  for  the  officials  and  police  and  a  stray  journalist  or  two. 
Shortly  the  order  to  "  Clear  the  Lobby "  is  given  through  the  wicket  of  the  now  locked 
door  of  the  Legislative  Chamber,  the  "strangers"  are  bundled  out  into  the  corridors,  and  the 
Lobby  becomes  even  more  deserted.  But  only  for  a  time.  Gradually  the  members  filter 
back  from  the  House,  and  in  perhaps  fifteen  minutes'  time  the  place  is  as  thronged  as  ever 
again.  Soon  the  doors  are  unlocked,  strangers  readmitted,  and  the  life  of  the  Lobby  drops 
into  its  accustomed  groove. 

Before  leaving  the  Lobby  a  reference  must  be  made  to  it  as  a  centre  of  journalistic 
activity.  Time  was,  as  we  have  seen,  when  every  one  who  cared  to  take  the  trouble  to  walk 
to  St.  Stephen's  could  enter  the  precincts.  Even  down  to  comparatively  recent  times,  nothing 
more  than  a  little  self-confidence  was  needed  to  carry  one  to  the  very  door  of  the  House.  But 
the  dynamite  outrages,  amongst  other  things,  worked  a  great  and,  on  the  whole,  salutary  change 
in  the  conditions  of  the  Lobby.  The  right  of  admission  was  strictly  limited  to  representatives 
of  leading  newspapers,  the  chief  officials  of  leading  political  organisations,  and  private  bill 
agents  and  others  interested  in  private  bill  legislation.  Unless  on  this  "Lobby  List,"  it  is 
impossible  for  a  person  to  penetrate  the  jealously  guarded  outer  portals,  much  less  to  remain 
for  any  time  in  the  Lobby.  In  this  fashion  a  great  journalistic  corporation  has  been  built  up, 
which,  though  closely  allied  with  the  Press  Gallery,  is  yet  completely  distinct  from  it.  It  has 
its  own  committee  of  management,  its  own  rooms  for  writing,  and  its  own  rules  of  conduct. 
According  as  the  times  are  lively  or  the  reverse,  its  importance  increases  or  diminishes ;  but 
it  ever  gives  to  the  Lobby  a  characteristic  feature. 


i  HAITI-: it   ix. 


LADIES    AT    7Y//;    HOUSE. 

"LADIES  at  the  House"  there  have  Iteen  in  one  diameter  or  another  almost  from  time 
immemorial.  As  we  have  already  seen,  they  were  pre-cnt  at  one  period  as  legislators,  or,  at 
all  events,  had  the  right  to  l>e  present.  It  is  also  fairly  certain  that  as  attendants  on  the 
Court  many  dames  of  high  ln'rtli  |>artici|>atcd  in  the  ceremonial  functions  which  accompanied  the 
sittings  of  Parliament  under  the  j (residency  of  the  King.  Occasionally,  too,  they  would  appear 
to  have  played  what  in  these  days  we  should  consider  a  popular  part  in  the  doings  of  the 

Legislature.  So  much  i-  tn 
be  gathered  from  a  refer- 
ence contained  in  the  works 
of  John  Stow  to  a  singular 
incident  which  occurred  in 
the  Parliament  of  1428. 
According  to  this  old 
chronicler,  on  a  certain 
day  while  Parliament  was 
sitting,  "one  Mi-n,— 
Stokes,  with  divers  other 
stout  women  of  Ixmdon, 
of  good  account  and  well 
apparelled,"  went  "oi«'idy 
to  the  Upper  House  of 
Parliament  and  delivered 
letters  to  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  to  the  Arch- 
bishops, and  the  other 
lords,  because  he  would 
not  deliver  his  wife  Jaque- 
line  out  of  her  grievous 
imprisonment  (she  being 
then  detained  as  prisoner 
by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy), 
and  suffering  her  there  to 
remain  unkindly  whilst  he 
kept  another  adult  iv>~. 
contrary  to  the  law  of 
God  and  the  honourable 
estate  of  matrimony." 
These  early  advocates  of 
women's  rights,  the  tir.-t 
of  a  long  line  of  fair  re- 
formers who  have  invaded 

A   MKIll.KY.M.    KI'ISDDK    IX    PARLIAMENT.  . 

\~3tj  i»tiUon.™»tutKl.t  th.lloM.ofIx.nl.  in  14M  to  demand  the  rtlew,  of  th.  wife  of  th.  Duk.  legislative    precincts  to 

..f  <;kmoMtcr,  deUlned  M  a  prUooer  in  France.  redress  t  he  \vn  ill  i,r-    <>f    their 

80 


Ladies    at    the    House 


87 


sex,  seem  to  have  created  no 
small  sensation,  and  from  the 
fact  that  the  Commons  ventured 
to  espouse  the  cause  of  the 
unfortunate  Jaqueline,  we  may 
infer  that  their  remonstrance 
had  some  effect.  The  course 
taken  by  the  "  Nether  House  " 
was  to  cunningly  tack  to  a 
subsidy  granted  to  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester  a  petition  in  favour 
of  the  Duchess.  This  document 
in  quaint  language  sets  forth 
that  "  My  Lady  of  Gloucester 
liveth  in  so  grete  dolour  and 
hevyness  and  hath  so  lament- 
ably written  to  our  Soverein 
Lord  and  to  all  the  Estate  of 
this  noble  Koiaume  to  be  pour- 
veyded  for  by  way  of  tretee  or 
in  otherwise  by  the  high  wis- 
dom of  our  Soverein  Lord  and 
the  habundant  discretion  of  the 
Lords  of  his  Counseill,"  that 
the  Commons  were  constrained 
to  ask  "that  her  person  and 
the  alliance  between  this  noble 
Koiaume  and  her  lands  "  might 
"  be  put  in  salvetee  and  sicker- 
nesse  in  singular  comfort  of 
the  said  Commons  and  of  all 
that  they  byn  comyn  for." 
History  is  silent  as  to  the 
outcome  of  this  intervention  ; 
but  for  the  sake  of  common 
humanity  we  may  trust  that 
"  Mistress  Stokes "  and  her 
sturdy  following  of  matrons  "  of 
good  account  and  well  apparelled  "  did  not  make  their  journey  to  Westminster  in  vain. 

In  the  episode  just  described  we  have  seen  ladies  at  the  door  of  Parliament,  practically 
in  the  Lobby,  clamouring  for  justice  to  one  of  their  sex.  Between  two  and  three  centuries  later 
we  meet  with  a  lady  in  Parliament  itself  in  the  somewhat  different  role  of  a  suitor  at  the 
Bar  of  the  House  of  Commons,  one  of  many  fair  petitioners  of  that  period.  The  applicant 
was  Ann  Fitzharris,  widow  of  a  certain  Edward  Fitzharris,  who  was  executed  in  1681  on 
political  grounds.  Her  story,  which  was  embodied  in  a  petition  she  personally  presented  to 
the  House  on  March  16th,  1688,  was  a  strange  one.  It  was  to  the  effect  that  her  husband 
had  been  prevailed  upon  seven  years  previously  by  the  Popish  interest  to  frame  "  a  treasonable 
libel  to  be  laid  on  the  Protestants,  and  being  seized  in  the  attempts "  was  betrayed  by  his 
employers,  who,  fearful  of  being  known,  sacrificed  him  to  conceal  their  own  guilt.  Tried  before 
a  prejudiced  Bench  and  a  packed  jury,  he  was  condemned  to  death  and  executed.  As  a 
consequence  the  petitioner  and  her  three  children  were  left  in  great  distress,  and  she  therefore 
prayed  the  House  "to  take  the  whole  matter  into  their  consideration,  that  the  deplorable 


A   LAUl'   I'ETITIOXEK  AT   THE   BAK  OF  TUE   HOUSE   IN    1088. 

Widow  Fitzharris  pleading  for  support  in  her  distress  caused  by  the  unjust  execution  of  her 

huaband. 


88 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE   DUCHESS   OF  GORDON, 

A  famous  eighteenth-century  Iteautjr  who  once  appeared   in   the 
Strangers'  Gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  male  attire. 


condition  of  herself  should  l)e  considered."  The 
prayer  of  t  hf  petition  wa»  answered.  (  hi  May  15th 
a  Committee  was  apiHiinted.  and  it  subsequently 
conducted  an  ime.-tigation  into  the  circiim>tanre- 

of  tin-  trial.     In   the  result    a   recommendation 

was  made  that  the  petitioner  and  her  three 
cliildren  should  he  commended  to  the  King  "as 
an  object  of  charity."  Thereafter,  Ann  Kitx- 
liarris  figures  no  more  upon  the  Parliamentary 
stage,  though  her  case  supplies  one  of  the  mo>t 
interesting  precedents  in  constitutional  text-books. 
Not  long  before  this  singular  business  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  the  ll«m.-e  of  Commons — 
to  be  precise  on  June  1st,  1675 — the  presence 
of  ladies  a?-  spectators  in  the  Legislative  Chamber 
had  been  made  a  subject  of  public  comment. 
The  incident  arose  in  this  way.  There  was  a 
debate  proceeding  on  some  question  of  interot. 
when  the  Speaker  (Seymour)  suddenly  broke  in 
with  the  remark,  "I  am  sure  I  saw  petticoats." 
The  amused  House,  as  eager  then  as  it  is  to-day 
lor  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  "scene,"  broke 
off  its  business  to  look  at  the  throng  of  ladies 
who  crowded  the  back  benches  of  the  Strangers' 
Gallery  and  were  peering  over  the  shoulders  of 
the  gentlemen  in  front  of  them  at  the  members  on  the  floor  of  the  House.  "  What  borough 
do  these  ladies  sit  for?"  inquired  the  Speaker  in  tones  of  mock  severity.  "They  serve  for 
the  Speaker's  Chamber,"  jerked  out  a  Parliamentary  wit  of  the  time.  "  The  Speaker  might 
take  them  for  gentlemen  with  fine  sleeves  dressed  like  ladies,"  remarked  another  jester.  And 
so,  laughing  at  its  own  humour,  the  House  betook  itself  anew  to  the  business  of  the  day. 

This  curious  little  interlude  gives  us  an  interesting  insight  into  the  attitude  of  the  House 
two  centuries  ago  towards  fair  visitors  in  the  legislative  precincts.  We  may  gather  from  it 
that  though  ladies  were  denied  admission  they  did  occasionally  find  their  way  in,  and  that,  once 
in,  their  presence  did  not  excite  the  feelings  of  amaxement — it  may  be  said  of  horror — which 
the  appearance  of  a  female  figure  inside  the  Legislative  Chamber  would  now  arouse.  The 
truth  is  that,  progressive  as  Parliament  has  been  in  most  things,  in  its  attitude  towards  ladies 
it  has  in  many  respects  retrograded.  If  it  were  now  even  so  much  as  proposed  that  male 
and  female  visitors  should  sit  together  in  the  Strangers'  Galleries,  the  House  would  be  in 
a  ferment  of  indignation;  yet  for  generations  the  two  sexes  mingled  as  spectators  of  the 
debates.  Nor  was  the  attendance  of  ladies  of  a  casual  or  intermittent  description,  at  least 
during  a  considerable  period.  Proof  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  gossipy  records  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  where  numerous  references  are  made  to  the  part  the  "  ladies  of  quality " 
played  in  the  doings  at  St.  Stephen's.  Here,  for  example,  is  what  one  well-known  lady  had 
to  say  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  written  in  February,  1762:  "In  the  House  of  Commons  every- 
body who  can  articulate  is  a  speaker,  to  the  great,  despatch  of  business  and  solidity  of  councils. 
They  sit  late  every  night,  as  every  young  gentleman  who  has  a  handsome  person,  a  fine  coat, 
a  well-shaped  leg,  or  a  clear  voice,  is  anxious  to  exhibit  these  ml  vantages.  To  this  kind  of 
beau-oratory  and  tea-table  talk  the  ladies,  as  is  reasonable,  resort  very  constantly.  At  fir>t 
they  attended  in  such  numbers  as  to  fill  the  body  of  the  House  on  great  political  occasions; 
but  a  ghost  (the  Cock  Lane)  started  up  in  a  dirty  obscure  alley  in  the  City,  and  diverted  the 
attention  of  the  female  politicians." 

From  this  it  is  pretty  clear  not  merely  that  ladies  had   admission   to  the  public  galleries, 


Ladies    at    the    House 


89 


but  that  they  actually  occupied  seats  by  the  side  of  members  on  the  sacred  floor,  of  the  House. 
How  this  system  of  uncontrolled  freedom  was  ultimately  abandoned  in  favour  of  absolute 
exclusion,  is  an  oft-told  tale.  It  came  about  through  a  display  of  fractiousness  on  the 
part  of  the  ladies,  which  constitutes  one  of  the  most  diverting  episodes  that  ever  occurred  in 
Parliament.  The  facts  are  worth  relating.  A  great  debate  on  the  state  of  the  nation,  on 
February  2nd,  1778,  had  drawn  to  £t.  Stephen's  an  exceptionally  large  number  of  ladies. 
Not  content  with  crowding  the  galleries,  they  trespassed  upon  some  seats  under  the  front 
gallery,  from  which  they  were  customarily  excluded.  A  bluff  naval  captain,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  House,  incensed  at  the  practical  monopoly  of  the  strangers'  benches  by  the  fair  sex. 
and  the  consequent  exclusion  of  several  of  his  male  friends,  drew  attention  to  the  presence  of 
strangers,  with  the  result  that  the  order  was  issued  for  the  clearing  of  the  galleries.  It  was 
easier  to  give  this  order  than  to  execute  it.  The  ladies,  having  come  to  the  House  for  an 
evening's  amusement,  were  not  to  be  easily  denied.  With  one  consent  they  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  the  commands  of  the  House.  In  vain  the  officials  implored  and  threatened  in  turn.  The 
ladies  absolutely  declined  to  move.  Nor  was  their  defiance  of  a  merely  passive  character. 
They  laughed  and  stamped  and  jeered,  and  generally  conducted  themselves  with  a  licence 
which,  in  these  times,  we  should  only  look  for  in  the  gallery  of  an  East  End  theatre.  The 
authorities  were  in  despair.  They  could  not  use  force,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was 
impossible  to  permit  the  mandate  of  the  House  to  be  flouted.  In  their  difficulty  they  adopted 
the  only  course  open  to  them.  They  opposed  obstinacy  to  obstinacy,  and  so  in  the  long  run 
carried  their  point.  But  it  was  a 
full  two  hours  before  the  skirts  of 
the  last  of  the  ladies  disappeared 
through  the  doorway  of  the  House. 
Afterwards,  so  rigorous  was  the  ban 
against  the  ladies,  that  Mrs.  Sheridan 
was  driven  to  the  expedient  of 
donning  male  attire  in  order  to  secure 
the  opportunity  of  hearing  her 
husband's  eloquence.  Wraxall  also 
mentions  in  his  "  Memoirs "  having 
seen  on  one  occasion  the  beautiful 
Duchess  of  Gordon  in  male  attire  in 
the  Strangers'  Gallery. 

There  must  have  been  some- 
thing in  the  atmosphere  of  the 
Palace  of  Westminster  in  those  days 
which  tended  to  lawlessness  amongst 
the  fair  sex,  for  the  scene  described 
was  no  isolated  incident.  Lady  Mary 
Wortley  Montagu,  in  her  letters, 
describes  in  her  own  vivacious  fashion 
a  somewhat  similar  outburst  which 
occurred  about  the  year  1738  in  the 
"other  House."  "The  ladies,"  she 
wrote,  "have  shown  their  zeal  and 
appetite  for  knowledge  in  a  most 
glorious  manner.  At  the  last  warm 
debate  in  the  House  of  Ix>rds  it  was 
unanimously  resolved  there  should 

»  ,  From  tht  Rational  Portrait  Gallery. 

be  no  crowd  of  unnecessary  auditors.  THE  DUCHES8  OF  QDEENSBERKY  (AS  A  MILKMAID), 

Consequently,       the       fair       sex        Were  A  noted  beanty  and  political  dame  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

12 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


excluded,  and  the  gallery  destined  to  the  sole  use  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Notwithstanding 
which  determination  a  tribe  of  ladies  resolved  to  show  on  this  occasion  that  neither  men  nor 
laws  could  resist  them.  These  heroines  were  Lady  Huntingdon,  the  Duchess  of  Queensberry,  the 
Duchetw  of  Ancajiter,  I^ady  Westmorland,  Jjidy  Cobham,  l^uly  Charlotte  Edwin,  Lady  Archibald 
Hamilton  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Scott,  and  Mrs.  Pendarvis,  and  Lady  Frnnci*  Saunderson. 
I  am  thus  jmrticular  in  their  names  since  I  look  upon  them  to  be  the  boldest  assert ors  and 
most  resigned  sufferers  for  liberty  I  ever  read  of.  They  presented  themselves  at  the  door  at 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  where  Sir  William  Saunderson  respectfully  informed  them  the 
Chancellor  had  made  an  order  against  their  admittance.  The  Duchess  of  Queensberry,  as  head 
of  the  squadron,  pished  at  the  ill  breeding  of  a  mere  lawyer,  and  desired  him  to  let  them  up 
the  stairs  privately.  After  some  modest  refusals,  he  swore  by  G — d  he  would  not  let  them  in. 
Her  Grace,  with  a  noble  warmth,  answered,  '  By  G — d  they  would  come  in,  in  spite  of  the 
Chancellor  and  the  whole  House.'  This  being  reported,  the  Peers  resolved  to  starve  them  out. 
An  order  was  made  that  the  door  should  not  be  opened  until  they  had  raised  their  siege. 
These  amazons  now  showed  themselves  qualified  even  for  the  duty  of  foot-soldiers.  They 
stood  there  till  five  in  the  afternoon  without  sustenance  .  .  .  every  now  and  then  playing 
volleys  of  thumps,  kicks,  and  raps  against  the  door  with  so  much  violence  that  the  speakers 
in  the  House  were  scarce  heard.  When  the  Lords  were  not  to  be  conquered  by  this,  the 
two  duchesses  (very  well  apprised  of  the  use  of  stratagems  in  war)  commanded  a  dead 
silence  of  half  an  hour,  and  the  Chancellor,  who  thought  this  a  certain  proof  of  their 
absence  (the  Commons  also  being  very  impatient  to  enter),  gave  order  for  the  opening  of 
the  door,  upon  which  they  all  rushed  in,  pushed  aside  their  competitors,  and  placed  themselves 
in  the  front  row  of  the  gallery.  They  stayed  there  until  after  eleven,  when  the  House  rose, 
and  during  the  debate  gave  applause  and  showed  marks  of  dislike,  not  only  by  smiles  and 
winks  (which  have  always  been  allowed  in  these  cases),  but  by  noisy  laugh  and  apparent 
contempts  (which  is  supposed  the  true  reason  why  poor  Lord  Hervey  spoke  so  miserably)." 

On  another  occasion,  a  good  many  years 
later,  the  peeresses  appear  to  have  again  distin- 
guished themselves  by  their  lack  of  restraint  in 
the  House.  The  incident  relates  to  the  debates 
on  Catholic  Emancipation,  and  is  recorded  in  the 
following  entry  in  Greville's  Diary,  under  date 
April  4th,  1829:  "The  House  of  lx>rds  was  very 
full,  particularly  of  women  ;  every  fool  in  London 
thinks  it  necessary  to  be  there.  It  is  only  since 
last  year  that  the  steps  of  the  throne  have  been 
crowded  with  ladies ;  formerly  one  or  two  got  in, 
who  skulked  behind  the  throne  or  were  hid  in 
Tyrwhitt's  (the  Black  Rod)  box,  but  now  they 
fill  the  space  and  put  themselves  in  front  with 
their  large  bonnets  without  fear  or  shame.  .  .  . 
Lady  Jersey  is  in  a  fury  with  Lord  Angle>ev. 
and  goes  about  saying  he  insulted  her  in  the 
House  of  Lords  the  other  night.  She  was  sitting 
on  one  of  the  steps  of  the  throne,  and  the 
Duchess  of  Richmond  on  the  step  above.  Alter 
Ix>rd  Anglesey  had  spoken  he  came  and  spoke 
to  the  Duchess,  who  said,  '  How  well  you  did 
speak ! '  on  which  he  said,  '  Hush !  you  must 
take  care  what  you  say,  for  here  is  Lady  Jersey, 
and  she  reports  for  the  newspapers ' ;  on  which 
ludy  Jersey  said  very  angrily,  '  Lady  Jersey  is 


TIIK  OLD   HOUSE  OF  COMMONS, 

Snowing  tentiUlor  In  ceiling  through   which   ladle*  riewed   the 
llouw. 


A  SCENE  OUTSIDE  THE   HOUSE   OF  LORDS   IN   1738. 

Aristocratic  ladies  clamouring  for  admission  after  they  had  been  excluded  by  an  order  of  the  House. 

91 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


here  fcr  her  own  amusement ;  what  do  you  mean 
by  re|»rting  for  new*i«i>eni  ? '  to  which  he  replied 
with  a  profound  Km.  'I  beg  your  ladyship's 
]mrd«>n  ;  I  did  not  mean  to  offend  you,  and  if  1 
did  I  make  the  most  ample  apology.'  This  is 
his  version ;  here,  of  course,  is  different." 

To  these  lively  incidents,  and  others  of  a 
similar  character  which  have  not  been  handed 
down  to  us  is  probably  to  be  attributed  the 
strong  prejudice  which  grew  up  against  the 
admission  of  ladies  to  the  House  of  Commons- 
a  prejudice  which  in  a  modified  form  survives  to 
this  day.  Whether  so  or  not,  the  effect  of  the 
scene  in  the  House  of  Commons  to  which 
reference  has  been  made  resulted  in  the  banish- 
ment of  ladies  from  the  chamber  for  more  than 
half  a  century.  For  a  time  they  were  kept 
absolutely  at  arm's  length,  but  eventually,  as  a 
great  concession,  they  were  admitted  to  the 
lantern  alwve  the  big  chandelier  which  lighted 
the  old  House.  This  was  a  miserable  exchange 
for  the  freedom  formerly  enjoyed.  Not  more 
than  fourteen  could  be  accommodated  there  at 
one  time,  and  the  smoke  and  heat  rendered  the 
atmosphere  almost  insufferable.  Miss  Edgeworth, 
in  her  memoirs,  gives  an  entertaining  description 
of  a  visit  to  this  dog-hole  in  1822.  "We  went," 
she  says,  "one  night  to  the  House  of  Commons. 
Mr.  Whitbread  took  us  there.  A  garret — the 
win  ile  size  of  the  room — the  former  chapel,  now 
the  House  of  Commons;  below  kit-cats  of  Gothic 
chapel  windows  stopped  up  appear  on  each  side ; 
above  the  floor,  and  above  roof-beams.  One  lantern,  with  one  farthing  candle,  all  the  light. 
In  tin-  middle  of  the  garret  is  what  seemed  like  a  sentry-box  of  deal  boards,  and  old  chairs 
placed  around  it;  on  these  we  got  and  stood,  and  peeped  over  the  top  of  the  boards.  Saw 
lurire  chandelier  with  lights  blazing  immediately  below;  a  grating  of  iron  across  veiled  the 
light  so  that  we  could  look  down  and  beyond  it.  We  saw  half  the  table  and  the  mace  Iving 
mi  it.  and  pajK'rs,  and  by  peeping  hard  two  figures  of  clubs  at  the  farther  end;  but  no  eye 
could  see  the  Speaker  or  his  chair — only  his  feet;  his  voice  and  terrible  'Order'  was  soon 
heard.  We  could  see  part  of  the  Treasury  Bench  and  the  Opposition  in  their  places — the  tops 
of  their  heads,  profiles  and  gestures  perfectly." 

Such  was  the  position  of  affairs  from  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  until  the  fire 
of  1834,  which  changed  many  things,  brought  to  the  front  the  desirability  of  making  adequate 
provision  for  ladies  within  the  chamber  itself.  The  question  was  referred  for  consideration  to 
a  Select  Committee,  and  this  body,  in  July,  1835,  reported  in  favour  of  an  extension  of 
privileges  to  the  fair  sex.  Its  chief  recommendations  were :  — 

"That  a  jwrtion  of  the  Strangers'  Gallery  at  the  north  end  of  the  House,  not  exceeding  a 
quarter  of  the  whole,  and  capable  of  containing  twenty-four  ladies,  be  set  apart  for  their 
accommodation,  divided  by  a  partition  from  the  rest  of  the  gallery,  and  screened  in  front  by 
an  ojien  trellis  work. 

"That  a  book  should  be  left  in  the  custody  of  some  person  appointed  by  the  Sergeant-at- 
Arms,  in  a  place  made  for  the  purpose  at  the  door  of  the  entrance  of  the  proposed  gallery. 


01  TSIIIK  I:NTKANCE  TO  LADIES' GALLEBY  or  ri:i.>i.vr 

HOUSE. 
The  policeman  on  duty  closely  scrutinise*  nil  urden  for  adn.iuion 


Ladies    at    the    House 


93 


"  That  no  member  be  allowed  to  introduce  more  than  two  ladies  in  the  course  of  one  week, 
unless  the  gallery  should  not  be  fully  occupied. 

"That  the  gallery  so  proposed  to  be  set  apart  be  called  the  Ladies'  Gallery,  and  be  left 
exclusively  for  their  accommodation." 

These  proposals,  it  should  be  stated,  related  to  the  temporary  House  of  Commons  constructed 
in  the  late  House  of  Lords  (or  old  Court  of  Requests)  after  the  fire,  to  accommodate  the 
lower  branch  of  the  Legislature  pending  the  construction  of  the  new  building.  The  Select 
Committee,  however,  deemed  that  their  reference  was  sufficiently  wide  to  enable  them  to  deal 
with  the  question  permanently,  and  they  consequently  added  to  their  recommendations  one  in 
favour  of  the  construction  of  a  Ladies'  Gallery  in  the  new  House,  capable  of  accommodating  not 
less  than  forty  ladies.  This  suggestion  of  the  Select  Committee  was  not  carried  out  without 
strenuous  opposition  from  several  quarters.  Lord  Brougham,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Building 
Committee,  referring  to  the  Ladies'  Gallery,  said :  "  If  such  a  proposition  is  to  be  made,  I  enter 
my  protest  against  it,  and  shall  take  the  sense  of  your  lordships  upon  it,  as  being  contrary  to 
the  principle  which  ought  to  govern  legislative  proceedings.  I  think  the  ladies  would  be  better 
employed  in  almost  any  other  way  than  in  attending  Parliamentary  debates.  I  like  to  see 
them  in  their  proper  places."  The  Marquis  of  Lansdowne  was  equally  emphatic.  "  Ladies,"  he 
said,  "  are  not  mentioned  in  the  report,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  prevent  it,  they  never  shall  be." 

Notwithstanding  these  ungallant  sentiments  the  ladies,  as  we  know,  had  their  gallery  in 
the  new  House,  though  the  restrictions  in  regard  to  its  limits  were  a  sore  point  with  the 
architect,  who,  if  he  had  been  free,  would  have  dealt  with  the  question  on  much  more  generous 
lines.  In  the  interval  of  a  half-century  which  has  elapsed  since  the  gallery  was  opened,  the 
position  of  ladies  at  the  House  has  been  enormously  strengthened.  The  obnoxious  grille,  it  is 
true,  has  resisted  all  efforts  to  either  displace  it  or  materially  modify  it.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  fair  visitors  have  asserted  themselves  in  other  directions  in  such  a  fashion  as  would  have 


THE   PRESENT   HOUSE  OP  COMMONS,  SHOWING  LADIES'  GKILLE  ABOVE  THE   REPORTERS1  GALLERY. 

Ladies,  besides  being  accommodated  with  seats  in  the  gallery  behind  the  grille,  nre  permitted  to  view  the  House  when  sitting  from  a  stand 

just  ouUide  the  entrance  opposite  the  Speaker's  chair. 


94 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


'1  H  i;    TKICKAt  I.;     Al   I  I.KNl  M  i.S    '1  LA. 

On  most  afternoon*  in  summer  this  fine  promenade  is  crowded  with  ladies  haying  tea  with  members. 

delighted  the  aristocratic  amazons  of  whom  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  writes  so  amusingly 
in  the  extract  quoted  above.  In  the  Lobby  they  are  ever  much  in  evidence,  and  they  have 
special  provision  made  for  them  in  the  arrangements  of  the  dining-rooms.  But,  of  course,  their 
special  province  is  the  Terrace.  That  noble  promenade  has  become  as  recognised  a  rendezvous 
of  society  as  the  Lawn  at  Ascot  or  the  Ladies'  Mile  in  Hyde  Park.  The  Terrace  season  reaches 
its  height  when  the  summer  days  are  long  and  warm,  and  the  strawberry  is  at  its  best.  Then 
fair  constituents  of  members  resort  there  in  their  hundreds,  and  the  gayest  of  gay  scenes  is 
presented.  Imagine  the  long  promenade  crowded  throughout  a  great  part  of  its  length  with 
ladies  dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion,  some  seated  at  tables  with  huge  mounds  of  straw- 
berries and  cakes  before  them.  Imagine  a  line  of  members,  young  and  old,  lining  the  Terrace 
wall  and  viewing  with  undisguised  interest  the  scene  as  they  discuss  their  cigars  and  cigarettes. 
Imagine,  further,  a  sparsely  occupied  expanse  of  Terrace  at  one  end,  heavily  barricaded  from 
the  remainder  and  further  protected  by  the  legend  "  For  Members  only,"  and  you  will  have 
some  notion  of  what  the  Terrace  is  like  in  high  summer.  Members  at  this  place  and  at  these 
times  seem  to  find  their  duties  sit  lightly  upon  them.  But  it  is  merely  appearance.  Immediately 
the  division  bells  ring,  and  the  stentorian  tones  of  the  police  constables  on  duty  announce  that 
a  division  has  been  called,  there  is  a  scamper  on  their  part  for  the  door.  Gradually  the 
company  thins  out,  until  the  ladies  are  left  in  almost  exclusive  occupation  of  the  promenade. 
The  desertion  of  them,  however,  is  but  temporary.  The  return  movement  soon  sets  in,  and 
before  the  night  is  much  further  advanced  parties  are  being  formed  for  that  most  delightful  of 
experiences,  a  dinner  at  the  House.  The  sun  has  gone  down,  and  a  myriad  lights  sparkle  on 
the  surface  of  the  great  river  as  it  flows  by,  carrying  on  its  bosom  some  belated  barge  which  is 
taking  advantage  of  the  bright  summer  night  to  get  to  the  end  of  its  journey.  From  the  bridge 
which  s]«m>  the  river  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  Terrace  comes  in  a  soft  murmur  the  noise  of 
the  ceaseless  traffic,  and  now  and  again  the  sounds  of  merry  laughter  float  across  the  waterway 
from  the  Embankment  opposite.  Fashionable  London  has  many  brilliant  things  to  offer  its 
votaries,  but  none  more  interesting  than  an  evening  such  as  we  have  described  on  the  Terrace. 


CHAPTER    X. 


MEMORIES  OF  ST.  STEPHEN'S  (Continued)—  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

AFTER  our  somewhat  long  digression  to  elucidate  some  of  the  lighter  aspects  of   Parliamentary 

life,  we  may  resume  our  survey  of  the  stage  of  old  St.   Stephen's.     When  we  left  Parliament 

it   had    emerged    from    the   troubled    waters    of  the    Revolutionary   period   and   well    embarked 

upon    a    career   of    constitutional   progress.      The   promise   of    peaceful    times   was   not   belied. 

In   fact,  nothing   hardly  could  be  more  striking  than  the   contrast   between  the  Parliamentary 

history   of    the   seventeenth   and    that   of  the   eighteenth    century.     One   was   pre-eminently   a 

period  of  action  :    the  other  was  as  distinctively  an  era  of  talk  —  brilliant,  weighty,  enthralling 

declamation,  but  still  talk.     The  change  was  a  natural  outcome  of  the  events  of  the   Rebellion 

and  of  the    Revolution,  which    had    left  the   Constitution    so   clearly   and   rigidly   denned,   and 

had    placed     in     the     hands     of 

Parliament  such  wide  power,  that 

serious  disputes  with    the  Crown 

of     the      old     type     had     been 

rendered  almost  impossible.     The 

growth  of  the  party  system  pro- 

moted the  development.    Oratory, 

which    had    hitherto   played    but 

an  occasional  part  in  the  routine 

work  of  Parliament,  now  had  its 

place    as    a    regular    and    indis- 

pensable feature  of  the  machinery 

of   administration.      It    was    the 

touchstone  of  popularity,  and  in 

process  of  time  became  the  test 

of  statesmanship. 

In  the  Parliamentary  annals 
of  the  earliest  years  of  the 
century,  the  names  which  most 
command  attention  are  those  of 
Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford, 
and  Henry  St.  John,  Lord  Bol- 
ingbroke.  The  two  men  were 
closely  associated  in  political 
work  for  a  good  many  years, 
but  they  were  singularly  unlike. 
Harley  lacked  most  of  the 
qualities  essential  in  a  Parlia- 
mentary leader.  "To  the  end 
of  his  life,"  says  Macaulav,  "  he 

_.._     -I  j-  ,         .".     .. 

remained    a    tedious,    hesitating, 

and      Confused     sneakor         HP     ha/1 
Speaker. 


Fran  the  painting  by  Sir  0.  KnMer  in  the  Jfalional  Portrait 

ROBERT   HARLEY,   EARL  OF  OXFORD, 
The   well-known  statesman  of  the  reign    of    Queen   Anne,   impeached    for    treason    and 


acquitted  in  the  reign  of  George  I. 


95 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


OPENING  OF   PARLIAMENT   BY  QCEEN  ANNE. 
A  curious  Dutch  picture,  in  which  the  artist  has  allowed  himself  considerable  licence. 

none  of  the  external  graces  of  an  orator.  His  countenance  was  heavy,  his  figure  mean 
and  somewhat  deformed,  and  his  gestures  uncouth."  St.  John,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a 
profoundly  eloquent  speaker,  endowed  with  personal  graces  which  gave  him  remarkable 
ascendancy  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Unfortunately,  of  his  brilliant  oratory  only  the 
tradition  survives.  Professional  Parliamentary  reporting  in  any  form  was  unknown  in  his 
day,  and  there  were  no  amateurs,  like  the  industrious  D'Ewes  of  an  earlier  generation,  to 
help  to  supply  the  deficiency.  Hence  we  have  to  take  his  gifts  as  a  speaker  on  trust ;  but 
that  his  reputation  was  not  undeserved  is  shown  by  the  extraordinary  impression  he  created 
by  his  speeches.  Brougham  says  that  it  was  the  contemplation  of  the  chasm  in  the  records 
of  the  Parliamentary  debates  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  that  "made 
Mr.  Pitt,  when  musing  upon  its  brink,  and  calling  to  mind  all  that  might  be  fancied  of  the 
orator  from  the  author,  and  all  that  traditional  testimony  had  handed  down  to  us,  sigh  after 
a  speech  of  Bolingbroke — desiderating  it  far  more  than  all  that  has  perished  of  the  treasures 
of  the  ancient  world. ' 

These  two  men  between  them  ruled  the  House  of  Commons  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne, 
the  one  by  the  virtue  of  the  supreme  quality  of  tact,  and  the  other  by  his  personal  gifts  and  eloquence. 
They  shared  a  common  fate  when,  on  the  elections  to  the  first  Parliament  of  George  I.,  the  Whigs 
came  into  power  with  an  immense  majority.  Impeached  at  the  Bar  of  the  House  for  their  conduct 
of  the  negotiations  for  peace  with  France,  Oxford  was  committed  to  the  Tower,  there  to  languish 
for  some  years,  while  Bolingbroke  escaped  a  like  fate  by  fleeing  to  the  Continent,  to  commence 
a  long  life  of  exile.  Two  other  eminent  names  that  are  identified  with  this  period  are  those  of 
Addison  and  Steele,  the  brilliant  essayists.  Equally  gifted  as  writers,  they  contrasted  strikingly  as 


HENRY    ST    JOHN.    VISCOUNT    BOLINGBROKE. 

Brillum   and   crraiii   Sijirsnun   jnd   Author,   wluiM-   speeches   in   ihc   I'jrli.munf.   n!   Qiax-n   Anne  arc   said   in   have 
Kin   .imon^si  tin    moM   iltHjuun   c\ir   dilivtrcd   in   ihc   HOUM;   nf  (Commons. 


Memories    of   St.    Stephen's — The    Eighteenth    Century      97 


speakers.      Addison    is    believed    to 

have   made   but  one    speech   in   the 

whole    of  his    Parliamentary    career. 

That  was  when  he  sat  in   the   Irish 

Parliament   as  member  for  Cavan  in 

1709.      The    effort    was    a    comical 

failure.     "  On   a   motion    before   the 

House,"  says  an  Irish  writer,  "  Addison 

rose,  and  having  said  '  Mr.  Speaker, 

I  conceive,'  paused,  as  if  frightened 

by  the  sound  of  his  own  voice.     He 

again  commenced  :    '  I  conceive,  Mr. 

Speaker,'    when    he    stopped,    until 

roused    by   cries    of    '  Hear  !    hear  ! ' 

when   he    once    more    essayed   with 

'  Sir,  I  conceive.'     Power   of  further 

utterance  was  denied,  so  he  sat  down 

amidst  the  scarce  suppressed  laughter 

of  his  brother  members,  which  soon 

burst  forth  when  a  witty  senator 
said  :  '  Sir,  the  honourable  gentleman 
has  just  conceis'ed  three  times,  and 
brought  forth  nothing.'"  Steele,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  oratorical  qualities 
which  would  have  brought  him  fame 
quite  independent  of  his  writings. 
He  was  witty  and  endowed  in  a  high 
degree  with  the  power  of  good- 
humoured  badinage,  so  effective  in 
a  popular  chamber.  One  of  the  best 
remembered  of  his  sallies  is  his 
description  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  accession  of  George  I.  as  a  body  "  consisting  very 
much  of  silent  people  oppressed  by  the  choice  of  a  great  deal  to  say,  and  of  eloquent  people 
ignorant  that  what  they  said  was  nothing  to  the  purpose." 

His  first  essay  in  the  role  of  a  legislator  was,  however,  unpromising.  Entering  Parliament 
in  1714,  he  felt  constrained  on  the  opening  day  of  the  session — February  14th— to  raise 
his  voice  in  condemnation  of  the  Bill  of  Commerce  between  Great  Britain  and  France, 
which  was  then  a  burning  political  question.  He  described  the  measure  as  "most  pernicious," 
and  referring  to  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer,  whose  influence  had  secured  the  rejection  of  the  scheme 
in  the  previous  session,  said :  "  I  rise  up  to  do  him  honour  and  distinguish  myself  by  giving 
him  iny  vote  for  that  his  inestimable  service  to  his  country."  The  remarks  were  like  a  red 
rag  to  a  bull  in  the  Tory  House  of  Commons  ir>  which  he  found  himself.  But  the  reception 
given  to  his  remarks  is  best  described  by  Steele  himself  in  his  "Vindication."  "It  will  be 
impossible,"  he  wrote,  "for  the  reader  to  conceive  how  this  speech  of  his  was  received,  except 
he  has  happened  to  have  been  at  a  cock-match,  and  seen  the  triumph  and  exaltation  which 
is  raised  when  a  volatile,  whose  fall  was  some  way  gainful  to  part  of  the  company,  has  been 
necked.  At  the  mention  of  the  Bill  of  Commerce  the  cry  began  :  at  calling  it  increased  :  at 
the  words  '  do  him  honour '  it  grew  insupportably  loud ;  but  having  no  reason  for  being 
confounded  for  other  people's  folly  or  absurdity,  Mr.  Steele  bore  the  insolence  well  enough 
to  speak  out  what  he  intended.  He  had  hardiness  enough  to  do  it,  from  a  resolution  which 
he  had  taken  to  govern  himself  by  when  he  went  into  the  House,  which  was  to  prefer  the 
fame  of  an  honest  man  to  that  of  an  orator.  .  .  .  Mr.  Steele  does  not  attribute  this  particular 

13 


From  the  fattoul  rortmit  Gallery. 

JOSEPH   ADDISON, 
Kaajut  and  »UUwman,  Secretary  of  State  in  the  reijm  of  George  I. 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


outrage  to  the  House  any  further  than  t hoy  ought  to  have  suppressed  it,  and  severely  obsem-d 
upon  it  by  fuming  out  the  unVii(l<-i>.  who.  it  is  supposed,  were  a  jmrcol  of  rustics  who  crowded 
in  with  tlw  memU-rs  In-fore  tlio  i-l.vtic.ii  of  tin-  Shaker,  from  a  received  error  that  there  i~  m. 
authority  in  the  House  till  In-  is  cho-.-n.  As  he  came  out  of  the  llmi>e  lie  coulil  hear  nothing 
but  tho«»  luiiil  critics  talking  to  one  another:  'Oh!  it  is  not  so  easy  a  thing  to  speak  in  the 
House.'  -He  fancies  Ix-cause  he  can  scribble,'  and  the  like  deep  animadversions." 

Stifle  was  not  long  allowed  to  enjoy  e\en  the  re.-tricted  measure  of  his  triuinjih  meted 
out  tn  him  on  his  ilehut  in  St.  Stephen's.  Alni"-t  immediately  a  charge  was  concocted  against 
him  of  writing  a  libel  on  the  MiniMry  in  a  pamphlet  with  the  title  of  "The  Crisis."  Brought  to 
the  l!ar,  with  Sir  h'ohert  \\'al]i»le  and  (i.-neral  Staiihoi)p,  the  Whig  leaders,  to  support  him  and  aid 
him  with  advice,  Steele.  air«r<ling  to  one  of  his  auditors,  spoke  for  nearly  three  hours  "with  sin-h 
ti-iii|nT.  eloquence,  and  unconceni  as  gave  en  tire  satisfaction  to  all  who  were  not  prepossessed  again.-t 
him."  The  inipre»ion  in  his  favour  was  strengthened  by  a  singular  incident  recorded  in  Kusfer's 
eway  on  Steele.  Ixird  Finch,  who  owed  gnititude  to  Steele  for  having  repelled  in  the  Gua.r<lin ,/ 
a  libel  on  his  sister,  got  up  to  make  a  maiden  speech  in  defence  of  his  defender.  "But  bashfulnos 
urn-  him.  and  after  a  few  sentences  lie  sit  down,  crying  out  as  he  did  so,  'It  is  strange  I 
cannot  sjK>ak  for  this  man,  though  I  could  readily  fight  for  him  ! '  Upon  this  such  cheering  ran;,' 
through  the  H»u>e  that  Middenly  the  young  lord  took  heart,  rose  again,  and  made  the  ti 
a  long  series  of  able  and  telling  speeches."  Of  course,  however  (adds  Forster).  it  did  not 
Steele.  who  was  expelled  by  a  majority  of  nearly  a  hundred  in  a  House  of  four  hundred  memhers. 
Steele  was  subsequently  again  returned  to  Parliament,  and  amid  more  congenial  surround int,r> 
made  a  considerable  reputation  as  a  speaker. 

The  great  dominating  j>ersonality  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  early  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  that  of  Sir  Kobert  Walpole.     From  the  year  1702,  when  he  was  returned  for  Kind's 

Lynn,  until  1742,  when  he  retired  frmn 
public  life,  he  filled  a  conspicuous  place  in 
the  assembly  at  St.  Stephen's.  Fir-t  of 
Prime  Ministers  in  the  sense  that  we  under- 
stand the  term,  he  held  that  office  un- 
interruptedly for  twenty-one  years — a  record 
that  has  never  since  been  broken.  I'nder 
his  aegis  the  modern  system  of  responsible 
government  was  built  up.  Recognising  the 
changed  conditions  brought  about  bv  i 
limitations  placed  upon  the  power  of 
the  Crown,  he  skilfully  evolved  out  of  tin- 
materials  to  his  hand  a  machinery  of  ad- 
ministration the  motive  force  of  which  was 
a  party  majority  maintained  in  the  Hoii>e 
by  the  manipulation  of  the  const  it  uein 
with  the  aid  of  agencies  not  always  legiti- 
mate. The  Cabinet,  though  not  of  his 
creation,  owes  its  present  character  largely 
to  him.  By  his  resignation  in  17-12.  after 
the  adverse  vote  on  the  Chippenham  election 
]x-tition.  he  established  the  important  principle 
that  a  Minister  who  has  lost  the  sup]M>rt  of 
the  House  of  Commons  must  no  longer  hold 
office.  With  all  his  faults,  and  they  \\.-re 
limn v.  he  was  undoubtedly  a  great  st«t 
^  man,  who  deserves  to  be  held  in  honour  l,v 

TU  brilliant  wit.  oothor,  tod  |»litlcUn,  who  wu  expelled  from  the  Uonx 

of  Common*  for  Mi  « ritingi  in  17H.  U1S    Countrymen. 


100 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Walpole's  qualities  were  of  a  diverse  order.  A  great  writer,  an  accomplished  scholar,  and 
a  clever  financier,  he  combined  in  his  prr-mi  the  leading  attainments  which  make  for  success 
as  a  ]<o]>ular  administrator.  But  the  true  secret  of  his  jwwer  i.s  to  be  looked  for  in  his 
l>rofound  insight  into  human  character.  The  cynical  remark  popularly  attributed  to  him — "All 
men  have  their  price" — was  never  uttered  by  him  in  that  sweeping  form,  but  it  repn-M-nts 
not  inaccurately  his  attitude  of  mind  towards  those  with  whom  he  had  to  deal.  "A  jKitriot, 
sir!"  he  exclaimed  in  his  speech  in  vindication  of  his  policy  in  1741;  "why.  patriots 
spring  up  like  mushrooms.  I  could  raise  fifty  of  them  within  the  four  and  twenty  hours. 
I  have  raised  many  of  them  in  one  night.  It  is  but  refusing  to  gratify  an  unreasonable 
or  an  insolent  demand,  and  up  starts  a  jmtriot ! "  This  cynicism  of  temperament  was 
constitutional.  Dealing  with  a  corrupt  and  venal  crew  in  an  age  of  extraordinary  laxity  in 
public  morals,  he  could  not  believe  it  possible  that  men  acted  from  disinterested  motives. 
Pope  makes  allusion  to  this  foible  of  his  in  these  lines : 

Seen  him  I  have,  but  in  his  happier  hoar 
Of  social  pleasure,  ill  exchanged  for  power; 
Seen  him  unencumbered  with  the  venal  tribe, 
Smile  without  art,  and  win  without  a  bribe. 
Would  be  oblige  me?   let  me  only  find 
Hecdoes  not  think  me  what  he  thinks  mankind. 

Inseparably  associated  with  Walpole's  Parliamentary  career  was  that  of  his  great  rival 
William  Pulteney.  The  Titanic  oratorical  combats  between  the  two  leaders  remain,  after  the 

lapse  of  close  upon  two  centuries, 
amongst  the  greatest  of  Parliament 
tary  traditions.  Pulteney's  powers 
as  a  debater  were  vividly  sketched 
by  Speaker  On  slow,  who  had  the 
best  opportunity  of  forming  an 
opinion  upon  them.  Pulteney  had, 
he  said,  "  the  most  popular  parts 
for  public  speaking  that  I  ever 
knew ;  animating  every  subject  of 
popularity  with  the  spirit  of  fire 
that  the  orators  of  the  ancient 
commonwealths  governed  the  people 
by ;  was  as  classical  and  eloquent 
in  the  speeches  he  did  not  prepare 
as  they  were  in  the  most  studied 
compositions ;  mingling  wit  and 
pleasantry,  and  the  application  even 
of  little  stories,  so  properly  to  affect 
his  hearers  that  he  would  overset 
the  best  argumentation  in  the  world, 
and  win  people  over  to  his  side, 
often  against  their  own  convictions, 
by  making  ridiculous  the  truths 
they  were  influenced  by  before,  and 
making  some  men  to  be  afraid  and 
ashamed  of  being  thought  within 
the  meaning  of  some  bitter  ex- 
pression  of  his,  or  within  the  laugh 
SIB  BOUGHT  WALPOLE,  tlmt  generally  went  through  the  town 

Th«  grwt  lUtaanu,  who  WM  Prim*  MinUter  for  twentj-one  maxmive  jeut.  at  any  memorable  stroke  of  his  Wl't." 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's — The    Eighteenth    Century       1O1 


From  an  engraving  of  tht  painting  by  Hogarth  and  Sir  Jamct  ThornhilL 

THE   HOUSE   OP  COMMONS   IN   SIR   ROBEBT   WALPOLE'S   ADMINISTRATION. 
The  Right  HOD.  Arthor  On»!ow  U  in  the  chmir,  Sir  Robert  Walpole  at  his  right  hand.    He  is  shown  wearing  the  bine  Ritand  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  conflicts  of  the  two  Parliamentary  gladiators  was  over 
Walpole's  famous  Excise  Bill  in  1733.  The  measure  was  received  with  extreme  hostility  in 
the  City,  and  Pulteney  and  his  associates,  recognising  their  opportunity,  did  their  utmost, 
with  unbounded  success,  to  fan  the  flames  of  public  discontent.  In  the  debate  Windham 
compared  Walpole  to  Empson  and  Dudley,  "  who  had  the  misfortune  to  outlive  their  master, 
but  whose  son,  as  soon  as  he  came  to  the  throne,  took  off  both  their  heads " — an  allusion 


102 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


which  was  keenly  enjoyed  by 
Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  a 
hitter  enemy  of  Walpole,  who 
occupied  a  seat  under  the  gallery. 
I'llltenev'.-  own  speech  s[>arkled 
with  the  peculiar  humour  of 
which  lie  was  master.  \Valpole. 
he  said,  had  of  late  been  mighty 
bountiful  and  liberal  in  his 
otl'ers  to  the  public.  "He  has 
been  so  gracious  as  to  ask  us 
'  Will  you  have  a  land  tax  of 
two  shillings  in  the  pound,  a 
land  tax  of  one  shilling  in  the 
pound,  or  will  you  have  no  land 
tax  at  all  ?  Will  you  have  your 
debts  paid?  Will  you  have 
them  soon  paid?  Tell  me  but 
what  you  want,  let  me  but 
know  how  you  can  be  made 
easy,  and  it  shall  be  done  for 
you.'  These  are  very  generous 
offers,  but  there  is  something  so 
very  extraordinary,  so  farcical,  in 
them,  that  really  I  can  hardly 
mention  them  without  laughing. 
It  puts  me  in  mind  of  the  story 
of  Sir  Epicure  Mammon  in  The  Alchymist.  He  was  gulled  of  his  money  by  fine  promises ; 
he  was  promised  the  philosopher's  stone,  by  which  he  was  to  get  mountains  of  gold,  and  every- 
thing else  he  could  desire ;  but  all  ended  at  last  in  some  little  thing  for  curing  the  itch." 

Walpole  was  singularly  puzzled  by  the  allusion  to  Empson  and  Dudley  in  Windham's 
speech,  and  had  to  refer  to  Sir  Phillip  Yorke,  the  Attorney-General,  who  sat  beside  him, 
before  he  quite  grasped  who  those  historical  characters  were.  His  reply,  however,  lacked 
nothing  in  effectiveness.  He  trusted  that  those  present  would  think  that  it  was  very  unjust 
to  draw  any  j«rallel  between  those  notorious  individuals  and  himself.  If  his  character  should 
ever  come  to  be  like  theirs,  he  would  deserve  their  fate.  "I  know,"  he  remarked,  "that  my 
jwlitical  and  Ministerial  life  has  by  some  gentlemen  been  long  wished  at  an  end  ;  but  they 
may  ask  their  disappointed  hearts  how  vain  their  wishes  have  been;  and  as  for  my  natural 
life,  I  have  lived  long  enough  to  be  easy  about  parting  with  it." 

In  the  end  Walpole  carried  his  measure  by  a  majority  of  sixty-one,  in  one  of  the  fullest 
Houses  ever  known.  Popular  excitement,  which  throughout  had  run  exceedingly  high  during 
the  debates,  reached  boiling  point  when  the  result  was  known.  The  precincts  of  the  Ilmi-, 
were  thronged  with  a  howling  mob—"  sturdy  beggars ''  Waljwle  contemptuously  termed  them 
in  a  historic  phrase— whose  attitude  was  so  menacing  to  Walpole  as  he  went  through 
Westminster  Hall  to  his  carriage  that  only  the  prompt  action  of  his  companion,  Henry  Pelham, 
who,  drawing  his  sword,  dared  the  rioters  to  attack,  saved  him  from  actual  and  personal  violence. 
After  further  debate  and  divisions,  in  which  the  majority  steadily  dwindled,  Walpole  discreetly 
withdrew  the  Bill.  He  declared  that  he  would  never  be  the  .Minister  to  enforce  taxes  at  the 
expense  of  blood. 

Equability  of  temper  was  a  marked  characteristic  of  Walpole.  Pulteney,  in  a  conversation 
with  Dr.  Johnson,  once  stated  that  his  rival  was  of  a  temper  so  calm  and  equal,  and  so  hard 
to  be  provoked,  that  he  was  very  sure  he  never  felt  the  bitterest  invectives  against  him  for 


'•THE  ORIGIN   AXD   ESSENCE  OF  A    GRAND  EXCISE." 

Satirical  print  mipgeiUd  by  the  feraent  over  Walpole1*  Excise  Bill.  The  view  shows 
the  entrance  to  the  old  HOOK  of  Commons,  and  repreeento  Wal)>ole  leaving  the  Uoune 
exclaiming,  "It  uiu»t  and  aliall  pau." 


Memories    ot    St.    Stephen's — The    Eighteenth    Century      103 


from  the  painting  by  Sir  J.  Reynolds,  P.R.A.,  in  the  National  Portrait  (iaUtry. 

WILLIAM   PULTEXEY,  EARL   OF  BATH, 
Walpole's  great  rival  ;  famed  for  his  oratorical  powers  and  his  gift  of  brilliant  repartee. 

half  an  hour.  Confirmation  of  this  view  of  Walpole's  character  is  to  be  found  in  the  following 
singular  incident  related  by  Coxe  in  his  "Life  of  Walpole":  "On  P'ebruary  llth,  1741,  Sandys 
informed  Walpole  in  the  House  of  Commons  that  he  should  on  the  following  Friday  bring  an 
accusation  of  several  articles  against  him.  The  Minister,  who  received  the  accusation  with 
great  dignity  and  composure,  immediately  arose,  thanked  him  for  his  notice,  and  after 
requesting  a  candid  and  impartial  hearing,  declared  that  he  would  not  fail  to  attend  the 
House,  as  he  was  not  conscious  of  any  crime  to  deserve  accusation.  He  laid  his  hand  on  his 
breast,  and  said  with  some  emotion:  'Xil  conscire  sib,  nulli  palascere  culpse.' " 

Pulteney  observed  that  the  right  honourable  gentleman's  logic  and  Latin  were  equally 
inaccurate,  and  declared  he  had  misquoted  Horace,  who  had  written  "nulla  pallascere  cutpa." 
The  Minister  defended  his  quotation,  and  Pulteney  repeating  his  assertion,  he  offered  a  wager 
of  a  guinea.  Pulteney  accepted  the  challenge,  and  referred  the  decision  of  the  dispute  to  the 
Minister's  friend,  Nicholas  Hardinge,  Clerk  of  the  House,  a  man  distinguished  for  classical 


104 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Till:    (il'INK.V    I.n.-I     IIY    \VAI.I-OLE   TO    PV1.TKMY     IN 

A  m-T  MAIH:  is  TUK  HOUSE. 


erudition.  Hardinge  decided  against  Walpole ;  the 
guinea  was  immediately  thrown  to  Pulteney,  who 
caught  it,  and  holding  it  up  to  the  House,  ex- 
claimed :  "  It  is  the  only  money  I  have  received 
from  the  Treasury  for  many  years,  and  it  shall  be 
the  last."  Pulteney  carefully  preserved  the  coin, 
and  it  ultimately  found  its  way  to  the  Coin  Room 
of  the  British  Museum,  where  it  may  now  be  seen, 
with  an  inscription  in  the  handwriting  of  Pulteney 
setting  forth  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
bet  was  made.1 

A  still    more    striking    instance  of  Walpole's 

imperturbability  is    mentioned  by  Horace   Walpole  in  his   "Reminiscences."    "At  the   time  of 

the  Preston  rebellion,"  states  this  writer,  "a  Jacobite  who  sometimes  furnished  Sir  Robert  with 

intelligence,  sitting  alone   with    him   one   night,  suddenly   put    his  hand  into  his  bosom   and, 

rising,   said:   'Why   do  not   I   kill  you   now?'     Walpole,  starting  up,  replied:   'Because  I  am 

a  younger  man  and  a  stronger.'     They  sat  down  again  and  discussed  the  person's  information  ; 

but  Sir    Robert    afterwards    had    reasons    for    thinking    that    the    spy    had    no    intention    of 

assassination,  but  had  hoped  to  extract  money  from  him." 

The  introduction  of  the  resolution  by  ]\Ir.  Sandys  referred  to  above  marked  the  beginning 

of   the   end    of    Wai  pole's    career    in    the    House   of  Commons.      For  some  years    before,   the 

.Minister's    power    had    been    undergoing    a 

process  of  disintegration.     He  had   incurred 

considerable    odium    by    his    pacific    policy 

abroad,  and    his    position    had    been    greatly 

weakened  by  attacks   made  upon   him,  con- 
spicuously by  William  Pitt,  afterwards  Earl 

of    Chatham,   who,   entering    the   House    in 

1735,     had    early    given     evidence     of    his 

commanding  genius  by  speeches  of  a  vigour 

and  eloquence  remarkable  even  in   that  era 

of  splendid  oratory.     In  1739  an  address  in 

favour  of  the  convention  just  concluded  with 

Spain  was  carried  by  only  twenty-eight  votes 

in  a  full  House,  and  the  division  was  followed 

by    an    extraordinary  scene,    culminating    in 

the  withdrawal  of  the  Opposition  in  a  body. 

Thereafter,  Walpole   was    compelled   by   the 

pressure    of  public   opinion   to    declare   war 

against   Spain,   and    the   operations    proving 

disastrous,  he   was   called   upon  to  bear  the 

discredit  of  a  policy  which  he  had   pursued 

against  his  better  judgment.      The   imposi- 
tion of  heavy  financial  burdens  to  cover  the 

cost    of   the   war    in    the    session    of     1740 

prepared  the  way  for  his  downfall.     In   the 

debate  on  Sandys'  motion,  in  February,  1741, 


From  the  portrait  by  W.  lloart,  R.A.,  in  the  A'ational  Portrait  Gallery. 
THE   KIGHT   HON.   HENRY  FELHAM, 

Friend  and  follower  of   Walpole ;   a-  leading  member  of   the   Pelbam 
Administration. 


1  This  is  probably  the  only  instance  in  which  a  bet  was  publicly  made  in  the  House  of  Commons,  but  sporting 
transactions  of  this  character  over  events  happening  in  the  Legislative  Chamber  are  common  enough.  At  the  present 
time  a  new  silk  hat  is  the  favourite  wager.  A  member  now  in  the  House  has  framed  in  his  library  a  cheque  for 
twenty-five  (hillings  which  Mr.  Chamberlain  sent  him,  the  cost  of  a  bat  which  the  statesman  had  wagered 
and  lost. 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's — The    Eighteenth    Century      105 


Walpole  made  a  brilliant  speech  in  defence  of  his  policy,  and 
by  sheer  weight  of  rhetoric  carried  the  House  with  him,  securing 
the  large  majority  of  184.  But  the  stars  in  their  courses  were 
fighting  against  him.  Within  a  twelvemonth  after  the  election 
of  a  new  Parliament  he  was  called  upon  to  defend  himself  from 
a  more  formidable  attack,  led  by  his  old  enemy  Pulteney,  who 
brought  forward  a  motion  for  referring  to  a  Select  Committee 
the  papers  which  had  been  laid  before  the  House  relating  to 
the  war.  \Valpole's  speech  in  reply  to  the  acrimonious  attack 
made  upon  him  by  Pulteney,  backed  by  Pitt,  was  a  magnificent 
effort,  full  of  fire  and  invective,  and  containing  many  home 
thrusts  for  his  opponents.  Bubb  Dodington  came  especially 
under  the  lash  of  his  withering  satire.  Keferring  to  this 
politician's  description  of  his  Administration  as  infamous, 
Walpole  described  him  as  a  person  of  great  self-mortification, 
who  for  sixteen  years  had  condescended  to  bear  part  of  the 
infamy.  Extraordinary  efforts  were  made  by  both  parties  to 
ensure  a  full  muster.  Many  members  were  brought  direct  from 
a  bed  of  sickness  to  swell  the  numbers.  A  curious  experience 
awaited  one  party  of  invalids  brought  up  in  the  interest  of  the 
Ministry.  "They  had,''  says  Coxe,  "been  placed  in  an  adjoin- 
ing apartment  belonging  to  Lord  Walpole,  as  Auditor  of  the 
Exchequer,  which  communicated  with  the  House.  The  adversaries, 
aware  of  the  feet,  filled  the  keyhole  of  the  door  with  dirt 
and  sand,  which  prevented  their  admission  into  the  House  until 
the  division  was  over.  On  this  occasion,  as  General  Churchill 
was  sitting  next  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was  in  the  House  of  Commons*  to  hear  the 
debate,  a  member  was  brought  in  who  had  lost  the  use  of  his  limbs.  '  So,'  says  the  Prince, 
'I  see  you  bring  in  the  lame,  the  halt,  and  the  blind.'  'Yes,'  replied  the  General;  'the 
lame  on  our  side  and  the  blind  on  yours.'"  When  the  division  was  called  it  was  found  that 
in  a  House  of  508  members— the  fullest  ever  known — Ministers  only  had  a  majority  of  three. 
Aft  IT  this  the  end  could  plainly  not  be  far  off.  It  came  on  a  series  of  divisions  on  a  disputed 
point  in  connection  with  the  Chippenham  election  petition,  which  left  the  Government  in  a 
minority,  in  the  last  of  the  divisions,  of  sixteen.  Walpole  immediately  resigned,  and  was  created 
Earl  of  Orford,  with  an  additional  pension  of  £'4,000  a  year.  His  leave-taking  of  the  King 
was  highly  affecting.  "On  kneeling  down  to  kiss  the  King's  hand  his  Majesty  burst  into 
tcar>.  and  the  ex-Minister  was  so  moved  with  that  instance  of  regard  that  he  continued  for 
some  time  in  that  posture;  and  the  King  was  so  touched  that  he  was  unable  to  raise  him 
from  the  ground.  When  he  at  length  rose,  the  King  testified  his  regret  for  the  loss  of  so 
faithful  a  counsellor,  expressed  his  gratitude  for  his  long  services,  and  his  hopes  of  receiving 
advice  on  important  occasions."  l  A  determined  effort  was  made  by  Walpole's  political  enemies 
to  call  him  to  criminal  .account  for  his  actions,  but  skilful  Parliamentary  manoeuvring  on  the 
part  of  his  friends  turned  the  attack  aside.  The  strenuous  efforts  he  had  been  called  upon 
to  make  had,  however,  undermined  his  strength.  In  1745  he  expired  at  his  country  house  in 
Norfolk,  whither  he  had  retired  after  his  fall.  Meanwhile,  his  implacable  opponent,  Pulteney, 
had  retired  to  that  "  hospital  of  invalids,  the  House  of  Peers,"  as  he  once  called  it,  and  in 
so  doing  had  greatly  injured  his  reputation  as  a  ]x>pular  leader.  A  reference  to  this  decline 
of  his  influence  is  contained  in  a  satirical  ballad  of  the  time: — 


J-ri,,,t  a  drawing  by  W.  Hogarth. 

GEOBGE      BUBB      DODINGTON,     LORD 
HELCOMBE. 

A  well-known  politician,  whom  diary  is  one 
of  the  cla&sica  of  political  literature. 


Great  Earl  of  Bath,  your  reign  is  o'er ; 
The  Tories  trust  your  word  no  more, 
The  Whigs  no  longer  fear  ye  ; 


Your  gates  are  seldom  now  unbarr'd, 

No  crowds  of  coaches  fill  3'our  jard, 

And  scarce  a  soul  comes  near  ye. 


Coxe's  "  Memoirs  of  Sir  Robert   Walpole,"  vol.   i.  p.  6%. 


14 


io6 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


rn  by  George  Dance  in  1793. 
IKtKACE   WALP01.K.    r<>!   K'l'II    i:\ltlj  OP  OBFOKD. 

A  great  political  writer  and  «rt  connoUaeur.      He  wai  third 
•on  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole. 


It  is  said  that  Pulteney  owed  his  earldom  to 
\Valj>oh».  «*  I  remember,"  says  Hornoe  Waljwle, 
44  my  father's  action  and  words  when  he  returned 
from  Court  and  told  me  what  he  had  done — '  I 
have  turned  the  key  of  the  closet  on  him,'  making 
that  motion  with  his  hand."  Pulteney  had  some 
inkling,  probably,  of  the  origin  of  his  title,  for 
when  he  received  the  patent  of  his  creation  lie 
threw  it  on  the  floor  and  trampled  on  it.  He 
outlived  Wal|H>le  by  nineteen  years,  but  he  never 
again  figured  prominently  in  politics,  thus  in 
some  extent  justifying  a  remark  made  by  that 
statesman  when  he  first  met  his  old  rival  in  the 
House  of  Lords — "My  Lord  liath,  you  and  I  are 
now  two  as  insignificant  men  as  any  in  England." 

Not  long  after  the  termination  of  Walpole's 
active  ]>olitical  career,  the  (iovernment  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Pel  hams  (Henry  Pelham  and  liis 
brother,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle),  whose  ascendency 
in  the  national  councils  rxlrmlcd  almost  uninter- 
ruptedly over  a  period  of  twenty  years,  dating 
fn»m  1743.  Of  all  the  names  which  secured 
.-1  .ecial  prominence  in  the  political  history  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  these  two,  perhaps,  have  the 
least  title  to  notice.  Henry  Pelham  was  a  respect- 
able mediocrity,  well-meaning  and  industrious,  but 
(|iiite  devoid  of  the  qualities  which  are  associated  with  the  highest  statesmanship.  Hi- 
I  trot  her,  who  on  his  death  in  1754  succeeded  him  in  the  Premiership,  is  best  described  in 
Mai-aulay's  scathing  language:  "He  was  a  living,  moving,  talking  caricature.  His  gait  was 
a  shuffling  trot;  his  utterance  a  rapid  stutter;  he  was  always  in  a  hurry;  he  was  never  in 
time;  he  abounded  in  fulsome  caresses  and  in  hysterical  tears.  His  oratory  resembled  that  of 
Justice  Shallow.  It  was  nonsense  effervescent  with  animal  spirits  and  impertinence."  Savage  as 
the  picture  is,  it  is  not  on  the  whole  unjust.  Never  has  there  been  a  Premier  who  attracted  to 
himself  so  much  ridicule  and  contemptuous  criticism.  Henry  Pelham  was  by  far  the  abler  man, 
but  he  never  rose  above  the  level  of  commonplace.  His  policy  was  uninspired,  and  the  lack  of 
genius  was  not  comjiensated  for  by  any  commanding  personal  attractions.  He  appears  llie  less 
in  history  as  it  was  during  his  tenure  of  power  that  the  restrictions  against  the  reporting  of 
the  debates  were  in  greatest  force.  Personally  he  would  have  given  the  reporters  a  fairly 
free  hand.  "  Let  them  alone,"  he  remarked  on  one  occasion,  "  they  will  make  better  speeches 
for  us  than  we  can  make  for  ourselves."  These  sentiments,  however,  were  not  those  of  the 
majority,  and  consequently  our  knowledge  of  this  period  in  Parliamentary  history  is  limited. 
One  interesting  incident  associated  with  Pel  ham's  name  has,  however,  been  handed  down  by 
Coxe  in  his  "  History  of  the  Pelham  Administration."  According  to  the  biographer,  during  the 
early  years  of  Pellmm's  career  at  St.  Stephen's  he  stood  out  boldly  as  a  defender  of  M'aljwle 
against  Pulteney's  attacks.  On  one  occasion  so  heated  were  his  attacks  on  the  Opposition 
leader  that  a  duel  was  made  imminent.  "After  a  short  conversation,  in  which  a  challenge  is 
sup]N>sed  to  have  been  given,  Mr.  Pulteney  quitted  the  House,  and  Mr.  Pelham  rose  up  to 
follow  him,  but  some  common  friends  inter|xising,  the  Speaker  ordered  the  Sergeant -at-Arms 
to  summon  Mr.  Pulteney  to  return.  In  the  meantime  it  was  resolved  by  tin-  House  'that 
they  be  enjoined  not  to  prosecute  any  quarrel,  or  show  any  further  resentment  for  what  had 
passed  between  them."  Mr.  Pulteney  having  returned,  the  Speaker  acquainted  him  with  the 
injunction,  after  which  the  two  members  stood  up  in  their  places  to  explain ;  but  the 


INTERIOR  OF   THE    HOUSE   OF   LOKDS   IN   1742. 
The  Speaker  cif  the  House  of  Commons  attending  to  hear  the  Royal  assent  to  a  bill. 


107 


io8 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE   DfKK   OK  XKWTASTLE  AND   LOKD   HOLLAND. 
A  Mtirtc&l  electioneering  card — one  of  the  first  of  the  kind  ever  published. 


„  explanation  not  being  deemed 
sufficiently  satisfactory,  thev 
\\cre  required  to  be  more  ex- 
declared  that  they  \\ouldobey 
the  order  of  the  House." 
The  episode  illustrates  strik- 
ingly the  political  manners  of 
the  time;  it  also  throws  a 
curious  sidelight  on  the  dis- 
ciplinary measures  which  \\ere 
occasionally  resorted  to  to 
restrain  hot-headed  partisans. 
The  personal  courage  which 
I'elhain  showed  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  also  in  the  attack 
on  Sir  Robert  Walpole  in 
We-tmiiister  Hall,  was  not 
wanting  in  his  administrative 
acts.  In  17.~>:i.  when  the  ques- 
tion of  the  reduction  of  the 
land  tax  was  &  burning  one, 

he  resolutely  declined  to  listen  to  the  import  unities  of  the  landed  interest  to  lower  the  tax, 
on  the  ground  that  any  interference  with  the  impost  would  seriously  disturb  the  financial 
equilibrium,  and  that,  moreover,  a  reduction  was  unnecessary  because  of  the  recent  rise  in 
the  value  of  land.  Pelham's  views  were  supported  by  the  great  majority  of  member-,  i.. 
the  disgust  of  the  malcontent  Tory 
squires,  who,  in  revenge  for  the 
Minister's  attitude,  circulated  this  bon 
mot  devised  from  the  famous  epitaph 
on  Vanbrugh : — 

Lie  heavy  on  him,  land,  for  be 
Laid  many  a  heavy  load  on  thee. 

Pelham  died  in  1754  under  cir- 
cumstances which  created  considerable 
confusion  in  the  public  service.  It 
would  be  putting  a  strain  upon  truth, 
however,  to  say  that  his  loss  was  a 
serious  one  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
public  interest.  The  time,  at  all  events, 
was  passing  away  when  political  power 
was  of  a  necessity  solely  centred  in  the 
bands  of  men  of  mediocre  attainments. 

As  has  already  been  noted,  some 
time  before  Walpole  and  Pulteney  had 
disappeared  from  St .  Stephen's  Chapel 
a  new  luminary  of  daxzling  splendour, 
in  the  person  of  Pitt,  had  risen  upon 
the  political  tirnrinient.  "We  must 
mu/zl<-  that,  terrible  cornet  of  horse." 
Walpoh-.  with  instinctive  perception 


vm:  norsi:  nr  CH.M.MHXS   IN   Tin:   I:K;HTI:I:VI  ii   i  CHI 
The  view  .how«  the  growth  of  bnildlng«  about  the  Cluipol. 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's— -The    Eighteenth    Century      109 


of  Pitt's  great  powers,  had  said 
when  he  first  appeared  in  the 
Parliamentary  arena.  But  the 
process  was  too  difficult  a  one 
even  for  the  shrewd  old  Minister, 
with  all  his  skill  and  knowledge  of 
men.  Inspired  with  high  hopes 
and  great  ideals,  free  from  sordid 
ambitions,  and  filled  with  a  holy 
indignation  at  the  corruption  of 
the  age,  "the  terrible  cornet  of 
horse  "  was  irrepressible.  Swiftly, 
and  without  a  check,  he  pushed 
his  way  along  the  road  to  Parlia- 
mentary fame  until  he  occupied 
a  position  of  eminence  such  as 
no  other  statesman  before  or  since 
lias  held.  Maeaulay,  in  his  essay 
on  Chatham,  supplies  us  with  an 
inimitable  pen  picture  of  the  great 
man  as  he  was  when  he  first 
entered  Parliament.  "  His  figure," 
says  the  historian,  "  was  strikingly 
graceful  and  commanding,  his 
features  high  and  noble,  his  eye 
full  of  fire.  His  voice,  even  when 
it  sank  to  a  whisper,  was  heard 
to  the  remotest  benches ;  and 
when  he  strained  it  to  its  full 
extent,  the  sound  rose  like  the 
swell  of  an  organ  of  a  great 
cathedral,  shook  the  House  with 
its  peal,  and  was  heard  through 
lobbies  and  down  staircases  to  the 
( Ymrt  of  Requests  and  the  precincts 

of  Westminster  Hall.  He  cultivated  all  these  eminent  advantages  with  the  most  assiduous  care. 
His  Motion  is  described  by  a  most  malignant  observer  as  equal  to  that  of  (jarrick.  His  play  of 
countenance  was  wonderful;  he  frequently  disconcerted  a  hostile  orator  by  a  single  glance  of  in- 
dignation or  scorn.  Every  tone,  from  the  imjuissioned  cry  to  the  thrilling  aside,  was  perfectly  at 
hi-  command.  It  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  the  pains  he  took  to  improve  his  great  personal 
advantages  had  in  some  respects  a  prejudicial  operation,  and  tended  to  nourish  in  him  that 
pas.-ion  for  theatrical  effect  which  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  blemishes  in  his  character." 

Pitt's  first  speech  in  the  House  was  delivered  on  April  29th,  1736,  a  little  more  than  a 
year  after  he  entered  Parliament  as  member  for  Old  Sariiin.  It  was  a  complimentary  oration 
in  support  of  an  addn->s  to  the  King  felicitating  him  upon  the  marriage  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales.  The  enthusiastic  championship  of  the  Prince,  who  was  in  a  very  real  sense  "agin  the 
Government  "  at  the  time,  coupled  with  Pitt's  determined  opposition  to  the  Ministerial  measures, 
aroused  \Val pole's  deep  resentment.  In  order  to  silence  "the  terrible  cornet  of  horse,"  he 
deprived  him  of  his  commission  ;  but  he  had  reckoned  without  his  man.  So  far  from  this 
arbitrary  action  keeping  Pitt  silent,  it  only  stimulated  the  fire  of  his  zeal  against  the  party 
in  power.  A  series  of  most  damaging  attacks  were  delivered  by  him  against  Walpole,  all 
marked  by  a  brilliancy  and  argumentative  effectiveness  quite  uncommon  even  in  those  days  • 


,'  dnurbtg  /,,/  1C.  //«,,,:,  K.A.,  in  the  Saiioaal  Portrait  Cutlery. 
THOMAS    I'KI.HAM    HOM.KS,    DI'Kr.    of    XKWCASTI<K,    K.O  , 
A  imminent  gUteonan  in  the  reigng  of  George  I.  and  George  II.  ;  Prime  Minister  from 

1704  t.. 


110 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


of  splendid  oratory.  One  incident  of  this  period  is  historic:  it  is  tin-  oratorical  duel  between 
him  and  Horace  Wal|K»le  on  March  10th,  174U.  There  an-  M-v.-ral  versions  of  this  to  be 
found  in  the  political  literature  of  the  jieriod.  Tliat  which  is  best  known,  and  which  is 
the  most  fictitious,  is  the  one  which  figures  in  Chandler's  ••  Debate-,"  much  of  the  material 
for  which  was  drawn  from  the  tainted  sources  to  which  Johnson  was  a  prolific  contributor.  A 
reference '  to  this  report  may  be  made,  both  to  illustrate  the  manner  of  the  old  garbled 
Parliamentary  rejxirts  and  to  show  the  genesis  of  a  phrase  which  has  Irecorae  cla>-ic. 

On  the  day  named  a  hill  was  before  the  House  Cor  ''the  encouragement  of  seamen"  and 
"the  seedier  manning  of  the  Navy."  Pitt  made  a  strong  speech  in  opposition,  and.  according 
to  Chandler's  "Debates,"  denounced  "the  tyrants  of  Adinini-traf  ion "  who  amused  themselves 
with  "oppressing  their  fellow-subjects,  who  add  one  hardship  to  another,  invade  the  liberty 
of  those  already  overborne  with  taxes,  .  .  .  and  who  owe  their  power,  not  to  their  abilities, 
but  to  casual  prosjierity  or  to  the  influence  of  money.''  This  brought  up  Horace  Walpole, 
who  delivered  a  sneering  reply,  in  the  course  of  which  he  observed:  "Formidable  sounds 
and  furious  declamation,  confident  assertions  and  lofty  periods,  mav  affect  the  voting  and 
inexperienced;  and  the  honourable  gentleman  may  have  contracted  his  habits  of  oratory  by 
conversing  more  with  those  of  his  own  age  than  with  such  as  have  had  more  opportunities 
of  communicating  their  sentiments."  Allusion  was  further  made  to  Pitt's  vehement  gestures, 

and  ridicule  was  poured  upon  his 
theatrical  manner.  Without  a 
moment's  hesitation,  according  to 
the  authority  quoted,  Pitt  jumped 
to  his  feet  as  soon  a-  his  critic 
had  finished  and  made  this  reply: 
'•The  atrocious  crime  of  being  a 
young  man,  which  the  honourable 
gentlemen  has  with  such  spirit  and 
decency  charged  upon  me,  I  shall 
neither  attempt  to  palliate  nor 
deny,  but  content  myself  with 
wishing  that  I  may  be  one  of 
those  whose  follies  will  cease  with 
their  youth,  and  not  of  that 
number  who  are  ignorant  in  spite 
of  experience.  Whether  youth 
can  lie  imputed  to  any  man  as  a 
reproach  I  will  not  assume  the 
province  of  determining;  but  surely 
age  may  become  justly  contemp- 
tible if  the  opportunities  which  it 
brings  have  passed  away  without 
improvement,  and  vice  appears 
to  prevail  when  the  passions  have 
subsided.  The  wretch  that,  after 
having  seen  the  consequences  of  a 
thousand  errors,  continues  still  to 
blunder,  and  whose  age  has  only 
added  obstinacy  to  stupidity,  is 
surely  the  object  of  either  abhor- 
inty i,y  n .//,„,*,  K.A.,i 'nth,. fallout  Portmitoaiury.  rcnce  or  contempt,  and  deserves 

WILLIAM    I-ITT,    FIBST   KAUI,   OK  CHATHAM,  not      tllilt      I'*8      g^y      head      should 

The  gnat  |a;rin<,iUta«nui,  and  rarliunentni?  orator.  -erve    him. 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's — The    Eighteenth    Century        111 


Another  and,  it  would  appear,  more 
plausible  version  of  the  episode  is  supplied 
by  Warburton  in  his  "  Memoirs  of  Horace 
Walpole."  This  writer  states  that  Walpole, 
having  been  severely  handled  by  Pitt,  Lyttel- 
ton,  and  the  Grenvilles,  all  of  whom  were 
much  his  juniors,  "  lamented  that  though  he 
had  been  so  long  in  business,  young  men 
should  be  found  so  much  better  informed  in 
political  matters  than  himself.  He  added 
that  he  had  at  least  one  consolation  in  re- 
membering that  his  own  son,  being  twenty 
years  of  age,  must  be  as  much  the  superior 
of  Pitt,  Lyttelton,  and  the  Grenvilles  as  they 
were  wiser  than  himself.  Pitt,  having  his 
youth  thus  mercilessly  flung  in  his  face,  got 
up  in  a  rage,  commencing :  '  With  the 
greatest  reverence  to  the  grey  hairs  of  the 

gentleman ' ;    but    was    stopped    by   Mr. 

Walpole  pulling  off  his  wig  and  disclosing 
a  grizzled  poll  beneath.  This  excited  very 
general  laughter,  in  which  Pitt  joined  with 
such  heartiness  as  quite  to  forget  his  anger." 

One  of  the  finest  of  Pitt's  earlier 
speeches  was  that  delivered  in  the  great 
debate  in  November,  1755,  on  the  Address. 
Just  before,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  had 

coalesced  with  Henry  Fox,  afterwards  Lord  Holland,  who  had  been  appointed  Secretary  of  State 
with  the  Leadership  of  the  House.  Pitt,  smarting  under  a  sense  of  injustice  done  him  by 
this  arrangement,  made  a  speech  of  remarkable  brilliancy.  Horace  Walpole,  no  mean  judge, 
says  of  the  effort  that  Pitt  "surpassed  himself,"  and  he  adds,  "and  then  I  need  not  tell 
you  that  he  surpassed  Cicero  and  Demosthenes."  Unfortunately,  only  fragments  of  this  great 
oration  have  been  preserved.  A  passage  which  has  survived,  criticising  the  coalition  of 
Newcastle  and  Vox,  helps  us  to  understand  the  impression  that  was  made  at  the  time  by  the 
speech.  "  I  remember,"  said  Pitt,  with  a  dramatic  gesture — "  I  remember  that  at  Lyons  I  was 
taken  to  see  the  conflux  of  the  Rhone  and  Saone— the  one  a  gentle,  feeble,  languid  stream, 
and  though  languid,  of  no  depth ;  the  other  a  boisterous  and  impetuous  torrent ;  but  different 
as  they  are,  they  meet  at  last,  and  long  may  they  continue  united,  to  the  comfort  of  each 
other  and  the  glory,  honour,  and  security  of  this  nation."  The  speech,  as  it  was  probably 
intended  to  do,  cost  Pitt  his  place  in  the  Ministry.  But  in  less  than  two  years  his 
transcendent  abilities  placed  him  in  a  position  of  supreme  authority  in  the  Ministry  and 
unparalleled  influence  in  the  country. 

In  the  debate  in  1755  in  which  Pitt's  great  speech  was  delivered,  there  flashed  meteor- 
like  across  the  Parliamentary  stage  that  singular  genius,  William  Gerard  Hamilton,  who,  on 
the  strength  of  one  brilliant  oration,  and  one  only,  secured  for  himself  a  permanent  place 
in  Parliamentary  annals.  Horace  Walpole  describes  the  incident  and  the  speaker  in  terms 
which  indicate  how  extraordinary  was  the  impression  he  created.  "  His  speech,"  says  the 
diarist,  "  was  at  once  perfection ;  it  was  set  and  full  of  antitheses,  but  those  antitheses  were  full 
of  argument ;  and  he  broke  through  the  regularity  of  his  own  composition,  answered  other 
people,  fell  into  his  own  track  again  with  the  greatest  ease.  His  figure  is  advantageous,  his 
voice  strong  and  clear,  his  manner  spirited,  and  the  whole  with  the  ease  of  an  established 
speaker.  You  will  ask  what  could  be  beyond  this?  Nothing,  but  what  was  beyond  whatever 


from  tht  painting  by  H'.  Hvare,  11. A.,  ii\  the  National  Portrait  Galtery. 

RICHARD   GREXVILLE,    EARL  TEMPI.K.    K.C.. 
Lord  Privy  Sea]  in  the  Administration  of  Lord  Chatham. 


112 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


was  —  and  that  was  I'itt."  Splendid  us  the  promise  of  tin-  speech  \\as,  Hamilton's  Parliamentary 
career  practically  ended  with  it.  An  offer  of  a  seat  at  the  l!oan!  of  Trade  in  tin-  llecember 
following  tempted  liiin  into  ii  dignified  obscurity.  from  which  h«-  never  again  emerged.  We 
can  only,  therefore,  surmise  what  might  have  Ix-en  his  portion  lind  he  followeil  the  bent  of  hi> 
genius  and  striven  to  emulate  the  example  of  I'itt  in  his  rapid  progress  up  the  ladder  of  fame. 

Pitt's  ]Mi\ver  over  the  House  of  Commons  was  quite  as  much  maintained  hy  his  talent  > 
a-  an  actor  as  hy  the  s]>ell  of  his  oratory.  His  ea]>aeity  of  suppressing  a  hostile  critic  with 
a  single  glance  or  scornful  exclamation,  to  which  Macaulay  has  referred,  i-  exemplified  by 
some  amusing  stories  which  have  heen  handed  down  to  us.  Brougham  tells  one  of  the 
in  liis  ••  Statesmen  of  the  Keign  of  (ieorge  III."  Chatham  "began  a  speech  with  the  \\ord.-, 
'Sugar,  Mr.  Sjx-aker.'  and  then,  observing  a  smile  to  pervade  the  audience,  lie  pau>ed. 
looking  fiercely  around,  and  with  a  loud  voice,  rising  in  its  notes  and  swelling  into  vehement 
anger,  he  is  said  to  have  pronounced  again  the  word  'Sugar!'  three  times;  and  having  thus 
quelled  the  House,  and  extinguished  every  appearance  of  levity  or  laughter,  turned  round  and 
disdainfully  asked.  -Who  will  laugh  at  sugar  now  r  ''  Another  illustration  of  PittV  implying 
manner  is  furnished  by  an  episode  related  hy  Charles  Butler.  The  writer  says  that 
Mr.  Moreton,  the  Chief  Justice  of  Chester,  happened  to  say  in  the  llon.-e,  "King.  Lords, 
and  Commons,  or"  —  directing  his  eye  towards  Pitt  —  "  as  that  right  honourable  gentleman  would  call 
them.  Commons.  Lords,  and  King."  "Pitt  arose  with  great  deliberation,  and  called  to  order. 
'I  have,'  he  said,  'heard  frequently  in  this  House  doctrines  which  have  surprised  me;  but  now 
my  blood  runs  cold.  I  desire  the  words  of  the  honourable  member  to  be  taken  down.'  The 
Clerk  of  the  House  wrote  the  words.  'Bring  them  to  me,'  said  Pitt  in  his  loudest  voice. 
I'.y  this  time  Mr.  Moreton  was  frightened  out  of  his  M-IISO.  -Sir.'  he  said,  addressing  himself 
to  the  Speaker,  '  I  am  sorry  to  have  given  any  offence  to  the  right  honourable  member  or 
to  the  House.  I  meant  nothing.  King,  Lords,  and  Commons;  Lords,  King,  and  Commons; 
Commons,  Lords,  and  King  ;  tria  juncta  in  uno.  I  meant  nothing  ;  indeed  1  meant  nothing.' 
'I  don't  wish  to  push  the  matter  further,'  said  Pitt  loftily.  'The  moment  a  man  acknow- 
ledges his  error  he  ceases  to  be  guilty.  I  have  a  great  regard  for  the  honourable  member, 
and  as  an  instance  of  that  regard  I  give  him  this  advice:  whenever  that  member 
means  nothing.  T  recommend  him  to  say  nothing.'" 

In  general  debate  Pitt  exercised  the  quality 
of  polished  sarcasm,  used  with  such  effect  against 
the  unfortunate  Mr.  Moreton,  with  not  less  power. 
A  famous  instance  is  supplied  by  what  is  known  as 
his  "  Gentle  Shepherd  "  speech.  This  was  delivered 
in  the  debate  on  Dashwood's  financial  measures  in 
1762.  A  feature  of  the  Budget  was  a  tax  on  cider. 
Sri/ing  this,  Pitt  delivered  a  vigorous  philippic 
against  the  threatened  invasion  of  the  hearths  and 
homo  of  the  people  by  the  exciseman.  (irenville. 
in  reply,  said  that  if  Pitt  objected  to  a  particular 
tax.  he  was  Ixmnd  to  propose  an  alternative.  ''Let 
him  tell  me  where  taxes  should  be  imposed,"  he 
said,  and  to  clinch  the  argument  repeated  several 
times.  -Let  him  tell  me  where."  Starting  up  in 
his  place  and  mimicking  the  whining  tone  of  the 
speaker,  Pitt  said,  in  allusion  to  a  popular  song 
of  the  day,  "(ientle  shepherd,  tell  me  where." 
The  House  was  convulsed  with  laughter,  and 
Grcnville,  in  a  high  state  of  indignation,  rose  to 
protest  against  the  treatment  he  had  received. 
But  his  anger  only  served  to  fasten  more  surely 


T.IK  incur  HON.  wit.MAM 


HAMILTON 


C'8inKi.-8,,«chH.n,iiu,0').whom«i.»g«.trepnutioniD 
tin  HOOM  of  Common,  by  »n  uoiatwi  utterance. 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's— -The    Eighteenth    Century       113 


NEW   PALACE   YARD    IN   THE   EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

.Showing  Westminster  Hall  and,  on  the  right,   Westminster  Abbey. 

the  incident  on  the  public  memory.  For  long  after  he  was  known  by  the  nickname  of  "The 
Gentle  Shepherd." 

As  an  orator  pure  and  simple,  Pitt  will  be  best  remembered  by  his  speeches  in  opposition 
to  the  extreme  measures  taken  with  the  American  colonies.  The  first  of  this  noteworthy 
series  of  utterances  was  delivered  in  the  House  in  January,  1766,  on  the  riots  which  had 
accompanied  the  attempts  to  enforce  the  Stamp  Act.  The  most  brilliant  passage  is  a  reply 
to  an  accusation  made  by  Grenville  that  the  seditious  spirit  of  the  colonies  was  fomented  by 
the  factions  at  home.  '•  Sir,"  said  Pitt,  "  I  rejoice  that  America  has  resisted.  Three  millions 
of  people  so  dead  to  all  the  feelings  of  liberty  as  voluntarily  to  submit  to  be  slaves  would  have 
been  fit  instruments  to  make  slaves  of  all  the  rest.  I  come  not  here  armed  at  all  points  with 
law  cases  and  Acts  of  Parliament,  with  the  Statute  Book  doubled  down  in  dogs'  ears,  to  defend 
the  cause  of  liberty.  ...  I  know  the  valour  of  your  troops.  I  know  the  skill  of  your  officers.  In 
a  good  cause,  on  a  sound  bottom,  the  force  of  this  country  can  crush  America  to  atoms,  but 
in  such  a  cause  as  this  your  success  would  be  hazardous.  America,  if  she  fell,  would  fall  like 
the  strong  man.  She  would  embrace  the  pillars  of  the  State  and  pull  down  the  Constitution  along 
with  her.  Is  this  your  boasted  peace — not  to  sheathe  the  sword  in  its  scabbard,  but  to  sheathe 
it  in  the  bowels  of  your  countrymen  ? "  A  few  months  after  the  delivery  of  this  speech  Pitt 
became  Earl  of  Chatham,  and  the  actual,  though  not  the  nominal,  head  of  the  Cabinet. 
Before  he  quitted  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  he  had  witnessed  the  entrance  there  of  Edmund  Burke, 
and  had  extended  to  that  brilliant  orator  the  tribute  of  a  generous  admiration  at  his  maiden 
speech  on  the  American  troubles. 

Some  little  time  later  was  removed  by  death  that  volatile  genius,  Charles  Townshend,  Pitt's 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  whose  "  champagne  speech "  in  May,  1767,  constitutes  perhaps 
the  most  astounding  utterance  ever  delivered  from  the  Treasury  Bench.  Horace  Wai  pole,  who 
states  that  Townshend  was  '•  half  drunk "  when  he  made  the  speech,  describes  the  impression 

15 


114 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


it  created  in  his  interesting  way.  "The  speech 
lusted  an  hour,  with  tonvnts  of  wit,  ridicule, 
vanity,  lies,  and  lx»;mtiful  language.  Nolnxly  but  he 
could  have  made  the  speech ;  and  nobody  but  he 
would  have  innde  it  if  they  could.  It  was  at  once 
a  proof  that  his  abilities  were  Mi|x-nor  to  those 
of  all  men  and  his  judgment  below  that  of  any 
man.  It  showed  him  incapable  of  being,  and  unfit 
to  be,  First  Minister.  The  House  was  in  a  roar  of 
rapture,  and  some  clapped  their  hands  with  ecstasy, 
like  an  audience  in  a  theatre."  Townshend's  death 
on  September  4th,  1767,  paved  the  way  to  ^lini" 
terial  office  for  Lord  North,  whose  connection  with 
the  American  troubles  will  be  dealt  with  subse- 
quently. 

Cribbed,  cabined,  and  confined  though  Chatham's 
restless  spirit  was  in  the  House  of  Lords,  he  con- 
trived to  render  his  membership  of  the  augu>t 
assembly  memorable  by  his  speeches  on  the  American 
war.  Amongst  the  examples  of  his  eloquence  which 
have  come  down  to  us  there  are  none  which  are 
more  familiar  than  the  fragments  of  the  glowing 
orations  which  he  delivered  at  this  period,  liu-tinct. 
with  feeling  and  pervaded  with  the  glow  of  a  rich 
imagination,  they  are  classic  examples  of  the  palmy 
period  of  Parliamentary  oratory.  One  passage  from 
the  speech  on  the  employment  of  Indian  mercenaries 
may  be  cited  as  a  characteristic  specimen  of  his  style  at  its  best.  "I  call,"  he  said,  "upon  the 
spirit  and  humanity  of  my  country  to  vindicate  the  national  character ;  I  invoke  the  genius  of 
the  Constitution.  From  the  tapestry 1  that  adorns  these  walls,  the  immortal  ancestor  of  this 
noble  earl  (the  Earl  of  Effingham)  frowns  with  indignation  at  the  disgrace  of  his  country.  In 
vain  he  led  your  victorious  fleet  against  the  boasted  Armada  of  Spain ;  in  vain  he  defended 
and  established  the  honour,  the  liberties,  the  religion — the  Protestant  religion — of  this  country 
against  the  arbitrary  cruelties  of  Popery  and  the  Inquisition ;  if  these  more  than  Popish  cruelties 
and  inquisitorial  practices  are  let  loose  among  us,  to  turn  forth  into  our  settlements,  among 
our  ancient  connections,  friends,  and  relations,  the  merciless  cannibal  thirsting  for  the  blood  of 
man,  woman,  and  child  ! — to  send  forth  the  infidel  savages — against  whom  ?  Your  Protestant 
brethren,  to  lay  waste  their  country,  to  desolate  their  dwellings,  and  extirpate  their  race  and 
name ! "  Later  on  in  the  same  speech,  referring  to  the  employment  of  foreign  troops,  Chatham 
used  the  historic  words,  "  If  I  were  an  American,  as  I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a  foreign 
troop  was  landed  in  my  country  I  would  never  lay  down  my  arms — never,  never,  never." 

To  the  end  the  great  statesman  maintained  an  attitude  of  uncompromising  hostility  to  the 
war.  His  dramatic  last  speech  constitutes  one  of  the  most  moving  episodes  in  Parliamentary 
history.  He  had  been  seriously  ill  with  the  gout,  and  was  recuperating  at  Hayes,  when,  hearing 

1  The  reference  is  to  the  famous  tapestries  which  for  so  long  were  objects  of  interest  to  visitors  to  the  old 
House  of  Ixmls.  They  were  wrought  in  Holland  at  the  expense  of  the  groat  Earl  of  Nottingham,  Lord  High  Admiral, 
whose  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada  established  Elizabeth  firmly  on  the  throne.  It  was,  however,  not  until  1650 
during  the  Commonwealth  that  "  the  suit  containing  the  story  of  1581"  was  "ordered  to  be  hung  up  in  the  late  House 
of  I.'. uls."  Chatham's  keen  interest  in  the  celebrated  pictures  is  shown  in  his  private  correspondence.  Thus  in  a 
letter  to  the  Countess  Stanhope  from  Hayes  on  December  16th,  1770,  he  writes  :  "The  labours  within  the  House  are 
now  the  labours  of  Hercules  ;  for  the  House  l>eing  of  late  kept  clear  of  hearers  [an  allusion  to  the  clearance  of  strangers], 
w«  are  reduced  to  a  snug  party  of  unheating  and  unfeeling  lords  and  the  tapestry  hangings."  Again  (January  25th,  1771) 
be  writes  :  "  Part  six;  just  returned  from  the  tapestry."  Yet  again  (on  January  19th,  1775)  he  speaks  of  "meaning  to 
look  thr  tapestry  and  the  bishops  in  the  face  to-morrow." 


From  o  auuotinl  \fler  Hit  painting  I*;/  Sir  Joiltva  Reynolds. 

CHARLES    TOWNSHESD,   LOKD   CHATHAM'S    CHAN- 
CELLOR OF    THE    EXCHEQI   1.11. 
A  witty  speaker,  bnt  a  man  of  ill- balanced  judgment. 


^_>_.>~^ja^*-.j  _  j^yX^  "w^" '  -*— *-L*f  >"-'      *      -r 

tiiSi     ^^i 


. 


•^ii^'-^S58^^^JiJlJ-id^2^!3ig33ft^n'aj^^^^^;^J^^^ 


,  X  _  4   ^ 

i 


115 


n6 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


thnt  the  Duke  of  Hichtnond  intended  to  move  nn  address  to  the  King  to  remove  the  fleet  and 
armv  from  America,  he  came  post  haste  to  London  to  take  jwirt  in  the  delrnte.  Swatlied  in 
flannels,  and  looking  the  ghost  of  his  old  self,  he  appeared  in  the  Peers'  chamber  on  the  eventful 
7th  of  April,  1778.  Afler  the  Duke  of  Richmond  had  opened  the  debate,  Chatham  rose.  "The 
Earl  sjioke,"  wrote  Lord  Camden  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton  at  the  time,  "but  was  not  like  himself; 
his  speech  faltered,  his  sentences  were  broken,  and  his  mind  not  master  of  itself.  His  words 
were  shreds  of  unconnected  eloquence  and  flashes  of  the  same  fire  which  he,  Prometheus-like, 
had  stolen  from  heaven,  and  were  then  returning  to  the  place  from  whence  they  were  taken." 
The  Duke  of  Richmond  answered  Chatham.  He  rose  to  reply,  but  nature  was  exhausted.  "  He 
fell  back,"  says  Lord  Camden,  "ujwn  his  seat,  and  was  to  all  appearance  in  the  agonies  of  death. 
This  threw  the  whole  House  into  confusion ;  every  person  was  upon  his  legs  in  a  moment, 
hurrying  from  one  place  to  another,  some  sending  for  assistance,  others  producing  salts,  and 
others  reviving  spirits;  many  crowding  about  the  Earl  to  observe  his  countenance,  all  affected, 

most  part  really  concerned,  and  even  those  who 
might  have  felt  a  real  pleasure  in  the  accident 
yet  put  on  the  appearance  of  distress."  The 
stricken  peer  was  removed  to  the  Prince's 
Chamber,  and  thence,  after  a  brief  sojourn  at  a 
house  in  Downing  Street,  to  Hayes.  Hut  he 
never  completely  recovered  from  the  attack. 
He  expired  on  May  llth,  in  his  seventieth  year. 
No  reference  to  the  great  Parliamentary 
struggle  in  which  Lord  Chatham  played  so 
distinguished  and  honourable  a  part  would  be 
complete  without  some  account  of  Lord  North, 
the  Minister  who  was  charged  with  the  execut  ion 
of  the  ill-advised  policy  which  the  obstinacy 
of  the  King  forced  upon  Parliament.  North 
has  been  subjected  probably  to  more  abuse 
than  any  statesman  of  his  century.  Execra- 
tion has  spent  itself  in  attacks  on  his  memory. 
Yet  there  is  hardly  any  figure  in  the  Parlia- 
mentary history  of  the  eighteenth  century 
which  is  personally  more  likeable.  A  slumber- 
ous, plethoric  man,  he  was  the  soul  of  good- 

tiw  by  otarge  *<»****.  humour.     Nothing  could  disturb  his  equanim  it  y, 

whether  it  was  a  disaster  abroad  or  a  rebuff 
in  the  House.  Horace  Walpole  relates  that 
the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  waiting  on  him  at  the 
time  of  the  Charlestown  affair,  intent  on  lamenting  the  miscarriage  to  our  arms,  and  finding 
him  in  the  highest  of  spirits,  took  notice  of  the  circumstance.  "  Faith,  my  lord,"  replied 
Lord  North,  "if  fretting  would  make  me  thin,  I  would  be  as  sorry  as  your  Grace;  but  since 
it  will  not  have  that,  effect,  I  bear  it  as  well  as  I  can."  The  same  gossip  records  in  his  journal 
on  January  27th,  1778,  that  "Charles  Fox,  in  an  admirable  speech,  attacked  Lord  North  on 
having  called  liim>e|f  an  unfortunate  Minister,  and  proved  that  all  the  disgraces  had  happened 
by  ignorance,  blunders,  and  misconduct,  not  by  misfortune.  Lord  North  answered  with  some 
humour,  and  as  Fox  had  accused  him  of  idleness  and  listening  to  flatterers,  he  said  he  pissed 
a  great  deal  of  time  in  that  House,  where  he  could  not  be  idle,  and  it  was  plain  was  not 
flattered.'1  Another  example  of  his  good-humour  is  supplied  by  his  treatment  of  a  series  of 
peiMinal  attacks  which  had  given  rise  to  much  ill-feeling  in  the  House.  North  deprecated 
the  ]' adiness  to  take  offence  which  was  evinced.  "One  member,"  he  observed,  "spoke  of  me 
as  'that  thing  called  a  Minister.'  To  be  sure,"  he  added,  patting  his  huge  form,  "I  am  a 


CHAKLKS    I.KNXOX,   THIRD  DUKE    OP   KTCHMOND. 
A  leading  figure  in  tbe  Huuse  of  Lords  in  Lord  Chatham's  time. 


117 


n8 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


thing ;  the  member,  therefore,  when  he  culled 
nil-  n  thing,  said  wlmt  wa-  true,  mid  I  could 
not  be  angry  with  him.  Hut  when  he  added 
'that  thing  called  n  Minister.'  he  called  me 
that  thing  which  of  all  things  he  himself 
most  wished  to  be,  and  therefore  I  took  it 
as  a  compliment." 

A  weakness  of  North's  was  an  inordinate 
love  of  sleep.  In  season  and  out  of  season  he 
slumbered  on  the  Treasury  Bench,  undisturbed 
bv  the  hottest  debates.  The  habit  greatly 
exasperated  his  critics,  who  found  their  keenest 
shafts  turned  aside  by  the  impenetrability  of 
the  armour  he  assumed.  Brougham  tells  of 
one  vehement  declaimer.  who,  calling  loudly 
for  North's  head,  turned  round  and  perceived 
his  victim  unconsciously  indulging  in  a  soft 
slumber,  and,  becoming  still  more  exasperated, 
denounced  the  Minister  as  capable  of  sleeping 
while  he  ruined  his  country.  North,  awakened 
by  the  attack,  merely  complained  how  cruel 
it  was  ne  should  be  denied  a  solace  which 
other  criminals  so  often  enjoyed — that  of  having 
a  night's  rest  before  execution.  On  another 
occasion  an  orator,  to  point  his  remarks  on 
the  iniquity  of  the  Minister,  said,  "Even  now, 
in  the  midst  of  these  perils,  the  noble  lord  is 
asleep."  "I  wish  to  God  I  was."  was  North's  rejoinder.  In  yet  a  further  instance,  when  a  tedious 
sjieaker  with  a  load  of  historical  reminiscence  was  on  his  legs,  he  asked  a  colleague  to  awaken 
him  when  he  approached  their  own  times.  The  summons  in  due  course  was  given.  "When-  are 
we?"  asked  North.  "At  the  battle  of  La  Hogue,  my  lord."  "Oh,  my  dear  friend,"  he  replied. 
"you  have  woke  me  a  century  too  soon."  The  manner  in  which  Lord  North  bore  his  fall  was 
highly  characteristic  of  the  man.  '*  On  the  evening  when  he  announced  his  resignation  to  the 
House  of  Commons,"  says  Earl  Russell,  "snow  was  falling,  and  the  weather  was  bitterly  cold. 
I»rd  North  kept  his  carriage.  As  he  was  passing  through  the  great-coat  room  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  many  members  (chiefly  his  opponents)  crowded  the  passage.  When  his  carriage  \\as 
announced  he  put  one  or  two  of  his  friends  into  it;  and  then,  making  a  bow  to  his  opi>oiients. 
said,  'Good-night,  gentlemen.  /  have  my  carnage;  it  is  the  first  time  I  have  known  the 
advantage  of  being  in  the  secret.' " 

Before  the  American  war  attained  to  the  dimensions  of  a  great  national  question, 
a  striking  and  sinister  figure  had  appeared  on  the  Parliamentary  stage  in  the  person  of  John 
Wilkes.  At  this  time  of  day  it  is  difficult  to  realise  the  extraordinary  influence  which  this  poli- 
tician exercised.  A  man  devoid  of  talents,  as  lie  was  of  character,  conspicuously  repellent  in 
his  i>ersonal  appearance,  without  birth  or  connections,  he  yet  wielded  a  power  over  the  people 
which  some  of  the  greatest  statesmen  could  never  lay  claim  to.  "Wilkes  and  Liberty"  was 
the  rallying  cry,  not  only  of  the  rabble,  but  of  the  substantial  business  men  of  the  City,  who 
committed  themselves  to  his  cause  with  a  wholelieartedness  which  they  had  never  before 
shown  for  any  individual.  An  oft-told  story  is  that  of  Wilkes's  election  to  the  House  in  1764, 
his  expulsion  for  the  libels  contained  in  the  famous  No.  45  of  the  Nortli  Briton,  his 
election  for  Middlesex  four  years  later,  his  second  expulsion,  followed  by  further  elections  and 
expulsions  until  his  final  triumphant  admission  to  the  House  in  1774.  For  years  he  and  his 
concerns  were  prominent  in  Parliament— indeed,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  in  the  whole 


ENTRANCE      TO      THE      OLD      llol'SK      OK      LORDS     IN     Till: 
EIGHTEKXTH   CENTURY. 

The   conspicuous  meiuineaa  of   the  architecture   will    be  noted.      The 
|>rinoi]u!  building  uliown  in  this  picture  in  the  Office  of  Ordnance. 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's— The    Eighteenth    Century       119 


range  of  Parliamentary  history  there  is  a  case  of  a  man  who  never  held  office,  and  who  was 
not  a  leader  of  the  regular  Opposition,  attaining  to  such  notoriety  as  he  did.  In  the  House 
of  Commons  he  was  not  unpopular.  His  unabashed  cynicism  quite  disarmed  hostility.  Once, 
when  standing  on  the  hustings  at  Brentford,  his  opponent  said  to  him,  "  I  will  take  the  sense  of 
the  meeting.''  "And  I  will  take  the  nonsense,"  replied  Wilkes,  "and  we  shall  see  who  has  the 
best  of  it."  It  is  also  related  of  him  in  Lord  Sidmouth's  "Life"  that  he  once  went  up  to  the 
Speaker  and  said  that  he  had  a  petition  to  present  to  the  House  from  "a  set  of  the  greatest 
scoundrels  and  miscreants  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  A  little  while  afterwards,  when  publicly 
called  upon  to  present  it,  he  said  with  the  gravest  face,  "Sir,  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  petition 
from  a  most  intelligent,  independent,  and  enlightened  body  of  men."  The  demagogue  always 
seemed  to  have  his  tongue  in  his  cheek.  He  even  laughed  at  himself.  When  attending  a 
levee  towards  the  end  of  his  career  he  was  asked  by  the  King  after  his  "friend,"  Serjeant 
Glyn.  "  Sir,"  observed  Wilkes,  "  he  is  not  a  friend  of  mine ;  he  was  a  Wilkeite,  which  I 
never  was." 

A  Parliamentary  character  of  this  period  who  deserves  to  be  bracketed  with  Wilkes  was 
Colonel  Barre,  a  soldier  of  Wolfe's  campaign  hailing  from  Dublin,  who,  entering  Parliament  in 
1762,  was  for  a  good  many  years  a  conspicuous  though  never  a  distinguished  member.  His 
oratory  was  of  the  robust  order,  charged  with  true  Celtic  fire.  Ere  he  had  been  two  days  in 
the  House  he  attracted  attention  by  a  violent  attack  on  Pitt,  then  in  the  zenith  of  his  career. 
Criticising  the  style  of  the  great  man's  speeches,  he  said:  "There  he  would  stand,  turning  up 
his  eyes  to  heaven  that  witnessed  his  perjuries,  and  laying  his  hand  in  a  solemn' manner  upon 
the  table — that  sacrilegious  hand  that  had  been  employed  in  tearing  out  the  bowels  of  his 
mother  country ! "  For  a  maiden  effort  this  was  striking,  if  nothing  else.  Its  supreme 
audacity  took  away  the  breath  of  the  House ;  but  Pitt,  with  that  hauteur  which  became  him 
so  well,  sat  unmoved  under  the  torrent  of 
abuse,  allowing  his  contemptuous  silence  to 
give  an  effective  answer  to  the  tirade.  Subse- 
quently Barre  was  brought  into  intimate  rela- 
tions with  the  statesman  he  denounced  with  so 
much  ill-regulated  fervour,  and  a  number  of 
his  letters,  chiefly  on  the  Wilkes  case,  figure  in 
the  published  "  Correspondence  of  the  Earl  of 
Chatham."  One  epistle  may  be  singled  out  for 
special  notice.  It  refers  to  the  debate  in  the 
Houseof  Commons  on  March  25th,  1771,  on  the 
motion  to  commit  to  the  Tower  for  breach  of 
privilege  Alderman  Oliver,  who  with  Lord  Mayor 
Crosby  had  signed  the  warrant  for  the  arrest 
of  the  messenger  despatched  by  the  Speaker 
to  the  City  to  secure  VVheble,  the  offending 
printer  of  the  debates  of  the  House.  Barre 
describes  the  excitement  which  the  discussion 
of  the  question  aroused,  and  observes  :  "  I  spoke 
to  the  question  about  five  minutes  only,  but 
I  believe  with  great  violence."  The  reports 
of  the  speech  show  that  his  belief  was  not 
without  entire  justification.  "Listen!"  said 
the  indignant  orator—"  listen !  for  if  you  are 
not  totally  callous,  if  your  consciences  are 

not  totally  seared,  I  will  speak  daggers  to  your       LORD  NORTH>  AFTERWABD8  SECOND  EARL  OF  GUILPORD. 
souls,  and  wake  you  to  all  the  hells  of  guilty      George  „,.. Minirter  who  aaM through the disaatrous ^  which 

recollection.         That     I     may     not    be     a     Witness  led  to  the  loss  of  the  American  colonies. 


120 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


of  this  tin uist roiiD  proceeding  I  will  leave  the  House;  nor  do  I  doubt  but  every  independent 
man  will  follow  me.  These  walls  are  baleful,  they  are  deadly,  while  a  prostitute  majority 
holds  the  holt  of  Parliamentary  omnipotence,  and  hurls  its  Vengeance  only  upon  the  virtuous. 
To  yourselves,  therefore.  1  consign  you.  Enjoy  your  own  pandemonium. 

\Vlu-n  vice  prevail*  and  impious  men  bear  sway, 
The  poet  of  honour  is  a  private  station." 

The  sequel  (>f  this  astounding  speech  is  related  by  Barn?  in  his  communication  to  Lord 
Chatham.  "  I  left  the  House."  he  wrote,  "to  its  own  discretion,  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Dunning, 
Trecothick.  Sir  H.  Bernard,  Townshend,  Sawbridge,  Sir  R.  Clayton,  and  about  seven  or  eight  other 
members.  As  I  walked  down  several  of  the  Ministry  called  'To  the  Bar!'  but  no  man  chose  to 
put  the  question."  This  was  not  the  sole  instance  in  which  Barre  was  the  cause  of  uproar  in  the 
House.  J I  is  fiery  invective  directed  against  Lord  North  brought  about  a  violent  "  scene  "  in  1782 
in  one  of  the  debates  on  the  American  war.  On  this  occasion  Lord  North  is  said  to  have, 
lost  his  temper  almost  for  the  first  time  in  his  life.  In  a  white  heat  of  passion  he  stigma- 
tised  Barru's  language  as  uncivil,  brutal,  and  insolent,  and  on  being  called  to  order  for  his 
language,  said  that  he  was  prepared  to  ask  jKirdon  of  the  House,  but  not  of  Barre.  Eventually, 
however,  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  make  the  necessary  amende  and  the  incident  closed. 

At  the  period  of  Lord  North's  fall  Edmund  Burke  and  Charles  James  Fox  laid  the  foundations 
of  their  great  reputations.  Just  previously  there  had  joined  them  on  the  floor  of  the  House  two 
other  young  men  who  were  each  destined  to  win  imperishable  fame  in  Parliament.  These  were 
William  Pitt,  the  younger,  and  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan.  For  the  next  twenty  years  or  more 
the  popular  chamber  was  dominated  by  this  brilliant  galaxy  of  talent.  Widely  differing  in 

temperament  and  bent  of  genius,  the  four  men 
shared  in  common  a  remarkable  gift  of  oratory. 
Burke's  attainments  were  the  deepest  and  most 
scholarly,  but  he  had  perhaps  the  least  weight 
with  the  House.  The  plain  country  squires 
and  solid  common-sense  business  men  who 
constituted  the  bulk  of  the  members  little 
appreciated  his  carefully  elaborated  speeches, 
with  their  wealth  of  classical  allusion  and 
their  gorgeous  imagery.  They  did  not  always 
take  the  trouble  to  listen,  and  when  they  did 
they  were  not  greatly  moved  by  them.  There 
was  even  at  one  period  of  Burke's  career 
something  like  an  organised  effort  to  howl  him 
down  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  younger  and 
more  intolerant  members.  One  night,  when 
the  annoyance  was  particularly  irritating,  he 
stopped  siiort  in  his  argument,  and  put  his 
enemies  to  discomfiture  by  saying  that  he 
could  teach  a  pack  of  hounds  to  yelp  with 
more  melody  and  equal  comprehension. 
Burke  was  more  susceptible  to  the  remark  of 
an  old  country  squire'who  exclaimed  when  he 
was  preparing  to  speak,  "I  hope  the  honour- 
able gentleman  does  not  mean  to  read  that 
large  bundle  of  papers  and  bore  us  with  a 
long  speech  into  the  bargain."  So  disconcerted 

Tlie  ditMBOOM,   wbiM  cnntert*  with  the  Home  of  Commons  over  bin  ,!••,,•  , 

tight  to  ut  in  the  ,.,,,uur  ch«nb,r  c«.t«d  «ch  fem«nt  in  th.  middi.  of  was  the  orator  by  this  interruption  that  he 
tb.  nightly,  century.  gathered  together  his  papers  and  fled  from 


PrililtJ    .« 

From   llx  Painting  ty  Karl  /tntoti   Hum. 

CHARLES   JAMES    FOX. 

,   M<   spUJIJ   debating   powers.    He   w«   ,!„  p   Pi".   >«J  "    «"» 

.    with  un 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's — The    Eighteenth    Century       121 


•THE  COMPLEAT  VERMIX  CATCHER. 


An  old  satirical  print  showing  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  fishinu'  for  partisans  in  view  of  the  general  election  of  1754.     The  line  is  dropped  through 
the  chimney  of  St.  Stephen's  Chai*l  and  the  hook  is  baited  with  "  titles,"  '"  bribes,"  "  pensions,"  etc.     Candidates  .ire  galloping  in  from  all  quarters 

to  secure  the  good  things. 

the  Legislative  Chamber.  One  of  the  rare  occasions  on  which  Burke  really  touched  the  House 
was  on  February  6th.  1778,  when  he  delivered  his  well-known  speech  on  the  subject  of  the  employ- 
ment of  Indians  in  the  American  War.  Horace  Walpole  states  that  "he  drew  such  a  pathetic 
picture  of  the  cruelties  of  the  King's  army,  particularly  in  the  alleged  case  of  a  young  woman 
on  whose  ransom,  not  beauty,  they  quarrelled,  and  murdered  her,  that  he  drew  iron  tears  down 
Barre's  checks,  who  implored  him  to  print  his  speech,  and  said,  with  many  invectives  against 
the  bishops,  that  it  ought  to  be  pasted  up  on  every  church  under  their  proclamation  for  the  fast, 
and  that  he  himself  would  paste  it  upon  some."  Governor  Johnstone,  the  diarist  adds,  stated 
that  he  was  glad  that  strangers  were  excluded,  as  if  they  had  been  admitted,  Burke's  speech  would 
have  excited  them  to  tear  the  Ministers  to  pieces  as  they  went  out  of  the  House.  Like  Chatham, 
Burke  was  theatrical  in  his  style,  but  he  did  not  understand  the  art  of  effective  gesture  so  well  as 
•'the  Great  Commoner."  His  famous  " dagger  speech "  on  December  28th,  1792,  went  perilously 
near  being  farcical  by  his  clumsiness.  Here  is  the  description  of  the  scene  as  related  by  Lord 
Sidmouth  :  "When  Burke  after  only  a  few  preliminary  remarks,  the  House  being  totally  unpre- 
pared, fumbled  in  his  bosom,  and  suddenly  drew  out  the  dagger  and  threw  it  on  the  floor,  his 
extravagant  gesture  excited  a  general  disposition  to  titter,  by  which  most  men  would  have  been 
disconcerted ;  but  he,  observing  he  had  failed  of  making  the  intended  impression,  immediately 
collected  himself  for  an  effort,  and  by  a  few  brilliant  sentences  recalled  the  seriousness  of  the  House. 
'Let  us.'  said  he,  'keep  French  principles  from  our  heads  and  French  daggers  from  our  hearts;  let 
us  preserve  all  our  blandishments  in  life  and  all  our  consolations  in  death,  all  the  blessings  of 
time  and  all  the  hopes  of  eternity.'  " 

In  keeping  with  this  theatrical  demonstration  was  a  much  earlier  and  less-known  incident 
described  by  Lord  Clive  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Matthew  Fetherstonehaugh.  It  occurred  in  a  debate 
on  the  affairs  of  the  East  India  Company  towards  the  close  of  1766.  Burke  pointed  out  the 
ill  effects  that  the  measure  before  the  House  might  have  on  the  public  credit.  "But  perhaps," 
said  he,  "this  House  is  not  the  place  where  our  reasons  can  be  of  any  avail  ;  the  Great  Person 

16 


122 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


COLONEL   BABIiK, 

One  of  Wolfe'*  lieutenant*,  who  pained  a  great  reputation  bj  his  fiery 
oratory  in  the  House  of  Commons. 


who  is  (o  determine  this  question  niav 
be  n  being  fur  alx>ve  our  view,  one  M>  im- 
measurably high  that  the  greatest  abilities 
(pointing  to  Mr.  Townshend)  or  the  mo»t 
amiable  dis]Hisilions  that  are  to  be  found  in 
this  House  may  not  gain  aecess  to  Him; 
a  Being  before  whom  thrones,  dominations, 
princedoms,  virtues,  powers  (waving  his  hand 
all  this  time  over  the  Treasury  Bench,  which 
he  sat  behind),  all  veil  their  faces  with  their 
wings.  But  though  our  arguments  mav 
not  reach  Him,  probably  our  prayer-  mi\." 
" The  orator,"  proceeds  ('live,  "then  a|Ki.-tr<>- 
jihiM'd  into  a  solemn  prayer  to  the  (ireat 
Minister  above  that  rules  and  governs  over 
all  to  have  mercy  upon  us,  and  not  to 
destroy  the  work  of  His  own  hands,  and  t<> 
have  mercy  on  the  public  credit,  of  which 
He  had  made  so  free  and  large  a  use. 
•  Draw  not  to  perdition  that  vast  public 
debt — a  mass  of  seventy  millions — of  which 
Thou  hast  employed  in  rearing  a  pede>tal 
for  Thy  own  statue.'  Here,"  adds  ('live, 
"  Augustus  Hervey  called  him  to  order,  to 
the  great  disgust  of  many." 
Burke's  oratory  is  too  well  known  to  need  extensive  illustration.  No  statesman  before  his 
time  or  since,  with  perhaps  the  sole  exception  of  Lord  Chatham,  has  had  wider  currency  for  his 
speeches.  Their  chaste  style,  burning  elocpjence,  and  wonderful  command  of  vivid  language 
have,  despite— perhaps  because— of  their  faults  as  spoken  utterances,  won  for  them  a  circle  of 
cultured  readers  which  never  diminishes  from  one  generation  to  another.  The  lea>t  M-mpathetic 
of  youths  is  thrilled  when  he  makes  first  acquaintance  with  the  gems  which  sparkle  with  rare 
radiance  in  the  great  man's  orations.  The  sublimity  of  the  thoughts,  not  less  than  the  splendour 
of  the  diction,  rivets  his  attention,  and  gives  him  when  he  gets  away  from  his  books  a  rnemorv 
of  elevated  and  graceful  conceptions  which  does  not  fade. 

It  it  quite  beyond  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  follow  Burke  in  detail  through  his  long 
and  memorable  career  in  the  House.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  or  more  he  was  in  the  front 
rank  of  Parliamentarians,  and  to  adequately  survey  his  actions  on  the  floor  of  St.  Stephen's 
would  be  to  write  the  history  of  the  crowded  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Some- 
thing will  be  said  of  his  connection  with  the  impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings  in  another 
chapter.  .Meanwhile,  his  historic  quarrel  with  Fox  cannot  be  overlooked,  because  it  supplies  one 
of  the  most  interesting  of  the  memories  which  cluster  about  the  ancient  Chapel.  The  cau>e  of 
the  rupture  was  the  pronounced  line  which  Burke  took  in  regard  to  the  French  Revolution. 
As  he  spoke  strongly,  so  he  felt  strongly,  for  the  victims  of  the  infamies  of  the  Terror.  There- 
fore, when  in  1791  Fox  in  the  course  of  a  debate  on  the  Canada  Bill  cast  some  reflection-  on 
the  recent  writings  of  Burke  on  the  subject  of  the  Revolution,  a  barrier  was  created  between 
the  two  old  jwlitical  friends  of  a  formidable  kind.  The  difference  was  accentuated  by  the  ill- 
advised  conduct  of  some  of  Fox's  followers,  who,  when  Burke,  with  signs  of  strong  emotion  upon 
him,  got  up  to  defend  his  principles,  practically  shouted  him  down.  This  treatment  was  related 
on  a  subsequent  day  under  circumstances  which  are  vividly  described  by  Karl  Stanho]H-  in  one 
of  his  works,  "When,  on  May  6th,  Burke  rose  in  his  place,"  says  the  noble  author,  "and  wa- 
proceeding  with  solemn  earnestness  to  inveigh  against  the  evil  and  the  error  of  the  French 
Revolution,  there  ap]>eared  a  fixed  design  to  interrupt  him.  Member  after  member  of  his  own 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's-  -The    Eighteenth    Century      123 


side  started  up  to  call  him  to  order.  There  was,  as  Burke  said,  a  most  disorderly  rage  for 
order.  When  at  last  he  was  suffered  in  some  measure  to  proceed,  chafed  and  goaded  as  he 
had  been,-  and  even  at  length  by  Fox  among  the  rest,  he  no  doubt  spoke  against  the 
right  honourable  gentleman  (for  now  he  dropped  the  name  of  friend)  much  more  bitterly  and 
strongly  than  he  had  at  first  designed.  'Certainly,'  he  said,  'it  is  indiscreet  at  any  period, 
but  especially  at  my  time  of  life,  to  provoke  enemies,  or  to  give  my  friends  occasion  to  desert 
me.  Yet,  if  my  firm  and  steady  adherence  to  the  British  Constitution  place  me  in  such  a 
dilemma,  I  am  ready  to  risk  all,  and  with  my  last  words  to  exclaim,  "  Fly  from  the  French 
Constitution  !  "  Fox  here  whispered  across  to  him,  '  There  is  no  loss  of  friends.'  '  Yes,'  rejoined 
Burke,  '  yes,  there  is  a  loss  of  friends.  I  know  the  price  of  my  conduct.  I  have  done  my 
duty  at  the  price  of  my  friend.  Our  friendship  is  at  an  end.'  "  In  tears  Fox  besought  his 
friend  to  reconsider  his  decision,  but  Burke  was  proof  against  all  entreaties.  From  that  night 
dated  a  rupture  which  lasted  during  the  few  remaining  years  of  Burke's  life. 

Of  a  totally  different  type  from  Burke  was  the  volatile  and  gifted  Sheridan.  Where  Burke 
distinguished  himself  by  depth,  Sheridan  won  fame  by  sparkle.  The  tropes  and  images  in  the 
one  case  gave  place  in  the  other  to  witty  bon  mots  and  pointed  epigrams.  In  fine,  there  was 
as  little  similarity  between 
the  oratory  of  the  two  as  there 
is  between  old  port  and  dry 
champagne.  Curiously 
enough,  having  regard  to  the 
great  reputation  he  afterwards 
obtained,  Sheridan's  maiden 
speech  was  a  hopeless  failure. 
After  he  had  delivered  it  the 
clever  young  Irishman  went 
up  to  the  gallery  to  ascertain 
the  opinion  of  Wood  fall— 
"  Memory  Woodfall  "  —  ujion 
the  performance.  "  I  am 
sorry  to  say."  >aid  the  great 
reporter,  in  reply  to  an  eager 
question,  "that  I  do  not  think 
this  is  in  your  line  ;  you  had 
much  better  have  stuck  to 
your  former  pursuits."  For  a 
moment  Sheridan  rested  his 
head  upon  his  hand  in  con- 
templation, and  then  he 
vehemently  exclaimed,  "It  is 
in  me,  however,  and  by  G  -  , 
it  shall  come  out."  Sheridan 
did  not  overrate  his  powers. 
He  became  incomparably  the 
most  witty  speaker  that  had 
ever  been  known  in  Parlia- 
ment. Moore,  in  his  biography, 
unkindly  lays  bare  the  pro- 

,       '  .  ,. 

cess  by  which  his  dazzling 
impromptus  were  elaborated, 
but  the  revelations  do  not 

...          ..       ... 

materially  dimmish  our  sense 


*r~'  Jim.  *«*  &*<&-' 


A  ciricatnre  by  Gilray,  burlesquine  the  famou*  scene  in  which  Burke  threw  down  a  dagger  on  tlie 

flo,,r  of  the  House. 


124 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


of  admiration  at  the  extnioniinnry  qualities  of  his  genius.  Hyron  once  said  of  him.  -  \Vliati  -ver 
Sheridan  has  done  or  chosen  t<>  do  has  U-en  /»(/•  rsi-fllmcr  always  tin-  l«-st  of  tin-  kind.  II.- 
has  written  the  best  comedy  (The  School  for  Sr>tn<lnl),  tin-  hot  o|i<-i-a  (Tin'  Ihimnn).  and 
the  best  addie—  ('Monologue  on  (.arrick'X  and  to  crown  all.  dcliven-d  (lit-  very  lx>t  ..  ration 
(the  Peyuni  speech)  ever  conceived  or  heard  in  this  country.''  The  poet's  |  raise  is  somewhat 
exaggerated,  hut  the  sjieech  to  which  lie  alludes  certainly  was  a  remarkable  effort.  Hurke  declare:! 
it  to  lie  the  most  astonishing  effect  of  eloqoeaoe,  argument,  and  wit  united  of  which  there  \\a>  any 
record  or  tnidition.  Fox  said  :  "All  that  he  had  ever  heard,  all  that  he  had  ever  read,  when 
compared  with  it,  dwindled  into  nothing  and  vanished  like  \a[«our  before  the  sun";  while  I'itt 
acknowledged  "that  it  surpassed  all  the  eloquence  of  ancient  and  modern  times,  and  possessed  eu-rv- 
tliing  that  genius  or  art  could  furnish  to  agitate  and  control  the  human  mind."  So  tremendous 
wa-  the  excitement  created  by  the  speech  on  the  night  it  was  delivered  that  it  was  necessary  to 
adjourn  the  House.  Within  twenty-four  hours,  as  Macaulay  relates.  Sheridan  was  oiVcred  a  tliousand 
pounds  for  the  copyright  of  the  speech.  Later.  Moore,  with  the  shorthand  writer's  note-  he  fore  him. 
stigmatised  the  utterance  as  "trashy  bombast."  hut.  making  every  allowance  for  the  circumstances 
of  the  hour,  which  greatly  heightened  the  effect  of  the  orator's  utterances,  there  can  IK-  hut  little 
doubt  that  it  really  was  a  remarkable  performance.  Sheridan's  qualities,  however,  leant  Hitherto 
display  than  to  solid  accomplishment.  He  had  a  po.-ition  of  great  eminence  in  the  House,  but  he 
never  carried  much  weight. 

Hoth  Sheridan  and  Hurke  were  completely  overshadowed  in  point  of  influence  by  I'itt  and 
Fox.  In  i>oint  of  Parliamentary  experience  Fox  had  a  considerable  advantage  over  his  great 
rival,  he  having  entered  Parliament  in  1768,  while  Pitt  did  not  appear  at  St.  Stephen's  until 
1781.  The  lives  of  the  two  statesmen  were  curiously  interwoven  from  their  childhood.  One  day 
Lady  Holland,  Fox's  mother,  having  paid  a  visit  to  Lady  Hester  Pitt  in  1767.  wrote  the  same 
day  to  her  husband  describing  Pitt,  then  only  eight  years  old.  as  really  the  cleverest  child  she 
ever  saw.  and  adding  in  prophetic  language,  "  Mark  my  words  —  that  little  boy  will  be  a  thorn 
in  Charles's  side  as  long  as  he  lives."  The  prescience  of  the  doting  mother  was  justified  by 

events.  Almost  to  the  last  day  of  his  life 
Pitt  was  indeed  a  "thorn  in  Charles's  side." 
Hut  their  earliest  political  years  were  pa--ed 
in  a  close  if  not  intimate  friendship.  Fox. 
as  has  been  stated,  had  a  long  start  of  his 
future  antagonist  in  Parliament.  Keturned 
for  Midhurst  when  he  was  only  nineteen 
years  old,  he  took  his  seat  on  May  10th,  1768. 
Within  a  twelvemonth  he  had  made  three 
speeches,  two  of  which,  on  the  Wilkes  ca-e. 
were  ambitious  efforts  which  attracted  con- 
siderable attention.  In  a  letter  relating  to 
the  second  of  them,  which  was  made  on 
April  14th,  1765).  his  father,  addressing  a 
friend,  wrote  in  terms  of  pardonable  elation. 
"I  am  told."  he  said,  "that  few  in  Parlia- 
ment ever  spoke  better  than  Charles  did 
on  Tuesday—  off-hand,  with  rapidity  and  with 
spirit,  and  with  such  knowledge  of  what  he 
was  talking  of  as  surprised  everybody  in  so 
young  a  man.  If  you  think  this  \anity.  I 

am  sure  you  will  forgive  it."  The  partiality 
of  a  nt  hag  to  jjg  t^,,,  i|l(((  .K.t,om;t 

KICIIAllll    UIUNSI.IIY   SIIKKIDAN,  .  ...  ...  .  .  ,  .,  -,-,       , 

in    weighing    this    estimate,    but    that    foxs 

,  wit,  ami  orator,  whone  g]*eche*  in  the  HOUM  of  Commons  are  ° 

aniongrt  th«  mort  romarknbie  ev.r  delivered  there.  powers  at  this  very  early  period  were  singularly 


/ 


**MWM*M*MM«MllylPl»*r- .    •»  «!•« 


INTERIOR   OF  THE   HOUSE   OF  COMMONS   IN    1742, 

With  .Speaker  Onslow  in  the  Chair,  and  Sir  Robert  Wal|>ole,  who  wears  the  Ribbon  of  the  Garter,  addressing  the  House.    This  is  the  best  view  extant 

of  the  Home  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

125 


126 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


developed  is  shown  by  indepen- 
dent testimony.  Horace  \Yai]>ole 
dropping  into  the  House  one 
evening  in  April,  1772,  found  \-\>\ 
on  liis  lci;s.  ami  lie  describes  in 
a  letter  tn  Sir  Horace  Mann  his 
impn---ion-  of  tin-  young  orator. 
"  Fox's  abilities."  he  remarks.  "  are 
amaxing  at  so  very  early  a  period, 
especially  under  the  circumstance- 
of  such  a  dissolute  life.  He  was 
just  arrived  from  Newmarket  and 
had  sat  up  drinking  all  night. 
and  had  not  heen  in  lied  !  Mow 
such  talents  make  one  laugh  at 
Tally's  rules  for  an  orator,  and 
his  indefatigable  application.  Hi- 
laboured  orations  are  puerile  com- 
pared with  this  boy's  manly 
reason." 

The  reference  to  Fox's  dis-i- 
pated  habits  made  by  V.'alpole 
is  thought  by  some  of  his 
biographers  to  be  somewhat 
exaggerated.  That  Fox,  with  his 
lax  up-bringing,  was  not  the 
most  regular  of  youths  is  admitted. 
But  it  is  claimed  that  he  could 
not  have  achieved  the  success  he 
did  as  a  debater  if  lie  had  been 

From  Hit  portrait  l.y  Sir  Jail.ua  ReynolJt,  P.H.A.,  ill  the  Xatloilal  Portrait  Galltry.  altogether      the      loose      fish      wlllcll 

THK  RIGHT  HON.  KDMUND  BURKE,  this  statement  would  imply.     The 

Famed  for  bi>  oratory  ;  his  Parliamentary  speeches  are  elude  examples  of  eloquence.  force      of     the      line     of     reasollill" 

may  be  admitted.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  notorious  that  Fox's  irregularities,  and  especially 
his  love  of  gaming,  in  his  early  years  went  far  beyond  those  of  the  majority  of  the  young 
men  of  even  that  lax  age.  We  are  given  in  "Fox's  Correspondence"  a  singular  picture  of 
the  way  in  which  the  jeunesse  dorte  who  composed  Fox's  set  spent  their  leisure.  The 
rendezvous  was  Almack's,  where  the  play  was  for  rouleaus  of  £50  each,  and  generally  t  lien- 
was  £,'10,000  in  specie  on  the  table.  The  manners  of  the  gamesters  were  singular.  "They 
began  by  pulling  off  their  embroidered  clothes  and  put  on  frieze  great-coats,  or  turned  their 
coats  inside  outward  for  luck.  They  put  on  pieces  of  leather  (such  as  are  used  by  footmen 
when  they  clean  their  knives)  to  save  their  laced  ruffles,  and  to  guard  their  eyes  from  tin- 
light,  and,  to  prevent  tumbling  their  hair,  wore  high-crowned  straw  hats  with  broad  brims  and 
adorned  with  flowers  and  ribbons,  masks  to  conceal  their  emotions  when  they  played  at  i/ii!ii:i'. 
Each  gamester  had  a  small  neat  stand  by  him  to  hold  his  tea,  or  a  wooden  l*>wl  with  an 
edge  of  ormolu  to  hold  his  rouleaus."  In  attendance  outside  were  Jews  who  advanced  money 
to  the  young  spendthrifts  at  exorbitant  rates  of  interest.  Fox  made  early  and  frequent 
acquaintance  with  these  gentry,  his  ante-room,  where  they  were  usually  to  be  found,  being  on 
that  account  whimsically  termed  his  "Jerusalem  Chamber."  The  extent  to  which  he  squandered 
his  substance  in  these  early  days  of  his  career  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact,  stated  on 
aiithoritv,  that  within  a  few  years  Lord  Holland  had  disbursed  about  £'20,000  to  liquidate  the 
gambling  debts  of  his  two  sons. 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's— The    Eighteenth    Century      127 


F.-fim  thf  port,-(f'l.  hy  Sir 
IttyiiolJi,  P.K.A. 

CIIAULES  JAMES    FOX  AS  A   YOUNG 
MAX. 

The  eminent  statesman  who  was  the 
great  rival  of  the  younger  Pitt  during  the 
greater  |>art  of  his  career. 


In  spite  of  these  distractions,  Fox  went  steadily  forward 
in  the  great  political  race  at  St.  Stephen's.  His  birth  and 
connections  unquestionably  were  an  immense  advantage  for 
many  vears ;  but  without  solid  talents  he  could  never  have 
attained  the  position  of  influence  he  early  filled.  In  debate  he 
showed  astonishing  readiness.  Before  many  years  had  elapsed 
he  was  almost  without  a  rival.  A  description  of  his  style, 
which,  though  belonging  to  a  later  period  than  that  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  may  be  cited  here,  as  his  oratorical  methods 
underwent  little  change  through  life.  His  habit  was  to  take 
the  arguments  of  his  opponents  one  by  one  and  reply  to  them ; 
and  it  is  said  that  without  the  aid  of  this  text  upon  which 
to  hang  his  comments  he  could  make  little  progress.  "The 
opening  of  his  speeches,"  says  Sharpe,  whose  impressions  we 
are  recalling,  "  was  almost  always  bad.  Until  he  got  warmed 
with  his  subject  he  hesitated  and  stammered,  and  he  often 
continued  for  long  together  in  a  tame  and  commonplace  strain. 
Even  in  his  highest  flights  he  indulged  in  incessant  repeti- 
tions, was  negligent  in  his  language,  and  was  neither  polished 
nor  exact  in  his  style.  Notwithstanding  these  defects,  he 
exercised  a  prodigious  influence  over  his  hearers."  Fox's 
greatest  strength  was  not  brought  out  until  he  had  measured 
his  genius  with  that  of  Pitt  in  many  exciting  combats  across 

the    floor   of  the  House.      Some  of  these  encounters  will  call  for  notice ;   but,   meanwhile,  we 

must     first    glance     at    the   circumstances    under    which    Pitt    made    his    entrance    into    the 

Parliamentary  arena. 

Pitt's  training   was   the  very  opposite  to  that  of  Fox.      He  was    brought  up  in  the  most 

rigid    principles   of  morality  and    religion,  and   the  utmost  care  was   taken  to  ensure    that  his 

education  should  be  thorough  and  comprehensive.     His  quick  intelligence  and  sensitive  nature 

responded  to  these  influences.     From  his  esirliest  boyhood 

he    showed    a    seriousness    and   devotion    to   duty   quite 

remarkable  in  a  youthful  scion  of  a  noble  house  in  that 

day.     St.  Stephen's  early  attracted  him — partly,  no  doubt, 

by  reason  of  the  glamour  which  the  transcendent  genius 

of  his  father  had  cast  over  it  for  him  ;    partly  because  of 

the  promptings  of  ambition.      Night  after  night  he  was 

to    be    found    in   the   Strangers'    Gallery    watching   with 

absorbed  attention  the  oratorical  conflict  below.     He  heard 

the  debates,  as  Macaulav  remarks  in  his  picturesque  way, 

"with   a  close   scientific   attention    resembling  that  with 

which  a   diligent  pupil  at   Guy's  Hospital   watches  every 

turn  of  the   hand  of  a  great  surgeon  through   a  difficult 

operation."      It  was,    therefore,    as   quite  an   old    Parlia- 
mentary   hand    that  he   took    his   place    on    the    floor  of 

the    House    and    joined  in    the   fray. 

His    first     speech,    delivered    on     Burke's     renewed 

bill    for    the    reduction    of    the    Civil     List,    was,    says 

Earl    Russell    in    his    "Life   of    Fox,"    delivered    with    a 

fluency,    a    precision,    a    dignity,    and    a    method    that 

are   usually  the   acquirement  of  many  years  of  practice. 


From  the  portrait  bit  George  Romney,  R.A. 
CHARLES  JAMES  FOX. 

Lord     North      declared      it      the     best    first     Speech   \e      had  In  thUportmit  we  have*  representation  of  Fox  as  he 

'  was  when  he  boa  won  his  way  to  fame  In  the  House  or 

ever  heard.      The  effect   was  prodigious. 


Lord  Holland    commons. 


128 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Im*  n-lat.fl  an  anecdote  which  illustrates  the  presence  of  mind  of  tin-  voting  orator. 
"A*  .Mr.  Fox  hurried  up  to  Mr.  Pitt  to  compliment  him  on  his  speech,  an  old  membtt 
Niid  to  be  General  Urant.  passed  by  and  raid,  'Ay,  Mr.  Fox.  you  an-  pi~ii-in.it  you,,-  Pit 
for  his  *|*erh.  You  may  well  do  eo,  for  excepting  yourself  theiv>  n,,  man  in  the  House 
can  make  nich  another;  "and,  old  as  I  am.  I  ex^ct  and  hop.-  to  hear  von  both  battling  it 
within  these  walls  as  I  have  done  your  fathers  Ix-fore.'  Mr.  Fox.  disconcerted  at  the 
awkwnnl  turn  of  the  compliment,  was  silent,  and  looked  foolish;  but  young  1'iit.  with  great 
delicacy,  rmliness,  and  felicity  of  expression  answered,  -1  have  no  doubt.  <iener.il.  von  would 
like  to  attain  to  the  age  of  Methuselah.'"  Macaulay  mentions  tliat  tin-  effect  of  tin-  speech 
on  Burke  was  such  tliat,  moved  to  tears,  he  exclaimed.  -  It  is  not  a  chip  of  the  old  block;  it 
is  the  old  block  itself." 

This  extraordinarily  favourable  first  impression  was  more  than  justified  by  Pitt's  subsequent 
career.  Plunging  with' ardour  into  the  war  of  parties,  he  made  a  reputation  so  great  by  his 
wonderful  powers  that,  on  the  reconstruction  of  the  .Ministry  consequent  upon  the  death  of  Urd 
Kockingham  in  1782,  he  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  became  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and 


Ajlvr  the  picture  of  Ciiitalitlo. 


VIKW   OP   WESTMINSTER, 
Showing  the  bridge  in  the  course  of  rebuilding. 


eighteen  months  later — on  December  23rd,  1783 — assumed  the  Premiership,  Before  Pitt  attained 
to  supreme  jwwer  he  and  Fox  had  drifted  into  the  position  of  rivals,  to  which  they  were 
predestined  by  their  political  predilections  and  their  great  abilities.  There  was  a  fierce  duel 
between  them  over  the  then  recently  concluded  peace  with  France.  Fox  denounced  the  arrange- 
ment as  an  infamy  and  a  disgrace,  and  Pitt  stood  forward  as  its  uncompromising  defender.  An 
incident  of  the  contest  which  is  handed  down  to  us  by  Wilberforce  illustrates  the  extraordinary 
spirit  of  the  young  Minister.  It  happened  that  on  the  night  of  the  debate  Pitt  was  so  oppiv~~ed 
with  a  severe  headache  that  he  could  scarcely  hold  up  his  head.  "  Fox,"  says  Wilherforce.  --availed 
him  in  a  very  able  speech,  in  the  mid.-t  of  which  Pitt  was  obliged,  from  actual  sickness,  to  retire 
to  the  entry  door  called  Solomon's  Porch,  behind  the  Speaker's  chair.  I  seem  to  see  him  holding 
the  door  in  one  hand  while  he  yielded  to  his  malady,  and  turning  his  ear  towards  the  House,  that 
if  possible  he  might  not  lose  a  single  sentence  that  Fox  uttered.  .  .  .  When  Fox  sat  down  he  replied 
to  him  with  great  ability,  though  with  less  brilliancy  than  usual;  but  on  a  renewal  of  the  same 
discussion  a  few  days  later  in  a  different  form,  he  made  one  of  the  finest  speeches  ever  delivered 
in  Parliament."  The  speech  referred  to  by  Wilberforce  was  considered  by  Brougham  to  be  the 
greatest  of  all  Pitt's  speeches. 


n  'Lfiiri.ig  by  A.  D.  IfcCormiek. 


GAMI.NQ  AT  ALMACK'S.  .  . 

A  scene  at  the  famous  gambling  establishment  in  St.  James's,  of  which  Fox  and  other  political  celebrities  of  his  day  were  constant  frequenters. 

129  17 


130 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Tin-  Mil»equent  encounter,  liet  ween  the  two  great  -late-men  -.-ned  to  bring  out  jn 
more  striking  fashion  tin-  splendid  qualities  of  each  tin-  finished  eloquence  and  lucidity  of 
Pitt,  and  tin-  amaxing  delwting  force  and  inriital  alertness  of  Fox.  Their  gladiatorial  contests 
extending  over  a  jH-riod  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  furnish  a  chapter  in  Parliamentary 
hi*torv  which  for  profundity  of  intere-t  has  not  been  ,-inee  excelled  in  (lie  personal  rhalric- 

of  tin-   ll"ii f  Coiiiinoiis.  and   proliahly   never  will   lie   excelled.      The   t  remendou-    i--iie-   which 

U-f.ire    Parliament    during    the    time    that    the    two  orators    were    face    to    face     ];..    donlit 
i-i-ted   largely  to  create  the  tini<|tip  reputations  which   they  ha\e   left    behind.      Tin-    Am. 
war.  the   French    Revolution,   the    impeachment    of    Warren    Hastings,   the     I'nion    with     Ireland, 
and  the    great    war  with    France,  and    the    linancial  and  jiolitical   problems,  arising    mil    of    ii 
these  all    supplied    opjiort  unit  ies    for    statesmanship  such  us    in    the   history  of  the  country  had 
never    previously  lieeii  afforded    in    an    eijual    number  of  years.     How  each  of  the  rival-  in    his 
way  contributed  to    the  coinnion  stock  of   genius    which   is  a  precious  heritage  of  St.  Stephen',. 
i»  a  story  which  must    be  read   in    detail.     Our  s]«ice  will  only  permit  of   one  further  re|. 
to  the  oratory  of   this  magnificent   Parliamentary  era.     The  example    i-  the  wonderful  speerh  ,.t 
May    iHth.   1803,  in  which   Pitt   defended   his  war  policy.     A    squabble    between    the    official-   ,.(' 
the  House  and   the   rejiorters,   which  led  to  the  exclusion   of  the   latter  from   the  gallery   o: 
particular   night,    has    unfortunately   deprived   the  world  of  an    authentic  report   of  the  nratimi. 
But  of  its    sujM-rh    qualities    there    can  be  no  question,   from   the  Mriking  impiv— ion    which    it 
made  UJMIII  those  who  heard   it.      Lord  .Mai mesbury  says  of  the  speech:    "It  was  the  fine-- 
ever made  ;    never  was  a  speech   so  cheered,  never  was  there  such  incessant  and  loud  applau-e ." 
Another   who    was    present   (Mr.  Ward,   afterwards    I/ord    Dudley)   gives   a   vivacious    docription 
of  the  whole  scene:    "  Kr.-kine   and    Whitbread    were    heard  with    impatience,  and    when  at   the 

close  of  a   tedious  hour  and   half  Pitt 
rose  (twenty  minutes  to  eight),  t 
was  ju-t  a  violent  and  alm«»t  uni\. 
cry    of   'Mr.    Pitt!    Mr.    Pitt  !'       ||, 
was  then  clieered  before  he  had  utt- 
a  syllable,  a  mark  of  approbation  which 
was  repeated  at  almost  all  the  brilliant 
passages    and   remarkable    sentiment-; 
and   when    he    .-at     down    (nine  I    there 
followed    one    of    the     longe-t.     n 
Cciger,   and    most    cut  lm-iast  ic    bn 
of  applause  I  ever  heard  in  any  place 
on    any     o<va>ion."       As    it    \\a-    the 
greatest,     it     \\a>    one    of    the    la-: 
Pitt's    oratorical    triumphs.       Within 
four   \ears  -the  pilot    that    weathered 
the    storm''    was    being    carried    amid 
the    grief  of   the  nation   to  the  g 
Temple    of   Reconciliation    acro-s    the 
way.     In  the  same  year  Fo\   was  laid 
g     to    rest    in    the    same    place,  the    two 
graves  being  only  a   few  indie-   from 
each  of  her.     It  is  to  this  circumstance 
that  Scott  alludes  in   those  beautiful 
lines  in  Marmion  : — 


THE   KKillT   1IOS.   AIITHUU  ONSLOW, 

The  gral  Speaker  of  the  ilotue  of  Commoni,  who  occupied  the  Chair  for  thirty-five 
yean,  praidlng  orer  the  deliberation*  of  the  Ilotue  in  fire  nicer -«i\.-  ParlianienU.  i 


Where,  taming  thought  to  human  priile, 
The  mighty  chiefs  sleep  side  by  side. 
Drop  upon  Kox'.s  grave  the  tear, 
'Twill  trickle  to  his  rival's  bier; 


After  the  painting  by  John  Jfoppner,  R.A.,  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

THE   RIGHT  HON.   WILLIAM   PITT, 

("The   younger   Pitt"),  whose  splendid  statesmanship  contributed  «o  largely  to  bring  the  country  successfully  through  the  perils  of  the 

Napoleonic  period. 

131 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


O'er  Pitt's  the  mournful  requiem  sound. 
And  Fox's  Khali  the  note*  rebound. 
The  solemn  echo  seems  to  cry — 
"  Here  let  their  discord  with  them  die. 
Speak  not  for  those  a  separate  doom, 
Whom  Fate  made  brothers  in  the  tomb; 
Hut  xeurch  the  land  of  living  men, 
Where  wilt  thou  find  their  like  agent " 

With    the    removal     of    the>e 

giants    of    debate,    the    House    of 

('ominous    lost    the    absorbing    at- 
tractiveness   that    had    marked    its 

proceedings  lor  several  decades  pre- 
viously.     There    now    followed    an 

era  in  statesmanship  only  redeemed 

from    absolute    mediocrity    by    the 

xersatile  ability  and  the  scintillating 

wit  of  George  Canning. 

Before,  however,  we  take    final 

leave    of    the    eighteenth    century, 

we    must     make    reference    to    two 

men  who,  though  they  never  made 

any    great     mark    in    the    Hons  •. 

played  a  very  conspicuous  part   in 

the    political    and    literary    life    of 

the   ]>eriod.     \Ve   refer   to    Edward 

Gibbon,    the     historian,     and     Sir 

Philip  Francis,  the   reputed  writer 

of  the  "  Letters  of  Junius."    Widely 
ENTRANCE  TO  ST.  STEPHEN'S  HALL,     as    they    differed    in    many    things, 

the  pair  shared  a  common  distaste 
to  oratory.  Gibbon,  who  sat  in  eight  Parliaments,  never  opened  his  mouth  on  any  important 
occasion.  In  his  "  Autobiography  "  he  attributes  his  silence  to  prudence.  "  Timidity,"  he  says, 
••was  fortified  by  pride,  and  even  the  success  of  my  pen  discouraged  the  trial  of  my  voice." 
"  I  am  still  a  mute,"  he  wrote  on  another  occasion.  "  It  is  more  tremendous  than  I  imagined ; 
the  great  speakers  fill  me  with  despair,  the  bad  ones  with  terror."  Sir  Philip  Francis,  more 
venturesome  than  Gibbon,  often  intervened  in  debate,  but  he  had  a  hesitating  delivery  and 
other  defects  which  prevented  his  achieving  even  moderate  success  as  an  orator.  One  of 
his  speeches,  however,  merits  notice  as  an  exception  to  the  rule  of  ineffective  utterances.  It 
was  delivered  in  the  course  of  the  debate  on  Pitt's  India  Bill.  One  of  the  provisions  of  this 
measure  abolished  trial  by  jury  for  delinquents  returning  from  India,  and  set  up  in  its  place  a 
new  tribunal.  '•  I  am  not,"  said  Francis,  "  an  old  man,  yet  I  remember  the  time  when  such 
an  attempt  would  have  aroused  the  whole  country  into  a  flame.  Had  the  experiment  been 
made  when  the  illustrious  statesman  the  late  Earl  of  Chatham  enjoyed  a  seat  in  this  assembly, 
he  would  have  sprung  from  the  bed  of  sickness,  he  would  have  solicited  some  friendly  hand  to  lay 
him  on  the  floor,  and  thence,  with  a  monarch's  voice,  he  would  have  called  the  whole  kingdom 
to  arms  to  opi>ose  it.  But  he  is  dead,  and  has  left  nothing  in  the  world  that  resembles  him. 
He  is  dead  !  and  the  sense,  the  honour,  the  character,  and  the  understanding  of  the  nation  are 
dead  with  him."  "  The  repetition  of  the  words  '  He  is  dead,' "  says  Wraxall,  who  records  the 
incident,  '-was  attended  with  the  finest  effect;  and  the  reflections  produced  by  it  involuntarily 
attracted  every  eye  towards  the  Treasury  Bench,  where  sat  his  son.  I  have  rarely  witnessed  a 
moment  when  the  passions  were  touched  in  a  more  masterly  manner  within  the  walls  of  the 
House.  The  impression  made  by  it  on  Pitt  is  said  to  have  been  of  the  deepest  kind." 


B>  P.  llucDoxtll,  R.A. 
STATUE  OF   W.   PITT   AT   THE 


B«  E.  II.  Baity,  R.A. 


STATl'K   OF  C.  J.    FOX    AT   TICK 
ENTRANCE  TO  ST.  STEPHEN'S  1IAI.L. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


WESTMINSTER  HALL:  ITS  HISTORY  AND  TRADITIONS. 

No  part  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament  has  so  much  to  interest  the  visitor  as  Westminster  Hall. 
If  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  vast  pile  of  buildings  were  swept  away,  this  splendid  structure 
would  still  confer  a  unique  distinction  upon  the  site.  It  is  not  merely  that  it  is  a  wonderfully 
perfect  and  beautiful  specimen  of  the  architectural  work  of  an  age  when  hall  construction 
was  carried  to  a  high  point  of  excellence ;  it  is  not  simply  that  it  is  a  most  interesting  relic 
of  one  of  the  oldest  Royal  palaces  in  Europe.  Its  claims  to  attention  go  far  deeper  than 
considerations  of  this  description,  touching,  in  fact,  the  very  foundations  of  our  national 
life ;  for  within  its  four  walls  have  been  enacted  more  of  the  leading  events  in  the  history 
of  England  than  have  been  witnessed  by  any  other  building  devoted  to  purely  civil  uses  in 
existence.  As  Audience  Chamber,  Senate  House,  Palace  of  Justice,  and  Royal  Banqueting  Hall 
it  has  filled  a  place  in  the  life  of  the  nation  of  stupendous  interest  and  importance.  Even  the 
great  Abbey,  with  its  venerable  traditions,  or  the  grey  Tower  of  the  Conqueror,  with  its  absorbing 
if  sinister  record,  cannot  vie  with  this  ancient  chamber  in  the  fascination  of  its  story  and 
the  diversity  of  its  points  of  interest.  Unique  in  its  architectural  distinction,  it  occupies  a 
place  apart  from  the  great  buildings  of  the  country  by  reason  of  the  poetry  and  tragedy  of 
its  history,  and  the  length  and  continuity  of  its  national  traditions. 

The  story  of  the  building  goes  back  to  the 
years  immediately  succeeding  the  Norman  Conquest. 
Its  founder  was  William  Rufus,  who  intended  that 
it  should  form  a  part  of  a  magnificent  palace  to 
take  the  place  of  the  somewhat  mean  structure 
which  had  served  the  purposes  of  the  English  rulers 
from  the  time  of  the  Confessor.  The  work  was 
commenced  in  the  year  1097  and  completed  some 
two  years  later.  The  King  was  abroad  looking  after 
his  troublesome  subjects  in  Normandy  during  its 
construction ;  but  he  took  a  close  interest  in  the 
progress  of  the  operations,  and  made  it  his  first 
business  on  his  return  in  1099  to  inspect  the  build- 
ing. According  to  an  old  chronicler,  he  was  not 
over  pleased  with  the  architect's  handiwork.  Replying 
to  a  remark  of  some  of  his  retinue  that  the  building 
was  too  large,  William  observed  that  "  it  was  not 
half  so  large  as  it  should  have  been,  and  that  it 
was  only  a  bedchamber  in  comparison  with  the 
building  which  he  intended  to  make."  This  was 
probably  merely  a  piece  of  Royal  boasting,  but  un- 
questionably the  monarch's  architectural  designs  were 
conceived  on  a  scale  of  much  splendour.  They  were 
not  carried  out,  mainly  for  the  prosaic  reason  that 

133 


WILLIAM   KCFCS, 

The  founder  of  Westminster  Hall. 


134 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


VIi:\V   (IF   VVr.STMIXSTK.lt    IX 
Showing  the  Hall,  with  the  LAW  Courts  adjoining  dnignisl  by  Sir  John  Snnc. 

the  necessary  supplies  were  unobtainable.  The  King  was  engaged  in  completing  the  work 
begun  in  the  reign  of  his  predecessor  upon  the  Tower  of  London,  and  the  heavy  demaadl 
from  this  quarter,  coupled  with  the  expenses  involved  in  dealing  with  his  rebellious  subjects. 
completely  depleted  the  exchequer.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  plans  ever  even  entered  ujwn 
the  active  stage.  A  tradition  once  existed  that  the  foundations  of  a  vast  building  "stretching 
from  the  river  of  Thames  even  unto  the  highway"  were  discoverable  by  the  diligent  >( -archer, 
but  this  was  only  a  tradition.  The  work  of  Kufus  practically  began  and  ended  with  the  Hall. 

How  much  of  the  present  Hall  belongs  to  the  time  of  its  founder  is  a  Mihject  upon  which 
antiquarians  have  differed  considerably.  The  most  reliable  authority,  no  doubt,  is  the  late  Mr. 
.1.  L.  Pearson,  K.A..  who  was  employed  by  the  Government  to  act  as  its  adviser  when  the  change- 
consequent  upon  the  removal  of  the  I^iw  Courts  were  made  in  1884.  This  gentleman  e.\]> 
the  opinion,  in  his  ••  Keport  on  Westminster  Hall,"  that  "there  remained  only  in  1834  a  couple 
of  corridors  and  parts  of  a  string-course  on  the  east  side  to  tell  of  its  existence."  Later 
operations  connected  with  the  removal  of  the  Law  Courts  resulted  in  the  uncovering  permanently 
on  the  west  side  of  a  large  portion  of  the  earliest  Norman  walls,  "fortunately  in  a  fairly  perfect 
state  of  preservation."  But  despite  this,  what  the  visitor  "of  to-day  sees  of  the  Hall  belong-  to 
a  much  later  period  than  the  early  one  in  which  its  foundations  were  laid. 

According  to  Mr.  Pearson,  there  were  fifteen  distinct  peritxls  in  which  the  building  was 
altered,  excluding  the  occasion  on  which  he  himself  was  engaged.  Henry  II.,  Kit-hard  I.. 
Henry  III.,  and  Edward  III.  all  bad  a  hand  in  the  renovation  or  restoration  of  the  Hall.  Mm 
the  sovereign  to  whom  it  owed  most  of  its  characteristic  features  is  Kit-hard  II.  Previous  to 
his  time  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  the  building  consi>ted  of  nave  and  aisles,  the  roof 
being  supported  by  timber  posts.  The  King  removed  these  obstructions,  heightened  the  wall- 
two  feet,  added  the  existing  roof,  a  new  northern  porch  and  towers,  and  -divers  lodging-  "  on 
the  west  side,  where  the  Law  Courts  until  a  few  years  since  stood.  By  these  changes  tin- 
building  was  completely  transformed.  Imposing  as  it  had  been  before,  it  acquired  a  new 
grandeur  from  the  stateliness  given  to  its  proportions  and  the  beauty  of  its  roof.  As  it  \\a- 
left  by  Kit-hard  II.  we  see  it  in  all  its  essential  features  to-day.  And  what  a  noble  vista  it  i- ! 
As  an  able  historical  writer1  remarks:  "High  above  him,  bay  beyond  bay,  arch  beyond  arch. 

stretches  the  unrivalled  roof  of 

Cobwebless  beams  conceived  of  Irish  wood, 

once  framed  with  the  stout  chestnut  timber  of  Normandy's  growth  and  the  black  oak  of  Ireland 
1  The  Uev.  Mackenzie  E.  C.  Walcott,  "  Memorial*  of  West  minster,"  p.  247. 


Westminster    Hall :    Its    History    and    Traditions  135 

by  that  cunning  master  of  his  craft,  Henry  Yevell,  or  Zenelly,  between  1397  and  1399.  Still 
along  the  verge  upon  the  upper  wall,  raised  by  King  Richard  two  feet  more  in  height,  and 
upon  the  shields  borne  by  the  angels,  which  supports  the  roof,  the  eye  notes  the  badge  of 
the  founder — the  chained  hart." 

The  beautiful  roof  has  stood  the  test  of  time  well.  It  was  thoroughly  repaired  in  the  last 
year  of  the  reign  of  George  III.,  when  some  forty  loads  of  oak,  the  remains  of  old  men-of-war 
broken  up  at  Portsmouth  Dockyard,  were  introduced  in  substitution  of  unsound  parts.  Since 
then  repairs  have  been  made  from  time  to  time,  and  in  the  nature  of  tilings  a  renovation  will 
be  necessary  again  before  many  years  are  out ;  but  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  the  solid 
work  of  Yevell  will  remain  for  the  admiration  of  many  future  generations  of  Englishmen. 

The  changes  made  since  Richard  II.'s  time  in  the  internal  arrangements  of  the  Hall,  though 
they  have  not  affected  the  structure  to  any  material  extent,  are  yet  of  considerable  importance 
and  interest.  Originally  the  Courts  of  King's  Bench  and  Chancery  held  their  sittings  at  the 
south  end  of  the  Hall,  as  shown  in  Hollar's  quaint"  drawing.  They  were  separated  from  each 
other  by  a  flight  of  steps  and  a  passage  communicating  with  a  doorway  leading  to  the  House 
of  Commons.  When  Sir  John  Soane  in  1824  built  the  range  of  Courts,  demolished  in  1884, 
the  great  Hall  was  freed  from  the  obstructions  which  had  grown  up  at  the  south  end  of  the 
Hall  in  consequence  of  the  sittings  of  the  Court.  Subsequently  Sir  Charles  Barry's  plan  of  making 
the  building  the  main  approach  to  the  House  of  Commons  necessitated  a  still  more  striking 
innovation.  This  was  the  setting  back  of  the  great  south  window  and  the  creation  of  the 
beautiful  St.  Stephen's  Porch  at  the  top  of  the  flight  of  steps  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  Hall. 
The  eminent  architect  would  at  the  same  time  have  raised  the  roof,  "  being  thoroughly  satisfied 
of  the  practicablity  of  the  process  and  of  the  great  improvement  of  proportion  which  must  result.'' 
But  considerations  of  expense  operated  to  prohibit  this  portion  of  his  scheme.  All  things 
considered,  it  is  well,  perhaps,  that  his  hand  was  stayed.  The  work  might  not  have  been 


INTERIOR  OP   WESTMINSTER   HALL   IN   THE   MIDDLE   OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY. 
ThU  ia  believed  to  be  the  earliest  view  in  existence  of  the  Ilall.    The  curious  arrangement  of  the  Courts  will  be  noted. 


136 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


£zii:z% 


WESTJ1INSTKK   IS   Till:   KAltl.Y    1'AltT   (IT  Till:   SKVKXTKKXTII   CKXTI'KY. 
A  very  early  view  of  Weetmiiuter  Hall  and  the  adjacent  Parliamentary  building>.     The  perapective  u  somewhat  faulty. 

successful,  and  failure  would  have  been  almost  a  crime.  As  things  are,  we  have  the  Hall  in  all 
its  ancient  grandeur,  incongruous,  possibly,  without,  when  seen  in  its  modern  setting,  but  within. 
from  its  graceful  lantern,  utilised  in  old  times  to  allow  of  the  emission  of  smoke  from  the  open 
fire  upon  the  floor,  to  the  heraldic  devices  upon  the  walls,  a  perfect  specimen  of  the  great 
chamber  which  for  centuries  served  the  purposes  of  a  Royal  Banqueting  Hall  and  a  Royal 
Presence  Chamber. 

It  has  sometimes  rjeen  claimed  for  the  Hall  that  it  is  the  largest  apartment  unsupjKirted 
by  pillars  in  the  world.  But  this  is  an  error.  Its  dimensions — 290  feet  long  by  68  feet  broad 
and  92  feet  high — are  exceeded  by  those  of  the  Hall  of  Justice  at  Padua  and  of  some  railway 
stations.  Nevertheless,  whether  regarded  from  the  architectural  or  the  historical  standpoint, 
it  has  a  unique  distinction  amongst  the  great  halls  of  the  world. 

Built  originally  to  minister  to  the  passion  for  regal  pomp  which  was  a  characteristic 
weakness  of  William  Rufus  in  common  with  the  other  Norman  Kings,  the  Hall  was  in  its 
early  days  the  scene  of  much  barbaric  pageantry  and  feasting.  Under  its  splendid  roof-tree, 
as  we  shall  describe  in  detail  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  have  gathered  countless  hosts  of  Royal 
guests  at  coronation  feasts  from  the  time  of  the  first  Henry  until  the  accession  of  George  IV 
There  also,  in  Norman  times,  it  was  the  custom  of  the  King,  sitting  on  his  throne,  to  keep 
his  Pentecost  and  Christmas  and  other  great  festivals,  extending  to  enormous  numbers  of  his 
subjects  the  rude  and  profuse  hospitality  characteristic  of  the  period.  Royal  marriage  and 
betrothal  celebrat  ions,  too,  were  held  in  the  Hall,  to  the  accompaniment  of  much  rejoicing  and 
merriment,  and  with  a  lavish  flow  of  wine,  not  only  in  the  chamber  itself,  but  also  in  the 
fountain  in  New  Palace  Yard.  Nor  was  the  use  of  the  Hall,  even  at  that  period,  confined  to 
festive  gatherings.  As  the  great  public  Audience  Chamber  of  the  King  it  was  frequently  the 
witness  of  incidents  of  dramatic  interest  and  high  historic  importance.  It  was  in  the  Hall 
that  the  faithless  Henry  III.  received  his  outraged  subjects  on  .March  7th,  1250,  and  by  a  show 
of  hypocritical  contrition  endeavoured  to  allay  their  just  resentment.  Old  Matthew  Paris  has 
supplied  us  with  a  vivid  account  of  this  scene  in  all  its  barefaced  audacity.  He  tells  us  how, 
by  command  of  the  King,  the  citizens  of  London  assembled  together  before  him  at  Westminster, 
"  even  to  the  boys  of  twelve  years  old,"  and  how  "  there  was  such  a  crowd  of  people  the 


mm  llu  Painting  by  Rtnjamin  Ftrrtrt  in  tht  National  Portrait  G.illtry. 

THE  COURT  OF  CHANCERY  IN  THE  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  I 

4  Qiaalnl  1'letur*.  tbowUif  U»  Qoort  »llUn«  In  th»  polltlan  >t  the  upper  «nd  o(  W»tmliuUr  11*11  « Inch  Ik  btd  occupied  lor  MTtral  oraturln. 

Lori  Chwwllor  ¥««l..B.ld  U  tb.  pruldlni  Jtnl(. 


Westminster  Hall :    Its   History  and  Traditions  137 

whole  court  was  filled  with  them."  Then  the  historian  describes  the  farce  which  had  been 
prepared  with  much  care  by  the  wily  monarch :  "  Being  met  together,  the  King  humbly,  as 
if  about  to  shed  tears,  entreated  each  one  of  the  citizens  with  heart  and  voice  to  disavow 
all  kind  of  anger,  malevolence,  and  rancour  towards  him ;  for  he  publicly  confessed  that 
he  himself,  but  more  frequently  his  servants,  had  in  many  ways  injured  them,  taking  away 
their  goods  and  retaining  them,  and  in  various  respects  encroaching  on  their  rights  and 
liberties,  wherefore  he  besought  them  to  pardon  him."  The  quaint  record  concludes  by  stating 
that  "the  citizens,  understanding  that  nothing  further  was  required  of  them,  consented 
to  all  that  the  King  required,  although  no  restitution  was  made  of  what  had  been  taken 
from  them." 

A  fitting  pendant  to  this  ancient  and  Royal  version  of  the  confidence  trick  was  supplied 
three  years  later  in  the  same  place  by  the  same  King,  when  he  attended  a  great  assembly  of  the 
Lords  spiritual  and  temporal  convened  to  register  his  vow  that  if  he  failed  to  execute  his  engage- 
ments, he  would  submit  himself  to  excommunication.  Gathering  in  the  Hall,  the  prelates  and 
barons,  each  bearing  a  lighted  taper  in  his  hand,  encircled  the  King  while  the  curse  of  heaven 
was  invoked  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  on  those  who  in  future  should  in  any  respect  violate 
the  two  charters  (the  Magna  Charta  and  the  Charta  de  Foresta).  Hands  were  lifted  in  air  and 
brows  bared,  and  "  the  tapers  were  then  extinguished  and  thrown,  stinking  and  smoking,  on  the 
ground,  and  the  dire  malediction  uttered  that  the  souls  of  every  one  who  infringed  the  charters 
'  might  thus  be  extinguished  and  stink  and  smoke  in  hell.' "  Weirdly  impressive  in  its  rude 
fervour,  the  episode  was  made  additionally  striking  by  the  action  of  the  King,  .who  closed  the 


Photo  fcy  1C.  S.  Vitt*pl>tU.     Copyright,  Hutchi.uon  <t  Co. 

'.I.M.I:  U,   VIEW   OP  WESTMINSTER   HALL. 
The  Halt  ii  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world  unsupported  by  pillars. 


18 


138 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


ceremony  by  declaiming  these  words:  "S,> 
may  liod  help  me,  I  will  inviolably  observe  all 
these  things,  as  I  am  a  man  and  a  Christ  ian. 
a  knight  and  a  crowned  and  anointed  King."  ' 
Solemn  as  the  vow  taken  was,  it  was  speedily 
broken,  and,  as  a  consequence,  on  May  2nd. 
1258,  we  find  a  very  different  gathering  meet- 
ing  on  (lie  identical  spot.  It  was  an  assembly 
of  the  barons  intent  on  extracting  from  the 
King  something  more  effective  than  a  lightly 
given  promise.  Clad  in  complete  armour, 
the  barons  presented  a  formidable  and  awe- 
inspiring  appearance.  "Am  I,  then,  a 
prisoner?  "  faltered  the  trembling  Henry  when 
his  eyes  lighted  on  the  glittering  array. 
-Not  so,"  responded  Roger  Bigod  (tin-  Karl 
of  Norfolk  and  Karl  Marshal);  "but  as  you. 
sir.  bv  your  partiality  to  foreigners  and  your 
own  prodigality,  have  involved  the  realm  in 
misery,  we  demand  that  the  authority  of 
the  State  be  delegated  to  commi^ioners.  \vlio 
shall  have  power  to  correct  abuses  and  enact 
salutary  laws."  The  King  was  reluctant  to 
submit  to  so  serious  a  curtailment  of  his  pre- 
rogatives; but  the  barons  were  insistent,  and 
eventually  he  submitted.  Rather  more  than 
a  month  later,  at  a  Parliament  assembled 
at  Oxford,  a  council  of  twenty-four  barons 
and  prelates  and  twelve  representatives  of 
the  people  was  appointed  to  take  over  tin- 
government  of  the  country.  Out  of  the-e 
memorable  incidents  in  Westminster  Hall. 
therefore,  directly  arose  the  modern  system 
of  popular  representation. 

Of  a  different  type  from  the  scenes  in 
which  Henry  III.  played  so  degrading  a  part, 
but  not  less  characteristic  of  the  age,  were 
the  stately  courtesies  paid  in  1256  and  1260  to  Alexander  III.  of  Scotland  and  his  Queen,  and 
the  interesting  ceremonial  which  accompanied  the  rendering  of  homage  by  the  same  King  in 
1274  and  1278  to  Robert  the  Bruce,  deputed  to  receive  it  in  the  presence  of  Edward  I.  as 
his  liegeman,  for  lands  which  he  held  in  England.  The  festival  honours  paid  in  the  Hall 
at  Christmastide,  1277,  to  Llewellyn,  the  unfortunate  Prince  of  Wales,  by  his  future  conqueror 
and  oppressor,  too,  must  be  noted,  as  well  as  the  orgies  in  which  "the  she-wolf  of  France" 
and  the  worthless  Piers  Gaveston  figured — orgies  which  scandalised  the  morality  of  even  that 
easy-going  age.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  it  was  in  this  ancient  Hall  that  the  chivalrous 
Edward  the  Black  Prince  was  created  Duke  of  Cornwall,  and  that  it  was  in  a  chamber  off 
the  south  side  of  the  building  he  ten  years  later  breathed  his  last  amid  the  laments  of 
the  people,  "as  though  the  spring  was  taken  from  England's  year."  Reminiscent  also  of 
the  inspiring  side  of  English  history  is  the  episode  of  a  visit  to  the  Hall  on  May  24th, 
1357,  after  the  battle  of  Poitiers,  of  the  captive  John,  King  of  France.  Clad  in  Royal  robes 
and  riding  upon  a  snow-white  palfrey,  the  unfortunate  King  was  "about  three  of  the  bell  in 

1  See  illustration  on  page  11. 


EDWARD  THE   BLACK   PRINCE. 

A  reproduction  of  one  of  the  paintingi  from  St.  Stephen's  Chapel.    It 
shims  the  Prince  at  the  age  of  twenty-six. 


from  a  draving  by  A.  J).  McC&nnitk. 

HENBY   III.    AND   THE   BABOXS. 

The  famous  scene  in  Westminster  Hall  in  which  the  baroni  coerced  the  monarch  into  a  promise  of  constitutional  privileges. 

339 


140 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


the  afternoon  **  received  by  the  chivalrous  Edward  amid  the  strains  of  martial  music  and 
the  singing  of  hymns  of  praise  by  full-robed  clergy.  The  Lord  Almoner,  the  I»rd  Mayor, 
and  a  thousand  citizens,  including  representatives  of  the  great  City  guilds,  followed  in 
the  train,  and  on  going  to  and  returning  from  the  Hall  (lowers  were  strewn  in  the  Royal 
visitor'.-  way.  It  was  a  noble  tribute  from  one  great  soldier  to  a  less  fortunate  one,  and 
was  in  keeping  with  the  whole  treatment  of  John  during  his  detention.  But  the  chains 
galled,  nevertheless.  Rallied  on  one  occasion  by  the  gallant  Edward  on  his  melancholy,  and 
asked  to  join  in  some  merry-making  arranged  in  his  honour,  he  replied  in  a  voice  shaken 
with  emotion,  "Quomodo  cantabimus  canticum  in  terra  aliena?"  ("How  shall  we  sing  in 
a  strange  land?")  For  some  time  longer  the  French  monarch  had  to  support  as  best  he 
might  his  gilded  exile.  We  find  him  sitting  at  the  high  table  in  the  Hall  on  Christmas 
Day,  1358,  with  David,  King  of  Scotland,  who  had  come  to  Westminster  to  offer  his 
service  in  the  French  wars,  as  well  as  to  arrange  a  treaty  of  commerce.  It  was  not,  in  fact, 
until  after  Edward  had  again  invaded  and  ravaged  France  that  John,  in  an  interview  with 
Edward  "in  the  chapel  of  the  Palace  at  Westminster,"  ratified  the  Treaty  of  Renunciation 

— so  called  because  of  the  tenor  of  some  of 
its  clauses — and  paved  the  way  to  his  liheia- 
tion  at  Calais  on  October  16th,  1360. 

Arising  out  of  this  formal  termination 
of  the  bloody  feud  which  had  existed  so  long 
between  England  and  France  was  a  meeting 
of  Parliament  in  the  Hall  with  some  pictur- 
esque accompaniments  which  throw  an  inter- 
esting light  on  the  tendencies  of  the  age. 
When  the  debates  on  the  treaty  had  been 
carried  through  and  a  cordial  approval  ex- 
tended to  the  terms  of  the  compact,  a  mass 
in  honour  of  the  Holy  Trinity  was  celebrated 
in  the  Abbey  Church  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  Thereafter  the  King  and  his 
sons,  standing  erect  in  the  presence  of  the 
French  hostages,  "  torches  being  lighted  and 
crosses  held  over  the  eucharist  and  missal." 
witnessed  the  ceremony  of  all  the  English 
peers  present  swearing  "  ujx>n  the  sacred 
body  of  our  Lord  "  to  keep  the  peace  which 
had  been  agreed  upon  by  the  two  Kings. 

The  meeting  of  Parliament  in  the  Hall 
noted  in  this  connection  was  only  one  of  many 
assemblies  called  there  in  those  remote  da  v  -. 
Marked  out  alike  by  its  stately  proportion! 
and  its  close  association  with  the  Palace  for 
a  Royal  Council  Chamber,  the  Hall  was  fixed 
upon  from  the  earliest  period  of  its  existence 
for  the  holding  of  the  periodical  Councils  of 
State  which  the  caprice  or  the  needs  of  the 
Norman  Kings  caused  to  be  summoned.  For 
a  time  the  gatherings  were  brought  together 
at  irregular  intervals,  and  were  without  any 
EDWARD  in  definite  form.  But  gradually  a  more  complete 

A  npmlnrtlun  of  another  of  the  ,-alotIng.  from  St.   Stephen'.  and   Tegular   System    gTCW    Up,  Until   about   the 

Ch.i«:i.   it.buw.  the  King.ttheagcof  fortj.four.  year  1265,  mainly  as  a  result  of  the  coercion 


Westminster    Hall  :    Its    History    and    Traditions          141 


THE  PAINTED  CHAMBER, 

The  most  ancient  building  in  the  old  Palace.     It  was  here  that  Chatham's  remains  rested  the  night  before  their  interment  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

exercised,  as  already  described,  upon  the  faithless  Henry  III.,  a  Parliament,  as  we  understand 
the  term,  was  held.  To  this  knights  were  summoned  as  representatives  of  counties,  and  citizens 
and  burgesses  for  cities  and  boroughs.  The  City  of  London  sent  four  citizens  to  represent  it, 
and  ever  since  it  has  enjoyed  this  representation — a  circumstance  which  testifies  eloquently  to 
the  historic  continuity  of  our  institutions.  From  this  time  forward  Parliaments  were  systemati- 
cally held,  though  at  irregular  intervals.  On  the  separation  of  the  two  Houses,  which  probably 
was  carried  out  about  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  the  building  fell  into  disuse  for  Parliamentary 
purposes,  though  from  time  to  time  functions  of  special  importance  affecting  the  Government 
continued  to  be  held  there.  These  legislative  traditions  have  been  completely  overshadowed 
by  subsequent  memories  of  more  dramatic  interest ;  but  they  must  never  be  overlooked,  for 
in  the  Hall  we  see  the  veritable  cradle  of  the  British  Constitution. 

The  last  great  public  ceremony  in  Westminster  Hall — the  lying-in-state  of  the  Eight 
Hon.  William  Ewart  Gladstone — demands  some  notice,  as  it  was  unique  in  the  history 
of  the  building.  The  remains  of  the  great  Chatham  the  night  before  the  interment  in  the 
Temple  of  Reconciliation  hard  by  had  rested  in  the  Painted  Chamber  in  the  Palace  adjoining, 
where,  if  tradition  may  be  relied  on,  the  wasted  frame  of  Edward  the  Confessor  had  been 
prepared  for  the  tomb  seven  hundred  years  previously.  We  have  also  noted  that  Edward  the 
Black  Prince  died  in  a  chamber  situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  building.  But  Westminster 
Hall  itself,  with  all  its  historical  associations,  its  pageants  and  pomps,  its  State  trials  and 
Court  festivities,  had  never  previously  been  used  for  such  a  purpose  as  that  to  which  it 
was  put  on  this  recent  occasion.  Yet  nothing  could  have  been  more  appropriate,  for  through 
this  historic  Hall  the  great  statesman  had  frequently  passed  on  his  way  to  the  House  of 
Commons ;  and  within  a  few  yards  of  it  he  had  commenced  that  dazzling  career  which  took 
him  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame. 

The  arrangements  for  the  ceremony  were  highly  impressive.  Brought  in  the  early  morn 
from  Hawarden  Castle  to  Westminster,  the  remains  of  the  aged  statesman  were  .received 


142 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


by  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  Earl  .Marshal,  attended  by  the  officers  at  arms  and  the 
Chaplain  of  the  House  of  Commons  (Archdeacon  Wilberforce)  in  his  clerical  rolx-s.  Tin-  coffin 
was  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  Hall,  ujton  a  raised  bier,  at  the  foot  of  which  was  a 
white  silk  pall  embroidered  with  gold  bearing  the  inscription,  "  Heiinirm-ut  in  1'iice"  the 
|Mill  a  gift  to  Mr.  Gladstone  by  the  Armenians,  whose  cause  he  hod  so  stoutly  championed. 
With  touching  simplicity  the  arrangements  were  carried  out.  No  flowers  or  <1< 
tions  were  placed  in  the  Hall;  no  ostentatious  emblems  of  woe  figured  in  the  picture. 
At  the  comers  of  the  bier  four  massive  silver  candlesticks  with  candles  were  placed, 
and  behind  the  head  of  the  coffin  stood  an  elaborate  embossed  brass  cross,  brought  from 
St.  John's  Church,  Westminster.  r'rom  sunset  to  dawn  relays  of  clergy  maintained  a 
solemn  vigil. 

Elaborate  arrangements  for  the  admission  of  the  public  were  devised  by  the  authorities. 
and  admirably  carried  out.  To  regulate  the  movement  of  the  great  throng  of  mourners 
barriers  draped  in  black  were  erected  from  one  end  of  the  Hall  to  the  other,  allowing  of  a 
jwssage  on  each  side  of  the  coffin,  the  two  ranks  meeting  at  the  upper  part  of  the  building 
near  the  St.  Stephen's  Porch,  where  the  >exits  were  provided.  Throughout  the  two  davs  that 
the  lying-in-state  continued  there  was  a  continuous  stream  of  humanitv  pa-sing  in  gloomv 
and  reverent  silence  by  the  bier.  Class  distinctions  were  obliterated  in  the  general  de.-ire  to 
pay  this  last  tribute  to  .the  illustrious  dead.  In  the  throng  were  peers  and  legislator.-,  judges 

and  great  Church  dignitaries,  sharing 
their  common  sorrow  with  the  arti-an 
in  his  working  clothes,  the  policeman 
off  duty,  and  the  soldier  in  uniform. 
Passing  up  the  steps  at  the  end  of 
the  chamber  many  lingered  for  a 
few  moments  to  take  a  final  look  at 
the  catafalque.  From  this  vantage 
point  the  scene  presented  was  one  of 
extreme  solemnity  and  impre-M\<>- 
ness.  The  eye  ranged. over  a  great 
mass  of  people  coming  in  from  New- 
Palace  Yard  and  moving  slowly  along, 
all  turning  their  heads  reverently 
towards  the  coffin  when  pa— ing.  and 
many  exhibiting  signs  of  emotion, 
the  while  an  awed  silence  prevailed. 
broken  only  by  the  rustling  move- 
ment of  many  feet.  The  effect  was 
heightened  by  the  extreme  simplicity 
of  the  central  object,  standing  in 
its  splendid  isolation  in  the  centre 
of  the  chamber,  and  invoking,  us  it 
seemed,  the  memories  of  six  centuries 
of  national  greatness  which  are  en- 
shrined within  this  stately  edifice. 

Now  comes  the  last  scene  of 
the  ceremony — the  removal  of  the 
body  to  the  grave  prepared  in  the 
Abbey.  Shortly  before  this  sad  dut  v 
is  discharged,  Sir  Benjamin  Stone, 
the  member  for  East  Birmingham, 
with  the  special  sanction  of  the 


THK  COMMONS  KXIKAXCK  TO  WKST.MIXSTKK  MALI,. 
Th«  K>le  (Dtrurc  to  th«  <>M  HOUM  of  Corn  mom  wu  through  the  Hall. 


143 


144 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


frot.t  '  '-  John  Htitilt  in  the 

Jialio,'  ;  tlltry. 

.-\.Mri:i.   IM.I-VS. 

The  diarUt,   who  wa»  a  frequent  Tuitor  to 
Wortuiinrter  Hall  to  purchaw  bookt. 


authorities,  takes  a  photograph  of  the  coffin  as  it  has  been 
viewed  by  tens  of  thousunds  of  mourners  in  tin-  prcviou-.  two 
days.  Nature  contributes  her  share  to  the  success  of  tin- 
effort.  As  the  camera  is  being  adjusted  a  my  of  bright 
sunlight  | tierces  the  gloom  of  the  interior  and  falls  softly 
on  the  oaken  casket,  suffusing  it  with  a  sulxlued  radiance. 
Tims  aided  in  his  task,  the  talented  operator  secures  a 
priceless  relic  of  a  memorable  e|ii.-ode  in  the  life  of  West- 
minster Hull  to  add  to  the  unique  series  of  historic  photo- 
graphs with  which  he  has  enriched  the  national  collections. 
.Meanwhile,  the  l/onls  Spiritual  and  TeinjHiral.  members  of 
the  House  of  Peers,  assemble  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  their  House.  Repre- 
M-ntatives  of  her  Majesty  l^ueen  Victoria,  the  Princes  of  the 
Hoyal  Blood,  representatives  of  foreign  sovereigns,  friends 
and  the  family  of  the  deceased,  and  a  deputation  from 
the  Huwarden  estate  are  assembled  in  the  Hall.  After 
a  short  prayer  from  the  Bishop  of  London,  the  officers  of 
arms  marshal  the  procession.  The  various  heralds  are  in 
attendance,  wearing  plain  black  clothes  in  the  place  of  their 
State  uniforms,  and  carrying  white  stoves.  Portcullis  and 
Rouge  Dragon  Pursuivants-at-Arms  lead  the  way  for  the 
Sjteaker  and  members  of  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
Speaker,  wearing  his  full-bottomed  wig  and  State  robes,  is  preceded  by  the  Sergeant -at  - 
Anns,  wearing  his  silver  chain  of  office  and  carrying  the  mace.  The  officers  of  the 
HoiiM-  of  Commons  accompany  the  Speaker.  Proceeding  slowly  down  the  steps  at  the  end 
of  the  Hall,  the  Commons  procession  passes  the  coffin,  and  leads  the  way  to  the  Abbey. 
The  members  of  the  House  of  Lords  follow  next,  led  by  the  Lord  High  Chancellor  in  his 
robes,  the  heralds  accompanying  them  being  the  Windsor  and  the  Richmond.  RepresentativN 
of  foreign  nations,  escorted  by  the  LancaMer  Herald,  follow  the  Peers,  and  then  the 
coffin  is  placed  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  bearers,  the  Earl  .Marshal  (the  Duke  of  Norfolk) 

walking  in  front,  and  five 
juill-bearers  on  each  side, 
among  them  being  H.K.H. 
the  Prince  of  Wales  (now  his 
Majesty  the  King),  H.K.H. 
the  Duke  of  York  (now  Prince 
of  Wales),  the  .Manjuis  of 
Salisbury,  the  Earl  of  Rose- 
bery,  the  Duke  of  Rutland, 
and  the  Earl  of  Kimberley — 
all  Knights  of  the  Garter. 
The  Right  Hon.  Arthur  J. 
Balfour  and  Sir  William 
Vernon  Harcourt,  representing 
the  House  of  Commons,  walk 
beside  their  dead  colleague, 
and  with  them  are  Lord 
Rendel  and  Air.  George 
Armitstead  (ex-M.P.),  both 
intimate  friends  of  the 
deceased.  Slowly  the  coffin 


STAIKCASK    IN    WKSTM1SSTKK   HALL, 
Giving  team  t..  the  Grand  Committee  Iloom  in  which  the  South  Africa  Committee  ut. 


Westminster    Hall  :    Its    History    and    Traditions          145 


From  a  drawing  by  Gravclot. 


THE   FIRST   DAY   OP   TERM,   WESTMINSTER   HALL. 
This  riew  showi  the  Hall  in  the  enrly  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  with  the  bookcases  and  stalls,  then  a  characteristic  feature. 

is  borne  to  the  simple  hearse,  merely  a  platform  on  wheels,  drawn  by  two  bay  horses,  and  the 
last  great  State  ceremony  in  Westminster  Hall  is  at  an  end. 

In  connection  with  the  modern  history  of  the  Hall  must  be  mentioned  a  scheme  lately 
under  consideration  for  reviving  the  ancient  Parliamentary  use  of  the  building.  The  proposal 
arose  out  of  the  disorderly  scenes  witnessed  in  the  House  of  Ixirds  on  the  opening  of  the 
first  Parliament  of  the  present  reign  by  his  Majesty  the  King.  In  the  crush  on  this  occasion 
several  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  were  seriously  hurt,  and  the  episode  altogether  was 
one  which  reflected  small  credit  on  the  august'  assembly.  To  obviate  similar  trouble  in  future 
it  was  suggested  that  the  opening  of  Parliament,  instead  of  taking  place  in  the  Peers' 
chamber,  should  be  arranged,  as  in  old  days,  in  Westminster  Hall.  It  was  a  distinctly 
fascinating  proposal,  and  one  for  which  there  was,  primu  facie,  much  to  be  said ;  so  the 
Government  appointed  a  Committee  of  both  Houses,  composed  of  some  of  the  most  eminent 
members  of  each,  to  inquire  into  the  feasibility  of  the  scheme.  The  Committee  met,  and 
held  several  sittings ;  but  its  report,  when  forthcoming,  was  opposed  to  any  change  in  the 
cxi>ting  arrangements. 

Before  taking  final  leave  of  the  Hall,  it  is  impossible  not  to  make  some  reference  to  its 
u-c  through  long  centuries  as  a  great  gathering  place  of  the  public.  At  one  time  there  were 
bookstalls  all  round  the  interior  of  the  building,  and  works  were  issued  from  it  as  from  any 
other  publishing  centre.  This  aspect  of  it  is  illustrated  by  the  following  extract  from  "Pepys' 
Diary":  "January  20,  1659. — At  Westminster  Hall,  where  Mrs.  Lane  and  the  rest  of  the  maids 
had  their  white  scarfs,  all  having  been  at  the  burial  of  a  young  bookseller  in  the  Hall." 

19 


146 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


A  notable  viator  to  Weitiuiniter  Hall. 


Again  and  again  the  diarist  pays  visits  to  the- 
Hall  in  connection  with  tin-  purchase  of  books. 
It  was  also  a  mart  of  a  different  kind,  a-  niav  lie 
gathered  from  the  versified  description  of  the  Hall 
as  it  was  in  Henry  V.'s  reign,  by  Lydgate,  monk 
of  Bury : — 

Within  this  Hall  neither  reche  nor  yet  poore 

Would  do  for  aught  although  I  should  dye ; 

Which  seeing  I  get  me  out  of  the  doore. 

Where  Fleminge  on  me  began  for  to  cry, 

"  Master,  what  will  you  copen  or  buy  ? 

Fyne  felt  hatts,  or  spectacles  to  reede, 

Ijiy  downe  yo'  sylver,  and  here  you  may  speede." 

That  the  Hall  was  a  mart  for  the  sale  of  miscellaneous. 

goods  long  after  this  is  indicated  by  an  allusion  in 
the  epilogue  to  Wycherley's  The  Plain  Dealer,  where 

we  read  : — 

In  the  Hall  of  Westminster 
Sleek  sempstress  vends  amidst  the  Courts  her  wares. 

Again,  in  Tom  Brown's  "Amusements,"  a  work 
published  in  1700,  we  are  given  a  lively  description 
of  the  bazaar-like  character  of  the  building.  Enter- 
ing the  Hall,  the  visitor  "was  surprised  to  see  in 
the  same  place  men  on  the  one  side  with  baubles  and  toys,  and  on  the  other  taken  up  with 
the  fear  of  judgment,  on  which  depends  their  inevitable  destiny.  In  this  shop  are  to  be 
sold  ribbons  and  gloves,  towers  and  commodes,  by  word  of  mouth;  in  another  shop,  hinds  and 
tenements  are  disposed  of  by  decree.  On  your  left  hand  you  hear  a  nimble-tongued,  painted 
sempstress  with  her  charming  treble  invite  you  to  buy  some  of  her  knick-knacks;  and  on 
your  right  a  deep-mouthed  cryer  demanding  impossibilities — viz.,  silence  to  be  kept  among 
women  and  lawyers." 

The  stalls  were  gradually  ousted  from  the  Hall,  but  a  thoroughly  clean  sweep  was  not 
made  of  them  until  the  Law  Courts  were  removed  to  the  Strand.  Now  you  would  as  soon 
expect  to  see  anyone  selling  goods  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  as  you  would  in  Westminster  Hall. 
Very  properly  the  authorities  exercise  a  jealous  suj>ervision  over  the  building,  and  allow  in  it 
nothing  inconsistent  with  its  grand  history  and  traditions. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  the  Hall  was  frequently  the  scene  of  great  political  meetings. 
Such  a  use  of  the  building  at  the  present  day  would  be  impossible,  but  no  one  appears  to 
have  objected  to  the  procedure  in  those  days— at  least,  we  may  infer  this  from  the  following 
matter-of-fact  statement  which  appears  in  a  letter  included  in  the  Fox  correspondence,  relating 
to  a  gathering  held  on  February  2nd,  1780:  "Meeting  for  a  petition  (in  the  Westminster 
election  business)  in  Westminster  Hall.  The  Court  party  disjx-rscd  handbills  to  represent  the 
dearness  of  coals,  and  thence  to  excite  the  people  against  the  Duke  of  Richmond  as  enriched 
by  the  coal  tax.  About  three  thousand  persons  met,  headed  by  the  I  hike  of  Portland,  tl.e 
Cavendishes,  Charles  Fox,  Richard  Fitzpatriok,  Wilkes,  Sawbridge,  Lord  Temple,  and  the 
Grenvilles,  General  Burgoyne,  Burke,  Townshends,  etc.  Charles  Fox  was  placed  in  the  chair. 
Sawbridge  moved  the  petition,  and  was  supported  by  Wilkes;  and  a  petition  similar  to  that 
of  York  voted,  and  a  Committee  of  Ix>rds  and  others  chosen.  Charles  Fox  then  made  a  fine 
and  warm  speech,  and  was  particularly  severe  on  Lord  North  and  the  Duke  of  Northumberland. 
Dr.  Jebb  proposed  Mr.  Fox  for  the  future  candidate  for  Westminster,  which  was  received  with 
universal  applause.  Lord  J.  Cavendish  and  Charles  Turner  likewise  spoke."  To  parallel  this 
gathering  we  must  imagine  the  leaders  of  one  or  other  of  the  great  political  parties  calling 


Westminster    Hall :    Its    History    and    Traditions          147 


in   the   Hall  a  mass  meeting   to  settle    some    important   partisan  move.     But   the  mind  almost 
declines  to  conceive  such  an  act  of  sacrilege. 

As  a  legal  and  judicial  centre  the  Hall  was  long  famous,  apart  from  its  association  with 
State  trials  and  political  impeachments.  Men  who  are  still  in  middle  age  can  readily  recall 
the  gathering  of  long-robed  and  bewigged  gentry  who  daily  thronged  its  ample  floor  and  gave 
to  the  place  a  characteristic  appearance.  This  was  an  aspect  it  had  worn  for  centuries. 
Peter  the  Great,  when  he  came  to  London,  was  taken  to  the  Hall  as  one  of  the  sights, 
and  seeing  so  many  men  in  peculiar  costumes  about,  he  asked  who  they  were.  On  being 
told  that  they  were  lawyers,  he  grimly  remarked  that  he  had  but  two  in  his  dominions, 
and  that  he  believed  he  would  hang  one  of  them  up  the  instant  he  got  home  again. 
The  character  of  the  building  as  a  place  of  public  assembly,  and  its  proximity  to  the  Law 
Courts,  suggested  it  as  the  most  suitable  place  in  which  to  put  into  execution  primitive 
decrees  carrying  with  them  personal  humiliation.  One  case  recorded  in  the  national  archives 
is  that  of  Sir  Thomas  Lake,  Mary,  his  wife,  and  Sarah  Swarton,  who,  on  being  convicted 
in  1618-19  of  slandering  the  Countess  of  Exeter,  were  ordered  "to  be  whipped  at  the  cart's 
tail  from  the  prison  to  Westminster,  there  to  be  marked  with  the  letters  F.  and  A.  for  a 
false  accuser,  and  to  be  whipped  to  Cheapside,  and  then  remain  in  prison  in  Bridewell  during 
his  Majesty's  pleasure."  The  disciplinary  measures  of  which  the  Hall  was  the  scene  were 
not  confined  to  the  general  public.  There  is  a  case  recorded  in  the  Hatfield  Papers, 
under  date  1588,  which  indicates  that  disreputable  counsel  were  brought  under  the  lash  of 
public  censure  in  the  building.  The  proceedings  referred  to  touch  the  case  of  one  Gilbert 
Sherrington,  of  Gray's  Inn,  who  was  convicted  of  procuring  Jean  Scolcroft  and  Eichard 
Brereton  to  retract  depositions  they  had  made.  The  offending  knight  of  the  long  robe  was 
first  fined  £'200,  and  then,  on  refusing  submission,  was  fined  a  further  sum  of  1,000  marks, 
"adjudged  to  be  expelled  out  of  Gray's  Inn,  and  sequestered  from  his  practice  for  ever." 
Then,  as  a  final  stroke  of  judicial  severity,  it  was  ordered  "  that  he  should  go  about 
Westminster  Hall  one  day  in  the  term  time  (the  judges  sitting  in  the  Courts  there)  with 
a  paper  on  his  head  declaring  his  offences  for  example  and  warning  to  others."  The  Bar  has 
its  black  sheep  in  these  days,  but  wisely  it  does  not  make  a  public  parade  of  them. 

In  connection  with  this  case  of  subornation,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a  once  familiar 
figure  which  haunted  Westminster  Hall  was  the  hireling  witness.  Perjured  wretches  were 

wont  to  parade  themselves 
in  the  Hall,  a  straw  worn 
in  their  ears  being  the 
recognisable  badge  of  their 
shame.  Sometimes  they 
had  to  stand  in  the  pil- 
lory in  the  adjacent  Palace 
Yard  for  their  offences. 
But  more  often  they  escaped 
without  punishment,  owing 
to  the  laxity  of  the  age. 
It  is  possible  that  there  is 
quite  as  much  false  swear- 
ing to-day  as  there  ever 
was,  but  it  is  something 
to  the  good  that  there  is 
no  open  bartering  of  the 
truth  in  the  ante-chamber 

OLD   PALACE   YABD   IN  THE   EIGHTEENTH   CE.NTUBY.  Of    Justice. 


r HAITI: i!   xn. 


WESTMINSTER  If  ALL:  MEMORABLE    TRIALS. 

INTKKESTIXG  as  are  the  legislative  associations  of 
\\V-tmin-ti-r  Hall,  it  is  in  its  aspect  as  a  judicial 
centre  that  it  has  the  greatest  claims  to  recognition. 
From  the  time  of  the  earliest  Norman  Kings  to 
the  reign  of  Victoria  it  was  the  great  pivot  around 
which  our  judicial  system  revolved.  For  several 
hundred  years  it  was  the  actual  home  of  ini]>ortant 
branches  of  the  judiciary.  The  connection  of  the 
Hall  with  the  law  grew  out  of  the  traditional 
association  of  the  monarch  with  the  dispensation  of 
justice.  The  King  was  not  only  the  sovereign  head 
of  his  people ;  he  was  the  fountain  of  justice.  It 
was.  therefore,  essential  that  in  the  Palace  there 
should  be  one  spot  where  disputes  could  be  adjusted 
and  the  law  administered  in  all  cases  where  the 
intervention  of  the  Crown  was  necessary.  At  the 
outset  some  of  the  rooms  of  the  Palace  were  u-''<! 
for  this  purpose;  but  soon  the  centre  of  interest 
gravitated  to  Westminster  Hall,  whose  majestic 
proportions  and  superb  architecture  rendered  it 
peculiarly  suitable  for  the  impressive  ceremonial  of 
the  law.  In  early  da}'s  the  King  dispensed  justice 
in  person.  Seated  on  his  throne  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  Hall,  with  all  the  great  officers  of  State 

grouped  about  him,  he  listened  to  the  complaints  of  aggrieved  subjects.  In  theory  it  \va- 
a  magnificent  system  ;  in  practice  it  worked  out  badly,  for  as  the  King  moved  about,  the 
Courts  had  to  move  with  him ;  and  so  an  element  of  uncertainty  was  introduced  into  the 
procedure  which  must  have  added  enormously  to  the  expense  of  justice  while  it  detracted 
from  its  efficiency.  Eventually  the  powers  were  delegated,  and  the  Courts  were  permanently 
settled  in  Westminster  Hall.  Up  to  eighty  years  ago  the  Courts  of  Chancery  and  King's 
Bench  actually  sat  in  the  Hall  itself ;  the  other  Courts  were  distributed  about  the  apartments 
of  the  Palace  situated  in  immediate  proximity  to  it.  This  system  continued  until  the  year 
1820,  when  an  extensive  clearance  was  made  on  the  north  side  of  the  Hall  of  the  old  buildings; 
and  upon  the  site  was  erected,  under  the  architectural  supervision  of  Sir  John  Soane,  a  range 
of  buildings  which  accommodated  the  whole  of  the  Courts.  Here  the  administration  of  justice 
centred  until  the  new  Palace  of  Justice  arose  in  the  Strand  and  provided  a  habitation  more 
Miiti'd  to  the  modern  requirements  of  the  law. 

Around  the  venerable  walls  of  the  great  Hall  cluster  many  traditions  connected  with  the 
dispensation  of  justice.  The  famous  incident  of  Prince  Hal's  outbreak  fills  one  of  the  best- 
known  pages  of  English  hi>tory.  One  of  the  Prince's  boon  companions  had  been  arraigned  for 
robbery,  and,  in  order  to  overawe  the  judge,  the  Prince  decided  to  be  present.  But  the 
occupant  of  the  Bench,  Sir  William  Gascoigne,  was  a  man  of  strong  fibre,  and,  unmindful  of 

148 


f  Uu  paintinff  by  Sir  Tliomtu  Lawrence,  P.R.A. 
SIR  JOHN   SOANE,   B.A., 

The  well-known  Parliamentary  architect,  who  designed  the 
old  Law  ConrU  attached  to  Weatmiiutcr  Hall. 


Westminster    Hall :    Memorable    Trials 


149 


the  prisoner's  princely  patron,  he  condemned  him  as  his  offence  deserved.  Upon  this  Prince 
Henry  attempted  to  rescue  the  prisoner  at  the  Bar,  and  for  his  pains  received  a  stern 
admonition  from  the  judge.  Incensed  at  this,  the  Koyal  brawler  sprang  up  as  if  to  slay  him 
or  pluck  him  from  his  chair.  Gascoigne  still  was  not  intimidated.  Asserting  "  the  majesty 
of  the  King's  place  of  judgment,"  he  committed  the  Prince  to  prison  in  the  King's  Bench. 
Conscious  of  his  error,  the  impetuous  Prince  sheathed  his  sword  and  quietly  submitted  to  the 
officers  of  justice.  In  the  beautiful  scene  in  The  Second  Part  of  Henry  IV.  where  Prince 
Henry,  as  Henry  V.,  meets  the  Chief  Justice,  we  have  a  fitting  sequel  to  this  moving  episode. 
The  Chief  Justice,  prompted  by  a  remark  of  the  King,  justifies  his  action  : — 

Question  your  royal  thoughts,  make  the  case  yours  ; 
Be  now  the  father  and  propose  a  son, 
Hear  your  own  dignity  so  much  profaned, 
See  your  most  dreadful  laws  so  loosely  slighted, 
Behold  yourself  so  by  a  son  disdain'd ; 
And  then  imagine  me  taking  your  part, 
And  in  your  power  soft  silencing  your  son  : 
After  this  cold  considerance,  sentence  me ; 
And,  as  you  are  a  king,  speak  in  your  state 
What  I  have  done  that  misbecame  my  place, 
My  person,  or  my  liege's  sovereignty. 

The  King,  with  the  ardour  of  a  generous  nature,  handsomely  acknowledges  the  justice  of  the 
judge's  action  : — 

You  did  commit  me  : 

For  which,  I  do  commit  into  your  hand 

The  unstained  sword  that  you  have  used  to  bear; 

With  this  remembrance,  that  you  use  the  same 

With  the  like  bold,  just,  and  impartial  spirit, 

As  you  have  done  'gainst  me. 

The  incident  of  Henry's  attack  on  the  judge,  as  Knight  points  out,  has  a  rather  striking 
parallel  in  an  episode  recorded  in  the 
Placita  Roll  of  the  34th  of  Edward  I. : 
"Roger  de  Hexham  complained  to  the 
King  that  whereas  he  was  the  justice 
appointed  to  determine  a  dispute  between 
.Mary,  the  wife  of  William  de  Brewes, 
plaintiff,  and  William  de  Brewes,  defend- 
ant, respecting  a  sum  of  800  marks  which  J^H  it •••  -V^P-P  .* 

,  ,    .  ,      -  .   .  KdlHKl        ?(>'•;  *!*£'*     '«§f-  O> 

she  claimed  from  him,  and  that,  having 
decided  in  favour  of  the  former,  the  said 
William,  immediately  after  judgment  was 
pronounced,  contemptuously  approached 
the  bar  and  asked  the  said  Roger  in 
gross  and  upbraiding  language  if  he  would 
defend  that  judgment ;  and  he  afterwards 
insulted  him  in  bitter  and  taunting  terms 
as  he  was  going  through  the  Exchequer 
Chamber  to  the  King,  saying  to  him, 
'Roger,  thou  hast  now  obtained  thy  will 
of  that  thou  hast  so  long  long  desired.' " 
William  de  Brewes,  when  arraigned  for 
this  offence  before  the  King  and  Council, 
admitted  his  guilt,  "  and  because,"  con- 
tinues the  record,  "such  contempt  and 
disrespect  as  well  towards  the  King's 
Ministers  as  towards  the  King  himself  or 


THE  OLD   LANDING  PLACE   Full  THE   PALACE   OP   WESTMINSTER. 
It  shcm»  Buckingham  embarking  for  the  Tower  after  his  trial  in  Westminster 

Hall. 


150 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Afltr  Hotlxi*. 

SIR  THOMAS    M..I:I  . 


his  Court  are  very  odious  to  the  King,  as  of  late  expressly 
appeared  when  his  Majesty  exjM'lled  from  his  household  for 
nearly  half  a  year  his  dearly  Moved  son  Edward,  Prince  of 
Wales,  on  account  of  certain  improper  words  which  he  had 
addressed  to  one  of  his  Ministers,  and  suffered  him  not  to 
enter  his  presence  until  he  had  rendered  satisfaction  to  the 
said  officer  for  his  offence ;  it  was  decreed  by  the  King  and 
Council  that  the  aforesaid  William  should  proceed  unattired, 
bareheaded,  and  holding  a  torch  in  his  hand,  from  the  King's 
Bench  in  Westminster  Hall  during  full  Court  to  the 
Exchequer,  and  here  ask  jwrdon  from  the  aforesaid  Roger 
and  make  an  apology  for  his  trespass." 

Most  of  the  great  State  trials  recorded  in  our  history 
have  been  held  within   the  four   walls  of  this   magnificent 

chamber.          Foremost     in     the     long      list     Of     historic     names        WDO  was  tried  anil  condemned  in  Westminster  Hall 

handed  down  to  us  in  this  connection  is  that  of  Sir 
William  Wallace,  gallantest  of  soldiers  and  patriots,  and 

most  chivalrous  of  men.  Taken  prisoner  through  the  treachery  of  his  countrymen,  he  was 
conveyed  to  Ix>ndon,  and  placed  upon  trial  for  his  life  in  the  Hall.  A  contemporary  account 
of  the  proceedings1  furnishes  an  interesting  picture  of  the  trial.  From  this  it  is  to  be 
gathered  that  Wallace  was  conducted  to  the  Hall  on  August  23rd,  1305,  by  his  gaoler,  Sir  John 
de  Segrave,  who  was  attended  by  the  mayor,  the  sheriffs,  and  the  aldermen,  and  a  great  train  of 
people.  The  prisoner  was  placed  on  a  scaffold  at  the  south  end  of  the  Hall  with  a  laurel  wreath 
about  his  brow,  in  mockery  of  what  was  said  to  have  been  his  boast,  that  he  would  wear  a  crown 
in  that  Hall.  Peter  Malory  (the  Justiciar  of  England),  Segrave  Blunt,  the  mayor,  and  two  others 
were  the  judges  appointed  for  the  trial.  When  the  Court  met,  Malory  charged  Wallace  with 
being  a  traitor  to  King  Edward  and  other  crimes,  but  the  patriot  answered  spiritedly  that  he  had 
never  been  a  traitor  to  the  King  of  England,  as  he  did  not  owe  him  allegiance.  On  the  same  day 
sentence  was  given  by  Malory  in  the  following  terms :  "  William  W'allace,  a  Scot,  and  of 

Scottish  descent,  having  been  taken  prisoner  for 
sedition,  homicides,  depredations,  fires,  and  felonies, 
and  after  our  lord  the  King  had  conquered  Scotland, 
forfeited  Baliol,  and  subjugated  all  Scotsmen  to  his 
dominion  as  their  King,  and  had  received  the  oath 
of  homage  and  fealty  of  prelates,  earls,  barons,  and 
others,  and  proclaimed  his  peace  and  apjiointed  his 
officers  to  keep  it  through  all  Scotland ;  you,  the 
said  William  Wallace,  oblivious  of  your  fealty  and 
allegiance,  did,  along  with  an  immense  number  of 
felons,  rise  in  arms  and  attack  the  King's  officers 
and  slay  Sir  William  Hezelrig,  Sheriff  of  Lanark, 
when  he  was  holding  a  Court  for  the  pleas  of  the 
King;  did  with  your  armed  adherents  attack  villages, 
towns,  and  castles,  and  issue  brieves,  as  if  a  superior, 
through  all  Scotland,  and  held  Parliaments  and 
assemblies,  and  not  content  with  so  great  wickedness 
and  sedition,  did  counsel  all  the  prelates,  earls,  and 
barons  of  your  l>arty  to  submit  to  the  dominion  of 
the  King  of  France,  and  to  aid  in  the  destruction 
of  the  realm  of  England ;  did  with  your  accomplices 
invade  the  counties  of  Northumberland,  Cumberland, 


r  /MI,:, 


JOHN    FISHER,    BISHOP   OP   ROCHESTKK, 
WhoM  opposition  to  the  divorce  of  Henry  VIII.  from  Anne 


Bolej-n  cost  him  bil  life. 


1  "Chronicles  of  Edward  I.  and  Edward  II,"   Rolls  Series. 


Westminster    Hall :    Memorable    Trials 


and  Westmoreland,  burning  and  killing  every 

one   who   used   the    English   tongue,    sparing 

neither  age    nor    sex,    monk    nor   nun ;    and 

when    the    King   had    invaded   Scotland   with 

his  great  army,   restored  peace,  and  defeated 

you,  carrying   your  standard   against  him  in 

mortal   war,    and   offered   you    money   if  you 

surrendered,   you    did    despise    his    offer    and 

were   outlawed  in   his   Court   as   a   thief  and 

felon  according  to   the  laws   of  England   and 

Scotland ;  and  considering  that  it  is  contrary 

to   the    laws    of    England    that    any    outlaw 

should  be  allowed  to  answer   in  his   defence, 

your    sentence  is  that   for  your  sedition  and 

for  making  war  against   the    King,  you   shall 

be  carried   from    Westminster   to   the  Tower, 

and    from    the    Tower    to    Aldgate,    and    so 

through  the  City  to  the  Elms  at  Smithfield, 

and  for  your  robberies,  homicides,  and  felonies 

in  England  and  Scotland,  you  shall  be  there 

hanged  and  drawn,  and  as  an  outlaw  beheaded, 

and   afterwards,    for   your    burning    churches 

and  destroying  relics,  your  heart,  liver,  lungs, 

and  entrails  from  which  your  wicked  thoughts 

came    shall    be   burned,    and    finally,    because 

your  sedition,  depredations,  fires,  and  homicides 

were  not  only  against  the   King,  but  against 

the  people  of  England  and  Scotland,  your  head  shall  be  placed  on  London  Bridge,  in  sight  both 

of  land  and  water  travellers,  and  your  quarters  hung  on  gibbets  at  Newcastle,  Berwick,  Stirling, 

and  Perth,  to  the  terror  of  all  who  pass  by." 

This  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  great  State  trials  held  in  Westminster  Hall.  More  than 
two  hundred  years  later,  on  May  13th,  1522,  another  unfortunate  figure  in  history— Edward 
Stafford,  Earl  of  Buckingham — took  his  stand  at  the  bar  in  the  Hall  to  answer  charges  of 
treason.  Dupe  of  a  wretched  astrologer,  his  guilt  was  clear,  and  at  the  hands  of  his  relative, 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  he  received  the  dread  sentence  of  a  traitor.  Just  thirteen  years  later 
Sir  Thomas  More,  broken  in  health  by  long  imprisonment,  but  undaunted  in  spirit,  was  seen 
on  the  same  spot  hearing  his  doom  pronounced  by  a  sycophantic  tribunal,  the  too  willing 
tool  of  Henry  VIII.  As  he  was  led  out  of  the  Hall,  his  son,  brushing  through  the  ranks 
of  the  soldiery,  fell  sobbing  on  his  father's  neck  and  implored  the  guards  to  allow  him  to 
share  his  parent's  fate.  The  pathetic  incident  made  a  great  impression  on  those  who  witnessed 
it,  but  nothing  could  move  the  merciless  King,  though  history  records  that  when  he  received 
the  news  that  the  decree  had  been  executed,  he  abandoned  his  play  at  the  tables  and  shut 
himself  up  alone  in  his  room  to  commune  with  his  bitter  thoughts.  His  remorse,  if  remorse 
it  was,  was  transient,  and  soon  fresh  victims  were  forthcoming  to  appease  his  insatiable  lust  for 
blood.  On  June  17th,  1535,  a  little  over  a  month  after  More's  condemnation,  John  Fisher,  Bishop 
of  Rochester,  who  had  committed  the  crime  of  opposing  the  tyrant's  divorce,  was  arraigned  in 
the  Hall  for  treason.  Calm  in  the  possession  of  a  clear  conscience  and  a  good  understanding, 
he  met  his  inevitable  doom  with  a  cheerfulness  that  amazed  those  about  him.  One  day  soon 
after  the  trial,  a  rumour  having  gone  forth  that  he  was  to  go  to  his  execution,  his  servant  omitted 
to  prepare  his  dinner.  Addressing  the  man,  he  said:  "Well,  for  all  that  report,  thou  seest  me  yet 
alive ;  and,  therefore,  whatsoever  news  thou  shalt  hear  of  me  hereafter,  let  me  no  more  lack  my 
dinner ;  and  if  thou  see  me  dead  when  thou  comest,  then  eat  it  thyself;  but  I  promise  thee,  if  I 


HENRY    VIII.   IX   WESTMINSTER   HALL, 
Presiding  at  the  trial  of  Lambert  for  heresy. 


152 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


be  alive.  I  mean  by  God's  grace  to  eat  never  a  whit  the  less."  More  fortunate  than  this  worthy 
prelate.  William  Lord  Daore,  who  was  tried  in  the  Hall  on  July  Oth,  1535,  was  acquitted,  his  In-ing 
jwrhaps  the  only  instance  of  n  man  of  deduction  singled  out  for  vengeance  escaping  Hcnn's  toil-. 

The  I'rntect.ir  S.uuervt  ;  his  rival,  Northumberland:  Henry  (iivy,  Duke  of  Suffolk; 
Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  ;  Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk;  l'hili|>  Karl  of  Arundel ;  Robert 
Devereux.  Kurl  of  K—.-\.  arc  other  names  which  figure  in  the  roll  of  pri>oner>  condemned 
within  the  Hall  in  this  troublous  Tudor  period.  Even  more  crowded  with  these  fateful 
tragedies  is  the  record  of  the  building  in  the  following  century.  First  in  chronological  order 
we  have  Guy  Fawkes  and  his  co-conspirators  in  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  who  recencd  here,  in 
January.  1600,  that  frightful  sentence  of  the  traitor  which  was  afterward-,  carried  out  with 
a  faithfulness  to  detail  as  ivalii-tic  as  it  was  inexpressibly  horrible. 

Another  name  indelibly  impressed  u[ion  the  judicial  records  of  the  apartment  is  that  of 
Thomas  Wentworth.  Karl  of  Strafford,  who  for  eighteen  days  in  1640  stood  his  memorable  trial 
in  the  presence  of  the  King  and  Queen  and  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament  and  a  vast 
gathering  of  people.  Most  elaborate  arrangements  were  made  for  the  safe  custody  of  the 
prisoner.  Daily  the  prisoner  was  brought  from  the  Tower  escorted  by  six  barges,  each  rowed 
by  fifty  |»airs  of  oars  and  manned  with  troops.  All  about  Palace  Yard,  King  Street,  and 
Whitehall  troops  were  stationed.  Inside  the  Hall  was  the  flower  of  the  aristocracy,  with 
Charles  and  his  consort  amongst  the  most  eager  and  absorbed  of  the  spectators.  It  was  said 
by  Sir  John  Denham,  in  the  well-known  couplet,  that 

Each  seemed  to  act  the  part  he  came  to  see, 
And  none  was  more  a  looker-on  than  he. 


From  a  conltMporary  p,      '. 

"THE   TBUE    MA  M.I:    OK   TUB  SITTING  OP  THE    I.OKDS   AND  COMMONS  OK   BOTH   HOWSES  OK   PARLIAMENT   UPON   THE 
TBYAI,  OF  THOMAS    KAHI.K  OF  8TKAFKOBU,   LOBU   LIEUTENANT   OF   IBELAUD." 


Westminster    Hall :    Memorable    Trials 


153 


But  Strafford's  moving  defence  testifies  that 
the  writer's  observation  must  have  been  at 
fault.  Pointing  to  his  children,  who  stood 
beside  him,  he  said :  "  My  lords,  I  have  now 
delayed  your  lordships  longer  than  I  should 
else  have  done.  But  for  the  interest  of  these 
dear  pledges,  which  a  departed  saint  in  heaven 

has  left  me,  I  should  be  loth "    Here  a 

flood  of  tears  checked  his  utterance.  "  What 
I  forfeit  for  myself,  it  is  nothing ;  but  I 
confess  that  my  indiscretion  should  forfeit 
for  them,  it  wounds  me  very  deeply.  You 
will  please  pardon  my  infirmitv.  Something 
I  should  have  said ;  but  I  see  I  shall  not 
be  able,  and  therefore  I  leave  it.  And  now, 
my  lords,  I  thank  God  that  I  have  been,  by 
His  blessing,  sufficiently  instructed  in  the 
extreme  vanity  of  all  temporary  enjoyments 
compared  to  the  importance  of  our  eternal 
duration.  And  so,  my  lords,  even  so  with 
all  humility,  and  with  all  tranquillity  of 
mind,  I  submit  clearly  and  freely  to  your 
judgments  ;  and  whether  that  righteous  doom 
be  to  life  or  death,  I  shall  repose  myself,  full 
of  gratitude  and  confidence,  in  the  arms  of 
the  Great  Author  of  my  existence.  Te  deum 
laudamus." 

Strafford's  trial  was  followed  after  the 
lapse  of  nine  years  by  that  of  his  Koyal 
master.  This  arraignment  of  Charles  I.  is 
without  doubt  the  greatest  and  most  moving 
event  in  the  whole  history  of  Westminster 
Hall.  Now,  more  than  two  and  a  half 

centuries  after  it  happened,  it  exercises  over  the  least  impressionable  visitor  a  peculiarly 
solemn  influence  as,  taking  bis  stand  on  the  identical  spot  where  the  monarch  stood 
during  the  four  days  the  proceedings  lasted,  he  reviews  in  his  mind  the  tremendous 
events  which  flowed  from  that  episode.  To  describe  the  trial  here  would  be  a  work  of 
supererogation.  The  picture  of  Bradshaw  in  his  scarlet  robes,  sitting  in  all  the  panoply  of 
judicial  state  surrounded  by  myrmidons  of  the  triumphant  Parliamentary  party,  who  with 
him  acted  as  the  King's  judges,  is  still  a  vivid  memory.  Who  cannot  recall  from  the 
reading  of  his  schooldays  the  pathetic  spectacle  presented  by  the  King  as,  divested  of  honours, 
but  maintaining  undiminished  his  sovereign  dignity,  he  tenaciously  challenged  the  right  of  the 
tribunal  to  sit  in  judgment  over  him?  Who  does  not  remember  the  courageous  protest  of 
the  noble  Lady  Fairfax,  her  denunciation  of  Cromwell,  and  her  sharp  remark  when  her  husband's 
name  was  called  as  a  member  of  the  Court,  "He  has  more  wit  than  to  be  here"?  Who 
has  forgotten  that  touching  act  of  devotion  on  the  part  of  one  of  the  guards,  who,  as 
the  fallen  King  was  being  led  out  of  the  Hall  on  the  last  day  of  the  trial,  January  27th, 
exclaimed  in  tones  of  eager  sympathy,  "God  bless  you,  sire,"  a  remark  which  earned  for  him 
a  stinging  blow  from  his  superior  officer's  cane  ?  Equally  familiar  is  the  dramatic  scene  of 
a  few  years  later — a  direct  consequence  of  the  trial — in  which  Cromwell,  clad  in  a  robe  of 
purple  velvet  lined  with  ermine,  and  holding  the  sceptre  in  one  hand  and  the  Bible  in  the 
other,  was  proclaimed  Ix>rd  Protector  in  the  Hall  amid  the  acclamations  of  a  subservient 

20 


Pram  a  cont€mporar>i  print. 

THE  TRIAL  OP  CHARLES   I.    IN"   WESTMINSTER  HALL. 


154 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Till:    DKATH    WABBAJiT   OF  CHABLES   I. 

Photou'Mi 'hr.l  .-]  •  ci:illv  from  the  original  in  tbe  HOUM  of  Lorda. 

following.  These  are  all  matters  which  go  to  make  up  some  of  the  best-known  pages  of 
English  history.  But,  indeed,  the  story  of  Westminster  Hall  so  teems  with  great  hi.-torio 
memories  that  it  is  difficult  to  separate  its  history  from  that  of  the  country  as  a  whole. 

While  the  recollection  of  Charles  I.'s  downfall  was  still  vivid,  the  seven  bishops — Sancmft. 
Lloyd,  Trehuvnev.  White,  Turner,  Ken,  and  I^ake — were  at  the  end  of  June,  1688,  brought 
from  the  Tower  by  water  to  the  Hall  to  stand  their  trial  for  declining  to  accept  Jain >  -  II.'.- 
Indulgenee.  Vast  crowds  of  people  lined  the  banks  and  poured  their  blessings  upon  the  bisho]>- 
as  they  passed  by.  In  the  train  of  the  prisoners  went  a  distinguished  body  of  noblemen  and 
gentlemen  of  influence.  On  every  side,  even  in  the  judgment  chamber,  their  eyes  ranged  o\er 
sympathetic  faces.  After  their  triumphant  acquittal,  the  popular  demonstrations  were  redoubled 
in  fervour.  People  fought  with  their  escort  for  the  privilege  of  touching  their  hands  or  kissing 
the  hems  of  their  garments.  Bystanders  implored  their  blessing  with  an  earnestness  which 
betokened  their  belief  in  the  piety  as  well  as  the  patriotism  of  the  seven.  So  embarr.i-i-ing 
did  the  attentions  of  the  mob  at  length  become,  that  the  bishops  had  to  be  smuggled  to  their 
homes  by  devious  routes.  Meanwhile  the  news  of  their  acquittal,  spreading  like  wildtire.  \va< 
carried  to  James,  who  was  reviewing  a  body  of  troops  on  Hounslow  Heath,  and  it  struck  terror 
into  his  pusillanimous  heart.  A  few  months  later  he  was  a  fugitive  from  the  kingdom  he 
had  misruled. 

Although  this  episode  closed  the  period  of  acute  turmoil  in  which  the  country  had  Ix-en 
left  from  the  time  of  Charles  I.'s  differences  with  his  Parliament,  Westminster  Hall  was  in 
the  succeeding  eighteenth  century  to  witness  many  striking  trials  arising  out  of  the  political 
discords  of  the  period.  There  was,  for  example,  the  impeachment  of  Dr.  Sache\eivll  on 
February  27th,  1710,  for  having  in  two  of  his  pulpit  discourses  been  too  free  in  his  critici-ms 
of  the  actions  of  the  .Ministry.  At  this  time  of  day  it  is  difficult  to  reali>e  the  extent  to 
which  men's  minds  were  stirred  by  this  judicial  event.  All  the  skill  of  statesmanship,  all  the 
eloquence  of  the  Bar  and  the  Bench,  were  invoked  in  the  course  of  the  trial,  and  during  the 
several  days  it  la>ted  Westminster  Hall  and  its  precincts  were  crowded  with  people  of  all 
classes  eagerly  intent  on  learning  how  the  impeachment  progressed.  Eventually  the  doctor  got 
off  with  the  mild  sentence  of  a  three  years'  suspension — a  punishment  which  only  served 
to  enhance  his  notoriety  and  to  add  to  his  strongly  pronounced  vanity.  As  one  writer  aptly 
puts  it,  "Prayed  for  even  in  the  Royal  Chapel  as  a  person  under  persecution,  escorted  to 


Westminster    Hall :    Memorable    Trials 


155 


Westminster  by  enthusiastic  friends,  riding  in  the  same  chariot  with  the  Vice-Chancellor  of 
Oxford  through  a  chorus  of  huzzas,  the  idol  of  lovely  women,  who  had  his  portrait  painted  on 
their  fans  and  kerchiefs,  the  hero  of  the  multitude,  the  champion  of  the  Church,  feted  by  the 
London  citizens,  presented  with  three  thousand  guineas  by  one  munificent  devotee,  Dr. 
Sacheverell  found  himself  suddenly  famous,  a  martyr  without  the  pangs  of  martyrdom,  a  hero 
without  heroism."  In  the  long  list  of  prisoners  who  were  brought  to  trial  in  the  historic 
edifice  there  was  probably  not  one  whose  fate  excited  greater  popular  interest  or  who  was  les? 
in  need  of  sympathy.  After  his  trial  he  made  a  triumphal  progress  to  his  living  in  Shropshire. 
"  Presents  of  wine,  chaplets  of  flowers,  thanks  by  mayors,  speeches  of  recorders,  the  firing  of 
cannon,  ringing  of  bells,  processions  headed  by  three  thousand  gentlemen  on  horseback,  bonfires 
and  illuminations,  attested  the  gratitude  of  the  country  to  their  clerical  deliverer."  When  his 
period  of  suspension  was  over,  Dr.  Sacheverell,  by  special  request,  preached  before  the  House 
of  Commons  at  St.  Margaret's  Church.  Afterwards  he  had  a  substantial  reward  for  his  "  suffer- 
ings "  in  the  wealthy  incumbency  of  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn. 

Of  a  sterner  type  were  the  next  persons  who  were  arraigned  in  Westminster  Hall,  and 
far  different  was  their  fate.  The  prisoners  were  Viscount  Kenmure,  the  Earl  of  Derwentwater, 
the  Earl  of  Carnwath,  and  the  Lords  Widdrington  and  Nairn,  whose  devotion  to  the  Jacobite 
cause  won  for  them  the  attentions  of  the  Crown.  Kenmure  and  Derwentwater  suffered  for 
their  generous  indiscretion  at  the  block,  while  Nithisdale  escaped  from  the  Tower  through  the 
connis-ance  of  his  wife,  who  dressed  him  in  her  woman's  attire  and  remained  in  the  cell  while 
he  made  his  liberty  sure.  The  "  Trial  of  the  Rebel  Lords,"  as  this  episode  was  called  was 


ly  pcrmiuion  of  the  Aft  Union  of  London  from  thtir  large  plat*  of  the  picture  by  C.  II'.  Cope. 

THE   FUNERAL   OF  CHARLES   I. 
One  of  a  «eriei  of  paintings  designed  for  the  decoration  of  the  new  Houses  of  Parliament. 


156 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


DR.   -V  III. \  l.i:i:l.l., 

VTboM  trial  in  Wotminitcr  Hall  created  a  (Treat  Kiua- 
tion  in  the  airly  put  jf  the  eighteenth  century. 


followed,  after  the  interval  of  a  twelvemonth,  by  tlie 
arraignment,  on  his  own  jictition,  of  Robert  llailey.  Karl 
of  Oxford.  Impii-oned  on  tin-  outbreak  of  the  t'i\il 
\Varon  suspicion  of  being  concerned  in  the  trannctioni 
arising  out  of  the  escape  of  Bolingbroke,  Harley  had 
languished  in  the  Tower  for  nearly  two  years  alino>t 
forgotten.  His  reminder  to  hi-  a.vu-er-  nf  his  existence 
secured  for  him  the  trial  at  Westminster  Hall,  with 
the  characteristic  accompaniment  of  the  headsman  with 
axe  und  hlock.  Notwithstanding  the  jn-esence  of  these 
picturesque  adjuncts  of  a  treason  trial,  an  air  of  unreality 
marked  the  proceedings  from  the  liegiiming.  The 
rea-ons  which  had  dictated  Hurley's  arrest  in  the  first 
instance  had  to  a  large  extent  lost  their  four,  and, 
moreover,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  and  other  high- 
placed  personages  had  abundant  reason  for  preventing  a 
serious  pressing  of  the  charges.  So  it  came  about  that 
when  some  time  had  been  expended  in  the  di-ci. 
of  technical  points  of  procedure,  the  Peers  acquitted 
Harley  and  dismissed  the  impeachment.  The  I'ommon-. 
however,  to  save  their  credit,  voted  an  address  to  the 
throne  to  except  the  earl  from  the  act  of  grace. 

piv--ing  their  regret  at  being  reduced  to  the  necessity  either  of  having  to  give  up  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  highest  importance,  or  seeing  this  offender  escape  with  impunity  for 
the  present.  The  earl  lived  for  some  years  after  his  trial — long  enough  to  clear  his  reputa- 
tion from  the  taint  of  treason.  But  there  are  circumstances  in  his  conduct  of  public  aff.iir.- 
which  are  not  incompatible  with  the  theory  that  he  allowed  his  party  zeal  to  outrun  his  regard 
for  his  country's  honour. 

Dealing  further  with  the  judicial  history  of  Westminster  Hall,  we  may  note  in  brief  detail 
several  trials  which  followed  that  of  Harley.  First,  there  appear  upon  the  stage  the  rebel 
lords  of  1745 — Crornartie,  Kilmarnock,  and  Balmerino.  The  trial  was  conducted  with  much 
solemnity,  and  was  marked  by  some  moving  incidents,  notably  the  pathetic  plea  of  Cromartie 
for  his  life — a  plea  which  was  finally  successful — and  the  action  of  the  gallant  Balmerino  in 
lifting  up  a  child  that  desired  to  see  him  as  he  passed  to  the  place  of  judgment.  (Quickly 
succeeding  this  trial  came  on  March  19th  following  the  arraignment  of  J/ord  I,o\at.  ••tin- 
brutal  chief  of  a  trembling  clan,"  whose  duplicity  and  chicane  had  alienated  hi>  friends  and 
incensed  his  foes.  Arrested  in  Scotland  under  romantic  circumstances  familiar  to  every  student 
of  Scottish  history,  the  old  chieftain  was  brought  by  easy  stages  to  London.  At  St.  Allans 
he  was  met  by  Hogarth,  who  had  some  acquaintance  with  him,  and  the  great  artist  then- 
sketched  that  wonderful  portrait  of  him  which  is  amongst  the  treasures  of  the  National  Portrait 
Gallery.  A  remarkable  success  attended  this  bit  of  artistic  enterprise.  Promptly  engra\ed. 
impressions  of  the  work  found  such  a  ready  sale  that  the  press  was  kept  running  night  and 
dav  to  keep  pace  with  the  public  demands.  Meanwhile,  "the  Fox  of  the  North."  put  upon 
his  trial  in  Westminster  Hall,  was  conducting  himself  with  characteristic  guile.  Bereft  of  the 
aid  of  counsel  under  the  rule  which  denied  such  assistance  to  those  charged  with  treason,  he 
ably  defended  himself,  endeavouring  to  shift  the  burden  of  his  crime  upon  the  shoulder-  of 
his  son.  The  old  peer  was  endowed  with  a  gift  of  mordant  humour,  which  he  e\erei-ed  during 
his  examination  unsparingly.  When  the  first  witness,  who  happened  to  be  one  of  his  servant-. 
was  called,  he  exclaimed,  "How  dare  you,  sirrah,  appear  without  your  master's  orders  r" 
Afterwards,  when  imited  by  the  Lord  High  Steward  to  question  Sir  K.  Falkener,  who  had 
given  evidence  against  him,  he  stated  that  he  had  no  wish  to  examine  the  witness,  hut  he 
added  he  was  his  obedient  servant,  and  wished  him  all  joy  with  his  young  wife.  I»\at's 


157 


158 


< 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


A   QCAINT    PRINT    OK    l.olll)    K1LMAUNOUK   AND   THK  OTHER   REBEL   LORDS   ISSUED  AT   THE  TIME   OF  THEJR   1  I 

IX    WESTMINSTER  HALL. 

guilt  was  too  manifest  for  any  but  one  result.     In  due  form  the  dread  penalty  of  the  traitor's 
crime  was   passed    upon    him.     As   he   was   led   away  Lord   Lovat  fired  a   parting  shot  at   his 
judges.      "  Fan-well,  my  lords,"    he   said,    with    studied    politeness,  "we  shall   never  meet  ; 
in  the    same   place.     I   am   sure    of  that."     When    a    few    days    later   the   old    man    \\;i 
to    execution    on    Tower    Hill,    he    displayed    a    similar    spirit    of    grim     pleasantry.       In    the 
course    of  the    morning    a    portion    of   the   scaffold    fell,    causing   the   death    of   several  people. 
"The    more    mischief,   the    more    sport,"    was  his  sardonic   commentary.     Again,    when    he    hail 
ascended  with    difficulty  to    the    platform    on  which    the    block  was    placed,  and   cast   hi> 
over  the   seething    mass    of   people    all    around,    he    remarked    to   a   bystander,    "  Why   should 
there   be   such    a    bustle    about  taking    off   an    old    grey  head   that  cannot   get  up   three  step* 
without   two    men    to    support    it?"     He    died,  in    fact,    as    he    had    lived— a   hardened    cynii-, 
looking  upon  all  things  human  as  mere  incidents  in  a  great  game  in  which  honour  and  right- 
dealing  were  amiable  weaknesses,  and  a  low  cunning   and  unscrupulousness  were   the   essentials 
to  success. 

A  prisoner  of  a  different  type  from  Lord  Lovat  next  stood  at  the  judgment  bar  in  the  Mall. 
This  was  I^aurence  Shirley,  Karl  of  Ferrers,  who  was  accused  of  the  murder  of  his  steward.  Mr. 
Johnson,  at  Stanton,  in  I^eicestershire.  Lunacy  was  pleaded  in  extenuation  of  the  act  ;  but  his 
trial,  which  was  conducted  under  circumstances  of  great  impressiveness,  failed  to  justify  the 
defence.  He  was  hanged  at  Tyburn  on  May  5th  following  his  trial  in  the  presence  of  a  \a-t 
crowd.  Five  years  afterwards,  on  April  17th,  17(!f>,  William  Lord  Byron  was  put  upon  his 
trial  in  the  Hall  for  the  murder  of  William  Chaworth  in  a  duel  arising  out  of  a  tavern  luawi 
at  the  Star  and  Garter  in  Pall  Mall.  In  that  easy-going  age  it  was  not  difficult  to  lind 
••extenuating  circumstances"  in  such  a  case.  Convicted  of  murder,  Lord  Byron  eventually 
regained  his  freedom  by  claiming  his  privilege  as  a  peer. 

In  striking  contrast  to  these  proceedings  was  a  later  trial  held  within  the  Hall.  It  was 
the  arraignment  of  the  Duchess  of  Kingston,  the  erstwhile  maid  of  honour  to  the  Priin1'-* 
of  Wales,  for  bigamy.  This  lady,  young  and  beautiful,  had  had  a  chequered  career,  which  had 
in  it  little  to  recommend  her  to  favourable  notice.  \et  such  was  the  caprice  of  the  day  that 
her  trial  for  the  serious  ofifence  of  marrying  Evelyn  Pierrepoint  during  the  lifetime  of  her 


159 


i6o 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


SKETCHES  MADE   BY  HOGARTH   AT   THE  TRIAL   OF   LORD   LOVAT. 


husband.  Captain  Honey.  Karl  of 
l'>ri-t<>l.  was  converted  into  some- 
tiling  littli-  short  of  a  trinin]ili 
for  her  vanity.  Crowds  thronged 
the  approaches  to  tin-  Hall  during 
the  progress  of  the  trial,  and 
ladies  in  all  the  brilliancy  of 
Court  dress  graced  the  pceiv- 
benches  within.  15y  a  judicious 
display  by  the  lair  sinner  of 
emotion  at  the  right  moment, 
the  judges  were  induced  to  avoid 
the  enactment  of  the  penalty 
for  the  offence — the  branding  of 
the  prisoner's  right  hand  upon 
the  block.  Mrs.  I'itt.  who  was  a 
spectator  of  the  trial,  writing  to 
Horace  Mann  during  its  progress, 
gave  an  interesting  picture  of  the 
proceedings.  "I  am  persuaded,"  she  wrote,  "that  the  duchess  is  not  in  the  least  degree 
humbled  by  her  position,  but  mightily  pleased  with  herself  for  having  secured  so  brilliant  a 
house.  People  fought  and  struggled  for  their  places,  just  as  they  do  at  the  opera  on  a 
great  night."  The  trial,  in  fact,  was  little  removed  from  a  farce.  Its  chief  result  was  to 
furnish  gossiping  writers  with  a  congenial  topic,  and  add  to  the  records  of  State  trials  an 
instance  of  judicial  frivolity  to  relieve  their  general  gloom. 

Tremendous  as  was  the  excitement  aroused  by  the  proceedings  in  the  Duchess  of 
Kingston's  case,  the  trial  was  quite  surpassed  in  public  interest  by  the  memorable  impeach- 
ment of  Warren  Hastings,  which,  commencing  on  February  13th,  1788,  lasted  for  seven 
years.  The  inimitable  descriptive  pen  of  Macaulay  has  given  us  a  vivid  word-picture  of 
the  wonderful  scene  which  was  presented  on  the  opening  day  of  the  trial :  "  The  grey  old 
walls  were  hung  with  scarlet.  The  long  galleries  were  crowded  by  an  audience  such  as 
has  rarely  excited  the  fears  or  the  emulation  of  an  orator.  There  were  gathered  together 
from  all  parts  of  a  great,  free,  enlightened,  and  prosperous  empire  grace  and  female  loveli- 
ness, wit  and  learning,  the  representatives  of  every  science  and  every  art.  There  wen- 
seated  round  the  Queen  the  fair-haired  young  daughters  of  the  House  of  Brunswick.  There 
the  ambassadors  of  great  Kings  and  commonwealths  gazed  with  admiration  on  a  spectacle 
which  no  other  country  in  the  world  could  present.  There  Siddons,  in  the  prime  of 
her  majestic  beauty,  looked  with  emotion  on  a  scene  surpassing  all  the  imitations  of  the 
stage.  There  the  historian  of 
the  Koman  Empire  thought  of 
the  days  when  Cicero  pleaded 
the  cause  of  Sicily  against  Verres, 
and  when,  before  a  Senate  which 
still  retained  some  show  of 
freedom,  Tacitus  thundered 
against  the  oppressor  of  Africa. 
There  were  seen,  side  by  side, 
the  greatest  painter  and  the 
greatest  scholar  of  the  age.  The 
spectacle  had  allured  Reynolds 
from  that  easel  which  has  pre- 
served to  us  the  thoughtful 


SKETCHES   MADE   BY   HOGAIITH   AT   THE  TRIAL  OP   LORD   LOVAT. 


SIMON    FRASER.    LORD    LOVAT. 

JACOBITE    CHIEFTAIN 

SlyleJ    "The    I  ox    of  the    North  his    wily    .inj    intriguing    JUposilion.    He    WJN   condemned 

Kir^c    ol    ln..i,.m    .in,l    K 
"Illls    (Kirlr.ul     «.is    sli-lJinl    I".  :.|    |,,s    ,rj.il. 


Westminster    Hall :    Memorable    Trials 


161 


foreheads  of  so  many  writers  and  statesmen  and  the  sweet  smiles  of  so  many  noble  matrons. 
It  had  induced  Parr  to  suspend  his  labours  in  that  dark  and  profound  mine  from  which 
he  had  extracted  a  vast  treasure  of  erudition — a  treasure  too  often  buried  in  the  earth, 
too  often  paraded  with  injudicious  ostentation,  but  still  precious,  massive,  and  splendid. 
There  appeared  the  voluptuous  charms  of  her  to  whom  the  heir  of  the  throne  had  in  secret 
plighted  his  faith.  There,  too,  was  she,  the  beautiful  mother  of  a  beautiful  race,  the  St.  Cecilia, 
whose  delicate  features,  lighted  up  by  love  and  music,  art  has  rescued  from  the  common  decay. 
There  were  the  members  of  that  brilliant  society  which  quoted,  criticised,  and  exchanged 
repartees  under  the  rich  peacock  hangings  of  Mrs.  Montagu.  And  there  the  ladies  whose  lips, 
more  persuasive  than  those  of  Fox  himself,  had  carried  the  Westminster  election  against  palace 
and  treasury  shone  round  Georgiana,  Duchess  of  Devonshire." 

"  The  trial,"  another  writer  (Townsend)  says,  "  was  unprecedented  in  its  historic  magnitude ; 
in  the  depth  of  interest  which  it  excited,  in  the  extent  of  time  and  space  and  detail  which  it 
occupied,  in  the  grandeur  of  the  topics  which  it  involved,  and  in  the  greatness,  not  less  moral 


THE  EXECUTION    OF   LAUBENCE  SHIBLEV,    KARL   OF  FERRERS,   AT   TYBURN,    MAY   5TH,    1700,    FOB  THE   MUBDEK   OF 

HIS  STEWARD,   MR.   JOHNSON. 
From  a  drawing  made  on  tbe  spot  at  the  time. 

than  adventitious,  of  the  managers  of  the  impeachment.  In  their  box  were  enclosed  Burke, 
Fox,  Sheridan,  Windham,  and  Grey,  supported,  should  they  require  support,  by  the  professional 
talents  of  Drs.  I^awrence,  Mansfield,  and  Piggott — a  band  unmatched  with  mental  prowess  and 
rich  with  the  spoils  of  the  ransacked  world  of  eloquence.  When  their  stupendous  chief,  who 
rose  far  above  the  common  stature  of  human  intellect,  had  closed  his  most  emphatic  charge — 
'I  impeach  Warren  Hastings  in  the  name  of  our  holy  religion,  which  he  has  disgraced,;..! 
impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  F,nglish  Constitution,  which  he  has  violated  and  broken ; 
1  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  Indian  millions  whom  he  has  sacrificed  to  injustice;  I  impeach 
him  in  the  name  and  by  the  best  rights  of  human  nature,  which  he  has  stabbed  to  the 
heart.  And  I  conjure  this  high  and  sacred  Court  not  to  let  these  pleadings  be  heard 
in  vain  ' — the  very  peers  who  had  to  try  the  charge  said  '  Hear,  hear.'  Some  of  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  peeresses  fainted  away  at  the  recital  of  the  horrors  which  his 
fertile  imagination  had  conjured  up  against  the  agents  of  the  accused  ;  and  had  the  coroneted 
judges  proceeded  immediately  to  their  Painted  Chamber  and  voted  forthwith,  there  is  little 
doubt  they  would  have  pronounced  a  judgment  of  'Guilty'  almost  by  acclamation."  But 

21 


162 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


fortunately  for  the  prisoner,  fortunately  for  the  cause  of  justice,  the  trial  was  so  protracted 
that  the  effect  of  Burke's  perfcrvid  advocacy  was  dissijwted  in  a  morass  of  evidence  and 
formalities.  To  revive  the  drooping  interest,  the  great  orator  resorted  to  humour.  "The  rajah." 
he  said,  "had  IMM-II  arrested  at  the  hour  of  his  devotions.  It  was  alleged  in  extenuation  of  the 
disgrace  that  he  was  not  a  Brahmin.  Suppose  the  I/>rd  < 'hancellor  (Thurlow)  should  be  found 
at  his  devotions — the  keejier  of  the  King's  conscience.  Supjwse  he  should  be  taken  away. 
Would  it  remove  the  indignity  that  he  was  not  a  bishop?  No!  The  Chancellor  would  know 
and  feel  the  disgrace,  lie  would  think  of  the  devotions  he  had  lost,  and  he  would  not  care 
whether  he  were  a  bishop  or  no!''  The  sally  had  its  effect.  -None,"  siys  the  re]>orter,  "was 
grave  but  the  Ix>rd  Chancellor  himself."  But  it  was  a  mere  flash  in  the  pan.  Intere-t.  which 
was  at  first  at  white  heat,  became  more  and  more  attenuated,  until  the  final  scene-,  were 
marked  by  a  display  of  public  weariness  and  indifference,  and  even  aversion.  As  for  the 
criminal — "the  C'aptain-(ieneral  of  Iniquity,"  as  he  had  been  called  by  his  rancorous  accusers 
— the  best  opinion  more  and  more  inclined  to  the  view  that  he  was  a  greatly  ill-u-i-d 
man.  When,  therefore,  on  April  23rd,  1795,  on  the  one  hundred  and  forty-ninth  day  of 
the  trial,  an  acquittal  was  pronounced  by  twenty-three  peers  against  six.  the  result  was 
received  with  unbounded  satisfaction  in  all  but  the  mo>t  partisan  quarters.  The  trial  la-ted 

seven  years;  if  the  reckoning  is  made  from  the  time 
Burke  gave  his  notice  of  the  impeachment  to  the 
day  of  the  acquittal,  the  proceedings  extended  over 
ten  years — a  period  which,  as  Seward  says,  "might 
vie  for  duration  with  the  siege  of  Troy." 

Only  on  one  other  occasion  was  the  cumbrous 
machinery  of  impeachment  put  into  motion  in  the 
great  Hall  of  Rufus.  This  was  in  the  well-known 
case  of  Lord  Melville,  who  on  June  21st,  18()(!.  was 
brought  to  the  Bar,  under  circumstances  to  be  narrated 
in  a  later  chapter,  on  charges  of  malversation  of 
public  funds  in  connection  with  the  administration  of 
the  Navy,  of  which  he  was  the  admini.-trat  i\e  head. 
In  the  result  he  was  acquitted  by  a  large  majority 
of  his  brother  peers,  and  he  lived  long  enough  to  win 
back  the  entire  confidence  of  Wilberforce  and  other 
friends  whose  suspicions  had  in  a  measure  led  to  the 
inquiry. 

In  a  future  chapter  we  shall  have  something  to 
say  of  the  coronation  festivities  of  which  the  Hall 
has  been  the  scene  from  the  earliest  days  of  its 
existence  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
Meanwhile,  we  take  leave  of  this  building  with  a 
vivid  sense  of  the  difficulty,  inseparable  from  the 
scheme  of  the  work,  of  compressing  into  a  short 
space  an  adequate  survey  of  the  moving  events  of 
its  strange,  event  tul  history,  and  of  the  conspicuous 
part  it  has  played  in  the  life  of  the  nation. 


j  UK  in  i  in.  M- 


KIM;>TMX. 

Tiled  for  bigamy  in  We»tniin»lcr  Hull.      The  lower  picture 


give*  a  lc|>rwcotatiuM  of   Hit;  trial. 


103 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  PALACE  BY  FIRE. 

ON  the  night  of  Thursday,  October  16th,  1834,  visitors  travelling  by  coach  to  London  were 
confronted  with  a  magnificent  spectacle.  The  whole  of  the  metro|»>lis  was  illuminated  by  a 
vast  conflagration.  Flames  leapt  high  in  air,  and  a  dense  column  of  black  smoke  rolled  sullen  Iv 
away  northwards.  Eager  questions  to  ostlers  at  stopping- places  as  the  distant  suburbs  were 
reached  soon  elicited  an  explanation  of  -.the  phenomena.  The  Houses  of  Parliament  were  on 
fire !  Throughout  that  night  practically  all  London  congregated  about  Westminster  to  watch 
the  remorseless  march  of  the  fire  as  it  swept  from  building  to  building  with  incredible  rapidity. 
Three  regiments  of  Guards  hardly  sufficed  to  keep  back  the  excited  crowd  which  surged  about 

Old  Palace  Yard.  On  the 
river  an  immense  number  of 
small  craft,  filled  with  spec- 
tators, contributed  to  the 
animation  of  the  scene.  For 
hours  the  fire  continued  with- 
out any  stay  to  its  progress. 
In  turn  the  House  of  Lords, 
the  Painted  Chamber,  the 
Koyal  Gallery,  the  library 
of  the  House  of  Commons, 
and  the  residences  of  the  chief 
officials  were  consumed.  It 
seemed  at  one  time  that  the 
whole  of  the  group  of  buildings 
would  be  utterly  destroyed, 
but  the  massive  masonry  of 
\Vcstminster  Hall  fortunately 
proved  a  barrier  too  stout  for 
the  flames  to  overcome.  As 
morning  began  to  dawn,  with 
a  feeling  of  intense  relief  the 
great  concourse,  which  in- 
cluded in  its  ranks  peers  and 
Ministers,  meml>ers  of  Parlia- 
ment and  high  officials,  saw 
that  the  worst  was  over,  and 
that  the  matchless  building 
was  not  to  be  involved  in  the 
general  ruin.  But  the  Palace 
itself  was  a  thing  of  the 

THE  1IUKNINU   OK   THK   HOUSES  OF   PARLIAMENT,   OCTOBEU   ItiTH,    1834,   AS  past.        Only    a    slia]n'lcs>     maSS 

SEEN  FBOM  THE  BivEB.  of  gaunt  and  blackened  walls 

A  production  of  th.famou.pirtur.b7j.  M.  w.  Tnmer,  R.A.  remained     to     indicate    the 

164 


•if 


The    Destruction    of    the    Palace    by    Fire 


165 


features  of  the  ancient  home  of  the  Norman 
and  Plantagenet  Kings. 

The  story  of  the  origin  of  the  fire  is 
not  so  familiar  that  it  may  not  be  retold 
with  interest.  At  the  time  the  event  oc- 
curred there  were  strong  suspicions  that  it 
was  the  result  of  political  incendiarism. 
Colour  was  lent  to  this  theory  by  an  extra- 
ordinary statement  made  by  a  Mr.  Cooper,  a 
member  of  a  firm  of  ironfounders  carrying 
on  business  in  Drury  Lane.  This  individual 
averred  that  at  eight  o'clock  on  Thursday, 
October  16th,  1834,  he  went  into  the  commer- 
cial room  of  the  Bush  Inn  at  Dudley,  and 
whilst  he  was  drinking  some  tea  one  of  the 
travellers  there  went  out,  and  returning  in 
about  two  minutes,  observed :  "  I  have  just 
heard  that  the  House  of  Lords  is  burnt  down, 
occasioned  by  some  carpenters  being  careless 
with  the  shavings."  Upon  this  one  of  the 
other  travellers  asked  :  "  Is  it  in  the  paper  ?  " 
The  reply  was :  '•  No,  it  cannot  have  got  into 
the  paper."  "  How  did  you  hear  it  ?  "  was 
the  nert  question.  To  this  response  was 
made  by  the  traveller  who  brought  the  in- 
telligence that  his  informant  was  a  person 
on  the  coach.  This  was  the  story,  and  a 
remarkable  story  it  was,  for  it  implied  that 
in  days  when  the  electric  telegraph  was 
unknown  as  a  means  of  communication,  and 
the  quickest  method  of  conveying  intelli- 
gence was  by  stage  coach,  the  news  of  the 
fire  at  Westminster,  which  did  not  break  out  until  seven  o'clock,  was  known  at  Dudley, 
119  miles  ofl',  three  hours  later.  If  Mr.  Cooper's  statements  were  true,  there  was  clearly 
only  one  explanation  of  the  conflagration — that  it  was  the  outcome  of  a  plot.  But  a 
subsequent  searching  investigation  proved  conclusively  that  they  could  not  be  true.  Not 
only  was  there  evidence  of  a  negative  character  to  controvert  the  statement  that  an 
announcement  of  the  outbreak  was  made  in  the  commercial  room  of  the  Bush  Inn  at 
Dudley  on  the  night  of  the  fire,  but  Mr.  Cooper  contradicted  himself  to  such  an  extent  under 
examination  before  the  Committee  of  Lords  of  the  Council  which  investigated  the  causes  of  the 
fire,  as  to  completely  discount  the  value  of  anything  he  said.  Whether  he  was  suffering  under 
some  extraordinary  hallucination,  or  whether  he  had  simply  trumped  up  a  fictitious  and 
sensational  narrative  of  the  origin  of  the  fire  for  purposes  of  notoriety,  it  is  impossible  to  say ; 
but  the  Lords  of  the  Council  had  no  hesitation  in  disbelieving  his  story,  and  their  attitude 
was  the  only  possible  one  in  the  circumstances.  Other  evidence  given  at  the  inquiry  showed 
convincingly  that  the  fire  was  due  to  accidental  and  easily  explainable  causes. 

The  factor  in  producing  the  conflagration  was  a  very  simple  one.  It  was  nothing  more 
than  an  overheated  flue,  brought  about  by  careless  burning,  in  a  furnace  under  the  Peers' 
chamber,  of  an  accumulation  of  "  tallies  "  and  "  foils,"  left  by  the  old  Court  of  Exchequer  when 
it  was  abolished  in  1826.  The  tally  and  the  foil,  it  should  be  explained,  were  pieces  of  stick 
of  unequal  lengths  used  for  the  purpose  of  recording  the  sums  paid  into  the  Exchequer.  As 
they  had  been  in  store  for  some  time,  they  were  dry  and  highly  inflammable.  Usually  they 


ST.  STEPHEN'S  CHAPEL,  LOOKING  EAST,  AFTEK  THE  FIRE, 

Showing  the  ancient  walls  of  the  Chapel. 


166 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE   HOUSE  OF   LORDS  A>'D   THE  HOUSE  OK  COMMONS,   AS  THEY   WKKE    HKFUltl:   Till:   K: 

OCTOBER   16TH,    1834. 

had  been  disposed  of  either  by  making  an  auto  da  ft  in  Palace  Yard  or  Tot  hill  Fields,  or  by 
the  simpler  expedient  of  using  them  for  firewood  as  occasion  offered  in  the  Government  offices. 
But  in  an  evil  moment,  in  order  to  completely  clear  the  old  tally  room  for  use  for  other 
purposes,  an  order  was  given  for  a  wholesale  burning,  without  any  specific  instructions  as  to  the 
place  where  the  o}>eration  was  to  be  performed.  Mr.  Weobley,  the  clerk  of  the  works,  unhappily 
conceived  the  idea  of  utilising  the  stoves  in  the  House  of  Lords  for  the  purpose.  With  careful 
firing,  i>erhaps  there  would  have  been  no  great  danger,  but  the  work  was  practically  left  to  two 
workmen,  who,  animated  by  a  not  unnatural  desire  to  get  through  their  task  quickly,  piled  the 
wood  upon  the  fire  with  a  rapidity  which  soon  produced  ominous  results.  Some  visitors  looking 
over  the  House  about  four  o'clock  noticed  that  the  floor  beneath  Black  Rod's  box  was  quite 
warm  to  the  feet,  and  remarked  on  the  danger  that  there  seemed  to  be  from  fire.  Mrs.  Wright, 
the  housekeeper,  however,  made  some  reassuring  remarks  as  to  the  safety  conferred  on  the 
building  by  the  fact  of  the  floor  being  of  stone.  The  visitors  were  not  convinced.  One  of 
them  spoke  of  the  suffocating  heat,  and  another  commented  regretfully  on  the  circumstance 
that  there  was  so  much  smoke  that  he  could  not  see  the  tajiestries  on  the  walls,  and  found  it 
imjK>ssible  to  discern  the  throne  from  the  Bar.  The  official  optimism,  however,  was  proof 
against  all  evidence  of  danger.  Beyond  conveying  several  warn  ings  to  the  men  tending  the  fire, 
neither  Mrs.  Wright  nor  any  other  responsible  official  did  anything  until  a  little  after  six 
o'clock.  Then  there  was  the  clearest  proof  that  the  House  was  indeed  on  fire.  One  of  the 
female  servants  who  went  out  on  an  errand  about  that  time  returned  screaming,  "Oh,  good 
God,  the  House  of  Lords  is  on  fire!"  Thinking  that  it  might  be  only  the  matting  that  was 
alight,  Mrs.  Wright  took  the  keys  and  opened  the  door  of  the  chamber,  but  she  was  soon 
Convinced  that  a  much  greater  disaster  than  that  was  in  progress.  Flames  were  leaping  up 
from  Black  Rod's  Iwx,  and  the  interior  was  filled  with  dust  and  smoke.  The  alarm  was 
hurriedly  given,  and  the  fire  engines — puny  affairs,  mere  squirts  compared  with  the  powerful 


The    Destruction    of    the    Palace    by    Fire 


167 


•  I  ff 


appliances  of  to-day — were  sent  for.  But  the  flames  had  got  too  great  a  mastery  to  be  denied. 
So  rapid  was  the  spread  of  the  conflagration  that  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  the 
most  valuable  of  the  records  were  removed  from  the  offices  in  the  Peers'  buildings  to 
St.  Margaret's  Church  across  the  way  for  safe  custody.  In  this  connection  Sir  John  E. 
Dorington,  Bart.,  the  present  member  for  the  Tewkesbury  division  of  Gloucestershire,  whose 
father  was  Chief  Engrossing  Clerk  and  Clerk  of  the  Fees  of  the  House  of  Commons,  tells  an 
interesting  story.  He  states  that  on  the  night  of  the  fire  his  father  was  dining  at  the 
Athenaeum  Club,  and  hearing  the  cry  of  "  Fire ! "  went  out.  Discovering,  on  inquiry,  that  the 
outbreak  was  at  the  House  of  Lords,  he  rushed  off  to  his  office  to  save  his  papers.  He 
managed  to  get  in  without  any  great  difficulty,  but  he  had  barely  time  to  open  the  drawers 
where  the  documents  were  left  when  an  attendant  burst  into  the  room  and  said  he  was  in 
danger  of  being  caught.  A  look  around  convinced  Mr.  Dorington  of  the  accuracy  of  that 
statement.  All  the  passciges  were  filled  with  smoke,  and  the  threatening  roar  of  the  flames 
came  every  moment  nearer  and  nearer.  Deeming  discretion  the  better  part  of  valour,  the 
zealous  official  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  leaving  not  only  his  papers,  but  his  keys  behind  him.  As 
it  was,  he  only  just  managed  to  escape  with  his  life. 

Another  interesting  reminiscence  is  supplied  by  Dean  Stanley  in  his  well-known  work  on 
Westminster  Abbey.  Writing  of  the  associations  of  the  Chapter  House,  and  of  its  uses  as 
a  Record  Chamber,  he  says :  "On  the  night  of  the  fire  which  consumed  the  Houses  of  Parliament 
in  1834,  when  thousands  were  gathered  below  watching  the  flames,  when  the  waning  affection 
for  our  ancient  national  monuments  seemed  to  be  revived  in  that  crisis  of  their  fate — where,  as 
the  conflagration  was  driven  by  the  wind  towards  Westminster  Hall,  the  innumerable  faces  of 
that  vast  multitude,  lighted  up  in  the  broad  glare  with  more  than  the  light  of  day,  were  visibly 
swayed  by  the  agitations  of  the  devouring  breeze,  and  one  voice,  one  prayer  seemed  to  go  up 
from  every  upturned  countenance,  '  Oh !  save  the  Hall ' :  on  that  night  two  small  figures  might 
have  been  seen  standing  on  the  roof  of  the  Chapter  House  overlooking  the  terrific  blaze,  parted 
from  them  only  by  the  narrow  space  of  Old  Palace  Yard.  One  was  the  Keeper  of  the  Eecords, 


i68 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Sir  F.  Palgrave,  the  other  was  Dean  Ireland.  They  had  climbed  up  through  the  hole  in  the 
roof  to  witness  the  awful  some.  Suddenly  a  gust  of  wind  swept  the  flames  in  that  direction. 
Palgrave,  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  the  antiquarian  and  of  his  own  eager  temiienuiient,  turned 
to  the  Dean  and  suggested  that  they  should  descend  to  the  Chapter  House  and  carry  off  its 
most  valuable  treasures  into  the  Abbey  for  safety.  Dean  Ireland,  with  the  caution  belonging 
at  once  to  his  office  and  his  diameter,  answered  that  he  could  not  think  of  doing  so  without 
applying  to  Lord  Melbourne,  the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury."  As  it  proved,  then-  was  no  real  need 
to  take  the  step  proposed  by  the  Keeper  of  the  Kecords.  The  Chapter  House  was  happily  left 
unscathed,  with  all  its  priceless  muniments.  But  great  destruction  was  nevertheless  wrought 
with  valuable  records  preserved  in  the  Parliamentary  buildings. 

As  has  already  been   stated,  the  fire  left  of  the  old  Palace  of  Westminster  little   beyond 
Westminster  Hall  and  a  few  gutted  buildings.     It  was  at  first  hoped  that  it  might  be  possible 


TUB  CLOISTEE  COUKT,   ST.   STEPHEN'S   (  ll.U'KI,,   AFTEE  TUB   FIRE. 
'this  part  of  the  ruins  was  preserved  anil  restored. 

to  restore  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  and  some  other  portions  of  the  original  structure,  but  careful 
expert  examination  showed  the  impossibility  of  this,  excepting  at  an  enormous  cost,  which  would 
not  be  justifiable  in  the  circumstances.  Generally  it  was  felt  that  though  sentiment  might  have 
been  permitted  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  demolition  of  the  block  of  buildings  embraced  in  the 
ancient  limits  of  the  Palace,  it  was  absurd  to  allow  it  to  be  the  means  of  creating  a  patchwork 
arrangement  only,  as  the  restored  building  must  inevitably  be.  The  time  for  makeshifts  had 
passed.  Not  only  the  dignity  of  Parliament,  but  its  convenience,  demanded  that  the  two 
assemblies  should  be  accommodated  in  a  home  more  imjwsing  in  size  and  architectural  pre- 
tensions than  the  one  which  had  hitherto  done  duty  as  such.  This  view,  popularly  held,  was, 
after  close  investigation  and  long  consideration,  sup|>orted  by  a  decision  of  a  Select  Committee 
which  was  apjjointed  to  consider  the  matter.  This  body  presented  a  report  in  June,  1835, 
embodying  its  views  in  a  series  of  resolutions.  These  recommended  the  holding  of  a  competition 
for  the  rebuilding  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  that  the  design  of  the  new  structure  should  be 


The    Destruction    of    the    Palace    by    Fire 


169 


DEAN   IRELAND, 

Who  witnessed  the  destruction  of  the  Houses  of 
Parliament  by  fire  from  the  roof  of  the  Chapter 
House. 


either  Gothic  or  Elizabethan ;  and  that  the  King  should  be 
requested  to  appoint  five  Commissioners,  who  should  examine 
the  plans  offered  by  competition,  and  select  from  their 
number  "  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  five,  as  shall 
seem  to  them  most  worthy  of  attention."  Four  premiums  of 
£500  each  were  promised,  and  it  was  understood  that  the 
architect  receiving  the  first  premium  should  be  employed  to 
undertake  the  work  unless  some  grave  cause  to  the  contrary 
were  discovered,  in  which  case  he  was  to  receive  a  premium 
of  £1,000. 

The  conclusions  of  the  Committee  were  accepted  by  the 
Government,  and  a  competition  instituted,  with  the  result  that 
ninety-seven  architects  entered  the  lists.  On  November  1st, 
1835,  the  designs  were  sent  in ;  on  February  29th,  1836, 
the  award  was  published.  The  successful  competitor  was 
Mr.  Charles  Barry,  an  architect  who  had  already  attained 
some  eminence  in  his  profession  as  the  designer  of  the 
Travellers'  Club,  the  Reform  Club,  and  Bridgewater  House, 
and  the  remodeller  of  Highclere  House.  The  report  of  the 
Commissioners,  in  which  the  decision  was  set  forth,  stated  that 
they  had  confined  themselves  "to  the  consideration  of  the 

beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  general  design,  to  its  practicability,  to  the  skill  shown  in  the  various 
arrangements  of  the  building,  and  the  accommodation  afforded "  ;  and  that  on  these  grounds 
they  assigned  the  palm  to  Mr.  Barry.  But  while  accepting  his  designs,  and  expressing  confidence 
in  the  author's  skill  in  Gothic  architecture,  they  strongly  recommended  that  "  as  the  beauty 
of  this  depends  ujwn  the  attention  to  detail,  for  which  the  architect  has  no  rule  to  guide  him," 
his  drawings  should  be  submitted  from  time  to  time  "  to  competent  judges  of  their  effect,  lest 
from  over-confidence,  negligence,  or  inattention  in  the  execution  of  the  work,  we  fail  to  obtain 
that  result  to  which  our  just  expectations  have  been  raised." 

This  proposal  to  apjwint  a  controlling  Commission  was  accepted  by  Mr.  Barry  without  demur, 

much  to  the  disgust  of  some  of  his  professional  col- 
leagues,   who    held    that    he    should    have     declined 
to  submit    to    so    unusual    a  demand.     Later  on  Mr. 
Barry   himself    probably   would    have    cordially    sub- 
scribed to  this  view.     But  in  the  flush  of  victory   he 
doubtless  was  not  disposed  to  scrutinise   too  carefully 
the   conditions   under   which    it   had   been   won.      He 
u-a«  more  concerned  with  the  criticisms  of  his   plans, 
ich  closely  touched  not  only  his  capacity,  but  even 
fairness  of  the  award.      His   design   was   objected 
is  over-ornamented  and  meretricious,  and  comment 
i  made  on  the  dangerously  artistic  character  of  the 
wings  as  tending  to  mislead  the  judges,  who  were 
itemptuously  denounced  as  "  mere  amateurs."     These 
.ndiced  attacks  were  followed  by  overt  action  on  the 
t  of  disappointed  competitors.     At   a  meeting  held 
er    the    exhibition    of  the   competitive   designs   in 
'stminster  Hall,   it  was  decided  to  petition   Parlia- 
ment to  set  aside  the  award  on  the  ground    that   in 
the  accepted  design  considerations  of  expense  and  the 
conditions  of  the  competition  were   disregarded.     Mr. 
Hume  undertook  to  present  the  petition,  and  he  did 

22 


'I'll;!-  l'.>ll|irri-is<  Iv 

;>i'  of  £R  Stephens  '  '.\>.<\»-\ 


Hi'. 


l  I'-.s  '  '>in|il<-l'''l 


I- II"  I  I  <|V 


s<  I  .>|i:>|t<llirmi|U"'  !''  "I1' 


DTE. — The  description  of  the  picture  on  page 
197  should  read  "The  Coronation  of 
Queen  Victoria  in  Westminster  Abbey." 


TABLET   IX   ST.    STEPHEN'S   HALL, 

Placed  to  indicate  to  the  viiitor  the  exact  position  of  the  old 
St.  Stephen'!  Chapel. 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


i68 


Sir  F.  Pal  grave,  the  other  wn*  l)c:m  Ireland.  They  had  climbed  up  through  the  hole  in  the 
roof  to  witness  the  awful  scene.  Suddenly  a  gust  of  wind  swept  the  Humes  in  that  direction. 
Palgrave,  with  all  the  eiitlm-in-ni  of  the  antiquarian  and  of  his  own  eager  teni|>erameiit,  turned 
to  the  Dean  and  suggested  that  they  should  descend  to  the  Chapter  House  and  carry  off  its 
most  valuable  treasures  into  the  Ablx-y  for  safety.  Dean  Ireland,  with  the  caution  belonging 
at  once  to  his  office  and  his  character,  answered  that  he  could  not  think  of  doing  so  without 
applying  to  Lord  Melbourne,  the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury."  As  it  proved,  there  was  no  real  need 
to  take  the  step  proposed  by  the  Keei>er  of  the. Records.  The  Chapter  House  was  happily  left 
unscathed,  with  all  its  priceless  muniments.  But  great  destruction  was  nevertheless  wrought 
with  valuable  records  preserved  in  the  Parliamentary  buildings. 

As  has  already  been   stated,  the  fire  left  of  the  old  Palace  of  Westminster  little   beyond 
Westminster  Hall  and  a  few  gutted  buildings.     It  was  at  first  hoped   that  it  might  be  possible 


TUB  CLOISTEB  COURT,   ST.  STEPHEN'S  CHAPEL,  AFTER  THE   FIEE. 
'this  jiart  of  the  ruins  wof 

to  restore  St.    Stephen's  Chapel  and  some  other 

expert  examination  showed  the  imjiossibility  of  tl 

not  l>e  justifiable  in  the  circumstances.     Generally 

been  permitted  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  demol 

ancient  limits  of  the  Palace,  it  was  absurd  to  allc 

arrangement  only,  as  the  restored   building  must 

passed.      Not  only   the  dignity  of  Parliament, 

assemblies  should   be  accommodated  in   a   home 

tensions  than  the  one  which   had  hitherto  done 

after  close  investigation  and  long  consideration,  supj>orted  by  a  decision  of  a  Select  Committee 

which  was  appointed  to  consider  the  matter.      This   body    pre... -nted   a  report  in  June,    1835, 

embodying  its  views  in  a  series  of  resolutions.     These  recommended  the  holding  of  a  competition 

for  the  rebuilding  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  that  the  design  of  the  new  structure  should  be 


The    Destruction    of    the    Palace    by    Fire 


169 


DEAN   IRELAND, 


either   Gothic   or  Elizabethan ;   and   that   the   King  should  be 

requested   to  appoint  five   Commissioners,  who  should  examine 

the    plans    offered     by    competition,    and     select    from    their 

number   "  not   less   than   three   nor    more    than    five,    as    shall 

seem  to  them  most   worthy  of  attention."     Four  premiums  of 

£500    each   were    promised,   and   it   was   understood    that    the 

architect  receiving   the   first   premium    should  be  employed  to 

undertake  the    work  unless   some   grave  cause   to  the  contrary 

were  discovered,  in  which    case   he  was   to  receive   a  premium 

of  £1,000. 

The  conclusions  of  the   Committee  were  accepted    by   the 

Government,  and  a  competition  instituted,  with  the  result  that 

ninety-seven    architects   entered   the  lists.      On    November  1st, 

1835,   the    designs   were   sent    in;    on    February    29th,     1836, 

the    award    was    published.       The    successful    competitor    was 

Mr.    Charles    Barry,    an    architect   who    had    already   attained 

some    eminence    in    his    profession     as    the    designer    of    the 

Travellers'    Club,  the    Reform    Club,    and   Bridgevvater    House, 

and   the   remodeller  of  Highclere   House.      The  report   of  the    J^J^ 

Commissioners,  in  which  the  decision  was  set  forth,  stated  that    House. 

they   had    confined   themselves    "to   the   consideration    of    the 

beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  general  design,  to  its  practicability,  to  the  skill  shown  in  the  various 

arrangements  of  the  building,  and  the   accommodation   afforded "  ;    and   that   on   these   grounds 

they  assigned  the  palm  to  Mr.  Barry.     But  while  accepting  his  designs,  and  expressing  confidence 

in  the  author's   skill  in   Gothic  architecture,    they  strongly  recommended  that    "  as  the   beauty 

of  this  depends  upon  the  attention  to  detail,  for  which  the  architect  has  no  rule  to  guide  him," 

his  drawings  should  be  submitted  from  time  to  time  "to  competent  judges  of  their  effect,  lest 

from  over-confidence,  negligence,  or  inattention  in  the  execution  of   the  work,  we  fail  to  obtain 

that  result  to  which  our  just  expectations  have  been  raised." 

This  proposal  to  appoint  a  controlling  Commission  was  accepted  by  Mr.  Barry  without  demur, 

much  to  the  disgust  of  some  of  his  professional  col- 

*'*        '"•"'  jv      leagues,     who    held    that    he    should    have     declined 

K'lli.i.  •  i-.  K  .  on,  ,|H,(.|  to  submit    to    so    unusual    a  demand.     Later  on  Mr. 

Barry  himself  probably  would  have  cordially  sub- 
scribed to  this  view.  But  in  the  flush  of  victory  he 
doubtless  was  not  disposed  to  scrutinise  too  carefully 
the  conditions  under  which  it  had  been  won.  He 
was  more  concerned  with  the  criticisms  of  his  plans, 
which  closely  touched  not  only  his  capacity,  but  even 
the  fairness  of  the  award.  His  design  was  objected 
to  as  over-ornamented  and  meretricious,  and  comment 
was  made  on  the  dangerously  artistic  character  of  the 
drawings  as  tending  to  mislead  the  judges,  who  were 
contemptuously  denounced  as  "  mere  amateurs."  These 
jaundiced  attacks  were  followed  by  overt  action  on  the 
part  of  disappointed  competitors.  At  a  meeting  held 
after  the  exhibition  of  the  competitive  designs  in 
Westminster  Hall,  it  was  decided  to  petition  Parlia- 
ment to  set  aside  the  award  on  the  ground  that  in 
the  accepted  design  considerations  of  expense  and  the 
conditions  of  the  competition  were  disregarded.  Mr. 
Hume  undertook  to  present  the  petition,  and  he  did 

22 


"Ui'.'l  |p|;'i">|'S'..Sii  i> 

i    I'  ll'.i)   '     l|u,'l  l\  ]-.:    '  • 

vjsc 


W.-is  si  1  ;i|>;»N  illllilM!  lhi'iv|i|i> 

K"ii-'   •!  <  "imnH'iwJiiwlttybsKtov  on  which 

jll >il>.  I) if'SC  Willis U71S  ll«'25* 


I"  i  :iiii>st«Tol'which 


l  luill  .- 


1  <  JA  pi  nidi  its 
>n  s<  rv<-<| 


•••  >  ''liutlu'lli 

!.'it>|i-t  show  I)*'  (. 

nr  and  the  four  marks  Q 
ftotise  of  GJomoooa 


TABLET   IN   ST.    STEPHEN'S   HALL, 

Placed  to  indicate  to  the  visitor  the  eiact  position  of  the  old 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel. 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


so  on  Juno  22n«l.  1836,  following  up  his  action  by  a  formal  attack  a  month  later.  Bnt  the 
Government  would  not  hear  of  any  change  in  the  arrangements.  Sir  Kol>crt  IVel  Diluted  nut 
that  to  a«l«|it  the  prayer  of  the  petition  would  Vie  to  destroy  tin-  whole  ]irinci|ilc  of  competition 
and  endanger  the  public  faith.  He  added  an  expression  of  coni]iassion  for  Mr.  Ham.  a-  a  man 
"hunted  and  pursued"  liecause  he  was  successful.  In  this  strong  attitude  the  Ministry  was 
sustained  bv  the  issuing  of  a  protest  bv  twelve  competitor!  against  "the  indecorous  and  unpro- 
fessional attempts"  to  upset  the  Commission's  decision,  mi  the  ground  that  such  proceeding* 
tended  to  disunion  in  the  architectural  profession.  This  timely  expression  of  opinion  had  its 
effect.  Attacks  became  less  and  less  frequent,  until  they  died  away  in  a  few  anonymous 
mutterings  to  which  not  the  least  attention  was  given. 

At  last  the  way  was  cleared  for  the  commencement  of  the  work.  With  high  iiope> 
Mr.  Harry  entered  upon  his  task.  Popular  interest  in  and  approval  of  his  design  compensited 
him  for  professional  injustice,  while  there  was  much  in  the  magnitude  of  the  building  he 
was  employed  upon  to  inspire  him  with  a  feeling  of  elation.  He  did  not  then  see  tin- 
difficulties  and  harassing  disputes  which  were  to  cast  a  dark  shadow  over  his  life.  Had  he 
done  so,  possibly  he  might  have  paused  before  he  accepted  the  res|xmsibility,  honourable  and 
full  of  distinction  though  it  was. 

A  grant  of  money  made  by  the  House  of  Commons,  on  July  3rd,  1837,  was  the  tir>t 
step  taken  towards  the  erection  of  the  new  building.  It  was  followed  almost  immediately 
by  the  commencement  of  operations.  The  initial  move  was  the  construction  of  the  river 
wall.  This  was  a  work  of  great  costliness,  and  no  slight  engineering  difficulty.  UA  cutler 
dam  was  constructed,  and  the  foundations  of  the  wall  laid  uj>on  concrete,  which  in  s<.:ne 
places  is  as  much  as  twelve  feet  in  thickness.  At  the  very  outset  of  the  work  unforeseen 

difficulties  were  encountered,  and  unforeseen 
expenses  incurred.  The  soil  of  the  bed  of 
the  river  was  found  to  be  very  treacherous,  in 
many  places  little  better  than  a  quicksand,  and 
unfortunately  the  same  character  attached  to 
the  ground  under  a  large  portion  of  the 
building.  Great  care,  however,  was  taken 
with  the  foundations,  and  they  were  made 
thoroughly  satisfactory.  Still,  as  an  additional 
precaution,  Mr.  Barry  resolved  not  to  draw 
the  piles  of  the  coffer  dam.  as  had  been  at 
first  intended,  but  to  cut  them  off  level  with 
the  dredged  bed  of  the  river,  in  order  that 
the  lower  part  of  the  dam  might  remain  a* 
a  kind  of  fender  or  outwork  to  the  wall, 
protecting  it  against,  the  scour  of  the  river, 
which  has  in  other  places  proved  so  dangerous 
to  the  stability  of  buildings."1 

This  important  preliminary  ojM'ration. 
completed  in  1830,  was  quickly  followed  by 
the  prosecution  of  the  work  U]K>II  the  struc- 
ture. On  April  27th.  1840,  with  little  or  no 
ceremony,  and  only  passing  public  notice,  the 
first  stone  of  the  vast  pile  was  laid  hv  the 

frm  a  portrait  in  (Ac  Xaliomt  Porlra.t  (Jalltry. wi(('     °f    '  Ml'    architect.        For    HlOre    than     twel\e 

SIB  CHARLES  BAEBY,  .Vt'llrs  tlie   ""ilding  operations  continued.  year* 

The  gn*t  .rehitect,  who  dwigiml  the  HOIUM  of  ParlUmcnt  »nd  raperin-          tO    *'le    Architect     of    strife    and    bitterness    and 
tended  their  erection.  keen     disappoint  Iliellt .        It     IS    not     Within    the 

1  "The  Life  and  Works  of  Sir  C.  Barn-." 


The    Destruction    of    the    Palace    by    Fire 


171 


- 


^1  _-_     & 

'i-oin  a  frtfit  pMuhtd  May  21rt,  1830. 

THE   NEW   HOUSES  OP  PARLIAMENT 
The  design  by  Sir  Charles  Barry  which  was  accepted,  bnt  carried  out  in  a  greatly  modified  form. 

province  of  this  work  to  go  minutely  into  the  half-forgotten  controversies  which  raged  around 
the  building  of  the  new  Houses  of  Parliament.  They  created  much  excitement  at  the  time, 
but  to-day  they  have  little  other  than  a  purely  historical  interest.  It  may  be  said,  however, 
that  Sir  Charles  Barry  almost  from  the  outset  found  himself  in  a  position  of  discomfort.  First, 
the  Government  appointed  Dr.  Reid  to  superintend  the  ventilating  and  warming  of  the  building, 
and  so  introduced  an  element  of  discord  which  left  its  mark  upon  the  progress  of  the  building. 
Then  in  1844  there  was  serious  trouble  because,  to  meet  official  demands  for  fresh  accommoda- 
tion, the  architect  had  without  authority  varied  his  plans  in  several  minor  particulars.  Following 
this,  and  as  a  consequence  of  the  action  taken  in  regard  to  it,  a  Commission  was  on  March  17th, 
1848,  appointed  "to  superintend  the  completion  of  the  new  Palace,"  and  the  way  was  paved 
for  an  almost  unending  succession  of  disputes  upon  points  connected  with  the  internal  arrange- 
ments. Again,  there  was  a  tremendous  controversy,  with  numerous  ramifications,  over  the 
designing  of  the  great  clock.  Lastly,  an  undignified  squabble  which  went  on  for  years,  out- 
lasting, in  fact,  the  life  of  the  architect,  took  place  as  to  the  remuneration  which  should  be 
paid  to  Mr.  Barry,  the  authorities  insisting  on  the  payment  of  a  lump  sum,  while  the  architect 
stood  out  for  the  observance  of  the  professional  custom  of  a  percentage  on  the  outlay.  These 
various  wrangles  naturally  materially  tended  to  protract  the  work  of  construction.  It  was  as 
late  as  February,  1847,  that  the  first  completed  portion  of  the  new  buildings,  the  House  of 
Lords,  was  occupied,  and  some  considerable  further  time  elapsed  before  the  House  of  Commons 
entered  into  possession  of  its  new  home.  Not  until  1852,  when  the  Royal  Approach  was 
completed  and  Queen  Victoria  made  for  the  first  time  her  public  entrance  to  the  new  buildings, 
may  the  great  work  be  said  to  have  been  consummated.  Even  then  the  tow-ers  and  other 
architectural  features  remained  to  be  constructed.  These  engaged  attention  until  the  year 
1860.  Thus,  it  was  twenty  years  after  the  first  stone  was  laid,  and  when  the  architect 
had  been  borne  to  his  last  resting-place  in  Westminster  Abbey,  a  saddened  and  broken-hearted 
man,  that  the  final  touches  were  put  upon  the  splendid  design. 

The   cost   of  the   building  was   enormous,    far   in    excess   of  the    most   liberal   calculations. 


172 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


In  the  original  estimate  the  amount  required  was  put  down  at  £707,104.  It  was  hopelessly 
short  of  the  mark.  A  Parliamentary  jiaper  issued  in  1850  showed  that  the  amount  expended 
or  to  be  expended  up  to  that  time  reached  the  enormous  total  of  £1,997,246  15«.  lid.  Kven 
this  sum  does  not  adequately  represent  all  that  the  building  actually  cost.  At  least  another 
half- million  would  have  to  be  added  to  obtain  the  proper  total.  This  great  excess  on  the 
original  estimate  was  made  a  subject  of  severe  censure  of  the  architect  during  his  lift-time. 


Front  Dr.  Barry'i  "  Lift  of  Sir  Charltt  Barry,"  by  ptrmiuioa  oj  Mr.  Juhi'  .V.<,  v.i«. 

THE  SEW   PALACE  AT   WESTMINSTER. 

View  from  the  wutli-eut  of  Sir  Charles  Barry'*  piopmed  additional  building*  on  the  rite  of  New  Palace  Yard.    These  addition*  were  frequently 

<ll*cu*tetl,  but  never  adopted. 

It  was,  in  fact,  the  most  serious  count  in  the  indictment  brought  against  him  by  his  critics. 
His  son,  however,  ably,  and  on  the  whole  successfully,  defends  him '  from  the  charge  of 
extravagance.  The  building,  he  shows,  as  completed,  widely  differed  from  the  structure  that 
Sir  Charles  Barry  had  designed.  Not  only  had  considerable  additions  been  made  to  it  to 
meet  official  exigencies,  but  a  sum  of  half  a  million  had  been  expended  on  furniture,  fittings, 
and  decorations  which  had  not  been  provided  for  in  the  first  estimate.  The  simple  truth 
of  the  matter  no  doubt  is  that  the  great  pile  was  to  a  large  extent  a  product  of  development . 
It  grew  with  the  progress  of  the  time  and  with  the  march  of  opinion  as  to  what  was  n-.-illy 
essential  to  the  equipment  of  the  home  of  the  Imperial  Legislature.  In  subsequent  chapters 
we  shall  describe  in  detail  the  new  buildings  as  completed. 

1  "The  Life  and  Works  of  Sir  C.  IJarry." 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


CORONATION  CEREMONIES  AT  THE  PALACE. 

BEFORE  taking  leave  of  the  old  Palace  of  Westminster  it  is  desirable,  especially  in  view  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  time  at  which  this  work  is  issued,  that  some  description  should  be  given 
of  the  pageantry  of  which  it  was  the  witness  in  connection  with  coronations.  In  recent  years, 
with  the  fixing  of  the  personal  residence  of  the  Sovereign  mainly  outside  London,  this  aspect 
of  the  historic  site  by  the  Thames  has  been  rather  obscured.  But  in  real  it  v,  if  the  great 
building  had  never  been  associated  with  the  life  of  Parliament  or  the  administration  of  the 
law.  it  would  always  have  been  famous  as  the  spot  on  which  had  been  celebrated  a  remarkable 
series  of  spectacles  connected  with  the  accession  of  the  P)nglish  Kings.  With  the  exception  of 
the  late  Sovereign  of  happy  memory  and  her  immediate  predecessor,  there  was  scarcely  an 
occupant  of  the  English  throne  from  the  time  of  Henry  III.  who  had  not  mounted  to  it  by 
way  of  Westminster  Hall.  Even  before  that  period  the  Palace  was  in  a  peculiar  sense 
identified  with  the  ceremonies  in  connection  with  the  beginning  of  a  new  reign.  Indeed,  it 
may  safely  be  asserted  that  so  long  as  there  has  been  a  Palace  at  Westminster  so  long  has 
there  existed  a  close  associ(ition  between  the  building  and  the  rites  which  have  been  the 
outward  and  visible  sign  of  the  monarch's  title  to  power. 

William  the  Conqueror,  with  that  practical,  business-like  instinct  which  was  a  marked 
trait  of  his  character,  quickly  realised  the  value  of  a  Westminster  coronation ;  and  as  soon  as 
he  had  made  his  footing  in  the  country  sure,  he 
caused  elaborate  preparations  to  be  undertaken  for  a 
ceremony  in  the  Abbey  with  the  old  impressive 
ritual,  and  an  added  element  of  distinction  lent  by 
the  splendour  of  Norman  pageantry.  An  untoward 
incident  during  the  ceremony  went  nearly  to  involv- 
ing the  affair  in  disaster.  At  the  culminating  point 
in  the  service,  where  the  question  was  asked,  "  Will 
ye  have  this  Prince  to  be  your  King  ? "  a  great  shout 
of  approval  was  sent  up  by  the  congregation,  and 
the  Norman  soldiery  outside,  hearing  it,  believed  that 
the  English  had  revolted.  Acting  on  this  assump- 
tion, they  started  to  fire  and  plunder  the  houses. 
The  tumult  was  only  quelled  after  it  had  continued 
many  hours  and  much  mischief  had  been  done.  Mean- 
while William,  trembling  with  apprehension,  had  gone 
through  the  service  to  its  close,  and  we  may  be  certain 
that  there  was  little  festivity  or  rejoicing  in  the 
Palace  that  night. 

\Yilliam  Kufus,  like  his  father,  was  crowned  at 
Westminster,  but  the  meagre  accounts  of  the  cere- 
mony do  not  indicate  to  what  extent  the  Palace 
shared  in  the  proceedings.  Profiting  by  the  existence 
of  Westminster  Hall,  his  successor,  after  his  crowning 
in  the  Abbey,  received  "  all  the  chief  men  of  England, 

173 


THE  COBONATION   CHAIR, 

On  which  all  the  Kings  of  England  from  M'illiam  the 
Conqueror  have  been  crowned. 


174 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


both  clergy  and  laity,"  in  the  Palace.  Similarly  Stephen,  who  was  crowned  on  St.  St, -|,!i, -n's 
Day,  1135.  in  honour  of  the  occasion  held  a  splendid  festival  in  tin-  I'alacc.  to  which 
alf  his  leading  subjects  were  invited.  These  jm-r.Ml.-nts  \v,-r.-  f..ll..\v.-d  in  successive  ivi.-jns. 
When  Henry  III.  was  crowned  King  in  the  lifetime  of  his  father  in  1170,  we  Bather 
from  the  record*  that  a  grand  banquet  was  given  in  Westminster  Hall.  I'IK.II  this  OCCMM.M, 
the  father  served  his  son  at  the  table  as  sewer,  "bringing  up  the  I*  .res  head  with  trumpets 
before  it  according  to  the  manor.  Wh.ereuj.on,"  j.roeeeds  the  quaint  chronicle  of  Holinshed, 
"the  young  man,  conceiving  a  jiride  in  his  heart,  teheld  the  Btandere-by  with  a  m»n- 
stately  countenance  than  he  had  wont;  the  Archbishop  of  Yorke,  who  sat  by  him,  marking 
his  behaviour,  turned  unto  him  and  said,  'Be  glad,  my  good  sonne,  there  is  not  another 
Prince  in  the  world  that  hath  such  a  sewer  at  his  table.'  To  which  the  new.-  King  answered 
disdainfnllie  thus:  'Why  doest  thou  marvel  at  that?  -My  father  in  doing  it,  thinketh  it  not 
more  than  becometh  him;  he  being  borne  of  princelie  blood  onlie  on  the  mother's  side, 
serveth  me  that  am  a  King  borne,  having  Ixith  a  King  to  my  father  and  a  Queen 
my  mother.'  Thus  the  young  man,  of  an  evill  and  j*?rverse  nature,  was  jmffed  up  in  pride 
by  his  father's  unseemlie  doinge."  It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  this  story  is  more  than  the 


fttatl  tht  Baytujc  Taputry. 
THE  CROWS  OFFERED  TO  HAROLD  BY  THE  PEOPLE. 


THE  CORONATION   OF   HAROLD  AT   WESTMINSTER. 


gossip  of  the  old  Fathers,  but  it  is  certainly  perfectly  consistent  with  the  mean-spirited 
character  of  the  Prince  of  whom  it  is  related.  More  tangible  than  the  narrative  of  this  abortive 
coronation  are  the  records  of  the  festivities  which  accomjmnied  the  elevation  of  Kit-hard  I. 
to  the  throne.  These  were  conducted  with  all  the  pomj)  and  display  of  the  age,  and  were 
participated  in  by  the  leading  men  of  the  country.  In  the  writings  of  eye-witnesses  we  have 
for  the  first  time  mention  of  the  association  of  the  chief  citizen  of  London  with  the  ceremony 
in  the  caj>acity  of  Chief  Butler,  and  of  the  ajijxnntment  of  the  chief  burgesses  of  Winehe-ier 
to  serve  up  the  viands.  But  records  of  the  earlier  coronation  feasts  in  Westminster  Hall  are 
meagre,  and  it  is  not  until  we  come  to  the  coronation  of  Henry  III.'s  Queen,  Eleanor,  in  1236, 
that  we  have  any  detailed  descrijrtion.  Of  this  pageant  .Matthew  Paris,  however,  supj>lies  a 
vivid  picture.  "  At  the  nuj.tial  feast,"  he  says,  "  were  assembled  such  a  multitude  of  the 
nobility  of  both  sexes,  such  numbers  of  the  religious,  such  a  vast  body  of  the  people,  and 
such  a  variety  of  players  (histrionee)  that  the  City  of  London  could  scarcely  contain  them 
in  her  capacious  bosom.  In  the  procession  the  Earl  of  Cluster  U>re  before  the  King  the  sword 
of  St.  Edward  the  Confessor,  called  curtnna,  in  token  of  his  being  Earl  of  the  Palace,  comes 
pnlatii,  and  having  authority  to  restrain  the  King  if  he  should  do  wrong ;  as  Constable  of 
Chester  he  kejit  back  the  jieojile  with  his  rod  when  they  pressed  too  forward.  The  llitjli 
Marshal  of  England  (the  Earl  of  Pembroke)  carried  a  rod  before  the  King,  both  in  the 


the  picture  by  John  Opie,  R.A. 

THE  CORONATION   OF  HENRY   VI. 

This  King  was  crowned  both  in  London  and  in  Paris.     He  wa»  in  the  ninth  year  of  his  age  at  the  time  of  the  solemnity  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

175 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Church  and  in  the  Hall,  making  way 
for  the  King,  and  arranging  the  guests 
at  the  h'nyal  tul ill-.  The  barons,  custodes 
of  the  Cinque  I'orts,  bare  a  canopy  over 
the  King  supported  on  five  spears,  though 
from  some  contentious  i-cruples  they  had 
almost  neglected  their  duty.  The  Earl 
of  I/'icester  held  water  for  the  King  to 
\\a>h  hel'nre  dinner.  The  Karl  of  Warenne 
officiated  as  the  Royal  cup-bearer,  in 
lien  of  the  Karl  of  Arundel,  who  was  a 
youth  not  yet,  knighted.  Ma-tcr  Michael 
Helet  had  the  office  of  butler.  The  Earl 
of  Hereford  was  marshal  of  the  King's 
household.  William  de  Beauchamp  was 
almoner.  The  justiciary  of  the  forests 
removed  the  doles  from  the  King's  table, 
though  he  was  at  iir.-t  impeded.  The 
citizens  of  London  poured  the  wine 
abundantly  into  precious  cups;  the  citi- 
/ens  of  Winchester  had  oversight  of  the 
kitchen  and  napery,  and  others  officiated 
according  to  their  various  claims,  which 
were  decided  stdvo  jure,  so  that  they 
might  be  substantiated  on  a  fitter 
occasion,  and  the  joy  of  the  nuptial 
feast  not  be  interrupted  by  contention. 
The  chancellor,  the  chamberlain,  the 
marshal,  and  the  constable,  took  their 
seats  with  reference  to  their  offices,  and 
all  the  barons  in  the  order  of  their 
creation.  The  solemnity,"  the  writer 
goes  on  to  say,  "  was  resplendent  with 
the  clergy  and  knights,  properly  placed. 
But  how  shall  I  describe  the  dainties  of 
the  table,  and  the  abundance  of  divers 
liquors,  the  quantity  of  game,  the  variety 
of  fish,  the  multitude  of  jesters,  and 
the  attention  of  the  waiters?  Whatever 
the  world  pours  forth  of  pleasure  and  glory  was  there  especially  displayed." 

The  splendour  of  this  feast  was  surpassed  by  that  arranged  in  1274  in  honour  of  the 
coronation  of  Edward  I.  To  furnish  the  material  needs  of  the  occasion  the  country  was 
ransacked  for  supplies  weeks  previously.  Eventually  there  were  forthcoming  440  oxen  and  cows, 
430  sheep,  450  pigs,  16  fat  boars,  278  flitches  of  bacon,  and  22,460  capons,  besides  other  poultry. 
The  feast  was  attended  by  the  King  of  Scotland,  accompanied  by  one  hundred  knights  on 
horselcick.  "who  as  soon  as  they  had  demounted  turned  their  steeds-  loose  for  any  one  to 
catch  and  keep  that  thought  proper."  Following  the  Scotch  King  came  Edmund,  Earl  of 
Arundel,  and  the  Earls  of  Gloucester,  Pembroke,  and  Warenne,  -each  having  in  their  company 
a  hundred  illustrious  knights,  wearing  their  lords'  armour;  and  when  they  had  alighted  from 
their  palfreys  they  also  set  them  free,  that  whoever  chose  might  take  them  unquestioned." 
Meanwhile,  the  aqueduct  in  Chepe  "poured  forth  white  and  red  wine  like  rain-water,  for 
those  who  would,  to  drink  at  pleasure."  This  custom  of  supplying  wine  for  the  populace 


/Vm  tht  portrait  in  the  Jeriaalem  Chambtr. 

BICHAKD   II.   IN   HIS  COEONATION   ROBES. 


177 


23 


178 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


at  coronations  mu-t  have  involved  great  e.\|H-nse.  A  document  exists  which  shows  that  in 
the  next  reign  a  thousand  pipes  of  wine  were  ordered  from  Bordeaux  for  the  coronation. 
Nor  were  the  creature  comforts  the  only  heavy  charge.  One  of  the  bills  preserved  amongst 
the  records  gives  in  minute  detail  the  articles  required  for  the  fitting  up  of  We.-tmin-ter 
Hall  and  the  Abbey  for  Edward  III.'s  coronation.  The  total  cost  was  £1,056  19«.  3d.,  an 
enormous  sum  for  those  days.  Hut,  indeed,  the  whole  arrangement,,  were  conceived  on  a  -cale 
of  profuse  magnificence — so  much  so,  that  it  took  years  to  discharge  the  liabilities  incurred. 

A  coronation  marked  by  special  magnificence  was  that  of  liiclmrd  II.  On  the  day  before 
the  actual  ceremony  the  King  rode  from  the  Tower  to  We-t  minster  accompanied  by  a  brilliant 
cavalcade  of  noblemen  and  citizens.  Arrived  at  Westminster,  he,  according  to  the  record  in 
the  Close  Rolls,  "entered  the  Great  Hall  of  the  Palace,  and  going  up  to  the  high  marble 
table  which  stood  in  it,  asked  for  wine,  which  being  brought  he  drank  of  it,  as  did  others 
standing  around  him.  The  King  then  retired  with  the  princes  and  his  family  to  his  chamber. 

where  he  supped  royally, 
and  having  bathed  be- 
comingly he  retired  to  n-t . 
"In  the  morning  the 
King  arose,  and  having 
heard  mass,  he  was  clothed 
in  the  purest  vestments, 
and  wore  slippers  or  bus- 
kins only  on  his  feet;  he 
quitted  his  room  and  de- 
scended into  the  (treat 
Hall  with  a  full  attendance 
of  princes  and  nobles. 
There  came  to  meet  him 
the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury (Simon  Sudbury)  and 
other  prelates  in  jxmtitical 
habits,  and  the  clergy  of 
the  realm  in  silken  cope-. 
with  a  great  concourse  of 
THE  CORONATION  OP  HENRY  iv.  people  at  the  high  table 

in  the   Hall."      Then-alter 

a  procession  was  formed  and  the  King  proceeded  along  a  covered  way  to  the  Abbey,  where 
the  usual  rites  were  performed.  Returning  to  the  Palace,  the  King  "descended  into  tin- 
Great  Hall,  and  having  washed  his  hands,  sat  down  in  the  Royal  seat  at  the  high  table. 
where  sat  with  him  many  on  either  hand.  On  the  right  side  of  the  Hall  the  Barons  of  the 
Cinque  Ports  occupied  the  first  table,  the  Clerks  of  the  Chancery  the  second;  and  at  the 
inferior  tables  on  that  side  were  the  King's  Judges,  the  Barons  of  the  Exchequer,  and  other-. 
On  the  left  side  of  the  Hall  were  tables  for  the  Sheriffs,  Recorder,  Aldermen,  and  many  of 
the  citizens  of  London.  In  the  middle  were  tables  filled  by  distinguished  men  of  the 
Commons  of  the  Kingdom.  .  .  .  During  the  continuance  of  the  entertainment  the  Lord 
Steward,  the  Constable,  and  the  Karl  .Marshal,  with  certain  knights  deputed  by  them,  rode 
about  the  Hall  on  noble  coursers  to  preserve  peace  and  order  among  the  people.  All  the  time 
the  Earl  of  Derby  stood  at  the  King's  right  hand,  holding  the  principal  sword,  drawn  from  its 
scabbard.  The  Earl  of  Stratford  performed  the  office  of  chief  carver.  Dinner  being  finished, 
the  King  arose  and  went  to  his  chamber  with  the  prelates,  great  men,  and  nobles  before 
mentioned.  Then  the  great  men,  knights,  and  lords  passed  the  remainder  of  the  day  until 
supper  time  in  shews,  dances,  and  solemn  minstrelsy ;  and  having  supped,  the  King  and 
others  retired  to  rest,  fatigued  with  their  exertions  in  this  magnificent  festival." 


179 


i8o 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


It  is  at  tins  coronation 
that  we  first  catch  a  glim]»«- 
of  the  King's  Champion,  a 
familiar     figure     in     later 
ceremonies.        This     func- 
tionary   was    a   creation  of 
the  spirit  of  chivalry  which 
permeated   all  the  institu- 
tions of  the  country,  regal 
and  national,  at  this  period. 
His  duty  was  to  attend  the 
coronation  festivity  to  chal- 
lenge to  mortal  combat  all 
who  should  dare  to  quest  inn 
the    Royal     right     to     tin- 
crown.     The  manner  of  his 
coining     was     strictly    laid 
down  in  the  regulations  for 
the   pageant.     In   the   ca-< 
of  Richard's  II.'s  coronation. 
according    to    \Valsin<jhani, 
the  holder  of  the  office.  Sir 
John    Dymmok,    "  made    a 
mistake  of  the  juncture  at 
which  he   should   come  in. 
Equipping  himself  with  the 
best    suit    of  armour,    save 
one,    and    the    best    steed, 
save   one,  from   the  King's 
armoury  and  stable,  he  pro- 
ceeded  on    horseback,   with 
two     attendants    (the    one 
bearing   his  spear,  and  tin- 
other    his    shield),    to   the 
Abbey  gates,  there  to  wait 
the    ending    of   the    mass. 
But  the  Lord  Marshal,  the 
Lord  Seneschal,  and  the  Lord 
Constable,  with  Sir  Thoina- 
Percy,    being    all    mounted 
on  their  great  horses,  went  to  the  knight  and  told  him  that  he  should  not  have  come  so  soon, 
but  when  the   King  was  at  dinner;    wherefore    he   had    better  retire,   and,    laying  aside    his 
weighty  armour,  rest   himself  until  the   proper  time."      It   is   surmised  by  some   commentators 
that  the  Champion  in   proceeding   to   the   Abbey    in   this    instance    was    seeking   to    uphold   an 
ancient   right  to  ride  in   the  procession  as  well  as  to  appear  in  the  Hall.     Be  that  as  it  may, 
it  is  certain   that  on   all   subsequent   occasions  the    Champion's    appearance    was    confined    to 
Westminster    Hall,  where,  however,    it   was  an    essential    feature  of  the  festivity.      Mounted  on 
a  snow-white  steed,  and  accompanied  by  a  brilliant  retinue  of  esquires,  heralds,  and  mace-bearers. 
it   was  his  custom  to  ride  in  at  the  great    door,  and  advancing  to   the  top   end  of  the   Hall, 
to  call  upon  his  herald  to  deliver  the  challenge.     This  was  done  in  the  following  terms : — 

"  If  any   person,    of  what  degree    soever,  high   or  low,  shall  gainsay   our  Sovereign   Lord 
King ,  King  of  England  and   France,   Defender  of  the  Faith,  etc.,  to  be  right  heir  to  the 


After  Sir  Anthony  Van  Dytk. 

CHARLES   I.    IN   HIS  CORONATION   ROBES. 
One  of  many  portrait*  extant  of  the  King. 


Coronation    Ceremonies    at    the    Palace 


181 


imperial  crown  of  this  realm,  or  that  he  ought  not  to  enjoy  the  same ;  here  is  his  Champion, 
who  saith  that  he  lyeth,  and  is  a  false  traytor,  being  ready  in  person  to  combat  with  him ; 
and  in  this  quarrel  will  adventure  his  life  against  him,  on  what  day  soever  he  shall  be 
appointed." 

The  words  uttered,  amid  a  nourish  of  trumpets  the  Champion  threw  down  the  gauntlet 
three  times.  On  the  third  occasion  it  was  customary  for  the  King  to  drink  to  the  Champion 
in  a  gold  cup  and  then  to  pass  it  on  to  the  knight,  who  in  turn  drank  to  the  King.  The 
gold  cup  became  a  perquisite  of  the  Champion,  together  with  the  suit  of  armour  he  wore  and 
the  horse  he  rode  at  the  ceremony. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  who  first  discharged  the  office,  or  even  when  the  custom  was  instituted. 
There  is  good  ground  for  the  belief,  however,  that  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  a  certain  Roger 
Marmion,  who  died  in  1129,  was  King's  Champion.  This  individual  exercised  the  functions  by 
virtue  of  his  tenure  of  the  manors  of  Tamworth  and  Scrivelsby.  Through  him  the  post 
descended  to  Philip  Marmion,  who  is  believed  to  have  acted  as  Champion  at  Edward  I.'s 
coronation.  Philip  Marmion's  death  without  male  issue,  and  the  consequent  diversion  of  the 
manor  into  the  female  line,  led  to  a  prolonged  dispute  between  the  De  Frevilles  and  the 
Dyrnmoks,  both  descendants  of  Jane,  Marmion's  eldest  daughter.  Eventually  the  Dymmoks, 
to  use  an  appropriate  metaphor,  became  firmly  seated  in  the  saddle,  and  successive  members  of 
the  family  performed  the  duties  until  the  accession  of  George  IV.,  when  for  the  last  time  the 
Champion,  in  the  person  of  Henry  Dymoke,  representing  the  Rev.  John  Dymoke,  Rector  of 
Scrivelsby,  the  head  of  the  family,  rode  into  Westminster  Hall  to  proclaim  his  contempt  for 
the  King's  enemies.  Economical  reasons,  mainly,  led  to  the  abandonment'  of  the  ceremony 
(with  the  banquet)  at  the  two  subsequent  coronations ;  and  it  is  never  likely  to  be  revived,  for, 
picturesque  as  the  incident  was,  it  would  in  its  modern  framing  lose  the  suggestiveness  and 
romance  which  lent  to  it  in  the  old  days  its  chief  attractiveness. 

The  King's  Champion  has  rather  taken  us  from  the  course  of  our  narrative,  and  it  is 
necessary  to  revert  to  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  to  recall  an  incident  of  high  historic  interest 
and  importance  in  connection  with  the  subject  we  are  treating.  This  was  the  accession  of 
Henry  IV.,  after  the  formal  act  of  abdication  performed  by  Richard  while  a  prisoner  in  the 


THE  CORONATION  OF  CHARLES   II.   IN   WESTMINSTER   ABBEY. 

It  a  noted  u  remarkable  by  the  annalist*  that  though  it  rained  incessantly  many  days  before  and  many  after  the  ceremony,  "  the  sunne 

sinned  gloriously  all  that  day,"  and  not  a  drop  of  niu  fell. 


182 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE  CHAMPION   PERFORMING   THE  CEBEMOXY   OP   THE    CHALLENGE    IS    WKST- 
M1NSTEK  HALL  AT   THE  COBOJJATIOX   OF  JAMKS   II. 


Tower.  Very  solemn  and  im- 
pressive were  the  jinx diiiL,r> 

in  Parliament  which  JKI^-<'>I 
in  the  Great  Hall  on  tliis 
SepternlM-r  IJOth.  1399.  The 
walls  of  the  venerable  build- 
ing were  "  hung  and  trimmed 
sumptuously."  and  tin- 
managers  of  the  affair  had 
"caused  to  be  set  up  a  Kuyall 
chaire,  on  purpose  to  choose 
a  newe  King,  neare  to  which 
the  prelates  were  sit.  and  on 
the  other  side  sat  the  Lords, 
and  after,  the  Commons  in 
order."  Richard's  renuncia- 
tion was  read  aloud,  and 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
demanded  of  the  States  and 
people  then  present  whether 
they  would,  for  their  own 
interest  and  the  welfare  of 
the  realm,  admit  the  cession 

so  made.  A  great  shout  of  approval  supplied  an  affirmative  answer,  and  thereafter, 
when  sentence  of  deposition  had  been  formally  pronounced  against  Richard,  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster,  devoutly  crossing  himself,  spoke  as  follows:  "In  the  name  of  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  I,  Henry  of  Lancaster,  challenge  this  realm  of  England,  and  the  crown, 
with  all  the  members  and  appurtenances;  as  that  I  am  descended  by  right  line  of 
the  blood  coming  from  the  good  Lord  King  Henry  III. ;  and  through  the  right  that 
God,  of  His  grace,  hath  sent  me,  with  the  help  of  my  kin  and  of  my  friends,  to 
recover  it;  the  which  realm  was  in  point  to  be  undone  for  default  of  governance  and 
undoing  of  the  good  laws."  Again  the  assembly  clamorously  signified  its  approbation  of 
the  act,  and  the  new  Sovereign  was  led  to  the  throne  by  the  two  archbishops.  Halting 
at  the  lower  step,  he  knelt  for  a  few  minutes  in  silent  prayer,  and  then  was  placed  in 
the  Royal  seat  by  the  two  ecclesiastics.  The  announcement  of  various  appointments,  and 
the  fixing  of  the  following  Monday  for  the  coronation  ceremony,  brought  to  a  termination 
a  scene  as  important  in  its  consequences  as  any  that  had  hitherto  been  witnessed  on  that 
famous  spot. 

Shakespeare,  with  his  keen  instinct  for  the  picturesque,  has  with  poetic  licence  used  the 
Hall  as  the  setting  for  the  great  scene  in  Richard  II.  in  which  the  act  of  renunciation 
was  performed.  Every  Shakesj>earean  student  is  familiar  with  the  moving  language  which 
is  put  into  the  unfortunate  King's  mouth.  First  we  have  bitter  reflections  on  his  fallen 
state : — 

Alack  I    why  am  I  sent  for  to  a  King, 

Before  I  have  shook  off  the  regal  thoughts 

Wherewith  I  reigned  ?  I  hardly  yet  have  learned 

To  insinuate,  flatter,  bow,  and  bend  my  limbs: 

Give  sorrow  leave  awhile  to  tutor  me 

To  thig  submission.     Yet  I  well  remember 

The  favours  of  these  men:   were  they  not  mine  T 

Did  they  not  sometime  cry,  "  All  hail ! "  to  me  ? 

So  Judas  did  to  Christ :  but  He  in  twelve 

Found  truth  in  all  but  one;  I,  in  twelve  thousand,  none. 


Coronation    Ceremonies    at    the    Palace 


183 


At  last  Kichard  brings  himself  to  make  the  sacrifice, 
formal  act  of  renunciation  : — 


In  these  pathetic  terms  he  completes  the 


I  give  this  heavy  weight  from  off  my  head, 
And  this  unwieldy  sceptre  from  my  hand, 
The  pride  of  kingly  sway  from  out  my  heart  ; 
With  mine  own  tears  I  wash  away  my  balm, 
With  mine  own  hands  I  give  away  my  crown, 
With  mine  own  tongue  deny  my  sacred  state, 
With  mine  own  breath  release  all  duty's  rites: 
All  pomp  and  majesty  I  do  forswear. 

Long  mayst  thou  live  in  Richard's  seat  to  sit, 

And  soon  lie  Eichard  in  an  earthy  pit ! 

God  save  King  Harry,  unking'd  Richard  says. 

There  is  greater  warrant  in  history  for  another  scene  witnessed  in  the  Hall  of  which  stirring 
memories  have  been  handed  down  to  us.  This  was  the  episode  in  1415  which  marked  the 
return  of  Henry  V.  from  the  glorious  field  of  Agincourt.  Modest  as  he  was  brave,  the  gallant 
King  deprecated  the  excessive  fervour  of  his  subjects.  He  prohibited  the  singing  of  songs  of 
conquest.  "  Neyther  would  he  suffer  to  be  carried  before  him,  nor  showed  unto  the  people,  his 
helmet  whereupon  his  crown  of  gold  was  broke  and  deposed  on  the  field  by  the  violence  of  the 
enemie,  nor  his  other  armour  that  in  that  cruell  battaile  was  so  sore  broken ;  but  as  the  faithful 
constant  champion  of  God,  he  eschewed  all  occasions  of  vaine  glory,  and  refused  the  vaine 
praises  of  the  people."  A  fitting  pendant  to  this  picture  of  the  triumphant  monarch  received 
by  his  subjects  was  the  reception  a  few  months  later  by  the  King  in  the  Hall  of  the  Emperor 
Sigismund,  to  conclude  a  peace  on  behalf  of  France. 


THE  CORONATION  CEREMONY   IN   WESTMINSTER  HALL — JAMES   II. 

"  Shewing  how  the  King  and  Queen,  with  the  nobility  and  others,  did  sit  at  dinner  on  the  day  of  the  coronation,  April  27tb,  1685.      With  the 
manner  of  serving  up  the  first  course  of  hot  meat  to  their  Majesties'  table." 


184 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Henry  IV.'s  coronation  was  conducted  on  a  scale  of  unexain]>l«Hl  grandeur.  Froissart,  wlio 
gives  a  most  minute  account  of  the  ceremony,  states  that  he  was  accompanied  to  Westminster 
from  the  Tower  by  a  cavalcade  of  6,000  horse,  "including  his  own  immediate  attendants 
and  the  City  companies  in  their  respective  liveries."  The  streets  were  protu«elv  decorated. 
and  "there  were  nine  fountains  contiiuudly  flowing  with  red  and  white  wine,  independently 
of  another  fountain  in  the  Palace  court,  giving  issue  to  similar  liquids  from  various  mouths." 
The  banquet  in  Westminster  Hall  was  in  keeping  with  these  arrangements.  As  a  manuscript 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum  shows,  the  fare  was  profuse  to  the  point  of  repletion.  In 
the  first  course,  in  addition  to  several  dishes  of  mysterious  comjwsition.  there  were  Ixuir's  head, 
swans,  capons,  pheasants,  herons,  sturgeons,  and  one  of  those  "subtleties  "  in  which  the  ancient 
cook  so  greatly  delighted.  The  second  course  introduced  "venison  in  frumenty,"  jelly,  young 
pigs  stuffed,  peacocks,  cranes,  venison  pasty,  tongue,  bittern,  "fowls  gilded,"  large  t; 
rashers  of  ham  or  brawn,  and  another  "subtlety."  In  the  last  course  the  guests  had  served 
for  their  delectation  quinces  in  confection,  young  eagles,  curlews,  partridges,  pigeons,  quails, 
snij>e,  small  birds,  rabbits,  white  brawn  sliced,  eggs  in  jelly,  fritters,  sweetmeats,  eggs,  and 
finally  a  "  subtlety."  It  was  a  princely  feast,  indeed,  and  one  to  appeal  to  the  most  fastidious 
of  appetites  as  well  as  to  the  most  robust.  A  strong  contrast  to  the  viands  supplied  on  this 
occasion  is  afforded  by  the  mfuu  for  the  coronation  banquet  of  Queen  Katherine,  Consort  of 
Henry  V.,  on  February  24th,  1421.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  season  was  Lent,  the  dishes  \\.-n- 
all  fish.  Fabyan,  the  chronicler,  who  gives  a  detailed  description  of  the  banquet,  says  that  in 
the  first  course  was  "a  sotyltie  called  a  pellycan,  syttyng  on  her  nest  with  her  bvrdes,  and  an 
image  of  St.  Katheryne  holdyng  a  booke  and  dysputynge  with  the  doc-tours."  Other  dishes  in 
the  subsequent  two  courses  included,  besides  carp,  turbot,  tench,  and  perch,  "porpies  (porpoise; 
rostyd "  and  "mennys  (minnows)  fried."  Last,  there  was  "a  marchpane  garnysshed  with 
dieverss  fygures  of  angellys,  amonge  the  whiche  was  set  an  image  of  Seynt  Katheryne."  The 
feast,  according  to  all  accounts,  was  a  great  success,  unlike  that  which  accompanied  the 
coronation  of  Richard  III.  and  his  Consort,  Anne,  on  July  6th,  1483.  The  third  course  of 
this,  we  are  told,  "was  so  late  that  there  myght  no  servyce  be  served  sayving  wafers  and  hipocracf." 
Subsequent  banquets  of  the  Tudor  period  i>artook  of  much  the  same  character  as  those  ahvadv 
described.  The  coronation  of  Henry  VIII.,  however,  was  distinguished  by  unusual  splendour. 
An  old  writer  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  the  progress  through  the  streets  to  Westminster,  with 
Katherine  of  Arragon  borne  on  a  litter,  with  two  white  palfreys  "apparelled  in  white  satyn 

embroidered,  her  heeire  hanging 
downe  to  her  back  of  a  very 
great  length,  hewtefull  and  goodly 
to  behold,  and  on  her  head  a 
coronate  set  with  many  rich 
orient  stones."  .lousts  and 
tourneys  were  arranged  within 
the  Palace  precincts,  and  in  order 
that  the  King  and  Queen  could 
the  better  witness  them.  "\\a- 
framed  a  fair  house  covered  with 
tapestry  and  hanged  with  rich 
cloths  of  arras."  Another  charac- 
teristic feature  of  the  pageant 
was  ••  a  curious  fountain,  and  over 
it  a  castle;  on  the  top  thereof 
a  great  crown  imperial,  all  the 
embattling  being  with  roses  and 
WOMK-J  IN  TUB  coBosATiox  PROCESSION  op  JAMES  it.  pomegranates  gilded.  .  .  .  And 

Theee  Uilin  beaded  the  cortege  and  >trawed  tweet  herbt  in  the  monarch'!  i»th.  out  of  several    places   of  the  same 


185 


186 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


ARCH    KKKTTEI)    IN    \Vi:.-TM  1  N-  I  ;:i: 
TIIK  CORONATION   OF  GEOUGK    II. 


HALL    FOB 


castle  on  tlio  several  days  of  tin-  coronation. 
jousts,  and  tourneys,  out  of  tin-  mouths  of 
certain  beasts  or  gargels  did  run  ml.  white. 
.Mid  claret  H'ine."  In  short,  as  Arthur  Taylor 
in  his  "Glory  of  Hegality  "  observes,  the 
display  was  "  worthy  of  the  golden  age  of 
]>ageants."  Practically  the  same  gorgeous 
arrangements  were  made  on  the  invasion  of 
the  coronation  of  the  unfortunate  Ainu- 
Holeyn,  whom  the  King  made  it  a  special 
]H>int  to  honour.  It  is  recorded  that  during 
the  banijuet  the  King,  witli  various  am- 
bassadors, stood  to  observe  the  service  in  a 
"little  closet"  constructed  "out  of  the 
Clo/otesof  St.  Stephen's."  l'oor  Anne!  Not 
many  years  later  she  was  a  victim  to  the 
savagery  of  her  tyrant  husband  on  the  scaffold, 
and  subsequently,  on  February  4th.  1540, 
Anne  of  Cleves,  her  successor  in  the  fickle 
affections  of  the  King,  was  being  taken  with 
much  state  from  (ireenwich  to  \\Y>t  min-ter 
by  water,  accompanied  by  "the  Lord  Mayor 
and  his  brethren,  with  twelve  of  the  elil-le 
companies  of  the  citie,  all  in  barge-.,  gor- 
geously garnished,  with  baners.  penons.  and 
targets,  richlie  covered,  and  furnished  with 
instruments  sweetly  sounding.''  The  river  procession,  of  which  this  was  an  example,  was  a 
popular  feature  of  the  pageantry  of  this  period.  When  Elizabeth,  in  accordance  with  custom. 
l>efore  her  coronation  proceeded  to  the  Tower  to  prepare  for  the  ceremony,  she  followed  tin- 
river  route.  Embarking  on  January  12th,  1559,  at  the  Uoyal  stairs  by  the  1'alace  side,  she  was 
escorted  by  the  Lord  Mayor  and  the  City  companies  in  their  handsome  barges  to  the  stern 
old  fortress.  Great  were,  the  rejoicings  which  accompanied  her  progress,  but  this  Water 
Triumph,  as  it  was  termed,  was  insignificant  compared  with  the  grand  pageant  called  the 
City  Triumph,  which  marked  her  return,  two  days  later,  to  Westminster.  In  her  train  wen- 
included  the  flower  of  the  nobility,  and  the  streets,  decked  with  lavish  hand,  were  rilled  with 
substantial  citizens.  As  she  passed  along  Cheapside  she  was  presented  with  a  Hiblo.  which  she 
pressed  to  her  heart,  in  a  pious  fervour  which  gave  immense  satisfaction  to  her  people,  who 
saw  in  the  act  an  indication  that  the  Reformed  Faith  would  receive  justice  at  her  hands.  The 
subsequent  ceremonies  in  Westminster  Hall  were  accompanied  by  all  the  time-honoured  adjuncts. 
not  omitting  the  Champion's  challenge  and  the  presentation  by  the  Lord  Mayor  of  hyppocraa 
and  spiced  wine  in  a  gold  cup,  which  afterwards  became  his  property. 

With  the  gradual  decay  of  the  Palace  of  Westminster,  the  coronation  functions  were 
divested  of  some  of  their  less  important  features.  But  the  change  was  not  sufficiently  er,-;1i 
to  have  any  marked  effect  on  the  ceremony.  As  heretofore,  tin-  King  on  the  day  of  his 
coronation  went  in  procession  from  the  Palace  to  the  Abbey,  and  continued  to  return  thither 
immediately  after  the  ceremony  to  preside  at  the  banquet  in  We.-tmin.-ter  Hall,  at  which  the 
purely  secular  portions  of  the  celebration  were  enacted.  Of  the  later  Stuart  coronations  8 
complete  picture  lias  been  left  us  in  the  works  of  Ashinole  and  Sandford.  "those  learned 
IleraliK"  as  they  were  termed  by  a  writer  of  a  somewhat  later  day.  The  description  of  the 
ceremony  which  distinguished  Charles  II. 's  accession  is  minute  to  the  ]>oint  of  tcdiou>ne>s. 
From  it  we  gather  that  at  seven  o'clock  upon  the  morning  of  the  ceremoiiv  (St.  (ieorge's  Day)  "the 
King  entered  into  his  rich  Iwirge,  took  water  from  the  Priory  Stairs  at  Whitehall,  and  lauded 


Coronation    Ceremonies    at    the    Palace 


187 


at  the   Parliament    Stairs,  from  whence  he  proceeded  up  to  the  room  behind  the  Lords'  House 

called  the  Prince's  lodgings,  where,  after  he   had   reposed   himself  for  a  while,  he  was   arrayed 

in   his   Koyal   robes   of   crimson   velvet,  furred  with   ermine,  by  which   time   the  nobility  being 

assembled,  robed  themselves   in    the    Lords'  House   and   the    Painted  Chamber."      All    being   in 

readiness,  and  "  the    nobility    having   been   called   over   in   the   Painted   Chamber,"  a  move   was 

made   to  Westminster   Hall,  where  at  the  western  end  his  Majesty  was  "set  in  his  chair  under 

a  rich  cloth  of  state."     Thereafter  "  Sir  Gilbert  Talbot,  the  Master  of  the  Jewel  House,  presented 

the  sword  of  state,  as   also   the  sword  called  curtana,  and  two  other  swords,  to  the  Lord  High 

Constable,  who  took  and  delivered  them  to  the  I/)rd  High  Chamberlain,  and  he,  having  drawn 

the  last,  laid  them  upon  the  table  before  the   King."      This  was   followed   by  the   presentation 

of   the    regalia  by    the    clergy  of  the    Abbey,  headed    by   the    Dean,  as    a   preliminary    to    the 

procession  through   New  Palace  Yard   and    King   Street  to  the  west  door   of  the  Abbey.      The 

religious  ceremony  completed  there    was  a  return    in    state   to  the  Hall  for  the  banquet.      The 

first   course  was  ushered  in  by  a     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^====^^^^^=^==1 

gorgeous  procession,  in  which  the 

Lord    High    Steward,    the     Earl 

Marshal,    and     the     Lord     High 

Constable,  all    on   horseback,  "  in 

their    robes     and     having     their 

coronets  on  their  heads,"  figured 

conspicuously.     When  dinner  was 

on    the    table — rather    cold,    one 

would    suppose,    after     so    much 

ceremony — "the  King  came  forth 

from  the  Inner   Court   of   Wards 

in  his  Koyal  robes,  with  the  crown 

on    his   head    and    septer   in    his 

hand,    having    the    three    swords 

borne  naked  before   him."     Soon 

after  he  had  taken  his  sefit  "the 

Lord    Allington    carried    to    the 

King  his  first   draught   of  drink 

in  a  silver  gilt  cup,  being  assisted 

bv    the    Earl    of    Pembroke    and 

Montgomery,  Viscount  Montague, 

and  the  Lord  Paget,  his  assistants." 

Next     appeared     on     the     scene 

"  Thomas    Leigh,     Esq.,    with    a 

mess  of  pottage  called  dellegrout ; 

this  service  being  adjudged  unto 

him    by   the    aforesaid    Court    of 

Claims,  in  right  of  the  manor  of 

Addington,  in  Surrey  ;  whereupon 

the      Lord      High      Chamberlain 

presented  him  to  the  King,  who 

accepted  his  service,  but  did  not 

eat  thereof."     And  so  the  banquet 

proceeded    to    the    close    of    the 

second   course,    amid    a    mass    of 

ceremonial     which      must      have 

been     quite     destructive     of     the  THE  CORONATION-  OP  CEOKGE 

lioVill    appetite.      "Bv   this   time 


i88 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


TUB  COURT  OP  CLAIMS. 
A  lilting  in  ill*  Painted  Chamber  of  the  tribunal  which  nettled  the  respective  right*  to  serve  the  Sovereign  at  the  corwn.-it  i..n. 

the  day  lieing  pretty  fur  sjK?nt,  the  King,  having  water  brought  him  by  the  Karl  of  Pembroke 
ami  his  assistants,  washed  and  rose  from  dinner,  and  retiring  into  the  Inner  Court  of  Wards, 
and  having  disrolxxl,  went  privately  to  his  barge  and  so  t<>  Whitehall,  where  he  landed." 

It  would  seem  nit  her  curious  that  the  King  should  have  quitted  the  banquet  it. g  hall 
before  the  serving  of  the  third  and  final  course  if  we  did  not  know  from  Satidford's  ]  aim-taking 
le-i-iu-ches  that  special  provision  was  made  for  the  Itoyol  table.  A  minute  of  Council  ixsticd 
prior  to  the  coronation  sets  forth  that  there  "he  provided  for  his  .Majesty  in  the  nature  of  an 
ambigiie  ;  but  with  -two  courses,  in  regard  to  the  ceremonies  that  are  to  1*>  jHTformed  at  the 
second  course."  The  nature  of  an  "amhiguc"  is  best  explained  by  the  following  quatrain 
1 1  noted  liy  .lnhiiMin  from  an  old  work  on  the  art  of  cookery: 

When  straitened  in  your  time,  and  servants  few, 
You'll  richly   then  compose  an  anibigue, 
\Vhno  first  and  second  course,  and  your  desert. 
All  in  one  single  table  have  ilieir  purl. 

The  arrangement  was,  no  doubt,  convenient,  but  we  cannot  imagine  a  Sovereign  in  these  days 
having  a  >pe<-i-d  meal  to  himself,  and  deserting  the  festive  Ixiard  in  the  middle  of  the  banquet. 
Something,  however.  iiiuM  In-  allowed  for  human  weakness.  The  coronal  inn  ceremonies  were 
fatiguing  to  the  jK.int  of  exhaustion.  It  is  recorded  of  one  Sovereign  that  he  was  so  \\orn 
out  In-fore  the  proceedings  had  half  concluded  that  he  had  to  retire  to  his  apartments  for  rest. 
Piifsihly  it  may  have  heen  this  cause  which  led  to  the  incident  familiarly  associated  with 
the  crowning  of  James  II.  Returning  to  the  1'alace  after  the  service  in  the  Abl>ey,  the  crown 
tottered  on  Iris  head,  and  would  have  fallen  off  had  not  the  Hon.  Henry  Sidney  rushed  to 
the  rescue.  He  is  reported  to  have  said  as  he  held  the  dazzling  circlet:  "This  is  not  the  first 


5    s 


g.  > 

=•  > 

•  H 

I  3 

I  B 


189 


190 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


UKOUUK   IV.    IN    HIS  CORONATION    KOIIKS. 
The  enormous  weight  of  the  robea  grently  inconvenienced  the  King  during  the  coronation  ceremony. 

linn'  our  family  have    supjiorted   the   Crown,"   a  grim    piece   of  pleasantry   which    .lames   could 
hardly  have  n-lislied. 

James  II.'s  coronation  was  arranged  on  a  scheme  of  exceptional  splendour,  and  it  found 
so  much  favour  that  it  formed  the  model  for  subsequent  coronations  up  to,  and  including,  that 
of  (ieorge  II.  and  his  Consort,  Queen  Caroline.  One  feature  to  be  noted  in  the  procession  from 
the  Hall  to  the  Abhey  was  the  presence  of  "the  Strewer  of  Flowers  in  Ordinary  to  his  .Majesty." 
who,  assisted  by  six  "herb  women."  strewed  sweet  herbs  and  flowers  from  baskets  tliev  carried  in 
the  way  of  the  Sovereign  as  he  walked  the  six  hundred  yards  or  more  which  was  the  length 
of  the  conventional  coronation  course.  A  versified  description  of  the  coronation  of  George  II. 
and  Caroline,  recited  by  the  boys  of  the  Westminster  School,  gives  some  interesting  glimpses 
of  the  pageant.  First,  we  have  the  eagerness  of  anticipation: — 

Chloe,  impatient  for  th'  approaching  sight, 
For  once  vouchsafes  to  rise  by  candlelight. 
Glass,  combs,  and  essences  in  order  stand, 
M:iid,  sempstress,  lacquey,  wait  her  wide  command. 
Swift  fly  the  hours;   ami  scarce  by  op'uing  morn 
An  hundred  hands  the  tinish'd  fair  adorn. 
Sleep  on  secure,  when  this  day's  toil  is  done ; 
And  boast  that  once  you've  seen  the  risinjr  sun. 
Happy  that  now  you  ne'er  will  want  a  theme 
To  talk  of  waking,  and  when  sleeping  dream. 

Then  comes  the  realisation: — 

Kirst  in  procession  of  the  pompous  day, 

With  frngiant  llow'rs  a  matron  marks  the  way: 

Xuxt  trumpets,  kettledrums,  and  various  band, 

Too  hard,  too  many   in  a  \rrsr  to  stand; 

Then  peers,  rails,  dukes,  their  different  lights  display, 

And  last  both  Majesties     meridian  day! 

To  small  beginnings  what  great  things  we  owe, 

Since  one  old  woman  opens  such  a  show. 


Coronation    Ceremonies    at    the    Palace 


191 


The  herb  woman  is  not  the  only  figure  in  the  procession  which  attracts  the  curious  notice 
of  the  youthful  spectators  : — 

Behold  the  man  in  solemn  state, 
Whose  scarlet  mantle  shows  him  great! 
Of  what  new  order  can  he  be  ? 
The  King's  First  Organ  Blower  he  ! 
Oh  !   could  I  but  thy  praises  sing, 
First  Organ  Blower  to  the  King  ! 
The  masters  of  the  tuneful  trade 
Must  own  thy  necessary  aid ; 
Thou  in  their  harmony  may'st  claim 
At  least  an  equal  share  of  fame  : 
Mute  without  thee  the  organ's  found  ; 
Theirs  are  the  notes  but  thine  the  sound. 

To  the  banquet  in  the  Hall  several  verses  are  devoted.  They  may  be  quoted,  as  they 
indicate  the  character  of  the  changes  necessitated  by  the  function  in  the  ordinary  uses  of 
the  Hall:— 

When  Itufus   finishVl  saw  his  Hall,  he  said 

Twas  scarce  sufficient  for  a   Royal  bed. 

When  George  and  Car'line  with  their  shining  train 

Enter  that  roof,  we  may  once  more  complain, 

And  in  regret  with  honest  Rufus  join: 

The   Hall's  too  little  for  the  guests  to  dine. 


THE  COHONATIOM  OF  GEORGE   IV.    IN  WESTMINSTER   ABBEY. 
The  view  shows  the  ceremony  at  the  i»oiiit  where  the  King  is  actually  crowned. 


192  Parliament    Past    and    Present 

MIIIIV  exi>edients,   in   fact.   liail  to  In-  adopted  to  sijuee/e  tin-  company   in: 


T'lKlmit   tht)   jfiif>l«   U.t     Hull  rxpaml-  its 

.  ,.»rt    re  .....  »<-il.  iinil  rvi-n   llu-   Alma  Cur,' 
For  lirre  both   Inw  i»n<l    equity   ;i^' 
Anil  issue  join   upon   tun-   ('"inni'm    I'l.-a. 
Tlmt    naught    I*  wen  thin  iluy  but    harmony. 
Uli-t    cniu-onl!    Imlil  but    till   tl»-  irrm's  near  >i«'iit, 
Twuulil  turn  the  lawyers'  Cliriatmas  into   l.<  nt. 


Here  we  must  take  leave  of  tliis  lively  record.  It  is  not  great,  even  as  schoolboy's  doggerel. 
Imt  it  is  interesting  as  a  contemporary  picture  of  the  coronation,  as  well  as  an  indication  of 
the  close  association  between  the  School  and  the  Palace  an  association  which  to  this  day  i> 
marked  by  the  admission  of  certain  of  the  West  mincer  scholars  to  the  public  gallery  of  the 

||oii>e  of  Commons  without  the  customary  formality 
of  obtaining  an  order. 

The  coronation  of  (ieorge  III.  and  his  Queen 
in  1764  followed  in  all  respects  the  familiar  lines. 
but  it  was  distinguished  by  an  incident  which 
created  some  stir  at  the  time.  When  t  he  Champion 
delivered  his  challenge  in  Westminster  Mall,  and 
the  gauntlet  was  thrown  on  the  ground  (so  the 
story  runs),  a  lady's  glove,  apparently  ca.-t  from 
some  of  the  upjHT  benches.  Muttered  to  the  Hags 
by  the  side  of  it.  No  one  was  able  to  detect  the 
owner,  and  subsequent  iinjiiiry  was  not  more  sti. 
ful  in  unravelling  the  mystery.  Soon,  however,  a 
rumour  got  into  circulation  that  the  glove  had  been 
thrown  by  the  Young  Pretender,  who  had  penetrated 
to  the  Hall  disguised  in  female  attire,  out  of  a 
romantic  desire  to  participate  in  the  ceremony — 
probably  an  idle  invention,  so  far.  at  least,  as  the 
glove-throwing  is  concerned.  But  there  is  no  doubt 
that  it  was  widely  Ix'lieved  at  the  time  that  the 
young  Jacobite  Prince  was  actually  a  spectator  of 
the  proceedings.  This  is  shown  by  a  statement 
which  appeared  in  the  <i>'ii/lfiiinn'n  M<(i/<izin<>  for  1764,  to  the  effect  that  it  was  -publicly 
«aid  that  the  Voting  Pretender  himself  came  from  Flanders  to  see  the  coronation;  that  he  was 
in  Westminster  Hall  during  the  ceremony,  and  in  London  two  or  three  days  before  and  after 

it,  under  the  nan f  Mr.   Brown." 

A  further  and  more  direct  reference  to  the  subject  is  contained  in  the  following  passage 
«>f  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Hume  to  one  of  his  literary  friends:  "What  will  surprise  you  more. 
the  I/onl  .Marshal,  a  few  days  after  the  coronation  of  the  present  King,  told  me  that  he  believed 
that  the  Young  Pretender  was  at  that  time-  in  London,  or.  at  least,  had  been  so  very  lately,  and 
had  come  over  to  see  the  show  of  the  coronation,  and  had  actually  seen  it.  I  asked  my  lord 
the  reason  for  this  strange  fact.  'Why.'  says  he.  'a  gentleman  told  me  so  who  saw  him  then-. 
and  whispered  in  his  ear—"  Your  Royal  Highness  is  the  last  of  all  mortals  whom  I  should 
expect  to  see  here."  "It  was  curiosity  that  led  me."  said  the  other,  "but  I  assure  you,"  added 
he,  "that  the  person  who  is  the  cause  of  all  this  pomp  and  magnificence  is  the  man  I  envy  the 
Least,"'  True  or  false,  the  story  has  been  cited  by  coronation  writers  as  the  solitary  instance 
in  which  the  Champion's  challenge  ever  met  with  a  response  of  any  kind. 


TIIK  CHOWX   ill-1 


The  Court*  of  Chancery,  the  King's  Bench,  anil  the  Common  Pleas,  which  then  stood  within  the  limits  of  the  ll.-ill. 


Coronation    Ceremonies    at    the    Palace 


193 


THE  CORONATION'   PROCESSION   OP  GEORGE   IV.    PROM   THK   ABBEY  TO   WESTMINSTER  HALL. 
The  route  followed  was  from  the  west  door  of  the  Abbey  to  the  great  door  of  Westminster  Hall. 

As  the  last  of  a  long  line  of  coronations  with  full  honours,  that  of  George  IV.  demands 
particular  notice.  An  immense  sum  of  public  money  was  spent  upon  the  ceremony,  and  no 
«'fl'ort  was  .spared  to  promote  its  success  as  a  spectacle.  The  arrangements  in  Westminster 
Hall  were  on  an  exceptionally  elaborate  scale.  At  the  western  end  was  the  throne,  with  a 
gorgeous  canopy  embellished  with  a  wealth  of  gold.  The  background  was  of  crimson  velvet, 
with  the  Royal  arms  embroidered  on  it.  In  front  was  the  Royal  table,  coloured  purple  with  a 
rim  of  gold,  and  an  interior  square  moulding  also  of  gold.  From  the  roof  were  suspended 
by  gilt  chains  massive  cut-glass  lustres  with  broad  ornamental  frames,  containing  three  circles 
of  wax  candles.  Scarlet-covered  galleries  rose  from  the  floor  on  either  side  of  the  Hall,  and 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  building  were  boxes  for  the  Royal  Family  and  tne  Foreign  ministers, 
resplendent  in  gilding.  It  was  all  very  magnificent,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  harmonise  with 
the  permanent  features  of  the  Hall — the  time-stained  roof-tree  and  the  grey  walls.  The  actual 
cereiimnv  was,  in  some  respects,  even  less  in  keeping  with  the  place.  Although  well-known 
prize-fighters  were  engaged  to  keep  the  peace,  the  utmost  disorder  prevailed.  Before  the  King 
appeared  on  the  scene  there  were  squabbles  for  places,  ending  in  one  instance  almost  in  a 
free  fight.  Even  after  his  .Majesty  arrived  there  was  much  difficulty  in  maintaining  a 
M-mlilance  of  order. 

It  is  probable  that  the  efforts  made  by  Queen  Caroline,  the  King's  ill-used  Consort,  to 
secure  a  place  in  the  jiageant  had  a  demoralising  effect  upon  the  arrangements.  The  question 
of  the  Queen's  right  to  participate  in  the  coronation  ceremonies  had  been  the  subject  of 
formal  pnx-eedings  before  the  Privy  Council,  and  it  had  been  decided  that  the  Queen  was  not 
entitled  as  of  right  to  be  crowned  at  the  same  time  as  her  husband.  But,  undeterred  by  this 
adverse  ruling,  Caroline  determined  to  make  an  effort  to  be  present  at  the  ceremony.  Early 
on  the  coronation  day  the  Queen,  accompanied  by  Lord  Hood,  arrived  in  her  carriage,  near 

'25 


194 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


MISS    KKl.I.OWI.-, 

A  herb  woman  in  the  coronation  jiroorasion  of  Ueorge  IV. 


the  New  I'alnoe  YnnL  ainiil  the  |ilaiiilits  of  the 

mob.     At  tin-  Poet*'  (.toner  entrance  of  the  Abhey 

Ixinl  HIN«|.  on    IIIT    Majesty's   behalf,   demanded 

admission.     The   attendant,    however,   firmly  but 

mi|Nvt  fully  declined  to  let   her  IMISS  without  the 

nipit-iii-  authorisation.      "I Mil  you  ever  hear  of 

a  Queen    U-ing  asked   for  a  ticket  before?"  in- 
quired I»rd  Iloml.     The  doorkce|ier  rejilie<l  that 

his  onlers  were  general,  and  without  any  exceji- 

tions.     "I  present  to  you  your  Queen,"  jiersisted 

the  | »eer.     "Do  you  refuse  her  admission  ?"     The 

attendant    was   not    to    be    moved.       His    orders 

were  jieremptory,  and,  reluctant  as  he  might  be 

to   discharge   his   duty,    he   could   not  allow   the 

Queen  to  IMISS  without  n  ticket.     Lord  Hood  now 

produced  a  ticket  for  one,  nnd  a  colhxjuy  ensued 

as  to  whether  the   Queen    should   use   it.      Ulti- 
mately   she   decided    not    to    enter    the    Ahbev 

alone.     Then  ensued  a  curious  scene,  described  by 

an   eye-witness:    "As   she  turned    round  to  quit 

the  sjKrt,  some  persons  in  the  doorway  burst   into 

a  vulgar  laugh  of  derision.     Her  Majesty  looked 

at    them    contemptuously ;    and    Lord    Hood   ob- 

-i-rved  that  in  such  a  place  he  exacted  to  have 

met  decorous  conduct,  at  least,  towards  a  Sovereign 
in>tead    of    that    she    had    been    denied     her 

indubitable  right,  and  been  treated  not  only  in  an  ill-mannered,  but  in  an  unmanly  \vav. 
Her  Majesty  then  turned  about  and  passed  through  a  group  of  fashionable  women  who 

wi-re  going  to  the  Abbey  with  tickets,  but  who  did  not  take  the  slightest  notice  of  her. 
On  her  entering  her  carriage  there  was  considerable  disapprobation,  mingled  with  eric.-  ol 
•Shame!  Shame!'  M)ff!  Off!'  but  the  other  parts  of  the  populace  repeated  the  cries  of 
•The  Queen!  The  Queen!'  with  great  enthiiMasm." 

A  more  degrading   and    humiliating   episode  had   never 
been  experienced  at  a  coronation,  and  the  King  would  have 
been   less  than   human  if  it    had   not    produced    some  effect, 
upon  him.     Throughout  the  subsequent  ceremony  he  showed 
himself  ill  at  ease.     A  spectator  who  witnessed  the  ceremony 
thus    pictures     him  :     "  Precisely    at    ten    o'clock    the     King 
entered    the  hall   from   the  door   behind  the  throne,   habited 
in  robes  of  enormous  size  and  richness,  wearing  a  black  hat 
with  a  monstrous  plume  of  ostrich  feathers,  out  of  the  mid>t 
of  which   rose  a  black   heron's  plume.       His  .Majesty  seemed 
much    oppressed    with    the   weight   of  his  robes.      The  train 
was    of    enormous    length    and    breadth;    it    was    of   criniMiu 
vehet.  adorned    with   large  golden  stars  and  a  broad  golden 
bonier.       His    Maje-ty    Irccjueiitly    wiped    his    face    while    he 
remained    seated.      In    descending    the    steps  of  the  platform 
he  seemed  very  feeble,  and  requested   the  aid  of   an    oth'cer 
who  was  near  him.     Instead  of  standing  under  the  canopy, 
his     Maje>ty,    perhaps     afraid     of     the    awkwardness     of    the 

OI-KKX  CAKOUNK.  barons,  preceded  it.      The  canopy  was,  therefore,  always  borne 

c«i»nrt  of  cieorpt  iv.  after  him.      When  he  had  got  a  little  way  down  tin-  Hall,   he 


H     5 


195 


196 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


£y  ptrMMion  of  the  /,•-•>"'  AirlxtoloyictU  Jiistitute. 

THE  ALB  USED    nY  QI'KKX    VICTORIA  AT    1II1U 
CORONATION'. 


turned   t<>  his  bnin-bearcn  and  requested   them 

to  U-ar    his   train    farther    from    liini.  ap|tarently 

with  a  vii-w  to  rclea>e  himself  fr tin-  weight." 

The  arrangements  ioi  tin-  banquet  do  not 
appear  to  have  U-cn  altogether  happy.  Some 
two  thousand  candles  had  IM-CH  employed  in  the 
lighting  of  the  Hall,  and  the  heat  from  the.-e 
w:i-  tremendous.  Nor  was  this  the  only  incon- 
venience, "lor  occasionally  large  pieces  of  melted 
wa\  fell  without  distinction  of  ]«-rsons  U|M»I  all 
within  reach."  In  the  circum-tances  it  is  only 
natural  that  great  haute  was  played  with  the 
curl>  of  many  of  the  ladies,  whose  hair  "had 
lo-t  all  traces  of  the  friseur's  skill  long  before 
the  ceremony  of  the  day  was  concluded.''  There- 
was  a  -insular  lack  of  order  alxiut  the  proceed- 
ings. Alter  the  Kind's  return  from  the  Abbey, 
and  while  he  was  di\e-ting  himself  of  his  iul><-> 
in  his  private  apartment,  the  ladies  and  gentle- 
men from  the  galleries  promenaded  up  and 
down  between  tin-  tallies  and  helped  themselves 
to  the  dishes  so  bountifully  provided.  Further 
disorder  was  caused  by  the  action  of  some  of 
the  City  aldermen,  who  as  SIM  in  as  they  entered 
the  Hall  walked  over  to  one  of  the  table.-, 
leaving  several  behind  who  ought  to  have  pre- 
ceded them.  The  mistake  was  corrected.  \» 
the  amusement  of  the  other  guests,  because. 
siys  the  veracious  writer  previou>ly  quoted,  "of 
the  well-known  attachment  of  the  worthy  alder- 
men to  the  enjoyment  of  the  table."  These 
premature  attacks  upon  the  viands  could  scarce! v 
have  served  to  appreciably  diminish  them,  lor 
the  supply  was  on  the  nx^t  lavish  scale.  The 
following  particulars  of  the  quantities  furnished 
were  published  at  the  time : — 


HOT    DISHES. 
1GO   tureens   of  soup :    80 


ol    turtle,    40   of 


rice,  and  40  vermicelli. 

160  dishes  of  fish:    comprising  80  of  turbot,  40  of  trout,  40  of  salmon. 
160  hot  joints:   including  80  of  venison,  40  of  roast  beef,  with  three  barons.  40  of  mutton 
and  veal. 

HiO  dishes  of  vegetables:    including  ]>otatoes,  peas,  and  cauliflowers. 
480  wiuce  boats:    240  of  lobsters,    120  butter,   120  mint. 

COLD    DISHKS. 

80  dishes  of  braised  ham;  HO  savoury  pies  ;  80  dishes  of  daubed  geese,  two  in  each;  80 
dishes  of  savoiirv  cakes;  HO  pieces  of  beef,  braised;  80  dishes  of  ca|Mins,  braised,  two  in  each; 
1,190  side  dishes  of  various  sorts;  320  dishes  of  mounted  pastry;  1520  dishes  of  small  pastry; 
400  dishes  of  jellies  and  creams;  1(50  dishes  of  shell  fish,  80  of  lob.-ter  and  80  of  cray-fish  ; 
160  dishes  of  cold  roast  fowls;  80  dishes  of  cold  house  lamb. 


197 


198 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


TOTAL    (Ji  ANTITIKS. 

7,742  Ibs.  of  beef;  7.  i:i:»  Ihs.  <>f  veal; 
2.474  His.  of  mutton;  20  quarters  of 
house  lain!) ;  .")  saddles  of  lamb;  55 
quarters  of  grass  laiuli;  100  lambs'  > \\i-rt - 
breads;  MS*  row  heels;  400  calvo'  feet; 
2.50  Ibs.  of  suet;  160  geese;  721)  pullets 
ami  capon-;  l.(!10  chickens;  520  fowls 
for  stock;  1,730  Ibs.  of  bacon  ;  550  Ibs. 
of  lard;  912  Ibs.  of  butter;  K  loo  eggs. 

A  gargantuan  feast,  truly!  Needless 
to  sav.  tin-  crumbs  that  remained  after 
the  diners  bail  satisfied  their  appetites 
were  very  substantial.  If  the  old  custom 
had  U-en  followed  these  fragments  would 
have  been  left  for  the  erowd  to  scramble 

for  after  the  banquet,  but  in  this  instance 

they  were  handed  over  to  the  poor  of 
St.  Margaret's,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
disgraceful  scenes  which  at  other  corona- 
tions had  succeeded  the  banquet.  The 
forethought  shown  in  this  reject,  how- 
ever, did  not  prevent  an  extensive 
appropriat  ion  —  or  misappropriat  ion  —  of 
substantial  objects.  What  followed  tin- 
ret  irement  of  the  King  is  thus  graphically 
described:  "For  a  few  seconds  delicacy. 
or  a  disinclination  to  be  the  first  to 
commence  the  scene  of  plunder,  sus- 
pended the  projected  attack,  but  at  last 
a  rude  hand  having  been  thrust  through 
the  first  ranks,  and  a  golden  fork  having 

-ei/ed.  this  operated  as  a  signal  to  all,  and  was  followed  by  a  general  snatch.  In  a 
short  time  all  the  small  portable  articles  were  transferred  to  the  pockets  of  the  multitude. 
The  Lord  Great  Chamlxn-lain,  l>eing  alarmed  by  the  confusion,  returned  to  the  Hall,  and  by 
the  greatest  JHTSOIM!  exertion  succeeded  in  preventing  the  extension  of  the  supposed  '  licensed 
plunder'  to  the  more  costly  parts  of  the  coronation  plate.  With  great  difficulty  all  the 
remaining  part  of  the  plate  was  removed  to  Cotton  Garden,  and  all  the  apprehensions  on 
this  score  having  subsided,  the  marauders  were  left  to  the  undisturbed  possession  of  their 
coronation  privileges  in  the  body  of  the  Hall,  and  thither  they  turned  their  attentions." 
The  scene  which  ensued  here  was  extraordinary.  "A  raging  thirst  was  the  first  want  to  be 
sati-fied,  and  in  a  very  few  moments  every  bottle  on  the  board  was  emptied  of  its  contents. 
A  fresh  supply  was,  however,  soon  obtained  from  the  cellarets,  and  all  rear-unable  calls  of  this 
sort  were  complied  with.  While  some  were  thus  occupied,  others  still  pursued  the  work  of 
plunder.  Arms  were  everywhere  seen  stretched  forth  breaking  and  destroying  the  table  orna- 
ments, which  were  of  themselves  too  cumbrous  to  remove,  for  the  pur]>ose  of  obtaining 
-onie  trophy  commemorative  of  the  occasion;  thus  baskets,  flower-pots,  vases,  and  figures, 
were  everywhere  disappearing,  and  those  were  followed  by  glasses,  knives  and  forks,  saltsjioons. 
and.  finally,  the  plates  and  dishes.  These  last  were  of  pewter,  and  engraved  with  the  Royal 
arms  and  the  letters  Mieo.  IV.,'  and  were,  therefore,  greatly  coveted.  The  dirty  state  of  these 
articles,  however,  added  to  the  inconsistency  of  their  appearance  with  full  Court  dn-- >•>. 


R*  p-rmiu:o«  ttfllir  Rttml  Arrhadniicat  Institute. 

EN  VICTORIA'S  COUOXATIOS  TUNICLE  AND  STOLE. 


Coronation    Ceremonies    at    the    Palace 


199 


deterred  many  from  appropriating  them  to  their  own 
use,  although  some,  laying  aside  all  delicacies  of  this 
sort,  did  not  fail  to  take  out  their  handkerchiefs  and, 
amidst  their  folds,  to  conceal  their  much-prized 
spoils," 

When  the  Hall  had  been  thoroughly  looted, 
every  one  was  anxious  to  get  away  from  the  Palace, 
but  the  crowded  nature  of  the  streets  made  the 
bringing  up  of  the  carriages  a  slow  process.  Ex- 
hausted with  the  fatigues  of  the  day,  and  perhaps 
overcome  by  more  subtle  influences,  the  company 
threw  themselves  down  indiscriminately  in  the  rooms 
of  the  Palace — "  peers  and  peeresses,  judges  and  privy 
councillors,  knights  of  all  orders,  and  commoners  of 
all  degrees  lay  promiscuously,  some  on  sofas,  some 
on  chairs,  and  a  still  greater  number  on  the  matted 
floors  of  the  rooms  and  passages  in  which  they 
happened  to  have  sought  refuge."  In  this  position 
"  many  were  overtaken  with  sleep,  and  scenes  were 
presented  extremely  at  variance  with  the  splendid 
and  dignified  spectacle  which  had  been  but  a  few 
hours  before  exhibited  in  the  presence  of  the 
Sovereign."  Not  until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
had  all  the  guests  departed,  and  at  that  hour,  we 
are  told,  "several  of  the  ladies  were  so  completely 
worn  out  that  it  became  necessary  to  carry  them 
to  their  carriages."  Even  then  the  difficulties  of  the 
Palace  officials  were  not  over.  The  populace,  kept  at 
a  distance  during  the  ceremony,  had  now  been  per- 
mitted to  surround  the  Palace,  and  were  clamouring 
menacingly  at  the  gates  for  admission.  Hurriedly 
the  coronation  plate — or  such  of  it  as  had  been  left 
by  the  fashionable  depredators — was  carried  to  a 

place    of   safety,    and    One    of    the    Officials    Was    Sent    to          Bti  pmniiiion  of  the  Royal  Arcliaologiml  Institute. 

temporise  with  the  mob.     Fortunately,  the  crowd  was   THE  COPE  OB  IMPERIAL  MANTLE  WORN  BY  QUEEN 
amenable   to  reason.      It  remained  passive  while  the  VICTORIA  AT  HER  CORONATION. 

official  in  question  harangued  it,    and   the   arrival  of 

a  strong  force  of  military  shortly  afterwards  removed  all  further  cause  of  anxiety.  Thus 
ended  the  last  and  most  costly  of  the  coronation  feasts  in  Westminster  Hall.  Keviewing  the 
scones  and  incidents  of  the  day,  it  is  easy  to  understand  why,  when  William  IV.  came  to  the 
throne  a  few  years  later,  it  should  have  been  decided  to  abandon  this  portion  of  the  time- 
honoured  function.  Nor  does  it  appear  remarkable  that  when  Queen  Victoria  was  crowned 
in  1838  there  should  have  been  wanting  a  disposition  to  revise  the  decision  then  come  to. 
Nevertheless,  it  cannot  but  be  regretted  that  this,  perhaps  the  most  attractive  chapter  in 
the  history  of  the  grand  old  Hall,  should  not  have  been  completely  written. 


C1IA1TER    XV. 


MKXORIKS   OF   ST.    STEPHENS   (continued)—  Tl  I  K    XISKTKKSTH    CEXTURY. 


the  great  Parliamentary  era  of  the  eighteenth  century  had  ]>assed  away,  with  its 
inspiring  traditions,  there  luul  appeared  ujKm  the  floor  of  tin-  House  of  Commons,  in  the 
l»-r-<'ii  of  (ieorge  Cunning,  a  new  and  promising  candidate  for  the  laurels  of  fame.  Filtering 
the  House  in  1793.  as  member  for  Xewtown,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  after  a  brilliant  car.  •<  -r  at 
Ktoii  and  Oxford,  Canning  had  instantly  attracted  attention  by  the  brilliancy  of  his  talents. 
Hi*  8|>eeches  were  not  only  marked  by  a  great  charm  of  style  and  natural  eloquence,  but  were 
distinguished  by  an  argumentative  force  and  a  grasp  of  facts  exceedingly  rare  in  one  so  young. 
A  literary  reputation  dating  back  to  his  Kton  days  helped  to  strengthen  the  favour  with 
which  he  was  received.  With  uncommon  rapidity  for  a  novice  devoid  of  family  ties  and 
influence,  he  worked  his  way  to  the  very  front  rank  of  political  aspirants  of  his  day. 

lie  owed  his  entry  into  Parliament  to  Pitt. 
and  his  rapid  rise  was  assisted  by  the 
encouragement  and  support  of  the  great 
-talesman.  who  showed  a  flattering  confidence 
in  his  powers  by  selecting  him.  from  a 
number  of  formidable  competitors  and  rivals. 
for  duties  calling  for  the  displav  of  excej>- 
tional  skill.  That  Minister's  retirement  in 
1801  put  a  temjKmiry  cheek  ui>on  Canning's 
advancement.  There  now  came  into  power 
the  "Cabinet  of  .Mediocrities'"  known  as 
the  Addington  Ministry.  With  this  group 
of  respectable  nonentities,  the  clever  young 
politician  had  nothing  in  common.  Soon 
he  was  engaged  in  pouring  ujwn  it  the 
copious  streams  of  his  mordant  satire. 
Sheridan  took  a  hand  in  the  game,  and 
when  Pitt  himself  returned  to  Westminster 
t"  strengthen  the  Opposition,  the  }>osition 
of  Ministers  became  insupportable.  They 
resigned  in  1803,  and  Pitt,  impelled  by  the 
imperious  necessities  of  the  time,  was  called 
upon  to  form  a  Ministry.  He  attempted 
to  arrange  a  coalition,  of  which  (iremille 
and  Fox.  it  was  pro)>osed,  should  l>e  lead- 
ing members;  but  the  King's  ineradicable 
aversion  to  Fox  prevented  the  arrangement. 
In  the  end  a  new  Administration  was  brought 
together.  coni]M>sed  of  most  of  the  memlx-rs 
of  the  discredited  (  in\  'eminent,  with  Pitt  as 
Prime  Minister.  Pitt's  death  on  January  23rd, 
IHOli,  put  a  period  to  its  existence,  but  not 


,  Hit  Inut  by  Kir  franeaiCkantrty,  K.A.,  in  the  national  Portrait 
Gallery. 

THE    KlfillT    HON.    CKOKQE  CANMM;. 


•."no 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's— -The    Nineteenth    Century      2O1 

before  it  had  taken  the 
first  memorable  step 
towards  the  abolition  of 
the  Slave  Trade.  Gren- 
ville  and  Fox  were  now 
associated,  with  the 
King's  reluctant  ac- 
quiescence, in  forming 
a  Government.  It  was  a 
combination  scarcely 
less  fortunate  than  the 
Addington  Administra- 
tion. With  the  fatal 
facility  which  then  ob- 
tained for  coining 
damaging  nicknames, 
the  public,  in  allusion 
to  the  extremely  varied 
elements  which  went  to 
make  up  the  ruling 
body,  applied  to  it  the 
description  "  The  Minis- 
try of  All  the  Talents." 
Weak  from  the  day  of 
its  formation,  the 
Government  was  heavily 
shaken  by  the  death  of 
Fox  on  September  13th, 
1806,  and  when,  in  1807, 
it  introduced  a  bill  to 
relieve  Roman  Catholic 
and  Dissenting  officers 
from  certain  disabilities, 
in  defiance  of  the  King's 
strongly  held  views  on 
Catholic  emancipation,  it 
courted  the  dismissal 
which  awaited  it  at  the 
Royal  hands. 

Now  came  Canning's 

opportunity.  Marked  out  for  high  office  by  talents  which  shone  with  a  greater  lustre  by  reason 
of  the  dead  level  of  commonplace  to  which  the  political  forces  of  the  time  had  been  reduced  by 
the  successive  removal  of  the  great  Parliamentary  gladiators  of  the  past  era,  he  stepped,  as  it 
were  by  right,  into  one  of  the  greatest  positions  in  the  new  Ministry  which  was  formed  under 
the  Duke  of  Portland's  leadership  on  the  dismissal  of  Grenville  and  his  colleagues.  The  office 
entrusted  to  him  was  that  of  Foreign  Secretary,  a  position  of  great  honour  and  responsibility 
at  all  times,  but  rendered  doubly  important  at  this  grave  juncture  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation, 
when  the  continental  outlook  was  black  with  the  clouds  of  a  coining  storm.  He  played  his  part 
as  the  exponent  of  the  Government's  foreign  policy,  and  as  principal  defender  of  their  measures, 
with  a  zeal  and  an  ability  which  delighted  his  friends.  He  was,  in  the  words  of  one  of  his 
biographers,  "the  Ajax  of  the  political  host."  Indomitable,  resourceful,  and  indefatigable,  he 
stood  in  the  Parliamentary  arena  and  faced  the  fierce  attacks  which  were  directed  against  the 

26 


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£ 


(fa  h.-  in  nfff.  vvy  y$i/n  •  rifattp  'h  Hws  y*t  w.4n 

'        '"    '"     '         -i     ">!       '"    »y6/t<SKTJi,tyf  frffth<   fy-Aw,*  lJu*n  ^atoMr  HUyM.  fa  *.  Ivt'tjth  IT/  tt  '•': 
•    •  Wufr\/kt  fff  }wW£tlf  or  >  •  ••  '       .          • 

-.]-.._     _^,   jffyjff 4o>^J  fy-  6/yVty  ^Ifcflff  titt     WfAicAyAu    fflWTo  Iff  fmtf&pft/  AW  Oitflilifit  t^  MMfrAft'^V 


A  CARICATURE   BY  GILLRAY  OF  SHERIDAN, 

Aimed  at  the  statesman's  habit  of  carefully  elaborating  impromptus,  and  firing  them  off  at  odd  intervals. 


202 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Administration.  The  test  of  his  power  was  the 
vigour  witli  which  lie  wa»  personally  assailed 
by  the  OpjK.sition  writer-.  The  |{ev.  Sydne\ 
Smith,  in  his  "Letters  of  Peter  Plymle\." 
especially  singled  him  out  for  his  keen  shafts 
of  ridicule.  Thus  in  his  seventh  letter  the 
reverend  \\it  says  of  him:  "That  he  is  an 
extraordinary  writer  of  small  |».etry.  and  a 
droll  wit  of  the  highest  lustre,  I  do  iii'>-t 
readily  admit.  Alter  George  Selwyn,  and 
perhaps  Tickell.  there  has  been  no  such  man 
for  this  half-century.  The  Foreign  Secret  ars- 
is a  gentleman,  a  respect  al tie  as  well  as  a 
highly  agreeable  man  in  private  lite;  hut 
you  may  as  well  feed  me  with  decayed 
potatoes  as  console  me  for  the  miseries  of 
Ireland  by  the  resources  of  his  sense  and  his 
discretion.  It  is  only  the  puMic  situation 
which  this  gentleman  holds  which  entitles 
me,  or  induces  me,  to  say  so  much  alxmt 
him.  He  is  a  fly  in  amher;  nobody  cares 
about  the  fly;  the  only  question  is.  Mow  the 
devil  did  it  get  there?  Nor  do  I  attack  him 
from  the  love  of  glory,  but  from  the  love  of 
utility,  as  a  burgomaster  hunts  a  rat  in  a 
Dutch  dyke,  for  fear  it  should  flood  a 
province." 
Vituj>eration  only  seemed  to  enhance  the  reputation  of  the  statesman  against  whom  it 

was   directed.       Steadily    he   increased    his    hold    upon    the    House    and    the    country,    until    an 

unfortunate   incident,   rudely  cut  short  his  .Ministerial  career   for   a  time.     This  was  his  quarrel 

with   C:\stlereagh.  culminating    in    the  historic  duel  on 

Putney  Heath.      Canning's    part    in    the   affair  was  an 

entirely  honourable  one.     Castlereagh's  ground  of  offence 

against  him  was  that  he  had  acted  treacherously  towards 

him  liy   promoting   an    intrigue    for   his  removal   from 

the  jMisition    of   War  Secretary  which    he   held  in   the 

Ministry;    hut    there  was   no  real  justification    for   the 

charges  of   underhand    dealing.      What    happened    was 

that    Canning,   feeling   that    he  could    not    work    satis- 
factorily with  Castlcreagh,  tendered    his  resignation  to 

the    head    of   the  Ministry,  and   only    withdrew    it    on 

the   understanding  that  the  latter    should  be   removed 

to    another    department   more    suited    to    his    talents. 

The    responsibility    for     keeping    the     incident     from 

Ca-tlereagh    rested    with    the    Duke    of    Portland    and 

the    senior    members   of   the    Cahinet.     Thev    acted   in 

common    in    the   matter,    and    theirs    was  the  duty  of 

conveying  to  the  War  Secretary  the  decision  come  to. 

Prolsibly    they    would     have    done     so    had    not    some 

mi8Chief-m»kei     divulged      the     transaction,    representing  From  a  print  publMcdinim. 

Canning    in    an    unfavourable    light.       A    few  words  of  ,  \\MN<;. 

explanation   would  easily   have   smoothed   matters;  but  Th.  eminent  .tatennan  a.  a  young  man. 


From  a*  t»f raring  a,n<r  flu  picture  by  Sir  Joilnm  Reynold!,  P.R.A. 

THE   lU'KE  OP  PORTLAND. 

The  third  doke,  and  a  prominent  itntoman  who  twice  filled  the  office  of 
Prime  Minuter. 


From  the  painting  by  J.  Lotudate  in  t/u  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

LORD   BROUGHAM, 
The  celebrated  statesman  and  jurist,  who  was  a  leading  figure  in  the  public  life  of  the  early  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

203 


2O4 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE   BEV.    SYI'MIY   SMITH, 
Wit  and  political  writer  ;  •  kMO  opponent  of  Canning  and  UU  i»licy. 

satisfied     after     receiving     satisfaction     than 
before." 

Asa  consequence  of  this  unhappy  occur- 
rence, Uith  Canning  and  Castlereagh  retired 
from  othYe.  and  very  shortly  afterwards  the 
Ministry  completely  broke  up.  The  new 
(mveriiment.  of  which  I'eivcval  was  theliead, 
was  remarkalile  chiefly  for  the  inclusion  within 
its  ranks  of  two  young  men  destined  to  win 
renown  ii|x>n  the  Parliamentary  stage.  These 
wen-  l»rd  I'alinerston,  who  in  his  twenty- 
fifth  year  became  Secretary  for  War,  and 
Koliert  I'eel,  who  at  twenty-three  was  called 
ii|M>n  to  (ill  the  | ni-it inn  of  Under  Secretary 
for  the  Colonies.  For  seven  years  Canning 
remained  in  the  cold  shades  of  Opjwsition. 
When  lie  again  took  his  seat  on  the  Treasury 
Henrh  it  was  at  the  call  of  the  Karl  of 
LiverjxMil,  in  IKK!,  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
President  of  the  Hoard  of  Control,  lie  had 
U-en  rei-oiieiled  t.i  Ca-tlereagh  some  time 
previously,  and  had  subjected  himself  to  much 
criticism  by  accepting  at  his  hands  the  \K>-\ 
of  Amliassador  to  Portugal,  wit li  an  extravagant 
allowance.  These  atta.-ks  were  revived  now 


when  Ca-tlereagh,  with  charaetei  isi  i.- 
iiujx-tuosjty,  addressed  an  indignant  letter 
charging  liim  with  duplicity  and  demand- 
ing satisfaction.  Canning,  in  accordance 
with  the  code  of  honour  of  the  time, 
felt  that  he  had  no  alternative  but  t.i 
accept  the  challenge  which  was  given. 
The  meeting  took  pla.-e  in  early  morning 
on  Septemlx-r  21st,  1809,  the  Karl  o| 
Variuonth  acting  as  Cast  Icreagh's  secoml. 

and  .Mr.  Ellis Bappotting Canning.    Taking 

their  ground,  the  antagonists  liivd  and 
missed,  and  no  explanation  being  given, 
they  tired  a  second  time,  with  the  result 
that  Canning  was  wounded  in  the 
thigh.  Vet  a  further  shot  would  have 
Itcen  delivered  had  not  the  second-, 
-eeiug  the  blood  flowing  from  Canning's 
wound,  intervened.  The  parties  si  i 
ated  with  their  animosity  little,  if  at 
all.  allayed — on  Custlcreagh's  part,  at 
all  events.  This  circumstance  was  ac- 
counted for  by  Sheridan  in  his  own 
delightful  fashion.  ••  Castlereagh.''  he 
observed,  "is  an  Irishman  even  in  hi- 
quarrels,  for  he  was  not  a  whit  more 


"A  BOX  OP  USEFUL   KNOWI.KI" 
A  caricature  genially  latiriiing  Brongbani'i  many-aided  qualities. 


frvm  a  mezzotint  aJ'Ur  the  painting  by  air  Thomas  Lawrence,  P.H.A. 

TUB   KIGHT   HON.   GEORGE  CANNING. 

A  mature  portrait  of  the  famous  statesman  and  orator,  whose  administration  of  foreign  affairs  constitutes  a  memorable  epoch  in  political  history . 

205 


206 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


that  Canning  had  yet  more  directly  siiUmliimted  himself  to  hi-  old  enemy.  Mis  reputat  i..n 
wm»  certainly  ii"t  enhanced  l>y  a^.x-iation  with  the  blundering  of  the  Liver|xxil  Cabinet;  ami 
when  (juet-n  Caroline,  to  the  great  dUcomtit lire  nf  the  Ciovernnieiit.  returned  to  Kngland  from 
Italy  in  ISL'U  to  fa.-e  h.-r  accii-er-.  and  the  preliminary  .-teps  for  her  trial  were-  taken,  he 
availed  him-4'lf  of  the  op|>ortunity  of  retirement.  His  withdrawal  from  arthe  official  work  «.-i- 
n.it  of  lung  iliiratinn.  In  .laniiary.  \X'2'2.  when  alx.nt  to  start  for  India  to  take  ii]>  the  (iovenior- 
<M-ncralshi]>— a  IXIMIJOII  ln:iny  \.-ars  later  to  lx-  filled  under  memorable  circumstance-,  by  his 
xin — he  was  ml  led  UJKHI.  by  the  suicide  of  his  old  nntagoni-t  CaMlereagh  (then  Marquis  of 
l^ondonderiv  ).  to  take  over  the  Foreign  Secretary>hip.  Alnu»t.  at  once  he  was  plunged  into 
the  \oiie\  of  a  tierce  |>arty  >trife  over  the  question  of  Catholic  emancipation.  A  bill  brought 
in  to  relieve  Roman  Catholic  ]>cers  from  their  disability  to  sit  and  vote  in  t!ie  lloii>e  of  I»rds 
found  in  him  an  elo«|iient  sti|>i>orter.  and  it  was  carried  by  small  majorities  through  the  Ibm-i- 
of  Commons,  only,  however,  to  be  rejected  by  the  Peers.  It  was  considered  by  the  friends  of 
the  Catholic  juirty  that  Canning  had  not  displayed  that  ardour  on  their  Itelialf  which,  from  his 

pre\iou>ly    expressed    opinions    on    the  subject,  they  had  a  right  to   expect.      As  an  outco f 

this  feeling  a  debate  \\a>  rai>ed  in  the  Mouse  of  Commons  on  April  17th,  1823,  and  the  Minister 
«a-  \iolently  attacked.  Then  ensued  one  of  those  memorable  ••  >cenes  "  which  are  pictureMjiii- 
landmark^  in  Parliament's  history.  It  came  about  in  this  fashion. 

Brougham   made  a  virulent   sj>eedi,  in  the  course  of  which,  amid  other  flowers  of  rhetoric, 
lie    .-j>oke   of  Canning   as    having   "exhibited    a  most   incredible    sjiecimen    of  the    mo-t    mon- 

r-trous  truckling,  for  the  pur- 
por-e  of  obtaining  ottice.  that 
the  whole  hi.-tory  of  jiolitical 
tergiversation  could  fnrni>h." 
Stung  to  the  quick  by  this 
accu>atioii  of  ignoble  trimming 
— an  accusation  which  was 
the  more  unbearable  UTHUM- 
it  was  so  entirely  unjust  — 
Canning,  in  a  white  heat  of 
anger,  jumped  to  his  feet  and 
exclaimed,  "That  is  false." 
The  direct  lie.  given  in  any 
quarter  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  is  a  startling  t  hing  : 
but  when  it  comes  from  one 
of  the  highest  .Ministers  of 
the  Crown  it  is  a  grave 
breach  of  decorum  indeed.  A 
deep  hush  fell  upon  the 
House.  At  length  the  Speaker. 
slowly  ri.-ing,  said  in  a  low 
tone  he  hoped  the  right 
honourable  Secretary  would 
retract  the  expression  he  had 
used.  Such  language,  he  said, 
vva-  a  complete  violation  of 

the  coatome  and  orders  of  the 

House,  and   he   regretted  that, 

even   in   haste,   it    should   have 
.  tlit  painting  by  yir  Tlioaua  Laicrtnee  in  t*<  Kational  Pvrtnut  OaUery. 

TUB  VAB4CIH  OF   LONDONDKRItY,   HKTTKIl    KNOWN   AS   LORD  CASTLEEEAOH,  beell  0860.       I  allll  lllg  e.\  pri»eil 

AtoD.  tlm.»  bitUrrirtJof  CMinlng,  with  «hom  h«  fonght*  duel  on  Pulney  llmth.  big    Mirr.ivv    at    having  infringed 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's — The    Nineteenth    Century      207 


THE    HOUSE    OP    LORDS    AS    FITTED    UP    IS    1835    AFTER      THE  HOUSE  OP  COMMONS  AS   FITTED   UP   IN    1835   AFTEK 
THE   FIRE.  THE   FIRE. 

the  decencies  of  debate,  but  said  that  no  consideration  on  earth  should  induce  him  to  retract  the 
sentiment.  A  prolonged  and  animated  discussion  ensued,  leading  to  a  motion  that  both  Canning 
and  Brougham  should  be  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  Sergeant-at-Arms.  Brougham  strongly 
opposed  this,  maintaining  that  he  had  committed  no  offence,  and  that  to  take  such  a  step  as 
that  proposed  would  be  a  flagrant  violation  of  the  principles  of  justice.  He  found  supporters 
for  his  view  in  various  parts  of  the  House,  and  Canning  also  had  his  champions.  At  length 
a  happy  way  out  of  the  impasse  was  found  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  motion,  and  by  mutual 
explanations  and  a  promise  on  the  part  of  both  statesmen  "to  think  no  more  of  it." 

It  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  this  undignified  squabble,  which  reflected  so  little  credit  on  either 
of  the  principal  j«irties  to  it,  to  an  episode  some  three  years  later  in  which  Canning  displayed 
all  his  finest  qualities  as  a  statesman  and  an  orator.  The  occasion  was  a  debate  on  the 
threatened  aggression  of  Spain  upon  Portugal.  In  his  capacity  of  Foreign  Secretary  Canning 
was  called  upon  to  elucidate  the  Ministerial  policy.  He  did  so  in  a  speech  which  lives  amongst 
the  masterpieces  of  Parliamentary  oratory.  Time  lias  divested  the  subject-matter  of  this 
splendid  pronouncement  of  much  of  its  interest  for  modern  readers,  but  its  singular  grace  of 
style,  nobility  of  sentiment,  and  clearness  of  thought  and  expression  give  it  still  a  charm  for 
all  who  appreciate  eloquence.  One  passage  in  the  speech  has  become  classic.  It  is  that  in 
which  Canning,  with  the  far-sightedness  which  was  the  chief  characteristic  of  his  direction  of 
foreign  policy,  anticipated  the  rise  of  the  new  great  Power  in  the  West.  "  If  France,"  he 
said,  "occupied  Spain,  was  it  necessary,  in  order  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  that  occupation, 
that  we  should  blockade  Cadiz  ?  No.  I  looked  another  way ;  I  sought  materials  of  compen- 
sation in  another  hemisphere.  Contemplating  Spain,  such  as  our  ancestors  had  known  her,  I 
resolved  that  if  France  had  Spain,  it  should  not  be  'Spain  with  the  Indies.'  I  called  the 
New  World  into  existence  to  redress  the  balance  of  the  Old." 


208 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


A  tremendous    impre-sion  was  made 
by     tliis     s|>eech,     and     (lie     effect     wa- 

heighte 1  I iv  an  i>i|iially  [Miweilul   second 

speech  which  Canning  delivered  tin-  same 
c\  filing    in     reply     to     some     criticisms 

Which    Were    passed     I1]H)I1     till'    <io\ernllient 

policy.  One1  \vlio  \va-  present  de-crilies 
the  seiixitions  which  wen-  produced  by 
this  remarkable  display  of  oraturv.  ••  It 
\\a-  an  e|xich."  In'  -ay-,  "in  a  man's  life 
to  have  heard  him.  .  .  .  Ilea\en-l  He 
surpassed  even  himself.  The  chaste 
elegance,  the  graceful  simplicity,  the 
harmonious  tones  of  his  opening  speech, 
and  the  sublime  energy  of  his  replv. 
will  haunt  me  to  my  grave.  What  a 
hurst  of  feeling  when  he  sjioke  of  the 
1'ort  uguese  Charter  !  I  shall  never  for. 
the  deep  earnestness  of  his  tone  and 
the  blaze  of  glory  that  seemed  to  light 
up  his  features.  lie  was  equally  grind 
when  in  his  reply  lie  said:  -I  do  nol 
believe  that  tlii'i-e  is  that  Spain  of  which 
our  ancestors  were  so  justly  jealous,  that 
Spain  upon  whose  territories  it  proudly 
boasted  that  the  sun  never  set.'  Hut 
when,  in  the  style  and  manner  of 
Chat  ham.  he  said:  'I  looked  to  Spain 
with  the  Indies.  I  called  a  New  World  into 
existence  to  redress  the  balance  of  tin- 
Old.'  the  effect  was  actually  terrific.  It 
was  as  if  every  man  in  the  House  had 
been  electrified.  Tierney.  who  before- 
that  was  shifting  in  his  seat,  and  taking 
off  his  hat  and  putting  it  on  again. 
taking  large  and  frequent  pinches  of  snuff,  and  turning  from  side  to  side  till,  I  suppose,  he 
wore  hi-  breeches  through,  seemed  petrified,  and  sat  fixed  and  staring  with  hi-  mouth  wide 
ojM-n  for  half  a  minute.  Mr.  Canning  seemed  actually  to  have  increased  in  stature,  his  attitude 
was  so  majestic.  I  remarked  his  flourishes  were  made  with  the  left  arm.  The  effect  was  new 
and  l>eautiful  ;  his  chest  heaved  and  expanded,  his  nostril  dilated,  a  noble  pride  -lightly  curled 
his  lip,  and  age  and  sickness  were  dissolved  and  forgotten  in  the  ardour  of  youthful  genius. 
All  the  while  serenity  sat  on  his  brow,  that  jiointed  to  deeds  of  glory."  .Making  every  allowance 
for  the  natural  extravagance  of  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  state-man,  this  vivid  description 
clearly  shows  that  the  oratory  had  an  extraordinary  effect  on  those  who  heard  it.  As  much, 
indeed,  is  proved  by  the  more  prosaic  records  of  Hansard,  which  show  that  I'rougham,  none  too 
friendly  a  critic,  s]ioke  of  Canning  having  displayed  "a  degree  of  fervour  unprecedented  in 
effect,  even  U-yonil  the  right  honourable  gentleman's  former  most  eloquent  orations." 

Canning's  i>osition  in  the  House  now  became  one  of  commanding  influence,  and  when  in 
April.  1827.  the  Earl  of  Livcqiool  resigned,  it  was  the  most  natural  thing  for  the  King  to  send 
for  him  to  form  a  (ioveinmcnt.  Though  Wellington.  IVel.  and  Kldon  refused  to  join  him.  he 
was  able  to  get  together  a  fairly  strong  combination,  in  which  Lord  I'almerston  figured  as 

1  "  Diary  of  an  M.P." 


from  on  t*gm*i»f  itfter  (A<  pictun  t'»  F.  Cruicttliant. 

VI  SCI  if  NT    I-AI.MKKSTON. 
Ai  *  iUUunan,  noted  for  bU  firm  and  moluto  foreign  jioliqr. 


from  an  enyravinff  aj'Ur  the  portrait  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  P.R.A, 

SIR  EGBERT   PEEL. 

An  early  portrait  of  the  distinguished  statesman  who,  during  an  active  political  career  of  forty  years,  was  closely  associated  with  the  passing  of 

several  great  measures,  notably  the  Bill  for  the  Repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws. 

209  27 


210 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Foreign  Secretary.  But  IIP  did  not  live  long  to  enjoy 
l.i«  triumph.  S-ized  with  illness  in  the  middle  <>f 
July,  In-  retired  to  the  l>uke  of  Devon-hire's  villa 

nt    ChNwick    to    reciijMTnlp,    and    expired    ther i 

August  Gth  in  the  same  room  in  which  Fox  had 
breathed  Iiis  lu>t.  He  found  a  lust  resting-place  in 
W«hnin«ter  Abbey,  at  the  foot  of  the  grave  of  1'jtt. 
to  whom  he  owed  so  much  in  life. 

Amongst  the  great  orators  whom  St.  Stephen'* 
Chapel  knew,  there  are  few  who  take  a  higher  place 
than  (.'aiming.  Endowed  with  a  fine  proencc.  great 
intellectual  attainment*,  and  a  voice  whose  melli- 
Huous  tunes  needed  only  to  be  heard  to  charm. 
he  dominated  the  popular  assembly  with  rare 
jiower.  When  nt  his  best,  none  of  his  cunt  em 
)H>raries  could  approach  him  in  eloquence  and  easy 
flow  of  language.  The  sentences  welled  forth  in  a 
bright,  sparkling  stream,  arresting  attention  by  their 
purity  and  fascinating  beauty.  He  was  gifted  with 
a  pleasing  wit,  which  In-  exerci.-ed  with  telling  effect 
when  the  occasion  called  for  the  light  treatment  of 
a  subject.  A  more  attractive  personality  altogether 
never  appeared  in  English  public  life. 


LORD   1  I.I.',-,, 
The  well-known  Lord  Chancellor,  in  hii  coronation  robe,  and  attended  bj  hb  page. 


from  ll,t portrait  by  Sir  Thouuu  laiemce,  PJl.A. 
Till:  DUKE  OF  WKM.lXCTiiX. 

Who  on  two  succMaive  oocaalona—  in  1828am!  again  in  1834- 
fillod  the  office  of  Premier. 


This  survey  of  the 
peri(*l    during    which 
< 'aiming    swayed    tin- 
House     of     Commons 
would  not  be  adequate 
without  some  further 
reference     to    Broug- 
ham, his  great  political 
rival    and    antagonist. 
Like  Canning,  lining 
ham    entered    Parlia- 
ment   through  aristo- 
cratic patronage. 
His    sponsor   was  the 
Duke  of  Bedford,  \vlio. 
struck  with  his  talents. 
offered  him  a  seat  for 
his  Iwrough  of  Camel- 
ford.       Entering    the 
House    of    Commons 
in  the  year  1810.  tin- 
young  politician,  after 
a      somewhat     disap- 
pointing first   appear- 
ance, pushed   his  wav 
to    the    front    by   the 
force  of  a  vigorous  in- 
tellect operat  ing  under 
conditions    favourable 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's — The    Nineteenth    Century       211 


to  the  display  of  ability.  Industry  and 
perseverance  then,  as  subsequently,  were 
the  distinguishing  traits  of  his  character. 
Scarcely  a  night  passed  without  his  making 
a  contribution  to  the  debate.  Sometimes 
he  missed  his  mark,  as  the  ever  inde- 
fatigable orator  is  likely  to  do  ;  but  he 
more  often  succeeded  in  winning  that 
kind  of  fame  which  is  the  meed  of 
the  Parliamentarian  who  can  without 
preparation  intervene  effectively  in  the 
ordinary  discussions  of  the  House.  In 
this  way  stamping  his  individuality  upon 
the  popular  chamber,  he  came  in  a  few 
years  to  be  regarded  as  a  man  to  whom 
great  things  were  possible. 

Brougham  found  his  great  oppor- 
tunity in  the  troubles  of  Queen  Caroline. 
That  flightiest  find  indiscreetest  of  Prin- 
cesses early  enlisted  the  services  of  the 
brilliant  young  lawyer-politician  as  her 
attorney-general,  and  in  this  capacity 
he  was  called  upon  to  undertake  her 
defence  when,  on  her  return  to  England 
in  1820,  on  the  accession  of  George  IV.. 
she  was  confronted  with  the  gravest  of 
accusations  that  can  be  brought  against 

a     Wife.       Brougham     threw     himself    With 

characteristic  ardour  and  energy  into  the 
defence.  With  remarkable  ability  he  championed  the  Queen's  interests  in  the  exciting  dis- 
cus-ions which  accompanied  her  appearance  in  London,  and  when,  after  abortive  attempts  to 
patch  up  some  understanding,  Lord  Liverpool's  Government  introduced  in  the  House  of  Lords 
the  famous  Bill  of  Pains  and  Penalties,  depriving  the  Queen  of  her  Royal  state  and  annulling 
her  marriage,  he  assumed  the  duties  of  chief  advocate  with  the  determination  to  make  the 
most  of  the  opportunities  which  the  case  afforded  for  forensic  display. 

At  this  time  of  day  it  is  difficult  to  realise  the  tremendous  excitement  which  the  proceedings 
against  the  unfortunate  Queen  aroused  throughout  the  country.  The  City  exuberantly  espoused 
her  cause,  as  did  many  popular  bodies  throughout  the  country.  Vast,  cheering  crowds  attended 
her  public  appearances,  and  the  streets  about  her  residence  were  choked  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  twenty-four  hours  bv  her  supporters.  So  menacing  was  the  aspect  of  affairs  as 
the  day  of  the  opening  of  the  trial  approached,  that  troops  from  all  parts  of  the  country  were 
drafted  to  the  metropolis  and  its  vicinity.  At  the  Houses  of  Parliament  extraordinary  precautions 
were  taken  against  a  popular  outbreak.  A  gunboat  was  moored  in  the  river  opposite  to  the 
House  in  the  Cotton  Green,  in  which  the  witnesses  in  the  trial  were  lodged,  and  detachments 
of  soldiers  were  posted  in  rooms  and  lobbies  around  the  Peers'  chamber.  The  Queen's 
passage  through  the  streets  from  St.  James's  Square,  where  she  was  temporarily  residing,  to  the 
Palace  of  Westminster  was  a  triumphal  progress.  The  popular  fervour  approached  delirium. 
At  imminent  risk  of  their  lives,  women  and  children  clung  to  the  wheels  of  her  carriage.  The 
air  was  rent  with  shouts  of  mingled  indignation  and  encouragement.  On  all  hands  there  were 
demonstrations  of  sympathy  and  respect.  Arriving  at  the  House  of  Lords  the  Queen,  with  erect 
mien  and  radiant  countenance,  was  handed  from  her  carriage  by  the  Usher  of  Black  Rod,  Sir 
Thomas  Tyrrwhytt.  "Well,  Sir  Thomas,"  she  said  lightly,  "here  I  am  again,  and  here  I  shall 


/Vow  a  2*aintiiif/  by  G'twcye  HtcUntuiia, 

WILLIAM  WILBERFORCE, 

Philanthropist  and  politician,  who  took  a  leading  part  in  the  movement  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery. 


212 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


remain  until  the  day  of  judgment."  In  the 
Peers'  clmmlx-r  itself  she  was  received  with 
«-very  mark  of  ivapect.  The  Peers  all  ro-e  mi 
her  entrance,  and  remained  standing  until 
she  ha<l  taken  her  seat  on  tlu*  chair  of  state. 
Hut  that  the  feeling  against  her  was  very 
strong  was  shown  early  in  tin-  proceedings 
l»y  the  vote  given  ujx>n  a  motion  by  the 
Duke  of  I/einster  for  the  n'scinding  of  the 
order  for  the  second  reading.  For  this  motion 
only  41  j>eers  ventured  to  vote,  while  there 
were  no  fewer  than  206  against  it.  Several 
days  were  occupied  in  hearing  the  opening 
statement  for  the  prosecution  and  the 
evidence  of  the  witnesses — chiefly  Italian 
servants  employed  by  the  Queen  during  her 
May  in  Italy.  One  dramatic  incident  marked 
these  earlier  proceedings.  When  Theodore 
Majocchi,  on  whose  testimony  the  King's 
counsel  chiefly  relied  to  establish  the  Queen's 
guilt,  stepped  into  the  witness  box,  her 
Majesty  cast  on  him  a  look  of  strong 
reproach,  and  muttering  a  poignant  cry, 
darted  out  of  the  chamber;  for  the  most 
jiart,  however,  the  trial  took  a  normal  course. 
In  o]>ening  the  Queen's  case  Brougham 


LORD   ERSKINK, 
Who  wu  Lord  Chancellor  In  "The  Ministry  of  All  the  TalenU." 


Waytman  dtl. 

QUEEN  CAROM  NK. 

From  a  portrait  taken  about  the  time  of  her  trial. 

made  a  great  speech,  which  lasted  two  days. 
It  was  a  masterly  analysis  of  the  whole  of 
the  evidence,  with  a  presentation  of  the 
Queen's  case  which  wanted  nothing  in  elo- 
quence, argumentative  force,  or  thoroughness. 
The  impression  it  made  on  the  Peers  was 
very  great,  and  in  the  country  it  helped  to 
elevate  the  Queen  to  a  yet  higher  pedestal 
of  popularity.  The  end  of  the  protracted 
business  did  not  come  until  November.  On 
the  6th  of  that  month  a  division  was  taken 
on  the  question  of  the  second  reading  of 
the  bill,  with  the  result  that  a  majority  of 
twenty-eight  only  was  registered  in  its  favour. 
On  the  third  reading,  which  was  called  on 
November  10th,  this  majority  was  further 
reduced  to  nine.  Deeming  that  discretion 
was  the  better  part  of  valour,  Lord  I,iver]«>ol 
immediately  announced  the  intention  of  the 
Government  to  abandon  the  measure.  This 
declaration  elicited  froni  the  venerable  I/,r.l 
Krskine  an  affecting  speech,  in  which  he 
spoke  of  his  strength  being  "renovated  and 
repaired"  by  the  end  of  that  "horrid 
and  portentous  excrescence  of  a  new  law, 


213 


214 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


n-tnwppctive,  iniquitous  and    oppn—i\e."     This    feeling   was    re-echoed    in    the   country,    where 
the  moat   unrestrained  iejoicim;«  wre  indulged  in  at.  tin-  practical  acquittal  of  the   (Jueen. 

An  a  result  of  the  trial.  Brougham's  portion  in  Parliament  and  in  tin-  country  was 
enormously  strengthened.  When  Canning  became  Premier,  he  s-howed  hi-  appreciation  of  his 
old  rival')*  talents  by  ottering  him  the  i>ost  of  Chief  Baron  of  the  Kxeheiiner.  Brougham. 
however,  was  not  at  all  anxious  to  exchange  his  ]>olitical  position  even  for  so  exalted  an  otli.-c. 
He  declined  the  oiler,  urging  as  a  reason  that  it  would  prevent  his  sitting  in  Parliament. 
"True,"  observed  Canning,  "hut  you  will  then  lie  only  one  stage  from  the  Woolsack."  -V. 
i. -plied  Hroiiglmm.  "but  the  horses  will  l>e  oft'."  In  the  Hou-e  of  Common-  Brougham 
remained  fora  gixnl  many  years  longer,  rising  steadily  higher  in  ]«opular  estimation.  His 
talent  for  oratorv  found  several  notahle  occasions  for  display  during  this  period.  Ainong.-t  his 
most  remarkalile  efforts  was  a  speech  delivered  on  law  reform  in  February.  1828.  For  >ix 
hours  the  onitor  held  the  attention  of  the  House  while  lie  poured  forth  a  ma-s  of  erudition 
clothed  in  the  mo-t  felicitous  language.  It  was  said  afterwards  by  a  writer  in  the  (Jm ni<-,-l</ 
llrrlrn'  that,  "directly  or  indirectly,  it  has  probably  led  to  a  greater  numlier  of  important  and 
It-iH-ticial  re>ults  than  any  other  sjiccch.  ancient  or  modern.''  lint  if  Lord  Brougham  could  be 
M-rious  and  .-tate~manlike.  he  could  also  on  occasion  play  the  part  of  the  swashbuckler. 
\Ve  have  already  seen  how  he  demeaned  himself  in  the  episode  with  Canning.  A  ><>ni.-- 
what  similar  incident  occurred  in  1830,  when  on  very  small  provocation  Brougham  in  the 
si\age>t  manner  attacked  the  Wellington  Ministry.  Concluding  a  long  tirade,  lie  stretched 
out  his  long  thin  arm  and.  jtointing  in  the  direction  of  the  Treasury  Bench,  said:  "I 
accuse  you.  I  accuse  his  flatterers — those  mean,  fawning  ^trashes —  Here  Sir  U.ihert 

Peel    ror-c    and    demanded    to    know    if    Brougham    included    him    in    the    category    of    "those 
fawning  jwrasites."     Brougham,  thus  challenged,  made  a  grudging  apology,  and  so  the  incident 

terminated. 

1  )espit  e  his  faults  of  temper,  Brougham 
was  immensely  popular,  and  had  a  hold 
on  the  country  the  like  of  which  was 
possessed  by  none  of  his  contemporaries. 
save  Canning.  It  was  to  this  fact.  <|iiite 
as  much  as  to  his  great  legal  abilities. 
that  he  owed  his  elevation  to  the  Lord 
Chancellorship.  Brougham  himself  tells 
the  story  in  his  "Life  and  Times."  He 
mentions  that  he  was  offered  the 
Attorney-Generalship,  and  that  he  rei'u-e.l 
the  post,  expressing  a  willingness  to 
take  the  Mastership  of  the  Kolls.  which 
then  could  conjointly  be  held  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  To  this  Ixith  the 
King  and  the  Ministers  objected.  The 
King,  however,  asked  if  the  (ireat  Seal 
had  been  offered  to  him.  and  on  I.«nl 
(irey  (the  Premier)  replying  that  it  had 
not,  because  he  anticipated  an  objection 
from  his  Majesty,  the  King  intimated 
that  there  was  no  one  he  would  rather 
have  for  his  Chancellor.  Thereupon  tin- 
offer  of  the  Woolsack  was  made  and 
accepted.  I'rongham  says  that  the  King 
once  or  twici;. afterwards  "alluded  to  this 
when  in  particularly  good  humour,  and 


*t**j-,  '•./;..!. 

KAIlI.   <!KKY, 
onlDMit  Whig  •UIMOUII.  who,  M  TrwiiUr,  lntro,lo«d  the  flnt  Inform  Bill. 


Memories    of    St.    Stephen's — The    Nineteenth    Century      215 


QUEEN  CAROLINE   KETURMXG   FROM   THE   HOUSE  OP  LORDS   AFTER   HER  TRIAL, 
Amid  the  acclamations  of  crowds  of  admirers. 

called  me  his  Chancellor  as  named  by  himself,  and  not  by  my  colleagues."  "  In  fact,"  adds 
Brougham,  "I  more  than  suspect  that  the  Tories,  on  going  out,  warned  him  not  to  leave  me 
in  the  Commons,  member  for  Yorkshire,  chief  of  the  Popular  party,  and  irremovable  Master 
of  the  Rolls." 

The  final  years  of  this  story  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  will  ever  be  memorable  for  the 
stormy  debates  and  incidents  which  took  place  there  on  the  question  of  Reform.  At  the 
time  the  popular  excitement  rose  to  fever  heat.  The  whole  country  hung  on  the  words 
spoken  at  Westminster.  It  was  universally  felt  that  upon  the  issue  of  the  great  crisis  depended 
the  prosperity,  and  not  improbably  also  the  peace,  of  the  country.  There  is  no  call  here  to 
trace  in  detail  the  history  of  the  great  movement  which  culminated  in  the  peaceful  revolution 
of  1832.  But  as  final  reminiscences  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  we  may  appropriately  refer  to 
some  of  the  more  striking  episodes  which  marked  the  Parliamentary  debates  on  the  subject. 

The  passing  of  the  second  reading  of  the  first  bill  on  March  21st,  1831,  was  one  of  the 
great  landmarks  in  the  struggle.  Macaulay's  pen  has  left  us  a  picture  of  the  House  on  the 
eventful  evening  which  ranks  amongst  the  most  vivid  descriptions  we  have  of  historic  events 
in  Parliament.  "  Such  a  scene  as  the  division  of  last  Tuesday,"  says  the  historian,  in  a 
letter  to  his  friend  Ellis  on  March  30th,  "  I  never  saw,  and  never  expect  to  see  again.  If 
I  should  live  fifty  years,  the  impression  will  be  as  fresh  and  sharp  in  my  mind  as  if  it  had 
just  taken  place.  It  was  like  seeing  Caesar  stabbed  in  the  Senate  House,  or  seeing  Oliver 
taking  the  mace  from  the  table;  a  sight  to  be  seen  only  once  and  never  to  be  forgotten. 
The  crowd  overflowed  the  House  in  every  part.  When  the  strangers  were  cleared  out 
and  the  doors  were  locked,  we  had  608  members  present — more  by  fifty-five  than  ever  were 


216 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


in  a  division  before. 
Tin-  ayes  and  the  iioes 
were  like  two  volle\s 
of  cannon  from  opposite 
sides  of  a  field  of  butt  If. 
When  tlif  Op]>osition 
wf nt  out  into  the  Lobby, 
an  operation  whicli  took 
up  twfiity  minute-  or 
more,  we  spread  our- 
selves o\er  tin-  lifiiclifs 
on  both  sides  of  the 
House;  for  there  were 
many  of  us  who  wen- 
not  able  to  find  a  seat 
during  tin-  evening. 

••  \Vlien  the  dour- 
were  shut,  we  began  to 
speculate  on  our  mmilx'i>. 
K\eryl>otly  was  de-]»>nd- 
ing.  '\Ve  have  lost  it. 
We  are  only  280  at  most. 
I  do  not  think  we  are 
250.  They  are  300. 
Alderman  Thompson  has 
counted  them.  He  -ay- 
they  are  299.'  This 
was  the  talk  on  our 
benches.  ...  I  had  no 
hope,  however,  of  300. 
As  the  tellers  passed 
along  our  lowest  row  on 
the  left-hand  side  the 
interest  was  insupportable 
—291,  292— we  were  all  standing  up  and  stretching  forward,  telling  with  the  tellers.  At  300 
there  was  a  short  cry  of  joy,  at  302  another,  suppressed,  however,  in  a  moment,  for  we 
did  not  know  what  the  hostile  force  might  be.  We  knew,  however,  that  we  could  not  be 
severely  beaten. 

"The  doors  were  thrown  open,  and  in  they  came.  Each  as  he  entered  brought  some 
different  report  of  their  numbers.  .  .  .  We  were  all  breathless  when  Charles  Wood,  who 
stood  near  the  door,  jumped  on  a  bench  and  cried  out,  'They  are  only  301.'  We  set  up  a 
shout  that  you  might  have  heard  to  Charing  Cross,  waving  our  hats,  stamping  on  the  floor, 
and  chipping  our  hands.  The  tellers  scarcely  got  through  the  crowd,  for  the  House  was 
thronged  up  to  the  table,  and  all  the  floor  was  fluctuating  with  heads  like  the  pit  of  a 
theatre.  Hut  you  might  have  heard  a  pin  drop  as  Duncannon  read  the  nuinln-rs.  Then 
again  the  shouts  broke  out,  and  many  of  us  shed  tears.  I  could  scarcely  refrain.  And  tin- 
jaw  of  1'eel  fell;  and  the  face  of  Twiss  was  as  the  face  of  a  damned  soul;  and  Herries  looked 
like  Judas  taking  his  necktie  off  for  the  last  operation.  We  shook  hands  and  clapped  each 
other  on  the  back,  and  went  out  laughing,  crying,  and  hu/.zaing  into  the  Lobby.  And  no 
sooner  were  the  doors  opened  than  another  shout  answered  that  within  the  House.  All  the 
passages  and  stairs  into  the  waiting-rooms  were  thronged  by  people  who  had  waited  till  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  to  know  the  issue.  We  passed  through  a  narrow  lane  between  two 


'•THE   HOUSE  WOT   KEEPS   BAD   HOURS. 
Dedimttd  irilh  all  due  rttpect  to  Sir  Charltt  It'eatheratl." 

A  caricature  by  Doyle  illustrative  of  an  inveterate  bad  habit  of  the  Hotue,  and  commemorating  an 
occuion  ui«m  which  a  sitting  lasted  from  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  until  seven  o'clock  the  following 
morointf. 


From  a  draicing  by  A.  D.  McC&rtniclc. 

THK  CAItRYING   OF  THE  SECOND   BEADING   OF  THE   FIBST   REFORM    BILL   IX   THE   HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 
Bj  a  majority  of  one  in  a  House  of  608  members,  the  measure  passed  its  second  reading  on  March  21st,  18SI,  amid  a  scene  of  intense  excitement. 

217  28 


218 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


"BRINGING   UP   oril    III  1. 1,." 

A  contemporary  caricature  by  a  well-known  hand  representing  Lord  Althorp,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Kicheqncr  in  EarlGrey'a  Adini 
handing  over  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  (Lord  Brougham)  in  the  House  of  Lord*  the  second  Reform  Hill.     Most  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
Reform  party  In  the  Home  of  Commons  are  represented  in  the  picture. 

thick  masses  of  them;  and  all  the  way  down  they  were  shouting  and  waving  their  hats,  till 
we  got  into  the  open  air.  I  railed  a  cabriolet,  and  the  first  thing  the  driver  asked  was.  -Is 
the  bill  carried?'  •  Yes.  by  one.'  'Thank  God  for  it,  sir!'  And  away  I  rode  to  Gra\'-  Inn. 
And  so  ended  a  scene  which  will  probably  never  be  equalled  till  the  reformed  Parliament 
wants  reform." 

The  defeat  of  the  .Ministry  on  April  18th  on  an  important  amendment  in  Committee,  the 
abandonment  of  the  Bill,  and  the  infliction  of  a  second  defeat  lour  day,-  later  on  a  question 
of  adjournment,  led  up  to  a  demand  for  a  dissolution,  only  reluctantly  conceded  by  the  Kin;;. 
It  \va>  under  extraordinary  circumstances  that  the  final  act  was  taken,  "The  M-enes  which 
occurred  in  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament,"  >ays  Karl  Russell,  "so  far  as  I  was  a  witne-> 
to  them,  were  -.jugular  and  unprecedented,  Before  the  King  arrived  the  HOUM-  of  Conimon> 
was  assembled,  and  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  Sir  l-Yancj>  Burdett  rose  at  the  same  time  to  addre-> 
the  House.  Lord  Althorp,  amid  the  confusion  and  clamour  of  the  contending  parties,  following 
the  precedent  of  Mr.  Fox.  moved  that  Sir  1'Yancis  I'urdett  be  now  heard.  Sir  Robert  Peel,  on 
the  other  hand,  imitating  a  precedent  of  Lord  North,  said,  'And  I  rise  to  speak  to  the 
motion.'  But  instead  of  saying  a  few  words,  as  Lord  North  had  done,  to  put  an  end  to  all 
further  debate.  Sir  Hubert  Peel  quite  lost  his  temper,  and  in  tones  of  the  most  violent 
indignation  attacked  the  impending  dissolution.  As  he  went  on,  the  Tower  LMUI-  began  to 
fire,  to  announce  the  King's  anival,  and  as  each  discharge  was  heard,  a  loud  cheer  from  the 
Government  side  interrupted  Sir  Hubert  Peel's  declamation.  Sir  Henry  llardinge  was  heard 
to  exclaim,  'The  ne\t  time  those  guns  are  fired  they  will  be  shotted!'  Presently  we  were 
all  summoned  to  the  House  of  Ixmls,  where  the  King's  presence  had  put  a  stop  to  a  violent 
and  unseemly  discussion.  The  King,  in  his  speech,  announced  the  dissolution,  and  retired  to 
unrobe.  The  scene  that  followed  was  one  of  great  excitement  and  confusion." 


THE    REFORM   BILL   OP   1832   RECEIVING   THE   ROYAL  ASSENT   IX   THE    HOUSE  OP   LORDS. 
With  this  official  act  terminated  one  of  the  most  momentous  crises  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

219 


220 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Returning  to  the  House  of  Commons  on  June 
14th  enormously  strengthened,  the  Reform  jwirty 
immediately  proceeded  to  introduce  a  second  Reform 
Hill.  The  second  reading  was  carried  early  in 
July  by  a  majority  of  136,  and  after  protracted 
debates  in  Commit tee.  the  measure  passed  its  final 
stage  on  Septi-mluT  21st.  Its  subsequent  rejection 
in  the  House  of  Lords  by  a  majority  of  41  greatly 
exasjK-mted  the  country.  There  was  rioting  at 
many  centres,  and  the  position  of  affairs  became  so 
serious  that  the  Government  deemed  it  advisable 
to  take  measures  for  the  suppression  of  the  political 
organisations.  .Meanwhile  a  third  bill  was  draft. -.1. 
and  this  was  introduced  in  the  House  of  Commons 
on  December  12th  by  Lord  John  Russell.  A 
majority  of  102  was  cast  for  the  measure  on  the 
second  reading,  and  on  March  19th  it  ]>assed  its 
final  stage  by  a  majority  of  116.  Before  the  last 
division  was  taken,  Lord  John  Russell  made  an 
impressive  speech.  In  this  reference  was  made  to 
the  critical  character  of  the  times,  and  the  op- 
ponents of  reform  were  told  that  the  loss  of  the 
measure  must  result  in  a  bloody  conflict,  involving 
the  destruction  of  the  British  Constitution.  The 
warning  was  not  lost  upon  the  House  of  Lords. 
After  a  debate  extending  over  several  nights,  they 
on  April  14th  passed  the  second  reading  by  a 
majority  of  nine.  But  the  spirit  of  hostility  to 
the  legislation  was  too  strong  to  allow  the  bill  to  get  through  without  serious  curtailment  of 
its  provisions.  A  vital  amendment  carried  against  Ministers  precipitated  a  crisis.  For  a  time 
the  issues  of  civil  war  hung  in  the  balance.  At  length,  after  Ministers  had  resigned  and 
l«-en  recalled,  the  King  gave  written  permission  for  the  creation  of  a  sufficient  number  of 
peers,  if  necessary,  to  force  the  bill  through  unemasculated.  This,  accompanied  by  a  written 
ap|N-al  to  the  opj losing  peers  by  the  King,  was  decisive.  The  measure  passed  its  last  stage 
on  July  4th  by  a  majority  of  84,  in  a  House  of  no  more  than  128  members. 

The  days  of  the  old  unreformed  Parliament  were  now  numbered.  It  faded  into  history, 
lining  liehind  it.  with  the  recollection  of  some  failings,  many  great  and  inspiring  memories, 
and  a  record  which,  on  the  whole,  is  a  source  of  pride  to  every  true  patriot.  The  new  order 
of  Parliament-men  were  not  destined  to  sit  long  in  the  seats  of  the  mighty.  Less  than  two 
\ear.-  after  the  reformed  Parliament  held  its  first  sitting  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  was  involved  in 
the  general  ruin  worked  by  the  conflagration  of  October  16th,  1834. 


UEORGE  TROUT, 

A  well-known  nirMcnger  "'  the  lIonM  of  Cumiroai  of  the 
ml?  ]*rt  of  the  lut  century. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


THE  PRESS    GALLERY. 

IT  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  House  of  Commons  at  the  present  time  without  its  Press 
Gallery.  A  corporation  numbering  considerably  over  two  hundred  members,  possessing  an 
elaborate  organisation,  and  having  at  its  disposal  a  commodious  suite  of  dining,  smoking, 
and  writing  rooms,  it  fills  a  very  important  place  indeed  in  the  legislative  household.  Yet, 
singular  as  it  may  seem,  the  institution,  measured  by  the  standard  of  Parliamentary  time, 
is  quite  a  modern  one,  dating  very  little  farther  back  than  the  commencement  of  the  last 
reign.  There  were  Parliamentary  reporters  before  that  time,  it  is  true ;  but  they  were 
tolerated  rather  than  recognised,  and  sometimes,  as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  show,  the 
toleration  took  a  form  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  positive  prohibition. 

Dr.  Johnson  has  usually  been  regarded  as  the  Father  of  Parliamentary  reporters  of  the 
professional  class ;  but  the  honour  of  first  systematically  recording  debates  in  the  House  belongs 
to  Sir  Symonds  D'Ewes,  a  sturdy  old  Parliamentarian  who  flourished  in  Elizabethan  times. 
This  worthy,  with  an  industry  which  does  him  infinite  credit,  set  himself  to  note  down 
regularly  the  speeches  made  by  his  brother  members.  Amid  many  discouragements  the 
worthy  knight  performed  his  self-allotted  task  for  several  years,  and  the  fruits  of  his  labour 
have  come  down  to  us  in  several  portly  tomes.  Though  these  records  will  not  compare 
with  our  modern  Hansard's  in  fulness  and  accuracy,  they  yet  give  a  most  vivid  account 
of  Parliamentary  doings  in  those  remote  times,  the  pages  enshrining  scraps  of  elegance 
and  personal  details  which  are  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  historical  student. 

D'Ewes  had  several  successors  in  this  role  of  unofficial  Parliamentary  reporter.  Burton,  whose 

Diary  is  amongst  the  classics 
of  political  literature,  was 
of  these.  With  an 


one 

industry  not  inferior  to  that 
of  his  predecessor  in  the 
note-taking  line,  he  recorded 
the  doings  of  the  Common- 
wealth Parliaments,  thus 
supplying  to  posterity  an 
authentic  account  of  perhaps 
the  most  interesting  period 
in  the  life  of  Parliament. 
His  reporting  exercises  were 
not  free  from  embarrassment, 
and  even  a  certain  amount 
of  personal  risk.  At  that 
time  note-taking  was 
regarded  as  a  sin  of  a  heinous 
kind,  and  it  had  been  at- 
tended in  the  past  in  some 


HEAD  OF  A  NEWSPAPER  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

221 


222 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


with  very  heavy  jienalties.1  Burton,  therefore,  liad  to  pick  his  way  warily— now  conceal- 
ing his  notes  when  a  suspicious  member  was  near;  now  allowing  his  pencil  to  remain  idle 
throughout  an  nil  in-  Mtting.  for  fear  of  being  called  to  account  by  those  who  frowned  mi 
t:..-  |.racti,. •.  Hi-  wa«  extremely  \ciitiirc-ome  once  or  twice,  as  the  entries  in  his  Diary  show; 
luit.  fortunately  for  hist. TV.  he  avoided  the  din-,  t  ,,-ii-iire  of  the  House. 

Before  Burton  had  become  immersed  in  his  self-ini]x»ed  re|>ortorial  <luties,  the  HOIIM-  had 
li-en  ili-tnrlx-il  bv  the  action  of  irresjwnsilile  outsiders  in  giving  {iiililicity  to  debates.  Ilinrnals 
made  their  appearance  with  reports  for  the  most  part  oompocmded  of  materials  furnished  by 
memlH-rs.  The  innovation  was  too  flagrant  an  infraction  of  the  practice  of  Parliament  to  be 
allowed  to  escape  notice.  On  July  13th,  1G41,  a  formal  reflation  was  passed  direct  ing 
"that  no  member  of  this  House  shall  either  give  a  copy  or  publish  in  print  anything  that 
he  >hall  sjx-ak  here  without  leave  of  the  House.'1  This  prohibition  produced  little  n-Mih  :  -. 
on  .March  22nd  in  the  ensuing  year  a  more  drastic  resolution  was  framed,  proclaiming  that 
"whatsoever  person  shall  print  any  Act  or  passages  of  this  House,  under  the  name  of  Itinrnnl. 
or  otherwise,  without  the  particular  licence  of  this  House,  shall  be  reputed  a  high  contemner 
and  breaker  of  the  privilege  of  Parliament,  and  be  punished  according!}'."  No  further  action 
of  a  specific  kind  apj>ears  to  have  been  necessary  at  that  period.  But  before  the  seventeenth 
century  closed  the  question  cropped  up  again,  consequent  ui>on  the  practice  of  "news- 
writers"'  including  amongst  their  tit-bits  of  gossip  references  to  the  proceedings  of  the  House. 
Strongly  impressed  with  the  importance  of  securing  its  doings  from  this  vulgar  publicity,  the 
House  on  February  llth,  1695,  ordered  "that  no  news-writers  do  in  their  letters  or  other  papers 
that  they  disperse,  presume  to  intermeddle  with  the  debates  or  any  other  proceed  in  L 
this  House."  On  two  subsequent  occasions — on  January  18th,  1697,  and  January  3rd,  17U3 — 

the  order  was  revived,  and  on  January  2oth  of 
the  latter  year  the  proceedings  of  Committees 
of  the  House  were  included  in  the  general  ban. 
Still  the  newspaper  men  were  not  intimidated. 
The  obnoxious  references  to  the  proceeding:- 
continued  to  be  made  in  news-letters  despatched 

from  London.     At  length  the  House  of  Com i s 

determined  to  make  an  example  of  these  high 
contemners  and  breakers  of  Parliamentary 
privileges.  In  1727  Edward  Cave  and  Robert 
Kaikes  were,  by  order  of  the  House,  committed 
to  prison  for  publishing  re]>orts  in  the  Gloucester 
Journal,  and  were  kept  in  custody  for  several 
days,  only  being  released  c-vfter  expressing 
contrition  for  their  offence  and  paying  heavy 
fines. 

I'p  to  this  | ,eriod  the  publication  of  reports 
had  been  carried  out  in  a  very  casual  way. 
Soon  a  more  daring  and  sustained  attack  wa»  to 
be  made  on  the  policy  of  reticence.  A  clear- 
headed businei-s  man.  full  of  ideas,  and  perhaps 
encouraged  rather  than  otherwise  by  his  contest 
with  the  HOIIM'  in  1727,  Cave  in  1732  formed 
the  resolution  to  publish  in  connection  with  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  which  he  had  ju-t 
started,  a  regular  account  of  the  doings  of 

1  OUIfield  relates  that  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  a  member  was  committed  to  the  Tnwer  for  acquainting  the 
King  with  the  debates  in  Parliament,  and  both  he  and  his  posterity  were  debarred  by  an  Act  from  ever  sitting 
or  serving  In  Parliament.  In  a  similar  case  which  occurred  in  Elizabeth's  time  the  offender  was  committed  to  the 
Tower  for  six  months,  fined  £500,  and  expelled  the  House. 


CAVE, 


The  fuiiinu  boolueller,  who  wu  one  of  the  ftnt  to  «y«temnt  ically  )nil>li>h 
J'arliainenUrjr  debate*. 


The    Press    Gallery 


223 


Parliament.  His  practice  was  to  attend 
the  debates  with  one  or  two  friends,  take 
a  few  sly  notes,  and  afterwards  repair  to 
some  neighbouring  coffee-house  or  tavern 
and  put  on  paper  the  impressions  gained. 
These  rude  notes  were  subsequently  turned 
over  to  a  literary  hack  for  a  final  polish- 
ing preparatory  to  publication.  Regarded 
as  reports,  the  productions  were  quite 
beneath  contempt,  but  they  were 
sufficiently  near  the  mark  to  arouse  the 
irritable  susceptibilities  of  Parliament. 
In  the  session  of  1737  serious  notice  was 
taken  of  the  breach  of  privilege  involved. 
The  speeches  made  on  the  debate  which 
marked  the  occasion  read  curiously  in 
these  days.  Sir  William  Yonge  implored 
the  House  to  suppress  the  practice  of 
reporting  the  debates ;  "  otherwise,"  he 
said,  "  you  will  have  the  speeches  of  the 
House  every  day  'printed  even  during 
your  session,  and  we  shall  be  looked  upon 
as  the  most  contemptible  assembly  on  the 
face  of  the  earth."  Pulteney  urged  "  that 
to  print  speeches,  even  if  they  should  not 
be  misrepresented,  was  making  the  speakers 
accountable  without  doors  for  what  they 
said  within."  Walpole  took  a  higher  and 
what  now  seems  a  more  common-sense  view 
of  the  matter.  "  You  have,  with  great 
justice,"  he  said,  "  punished  some  persons 
for  forging  the  names  of  gentlemen  on  the 
backs  of  letters;  but  the  abuse  now  complained  of  is,  I  conceive,  a  forgery  of  a  worse  kind, 
for  it  tends  to  misrepresent  the  sense  of  Parliament  and  impose  upon  the  understanding  of  the 
whole  nation.  It  is  but  a  petty  damage  that  can  arise  from  a  forged  frank  when  compared 
with  the  infinite  mischief  that  may  be  derived  from  this  practice.  I  have  read  some  debates 
of  this  House,  sir,  in  which  I  have  been  made  to  speak  the  very  reverse  of  what  I  meant. 
I  have  read  others  wherein  all  the  wit,  learning,  and  argument  have  been  thrown  into  one  side, 
Mini,  on  the  other,  nothing  but  what  was  low,  mean,  and  ridiculous." 

These  expressions  of  opinion  undoubtedly  voiced  the  general  sentiment  of  the  House, 
for  without  a  single  dissentient  it  adopted  a  resolution  affirming  it  to  be  "  a  high  indignity  to, 
and  a  notorious  breach  of  privilege  of,  this  House  "  to  publish  reports  of  its  proceedings,  not 
only  during  the  sittings  of  the  House,  but  in  the  recess.  Such  a  demonstration  of  Parliamentary 
feeling  was  not  to  be  lightly  disregarded,  so  Cave  and  his  rival  on  the  London  Magazine, 
who  had  imitated  his  scheme  of  reports,  resorted  to  the  expedient  of  investing  the  debates 
with  an  ostensibly  fictitious  character.  The  Gentleman's  Magazine  published  the  reports  as  per- 
taining to  the  Senate  of  Lilliput,  and  the  London  Magazine  gave  a  journal  of  the  proceedings 
in  a  political  club,  conferring  Koman  names  upon  the  speakers.  This  was  a  thin  enough 
disguise,  but  it  served  its  purpose.  Interest  in  the  reports  rather  increased  than  diminished 
after  the  change — so  much  so,  indeed,  that  in  1740,  Cave,  who  had  hitherto  mainly  relied 
upon  the  services  of  William  Guthrie,  a  well-known  writer  of  that  period,  was  induced  to 
seek  Johnson's  aid  to  give  a  finer  literary  flavour  to  the  compilation.  Johnson,  who 


4fte?  the  painting  ly  Sir  Jothua  Knjnolds,  P.R.A. 

DR.  JOHNSON, 
The  Father  of  professional  Parliamentary  reporters. 


224 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


then  struggling  to  win 
a  position  in  the  world, 
readily  undertook  the  t;i>k, 
and  .-oon  remarkable  evidences 
of  his  skill  were  seen  in  the 
pages  of  the  Gentleman's. 
Ne\er  In-fore  iii  the  history 
of  English  journalism  had 
such  speeches  been  published. 
Perfect  in  literary  form,  and 
adorned  with  many  classical 
Braces,  they  conveyed  the 
impression  that  the  Legisla- 
ture was  an  assemblage,  not 
of  country  squires,  but  of 
learned  professors.  Nor  were 
they  wanting  in  robnMer 
qualities.  A  fervent  Toryism 
pervaded  the  effusions.  As 
Johnson  himself  put  it  in 
describing  his  essays  at  report- 
ing, he  "  let  the  Whig  dogs 
have  it."  It  is  to  be  feared 
that  the  sentiments  set  forth 
in  very  few  cases  resembled 
the  expressed  views  of  the 
ostensible  utterers.  Boswell, 
in  fact,  goes  further,  and 
declares  that  they  did  not  in 
all  cases  even  fit  the  charac- 
ters  of  the  men  to  whom  they 
were  attributed.  However  this 
may  be,  it  is  unquestionable 
that  the  old  Doctor  in  his  later  years  was  not  at  all  proud  of  his  achievements  in  this  direction. 
HI-  told  his  faithful  henchman  on  one  occasion  that  as  soon  as  he  found  that  the  speeches  were 
thought  genuine,  he  determined  that  he  would  write  no  more  of  them,  "for  he  would  not  be 
accessory  to  the  propagation  of  falsehood."  Again,  a  short  time  before  his  death  he  expressed 
to  Boswell  his  regret  "for  having  been  the  author  of  fictions  which  had  passed  for  realities." 

While  it  is  thus  pretty  clear  that  Johnson  was  in  no  proper  sense  of  the  term  a 
Parliamentary  reporter,  there  is  little  doubt  that  his  work  in  the  Gentleman's  May<r.;,,i> 
had  a  jiowerful  influence  in  securing  the  breaking  down  of  the  absurd  custom  of  regarding 
everything  that  JMISMM!  in  the  Jlou-e  as  inviolably  secret.  When  he  dropped  out  of  tin- 
business  his  place  was  taken  by  a  Dr.  Gordon,  who  greatly  improved  upon  the  old  system,  and 
for  the  fir>(  time,  perhaps,  gave  the  public  a  really  accurate  outline  of  the  debate.  His 
i-nterpri-e  and  that  of  others  brought  the  usual  censure.  In  1753  a  resolution  couched  in  the 
familiar  language  was  juiced  warning  those  concerned  of  the  terrible  consequences  that  might 
follow  the  publication  of  the  proceedings  of  the  House,  even  in  the  form  of  minutes  or  some 
.-iich  ^|H-cioii>  di>L,rui>e.  As  well  might  the  indignant  1'arliament-men  have  attempted  to  stop 
(lie  incoming  tide.  For  good  or  for  evil  the  Press  had  secured  a  lodgment  in  the  chamber, 
and  it  was  ne\i-r  asjain  to  be  ousted  from  it.  A  last  vigorous  effort,  however,  was  made  to 
assert  the  right  of  Parliament  to  control  the  publication  of  its  debates.  This  was  on  the 
famous  occasion  in  1771  when  the  House  fought  the  issue  out  with  the  Corporation  of  the 


Frout  a  jMiiiiti.t'i  by  Tftoittat  Jk'tf-1,  in  tltt  Siittviiul  I'oi  litttt  O'tiU' 
«  II.I.I  \M    WOODFAI.I., 

("  Memory  Woodfill "),  whuee  utonUliing  powen  of  re|urting  qwechai  without  taking  not«  won 
for  him  a  great  reputation  in  Jiolitical  circlet  nt  the  euil  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


The    Press    Gallery 


225 


City  of  London.  The  circumstances  of  that  memorable  struggle  need  not  be  related  at  length 
here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  after  the  House's  decrees  against  the  offending  printers  had  been 
contemptuously  set  at  naught,  and  it  had  retaliated  on  the  insult  offered  to  it  in  the 
imprisonment  of  one  of  its  officers  by  committing  the  Lord  Mayor  (Crosby)  and  one  of  the 
Aldermen  (Oliver)  to  the  Tower,  the  position  of  affairs  as  regards  the  publication  of  debates 
remained  exactly  where  it  was  before  the  contest  was  entered  upon.  Representatives  of  the 
newspapers  continued  to  resort  to  the  public  galleries ;  ^4fceir  reports,  more  or  less  full  and  accurate, 
regularly  appeared.  At  the  beginning  of  the  session  of  1778  a  member  (Colonel  Luttrell), 
incensed  by  a  distortion  of  his  views  by  one  of  the  "news-writers,"  threatened  as  a  protection 
against  such  indignities  to  move  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  standing  order  relative  to  the 
exclusion  of  strangers.  But  beyond  eliciting  a  strong  expression  of  opinion  from  Fox  in  favour 
of  full  and  free  publication,  the  intervention  of  the  gallant  legislator  came  to  naught. 

It  was  at  about  this  period  that  the  reporting  element  in  the  House  of  Commons  was 
strengthened  by  the  adhesion  of  William  Woodfall — next  to  Johnson,  perhaps  the  most 
remarkable  man  whose  name  figures  in  the  annals  of  Parliamentary  reporting.  Woodfall  was 
a  man  of  fine  literary  taste  and  excellent  judgment.  As  a  dramatic  critic  he  enjoyed  a 
reputation  second  to  that  of  hardly  any  of  his  contemporaries.  But  what  gave  him  his  greatest 
fame  was  his  marvellous  memory.  So  extraordinarily  retentive  was  his  mind  that  after  hearing 
a  speech  he  could  without  an  apparent  effort  write  it  out  almost  word  for  word,  even  days 
after  it  had  been  delivered.  According  to  a  colleague  (Mr.  Taylor,  of  the  Sun),  his  practice 
during  a  debate  was  to  close  his  eves  and  lean  with  both  hands  upon  a  stick.  Thus  posed,  he 
would  remain  for  long  periods,  seldom  looking  up  excepting  to  get  the  name  of  a  new  member 
with  whom  he  was  not  acquainted.  Powers  so  remarkable  were  calculated  to  conciliate  prejudices, 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  Woodfall  enjoyed  amongst  members  a  great  popularity.  To  his 

influence  and  example,  possibly  as  much  as  to  the  development  of  the  power  of  the  Press,  was 

it    due    that    before    the    century    had    closed    there   were  in  regular  attendance   at    the    House 

a  considerable  contingent  of  reporters  taking 

notes   of  debates,  not  only  without  disguise, 

but  with  a  modified  degree  of  approval.     To 

Perry,     the     proprietor     of     the      Morning 

Chronicle,    is    credited    the    introduction    of 

t  IK-  system  of  '•  turns,"'  by  which  each  reporter 

lias  a  specified    time  for   taking   notes   and 

is    then    relieved      It   is   stated    that    Lord 

Chancellor  Campbell,  when  making  his  way 

at  the   liar,  was  a  member  of  Perry's  corps. 

Hut  he  was  in  mortal  dread  lest  his  associ- 
ation with  the  reporters  should  be  discovered. 

Since  then  the  tie  between  the  Gallery  and 

the  l?ar  has  been  strengthened  by  a  connection 

which  has  embraced  some  of  the  most  famous 

men  of  the  legal  profession. 

In  the  earliest    days  of  regular  Parlia- 
mentary   reporting   no    special    arrangement 

was    made  for  the  convenience  of  the  Press 

visitors.     They  took  their  chance  with  other 

strangers,  and    if  they  failed  to  get  a   seat, 

it  was  so  much  the  worse  for  them  and  for 

the  papers  they  represented.     Owing,  it  may 

be,  to  representation*    in    high   quarters,  or 

more     likely    to     potent     arguments     of    a 

different       kind,     a      regular      system      was 


DANIEL  OCONNELL, 


("The  Liberator*),  whose  quarrel  with  the  reporters  supplies  one  of  the 
most  amusing  episodes  in  the  history  of  Parliamentary  reporting. 

29 


226 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


eventually  introduced  of  reserving  for  the  representatives  of  accredited  organs  the  back  sent  of 
the  public  gallery.  At  that  time,  and  indeed  until  the  building  of  the  new  Mouses  of  1'arlia- 
inent  provided  an  o| ten  ing  for  the  introduction  of  a  more  dignified  system,  it  was  tin'  custom 
of  the  doorkeepers  to  levy  a  toll  of  2*.  6</.  on  each  visitor  who  \\M-  not  armed  with  a  member'- 
order  and  wished  to  he  present  at  the  debates.  The  re|M>rters  were  exempt  from  this  nightlv 
impost,  but  an  a  set-off  their  proprietors  ]>aid  at  the  beginning  of  every  session  .1  lee  of  three 
guineas  for  each  of  their  representatives.1  This  handsome  douceur  secured  for  the  reporter 
very  little  beyond  hare  sitting  accommodation  in  the  gallery.  There  was  a  small  room  on  the 
left-hand  side  of  the  gallery  immediately  above  the  Ixthhy.  where  he  was  permitted  to  hang 
his  hat  and  coat  when  going  on  duty  and  to  await  his  call  during  a  debate.  l?nt  this  was 

the  limit  of  the  Legialatore'a  genero»itv  to 
the  Press.  The  rejiorfer  usually  found  it 
necessjiry  to  go  to  his  office  to  transcribe 
his  notes,  and  consequently  his  "turn,"  or 
period  of  note-taking,  was  what  would  now 
be  considered  a  very  long  one.  extending 
ordinarily  to  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 

It  was  not  merely  in  its  omission  t<> 
provide  the  members  of  the  Press  with 
reasonable  facilities  for  carrying  out  their 
duties  that  the  Legislature  showed  that  it 
failed  to  appreciate  the  public  importance  of 
the  publication  of  a  correct  account  of  its 
debates.  In  the  early  days  of  the  century 
there  was  an  instance  in  which  its  indiffer- 
ence operated  to  exclude  reporters  altogether 
from  the  House  at  a  time  when  there  was  a 
special  call  for  them  to  be  there.  The  occa- 
sion was  Pitt's  great  speech  on  the  state  of 
the  nation  on  May  24th,  1805.  Owing  to 
the  anticipated  rush  for  the  galleries,  special 
instructions  were  given  to  the  attendants 
as  to  the  admission  of  visitors,  and  these 
had  the  effect  of  excluding  the  rejwrters 
until  the  speech — by  general  consent  the 
greatest  Pitt  ever  made — was  nearly  finished. 
Verv  naturally  the  papers  complained  loudly 
of  the  treatment  meted  out  to  them,  (hie 
of  the  strongest  of  the  complaints  was  sent 
to  the  then  Speaker  (Abbott)  by  .Mr.  Wind- 
ham,  who  expressed  the  opinion  "that  the 
claim  thus  openly  made,  however  qualified,  is  a  matter  that  calls  for  animadversion."  It  is  clear 
from  this  that  there  was  no  love  lost  between  the  leading  men  of  that  period  and  the  Press.  The 
circumstance  probably  was  not  entirely  due  to  the  shortsightedness  of  the  former.  Reporting 
was  then  in  its  infancy.  Shorthand  was  undeveloped,  and  the  art  of  condensation  was  not  so 
widely  known  as  at  present.  Moreover,  political  feeling  prompted  the  reporters  to  misrepresent 
or  curtail  s]>ccches  which  were  inimical  to  the  interests  their  papers  were  anxious  to  maintain. 

1  The  number  of  reporters  who  nscd  the  gallery  under  this  arrangement  wns  stated  by  Mr.  Francis  Wright,  the  chief 
doorkeeper,  In  his  evidence  before  the  Select  Committee  which  sat  in  ls:i;i  to  consider  tlic  establishment  of  the  Ilimst;  of 
Commons,  to  be  as  follows  :  Timn,  10;  Mvrning  Chronicle,  10 ;  Moniituj  l/i-nilil,  27  ;  Morniny  Post,  27  ;  the  (liiardian,  4  ; 
the  Mirror  of  f'arlinnirnt,  7  or  x  :  the  Mi'rniny  Adrcrtufr,  3;  the  Albiim,l',  the  Globe,  1 ;  the  Mun<l/iril,  1  :  tlic 
Courier,  1 ;  the  True  Sun,  F>;  and  the  Sun,  G.  The  witness  stated  that  when  he  was  first  appointed  in  lso:|  (here  vere  not 
half  the  number  of  reporters  using  the  gallery  as  at  that  time.  There  were  then  no  evening  papers. 


fkota  by  On  London  Sltrcoteopic  Co. .  Lid. 

MIL  JUSTIS  MCCARTHY, 

The  Irinh  \*ti»n»li»t  lwd«r«nd  novrliit.  who  van  for  many  yean  in  the 
JUporUn'  Gallery. 


The    Press    Gallery 


227 


THE  PRESS   GALLERY  OP   THE   HOUSE   OF  COMMONS. 

Each  paper  nas  its  allotted  "  box  "  in  the  front  row.     The  back  row  is  utilised  by  reporters  waiting  their  turn,  leader-writers,  and  others  having 

admission  to  the  gallery. 

A  striking  instance  in  point  is  supplied  by  a  complaint  made  against  the  reporters  by 
Mr.  Wilberforce  about  this  period.  This  politician  read  to  the  House,  amidst  peals  of 
laughter,  an  extract  from  a  newspaper  report  which  represented  him  to  have  advocated  the 
cultivation  of  potatoes  in  the  following  terms :  "  Potatoes  make  men  healthy,  vigorous,  and 
active ;  but  what  is  still  more  in  their  favour,  they  make  men  tall.  More  especially  was  he 
led  to  say  so,  as  being  under  common  size ;  and  he  must  lament  that  his  guardians  had  not 
fostered  him  under  that  genial  vegetable."  Such  audacious  distortion  of  speech  would  in  these 
days  not  be  possible  on  the  part  of  a  Gallery  reporter;  but  a  century  ago  the  gentlemen  of 
the  Press  in  the  House  permitted  themselves  a  freedom  which  is  astounding.  Thus  we  have 
it  on  authentic  record  that  on  one  occasion,  when  a  solemn  speaker  was  on  his  legs  and 
there  was  a  somewhat  prolonged  interruption  in  the  flow  of  his  eloquence,  the  occupants  of 
the  Press  bench  called  in  loud  tones  for  a  "song  from  Mr.  Speaker."  It  is  not  wonderful, 
when  incidents  like  these  happened,  that  the  reporters  were  not  popular,  and  that  about  the 
year  1795  a  proposal  was  seriously  under  consideration  by  distinguished  members  of  the  House 
"  to  appoint  shorthand  writers  in  order  that  as  the  debates  are  published  they  may  at  least  be 
correct." ' 

Despite  the  coldness  of  the  attitude  of  the  authorities,  the  Press  gained  enormously  in 
power  at  the  House  as  the  years  went  by.  This  was  clearly  brought  out  during  the  historic 
quarrel  between  O'Connell  and  the  reporters.  The  circumstances  of  this  famous  episode  in  the 
annals  of  Parliamentary  reporting  may  be  recalled.  The  Liberator  in  the  session  of  1823 
brought  forward,  as  a  breach  of  privilege,  a  misrepresentation  of  a  speech  he  had  made  on  the 

1  Lord  Colchester's  Diary,  vol.  i.  p.  24. 


228 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Irish  tithe  niii-Mon.  In  defence,  tin-  author  of  the  impugned  n-jKirt  urged  that  "during  his 
«nlk  from  tin-  HOII-I-  tn  tin-  news]  itjNT  office,  tin-  rain,  which  was  falling  lu-avily  at  tin-  time, 
had  mo»r  uiitoitimately  streamed  into  his  |>ocket.  anil  washed  out  the  notes  In-  had  made  of 
Mr.  OVoiuirll'-  s|.eech.  I 'poll  which  tin-  latter  remarked  that  it  wa>  the  most  extraordinary 
-howcr  of  mill  lie  had  ever  henrd  of;  ina.-iinieli  as  it  had  not  only  washed  out  tlie  speech  lie 
did  make,  hut  had  washed  in  another,  and  an  entirely  different  one."1  This  was  a  fair  retort. 
and  the  foni|>laint  of  it -elf  \\a-  not  unrea-onalile.  Hut  the  memliers  of  the  Pre~.  offended  at 
si. me  general  charges  of  misrepresentation  jireferred  hy  ( t'Coiinell.  deemed  that  the  circumstances 
demanded  that  they  should  make  eominoli  cause  witli  their  offending  colleague.  ( 'oiiseijuetit  Iv 
they  determined  to  suppress  <  ('Council's  speeches  altogether.  The  lioyeott.  to  adopt  a  modern 
phrase,  was  nut  at  all  to  the  Irish  leader's  liking  or  to  his  interest.  The  reports  (,|  his 
s]>ccclies  were  in  a  large  measure  the  elements  of  his  strength,  and  any  ce»atioii  of  the  supply 
was  calculated  to  ujN-rate  >erioiisly  to  liis  detriment.  Me  therefore  determined,  after  three 
nights'  suppression  of  his  eliH|uence.  to  turn  the  tables  on  the  re]xirters  to  boycott  the 
I myci itters.  This  he  did  liy  the  simjile  expedient  of  using  the  jiower  given  him  under  t  he 
rules  of  the  House  of  calling  attention  to  the  presence  of  strangers,  and  so  securing  tin-  complete 

clearan. f   the   public    galleries.       The  move  created  a  considerable  sensation.       .MemU-rs  had 

become  so  accustomed  to  the  reporters  that  their  absence  had  a  most  paralysing  effect  on 
eloquence.  "There  \va>  no  animation  in  their  manner — scarcely  any  attempt  at  that  wit  and 

sarcasm  at  each  other's  expense  so  often  made 
oil  other  occasions.  Their  speeches  Were  dull 
in  the  highest  degree,  anil  for  the  first  time 
within  the  recollection  of  Parliamentarians 
they  kept  their  word  when,  on  commencing 
their  orations,  they  promised  not  to 
at  any  length  on  the  patience  of  the 
Iii  fine.  ( •'Council,  in  making  the  power  of 
Parliament  felt,  also  demonstrated  the 
enormous  hold  that  the  Press  had  secured 
on  the  House.  The  quarrel  was  finally 
adjusted  after  a  fashion,  and  it  \\a-  left  to 
the  representative  of  a  later  generation  to 
spy  strangers  again  in  the  House  for  the 
purpose  of  obstructing  business  by  imjiediiig 
the  operations  of  the  Pre->. 

Curiously  enough,  the  earliest  special  pro- 
vision made  for  the  Press  was  in  the  House 
of  Lords.  Accommodation  was  arranged  in 
the  old  Peers'  chamber,  destroyed  by  the 
tire  in  1834.  and  it  was  first  availed  of  on 
October  l.")th.  1831.  before  that  the  reporters 
had  to  take  notes  as  best  they  could  on  tin- 
floor  of  the  House,  without  making  too 
ostentatious  a  display  of  their  notebooks. 
It  was  probably  in  some  measure  because 
the  results  in  these  circumstances  were  not 
altogether  satisfactory  that  the  Peers  were 
induced  to  extend  their  hospitality  to  the 
reporters.  The  example  was  not  immediately 
followed  by  the  C mons- indeed,  the  old 


Pkolabyd  ,'oteopic  Co.,  Lt<l. 

Bill    KKWAKII  CI.AKKK.    K.C.,    M.P., 
Who  eonuuennd  hU  brilliant  outer  m  *  reporter  In  the  Preu  Gallery  of 

11)0  ll"tl«e  uf  Commolu. 


1  "  Kccollcctions  of  a  Parliamentary  Career,"  by  John  O'Connell,  M.P..  vol.  i.  p.  I!!'". 
* "  Itandom  Recollections  of  the  House  of  Commons,"  by  James  Grant,  p.  GO. 


The    Press    Gallery 


229 


system  of  relegating  the  note-taking 
fraternity  to  a  back  seat  in  the 
Strangers'  Gallery  might  have  con- 
tinued for  many  years  but  for  the 
fire,  which  compelled  the  authorities 
to  face  this  question  with  many  others. 
They  could  only  decide  it  in  one 
way.  In  fitting  up  the  old  House 
of  Lords  as  a  temporary  House  of 
Commons,  the  precedent  established 
by  the  Peers  was  borne  in  mind, 
and  on  February  19th,  1835,  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Press  for  the  first 
time  had  an  allotted  position  in  the 
popular  chamber.  The  circumstance 
did  not  pass  without  notice.  There 
were  comments  on  the  significance 
of  the  innovation,  as  illustrating  the 
homage  paid  to  public  opinion  and 
the  recognition  of  the  right  of  the 
people  to  know,  through  the  medium 
of  the  Press,  all  that  passed  within 
the  legislative  walls.1 

Once  extended,  of  course,  the 
recognition  was  not  withdrawn.  In 
preparing  the  designs  of  the  new 
Houses  of  Parliament  Sir  Charles 
Barry  gave  particular  attention  to 
the  needs  of  the  reporters,  and,  as 
far  as  the  House  of  Commons  is  con- 
cerned, established  them  in  a  position 
which  it  would  have  been  difficult 
to  better.  Situated,  as  their  gallery 

is,  directly  above  .and  at  the  back  of  the  Speaker,  it  is  admirably  placed  for  seeing  and  hearing 
every  tiling  that  goes  on,  and  to  this  reason,  combined  with  the  fine  acoustic  properties  of 
the  chamber  (especially  since  the  roof  was  lowered),  we  may  attribute  the  rarity  of  the  com- 
plaints that  speakers  are  not  heard.  In  the  House  of  Lords,  where  the  Reporters'  Gallery 
faces  UK-  woolsack,  and  the  position  is  otherwise  objectionable,  things  are  less  satisfactory. 
Attempts  have  been  made  to  remedy  the  deficiencies  at  different  times,  but  without  much 
effect,  as  the  chamber,  though  architecturally  and  decoratively  very  beautiful,  is  acoustically 
defective. 

While  the  authorities  in  recent  years  have  shown  themselves  desirous  of  meeting  the 
requirements  of  the  reporters  in  the  Houses  themselves,  they  have  not  been  unmindful  of  their 
oomforl  and  convenience  in  other  respects.  Room  after  room  has  been  placed  at  their  disposal 
until,  with  the  latest  additions  made  in  the  past  session  (1900-1),  they  now  occupy  a  very 
considerable  section  of  the  portion  of  the  building  at  the  back  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
facing  New  Palace  Yard.  There  are  not  only  telegraph  and  writing  rooms,  and  other  adjuncts 
of  a  professional  character,  but  a  generous  House  also  provides  smoking  and  dining  and  tea 
rooms — in  short,  on  a  small  scale,  all  the  features  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  accommodation 
below  stairs  for  members. 

The    provision   made,  though    liberal  to   a  degree  compared  with  that  once   allowed  to  the 

1  Greville's  Diary,  vol.  iii.  p.  205. 


THE  n;i>s  CAU.KISY  oi-  Tin:  imrsK  OF  LORDS. 
The  »eat«  in  the  gallery  above  the  clock  are  those  assigned  to  the  members  of  the  Tress. 


230 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


members    of   tlu>    Pros*,   is  none  too  ample   for 

tlu>    i <ls    of    tin-    great    Inxly  for   whom  it    i> 

intended.  With  tin1  lapse  of  years  lias  grown 
ii]i  an  institution  \a-tly  differing  from  that 
which  in  tin-  earliest  ilnys  of  accredited 
Parliamentary  reporting  went  hy  tin-  name  of 
the  Ke|>ortcrs'  (Jalh-ry.  News  agem-i, organ- 
isations c|tiitc  unknown  a  half-century  since 
now  occupy  an  important  ]ilace  in  the  hier- 
archy of  note-takers  as  the  suppliers  of  repoits 
lo  hundreds  of  papers  all  over  the  country, 
and  indeed  the  Kmpire.  A  representative  of 
tin-  world-famed  Renter's  Agency  is  there  to 
transmit  to  every  capital,  and  to  every  ]>opu- 
lous  spot  on  the  face  of  the  civilised  globe. 
the  latest  pronouncement  of  Ministers  on  a 
matter  of  foreign  policy,  or  a  digest  of  the 
most  recently  issued  Blue-lxx)k.  The  great 
provincial  newspapers  also  have  successfully 
asserted  their  claims  to  have  representatives 
in  the  gallery,  and  there,  too.  are  to  be 
found  summary-writers,  leader-writers,  London 
correspondents,  and  occasionally  editors,  who 
drop  in  to  see  for  themselves  how  things  are 
going  in  the  political. world,  in  order  that  they 
may  the  better  direct  the  policy  of  the 
papers  they  control.  It  is  a  Press  world  in 
itself,  and  one  which  has  its  own  treasured 
traditions  and  its  peculiar  customs  and  usages. 
Amongst  the  names  inscribed  upon  its  roll  are 
those  of  men  who  have  won  high  distinction 
in  many  and  varied  walks  of  life.  Dickens  was  an  old  Gallery  hand.  Eminent  authors  and 
politicians  like  Mr.  Justin  McCarthy  have  had  their  early  training  there.  It  has  been  the 
cradle  of  the  reputations  of  men  of  the  law  not  less  renowned  than  Sir  Kdwanl  Clarke  and 
the  late  Lord  Chief  Justice  (Lord  Russell  of  Killowen).  From  its  ranks  the  House  itself  has 
U-eii  recruited  to  a  not  inconsiderable  extent.  In  a  sentence,  it  has  from  small  beginnings 
and  humiliating  associations  attained  to  a  position  of  honour  and  influence  which  entitles  it 
to  be  regarded  as  a  national  institution. 

In  connection  with  the  Press  Gallery  a  brief  reference  may  appropriately  lie  made  to  the 
publication  of  the  official  reports  of  debates.  As  we  have  seen,  the  printing  by  news|>apers 
of  speeches  delivered  in  the  House  is  by  the  public  accepted  as  a  record  of  what  is  said.  Imt 
these  accounts  bear  no  responsibility  as  an  official  record.  For  years  Cobbett's  "Political 
Kegister "  and  the  "Parliamentary  llistorv"  took  a  place  as  works  of  authenticity.  But  it 
was  by  Luke  Hansard,  a  poor,  friendless  hoy.  coming  to  London  from  Norwich  at,  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  obtaining  a  situation  in  a  printer's  office  as  a  compositor,  that 
the  well-known  "Hansard"  was  developed.  Published  in  volumes  and  sessional  series,  the 
"Debates"  became  a  valuable  and  indispensable  record  of  the  proceedings  of  Parliament.  The 
Ilan-ard  family  subsequently  Ivcame.  as  well  as  publishers  of  the  "Debates,"  printer-  to 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  made  a  large  fortune,  until  in  recent  years  the  Government,  by 
means  of  the  Controller  of  the  Stationery  Office,  took  the  publication  under  their  control. 


Pkalo  by  Elliott  A-  Fry,  Batrr  Strtel,  W. 

MR.   II.   W.    LUCY, 

("  Tobj,  M.I'.'  ),  a  brilliant  member  of  th«  Pr««  Gallery  who  has  written 
much  and  well  on  Parliamentary  life  and  hUtor;. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  DESIGN  OF  THE  NEW  PALACE. 

Now  that  we  have  brought  this  great  work  to  the  stage  of  completion,  we  may  appropriately 
survey  the  structure  and  take  note  of  its  chief  features.  Its  design  has  been  subjected  to 
much  criticism  at  different  times,  and  in  some  respects  it  is  not  happy.  The  profuse  orna- 
mentation gives  an  impression  of  tawdriness,  and  it  is,  besides,  quite  unsuited  to  the  London 
climate,  as  the  mutilated  character  of  many  of  the  statues  sufficiently  attests.  Moreover, 
there  is  a  certain  air  of  monotony  about  the  long,  unbroken  facades  which  detracts  from 
artistic  effect.  Still,  with  all  their  limitations,  the  Houses  of  Parliament  remain  without  a 
compeer  among  modem  buildings  in  this  country.  Their  majestic  towers  and  broken  outlines, 
their  fine  vistas  and  their  vast  proportions  (they  occupy  eight  acres  of  ground),  all  tend 
to  make  them  an  object  of  wonder  and  admiration  to  the  stranger  who  sees  them  for  the 
first  time. 

In  style  the  building  is  Gothic.  "  Of  all  styles,"  we  are  told,  "  Mr.  Barry  admired 
most  the  Early  English,  but  he  thought  it  hardly  fit  for  other  than  ecclesiastical  purposes. 
Finally,  he  chose  Perpendicular,  thinking  that  it  would  lend  itself  more  easily  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  building,  and  to  the  principle  of  regularity  which  he  intended  to  introduce 
in  his  design.  But  if  he  could  have  had  a  site  to  his  mind,  and  had  been  left  free  to  choose 
his  style,  there  is  little  doubt  that  he  would  have  preferred  Italian.  The  example  most 


THE   HOUSE   OP  COMMON'S, 

From  a  photograph  taken  from  the  Surrey  side  of  Westminster  Bridge. 
231 


232 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


\va- 


frequently  in  liis  thoughts 
Inigo  ,lone-'s  grand 
for  tin-  I'alai-c-  at 
Whitehall.  lit'  actually  pre- 
pared sonic  sketches  and 
>tudies  for  an  Italian  dcs-ign. 
in  defiance  of  tin-  i:i>truc- 
tions  to  competitor-.  Hut 
he  felt  that  undi-r  all  cir- 
cumstances (iothic  was  the 
style  best  fitted  for  tin-  new 
Palace.  and  it  \Ve-t  min>n-r 
Hall  was  to  he  made  a 
feature  in  the  design,  tin- 
only  >t\lc  ]Hissihlc  ;  and  he 
was  consoled  for  the  lo>s  of 
Italian  hy  the  thought  of 
the  facility  given  hy  (iothic 
for  the  erection  of  tower-. 
the  one  method  hy  which 
he  thought  it  po<>ible  to 
redeem  from  in>ignilicanee 
a  great  building.  in  which 
convenience  fnrhade  great 
general  height.  and  for 
which  a  low  and  unfavour- 
able >ite  had  heen  pro- 

vided." 

These  general  con:«ider- 
ations  help  us  to  understand 
and  a]ipreciate  the  architec- 
tural features  of  the  huilding. 
But  it  must  never  he  for- 
gotten that  the  House:-  nf 
Parliament,  as  we  know 
them  to-day,  were  only  a  part  of  Sir  Charles  Harry's  original  conception.  His  plan  was  "to 
enclo.-e  New  Palace  Yard,  creating  at  the  angles  a  lofty  gate  tower,  visihle  from  Bridge  Street 
to  the  Abbey.  Beyond  this  point  was  to  he  a  grand  quadrangle,  in  which  the  Victoria  Tower 
should  lx-  the  principal  feature,  and  from  that  tower  a  grand  approach  was  to  lead  to 
Buckingham  Palace."  A  glance  at  the  illustration  on  page  172  will  show  what  a  »raii>form:i- 
tinii  the  additions  would  have  effected  in  the  appearance  of  the  design.  The  change,  it  will 
generally  he  conceded,  would  have  been  for  the  better.  It  would  have  given  the  design  that 
unity  which  it  at  present  lacks,  and  supplied  a  noble  approach  to  the  precincts,  such  as  the 
ini]Nirtaiice  of  the  building  demands.  Kconomical  reasons.  a>  they  often  do  in  the>e  matters. 
Meppcd  in  to  prohibit  the  scheme,  and  it  was  reluctantly  laid  aside  by  the  architect.  But 
he  reverted  to  it  in  185:5,  when  the  question  of  providing  new  (Jovernment  offices  was  under 
ili-cii-i.in.  He  then  urged  \vjth  much  insi.-tcnce  that  to  leave  New  Palace  Yard  open,  or  to 
enclose  it  only  with  a  rail,  would  be  artistically  a  great  blunder,  since  the  Parliament  buildings 
would  he  viewed  from  the  higher  ground  of  I'ridge  Street,  and  appear  actually  sunk,  while 
the  an  -a  it  -elf.  having  a  considerable  diagonal  fall  acr<»-  the  open  space.  Mould  further  tend 
to  de-troy  the  effect  iveness  of  the  prospect.  "  By  pulling  down  the  Law  Courts,  and  opening 
the  whole  sid.-  i  if  \Ve-t  min>ter  Hall,  he  conceived  that  a  still  worse  effect  would  be  produced; 


Mil:    VICTORIA   TOWKlt,    FKOM    Till:   UAICDK.N. 

The  dominating  architectural  feature  of  the  tyiuwn  of  Parliament.    One  of  the  largest  anil  highest 
•quare  towcu  in  tin-  world. 


The    Design    of    the    New    Palace 


233 


for  the  scale  and  parts  of  the  Hall  are  so  large  that  it  must  be  utterly  incongruous  with  the 
buildings  around  it."  These  arguments  failed  to  carry  weight  with  the  Government  of  the 
time.  Nor  did  the  project  recommend  itself  more  strongly  to  Lord  Palmerston's  Ministry, 
when  the  architect's  son  brought  it  forward  in  1864.  New  Palace  Yard  was  left  open  as  a 
permanent  arrangement,  and  quite  recently  the  final  touch  has  been  given  to  the  plan  he 
condemned  by  the  appropriation  of  the  site  of  the  old  Law  Courts  as  an  open  space. 
Therefore,  to  criticise  Sir  Charles  Barry  for  the  lack  of  harmony  in  the  Parliament  Square 
front  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament  is  scarcely  fair.  No  one  was  more  sensible  than  he  of  the 
deficiencies  of  the  design  in  its  truncated  form. 

A  remarkable   building  in    every  respect    was  that  which  finally  emerged   from    the   ashes 
of  the  old  Palace  of  Westminster.     In  point  of  size  it  is  unique  amongst  the   public  buildings 


THE   HOUSES  OF  PAliMAMKM.    IKoM    LAMBETH   BRIDGE. 
Thia  view  of  the  liouses  of  Parliament  gives  the  best  general  idea  of  Sir  Charles  Barry's  great  work. 

of  this  country,  and  probably  the  only  Continental  structures  to  compare  with  it  are  the 
Vatican  and  the  Escurial  at  Madrid,  upon  the  latter  of  which  seven  millions  were  lavished. 
<  Hvupying,  as  we  have  shown,  eight  acres  of  ground,  and  embracing  within  its  confines  upwards 
of  five  hundred  rooms,  many  of  them  of  great  size,  it  is  more  a  little  town  than  a  building. 
Kvi-n  those  who  have  frequented  the  place  for  years  have  been  known  to  be  temporarily  at 
fault  as  to  their  proper  direction  in  its  labyrinthine  corridors  or  its  complicated  maze  of  courts. 
In  a  decorative  sense  the  great  work  is  not  less  wonderful.  There  are  some  seven  hundred 
monuments  in  and  about  the  structure.  Nearly  every  single  foot  of  the  front  has  its  own 
cunningly  worked  design.  To  Sir  Charles  Barry,  in  fact,  may  fittingly  be  applied  in  a  slightly 
altered  form  Heber's  description  of  the  Mogul  builder  of  the  Taj  Mahal  at  Agra,  that  he 
"  built  like  a  Titan  and  finished  like  a  jeweller." 

30 


234 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


To  *eo  the  magiiilicent  jiilo  at  its  best  it  must  be  viewed  from  tin-  T,-iml>rth  Palace. 
pn-fer.il'lv  in  tin-  early  afternoon  of  a  lat<*  summer  day,  \\ln-n  the  -"it  mists,  mellowed  hv 
i!.«-  x-tiint;  sun.  an-  gathering  about  it>  lofty  towers  and  its  pinnacled  roof's.  I-'rmii  that  jmint 
we  are  able  to  i.-ali-.-  something  of  the  n«l  yramli-ur  of  Sir  Charles  Harry's  design.  On  the 
left,  dominating  tin-  whole,  arises  in  majestic  Iteauty  to  a  height  of  :i:iii  In-t  tlic  Yiricn-ia 
TOWIT.  th««  larjjt^t  and  hiftiest  st|uar<*  towt-r  in  the  world.  l-Vmn  this  ^iyantif  stnu-ture  t<> 
the  river  in  the  south  front,  impressive  in  its  simplicity  and  regularity  of  outline.  Then, 
!>trvt<-liinj{  away  for  a  distance  of  9(i()  feet,  is  the  noble  river  front,  Hanked  at  either  end  liv 
projecting  wingti,  whose  lofty  pinnacles  and  rich  tracery  and  carving  emphasise  aliv>h  the 

snmptnonsness  of  tlie 
design.      It    has   uiten 

lieell  objected  that  the 
lci\vne»  «.('  tliis  front 
in  coni|iarison  with  its 
great  length  seriously 
detnu-t>  from  it>  etVec- 
ti\ene>s,  anil  it  i-- 
ini]iossihle  to  deny  the 
justice  of  the  criticism. 
I'.nt  it  should  not  In- 
overlooked  that  the 
site  i^  a  deplonibly 
liad  one  for  a  palatial 
erect  ion  of  t  his  char- 
acter. It  is  Ml  lo\\ 
that  the  spectator 
must  almost  inevit- 
ably Kx)k  down  ii]. on 
a  considerable  part  of 
the  building.  Then 
it  has  also  to  be 
remembered  that  the 
extreme  length  given 
to  the  front  was  not 
contemplated  when 
the  plans  were  origin- 
ally framed.  lleavv 
demands  for  increased 
accommodation  as  the 
building  progressed  ' 
forced  upon  Sir  Charles 
Harry  extensions  in 
this  direction  which 
were  against  his  better 
judgment.  lie  at- 
tempted. i:ot  without 
success,  to  neutralise 
the  effect  of  the 
change  by  slightly 
raising  the  whole 


TIIK  HAM;  OK  THK  VICTORIA  TOWER. 


In  tLi.  ,.,itut«  »n  oioclUnt  idot  !.  farni>h«d  of  the  muiiveneia  of  the  tower  and  the  Vimy  of   the 

atrhitectilral  detail. 


1  It  U  «at«-.I  by  Mr.  Harry  in  hi*  life  of  his  father  that  claims  for  space  arising  out  of  the  ventilation  schem. 
Dr.  Keid  absorbed  one-third  of  the  cubical  contents  of  the  building  us  originally  planned. 


The    Design    of    the    New    Palace 


235 


THE   HOUSES   OF   PARLIAMENT,    FROM   PARLIAMENT   SQUARE. 
This  view  of  the  Parliamentary  buildings,  though  the  most  important,  is  the  least  effective. 

centre  and  heightening  into  towers  the  masses  which  flanked  it.  But  all  that  he  could 
accomplish  in  this  way  did  not  give  the  front  that  impressiveness  of  elevation  which,  owing 
to  its  great  length,  it  should  possess.  Still,  the  fault,  if  fault  it  is,  is  not  sufficiently  grave 
to  destroy  the  general  effectiveness  of  the  design.  London  has  architecturally  few  fairer 
prospects  to  offer  than  that  quarter-mile  of  fretted  stonework  rising,  as  it  seems  to  the 
spectator,  from  his  Lamheth  vantage-ground,  from  the  swift-running  tideway. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  on  the  land  side  there  is  no  really  good  general  view  obtainable 
of  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  What  should  be  the  best  front,  that  facing  towards  Parliament 
Square,  is  its  worst.  Here  the  spectator  looks  upon  a  mass  of  buildings  without  uniformity 
of  design  or  architectural  beauty.  On  the  one  hand  is  the  mediaeval  front  of  Westminster 
Hall,  surmounted  by  its  vast,  high-pitched  roof,  offering  to  view  a  great  expanse  of  blue  slate. 
On  the  other  is  the  modern  Gothic  work  of  Sir  Charles  Barrv,  seen  in  its  most  unfavourable 
light.  The  Clock  Tower,  which  should  play  an  important  part  in  the  picture,  is  too  near  to 
have  its  proper  effect.  The  whole  is  a  jumble  which  leaves  on  the  stranger  who  sees  only 
this  side  of  our  senatorial  buildings  a  very  inadequate  notion  of  their  beauty  and  importance. 

Infinitely  more  imposing  is  the  prospect  which  offers  from  the  pavement  about  Henry  VII. 's 
Chapel.  Here  we  get  to  a  part  of  the  building  in  which  Sir  Charles  Barry  was  able  to  work 
nut  his  own  ideas,  free  from  the  trammels  imposed  in  the  case  of  the  New  Palace  Yard 
front.  The  Victoria  Tower,  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  is  the  imposing  central 
feature.  Curious  as  it  may  seem,  it  was  not  provided  for  in  the  original  design.  It  was  added 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  Dr.  Keid  in  the  matter  of  ventilation.  Yet  no  part  of  the 
building  had  more  time  and  care  bestowed  upon  it  by  the  architect.  The  plans  underwent 
repeated  alterations.  The  tower,  we  are  told,  "was  originally  treated  with  all  the  solidity 


236 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


of  a  •  keep,'  hut   flic  reduction  in 
plan  wa>  oompenmted  by  mcrea-i- 

ill  height,  and  the  whole  character 
of  tin-  de>ign  was  necessarily 
changed.  Tlic  entrance  at  tir>t 
was  of  moderate  dimension:-,  and 
the  top  of  (lie  niche  band  ranged 
with  the  cornice  of  the  building. 
It  was  now  raised  to  its  present 
magnificent  dimensions ;  the 
niches  remained,  and  the  ii]>]>er 
|iart  of  the  tower  was  divided 
into  three  large  and  two  smaller 
stories.  The  design  and  arrange- 
ment of  these  co.~t  incalculable 
trouble  before  it  assumed  its 
present  form,  divided  into  three 
windows,  and  the  upjier  story 
rendered  the  prominent  one  by 
t  he  arched  and  canopied  windows." 
In  short,  this  architectural  after- 
thought became  the  great  domi- 
nating factor  in  the  design. 
But  it  is  something  more  than 
an  architectural  feature.  Ac- 
commodating an  archway  fifty 
feet  high  and  proportionately 
wide,  it  supplies  an  appropriate 
State  entrance  to  the  building, 
and  compensates  for  the  loss  of 
the  grand  staircase  which  was 
one  of  the  original  ideas  in  Sir 
Charles  Barry's  fertile  brain.  It 
is,  besides,  at  one  and  the  same 
time,  the  great  record-house  of 

the  Senate  and  its  \entilating  shaft.  Viewing  the  structure  from  the  further  side  of  Old 
1'alace  Yard,  we  miss  something  of  its  imposing  grandeur  by  the  nearness  of  the  object,  but 
nevertheless  the  \i>ta  which  is  provided  by  the  western  facade,  with  the  huge  mass  of  the 
tower  looming  against  the  sky,  is  an  exceedingly  fine  one. 

Coondered  as  a  whole,  the  exterior  of  the  pile  cannot,  however,  be  regarded  otherwise 
than  as  disappointing.  It  is  ini|>osiiig  in  its  bigness,  it  is,  as  we  have  seen,  in  some  of  its 
aspects  full  of  beauty;  but  it  lacks  that  overpowering  sense  of  distinction  which  we  have  a 
right  to  expect  in  so  costly  and  ambitious  a  structure.  The  deficiencies  of  the  site  account 
for  much.  They  \\<-r<-  so  thoroughly  realised  at  the  time  the  work  was  undertaken,  that 
]iro]>o.-als  were  made  to  locate  the  new  Houses  of  Parliament  in  some  other  position  than  tin- 
old  one,  among:-!  the  areas  suggested  being  the  high  ground  in  St.  James's  Park  and  Trafalgar 
Sjiiare.  Still,  bad  as  the  site  is.  it  is  not  alone  responsible  for  the  artistic  shortcomings  of  the 
building.  If  Sir  Charles  Harry's  plans  had  been  carried  out  in  their  completeness,  and  the 
mining  wings  and  grand  gateway  in  New  Palace  Yard  hat!  been  added,  a  far  greater  artistic 
success  would  have  Ix-en  achieved. 


TIIK   VICTdlUA     IciU  Kl:. 
The  largest  and  luftiett  »[uare  tower  in  the  world.     It  la  330  feet  high. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


DETAILED  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS. 

THE  main  entrance  to  the  Houses  of  Parliament  is  by  way  of  the  stately  Victoria  Tower,  the 
most  remarkable  feature,  both  in  design  and  construction,  of  this  noble  pile.  Seventy-five  feet 
square,  and  four  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high  to  the  flagstaff  from  which  the  Eoyal  Standard 
floats  on  State  occasions,  and  the  Union  Jack  always  during  the  sittings  of  Parliament,  the 
structure  arrests  attention  by  reason  of  its  massive  and  splendid  proportions.  The  tower  is  more 
than  twice  the  height  of  the  Monument  at  London  Bridge,  is  sixty  feet  higher  than  the  top 
of  the  cross  on  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral;  and  is  nearly  three  times  the  height  of  the 
leaning  tower  of  Pisa.  It  is  situated  so  near  the  river  that  doubts  were  at  first  entertained 
as  to  the  possibility  of  its  erection,  with  due  regard  to  safety.  In  order  to  ensure  stability 
the  building  operations  were  prosecuted  with  the  utmost  caution.  Only  thirty  feet  of  the 
tower  was  erected  in  a  single  year,  and  meanwhile  the  most  vigilant  watch  was  kept  to 
detect  any  signs  of  settlement.  Fortunately  nothing  untoward  occurred  then,  or  has  occurred 
since,  to  cast  doubt  on  Sir  Charles  Barry's  judgment  in  designing  so  striking  an  architectural 
feature  and  placing  it  in  the  position  it  is — a  stone's-throw  from  the  swift-rushing  waters  of 
the  Thames. 

If  outwardly  the  tower  is  remarkable,  it  is  internally  not  without  special  features  of 
interest.  Over  the  entrance  archway  the  longest  spiral  staircase  in  the  world  begins,  giving 
access  to  the  top  of  the  tower.  The  windings  give  the  idea  of  looking  through  the  wrong 
end  of  a  telescope. 
It  is  a  difficult  way, 
trodden  by  few  feet, 
for  the  various  cham- 
bers of  which  the 
tower  is  composed  are 
utilised  for  the  storage 
of  State  records  in 
little  request.  An 
absolutely  fireproof 
system  of  construction 
renders  this  building 
the  safest,  as  it  is  per- 
haps also  the  most 
ornate,  muniment- 
house  in  the  world. 

Access  to  the 
interior  of  the  Palace 
is  by  way  of  the  Eoyal 
staircase  under  the 
archway.  This  is  an 
imposing  flight  of 
steps,  lined  with 
statuary  and  em- 

J  THE    ENTRANCE   TO   THE   HOUSE   OP   LORDS. 

Through  this  doorway  direct  access  is  obtainable  to  the  most  important  apartments  of  the  building. 

237 


238 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


of  nivliit.vtiiml  detail.  Pa»«ing  tin-  (iuard  K.M.III.  the  \i>it<n-  finds  himself  in  tin-  K"\;il  Kohing- 
KO.HII.  Standing  in  this  a|«ai1ment  nnd  facing  the  d<x>r  leading  to  tin-  interior  of  the  Palace. 
• '•  U  <>n  a  direct  line  with  tin-  Speaker's  Chair  at  the  opposite  extreme  of  flu-  building.  It 
is  |m.sjb|e  tn  proceed  tin-  entire  distance  nf  seven  hundivd  feet  \vitlnmt  ascending  or 
ing  a  -iiiijlf  >tfp. 

The    Kinti's    It'oliint;-I\iMiin    i-mitiiins    rhair*   of   Staff   of  liandsoine    di-i^n.      On    the 
of  tlie   nx>in    l«dges  of  tlie    Kni;li>li    inoiiaivli>   are   |>ainted,   and    U]»m   the    walls   are   tlie    tir.-t    of 

the  frv>co   ]>aintini;s    wliic-li  alxnind   in  the   in:»ny   nnnns    presently   to    Ix-    deserilx-d.       Of  n nt 

\e:ir-    Minn-   eontroversy    ]l!ls    taken    jil.ice   rei^inlinsj   the    condition    of    the.-e    works    of    art.      The 
.jiif-timi    fir.-t    came    into    prominence     in    1K!)4,    when    .Mr.     Herbert    Gladstone,    who    was    then 


I.  Jl  ,  R.,4. 

"TIIK   DKATH    or   NKI,SOX." 
Kroin  the  famous  freKu  in  the  Rojml  Gallery. 

Kir>t  ('oininis>ioiier  of  Works,  discovering  that  some  of  the  pictures  were  showing  siirns  of 
decay,  eonsiilteil  the  President  of  the  Hoyal  Academy  on  the  subject,  with  the  result  that 
.Mr.  A.  II.  Church,  professor  of  chemistry,  was  called  in  to  give  an  opinion  as  to  the  best 
means  <>f  pivsemng  the  pictures.  That  gentleman  at  once  liecame  interested,  and  most 
readily  placed  his  services  gratuitously  nt  the  disposal  of  the  Government.  He  made 
experimental  trials  ii|H>n  the  services  of  the  frescoes,  carefully  keeping  them  under  ol»ervat  ion, 
and  subsequently  made  an  exhaustive  report  to  the  .Ministrv.  explaining  the  result  of  his 
work.  Migge«ting  certnin  means  to  be  adopted  in  future  for  In-tter  preserving  the  frescoes. 
and  offer inir  his  <er\  ices  again  should  they  be  required. 

In  the   Kobing-room    the    legend    of   King    Arthur    and    the    Knights    of   the    Round    Table 
is  taken  as  the  theme  for  a  series  of   paintings    by  Mr.    I>vce.    K.A..  and    attention    is   at   once 


THE    KIXG'S   EOBIXG-ROOM, 
\Vbere  the  Royal  procession  in  formed  on  the  opening  of  Parliament. 


THE   KINO'S   KOBING-BOOM. 

Another  view  of  the  apartment,  showing  the  Royal  chair. 
239 


240 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


ii|ioii  thorn.  Tin-  Mihjects  nro:  '•//iwyx'fWity" — "the  admission  of  Sir  Tri stnun  to  the 
fell..\\-hip  of  the  Kound  Talilf";  "  ('niirtt-H .'/"—"  Sir  Tri-tram  harping  to  La  Belle  Isidore"; 
••  fi'rjiriW// "— "  Kin-,'  Artlnir.  unhor>ed.  is  s;«intl  liy  liis  adversary";  "  IM'njion  " — "the  vision 
of  Sir  Galnhad  ami  hi>  Company" ;  and  "  Mercy  "— "  Sir  (iawainc  swearing  to  be  merciful  and 
to  protect  all  ladie>." 

In  this  room  the  I  {oval  procession  is  formed,  and  proceeds  to  the  Royal  Gallery — the 
largot  ii]>ailiiient.  excepting  \Ve>tmin>ter  Mall,  in  the  building.  The  Koyal  Gallery,  a  hundred 
and  ten  feet  Inn-,',  admirably  carries  out  the  idea  intended.  At  ordinary  times  it  is  destitute 
of  all  furniture  and  cumbrous  fittings,  but  H|MHI  Slat.-  <>cca>ions  rows  of  seats  are  placed  along 


RrprodveHl  by  ptruiuion  o/(A«  Art  Union  o/Zom/OH  /.».,*  (/.•.'/  •  Iniye  uujratiag  o/  the  picturt  by  D.  Macliie,  R.A, 
"THE  MEETISG   OF  WELLINGTON  AND   BLUCHEB  AFTER  WATERLOO." 
From  th«  famous  fresco  in  the  Roj»l  Gallery. 


both  sides,  under  the  control  of  the  Ixjrd   Great   Chamberlain,  who   issues  tickets  of 
ti>  visitors  desirous  of  seeing  the  procession  pass  along. 

The  fresco  jMiintings  here  are  the  well-known  pictures  by  D.  Maclise,  K.A.  —  "The  Meeting 
of  Wellington  and  I'lucher  after  Waterhxi"  and  "The  Death  of  Nelson."  Both  are  studies 
intensely  dramatic  and  pie1uresi|ue.  They  are  companion  pictures,  each  measuring  forty-five  feet 
long  by  twelve  feet  high.  The  figures  are  painted  life-si/.e.  and  the  artist  has  availed  him-el) 
i  if  every  |M)ssibh-  means  to  secure  accuracy  of  the  portraits  as  well  as  of  the  details  of  military 
and  naval  co>tuine>  uf  the  period. 

It    wa-    in    the    Koyal    (iallery  that   on   July  18th,   1901,  Earl    Russell    stood    his    trial    for 

bigamy.     .Marked  by  all  the  picturesque  accessories  which  attend  a  State  trial,  the  proceedings 

d  much   interest    in   political    and    social    circles.     At  the  cost   of  several    hundred  pounds 

the  interior  was  completely  transformed  to  serve  the  purposes  intended.      At  one  end  a   Royal 


THE  OPENMNG  OF   PARLIAMENT   BY   KING   EDWARD  VII. 


ID  UK  violin  I  to  K  tot  ud  tb»  yuc»u  In  tbelr  robra  u(  8Ut*.  «u.l  ultrudoi  by  th<  «rr»l  Offlocn  u»  8UU,  «r«  ibown  pudlu  Umo(k  the  Roy>I  O»llrry 

on  lb«(r  way  to  the  PMn'  Chunbw. 


241 


31 


242 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


throne  and  ran<>]>v  of  crimson  cloth  was  erected,  as  the  trial  \va-  >upposrd  to  take  place  in  the 
iictuul  pre-.-ii<  i-  of  tin-  Sovereign.  I'IKUI  tin-  dais  in  front  of  the  throne  was  placed  a  chair  of 

for  tin-  iNvu|i»lion  of  tin-  bird  High  Steward  Lord  llal>bury),  who  acted  a<  president  at 
the  trial.  (Hlicrof  his  Mnje-t y'.-  judges  w ho  liad  been  summoned  to  attend  were  ace •ommodat.-d 
U|N»!I  wool-acks  in  front.  Kight  and  left  of  tli<'  throw  seats  \\ere  placed  for  Irish  and  Scottish 

who  an-  i.ot  JMIT-  of  Parliament,  and  seats  were  also  allocated  for  peeresses  and  eldest 
tons  of  |"  -  Near  the  jndu'e-  \\eii-  tables  f,,r  officials  of  (lie  court.  coiniM-l.  and  otliers.  and 
a  witiie->-lxi\  -i-d  i-lo-i-  bv.  A  <-hair  for  tlie  accused  ].eer  occiijiied  a  |iroininent  ]>la<-e 

in  tin-  ci-ntn-.  In-tween  the  wool-ack-  and  the  H.ir.  which  divided  the  actual  ]irecinets  of  the 
court  from  >tr.iin;er»  privile^fd  to  attend.  The  remainder  of  the  space  within  the  l!:u  \\a-  tilled 
with  bcm-hos.  eoxep-d  with  M-arlet  cloth,  for  peers  who  formed  the  jury  to  decide  the  I.: 


TIIK    I'KKKS'   CHAMBER:    VIK> 
Tl.f  L'-illrtin  »t  tlie  tad  are  rcrcrvcd  for  rtran({er»  and  n:< 


WOOL&iOK. 

or  ;  those  at  the  nides  arc  f.  i 


the-  prisoner.  The  actual  trial  proved  of  great  interest  to  the  student  of  constitutional  forms,  but 
it  i>  of  >o  recent  occurrence  that  there  is  no  need  here  to  do  more  than  Mate  that  it  resulted 
in  n  sentence  of  three  month-'  impriMiiiineut  upon  the  Earl  following  upon  his  plea  of  guilty. 
L'l-uming  our  tour,  we  come  to  the  1'rince's  Chamber,  where  the  .Sovereign  i-  n-cei\ed  by 
the  leading  nobility  on  great  State  ocea>ions.  such  as  the  opening  of  Parliament.  The  apart- 
ment is  an  ante-room  to  the  HOIIM-  of  Lords,  and  was  originally  intended  to  form  the  u]>|>er 
end  of  the  Koval  (iallery.  It  is  of  the  same  height  as  that  chamber,  but  of  a  width  which 
prevents  a  ju>t  appreciation  of  the  beauty  of  the  surrounding  decorations,  which  are  very 
profu.-e.  The  splendid  marble  statue  group  of  figures  by  Mr.  .J.tiihson.  K.A..  "Her  most 
(inu-ious  MajeMy  (^ueen  Victoria."  sitting  UJKIII  the  throne,  holding  the  sceptre  and  the  laurel 
crown,  siipjiorted  by  ".lust  ice"  and  "Clemency."  is  an  attractive  work,  but  bare  and  cold,  and 
out  of  character  with  tlie  arrangements  of  the  chamber,  giving  it  a  cramped  and  conge-ted 


THE   ROYAL   GALLERY. 
Here  distinguished  visitors  are  permitted  to  see  the  Royal  procession  pass  through  at  the  opening  of  Parliament. 


THE   ROYAL   GALLERY.   AS   FITTED   UP   FOR  THE   TRIAL   OF   LORD   RUSSELL. 

243 


244 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE    PIUXCK'S  CHAMI'.Kl:. 
Where  the  King  it  received  l»y  the  leading  iml.ility,  n»  gtrangers  being  permitted  to  be  j  resent. 


appearance.  The  fireplaces 
are  of  elalxirate  design,  and 
the  bas-reliefs  of  Mr.  William 
Theed.  "Tin-  I-'ield  of  the 
Cloth  of  (mid."  ••'Ihe  l->ape 
of  Mary  (Jueen  of  Scot-." 
"The  Murder  of  l,'i//i..." 
••  IJaleigh'.-  Chivalry  to  ljueen 
Kli/.aheth."  and  other-  are 
well  worth  in>pectioii.  a.-  al>o 
are  the  full-length  portraits 
of  Sovereigns  of  Kn^'land  and 
their  coiiMirt-.  Tin-  ceiling 
of  the  apartment  is  dark  blue 
with  gold-work. 

TlIK     1'KKK.s'     ClIAMIIKK. 

If  the  visitor  enter.-  one 
of  the  doors  on  either  side 
of  the  Prince's  Chamber  and 
takes  his  stand  in  the  Peer-' 
chamber,  he  will  have  a  strik- 
ing coup  d'uill  presented  to 
him.  The  beauty  of  the 
architecture,  the  perfect  pro- 
portions of  the  chamber,  the 

decorations  and  embellishments:,  and  the  exquisite  harmony  of  the  colouring  all  go  to 
make  up  a  picture  of  a  very  impressive  kind.  To  be  viewed  at  its  be>t  the  splendid  apart  ment 
must  be  seen,  as  it  was  recently,  when  the  Sovereign,  in  the  fullest  regal  state,  attends  to  open 
Parliament  in  person.  The  spectacle  then  presented  excels  in  stately  magnificence  anything 
that  this,  or  probably  . 

any  other,  count  rv  ha-  HMIfcr*Vf9&*  - 
to  show.  An  exact 
dc-rription  of  the 
ceremony  will  be 
given  in  a  subsequent 
chapter,  and  mean- 
while we  may  supply 
some  further  par- 
ticulars of  the  leading 
>trnctnral  and  decora- 
tive features  of  this, 
the  culminating  effort 
of  Harrv's  genius  for 
design. 

The  dimensions 
of  the  chamber  are 
\\'2  by  4H  feet,  t iK- 
heiglit  lieing  aUmt 

t  In-     .-a  me     as     t  lie 

.  .      „„  Tin:  HAH  <>r  rut:  inn  si:  or  i.oiins. 

breadth,   fheeicellent 

In  the  encl<«ed  »i»ce  the  Sjieaker  nUndi  when  attemlini.1    !!..•   Vfftt  UOUK  ;  lueiubem  nf  the  Cuuimon» 
HM-    made   of  the    area  .land  behind  him. 


J-','"in  >t  i>huto  by  Sir  Benjamin  Stone,  3/.P. 

FRESCO    IN   THE  PEERS'   ROBING-ROOM  : 
"  MOSES  BEINGING  DOWN  THE  TABLES   OF  THE   LAW,"   BY  J.    E.    HEEBEET,   B~.A, 


,>lirjto  hi'  tin-  B'iitJ'tntin  Stftiit,  M  P. 


v>- 

PAINTING   IN   THE   PEERS     ROBING-EOOM  : 

"THE  JUDGMENT   OF   DANIEL,"  BY  J.   E.    HERBERT,   E.A 


245 


246 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


••  Spirit  of  Jtutice,"  by  D.  Macliw,  RA.  "Spirit  of  Chivilry,'  by  II.  MncliM,  R.A.  "  Spirit  «f  Religion,"  by  J.  C.  Horalfy,  A.I!  A 

FRESCOES  OVER  THE   STRANGERS    GALLKRY    IS    THE   HOUSE  OF   LORDS. 

of  4,140  feet  at  the  command  of  the  architect  gives  the  appearance  of  a  much  larger  hall.  N» 
massive  chandeliers  or  lustres  interrupt  the  view  of  the  elegant  ceiling,  which  is  built  perfeetly 
horizontal,  with  massive  ribs  carved  and  gilded,  and  divided  into  compartments  anil  panels  of 
sub-divisions;  at  the  intersecting  jmiiits  are  pendants,  which  in  no  way  interfere  with  the  design. 
The  historical  devices  which  figure  upon  the  ceiling  are  of  great  beauty.  Kegal  crowns  and  Uoyal 
monograms  are  appropriately  painted  at  the  throne  end,  while  at  other  parts  cognisance-  ..) 
the  earlier  monarchs  are  represented- -  the  white  hart  of  Kichard  II.,  the  sun  of  the  Mouse 
of  York,  the  crown  in  a  bush  of  Henry  VII.,  the  falcon,  the  dragon,  and  the  greyhound,  the 
lion  pas-ant  of  England,  the  lion  rampant  of  Scotland,  the  harp  of  Ireland.  Sceptres  and  orbs, 
the  scales  of  justice,  ecclesiastical  mitres  and  croxiers,  etc.,  all  find  a  place  among  the  paintings 
of  the  panelling  above.  The  I'nitcd  Kingdom  is  not  alone  represented,  for  devices  can  be 
seen  of  the  pomegranate  of  Castile,  the  portcullis  of  Beaufort,  the  lily  of  France,  and  shields  with 
the  armorial  bearings  of  counties  which  composed  the  Saxon  Heptarchy.  The  whole  ceiling 
is  a  study  of  heraldic  art.  A  soft,  mellow  light  is  obtained  in  the  daytime  by  means  of  Gained 
glass  windows  on  each  side  of  the  House,  extending  nearly  from  the  roof  more  than  half-way 
down  towards  the  floor.  Upon  the  windows  are  rich  paintings  representing  the  Kings  and 
Queens,  arranged  in  chronological  order  and  divided  into  section-,  of  Hoyal  lines  of  Kngland 
and  Scotland,  and,  after  the  1'nion.  of  the  crown  of  Great  Britain.  Below  the  window >  i- 
an  oak  i«nelling  supplying  exquisite  specimens  of  the  art  of  wood-carving,  and  along  the 
sides  of  the  House  runs  a  light  gallery  with  a  single  row  of  -cats  supported  by  an  elegant  I  v 
designed  railing  of  bra.sswork.  The  entrance  to  this  gallery  is  by  doors  in  the  oak  panelling, 
and  hen-  at  times  distinguished  lady  visitors  watch  the  proceedings  below.  The  ladies'  of  the 

1  Occasionally,  however,  the  presence  of  Indies  has  a  disconcerting  effect  upon  noble  orators,  as  \\itnos  the 
following  extract  from  Lord  Malnn 'shiny's  memoirs:  "The  number  of  ladies  who  attended  the  debate  (on  Lord 
KllenborouKh's  want  of  confidence  motion.  May  12th,  Is.Vi)  rivaled  jrr,.,.,t  displeasure  aiiiont;  the  |>eers.  Lord 
Klleiil>oroui;h  said  that  it  n.ade  him  nervous;  and  Lord  lAiidhurst  po.-iti\ely  refused  to  speak,  saying  that  the 
House  looked  like  a  casino,  and  not  a  place  where  business  is  tiansm-ted.  Lord  Kcdesdale  was  also  very  angry. 
a«  the  ladies  overflowed  from  the  p-dlery  into  the  House.  This  invasion  will,  I  fear,  lead  to  more  stringent  and 
leu  agreeable  arrangements  in  future." 


Detailed    Description    of    the    House    of    Lords  247 


Koyal  Family  and  other  distinguished  visitors  may  upon  occasions  of  interest  be  seen  seated 
in  this  gallery,  no  objection  being  entertained  in  the  Upper  tfouse  to  the  visible  presence 
of  the  fair  sex.  At  the  north  end  of  the  House,  immediately  above  the  Bar  and  facing  the 
throne,  are  built  convenient  galleries  for  strangers  (who  are  admitted  upon  the  orders  of  peers) 
and  for  the  representatives  of  the  Press.  Behind  these  galleries,  within  three  archways,  are 
painted  frescoes,  "The  Spirit  of  Justice"  and  "The  Spirit  of  Chivalry,"  by  D.  Maclise,  K.A., 
and  "The  Spirit  of  Eeligion,"  by  J.  C.  Horsley,  A.R.A. 

The  floor  presents  to  the  spectator  three  divisions,  the  upper  and  lower  sections  occupying 
the  entire  width  of  the  House.  The  former,  as  we  have  seen,  is  enth-ely  taken  up  by  the 
throne  and  canopy,  while  the  other  end,  under  the  Strangers'  Gallery,  forms  a  space  below  the 
Bar,  and  is  technically  outside  the  precincts  of  the  chamber.  Here  during  the  sitting  of 
the  House  strangers  having  the  entree  are  allowed  to  stand,  and  a  limited  number  of  chairs 
are  placed  for  ladies,  who  are  admitted  upon  the  personal  application  of  members  of  either 
House  to  the  Yeoman  Usher  of  the  Black  Hod,  who  is  seated  close  to  the  Bar,  and  has  charge 
of  the  arrangements  of  this  portion  of  the  House.  In  the  body  of  the  House,  comprising  the 
central  division,  is  placed,  in  front  of  the  woolsack,  the  table  at  which  the  Clerk  of  the 
Parliaments  and  his  colleagues  are  seated.  The  remaining  space  on  the  floor  is  filled  up  by 
cross  benches,  and  at  each 
side  five  rows  of  other  seats 
rise  in  an  elevated  position 
to  the  side  walls,  \oble  lords 
who  are  members  of  the 
Government,  and  their  sup- 
porters, sit  at  the  right  of 
the  throne,  and  the  Opposition 
peers  upon  the  left.  The  cross 
benches  are  reserved  for  those 
who  have  no  pronounced 
political  opinions,  and  upon 
ordinary  occasions  may  here 
-ren  H.R.H.  the  Prince  of 
Wales  and  the  Duke  of  Cam- 
bridge, it  being  contrary  to 
u-aije  for  peers  of  Koyal  blood 
to  identify  themselves  with 
•  •it  her  political  party. 

leaving  the  House  of 
Lords,  the  massive  brass  gates 
at  the  doorways  and  the 
.-tandards  used  for  lighting 
purposes  afford  a  welcome 
relief  to  the  eye  from  the 
Himbreness  of  the  Peers' 
Lobby,  which  is  used  as  a 
cloak-room.  To  the  right  are 
passages  leading  to  the  dining- 
rooms,  libraries,  etc.,  and  to 
the  left,  somewhat  out  of  the 
track  we  are  pursuing,  is 
situated  the  Peers'  robing- 
room.  This  apartment  was  FIREPLACE  i\  THK  PIIIXCK'S  c  HA.MI:I:I:. 

originally    intended    for    a    hall  T,,,  b»relief  overmantel  represent.  "  The  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold." 


248 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


of  justice,  but  wa>  found  too  small  fur  tin-  purjKise.  It  is  now  used  for  tin-  meeting-  of 
l{i»vnl  Commis-ioii-,  Committee-,  etc.  Tin-  fn-coe-  here,  by  .1.  1\.  Herbert.  1>'.A..  have  attracted 
considerable  attention  in  the  world  of  art.  They  illustrate  ••  Iliunan  Ju-tice  ami  it- 

l>e\elopment    of    Liw    and    Judgment."    "  M .-     hi  inking    down     the    Tallies    of    the    l.a\\."  and 

"The  Judgment    of   ]>aniel." 

THK   CKXTKAL   HALL. 

Fnun  the  I'crr-'  l.ohhy  a  short  corridor  leads  to  the  Octagon  Hall,  which  is  the  centre 
of  the  building,  and  marks  the  divi.-ion  between  the  House  of  I/mls  and  the  House  of  Commons. 
Kncli  of  the  eii,'ht  side-  i-  lieaut ifully  arched  ;  the  roof  is  MIJI] Milled  liy  massive  beams,  and 
the  window.-  are  of  stained  gla.-s.  Over  the  archway-  north  and  south,  leading  n->]  eet  i\i-ly  to 
the  House  of  Commons  and  House  of  Lords,  are  <;las<  mosaic  pictures  of  the  ]iati'ou  saints 


THK  CKSTBAL    II  VI. I.,    sllnWIXr    THE    LAST   STATUK   OK   MU.    GLAIISTONE. 
Tte  door  behind  it  u  the  entrance  to  the  Strangi-iV  Uallerjr  ut  the  HOIIM  of  Cuuiiuuiu. 

of  <t.  (ieorge  and  St.  David,  the  work  of  Sir  E.  J.  1'oynter,  I'.lx.A.,  and  other  similar  works. 
St.  Andrew  and  St.  Patrick  will,  when  finished,  find  a  place  upon  the  alternate  recesses  of  the 
wall.-.  The  Central  Hall  is  used  principally  as  a  waiting  place  for  .-tran^er>  wishing  to  interview 
member.-,  or  seeking  admission  to  the  gallery  of  t  he  House  of  Commons,  the  entrance  to  which 
i-  in  one  of  the  corners.  In  this  hall,  at  times  of  political  excitement,  animated  crowds  may 
sometimes  he  seen  wailing  till  the  small  hours  of  the  morning  to  learn  the  tirst  news  ot  an 
im]Kirtant  division  expected  to  take  place  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Hound  the  hall  are 
statues  of  deceased  statesmen  of  modern  times— Karl  Kussell.  Karl  (iran\  ille.  Sir  Stafford 
Northcote.  and  the  Kight  Hon.  W.  K.  (iladstone.  The  last  named  is  a  lifelike  representation  ,,f 
the  popular  statesman,  standing  in  ft  characteristic  attitude.  It  is  the  most  recent  addition  to 
the  statuary  of  the  Palace. 

The  encaustic  tile  pavement  of  this  hall  and  the  corridors  is  specially  noticeable.      Inscriptions 
and  mottoes  are  freely   introduced.     The  most   conspicuous  is  that  in   the  Central    Hall,  where  the 


M.  STEPHEN'S  HALL. 

The  site  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  used  .is  the  House  of  Commons  for  three  hundred  years. 

249 


32 


250 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


visitor,  as  he   paces  the   floor,  reads: 

••  l-'.xeept     tin-     Lord     keep    tin-    house 
their  labour  is  but  lost  that  build  it.'' 

Pas-ing  under  the  eastern  arch- 
way of  the  hall  a  jwissage  gives  access 
tn  a  small  lower  waiting  hall  at  the 
foot  of  the  staircase  leading  to  the 
upper  story  of  the  building,  where  the 
coin  in  it  tee-rooms  are  situated.  On 
the  first  landing  of  this  staircase  a 
statue  of  the  late  Sir  Charles  Barry, 
the  architect  of  the  1'alacr.  is  placed 
in  a  position  strangely  inappropriate 
and  unworthy  of  the  man  who 
devote. 1  the  greater  part  of  his  life  to 
designing  this  great  pile. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Central 
Hall,  on  a  slightly  lower  level,  is  St. 
Stephen's  Hall.  This  occupies  the 
actual  site  of  the  old  St.  Stephen's 
Chapel.  in  which  the  House  of 
Commons  met  for  three  hundred  years. 
In  the  hall  brass  tablets  indicate  the 
positions  occupied  by  the  Speaker's 
Chair  and  the  table  of  the  old  HOUM-. 
The  actual  table  designed  bv  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  in  1707,  and  saved 
from  the  fire  in  1834,  is  now  to  be 
seen  in  the  members'  tea-room,  it 
having  been  placed  there  at  the 
suggestion  of  Sir  Reginald  F.  D. 
Palgrave,  K.C.B.,  late  Clerk  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  who  devoted  much  time  and  thought  to  locating  the  positions  of  historic 
interest  in  connection  with  the  old  building  and  the  new. 

ComjMired  with  other  parts  of  the  Palace,  St.  Stephen's  Hall  is  plain  as  regards  decoration, 
but  although  no  paintings  are  to  be  seen  upon  the  walls,  round  the  hall  are  marble  statues 
of  bygone  statesmen  who  have  taken  their  share  in  the  Parliamentary  warfare  of  previous 
generations.  The  visitor  is  confronted  with  the  effigies  of  Hampden,  Wai  pole,  Chatham. 
Burke,  Fox,  Pitt,  and  Grattan,  with  others  who  have  thundered  out  their  eloquence  almost 
U|MIII  the  sjKit  upon' which  he  is  standing,  and  though  unpretending  and  simple,  the  apartment 
in  jxrint  of  historic  interest  ranks  higher  than  any  part  of  either  House  of  Parliament. 

Passing  for  a  few  moments  out  of  the  western  door,  we  stand  u]>on  the  flight  of  steps 
in  front  of  the  large  stained  glass  window,  and  obtain  a  line  view  of  Westminster  Hall. 


STATUE  OF  SIB  CHAHLES   DABBY, 
Hind  at  the  foot  of  the  itniroue  trading  to  the  committee-rooms. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

DETAILED  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 

FROM  the  Central  Hall  the  visitor  approaches  the  House  of  Commons  by  the  corridor  to 
the  left  as  he  enters  from  St.  Stephen's  Hall.  During  the  sittings  of  the  House  admission 
is  jealously  guarded  by  two  experienced  police  constables,  who  have  strict  orders  to  allow  no 
unauthorised  person  to  enter.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  the  whole  of  the  precincts  and 
approaches  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament  are  guarded  by  the  civil  authorities,  contrary  to 
the  custom  which  obtains  in  most  foreign  senate  houses,  where  the  military  are  much  in 
evidence.  This  arrangement  is  by  no  means  accidental,  for  it  is  a  fixed  principle  of  the 
Constitution  that  armed  soldiers,  theoretically  servants  of  the  Sovereign,  must  not  be  permitted 
to  control  any  of  the  proceedings  of  the  people's  representatives.  The  historic  incident  already 
narrated  of  the  attempted  arrest  of  the  five  members  by  Charles  I.  will  occur  to  mind  in 


Rrproduced  ky  ptrmiuion  of  the  Art  I'aion  of  London  from  their  largeplate  of  the  picture  by  E.  M.  Ward,  B.A. 

FRESCO   IN   THE   COMMONS  CORRIDOR  :   "  THE   LAST   SLEEP  OF  ARGYLL." 

251 


252 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


IlfST   OP   LOUD   BAXDOLPU  Cllf  HCH  I  1. 1., 

Pluxl  on   the  nwlulwn'  tUiroue  of  the  Home 
of  On 


this    connection.      To    the    unwanantable    intrusion    of    the 
misguided  Stuart    King  \\as  in   large  measure  due  tin-  n 
(|iifiit    Revolution.       Incidentally    it    established    more    tirinlv 
the  practice  of  civil    Mij>er\ision  of   tin-   legislative   precincts; 
sci   that    <-vcn    now    an    ord.-r    goes    );„•(!,    ,,t    the    openii, 
every  session   directing  the  Commissioner  of  Police  to  watch 
over    the    convenience    of    memliers    coming    to    and    going 
from   St.   Stephen's,  an  order  resjNinded    tn    liv   tlie    dev 
of  an   exjierieneeil    body   of  picked    men   of  tin*    A   I>i\i>ion. 
who  discharge  their  duties  with   unfailing  tact  and  discretion 
under  the  supervision  of  an  officer  of  long  experience. 

The    Commons    corridor    contains    the    final    sen, 
frescoes,    among    them   being  "The   Last   Sleep  of   Argvll." 
"Monk     Declaring    for     a     Free     Parliament.''     and     "T 
Acquittal  of  the  Se\en   liishops."     Passing  them,  the  visitor 
enters  the  Lobby,  a  description    of  which  has  been  given    in 
another  chapter.     To  the  right  of  the  Lobby  is    the  l.ihrarv 
corridor,  and  here  we  notice  ranged  along  the  walls    i  • 
oak-panelled  lockers,  which  are  allotted  one  to  each   im-mb. T. 
and    used   for   keeping   private    documents.      At    the    end    of 
this    corridor    is   a   passage  leading   to   the  Speaker's    otlico, 

and    a   staircase    which    gives    access    to   the    smoking-n 

where  friends  of  members  are  admitted.     In  this  room 
years  ago  a   scene  of  rare   interest   took  place.     It  hap] 
that    one   evening  a  well-known   member  had    been    entertaining   at    the  House  a   small   partv, 
among    them    a    thought-reading   expert,    who   at   that   time   was    creating   a   considerable    stir 
in    London   society.      The   idea   suggested    itself  to    some    one    that   a    demonstration    in 

smoking-room  would  be  a  pleasant  wav  of  pas-ing 
a  dull  evening.  To  another  the  even  happier 
notion  occurred  of  getting  the  late  .Air.  <;iad>tone 
to  join  in  the  seance.  It  was  a  somewhat  >tartling 
proposal,  but  with  the  exercise  of  diplomacy  it 
v.as  sueccs>l'ully  carried  through.  At  the  appointed 
hour  the  right  honourable  gentleman,  who  was 
then  Premier,  duly  appeared  in  the  smoking-room, 
a  part  of  the  House  which  the  oldest  member  never 
ivmembered  seeing  him  in  previou>ly.  In  his  eager, 
impulsive  fashion  he  entered  into  the  spirit  of 
the  thing,  and  after  witnes>ing  with  intere-t  the 
experiments  upon  others,  handed  himself  over  to  the 
thought- reader  for  the  exercise  of  his  power*.  It 
was  not  an  entirely  successful  demonstration.  Indeed, 
tin'  operator  confessed  freely  that  he  had  never  had 
a  more  difficult  subject.  The  incident,  however, 
created  much  amusement,  and  served  the  u-rfiil 
purpose  of  providing  a  subject  for  small  talk  for  days 
afterwards. 

Retracing  our  steps  to  the  corridor,  we  notice  at 
the  head  of  the  stairs  the  newspaper- room,  separated 
by  folding  doors  from  the  tea-room,  where  are  hung 
a  number  of  ancient  prints  showing  the  old  Palace 
of  Westminster,  the  bequest  of  Sir  William  I-'ru-ei.  Ml'. 


MR.    1IKNUY    ll.    KKSKINK,   C.V.O., 

TW  SwfMBt^t-Arnii  of  Ike  llcnue  of  Comniiioi  nod  Groom 
of  Ihe  Kob«  to  hi.  M^ntjr  the  King. 


253 


254 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


At     tin-    extreme    cud    of   (he    corridor    is    the 
suite    of   rooms   which    comprise    tin-    Library. 
:i  full   reference  to  which   is   made   in  a   special 
chapter.      Turning  back   and   proceeding  again 
lo    the    L-il)bv.    \\e    see    the    meiiil>ers'   private 
staircase,   which    affords    a    direct    outlet    from 
the  Commons  to  the  Cloi>ter-  and  cloak-room 
on  the  ground  floor,  and  gi\e>   BCC868    beside* 
to     \Ve>t  minuter      Hall,     the     Star     Chamlit-r 
courtyard,    and     New     1'alace     Yard.        In    the 
cloak-room    the    now    familiar    tape    machi 
are  at  work  bringing  the  late>(  ne\\-  from   the 
outer    world.     Another    comparatively  modern 
innovation   is  a  room    set   apart    for  secretarial 
work.        Here    busy    members    contri\e.   in    the 
intervals  of  their  legislative  laliours.  to  transact, 
with    the    aid    of    private    secretaries,    a    con- 
siderable  amount    of   urgent    work,  Inith    con- 
nected  with   tlieir   Parliamentary   dntio  and 
tlieir  jirivate  business.     Typewriters  are  avail- 
able   in    the    building,    and    the    telephone    is 
also    at    hand,  so    that    it    is    ]M>ssible    for   an 
active  legislator  to  make  the  uimo>t  use  of  his 
leisure.     A  further  concession  to  the  spirit  of 
progress   which    has  been  made   of  late  \ ear- 
is    the    provision  along  the    side   of  the   Star 
Chamber  court  of  a  convenient    place  for  the 
storage   of  bicycles,   these   modern   means   of 
locomotion  being  used  to  a  considerable  extent 
by  members.    Special  accommodation  formotor> 
has  yet  to  be  supplied,  but    doubtless  it  will 
be  forthcoming  in  the  not   distant    future. 
Upon    the   members'    staircase    are   marble    busts    of  the    late    Mr.    W.    If.    Smith   and  the 
lamented    Lord    Randolph    Churchill.      The   latter   effigy    is    placed   upon   an   elevated    pedestal 
close  to  the   wall,   and    is   a    lifelike    representation    of   the    statesman    in    his   official   robes    a.- 
Cliancellor    of    the   Exchequer.       The    artist   has   happily    caught    the    expression   of    the   noble 
lord  when    in   his  prime,  and  the  figure  seems   to  look  down    upon    the   spot   he  so  frequently 
passed. 

At  the  door  of  the  Legislative  Chamber,  the  quaint  hooded  chairs  of  the  doorkeepers  are 
placed;  here  sit  the  two  important  officers  of  the  Sergeant -at-Arms  guarding  the  entrance  to 
the  House.  Their  duties  are  of  a  responsible  nature.  The  face  of  every  member  is  known  to 
tin-in,  and  tlieir  vigilant  eyes  are  always  on  the  alert  lest  any  strangers  should  attempt  to  p 
through  the  doorway.  The  chief  doorkeeper  has  fitted  by  the  side  of  his  chair  a  handle,  by 
which  electrical  communication  ia  made  with  all  parts  of  the  building  when  a  division  i- 
called,  bells  ringing  for  two  minutes,  while  the  sand-glass  on  the  table  of  the  House  runs 
down.  He  also  heralds  the  approach  of  Black  Rod  when  that  functionary  appears  to  summon 
the  Commons  to  the  Jx>rds,  and  calls  aloud,  "Make  way  for  the  Speaker!"  when  that  high 
]>crsonagc  passes  out  of  the  House.  The  door  is  of  massive  oak,  and  on  one  of  the  pam-U 
a  small  grating  can  be  uncovered  from  within,  to  enable  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  to  issue 

directions  when    a  division  is  pnx ding  and  the   door   closed    and  locked.      The  stone  archway 

of  the  door    is    finely  carved,  and   concealed    electric    lights   bring   into   prominence  the    minute 
work   of  the  sculptor. 


TIIK  M-I:AKI;U'S  S;:AT,  HOIM;  or  OOMIMM 
A  beautiful  qwclmen  of  carved  oak  work. 


from  a  photo  by  Sir  Benjamin.  Stont,  M.I'. 

PART   OF   THE   CLOISTER   OF  ST.   STEPHEN'S  CHAPEL, 

Now  used  as  a  cloak-room  for  members  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
255 


256 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


MIWSI'Al'KK-HOOM,   HOUSE  OK  COMMONS. 
The  papers  are  arranged  upon  stands  in  various  parts  of  the  room. 

On  passing  into  the  House  the  visitor  is  struck  by  its  small  and  unpretentious  appearance 
in  comparison  with  tin-  magnificence  of  the  gilded  Upper  House.  As  regards  the  seating 
accommodation,  although  at  times  some  inconvenience  may  be  felt,  the  general  arrangement* 
are  deemed  sufficient,  for  a  larger  House  would  look  desolate  with  a  small  attendance  of 
members,  and,  moreover,  the  important  question  of  the  acoustic  properties  had  to  be  carefully 
considered  in  fixing  the  size.  In  the  House  as  at  present  const  met eil.  any  member  speaking 
IMII  be  heard  without  difficulty,  and  the  strain  upon  an  orator  is  minimised.  As  to  the  want  of 
einlH'llishinent,  the  House  of  Commons,  it  should  be  remembered,  is  designed  for  conducting  the 
business  of  the  nation,  while  the  House  of  Lords  is  the  scene  of  functions  in  which  display  and 
ceremony  play  a  conspicuous  part.  But  with  all  its  limitations  the  House  of  Commons 
(•handier  is  really  a  handsome  apartment.  It  is  of  the  same  width  and  height  as  the  l.urds. 
without  any  cross  benches  in  the  body  of  the  House.  The  rows  of  dark  green-covereil  M'ats.  with 
the  wide  gangway  in  the  centre,  rise  with  an  easy  gradient  on  each  side,  and  the  galleries  along 
the  sides  take  <>ft'  any  appearance  of  bareness.  The  tine  rich  oak  woodwork,  the  coloured 
decorations  of  the  panels  round  the  galleries,  and  the  relief  of  the  bright  brasswork  at  part- 
give  the  impression  of  stability  and  usefulness.  The  Speaker's  Chair,  built  of  elegantly  caned 
oak,  with  the  massive  hood  above,  is  traditional  in  its  construction,  and  the  table  of  the  llou-e. 
alto  planned  like  those  formerly  used,  occupy  a  large  >pace  of  the  floor.  At  the  table  sits  the 
Clerk  of  the  House,  in  wig  and  gown,  with  the  two  a>-i-tant  clerks  Ix-sidc  him.  Books  for 
quick  reference  are  upon  the  table,  and  at  the  end  the  mace  is  placed  in  full  \ie\v  of  all 
present,  while  at  either  side  of  the  mace  are  large  brass-clamped  boxes  in  which  are  deposited 
the  Koll  of  Parliament  signed  by  members  upon  taking  the  oath.  The  box  on  the  .Ministerial 
side  of  the  House,  to  the  right  of  the  Speaker,  is  exactly  opjMisite  the  seat  of  the  Leader  of 
the  lloiiv.  who  when  shaking  frequently  strikes  emphatically  the  wood  to  enforce  his 
arguments.  .Marks  of  the  signet  rings  worn  by  Mr.  Gladstone  are.  still  to  be  seen— an 
evidence  of  the  "force"  of  his  arguments. 


Detailed    Description    of    the    House    of    Commons         257 

The  chair  of  the  £ergeant-at-Arms,  near  the  Bar,  is  ahv.iys  occupied  by  that  officer  or  his 
deputy  when  the  House  is  sitting.  He  is  responsible  for  carrying  out  the  orders  of  the  House 
in  ease  of  disorder  arising,  and  he  carries  the  mace  to  and  from  the  House,  and  into  his  charge 
offenders  against  the  rules  or  dignity  of  the  House  are  committed,  he  being  their  custodian 
while  they  occupy  the  prison  house,  built  in  the  lower  part  of  the  great  Clock  Tower. 

The  galleries  for  members  running  along  the  sides  of  the  House  under  the  large  windows 
are  chiefly  used  when  the  House  is  crowded,  but  it  is  contrary  to  custom  to  speak  from  this 
position,  though  upon  occasions  members  have  astonished  the  House  by  standing  up  and 
asking  questions  of  Ministers,  who  have  replied  to  them.  At  the  end  of  these  galleries,  close 
to  that  of  the  Press,  seats  are  allotted  for  the  Chaplain  of  the  House  and  the  Speaker's  private 
secretary,  and  near  the  end,  joining  the  Distinguished  Strangers'  and  Peers'  Galleries,  clerks  and 
officers  of  the  House  by  usage  may  occupy  seats. 

The  Peers'  Gallery  is  on  the  Government  side  of  the  House,  and  runs  from  the  clock  in 
the  centre  to  the  west  wall.  The  King,  when  Prince  of  Wales,  was  not  an  infrequent  visitor, 
and  occupied  the  seat  of  honour  over  the  clock.  Ambassadors,  judges,  and  other  privileged 
personages  are  accommodated  in  the  front  gallery,  running  from  the  centre  to  the  east  wall, 
and  immediately  behind  them  seats  are  found  for  other  distinguished  visitors,  admission  to  these 
galleries  being  controlled  by  the  Speaker.  The  remaining  part  of  the  gallery,  providing  one 
hundred  and  fifty  seats,  is  for  strangers,  who  are  admitted  on  personal  application  to  the  Speaker's 
secretary  by  a  member  of  the  House.  Behind  the  gallery  may  be  noticed  a  screen  similar  to  that 
at  the  other  end  of  the  House  in  front  of  the  Ladies'  Gallery,  and  this  conceals  a  single  row 
of  seats,  also  for  ladies,  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  having  the  privilege  of  granting  admission  to  it. 

The  better-known  Ladies'  Gallery  is  divided  into  two  parts.  One  side  is  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Speaker's  wife,  who  has  at  her  command  a  number  of  seats  for  personal  friends. 
H.R.H.  the  Princess  of  Wales  and  other  Royal  ladies,  wives  of  Cabinet  Ministers,  and  other 
leaders  of  fashion,  usually  have  the  entree.  The  other  parts  of  the  gallery  are  at  the  disposal  of 


MEMBERS'  SMOKING-ROOM,  HOUSE  OP  COMMONS. 

Games  of  chess  arjd  draughts  are  played  in  this  room. 


33 


258 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


im-iiiU-rs    but    so   limited    is   the  accommodation    that    a   ballot   for   places  takes   plan-  a  week 

in  advat 

1'ntler  the  galleries  on  either  side  of  the  door,  the  back  row  of  seats  below  tin-  I'.ar  i- 
reserved  f«r  priv.it.-  >ecretaries  of  Mini-tcrs  and  chief  ]>ermanent  officers  of  public  depart  incut-. 
wboee  aid  N  indi^H-i^able  to  the  .Ministers.  The  doors  to  these  scats  are  just  at  tin-  entrance 
and  U-M.le  tin-  inner  swing-doors  of  tin-  House.  It  \\a<  at  tin-  Ix.ttom  of  tin-  steps  on  the 
.Ministerial  >ide  of  tli.-  lloii>«-  that  some  years  ago  a  miscreant  (.laced  flic  dynamite  which 
t-xplod.-d  ami  wrecked  a  jiortion  of  tin-  House,  bringing  down  the  entire  front  gallery. 

The   ceiling   of  tlie    Hou-e.    hori/ontal   in    the  centre  and    sloping   at    the    sides   and    end-. 
titt.-d    with    jam-Is   of    jiale. ..loured    ijlass    and    coloured    designs.      Behind    the    j,'la>>    ai 
liijhtiii),'    arrangement s.    and    the    \i>it..r    at     nii;lit    is   struck   with    the    Ix-autiful    way   the    whole 
l|ou-e  i-  lighted.     'I  In-  strong  gas-limits,  \\itli  powerful  reflectors,  shine  with  equal   ];..wcr  tlimn^h 
the  tinted  glass.     The  ornamental    pendants  have  rings   of  jets   concealed.     Behind  each  pillar 
suplNirtini;  the  galleries,  and  in  various  otherwise  dark  corners,  small   electric  lights  are  placed. 
The  whole   et).  .  t    N   much   admired.     Not  a  shadow  is  to  be  seen;    no  glare  strains  the 

the    appearance  is  that   given 
by    mellow    sunlight.      l-'nun 

the     hack     of     the      8  peal 

Chair  a  passage  leads  t.. 
Mini-ter>'  private  rooms  and 
official  residences,  and  t  he-re  i- 
aUo  a  private  stairca>e  gixiiig 
access  to  the  I^adies'  (iallery. 
Surrounding  the  body  of  tin- 
House  the  divUion  lo! 
form  part  of  the  main  struc- 
ture. They  arc  wide,  com- 
modious, and  well  fitted  up. 
with  writing-tables  placed 
near  the  bay-windows,  and 
with  l>ookcases  along  the  walls 
containing  volumes  of  Parlia- 
mentary debates. 

The  method  of  taking  a 
division  of  the  House  i~  \ery 
simple,  yet  most  etV-rtiu-. 
The  question  being  put  from 
the  Chair,  strangers  withdraw  from  below  the  Bar  and  tellers  are  api>ointed.  The  "  .\ 
pass  out  In-hind  tin-  Speaker's  Chair  into  the  Lobby  on  the  west  side  of  the  MOUM-.  The 
\  »"  leave  by  the  main  door  near  the  I'ar  on  the  east  side,  both  returning  in  the  oppo>ite 
direction  to  which  they  enter,  but  the  House  is  entirely  cleared  before  the  doors  are  opened 
for  meiiil»-rs  to  return.  Clerks  take  the  names  of  all  passing  through,  the  names  In-ing 
print<-d  with  the  votes  and  proceedings.  The  tellers  count  the  numbers  audibly  as  the  members 
IMISS  them  at  the  doors  to  return  into  the  H.MIM-.  and.  the  record  agreeing  with  the  list  taken 
by  the  clerks,  the  result  is  reported  to  the  House.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  only  >ince 
183G  have  the  names  of  members  voting  been  published,  and  that  formerly  all  stranger-  in 
the  galleries,  including  the  members  of  the  J'ros.  \\ere  excluded  :  hut.  as  explained  in  the 
chapter  on  the  hi>torv  of  the  admission  of  the  Press,  the  days  of  secrecy  have  gone  by,  and 
publicity  in  the  full  light  of  public  opinion  takes  the  place  of  mystery. 


I;I:AXI>  STAIHCASK,  norsE  OK 
Vied  by  memben  only.    The  entrance  it  in  Westminater  Hall. 


"  AYE  "   DIVISION   LOBBY,   HOUSE  OP  COMMONS. 
The  tellers  stand  at  the  end  of  the  Lobby  and  count  the  number  of  members  passing  through. 


"No"    DIVISION   LOBBY,   HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 

As  members  pass  the  desk  their  names  are  registered  by  clerks. 

259 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE   /. //;/;. i /,T. 

A  KE.vrrnF.  of  the  House  of  Commons  little  known  outside,  but  keenly  appreciated  within. 
is  the  Library.  I/x-ated  in  a  fine  suite  of  rooms  on  the  main  floor,  overlooking  tin-  rivrr.  it  is 
a  favoured  retreat  of  tlie  more  studious  memlx'rs,  who  find  it  jxissible  to  associate  their  legis- 
lative lalxmrs  with  a  certain  amount  of  literary  or  research  work.  There  are  many  strange 
tilings  about  the  Houses  of  Parliament;  but  perhaps  the  strangest  is  that  until  well  into  the 
nineteenth  century  the  House  had  nothing  which  could  be  dignified  by  the  name  of  Library. 
What  the  famous  orators  of  other  days,  the  Walpoles,  the  Pulteneys,  and  the  Pitts,  did  without 
Mich  an  arsenal  of  fact  at  their  elbows  as  a  well-selected  collection  of  books  is,  it  is  difficult 
now  to  imagine.  Maybe  in  that  period  of  ]>olitical  oratory  there  was  little  of  real  speech- 
] in-paring  in  the  legislative  precincts.  The  tu  quoque  line  of  political  argument  had  then 
not  attained  to  the  high  development  it  has  since  reached,  anil  there  was  exiMing  none  of 
the  oratorical  material  from  which  weapons  could  be  fashioned  to  confuse  and  confute  an 
opponent, 

Whatever  the  cause  of  the  neglect,  it  is  an  indubitable  fact  that,  except  in  an  informal. 
irregular  fashion,  no  such  institution  as  a  Library  existed  until  1818.  In  that  year  it  seem> 
to  have  occurred  to  the  House  of  Commons  that  it  ought  to  provide  some  system  by  which 
members  might  consult  Parliamentary  papers  and  other  works  of  reference.  Its  sense  of  its 
intellectual  deficiency  was  stimulated  by  the  fact,  set  forth  in  the  preface  to  the  first 


TIIK    I.1HI1AUY   (MAP-BOOM),    HOUSE  OF  COM  Mi  >\ -. 
A  gallery  runs  round  the  room,  from  which  •  view  of  the  Terrace  i«  obtained. 

260 


The    Library 


261 


THE   LIBRARY,   HOUSE   OP  COMMONS. 
This  room  contains  books  of  general  reference  and  Historical  works, 

catalogue,  issued  in  1830,  that  the  books  required  for  the  use  of  Select  Committees,  consisting 
of  Acts  of  Parliament  and  journals,  sessional  reports  and  papers,  had  accumulated  in  such 
quantity  that  they  were  not  readily  accessible.  The  plain  need  was  for  an  official  Librarian 
who  would  take  charge  of  and  classify  such  books  as  were  already  in  the  possession  of  the 
authorities,  and  deal  with  additions  which  might  subsequently  be  made.  Such  a  gentleman 
was  found  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Spiller,  who  held  the  appointment  for  a  good  many 
years.  At  the  outset  the  Library  was  housed  in  a  small  room,  known  as  "  the  Speaker's 
Chamber,"  some  seventeen  feet  six  inches  long  by  sixteen  feet  nine  inches  wide.  It  was  situated 
between  Bellamy's  coffee-room  and  the  smoking-room,  and,  seeing  the  free  and  easy  manners 
which  then  prevailed,  it  could  not  have  been  a  very  delectable  place  for  the  studious  member. 
As  much  as  this  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  official  literature  on  the  subject ;  members  seem 
to  have  been  in  the  habit  of  dropping  in  from  one  or  other  of  the  resorts,  bringing  with 
them  no  doubt  the  atmosphere  and  manners  of  those  establishments.  Owing  to  this  cause 
a  Select  Committee  was  appointed  in  1825,  and  another  a  year  later,  to  consider  the  question 
of  providing  more  suitable  accommodation.  A  proposal  emanating  from  the  latter  of  these 
bodies  for  the  erection  of  a  new  Library  was  adopted,  and  in  1828  the  building  was  ready 
for  occupation.  So  greatly  was  it  appreciated,  that  before  the  session  was  out  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  day  felt  constrained  to  bring  forward  a  vote  of  £2,000  for  the  purchase  of  books 
for  the  establishment.  The  appetite  of  members  grew  on  what  it  fed  on.  Before  another 
year  was  out,  like  Oliver  Twist,  they  were  asking  for  "  more."  Again  two  successive  Select 
Committees  deliberated  upon  the  question  of  perfecting  the  Library.  The  outcome  of  the 
deliberations  was  a  report  recommending  additions  to  the  collection  of  books,  which  was  stated 
to  be  especially  weak  in  works  relating  to  law  and  history.  There  was  certainly  room  for 
improvement,  for  at  the  time  the  entire  library  numbered  only  some  4,500  books,  and  many 
of  these,  no  doubt  the  bulk,  were  official  publications. 

Certain  additions  to  the  stock  were  made  in  consequence  of  the  Committee's  findings,  but  the 


262 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


HfME, 


Who  rlgorou»lj  advocated  Parliamentary  anil  financial 
reform. 


fire  of  1834.  which  destroyed  tho  Library  in  common  with 
the  Legislative  Chamlx'rs.  put  an  cud  to  the  neco-ity 
of  dealing  with  tin-  matter  in  tlic  form  contemplated. 
It  was  no  longer  a  question  of  additions  to  the  stock  of 
books,  but  of  building  up  an  entirely  new  library.  \ 
doubt  existed  in  the  minds  of  leading  members  as  to 
what  the  situation  demanded.  The  Select  Commit  ice 
which  sat  in  1835  to  formulate  a  scheme  for  the  build- 
ing of  new  Houses  of  Parliament  in  its  report  included 
recommendations  that  there  should  be  a  Library  consisting 
of  three  rooms,  each  sixty  feet  long,  and  wide  and  lofty 
in  proportion,  and  that  there  should  be  in  addition  ac- 
commodation for  the  Librarian  over  the  Library,  or  on  - 
tiguous  to  it.  These  directions  were  borne  in  mind  by 
Sir  Charles  Barry  when  he  framed  his  designs,  lie  allotted 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  river  frontage  on  the  main 
lloor  to  four  beautiful  apartments — three  for  the  use  of 
members  and  one  for  the  Speaker's  pri\ate  use.  Sik-c- 
quent  to  the  opening  of  the  new  building  in  1852.  an 
additional  room,  used  at  first  exclusively  as  a  committee- 
room,  was  equipped  for  the  uses  of  the  Library,  and 
eventually  completely  transferred  to  it.  It  is  now  known 

under  the  distinctive  name  of  the  "map-room."     This  suite  of  apartments  would  have  satisfied 

the   highest  aspirations   of  the   most  ardent  of  bibliophilic   members  of  the  pre-Keform  times. 

Ample  in  proportions,  lofty  and  airy,  and  possessing,  with  the  attractions  of  a  delightful  outlook, 

the    advantages   of  quiet   and    seclusion,    the    Library   constitutes   perhaps   the    most  desirable 

establishment  of  the  kind  there  is  in  London. 

In  the  daytime  the  rooms  are  the  lightest  part  of  the  building.     The  large  double  windows 

are  so  made  that  perfect  quietude  is  obtained ;  the  temperature  is  kept  in  a  suitable  condition ; 

s|>ecially  designed  seamless  carpets   prevent  any  noise  in  walking,  and   the   thousands  of  books 

are  so  conveniently  arranged  that  a  new-comer  examining 
the  excellent  catalogues  can  at  once  locate  the  jwirticular 
work  he  is  in  search  of.  Not  only  Parliamentary  and 
historical  works  of  reference  are  kept,  but  rare  editions  of 
standard  literature  can  be  consulted,  every  book  being 
handsomely  bound.  The  Library  is  under  the  personal 
control  of  the  Speaker,  and  the  Librarian,  Mr.  Ralph  C. 
Walpole,  whose  forbears  for  generations  were  connected 
with  the  House  of  Commons,  had  had  a  long  experience 
of  Parliamentary  service  in  various  departments  of  the 
House  before  receiving  his  present  appointment. 

Apart  from  its  bibliographical  contents,  the  Library 
is  of  special  interest  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  there 
are  to  be  seen  in  its  confines  some  curious  relics  of  the 
past.  Here,  under  a  glass  case,  is  exposed  for  the 
inspection  of  the  visitor  a  long  key,  hinged  in  the 
centre,  supposed  to  have  been  used  by  Guido  Fa\\kes 
to  obtain  entrance  to  the  vaults  under  the  old  House 
of  Lords  when  he  was  engaged  upon  the  infamous  (iun- 
riowder  Plot.  It  was  presented  bv  the  Rev.  J.  Hech,  M.A., 

8111    THOMAS    KKSKINE    MAY,    K.C.B.     (LORD 

FAiisnoHori:n),  to    "*e    'ate    Speaker   (Mr.   Peel),   and    by   him    placed 

For  a  long  period  cicrk  of  UK  UOOM  of  commou.          '"   '' ~  present  position.      A  more   important  exhibit  is  a 


The    Library 


263 


llilil 


THE    Lir.KAKY,    HOUSE   OF  COMMONS. 
One  of  the  iiuiet  comers  of  the  Library  to  which  literary  members  resort  to  pursue  their  avocations. 

selection  of  the  manuscript  journals  of  the  House  dealing  with  the  period  of  the  Revolution. 
Ihree  memorable  episodes  are  chosen  for  illustration.  First  are  shown  the  pages  of  the  journal 
which  were  mutilated  by  James  I.  on  December  18th,  1621,  when,  to  show  his  contempt  of 
the  "Protestation"  of  the  liberties  of  the  House  made  twelve  days  earlier,  he  utterly  annihi- 
lated the  offending  record.  Next  is  displayed  the  journal  entry  concerning  the  attempted 
arrest  of  the  five  members  on  the  benches  of  the  House  of  Commons  by  Charles  I.  on 
January  4th,  1641-2.  Finally  there  is  open  for  inspection  the  page  of  the  journal  which  marks 
the  dispersion  of  the  House  of  Commons  by  Oliver  Cromwell  on  April  20th,  1652.  Eloquent 
memorials  these  of  times  of  stress  and  tribulation  in  the  life  of  Parliament,  and  on  that 
account  of  absorbing  attractiveness.  Not  improbably  the  visitor  who  sees  them  will  be  led 
to  take  an  interest  in  the  great  collection  of  records  of  which  they  form  but  a  very  small  part, 
and  for  his  behoof  the  erudite  Sir  Reginald  Palgrave,  the  late  Clerk  of  the  House,  has  got 
together  some  salient  facts  which  may  be  appropriately  given  here. 

"The  manuscript  journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,"  says  this  authority,  "escaped  the 
great  fire  of  October,  1834,  which  destroyed  a  considerable  portion  of  the  ancient  Palace  of 
Westminster.  These  volumes  range  in  series  from  the  year  1547,  the  first  year  of  the  reign 
of  King  Edward  VI.,  to  the  year  1800. 

"A  daily  record  of  their  proceedings  is  essential  to  the  being  of  a  Parliament,  and  the 
existence  of  journal  books  of  the  House  of  Commons  before  the  year  1547  may  be  accepted 
as  a  certainty,  even  if  evidence  to  that  effect  was  not  afforded  by  the  statute  of  6th  Henry  VIII., 
which  enacted  that  those  members  of  Parliament  who  absented  themselves  from  Parliament 
without  the  licence  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House  'entered  of  record  in  the  book  of  the  Clerk 
of  the  Parliament  appointed  for  the  Commons,  should  be  deprived  of  their  wages.' 

"The  two  first  journal  books,  which  contain  the  records  of  the  House  of  Commons  from 
the  first  year  of  King  Edward  VI.  to  the  twenty-third  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  were  known 
to  historical  students  of  three  hundred  years  ago  as  '  Seymour '  and  '  Onslow,'  the  names  of  the 


264 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE  OLD   KEY  :  A    BEI.IC   OP  THE  GUNPOWDER  PLOT. 


clerks  who  wit,  pen  in  hand,  with  those  books  before  them  on  the  table  of  tin-  H«>u>«- ;  and 
that  Srvmour  may  claim  to  In-  tin-  most  ancient  of  the  inainiM-ript  journals  of  tin-  llon»c  n!' 
Commons  is  attested  by  evidence  reaching  l>ack  in  time  to  the  year  1041.  The  learned  and 

diligent  Sir  William  Midi-will, 
who  in  the  year  HiUl  sat  for 
-  the  Cornish  eonstitiieney  u! 
l'..i->iney.  states  in  his  Umk. 
•The  .Mniiner  how  Statute.-, 
are  enacted  in  Parliament.' 
published  in  1641,  that  'the 
volume  containing  the  jour- 
P  nals  of  the  Commons  House 
of  Parliament  for  the  tirst 
\ear  of  King  Edward  VI.  is 

the  most  ancient  that  they  have.'  That  the  series  of  the  manuscript  journals  should  close  with 
the  volume  which  records  the  session  of  1800  may  be  attributed,  not  to  official  neglect,  but 
to  what  may  be  termed  natural  causes,  to  that  inevitable  and  most  useful  resort  to  the  printing 
press  which  increases  more  and  more.  .  .  . 

"The  manuscript  journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,  strongly  marked,  especially  in  tin- 
earlier  volumes,  with  a  picturesque  interest,  possess  no  historical  value,  as  they  were  published 
in  a  printed  form  more  than  a  century  ago.  In  the  year  1742,  acting  on  the  report  of  a 
Select  Committee,  based  on  information  supplied  by  Mr.  Hardinge,  the  then  Clerk  of  the 
House,  the  Commons  ordered  the  printing  of  their  journals  from  the  commencement  of 
the  manuscript  series,  and  of  complete  indexes  thereto,  both  general  and  glossarial.  Tin- 
undertaking  was  entrusted  to  Mr.  Richardson,  then  in  the  first  bloom  of  'Pamela,  or  Virtue 
Rewarded,'  'a  printer  in  whose 
skill  and  integrity '  Mr. 
Hardinge  could  '  confide.'  The 
journals  were  printed  in  Roman 
letter  upon  'fine  English 
demy,'  worth  1 5s.  a  ream  ; 
and  the  outlay  thus  com- 
menced reached  in  the  year 
1825  a  grand  total  of  between 
£160,000  and  £170,000." 

These  references  to  the 
journals  recall  the  circum- 
stance that  in  the  Library  is 
perpetual cd,  by  means  of  a 
lm>t,  the  memory  of  the  late 
Sir  T.  Krskine"  May  (Lord 
Karnborough),  whose  "History 
of  Parliamentary  Practice,"  based  on  a  lifelong  association  with  the  records  of  the  Parliamentary 
past  ami  a  career  of  many  years  at  the  table  of  the  House,  is  the  standard  authority  on  all 
that  concerns  the  work  of  Parliament.  The  memorial  is  particularly  appropriate  in  the  position 
it  occupies,  as  it  was  as  Assistant  Librarian  from  1831  to  1847  that  this  eminent  ofh'cial  laid  the 
foundations  of  that  profound  knowledge  of  the  procedure  of  Parliament  which  he  subsequently 
turned  to  such  good  account. 


THE   MANUSCRIPT   JOURNALS. 
The  actual  records  of  three  great  event]  .hiring  the  Stuart  ix-riod. 


Millai'.    I'.K 

A    YEOMAN    OF   THE   GUARD. 


One  of  the  famous  cot:  '    uliiJi,   .n   i!K   O|tninj;   .>!   every   SC.SSJ.MI.   scjrclu-s  ilic 

Vjults  of  ihc   HOUM.-.  <if  I'jrli.imu'.t    lor   cxplosi 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

BELOW   STAIRS   AT    ST.    STEPHEN'S. 

THOSE  who  only  know  the  Houses  of  Parliament  as  visitors  hardly  realise  how  immense  is 
the  area  devoted  to  what  may  be  termed  the  domestic  services  of  the  two  Houses.  In 
what,  familiarly  speaking,  may  be  called  the  basement  of  the  Palace  is  quite  a  new  world, 
peopled  with  officials  and  servants  who  never  come  into  the  blaze  of  the  footlights,  but 
who  nevertheless  play  an  important  part  in  the  staging  of  the  great  legislative  drama. 
The  heating,  the  lighting,  and  the  ventilating  arrangements  of  the  vast  building  are  all 
manipulated  from  here ;  and  also  on  this  level  are  the  kitchens,  the  wine-cellars,  and  the 
other  essential  adjuncts  of  that  social  and  festive  side  of  Parliamentary  life  which  has  been 
sketched  in  earlier  chapters.  Only  the  very  Old  Parliamentary  Hands  on  the  staff  know 
thoroughly  this  locality  in  all  its  many  ramifications.  It  is  a  wondrous  maze  of  passages  and 
courts,  murky  apartments,  and  musty  cellars  and  storerooms,  bewildering  in  the  multiplicity  o' 
its  details,  but  an  indispensable  part  of  Barry's  mighty  plan. 

On  the  morning  of  the  opening  day  of  every  session  there  is  a  solemn  function  enacted 
in  these  nether  regions  of  the  Palace.  From  the  Tower  comes  a  detachment  of  Yeomen  of 
the  Guard  in  the  full  glory  of  their  picturesque  uniforms.  Attended  by  the  Deputy  Great 
Chamberlain,  the  police  and  other  officials,  they  make  a  close  inspection  of  every  nook  and 
corner  of  the  place  with  intent  to  discover  whether  any  stray  ban-els  of  gunpowder  or  dynamite 
bombs  have  been  surreptitiously  placed  there  by  evil-doers.  Provided  with  lanterns  and 
carrying  halberds,  the  worthy  Beefeaters  make  their  tour,  which  usually  lasts  nearly  two 
hours.  It  is  terminated  by  a  pleasant  little  ceremony,  in  which  the  Sovereign's  health  is 
drunk  in  a  glass  of  good  wine.  This  custom  dates  from  the  days  of  the  first  Bellamy,  who 


THE   GUNPOWDER  CONSPIRATORS. 

From  a  print  published  immediately  after  the  discovery  of  the  plot. 
265 


34 


266 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


AN    l.n  HIM;    IIY    I.K'iKi.i:   CUI  1KSHANK, 

the    eorwplraton    rxravatinjj    the    tunnel     from    tt.f 
•  :n  old  Palace  Van!  rented  IIJT  them  prior  to  their  obtaining 
i  of  the  relUr  under  the  llonw  of  l.ord«,    where   the 
cuti|owder  wu  ultimately  )'Urr<l. 


kept  ;i  wonderful  cellar  of  wines  under  the  old 
i|oii-e  o!  Commons.  'Hie  worthy  Boniface  would 
meet  tin-  inspecting  jiartvon  it-  round-  ;iml  would 

invite    tlielll    to    simple     the    content"    of    the     Kittles 
liv    which    they     were    surrounded.      When    the    fire 
of    1SIM    tlroM-     N|i •--!•-.     Bellamy's    bu-ine<s    on1 
the    legislative    precincts.    fir>t    to   the    vaults    IM-I,. 
the  Sr--ions   HOIIM-  at    We-tmiiister.   ami   aflerw 
t<i   Parliament   Street,  the  hospitable  u-:r_-e  \\a- 
discontinued,  as   it    might    have   lieen.      '1  he    'I. 
\\ere    invited    to   the    tirin's    new    headquarters,   and 
there    each    year    since    they    have    had    their    cake 
and  wine  and  toa>tei)  their  Sovereign  with  liecumini; 
ent  hu-iasm. 

It  is.  of  cnui'M'.  to  (iuido  Fawkes  of  infamous 
memory  that  we  are  indebted  for  this  annual 
appearance  of  the  Yeomen  of  the  (itiard  at  St. 
Stephen's.  That  historic  conspirator  so  nearly 
Mirceeded  on  One  memorable  Fifth  of  No\em!,er  ill 

blowing  tlie  estates,  of  the  realm  in  Parliament  to 
the  skie.-.  that  it  was  deemed  neces-arv  liv  t  lie 

...  .«  .  .  r  *,.' 

authorities  to  take  the  precaution  of  searching  the 
vaults  prior  to  the  opening  of  every  ses>ion.  in 
order  to  preclude  the  ]Kissihility  of  explosives  lieinij 
placed  there.  The  (iiui]io\vder  Plot,  as  it  has  ever  lieen  familiarly  known,  has  not  the 
fa-i-inatioii  it  once  had  for  the  ]>opiilar  mind.  But  from  the  place  it  occupies  in  Parliamentary 
annals  it  merit-,  more  than  a  passing  reference  in  a  work  of  this  description.  The  con 
spiraey  had  its  origin  in  the  penal  legislation  against  Konmn  Catholics  which  followed  tli 
ion  of  James  I.  Brooding  over  the  wrongs  inflicted  ujton  their  co-religionist-,  a 

of  fanatics  consisting  of  Robert  Catesby,  Joh 
Wright,  and  Thomas  Winter  conceived  the  idea 
wreaking  a  terrible  vengeance  on  the  Kin-  ai. 
Parliament  which  had  sanctioned  them.  (iuii 
Fawkes  was  early  initiated  into  the  plot,  as  wel 
as  another  staunch  Roman  Catholic  named  Thorn; 
Percy.  They  both  eagerly  entered  into  the  con 
spiracy,  as  did  others  who  were  at 
periods  invited  to  join. 

The  first  step  towards  the  execution  of  flu 
diabolical  scheme  \\;i-  taken  on  .May  2-4th.  16C 
when  Percy,  acting  under  Catesby's  instruction?- 
hired  a  tenement,  at  the  south-ea>t  corner  of  Oil 
1'alace  Yard,  adjoining  the  House  of  l^onl-.  the 
idea  being  to  construct  a  mine  to  the  vaults  undr 
that  apartment.  A  meeting  of  the  commissioner 
ap]K>intcd  to  discuss  the  terms  of  the  I'liion 
Kngland  with  Scotland  temporarily  der.mged  t 
conspirators'  plans,  and  it  was  not  until  Decembr 

llth.  1G04,  that  they  found  themselves  in  a  po-iii. 

to  commence  operations.  On  that  day.  having 
in  a  More  of  provi.-ions  to  save  them  from 
necessity  of  going  abroad,  thev  started  to  excavate. 


AV   i  .i"  HIM;   IIY  (iK(iKc;f:  cm  IKMIANK, 


MR  Ouj  Fi*ko  LIT  Ins  the  train  of  gunpowder  in  readme** 
(•  i  ih»  final  act. 


Below    Stairs    at    St.    Stephen's 


267 


Their  labours  were  from  time  to  time  interrupted  by  fancied  sounds,  the  creation  of  their 
superstitious  fears  ;  but  the  work,  nevertheless,  proceeded  steadily.  For  a  fortnight  the  con- 
spirators, reinforced  by  three  kindred  spirits,  kept  at  their  posts  below  ground,  only  Fawkes, 
who  acted,  as  sentinel,  showing  himself  in  public.  About  Christmas  information  was  obtained 
that  Parliament  would  not  meet  until  October  instead  of  in  February,  as  was  originally 
arranged  ;  and  consequently  the  work  was  suspended  and  the  conspirators  separated  for  a  few 
weeks.  When  they  again  came  together  in  February  an  incident  occurred  which  greatly 
facilitated  the  execution  of  their  designs.  This  was  the  renting  from  a  coal-dealer  named 
Bright  of  a  cellar  which  was  actually  below  the  House  of  Lords.  The  acquisition  of  this 
place  rendered  the  construction  of  the  mine  unnecessary,  and  so,  abandoning  the  excavation, 
the  conspirators  proceeded  to  prepare  more  directly  for  the  carrying  out  of  their  plot.  Thirty- 


FACSIMILE   OP  THE   LETTER  TO   LORD   MOXTEAGLE, 
The  delivery  of  which  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  plot. 

six  barrels  of  gunpowder  were  brought  across  from  Lambeth  and  stored  in  the  recesses  of  the 
cellar,  and  upon  them  were  placed  faggots  and  rubbish,  so  as  to  conceal  the  tell-tale  store  from 
prying  eyes.  By  May  all  was  in  readiness  for  the  fatal  stroke,  and  once  more  the  party 
separated.  They  met  again  at  different  times,  and  by  Michaelmas  the  final  arrangements 
had  been  made  for  the  momentous  day,  which  proved  to  be  November  5th.  Sir  Everard 
Digby,  Ambrose  Kookwood,  and  .Sir  Francis  Tresham,  who  had  been  brought  into  the  conspiracy, 
were  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  providing  armed  men  to  second  the  efforts  of  the  plotters 
alter  the  explosion  had  occurred.  Upon  Fawkes  devolved  the  dubious  honour  of  firing  the 
train  by  means  of  a  slow  match.  It  was  contemplated  that  the  fuse  would  burn  fifteen 
minutes,  sufficiently  long  to  enable  Fawkes  to  cross  the  river  to  Lambeth  and  make  good  his 
escape  to  the  Continent  with  the  good  news  of  the  punishment  of  the  tyrants. 


268 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


So  fur.  everything  promised  well  for  the 
desperate  venture,  anil  there  is  small  doubt 
that  success  would  have  crowned  it,  luul  not 
one  or  two  of  the  conspirators  almost  at  the 
la-t  moment  felt  qualms  of  conscience  at  in- 
volving some  of  their  friends  in  the  general 
ruin  which  they  destined  for  Parliament. 
The  advisability  of  informing  these  of  their 
danger  was  di.-cu>sed.  and  it  \va-  agreed  that, 
short  of  a  specific  warning,  everything  should 
be  done  to  induce  those  for  whom  concern 
was  felt  to  give  the  ] louse  of  Lords  a  wide 
berth  on  the  opening  of  Parliament.  A-  an 
outcome  of  these  deliberations,  bird  Monteagle 
received  on  October  26th  a  letter  in  a  strange 
handwriting  entreating  him  to  absent  him>elf 
from  attendance  on  the  King  on  November  5th. 
Perplexed  at  the  mysterious  terms  of  the 
communication.  Lord  Monteagle  "  repaired  to 
Whitehall  to  the  Erie  of  Salisbury,  his 
Maje>ty's  principal  Secretary,  whom  he  found 
in  the  company  of  the  Lord  Admiral  1,  the 
Erie  of  Suffolk^,  the  Erie  of  Worcester  and 
Erie  of  Northampton,  ready  to  go  to  supper. 
and  then  drewe  the  Erie  of  Salisbury  asyde 
into  another  chamber  and  imparted  to  him 
the  letter."  The  significance  of  the  document 
was  quickly  recognised,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  the  character  of  the  plot  was  divined. 
But  it  was  decided  to  make  no  arrests  until 
the  day  before  the  meeting  of  Parliament, 
when  the  conspirators  would  have  matured 
their  plans.  A  preliminary  search  of  the 
cellars  by  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  who  was  ac- 
companied on  the  occasion  by  Ixjrd  Monteagle,  aroused  the  suspicions  of  the  conspirators,  and 
Fawkes,  on  the  evening  of  November  4th,  went  off  to  give  the  alarm  to  Percy.  Returning 
at  midnight  to  his  post,  he  was  arrested  by  Sir  Thomas  Knvvett,  a  Westminster  magistrate, 
who,  with  an  armed  force,  was  awaiting  him.  The  murder  was  now  out.  It  required  only  a 
brief  examination  of  the  cellar  to  discover  the  barrels  of  gunpowder,  the  slow  match,  and  a 
dark  lantern  ready  lighted  for  operations.  Fawkes  was  promptly  taken  to  Whitehall  to  the 
bedchamber  of  the  King,  where  were  assembled  all  the  Lords  of  the  Council,  the  Lord 
Chamberlain,  and  the  Lord  Admiral.  Here,  after  orders  had  been  given  to  make  all  doors 
fast,  the  prisoner  was  interrogated.  Maintaining  a  defiant,  almost  a  truculent,  demeanour,  lie 
replied  to  the  questions  put  to  him  with  remarkable  sang-froid.  He  declined  to  state  who 
were  his  fellow-conspirators,  and  said  that  his  only  regret  was  that  the  explosion  had  not 
taken  place.  Asked  by  the  King  whether  he  did  not  regret  his  attack  on  the  Royal  Family, 
he  observed  that  desperate  d leases  required  dangerous  remedies.  A  Scotch  noble  inquired 
why  he  had  prepared  so  many  barrels  of  gunpowder.  "To  blow  Scotchmen  back  to  Scotland," 
returned  the  imperturbable  Fawkes.  Perceiving  that  nothing  was  to  be  got  out  of  the  prisoner, 
the  King  committed  him  to  the  Tower.  There  other  and  more  effectual  means  were  adopted 
to  secure  the  information  required.  Put  to  the  torture  of  the  nick.  Fawkes  broke  down 
completely.  He  confessed  everything,  afterwards  .-etting  his  trembling  hand  to  the  document 


from  a  photo  l>;t  Tlioituu  Lttcit,  JHnninpham. 

AN   AttCH   OF  THE  CELLAR  UNDER   THE   OLD   HOUSE   OF 
LORDS   IN    WHICH   THE  GUNPOWDER  WAS   PLACED   BY  GUY 
PAWKES   AND   HIS   BROTHER  CONSPIRATORS. 
The  photograph  U  from  the  original  arch  re-erected  in  the  Sir  John 
Soane  .Museum. 


Below    Stairs    at    St.    Stephen's 


269 


^ 


upon  which  his  statements  were  recorded.  Subsequently,  on  January  27th,  1605-6,  in 
company  with  six  other  conspirators,  he  was  arraigned  before  a  special  commission  on  the 
charge  of  high  treason  in  Westminster  Hall,  and  condemned  to  death.  Sir  Everard  Digby  was 
afterwards  brought  to  trial  separately  and  condemned.  On  January  31st  Fawkes,  Winter, 
Rookwood,  and  Keyes  were  brought  to  Old  Palace  Yard, 
where,  on  a  scaffold  erected  immediately  opposite  the  scene 
of  their  crime,  they  were  executed  with  the  terrible  ac- 
companiments which  were  then  associated  with  the  traitor's 
doom.  Thus  closed  an  episode  which  has  perhaps  left  a 
more  vivid  impression  upon  the  popular  imagination  than 
any  other  event  in  Parliamentary  history. 

After  this  somewhat  lengthy  reference  to  the  great  plot, 
the  memory  of  which  is  so  curiously  preserved  in  the  cere- 
mony of  search  by  the  Yeomen  of  the  Guard,  we  may  say 
something  about  the  purely  modern  aspects  of  this  Underground  St.  Stephen's.  First  and  fore- 
most to  claim  our  notice  are  the  arrangements  for  ventilation.  These  have  from  time  to  time 
provided  the  material  for  hot  controversy.  At  the  very  outset  there  was  serious  trouble  on 
the  subject  between  Sir  Charles  Barry  and  Dr.  Reid.  The  latter  was  specially  appointed 
by  the  Government  to  deal  with  the  ventilation  of  the  building,  and  there  was  continual 
clashing  between  him  and  the  great  architect,  who  took  umbrage,  not  without  considerable 
justification,  at  the  large  independent  powers  conferred  upon  his  rival.  At  length  the  work 
was  completed  at  enormous  cost  and  a  lavish  expenditure  of  the  time  and  temper  of  all  con- 


THE   SIGNATURES  OF   GUY  FAWKE& 
BEFORE  AND  AFTER  TORTURE. 


•MBttUiM  £-   lt>4'   • 

.J«5~1: — L. 


From  a  photo  by  Henry  IF.  Taunt,  Osj'urd.     At/yv.stin  Kuchgitz  Collection. 

OLD   LANTERN   PRESERVED   IN  THE  ASHMOLEAN  MUSEUM,   OXFORD, 
Kepntod  to  be  the  identical  lantern  found  in  the  possession  of  Guy  Fawkes  at  the  time  of  his  arrest.    It  was  presented  to  the  University  in  1641. 

cerned.  Since  then  the  question  has  been  a  prolific  source  of  bickering  and  dissension.  In 
the  House  the  system  has  been  fiercely  assailed,  and  outside  it  experts  have  agreed  to  differ 
as  to  the  efficacy  of  the  highly  scientific  system  established.  Committees  have  sat  from 
time  to  time  to  consider  the  question  in  all  its  phases,  and  on  their  recommendation  various 
changes  have  been  made,  with  the  result  that  the  Parliamentary  buildings  have  now  perhaps 
the  most  elaborate  and  costly  scheme  of  ventilation  of  any  structure  in  the  world.  Perfect, 
however,  it  can  hardlv  ever  be,  because  of  the  enormous  difficulties  which  have  to  be  faced 


270 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


i:xi:cr-rioN  OK  SOME  OF  TIII:  <;UNI>OWDER  CONSPIRATORS  AT  TYBURN. 

From  a  contemporary  and  Bomewbat  fanciful  Dutch  print. 

in  the  lowness  of  the  site,  the  prolonged  sittings  of  the  Commons,  and  the  fluctuating  character 
of  the  attendance. 

The  first  alt er.it ion  made  in  l)r.  Keid's  scheme  was  carried  through  under  Sir  (ioldsworthy 
(iuriiev'.-  supervision  in  1854.  In  that  year  the  Victoria  Tower  and  the  Clock  Tower.  inMead 
i if  hfinir  used,  as  liitherto.  for  taking  in  the  fresh  air,  were  put  to  service  as  upcast  shafts 
for  getting  rid  of  the  vitiated  air,  the  fresh  air  supply  being  obtained  from  gratings  in 
the  courtyards  of  the  building.  This  system,  although  an  improvement,  did  not  give  complete 
Mitisfactii.n.  and  further  investigations  at  different  periods  were  made  without  remedying  tin- 
evils  complained  of.  Matters  became  so  bad  that  one  evening  the  late  Lord  Randolph  Churchill 
induced  the  House  of  Commons  to  adjourn  in  the  middle  of  a  debate,  as  a  protest  against  the 
foulness  of  the  ;;t  n:o>pl:ere.  The  result  of  invest  igat  ions  by  experts  was  that  the  present  s\>tem 
wa-  adopted,  an  explanation  of  the  main  points  of  which,  aided  by  the  illustrations,  will 
a  general  idea  of  the  trouble  taken  to  purify  the  air. 

One  of  the  main  improvements,  suggested  by  .Mr.  William  J.  Prim,  the  resident  engineer. 
who  for  many  years  had  the  ventilating  and  lighting  arrangements  under  his  care,  was  that 
the  greateriK.rtion  of  the  air  for  ventilating  purposes  should  be  taken  in  at  the  Terrace  on  the 
river  side  of  the  building.  The  system  wa>  adopted,  and  extending  along  the  six  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  of  Terrace  frontage  are  thirty-five  opening?,  into  a  corresponding  number  of  inlet 
Air  chambers.  Into  the-e  chambers,  which  are  provided  with  waterproof  tloor-  co\ered  with  lead. 
the  air  COmeS,  and  pa— es  lii-st  through  spray  jets  of  water,  and  is  then  transmitted  to  \arimis  parts 
of  the  building.  Certain  of  the  air  inlet  chambers  are  devoted  exclu-ivelv  to  the  ventilation 
of  the  debating  chamber  of  the  House  of  Commons,  the  air  passing  along  a  special  passage  or 
gallery,  the  roof  and  walls  of  which  are  protect cl  from  the  wash  of  the  water  issuing  from 
the  jets  by  screen-;  of  light  open  cinva-.  also  forming  a  cooling  surface  with  which  the  passing 


Below    Stairs    at    St.    Stephen's 


271 


air  comes  in  contact.  At  the  extremity  of  this 
l«is sage  the  current  of  air  during  hot  weather  is 
brought  in  contact  with  ten  or  a  dozen  blocks  of 
ice,  each  block  averaging  in  weight  about  two 
hundredweight.  The  air,  passing  round  and  about 
these  blocks  of  ice,  becomes  only  slightly  lowered 
in  temperature — an  excessively  low  temperature 
in  hot  weather  not  being  desirable.  After  passing 
through  the  ice  chamber,  the  air  is  drawn  through 
a  quickly  revolving  fan  or  air  propeller,  and  dis- 
charged against  a  rough  kind  of  filter,  consisting 
of  a  wide  screen  of  canvas,  technically  known  as 
a  "scrim,"  having  an  area  of  six  hundred  super- 
ficial feet.  This  large  surface  permits  a  free 
jia—ige  of  air  at  a  low  velocity,  and  arrests  any 
particles  of  dust  or  smuts  that  have  passed 
through  the  propeller,  should  any  have  escaped 
precipitation  of  the  water  sprays.  The  scrim 
being  passed,  the  air  finds  its  way  through  open- 
ings provided  with  regulating  doors  or  flaps  into 
a  chamber  overhead,  where,  if  necessary,  the 
warming  apparatus,  consisting  of  rows  of  steam- 
heating  batteries,  is  brought  into  play.  But  it 
may  be  asked,  What  about  foggy  weather? 
Sprays,  ice,  scrims,  etc.,  are  very  well,  but  at 
Westminster  the  genuine  London  fog  delights 
to  settle.  The  fog  filter  here  comes  into  action, 
of  two  layers  of  cotton-wool,  each  three  inches  in  thickness,  is  invaluable.  The  air  is  forced 
by  means  of  the  propelling  fan  through  this  bed  of  cotton-wool,  and  arrests  and  holds  in  sus- 
pension the  heavy  ]  articles  of  the  foggy  vapour,  while  the  pure  air  passes  through  the  large 
area  of  the  filtering  surface.  This  interesting  process,  simple,  yet  very  effective,  practically 
keeps  the  fog  at  bay.  Proof  of  its  efficacy  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  wool  becomes 

perfectly  black  after  a  heavy 
fog.  But  to  resume  :  the  pure 
air  reaching  the  equalising 
chamber  immediately  below 
"the  House" — an  apartment 
corresponding  exactly  in  size 
with  the  debating  chamber — 
rises  through  the  floor. 

Now  comes  into  play  an 
ingenious  arrangement  for 
distributing  the  air.  In  the 
equalising  chamber  is  con- 
stantly on  duty  during  the 
sittings  of  the  House  an 
attendant  whosa  duty  is,  as 
it  were,  to  keep  his  finger 
on  the  legislative  pulse.  If 
there  are  signs  of  rising  heat, 

WOOL  USED    IN   THE   VENTILATION  DEPARTMENT   FOB  FILTERING   THE  AIR.  the      Supply      of      COol      air       IS 

On  the  right  the  wool  U  ehofra  after  being  in  use  for  twenty-four  hours  on  a  foggy  day.  increased     bv    the     turn    of     a 


THE  FIRE  ALWAYS  KEPT  BURNING  AT  THE  BOTTOM 
OF  THE  CLOCK  TOWER  FOR  THE  PURPOSE  OF  VEN- 
TILATION. 

The  V-shaped  filtering  apparatus,  consisting 


272 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


valve.  Should  there  In-  crowding  in  any  j-art  «f  the  House,  an  extra  supply  of  air  is  sent 
through  tin'  Hoor  at  this  particular  point,  and  this  without  reducing  the  temperature.  Kven 
a  sudden  influx  of  members  to  hear  a  jiopular  sj>oaker  or  a  rapid  thinning  of  the  House  when 
business  of  sjMvial  interest  is  completed  receives  attention.  \Vith  the  means  at  hi>  co:ninan<l 
the  attendant  on  duty  is  enabled  to  maintain  an  equable  temperature  throughout  the  whole 
area  of  the  Hon-e.  To  such  a  nicety  Is  the  system  regulated  that  it  has  Ix-en  known  that 
the  s]K>t  tMvupied  by  a  memlx-r  in  delicate  health  has  had  special  attention  lx->towed  upon  il. 
The  air  in  its  upward  e.«ui>e  pa»es  through  the  floor  of  the  House,  composed  of  perforated 
plates  of  cast-iron  covered  with  a  coarse  netting  of  whip-cord,  and  the  vitiated  air  finds  an 
exit  through  the  ceiling  of  the  chamber.  Thence  it  passes  through  flue  tubes  in  connection 
with  the  gas-burners  to  the  air  shaft  of  the  Clock  Tower,  where,  with  the  aid  of  a  stron" 


CHAMIIKItS    Full   THE   SUPPLY   OF  FRESH   AIR   UNDER  THE   HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 

draught  created  by  a  huge  furnace  burning  in  the  basement,  it  escapes  through  the  top  of  the 
tower  at  the  lantern  chamber. 

The  House  of  Lords  of  course  shares  in  all  the  warming  and  ventilating  arrangements 
enjoyed  by  the  Lower  House.  The  general  view  under  the  Gilded  Chamber  embraces  some 
of  the  features  of  that  of  the  Commons,  but  necessarily  less  complex  is  the  machinery  employed 
in  a  part  of  the  Legislature  where  all-night  sittings  are  practically  unknown. 

The  great  steam  boilers  are  in  St.  Stephen's  Court,  near  the  Central  Tower,  about  mid-way 
between  the  two  Houses.  Here  steam  is  supplied  for  general  use.  ]}e>ides  the  heating  and 
ventilating,  the  kitchens  have  to  be  considered,  steam  and  gas  being  used  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  this  department. 

Under  the  Speaker's  Green,  near  the  Clock  Tower,  is  placed  the  ejector  sewage  chamber. 
The  system  adopted  is  that  known  as  the  Shone  hydro-pneumatic,  and  whatever  ground  there 
may  have  been  in  the  past  for  complaint  under  different  conditions,  since  the  present  pneumatic 
system  has  been  in  force  no  difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  securing  perfect  drainage.  In 


Below    Stairs    at    St.    Stephen's 


273 


can 


a.   corner   of  the  chamber  a   model  of  the  ejector  is  placed,   whereby  the  system  in  action 
be  seen.     The  engine  employed  for  compressing  the  air  for  actuating  the  ejectors  is  a  powerful 
specimen  of  its  kind,  and  the  view  of  the  plant  as  driven   by  steam-engines  shows  the  general 
plan  of  its  construction. 

Electric  lighting  is  of  course  used  to  a  large  extent,  but  the  current  is  chiefly  supplied  by 
an  outside  corporation,  the  principal 
cables  coming  into  the  building  at 
the  south  end.  The  main  switchboard 
i<  situated  at  the  junction  of  the 
company's  mains  and  those  of  the 
Houses  of  Parliament.  The  switches 
are  designed  to  move  in  a  circular 
direction  only,  so  that  each  time 
after  the  current  has  been  switched 
off,  on  the  renewal  of  the  contact 
the  current  becomes  reversed,  the 
cable  which  had  been  "  positive " 
before  the  movement  of  the  switch 
becoming  "  negative  ''  afterwards.  The 
general  lighting  of  the  halls,  corridors, 
and  rooms  is  controlled  by  the 
switches ;  but  in  certain  cases,  such 
as  the  suspended  adjustable  lamps 
over  desks  and  writing-tables  in  the 
.Ministers',  reporters',  secretaries',  and 
clerks'  rooms,  supplementary  switches 
are  supplied  for  the  use  of  the  occu- 
pants, in  order  to  enable  them  to 
obtain  light  when  required  and  to 
extinguish  the  burners  when  no  longer 
wanted  without  the  intervention  of 
the  lighting  attendant.  In  all  cases, 
however,  the  current  is  controlled  at 
the  local  switchboard. 

Gas  is  the  illuminant  used  in  the  Legislative  Chamber,  sixty-four  double-ringed  Argand 
burners  being  in  action,  a  single  light  being  placed  in  the  centre  of  each  of  the  horizontal 
ground  glass  panels  of  the  ceiling.  The  light  is  reflected  downwards  by  means  of  iron  concave 
reflectors  painted  with  "  zinc  white,"  while  the  products  of  combustion  from  each  burner  are 
carried  away  through  an  iron  pipe  and  discharged  into  the  uptake  of  a  ventilating  furnace 
over  the  Lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Immediately  over  the  gas-burner  and  between  it 
and  the  flue-pipe  is  a  short  chimney  of  clear,  well-annealed  glass,  to  enable  the  entire  frame 
to  be  utilised.  Beneath  each  of  the  glass  panels  a  fine  wire  is  placed  to  prevent  accident  from 
falling  glass  should  a  panel  become  accidentally  cracked.  All  the  framework  of  the  ceiling  is 
coated  with  asbestos  paint,  and  every  precaution  is  taken  to  avoid  fire.  The  consumption  of 
gas  in  each  burner  is  twenty-one  cubic  feet  per  hour.  As  the  centre  of  the  flame  from  the 
burners  rises  several  inches  above  the  ceiling  beams,  considerable  shadows  would  ordinarily  be 
thrown  upon  the  panels  forming  the  slope  of  the  roof  through  which  no  light  passes.  In 
order  to  prevent  this,  pendants  project  into  the  chamber,  each  having  suspended  from  its 
lower  end  a  reflector  and,  concealed  from  view,  a  small  gas-ring  burner.  No  products  whatever 
from  the  gas-lights  are  allowed  to  enter  the  chamber,  while  the  heat  from  the  ceiling  does  not 
in  any  way  affect  the  temperature  beneath.  The  effect  produced  by  these  lighting  arrange- 
ments within  the  debating  chamber  is  extremely  satisfactory,  a  soft  and  mellow  light  being 

35 


BIG   FAN   EXHAUSTER.    VENTILATING   DEPARTMENT. 

A  feature  of  the  elaborate  machinery  utilised  for  the  ventilation  of  the  Houses  of 

Parliament. 


274 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


diffused  in  every  j»art.  Heneath 
the  L,':illeiie-,  which  extend  the 
whole  length  and  width  of  the 
duunber,  -in. ill  lights  art*  placed 
in  order  that  the  general  lighting 
from  overhead  may  not  east  a 
shadow  ii|Hin  the  back  rows  of 
the  memlKTs'  seats.  These  lights 
are  out  of  view  from  the  body  of 
the  House. 

From  what  1ms  been  stated 
it  will  be  gathered  that  a  highly 
•  •>m| 'lirat r<l  organisation  has  its 
home  in  the  lower  regions  of  the 
Houses  of  Parliament,  and  that 
legislators  owe  much  of  the  health 
and  comfort  which  they  enjoy 
in  the  daily  discharge  of  their 
duties  to  the  assiduity  and  skill 
of  the  permanent  engineering 
stuff  in  the  working  of  the 

arrangements.  Criticisms  have  often  been  [Missed  upon  some  of  the  features  of  the  ventilating 
machinery,  and  even  the  efficacy  of  the  system  itself  has  been  called  in  question.  But  then- 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that,  having  regard  to  the  natural  difficulties  presented  bv  the 
lowness  of  the  situation  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  a  real  scientific  success  has  been  achieved 
by  those  to  whom  the  work  has  been  entrusted.  Certainly  there  is  no  other  great  building 
in  the  world  upon  the  ventilation  of  which  so  much  ]uiinstaking  care  lias  been  bestowed. 


r.IXCTIilC    SWITCHES   UNDER  THE   HOUSE  OF   LORDS. 


THE    HADIATOItS   UNDER   THE   HOUSE  OP   LORDS. 


CHAPTEE  XXII. 


THE  CLOCK  TOWER  AND  BIG  BEN. 

THE  Clock  Tower  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament  is  to-day  the  most  familiar  landmark  in  West- 
minster ;  but.  though  modern  in  construction,  it  is  the  representative  of  hoary  traditions.  For 
more  than  five  centuries  a  clock  tower  looked  out  on  the  great  world  which  centred  at  the 
Palace  of  Westminster,  and  to  it  generations  of  Londoners  turned  as  to  an  institution  charged 
with  invaluable  functions  in  a  day  when  public  clocks  were  of  extreme  rarity  and  watches 
were  practically  unknown.  It  is  to  be  seen  in  Hollar's  drawing  of  New  Palace  Yard— a  square 
massive  structure,  rising  in  the  centre  of  and  high  above  the  line  of  low  buildings  which 
formed  the  eastern  side  of  the  space.  The  exact  site  is  not  now  easy  to  determine  ;  but  we 
shall  not  be  far  wrong  if  we  assume  that  it  stood  at  the  Parliament  Street  end  of  the  ground 
now  occupied  by  Parliament  Chambers. 

A  curious  and,  it  is  believed,  true  story  is  associated  with  the  foundation  of  this  ancient 
clochard.  According  to  the  chroniclers,  it  had  its  origin  in  an  episode  in  which  Sir  Ralph 
Heigham,  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench,  figured  to  his  disadvantage.  This  judge 
altered  a  court  record  with  intent  to  relieve  a  poor  man  of  a  part  of  his  liability,  and  the 
circumstance  becoming  known,  he  was  fined  eight  hundred  marks  by  the  King  for  so  grave  a  lapse 
from  the  path  of  judicial  duty.  The  money,  by  one  of  those  whimsical  impulses  which  marked 
the  careers  of  our  mediaeval  Solons,  was 
applied  to  the  erection  of  a  tower  to  ac- 
commodate a  clock,  the  bell  of  which,  striking 
the  hours,  would  be  an  ever-present  reminder 
to  the  judges  in  the  adjacent  Courts  "  to 
indifferently  administer  justice."  In  order 
to  give  greater  point  to  the  lesson  conveyed, 
the  dial  bore  the  legend,  "  Discite  juslitiam 

moniti."     That    the    legend    associated   with 

the  Clock  Tower  was  cherished  long  after  the 

erring   Heigham    had    passed  away  is    shown 

by  an   anecdote    related    of  two    Elizabethan 
judges.     Some  matter  had  come  before  them 

in    which    an    alteration    of  the   records   was 

involved.      One  was    inclined    to   favour   the 

change   projwsed,    whereupon    the   other   de- 
murred   with    the    observation,    "  Brother,    I 

have  no  mind  to  build  a  new  clock  tower." 
It   is   stated    by    some   authorities   that 

this  Westminster   clock  was   the  first   public 

clock    erected    in     England ;     but    there    is 

reason  to  think  that  some  of  the  cathedrals 

have  prior  claims  to  the  honour  of  introducing 

to    the    commonalty    the    mechanism    of    a 

striking  clock.     Unquestionably,  however,  the 

Westminster    clock    was    a    very    early    and 

interesting   example    of    horological    science. 


OLD    CLOCK   TOWER,   WESTMINSTER,  FROM  HOLLAR'S  DRAW- 

INO  OP  NEW  PALACE  YARD. 
The  ancient  prototype  of  the  present  Clock  Tower.    In  it  was  bung  the 


famous  bell  known  as  "  Great  Tom  of  Westminster." 


275 


276 


Parliament    Fast    and    Present 


It  had  a  boll  of  great  size,  whose  sonorous  tones  could  be  heard  as  far  as  the  City  when  the 
wind  was  in  the  right  direction.  First  dubbed  "Edward"  in  coiii).liincnt  to  the  Confessor,  it 
after  the  Reformation  became  familiarly  known  by  the  name  of  "Great  Tom,"  in  allusion,  it 
i*  conjectured,  to  the  depth  of  its  note.  For  centuries  the  bell  tolled  forth  the  hours  and 
filled  a  place  in  the  popular  affections.  A  singular  story  associated  with  it  is  that  of  the 
sentry  on  duty  at  Windsor  Castle  during  the  reign  of  William  III.  who.  charged  with  sleep  in.,' 
at  his  post,  saved  himself  by  the  defence  that  he  heard  the  clock  strike  thirteen  instead  of 
twelve.  According  to  the  statements  published  at  the  time  of  the  man's  death,  the  a»«-rtion 
as  to  the  wrong  striking  of  the  clock  was  at  first  disbelieved  by  the  Court  owing  to  the 
great  distance  which  the  sound  had  to  travel;  but  after  his  condemnation  hy  the  court-martial 
several  reputable  persons  came  forward  and  made  affidavits  to  the  effect  that  the  clock  did 
actually  strike  thirteen,  whereupon  the  King  granted  a  free  pardon  to  the  prisoner. 


GALLERY  OVEB  CLOCK   FACE,  BIO   BEX. 

The  figures  photographed  in  the  picture  supply  a  means  of  ganging  the  size  of  the  architectural  ornamentations,  which  appear  very  small  from  th« 

ground  level. 

The  aberration  of  the  clock  thus  celebrated  indicates  that  it  had  with  the  lapse  of  age 
become  decrepit.  Colour  is  lent  to  this  theory  by  a  transaction  carried  through  on  August  1  st . 
1698,  by  which  the  Vestry  of  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  received  a  grant  of  the  clochard 
under  the  Privy  Seal,  with  the  right,  apparently,  to  dispose  of  it  as  they  deemed  best.  Some 
little  time  afterwards  the  old  tower  was  pulled  down  under  the  direction  of  Sir  Christopher 
Wren,  and  the  bell  was  transferred  to  St.  Paul's,  with  the  intent  that  it  should  have  a  place 
in  the  great  building  then  approaching  completion.  Its  immense  weight — it  scaled  82  cwt.  2  qrs. 
21  lb.— made  the  removal  over  the  indifferent  roads  with  the  means  then  available  a  matter 
of  great  difficulty.  All  went  well  until  it  reached  Temple  Bar,  when  a  sudden  lurch  of  the 
carriage  brought  the  great  piece  of  metal  violently  to  the  ground,  irremediably  injuring  it. 
The  bell  was  recast  in  171G  by  Whitman,  and,  after  remaining  for  some  years  in  a  shed  in 
the  Cathedral  Yard,  was  hoisted  to  its  position  in  the  Western  Tower,  from  whence  its  deep 


Fi-omaphoto  by  W.  S.  Campbell.     Copyright,  Hulchinton  it  Co. 

THE  CLOCK   TOWER,    FROM   THE   BOOP   OP  WESTMINSTER  HALL. 

The  view  from  this  position  is  one  of  the  most  striking  that  is  obtainable. 

277 


278 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


notes   now  sound    out    upon  London.     The 
clock    disappeared — whence   no    one   knows. 
M.i-t     ]>roltul>ly    it     wa-     relegated     to     the 
rubbish-heap,    as    many    other     intere-t  ing 
relics  of  old   I»ndon   have  been  >ince. 

When    Harry    drew    up    his    plans    for 
the    new    1'aliice    of   Westminster,    he    MTV 
hap])ilv  revived  the  memory  of  West  minster's 
ancient  institution   by  making  a  clm-k  tm\er 
a  leading  feature  of  his  design,      lleattaelied 
much     importance     to    the    structure,    and 
devoted    especial    p:iins  to  its  const  met  ion. 
In    the   reMilt    we    have    the    stately    edifice 
.-oaring    in    its    solid    majesty    more    than 
three     hundred    feet    aliove    the    river.      The 
tower   is   best  seen   by  the  spectator  when 
lie  approaches    it   from    the    Surrey  side  of 
Westminster   Bridge.     From    that    point    it 
Mauds    out  'in    bold    outline,    its    imposing 
appearance    giving    the    impression     of    a 
greater   altitude    than    it    really    possesses, 
At  the  base  of  the    tower    burns  a  tire   for 
the   purpose  of  creating  a    draught    in    the 
ventilating  shaft   which  rims  up  the  build- 
ing.    At   a  slightly  higher   elevation,  on  a 
level  with  Hridge  Street,  are  the  apartments 
which  constitute  the    Parliamentary  prison. 
Of  this  institution  and  its  occasional  occu- 
pants we  shall  have  something  to  say  later. 
Meanwhile,  it  is  sufficient  to  state  that,  as 
prisons  go,  the  place  is  comfortable  enough  ; 
but    prisoners    are    sadly  disturbed    by  tin- 
striking  of  the  great  clock,  the  bells  of  which 
produce  a  particularly  disagreeable  vibration. 
A-  perhaps  becomes  its  position  as  one 
of  the    principal    clocks  in    the  world,   the 
great   clock  of  Westminster  was  cradled  in 
strife.      About    it    raged    for    years    a    tierce 
controversy — or,    rather,    controversies,     for 
there  were  a  series  of  them — which  enyaLieil 
the  close  attention  of   the   Ministry  of   the 
dav    and    even    of  Parliament    itself.      The 
history   of  the    struggle    as   related  in   the 
voluminous    Parliamentary     papers     is    not 
without    interest,   and   occasionally   amuse- 
ment, for  the  public  of  to-day.     The  person- 
alities which  were  freely  exchanged   between 
the    contending     parties     are     reminiscent 
_^___________  rather  of  Katanswill  than  of   Westminster: 

i mi  -i in-  OF  TUB  CLOCK  TowEB.  the  moods  iii  wliich  the  contesting  parties 

are   shown    are    characteristic     inure    of    the 
boudoir    than    of  the  workshop  or  of  the    Senate   Mouse.     Viewed  now  from  the  calm   vantage- 


The    Clock    Tower    and    Big    Ben 


279 


ground    of  the    historical    investigator,    they    excite    wonder    that  such   heat   should  have   been 
engendered  over  so  prosaic  and  business-like  a  matter. 

At  the  outset  the  disputation  was  as  to  who  should  make  the  clock.  Barry  favoured  Mr. 
Vulliamy,  the  clockmaker  to  the  Queen,  the  constructor  of  the  Windsor  Castle  clock,  and  the 
descendant  of  a  race  of  tradesmen  who  had  basked  in  the  sun  of  Royal  favour  in  unbroken 
line  from  the  reign  of  George  II.  Mr.  G.  B.  Airy,  the  Astronomer -Royal,  supported  the 
interests  of  Mr.  Dent,  chronometer-maker  of  the  Strand,  the  designer  of  the  Royal  Exchange  clock, 
which  he  asserted  was  "  the  best  public  clock  in  the  world."  A  third  Richmond  appeared  in 
the  field  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Whitehurst,  of  Derby,  described  as  "a  man  of  reputation  in 
the  North  of  England,  and  known  as  the  inventor  of  the  '  Watchman's  clock.'  "  Mr.  Vulliamv 
had  the  advantage  of  the  start.  He  was  asked  by  Barry  to  prepare  plans  and  specifications  of 
a  suitable  clock,  and  he  did  so  in  the  full  expectation  that  the  work  of  construction  would 


BIG   BEN  :   TUh  CLOCK  WORKS. 
In  the  perfection  of  its  mechanism  the  clock  stands  high  amongst  the  great  clocks  of  the  world,  if,  indeed,  it  is  not  at  the  very  head. 

come  to  him.  But  he  was  soon  undeceived  on  this  point.  An  intimation  was  conveyed  to 
him  that  there  would  be  a  competition  for  the  honour,  and  that  the  Astronomer-Royal  would  be 
the  referee.  This  was  enough  for  the  independent  old  clockmaker,  who  is  stated  by  Mr.  Airy, 
in  one  of  his  official  communications,  with  some  truth,  to  have  had  an  "  unmanageable  temper." 
He  wrote  promptly  declining  to  enter  into  any  competition,  partly  on  general  grounds,  partly 
because  he  objected  to  the  appointment  of  the  Astronomer-Royal  as  sole  referee — that  gentleman 
having  "shown  himself  to  be  strongly  prejudiced  in  favour  of  an  individual  known  for  many 
years  as  an  eminent  maker  of  marine  chronometers,  but  who  has  only  within  the  last  three 
years  turned  his  attention  to  making  public  clocks." 

Mr.  Vulliamy's  retirement  left  Mr.  Dent  and  Mr.  Whitehurst  face  to  face.  But  there  was 
never  any  serious  rivalry  between  the  two.  Aided  by  the  Astronomer-Royal's  powerful 
patronage,  and  further  assisted  by  the  extreme  lowness  of  his  estimate — £1,500  — Mr.  Dent  had 
things  practically  his  own  way.  Before,  however,  the  business  was  closed,  an  incident  occurred 


280 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


which  went  near  causing  his  withdrawn!  from  the  scene.  This  was  (lie  giving  out  of  orders 
for  some  of  the  smaller  clock*  in  the  Palace  to  Mr.  Vidliamy.  In  indignation  at  the 
recognition  of  his  rival  he  intimated  his  intention  to  retire  from  the  competition.  Finally  an 
assurance  wan  given  him  that  no  further  favours  should  be  In-stowed  on  Mr.  Vidliamy.  and. 
•.ui-ri.-d  with  tlie  pledge,  he  once  more  entered  the  arena,  to  reeeiu-  eu-ntually  his  reward  in 
the  »hn|N>  of  the  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  clock. 

Now  commenced  another  and  sharer  controversy  relative  to  the  clock.  Before  the  contract 
was  finally  given  out  in  1852,  the  Government  had  assoeiated  with  tin-  Astronomer- Koyal  as 
referee  Mr.  Kdmund  Beckett  Denison  (the  present  I^ml  (irimthorpe).  This  gentleman  had  gi\en  a 
profound  study  to  the  subject  of  elockmaking.  and  had  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  meehanieal 
side  of  the  question  not  inferior  to  that  of  the  professional  expert.  To  these  practical  gifts  he 
added  a  verv  prettv  fncilitv  for  vigorous  controversy.  A  sjiade  in  his  eyes  \\a>  a  spade,  and 
such  he  was  wont  to  call  it.  His  lighting  instinct-,  as  well  as  his  technical  lore,  were  called 
into  plav  soon  after  he  had  entered  ii|>on  the  scene  a-  an  a-soeiate  of  .Mr.  Airy.  The  cause  of 

offence  \va>  a  memorial  ]  re- 
sented hy  the  Worshipful 
Company  of  Clock  makers 
expressing  surprise  that  the 
order  for  the  clock  had  been 
given  direct  to  Mr.  Dent 
under  the  immediate  direct  ion 
of  the  Astronomer-Royal  and 
Mr.  Kdward  ISeckett  Denison. 
a  barrister,  in  place  of  sub- 
mitting it,  as  was  originally 
intended,  to  competition. 
An  attack  was  made  on  Mr. 
Dent's  reputation  in  the  me- 
morial, and  there  was  also  a 
sharp  thrust  at  Mr.  Denison. 
whose  competence  to  judge 
in  such  a  mutter  was  im- 
pugned, and  who  was  charged 

with  engineering  an  -extrava- 
gant puff"  of  himself  in 
connection  with  the  Crystal  Palace  clock,  the  design  of  which  he  furnished  to  Mr.  Dent. 
A  reply  was  forthcoming  from  Mr.  Denison  couched  in  very  plain  language.  It  was  the 
plainer  because — as  a  result,  it  seemed,  of  the  memorial — an  additional  referee  had  been 
appointed  in  the  person  of  a  Mr.  Stephenson.  Mr.  Vidliamy  was  singled  out  as  the  in- 
stigator of  the  memorial,  and  to  show  his  animus  a  remark  of  his  was  cited  to  the  effect 
tliat  "Mr.  Dent  will  never  make  that  clock."  Scornful  reference  was  made  to  the  capacities 
of  the  memorialists  to  judge  clocks  as  illustrated  by  a  eulogy  of  the  thirty-hour  clock  at 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  Paris,  and  they  were  told  that  if  ever  they  examined  that  clock  at 
all  -they  do  not  at  this  moment  understand  either  the  nature  or  the  object  of  its  con- 
struction." As  for  the  additional  referee.  Mr.  Denison  flatly  declined  to  act  with  him.  and  he 
told  Lord  John  M-umers  (who  had  succeeded  to  the  First  Commissionership  of  \Vorks)  that 
"there  was  no  jiower  now  existing  in  anylx>dy  to  subject  Mr.  Dent  to  the  control  of  any  other 
persons,  besides  those  to  whom  he  is  subjected  by  his  contract."  Hetorts,  by  no  means  all  of 
the  courteous  order,  followed,  and  for  months  the  fiery  controversy  raged.  Before  it  quite  died 
out  new  conditions  arose,  and  with  them  fresh  matter  for  dispute.  First  came  the  death  of 
Mr.  Dent,  bringing  in  its  train  a  legacy  of  legal  difficulties  with  reference  to  the  contract, 
which  were  only  settled  after  prolonged  correspondence  and  a  reference  to  the  Law  Officer-  of 


TIIK   MECHANISM   FOR  STIUKIXG   BIG   BEX. 
Though  tb«  arrangement*  are  extremely  complicated,  they  very  rarely  get  oat  of  order. 


The    Clock    Tower    and    Big    Ben 


281 


the  Crown.  Then  followed  a  sage  discussion  amongst  the  pundits  of  the  Treasury  as  to  whether 
the  contractor  for  the  clock  was  entitled  to  be  paid  his  charges  at  the  time  agreed  upon  despite 
the  fact  that  owing  to  the  delay  in  building  the  tower  the  condition  precedent  stipulated — 
that  the  clock  should  be  fixed  and  completed  in  February,  1854 — had  not  been  fulfilled.  Close 
upon  this  controversy  came  a  rupture  between  Mr.  Airy  and  Mr.  Beckett  Denison,  culminating, 
after  a  brisk  correspon- 
dence, in  the  resignation 
of  the  former. 

Meanwhile,  a  con- 
stant battle  was  pro- 
c  e  e  d  i  n  g  between  the 
clockmakers  and  Mr. 
Denison  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Sir  Charles 
Barry  and  the  Office  'of 
Works  on  the  other,  as 
to  the  structural  features 
of  the  tower,  and  the 
exact  rights  of  the  former 
to  be  consulted  upon 
them.  When  this  had 
been  settled  after  a 
fashion,  difficulties  arose 
over  the  construction  of 
the  hands.  They  were 
first  made  of  cast-iron, 
and  proved  too  heavy  to 
be  put  up.  Afterwards, 
when  lighter  ones  of 
gun-metal  had  been  made, 
they  were  so  fixed  that 
they  fell  over  a  minute 
or  two  every  time  after 
they  pasted  the  vertical. 

The  last,  in  some 
respects  the  greatest, 
trouble  was  appropriately 
over  the  big  bell.  There 
was  an  acrimonious 
correspondence  as  to  who 
should  cast  this  adjunct 
of  the  clock  and  who 
should  superintend  the 
work,  and  when  these 
points  had  been  settled 
and  "  Big  Ben  " — so  named  after  Sir  Benjamin  Hall,  First  Commissioner  of  Works — had  been 
created,  other  and  more  practical  worries  had  to  be  faced.  Brought  by  sea  from  the  manu- 
factory of  Messrs.  Warner,  the  bell-founders,  at  Stockton-on-Tees,  the  bell  very  narrowly  escaped 
finding  a  resting-place  on  the  ocean  bed,  owing  to  a  severe  storm  which  overtook  the  vessel 
on  which  it  was  embarked.  When  at  length  it  reached  London  and  had  been  hung  for  testing 
purjwses  at  the  foot  of  the  Clock  Tower  in  Palace  Yard,  the  discovery  was  made  that,  in 
casting,  the  bell  absorbed  two  tons  more  metal  than  had  been  calculated,  and  therefore  required 

36 


INSIDE  THE  CLOCK   FACE,   BIG   BEN. 
The  view  conveys  soir.e  notion  of  the  immense  size  of  the  clock  face. 


282 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


INSIDE  THE  LANTERN,   BIO   BEN. 


a  chipjx'r  twice  as  heavy  as  that  provided. 
l>av  after  day  Londoner-  were  c  .lified  hv 
the  clang  of  "  Big  Ben."  and  excitement  pre- 
vailed in  tin-  neighUuirhood  of  \\V-t  min>ter. 
Crowd-  were  adinilti-il  to  sec  tin-  monster  hell, 
.i-cu-sic>ns  took  place  among  nm-iral 

H  "V  B^^J 

\^^  i-\|n-rts  as  to  whether  tin-  tone  of  ii  \va>  true 

Jj  or   not.     At    len«,Mli.  after  some  inontlis'  trial, 

M       \^^p   "i   ^  *&  ''"'  'i'"'--''"" w:is  M'T  ;;|  r<'>t  ''.v ''"'  cracking 

Br^^Hj  /  "'    t'"'     '"'"•       I  |:i|ii    elimination     a    fault     in 

fr  the   easting   was   diseo\ered.   a   spot    where   two 

>t  reams  of  metal,  \vliich  slionld  have  met.  had 
never  joined.  So  ••  Big  Ben  "  the  first  was  t!is- 
earded.  to  lie  recast  by  .Messrs.  Mc.u>.  of 
NVhitechapel.  But  the  chapter  of  accidents 
wa-  not  to  end  yet.  Alter  the  casting  opera 
lion  a  flaw  revealed  itself  in  the  metal.  This 
seemed  likely  to  make  another  casting 
necessiry.  but  it  was  eventually  found  j>o--i 
ble  by  cutting  out  a  piece  of  metal  to 
remedy  the  defects.  The  renovated  bell  wa- 
nt last  hoisted  to  its  jM-rch  in  the  tower,  and 
there  it  has  remained  for  forty-three  year- 
sounding  with  its  deep  bourn  the  hours,  with 
only  an  occasional  few  days'  break,  brought 

alxiut  liv  storms  or  the  necessity  of  carrying  out  repairs  to  the  clock.  The  bell  weighs  thirteen 
and  a  l.alf  tons,  and  the  striking  clapper  weighs  seven  hundredweight.  The  four  quarter-chime 
U-Ils  together  make  nearly  eight  and  a  half  tons  of  metal. 

The  internal  arrangements  of  the  Clock  Tower  merit  notice  for  the  ingenuity  with  which 
the  architectural  features  have  been  made  to  subserve  the  purjioses  of  the  clock.  Heached  by 
a  winding  staircase  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-four  steps  is  an  inner  gallery  which  runs 
round  the  inside  of  the  four  huge  opal  glass  clock  faces,  each  of  which  is  twenty-three  feet 
in  diameter.  At  the  back  ordinary  gas  brackets  project  from  the  wall,  the  illumination  of 
the  dials  by  gas-light  being  considered  preferable  to  electricity,  this  illuminant  possessing  the 
advantage  of  keeping  the  atmosphere  warm  round  the  clock  works.  The  minute  hand  of  each 
dial  is  fourteen  feet  long,  and  weigh  about  two  hundredweight.  The  figures  are  two  feet  long, 
and  the  minute  spaces  each  measure  a  foot  square. 

Knclosed  by  the  four  walls  behind  the  dials,  the  clock-room  fills  up  a  considerable  space. 
Here  all  is  perfectly  clean  and  orderly,  the  monster  works  going  smoothly  and  with  little  sound. 
So  careful  are  the  authorities  to  ensure  perfect  accuracy  in  the  time  kept,  that  twice  a  day 
the  ruling  of  the  clock  is  automatically  telegraphed  to  Greenwich  Observatory  in  order  to 
enable  the  performance  of  the  instrument  to  U-  checked.  The  pendulum  is  not  touched 
unless  an  error  of  two  seconds  is  discovered,  and  this  is  not  a  verv  frequent  occurrence.  rlhe 
pendulum,  which  hangs  in  a  chamber  of  sheet  iron  as  a  protection  against  wind  influence, 
is  thirteen  feet  long,  and  licats  two  seconds.  The  bob  of  the  pendulum  weighs  four  hundred- 
weight. The  weights  of  the  clock  weigh  nearly  two  and  a  half  tons,  and  fall  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  feet.  The  laborious  task  of  winding  up  the  great  clock  is  performed 
by  two  men.  who  three  times  a  week  spend  five  hours  in  the  clock-room.  None  of  the 
various  sugge>tions  for  winding  by  other  means  than  manual  lalxuir  have  yet  met  with 
approval. 

Above  tin-  clock  dials  is  an  ojien  gallery  which  affords  a  fine  view  for  miles  round.  The 
northern  height.*  and  the  .Surrey  hills  stand  out  clearly.  The  Thames  Valley  is  well  defined, 


The    Clock    Tower    and    Big    Ben 


283 


and  the  river  itself  seen  from  this  spot  sho\vs  the  windings  scarcely  appreciated  when 
travelling  upon  the  surface  level.  Close  by,  the  parks  contrast  pleasantly  with  the  mass  of 
buildings  eastward.  The  river  bridges,  the  embankments  and  approaches  to  them,  all  crowded 
with  moving  traffic,  are  seen  with  peculiar  fascination  from  the  lofty  spot,  while  a  good  idea 
of  the  full  life  and  bustle  of  the  western  London  streets  is  also  obtainable.  The  grand  old 
Abbev  quite  close  stands  isolated,  and  seems  small  compared  with  the  actual  space  occupied, 
and,  looking  immediately  down,  the  whole  plan  and  arrangement  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament 
is  seen  in  all  its  completeness.  Finally,  on  the  southern  side  the  visitor  has  a  pretty  view  of 
St.  Thomas's  Hospital  and  of  the  Albert  Embankment. 

In  the  belfrv  behind  the  gallery  swings  41  Big  Ben  "  and  the  four  quarter-bells,  and  reached 
by  a  ladder  going  still  higher  is  the  monster  lantern  signal-light  always  kept  burning  after  dark 
when  the  House  of  Commons  is  at  work.  For  many  years  a  lantern  of  a  different  construction, 
situated  slightly  higher 
than  the  present  one, 
was  in  use.  This  light 
onlv  shed  its  effulgence 
over  West  London,  a 
display  of  partiality 
which  in  course  of  time 
gave  rise  to  a  consider- 
able amount  of  dissatis- 
faction. So  great  was 
the  discontent  of  mem- 
bers who  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  live  in  South, 
East,  or  North  London, 
that  the  Government 
deemed  it  politic  to  make 
the  change  to  the  present 
system  of  lighting,  which 
treats  all  points  of  the 
compass  on  an  equal 
footing.  The  illuminat- 
ing Mppanitus  is  a  lantern 
nine  feet  in  diameter 
and  twelve  feet  high, 
standing  in  the  centre 
of  an  iron  chamber 
situated  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet 
from  the  ground.  It  is 
equipped  with  a  dioptric 
apjifiratus,  a  refracting 
belt  of  polished  glass, 
and  a  Wigham  light- 
house sixty-eight-jet 
burner.  The  jets  are 
so  placed  with  regard 
to  each  other  that,  when 
drawn  into  shape  by  the 

Overhanging      flue       With  ^  famoa<  ^u  npon  Which  the  hours  of  the  great  Westminster  clock  are  struck.     It  weighs  thirteen  and 

a     talc    terminal,     they  a  half  ton.. 


284 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


produce  n  solid  mass  of  flame,  consuming  about  two  hundred  ami  forty  cubic  feet  of  ^M-  an 
hour,  with  illuminating  jiower  of  two  thousand  four  hundred  candles.  '1  he  naked  flames  from 
the  burners  full  without  interruption  ii[x>n  every  jiortion  of  the  surface  of  the  dio|>tric  apparatus. 
and  the  whole  is  within  tin-  Militant  ially  const  nicted  gla/cd  lantern.  The  Ixnly  of  the  light 
into  powerful  that  on  Ix-ing  thrown  through  the  o]  ten  ings  between  the  stanchions  supporting 
the  spire,  the  princi|ial  sii]iiH.ris  or  the  four  corners  of  the  tower  do  not  seriously  intercept 
the  rays,  but  allow  a  beam  of  light  to  U-  diffused  throughout  the  entire  circle.  Mechanical 
arrangements  are  in  force  for  regulating  the  quantity  of  gas  in  use  according  to  the  atmospheric 
conditions,  and  a  clockwork  mechanism  is  attached  to  impart  flashes  to  the  light  if  required. 


THE   BEI.FHY. 
Showing  a  portion  of  "  Big  Ben"  and  the  smaller  belli  upon  which  the  qnartcn  are  struck. 

Although,  like  the  clock,  the  signal  is  lighted  by  a  man  ascending  the  tower,  a  lever.  Mtuated 
in  the  ventilating  chamljer  immediately  beneath  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Commons,  is  used 
for  extinguishing  the  light  directly  the  Speaker  vacates  his  chair  at,  the  adjournment  of 
the  HOIIM-. 

Taking  it  as  a  whole,  the  Clock  Tower  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  modern 
1'alace  of  We.-t  min-ter.  Now  that  the  bitter  controversies  which  attended  the  raising  and 
equipment  of  this  Mrticture  have  died  away,  we  can  without  prejudice  or  partisanship  admire 
the  U-auty  of  Harry's  architecture  and  the  practical  value  of  Lord  (irimt  horpe's  work  upo:i  the 
clock,  which  is  not  only  one  of  the  largest  timepieces  in  the  world,  but  is  also  one  of  the 
line>t  in  a  mechanical  j-en>e. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 


THE   CRYPT  CHAPEL   AND    CLOISTERS  AND   THE  JEWEL    TOWER. 

'•  A  POEM  in  stone "  is  the  enthusiastic  description  applied  by  one  writer  to  the  beautiful 
little  structure  beneath  St.  Stephen's  Hall  which,  anciently  styled  St.  Mary-in-the-Vaults,  is 
familiarly  known  at  the  present  day  as  the  Crypt  Chapel.1  The  term  is  not  misapplied. 
Amongst  minor  ecclesiastical  buildings  in  the  country  there  is  none  which  embodies  in  a 
higher  degree  the  sentiment  of  architecture.  Built  in  the  thirteenth  century,  in  the  heyday 
of  Gothic  art,  it  combines  with  perfect  proportions  the  most  exquisite  beauty  of  decorative 
detail.  Its  clustering  masses  of  carved  stone-work,  gorgeous  in  their  prodigality  of  detail,  its 
windows  filled  with  delicate  tracery,  its  complete  harmony  of  style — these  give  to  the  chapel 
a  charm  and  a  grace  which  do  not  fail  to  strike  the  least  impressionable  of  visitors. 


A   SECTION   OP  THE  CBYPT   CHAPEL, 
Showing  the  entrance  and  one  of  the  most  elaborate  portions  of  the  beautiful  stone-work. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  indifference  and  neglect  ot  ancient  monuments  and  works  of  art 
which  prevailed  during  the  Georgian  period  that  this  magnificent  example  of  decorated 
Gothic  work  was  profaned  by  being  put  to  the  basest  service.  Difficult  as  it  is  to  credit  the 

1  A  picture  of  the  Crypt  Chapel  as  it  now  is  will  be  found  on  page  7  of  the  Introduction. 

285 


286 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


vandalism  which  could  sanction  such  a  pro- 
cedure, it  is  an  undoubted  fact  tliat  for  a 
great  many  years  it  was  used  as  a  coal-cellar 
and  a  lumber-room.  In  this  humiliating 
condition  it  might  have  remained  had  not 
accommodation  been  required  for  I-ord  Walpole 
when  appointed  Auditor  of  the  Kxcheouer 
al-out  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
It  was  then  cleared  out.  ivfurbished  and 
decorated,  and  devoted  to  th<>  purposes  of  a 
domestic  apartment.  Subsequently,  during 
the  occupancy  of  the  Chair  by  Mr.  Adding) on 
(afterwards  Lord  Sidmouth),  it  was  by  vote 
of  the  House  given  over  to  the  Speaker, 
with  adjacent  portions  of  the  old  Palace,  for 
an  official  residence.  Its  graceful  pro] Millions 
and  fine  architectural  embellishments  sug- 
gested its  appropriation  as  a  State  dining- 
room,  and  to  this  purpose  it  was  de\nted 
for  many  years.  During  the  period  that 
the  chapel  and  cloisters  were  in  dome-!  in- 
occupation, they  were  shameful!  v  treated. 
••  Whilst  the  latter  were  partly  fitted  for 
the  appendages  of  a  kitchen,  for  servants' 
offices,  and  the  most  menial  purjioses.  the 
area  was  occupied  by  a  large  shed-like 
kitchen;  part  of  the  exquisite  lower  oratory 
\\as  converted  into  a  scullery,  and  chimney >. 
sinks,  and  closets  were  cut  into  or  hacked 
away  without  the  least  regard  either  to  the 
stability  of  the  edifice  or  its  architectural 
character."  * 

The  fire  of  1834,  which  cleared  off  the 
flimsy  accretions  of  the  old  Palace  like  so 
much  matchwood,  raged  about  the  ma»i\e 
Norman  masonry  of  the  chapel  in  vain.  With 
an  important  section  of  the  adjacent  cloisters  it  emerged  practically  uninjured.  Fortunately,  the 
circumstances  which  made  it  imperative  to  remove  the  old  walls  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  alx>ve 
did  not  o|M-ratc  here.  Sir  Charles  Barry  found  it  possible  to  build  upon  the  old  work,  and 
his  son,  .Mr.  K.  M.  Barrv,  K.A.,  by  restoring  it  where  it  needed  restoration,  and  adding  to  it 
where  an  extension  was  sugge.-ted  in  the  interest  of  harmony,  assisted  to  revive  in  some  degree 
the  ancient  glories  of  this  portion  of  the  old  Palace.  Most  of  the  alterations  were  made  in 
the  upper  cloisters,  now  used  as  a  members'  cloak-room.  These  were  practically  rebuilt,  but 
so  carefully  was  the  work  done  that  a  visitor  would  probably  not  detect  any  material  difference 
between  the  two  sections  of  the  structure. 

While  the  work  of  restoration  was  being  carried  out  in  1852,  the  workmen  came  upon 
tlii-  remains  of  an  ecclesiastic  embedded  in  the  masonry  of  the  north  wall  of  the  crypt.  The 
body,  from  its  jNisition  on  the  right  hand  of  the  altar,  and  from  the  fact  that  a  pastoral  cm-- 
was buried  with  it.  was  MipjKiscd  to  be  that  of  some  high  dignitary  of  the  Church.  A 
suggestion  made  at  the  time  wa-  that  the  remains  were  those  of  William  Lyndwoode,  Bishop 
of  St.  l>a\  ill's  and  Keeper  of  the  Privy  Seal,  who  founded  a  chantry  in  the  Chapel  of  St. 

1  Braylcy  anil  Brilton'9  "Ancient  Palace  of  Westminster." 


FONT    IS   THK  CKYI'T   CIIAI'KI., 

the  cliriitrning  of  one  of  the  promt  .Speaker's  grand- 
children. 


The  Crypt   Chapel  and   Cloisters  and  the  Jewel  Tower      287 

Stephen  by  deed,  and  died  in  1446.  This  view  is  supported  by  a  passage  in  the  patent  roll  of 
32  Henry  IV.,  in.  4,  which  sets  forth  the  terms  of  a  licence,  dated  July  19th,  from  the  King  to 
"  Robert  Pyke,  clerk,  and  Adrian  Grenebough,  executors  of  Wm.  Lyndwoode,  lately  Bishop  of  St. 
David's  and  Keeper  of  the  Privy  Seal,  for  the  foundation  of  a  perpetual  chantry  in  the  Under- 
Chapel  of  St.  Stephen,  within  the  King's  Palace  of  Westminster,  for  two  perpetual  chaplains, 
or  at  least  for  one  perpetual  chaplain,  to  celebrate  Divine  service  daily  in  the  aforesaid  chapel, 
or  one  of  them  in  the  under-chapel  (St.  Mary's),  and  the  other  at  the  Chapel  of  St.  Mary 
de  la  Pieu,  situated  near  the  King's  said  Chapel  of  St.  Stephen,  for  the  healthful  estate  of 
the  King  and  his  Consort  Margaret,  Queen  of  England,  and  their  souls  when  they  shall  die ; 
and  also  for  the  soul  of  the  aforesaid  Bishop,  whose  body  lies  buried  in  the  said  under-chapel.'' 
Whether  the  body  was  actually  that  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  David's  or  not,  certain  it  is 
that  the  chapel  was  used  as  a  place  of  sepulture,  and  not  in  an  isolated  case,  either.  It 


THE  CLOISTERS,   HOUSE   OP  COMMONS. 
The  clock  which  in  seen  on  the  right  of  the  picture  was  saved  from  the  fire  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament  in  1834. 

follows,  therefore,  that  the  appropriation  of  the  building  to  secular  uses  was  a  desecration 
which  ought  not  to  have  been  tolerated.  Animated  by  a  spirit  of  greater  reverence,  the 
authorities  to-day  have  appropriated  the  beautiful  structure  to  the  purposes  of  a  private  chapel 
for  the  Speaker.  Occasional  services  of  a  special  character  are  held  in  the  building,  as,  for 
example,  when  recently  the  christening  of  a  grandchild  of  the  present  Speaker  was  performed 
there. 

Associated  with  the  Crypt  Chapel,  and  architecturally  in  harmony  with  it,  is  a  beautiful 
little  chamber  known  familiarly  as  the  '•  Oratory.''  Originally  a  chantry  chapel  built  by  some 
pious  mediaeval  benefactor  of  St.  Stephen's,  it  has  gone  through  many  vicissitudes.  One  of 
the  most  interesting  of  its  traditions  assigns  to  it  the  dubious  honour  of  being  the  place  in 
which  the  death  warrant  of  Charles  I.  was  signed.  But  considerable  doubt  has  been  cast  upon 
this  story  by  historical  investigators,  who  have  taken  the  trouble  to  trace  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  fatal  document  was  signed.  According  to  the  evidence  of  a  witness  named 
K \vi-r,  who  appeared  at  the  trial  of  Henry  Marten,  the  signatures  were  appended  in  the 


288 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Painted    Chamber,  and  it  WM    there   tlmt  occurred    the    ill-tinned    horseplay  Ix-tween    CVoi 
and  Marten,  during  which    the    two  inked   each    other's   faces    with   the   pens  with   which    tlu-v 
wrote    their   name*.     Other   testimony   goes    to    show    that    several    signature-    were    in-. 
•Bbwquently    at    Clialloner'*    house    in    Clerkenwell.      The    ]irobabiliiy    is    that    after    the    tir.t 
dining  additional  names  were  introduced  to  widen  the  sphere  of  responsibility,  and  that 
of  lbe»e  were  apjiended    to   the  warrant    in   the  Oratory  as  well  as  at    Challoner's    hon-e. 
chamber,  however,  rtand*  in  need  of  no  adxentitious  aid,  such  as  a    picturesque  .-torv  like  thj« 
Mipplie*   to  recommend  it    to   notice.     It  is  nn    architectural    gem  of  the   piuv-t   wai 
Mich  will  always  attract   the  attention  of  all  lovers  of  beauty. 

K\fii    older   than    the    crypt    and    the    cloi-ier-.    though    without    any    pretension-    i 
.ir.-hite.-tur.il    interest    with    which     those    jKirtions    of    the    ancient     Palace    are    in\.--ted.    i 
>t  picture,  known  as  the  .lewd  Tower.     Tucked  away,  behind  the  buildings  in   Old    Pal 

„•  the  H.in-e  "f  I.or.l-.  it  ea-ily  escapes  notice.  Indeed,  comparatively  few  pe.ijile 
•  if  its  i>\j.tenc-.  Yet  it  i-.  next  to  tin-  Abbey  and  Westminster  Hall,  historically  the 
int. -resting  building  in  this  locality,  for  it  is  the  sole  ]N>rtion  of  the  ancient  Palace  of  V 

minster    that    ha-    conn- 
to  u<   in   practically   it-  or 
fi.rm.      \Valeott    -pi-al 
of  "the  age  o!'  William  K'I. 
but   Sir  Gilbert    S.-ott    pla. 
somewhat    later — in    the    •. 
of   h'ichard   II.       \Vh;r 

]irecise    date     of    the     st  ru,  • 

its     exceptional      antiipiit 
beyond  ijue.-iion.    tor  (her. 
records     extant      which 
that     in    1377    it    was    gr.mle-l 
by  the  abbot  ami  convent,  with 
a   small   close  adjoining    it, 
Kdward   III.      It   was  used    le- 
thal   monarch    as   a   re]K»itorv 
for    the    State     jewels,    and    it 
then  received  the   name  which 
is   used  to  designate  it   t 
present      day.        In     its    char- 
acter    of     treasure     house     it 
was  the  witness  of  some  -i : 
incidents.      But    these   do 

Come   Within    the    -cope    of    the 

present    narrative.       Ard 

t  urally     the     tower     has     in. my 
points  of  interest.    -The  walls." 
says    Sir    Gilbert     Scott.    ' 
perfect,    cu-n    to   the  pan 
and      the     original      diKir 
remain,     their    heads    being    of 
the  form   called   the  shouldeiv.1 
arch,  so  much  used  in  d.'in 
work    throughout     the-    .Middle 
•nn:  (iKAToiiv.  -Ages,  from  the  twelfth  ci'iitury 

ltUu«dmpa^lyrt»t«lth.tlnlhUch.mber»n.eof  the  nbnatura  were  appended  to  the  death       to  the  fifteenth.    .    .    .A  model  II 

warrant  of  Chart..  I.  vall],     ),.,,    )„,,.,,   jntro,|, „.,.,! 


The  Crypt   Chapel  and   Cloisters  and  the  Jewel  Tower     289 

the  first  floor  room,  BR 
probably  as  a  security 
against  fire,  this  room 
having  had  originally 
a  wooden  ceiling;  but 
fortunately  the  ground 
rooms  have  been  pre- 
served intact,  with 
their  original  ground 
vaults,  with  moulded 
ribs  and  carved  bosses 
— evidently  a  part  of 
the  same  work  as  the 
cloisters  and  other 
vaulted  sub-structures 
of  Abbot  Littlington." 

After  serving  for 
many  years  the  pur- 
poses of  a  treasure 
chamber,  it  was  turned 
over  to  the  Govern- 
ment authorities  for 
the  storage  of 
records,  and  came 
to  be  known  as  the 
Parliament  Chamber. 
It  was  the  depository 
of  the  legislative 
archives  until  the 
construction  of  the 
mighty  Victoria 
Tower  hard  by 
furnished  a  muni- 
ment chamber  more 
fitted  to  the  needs 
of  the  Imperial 
Legislature.  But,  as 
I)ean  Stanley  aptly 
says,  the  grey  fortress 
still  remains,  and, 
with  the  Trcasurv 

and  Chapter  House,  forms  the  triple  link  of  the  English  State  and  Church  with  the  venerable 
past.  "Comparing  the  concentration  of  English  historical  edifices  at  Westminster  with  those 
at  Home  under  the  Capitol,  as  the  Temple  of  Saturn  finds  its  likeness  in  the  Treasury  and 
the  Temple  of  Concord  (where  the  Senate  assembled)  in  the  Chapter  House  and  refectory,  so 
the  missive  walls  of  the  Tabularium,  where  the  decrees  of  the  Senate  were  carefully  guarded, 
correspond  to  the  square  tower  of  the  Parliament  Office,  overlooking  the  garden  of  the  precincts 
from  which  it  has  long  been  parted." 

During  the  rebuilding  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament  after  the  fire  of  1834,  the  tower 
formed  part  of  the  Speaker's  residence,  and  in  1866  carne  into  the  possession  of  the  Department 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  is  now  used  as  part  of  the  Government  Standards  Weights 
and  Measures  Office.  An  interesting  account  of  the  standards  and  their  connection  with 

37 


THE  JEWEL   TOWER. 
The  oldest  existing  portion  of  the  ancient  Palace  of  Westminster.     It  probably  dates  back  eight  centuries. 


290 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THi:   "I.O   STANDARDS,  JEWEL   TOWER. 
Some  of  the  ancient  measures  preserved  by  the  Standard!  Department  in  the  Tower. 

Parliament  is  given  by  Mr.  Henry  .1.  Chancy  in  liis  recent  work,1  from  which  we  learn  that 
until  (Jneen  Elizabeth's  time  tin-  standards  in  use  had  been  those  of  Henry  VII.  The  legal 
standards  made  by  Kli/:iheth  continued  down  to  1824,  when  a  uniform  system  of  weights  and 
measures  was  intnxluml  by  legislation,  the  outcome  of  the  reports  of  various  I'arliamentarv 
inquiries  extending  over  a  period  of  sixty  years.  In  1825,  under  the  advice  of  various  scientific 
authorities,  brass  copies  of  the  new  Imperial  standards  were  made  and  deposited  at  the  office 
of  the  Kxchcqiier.  They  became  known  as  the  ••  Exchequer  standards."  and  are  now  included 
in  those  of  the  Hoard  of  Trade.  They  had  been  in  the  custody  of  the  Clerk  of  the  llmiM-  of 
('.millions  in  accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the  House  of  1758;  but  these  standards  did  not 
e.-cajM'  the  ravages  of  the  tire  in  1834,  and  were  injured  or  supposed  to  have  been  destroyed 
when  the  Houses  of  1'arliaineiit  were  burned.  Later,  however,  certain  of  them  wen'  discovered 
in  the  ruins,  among  them  particularly  the  yard  measure,  and  they  are  now  preserved,  still 
under  the  charge  of  the  Clerk  of  the  House,  in  a  lobby  leading  to  that  officer's  residence. 
reached  by  a  corridor  at  the  back  of  the  Speaker's  Chair. 

In  1H.14.  in  consequence  of  the  recommendations  of  a  Koval  Commission,  new  Imperial 
standards  were  made-  and  duly  legalised.  The  yard  and  the  pound  were  verified  by  comparison. 
Copies  of  the  new  Imperial  standards  were  then  de]x>sited  in  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  K'o\al 
.Mint.  etc..  and  they  are  known  as  the  ••Parliamentary  copies."  the  object  being  that  should 
the  original  standards  lx-  lo-t  or  injured,  authentic  copies  can  be  easily  found.  By  a  subsequent 
Act  of  Parliament  the  "Parliamentary  copies"  are  required  to  be  compared  with  each  other 
once  in  twenty  years,  and  upon  the  last  occasion  (1892)  .Mr.  Speaker  Arthur  \V.  Peel. 
acconi]>anied  by  the  high  officers  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  the  Secretary  to  the  Lord  Great 
Chamberlain,  met  together  for  t  he  purpose.  The  ••Parliamentary  copies''  of  the  standards  were 
removed  from  their  place  of  de]H>sit  within  the  wall  under  the  blank  window  on  the  right- 
1  "Treatise  on  Standard  Weights  and  Measures  in  use  in  the  ttritish  Kinpirr,"  ls',17. 


The   Crypt  Chapel  and  Cloisters  and  the  Jewel  Tower      291 

hand  side  of  the  second  landing  of  the  public  staircase  leading  from  the  lower  waiting  hall 
up  to  the  Commons  committee-rooms  in  the  new  Palace  of  Westminster,  and  being  compared 
with  the  standards  produced  by  the  Board  of  Trade  were  declared  not  in  any  way  destroyed, 
defaced,  or  otherwise  injured,  but  to  all  intents  and  purposes  in  the  same  condition  as  when 
tht-v  were  immured  in  1872.  Subsequently,  on  the  report  of  Mr.  Henry  J.  Chaney, 
the  Superintendent  of  Weights  and  Measures,  they  were  replaced  in  their  original  cases  and 
boxes  in  the  following  manner:  The  platinum  pound  was  wrapped  in  Swedish  filtering  paper, 
and  was  then  placed  in  its  silver-gilt  case,  which  in  its  turn  was  placed  in  a  square  solid  bronze 
ease;  the  bronze  case  was  afterwards  deposited  in  a  mahogany  box,  which  was  screwed  clown 
and  sealed.  The  immured  yard  was  placed  on  its  eight  rollers  within  a  mahogany  box,  which 
\v,-i>  also  screwed  down  and  sealed.  Both  mahogany  boxes  were  then  deposited  within  a  lead 
ease,  which  was  soldered  down.  Finally,  the  oak  box  was  put  within  the  cavity  in  the  stone 
wall.  Before  the  removal  of  the  standards  a  mason  had  carefully  sawn  through  the  cement 
round  the  joints  of  a  large  stone  which  closed  the  cavity,  and  after  they  had  been  re-deposited 

-.ime  stone  was  inserted  and  was  grouted  in  with  cement.  The  brass  tablet  now  upon  the 
wall  records  the  fact  that  "  Within  this  wall  are  deposited  standards  of  the  British  yard 
measure  and  the  British  pound  weight."  This  record  of  the  standards  makes  it  evident  that 
the  present  Imperial  measures,  etc.,  were  derived  from  those  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  these 
in  their  turn  from  the  time  of  Henry  VII.,  the  latter  having  withstood  the  changes  of  four 
centuries. 

At  one  period  the  standards  were  kept,  under  the  charge  of  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  in  the  Pyx  Chapel  at  Westminster  Abbey.  The  entrance  to  this  i«  near  the  Chapter 
House,  through  massive  double  doors  which  are  still  in  a  state  of  good  preservation.  In 
the  interior  are  shown  the  altar  (which,  it  appears,  may  have  been  used  for  coinage  purposes),  a 
number  of  old  oak  presses  in  which  State  records  were  stored,  and  chests  in  which  the 
standards  and  assays  of  gold  and  silver  were  deposited.  Dean  Stanley  in  his  "  Memorials 
of  Westminster  Abbey"  thus  describes  the  Pyx  Chapel:  "In  the  east  cloister  is  an 


IMPOUNDED   FALSE   JIKASf  ItKti    IX   THE  JEWEL   TOWER  MUSEUM. 
An  interesting  collection  preserved  by  the  Standards  Department  to  illustrate  the  ingenuity  of  the  fraudulent  trader. 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Hiiciriit  double  door  made  of  oak.  each  door 
having  three  locks  which  admit  to  the 
clia]M'l.  which  was  no  le>s  than  tin-  Treasury 
of  Kngliitid — a  grand  word,  which,  while  it 
t'omevs  us  Kick  to  tin-  most  primitive  times, 
i>  \.-i  big  with  the  destinies  of  the  piv-.-nt 
and  tlie  future  of  that  sacred  body.  It  was 
prolwiblv  Immediately  after  the  Conijuc.-t 
that  tlie  Kings  determined  to  lodge  their 
treasures  there,  under  the  guardianship  of 
the  inviolable  sanctuary  which  St.  1'eter  had 
consecrated  and  the  Ixnies  of  the  Coidei-sor 
had  sanctified." 

Connected  with  tlie  garden  which  once 
existed  about  the  Jewel  Tower  is  a  curious 
story  which  I >ean  Stanley  recalls  in  his 
fascinating  work.  '-Not  far  from  the  tower.'1 
he  says,  ••  lived  a  hermit  who  formed  an 
adjunct  of  the  monastic  community  —  an 
advanced  guard  of  peculiar  sanctity.  The 
anchorite  who  occupied  this  tenement  at  the 
close  of  the  fourteenth  century  was  buried 
in  a  leaden  coffin  in  a  small  chapel  attached 
to  his  cell.  A  certain  William  1'shborne, 
keeper  of  the  adjacent  Palace,  suborned  a 
plumber  of  the  convent  to  dig  up  the 
sacred  bones,  which  he  tossed  into  the  well 
in  the  centre  of  the  cloi>tcr  cemetery,  ami 
had  the  leaden  coffin  conveyed  by  its  iron 
clasps  to  his  office.  The  sacrilege  was  first  visited  on  the  poor  plumber,  who  was  sei/.ed 
with  sudden  faintness  and  died  in  I'sliborne's  house.  This,  however,  was  but  the  beginning 
of  1'shhonic's  crimes.  He  afterwards  contrived  to  appropriate  the  waste  marsh  .between 
tlie  tower  and  the  river),  which  he  turned  into  a  garden,  with  a  pond  to  preserve  hi>  own 
fresh  fish.  On  a  certain  fast  day — the  Vigil  of  St.  Peter  ad  Vincula — the  day  before 
the  great  conventual  feast  on  the  fat  bucks  of  Windsor — he  invited  his  Westminster 
oeighbonn  to  a  supper.  Out  of  the  pond  he  had  fished  a  large  pike.  He  himself  began 
ujHin  it,  and  after  two  or  three  mouthfuls  he  screamed  out,  '  Jx>ok !  look!  here  is  come  a 
fellow  who  is  going  to  choke  me,'  and.  thus  caught  without  the  viaticum  by  the  very  tish 
which  had  Iteeii  tlie  cause  of  his  sacrilege,  he  died  on  the  spot,  and  was  buried  in  the 
choir  of  St.  Margaret's."  This  story  long  went  round  the  monastic  circle  at  Westminster,  and 
lent  to  this  corner  of  the  Abbey  precincts  a  tinge  of  real  romance  until  the  modern  "house- 
breaker" and  road-maker  came  along  and  gave  to  the  scene  of  the  ghostly  hermit's  retreat  a 
thoroughly  modern  and  commonplace  appearance.  The  well-known  house  in  Old  Palace  Yard 
occupied  by  .Mr.  I^dxmchere  abuts  upon  the  Jewel  Tower,  and  it  could  not  have  been  far  from 
his  garden  that  the  sacrilegious  Ushlx>rne  caught  the  mysterious  pike  which  caused  his  death. 


•im:  .IKWKI.  TOWER, 

Showing  UK  (plral  itaircu* and  old  door,  the  qnaint  shape  of  which  nil! 
be  TI 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 


ST.    STEPHEN'S    CHAPEL. 

IN  the  general  description  of  the   old   Palace   of  Westminster  allusion   has   been   made  to    the 

erection  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  ;    but  in  view   of  the  architectural  importance  of  the  building 

and    its    fame    as   the    home    of  the    House    of  Commons    during   three    centuries,    some    more 

lengthened  reference  to  it  seems  to  be  demanded  before  we  take  final  leave  of  the  architectural 

features    of    the     Palace     of 

Westminster,     old    and    new. 

As   a   collegiate    chapel,   with 

all  the  attributes  of  such   an 

ecclesiastical       establishment, 

situated   in  the  heart   of  the 

Palace  of  the  King,  it  enjoyed 

during  the  early  centuries  of 

its    existence    a    special    dis- 

tinction.   Jewels  were  lavished 

upon    its    shrines  with  extra- 

ordinary profuseness.  •    Its 

decorations  also,  as  we   shall 

have    occasion    to  show,   were 

on    a    scale    of    magnificence 

such     as     marked     no    other 

.sirred  building  of  that  period. 

.Moreover,  its  services  were  of 

exceptional  splendour;  in  fact, 

there    were    few    churches   in 

the  country  which,  in  its  day. 

were  more  famous.     Yet  such 

were      its     vicissitudes     that 

the   building   is   remembered 

in  this   age,  not    as    a   great 

ecclesiastical       establishment, 

but  as  a  political  and  legisla- 

tive centre  second  to  none  in 

the   world  for  the  engrossing 

interest  of  the  events  of  which 

it    lias  been  the  scene. 

When  the  faithful 
Commons  left  the  Chapter 
House  of  the  Abbey  —  or  were 
ejected  from  it  for  disorderly 
behaviour  according  to  one 
authority  —  the  Chapel,  in 

l   •    iAi  ,1  •       i    M    J 

winch  they  were-  then  installed, 


PAIXT1XGS   ON   THE   WALLS  OP  ST.   STJSPHE; 


The  subject  illustrated  is  the  Nativity.     The  picture  is  interesting  as  one  of  the  earliest  altec 

of  lK/ntinga  £  oils  in  this  cmmtr£ 

293 


294 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


«-\i:    nr    TIII:    BAttO-ULIEVOI     IN 
Till:     CK.NTRE    OK     THE    OKOINS     OP    ST. 

ciiAi'i-.i.  ei.oi-i 


A     FIIICIIK    OK    AN     ANGKI.     WHICH 

Arri:.\i!K.i>  ix  THK  HI:N  AMI. si  .u.  >TI.NI:- 
WOHK     OK    TIII:    01. i>     ST.     8TKriu:s's 

CHAPEL  CL01STEH8. 


!i:ul  sully  degenerated.  It- 
rich  endowments  diverted 
1.1  other  u-cs.1  its  clergy 
scattered,  ami  tin-  spirit  of 
devotion  wliicll  had  once 
ministered  to  it-  magnifi- 
cence fXtilK't.  it  llilll  fallen 

into    inflect,    and    possibly 

:I!MI   into  some  decay.      In 

what  manner  it  was  adapted 

to    its     legislative    purpo-es 

there    is    no    record    extant 

to  show.    The  presumption 

i>  that  when  it   was  handed 

over    to    the    Commons    in 

the  years  immediately  suc- 
ceeding the  Act  for  tin-  suppression  of  the  religious  foundations,  it  was  titled  up  in  much  the  -tyle 
which  marked  it  in  the  next  century.  In  the  earliest  \iews  extant  of  the  H.HIM-O)  Common* 
thiiM'on  tin- seals  of  the  Court  of  Kind's  ttench  and  the  Court  of  Common  Picas,  cast  in  HilK  — 
the  walls  are  shown  with  a  plain  wainscoting  and  with  the  ecclesiastical  features  of  the  edifice  other- 
\\i-e  disguised.  A  change  ap|«>ar.s  to  have  been  made  a  little  later  by  the  introduction  of  tape-try 
hangings,  for  tlie  Commonwealth  seal  of  1651  represents  the  walls  thus  covered.  The  aspect  of 
the  House  was  not  materially  changed  until  the  reign  of  (^neeii  Anne,  when,  to  provide  greater 
accommodation.  Sir  Christopher  Wren  was  called  in  to  erect  galleries.  Whatever  the  sen  ices 

of  the  eminent   architect  elsewhere,  lie  shone  very  inconspicuously  in  his  work  at   the   1'ahu t 

\Ve-tminstcr.  His  alterations  were  mostly  in  the  nature  of  disfigurement^  tendinij.  as  they  did,  to 
conceal,  and  in  some  instances  to  mutilate,  the  beautiful  work  of  the  ancient  Chapel.  Viewing  the 
matter  in  the  light  of  subsequent  discoveries,  it  is  extraordinary  that  so  great  a  master  of  taste 
should  have  given  his  sanction  to  changes  which  tended  to  mar  still  further  such  a  noble  edifice 
AS  the  Chapel  even  then  was.  Hut  it  is  possible  that  his  hands  were  tied  by  his  instructions  that 
the  duty  imposed  upon  him  \\a<  not  to  renovate  and  restore,  but  merely  to  provide  additional 
elbow-room  for  m  -mbers.  whose  numbers  had  been  swollen  by  the  then  recent  Union  with  Scotland. 
After  the  completion  of  V»*ren's  alterations,  the  Chapel  underwent  no  other  important 
change  until  a  further  addition  to  the  accommodation  was  rendered  necessii y  in  1800  by  the 
admission  of  one  hundred  and  three  Irish  members  as  a  consequence  of  the  I'nioii  \\ith  Irelai.d. 
To  meet  the  exigency  an  ingenious  scheme  was  adopted.  This  was  the  razing  «>f  the  old  side  walls 

of   the   Chapel,   which  wre 

three    feet    thick,    and    the 

buildingupon  t  he  foundat  ion 

of    a    new    wall    only    one 

foot   thick.     In  this  way  an 

additional  width  of  four  feet 

was  obtained  in  the  chamber. 

sufficient    to  meet   the    new 

demands. 

A-  soon  as  the  wains- 
coting was  removed  pre- 
paratory to  carrying  out 

the  plan,  it    was   discovered 

that     the    old     stone    walls 


i!i;ri!Ksi:.\TATicp.N  OK  -i  in;  SAVIOVI: 
,.*  S::KS  is  THK  MASONKY  or  THK  oi.n 

R.    VIP. Mil. V-   (  II.M'KL   CI.01STE11S. 


1   By  a  statute  of    1    Edward 
VI.  (A.D    1547) 


-M  KI:D  M<IMIC;I:A.M  usKi)  IN  THE 
OI:\.\MI:XTATIOX  or  Tin;  OLD  ST. 
STEPHEN'S  CHAPEL  CLOISTEHS. 


ARMORIAL    BEARINGS  FROM  ST.   STEPHEN'S  CHAPEL. 

••d  from  Smith's  "  Antiqultt«?s  of  \\V-ttntinst.-r, '  wli.-n-  llit-y  an-  Uli-ntifn-il  as  (Wlows,  reading  from  left  to  right:  1,  Richard  FitzAlan.  Earl  of  Arundel. 

.    '.».  KoU-rt  Karl  of  Suffolk.  d.  13i»U  ;  3.  Kalj'li  Karl  <>f  stafTr.nl.  d.  I37n  :   4.  \Villi:im.  K:nl  of  Siilislmiy.  d.  13W  ;  .",,  Thomas  Holland.  Earl  of  K<;iit  ;  fi.  Lawrence 

Dgt,  P^iil  -if  l-.-inbr-'k'-.  <1    i:a;i  :  7.  .Inlm  Li<n\  Clinton,  el.  i.Tfl"  :  8.  Jnhn  \'--r<-.  Karl  of  Oxford,  d.  13.18  ;  9,  Edward  Lord  Ln  Desponser,  1375 ;  10,  William  Lord 

Latimcr,  d.  1381  ;  11,  Hugh  <v,!irtiicy.  Karl  "f  I>-'V..?i.  d.  1376;  12,  Henry  Lord  Percy,  d.  1368;  13.  Sir  Jame*  Audley,  afterwards  Lord  Andlcy  :  14.  Sir  .Inlm  Ch:mdi>s.  K.d. 

.  John  de  Sirtton,  Lord  Dudley,  d.  13.".9  ;  16,  Mi-nry  Lord  Beaiinnmt.  d.  ]."7o  :  17,  John  Lord  Grey,  of  Codnore  ;  18,  tou  much  defaced  to  be  mado  out. 

2*J5 


296 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


were  enriched  with  a  wries  of  Ix-autiful  jointings,  many  of  them  in  n  ]>erfect  state  of 
|irrM-rviit  inn.  S.nii'  remarkably  tint-  sculptured  lignres  and  ornament-  were  also  brought  to 
light,  ami  it  wa>  furthermore  >ecn  that  the  elegant  tracery  of  (lie  windows  had  been  adorned 
with  am-ifiit  staiiuil  glass.  Tin-  subjects  tivaird  were  mostly  scriptural.  ••  I  j>oii  one  .-id.-  «a- 
ieeu  St.  Marv  anil  St.  ,lo-«-ph  ;  Ix-loiv  them  kin-It  King  Kdward  III.,  liis  Queen  and  ('ouit 
laving  tlifir  rich  offerings  lx-1'oiv  tin-  feet  of  tht'  l'les-ed  Chihl.  I'IKHI  tin-  wall-  were  paintings 
M-pre-riiting  scriptural  subjects;  and  on  each  side  of  the  altar  were  frescoes  of  tin-  Nativity 
of  Our  Most  J?le--ed  Ixird  and  Saviour,  the  jm-sfiitat ion  of  the  Holy  Infant  in  tin-  Trnijilr.  the 
marriaijf  of  ('ana  ot  (ialilt-c.  and  the  teiii|itation  of  the  l\e<leenier  in  the  Wilderness.  In  the 
wintlows  Mere  rejiieM-nted  Ailain  ami  Kve.  Noah  and  his  family.  Abraham,  Joseph,  the  liistorv 
ot  the  I-raelites.  and  the  ehief  ineidents  in  the  lift-  of  the  Lord  .leMis.  from  his  baptisin  in 
tlie  Kivi-r  .Ionian  until  the  last  dread  hour.-  of  the  (Yueitixion  upon  Calvary."1 

The  di-o.veries  n.-ated  a  threat  sensition  in  antiijitai  ian  circles,  and  a  thorough  inveM  iijat  ion 
of  the  remain-  \\a-  made.  I'pon  the  ii  relVa^ible  evidence  afforded  by  the  old  nvords  of  the 
work  done  at  the  t'hajx-1  and  the  j.ayments  made  for  it,  it  was  concluded  that  tin'  paint  i; 
were  executed  U-tween  the  \ears  1:545  and  13G4,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  An  interest  in.,' 
firftiinstaiu-e  also  disclosed  was  that  many  of  the  paintings  \\.n-  in  oils,  and  that  thev  were 
i-.'ii-.-.jUently  amoii>,'-t  the  earliest  s]ieciineiis  of  that  class  of  art  work  in  existence. 

Little  need  be  said  of  the  later  structural  history  of  the  Chapel.  In  its  enlarged 
condition  it  remained  unchanged  until  the  fire  of  1834  burnt  out  the  flimsv  ipilleries  and 
jartitions  and  other  modern  features,  and  left  the  shell  of  the  ancient  building  standing,  -,'aunt 
and  black,  but  yet  with  many  traces  of  its  old  beauty  upon  it.  Afterwards,  as  ia  related 
eNewhere.  the  walls  were  pulled  down  to  make  way  for  the  new  Palace  of  Westminster  of 
Sir  Charles  Harry,  and  all  that  is  left  to  us  of  the  famous:  building  is  its  brilliant  meinoile- 
of  three  hundred  years  of  national  life.  Hut  what  memories  they  are!  Across  the  floor  flit 
the  images  of  all  the  great  men  who  helped  in  the  government  of  the  country  from  tl.e 
s).acious  age  of  Elizabeth  to  the  Golden  Era  of  Victoria.  Cecil,  Coke,  Hyde,  Pym,  llampden. 
Cromwell,  Somers.  Waljwle,  Bolingbroke.  Harley,  St.  John,  the  two  Pitts,  Fox.  Pelham. 
Mansfield,  Sheridan.  P.urke.  Canning,  Melbourne,  Peel,  Gladstone— these  are  a  few  of  the 
names  that  instantly  occur  to  the  mind  in  connection  with  this  ancient  building.  Its  secular 
history  is  an  epitome  of  the  growth  and  development  of  modern  constitutional  government. 
Some  of  the  greatest  events  in  English  history — events  which  had  their  direct  influence  in 
the  moulding  of  the  Hritish  Empire — actually  occurred  within  its  walls.  If  it  still  existed, 
no  MiM_,'le  chamber  would  have  a  profounder  interest  or  more  stirring  associations  for  the 
politician  or  for  the  student. 

1  \V;il''ott's  "Memorials  of  Westminster." 


;•*  _     -o 

E 


i  i 

U.        i 

; 
^ 


<         * 

r  i 

o     1 


o 

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S 
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i 
i 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


PARLIAMENT  IN  BEING-ROYAL  SPEECHES. 

FAR  back  in  the  remote  past  of  Parliamentary  history  must  be  sought  the  genesis  of  those 
ornate  ceremonies  which  now  accompany  the  opening  of  Parliament.  But  in  the  earliest  days 
no  doubt  the  forms  in  many  respects  differed  very  widely  from  those  now  observed.  At  that 
period  the  monarch  lived  almost  constantly  in  the  Palace  of  Westminster,  and  as  Parliaments 
were  customarily  held  in  one  or  other  of  its  rooms  there  was  little  scope  for  display  apart 
from  that  associated  with  the  ordinary  everyday  life  of  the  Court.  Moreover,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  understand  that  the  Norman  and  Plantagenet  Kings  did  not  feel  impelled  to  emphasise  by 
spectacle  the  existence  of  the  controlling  authority  which  from  time  to  time  set  itself  to 
oppose  their  arbitrary  decrees.  Parliament  met  and  discharged  certain  functions,  'and  that  is 
about  all  that  can  be  said  on  the  subject. 

The  earliest  authentic  record  in  any  detail  of  the  opening  of  Parliament  is  of  the  assembly 
summoned  at  Westminster  by  Henry  III.  on  January  28th,  1242.  On  this  occasion  there  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  any  speech  from  the  throne,  as  we  now  understand  the  term.  The 
monarch's  demands,  which  were  for  financial  aid  to  prosecute  a  war  with  France  for  the 
recovery  of  his  lost  possessions,  were  voiced  by  Earl  Richard,  Archbishop  Walter  Grey,  and 
the  Provost  of  Beverlev.  To  them  the  Parliament  gave  an  unfavourable  answer  in  a  memorable 
document  which  constitutes  the  first  recorded  example  of  a  reply  to  the  throne.  Two  years 
later,  when  the  pressing  necessities  of  the  State  constrained  the  King  again  to  seek  the  assistance 
of  his  subjects,  he  acted  as  his  own  spokesman.  A  similar  course  was  adopted  by  him  on 
subsequent  occasions.  Indeed,  with  the  lapse  of  time  and  the  growth  of  the  popular  discontent 
at  the  King's  misgovernment,  the  proceedings  of  Parliament  largely  partook  of  the  character 
of  an  altercation  between  Henry  and  his  barons.  Edward  I.,  following  the  precedent  thus 
established  of  direct  personal  communication  with  Parliament,  intervened  freely  in  the 
discussions  in  the  national  council  chamber, 
and  exercised  a  real  influence  in  the  framing 
of  those  laws  which  have  won  for  him  the 
title  of  the  "English  Justinian."  To  him 
we  owe  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  King's 
speech  that  was  ever  delivered.  It  was  not 
the  studied,  formal  composition  which  now 
passes  under  the  name,  but  an  impassioned 
harangue — an  appeal  to  the  people  if  ever 
there  was  one— delivered  from  a  wooden  stage 
erected  in  front  of  Westminster  Hall.  The 
occasion  of  this  notable  piece  of  Royal 
oratory  was  the  crisis  precipitated  in  1297 
by  Edward's  unconstitutional  act  in  ordering 
a  general  military  levy  of  the  country. 
Alarmed  at  the  menacing  attitude  of  the 
earls  and  barons,  led  by  Bohun  and  Bigod, 
the  King  decided  upon  a  frank  public  con-  *  From~a u^rl(im  us_ 
ii-ssion  of  his  error  and  a  promise  of  amend-  HENRY  v.  IN  PARLIAMENT. 

ment     as     the     best     means     of    recovering    his         The  monkigh  aspect  of  the  assembly  will  be  noted.     In  the  earlier  Parlia- 


lost    authority.       His    address— one    of    the 


297 


nienta  the  ecclesiastical  element  was  very  pronounced. 

38 


2Q8 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Fnm  Batr  I  "  nnmirit,-  IMS. 

1IENKY   VII.   AXD   HIS  COUNCIL. 


earlie-t.  if  not  the  earliest,  platform 
s|(eeehcs  in  mir  hi>tory  -  wa-  t  n-m.'ndoii-ly 
effective.  In  .-trains  of  real  eloquence,  if 
we  an-  tn  Ix-licve  the  chronicler  Matthew 

^g,  SP~r  "^  ^'estnl'nsl<'r)-  '"'   expressed    his   -orrow 

ilBl^^^y  ~     ^7r  L^H    °^  I**81  nm'ts  a1"'    '"'s  determination  io 

VHffflnL.  "f-^S^  '   irVfr  ^jf'H'*'  Covert!     constitutionally     in      the     future. 

i  'oncludin<r.  he  said  :  "I  am  going  t.. 
ex]«i-e  m\*elf  to  danger  for  y<.ur  >ai- 
I  jn-ay  vein,  if  I  return,  ivr.-m-  me  as 
you  have  me  now.  and  I  will  re-tore  to 
\dii  all  that  has  In-en  taken.  Hut  if  I 
return  not.  crown  my  MHI  a-  \<mr  King." 
1 plv  stirred  by  the  oration,  the  assem- 
bled populace  lifted  up  their  hands  in 
token  of  their  devotion. 

As  Parliament  developed  in  [>o\ver, 
the  proceedings  became  more  regular  and 
protract i-d.  and  the  relation-  of  tin-  King 
with  the  assembly  grew  less  intimate. 
In  course  of  time  the  cu-tom  ar.i-e  of 
the  King  having  his  sjK-ech  delivered 
by  deputy,  that  deputy  Ix-ing  the  ]»rd 

Chancellor.  Almost  simultaneously  there  was  established  the  practice,  followed  to  thi-  day.  of  a 
debate  on  the  sj>eech,  terminated  by  the  adoption  of  an  address  to  the  Crown.  Mo-t  aiithoritie- 
a-ign  the  delivery  of  the  first  regular  reply  to  a  Koyal  speech  to  the  reign  of  Kdwanl  III. 
It  is  certain  that  from  that  ]>eriod  dates  much  of  the  procedure  of  Parliament  as  we  know  it 
to-day.  The  rule  of  the  delivery  of  a  speech  by  the  Lord  Chancellor  was  not  maintained 
without  exceptions.  There  was  a  notable  departure  from  the  ordinary  practice  on  Ma\  2nd.  14U1. 
when  Henry  V.  declared  "with  his  own  mouth"  the  Royal  wishes.  The  King's  necc-.-it  ies  at 
the  time  were  great,  owing  to  the  costliness  of  the  war  with  France,  and  he  no  douht  felt 
the  desirability  of  exercising  his  great  personal  influence  to  secure  the  supplies  reijui.-ite  for 
the  execution  of  his  plans.  With  his  death  the  old  order  of  the  delivery  of  Koyal  speeches  by 
proxy  was  reverted  to  of  neces-ity.  Henry  VI.  was  a  mere  infant  when  he  commenced  to 
reign,  and  the  opening  of  his  first  Parliament  supplies  perhaps  as  curious  a  picture  as  any 
that  the  records  on  this  branch  of  the  subject  afford.  The  tiny  monarch  was  brought  from  the 
Tuwer  nil  a  MTV  tall  horse  through  the  crowded  -.treets,  and  after  being  regaled  with  fare  suited 
to  his  tender  age,  was  solemnly  taken  to  the  House  of  Lords,  where,  sitting  on  his  mother's 
lap.  he  discharged  his  j«rt — most  probably  a  noisy  one — in  the  day's  ceremony.  "It  was  a 
>t range  sight."  -ays  an  old  chronicler,  "and  the  first  time  it  was  ever  so  seen  in  England." 

With  little  variation  the  procedure  at  the  opening  of  Parliament  remained  as  it  was  in 
Henry  VI.'-  reign  until  tin-  imperious  Elizabeth  appeared  upon  the  throne.  The  Virgin  Queen, 
with  her  love  of  display  and  her  dominating  force  of  character,  infused  a  new  |>crsonal  element 
into  the  ceremony,  giving  to  it  a  brilliancy  and  importance  that  had  never  pre\  ioii>ly  marked 
it.  The  indu-trioii-  D'Ewes.  as  watchful  for  pictureMjuc  incident  as  the  latter-day  profe»ional 
Parliamentary  sketch-writers,  has  left  us  some  vivid  word-pictures  of  these  great  legislative 
functions.  As  they  are  the  first  really  detailed  descriptions  of  the  oj>ening  of  Parliament  that 
an-  extant,  some  excerpts  from  them  will  not  be  without  interest  or  value.  The  narrative,  so 
far  as  we  are  concerned,  opens  with  the  a--embly  of  the  first  Parliament  of  Elizabeth's  reign 
on  Monday.  January  25th,  1558.  This  is  the  scene  in  the  House  of  Lords  a*  D'Ewes  saw  it : — 
'•Her  Maje-ty  sat  in  the  Chair  of  Estate,  and  when  she  stood  up  her  mantle  was  assisted 
and  borne  up  from  her  arms  by  two  Noblemen  or  others  of  Eminent  Kank  thereunto  appointed. 


From  a  drawing  by  Cltai'lc*  D.  Ward. 

EDWARD   I.   ADDRESSING   HIS   SUBJECTS   IN   NEW   PALACE  YARD   IN   1297. 

The  populace  are  shown  lifting  up  their  hands  in  token  of  their  devotion. 

299 


300 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Th*  two  Seat*,  on  the  right  and  left  hnnii  of  the  Chair  of  Kstate,  were  void  in  ropect  (hat 
the  first  wan  Anciently  for  the  King  of  Scots,  when  he  u>ed  to  come  to  our  I'arliiiinriiis. 
and  the  other  on  the  left  hand  is  for  tin-  1'rince.  tin-  iinineiliate  heir  to  the  Crown.  On  the 
form  on  the  right  side  of  the  Chair  of  lv-tate,  which  >tands  on  the  north  side  of  the  I  PIMM 
II. .11-.-.  usually  sat  the  spiritual  l^onU  the  ArchhMiop  of  York  beginning  the  form  mid  the 
Ahltot  of  Westminster  ending  it.  Thi-  u.i~  the  la>t  Ahlxit  that  ever  sat  in  the  House  in 
Kn<.;land.  and  U|KHI  this  occasion  the  two  Archhishojis  sat  upon  one  form  hy  themselves,  and  tlien 
the  other  liishops  in  order  upon  two  forms,  on  the  right  hand  of  the  State.  The  l'.i>hop  of 
Guidon  first,  the  liishop  of  Durham  second,  and  the  Hisliop  of  \Vinchester  in  the  tliird  place, 
and  then  all  the  other  Bishops  according  to  the  antiquity  of  their  Consecrations.  On  the  left 

side  of  the  Chair  of  State,  which  is  on  the  south  side  of  the   I'pper   Hoii>e.  UJHUI  the  fore -t 

form,  sut  all  the  TemjM.ral  I,ord>  aliove  the  degree  of  Barons.  The  Marquis  of  Winche>ter. 
I>ml  Treasurer  of  Kngland.  U'ginning  that  form,  and  the  Viscountess  I'indou  ending  it.  The 
Barons  sat  on  the  second  form,  on  the  left  hand  of  the  State.  The  Ix>rd  Clinton,  I^ord  Ili^li 
Admiral  of  England,  began  the  form  by  virtue  of  his  Office,  and  the  Lord  St.  John  of  151.  N.,, 
ended  it.  l'j>on  suh.-equent  meetings  of  the  House  in  this  and  the  next  -.e^-jon  one  form 
\\a<  deemed  sufficient  for  all  the  Barons,  but  upon  this  occasion,  the  attendance  being  large, 
many  ISnrons  sat  u]ion  other  Forms.  Cross-ways,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  House. 

"Sir  Nicholas  Bacon,  although  the  Lord  Keeper  and  also  Her  MajeMy's  Chief  Secretary. 
was  under  the  degree  of  a  1'aron  ;  being  but  a  knight,  stood  behind  the  Cloth  of  the  K.-tate  on 
the  right  hand.  I'IKUI  subsequent  occasions,  Her  Maje.-ty  not  being  present,  his  lordship  MU 
on  the  first  Woolsack,  which  is  placed  athwart  the  House,  the  Seal  and  Mace  by  him. 

"On  the  WooUack  on  the  north  side  of  the  House  and  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Kstate 
sit  the  two  Chief  Justices  and  other  Judges.  On  the  Woolsack  on  the  left  hand  of  the  K-iate 
and  on  the  south  side  of  the  House,  sat  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  the  I»rd  Chief  I'aron.  and 
the  Queen's  learned  Council  and  others.  All  these  may  be  said  to  sit  on  the  inner  side  of 
the  Wool  sicks,  and  the  Queen's  Learned  Council  on  the  outside,  next  the  Bishops. 

"The  Clerk  of  the  Crown  and  Clerk  of  the  Parliament  sat  on  the  Lower  Woolsack  and 
had  a  Table  before  them.  The  Clerk  of  the  Parliaments  had  to  assist  him,  his  Clerks,  but  thev 
kneeled  In-hind  the  Woolsack,  and  wrote  thereon. 

"All  the  Peers  had  their  .Mantles,  Hoods,  and  Surcoats  of  Crimson  Velvet  or  Scarlet, 
furred  with  Miniver,  their  Arms  put  on  the  right  side,  and  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  had  four 

liars    of   Miniver,  the  Marquis  of 


< 


front  a  imdrK<  on  tin  title  to  tkc  AsU  tf  Ptutiament,  1W1. 

EDWARD   VI.   AXIl   HIS  COUNCIL. 

Tb*  picture  rcprawnU  •  Ken*  in  one  of  the  old  roonu  of  the  Palace  of  Wertmintter— 
probablj  the  Tainted  Clumber. 


Winchester  and  the  Karls  three, 
and  the  Barons  two. 

"The  Knights,  Citizens,  and 
Burgesses  of  the  House  of 
Commons  having  been  summoned 
by  Her  Majesty's  Command,  as 
many  as  could  be  conveniently 
let  in  stood  below  the  rail  or 
Kir  of  the  House.  Sir  Nicholas 
Bacon,  after  conferring  privately 
with  the  Queen,  delivered  Her 
Majesty's  reason  for  summoning 
Parliament.  As  soon  as  Lord 
Keeper  ended  his  Speech  the 
Knights,  Citizens,  and  BD:^' •--. - 
retired  to  the  House  of  Commons 
to  elect  their  Speaker." 

The  opening  of  a  subsequent 
Parliament — that  of  1562 — found 


from  n  drawing  by  A.  D, 

HENBY  VI.    OPENING   PARLIAMENT  WITH   HIS  MOTHER. 

This  is  the  only  instance  recorded  in  English  history  in  which  Parliament  was  opened  by  a  Sovereign  of  tender  years. 

301 


302 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


<  H  MILKS   II.    ON    HIS   WAY   TO   OPEN    PARliIAMKVl  . 

Th*  monarcD  M  thU  period,  and  for  *oau  little  time  later,  wu  accustomed  to  make  the  journey  through  the  streeu  on  horseback  with  a  grot 

retinue,  also  mounted. 

D'Ewes  again  at   his   post,  indefatigably  recording   his  impressions.      This  time  he   gives  us  a 
gliinjise  of  the  spectacle  outside  the  Parliament  House. 

"On  Tuesday,  January  12th,"  he  says,  "the  Parliament  was  held,  and  about  11  o'clock 
in  the  forenoon  Her  Majesty  took  her  Horse  at  the  Hall  Door  and  proceeded  in  the  following 
manner  to  the  Church  of  Westminster.  First,  all  Gentlemen  two  and  two,  then  Esquires, 
Knights,  Bannerets,  and  Lords  being  no  Barons,  or  under  age.  Then  the  Trumpeters,  the 
Queen's  Sergeant  in  his  Circot-Hood  and  Mantle,  unlined,  of  Scarlet,  the  Queen's  Attorney 
and  Solicitor,  Justices,  Barons  of  the  Exchequer,  Master  of  the  Rolls  in  his  Gown,  and 
Knights  Councillors  in  their  Gowns.  After  these  came  Sir  William  Cecil,  Chief  Secretary, 
and  Sir  Edward  Holers,  Comptroller,  and  William  Howard  bearing  the  Queen's  Cloak  and 
Hat,  followed  by  thirty  Barons  in  their  Mantles,  Hoods,  and  Circots  furr'd,  and  two  rows  of 
.Miniver  on  their  right  Shoulders.  Then  the  Bishops,  their  Robes  of  Scarlet  lined  and  a  hood 
down  their  Kirks  of  Miniver,  the  Viscounts,  Earls,  followed  by  the  Marquis  of  Winchester  and 
.M;irquis  of  Northampton.  Lord  Keeper's  Sergeant  and  Seal,  and  after  Sir  Nicholas  Bacon,  Lord 
Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  in  his  Gown.  Now  came  the  Heralds  Clarenceux  and  Noirys  and 
Queen's  Sergeant-at-Arms,  followed  by  Garter.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk,  with  Gilt  Rod  as  Marshal, 
the  Ixird  Treasurer  with  the  Cap  of  Estate,  and  the  Earl  of  Worcester  with  the  Sword.  Now 
came  HIT  Majesty  on  horseback,  a  little  behind  the  Ixjrd  Chamberlain  and  Vice-Chamberlain. 
Her  Grace  ap|»irelled  in  her  Mantle  opened  before,  furred  with  Ermines,  and  her  Kirtle  of 
Crimson  Velvet  dose  before  and  close  sleeves,  but  the  Hands  turned  up  with  Ermines  and  a 
hood  hanging  low,  round  about  tier  neck.  Over  all  a  rich  collar,  set  with  Stones  and  other 
jewels,  and  on  her  head  a  rich  Caul.  And  the  next  after  her,  the  Lord  Robert  Dudley,  Master 
of  the  Horse,  leading  a  spare  horse.  And  after  all  other  ladies  two  and  two,  in  their  ordinary 
apparel.  By  the  side  the  Queen  went  with  her  footmen,  and  along  on  either  side  of  her  went 
the  ]N*ii>ioners.  with  their  Axes ;  after  the  ladies  followed  the  Captain  of  the  Guard,  Sir  William 
St.  l/>e.  and  then  the  Guard. 


\\\\\\\ 


\  V\  \\\\\\\\\\\  \\ \\\\ 


\  \  '      .\\\\\\\\  \\\\ 


/"r^-,<  a  dravinp  ordered  by  the  then  Garter. 

THE  HOUSE  OP  PEERS,   WITH   HENRY  VIII.  ON   THE   THRONE. 

Woliej  i>  wen  on  the  left  of  the  picture  seated  by  the  throne,  with  the  Cardinal's  hat  above  his  head.  Next  to  him  is  Wan-ham,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  The  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  is  in  attendance  at  the  Bar  with  others  of  the  Lower  Houae,  one  of  whom  is  covered,  a. 
privilege  granted  to  several  persons  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 

303 


304 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


-In  tl.i-  ..nl.-r  II.  -r  Maje-ty  pro.-eed.-d  to  (In-  North  Poor  of  the  Church  of  Westminster. 
when-  the  Dean  there  ami  tli«-  Dean  of  the  CliajK-l  met  her.  ami  tin-  whole  clm].el  in  co],es. 
St.  Kdwnr.r-  Mall'  wa-  delm-red  to  1,,-r.  A  canopy  was  Uirne  ..\.-r  her  l>y  Knights,  ami  her 
ttrareV  Train  was.  from  th«-  weight  thereof.  held  from  her  by  Urd  Koln-rt  Dudley.  Master  of 
tin-  Horse.  am)  Sir  Fnim-i>  Knowles.  Vii  i--(  'hamlx-rlain.  ami  so  proceeded  to  tin-  Travers  U-side 
III..  Tal.l.-  of  A.lmini-traiion.  All  tin-  b-nls  sat  down  In-side  the  Tnu.-i-.  l/.rds  Spiritual 
on  th.<  om-  side.  TVm|M>ral  "ii  tin-  olh.-r.  ami  tin-  Sword  and  Cap  of  K-tate  was  laid  U]H>H  the 
table.  Th,-  rhoir  having  sung  the  Knglish  pmces-ion.  Mr.  Noell.  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  In-gaii  his 
MTIII..II.  tir-t  ..t'..-1-ini;  a  pnm-r  f..r  the  Queen's  .M:ij.-ty  and  the  I'liivi-rsal  Church,  and  tin' 
Hom.iiralil..  AsM-iiil.ly  of  thr.-«.  K-t:ii.-s  th<-r«-  promt,  t  hat  they  ini-ht  make  such  laws,  as  should 
In-  In  (iml's  (ilory  and  the  yiMid  of  the  IJeallll. 

-Ti.e  -.-iiiion  U-inu  ended  and  a  psalm  sum,'.  Mi-r  .Majc-ty  and  the  re.-t  orderly  on  IIM.I 
pr.-.-.-1-ded  out  of  the  South  D.M.r.  when-  she  delivered  the  Dean  her  see].  Ire.  and  so  proceeded 
to  the  Parliament  Cl.aml.er.  when-  the  IJueen  stayed  a  while  in  her  privy  Chamber,  till  all  the 
l/.rd-  and  other-  were  placed,  and  then  Her  Highness  came  forth,  and  went  and  sat  down 
in  her  Ho\al  place  and  the  Chair  of  Kstate  (the  Swc.nl  and  Cap  of  .Maintenance  Ixirne  he  fore 
and  when  she  stood  up  her  mantle  was  held  by  I^.rd  Dudley  as  before. 

"The  Lord  Keeper  sat  alone 
upon  the  uppermost  sack,  until 
the  Queen  was  seated,  ami  then 
went  and  stood  without  the  Kail 
on  the  right  hand  of  the  Cloth 
of  Kstate.  the  Lord  Treasurer 
holding  the  Cap  ot  K.-tale  on 
the  right  hand  before  the  Queen. 
(iarter  standing  by  him.  and  on 
the  left  hand  standing  the  Karl 
of  Worcester  with  the  Sword 
and  by  him  the  Lord  Chamber- 
lain; The  peers 
forms  and  sicks 
with  their  ranks. 

"At  the  right  hand  of  the 
Queen  sat  on  the  ground  three 
or  four  ladies,  and  no  more,  and 
at  the  back  of  the  Cloth  of  Kstate,  behind  the  rail,  kneeled  certain  Lords  under  age  and 
other  noblemen's  sons  and  heirs. 

"Her  Majesty  in  this  solemn  manner  being  seated,  the  House  of  Commons  had  notice 
thereof,  and  the  Knights.  Citizens,  and  Burgesses  repaired  to  the  I'].  per  llou-e.  and  being,  as 
many  as  conveniently  could,  let  in,  she  commanded  Sir  Nicholas  Hacon.  the  Lord  Keeper,  to 
open  the  cause  of  calling  and  assembling  of  Parliament.  Alter  the  delivery  of  the  Koyal 
M-  --age,  the  Commons  wen-  directed  to  'go,  and  elect  one.  a  discreet,  wise,  and  learned  man. 
to  be  your  Sjieaker,'  and  the  Queen  returned  to  her  Chamber,  thence  attended  by  the  Lords  to 
the  water--!,  |e.  when-  she  took  her  boat  and  departed  to  Whitehall,  from  whence  she  came." 

A  further  description  penned  by  D'Kwcs,  relative  to  the  opening  of  Parliament  on 
April  2nd.  l.">l\.  shows  the  ceremony  from  yet  another  point  of  view.  Says  the  old  diarist  : 
-  II,  r  Maje-ty  came  about  11  o'clock  towards  Westminster,  having  first  riding  before  her  the 
gentlemen  sworn  to  attend  her  person,  etc.  .  .  .  Her  Maje-iy  sat  in  her  Coach  in  Her  Imperial 
K-.U-s.  and  a  wreath  or  coronet  of  (Jold,  set  with  rich  pearls  and  stones,  over  her  head;  Her 
Coach,  drawn  by  two  palfries.  covered  with  rich  Crimson  Velvet,  drawn  out,  imbossed  and 
embroidered  very  richly.  Next  after  her  Chariot  followed  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  Master  of 
the  Horse.  Then  f,.  rt  \--e\en  Lidie-  and  women  of  honour."  After  service  in  the  Abbey,  "she 


sat    UJH.II    t  In- 
in   accordance 


OEOBGE   III.    OX   111S   THItONK    IN   THE   HOUSE   OF  LORDS. 


Parliament    in    Being — Royal    Speeches 


305 


entered  into   the    Upper   House  of  Parliament,  and    there  sat  in  princely  and    seeming  comfort. 
.    .    .  Then  Her  Majesty  stood    up    in    her   regal   seat,  and    with    princely   grace    and  singular 
good    countenance,  after   a   long   stay,  spake   a   few  words,  ordering   the   Lord   Keeper  to  show 
cause  of  the  meeting  of  Parliament." 

These  graphic  records  of  D'Ewes  bring  before  us  in  pleasant  fashion  the  pageantry  which 
accompanied  the  opening  of  Parliament  in  the  Elizabethan  period.  Apart  from  their  interest 
as  pictures  of  the  Legislature  as  it  was  three  centuries  ago,  they  have  a  historic  importance  from 
the  light  they  throw  on  ceremonial  usages  and  the  laws  of  precedence.  In  reading  them  it  is 
impossible  to  avoid  being  struck  with  the  small  departure  from  the  order  of  procedure  that 
has  been  made  in  the  three  hundred  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  descriptions  were 


from  an  engraving  after  a  draifing  by  CruikikanS;. 

KING  GEORGE  III.  ATTACKED  BY  A  MOB  ON  HIS  RETURN  PROM  THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS  AFTER  OPENING  PARLIAMENT 

ON  OCTOBER  29TH,    1795. 
A  ballet  pierced  one  of  the  carriage  windowa,  bnt  the  King  was  unhurt.    The  outrage  arose  out  of  the  ferment  caused  by  the  French  Revolution. 

penned.      In   all    main    essentials   the   ceremony  is   the    same   to-day  as  it  was  then,  and  even 
many  of  the  details  are  identical. 

Happily,  D'Ewes's  labours  as  a  Parliamentary  reporter  did  not  close  with  the  death 
of  Elizabeth.  When  James  I.  mounted  the  throne  he  was  still  at  his  post,  as  assiduous 
as  ever  in  committing  to  paper  his  impressions  of  Parliamentary  events.  Highly  amusing 
some  of  these  records  are  in  their  quaint  directness  of  language  and  their  photographic 
completeness.  One  of  the  fullest  and  most  characteristic  descriptions  is  that  which  relates 
to  the  opening  of  the  Parliament  of  1620-21.  On  this  occasion  D'Ewes,  having  posted 
himself  in  a  "convenient  place,"  though  "not  without  some  danger  escaped,''  carefully  noted 
the  various  features  of  the  Koyal  procession  as  it  passed  from  Whitehall  to  Westminster. 
"  Prince  Charles  rode,  with  a  rich  coronet  upon  his  head,  between  the  Sergeant-at-Arms, 
carrying  maces,  and  the  pensioners  carrying  their  pole-axes,  both  on  foot."  Next  rode  before 

39 


306 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


TIIK    KISO'S    RORING-ROOM,    HOUSE    OK    LORDS,   AS    IT    WAS    BEFORE 
THE   FIRE. 


his  Majesty  ••Henry  V.-iv,  Karl  of 
(Kenlord.  Ixtrd  Great  Chamberlain 
of  Knglniul,  with  Thomas  Howard. 
Karl  of  Armidel.  Karl  Marshal  of 
KiiLiland.  on  his  left  hand.  Itoth  bare- 
headed." Tin-  King  himself  appeared 
••with  a  rich  crown  tiiion  his  head 
and  most  royally  comparisoned.''  In 
his  j>assage  through  the  streets  oc- 
curred these  |«i->a-<- whii-h  tin-  diarist 
notes  "were  accounted  somewhat  re- 
markable," as,  indeed,  they  wen-. 
according  to  our  twentieth-century 
ideas .  of  Itoyal  dignity  at  least  : 
"  First,  he  spake  often  and  lovingly 
to  his  people,  standing  thick  and 
three  folds  on  all  sides  to  behold 
him,  'God  bless  ye!  God  bios  \e! 
contrary  to  his  former  and  hasty  and  passionate  custom,  which  often  in  his  sudden  distemper 
would  bid  a  plague  on  such  as  flocked  to  see  him.  Secondly,  though  the  Windows  were  tilled  with 
manv  threat  ladies  a>  lie  rode  along,  yet  that  he  spake  to  none  of  them  but  to  the  Manjiii*  of 
Buckingham's  mother  and  wife,  who  was  the  sole  daughter  and  heir  of  the  Earl  of  Kutland. 
Thirdly,  that  he  sjiake  particularly  and  bowed  to  the  Count  of  Gondemar,  the  Spanish 
Ambassador.  And  fourthly,  that  looking  up  to  one  window  as  he  passed,  full  of  gentlewomen 

and  ladies,  all  in  yellow  hinds,  he  cried  out  aloud,  'A  take  ye,  are  ye  there?'    at  which 

being  much  ashamed,  they  all  withdrew  themselves  suddenly  from  the  window." 

Arrived  at  last  at  the  House  of  Lords,  the  King  made  "a  pithy  and  eloquent  speech,"' 
profuse  in  promises  of  the  removal  of  monopolies  and  other  grievances  which  at  the  time 
pressed  hardly  upon  his  subjects.  Mis  Majesty  concluded  by  desiring  Parliament  "  cheerfully  and 
speedily  to  agree  n[K)ii  a  sufficient  supply  of  his  wants  by  subsidies,  promising  them  for  the- 
time  to  come  to  play  the  good  husband  and  observing  that  in  part  he  had  done  so  already." 
"I  doubt  not,"  oracularly  remarks  D'Kwes  in  winding  up  his  narrative,  "these  blessed  promise- 
took  not  a  due  and  proportional  effect,  according  as  the  loyal  subject  did  hope  ;  yet  did  King- 
.lames,  a  prince  whose  piety,  learning,  and  gracious  government  after  ages  many  miss  and 
wish  for,  really  at  this  time  intend  the  performance  of  them." 

James  in  this  rase,  it  will  be  noted,  acted  as  his  own  spokesman.  This  was  his  usual 
practice.  Like  Elizabeth,  he  found  great  pleasure  in  lecturing  Parliament,  and  he  did  so  at 
times  with  a  freedom  which,  as  has  been  shown  in  an  earlier  chapter,  has  supplied  us  with 
some  astonishing  examples  of  Hoyal  eloquence.  He  was  not  above  cracking  jokes  when  he 
addn-sed  the  ]>eople's  representatives ;  once  he  almost  melted  into  tears  as  he  expostulated 
with  them  on  their  frowardness.  At  all  times  he  was  curiously  garrulous.  On  one  occasion 
he  s|K)ke  for  upwards  of  an  hoar,  to  the  astonishment  of  legislators,  who  had  not  been 
accustomed  to  such  Koyal  feats  of  oratory.  The  personal  tradition  was  more  than  maintained 
in  the  reign  of  his  son,  the  ill-fated  Charles.  Royal  speeches  at  that  period  were  not 
infrequently  impassioned  utterances  pregnant  with  great  events.  He  regarded  his  control  of 
Parliamentary  proceedings  as  very  real,  and  did  not  hesitate,  as  in  the  case  of  the  attempt  to 
arrest  the  five  members,  to  directly  interpose  in  the  proceedings  of  either  House  when  it  waa 
necessary  to  do  so  to  secure  his  ends.  In  the  Commonwealth  the  J\oyal  speech  necessarily 
disappeared,  but  the  form  remained  with  other  Parliamentary  usages,  and  invariably  Cromwell 
in  meeting  his  Parliaments  addressed  them  directly  in  vigorous  rhetoric,  of  which  he  was  so- 
accomplished  a  master. 

The  KeM. .ration  witnessed  a  change   from   the   rule   of  personal   oratory.      Charles   II.  did 


Parliament    in    Being — Royal    Speeches 


307 


not  shine  as  a  speaker,  and  his  utterances  were  in  the  main  characterised  by  a  business-like 
brevity.  Sometimes  he  did  not  even  trouble  the  Houses  with  a  speech  of  any  kind.  Thus, 
on  February  4th,  1673,  we  find  Sir  Edward  Harley  writing  to  his  wife  to  the  following  effect: 
"  This  day  Parliament  was  convened.  The  King  did  not  speak ;  the  Lord  Chancellor  shortly 
only  to  recommend  to  the  choice  of  a  Speaker,  which  proved  to  be  Sir  Job  Charlton." 

A  striking  departure  from  this  easy-going  system  was  made  after  the  Revolution  of  1688. 
When  out  of  the  old  Court  and  Country  factions  grew  the  permanent  division  of  members  of 
Parliament  into  Whigs  and  Tories — Ministerialists  and  members  of  the  Opposition — and  power 
went  to  the  strongest,  the  drafting  of  the  Royal  speeches  became  a  matter  of  high  political 
concern.  At  the  outset,  probably  the  work  of  compilation  was  that  of  individual  Ministers  who 
were  most  in  touch  with  the  Sovereign.  This  is  indicated  by  the  following  letter  from  Lord 
Godolphin  to  Robert  Harley  (afterwards  Earl  of  Oxford)  under  date  September  16th,  1702  : — 

"  I  had  a  mind  to  trouble  you  with  the  enclosed  rough  draft  of  what  I  have  prepared  for 
her  Majesty's  speech  to  the  approaching  Parliament,  being  uncertain  how  long  before  the  time 
of  their  meeting  I  may  have  the  good  fortune  to  see  you,  and  being  also  extremely  desirous 
of  your  thoughts  and  amendments  upon  it  before  it  be  exposed  to  anybody  else." 

Godolphin's  apparently  casual  consultation  with  his  colleague  was  the  forerunner  of  a 
settled  system  of  deliberation  upon  the  Royal  speeches.  Gradually  all  the  leading  members  of 
the  ruling  party — in  other  words,  the  Cabinet — shared  the  responsibility  for  the  work ;  and  it 
is  evident  from  a  passage  in  the  "  Pelham  Correspondence "  that  even  in  early  Georgian  days 
tin-  .Ministerial  control  of  the  framing  of  the  speech  was  very  real.  From  this  communication 
we  gather  that  in  1744  the  King  (George  II.)  directed  Pelham  to  draw  up  a  sketch  of  the 
intended  speech  to  Parliament  in  order  that  he  might  form  .a  proper  judgment  of  the  measures 
likely  to  be  recommended  by  them.  A  draft  of  the  speech  having  been  presented  by  the 


From  a  drawiny  made  on  the  ipot. 

GEORGE   IV.   GOING   IN  STATE  TO   OPEN  PABLIAMENT   IN   1821. 
The  procession  is  shown  passing  down  Whitehall. 


308 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


WII.I.1AH    IV.    PROBOOriXO    PABUAVEXT,    APBII.,    1831. 
OM  of  th*  but  Suu  crmnnoin  |*.-f»nned  In  the  old  HOUM  of  Lord*. 


Chancellor,  "tin-  King  produced 
a  tran»cript  in  his  own  hand 
witli  several  alterations  and  in 
particular  an  assurance  ihat  lie 
would  auve  to  no  peace  until 
all  the  allies  were  satisfied."  This 
course.  says  the  author.  was 
strenuously  oppi»cd  by  t  he 
Pel  hams,  and  "it  \\a-.  not 
without  great  and  undisguised 
reluctance  on  the  part  of  the 
King,  reduced  to  the  simple 
avowal  that  his  .Majesty  would 
not  abandon  his  allies."  Still, 
the  change  was  made,  and  in  that 
.•iivtunstanre  we  have  a  significant 
illustration  of  the  development  of 
the  speech  from  a  jK-rsonal  ex- 
pression of  the  Hoval  wishes  into 
a  .Ministerial  declaration  of  |K>licy. 
A  good  many  years  In-fore  this  period  a  custom  had  arisen  which  demands  some  notice. 
This  was  the  submission  of  the  draft  of  the  Royal  speech  at  a  specially  summoned  gathering 
of  the  Ministerial  [mrty  on  the  eve  of  the  assembling  of  Parliament.  The  meeting-place  was 
the  Cockpit,  an  annexe  of  the  old  Palace  of  Whitehall,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  ancient 
institution  of  that  name  established  by  the  sport-loving  Henry  VIII.  Doubts  have  been  cast,  and 
by  no  less  an  authority  than  I»rd  Kosebery,  upon  the  exact  locale  of  this  famous  building:  but 
all  maps  and  plans  clearly  indicate  that  it  occupied  the  ground  upon  which  the  TreaMirv  is  built. 
Sum-  reference  to  its  singularly  interesting  history  will  be  made  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 
Meanwhile,  it  is  sufficient  for  immediate  purposes  to  state  that  in  Walpole's  time  it  was  u>ed 
for  Ministerial  business  much  as  the  houses  in  Downing  Street  are  to-day,  and  that  in  addition 
it  was  a  reiide/voiis  for  supjiorters  of  those  in  power.  How  or  exactly  when  the  practice  of 
submitting  the  Ivoval  speech  for  approval  was  introduced  it  is  difficult  to  say.  It  i>  fairly 
certain,  however,  that  it  was  regularly  observed  during  the  greater  part  of  \V aisle's  long 
peri<«l  of  jNiwer,  and  that  when  he  disappeared  from  the  scene  it  was  continued  a^  a 
matter  of  course  a~  an  established  piece  of  party  procedure.  We  gather  this  from  a  letter 
which  Wal]Nile  himself  addre»ed  on  October  olst.  1742,  to  Pel  ham.  Writing  from  his 
retirement  at  lloughton.  the  ex-Premier  said:  "You  must  be  the  fii>t  wheel  in  the  machine. 
and  whoever  will  think  of  making  your  authority  less  will  create  difficulties  that  will  not  !«• 
ea-ily  got  through.  ['\»m  this  principle  I  venture  to  give  you  my  opinion  upon  a  point  that 
.seems  t,,  me  very  material,  relating  to  the  meeting  at  the  Cockpit,  to  communicate  the  Kin»'.« 
s|H-e<-h.  the  day  In-fore  the  se«>ioii.  where  I  think  you  must  preside."1  The  advice  here  given 
by  the  old  .Minister  to  Pelham  to  preside  at  the  m  -etings  was  clearly  conveyed  with  the 

object    ol     inducing    him     to    emphasise    hi>    leadership    bv    presiding.       What     was    the    cu>t 

then  remained  the  custom  so  long  as  there  were  such  things  as  Cockpit  meetings.  l'nle» 
prevented  by  illness,  the  head  of  the  Ministry  was  in  the  chair  at  these  ore-Parliamentary 
assemblages,  and  it  was  by  him  usually  that  the  terms  of  the  speech  were  made  known. 
with  Mich  explanations  a>  wen-  deemed  nece>-ary.  It  would  appear  from  a  statement  in  a 
life  of  I>ord  Chatham  published  immediately  after  his  death,  that  the  Peers  had  a  separate 
gathering.  Referring  to  the  meeting  of  Parliament  on  November  25th,  1762,  the  writer  sav>  : 
••  In  the  evening  of  the  day  preceding  the  meeting  of  Parliament,  the  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons  met  as  usual  at  the  Cockpit.  .Mr.  Fox  took  the  chair  and  produced  to  the 

1  "Pelbam  Correnpondence,"  vol.  i.  p.  35. 


Parliament    in    Being — Royal    Speeches 


309 


company  a  paper  which  he  only  called  a  speech,  and  which,  he  said,  he  would  as  usual  read 
to  them.  He  afterwards  produced  an  address  which  he  read ;  and  then  said  that  Lord 
( 'arvsfort  and  Lord  Charles  Spencer  had  been  so  blind  as  to  undertake  to  move  and  second 
that  address.  The  same  ceremony  is  observed  in  respect  to  the  House  of  Lords.  The  speech 
is  read  by  some  peer  who  is  supposed  to  conduct  the  business  of  that  House.  The  manager 
of  the  House  of  Commons  takes  the  chair  at  the  Cockpit."  An  allusion  in  the  "Chatham 
Correspondence  "  to  a  meeting  in  1770,  where  an  attendance  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-nine 
is  described  as  "  a  very  moderate  one,"  appears  to  show  that  the  muster  was  customarily 
a  full  one.  Nor,  it  appears  from  an  entry  in  Lord  Colchester's  Diary,  was  the  gathering 
exclusively  one  of  legislators.  Says  this  writer,  under  date  December  19th,  1798:  "Went 
to  the  Cockpit  in  the  evening  to  hear  the  King's  speech  read.  Two-thirds  of  the 
room  were  filled  with  strangers  and  blackguard  news-writers."  Clear  proof  is  here  afforded 
that  the  once  select  gatherings  of  Ministerialists  had  degenerated  into  a  miscellaneous  public 
av-rnibly,  to  which  almost  any  one  who  took  the  trouble  to  attend  was  admitted.  Probably 
from  this  cause  the  custom 
was  about  this  time  dis- 
continued. In  "Fox's 
Correspondence  "  the  editor 
(Lord  Holland)  mentions 
the  years  1794  or  179o 
as  the  date  of  the  last 
gathering;  but  Lord 
Colchester  makes  it  clear 
that  the  assemblies  were 
held  subsequently  for 
several  years.  There  is, 
however,  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  they  outlived 
the  eighteenth  century. 

When  the  Cockpit 
ceased  to  be  a  rallying 
point  for  Ministerialists  on 
the  eve  of  the  meeting 
of  Parliament,  other 
inciins  were  adopted  to 
secure  the  ends  sought 
liy  these  assemblages. 
Some  time  afterwards 
came  into  existence  the 
system  of  full-dress 
dinners  given  by  leaders 
of  both  jiolitical  parties 
to  their  most  important 
supporters  in  the  two 
Houses.  At  these  func- 
tions, when  the  duties  of 
hospitality  had  been  dis- 
charged, the  host  of  the 
evening  was  accustomed 

to        read       to       lllS       guests  f  rmn  an  engraving  after  Ike  dancing  by  dustamjanet. 

the     terms     of    the    Koyal  THE  OPENING  OP  PARLIAMENT  BY  QUEEN  VICTORIA,  JANUARY  3!sT,  1856. 

Speech,      a      draft       COpV       of        The  Prince  Consort  is  on  the  Queen's  left  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  (H.M.  the  King)  on  the  right. 


3io 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


which  wan  in  his  possession.  Then  there  would  !*•  informal  talk  u]>on  the  jirinci]Kil  jioint 
touched  U|«ui.  with  consultations  as  to  the  Ix-st  niean>  of  meeting  attacks,  or.  in  the 
ewe  of  the  Opi**ition.  of  making  them.  In  this  way  l>oth  Duties  were  fully  prepared  for 
the  political  fray  into  which  the  debate  on  the  address  invariably  resol\e>  itself.  The 
arrangements  sketched  continue  to  the  present  day.  In  four  centres,  at  h-.i-t.  on  the  night 
In-flip-  the  Parliamentary  machine  is  set  going  at  Westminster,  a  dignified  company  gather.- 
around  the  festive  hoard,  and,  under  the  stimulating  influences  of  hospitality  gracefullv 
•liiijiensetl,  is  made  acquainted  with  the  terms  of  the  .Ministerial  programme  of  the  session. 
In  -inie  instances  a  stately  reception  follows  the  dinner,  and  all  the  great  political  and 
•ot-idl  world  assembles  in  the  ornate  saloons  of  the  statesman  who  happens  to  be  at  the 
hem!  of  his  jiarty  in  either  House,  to  exchange  confidences  as  to  the  prospects  of  the  session, 
and,  what  is  not  less  im|>ortant  in  many  eyes,  to  discuss  the  promise  of  the  season.  The 
next  morning,  when  the  public  opens  its  paper  at  the  breakfast-table,  it  finds  set  forth  in 
discreet  language  a  fairly  complete  sketch  of  what  the  speech  to  be  delivered  some  hours  later 

is  to  contain.  How  it  is 
done  only  editors  know. 
and  wild  horses,  of  coui>, . 
would  not  extract  a  con- 
fession from  them;  but  we 
may  shrexvdlv  guess  that 
the  ubiquitous  representa- 
tives of  the  Press  who 
found  their  way  into  tin- 
old  Cockpit  meetings- 
much  to  Lord  Colchester's 
disgust — are  not  very  far 
off  when  disclosures  are 
being  made,  under  the 
strict  seal  of  confidence,  to 
the  men  of  both  parties. 
It  should  be  stated  for 
the  sake  of  strict  accuracy 
that  in  the  two  last 
sessions  of  Parliament  the 
customary  inspiration  has 
been  denied  the  editor, 
and  as  a  consequence  the 
newspapers  have  lacked 
the  mysteriously  concocted 
advance  sketches  of  the 
Royal  speech. 

From  the  framing  of 
the  Royal  speech  to  its 
delivery  is  only  a  step, 
but.  it  is  a  most  important 
step.  Before  it  can  be 
accomplished  some  highly 
important  preliminaries 
have  to  be  discharged. 
This  is  always  the  case; 

THE  OI'KMMi    ur    I-AIII.IAMKXT    IIV   grr.KX    VICTORIA,  JANUARY  31ST,    IS.".!',.  but     wllCll,    as    has     happened 

The  Sprmkirof  lb«  llonx  of  Common*  at  the  D»rof  the  Howe  of  LonU.  in       the      two      I  no.- 1      recent 


Parliament    in    Being — Royal    Speeches 


sessions,  the  monarch  attends 

to  open  Parliament  in  person, 

the    introductory  ceremonies 

are   immensely    increased    in 

significance    and    interest. 

From  a  State  ceremony   the 

function    develops    into    a 

grand  Royal  pageant  with  all 

the     picturesque     adjuncts 

which  belong  to  a  monarchy 

whose  traditions  go  back  the 

best  part  of  a  thousand  vears. 

Taking    their    seats    in    the 

gorgeous   State  carriage,    re- 
splendent in  gilt  and  colour, 

and    with    the   Royal    Crown 

glittering  at  the  apex  of  its 

rounded  roof,  the    King   and 

Queen  in  their  regal  robes 
are  conveyed  through  the 
crowded  streets  from 
Buckingham  Palace  to  West- 
minster. The  eight  cream- 
coloured  ponies  drawing  the 
Royal  carriage  excite  much 
admiration,  and  a  magnificent 
escort  of  Life  Guards,  with 
cuirasses  flashing  in  the 
sunlight  and  plumes  nodding 
in  the  air,  lends  an  added 
element  of  beauty  to  the 
scene.  Thunders  of  applause 
go  up  and  all  hats  are  lifted 
as  the  dazzling  cortege  sweeps  majestically  onward  to  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  It  was  not  always 
so,  as  the  Parliamentary  annals  plainly  show.  On  the  very  first  occasion  (1762)  that  this  superb 
State  coach,  which  has  attracted  so  many  admiring  comments,  was  used,  there  was  a  dangerous 
disturbance  which  went  near  to  seriously  embarrassing  the  authorities. l  Now,  the  only  difficulty 
encountered  is  that  presented  by  the  multitudinous  throng  of  loyal  spectators,  who,  in  their 
anxiety  to  acclaim  their  monarch,  give  the  jwlice  and  the  troops  keeping  the  streets  an 
immensity  of  trouble.  The  "  thin  red  (and  blue)  line,"  however,  is  maintained  intact.  In  due 
course  the  team  of  Flemish  ponies  are  pulled  up  under  the  great  Victoria  Tower  at  the 
majestic  Royal  entrance  to  the  Parliamentary  building. 

Received  by  the  great  officers  of  State  their  Majesties  alight,  and,  ascending  the  crimson- 
carpeted  staircase,  are  escorted  to  the  Royal  Robing-Room.  Here  the  procession  is  formed  and 
with  measured  tread  the  Royal  couple  pass  onwards  through  the  Royal  Gallery  between  lines 
of  bowing  spectators.  Meanwhile,  a  brilliant  gathering  is  awaiting  with  eager  expectancy  the 

1  "Such  a  mob  was  perhaps  never  seen  as  to-day  (November  25th,  1702)  between  Charing  Cross  and  West- 
minster Hall.  The  King's  magnificent  coach  might  be  supposed  to  have  brought  them  together,  but  what 
kept  them  there  after  the  coach  had  gone  back  is,  perhaps,  not  so  satisfactory  to  think  of.  In  short,  Lord 
Bute  was  insulted  both  going  and  coming  from  the  House,  and  towards  evening  some  soldiers  were  called  iu 
to  support  the  constables  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty  in  clearing  of  tha  streets,  so  that  the  members  might 
get  away." — MITCHELL  MS. 


THE  KOYAL  ENTRANCE  TO  THE  HOUSE  OP  LOEDS. 

The  great  gateway  at  the  foot  of  the  Victoria  Tower  which  is  the  principal  means  of  access  to  the 

Houses  of  Parliament. 


312 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


advent  of  tin-  King  ami  liis 
Con-oil.  F.very  part  of  this 
gorgeous  "Gilded  Chanr 
save  tliat  atnuit  tlic  throne 
is  tilled  with  a  magnificently 
attired  audience.  l\esplen- 
dent  iiiiiforins  of  (lie  m«»t 
famous  regiments  in  F.urope 
vie  with  the  lirilliant  garb 
of  Ka-tern  diplomats  and  of 
distinguished  (  hieiital  \  i.-itor- 
in  richness  of  colouring. 
(ilittering  orders  flash  on 
every  side,  anil  the  ten  thou- 
>and  facet-  of  costly  diainoiiil 
coronet-  and  star-  scintillate 

until   the  eve  al -I    wearies 

of  their  radiance.  In  the 
T-caling  of  the  a»emhly  >trict 
precedence  of  rank  has  been 
observed.  ( In  one  -ide  of 
the  chamlier  nearest  the 
throne  are  the  duke-  and 
dllche-Mv-  ;  on  I  lie  other  side 

are  seen    the    spiritual    ]•• 
in    their    accustomed     pl:i 
Along    the    remaining    front 
rows    of   seats   are    the  other 

] rs.  dre--ed   in  scarlet   rolies 

trimmed  with  ermine  and 
white  fur.  I'pon  the  floor 
of  the  House  two  rows  of 
seats  are  occupied  by  the 
judges  of  the  High  Court. 
all  attired  in  their  crimson 
State  robes  and  full-bottomed  wigs.  Behind  the  bishops  on  the  right  of  the  throne  are 
the  members  of  the  I>iplomatic  Corps,  making  together  a  dazzling  rmrterre  of  colour.  The 
peeresses,  restricted  in  number  owing  to  the  revised  arrangements  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  Commons  to  IM-  hereafter  mentioned,  have  a  place  on  the  back  benches,  and  in  their 
U-autiful  dresses,  adorned  by  flashing  brilliants,  contribute  an  attractive  element  to  an  already 
highly  entrancing  scene. 

One  by  one  the  members  of  the  Koyal  Family  arrive  and  are  seated  right  and  left  of  the 
throne.  Behind  the  chairs  of  the  princesses  the  ladies-in-waiting  take  up  their  po.-ition. 
Then  the  sound  of  the  guns  firing  the  Koyal  salute  in  St.  James's  Park  comes  faintly  in 
from  the  outer  world,  noting  the  arrival  of  their  Majesties.  Shortly  afterwards  the  head  of  the 
pr<K-e--ion  is  seen  coming  in  through  the  doorway.  Amid  a  rustle  of  robes  and  the  dying 
murmur  of  siippre-sed  conversation,  the  gathering  rises  to  its  feet.  Simultaneously  there 
become  visible  the  four  pursuivants — Rouge  Croix,  Blue  Mantle,  Rouge  Dragon,  and  Portcullis. 
in  their  talmrds  embroidered  in  gold  and  crimson  with  the  Royal  arms.  Following  them  are 
heralds  in  equally  gorgeous  co-tume>.  The-e  picturesque  survivals  of  the  Middle  Ages  march 
slowly  to  the  front  of  the  throne,  two  by  two,  make  a  stately  obeisance,  and  pass  to  their 
allotted  place-  by  the  side.  F.<|iicrries-in-waiting,  gentlemen  ushers,  and  grooms-in-waiting  to 


Tin:  HOY  A  i.  >i 
On  reaching  the  top  of  thU  lUiraue  tbl 


>E,   HOUSE  OF   LOKH-. 

i  on  the  main  level  of  the  HOIUM  of  Parliament. 


313 


40 


314 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


his  Majesty  precede  the  entrance 
of  t lie  Comptroller  and  Treasurer 
of  tlie  lloiiselmlil.  the-i-  t\\o 
officers  each  earning  a  white 
wand.  Then  conies  tlie  Private 
Secretary  to  the  King  and 

Kee|ier  of  (lie  Privy  1'lirse  ill 
full  Court  costume,  followed 
closely  by  the  great  officers  of 
State  who  are  members  of  the- 
(ioveninient  and  peers  of  the 
realm.  The-  .Manjiiis  of  Salisbury, 
Prime  .Minister  and  l/ord  Privy 
Seal,  wearing  his  rolies  of  a 
jieer,  bows  right  and  left  as  he 
passes  the  throne,,  the  Royal 
ladies  on  either  side  returning 
the  salutation.  The  Lord  High 
Chancellor  follows  the  Prime 
Minister  and  takes  up  his  posi- 
tion  at  the  right  of  the  throne. 
The  "  Keeper  of  the  King's  Con- 
M-ience ''  plays  an  important  part 
in  the  proceedings  later  on. 
Quickly  follows  (ieneral  Sir 
Michael  Biddulph  in  his  military 
uniform,  (ientleman  Usher  of  the 
Hlack  Kod  (the  ebony  stafV  he 
carries  will  soon  be  used  to 
demand  admittance  to  the 
Commons  House).  Norroy,  re- 
presenting  (Jarter  King-at-Arms. 
passes  by  the  front  of  the  throne. 
his  gorgeous  talxird  attract  in-r 
much  attention,  and  he  is  followed 
by  the  hereditary  holders  of  two 
of  the  great  offices  of  the  State — 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk  as  Earl 

Mar.-hal  and  the  Lord  Great  Chamberlain — the  Marquis  of  Cholmondeley  having  succeeded  to  the 
latter  office  upon  the  accession  of  the  King.  These  two  great  officers  take  up  their  allotted 
places.  Three  of  the  most  interesting  personages  now  enter.  The  Marquis  of  Londonderry  bears 
the  Sword  of  State,  holding  it  aloft  with  both  hands;  the  long  heavy  weapon  is  in  its  sheathed 
scabbard  of  crimson  velvet  encircled  with  gold  metal  plates.  Then  follows  the  Duke  of  Devonshire. 
Lord  President  of  the  Council,  carrying  in  his  two  hands  a  cushion  of  crimson  velvet  edijed 
with  gold  trimmings  ;  upon  the  cushion  is  the  Imperial  Crown  glittering  with  its  rubies,  emeralds, 
sapphires,  ]iearls,  and  diamonds — priceless  jewels  and  gems  numbering  upwards  of  three  thousand. 
Following  the  I»rd  President  comes  the  premier  marquis  of  England.  J/ird  Winchester,  who  by 
hereditary  right  curries  the  Cap  of  Maintenance  or  Dignity  upon  the  top  of  a  short  white  staff. 
The  pageant  is  now  near  its  completion  as  their  Majesties  King  Edward  and  Queen 
Alexandra  enter,  full  of  dignity,  in  their  State  robes,  with  long  trains  held  up  by  youthful 
I -ages  of  honour  dressed  in  scarlet.  Hand  in  hand  the  King  and  his  Royal  Consort  walk  up 
the  steps  to  the  Koyal  chairs,  and  the  King  conducts  his  popular  Queen  to  her  seat,  and  she, 


/       .  -I  druKiHif  l>y  A.  D.  J/rC'(/ra«*i% 

TIIK  YKOMEN   or  THE   G.UAKD   SEARCHING  THE  VAULTS  OX   THE  MOBSISO 
OF  TIIK   OPENING   OK   PARLIAMENT. 


315 


3l6 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


with  \\.-iirmly  grace,  ki—e-  tin'  Iminl  of  his  Majesty  U'fore  releasing  it.  Tin-  King  tlii'ii 
Milting  himself  U|KIII  his  throne  to  tin-  right  of  the  Queen,  with  a  motion  of  tin-  hand 
commands  tin-  a»cmhlagc»  to  be  .-eated.  A  slight  pause,  and  the  (it-nt It-man  I'slu-r  of  tin-  1'laek 

Hod   i>  de-pitched  t<i  -umm»n   tin'  faithful  Commons   to  attend  the   King.     There  is  liitle  n 1 

f..r  tin-  official  reminder,  as.  thanks  to  the  arrangement  -  made  to  oliviale  the  disorderly  and 
undignified  scramble  for  places  which  until  this  year  (1902)  marked  the  advent  of  the  members 
of  tlu»  ]Mi|iiil;ir  clininlM-r.  tin*  jHoitions  allotted  to  this  section  of  the  Legislature  are  already 
tilled.  The  Speaker,  however,  appears  in  full  state  at  the  1'ar,  with  I  lie  Sergeant -at -A  nils  and 
n  i>io[«-r  <-s<-ort  of  leading  ineinlN-rs.  .Now  the  Lord  Chancellor.  licnding  low.  hands  to  the 
King  a  copv  of  the  Iviyal  >peech.  which  his  .Majesty  reads  in  a  clear,  resonant  voice  heard 
in  every  [uirt  of  the  chamlier.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  fijK-ech  the  King  re-nines  his 
seat,  the  S|M-akiT.  with  a  profound  obeisance,  withdraws,  and  s<xm  the  brilliant  pageant  is 
at  nn  end. 

Tin-  ceremonies  which  mark  the  close  of  a  Parliamentary  session  are.  when  the  Sovereign 
elect>  to  In-  promt,  from  a  spectacular  point  of  view  very  similar  to  those  which  accompany 
it-  opening.  It  has  IMM-II  the  custom,  however,  in  later  years  for  the  Koyal  speech  which 
marks  the  prorogation  to  lx-  delivered  by  commission.  The  proceedings  are  usually  purely 
formal,  ami  are  only  participated  in  by  a  handful  of  legislators  who  have  been  detained 
reluctantly  at  their  po>ts  by  business  or  official  duties.  For  a  great  many  years  _Mini>ter> 
were  in  the  habit  of  celebrating  their  release  from  .-essional  cares  by  dining  together  at  the 
Ship  Hotel  at  <ireem\ich.  The-e  "whitebait  dinners."  as  they  were  termed,  are  traditionally 
Ix-lieved  to  have  originated  in  a  friendly  custom  which  Pitt  had  of  dining  with  Sir  Koln-rt 
I'roton.  a  wealthy  merchant  who  sat  for  Dover  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  centurv. 
The  place  of  meeting  at  first  was  the  host's  residence  at  Dagenham,  in  Essex;  but  as  this 
proved  inconvenient,  the  venue  was  changed  to  Greenwich,  then  a  popular  resort  for  diners. 
(iradually  what  was  a  purely  private  function  became  widened  into  a  .-emi-public  and  entirely 
political  fixture.  So  it  continued  until  1868,  when  Mr.  Gladstone  discontinued  it.  There 
was  a  revival  of  the  feast  in  1874  by  Mr.  Israeli  ;  but  the  fashion  was  not  congenial  to  the 
modern  spirit  of  Parliamentary  life,  which  is  to  scamper  off  to  the  country  the  moment  that 
the  htisine:-,  at  \Ve.-tminster  is  over.  After  lingering  on  for  some  years,  it  finally  flickered  out 
during  Mr.  Gladstone's  second  Administration. 


KIM;  KDWAUD  ijinso  TO  OPEN  HIS  FIRST  PARLIAMENT. 

The  pmaexlon  inning  down  Whitehall. 


317 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

PARLIAMEXT  IX  BEIXG:    THE  SPEAKER. 

IT  is  difficult  in  these  days  to  imagine  a  Parliament  without  a  Speaker.  He  is  the  key  >t  one 
of  the  whole  edifice.  Kemove  him  and  the  entire  constitutional  structure  collapses  like  a  house 
of  cards.  Yet  there  was  a  period  when  the  Parliamentary  authority  contrived  to  do  its 
business  in  ignorance  of  the  vhtues  which  repose  in  the  great  office — perhaps  the  most 
dignified  position  OJKMJ  to  the  ambitious  Briton.  True,  that  was  a  very  long  time  ago.  when 
the  country  managed  to  get  on  without  a  good  many  things  that  are  now  deemed  indi>peusahlf. 
Still,  it  is  worth  rememliering  that,  ancient  as  'the  Speakership  is  and  respectable  as  are  its 
traditions,  it  was  a  development  of  the  constitutional  system  and  not,  as  many  of  the  great 
public  offices  are,  of  antecedent  origin. 

Authorities  are  sharply  divided  as  to  when  the  Speaker  first  made  his  appearance  upon 
the  Parliamentary  scene.  In  one  quarter,  as  we  have  already  seen  in  the  opening  chapter,  an 
attempt  has  l>een  made,  not  without  plausibility,  to  discover  a  Speaker  in  a  Parliament  of 
Edward  I.  Other  experts  fix  the  creation  of  the  office  much  later.  The  truth  probably  is  that 
both  to  a  certain  extent  are  right.  There  were  persons  chosen  to  voice  the  general  sentiments 
of  the  Commons  in  the  very  earliest  councils  of  the  Norman  Kings,  but  their  duties  were 
those  rather  of  the  foreman  of  a  jury  than  the  presiding  head  of  a  deliberative  body.  Tliev 
were  mouthpieces  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word.  Upon  them  alone  devolved  the  right  of 
expressing  the  popular  view  as  to  the  demands,  usually  of  a  financial  character,  made  by 

the  Crown. 

The  name  which  first  appears  upon  the 
ancient  Parliament  rolls  in  this  character 
is  that  of  Peter  de  Mont  fort,  who,  in 
the  forty-fourth  year  of  Henry  III.'s  reign 
(12(iO).  appended  his  signature  to  the  refusal 
of  Parliament  to  suffer  the  recall  of  Adomar. 
the  Bishop-elect  of  Winchester.  No  other 
occupant  of  the  office  is  met  with  in  the 
records  for  many  years,  and  for  this  and 
other  reasons  it  is  conjectured  that  the 
position  did  not  acquire  real  permanence 
until  the  two  Houses  commenced  to  sit  apart 
from  each  other,  and  the  necessity  arose  for 
some  intermediary.  However  this  may  be, 
it  is  only  when  we  reach  1377,  near  the 
end  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  that  we 
come  upon  a  regular  line  of  Speakers.  In 
that  year,  we  are  told.  Sir  Thomas  Hunger- 
ford  was  appointed  parlour,  or  ••month,"  of 
the  House,  and  thereafter  we  meet  with 
successive  appointments  to  the  Chair.  They 

OK  \VVKI: HAM. 

•  if   Wmrliotcr,  wlin,  tan  CL-nndlo! .  exrrciMxl   |x>werful 
influence  In  Die  later  I'uliaiueuu  nf  Edw  anl  1 1 1 

31S 


«S      *"       1377' 

within  the  twelve'  months,  a  separate  Speaker 


Parliament    in    Being — The    Speaker 


319 


was  nominated  for  each. 
The  rule  of  fresh  blood 
obtained  for  many  years. 
In  fact,  the  practice  of 
giving  a  certain  per- 
manencv  to  the  office, 
and  dismissing  the  occu- 
pant when  increasing 
years  or  infirmity  compel 
him  to  resign  with  a 
peerage  and  a  handsome 
pension,  is  comparatively 
a  modern  one. 

Of  the  manner  of 
the  election  of  Speaker 
in  remote  times  we  have 
evidence  when  we  reach 
the  appointment  of  Sir 
James  Pickering,  who 
served  in  1378.  The 
candidate  selected  by  the 
Commons  was  presented 
for  the  King's  approval. 
Arrived  in  the  Royal 
presence,  he  requested 
that  "if  he  should  utter 
anything  to  the  damage, 
slander,  or  disgrace  of 
the  King  or  his  crown, 
or  in  lessening  the  honour 
and  estates  of  the  great 
Lords,  it  might  not  be 
taken  notice  of  by  the 
King,  and  that  the  Lords 
would  pass  it  by  as  if 
nothing  had  been  said ; 
for  the  Commons  highly 
desired  to  maintain  the 
honour  and  estate  of  the  King ;  as  also  to  preserve  the  reverence  due  to  the  Lords  on  all  points." 
The  record  proceeds  to  say  that,  after  this,  on  the  part  of  the  Commons,  "  he  humbly  thanked 
tin-  King  for  his  promise  to  preserve  the  good  laws  and  customs  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  punish 
whosoever  should  act  against  them  ;  the  Commons  kneeling  on  the  ground  and  praying  God  that 
they  might  be  put  in  due  execution."  In  this  quaint  account — the  first  recorded — of  the  election 
of  a  parlour  in  Richard  II. 's  reign,  we  have  the  germ  of  the  ceremony  of  inducting  a  Speaker 
as  it  is  arranged  to-day,  only  we  have  departed,  fortunately,  a  long  way  from  the  abject  spirit  in 
which  "the  Nether  House "  in  those  remote  days  sought  the  Royal  sanction  in  their  nomination. 

"  With  bated  breath  and  whispering  humbleness "  the  popular  representatives  of  mediaeval 
times  approached  the  throne.  They  seemed  to  take  a  real  pleasure  in  grovelling.  Thus,  we 
are  told  of  Sir  John  Bussev,  who  was  Speaker  in  1394,  that  he  was  not  satisfied  with  the 
•  •ii-tomary  titles  of  honour  of  the  King,  "but  invented  unusual  terms  and  such  epithets  as 
were  rather  agreeable  to  the  Divine  Majesty  of  God  than  to  any  earthly  potentate."  There  was 
an  improvement  on  this  in  1401,  when,  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  the  Commons  "all  knelt 


fi-viu  apicture  iii  tlic  A'altoitul  Pu,itrail  Gallery. 

SIR  JOHN   POPHAM, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  1581.    Subsequently,  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  King  s  Bench,  he 
presided  at  the  trials  of  Sir  Walter  Haleigh  and  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot  conspirators. 


320 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


before  the  King.  and 
humbly  besought  liiin 
to  pardon  tlu-ni  it 
t  hrough  ignorance  they 
might  have  nffcnded." 
At  tin-  same  time  tin1 
Speaker  made  what  is 
called  a  "  long  preach- 
ment." comparing  the 
beginning  and  ending 
of  tin-  Parliament  In 
the-  sacrifice  of  the 
.M:i--.  I'llt  there  were 

occasions  when  tin- 
sturdy,  self-reliant 
spirit  of  the  race 
manifested  itself.  One 
of  these  was  when  Sir 
John  Til >t oft,  tll('  lirst 
Speaker  of  the  iviyn 
of  Henry  IV..  having 
asked  to  be  excused 
on  account  of  his  youth 
and  been  refused, 
lectun-d  the  monarch  in 
open  Parliament  with 
quite  youthful  audacity. 

I  |e  "  expressed  surprl-e 
at  llis  excuse  not  belli;,' 

received,  and  told  the 
monarch  plainly  that 
his  house  was  far  more 
chargeable.  \  et  less 

honourable,    than    that 

of  any  of  his  progenitors."  The  King  must  have  been  aghast  at  such  insolence,  but  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  moved  by  the  indiscretion  to  withdraw  his  refusal  of  the  plea.  K\en 
more  surprising  in  its  boldness  was  the  conduct  of  an  earlier  occupant  of  the  Chair  (Sir  Peter 
de  la  Mare),  who  denounced  in  scathing  terms  Edward  III.'s  partiality  for  the  celebrated 
favourite,  Alice  JVrrers,  and  was  committed  a  close  prisoner  to  Nottingham  Castle  for  his 
pains.  These,  however,  were  but  isolated  instances  of  independence  of  spirit. 

The  language  used  by  the  Commons  became,  if  anything,  more  servile  as  the  days  of  the 
popular  chandler  lengthened.  When  we  reach  Tudor  times  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with 
nome  astounding  examples  of  Parliamentary  obsequiousness.  One  Speaker  'Sir  Thomas  Ingletield) 
in  the  early  part  of  Henry  VIII. 's  reign,  referred  to  the  youthful  monarch's  "promising  \alour. 
wonderful  tem]pcrancc,  divine  moderation  in  justice,  and  avowed  desire  of  clemency."  This  \\as 
(juite  put  into  the  shade  by  the  hyperbolic  eulogy  of  a  successor  in  the  Chair  (Richard  liich), 
"who  compared  the  King  for  justice  and  prudence  to  Solomon,  for  strength  and  fortitude  to 
Samson,  and  for  l>eauty  and  comeliness  to  Absalom."  The  palmy  period  of  Parliamentary 
sycophancy.  ho\ve\er.  was  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  when  the  Queen's  notorious  vanity  was  pandered 
to  to  an  extent  which  even  disgusted  the  Itoyal  lady  herself,  ample  as  her  capacity  for 
absorbing  flattery  was.  One  specimen  of  this  fulsome  oratory  must  suffice.  It  was  delivered 
by  Sjieaker  Crooke,  in  an  address  of  thanks  to  the  <v>ucen  for  withdrawing  her  grants  of 


fVm  tkt  paitttiHff  t>  {  .Vn/iono/  Portrait  Gallery, 

SII!    IIAIIIIOTTI.K   (illl.MSTOX,    liAKT., 
Speaker  of  the  "  Healing  rarluimrnt,"  which  ratonsl  Charles  II.  in  1GCO. 


THE   EIGHT   HON.    ABTHTJB  ONSLOW, 

One  of  the  greatest  of  the  line  of  Si>eakere.    He  occupied  the  Chair  from  January,  1727,  until  March,  1761,  presiding  over  five 

successive  Parliaments. 


321 


41 


322 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


lii'-i.  "All  ol  us,  in  all  duty  and  thankfulness,"  said  tin-  Speaker,  "do  tlirow  down- 
ourwlvp*  at  the  feet  of  your  Majesty.  Neither  do  we  present  our  thanks  in  w<rds  of  any 
outward  tiling.  wluVh  can  be  no  sufficient  retriluitinn  for  HI  great  goodness,  hut.  in  all  duty 
and  thankfulness.  prostrate  at  your  feet,  we  present  our  most  loyal  and  thankful  hearts, 
even  the  last  drop  of  !>l«od  in  our  hearts,  and  the  la-t  spirit  of  breath  in  our  nostrils,  to 
be  poured  out.  to  IK-  breathed  up  for  your  safety."  -Then,  alter  three  low  reverence- 
made,"  my*  the  rejiortor  in  an  appropriate  winding  up  of  the  incident,  "lie  with  the  n>t 

kneeled    doWII." 

If  the  earlier  Speakers  assumed  a  I'riah  Heep  deineaiiour  in  approaching  the  monarch,  it 
should,  in  justice  to  their  consistency,  be  stated  that  they  were  quite  as  painfully  humble  in 
their  dealings  with  their  fellow-Commoners.  A  tradition  grew  up  at  the  periodical  election* 
to  the  Chair,  of  the  nominee  of  the  House  excusing  himself  for  accept  ing  the  othYe  on  the 


THK  BPBAKEBS  HOUSE:  nivKii  FIKINT. 

'i  h<  "tti.  i:il  home  of  the  S)waker  in  the  old  House*  ot  Parliament  destroyed  by  fire  in  1834. 

plea  of  his  incapacity  for  the  position.  Entirely  insincere  in  thought  and  expression,  these 
nt t. -ranees  leave  a  slimy  trail  all  through  the  pages  of  Parliamentary  history,  making  us- 
almost  doubt  whether  the  men  who  spoke  these  things  could  actually  have  accomplished  the- 
l»art  we  know  they  played  in  the  building  up  of  the  greatest  Constitution  known  to  history. 
There  is  one  classic  description  of  an  election  of  a  Speaker  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of 
Elizabeth's  reign,  which  must  be  given,  not  only  for  the  light  it  throws  on  the  point  we 
are  elucidating,  hut  l>ceau.;e  of  the  diverting  glimpse  it  gives  of  the  manners  of  the  Tudor 
Parliament  men.  I>'K\ves  and  Townsend  are  the  reporters.  Their  accuracy  may  be  safely 
relied  on.  for  they  were  nothing  if  not  painstaking.  They  show  the  House  assembled  on  a 
certain  day  for  the  election  of  Speaker.  First  there  is  a  speech  from  Sir  William  Knolls,  the- 
Comptroller  of  the  Household.  Said  this  worthy,  "I  will  deliver  my  opinion  unto  you  who  is 
most  fit  for  this  place,  being  a  member  of  this  House,  and  those  good  abilities  which  I  know 
to  be  in  him.  (Here  he  made  a  little  pause,  and  the  House  hawked  and  sjuit,  and  after  silence 


Parliament    in    Being — The    Speaker 


323 


made,  he  proceeded.)  Unto  this  place 
of  dignity  and  calling,  in  my  opinion 
(here  he  stayed  a  little),  Mr.  Sergeant 
Yelverton  (looking  unto  him)  is  the 
fittest  man  to  be  preferred  (after 
which  words  Mr.  Yelverton  blushed 
and  put  off  his  hat,  and  after  sat 
bareheaded),  for  I  know  him  to  be  a 
man  wise  and  learned,  secret  and  cir- 
cumspect, religious  and  faithful,  no 
way  disable,  but  every  way  able  to 
supply  this  place."  This  appeared 
to  be  the  general  view.  "The  whole 
House,"  proceeds  the  narration,  "  cried, 
'  Aye,  aye,  aye,  let  him  be ! '  and 
the  Master  Comptroller  made  a  low 
reverence  and  sat  down  ;  and  after  a 
little  pause  and  silence  Mr.  Sergeant 
Yelverton  rose,  and,  after  a  very 
humble  reverence,  said:  '  Whence  your 
unexpected  choice  of  me  to  be  your 
mouth  or  Speaker  did  proceed  I  am 
utterly  ignorant.  If  from  my  merits, 
strange  it  were  that  few  deserts 
should  purchase  suddenly  so  great  an 
honour.  Not  from  my  ability  doth 
this  your  choice  proceed,  for  well 
known  it  is  to  a  great  number  in 
this  place  now  assembled  that  my 
estate  is  nothing  correspondent  for  the  maintenance  of  this  dignity ;  for  my  father  dying 
left  me  a  younger  brother,  nothing  to  me  but  my  bare  annuity.  Then  growing  to  man's 
estate  and  some  small  practice  of  the  law,  I  took  a  wife,  by  whom  I  have  had  many 
children,  the  keeping  of  us  all  being  a  great  impoverishment  to  my  estate,  and  the  daily 
living  of  us  all  nothing  but  my  early  industry.  Neither  from  my  person  nor  nature  doth 
this  choice  arise,  for  he  that  supplieth  this  place  ought  to  be  a  man  big  and  comely,  stately 
and  well-spoken,  his  voice  great,  his  courage  majestical,  his  nature  haughty,  and  his  purse 
plentiful  and  heavy ;  but,  contrarily,  the  stature  of  my  body  is  small,  myself  not  so  well- 
sjiokcn,  my  voice  low,  my  carriage  lawyer-like  and  of  the  common  fashion,  my  nature  soft 
and  bashful,  my  purse  thin,  light,  and  never  yet  plentiful.'"  It  is  sad  to  know  that, 
despite  these  manifold  defects,  the  worthy  Yelverton  was  elected  to  the  Chair  and  filled  it  with 
moderate  success. 

This  style  of  hollow  self-depreciation,  after  a  long  vogue,  was  finally  laid  aside  for  a  more 
dignified  and  self-respecting  method  of  election.  The  dawn  of  a  new  spirit  is  seen  in  the 
records  of  the  appointment  of  Sir  Heneage  Finch,  who  was  elected  Speaker  in  the  first 
Parliament  of  Charles  I.  "  Since,"  observed  this  worthy,  "  we  all  stand  for  hundreds  and 
thousands,  for  figures  and  cyphers,  as  your  Majesty,  the  supreme  and  sovereign  auditor,  shall 
please  to  place  and  value  us,  and,  like  coin  to  pass,  are  made  current  by  your  Koyal  stamp 
and  impression  only,  I  shall  neither  disable  nor  undervalue  myself,  but  with  a  faithful  and 
cheerful  heart  apply  myself  with  the  best  of  my  strength  and  abilities  to  the  performance  of 
this  weighty  and  public  charge."  Not  less  manly  and  dignified  was  the  conduct  on  election 
of  Sergeant  Glanvill,  who  presided  over  "the  Short  Parliament"  of  1640.  His  address  to  the 
King  on  his  presentation  for  acceptance  was  couched  in  elevated  language,  and  when  the  Eoyal 


THE   EIGHT   HON.  CHARLES  ABBOT,   FIEST   LOUD  COLCHESTEIt, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  from  1802  to  1817. 


324 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


hud  been  given  he  at  .nice  submitted,  observing:  "My  profession  hath  taught  me  that 
from  the  highe-t  judge  and  the  highest  seat  of  ju-tice  there  lyeth  no  writ  of  error,  no  appeal." 
When  the  K.-f.. ration  came-,  with  it-  extravagant  loyalty  and  excessive  deference  to  Koval 
authoritv.  there  was  a  lap-e  into  the  old  fashion  of  stilted  .-elf-depreciation  and  fulsome 
adulation.  Hut  the  I.---.HI  of  independence  had  sunk  too  deeply  into  the  mind-  of  Parliamentarian! 
during  the  Commonwealth  to  permit  of  more  than  a  teni]>oniiv  display  of  the  ancient  quality. 
KTP  the  reign  had  clo-e  I.  a  Speaker  of  the  Mouse  of  Commons,  in  the  person  of  Sir  Kdvvard 
S-VHiour.  was  found  addressing  the  King  in  language  of  a  character  which  indicated  unmistakably 
the  indejM-nilent  teln]M-r  of  "the  faithful  Commons."  "I  am  come  hither."  he  .-aid.  when  he 
went  to  the  King  for  his  approval  on  his  lieing  nominated  in  1679  a  second  time  for  office— 
"I  am  come  hither  for  your  Majesty's  approbation,  which,  if  your  Majesty  please  to  grant.  I 
shall  do  the  Common-  and  you  the  best  service  I  can."  Seymour,  in  the  previous  session,  had 
taken  a  leading  jwtrt  in  opposing  the  King's  unconstitutional  acts,  and  Charles  did  not  mean 
to  allow  him  to  remain  in  a  |iosition  in  which  he  was  able  to  continue  the  annoyance.  Me 
..in-. •quently  put  the  bud  Chancellor  up  to  say  that  he  disapproved  the  choice,  as  he  was 
entitled  to  do  under  his  prerogative.  Indignant  at  the  slight  cast  upon  them,  the  Hous.'  ..: 
Commons  spent  several  days  in  discussing  the  best  means  of  asserting  the  right  they  claimed 
to  choo.-e  their  own  Speaker.  The  King,  however,  was  obdurate,  and  ultimately  the  Commons 
reluctantly  ended  the  crisis  by  ap|K>in<ing  Sergeant  Gregory  as  their  Speaker,  a  choice  that 
\\a-  immediately  ratified  by  the  King. 

Coincident  with  the  constitutional  changes  which  followed  the  Revolution  of  1688  was  a 
ureat  enhancement  of  the  dignity  of  the  Speaker's  office.  The  occupant  of  the  Chair  was  no 
longer  the  creature  of  the  Court  or  the  subservient  tool  of  a  faction.  He  was  the  recognised 
head  of  the  popular  branch  of  the  legislature,  and  on  this  account  fit  to  take  rank  with  the 
highe-t  in  the  land.  When  the  Convention  Parliament  assembled  at  the  Banqueting  Mall. 
Whitehall,  to  offer  William  and  Mary  the  Crown.  Mr.  Powle,  the  Speaker,  occupied  one 
of  the  most  prominent  IH. sit  ions,  and  in  the  subsequent  procession  through  the  streets  to 
proclaim  the  new  monarchs  his  carriage  actually  headed  the  procession,  taking  precedence 
even  of  that  of  the  Karl  Marshal.  Still  more  eloquent  of  the  increased  importance  and 
independence  of  the  position  is  the  circumstance  that  in  1700  Sir  Thomas  Lyttleton, 
whose  candidature  was  strongly  supported  by  the  King,  was  defeated  in  a  full  House  by 

fourteen  votes.  It  was,  however, 
left  to  Arthur  Onslow.  who  presided 
over  the  deliberations  of  the  House  of 
Commons  for  thirty-four  years,  to 
bring  the  office  to  its  greatest  position 
of  authority.  Of  this  great  Speaker's 
career  we  shall  have  something  to  sav- 
in a  later  chapter,  when  we  come  to 
deal  with  the  personal  side  of  the 
Speakership.  But  we  may  here  appro- 
priately cite  an  anecdote  related  by 
Matsell  which  illustrates  t  he  high  sense 
entertained  by  Onslow  of  the  dignity 
of  his  office.  The  story  goes  that 
Lord  Southampton  (then  Colonel  Kit/- 
roy)  being  in  attendance  upon  the 
King's  person  as  one  of  the  grooms 
of  the  bedchamber,  and  coming  in  la'e 
to  make  a  quorum,  was  reprimanded 
by  the  Speaker  for  bis  dilatoriness. 
whereupon  Colonel  Fitzroy  excused 


Till.  liH.in 


.T\MI>   Al!i:i:ci:n.\il:v. 
H|*aktr  from  ISM  to  1889. 


Parliament    in    Being — The    Speaker 


325 


himself  by  saying  that  he 
was  in  waiting  upon  his 
.Majesty.  "Sir,"  said  Mr. 
Onslow  in  a  loud  and  com- 
manding '  voice,  "  don't  tell 
me  of  waiting ;  this  is  your 
place  to  attend  in ;  this  is 
vour  first  duty."  Animated 
by  this  high,  not  to  say 
somewhat  haughty,  spirit, 
Onslow  drew  to  the  Chair 
in  the  course  of  his  long 
tenure  of  it  that  feeling  of 
respect — almost  of  veneration 
— which  still  attaches  to  it. 
After  his  time  the  office 
had  its  vicissitudes.  It  was 
sometimes)  the  sport  of  faction 
—  occasionally  it  was  in  weak 
hands ;  but  never  again  was 
it  corrupt  Iv  or  unworthily 
filled. 

A  few  words  upon  the 
question  of  the  emoluments 
of  the  Speakersbip  may  not 
be  devoid  of  interest  and 
instruction.  In  the  earliest 
period  of  which  we  have 
authentic  records  of  pay- 
ments, the  office  appears  to 
have  carried  with  it  a  salary  of  £5  a  day — a  by  no  means  extravagant  stipend  even  when 
the  greater  value  of  money  in  those  days  is  borne  in  mind.  After  the  Eestoration,  Speakers 
received  £1,000  as  equipment  money  on  their  appointment,  and  a  fee  of  £5  on  every 
private  bill  that  was  introduced  into  the  House.  These  irregular  payments  were  highly 
unsati>factorv  from  many  points  of  view,  and  they  were  finally  swept  away  by  an  Act  of 
rarliameiit  which  established  the  principle  of  a  fixed  salary.  By  the  provisions  of  an  Act 
of  William  IV.,  the  salary  of  the  Speaker  was  fixed  at  £6,000  per  annum,  to  be  paid,  free  of 
all  taxes,  out  of  the  Consolidated  Fund ;  and  later,  during  the  same  reign,  the  salary  was 
reduced  to  £5,000  with  the  appointment  of  an  official  secretary,  to  receive  £500  per  annum. 
The  allowance  of  £1,000  as  equipment  money  upon  first  appointment  continues,  but  a  grant 
of  2.000  ounces  of  plate  has  taken  the  form  of  a  permanent  service,  which  is  supplied  with 
the  furniture  of  the  official  residence.  The  supply  cf  two  hogsheads  of  claret  has  ceased,  and 
the  sum  of  £100  a  year  allowed  for  stationery  has  been  discontinued,  the  State  furnishing 
what  is  required  in  this  direction. 

Hy  customary  usage  the  Speaker,  on  retirement,  receives  a  pension  of  £4,000  a  year  and 
a  peerage.  A  condition  of  the  grant  is  that  one-half  of  the  annuity  shall  be  suspended  during 
any  period  that  the  recipient  holds  "a  place,  office,  or  employment  under  his  Majesty  of 
equal  or  greater  amount  of  salary,  profit,  or  emolument  than  the  amount  of  the  annuity." 
Belles  thcx-  direct  personal  advantages,  the  occupant  of  the  Chair  has  placed  at  his  disposal, 
for  the  maintenance  of  his  dignity,  the  services  of  a  chaplain,  a  private  secretary,  and  a 
train-bearer,  and  there  is  also  a  Speaker's  Counsel  to  aid  in  the  unravelling  of  knotty  legal 
points.  Furthermore,  there  are  several  pleasant  little  perquisites  attaching  to  the  office,  such 


THE  SPEAKER'S  HOUSE. 

The  main  entrance  in  Speaker's  Court,  access  to  which  is  obtained  from  New  Palace  Yard. 


326 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


a-    a    buck    and    a    doe.    usually    sent    from    the 

Koval     pi r\es    at      Windsor,    and     a    width    of 

broadcloth  furnished  at  Christinas  by  the  Cloth- 
workers'  Coni}>aiiy.  With  it  all  the  Speaker 
cannot  in  these  days  of  profuse  hospitality  be 
-aid  to  be  highly  remunerated.  If  the  social 
duties  at  the  Speaker's  Hoiis,.  are  at  all  adr- 
(|iiatelv  discharged,  the  allowance  from  the 
Kxchec|uer  can  scarcely  suffice  to  co\er  actual 

expense*. 

.Many  and  varied  are  the  duties  pertaining 
to  the  Chair.  P. -sides  acting  as  president  of  Un- 
popular chamber  and  the  interpreter  of  its  will, 
the  Speaker  discharges  various  important  func- 
tions. He.  as  mouthpiece,  demands  judgment  on 
behalf  of  the  House  in  cases  of  impeachment  by 
the  Commons.  He  issues  all  warrants  to  execute 
the  orders  of  the  House  for  the  arrest  and 
commitment  of  offenders.  His  powers  extend  to 
India  in  certain  cases  for  the  examination  of 
witnesses.  The  Speaker  signs,  alter  first  perusing, 
the  votes  and  proceedings  of  the  House,  which 
are  printed  and  circulated  daily  to  members;  he 
approves  retunis  presented  to  the  House  before 
being  printed;  controls  the  issue  of  all  Parlimentary 
papers  laid  upon  the  table;  sanctions  the  rules 
applying  to  private  bill  agents,  whose  duties  and 
responsibilities  are  governed  by  Standing  Order:-; 
and  he  has,  finally,  considerable  powers  regarding 
the  taxation  of  costs  incurred  in  this  branch  of 
Parliamentary  business — the  reports  of  the  taxing 
officers  being  submitted  to  him. 

Only  in  modern  times  bas  authorised  provision 
been  made  for  supplying  a  Deputy  Speaker  in  case  of  need,  although  during  the  Protectorate 
tem|Kirary  Speaker.-  were  allowed  to  act.  The  custom  was.  in  the  event  of  a  Speaker's  illness. 
for  the  Clerk  to  inform  members  of  the  fact,  and  for  the  House  thereafter  to  imntediatelv 
adjourn.  When  the  SjH-aker's  absence  continued  for  a  considerable  time,  he  resigned,  and 
another  would  be  elected  with  all  the  formalities,  including  the  permission  of  the  Crown  and 
Koval  approval.  I'pon  the  return  of  the  first  Speaker,  the  one  occupying  bis  place  would  resign. 
or  become  indisposed,  and  the  former  re-elected  with  a  repetition  of  the  formal  proceedings.  Jn 
1853  a  Committee  considered  the  subject,  and  recommended  a  change  in  the  procedure,  and 

the   House  r hed  to  allow  the  Chairman  of  Ways  and   .Means  to  act  as  Deputy  Speaker.      Two 

\ear-   later  an   Act  was  passed,  the  provisions  of  which  extended  all  the  powers  possess,.,!   by  the 
Speaker  to  his  Deputy,  whose  actions  were  to  be  as  valid  in  every  respect  as  those  of  tin-  Speaker. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  House  each  day  tin-  Speaker  proceeds  to  the  House  with  much 
formality.  Preceded  by  a  messenger  is  the  Sergeant -at-Arms,  attired  in  Court  dress  and 
i-arrying  the  mace.1  Then  come-.  .Mr.  Speaker,  attired  in  Court  dress  and  full  wig.  his  long 
gown  lieing  lield  up  by  his  train-bearer;  and  in  the  rear  are  the  chaplain  and  the  private 
secretary.  .Members  join  the  procession  upon  its  way.  and  walk  into  the  House  to  pra\<-i>. 
All  memlx-rs  and  strangers  present  in  the  I/obby  raise  their  hats  respectfully  as  .Mr.  S| 
and  his  retinue  pass  along. 

1  The  mace  liax  been  in  nte  since  the  Restoration,  and  bears  upon  it  the  initials  "  C.  R." 


••  •  Tb»  qora-Jon  i«.  tUt  I  il.in.i»  leave  tlie  rliair.     A»  n  .-iny  .1-  ;.ii 
of  that  opinion,  «ijr  "  Aj«"  :  of  ike  contrary,  «ay  "  Xo." ' 

"A    I'AKTIM!    CiiMI'l.lMIIXT 
••  To  Ht  RigU  Ho*.  Clnrl,,  JU.tiuur*  *, 
'•  Speaker  of  the  It  '!:•  in  MX  rocce«ive  I'arlianirnta, 

WhoM  U»t  act  ill  111-  -f  trtiir),  ,!<•!  not  -i*r 

anivrnal  MtUfartion. 

"  •  1h»  Brat  Ouninioner  luuiiiL-t  i^utleiuen,  and  the  flrrt  gentleman 


ir* 


327 


328 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


TV  arduous  character  of  the  duties  of  the  Sj>eakership  may  lx-  gathered  from  the  brief 
sketch  that  has  been  given  of  the  re»]x>nsihilities  of  tlie  Chair.  'I  here  is,  indeed,  no  great 
«.th,«.  in  the  State  which  makes  u  heavier  call  U|xm  the  strength  of  its  occupant.  The  mere 
pl,\-i..il  strain  of  sitting  for  inaiiy  hours  at  a  stretch  in  one  position,  with  mental  faculties 
nli-rt.  is  eiutrniouii.  Only  the  strongest  constitutions  can  c-ome  satisfactorily  through  such  an 
onion).  Kortunatelv  the  great  line  of  modern  Shakers  to  whom  the  observations  mainly 
n]i|ilv— for  the  practice  of  long  and  late  sittings  is  an  evil  which  has  become  acute  only  in 
cotnJMnttivclv  recent  times— have  been  men  as  renowned  for  their  bodily  endurance,  as  for  their 
high  intellectual  and -moral  qualities.  Cases  of  actual  breakdown  have  IM-CII  rare,  and  there 
are  extraordinarily  few  instances  in  which  ferious  indisposition  has  interfered  with  the  regular 
discharge  of  the  Sjieaker's  office.  Still,  even  Jove  sometimes  nods,  and  there  have  been 
occasions  when,  amid  "the  dreary  drip  of  dilatory  declamation,"  tired  nature  has  a-sertcd 
itself,  and  the  weighted  eyelids  of  First  Commoners  have  closed  in  slumber.  It  is  to  one 
of  these  episodes  that  Wentworth  Mack  worth  Praed,  who  was  n  member  of  the  short-lived 
Ministry  of  Sir  Hohcrt  Peel  known  as  "the  Hundred  Days,"  refers  in  these  stanzas:— 


Slwp,  Mr.  Speaker;  it'*  only  fair, 
If  you  don't  in  your  bod.  you  should  in  your  chair. 
Longer  and  longer  still  they  grow, 
Tory  and  Itadical,  Aye  and  Xo. 
Talking  by  night  and  talking  by  day; 
.  Mr.  Speaker,  sleep  while  you  may. 


Sleep,  Sir.  Speaker ;  sweet  to  men 
Is  the  sleep  that  cometh  but  now  nnd  then, 
Sweet  to  the  sorrowful,  sweet  to  the  ill, 
Sweet  to  the  children  that  work  in  the  mill. 
}"I;K  have  more  need  of  sleep  than  they; 
Sleep,  .Mr.  Speaker,  sleep  while  you  may. 


•  After  all,  however,  a  tendency  to  somnolence  has  been  one  of  the  least  conspicuous  of  the 
weaknesses  that  have  marked  the  occupancy  of  the  Chair  at  any  period.  The  Speaker's  eye 
has  sometimes  been  accused  of  a  lack  of  impartiality  by  heated  partisans,  but  its  vigilance  has 
rarely  been  called  in  question. 


"CAfOHT   XAI'PINO.  ' 

IB  ilit  HOCM  of  Commom  In  1833,  In  which  n  drown?  Chairman  of  Cuniml ttea  U  detected  sleeping  during  tbe  progrm  of 
a  delate  in  Committee,  over  which  ho  U  praidlng. 


CARDINAL   WOLSEY, 

Whose  visit  to  the  House  of  Commons  elicited  a  memorable 
reply  from  Sir  Thomas  More,  the  then  Speaker. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

SPEAKERS— FAMOUS   AND    INFAMOUS. 

THE  history  of  the  Speakership  which  has  been  sketched 
in  general  outline  in  the  preceding  chapter  would  not  be 
complete  without  some  more  detailed  reference  to.  the 
personal  aspects  of  the  office.  Many  great  names  are 
associated  with  the  Chair — names  which,  have  left  an 
indelible  mark  upon  the  annals  of  the  country.  More- 
over, the  position  is  peculiarly  one  in  which  individual 
characteristics  have  strikingly  manifested  themselves, 
and  it  is  only  by  the  biographical  process  that  can  be 
properly  elucidated  the  more  notable  incidents  which 
have  accompanied  the  development  of  the  prerogatives 
and  powers  of  the  Chair.  It  is,  perhaps,  fortunate,  in 
view  of  the  exigencies  of  space,  that  the  earlier  names 
which  figure  upon  the  Speakers'  roll  were  those  of  men 
mostly  undistinguished.  Worthy  knights  of  the  shire, 
commoners  temporarily  withdrawn  from  an  honourable 
obscurity  by  a  fleeting  popularity,  and  mediocre  lawyers 
using  their  position  for  purposes  of  personal  aggran- 
disement— such  was  the  character  of  the  vast  majority 
of  those  whom  the  House  delighted  to  honour  in  the 
first  two  centuries  of  its  existence.  Where  fame  came  to  any  of  them,  it  was  mostly  due  to 
their  fortuitous  association  with  some  historic  event  which  had  passed  outside  the  walls  of  the 
Parliament  House. 

A  case  in  point  is  that  of  Sir  Henry  Bedford,  who,  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  IV.  (1403),  submitted  what  was  one  of  the  first,  if  not  absolutely  the  first,  votes  of 
thanks  tendered  by  Parliament  to  a  victorious  general.  The  circumstances  of  this  incident 
in  Parliamentary  history  are  so  singular  that  they  may  be  related  in  the  quaint  phraseology  of 
the  ancient  record.  According  to  this,  the  Commons,  on  October  16th,  "by  the  mouth  of  their 
S[>eaker  gave  the  King  their  most  humble  thanks  for  his  many  valiant  exploits — namely, 
for  his  last  expedition  into  Scotland  and  for  his  three  several  journeys  into  Wales  since  the 
former,  wherein,"  continues  the  chronicler,  "  they  took  occasion  to  praise  the  valour  of  the 
Prince,  and  forgot  not  to  mention  the  noble  service  performed  by  Lord  Thomas,  the  King's 
second  son,  in  Ireland.  As  for  the  victory  in  Scotland,  they  humbly  hoped  that  by  good  policy 
it  might  be  made  to  turn  to  the  advantage  and  ease  of  the  Commons,  and  because  in  that 
battle  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  behaved  gallantly  they  prayed  the  King  to  give  him  thanks." 
A  curious  sequel  to  this  episode  was  supplied  four  days  later,  when,  "the  King  seated  on  his 
throne  in  the  Lords,  the  Commons  being  then  assembled,"  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  and 
his  son,  Harry  Hotspur,  brought  before  the  King  the  leading  prisoners  taken  in  the  bloody 
fight  at  Halidon  Hill,  where  ten  thousand  Scots  were  slain.  "  These  prisoners,"  says  the 
historian,  "  on  coming  into  the  King's  presence  kneeled  three  times :  first  at  the  door  of 
the  Whitehall  within  the  King's  Palace,  then  in  the  midst  of  the  Hall,  and,  lastly,  before  the 
throne ;  and  whilst  they  were  still  kneeling  Sir  Adam  Forester,  in  the  name  of  them  all, 

329  42 


330 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


humbly  prayed  the  King  tlmt  they  might  be  entertained  according  to  the  course  of  war.  which 
the  King,  becalm'  they  were  taken  fighting  valiantly  in  the  field.  readily  granted.  Finally. 
thev  were  committed  to  the  care  of  the  Steward  of  the  Household  to  await  the  Kind's  pleasure." 
A  fifteenth-century  Speaker  who.se  illustrious  name  entitles  him  to  a  word  of  pacing 
comment  wag  Thomas  Chaucer,  who  officiated  in  the  Parliament  of  140H.  He  was  a  m -ar 
relative  of  the  |>oet,  hut  api>ears  to  have  had  little  in  common  with  "The  Father  of  English 
I'm-trv."  About  the  onlv  fact  of  interest  associated  with  him  was  the  equivocal  remark  of  the 
King  when  he  made  the  usual  protestation  on  election,  "that  he  expected  the  Commons  would 
»peak  no  unbecoming  words,  or  attempt  anything  that  was  not  consistent  with  decency.''  A 
second  name  of  high  distinction  in  the  country's  annuls  is  that  of  John  Ku-.-el.  who,  elected 
Sjieaker  on  October  14th,  1423,  laid  the  enduring  foundations  of  the  great  house  of  llcdfonl. 
Hut  these  are  only  chance  landmarks  in  a  barren  land. 

When  we  approach  the  troubled  period  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  we  find  the  Speaker-hip 
a  dangerous  office  for  those  who  filled  it.  William  Tresham.  who  occupied  the  Chair  in  1  Kill 
and  again  in  1447.  was  Iwrharously  murdered  on  the  King's  highway  not  far  from  Northampton. 
ns  he  went  to  meet  the  Duke  of  York.  He  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  impeachment  i.f 
the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  and  it  is  conjectured,  probably  correctly,  that  the  outrage  was  in  revenge 
for  his  official  share  in  that  transaction.  Not  less  tragic  and  even  more  historic  was  the  late 
which  awaited  Thomas  Thorpe,  a  knight  of  the  shire  for  Essex,  who  was  elected  S]M-aki-r  in 
1452.  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  He  became  involved  in  the  fierce  internecine  struggle  which 
was  raging  at  the  time  by  seizing,  on  behalf  of  the  King's  party,  some  warlike  stores  which 
the  Duke  of  York  had  dejwsited  in  the  palace  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham.  An  action  for 

trespass  was  brought  by  the  Duke,  and  the  un- 
fortunate Speaker  was  ca>t  into  the  Fleet  1'ri-ou 
in  execution  of  a  decree  for  damages.  The 
Commons  strongly  protested  again;-!  this  outrage 
to  their  head,  urging  that  he  was  privileged  in 
what  he  did  "by  common  custom,  time  out  of 
memory  of  man  and  ever  afore  these  times.  u>ed 
in  every  of  the  Parliaments  of  the  King's  noble 
progenitors."  The  appeal  was  in  vain.  Thorpe'-. 
imprisonment  was  made  more  effective,  and  a  new 
S]  icaker  wsis  elected  in  his  place  by  order  of  the 
Peers  of  Parliament.  At  length  the  unfortunate 
upholder  of  constitutional  rights  escaped,  but 
only  to  be  recaptured  and,  by  the  Duke  of  York's 
orders,  cast  into  Newgate.  After  remaining  here 
for  some  time  he  was  transferred  to  the  Marshal- 
sea,  and  finally  met  his  end  on  the  scaffold  at 
Harringay  Park,  in  Middlesex,  now  one  of  the 
most  thriving  of  London's  northern  suburbs.  Sir 
William  Oldhall,  another  Speaker  of  this  j«>riod — 
he  was  elected  in  1451 — was  attainted  of  trea-mi. 
but  appears  to  have  escaped  the  fate  of  Thorpe. 

_^^ Next  on  the  list  calling  for  notice  is  Thomas 

L  ^^WKTC^I^K    it  Lovell,  who  may  be  described  as  "The  Fighting- 

Speaker."  Elected  on  November  7th.  1  IMi.  Lovell. 
as  a  staunch  adherent  of  Henry  VII.,  in  the  follow- 
ing year  took  the  field  with  the  King's  foiv,- 
against  the  Simnel  faction,  and  greatly  distin- 
guished himself  at  the  battle  of  Stoke,  receiving 
for  his  part  in  the  transaction  the  honour  of  the 


Kirn  «lil>    III.. 

In  wboM  niu-n  "M  a|>|«>int«l  to  UK  S|i*>k«nbi|i  tlit  DoUiriutu 
WillUm  OatMty.  Tin  bou  ni|i|i.,rte»  an  noticeable  In  the  COM 
of 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


331 


Garter.  Engaged  on  the  rebel  side 
in  this  encounter,  which  proved  so 
disastrous  to  the  Simnel  cause,  was 
Lord  Lovell,  a  kinsman  of  the  Speaker. 
With  the  name  of  this  nobleman  a 
tragic  legend  is  associated  which  is 
the  foundation  of  the  romance  of  "  The 
Old  English  Baron "  and  of  that  most 
popular  of  old-time  ballads,  "The 
Mistletoe  Bough."  The  story  goes 
that,  flying  from  the  battlefield,  Lord 
Lovell  sought  refuge  in  one  of  his 
own  castles.  A  faithful  retainer 
received  him  and  conducted  him  for 
security  to  an  old  cellar.  Here  for 
some  still  unexplained  cause  he  was 
left  and  ultimately  died  of  starvation. 
The  mystery  of  his  disappearance  was 
not  elucidated  until  about  a  century 
and  half  ago,  when,  upon  the  opening 
of  the  vault  for  some  purpose,  the 
skeleton  was  found. 

Leaving  the  troubled  period  of 
the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  we  come  across 
a  group  of  occupants  of  the  Chair 
whose  names  have  been  handed  down 
to  infamy.  First  in  order  of  chrono- 
logical precedence,  if  not  in  moral 
degradation,  is  William  Catesby,  the 
willing  tool  of  the  crafty  Duke  of 
Gloucester  (Richard  III.).  He  is  traditionally  believed  to  have  been  an  active  participator  in 
the  murder  of  the  young  Princes  in  the  Tower,  and  at  all  events  had  a  hand  in  most  of  the 
merciless  acts  of  general  policy  by  which  his  tyrant  master  was  seated  upon  the  throne.  It 
was  in  allusion  to  his  influence,  with  that  of  Ratcliffe  and  Lovell,  two  other  of  Richard's  myr- 
midons, that  Colingburn  penned  his  well-known  distich : — 

The  cat,  the  rat,  and  Lovell  our  dog 
Rule  all  England  under  the  hog. 

The  last  phrase  of  the  couplet  is  an  allusion  to  the  boar  which  Richard  adopted  as  one  of  his 
supporters.  Catesby  accompanied  his  master  to  Bosworth  Field,  where  he  was  captured,  and 
from  the  field  of  battle  sent  to  the  scaffold  at  Leicester  three  days  later. 

Next  on  our  black  list  we  make  acquaintance  with  as  pretty  a  brace  of  ruffians  as  are 
to  be  met  with  in  the  pages  of  English  history.  It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  the  reference 
is  to  Empson  and  Dudley,  the  notorious  Ministers  of  Henry  VII.,  whose  extortions,  even 
in  that  age  of  misgovernment  and  oppression,  were  of  monstrous  import.  Sir  Richard 
Empson,  who  was  elected  to  the  Chair  in  the  Parliament  of  1491,  was  of  common  origin,  his 
father  being  a  sieve-maker  at  Towcester.  He  was  a  man  of  haughty  and  overbearing 
disposition,  and  for  his  cruel  exactions  on  behalf  of  his  Royal  master  was  hated  by  the  poor 
with  a  poisonous  hate.  The  popular  feeling  towards  him  is  illustrated  by  a  story  narrated  by 
his  biographers.  It  is  stated  that  an  old  man  in  Warwickshire,  "  accounted  very  judicious  in 
judicial  astrology,"  was  one  day  scoffingly  asked  by  Empson  when  the  sun  would  change.  To 
this  the  old  man  promptly  replied :  "  Even  when  such  a  wicked  lawyer  as  you  go  to  heaven." 


SItt  CHKISTOPHEtt    WRAY, 
Who  wa»  Speaker  in  1171 


332 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Kmpson's  com | Minion  in  iniquity.  Kdwnrd  Dudley,  who  filled  the  Clinir  in  1503,  was  a  man 
of  good  birth  ami  attainments.  Imt  utterly  unscrupulous.  It  was  said  of  bisection  --that 
a  man  may  easily  guess  how  absolute  the  King  took  himself  to  lx«  with  his  Parliament 
when  the  on-iit an'  Dudley,  tlmt  was  so  odious  to  the  public,  was  made  Speaker."  It  is 
-.•iti«fa.t..ry  to  know  that  a  just  n-trilmtion  in  the  end  overtook  this  precious  juiir.  When 
Henry  VIII.  came  to  the  throne  in  1560  they  were  brought  to  the  sc-affold  to  appease  the 
jmpiilar  anger. 

It  i>  refreshing  to  turn  from  these  unhallowed  associations  of  the  Speakership  to  the  recollec- 
tions which  olu>ter  alknit  the  illustrious  name  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  to  whom  Townsend.  in  his 
••Memoirs  of  the  llou-e  of  Commons,"  refers  glowingly,  but  not.  perhaps,  untruly,  as  "  tin- 
first  great  man  and  still  the  greatest  of  his  nice;  the  fir>t  Knglish  gentleman  who  signalised 
himself  as  an  orator;  the  first  writer  of  prose  which  is  still  intelligible;  the  first  layman 
Chancellor  of  Kngland.  the  celebrated  magistracy  which  has  rarely  been  filled  by  a  more 
learned,  never  by  a  better,  man."  More's  career  as  a  member  commenced  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII.  soon  after  he  came  of  age.  His  sturdy  opposition  in  the  House  to  tin-  marriage 
of  I'rincess  Margaret  with  the  Scotch  King  brought  him  into  disgrace  at  Court,  and  he  wa- 
forced  into  retirement  for  some  years.  Finding  favour  with  Henry  VIII..  he  in  152:5  returned 
to  Parliament,  and  was  promptly  elected  Speaker.  Soon  he  was  called  upon  to  show  that 
strong  independence  which  was  so  marked  a  feature  of  his  character.  The  King,  in  desperate 
need  of  money,  commissioned  Wolsey  to  endeavour  to  secure  assent  to  an  enormous  subsidy 
of  iSOO.OOO,  to  be  raised  by  a  projierty  tax  of  a  fifth  of  men's  lands  and  goods.  Notice  \\.-is 
given  to  the  House  of  Commons  of  the  projected  intrusion,  and  there  was  a  protracted  and 
earne>t  debate  as  to  whether  the  Cardinal  should  be  admitted  with  a  few  followers  only  or 
with  his  whole  train,  opinion  ruled  in  favour  of  the  former  course;  but  More  took  a  different 
line  in  a  s|M-ech  which  is  a  masterpiece  of  policy. 

"Maisters,"   he  said,  "forasmuch  as  my  Lord  Cardinal  lately,  as  yee  woote  well,  layde  to 


it\i,  i'Ai\n\i;s  ox  TIII:  MITTM  MI>K  OF  ST.  STEIMIKN'S  CH.\I'I:I.. 
OM  of  UM  nun?  bnutiful  nudiieril  .mWlli.bn.enu  of  the  Ch»i>«l  dbcorerad  when  the  alteration,  were  made  to  admit  th«  Iri.h  member*  after 

the  Union. 


KING  HENRY  THE  EIGHTH, 

III  whose  reign  the  Speakerahip  was  degraded  by  its  association  with  man;  despotic  exercises  of  the  Kojal  authority. 


333 


334 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


our  charge  the  lightness  of  our  tongues  for 
t  hinges  uttered  out  of  this  House,  it  should 
not  in  my  mind  l>e  omisse  to  reoeave  him  with 
ail  hi*  jKiinpe;  with  his  maces,  his  pillars,  his 
l«i|ea\e«.  his  cross,  his  hut  to,  and  the  (ireut 
Seale  too:  to  the  intent  that  if  he  finrle  the 
liko  fault  with  us,  then  we  may  lay  tin-  blame 
ii|M>n  those  whom  his  Grace  bringeth  with 
him."  > 

So  it  was  settled  that  the  regal  Wolsey 
should  come  in  full  state,  and  In-  di'l  so.  with 
(•••Mill-.  however,  which  were  very  disap|N>inting 
t»  his  vanity.  The  House  maintained  a 
•  lute  sili-nce  in  the  face  of  nil  his  appeals. 
At  length,  losing  jiaticnce.  In-  in  imperious 
language  in>i>ted  U|HHI  a  n-iisonable  answer. 
Then  the  Sjieaker,  "falling  upon  his  knees 
with  abject  humility.  excused  the  silence  of  the 
Mouse,  abashed,"  as  it  was.  "at  the  sight  of 
-ii  noble  a  jM-r.-oiiage.  who  was  able  to  amaze 
tin-  wi«e»t  and  most  learned  men  in  the  realm." 
Thereafter  "  with  many  probable  arguments 
In-  endeavoured  to  show  the  Cardinal  that  his 
manner  of  coming  thither  was  neither  expedient 
nor  agreeable  to  the  ancient  liberties  of  the 
llou.-e,  and  in  conclusion  told  him  that  .except 
all  the  members  Could  put  their  several  thoughts 
into  his  head,  he  alone  was  unable  in  so 
w eight  v  a  matter  to  give  his  Grace  a  sufficient 
answer." 

Finding  that  his  entreaties  were  useless, 
Wolscv  swept  out  of  the  House  (the  Chapter 
House)  in  a  towering  (Mission.  Meeting  More 
a  little  later  at  Whitehall,  \Volsey  said  to  him: 
••Would  to  (iod  you  had  been  at  Koine.  Sir 
Thomas,  when  I  made  you  Speaker!"  "  Your 
(iraee  not  offended,  so  would  I,  too,  my  lord," 
replied  the  im|>orturbuhlu  More,  "for  then  I  should  have  seen  the  place  I  have  long  desired 
to  \i.-it."  The  King  shared  Wolsev's  anger  at  the  defeat  of  his  scheme,  and  he  vented  it  in 
characteristic  style.  Sending  for  Kdward  .Montague,  a  very  influential  member  of  the  House  of 
<'< >mmons,  he  greeted  that  gentleman  as  he  awaited  the  Koyal  commands  on  bended  knees  with 
the  words:  "Ho!  man,  will  they  not  suffer  my  bill  to  pa>s  y  "  Then,  placing  his  hand  on 
.Montague's  head,  he  added  sternly,  "Get  my  bill  passed  by  to-morrow,  or  else  to-morrow  this 
head  of  yours  shall  1)6  off."  This  argument,  partially  at  least,  succeeded  where  Wolsey's 
argument  failed.  The  measure  ]uis>ed,  though  in  a  greatly  modified  form.  Some  of  More's 
biographers  have  represented  that  his  attitude  on  this  question  of  a  subsidy  was  not  so  firm 
a-  it  is  represented  in  the  account  quoted,  and  that  he  on  the  occasion  enforced  the  Cardinal's 
demands  with  arguments  of  his  own.  It  is  quite  possible  that  this  may  have  been  the  case, 
a-  More  was  too  keenly  alive  to  the  weight  of  the  Koyal  hand  to  offend  if  he  could  avoid  it. 
Whatever  the  truth  on  the  jKiint  may  In-,  he  must  be  admitted,  even  by  his  seven's!  critics, 
to  have  behaved  in  the  then  circumstances  of  Parliament  with  becoming  spirit,  and  a  full 

1  Kogcr'a  "Life  of  More." 


/'i-oi»  a  tertntetnth-century  vwxtcttt. 

ST.  STEPHEN'S  CHAPEL. 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


335 


appreciation  of  what  was  due  to  the  independence  of  the  popular  chamber.  Still,  More's- 
occupancy  of  the  Chair  cannot  be  said  to  be  the  portion  of  his  career  which  reflects  the  highest 
lustre  upon  his  name.  Most  people  will  prefer  to  turn  from  the  degenerate  legislative  era  in 
which  he  acted  as  the  Commons'  mouthpiece  to  those  closing  scenes  in  his  eventful  life  in  which 
a  successor  of  his  in  the  Chair,  Sir  Eichard  Kich,  played  so  mean  and  dishonourable  a  part. 
It  is  a  familiar  tale,  but  it  will  bear  repetition. 

Imprisoned  in  the  Tower  at  the  behest  of  the  Koyal  tyrant  he  had  served  so  well,  he  was 
visited  one  day  by  Rich.  Thereupon  a  singular  colloquy  ensued  between  them.  The  conversation 
was  opened  by  Rich :  •' '  Forasmuch  as  it  is  well  known,  Mr.  More,  that  you  are  a  man  both 
wise  and  well  learned,  as  well  in  the  laws  of  the  realm  as  otherwise,  I  pray  you,  sir,  let  me 
be  so  bold  as  of  good  will  to  put  you  this  case :  Admit  that  there  were  an  Act  of  Parliament 
made  that  all  the  realm  should  take  me  for  King,  would  not  you,  Mr.  More,  take  me  for 
King  ? '  '  Yes,  sir,'  said  Sir  Thomas  More,  '  that  would  I.'  '  I  put  the  case  further,'  said 
Mr.  Kich :  '  that  there  were  an  Act  of  Parliament  that  all  the  realm  should  take  me  for  Pope, 
would  you  not  then  take  me  for  Pope  ?  '  '  For  answer,'  said  Sir  Thomas,  '  to  your  first  case, 
the  Parliament  may  well  meddle  with  the  state  of  temporal  princes,  but  to  make  answer  to- 
your  other  case  I  will  put  you  this  case  :  Suppose  the  Parliament  would  make  a  law  that  God 
should  not  be  God,  would  you  then,  Mr.  Rich,  say  that  God  should  not  be  God?'  'No,'  said 
he,  '  since  no  Parliament  may  make  such  a  law,  no  more  (as  Mr.  Rich  reported  Sir  Thomas, 
should  sav.  but  yet  he  made  no  such  inference  as  he  avoucheth  after  to  Mr.  Rich's  face)  could 
the  Parliament  make  the  King  supreme  head  of  the  Church.' "  The  mean-spirited  Rich  reported 
the  conversation,  and  upon  it  a  charge  of  treason  was  constructed,  leading  ultimately  to- 
More's  execution  upon  Tower  Hill. 

The  records  of  Sir  Richard  Rich's  Speakership  exhibit  him  in  quite  as  unfavourable  a  light 
as  might  be  anticipated  from  his  treacherous  conduct  towards  More.  Soon  after  he  was 
appointed  in  1537,  the  King  visited 
the  House  of  Lords  to  pass  bills  that 
were  awaiting  the  Royal  assent.  Rich 
took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to 
deliver  a  fawning  speech  in  which  he 
likened  the  King  to  the  sun,  •'  for  as 
the  sun,"  said  he,  "  expels  all  the 
noxious  vapours  which  would  otherwise 
be  hurtful  to  us,  and  by  its  heat 
cherishes  and  brings  forth  those  seeds, 
plants,  and  fruits  necessary  for  the 
support  of  human  life,  so  this  our 
most  excellent  Prince  takes  away  by 
his  prudence  all  those  enormities 
which  may  hereafter  be  anyways  hurt- 
ful to  us  and  our  posterity,  and  takes 
care  to  enact  such  laws  as  will  be  a 
defence  to  the  good  and  a  great 
terror  to  evil-doers."  The  man,  no 
doubt,  was  a  mere  creature  of  the 
King,  and  maintained  himself  in 
power  bv  pandering  to  his  vicious 
and  tyrannical  propensities. 

\Vcll  worthy  to  be  bracketed  with 
Rich  is  his  immediate  successor,  Sir 
Nicholas  Hare.  This  Speaker  presided 
over  the  historic  Parliament  which  met 


SIR  KOBEBT   BELL, 
Who  succeeded  Sir  Christopher  Wray  .is  Speaker  in  1572. 


336 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE  SPEAKER'S  COCKTYABD,   KHOM    THK   MH'TH-WKST. 

HM  rim  to  iDUmtlacM  iflbrdlng  »  gllmpM  or  the  .urmundingi  of  the 
t't  lutd«OM  to  tk«  uld  Palace  of  Wottmimwr. 


rin  154(»   to  lend    its  sanction  to  the  despotic 
decrees   of   Henry  VIII.     During   the   session 
~~  about   seventy  Acts   received   tin-    l;.i\al  a-scnt, 

^^A      some  of  them  of  u  character  which   lias  left  a 
deep  stain  upon  the  legislative  iinnal.-.     A  few 
_  .  -  __       j£*  ^.  example-     inav    !«•     cited.        Resides    a    statute 

providing  for  the    divorce    of   the    King  from 

his    two    wives,    there    Were    Art-    decreeing    the 

burning  at  the  stake  of  any  one  who  should 
presume  to  think  or  obstinately  aftirm  that 
the  Communion  of  the  Bles-ed  Sacrament  in 
lx>th  kinds  is  necessary  for  the  health  of 
man's  soul,  or  that  private  masses  \\.-re  not 
laudable,  or  that  auricular  confession  wa-  not 
expedient  and  necessary.  Mon-trous  a-  the.-e 
enactments  were,  we  find  that  at  the  cl<> 
the  session  the  Speaker,  in  the  mo.-t  naii-rou- 
8tr«iin  of  sycophancy,  "congratulated  the 
kingdom,  and  thought  great  praises  were  due 
to  (iod  for  the  blessing  of  such  a  ruler."  The 
times  must,  indeed,  have  been  out  of  joint 
when  such  things  could  happen;  and  un- 
fortunately they  were  not,  as  far  as  the 
Speakership  is  concerned,  to  change.  When 
"the  English  Bluebeard"  disappeared  from 
the  scene,  and.  after  a  brief  interval  of  light, 

during  which  the  Boy  King  reigned.  Mary,  of  sinister  memory,  ascended  the  throne,  the  degrada- 
tion of  Parliament  was  intensified,  if  possible.  The  lowest  depth  was  reached  in  1554-5,  when  the 
two  Hoii-e-,  after  repealing  all  the  laws  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Kdward  VI.  relating  to  the  Reforma- 
tion, at  the  clo-e  of  the  Parliament  went  in  solemn  procession  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  to  return 
thank-  for  their  "conversion"  to  the  Catholic  Church.  Ninety  crosses  were  borne  in  the 
procession.  jn  which  figured  a  hundred  and  sixteen  priests  in  full  vestments.  Bishop  J'onner 
carried  the  pyx  under  a  splendid  canopy,  and  with  him  were  seven  other  bishops.  Behind 
walked  the  HOUM-  of  I»rd>.  and  then  the  House  of  Commons,  with  its  Speaker  (Clement 
Httgham)  and  the  mace.  Mass  was  celebrated  in  the  Cathedral  with  all  the  pomp  of  the 
Roman  ritual  as  a  final  act  of  solemnity  to  impress  the  populace  with  the  reality  of  the 
change.  Vet  only  a  few  years  passed  away  before  the  old  laws  were  re-established  and  the 
Hi-formation  wa.s  in  full  blast  again,  with  Parliament  as  its  sturdiest  defenders.  The  Speakers 
of  those  di-tracted  times  must  not,  perhaps,  be  blamed  too  severely  for  their  share  in  the 
transaction-  which  now  seem  so  contemptible.  They  were  the  products  of  a  day  when  inde- 
pendence of  work  or  thought  was  a  heinous  crime,  and  the  noblest  were  either  sycophants  or 
fanatic-. 

The  KlizalH-than  Shakers  were  too  deeply  imbued  with  the  old  bad  traditions  to  do  much 
to  elevate  the  office.  In  the  main  they  were  quite  undistinguished,  and  have  left  behind 
them  little  but  their  names  and  a  monotonous  succession  of  truckling  speeches  in  praise  of 
Koyalty  or  in  insincere  depreciation  of  themselves.  One  Speaker  who,  however.  mu>t  not  be 
paned  over  without  social  mention  is  Hiehard  Onslow — the  bearer  of  a  name  subsequently 
to  become  famous  in  the  history  of  the  Chair.  It  is  curious  that  this  individual  was 
e|e<ted  aifain-t  his  will— or  ]terlmps  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  he  was  appointed 
in  defiance  of  his  expie--ed  wish  to  In-  pas.<ed  over.  The  question  of  his  selection  wa.s  settled 
by  a  divi-ion.  the  fir.-t.  it  is  believed,  in  the  history  of  the  Speakership.  Kighty-two  votes  were 
cant  in  favour  of  overriding  his  refusal,  and  seventy  against.  The  diffidence  shown  by  Onslow 


5.    o 


f  S 


•    - 


43 


338 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


wan  to  a  great  extent  justified,  for  his  tenure  of  office  was  by  no  means  remarkable  for  (he- 
ability  displayed  in  the  conduct  of  the  proceedings.  The  Shaker's  name  is  chiefly  a-sociatcd 
with  an  adulatory  speech  delivered  at  the  period  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Parliament.  Elizaheth 
wan  »o  well  satisfied  with  this  that  she  deigned  to  supplement  the  I/.rd  Keeper's  customary 
harangue  with  a  s|>eech  of  her  own  "as  a  periphrasis,"  for  though  she  had  "not  been  used 
nor  loved  to  -peak  in  ojx'n  assemblies,"  yet  she  on  this  occasion  broke  the  rule  of  silence. 
"remembering  that  commonly  Prince*'  own  words  be  better  printed  in  the  hearer's  memory 
than  those  s|M>ken  by  their  command." 

Kichard  Onslow  was  succeeded  by  a  number  of  very  worthy  men  who  made  admirable 
courtiers,  but  were  not  eminent  in  any  other  character.  One  who  may  be  singled  out  for  mention 
for  ]HT#nnal  reasons  is  Sir  John  Poplmm,  who  was  Speaker  in  1581,  the  twenty-third  year  of 
Elizalieth's  reign.  This  worthy  had  climbed  to  the  Chair  under  ro:nantic  circumstances.  When 
quite  young  he  was  kidnapjx'd  from  his  parents  by  a  band  of  gypsies,  and  by  them  held  for 
some  years,  when  circumstances  led  to  his  restoration  to  his  home.  In  consequence,  it  is 
sup|Mised  by  his  biographers,  of  his  vagabond  life,  he  was  as  a  young  man  noted  for  his  reckless 
and  dissijHtted  habits.  Ultimately,  through  the  influence  of  his  wife,  he  reformed,  studied  for 
the  law,  became  a  member  of  Parliament  in  1572,  and,  as  already  noted,  was  elected  Speaker 
in  1581.  Another  occupant  of  the  Chair  of  the  Elizabethan  period  who  should  be  particularised 
is  Sir  John  Puckering,  who  was  installed  in  November,  1585.  It  iell  to  the  lot  of  this 
Sjx-aker  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  the  proceedings  which  led  to  the  execution  of  .Man 
Queen  of  Scots.  Selected  to  present  to  Elizabeth  the  petition  of  Parliament  that  the  unfortunate 
Queen  should  be  consigned  to  the  scaffold,  Puckering  discharge;!  his  mission  by  making  a. 
sjieech  conceived  in  an  implacable  spirit.  Elizabeth,  with  a  sincerity  which  may  reasonably 
be  doubted,  manifested  a  reluctance  to  accept  the  advice  tendered,  and  requested  that  there 
should  be  found  "a  more  pleasing  expedient  whereby  both  the  Queen  of  Scots'  life  mav  be 
s|iared  and  my  security  provided  for."  The  Commons  declined  to  alter  their  decision,  where- 
ii|ton  Elizabeth  replied  in  a  speech  which  was 
a  masterpiece  of  Jesuitical  refinement.  "If," 
she  observed,  "  I  shall  say  unto  you  I  mean 
not  to  grant  your  |>etition,  by  my  faith  I  should 
say  unto  you  more  than,  perhaps,  I  mean. 
And  if  I  said  unto  you  I  mean  to  grant 
your  jietition,  I  should  then  tell  you  more 
than  is  fit  for  you  to  know.  And  thus  I  must 
deliver  you  an  answer  answerless."  Parlia- 
ment, with  a  shrewd  appreciation  of  the  Queen's 
real  sentiments,  declined  to  be  put  off  in  this 
way,  and  ja-rsisted  in  asking  for  the  carrying 
out  of  the  sentence,  urging  that  "as  it  were 
injustice  to  deny  execution  of  the  law  to  any 
one  of  her  subjects  that  should  demand  it,  so 
much  more  were  it  so  to  the  whole  body  of 
her  people  of  England  unanimously  and  with 
one  voice  humbly  and  instantly  suing  for 
the  rame."  Kli/a!>eth'>  scruples,  genuine  or 
assumed,  as  is  well  known,  were  finally  over- 
come. Mary  Queen  of  Scots  died  the  traitor's 
death.  Partly,  perhaps,  for  his  zeal  shown  in 
this  case,  Puckering  secured  the  Ix>rd  Chan- 
cellorship, and  distinguished  himself  in  that 
office  by  his  devotion  to  the  Protestant  cause.  ""•  *™**™'*  ""  HTYAKI,,  FHO.M  •,„.:  SOOTH-BAST. 
A  favourite  maxim  of  his  was  that  "he  that  Anoth«r  back  Ticw  of  th<  %£££?***  "  U"  °W  **"*  °' 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


339 


SIB   EDWAKD  COKE, 
Speaker  in  1592,  one  of  the  ablest  men  who  ever  filled  the  Chair. 


is   thoroughly   Popish    cannot   but    be   a 
trayter." 

It  fell  to  Puckering's  lot  while  hold- 
ing the  Great  Seal  to  assist  at  the  installa- 
tion in  the  Chair  of  Sir  Edward  Coke, 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  men 
who  have  filled  the  office.  The  period 
of  Coke's  Speakership  was,  on  the  whole, 
the  least  creditable  portion  of  his  career. 
As  we  have  shown  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  he  strengthened  if  anything  the 
degrading  traditions  which  had  grown  up 
about  the  Chair.  Of  his  ingenuity  in 
hyperbole  we  have  some  amusing  speci- 
mens in  the  pages  of  D'Ewes.  Thus, 
in  a  speech  at  the  close  of  the  session, 
Coke,  addressing  the  Queen,  compared 
Parliament  to  "  that  sweet  commonwealth 
of  little  bees."  Her  Majesty  was  the 
queen  bee,  and  they  lived  under  the  pro- 
tection of  her  wings.  "  Under  your  happy 
government  we  live  upon  honey ;  but 
where  the  bee  sucketh  honey  there  also 
the  spider  draweth  poison.  Some  such 
venoms  there  be ;  but  such  drones  and 
door  bees  we  will  expel  the  hive  and 
serve  your  Majesty,  and  withstand  any 

enemy  that  shall  assault  you.  Our  lands,  our  goods,  our  lives,  are  prostrate  at  your  feet  to  be 
commanded."  High  as  is  the  flight  here  taken,  it  did  not  carry  the  orator  quite  so  far  as 
the  eloquence  of  Sir  Edward  Philips,  the  Speaker  of  the  first  Parliament  of  James  I.,  carried 
him.  It  must  be  read  in  full  to  adequately  appreciate  its  supreme  qualities ;  but  a  few 
passages  may  suffice  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  spirit  of  the  whole.  Commencing  his  discourse, 
this  worthy  said  :  "  Most  renowned  and  of  all  others  most  worthy  to  be  admired  Sovereign,  as 
the  supreme  and  all-powerful  King  of  Heaven  hath  created  man  to  govern  His  works,  so  did 
He  depute  terrestrial  beings  in  whom  His  image  was  to  govern  man,  but  yet  so  as  still  to 
think  that  they  were  but  men."  Afterwards  proceeding  to  speak  of  himself,  he  dwelt  with 
pompous  magnificence  of  diction  upon  the  position  he  was  called  upon  to  fill.  "This  great 
and  important  public  service  requireth  to  be  managed  by  the  absolute  perfection  of  experience, 
the  mother  of  prudence;  by  the  profoundness  of  literature,  the  father  of  true  judgment;  and 
by  the  fulness  and  grace  of  Nature's  gifts,  which  are  the  beauty  and  ornament  of  arts  and 
actions;  from  the  virtues  of  all  and  every  whereof  I  am  so  far  estranged,  that  not  tasting  of 
Parnassus'  springs  at  all,  nor  of  that  honey  left  upon  the  lips  of  Plato  and  Pindarus  by  the 
bees,  birds  of  the  Muses,  I  remain  untouched  with  the  contrary,  and  thereby  am  disabled 
to  undergo  the  weight  of  so  heavy  a  burthen,  under  which  I  do  already  groan,  and  shall  both 
faint  and  fail  if  not  by  your  justice  disburdened,  or  by  your  clemency  commiserate."  Here, 
fortunately,  we  touch  the  topmost  summit— or  more  properly,  perhaps,  plumb  the  very  lowest 
depth — of  the  rhetorical  insincerities  which  so  long  marked  the  utterances  of  the  occupants 
of  the  Chair.  The  fashion  gradually  went  out,  and  with  the  introduction  of  higher  ideals 
of  dignity  the  Speakership  gained  in  strength. 

A  worthy  pioneer  of  the  new  school  was  Sir  John  Glanville,  who  is  described  by  Clarendon 
as  a  man  "very  equal  to  the  work,  very  well  acquainted  with  the  proceedings  in  Parliament, 
of  a  quick  conception,  and  of  a  ready  and  voluble  expression."  His  personal  qualities  are 


340 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


attractively  illiMr.it. -.1  by  BH  interesting  story  told  of  his  dealings  with  his  elder  brother, 
Sir  Fraud*  Glanville.  This  individual  by  his  dissipated  h.ihit>  s.»  brought  di>grace  n\*>n 
lib  fninilv  that  his  father  out  him  off  with  the  proverbial  shilling.  When  the  will 
disinheriting  him  wan  rend.  Sir  Frauds  Glnnville  was  overwhelmed  with  shame  ami  remorse, 
and  forthwith  resolved  to  lead  a  better  life.  Retiring  from  society,  he  commenced  an 
honourable  and  useful  career,  and  in  time  became  quite  an  altered  man.  His  In-other,  the 
S|>eaker,  observing  the  change,  invited  the  reformed  prodigal  to  a  sumptuous  banquet,  at 
which  many  distinguished  friends  of  the  family  wen-  al><>  guests.  When  the  least  hail 
proceeded  some  time,  a  dish  was  set  before  Sir  Francis  (Jlanville.  and  he  was  invited  by  the 
hot  to  help  himself  to  the  contents.  Removing  the  lid,  the  knight  found  a  bundle  of  papers, 
which  on  examination  proved  to  be  the  title-deeds  of  an  imj«>rtant  section  of  the  anccMral 
estates,  with  a  conveyance  of  the  property  to  himself  in  due  legal  form.  A  veil  may  be  drawn 
over  the  scene  that  followed;  but  it  should  be  said  that  this  pleasing  incident,  so  eloquent  of 
a  generous  and  high-minded  dis]xiMiion,  did  much  to  raise  Sir  John  Glanville  in  the  estimation 
of  his  fellows.  As  a  Speaker  he  showed  himself  a  man  of  great  judgment  and  discernment. 
His  speeches  were  eloquent  without  the  insincerity  which  had  long  marked  the  utterances  from 
the  Chair;  and  generally  he  set  an  example  of  dignity  which  was  not  lost  upon  his  immediate 
Micccssors.  Though  not  in  any  >ense  a  great  man,  his  memory  deserves  a  warm  corner  in  the 
Parliamentarian's  heart  as  that  of  one  of  the  most  honourable  and  high-minded  members 
who  were  ever  called  to  preside  over  the  destinies  of  the  popular  chamber. 

William  Lent  hall,  who  was  Glanville's  successor,  was  a  Speaker  of  a  very  different  type. 
Ili.-tory  differs  as  to  the  interpretation  to  be  put  upon  some  of  his  actions,  but  there  is  a 
general  agreement  amongst  writers  that  he  was  lacking  in  fibre  and  to  a  certain  extent  in 
principle.  The  one  great  episode  in  his  career,  his  vindication  of  Parliamentary  privilege  in 

the  memorable  answer  he  gave  to  Charles 
I.  when  he  went  to  the  House  of  Commons 
to  arrest  the  five  members,  was  belittled 
by  subsequent  acts  of  indecision  and 
time-serving.  Nothing  can  quite  wipe 
out  the  stain  of  the  degrading  scene 
which  was  witnessed  in  the  Hon>e  of 
Commons  in  1647,  when  tin-  army  and  the 
Parliament  having  fallen  out,  a  mob  of 
Presbyterian  apprentices  broke  in  upon 
the  affrighted  assembly  and  compelled 
it  to  pass  resolutions  rescinding  votes 
already  agreed  upon.  Lenthall's  part  in 
the  business  was  little  to  his  credit. 
Even  after  he  had  lent  his  sanction  to 
the  miserable  farce  and  was  making  his 
way  out  through  the  Lobby,  he  permitted 
himself  to  be  dragged  back  to  the  Chair 
by  the  rioters  to  put  a  vote  in  favour  of 
the  King's  being  brought  to  I^ondon. 
The  distracted  state  of  the  country  at 
the  time  may  be  held  to  be  some  excuse 
for  the  weakness  shown  in  the  circum- 
stances. Still,  something  more  was  ex- 
pected of  a  Speaker  even  under  duress 
than  a  participation  in  a  heinous  infringe- 
ment of  the  rights  of  the  House,  followed 
by  an  undignified  scuffle  from  Palace  Yard 


-n.lKKII    \YII.I.1A.M    I.KNTIIALL, 


A  gnat  flgnra  of  the  Omnninnowlth  peri'xi.     A»  SgmUur  he  jrat  the  qnution 
for  the  trial  of  Charlw  I. 


LENTHALL   BEING  CARRIED   BACK   TO   THK  CHAIR  BY  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   APPRENTICES. 
A  degrading  episode  in  LenthaH'a  career  which  has  brought  upon  his  memory  much  obloquy. 

341 


342 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


KXTKAXCK  FROM    XKW   PALACK    YARD    TO    TIIK    CFBAKJEB8 
COUKTYARII    IN   THE  OLD  PALACE  OF   WKSTJ11XSTEU 


in  a  strange  carriage  to  escape  tin-  further 
unwelcome  attentions  of  the  mob.1  Nor  does 
his  subsequent  conduct  remove  the.  impression 
which  this  .episode  gives  of  his  character. 
On  another  occasion  when  he  wished  to  avoid 
an  inconvenient  attendance  at  the  House,  he 
pleaded  a  desire  to  prepare  liiniM-lf  for  the 
Sacrament  as  an  excuse  for  absence.  II'- 
accepted  £6,000  as  a  gift  from  Parliament 
after  his  speech  to  the  King,  and,  what  is  far 
more  to  his  discredit,  jiocketed  a  douceur  of 
£50  for  his  good  offices  in  promoting  a  petition. 
Furthermore,  he  received  with  alacrity  from 
Cromwell  one  of  those  singular  patents  of 
nobility  which  the  Protector,  with  a  tru-- 
appreciation  of  human  weakness,  distributed 
amongst  his  subservient  following.  Finally. 
when  unmistakable  signs  told  him  that  th^ 
tide  had  turned  against  the  Commonwealth, 
he  trimmed  his  sails  so  as  to  bike  the 
greatest  advantage  of  it.  We  have  in  the 
records  of  the  days  which  preceded  tin- 
Restoration  an  interesting  picture  of  him 
standing  in  his  gown  at  the  gate  of  hi-* 
residence  (the  Rolls  House)  in  Chancery  Lane 

reviewing  the  troops  prior  to  Monk's  arrival,  making  encouraging  speeches  to  them  and  des- 
]>atching  them  eastwards  with  instructions  to  occupy  the  Tower.  Almost  simultaneously  we  find 
him  in  the  House  of  Commons  violently  opposing  the  bill  brought  in  compelling  all  members 
to  take  an  oath  abjuring  the  House  of  Stuart.  Again,  he  is  seen  offering  an  eloquent  welcome 
to  Monk  on  his  arrival,  and  subsequently  with  him  making  arrangements  for  the  reinstatement 
of  Parliament  on  its  proper  basis.  Energetic,  however,  as  he  showed  himself  in  bringing  about 
the  Rest  oration,  he  could  not  efface  the  impression  of  his  previous  acts  of  antagonism  to  the 
dynasty.  He  was  actually  included  by  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  list  of  persons  exempted 
from  the  Act  of  Indemnity.  It  might  have  gone  badly  with  him  but  for  the  intervention  of 
the  I. '>nl-.  who  modified  the  penalty  by  substituting  for  the  major  ban  a  simple  decree  dis- 
abling him  from  ever  again  holding  public  office.  For  this  small  mercy  he  had  to  be  thankful. 
Even  his  disgraceful  action  in  giving  evidence  as  to  words  spoken  in  the  House  in  the  trials 
of  the  regicides  failed  to  secure  his  rehabilitation.  He  died  unhonoured  and  unlamented  in 
September,  1662.  On  his  dying  bed  he  made  a  confession  of  his  contrition  for  his  share  in 
the  execution  of  Charles  I.  "I  confess  with  Saul,"  he  said,  "I  held  their  clothes  while  they 
murdered  him;  but  herein  I  was  not  so  criminal  as  Saul,  for  I  never  consented  to  his  death. 
No  excuse  can  be  made  for  me,  that  I  proposed  the  bloody  question  for  trying  the  King;  but 
I  hoped  even  then  when  I  put  the  question,  the  very  putting  the  question  would  have  cleared 
him,  because  I  believed  there  were  four  to  one  against  it — Cromwell  and  his  agents  deceived 
me."  I  ..-Hi  hall  is  one  of  the  great  names  in  Parliament,  but  it  is  great  because  of  its 
association  with  memorable  events,  and  not  for  the  qualities  displayed  by  its  owner. 

There  were  several  successors  to  I^enthall  before  Charles  II.  came  into  his  own.  A  singular 
circumstance  is  to  be  noted  in  reference  to  those  who  were  appointed  just  previous  to  the 
Restoration.  After  Cromwell's  death,  his  son  Richard,  acting  on  the  advice  of  his  Council, 

1  Lonlhftll.  describing  the  incident  himself,  nays  that  the  mob  did"jnstle,  pull,  and  kale  the  Speaker  all  the 
wmy  lie  went  down  to  hi*  caroche,  and  force  him  (to  avoid  the  violence)  to  betake  himself  to  the  next  caroche  to  escape 
the  violence." 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


343 


resolved  to  call  Parliament  together.  The  Houses  assembled  on  January  27th,  1658,  and  Mr. 
Challoner  Chute  was  chosen  Speaker.  The  "heats  and  tumults"  of  the  House  were  too  much 
for  him.  Within  a  very  brief  period  he  became  indisposed,  and  Sir  Lilleborne  Long  was 
elected  in  his  place.  Again  the  choice  was  unfortunate,  for  in  a  short  time  the  new  Speaker 
sickened  and  died.  Then  Mr.  Bamfield  was  appointed  pro  tempore.  He  had  hardly  been 
nominated  when  Mr.  Chute  died.  The  House  by  this  time  thought  it  had  had  enough  of 
electing  Speakers,  so  it  left  Mr.  Bamfield  in  undisturbed  possession  of  the  Chair. 

The  period  of  military  ascendency  which  accompanied  the  Restoration  was  one  of  degrada- 
tion for  the  Chair.  A  turbulent  element  was  imparted  with  the  colonels  who  filled  the 
benches,  and  scenes  of  disorder  were  frequent.  Burton,  in  his  "Diary,"  gives  some  amusing 
examples  of  the  scant  respect  shown  to  the  Speaker  in  those  days.  The  occupant  of  the  Chair 
was  openly  flouted  and  laughed  at,  and  once  when,  after  much  provocation,  he  attempted  to 
assert  his  authority,  he  was  told  that  he  behaved  himself  "like  a  Busby1  among  so  many 
schoolboys,  and  takes  a  little  too  much  on  him,  but  grandly."  Edward  Seymour,  who  was  first 
elected  Speaker  in  1673,  redeemed  the  Chair  from  the  humiliating  position  to  which  it  was 
brought  by  the  weakness  of  the  earlier  Restoration  Speakers.  Haughty  in  spirit,  with  a  keen 
sense  of  what  was  due  to  him  as  a  descendant  of  the  Protector  Somerset,  he  by  sheer  force 
of  character  reduced  the  factious  assembly  to  order.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to 
his  action  on  one  occasion  in  quelling  a  dangerous  disturbance  while  the  House  was  in 
Committee  by  resuming  the  Chair,  and  compelling  excited  members  to  give  pledges  for  their 
good  behaviour.  But  this,  though  a  conspicuous  illustration  of  the  masterfulness  of  his 
disposition,  is  only  one  of  many  episodes  in  which  he  figured  as  the  autocrat  of  the  popular 
assembly.  Once  he  ordered  an  eminent  lawyer  of  the  day  into  the  custody  of  the  Sergeant- 
at-Arms  because  he  showed  no  respect  as  the  Speaker's  procession  passed  through  Westminster 
Hall.  An  even  more  remarkable  assertion  of  his  dignity  is  to  be  found  in  a  story  which  Lord 
Dartmouth,  a  contemporary,  relates:  "On 
one  occasion,  in  passing  through  Charing  Cross, 
his  (the  Speaker's)  carriage  broke  down,  and 
he  ordered  the  beadles  to  stop  the  next 
gentleman's  they  met  and  bring  it  to  him. 
The  gentleman  in  it  was  much  surprised  to 
be  turned  out  of  his  own  coach,  but  Sir 
Edward  told  him  it  was  more  proper  for 
him  to  walk  in  the  streets  than  the  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  left  him  so 
to  do  without  any  further  apology." 

Pride,  however,  sometimes  has  a  fall.  It 
had  in  Seymour's  case.  One  day  a  petition 
was  put  into  his  hands  by  a  waggish 
member.  Unfolding  it  and  adjusting  his 
spectacles  with  his  accustomed  gravity,  he 
began  to  read :  " '  The  humble  pet  ition  of 
Oliver  Cromwell—  •'  The  devil ! "  he  ejacu- 
lated. "The  laughter  was  so  loud  and  long," 
says  the  narrator,  "that,  throwing  down  the 
paper,  the  old  man  fled  from  the  House  in 
his  wrath.7'  It  should  in  justice  to  Seymour 
be  said  that  his  bearing  towards  Royalty 
was  quite  as  haughty  as  it  was  towards  lesser 
mortals.  On  an  historic  occasion  a  message 
being  brought  from  the  House  of  Lords  that 

1  Dr.  Busby,  the  famous  headmaster  of  Westminster  School. 


SPEAKER  I'llAXCIS    KOUS, 

An  eminent  Parliamentarian,  who  presided  over  Cromwell's  Convention 
Parliament  in  1653. 


344 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


tin-  King  was  on  the  throne  awaiting  his  pre-eiice  to  hear  the  prorogation  of  Parliament. 
he  refu-ed  to  stir  until  the  Hill  of  Supply  had  been  brought  from  the  House  of  Lords 
according  to  precedent,  and  when  again  warned,  he  declared  that  lie  would  be  torn  by  wild 
;.,.i-.->  sooner  than  «|uit  the  Chair.  lli>  persistency  carried  the  day.  The  hill  was  sent  down 
and  the  rights  of  the  popular  rhainU-r  were  vindicated.  Hut  the  incident  was  not  allowed  to 
he  overlooki-d  when  the  time  came  for  Seymour  to  seek  re-election.  The  King,  on  being  asked 
to  give  his  sanction  to  the  a|i|M.intincnt,  flatly  refused,  and  in  the  end  the  Commons  had  to 
make  a  frvsh  choice.  At  a  subsequent  period  Seymour  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  an 
ini]H-:ichment.  one  of  the  counts  in  the  indictment  against  him  being  that  he  had  received 
exorbitant  pensions  as  Shaker.  It  was  a  corrupt  age,  and  high-minded,  or  at  least  high- 
stomached,  as  Seymour  was.  he  was  not  altogether  exempt  from  the  common  weakness  of 

desiring  to  enrich  himself  through  his  public  position. 

For  thorough-paced  unblushing  venality,  however, 
we  must  refer  to  the  career  of  Sir  John  Trevor,  who 
was  the  first  Speaker  after  the  accession  of  \Villiam  III. 
Trevor  was,  perhaps,  as  ill  favoured  physically  as  any 
member  who  ever  sat  in  the  Speaker's  Chair.  Of 
ungainly  figure,  and  with  a  lowering  countenance  which 
was  made  more  repellent  by  a  villainous  squint,  he 
created  a  most  unfavourable  impression  on  all  who  saw 
him.  The  feeling  of  repulsion  was  justified.  When 
he  had  been  five  years  in  the  Chair  whispers  went  about 
that  he  had  what  the  law  terms  an  "illicit  gratifica- 
tion "  from  the  City  of  London  in  respect  of  a  bill 
before  the  House  relative  to  the  orphans  committed 
to  the  care  of  that  body,  and  had  in  addition  taken 
a  similarly  unholy  payment  from  the  East  India 
Company  for  his  good  offices  in  respect  of  some  legis- 
lation in  which  they  were  interested.  With  a  righteous 
desire  to  ascertain  the  truth,  the  House  of  Commons 
appointed  a  Committee,  with  Mr.  Patrick  Foley  as  chair- 
main,  to  probe  the  matter  to  the  bottom.  In  the  result 
the  allegations  were  proved  up  to  the  hilt.  There  was 
actually  an  official  entry  of  Trevors  shame  on  the  cor- 
porate records:  "That  .Mr.  Chamberlain  do  pay  to  the 
Hon.  Sir  John  Trevor,  Knight,  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  the  sum  of  1,000  guineas,  so  soon  as  a  bill 
be  passed  into  an  Act  of  Parliament  for  satisfying  the 
debts  of  the  orphans  and  other  creditors  of  the  said  City." 
An  endorsement  on  the  back  of  the  order  set  forth  that 
"the  within-mentioned  1,000  guineas  were  delivered  and 
paid  unto  the  Hon.  Sir  John  Trevor  this  22nd  June, 
1694,  in  the  presence  of  Sir  Robert  Clayton  and  Sir 
James  Houblon,  which  at  22s.  exchange  comes  to  i'1,100." 
The  bribe  from  the  East  India  Company  was  equally 
well  authenticated.  Thus  there  was  no  alternative  but 
for  the  House  to  proceed  to  vindicate  its  honour.  A 
resolution  to  the  following  effect  was  drafted :  "  That 
Sir  John  Trevor,  Speaker  of  this  House,  receiving  a 
gratuity  of  1,000  guineas  from  the  City  of  London,  after 
passing  of  the  Orphans  Bill,  is  guilty  of  a  high  crime 
and  misdemeanour."  Extraordinary  though  it  may  seem 


BUST  OK   (H.IVI.II  CKOMUL 


Tke  gift  of  Mr.  Wertheimer.     A  line  effigy  of  the  Pro- 
tector, re|raud  to  l»  the  work  of  Utrnlnl. 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


345 


to  our  modern  way  of  look- 
ing at  things,  it  devolved 
upon  Sir  John  Trevor  himself 
to  put  this  denunciation  of  his 
guilty  conduct  to  the  House. 
Shame  would  have  over- 
whelmed a  less  sensitive  man, 
but  Trevor  was  not  con- 
stituted that  way,  though  it 
was  with  blanched  cheek  and 
quivering  lip  that  he  put  the 
fatal  question.  There  was  a 
roar  of  '•  Ayes,"  and  almost 
complete  silence  when  the 
"  Noes"  were  called.  Slipping 
out  of  his  seat,  Trevor  made 
for  his  home,  there  to  hide 
his  face  from  the  public  gaze. 
When  the  next  day  came 
round,  and  the  House  awaited 
with  eager  expectancy  his 
advent,  a  note  was  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  Clerk.  It 
was  to  the  following  effect  :  — 

"  GENTLEMEN, — 

'•  I  did  intend  to 
have  waited  on  you  this  morn- 
ing ;  but,  after  I  was  up,  I 
wan  taken  suddenly  ill  with  a 
violent  cholic.  I  hope  to  be 
in  a  condition  of  attending 


From  the  painting  by  Sir  Peter  Ldy  in  the  Rational  Portrait  Gallciy. 

GEORGE   HONK,    DUKE  OF  ALBEMARLE, 
Whose  historic  declaration  for  a  Free  Parliament  lod  directly  to  the  Restcratior-. 


you  to-morrow  morning.     In  the  meantime,  I  desire  you  will  be  pleased  to  excuse  my  attendance. 
"I  am,  with  all  duty,  gentlemen, 

"  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"J.  TREVOR,  Speaker." 

Anxious  to  avoid  even  the  appearance  of  hasty  action,  the  House  adjourned  until  the  next 
day.  Then  another  letter  was  forthcoming  from  Trevor  intimating  that  his  illness  still 
prevented  his  attendance.  Upon  receipt  of  this,  the  House  decided  to  act  in  the  only  possible 
way  by  expelling  Trevor  from  the  office  he  had  dishonoured,  and  electing  in  his  place  a  new 
Speaker.  The  King  put  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  vindication  of  the  House's  good  name  ; 
but  he  showed  a  little  too  much  anxiety  to  secure  the  election  of  Sir  Thomas  Littleton,  a 
worthy  country  gentleman,  to  suit  the  independent  spirit  of  the  times.  When  the  Comptroller 
of  the  Household  rose  in  his  place  and  expressed  his  desire  to  "  nominate "  Sir  Thomas 
Littleton,  members  flared  up,  and  the  opinion  was  plainly  expressed  "that  it  was  contrary  to 
the  undoubted  right  of  the  House  of  choosing  their  own  speaker,  to  have  any  person  who 
brought  a  message  from  the  King  to  nominate  one  to  them."  To  place  the  matter  beyond 
dispute,  Mr.  Paul  Foley  was  put  up  in  opposition,  and  on  a  division  the  Court  nominee  was 
rejected  by  179  votes  to  146.  Thereafter  Mr.  Foley  was  elected  to  the  Chair  unanimously, 
the  choice  of  the  House  being  subsequently  ratified  by  Lord  Keeper  Somers  on  behalf  of  the 
King.  The  Speaker  distinguished  himself  during  his  term  of  office  by  his  vigorous  intervention 

44 


346 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


in  the  debate*  in  opjw-ition  to  the  measures  of  the  King,  particularly  those  relative  to  the 
army.  Tin*  action,  so  opjiosed  to  nil  modern  notions  of  the  duties  of  the  Chair,  appears  to 
have  commended  him  to  the  House  rather  than  not,  for  when  a  new  Parliament  was  summoned 
in  1695  he  was  re-elected  without  challenge,  and  continued  to  serve  until  IG'JS.  when  his  old 
rival.  Sir  Thomas  Littleton,  was  apjiointed. 

Trevor,  meanwhile,  though  disgraced,  was  far  from  being  ruined.  He  octunllv  had  the 
effrontery  to  contemplate  re-entering  Parliament  at  the  general  election  of  Ifi'JS,  and  was  only 
prevented  from  submitting  himself  to  the  electors  by  the  express  commands  of  the  King,  who 
gave  as  a  reason  for  the  prohibition  that  his  re-admission  might  lead  to  "  ineonvenii-ni'e." 
through  the  revival  of  the  old  scandal.  William  III.  was  not  jmrticularlv  shocked  at  the 
corruption  of  the  ex-Speaker.  The  man's  crime  in  his  eyes  was  that  he  had  been  found  out. 
In  thus  regarding  the  incident,  he  only  reflected  the  popular  sentiment  of  that  lax  time,  which 
turned  the  whole  scandal  into  a  jest,  and,  in  allusion  to  Trevor's  physical  defect,  sjioke  of 


.'  'i  iltVtftny  M<I" 

VIEW   OF  THE   PARLIAMENTARY    Bl'ILI)IN<;s   AND   SI'KAKKIt's    1I<U>K. 
The  fnfannew  of  the  old  buildingu  compared  with  the  magnificence  of  the  present  Houses  of  Parliament  will  be  noted. 

.In-tice  being  blind,  while  Bribery  only  squinted.  That  the  feeling  of  indignation  could  not 
have  been  very  deep  is  conclusively  proved  by  the  fact  that  Trevor  was  permitted  to  retain 
his  judicial  office  of  Master  of  the  Kolls,  and  by  the  further  circumstance  that  lie  was  one  of 
the  eight  Commoners  elected  to  the  first  Privy  Council.  It  has  Keen  left  to  posterity  to 
pronounce  upon  him  the  sweeping  condemnation  of  being  the  most  disgraceful  figure  who  ever 
occupied  the  Sjieaker's  Chair. 

It  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  the  degrading  associations  of  this  late  seventeenth-century  period 
tii  the  em  which  followed,  in  which  the  honoured  name  of  Onslow  conferred  lustre  on  the 
splendid  office  with  which  we  are  dealing.  First  to  be  noted,  though  second  of  the  famous 
line  of  Speakers,  is  Sir  Richard  Onslow.  who  was  voted  to  the  Chair  in  1708.  A  hot-tempered. 
somewhat  vain,  man,  known  to  his  intimates  as  "Stiff  Dick,"  he  showed  himself  during  his 
Sjieakership  a  great  stickler  for  forms.  One  story,  illustrative  of  this  side  of  his  character,  is 
told  by  Sir  Arthur  Onslow,  his  eminent  relative  and  successor  in  office.  According  to  this 
authority,  "When  Sir  Richard  Onslow  went  up  with  the  House  to  demand  judgment  against 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


347 


Dr.  Sacheverell,  as  the  Mace  was  going  into  the  House  of  Lords  before  the  Speaker,  the  Black 
Rod  endeavoured  to  hinder  it  by  putting  his  black  rod  across  the  door  ;  on  which  the  Speaker 
said  :  '  If  he  did  not  immediately  take  away  the  black  rod,  he  would  return  to  the  House  of 
Commons.'  The  Black  Eod  asked  him  to  stay  a  little  and  he  would  acquaint  the  Lords. 
The  door  was  shut  down,  and  Mr.  Speaker  and  the  House  stood  without.  After  a  little 
time  the  door  was  opened,  and  Mr.  Speaker  with  the  Mace  went  in.  As  Mr.  Speaker  was 
going  to  the  Bar,  the  Black  Eod  attempted  to  interpose  himself  between  the  Speaker  and  the 
Mace,  upon  which  the  Speaker  said  aloud  :  '  My  Lords,  if  you  do  not  immediately  order  your 
Black  Eod  to  go  away,  I  will  immediately  return  to  the  House  of  Commons.'  Then  Lord 
Chancellor  Cowper  directed  the  Black  Eod  to  go  from  thence.  Then  Mr.  Speaker  with  the  Mace 
went  up  to  the  Bar.  The  Black  Eod  was  then  ordered  to  bring  the  prisoner,  and  the  Black  Eod 
was  going  to  put  him  on  the  right  hand  of  Mr.  Speaker,  who  upon  that  said  :  '  If  you  do  not 
order  the  Black  Eod  to  go  with  the  prisoner  on  the  left  hand  of  me  at  some  distance,  I  will 
return  to  the  House  of  Commons.'  Upon  which  the  Lord  Chancellor  directed  the  Black  Eod  so 
to  do ;  and  then  Mr.  Speaker  demanded  the  judgment,  and  the  Lord  Chancellor  accordingly 
pronounced  sentence  upon  the  prisoner  kneeling  at  the  Bar."  "  Stiff  Dick's "  sense  of  his 
dignity,  though  perhaps  excessive,  was  not  without  its  value  in  securing  respect  for  the  Chair. 
Markedly  during  his  period  of  office  there  was  a  strengthening  of  the  position  of  the  Speaker 
in  the  House  and  a  growth  in  the  prestige  of  the  office  outside. 

But  it  was  during  the  long  term  of  office,  lasting  over  thirty-three  years  and  extending 
through  five  Parliaments,  of  his  distinguished  nephew,  previously  referred  to,  that  the  Speaker- 
ship  attained  to  its  highest  point  of  eminence.  Sir  Arthur  Onslow  became  Speaker  in  1827, 
five  years  after  his  entrance  to  the  House  as  member  for  Guiklforcl.  He  was  a  man  of  vigorous 
understanding,  imbued  with  liberal  ideas,  and  zealous  in  the  discharge  of  his  public  duties.  In 
the  Chair  he  soon  acquired  a  reputation  for  firmness,  tempered  by  sound  judgment.  His  decisions 
were  rarely  challenged,  and  on  questions  even  outside  his  Parliamentary  duties  his  views 
carried  great  weight.  Throughout  the 
thirty-three  years  he  presided  over  the 
deliberations  of  the  popular  chamber  he 
exercised  almost  despotic  sway.  Yet  such 
was  the  respect  he  secured  by  his  im- 
partiality and  firmness  that  his  re-election 
on  each  of  the  five  occasions  he  was 
presented  for  the  Royal  approbation  was 
carried  with  enthusiasm.  In  common  with 
his  kinsman,  Sir  Richard  Onslow,  he  was 
oxtn-mely  punctilious.  The  respect  due 
to  the  Chair  was  exacted  with  unswerving 
firmness  on  all  occasions,  and  he  was 
quick  to  resent  any  disregard  of  its  decrees. 
"  Naming  a  member "  in  his  period  of 
office  was  a  punishment  which  carried  with 
it  a  subtle  terror  for  the  Parliamentary 
evil-doer.  Invariably  the  process  served 
to  bring  the  delinquent  to  a  sense  of  his 
criminality.  A  familiar  story,  current 
in  Parliamentary  literature,  asserts  that 
Onslow,  once  asked  what  the  consequences 
of  disregarding  a  "  naming "  would  be, 
replied:  "The  Lord  in  heaven  only 
knows  "  ;  but  there  is  reason  to  think  that  SIR  EDWARD  SEYMOUR, 

this     is     a     legend     put     about    by    Some    of         An  eminent  Speaker  noted  for  his  haughty  assertion  of  the  dignity  of  the  Chair 


348 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


his  critics  in  ridicule  of  hi-  over)  lowering 
displays  of  dignity.  Horace  Walpole  tells  a 
storv  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Horace  Mann  in  1758 
which  shows  that  at  lea>t  tliere  was  a  strong 
disjMi-ition  to  extract  fun  from  the  little  weak- 
ne.--.es  of  the  Speaker.  A  debate  wa-  proceed- 
ing in  Committee  in  reference  to  some  new 
taxes.  -Lord  Strange  said:  '[  will  bring 
him  down  from  the  gallery.'  and  proposed 
that  (lie  Speaker  should  lie  exempt  from 
the  place  tax.  He  came  down  and  besought 
not  to  be  exempted.  Lord  Strange  per.-icted; 
so  did  the  Speaker.  After  the  debate.  Lord 
Strange,  going  out.  said:  'Well,  did  I  not 
show  my  dromedary  well?'  I  should  tell 
you  that  one  of  the  fashionable  sights  of 
the  winter  has  been  a  dromedary  and  camel, 
the  proprietor  of  which  has  entertained  tin- 
town  with  a  droll  variety  of  advert  ise- 

8PKAKKK   rli.Mll.I.s    Win. |  HAN    CORNWALL,  inentS." 

Who  occupied  the  Chair  from  1780  to  i;s<>.     He  U  immortalued  in  the  Sir    Arthur  Olislow    may    Well  be    ]Kirdoiied 

for  taking  an  exalted  view  of  his  portion,  and 

of  what  was  due  to  it  from  himself  as  well  as  others,  for  he  thereby  fixed  a  standard  of  rectitude 
and  personal  sacrifice  which  has  ever  since  been  associated  with  the  occupancy  of  the  Chair. 
How.  ajmrt  from  the  impertinent  triflers  of  the  House,  his  splendid  services  to  the  cau-e  of 
coiict  it  ut  ional  government  were  regarded  is  eloquently  shown  by  the  honours  lavished  UJMHI  him 
when,  in  ITtil,  failing  health  compelled  him  to  resign  the  post  he  had  so  long  filled.  The 
Cor) Miration  of  the  City  of  London  presented  him  with  its  freedom  "as  a  grateful  and  lasting 
te.-tiniony  of  the  respectful  love  and  veneration"  which  the  citizens  entertained  "of  the  un- 
wearied and  disinterested  lalxmrs  he  bestowed,  and  the  impartial  and  judicious  conduct  he 
maintained  in  the  execution  of  his  important  office."  More  substantial  recognition  of  the 
Speaker's  cervices  came  from  the  King,  who,  at  the  direct  request  of  the  Commons,  granted 
an  annuity  of  i'3,000  for  the  lives  of  himself  and  his  son  George.  These  grants  were  subse- 
quently settled  by  an  Act  of  Parliament,  which  was  to  supply  a  precedent  for  a  permanent 
-yetein  by  which  the  services  of  Speakers  on  relinquishing  office  were  rewarded  by  a  grateful 
country.  Sir  Arthur  Onslow's  reputation  as  an  interpreter  of  the  rules  of  the  House  survived 
long  after  he  disappeared  from  St.  Stephen's  Chapel.  A  humorous  proof  of  this  is  supplied 
by  an  incident  which  is  related  of  a  debate  a  good  many  years  alter  his  resignation.  Burke 
was  inveighing  with  his  customary  ardour  against  a  motion  to  prevent  the  publication  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  House,  when  he  was  brought  up  by  a  son  of  Sir  Arthur  Onslow.  who 
challenged  his  views,  and  recalled  his  family  connection  with  three-  Speakers  as  a  circumstance 
which  entitled  his  own  arguments  to  weight.  Burke  was  quite  equal  to  the  occasion.  "I  have 
not."  he  said  with  crushing  scorn.  "  the  advantage  of  a  Parliamentary  genealogy.  I  was  not  born, 
like  the  honourable  gentleman,  with  -Order'  running  through  my  veins.  But  as  that  gentle- 
man boasts  of  his  father,  his  son  will  never  boast  of  him.  The  Parliamentary  line  is  cut  off." 
The  spirit  of  sturdy  independence  which  Onslow  assiduously  cultivated  during  his  tenure 
of  office  was  worthily  sustained  by  his  immediate  successors.  Sir  John  Cust  and  Sir  Fletcher 
Norton;  the  latter,  indeed,  if  anything,  improved  upon  the  Onslow  traditions.  He  was 
particularly  resolute  in  his  attitude  towards  the  House  of  I^ords.  Once  when  there  wa-  a 
disturbance  amongst  the  members  he  called  to  the  offenders  ••  with  all  the  softness  of  a  bas-oon, 
4  Pray,  gentlemen,  be  orderly;  you  are  almost  as  bad  as  the  other  House,'"  a  jxmiled  albicion 
to  a  riotous  scene  which  had  occurred  a  short  time  previously  in  connection  with  a  violent 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


349 


dispute  then  proceeding  between  the  two  Houses  as  to  the  right  of  the  Commons  to  be  present 
in  the  Peers'  chamber  during  a  debate.  At  another  time — in  1772 — Burke  having  complained 
with  much  indignation  of  a  detention  of  three  hours'  duration  at  the  door  of  the  House  of 
Lords  with  a  bill  sent  up  from  the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  House  having  in  revenge 
promptly  rejected  a  bill  sent  down  from  the  House  of  Lords,  Norton  tossed  the  measure  across 
the  table  on  to  the  floor,  and,  with  his  tacit  sanction,  the  document  was  literally  kicked  out 
of  the  Legislative  Chamber  by  an  irate  body  of  members.  But  the  most  striking  example  of 
his  lofty  spirit  is  supplied  by  Horace  \Valpole.  The  occasion  was  the  presentation  to  the 
King  in  April,  1777,  of  a  bill  providing  for  the  payment  of  his  Majesty's  debts  and  augmenting 
the  Royal  revenue  by  £100,OCO  a  year.  In  handing  in  the  measure  Norton  made  a  speech 
informing  the  King  that  his  faithful  Commons  "had,  in  a  time  of  public  distress,  full  of 
difficulty  and  danger,  and  labouring  under  burdens  almost  too  heavy  to  be  borne,  granted  him 
a  supply  and  great  additional  revenue,  great  beyond  example,  great  beyond  his  Majesty's 
highest  expense  (he  really  used  the  word  '  wants,'  but  in  his  printed  speech  changed  it  to 
'expense'),  but  hoping  that  what  they  had  contributed  so  liberally  would  be  employed  wisely." 
The  speech  gave  great  umbrage  to  the  King,  and  a  few  days  later,  probably  at  his  instigation, 
reference  was  made  to  it  by  a  member  (Rigby),  who  took  the  Speaker  severely  to  task  for  his 
remarks.  Norton,  in  his  turn,  was  greatly  incensed  at  the  attack.  He  felt  that  his  dignity  was 
outraged  by  a  censure  emanating  from  such  a  quarter,  and  would  probably  have  resigned  had 
not  Rigby,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  Lord  North,  apologised,  and  the  House  passed  a 
resolution  ju>tifying  him  in  the  course  he  had  adopted. 

Though  Norton  was,  as  these  incidents  show,  a  strong  Speaker,  he  was  not  a  discreet  one. 
He  is  exhibited  in  a  conspicuously  unfavourable  light  by  Walpole  in  a  debate  which  took  place 
in  Committee  on  March  13th,  1780,  on  a  question  bearing  upon  the  revenue  of  the  Crown. 
Invited  hv  Charles  Vox  to  give  his  opinion 
on  the  doctrine  of  the  inalienable  character 
of  the  King's  revenue  expounded  by  his  old 
antagonist  Rigby,  the  Speaker,  who  was  in 
the  gallery  at  the  time,  came  down  and  4i  made 
a  warm  and  good  speech  against  the  increased 
influence  of  the  Crown."  Not  content  with 
this.  "  he  broke  out  into  the  most  extravagant 
and  profligate  rhapsody  that  perhaps  was  ever 
heard  in  that  place,  accusing  Lord  North  of 
duplicity,  and  expressing  himself  his  personal 
enemy  on  the  grounds  of  a  story  he  had  the 
impudence  and  absurdity  to  tell  with  as  little 
modesty  in  the  high  estimation  at  which  he 
rated  himself.  He  acquainted  the  House  that 
the  Duke  of  Grafton,  when  Minister,  had 
offered  him  the  posts  of  Chief  Justice  in  Eyre 
and  the  Speakership,  with  a  promise  of  the 
best  place  in  the  law  that  should  become 
vacant,  without  which,  as  he  thought  himself 
at  the  head  of  his  profession,  he  would  not 
quit  his  business.  He  asserted  that  Lord 
North  had  been  privy  to  this  bargain,  and  yet 
had  broken  it  by  offering  a  large  pecuniary 
bribe  to  Lord  Chief  Justice  de  Grey  to  quit 

c  c     nr    jii  »        T         i  /Vow  an  tnfjraciny  after  the  picture  by  Sir  Jiiitrtf  Jiuefjur/l,  Jt.A. 

that  post    in    favour    of   \\  edderburn.       Lord 

XT  j        •      i    x-  )  •  f    il  THE    BIGHT   HON.    HENRY  DUNDAS,   VISCOUNT    MELVILLE, 

North  denied  Norton  s  version  oi  the  transac- 

In  regard  to  whose  imi>eachment  a  memorable  casting  vote  was  given  by 

tion,  and  in  the  end  "the  dialogue  clegener-  speaker  Abbot. 


350 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


nted  into  Billingsgate."  On  a  subsequent  day,  stung  by  the  severe  criticisms  passed  upon  him 
by  the  Press  Norton  offered  a  qualified  aj>ology  to  tin-  Mouse  for  his  indecent  behaviour.  It 
mu  generally  felt,  however,  that  the  outbreak  was  unpardonable  in  a  Speaker,  uud  when,  a 
few  months  later,  Norton  came  up  for  re-election,  -Mr.  Charles  \Volfran  Cornwall  was  put  up 
in  opposition  to  him,  and.  on  a  division,  elected  by  203  votes  to  17(i.  Sir  Fletcher  Norton  was 
subsequently  elevated  to  the  j>eerage  as  ISaron  (irantly. 

The  new  Sjieaker  was  not  a  man  of  juirticular  note  as  a  politician,  and  his  tenure  of  the 
('hair  was  in  harmony  with  his  earlier  career.  His  chief  claim  to  distinction  is  that  he  figures 
in  the  ItoUiad  in  these  lines : — 

There  Cornwall  MI*,  ami.  oh!  unhappy  fate, 
Mn-t   nit  for  ever  through  the  long  debate. 
Painful  pre-eminence !     He  hears,  'tis  true, 
Fox,  North,  and  Rurke — but  hears  Sir  Joseph '  too. 

Following  Mr.  Cornwall  came  two  Speakers.  William  \Vyndham  (irenville  and  Henry  Addington, 
both  of  whom  were  destined  after  quitting  office  to  attain  to  the  highest  position  in  the 
Ministry  of  the  day.*  Grenville's  occupancy  of  the  Chair  was  for  a  very  brief  period,  and 
he  has  left  only  a  slight  mark  on  the  annals  of  the  Speakership.  Addington,  on  the  other 
hand,  served  during  twelve  busy,  eventful  years,  his  connection  only  being  severed  by  his 
elevation  to  the  Premiership.  He  made  a  most  capable  Speaker.  He  was  tactful  and  con- 
ciliatory, and  was  endowed  with  the  requisite  firmness  for  dealing  with  (lie  rather  combustible 
elements  that  went  to  make  up  the  House  of  Commons  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  eenturv. 
The  weakest  and,  for  his  own  reputation,  most  foolish  of  his  acts  was  to  accept  the  King's 
imitation  to  form  an  Administration  on  Pitt's  resignation  over  the  Catholic  question  in  1801. 
Nature  had  not  marked  him  out  for  a  statesman.  At  the  highest  he  was  but  a  respectable 
mediocrity  with  a  talent  for  public  business  and  sound  judgment  of  men.  As  we  have  seen 
in  an  earlier  chapter,  his  failure  as  a  First  Minister  was  complete.  In  fact,  it  may  be  said 

of  him  that  while  he  was  one  of  the  best  of  Speakers, 
he  was  one  of  the  worst  of  Premiers. 

Emerging  into  the  nineteenth  century,  we  reach 
what  we  may  describe  as  the  line  of  modern  Speakers. 
Kir>t  of  this  distinguished  band  was  Sir  John  Free- 
man-Mitford,  who  presided  over  the  first  House  of 
Commons  which  assembled  after  the  Union  with 
Ireland.  He  occupied  the  Chair  only  a  year,  and 
though  the  year  was  one  of  great  political  excite- 
ment, he  did  not  display  any  special  talent  in  tin- 
direction  of  the  affairs  of  the  House.  History  takes 
account  of  him  chiefly  because  he  was  the  first  to  be 
directly  ennobled  for  services  as  Speaker.  He  took 
his  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords  as  Lord  Kedesdale. 
His  successor  as  Speaker  was  .Mr.  Charles  Abbot, 
afterwards  I^onl  Colchester,  who  was  elected  in  1802 
and  held  office  for  fifteen  years.  It  is  always  diffi- 
cult away  from  the  period  in  which  a  Speaker  lived 
to  decide  precisely,  upon  the  position  he  is  entitled 
to  occupy,  as  his  reputation  is  built  up,  not  so  much 
upon  what  he  does  or  says,  as  ujKm  what  he  does  not 


WATEK-GATi:,  Si:W    P.M.ACK 

TIIK 


1   Sir  Joseph   MawU-y,  a  well-known  bore  of  the  period. 

1  Four  Speakers  of  the  House  of  Commons  have  afterwards  occupied  the  position  of  Premier— viz ,  Robert  Harley, 
elected  Speaker  in  17(Xi;  S|*'n<-.r  Compton,  who,  as  Karl  of  Wilmington,  was  First  I.ord  of  the  Treasury  in  1742-3; 
William  Wvndhani  (irenville,  afterwards  Lord  (irenville,  who  was  the  hend  of  "the  Ministry  of  all  the  Talents" 
in  IS06-7;  and  Henry  A. Idington,  afterwards  Ix>rd  Sidmnuth  who  was  Prime  Minister  from  1S01  to  1804. 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


351 


ni  an  engraving  after  tlit  picture  by  John  Hoppner,  R.A. 
WILLIAM   WYXDHAM,   FIRST    BABOX   GBENVILLE, 
Speaker  for  a.  few  months  in  1789 


say  and  what  he  refrains  from  doing. 
In  other  words,  the  most  successful  occu- 
pants of  the  Chair  are  those  who  have 
to  obtrude  their  individuality  least  on 
the  House.  Speaker  Abbot,  estimated 
by  whatever  standard  may  be  set  up, 
is  undeniably  entitled  to  a  position  in 
the  front  rank  of  those  who  have  presided 
over  the  House  of  Commons.  His  rule 
was  autocratic ;  but  there  was  a  good 
thick  fold  of  velvet  over  the  iron  hand. 
If  at  times  members  were  made  to  feel 
that  his  decisions  were  arbitrary,  they 
also  had  to  admit  that  they  were  enforced 
with  all  courtesy.  In  the  popular  mind 
his  Speakership  will  ever  be  associated 
with  the  episode  connected  with  the 
passing  of  the  resolution  for  Lord  Mel- 
ville's impeachment.  Amongst  the  many 
historic  scenes  which  took  place  within 
the  walls  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  this  was 
perhaps  the  most  genuinely  dramatic. 
It  may  certainly  be  safely  asserted  that 
nothing  more  moving  ever  passed  there. 
A  few  sentences  of  explanation  are  necessary  to  bring  home  to  readers  the  full  interest  of  the  drama 
that  was  enacted  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  that  eventful  day  in  April,  1805.  Charges  of 
corruption  had  been  levelled  against  Henry  Dundas,  Lord  Melville,  P"irst  Lord  of  the  Admiralty, 
in  connection  with  his  earlier  official  career  as  Treasurer  of  the  Navy.  The  accusation  was 
that  he  had  withdrawn  large  sums  of  public  money  from  the  Bank  of  England,  placed  them  with 
a  private  bank,  and  reaped  a  rich  but  ignoble  harvest  in  the  accruing  interest.  Testimony  was 
forthcoming  of  a  damning  kind,  proving  beyond  question  that  the  public  funds  had  been  utilised 
in  the  way  described,  and  the  only  question  was  as  to  Lord  Melville's  personal  responsibility. 
Public  opinion,  ever  prone  to  think  the  worst,  went  strongly  against  him.  It  was  argued  that 
the  large  transactions  which  had  passed  could  not  possibly  have  been  put  through  without  the 
Minister's  guilty  acquiescence.  In  this  position  of  affairs  the  matter  was  brought  forward  in 
the  House  of  Commons  in  the  form  of  a  motion  for  Melville's  impeachment. 

Pitt  ably  and  energetically  defended  his  colleague  and  friend  from  the  aspersions  cast  upon 
him,  and  other  leading  members  eloquently  espoused  his  cause.  But  the  feeling  against  him  in 
the  House  was  very  strong.  On  a  division  being  taken  it  was  found  that  there  were  216  members 
for  the  impeachment  and  exactly  the  same  number  against.  Then  followed  that  remarkable 
incident  to  which  allusion  has  been  made.  Upon  the  Speaker's  casting  vote  depended  the 
issue.  How  would  he  give  it  ?  A  thrill  went  through  the  House  as  members  silently  awaited  the 
decision.  "  Yet  it  was  long,"  says  one  who  was  present,1  ''  before  the  Speaker  gave  his  vote ; 
agitation  overcame  him ;  his  face  grew  white  as  a  sheet.  Terrible  as  was  the  distress  to  all 
who  awaited  the  decision  from  the  Chair,  terrible  as  was  the  Speaker's  distress,  this  moment 
of  suspense  lasted  ten  long  minutes.  There  the  Speaker  sat  in  silence ;  all  were  silent.  At 
length  his  voice  was  heard  ;  he  gave  his  vote,  and  he  condemned  Lord  Melville."  The  effect 
of  the  decision  on  Pitt  was  striking.  "At  the  sound  of  the  Speaker's  voice  the  Prime 
Minister  crushed  his  hat  over  his  brows  to  hide  the  tears  that  poured  over  his  cheeks.  He 
pushed  in  haste  out  of  the  House.  Some  of  his  opponents,  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  thrust 
themselves  near  'to  see  how  Billy  looked.'  His  friends  gathered  in  defence  around  and 

1  Mr.  Mark  Boyd. 


352 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


WILLIAM  WYXDHAM,  LORD   GREXVIU.K. 
Another  i«rtr»it  of  the  Sjieaker  of  1789. 


screened    him   from    rude    gin..  Tin-    (ir.-at    Commoner. 

it  is  believed,  never  completely  recovered  from  the  Mow. 
So  intimate  had  he  been  with  Melville,  and  so  conscious 
was  he  of  his  rectitude,  tlmt  he  felt  tin-  relle. -lion  u]><in  his 
honour  as  he  might  if  it  had  been  ui»>n  his  own.  Within  a 
few  months  of  the  occurrence  of  this  ineident  1'itt  was  <-;irried 
to  his  last  rating-place  in  the  Abbey. 

In  consonance  with  the  vote  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
Melville    was   on    April   29th.    IKOfi.    brought    to   trial    before 
his  jieers,  bit  cue  furnishing  the  last  instance  of  an  ini]>each- 
ment  which  the  records  of  the  country  supply.     The  impugned 
Minister  made  a  gallant  defence,  averring  that   the  transactions 
with    which    he  was   charged    were    carried    through    without 
his   knowledge  or   consent.       Alter  a   patient  investigation   he 
was  acquitted  of  all  personal  corruption,  and  with  that  verdict, 
pronounced   by  the    great    majority    of   his    peers,  the    public 
acquiesced.     Even    Wflberforoe,   who    took    a    leading    part    in 
bringing  about  the  trial,  was    sati>lied  with    the    result,  as  is 
clear    from    his   diary,    where    he    records  with  evident   satis- 
faction   having    by    chance     met     Melville    and     shaken     him 
cordially    by    the    hand — an    experience,    he    says,    which    lie 
would  not  have  parted  with  for  a  thousand  jKuinds. 
Mr.  Abbot's  Speakership  continued  uninterruptedly  until   1817,  when   he    resigned    through 
failing    health    and    was    elevated    to    the    peerage    with    the    title    of    Lord    Colchester.      His 
successor  was  Sir  Charles  Manners  Sutton,  who  sat  in  the  Chair  during  five    successive    Parlia- 
ments, his  entire  period  of  service  lasting  eighteen   years.     A  pleasant   picture  of  this   Speaker 
is  supplied  by  Mr.  Grant  in  his  "  Kandom  Recollections  of  the  House  of  Commons."     "A  man 
of  more   conciliating,  bland,  and    gentlemanly   manners."   says   this   writer,    "never   crossed  the 
thre>hold    of    St.    Stephen's.   .    .   .   He    never    suffered    his    political    prejudices,    strong   as    they 
were,  to  interfere  with  the  amenities    of  gentlemanly  intercourse.       The  j>erfect  gentleman  \\as 
visible  in    everything    he   said   and    did  ;    nay,  it  was  visible   in    his   very    person,    whether  you 
saw   him  walking   in    the    streets    or   rilling  the  Chair  in  the   House  of  Commons.     There  wa> 
a    mildness   and    good   nature   in   his  features   which   could  not   fail   to    strike   the   stranger  the 
moment   he  saw  him.  and   which  was  certain   of  prepossessing  every  one  in  his  favour.     With 
thi-M-  softer  and   more  amiable   features   there  were  blended  a  dignity  and   energy  of  character 
which   invariably   secured  the  respect   of  members.   .   .   .  His  voice  was,  without  exception,  the 
mast   sonorous,    jtowerful,   and    melodious    I    ever  heard ;    its   compass  surprising  when  he  called 
<>ut.  as  he  too  often  had  occasion  to  do,  '  Order,  order !'     The  sounds,  even  when  he  nianile>tly 
gave  no  play  to  his  lungs,  but  sjwke  with  as   little   effort    as    if   he    had    been    speaking   in    a 
whisper,  fell  on  your  ear — it  mattered  not  in  what   part  of  the  House  you  were  at  the  time 
with  a  loudness  and  depth  of  intonation    which  at  once    startled   and  delighted   you.      If  very 
great  noise  and    confusion    prevailed    in  the    House  at  the    time,  and    he  consequently    uttered 
the  words  'Order,  order!'  with  some  energy,  you  would  have  supposed  you  heard  the  voice   of 
a  Boanerges." 

Once,  and  once  only.  Sir  Charles  Sutton  availed  himself  of  the  privilege  of  speaking 
in  Committee.  The  subject  under  deliate  was  a  question  affecting  the  privileges  of  the 
I'niversity  of  Cambridge,  of  which  he  was  member.  His  speech  lasted  about  ten  or  fifteen 
ininnto.  "It  did  not."  says  Mr.  (irant.  "indicate  a  vigorous  or  comprehensive  mind,  but  it 
was.  in  the  delivery,  as  fine  a  specimen  of  elocution  as  one  could  wish  to  hear.''  Though,  as 
Mr.  (irant  notes.  Sir  Charles  Manners  Sutton  was  widely  popular  and  had  a  reputation  for 
im|»artiality.  it  was  sometimes  thought  by  the  Li  bends  that  he  did  not  exercise  his  ]>owers 
with  absolute  fairness.  His  critics  averred  that  when  several  members  rose  to  reply  to  a  Tory 


Hy  prrninsinn  "/M/,>s« 


.r    I'^^lri    .\,  .1  /(  .W  Street. 


THE   RIGHT    HOMiLK.   WILLIAM    (  OfKT   GULLY,   K.C 

-I'l  AKKR    Of     I  III     mil  s|     01    COMMONS. 

llfl  w.ti  fint  ni>i>4iintid  !«•  the  Chair.  »ftrr  n  c-.ul'-t.  <>n  tlir  litli  \]<nt   i-  ••     He  wiu  rc-elvctwl  without  ..|'i-..in-.ii 
on  tin-  mwtlnff  of  every  Rulweii 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


353 


speech  of  ability,  he  took  care  to  fix  his  eye  on  the  least  talented  of  the  members ;  and 
conversely,  that  when  a  number  of  Tories  got  up  to  answer  a  Liberal  speech,  he  invariably 
took  particular  pains  to  ensure  that  the  ablest  of  the  group  should  address  the  House.  The 
feeling  of  discontent  culminated  in  a  vigorous  attack  upon  his  position  when  a  new  Parliament 
met  on  February  19th,  1835.  The  Whigs  then  put  up  in  opposition  to  him  James  Abercromby, 
a  respected  member  who  sat  for  Edinburgh.  On  a  division  this  gentleman  was  elected  by  316 
to  310  votes.  As  a  consequence  of  the  vote,  Sir  Charles  Manners  Sutton  retired  to  the  House 
of  Lords  with  the  title  of  Viscount  Canterbury  and  the  customary  pension.  The  victory  was 
dearly  gained,  for  Mr.  Abercromby  proved  but  an  indifferent  Speaker.  Though  personally  an 
estimable  man,  he  lacked  the  force  of  character  essential  to  an  effective  control  of  the  House. 
-His  health,  moreover,  was  too  delicate  to  withstand  the  severe  physical  strain  which  the 
Speakership  imposes  upon  those  who  discharge  its  duties.  His  retirement  in  May,  1839,  with 
the  title  of  Lord  Dunfermline,  was,  therefore,  hailed  with  something  like  satisfaction  even  by 
those  who  had  placed  him  in  the  Chair. 

The  filling  of  the  vacancy  led  to  another  trial  of  party  strength.  On  behalf  of  the  Whigs 
Mr.  Charles  Shaw  Lefevre  was  proposed,  and  the  Tories  nominated  Mr.  Henry  Goulburn.  The 
division  showed  that  the  opinion  of  the  House  was  very  much  what  it  had  been  at  the  previous 
contest.  For  Mr.  Shaw  Lefevre  317  votes  were  given,  as  against  299  cast  for  his  opponent. 
Events  entirely  justified  the  choice  made  by  the  House.  In  a  career  which  extended  over 
eighteen  years,  Mr.  Shaw  Lefevre  revealed  the  highest  qualities  as  a  Speaker.  His  knowledge 
of  Parliamentary  procedure  was  deep  and  thorough,  and  his  rulings  were  as  invariably  sound  and 
logical  as  they  were  impartial.  When  in  1841  Sir  Eobert  Peel  came  into  power  with  a  big 
Conservative  majority  at  his  back,  there  was  a  desire  amongst  some  of  the  more  extreme  of 
his  followers  to  elect  a  Speaker  of  their  own  political  complexion.  But  the  Tory  Premier  set 
his  face  determinedly  against  this  idea.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Shaw  Lefevre  had  been  proposed  for 
re-election,  he  rose  and  seconded  the  motion 
in  a  speech  of  considerable  interest.  His 
contention  was  that  the  person  elected  to 
the  Chair  who  had  conscientiously  and  ably 
performed  his  duties  should  not,  on  a  change 
of  Government,  be  displaced  because  his 
political  opinions  were  antagonistic  to 
those  of  the  majority.  The  view  set  forth 
was  in  harmony  with  the  bulk  of  the 
precedents  furnished  since  1727,  when 
Arthur  Onslow  was  elected  to  the  Chair, 
and  the  House  ratified  it  by  a  unanimous 
vote.  Thereafter  Mr.  Shaw  Lefevre  re- 
mained in  undisturbed  possession  of  his 
office  until  1857,  when  he  retired  to  enjoy 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  with  the  title  of 
Viscount  Eversley,  the  well-earned  fruits 
of  a  laborious  career. 

His  successor  was  Mr.  John  Evelyn 
Denison,  who,  elected  in  1857,  continued 
in  office  until  1872.  He  suffered  some- 
what by  comparison  with  his  brilliant 
predecessor,  but  his  Speakership,  if  not 
particularly  distinguished,  witnessed  no 
diminution  in  either  the  efficiency  or 

dignity  of  the  office.       He    was,    however.  CHARLES  MANNERS  SUTTON,  VISCOUNT  CANTERBURY, 

not   at  all  punctilious  in  his  managemei.t  speaker  from  ISIT  to  isss. 

45 


354 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


of  the  House.  Palmer-ton,  in  one  of  his  nightly  re|iorts  addressed  from  the  Trea-ury  Hench 
to  the  Into  Queen  Victoria,  mentions  an  incident  which  clearly  brings  tliis  out.  It  happened 
towards  the  end  of  the  ><->»ion  of  18(iO,  when  everylxxly  \\asaiixious  to  got  awav.  "  Members,'' 
he  wrote,  "are  leaving  town.  Imt  the  tiresome  ones,  wlio  have  no  occujiation  of  their  own  and 
no  chance  of  si-emu  tlieir  names  in  the  news|>ii|M-rs  when  Parliament  is  up.  remain  to  obstruct 
and  delay  by  talking.  Tin-  S)>eaker.  who  has  not  lieen  ijiiite  well,  grows  as  ini|iatieiit  as  anv 
oth'cial  who  lias  liired  a  grousing  moor  and  cannot  get  to  it;  and  a  few  nights  ago.  when  a 
tin-Mime  orator  got  up  to  speak  just  as  an  end  to  the  debate  hail  IH-I-II  expected,  the  Speaker 
:m-d  -Oh!  oh!'  in  chorus  with  the  rest  of  the  House." 

.Mr.  Penis ni  (thereafter  to  he  known  as  Viscount  Ossington)  retired  amid  general  good 
wishes  in  1872,  giving  place  to  .Mr.  Henry  Pxmverie  linuul.  It  was  this  gentleman's  lot  to 
officiate  during  one  of  the  nio-i  -Hiring  and  stormy  periods  of  Parliamentary  history.  The 
organisation  of  the  Nationalist  Irish  party  under  the  leadership  of  .Mr.  Parnell  and  the 
simultaneous  development  of  the  system  of  persistent  obstruction  of  debates  as  a  weajton  of 
partisan  warfare,  gave  a  vigour  and  liveliness  to  the  proceedings  which  had  never  before  been 
surpassed,  and  only  equalled,  perhaps,  in  the  Cromwellian  period,  when  the  Indejiendent  and 
Presbyterian  factions  were  fighting  for  ascendency.  It  is  imi>ossihle  to  go  in  any  detail  into 
the  actions  of  the  Speaker  in  these,  troubled  days  without  trenching  upon  matters  which  lie 
altogether  beyond  the  province  of  a  work  such  as  this;  and  there  is  the  less  necessity  for  anv 
such  review  as  the  facts  are  still  fresh  in  the  public  memory.  One  episode  only  calls  for 
particular  notice.  This  was  the  historic  debate  of  January,  1881,  on  the  motion  to  introduce 
the  Protection  of  Person  and  Property  in  Ireland  Bill.  Introduced  at  four  o'clock  on  .Monday, 
January  :ilst,  the  motion  was  debated  continuously  by  the  Nationalist  members  throughout 

that  day  and  the  whole  of  the 
next,  and  Wednesday  morning 
still  found  the  House  engaged 
upon  the  question.  Every- 
thing seemed  to  portend 
another  day's  debate  at  least, 
when  at  nine  o'clock  Mr. 
Gladstone,  the  Premier,  entered 
the  House,  accompanied  by 
the  leaders  of  the  Opposition. 
Simultaneously  the  Speaker 
resumed  the  Chair,  and,  read- 
ing from  a  paper,  set  forth  the 
reasons  which  in  his  opinion 
icndered  it  necessary  to  put 
an  end  to  the  debate,  though 
no  power  under  the  rules 
existed  to  do  so.  A  crisis. 
he  said,  had  arisen  which 
demanded  the  prompt  inter- 
position of  the  Chair  and  the 
J  louse.  "The  usual  rules 
have  been  proved  powerl' •-- 
to  ensure  orderly  and  effective 
debate.  An  important  measure 
recommended  in  her  .Majesty's 
gracious  speech  nearly  a 
CHABLKS  SHAW  I.EPEVBK,  VISCOUNT  K\i;i;-i.i:Y.  month  since,  and  declared  to 

fpnker  from  1839  to  1857.    J. wily  cm.iidere.1  ,,M  ,,l  the  grratwt  of  the  line  of  Spoken..  be    Urgent    in    the    interests    of 


Speakers — Famous    and    Infamous 


355 


the  State  by  a  decisive  majority,  is 
being  arrested  by  the  action  of  an 
inconsiderable  minority,  the  members 
of  which  have  resorted  to  these  modes 
of  obstruction,  which  have  been  recog- 
nised by  the  House  as  a  Parliamentary 
offence.  The  dignity,  the  credit,  and 
the  authority  of  the  House  are  seriously 
threatened,  and  it  is  necessary  that 
they  should  be  vindicated.  ...  A  new 
and  exceptional  course  is  imperatively 
demanded,  and  I  am  satisfied  I  shall 
best  carry  out  the  will  of  the  House 
and  may  rely  on  its  support  if  I  decline 
to  call  upon  any  more  members  to 
speak,  and  at  once  proceed  to  put  the 
several  questions  to  the  House.  I 
feel  assured  that  the  House  will  be 
prepared  to  exercise  all  its  powers  in 
giving  effect  to  these  proceedings." 
Cheers,  answered  by  defiant  cries  from 
the  Nationalist  benches,  punctuated  the 
reading  of  the  document,  the  signifi- 
cance of  which  was  at  once  seen. 
Thereafter,  the  House  divided  on  the 
several  motions  before  it,  and  finally 
adjourned  after  an  unprecedented 
sitting  of  forty-one  and  a  half  hours. 
Mr.  Speaker  Brand's  action  on  this 
occasion  was  subsequently  hotly 
challenged  by  the  Nationalists,  but 
the  general  sense  of  the  House  and 
of  the  country  heartily  approved  of 
the  step  taken,  and,  in  view  of  the  issues  involved,  history  will  probably  acquiesce  in  the 
verdict  on  the  principle  that  a  desperate  remedy  may  be  legitimately  employed  in  the  relief 
of  a  desperate  disease.  Out  of  this  memorable  incident  originated  the  rules  for  the  closure  of 
debate  which  are  now  an  important  and  valued  part  of  the  system  of  Parliamentary  procedure. 
If  he  had  no  other  title  to  fame,  Mr.  Speaker  Brand's  reputation  would  be  established  by 
his  firm  and  judicious  conduct  throughout  these  exciting  times.  But  his  claim  to  posthumous 
recognition  goes  far  beyond  that,  consisting,  as  it  does,  of  a  uniform  discharge  with  high 
distinction  of  the  responsible  duties  of  the  Chair. 

In  Mr.  (now  Lord)  Peel,  whose  elevation  to  the  Chair  followed  the  resignation  of 
Mr.  Brand  and  his  removal  to  the  Upper  House  with  the  title  of  Viscount  Hampden  in  1884, 
a  successor  was  found  entirely  worthy  to  wear  the  dropped  mantle.  Bearing  the  name  of  one 
of  the  greatest  of  modem  British  statesmen,  richly  endowed  with  the  intellectual  and  physical 
qualities  which  are  most  esteemed  in  a  Speaker,  and  imbued  in  a  strong  degree  with  the 
traditions  of  Parliamentary  life,  he  leapt  at  once  into  a  position  of  commanding  authority  and 
influence.  His  firm,  strong  hand  was  felt  immediately  in  the  direction  of  the  proceedings. 
Infractions  of  the  recognised  rules  met  with  stern  and  instant  punishment.  He  steadily  yet 
courteously  set  his  face  against  the  smallest  departure  from  the  etiquette  of  the  House,  which 
long  centuries  of  usage  had  sanctioned  and  sanctified.  In  time  even  the  most  irresponsible 
members  were  held  under  the  spell  of  his  striking  personality,  and  would  shrink  into  nothingness 


By  permission  of  "  I'anitif  Fair.' 

JOHN   EVELYN  DEXISON,  VISCOUNT   OSSINGTON, 
Speaker  from  1S57  to  1ST2. 


356 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


at  the  sound  of  his  awe- 
inspiring  voice,  or  cvi-n  ;ii  a 
glance  of  his  penetrating  <-\c. 
No  desjHitic  monarch  ever 
commanded  more  unquestion- 
ing allegiance  or  more  abso- 
lute obedience.  Hi-  wonder- 
ful power  over  tin-  House  was 
l>erli;i|>s  never  more  impres- 
sively revealed  than  in  the 
disorderly  scene  of  July  27th, 
1893,  when  his  mere  appear- 
ance in  the  Chair  served  to 
still  angry  passions  which 
had  only  a  few  minutes 
previously  vented  themselves 
with  almost  unexampled 
violence  and  disregard  of 
personal  dignity.  A  weak 
man  would  have  aggravated 
the  situation  by  injudicious 
displays  of  temper  or  in- 
discriminate dealing  out  of 
censure.  Mr.  Peel  avoided 
these  pitfalls.  Calm  and 
dignified,  he  with  a  few 
words  allayed  the  raging 
storm  and  brought  the  House  to  a  sense  of  the  shame  which  the  earlier  incidents  reflected 
ujion  it.  It  was  a  triumph  of  the  strong  mind — a  notable  testimony  to  the  influence  of 
character.  When  the  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  the  episode  are  forgotten,  Mr.  Peel's 
action  will  be  treasured  amongst  the  most  splendid  of  the  traditions  which  cluster  about  the 
Chair.  It  would,  however,  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  great  reputation  which  this 
eminent  S]>eaker  secured  was  solely  due  to  his  masterly  nature.  The  pink  of  courtesy,  he 
always  in  his  relations  with  members  maintained  the  pleasantest  relations.  No  legitimate 
appeal  was  ever  made  to  him  in  vain  from  whatever  quarter  of  the  House  it  might  come. 
He  regarded  himself 'as  in  a  real  and  personal  sense  the  head  of  the  legislative  family,  and 
whether  dispensing  princely  hospitality  in  the  Speaker's  House  or  discharging  the  more 
practical  duties  pertaining  to  his  office,  he  never  permitted  himself  to  make  invidious  distinctions 
based  either  on  social  prejudice  or  partisan  predilections. 

His  address  to  the  House  upon  retirement  from  the  Chair  was  a  fit  termination  to  his 
illustrious  career.  The  scene,  not  only  in  the  House,  but  in  the  Lobby,  was  a  memorable  one. 
Passing  through  the  Lobby  for  the  last  time,  he  was  saluted  by,  a  crowd  of  members  of  both 
Houses,  and  distinguished  visitors.  The  appearance  of  the  House,  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity, 
betokened  an  event  of  unusual  importance,  and  when  Speaker  Peel  rose  from  his  seat  he  was 
received  with  thunderous  dicers  by  the  whole  House,  and  his  farewell  speech  was  punctuated 
by  loud  demonstrations  of  applause.  After  referring  to  the  cause  of  his  retirement  and  the 
consideration  he  had  received  from  all  sides  of  the  House  during  Ids  tenure  of  office,  he  said: 
"  If  at  any  time  I  have  given  offence  to  any  one  member,  or  more  members,  I  hope  an  Act 
of  Oblivion  may  be  passed.  If  I  have  ever  deviated  from  that,  calm  which  should  ever 
characterise  the  utterances  of  the  occuiwnts  of  the  Chair,  I  have  never  been  consciously  actuated 
by  personal  or  political  feeling.  I  have  tried  to  consult  the  advantage  and  permanent  interests 
of  this  assembly.  ...  I  have  passed  through  many  sessions,  I  have  witnessed  many  changes  "- 


from  a  drawing  by  Jottph  Slater, 

JOHN  EVELYN  DEXISOX   (AFTERWARDS  VISCOUNT   OSSINGTOS). 


358 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


referring  to  the  institution  of  tin-  rloMiiv  <>f  delate.  ••Finally."  continued  .Mr.  Peel,  -let  me 
say  a  few  parting  words  in  conclusion,  and  1  wish  to  speak,  not  with  the  brief  remnant  of 
authority  which  is  still  left  to  me  with  the  .-amis  of  my  official  life  rapidly  running  out — I 
would  rather  sjteak  as  a  member  of  thirty  years'  experience  in  this  House,  who  speaks  to  hU 
brother  members  and  comrades  if  1  may  dare  to  use  the  term.  I  would  fain  liojn-  that,  by  the 
co-o]K*ration  of  all  Us  members,  this  House  may  continue  to  he  a  pattern  and  a  model  to 
foreign  nations,  and  to  those  great  j>eople  who  have  left  our  shores  and  have  carried  our  blood, 
our  race,  our  language,  our  institutions,  and  our  habits  of  thought  to  the  uttermost  jwrts  of  the 
earth.  I  would  fain  indulge  in  the  belief  and  the  hoj>e — and  as  I  sjx-ak  with  the  traditions  of 
this  House  and  its  glorious  memories  crowding  on  my  mind,  that  hope  and  that  Ix-lief  In-come 
stronger  and  more  emphar-ir-ed — though  with  both  hope  and  belief  I  would  couple  an  earnest. 
but  a  humble  prayer  that  this  House  may  have  centuries  of  honour,  of  dignity,  of  usefulness 
before  it,  and  that  it  may  continue  to  hold,  not  a  prominent  only,  hut  a  first  and  foremost 
position  among  the  legislative  assemblies  of  the  world."  With  some  emotion  .Mr.  1'eel  referred 
to  the  kindness  he  had  experienced  from  all  sections  of  the  House — "a  kindness  the  expre->ion 
of  which  adds  perhaps  to  the  poignancy  of  my  feelings  and  accentuates  my  regret  on  leaving 
the  Chair,  but  the  memory  of  which  will  after  a  short  time  mitigate.  I  am  sun-,  to  me  the 
inevitable  ]iain  of  jmrting.''  The  Peel  tenure  of  the  Chair  will  have  a  place  in  history  with 
the  greatest  of  Parliamentary  memorie-. 

It  was  with  MTJOUS  misgiving  that    the  House  of  Commons   addressed    itself  to  the  tusk  of 
providing    a    successor    to    .Mr.   Peel    when,  in    1895,    somewhat    M-rious    indisposition    prompted 


.From  a  pkoto  by  UaM  Jt  Fox. 

1I1.NKY   BOUVEBIE  BRAND,   VISCOUNT   HAMPDE.X, 
Speaker  of  the  Home  of  Common!  from  1872  to  1884. 


from  a  photo  by  J.  Ruutll  it-  Soiu. 

THE   niOIIT   HON.   VISCOUNT  PKKI.,  KOtTR   TIMK8  ELECTED 

SPKAKKR  OK  THK   HOUSE  OK  COMMONS. 
He  to the  youngest ion  of  the  celebrated  Prime  Minister,  Sir  Robert  r*el. 


360 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


him  to  seek  his  well-earned  repose  in  the  House  of  I/mls.  A  Sj>eaker  is  always  difficult  to 
replace;  a  successful  one  can  never  be  adequately  replaced— immediately  at  least.  Those  who 
occupy  the  Chair  grow  into  tin-  ]N»siti»ii.  as  it  \vcrc.  As  they  are  necessarily  untried  in  the 
duties  of  the  oilier,  they  have  tn  establish  their  influence  and  their  own  traditions  before  the 
lli.iiM-  can  be  induced  to  extend  to  them  that  unqualified  allegiance  which  is  indispensable  to 
the  smooth  working  of  the  Parliamentary  inaehine.  Such  was  the  perplexity  which  Mr.  I'eel'.s 
n-tiremeiit  cau>ed  that  each  party  resolved  to  put  forward  a  nominee  for  the  office.  The 
favoured  Sir  Matthew  White  Ridley,  a  highly  respected  and  widely  experienced 

member  of  their  party,  who  in  manv 
rc>i lonsible  ]M)sitions  had  shown  him- 
self possessed  of  those  special  personal 
qualities  which  are  most  desirable 
in  a  Speaker.  On  the  Liberal  side 
Mr.  William  Court  Gully  was  adopted 
as  candidate.  This  gentleman  oc- 
cupied a  ]x).sition  of  considerable 
eminence  at  the  Bar,  but  he  had  up 
to  that  time  not  been  at  all  pro- 
minent in  Parliament.  What  the 
House  knew  of  him,  however,  was 
all  to  his  advantage,  and  his  fine 
presence,  courtly  bearing,  and  un- 
tarnished reputation  convinced  the 
Liberals,  who  were  in  the  ascendency 
at  the  time,  that  in  voting  for  him 
they  were  making  a  suitable  choice. 
The  result  of  the  division  in  the 
circumstances  was  a  foregone  con- 
clusion. For  Mr.  Gully  285  members 
voted,  as  against  274  who  supported 
Sir  Matthew  White  Ridley's  candi- 
dature. The  contest  left  a  little 
soreness  in  the  minds  of  the  Unionist 
party,  who  had  regarded  Sir  Mat t hew 
White  Ridley's  claims  as  incontest- 
ably  superior  to  those  of  his  oppo- 
nent ;  but  this  soon  wore  away  in 
the  presence  of  Mr.  Gully's  tactful 
and  impartial  discharge  of  his  duties. 
Hence  it  happened  that  when  the 
l'n  ion  Ms  came  back  to  power  shortly 
afterwards  they  confirmed  him  in  his  position,  and  he  was,  quite  as  a  matter  of  course,  again 
re-elected  by  the  new  House  of  Commons  which  assembled  after  the  general  election  of  1900. 
Many  years  of  useful  work  in  the  Chair  are,  it  may  be  hoped,  still  before  him.  It  would, 
therefore,  be  quite  out  of  place  in  a  work  of  this  description  to  attempt  anything  like  a  survey 
of  his  career.  We  may,  however,  with  confidence  anticipate  that  the  verdict  which  history 
will  write  ujion  his  Speakership  will  be  neither  unflattering  to  him  in  a  personal  sense  nor 
lacking  in  appreciation  of  the  virtues  which  repose  in  his  quiet,  undemonstrative,  yet  strong 
handling  of  the  House  during  his  term  of  office. 


SI'KAKEKS  COBKIDOR.   HOUSE  OP  COMMONS, 
Affording  n iminunicatiiin  iKtween  the  Sjiraker's  Hoiut  anil  the  legiilative  apartments. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

PARLIAMENT  IN  BEING— THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS  AT   WORK. 

THE  first  function  performed  by  a  newly  elected  House  of  Commons  is  the  election  of  the 
Speaker,  who  is  chosen,  generally  unanimously,  as  president  of  the  assembly  and  mouthpiece 
of  the  House  as  a  whole.  The  ceremony  is  interesting  and  attractive  as  marking  the  first  act 
the  chosen  representatives  of  the  people  perform  in  Parliament  when  assembling  together  for 
the  first  time. 

The  House  on  these  occasions  presents  an  animated  appearance.  Fresh  from  the  House 
of  Lords  after  receiving  directions  from  his  Majesty's  Commissioners  to  proceed  to  elect  their 
Speaker,  members  crowd  the  benches,  and  the  galleries  are  also  full  of  visitors.  The  pro- 
ceedings are  opened  by  the  Clerk  of  the  House,  who,  as  the  chief  permanent  official,  rises 
from  his  seat  at  the  table  and  points  with  his  finger  to  a  gentleman  who,  it  has  been 
arranged,  is  to  propose  a  fellow  member  for  Speaker.  The  motion  is  seconded  by  another 
member,  usually  belonging  to  the  opposite  political  party  when  the  choice  of  Speaker  is 
unanimous,  and  both  proposer  and  seconder  are  generally  leading  but  unofficial  members  of 
their  respective  parties.  No  other  nomination  having  been  made,  the  Speaker-elect  rises  in 
his  place  and  expresses  his  sense  of  the  honour  proposed  to  be  conferred  upon  him,  and  his 

willingness  to  accept  the  office.  He  is  then 
conducted  along  the  floor  to  the  Speaker's  Chair, 
from  the  steps  of  which  he  tenders  his  thanks 
and  acknowledgments  to  the  House  and  seats 
himself  in  the  Chair  amid  loud  cheers.  The 
mace,  which  until  now  has  been  under  the  table, 
is  placed  upon  the  table  by  the  Sergeant-at- 
Arms  in  full  view  of  the  House — a  position  it 
occupies  during  the  sitting  of  the  House  with 
the  Speaker  in  the  Chair.  Congratulations  to 
Mr.  Speaker-elect  are  then  made  by  the  lead- 
ing members,  and  the  House  immediately 
adjourns.  In  the  event  of  more  than  one  can- 
didate being  proposed  for  the  office,  a  debate 
and  division  follow,  the  Clerk  of  the  House 
directing  the  proceedings,  and  appointing  the 
tellers  for  the  division.  Upon  only  two  occasions l 
during  the  last  sixty-three  years  has  a  contest 
occurred.  The  next  day  the  Speaker-elect 
(without  his  official  robes  or  wig,  but  in  Court 
dress),  attended  by  the  Commons,  proceeds  to 
the  House  of  Lords  to  receive  from  the  Lord 
Chancellor  the  approval  of  his  Majesty  the  King, 
which  having  been  given  in  due  form,  the  First 


THE   HOUSE   IS  CONSTITUTED. 

The  Sergeant-at-Anr.a  in  the  act  of  placing  the 
mace  ujxm  the  table. 


1  In  1839  Mr.  Charles  Shaw  Lefevre,  afterwards  Viscount  Eversley  (Liberal),  was  elected  Speaker  over  Mr.  Henry 
Goulbutn  (Conservative)  by  317  against  2i»9  votes.  In  1895  Mr.  William  Court  Gully,  Q.C.  (Liberal),  was  elected  over 
Sir  Matthew  White  Ridley  (Conservative)  by  285  against  274  votes. 

361  46 


362 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Commoner  claims  for  himself  and  on  behalf  of  the  Commons  all  their  undoubted  rights 
and  privileges,  "esjiecially  freedom  of  speech  in  debate,  freedom  from  arrest  of  their  Bisons 
and  nervants,  and  above  all  freedom  of  access  to  his  .Majesty  whenever  oceasion  shall  require 
it."  He  also  prays  that  if  any  error  may  lie  committed  it  shall  lie  imitated  to  him  alone. 
and  not  to  the  faithful  Commons.  The,  I»rd  Chancellor,  on  behalf  of  the  King,  confirms  all 
the  rights  and  privileges,  and  the  Speaker  and  Commons  return  to  their  own  House.  The 

former  then  takes  the  oath  as  follows:  ••  I. ,  do  swear  that    I  will  be  faithful  to  his  Maje>iy 

King  Edward  VII.,  his  heirs  and  successors,  according  to  law.  So  help  me.  God."  The  IIUMU<-» 
of  swearing  in  members  proceeds  in  an  apiMtinted  order,  the  Speaker  going  through  the 
ceremony  first.  It  is  optional  whether  members  take  the  oath  or  make  an  affirmation  to  the 

same  effect.1 

The  House  of  Com- 
mons may  now  be  said  to 
be  properly  constituted  for 
the  transaction  of  business. 
This  begins  each  «•»!.. n,  as 
already  described,  with  his 
Majesty's  speech  from  the 
throne  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  delivered  by  the 
Sovereign  or  the  Royal 
Commissioners  appointed 
under  the  Great  Seal,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Commons. 
who  have  been  summoned 
to  the  Bar  of  the  Upper 
House  by  the  Black  l\od. 
The  speech  relates  events 
of  public  importance  which 
have  happened  since  the  last 
prorogation,  the  Government 
legislative  programme  for  the 
ensuing  session,  and  other 
matters  of  national  interest 
it  is  thought  desirable 
to  communicate  to  the 
nation. 

The  propoMr  and  wcuoder  conduct  the  Speaker-elect  along  the  floor  of  the  Hooae  to  the  Speaker'.  f^\e     recO<mised      peril id 

occupied      by     an     ordinary 

session  of  Parliament  is  six  months  of  the  year— the  Houses  meeting  at  the  beginning  of 
February,  and  proroguing  by  the  middle  of  August,  with  short  intervals  of  adjournment  at 
Easter  and  Whitsuntide.  It  not  infrequently  happens,  however,  that  exceptional  pressure  of 
public  affairs  or  financial  exigencies  render  it  necessary  for  the  Houses  to  sit  until  late  in 
the  summer,  or  hold  a  further  meeting  before  Christinas.  The  decision  as  to  whether  an 
adjourned  sitting  is  necessary  rests  with  the  Government,  but  the  hours  of  meeting  and  the 
general  arrangements  for  conducting  business  in  the  House  of  Commons  are  regulated  by 
standing  orders  and  sessional  resolutions,  agreed  to  by  the  House  itself,  while  certain  unwritten 
customs  prevail,  the  breach  of  which  i.s  quickly  resented.  The  time  of  meeting  has  varied 
according  to  the  social  customs  of  the  period.  Turning  to  the  journals  of  the  House,  we  find 
that  in  16()4  members  assembled  at  6  a.m.,  and  a  few  years  later  at  7  a.m.  In  1641,  on 

'  Formerly  the  oath,  by  a  xtatute  of  the  7th  Elizabeth,  was  taken  before  the  Lord  Steward,  but  the  enactment  was 
repealed  in  Is2!t,  and  the  present  procedure  substituted. 


INIH'CTIOX   OF   Till:   SI'KAKEK-KI.KCT. 


I  3 


-     B 

s  » 


364 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


S\YKA1(I.N<;    IS    .MK.M11KKS   AT   Till:   Hoi  M:   or   co.MM<>\>. 
Mciuberj  taking  the  tiatb  at  tho  table  at  the  ojiening  of  a  new  Parliament* 

Sunday.  August  8th,  a  meeting  took  place  at  6  a.m.  to  enable  members  to  attend  St.  Margaret's 
Church  to  hear  prayers  and  sermon.  It  was  a  long  service,  apparently,  for  the  return  to  the 
H..n>e  was  not  made  until  nine  o'clock.  The  House  rose  at  twelve  o'clock  in  the  day.  hater 
on  the  custom  of  early  sittings  was  abandoned,  and  the  hour  of  assembly  was  fixed  for  twelve 
o'clock.  It  gradually  got  later  until  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  m-.-mbers 
n. ei  a-  late  as  four  o'clock,  and  the  sittings  were  conducted  without  any  stated  time  for 
adjournment.  This  arrangement  continued  until  recent  times,  when  a  revision  of  the  rules 
was  made,  by  virtue  of  which  the  House  met  on  Mondays,  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Fridays 
at  three  o'clock,  and  sat  until  not  later  than  1  a.m.,  no  opposed  business  being  taken  after 
midnight.  On  Wednesdays  the  sitting  lasted  from  12  noon  until  6  p.m.  The  day  was  given 
up  to  the  discussion  of  private  members'  bills,  excepting  towards  the  close  of  the  session, 
when  the  Government  monopolised  the  whole  time  of  the  House  with  its  own  work.  In 
the  present  session  a  sweeping  change  in  the  whole  system  of  arranging  business  has  been 
made  after  prolonged  debates  in  the  House.  Under  the  new  rules,  on  Monday,  Tuesday, 
\\edne-day,  and  Thursday  tin-  sittings  commence  at  2  p.m.  and  may  extend  to  1  a.m..  with 
an  adjournment  for  dinner  between  7.30  p.m.  and  9  p.m.,  and  Friday  becomes  the  ..ft'  day. 
the  hours  of  business  being  from  12  noon  to  6  p.m.,  as  on  Wednesday  under  the  old  -\>tnn. 
The  bti-ine>s  of  the  session  commences  with  the  consideration  of  the  Royal  speech,  but 
the  discii.-.-ion  is  actually  entered  upon,  in  order  to  assert  the  right  to  act  without 
reference  to  any  authority  than  their  own,  the  Commons  (and  also  the  Lords)  invariably  at 
the  beginning  of  each  session  read  a  bill  a  first  time  pro  forma.  In  the  Lords  this  cn.-toin 
is  regulated  by  standing  order,  in  the  Commons  by  usage.  The  practice  in  the  House  of 
< '.minions  takes  the  form  of  the  Clerk  holding  in  his  hand  a  dummy  form  of  a  bill  and 
reading  out  the  title:  "Outlawries  Bill— for  the  more  efficient  preventing  clande>tine  outlawries." 


Parliament  in  Being — The  House  of  Commons  at  Work    365 

The  bill  is  thus  read  a  first  time  and  ordered  to  be  read  a  second  time,  but  no  day  is  fixed 
for  further  proceeding  with  it.  In  the  session  of  1794  a  member  endeavoured  to  raise  a 
debate  upon  this  proceeding,  but  the  Speaker  ruled  him  out  of  order. 

The  origin  of  this  formality  may  probably  be  traced  to  the  reign  of  James  I.,  as  in  16041 
the  Houses  were  occupied  with  a  case  respecting  the  liberties  and  privileges  of  the  Commons. 
The  incident  arose  out  of  the  election  of  Sir  Francis  Goodwin  as  knight  of  the  shire  for 
Bucks,  and  the  refusal  of  the  return  of  his  election  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Crown — "  Quia  utlegatus 
(outlawed)."  Another  writ  was  issued  and  Sir  John  Fortescue  elected.  A  long  debate  took 
place,  and  it  was  decided  "  Sir  F.  Goodwin  was  duly  elected  and  (de  jure)  ought  to  be 
received."  He  took  the  oath  and  his  seat  in  the  House.  The  House  of  Lords  took  the 
matter  up  and  requested  a  conference  with  the  Commons  ;  the  latter  objected,  stating  "  that  they 
do  conceive  it  does  not  stand  in  honour  and  order  of  the  House  to  give  account  of  any  of  their 
proceedings  and  doings."  On  the  intervention  of  the  King  eventually  a  conference  took  place 
with  the  judges,  with  the  result  that  it  was  decided  that  neither  member  was  allowed  to  have 
the  seat,  and  a  warrant  for  a  new  election  was  allowed  by  the  Commons,  they  having  admitted 
that  by  receiving  Goodwin  "  outlaws  may  be  makers  of  laws,  which  is  contrary  to  all  law,"  and 
an  Act  was  prepared  "that  outlaws  henceforward  shall  stand  disabled  to  serve  in  Parliament." 

The  inference  from  this  seems  to  be  that  the  Commons,  resenting  the  interferences  of 
Lords  and  King  in  1604,  although  it  was  apparently  justified  in  the  particular  case,  from  that 
time  to  the  present  have  introduced  an  Outlawries  Bill  in  form  every  session,  but  in  doing  so 
have  taken  the  opportunity  of  acting  in  the  matter  independent  of  the  Royal  message  as  to  the 
cause  of  Parliament  being  summoned — a  sort  of  retaliation  for  having  in  former  days  been  com- 
pelled to  admit  itself  in  the  wrong  in  insisting  upon  an  outlaw  taking  his  place  in  the  House. 


LOWER   SMOKISG-BOOM,   HOUSE   OP  COMMONS. 
A  popular  place  of  resort  for  members,  who  are  permitted  to  introduce  their  friends  without  restriction. 


Parry's  "  Parliaments  and  Councils." 


366 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


NVI.cn  «li.-  Kins,''*  s|«-ivh  i*  reached,  tin-  Speaker,  explaining  that  he  has  obtained  -for 
greater  accuracv  "  a  copy  of  tin-  document,  reads  it  to  tin-  House,  and  meanwhile  it  is 
circulat.d  l'\  the  Vote  Office  to  mcml>crs  <>f  tin-  Commons  and  tin-  representatives  of  the 
l'ri.-»  Tu.i  >up|Kirtcrs  of  tin-  (iovernm.  nt  now  respectively  projioM'  and  M-c,.nd  an  address 
thanking  \u-  Maj.-ty.  It  is  tin-  practice  for  these  gentlemen  to  appear  in  Court  dr.-  or 
uniform,  a  <-u-t..m  f..r  which  no  al»olut.-  iva>on  can  be  a-i-n-'d.  though  it  hus  bt-i-n  conjectured 
l.y  Parliamentary  authorities  that  this  is  the  laM  ri-mains  of  what  was  seen  in  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  .vntury  when  "the  floor  of  the  lloux-  presented  a  gay  scene ;  menders  wore 
thiir  orders  and  Mars  'glittered  on  the  benches,  both  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  Speaker." 
A  notal.le  evreptiou  to  the  old  custom  took  place  a  few  years  back,  when  one  of  the  Labour 


VOTE   OPFICK. 
Krom  thu  office  tlie  vot«  and  ]iruccrding>,  BilU,  and  rarliamentary  |np«n  are  leraed  U>  member!.     The  department  i«  tinder  the  control  of 

the  Siwaker. 

members  who  was   selected  to  second  the  address  appeared  in  ordinary  evening  dress  upon  the 

-ion. 

The  discussion  of  the  King's  speech  may  range  over  the  whole  field  of  politics — Govern- 
ment doings  and  misdoings  during  the  recess,  proposals  of  legislation  and  non-propo^ls,  and 
mailers  of  general  intere.-t— and  although  in  former  times  the  debate  was  usually  finished  in 
one  or  two  nights,  in  recent  sessions  a  week  has  been  considered  a  moderate  time  to  occupy; 
occasionally  a  fortnight  or  even  longer  has  been  taken  up  by  the  various  questions  rai>cd.' 
An  im]x>rtant  paragraph  appear  in  the  IJoyal  mes.sige  and  is  addressed  to  members  of  the 

House  of  Common;,  only.  It  Mates  that  tl stimates  for  the  public  service  shall  he  presented 

to   them,  anil    n\xm    the  conclusion  of  the  general  debate  upon   the  speech  the  House  resolves 

that  upon  a  certain  day   it  will  appoint   the    Committee  of  Supply  to  consider    the  demands  of 

'  In  the  year  1887  sixteen  sittings  worn  occupied  by  the  proceedings  in  connection  with  the  Queen's  speech. 


367 


368 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


the  Sovereign  for  means  to  maintain  tin-  Army  and  Navy,  and  other  branches  of  the  public 
service.  The  Committee  having  thus  U-cn  set  up.  certain  allotted  da\-  are  thenceforward 
devoted  throughout  the  session  to  it.  As  a  corollary  to  Supply,  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  accompanies  its  j»artner  through  the  session,  devoting  its  attention  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  supplies  granted  shall  be  raised,  its  chief  function  being  the  consideration  of  the 
Budget  resolutions  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  who  in  Committee  of  Ways  and  .Means 
sets  forth  his  pro]M>«als  by  presenting  a  balance  sheet  for  the  year  of  the  finances  of  the 
nation,  explaining  what  revision,  addition,  or  reduction  of  taxation  is  to  take  phce. 

A  confusion  sometimes  arises  in  the  minds  of  newcomers  as  to  the  functions  and  practice 
of  these  two  Committees.  They  are  distinct  from  each  other,  each  comprising  the  whole  House 
without  a  Speaker.  The  president  is  a  member  (empowered  to  act  as  Deputy  Speaker  when 
necessary).  He  is  apjtointed  for  the  1'arliament,  with  a  salary  of  £2,500  per  annum.1  The 
proceedings  of  the  Committees  are  subject  to  the  revision  of  the  House  itself,  and  although 
the  Commons  may  amend  the  Committees'  proceedings,  which  eventually  form  a  bill,  the  House 
of  I-ords  cannot  amend  or  alter,  but  only  pass  or  reject  it.  Supply  decides  the  amount  of 
money  to  be  granted  and  the  manner  in  which  it  shall  be  spent;  Ways  and  .Mean*  the  method 
of  raising  it. 

Prayers   are   read   daily  by  the    Speaker's    chaplain    immediately  after   the   Speaker   enters 

the  House.  At  ]  ravers  (In- 
doors are  closed  and  no 
strangers  or  representatives 
of  the  Pressure  permitted  to 
be  present.  The  occupants 
of  the  ladies'  (iallcry  are 
not  disturbed,  for  this  ]«»•- 
tion  of  the  Chamber  having 
a  brass  ••  grille  "  in  front  is 
technically  outside  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  House.  Tin- 
Speaker,  standing  at  tin- 
table,  gives  the  res]K»nses. 

and  members  present  stand  at  their  places  in  front  of  their  sec-its.  Attendance  is  optional  at 
prayers  ;  but  by  attending  a  member  is  entitled  to  secure  a  particular  seat  until  the  rising  of 
the  House,  he  fixing  thereon  a  card,  provided  for  the  purpose,  with  his  name  upon  it.  .Minister.- 
of  the  Crown,  who  occupy  the  front  bench  on  the  right  of  the  Speaker,  and  ex-.Ministers  that 
on  his  left,  have  seats  permanently  allotted  to  them.  While  Committees  are  sitting,  members 
serving  upon  them,  and  in  attendance,  are  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  securing  a  seat  in  the 
House  before  prayers  by  applying  for  a  particular  kind  of  ticket  at  the  Vote  Office. 

The  system  of  securing  places  has  been  adopted  in  consequence  of  the  insufficiency  of  tin- 
seat  ing  accommodation2  for  the  whole  House  at  one  time;  but  by  general  practice  a  seat  is 
usually  reserved  for  a  member  who  has  left  his  hat  upon  it,  and  by  courtesy  members  of  long 
standing  and  generally  recognised  position  are  usually  conceded  the  right  to  occupy  the  same 
places.  At  times  of  special  interest  so  great  is  the  anxiety  to  secure  a  seat  that  members 
will  arrive  before  daylight  ;  and  upon  the  introduction  of  the  Home  Kule  Hill  by  Mr.  Gladstone 
in  1K92.  Mr.  Speaker  Peel  was  asked  to  fix  an  hour  before  which  no  seat  should  be  appropriated. 
He  decided  that  upon  this  particular  occasion  twelve  o'clock  noon  would  be  reasonable,  and 
stated  that  "great  inconvenience,  almost  indecorum,  has  arisen  from  members  coming  into  this 
House  at  the  dawn  of  day,  and  even  before  it.  The  House  has  to  be  cleaned,  and  the  servants 
have  to  be  here  for  the  pur)K>se,  so  that  if  members  arrive  at  an  inconveniently  early  hour  it 
will  interfere  with  that  proceeding."  At  the  appointed  time  a  crowd  of  members  assembled 

1  In  the  present  session  a  Deputy  Chairman  has  been  appointed,  without  ,-alaiy. 

1  The  number  of  seat*  for  the  use  of  members  in  the  Honse  at  the  present  time  is   440. 


MAKINU    A    IIOfSK. 

A  member  U  by  custom  allowed  to  reserve  n  seat  by  placing  his  bat  on  the  place  he  desires  to 

occupy. 


I 


47 


370 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


at   the  d<x>r  of  the  House,  tin-  whole  of  the  scats  wen-  quickly  appropriated,  and  chairs  placet! 
along  tin-  floor. 

A  quorum  i-  necessary  at  tin-  lx-ginning  of  business,  anil,  prayers  being  concludctl,  the 
S|H«aker  mav.  if  he  thinks  tit,  count  the  HOUM-.  If  forty  members  are  present,  he  takes  the 
Chair;  if  not,  wait  ing  until  four  o'clock,  he  counts  again,  and  the  requisite  number  still  not 
intending,  lie  adjourns  the  lloti-e  till  next  day.  Why  forty  forms  the  quorum  out  of  a  House 
of  six  hundred  and  se\enty  members  is  a  question  that  frequently  occurs  to  a  newcomer,  and 
e\en  the  experienced  memU-r  may  not  !»•  aware  that  in  1G40  the  Commons  decided  that  "it 
he  a  constant  rule  that  Mr.  Speaker  is  not  to  go  into  the  Chair  till  there  be  at  least  forty 
memlMTs  in  the  House."  It  has  IM-CH  conjectured  by  a  historian  of  that  period  that  as  forty 
\\.-i-  the  number  of  English  counties  (excluding  Wales),  the  intention  of  the  House  was  that 
the  equivalent  number  of  members,  one  for  each  county,  should  be  present  for  the  transaction 
of  affairs.  Whatever  the  origin  of  the  rule,  it  is  strictly  observed.  Upon  notice  being  taken 
that  fortv  members  are  not  present,  the  Speaker  orders  strangers  to  withdraw,  and  electric 
U-lls  are  rung  throughout  the  building  for  two  minutes,  giving  notice  to  those  within  the 
precincts  <>f  the  fact  that  the  House  is  about  to  be  counted,  and  if  a  quorum  is  not  forthcoming, 

the  House  at  once  adjourns. 

Many  and  ingenious 
devices  are  adopted  by 
members  interested  in  the 
burking  of  particular  business 
to  secure  an  adjournment  by 
the  simple  means  of  reducing 
the  attendance  below  the 
minimum.  There  is  a  well- 
authenticated  story  of  a  new 
member  who  had  rushed  in 
breathless  at  the  summons 
of  the  electric  bells  for  a 
count  being  met  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  Lobby  by  an 
arch-plotter  with  a  bland 
invitation  to  pair,  and  of  his 
falling  innocently  into  the 
trap  and  going  contentedly  away,  while  his  absence  just  served  to  make  the  "count"  successful. 
Petitioning  Parliament  for  the  redress  of  grievances  is,  in  the  words  of  Lord  Peel,  when 
Speaker,  "an  ancient  and  most  valuable  right,  but  its  value  can  only  be  maintained  if  the 
pi-tit  ions  presented  to  this  House  are  genuine,  authentic,  and  are  the  free  and  unfettered 
expression  of  the  wishes  of  the  people."  The  words  were  spoken  in  1887,  when  one  Reginald 
Kidmead,  brought  to  the  Bar  of  the  House  by  the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  was  publicly  reprimanded 
for  forging  sixteen  or  seventeen  hundred  names  to  various  petitions,  an  offence  for  which,  he 
was  reminded,  men  had  in  quite  recent  times  been  committed  to  Newgate.  It  is  therefore  of 
some  importance  that  the  practice  and  general  rules  governing  these  expressions  of  the  wishes 
of  the  people  to  their  representatives  should  be  understood,  although  in  these  days  less  weight 
is  perhaps  attached  to  this  method  of  calling  attention  to  grievances.  Upon  receiving  the 
l>etition,  which  may  be  despatched  free  of  postage  within  certain  limits,  before  presenting 
it  to  the  House  the  member  must  see  that  it  is  written  in  the  English  language,  or  if 
accompanied  by  a  translation,  he  must  certify  that  it  is  correct  (printed,  lithographed,  or 
tyjH'written  documents  are  not  accepted),  and  the  address  of  every  person  signing  the  petition 
must  also  be  there.  Moreover,  the  language  used  must  be  respectful  and  temperate,  free 
from  imputations  upon  the  character  of  Parliament,  the  administration  of  the  law  or  other 
constituted  authorities;  nor  is  reference  permitted  to  be  made  to  any  debate  in  Parliament, 


BUSINESS   INDICATOR,   SMOKIKU   BOOM,  HOCSK  OP  COMMONS. 
Deugned  to  .bow  member*  the  petition  of  bumno*  in  the  Uoate  of  Commons  at  a  giren  moment 


Parliament  in   Being — The  House  of  Commons  at  Work    371 


although  if  the  petition  relates 
to  any  matter  or  subject  to  which 
the  member  presenting  it  may 
intend  calling  attention,  he  may 
propose  that  the  petition  be 
printed  and  circulated  with  the 
proceedings  of  the  House.  It  is 
the  practice  for  the  member  to 
sign  his  name  at  the  top  as  a 
means  of  identification,  and  he 
may  present  it  openly  to  the 
House  after  prayers,  or  deposit 
it  less  publicly  in  the  proper 
quarter  by  placing  it  in  a  large 
bag  hanging  at  the  side  of  the 
table.  A  more  picturesque 
method  with  regard  to  petitions 
from  the  Corporation  of  the  City 
of  London  is  adopted.  The 
Sheriffs  attending  in  their  State 
robes  are  permitted  to  come  to 
the  Bar  of  the  House,  and  the 
Sergeant-at-Arms,  with  the  mace, 
introduces  them.  The  Corpora- 
tion of  Dublin  are  entitled  to 
the  same  privilege,  their  Lord 
.Mayor,  fully  accoutred  with  his 
emblems  of  office  and  attended 
by  his  officers,  entering  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  House,  and,  being 
observed  by  the  Speaker,  is 
challenged  by  him.  li  My  Lord 
.Mayor  of  Dublin,  what  have  you 
there  ?  "  the  answer  being  a  re- 
cital of  the  substance  of  the 
petition.  The  time-honoured  custom  of  entertaining  a  number  of  members  to  dinner  at  the 
House  is  followed  by  both  the  Sheriffs  of  the  City  of  London  and  the  Lord  Mayor  of 
Dublin.  All  petitions  presented  to  the  House  are  referred  to  a  Select  Committee  appointed 
early  in  the  session  :  they  are  carefully  examined,  and  reports  are  periodically  published 
giving  a  general  summary  of  the  particulars  of  the  prayer  and  number  of  signatures,  the  actual 
petitions  being  stored  away  among  the  archives  of  Parliament. 

Question  time  affords  an  opportunity  for  the  stranger  visiting  the  House  of  witnessing 
one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  of  the  sitting,  and  supplies  a  means  of  identifying 
many  of  the  unofficial  members  and  most  of  the  Ministers.  Many  and  varied  are  the  topics 
touched  upon,  from  the  supposed  unfair  treatment  of  an  obscure  postal  official  in  the  West 
of  Ireland  to  the  latest  move  of  the  Government  in  their  foreign  policy.  The  answers  given, 
although  sometimes  purely  of  the  departmeiital  order,  are  not  infrequently  amusing  and 
entertaining.  An  attempt  to  corner  a  Minister  by  a  well-timed  supplementary  question  arising 
out  of  his  answer  is  invariably  received  by  his  opponents  with  acclamation ;  the  skilful  answer 
turning  the  tables  upon  the  inquirer  never  fails  to  be  appreciated  by  both  sides  of  the  House. 
Notice  of  questions  for  a  future  day  are  written  out  and  handed  in  to  the  Clerk  of  the  Table 
and  are  subject  to  revision  under  the  direction  of  the  Speaker ;  they  then  appear  in  the 


ST.  STEPHEN'S  PORCH,  OLD  PALACE  YARD. 

The  public  entrance  to  the  House  of  Commons,  House  of  Lords,  and  Westminster  Hall. 


372 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


printed    prm din<;s    of   the    Hou<e.  and   in  din-  course  lake  their  place  U]KUI  tlit>  orders  of  the 

day.  They  may  !«•  an>wered  onilly  or  by  means  of  the  answers  being  printed  and  circulated 
with  the  votes  the  following  morning.  The  questions  are  ground  for  the  convenience  of 
Minister.-;  those  to  the  Leader  of  the  lloii-e  are  by  arrangement  placed  at  the  bottom  of 
tlio  list,  a  sN.-tem  which  was  adopted  when  .Mr.  Gladstone  was  I'rime  Minister,  in  order  to 
afl'ord  him  tlie  opportunity  of  arriving  at  the  House  later  in  the  afternoons.  The  practice  is 
for  the  Speaker  to  call  ujwn  the  member  whose  name  appears  first  upon  the  li>t.  The 
gentleman  indicated  then  rises  in  his  place  and  says:  "I  beg  to  ask  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Kxeheiiucr  question  No.  1,"  as  the  case  may  be,  and  so  on,  it  being  contrary  to  the  rule 
now  to  read  the  terms  of  the  questions,  although  until  recent  years  the  practice  of  reading 


GROUP  OF   VOTK   OFFICE    .MI>SKX<;K11S. 
The  cori»  employed  to  distribute  the  votes  and  proceedings  and  Parliamentary  i»i«rs  amongst  the  members. 

them  throughout  was  retained.  The  change  was  brought  about  in  consequence  of  a  section 
of  members  during  a  stormy  period  of  politics  making  full  use  of  this  opportunity  of 
prolonging  the  proceedings  by  asking  a  great  many  questions  of  extreme  length,  upon 
subjects  of  limited  interest,  and  reading  them  word  for  word.  The  Minister  concerned  has 
had  notice  of  the  question  to  be  asked  sent  him,  and  when  the  time  arrives  to  reply,  he 
usually  reads  out  the  answer  which  has  been  written  out  by  the  officers  of  his  department*. 
In  matters  considered  urgent  a  private  notice  sent  the  same  day  may  suffice,  and  where 
the  general  convenience  of  the  House  is  concerned,  a  question  may  be  asked  and  answered 
without  previous  notice.  The  popularity  of  questions  may  be  gauged  from  the  fact  that  while 
the  number  handed  in  varies  according  to  the  period  of  the  session,  it  is  not  an  uncommon 
experience  to  find  seventy  or  eighty  upon  the  order  paper  for  one  day.  Even  upwards  of  a 
hundred  of  such  questions  have  been  known  to  be  asked  and  answered  at  a  single  sitting. 

The  ambition  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  to  prove  their  usefulness  in  Parliament 


.From  n  draviAg  by  A.  D.  McContick. 

HAYOH  AXD   SHERIFFS  ATTENDING   IN   THE1E   EOBE8  OF  OFFICE  TO   PRESENT  A   PETITION  AT   THE    BAB    OF    THE 

HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 

Tlie  Corporation  of  the  City  of  London  shares  with  the  Dublin  Corporation  the  right  of  directly  presenting  a  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons. 

373 


374 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


U  strikingly  shown  by  the  number  of  public  lulls  introduced  in  each  session1  by  unofficial 
members  on  both  sides  of  the  House.  The  distinction  between  private  and  public  hills  is 
wide,  for  though  each  class  undergoes  equivalent  treatment  in  tin-  House  bv  being  read  three 
times,  the  Committee  stage  is  of  an  entirely  dittVn-nt  nature.  In  tin;  ii  it  rod  net  ion  of  a  private 
or  local  bill  the  House  mu>t  first  lie  approached  by  petition  (as  was  the  svstem  for  public 
bills  up  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.).  and  seeking,  as  the  measures  do,  powers  to  construct 
railways,  tramways,  and  facilities  for  gas  and  water  undertakings,  or  similar  projects,  their 
j.a-age  through  Parliament  is  conducted  mainly  by  agents  employed  by  the  promoters  of  the 
bills.  The  jmrticulars  are  thoroughly  sifted  by  a  small  Committee,  and  counsel  are  engaged 
and  heard  both  for  and  against  the  details.  Though  the  House  may  reject  a  private  bill  on 
second  or  third  reading,  this  course  is  rarely  followed. 

Public  bills  introduced  by  the  Government  of  the  day  form  the  main  features 
of  the  order  pajwr.  They  have  all  the  facilities  for  being  introduced  and  considered  the 
executive  can  command,  and  in  the  later  months  of  the  session  the  whole  time  of  the 

House  is  usually 
in  the  hands  of  the 
Mini>ters.  The  un- 
official or  so-called 
private  member  is  in 
a  very  different  posi- 
tion. His  little 
measure  may  meet 
at  every  turn  with 
delays  and  misfor- 
tunes, and  mav  drag 
its  weary  life  through 
the  whole  session 
without  getting  be- 
yond the  initial 
stage,  disappearing 
in  the  closing  days. 
At  the  outset  the 
elements  of  chance 
have  to  be  en- 
countered, a  ballot 
deciding  priority  of 
first  reading  or  in- 
troduction. The 
ballot  is  really  for 
first  places  on  an 
early  Friday  of 
the  session,  for  the 
longer  the  second 
reading  is  delayed 
the  less  chance  a  bill 
will  stand  of  being 
discussed.  Therefore, 
excepting  for  the 
.. ,,i«,to i,y <•/,.  first  few  Fridays 

THE    "AYK"   DIVISION    I.OIIIIY.  f    .,,,  ... 

One  of  tb«  ill  vUion  lobbte*  »t  the  Me  of  th«  Hutue  of  Common)  into  which  members  go  when  a  division  ii  called 

able   amount   of  m- 
1  Tbrce  liumln.il  public  bills  were  introduced  in  the  session  of  1901 . 


Parliament   in   Being — The  House  of  Commons  at  Work    375 


A   STOBAGE  BOOM,   VOTE   OFFICE. 
One  of  the  chambers  in  the  basement  in  which  Parliamentary  papers  are  stored. 

genuity  will  be  exercised  in  fixing  a  day  for  second  reading,  when  the  principle  of  the  bill  is 
discussed— this  stage  being  the  critical  one,  as  by  general  practice  the  first  reading  is  allowed 
without  objection,  although  in  some  cases  the  House  has  exercised  its  right  in  refusing  to  allow 
the  introduction  of  a  bill.1  The  measure  is  introduced  in  "  dummy  "  form,  simply  bearing  its 
title,  but  before  second  reading  it  is  by  order  of  the  House  printed  and  circulated  among 
members,  who  have  the  privilege  of  sending  to  their  constituents  and  others  interested  an 
authorised  number  of  copies,  which  are  despatched  from  the  Vote  Office  free  of  postage, 
members  signing  their  names  upon  the  corner  of  the  wrappers  provided  for  the  purpose. 
This,  the  last  remains  of  the  old  "franking"  system  abolished  in  1840,  is  a  privilege  keenly 
appreciated  by  members,  many  thousands  of  copies  of  the  various  measures  introduced  being 
annually  circulated  throughout  the  kingdom. 

The  second  reading  accomplished,  Committee,  and,  if  the  bill  is  amended,  report  stage  as 
well  as  third  reading  have  to  be  gone  through.  Here  another  dilemma  presents  itself,  for  the 
chance  of  a  measure  passing  this  ordeal  before  Whitsuntide  is  remote,  unless  it  is  of  such 
a  nature  that  opposition  may  be  disarmed.  On  the  third  and  fourth  Fridays  after  Whit 
Sunday  bills  are  arranged  upon  the  order  paper  so  as  to  give  priority  to  those  most  forward, 
and  the  session  being  so  far  advanced,  Government  business  occupies  the  whole  time  of  the 
House  for  the  remainder  of  the  session.  With  this  brief  survey  of  the  difficulties  experienced 
by  a  private  member  in  getting  his  little  bill  through  the  Commons  alone,  afterwards  to  pass 
the  scrutiny  of  the  Upper  House,  it  may  be  readily  understood  that  not  five  per  cent  of  the 
non-Government  measures  introduced  have  an  opportunity  of  even  being  discussed. 

The   right   of  voting   supplies   of  money  for   the   public   service,  a  reference  to  which  has 

1  On  June  17th,  1875,  Dr.  Kenealy  was  refused  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  in  favour  of  triennial  Parliaments. 


376 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


air.-u.lv  been  made,  is  a  function  which  has  been  vested  in  the  Commons  for  centuries,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  ancient  rights  possessed  by  that  assembly.  A  considerable  amount  of  Unit- 
is  occupied  by  supply,  and  of  recent  years  it  has  been  found  necessary,  with  the  curtailment 
of  the  hours  of  sitting,  to  frame  special  rules1  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  discussions 
within  reasonable  limits.  After  the  estimates  are  presented  and  printed,  Thursdays  are  allotted 
almost  exclusively  for  considering  them,  the  House  going  into  Committee  without  previous 
discussion  immediately  after  private  business  and  questions  are  finished.  Twenty  days,  subject 
to  three  additional  days  being  proposed  at  the  discretion  of  the  Government,  all  before 
August  5th.  are  allowed  for  the  Army,  Navy,  and  Civil  Service  estimates,  including  votes  on 
account.  On  the  last  but  one  of  the  allotted  days,  at  10  p.m.,  the  Chairman  puts  forthwith 
every  question  necessary  to  dispose  of  the  outstanding  votes,  and  the  following  day,  also  at 
10  p.m.,  the  Sjieaker  adopts  a  similar  method  to  complete  the  rei>ort  stages.  Supplementary 
estimates  relating  to  a  previous  session  and  votes  of  credit  are  exempted  from  these  rules. 
A  standing  order  of  the  House  gives  facilities  for  raising  a  preliminary  discussion  on  first 
going  into  Committee  of  Supply  on  the  Army,  Navy,  and  Civil  Service  estimates  respectively, 
or  a  vote  of  credit,  should  an  amendment  he  moved  relating  to  the  estimates  proposed  to  be 
taken.  This  is  popularly  known  as  "  moving  the  Speaker  out  of  the  Chair,"  and  in  the  case 
of  the  Army  and  Navy  affords  an  opportunity  for  a  general  survey  of  the  position  of  these 
important  parts  of  the  public  service.  In  Committee  considerable  latitude  is  allowed  in 
discussing  the  items  of  the  estimates,  and  a  reduction  or  omission  of  any  of  them  may  be 
proposed  to  accentuate  a  particular  grievance  brought  forward,  but  although  the  Commit  tee. 
or  subsequently  the  House  on  report,  may  grant,  refuse,  or  reduce  an  item  in  the  estimates, 

an  increase  cannot  be  proposed. 

For  centuries  the  House  possessed 
no  power  of  terminating  a  debate, 
but  the  prolonged  sittings  of  1881 
on  the  introduction  of  a  Government 
bill  for  the  better  protection  of 
person  and  property  in  Ireland  led 
the  Speaker  (Mr.  Brand),  after  a 
debate  lasting  forty-two  hours,  to 
refuse  further  discussion,  and  it  be- 
came evident  that  some  rule  was 
necessary  to  govern  such  proceedings 
in  future.  The  power  now  possessed 
by  the  House  of  closing  a  debate 
has  been  substantially  in  its  present 
form  in  operation  since  1887,  al- 
though the  principle  of  a  closure 
was  agreed  to  in  1882,  a  special 
autumn  session  in  the  latter  year 
having  been  held  to  deal  with  the 
rules  of  proceduie.  The  decision 
of  the  House  then  upon  the  question 
placed  the  responsibility  upon  the 
Speaker  of  initiating  the  closure  by 
interpreting  the  "  evident  sense  of 
the  House."  But  the  standing  order 
now  in  force  allows  any  member  to 
rise  in  his  place  after  a  question 
has  been  proposed,  and  to  move 


Frvat  a  dmteing  by  J.  II'" 

PASSAGE  OF   MR.    GLADSTONE'S  SKCOND   HOME   BBLE   BILL    FROM   THE 

HOUSE  OF  COMMONS  TO  THE   HOUSE  OF   LOKDS. 
The  Clerk  of  the  Home  of  Common*  am  In  the  bill  to  the  Bar  of  the  Home  of  Ixmb 


1  Since  1896  a  sessional  resolution  has  been  agreed  to  early  each  session  dealing  with  the  business  of  supply. 


From  tht  painting  by  G.  f.  It'attx,  /?./4.,  by  hit  special 


THE  MARQUESS  OF  SALISBURY,  K.G. 


Tin  but  of  Yueem  Victoria  .  Prime  Mini.  tor.     He  wu  drat  tpixilutnl  la  the  liinhot  office  In  the  Mlnlntry  In  l»3,  «ad  wu  thrice  n 
r»«rt>olBt*d  In  '•»,  1"M  «nd  IMO.    II.  retlnu^l.  Himllj.  in  low. 


Parliament  in   Being — The   House  of  Commons  at  Work    377 


THE   POST   OFFICE,   HOUSE   OF  COMMONS. 
The  office  in  the  Ix>bby  at  which  the  bulk  of  the  postal  and  telegraph  business  of  members  is  transacted. 

"  that  the  question  be  now  put,"  his  proposal  being  at  once  put  to  the  vote,  unless  it 
appears  to  the  Chair  that  to  do  so  would  be  an  abuse  of  the  rules  of  the  House  or  an 
infringement  of  the  rights  of  the  minority.  Provision  is  made  by  the  rule  for  following  up 
and  deciding  any  further  proceedings  dependent  upon  the  particular  question  carried  by  closure, 
even  though  the  hour  of  adjournment  has  arrived,  but  in  order  to  carry  the  closure,  upon  a 
division  taking  place  not  less  than  one  hundred  members  must  have  voted  in  the  majority 
in  support  of  the  motion.  The  rule  may  be  put  in  force  when  either  the  Speaker,  Chairman 
of  Ways  and  Means,  or  Deputy  Chairman  is  presiding. 

The  rules  and  orders  of  the  House  governing  the  general  transaction  of  business,  order  of 
debate,  conduct  of  members,  etc.,  have  been  settled,  some  by  standing  orders  agreed  to  at  an 
ancient  period,  some  by  tradition,  while  others  are  of  comparatively  recent  date,  and  have  been 
adopted  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  assembly  when  called  upon  at  times  of  unforeseen 
difficulties  which  the  existing  orders  were  unable  to  deal  with.  P'ramed  for  the  well-being 
and  general  convenience  of  the  whole  body  of  members,  certain  of  the  rules  are  in  practice 
worked  with  an  elasticity  suitable  to  the  wishes  of  the  various  sections  of  the  House. 

A  member  is  in  duty  bound  to  attend  the  service  of  the  House  unless  leave  of  absence 
has  been  obtained  on  account  of  illness  or  other  sufficient  cause,  the  notice  of  motion  granting 
him  leave  stating  the  reason  and  period  of  absence  required,  during  which  time  he  is  exempted 
from  serving  upon  any  Committee  to  which  he  may  have  been  appointed.  Ibis  rule  is  not 
now  so  frequently  resorted  to  as  formerly,  the  system  of  pairing  taking  the  place  of  the 
time-honoured  custom  of  asking  leave.  By  pairing,  a  member  makes  an  arrangement  with 
another  of  the  opposite  party,  both  agreeing  to  absent  themselves  for  the  time  required,  and 
their  votes  in  divisions  for  party  purposes  are  thereby  neutralised.  For  the  convenience  of 
members,  a  book  is  placed  near  the  entrance  to  the  House  showing  the  pairs  arranged. 

48 


378 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE  DEPUTY  SPEAKER'S   OFFICE. 
A  characteristic  specimen  of  the  private  apartments  allotted  to  high  Parliamentary  officials, 

Members  entering  or  leaving  the  House  uncover,  and,  passing  to  their  seats,  bow  to  the 
S]«-;iker  or  occupant  of  the  Chair,  and  it  is  a  breach  of  order  to  pass  between  the  Chair  and 
a  member  speaking  from  the  lower  benches,  or  between  the  Chair  and  the  mace  when  the 
latter  has  been  taken  off  the  table  by  the  Sergeant-at-Arms. 

In  a  debate  a  Minister  or  ex-Minister  rising  is  called  upon  to  speak ;  but  two  or  more 
unofficial  members  rising  together,  the  Speaker  calls  upon  the  member  who  is  first  observed 
by  him,  or  who,  in  popular  phraseology,  "catches  his  eye."  The  House  can,  however,  determine 
which  member  shall  first  be  heard  should  the  Speaker's  call  be  questioned.  By  courtesy,  a 
new  member  who  has  not  spoken  in  the  Parliament  is  generally  called  upon  in  preference 
to  others  rising  at  the  same  time.  A  member  should  address  himself  to  the  Chair,  and  he 
may  not  read  his  speech,  though  notes  for  reference  are  permitted.  He  may  only  speak  once 
upon  the  same  question,  though  under  certain  conditions  he  may  offer  an  explanation  to 
remove  any  misunderstanding  of  any  part  of  his  speech.  The  mover  of  a  substantive  motion 
is  allowed  to  reply  to  the  arguments  against  it;  and  a  member  who  has  moved  an  order  of 
the  day,  such  as  the  second  reading  of  a  bill,  etc.,  by  merely  raising  his  hat  without  ri>in.^. 
reserves  his  speech  for  a  later  period  of  the  debate.  It  is  contrary  to  order  to  use  the  name 
of  his  Majesty  for  the  purpose  of  influencing  the  House  in  its  deliberations,  or  to  refer  to  a 
member  by  name,  the  practice  in  the  latter  case  being  to  use  the  words  "the  right  honourable 
gentleman,"  or  "the  honourable  member  for  ,"  stating  the  constituency  represented. 

Upon  the  termination  of  a  debate  the  Speaker— or  if  the  House  is  in  Committee,  the 
Chairman — rises  in  his  place  and,  putting  the  question  to  be  decided,  adds,  "As  many  as  are  of 
that  opinion  will  say  'Aye,'  the  contrary  'No,'"  and  declares  in  his  opinion  by  the  number 


Parliament  in  Being — The  House  of  Commons  at  Work    379 


of  voices  whether  the  "  Ayes "  or  "  Noes "  have  it.  His  decision  being  challenged,  he  directs 
strangers  to  withdraw  and  the  House  proceeds  to  a  division.  A  two-minute  sand-glass  upon 
the  table  is  turned  by  the  Clerk,  and  notice  is  given  by  electric  bells,  and  by  the  stentorian 
shouts  of  "Division"  by  the  police,  to  members  in  the  various  parts  of  the  building  that  a 
vote  is  about  to  be  taken.  After  the  lapse  of  the  two  minutes'  grace  allowed,  the  doors  of 
the  House  are  locked  and  the  Speaker  again  puts  the  question.  His  decision  still  being 
challenged,  he  directs  the  "  Ayes  "  to  go  to  the  right  lobby  and  the  "  Noes  "  to  the  left,  and 
appoints  two  tellers  for  each  side.  The  tellers  are  members,  and,  in  the  case  of  party 
divisions,  are  usuallv  the  Whips.  One  of  these  functionaries  from  each  party  take  their  stand 
together  at  the  exit  doors  of  the  lobbies,  and  in  that  position  they  count  the  number  of 
members  passing  through.  Clerks  stationed  at  desks  record  their  names  for  subsequent 
publication  in  a  list  which  is  printed  and  circulated  with  the  votes  and  proceedings.  At  the 
conclusion  of  a  division  the  tellers  walk  up  to  the  table  and  report  the  numbers,  the  Speaker 
announcing  the  result  to  the  House.  In  case  the  numbers  are  equal,  the  Speaker  has  to  give 
a  casting  vote,  the  practice  being  adopted  in  this  event  of  voting  in  such  a  manner  that  a 
further  opportunity  may  be  afforded  the  House  of  deciding  the  question,  and  the  reasons,  if 
given  by  the  Speaker,  are  entered  in  the  journals.  All  members  present  in  the  House  when  the 
question  is  put  from  the  Chair  are  required  to  vote,  but  any  member  having  a  direct  pecuniary 
interest  in  a  question  which  is  about  to  be  decided  is  not  entitled  to  take  part  in  the  division, 
and  should  he  do  so  his  vote  is  liable  to  be  disallowed.  A  provision  is  in  force  by  which  the 
Speaker  or  Chairman,  if  in  his  opinion  a  division  is  frivolously  or  vexatiously  claimed,  may 
take  the  vote  by  calling  upon  both  sides  successively  to  rise  in  their  places ;  and  he  may 
declare  the  determination  of  the  House  with- 
out a  division,  the  names  of  the  minority 
being  taken  down  by  the  Clerk  in  the  House 
and  printed  with  the  list  of  divisions. 

Tolerant  as  the  House  shows  itself  to 
any  of  its  members  who  unintentionally 
commit  a  breach  of  order,  it  will  quickly 
resent  disorderly  conduct  and  deliberate 
disregard  of  the  authority  of  the  Chair. 
In  an  assembly  of  divided  opinion  Parlia- 
mentary politics  will  sometimes  drift  into 
personal  feeling,  accompanied  by  scenes  of 
turbulence  and  excitement.  The  present 
House  of  Commons  has  means  at  its 
command  for  the  maintenance  of  order  in 
debate  and  for  checking  disorderly  con- 
duct. Irrelevance  or  tedious  repetition 
persisted  in  may  lead  to  the  member  so 
offending  being  ordered  to  discontinue  his 
speech;  gross  disorder,  to  his  being  ordered 
to  immediately  withdraw  from  the  House 
for  the  remainder  of  the  sitting;  and  the 
serious  offence  of  disregarding  the  authority 
of  the  Chair,  wilfully  and  persistently  ob- 
structing the  business  of  the  House,  will 
bring  upon  him  the  danger  of  being 
"named"  by  the  Speaker  with  the  penalty 
of  being  suspended  from  the  service  of 
the  House.1 

1  A  revision  of  the  rules  of  procedure  was  under  consideration  while  this  chapter  was  in  the  press 


From  a  drawing  liy  Sir  Frank  Locktcood,  Q.C. 

One  of  the  many  clever  caricatures  produced  by  the  lamented  Queen's 
Counsel  during  the  period  he  sat  in  the  House. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

CALLED   TO   THE  ItAR— PARLIAMENTARY  PRIVILEGE. 

TllK  exercise  of  tlio  punitive  jiowers  of  the  House  of  Commons  supplies  one  of  the  most  interesting 
chapters  in  the  history  of  Parliament.  Though  essentially  a  deliberative  body,  the  ]H>]uilar  ehamlier 
has  rejwsed  in  it  in  certain  circumstances  a  judicial  authority  independent  of  the  Courts  <>t  Law. 
and  even  at  times  in  sujiersession  of  them.  The  House  can  order  an  offender  against  it*  code 
to  durance  vile  without  trial  other  than  that  which  it  decrees,  and  as  long  as  Parliament  is  in 
session  the  prisoner  cannot  secure  his  freedom  except  by  the  will  of  the  assembly.  Privilege 
i«  the  bed-rock  of  this  far-reaching  ]>ower.  Contempt  of  the  High  Court  of  Parliament,  like 
the  ordinary  contempt  of  a  judicial  tribunal,  brings  into  play  forces  outside  and  beyond  the 
ordinary  machinery  of  the  law.  As  there  is  no  appeal  from  the  decree  of  the  insulted  judge 
on  the  Uench  who  summarily  commits  to  prison  a  violator  of  the  decencies  of  his  court,  sn 
there  is  none  to  call  in  question  the  penal  measures  taken  by  the  House  of  Commons  for 

the    vindication    of    its    offended 
majesty. 

What  exactly  const  it  i. 
Parliamentary  privilege  it  would 
be  difficult  to  say.  For  centuries 
controversy  has  raged  over  the 
question  without  a  definite  under- 
standing being  reached  as  to  the 
limits  to  which  the  strong  arm 
of  the  House  may  extend  in 
cases  where  it  considers  that 
offence  has  been  given.  As  we 
shall  show,  at  different  ]>eriods 
a  singularly  wide  range  has  heen 
given  to  this  legislative  version 
of  the  doctrine  of  Icse  ';//« 
The  House  has  elected  to  be  its 
own  interpreter  of  its  prerogat  ives. 
and  naturally  in  such  circum- 
stances they  have  varied  with 
the  changing  conditions  ami 
sentiments  of  the  times.  Seldcn, 
the  great  Parliamentarian  of  the 
Civil  War  period,  once  said  : 
"  Parliament  men  are  as  great 
princes  as  any  in  the  world. 
What  soever  they  please  is  privilege 
of  Parliament;  whatsoever  they 
dislike  is  breach  of  pmile^e." 
That  shrewd  description  aptly 

and  j.trlot.  who  took  unch  •  prominent  putt  in  the  itrnggla  ..  ..... 

ii  War.  described  the  position  in  Ins  day, 

380 


Called    to    the  Bar — Parliamentary    Privilege 


TIIK   SPEAKER   REPRIMANDING   AN  OFFENDER  AT  THE  BAR  OF  THE  HOUSE  OP  COMMONS. 
The  chamber  shown  in  the  view  is  the  temporary  structure  erected  after  the  fire  which  destroyed  the  old  Houses  of  Parliament. 

and  it  still  to  a  certain  extent  applies.  In  these  broad  outlines  the  rights  and  powers  of  the 
House  are  understood ;  but  lie  would  be  a  clever  constitutionalist  who  could  say  absolutely 
where  they  begin  and  where  they  end.  Less  of  doubt  surrounds  the  origin  of  Parliamentary 
privilege.  It  is  unquestionably,  as  history  clearly  shows,  a  creation  of  the  great  battle  for 
freedom  fought  in  the  earlier  centuries  of  Parliamentary  government.  The  right  of  liberty 
of  speech  persistently  demanded  and  finally  grudgingly  conceded  carried  with  it  the  power  to 
protect  the  House  collectively  from  the  violation  of  its  privacy,  and  the  member  individually  from 
the  consequences  of  words  uttered  in  the  chamber.  Naturally  flowing  from  such  power  was  the 
authority  to  punish  whatever  tended  to  restrict  the  free  discharge  by  members  of  their  duties, 
whether  it  were  in  the  nature  of  physical  compulsion,  or  in  the  indirect  form  of  written  libels. 

The  earliest  cases  of  breach  of  privilege  recorded  concern  almost  exclusively  the  position 
of  members  as  it  was  affected  by  judicial  processes.  From  the  very  infancy  almost  of 
Parliamentary  government  the  legislator  has  been  exempt  from  arrest  for  debt.  In  the  reign 
of  Edward  I.  we  find  the  Templars,  "  who  had  certain  tenants  in  the  Parliament  House  who 
were  behind  with  their  rents,"  humbly  petitioning  the  King  to  allow  them  "to  distrain  either 
their  bodies  or  their  goods  for  the  same,"  and  receiving  in  reply  an  emphatic  refusal  on  the 
ground  of  the  privileged  position  of  the  debtors.  Less  consideration  was  shown  to  a  member 
of  ancient  times,  Fearne  by  name,  who  was  committed  to  the  Marshalsea  for  the  vulgar  offence 
of  picking  pockets,  and  was  allowed  to  languish  in  that  unsavoury  retreat  without  the  House 
raising  a  finger  to  protect  him.  But  it  seems  to  have  been  recognised  from  the  very  outset, 
and  the  principle  obtains  to  this  day,  that  privilege  did  not  protect  a  member  charged  with 
offences  against  the  criminal  law.  Sufficient  was  done  by  the  authorities  when,  on  the  convic- 
tion of  a  legislator  for  such  offences,  they  notified  the  Speaker  of  the  fact,  in  order  to  allow 
him  to  understand  that  the  detention  was  unavoidable.  Such  protection  as  was  given  in 


382 


JENKJN 

I .  egi/laUv< 

.     • 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


the  first  instance  even  in  civil  cases  was 
conferred  by  tin-  common  law,  and  not  by  the 
action  of  the  llmise  itself.  It  is,  in  fact,  not 
until  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  that  we  are 
brought  into  contact  with  the  working  of  the 
Parliamentary  machinery  for  the  vindication 
of  privilege.  The  "leading  case"  in  this 
connection  is  that  of  Ferrers,  a  burgess  of 
the  King,  who  in  the  thirty-fourth  year  of 
Henry  VIII.  was  arrested  for  debt  ami 
cast  into  the  Counter  Prison  in  the  Citv 
of  London.  The  Sergeant  -at  -Anns.  who  \\a- 
promptly  sent  by  the  House  to  demand 
his  release,  was  ill-treated,  and  his  mace 
broken.  Indignant  at  the  insult  offered 
their  authority,  the  Commons  committed  the 
Sheriffs  and  the  Clerk  of  the  Counter  to  the 
Little  Ease  at  the  Tower.  The  King  upheld 
them  in  this  step.  Addressing  the  Chancellor 
and  the  Speaker,  he  insisted  that  the  member 
should  have  his  privilege.  "For,"  said  he,  "I 
I'OWER  understand  that  you,  not  only  for  yourselves. 
Povvcr^  *  but  also  for  your  necessary  servants.  e\en  to 
your  cooks  and  housekeepers,  enjoy  the  privilege 


utrtaiiies  n.':-  iii(/Hatcl-fcc4:  insomuch  as  my  Lord  Chancellor  hath  informed 

Lawcs'i/v/r  rzjcua  ffamffic  Snare,  us  that    he  being  Speaker  of  the   Parliament, 

•v<r  Crownb  must  Anow  jnjAucc,  the    cook    of    the    Temple    was    arrested     in 

itle,  ,tr,rn,v*ltj«nj«,.         J  Ecrkonhe*^  ix)1,don)    and    as    he    served    the    Speaker    in 

DAVID  JKNKIXS,  office    during    the   Parliament,    was   taken    out 

A  Wclih  judge  who  imrroirlj  neaped  being  sentenced  to  death  »t  the      of    execution     by    the    privilege     of    Parliament." 

Influence  so  powerful  could   not   fail   to   bring 

the  civic  functionaries  to  reason.  After  a  brief  enjoyment  of  the  discomforts  of  "the  Little  Ka-e." 
they  made  their  submission.  Hut  the  precise  legal  position  of  a  gaoler  holding  a  member 
imprisoned  for  debt  was  still  left  in  doubt.  In  March,  1603,  Sir  Thomas  Shirley  having  been 
committed  to  the  Fleet,  and  a  complaint  having  been  made  to  the  House  of  the  fact,  a  debate 
was  held  as  to  the  l*>st  means  to  adopt  to  secure  his  release.  It  was  at  first  decided  to  M-H.| 
six  members  with  the  Sergeant  and  his  mace  to  forcibly  remove  the  prisoner.  But  the  House 
thought  better  of  this  curious  scheme,  and  finally  agreed  to  try  the  effect  of  "the  Little 
Ease"  upon  the  recalcitrant  gaoler.  Their  decision  was  a  wise  one,  for  one  night's  incarceration 
in  the  famous  dungeon  convinced  the  gaoler  that  he  had  better  submit.  He  caused  to  be 
intimated  to  the  House  that  he  was  prepared  to  deliver  the  prisoner  up  if  he  was  absolved 
from  the  legal  consequences.  This,  however,  did  not  satisfy  members.  They  demanded  un- 
conditional surrender.  In  the  sequel  they  carried  their  point,  and  Mr.  Gaoler  was  not  in  his 
turn  released  until  he  had  on  his  knees  at  the  Bar  made  humble  confession  of  his  fault  and 
agreed  to  pay  the  fees  incurred  by  his  action. 

From  the  speech  of  Henry  VIII.  quoted  above,  it  is  to  be  gathered  that  the  privilege 
of  a  member  was  held  to  extend  to  his  servants.  This,  in  fact,  was  very  much  the  case. 
The  journals  are  strewn  with  records  of  complaints  of  interference  with  the  liberty  of 
individuals,  many  of  whom  were  in  the  most  nominal  sense  of  the  word  servants.  As  far 
back  as  1601  we  find  a  Mr.  William  Cooke,  a  member,  making  a  serious  claim  to  the 
intervention  of  the  House  because  his  tailor  had  been  seized  for  debt  and  cast  into  the  Fleet 
Prison.  Townsend,  in  his  "Proceedings  of  Parliament,"  relates  the  upshot  of  the  affair:  "The 


"  <lrairu>ij  i,i>  f.lmrtm  It.    Ward. 

THE   SERGEANT-AT-AUMS  OF  THE   HOUSE  OP  COMMONS   ILL-TREATED    IN   THE  CITY. 
An  incident  arising  out  of  the  arrest  of  a  member  of  Parliament  by  the  City  authorities  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI 1 1. 


383 


384 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Leading  from  the  Lobby  to  the  great  Central  Hall.    Stranger*  in  the  galleries  are  made  to  wait  here  during  diridon*. 

]>erson  that  arrested  .Mr.  Cooke's  man  was  brought  in,  who,  after  a  sharp  speech  delivered  by 
.Mr.  Sjieaker.  showing  that  lie  had  committed  a  heinous  offence  to  arrest  any  member  of  the 
House  or  his  sirvant.  knowing  that  both  their  persons,  their  servants'  goods,  and  everything 
they  had  were  privileged  during  this  great  Council.  '  How  durst  you  presume  to  do  it?'  To 
which  the  poor  man  answered  upon  his  knees,  'That  he  knew  not  that  his  master  was  of  the 
House.  I  do  acknowledge  that  1  have  offended,  and  humbly  crave  pardon,  and  I  protest  11)11111 
my  sdvation  I  would  not  have  done  it  had  I  known  his  master  had  been  privileged.' "  After 
this  handsome  amend  the  House  could  only  extend  a  gracious  pardon  to  the  offender,  though 
he  had  to  discharge  the  fees  before  he  was  given  his  liberty. 

Encouraged  by  the  success  which  attended  the  enforcement  of  the  principle  in  this  and 
like  cases,  members  of  both  Houses  strained  their  prerogatives  to  a  scandalous  extent. 
According  to  Clarendon,  protections  were  given  a<l  Uliilmn.  and  they  were  "commonly  sold  by 
their  servants  to  bankrupt  citi/ens.  and  to  such  who  were  able,  but  refused,  to  pay  their  just  debts." 
So  great  were  the  demands  made  under  the  system  that  the  citi/cns  of  lx>ndon,  when  pressed  for 
a  loan  by  both  Houses  of  Parliament  in  November,  1G41,  urged  the  existence  of  the  custom  as 
a  reason  for  non-compliance  with  the  demand.  The  most  degrading  feature  of  the  practice  was 
that  members  sold  their  protections  for  hard  cash.  As  little  as  16s.  or  17s.  was  received  by 
one  member,  a  certain  .Mr.  Benson,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  for  extending  Parliamentary 
rights  to  fraudulent  debtors.  In  his  ease  the  House  was  shamed  into  activity,  and  he  \\a<. 
for  his  conduct,  declared  by  a  vote  of  the  House  to  be  "unworthy  and  unfit  to  be  a  member." 
and  exjielled  accordingly.  A  somewhat  similar  incident  took  place  later,  when  Sir  John 
Pretiman,  who  sat  for  Keiee-ter,  \\as  suspended  from  sitting  in  the  House  for  taking  under 
his  wing  "a  most  notorious  fellow,"  whom  he  falsely  represented  to  be  a  menial  servant  in  his 


Called    to    the    Bar — Parliamentary    Privilege 


385 


employ,  but  was  actually  only  a  commonplace  rogue,  who  sought  to  evade  his  liabilities. 
Marvell,  in  his  letters  to  his  constituents,  describes  the  curious  sequel  to  the  decree  of  the 
House :  "  The  Sergeant  was  sent  into  the  Speaker's  chamber  with  his  mace  to  bring  him 
(Pretiman)  to  receive  the  sentence  upon  his  knees  at  the  Bar.  Hereupon  the  House  being 
disappointed  (for  in  the  meanwhile  he  was  escaped  by  the  back  door)  ordered  that  door  to  be 
nailed  up  for  the  future,  have  revived  their  votes  of  1663  against  all  paper  protections,  against 
protections  to  any  but  menial  servants ;  and  to-day,  after  a  long  debate  for  expelling  him, 
the  House  have  for  some  good  reason  given  him  till  the  second  Tuesday  after  our  next 
meeting  to  appear."  Pretiman  managed  to  evade  the  penalty  passed  upon  him.  But,  stirred 
to  energy  by  the  disclosures  in  his  case,  the  Speaker  in  1667  issued  a  mandate  to  call  in  all 
protections,  with  the  result  that  it  was  found  that  as  many  as  eight  hundred  persons  were  in 
the  enjoyment  of  immunity  from  arrest  in  London  and  Middlesex  alone.  In  consequence  of  the 
ferment  caused  by  the  action  of  the  House,  a  startling  case  of  oppression,  nurtured  under 
the  system,  was  brought  to  light  through  the  medium  of  a  petition  presented  to  the  House 
by  a  Mrs.  Cottington.  This  lady  averred  that  Colonel  Wanklyn,  a  member,  gave  protection  to 
her  husband,  who  was  an  independent  gentleman  with  an  income  of  £2,000  a  year,  to  screen 
him  from  the  consequences  of  an  action  that  was  pending  in  reference  to  the  validity  of  their 
marriage.  Even  the  morality  of  that  lax  age  was  shocked  at  this  infamous  perversion  of  the 
rights  of  privilege.  When  Colonel  Wanklyn  had  been  called  upon  to  explain,  and  practically 
admitted  his  guilt,  Mr.  Hale,  a  county  member,  rose  and  said  with  a  terseness  which  showed  his 
horror  and  contempt :  4i  This  man  is  not  fit  to  keep  us  company,  and  I  humbly  move  that  he 
may  be  turned  out  of  the  House."  The  proposal  found  favour  with  the  members,  who 
unanimously  agreed  to  the  motion  for  expulsion.  There  was  a  discussion  as  to  whether  the  erring 
legislator  should  receive  his  sentence  on  his  knees  like  any  common  Parliamentary  malefactor ; 
but  he  was  spared  this  humiliation.  Nevertheless,  he  was  so  sensible  of  the  degradation  of  his 
position,  that  when  he  had  been  told  the  de-  »  ^ 

•cision  of  the  House  he  broke  down  completely, 
and,  weeping,  was  led  away  by  his  friends. 

Drastic  as  the  action  taken  in  these 
cases  was,  it  was  not  entirely  effectual.  For 
many  years  afterwards  the  abuses  of  the 
rights  of  privilege  continued  to  the  scandal 
of  good  citizens,  who  found  themselves 
deprived  of  their  just  dues  through  the 
readiness  with  which  unscrupulous  members 
lent  their  authority.  It  was  not,  in  fact, 
until  the  eighteenth  century  was  entered 
upon  that  the  custom  of  extending  pro- 
tection to  members'  servants  was  finally 
abandoned.  Even  after  that  the  right  of 
privilege  was  occasionally  abused. 

There  was  a  very  gross  case  brought  to 
light  in  1807,  when  a  member  named  Mills 
was  discharged  from  custody  on  the  strength 
of  his  privilege,  although  he  had  notoriously 
purchased  his  seat  in  order  to  escape  pay- 
ment of  his  debts,  which  amounted  to  a 
very  large  sum.  An  equally  flagrant  misuse 

Of   the  Parliamentary  position  Was  made  about  pmn  an  etching  by  Sim-born,  ba  pe^nUiion  of  Me»>r>.  Ugert&Kogen. 

the  same  time  in  the  case  of  a  Mr.  Bourke,  SAMUEL  PEPYS, 

whose    friends  Secured  his  return    for    a    pocket          The  famous  aiarigt,  who  made  a  memorable  appearance  at  the  Bar  of  the 

borough    in    order    to    free    him    from    the  House  of  Common.. 

49 


386 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


King's  Bench,  where  he  was  confined  for  debt.  This  individual  actually  never  sat  in  the 
House.  Immediately  the  prison  doors  \UMV  opened  to  him  by  the  jwtent  influence  of  privilege, 
he  t«x>k  his  de]utrture  to  tin'  Continent,  from  whence  he  never  returned. 

Siinultancou-.lv  with  tin-  misuse  of  tin-  ]>o\vcrs  of  Parliamentary  privilege  for  sordid  reasons, 
was  a  straining  of  the  prerogatives  on  grounds  more  or  less  fantastic  and  trivial.  A  member's 
servant'-  d.iak  was  retained  at  a  tavern.  Forthwith  a  solemn  complaint  \\;i-  made  to  the 
House  on  grounds  of  privilege,  and  the  unfortunate  innkeeper  was  committed  to  prison. 
In  another  case  a  man  employed  by  u  member  was  confined  for  failing  to  contribute  to  the 
maintenance  of  an  illegitimate  child.  \Vitli  minute  care  the  House  investigated  the  matter, 
and  finally  rescued  the  peccant  parent  from  his  awkward  jtosition.  Again,  a  tremendous  stir 
\va»  caused  in  Parliament  in  1(>!»8  over  the  felling  of  a  tree  situate  ujion  the  estate  of  Sir 
Ralph  Dutton,  a  incml>cr.  by  a  neighliour.  .Mr.  (ircville.  The  momentous  matter  was  in  due 
form  referred  to  a  Committee  of  Privileges,  who,  alter  an  exhaustive  investigation,  came  to  the 
conclusion  ''That  .Mr.  (ircville  was  not  guilty  of  a  breach  of  privilege  in  aiding  and  abetting 
the  cutting  down  the  tree  called  Forden  Klin."  But  the  most  extraordinary  case  of  all  was 
one  which  formed  the  subject  of  debate  at  the  close  of  1661.  It  concerned  the  custody  of  a 
corpse,  of  all  things.  Sir  Reginald  Palgrave  relates  the  particulars  as  follows,  in  his  interesting 
little  work,  "The  House  of  Commons":  "A  member,  as  executor  to  a  will,  was  arranging  the 

funeral  of  his  dead  friend.  A  quarrel  arose,  and 
the  family  took  possession  of  the  corpse,  that 
they,  and  not  the  executor,  might  manage 
the  burial.  So  he  put  his  privileges  in  force, 
and,  as  is  duly  recorded  in  the  journal  of 
December  12th,  1661,  the  House  of  Commons 
sent  their  Sergeant  and  his  messengers  'to  make 
diligent  search  for  the  said  corpse,'  to  the  end 
that  the  said  member  of  Parliament  'might 
decently  inter  the  same.' " 

Another  singular  case  was  that  of  John 
Aylofle,  who  in  1638  was  called  to  account  for 
printing  "The  Appeal"  and  "The  Votes  of 
Parliament*"  and  "for  having  laid,  in  a  libellous 
manner,  a  wooden  shoe  in  the  Speaker's  chair." 
How  heinous  this  individual's  offences  were 
considered  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that 
in  1640  he  is  found1  petitioning  the  King  for 
pardon  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  two 
years  in  exile.  Also  worth  recalling  is  an  incident 
related  by  Kdward  Harlcy  in  a  letter  to  his 
fat  her  dated  February  5th,  1697-8.  ".Mr.  Powil's 
second  son,"  says  the  writer,  "was  this  day 
reprimanded  upon  his  knees  for  saying  some 
things  that  reflected  upon  the  Lords  of  tin- 
Treasury  which  he  could  not  make  out.  It  put 
some  in  mind  of  the  story  of  the  jester  that  was 
whipt  in  (Jueen  Klixalielh's  time  for  calling  the 
l>3rd  Nottingham  '  fool.'  " 

This  question  of  Parliamentary  privilege  had 
its   tragic    as   well    as   its   amusing   side.     There 
is.    for   instance,    the   case   of    David    Jenkins,    a 
Welsh    judge,    who   in    the    period   immediately 
1  Historical  Manuscripts,  Appendix,  5th  Report,  p.  235. 


TITCS  OATKS. 
The  informer  and  perjurer,  "funding  In  the  pillory  for  hii  crime*. 


Called    to    the    Bar — Parliamentary    Privilege  387 

preceding  the  Civil  War  was  actually  con- 
demned to  death  by  a  vote  of  the  House  of 
Commons  for  contempt  of  the  High  Court 
of  Parliament.  Jenkins,  who  was  a  staunch 
adherent  of  the  Eoyalist  cause,  was  brought 
to  the  Bar  to  answer  for  his  judicial  conduct 
in  sentencing  to  death  persons  who  had 
taken  up  arms  against  the  King  in  Wales. 
In  accordance  with  the  usual  practice  the 
old  fellow  was  required  to  kneel.  His  reply 
to  the  summons  was  a  startling  one  :  "  Since 
you,  Mr.  Speaker,  and  this  House,  have 
renounced  all  your  duty  and  allegiance  to 
your  sovereign  and  natural  liege  lord  the 
King,  and  are  become  a  den  of  thieves, 
should  I  bow  myself  in  this  House  of 
Kimmon,  the  Lord  would  not  pardon  me  in 
this  thing/'  The  House  was  in  an  uproar 
at  once,  and  a  motion  was  made  and  carried 
that  Jenkins  and  Sir  Francis  Butler,  who 
was  associated  with  him  at  the  Bar,  should 
be  condemned  to  death  for  high  treason. 
Before  steps  could  be  taken  to  give  effect 
to  the  motion,  Henry  Marten,  an  influential 
member  of  the  Parliamentary  party,  put  in 
a  plea  for  reconsideration  of  the  hasty  action. 
"  Mr.  Speaker,"  said  he,  "  every  one  must  believe  that  this  old  gentleman  here  is  fully 
possessed  in  his  head  that  he  is  pro  aris  et  focis  mori,  that  he  should  die  a  martyr  for  this 
cause,  for  otherwise  he  never  would  have  provoked  the  House  by  such  biting  expressions ; 
whereby  it  is  apparent  if  you  execute  him,  you  do  what  he  hopes  for  and  desires,  and  whose 
execution  might  have  a  great  influence  upon  the  people,  since  not  condemned  by  a  jury. 
Wherefore  my  motion  is  that  this  House  should  suspend  the  day  of  execution,  and  in  the 
meantime  force  him  to  live  in  spight  of  his  teeth."  This  sensible  appeal  had  its  effect. 
Jenkins  and  his  companion  were  committed  to  Newgate  on  the  understanding  that  the  sentence 
should  be  suspended.  After  a  period  of  confinement,  during  which  the  old  judge  occupied  himself 
in  making  elaborate  preparations  for  his  appearance  upon  the  scaffold,  they  were  set  at  liberty. 
The  degradation  of  kneeling  at  the  Bar,  from  which  the  soul  of  the  sturdy  Jenkins 
revolted,  was  for  centuries  an  inevitable  accompaniment  of  an  appearance  before  the  House 
in  the  character  of  culprit.  It  was  finally  abandoned  in  1750,  as  the  result  of  the  obstinate 
stand  made  by  a  Mr.  Murray,  who  had  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  House  by  his  conduct 
in  an  election  for  the  City  of  Westminster  then  just  concluded.  Mr.  Murray  was  bracketed 
with  a  Mr.  Crowle  in  the  proceedings.  The  latter  gentleman,  who  was  accused  of  wilfully 
and  unjustly  protracting  the  scrutiny,  and  of  using  "  disrespectful  words  in  contempt  of  the 
authority  of  this  House,"  ate  his  humble  pie  without  demur.  Murray  was  of  sterner  metal. 
When,  after  protracted  proceedings,  he  was  adjudged  guilty  of  "  dangerous  and  seditious  practices 
in  violation  and  contempt  of  the  authority  and  privileges  of  this  House  and  of  the  freedom 
of  elections,"  he  was  ordered  to  kneel  in  the  customary  way  to  receive  sentence,  he  flatly 
declined  to  comply.  "Your  obeisances,  sir,"  shouted  the  Speaker.  But  still  the  culprit 
declined,  and  he  continued  in  this  mood  in  spite  of  all  the  commands  made  to  him.  The 
House  was  horror-struck  at  this  flagrant  defiance.  As  soon  as  it  recovered  its  equanimity 
sufficiently  it  passed  a  resolution  declaring  that  Murray,  "  having  in  a  most  insolent,  audacious 
manner,  at  the  Bar  of  this  House,  absolutely  refused  to  be  upon  his  knees  as  required 


TITUS  GATES. 
A  portrait  of  the  perjurer  attired  in  clerical  garb. 


388 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


by  the   raid   resolution,  is   guilty  of  a   high 

nml  most  dangerou-  <-»nti-iii|it  of  the  authority 

and  privileges  of  this  Iloti-e."    Supplementing 

this    lofty    condemnation    were    a    series    of 

rcMilutions  decreeing  that   .Murray  should   lu> 

committed  a  close   prisoner  to   Newgate,   that 

while   there    he  should    not    be  allowed    the 

use    of    jM-ii.     ink.    or    paper,    and    that     no 

person  should    l>e    jH-rniitted    to    have   accos 

to    him    without     the    leave    of    the    House. 

Finally,    a    Committee    was    ap]>ointed    "to 

con>ider    and    n'jKirt     to     the     House    what 

methods  may  IK-  proper  to  lie  taken  by  the 

House    in    relation    to    the    >aiil    contempt." 

Four    days  after   this  bolt  wa*   delivered — on 

February  8th,   1750- — it    was  reported    to  the 

Mouse    by  the    keeper   of  Xewgate   that    the 

prixiner  was  ill  am)  desired  that  a  physician 

and    an    apothecary    might    be    allowed    to 

iv-ort    to  him.     The  permission  was  granted, 

and   on    April    2nd    the   physician    appeared 

at    the   Bar   of  the    House    to   say    that    he 

apprehended    Mr.  Murray  to    have    the    gaol 

di>temper    coming  upon    him,    and    that    he 

left    him    so   extremely    ill,  that   if  he    were 

not  immediately   removed   from   his   present 

place    of    confinement,    there    would    be    no 

]M>ssibility  of  saving  him.     Even  this  alarming  report  did  not  secure  the  unfortunate  prisoner's 

release.      The    House    merely    gave    orders    for    his    transfer    from    Newgate    to    the    custody 

of    the    Sergeant-at-Arms,    specifying    that   the    conditions    of    his    detention    should    continue 

as   heretofore.     Mr.    Murray    was    not    at    all    grateful    for   this    half-hearted   concession.      When 

the   Deputy  Sergeant-at-Arms  went   to  him  to  arrange  for  his   removal,  he   declined    to    leave, 

and  commented   strongly  on  the  action  of  his  friends,  who  had  appealed  to  the  House  without 

his  knowledge.     As   a   consequence  of  his  attitude  the  order  for  removal  was  revoked,  and  the 

prisoner  was  allowed  to  remain  in  Newgate  until  the  end   of  the    session,  wlien   the   power   of 

the   House  over   him  lapsed.     In  the  next  session  the   orders   with   reference  to  the   prisoner 

were  revived,  and  a  fresh  decree  for  his  committal  was  made.     Kut  when  the  Deputy  Sergeant 

went    to   make   the   arrest,  it  was  found    that    the    bird    had    flown.     The   implacable   Commons 

p;is-eil  a  resolution  for  an  address  to  the    King  to  issue  a  proclamation  for   the  apprehension 

of  Murray,  with   the    promise   of  a   reward    for   the    same.     This   final  ebullition  was,  however, 

a  mere  flash  in  the  pan.      Murray  went  scot  free,  and  never  afterwards  was  the  Parliamentary 

kow  toiv  enforced. 

Kit  her  in  the  character  of  culprits  or  suppliants  many  well-known  historical  figures  have  been 
seen  at  the  liar  of  the  House.  Pride  stood  there  for  a  space  to  answer  for  his  delinquencies 
in  the  Cromwellian  period;  and  on  March  5th,  1(567-8,  Pepys  made  a  memorable  appearance 
there  to  defend  himself  and  his  brother  officials  of  the  Navy  Office  from  charges  brought  against 
them  in  connection  with  the  humiliating  raid  of  the  Dutch  fleet  under  De  Ruyter  up  the 
Medway  in  the  previous  year.  On  the  whole,  perhaps,  this  was  the  most  picturesque  incident 
in  the  life  of  the  diarist,  as  it  is  certainly  not  the  least  attractive  chapter  in  the  annals  of  the 
House  of  Commons'  disciplinary  proceedings.  In  his  diary  Pepys  gives  ti*.  a>  might  lie  expected, 
a  most  minute  account  of  the  whole  business.  First  we  have  a  picture  of  him  on  March  4th 
preparing  for  the  ordeal,  anxious  and  sleepless  and  sick  at  heart.  On  the  great  morning  we 


'- 


COLONEL   WAKDLE, 

A  prominent  military  member  of  the  earl;  jiart  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  He  moved  the  resolution  condemnatory  of  the  Duke  of  York 
in  the  celebrated  debate  of  February  1st,  1800. 


Called    to    the    Bar — Parliamentary    Privilege 


389 


find  him  at  the  "Dog"  at  Westminster,  fortifying  himself  with  a  half-pint  of  mulled  sack,  and 
thence  proceeding  to  Westminster  Hall,  where,  dropping  in  at  another  house  of  call,  he  quaffed 
"a  dram  of  brandy."  This  preliminary  preparation  appears  to  have  been  beneficial,  for  Pepys 
tells  us  that  with  the  warmth  of  the  drink  "  I  did  find  myself  in  better  order  as  to  courage 
truly." 

Proceeding  to  the  Lobby,  Pepys  and  his  party  awaited  the  summons  of  the  House.  It 
came  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock.  Marching  in  with  the  mace  before  them,  they  took 
their  stand  at  the  Bar,  facing  '•  a  mighty  full  House."  Looking  around,  the  diarist  noted  the 
air  of  eager  expectancy  that  prevailed.  He  also  with  misgiving  perceived  that  there  was  a  strong 
current  of  prejudice  against  him  and  his  brother  officials.  But  he  put  a  bold  face  on  things. 
Here  is  his  account  of  what  passed  :  "  After  the  Speaker  had  told  us  the  dissatisfaction  of  the 
House,  and  read  the  report  of  the  Committee,  I  began  our  defence  most  acceptably  and 
smoothly,  and  continued  at  it  without  any  hesitation  or  loose,  but  with  full  scope  and  all 
my  reason  free  about  me  as  if  it  had  been  at  iny  own  table,  from  that  time  till  past  three 
in  the  afternoon  ;  and  so  ended  without  any  interruption  from  the  Speaker ;  but  we  withdrew. 
And  then  all  my  fellow  officers  and  all  the  world  that  was  within  hearing  did  congratulate  me 
and  cry  up  my  speech  as  the  best  thing  they  ever  heard.  .  .  .  We  were  called  in  again 
by  and  by  to  answer  only  one  question,  touching  our  paying  tickets  to  ticket-mongers ;  and 
so  out ;  and  we  were  in  hopes  to  have  had  a  vote  this  day  in  our  favour,  and  so  the  generality 
of  the  House  was.  But  my  speech  being  so  long  many  had  gone  out  to  dinner  and  come 
in  again  half  drunk  ;  and  then  there  was  two  or  three  that  are  professed  enemies  to  us  and 
every  one  else.  ...  I  say  these  did  rise  up  and  speak  against  the  coming  to  a  vote  now.  .  .  . 
However,  it  is  plain  we  have  got  great  ground,  and  everybody  says  I  have  got  the  most  honour 
that  any  could  have  had  opportunity  of  getting;  and  so  with  our  hearts  all  overjoyed  at  this, 
we  all  to  dinner  at  Lord  Brouncker's." 

The  next  day  Pepys  tasted  to  the  full  the  sweets  of  his  success :  "  Up  betimes  and  with 
Sir  D.  Grawden  to  Sir  W.  Coventry's  chamber,  where  the  first  words  he  said  to  me  were  :  '  Good 


from  a  contemporary  caricatvrt. 

MRS.  CLARKE   AT   THE   BAR  OF  THE   HOUSE   OP  COMMONS. 
A  drawing  in  which  the  artist  baa  freely  treated  a  •enaational  episode  which  occurred  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  February  1st,  1809. 


390 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


morrow,  Mr.  Pepys,  that  must  be 
SjH'akcr  of  the  Parliament  House,' 
and  did  protest    that    I    had   got 
honour   for   ever  in    Parliament." 
Later  the  same  day  Pepys,  walk- 
ing in  St.  .lame-'s  Park,  met  the 
King,  who  congratulated  him  on 
Ins    success.       Subsequently,    on 
looking   in    at   Westminster  Hall, 
lie   met    -.Mr.    (i.    Montagu,  who 
came  to   me  and   kissed   me  and 
told  me  that  he  had  often  here- 
tofore kissed  my  hands,  but  now 
he  would  kiss  my  li]>s,  protesting 
that   I    was  another  Cicero,  and 
said    that    the    world    said     the 
same    of  me."     In    short,    Pepys 
awoke    that    March    morning   in 
1667  and  found  himself  famous. 
His    triumph     induced     him     to 
seriously    think    of    seeking 
Parliamentary     honours,    and    in 
1669  he  actually  presented  him- 
self as    a   candidate    for   the   re- 
presentation   of    Aid  borough,    in 
Suffolk,  but  without  success.    His 
entrance     into     Parliament     was 
delayed  until  1673,  when  he  was 
elected      for     Castle     Kising,     in 
Norfolk.    By  that  time  the  fame 
of  his  oratorical  achievement  had 
evaporated,   and    he   was   able  to  accomplish  little  beyond  furnishing  a  subject  for   the  religious 
bigotry  of  the  time,  his  house  being  searched  on  suspicion  that   he   had  a  crucifix  and  other 
Popish  emblems  concealed  there. 

In  the  same  year  that  Pepys  made  his  interesting  dtibut  in  the  House  of  Commons  that 
astounding  imjwstor,  Titus  Gates,  faced  the  Commons  with  a  brazen-faced  impudence  thoroughly 
characteristic  of  the  man.  The  prince  of  perjurers  was  summoned  before  the  House  on  October  21st, 
1678,  to  make  good  his  charges  against  "the  Popish  recusants."  His  levity  under  examination  was 
such  that  the  Speaker  several  times  rebuked  him,  and  he  was  only  silenced  by  a  stern  intimation 
that  he  came  there  not  to  expostulate,  but  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  House.  Unfortunately  his 
words  were  accorded  a  greater  weight  than  from  this  episode  might  have  been  anticipated. 
Directly  arising  out  of  his  examination  was  the  well-known  resolution  of  October  31st,  1678, 
affirming  "  that  there  is  and  hath  been  a  damnable  and  hellish  plot  contrived  and  carried  on 
by  Popish  recusants  for  assassinating  and  murdering  the  King,  for  subverting  the  Government, 
and  rooting  out  and  destroying  the  Protestant  religion."  Oates,  emboldened  by  the  success 
of  his  ]»erjury,  afterwards  put  in  a  bill  for  i.678  12s.  Gd.  for  expenses  incurred  "in  bringing 
the  truth  to  light."  Such  was  his  influence  at  the  time,  that  the  charges  were  paid  without  a 
murmur,  despite  the  fact  that  he  was  already  in  receipt  of  a  weekly  salary.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  follow  his  infamous  career  further,  for  Parliament  was  not  again  concerned  with  his  affairs 
—  at  least  directly. 

As  is  to  be  gathered  from  this  incident,  the  "call  to  the  Bar"  was  made  for  purposes  of 
inquiry  as  well  as  for  disciplinary  reasons.  Nowadays  the  functions  exercised  in  Oates's  case 


MHS.    CLAUKK, 

The  mirtmn  of  the    Duke  of   York,  who  KM  ranmionei!   to  the  Bar  of  the   Home  of 
Cotuluoiu  in  1809  in  connection  with  the  cnrnijit  dale  of  couimiasiona  in  the  arniy. 


Called    to    the    Bar — Parliamentary    Privilege 


391 


are  delegated  to  Committees,  who  make 
a  report  to  the  House,  but  before  the 
practice  fell  into  desuetude,  the  House 
concerned  itself  directly  with  the  in- 
vestigation of  not  a  few  matters  which 
in  their  day  occupied  a  large  space  in 
the  public  mind.  In  this  connection 
special  reference  may  be  made  to  the 
well-known  case  of  Mrs.  Clarke,  the 
mistress  of  the  Duke  of  York,  who 
was  required  to  give  evidence  at  the 
Bar  of  the  House  in  regard  to  the 
charges  brought  against  the  Duke  in 
connection  with  the  corrupt  sale  of 
commissions  in  the  army,  the  disclosures 
regarding  which  had  half-scandalised, 
half-amused,  the  country  in  the  early 
nineteenth-century  period  in  which  the 
transactions  occurred.  Mrs.  Clarke  had 
shown  by  the  audacity  of  her  dealings 
that  she  was  a  woman  not  easily  to 
be  intimidated,  and  her  conduct  in 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel  was  quite  in 
keeping  with  the  reputation  she  had 
made  for  herself.  Summoned  before 
the  House,  she  appeared  at  the  Bar 
on  February  1st,  1809,  calm  and  self- 
possessed,  and  armed  at  all  points  for 
the  ordeal  she  was  to  undergo.  Her 
great  charms  were  set  off  by  an  exquisite 
toilette.  A  lovely  Thais,  as  one  writer  puts  it,  she  dazzled  the  gravest.  The  examination 
which  was  calculated  to  lead  to  her  discomfiture  resulted  in  a  personal  triumph.  By  her  ready 
wit  she  turned  the  tables  on  her  accusers,  answering  all  questions  in  such  a  way  as  to  cause 
annoyance.  The  Duke  of  York,  who  had  aroused  her  ire  by  withdrawing  his  protection  in 
consequence  of  the  exposures,  suffered  especially  at  her  hands.  Whatever  could  be  stated 
to  his  detriment  was  readily  detailed.  She  showed  a  malicious  joy  in  making  things  uncom- 
fortable all  round.  Wilberforce  in  his  diary  gives  an  interesting  sketch  of  the  episode  as  it 
presented  itself  to  his  somewhat  austere  mind.  "This  melancholy  business,"  he  writes,  "will 
do  irreparable  mischief  to  public  morals  by  accustoming  the  public  to  hear  without  emotion 
shameless  violations  of  decency.  The  House  examined  Mrs.  Clarke  for  two  hours,  cross-examin- 
ing her  in  the  Old  Bailey  way.  She,  elegantly  dressed,  consummately  impudent,  and  very 
clever,  got  clearly  the  better  of  the  tussle."  At  the  close  of  the  long  examination  a  motion 
was  proposed  by  Colonel  Wardle  declaring  that  the  Duke  of  York  had  been  guilty  of  corrupt 
practices  and  connivance  of  such  practices,  and  praying  that  he  be  dismissed  from  the  command 
of  the  army.  This  drastic  resolution  found  some  favour,  but  the  House  as  a  whole  was  not 
disposed  to  accept  so  extreme  a  view  of  the  transactions.  It  finally  agreed  to  an  amendment 
brought  forward  by  Mr.  Perceval  absolving  the  Duke  from  personal  corruption  and  from 
criminal  connivance  in  the  malpractices  brought  to  light.  The  scandal  was  too  gross  for  this 
exculpatory  declaration  to  have  full  weight.  With  a  discretion  which  he  had  not  always 
shown,  the  Duke  voluntarily  resigned  his  command  almost  immediately.  Mrs.  Clarke  retired 
into  an  unhonoured  though  affluent  obscurity  with  a  handsome  provision  for  life. 

Though   the    call   to   the    Bar   of  the   House    has   in   the   majority  of  cases   reflected   little 


THE   BIGHT   HON.   SPENCKB  PERCEVAL, 

The  Minister  who  moved  the  resolution  exculpating  the  Duke  of  York  from  the 
charpe  of  personal  corruption. 


392 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


credit  ujK>n  the  person  summoned,  it  has  occasionally  been  made  to  assume  tin-  character  of 
a  di-tiinjiii-hi-d  honour.  In  1089  Schoml>erg  attended  at  tin-  llmi-.-  to  return  thanks  for  tin* 
grant  of  a  hundred  thousand  ]xmndB  which  liad  been  made  to  him  in  recognition  of  his 
services  in  Ireland.  "A  chair."  says  Maeaulay,  '"was  set  for  him  within  the  Bar.  He  took 
hi-  seat  there  with  the  mace  at  his  right  hand,  rose,  and  in  a  few  graceful  words  returned 
his  thanks  and  took  his  leave.  The  Speaker  replied  that  the  Commons  could  never  forget 
the  obligation  under  which  they  already  lay  to  his  Grace,  that  they  saw  him  with  pleasure 
at  the  head  of  an  English  army,  that  they  felt  entire  confidence  in  his  /eal  and  ability,  and 
that  at  whatever  distance  he  might  be,  he  would  always  be  in  a  peculiar  manner  an  object  of 
their  care."  The  precedent  set  on  this  interesting  occasion,  Macaulay  notes,  was  followed  with 
the  utmost  minuteness  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  later  on  an  occasion  more  interesting 
still.  "  Exactly  on  the  same  spot  on  which  in  July,  1689,  Schomberg  had  acknowledged  the 
liberality  of  the  nation,  a  chair  was  set,  in  July,  1814,  for  a  still  more  illustrious  warrior  who 
came  to  return  thanks  for  a  still  more  splendid  mark  of  public  gratitude."  The  refeivncr.  of 
•course  is  to  Wellington,  who  attended  at  the  House  of  Commons  to  receive  the  thanks  of  a 
grateful  Senate,  and  to  hear  the  announcement  of  the  money  vote  made  to  him  for  his  services 
in  the  Peninsular  campaign. 

A  few  months  after  Mrs.  Clarke  made  her  sensational  appearance  at  the  Bar  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  an  additional  chapter  of  a  not  less  exciting  character  was  added  to  the  records 
of  the  House.  On  February  10th,  1810,  a  Mr.  Gale  Jones,  the  manager  of  a  Covent  Garden 

debating    society,    issued     a 
BH  pamphlet    stating    that    the 

action  of  a  member  of  tin- 
House  in  spying  strangers, 
and  having  the  gallerie> 
cleared  during  a  debate.  \va> 
••an  insidious  and  ill-timed 
attack  upon  the  liberties  of 
the  Press,  tending  to  aggra- 
vate the  discontent  of  the 
people,  and  rendering  their 
representatives  objects  of 
jealous  suspicion."  Gale 
Jones  was  quickly  brought 
to  the  Bar,  and,  although 
he  humbly  acknowledged  his 
fault,  he  was  promptly  com- 
mitted to  prison.  Three 
weeks  afterwards  Sir  Francis 
Burdett,  member  for  West- 
minster, proposed  that  the 
culprit  should  be  released ; 
but  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  the  House  decided  again>t 
the  motion.  Sir  Francis 
Burdett,  irritated  at  his 
defeat,  shortly  afterwards 
commenced  an  attack  UJKHI 
the  House  of  Commons  by 
publishing  a  letter  in  Cobbelt'a 

SIB   FRANCIS    I'.l   IM.I.I  I  ...          i> 

____»  .    __  ._,,,.       .  ,  „  Weekly     Political     Re<iwler 

The  well-known  number  for  Weitmliuter,  whan  defiance  of  the  HOUM  of  Commons  gar*  riM  to 

intent*  pnpnUr  excitement  in  i8io.  denying    the    power   of  the 


t  r*»n  i/ie  I  n  i  til  Hi  x  in  nit    .\  n,,ii  nut  1  "i  i  m  1 1  t  Hint  i  \  in    -^'i    i  ii"tmi  >  i.n  .t  it  m  • ,  t     i\ .    i . 

T1IK   KIC.IIT    HON.   WAKKKN    MASTINC.S. 

A  IM  puctralt  «I  the  f rail  luJUu  Ailmlnutntur  »l  lh- »«'•••' ~'     »  *»•  I  ""'•  '  '"  '•"  '•"•  ""•  «l<<  "«  ••! 


Called    to    the    Bar — Parliamentary    Privilege 


393 


THE   BAIt  OF   THE   HOUSE   Of  COMMONS. 
It  is  at  this  »i>ot  that  persons  summoned  to  appear  before  the  House  of  Commons  are  made  to  stand. 

House  to  "  imprison  the  people  of  England,"  and  strongly  insisting  upon  the  importance  of 
preserving  the  liberty  of  the  subject.  His  conduct  was  then  complained  of  by  a  brother 
memljer,  the  matter  being  brought  before  the  Commons  as  a  breach  of  privilege.  Sir  Francis 
Burdett,  thus  challenged,  declared  that  "he  had  no  intention  of  violating  the  privileges  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  not  knowing  that  he  had  done  so,  he  had  only  to  say  that  he  remained 
of  the  opinion  which  he  had .  expressed  in  that  publication. 

Long  and  acrimonious  debates  took  place,  relieved  at  times  by  adjournments  and 
divisions.  In  the  course  of  discussion  a  military  officer,  a  member  of  the  House,  called 
another  "a  brewer  of  bad  porter,"  which  caused  a  great  commotion;  but,  as  described  by 
Jx>rd  Colchester,1  then  Speaker  Abbot,  "  I  saw  Whitbread  instantly  took  the  thing  with 
good-humour,  and  I  refused  to  let  anybody  else  speak  till  the  uproar  subsided.  He  then 
rose  and  said:  'Mr.  Speaker,  I  rise  as  a  tradesman  to  complain  of  the  gallant  officer  for 
abusing  the  commodity  which  I  sell,'  etc.,  upon  which  the  whole  House  burst  into  laughter 
and  approbation  of  the  self-command  and  good-humour  with  which  Whitbread  put  an  end  to 
the  fury  of  his  friends."  In  the  end,  the  House  sitting  until  half-past  seven  in  the  morning. 
it  was  decided  to  commit  Sir  Francis  Burdett  to  the  Tower,  and,  as  Lord  Colchester  noted, 
"the  Sergeant  with  his  deputy  came  home  with  me,  and  the  warrants  were  written  out  and 
signed  by  me  before  nine  o'clock."  In  the  meantime,  Sir  Francis  having  left  the  House  of 
Common!,  the  Sergeant-at-Anna  an  hour  later  repaired  to  Piccadilly,  where  Sir  Francis  Burdett 
lived,  only  to  find  that  the  member  was  "not  at  home."  Sir  Francis,  however,  wrote  to  the 
Speaker  expressing  his  readiness  to  be  there  the  following  day  at  twelve  o'clock.  But  the 
House  would  brook  no  delay,  and  the  Sergeant  was  instructed  to  arrest  the  member  at  once, 
it  having  been  provided  that  all  the  civil  aid  required  could  be  obtained  upon  applying  at 


'  Diary,  vol.  ii. 


50 


394 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Ihe  Secretary  of  State's  office,  where  magistrates  were  in  waiting.  These  authorities,  however. 
in  view  of  the  public  excitement  prevalent,  decide!  that  it  wa- not  |M»>ihle  to  take  tin-  memlier 
thnt  night,  as  they  had  not  force  enough  to  deal  with  the  mob  in  Piccadilly,  and  a-,  moreover, 
it  would  be  necessary  to  arrange  with  the  Lord  .Mayor  of  J-ondon  to  convey  tlie  pri.-ohcr 
through  the  City. 

The  next  day  the  Speaker  received  a  letter  from  Sir  Kraix-is  Hurdctt  declaring  tliat 
having  l>een  elected  by  the  voters  of  the  City  of  Westminster  to  maintain  the  laws  and 
liberties  of  the  land,  "he  would  never  In-tray  his  trust.  The  action  of  the  House  of  Commons 
was  illegal,  and  he  would  only  submit  to  superior  foive."  A  ine-enger  was  sent  with 
the  warrant  to  deliver  it  into  the  hand*  of  Sir  Francis,  and  although  he  Micceeded  in 
placing  it  in  the  hand  of  the  incinlwr,  he  was  promptly  turned  out  of  the  hou>e.  Such  was 
the  state  of  public  feeling  that  Piccadilly  was  a  centre  of  dangerous  ferment;  the  (iuanls 
had  to  lx-  (idled  out,  the  Hiot  Act  read,  and  the  mob  scattered.  Sir  Francis  JJurdett  now 
wrote  to  the  sheriffs  of  Middlesex,  complaining  that  an  attempt  was  being  made  to  deprive 
him  of  his  lihertv,  and  asking  protection  from  violence  and  oppiv-i.m.  las  lionie  being  then 
beset  by  a  military  force.  The  sheriffs  declining  to  be  brought  into  the  matter,  events  w.-re 
allowed  to  take  their  course.  Still  the  refractory  member  held  the  fort,  and  next  day  it  is 
recorded  that  the  Life  Guards  advanced  through  the  Park  and  Stable  Yard  to  Piccadilly,  and 
that  the  Riot  Act  was  again  read. 

Nor  was  the    neighbourhood  of  the  Houses   of  Parliament  free  from    excitement.     Ind 1. 

so  threatening  was  the  state  of  affairs,  that  the  Speaker  ordered  all  the  doors  and  pas-ages 
of  the  House  of  Commons  to  be  shut  up,  and  also  the  grand  passage  from  Westmin-t.-r 
Hall  to  Old  Palace  Yard.  Kiver  fencibles  were  moored  on  the  Thames  opposite  the 
Sneaker's  garden  ;  St.  Mary's  Volunteers  were  under  arms  in  Westminster  Hall,  with 
l«trols  as  far  as  Downing  Street;  George  Street,  Hridge  Street,  and  Ahingdon  Street  were  also 
protected.  At  the  House  of  Lords  end  of  the  Palace  suddenly  an  alarm  of  fire  was  raised,  a 
lighted  basket  of  coal  being  discovered  within  the  wooden  fence  of  Parliament  Place,  near  the 
housokee|>er's  ajiartments.  Kventually  superior  force  was  provided  by  the  Government,  and 
thirty  j>olice  officers,  protected  by  the  military,  forced  an  entrance  into  Sir  Francis  Burden's 
house,  down  the  area,  through  the  hall,  where  a  party  of  Foot  Guards  remained.  The  officers 
passed  into  Sir  Francis  Kurdett's  drawing-room,  where  he  was  discovered  with  his  family.  The 
warrant  of  the  Speaker  was  read  by  the  Sergcant-at-Arms.  and  the  member  for  Westmin>ter 

was  forcibly  removed  to  the  carriage  in  waiting  for 
him.  This,  with  11  powerful  escort  of  Life  Guards 
and  dragoons,  was  driven  through  the  principal  streets 
to  the  City.  ( hi  arriving  at  Tower  Hill,  the  carriage 
was  with  difficulty  forced  through  the  asM-mbled 
mob.  At  length,  however,  the  palisade  of  the  Tower 
was  readied,  and  Sir  Francis,  with  the  Sergeant- 
at-Arms  of  the  House  of  Commons,  was  received 
and  conducted  to  the  Governor's  private  apartments. 

The  (iuanls,  on  returning  from  the  Tower,  were 
severely  pelted  with  stones,  and  they  retaliated  by 
firing  upon  their  assailants.  Great  public  excite- 
ment continued  throughout  I^ondon.  The  West- 
Miin-ter  electors  called  a  meeting  in  Palace  Yard: 
but  the  gates  were  locked,  and  measures  taken  to 
secure  the  House  of  Commons  from  the  invasion. 
Lord  Cochrane  and  others  persuaded  the  people  to 
disperse,  his  lordship  promising  to  proent  a  petition 
complaining  of  the  member's  imprisonment)  the 
corruption  of  the  House-  of  Commons,  and  praying 


i   II  MM. I-    AlllloT,    l.iillll    CuLCir 


Who  1'imiiletl  Oft  Sjn-iikcr  over  tho  -t.,ui'%  .I.-batfll  wbich  cv.l- 

minatcd  in  Sir  Fiancii  Bnnlelt'a  committal  to  tbo  Tower. 


Called    to    the    Bar — Parliamentary    Privilege  395 

for  reform  of  Parliament. 

This  petition  was  rejected 

by  the  House  on  account 

of  its  .  being    couched    in 

disrespectful    language; 

and  in  the  meantime  Sir 

Francis  Burdett  caused  an 

action  at  law  to  be  entered 

against  the  Speaker  for  the 

recovery  of  A'30,000,  and 

also    one     against     the 

Sergeant-at-Arms     for 

•.20. 000,    on    account    of 

illegal  wan-ant  and  arrest. 

At    the    prorogation    of 

Parliament  the   liberation 

of  the   prisoner    was    the 

occasion  of  a  great  demon- 
stration by  his  friends. 

Crowfls    of  his    supporters 

asM-mbled  to  receive  him 
on  Tower  Hill,  only  to  be 
disappointed,  as  the 
member  departed  privately 
by  water.  The  assemblage, 
not  to  be  deprived  of  their 
demonstration,  escorted 
the  empty  car  provided  to 
the  residence  of  the  mem- 
ber in  Piccadilly,  and  so 
terminated  a  most  exciting 
e-'isode. 

In  recent  times  the 
history  of  this  phase  of 
Parliamentary  life  has 
furnished  little  that  is  of 
more  than  transient  in- 
terest, excepting  the  Brad- 
laugli  episode,  to  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  in  another  chapter.  An  arrest  of  a 
member  in  the  precincts  of  the  House,  the  intimidation  of  a  witness  called  before  a  Select 
Committee,  the  libelling  of  members  by  profane  editors  and  printers — these  are  a  sample  of 
the  matters  which  have  engaged  the  serious,  it  may  be  said  the  solemn,  notice  of  the  House. 
Such  incidents  create  great  stir  at  the  time  they  occur,  for  the  House  notoriously  is  never  so 
genuinely  interested  as  when  it  is  engaged  in  threshing  out  some  personal  issue.  But  they 
are  mostly  mere  trifles  on  the  surface  of  Parliamentary  life,  leaving  behind  them  only  the 
faintest  impression.  The  truth  is  that,  though  the  disciplinary  powers  of  the  House  are 
nominally  as  great  as  ever  they  were,  they  have  lost  much  of  their  effectiveness  by  being 
shorn  of  the  accessories  which  in  old  times  gave  them  potency.  Even  the  censure  passed 
from  the  Chair,  the  invariable  accompaniment  of  a  proved  infraction  of  the  Parliamentary 
law,  is  not  so  awe-inspiring  as  it  once  was.  It  has  sometimes  been  known  to  minister  to  a 
passion  for  notoriety  rather  than  to  inspire  a  sense  of  humiliation.  Parliament,  in  truth,  does 
not  conspicuously  shine  when  it  dons  the  mantle  of  Justice. 


From  a  di-airing  by  S.  Paffct. 

THE  EDITOR  AND  PUBLISHER  OF  TIIK  ''GLOBE"  (MB.  GEOKGE  ELLIOT  ARM- 
STRONG AND  MR.  WILLIAM  THOMAS  MADGE)  AT  THE  BAR  OP  THE  HOUSE  OP 
COMMONS  ON  AUGUST  16TH,  1901. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE  HOUSE  AT  l'l!.\  YKliS. 

TllKKE  has  never  been  a  time  in  the  long  history  of  Parliament  when  the  work  of  the 
legislature  was  divorced  from  the  practice  of  religious  rites.  Tin-  observances  have  varied  in 
degree  as  well  as  in  character — they  have  occasionally  been  degraded  by  a-sm-iation  with 
jN.litiral  ends  or  motives;  but  the  sacred  duty  has  ever  been  n-o)giii>ed  in  some  form  or 
another.  In  the  earliest  legislative  era  the  work  of  a  Parliamentary  session  was  preceded  l>v 
mass,  usually  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Stephen.  Later,  when  the  two  Houses  separated,  the 
custom  was  kept  up,  the  practice  in  Tudor  times  being  for  the  House  of  Lords  to  attend 
service  in  the  Abbey  and  for  the  Commons  to  resort  to  St.  Margaret's  Church.  Occasionally, 
it  would  seem  from  an  incident  recorded  in  1426,  the  presence  of  legislators  in  a  body  at 
church  was  taken  advantage  of  by  ecclesiastics  to  read  them  a  lesson  upon  the  errors  of  their 
public  ways.  In  that  year  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  taking  for  his  text  ••  Kender  unto 
C.tsar  the  things  that  are  Ca-sar's,  and  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's,"  delivered  an 
impassioned  harangue  in  favour  of  the  repeal  of  the  Statute  of  Pnemunirc.  by  which  foreigners 


ST.  M.MHJAUKT'.S  ciintm,  WI:ST.MI.\>TI:K. 

The  wnlrrii  front  of  the  jori.h  church  of  the  UOUK  of  Common*. 
396 


The    House    at    Prayers 


397 


were  disabled  from  holding 
any  ecclesiastical  dignity  in 
this  country.  For  the  salva- 
tion of  their  souls  and  the 
good  of  the  kingdom  the 
listening  legislators  were  im- 
plored to  give  the  Pope 
satisfaction  by  withdrawing 
the  obnoxious  enactment. 
Such  was  the  prelate's  zeal 
and  earnestness,  that  it  is 
reported  he  shed  tears  copi- 
ously. But  they  were  idle 
tears.  With  a  full  appreci- 
ation of  the  value  of  the 
law,  Parliament  elected  to 
keep  it  on  the  Statute  Book, 
where  it  remains  to  this  day. 

The  Parliamentary 
attendances  at  mass  were 
marked  by  much  external 
pomp  and  ceremony.  Of  one 
celebration  which  ushered 
in  the  Parliament  of  1540 
we  have  a  particularly  vivid 
account  preserved  to  us.  A 
State  procession  organised  on 
the  most  elaborate  scale 
passed  through  the  streets, 
the  King  being  in  the  midst 
in  all  the  panoply  of  regal 
state.  In  the  train 
marched  all  the  great  officers 
of  State,  the  Ixmls  and  Com- 
mons, the  dignitaries  of  the 

law,  and  twenty  abbots.  The  last-named  were  present  by  special  command  of  the  King, 
and  the  fact  of  their  presence  is  noteworthy,  as  it  was  their  final  appearance  upon  the 
Parliamentary  stage.  Before  the  session  thus  ceremoniously  entered  upon  closed,  the  legis- 
lative bolt  had  fallen  which  destroyed  the  abbeys  and  monasteries.  On  the  approach  of 
the  Reformation  the  character  of  the  sessional  service  changed.  There  was,  however,  a  brief 
return  to  old  ways  in  the  reign  of  Mary,  whose  excessive  zeal  for  the  lloman  Catholic 
ritual  prompted  her  to  organise,  the  day  before  the  dissolution  of  the  Parliament  of  1554,  a 
solemn  "  procession  of  both  Houses  to  St.  Paul's  to  give  thanks  to  God  for  their  conversion  to 
the  Catholic  Church." 

Witli  Elizabeth's  accession  we  enter  upon  a  new  phase  of  the  subject.  For  the  first  time 
we  read  in  the  journals  of  devotions  in  the  Legislative  Chamber  itself.  We  find  mention  of 
the  Litany  being  said  by  the  Clerk  kneeling,  and  answered  by  the  whole  House  on  their  knees. 
In  1571  Mr.  Christopher  Wray,  the  Speaker,  proposed  that  the  Litany  should  be  said  every 
day.  and  also  a  prayer  by  Mr.  Speaker,  "such  as  he  should  think  fittest  for  the  time."  The 
Litany  was  most  probably  that  of  the  second  established  Prayer  Book,  being  the  first  book  of 
Queen  Eli/alx-th,  or  the  first  book  of  Edward  VI.,  which  (with  changes)  was  subsequently 
adopted,  and  which  remained  in  use  until  it  was  suppressed  at  the  time  of  the  Great  Eebellion. 


PORCH  OP  ST.  MARGARET'S  CHURCH,  WESTMINSTER, 

Erected  in  memory  of  Robert  Lowe,  Viscount  Sherbrooke,  by  hia  widow. 


398 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


In  I.'>80,  before  the  election  of 
.Mr.  Speaker  I'opham,  the  Hou-e  agreed 
to  a  motion  for  prayer,  "that  i!  might 
plea-e  (io.l,  lioth  in  that  and  in  the 
res-idue  of  tin-  proceedings  of  this  H<m-i- 
to  direct  tin-in  with  Hi-  link  Spirit,'' 
and  a  form  of  prayer  was  offered,  which 
was  read  by  tin-  Clerk.  In  the  saim-  year 
Mr.  S|>eaker  coming  to  tin-  Hou-e  after 
ele\eii  o'clock,  is  stated  to  have  read 
the  usual  prayer,  omitting  the  Litany 
for  the  1-hortncr.s  ,,f  time.  The  form  of 
prayer  used  in  Parliament  only  during 
Elizabeth's  reign  was  as  follows: — 

"()  Merciful  <iod  and  Father,  for- 
asmuch as  no  couiiM-l  can  Maud,  nor  any 
can  prosper,  but  Mich  as  are  humbly 
gathered  in  thy  Name,  to  feel  the  -wH 
ta>te  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  we  gladly 
acknowledge  that  by  thy  favour  Mandcth 
the  peaceable  protection  of  our  (Jueen 
and  Realm,  and  likewise  this  favourable 
liberty  granted  unto  us  at  this  time  to 
make  our  meeting  together,  which  thy 
bountiful  goodness  we  most  thankfully 
acknowledge,  do  withal  earnestly  pray 
thy  divine  Majesty  so  to  incline  our 
hearts,  as  our  counsel  may  be  subject  in 
true  obedience  to  thy  Holy  Word  and  Will.  And  sith  it  hath  pleased  thee,  to  govern  this 
Realm  by  ordinary  assembling  the  three  estates  of  the  same:  our  humble  prayer  is,  that 
thou  wilt  graft  in  us  good  minds  to  conceive,  free  liberty  to  speak,  and  on  all  sides  a  ready 
and  quiet  consent  to  such  wholesome  Laws  and  Statutes,  as  may  declare  us  to  be  thy  people. 
and  this  Realm  to  be  prosperously  ruled  by  thy  good  guiding  and  defence;  so  that  we  and 
our  i>osterity  may  with  cheerful  hearts  wait  for  thy  appearance  in  judgment,  that  art  only 
able  to  present  us  faultless  before  God  our  heavenly  Father:  to  whom  with  thee  and  our 
Saviour  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  be  all  glory  both  now  and  ever.  Amen." 

Although  this  prayer  appears  to  be  the  recogni.-ed  one,  upon  occasions  a  special  appeal  to 
the  Almighty  was  made,  as  in  1586,1  when  both  Houses  presented  a  joint  petition  to  Queen 
Elizabeth  for  the  execution  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  Her  Majesty  answered,  and  subsequently 
sent  a  message  in  favour  of  Mary.  Both  Houses  resolved  to  abide  by  their  petition,  and  upon 
Klixabcth  giving  an  ambiguous  answer,  (lie  Comptroller  of  the  Household.  Sir  Francis  Knolle*. 
twok  occasion  to  propose  that  earnest  and  devout  prayer  should  be  made  to  (!od  to  incline 
her  Majesty's  heart  to  the  petition,  and  that  some  apt  and  special  course  of  prayer  might  he 
devir-ed  and  put  down  by  some  one,  and  not  only  exercised  in  the  llou>e  everv  dav,  but  abo 
by  all  mcmlx'rs  elsewhere  abroad  and  privately  in  their  chambers. 

During  the  later  Protestant  Parliaments  it  was  the  custom  for  the  Speaker  to  compose 
a  prayer  to  be  read  by  him  every  morning  during  the  session.  The  journals  of  the  House 
are  missing  for  the  later  years  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign;  but  Sir  Syinonds  D'Kwes's  journal 
for  1597  gives  the  Speaker's  (Serjeant  Yclverton)  prayer: — 

^O    Eternal    (iod.   Lord    of    Heaven    and    Earth,  the    great,  and  mighty  Councellor,  we,  thy 
poor  servants  assembled  before  thee  in  this  honourable  senate,  humbly  acknowledge  our  great  and 
1  "  1'arliamentary  and  Constituti»n:il  History  of  Kngland,"  vol.  iv.  p.  300. 


MAKY  QfKKX   OF  SCOTS, 
Who  on  a  famr.ni  occasion  WM  the  tubjrct  of  n  special  prajer  in  the  HOI:M  of 

OOCUMBK 


399 


400 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Ml!    r.l.VIAJMX    lirbYi:UI>, 

\  »ril An"»n  member  of  Parliament  of  the  reign 
ofChntlc.1. 


nunit'.ild  sins  and  imperfections,  and  thereby  our  un- 
worthiness  to  receive  any  grace  and  asM>tance  fr.nn  th< 
yet,  most  merciful  Father.  >ince  by  thy  providence  we  arc 
called  from  all  parts  of  tin-  land  to  tliis  famous  Council 
of  Parliament  to  advise  of  tho-e  tilings  which  i-..n,-«-rii 
thv  glorv,  the  good  of  thy  Church,  tin-  prosperity  of  our 
Prince,  and  the  weal  of  her  ]>eople:  \\e  most  entirely 
beseech  thee  that,  pardoning  all  our  sins  in  the  blood  of 
thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  it  would  please  thee,  by  the  bright- 
ness of  thy  Spirit,  to  expel  darkness  and  vanity  from  our 
minds  and  jMirtiality  from  our  speeches,  and  grant  unto 
us  such  wisdom  and  integrity  of  heart  as  U'cometh  the 
servants  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  subject-  of  a  gracious  Prii 
and  members  of  this  honourable  House.  Let  not  us,  0 
Lord,  who  are  met  together  for  the  public  good  of  the 
whole  land,  be  more  carele.-s  and  remiss  than  \M-  u-e  to 
be  in  our  own  private  causes.  (ii\e  grace.  \ve  lic-eech 
thee,  that  every  one  of  us  may  labour  to  show  a  good 
conscience  to  thy  Majci-ty.  a  good  zeal  to  thy  \Vord,  and 
a  loval  heart  to  our  Prince  and  a  Christian  love  to  uur 
country  and  commonwealth.  0  Lord,  so  unite  and  conjoin  the  hearts  of  her  excellent  MajeMy 
and  this  whole  assembly  as  they  may  be  a  threefold  cord  not  easily  broken :  giving  strength  to 
such  godly  laws  as  be  already  enacted,  that  they  may  be  letter  executed,  and  enacting  such  as 
are  further  requisite  for  the  bridling  of  the  wicked,  and  the  encouragement  unto  the  godly  and 
well-affected  subjects,  that  so  thy  great  blessing  may  be  continued  towards  us.  and  thy  grievous 
judgment  turned  from  us;  and  that  only  for  Christ  Jesus'  sake,  our  most  glorious  and  only 
.Mediator  and  Advocate,  to  whom,  with  thy  blessed  Majesty  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  all  honour 
and  praise,  power  and  dominion,  from  this  time  forth  for  evermore.  Amen." 

At  the  accession  of  James  I.  (1603),  Parliament  meeting  on  March  23rd,  the  business  on 
the  ojiening  day  was  preceded  by  "prayers  to  God  for  good  success";  and  we  further  learn 
that  "such  prayers  as  had  been  ordinary  in  former  Parliaments  in  the  reign  of  the  late  Queen 
were  placed  in  the  front  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer."  The  reading  was  undertaken  by 
the  Clerk  of  the  House,  and  a  special  prayer,  fitly  conceived  for  the  time  and  purjKoe,  was 
read  bv  Mr.  Speaker  Kdward  Phillips,  "which  was  voluntary  and  not  of  duty  or  necessity, 
though  heretofore  of  late  time  the  like  hath  been  done  by  other  Speakers."  This  Speaker's 
prayer  was  continued  every  day  of  the  sitting.  In  1606  the  Gunpowder  Plot  was  the  occa-ion 
of  the  framing  of  a  special  prayer: — 

"And  forasmuch  as  all  and  every  one  of  us  have  in  this  place,  with  wonder  and  a-toiiish- 
inent  and  without  any  merit  of  ours,  found  a  most  evident  assurance  of  thy  mercie  and 
goodnesse,  in  a  miraculous  deliverance  from  the  greatest  danger  by  Popish  treacherie.  that  ever 
was  attempted  or  threatened,  towards  our  King,  our  State,  and  us:  give  us,  good  Lord,  hearts 
above  the  hearts  of  men  to  offer  unto  thee  in  the  same  place  a  daily  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving 
in  the  highest  measure,  together  with  a  fervent  and  incessant  xeal.  care,  and  diligence  in  all 
our  proceedings  for  the  settling  of  peace  and  happy  estate  of  thy  Church  among  us;  the 
preM-rvation  of  our  King,  his  Royal  progenie,  ourselves,  and  our  posterities  and  for  the 
preventing,  suppressing,  and  small  rooting  out  of  the  spring.  i>-ue.  and  fruit  of  all  such  hellish 
and  Popish  hearts,  intentions,  and  practices,  to  the  everlasting  praise  and  glorie  of  thy  bh»ed 
Name." 

The  prayer  for  the  Speaker  was  proposed  to  be  added,  but  apparently  a  difference  of 
opinion  existed  as  to  its  being  read,  for  the  journals  of  March  2(>th.  Kiltli.  record  that  "many 
of  the  House  wen-  a-embled  and  the  ordinary  prayers  said  by  the  Clerk,  but  not  the  prayer 
wanted  to  be  said  by  Mr.  Shaker,  being  so  directed  by  the  assembly." 


The    House    at    Prayers 


401 


During  Charles  I.'s  reign  the  religious  observances  of  the  House  occupied  much  attention. 
A  manuscript  in  the  library  of  the  late  Sir  E.  Knyghtley,  and  printed  by  the  Camden  Society, 
gives  a  detailed  and  curious  report  of  a  debate  which  took  place  in  1625  on  the  question  of 
the  ordering  of  a  public  fast.  First  there  was  a  proposal  for  a  Communion  from  Sir  Edward 
Giles.  This  was  immediately  followed  by  a  motion  from  Sir  Miles  Fleetwood  to  petition  the 
King  "  for  a  publick  fast  to  our  owne  members."  The  Communion  was  ordered,  and  Mr.  Hacket 
appointed  preacher.  Then  "  some  question  was  made  of  the  place.  It  was  propounded  by 
Sir  J.  Jephson,  seconded  by  Mr.  D.  Norton,  to  be  in  our  owne  House " ;  but  to  this  course 
strong  objection  was  urged  by  Sir  B.  Rudyerd.  "'I  beseech  you,'  he  said,  'not  to  refuse 
the  church — remember  it  is  God's  house — lest  we  make  this  a  coventicle  which  should  be 
a  Councell.'  Soe  it  was  agreed  to  be  kept  in  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster."  As  to  the  fast, 
the  King,  agreeably  to  the  request  of  the  Commons,  gave  directions  for  one  day  weekly  to  be 
observed  throughout  the  kingdom  ;  "  but  for  the  Houses  of  Parliament  hee  left  it  to  themselves 
when  they  would  begin,  and  to  make  choice  of  their  owne  day."  A  conference  between  the 
two  Houses  was  now  held  "  to  agree  upon  a  time  and  place  for  the  faste,  and  whether  it  bee 
together  or  asunder."  In  the  result  "the  time  propounded  was  Satterdaye  ;  the  place  for  them 
(the  Lords)  the  Collegiate  Church  (Westminster  Abbey) ;  two  bishops  appointed  to  preach ; 
three  lords  to  observe  such  as  were  absent ;  the  manner  according  to  the  King's  directions  in 
print ;  and  a  collection  for  the  poore."  The  same  day,  adds  the  writer,  "  was  appointed  for 
ourselves ;  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  the  place ;  three  preachers — Dr.  Preston,  Mr.  Sute, 
and  Mr.  ( Hdsworth ;  and  likewise  a  gatheringe  for  the  poore."  With  three  preachers  to  minister 
to  their  spiritual  needs,  the  faithful  Commons  must  have  lacked  nothing  in  the  way  of  mental 
sustenance.  But  it  was  an  age  when  long  sermons  and  many  of  them  were  the  rule — brevity 


WESTMINSTER   ABBEY   AXD   ST.   MAKUAKET S  CHUUC1I, 
As  wen  from  the  toji  of  the  Clock  Tower  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament. 


402 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


in  the  preacher,  indeed,  would  li:iv«>  Iven  looked  upon  almost  as  nn  insult.  Nor.  it  is  to  be 
feared,  was  the  desire  always  for  spiritual  enlightenment  in  tin-  pulpit  discourse-.  Too  often 
they  wen*  made  vehicles  for  ]Hilitical  pro]aganda  ;  the  sen  ice  itself  was  not  always  entirely 
free  from  jiolitical  significance.  \\Y  read,  for  example,  in  a  letter  dated  April  2-lth.  Ki-H).  from 
Sir  Kdward  Hurley  to  his  wife,  that  the  Kini;  attended  the  service  at  St.  Margaret's  Church 
which  prewled  the  opening  of  the  "Short  Parliament."  and  that  in  res{M>nse  to  the  prayers 
"the  |ieople  cried  'Amen'  so  loud  that  it  made  his  head  ache."  Poor  Charle- !  Hi-  liead  was 
soon  to  be  free  from  such  influence*. 

The  political  Parliamentary  sermon  was  a  marked  feature  of  the  Commonwealth.  From 
the  pulpit  of  St.  Margaret's  many  fervent  discourses  were  thundered  forth  by  the  "hot 
gosjiellers  "  of  the  )»eri<xl.  The  fashion  did  not  entirely  go  out  with  the  Commonwealth.  On 

.January  31st,   1G88-9,  Dr.  Sharpe,  preaching   before   the   lion f   Common-    at    St.   Margaret's 

according  to  their  appointment,  delivered  what  in  the  then  circumstance-  was  a  very  dubious 
di-course.  His  text  was  from  Psalm  li. — "Deliver  me  from  blood-guiltiness" — and  in  the  course 
of  his  remarks  he  used  several  expressions  which  were  taken  notice  of.  "as  that  kin;,'  killing 
and  king  dethroning  or  depriving  of  kings  were  Popish  doctrines."  The  reference  \va-  -o 
clearly  a  reflection  on  the  strong  attitude  assumed  by  the  popular  chamber  towards  Janir-  II. 
that  the  Commons  decided  to  withhold  the  customary  vote  of  thanks  to  the  preacher.  Nearly 
a  century  later,  on  Restoration  Day  (January  30th),  1772.  history  repeated  itself.  On  that  occasion 
the  pulpit  was  occupied  by  Dr.  Nowell.  who  appears  to  have  given  great  umbrage  by  the 
tenor  of  his  discourse.  The  circumstances  arising  out  of  the  incident,  as  related  by  (iilibon 
in  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  Holroyd  in  February,  1772,  are  curious.  "To-day."  wrote  the 
historian,  "the  House  of  Commons  was  employed  in  a  very  odd  way.  Tommy  Townshend 
moved  that  the  sermon  of  Dr.  Nowell,  who  preached  before  the  House  on  January  30th,  should 

be  burnt  by  the  common  hangman, 
as  containing  arbitrary,  Tory,  high- 
flown  doctrines.  The  House  \\a< 
nearly  agreeing  to  this  motion  till 
they  recollected  that  they  had  already 
thanked  the  preacher  for  his  excel- 
lent discourse,  and  ordered  it  to  Ill- 
printed.  Nowell's  bookseller  is  much 
obliged  to  the  Right  Hon.  Tommv 
Townshend."  (iihhon  is  a  little  \\nmu 
in  his  facts.  The  journals  show  that 
the  House  ordered  the  thanks  of 
Dr.  Nowell  to  lie  expunged  therefrom. 
An  altortive  attempt  also  seems  to 
have  been  made  in  consequence  of 
the  incident  to  do  away  with  the 
observance  of  Restoration  Day  al- 
together. 

In  tracing  the  career  of  the 
political  sermon,  we  have  digressed 
somewhat  from  the  more  immediate 
theme  with  which  we  have  been 
dealing — the  development  of  the 
devotional  svstem  in  the  House  of 
Commons  itself.  Reverting  to  the 
reign  of  Charles  I.  it  may  be  noted 

1IIK    HKillT    HON.  THOMAS   ToWN-MIAIi.    rolii:n:N ;  sKCHKTAUY    IS   TlIK          that      WhlM      the      Civil       WEt      WaS      111 

EAHI,  OP  KiiKi.nrKSK's  AiiMi sisTKATiiiv.  progress    in     1643    a    covenant    was 


The    House    at    Prayers 


403 


entered  into  and 
signed  by  most  of 
the  members  not  to 
lay  down  arms  "  so 
long  as  the  Papists 
now  in  open  war 
against  the  Parlia- 
ment shall  by  force 
of  arms  be  protected 
from  the  j  u  s  t  i  c  e 
thereof,"  etc.  Upon 
the  discovery  of  the 
alleged  "  horrid 
Popish  and  traitorous 
plot  for  seizing  the 
City,  forcing  the 
Parliament  and  join- 
ing with  the  armies 
raised  by  the  King," 
the  Commons  ordered 
that  some  clause  be 
inserted  in  the 
Speaker's  prayer  for 
giving  thanks  for 
this  discovery  and 
deliverance,  and  to 
beg  grace  of  God  to 
perform  what  they 
had  undertaken  by 
this  covenant.  And 
it  was  decided  that 
a  book  be  prepared 
and  the  vow  and 
covenant  entered 
therein,  all  members 
that  entered  into  the 
covenant  being  re- 
quired to  subscribe 
their  names. 


INTERIOR    OP    ST.    MARGARET'S    CHURCH,    LOOKING    WEST, 
Showing  the  "  Raleigh  window  "  subscribed  for  by  American  citizens. 


It  is  at  this  period  that  we  first  meet  with  the  chaplain—  a  functionary  who  is  now  an 
important  and  indisputable  member  of  the  establishment  of  the  House.  The  earliest  record 
bearing  on  the  point  appears  in  the  journals  for  1643:  "That  one  of  the  ministers  of  the 
ii-M'inbly  shall  be  appointed  to  pray  with  the  House  every  morning."  At  the  same  time  two 
members  were  chosen  to  move  the  assembly  in  the  matter.  A  further  stage  was  reached  in 
1650,  when  the  House  resolved:  "The  Governor  of  the  College  of  Westminster  do  take 
care  that  some  fit  and  able  person  or  persons  do  attend  de  die  in  diem  to  pray  in  Parliament, 
and  that  they  give  their  attendance  accordingly."  A  few  years  later,  during  the  Commonwealth, 
it  was  ordered  "  that  the  lecturers  who  preach  the  morning  lecture  in  the  Abbey  at  West- 
minster be  desired  to  begin  their  sermon  at  seven  of  the  clock  and  to  end  at  eight  of  the 
clock  ;  and  then  resort  to  the  House  to  pray  with  them  daily,  before  they  enter  into  their 
daily  work  ;  and  that  Mr.  Scobell,  the  Clerk  of  the  House,  do  give  notice  to  the  ministers 
hereof."  There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  stated  fee  or  payment  for  the  services 


404 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


tendered.  Imt  in  1659  the  House 
bestowed  the  sum  of  i.'iO  u|»n  a 
minister  for  his  great  laUmr  mid  pains 
in  attending  the  Hou-e  e\ery  morn- 
ing since  tin-  tirst  meeting  of  the 
Parliament  and  | terforiiiin.tr  the  duty 
of  pravers.  Other  minster.-  were 
awarded  the  thanks  of  the  House 
for  prayer-  and  preaching.  A  regular 
chaplain  was  tir.-t  appointed  at  the 
Restoration,  and  the  imj^rtance  of 
recognising  the  oilier  wa-  given  effect 
to  by  the  House  ordering  nieinliers 
of  his  Maje.-ty's  I'rivy  Council  to 
attend  the  King  and  humbly  re- 
commend Mr.  Edward  Voyce,  .Master 
of  Arts,  for  some  signal  mark  of 
favour  in  regard  to  his  constant  and 
diligent  attendance  upon  the  House 
since  the  beginning  of  the  Parliament 
as  chaplain. 

In  the  House  of  Lords  prayers 
were  former!}'  read  by  the  Lord 
Keejier,  then  by  ministers,  and  after- 
wards by  the  youngest  bishop.  Now 
the  practice  is  for  a  selected  bishop 
to  officiate,  according  to  arrangement. 
With  the  apjHiintment  of  a  regular 
chaplain  in  1660,  compulsory  attend- 
ance of  members  at  prayers  was  not 
insisted  upon.  Although  no  relax- 
ing of  the  understood  rules  in  the 
Commons  took  place,  the  House  of 
Lords  then  decided  that  "  no  penalty, 
prejudice,  or  reflection  shall  be  upon 
any  that  are  not  present  at  prayers," 

and  the  Commons  appear  to  have  tacitly  followed  the  example  of  the  Lords.  But  betore  that 
period  the  Lower  House  from  time  to  time  made  orders  regarding  the  absentees  from  their 
daily  devotions.  In  Elizabeth's  reign  it  was  decided  "that  every  of  this  House  that  cometh 
after  the  prayer,  which  shall  begin  at  eight  of  the  clock,  shall  ]>ay  fourpence  to  the  poor 
men's  box."  In  Charles  L's  reign  the  penalty  was  increased  to  twelve  pence,  and  upon  one 
occasion  in  10-42  the  money  gathered  of  the  members  of  the  House  coming  too  late  for  prayers 
wa-  ordered  to  be  given  to  Dr.  I-aiton  to  relieve  him  of  his  necessities. 

The  Commonwealth,  in  addition  to  appointing  special  ministers  for  prayers,  fixed  certain 
days  for  devotions.  In  1653,  July  llth  was  formally  appointed  "for  seeking  the  Lord  in 
a  special  manner  for  counsel  and  a  blessing  on  the  proceedings  of  Parliament,"  and  the  next 
day  a  1'ilile  was  ordered  to  l>e  provided  fur  the  service  of  the  House. 

In  106(1.  UJKMI  Charles  II.  ascending  the  throne,  a  Committee  was  appointed  to  inform 
themselves  what  form  of  prayer  had  hitherto  been  used  in  the  House,  hut  no  report  was 
made  by  the  Committee,  lint  a  similar  inquiry  was  held  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  the 
prayers  enlarged  to  pray  for  the  Queen  and  the  Duke  of  York  and  the  re.-t  of  the  Koyal 
Family,  and  thanks  were  ordered  to  be  given  for  the  Restoration  of  the  King  and  Parliament 


M  All   K    <)K   OUVKtt   CKOMWKLL   OUTSIDK    WKSTM INSTKU    HALL. 

From  thi*  Bide  of  the  Hall  may  be  wen  one  of  the  great  buttrcaaen  of  King  Richard'* 
time,  and  one  of  the  flat  Norman  buttresses  of  the  Ruftu  age. 


The    House    at    Prayers 


405 


to  "the  happy  condition  that  now  it  is  in."  The  revision  of  the  present  Prayer  Book  was 
finished  on  December  20th,  1661,  and  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  of  which  it  was  made  a  part, 
received  the  Royal  assent  on  May  19th,  1662. 

From  this  period  to  the  present  only  casual  references  appear  in  the  records  of  Parliament 
to  the  question  of  the  devotions  of  the  House.  At  times,  however,  allusions  have  been  made 
to  the  prayers  in  the  course  of  discussion  on  religious  matters,  as  in  the  case  of  Sir  Robert 
Peel  in  1829  when  introducing  the  Bill  for  the  Relief  of  Roman  Catholic  Disabilities.  "I 
rise,  sir,"  said  the  eminent  statesman  on  that  occasion,  "  to  discuss  this  great  question  in 
the  spirit,  enjoined  in  one  of  those  beautiful  prayers  by  which  on  the  present,  as  on  every 
other  occasion,  the  proceedings  of  this  House  are  auspicated.  In  one  of  the  solemn  appeals 
to  the  Almighty  source  of  all  wisdom  and  goodness,  we  are  taught  to  lay  aside  all  personal 
interests  and  prejudices  and  partial  affections  in  order  that  God  may  grant,  in  the  simple 
and  appropriate  language  of  that  prayer,  the  result  of  our  counsels  on  this  day  may  tend  to 
the  maintenance  of  true  religion  and  of  justice  :  to  the  safety,  honour,  and  happiness  of  the 
kingdom:  to  the  public  welfare,  peace,  and  tranquillity  of  the  realm,  and  to  the  uniting 
and  knitting  together  of  the  hearts  of  all  classes  of  persons  and  all  estates  in  the  realm  in 
true  Christian  charity." 

The  present  form  of  prayer  is  marked  by  an  impressive  simplicity.  It  opens  with 
Psalm  Ixvii. — "  God  be  merciful  unto  us,  and  bless  us,"  etc.  Then  follow  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
prayers  for  the  King  and  the  Queen  and  the  members  of  the  Royal  Family,  and  this  special 
invocation  to  the  Almighty  on  behalf  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  : — 

"Almighty  God,  by  whom  alone  kings 
reign,  and  princes  decree  justice  :  and  from 
whom  alone  cometh  all  counsel,  wisdom,  and 
understanding :  we,  thine  unworthy  servants, 
here  gathered  together  in  thy  Name,  do 
most  humbly  beseech  thee  to  send  down  the 
Heavenly  Wisdom  from  above,  to  direct  and 
guide  us  in  all  our  consultations  :  and  grant 
that,  we  haying  thy  fear  always  before  our 
eves,  and  laying  aside  all  private  interests, 
prejudices,  and  partial  affections,  the  result 
of  all  our  counsels  may  be  to  the  glory 
of  thy  blessed  Name,  the  maintenance  of 
true  religion  and  justice,  the  safety,  honour, 
and  happiness  of  the  King,  the  publick 
welfare,  peace,  and  tranquillity  of  the  realm, 
and  the  uniting  and  knitting  together  of 
the  hearts  of  all  ]>ersons  and  estates  within 
the  same  in  true  Christian  love  and  charity 
one  towards  another,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord  and  .Saviour.  Amen." 

The  present  chaplain  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  the  Key.  Basil  Wilberforce,  D.D., 
is  also  Rector  of  St.  John's,  \Vestminster, 
and  Archdeacon  of  Westminster.  He  is  the 
youngest  son  of  the  late  Bishop  of  Winchester 
and  grandson  of  the  celebrated  William 
Wilberforce,  M.P.,  who  played  so  conspicuous 
and  honourable  a  part  in  the  movement  for 
the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade. 


THE    VENERABLE    ARCHDEACON    WILBEKFORCE,   CHAPL. 
TO   THE   HOUSE   OF  COMMONS. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

/.V  CHMM1TTKK. 

A  STRANGER  dropping  by  chance  into  Harry's  vast  building  might  find  himself  in  an  enormously 
long  corridor  on  tlie  first  floor,  out  of  which  open  a  succession  of  ornate  apart  incut-. 
equip]  >ed  with  a  horseshoe  table  and  a  profusion  of  green  leather-covered  chairs.  With  some- 
what nebulous  views  of  the  duties  of  a  legislator,  he  would  ask  for  information,  and  then 
l«i"ililv  for  the  first  time  would  learn  that  the  debates  in  the  House  constitute  only  a  part. 
and  that  not  the  most  onerous  part,  of  the  transactions  of  Parliament.  .More  detailed  inquiry 
would  bring  him  to  the  discovery  that  each  working  day  in  the  Parliamentary  session. 
excepting  Friday,  a  group  of  members  is  engaged  for  several  hours  in  each  of  these  rooms, 
with  the  aid.  in  some  instances,  of  an  imposing  array  of  counsel  and  Parliamentary  agents. 
and  witnesses  drawn  jiossihly  from  the  remotest  confines  of  the  kingdom,  in  threshing  out 
with  jiaiiiful  minuteness  the  details  of  some  railway  project  or  corporate  improvement  scheme. 
or  it  mav  be  discussing  the  bearings  of  the  latest  economic  movement  affecting  the  body 
politic,  or  jmtientlv  investigating  a  grave  public  scandal.  Thus  informed,  he  would  not 
unlikelv  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  here  was  centred  the  actual  workroom  of  Parliament, 


COMMITTEE-ROOM  so.  15, 

Where  I|M  niMtlngi  of  the  Iriih  FarliamenUry  party  »«re  held  to  diwnu  the  qiiMtian  of  Mr.  Parnell'i  leadership  after  the  trial  of  the  rait  for 

divorce  brought  by  Captain  O'Sbca. 

HOC 


In    Committee 


407 


And  if  he  was  so  persuaded, 
he  would  not  be  far  wrong. 
However  unprofitable  irmy 
be  the  discussions  below 
stairs,-  here  there  is  always 
real  progress  made ;  however 
meagre  the  sessional  output 
as  far  as  general  legislation  is 
concerned,  here  there  is  ever  a 
rich  harvest  of  achievement. 

The  Committee  system 
of  the  House  of  Commons 
provides  an  interesting  object 
of  study,  whether  it  is  re- 
garded from  the  historical  or 
the  constitutional  standpoint. 
Seeing  it  as  we  do  to-day, 
so  vast  and  complex  in  its 
organisation,  so  powerful  in 
its  influence  on  the  life  of 
the  country,  it  is  difficult 
to  imagine  that  there  was 
ever  a  time  when  Parliament 
existed  without  its  aid.  Yet 
such  is  certainly  the  case. 
For  a  long  time,  probably 
for  several  centuries,  the 
Legislature  conducted  its 
operations  without  the  de- 
legation of  any  portion  of 
its  duties.  Probably  the 
dawn  of  the  system  was  the 
establishment  of  the  practice  of  going  into  Committee  of  the  whole  House  when  monetary 
matters  were  under  discussion.  This,  however,  was  an  adoption  of  the  principle  merely  in 
name,  for  the  House  was  constituted  precisely  as  at  other  times,  with  the  exception  that  the 
Speaker  was  replaced  in  the  Chair  by  a  private  member.  The  arrangement  was  resorted  to 
from  motives  of  prudence.  In  ancient  times  the  Speaker  was  more  often  than  not  a  creature 
of  the  King,  a  functionary  who  played  the  part  of  the  spy  and  the  eavesdropper,  rather  than 
of  the  mouthpiece  which  he  was  properly  considered  to  be.  The  "  faithful  Commons "  were 
not  so  faithful  that  they  wanted  every  word  they  uttered  about  the  monarch's  probably 
extortionate  demands  for  subsidies  carried  forthwith  to  the  Royal  presence  chamber,  so  they 
discreetly  excluded  the  First  Commoner  before  they  approached  their  business.  Gradually  this 
practice  crystallised  into  an  established  and  cherished  usage.  Thus  it  happens  that  to  this 
very  day  the  Speaker  has  to  be  "  got  out  of  the  Chair " — oftentimes  a  long  and  tedious 
process— before  money  matters  can  be  dealt  with. 

I 'sing  the  term  "Committee"  in  its  wider  and  more  popular  sense  of  a  delegated  body, 
there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  the  system  had  its  origin  in  the  practice  which  grew  up  of 
the  two  Houses  conferring  together  for  specific  purposes.  A  certain  number  of  members 
from  each  met,  usually  in  the  old  apartment  of  the  Palace  known  as  the  Painted  Chamber, 
and  discussed  points  at  issue  between  the  two  branches  of  the  Legislature,  or  questions  upon 
which  it  was  desirable  a  common  decision  should  be  arrived  at.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  some 
arrangement  of  the  kind  came  into  existence  within  a  comparatively  short  time  of  the 


FROM  Till;    TAPESTRY   THAT    HUXG    IN    THE    PAIN'TKD    CHAMBER, 
The  scene  reprewented  is  the  siege  of  Troy. 


408 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


separation  of  the  two  Houses. 
But  for  its  formal  recognition 
ue    must   come   down   as   far 
as  the  beginning  of  the  sii- 
teenth    century.      About    the 
earliest  reference  that  can  be 
found  in  the  journals  is  under 
date  May   .r>th,   1539,  when   it 
seems    a    Committee    was 
appointed    -to   pluck   up  and 
extirpate   the  diversities    con- 
cerning the  Christian  religion 
in    the   kingdom."      Another 
rec.ird.    dated   February   5th, 
1544,  relates  to   the    holding 
of     a     conference     at     eight 
o'clock     a.m.      between      "a 
Committee    of   twelve    Lords 
and    as    many    Commons," 
summoned    to    consider    the 
question     of     altering     "  the 
King's   stile."       On   the   day 
following  the  meeting  a   bill 
was    sent    up    by    which    it 
was    ordained    that    "  the 
ttile  of  'King  of  England, 
France,    and    Ireland, 
Defender  of   the    Faith, 
and    of    the    Church    of 
England,   and    also 
of  Ireland,  in  earth 
the  supreme  Head,' 
shall  be  united  and 
annexed     for     ever 

Thraa  tapettries  were  setup  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  and  removed  in  1800.  unto     the     Imperial 

crown  of  the  Realm  of  England."  The  custom,  which  seems  at  first  to  have  been  applied 
to  high  concerns  of  State  only,  was  gradually  extended  so  as  to  embrace  matters  which 
touched  what  may  be  termed  the  domestic  life  of  the  House.  One  notable  Committee 
summoned  in  the  reign  of  .Mary,  October  6th,  1553,  had  before  it  a  question  of  considerable 
constitutional  interest.  It  seems  that  a  certain  Dr.  Nowell,  a  Prebendary  of  Westminster, 
having  teen  returned  as  member  for  Looe,  in  Cornwall,  it  was  debated  whether  as  a  clergyman 
he  was  entitled  to  sit  in  the  House.  A  Committee  was  appointed  to  search  for  precedents, 
and  it  reported  in  due  course  against  Dr.  Novell's  claim,  whereupon  the  House  resolved  that 
the  doctor  "being  represented  in  the  Convocation,  he  cannot  be  a  member  of  this  House." 
The  worthy  man  was  expelled  accordingly,  and  the  only  satisfaction  he  had  was  in  furnishing 
a  iii<»t  interesting  leading  case  for  future  guidance. 

When  we  reach  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  the  traces  of  the  existence  of  the  Committee  in 
the  Parliamentary  records  are  numerous.  At  the  meeting  of  her  first  Parliament,  on  January  :i()th, 
1559,  a  Committee  of  twenty-four  members  was  api>ointed  to  treat  of  a  subsidy.  On  October  30th, 
1566,  a  Committee  of  both  Houses  was  nominated  to  deal  with  the  delicate  question  of  the 
(Queen's  marriage.  In  1571  as  many  as  three  Committees  appear  to  have  been  created.  Two 
were  made  up  of  members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  third  was  a  body  of  "Privy 


In    Committee 


409 


Councillors  with  others."  The  last-named  Committee  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  examining 
into  an  allegation  that  some  members  "  had  received  fees  and  rewards  for  their  voices."  It 
is  satisfactory  to  know  that  it  reported  that  it  "could  not  learn  of  any  member  that  had  sold 
his  voice  in  the  House,  or  any  way  dealt  unlawfully  or  indirectly  in  that  behalf."  The  place 
of  meeting  of  Committees  at  this  period  does  not  appear  to  have  been  fixed.  The  Star  Chamber 
seems  to  have  shared  with  the  Painted  Chamber  the  honour  of  accommodating  the  delegated 
bodies.  On  one  occasion — in  April,  1571 — the  Temple  Church  supplied  a  meeting-place. 
Later,  in  the  stormy  times  of  Charles  I.,  Grocers'  Hall,  in  the  City,  accommodated  a  historic 
Committee  of  the  House. 

A  knotty  point  was  submitted  to  a  Committee  which  .was  summoned  on  March  23rd, 
1607,  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  It  was  instructed  to  search  for  precedents  under  the  following 
circumstances,  as  recorded  in  the  journals  :  "  The  Speaker  is  sick,  and  no  provision  has  been 
made  for  choosing  a  Speaker  from  day  to  day.  The  King  must  give  leave  and  approve  after 
choice  made."  The  Committee,  after  due  deliberation  and  apparently  fruitless  investigation 
for  precedents  for  dealing  with  so  embarrassing -a  situation,  came  to  the  sensible  conclusion 
that  "if  there  be  no  precedent  it  is  fit  to  make  one."  This  solution  of  the  difficulty  was, 
however,  avoided,  for  the  Speaker  having  recovered  from  his  indisposition,  put  in  an  appearance 
at  the  next  sitting,  and  "  it  being  Coronation  Day,  the  members  adjourn  and  attend  church." 

When  we  approach  the  troubled  period  of  the  Revolution,  the  Committee  system  is  found  to 
undergo  a  striking  expansion.  Matters  of  privilege  constitute  the  main  staple  of  the  subjects 
relegated  for  inquiry.  The  many  disputed  points  affecting  the  Royal  prerogative  came  before 
select  bodies  of  members  for  consideration,  and  out  of  the  decisions  come  to  by  them  some 
of  the  most  momentous  incidents  of  those  stirring  times  directly  arose.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  the  development  of  the  Committee  system  was  far  from  being  exclusively 
political  in  its  character.  We  read,  under  date  March  20th,  1628,  of  the  appointment  of 


AN  iNTKi:iiut  vn:\v,  SHOWIXI;  THI:  AXCIKXT  TAPESTRY,  OP  THE  PAINTED  CHAMBEU. 

This  iketch  ii  of  Interest  an  a  reproduction  from  one  of  the  suppressed  plates  of  Smith's  "  Antiquities  of  Westminster." 


52 


4io 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Committees  fur  religion,  courts  <>f  justice,  grievances,  nntl  trade.  There  were  standing  Committees 
similiar  to  the  Grand  Committees  on  Law  and  Trade  which  are  jiart  of  the  existing  Parlia- 
mentary system.  We  have,  in  fart,  a  distinct  foreshadowing  of  the  great  instil ut inn  as  we 
know  it  to-day.  Apparently  the  nij>id  growth  of  tin-  system  was  not  altogether  to  the  tastes 
of  some  members,  for  on  .lime  llth.  Kill,  we  have  a  record  of  the  appointment  of  a  Committee 
"for  lessoning  Committees."  This  attempt  to  put  the  break  on  the  Parliamentary  machine  does 
not  ap|>ear  to  have  been  a  brilliant  success.  As  the  years  rolled  by  the  activity  of  Committees 
became,  if  anything,  more  marked.  When  the  struggle  with  the  King  reached  the  acute  stage. 
the  determination  of  many  grave  problem-  \va>  submitted  to  chosen  Ixidies  of  Parliamentarians. 
One  Committee  was  ap]>ointcd  "  to  consider  the  sequestering  and  seizing  the  estates  of  all  who 
are  or  shall  be  in  war  against  the  Parliament."  Another  Uxly  was  selected  (on  February  iltli, 
16-13)  "to  consider  and  bring  in  an  enumeration  of  those  more  crying  national  sins  for  which 
the  nation  hath  not  as  yet  been  humbled  before  <iod."  The  next  day  a  Grand  Committee  was 
appointed  '-to  consider  the  taking  away  the  exercise  of  all  arbitrary  power  in  all  places  and 

preventing    the    exercise   of    the    same   for    the    future."     In    the   ti f    the    Commonwealth 

the  controversies  of  the  day  are  not  less  accurately  reflected  in  the  subjects  dealt  with.  On 
March  lUth,  1649.  a  Committee  of  "plundered  ministers"  met  to  deliberate  u]>on  a  hook.  "The 
Agreement  of  the  People  called  into  Consideration  by  the  Ministers  of  the  Province  of  Lancaster." 
!n  1652  a  reference  was  made  to  a  Committee  "to  consider  what  cathedrals  are  fit  to  -land 

and  what  are  to  be  pulled 
down."  Then  on  November 
25th,  16.56,  a  Grand  Com- 
mittee sits  on  the  bill  "  for 
uniting  Ireland  into  one 
Commonwealth  with 
England."  Finally,  on 
April  4th,  1657,  we  read  of 
a  report  made  from  "  the 
Committee  appointed  t . . 
attend  his  Highness,  of  bis 
answer,  '  That  he  was  not 
able,  according  to  his  duty 
to  God  and  to  them,  to 
undertake  this  charge  under 
the  title  of  King."' 

Ho  the  records  proceed, 
contributing  those  abstract 
and  brief  chronicles  of 
Parliamentary  life  from  which 
the  historian  draws  his  fact>. 
and  the  constitutionalist  his 
information.  Karly  in  the 
eighteenth  century  we 
emerge  quite  into  the  light 
of  the  modern  svstem  with 
its  appointment  of  Select 
Committees,  charged  with 
the  functions  of  a  semi- 
judicial  inquiry.  The  great 
financial  mania  popularly 

I>ll.   NOWKU..    rllKlir.NKAHY   OK   WKSTM1NSTKK  AND    DKAN  (IF  ST.  PAUL'S, 
Wuoet  election  for  Loo..  Cornw.ll,  wu  u.nnll.1  by  order  of  the  Itoue  of  Common,  in  15S8.         Bubble  Supplied  the   occasion 


In    Committee 


411 


for  an  inquiry  at  this  early 
period  which  has  left  its  mark 
on  history.  Sitting  in  1721,  the 
Committee  went  exhaustively  into 
the  whole  of  the  incidents  which 
accompanied  this  extraordinary 
movement,  and  finally  presented 
a  report  which  inculpated  Sunder- 
land,  the  Prime  Minister,  Aislabie, 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
Secretary  Craggs,  and  other  pro- 
minent personages  in  the  frauds 
that  had  undoubtedly  been 
practised.  Aislabie  was  expelled 
from  the  House  and  committed 
to  the  Tower  for  his  share  in 
the  transactions.  Sunderland  was 
exonerated  by  his  brother  peers 
from  personal  corruption,  but  such 
was  the  feeling  of  the  hour  that 
he  was  compelled  to  resign  office. 
More  tragic  was  the  fate  of 
Craggs,  who  in  a  fit  of  desperation 
committed  suicide.  Anotherdeath 
traceable  to  the  investigation 
was  that  of  Lord  Stanhope,  the 
Secretary  of  State,  who  was  so 
incensed  at  a  charge  of  corrup- 
tion brought  against  Ministers 
by  the  Duke  of  Wharton  in  the 
debate  on  the  subject  in  the 
House  of  Lords  that  he  had  a  fit,  from  which  he  died  the  following  day. 

Another  body,  whose  deliberations  have  been  rendered  historic  by  the  great  picture  by 
Hogarth  in  the  national  collection,  sat  in  1728  to  consider  the  state  of  the  Fleet  Prison  and 
other  gaols,  the  ghastly  horrors  of  which  had  outraged  the  sentiment  of  even  that  callous 
age.  The  report  of  the  Committee,  laid  before  the  House  on  March  20th  the  same  year  by 
General  Oglethorpe,  the  chairman,  disclosed  an  astounding  state  of  affairs.  It  showed  that  the 
patent  of  the  office  of  Warden  of  the  Prison  having  been  purchased  early  in  the  eighteenth  century 
for  £5,000  by  Thomas  Bambridge,  that  individual  established  for  himself  a  little  kingdom,  in 
which  he  ruled  with  the  iron  hand  of  the  despot.  When  it  suited  his  purpose  he  aided  and 
assisted  prisoners  to  escape.  To  facilitate  this  end  he  "  caused  a  private  door  to  be  made 
through  the  walls  of  the  prison  out  of  the  yard  where  the  dogs  are."  He  always  kept  the 
keys  of  this  door  himself,  and  it  was  proved  that  with  his  own  hands  he  let  out  a  notorious 
smuggler  named  Boyce,  who  was  imprisoned  for  defrauding  the  revenue  to  the  extent  of 
upwards  of  £30,000.  Not  infrequently  Bambridge  declined  to  accept  prisoners  even  when 
regularly  committed  by  the  courts  of  law.  He  preferred  that  they  should  be  sent  to  an 
adjoining  sponging-house  belonging  to  himself,  where  .they  were  subjected  to  systematised 
extortion.  If  their  friends  were  wealthy,  and  were  willing  to  pay  liberally,  the  detenus  had 
handsome  rooms  placed  at  their  disposal,  with  every  luxury.  On  the  other  hand,  if  they  were 
poor  and  friendless,  they  were  banished  to  garrets,  where  they  slept  three  in  one  bed  and 
were  almost  starved.  The  horrors  of  the  sponging-house  were  such  that  prisoners  were  glad 
to  purchase  the  "privilege"  of  being  admitted  to  the  prison  if  they  could  by  any  means 


JAMES,  FIRST  EARL  STANHOPE, 

Secretary  of  state  in  the  reign  of  Geolge  L 


412 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


raise  tin-  money.  If  their  <l<tn<;  m- 
was  not  ii  liU-i-al  one.  they  were 
turned  clown  to  tin-  common  side, 
and  even  ]int  into  irons  and  incar- 
cerated in  loathsome  dungeon*. 

Many  instances  were  cited  be- 
fore the-  Committee  of  Ham  bridge's 
cruelty.  Captain  John  .Mackpheadrk 
a  merchant  and  considerable  trader 
in  172O.  being  hound  for  large  sum< 
to  the  Crown  Cora  person.  \\a-after- 
wards  ruined  by  the  misfortunes  of 
that  year.  He  was  committed  to 
the  Fleet;  and  having  paid  his 
commitment  fees,  furnished  a  room. 
Bamhridge  demanded  an  extravagant 
price  for  the  accommodation,  which 
Captain  .Maekpheadris  refused  to  pay, 
offering  t  he  legal  charge.  Bumhridge 
locked  the  prisoner  out  of  his  room 
and  forced  him  to  lie  in  the  open 
yard  called  "The  Hare."  Here  the 
Captain  built  himself  a  hut  to 
afford  protection  from  the  weather 
At  night  the  hut  was  pulled  down, 
and  Bambridge,  although  the 
prisoner  was  unarmed,  attacked  him 
with  his  sword,  and  was  only  pre- 
vented from  killing  him  by  so-ue 
of  the  other  prisoners  carrying  him 
into  a  room.  Next  morning  1'a Mi- 
bridge  brought  a  detachment  of  soldiers  and  ordered  the  prisoner  to  be  dragged  out  and  put 
in  great  irons.  These  proved  too  small,  so  that  in  forcing  them  on  the  legs  were  nearly  broken. 
The  wretched  prisoner  lay  without  a  bed,  loaded  with  the  irons,  which  were  so  close  riveted 
that  they  kept  him  in  continual  torture,  and  eventually  caused  the  legs  to  mortify.  By  some 
means  the  prisoner  petitioned  the  judges,  and  Bambridge  was  reprimanded;  but  he  continued 
to  keep  his  victim  in  irons  until  six  guineas  were  paid  him. 

A  systematic  course  of  cruelty  was  also  adopted  by  Bamhridge  towards  another  victim. 
Captain  Sinclair,  who  was  confined  in  a  loathsome  place  called  the  Strong  Itoom.  till  he  lost 
the  use  of  his  limbs  and  memory,  and  became  a  human  wreck.  Yet  another  case  was  that 
of  Mr.  .lohn  Holder,  a  .Spanish  merchant,  who  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Fleet.  This  individual 
had  a  room  which  he  fitted  up  with  his  own  furniture,  and  he  also  had  with  him  all  his 
InMiks,  accounts,  etc.,  to  the  value  of  about  £30.001).  Bambridge  took  possession  of  the  room 
and  its  contents,  and  turned  Holder  over  to  the  common  side.  As  a  direct  consequence  of  the 
cruel  treatment  to  which  the  prisoner  was  subjected  in  his  forcible  removal,  lie  lost  his  life. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  contained  various  recommendations  for  dealing  with  the 
infamous  conduct  of  Bambridge  and  his  accomplices;  and  the  House  of  Common*  resolved 
unanimously  that  "Thomas  Bambridge,  the  Acting  Warden  of  the  Fleet  Prison,  wilfully 
|H-rmittecl  several  debtors  to  the  Crown  in  great  sums  of  money  to  escape,  and  hath  been 
guilty  of  the  most  notorious  breaches  of  his  trust,  great  extortions,  and  the  highest  dimes. 
and  hath  arbitrarily  and  unlawfully  loaded  with  irons,  put  into  dungeons,  and  oppressed 
prisoners  under  his  charge,  treating  them  in  a  most  barbarous  and  cruel  manner  in  high 


THE  DUKE  OF  WHAUTON. 

A  profligate  nobleman  who  WRA  a  prominent  figure  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  the  early 
jKirt  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


413 


414 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


violation    nml    contempt   of  tin-    laws   of   this   kingdom";    also   "That,    an    humble   address  be 

pre-entrd    to    his    Maje.-ty  that    In-    will    In-    gracioiir-ly    pleased   t«i    direct    his    Attorney-General 

forthwith  to  pro-ecu! «•  in  the  mo>t  effectual   iiiaimiT  tin-  said  Thomas  Hamhridge  for  his  cri s." 

Tin1  House  ordered  Ilamhridge  to  be  committed  to  Newgate,  and  the  S| eakcr  issued  his  warrant 
accordingly.  A  bill  was  brought  in  by  firm-nil  Ogh-thorpe,  Mr.  Karle.  Lonl  Pen-mil,  and  .Mr. 
Hughes  for  disabling  Bamhridge  from  holding  the  office  of  Warden;  and  another  bill  was  intro- 
duced by  (iencral  ( tglethorpe.  .Mr.  Cornwall.  Mr.  (ilanville.  and  Mr.  Hughes  for  better  regulating 
the  prison,  and  preventing  and  punishing  arbitrary  and  illegal  practice-,  of  the  Warden  in  future. 

Monstrous  as  were  the  cruelties  perpetrated  by  Hamhridgc  in  the  Fleet  Prison,  they 
were  surjiassed  in  infamy  by  the  practices  of  the  gaolers  of  the  Marslmlse.-v  1'rison.  into  the 
conduct  of  which  establishment  the  Committee  also  inquired.  A  personal  examination  of 
some  of  the  prisoners  revealed  the  exigence  of  a  system  of  torture  of  the  most  atroeious 
description.  On  one  occasion,  a  prisoner  having  tried  to  escape,  the  ruthless  tyrants,  in 
order  to  extort  a  confession  as  to  his  accomplices,  screwed  certain  instruments  of  iron  upon 
his  thumbs,  so  close  that  they  forced  the  blood  out  of  them.  "After  thi>."  proceeds  the 
report,  "he  was  taken  to  a  room,  where,  besides  the  other  irons  he  had  on,  they  fixed  on  his 
neck  and  hands  an  in  in  instrument  called  a  collar,  like  a  pair  of  tongs;  and  he  being  a 
large  and  lusty  man,  when  they  screwed  the  instrument  close,  his  eyes  were  ready  to  start 
out  of  his  head,  the  blood  gushed  out  of  his  ears  and  nose,  and  he  foamed  at  the  mouth. 

After  these  tortures,  lie  was 
confined  to  a  strong  room 
for  many  days,  with  a  very 
heavy  pair  of  irons  called 
sheers  on  his  legs." 

Another  case  was  that 
of  a  prisoner,  not  having 
any  friends  to  support  him. 
who  was  almost  starved  to 
death.  I'pmi  attempts  to 
escape  he  was  taken  by 
the  keepers  dragged  by  the 
heels,  barbarously  beaten, 
and  put  into  irons.  Short  ly 
afterwards,  the  gaolers,  for 
their  diversion,  as  they 
called  it,  fixed  on  his  head 
an  iron  engine  or  instru- 
ment, which  appeared  to  be 
an  iron  scull  cap.  and  screwed 
it  so  close  that  the  blood 
was  forced  out  of  his  ears 
and  nose;  at  the  same  time 
his  thumbs  were  put  into 
thumb-screws  and  screwed 
tight.  The  miserable  man 
was  eventually  released  and 
put  into  St.  Thomas's  Hos- 
pital, where  he  died. 

Hogarth's    moving    iiic- 

FrvM  CM  <*g raring  ky  Um&rala*. 

tore,     in     its     pathos    and 

CIIAKI.KS   KARL  OF  8UXDKKI.AXD. 
Th.  **«.  who.  »  Prin,.  MlnUfr  In  th.  r..gn  nf  Oeonj.  I.,  ™  indicated  In  th.  Sonth  ^S^-  1'^hapS  the  great  e>. 

SM  Bubble  fnniU  that     sublime    master    ever 


415 


In    Committee 

p<ointed,  brings  home  to  us  as  even 
this  remarkable  report  of  the 
Commons  Committee  cannot  do,  the 
horrors  of  the  licensed  infernos  into 
which  the  prisoners  of  that  age  were 
shot.  Amazing  as  it  may  seem  to 
our  modern  understandings,  the  strong 
report  of  the  Committee  proved  a 
harmless  bolt.  The  arch-scoundrel 
Bainbridge,  after  being  detained  in 
custody  for  a  time  on  charges  of 
murder,  was,  through  some  mysterious 
influence,  released,  and  his  companions 
in  iniquity  were  equally  fortunate  in 
escaping  the  punishment  thevjustlv 
merited.  Truly  those  were  the  dark 
days  of  prison  administration. 

Many  Committees  for  special 
purposes  were  held  at  different  periods 
during  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
matters  with  which  they  dealt  were 
largely  political,  and  the  interest  in 
them  has  evaporated  with  the  lapse 
of  time.  But  there  were  some  ex- 
ceptions to  this  rule.  For  example, 
a  Committee  which  sat  in  1788  and 
1789  "to  inspect  the  several  houses 
and  other  buildings  immediatelv 
adjoining  to  Westminster  Hall  and 
the  two  Houses  of  Parliament  and 
the  offices  thereto  belonging,"  dealt 
with  the  question  of  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  old  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment in  such  a  fashion  as  to  furnish 
many  points  of  attraction  for  those 
who  are  interested  in  the  life  and 
history  of  St.  Stephen's.  One  feature 
of  the  Committee  work  which  may 
be  particularly  mentioned  is  the  THOMAS  BAMBIHDGK, 

distinct      foreshadowing      of     the        The  Governor  of  the  Fleet  Prison,  whose  diabolical  cruelties  perpetrated  on  i>risoners 
disaster    which     Ultimately    destroved  wei'e  the  8U'U'ect  °*  a  Parliamentary  inquiry. 

the  old  Palace.  So  impressed  were  they  with  the  danger  of  fire  which  reposed  in  the 
congeries  of  ramshackle  buildings  of  which  the  Palace  consisted,  that  they  presented  a  special 
interim  report  urging  the  removal  of  all  private  residences  from  the  precincts  as  an  absolutely 
essential  measure  of  precaution.  When  the  time  came  for  them  to  formulate  their  main 
report,  they  showed  an  equal  degree  of  prescience  in  sketching  the  outlines  of  a  suitable  home 
for  the  Mother  of  Parliaments.  "Your  Committee  cannot  help  thinking,"  they  remarked, 
"that  some  great  and  noble  plan  ought  to  be  adopted,  conformable  to  which  public  buildings 
should  be  erected,  not  only  substantial  and  convenient,  but  also  of  a  magnificence  suitable1 
to  the  dignity  of  this  country."  At  the  instance  of  the  Committee  a  body  of  eminent  artists, 
including  Adam,  Dance,  and  Soane  amongst  others,  was  appointed  to  inspect  the  buildings 
and  make  a  report  upon  them.  The  professional  view  when  forthcoming  was  fully  in  harmony 


4i6 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


<>I;I.KTIIOKPK, 

Wko  prattled  over  the  Stlrct  <'..n,niitt*e  which  «at  to  inquire  into  the  »uto  of 
th»  Flwt  Pruon. 


with  tin-  sentiments  of  the  Committee. 
They  (li-i-hiivd  tlicir  astonishment  at  the 
buildings  having  so  long  escaped  the 
danger  of  tire.  They  described  them  as 
"  unprotected  by  walls  of  eitlier  brick  or 
stone,  eoliliected  and  joined  together  by 
eitlier  lioarded  or  lath-and-pla-tcrcd  part  i- 
tioiis;  with  iron  liars  to  defend  the  windnu- 

of    the    llio-t     consequential    offices,    which 

ser.-e  to  attract  the  lightning,1  to  the 
destrut'tioii  of  their  valuable  content-: 
with  funnels  and  chimneys  running  up  in 
old,  decayed  piers  in  the  very  bosom  of 
these  combustible  materials,  in  many  of 
which  fire  from  a  neglected  chimney  might 
consume  the  whole;  without  the  po-si- 
bility  of  bringing  sufficient  water  toexlin- 
guish  the  flames,  such  aid  being  hitherto 
overlooked  or  deemed  unneces>ary.  and 
not  more  than  one  engine  kept  near  the 
most  essential  offices  in  this  kingdom." 
It  is  curious  how  exactly  the  architectural 
experts  divined  the  source  of  the  mischief 
which  was  ultimately  to  lay  the  Pal  a.,- 
of  Westminster  in  ashes.  As  our  readers  will  remember,  it  was  a  lire  from  a  "neglected 
chimnev  ''  which  set  the  old  building  in  a  blaze  and  ultimately  encompassed  its  ruin. 

Of  a  different  tvpe.  and  wider  in  its  range  of  interest  to  this  Committee,  was  a  I'arlia- 
iiientarv  lx>dv  which  assembled  in  1792  to  inquire  into  the  abuses  attending  the  holding  of 
State  lotteries.  The  investigation  was  directed  towards,  not  the  direct  evils  of  the  lotteries. 
but  against  certain  indirect  evils  which  grew  out  of  them.  People,  not  content  with  the 
gamble  with  which  the  (iovernment  considerately  provided  them,  embarked  on  a  system  of 
tx-tting  on  the  results  of  the  drawings.  These  insurances,  as  they  were  called,  attained  to 
enormous  proportions.  Offices  wen'  established  all  over  the  country,  and  every  town  was  o\er- 
run  witli  touting  agents  whose  business  it  was  to  introduce  customers  to  their  principals.  The 
evidence  recorded  before  the  Committee  gives  a  singular  glimpse  of  life  in  that  end-of- 
the-eighteent h-ceiitury  periixl.  According  to  an  official  witness,  the  insurance  offices  were 
"generally  marked  by  a  large  number  upon  the  windows,  or  a  green  curtain  or  blind."  and 
were  tased  with  oak  plank  plated  with  iron  —  presumably  so  as  to  be  able  to  stand  a  - 
At  the  door  commonly  stood  a  man  with  an  alarm  bell,  and  when  any  person  approached 
whom  he  had  reason  to  suspect  was  inimical  to  the  business,  he  rang  the  bell  as  a  warning  to 
the  officials  to  e-eape.  which  they  usually  did  by  scaling  a  back  wall  or  climbing  to  the  roof. 
<  >r.  a-ionally  a  tierce  bulldog  was  left  in  the  office,  to  be  released  when  the  myrmidons  of 
the  law  proved  too  pressing  in  their  attentions.  As  a  further  safeguard  the  office-keeper- 
ne\er  showed  their  faces  to  a  customer.  '1  he  applicant  for  an  insurance  presented  him-elf 
at  a  little  window  in  an  oak  partition  and  obtained  his  voucher  from  the  man  who  wa-  -itting 
concealed  from  view  behind.  Very  large  sums,  amounting  to  several  hundred  pounds,  were 
often  |mid  a-  the  |  rice  of  insurance  of  a  single  ticket.  The  -business,  demoralising  in  itself. 
was  rendered  more  obnoxious  by  the  character  of  the  agents.  Many  of  these  individuals  of 
the  IMHIHT  Has-  were  in  the  habit  of  taking  the  insurances  they  had  collected  to  larger  agents. 
From  them  they  would  ultimately  receive-  the  amounts  to  which  the  more  fortunate  insurers 

1  Tl.iit  reads  curiously  us  a  professional  opinion  in  these  day.«,  but,  of  course,  the  properties  of  the  lightning  con<l 
were  tticn  little  known. 


X  ~ 

a  - 

<T  " 

e  2 


•?.      Z 


417 


4i8 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


were  entitled  ;  but,  instead  of  handing  these  sums  over,  tin-  rascals  disappeared  with  tin-  money. 
It    is  dear  from  this  that  the  "welsher"  is  not  altogether  a  product  of  our  modern  civilisation. 
Indeed,    then'    is   a   remarkable    family    resemblance    between    the    problems    which   the   in\e-ti- 
gating  authority  of  1798  was   called  \i\tcm  to  solve   and   those    which    only    this    session   (!!><>:.' 
have  occupied  the  attention  of  a  1'arliainentarv  C'omniittee.      The   lottery  Committee,   it    max 
be   noted,    had    little   other   result    than    the    exi>osure   of    the    mischievous    influences    of    the 
clandestine  lottery  insurance  office.     It  was  not  until  State  lotteries  themselves  were  supp: 
as  a  dangerous  nuisance  that   the  irregularities  which   formed   the   subject    of  the    17'JH  inquiry 
were  finally  swept  away. 

Long  before  the  nineteenth  century  was  entered  U]MHI  the  Parliamentary  Committee  system 
had  settled  into  the  groove  in  which  it  now  works.  For  the  most  part  the  subjects  dealt 
with  were  of  a  commonplace  character,  or  touched  matters  in  regard  to  which  the  interest  \\as 
ephemeral.  An  exception  is  supplied  hv  a  Committee  which  sit  in  the  year  1815  to  consider 
what  was  described  in  the  rejM>rt  as  a  matter  of  high  importance  as  affecting  the  privileges 
of  members,  and  one  in  regard  to  which  they  could  find  nothing  in  the  journals  to  guide 
them,  the  case  being  entirely  of  a  novel  nature.  The  circumstances  a<  set  forth  were  peculiar. 
In  June.  1814,  Ixird  Cochrane  had  been  indicted  for  conspiracy,  and  was  sentenced  by  the 
Court  of  King's  Bench  to  twelve  months'  imprisonment.  In  July,  1814,  he  was  returned 
as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons  for  Westminster,  but  remaining  in  prison  until  the 
following  March,  he  made  his  escape  and  went  to  the  House  before  prayers,  and  took  his  -eat 
on  the  Privy  Councillors'  Bench  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Chair.  Six  in  after  Lord  Cochrane 
had  entered  the  House  the  Marshal  of  the  King's  Bench  appeared  with  two  or  three  of  his 

officers  and  other  assistants,  and 
carried  his  lordship  away  to  prison, 
notwithstanding  a  remonstrance  from 
him,  that  they  had  no  right  to  lay 
their  hands  upon  him  there.  The 
Committee,  after  considering  all  the 
circumstances,  decided  that  the 
privileges  of  Parliament  had  not  been 
violated  so  as  to  call  for  the  inter- 
position of  the  House  by  any  pro- 
ceedings agiinst  the  Marshal  of  the 
King's  Bench. 

It  is  imperative  on  all  memlier-. 
excepting  those  in  advanced  years, 
to  attend  sittings  of  Committees 
when  summoned.  If  they  absent 
themselves  deliberately,  they  make 
themselves  liable  to  \ery  serious 
consequences.  It  rarely  happens, 
fortunately,  that  any  coercion  is 
needed  to  bring  a  legislator  to  a 
sense  of  duty.  But  there  is  one 
instance  on  record  of  a  comparatively 
modern  date  which  shows  tiiat  the 
House  is  ready  to  apply  the  severest 
punitive  measure.-  on  occasion.  The 
case  is  that  of  Mr.  Smith  O'Brien. 

•  ,' Mim-i.  Uaa»illau*  Co  ,  Lt.i.  who  came    into    violent    collision    with 

LORD  COCHKAM:,  .        , 

The  celebrated  «ilor,  whoM  notion  a»  one  of  the  mcnibcn  for  Wwtniimter  formed  the  *'"'      11()Use     ln     -Uil.v>     »«M8,     IOT    I 

rabject  of  Invotlgation  by  a  Steltct  Committee  in  1815.  clilling    to    Serve    Oil    English    Railway 


In    Committee 


419 


ME.   SMITH   O  BRIEN,   M.P.,  IN"  CUSTODY  AT   THE   HOUSE   OF  COMMONS. 
The  Anteroom. 


Committees.  When 
it  was  made  perfectly 
clear  that  the  refusal 
was  deliberate  and 
arose  from  political 
grounds  connected 
with  the  member's 
desire  to  participate 
in  the  great  agitation 
that  was  then  in 
progress  in  Ireland 
over  Peel's  Coercion 
Bill,  the  House  by 
vote  gave  Mr.  O'Brien 
into  the  custody  of 
the  Sergeant-at-Arms. 
By  this  functionary 
he  was  conducted  to 
an  improvised  Parlia- 
mentary prison  in 
Old  Palace  Yard. 

Here,  as    he  resolutely  refused  to   purge   his   offence,  he  was   incarcerated   for  .some  little  time, 

receiving    meanwhile    the    tribute    of  a    fervent   partisanship    in   the    shape    of    complimentary 

resolutions  passed  by  various  public  bodies  and  political  organisations  in  Ireland. 

At  one  time  the  practice  of  entrusting  important  inquiries  to  a  Committee  of  the  whole 

House  was  much  favoured.     For  the  nonce  the  House  became  a  semi-judicial  body,  and  heard 

counsel,   examined   the   witnesses,  and    discharged   all  the    usual   functions    of  a   court    of   law. 

Amongst    examples   cited   by   Sir   Erskine   May   in    his    great   work   on   Parliamentary  practice 

are   the  inquiries  in   1774    into  the  miscarriage  of  the  Fleet  before  Toulon  ;    in   1782  into  the 

want    of  success   of   the    naval  forces    during    the  American  war;    in  1809  into   the  conduct  of 

the    Duke   of    York ; 

in     1810      into      the 

failure  of  the  expedi- 
tion to   the   Scheldt; 

and  in  1808  and  1812 

into  the  operation  of 

the  Orders  in  Council. 

The  custom  which  was 

first    adopted    in    the 

case    of   Strafford's 

Attainder    Bill   was 

ultimately  abandoned 

as  too  cumbrous.   Now 

tin;     Royal    Commis- 
sion, a  Itody  appointed 

by   the  Sovereign  on 

the     advice     of     his 

Ministers  and  holding 

its    sittings    apart 

from     Parliament,     — f   -•pry^pf^  ••--  .    .-.      -^ 

takes     the     place    of  MB.  SMITH  O'BRIEN'S  IMPRISONMENT. 

these     Committees     Of  Passage  to  the  Peers' Entrance. 


420 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


tin1  whole  House.  An- 
other old  Parliamentarj 

institution  which  fell  into 
desuetude  as  the  nine- 
teenth century  advanced 
\\a-  tin-  »y«tem  .if  (irund 

Cm iitre-.     which,     as 

already  noted,  \\.-i-  set  on 
foot  in  1028.  In  r nt 

times,     however,     tile     old 

arrangement  has  been 
revised  ton  certain  extent 
by  the  regular  appoint- 
ment every  session  of 
(iniiid  Committee.,  tu  deal 
with  hills  and  matters 
affecting  law  and  trade. 

It  is  unnecessary  to 
follow  the  Committee 
system  in  detail  through 
the  nineteenth  century. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the 
period  witnessed  an 
enormous  growth  of  tin- 
number  of  bodies  which 

were  created  e\er\    se-sioli 

to  aid  the  work  of  the 
I.egislat  lire.  The  last 
great  Parliamentary  in- 
quiry was  that  undertaken 
by  the  Select  Committee 
which  sat  in  IS'Mi  and 
again  in  1897  to  inve.-ti- 
gate  the  circumstances  of 
the  Jameson  Itaid  and  the  complications  which  resulted  from  it  in  South  Africa.  Some  of  the 
mo-t  eminent  members  of  (lie  House  assisted  at  the  investigation,  including  .Mr.  Halfour.  Sir 
.Michael  llicks-1'.each.  Sir  William  Harcourt.  Mr.  Chamberlain,  and  Sir  Henry  Campbell-Hannerman. 
Since  Warren  Hastings  had  been  impeached  in  the  adjacent  Hall  a  century  before,  there  had 
not  been  a  keener  or  more  widespread  interest  displayed  in  any  Parliamentary  investigation. 
The  public  excitement  reached  its  culminating  point  when  the  late  Mr.  Cecil  Rhodes  came 
forward  and  submitted  himself  to  examination  on  his  personal  share  in  the  events  which  gave 
rise  to  the  inquiry.  For  several  days  the  world  listened  with  curious  interest  while  the  South 
African  statesman  set  forth  in  characteristic  \\ay  his  version  of  the  caiisati.ni  of  the  Haid  and 
of  the  incidents  that  had  attended  and  followed  it.  At  length,  after  sittings  marked  \\ith 
many  dramatic  incidents  and  some  cm  ions  personal  episodes,  the  Committee  delivered  a  report 
denouncing  the  Raid,  and  ap|>ortioning  the  blame  amongst  those  guilty  of  its  inception  and 
execution.  A  storm  of  criticism  was  excited  by  the  inquiry,  and  controversy  still  rages  around 
certain  aspects  of  it.  Into  these  matters  it  is  unnecessary  to  examine  here.  It  must  be 
left  to  history,  with  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  facts  than  the  world  at  present  possesses,  to 
pronounce  an  impartial  verdict  upon  the  disputed  points.  Meanwhile,  we  may  be  content 
to  take  leave  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee  system  with  this  striking  example,  in  which 
we  see  the  power  of  investigation  inherent  in  the  legislative  body  in  its  most  impressive  form. 


Frm  a  photo  bu  Elliott  .1  Fry,  Baltr  Strut,  1C. 

THi;    RIliHT    HON.    CECIL  J.    llll(ilil>. 
The  great  South  African  ctAtecman,  who  gave  evidence  before  the  South  African  Committee. 


THE   SOUTH  AFBICAN  COMMITTEE  OF  INQUIRY. 
A  lilting  of  the  famous  Parliamentary  tribunal  which  sat  in  1896  and  1897  to  investigate  the  Jameson  Raid. 

421 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 
LORD  CHAM  KLLORS— FAMOUS  AXD  IXFAMOl'S. 

No  record  of  the  life  of  Parliament  would  be  complete  without  an  account  of  the  I/>nl 
Chancellorship,  and  of  some  of  the  illustrious  men  who  have  tilled  that  threat  ortiee.  Tlie  nm-i 
historic  and  dignified  ]M»ition  under  the  Crown,  it  has  attracted  to  itself  in  the  course  of 
the  eight  centuries  of  its  exigence  a  mass  of  tradition  which  is  closely  interwoven  with  Un- 
constitutional development  of  the  country.  As  in  the  ease  of  tlie  Speakcrship.  tin-  history  of 
the  office  is  stained  with  instances  of  personal  corruption  and  petty  meanness;  hut  in  times 
of  stress  and  peril,  as  well  as  in  days  of  peaceful  political  progress,  the  Lord  Chancellor — or 
the  \jan\  Kee|>er,  as  lit-  was  in  earlier  times  styled-  has  ever  been  a  splendid  figure,  wielding 
on  occasions  a  power  little  inferior  to  that  of  the  King  himself. 

Tlie  I<ord  High  Chancellor  of  (ireat  Itritain.  Keeper  of  the  (treat  Seal.  is.  by  prescription, 
Prolocutor,  or  S|K-aker,  of  the  House  of  Lords,  although  in  the  latter  capacity  his  functions  are 
somewhat  of  an  anomalous  and  disconnected  character.  Jle  is  the  highest  civil  subject  in  the 
realm,  and  upon  State  occasions  takes  ] irecedence,  after  the  lioyal  Family,  of  all  his  MajeM 
subjects  excepting  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  to  slay  him  is  high  treason.  At  the 
opening  of  Parliament  hy  the  King  in  person,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  kneeling  upon  one  knee. 

hands  his  .Majesty  the  speech,  and.  if 
so  desired  by  the  Sovereign,  it  is  his 
duty  to  read  it  to  -.My  birds  and 
(ientlemen,"  after  the  Commons  have 
been  summoned  to  the  15ar  of  the 
House  of  Lords.  Occupying  the  oldest 
office  in  the  (iovernment,  the  English 
Chancellor  soon  after  the  Norman  Con- 
quest became  a  judicial  officer  of  high 
rank  and  confidential  adviser  of  the 
Sovereign  in  State  affairs.  At  first  he 
was  styled  the  Chancellor  of  the  King, 
and  Blacks! one  states  that  "he  became 
keeper  of  the  King's  conscience,  visitor 
of  all  hospitals  and  colleges  of  tin- 
King's  foundation,  and  patron  of  all 
Crown  livings.'' 

Though  the  office  is  now  held  by  a 
lawyer  of  the  highest  distinction.  tin- 
Lord  Chancellor  was  originally  an 
ecclesiastic,  and  the  existence  of  tin- 
office  in  England,  as  in  other  State-  of 
F.urope.  may  In-  ascribed  to  the  influence 
the  lioman  Empire  had  on  the  consti- 
tution of  modern  nations.  The  last 

fro*,  a*  uiffmciHg  ly  iiovimi  prelate  to   fill   the   office  of  Lord  Chan- 

ARCiiBisiiop  WILLIAMS.  LOUD  KLi.i'Li:  FROM  1C21  TO  162:..  cellor    and    Keeper  was   John    Williams, 

Th«  lut  prelate  to  occupy  the  woolmck.  Archbishop    of  York  frOHl     1G21    to    162."); 

422 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


423 


THOMAS  A   liECKET. 


but  the  ecclesiastical  influence  still  pertains  to  the  position 
to  the  extent  of  its  occupant  continuing  to  act  as  patron  to 
a  certain  extent  of  Crown  livings  in  the  Church.  Although 
holding  three  offices,  it  is  as  Lord  Chancellor  that  the 
influence  of  the  holder  of  the  office  is  greatest  and  of 
most  importance.  He  is  President  of  the  highest  Court 
of  Appeal  in  the  land  and  of  the  Chancery  Division  of  the 
High  Court  of  Justice,  a  Privy  Councillor,  and  holds  an 
administrative  office,  taking  part  in  the  political  policy  of 
the  Government  of  the  day  as  a  member  of  the  Cabinet ; 
yet  when  appointed  to  the  woolsack  he  is  not  necessarily 
a  peer  of  the  realm,  although  the  honour  of  being  ennobled 
now  invariably  follows.  Sir  Robert  Henley,  who  was  ap- 
pointed in  1757,  was  not  created  a  peer  until  1764,  and 
a  little  more  than  a  century  later,  Sir  William  Page  Wood 
occupied  the  woolsack  nearly  a  week  before  he  was  sworn 
as  Karon  Hatherley.  With  the  office  of  Lord  Chancellor  is 
combined  that  of  Lord  Keeper ;  but  there  is  now  no  essential 
difference  between  them,  and  few  duties  are  performed  bv  the 
latter ;  but  the  position  confers  all  responsibility  pertaining 
to  it  as  custodian  of  the  Great  Seal.  The  seal  is  used  for 

the  kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  sometimes  for  Ireland,  under  the  signed  authority  of  the 
Sovereign.  It  legalises  public  documents  of  great  importance,  such  as  writs  to  summon 
Parliament,  treaties  with  foreign  countries,  etc.,  and  although  the  duties  in  connection  with  it 
are  performed  by  the  officers  of  the  Keeper,  he  is  responsible  for  its  safe  custody. 

As  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Lords  the  Chancellor  has  an  unimportant  part  to  perform, 
his  duties  being  almost  exclusively  confined  to  mere  formal  proceedings,  and  putting  the 
i|iu-tion  at  the  termination  of  a  debate,  whether  the  "Contents"  or  "Non-contents"  have  it. 
As  a  peer  he  has  only  the  same  rights  as  the  other  peers.  He  does  not  decide  points  of  order, 
the  House  taking  upon  itself  that  duty ;  but  he  has  the  privilege  of  intervening  in  a  debate. 
When  he  exercises  this  right,  stepping  aside  from  the  woolsack,  he  severs  himself  temporarily 
from  his  office  and  takes  his  place  in  the  House  as  a  peer.  He  is  not  as  Speaker  addressed 
in  debate ;  the  peer  speaking  beginning  his  address  with  "  My  Lords."  In  a  division  the 
Ix>rd  Chancellor  takes  a  part  and  votes  first,  and  if  the  numbers  are  equal  declares  the  "  Non- 
contents  "  have  it,  no  casting  vote  being  exercised,  as  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  salary 
settled  by  Act  of  Parliament  for  the  combined  offices  is  £10,000  per  annum ;  and  upon  retire- 
ment a  pension  of  £5,000  is  enjoyed.  The  holder  of  the  office  must  not  be  a  Roman  Catholic. 

As  has  been  noted,  the  Lord  Chancellor — or  Lord  Keeper,  as  the  occupant  of  the  office  was 
then  styled — was  in  the  earliest  times  invariably  an  ecclesiastic.  Indeed,  it  was  not  until  the 
period  of  the  Reformation,  when  with  the  casting  off  of  the  dominion  of  Rome  many  old  links 
were  snapped,  that  the  law  took  the  place  of  the  Church  in  supplying  men  to  have  the  custody 
of  the  Great  Seal,  and  perform  the  more  difficult  task  of  keeping  the  King's  conscience. 
Running  the  eye  over  the  list  of  past  Lord  Chancellors,  we  come  across  the  names  of  most 
of  the  great  religious  dignitaries  who  have  left  their  mark  on  mediaeval  English  history. 
Roger  of  Salisbury,  Thomas  a  Becket,  Walter  de  Grey,  Richard,  Abbot  of  Evesharn,  William 
of  V.'ykdiam,  Sim  >n  of  Sudbury,  and  Cardinal  Wolsey  each  in  turn  filled  the  office.  Wolsey, 
the  greatest  of  tie  race  of  ecclesiastical  Chancellors,  was  also  the  last.  His  successor  was  the 
illustrious  Sir  Thomas  More,  a  man  whose  bent  of  mind  and  personal  habits  were  peculiarly 
those  of  the  Churchman  and  of  the  scholar,  but  who,  nevertheless,  enjoys  the  distinction  of 
being  the  first  lay  Lord  Chancellor.  Afterwards,  for  a  brief  period  in  the  reigns  of  Edward  VI. 
and  of  Mary,  the  old  order  was  restored  in  the  persons  of  Thomas  Goodrich,  Bishop  of  Ely  ; 
Stephen  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester ;  and  Nicholas  Heath,  Archbishop  of  York.  But 


424 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


BTKPIIKX   CARDISKB,   BISHOP  OF  WINCHESTER. 


with  the  acces>ion  of  Elizabeth  ami  the 
ap|H>intment  of  Sir  Nichola~  1'iemi  a- 
Ixjrd  Keeper,  the  legal  line-  was  n  - 
established,  never  attain  to  h  •  lirukcn. 
excepting  in  the  single  instance,  pre- 
viously referred  to,  of  John  \Villiam>. 
Archbishop  of  York,  who  held  the  (ireat 
Seal  for  four  years  from  1<>21,  in  the 
reign  of  James  I. 

The  Elizabethan  Lord  Keepers  anil 
Lord  Chancellor-  were  perhaps  (lie  nio>t 
illustrious  of  a  ijreat  line.  They  emu- 
prise  Sir  Nii-holas  B:ICOII  ;  William  Cecil. 
I/ml  Hurghley  ;  and  Sir  Fr.mei-  1',  icon- 
a  trio  whose  names  are  indelibly  written 
in  the  annals  of  England.  Their  per- 
sonal histories  are  intimately  blended. 
Sir  Nicholas  Hacon  was  the  father  of  Sir 
Francis  Bacon,  and  he  was  the  brother- 
in-law  of  William  Cecil,  with  whom  he  in 
early  life  was  a  fellow-si  udent  at  Corpu> 
Christ  i  College,  Cambridge.  Nicln>la> 
Bacon  owed  his  advancement  to  high  office  primarily  to  his  family  connection  with  Elizabeth's 
great  Minister,  who  secured  him  the  appointment  of  Attorney  to  the  Court  of  Wards  in  l.'ihi. 
and  so  jxived  the  way  for  his  elevation  to  the  greater  dignity.  But  he  was  a  man  of  marked 
ability,  and  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  by  forming  a  scheme  Cm- 
the  creation  of  a  university  for  statesmen  in  London  out  of  funds  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
the  State  by  the  Reformation.  His  conversation  was  salted  with  a  ready  wit  which  commended 
him  to  the  favour  of  his  Royal  mistress,  who  above  all  things  loved  a  joke — when  nut  at 
her  own  expense.  His  later  years  were  troubled  with  an  exceeding  corpulence  of  habit  which 
rendered  walking  difficult.  Contemporary  writers  show  him  panting  and  puffing  as  he  walked 
to  the  woolsack  in  the  House  of  Ix>rds,  and  then,  having  seated  himself  and  recovered  his 
breath,  giving  three  taps  with  his  stick  to  signify  that  business  might  commence. 

Lord  Burghley's  connection  with  the  Lord  Chancellorship  constitutes  one  of  the  slenden-M 
of  the  titles  which  he  possesses  to  fame.  It  lasted  only  for  a  short  time,  in  1591,  towards  the 
close  of  his  busy-  life,  when,  old  and  in  failing  health,  he  had  neither  the  disposition  nor  the 
jK>wer  to  take  any  very  active  part  in  public  affairs.  It  was  a  little  after  this  period  that 
he  wrote  to  his  son:  "If  I  may  not  have  leisure  to  ease  my  head,  I  shall  shortly  ea>e  it  in 
my  grave;"  and  it  was  but  a  few  months  after  handing  over  the  Great  Seal  to  Sir  John 
Puckering,  his  successor,  that  his  secretary  drew  this  pathetic  picture  of  his  condition  : 
"Methinks  he  is  nothing  frighted,  but  lying  upon  his  couch  he  museth  or  slumbereth.  And 
Ix'ing  a  little  before  supper  at  the  fire,  I  offered  him  some  letters  and  other  papers,  and  he 
was  soon  weary  of  them  and  told  me  he  was  unfit  to  hear  suits.''1  The  aged  statesman,  in 
fact,  could  not  have  been  more  than  in  a  nominal  and  ornamental  sense  Lord  Chancellor, 
because  of  the  serious  decay  of  his  powers  which  is  here  indicated.  Slight,  however,  as  the 
association  was.  Lird  Burghley's  is  a  name  which  confers  such  lustre  on  the  Lord  Chancellorship 
that  it  must  not  lx»  readily  dispensed  with. 

The  hist  of  the  eminent  trio  to  whom  we  have  referred  was  in  some  respects  the  greater. 
in  others,  the  least.  In  literature  the  name  of  Bacon  has  its  place  with  that  of  Shake>peare 
and  Ben  Jonson  unionist  the  greatest  of  early  English  writers;  in  the  law  it  figures  in  an 
unenviable  black  list  in  company  with  others  whose  history  we  shall  shortly  have  to  recount. 

1  Historical  Manuscripts;   HittfieM  1'apere,  Part  IV.  p.  4. 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous  425 

As  in  the  case  of  other  great  men  who  have  a  dubious  past,  Bacon  has  not  wanted  apologists, 
and  all  that  could  be  said  for  him  has  been  well  said ;  but,  despite  the  whitewashing,  the 
essential  fact  cannot  be  obscured  that,  partly  on  his  own  admission,  he  was  found  guilty  of 
bribery  and  corruption  as  Lord  Chancellor  by  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
suffered  accordingly.  This  unfortunate  chapter  in  Bacon's  life  dates  back  to  the  year  1620, 
when  he  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  career.  He  had  just  published  his  great  work,  the  "Novum 
Organum,"  and  had  thereby  won  for  himself  a  European  fame.  In  addition  he  had  been 
created  Baron  Verulam  and  Viscount  St.  Albans  with  much  Royal  pomp — a  mark  of  honour 
which,  though,  as  Macaulay  points  out,  posterity  has  resolutely  declined  to  endorse,  is  yet 
indicative  of  the  height  to  which  the  Chancellor  had  climbed.  Fortune  in  every  respect 
seemed  to  favour  him,  when  suddenly  out  of  a  blue  sky  came  a  death-dealing  bolt,  in  the 
shape  of  accusations  of  bribery  preferred  by  a  Select  Committee  which  had  been  investigating 
the  condition  of  the  Courts  of  Justice.  The  indictment  covered  two  specific  cases.  In  the 
first  a  man  named  Aubrey  was  concerned.  While  waiting  for  the  adjustment  of  a  suit  he  had 


a  dratciitg  by  Hollar. 

YORK   HOUSE. 

This  mansion  wa*  anciently  the  town  inn  or  residence  of  the  bisho|>s  of  Xorwich,  and  changed  its  name  in  York  House  in  the  reign  of  Queen 
Mary,  when  Archbishop  Heath  purchased  it  for  the  use  of  that  see.  In  the  reign  of  James  I.,  being  exchanged  with  the  Crown,  it  was  granted  to 
George  Villiers.  The  water-gate  which  apjtears  in  the  picture  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Victoria  Embankment  Gardens,  adjacent  to  the  Charing 
Crow  Station  of  the  District  Hallway. 

pending  in  Chancery,  he  was  told  by  some  of  the  hangers-on  of  the  Court  that  a  present  to 
high  quarters  would  facilitate  matters.  Taking  the  hint,  Aubrey  went  to  York  House,  where 
Bacon  resided,  and  left  a  hundred  guineas,  which  he  had  borrowed  for  the  purpose  from  a 
usurer.  The  Chancellor  took  the  money,  and  Aubrey  went  away  in  the  expectation  that  all 
would  go  well  with  his  business.  In  this,  however,  he  was  disappointed,  for  shortly  afterwards 
an  adverse  decree  was  registered.  The  second  case  related  to  a  similar  transaction,  only  in  this 
in>tance  the  douceur  was  £400.  Evidence  was  at  hand  proving  the  charges  up  to  the  hilt. 
In  the  circumstances  the  House  felt  it  had  no  alternative  but  to  take  proceedings  for  an 
impeachment.  The  King  suggested  the  appointment  of  a  special  tribunal  consisting  of 
eighteen  Commissioners  drawn  from  the  two  Houses ;  but  the  Commons  were  not  disposed  to- 
create  such  a  precedent.  On  March  19th,  the  same  day  as  the  King's  message  was  read,  they 
called  a  conference  with  the  Lords  and  delivered  the  heads  of  the  impeachment.  "At  this 
conference,"  says  Macaulay,  "  Bacon  was  not  present.  Overwhelmed  with  shame  and  remorse, 
and  abandoned  by  all  those  in  whom  he  had  weakly  put  his  trust,  he  had  shut  himself  up  in 

54 


426 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


hi-  chamber  from  the  eyes  of  men.  The  dejection  of  mind  soon  di-ordered  his  body. 
Buckingham,  who  visited  him  by  the  Kind's  order,  'found  \i\<  lordship  very  >ick  and  heavy.' 
It  appear-  from  a  j»atlietie  letter  which  the  unhappy  man  addressed  to  the  Peer-  mi  the  day 
of  the  conference  that  lie  neither  e.X|K>cted  nor  wished  to  Mini\e  his  disgrace  During  -eveial 
days  he  remained  in  his  bed,  refusing  to  see  any  human  Ix-ing.  Me  pa--ionately  told  his 
attendant.-  to  leave  him,  to  forget  him,  never  again  to  name  his  name,  never  t<>  remember 
that  there  had  l)een  such  a  man  in  the  world."  In  the  meantime  new  charge-  of  o  irrupt  ion 
were  daily  being  brought  to  light,  and  an  additional  impetus  was  thereby  lieing  given  to  the 
jireliininarie-  for  the  ini|>eachmcnt.  An  adjournment  of  Parliament  by  the  Kin:;  broke  abruptly 
in  u|K>n  the  proceeding!!,  but  when  the  Houses  reassembled  upon  April  17th  they  entered  with 
redoubled  vigour  u|>on  the  task  of  investig-.it ion.  Bacon,  pcr-uaded  to  that  course  by  his 
friends,  now  sent  to  the  Ixmls  a  qualified  confession  of  his  guilt;  and.  on  this  being  returned 
as  inadequate,  he  followed  it  up  with  a  more  explicit  document,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
said:  "Upon  advised  consideration  of  the  charge-,  dc-ccnding  into  my  own  con>cienee.  and 
calling  my  memory  to  account  so  far  as  I  am  able.  I  do  plainly  and  ingenuously  eonfe--  that 
I  am  guilty  of  corruption,  and  do  renounce  all  defence."  Upon  receipt  of  this  the  Lords  sent 
a  Committee  to  Bacon  to  inquire  whether  the  confession  was  really  his  own.  "My  lord-."  -aid 
Hacon,  "it  is  my  act,  my  hand,  my  heart.  I  beseech  your  lordships  to  be  merciful  to  a 
broken  reed."  There  was  nothing  left  now  but  to  pass  sentence.  This  was  done  the  next  day 

ill  the  absence  of  B:icoii.  who 
was  too  ill  to  attend.  The 
erring  I.ord  Chancellor 
mulcted  in  a  fine  of 
was  ordered  to  be  imprisoned 
in  the  Tower  at  the  Kind's 
pleasure,  was  declared  inc;i]i- 
able  of  holding  anv  orticc  in  the 
State  or  of  sitting  in  Parlia- 
ment, ami.  a-  a  final  touch,  was 
banished  from  the  Court.  Pros- 
trate with  shame  and  broken  in 
health.  Bacon  was  coin  eyed  to 
the  Tower,  to  be  released  two 
day-  later  by  the  King's  orders. 

Subsequently  the  tine  \\as 
remitted  and  the  decrees  of 
exclusion  and  banishment  an- 
nulled ;  but  I'acon  -pent  the 
remainder  of  his  years  in  retire- 
ment, supporting  a  M>mewhat. 
troubled  exigence  on  a  pen-ion 
of  L  1.2(10  a  year  allowed  him 
by  the  Government.  Me  ex- 
pired on  KaMer  I  lay.  l(>2(i.  at 
High  gate,  from  the  n-Milts  of 
a  chill  caught  while  travelling 
to  London.  In  his  will  he  left 
an  appeal  to  the  judgment  of 
posterity  at  once  pathetic  and 
prophetic — ''  For  my  name  and 
memory  I  leave  it  to  men's 

Who,  on  the  KOMion  »r  <  burin  I..  WM  entra»t«l  with  the  limit  Sral  in  miccewion  to  Wllllam», 

Ili.lM.p  of  Lincoln  (afterward.  Arcl,biili.i|.  ,,t  York).  charitable       Speeches,       allU       tO 


ike  painting  iit  the  Rational  Poi'ti-ait  Gallery  by  Paul  Vat\  Somer. 

FRANCIS  BACON,  BARON  VERULAM  AND  VISCOUNT  ST.  ALBANS, 

The  illustrious  philosopher,   essayist,   and   statesman.       He   was  appointed  Lord  Keeper  in   1617,   and  Lord  Chancellor  in   the 
following  year.     Jn  1621  he  was  dismissed  from  office  for  bribery  and  corruption. 


427 


428 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


JOHN"    FINCH,    l.iHMi    FINCH    llF   FOItI>\VICK. 
L-.nl  Chancellor  in  the  reijai  of  Charlei  I. 


foreign  nations,  and  to  tin-  next  age."  The  ex- 
jH-ctation  of  ]>ost humous  fame  here  indicated 
ha>  U-en  fulfilled  to  tin-  letter.  While  the 
great  man's  errors  arc  for  tin-  mo»t  part  for- 
gotten, his  literary  reputat ion  rises  i-teadily 
higher  as  one  generation  Miceeeds  another. 

Wlicll  Bacon  wa<  evicted  from  office, 
his  place  was  tilled  by  .lohn  William*. 
Bi>hop  of  Lincoln,  who.  after  holding  the 
>eals  for  four  years,  handed  them  over  to  Sir 
Thomas  Coventry.  This  worthy  was  a  lawyer 
of  distinction  who  had  filled  the  ]M>S(S  of 
Kecorder  of  the  City  of  London  and  of 

Solicitor-General.  It  wa<  his  lot  to  occupy 
the  woolsack  during  the  stormy  period  of 
the  constitutional  struggle  Ivtwecn  Charles  I. 
and  his  Parliaments.  In  th"  many  contro- 
versies which  aro>e  at  the  time,  he  exerci>i  d 
a  moderating  influence.  But  lie  t«H>k  a 
strong  line  against  the  encroachments  of 
Buckingham,  and  might  have  gone  farther 
in  a  popular  direction  had  not  death  put  a 
period  to  the  favourite's  ambitions.  Sir 
Thomas  Coventry  (then  Baron  Coventry)  him- 
self did  not  live  to  see  the  tragic  i-Mie  of 
the  constitutional  contest.  He  died  at  Durham 

HOII-C.  in  the  Strand,   in    1040.     Sir  John   Finch.  Sir   Kdward  Littleton,  and  Sir    Kit-hard  Crane 
were  his  immediate  successors,  their  united  term  of  office  extending  over  eight  years. 

During  the  Commonwealth  the  (treat  Seal  was  put  in  commission.  When  next  the 
office  was  tilled,  it  was  with  no  less  a  personage  than  Edward  Hyde,  Karl  of  Clarendon,  the 
historian  of  the  Civil  War.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  this  great  man  received  his 
apjwintment  three  years  before  he  was  ahle  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office.  The 
circumstance  aroi-c  through  his  fidelity  to  the  Stuart  cause.  When,  as  far  as  the  struggle  with 
Charles  I.  was  concerned,  all  was  lost  save  honour,  lie  fled  to  the  Continent  and  remained  in 
exile  in  Holland  until  the  Kcstorat  ion.  In  1G57.  while  he  was  at  Bruges.  Charle>  II..  in 
anticipation  of  his  earlv  return,  with  the  genero.-it  v  which  he  alwavs  showed  when  the  giving 
avvav  diil  not  c<»t  him  much,  conferred  the  Lord  Chancellorship  upon  Hyde.  The  compli- 
ment was  prohably  the  fruits  of  the  intimate  tie  which  bound  the  Lord  Chancellor  to  lin- 
king by  the  marriage  of  his  daughter.  Anne,  with  the  monarch's  brother,  the  Duke  of  York. 
Whether  so  or  not,  it  drew  down  upon  Hyde  a  great  amount  of  jealousy,  and  almost  as  soon 
as  lie  had  got  into  office  prompted  formidable  intrigues  against  his  authority.  .Matters  came 
to  a  head  in  July,  lfi(!:5.  when  the  Karl  of  Bristol,  the  leader  of  the  Komaii  Catholic  party, 
brought  forward  a  formal  motion  in  the  House  of  Lords  for  the  I/>rd  Chancellor's  inipi-ach- 
ini'iit.  on  the  ground  that  by  slanderoii<  reports  as  to  the  Kind's  life  and  by  proposals  contrary 
to  the  interests  of  Kngland,  he  was  seeking  to  alienate  from  the  Sovereign  the  affections  of 
his  people.  After  the  articles  of  impeachment  had  been  piv>ented.  the  Duke  of  York, 
Clarendon's  son-in-law,  got  up  in  his  place  and  cut  short  the  proceedings  by  intimating  that 
it  was  the  King's  wish  that  the  impeachment  should  not  proceed. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  revive  the  proceedings  in  the  ensuing  session,  but  even  less  success 
attended  it  than  the  earlier  venture.  Clarendon's  enemies,  however,  were  not  to  be  denied  in 

this    fa-hion.       Keinfor 1     by    the    powerful    aid    of    Lady     Ca>tlemaine,    the    King's    mi.-tres>. 

between  whom  and   Hyde  there  wa>  deadly  enmity,  and  aided  by  the  disastrous  trend  of  events 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


429 


connected  with  the  Dutch  raid  under  De  Ruyter,  the  intriguers  in  June,  1667,  secured  the 
Lord  Chancellor's  dismissal,  and  the  appointment  in  his  stead  of  Sir  Orlando  Bridgeman.  The 
stroke  was  followed  in  October  of  the  same  year,  when  Parliament  re-assembled,  by  an  impeach- 
ment of  the  disgraced  Minister  in  regular  form.  A  formidable  list  of  charges  was  comprised 
in  the  articles  of  impeachment.  Clarendon  was  accused  of  advising  the  King  to  disestablish 
Parliament,  and  to  govern  by  a  military  power,  to  have  caused  divers  of  his  Majesty's  subjects 
to  be  imprisoned  in  remote  garrisons  to  prevent  them  from  securing  the  benefit  of  the  law ; 
to  have  corruptly  sold  offices ;  to  have  farmed  the  Customs  at  unduly  low  rates  ;  to  have  advised 
and  effected  the  sale  of  Dunkirk  to  the  P'rench  King  for  no  greater  value  than  the  ammunition, 
artillery,  and  stores  were  worth ;  and  to  have  deluded  and  betrayed  the  King  and  nation  in 
foreign  treaties  and  negotiations  relating  to  the  late  war,  and  to  have  betrayed  his  secret 
counsels  to  the  King's  enemies.  Behind  the  indictment  was  a  great  force  of  public  indignation 
aroused  by  the  humiliating  position  to  which  the  nation  had  been  reduced  by  the  gross 
mismanagement  and  culpable  neglect  of  Ministers.  Moreover,  though  the  specific  charges 
were  in  some  instances  exaggerated  and  distorted. by  partisanship,  there  was  behind  them  a 
sufficient  amount  of  justification  in  fact  to  give  them  on  their  own  merits  an  effective  force. 
Clarendon  was  not  slow  to  see  the  peril  of  his  position.  Not  desiring  to  figure  as  another 
Strafford  in  history,  he.  while  the  articles  of  impeachment  were  being  debated,  withdrew  to  the 
Continent,  leaving  behind  an  elaborate  written  defence  of  his  conduct.  His  flight  was  inter- 
preted unfavourably  by  his  brother  peers.  They  framed  a  bill  for  his  banishment,  which  was 
accepted  by  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  eventually  be- 
came law.  This  marked  the 
end  of  Clarendon's  political 
career.  Accepting  hi.s  exile 
with  calm  philosophy, 
strengthened  probably  by  his 
earlier  experiences  of  banish- 
ment, he  devoted  the  six 
remaining  years  of  his  life  to 
the  production  of  his  "  His- 
tory of  the  Grand  Rebellion." 
His  death  occurring  at  Kouen 
in  1674,  his  body  was  brought 
to  England  and  interred  in 
Westminster  Abbey. 

Two  years  before  Claren- 
don had  passed  away,  another 
man,  who  has  left  behind  him 
a  great  name  in  the  history 
of  the  Stuart  period,  had 
ascended  to  the  woolsack. 
This  was  Anthony  Ashley 
Cooper,  first  Karl  of  Shaftes- 
burv.  Cooper  owed  his  position 
to  Charles  II.,  whose  favourable 
notice  he  had  attracted  as  a 
member  of  the  deputation  of 
members  of  Parliament  which 
went  over  to  Holland  to  invite 
his  return.  But  he  was 
endowed  with  excellent  parts, 


From  tlie  painting  m  tlte  National  Portrait  GatUry  by  Sir  Anthony  van  Dyclc. 
EDWARD,   BARON   LITTLETON   OF   MOUNSLOW, 
Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal  in   Ihe  Civil   War  iwriod. 


430 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


and  stood  in  no  need  of  Rival  Mi|i|x.rt  to  advance  his  claims.  In  the  House  of  Commons  he 
enjoyed  for  many  years  u  ^reat  refutation  as  a  sjM-aker.  We>tmin>ter  Hall  knew  him  as  a 
brilliant  lawyer.  He  was  generally  regarded  as  a  man  of  great  force  of  character  and  skill 
in  public  affairs.  His  tenure  of  the  l^ird  Chancellorship  justified  these  high  opinions  to  the 
full.  In  those  e\entfiit  closing  days  of  Charles  II. 's  reign,  when  constitutional  government 
n  greater  danger  than  at  any  i>eriod  since  the  days  of  Charles  I.,  he  took  a  bold 
.-land  on  the  ]>opular  side.  The  op|>ort unity  of  showing  his  spirit  occurred  very  soon  after  lie 
had  accepted  the  (ireat  S>al.  At  the  opening  of  the  session  of  1673  the  question  wa-  raised 
as  to  the  legality  of  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  extending  toleration  to  Roman  Catholics 
and  Nonconformists,  which  the  King  on  his  own  initiative  had  issued  a  .-hort  time  previously. 
Charles,  in  his  >pcech  to  the  Houses,  having  declared  his  intention  to  adhere  to  the  document, 
a  debute  arose  in  the  House  of  Commons  terminating  in  the  adoption  of  an  address  to  the 
King  calling  in  quotion  his  action.  Charles  replied  expressing  regret  that  the  lloiix-  should 
question  his  ecclesiastical  prerogatives,  whereupon  the  Commons  passed  a  second  addre>s.  deny- 
ing in  plain  and  emphatic  language  the  King's  right  to  suspend  any  law.  On  receipt  of  the 
second  address.  Charles,  in  dudgeon,  went  to  the  House  of  Lords  to  complain  of  the  addn---,-. 
At  his  instigation  I,ord  Clifford,  the  Lord  Treasurer  and  the  head  of  the  Cabinet,  got  up.  and 
under  cover  of  a  resolution  in  favour  of  "establishing  a  perpetual  fund  in  order  to  advance 
the  prerogative  and  render  Parliament  inconsiderable,"  inveighed  against  the  action  of  the 
Commons  on  the  declaration,  styling  their  vote  monstrum  horrendum  niytnx.  Shafte>burv 
had  lieen  given  an  opportunity  of  perusing  the  >peech  beforehand,  on  the  assumption  that  he 
wotdd  supjiort  it  with  his  voice  and  authority.  (ireat  was  the  consternation,  therefore,  when. 
instead  of  blessing  the  proposals,  he  delivered  a  strong  argumentative  speech  in  opposition  to 
the  views  elucidated.  He  showed  that  Clifford's  propositions  -were  extravagant,  that  what  he 

aimed  at  would  end  in  confusion,  and  the  ruin 
of  the  (iovernment,  that  it  might  perhaps 
send  the  Royal  Family  abroad  again  to 
spend  their  lives  in  exile  without  hope  of 
return."  "All  which  he  spoke,"  adds  the 
chronicler,1  "with  so  much  spirit  and  shar]>- 
nc"  that  he  confounded  the  Court  coun-e|>.'' 
"What  a  rogue  have  you  for  a  Lord  Chan- 
cellor!" whispered  the  enraged  Duke  of 
York  to  the  King.  "  Od's  fish ! "  retorted 
his  .Maje>ty,  "what  a  fool  have  you  for  a 
Lord  Treasurer ! "  The  Lord  Chancellor's 
speech  clinched  the  matter.  Charle>  dis- 
creetly withdrew  his  declaration. 

As  may  be  gathered  from  the  little 
Colloquy  related  above,  there  was  no  love  lo>t. 
between  Shaft esbury  and  the  Duke  of  York. 
In  truth,  the  Lord  Chancellor  was  not  at 
any  pains  to  conciliate  the  Prince.  Hi>  atti- 
tude is  well  illustrated  by  a  little  incident, 
which  occurred  when  he  had  to  preside  over 
the  first  sitting  of  the  House  of  Ixmls.  By 
custom  the  seat  on  the  left  of  the  throne 
was  appropriated  to  the  Duke  of  York,  and 

IJ.WAKI,    HVI.K,    K.V.C..   Or  C,.AKKXI>OX,  ,|,at    Qn    the    rjgnt    to    ft    p,,  ,s]  „,,.,  j, .,.     ]>,.J11(V    ,,,' 

The  iHiwtriou*   I.onl   Chancellor  and   hutorian.     My   the  marriage   <>(         \\r    i  i»    .    ,1        ,  v  •  »  v 

M.  <Un«bWr,  Ann.  Il,d.,  .i.h  tl,.  D«k,  of  York  h.  became  togrLl-          WaleS"       But   <  '"'  'v*'"'1'"   hi>V1"«  l'r<>V('(1  ll:»'"'"- 

f»ther  of  tvo  Qn»eiu  uf  EngUnd-Marf  and  Ann*.  the   Duke    crossed    over    and    occupied    the 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  1GG8-1741. 


4"! 


432 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


chair  on  the  right  as  the  heir  to  tin-  throne.  Shafteshury,  seeing  the  jiosition  he  was 
told  him  tlmt  his  pro|>er  jx>sition  was  on  the  left.  The  Duke  manifested  an  unwillingne>~  to 
accept  the  hint,  whereujioii  Shaftesbury  said  that  lit-  would  not  proceed  with  business  until  the 
House  was  inform.  The  Prince  yielded  to  the  inevitable,  but  as  he  ]  Kissed  the  1/onl  Chancellor 
he  exclaimed  in  passionate  tones.  ".My  lord,  you  are  a  rascal  and  a  villain."  Shaftesbury.  with 
unmoved  countenance,  turned  to  him  and  ol>served  with  mock  courtesy.  "1  am  much  obliged  to 
your  Koyal  Highness  for  not  calling  me  likewise  a  coward  and  a  papist." 

Towards  the  King,  Shaftesbury  maintained,  for  a  time  at  least,  nn  attitude  of  loyal 
devotion.  His  sjieech  at  the  opening  of  Parliament  in  the  session  of  1G72-3  was  couched  in 
a  strain  of  high-flown  eulogy.  "Let  us,"  he  said,  "bless  God  that  hath  given  this  King 
signally  the  hearts  of  his  people,  and  most  jtarticularly  of  this  Parliament,  who  in  affection 
and  loyalty  to  their  Prince  have  exceeded  all  their  predecessors;  a  Parliament  with  whom  the 

King  hath  for  many  years  lived  with  all  the 
caresses  of  a  happy  marriage.  Has  the  King 
bad  a  concern,  you  have  wedded  it.  Has 
his  Majesty  wanted  supplies,  you  have 
readily,  cheerfully,  and  fully  provided  for 
them.  You  have  relied  upon  the  wisdom  and 
conduct  of  his  Majesty  in  all  his  affairs,  so 

that    you    have    never   attempted    to    ex<- I 

your  IH muds  or  to  imjwse  upon  him.  .  .  .  And 
let  me  say  that,  though  this  marriage  be 
according  to  Moses's  law,  where  the  husband 
can  give  a  bill  of  divorce,  put  her  away, 
and  take  another,  yet  I  can  assure  you  it  is 
as  impossible  for  the  King  to  part  with  this 
Parliament  as  it  is  for  you  to  depart  from 
that  loyalty,  affection,  and  dutiful  behaviour 
you  have  hitherto  showed  towards  him." 

Shaftesbury's  smooth  words  were  followed 
by  action  which  showed  that  he  was  not 
content  to  fill  the  role  of  a  courtier.  As 
he  had  earlier  in  the  year  heartily  sup]xirted 
the  Test  Act,  which,  by  compelling  all  persons 
holding  positions  of  profit  under  the  Crown 
to  receive  the  Sacrament  according  to  the 
rites  of  the  Church  of  England,  had  forced 
the  retirement  of  Clifford  and  the  Duke  of 
York  with  other  members  of  the  Hainan 
Catholic  party,  so  now  he  leaned  towards  the  side  of  those  who,  from  a  desire  to  maintain  the 
Protestant  succession,  opposed  the  King's  demand  for  fresh  subsidies  to  conduct  the  war  then 
being  prosecuted  against  the  Dutch.  This  ensured  Shaftesbury's  downfall.  After  Charles  had 
prorogued  Parliament  in  anger,  he  dismissed  his  Lord  Chancellor,  transferring  the  seals  to  Sir 
Heneage  Finch.  Later  Shaftesbury  threw  himself  with  zeal  into  the  cause  of  the  popular  party. 
and  was  foremost  amongst  those  who  were  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  great  consti- 
tutional changes  which  preceded  and  accompanied  the  Revolution  of  1688.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
follow  his  career  in  detail,  but  one  notable  incident  in  which  he  figured  after  he  resigned  the 
seals  may  be  mentioned  as  an  indication  of  the  influence  he  wielded  at  this  critical  period  in 
English  history.  This  was  the  delivery  of  a  remarkable  speech  in  a  debate  in  the  House  of  Ix>rds 
in  1675  on  a  question  of  privilege  arising  out  of  the  assertion  by  the  Peers  of  a  right  to 
summon  before  them  in  a  judicial  proceeding  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  of  the 
denial  by  the  Commons  of  the  existence  of  any  power  by  which  the  Lords  could  receive  appeals 


Frwn  an  engraving  by  R.  H'ttitt. 

SIR  ORLANDO   BRIDGK.MAX, 
The  taaxmoT  at  Ix.nl  Clarendon  in  the  Lord  Chancellorship. 


From  a  fainting  by  Giorgt  Ptr/Kt  Harding. 


EDWARD  HYDE,  EARL  OF  CLARENDON. 

Th.ii«aLortCta««U«coltb.«lfBofCl«rt«lI..ui<llh«Milborol"Th.  Htotocr  of  Ih,  tub.lll«o."   On. of  tbtmort  fmmwu  m«n  ol  th.  Biuirt  p«lo<t 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


433 


from  a  court  of  equity.  Shaftesbury  stood  up  boldly  for  the  rights  of  the  Upper  House,  claiming 
that  aristocratic  institutions  were  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  popular  government.  From 
a  defence  of  this  principle  he  launched  into  an  attack  on  the  high-flown  doctrines  of  regal 
infallibility  then  current.  "  This  Laudian  doctrine  (divine  right),"  he  said,  "  is  the  root  that 
produced  the  Bill  of  Test  last  session,  and  some  very  perplexed  oaths  that  are  of  the  same 
nature  with  that  and  yet  imposed  by  several  Acts  of  this  Parliament.  In  a  word,  if  this 
doctrine  be  true,  our  Magna  Charta  is  of  no  use ;  our  laws  are  but  rules  amongst  ourselves 
during  the  King's  pleasure.  Monarchy,  if  of  divine  right,  cannot  be  bounded  or  limited  by 
human  laws;  nay,  what  is  more,  cannot  bind  itself;  and  all  our  claims  of  right  by  the  law,  or 
of  constitutional  government,  all  the  jurisdiction  and  privilege  of  this  House,  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  House  of  Commons,  all  the  properties  and  liberties  of  the  people,  are  to 
give  way  not  only  to  the  interest,  but  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  Crown."  Further  on 
in  his  speech  Shaftesbury  boldly  proclaimed  the  right  of  resistance  to  arbitral-}7  authority  in 
terms  which  allowed  of  no  misconception.  A  great  sensation  was  produced  by  the  harangue. 
Not  only  did  it,  in  the 
words  of  a  contemporary 
writer,  throw  the  House 
of  Lords  '•  into  a  flame," 
but  it  produced  a  marked 
impression  on  the  out- 
side public,  whose  minds 
were  being  excited  to  a 
dangerous  pitch  by  the 
growing  despotism  of  the 
Crown.  Charles  so  little 
liked  the  speech  that  he 
prorogued  Parliament  to 
prevent  further  mischief. 
Shaftesbury's  subse- 
quent political  career  was 
in  strict  keeping  with  the 
principles  enunciated  in 
his  remarkable  utterance 
in  the  House  of  Lords. 
He  determinedly  opposed 
the  encroachments  of  the 
King,  and  as  resolutely 
upheld  the  Protestant 
succession,  which  he 
looked  upon  as  indispens- 
able to  peaceful  consti- 
tutional government. 
After  battling  strenuously 
and  brilliantly  for  the 
popular  cause,  he  was 
overwhelmed  by  the  re- 
actionary influences  which 
swept  over  the  country 
after  the  sitting  of 
Charles's  third  Parlia- 
ment at  Oxford  in  1681. 
He  was  arrested  on  a 


from  an  engravlny  ly  R.  White. 

ANTHONY  ASHLFA-  COOPER,   FIRST   EARL   OP  SHAFTESBURY, 

The  famon»  member  of  the  Cabal  Ministry  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.     He  was  Lord  Chancellor  from 

1072  to  1675. 

55 


434 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


HKNKAlii:    FINCH.    I.olM.    NOTTINGHAM, 
J-c'id  ChancoUor  from  1675  to  1682. 

Finch,  Lord  Nottingham.  Tliis  able  lawyer 
afterwards  Ix>rd  (Juilford,  was  appointed  Lord 
the  Ijiw  Courts,  and  his  name  stands 
high  in  the  annals  of  the  law.  Hut  he 
was  in  failing  health  when  he  won  his 
promotion  to  the  woolsack,  and  dying  on 
September  5th,  168.5,  less  than  three 
\rars  after  his  appointment,  lie  lias  left. 
but  small  mark  on  the  history  of  the 
great  office  he  filled.  Not  so  his 
notorious  successor,  Jeffreys.  On  the 
great  roll  of  Lord  Keepers  and  Lord 
Chancellors  there  is  no  name  which 
IUIN  been  more  execrated,  or  to  which 
is  attached  more  sinister  memories.  A 
blustering,  hectoring  judge,  utterly  devoid 
o|  M-ruple.  and  merciless  as  he  was  un- 
fair, he  was  the  chosen  tool  selected  by 
.lames  II.  to  wreak  vengeance  on  the 
wretched  victims  of  Monmouth's  abortive 
rising.  How  he  conducted  the  Uloody 
A  — i/e  in  the  We>t.  Country,  mocking 
the  unfortunate  pri-oiier>  as  he  consigned 
them  wholesale  to  the  gallows,  is  a  well- 
rememliered  dark  page  of  Knglish  history. 
I'nemiaMe  as  is  the  distinction  which 
this  episode  enjoys  in  the  records  of 


charge  of  high  treason,  but  the  grand  jury 
of  Middlesex  — men  of  his  own  way  of  jiolilieal 
thinking — threw  out  the  bill,  and  he  was  set 

at  lilx'rty.  Dryden  based  upon  the  incident 
hi>  satire  of  Alisiilnni  mil!  A<li iti>/,!,il .  In 
this  Shafte-luiry  is  described  in  the>e  well- 
known  lines :  — 

For  close  designs  and  crooked  councils  fit ; 

Sagacious,  bold,  and  turbulent  of  wit  ; 

licsilos,  iinfixrd  in  principles  ami  place: 

In  power  unpleased;   impatient  of  disgrace; 

A  fn-ry  Mini,  which  worketh  out  its  way, 

Kri'it.-d  tin-  pigmy   body  to  decay. 

Anil  o'er  informed  the  tenement  of  clay. 

A  daring  pilot  in  exl  remit  r; 

Pleased  with  the  danger  when  the  waves  ran  high. 

He  sought  the  storms;  but,  for  a  calm  unfit, 

Would  Meer  too  nigh  the  sands  to  show  his  wit 

I)rvden's  mordant  verse  stimulated  the  Tory 
fervour  against  Shaftesbury.  The  machina- 
tions against  him  were  prosecuted  with  re- 
doubled vigour,  until,  alarmed  for  hi>  >afety, 
he  fled  to  Holland,  where  death  put  an  end 
to  his  career  on  January  22nd.  1683. 

As    has    been    noted,    the     »al-     were 

transferred    from     Shaftesbury    to    Heneage 

held    office    until    1682,    when     Fran.-i-     North, 

Keeper.      North    had  had  a   splendid   career   in 


riiANCIs    MiltTII,    l.lilil)   liUII.FOltll. 
Lord  Keeper  from  1682  to  1686. 


435 


436 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


injustice,  it  was  this  degrading  work 
which  was  tin-  direct  cause  of 
Jeffrey.-'s  elevation  to  tin-  I/ord 
Chancellorship.  Keturning  from  his 
circuit,  his  ruthless  \mrk  accom- 
plished, Jeffreys  called  at  Windsor. 
where  James,  delighted  at  the 
thorooghneea  with  which  his  wishes 
liail  been  carried  out  (••  taking  into 
account  liis  royal  consideration,  the 
many  eminent  and  faithl'ul  services 
which  the  Chief  .lii-tice  had  rendered 
the  Crown'';,  appointed  him  to  the 
woolsack  on  September  USth.  1685. 
The  opening  of  Parliament  on 
November  iJtli  saw  Jeffreys  occupy- 
ing the  coveted  seat  of  honour  in 
the  House  of  Lords.  (IIMH!  fortune 
seemed  to  bring  out  tho»e  insolent 
qualities  in  his  nature  which  made 
his  name  a  byword  in  the  courts  of 
justice.  When,  on  November  18th, 
it  was  proposed  by  the  Bishop  of 
London  to  take  the  Kind's  sjM-ecli 
into  consideration,  he  delivered  a 
hectoring  harangue  in  opposition, 
distributing  personalities  with  a  free- 
dom which  suggested  that  drink,  to 
which  he  was  prone,  had  loosened 
his  tongue.  For  once,  however,  he 
had  overshot  the  mark.  A  proper 
indignation  was  excited  amongst  the 
assembled  peers  by  the  display,  and  before  the  sitting  closed  Jeffreys  was  compelled  to 
tender  an  abject  apology  for  his  conduct.  But  he  was  too  high  in  Royal  favour  for  a 
temporary  check  like  this  to  affect  his  position.  Later  months  found  him  brutally  active 
and  aggressive  in  executing  the  desjwtic  decrees  of  the  King.  He  played  a  leading  part 
in  the  historic  expulsion  of  the  Fellows  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  for  declining  to 
accept  the  King's  Roman  Catholic  nominee  to  the  presidentship  of  the  college.  As  head 
of  the  board  of  regulators  created  by  the  infatuated  monarch  to  ensure  the  election  of 
a  Parliament  which  would  bend  to  his  will,  he  also  assisted  actively  in  the  proceedings 
which  led  up  to  the  issue  of  the  second  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  and  precipitated  the 
final  crisis.  \Vhen  at  last  the  crash  came,  he  was  found  sharing  James's  company  at 
Whitehall,  taking  with  him  there  the  Great  Seal.  This  emblem  of  office  was  surrendered 
to  the  King,  and  when  the  monarch  made  his  pusillanimous  Might  on  the  night  of 
December  llth  he  carried  ii  off,  dropping  it  into  the  Thames  a<  he  crossed  to  the  I,ambeth 
shore  at  the  point  where  the  Jlorseferry  Bridge  now  stands.  .Meanwhile  Jeffreys,  with  a  vivid 
consciousness  of  the  personal  danger  to  himself  that  threatened  in  the  changed  conditions, 
donned  the  disguise  of  a  sailor,  and  concealed  himself  on  board  a  vessel  at  Wapping,  with 
intent  to  put  the  Channel  between  him  and  his  enemies  at  the  earliest  [nissilile  moment. 
AH  would  prolwibly  have  been  well  had  not  he  in  a  rash  moment  ventured  ashore  to  satisfy 
his  craving  for  drink.  While  in  the  bar  of  the  Ixed  Cow  Inn.  near  King  Kdward's  .Stairs,  he 
was  recognised  by  a  scrivener  who  had  suffered  through  a  decision  he  had  given  in  an  action 


GEORGE,   FIRST   LORD   JEFFREYS, 

Tli.-  notorinoi  judge  win,  filial  the  office  of  Ix>nl  Chancellor  from  IrtSS  to  1688. 


438 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


brought  in  his  Court.  The  man  rai>ed  an  outcry.  In  a  trice  an  excited  crowd  gathered,  and 
would  have  severely  mauled  the  ex-Chancellor  had  not  a  body  of  train  bands  re>cued  him  and 
taken  liim  to  the  City.  Jeffreys  was  conveyed  by  his  captors  before  tin'  I^ml  Mayor,  and  tliat 
worthy  was  so  overcome  by  the  unexjM-cted  sight  of  the  once  all-powerful  Chancellor  in  the 
hands  of  men-of-arins,  like  any  common  malefactor,  that  he  fell  down  in  a  swoon.  Then-alter. 
at  his  own  rei|iie>t,  .IctViws  \\a>  taken  to  the  Tower.  There  he  remained  until  April  18th 
following,  when,  weighed  down  with  anxiety  and  the  effect »  of  his  intem|>erate  living,  he  expired. 

For  four  vears  from  the  death  of  Jeffreys  the  Great  Seal  remained  in  commis-ion.     When 
next   an  a]i|>ointnient  waa  made,  the  choice  fell  upon  John,  Ixml  Somers.     Amongst  the  jwlitical 


from  a  drateiitg  by  A.  D.  J/cGwmiot. 

JAMES  II.   DROPPING  THE  GREAT   SEAL 'INTO  THE  THAMES. 
One  of  the  two  occasion*  in  history  in  which  the  Lord  Chancellor's  emblem  of  office  waa  matte  away  with. 

figures  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  there  is  hardly  one  which  is  more  attractive  than 
"the  gentle  Somers."  In  an  age  when  corruption  was  a  venial  failing  in  a  public  man  he 
bore  an  unblemished  reputation.  He  was  something  of  a  scholar,  and  in  his  younger  days, 
before  the  law  claimed  his  undivided  allegiance,  wrote  some  elegant  verse,  and  was  responsible 
for  several  spirited  translations  of  the  classics.  As  a  lawyer  he  early  achieved  a  great  reputation. 
Only  his  youth  prevented  his  heing  selected  as  the  junior  counsel  for  the  defence  at  the  trial 
of  the  seven  bishops.  Subsequently  he  was  chosen  by  the  Convention  Parliament  as  one  of 
the  managers  of  the  conference  with  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  question  of  the  acce.—  ion 
of  William  and  .Mary,  and  made  a  notable  speech  to  the  assembly.  His  rise  to  high  official 
)K,-i!ioii  was  directly  due  to  the  skill  he  showed  on  that  occasion.  The  King  appointed  him 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


439 


almost  immediately  Solicitor-General,  and  in  1693  he  was  promoted  to  the  post  of  Lord 
Keeper,  the  higher  rank  of  Lord  Chancellor  being  conferred  on  him  two  years  later.  A  pleasing 
sketch  of  him  at  this  period  is  given  by  a  contemporary  writer  in  a  survey  of  the  leading 
characters  of  the  time.  Sorners,  he  said,  "has  gained  such  a  reputation  of  honesty  with  the 
majority  of  the  people  of  England  that  it  may  be  said  very  few  Ministers  in  any  reign  ever 
had  so  many  friends  in  the  House  of  Commons.  He  can  go  into  the  City  and  on  his  bare 
word  gain  so  much  credit  of  the  public.  He  gives  entertainments  to  foreign  Ministers  more 
like  one  always  bred  up  in  a  Court  than  at  a  Bar.  He  is  of  grave  deportment,  easy  and  free 
in  conversation,  something  of  a  libertine,  of  a  middle  stature,  brown  complexion." 

Other  writers  of  the  period  testify  to  Somers's  singular  charm  of  manner  and  the  purity 
of  his  official  methods.  Unfortunately  for  himself,  he  was  a  little  too  much  of  the  courtier,  for 
an  ill-advised  compliance  with  a  request  made  by  the  King  for  the  affixing  of  the  Great  Seal 
to  a  blank  treaty  which  he  designed  to  conclude  with  France  without  the  knowledge  of 
Parliament  led  to  his  impeachment  by  the  House  of  Commons  after  his  dismissal  from  office 
by  the  King.  Before  the  actual  decision  was  come  to,  Somers  appeared  unexpectedly  at  the 
Bar  of  the  House,  and  demanded,  and  was  granted,  a  hearing.  He  defended  himself  with  great 
eloquence  and  power ;  but  the  tide  of  partisan  feeling  set  too  strongly  against  him  for  his 
arguments  to  have  any  effect.  His  enemies,  with  intent  to  increase  the  prejudice  against 
him,  supplemented  the  charge  of  constitutional  irregularity  with  a  more  dishonouring  one  of 
connivance  in  Captain  Kidd's  piracies,  because  the  infamous  buccaneer  had  been  entrusted 
with  a  command  through  the  influence  of  Lord  Somers  and  Lord  Halifax.  This  accusation 
Somers  repudiated  with  the  mild  remark  :  "  As  to  Kidd's  business,  we  hope  there  can  be  no 
blame,  though  perhaps  we  may 
appear  somewhat  ridiculous." 
The  Duke  of  Shrewsbury,  to 
whom  the  statement  was 
addressed,  did  not  regard  the 
paltry  treatment  of  his  friend  so 
lightly.  "  I  wonder,"  he  said, 
"  that  a  man  can  be  found  in 
England,  who  has  bread,  that 
will  be  concerned  in  public 
business.  Had  I  a  son,  I  would 
sooner  breed  him  a  cobbler 
than  a  courtier,  and  a  hangman 
than  a  statesman." 

The  intrigue  against 
Somers  failed  as  it  deserved. 
A  quarrel  with  the  House  of 
Lords  on  some  question  of 
etiquette  provided  an  oppor- 
tunity for  withdrawing  from 
an  untenable  position,  which 
the  Commons  were  not  slow 
to  avail  themselves  of.  In  a 
simulated  fit  of  anger  they 
prohibited  by  resolution  any 
member  of  their  House  from 
attending  the  trial  and, 
naturally,  as  no  one  appeared 
to  prosecute,  the  impeachment 
fell  to  the  ground. 


From  an  engraving  by  Houlimken,  after  the  picture  by  Sir  Godfrey  Knellcr. 

JOHN,   LORD  SOMERS, 
The  eminent  lawyer  and  statesman.     Lord  Keeiwrand  Lord  Chancellor  from  1003  to  1700. 


442 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Chant-pry,  and  Ix-ing  told  that  a  present  was  expected.  He  oniMiltrd  his  friends  learned  in 
such  matters,  and  offered  a  thousand  guineas.  "  I'poii  this  Mr.  Cott ingham  (I/iid  Maeelestield's 
agent)  shook  his  liead  and  said:  -That  won't  do.  Mr.  IVnnet  ;  YOU  must  lie  better  advised.' 
'  Wliv.' said  I.  '  won't  tliat  do?  It  is  a  noble  present.'  Says  lie:  'A  great  deal  more  lias  Ixvn 
given.'  Says  I:  'I  am  Mire  my  In-other  did  not  givou  ranch;  DOT  Mr.  Godfrey.'"  After  further 
chaffering  the  price  was  fixed  at  tifteen  hundred  guineas,  and  after  pavment  of  the  money  the 
purchaser  was  sworn  in  Lord  .Maeelestield's  Ix-dchamber.  whither  the  purchase  price  had 
]ireviously  Ixvn  carried  by  his  agent.  Similar  testimony  was  given  by  another  \\iti, 
llparing  of  a  vacancy,  he  waited  11)1011  the  Chancellor  to  solicit  the  a|>|M>intment.  He  was  told 
by  that  functionary  that  he  had  no  manner  of  objection  to  him,  as  he  had  known  him  a 
considerable  time.  Finally,  he  was  dismis-ed  with  the  injunction  to  go  home  and  consider 
the  matter.  This  the  applicant  did,  with  this  result.  '-I  came  again  in  a  day  or  two. 

and  told  him  I  had  considered  of  it,  and 
desired  to  know  if  his  lord-hip  would  admit 
me,  and  I  would  make  him  a  previit  of 
i'-UHN)  or  L.I.OOO;  1  cannot  say  which  .of 
the  two  I  said,  but  I  believe  it  ua- 
i.l.onu.  My  lord  said:  -Thee  and  I  or 
you  and  I'  (my  lord  was  pleased  to  treat 
me  as  a  friend)  'must  not  make  bargains.' 
He  said  that  if  I  was  desirous  of  having 
the  office  he  would  treat  me  in  a  different 
manner  than  any  nian  living."  Eventually 
the  aspirant  to  office  got  into  touch  with 
die  ubiquitous  agent,  and  settled  for  t In- 
payment of  five  thousand  guineas,  because 
he  was  told  "guineas  are  handsomer.''  It 
was  a  strictly  cash  transaction.  "I  imme- 
diately went  to  my  lord's ;  I  was  willing 
to  get  into  the  office  as  soon  as  I  could. 
I  did  carry  with  me  five  thousand  guineas 
in  gold  and  l«uik  notes.  I  had  the  money 
in  my  chambers,  but  could  not  tell  how- 
to  carry  it,  it  was  a  great  burden  and 
weight  ;  but,  recollecting  that  I  had  a  basket 
in  my  chamber,  I  put  the  guineas  into  the 
basket  and  the  notes  with  them  ;  I  went  in 
a  chair  and  took  the  basket  with  me  in  my 
chair.  When  I  came  to  my  lord's  house  I 
saw  Mr.  Cottingham  there;  and  I  gave  him 

the  basket,  and  desired  him  to  carry  it  up  to  my  lord.  I  saw  him  go  upstairs  with  the  basket, 
and  when  he  came  down  he  intimated  that  he  had  delivered  it."  Subsequently,  as  the  newly 
enrolled  Master  wanted  the  basket,  he  spoke  to  "my  lord's  gentleman,"  and  it  was  returned 
to  him.  ••  \\"as  there  any  money  in  it?"  the  examining  counsel  somewhat  superfluously  asked. 
"No,  there  was  not,"  responded  the  witne--. 

An  ingenious  d"fence.  based  on  the  plea  of  usage,  was  made  by  the  accused  peer;  but 
the  offences  were  too  gross  to  be  palliated  by  any  such  line  of  reasoning.  After  a  ten  days' 
hearing,  the  Lords  unanimously  voted  the  accused  guilty  of  the  charges  laid  at  his  door. 
Lord  Macclesfield,  on  appearing  at  the  liar  and  learning  the  decision,  threw  himself  upon  the 
compassionate  consideration  of  his  judges,  urging  as  grounds  for  merciful  treatment  the 
cruel  distemper  which  the  fatigue  and  anxiety  of  the  trial  had  brought  upon  him,  the  loss 
of  his  office,  the  public  disgrace,  and  the  fact  that  he  had  paid  back  a  sum  of  £10,000 


*t  engraving  afltr  the picti'rt  '/"  NiV  H<>-! 
FRANCIS  ATTF.RBURV,   BISHOP  OK   KOCHESTKK. 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


443 


towards  Dormer's  deficiency.  After  this  appeal  he  withdrew,  and  the  Lords  consulted  as  to 
the  sentence.  They  decided  eventually  to  fine  the  ex-Lord  Chancellor  £30,000.  This 
sum  Lord  Macclesfield  paid  after  he  had  been  imprisoned  a  few  weeks  in  the  Tower. 
Public  opinion  upheld  the  justice  of  the  punishment  meted  out  to  the  accused.  A  common 
saying  at  the  period  was  that  Staffordshire  had  produced  "three  of  the  greatest  rogues  that 
ever  existed — Jack  Sheppard,  Jonathan  Wild,  and  Lord  Macclesfield."  The  disgraced  Lord 
Chancellor  accepted  his  fate  with  philosophical  calm.  Ketiring  to  his  estate,  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  davs  in  close  seclusion. 

Two  other  familiar  names  associated  with  the  Lord  Chancellorship  in  the  early  eighteenth- 
century  period  are  those  of  Lord  Harcourt  and  Earl  Cowper.  The  careers  of  the  two  men,  as 
Townsend  in  his  "Memoirs  of  the  House  of  Commons"  points  out,  were  singularly  blended. 
"Descended  alike  from  ancestors  of  rare  antiquity,  rivals  in  Westminster  Hall,  antagonists  in 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  the  leading  champions  of  their  party,  still  more  renowned  in  the  Senate 
than  the  Forum,  and  devoted  by  their  oratory  to  the  height  of  legal  ambition,  they  might  be 
compared  together,  after  the  manner  of  Plutarch,  though  their  political  character  affords  rather 
a  marked  contrast  than  comparison.  Unscrupulous  as  a  public  man,  unprincipled,  unstable,  at 
the  suggestion  of  self-interest  versatile,  a  renegade  on  calculation,  Lord  Harcourt  has  left  a  name 
which  it  required  a  century  of  merit  in  his  descendants  to  redeem  from  ignominy.  The  mild. 
disinterested  course  of  Cowper,  beaming  with  public  virtue  to  the  close,  and  never  shadowed 
once  with  even  a  fleeting  sus- 
picion that  he  acted  from 
motives  of  sordid  ambition  or 
pelf,  has  shed  a  lustre  on  his 
name,  which  adds  an  adven- 
titious grace  to  the  spotless 

reputation  of  the  pure-minded 
poet,  the  author  of  The  Task." 

Earl  Cowper,  who  was  the  first 

Lord      Chancellor      of      Great 

Britain,    distinguished    himself 

by    declining   on    his    appoint- 
ment the  New  Year  gifts  which 

former   holders    of    the    Great 

Seal  had  been  in  the  habit  of 

receiving  from  the  officials  and 

counsel  practising  in  the  Court 

of  Chancery.    This  disinterested 

action    on  his  part    created   a 

great    prejudice     against    him 

amongst    those    who    were    in 

favour    of    upholding    the    old 

corrupt     traditions;      but     the 

public    rightly     appraised    the 

motives     which     dictated     the 

renunciation,  and    to    the    end 

of  his  long  career,  which    ter- 
minated   with    his    resignation 

of  the  Great  Seal   at  the  con- 
clusion of   his  second    term    of 

office     in     1718,    held    him    in 

high  regard.     Cowper  was  dis-  SIR  PETER  KING, 

tinguished    by  a    Singular    grace         The  son  of  a  grocer  at  Exeter,  who,  by  dint  of  perseverance,  worked  his  way  up  to  the  woolsack. 


444 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


and  charm  of  manner.  His  bearing  in  Court,  whether  towards  counsel  or  witnesses,  was 
marked  by  great  dignity  and  courtesy.  It  is  of  him  that  the  well-known  story  is  told 
by  Miss  Hawkins  in  her  "Memoirs"  of  how  Kichard  Cromwell,  then  a  very  old  man,  being 
engaged  in  some  litigation  in  the  Lord  Chancellor's  Court,  was  invited  to  take  a  seat  on 
the  bench  by  the  side  of  the  judge — a  graceful  act,  which  drew  from  Bulstnxle  Whitelock, 
then  at  the  liar,  the  remark:  "This  day,  so  many  years,  I  saw  my  father  carry  the  Great 
Seal  before  that  man."  As  an  orator  Earl  Cowper  was  justly  esteemed  in  his  day.  One 
specimen  of  his  eloquence  may  be  given  to  illustrate  the  purity  of  his  style.  It  is  the 
peroration  of  a  celebrated  speech  he  delivered  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  1723  on  the  bill  of 
pains  and  jenalties  by  which  the  Government  of  the  day  sought  to  punish  Bishop  Atterlmry 
and  his  co-conspirators.  "My  lords,"  he  said,  "I  have  now  done;  and  if  upon  this  occasion  I 
have  tried  your  jwitience,  or  discovered  a  warmth  unbecoming  me.  your  lordships  will  impute 
it  to  the  concern  I  am  under,  lest,  if  this  bill  should  pass,  it  should  become  a  dangerous 
precedent  for  after  ages.  My  zeal  as  an  Englishman  for  the  good  of  my  country  obliges  me 
to  set  my  face  against  oppression  in  every  shape;  and  wherever  I  think  I  meet  with  it  (it 
matters  not  whether  one  man  or  five  hundred  be  the  oppressors),  I  shall  be  sure  to  oppose  it 
with  all  my  might.  For  vain  will  be  the  boast  of  the  excellency  of  our  Constitution,  in  vain 
shall  we  talk  of  our  liberty  and  property,  secured  to  us  by  laws,  if  a  precedent  shall  be 
established  to  strip  us  of  both,  where  both  law  and  evidence  are  confessedly  wanting.  My 
lords,  upon  the  whole  matter  I  take  this  bill  to  be  derogatory  to  the  dignity  of  Parliament 
in  general,  to  the  dignity  of  this  House  in  particular.  I  take  the  pains  and  j»enalties  in  it  to 

be  much  greater  or  much 
less  than  the  Bishop  deserve>. 
I  take  every  individual  branch 
of  the  charge  against  him  to 
be  unsupported  by  any  evi- 
dence whatsoever.  I  think 
there  are  no  grounds  for  any 
private  opinion  of  the  Bishop's 
guilt,  but  what  arises  from 
private  prejudice  only.  I  think 
private  prejudice  has  nothing 
to  do  with  judicial  proceed- 
ings. I  am,  therefore,  for 
throwing  out  this  bill."  This 
manly  protest  against  legal 
wrong-doing  under  cover  of 
constitutional  methods  was 
almost  the  last  public  act  of 
the  ex-Lord  Chancellor. 
Sei/ed  with  illness,  largely 
induced  by  his  exertions  in 
op]M)sition  to  the  (ioverument 
policy,  he  retired  to  his  house 
in  Hertfordshire,  and  there  ex- 
pired on  October  10th,  1723. 

In  remarkable  contrast 
to  the  aristocratic  and  dignified 
Cowper  was  Peter  King,  who 
in  1725,  on  Lord  Maccles- 


Froman  tnffraviiiy  by  f/oi 


CKAKUa,  LORD  TALBOT, 

Lori  ch.nc.iior  from  i7ss  to  ITS:. 


to  the  woolsack.     1  he  career 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


445 


of  this  great  lawyer  supplies 
one  of  the  most  curious  chapters 
in  the  history  of  the  Lord 
Chancellorship.  Born  the  son 
of  a  grocer  in  Exeter,  he  spent 
his  early  years  in  his  father's 
shop  weighing  out  sugar  and 
tea,  and  performing  the  other 
humble  duties  pertaining  to  a 
small  business  in  a  country 
town.  Moved  by  a  laudable 
ambition,  and  inspired  by  the 
example  of  Locke,  the  author 
of  the  "  Essay  on  Human  Under- 
standing," who  was  a  kinsman 
of  his  on  the  mother's  side, 
he  determined  to  educate  him- 
self. All  his  spare  pocket- 
money  went  in  the  purchase  of 
books.  Every  hour  he  could 
snatch  from  the  irksome  routine 
duties  of  the  shop  he  devoted 
to  study.  The  fruit  of  his 
application  was  forthcoming 
before  he  reached  his  twentieth 
year  in  the  shape  of  an  elabor- 
ate work  on  "  The  Constitution, 
Discipline,  .and  Unity  of  the 
Primitive  Church."  Locke,  to 
whom  the  treatise  was  submitted, 
was  greatly  struck  with  the 
erudition  and  ability  displayed 
by  the  young  writer,  and  pleaded 

with  his  father  to  train  him  for  the  law,  to  which  his  bent  of  mind  was  well  adapted.  The  worthy 
grocer  yielded  to  the  representations  made  to  him.  In  due  course  the  future  Lord  Chancellor  was 
packed  off  to  Leyden,  there  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  knowledge  of  men  and  things  which  was 
destined  to  be  of  the  utmost  advantage  to  him  ultimately.  Returning  to  England,  he  was  in 
1700  elected  member  for  Beer  Alston  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Thenceforward  his  progress 
was  rapid.  Assisted  by  a  considerable  portion  of  Locke's  estate,  which  the  philosopher  had 
bequeathed  him  on  his  death  in  1704,  lie  went  from  one  success  to  another,  until  in  1715  he 
was  appointed  to  the  Chief  Justiceship  of  the  Common  Pleas  in  succession  to  Lord  Trevor.  For 
ten  vears  he  filled  this  position  with  distinction,  and  then,  on  Lord  Macclesfi eld's  dismissal,  he 
was  elevated  to  the  woolsack  with  the  title  of  Lord  King  of  Ockham,  in  the  county  of  Surrey. 
As  Lord  Chancellor,  Lord  King  was  not  a  conspicuous  success.  The  memory  left  of  him  is  of 
a  shrewd,  avaricious  lawyer  who  subordinated  principle  to  personal  aggrandisement.  But 
whatever  his  moral  shortcomings,  his  career  will  ever  be  cited  as  an  example  of  what  may  be 
done  by  perseverance  and  steady  application  when  allied  with  great  intellectual  powers. 

Lord  King  retained  the  Great  Seal  until  1733,  when  he  resigned  it  to  Lord  Talbot.  On 
the  death  of  that  peer  in  the  early  part  of  1737,  the  Lord  Chancellorship  devolved  upon  Baron 
Hardwicke,  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  many  great  men  whose  names  are  associated  with  this 
splendid  office.  Campbell,  in  his  "  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors,"  relates  the  curious  circum- 
stances under  which  the  appointment  was  made.  Though  Hardwicke  was  marked  out  by  his 


PHILIP  YORKE,    MUST   EAHL   OP   HAKDWICKE, 

One  of  the  moat  famous  of  the  Lord  Chancellors.     He  held  office  for  nearly  twenty  years — 

from  1737  to  1756. 


446 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


ROBKIIT.  i.oitn  HKXi.r.y. 
I.nril  Chancellor  from  1757  to  1766. 


commanding  abilities  for  the  woolsack,  there  wa* 
>oine  difficulty  as  to  the  terms  on  which  lie  war- 
to  In-  appointed,  and  for  a  whole  week  the  Great 
Seal  remained  in  the  ](err-onal  cu>tody  of  the 
King.  ".Meanwhile,  as  Parliament  was  sitting, 
and  there  was  no  Lord  Chancellor  or  Lord 
Keeper,  it  was  neee>sirv  to  provide  a  S|«-aker 
for  the  House  of  Ixmls,  and  the  Great  Seal, 
while  in  the  Kind's  j.o»ession,  was  (somewhat 
irregularly)  put  to  a  commission  authorising  Lord 
Hatdwicke  to  act  in  that  capacity.  He  accordingly 
did  act  for  several  days  as  Speaker  without  being 
Cliancellor.  During  this  interval  it  is  related  that 
\Valpole,  resisting  some  of  Hardwicke's  demand-. 
said  to  him  by  way  of  threat,  'I  must  offer  the 
Seals  to  Fazakerly.'  '  Fazakerly  ! '  exclaimed  Hard- 
wieke.  'Impossible:  he  is  certainly  a  Tory,  perhaps 
a  Jacobite!'  'It  is  all  very  true.'  replied  Sir 
Robert,  taking  out  his  watch;  'but  if  by  one 
o'clock  you  do  not  accept  my  offer.  Fazakcrly 
by  two  becomes  Lord  Keeper,  and  one  of  the 
staunchest  Whigs  in  all  England.'  The  bargain 
was  immediately  closed,  and  Lord  Hardwicke  was 
contented  with  the  promise  that  the  next  tellership  should  be  bestowed  upon  his  son." 

For  twenty  years  the  Karl  of  Hardwicke,  as  he  now  became,  brilliantly  occupied  the 
woolsack.  It  is  recorded  of  him  that  lie  never  had  a  decision  reversed,  and  that  only  three 
of  his  judgments  were  even  appealed  against.  Lord  Henley  (Earl  of  Nbrthington)  and  Lord 
Camden,  whose  names  are  next  met  with  in  the  annals  of  the  Lord  Chancellorship,  and  who 
between  them  held  the  Great  Seal  for  thirteen  years  from  1757,  were  men  of  considerable 
ability,  but  their  careers  merely  call  for  jwissing  mention  here.  A  more  picturesque,  if  less 
attractive,  figure  than  either  is  that  of  their  successor  on  the  woolsack,  Lord  Thurlow.  About 
the  memory  of  this  eminent  lawyer  more  good  stories  cluster  than  are  associated  with  any 
other  Jx>rd  Chancellor.  It  is  a  tribute,  perhaps,  to  the  force  of  his  character  that  the 
anecdotage  is  mostly  of  the  uncomplimentary  description.  Truth  to  tell,  he  was  not  loved 
even  by  his  political  associates.  His  brusque,  overbearing  manners,  his  overweening  sense  of 
his  own  importance,  and.  above  all.  his  affectation  of  omniscience,  all  tended  to  make  him 
un{K>piilar.  Campbell  says  of  him  that,  although  pretending  to  despise  the  opinion  of  others, 
he  was  acting  a  part,  and  his  aspect  was  more  solemn  and  imposing  than  that  of  almost  any 
other  pei>on  in  public  life — so  much  so  that  Fox  used  to  say,  "It  proved  him  dishonest,  since 
no  man  could  be  so  wise  as  Thurlow  looked."  His  oratorical  style  was  not  brilliant,  but  he 
could  on  occasion  reply  with  crushing  effect  to  an  opponent.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
speeches  he  delivered  was  his  celebrated  reply  to  the  Duke  of  Graft  on  during  the  inquiry 
into  I»rd  Sandwich's  admini.-t ration  of  Greenwich  Hospital.  The  Duke  had  twitted  Lord 
Tlmrlow  with  his  plebeian  origin  and  with  the  recent  origin  of  his  title.  This  brought  up  the 
I/ord  Chancellor  with  his  biggest  guns.  "  He  rose  from  the  woolsack,"  says  Butler  in  his 
" Reminiscences,"  "and  ad\anced  slowly  to  the  place  whence  the  Chancellor  generally  addresses 
the  House;  then  fixing  on  the  Duke  the  look  of  Jove  when  he  grasps  the  thunder,  'I  am 
amazed,'  he  said  in  a  level  tone  of  voice,  'at  the  attack  the  noble  Duke  has  made  on  me. 
Yes,  my  lords  ' — considerablv  raising  his  voice — 'I  am  amazed  at  his  Grace's  speech.  The  noble 
lord  cannot  look  before  him,  behind  him,  and  on  either  side  of  him,  without  seeing  some 
noble  peer  who  owes  his  seat  in  this  House  to  his  successful  exertions  in  the  profession  to 
which  I  belong.  Does  he  not  feel  that'  it  is  as  honourable  to  owe  it  to  these  as  to  being  the 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


447 


accident  of  an  accident  ?  To  all  these  noble  lords  the  language  of  the  noble  Duke  is  as 
applicable  and  as  insulting  as  it  is  to  myself.  But  I  don't  fear  to  meet  it  single  and  alone. 
No  one  venerates  the  peerage  more  than  I  do ;  but  I  must  say,  my  lords,  the  peerage  solicited 
me,  not  I  the  peerage.  Nay,  more  ;  I  can  say,  and  I  will  say,  that  as  a  peer  of  Parliament, 
as  Speaker  of  this  right  honourable  House,  as  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  as  guardian  of  his 
Majesty's  conscience,  as  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England,  nay,  even  in  that  character  alone 
in  which  the  noble  Duke  would  think  it  an  affront  to  be  considered — as  a  man — I  am  at  this 
moment  as  respectable — I  beg  leave  to  add  that  I  am  at  this  time  as  much  respected — as  the 
proudest  peer  I  now  look  down  upon.'  The  effect  of  this  speech,  both  within  the  walls  of 
Parliament  and  out  of  them,  was  prodigious.  It  gave  Lord  Thurlow  an  ascendency  in  the 
House  which  no  Chancellor  had  ever  possessed ;  it  invested  him  in  public  opinion  with  a 
character  of  independence  and  honour ;  and  this,  though  he  was  ever  on  the  unpopular  side  in 
politics,  made  him  always  popular  with  the  people." 

Thurlow  is  seen  in  a  very  different  light  in  another  episode  with  which  his  name  is 
associated.  The  incident  alluded  to  is  the  debate  which  took  place  in  1788  on  the  question 
of  the  Uegency  on  the  illness  of  George  III.  The  Lord  Chancellor  intrigued  impartially  with 
both  parties  over  the  matter,  and  then  finally  decided  that  his  own  interests  lay  on  the  King's 
side.  Accordingly,  when  on  December  llth,  1788,  a  motion  was  brought  forward  in  the  House 
of  Lords  for  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  to  search  for  precedents,  he  supported  the 
proposal  in  a  fulsome  speech, 
concluding  with  these  words: 
"And  when  I  forget  my  King 
may  my  God  forget  me  !  "  "  It 
seems  scarcely  possible,"  says 
Stanhope  in  his  "Life  of 
Pitt,"  "  to  exaggerate  the 
strong  impression  which  that 
half-sentence  made.  Within 
the  House  itself,  perhaps,  the 
effect  was  not  so  satisfactory. 
Wilkes,  who  was  standing 

under  the    throne,    eyed   the 

Chancellor  askance,  and  mut- 

l-ered,  'God  forget  you?     He 

will    see    you    d- d    first.' 

Burke  at    the    same    moment 

exclaimed  with  equal  wit  and 

with     no    profaneness,      'The 

best    thing   that  can    happen 

to    you  ! '      Pitt   also  was   on 

the  steps  of  the  throne.     On 

LordThurlow's  imprecation  he 

is  said  to  have  rushed  out  of 

the  House  exclaiming  several 

times,  '  Oh  !  what  a  rascal ! ' ' 
Associated      with       Lord 

Thurlow's  Lord  Chancellorship 

is  the  memorable  theft  of  the 

Great  Seal,  which  at  the  time 

it     occurred     caused     almost 

national      perturbation,      and 

which    even    to    this  day  has 


From  an  engraving  a/tei-  the  painting  by  Dance. 

CHARLES  PRATT,   FIRST   EARL  CAMDEN, 
Lord  Chancellor  from  1766  to  1VTO. 


448 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


a  leading  place  in  the  annals  of  crime.  The  offence  was  per|>etrated  at  Thurlow's  house, 
45,  Great  Orinond  Street,  by  a  jmrty  of  burglars,  on  the  night  of  March  24th,  ITS  I.  the 
day  l»'R>re  the  dissolution  of  Parliament.  The  thieves  effected  an  entrance  by  scaling  the 
garden  wall  and  forcing  two  bars  out  of  the  kitchen  window.  They  broke  open  the  drawers 
of  the  l»rd  Chancellor's  writing  table,  annexed  the  Great  Seal,  and  made  oft'  with  it.  When 
the  loss  was  discovered  the  official  world  was  aghast,  as,  without  the  precious  emblem.  State 
documents  could  not  be  pro]>erly  prepared.  Three  days  alter  the  theft,  no  trace  of  the  tbie\e> 
having  been  discovered,  a  reward  of  £200  was  offered,  with  free  pardon  to  an  accomplice. 
Subsequently  the  identity  of  the  daring  housebreakers  wa<  e>tahlished.  but  not  until  the  ><-al. 
which  was  of  silver,  had  been  reduced  to  common  metal  in  the  melting-pot.  When  this  fact 
had  been  established,  a  new  Great  Seal  was  ordered  to  be  prei«ired.  In  the  meantime  |Nilitical 
gossip  was  busy  with  the  story,  and  it  was  even  suggested  that  the  Whigs  had  in>ti gated  tin- 
robbery  to  stave  off  the  then  impending  dissolution.  It  is  to  this  phase  of  the  incident  that 
allusion  is  made  in  these  well-known  lines  of  The  llnllinil : — 

The  rugged  Tburlow,  who,  with  sullen  scowl, 
In  surly  mood,  at  friend  and  foe  will  growl, 
Of  proud  prerogative  the  stern  support, 
Defends  the  entrance  of  great  George's  Court 
'(iainst  factious  Whigs,  lest  they  who  stole  the  seal 


The  i-ai'n-d  diadem  itself  should  steal; 

So  have  I  seen  near  village  butcher's  stall 

(If  tilings  so  great  may  be  compared  with  small) 

A  mastiff  guarding  on  a  market  il.-iy. 

With  snarling  vigilance,  his  master's  tray. 


I  n painting  in  the  A'atiun'il  /'...I.'"'  ii'illay  tiy  T.  Pkiltipi,  H.A. 

LOIIIl   TIIOII.OW, 

Ixird  Chuimllor  during  Lord  North'*  Ailminirtrulion,  and,  l»Ur,  during  Pltt'i  Minirtry. 
lie  rvtirwl  in  V.V2. 


Since  this  awkward  occurrence  special 
pains  have  been  taken  to  guard  the 
Great  Seal  from  predatory  hands. 

In  the  years  immediately  >uc- 
ceeding  I»rd  Thurlow's  tenure  of 
office  we  find  as-ociated  witli  the 
woolsack  the  eminent  names  of  Ix>rd 
Kldon  and  Lord  Krskine.  The  former 
was  entrusted  with  the  Great  Seal 
first  in  1801  in  Addington's  Adminis- 
tration. He  retained  it.  with  the 
brief  interregnum  supplied  by  Lord 
Grenville's  Premiership,  until  1826, 
thus  establishing  a  record  of  long 
service  in  the  office.  George  III. 
showed  a  remarkable  attachment  to 
the  Lord  Chancellor.  Again  and 
again  he  extended  to  him  marks  of 
his  esteem.  When  Pitt  died  and 
.Ministers  resigned,  Eldon  waited  on 
his  Koyal  patron  to  surrender  tin- 
seals.  "  Lay  them  down  on  the  sofa." 
said  the  King,  indicating  the  seals. 
'•for  I  cannot  and  will  not  take  them 
from  you.  Vet  I  admit  you  cannot 
stay  when  all  the  reM  have  run 
awiiv.'1  In  allusion  to  the  monarch's 
partiality  Lord  Kldon  himself  once 
said,  "I  do  not  know  what  made 
George  III.  so  fond  of  me,  but  he 
was  fond  of  me.  When  I  went  to 
him  for  the  seals,  he  had  his  coat 
buttoned  at  the  lower  part,  and  patting 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


449 


his  right  hand  within,  he  drew  them 
out  from  the  left  side,  saying,  '  I 
give  them  to  you  from  my  heart.' " 
Eldon  made  a  dignified  and  popular 
Lord'  Chancellor.  Such  was  the 
influence  that  he  acquired  in  the 
office  that  when  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton resigned  over  the  Catholic 
Emancipation  question  in  1829,  he 
was  sent  for  by  George  IV.  to  form 
a  Ministry.  After  considering  the 
question  for  a  time,  he  declined  to 
undertake  the  responsibility,  and  the 
King  thereupon  gave  way  and  the 
Ministers  were  reinstated.  He  sur- 
vived until  January  13th,  1838,  living 
long  enough  to  take  the  oath  to 
Queen  Victoria. 

Erskine's  career  belongs  in  the 
main  to  the  law.  His  selection  as 
Lord  Chancellor  was  an  accident, 
and  his  acceptance  of  the  office,  for 
which  he  was  little  fitted,  was  one 
of  the  greatest  mistakes  of  his  life, 
regarded  from  the  standpoint  of  his 
reputation.  Still,  his  is  a  name 
which  lends  an  imperishable  lustre 
to  the  annals  of  the  Chancellorship. 
"The  silver-tongued  advocate," 
whose  voice  exercised  a  spell  in  the 
Law  Courts  of  a  potency  which  had 
never  before  been  equalled  and  has  never  since  been  surpassed,  he  for  a  quarter  of  a  century 
filled  a  unique  place  in  English  judicial  life.  Singularly  enough,  his  adoption  of  a  legal  career 
was  largely  brought  about  by  chance.  His  early  youth  was  spent  in  the  navy  and  the  army 
— a  bad  nursery,  it  might  be  supposed,  for  forensic  talent.  Laboriously  he  qualified  himself  for 
the  profession  of  arms,  attaining  to  a  more  than  common  degree  of  proficiency.  One  day  after 
his  promotion  to  a  full  lieutenancy  in  the  King's  Royals,  he,  to  while  away  an  idle  hour, 
dropped  into  an  assize  court  where  Lord  Mansfield  was  presiding.  This  distinguished  judge, 
observing  the  elegant-looking  young  soldier  in  full  regimentals,  an  evidently  deeply  interested 
spectator  of  the  proceedings,  sent  a  message  to  him  inviting  him  to  a  seat  on  the  Bench. 
Kr.-kine,  of  course,  accepted  the  courtesy.  Taking  his  seat  by  the  side  of  the  eminent  jurist, 
he  was  favoured  as  the  trial  progressed  with  the  judge's  private  comments  upon  it.  The 
experience  made  such  a  vivid  impression  upon  him  that  he  forthwith  determined  to  throw  up 
his  commission  and  try  his  skill  at  the  Bar.  After  a  probationary  period,  during  which  he 
underwent  the  direst  straits,  lie  gained  a  foothold  at  the  Bar  at  last.  His  opportunity  came 
ir>  a  romantic  way.  While  tit  a  friend's  house  during  the  public  discussion  of  the  charges  of 
corruption  brought  against  Lord  Sandwich  in  connection  with  the  administration  of  Greenwich 
Hospital,  he  expressed  v'ery  forcibly  his  conviction  of  the  substantial  truth  of  the  charges.  One 
of  his  auditors  was  Thomas  Baillie,  the  person  who  was  mainly  responsible  for  the  accusations. 
Baillie,  recognising  in  the  ability  and  earnestness  of  the  young  lawyer  invaluable  qualities  for 
an  advocate,  sent  him  a  brief  for  the  defence  in  the  proceedings  for  libel  which  were  brought 
against  him.  There  were  four  other  counsel  in  the  case,  and  three  of  them  urged  compromise. 

57 


After  the  painting  by  Sir  Thomas  Latcrencc,  P.H.A. 

JOHN  SCOTT,  EABL   OP  ELDON, 
Lord  Chancellor  from  1801  until  1806,  and  again  from  1S07  until  1827. 


450 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Krskine.  however,  resolutely  resisted 
tin1  idea  «f  ooncenion.  In  the  end 
Ins  views  prevailed,  ami  lit'  justified 
them  subsequently  in  a  s|>eech  of 
niarvclliiiis  cloijiience  and  dcclamatorv 
power.  According  to  his  own  :u-coiiiit. 
he  found  courage  in  the  thought  that 
his  children  were  plucking  at  his  gown 
crying  to  him  that  now  was  the  time  to 
get  them  bread.  His  impetuous  ad- 
vocacy completely  turned  the  scales  in 
Haillie's  favour.  It  was  a  great  triumph 
for  the  cause  of  purity  of  public  life; 
it  was  a  still  greater  triumph  for  the 
youthful  and  unknown  barrister.  From 
that  moment  briefs  flowed  in  UJHHI 
him  uninterruptedly,  until  his  annual 
income  in  1791  reached  the  then  un- 
precedented figure  of  i.'10,0()0.  Hi- 
successes  were  due  to  his  brilliancy 
as  an  orator  rather  than  to  his  ability 
as  a  lawyer.  Endowed  with  a  fine 
presence  and  engaging  manners,  he 
can-fully  cultivated  the  graces  of  stvle 
until  he  was  without  a  peer  in  West- 
minster Hall  for  persuasive  advocacy. 
He  owed  much  of  the  art  of  effec- 
tive speaking  which  he  practised  with 
such  splendid  success  to  Mrs.  Siddons. 
He  once  said  that  "  he  had  studied  her 
cadences  and  intonation,  and  that  to 
the  harmony  of  her  periods  and  pronunciation  he  was  indebted  for  his  best  displays."1 

Magnificent  as  Erskine's  powers  were,  they  were  not  of  the  character  to  win  immediate 
success  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  coldly  critical  audience  which  he  there  had  to  face 
had  its  own  standards  of  oratory;  it  applied  them  at  times  with  ruthless  severity  to  the 
discomfiture  of  Parliamentary  novices  who  had  come  into  the  House  with  great  reputations 
made  in  other  centres.  In  Erskine's  case  nothing  certainly  was  taken  on  trust.  His  maiden 
s[>eech,  made  on  Fox's  East  India  Hill,  met  with  a  reception  which  was  ostentatiously 
contemptuous.  The  scene  is  vividly  described  in  Croly's  ''Life  of  George  IV.":  "Pitt  sat 
evidently  intending  to  reply,  with  pen  and  paper  in  his  hand,  prepared  to  catch  the  arguments 
of  this  formidable  adversary.  He  wrote  a  word  or  two:  Erskine  proceeded;  but  with  everv 
additional  sentence  Pitt's  attention  to  the  paper  relaxed,  his  look  became  more  careless,  and  he 
obviously  began  to  think  the  orator  less  and  less  worthy  of  his  attention.  At  length,  when 
every  eye  in  the  House  was  fixed  upon  him.  with  a  contemptuous  smile  he  dashed  the  pen 
through  the  paper  and  Hung  them  on  the  floor.  Krskine  never  recovered  from  this  expression 
of  disdain.  His  voice  faltered,  he  struggled  through  the  remainder  of  his  speech  and 
sank  into  his  seat  dispirited  and  shorn  of  his  fame."  When,  later.  Pitt  had  to  reply,  he 
emphasised  the  feeling  with  which  lie  regarded  the  speech.  After  announcing  his  intention  to 
reply  to  both  Fox  and  Krskine  he  said,  "Hut  I  shall  make  no  mention  of  what  was  said  by 
the  honourable  gentleman  who  spoke  last;  he  did  no  more  than  regularly  repeat  what  was 
said  by  the  member  who  preceded  him,  and  regularly  weaken  all  he  repeated."  There  is  reason 

1  Campbell's  "  Life  of  Siddons." 


After  th(  portrait  by  Sir  Jothua  jifyno/t/*,  F.K.A. 

THOMAS,   FIBST   BAIIOX   EKSKIXE,   K.T., 
Lord  Chancellor  In  the  Coalition  "  Ministry  of  All  the  Talent* "  under  Grenville. 


/•',.„„  //,.  portrait  ly  Tltomat  f/Mlipt,  R.A.,  in  the  Rational  Portrait  Gall,  rg. 

JOHN   SINGLETON   COPLEY,    BABON   LYNDHUBST, 

Lord  Eldon's  auccewor  in  the  Lord  Chancellorahip.     He  was  thrice  appointed  to  the  office,  and  finally  resigned  in  1S46  on  Peel's 

retirement. 

4.51 


452 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


to  think  that  Pitt's  scornful  unit  ml.-  was  as  unjust  as  it  was  unworthy  of  him  in  any 
circumstances.  \Vraxall  plainly  says  as  much  in  his  ••  Memoirs."  An-nr«ling  to  him.  Kr>kine. 
so  far  from  failing,  as  hi*  enemies  declared,  appeared  to  exhibit  "shining  powers  of  declamation." 
Whatever  tin-  truth  may  In-.  1'itt's  recept ion  of  the  fpeeeh  appears  to  have  made  a  deep  and 
lasting  imprc.-Mon  on  Krskine.  Surli  was  tin-  a\vc  which  the  Great  Commoner  inspired  in 
him.  that  on  one  occa-i"ii  some  years  later,  at  a  pulilie  dinner,  a  ca.-ual  remark  from  I'itt  while 
he  was  shaking  >topped  the  flow  of  his  oratory  and  compelled  him  to  sit  down  in  e.nit'iiMon. 
Krskine.  though  a  matchless  advocate,  had  none  of  the  qualitie-  e— i-ntial  to  the  highest 
judicial  office.  There  was.  eonx  <|iientlv.  great  .-urprise  when,  on  the  format i< m  of  the  "Mini>try 
of  All  the  Talents."  he  was  brought  in  to  till  the  Lord  Chancellorship.  Ivimilly  declared  him 
to  be  totally  unlit  for  the  situation.  Others  wen-  even  more  <mts|K>ken;  the  appointment,  in 
fact,  was  universally  condemned.  Krskine  during  the  short  time  that  he  held  the  (ireat  Seal 
had  little  opportunity  of  distinguishing  himself,  and  it  would  be  unfair  to  say  that  tin-  harsh 
judgment  of  his  titness  for  the  post  pa-^ed  by  his  contcm]>orarie>  was  justified.  But  it  is  a  fact 
that  from  the  moment  he  entered  office  his  reputation  declined.  After  his  resignation  on 
April  1st.  1K07,  he  gradually  receded  from  the  public  eye.  During  the  troubles  arising  out  of 
the  charges  brought  agaiiot  Queen  Caroline  he  regained  something  of  his  old  popularity  by 
his  generous  >peeches  in  defence  of  the  Royal  lady.  But  the  recovery  was  only  transient.  He 
passed  the  la>t  years  of  his  life  in  conqwirative  obscurity  and  neglect. 

Worthy  to  be  a»»ciated  with  Kldon  and  Krskine  in  the  list  of  famous  Lord  Chancellors 
is  John  Singleton  Copley.  l/>rd  Lyiidhurst,  who,  appointed  Lord  Chancellor  first  in  1827  in 
Canning's  Administration,  occupied  the  woolsack  continuously  until  the  accession  of  Karl  Grey 
to  the  Premiership,  and  subsequently  held  the  seals  during  Sir  Robert  Peel's  two 
Administrations.  Lord  Lyndhurst's  career  is  not  less  remarkable  than  that  of  his  two  eminent 
predecessors;  in  one  respect  it  is  more  notable.  In  an  age  in  which  the  Lord  Chancellorship 
was  conspicuous  for  the  longevity  of  those  who  filled  it,  he  established  almost  a  record  for 
virility  of  intellect.  For  close  upon  a  half-century  he  was  a  leading  figure  in  public  life ;  to 
the  last  year  of  his  life  his.  influence  in  political  affairs  was  very  marked.  On  February  7th, 
1856,  he  delivered  in  the  House  of  Lords  a  speech  on  the  Life  Peerages  question,  which 

Campbell  says  "was  the  most  won- 
derful ever  heard.  It  would  have 
been  admirable  for  a  man  of  thirty- 
five,  and  for  a  man  of  eighty-four  it 
was  miraculous."  .More  than  three 
years  later,  in  July,  1859,  Lynd- 
hurst  distinguished  himself  by 
another  great  speech  in  the  House 
of  Lords  on  the  subject  of  our 
continental  relations,  apropos  of 
the  war  then  being  waged  in  Italy 
by  France.  His  remarks  were 
characterised  by  a  mental  grip 
and  vigour  and  a  boldness  of  con- 
ception extraordinary  in  one  who 
\\a-  almost  a  nonogencirian.  "Self- 
reliance,"  he  said,  "  is  the  best 
road  to  distinction  in  private  life; 
it  is  equally  osential  to  the 
character  and  grandeur  of  a  nation. 
It  will  be  necessary  for  our  defence 
HKXRY  r-KTKB,  FIRST  BAKox  BBouGHAM  AM>  v u  \.  that  we  should  have  a  military 

I  Chancellor  In  Karl  Orey'.  AdniluUtrati..n.  force      Sufficient      tO      COpC      with     any 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


453 


SIR   EDWARD   BUHTEXSHAW   SUGDEX,  LORD  ST.  LEOXAKDS 
Lord  Chancellor  for  a  few  months  in  1852. 


Power  or  combination  of  Powers  that  may 
be  brought  against  us.  The  question  of 
the  money  expense  sinks  into  insignifi- 
cance. It  is  the  price  that  we  must  pay 
for  our  insurance,  and  it  is  but  a  moderate 
price  for  so  important  an  insurance.  I 
know  that  there  are  persons  who  will  say, 
'  Let  us  run  the  risk.'  Be  it  so ;  but,  my 
lords,  if  the  calamity  should  come,  if  the 
conflagration  should  take  place,  what  words 
can  describe  the  extent  of  the  calamity,  or 
what  imagination  can  paint  the  overwhelming 
ruin  that  would  fall  upon  us  ?  I  shall  be 
told,  perhaps,  that  these  are  the  timid 
counsels  of  old  age.  My  lords,  for  myself, 
I  should  run  no  risk.  Personally,  I  have 
nothing  to  fear.  But  to  point  out  possible 
peril,  and  how  to  guard  effectively  against 
it,  that  is  surely  to  be  considered  not  as 
timidity,  but  as  the  dictates  of  wisdom  and 
prudence.  I  have  confined  myself  to  facts 
that  cannot  be  disputed.  I  think  I  have  con- 
fined myself  also  to  inferences  which  no  man 
can  successfully  contravene.  I  hope  what 
I  have  said  has  been  in  accordance  with 
your  feelings  and  opinions.  I  shall  termi- 
nate what  I  have  said  in  two  emphatic  words,  Vce  victis  I — words  of  solemn  and  most 
significant  import."  Even  this  inspiriting  oration  did  not  mark  the  last  appearance  of 
the  venerable  ex-Lord  Chancellor  upon  the  political  stage.  He  intervened  in  debate  again 
on  May  21st,  1860,  delivering  a  speech  of  singular  power,  having  regard  to  his  great  age,  on 
the  second  reading  of  the  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  paper  duty.  His  final  effort  was  a 
contribution  to  a  discussion  on  a  legal  bill  on  May  7th,  1861.  Though  then  closely  verging 
on  ninety,  this  Nestor  of  the  House  of  Lords,  as  he  was  called,  spoke  with  unabated  intellec- 
tual force,  and  with  a  precision  which  extorted  general  admiration. 

Perhaps  the  closest  parallel  to  the  career  of  Lord  Lyndhurst  is  supplied  by  the  life  of 
Ix>rd  Brougham,  his  successor  of  1830  on  the  woolsack.  With  the  stormy  early  legal  and 
political  life  of  this  statesman  we  have  already  dealt  in  another  chapter,  and  it  is  only  necessary 
here  to  say  that  when  he  succeeded  to  the  Lord  Chancellorship  he  had  already  behind  him 
a  record  of  strenuous  effort  sufficient  to  fill  an  ordinary  lifetime.  Yet  for  more  than  thirty 
years  subsequently  he  was  an  active  public  man,  and  in  1863,  when  eighty-five,  he  was 
sufficiently  vigorous  in  body  and  mind  to  deliver,  as  President  of  the  Social  Science  Congress, 
an  address  at  Edinburgh  in  which  the  progress  of  scientific  effort  was  ably  and  exhaustively 
surveyed. 

As  Lord  Chancellor  in  the  Grey  Administration,  Brougham  was  intimately  associated  with 
the  political  proceedings  which  preceded  the  passing  of  the  Keform  Bill.  It  was  he  who 
accompanied  Grey  on  that  memorable  visit  to  William  IV.,  in  April,  1831,  and  who  extorted 
from  the  reluctant  monarch  the  necessary  authorisation  for  a  dissolution  of  Parliament,  with 
a  view  to  an  appeal  to  the  country  on  the  Reform  question.  From  the  accounts  which  have 
been  published  of  that  curious  interview — perhaps  the  most  remarkable  that  ever  took  place 
between  a  British  sovereign  and  his  Ministers— we  may  gather  that  it  was  Brougham's  bold 
line  of  argument  which  turned  the  King  from  an  attitude  of  resentful  anger  to  one  of  good- 
humoured  if  reluctant  acquiescence.  The  Chancellor's  services  to  the  Ministry  on  this 


454 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


occasion  were  rapplemented  later  by  a  vigor- 

ou-  iiiiil  >u>tained  defence  of  llic  (ioverimient 
position  in  the  HOIIM-  of  I/ird-.  His  speech 
on  tin-  >ci'u)nl  reading  of  the  second  Reform 
Hill  in  October.  18:51.  was  an  exceptionally 
In-illiant  ctt'ort.  Campbell  gives  u  vivid 
description  of  the  onition  in  his  work. 
Brougham,  he  .-a\  s.  "showed  a  mo>t  stu- 
pendous memory  and  extraordinary  dexterity 
in  handling  the  weapons  both  of  ridicule  and 
of  reason.  Without  a  note  to  refer  to,  he 
went  through  all  the  .-peeche<  of  his  opi>o- 
nents  delivered  during  the  five  night-'  debate, 
analysing  them  successively,  and.  with  a  little 
aid  from  perversion,  giving  them  all  a 
seemingly  triumphant  answer.  The  perora- 
tion was  partly  inspired  by  draught-  ..) 
mulled  port,  inibil>ed  by  him  very  copiously 
towards  the  conclusion  of  the  four  hours 
during  which  he  was  on  his  legs  or  on  his 
knees.  '  I  pray  and  exhort  you  not  to  reject 
this  measure.  By  all  you  hold  nio-t  dear. 
by  all  the  ties  that  bind  every  one  of  us  to 
our  common  order  and  our  common  country. 
I  solemnly  adjure  you — I  warn  you — I 
implore  you — yea,  on  my  bended  knees  (he 
kneels)  I  supplicate  you — reject  not  this  bill.' 
He  continued  for  some  time  as  if  in  prayer; 
but  his  friends,  alarmed  for  him  lest  he  should 
be  suffering  from  the  effects  of  the  mulled 

port,  picked  him  up  and  placed  him  safely  on  the  woolsack.  Like  Burke's  famous  dagger  scene  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  this  prostration  was  a  failure;  so  unsuited  was  it  to  the  spectators  and 
to  the  actor  that  it  produced  a  sensation  of  ridicule,  and  considerably  impaired  the  effect  of  a 
speech  displaying  wonderful  powers  of  memory  and  of  intellect."  There  is  a  strong  tinge  of  sen- 
sationalism in  this  description,  suggestive  of  an  overcharged  pen.  Nevertheless,  Brougham  did  un- 
questionably on  this  occasion  indulge  in  no  common  degree  a  weakness  he  had  for  theatrical  effect. 

Another  of  his  foibles,  a  disposition  to  lx-  vituperative,  did  not  desert  him  when 
he  t«x>k  his  seat  on  the  wool>ack.  A  flagrant  instance  in  point  is  supplied  in  a  speech 
which  he  made  in  July,  1832,  in  reference  to  a  motion  brought  forward  in  the  House 
of  Commons  by  Sir  Kdward  Sngden  (afterwards  Lord  St.  Leonards)  for  an  inquiry  into  matters 
with  which  the  Lord  Chancellor  was  concerned.  ''My  lords,"  said  Brougham,  "we  have 
all  read  that  it  is  this  heaven-born  thirst  for  information,  and  its  invariable  concomitants, 
a  self-disregarding  and  candid  mind,  that  most  distinguishes  men  from  the  lower  animals,  from 
the  crawling  reptile,  from  the  \\a-p  that  stings,  and  from  the  wasp  that  fain  would  but  cannot 
>ting;  distinguishes  us.  my  lords,  not  only  from  the  insect  that,  crawls  and  stings,  but  from 
that  more  jiowerful  because  more  offensive  creature,  the  bug,  which,  powerful  and  offensive  a> 
it  is,  is  but  vermin.  Ye-.  I  say  that  it.  is  this  laudable  propensity  upon  which  humanity 
justly  prides  it-elf,  which.  1  have  no  doubt,  solely  influenced  the  learned  gentleman  to  whom 
I  allude  to  seek  for  information  which  it  would  be  cruel  to  stingily  gratify."  The  signal  lack 
of  dignity,  to  say  nothing  of  the  gm>s  off'ensiveiiess  of  this  attack,  explains  to  some  extent  the 
rea-<m  why  I'rougham,  with  all  his  commanding  talents,  never  secured  a  really  high  place  in 
popular  estimation 


From  a  jJ,ot,,  l,:i  Mnvll  d:  t'ojr. 

SIB  FRKDERIC   TIIKSKiKK,   LORD  CHELMSFORD, 
Lord  Chancellor  in  1S53,  and  again  in  IStiJ. 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


455 


FI-OM  an  engraving  after  the  picture  by  Sir  F.  Grant,  P.R.A. 

JOHN,   LOED  CAMPBELL, 

Lord  Chancellor    from  1859  until  1861.       He    was    the 
author  of  "  The  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors." 


An  episode  which  occurred  in  the  House  of 
Lords  in  1850  has  a  bearing  upon  this  subject  of 
Brougham's  personal  failing,  and  it  may  be  referred 
to  both  on  that  account  and  because  it  throws  an 
amusing  sidelight  upon  the  relations  of  the  party 
leaders  of  the  period.  Speaking  at  a  Mansion  House 
banquet  in  1850,  Lord  Stanley  alluded  to  Lord 
Brougham  (who  was  not  present)  as  "  his  noble  and 
learned  but  somewhat  volatile  friend."  The  ex-Lord 
Chancellor,  nettled  at  the  reference,  brought  the  matter 
up  at  the  sitting  of  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  follow- 
ing evening.  He  challenged  Lord  Stanley  to  explain 
himself.  "  Volatile  means  flighty,"  he  said ;  "  but  I, 
to  answer  a  speech  made  in  my  presence,  have  never 
flown  to  the  House  of  Mayors."  Stanley's  reply  was 
characteristic.  He  expressed  his  regret  that  he  had 
caused  disquietude  to  ''  his  noble  and  learned  and 
very  grave  and  discreet  friend,"  but  at  the  same  time 
was  not  prepared  to  withdraw  the  epithet  used  on  the 
previous  evening.  "  In  point,"  said  he,  "  of  acuteness, 

activity,   rapidity,    and   pungency,    sal-volatile    is   nothing  when   compared   with    my  noble   and 

learned  friend.     You  may  put  a  stopper  of  glass  or  leather  on  that  ethereal  essence,  but  I  defy 

any  human  power,  even  that  of  my  noble  and  learned  friend  himself,  to  put  any  stopper,  either 

of   glass  or    leather    or  any    other    material,  over   the  activity,    ingenuity,    or    pungency   of   his 

mind."    To  this  Brougham  replied  in  a  similar 

bantering  strain,  and  the  incident   closed   in 

general    good-humour.        In    his    later    years 

Brougham  was  a  greater  force  outside  Parlia- 
ment   than    in    it ;    but    he    retained,  as    we 

have  seen,  the  freshness  of  his  faculties,  and 

pursued    to    the   end   of    the    chapter    that 

active  career   which    had    been    his  from  his 

earliest  youth. 

When    we    take    leave    of   the    era    in 

which      Erskine,      Eldon,      Lyndhurst,     and 

Brougham   adorned    the    woolsack,    we  come 

upon  the   modern  line    of  Lord    Chancellors, 

the   great    lawyers   whose    careers    are  more 

or  less    familiar    to    the    present  generation. 

It    cannot    be    claimed,    perhaps,    that    they 

occupied    so    commanding  a  position    in   the 

political  world    as    the    men    who    had    gone 

before   them  ;    but   in  point  of  legal  ability 

and   capacity  for   the   office  they  filled,  they 

do    not    compare    unfavourably    with    them. 

Cottenham,  Truro,  St.  Leonards,  Chelmsford, 

Campbell,      Westbury,      Cramvorth,     Cairns, 

Hatherley,    Selborne,     Herschell — these     are 

names  which    compose    a    list    of  lawyers  of 

varying  degrees  of  ability;    but,    taken  as  a  frOM  u  Pkoto  by  vault  *  FOX. 

whole,  they    make  up  a    body  which    confers  RICHABD  BETH  ELL,  LOHL>  WESTBURY, 

no    discredit    on    the    annals   of    the    Lord  Lord  chancellor  from  isei  until  ises. 


456 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Chancellorship.  Only  in  one  instance  is  there  tin-  slightest  cloud  ii|x>n  the  n*|mtntii>n  of 
these  modern  I/>rd  Chancellors.  Tin-  except  i»n  i-  Mipplied  by  I/>rd  West  bury,  who  was  Ix>rd 
Chancellor  in  Lord  I'aliiier.-ton's  -ecoud  Administration.  Again>t  this  di>t  ingni-hed  man  chai 
of  official  irregularity  were  brought,  and  tin'  Hoiir-e  "1  Commons,  mi  July  ;5rd,  18(io,  passed  by 
177  votes  to  163  a  motion  declaring  that  the  L>rd  Chancellor  had  been  guilty  of  "a  laxity 
of  practice  and  •  want  of  caution  in  sanctioning  the  grant  of  retiring  ]i<'iisions  to  jmblic  officer* 
over  \vhn.-c  heads  gra\e  charges  are  impending,  and  in  filling  up  the  vacancies  made  by 
the  retirement  of  Mich  officers  .  .  .  and  that  such  laxity  and  want  of  caution  are  highly  repiv- 
hciiMble.  and  calculated  to  throw  discredit  on  the  administration  of  the  high  offices  of  State." 

A  ceiiMire  so  severe  could  have  only  one  effect.  Lord  West  bury  re-i^iied  on  the  day 
following  the  pas.-ing  of  the  resolution,  and  his  resignation  was  accepted.  In  announcing  the 
fact  in  the  House  of  Lords,  he  said:  "With  regard  to  the  opinion  expressed  by  the  House  of 
< 'ominous  I  do  not  propose  to  say  a  word.  I  am  bound  to  accept  the  decision.  I  may. 
however,  express  the  hope  that  after  an  interval  of  time  calmer  thoughts  will  prevail,  and  a 

more  favourable  view- 
be  taken  of  my  con- 
duct." The  hope  \v;is 
not  unjustified.  !.'•  - 
viewing  the  circum- 
stances which  led  up 
to  I^ord  Westbury's 
dismissal,  away  from 
the  prejudices  of  the 
time,  it  is  impossible 
to  deny  that  he  was 
harshly  treated.  That 
there  was  no  great 
sympathy  at  the  time 
for  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor is  to  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the 
fact  that  his  manners 
were  by  no  means 
conciliatory.  One 
flagrant  specimen  of 
his  style  is  to  be 
found  in  an  incident 

which  occurred  in  the  House  of  Lords  a  few  months  before  his  downfall,  and  which  excited 
much  indignation  at  the  time  amongst  an  influential  section  of  the  public.  The  occurrence 
arose  out  of  the  then  recent  judgment  of  Convocation  in  the  case  of  "Essays  and  Review.-." 
Lord  Houghton  drew  attention  to  this  decision,  and  asked  whether  the  law  officers  of  the 
< 'rown  had  been  consulted  as  to  the  competency  of  Convocation  to  take  the  action  they  had 
done.  Lord  Westbury  replied  in  a  speech  which  seemed  to  be  designedly  offensive.  "There 
were  three  modes,"  he  said,  "of  dealing  with  Convocation  when  it  is  permitted  to  come  into 
action  and  transact  real  business.  The  first  is,  while  they  are  harmlessly  busy,  to  take  no 
notice  of  the  proceedings;  the  second  is,  when  they  seem  likely  to  get  into  mischief,  to 
prorogue  and  put  an  end  to  their  proceedings;  the  third,  when  they  have  done  something 
clearly  beyond  their  powers,  is  to  bring  them  before  a  court  of  justice  and  punish  them.'' 
Later  on  he  spoke  of  the  judgment  as  "a  series  of  well-lubricated  terms — a  sentence  so  oily 
and  sai>onaceou8  that  no  one  could  grasp  it."  "Like  an  eel,"  he  added,  "it  slips  through  the 
fingers — it  is  simply  nothing;  and  I  am  glad  to  tell  my  noble  friend  that  it  is  literally  no 
sentence  at  all." 


Tin:  WOOLSACK. 
The  official  seat  of  the  Lord  Cbnncellor  in  the  House  of  Lords. 


Lord    Chancellors — Famous    and    Infamous 


45: 


A  a.  drawing  by  Gtorge  Richmond,  K.A.,  bypermitiion  oj  Grilhon't  CTu6. 

SIR  HUGH  MACCALJIONT  CAIRNS,  EARL  CAIRNS, 

Lord  Chancellor  in  1SOS  and  in  1S74. 


from  a  drawing  by  George  Richmond,  R.A.,  by  ptrmittion  ofOrillim'i  Club. 

SIB  BOUJJDEI.I,   PALMKR,   EARL   OF  SELBOBJJE, 

Lord  Chancellor  from  1872  till  1874. 


These    observations    were    plainly 
pointed    at    Bishop     Samuel    Wilber- 
force,      who     was     reputed      to      have 
drafted     the     judgment,     and      whose 
popular    sobriquet     of    "  Soapy    Sam " 
lent    itself    to    the    broad    method   of 
sarcasm    which     Lord     Westbury 
adopted.      Bishop  Wilberforce   was  not 
slow   to   resent   the  attack  made  upon 
him    and    his    order.      He   did    so    in 
a    speech    of    much    severity.       "  If  a 
man    has    no   respect  for   himself,"   he 
exclaimed    in    a    burst    of  indignation, 
"  he    ought,    at   all    events,    to   respect 
the  audience   before  which  he    speaks; 
and    when    the    highest   representative 
of    the     law     in     England     in     your 
lordships'    Court,    upon    a    matter   in- 
volving  the    liberties    of    the    subject 
and    the    religion    of    the    realm,    and 
all      those     high      truths     concerning 
which   this    discus.-ion    has   arisen,  can 
think    it    fit    to    descend    to    ribaldry, 
in    which    he    knows     he    can    safely 
indulge,    because    those    to    whom    he 
addresses     it     will     have     too     much 
respect  for  their   characters  to   answer 
him    in    like    sort,— I    say    that    this 
House    has     ground     to    complain    of 
having      its      character      unnecessarily 
injured    in    the    sight    of    the    people 
of    this    land,    by    one    occupying    so 
high    a    position    within    it.    ...    I 
would    rather    subject   myself,    in    the 
presence     of     my      countrymen      and 
your   noble   House,   to  any   amount  of 
that     invective     and    insinuation,    and 
all    those     arts     of — I     will     not     say 
what    part    of  the   Bar   of   England — 
of    which     we     have    seen    something 
to-night;    I    would,    I    repeat,    rather 
a   thousand   times    incur    it    all    than 
to    look    back    on    my    deathbed    upon 
myself  as   one   of  those   who   had   not 
striven  for  the  truth  of  our  Established 
Church,     and     had     not    encountered, 
because    I    was     afraid     personally    of 
the   consequences,  anything  which  the 
maintenance     of     that     truth     might 
entail."       This     high-minded     protest 
was    very    widely    approved,    even    by 
those    who  did  not  share   the  Bishop's 

58 


458 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


roM  a  photo  by  tltt  London  Ste;to»fopic  Co.,  Ltd.,  Clttapsitlt, 
SIR  HAUDISGK   CIFFAItl),   KAKI,   of   HALSBURV, 
Lord  Chancellor  188J,  1SS«,  and  1895. 


from  a  photo  by  Ifault  <i-  Fox,  Piccadilly. 

SIR   FARRAU   IIERSC1IKM.,    I.nUI)   IIERSCHELL, 
Lord  Chancellor  1830  and  1892. 


views  as  to  the  Convocation  judgment.  The  feeling  was  that  Lord  Westbury  had  signally 
failed  in  his  sj>eech  to  preserve  the  dignity  of  his  high  office,  and  had  as  signally  shown  his 
incapacity  to  realise  what  was  due  to  others  also  occupying  an  exalted  position  in  the  State. 

In  the  most  recent  years  the  current  of  the  Lord  Chancellorship  has  run  with  almost 
unbroken  smoothness.  Lord  Herschell,  who  occupied  the  woolsack  in  Mr.  Gladstone's 
Administrations,  was  a  sound  lawyer,  who  cared  a  good  deal  more  for  the  legal  than  for  the 
jwliticiil  traditions  of  the  high  office;  and  Lord  Halsbury,  who  has  been  Lord  Chancellor  in 
the  Unionist  Administrations  since  1895,  has  to  a  great  extent  followed  in  his  footsteps.  But 
if  the  later  history  of  the  office  has  been  in  a  political  and  picturesque  sense  uneventful,  it 
has  not  Ix-en  without  an  element  of  impressiveness  in  the  unvarying  dignity  and  high-minded 
devotion  with  which  its  duties  have  been  discharged. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


THE   VICTORIAN  PARLIAMENTS. 

SOME  thirty-six  hours  after  William  IV.  had  breathed  his  last  at  Windsor  on  June  20th,  1837, 
the  House  of  Commons  assembled  to  hear  read  the  first  address  from   the   maiden  upon  whom 
the  destinies  of  the  country  had  devolved.     Eagerly   expectant   members    crowded   the   benches 
of   the    temporary    structure    which,  pending    the    erection    of   the    new    Houses    of   Parliament, 
served    as    a    place   of    assembly.     Soon   Lord   John    Eussell,  then  Home  Secretary,  appeared  at 
the    Bar    with    the    precious    missive,  and   over. the   serried   ranks    swept  the  cry,  "Hats   off!" 
followed  by  the   measured    admonition  of  the    Speaker   (Abercromby),  "  Members   must   be   un- 
covered."     Instantly  every  head  save  one  was  bared.     The   apparent   offender   against   etiquette 
was  Sir  John  Graham,  a  prominent  and  popular   member  who  had  sat  for  nearly  twenty    years 
in  the  House.     Angry  glances   were   directed   towards   him  by  his  fellows,  and  subsequently  an 
evening  paper  commented  in  scathing   terms   upon  the  want  of  loyalty  shown.      Stung  by  the 
criticisms,  Sir  John  Graham  the  next  day  entered  upon  a  justification  of  his  attitude,  explaining 
that  he  had  conformed  to  the  older, 
and,  as  he   thought,    better,    custom 
of  waiting  until  the  initiatory  word 
"Kegina"  or  "Rex"  was  uttered  be- 
fore   uncovering,    thus    marking    in 
more  emphatic  fashion  the  tribute  of 
respect.     The  Speaker  acknowledged 
the  accuracy  of  this  reading  of  the 
rules,  and  thereafter  the  House  passed 
to  the  ordinary  business. 

In  this  curious  little  incident 
we  have  an  indication  of  the  feelings 
with  which  the  Victorian  era  in 
Parliament  was  entered  upon. 
Loyalty  quickened  at  the  thought 
that  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  a 
century  and  a  quarter  a  woman  was 
once  more  at  the  head  of  the  nation  ; 
natural  sentiments  were  awakened 
by  the  spectacle  which  the  previous 
day  had  provided  of  a  young  girl 
with  regal  bearing,  yet  withal 
maidenly  modesty,  taking  her  place 
at  the  head  of  the  Council  Board 
at  which  had  gathered  the  men  who 
had  grown  old  in  the  service  of  the 
State.  Generally  there  was  a  desire, 
in  the  presence  of  the  new  conditions 
which  had  been  created,  to  sink  party 
differences  and  co-operate  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  public  weal.  But 

459 


LORD  JOHN   RUSSELL. 
One  of  the  leading  statesmen  of  the  Victorian  em. 


460 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


auspiciously  as  tin-  new  n-iijii  commenced,  few.  if  any.  of  those  who  on  tliat  June  day  gathered 
in  the  jmpular  chaml>er  could  in  their  wildest  imaginings  liave  pictured  tlie  remarkable  j>e:-iod 
in  Parliamentary  lif«>  which  was  to  run  its  course  Ix-forc  the  So\er«-ii,'ii  who-e  me-»age  they 
had  rei-eived  with  so  nilleli  respect  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  Mutely  mausoleum  ;it  l-'rogmore. 
In  trutli.  the  Victorian  era  in  Parliament  was  one  of  the  mo>t  eventful,  as  |Militieally.  perhaps, 
it  wa-  the  most  iinprc»i\e.  in  the  hi>tory  of  the  Legislature.  Commencing  within  a  short 
]>eriod  after  the  country  had  thrown  otV  the  shackles  of  u  corrupt  an<l  outworn  electoral  s\>tem. 
it  witnessed  the  advancement  of  the  people  liv  sueee>sive  >tage>  to  a  ]K»ition  of  supreme  ]«>wcr. 
Simultaneously  it  saw  accom]ilisheil  economic.  Miciologieal,  and  educational  changes  of  a  \;i>t 
and  wide-reaching  character,  and  it  marked  the  development  of  the  Empire  from  an  inchoate 
and  feelile  system  into  a  ]>owerful,  well-knit  organisation. 

lu  their  jM-rsonal  character  the  earliest  Parliaments  of  the  late  Queen's  reign  lacked 
something  of  the  lustre  which  had  attached  to  the  Legislature  a  half-century  earlier,  and  which 
was  to  distinguish  it  a  half-century  later.  But  if  there  was  no  Chatham,  or  Pitt,  or  Cunning 


from  a  (ittoprapA  >>>  "  H.  II."  (John  Day  It),  puUMtd  July,  1837. 

••WK,   THE  PEOPLE   OF   ENGLAND!" 
A  fufloni  caricature  ilium  rating  *  familiar  episode  in  the  )xilitical  career  of  Lord  John  Unwell. 

to  electrify  a  listening  world  by  his  oratory,  and  to  dazzle  an  admiring  country  by  his 
statesmanship,  the  Mage  was  occupied  by  men  who  yet  fill  a  verv  respectable  place  in 
history.  Looking  back,  we  find  foremost  in  the  ranks  Sir  Kobert  Peel,  still  with  the  great e.-t 
part  of  his  career  before  him,  but  nevertheless  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  commanding  reputation 
as  a  Parliamentary  leader.  By  his  side  is  Stanley,  "the  Rupert  of  debate."  >teadily  adding  to 
his  already  great  fame  as  a  brilliant  orator.  On  the  opposite  benches  sit  Lord  John  Ku-r-rll. 
the  hero  of  the  battle  of  Keform.  a  statesman  of  great  influence  and  untarnished  honour,  and 
I»rd  Palmerston,  already  qualified  by  successful  tenure  of  office  for  the  splendid  position  he  was 
subsequently  to  fill  as  the  greatest  of  modern  administrators  of  foreign  affairs.  Looming  large 
in  the  background  is  the  familiar  figure  of  Macaulay,  an  object  of  awed  admiration  to  his 
fellows,  and  farther  away  are  visible  the  clear-cut,  eager  features  of  Gladstone,  "the  rising  hope 
of  the  stern,  unbending  Tories,"  and  as  yet  nothing  more.  In  "the  other  House"  the  Uuke 
of  Wellington  is  observable,  still  a  notable  jwlitical  figure,  albeit  his  com.-e  of  active  states- 
manship is  nearly  run.  Confronting  him  are  Earl  (irey  and  Lord  Brougham,  both  in  a 
political  sense  somewhat  extinct  volcanoes,  while  special  attention  is  attracted  by  Lord  Melbourne, 


461 


464 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


course  of  a  >  peed  i  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  1841,  "that  it  is  her  .Majesty's  opinion  that 
the  noble  Viscount  hns  rendered  her  Maje-ty  tin-  greatest  po-.»ible  service,  making  her 
acquainted  with  the  in. «!••  ami  jioliry  of  the  government  of  the  country,  initiating  her  into 
the  laws  and  spirit  of  the  Constitution.  Independently  of  the  performance  of  his  duty  as 
the  servant  of  her  Majesty's  Crown;  teaching  her.  in  short,  to  preside  over  the  de-tinie> 
of  this  great  country." 

Lord  MelUmrne's  chief  henchman  in  the  House  of  Commons  at  the  time  of  the  late 
ijueen's  accession  was  Lord  John  I\u>sell.  a  tru>ted  and  ]>opular  leader,  whose  intimate 
association  with  the  pissing  of  the  great  Heform  Act  gave  him  a  jwsition  of  great  power  in 
the  country.  In  the  Jlou>e  of  Commons  lie  showed  consummate  qualities  of  leadership,  fight  in:,' 
almost  single-handed  against  a  powerful  combination.  His  appearance  at  this  ]>eriod  is 
graphically  sketched  by  Mr.  Maddyn  in  his  '"Chiefs  of  Parties"  in  the  following  passage : 
•'His  outward  form  was  fmil  and  weakly;  his  countenance  sicklied  over  with  the  effects  of 
ill-health  and  solitary  self-communing ;  his  figure  shrunken  below  the  dimensions  of  ordinary 
mankind;  ids  general  air  that  of  a  meditative  invalid.  But  within  that  feeble  body  was  a 
spirit  that  knew  not  how  to  cower,  a  brave  heart  that  could  pulsate  vehemently  with  large 
and  heroical  emotions,  a  soul  that  aspired  to  live  nobly  in  a  proud  and  right  manly  career. 
His  \nice  was  weak,  his  accent  was  mincing  with  affectation,  his  elocution  broken,  stammering 
.and  uncertain,  save  when  in  a  few  lucky  moments  his  tongue  seemed  unloosed,  and  there 
came  rushing  from  his  lips  a  burst  of  epigrammatic  sentences — logical,  eloquent,  and  terse, 
and  occasionally  vivified  by  the  fire  of  genius.  Then  would  his  right  hand  be  convulsively 
clenched,  his  head  proudly  thrown  back,  the  outline  of  his  face  become  rigid  and  drawn,  and 
the  small  form  seem  to  dilate,  while  the  cheeks  would  blanchen  with  moral  excitement,  as  tin- 
ecstasy  of  applauding  partisans  made  the  walls  of  the  Senate  ring  with  echoing  cheers." 

Though  an  ardent  reformer,  Lord  John 
was  not  disposed  to  lend  any  sanction  to 
the  efforts  that  were  then  being  made  by 
the  advanced  wing  of  his  party  to  carry 
still  further  the  process  of  remodelling  the 
Constitution.  A  speech  he  made  on  the 
very  threshold  of  the  new  reign  indicating 
his  views  led  to  the  application  to  him  of 
the  familiar  nickname  of  "Finality  John." 
'•Her  Majesty's  Ministers,"  he  said,  speaking 
in  June,  1837,  in  reference  to  the  Keform 
Act,  "while  they  consider  it  a  final  measure, 
do  not  intend  that  it  should  remain  a 
barren  Act  upon  the  Statute  Book,  but  that 
it  should  l>e  followed  up  in  such  a  manner 
as  would  ennoble,  invigorate,  and  enlarge 
the  institutions  of  the  country."  A  good 
many  year*  afterwards  Lord  John  Knssell 
availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  provided 
by  a  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons  to 
explain  that  he  had  not  used  the  phrase  in 
the  sense  imputed  to  him;  but  the  sobriquet 
had  then  got  far  too  good  a  start  to  be  re- 
called. Almost  to  the  day  of  his  death  it  had 
its  place  in  the  common  political  currency. 
Lord  John  liu—cll's  chief  rivals  at  the 

,!  (A<  jxu'nfift?  dy  CmnlAlfnd  tt Ortay  in  tke  Kational  Portrait  GaUtry. 

THK   DUKK    01    WKM.ISIJTOX.    K .,:..  P8™**   "f  "'"  "«•*  Wlt1'   Whicb  W«'  ««'  MaUllg 

on.0fthegre«t|)oiiticaii«Mi«nofu.ee1uiyVi(;iorUni«riod.  "ere    Sir   Robert    Peel   and   Mr.   (afterwards 


From  a  piclurt  in  Ihi  National  Portrait  Galltrv.  Paiit/ed  in  1846,  bvjohn  Partridgt. 

HENRY  JOHN   TEMPLE,  THIRD  VISCOUNT  PALMERSTON,   K.G 

The  mat  Foremen  MeontUT  ud  I  lin«  MluUter  whow  ntolutc  foreign  policy  •tented  tlnail  Brluin  to  •  bl(h  podtloa  In  the  UounofU  o(  Europe. 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


465 


Lord)  Stanley.  Both  were  Parlia- 
mentarians of  the  highest  capacity; 
both  had  strongly  marked  personal 
qualities  which  distinguished  them 
from  him.  Peel  was  a  skilful  de- 
hater — strong,  logical,  and  practical; 
but  his  manner  was  cold  and  uncon- 
ciliatory,  and  even  when  lie  com- 
manded the  undivided  allegiance 
of  the  Conservative  Party,  he  may 
be  said  to  have  held  his  position  by 
force  of  character  rather  than  by 
ties  of  affection.  Stanley  had  all 
Peel's  cleverness  with  the  added 
quality  of  brilliancy.  Macaulay  said 
of  him  that  "  his  knowledge  of  the 
science  of  party  defence  resembles 
an  instinct,"  and  the  great  writer 
cited  him  as  the  sole  instance  of 
an  eminent  debater  who  had  not 
made  himself  a  master  of  his  art 
at  the  expense  of  his  audience. 
Professor  Pryme,  in  this  passage 
from  his  "  Autobiographic  Recol- 
lections," confirms  and  strengthens 
this  estimate  :  "  I  have  heard  Pitt, 
Fox,  and  other  great  speakers,  but 
never  any  to  equal  Lord  Derby, 
when  Mr.  Stanley,  for  elegance 
and  sweetness  of  expression."  Lord  Lytton's  description  of  Lord  Stanley  in  his  poem,  The 
Timon,  may  also  be  cited  as  a  contemporary  testimony  to  the  statesman's  genius : — 


From  an  engraving  after  a  drawing  by  George  Richmond,  R.A.,  by  permission 

of  trillion's  Club. 

EDWARD  STANLEY,    FOURTEENTH   EAEL   OP  DERBY, 
"  The  Rupert  of  debate." 


The   brilliant  cl.ief,  irregularly  great, 

Frank,  haughty,  rash — the  Knpert  of  debate — 

Nor  gout,  nor  to.l,  his  freshness  can  destroy, 

And  time  still  leaves  all   Eton  in  the  boy. 

First  in  the  class  and  keenest  in  the  ring, 

He  saps  like  Gladstone,  and  he  fights  like  Spring. 

Kv'n  at  the  feast  his  pluck  pervades  the  board, 

And  dauntless  gamecocks  symbolise  their  lord. 

As  where  a-tilt  at  friend — if  barred  from  foe — 

He  scours  the  ground  and  volunteers  the  blow  ; 


And,  tired  with  conquest  over  Dan  and  Snob, 

Plants  a  slight  brasier  on  the  nose  of  Bob. 

Decorous  Bob,  too  friendly  to  reprove, 

Suggests  fresh  fighting  in  the  next  remove, 

And  prompts  his  chum,  in  hopes  the  vein  to  cool, 

To  the  prim  benches  of  the  Upper  School. 

Yet  who  not  listens  with  delighted  smile 

To  the  pure  Saxon  of  that  silver  style  ? 

In  the  clear  style  a  heart  as  clear  is  seen, 

Prompt  to  the  rash — revolting  from  the  mean. 


Stanley's  powers  were  directed  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing  to  the  delivery  of 
damaging  attacks  upon  the  Melbourne  Ministry  for  their  subservience  to  the  Irish  vote.  The 
fact  that  the  Government  was  practically  kept  in  power  by  O'Connell  was  scathingly  denounced 
by  Stanley,  and  always  amid  approving  cheers.  In  no  instance  was  his  invective  more 
successful  than  on  one  occasion  when  he  quoted  these  lines  from  Shakespeare  : — 


But  shall  it  be  that  you,  that  set  the  cruwn 

Upon  the  head  of  this  forgetful  man. 

And  for  his  sake  wear  the  detested  blot 

Of  murderous  subornation — shall  it  be 

That  you  a  world  of  curses  undergo, 

Being  the  agents  or  hase  second  means, 

The  cords,  the  ladder,  or  the  hangman  rather? 

Oh,  pardon  me  that  I  descend  so  low 

To  show  the  line  and  the  predicament 


Wherein  you  range  under  this  subtle  king. 
Shall  it  for  shame  be  spoken  in  these  days, 
Or  fill  up  chronicles  in  time  to  come, 
That  men  of  your  nobility  and  power 
Did  'gage  them  both  in  an  unjust  behalf 
As  both  of  you — God  pardon  it — have  done  ? 
And  shall  it  be,  in  more  shame,  further  spoken 
That  you  are  fooled,  discarded,  and  shook  off 
By  him  for  whom  these  shames  ye  underwent  ? 

59 


466 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


JOHN    SIMil.KToX   1-OPI.KV.    I.OIM)    I.VN'OHf  l:ST, 

Lotd  Chancellor  nmlrr  Canning  in  1827,  ami  nulxequeiitly  in  the  Ministry 
of  1834  and  th«  Peel  Ailuilnutration  of  1841-W. 


Quoting  Shakes]>eare  in  the  House  of 
Common*  is  a  hazardous  practice.  I  nit  Stan- 
ley had  rightly  gauged  his  audience.  The 
telling  sentences  of  the  national  writer  were 
received  with  immense  enthusiasm.  They 
were  felt  to  hit  off  most  aptly  a  situation 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conservative 
( >p] io-it  inn.  was  degrading  to  the  country. 
On  the  Irish  side  there  was  a  not  unnatural 
disposition  shown  to  resent  these  and  similar 
attacks  upon  their  association  with  the 
Government.  Probably  the  most  remarkable 
— certainly  the  most  eloquent — retort  which 
was  made  was  embodied  in  an  oration  of 
Hiehard  Ijilor  Shell,  a  notable  member  of 
O'Connell's  party,  to  a  speech  of  Lord 
Lyndhurst's  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  which 
the  Irish  had  been  referred  to  as  alien>. 

"Where."  asked  Sheil.  "was  Arthur 
Duke  of  Wellington  when  these  words  were 
uttered?  Methinks  he  would  have  started 
up  to  disclaim  them.  The  battles,  sieges, 
fortunes  that  he'd  passed  ought  to  have 
come  back  upon  him.  He  ought  to  have 
remembered  that  from  the  earliest  achieve- 
ment in  which  he  displayed  that  military 

genius  which  has  placed  him  foremost  in  the  annals  of  modern  warfare,  down  to  the  last  and 
surpassing  combat  which  has  made  his  name  imperishable — from  Assaye  to  Waterloo — the  Irish 
soldiers  with  whom  3'our  armies  were  filled  were  the  insepsirable  auxiliaries  to  the  glory 
with  which  his  unparalleled  successes  have  been  crowned.  Whose  were  the  athletic  anus 
that  drove  your  bayonets  at  Vimiera  through  the  phalanxes  that  never  reeled  in  the  shock  of 
war  before?  What  desperate  valour  climbed  the  steeps  and  filled  the  moats  of  Kadajos?  All, 
all  his  victories  should  have  rushed  and  crowded  back  upon  his  memory — Yimiera,  Badajos, 
Salamanca,  Allmera,  Toulouse,  and,  last  of  all,  the  greatest.  Tell  me,  for  you  were  there — I 
appeal  to  the  gallant  soldier  before  me — (pointing  to  Sir  Henry  Hardinge)—  who  has.  I  know, 
a  generous  heart  in  an  intrepid  breast — tell  me,  for  you  must  needs  remember  on  that  day 
when  the  destinies  of  mankind  were  trembling  in  the  balance,  while  death  fell  in  showers  upon 
them ;  when  the  artillery  of  France,  levelled  with  the  precision  of  the  most  deadly  science, 
played  upon  them  ;  when  her  legions,  incited  by  the  voice,  inspired  by  the  example  of  their 
mighty  leader,  rushed  again  and  again  to  the  contest; — tell  me  if  for  an  instant  (when  to 
hesitate  for  an  instant  was  to  be  lost)  the  'aliens'  blanched?  And  when,  at  length,  the  moment 
for  the  last  decisive  movement  had  arrived  ;  when  the  valour,  so  long  wisely  checked,  was  at  la>t 
let  loose;  when  with  words  familiar  but  immortal  the  great  captain  exclaimed,  •  Up,  Lids,  and 
at  them!" — tell  me  if  Catholic  Ireland  with  less  heroic  valour  than  the  natives  of  your  own 
glorious  isle  precipitated  itself  upon  the  foe?  The  blood  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland 
flowed  in  the  same  stream  on  the  same  field  ;  when  the  chill  morning  dawned  their  dead  lay 
cold  and  stark  together;  in  the  same  deep  pit  their  bodies  were  deposited;  the  green  arm  of 
spring  is  now  breaking  on  their  commingled  dust;  the  dew  falls  from  heaven  upon  their  union 
in  the  grave.  Partakers  in  every  peril,  in  the  glory  shall  we  not  part  icij  tat  e  ?  And  shall  we  be 
told,  as  a  requital,  that  we  are  estranged  from  the  noble  country  for  whose  salvation  our  life-blood 
was  jjoured  out  ?  " 

A  great  effect  was  produced  by  this  pure  piece  of  oratory.     The  passionate  vehemence  of 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


467 


the  speaker,  and  the  mournful  music  of  his    voice,  says  Francis  in    his    "  Orators  of  the  Age," 
were  a  living  echo  to  the  deep  emotions  with  which  his  soul  seemed  charged. 

Far  superior  to  Sheil  in  political  talents,  though  greatly  his  inferior  in  oratory,  was  his 
leader,  Daniel  O'Connell.  This  remarkable  man  occupied  a  position  in  Parliament  the  like  of 
which  had  never  been  filled  by  any  politician  who  had  not  held  office.  As  we  have  seen,  his 
was  the  power  behind  the  throne  during  the  continuance  of  the  Melbourne  Ministry.  So  well 
drilled  were  his  legions,  so  completely  were  Ministries  at  his  mercy,  that  he  could  at  any  time 
have  displaced  them  if  it  had  suited  his  interests.  His  qualities  appealed  rather  to  the  crowd 
than  to  a  critical  audience  such  as  he  had  to  face  at  Westminster ;  yet  he  filled  a  great  place 
there  quite  apart  from  the  prestige  which  belonged  to  him  as  a  powerful  political  leader, 
capable  of  making  and  unmaking  ministries.  It  is  difficult  to  analyse  the  elements  of  his 
strength  ;  but  it  may  be  affirmed  with  some  degree  of  certainty  that  a  racy  gift  of  native 
humour,  coupled  with  a  bland  indifference  to  externals,  which  his  enemies  called  impudence, 
went  a  long  way  towards  building  up  his  great  reputation.  His  wit  was  never  more  effectively 
employed  than  in  gibbeting  a  political  opponent  in  verse,  as  he  was  in  the  habit  of  doing,  to 
the  delight  of  the  House.  One  of  the  best  remembered  and  most  telling  of  his  parodies  was 
the  following  one  on  three  well-known  members,  Colonels  Sibthorp,  Perceval,  and  Verner,  who 
had  attracted  his  malicious  shafts  by 
their  political  action: —  &£K^, 

Three  colonels  in  three  distant  counties  born, 
Lincoln,  Armagh,  and  Sligo  did  adorn; 
The  first  in  matchless  impudence  surpassed, 
The  next  in  bigotry,  in  both  the  last. 
The  force  of  Nature  could  no  further  go — 
To  beard  the  third  she  shaved  the  other  two. 

The   point   of    the    humour    lies    in 

the    fact    that    while    Perceval    and 

Verner    stood    in    little    need    of    a 

razor,    Sibthorp   was   bearded   like   a 

pard.     Another  amusing  incident  of 

which   O'Connell  was   the   hero   was 

a  genial  attack  on   the   spur  of  the 

moment    on    Walter,    the    proprietor 

of  the  Times.     This    gentleman  was 

one  of  the  small  band  of  politicians, 

headed    by    Lord    Stanley,    who    on 

Lord  Melbourne's  accession  to  power 

in  1835  formed  what  was  styled  the 

"  Neutral "  party.     The  ranks  of  the 

party     were     rapidly     depleted     as 

the   session  wore  on,  and  at   length 

only  a  few  of  the  original  members, 

Walter  being  amongst  the    number, 

were  left,  as  it  were,  sitting  on  the 

fence.       O'Connell    one    evening,    in 

the  course  of  a  debate  on  the  second 

reading    of    the    Irish    Church    Bill, 

made  allusion  to  this  fact.    Looking 

on  the  Ministerial  side  of  the  House  ^^  ^  ^  ^^ 

and  not  seeing  Walter  there,   he  was  BENJAMIN  DISRAELI,  EARL  OF  BEACONSFIELD,  K.G. 

about    to    express    his    regret    that    he  A  famolu  p^lt  of  the  great  .tate.n,an,  representing  him  as  the  youthful  author  of 

was    not    in    the    House,    when    on  "  Vivian  Grey." 


468 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


casting  his  eye  on  the  Opposition  side,  he  observed  him  sitting  in  the  midst  of  his  "  Neutral  " 
friends,  on  which  he  exclaimed,  in  Ins  own  inimitable  style:  "Oh,  the  honourable  member  has 
also  gone  over  !  While  sitting  by  himself  on  this  (the  Ministerial)  side  of  the  House,  he  was 
like  'the  last  rose  of  summer'  (shouts  of  laughter)  — 

Like  the  laxt  roue  of  summer  left  blooming  alone, 
All  iU  lovely  companions  being  faded  and  gone." 

"It  is  impossible,"  says  Mr.  Grant,  who  describes  the  incident,  "to  convey  any  idea  of  the 
effect  which  this  produced.  Mr.  Walter's  j>ersonal  friends  could  not  refrain  from  joining  in 
the  loud  |H-:ils  of  laughter  which  burst  from  all  parts  of  the  House,  and  even  he  himself 
enjoyed  the  harmless  but  happy  raillery." 

O'Connell  added  to  his  wit  a  pretty  gift  of  vituperative  retort.  When  attacked  in  1837 
by  Disraeli,  whose  earlier  candidature  for  High  Wycombe  in  1832  he  had  supported,  he 
asserted  of  his  opponent  that  "he  jiossesses  just  the  qualities  of  the  impenitent  thief  who 
died  upon  the  cross,  whose  name  1  verily  believe  must  Imve  been  Disraeli.'*  Incensed  at  the 
language,  Disraeli  sent  a  challenge  to  the  Dictator's  son,  calling  upon  him  to  perform  "the 
vicarious  duty  of  yielding  satisfaction  for  the  in-iilts  which  your  father  has  too  long  lavMied 
with  impunity  on  his  political  opponents";  but  the  latter  declined  the  meeting.  O'Connell's 
coarse  invective  got  him  into  constant  hot  water  in  the  House.  One  outbreak  in  the  early 
I-art  of  1838  drew  down  upon  him  the  formal  censure  of  the  Sjieaker.  At  a  public  meeting 
in  Ireland  held  at  this  period  the  Liberator  had  inveighed  with  unrestrained  violence  against 

the  action  of  election  com- 
mittees. asserting  that  Un- 
well-ascertained choice  of 
important  constituencies  was 
often  set  at  naught  by  com- 
mittee decisions  flagrantly 
irreconcilable  with  a  due 
observance  of  that  judiciou- 
itnpartiiility  to  which  the 
individuals  composing  thc»e 
committees  were  sworn  at 
the  table  of  the  House.  The 
use  of  the  phrase  "  perjured  " 
in  speaking  of  the  committee 
gave  an  additional  element 
of  offensiveness  to  the  attack, 
and  supplied  the  motive  force 
for  the  proceedings  which 
were  taken  to  vindicate  their 
offended  honour.  After  an 
animated  debate  the  HOUM- 
decided  by  an  overwhelming 
majority  that  O'Connell  had 
grievously  overstepped  the 
bounds  of  moderation,  and 
merited  and  should  receive 
the  severe  reprimand  of  the 
Chair. 

The  manner  in  which 
the  rebuke  was  cidministered 
is  entertainingly  described 

ill     a     letter     by     Disraeli    to 


O'COXXELL. 


("Th.  Liberator  "Mbelwder  of  the  Irish  party  in  the  early  Victorian  P»rlUm«nt». 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


469 


Reproduced  by  pirmixxioti  of  the  Art  C>tion  of  London  from  their  Ittrye  ptate  of  thf  picture  by  DaitUl  Maclim,  It. A, 

QUEEN   ELIZABETH  AT    TILBURY   FORT. 
One  of  a  series  of  paintings  designed  for  the  decoration  of  the  new  Houses  of  Parliament. 

his  sister,  written  on  March  1st,  1838.  "Yesterday,"  says  the  vivacious  chronicler,  whose 
narrative  was  doubtless  coloured  by  his  not  unnatural  antipathy  to  the  Irish  leader, 
"  O'Connell  received  his  reprimand  in  one  of  the  most  crowded  Houses  I  remember.  He 
entered  about  4'30,  during  the  transaction  of  private  business,  with  his  usual  air  of  bustle 
and  indifference ;  but  it  was  very  obvious  that  his  demeanour  was  affected,  as  he  was  so 
restless  that  he  did  not  keep  in  his  place  for  two  minutes  together.  At  five  o'clock  the 
business  commenced.  The  Speaker  inquired  whether  O'Connell  was  in  attendance,  upon  which 
O'Connell  announced  :  '  Yes,  sir,'  but  did  not  rise.  The  Speaker,  who  wore  his  three-cornered 
hat,  then  said:  'Sir,  you  must  stand  up.'  This  rather  dashed  Dan,  who  began  to  feel  uneasy, 
as  was  very  evident,  standing  like  a  culprit  before  several  hundred  individuals  sitting.  After 
all,  it  is  a  moral  pillory,  and  I  am  much  mistaken  whether  Dan  did  not  suffer  acutely.  The 
reprimand,  considering  the  politics  and  physical  and  intellectual  qualities  of  the  reprimanded, 
was  not  ineffective.  Dan  stood  like  a  penitent  for  a  few  minutes,  then  affected  to  look  at 
some  papers,  and  almost  as  quickly  resumed  his  attention  to  the  Chair,  as  if  he  feared  the 
House  would  notice  his  indifference.  Then  he  dropped  the  paper ;  then  he  took  it  up ;  then 
listened  again  ;  then  took  out  his  spectacles,  wiped  them,  and  did  not  put  them  on.  At  last 


470 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THOMAS    ISAIlIMiTiiN.    I.CIKD    M  AC  -VI    I.  AY. 
A  |x>rtrmit  of  the  hUturian  when  making  hU  way  in  Parliament, 


it  was  finished,  when  he  rose  and  made  n 
very  ruffianly  acknowledgment ;  and  here  the 
SjH-aker  quite  failed,  as  he  ought  not  to 
have  permitted  it." 

O'Connrll's  son.  John,  gives,  in  his 
••  Kc -collections  of  a  Parliamentary  Career,"  a 
picture  of  tin-  scene  painted  from  the  Irish 
staii(l]i<>int.  He  states  that  his  father,  in 
concluding  what  Disraeli  terms  his  "  ruffianly 
acknowledgment)"  said  :  ••  I  have  repented  of 
nothing,  I  have  retracted  nothing.  1  repeat 
what  I  have  said :  I  only  wish  I  could  find 
terms  less  offensive  in  themselves  and  equally 
significant.  I  am  bound  to  re-assert  what 
I  have  said,  for  I  am  convinced  of  nothing 
by  a  vote."  "There  was,  of  course,"  says 
John  O'Connell,  "a  terrible  outcry  at  this 
'malignancy,'  and  the  whole  business  would 
doubtless  have  had  to  be  done  over  again  — 
indictment,  defence,  reprimand  and  all — had 
not  so  many  other  members  started  up  and 
expressed  in  pretty  unequivocal  terms  their 
coincidence  with  Mr.  O'Connell's  view  of  the 
case,  that  still  greater  ridicule  would  have 
fallen  upon  the  elaborate  process  by  which  so  doubtful  a  vindication  of  decisions  which,  in 
spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  party,  were  held  by  the  public  mind  to  be  very  doubtful  in  them- 
selves, were  to  be  affected." 

Notwithstanding  his  faults  of  taste  and  temper,  O'Connell  occupied  a  position  of  great 
influence  in  the  House  by  virtue  of  his  extraordinary  talents.  Mr.  James  Grant,  in  the 
work  previously  referred  to,  gives  a  glowing  description  of  his  remarkable  debating  powers, 
assigning  him  a  position  in  this  respect  above  that  of  any  of  his  compeers.  "O'Connell's 
genius,"  he  said,  '•  ever  and  anon  bursts  forth  with  a  brilliancy  and  effect  which  are  quite 
overwhelming.  You  have  not  well  recovered  from  the  overpowering  surprise  and  admiration 
caused  by  one  of  his  brilliant  effusions  when  another  flashes  upon  you  and  produces  the 
same  effect.  You  have  no  time,  nor  are  you  in  a  position,  to  weigh  the  force  of  his 
arguments;  you  are  taken  captive  wherever  the  speaker  chooses  to  lead  you,  from  beginning 
to  end."  "One  of  the  most -extraordinary  qualities  of  O'Connell's  oratory,"  adds  Mr.  (irant, 
"is  the  ease  and  facility  with  which  he  can  make  a  transition  from  one  quality  to  another. 
I  have  seen  him  begin  his  speech  by  alluding  to  topics  of  an  affecting  nature,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  excite  the  deepest  sympathy  towards  the  sufferers  in  the  mind  of  the  most 
unfeeling  person  present.  I  have  seen,  in  other  words,  the  tear  glistening  in  the  eyes  of  men 
altogether  unused  to  the  melting  mood,  and  in  a  moment  afterwards,  by  a  transition  from  the 
grave  to  the  humorous,  1  have  seen  the  whole  audience  convulsed  with  laughter.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  have  often  heard  him  commence  his  speech  in  a  strain  of  the  most  exquisite 
humour,  and  by  a  sudden  transition  to  deep  pathos  produce  the  stillness  of  death  in  a  place 
in  which  but  one  moment  before  the  air  was  rent  with  shouts  of  laughter." 

For  several  years  in  the  early  part  of  the  late  Queen's  reign,  O'Connell  continued  to  fill 
the  Parliamentary  and  political  stage  more  or  less  completely.  He  was  one  of  a  half-dozen 
men  in  the  House  who  could  always  command  an  attentive  hearing  whatever  the  occasion  of 
his  intervention  in  debate.  A  life  of  strenuous  lalxmr  in  the  domain  of  agitation  eventually, 
however,  told  on  his  giant  frame.  Karly  in  1846  he  fell  into  such  ill-health  that  he  found 
it  difficult  to  discharge  his  political  duties.  His  last  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons  was 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


471 


delivered  on  April  3rd,  1846,  under  pathetic  circumstances,  well  described  by  Disraeli  in  his 
"  Life  of  Bentinck."  The  occasion  was  the  adjourned  debate  on  the  Irish  Coercion  Bill.  Speaking 
from  the  place  usually  occupied  by  the  Leader  of  the  Opposition,  O'Connell  submitted  an 
amendment  to  the  motion  before  the  House.  "  His  appearance  was  of  great  debility,  and  the 
tones  of  his  voice  were  very  still.  His  words,  indeed,  only  reached  those  who  were  immediately 
around  him  and  the  Ministers  sitting  on  the  other  side  of  the  green  table  and  listening  with 
that  interest  and  respectful  attention  which  became  the  occasion.  It  was  a  strange  and 
touching  spectacle  to  those  who  remembered  the  form  of  colossal  energy  and  the  clear  and 
thrilling  tones  that  had  once  startled,  disturbed,  and  controlled  senates.  Mr.  O'Connell  was 
on  his  legs  for  nearly  two  hours,  assisted  occasionally  in  the  management  of  his  documents  by 
some  devoted  aide-de-camp.  To  the  House  generally  it  was  a  performance  in  dumb  show, 
a  feeble  old  man  muttering  before  a  table  ;  but  respect  for  the  great  Parliamentary  personage 
kept  all  as  orderly  as  if  the  fortunes  of  a  party  hung  upon  his  rhetoric;  and  though  not  an 
accent  reached  the  gallery,  means  were  taken  that  next  morning  the  country  should  not  lose 
the  last  and  not  the  least  interesting 
of  the  speeches  of  one  who  has  so  long 
occupied  and  agitated  the  mind  of 
nations."  O'Connell  lingered  on  until 
the  following  year,  but  he  never  again 
essayed  to  address  the  House. 

A  genius  of  a  widely  different  type 
to  O'Connell  who  also  figured  prominently 
in  Parliament  at  this  period  was 
Macaulay,  to  whom  brief  reference  has 
already  been  made.  The  historian,  who 
did  nothing  by  halves,  from  the  outset 
of  his  Parliamentary  career  made  up 
his  mind  to  create  a  great  reputation 
for  himself  as  a  debater ;  and  he 
brilliantly  succeeded  in  accomplishing 
his  design.  His  maiden  speech,  delivered 
in  1830  on  the  Jewish  Disabilities 
question,  according  to  Mr.  Grant, 
"electrified  the  House  and  called  forth 
the  highest  compliments  to  the  speaker 
from  men  of  all  parties."  It  was 
followed  up  the  next  year  by  a  series 
of  masterly  contributions  to  the  debates 
on  the  Eeform  question.  Jeffreys,  his 
famous  colleague  on  the  Edinburgh 
Revieiv,  after  hearing  one  of  these  wrote 
to  Lord  Cockburn  expressing  the  opinion 
that  the  utterance  put  Macaulay  "  at 
the  head  of  the  great  speakers,  if  not 
the  great  debaters,  of  the  House."  This 
nattering  estimate  was  confirmed  and 
upheld  by  subsequent  experience.  The 
historian  supplied  in  his  person  a 
striking  refutation  of  the  commonly 
accepted  theory  that  a  man  who  was 

a  great  writer  could  not  be  also  a  great  THOMAS  BABINGTOX,  LORD  MACAULAY. 

orator    and    statesman.      He    owed    his  The  historian  m  late.  life. 


472 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Parliamentary  triumph*,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  to  that  immense  capacity  for  taking 
which  built  up  his  splendid  literary  reputation.  His  speeches  were  prepared  with  the  utmo-t 
care  and  committed  t..  memory.  They  were  adorned  with  every  literary  grace,  and  when 
delivered  had  all  the  charm  which  characterises  his  writings.  If  inMead  of  succumbing  to  the 
hlandi.-hmcnts  of  a  lucrative  and  dignified  official  career  in  India  he  had  followed  his  political 
bent,  alinoM  any  jM.sition  short  of  the  highe^  might  eventually  have  been  his.  As  things 
Men-  he  left  ii  great  name  iii  the  annals  of  Parliament,  but  he  was  never  absolutely  in  the 
front  rank. 

Manv  are  the  descriptions  in  contemporary  political  literature  of  .Macaulay's  peculiar  style  of 
breathless  c.ratorr.  The  most  graphic  is.  perhaps,  that  contained  in  the  following  sketch  Mipplicd 
in  Francis's  "  Orators  of  the  Age " :  "  Seated,  he  folds  his  arms  and  sits  in  silence,  seldom 
s|N>aking  to  his  colleagues  or  appearing  to  notice  what  is  going  forward.  An  opening  is 
made  in  the  discussion,  and  he  rises,  or  rather  darts  up  from  his  seat,  plunging  at  once  into 
the  verv  heart  of  his  subject,  without  exordium  or  apologetic  preface.  In  fact,  you  have  for 
a  few  seconds  heard  a  voice,  pitched  in  alto,  monotonous  and  rather  shrill,  pouring  forth  words 
with  inconceivable  velocity,  ere  you, have  become  aware  that  a  new  speaker,  and  one  of  no  common 
order,  has  broken  in  ujxm  the  debate.  A  few  seconds  more,  and  cheers— perhaps  from  all 
parts  of  the  House — rouse  you  from  your  apathy,  compelling  you  to  follow  that  extremely 
voluble  and  not  very  enticing  voice  in  its  rapid  course  through  the  subject  on  which  the 
speaker  is  entering,  with  a  resolute  determination,  it  seems,  never  to  pause.  You  think  of  an 
express  train  that  does  not  stop  even  at  the  chief  stations.  On,  on,  he  speeds,  in  full  reliance 
on  his  own  momentum,  never  stopping  for  words,  never  stopping  for  thoughts,  never  halting 
for  an  instant,  even  to  take  breath— his  intellect  gathering  new  vigour  as  he  proceeds,  hauling 
the  subject  after  him,  and  all  its  possible  attributes  and  illustrations  with  the  strength  of  a 
giant-,  leaving  a  line  of  light  on  the  pathway  his  mind  has  trod,  till,  unexhausted  and 
«p|Hirently  inexhaustible,  he  brings  this  remarkable  effort  to  a  close  by  a  peroration  so  highly 
sustained  in  its  declamatory  power,  so  abounding  in  illustration,  so  admirably  framed  to  crown 
and  clench  the  whole  oration,  that  surprise,  even  if  it  has  begun  to  wear  off,  kindles  anew, 
and  the  hearer  is  left  utterly  prostrate  and  powerless  by  the  whirlwind  of  ideas  and  emotions 
that  has  swept  over  him." 

Macaulay  showed    in  his  oratory  that  happy  gift  which    so   conspicuously  distinguishes   his 

writings  of  making  a  subject  interesting  by  allusion 
and  anecdote.  Indeed,  there  is  a  striking  resemblance 
of  thought  and  construction  between  the  two.  As 
Francis  puts  it,  "  His  speeches  read  like  essays,  as 
his  essays  read  like  speeches."  An  excellent  example 
of  his  oratorical  style  is  furnished  by  a  speech  he 
delivered  in  February,  1845,  on  the  new  tariff  scheme 
introduced  by  Sir  Robert  Peel,  by  which,  while 
abxilutely  prohibitory  duties  were  imposed  on  foreign 
sugar  manufactured  by  slave  labour,  raw  sugar  of 
similar  origin  was  admitted  free.  The  casuistical 
distinction  was  seized  hold  of  by  Macaulay  for 
attack.  His  method  was  anecdotal.  "I  remember," 
said  the  eminent  historian,  "something  very  like 
the  honourable  gentleman's  morality  in  a  Spanish 
novel  which  I  read  long  ago.  I  beg  pardon  of  the 
House  for  detaining  them  with  such  a  trifle,  but 
the  story  is  much  to  the  purixw.  A  wandering 
lad,  a  sort  of  (iil  Hlas,  is  taken  into  the  service  of 

MH  THOMAS   NOON    TAI.Foritl).  .  . 

j«i8.,«»yw,.ndd»,u»ti.t;«he,,riKiM,.,r  .,,„„».„«.  in      a   rlch    old    silversMut  I,,  a   most   pious    man,  who   is 
p»rii«meot  for  th«  •ecnrity  of  iiumrjr  copyright,  always  telling  his  beads,  who  hears  mass  daily,  and 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


473 


observes  the  feasts  and  fasts  of  the 
Church  with  the  utmost  scrupulosity. 
The  silversmith  is  always  preaching 
honesty  and  piety.  '  Never,'  he  con- 
stantly repeats  to  his  young  assistant 
— '  never  touch  what  is  not  your 
own ;  never  take  liberties  with  sacred 
things.'  Sacrilege,  as  uniting  theft 
with  profaneness,  is  the  sin  of  which 
he  has  the  deepest  horror.  One  day 
while  he  is  lecturing  after  his  usual 
fashion  an  ill-looking  fellow  comes 
into  the  shop  with  a  sack  under  his 
arm.  '  Will  you  buy  these  ? '  says 
the  visitor,  and  produces  from  the 
sack  some  church  plate  and  a  rich 
silver  crucifix.  '  Buy  them  ! '  savs 
the  pious  man.  '  No,  nor  touch 
them — not  for  the  world.  I  know 
where  you  got  them.  Wretch  that 
you  are,  have  you  no  care  for  your 
soul  ? '  '  Well,  'then,'  says  the  thief, 
'  if  you  will  not  buy  them,  will  you 
melt  them  down  for  me  ?  '  '  Melt 
them  down?'  answers  the  silversmith  ; 
'that  is  quite  'another  matter.'  He 
takes  the  chalices  and  the  crucifix 
with  a  pair  of  tongs ;  the  silver  thus 
in  bond  is  dropped  into  the  crucible, 
melted,  and  delivered  to  the  thief, 
who  pays  down  five  pistoles  and 
decamps  with  his  booty.  The  young  servant  stares  at  this  strange  scene ;  but  the  master  very 
gravely  resumes  his  lecture.  'My  son,'  he  says,  'take  warning  by  that  sacrilegious  knave,  and 
take  example  by  me.  Think  what  a  load  of  guilt  lies  on  his  conscience!  You  will  see  him 
hanged  before  long.  But  as  to  me,  you  saw  that  I  would  not  touch  the  stolen  property.  I 
keep  these  tongs  for  such  occasions,  and  thus  I  thrive  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  manage  to  turn 
an  honest  penny.' "  The  House  laughed  hugely  at  Macaulay's  whimsical  story,  and  even  Peel's 
severe  features  relaxed  as  its  application  to  the  subject-matter  of  the  debate  became  obvious. 

To  Macaulay  belongs  the  rare  honour  of  having  made  a  speech  which  turned  the  balance 
of  voting  in  the  House.  The  occasion  was  the  second  reading  of  Lord  Mahon's  Copyright 
Bill,  introduced  in  the  session  of  1842.  In  this  measure  it  was  sought  to  extend  >  the  copyright 
of  a  book  to  a  period  twenty-five  years  after  the  death  of  an  author.  Macaulay,  who  in  the 
previous  session  had  successfully  opposed  a  similar  bill  introduced  by  Serjeant  Talfourd,  brought 
forward  an  alternative  scheme  giving  protection  for  forty-two  years  reckoned  from  the  date 
of  publication.  His  speech  in  elucidation  of  his  .plan  was,  as  his  biographer  remarks,  "as 
amusing  as  an  essay  of  Elia,  and  as  convincing  as  a  proof  of  Euclid."  With  a  wealth  of 
illustration  drawn  from  his  well-stored  mind  he  showed  that  the  effect  of  the  bill,  if  carried, 
would  be  to  give  prolonged  protection  to  some  of  the  worst  works  of  an  author,  and  to  afford 
inadequate  protection  to  the  best.  On  the  other  hand,  his  own  proposal,  if  adopted,  he 
maintained  would  ensure  protection  to  the  most  valuable  of  an  author's  works.  "  To  Lear, 
to  Macbeth,  to  Othello,  to  The  Faery  Queen,  to  Paradise  Lost,  to  Bacon's  '  Novum  Organum ' 
and  '  De  Augmentis,'  to  Locke's  '  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding,'  to  Clarendon's  '  History/ 

60 


the  paiiitiny  by  $ir  T.  Lawrence,. P.  11. A.  . 

SIR   ROBERT   PEEL,   BART. 
A  famous  portrait  of  the  great  statesman. 


474 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


to  llmii<-'>  -Hi-tory.'  to  Gibbon's  'History,' 
to  Smith's  -Wealth  of  Nations,'  to  Addison's 
Spectator,  to  almost  all  the  great  works  of 
Burke,  to  'Clarissa*  and  'Sir  Charles 
Grandison,'  to  -.los.-i.li  Andrews.'  'Tom  Jones,' 
and  'Amelia,'  and,  with  the  single  exception 
of  •  Waverley,'  to  all  the  novels  of  Sir 
\Vulti-r  Scott,  I  give  a  longer  term  of 
copyright  than  my  noble  friend  gives.  Can 
he  match  that  list  ?  Does  not  that  list 
contain  what  England  has  produced  great  e>t 
in  many  various  ways — poetry,  philosophy. 
history,  eloquence,  wit,  skilful  i>ort  rait  lire  of 
life  and  manners?  I  confidently,  therefore, 
call  on  the  Committee  to  take  my  plan  in 
preference  to  the  plan  of  my  noble  friend." 
The  speech  made  a  marked  impulsion  on 
the  House.  At  its  conclusion  Sir  Robert  Peel 
walked  across  the  floor  and  assured  Macaulay 
that  it  had  radically  altered  his  views  on 
the  subject.  Other  important  members 
made  a  like  confession.  In  fact,  it  was 
clearly  demonstrated  that  the  closely  reasoned 
arguments  of  the  historian  had  profoundly 
altered  the  situation  as  it  existed  at  the 
commencement  of  the  debate.  In  the  result 
Macaulay's  plan  was  adopted  substantially 
without  modification,  and  "he  enjoyed  the 
satisfaction  of  having  framed,  according  to  his 
mind,  a  statute  which  may  fairly  be  described 
as  the  charter  of  his  craft,  and  of  having 
added  to  Hansard  what  are  by  common  consent  allowed  to  be  among  its  most  readable  pages."1 

Another  of  Macaulay's  speeches  of  this  period  which  won  even  greater  celebrity  was  his 
criticism  of  the  Maynooth  Grant  on  the  second  reading  of  the  measure  introduced  by  Sir 
Robert  Peel  in  1845.  "Was  such  a  feat  of  legislation  ever  seen?"  asked  Macaulay.  "And 
can  we  wonder  that  the  eager,  honest,  hot-headed  Protestants,  who  raised  you  to  power  in  the 
confident  hope  that  you  would  curtail  the  privileges  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  should  stare  and 
grumble  when  you  propose  to  give  public  money  to  the  Roman  Catholics?  Can  we  wonder 
that,  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  everything  should  be  ferment  and  uproar, 
that  petitions  should  night  after  night  whiten  all  our  benches  like  a  snowstorm?  Can  we 
wonder  that  the  people  out  of  doors  should  be  exasperated  by  seeing  the  very  men  who,  when 
we  were  in  office,  voted  against  the  old  grant  to  Maynooth,  now  pushed  and  pulled  into  the 
House  by  your  whippers-in  to  vote  for  an  increased  grant?  The  natural  consequences  follow. 
All  those  fierce  spirits  whom  you  halloed  on  to  harass  us  now  turn  round  and  begin  to  worry 
you.  The  Orangeman  raises  his  war-whoop ;  Exeter  Hall  sets  up  its  bray  ;  Mr.  Macneile  shudders 
to  see.  more  costlv  dress  than  ever  provided  for  the  priests  of  Baal  at  the  table  of  the  Queen  ; 
and  the  Protestant  operatives  of  Dublin  call  for  impeachments  in  exceedingly  bad  English. 
But  what  did  you  expect?  Did  you  think  when,  to  serve  your  turn,  you  call  the  Devil  up, 
that  it  was  as  easy  to  lay  him  as  to  rawe  him." 

Macaulay's  otitsjKiken  utterances  on  this  occasion  had  far-reaching  results  for  him  personally. 
His  phrase,  "The  bray  of  Exeter  Hall,"  caused  deep  offence  to  his  constituents,  and  it  was  one 

1  Trevclyan's  "  Life  of  Maonulay." 


From  a  vuszitixt  ajttr  the  painting  by  HVfium  llnuUty. 
TIIK    RIGHT    HUN.    W.   K.   GLADSTONE. 

An  early  jwrtrait  of  the  great  Liberal  •talesman,  painted  in  1845,  while 
M.P.  for  Newark. 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


475 


of  the  contributory  causes,  if  not,  indeed,  the  chief,  which  brought  about  his  defeat  at  Edinburgh 
in  1847.  There  was  a  likelihood  at  the  time  that  the  rebuff,  so  humiliating  to  one  of  Macaulay's 
proud  nature,  would  have  led  to  his  complete  retirement  from  political  life.  But  five  years 
later  the  Edinburgh  people  voluntarily  undertaking  to  make  amends  for  their  previous  harsh 
conduct,  the  historian  stood  again  and  was  returned  at  the.  head  of  the  poll.  During  the  few 
remaining  years  of  his  Parliamentary  life  he  made  some  notable  contributions  to  debates  in 
the  House.  What  he  himself  regards  as  his  "very  best  speech"  was  one  delivered  in  1853 
on  the  factory  question.  In  this  he  made  effective  use  of  the  analogy  of  the  Sunday  to  defend 
the  principle  of  regulating  the  hours  of  labour.  "Man."  he  said — "man  is  the  great  instrument 
that  produces  wealth.  The  natural  difference  between  Campania  and  Spitsbergen  is  trifling 
when  compared  with  the  difference  between  a  country  inhabited  by  men  full  of  bodily  and 
mental  vigour  and  a  country  inhabited  by  men  sunk  in  bodily  and  mental  decrepitude. 
Therefore  it  is  that  we  are  not  poorer,  but  richer,  because  we  have  rested  from  our  labour  one 
day  in  seven.  That  day  is  not  lost.  While  industry  is  suspended,  while  the  plough  lies  in 
the  furrow,  while  the  Exchange  is  silent,  while  no  smoke  ascends  from  the  factory,  a  process 
is  going  on  quite  as  important  to  the  wealth  of  nations  as  any  process  which  is  performed 
on  more  busy  days.  Man,  the  machine  of  machines,  the  machine  compared  with  which  all 
the  contrivances  of  the  Watts  and  the  Arkwrights  are  worthless,  is  repairing  and  winding  up, 
so  that  he  returns  to  his  labours  on  the  Monday  with  clever  intellect,  with  livelier  spirits,  with 
renewed  corporal  vigour.  Never  will  I  believe  that  what  makes  a  population  stronger,  and 
healthier,  and  wiser,  and  better,  can  ultimately  make  it  poorer.  You  try  to  frighten  us  by 
telling  us  that  in  some  German  factories  the  young  work  seventeen  hour's  in  the  twenty-four ; 
that  they  work  so  hard  that  among  thousands  there  is  not  one  who  grows  to  such  a  stature 
that  he  can  be  admitted  into 
the  army;  and  you  ask 
whether,  if  we  pass  this  bill, 
we  can  possibly  hold  our  own 
against  such  competition  as 
this.  Sir,  I  laugh  at  the 
thought  of  such  competition. 
If  ever  we  are  forced  to  yield 
the  foremost  place  among 
commercial  nations,  we  shall 
yield  it,  not  to  a  race  of 
degenerate  dwarfs,  but  to  some 
people  pre-eminently  vigorous 
in  body  and  mind." 

Though  Macaulay  had  in 
a  marked  degree  what  is 
familiarly  known  as  "  the  ear 
of  the  House,"  he  never  com- 
manded that  power  over  its 
emotions  which  was  wielded  by 
its  greatest  orators.  Members 
listened  to  him  with  eager 
attention,  and  occasionally,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  copyright 
speech,  deferred  to  his  views  ; 
but  they  were  hardly  stirred 
by  him.  Francis,  in  his  dis- 
criminating sketch,  attributes 
this  partial  failure  to  Macaulay's 


HENKY  JOHN   TEMPLE,   THIRD   VISCOUNT   PALMERSTON,   K.G. 
One  of  the  greatest  of  Queen  Victoria's  Prime  Ministers. 


476 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


••imetcnite  habit  of  preparing  hi-  s]  ..•<•!..-.  I-MII  to  tin-  very  words  antl  plua-es.  and  <  .untiiiM  i:ig 
tin-in  to  iiii-iinii\  long  In-fore  tin-  liour  of  dclhery."  Some  opinion-  of  members  of  the  I'n— • 
(iallcry.  cited  by  Sir  lii-orge  Tic\el\an.  strengthen  the  \ic\v  that  undue  elalioration  diminished 
th«-  oratorical  effcctivene—  ut"  tin-  great  man's  utterances,  anil  though  the  biographer  endeavours 
with  some  suc.-e--  to  show  that  there  wa<  considerably  Ie->  of  preparation  than  I  he  world 
Mi|i|NtMfl.  it  i>  iin<|iie>tioiiahle  that  tlie  prevailing  impression  created  was  that  of  a  lack  of 
.-|  ontaiicitv  and  earnestness  in  his  vigorous  rhetoric.  When,  however,  the  wor-t  lias  liecn  -iid 

of  tlii'  >i chc-.  they  will  remain  with  liurke's  orations  amongst   the  inoht    fascinat  ing  contiihu- 

tions   to  the  store  of  Parliamentary  erudition. 

('oiitein|ioraneouslv  with  the  1'arliamentr.ry  expei  iences  of  Macaulay  was  juissed  the  |x>litical 
a]»|irpnticeshi]i  of  one  who.  liavintj  ina«l«-  a  yrcat  rejuitation  in  the  domain  of  literature,  \\.i-  i,, 
achieve  an  even  more  illustrious  position  in  the  field  of  state>man>hip.  It  scarc-i-ly  needs  to  lx- 
Mati-«l  that  the  reference  is  to  Itenjamin  Disraeli.  Of  all  the  strange  figures  which  tlit  across 
the  >taif»-  at  Westminster  his,  jierhaps.  is  the  straiiye-t  and  most  romantic.  Jewish  hy  birth  — 
an  alien,  as  hi-  political  enemies  were  too- prone  to  call  him — destitute  of  the  family  connection! 
which  had  U-en  the  dower  of  many  groat  statesmen  of  an  earlier  day.  with  strong  prejudice-  to 
fiifht  ai,'aiu-t  and  bitter  rivalries  and  jealou>ie>  to  overcome,  he  with  a  steadfa.-tne»  of  ]iiir|x)sc 
and  a  ]Hilitical  prescience  which  amounted  almost  to  an  inspiration  forced  his  way  to  the 
topmost  runt,'  of  the  ladder  of  fame,  leaving  Ix-hind  him  linally  a  name  which  ranks  with  the 

in    Parliamentary  history. 

An  oft-told    but    ever-engrossing    tale    is   that   of   Disraeli's    first    «i>eeeh    in    the    lloii-e    of 

Commons.  Young  and  politically 
inexperienced,  but  with  a  confident 
belief  in  his  own  jxiwers.  In- 
bad  taken  his  scat  on  the  opening 
of  the  first  Parliament  of  C^uei-n 
Victoria  on  November  Uoth.  1S:>7.  as 
member  for  Maidstone.  His  fame  as 
a  no\pelist  had  then  been  established 
beyond  the  power  of  detraction,  but 
s\\eet  as  the  incense  of  literaiy  sue. 
was.  it  did  not  satisfy  his  ambitious 
nature.  Political  distinction  was  tin- 
goal  of  his  aspirations,  as  perhaps  it 
had  ever  been  from  the  time  he  had 
reached  manhood.  \Vitli  ill-concealed 
impatience  he  waited  the  ojiportunity 
of  making  an  effective  ili'lmt.  It 
came,  or  he  thought  it  did,  on 
December  7th.  in  a  debate  on  a 
question  arising  out  of  some  Irish 
election  petitions.  Karlier  there  had 
been  a  sharp  passage  of  arms  between 
Sir  Francis  Piiirdett  and  O'Connell. 
The  former  had  accused  the  Liberator 
of  encouraging  assassination,  and  said 
that  then'  were  many  people  then 
living  in  Ireland  under  a  s\>tem  of 
terrorism  "more  powerful  and  terrible 
than  that  which  existed  under  Robes- 
pierre in  France."  Not  to  lie  outdone 
in  vituperation,  O'Connell,  after 


GKOKUK   HAMILTON    cnltlioN,    1,  ,1'UTII    KAItl.   OK  Al!i:i:lii:].\.   -,v.O., 

FonifB  S.CTTUI7  In  \m  undo-  th.  Dnkt  of  Wrllingtnn.'  and  a«ain  in  1841  und«r  Sir 

Hobcrt  PM1  ;  Low!  of  this  Coalit:.  n  Ministry  of  ISM. 


a  di-air'taa  by  T.  Walter  Wilson,  R.  1. 

DISRAELI'S  FIRST  SPEECH  IN  THE  HOUSE  OP  COMMONS. 

"I  have  begun  several  times  many  things,  and  I  have  often  succeeded  at  last.    Ay,  sir,  though  I  sit  down  now,  the  time  will  come  when 

you  will  hear  me." 

477 


478 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


THE  OPENISO   OF  PAULIAMKNT   BY  QUEEN   VICTORIA  IX   1843. 

entering  into  a  defence  of  his  position  as  a  political  leader,  and  mentioning  that  he  had 
foregone  judicial  preferment  in  order  to  continue  his  independent  career,  concluded  with  the 
words,  "Is  it  for  that  sacrifice  that  I  am  now  vilified  and  traduced  by  an  old  renegade."  It 
was  at  this  juncture  that  Disraeli  stepped  into  the  breach.  He  was  a  strikingly  handsome  young 
man,  somewhat  of  a  dandy  in  his  dress,  and  with  an  air  of  easy  grace  which  bespoke  more  than  a 
passing  acquaintance  with  salons.  When  he  arose,  as  he  did  the  instant  that  O'Connell  resumed 
his  seat,  all  eyes  were  turned  towards  him  in  eager  curiosity,  as,  apart  from  the  personal  enmity 
known  to  exist  between  him  and  the  Irish  leader,  there  was  the  dibut  of  one  of  the  most 
popular  and  fashionable  writers  of  the  day  to  stimulate  interest.  His  speech,  which  commenced 
with  the  customary  apology  for  indulgence  on  the  plea  of  inexperience,  opened  quietly  enough, 
but  it  was  g])eedily  made  clear  that  he  was  not  to  have  fair  play.  A  reference  to  O'Connell 
provoked  interruption,  and  there  were  jeers  when  he  went  on  to  say  that  he  did  not  "affect 
to  be  insensible  to  the  difficulty  of  my  position.''  They  were  renewed  when  he  professed  his 
anxiety  to  bring  the  subject  of  the  debate  back  to  the  proper  point.  "I  wish,"  said  Disraeli.  "  I 
really  could  induce  the  House  to  give  me  five  minutes  more  (roars  of  laughter).  I  stand  here 
to-night,  sir— (here  the  noise  in  the  House  became  so  general  that  the  honourable  gentleman  could 
not  proceed  for  some  time  ;  when  the  confusion  had  somewhat  subsided  he  said  :)— I  stand  here 
to-night,  sir,  not  formally,  but  in  some  degree  virtually,  the  representative  of  a  considerable 
number  of  members  of  Parliament  (bursts  of  laughter).  Now,  why  smile  ?  (continued  laughter). 
\Vliv  envy  me  ?  (here  the  laughter  became  loud  and  general).  Why  should  I  not  have  a  tale  to 
unfold  to-night  ?  (roars  of  laughter).  Do  you  forget  that  band  of  a  hundred  and  fifty-eight  members 
— those  ingenuous  and  inexperienced  youths  to  whose  unsophisticated  minds  the  Chancellor  of  the 

Exchequer,  in  those  tones  of  winning  pathos (excessive  laughter  and  loud  cries  of  '  Question ')." 

So  the  interruptions  continued,  the  speaker  meanwhile  battling  manfully  on,  determined, 
if  possible,  to  secure  a  hearing.  The  report — that  of  the  Morning  Chronicle  of  December  8th, 
1837 — proceeds:  "If  honourable  members  think  it  is  fair  to  interrupt  me,  1  will  submit 
(great  laughter).  I  would  not  act  so  towards  any  one,  that  is  all  I  can  say  (laughter,  and  cries 

of  'Go  on  ! ').     But  I  beg  simply  to  ask (' Oh  ! '  and  loud  laughter).     Nothing  is  so  easy  as 

to  laugh  (roars  of  laughter).  I  really  wish  to  place  before  the  House  what  is  our  position. 
When  we  remember  all  this — when  we  remember  that  in  spite  of  the  support  of  the  honour- 
able and  learned  gentleman  the  member  for  Dublin  and  his  well-disciplined  phalanx  of 
patriots,  and,  in  spite  of  this,  we  remember  the  amatory  eclogue — (roars  of  laughter) — the  old 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


479 


loves  and  the  new  loves,  that  took  place  between  the  noble  lord  the  Tityrus  of  the  Treasury 
Bench  and  the  learned  Daphne  of  Liskeard — (loud  laughter  and  cries  of  '  Question ') — which 
appeared  as  a  fresh  instance  of  the  amoris  redintegrutio — (excessive  laughter) — when  we 
remember  at  the  same  time  that  with  emancipated  Ireland  and  enslaved  England  on  the  one 
hand  a  triumphant  nation,  on  the  other  a  groaning  people,  and  notwithstanding  the  noble  lord, 
secure  on  the  pedestal  of  power,  may  wield  in  one  hand  the  keys  of  St.  Peter,  and — 

"  At  this  juncture."  proceeds  the  veracious  chronicle,  "  the  honourable  member  was  interrupted 
with  such  loud  and  incessant  bursts  of  laughter  that  it  was  impossible  to  know  whether  he 
really  closed  his  sentence  or  not.''  Then  came  that  historic  incident  with  its  prophetic  declara- 
tion which  will  ever  be  associated  with  the  great  statesman's  entrance  upon  the  Parliamentary 
stage.  "  At  last,"  says  Mr.  James  Grant,  "  losing  all  temper,  which  until  then  he  had  preserved  in 
a  wonderful  manner,  he  paused  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence,  and  looking  the  Liberals  indignantly 
in  the  face,  raised  his  hands  and  opened  his  mouth  as  wide  as  its  dimensions  would  permit,  and 
said  in  remarkably  loud  and  almost  terrific  tones  :  '  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  at  the  reception 
which  I  have  received.  I  have  begun  several  times  many  things,  and  I  have  often  succeeded 
at  last.  Ay,  sir,  and  though  I  sit  down  now,  the  time  will  come  when  you  will  hear  me.' " 

Despite  his  brave  words  Disraeli  was  intensely  mortified  at  the  unmannerly  reception  he 
had  received.  Mr.  Grant  describes  him  as  presenting  "the  very  picture  of  a  disappointed  man," 
sitting  for  the  remainder  of  the  evening  scarcely  exchanging  a  word  with  any  one.  Disraeli's 
own  view  was  that  his  debut  was  a  failure,  but  that  the  failure  was  not  caused  by  any  short- 
comings on  his  part,  but  from  the  physical  powers  of  his  adversaries.  "I  can  give  you  no 
idea,"  he  says  in  a  letter  to  his  sister  written  the  day  after  the  delivery  -of  the  speech,  "  how 
bitter,  how  factious,  how  unfair  they  were,  and  that  was  like  my  first  debut  at  Aylesbury, 
and  ]jerhaps  in  that  sense  may  be  auspicious  of  ultimate  triumph  in  the  same  scene.  I  fought 
through  all  with  undaunted  pluck  and  unruffled  temper,  made  occasionally  good  isolated  hits 
when  there  was  silence,  and  finished  with  spirit  when  I  found  a  formal  display  was  in- 
effectual. My  party  backed  me  well,  and  no  one  with  more  zeal  and  kindness  than  Peel — 
cheering  me  repeatedly,  which  is  not 
his  custom.  In  the  Lobby  at  the 
division  Chandos,  who  was  not  near 
me  while  speaking,  came  up  and 
congratulated  me.  I  replied  that 
I  thought  there  was  no  cause  for 
congratulations,  and  muttered 
'Failure!'  'No  such  thing,'  said 
Chandos ;  '  you  are  quite  wrong.  I 
have  just  seen  Peel,  and  I  said  to 
him,  "  Now  tell  me  exactly  what 
you  think  of  D."  Peel  replied. 
"  Some  of  my  party  were  disappointed 
and  talk  of  failure ;  I  say  just  the 
reverse.  -He  did  all  that  he  could 
do  under  the  circumstances.  I  say 
anything  but  failure  ;  he  must  make 
his  way." '  Peel's  instinct  was  sound. 
Before  many  years  had  elapsed  Disraeli 
had  shown  beyond  cavil  his  genius 
for  political  warfare,  and  shown  it, 
curiously  enough,  at  Peel's  expense. 
But  this  is  a  story  which  must 
be  left  for  treatment  in  another 
chapter. 


After  tke  picture  by  Cfialon. 


BENJAMIN   DISRAELI. 

An  early  portrait- 


I  HAPTEK    XXXIV. 


THE   VICTORIAN  PARLIAMENTS  (continued). 

TllE  vear  1046  brought  to  a  close  an  agitation  which  had  been  carried  mi  throti'rhout  the 
country  for  a  long  period  under  the  auspices  of  the  Anti-Corn  I*i\v  League,  a  body  founded  at 
Manchester  for  the  purpose  of  abolishing  tlie  import  duty  on  wheat,  and  thereby  enabling  the 
whole  ]>opulation  to  obtain  cheaper  bread.  Charles  Pelham  Villi.-rs  Kicliard  CoUleji.  and  John 
Bright  are  names  that  will  ever  be  remembered  in  connection  with  this  great  movement.  All 
were  typical  middle-class  Englishmen,  and  they  fought  tin-  battle  with  a  dogged  jM-r>everance 
worthy  of  the  cause.  But  to  Sir  Robert  Peel  is  due  the  credit  of  actually  giving  legislative 
effect,  to  the  determination  of  the  majority  of  people.  This  great  man's  career  has  already 
been  touched  upon.  As  was  eloquently  expressed  by  his  diMinuuislied  son,  Lord  Peel,  he  wa»  ••  a 
statesman  whose  history  and  whose  labours  are  identified  with  the  story  and  debates  of  this 
House;  whose  public  services  are  indelibly  written  in  the  records  of  his  country;  and  who.-c 
name  is  warmly  cherished  in  a  multitude  of  British  homes."  For  more  than  half  a  century 

the  restrict  ions  on  the  im- 
portation of  wheat  had  been 
keenly  felt,  and  from  time  to 
time  the  subject  was  dealt 
with  in  a  >mall  way.  the  final 
concession  a  few  years  previous 
to  1846  being  a  sliding  scale 
duty  of  Is.  to  -.1  per  quarter. 
according  to  the  market  value. 
Kventually.  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
hitherto  the  trusted  leader  of 
the  Protectionist  party,  became 
convinced  of  the  justice  of  the 
cry  for  abolition  of  the  duty, 
and  he  succeeded  in  1846.  in 
spite  of  the  violent  opposition 
of  many  of  his  own  sup]Nirters, 
in  passing  into  law  that  inea>ure 
with  which  his  name  i-  M 
closely  connected  and  which 
resulted  in  the  total  extinc- 
tion of  the  import  duty  on  corn 
and  in  the  ultimate  ado]  it  ion 
of  the  general  policy  of  Free 
Trade. 

The  development  of  Peel's 
Free  Trade  policy  was  marked 
by  tierce  and  acrimonious 
debates  in  the  Commons,  and 
by  personal  attacks  upon  the 
RICHARD  COBDEJC,  M.P.,  statesman  by  his  old  asxn-i- 

On«  of  the  principal  leader*  of  tb«  Free  Trade  movement.  BtCS,    wllO    regarded    him    as   the 

480 


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481 


betrayer  of  their  interests. 
Foremost  in  the  fray  through- 
out these  bitter  controversies 
was  Disraeli,  who,  earlier  a 
faithful  follower  and  admirer 
of  Peel,  now  became  his 
sleepless  and  unrelenting 
antagonist.  It  is  not  necessary 
for  our  purposes  to  inquire 
whether  this  change  of  front 
was  due  to  genuine  public 
spirit,  or  whether,  as  some 
writers  represent,  to  personal 
feeling  arising  out  of  Peel's 
neglect  of  Disraeli  in  forming 
his  Administration.  But  it 
is  to  be  noted  that  the  open 
antagonism  between  the  two 
was  shown  before  the  states- 
man took  his  final  plunge, 
and  arose  over  matters  which 
were  not  connected  with  the 
fiscal  question  which  was 
shortly  to  become  the  burn- 
ing controversy  of  the  day. 

There  was  a  particularly 
sharp  passage  of  arms  in  the 
session  of  18-15  over  the 
historic  episode  of  the  open- 
ing of  Mazzini's  letters. 
Disraeli  attacked  Peel  with 
violence,  describing  him  as 
displaying  "unusual  warmth," 

and  observing  that  it  by  no  means  followed  that  he  felt  what  he  expressed.  "  The  right 
honourable  baronet,"  he  remarked,  "has  too  great  a  mind,  and  feels  too  eminent  a  position,  ever 
to  lose  his  temper ;  but  in  a  popular  assembly  it  is  sometimes  expedient  to  enact  the  part 
of  the  choleric  gentleman.  The  right  honourable  gentleman  touched  the  redbox  with  emotion. 
I  know  from  old  experience  that  when  one  first  enters  the  House  these  exhibitions  are  rather 
alarming ;  and  I  believe  that  some  of  the  younger  members  were  much  frightened  ;  but  I  would 
advise  them  not  to  be  terrified.  I  will  tell  them  that  the  right  honourable  baronet  will  not 
eat  them  up — will  not  even  resign  ;  the  very  worst  thing  he  will  do  will  be  to  tell  them  to 
rescind  a  vote."  The  next  night  Sir  Robert  Peel  replied  to  the  attack.  "Notwithstanding  the 
provocation  of  the  honourable  gentleman,"  he  said,  "I  will  not  deal  so  harshly  with  him  as  he 
has  dealt  with  me.  He  undertakes  to  assure  the  House  that  my  vehemence  was  all  pretended 
and  warmth  all  simulated.  I,  on  the  contrary,  will  do  him  entire  justice ;  I  do  believe  that 
his  bitterness  was  not  simulated,  but  that  it  was  entirely  sincere.  .  .  .  The  honourable  gentleman 
is  at  perfect  liberty  to  give  a  direct  support  to  a  hostile  motion,  but  all  I  ask  is,  that  when 
he  gives  that  support  to  the  motion,  let  him  not  say  that  he  does  it  in  a  friendly  spirit. 

Give  me  the  avowed,  erect,  and  manly  foe 

Firm  I  can  meet,  perhaps  can  turn  the  blow ; 

But  of  all  plagues,  good  Heaven,  thy  wrath  can  send, 

Save,  O  save  me,  from  a  candid  friend. 

61 


From  tJiepainting  by  W'ald  r  \\'iiiin,n  Ov/css,  R.A.t  in  the  Rational  Portrait  Gallery. 
THE   KIGHT   HON.  JOHN   BRIGHT,  M.P. 
The  eminent  statesman  and  orator. 


484 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


after  Peel  Imd  unfolded  his  jmlicy.  After  the  stati-Miian  had  >|>oken.  tin-re-  was  a  niitint-iitary  pause, 
wliii-li  M-eine.l  tn  indicate  that  seriou>  J-MH-  \va-  nut  to  bt>  joined  that  evening.  Disraeli.  however. 
|H-iceived  liis  opportunity,  ainl  lie  took  it.  Rising  in  his  scat.  he.  amid  tin-  rousing  cheers  ol 
the  discontented  Protectionists,  denounced  the  Mini>terial  policy  with  an  adroitness  which  showed 
Ix-vond  ca\il  his  great  <|iialitics  as  a  political  leader.  It  has  l»-en  suggested  liy  a  ]>opuiar  his- 
torian that  hut  for  this  intervention  ,ni  Disraeli's  |«irt  Peel's  Protect  ioni.-t  following  might  never 
have  u.nie  into  «>IM-II  revolt.  15ut  great  as  the  speech  was.  and  still  greater  the  genius  which 
inspired  it>  delivery  at  the  [(articular  juncture  it  was  delivered,  it  can  hardly  have  exeivi>ed  that 
remarkahle  intluence.  What,  however,  it  undoubtedly  did  do  was  to  give  cohesiveness  to  the 
tiisiffected  ranks,  and  personally  to  elevate  Disraeli  to  the  ]M>sition  of  the  mouthpiece  of  the 
|>aitv.  and  one  of  its  principal  leaders.  Throughout  this  memorable  session  the  tight  was 
n.aniained.  with  Disraeli  a>  the  principal  champion  of  the  abandoned  creed.  It  was  a  lo.-ing 
liattle.  hut  it  was  fought  with  a  spirit  and  a  resolution  which  had  seldom  been  equalled  in 
similar  ciivnm-tanees.  Disraeli's  final  speech  on  the  third  reading  of  the  hill  on  .May  15th 
a-  a  Mriking  piece  of  declamatory  oratory.  "Even  now,"  he  said — "even  now,  in  this  last 
of  the  drama,  when  the  party  whom  he  unintentionally  betrayed  is  to  lie  unintcntionallv 
annihilated — even  now  the  right  honourable  gentlemen,  faithful  to  the  law  of  his  being,  is 

going  to  pass  a  project  which  1  helieve 
it  is  matter  of  notoriety  is  not  of 
his  own  invention.  It  is  one  which 
may  have  Keen  modified,  but  which  I 
believe  has  been  offered  to  another 

Government,  and  by  that  (iovernment 
has  been  wisely  rejected.  V.'hy.  >ir. 
these  are  matters  of  general  notoriety. 
After  the  day  that  the  right  honnur- 
able  gentleman  made  his  tii>t  c\p<>-iti<>ii 
of  his  schemes,  a  gentleman  well 
known  to  the  House,  and  learned  in 
all  the  political  secrets  behind  the 
scenes,  met  me  and  said  :  '  Well,  what 
do  you  think  of  your  chief's  plan  ? ' 
Not  knowing  exactly  what  to  say,  but 
taking  up  a  phrase  which  has  been 
much  used  in  the  House.  I  ob.-erved  : 
•Well.  1  Mippuse  it  is  a  great  and 
comprehensive  plan.'  'Oh!'  he  replied, 
•we  know  all  about  it;  it  was  ottered 
to  us.  It  was  not  his  plan  ;  it's 
Popham's  plan.'  And  is  Kngland  to 
be  governed  by  Popham's  plan  ?  Will 
he  go  to  the  country  with  it?  Will 
he  go  with  it  to  that  ancient  and 
famous  England  thai  once  was  governed 
by  statesmen — by  Pmrleighs  and  by 
Wal>inglianis.  by  Holingbrokes  and  by 
Wai  poll's,  by  a  Chatham  and  a  Canning. 
Will  he  go  to  it,  with  this  fanta.-tic 
"irta,.  scheme  of  some  pn-Minipluous  pedant  ? 

l.»l:l>     WILLIAM     CKDKUK    CAVENDISH     I1ESTINCK,   M.P.   (KNOWN   AK  I     won't     believe     it          I      hllVC    that    COH- 

I.iilSIi   1.1:1.1:1.1:    MKNTIXCK),  .,  , 

lideiu-e    m    the   common   sense.   I   will 

Leader  of  tho  ProtectinniM  |  «rtjr  In  th«  HOUK  of  Cnronioni  after  the  adoption  of  ... 

Fr«  Trade  |.rioci|.l«.  by  Sir  Robert  PecL  •"•'iv  the  Common  spirit,  of  OUr  COUlltrV- 


from  a  dnuciny  by  T.  Walter  Wilson,  K.I. 

THE    HOUSE    OF   COMMONS    IN    1846. 

Sir  Hubert  Peel  announcing  Ms  conversion  to  Free  Trade  jirinciples  during  the  Corn  Law  debate,  January  £2nd. 

485 


486 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


JOHN    AKTIU'lt   ROEBUCK,   M.I'. 
("  Old  Tear'cm  "),  niMiy  }t*n  member  for  Sheffield. 


anil  I  U-lieve  they  will  not  long 
endure  this  huckstering  tyranny  of  the 
Tiva-iiry  Itench— those  jxilitical  pillars  tlmt 
Knight  their  party  in  the  eheap.-M  market 
and  sold  us  in  the  deaiv-t." 

Sir  Kol>ert  Peel,  in  his  reply  to  this 
vigorous  >peech.  siid  it  would  lie  offering  an 
insult  to  the  country  if  he  were  to  con- 
descend to  bandy  iK-rsonalities  on  Mich  an 
occasion.  He  foresaw  that  the  course  which 
lie  had  taken  from  a  sense  of  public  duty 
would,  as  its  inevitable  result,  lead  to  tin- 
forfeit  ing  of  friendships  which  he  most  highly 
valued;  "but,''  he  went  on.  "the  smallc-t 
of  all  the  penalties  which  I  antici|.ated  were 
the  continued  venomous  attacks  of  the 
member  for  Shrewsbury.''  Afterwards  he 
remarked  that  it  was  strange  that  if  his 
character  was  what  Disraeli  had  described 
it,  that  politician  should  have  been  so  ready 
to  give  him  his  support  in  1841.  "It  is 
still  more  surprising."  proceeded  1'eel.  -that 
he  should  have  been  ready,  as  I  think  he 
was,  to  unite  hi>  iortniu-s  \\  it  h  mine  in  othYe. 
thus  implying  the  strongest  proof  which  any 
public  man  can  give  of  confidence  in  the  honour  and  integrity  of  a  Minister  of  the  (Yo\\n." 

These  not  too  elevating  personal  controversies  between  1'eel  and  Disraeli  wen-  protracted 
for  some  time  longer,  and  though  they  added  to  the  excitement  aroused  by  the  debate,  thev 
had  little  effect  on  the  fate  of  the  Kepeal  Hill.  On  .May  15th  the  measure  passed  its  third 
reading  by  a  majority  of  ninety-eight.  Peel's  triumph  was  short-lived.  The  disaffected 
sections,  discomfited  on  the  main  issue,  sought  by  a  >ide  wind  to  accomplish  their  purpose. 
They  joined  forces  on  an  Irish  Coercion  Kill  which  had  been  introduced  earlier  in  the  session. 
With  unexampled  virulence,  Peel  was  attacked  by  Lord  (ieorge  Kentinck.  the  Protectionist, 
leader,  and  by  Disraeli.  For  controversial  purposes  the  old  story  of  Peel's  ill-treatment  of 
Canning  was  revived,  and  there  were  long  and  acrimonious  debates  on  points  raised  in  this 
connection  of  a  purely  personal  interest.  Peel  held  his  ground  well  against  the  attacking 
party,  and  satisfactorily  vindicated  himself  from  the  charge  of  treachery  to  ('aiming.  But 
he  could  not  altogether  remove  the  effect  produced  by  the  efforts  of  the  adroit  and  tiivler-s 
tactician  who  was  pitted  against  him.  A  speech  delivered  by  Disraeli  on  June  15th  on  the  third 
night  of  the  debate  on  the  Irish  Coercion  Kill  was  particularly  damaging.  In  this  he  went 
exhaustively  into  the  question  of  Peel's  relations  with  Canning,  and,  concluding,  said  :  ••  I  ask 
the  right  honourable  gentleman  why  Ireland  was  his  great  difficulty,  and  whether,  if  he  had  acted 
with  frankness  to  Mr.  Canning  in  reference  to  his  communication  with  Lord  Liverpool  in  1825, 
Ireland  would  have  Ix-en  his  great  difficulty.  This  the  right  honourable  gentleman  must  feel  at 
the  present  moment,  when  we  are  about  again  to  divide  on  an  Irish  question — a  division  which 
may  K-  fatal  to  the  continuance  of  his  power.  It  is  Nemesis  that  inspires  this  debate  and 
dictates  this  division,  and  seals  with  the  stigma  of  Parliamentary  reprobation  the  catastrophe 
of  a  sinister  career."  Peel  was  manifestly  shaken  by  this  attack.  He  arose  "confused  and 
suffering."  He  >aid  he  had  no  right  to  reply,  but  continued  to  make  deprecatory  and  feeble 
observations.  Finally,  he  called  upon  the  House  "to  suspend  their  judgment  until  an 
opportunity  for  reply  came."  l  Five  days  later  he  delivered  a  full  reply  to  the  criticisms  and 

1  Disraeli's  "Life  of  Bentinck." 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


487 


Reproduced  ly  ptrtnittion  of  the  Art  Union  of  London  from  their  large  plate  of  the  picture  by  Daniel  Maclise,  K.A. 

ADMIBAL  BLAKE   BEFORE  TUNIS. 
One  of  a  series  of  paintings  designed  for  the  decoration  of  the  new  Houses  of  Parliament. 

charges  made  in  Disraeli's  speech,  but  it  was  then  too  late  to  remove  the  injurious  effect  that 
had  been  created.  When  on  Thursday,  June  25th,  the  division  was  taken  on  the  second 
reading  of  the  Coercion  Bill,  there  was  a  strong  coalition  of  forces  inimical  to  the  Minister,  with 
the  result  that  he  was  defeated  by  292  votes  to  219 — a  majority  of  seventy-three.  It  was  a  strange 
division.  Disraeli  hits  off  its  most  striking  characteristics  in  his  picturesque  way  in  his  "  Life 
of  Bentinck " :  '•  More  than  a  hundred  Protectionist  members  followed  the  Minister ;  more 
than  eighty  avoided  the  division — a  few  of  these,  however,  had  paired  ;  nearly  the  same  number 
followed  Lord  George  Bentinck.  But  it  was  not  merely  their  numbers  that  attracted  the 
anxious  observation  of  the  Treasury  Bench  as  the  Protectionists  passed  in  defile  before  the 
Minister  to  the  hostile  Lobby.  It  was  impossible  that  he  could  have  marked  them  without 
emotion ;  the  flower  of  that  great  party  which  had  been  so  proud  to  follow  one  who  had  been 
so  proud  to  lead  them.  They  were  men  to  gain  whose  hearts  and  the  hearts  of  their  fathers 
had  been  the  aim  and  exultation  of  his  life.  They  had  extended  to  him  an  unlimited 
confidence  and  an  admiration  without  stint.  They  stood  by  him  in  the  darkest  hour,  and  had 
borne  him  from  the  depths  of  despair  to  the  proudest  of  living  positions.  Eight  or  wrong, 
they  were  men  of  honour,  breeding,  and  refinement,  high  and  generous  character,  great  weight 
and  station  in  the  country,  which  they  had  ever  placed  at  his  disposal.  They  had  been  not 


488 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


only  his  follower*,  but  his  friend*;  had  joined  in  the  same  jilcasures.  drunk  from  the  same  cup. 
and  in  the  pleasantness  of  private  lift-  had  often  forgotten  ti Aether  tin-  ran-  ami  strife  of 
j-iliti.-.  .  .  .  NVlien  Prince  MetternicfT  wa>  informed  at  Iin-cilen  with  great  oMentation  that  the 
Kin|H»nir  had  ari ived.  •  Yes — but  without  his  army.'  was  the  reply.  Sir  Holx-rt  Peel  \\as  still 
First  Minister  of  Kngland  as  Napoleon  remained  Kni|ieror  for  a  while  alter  MOM-OW.  .  .  .  The 
news  that  the  (iovernment  were  not  only  beaten,  but  by  a  majority  so  large  as  seventy-three. 
bejpin  to  circulate.  An  iiu-redulous  murmur  passed  it  along  the  TreaMirv  I'eiich.  'They  say 
we  are  beaten  bv  seventv-three.'  whispered  the  .mod  important  member  of  the  Cabinet  in  a  tone 
of  surprise  to  Sir  Robert  Peel.  Sir  Kobert  I'eel  did  not  reply  or  even  turn  his  head.  ll> 
looked  very  grave  and  extended  his  chin,  as  was  his  habit  when  annoyed,  and  eared  not  to 
speak.  He  Ix-gan  to  comprehend  his  ]H>sition  and  that  the  Kmperor  was  without  \i\>  army." 

After  the  defeat  on  the  Coercion  Hill  there  was  no  alternative  left  to  the  Mini.-try  but  to 
resign.  Thev  were  the  less  concerned  at  this  necessity  as  on  the  very  night  that  the  ad\er>e 
vote  had  lieen  registered  the  I\e[M-al  Hill  had  passed  its  final  >tage  in  the  House  of  Lords  by 
11  substantial  majority.  I'eel.  in  a  speech' announcing  his  retirement,  paid  a  tribute  to  Ixichard 
C'obden.  whom  lie  descriln-d  as  "a  man  acting  from  pure  and  disinteiv.-ted  motives,  with 
untiring  energv.  and  who  by  appeals  to  reason  enforced  the  necessity  of  the  measures  with  an 
eloquence  the  more  to  lie  admired  because  unaffected  and  unadorned,  and  whose  name  ought 
to  be  associated  with  their  success."  And  speaking  of  himself,  Peel  in  exalted  language 
described  his  feeling  with  relation  to  the  last  act  of  his  official  career.  "I  shall  leave 
a  name  execrated  by  every  monopolist,  who.  from  less  honourable  motives,  clamours  for 
1'rotection  because  it  conduces  to  his  own  individual  benefit  ;  but  it  may  be  that  I  shall 

leave  a  name  sometimes  re- 
membered with  expressions 
of  good-will  in  the  abodes 
of  those  whose  lot  it  is  to 
labour  and  to  earn  their 
daily  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
their  brow,  when  they  shall 
recruit  their  exhausted 
strength  with  abundant  and 
untaxed  food,  the  sweeter 
because  it  is  no  longer 
leavened  by  the  sense  of 
injustice."  This  speech 
marked  the  close  of  Peel's 
official  life.  But  until  he 
met  with  his  untimely  end 
by  a  fall  from  his  horse  on 
Constitution  Hill  on  June 
21st,  1850,  he  continued  a 
distinguished  and  respected 
member  of  the  House. 

The  collapse  of  the  Peel 

Ministry  left  parties  in  a 
great  state  of  confusion. 
Hi  veil  in  twain  by  the  Free 
Trade  question,  the  Conserva- 
tives sat  on  opjiosite  sides 
of  the  House — the  Pro- 
«.ni.»!)  if  s.  w.  I'ictmyiit,  R.A.  t  eel  ionists  sharing  the  Liberal 

HEXKY    Pi  I.IIAM,    FOURTH    DUKE   (IF    XKWCASTI.E,    K.O.  benches  With    tllC  WlllgS 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


489 


Radicals,  and  the  Pcelites  taking 
their  place  on  the  Opposition 
benches.  Lord  John  Russell, 
upon 'whom  the  Premiership  now 
devolved,  endeavoured  with  but 
indifferent  success  to  conduct 
the  Administration  amid  these 
curiously  conflicting  elements. 
It  was  not  long  before  the  Pro- 
tectionists drifted  into  an  atti- 
tude of  hostility,  and  in  the 
session  of  1 847  their  position  as 
antagonists  of  the  Ministry  was 
formally  marked  by  their  taking 
their  seats  on  the  Opposition 
benches.  Disraeli  continued, 
as  in  the  later  period  of  the 
Peel  Administration,  to  take  a 
conspicuous  part  in  the  direction 
of  the  Protectionist  policy,  and 
when  Lord  George  Bentinck 
died  suddenly  on  September  28th, 
1848,  lie  was  recognised  as  his 
successor  in  the  leadership.  With 
consummate  skill  he  directed  for 
the  next  few  years  the  fortunes 
of  the  party,  prosecuting  mean- 
while that  system  of  education 
which  was  to  create  out  of  the 
sturdy  and  uncompromising 
Toryism  of  the  opponents  of 
Corn  Law  Repeal  that  compact 
body  of  progressive  Conservative 
opinion  which  was  in  the  not 
distant  future  to  have  a  domi- 
nating influence  in  the  direction 
of  national  affairs.  His  attacks 
on  the  Ministry  ranged  over  a 
wide  field,  and  though  his  most 
effective  work  was  done  in  the 
domain  of  domestic  and  fiscal 
policy,  he  did  not  neglect  the 
Government'!  conduct  of  foreign 
affairs,  which,  in  Lord  Palmer- 
ston's  masterful  hands,  supplied 
many  openings  for  criticism. 
On  June  17th,  1850,  a  vote  of 
censure  on  the  policy  of  the 
Foreign  Secretary  was  carried 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  Disraeli 
was  urged  by  Lord  John  Russell 
to  submit  a  similar  vote  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  order  that  the  opinion  of  the  popular 

62 


From  the  painting  ly  Sir  Francis  Grant,  P.R.A.  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

JOHN",   FIRST   EARL   IIUSSELL,   K.G., 
Better  known  as  Lord  Juhu  Russell.     This  picture  was  painted  in  1S34. 


490 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


from  a  < 


i«y  l<y  utorijt  A'.i7..*.um/,  lt.,4. 
SIDNEY   HERBERT, 


Culunial  Secretary  in  Lonl  ralnicnton'i  first,  and  War  Secretary  in  hit 
•ecoml,  Administration. 


chamber  might  be  tested.  Disraeli,  however. 
like  a  good  tactician,  declined  to  commit  him- 
self to  a  course  which  he  knew  would  result 
in  a  vote  favourable  to  Ministers.  It  was  left 
to  Roebuck  to  raise  the  question.  The  action 
of  this  politician  led  to  a  prolonged  del  site,  in 
which  Palmerston  made  a  memorable  sjieech. 
He  spoke  for  several  hours,  "  from  the  dusk  of 
a  summer  evening  to  the  dawn  of  a  summer 
morning."  In  concluding  his  oration  he  gave 
utterance  to  some  sentences  which  have  become 
historic.  "  1  fearlessly  challenge,"  he  said,  "  the 
verdict  which  this  House,  as  representing  a 
political,  a  commercial,  a  constitutional  country, 
is  to  give  on  the  question  now  brought  before 
it — whether  the  principles  on  which  the  foreign 
policy  of  her  Majesty's  Government  has  been 
conducted,  and  the  sense  of  duty  which  has 
led  us  to  think  ourselves  bound  to  afford  pro- 
tection to  our  fellow-subjects  abroad,  are  proper 
and  fitting  guides  for  those  who  are  charged 
with  the  government  of  England  ;  and  whether. 
as  the  Roman  in  days  of  old  held  himself  free 

from  indignity  when  he  could  say,  '  Civis  Romanua  sum.'  so  also  a  British  subject,  in  whatever 

land  he  may  lie,  shall  feel  confident  that  the   watchful   eye   and   strong   arm    of   England   will 

protect  him  against  injustice  and  wrong." 

Palmerston's  vindication   of   his   policy  was  regarded  as  complete  and  convincing,  and   the 

delxite  left    the  Government,  so  far  as  the  external 

affairs  of  the  country  were  affected,  stronger  than  ever. 

It  was  in  its  home  administration  that  the  Conserva- 
tive Opposition  found  the  opportunity  which  at  last 

brought  them  success  and  gave  to  Disraeli  his  first 

Ministerial    preferment.     On    February    llth,    1852, 

a    motion    for    the    relief    of    agricultural    distress 

submitted  from  the  Opposition  benches  was  rejected 

only  by    the    small    majority  of   fourteen    in   a   full 

House.     This  moral  victory  for  the  Opposition   was 

followed  on  February    20th    by  the  real  triumph  of 

the  carrying  against   the   Government  of  a  motion 

for    the   reduction   of   the   franchise   by   the    over- 
whelming majority  of  one   hundred  and   sixtv-two. 

On    February   24th    Lord   John    Russell   announced 

the  resignation  of  the  Ministry.      After  a    fruitless 

attempt    by   Lord    Stanley  to    form   a   Government, 

I/ml  John  Russell   resumed   the  direction  of  affairs 

with  his  old  colleagues,  but  it  was  soon  made  clear 

by  further  defeats  in  the    House   of  Commons  that 

his  ]>osition  was  an  untenable  one.     A  serious  rupture 

between  the  Premier   and    Palmerston,  culminating 

in  the    tatter's   dismissal    from    office,  was   the  final 

determining  factor  in    the   business.      Defeated  on 

an    amendment    proposed    by     Lord     Palmerston     tO     a         and  of  Colonial  Secretary  in  In.lSOS  and  lS86Adniini»tration.. 


*«»«<'••"•  r  *.>;.»„»,/,  K.A. 

EARL  GKANVII.I.i:. 


BySirJ.E.  Mitlaii,  Bart.,  P.R.A.  By  kind  fttrmission  of  Hit  Honorabli  H'.  F.A.  Smith. 

BENJAMIN   DISKAELl,   EARL  OF  BEACONSFIELD,   K.G. 

Tb«  xjlpral  IH.lTiinin  -h-  tnlrti"-  I'.rli.mnn  lii  1-r.w.itiu-rimiin-ilMr  ,,f  ti,r  Rxclirqnor  in  im.  anil  twiot, lubM^umtljr.  flllxl  th< 
I  ,.,,.i.r,hl|..     IU  wu i>n<  of  thefratetlul  P>rlUm<rDUrr  \oam 


491 


492 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


l>ill  hrmi"ht   in  bv  Lord  John  Ixii-ell  for  tin-  establishment  of  a  inilitiii  force,   the   Government 

• 

witluln-w  the  me.iMire.  ami  a  few  days  later — on  February  23rd-  tin-  migration  of  Minister! 
was  formally  announced.  I/>rd  Stanley,  now  the  Karl  of  Derby,  was  eallc.l  ti|>oii  to  form  a  new 
Administration.  He  accepted  the  duty,  and  with  Disraeli  as  his  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
ami  the  1-eader  of  the  l|oii>e  of  Common*  -ought  ti>  carry  on  the  government  of  the  country 
with  the  nn>tab!e  elements  to  his  hand.  The  Mini>terial  portion,  precarious  from  the  first, 
was  not  Mrengthened  by  the  general  elections  which  took  place,  in  the-  late  summer.  \Vlien 
the  new  Parliament  m«-t  on  November  llth.  it  had  to  face  a  formidable  array  of  hostile  forces 


ittpi-vductd  by  pirmutio*  qf  Ua  Art  L'laoti  v!  /.««'/•<. */y«,it  tl<eir  lurfft  plate  of  the  picture  by  £.  M.  Ward,  H.A. 

THE   EXECUTION   OF   JIO.NTUosi:. 

On«  of  a  KriM  of  paintings  designed  for  the  decoration  of  th.-  n.  »  Houses  of  rnrllanient.     It  figures  on  the  wall  of  the  corridor  leading  from  the 

Central  Hall  to  the  Lobby. 

in  a  coalition  of  the  Liberals  and  the  Ti'dites.  Issue  was  joined  on  the  Budget,  which  was 
intnxlnced  bv  I>i>raeli  on  December  4th  in  an  able  speech  which  occupied  five  hours  in 
delivery.  The  .Ministerial  projtosals  were  hotly  assailed.  Whigs.  Radicals,  and  IVelites  united 
in  uncompromisingly  condemning  them.  Disraeli  defended  himself  with  characteristic  skill. 
Carrying  the  war  into  the  enemv's  camp,  he  assailed  the  combination  which  had  been  formed 
again.-t  him.  "Yes,"  he  remarked,  "I  know  what  1  have  to  face.  I  have  to  face  a  coalition. 
The  combination  mav  lx-  successful.  A  coalition  has  before  this  been  successful.  But  coalitions, 
though  successful,  have  always  found  this — that  their  triumph  has  been  brief.  This,  too,  I 
know  that  England  does  not  love  coalitions.  I  appeal  from  the  coalition  to  that  public 
opinion  which  governs  this  country — to  that  public  opinion  whose  mild  and  irresistible 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


493 


DUKE      OF 


F>-a»i  a  di-airi,»j  /-y  (;._u,-tjr.  Richmond,  H.A. 

GEOBGE      DOUGLAS      CAMPBELL,      EIGHTH 
ARGYLL,   K.G., 

Secretary  for  India  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  first  Administration. 


influence  can  control  even  the  decrees  of  Parlia- 
ments, and  without  whose  support  the  most  august 
and  ancient  institutions  are  but  '  the  baseless 
fabric  of  a  vision.'  " 

This  speech  of  Disraeli's  was  not  only  a  notable 
one  in  itself;  it  was  remarkable  for  the  reply  it 
elicited.  The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer's  an- 
tagonist was  William  Ewart  Gladstone.  This  great 
man,  who  had  come  into  Parliament  as  member 
for  Newark  as  far  back  as  January,  1833,  had, 
with  the  aid  of  his  exceptional  talents,  built  up 
for  himself  a  great  reputation  as  a  debater  and 
a  Parliamentary  tactician.  His  earliest  leanings 
were  towards  Toryism,  but  when  the  Free  Trade 
question  split  up  the  Conservative  party,  he  took 
his  place  amongst  the  Peelites  and  gradually 
drifted  further  and  further  away  from  his  old 
position  of  stern  unbending  Toryism.  The  rise 
of  Disraeli  to  a  commanding  position  in  the 
Conservative  councils  strengthened  the  bent  of 
his  mind  towards  Liberalism.  Between  him  and 
the  novelist-politician  there  had  never  been  any 
community  of  interest  or  sentiment.  Their  ideals 
and  aims  were  different ;  their  pursuits  led  them  into  different  paths.  Moreover,  in  the 
character  of  each  was  a  strongly  marked  egotism — if  you  will,  a  consciousness  of  power — which, 
quite  apart  from  divergence  of  political  views,  forbade  intimate  association.  For  some  time 
prior  to  the  period  with  which  we  are  dealing, 
the  way  had  been  prepared  for  that  con- 
dition of  active  rivalry  which  the  relations 
of  the  two  were  ultimately  to  assume.  But 
there  had  been  no  special  incident  to  de- 
monstrate the  sharp  antagonism  which  existed. 
The  speech  of  Gladstone  in  reply  to  Disraeli's 
attack  on  the  coalition,  however,  left  no  room 
for  doubt  as  to  the  true  position  of  affairs. 
As  Disraeli  himself,  on  a  former  occasion  al- 
ready noted,  had  availed  himself  of  a  passing 
opportunity  to  strike  a  deadly  blow  at  Peel's 
position,  so  now  Gladstone,  on  the  impulse 
of  the  moment,  delivered  a  stroke  which,  if 
it  was  not  the  direct  cause  of  the  defeat  of 
the  Derby  Ministry,  contributed  in  no  small 
degree  to  bring  about  that  result.  Spring- 
ing to  his  feet  as  soon  as  Disraeli  had 
finished  his  observations,  he,  amid  a  scene  of 
wild  excitement,  delivered  an  impassioned 
attack  on  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 
"This  speech,"  he  said,  "is  one  which  must 
be  answered,  and  answered  at  the  moment. 
The  character  of  England  involved  in  that  of 
her  public  men — the  character  of  England 
is  at  stake.  .  .  .  The  right  honourable  gentle- 


ii  t!i>:  fintiittinj  \jy  Thomas  A.  H'oolnotli  i/i  ike  Rational  Portrait  Gallery. 
JOHN',   FIRST    LORD  CAMPBELL,   LORD  CHANCELLOR, 
Authorof  "The   Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors "  and  other  biographical 
works. 


494 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


man  must  permit  me  to  (<•!!  him  that 
he  is  not  entitled  to  charge  with  in- 
solence men  of  as  high  ]><»iti<ni  and 
as  high  character  in  thi.-  House  as 
himself.  And  I  must  tell  him  that 
whatever  else  lie  has  learnt,  he  has 
not  learnt  to  keep  within  those  limits 
in  discussion,  of  moderation  and  of 
forbearance,  that  ought  to  restrain  the 
conduct  and  language  of  every  member 
of  this  House;  the  disregard  of  which, 
while  it  is  an  nO'enee  amongst  the 
meanest  of  us,  is  an  offence  of  tenfold 
weight  when  committed  by  the  Leader 
of  the  House  of  Commons."  A  storm 
of  protest  from  the  Ministerialists 
accompanied  the  speaker's  fiery  torrent 
of  oratory,  but  he  continued  his  speech 
undismayed,  entering  into  an  elaborate 
and  destructive  analysis  of  the  Hudget 
proposals.  When,  a  little  later  on, 
the  division  was  taken,  the  criticism 
was  shown  to  have  had  its  effect. 
While  286  voted  for  the  particular  pro- 
posal before  the  House,  there  were  305 
members  against  it,  so  that  the  Govern- 
ment were  defeated  by  a  majority  of 
nineteen.  The  resignation  of  Min- 
isters followed  as  a  matter  of  course. 
The  Karl  of  Aberdeen  now  formed  a  Coalition  Ministry,  which  had  as  its  principal 
members  Lord  John  liussell,  Foreign  Secretary  ;  Lord  Palmerston,  Home  Secretary;  and  Gladstone 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  Its  career  was  marked  by  a  period  of  intense  national  anxiety 
and  misgiving  owing  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war  with  Russia  in  the  Crimea.  The  Parliamentary 
controversies  of  those  perilous  times  are  best  remembered  for  the  magnificent  oratory  of  John 
Bright,  who,  as  the  Apostle  of  Peace,  fervently  protested  against  the  war.  In  purity  of  diction, 
felicity  of  expression,  and  apt  and  impressive  imagery,  the  speeches  of  this  statesman  at  this 
]>eriod  are  hardly  equalled,  and  are  certainly  not  excelled,  by  anything  in  the  annals  of  Parlia- 
mentary oratory.  One  beautiful  passage  in  a  speech  delivered  on  February  23rd,  1855,  has 
become  enshrined  amongst  the  rarest  gems  of  eloquence.  The  question  under  discussion  was 
the  policy  of  the  continuance  of  the  war.  "I  do  not  suppose,"  he  said,  "that  your  troops  are 
to  be  beaten  in  actual  conflict  with  the  fee,  or  that  they  will  be  driven  into  the  sea;  but 
I  am  certain  that  many  homes  in  England  in  which  there  now  exists  a  fond  hope  that  the 
distant  one  may  return — many  such  homes  may  he  rendered  desolate  when  the  next  mail  shall 
arrive.  The  Angel  of  Death  has  been  abroad  throughout  the  land:  you  may  almost  hear  the 
heating  of  his  wings.  There  is  no  one,  as  when  the  first-horn  were  slain  of  old.  to  sprinkle 
with  hlood  the  lintel  and  the  two  side-posts  of  our  doors  that  he  may  spare  and  pass  on.  He 
take>  his  \ictims  from  the  castle  of  the  noble,  the  mansion  of  the  wealthy,  and  the  cottage 
of  the  poor  and  the  lowly:  and  it  is  on  behalf  of  all  these  classes  that  I  make  this  solemn 
appeal." 

A  wave  of  emotion  swept  over  the  House  as  these  impressive  words  were  uttered.  When 
the  orator  had  finished,  an  intense  silence  prevailed  for  a  few  moments,  and  then  in  awed 
accents  members  turned  to  each  other  to  discuss  the  matchless  eloquence  to  which  they  had 


Froi*  a  JrutciHij  by  Gtoi-ge  fiiclinwtnt,  R.A. 

THE   3IAKQCIS   (IF  SALISBURY, 
Whfn  Ixinl  Robert  Ocil. 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


495 


just   been    listening.     Not    since    Pitt   had    swayed    the    assembly  by  his    wonderful   powers   of 
oratory  had  a  speech  probably  caused  so  deep  an  impression. 

.    The  debates  on  the  Crimean  war,  besides  supplying  examples  of  splendid  eloquence,  were 
fruitful   in   recriminatory  incidents.     Both   during   the    continuance    of  the    Aberdeen    Ministry 
and  the  term  of  power  of  the  Palmerston  Administration  which  succeeded  it  in  1855,  Disraeli 
brought  to  bear  upon  Ministers  all  his  great  powers    of  destructive    criticism,  with    the    result 
that  there   were    many  sharp  passages   of  arms   across   the   table — to  the  interest  of   members,, 
though  perhaps  not  to  the  edification  of  the  country.     Prominently  associated  with  the  history 
of  this  stormy  period  is  the  name  of  John  Arthur  Roebuck,  a  politician  of  great  ability,  who,, 
though  he  never  held  office,  exercised   considerable    influence   in    Parliament    during    the   many 
years  he    sat    for   Sheffield.     He    made    himself  an    authority  on    foreign    affairs,  and   his    keenr 
vigorous  addresses,  delivered  both  in  the  House   and  on  the  platform,  were    read    more   widely, 
perhaps,  than  the  utterances  of  any  private — -or,  as  he  preferred  to  call  himself,  independent — 
member.     Amongst    his   constituents    he    was    affectionately  known    by  the    nickname  of  "  Old 
Tear  'em."     This  quaint  epithet,  which  so  well  suited  his  political   methods,  was    derived   from 
a  speech  which  he  delivered  at  the  Cutlers'  Feast  on  September  2nd,  1858,  on  the  designs,  or 
supposed  designs,  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French.     Just  previously,  the  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons  had    visited   Cherbourg   by  invitation.     Roebuck,  referring   to  this,  observed  :    "  It 
may  be    said   that   those   who   stand   in    my  position   ought   not   to    say  anything    that   excites 
national  animosity;    and  I  respond  to  that  sentiment.     Eut,  sir,  the  farmer   who  goes   to  sleep 
having  placed  the  watch-dog  Tear  'em  over  his  rickyard,  hears  the  watch-dog  bark.     He,  in  the 
anger  of  a  half   somnolence,  says,  '  I  wish  Tear  'em    would    be    quiet,'    and    bawls    out   of  the 
window  '  Down,  Tear  'em  ! '     Tear  'em  does  go  down  ;  the  farmer  goes  to  sleep,  and  he  is  awoke 
by  the  flashing  in  his  windows  of  the 
light  of  his  ricks  on   fire.     I  am  Tear 
'em.     I  tell   you  to    beware.     What  is 
the   meaning   of   Cherbourg  ?     It   is  a 
standing  menace  to  England." 

In  the  House  of  Commons  Roebuck 
distinguished  himself  by  the  brilliancy 
of  his  criticisms  of  the  muddling  and 
incompetence  of  the  Administration  in 
the  conduct  of  the  Crimean  campaign. 
It  was  his  motion  for  a  Committee  of 
Inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  the  war 
that  brought  about  the  downfall  of  the 
Aberdeen  Cabinet  in  January,  1855. 
Subsequently  he  showed  himself  a  bitter 
opponent  of  the  Administration  of  Lord 
Palmerston,  though  that  statesman  on 
coming  into  office  accepted  his  proposed 
Committee  of  Investigation,  losing 
thereby  the  services  of  Gladstone,  Sir 
James  Graham,  and  Sidney  Herbert.  In 
one  of  his  speeches  he  spoke  of  the 
Duke  of  Newcastle  as  "  a  scapegoat  that 
had  been  sent  into  the  wilderness  with 
the  sins  of  the  Administration  upon  his 
head.''  Strong  exception  was  taken  by 
some  of  the  duke's  old  colleagues  10 


i 


from  a  draicing  1)>J  Gwrye  Richmond,  R.A. 

HENRY  HOWARD   MOLYXEDX,    FOURTH   EARL   OP   CARNARVON, 


this    assertion,    whereupon    Roebuck    im-       One  of  the  principal  members  of  Disraeli's  Cabinets.      Colonial  Secretary  1866-T 

perturbably  replied:  "  Sir,  I  take  shame 


and  1874-8,  and  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Irelan 


496 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


to  myself  for  once  in  my  life. 
I  have  indulged  in  panegyric, 
but.  like  almost  all  other  men 
who  attempt  a  character  to 
which  they  arc' not  accustomed, 
1  have  failed  in  representing 
it,  and  have  failed  also  most 
completely  in  making  myself 
understood.  I  did  object  to 
making  the  Duke  of  Newcastle 
a  scapegoat.  I  gave  that  noble 
duke  credit  for  industry  and 
good  intentions,  and  1  said 
that  he  had  done  his  duty 
according  to  his  ability.  Then 
1  am  turned  round  upon  be- 
canse  1  am  said  to  have  eulo- 
gii-ed  the  noble  dllke." 

With  1'almerston  Roebuck 
had  many  sharp  passages,  but 
the  statesman  entertained  no 
enmity — indeed,  if  we  may 
judge  from  a  story  which  KOI- 
huck  himself1  once  told,  the  old 
peer  had  a  strong  liking  for 
his  very  candid  critic.  Having 
business  to  transact  with  the 
peer,  Roebuck,  alxiut  the  period 
of  the  American  Civil  War, 
waited  upon  him  just  alter  he 
had  delivered  a  strong  speech 
to  his  constituents  on  the  sul>- 
ject  of  the  conflict.  "The 
moment  I  got  into  his  room," 
said  Itoebuck.  "he  turned  round 
and  put  out  his  hands  and  said. 
'  Roebuck,  Roebuck,  what  a 
devilish  good  speech  you  made 

at  Sheffield!'  I  said,  'My  lord,  I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you,  and  flattered  for  the  hard  phrase 
you  have  used  alniut  mv  sj>e.ecb. ' — though  it  was  a  hard  one,  you  know — 'I  am  very  much 
flattered.'  •  Flattered  ?  '  he  said.  '  Why.  I  am  entirely  of  your  opinion,  though  I  dare  not  say  so.'  " 
Palmerston's  tenure  of  power  was  interrupted  for  a  brief  period  from  1858  to  185'J, 
during  which  the  Karl  of  Derby,  with  Disraeli  as  his  chief  henchman,  carried  on  the 
Administration.  Hut  hi*  hold  on  the  country  was  strengthened  rather  than  not  by  the 
tem)>orarv  check,  and  after  the  general  election  of  1859  he  was  reinstalled  at  the  head  of 
the  Ministry  with  a  weight  of  popularity  In-hind  him  which  made  his  position  practically 

impregnablt — ind 1.    few    First    Ministers    of  the    Crown    have    ever    enjoyed    in    so   peculiar    a 

degree  the  confidence  of  their  countrymen  of  all  shades  of  political  opinion.  His  death  in 
18G5  created  a  void  in  political  life  which  could  not  be  adequately  rilled.  Earl  Russell 
assumed  the  Premiership,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  became,  for  the  first  time.  Leader  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  The  Ministry  soon  got  into  troubled  water1  over  the  question  of 
Beform.  After  struggling  on  for  some  time  against  a  jM>werfnl  array  of  adverse  forces,  it 


an  engraving  after  a  photograph  taken  in  tlif  latt  'jtftict. 

•Mil:    KICIIT    1IOX.   W.   E.  GLADSTONE. 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


497 


finally,  on  June  18th,  1866,  came  to  grief  over  an  amendment  in  Committee,  and  resigned. 
The  return  of  the  Earl  of  Derby  to  power,  with  Disraeli  again  in  the  position  of  Leader 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  followed.  Though  unpledged  on  Reform,  the  new  Ministers 
speedily  found  that  the  question  was  one  whicli  brooked  no  delay.  Resolutions  were  tabled 
dealing  with  the  subject,  and  these  were  followed  by  the  production  of  a  bill  reducing  the 
rating  in  towns  to  a  £6  franchise  and  making  other  important  changes  in  the  electoral  law. 
Such  sweeping  proposals  as  these  had  not  been  anticipated,  and  there  was  much  excitement 
in  political  quarters,  which  was  further  increased  when  it  became  known  that  the  Government 
had  withdrawn  this  scheme  in  favour  of  a  measure  of  universal  household  suffrage  modified  by 
various  4i  fancy  franchises,"  and  that  as  a  consequence  three  members  of  the  Ministry — Lord 
Cranborne  (now  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury),  Lord  Carnarvon,  and  General  Peel — -had  resigned. 


THE  HOUSE   OF   LOUDS   LIBRARY:    TIIK  QUKEXS   ROOM. 
One  of  the  pleasantest  rooms  of  the  suite  set  apart  for  the  convenience  of  the  members  of  the  Upper  House. 

The  passage  of  the  bill  through  the  House  was  tempestuous,  but  dealing  in  a  conciliatory  spirit 
with  the  amendments  brought  forward,  Disraeli  succeeded  in  safely  carrying  the  scheme  through 
to  the  third  reading  stage.  His  amenability  to  pressure,  as  well  as  his  general  attitude  of 
tolerance  towards  Reform,  excited  much  criticism.  Not  the  least  remarkable  attack  was  that 
made  by  Lord  Cranborne  at  the  third  reading  stage.  "  I  have  heard  it  said,"  observed 
the  noble  lord,  "that  the  bill  is  a  Conservative  triumph.  If  it  be  a  Conservative  triumph 
to  have  adopted  the  principles  of  your  most  determined  adversary,  the  honourable  member 
for  Birmingham  (Mr.  Bright) ;  if  it  be  a  Conservative  triumph  to  have  introduced  a  bill 
guarded  with  precautions  and  securities,  and  to  have  abandoned  every  one  of  those  precautions 
and  securities  at  the  bidding  of  your  opponents ;  then  in  the  whole  course  of  your  annals  I 
will  venture  to  say  the  Conservative  party  has  won  no  triumph  so  signal.  After  all,  our 
theory  of  government  is  'not  that  a  certain  number  of  statesmen  should  place  themselves  in 
office  and  do  whatever  the  House  of  Commons  bids  them.  Our  theory  of  government  is  that 

63 


498 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


on  each  side  of  the  House  there  should  U>  men  supporting  definite  o]iinii»is.  and  tlmt  what 
thev  have  sup|>orted  in  opposition  they  should  adhere  to  in  orh'ce.  ami  that  every  our  should 
know  from  tin-  fact  of  their  twing  in  office  tlmt  those  (.articular  opinions  will  he  supported. 
If  vou  reverse  tliat  and  declare  that,  no  matter  what  a  man  lias  supported  in  opjiosition,  the 
moment  he  nets  into  oth'.-e  it  .shall  !*•  O]K-II  to  him  to  reverse  and  repudiate  it  all.  you 
pr.icticallv  destroy  the  whole  basis  on  which  our  form  of  government  rests,  ami  you  make  the 
House  i,f  Commons  a  mere  scrambling  for  oth'ce.  You  practically  K-mish  nil  honourable  men 
from  the  |Kilitical  arena,  and  you  will  find  in  the  long  run  that  the  time  will  come  when  your 
slat. -men  will  be  not  bins,'  but  political  adventurers,  and  that  professions  of  opinion  will  be 
looked  u)Kin  onlv  as  so  manv  political  man. envies  for  the  purpose  of  attaining  office."  I.or.l 
CranUirne  went  on  to  say  that  even  if  he  deemed  the  bill  to  be  most  advantageous,  he  should 
still  deeplv  regret  "that  the  jMisition  of  the  executive  should  have  been  so  degraded  as  it  has 
lieen  in  the  present  session.  I  should."  he  continued,  "deeply  regret  to  find  that  the 
House  of  Commons  has  applauded  a  policy  of  legerdemain.  And  I  should  above  all  things 
regret  that  this  great  gift  to  the  p<-<.|  le  if  great  gift  you  think  it  —  should  have  been 
purchased  by  a  political  ln>t  nival  which  has  no  parallel  in  our  Parliamentary  annals,  which 
Mrikes  at  the  root  of  all  that  mutual  confidence  which  is  the  very  soul  of  our  party  govern- 
ment, and  on  which  only  the  strength  and  freedom  of  our  representative  in.-titut  ions  can 
be  maintained." 

Lord  Cranlmrne  was  not  the  only  Conservative  who  denounced  Disraeli's  Reform  policv. 
Another  vigorous  speech  in  opposition  to  the  measure  was  made  by  Mr.  Heresf'ord  Hope.  who. 
after  criticising  the  conduct  of  the  .Ministry,  and  particularly  of  the  Leader  of  the  Hou-.. 
said  that  he  for  one,  whether  he  lost  his  seat  or  not,  would  vote  with  his  whole  heart 

nnd    conscieix against     the    Asian     mystery."      Disraeli    was    quite    equal    to    the    occasion. 

He  retorted  with  one  of  his  most  sarcastic 
speeches.  "I  can  assure  the  honourable 
gentleman,"  he  said,  "that  1  listened  with 
great  pleasure  to  the  invectives  he  delivered 
against  me.  I  admire  his  style;  it  is  a 
very  great  ornament  to  discussion,  but  it 
requires  practice.  I  listen  with  the  greatest 
satisfaction  to  all  his  exhibitions  in  tliis 
House — (Oh!  Oh!) — and  when  he  talks  alioiit 
an  Asian  mystery  I  will  tell  him  that  there 
are  Batavian  graces  in  all  that  he  >avs 
which  I  notice  with  satisfaction,  and  which 
charm  me."  "Batavian  graces.''  applied  to 
Mr.  Beresford  Hope's  somewhat  ungainly 
style  of  declamation,  clung  to  that  gentleman 
long  after  the  Reform  question  had  passed 
beyond  the  actual  stage  of  controversy. 
Decidedly  Disraeli  was  a  dangerous  opponent 
to  engage  in  lingual  conflict. 

Later.  Disraeli  speaking  at  Edinburgh 
entered  into  a  general  defence  of  the  policy 
of  the  Derby  Ministry  in  dealing  with 
Reform.  "I  had,"  he  said  in  a  pa--!-' 
which  has  become  historic,  "to  prepare  the 
mind  of  the  country,  and  to  educate — if  it 
From  a  Pk<>iobrij,tLoHdansitrtoKopif  (•;.,  Ltd.  benot  arrogant  to  use  such  a  pliras. — to 

U..I.KKT  I.OWK.  V.SCO.ST  sHKiM.KooKK,  educate    our    party.      It    is   a    large    party, 

Cbanwll.ir  of  the  Eicheqtier  in   Mr.  OtednUwo't  flint  AdminUtration ;  .  *  l_  ll    j     j 

»uth«roftb«uiii»puUr»iau:hT»i.  and    requires  its  attention   to    be  called  to 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


499 


questions   of  this    kind   with   some    pressure.     I 
had  to  prepare   the    mind  of  Parliament   and   of 
the   country   on    the  question    of   Reform.     That 
wa$    not    only    with    the    concurrence    of    Lord 
Derby,  but  of  my  colleagues." 

In  spite  of  the  open  disaffection  of  not  a 
few  Conservatives  and  the  smouldering  discontent 
of  others,  Disraeli's  position  in  the  Conservative 
party  after  the  passage  of  the  Reform  Bill 
remained  unshaken.  If  distrusted,  he  was  yet 
accepted  as  the  only  possible  leader  for  the  party. 
Consequently,  when  Lord  Derby,  stricken  with 
fatal  illness,  on  February  25th,  1868,  resigned 
the  Premiership,  and  Disraeli  was  chosen  by  the 
late  Queen  as  his  successor,  the  selection  met 
with  general  acquiescence  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Ministerialists.  It  was  an  unquiet  throne,  how- 
ever, which  the  new  Premier  was  to  occupy.  He 
immediately  found  himself  face  to  face  with  the 
necessity  of  dealing  with  the  Irish  Church 
question,  and  dealing  with  it  under  political 
conditions  which  rendered  failure  almost  certain. 
At  the  outset  he  essayed  a  temporising  policy. 
But  his  hand  was  forced  by  Mr.  Gladstone 
giving  notice  on  March  23rd  of  his  famous 
resolutions  in  favour  of  the  Disestablishment  and 
Disendowment  of  the  Church.  The  Govern- 
ment met  the  resolutions  by  an  amendment  declaring  that  any  proposition  tending  towards 
Disestablishment  and  Disendowment  ought  to  be  reserved  for  the  decision  of  a  new  Parliament. 
Disraeli  fought  what  he  felt  from  the  outset  to  be  a  losing  contest  with  characteristic  game- 
ness.  His  position  was  rendered  the  more  difficult  by  the  attacks  made  on  his  flank  by  Lord 
Cranborne,  in  whose  mind  still  rankled  a  sense  of  irritation  at  the  treatment  of  the  Eeform 
question.  The  burden  of  the  attacks  was  the  opportunism  of  Disraeli.  In  concluding  one  of 
his  speeches,  the  noble  lord  said  :  "  I  do  not  pretend  to  predict  the  probable  course  of  the  right 
honourable  gentleman  at  the  head  of  the  Government.  I  should  as  soon  undertake  to  tell  you 
which  way  the  weather-cock  would  point  to-morrow."  Disraeli,  who  could  always  be  reckoned 
on  to  give  as  good  as  he  received,  was  thoroughly  equal  to  the  occasion.  "  The  noble  lord," 
he  observed,  "is  at  no  time  wanting  in  imputing  to  us  being  influenced  by  not  the  most 
amiable  motives  that  can  regulate  the  conduct  of  public  men.  I  do  not  quarrel  with  the  invective 
of  the  noble  lord.  The  noble  lord  is  a  man  of  great  talent,  and  he  has  vigour  in  his  language. 
There  is  great  vigour  in  his  invective  and  no  want  of  vindictiveness.  I  admit  that  now,  speaking 
as  a  critic,  and  perhaps  not  an  impartial  one,  I  must  say  I  think  it  wants  finish."  Whether 
Lord  Cranborne's  invective  lacked  "  finish  "  or  not,  it  was  not  without  its  effect  on  the  general 
political  situation.  The  Government  was  defeated  by  majorities  of  sixty  and  sixty-five  respec- 
tively in  divisions  on  the  resolutions.  The  resignation  of  Ministers  was  looked  for,  but  on 
May  4th  Disraeli  announced  that  the  decision  come  to  was  to  dissolve  Parliament,  Heated 
controversy  ensued  as  to  the  legitimacy  of  this  step  from  a  constitutional  standpoint.  But 
Ministers  adhered  to  their  resolution  and  continued  in  office  until  the  autumn,  when  the  general 
election  was  held,  with  disastrous  results  to  the  Conservatives.  Without  wailing  for  the  meeting 
of  Parliament,  the  Government  resigned. 

Gladstone  was  now  called  upon  to  assume   the  supreme    political   office  for   the  first   time. 
He  was   in    the   heyday  of  his  splendid  powers,  with  behind   him  the  great   reputation    gained 


From  a  plioio  by  the  London  Stereoscopic  Co.,  Ltd, 
HENKY  BOUVERIE  BRAND,  VISCOUNT  HAMPDEN, 
tfjieiiker  of  the  House  of  Commons  from  1ST2  to  18S4. 


500 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


bv  hi*  brilliant  admini-t ration  of  the  country's  finances  in  four  Administ rations.  During  the 
six  years  that  his  Administration  lasted,  several  ini]Kirtant  reforms  were  curried,  notably  the 
Education  Act,  by  the  pro\i-i"ii>  of  which  the  country  w«is  for  tin-  first  time  endowed  with  a 
State  system  of  compulsory  elementary  education.  The  Ministry,  though  Mrong.  had  its  ups 
nn<l  downs.  One  of  the  most  humiliating  rel mil's  it  received  was  over  u  pro]«>sal  made  in  the 
l{iidi;et  of  1871  by  .Mr.  Kohert  Ixiwc.  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  to  levy  a  tax  of  one 
half|x-nny  on  each  IH>X  of  lucifer  matches.  Immense  excitement  was  created  by  this  ap]«irent  ly 
imiiM-ent  |iro]Misal.  The  match-makers,  apprehensive  of  the  effect  that  the  impost  would  have 
on  their  intenM-.  commenced  an  agitation  again-t  the  Hudget.  It  was  regarded  with  amused 
interest  at  tirst,  but  when,  on  April  24th.  a  deputation  composed  of  several  thousand  East 
End  workers  marched  in  procession  to  \Ve>t minster,  the  authorities  in  their  turn  became 
alarmed.  Ilefore  the  demonstrators  arrived  at  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  they  were  met  by 
the  police  and  dispersed.  Subsequently  complaint  was  made  in  the  llou>e  of  the  treatment 
meted  out  to  the  match-makers,  whereupon  the  Home  Secretary  Mr.  I'ruee)  explained  that 
".such  a  procession  was  contrary  to  the  law — the  law  being  that  no  large  bodies  of  pcr-<>u> 
should  go  either  to  the  Sovereign  or  to  Parliament  for  the  purjiose  of  presenting  a  petition. 

The  number  jK-rmitted  by  law  does 
not.  exceed  ten  persons.  The  Act 
of  George  III.  known  as  the  One 
.Mile  Act."  he  added,  "applies  to 
meetings,  and  provides  that  such 
meetings  as  that,  of  Monday  la-t 
shall  not  be  held  within  one  mile 
of  Westminster."  The  vindicatim, 
of  the  majesty  of  the  law  and  of 
the  privacy  of  Parliament  in  the 
.•a>e  of  the  match-makers  lias  afforded 
u  precedent  which  has  served  to 
keep  many  awkward  movements  at 
arm's  length  of  the  Palace  of  West- 
minster. Where  numerous  deputa- 
tions have  found  their  way  into  or 
near  the-  legislative  precincts,  it  has 
usually  been  with  the  connivance  of 
the  authorities,  or  at  least  with  their 
tacit  approval. 

The  term  of  office  of  the  Glad- 
stone Administration  was  marked  by 
a  vigorous  controversy  relative  to 
the  expenditure  on  the  Koyal  es- 
tablishments. It  was  at  first  mostlv 
confined  to  the  public  platform;  but 
early  in  the  session  of  1S7L'  on 
March  19th  —  Sir  Charles  Dilke 
raised  the  question  in  the  House  on 
a  motion  to  inquire  into  the  ex- 
penditure of  the  Civil  List  during 
the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  At 
the  outset  of  the  debate  the  mover 

fnMlk<  raiding  k,  G,or,  .,„(*«  Xal.mal  1-ortrail  OolKry.  »f     the      resolution      Was      interrupted 

WILLIAM  p.uii:  WOOD,  n.ticox  u ATii KKi.KY,  by   another    member,    who    raised   a 

Umi  chwiwiior  from  1808  to  18T2.  question   of  privilege.      The   former 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


501 


had  outside  the  House  avowed  himself  a  Eepublican,  and  the  question  now  arising  was  whether 

he    had    not    violated    the    oath    of    allegiance   to   her   Majesty    taken    by    every   member    of 

the    House.      This    gave    rise    to  a   preliminary  scene    of  disorder,   a   sort   of  forecast   of  what 

followed.       The    Speaker    refusing    to    decide    as    to   what    was    consistent    or    not    consistent 

with    the   oath,    Sir    Charles    Dilke   proceeded    to    state   his    case,    attacking   various    items   of 

expenditure  and  certain  allowances  to  members  of  the  Royal  Family.     The  speech  was  admittedly 

an  able  one,  and  attacked  principles  and  not  persons.       It  was   listened  to  with   a  fair   amount 

of  attention    and  was   answered  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  then  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury.     Here  the 

House  thought  the   matter   should   have   ended,  but   Mr.  Auberon    Herbert  rose   to  address  the 

House  and  was   received  with   overpowering  cries  of  "  Divide,"    "  Oh  !    Oh ! "    and    other    marks 

of  disapproval   at    the   continuance    of  the    discussion.      Undeterred,   Mr.   Herbert    paused,  and 

the  uproar   ceased.      Commencing    again,  the    honourable   member    uttered   a   few  words,  when 

the  storm    broke  out  anew  with  such  violence  that  no   one   complete  sentence  could   be  heard ; 

again    and    again    he    tried   to    secure    a    hearing,  only  to   be  overpowered.      At   length  on  the 

intervention  of  the  Speaker  (Mr.  Brand),   he  was  allowed  to  proceed  for  a  short  space  of  time. 

But    as  he   began    to   attack    the    Constitution    of  the    country,  a  large   body  of  the   members 

on   both  sides  of  the  House   rose  and   left.      Repeated    motions  were    made  to    count   out  "the 

House  without  success,  and  attention  was   then  called  to  the  fact  that    strangers  were    present, 

and  the  House   was   cleared   of  them — including   the   Press — by   the    Sergeant-at-Arms  and  his 

officers.     During  the  remainder  of  the  honourable  member's  speech,  cries  and  interruptions  were 

resumed    with  increased  vehemence, 

these  cries  emanating  from  members 

•who    had    concealed    themselves    in 

remote    and    obscure    parts    of    the 

House.     Suddenly,  amid  the  general 

uproar    and    confusion,    loud    noises 

were     heard     in     imitation    of    the 

crowing    of    cocks,    whereupon     the 

Speaker  rose  and  said   that   he   had 

heard  .sounds  from  behind  his  Chair 

which   were    grossly   disorderly,    and 

he  could  not  refrain  from  expressing 

the    pain   with   which    he   had   wit- 
nessed the  scene  that  had  just  taken 

place.     This  rebuke   from  the  Chair 

had  the  effect  of  abating  the  storm, 

and     an    endeavour    was     made     to 

terminate     the     proceedings     by     a 

proposal  that   the   House   should   at 

once    adjourn,    but    without    effect. 

Mr.    Auberon    Herbert    was    allowed 

to  finish  his  speech,  and  a  few  other 

members  taking  part  in  the  debate, 

the  House  divided  upon  the  question, 

with     the    result     that     276     voted 

against   the   proposal  and   only  two, 

the  mover  and  the  seconder,  for  it. 
Another  remarkable  scene  which 

occurred  in  the   House  of  Commons 

at     a      little     later      period— in      July,  from  a.  photo  liytlte  London  StenouopicCa.,  Ltd. 

1875 — may    be    mentioned    in    this  SAMUEL  PLIMSOLL, 

Connection.          It      arose      OUt       of      an  ("The  Seaman's  Friend"),  promoter  of  important  shipping  legislation. 


502 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


announcement  made-  by  I>israeli.  as  the  head  of 
tin-  then  Ailniini.-tration.  that  the  Govern incut 
were  unable  to  proceed  with  a  liill  dealing 
with  tin-  overloading  of  merchant  ships.  The 
statement,  as  well  as  the  subject.  :iii]>eaivd 
unexciting,  but  it  had  a  visible  effect  upon 
.Mr.  Samuel  1'limsoll.  one  of  the  members  for 
Ilerliv.  who  had  devoted  his  best  time  and 
energy  for  years  to  the  cause  of  the  sailor,  anil 
to  whom  the  withdrawal  of  the  bill  ineani  the 
blighting  of  eager  hopes  and  long-formed  plans. 
White  with  emotion,  Mr.  I'limsoll  rose  in  his 
]>lac-e  and  implored  the  I'rime  .Mini>ter  to 
FeCODSlder  his  decision.  In  ]ia.--ionate  tones  he 
exclaimed  :  ••  Hundreds  and  hundreds  of  brave 
men  are  sent  to  death,  their  wives  are  made 
widows  and  their  children  are  made  orphans,  in 
order  that  a  few  speculative  scoundrels,  in  whose 
hearts  there  is  neither  the  love  of  God  nor 
the  fear  of  God,  may  make  unhallowed  gains." 
Reference  was  then  made  to  the  loss  of  certain 
ships  whose  registered  owner  bore  the  name  of 
a  member  of  the  House  representing  a  seaport 
town.  "And,"  said  Mr.  I'limsoll.  -1  shall  ask 
some  question  about  other  members  of  tin- 
House  also.  I  am  determined  to  unmask  the 

villains  who  send  to  death  and  destruction ' 

Here' the  Speaker  rose  and  asked  the  honour- 
able member  to  withdraw  the  word  "villains" 
with  reference  to  members  of  the  House.  Mr. 
Plimsoll,  in  impassioned  tones,  declined  to  withdraw  the  statement,  and  made  his  wav  from 
his  seat  to  the  table  of  the  House.  In  one  hand  he  held  a  written  document,  which  he 
flourished  in  the  face  of  the  Premier  and  then  placed  it  upon  the  table.  "This  is  my 
protest,"  said  he.  and  then  resumed  his  seat.  One  course  only  could  be  followed  by  the 
ll'>u-e  that  of  cen>uring  the  member  for  his  disorder.  This  was.  after  the  lapse  of  a  few 
days,  decided  upon,  but  a  can-fully  written  apology  was  then  forthcoming  from  the  offender, 
in  which  he  withdrew  every  expression  contrary  to  Parliamentary  usage,  but  added  that  he 
did  not  withdraw  any  statement  of  fact.  Satisfied  with  this  amend,  the  II<>iise  generously 
forgave  the  honourable  member  for  his  breach  of  order.  His  zeal  was  not  without  its  effect, 
as  a  strong  feeling  was  created  in  the  country  by  his  protest,  and  although  late  in  the 
session,  the  Government  was  compelled,  by  pressure  from  outside,  to  introduce  and  pa->  a  l'iv-h 
measure  dealing  with  nn-eaworthy  ships. 

I.ess  than  twelve  months  after  this  episode  in  which  Mr.  Plimsoll  figured  so  prominently, 
Israeli  wa>  elevated  to  the  House  of  Lords  with  the  title  of  Earl  of  Ueaconsti.  Id.  Hi- 
last  utterance  in  the  House  of  Commons  was  made  on  August  12th,  187C.  on  the  state  of 
affairs  in  the  Hast,  which  then  exclusively  occupied  public  attention.  With  Israeli  dis- 
appeared from  the  popular  chamber  one  of  the  strangest  and  most  fa-cinat  in:.;  figures  who  have 

aver  spoken  within  its  walls.     His  policy  may  have,  been,  as  it  was  represented  by  his  opponents. 

mischieMiiis ;  his  political  morals  corrupt;  he  may  have  lieen,  as  he  was  often  called,  an 
unscrupulous  adventurer  and  a  political  mountebank;  but  he  had  the  invaluable  quality  of 
making  himself  interesting,  and  this,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  non-political  reader,  may 
be  held  to  extenuate  a  multitude  of  political  sins. 


B>  il. 


IIl'ST   OF  QfKKN   VICTORIA, 

In  ll.e  Qu«n'«  liaoni,  House  of  l.onln  I.ibrarj,  i>re«nte<l  by  Mr. 
O'Leary,  Librarian. 


From  an  engraving  after  the  painting  by  Sir  franc  it  Grant,  F.K.A.,  by  permi**ion  of  Mr.  Coningsby  Disradi,  M.P. 

BENJAMIN  DISRAELI,   EARL   OF   BEACONSFIELD,   K,G. 

One  uf  the  uioat  successful  of  the  many  portraits  of  the  famous  statesman. 

503 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 


TUK   riCT"i;i.\.\    PARLIAMENTS  (concluded). 

THE  eli-vat ion  of  ])isnu-li  to  the  Peers  left  bis  great  rival,  (iladstone.  in  undisputed  pre- 
eminence in  the  ILniM-  of  ('oninions.  No  oiu-  approached  him  either  in  intellectual  gifts  or 
in  political  influence.  Vet  it  was  not  an  undistinguished  assembly.  In  it  .-at  Mr.  (iathorne 
llarilv.  whose  impetuous  eloquence  won  for  him  the  title  of  tin-  "Hots-pur  of  l)cl>att-."  There 
also  wa>  Mr.  Kohert  I.owe  in  the  plenitude  of  his  great  powers;  Sir  William  Vi-rnon  Harconrt. 
nipiilly  pushing  his  way  to  fame;  John  Hright.  with  his  eyes  undimmed  and  the  natural  force 
of  hi*  eliM|iience  yet  unabated;  and  Mr.  W.  K.  Footer,  the  hero  of  the  education  s.ett lenient. 
•whose  rugged  rhetoric  had  a  certain  power  of  charm  not  always  exerc-ised  by  th<>  polished 
flights  of  more  brilliant  orators.  Amount  .the  younger  men  were  two  defined  to  cut  a  con.-ider- 
able  figure  u\ton  the  political  stage  in  succeeding  decades.  These  were  Lord  Randolph 
Churchill,  who  entered  the  House  as  member  for  the  family  borough  of  Woodcock,  and  Mr. 
Arthur  Halfotir.  the  present  Premier,  who  sit  in  Parliament  for  the  first  time  in  1874  as  member 

for  Hertford.  Also  as  members  of  the  popu- 
lar chamber  at  the  time  that  Disraeli  took 
his  farewell  of  it  were  Charles  Stewart  I'ar- 
nell,  the  great  Irish  Leader,  who  had  been 
elected  as  member  for  Meat h  in  the  previous 
year;  and  Mr.  Jo.-eph  Chamberlain,  whose 
election  for  Birmingham  had  only  taken  place 
two  or  three  months  prior  to  the  Conserva- 
tive Premier's  transfer  to  the  Upper  House. 
Whether  regarded  from  the  standpoint  of 
matured  statesmanship  or  from  that  of  latent 
talent,  tin-  assembly  was  above  the  average. 
The  hi>tory  of  the  Victorian  Parlia- 
ments from  the  period  that  Disraeli  disa|>- 
peared  from  the  scene  is  too  recent,  and 
touches  too  many  acutely  controversial 
questions  to  be  dealt  with  in  any  detail  in 
a  work  such  as  this.  It  will  suffice  for  our 
purpose  to  draw  attention  to  some  of  the 
more  picturesque  facts  and  incidents  which 
diMingnished  the  career  of  Parliament  in 
the  la>t  quarter  of  a  century  of  the  late 
(Jin-en's  reign.  leaving  to  the  serious 
hiMorian  the  more  onerous  and  iv>]K>nsible 
task  of  recording  the  precise  course  of  event > 
and  passing  judgment  ujwn  the  actors  on 
the  political  stage. 

One  striking  feature  of  the  period  which 
may  properly  be  alluded  to  i>  the  rise  and 
development  of  working-class  representation. 


Froiii  a  photo  ly  tlic  LonJa*  Sttivoicopic  Co. ,!.'•'. 
MB.   THOMAS    IH'HT,   M.I-., 

The  Drat  fraulnc  working-man  repinenutit o  to  be  returned  to  the  Hotue 
of  Cuumon*. 


90S 


3    H    r 

»;•! 

|i| 


f  •"  ° 

It  i 


2  r 


H.  o 

|  g 

'  H 

—  3 


505 


64 


506 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Until    this    juncture    in   the    life  of 
Parliament    the    Mouse  of   Commons 
had   never   included  within    its  ranks 
a    genuine    working    man     sent    to 
Parliament    by    working-class    voters 
to  specially  represent    their    interests. 
The  nearest  approach   to   such  repre- 
sentatives   were    men     like    Cobbett, 
who,    though    their    political    aspira- 
tions   and     social     sentiments     were 
entirely    democratic,    could    yet    not 
claim  to  be  what  the  modern  Labour 
representatives   are.      The   pioneer  of 
this  new  class  of  legislator  was  Mr. 
Thomas    Hurt,     who     in     1874     was 
elected   as  member  for  Morpeth.     In 
his   younger    clays    Mr.    Burt   worked 
in   a  coal  mine,   undergoing  all  the 
hardships  and  sharing  all  the  dangers 
inseparable     from     the    miner's    life. 
A  thoughtful,  studious   lad,   endowed 
with   no    common     share    of    intelli- 
gence,   and    a    considerable    fund :  of 
his    native    northern    shrewdness,  he 
speedily   made   his  way  to  a  position 
of  influence  amongst  his   fellows,  and 
Jinally  became  in   a  real  sense  their 
leader.      His    return     to     Parliament 
was  a   great  achievement,  honourable 
alike  to   himself  and    to    those   who 
sent   him    to    Westminster.      It   was 
also  in  the  nature  of  an  experiment. 
and    as    such    was    somewhat    clpsely 
and   anxiously   watched  by   thoughtful   men   all  over  the   country.      But   whatever  misgivings 
may  have  been   entertained   at  the  outset,    they   were   speedily   dissipated    by   the    member's 
career   in    Parliament.      His    quiet,    unassuming  demeanour,    his  zeal   for   the  public  good,  and 
his  restrained  and    reasoned   oratory,  won   for   him   hosts  of  friends  and   well-wishers  amoug-t 
all    iiarties.      Such   were  his  qualities    that   when,   in    1890,    the   German    Emperor  convened 
a  Labour   Conference   at    Berlin,  he  was  with   general   approval   selected  as  one   of  the   British 
delegation.      An    even    greater   tribute  was   paid    him  two  years    later,  when  he   was   appointed 
a   member   of  the   Government,    and    as   Parliamentary  Secretary  to  the    Board   of  Trade    took 
his    seat    on   the   Treasury  Bench  amid  cheers   from  all   parts   of  the    House.     Mr.   Burt    found 
what   others    had    discovered  before    him,  that   lowly  birth  was  no   bar   to   goodwill — or,  to    u-e 
his  own  stronger  words,    that  "probably  there  is   no   place   in    the  world   where    social    ]>osition 
counts    for    l.-ss   than    in   the   British    House  of  Commons.     It  may  be   unfair   in  its  judgment 
of  a   man,    but   it   never    measures    him    by   a    mean    standard.      It    e.-timates    him    by,  his 
character    and    ability,    not    by  the    extent    of   his   posses-ion>.    and    cares   just   as    little    for    a 
pea-ant   as  for  a  lord.     The  same  cannot  be  said  with    equal    truth  of  any  other  assemblage  of 
Englishmen." ' 

In  1880  Mr.  Burt  was   reinforced   by   several   other  working-men  representatives,  the  most 

conspicuous  of  whom  was  Mr.  Henry  Broadhurst,  who,  beginning  life  as  a  stonemason,  been 

1  Article  in  Contemporary  Hi-view,  1889. 


MR.   JOHN    ItfllNS,    SI. P., 

Member  for  Battenn ;  one  of  the  best  known  and  nblest  representatives  of  Labour 
iu  the  Honati  of  Commons.- 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


507 


Parliamentary  Secretary  of  the  Trades  Union 
Council,  and,  through  the  influence  of  that 
organisation  and  by  virtue  of  his  own  sturdy 
abilities,  was  elected  member  for  Stoke-upon- 
Trent.  Like  Mr.  Burt,  Mr.  Broadhurst 
speedily  made  his  way  in  the  House,  and 
finally  (in  1886)  attained  Ministerial  rank, 
filling  the  appointment  of  Under-Secretary 
of  the  Home  Department.  At  the  present 
time  Mr.  Broadhurst  represents  Leicester,  by 
which  constituency  he  was  first  returned  in 
1894,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Walter  Hazell, 
a  large  employer  of  labour — a  happy  con- 
junction of  interests,  which  proves  that  a 
Labour  candidature  need  not  be  conducted 
on  exclusive  or  selfish  lines.  Mr.  Broad- 
hurst's  testimony,  like  that  of  Mr.  Burt,  is 
warmly  appreciative  of  the  friendliness  of  the 
House.  Addressing  a  meeting  at  Stoke-upon- 


J-ro)it  a  photo  by  Iknry  A'cKir,  Botr, 

SIB  MAXCHEKJEE  MEBWANJEE  BHOWNAGGBEE, 
K.C.I.E., 

Member  for  North-East  Bethnal  Green,  a  distin- 
guished Parsee  who  may  bo  regarded  as  the  representative 
of  India  in  the  Imperial  Parliament. 


From  a,  photo  by  the  London  Stereoscopic  Co.,  Ltd. 

THE   1UGHT   HON.  W.  E.  FOHSTEB, 

A  leading  member  of  Gladstone's  first  anil  second  Administrations.    The 
introducer  of  the  Education  Act  of  1870. 

Trent  in  1881,  he  said:  "I  entered  the  House  without 
wealth,  influence,  or  friends  other  than  my  own  class, 
and  no  one  could  have  been  more  courteously  and 
generously  received  than  I  have  been,  even  by  political 
opponents.  In  the  House  of  Commons  it  mattered  not 
what  had  been  a  man's  position,  nor  what  was  the  sphere 
of  life  in  which  he  moved;  if  he  had  anything  to  say 
worth  listening  to,  he  was  equal  to  the  noblest  and  richest 
in  the  assembly.  Therefore  working  men,  if  they  chose 
to  send  to  Parliament  a  representative  from  themselves, 
might  know  that  he  would  be  received  with  as  much 
respect  as  if  he  was  the  son  of  a  millionaire." 

Mr.  Joseph  Arch,  the  representative  of  the  agricul- 
tural labouring  class,  and  Mr.  George  Howell,  a  thought- 
ful writer  on  Labour  questions,  are  other  prominent 
sons  of  toil  who  have  reinforced  the  green  benches  of 
the  House  of  Commons.  But  perhaps  the  most  striking 
figure  of  all  which  has  been  seen  in  the  Parliamen- 
tary Labour  ranks  is  that  of  Mr.  John  Burns,  the 
member  for  Battersea.  This  gentleman  has  a  strongly 
marked  individuality,  which,  if  it  were  allied  to  less 
shrewdness,  might  have  long  since  made  shipwreck  of 
his  career  in  the  popular  chamber.  But  it  is  not  without 
reason  that  Mr.  Burns  has  won  for  himself  the  title 
of  "the  Statesman  of  Labour."  He  has  a  keen 


508 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


appreciation  of  (he  forces  which 
give  the  Ilini-e  of  Commons  its 
peculiar  distinction  amongst  the 
popular  chambers  of  the  world; 
and  he.  in  addition,  possesses  to 
a  marked  extent  the  tact  fulness 
without  which  the  most  brilliant 
talents  are  as  naught  there. 
Thus  equipped,  he  has  gone 
from  one  success  to  another,  until 
he  occupies  to-day  a  position  of 
influence  and  popularity  which 
many  an  older  and — in  a  political 
and  social  sense  -a  more  influ- 
ential politician  might  with  good 
reason  envy.  Though  his  views 
may  be  extreme,  they  are  felt  to 
be  honestly  held,  and.  as  Mich. 
are  regarded  with  that  tolerance 
which  the  House  invariably  ex- 
tends to  the  genuine  outsjioken 
expression  of  opinion,  no  matter 
from  what  quarter  it  comes. 
His  vigorous  rhetoric,  marked  as 
it  is  by  a  certain  epigrammatic 
force  and  a  broad  humour,  is 
invariably  received  with  good 
temper;  while  on  occasions,  on 
questions  into  which  political 
feeling  does  not  enter,  his  co- 
operation is  actually-welcomed  by 
those  opposed  to  him.  In  short, 
he  enjoys  the  general  respect 
and  confidence  of  his  fellow-members,  and,  to  a  modified  extent,  their  sympathy. 

While  the  Labour  members  have  added  to  the  ranks  of  legislators  a  new  class,  an  even  more 
remarkable  type  of  representative  was  returned  to  the  House  of  Commons  (in  the  later  Victorian 
Parliament sj  in  the  Indian  member.  Milton,  in  his  grandest  imaginings  of  the  future  of  "the 
great  and  puissant  nation,"  probably  never  contemplated  that  distant  India  would  have  at 
Westminster  natives  of  its  populous  soil  to  watch  its  interests  in  an  Imperial  Parliament. 
Hut  such  was  to  be  the  case.  In  1892  was  returned  to  Parliament,  as  member  for  Central 
Finslmry.  .Mr.  Dadabhai  Naoroji,  a  member  of  the  great  Parsee  community  of  Western  India. 
In  his  earlier  days  .Mr.  Naoroji  had  been  an  official  in  a  native  state,  but  his  greatest 
reputation  was  made  as  a  publicist  in  Bombay,  where  he  for  many  years  occupied  a  prominent 
position  as  a  private  citizen.  Though  the  chances  of  the  electoral  struggle  rendered  his 
membership  but  a  brief  one,  he  was  sufficiently  long  in  the  House  to  demonstrate  that  a 
native  of  India,  speaking  with  the  authority  which  comes  of  popular  election,  could  be  very 
valuable  as  the  mouthpiece  of  educated  native  sentiment,  even  if  he  had  no  direct  authority 
to  represent  them.  In  the  circumstances  it  was  fortunate  that  the  election  which  witnessed 
.Mr.  Naon.ji's  rejection— that  of  1895— should  have  marked  the  return  for  North-East  Betlmal 
Green  of  Mr.  (now  Sir)  Mancherjee  M.  Hhownaggree,  a  co-religionist  of  his,  and  a  gentleman 
equally  well  equipped  by  training  in  public  life  for  the  role  of  •  unaccredited  "member  for 
India"  in  the  Imperial  Parliament.  A  journalist  in  early  life,  an  official  representative  of  an 


CHARLES   STEWABT   PAIISELL, 
The  Iriah  Nationalist  leader  ;  a  commanding  flsrurv  in  the  later  Victorian  Parliaments. 


509 


510 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


FIVM  apkvtv  tip  l 

CHAKI.KS    P.I;  MH.  U  <;ll. 

Tlia  KeuUrUt  leader,  wlioM  return  ««  member  foi  Xorthanii>ton  led  to  im 
acriiuuniotu  controverey  relative  tu  the  1'iirlinnientary  onth. 


important  native  state,  a  barrister  of  Lin- 
coln's Inn,  and  n  public  man  of  recognised 
standing  in  India,  he  combined  in  liis  person 
qualifications  which  an-  highly  de>irahle  in 
a  member  of  Parliament.  In  tbe  llmi>e  as 
well  as  outr-ide  it  lie  rapidly  won  liis  way 
to  favour,  and  it  \v;is  with  general  satisfac- 
tion that  at  the  (ii-nenil  Kleetion  of  1900 
he  was  once  more  retnnied.  It  is  jiossible 
that  the  future  may  have  in  store  the 
devising  of  some  >y.-tem  of  Imperial  repre- 
sentation by  whieh  members  may  l>e  directly 
delegated  from  India.  But  whether  this  is 
done  or  not,  a  picturesque  intere.-t  will 
alwavs  attach  to  the  membership  of  these  two 
gentlemen,  who  wooed  and  won  English  con- 
stituencies, and  so  unbarred  the  doors  of  the 
Senate  House  to  a  community  whose  very  exis- 
tence was  probably  unknown  to  the  members 
of  most  of  the  earlier  English  Parliaments. 
A>sociated  with  the  subject  of  execjH 
tional  representation  with  which  we  have 
been  dealing  is  the  question  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary oath.  Nowadays  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  a  man  to  be  excluded  from 
Parlia- 
ment on 
account 


of  his  religious  belief,  or  his  absence  of  religious  belief. 
But  in  past  times,  down  to  quite  recent  years,  fierce  con- 
troversies have  been  waged  around  the  question  of  the 
admissibility  of  the  administration  of  the  oath  to  certain 
j>ersons.  One  such  struggle  attended  Daniel  O'Connell's 
admission  to  the  House  of  Commons.  The  Liberator 
was  returned  to  Parliament  as  member  for  Clare  in 
1828,  previous  to  the  jwissing  of  the  Catholic  Emancipa- 
tion Bill.  Up  to  April,  1829,  he  had  forborne,  on  the 
advice  of  his  friends,  from  making  any  effort  to  assert  his 
claim.  But  the  Catholic  Emancipation  Bill  having  been 
jiassed,  he  then  decided  to  present  himself  in  the  House, 
l>elieving  that  the  Ministry  of  the  day  would  not  oppo>e 
him.  He  had,  however,  reckoned  without  the  hostility  of 
the  King  (George  IV.),  whose  inveterate  dislike  to  him 
resulted  in  the  adoption  of  measures  tending  to  his  ex- 
clusion. Arrived  at  the  Bar,  the  ordinary  oath  was  tendered 
to  him,  and  on  his  refusing  to  take  it,  the  House  by 
resolution  decreed  that  his  election  was  null  and  void. 
O'Connell  went  over  to  Ireland,  was  immediately  re-elected, 
and,  returning  to  Westminster,  took  his  seat  under  the 
provisions  of  the  then  recently  passed  Act,  Although  the 
jiortals  of  Parliament  were  widened  on  the  passing  of  the 
Catholic  Emanci|«tion  Act,  it  was  not  until  a  later  period 


i/  i,"»i. 

MIC    UAI.rll    A.   GOSSBTT, 

6«rgeant-at-Ariii»  <if  tlie  llonw  of  Common,  during 

tin-  llnidlaugh  controvi-r-i. 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


CHARLES    BRADLAUGH    AT    THE    BAR    OF    THE    HOUSE   OF  COMMONS  CLAIMING  THE   KIGHT 
TO   MAKE  AFFIRMATION   OF  ALLEGIANCE   INSTEAD   OF   TAKING   THE  OATH. 


that    Jews   were 

allowed  to    sit  and 

vote  in  the   House 

of   .Commons.      In 

1849  Baron   Lionel 

de    Rothschild   was 

sent  to   the   House 

of  Commons  by  the 

City     of     London. 

Waiting     for     two 

years,      the      duly 

elected  member  sat 

below       the       Bar, 

hoping    a    measure 

of  relief  would   be 

passed ;       but     his 

expectations    being 

disappointed,   he 

resigned     his    seat, 

and  was  re-elected. 

Considering  this    a 

mandate    from    his 

constituents  to  force 

the     matter     upon 

the  attention  of  the 

House,  the   hon.  member  presented   himself  at   the  table  to  be  sworn,  but  on  his  objecting  to 

that  portion  of  the  oath  of  abjuration  "on  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian,"  as  not  being  binding 

upon   his  conscience,  the  House  refused  to  allow  him  to  take  his  seat,  and  for  seven   years   he 

remained   in   name   only  a  member,  occupying  a  seat  below  the  Bar,  but  without  the  right  of 

voting.     It  was  different  with  Mr.  Alderman   Salomons,  also  a  Jew.     Elected  for  Greenwich  in 

1851,  his  position  was  on  all  fours  with  that   of   Baron   Rothschild.      He   refused   to   take   the 

oath  contrary  to  his  conscience,  but   claimed   his   right  to   be  an   active   member,  and   denying 

the  authority  of  the  House  to  prevent  him  voting,  he  took  his  seat  within  the  Bar  and  voted 

in  three  divisions,  and  for  doing  so  was  proceeded  against  in  the  Exchequer   Court   and   fined 

£500.     A  measure  was  thereafter  brought  into  Parliament  dealing  with  the  question  and  passed 

into  law,  Baron  de  Rothschild  being  the  first  member  to  take  advantage  of  the  change. 

In  Parliament,  as  in  other  places,  history  repeats  itself,  and  Mr.  Bradlaugh,  upon  his 
election  for  Northampton  in  1880,  found  himself  in  a  somewhat  similar  position  to  that  of  the 
Jews  thirty  years  previously — but  with  a  difference  r  Mr.  Bradlaugh  presented  himself  at 
the  table  and  claimed  the  right  to  affirm  instead  of  taking  the  oath,  on  the  ground  that 
he  had  repeatedly  done  so  in  courts  of  law..  It  was  notorious  that  Mr.  Bradlaugh  was 
a  person  without  religious  belief,  and  although  the  objection  to  allowing  him  to  affirm  was 
of  a  technical  nature — no  provision  for  such  a  case  existing — there  was  a  strong  feeling 
against  him  on  account  of  his  heterodox  opinions.  Long  and  exciting  debates  took  place 
in  relation  to  the  matter,  and  violent  scenes  occurred  in  the  House.  On  one  occasion 
Mr.  Bradlaugh,  denying  the  right  of  the  House  to  exclude  him,  made  his  way  to  the  table 
and  administered  the  oath  to  himself.  Upon  another  occasion  he  endeavoured  to  force  his 
way  into  the  House,  and  was  removed  by  police-constables  into  Palace  Yard..  He  at  one 
period  of  the  dispute  was  ordered  into  prison  under  the  custody  of  the  Sergeant-at-Arms ; 
and  so  the  matter  went  on.  Never  before  in  the  memory  of  the  oldest  member  or  official 
had  such  scenes  taken  place.  The  controversy  was  not  finally  settled  until  a  new  Parliament 
met,  when  Mr.  Bradlaugh  was  allowed  to  take  the  oath  without  interruption. 


512 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


In  the  contest  between  the  House  and  tin*  iiH-inlx-r  for  Noithainpton.  tlio 
"Fourth  Party,"  consisting  of  tin-  late  lx>rd  Randolph  Churchill,  Mr.  A.  .1.  I'alfour.  Sir 
II.  Drununond  Wolff,  nud  Sir  John  (Jorst.  took  a  lending  jiart.  l-'n-e  lances  in  tin-  ]Kilititiil 
arena,  they  harassed  the  Ciovcrnment  with  .Mr.  <ilad>tone  at  its  head;  they  attacked  their  own 
frieiuU  when  it  suited  them  to  do  so;  and  were  eventually,  to  some  extent,  instrumental  in 
bringing  nlxnit  the  defeat  of  the  Liberal  <inveriiiii<>nt-  .Mr.  Gladstone's  second  Administration. 
Before  this  event  occurred  many  stirring  scenes  were  witnessed  in  the  House,  one  of  which 
limy  be  recalled.  In  1884  the  House  had  met  for  an  autumn  session,  \\ith  the  intention 
of  again  jmssing  the  bill  for  extending  the  franchise  to  counties.  The  measure  had  got 
through  the  Commons  in  the  ordinary  session,  but  had  failed  to  receive  the  approval  of  the 
House  of  Lords.  Agitations  had  lieen  carried  on  in  the  country,  and  public-  meetings  held 
in  various  places,  notably  -at  Birmingham,  where  a  demonstration  organised  at  Aston  against 
the  measure  had  led  to  serious  riots.  Mr.  Chamberlain  was  accused  in  various  quarters  of  being 
a  party  to  the  disorderly  proceedings;  and  upon  this  occasion  Lord  Randolph  Churchill 
determined  to  bring  the  matter  before  the  House.  He  charged  Mr.  Chamberlain,  one  of 
her  Majesty's  Ministers,  holding  the  high  office  of  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  with  an 
incitement  to  interference  with  the  freedom  of  public  discussion,  and  with  a  justification  of 
riot  and  disorder.  The  House  looked  forward  to  a  good  crisp  debate,  Lord  Randolph  Churchill 
having  publicly  announced  that  he  intended  to  "draw  the  badger."  The  noble  lord  male  the 
most  of  his  opportunity,  bringing  forward  a  general  charge  of  complicity  in  the  riotous 
proceedings  of  the  Birmingham  Liberal  Association,  with  which  Mr.  Chamberlain  was  connected, 

and  supporting  it  with  allegations  of 
forged  tickets  of  admission,  of  hired 
ruffians  to  break  up  the  meet  ing  of  the 
Conservatives,  and  of  public  speeches 
of  the  Minister  calculated  toencourage 
disorder.  It  was  a  formidable  in- 
dictment prepared  with  much  care. 
But  Mr.  Chamberlain  was  quite  equal 
to  the  occasion.  He  not  only  from 
his  point  of  view  completely  refuted 
the  charges  against  himself  and  his 
supporters,  but  he  turned  the  tables 
upon  his  assailant  by  producing 
sworn  evidence  of  hirelings  who  had 
been  paid  by  the  organisers  of  the 
meeting  to  prevent  by  violence  any 
legitimate  opposition  being  shown, 
and  to  stifle  the  fret-  expression  of 
opinion.  As  to  the  accusation  of 
making  inflammatory  speeches  about 
his  opponents,  he  quoted  Lord 
Randolph  Churchill's  language  when 
addressing  an  audience.  "  I  have," 
said  Mr.  Chamberlain,  "  culled  a  few 
of  the  choice  flowers  of  rhetoric  that 
are  to  be  found  in  the  speeches 
of  the  noble  lord.  In  my  own 
case  he  has  described  me  as  a 
-  pinchbeck  Rol>espierre.'  Well,  I 
\x\wx*  Robespierre  was  by  common 

-•    i   •  •  11    j 

consent   of  his   contemporaries  called 


fro*  <t  i>koto  i,y  ti,t 

I...KI.  ii.iMH.i.i-11 


Co.,  Li-i. 


CIIUBCHILL 


hccrcUrr  for  Indi*  in  Lord  Salisbury's  flint,  ami  Chancellor  of  tbo  Exchequer  in  bi« 

d,  Administration. 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


513 


IHIVII,  of  t ttt:  Art  1'iiion  oj' Loitiloiij'i'vui  (/<>.<,•  lat-'ie  plat<!  vf  tli>:  iHCttti-L  bit  D<i,i<tl.3Iactise,  tt.A. 

THE  DUKE  OF  MAKLBOKOUGH  AT   BLENHEIM. 
One  of  A  series  of  jointings  designed  for  the  decoration  of  the  new  Houses  of  Parliament. 

the  '  incorruptible.'     The  historical  memory  of  the  noble  lord  can  furnish  him  with  the  names 
of  some  persons  who  are  not  entitled  to  that  appellation." 

The  House  enjoyed  the  cut-and-thrust  duel  between  the  two  experts  of  debate,  and  loudly 
cheered  each  telling  retort.  And  so  it  was  with  many  other  oratorical  encounters  in  which  the 
two  chief  actors  in  this  incident  were  subsequently  to  figure,  either  with  Gladstone  as  a  third 
party  to  the  quarrel  or  as  a  mutual  antagonist.  It  would  not  be  proper,  perhaps,  to  call  it 
the  palmy  period  of  Parliamentary  fence ;  but  it  unquestionably  will  compare  in  personal 
interest  with  all  but  the  most  brilliant  times  in  the  modern  life  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
How  completely  the  scene  was  changed  by  the  removal,  .first  of  Lord  Eandolph  Churchill  and 
later  of  Gladstone,  it  is  not  necessary  to  relate.  Nor  need  the  stormy  course  of  the  Home 
Kule  movement,  with  its  dramatic  and  even  tragic  interludes,  and  its  momentous  political 
consequences,  be  traced.  These  are  matters  which  are  still  fresh  in  the  public  recollection, 
and  in  regard  to  which  acute  controversy  still  rages.  Some  future  day,  when  the  leading 
actors  still  on  the  stage  have  passed  away,  the  events  will  provide  writers  who  are  treating 
of  the  life  of  the  House  of  Commons  with  material  for  some  chapters  of  absorbing  interest, 
and  political  philosophers  with  not  a  few  facts  upon  which  to  build  their  theories  of  the 
development  of  the  forces  which  go  to  the  making  of  history. 

65 


514 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


IVfore.  however,  final   leave  i-  taken  of  the  Victorian   Parliament^  a  reference  seem-  to  be 

demanded    t«>    tlie    leading    »>«•"   "'"'•  :lt    the    «'' 'f   :l    memorable    era    ill   (he   history  of   the 

cotintrv.  were    forenn»t    in    tlie    ranks    of    rnrliaiiientariaiis.       Compared    with    (lie    talent   which 

e\i-teil  at  Millie  earlier  periods  ill  the  life  of  the  llcill>e  of  ('oniliions,  the  fii  i->.<i,tii<l  of  the  two 
Fn»nt  Hem-lies  when  the  twentieth  century  dawned  was  not  remarkable.  Hut  it  ha-  its  peculiar 
elements  of  strength,  anil  time  may  yet  show  that  the  s^-niiis  which  constitutes  the  title  of 
the  Parliamentarian  to  renown,  like  history,  repeats  it-elf.  First  to  claim  notice  by  right  of 

Ministerial  rank,   if  not   of   intellectual  pre-eminence,   i-   Mr.  Arthur   .la s   Halfour,  the  pie-em 

I'remier.  In  the  roll  of  British  Premiers  there  ia  not  one  who-e  career  pre-ents  more  point - 
of  jM-i-Minal  attraction  than  this  distint,Mii.-hed  statesman.  As  litterateur,  philosopher,  and 
politician  he  lias  in  distinct  walks  of  life  built  up  for  himself  a  jiosition  of  authority  and 


Mil.    IS.U.I'OUIt'S   ROOM   AT   THK    Ho!  si:   or  COMMONS. 
It  i«  in  thin  «|K»rtmrot  that  the  1'trtiiicr  iloe«  the  greater  i»rt  of  hU  arduous  work  during  the  time  that  Parliament  Is  sitting. 

[Mipularity.  while  he  has  by  a  combination  of  qualities  become  a  social  force  greater,  perhaps. 
than  any  of  his  predecessors  in  the  hi^h  olHce  he  now  fills. 

Mi  Malfoiir's  early  Parliamentary  t raining,  as  we  ha\e  seen,  was  in  tlie  rough  and  tumble 
of  the  irregular  Parliamentary  warfare  provided  by  (lie  Fourth  Party.  As  an  important  unit 
of  that  historic  quartette  he  practised  himself  in  the  arts  of  |«>litical  controvci>y.  throwing 
hiniM-lf  into  the  .-t niggle  with  a  /est  which  sec-med  to  be  foreign  to  his  e(|iiable  and  ea>y- 
going  nature.  In  this  fa>hion  he  acquired  a  readiness  in  debate  and  a  self-contidence  which 
an-  usually  only  for!  lu-oming  after  many  years  of  servitude  in  the  l.egi.-lat  ive  Chamber. 

Ad\anceiu«  nt    to  Ministerial   rank  ca to   him   a>   by    ri,'lit    of  hard   and  str.'iiuoii>  and  sin-,-,  —  lul 

exertion  in  the  cold  .-hades  of  Opposition.  V.'heii  Lord  Salir-hury  formed  his  Ministry  in  lv>~>. 
lie  \\a-  choM-ii  for  the  important  office  of  President  of  the  Local  ( iovernmeiit  Hoard.  In  this 
jmsitioii,  a-  well  ;.-  iii  the  role  of  Vice-Pre-iileiit  of  the  Scotch  Kducation  Department,  to  which 


t'l'oni  aphuto  by  (Ac  Londotl  Stircoicopic  Co.,  Ltd. 

THE   BIGHT    1IOX    ARTHUR  JAMES   BALFOUR. 

President  of  the  Local  Government  Board  in  1885-86  ;  Secretary  for  Scotland,  1886-87  ;  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland,  1SS7-91  ;  First  Lord  of  the 
Treasury  and  Leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  H'Ol  ;  Prime  Minister,  1902. 

515 


516 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


.  n  j'l,»to  !•?'  tlir  Loii"'  i  /./</. 

TUB   ltI(;HT    IIOX.   W1M.IASI    IIKNKY   SMITH, 
Leader  of  the  lloune  of  Commons  for  tcveral  yean*. 

appointment,  on  Mr.  W.  H.  Smith's  death 
in  1891,  as  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and 
Leader  of  the  House  of  Commons.  .Mr. 
Balfour's  rise  to  these  coveted  posts — the 
highest  save  one  OJK'U  to  the  aspiring 
member  of  the  Hou-e  of  Commons — was  so 
e.\c-e|itionally  rapid  that  there  were  some 
misgivings  even  amongst  the  riglit  honour- 
able gentleman's  friends  at  the  promotion. 
thoroughly  deserve •<!  though  it  was.  But  he 
speedily  sliowed  that  the  feeling  was  without 
ju-t  itication.  His  handling  of  the  Hou-e 
indicated  bow  completely  he  had  mastered  the 
art  of  Parliamentary  direction.  Firm  and 
yet  conciliator}',  he  piloted  his  way  dexter- 
ously through  the  shoals  which  thickly  be- 
.-tre\v  the  course  of  the  Leader  of  the  House. 
Some  who  presumed  on  his  inexperience 
quickly  discovered  that  they  had  made  a 
mi-take,  and  tliat  beneath  the  placid,  bland 
exterior  were  fires  which,  if  the  blast  were 
applied,  would  hurst  forth  with  consuming 
fury.  Where  Mr.  Kdfour  showed  himself 

weakest,    perhaps,    was    in    his    manage nt 

of  legislation.  Hi.-  constitutional  antipathy 
to  detail  occasionally  led  him  into  difficult 


he  was  appointed  on  the  formation  of  Lord 
Salisbury's  second  Ministry  in  1886,  he 
justified  the  confidence  repowd  in  him.  Hut 
his  great  opportunity,  of  course,  did  not 
come  until  1SS7.  when  he  was  called  upon 
to  till  the  post  of  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland 
in  one  of  the  most  stirring  epochs  of 
Ireland's  chequered  history.  How  in  that 
capacity  he  fought  against  powerful  and 
resolute  adversaries  a  j>olitical  battle  such 
as  hardly  any  English  Minister  had  e\.-r 
before  been  called  UJMHI  to  tight — how  after 
many  checks  and  disappointments,  and  some 
humiliations,  he  eventually  emerged  tin- 
victor — does  not  need  to  be  told  here.  \l\- 
administration  of  the  Irish  Office  was  by 
general  consent  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
feats  in  domestic  statesmanship  that  a  young 
and  largely  untried  Minister  had.  in  the 
long  course  of  Parliamentary  history,  been 
able  to  place  to  his  account. 

The  reward  for  the  eminent  services 
rendered  was  appropriately  handsome.  It 
took  the  form  of  the  Chief  Secretary's 


the  painting  by  AViri.t  Luny,  fi.  A.,  i<i  f/  'falltry. 

SIR  STAFFORD    I1KXKV   NOUTHCOTi:,    FIRST    KAIlt, 
OF  inm;si.i.ic;ii. 

The  popular  tUteraian  wlio  from  1876  to  1885  led  the  Conservative  party 
in  tin-  HOUHU  (if  Commons. 


From  a  photo  by  Lambert  W'wton  &  Hon,  Folkestone. 


ROBERT    ARTHUR   TALBOT    GASCOYNE   CECIL,    THIRD    MARQUIS   OF   SALISBURY,    K.tt. 

A  recent  photograph  of  the  eminent  statesman. 

517 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 

situations.  lie  did  not  alway-  adequately  realise  at  the  moment  how  much  dependi  d 
some  apjarently  trivial  matter  under  discussion.  P.ut  if  he  made  mi-takes,  he  showed 
consummate  skill  in  remedying  them.  Often  when  his  political  opponents  have  congratulated 
thcm-ehcs  on  ha\ing  fairly  entrapped  him,  he  has  sailed  off  with  tlyiiiu'  colours,  thanks  to  an 
intuithe  |«-rception  of  the  point  where  the  position  was  weake-t. 

Mr.  M-df.-ur's  tactical  skill  is  reinforced  by  splendid  debating  |K.wcrs.  V.'hile  hi-  style 
is  pleasing  and  his  matter  refined,  he  jiosses-es  to  a  full  degree  the  robust er  qualities 
which  are  e-sential  to  successful  Parliamentary  oratory.  He  is  always  at  his  best  when  he  is 
on  liis  defence.  Then  the  latent  pugnacious  element  in  his  nature  bursts  out.  and  lie  becomes 
transformed  by  the  force  of  his  own  jtiission.  The  stimulus  applied  by  t lie  ringing  cheer-  of  his 
-up|«>rters  helps  him  forward.  One  telling  point  is  made  after  another;  deadly  thrusts  follow 
in  rapid  sueee--ion.  He  alternately  slashes  and  pulverises  his  opponents  until  they  are  left 


Mil.   CIIAJIllKKl.AIN's    HOOM    AT   Till:    llnrsi:   111'  Cci.MMnNS. 
Our  of  a  cnite  of  ainrtmenU  in  t  I..M-  i>inxin:ity  to  the  Legislative  Chambsr  out  niuirt  for  the  UM  of  MtniAteri. 

limp  and  helpless,  with  scarcely  breath  sufficient  to  protest  against  the  castigation.  Strenuous 
:i-  Mr.  rallour  is  at  these  times,  he  never  oversteps  the  bounds  of  courtesy.  There  is  no 
Minister  of  modern  times  who  has  shown  more  scrupulous  deference  to  the  canon-  of  -ood 
ta-te.  or  who  has  in  all  his  relations  with  political  friend  and  foe  displayed  better  feeling. 
For  this  reason  he  enjovs  a  per.-onal  popularity  of  a  very  striking  kind.  The  tribute  recently 
paid  to  him.  with  the  cordial  approval  of  his  followers,  by  the  Leader  of  the  ()pjK)>ition  >ir 
Henry  Campbell-Banoerman— OH  Mr.  1'alfour's  tir-t  a|>pearance  ill  the  House  of  Commons  after 
his  elevation  to  the  Premiership,  was  a  testimony  to  the  singular  regard  in  which  he  is  held. 
Such  a  demonstr.it  ion  was  almost  unique  in  the  annals  of  Parliament.  It  will  prohahlv  be 
many  years  before  it  is  repeated  under  analagous  circumstances. 

Kveii  more  remarkable  in   its  way  than  the    influence  which    Mr.    Mai  four    exercises    in    the 
Iloii-e   of  Common-    is   the    power    over   the   assembly    po--e--cd    by    his    colleague,  Mr.  Joseph 


Till:    KIGHT    HOX.   JOSEPH    CHAMBKKLAIX,    L.L.D.,    D.C.L.,    SECRETARY   OF   STATE    FOR   THE   COLONIES. 

From  a  photograph  specially  taken  at  the  House  of  Commons  by  Sir  Benjamin  Stone,  II. P.,  immediately  after  the  terms  of  surrender  of  the 
Boer  forces,  and  of  the  consequent  close  of  the  South  African  war,  were  announced  in  the  House. 

519 


520 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Chamberlain.  the  Colonial  Secretary.     Where 
the    Prime    .Minister    has   conquered    by  en- 
gaging personal  qualities  wedded  to  brilliant 
intellectual  attainments,  his   friend    and   co- 
iuljiitur    ha>   succeeded   by   the  sheer  force  of 
a    master   mind   acting   in   the   face  of  the 
mo-t     unsympathetic,    and    occasionally    anti- 
pathetic.   iiilliiences.        lie    has    gone    to    tin- 
front  because  of  the  prejudices  against    him 
rather  than  by  reason  of  any  personal  feeling 
in  his  favour.     The  careers  of  few  Mate-men 
supply  a  more    instructive  study.      Entering 
Parliament    in     187G,    as    far    as     Imperial 
politics    were    concerned    a    practically    mi- 
known    man,    he   became    within    less    than 
four    years     a     member    of     the     Cabinet. 
I  sually  the   way  to   the   charmed  circle   of 
Ministers,  even  for  those   whose   progress    i- 
smoothed  by  high  birth  or  powerful   intere.-t. 
is  only  to  be  found  through  a  succession  'of 
subordinate    positions,  and    after   a  long  and 
arduous    Parliamentary    training.      For    ex- 
ample, the  elder   Pitt    was    eleven    ye;; 
We-t  minster    before    he    became    a    Cabinet 
Minister,  Canning  fourteen  years.  Peel  thir- 
teen  years,    Disraeli   fifteen   years,  and    Pal- 
merston  as   many  as   twenty-one   year-.       It 
we    take    the    careers   of    statesmen    of    the 
present    era,  Mr.    Chamberlain's  rise  appears 
not  less  startling.     Mr.  Gladstone   had  been 
thirteen  years  in  Parliament  before  he  entered 

the  Cabinet  ;  Mr.  Balfour's  period  of  political  apprenticeship  was  almost  as  protracted,  extending 

from  the  time    of    his    election  for    Hertford    in    1874    until    his    appointment     as    Secretary  for 

Scotland    in    1886.      The   career   of  Mr.    Asquith    supplies    the    nearest   parallel    to  that  of   Mr. 

Chamberlain  amongst  hia  contemporaries  ;  but  the  right 

honourable  gentleman  was  six    years  a  member   before 

he  entered  the  Cabinet,  again-l  the  four  years'  probation 

of    the    Colonial    Secretary.      In    point    of    fact,    Mr. 

Chamberlain's  advance  to  the  front  rank  of  statesmen 

is  only  out  rivalled  by  that  of  the  younger  Pitt,    who, 

within  a  little  over  a  year  of  his  election  for  Appleby, 

became,  on  July  Cth,  1782,  when   at  the  age  of  only 

twenty-three,  Chancellor  of  the   Kxchoquer. 

Faults  of   temper  of  a  very  grave  kind  are  often 

attributed   to  Mr.  Chamberlain,  and  doubtless  his  dis- 

position   is   not   of  the   sweetest  ;    but   he   is  far  from 

being  the   character   that    he   is   painted   by  some    of 

those  opposed  to  him.     A    quality  which   he    has    con- 

spicuously shown  throughout    his  career   is    unfaltering  fmu  a  «i-f<cA 

loyalty    to   his   friends.      It    has    never    been    said    of  L0un  SALISBUHV. 

him,   as   it   has    of  Other    prominent     Statesmen,    that     he  one    01    the  arti.fi    clever    caricature*    of    the    Con»erv»tiv» 

has  used  men  as  stepping-stones  to  power,  and  kicked 


ltltOlobll  <l«    I'M.''.,:    M.  , "I./."  -I./I.V  Co.,   II''. 

1.0HI)    KrsSELI.  OK   K1LL.OWKX, 

Who  (u  Sir  rbarlcs  KnaMll)  played  a  txnu|iiciu>iiH  i«it  in  tho  jxditical 
hiatory  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


Ward. 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


521 


them  over  when  they  had  served  his 
ends.  The  accusation,  indeed,  has 
been  the  other  way — that  he  has  been 
unduly  solicitous  of  the  fortunes  of 
those  who,  in  the  days  when  the 
future  seemed  dark,  stood  by  him. 
It  is  an  honourable  charge,  and  one 
which  shows  at  least  that  the  Colonial 
Secretary  is  not  selfish  and  unsym- 
pathetic, as  he  has  occasionally  been 
depicted.  In  point  of  fact,  Mr. 
Chamberlain,  though  outwardly  a  some- 
what hard  man,  is  by  no  means  lack- 
ing in  sentiment.  No  personal  incident 
in  his  later  Parliamentary  career  is 
better  remembered  than  his  display 
of  emotion  on  the  interesting  occasion 
of  the  maiden  speech  of  his  son,  Mr. 
Austen  Chamberlain.  The  inner  man 
peeped  out  then  in  a  fashion  which 
clearly  indicated  that  behind  that  calm, 
business-like  exterior  was  a  personality 
as  human  as  of  the  best  or  the 
weakest  of  his  colleagues. 

As  a  debater  Mr.  Chamberlain 
enjoys  a  greater  reputation  than  any 
living  statesman.  The  House  never 
fills  so  readily  as  it  does  for  him. 
The  intimation  that  "  Chamberlain  is 
up"  always  suffices,  whatever  may  be 
the  occasion,  to  bring  members  swarm- 
ing into  the  Legislative  Chamber  from 
the  Lobby,  smoking-rooms,  the  Library, 
the  Terrace — in  short,  from  all  places 
to  which  the  average  legislator  is 
accustomed  to  retire  to  escape  the 


SIR  CHARLES  FBEDEUICK  HA.MOND,  JI.P.,  AGED  81. 

The  oldest  number  of  tho  House  of  Commons.     From  a  photograph  by  his  friend 
Sir  Benjamin  Stone,  M.P.,  taken  on  the    Terrace,  July,  1899. 


boredom  inflicted  by  prosy  orators. 
And  Mr.  Chamberlain  not  only  attracts  an  audience  ;  he  holds  it  —  which,  perhaps,  is  an 
even  greater  testimony  to  his  ability,  for  there  is  no  more  fastidious  and  exacting  body 
than  the  House  of  Commons.  To  win  its  approval  the  rarest  qualities  are  needed.  Mere 
rhetorical  power  is  not  sufficient.  Every  member  of  the  assembly  is  a  public  speaker  himself, 
and  a  proper  scorn  is  felt  for  those  little  devices  which  go  to'  make  up  the  equipment  of 
the  platform  orator.  The  elaborately  prepared  speech,  bristling  with  carefully-thought-out 
"impromptus,"  the  profound  philosophical  disquisition  with  its  ostentatious  parade  of  academic 
learning,  the  fiery  oration,  full  of  sound  and  fury,  signifying  nothing  —  all  these  various  styles 
of  utterance,  which  are  so  effective  in  other  walks  of  life,  are  absolutely  wasted  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  What  members  appreciate  above  all  things  is  a  lucid,  business-like  statement, 
illumined,  it  may  be,  by  flashes  of  wit  or  a  pretty  play  of  fancy,  but  never  degenerating  into 
mere  rhetoric.  It  is  because  Mr.  Chamberlain's  contributions  to  debate  have  precisely  these 
qualities  that  he  has  made  the  success  he  has  clone.  When  he  intervenes  in  debate  it  can  be 
confidently  reckoned  that  he  will  speak  very  much  to  the  point,  and  set  out  in  orderly  array 
the  most  powerful  arguments  that  can  be  used  against  his  opponents.  His  readiness  and 

66 


522 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


From  a  tl-ftcl,  >,„  E.  T.  /.'•••'. 
silt   W1I.I.IAM    HAIICorilT. 


retoun-efuliiess  are  proverbial.  Aizaiu  and  atrain  on  some  im|H>rtant 
iN-c.i-imi  when  the  subject  has  been  complicated  and  abstruse  he 
ha-  U-cn  known  to  jump  to  hi-  legs  ami  with  only  a  few  iugithc 
notes  contained  on  a  .-ingle  sheet  of  notejiaper  launch  into  n 
brilliant  sjieech  of  an  hour's  duration,  in  which,  while  he  has 
analysed  with  mercile--  force  the  contentions  put  forward  just 
previously  from  the  npjiosile  side  of  the  llou-c.  he  has  presented  in 
telling  fashion  the  views  of  his  own  party.  Those  interjections  of 
inconvenient  "voices,"  which  at  times  throw  even  the  most  able 
sjionkers  off  their  balance,  seem,  in  hi-  ca-e.  only  to  stimulate  t IK- 
HOW  of  his  oratory.  With  lightning  rapidity  he  is  down  on  the 
interrupter,  and  he  worries  him  as  a  terrier  does  a  rat  until  he 
has  h-li  him  limp  and  silent,  and  only  too  glad  to  allow  the 
s|>eaker  to  resume  the  thread  of  his  argument. 

This  intellectual  nimbleness  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  if  effective  at  St.  Stephen'.-,  is  doubly 
soin  the  country,  where  the  less  astute  and  less  informed  character  of  his  audience-  gi\es  him 
a  wider  field  for  its  exercise.  Mr.  Chamlx-rlain's  extreme  readiness  in  this  respect  has  yixeu 
rise  to  a  charge  of  dialectical  trickery.  It  is  averred  that  he  deliberately  prepare-  for  these  inter- 
ruptions, and  that  what  outwardlv  appears  a  sudden  inspiration  prompted  by  the  circumstances 
of  the  moment  is  in  reality  the  fruits  of  a  carefully  laid  plot  to  which  he  has  de\oted  much 
previous  thought.  Possibly  there  is  some  ground  for  this  allegation;  but,  even  so.  the  ]K.-ition 
of  Mr.  Chamberlain  as  a  speaker  is  left  unaffected.  If  the  great  aim  of  oratory  is  to  impress 

the   hearer  with  the  strength  of  the  speaker's. 
cause   and   the    weakness    of    his   oppono 
as  we  take  it  to  be,  it  matters  little  by  what 
means    that    aim    is    achieved.       In    political 
warfare,  as  in   the  region  of  military  action, 
tactics    have   their   place,  and  to  condemn  a 
speaker  because   he   is   an    adept    in    leading 
his   opponents    into  an  impasse  in  which  he 
can    fall    upon  them   with  ease  and    elV.-ct.   i- 
akin  to  quarrelling  with    tin-    generalship   of 
a  great  military  captain  who  is  successful  in 
planning  ambuscades.     If  Mr.  Chamberlain's 
speeches    are    eminently    successful    in    the 
manner   of  tlieir   delivery,  they  are   not    |< 
striking   in    substance.      One   of  the    lessons 
acquired    in     his    Edgbaston     days     was     to 
thoroughly   master  a  subject  before  speaking 
upon    it,   and    this    he    has   never   forgotten. 
Whatever  the  topic  may  be.  Mr.  Chamberlain 
is   ready  with    his    facts.     As   a   cmi-ec|uence 
he    is    rarely    caught    tripping.     Occasionally 
it  has  happened  in  debate  that    when   he  has 
made  a  more  than  ordinarily  effective    point 
some  incautious  opponent  has  challenged   him 
for   his  authority,  and  it  has  almost   invariably 
been   forthcoming,   not    seldom  under  circum- 
stances which  have  brought  confusion  U]>on  the 
rash  intervenes     Take  him  for  all  in  all.  Mr. 
Chamberlain    is   perhaps  one  of  the    greatest 
debaters  that  the  House  has  ever  known. 


From  a  7>»ofo  tjr  Ikt  lamltH  fltititteapif  Co.,  Lli. 

TIIK    HKillT   HOX.  JOHN   MOHI.KY, 


Irtah  SwnUry  ID  Mr.  GUdrtooe'.  IBM  ami  1892  AdmlnUtratloiu,  ami  alx> 
in  Lord  Knobetj'i  Administration. 


From  a  photo  by  the  London.  Stereoscopic  Co.,  Lt<l. 


THK    RIGHT    HON.    WILLIAM    EWART    GLADSTONE. 

The  eminent  statesman  is  here  represented  in  the  evening  of  his  days — in   the  period 
during  which  he  was  familiarly  and  affectionately  known  as  "  The  Grand  Old  Man." 

523 


524 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Another  figure  which  has  filled  a  great 
place  ill  (lie  jxipular  a>semhlv  ill  the  later 
Victorian  Parliaments  is  tliat  of  Sir  William 
Vernon  llarcourt.  This  eminent  .-talesman 
has.  perhaps,  been  more  concerned  than  any 
other  man  living  with  the  threat  movements 
which  have  gone  to  make  jHilitical  hi>t.>ry 
in  the  InM  quarter  of  a  century.  The 
intimate  and  faithful  henehinan  of  .Mr.  (ilad- 
stone.  the  strenuous  political  leaili-r  ever  in 
the  heat  of  the  fray,  he  has  made  for  him- 
self a  position  of  peculiar  distinction  amount 
the  public  men  of  his  time.  In  years,  a-  in 
{xditical  experience,  he  is  the  senior  of  every 
one  of  his  leading  contemporaries  in  tin- 
House  of  Commons,  with  the  exception  of 
Sir  Michael  Hicks-Headi.  He  is,  in  fact, 
almost  the  only  conspicuous  survival  of  tin- 
old  school  of  statesmen  of  which  (ihnl-tone 
and  Keaeonsfield  were  distinguished  repre- 
sentatives. Nor  is  his  association  with  the 
politicians  of  the  past  merely  a  matter  of  age 
and  political  connections.  His  mode-  ..I 
thought  and  his  methods  of  oratory  are  tln»e 
of  a  bygone  Parliamentary  era.  He  is  one 
of  the  very  few  speakers  who  hazard  a  Lit  in 
quotation.  The  fine  ora  mln /nlo  style  of 
declamation  once  so  much  favoured  by  eminent 
speakers  in  the  House  of  Commons  still 
finds  in  him  an  exponent.  He  has  the  same 
love  of  persiflage  which  characterised  the 
delates  in  the  popular  chamber  a  half-century  ago.  In  fine,  while  everything  almo-t  has 
changed  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  last  generation,  Sir  William  Harcourt  adheres  to  the 
traditions  and  principles  which  governed  the  life  of  the  House  when  he  entered  it  as  member 
for  Oxford  in  1868,  before  the  flood  of  Reform  had  swept  in  a  new  class  of  members. 

As  In-lit s  one  who  obtained  his  early  oratorical  inspiration  from  the  Titanic  combats 
between  Disraeli  and  (ilaiUtoiie,  Sir  William  Harcourt  is  above  all  things  a  good  fighter. 
He  has  the  rollicking  love  of  the  Irishman  for  the  fray,  and  quite  the  Irishman's  capacity  for 

dealing  and  receiving  hard  knocks.     His  partisanship  is  so  thorough-going  that  he  is  some! i s 

led  into  difficult  positions;  but  his  adroitness  in  retrieving  a  blunder  amounts  almost  to  genius. 
Very  rarely,  when  the  odds  have  to  be  reckoned  up,  is  he  found  at  a  disadvantage.  Though 
Sir  William  llarcourt  never  minces  his  language,  and  does  not  measure  the  blows  which  he 
delivers,  he  is  personally  a  prime  favourite  with  the  House.  His  buoyant  humour,  his  keen 
enjoyment  of  a  rough-and-tumble  fight,  and  his  complete  freedom  from  bitterness  or  the  petty 
vice.-  of  the  jNilitician,  commend  him  to  an  assembly  which  loves,  above  all  things,  to  be 
interested  and  amused.  For  an  out-and-out  parti>an.  as  Sir  William  Harcourt  confessedly  is, 
he  oceupie-  a  ]Ni-itioii  such  as  has  rarely  been  held  by  a  prominent  statesman. 

Another  favourite  ummigst  the  political  leaders  in  the  House  of  Commons  of  to-day  is 
Mr.  .John  Morh-y.  Though  his  views  on  the  great  questions  that  are  uppermost  are  strongly 
at  variance  with  the  prevailing  current  of  jwlitical  thought  in  the  House,  there  is  no  one  who 
is  listened  to  with  greater  respect,  or  for  whom  a  keener  admiration  is  felt.  The  literary 
graces  with  which  he  clothes  his  speeches  lend  them  a  distinction  of  an  uncommon  kind. 


c  t'o.t  Lt<l. 

THK  RH;HT  HON.  SIR  HENUY  H.  FOWLER, 

financial  Secretary  in  the  Trnunry  mil  1'rwident  of  (lie  Local 
(i<»rrnmcnt  Ilnartl  under  Mr.  Uladttane,  and  Secretary  for  India  in  Lord 
K—rberjr'.  Ailni inUtraUan. 


from  a  photo  by  Elliott  ifc  Fry,  Baker  Stml,  II'. 

THE   KIGHT   HON.   SIR  WILLIAM   VERNON   HAKCOURT, 
Solicitor-General  in  1873-74  ;  Home  Secretary,  1880-85  ;  and  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  1885-86  and  1892-95. 

525 


526 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Hut  wltnt  gives  him  his  ascendency  i<  the  transparent  sincciity  of  his  convictions  and  the  utter 
absence  of  anything  approaching  self-seeking  in  his  actions.  His  is  a  jK-rsonaliiy  siitlieient  ly 
unfamiliar  on  the  political  stage  1"  win  tin-  tribute  of  an  extended  homage.  hVmarkable, 
however.au  is  the  jioMtion  Mr.  .Morleyticcujiies.it  cannot  he  said  that  his  career  in  the  House 
of  Commons  has  lieen  a  success  in  a  Parliamentary  sense.  In  debate,  he  has  shown  great 
intellectuul  ability  ami  a  complete  grasp  of  his  subject.  Hut  there  has,  for  the  most  part,  been 
wanting  in  his  utterances  that  mental  dexterity  and.  perhaps,  jiolitical  adaptability  which  are 
e-M-ntial  to  a  thorough-going  triumjih  in  the  House  of  Commons.  V.'here  the  duties  of  leader- 
ship have  devolved  upon  .Mr.  Morley.  his  weaknesses  have  been  particularly  conspicuous.  He 
has  displayed  a  want  of  touch  with  the  realities  of  the  situation  which  has  detracted  from  his 
authority  and  given  to  his  direction  of  att'airs  a  feebleness  incompatible  with  MICCCSS.  Still. 
his  reputation  a>  a  Parliamentarian  stands  higher  than  that  of  any  distinguished  literary  man 
who  has  occupied  a  seat  in  the  House,  with  the  sole  exception,  perhaps,  of  Macaulav. 

Of  quite  a  dim-rent  type  from  Mr.  .Morley  is  Sir  Michael  Hicks-Beach,  who  now  for  many 
years  has  held  a  leading  jMisition  in  the  House.  As  a  representative  of  the  landed  interest  he 
sit  a*  a  supporter  of  Mr.  Disraeli  as  far  back  as  1864.  His  political  ideals  are  for  the  most 
part  those  of  the  period  of  Conservative  ascendency  which  followed  shortly  afterwards.  A  man 

of  strong  practical  bent  of  mind, 
lie  has  no  sympathy  with  the 
sentimental  or  philosophical  order 
of  politics.  He  has  n  scorn  for 
subterfuges  and  half  measures,  and 
is  no  believer  in  the  notion  that 
language  was  given  to  conceal 
thoughts.  He  is.  in  fine,  just  a 
plain  country  gentleman  of  the 
old  school,  with  his  political  lean- 
ings and  personal  predilections. 
With  an  official  experience  extend- 
ing back  to  186H  and  embracing 
the  Chief  Secretaryship  for  Ireland, 
the  Presidency  of  the  Poor  Law 
P.oard,  the  Presidency  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  the  Colonial  Secretaryship, 
the  Chancellorship  of  the  Ex- 
chequer, and  the  Leadership  of 
the  House,  Sir  .Michael  Hicks- 
Beach  could  not  fail  to  wield  a 
considerable  authority  over  his 
brother  members.  But  his  position 
does  not  rest  alone  on  his  past 
record.  The  House  likes  his  tine 
straight-forward  character.  his 
hatred  of  shams,  his  contempt  for 
truckling,  and,  if  the  truth  must 
be  told,  it  has  a  sneaking  admira- 
tion for  that  sharpness  of  tongue 
by  which  he  is  accustomed  to 
flavour  his  sentiments.  Its  parti- 
aljt,,?  no  doubt,  is  of  a  rather 
sin  IIKVIAVIX  STOXK.  M.r.  KOK  EAST  HII:\IIM;FIAM.  .  .  ,  , 

A  ,.  ,.-,Ur  polKlri...  « I.—  lefun,  b»  Wn  <«U|.i«l  In  .taring  a  r.m,|.le«,  |,I,,,togr.,,Mc  CT'      ' 

record  of  th»  Ptltat  of  WotmiuUr  «ml  other  nation*!  building*.  plljiil     for     the      r-ehoolma.-t  er     who 


from  Ikijamottt  ficture  In  Mi    '.   /    < !«//«.  R  A. 

WILLIAM   KWAKT  GLADSTONK. 

TlM  IIIuMou  BUtonun  who  loot  lim™  «rrrnl  UK  oOn  at  Pramter,  ud  who.  dylni  on  >i«r  19,  IfW,  WM  burie.1  ID  WMtmlnitrr  Abber  oo  M»y  X  followint. 


The    Victorian    Parliaments 


527 


is  "a  benst,  but  a  just  beast."  But 
of  its  strength  and  universality  there 
is  no  sort  of  question. 

•  No  survey  of  the  great  Parlia- 
mentary leaders  of  the  close  of  the 
Victorian  era  would  be  complete 
which  did  not  include  the  present 
Duke  of  Devonshire.  Though  as  a 
member  of  the  Peers'  Chamber  his 
Grace  was  in  the  closing  years  of 
the  late  Queen's  life  withdrawn  from 
the  thick  of  the  political  fray,  he 
fixed  an  indelible  mark  on  the  work 
and  life  of  the  Victorian  period. 
Not  only  has  he  filled  all  but  the 
highest  position  in  the  State,  but 
even  the  highest  might  have  been 
his  had  he  listened  merely  to  the 
promptings  of  ambition.  Moreover, 
his  name  is  imperishably  associated, 
as  leader,  with  one  of  the  mightiest 
political  convulsions  recorded  in  the 
annals  of  the  country.  Many  and 
varying  are  the  estimates  which 
have  been  formed  of  his  statesman- 
ship. But  political  friend  and  foe 
alike  are  agreed  in  yielding  to  him 
the  attributes  of  a  high-minded 
and  patriotic  public  man.  Even 
when  the  wisdom  of  the  policv  he 
lias  pursued  has  been  most  fiercely 
assailed,  calumny  has  never  whispered 
a  suggestion  that  his  course  has  been 
directed  by  other  than  the  purest 
motives.  The  great  position  which 
his  Grace  has  attained  to  is  due  to 
these  eminent  personal  qualities  quite 
as  much  as  to  any  special  aptitude  for 
high  political  affairs.  There  is,  indeed,  hardly  an  instance  in  modern  times  in  which  a  statesman 
of  the  first  rank  has  achieved  that  position  with  less  showy  talents.  His  Grace  lacks  all  the 
requisites  of  a  great  orator.  His  style  is  cold  and  unemotional,  his  utterance  at  times  almost 
indistinct,  and  the  matter  of  his  speeches  unadorned  with  any  literary,  grace.  He  is  just  a 
plain,  common-sense  Englishman,  who  has  a  straightforward  story  to  tell,  and  scorns  to  stoop  to 
any  artifice  to  enforce  its  lessons.  Still,  though  not  brilliant  in  the  common  acceptation  of 
the  term,  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  or  the  Marquis  of  Hartington  (as  he  then  was),  was  a  great 
power  in  the  House  of  Commons  during  the  thirty-four  years  he  sat  there.  His  fine 
practical  genius  was.  seen  at  its  best  in  the  trying  times  which  followed  Mr.  Gladstone's  retire- 
ment in  1875,  when,  as  the  Liberal  leader,  he  had  to  keep  together  a  beaten  and  dispirited 
party,  conscious  at  all  times  of  the  presence  on  his  flank  of  a  vigilant  and  impetuous  guardian 
of  Liberal  traditions,  who  might  at  any  moment  intervene,  and  by  so  doing  fatally  undermine 
his  authority.  The  cleverness  of  Lord  Hartington's  leadership  during  this  period,  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  paved  the  way  for  the  great  triumph  of  the  Liberal  cause  at  the  polls'  in  1880. 


!•',-:, in  tin  ./A;,*-;,;,;  /„,  si?  John  Tenniel,  pu'tliilied  in  "  Punch,"  Auffust  2T(/i,  1SS1, 
by  permission  of  Mean.  Bradbury,  Agnew  A:  Co.,  Ltd. 

.      "  OUT   OF   THE   WOOD." 

A  great  cartoon  symbolising  the  triumph  achieved  by  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the  passing 
of  the  Irish  Land  Act. 


528 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Parliament  has  known  many  more 
brilliant  figures,  hut  it  has  rarely, 
if  ever,  been  acquainted  with  one 
more  nn-elti-h  or  less  marked  by 
tin-  ignohler  feat  nn- of -i at. --man-hip. 
Tin-  Leader  of  the  Opposition, 
Sir  Henry  < 'amphell-Hiumerman.  tills 
by  virtue  of  his  abilities  as  well  as 
by  right  of  ]M)>itiou  a  conspicuous 
]>laee  in  the  records  of  the  later 
Victorian  Parliaments  His  talents 
are  more  solid  than  showy,  and 
political  accident  quite  as  much  as 
strength  of  character  lias  put  him  at 
the  head  of  the  forces  of  Liberalism 
in  the  llou-e.  Nevertheless,  he  has 
won  the  title  to  rank  high  in  the 
roll  of  eminent  men  who  at  different 
times  have  led  the  forces  of  Op]K»i- 
tion  in  the  popular  chamber.  Astute- 

ne--    in    political    strategy    ha-   1 n 

his  strong  point.  Often  with  limited 
resources  and  under  discouraging 
conditions  he  has  won  political  suc- 
cesses of  no  insignificant  kind.  It 
ha-  been  his  misfortune  to  occupy 
the  Leadership  at  a  period  when 
events  have  torn  his  party  with 
dissension,  and  the  necessity  of  re- 
conciling the  interests  of  oppo-ing 
sect  ions  has  given  to  hi-  pronounce- 
ments a  want  of  decision,  and  oc- 
casionally a  contradict  oriness  which 
has  excited  sharp  criticism.  But  he 
does  not  lack  genius  for  direction. 
and  under  happier  conditions  1  it- 
would  probably  make  as  bold  a  leader  as  the  best  of  his  predecessors.  In  his  relations  with 
his  op]Minents  he  has  carefully  maintained  the  honourable  traditions  which  have  -ro\\n  up 
about  the  Ix-adership  of  the  Op|>osition.  Nothing  could  have  hern  happier  or  in  better  taste 
than  the  graceful  tribute  to  .Mr.  Hulfour  previously  referred  to— a  tribute  which  extracted  from 
the  foreign  IVe-s  an  expression  of  envious  admiration. 

Amongst  Sir  Henry  CampbeU-BftDnennan'a  immediate  a-sociales  calling  for  special  reference 
an  Mr.  Asquith.  Sir  Henry  Fowler,  and  Sir  Edward  (Jivy.  The  lirst-named  lias  perhaps  hail 
the  most  interesting  career  of  the  trio.  Singularly  enough,  he  owed  his  admission  to  the  front 
rank  of  |mliticians  to  a  purely  legal  achievement.  As  a  junior  counsel  for  the  defence  in  the 
1'arnell  Commission  it  fell  to  his  lot  to  cross-examine  one  of  the  principal  witnesses  for  the 
prosecution,  and  he  performed  his  work  with  such  cleverness  that  public  attention  was  fastened 
\i[x>n  him,  and  from  that  time  forward  his  path,  both  professional  and  political,  was  ea-y. 
Mr.  Gladstone,  with  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  value  of  new  blood,  appointed  him  Home 
Secretary  when  he  formed  his  Administration  in  189->,  and  on  Lord  Rosebery's  accession  to 
power  he  was  continued  in  the  office.  His  administration  was,  a  marked  success — firm,  yet 
conciliatory,  and  energetic  without  trace  of  fussiness.  In  his  handling  of  a  particularly  critical 


From  a  ji»o/o  by  JJavll  .<•  Fox. 

TIIK  RK;HT  HOS.  WILLIAM  ST.  JOHN-  FKKMANTLK  UKOUUICK, 

A  riling  itatfmun  who  filled  the  office  of  Secretary  for  War  during  the  greater  jiart  of 
the  Soiltll  African  War  period. 


From  a  photo  by  J.  Jtusseli  £  Sons,  Baker  Street,  W. 

THE   RIGHT   HON.   SPENCER  COMPTON   CAVENDISH,   EIGHTH   DUKE   OF  DEVONSHIRE,   K.G. 

The  Liberal  Unionist  Leader  who,  as  Marquis  of  Hartington,  sat  in  the  House  of  Commons  from  1S57  to  1891.  He  led  the  Liberal 
party  from  1875  to  1S80  and  at  different  times.  Has  filled  the  offices  of  Secretary  for  War,  Postmaster-General,  Secretary  for  India, 
and  Lord  President  of  the  Council. 


529 


67 


530 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


situation  develojicd  at  tin-  mining  district  of 
Feathers-tone  by  sonic  strike  riol  s  lie  evinced 
-tate-manlike  qualities  of  the  highest  kiml. 
It  is  rather  \<y  virtue  of  his  services  rendered 
in  tliis  capacity  tlian  by  his  jM-rf'orinance-  mi 
the  floor  ot  tin-  House  that  he  lias  secured 
the  eminent  position  he  <>ecu|>ic-.  Hi-  style 
is  n  little  too  forensic  for  the  taste  of  the 
member-.  His  manner,  moreover,  lacks  the 
lire  which  is  looked  for  in  the  ]>opular 
Parliamentary  orator.  Nevertheh  s%  he  lias  tin- 
ear  of  the  House  to  a  Haltering  decree,  and 
his  reputation  as  8  debater  i-  steadily  rMiiL.'. 
In  some  respects  Sir  Henry  Fowler  re- 
sembles .Mr.  Asquith.  A  hard-headed,  un- 
emotional man,  steeped  in  law.  the  intricacies 
of  which,  as  a  family  solicitor,  he  is 
thoroughly  acquainted  with,  he  impr.--- e-  by 
weight  rather  than  the  brilliancy  of  his 
talents.  He  is  the  ••  safe  man  "  of  his  j>arty. 
Whoever  may  be  guilty  of  political  indi-cre- 
tion  or  extravagance,  he  can  always  be  relied 
on  to  take  and  maintain  a  level  view  of 
things.  As  President  of  the  Local  (iovcrn- 
ment  Board,  and  later  as  Secretary  for  India 
in  Ixml  li'isehery's  Administration,  he  di-- 
played  consummate  tact  and  judgment,  and 
won  the  respect  of  men  of  all  parties  by 
liis  broad-minded  way  of  treating  questions 
which  came  before  him  for  solution.  Oratory 
is  not  his  forte,  but  he  has  few  equals  in  the  House  in  making  a  lucid  and  business-like  state- 
ment (Hi  a  complicated  question  of  policy.  One  or  two  of  his  speeches  delivered  during  his 
tenure  of  the  Indinn  Secret ar\ >hip  are  amongst  the  finest  .Ministerial  expositions  of  Indian  policy 
ever  made  in  the  House.  On  the  whole  there  are  few  Parliamentary  leaders  who  are  more 
trusted  by  the  great  mass  of  business  men  than  Sir  Henry  Kowler. 

In  a  different  sphere  Sir  Kdward  (i rev.  the  last  of  the  trio  named,  enjoys  a  similar  measure 
of  confidence.  His  special  province  is  foreign  affairs,  to  the  study  of  which  he  has  brought  a 
keen  intellect  and  a  vigorous  and  comprehensive  understanding.  Trained  under  Lord  Uoscbery. 
one  of  the  ablest  of  the  Victorian  Foreign  Secretaries,  he  has  developed  into  an  expert 
authority  on  all  questions  bearing  upon  the  external  relations  of  the  country.  Hi-  statesman- 
like utterances,  breathing  as  they  do  the  spirit  of  responsibility,  are  listened  to  with  respectful 
attention  in  the  House,  and  they  do  not  pass  unnoticed  in  the  Chancelleries  of  Kurope.  Few 
politicians  in  recent  times  have,  in  fact,  obtained  a  more  enviable  position  as  an  authority  on 
foreign  alf.iiis  than  Sir  Kdward  <!rey.  It  is  not.  however,  in  this  capacity  alone  that  the 
young  luiroiiet  has  made  his  Parliamentary  reputation.  In  the  discussion  of  general  politics 
he  has  manifested  an  ability  of  no  common  kind.  An  incisive  and  ready  speaker,  thoroughly 
well  informed  on  all  questions,  and  possessing  all  the  advantages  which  attach  to  a  plea-ing 
presence,  he  ranks  amongst  the  best  debaters  in  the  House.  The  widespread  impre— i, 
lie  will  go  far  and  accomplish  much  if  he  can  conquer  a  certain  easiness  of  disposition  which 
prevents  him  at  times  from  making  the  most  of  his  opportunities. 

Two   other    Comparatively/  young    politicians  in  the  front    rank  who  must   be  mentioned  are 
the    Hon.  Win.  St.  John    F.  Brodrick   and    Mr.  George  Wyndham.       Both  have  won  their  way 


fnm  n  fltulo  f.ji  Iht  London  Klntatnpic  CO., 

THK    l:l«;HT    HON.    lir.l:l!i:l!T    HKXIIY    ASQI'ITH, 

lioa.e  Secretary   in    Mr.   (ibulrtone'n   last   Administration,  and  in  the 

AdiuinUtration  "'  !•""!  R<*el>erjr 


I'.-oiti  a  photo  by  the  London  Stereoscopic  Co.,  Ltd. 

THE   RIGHT    HON.   SIR    HENRY  CAMPBELL-BANXER51AX,   G.C.B., 

Financial  Secretary  to  the  War  Office,  1871-74  and  1SSO-S2  ;  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty,  1S82-S4  ;  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland,  18S4-S5  ;  Secretary 

for  War  in  1SS6  and  from  1892-95  ;  Leader  of  the  Opposition. 

531 


532 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


From  a  itrtek  by  P.  Om-ufVn  OoulJ. 

TIIK    LATE   SIR  JOHN    MACI.l   l:i. 

("The  Whitohead  Torpedo").    A  clerer  caricature  of  a  familiar  figure  in 
the  later  V  ictorian  Parliament* 


to  Cabinet  portion-  nt  what  nowadays  nui>t 
N-  regarded  as  an  early  age;  Uitli  have  held 
executive  |M»ition>  at  a  JNTJIM!  of  c\ce|i- 
tional  stress  ami  difficulty.  -Mr.  Hrodrick 
i  IK-  advantage  of  seniority,  liorn  in 
In-  riitfivtl  tin-  llon-e  a<  memlter  for 
We-t  Suney  in  issu.  while  Mr.  Wyndham 
did  not  come  into  the  world  until  ISli:;. 
and  In'  was  not  seen  in  tin-  llon>e  until 
when  In-  \\.-i-  returned  for  Dover.  In 
an  official  sense,  however,  the  seniority  is 
more  a|i|>areni  tlian  real,  for  though  .Mr. 
Hrodriek  was  a])|Hiinted  Financial  Secietary 
to  the  War  Otlice  in  18HI1.  .Mr.  Wyndham 
as  early  as  1887  formed  an  official  connec- 
tion by  accept  in ir  an  ai>]M>intment  as  chief  secretary  to  Mr.  Rilfotir.  then  Chief  Secretary  for 
Ireland.  Mr.  Urodriek  earned  his  promotion  to  the  important  office  of  \Var  Secretary,  to 
which  he  was  appointed  on  the  formation  of  Lord  Salisbury's  thinl  AdminiM  ration,  by  a  long 
|»Tic«l  of  probation  in  sulxirdinate  positions;  but  the  more  immediate  cause  of  his  good 
fortune,  it  may  lie  presumed,  was  the  conspicuous  part  he  played  in  exploding  the  famous 
cordite  charge  which  blew  up  Lord  Kosebery's  Administration.  In  this  matter  he  evinced  great 
tactical  skill,  and  this,  with  more  solid  qualities  shown  in  the  ordinary  work  of  the  House. 

commended  him  to  favourable  attention 
when  new  blood  was  being  introduced  into 
the  higher  Unionist  official  ranks.  The  way 
in  which  he  met  the  crisis  of  the  greai 
South  African  war  indicated  that  the  con- 
fidence reposed  in  him  was  not  misplaced. 
Upon  certain  feature.-  of  the  administration 
of  the  War  Office  in  this  period  of  stress 
and  storm  there  has  been  abundant  critici>m. 
but  in  the  main  the  verdict  lias  been  that 
the  young  MinUter  has  come  out  succesfl- 
fully  from  the  trying  ordeal  which  he  was 
called  upon  to  face. 

His  colleague  and  friend.  Mr.  \Vyndham, 
has,  in  the  agitated  field  of  Irish  politic-, 
achieved  no  less  distinction.  As  Chief 
Secretary  he  has  had  to  deal  with  a  revival 
of  the  Irish  Land  War  under  embarrassing 
circiinir-tanccs.  With  a  judgment  which  ha- 
never  failed,  and  a  courage  which  has  not 
faltered,  he  has  pursued  a  policy  at  once 
firm  and  conciliatory,  winning  the  admiration 
of  his  friends  and  earning  the  respect,  of 
even  his  bitterest  opponents.  Time  has  yet 
to  write  the  full  record  of  his  measure:-;  but 
it  may  be  safely  predicted  that,  in  the  loiii,' 
list  of  Irish  Chief  Secretaries,  his  name  will 

fnm  nftMlftv  KII,,,II  d-  f-'.-u.  ftii..-  .M .-••(,  II'.  j      i  •    t       r  *.•  i 

stand    high    for    earnestness,    patience,    and 
MR.  <;K»I«;>:  WYMHIAM,  M.P.,  .  .11  •,     ,        ,' 

devotion    to   the   best   ideals  of  government. 

On* of  tlMmort  prooiUing  of  tin-  j..nniffr  Kbool  of  tUUamen  who  hat  .  .  ° 

made bii mark  in  iruh adiuinutntion.  A   circumstance    which    has    added    to    Mr. 


From  a  photo  Oy  Elliott  &  Fry,  Baker  Street,  W. 

ARCHIBALD   PHILIP  PRIMROSE,   FIFTH   KARL    OF   ROSEBERY,   K.O., 
Foreign  Secretary  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  1886  and  1892  Administrations  ;  Premier  in  1894. 

533 


534 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


\V  yiiilliaiii's  ]N>pu- 
larity  is  tin'  charm 
of  his  oratory.  His 

-] dies     lnive     an 

agreeable  literary 
flavour,  and  they  are 
delivered  with  the 
effectiveness  which 
comes  of  a  ]  (leasing, 
well-modulated  voice 
and  a  striking  pre- 
sence. With  longer 
experience  Mr.  \Vynd- 
liain  may  liope  to 
occupy  a  position  of 
high  authority  and 
influence  in  the 
)M>pular  chamU'r.  As 
it  is,  amongst  the 
younger  scliool  of 
politicians  on  the 
Unionist  benches 
there  is  not  one  who 
is  more  generally  liked 
or  more  highly 
admired. 

The  personnel  of 
the  House  generally 
presents  many  jnunts 
of  interest  —  points 
which  would  call  for 
notice  if  this  survey 
oftheVit-torian  Parlia- 
ments were  designed 
to  be  exhaustive.  A- 
the  intention,  how- 
ever, is  merely  to 
»ketch  ill  the  broadest 
outline  the  history  of 
this  eventful  period 
the  subject  must  be 

left  whore  it  is.  All  that  need  be  said  further  is  that  though  the  ravages  of  time  have 
Ix-reft  the  House  of  tin-  ]H>litical  giants  who  occupied  the  Parliamentary  Mage  in  the  middle 
jwirt  of  the  late  Queen's  reign,  and  their  places  have  not  yet  been  completely  filled,  the 
Mandard  of  talent  is  as  high  as  ever  it  was,  and  in  the  matter  of  intellect  the  present 
Parliament  has  probably  an  advantage  over  its  predecessors. 


f-'rm*  ipixll.    C^pyrffM,  JTfclefciMpN  4  '  •-. 

TIIK  <;I:AM>  ST  MKCASI:,  nin.-i:  OF 
One  of  the  fln«l  architectural  fcatnrfi  of  the  interior  of  the  new  Palace  of  \Yeitminster. 


CHAPTEE   XXXVI. 

THE    PRECINCTS    OF    THE    PALACE— THE    PALACE    YARD,    ST.    MARGARET'S 
CHURCH,   AND   THE   CHAPTER  HOUSE. 

ALMOST  as  interesting  historically  as  the  Palace  of  Westminster  is  the  area  surrounding  it. 
Seeing  that  the  spot  has  for  centuries  been  the  centre  from  which  all  great  national  movements 
have  emanated,  it  could  hardly  have  been  otherwise.  The  Palace  and  the  Abbey,  each  in  its 
separate  sphere,  and  the  two  collectively,  have  drawn  as  a  magnet  all  the  forces  of  the 
country — intellectual,  social,  political,  and  religious — within  their  range  of  influence.  In  old 
times,  pilgrims,  not  all  in  the  odour  of  sanctity,  resorted  to  Westminster,  as  they  did  to 
Canterbury,  to  find  in  its  holy  shades  either  solace  for  the  spirit  or  immunity  from  the  law. 
Similarly,  courtiers  and  place-hunters,  poetasters  and  politicians,  directed  their  faces  to  the 
grey  old  walls  of  the  Palace  in  pursuit  of  fame,  or  the  shadow  of  it.  So  it  came  abrut  that 
this  little  area  of  British  ground  in  process  of  time  accumulated  traditions  which  in  their 
breadth  of  interest  and  historic  continuity  vie  with  those  of  the  square  mile  eastwards  in  which 
the  greatness  of  our  commercial  empire  has  been  built  up. 

It  is,  of  course,  in  the  Palace  "Yards,"  Old  and  New,  that  the  chief  interest  is  focussed. 
What  these  were  like  outwardly  in  remote  times  we  have  shown  in  a  previous  chapter, 
but  their  connection  with  the  events  transacted  within  the  walls  of  the  adjacent  building  is 
such  as  to  demand  more  detailed  treatment.  Both  have  a  history  of  an  absorbing  kind — a 
history  which  fascinates  while  it  repeb,  and  which  in  its  sunniest  aspects  appeals  more  to  our 
sense  of  the  picturesque  than  to  our  lighter  instincts.  Froissart  once  declared  that  we  English 


i'r':i,i  a  contemporary  drawing. 

OLD  PALACE   YARD   IN   THE   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY. 
Amongst  the  changes  in  Old  Palace  Yard  the  disappearance  of  the  houses  about  Henry  VII.'s  Chapel  will  be  noted. 

535 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


take  our  pleasures  sadlv.  His  \i.-\vs  were  ]ios>ihly  to  some  extent  formal  from  what  IIP  saw 
i »n  this  identical  *\*>t.  mul  if  so.  it  i>  IM  difficult  to  agree  with  him.  Amusement  was  found 

in  tin-  J.UIMS    anil    tourneys  in    which    the    brutal    elements    were    only  thinly  v .-red    by  the 

light-o'-love  jut-ions  >tirrcd  in  the  hearts  of  fair  «i>ectators.  who  found  in  thpsp  conte-t-  a 
relief  from  tin-  tedium  of  media-val  lift-.  Sometimes  it  Implied  that  the  arena  was  turned  to 
.ji!:i-i-judicial  uses — by  putting  to  the  trial  of  liattle  thp  ^notion  of  the  guilt  or  inniH-piice  of 
M>iii>-  knight Iv  .-iilject  of  the  Kini;.  Snoh  an  e]>iso<le,  of  which  New  Palace  Yard  was  the 
M-eiie.  iKTiirred  in  the  rei^n,  ,,f  Kidiard  II.,  on  June  7th,  1380.  The  combatants  were  Sir 
.Mm  Anne-lev.  Knight,  and  Thomas  Katrinijton  (or  Caterton).  and  issue  was  joined  on  a  charge  of 
treason  preferred  by  the  latter  against  the  former  in  connection  with  the  surrender  of  the 


J.  T.  ."...,1/1  tlil.  1»08. 

BCILDISGS   OS   THK   KASTEKN   SIDE   <IK   XKW   1'AI.ACK   YARD. 

On  the  left  of  tbc  iiicture  U  Been  the  water  uiit*  w  liicli  formerly  gave  acceiw  to  New  Palace  Yard  from  the  river.     Tbe  third  door  to  the  right 
led  U»  the  Star  Chamber,  which  wiu  on  the  first  floor  of  the  building  above. 

Castle  of  St.  Sauveur  le  Viscount  in  Normandy.  Holinshed  supplies  a  picturesque  account  of 
the  scene.  On  the  morning  fixed,  the  King,  the  Lords,  and  many  others  assembled  at  a  place  in 
front  of  the  Palace  where  the  li>ts  were  set  up.  The  knight,  "armed  and  mounted  on  a  faire 
courser,  seemelie  trapped,"  came  forward,  and  a  little  later  the  defendant  was  summoned.  At 
the  third  call  lie  appeared  on  the  scene  '"riding  on  a  courser  trapped  with  traps  imhroidercd 
with  his  urines.  At  his  approching  to  the  lists  he  alighted  from  his  horsse.  lest,  according  to 
the  lawe  of  armes.  the  ('mutable  should  have  challenged  the  hor>-e.  if  he  had  entered  within  the 
li.-ts;  but  his  shifting  nothing  availed  him,  for  the  horsse,  after  his  maister  was  alighted  boide 
him,  ran  up  and  down  by  the  railes,  now  thrusting  his  head  over  and  now  both  head  and 
breast;  BO  that  the  Marie  of  Buckingham,  because  he  wa-  High  Constable  of  England,  claimed 
the  horsse  afterwards,  declaring  that  he  would  have  so  much  of  him  as  had  ap]>eared  over  the 
railes,  and  so  the  hor.-c  wa-  adjudged  unto  him." 


;The    Precincts    of    the    Palace 


537 


When  the  parties  had  .all  entered  the  lists,  Katrington,  '•  whose  conscience  was  thought 
not  to  be  cleare,"  took:  exception  to  the  terms  arranged  for  the  contest.  This  so  enraged  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster,  who; was  managing  the  business,  that  he  threatened  that  if  Katrington  did 
not  accept  the  conditions  he; would  be  adjudged  guilty  of  treason  and  immediately  executed. 
Thus  coerced,  the  defendant  declared  his  readiness  and  even  eagerness  to  fight  with  the  knight. 
It  was  a  decision  which  only  did  him  bare  justice,  for  "  he  was  indeed  a  mightie  man  of 
stature,  whereas  the  knight  amongst  those  that  were  of  a  meane  stature  was  one  of  the 
least."  Both  now  declared  on  their  oaths  the  truth  of  the  cause  for  which  they  fought,  and 
subsequently  devoutly  offered  up  prayers.  These  preliminaries  o.ver,  the  fight  began.  It  was 
an  obstinately  contested  .struggle,  first  with  spears,  then  with  swords,  and  lastly  with  daggers. 
After  a  time  .the,  knight  threw  his  adversary,  but,  missing  his  aim,  the  prostrate  esquire  seized 
his  chance  and  threw  himself-  upon  his  assailant.  The  King,  seeing  the  position  of  affairs,  gave 
orders  that  the  combatants  should '  be  parted,  and  this  was  done.  But  upon  the  urgent  petition 
of  the  knight  the.  two  were  placed  upon  the  ground  in  the  same  position  in  which  they  had 
been  when  the  King  intervened.  It  soon  appeared  that  the  esquire  was  totally  unable  to  take 
advantage  of  his  position.  .'He  fainted  and  fell  from  his  seat,  and  it  was  thought  he  would 
have  died  on  the. spot.  .  However,  "  after  a  little  time  the  esquier  began  to  come  to  himselfe, 
and  lifting  up  his  eies,'  began  to  hold  up  his  head  and  to  cast  a  ghostlie  look  on  everie  one 
about  him;  which,'  when  it  was  reported  to  the  knight,  he  commeth  to  him  armed  as  he  was 
(for  he  had  put  off  no  piece  since  the  beginning  of  the  fight)  and  speaking  to  .him,  called 
him  traitor,  and  false  perjured  man,  asking  of  him  if  he  durst  trie  the  battell  with  him  againe : 
but  the  esquier  having  neither  sense  nor  spirit  whereby  to  make  answer,  proclamation  was 
made  that  the  battell  was  ended  and  everie  one  might  go  to  his  lodging."  Adjudged  guilty 
in  the  eyes  of  all,  the  unfortunate  Katrington  became  delirious,  and  on  the  next  day  "he 
yielded  up  the  ghost,"  his  body  being  afterwards  hanged  at  Tyburn. 

In  both  New  and  Old  Palace  Yards  many  tragic  scenes  have  been  witnessed  in  the  .course 
of  their  strange,  eventful  history.  Through  the  former  have  passed  in  sombre  procession. the 
long  series  of  State  criminals  or  victims  whose  «teom  iias  been  pronounced  in  Westminster 
Hall.  In  one  or  other  of  them  not  a  few  of  these  individuals  have  been  •  brought  •  to  the 
scaffold.  Here  also  have  been  witnessed  many  of  those  refinements  of  judicial  cruelty  which 
in  a  former  barbarous  age  .  , ,  -, 

were  deemed  essential  to  the  ik^Ks.- 

due  administration  of  justice. 
The  pillory  and  the  stocks 
were  supporters  of  the 
scaffold ;  the  whipping-post 
and  the  branding-iron  were 
the  accompaniments  of  the 
fire  which  consumed  the 
author's  libellous  books  and 
pamphlets  in  the  Palace  en- 
closures. 

Many  familiar  historical 
figures  flit  before  us  in  the 
phantasmagoria  which  the 
sinister  records  of  this  corner 
of  Old  Westminster  supply. 
Fastened  in  -the  stocks  on  a 
scaffold  before  Westminster 
Hall  we  see,  on  a  November 
day  in  1497,  that  unfortunate  THE  TILT-YARD,  WESTMINSTEU, 

impostor        Pei'kin       ^^arbeck  Where  the  jouste  arranged  by  the  Kings  of  England  were  held  for  several  centuries. 

68 


538 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


-mr.'uiiiieil  bv  a  ho*tile  crowd,  who,  as  he  reads  his  confession,  assail  him  with  "innumer- 
able reproaches,  mock*,  and  scorning*."  Another  picture  is  that  of  William  Prynne  standing 
in  the  pillory  in  1G34  and  ha\iiiy  his  famous  work,  the  "Ilistrio  Ma-nix."  burned  l>efore 
his  face.  We  al*o  catch  gliin]>ses  of  Titu*  date-  and  Wilkes  Minilarly  ex]H.*ed  to  obloquy, 
and  of  tiny  Fawkes  and  three  of  hi-  co-conspirators  suffering  the  terrible  penalty  of  their 
treason.  Tin-re  i-  record,  too.  of  the  execution  in  1510.  dining  the  sitting  of  Parliament,  of 
one  NewUilt.  a  Yeoman  of  the  King's  (iuard.  who.  having  slain  in  the  Palace  of  Westminster 
a  servant  of  I»rd  Willoughhy,  was  ordered  to  instant  justice  by  the  King,  although  the  man 
was  a  great  favourite  of  his.  Yet  another  memorable  epi-ode  of  which  history  tells  is  the 
Mieading  in  l.~>H,j  ••  lx-fore  the  Palace  (late."  during  the  sitting  of  the  Parliament  of  which 
in-  \\a-  a  memlx-r.  of  Dr.  Parry,  a  Welshman,  who  had  incurred  the  ho-tility  of  the  Crown  by 
*tigmati>ing  a  bill  against  Jesuits  "a  cruel,  bloody,  and  desperate  law." 

But  of  all  the  scenes  which  are  passed  under  review,  that  which  most  fascinates  is  the 
tragic  end  of  Raleigh.  Brought  to  the  scaffold  in  Old  Palace  Yard  broken  in  health  with  long 
imprisonment,  but  with  spirit  undaunted,  we  see  the  great  man  on  that  Michaelmas  ])av, 
1G18,  slowly  making  his  way  through  a  subdued  crowd.  An  old  and  devoted  friend  darts 
forward  to  offer  him  a  farewell  greeting,  and  is  repulsed  by  the  guards.  "Prithee,  never  fear. 
I'.ee-ton  ;  /  shall  have  a  place."  exclaims  the  prisoner.  "  Farewell,  my  lords,"  he  adds,  as  he 
acknowledges  the  sad  salutations  of  a  jwirty  of  friends.  "  I  have  a  long  journey  to  go,  and 
I  mu*t  e'en  say  'Good-bye.'"  Then,  having  mounted  the  scaffold,  he  said:  "Now  I  am  going 
to  God";  and  turning  to  the  executioner  and  gently  touching  the  axe,  he  observed:  ''This 
is  a  sharp  medicine,  but  it  will  cure  all  di*eases."  Trembling  with  agitation,  the  headsman 
shrank  from  the  block.  "What  dost  thou  fear?  Strike,  man!"  exclaimed  the  intrepid 
Kaleigh.  The  axe  fell,  and  the  great  crime  was  consummated.  Thereafter  "the  bleeding 
relic*"  of  the  patriot  were  privately  interred  under  the  high  altar  of  St.  Margaret's  Church, 
with  the  exception  of  the  head,  which  was  taken  away  by  Lady  Kaleigh,  and  twenty  years 
afterward*  buried  by  Can-w  Kaleigh  at  West  Horsley  Church,  Surrey. 

While  the.  memories  of  Old  and  New  Palace  Yards  are  of  a  tragic  cast,  they  are  not 
wanting  in  the  element  of  sensationalism.  From  the  earliest  times  popular  movements  have 
found  here  their  freest  vent.  What  Trafalgar  Square  is  to-day,  that  was  this  small  area  about 

the  Palace  of  Westminster  in  olden  times.  When 
in  1641  the  current  of  feeling  against  Strafford  was 
running  high,  the  precincts  of  the  House  of  Lords 
were  invaded  by  a  mob  of  some  six  thousand  armed 
cit  i/.ens  clamouring  for  "justice  against  Lord  Strafford." 
About  the  same  period  a  demonstration  was  made 
by  a  number  of  "  gentlemen  and  tradesmen's  wi\e*" 
from  the  City,  who  presented  a  petition  again-t 
Archbishop  Laud,  "then  lying  in  the  Tower,  yet  not 
receiving  his  deserved  punishment."  Butler  in 
l/'idibras  alludes  to  the  incident  in  the  couplet — 

The  oyster  women  locked  their  fish  up, 
And  truclg'd  away  to  cry  "  No  Bishop." 

The  female  zealots  crowded  about  the  door  of  the 
House,  and  Sergeant -major  Skippon.  the  commander 
of  the  guard,  applied  to  the  llmi-e  to  know  what 
to  do  with  them,  they  telling  him  "that  where 
there  was  one  now  there  would  be  five  hundred  the 
WILLIAM  riiYNM..  next  day»  »nd  that  it  was  as  good  for  them  to  die 

nthrlunwtbur.  -ho  .uxxl  il  tb.  pillory  In  herC     ««     at     llome-"  The     HoUSC      i">""cted      the 

New  r«i!uw  Yard  in  ISM.  sergeant    to  "speak  them  fair  and  send  them  home 


The    Precincts    of   the    Palace 


539 


again,"  their  petition 
being  received  and 
read.'  Two  years 
later  an  immense 
number  of  women, 
wearing  white  favours 
in  their  hats, 
swarmed  into  New 
Palace  Yard,  crying 
out :  "  Give  us  that 
dog  Pym!"  They 
were  allowed  to  de- 
monstrate for  a  time 
unmolested;  but 
when  they  accom- 
panied their  verbal 
appeals  with  brick- 
bats, the  train  bands 
who  were  defending 
the  approaches  were 
compelled  to  fire  in 
self-defence.  The 
political  dames  then 
dispersed. 

The  eighteenth 
century  witnessed 
several  tumultuous 
assemblies  in  and 
about  the  Palace 
Yards.  One  was  on 
April  10th,  1733, 
when  an  immense 
crowd  of  citizens 
attended  at  West- 
minster to  petition 
against  .Sir  Kobert 
Walpole's  Excise  Bill, 

and  conducted  themselves  so  threateningly  that  a  serious  riot  was  feared.  A  further  and  more 
serious  invasion  took  place  in  June,  1780,  when  Lord  George  Gordon  with  a  howling  mob 
endeavoured  to  intimidate  the  Houses  of  Parliament  to  repeal  the  law  of  Catholic  Emancipation 
passed  in  1778.  It  is  difficult  in  these  days  to  picture  the  condition  of  downright  anarchy 
which  existed  on  the  very  threshold  of  the  Legislative  Chamber  owing  to  the  supineness  of 
the  authorities  on  this  memorable  occasion.  There  were  two  separate  visits  of  the  mob  to 
St.  Stephen's.  The  first  was  paid  on  June  2nd,  .as  the  outcome  of  a  resolution  passed  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Protestant  Association,  of  which  Lord  George  Gordon  was  President,  deciding 
to  present  a  petition  to  Parliament  for  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  Act.  Marching  in  four 
divisions,  the  demonstrators  proceeded  to  the  House  of  Commons,  swarming  into  the  lobbies  arid 
blocking  all  the  approaches  to  the  Legislative  Chamber.  The  petition  was  duly  presented  to 
the  House  by  Lord  George  Gordon,  and  after  a  debate  it  was  decided  to  adjourn  considera- 
tion of  it  until  June  6th.  Meanwhile,  the  waiting  crowd  became  noisy  and  insulting. 
Members  of  both  Houses  who  fell  into  their  clutches,  to  escape  personal  injury  were  forced  to 

1  "Parliamentary   History,"  vol.  ii.  p.  1073. 


From  an  (nyraving  after  thzpaintiiig  by  Zucchero. 

SIR  WALTER  KALEIGH, 
The  great  Elizabethan  hero,  who  was  executed  in  New  Palace  Yanl  in  1618. 


540 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


wear  blue  cockades — the  distinctive 
badge  of  the  Protestant  A— oriution — 
anil  to  jc.in  in  (lie  "No  Popery" 
cry.  The  more  daring  spirits 
amongst  the  rioters  even  endeavoured 
to  force  the  doors  of  the  two  Houses 
of  Parliament  whilst  the  members 
were  in  debate.  The  way  was 
blocked  by  several  re>olute  legislators, 
who  were  prepared  to  resist  the 
invasion  of  the  mob  to  the  la-t  ex- 
tremity. One  of  the  party — General 
Con  way  —  reminded  Ix>rd  George 
Gordon,  who  had  come  out  of  the 
Legislative  Chamber  to  harangue  his 
followers,  that  the  entrance  to  tin- 
House  was  narrow  and  that  he  won; 
a  soldier's  sword,  and  that  that  day 
all  members  were  in  arms.  Colonel 
Gordon,  another  of  the  party,  ad- 
dre>sing  I^ird  George  Gordon  added, 
"Will  you  bring  these  rascals  in? 
Harkee,  the  first  man  who  enters  I 
will  run.  not  him,  but  you,  through 
the  body."  The  stout  attitude  as- 
sumed by  these  courageous  defenders 
of  the  House's  liberties  had  the 
effect  of  staying  the  inrush  of  the 
invaders.  Eventually,  on  the  appear- 
ance of  the  military,  they  discreetly 
retired.  The  second  invasion  of  the  rabble  was  on  June  6th.  On  that  day  an  enormous 
mob  gathered  in  and  about  the  legislative  precincts,  assuming  a  more  and  more  menacing 
attitude  as  the  sitting  progressed.  The  House  maintained  a  firm  and  dignified  front 
in  the  face  of  the  peril  which  threatened  it.  Recognising  that  "no  act  of  theirs 
could  be  legal  whilst  the  House  was  under  apprehensions  from  the  daring  spirit  of  the 
people,"  they  resolved  '""that  to  obstruct  and  insult  the  members  whilst  coming  to  or  going 
from  the  House,  and  to  endeavour  by  force  to  compel  them  to  declare  themselves  in 
favour  of  or  against  any  proposition  then  depending,  was  a  gross  breach  of  the  privileges 
of  the  House."  After  registering  this  protest  the  members  adjourned.  But  by  this  time 
the  rioters  had  got  beyond  the  influence  of  any  minatory  declarations  such  as  this.  For 
three  days  they  created  a  veritable  Reign  of  Terror  in  London,  burning  and  sacking,  and 
perpetrating  all  kinds  of  outrages.  It  was  not  until  the  entire  military  force  available  had 
been  called  out,  and  between  three  and  four  hundred  persons  killed  or  mortally  wounded,  that 
the  formidable  rising  against  authority  was  suppressed.  The  fantastic  Lord  George  Gordon  was 
put  u]K>n  his  trial  for  treason  as  the  author  of  the  riots,  but  he  was  acquitted  on  the  ground 
that  his  conduct  did  not  justify  the  charge.  lx>ss  fortunate  than  he,  some  fifty  of  the  leading 
rioters  sutt'e red  the  extreme  jienalty  of  the  law  for  their  connection  with  the  disturbances. 

The  period  of  the  Chartist  agitation  also  witnessed  some  stirring  scenes  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Palace;  and  there  was  again  an  anxious  time  for  the  authorities  when,  on  the  intro- 
duction of  Mr.  Lowe's  ill-starred  Match  Tax,  several  thousand  matchmakers  from  the  East  End 
attempted  to  march  on  the  House  of  Commons.  In  the  most  recent  times'the  police  have  so 
rigorously  enforced  the  regulations  which  prohibit  the  approach  of  any  considerable  body  of 


l,ill,<niil  m.i   Hurt. 

WILLIAM    l.Ai'D.  AKCliltlsHni-  OK  CAM  1:1:1:1  I:Y. 

Th.   eminent  High  Church  divine  vboM  |»Iicy  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  gnve  ri«  • 
to  great  jiopnlsr 


The    Precincts    of    the    Palace 


541 


demonstrators  to  the  vicinity  of  the  seat 
of  the  Legislature,  that  the  history  of 
this  branch  of  the  subject  may  be  re- 
garded as  closed. 

Apart  from  political  turmoil  associated 
with  the  work  of  Parliament,  the  Palace 
Yards  were  at  frequent  intervals  for  a 
long  course  of  years  the  cockpit  of  the 
rival  factions  concerned  in  the  West- 
minster elections.  The  hustings  ,were 
actually  erected  for  a  long  period  in  New 
Palace  Yard,  and  if  a  poll. were  demanded 
it  was  held  in  Westminster  Hall,  where 
for  weeks  at  ..a  stretch,  under  frequently 
the  most  tumultuous  conditions,  the  "free 
and  enlightened  "  electors  of  Westminster 
registered  their  votes.  With  the  lapse 
of  time,  so  embarrassing  did  the  West- 
minster electioneering  become  to  legisla- 
tors that  the  hustings  were  transferred 
to  Covent  Garden.  But  the  precincts  of 
the  Palace  of  Westminster  continued 
long  afterwards  to  share  in  the  boisterous 
excitement  which  accompanied  the  elec- 
tions. The  most  remarkable  contest  was 
probably  that  of  1784,  when  Fox  contested 
the  constituency  against  Sir  Cecil  Wray 
and  Admiral  Lord  Hood,  the  Court 
nominees.  The  polling  lasted  for  forty 
days,  and  was  marked  by  political  excesses 
which  were  notable  even  in  those  days  of 
riotous  elections.  It  was  at  this  famous 
election  that  the  beautiful  Duchess  of 
Devonshire  wooed  and  won  votes  for  the 
popular  nominee  by  exchanging  kisses  for 
promises  of  support.  A  squib  issued  at  the  time  sets  forth  in  amusing  fashion  the  dangers  of 
this  fascinating  form  of  canvassing : — 

WESTMINSTER. 
To  be  hired  for  the  day, 

Several  pairs  of  rnby  pouting  lips,  of  the  First  Quality, 
To  be  kissed  by  rum  Dukes,  queer  Dukes,  Butchers, 

Draymen,  Dustmen,  and  Chimney-sweepers. 
Please  to  inquire  at  Devon  &  Co.'s  Crimson  Touting  Warehouse,  Piccadilly. 

Then  follow  several  stanzas  setting  forth  in  halting  rhyme  the  varied  attractions  of  the  election. 
The  Duchess  of  Devonshire  is  thus  referred  to : — 

Arrayed  in  matchless  beauty,  Devon's  fair 
In  Fox's  favour  takes  a  zealous  part, 
But,  oh !  where'er  the  pilferer  comes — beware  I 
She  supplicates  a  vote  and  steals  a  heart ! 

Hail,  Duchess  1  first  of  womankind. 
Far,  far  you  leave  your  sex  behind, 
With  you  none  can  compare    • 
For  who  but  you  from  street:  to  street    • 
:     Would  run  about  a  vote  to  :get  ?.. 
Thrice,  thrice  bewitching  fair ! 


l-'rttm  a  int&otint  after  Sirjotltiia  Jteynolds,  P.R.A. 

THK    FAMOUS   GEORGIAXA,   DUCHESS  OF   DEVONSHIRE, 

Who  played  a    great    part   in '  the    political   life    of    the   Jatter  half   of    the 
eighteenth  century. 


542 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


The  return  of  Fox  with  n  majority  of  '2:>'<  \otes  over  \\n\y.  the  High  Hailiff's  refusal  to 
n-timi  Fox,  the  sul»e,|uent  protracted  M-rutinv.  and  Fox's  final  triumph  are  matters  «>(  jiolitieal 
hi-tory  which  need  Hot  !«•  dilated  U|MIII  liere.  It  may  lx-  said.  Imwever.  that  the  incidents 
were  typical  of  the  inten-e  |uirtisaiishiii  which  raged  at  election  times  in  this  historic 
oiiii-tituency  until  the  reform  of  Parliament  and  the  rise  of  imjiortaiit  political  centre* 
cNcwhi-iv  deprhed  We>tmiii-ter  of  its  commanding  ]>osilioii. 

A— m-iuted  with  the  history  of  the  I'alace  Yards  are  tlie  memories,  political,  social,  and 
lit  entry,  of  the  many  coffee-tax  ems  and  inns  which  once  e\Nte<|  there.  They  were  the  n-ort 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  day,  who  used  them  much  as  their  modem  i>rototyi>es  do  the 
]«datial  flubs  in  Pall  Mall  and  St.  Jaime's  Street.  One  of  the  most  famous — ]>erha|is  the  mo.-t 
famous — was  the  Turk's  Head,  or  Miles's  <'ofVee-Hou~e.  in  which  was  held  the  meetings  of 
the  celebrated  Hot  a  Club,  founded  in  1659  hy  James  Harrington,  the  author  of  "Oceana." 
'I'he  sinijular  name  of  the  club  was  derived  from  a  plan,  which  it  was  established  to  promote, 
for  changing  a  certain  number  of  members  of  Parliament  annually  by  rotation.  Pepys  u.t- 
one  of  its  earlie.»t  memlxTs.  as  appears  from  the  following  entry  in  his  diary  under  date 
January  !)th,  l(i.~>!MiO :  "Thence  1  went  with  .Miiddiinan  to  the  CofVee  House  and  gave  18</.  to  be 
entered  of  t lie  Club."  Sir  William  Petty  was  another  of  its  distinguished  members.  Aubrey,  in 
his  llodleian  I.eu.-r».  supplies  us  with  an  interoting  glimpse  of  the  club  in  action.  -In  1659, 
the  Iieginning  of  .Michaelmas  Term."  sjiys  the  author,  "  Henry  Nevill  and  Harrington  had  e\erv 
a  meeting  at  the  (then)  Turk's  Head,  in  the  New  Palace  Yard,  where  they  take  water, 

the  next  house  to 
the  Staires.  at  <ni>- 
Miles's,  where  was 
made  purposely  a 
large  ovall  table. 
with  a  passage  in 
the  middle  for  Miles 
to  deliver  hi*  coft'ee. 
About  it  >ate  his 
disciples  and  the 
virtuosi.  We  many 
times  adjourned  to 
the  Hhenish  NVinc 
House.  One  time 
Mr.  Stafford  and  his 
gang  came  in  drunk 
from  the  tavern  and 
affronted  the  junto; 
the  soldiers  offered 
to  kick  them  down 
stay  res.  hut  Mr. 
Harrington's  modera- 
tion and  persuasion 
hindered  it." 

1'epys  was  a 
conMant  visitor  to 
the  la\ern>  and 
coffee-houses  about 
the  I'alace  <>('  We>f- 
Illillster.  He  \\~AS 

sitting  at  one  of 
these"estal>lislimente 


mm  a  ilraitixf  tuul,  I,,,  T.  llvtmtr-Uktplttnl  in  1808. 

THK    lll.l  K    IIOAII'S    HKAIl    1XN,    KIM;    STIu:i:T,    XVI'^TM  IXSTKR. 
Imu  In  a  IIOOM  Intbejud  of  tbii  Inn  th»t  Cn.niwell  lived  during  the  |*riod  (h«t  he  wa.  a  member  of 


from  a  ilfuiciaij  mai.lt.  hy  J.  T.  Smith  in  DtctmUr,  ISO". 

THE  ANCIENT   PRECINCTS  OP  THE   PALACE  OF   WESTMINSTER. 

View  of  the  southern  extremity  of  Thieving  Lane  (of  late  years  called  Bow  Street),  through  which  the  felons  were  conveyed  to  the  gate-house  which 

stood  at  the  eastern  end  of  Tothill  Street. 

543 


544 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


KIXIJ   STKKKT   (!ATK,   WKflTMtHSTEB. 

*h  to  the  proctncto  nf  the  Pulac*  of  Westminster.    It  WM  d«moli»hed  in  1723. 


with  Locke  and 
Purcell.  hearing  a 
variety  of  Italian 
anil  Sjiaiiish  J-OHL;- 
one  evening  ju>l 
before  the  I\e>tora- 

t  ion.  Mini  he  describes 
the  -rene  ill  his 

••Diary."  "Here 
out  of  the  window>." 

-a\-  lie.  "it  \\a~  a 
Mi"-!  plea-ant  >ight 
to  see  the  City,  from 
one  end  to  the  other. 
with  a  glory  aliotit  it, 
so  high  was  the  light 
of  the  bonfires,  and 
thick  round  (he  City, 
and  tin-  bells  rani,' 
everywhere." 

The  .Rhenish 
Wine  l|ou>e.  pre- 
viously referred  to. 
was  another  famous 
place  of  resort  to 
which  Pepys  was  very 
partial.  It  Mood  to 
the  north  of  New 
Palace  Yard,  near  a 
door  which  gave  ac- 
cess to  the  Privy 
Gardens,  through 
which  legislators 


were  accustomed  to  pass  either  in  going  to  or  returning  from  Whitehall.  The  best  known 
taverns  and  coffee-houses  were,  however,  in  King  Street,  which  for  centuries  was  the  main 
approach  to  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  Here  was  the  Boar's  Head,  in  the  yard  attached  to 
which  was  the  house  occupied  by  Oliver  Cromwell  during  the  period  that  he  was  a  memlwr  of 
Parliament.  The  Protector's  house  was  pulled  down  many  years  ago,  and  quite  recently  the 
la-t  ve-tigc-  of  the  inn  premies  were  swept  awivy  to  make  room  for  the  great  blocks  of 
Government  offices  that  are  rising  on  the  site  of  what  was  once  King  Street.  Another  tavern 
which  achieved  fame  at  a  later  period  was  the  Bell,  at  which  that  well-known  association 
of  High  Church  Tory  squires — the  October  Club — held  its  meetings,  and  quaffed  their  good 
(tctoU-r  ale  while  they  discussed  the  political  questions  of  the  day.  The  club,  which  included 
amount  it>  nieinliers  many  of  the  !>est  known  men  of  the  da}',  created  a  great  stir  in  the 
early  jtiirt  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Its  fame  even  {tenet rated  to  the  Continent,  where  books 
for  and  against  iN  principle-,  were  printed.  Its  success  resulted  in  the  e>talili>hment  of  several 
similar  institutions,  the  l>cst  known  of  which  was  the  March  Club.  Eventually  theM-  roorts 
faded  out  of  existence  with  the  rise  of  other  and  more  implying  centres  of  jnilitical  enlighten- 
ment and  social  intercourse  farther  west. 

By  far  the  mo>t  interesting  of  the  in>titutions  of  New  Palace  Yard  was  the  Star  Chamber,  the 
dread  tribunal  which  occupies  so  important  a  place  in  constitutional  history.  Many  theories 
have  been  advanced  to  account  for  the  peculiar  name  given  to  the  Chamber.  It  is  surmised  by 


The    Precincts    of    the    Palace 


545 


OLD   STAR  CHAMBER,   WESTMINSTER. 
Pulled  down  after  the  fire  of  1S34. 


some  writers  that  it  had  its 

origin    in    the    Saxon    word 

steoran,    to    govern.     Black- 
stone  suggests  that  the  title 

came    from    ':the    Starr"  or 

"Shetar,"    the    contracts    of 

the     Jews    with    the    King 

which     were     kept     in    the 

Exchequer.     The    more  pro- 
bable   explanation,    however, 

appears  to  be  that  the  Court 

anciently  sat  in   a   room    of 

the    Palace    the    ceiling    of 

which  was  adorned  with  stars. 

The  Court,  it  is  surmised  by 

some    writers,    was    a    very 

ancient     one,     dating     back 

to     early     Norman      times ; 

but  in  the  form  in  which  it 

is    best     known    in    history 

it    was   established   by   Henry   VII.    in    the    year    1487.      Created   to   facilitate   the    designs   of 

the    King   and    to    more    effectually   punish    his    enemies,    its    functions  -were    to    hold    trials 

without  a  jury,  or  the  right  of  appeal,  or  hearing 
accused,  or  having  before  it  any  written  charge.  A 
Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  and  the  two  Chief 
Justices,  with  the  Lord  High  Chancellor  acting  as 
president,  formed  the  Court.  The  sentences  imposed 
took  a  variety  of  forms;  but  fines,  imprisonment, 
and  branding  were  the  punishments  it  most  frequently 
inflicted.  In  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  age, 
it  occasionally  gave  to  its  decrees  a  whimsical  cast, 
as,  for  example,  on  one  occasion  when  a  poor  fanatic 
named  Traske  was  brought  before  it  for  preaching 
the  sinfulness  of  eating  swine's  flesh,  it  condemned 
the  accused  to  imprisonment,  and  ordered  that  pork 
should  be  his  sole  fare.  In  Wolsey's  day  the  tribunal 
was  freely  employed  in  aiding  by  its  coercive  influence 
the  strong  policy  which  he  directed.  But  it  was  in 
the  period  preceding  the  Great  Kebellion  that  the 
Chamber  attained  to  its  highest  pitch  of  activity 
and  fame.  Its  mysterious  powers  and  subversive 
influences  employed  by  Charles  I.  in  support  of  what 
he  deemed  to  be  his  rights  did  much  to  kindle  the 
flame  of  liberty  which  was  eventually  to  involve 
himself  and  his  dynasty  in  ruin.  The  last  and 
perhaps  most  picturesque  incident  associated  with 
the  Court  was  the  sentencing  of  John  Lilburne  ill 
1636  for  publishing  seditious  libels.  This  worthy 
was  fined  £5,000,  was  ordered  to  stand  in  the  pillory, 
and  to  be  whipped  from  the  Fleet  Prison  to  the 

TABLET  AFFIXED   TO   MARK  THE  POSITION  OF   Sate   of   Westminster   Hall.     In    accordance  with  the 

decree   he  stood  in  the    pillory  just  outside  the  Star 

69 


<  •  >l  MS  I  ahlci  limits  t}>c  pi  .situ  »r-  <  >f  il 


-I  ><>ru;iv  Icadmg  up  to  ll.v  ro<>m 
<lunr,i|  !)• 

'.."in  instituted  by  statute 

3!''  I  <tv;Sl:n- 

•li 
S  of  Jamos  Y  ,\ 


u..,u.V  <    V  <•>!:<•  posiliono 


from  this  spotShe  Ghambpi 
Hi*"!1.  ih<v  first  floor*M'asli(iht 

« milmvs  lookirii  to\ninls\('\vpiil;K 


THE   OLD   STAK  CLUB  CHAMBER. 


M, 


•&>  •tA 


-.n&S 

THANKS  of  this  HOUSE 

}.       •;>.>/••'•)      ('   ',   //'.i 

V       c/0- 

^  **^  <z    CSv-i 

f 

f  i&i 


_  I  HAT   ~a/  tL/Lctum,  -&e- Atrfut'ictl.  tv  &t-  t<m£  £<*trte> 

?&?      ,/      r&>     -S67^/     *~/ //QH/  x      / 

•  '(^Cc-u^f-  *>n/  fftf-  -neaiC  Qs-cdiiLA<m'  erf  ^i^i^cia^n^n^,  or  aM*    C/  crCu^nfee^i-  cmas 
Cfre0m£vn/M/    u^^u*.  U'no^e'  QSt-mstce.1  ^n*dt'  ria/Hes  vcf^fv  Jncw  i.s'iLccr/i/rd'  fry. 
t_X^«/    /ri-^U^tf'f//,  eh**otA&-i^lsa  f<ic/t/  C  OrpS ;  <^z-  Oldfi/  t/tuS  *mcri-   Cf/M4.tz/  >m&y 

C-^rC-^/   ^     ^-—7    y*  /  ^y^  /  X  '^^  '^v^-r  fft)  ^^~^\  ^y*' 

^c-  &n£&if&'  <ms  tnf Jeni/l^Ki^a  of 4/u*  ifupit^Hy,  a/rids  £ft*>  TV  StrtOtlf  VL  X'AV\lf\t^or 

&)      &       '  .     /^(ZJ  c    >C5?^r^)  ^LX 

t£o4/is,  &&. 


t»Z,erti  ^Letut&na'n/'  of  . 


AX    F.Xr.KOSSMKXT   fir  TUB   BESOWTIOX  CONVKVISO   TUB   THAXKS  OK  THK   HOVfi:   or  riiMMONS  TO  THB 
VOI.UNTKKB  AND  YKUMAMIY  COIII'S  IX  THE  CKIS1S  CUEATED  BV  THK  THREAT  OF  A  NAPOLEONIC  INVASION. 

54G 


The    Precincts    of    the    Palace 


547 


Chamber.  He  went,  he  tells  us  in  -the  narrative  he  subsequently  published,  "  with  a  joyful 
courage,"  and  when  he  was  upon  the  place  of  punishment  he  "  made  obeisance  to  the  lords " 
who  had  acted  as  his  judges,  and  who  apparently  were  inspecting  him  from  the  Star  Chamber. 

When  the  Star  Chamber  was  abolished,  the  historic  apartment  in  which  its  sittings  were 
held  was  diverted  to  ordinary  official  uses,  and  remained  in  much  its  original  state  until  the 
clearances  necessitated  in  New  Palace  Yard  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament 
were  undertaken  in  1836.  It  was  then  demolished,  and  upon  the  site  arose  the  imposing 
outlines  of  Barry's  great  Gothic  building.  So  completely  were  all  vestiges  of  the  Chamber 
obliterated,  that  its  precise  situation  was  for  a  long  time  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  Eventually, 
however,  Sir  Reginald  Palgrave  set  all  doubts  at  rest  in  a  paper  he  prepared  on  the  subject,1 
and  now  a  tablet  placed  on  a  wall  pier  in  the  centre  of  the  arcade  which  leads  from  the 
District  Railway  subway  to  the  Privy  Councillors'  entrance  to  the  House  of  Commons  tells  the 
visitor  all  that  there  is  to  be  known.  This  is  the  inscription : — 

"This  tablet  marks  the  position  of  the  outer  doorway  leading  up  to  the  room  built  during 
the  year  1602,  wherein  the  Court  of  Law  constituted  by  Statute  3  Henry  VII.,  c.  1,  known 
as  the  Star  Chamber  Court,  held  session  during  the  reigns  of  James  I.  and  Charles  I.  until 
the  1st  day  of  August,  1641,  when  the  Court  was  closed  by  Statute  16  Car.  I.,  c.  10. 

''  The  position  of  this  tablet  was  ascertained  by  measurements  based  upon  ancient  plans  of 
the  Palace  of  Westminster.  The  frontage  of  the  Star  Chamber  extended  about  thirty  feet 
northward  and  southward  from  this  spot.  The  Star  Chamber  was  upon  the  Srst  floor,  and  was 
lighted  by  windows  looking  towards  New  Palace  Yard." 

In  reviewing  the  past  history  of  the  Palace  Yards,  the  not  indirect  connection  of  the 
quarter  with  the  Volunteer  movement  must  not  be  overlooked.  In  the  closing  days  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  when  the  fear 
of  a  Napoleonic  invasion  sent  a  great 
wave  of  patriotism  throughout  the 
country,  Westminster  played  a  part — 
and  a  not  inconspicuous  part— in  the 
call  of  the  citizens  to  arms.  A  fine 
corps  was  formed  within  the  city, 
and  in  its  ranks  were  found  many 
of  the  leading  inhabitants.  The  New 
Palace  Yard  was  a  favourite  place 
of  assembly  of  the  citizen  soldiers. 
There,  under  the  eyes  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, they  went  through  their  drill, 
establishing  a  connection  between  the 
Palace  of  Westminster  and  the  Volun- 
teer movement  which  exists  to  this 
day  in  the  unique  privilege  accorded 
to  the  Queen's  Westminster  Volunteers 
— the  lineal  descendants  of  the  old 
corps — of  drilling  in  Westminster  Hall. 
It  may  be  assumed  that  the  intimate 
ties  which  were  formed  between  Parlia- 
ment and  the  old  Westminster  corps 
gave  an  added  strength  to  the  cordiality 
with  which,  when  the  storm  had  blown 
over,  the  House  of  Commons,  in  a 

resolution  dated  AugUSt  10th,  1803,  StateOTanoftheStTOrtandCon^nwealthl)erio^  He  was  concerned  in  the  arrest 
tendered  its  thanks  to  the  yeomanry  of  Waller  and  his  fellow-conspirators  for  their  plot  against  the  Parliament  in  1942. 

1  Leisure  Hour,  November,  1898. 


From  OH  engraving  by  J.  Hoitbraken. 


548 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


I.HMI  Ml    WAI.I.KIi. 

Tbcpocl,  noUd  in  i-.Htir.il  lii»t-.r.r  n»  the  nutlior  of  n 
apunrt  thi!  I'lirlialnetit  in  1'  U. 


|'l"t 


ami  \oluntccr  corps  of  the-  t'nited  Kingdom  ''for 
tin-  promptitude  with  which,  at  a  crisis  tlic  most 
momentous  to  their  country."  they  a--ociatcd  for 
its  defence.  This  resolution,  emblazoned  with  all  the 
ingenuity  of  the  illuminator's  art.  was  circulated 
throughout  the  country;  and  now  reproduced  in 
these  l«ig«'s  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  a  century, 
mav  serve  as  a  reminder  that  ardour  in  the 
country's  defence  is  not  a  latter-day  attrihute  ..I 
patriotism. 

Closely    identified    with    the   life    of    Parliament. 

and  sharing    to   son xtent    in   its    glorious  history. 

is  the  t'hurch  of  St  .Margaret.  Y.'est  min-ter.  V.'alcott. 
the  historian  of  the  church,  claims  for  it.  with 
justice,  that  "with  the  exception  of  the  Ahhey  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  there  is  no 
other  ecclesiastical  editice  throughout  London  and 
Westminster  which  can  boast  a  greater  antiquity 
or  more  interesting  foundation."  The  original  build- 
ing was.  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  erected  by 
Kdward  the  Confessor.  It  is  certain  tliat  there  was 
iv  parish  church  on  the  site  in  the  earliest  Norman 
times.  The  present  structure,  however,  dates  no 
further  back  than  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  and  the 
greater  part  of  it  is  of  a  much  later  period.  Its 

connection  with  the  HonseofCommons.it   is 

surmised    by    V.'alcott.  commenced    when  St. 

Stephen's  CliajK-I  was  diverted  from  its  sacred 

purjwses  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.     Certain 

it  is  that  soon  after    that    period   arose    the 

custom  of  memlH-rs  of  the  House  of  Commons 

attending    Divine    service    and    partaking    of 

the  Communion  in  the  church,  as  the  Peers 

did  in    the    Abl>ev.     The    following  entry  in 

the    churchwardens'    accounts    in    the     year 

1627    shows    that    the    religious   observance's 

of  legislators  were  conducted  in  no  perfunctory 

manner:    "Item,    ]«id    for   bread    and    wine 

when    the    Kight   Honourable   the   Commons 

Mouse    ot     Parliament     (being    408    persons) 

received  the  Communion  in  the  parish  church. 

102(1.  x.l.  xvi.js."    ••  Item,  given  to  Mr.  Vincent 

Peris,    curate    by   their   appointment,   for    his 

pain-  in  the  administration  of  the  Sacrament 

unto  them,  v.l."1       A-   the    total  number  of 

memlwis  at  the  time  was  but   -JOS.   it   would 

appear     that      every    single    inellllicr    attended 
the    M-nice. 

In  the  troublous  Stuart    period,  as  noted 
in  an  earlier  chapter,  t  he  church  was  frequent  Iv  nr<:n  n:Ti:us, 

the  scene  of  services  at    which  tin-   I  louse  of      ™«  '—«-'  '<-»i'°»  "•  '"'  ° 

1  "Westminster  Itecords,"  p.  66. 


549 


550 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


Commons  in  its  <iir|ionit«'  rajiiifity  n»i>trd.  On  one  fast  day — Noveml>er  17th,  1640 — tlio  records 
N-ll  us  that  "Dr.  1'mx'.-"  and  Mr.  M:ir>liall  preached  liefore  tin-  House,  at  least  seven  liours 
U-twifii  tin-in.  UJHIII  .li-r.  1.  3.  and  2  Chron.  ii.  2."  It  was  in  th<-  church  during  a  soli-urn 
l.i»t  that  on  May  :il-t.  1CI2.  I'yin  received  the  fir.-t  news  of  the  plot  of  Kdiniind  \Valli-r.  the 
against  1'arliaiin-nt.  and  it  was  from  its  precincts  that  the  preliminary  orders  were  given 
for  tin-  niTiM  of  tin-  cnn-pirators.  Liter  in  tin-  same  year,  on  September  li.ltli.  Kiln,  the 
sacred  building  was  still  more  closely  identifii-d  \\itli  the  cause  of  the  Parliamentarians  by 
tin-  taking  of  the  Solemn  league  and  Covenant  within  its  walls,  by  both  Houses  of  Parliament, 
the  Assembly  of  I>ivinos.  and  the  Scottish  Commissioners.  Yet  another  memonible  Parliamentary 
serxiee  was  that  held  on  December  2<ith,  1648,  when  Hugh  Peters,  the  fanatieal  Puritan 
divine,  delivered  his  famous  address  from  the  pulpit  in  which  he  denounced  Charles  as  "the 
(ireat  Itarahlias.  murderer,  tyrant,  and  traitor,"  and  incited  his  hearers  to  bring  the  King 
"t<>  condign,  speedy,  and  capital  punishment."  When  the  Restoration  came,  the  practice 
continued  of  delivering  ]>o)iticnl  sermons  to  a  congregation  of  legislators.  An  anecdote  related 
'.'y  l>r.  Johnson  throws  an  amusing  light  on  these  official  services.  •' |!urnet  and  Sprat  t." 
he  Bays,  "were  old  rivals.  On  some  public  occasion  they  both  preached  before  the  Il.ni>,-  of 
Commons.  There  prevailed  in  those  days  an  indecent  custom.  When  the  preacher  touched 
any  favourite  topic  in  a  manner  that  delighted  his  audiences,  their  approbation  was  expi 
by  a  loud  hum,  continued  in  proportion  to  their  zeal  or  pleasure.  When  I'urnet  preached. 
juirt  of  his  congregation  hummed  so  loudly  and  so  long  that  he  sat  down  to  enjoy  it,  and 
rubln-d  his  face  with  his  handkerchief.  When  Sprat t  preached,  he  likewise  was  honoured  with 
a  like  animating  hum;  but  he  stretched  out  bis  hand  to  the  congregation  and  cried,  'Peace, 
l«eace.  1  pray  you  jieace.'"  "Burnet's  sermon,"  we  are  told  by  another  writer,  "was  remark- 
able for  sedition,  and  Spratt's  for  loyalty.  Burnet  had  the  thanks  of  the  House.  Sprat  t  had 
no  thanks,  but  a  good  living  from  the  King,  which,  he  said,  was  of  as  much  value  as  the 
thanks  of  the  Commoi 

From  time  to  time  the  connection  of  the  House  of  Commons  was  formally  recognised 
by  the  making  of  grants  from  the  public  purse  for  repairs  or  structural  changes.  The  earliest 
recorded  vote  was  of  i.200  in  1050.  An  important  contribution  was  made  in  1734  towards 
the  extensive  repairs  which  were  carried  out  in  the  church  at  that  period  at  a  cost  of  !_.">.< ><)0. 

The  grant '  was  justified  on  the  ground  that  St. 
.Margaret's  was  "as  it  were  a  national  church 
for  the  use  of  the  House  of  Commons."  This 
was  no  doubt  in  a  sense  true,  but  it  is  prohahlc 
that  the  money  would  not  have  been  so  readily 
obtained  but  for  the  powerful  influences  which 
it  was  possible  at  the  time  to  invoke.  Amongst 
the  members  of  the  vestry  of  the  day  were  the 
Dukes  of  Montagu,  Dorset,  and  Richmond;  the 
Karls  of  Pembroke,  Berkshire.  Abingdon,  and 
Halifax;  Lord  Falmouth,  Count  Bot  lunar,  Sir 
Robert  Wai  pole,  and  Horatio  Walpole.  The 
Speaker,  Sir  Arthur  Onslow,  was  also  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  church,  though  not  a  member  of 
the  vestry.  In  1758  the  attachment  of  members 
to  their  parish  church  was  further  and  more 
conspicuously  demonstrated  by  the  voting  of  a 
sum  of  £.5,000  for  the  purpose  of  re-pewing 
and  decorating  the  building.  It  was  in  this  year 
that  the  singularly  beautiful  east  window  was 
placed  in  position.  To  this  attractive  feature 
of  the  church  a  romantic  history  attaches. 


OILBKUT    liritM.T,    Illslllil-  OF  HAMHBURY, 
Once  »  hroarlM  prawbw  in  HI.  Margaret' •  Church,  Wotiuioiter. 


F,-OM  aphololiy  If*.  S.  Campbell.     Coji.nriyhl,  JlulrUintonJ:  Co. 
ABCADE  CONNECTING  THE   HOUSE  OP  COMMONS  WITH   THE   WESTMINSTER  STATION  OP   THE  DISTRICT   RAILWAY. 


551 


552 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


•I  prin 


i/  ix  ;.'-'•. 

ST.  MAIH;AI;I;I  .-  niriicii  .\vn  TIM:  SOUTH  TftAXsi:n   <u-  WKSTMINSTIM; 
The  view  U  intonating  a*  allowing  St.  Marput-t'»  Oiuruhjard  in  iU  unenclosed  state-. 


Kxecuted  at  (iouda.  in  llollaml.  it  was  (says  Waleott)  "originally  intended  as  a  pre-ent  from 
the  magi-t  rates  of  Uort  to  Henry  VII.;  or.  as  some  say.  was  unit-red  by  Ferdinand  and 
I-abella  iin  the  occasion  of  Prince  Arthur  being  affianced  in  1499  to  Princess  Catharine  ot 
Arragnii  —  their  jiortraits  being  j>roc-ured  for  the  puqxtse.  The  window  was  probably  finished 
after  his  brother's  death,  to  be  sent  as  a  gift  to  King  Henry  VIII.  However  this  may  be.  it 
I  into  the  hands  of  the  Abbot  of  \Valtham.  who  kept  it  in  his  church  until  the  dissolu- 
tion, A.I>.  l.Vln.  Uolx-rt  Fuller,  the  last  abliot  to  preserve  it,  sent  it  to  his  private  chapel  at 
New  Hall,  in  the  parish  of  P>on-ham.  Ksst-x.  which  was  at  one  time  the  M-at  of  the  I  Sutlers, 
Karls  of  Orinond.  and  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Sir  Thomas,  father  of  Ann  P.ullen,  Queen 
of  Henry  VIII.  In  Queen  Kli/alx-th's  time  Thomas  Ratcliffe,  Earl  of  Sussex,  resided  then-. 
and  (ieor^'e  Villiers.  Duke  of  Buckingham,  imrc-hased  it  from  his  family.  (ieneral  .Monk,  to 
whom  that  nobleman's  son  sold  it.  caused  the  window  to  be  buried  underground,  well  knowing 
that  if  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Puritans,  thev  would  not  fail  to  destroy  so  line  an  effort 
of  geniu-  and  talent,  as  it  is  said  they  destroyed  during  those  disgraceful  times  no  less  than 
<-ight  hundred  similar  productions  of  art.  After  the  Restoration  General  Monk  replaced  it  in 
hi-  chapel  at  New  Hall.  After  the  death  of  the  (ieneral.  owing  to  the  circumstance  of  his 
.-on  Chri.-tophcr.  Duke  of  Alheinarle.  dying  without  children,  this  beautiful  seat  became  the 
pni]M-rty  of  hi-  Duchess,  and  gradually  fell  into  a  state  of  ruin  and  decay.  Its  next  owner 
.'•ihn  Olmiu-.  K-ijiiire.  who  demoli-hed  the  fine  chapel,  but  preserved  the  window  in  hopes 
of  selling  it  to  some  church.  The  window  lay  for  some  time  cased  up  in  chests,  until 
purcha-ed  by  Mr.  Conyers,  of  Copt  Hall,  in  K—'-x.  near  Kpping,  for  fifty  guineas,  to  be  placed 
in  his  <-|HI|M-|.  and  jwiid  Mr.  Price  a  large  sum  for  repairing  it.  Mr.  John  Conyers.  the  son  of 
the  late  owner  of  the  window,  sold  it  to  the  committee  for  repairing  and  beautifying  St. 


The    Precincts    of    the    Palace 


553 


^Margaret's  Church  for    four   hundred    guineas    in    1758,  the    churchwardens    having    successfully 
treated  with  him."' 

It  was  an  excellent  stroke  of  business,  but  bigotry  saw  in  the  action  an  attempt  to  revive 
Popish  practices.  A  suit  was  brought  against  the  churchwardens  under  the  cover  of  an  old 
statute  of  Edward  VI. — "an  Act  for  abolishing  and  putting  away  divers  books  and  images  "- 
and  it  was  sought  to  secure  the  removal  of  the  window  on  the  ground  that  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  Crucifixion,  which  is  the  subject  of  the  design,  was  "  a  superstitious  image  or 
picture."  After  lasting  for  seven  weary  years,  the  suit  was  decided  in  favour  of  the  church- 
wardens, each  party  being  ordered  to  pay  its  own  costs.  Now  the  only  wonder  is  that  even 
Puritanical  fanaticism  could  find  in  this  exquisite  work  of  art  a  cause  of  offence. 

On  several  occasions  since  1758  Parliament  has  voted  money  for  the  repair  of  St. 
Margaret's.  For  instance,  in  1799  the  large  grant  of  £6,721  was  made,  and  three  years  later 
a  further  sum  of  £4,500  was  contributed,  the  supervision  of  expenditure  being  entrusted  under 
the  authority  of  the  Statute  48  George  III.  to  the  Commissioners  for  the  Improvement  of 
Westminster.  Again,  in  1813  there  was  a  considerable  grant  of  £3,059  for  the  repair  of  the 
•church,  and  further  advances  were  made  in  the  years  1824  and  1845. 

While  officially  so  much  has  been  done  to  mark  the  close  association  of  the  church  with 
Parliament,  private  effort  has  lavishly  contributed  towards  the  perpetuation  of  the  connection. 
In  and  about  the  sacred  building  are  to  be  found  numerous  beautiful  monuments  to  departed 
Parliamentary  worthies.  The  porch  at  the  south-east  end  of  the  church  was  erected  by  Caroline, 
Viscountess  Sherbrooke,  in  memory  of  her  distinguished  husband,  Viscount  Sherbrooke,  better 
known  as  Robert  Lowe.  The  inscription  in  Latin  states  that  "he  faithfully  discharged  the 


ENTRANCE   TO    THE   CHAPTER   HOUSE,    WESTMINSTER. 
Through  these  gates  passed  many  generations  of  legislators  before  the  Chapter  House  was  abandoned  as  a  place  of  assembly  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

70 


554 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


highest  offices  of  State  and  always  put  country  before  jvirty."  One  of  the  stained-glass 
windows  commemorates  William  Page,  Karon  Hatherley.  the  I/ml  Chancellor.  "He  was  a 
good  man"  is  the  simple  epitaph  which  is  inscribed  beneath  the  window.  A  jminted  window 
is  also  in  the  church  to  the  memory  of  Lord  Farnborough,  better  known  as  Sir  Thomas 
Erskine  May.  for  more  than  half  a  century  in  the  service  of  the  ll.m-e  of  Commons,  holding 
various  im]tortant  offices,  and  for  lift  ecu  years  the  Clerk  of  the  House.  Sir  Thomas  Erskine 
May  was  the  author  of  several  historical  and  constitutional  works,  among  them  the  "Constitu- 
tional History  of  England,  1760 — 1860,"  continuing  Hallam.  But  the  work  he  will  always  be 
identified  with  is  the  "Treatise  on  the  Laws,  Privileges,  Proceedings,  and  I' sages  of  Parlia- 
ment." First  published  in  1844,  it  has  from  time  to  time  been  revised  and  published  in 
various  editions,  and  at  the  present  time  is  the  recognix-d  authority  describing  the  various 
functions  and  proceedings  of  Parliament  in  a  form  adapted,  as  well  to  purposes  of  reference. 
as  to  a  methodical  treatment  of  the  subject. 

Beneath  the  window  at  the  west  end  of  the  south  aisle  is  the  inscription  to  the  memory 
of  the  unfortunate  brother  of  the  present  Duke  of  Devonshire:  "Dedicated  by  his  fellow 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  the  beloved  memory  of  Frederic  Charles  Cavendish,  son 
of  the  seventh  Duke  of  Devonshire,  member  for  the  Northern  Division  of  the  West  Hiding  of  York- 
shire for  seventeen  years,  and  Chief 
Secretary  for  Ireland.  Born  on  the 
Feast  of  St.  Andrew.  1836,  and,  like 
him,  permitted  in  singleness  and 
humility  of  heart  to  follow  his  Lord, 
and  with  his  blood  to  seal  a  life  de- 
voted to  duty.  On  the  day  of  his 
arrival  in  Dublin,  in  company  with, 
and  in  attempted  defence  of,  his 
colleague,  Mr.  T.  N.  Burke,  he  was 
murdered  in  the  Phcenix  Park, 
.May  6th,  1882." 

Yet  another  Parliamentary 
memorial  which  calls  for  notice  is  a 
brass  tablet  placed  beneath  the 
stained-glass  window  erected  to  com- 
memorate the  Jubilee  of  Queen 
Victoria  in  1887.  The  tablet  is  in 
memory  of  the  Right  Hon.  Charles 
Shaw  Lefevre,  who,  after  serving  the 
office  of  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  was  in  1857  raised  to  the 
House  of  Jx>rds  with  the  title  of 
Viscount  Eversley.  He  died  De- 
cember 28th,  1888,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-five. 

Though  none  of  the  eminent 
individuals  whose  virtues  and  public 
services  are  thus  perpetuated  are 
buried  within  the  precincts  of  the 
church,  there  is  yet  in  and  about  it 
some  illusl  rious  dust.  In  the  church- 
yard were  interred  in  1491  the  re- 

THK   CHAPTER   HOUSE,   WESTMINSTER.  ""'">    "'     W'"»»n  CaXt°"'  the  ****M 

Exurior  of  th.  ••  incon,,«»bl..tn.ct,.re  "  in  which  th.Itau.of  Common.  «-«ubled.         °f     Printing.         A     little     more     than 


555 


556 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


• 


sixty  years  later  in  1  .">.>:>-—.  was 
placed  in  the  same  sacred  ground 
the  IxKly  of  .Richard  Cecil  or.  a- 
the  name  is  ghcn  in  the  ancient 
records  of  the  church,  Richard 
Cyccll  the  father  of  Lord  Murghlev 
and  the  ancestor  of  the  Marquis  of 
Salisbury.  Within  the  chancel  IH-- 
neath  the  high  altar,  as  previously 
noted,  was  privately  buried  on  the 
day  of  his  execution  the  headless 
I  tody  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  Near 
his  grave  is  that  of  John  Harrington. 
the  author  of  "  ( leeana."  and  the 
founder  of  the  Rota  Club.  In  the 
churchyard  rest  Wenceslaus  Hollar, 
the  famous  engraver  ;  Henry  Klsinge. 
the  eminent  Clerk  of  the  House  of 
Common-,  and  the  author  of  the 
well-known  constitutional  work.  "Tin- 
Ancient  Method  and  Manner  of  hold- 
ing Parliaments  in  England";  and 
Cole,  a  burgess  for  "Westminster. 
whose  name  is  perpetuated  by  a 
memorial  in  the  church  bearing  this 
quaint  inscription : — 

In  I'arliament  a  burgess  Cole  was  placed, 

In  Westminster  the  like  for  many  \i 
Bat  now  with  saints  above  his  soul  is  graced. 
And    lives  a  burgess  with   heaven's  royal 

peers. 
O  blessed  change  from  earth  \\here  Death  is 

kinj:, 

To  be  united   there,  where  angela  sinjr. 
By  ffrmutitm  of  Miurt.  /'.i--l..  ..  ">j'oni. 

THK    INTIIKKilt  OK  Till:   (  HAI'TKU    HliCSI-:.   WKsT.M  I NSTKK. 
Sir  Gilbert  Scoif«  daifn  for  iu  proiioKd  ratoration  which  was  afterward!  adopted. 

We-t minster  occur  in  the  mortuary  records  of  St.  Margaret's — indeed,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  any  jwirish  church  in  the  country  can  lay  claim  to  so  remarkable  a  connection. 
Nowadays,  a  -t retch  of  velvety  turf  gives  a  uniform  and  pleasing  aspect  to  the  churchyard,  and 
it  i-  difficult  to  realise  that  the  .-]*>!  was  for  centuries  the  chief  burial-place  in  Westminster. 
Mut  it  is  a  historic  fact  that  the  ground  about  the  church  lias  been  raised  some  eight  or 
nine  feet  altove  the  original  level,  chiefly  owing  the  vast  number  of  bodies  which  have  been 
interred  within  its  limits.  Melon-  the  churchyard  was  closed,  a  scandalous  condition  of  affairs 
exi-d-d.  It  was  here  that  Cowper  received  the  second  religious  impression  which  so  profoundly 
influenced  hi-  life.  On  pa-sing  the  churchyard  one  evening  at  dusk  as  a  boy,  he  saw  a 
glimmering  light  amongst  the  tombs,  and  on  going  to  ascertain  the  cause  was  struck  by  a 
human  skull  thrown  out  of  a  half-completed  grave  by  a  grave-digger,  who  was  working  by 
lantern  light  at  his  gruesome  task. 

In  dealing  with  the  precincts  of  the  Palace  of  Westminster  it  is  impossible  to  leave  out 
of  con-ideration  the  Chapter  House  of  the  venerable  Abbey.  Most  people  who  nowadays  visit 
this  ••incomparable  structure."  after  perhaps  an  absorbingly  interesting  morning  amongst  the 
mouldering  tombs  of  the  great  minster,  naturally  as.-ociate  it  exclusively  with  the  old  monastic 


Many  other   names    more  or  les-   in- 
timately associated    with   the  life  of 


The    Precincts    of    the    Palace 


557 


life  of  the  spot.  But  it  is  really  quite  as  memorable  for  its  Parliamentary  as  for  its'  ecclesiastical 
traditions.  For  here,  as  we  have  seen,  the  House  of  Commons  first  found  a  home  of  its  own, 
and  here  fitfully  for  two  hundred  years  were  the  sittings  of  the  popular  chamber  held.  In  point 
of  antiquity  it  is  not  equalled  by  any  building  which  has  ever  been  devoted  to  legislative  or 
national  consultative  purposes  in  existence.  Six  hundred  and  sixty  years  at  least  have  passed 
away  since  the  faithful  Commons,  driven  out  from  association  with  the  Peers  in  the  Palace 
of  Westminster,  entered  upon  a  separate  existence  within  its  walls.  It  witnessed  the  birth 
of  the  Constitution  and  its  passage  through  a  precarious  childhood  to  adolescence.  It  was  the 
cradle  of  our  liberties,  and  of  the  privileges  which  we  hold  dear.  The  Englishman  who  can 
enter  its  walls  without  feeling  his  pulse  beat  the  quicker  as  he  recalls  its  history  is  not 
worthy  of  the  name. 

Built  on  the  site  of  an  older  structure  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  under 
the  direction  of  Abbot  Littlington,  who  was  responsible  for  some  of  the  finest  work  of  the 
Abbey,  it  is  a  magnificent  example  of  English  architecture.  Old  Matthew  Paris,  writing  of 
Henry  III.'s  intention  to  erect  the  building,  refers  to  the  design  as  "  incomparable,"  and  Sir 
Gilbert  Scott — no  mean  authority — thoroughly  endorses  this  description,  observing  that  the 
building  "  singles  itself  out  among  these  beautiful  works  as  a  structure  perfect  in  itself,  of  a 
purely  English  type  as  to  its  plan  and  outline,  and  as  carrying  out  the  principle  of  window 
tracery  in  fuller  and  grander  degree  than  any  part  of  the  church."  In  size  it  resembles  the 
Chapter  Houses  of  Salisbury,  Lincoln,  and  York,  the  plan  being  that  of  an  octagon  inscribed 
within  a  circle  sixty  feet  in  diameter.  When  seen  originally  in  its  full  glory,  with  the 
tracery  of  its  windows  undamaged  and  the  statues  and  internal  decorations  complete,  it  must 
have  presented  a  superb  spectacle.  Even  to-day,  when  time  and  vandalistic  treatment  have  left 
their  mark  on  the  work  of  the  ancient  craftsmen,  it  has  a  nobility  which  commands  attention. 

The  internal  arrangement  of  the  Chapter  House    is,  in    its  broad  features,  what    it  was  in 


THE  CHAPTER  HOUSE,   WESTMINSTER. 
The  interior  as  it  is  to-day,  arranged  as  a  museum  of  Abbey  antiquities. 


558 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


the  earliest  days  of  it«  existence.  Two  rows  of  stone  benches  encircle  the  chamber,  five 
s|Hfial  stalls  l>eing  provided  for  the  Abbot,  Prior,  and  three  other  high  officials.  The  groined 
roof  is  supported  by  a  pillar  of  black  Purbeck  marble  which  played  a  prominent  part,  it 
would  WPIII,  in  the  disciplinary  system  of  the  Abbey  in  mona>tic  times.  Dean  Stanley,  in  his 
charming  way,  gives  a  vivid  account  of  the  uses  to  which  the  Chapter  lloii-e  was  put  in  tho-e 
far  remote  days.  "To  this  at  least  once  a  week,"  he  writes  in  his  "Memorials  of  \Ve-t min-tcr 
Ablwv,"  "the  whole  convent  came.  .  .  .  When  they  were  all  seated  on  the  stone  steps  around, 
jH'rfeot  freedom  of  speech  was  allowed.  Now  was  the  opjmrt  unity  for  making  any  coiu]ilaints 
or  for  confessing  of  faults.  .  .  .  Here,  too,  was  the  scene  of  judgment  and  punishment.  The 
details  an-  such  as  to  recall  a  rough  school  rattier  than  a  grave  ecclesiastical  community. 
The  younger  monks  were  flogged  elsewhere;  but  the  others,  stripped  wholly  or  from  the 
waist  upwards  or  in  their  shirts,  girt  close  around  them,  were  scourged  in  public  here,  with 
roils  of  single  or  double  thickness,  by  the  mature  brothers  who  formed  the  council  of  the 
Abbot  (but  always  excluding  the  accuser  from  the  office),  the  criminal  himself  sitting  on  a 
three-legged  bench,  probably  before  the  cent  nil  pillar,  which  was  used  as  judgment-seat  or 
whipping-post.  If  Hogging  was  deemed  insufficient,  the  only  further  punishment  was 
expulsion.  The  terrors  of  immurement  or  torture  seem  unknown." 

Dean  Stanley  connects  the  building  of  the  Abbey  with  the  occupation  of  the  Chapter 
House  by  the  Commons.  "As  the  building  of  the  new  St.  Peter's  at  Home  by  the  indulgences 
i—m-d  to  provide  for  its  erection  produced  the  Reformation,  so  the  building  of  this  new 
St.  Peter's  at  Westminster,  by  the  enormous  sums  which  the  King  exacted  from  his  subjects 
to  gratify  his  artistic  or  his  devotional  sentiment,  produced  the  House  of  Commons.  And  the 
House  of  Commons  found  its  first  independent  home  in  the  incomparable  Chapter  House  of 
We.-t minster.  Whatever  may  1*>  the  satire  of  Wren's  statement  that  'the  Abbot  lent  it  to  the 


NKW   PA  LACK   YARD. 
It  ii  at  th*  point  on  the  right  of  the  picture  that  the  nujuritj  of  mem  ben  enter  and  leave  the  legislative  precinct*. 


.     ('jjiyrtyltt,  Uutchinson  £  Co. 

THE    ORATORY. 

The  exterior  of  the  beautiful  little  chapel  in  which  a  number  of  signatures  are  traditionally  believed  to  have  been  appended  to  the  death  warrant 

of  Charles  I. 

559 


56o 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 

A> 


THE  CLOISTER  COURT. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  features  of  the  design  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament. 

King  for  the  use  of  the  Commons  on  condition  that  the  Crown  should  repair  it.'  there  can  be 
no  question  tliiit  from  the  time  of  the  separation  of  the  Commons  from  the  Ix>rds  it  became 
their  habitual  meeting  place.  The  exact  moment  of  the  separation  cannot,  perhaps,  be 
ascertained.  In  the  fii>t  in-tance  the  two  Houses  met  in  Westminster  Hall,  but  they  parted 
as  early  as  the  eleventh  year  of  Kihvard  I.  From  that  time  the  Lords  met  in  the  1'ainted 
('handier  in  the  Palace,  the  Commons,  whenever  they  sate  in  London,  within  the  precinct-  uf 
the  Abbey.  Such  secular  assemblies  had  already  assembled  under  its  shadow,  though  not  vet 
within  the  Chapter  House.  .  .  . 

-In  the  refectory  the  Commons  were  convened  under  Edward  II. When  they  impeached 
I'iers  (iaveston,  and  also  on  several  occasions  during  the  reigns  of  Hichard  II.,  Henry  IV.,  and 
Henry  V.  Kut  their  usual  resort  was  'in  their  ancient  place  the  House  of  the  Chapter  of  the 
<ireat  Charter  of  the  Abbey  of  Westminster.'  On  one  occasion  a  Parliament  was  summoned 
there  in  125C,  even  before  the  birth  of  the  House  of  Commons,  to  grant  a  subsidy  for  Sirilv. 
There  John  I'alliol  consented  in  1292  to  withdraw  his  claims  on  the  Crown  of  Scotland.  The 
black  rood  of  St.  Margaret  was  brought  from  the  adjacent  Treasury,  and  over  this  his  oath  was 
sworn.  It  is  from  the  reign  of  Kdward  III.,  however,  that  these  meetings  of  the  Commons 
were  fixed  within  its  walls.  With  this  coincides  the  date  of  those  curious  decorations  which 
in  that  age  seemed  specially  appropriate.  Piers  Plowman's  vision  of  a  Chapter  House  was 
as  of  'a  great  church  carven  and  covered,  quaintly  entailed,  with  scenely  ceilings  set  aloft,  and. 
as  Parliament  House,  painted  about.'  The  seraphs  that  adorn  the  chief  stalls,  the  long  series 
of  ajwcalyptic  pictures  which  were  added  to  the  lesser  stalls,  were  evidently  thmi^ht  the 
fitting  accomjwiniments  of  the  great  Council  Chamber.  .  .  . 

"The  Speaker  no  doubt  took  his  place  in  the  Ablwt's  stall  facing  the  entrance.  The 
burgesses  must  have  sate  round  the  building— those  who  had  the  best  seats  in  the  eighty 


I 


561 


71 


562 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


stall*    of   the    monksi,  the   other*   arranged    as   l>est    they   could.      To  the    cc'iitr.il    pillar   were 
attached  placards,  liU-Hous  or  otherwise,  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  inemhers.  .  .  . 

"The  Acts  of  Parliament  which  the  Chapter  HHUM-  witne^i-d  derive  a  double  significance 
from  the  lucidity.  .  .  .  Unquestionably  there  is  a  strange  irony,  if  indeed  it  be  not  rather  a 
pro  founder  wisdom,  in  the  thought  that  within  this  consecrated  precinct  were  pa^ed  those 
inemoroble  statutes  which  restrained  the  power  of  that  very  Unly  under  whose  shell er  thev 
were  discussed.  Here  the  Commons  imist  Imve  assented  to  the  dry  humour  of  the  Statute 
Circrtn>sf>fcte  At/titis,  whicl),  whilst  it  apj>ears  to  grant  the  lesser  privilege  of  the  dergv. 
virtually  wit  holds  the  larger.  Here  also  were  enacted  the  Statutes  of  Provisions  and  of 
Pnrnumire,  which,  as  Fuller  says,  first  jwred  the  Pope's  nails  to  the  quick  and  then  cut,  off 
his  fingers.  Here  finally  were  enacted  the  scenes  in  which,  during  the  first  e|>och  of  the 
Reformation,  the  House  of  Commons  took  so  prominent  a  part  by  pressing  forward  those 
Church  of  England  statutes  which  laid  'the  foundations  of  the  new  Slat.-.'  which  'found  England 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY,   FliOM   THE  JEWEL  TOWER, 
A  viow  of  the  luinater  from  an  unfamiliar  standpoint. 

in  dependency  upon  a  foreign  Power '  and  '  left  it  a  free  nation,'  which  gave  the  voice  of  the 
nation  for  the  first  time  its  free  expression  in  the  councils  of  the  Church.  .  .  . 

"Within  the  Chapter  House  must  have  been  passed  the  first  Clergy  Discipline  Act.  the 
tii-t  Clergy  Residence  Act,  and,  chief  of  all,  the  Act  of  Supremacy  and  the  Act  of  Submission. 
P.eiieath  that  vaulted  roof  and  before  that  central  pillar  must  have  been  placed  the  famous 
Black  Book  which  sealed  the  fate  of  all  the  monasteries  of  England,  including  the  Abbey  of 
\Ve>tinin>ter  dose  by,  and  which  struck  such  a  thrill  of  horror  through  the  House  of  Commons 
when  they  learned  its  contents.  .  .  . 

"The  last  time  that  the  Commons  sat  in  the  building  was  on  the  last  day  of  the  life  of 
Henry  VIII.  The  last  Act  passed  was  the  attainder  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk;  and  they  must 
have  lieeii  .-itting  here  when  the  news  readied  them  that  the  King  had  died  that  morning 
and  while  th«»e  preparations  for  the  coronation  of  Prince  Edward — whom  King  Henry  had 
designed  should  be  crowned  before  his  own  death,  in  order  to  secure  his  succession — were  going 


The    Precincts    of    the    Palace 


563 


on  in  the  Abbey,  which  were  summarily 
broken  off  when  the  news  came  that 
the  King  himself  was  dead." 

In  the  year  1540,  when  the  Abbey 
was  dissolved,  the  Chapter  House  became, 
what  it  has  ever  since  been,  national 
property.  Seven  years  later,  in  the  first 
year  of  Edward  VI.,  the  Commons 
moved  to  the  Chapel  of  St.  Stephen, 
which,  as  is  related  elsewhere,  was  set 
apart  for  their  meetings  on  the  dis- 
solution of  the  College  of  St.  Stephen. 

When  the  Chapter  House  was  rid 
of  its  Parliamentary  occupants,  it  entered 
upon  a  period  of  ill-treatment  which 
threatened  its  unity,  if  not  its  very 
existence.  With  that  contempt  for  the 
grand  work  of  the  artificers  and  artists 
of  the  so-called  Dark  Ages  which  was 
characteristic  of  the  period  which  followed 
the  Reformation,  the  building  was  turned 
over  to  the  Government  officers  for  use 
as  a  Public  Record  Chamber.  To  suit 
it  to  this  purpose,  various  defacements 
and  excrescences  crept  in.  About  the 
year  1703  it  was  actually  proposed  to 
Sir  Christopher  Wren  to  mutilate  it 
irretrievably  by  putting  up  a  gallery 
in  the  interior ;  but  the  great  archi- 
tect very  properly  declined  to  sanction 
any  such  infamy.  In  1740,  however, 
the  vaulting  having  become  unsafe,  the  HOISTING  THE  UNION  JACK  ON  THE  VICTORIA  TOWER. 

building,     to     quote      Sir      Gilbert      Scott,      A  ceremony  daily  performed.    When  the  Sovereign  is  within  the  building,  the' 

••  was  made  over  to  some  barbarian,  who  Royal  Standard  is  flOTvn' 

fitted  it  up  for  the  records  with  studious  disregard  to  concealment  or  destruction  of  its 
architectural  beauties."  So  it  remained  for  more  than  a  century,  until  the  erection  of  a  new 
Record  Office  freed  the  building  of  its  encumbrances,  and  in  the  process  directed  public 
attention  to  the  scandalous  treatment  to  which  it  had  been  subjected  during  a  long  period 
of  years.  Sir  Gilbert  Scott's  advice  was  sought  as  to  the  practicability  of  a  restoration. 
That  eminent  architect,  animated  by  a  zeal  as  praiseworthy  as  it  was  prolific  of  good  results, 
entered  upon  an  exhaustive  investigation  of  the  building,  with  a  view  to  determining  the 
character  of  the  design  in  its  completeness.  With  painstaking  care  he  pieced  the  various 
parts  of  the  design  together  until  he  had  the  whole  before  him  in  all  the  elegance  and 
beauty  of  its  conception.  Then,  under  the  authority  of  the  Government,  the  restoration  was 
carried  through.  It  was  thorough  yet  conservative.  Nothing  was  added  excepting  where  the 
old  work  had  been  destroyed  or  hopelessly  mutilated,  and  the  only  parts  conjecturally  restored 
were  the  external  parapet,  the  pinnacles,  the  gables  of  the  buttresses,  and  the  roof.  So 
carefully  was  the  work  done  that,  viewing  the  building  to-day,  it  is  difficult  to  realise  that 
less  than  a  half-century  ago  its  interior  was  a  shapeless  mass  of  woodwork,  with  every  single 
feature  of  the  ancient  building  concealed  from  view,  and  many  parts  hopelessly  mutilated. 


C 1IA1TK 11    XXXVII. 


TllK  MIX1STKR1AL  AXXKXK  <>r  Till-:  I'M.At'K 

AMI   JUIWXISG  STREET. 


THK  official  quarter,  which  lies  ju>t  out>ide  the  limits  of  the  Palace  of  Westmin.-ter.  ia  so 
intimately  a—  ociated  with  the  proceedings  of  Parliament,  and  touches  so  many  jntints  in  its 

hi-tor\.  that    it   claims  some  notice    before   the    final    sent  em f  this  work    is  written.      There 

was  probably  never  a  time  since  the  l^egi>lature  had  a  recognised  and  regular  existence  when 
this  territory  without  the  gates,  as  it  were,  was  not  markedly  a  political  centre.  IntpKing 
Street,  for  centuries  the  only  land  approach  to  the  Palace  from  the  City  and  the  \ve-t.  members 
found  at  once  a  common  meeting  ground  and  a  convenient  residential  quarter.1  There  also 
collected  the  various  functionaries  of  Parliament,  and  the  gossips  and  professional  idlers  who 

had  an  inten-.-t  more  or  less  legitimate  in  the  legis- 
lative doings.  The  establishment  of  Whitehall  M  a 
Royal  Palace  strengthened  the  political  hold  on  the 
district.  With  the  departure  of  the  Sovereign  from 
the  ancient  Palace  the  tie  which  had  bound  the 

I  ^,  ^fN  •  Government  departments  and   the   official  element  to 

'  A<|flJj!iln^BBLlBBH  the  legislative  precincts  was  broken,  and   gradually  a 

drift  of  officialdom  set  outwards,  absorbing,  as  genera- 
tion succeeded  generation,  one  after  another  of  the 
sites  and  buildings  lying  between  New  Palace  Yard 
and  Charing  Cross. 

One  of  the  first  annexations  was  of  a  portion  of 
the  Palace  known  then  and  subsequently  as  the  Cock- 
pit. This  wa-  an  institution  first  established  by 
Ilenrv  VIII.  for  the  prosecution  of  the  then  highly 

•V"*'ll  By^   I  popular  form  of  sport.       It  was  used  indifferently  for 

this  purpose  and   as  a   theatre    during  several  reigns, 

SMI  \    $  I  and    figures    extensively    in   this   connection    in    the 

B  I  gossipy    records    of    the    sixteenth    and    seventeenth 

centuries.  Elizabeth,  James  I.,  and  Charles  1..  ac- 
cording to  Malone,  frequently  ordered  plays  to  be 
represented  there.  But  it  is  with  Cromwell  that  the 
history  of  the  Cockpit  as  a  place  of  residence  and 
of  entertainment  rather  than  of  sport  is  chiefly  as-oci- 
ated.  The  great  Parliamentarian,  when  Lord- 
Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  by  special  resolution  of  the 
House  on  February  29th,  1650,  was  granted  "the 
use  of  the  lodgings  called  the  Cockpit,"  and  he  appears 
to  have  resided  there  until,  as  Lord  Protector,  he 
entered  into  full  possession  of  Whitehall  Palace. 
Thereafter  the  building  was  utilised,  in  common 

"Ifi'U:  October  29th.— I  have  come  safely  to-day  to  Mrs.  Bottom's  house  in  Si.  Stephen's  Alloy,  King  Street.  ] 
do  not  know  how  I  Mull  like  my  lodgings.  My  company  is  like  to  be  good."— Letter  from  Sir  Edward  llnrley  to  his  wife  : 
Historical  Manuscripts  Commission  Report. 

504 


WIIITKIIAI.r,   CATK. 
Said  to  hare  been  dalgned  l.j  H.ns  Holbein. 


The   Ministerial  Annexe  of  the  Palace   of  Westminster       565 

with  other  portions  of  the  Palace,  for  purposes  connected  with  the  Cromwellian  establish- 
ment. On  one  occasion,  at  least,  the  old  festive  traditions  of  the  place  were  revived. 
This  was  on  February  20th,  1657,  when  the  House  of  Commons,  having  heard  two  sermons 
at  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  and  having  enjoyed  "a  most  princely  entertainment  at  White- 
hall," were  entertained  in  the  Cockpit  "  with  rare  music  both  of  voices  and  instruments  till 
the  evening." 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Commonwealth  period  the  Cockpit  apartments  were  assigned  by 
Parliament  to  General  Monk,  and  he  continued  in  residence  after  the  Restoration,  living  there  all 
through  the  terrible  plague  epidemic  of  1666,  and  subsequently  until  his  death  on  January  3rd, 
1670.  Meanwhile,  as  the  diaries  of  Pepys  and  Evelyn  show,  the  principal  chamber  was  the  scene 
of  the  performance  of  many  stage  plays,  chiefly  of  the  French  type,  which  appealed  to  Charles  II. 's 
exotic  fancy.  Some  two  or  three  years  after  Monk's  death  the  premises  were  transferred  to  George 


From  a  print pubtiflted  in  1796. 


WHITEHALL. 
A  view  from  the  Banqueting  House,  looking  towards  Charing  Cross. 


Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  later  they  were  purchased  by  Charles  II.  for  his  niece,  Princess 
Anne,  on  her  marriage.  The  Princess  resided  in  the  apartments  until  the  Revolution  of  1688 
rendered  her  presence  there  inconvenient.  Her  departure  was  made  under  somewhat  dramatic 
circumstances.  At  midnight  on  November  26th,  1688,  news  having  been  received  of  the  landing 
of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  she  hurriedly  put  on  a  travelling  cloak,  and  slipping  down  the  back 
stairs  of  the  chambers,  took  her  seat  in  a  hackney  coach  which  was  awaiting  her,  and  with 
Lord  Dorset  and  Bishop  Compton  riding  on  each  side  of  the  vehicle  as  an  escort,  was  driven 
to  a  place  previously  fixed  upon,  where  she  was  under  the  protection  of  the  leaders  of  the 
revolutionary  movement.  When  the  storm  had  blown  over,  she  returned  to  the  Cockpit,  but 
only  for  a  time.  Owing  to  serious  disagreements  between  Anne  and  her  sister  Mary  over  the 
former's  devotion  to  the  lady  who  was  afterwards  the  famous  Duchess  of  Marlborough,  the 
Princess  fled  to  Berkeley  House  in  Piccadilly,  where  she  remained  until  after  Mary's  death, 


566 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


when  St.  James's    Palace  WHS    settled    upon    her   by  William  III.      With  the  expiration  of  liei 
tenancy  the  history  of  tin'  Cockpit  entered  ujion  a  new  chapter. 

I'p  to  the  reign  of  Cluirles  I.  Treasury  hii-iness  was  transacted  nt  the  Exchequer  Receipt 
Office  in  Westminster  Cloisters;  but  when  Charles  II.  put  the  Treasury  into  commission  in 
lie  i;a\e  the  (le|iartinent  clmml>ers  in  Whitehall  Palace,  \vhen«  it  remained  until  the  fire 
of  Iti'.'T.  which  drove  it  for  six  weeks  to  the  private  house  of  Mr.  William  Lowndes,  near 
We»t minster  AhU-v.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time  it  was  transferred  to  the  vacant  Cockpit 
Chambers,  which  had  escajied  the  fire,  and  the  possession  of  which  had  been  granted  to  it  by 
the  King.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  Ions?  and  memorable  official  career  for  the  old  pleasure 
centre  which  the  eighth  Henry  had  created.  I'sed  for  the  transaction  of  high  State  business, 
it  Ix-came  in  course  of  time  the  recognised  Ministerial  headquarters  outside  the  Palace  of 
Westminster,  just  as  Downing  Street  was  in  a  subsequent  generation  and  remains  to  this 
dav.  letters  wen-  dated  from  it,  and  inteniews  were  accorded  to  personages  desiring 

audience  of  Ministers  within  its  precincts.  When 
the  negotiations  for  the  Union  with  Scotland  were 
in  progress,  it  was  selected  as  the  most  convenient 
place  for  the  meetings  of  the  Commissioners  who 
were  appointed  to  draw  up  the  terms.  Their 
deliberations  were  so  prolonged  that  Sir  Christopher 
Wren  was  directed  to  enclose  a  part  of  the  garden 
to  supply  them  with  a  recreation  ground.  The  most 
important  purpose  to  which  the  Cockpit  at  this 
period  was  devoted,  however,  was  a  meeting-place  for 
the  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council.  It  was  at  a 
sitting  of  this  quasi-judicial  body,  held  to  investigate 
a  charge  of  treason,  that  the  attempt  was  made  on 
the  life  of  Robert,  Earl  of  Oxford,  by  (iuiscard,  the 
French  emigrant.  The  man  was  under  examination, 
when,  with  a  quick  movement,  he  seized  a  penknife 
and  made  a  lunge  with  it  at  Harley.  inflicting  a 
slight  wound.  Before  the  man  could  do  further 
mischief,  he  was  struck  down  by  Lord  Paulet  and 
Mr.  St.  John  with  their  swords,  which  they  had 
drawn  immediately  the  character  of  the  attack 
was  disclosed.  The  affair  created  a  tremendous  stir 
at  the  time;  but,  beyond  bringing  the  Earl  of 
( )xford  a  much-needed  accession  of  popularity,  it 
had  small  influence,  as  it  was  discovered  that  (iuiscard 
individual  who  had  acted  on  a  sudden  homicidal  impulse  without  any 


BENJAMIN    FKANKI.IX. 

The  American  i»atriot  who,  a«  the  accredited  agent  of 
tlM  l«>|mUr  party,  on  January  i'th.  1774,  prvaeiitvd  to  the 
Committee  of  the  I'riry  Council  at  the  Cockpit  the  ]*titi»n 
»f  the  Colony  of  Maauchruetu  praying  for  the  removal  of 
tbe  Uenunant-(mreni«r,  who  bad  advocated  the  employ- 
ment of  military  force  against  tbe  coloniftta. 


a    half-demented 
definite  jiolitical  aim. 

Another  famous    incident    in    the    history  of  the   old   Cockpit    was    the   examination    before 
the  Privy  Council  in   1722.  for   his  complicity  in   the   Jacobite   plot,  of  Bishop  Atterbury.  prior 
to  his  committal  to  the  Tower.     This  was  the   last  important   event   which  occurred  under   the 
old    roof-tree,    if  we    except   the   party  gatherings    which    were    held  there   on    the    eve    of  the 
meet  ini;  of  Parliament    in   accordance  with  a  practice  established  during  Walpole's  Premiership. 
In   17:53   the   building   was  pulled  down  to   make  way  for   the   three-storied   structure   designed 
by  Kent  and  I/ord  Burlington,  which  was   the  first  of  the   great  blocks   of  Government    offices 
which   now  cover  nearly  the  whole  of  the  district    hereabouts.     The  old  name,  however,  was  not 
allowed    to  ili  .....  it.     Numerous    letters  written    in    the   year  1736-7  by  Horace  Waljwle   are   to 

be  found  in  the  volumes  of  the   Historical   .Manuscripts  Commission  dated  fr  .......  The  Cockpit." 

Bubb  Dodington,  in    his  -Diary."    under    date    February    4th,    1752,    speaks    of   going    to    the 
Cockpit  "to  a   prize  cause  which  turned  on  the  authenticity  of  the  Treaty  of  Commerce  with 


The   Ministerial  Annexe  of  the   Palace  of  Westminster     567 


France " ;  and  he  records  subsequent  visits  in  connection  with  "  a  complaint  by  Mr.  Webb 
against  Mr.  William  Sharpe  for  taking  exorbitant  fees."  The  Ministerial  meetings  for  the 
purpose  of  hearing  the  Koyal  speech  read  on  the  eve  of  the  meeting  of  Parliament  are  stated 
in  the  political  literature  of  the  time  to  have  been  held  at  the  Cockpit.  Again,  as  a  further 
piece  of  evidence  to  show  that  the  name  was  familiarly  used  long  after  the  old  buildings  had 
disappeared,  it  may  be  noted  that  in  the  Treasury  incident  bills  for  1794  there  is  an  item  of 
£9  for  lighting  up  "  the  Cockpit  room."  Even  to  this  day  the  Treasury  Office  is  officially 
described  as  "Chambers,"  in  recognition  of  the  circumstance  that  the  building  it  supplanted 
was  known  as  the  Cockpit  Chambers. 

In  the  face  of  these  facts  it  is  a  little  remarkable  that  a  lively  controversy  for  some  time 
raged  over  the  question  of  the  precise  site  of  the  old  Cockpit.  Clearly  the  Treasury  Office 
is  the  lineal  successor  of  the  ancient  institution,  and  occupies  the  same  ground.  But  the 
matter  does  not  rest  on  the  evidence  of  old  documents  and  established  tradition  alone.  Some 
time  since  Sir  John  Taylor,  of  His  Majesty's  Office  of  Works,  took  the  celebrated  old  ground 
plan  of  Whitehall  and  drew  upon  it  a  ground  plan  of  the  site  as  it  now  exists.  On  this  old  plan 
of  1682,  corrected  by  the  present  ordnance  map,  is  seen  the  entrance  to  the  ancient  Cockpit, 
corresponding  almost  exactly  with  the  present  entrance  to  the  Treasury  from  Whitehall,  and 
leading  up  to  the  Cockpit,  which  stood  very  near  the  present  Board-Boom  of  the  Treasury.1 

The  history  of  the  transformed  Cockpit  is  for  the  most  part  that  of  a  Government  office 
in  which  the  ordinary  prosaic  routine  duties  of  an  important  branch  of  the  executive  are 
transacted.  Still,  it  is  not  without  its  points  of  popular  interest.  One  incident  which 
stands  prominently  out  in  connection 
with  the  building  is  the  reception  here 
by  a  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council 
of  Benjamin  Franklin  on  January  9th, 
1774.  The  great  American  patriot  came 
over  with  a  petition  from  Massachusetts 
praying  for  the  removal  of  the  lieu- 
tenant-Governor in  consequence  of  a 
recommendation  he  had  made  in  favour 
of  the  employment  of  military  force 
to  bring  the  recalcitrant  colonists  to 
submission.  We  have  a  picture  of  him 
sitting  in  a  recess  "  like  a  rock,  his  head 
resting  on  his  left  hand,  and  in  that 
attitude  abiding  the  pelting  storm "  of 
invective  poured  out  by  Wedderburne, 
the  Solicitor-General,  which  affected  the 
Court  spectators  to  such  a  degree  that 
"they  gave  way  to  transports  of  laughter 
and  loud  acclamations."  But  "  he  laughs 
best  who  laughs  last."  Franklin  was  dis- 
missed with  contumely  on  this  occasion  ; 
but  it  was  his  duty  and  pleasure  not 
many  years  later,  as  United  States 
Ambassador  in  Paris,  to  sign  the  articles 
of  peace  establishing  the  independence 
of  America.  On  that  occasion  he  donned 
the  self-same  suit  of  Manchester  velvet 
which  he  wore  when  before  the  Privy 
Council. 


Prom  a.  photo  by  ]V.  S. 

STAIRCASE  AT   THE   FOBEIGX  OFFICE. 

One  of  the  most  notable  architectural  features  of  the  interior  of  the  noble  pile  of 
buildings  in  which  the  Foreign  Department  is  housed. 


'  Lord  Welby's  address  at  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  London  Topographical  Society. 


568 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


The  demolition  of  the  old  Cockpit  Chambers 
led  indirectly,  if  not  directly,  to  tin-  tiirtli  of  another 
and  e\vn  more  f'iiiiious  Ministerial  centre  Downing 
StriM-t.  It  may  lx>  assumed  that  the  building  o|iera- 
timis,  liv  depriving  Sir  Koln-rt  Wai  pole  oft  lie  suite 
of  rooms  he  had  Ions,'  used,  brought  into  promin- 
ence the  desirability  of  the  establishment  "fa 
]>ermanent  official  residence  for  the  First  Minister 
of  tin-  Crown.  However  that  may  be,  at  or  alniut 
the  time  when  work  upon  the  new  Treasury  offices 
was  commenced,  we  find  George  II.  offering  WaljKile. 

who    with    the  Premiership   filled  the  otti >f  First 

Lord  of  the  Treasury,  the  now  historic  hou-r.  No.  10, 
as  a  personal  gift.  The  property  had  for  some 
vears  previously  been  occupied  by  Baron  Bothmar, 
the  Hanoverian  Minister,  who  had  been  given  a 
life  tenancy  of  it  by  George  I.,  and  whose  death 
about  this  period  permitted  of  this  display  of 
generosity  on  the  part  of  the  King  to  his  chief 
Minister.  Wabble  was  not,  as  a  rule,  indisposed 
to  accept  favours  from  his  Sovereign  without  demur ; 
but  on  this  occasion  he  ahowed  a  proper  appreciation 
of  what  was  due  to  his  position  rather  than  to  his 
person  by  stipulating  that  the  house  should  be  the 
pernrunent  residence  of  the  First  Lord  of  the 
Treasury.  The  King's  assent  to  the  condition  was 
given,  and  so  Downing  Street  became  the  established 
Ministerial  headquarters— the  Mecca  of  aspiring 
politicians,  and  the  Promised  I^ind  of  experienced  statesmanship. 

IV fore  the  political  history  of  this  topographically  insignificant  little  thoroughfare  is  relate,!, 
.-.•me  reference  to  its  earlier  career  appears  to  be  demanded.  Its  name  was  derived  from  Sir 
George  Downing,  a  versatile  American  colonist  who— as  Mr.  Choate,  the  American  Ambassador. 
reminded  a  distinguished  audience  at  the  Lord  Mayor's  Banquet  on  November  9th,  1900— was 
the  first  graduate  sent  out  by  the  Harvard  College  in  104^.  Finding  his  way  to  England, 
Downing  became  a  chaplain  in  Cromwell's  army,  and  so  recommended  himself  to  the  good 
graces  of  the  1'rotector  by  his  worldly  wisdom  as  much  as  by  his  religious  zeal,  that  he  was 
selected  by  him  in  1657  to  fill  the  office  of  Ambassador  at  the  Hague.  "A  sider  with  all 
times  ami  change-."  a-  he  wa<  deseril>ed  by  one  writer,  he  won  the  good  graces  of  the  Hump, 
and  when  the  political  liaroiiieter  threatened  further  change,  he  took  care  to  make  his  peace 
with  Charles  11.,  so  that  when  the  monarch  "came  into  his  own,"  he  confirmed  the  appoint- 
ment originally  made  by  the  Proctector.  This  was  a  triumph  for  Downing'*  diplomacy,  but  it 
was  not  his  only  achievement  in  the  domain  of  his  private  interests.  When  he  returned  to 
Kngland.  as  he  did  soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  new  reign,  he  entered  Parliament, 
and  so  wormed  his  way  into  Koyal  favour  by  his  servile  devotion  to  Court  interests  that  the 
King  heai>ed  substantial  favours  upon  him.  One  of  his  rewards,  and  the  most  important  in 
the  present  connection,  was  the  gift  of  a  valuable  tract  of  land  at  Westminster  on  the  confines 
of  the  Palace  of  Whitehall  for  building  purposes.  A  condition  attached  to  the  grant  was  that 
the  houses  to  be  built  ujion  the  site  should  be  "handsome  and  graceful."  It  was  not  an 
onerous  one  a.-  the  standard  of  architectural  taste-  went  in  those  days,  and  it  was  probably 
deemed  to  have  been  fulfilled  when  Downing  erected  four  plain,  square,  brick  mansions  with 
"back  fronts"  to  St.  James's  Park,  and  "with  a  large  terras  walk  next  to  the  Park,"  to  adopt 
the  language  of  an  advertisement  when  the  property  was  offered  for  sale  in  1722. 


Prom  a  pkota  by  JL  JC.  Durrani  A-  Hoa,  Torquay. 

UK.   J.  8.  SAXDABS, 
Print*  StcnUrj  to  Mr.  Rilfoar  tince  1893. 


s 
I 

i 
i 


a 


o 


The   Ministerial  Annexe  of  the   Palace  of  Westminster      569 


The  "street"  thus  created  by  Downing  underwent  little  change  for  a  good  many  years. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  is  described  as  "  a  pretty  open  place,  especially 
at  the  upper. end,  where  are  four  or  five  very  large  well-built  houses  fit  for  persons  of  honour 
and  quality,  each  house  having  a  pleasant  prospect  into  St.  James's  Park,  with  a  terras  walk." 
Gradually,  however,  other  houses  were  added,  until  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  it 
had  become,  if  not  a  "  mean  street,"  a  street  in  which  shabby  houses  predominated,  the  line 
of  dingy  buildings  being  finished  off  at  the  King  Street  end  by  a  chop-house  known  by  the 
whimsical  title  of  '•  The  Cat  and  Bagpipes."  Many  of  the  residences  -were  lodging-houses,  to 
which,  in  the  course  of  years,  resorted  not  a  few  men  who  have  left  their  mark  on  literature. 
Boswell,  the  biographer  of  Johnson,  was  a  patron  of  one  of  the  establishments,  and  he  records 
in  his  well-known  work  how,  but  for  the  rudeness  of  his  landlord,  he  would  have  entertained 
Johnson,  Goldsmith,  and  other  of  his  literary  friends  at  supper  one  evening  in  July,  1763. 
Smollett  is  another  illustrious  name  associated  with  the  thoroughfare.  He  made  a  desperate 
bid  for  fortune  as  a  surgeon  in  a  house  vacated  by  the  death  of  a  practitioner  named  James 
Douglas  in  1744.  Here  died  on  October  17th,  1776,  the  Abbe  Courayer,  author  of  the 
"Defence  of  the  Validity  of  English  Ordinations,"  the  talented  writer  who  was  described  as 
"the  best  pen  in  France,  the 
most  amiable  and  most  gener- 
ally beloved  in  his  Order — 
Catholique  en  ;/ros,  Protestant 
en  detail."  Gibbon's  name,  too, 
deserves  to  be  remembered  when 
the  literary  memories  of  Down- 
ing Street  are  reviewed.  He 
was  a  frequent  visitor  there,  at 
the  mansion  of  his  patron,  Lord 
Sheffield.  But,  of  course,  it  is 
in  its  political  history  that  this 
obscure  little  alley  off  Whitehall 
finds  its  chief  title  to  fame. 

The  official  record  of  Down- 
ing Street  opens  on  Monday, 
September  22nd,  1735.  On  that 
day,  according  to  the  newspapers 
of  the  time,  Sir  Robert  Walpole 
transferred  himself  and  his  be- 
longings from  his  house  in  St. 
James's  Square  to  the  famous 
No.  10 — entering  into  possession, 
we  may  imagine,  with  a  glow  of 
pride  at  the  thought  that  the 
First  Lord  was  at  last  to  have 
an  official  habitation  suited  to 
his  rank  and  convenience.  He 
found  the  residence  altogether  to 
his  liking,  for  he  occupied  it 
almost  continuously  while  in 
London  during  the  remainder  of 
his  official  life.  The  place  seems 
even  to  have  suited  the  fastidious 
taste  of  Horace  Walpole,  who 
acted  as  his  father's  private 


(•</<;/  artt-c  the  picture  by  J.  P.  Kniyftt,  A.Ii.A. 

NELSON  AND   WELLINGTON, 
In  the  waiting-loom  at  the  Colonial  Office.  September,  1S05. 


72 


570 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


.•!:uv.  We  find  him  waxing  quite  enthusiastic  over  the  advantages  it  off.-red  i':j,fnpos  of 
Sir  IJ.ilx-rt  Wal|M>le's  then  imi>ending  n-t ireinent  from  official  lite.  In  a  Idler  addressed  to  Sir 
Horace  .Mann  on  June  :>0th.  1712.  he  s:iy<:  -I  am  writing  to  you  in  on.-  of  the  charming 
rooms  towards  the  Park  ;  it  is  a  lovely  evening,  and  I  am  willing  to  enjoy  this  sweet  corner 
while  1  mav.  for  we  are  MMUI  to  i|iiit  it.  .Mrs.  Sandys  came  yesterday  to  y;i\v  us  warning  ^ 
I»rd  Wilmington  has  lent  it  to  them.  Sir  Kohert  might  have  had  it  for  his  own  at  fir>t. 
hut  would  only  take  it  as  First  l/>rd  of  the  Treasury.  He  g.»es  into  a  small  house-  of  his 
own  in  Arlington  Street,  ophite  to  where  we  formerly  lived."  The  .Mr-.  Sandys  referred  to 
liv  the  writer  w.i-  the  wife  of  Samuel  Sandys,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  in  the  Kirl  «\ 
Wilmington's  Admini-t  ration.  Some  authorities  mention  Lord  Carteret  as  the  first  occupant 
of  No.  10  after  Sir  Kohert  Walpole's  departure,  hut  the  passage  quoted  seems  to  indicate  that 
this  was  not  the  case.  The  explanation  jwssihly  is  that  the  tenancy  of  Sandys  was  a  purely 
temjmrary  and  domestic  affair,  and  that  Lord  Carteret,  Secretary  of  State  in  the  new  Ad- 
ministration, first  officially  occupied  the  house  in  succession  to  Walpole.  The  latter,  at  all 
events,  was  the  leading  political  personage  in  the  Ministry.  This  is  shown  by  the  well- 
known  lines  of  Charles  II.  \Villiam-.  the 
satirical  versifier,  on  Pulteney's  decay 
of  power  on  his  elevation  to  the  House 
of  Lords : — 

Few  now  aspire  at  your  pood  graces, 
Scarce  any  sue  to  you  for  ]>l.irr>, 

Since  all  mankind  perceive  that  pow'r 

Is  lodged  in  other  hands. 
Sooner  to  Carteret  now  they'll  go, 
Or  ev'n  (though  that's  excessive  low) 
To  Wilmington  and  Sandys. 

Even  if  the  residence  was  for  a  brief 
period  diverted  from  the  specific  use- 
assigned  to  it  under  the  deed  gift  of 
George  II.,  the  arrangement  did  not 
influence  its  historic  destiny.  Pelham. 
on  becoming  Prime  Minister  in  1743r 
went  into  residence  in  Downing  Street. 
and  from  that  time  to  the  present  day, 
with  a  few  notable  exceptions,  the  house 
was  occupied,  as  a  matter  of  course,  by 
the  head  of  a  Ministry  on  his  accession 
to  power. 

The  elder  Pitt  was  never  greatly 
attracted  by  the  charm  of  Downing 
Street.  Though  he  occupied  the  official 
residence  for  a  time,  he  mainly,  when 
in  office,  divided  his  attention  between 
Hayes  and  his  house  in  Bond  SI  reel. 
At  this  period  Downing  Street  does  not 
appear  to  have  come  into  vogue  as  an 

official    address.       Most    of   the    great    statesman's    formal    communications    were    superscribed 
simply    '•Whitehall."       During    I»rd    Bute's     Premiership    the    official    residence  was    put     to 
good  service.     The  Minister  lived  there  in  some  state,  and  used  the  adjacent  Cockpit   Chambers 
for  his  periodical  levees.     Lord  North,  too,  found  the  atmosphere  of  Downing  Street  congenial 
But  it  was  during  the  tenure  of  office  of  the  younger  Pitt   that  the   house,  perhaps,  attained 


from  a  photo  I'll  Jthifi'itittttfi,  Ktlto. 

TIM:  HON.  silt  M-HOMHKH<;  M 
1'cir  many  jean  Private  Secretary  to  the  MarqnU  o 


The   Ministerial   Annexe   of  the  Palace    of  Westminster      571 


LORD  SALISBURY'S  ROOM  AT  THE  FOREIGN  OFFICE. 

Xow  occupied  by  Lord  Lansdowne.    The  apartment  in  which  his  Lordship  usually  received  his  diplomatic  visitors  during  his  long  tenure  of  the 

Foreign  Secretaryship. 

its  highest  distinction.  Unlike  his  father,  Pitt  was  much  drawn  to  the  sedate  house  with 
a  "  back  front "  to  St.  James's  Park.  According  to  his  own  statement,  during  all  his  long 
years  of  power  he  never  slept  away  from  Downing  Street  unless  compelled  to  do  so  by  the 
strongest  reasons.  In  his  time  some  momentous  interviews  must  have  taken  place  in  the 
dingy  rooms  of  No.  10.  In  long  procession  passed  through  the  official  portals  the  men  who 
made  history  in  the  memorable  period  when  Britain,  with  her  back  to  the  wall,  was  fighting 
a  world  in  arms.  Here  came  on  an  eventful  night  Lord  Spencer,  the  then  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty,  to  give  Pitt  the  first  intimation  of  the  mutiny  at  the  Nore,  and  to  receive 
instructions  from  him  as  to  the  action  to  be  taken  in  reference  to  the  disturbing  out- 
break. Even  less  welcome  visitors  were  a  howling  mob  who,  inflamed  with  sensational 
stories  of  the  excesses  of  recruiting  sergeants  engaged  in  strengthening  the  military  forces  to 
meet  the  grave  crisis  in  national  affairs,  tumultuously  assembled  in  Downing  Street  and 
demonstrated  in  a  somewhat  alarming  fashion,  until  they  were  dispersed  by  the  peace  officers. 
Their  invasion  of  the  official  precincts  caused  a  great  sensation,  but  Pitt  himself  appears  to 
have  regarded  the  incident  lightly,  judging  from  a  letter  he  addressed  to  his  mother. 
Lady  Chatham,  in  response  to  her  anxious  inquiries.  •'  I  take  shame  to  myself,"  he  said, 
'•  for  not  reflecting  how  much  a  mob  is  magnified  by  report ;  but  that  which  visited  my 
window  with  a  single  pebble  was  really  so  young  and  so  little  versed  in  its  business  that 
it  hardly  merited  the  notice  of  a  newspaper."  Besides  these  stirring  political  memories  of 
Pitt's  occupation,  details  have  come  down  to  us  of  a  purely  personal  and  domestic  interest 
which  throw  considerable  light  upon  his  household  arrangements.  Careless  of  money 
matters,  his  affairs  during  his  first  Premiership  got  into  a  terrible  state  of  confusion.  His 
intimate  friend,  Kobert  Smith,  whose  good  offices  were  enlisted  to  straighten  out  matters, 
found  a  strange  condition  of  things.  A  butcher's  bill  of  £96  for  one  month's  supply  was 
one  item  which  confronted  the  investigator.  Other  claims  were  on  the  same  grand  scale. 


572 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


I. ..HI)  8ALISBCKYS    KOtOI    AT   THE   PBIVY   SEAL   (UTICi:. 
It  wu  in  tliU  apartment  that  the  late  Premier  spent  the  cloning  day*  of  hU  official  career. 

There  was  waste  and  ruinous  profusion  on  all  hands.  In  his  absorbing  devotion  to  State 
affairs  Pitt  quite  overlooked  the  elementary  obligations  <>f  tin-  head  of  a  household,  with 
the  ]>erhaps  inevitable  result  that  he  was  carried  to  the  brink  of  bankruptcy.  It  is  a 
tribute  to  his  lavish  hospitality  that  to  this  day  one  of  the  principal  chambers  at  No.  10 
is  known  as  ••  I'itt's  dining-room,"  though  a  long  succession  of  Premiers  followed  him  in  the 
occupation  of  the  hoti-e. 

In  the  nineteenth  century  Downing  Street  well  maintained  the  interesting  traditions  built 
up  in  the  years  which  had  followed  the  grant  of  No.  10  to  Walpole.  Consequent  upon  the 
growth  of  official  business,  the  (loverninent  from  time  to  time  purchased  property  in  the  street 
near  the  First  Lord's  residence.  One  of  the  houses  so  acquired  was  No.  12,  which  is  now  the 
official  residence  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  Another  was  No.  14,  a  building  which 
shortly  after  its  acquisition  was  rendered  famous  by  being  the  scene  of  the  only  meeting 
which  ever  took  place  between  Wellington  and  Nelson.  The  episode  was  described  by 
Wellington  in  a  conversation  he  had  with  John  Wilson  Croker.  In  this  the  great  soldier  is 
p-pri-M-nted  as  saying:  "1  only  saw  Nelson  once  in  my  life,  and  perhaps  for  an  hour.  It  \va- 
soon  after  I  returned  from  India.  I  went  to  the  Colonial  Office  in  Downing  Street,  and  there 
I  was  shown  into  a  little  waiting-room  on  the  right  hand,  where  I  found  also  waiting  to  see 
the  Secretary  a  gentleman  who.  from  the  likeness  to  his  picture  and  from  the  loss  of  an 
arm.  I  recognised  a-  I^ord  Nelson.  He  could  not  know  who  I  was.  but  entered  at  once  into 
conversation  with  me.  if  I  can  call  it  conversation,  for  it  was  almost  all  on  his  side,  and  all 
alxmt  himself,  and  in  really  a  style  so  vain  and  so  .-illy  as  to  surprise  and  almost  di«i,rust  me." 
Nelson  >uh>cquently  left  the  room,  and  returning  later,  having  in  the  interim  ascertained 
who  Wellington  wa».  reopened  the  conversation.  His  manner,  says  Wellington,  had  completely 
changed.  "All  that  1  had  thought  a  charlatan  style  had  vanished,  and  In-  talked  of  the  state 
of  tlii<  country  and  of  the-  aspect  and  probabilities  of  affairs  on  the  Continent  with  a  good 
,-ense  and  a  knowledge  of  subjects  both  at  home  and  abroad  that  surpriM-d  me  equally  and 
more  agreeably  than  the  first  jwirt  of  our  interview  had  done;  in  fact,  he  talked  like  an  officer 
and  a  state-man." 


The   Ministerial  Annexe  of  the   Palace  of  Westminster      573 

Another  singular  reminiscence  preserved  of  the  Downing  Street  of  this  period  relates  to 
an  unexpected  meeting  between  two  other  historical  characters.  Pichegru  and  his  companions 
had  met  in  one  of  the  offices  to  consult  a  high  official  under  the  Duke  of  Portland.  As  they 
entered,  a  man  sitting  in  a  corner  darted  forward  and  exclaimed,  ';  You  are  saved  !  Then  all 
my  misfortunes  are  forgotten."  Startled  at  the  apparently  strange  conduct  of  the  individual, 
Pichegru  drew  back.  But  he  soon  afterwards  recognised  in  the  emaciated  figure  which  con- 
fronted him.  his  chivalrous  friend,  Tilly,  the  American  sea-captain,  by  whose  aid  he  and  his 
companions  had  escaped  from  the  fortress  of  Surinam. 

Changes  made  in  Downing  Street  by  the  substitution  for  the  congeries  of  shabby 
tenements  which  during  more  than  a  century  served  for  the  discharge  of  the  nation's  business, 
of  stately  blocks  of  Government  buildings,  led  to  the  gradual  extinction  of  all  interests  save 
those  of  high  officialdom,  until  No.  10  and  Nos.  11  and  12,  Downing  Street,  were  left  in 
the  position  of  splendid  isolation  in  which  we  now  see  them.  Before  this  stage  in  the 
history  of  the  street  was  reached,  the  intermingling  of  officialdom  and  trade  was  productive 
of  some  curious  incidents,  according  to  Sir  Edward  Hertslet,  whose  volume  of  reminiscences 
was  recently  published.  It  seems  that  the  building  which  served  as  a  Foreign  Office  over- 
looked a  millinery  establishment  in  which  a  number  of  young  ladies  were  employed.  The 
youngest  clerks  in  the  department,  who  were  relegated  to  one  of  the  upper  floors, 
finding  time  hang  somewhat  heavily  on  their  hands,  amused  themselves  on  bright  summer 
days  in  manipulating  a  mirror  and  flashing  the  bright  rays  of  the  sun  upon  the  faces 
of  the  workers  in  the  opposite  building.  A  complaint  was  lodged  by  the  proprietor  with 
the  permanent  head  of  the  department,  and  the  matter  was  brought  to  the  notice  of 
Lord  Palmerston,  who  was  then  Foreign  Minister.  Palmerston  dealt  with  the  incident  in 
characteristic  fashion.  Upon  the  margin  of  the  letter  of  complaint  he  wrote:  "Who  are 
the  unmannerly  youths  who  have  been  casting  reflections  on  young  ladies  opposite?"  The 
good-humoured  endorsement  had  its  effect.  From  that  time  forward  the  industrious  milliners 


th.io  by  W.  S.  CamplK.ll. 

1100M   AT    THE    FOREIGN  OFFICE   WHERE   THE  CABINET  COUNCILS  ARE    HELD. 

Most  of  the  Cabinet  Councils  of  recent  years  have  been  held  in  tl.is  abutment. 


574 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


from  apkvto  ly  Auyntliti  Kti> 

Mi.    In.    |in\VXlX<:    STItKKT  :   TIIK    1MUVATK   SKCUKTAHY'S   BOOM. 
Mr,  GUcUb'ne  when  Premier  used  this  apartment  as  bis  workroom. 

plied  their  avocations  free  from  the  embarrassing  attentions  of  the  idle  official  apprentices 
across  the  way. 

No.  10,  Downing  Street,  in  the  past  century  has  been  in  almost  continuous  occupation  by 
the.  First  I»rd  of  the  Treasury  of  the  day.  The  periods  during  which  its  tenant  was  other 
than  the  holder  of  the  great  office  were  comparatively  brief.  Even  when — as  in  the  case  of 
the  late  Mr.  W.  H.  Smith — the  residence  was  not  actually  occupied  as  a  home,  it  was  utilised 
for  official  purposes,  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  at  least  enjoyed  all  the  prestige  which 
attached  to  it  under  more  favoured  auspices.  Perhaps  the  most  devoted  of  the  modern 
occupants  of  the  house  was  Lord  Beaconsfield.  The  great  statesman,  calm  and  imperturbable 
a>  lie  was  in  public  life,  had  his  sentimental  side,  and  one  of  his  weaknesses — if  such  it  may 
be  called — was  an  inordinate  love  for  the  traditional  in  all  that  concerned  the  high  office  to 
which  he  had  climbed,  lie  felt  peculiar  pride  in  occupying  tin-  same  rooms  in  which  had 
mused  and  planned  and  contrived  a  long  succession  of  the  nation's  greatest  men.  Immersed 
though  In-  was  in  public  affairs  at  the  time  he  entered  into  possession,  he  yet  found  the 
opportunity  to  carry  through  a  most  elaborate  scheme  of  decoration  at  a  cost  of  between  two  and 
three  thousand  pounds.  With  excellent  taste  he  had  the  principal  rooms  renovated  in  the  style 
of  the  early  (ieorgian  period — a  delicate  compliment  to  the  Koval  donor  of  the  house  and  its 
first  official  occupier  which  would  have  warmed  even  the  cold  heart  of  Horace  Walpole  had  he 
lived  to  take  note  of  it. 

1-ord  Beacotisfield's  great  political  rival,  Mr.  Gladstone,  though  perhaps  less  sentimentally 
attached  to  the  old  house,  was  very  much  at  home  there.  Its  situation  accorded  well 
with  his  restless  activity  both  of  body  and  mind.  A  great  worker  at  all  times,  he  found 


The   Ministerial  Annexe   of  the   Palace  of  Westminster      575 

it  possible  here  to  get  through  a  maximum  of  business  in  a  minimum  period  of  time. 
A  great  walker  in  all  seasons,  he  liked  the  convenience  which  the  house  afforded  for 
the  solitary  rambles  which  he  conducted  to  the  end  of  his  official  life  as  an  agreeable 
recreation  after  the  tumult  of  the  Legislative  Chamber,  or  the  arduous  toil  of  the  bureau. 
His  habit  of  unrestrained  movement  was  a  source  of  some  anxiety  in  the  height  of  the 
Land  War  in  Ireland,  when  assassination  and  outrage  "  stalked  abroad,"  not  only  in  Ireland, 
but  in  England.  Detectives  were  then  posted  about  Downing  Street  to  protect  the  aged 
statesman  from  attack.  The  close  supervision  maintained  over  his  outgoings  and  his  incomings 
proved  highly  irksome  to  the  right  honourable  gentleman,  and  the  story  goes  that  to  circumvent 
his  guardians  he  was  in  the  habit  of  slipping  out  by  the  back  door  into  St.  James's  Park, 
leaving  his  ordinary  hat  hanging  in  the  hall  to  give  the  impression  that  he  was  still  at  home. 
The  device  answered  for  a  time,  at  all  events,  and  no  untoward  circumstances  attended  the 
unaccompanied  walks.  But  it  was  with  a  feeling  of  considerable  relief  that  the  police 
authorities  were  finally  enabled  by  the  improved  state  of  affairs  to  abandon  their  duty  of 
watching  over  their  illustrious  but  wayward  charge. 

Since  this  stormy  period  No.  10  has  had  its  share  in  the  making  of  history.  In 
the  most  recent  times  Cabinet  meetings  have  been  held  more  frequently  at  the  Foreign  Office 
than  at  the  First  Lord's  residence.  But  it  has,  nevertheless,  been  at  intervals  the  centre  of 
great  political  activity  and  excitement.  One  of  the  few  episodes  of  a  tragic  character 
associated  with  its  official  existence  occurred  On  January  12th,  1887.  On  that  day  the  Earl  of 
Iddesleigh,  who,  as  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  led  the  House  of  Commons  with  conspicuous  ability 
for  many  years,  called  to  see  the  then  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury.  He  was  waiting  in  one  of 
the  ante-rooms  on  the  first  floor  when  he  was  seized  with  illness,  and  almost  immediately 


From  a  photo  by  Augitstin  Itischffitz. 

NO.    10,    DOWNING   STREET  :   THE   COUNCIL  CHAMBER. 
Cabinet  Councils  were  formerly  held  here.     It  is  now  used  by  Mr.  Balfour  for  performing  his  official  work. 


576 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


expinil.  It  inav  lx-  n.,t,-(l  in  iia—ing  that  the  melancholy  incident  finds  two  rather  clo>e 
|>arallels  in  ]M>)itical  lii>tnrv.  It  xva-  I"  a  hou-e  in  l>o\\ning  Street  that  the  girat  Karl  of 
Chatham  was  taken  after  his  fatal  sei/nre  in  the  House  of  Lmls.  To  his  resilience  in 
\Vlnt--hall  (iarden>.  on  the  op|M..-ite  side  of  Whitehall.  Sir  li  ihert  I 'eel  was  conveyed  on 
.linn-  2!>th.  1HJO.  after  his  fatal  fall  from  his  horse  on  Constitution  Hill,  and  there  he  died 
on  .Inly  2nd  follow  in-,'. 

l."id  Salisburv.  almost  alone  amongst  the  great  Prune  Ministers,  never  set  foot  in 
in.  I  (owning  Street,  a.s  a  tenant.  lli~  lordship's  family  house  in  Arlington  Street,  it  is  to  be 
toppoted,  was  too  OOOvenienl  and  comfortable  to  lie  relinquished  lightly  for  the  official  residence, 
with  its  glare  of  publicity,  and  its  manifold  disadvantages  to  one  of  the  Mudious  brut  of  mind 
anil  retiring  di-po-iiion  of  the  ex-1'remier.  L>rd  Salisbury's  work  and  interests  centred  during 
the  years  of  his  Premiership  almost  exclusively  in  the  Foreign  Office.  In  the  -.lately  precincts 
of  that  splendid  building  he  had  his  official  workshop.  There  he  held  his  weekly  diplomatic 
receptions,  and  received  such  callers  as  had  legitimate  claims  upon  his  attention.  There  he 
dis]H-iised  at  regular  intervals  magnificent  hospitality  to  the  great  world  of  politics  and  diplomacy. 
Lite  in  his  career  as  Premier,  when  he  exchanged  the  office  of  Foreign  .Minister  for  that  of 
I/ml  Privy  Seal,  he  found,  with  his  devoted  private  secretary,  the  Hon.  Sir  Sehomherg 
McDonnell,  (fating  the  remainder  of  his  active  public  career,  an  official  home  in  the  Pi  ivy  Seal 
Office.  When  the  full  historv  of  the  later  nineteenth  cent  ury  comes  to  be  written.it  will  have 
much  to  tell  of  the  important  and  possibly  stirring  events  which  have  taken  place  in  the  rooms 
which  are  identified  with  his  Premiership.  Meanwhile,  we  must  rest  content  with  the  faithful 
record  which  the  photographer  gives  of  the  rooms  as  they  were  during  Lord  Salisbury's 
occupation. 

liefore  the  official  quarter  is  quitted,  something  may  appropriately  be  said  about  the 
internal  arrangements  of  the  historic  No.  10,  for  there  are  few  houses  in  London  to  which 
notable  traditions  attach  which  ha\e  been  so  little  visited  by  the  ordinary  public.  Outwardly 

the  aspect  of  the  house  rather  repels  than 
invites  curiosity,  and  it  must  lie  confessed 
that  closer  acquaintance  with  it  does  not 
remove  the  impression  that  the  place  i- 
not  quite  what  might  be  expected  of  the 
official  residence  of  the  executive  head  of 
the  greatest  Empire  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
It  is  just  a  plain  town  house  of  an  old- 
fashioned  type,  with  appointments  which  for 
the  most  part  are  distinctly  inferior  to  those 
of  the  majority  of  residences  of  fairly  well- 
to-do  people.  What  there  is  of  exceptional 
charm  or  interest  in  a  decorative  sense  in 
the  appointments  is  due  to  the  excellent 
taste  of  .Mr.  Hal  four,  the  Premier,  the  present 
occupant,  who  has  surrounded  himself,  as 
far  as  the  arrangements  of  the  house  allow, 
with  works  and  objects  of  art  of  special 
attractiveness  and  value. 

On  the  ground  floor  are  the  secretarial 
apartments  plainly  furnished  rooms  whose 
appearance  eloquently  testifies  to  the 
practical  uses  to  which  they  are  put.  Ad- 
joining them  i»  perhaps  the  inoM  famous 

CAPTAIN-  T.  n.  BUTLER  apartment     in    any     private    house    in    the 

Yeoman  c.hw  of  the  DIM*  Roj,  HOOK  of  Lord*.  Kinpire — the     Council    Chamber,    in    which 


The   Ministerial  Annexe  of  the   Palace  of  Westminster     577 

successive  Cabinets  have  met  since  185G,  and  in  which  some  of  the  most  momentous  Ministerial 
decisions  in  English  history  have  been  come  to.  Apart  from  the  double  locks,  double  doors, 
and  double  windows  with  which  the  room  is  equipped,  there  is  little  in  it  to  suggest  its 
remarkable  record.  The  ceiling,  a  somewhat  lofty  one,  is  supported  on  classic  columns,  and  the 
walls  are  occupied  with  book-cases  and  a  few  pictures  of  no  great  merit.  The  window  affords 
a,  pleasant  outlook  on  St.  James's  Park.  Immediately  below  it  is  a  terrace- — the  "terras"  of 
the  advertisement — upon  which,  during  protracted  sittings  of  the  Cabinet,  Ministers  have  on 


From  a  photo  by  A  ur/iiitthi  Itisclrgitz. 

NO.   10,   DOWNING   STHEET  :   THE   "  PITT "   DINING-ROOM, 
Named  after  the  celebrated  statesman.     Here  the  Ministerial  full-dress  dinner?,  which  precede  the  opening  of  Parliament,  are  held. 

occasions  aired  themselves,  to  the  edification  of  a  curious  political  crowd  down  below  on  the 
public  roadway.  At  present  the  apartment  serves  the  purposes  of  a  workroom  for  Mr.  Balfour, 
and  it  is  furnished  simply  and  plainly,  neither  better  nor  worse  than  the  office  of  any  successful 
business  man.  A  writing-table  naturally  occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the  room,  but  it  is  not 
much  used  by  the  Premier.  He  prefers  to  do  his  writing  standing,  and  his  chief  work-place 
is  a  high  desk  placed  near  the  window  so  as  to  have  the  full  benefit  of  the  light.  Looking 
around  this  unassuming  chamber,  the  visitor  finds  it  difficult  to  believe  that  it  is  actually  what 
it  is — the  Holy  of  Holies  of  British  statesmanship. 

A  more  impressive  note  is  struck  when  the  next  floor  is  reached,  and  the  intruder  steps 
into  the  principal  drawing-room,  which  is  situated  immediately  above  the  Council  Chamber. 
It  is  here  that  Lord  Beaconsfield  found  the  greatest  scope  for  his  zeal  for  renovation.  The 
general  scheme  of  colour  is  cream  and  gold.  The  embellishments  are  most  elaborate  and,  on 
the  whole,  highly  effective.  On  the  walls  are  many  portraits  of  former  First  Lords  of  the 
Treasury,  the  oldest  picture  being  a  work  dated  1633  by  an  unknown  artist  representing,  it 
is  believed,  Lord  Portland.  Amongst  the  modern  works  are  portraits  of  Lord  Beaconsfield, 
Mr.  Gladstone,  and  Lord  Kosebery.  Next  to  this  handsome  room  is  a  smaller  apartment  used 
also  for  reception  purposes.  A  white  marble  mantelpiece  of  fine  design  and  a  beautiful  old  mirror 
compete  with  a  number  of  pictures  from  Mr.  Balfour's  collection  for  the  attention  of  the 

73 


578 


Parliament    Past    and    Present 


visitor  n«  he  jmsses  through  on  his  way  to  the  morning-room.  This  is  the  Premier's  favourite 
a]>artiii'-iit.  It  commands  n  lieautiful  pro>pect  over  St.  .lames's  Park,  and  pos>il>ly  may  have 
been  the  Helf-same  room  in  which  Horace  Wai  pole  wrote  so  enthusiastically  of  No.  10  on 
tlmt  beautiful  summer  evening  in  1742.  Another  fine  apartment  is  that  known  a~  -Pitt's 
dining-room " — so  called  because  the  chamber  was  built  during  the  great  statesman's 
Premiership.  On  the  walls  hang  several  of  Sir  Edward  Burne-Jone-'s  pictures — including  his 
last  work — which  were  brought  to  Ilowning  Street  by  -Mr.  Balfour.  Next  to  the  Council 
Chamber,  this  room  lias  the  greatest  associations  of  any  in  the  house.  Here  for  many  year-. 
with  occasional  interruptions,  the  Mini.-terial  full-dress  dinners  which  precede  the  owning  of 
Parliament  have  Ix-en  lield,  and  quc.-tions  of  jK)licy  confidentially  discussed  over  the  reading  of 

the   Koval  s]>eech  to  IH>  submitted  to  the  two  Houses  on  the  morrow.     In  ti s  when   political 

feeling  ran  high,  the  gatherings  mn>t  have  been  full  of  interest.  On  all  occasions,  having 
regard  to  the  elements  brought  together  and  the  strictly  confidential  diameter  of  the  proceed- 
ings, the  dinners  could  not  fail  to  produce  incidents  of  more  than  ]»issing  note.  Below  this, 
dining-room  is  "Pitt's  kitchen,"  a  chamber  conceived  on  a  scale  which  might  be  imagined 
from  the  magnificence  of  the  statesman's  tradesmen's  bills.  A  number  of  smaller  apartments. 
chieflv  devoted  to  official  puqioses,  and  suites  of  bedrooms  complete  the  establishment. 

The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer's  official  residence  does  not  present  the  same  points  of 
interest  (Hissessed  bv  its  neighbours.  Nevertheless,  it  has  a  history  which  is  worth  recounting. 
Acquired  early  in  the  last  century  for  office  purposes,  it  became  in  time  to  be  regarded  as  an 
apjwinage  of  the  Finance  Minister's  office.  .Mr.  (Jladst  one,  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  lived 
in  it  in  1854.  and  again  for  some  time  previous  to  1866.  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  (I^ord  Iddes- 
leigh).  when  Chancellor,  was  a  tenant  from  1874  to  1880.  Subsequently  for  a  time  two  of 
Mr.  Ulad-tone's  private  secretaries  were  permitted  to  reside  in  the  house.  Sir  Michael  Hicks- 
Keach  was  an  occupant  both  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  and  President  of  the  Hoard  of 
Trade,  and  Sir  William  Hareourt  was  in  residence  from  1892  to  1895.  In  recent  times  the 
building  has  been  a  good  deal  altered,  notably  in  1879-80,  when  a  large  room  for  official 
banquets  and  deputations  was  added. 

Occupying,  as  the  official  residences  do,  a  valuable  site  in  the  heart  of  the  official  quarter. 
acting  as  a  slender  wedge  of  drab  brickwork  in  the  centre  of  a  block  of  massive  masonry,  they 
will  most  probablv,  before  many  years  have  elapsed,  give  place  to  structures  more  ornate  and 
better  adapted  to  the  purposes  to  which  they  are  put.  But  whether  they  disappear  or  not, 
Downing  Street  is  a  name  which  will  live  in  the  annals  of  statesmanship  and  of  diplomacy. 

»  o  «  *  »  • 

CONCLUSION. 

Here  we  must  bring  our  long  survey  to  a  close.  There  are  many  jwints  connected  with 
the  work  of  Parliament  which  might  still  be  touched  upon  and  byways  of  political  life  which 
could  yet  be  explored  with  interest  and  profit.  But,  tempting  as  the  inducements  are  to 
wander  into  fresh  fields,  the  limits  of  space  imposed  inexorably  call  a  halt.  Inadequate,  how- 
ever, as  the  work  necessarily  is  in  many  respects,  having  regard  to  the  immensity  of  the 
theme,  probably  sufficient  has  been  written  to  induce  the  general  reader  to  make  closer 
acquaintance  with  the  remarkable  history  of  the  Palace  of  Westminster,  and  with  the  moving 
record  of  the  Mother  of  Parliaments  which  has  had  its  home  there.  If  this  end  is  accom- 
plished, the  labours  of  the  authors  will  not  have  been  entirely  in  vain. 


APPENDIX. 


PARLIAMENTS    OF    ENGLAND. 


15  John    . 

.       1213 

10  Edward  III. 

.       1336 

20  Richard  II.  . 

10  Henry  III.  . 

.       1226 

10                       .         . 

.     1336-7 

21 

38                      . 

1254 

11                        •         • 

.     1336-7 

23 

45 

.       1261 

11                        .         . 

1337 

1  Henry  IV.  . 

49                        - 

.     1264-5 

12                       .         . 

.     1337-8 

2 

3  Edward  I.   . 

.       1275 

12                        .         . 

.       1338 

3 

11                      • 

.     1282-3 

12  and  13  Edward  III. 

.     1338-9 

3 

11                      •        • 

1283 

13  Edward  III. 

.       1339 

5             , 

18                         .         . 

1290 

13          „           .        . 

.    1339-40 

0 

22                        .         . 

1294 

14                        .         . 

.       1340 

7 

23                        .         . 

.       1295 

14           „            .      '  . 

.       1340 

9 

24                        .         . 

.       1296 

15           „            .         . 

.       1341 

11 

25           ,             .         . 

.       1297 

16            ,            .         . 

1342 

13 

26                        . 

1298 

17 

.       1343 

14 

28                        .         . 

.  1299-1300 

18 

.       1344 

1  Henry  V.     . 

28                        .         . 

.       1300 

20            ,            . 

.       1346 

2 

29                       .         . 

.     1300-1 

21            ,            .         . 

.     1347-8 

2 

30                        .         . 

1302 

22 

.       1348 

3 

33 

1204  5 

22 

1348-9 

3 

34           ,             .         . 

.       1306 

25                        .         . 

.     1350-1 

4 

35                        . 

.     1306-7 

25 

.     1351-2 

5             ,        '    . 

1  Edward  II.  . 

.       1307 

26                       .         . 

.       1352 

7 

1          „           .    -     .    ' 

.     1307-8 

27                        .         . 

.       1353 

8 

2           „            ... 

.       1309 

28                        . 

.       1354 

9 

5           „            .         . 

.       1311 

29                       .         . 

1355 

9 

5           „            .        . 

.       1311 

31                        .         . 

.       1*37 

1  Henry  VI.   . 

.         . 

.    1311-12 

32                        .         . 

.     1357-8 

2 

6          „           .        . 

.       1312 

34                       .         . 

.       1360 

3     ;;     : 

6          ,            .        . 

.    1312  13 

34                       .         . 

.     1360-1 

4 

7 

.       1313 

36                      .        . 

1362 

6 

7          „           .        . 

.       1313 

37                      .        . 

1363 

8 

7          .,           .        . 

.       1314 

38                      .        . 

.     1364-5 

9 

8           „            .         . 

.       1314 

40                        .         . 

.       1366 

10 

8           „            .         . 

.    1314  15 

42           „             .         . 

.       1368 

11 

»           „            •         • 

.    1315-16 

43           „ 

.       1369 

14 

9 

1316 

45                         .         . 

.     1370-1 

15 

10                       . 

.       1316 

45 

1371 

18 

11                        •         • 

1318 

46                        .         . 

.       1372 

20           „ 

12                        .         . 

.       1318 

47                        .         . 

.       1373 

23 

12                        .         . 

.       1319 

50                       .         . 

.     1375-6 

25 

14                        .         . 

1320 

51                        • 

.     1376-7 

27 

15 

1321 

1  Richard  II.  . 

.       1377 

28 

15           „            .         . 

1322 

2           „            .         .    • 

.       1378 

29 

16                        .         . 

.       1322 

2           „            .         . 

.       1379 

31 

17                        .         . 

.     1323-4 

3           „            .         . 

.    1379-80 

33 

18                        .         . 

1324 

4           „            .         . 

1380 

38           , 

19           „            •        > 

1325 

5                         .         . 

1381 

39 

20           „ 

.     1326-7 

5 

.       1382 

1  Edward  IV. 

1  Edward  III. 

1327 

6           „            .         . 

1382 

3          „ 

2          „           .        . 

.     1327-8 

6                       ,         - 

.     1382-3 

7 

2           „            .         . 

.       1328 

7          „           .        . 

.       1383 

9 

2 

.       1328 

7 

.       1384 

10 

2  and  3  Edward  III. 

.     1328-9 

8 

1384 

12        .    „ 

4  Edward  III. 

.    1329-30 

9           .,            .         . 

1385 

17 

4          „           .        . 

.       1330 

10                       .         . 

1386 

22 

.        . 

.       1331 

11                        •         • 

.     1387-8 

1  Richard  III. 

5                         . 

.       1331 

12           „            .         . 

.       1388 

1  Henry  VII. 

6           „            .         . 

.     1331-2 

13           „            -         - 

.    1389-90 

3 

6           „            .         . 

.       1332 

14                         .         . 

.       1390 

7 

6 

.       1332 

15 

.       1391 

11 

8 

.     1333-4 

16             .,              ;           . 

1392 

12 

8 

.       1334 

16                             .           . 

.     1392-3 

1  Henry  VIII. 

9 

.       1335 

17          .,           .    .     . 

.     1393-4 

3 

10                       . 

.     1335-6 

18                       .         . 

.     1394-5 

6 

1396-7 
1397-8 

1399 

1399 
1400-1 
1401-2 

1402 

1403 

1404 
1405-6 

1407 
1409-10 

1411 
1412-13 

1413 
1413-14 

1414 

1415 
1415-16 

1416 

1417 

1419 

1420 

1421 

1421 

1422 

1423 

1425 
1425-6 

1427 

1429 
1430-1 

1432 

1433 

1435 
1436-7 

1439 
1441-2 
1444-5 
1446-7 
1448-9 

1449 

1450 
1452-3 

1455 

1459 

1460 

1461 
1462-3 

1467 

1469 

1470 

1472 
1477-8 
1482-3 
1483-4 

1485 

1487 

1491 

1495 
1496-7 
1509-10 
1511-12 
1514-15 


579 


58o 


Appendix 

PARLIAMENTS  OF  ENGLAND-c«»'""«v/. 


U  Henry  VIII. 

- 

31 
33 
37 

1  Kdwanl  VI. 

!  Mary'  .        '. 

I  ami  2  Philip 
i  and  3 

4  and  5 

1  Klixalwth 

5  "    v 
H  , 
27 

-- 


and  Mary 


1523 

3<>  and  31   Kli/aMh 

1529 

:(.'.  Kli/alx'th    . 

1536 

3ji 

1MB 

•13 

.     1541   2 

1  James  I. 

.        1515 

12                     .        . 

.        1517 

is                      . 

.      1552   3 

21 

.       1553 

1  Charles  I.    . 

.       1554 

1 

Y        I.V.I 

3            „             .          . 

1666 

16                      .        . 

1667-8 

16  Charles  I.  (Long 

1558-9 

liament)  . 

1502  3 

Interregnum    . 

1572 

ii 

1584 

ii          •        • 

1586 

1'ar 


l.v- 
150:!  3 
ir-i  17 
1001 

1603-4 

1014 

n;20-i 

1023-4 

Interregnum    . 

l2CharTes  11.  .' 
13  Charles  II.  (Tin-  Ix>ng 
or  Pensionary   1'ar- 
liaineiit)    . 
31  Charles  11.  . 
31 

1668  :• 
L668 

1660 

iaei 

io7;i 

IflU 

1025-6 

1027-8 
1640 

1640 
1653 
1654 
1656 

:w        „         ... 
1  James  II.     . 

Convention 
•1  William  anil  .Mary 
7  William  111. 
1"           
«          „                     .         . 
13          
1  Anne    .... 

I.NH  i 
1686 

His-   !Hi 
lOVI   !M' 

li  in:, 
1696 
Kim  1 
1701 
1709 

PARLIAMENTS    OF    GREAT    BRITAIN. 


I  Anne   . 

7       ... 

.       17u.-, 
.       1708 
.       1710 

1  George  11. 
8 
15 

. 
IS     „     . 

.       1713 

21 

1  (;e«.rge  I.     . 
8 

.   1711  K. 
.       17-':! 

27 
1  George  III. 

1727 
1734 
1741 
1747 
1754 
1761 


8  George  III. 
!•• 
21 
24 

30          „ 
36 


1768 

1771 
1780 

17s  I 
1790 
1796 


PARLIAMENTS    OF    THE    UNITED    KINGDOM. 


41  George  III. 

•I-' 
41; 

47 
.-.3 
68 
1  George  IV. 

1  William  IV 

1 


1801 
1802 

IHtHi 


1818 
1820 
1886 

is:wi 


3  William  IV. 

5 

1  \  ictona 

••' 
11 
16 
20 
-'-' 
28 


1833 
1815 


1841 
1847 
1852 
1857 
1859 
1865 


32  Victoria 
37 
43 
49 
50 
66 
59 
64 
1  Ed  ward  VII. 


]sr;s 
1874 
1880 
1885 
1886 
1889 
1896 
1900 
1901 


PARLIAMENTS    AND    CONVENTIONS    OF    THE    ESTATES    OF 

SCOTLAND. 


David  II.         .        . 

1357-67 
1434  5 

.l.uii'  -  II. 

James  111. 

.l.ilii.-  V.  . 
M.,i> 
James  VI. 
40  Jinn.'-  VI.    . 
50 
.        . 

1  |ss"|.-(',!i 
1513    Id 

1507    I0o;» 
1012 
1017 
1017 

54  James  VI.  . 

54  and  55  James  VI. 

1  ( 'harles  I.   . 

4-9 

6          .,  ... 

15-17  Charles  I.       . 

20  22  "  '.          ! 

23  Charles  I.— 3  Charles 

II 

12-15  Charles  II. 


1021 

17  Charles  1  1.  . 

f 

1025 

18          ,,           .        . 
21-28  Charles  II.     . 

102S-33 

30 

1630 

33 

1639  41 

1  and  2  James 

VII. 

1013    1 

1  William  and 

Mary 

1011   7 

1   5 

7  13  William 

10  is  :,1 

1  Anne    . 

1001-3 

2-6  Anne 

. 

Ki(i7 
ICIiil   71 
.        167s 
.       1681 
.    lea",  i; 

1689 

1689-1702 


PARLIAMENTS    HELD    IN    IRELAND. 


l.vvi  .Ian.  12        t 
1568     „     17 
\|iril  -2<; 
Hil3  May  1- 
K;:»I  July  14 
I  •;:•,:»  Man-h  16 
IWI  May  8 

o    1.  -,:,!»  Feb.  1 
1571  April  :!.•> 
1686   Mav  14 
1015   Oct.  -1\ 
1035  April  is 
10  is  Jan.  30 
1000  Augusts 

10!!:!   Oct.  5  to 

10!»5  August  27  „ 

I7K3    Sept.  -21  „ 
1713   Nov.  •>:, 

1715       „      12  „ 
28 


10!I3  June  20 
10!!!!       „      14 

1713  May  6 

1714  August  1 
1727  June  11 
1760  Oct.  25 


1701  Oct.  22 
1769  „  17 
1776  June  18 
1783  Oct.  14 
Hay  21  p 
1798  Jan.  9 


to 


I7os  May  28 
1776  April  5 
I7s:i  July  25 
1790  April  8 
1797  July  11 
1800 


Appendix 


581 


LORD  CHANCELLORS  AND  KEEPERS  OF  THE  GREAT  SEAL. 


The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Lord  High 
of  England  :  — 

1067.  Maurice,  Bishop  of  London. 

1068.  Herfast,    afterwards    Bishop    of    Elm- 

hain. 

1070.  Osbern.  Bishop  of  Exeter. 

1073.  Osmund,  Bishop  of  Salisbury. 

1078.  Maurice,  Bishop  of  London. 

1083.  William  de  Beaufeau,  Bishop  of  Thet- 

fort. 

1086.  William  Gifford. 

1090.  Robert  Bloet, 

1093.  Waldric. 

1094.  William  Giffard,  Bishop  of  Winchester. 
1101.  Roger,  Bishop  of  Salisbury. 

1103.  William  Giffard. 

1104.  Waldric. 
1107.  Ranulf. 

1124.  Geoffrey  Rufus. 

1135.  Roger  of  Salisbury. 

1139.  Philip. 

1 142.  Theobald,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

1154.  Thomas  a  Beeket. 

1173.  Ralph  de  Warneville. 

1182.  Geoffrey  Plantagenet,  Archbishop  of 
York. 

1 1 89.  William  de  Longchamp. 

1197.  Eustace,  Bishop  of  Ely. 

1199.  Hubert  Walter,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. 

1205.  Walter  de  Grey,  Archbishop  of  York. 

1213.  Peter  des  Roches,  Bishop  of  Winchester. 

1214.  Walter  de  Grey. 

„  Richard  de  Marisco. 

1226.  Ralph  Neville. 

1238.  Simon  de  Cantilupe. 

1240.  Richard,  Abbot  of  Evesham. 

1242.  Silvester  of  Eversden. 

1246.  John  Mansel. 

1250.  William  de  Kilkenny. 

1255.  Henry  Wingham,  Bishop  of  London. 

1258.  Walter  de  Merton,  Bishop  of  Rochester. 

1260.  Nicholas  of  Ely. 

1261.  Walter  de  Merton. 
1263.  Nicholas  of  Ely. 

1265.  Thomas  de  Cantilupe. 
„  Walter  Gifford. 

1266.  Godfrey  Gifford. 
1268.  John  Chishull. 


Chancellors  and  Lord  Keepers  of  the  Great  Seal 

1269.  Richard  Middleton. 

1272.  John  Kirkeby. 

„  Walter  de  Merton. 

1273.  Robert  Burnell. 
1292.  John  Langton. 
1302.  William  Greenfield. 
1304.  William  Hamilton. 
1307.  Ralph  de  Baldock. 

„  John   Langton. 

1310.  Walter  Reynolds,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester. 

1314.  John  Sandall. 

1318.  John  Hotham,  Bishop  of  Ely. 

1320.  John  Salmon,  Bishop  of  Norwich. 

1323.  Robert  de  Baldock. 

1327.  John  Hotham. 

„  Henry  de  Clyff.       .  • 

„  Henry  de  Burghersh,  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 

1330.  John  Stratford,  Bishop  of  Winchester. 

1334.  Richard  Bury,  Bishop  of  Durham. 

1335.  John  Stratford,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 

bury. 

1337.  Robert  Stratford. 

1338.  Richard      Bynterworth,       Bishop       of 

London. 

1340.  Archbishop  Stratford. 

„  Robert  Stratford,  Bishop  of  Chichester. 

„  William  Kildesby. 

„  Sir  Robert  Bourchier. 

1341.  Sir  Robert  Parnyng. 
1343.  Robert  Sadyngton. 
1345.  John  Utford. 

1349.  John  Thoresby,   Bishop  of  St.  Davids. 

1356.  William  Edington,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester. 

1363.  Simon  Langham,  Bishop  of  Ely. 

1367.  William  of  Wykeham,  Bishop  of 
Winchester. 

1371.  Sir  Robert  Thorpe. 

1372.  Sir  Richard  Scrope. 
„  Sir  John  Knyvett. 

1377.  Adam  Houghton,  Bishop  of  St.  Davids. 

1378.  Sir  R.  Scrope. 

1379.  Simon     of    Sudbury,    Archbishop     of 

Canterbury. 

1381.  Richard,  Earl  Arundel. 

1382.  Robert  Braybrook,  Bishop  of  London. 


582 

1383. 
1386. 

L8M 
1391. 
1396. 
L8M 

HOI. 
1403. 
1405. 
1407. 
1410. 
1412. 
1413. 

1417. 
1422. 
1424. 
1426. 
1432. 

1450. 
1454. 
1455. 

145C. 
1460. 

1463. 
1467. 

1473. 
1475. 
1483. 
1485. 

1487. 
1500. 
1504. 

1525. 
1529. 
1532. 
1544. 
1547. 
1551. 
1553. 

1556. 
1558. 


Appendix 


Sir  Michael  de  la  Pole. 

Thomas      Arundel,      Archbishop       of 

Canterbury. 
William  of  Wykeham. 
Archbishop  Anindel. 
1-M  mum  I  Stafford,  Bishop  of  Exeter. 
Archbishop  Annul. -1. 
John  Searle. 
Kilimiiiil   Stafford. 

Henry  Beaufort,  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 
Thomas  Jjingley,  Bishop  of  Durham. 
Thomas  Anindel. 
Thomas  Beaufort,  Earl  of  Dorset. 
Archbishop  Arundel. 
Henry      Beaufort,     Bishop     of    Win- 
chester. 

Bishop  Longley. 
Simon  Ganstede. 
Henry  Beaufort. 
John  Kemp,  Bishop  of  London. 
John    Stafford,    Bishop    of    Bath    and 

Wells. 

John  Kemp,  Archbishop  of  York. 
Richard  Neville,  Earl  of  Salisbury. 
Thomas      Bourchier,     Archbishop     of 

Canterbury. 
William     of    Waynflete,     Bishop     of 

Winchester. 
Thomas      Bourchier,      Archbishop     of 

Canterbury. 
Robert  Kirkeham. 
Robert    Stillington,    Bishop    of    Bath 

and  Wells. 

I^awrence  Booth,   Bishop  of  Durham. 
Thomas  Rotheram,  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 
John  Russell,  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 
Thomas  Barowe. 
Bishop  Alcock. 
Archbishop  Morton. 
Henry  Deane. 
William      Warham,      Archbishop      of 

Canterbury. 
Cardinal  Wolsey. 
Sir  Thonms  More. 
Sir  Thomas  Audley. 
Thomas.  Ixird  Wriothesley. 
William    Paulet.   I/onl  St.  John. 
Thomas  Goodrich,   Bishop  of  Ely. 
Stephen    Gardiner,    Bishop    of   Win- 
chester. 

Nicholas  Heath,  Archbishop  of  York. 
Sir  Nicholas  Bacon. 


1579. 
1587. 
1591. 
1592. 
1596. 
1617. 
1621. 
1625. 
1640. 
1641. 
1645. 
1649- 
1 660. 
1667. 
1672. 
1675. 
1682. 
1685. 
1689- 
1693. 
1700. 
1705. 
1710. 
1714. 
1718. 
1725. 
1733. 
1737. 
1757. 
1766. 
1770. 
1771. 
1778. 
1793. 
1801. 
1806. 
1807. 
1827. 

1830. 
1834. 
1836. 
1841. 
1846. 
1850. 
1852. 

1858. 
1859. 
1861. 
1865. 
1866. 


Sir  Thomas  Bromley. 

Sir  Chri>topher   Mutton. 

William  Cecil.   Lord   Burghley. 

Sir  John   Puckering. 

Sir  Thomas    ly^erton. 

Sir   Francis  Bacon. 

John   Williams,  Archbishop  of  York. 

Sir  Thomas  Coventry. 

Sir  John  Finch. 

Sir  Edward  Littleton. 

Sir  Richard  Lane. 
•60.     Great  Seal  in  Commission. 

Edward   Hyde,  Earl  of  Clarendon. 

Sir  Orlando  Bridgeman. 

Anthony  Ashley,  Earl  of  Shaftesbury. 

Heneage  Finch,  Lord  Nottingham. 

Francis  North,  Lord  Guilford. 

George,  Lord  Jeffreys. 
93.     Great  Seal  in  Commission. 

John,  Lord  Somers. 

Sir  Nathan  Wright. 

William,  Lord  Cowper. 

Simon,  Lord  Harcourt. 

Lord  Cowper. 

Thomas  Parker,  Earl  of  Macclesfield. 

Sir  Peter  King: 

Charles,  Lord  Talbot. 

Philip  Yorke,  Lord  Hardwicke. 

Robert,  I»rd  Henley. 

Charles,  Lord  Camden. 

Charles  Yorke,  Lord  Morden. 

Henry  Bat  hurst.  lx»rd  Apsley. 

Edward,  Lord  Thurlow. 

Alexander,  Lord  Lough  borough. 

John  Scott,  Lord  Eldon. 

Thomas,  Lord  Erskine. 

Lord  Eldon. 

John   Singleton    Copley,    Lord    Lynd- 
hurst . 

Henry,  Lord  Brougham. 

Lord  Lyndhurst. 

Charles  Pepys,  Lord  Cottenham. 

Lord  Lyndhurst. 

Ijord  Cottenham. 

Thomas  Wilde,  Lord  Truro. 

Edward  Sugden,  Lord  St.  Leonards. 

Robert  Rolfe,  Lord  Cranworth. 

Frederic  Thesiger,  Lord  Chelmsford. 

John,  lyord  Campbell. 

Richard   Bet  hell,  Lord  Westbury. 

Lord  Cranworth. 

Lord  Chelmsford. 


Appendix  583 


1868.  Hugh,  Lord  Cairns. 

„  William  Page  Wood,  Lord  Hatherley. 

1872.  Sir  Eoundell  Palmer,  Lord  Selborne. 

1874.  Earl  Cairns. 

1880.  Earl  Selborne. 


1885.  Sir  Hardinge  Giffard,  Lord  Halsbury. 

1886.  Sir  Farrer,  Lord  Herschell. 
,,  Lord  Halsburv. 

1892.  Lord  Herschell. 

1895.  Lord  Halsbury. 


SPEAKERS    OF   THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS. 


The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Speakers  of 

1259.  Peter  de  Montfort. 

1332.  Scrope. 

1339.  William  Trussel. 

1377.  Sir  Peter  de  la  Mare. 

.,  Sir  Thomas  Hungerford.1 

1378.  Sir  James  Pickering. 

1379.  Sir  John  Goldesburgh. 

1381.  Sir  Eichard  de  Waldsgrave. 

1382.  Sir  James  Pickering. 
1393.  Sir  John  Bussey. 

1399.  Sir  John  Cheyne. 

1400.  John  Doreward. 

1401.  Sir  Arnold  Savage. 

1402.  Sir  Henry  Bedford. 

1404.  Sir  Arnold  Savage. 

1405.  Sir  William  Esturmy. 

1406.  Sir  John  Tibetot  (or  Tiptoft). 
1408.  Thomas  Chaucer. 

1413.  William  Sturton. 
„  John  Doreward. 

1414.  Wautir  (or  Walter)  Hungerford. 
„  Thomas  Chaucer. 

1415.  Richard  Eedman. 

„  Sir  Walter  Beauchamp. 

1416.  Koger  Flower. 

1420.  Roger  Hurst. 

1421.  Thomas  Chaucer. 
„  Richard  Baynard. 

1422.  Roger  Flower. 

1423.  John  Russel. 

1425.  Sir  Thomas  Wanton. 

„  Sir  Richard  Vernon. 

1427.  John  Tyrrell. 

1429.  William  Alyngton. 

1431.  John  Tyrrell. 

1432.  John  Russel. 

1433.  Roger  Hurst. 

1435.  John  Bowes. 

1436.  Sir  John  Tyrrell. 

1438.  William  Burley. 

1439.  William  Tresham. 
1444.  William  Burley. 

1  The  first  to  receive 


the  House  of  Commons  : — 


1447. 
1449. 


1451. 
1452. 

1454. 
1459. 
1460. 
1461. 
1467. 
1472. 
1482. 
1484. 
1486. 
1487. 
1489. 
1491. 
1495. 

1497. 
1503. 
1510. 
1512. 
1514. 
1523. 
1529. 
1534. 
1536. 
1539. 
1542. 
1547. 
1553. 

1554. 

» 

1555. 
1558. 
1559. 
1562. 
1565. 

the  title  of  Speaker. 


William  Tresham. 

John  Say. 

Sir  John  Popham. 

William  Tresham. 

Sir  William  Oldhall. 

Thomas  Thorpe. 

Sir  Thomas  Charlton. 

Sir  John  Wenlock. 

Thomas  Tresham. 

John  Green. 

Sir  James  Straiigeways. 

John  Say. 

William  Alyngton. 

John  Wood. 

William  Catesby. 

Thomas  Lovell. 

John  Mordaunt. 

Sir  Thomas  Fitzwilliam. 

Richard  Empson. 

Sir  Reginald  Bray. 

Robert  Drury. 

Thomas  Inglefield. 

Edmund  Dudley. 

Thomas  Inglefield. 

Sir  Robert  Sheffield. 

Thomas  Nevill. 

Sir  Thomas  More. 

Thomas  Audley. 

Sir  Humphry  Wingfield. 

Richard  Rich. 

Sir  Nicholas  Hare. 

Thomas  Moyle. 

Sir  John  Baker. 

Sir  James  Dyer. 

John  Pollard. 

Robert  Brooke. 

Clement  Heigham. 

John  Pollard. 

William  Cordell. 

Sir  Thomas  Gargrave. 

Thomas  Wylliams. 

Richard  On  slow. 


584 


Appendix 


l.'.TI. 
l.-)7l'. 

!'••>!. 
1585. 


1  .Vl:>. 


lllnl. 
li.  i:;. 
Hil-l. 


Itiin. 

1653. 
Ki.VJ. 

lii.")ii. 


lli.)!». 
16GO. 
1CG1. 
l(i":{. 

1G78. 
1679. 


Chri-topher  \Vrny. 
KoU-rt    1M1. 
John  I'lijiliiiin. 
Sir  John   I'uckerin:;. 
Si-njcant    Snajfjf. 
Kdwiird   Coke. 
Sergeant   Yel\erton. 
Sergeant    CM  Mike. 
Sergeant    Philips. 
Sir  Randolph  Crewe. 


Sir  Tli  .....  a<  Crew.-. 

Sir  Hciifa^i-   Finch. 

Sir  Joint   Kini-h. 

Sir  Joint  (ilamillo. 

NN'illiani    Lent  hall. 

Francis  Krnis. 

\Viliiani   Li-ntltall. 

Sir  Thomas  Widdrington. 

Challoncr  Chut.  •. 

Sir  Lillclxirnc  Ixnig. 

Tlioma-   r.ainfk'ld. 

Sir   llarliottlt*  (irimston. 

Sir  Edward  Turner. 

Sir  Job  Charlton. 

Kdward  Seymour. 

Sir  Hobert   Sawyer. 

Kdward   Scyinonr. 

Sergeant  Gregory. 


1680.  William   Williams. 

1681.  Henry   I'owle. 
1685.  Sir  John  Trevor. 
1GHS).  Henry   I'owle. 
Ki'JO.  Sir  John  Trevor. 
1695.  I'anl   Foley. 

1698.  Sir  Thomas   Littleton. 

1701.  ;:.,bert    llarley. 

17(1.).  John  Smith. 

17U8.  Sir  li.  Onslow. 

1710.  William   Uromley. 

1714.  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer. 

1715.  Sneneer  Coni|itM]i. 
1728.  Arthur  On.-low. 
17G1.  Sir  John  CUM. 
1770.  Sir   Fletcher  Norton. 
1780.  Charles  Wolfran  Cornwall. 
1789.  Hon.  William  Wvndliam  Uren- 

ville. 

„  Henr_y  Addington. 

1801.  Sir  John   Mil  lord. 

1802.  Charles  Abbot. 

1817.  Charles  .Manners  Sutton. 

1835.  James  Abertromhy. 

1839.  Charles  Shaw  Lef'evre. 

1857.  John  Evelyn  l)enison. 

1872.  Henry  Bouverie  Brand. 

1884.  Arthur  W.  Peel. 

1895.  William  Court  Gully. 


INDEX 


A  Becket,  Thomas,  423  (with  ill.). 
Abbot,  Charles  (Lord  Colchester),  226, 

323     (ill.),    350,    351,    352,    393, 

394  (ill.). 

Abbot,  last  to  sit  in  Parliament,  300. 
Abercromby,  James  (Lord  Dunferm- 

line),  324  (ill.),  353,  459. 
Aberdeen,  the  Earl  of,  47G,  494,  495. 
Abingdon,  the  Earl  of,  550. 
Act  of  Dissolution,  46. 
Adam,  415. 
Addington,  Henry  (Lord  Sidmouth).  58 

(with  ill.),  200,  201,  286,  350,  448. 
Addison,  Joseph,  96,  97  (with  ill.). 
Address  to  the  Throne,  the  first,  298. 
Adomar  (Bishop- Elect  of  Winchester), 

318. 

Airy,  O.  B.,  279,  280,  281. 
Aislabie,  411. 

Albemarle,  the  Duke  of,  345  (ill.),  552. 
Alexander  of  Scotland,  King,  10,  138. 
Alexandra,  Queen,  314,  COLOURED 

PLATE  facing  p.  241. 
Alfred,  9  (ill.). 
Allington,  Lord,  187. 
Almack's,  126,  129  (ill.). 
Althorp,  Lord,  218  (with  ill.). 
Ancaster,  the  Duchess  of,  90. 
Anglesey,  Lord,  90. 
Anne  Boleyn,  186. 
Anne  of  Cleves,  186. 
Anne,  Princess,  565. 
Anne,Queen,96(with  ill.),f>9  (ill.),294. 
Anne  (Queen  of  Richard  III.),  184. 
Annesley,  Sir  John,  536,  537. 
Anti-Corn  Law  League,  480. 
Apsley.  Sir  Allen,  81. 
Arch,  Joseph,  507. 
Argyle,  the  Duke  of,  81. 
Argyll,  the  Duke  of,  493  (ill.). 
Armada,  fulsome  speech  as  to,  23. 
Armitstead,  Mr.,  144. 
Arrest  of  five  members,  attempted,  39. 
Arundel,  the  Earl  of,  152,  176,  306. 
"  Asian  Mystery,"  498. 
Asquith.  Herbert  Henry,  520,  528,  530 

(with  ill.). 

Assassination  of  Perceval,  82. 
"Atrocious  crime  of  being  a  young 

man,"  110 

Atterbury,  Bishop,  442  (ill.),  444,  566. 
Attire.     See  Dress. 
Aubrey,  425. 
Aylott'e,  John,  386. 

liabington,  Thomas.    Sff  Macaulay. 
Bacon,  Sir  Francis,  424-8,  427  (ill.). 
Bacon,  Sir  Nicholas,  21  (ill.),  300,  302, 

»)1,  424. 

Baillie,  Thomas,  449. 
Balfour,  A.  J.,  144,  420,  504,  512,  514, 

515  (ill.),  516,  518,  520,  528,  532, 

576,  577,  578. 
Balliol,  John,  560. 


Balmerino,  Lord,  156. 

Bambridge,  Thomas,  COLOURED  PLATE 
facing  p.  201,  411,  412,  414,  415 
(with  ill.). 

Bamtield,  Thomas,  343. 

Bar  of  the  House,  27  (ill.),  244  (ill.), 
380,  395,  303  (ill.),  310  (ill.),  373 
(ill.),  381  (ill.),  389  (ill.),  393  (ill.), 
395  (ill.)  •  kneeling  at  the,  387. 

"  Barebones  Parliament,  the  Praise- 
God,"  48. 

Barre,  Colonel,  119, 120, 121,  122  (ill.). 

Barry,  Lady,  170. 

Barry,  Mr.  E.  M.,  R.A.,  286. 

Barry,  Sir  Charles,  13.'),  169, 170  (with 
ill.),  171  172,  229,  231-7,  250 
(with  ill.),  262,  269,  278,  279,  281, 
284,  286,  296. 

Barttelot,  Sir  Walter,  85. 

"  Batavian  Graces,"  498. 

Bath,  the  Earl  of.     See  Pulteney,  W. 

"  Bats,  Parliament  of,"  60. 

Beaconsfield,  the  Earl  of,  316,  467 
(ill.),  468,  469,  471,  476,  477  (ill.), 
478,  479  (with  ill.),  481,  482,  483, 
484,  486,  487,  489,  490,  492-9,  502, 
503  (ill.),  504,  520,  524,  574,  577. 

Beauchamp,  William  de,  176. 

Bech,  the  Rev.  J    262. 

Bede,  the  Venerable,  1. 

Bedford,  the  Duke  of,  210. 

"Begum  Speech,"  the,  124. 

Belet,  Master  Michael,  176. 

Bell,  Sir  Robert,  335  (ill.). 

Bellamy,  John,  69  (ill.),  70,  72,  73,  74, 
75,  80,  265  266. 

Bellamy's,  Dickens  describes,  72. 

Bellingham,  John,  82,  84. 

Bennet,  Thomas,  441. 

Benson,  384. 

Bentinck,  Lord  George,  484  (ill-),  486, 
489. 

Berkshire,  the  Earl  of,  550. 

Bernard,  Sir  R.,  120. 

Bet  in  the  House,  103. 

Beverley,  the  Provost  of,  297. 

Bhownaggree,  Sir  M.  M.,  507  (ill.), 
508,  510. 

Bidmead,  Reginald,  370. 

Biddulpb,  General  Sir  Michael,  314. 

"  Big  Ben,"  282,  283,  279-84  (ills). 

Biggar,  58. 

Bigod,  297. 

Bigot,  Roger,  138. 

Bill  of  Pains  and  Penalties,  211. 

Bill  of  Rights,  56. 

Bill,  Reform,  215,  217  (ill.),  218  (ill.), 
21 9  (ill.),  497. 

Bills,  Private,  374. 

Bills,  Public,  374. 

Bindon,  the  Viscountess,  300. 

Blake,  Admiral,  487  (ill.). 

Bloody  Assize,  434. 

Blue  Boar's  Head  Inn,  542  (ill.),  544. 
585 


Blunt,  Segrave,  150. 
Bohun,  297. 

Bolingbroke,  Viscount,  95,  96,  COL- 
OURED PLATE  facinr/  p.  97. 
Bond,  Parliament  de  la,  60. 
Bonner,  Bishop,  336. 
Boswell,  569. 
Bothmar,  Baron,  568. 
Bothmar,  Count,  550. 
Bourke,  Mr.,  385. 
Boyce,411. 

Bradlaugh,  84, 510  (ill.),  511  (with  ill.). 
Bradshaw,  153. 
Brand,     Henry    Bouverie    (Viscount 

Hampden),   354,   355,    358  (ill.), 

376,  499  (ill.),  501. 
Brereton,  Richard,  147. 
Bridgeman.Sir  Orlando,  429,  432  (ill.). 
Bright,  267. 
Bright,  John,  480,  481  (ill.),  494,  497, 

504. 

Bristol,  the  Earl  of,  160,  428,  463. 
Broadhurst,"  Henry,  506,  507. 
Brodrick,  the  Hon.  William  St.  John, 

528  (ill.),  530,  532. 
Brodrick,  Sir  Allan,  81. 
Bromley,  Sir  Homy,  23. 
Brougham,  Lord,  6  (ill.),  93,  90,  128, 

203  (ill.)  204  (ill.),  206,  207,  210- 

12,  214,  218  (with  ill.),  452  (ill.), 

453,  454,  455,  460. 
Bruce,  Mr.,  500. 
Buckingham,  the  Duke  of,  30, 52  (ill.), 

426,  552,  565. 
Buckingham,  the  Earl  of,  149  (ill.), 

151,  536. 
Burdett,  Sir  Francis,  218,  392  (with 

ill.),  393,  394,  395,  476. 
Burgess,  Dr.,  550. 
Burghley,  Lord,  23  (ill.),  COLOURED 

PLATE  foxing  p.  41,  424. 
Burgoyne,  Genera),  146. 
Burgundy,  the  Duke  of,  86. 
Burke,  Edmund,  70, 103  (ill.),  104  (ill.), 

113,  120,  121,  122,  123  (with  ill.), 

124,  126  (ill.),  127,  128,  146,  161, 

162,  250,  348,  349,  447. 
Burke,  T.  N.,  554. 
Burlington,  Lord,  566. 
Burnet,  Bishop,  550  (with  ill.). 
Burns,  John,  506  (ill.),  507. 
Burt,  Thomas,  504  (ill.),  505. 
Burton,  221,  222. 
Bury,  Baron,  440. 
Busby,  Dr.,  343. 
Bussey,  Sir  James,  319,  320. 
Bute,  Lord,  311  (note),  570. 
Butler,  Captain  T.  D.,  576  (ill.). 
Butler,  Sir  Francis,  387. 
Butler,  Sir  Thomas,  552. 
Byron  (William),  Lord,  158. 

Cairns,  Earl,  455,  457  (ill.). 
Call  of  the  House,  15. 

74 


586 


Index 


Cwnden.  Ixtril,  440,  447  (///.). 
C*mpMI,  I/ml,  •-'-'•..  455  (with  ill.), 

4M  (,11.). 
CanipMI-llaiiiiernmi,  Sir  Henry,4s:o, 

618,  528,531  (i'H.). 
"Candid  Friend,"  tin-,  481. 
C'.iniiinv',  I ;»'!-••.   I'KOM  I-I-IH-K,  132, 

20o(with  ill.),  2»>l.  2d2  (with  iV/.), 

204,  sal  (I//.),  200,  207,  208,  210, 

211,  212,  214,  452,  482  (with  ill.), 

480,  5211. 

Cant<  rlmry,  Viscount.    Sft  Sutton. 
Canute,  4. 

Carnarvon,  the  Karl  of,  495  (ill.),  497. 
Carnwath,  the  Enrl  of,  155. 
Carolina,  IJiiecii,  190.  193,  194  (ill.), 

200,  211,  212  (with  HI.),  213  (ill.), 

2U>  (ill.),  452. 
C.irtoret,  Ix>rd,  570. 
Carysfort,  Ixml,  309. 
( 'astlemainc,  Lady.  428. 
Castlereagh,    I/>fd,     202,    204,    206 

(with  ill.). 

Caterton,  Thomas.    Src  Katrington. 
Catesby,  Robert,  265  (ill.),  266. 
Catesby,  William,  331. 
Cathcart,  Ixird,  81. 
(Catholic  Emancipation,  200,  463,  510. 
C«ve,  Edward,  222  (with  ill.),  223. 
Cavendish,  Lord,  54,62. 
(Cavendish,  Ix>rd  Frederick,  554. 
Cavendish,  Lord  John,  70,  146. 
Caxton,  \\  illiam,  554. 
( Jecil,  Richard,  556. 
(Jecjl,  Sir  William,  302. 
Cecil,  William.    *><•  Burghlcy,  Lord. 
Central  Hall,  the,  248  (with  ill.). 
ChamWlain,  Austen,  521. 
( 'hamWlain,  Joseph,  104  (imtr),  420, 

504,512,518,519  ((V/.),  520,521,522. 
''  Chani|iagne  Siwech,"  the,  113. 
Cliampion,  the  King's,  2(t7/.),  180, 181, 

182  (ill.),  187  (ill.),  192,  195  (ill.). 
Chancellors,  I-ord,  10,  298,  316,  324, 

361,  302,  422-58, 581-3.    See  also  : 

A  Bcrket,  Thomas. 
Bacon,  Sir  Francis. 
Bacon,  Sir  Nicholas. 
Bridgcman,  Sir  Orlando. 
Brougham,  Ix>rd. 
Burgh  ley,  Ix>rd. 
Cairns,  Ix>rd. 
Cnmdt-n,  I/ird. 
OmpbeD,  Lord. 
Chelmsford.  Lord. 
Clarendon,  th  •  Marl  of. 
Cottenlmin,  Lord. 
Ccivi-ntry.  Sir  Thomas. 
Cow  per.  Ixird. 
Cram-,  Sir  1  tic-hard. 
Cranwurlli.  l/>rd. 
DC  Grey,  Walter. 
Eldon,  I  .onl. 
Erskine,  I>ord. 

Fjlicll,  Hi-lieage. 

Finch,  Sir  John. 
Cardiii'r,  Stephen, 
(loodricli,  Tlniinas. 
Hal.sliiir.v,  Ixird. 
Harcourt,  l<ord. 
llurdwickc,  lx>rJ. 
Ilatherley,  lx»rd. 
1  hit  inn,  Sir  Christopher. 


Heath,  Nicholas. 
Henley,  I/ml. 


Jeffreys,  I/>rd. 

Kin^'.  Sir  I'rtcr. 

Littleton,  Sir  Edw.ird. 

Lyndhurst,  lx>rd. 

More.  Sir  Thomas. 

North,  Francis. 

I'arker,  Thomas. 

I'ui-keriii^.  Sir  John. 

Itic-hard,  AM«it  of  Kv<-.liam. 

Roger  of  Salisbury. 

St.  Leonards,  Ijord. 

Sell.orne,  Earl. 

Sliafteslmry,  the  Enrl  of. 

Simon  of  Sudbury. 

Somers,  Lord. 

Tallxjt,  Ix>rd. 

Thurlow,  Ix>rd. 

Truro,  Ix>rd. 

Westbury,  Lord. 

William  of  Wykeham. 

Williams,  John. 

Wolsey,  Cardinal. 

Wright,  Sir  Nathan. 
Chancery,  the  Court  of,  COLOURKD 

Pmnfachyp,  137. 
Chancy,  Henry  J..  291. 
(  '  !  M  1  1  1  .  i  i  1  1  of  the  House,  the,  403. 
tJhapter   House,    the,    16,    19   (M.), 

553-7  (ills.),  558,  560,  562,  563. 
Charles  I.,  3  (ill.),  31  (('//.),  33  (///.), 
30-44,  69,  l.r>2,  153  (with  ill.),  154 
(ill.),  155  (ill.),  180  (ill.),  251,  263, 
287,  288  (ill.),  306,  323,  324,  340, 

342,  401,  402,  404,  409,  428,545, 

564,  566. 

Charles  II.,  32    (ill.),  51-6,  67,   181 
(ill.),  186,  302  (ill.),  306,  307,  342, 

343,  344,  428,  429,  430,  432,  433, 

565,  566,  568. 

Charles,  the  Elector  Palatine,  39. 

Charles,  Prince,  305. 

Charlton,  Sir  Job,  307. 

Chatham.    See  Pitt 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  12  (ill.), 

Chaucer,  Thomas,  330. 

Cha  worth,  Willinm,  158. 

Clu'lmsford,  Jxml,  454  (ill.),  455. 

(  'li  .-ster,  the  Earl  of,  174. 

Child  King  (Henry  VI.)  opens  Parlia- 

ment, 301. 

(  'liolmondeley,  the  Marquis  of,  314. 
(  'hurch,  A.  H.,  238. 
(  'liurchill,  General,  105. 
Churchill,  Lord  Randolph,  252  (ill.), 

2.J4,  270.  504,  512  (with  ill.),  513. 
Chute,  Challoner,  343. 
(  'ity,  five  members  protected  in,  41. 
City  freedom  presented  to  Sir  Arthur 

Onslow,  348. 
City  of  London,  representation,  141  ; 

petitions,  371. 
Civil  War,  the,  !•>. 
•'Clandestine  Outlawries,"  :«M. 

Clarendon,  the  Enrl  of,  428,  •):.'!•,  43O 
(('//.).  431    (///.),  CULOUKKI)    1'I.ATK 

1'n-imi  /'.  \:',:',. 

Clarke,  Mrs.,  3Wi  (,//.),  3W)  (///.)  391. 
<  'larke,  Sir  Edward.  2i-s  (///.),  2:50. 
Clayton,  Sir  1!.,  IL'II.  311. 
Clifford,  Ix>rd,  430,  432. 
Clinton,  Lord,  300. 


Clock  Tower,  the,  27o,  271  (ill.),  ^7-.', 

275-8  l(\vith/7/5.). 
Cloisters,  the,  287  (»7/.),  :-(!(>  (///.). 

Closure,  :!7(i. 

Coalition  Ministry,  the,   I!M. 

CoblH-tt,  MKi. 

Cobden,  Richard,  480  (with  iff.),  is:',. 
I8& 

Cobham,  Ijuly.  90. 

Cochrane,  Ix)rd,  394,  418  (with  i7/.). 

Cockburn,  ]x>nl,  471. 

Cockpit,   the,   46,   308,  309,  564,  :,>;:,, 
566,  567. 

Coke,  Sir  Edward,  26,  29  (ill.),  32, 
339  (with  .//.). 

Colchester,  Ix>rd,  309,  350,  393.     See 
(Uio  Abbot,  Charles. 

Cole,  5:.ii. 

Commissions,  Royal,  419. 

( 'oininittee  of  Supply  described,  366. 

Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  de- 
scribed, 368. 

Committee  Rooms,  406  (ill.). 

Committees,  COLOURED  PLATE  fnrimj 
p.  201,  366,  376,406-id. 

Commons,  the  House  of,  in  sixteenth 
century,  8, 17-24  ;  in  early  history, 
9-16 ;  in  seventeenth  century, 
25-56;  in  eighteenth  century, 
FRONTISPIECE,  95-132;  in  nine- 
teenth century,  200-20,  459-534  ; 
social  aspects  of,  67-76 ;  the  Lobby, 
77-85 ;  ladies  at  the  House.  87-94 ; 
destruction  of,  164-72;  descrip- 
tion of,  231-6,  251-9. 
Illustrations  of  :  37,  40,  42,  4.">,  47, 
67,  70,  71,  76,  77,  79,  81,  83,  84, 
85,  90,  92,  93,  101,  102,  108.  I  20, 
142,  152,  166,  167,  207,  217,  ^J7. 
231,  2.'»l-(i3,  272,  287,  360,  30;., 
367,  370,  3S4,  505. 

Commonwealth,  the,  45-50. 

Compton,  Bishop,  565. 

Comptpn,  Spencer,  350  (note).     Set 

Wilmington.  Earl  of. 
Convention  Parliament,  the,  51;  the 

Second,  56. 
Con  way,  General,  540. 
Convers,  John,  552. 
Cooke,  William,  382,  384. 
Cooper,    Anthony  Ashley    429,  4:jo, 

432,  433,  434  (with  ill.). 
Cooper,  Mr.,  165. 
Copley,  John  Singleton.    See  Lynd- 

hurst,  Lord. 
Copyright  Bill,  473. 
Cornwall,  Charles  W.,  348  (ill.),  350. 
Coronations,  5  (ill.),  67,  173-99  (with 

ills.). 

Cottenham,  Lord,  455. 
Cottinghain,  Mr.,  442. 
Cottington,  Mrs.,  385. 
Cotton,  Sir  Robert,  29. 
Count  out  descril>ed,  370. 
Courayer,  Abbi?,  ;.<;!). 
Court  of  Claims,  the,  188  (///.). 
Court  of  Exchequer,  the,  7,  8. 
Couit  of  l!ei|iiests,  the  old,  8. 
Coventry,   Sir  John,  52,  53  (///.),  54 

(with  ///.). 

Coventry,  Sir  Thomas,  42(5  (ill.),  428. 
Cowper,  ">."><;. 

Cow  per,  Hail,  :!I7,  413,   111. 
,411. 


Index 


587 


Cranborne,     Lord.      See    Salisbury, 

the  Marquis  of. 
Crane,  Sir  Richard,  428. 
Cranworth,  Lord,  455. 
Crew,  Sir  Thomas,  29. 
Crimean  war  debates,  493. 
"  Crisis,  the,"  Addison's  pamphlet,  98. 
Cromartie,  Lord,  156. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  38,  42,  45,  46  (with 

ill.),  47  (with  ill.),  48,  49,  50,  64, 

153,  263,  288,  342,  344  (ill.),  404 

(ill.),  564,  568. 

Cromwell,  Richard,  49,  50,  342,  441. 
Crooke,  Sergeant,  23,  320,  322. 
Crosby,  Lord  Mayor,  119,  225, 
Crowle,  Mr.,  387. 
Crypt  Chapel,  the,  7  (ill.),  285  (with 

ill.),  286,  287. 
Crypt    Chapel    used   for    Speaker's 

dinners,  58. 
Cust,  Sir  John,  34a 

Dacre,  Lord,  152. 

Dagger  Speech,  Burke's,  121. 

Dance,  415. 

David  of  Scotland,  King,  140. 

Debates,  reporting  of,  221. 

De  Brewes,  Mary,  149. 

De  Brewes,  William,  149,  150. 

D'Ewes,  Sir  Symonds,  221,  298,  302, 

304,  305,  306. 

De  Grey  (Lord  Chief  Justice),  349. 
De  Grey,  Walter,  423. 
De  Hexham,  Roger,  149. 
De  la  Mare,  Sir  Peter,  320. 
De  Montfort,  Peter,  318. 
De  Segrave,  Sir  John,  150. 
Debt,  member  imprisoned  for,  25. 
Denison,  E.  B.,  280,  281,  284. 
Denison,     John     Evelyn    (Viscount 

Ossington),   353,   354,   355    (ill.), 

356  (ill.). 

Dent,  Mr.,  279,  280. 
Deputy  Speaker  appointed,  326. 
Derby,  the   Earl   of,  178.      See  also 

Stanley,  Lord. 

Derwentwater,  the  Earl  of,  155, 
Devereux,  Robert.   See  Essex,  Earl  of. 
Devonshire,  the  Duchess  of,  541  (with 

ill.). 
Devonshire,  the  Duke  of,  314,  527, 

528,  529  (ill.). 

Dickens,  Charles,  73  (ill.),  230. 
Digby,  John,  38. 
Digby,  Sir  Everard,  267,  269. 
Digges,  Sir  Dudley,  29,  30. 
Dilke,  Sir  Charles,  500,  501. 
Dining  at  the  House,  67. 
Dining-Room,   House   of    Commons, 

the,  71  (ill.). 

Dining-Room,  House  of  Lords, 72  (ill.). 
Dinners,  Speaker's,  57  ;  Parliamentary 

full-dress,  309  ;  whitebait,  316. 
Disestablishment,  499. 
Disraeli,  Benjamin.    See  Beaconsfield. 
Division,  85,  94,  379. 
Divisions,  great,  105,  217,  487. 
Dodington,  George  Bubb  (Lord  Mel- 
combe),  105  (with  ill.),  566. 
Dormer,  441,  443. 
Dorrington,  Mr.,  167. 
Dorset,  the  Duke  of,  550. 
Dorset,  Lord,  565. 
Downing,  Sir  George,  568. 


Downing  Street,  568-78  (with  COL- 
OURED PLATE), 

Dream  related  in  the  House,  31. 

Dress  of  members,  58-66. 

Drinking  customs,  81. 

Dudley,  Edward,  331,  332. 

Dudley,  Lord,  130. 

Dudley,  Lord  Robert,  302,  304. 

Duels,  106,  202. 

Duncannon,  216. 

Dunfermline,  Lord.  See  Abercromby, 
James. 

Dunning.  Mr.,  120. 

Dutton,  Sir  Ralph,  381 

Dyce,  Mr.,  R.A.,  238. 

Dymmok,  Henry,  181. 

Dymmok,  Rev.  John,  181. 

Dymmok,  Sir  John,  180. 

Earle,  Mr.,  414. 

Earle,  Sir  Walter,  39. 

Edgeworth,  Miss,  92. 

Edward  the  Black  Prince,  138  (with 

ill.),  141. 
Edward  the  Confessor,  4,  8,  141,  276, 

548. 
Edward  I.,  7,  10  (with  ill.),   16,  60, 

138,  150,  176,  181,  297,  299  (ill.), 

319,  381. 

Edward  II.,  7,  10,  60. 
Edward  III.,  7,  12,  14,  134,  140  (ill.), 

141,  178,  288,  298,  318,  320. 
Edward  VI.,  16,  18,  20  (ill.),  177  (ill.), 

263,  264,  300  (ill.),  336,  397,  423. 
Edward    VII.,  144,  145,    COLOURED 

PLATE  facing  p.  241.  244,   257, 

309  (ill.),  314,  315  (ill.),  316  (ill.), 

317  (ill.). 

Edwin,  Lady  Charlotte,  90. 
Eldon,  Lord,  208,  210  (ill.),  448,  449 

(with  ill.). 

Eleanor,  Queen,  174. 
Elector  Palatine,  Charles,  39. 
Eljot,  Sir  John,  30,  32,  34,  35. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  8,  12,  15,  18,  20,  21, 

22  (with  ill.),  23,  24,   COLOURED 

PLATE  facing  p.  24,  63,  179  (ill.), 

263,  290,  291,  296,  298,  300,  302, 

304,  305,  306,  320,  322,  338,  339, 

397,  398,  404,  408,  424,  469  (ill.), 

564. 

Ellenborough,  Lord,  246. 
Ellis,  Mr.,  204. 
Elsinge,  Henry,  556. 
Elwes,  John,  65  (with  ill.),  66. 
Empson   and   Dudley,  331  ;   Walpole 

compared  with,  101. 
Empson,  Sir  Richard,  331,  332. 
Erskine,  H.  D.,  252  (ill.). 
Erskine,    Lord,    FRONTISPIECE,  130, 

212  (with  ill.),  448,  449,  450  (with 

ill.),  452. 

Essex,  the  Earl  of,  152. 
Eversley,  Viscount.     See  Lefevre. 
Excise  Bill,  famous  debates  on,  101. 
Exeter,  the  Countess  of,  147. 

Fairfax,  Lady,  153. 
Falconer,  Sir  E.,  156. 
Falmouth,  Lord,  550. 
Farnborough,  Lord,  262  (ill.),  264. 
Fawkes,   Guido,   152,   262,  265  (ill.), 

266-9,538.. 
Fazakerly,  446. 


Fearne,  381. 

Ferrers  382 

Ferrers,  the'Eaii  of,  158,  161  (ill.). 

"  Finality  John,"  464. 

Finch,  Lord,  98,  428  (with  ill.). 

Finch,  Sir  Heneage  (Lord  Notting- 
ham), 323,  432,  434  (with  ill.). 

Finch,  Sir  John,  34,  35,  428. 

Fire,  destruction  of  the  Houses  of 
Parliament  by,  165. 

Fisher,  John  (Bishop  of  Rochester), 
150  (ill.),  151,  152. 

Fitzharris,  Ann,  87  (with  ill.),  88. 

Fitzpatrick,  Richard,  146. 

Fitzroy,  Colonel,  324,  325. 

Five  members,  attempted  arrest  of,  39 ; 
return  to  Westminster,  42. 

Fleet  Prison,  the,  COLOURED  PLATE 
facinri  p.  201,  411. 

Fleetwood,  Sir  Miles,  401. 

"  Fly  in  amber,"  202. 

Foley,  Patrick,  344. 

Foley,  Paul,  345. 

Foreign  Office,  the,  567  (ill.),  571  (ill.), 
573  (with  ill.),  576. 

Forester,  Sir  Adam,  329. 

Forster,  W.  E.,  504,  507  (ill.). 

Fortescue,  Sir  John,  365. 

Fowler,  Sir  Henry  H.,  524  (ill.)  528, 
530. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  FRONTISPIECE, 
70,  80  (ill.),  82,  116,  120,  COL- 
OURED' PLATE  facing  p.  121,  122, 
123,  124,  126,  127  (with  ill.),  128, 
130,  132  (ill.),  146,  161,  200,  201, 
218,  225,  250,  308,  349,  450,  541, 
542. 

Fox,  Henry,  108 (ill.),  Ill,  124, 126, 127. 

Francis,  Sir  Philip,  132. 

Franking  system,  374. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  566  (ill.),  567. 

Fraser,  Simon.     See  Lovat,  Lord. 

Fraser,  Sir  William,  252. 

Free  Parliament,  Monk  declares  for 
a,  50. 

Freedom  of  speech,  right  of,  affirmed, 
26. 

Freeman- Mitford,  Sir  John,  350. 

Frescoes,  Paintings,  and  Tapestries. 
Illustrations  :  9,  40,  41,  43,  44,  47, 
50,  115,  151,  238,  240,  245,  246, 
251,  293,  332,  407,  408. 

Frevilles,  the  de,  181. 

Fuller,  Robert,  552. 

Gambling  customs,  126. 

Gardiner,  Stephen  (Bishop  of  Win- 
chester), 423,  424  (ill.). 

Gascoigne,  General,  82. 

Gascoigne,  Sir  William,  148,  119. 

Gaveston,  Piers,  138,  560. 

"Gentle  Shepherd,"  112. 

Gentleman's  Magazine,  222 

George  I.,  568. 

George  II.,  185  (ill.),  190,  279,  307, 
568. 

George  III.,  5  .(ill.),  135,  187  (ill.), 
192,  304  (ill.),  305  (ill.),  447,  448. 

George  IV.,  136,  181,  189  (ill.),  190 
(ill.),  191  (ill.),  194,  195,  198,  199, 
307  (ill.),  449,  510. 

Gibbon,  Edward,  132,  569. 

Gibson,  J.,  R.A.,  242. 

Giles,  Sir  Edward,  401. 


588 


Index 


i.l.i.|>|..iif,  Il.rU-rt,  838. 

GUI-tone,   \V.   E.,   1,   HI,   148,   143 

(«//.X    111,   848    (with    ilt.\   I1'.1. 

•_'•••:.  310,  .V.I,  38H,  372.  4«0,  474 

(»//.X  4U3,  404,  4»5,  496  (with  .//.). 

400,  .VN),  SOI,  A04,  512,  913,  52O, 

6S3  (I//.X  924,   CoUlt  RKI>    I'l.ATK 

/!«>/  i..  527.  527  (i//.X  52*.  574  8. 
Gl.uiMllr.  Mr  Ki.iu.i>,  :u:\.  3-Ji.  34O. 
CLinvillf.  Sir  John,  20,  29  (i'//.X  330, 

34U. 

( Mom-niter,  the  Duke  of,  80,  87,  331. 
Glomt'su-r.  the  Karl  of,  17a 
Uodfnv,  Mr,  442. 
Godolpiiin,  l."nl,  307. 
Gondenmr,  the  C'ount  of,  306. 
( roodrirh, Thomas ( I  !»li.  >p  of  Ely), 423. 
Goodwin,  Kir  Francis,  303. 
( iordon,  Colonel,  MO. 
i;..r.|..n.  Dr.,  224. 

Gordon,  the  Duchess  of,  88  (ill.),  88. 
Gordon,  Jjortl  George,  539,  540. 
Gorst,  Sir  .loh  1 1.  512. 
Cossett,  Sir  Ralph  A.,  510  (ill.). 
Goulburne,  Henry,  3VJ,  3(il  (note). 
Graf  ton,  the  Duke  of,  349,  446. 
(inihain,  Sir  James,  495. 
( Irahnin,  Sir  John,  459. 
Grand  Committees,  410,  420. 
( irand  Kcmonstrance,  the,  38,  39,  60. 
Grant,  General,  128. 
Grant  I  v,  Itnron.     See  Norton. 
Granville,  Karl,  248,  490  (ill.). 
(inittun,  250. 
Great  Seal  drop|>cd  in  the  Thames, 

436 ;  stolen,  447. 
Great  Seal  of    the   Commonwealth, 

the,  45  (i//.). 
Gregory,  Sergeant,  324. 
Grenville,     Ixird,     350,     351     (i//.), 

352  (ill.),  448. 
Crenville,     Ilichard    (Karl    Temple), 

111  (ill.),  112,113,200,201. 
(•reville,  Mr.,  38(i. 
Grey,  1C1. 

Grey,  An-liliishop  Walter,  297. 
Grey,  Earl.  214  (with  ill.),  452,  453, 

400,  403  (ill.). 
Grey,  \jpnl,  43. 
i  irey,  Sir  Edward,  528. 
Grille,  tlie  ladies,  93  (ill.). 
Grini.ston,  Sir  Harlxdtle,  320  (///.). 
Qrimthorpe.  Lord,  2HO,  281,  2si. 
Grocers'  Hall,  the,  409. 
Guilford,  I/>rd.    Srr  North,  FraiiL-is. 
Qaitford.  1-jirl  of.    iVe  North,  Ix>rd. 
Gui.scard,  5W. 
Gully,  Kdward,  (\->(ill.). 
Gtillv,  Mi^',  <;.'('//.). 
(Jully,  Mrs..  f;i  (,//.). 
Gully.     \Villnni     Court,     01     (///.), 

CoLofKKlt  I'I.ATK  faeiny  ji.  353, 

300,  301  (nvtr). 
Giiii|Kiwdi-r  Plot,  tin-,  J-,,  152,  206-9, 

u"il-7«i(///x.).  KXI. 
Gtinn-y.  Sir  Gn|  Lsu-nrthy,  270. 
Gut  line,  William.  •>•>*. 

Hiickct.  Mr..  401. 

Male,  Mr..  :is:,. 

Ilali-uill,  Sir  William,  264. 

Halifax,  tli<-  Karl  of,  :,.-,( i. 
Halifax,  Ixird.  439. 
Hall,  Sir  Benjamin,  281. 


Hiilsliury,  Ix>rd,  242,  458  (with  ///.). 
Hamilton,  l-i.lv  An-hil«»ld,  90. 
Hamilton,  William  Gerard,  111,  112 

(with  ill.). 
HUM.. n. I.     Sir     Charles    Frederick, 

521  (ill.). 
I  l.iiii|i,|.-n.  John,  31,  36,  39  (with  ///.), 

40  (HI.),  ft),  2.M). 
llam|xlen,     Viscount.     See     Brand, 

Henry  llouverie. 
Hanmer,  Sir  John,  54,  02. 
I  l.inmrr.  Sir  'riuniias,  97. 
Hansitrd,  l.nki-,  23O. 
Harcourt,  Ixird.  441  (ill.),  443. 
Harcourt,  Sir  William   Vernon,  144, 

420,  504,  522  («//.),  524,  525  (M.), 

578. 

Hardinge,  Mr..  264. 
Hardinge,  Nicholas,  103. 
Hardinge,  Sir  Henry.  218,  !<;<;. 
Hardwicke,  the  Earl  of,  445  (with  ill.), 

440. 

1  lardy,  Gathorne,  504. 
Hare,  Sir  Nicholas,  335,  336. 
Harley,  566. 

Harley,  Robert.    See  Oxford,  Earl  of. 
Harley,  Sir  Edward,  307,  402,    564 

(note). 

Harrington,  James,  542,  556. 
Harrison,  Major-General,  46. 
Hastings,  \\arren,  122,  130.  100, 

103    (ill.),    COLOURED     PLATE 

facing  l>.  393,  420. 

Hat  herley,  Karoo,  423, 455, 500(('«.),  554 
Hats  in  the  House,  59-66,  368  (i//.)., 

459. 

Hatton,  Sir  Christopher,  22. 
Hayinan,  Sir  Peter,  29. 
Hazell,  Walter,  507. 
Hazlerig,  39,  40  (ill.). 
"  Healing  Parliainent,"  the,  320. 
Heath,  Nicholas,  423,  -l^:>. 
Heighnin,  Clement,  336. 
Heigham,  Sir  Ualph,  -2~:>. 
Henry  I.,  136,  173,  181. 
Henry  II.,  6,  134. 
Henry  III.,  6,  9,  11  (ill.),  134, 136, 137, 

138,  139  (ill.),  141,  173,  174,  182, 

297,  318. 

Henry  IV.,  178  (ill.),  181, 184,  320,  329. 
Henry  V.,  146,  148,  149,  183,  297  (ill.), 

298. 
Henry  VI.,  60, 175  (ill.),  298,  301  (ill.), 

330,  374. 
Henry  VI L,  222,  246,  291,  298  (ill.), 

330,  331,332,  545,552. 
Henry  VIII.,  8,  12,  14,  02,  151  (with 

///.),  1H1,  303  (ill.),  308,  320,  332, 

333  (///.),  334,  33'),  336,  382,    l:il, 

.V,2.  502,  564. 

Henry  (son  of  Henry  II.),  174. 
Henley,  Lord,  440  (with  ill.). 
Henley,  Sir  lioWt,  423. 
Henrietta  Maria,  Queen,  48  (ill.) 
Herbert,  Auberon,  501. 
Herbert,  J.  I!.,  I!. A.,  248. 
Herbert,  Sidney,  49O  (///.).  .|!»5. 
Herb-women,  184  (ill),  190,  194  (ill.). 
Hereford,  the  Duke  of,  15  (///.). 
Hereford,  the  Earl  of,  176. 
Herries,  -2\(i. 

H-rsclu-ll,  b>rd,  455.  458  (with  ///.). 
Hervey,  Augustus,  122. 
Hervey,  I^ord,  90. 


He/rlrii.'.  Sir  William,  150. 

Hicks  Uearh,   Sir    Mi.-hael,  420,  524, 

•'•2C,.  :.27,  .'.78. 
Eitcham,  Sir  liobert,  1  I. 
Hogarth's  |Kirtrait  of  I/ord  Ix)vat,  156. 
Holder,  John,  412. 
Holland,  L..l>.  li'l. 
Holland.  LonL     .SVr  Fox,  Henry. 
Hollar,  Welieeslaiis.  55(i. 
Hollcji,  34,  IVi,  3!(,   l( I  (/'//.). 
Ho(xl,  Admiral  l/ird,  541. 
Hood,  Lor<l,  l!»3.  I:M. 
Hope,  Beresford,  498. 
Horsley,  .1.  ('..  A. I,1. A.,  247. 
Host,  the  Speaker  a.«,  57. 
Hotspur,  329. 

"  Hotspur  of  Debate,"  the,  504. 
HoiiMon,  Sir  James,  344. 
Houghton,  l.on I.  456. 
House  of  Commons.    ,SVr  Commons. 
Houses,  M-parat  ion  of,  16. 
Howard,  '1  homas.    6Ve  Norfolk,  the 

Duke..!'. 

Howard,  William,  :«)2. 
Ho  well,  George,  507. 
Hughes,  Mr,  414. 
Hume,  Josepli.  L'(;J. 
Hume,  Mr.,  169,  170. 
HUDgerfora,  Sir  Thomas,  318. 
Huntington,  Lady,  90. 
Hyde,  Edward  (Earl  of  Clarendon), 

428, 429,  COLOURED  PLATE  f« 
p.  433. 

Iddesleigh,  the  Earl  of  (Sir  Stafford 
Norchcote),  248, 510  (///.).  575, 578. 

"  Illegal  Bar,"  the,  70  (ill.). 

Impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings, 
100  ;  of  Lord  Melville,  351  ;  of 
Lord  Bacon,  425  ;  of  I/>rd  Claren- 
don, 428  ;  of  Ix>rd  Macclesfield, 
441. 

India,  representative  of,  507. 

Inglerield,  Sir  Thomas,  320. 

Ingoldsby,  Colonel,  46. 

"  Instrument,  the,"  48. 

Ireland,  Dean,  168,  169  (ill.). 

James  I.,  25  (with  ill.),  26  9,  263,  200, 

305,  300,  339,  3G5,  400,  409,  424, 

564. 
James  II.,  32  (ill.),  56,  05,  154,  188, 

190,  402,  434,  435  (///.),  430,  438 

(///.),  IK). 
Jameson  Kaid,  the,  420,  421  (ill.). 

Jebb,  Dr.,  146. 

Jeffreys,   Ix>rd,   434,  436  (with  ill.), 

137  (///.),  438. 

Jenkins,  David,  382  (ill.),  386,  387. 
Jephson,  Sir  J.,  401. 
Jersey,  I^ady,  90. 
"  Jerusalem  Chamber,"  the,  126. 
,  Jewel  Tower,  the,  288-93  (with  ills.). 
John,  King  of  France.  13S.  1  in. 
Johnson,  Dr.,  221,  223  (with  .-//.),  -2-2\. 
. I. ilmstone,  Governor,  121. 
Jones,  Gale,  392. 

Journalists  at  the  House,  85,  221-30. 
Journals  mutilated  by  James  I.,  27. 
Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
803. 

Katherine  of  Arragon,  184. 
Katharine,  Queen,  184. 


Index 


589 


Katrington,  Thomas,  536,  537. 

Ken,  Bishop,  154. 

Kenealy,  Dr.,  375. 

Kenmure,  Viscount,  155. 

Kent,  566. 

Kenyon,  Roger,  68. 

Keyes,  269. 

Kidd,  Captain,  439. 

Kilmarnock,  Lord,  156,  158  (ill). 

Kimberley,  the  Earl  of,  144. 

King's  Champion,  2,  180. 

King,  Sir  Peter,  443  (ill),  444,  445. 

King,  Thomas,  14. 

Kingston,  Duchess  of,  158,  162  (ill.). 

Kitchen  Department,  origin  of,  66. 

Kneeling  at  the  Bar,  387. 

Knolles,  Sir  Francis,  398. 

Knolls,  Sir  William,  322. 

Knowles,  Sir  Francis,  304. 

Knyghtley,  Sir  R.,  401. 

Knyvett,  Sir  Thomas,  268. 

Ijabouchere,  Mr.,  292. 

"  Labour  "  members,  504,  506-8. 

Ladies  at  the   House,   10,  12,  86-94 

(with  ills),  246,  257. 
Laiton,  Dr.,  404. 
Lake,  Bishop,  154. 
Lake,  Mary,  147. 
Lake,  Sir  Thomas,  147. 
Lambert,  Major-General,  50. 
Lancaster,  the  Duke  of,  182,  537. 
Lane,  Mrs.,  145. 
Lansdowne,  Lord,  93. 
Latimer,  20  (ill.). 
I^aud,  Archbishop,  538,  539  (ill). 
Lawrence,  Dr.,  161. 
Leeds,  the  Duke  of,  81. 
Lefevre,    Charles    Shaw    (Viscount 

Eversley),    353,    354    (ill),    361 

(note),  554. 

Leicester,  the  Earl  of,  176,  304. 
Leigh,  Thomas,  187. 
Leinster,  the  Duke  of,  212. 
Lenthall,  William,  38,  39  (with  ill), 

40,  42,  43,  46,  50,  62,  340  (with 

ill),  341  (ill). 
Lesser  Hall,  the,  8. 
Library,  the,  260-64  (ills). 
Lilburne,  John,  545. 
Little  Parliament,  the,  48. 
Littleton,  Edward,  428,  429  (ill). 
Littleton,  Sir  Thomas,  324,  345,  346. 
Littlington,  Abbot,  557. 
Liverpool,  the  Earl  of,  204,  208,  211, 

212,  482,486. 

Llewellyn,  Prince  of  Wales,  10,  138. 
Lloyd,  Bishop,  154. 
Lobby,  the,  77-85.    Illustrations  :  76, 

77,  79,  81,  83, 84,  85,  259,  374,  377. 
Locke,  445,  544. 
Londonderry,   the    Marquis   of,   314. 

See  also  Castlereagh,  Lord. 
Long  Parliament,  the,  36,  45,  50,  51. 
Long,  Sir  Lilleborne,  343. 
Lord  Chancellors.     See  Chancellors. 
Lord    Mayor    committed   to   Tower, 

119. 
Lord   Protector,    Cromwell   installed 

as,  48. 
Lords,   the   House  of,   early  history 

of,  9-16  ;  in  the  sixteenth  century, 

8,  10,  20,  22  ;  in  the  seventeenth 

century,   30-45,   49,   51 ;    in    the 


eighteenth  century,  95-132 ;  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  200-20, 
459-534  ;  social  aspects,  67-76  ; 
the  Lobby,  77-85  ;  ladies  at,  86, 
90,  91  (ill)  ;  the  press,  228, 
229  ;  detailed  description  of, 
237-50. 

Illustrations:  31,  35,  72,  107,  117, 
118,  152,  166,  167,  207,  213,  219, 
237-50,  274,  303,  304,  306,  308- 
13,  315,  317,  497,  509,  534. 

Lottery  Committee,  the,  416,  418. 
See  also  p.  417  (ill). 

Lovat,  Lord,  6  (ill),  156,  158,  159 
(ill),  160  (ill),  COLOURED  PLATE 
facing  p.  161. 

Lovell,  Lord,  331. 

Lovell,  Thomas,  330,  331. 

Lowe,  Robert.    See  Sherbrooke. 

Lowndes,  William,  566. 

Lucy,  H.  W.,  230  (ill). 

Luttrell,  Colonel,  225. 

Lyndhurst,  Lord,  246,  451  (ill),  452, 
453,  462,  463,  466  (with  ill). 

Lyndwoode,  Bishop,  286. 

Lyttelton,  George,  1st  Baron,  111. 

Lyttleton,  Sir  Thomas.     See  Littleton. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  460,  470  (ill),  471 
(with  ill),  472,  473,  474,  475,  476. 

McCarthy,  Justin,  226  (ill.),  230. 

Macclesfieid,  the  Earl  of.     See  Parker. 

McDonnell,  Sir  Schoinberg,  570  (ill), 
576. 

Mace,  the  House  of  Commons, 

Mackphendris,  Captain  John,  412. 

Maclise,  D.,  B.A.,  240,  247. 

Maclure,  Sir  John,  532  (ill). 

Magna  Charta,  Henry  III.  renewing 
the,  11  (ill) 

Mahon,  Lord,  473. 

Maiden  speeches :  Addison's,  97 ; 
Steele's,  97  ;  Lord  Finch's,  98  ; 
Pitt's  (the  elder),  109 ;  Colonel 
Barre's,  119  ;  Sheridan's,  123 ; 
Pitt's  (the  younger),  124  ;  Dis- 
raeli's, 470. 

Majocchi,  Theodore,  212. 

Mallory  29. 

Malmesbury,  Lord,  130. 

Malory,  Peter,  150. 

Manners,  Lord  John,  280. 

Mansfield,  Dr.,  161. 

Mansfield,  Lord,  449. 

Marlbprough,  Duke  of,  156, 513  (ill). 

Mannion,  Philip,  181. 

Marmion,  Roger,  181. 

Marshall,  Mr.,  550. 

Marshalsea  Prison  inquiry,  414, 

Marten,  Henry,  2W7,  288,  387. 

Marvell,  Andrew,  52  (ill). 

Marvell  and  payment  of  members,  14. 

Mary,  Queen,  14,  18,  330,  397,  408, 
423. 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  21,  338,  398 
(with  ill). 

Mary,  Queen  (of  William  III.),  55 
(ill),  324. 

Mas?,  Parliament  attends,  393. 

Match  Tax,  500. 

Mawbey,  tiir  Joseph,  3"0. 

May,  Sir  T.  Erskine,  £62  (ill),  231, 
554. 

Maynooth  Grant,  474. 


Mazzini's  letters,  481. 

Melbourne,  Lord,  168,  460,  462  (with 

ill),  463,  464,  467. 
Melcombe,  Lord.     See  Dodington. 
Melville,  Lord,  162,  349  (ill),  351,  352. 
Members,  expulsion  of,  by  Cromwell, 

46. 

Members  fined  for  late  attendance,  14. 
Mildmay,  Sir  H.,  15. 
Mills,  385. 

"  Ministry  of  all  the  Talents,"  201. 
Monk,    General,   50  (with  ill),  342, 

552,  565. 

Monmouth,  the  Duke  of,  54,  56. 
Montagu,  the  Duke  of,  550. 
Montague,  Edward,  334. 
Montague,  Viscount,  187. 
Monteagle,  Lord,  268, 
Montrose,  the  Duke  of,  70,  492  (ill). 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  17  (with  ill.),  150 

(ill),  151,  332,  334,  335,  423. 
Moreton,  Mr.,  112. 
Morley,  John,  522  (ill),  524,  526. 
Morrice,  Mr.,  23. 
Mowbray,  Sir  John,  85. 
Murray,  Mr.,  387,  388. 

Nairn,  Lord,  155. 

Naoroji,  Dadabhai,  508. 

Nelson,  Lord,  569  (ill),  572. 

'•  Nether  House,"  17. 

Nethersole,  Sir  James,  31. 

Nevill,  Henry,  542. 

Newbolt,  538. 

Newcastle,  the  Duke  of,  106,  108  (til), 

109  (ill).  111,  116,  118,  121  (ill). 
New  Palace  Yard  described,  536. 
New  Palace  Yard,  Edward  I.  delivers 

speech  in,  298. 
Nithisdale,  155. 

Noel],  Dean  (of  St.  Paul's),  304. 
Norfolk,  the  Duke  of,  15  (ill),  21,  142, 

144,  151,  152,  300,  302,  314,  562. 
Norfolk,  the  Earl  of,  138. 
North  Briton,  the,  118. 
North,  Francis  (Lord  Guilford),  434 

(with  ill). 
North,  Lord,   65,   114,   116,  118,  119 

(ill),  120,  127,  146,  218,  349,  570. 
Northampton,  the  Marquis  of,  302. 
Northcote,  Sir  Stafford.     See  Iddes- 

leigb,  the  Earl  of. 

Northington,  the  Earl  of.    See  Hen- 
ley, Lord. 

Northumberland,  the  Duke  of,  146. 
Northumberland,  the  Earl  of,  329. 
Norton,  D.,  401. 

Norton,  Sir  Fletcher,  348,  349,  350. 
Nottingham,  the  Earl  of,  114  (note), 

386,  434  (ill). 

Nowell,  Dr.  [1553],  408,  410  (ill). 
Nowell,  Dr.  [1772],  402. 
Noy,  26. 
Nuts  eaten  in  the  House,  68. 

Gates,  Titus,  386  (ill),  387  (ill),  390, 

538. 
Oath,   the    Parliamentary,  364  (ill), 

510,  511. 

O'Brien,  Smith,  418,  419  (with  ills). 
O'Connell,  Daniel,  225  (///.),  227,  228, 

465,  467,  468  (with  ill),  469,  470, 

471,  476,  478,  510. 
Octagonal  Hall,  the,  24& 


590 


Index 


<  telothorpe.Oencnd,  410, 112, 410(.7/.). 

<  H.l  Pnlaer  Yard,  530. 
"  ( >l«l  TW'em,"  4»5. 
ol.lli.ill.  Willuun,  330. 

<  >l  1-worth.  Mr.,  401. 
Oliver,  Alderman.  110,  --''•. 
Olmiii-,  .li.lni,  .'•.'•  2. 

On-low,  Sir  Arthur,  101  (ill.),  125 
(•7/.X  130  (ill.).  321  (ill.),  324,  32.'., 
348,  3!»T,  348,  353.  440,  550. 

On-low,  Sir  Richard,  33«,  338,  346, 
347. 

O|>ening  of  IVliament,  the,  by 
K.I «. u. I  VII.,  COLOURED  PLATK 
facing  /».  211,  315  (ill.),  317  (i//.)  ; 
by  Henry  VI..  301  (ill.) ;  by  Queen 
Victoria,  300  (///.),  310  (iu.).  See 
alto  it>.  207-317  IIIK!  364-a 

Orange  girl,  the,  78  («7/.X  80. 

( >range,  Mary,  I*rince88  of.  32  (ill.). 

Oratory,  the,  287  288  (ill.),  559  (ill.). 

Order  Ikxik  mutilated  by  James  I.,  27. 

Orford,  the  Earl  of.    See  Walpole. 

<  >— iniMon,  Viscount    See  Denison. 
Oxenden,  Sir  George.  441. 
Oxcnford,  the  Earl  of,  306. 
Oxford,  the  Earl  of,  05  (with  ill.),  06, 

156,  307,  350  (note),  566. 

Paget,  Lord,  187. 

Pointed  Chaining,  the,  4,  6.  8,  15 
(ill.)  48.  141  (ill.),  188  (ill.),  906, 
300  (i7/.),  407^  409  (ill.),  560. 

I'.iintings.    iVe  P  rescoes. 

Pairing,  377. 

Palace  Yard,  1  (ill.),  4,  74  (ill.),  113 
(ill.),  147  (///.),  275  («7/.),  371  (ill.), 
5*5  (with  ill.),  53(i  (with  ill.),  537, 
538,  530,  540,  541,  542,  541,  547, 
558  (ill.),  561  (('//.). 

Palatine,  Chnrles  the  Elector,  30. 

l>algrave,  Sir  F.,  168. 

Palgrave.  Sir  R.  F.  ]).,  250,  263,  547. 

Palmer,  George,  38. 

Palmerston,  Lord,  8  (ill.),  204,  208. 210 
(with  ill.),  233,  354,  460,  475  (ill.), 
489,  490,  404,  405,  496,  520,  573. 

Paris,  Matthew,  557. 

Parker,  Thomas  (Earl  of  Macclesfield), 
COLOURED  PLATE  facing  p.  137, 
440  (with  ill.),  441,  442,  443. 

Parliament  Chamber,  t  h>-,  6. 

Parliament,  the  first,  9  ;  (Irst  pictorial 
representation  of,  10 ;  old-time 
Parliaments,  10-16 ;  wages  of 
members.  12  ff.  ',  fines,  etc.,  for 
laxity  of  attendance,  14  ff. ;  in 
the  .sixteenth  century,  17-24 ;  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  25-56 ; 
social  aspects,  67-76  ;  the  Lobby, 
77  85 ;  ladies  at  the  House,  86-94 ; 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  05-132 ; 
destruction  by  fire,  104-72  ;  coro- 
nation ceremonies,  17:?-!)!);  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  200-211,  )."!)- 
531:  detailed  description,  231  !)2  : 
lh«-  House  at  work,  etc.,  38<)  i^'i  ; 
Parliaments  of  England,  579-80. 
Illuslfititnui:  13,  16,  22,  27,  00,  164, 
171,  233,  235,  3  Ui,  350.  See  alto 
Commons,  Lords. 

Parliamentary  reporting,  221. 

Parliamentary  vote  to  victorious 
general,  an  early,  329. 


Parlour,  or  mouth  of  the  House,  318. 
Parnell,  Chnrles  Stewart,  85,  354,  504. 

Boe(tU.X 

Parry,  Dr.,  53-. 
Paulet,  l/ird,  506. 
Payment  of  members,  12. 
Pearson,  J.  I...  A.I;. A.,  i:u. 
Pearson.  Joseph,  78,  N  i.  - 1 . 
iv.u>.,n 's  "  Political  Dictionary,"  78. 
i  Peel  (A.  W.),  Ix>rd,  58, 202,  2!M »,  856,  350, 

357  (i7/.)  35H  (with  ill.),  30H,  370. 
Peel,  Cem-ral,  HIT. 
Peel,  Sir  Hubert,  S  (///.),  170,  204,  208, 

200  (i7/.),  214,  216,218,  353,    in... 

452,    M»i,  401,  405,   172,  473  (with 

»7/.),  474,  470,  480,  481,  482,  483, 

484,  48')  (ill.),  486,  487,  488,  520, 

576. 

Peers'  Chamber,  the,  242  (i7/.)  244. 
Peers,  House  of.    See  Lords,  House  of. 
I  '•  Ih, mi.  Harry,  43. 
Pelham,   Henry,   102,  104  (i7/.),  106, 

108,  307,  308,  570. 
Pembroke,  the  Earl  of,  174,  176,  187, 

188,  550. 

Pendarvis,  Mrs..  90. 
Pensionary  Parliament,  51. 
Pepys,  Samuel,   144  (ill.),  285  (ill.), 

388,  389,  390.  542,  544. 
Perceval,  Colonel,  467. 
Perceval,  Spencer,  81  (ill),  82,  204, 

391  (with  ill.). 
Percival,  Lord,  414. 
Percy,  Sir  Thomas,  180. 
Percy,  Thomas,  265  (ill.),  266,  268. 
Perrers,  Alice,  320. 
Perry,  225. 

Peter  the  Great,  146,  147  (ill.). 
Peters,  Hugh.  548  (ill.),  550. 
Petition  of  Right,  32. 
Petitions,  370.  371. 
Petty,  Sir  William,  542. 
Philips,  Sergeant,  339,  400. 
Philips,  Sir  Robert,  29. 
Pichegru,  573. 
Pickering,  Sir  James,  319. 
Pierrepoint,  Evelyn,  158. 
Piggott,  Dr.,  161. 
Pjggott,  Sir  Christopher,  25. 
Pitt,  Lady  Hester,  121. 
I'itt,  Mrs.,  160. 
Pitt,  William  (Earl  of  Chatham),  65, 

96,  104,  105,  108,  109,  110  (with 

ill.).  Ill,  112,  113,  114,  116,  117 

(ill.),  110,  132,  141,  250,  308,  520, 

570,  576. 
Pitt,  Willliam  (the  younger),  FRONTIS- 

I-IKCE,  72,  82,  120,  124,  127,  128, 

130,  131  (ill.),  132  (with  HI.),  2<K>. 

220,  250,  316,  350,  351,  3">2,  417, 

450,  452,  520,  571,  572. 
Popham.  Sir  John,  310  (ill.),  338,  398. 
Portland,  the  Duke  of,  146,  201,  202 

(with  ill.). 
Portland,  I,ord,  577. 
Powle,  Henry,  324. 
Poynter,  Sir  E.  J.,  P.R.A.,  248. 
Plimsoll,  Samuel,  SOI  (ill.),  502. 
l'l< >\\ man,  Piers,  560. 
"  Praise-God-Barebones  Parliament,'' 

the,  48. 

Prayers,  368,  396-405. 
Presbyterians  mob  the  Speaker,  340. 
Press,  the,  85,  221-230. 


Pre>-  Gallery,  the,  227  (|7/.),  229  (ill.). 
Pre.xton,  Dr..  mi. 
Preston,  Sir  Robert,  316. 
Pretiman.  Sir  John.  3S4,  385. 
I'ride,  Colonel,  i:i,  u  (with  (//.),  388. 
-  Pride's  Pm-e."  .|3.   It  (///.). 
Prim.  William  .1.,  27O. 
Prince's   Chamber,    the,  6,  242,  244 

(ill.),  2 17  (///.). 

Prior  ot  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  the,  10. 
Privy  Councils,  21,  28,  566. 
Privy  Seal  Ollice,  the,  .",72  (///.)  :,7«;. 
Prynne,  William,  43,  44,  538 '(with  ///.). 
Puckering,  Sir  John,  33H,  339,  421. 
Pulteney,    William    (Earl  of    P.aili), 

100-106. 
Purcell,  51 1 
Pyin,  John,  29,  30,  39,  40  (ill.),  539, 

547  (///),  550. 

Queensberry,  Duchess  of,  87  (ill.),  90. 
Questions,  371,  372. 
Quorum,  a,  370. 

Raikes,  Robert,  222. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  26  (ill.),  538,  539, 

-,:,<;. 

Ratcliffe,  331. 
Redesdale,  Lord,  246,  350. 
Redford,  Sir  Henry,  329. 
Reform  Bill  division,  217. 
Reform  Bill,  the,  217-19  (ilia.),  497. 
Refreshments  at  the  House,  67-76. 
Reid,  Dr.,  171,  234,  235,  209,  270. 
Remonstrance,  the  Grand,  38,  39,  60. 
Ilendel,  Lord,  144. 

Reporters'  Gallery  fi  rst  established,228. 
Rhenish  Wine  House,  544 
Rhodes,   Cecil,  69  (note),  420  (with 

ill.),  421  (ill.). 

Rich,  Sir  Richard,  320,  335. 
Richard  I.,  134,  174,  549  (ill.). 
Richard  II.,  7,  12,15  (ill.),  134,  135, 

176  (ill.),  178,  180,  181,  246,  288, 

319,  520,  537. 

Richard  III    184,  330  (ill.),  SSI. 
Richard,  Abbot  of  Evesham,  423. 
Richard,  Earl,  297. 
Richardson,  Samuel,  264. 
Richmond,  the  Duchess  of,  90. 
Richmond,  the  Duke  of,   116  (with 

ill.),  140,  560, 

Ridley,  Sir  M.  White,  360,  361  (notf). 
Rigby,  3i:». 
Rights,  Bill  of,  56. 
Rights,  Petition  of,  56. 
Robert  the  Bruce,  138. 
Robing-Room,  House  of  Lords,  the, 

238,  239  ()7/s.). 

Rockingham,  the  Marquis  of.  81,  128. 
Roebuck,  John  Arthur,  486  (i7/.X  400, 

495,  496. 

Roger  of  Salisbury,  423. 
Rogers,  Sir  Edward,  302. 
J{»lHiul,  the,  80.  350,  448. 
llookwood,  Ambrose,  267,  269. 
Rosebery,  the  Earl  of,  144,  308,  528, 

530,  532,  533  (ill.),  577. 
Rothschild,  Baron  Lionel  de,  511. 
lions,  Francis,  313  (ill.). 
Royal  Commissions,  419. 
Royal  Gallery,  House  of  Lords,  the, 

240,  COLOURED  PLATK  faeutg  />. 

241,  243  (;7/.). 


Index 


591 


Royal  Speeches,  297-317,  3C4-8. 

Rudyard,  Sir  B.,  400  (ill.),  401. 

"Rupert  of  Debate,"  the,  465. 

Russel,  John,  330. 

Russell,  Earl  (John  Francis),  240. 

Russell,  Lord  John  (Earl  Russell), 
218,  220,  248,  459  (with  ill),  460 
(with  ill.),  464,  489  (with  ill.),  490, 
492,  494,  496. 

Russell  of  Killowen,  Lord,  230, 520(ill.). 

Rutland,  the  Duke  of,  144. 

Rutland,  the  Earl  of,  306. 

Sacheverell,  Dr.,  154,  155,  156  (ill.), 

347. 
St.  Albans,  Viscount.    See  Bacon,  Sir 

Francis. 
St.    Edmund's    Chamber,    the.      See 

Painted  Chamber,  the. 
St.  John  of  Bletsoe,  Lord,  300. 
St.  John,  Henry.     See  Bolingbroke. 
St.  John,  Mr.,  566. 
St.  Leonards,  Lord,  453  (ill.),  454. 
St.  Loe,  Sir  William,  302. 
St.  Margaret's  Church,  363  (ill.),  396 

(with  ill.),    397    (ill.),    401    (ill.), 

403  (ill.),  548,  550,  552  (with  ill.), 

553,  554,  556. 
.St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  two  Houses  go 

in  procession  to,  336,  397. 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  FRONTISPIECE, 

1   (ill.),  7,  8,  17,  42  (ill.),  48,  50, 

138  (ill.),  140  (ill.),  165  (ill.),  168 

(ill.),   248,   250,   255  (ill.),  293-6, 

327  (ill.),  334  (ill.),  563. 
St.  Stephen's  Hall,  132  (ill.),  169  (ill.), 

249  (ill.),  250. 
Salisbury,  the  Marquis  of,  144,  314, 

COLOURED  PLATE  facing  p.  377, 

440,  494  (ill.),  497,  498,  499,  514, 

517  (ill.),  520  (ill.),  532. 
Salomons,  Alderman,  511. 
Sancroft.  Bishop,  154. 
Sandwich,  Lord,  446,  449. 
Sandars,  J.  S.,  568  (ill.). 
Sandys,  103,  104. 
Sandys,  Mrs.,  570. 
Sandys,  Samuel,  570. 
Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  26. 
Saunderson,  Lady  Francis,  90. 
Saunderson,  Sir  William,  90. 
Sawbridge,  120,  146. 
Scenes  in  the  House,  19  (ill.),  21,  22, 

•I'A,   30,  34,   35  (with  ill.),  36,  37 

(ill.),   38,   39,   40  (with   ill.),   44, 

46,  47  (ill.),  49  (ill.),  54,  120,  206, 

351,  356,  501. 
Schomberg,  302. 
Scobell,  Mr.,  48,  403. 
Scolcrot't,  Jean,  147. 
Scott,  Mrs.,  90. 

Scott,  Sir  Gilbert,  288,  557,  563. 
Seal  of  the  Commonwealth,  the,  45. 
Selborne,  the  Earl  of,  455,  457  (ill.). 
Selden,  John,   29,    30    (ill.),   34,    35, 

380  (ill.). 

Select  Committees,  410. 
Senate  of  Lilliput,  223. 
Sermons  preached  before  the 

Commons,  401,  550. 
Seymour,  Sir  Edward,  88,  324,  343, 

344,  347  (ill.). 
Shaftesbury,   the   Earl  of,   429,  430, 

432,  433  (with  ill.),  434. 


Sharpe,  Dr.,  402. 

Sharpe,  William,  567. 

Sheffield,  Lord,  569. 

Sheppard,  Jack,  443. 

Sheil,  Richard  Lalor,  466,  467. 

Sherbrooke,  Viscount,  498 -(ill.),  500, 

504,  553. 

Sheridan,  Mrs..  89. 

Sheridan,  R.   B.,   FRONTISPIECE,  82, 
120,  123,  124  (with  ill.),  161,  200, 
201  (ill.),  204. 
Sherrington,  Gilbert,  147. 
Ship  Money,  35,  36. 
Shirley.  Sir  Thomas,  382. 
Shrewsbury,  the  Duke  of,  439. 
Sibthorpe,  Colonel,  467. 
Siddons,  Mrs.,  450. 
Sidmouth,  Lord.    See  Addington. 
Sidney,  the  Hon.  Henry,  188. 
Simon  of  Sudbury,  178,  423. 
Sinclair,  Captain,  412. 
"Single-Speech  Hamilton,"  111. 
Skippon,  Sergeant-Major,  538. 
Smith,  the  Rev.  Sydney,  204  (ill.). 
Smith,  Robert,  571. 
Smith,  W.  H.,  254.  516  (with  ill.),  574. 
Smoking-Room,  the,  80. 
Smollett,  569. 
Snuff-taking,  66. 
Soane,  Sir  John,  135,  148  (with  ill.), 

415. 

"  Soapy  Sam,"  457. 
Solomon's  Porch,  128. 
Somers,  Lord,  438,  439  (with  ill.),  440. 
Somerset,  the  Protector,  152. 
South  African  Committee,   the,  420, 

421  (ill.). 
South    Sea    Bubble,    the,    410,    411, 

413  (ill.),  441. 

Southampton,  Lord,  324,  325. 
Speaker,  a  corrupt,  56,  344. 
Speaker  asleep,  328. 
Speaker,  election  of  described,  361. 
Speaker  executed,  a,  330. 
Speaker  fined  for  late  attendance,  15. 
Speaker  first  to  be  ennobled,  350. 
Speaker  gives  a  casting  vote,  351. 
Speaker,  joke  practised  on  a,  343. 
Speaker,  violent  speech  by  a,  349. 
Speaker's  Chair,  the,  256. 
Speaker's  deputy  appointed,  326. 
Speaker's  Dinners,  origin  of,  57. 
Speaker's  duties,  326. 
Speaker's  election  not  ratified,  524. 
Speaker's  eye,  catching  the,  378. 
Speaker's  prayers,  398. 
Speaker's  salary,  325. 
Speakers,  10,  15,  54,  57-66,  82, 83  (ill.) 
106,   119,   144,   304,   316,   318-60, 
361,  407,  409,  583,  584.     See  also  : 

Abercromby,  James. 

Abbot,  Charles. 

Addington,  Henry. 

Bamfield,  Thomas. 

Bell,  Sir  Robert. 

Brand,  Henry  Bouverie. 

Bussey,  Sir  John. 

Catesby,  William. 

Charlton,  Sir  Job. 

Chaucer,  Thomas. 

Chute,  Challoner. 

Coke,  Edward. 

Compton,  Spencer. 

Cornwall,  Charles  Wolfran. 


Crooke,  Sergeant. 

Gust,  Sir  John. 

De  la  Mare,  Sir  Peter. 

De  Montfort,  Peter. 

Denison,  John  Evelyn. 

Dudley,  Edmund. 

Empson,  Richard. 

Finch,  Sir  Heneage. 

Finch,  Sir  John. 

Foley,  Paul. 

Glanville,  Sir  John. 

Gregory,  Sergeant. 

Grenville,  Hon.  W.  W. 

Grimston,  Sir  Harbottle. 

Gully,  William  Court. 

Hare,  Sir  Nicholas. 

Harley,  Robert. 

Heigham,  Clement. 

Hungerford,  W. 

Inglefield,  Thomas. 

Lefevre,  Charles  Shaw, 

Lenthall,  William. 

Littleton,  Sir  Thomas. 

Long,  Sir  Lilleborne. 

Lovell,  Thomas. 

Mitford,  Sir  John. 

More,  Sir  Thomas. 

Norton,  Sir  Fletcher. 

Oldhall,  Sir  William. 

Onslow,  Arthur. 

Onslow,  Richard. 

Peel,  Arthur  W. 

Philips,  Sergeant. 

Pickering,  Sir  James. 

Popham,  John. 

Powle,  Henry. 

Puckering,  Sir  John. 

Redford,  Sir  Henry. 

Rich,  Richard. 

Rous,  Francis. 

Russel,  John. 

Seymour,  Edward. 

Stitton,  Charles  Manners. 

Thorpe,  Thomas. 

Tiptoft,  Sir  John. 

Tresham,  William. 

Trevor,  Sir  John. 

Wray,  Christopher. 

Yelverton,  Sergeant. 
Speakership,    divisions    relating    to, 

324,  353,  360. 
Speech  from  the  Throne.    See  Royal 

Speeches. 

Spencer,  Lord,  571. 
Spencer,  Lord  Charles,  309. 
Spiller,  Benjamin,  261. 
Spratt,  550. 

Stafford,  the  Earl  of,  178,  538. 
Stafford,  Edward.    See  Buckingham, 

the  Earl  of. 

Stanhope,  the  Earl  of,  411  (with  ill.). 
Stanhope,  General,  98. 
Stanley,  Lord  (the  Earl  of  Derby), 
455,  460,  465  (with  ill.),  466,  467, 
490,  492,  493,  496,  497,  499- 
Star  Chamber,  the,  8.  21,  34  (ill.),  3G, 

409,  544,  545  (with  ill.),  547. 
Steele,  Sir  Richard,  96,  97,  98  (with 

ill.). 

Stephen,  6,  7,  174. 
Stephenson,  Mr.,  280. 
"  Stiff  Dick,"  346. 
Stokes,  Mistress,  86,  87. 
Stone,  Sir  Benjamin,  142,  526  (ill.). 


592 


Index 


«<ti.«ir..r.l,   tin-   Karl   of,  ».••  (ill.\    36 
(with  1^.1  i:.2  (with  i//.X  i.vv«3. 
Straus.  l>.r.l.  :t 


Si  rude.  :«.-..  :c»,  i.  MI//.). 

••Stun!)  Beggar*,    104 

Suffolk,  tin-  Duke  of.  |.-,i.  330, 

Suffolk,  ili,-  Earl  of.  i 

Bogden.  Sir  Ed  ward.  XT  si. 

Sunderland,  tin-  Karl  of.  411.  -Ill  («//.). 

Supply,  Cummin-  •••  "I.  li'Hi.  376. 

Sn-%.  \,  (In-  Kutl  nf, 

Sute.  Mr.  mi. 

Suttoii,   Sir    Clmil<->    Manner*   (Vis- 

count Canterbury).  320  (ill.),  352, 

353  (with  •//.). 
Swarton,  Sarah,  1  17. 

TalUit,  I/ml.  4l4(i//),  41V 

Talliot.  Sir  Gilbert,  187. 

Talfourd,  Sir  T.  N  .  17:!  (ill.),  473. 

TajH'Mnrv     >.  .   i  i   -sooea. 

Ta|H-stry  Sjieerh,  Chatham's,  114. 

Tiisli,  I'.rian,  23. 

Taylor,  Mr.,  225. 

Taylor.  Sir  John,  567. 

Temple  Church,  the,  4O9  ;  motion  for 

fast  nt.  22. 

Temple,  Karl.    AVr  lirenville,  ItirhurJ. 
Temple,  I.ord,  146. 
Terrare,  th-.  ii  1 
Theed,  William.  -Jll. 
Thomas.  l/.rd.  :wi. 
Thompson.  Alderman,  210. 
Thonu-y  Island,  2. 
ThorjK-,  Thomas,  3»i. 
Throne,  the  Koyal,  House  of  Lords, 

313  (.//.). 
Tlmrlow,   Ixird,   162,    446,    447,    448 

(with  ,11.). 
Tii-rney,  2<)8. 
Tilly,  Captain,  573. 
Tilt  Yard,  the,  537. 
Tiptoft.  Sir  John,  320. 
"Ton. 

Toby,  M.P.,  230. 
Townshend,  Charles,  113,   114  (with 

ill.),  12".  122. 

Townshend,  Thomas,  402  (with  ill.). 
Tniske.  515. 
Trreuthiek.  12". 
Trelawney,  Bishop,  154. 
Tn-ham,  Sir  Francis,  i!i;7. 
Tresham,  William,  33(1. 
Tn-vor,  Sir  John,  Mi  (with  ill),  344, 

315.  :iit;. 
Trials,   6,   69,   1.13,   14H-02,  212.  21", 

2  1-'.  :r,2.    I/liisti-'ttioii*  :  a,  <;,  1:12, 

l.'iS,  i:.7,  ir.it.  1(»),  1(KJ,  213. 
Trout,  Oeorgc,  220  (i//.). 
Truro,  Ixird  4:.:.. 
Turk's  H.-JK!  Inn,  the,  ,r>42. 
Turner,  Bishop.  l">i. 
Turner,  Charl.-s,  1  Hi. 
Twi--,  21fi. 
Tyrrwhytt,  Sir  Tliomas,  211. 


William.  2!»2. 


\'nt,  the  Irish  whisky,  7:.  (///.),  76. 
Vat,  the  Valentin,  fix  (,//.).  7ti. 
Ventilating   '  'haniU-r,  ladies  accom- 
modated in,  !I2. 


Ventilation,  270-74  (with  Hit.). 

Verner,  Hi7.  l*:i  (///.). 

N'erulam,    liaron.      Set    Bacon,    Sir 

Kranriv 
Virtorin,  (Jucen,   171,  173,  1UO,  296, 

309  (i//.X  4ft9,  460,  461  (ill.),  462, 

17s  (///.),  502  (•//.). 
Vietoria    Tower,   the,   232   (ill.),  234 

(with  ///.),  23.-i,  23(!  (('//.),  237,  270, 

2s:i,  .Mi:t  (ill.). 

Villiers,  Charles  IVIhain,  480. 
Villiers,  (Jeorge.     8te  Buekingham, 

the  Duke  of. 
Vote  Otliee.  the,  3(!6  (ill.),  372  (///.), 

37:.  (///.). 

VOTW,  l-Mwanl,  404. 
Viilliamy,  .Mr.,  279,  280. 

Wages  of  members  of  Parliament.  Ki. 
Wales,  the  Prince  of  (present— 1902), 

1  II. 

Wallace,  Sir  William,  150. 
Waller,  Edmund,  548  (('//.),  550. 
\\aljM.le,  Horace,  106  (ill.),  110,  111, 

126,550,  566.569,570. 
Walpolc,  Lord,  2S(i. 
Walpolc,  IJandolph  C,  262. 
Waljwle,  Sir  Robert.  W,  66  (with  ill.), 

98,  100  (with  ill.),  101  (with  ilL\ 

102  (with  ill.),  103,  104  (with  ill.), 

105,  106,  108,  109,  125  (///.),  22:5. 

250, 308, 440, 539, 550, 568,569,570. 
Walter,  .Mr.,  -Hi7,  468. 
Wanklyn,  Colonel,  :{W.r>. 
Warbeck,  Perkin,  537,  538. 
Wardle,  Colonel,  388  (ill.). 
Wnrenne,  the  Earl  of,  176. 
Webb,  Mr.,  567. 
Webster,    Daniel,    opinion    of    the 

Parliament  of  1628,  31. 
UYddrrlumi,  349,567. 
Wellington,  the    Duke  of,   208,   210 

(ill.),  214,  392,  449,  460,  462,  463 

(with  ill.),  466,  569  (fVO,  572. 
Wentworth,  Paul,  22,  23,  32. 
Wentworth,  Peter,  21,  22. 
Wentworth,  Sir  Peter,  46. 
Wuntworth,  Thomas.    See  Strafford, 

Earl  of. 
Westbury,  Lord,  455  (with  ill.),  456, 

457,  458. 

Westley,  Mr.,  166. 

Westminster  Abbey,  4,  14  (ill.),  28 
(///.),  38  (ill.),  US  (ill.),  399  (///.), 
401  (ill.),  555  (ill.),  562  (ill.). 

Westminster  election,  a  famous,  531  : 
meetingin  Westminster  Hall,  I  Hi. 

Westminster  Hall,  3  (ill.),  6,  8,  10,  11 
(///.),  28  (ill.),  74  (///.),  113  (///.), 
133-63  (with  ills.),  182  (ill.),  183 
(///.),  186  (///.),  189  (ill.)  Wi  (///.), 
232,  235,  240,  250,  491  (ill.),  560. 

Westminster,  the  Palace  of,  1  /.,  14 
(///.),  16,  24  (ill),  38  (ill),  149 
(///.),  164,  172  (///.). 

Westminster— views  of :  128,  134,136, 
U6. 

Westmorland,  lAdy,  90. 

Wharton,  the  Duke  of,81, 411, 412  (««.). 

W!I,.I,K.,  119. 

Whig  and  Tory,  adoj)tion  of  the 
designations,  56. 


Whit  bread.  92,  130,  393. 

White.  Hisiiop.  i;,.|. 

Whitehall,  8,  55  (,//.),  564   (,'//.),  56.5 

(ill.).  568. 
Whips,  the,  66,  85. 
Whitehurst,  Mr.,  279. 
WhitelcH-k,  BulstriHle,  51  (ill.),  444. 
\\hitman,  276. 
Widdrington,  Jxird,  155. 
WilKrrton-e,    Arehdeacon,     142,     405 

(with  ///.). 

WUberforoe,  Uishop  Samuel.  i:,7,  458. 
WillM-rforee,  William,   FKONTISI-II  <  i 

(i9,  211  (»'//.),  227,352. 
Wild,  Jonathan.  I  Ili. 
Wilkes,  John,  118,  119,  120  (ill),  124, 

19*5,417,  538. 
William  I..  4,  173. 

William  J  L  6, 13:«  (with  ill.),  136, 173. 
William  III.,  54  (///.),  55  (,//.),   276, 

324,  346,  438,  440. 
William  IV.,  173,  199,  308  (///.),  :52.\ 

453,  4.59. 

William  of  Wykelmm.  318  (i7/.),  123. 
Williams,  John  (Bishoi)  of   Linroln 

and  Archbishiip  of    YorkX    '-'- 

(with  ill.t.  121.  IL'-. 
Wilmington,  the  Earl  of,  3"0,  570. 
Winchester,  the  Marquis  of,  300,  302, 

314. 

Windham,  161,  226. 
Wine-cellars  at  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, 67  (i//.). 

Wine  charges  at  the  House,  71,  7(i. 
Winter,  Thomas,  265  (ill.),  266,  269. 
\N "iteiiitgemot,  the,  9. 
Wolff,  Sir  Henry  Drummond,  51^. 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  17, 18  (///.),  19  (ill), 

303  (ill.),  329  (ill),  332,  334,  123, 

545. 

Women  sit  in  Parliament,  10. 
Wood,  Charles  216. 
Wood.     Sir     William     Page.       See 

Hatherley,  Baron. 

Woodfall,  William,  123,  224  (ill),  225. 
Woolsack,  the,  45(i  (,//.). 
Worcester,  the  Earl  of,  302,  304. 
Wray,  Sir  Cecil,  541,  542. 
Wray,  Sir  Christopher,  331  (<//.)  3!>7. 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  250,  27c,  2:11, 

503,  566. 

Wright,  Francis,  226. 
Wright,  John,  265  (ill),  266. 
Wright,  Mrs.,  166. 
Wright,  Sir  Nathan,  440. 
Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  152. 
Wymbish,  Mr.,  12. 
Wyndham,  George,    530,    532   (with 

ill),  634. 

Yarmouth,  the  Earl  of,  204. 
Yelverton,  Sergeant,  323,  :5!is. 
Yeoman  of  the  (iiianl,  a,  Coi.oi  1:1  n 

Pl.ATK  fiieini/ji.  205,  314  (ill). 
W\,-ll,  Henry,  1:V.. 
^  onge,  Sir  \\illiam,  223. 
York,   the    Duke    of,  330,   428,   4*). 

432. 

York  Mouse,  425  (///.). 
Yorke,  Sir  Philip,  102. 

Zenelly.    See  Ye  veil. 


Pfinlal  by  llaull, 


<k  fixtf,  /.(,(.,  London  mil  Aylobury. 


014250103 


OCT  4     1990