The Mother of Parliaments

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Footnotes

1 King’s “Essay on the English Constitution,” p. 17.

2 “The Spirit of Laws.” “Works,” vol. i. p. 212.

3 “Lex Parliamentaria” (1690), p. 1.

4 “A Brief Register of Parliamentary Writs” (1664).

5 Elsynge, Clerk of the Parliaments in the seventeenth century, took notes of the Lords’ speeches, which have been published by the Camden Society (1870-1879).

6 “Works and Correspondence,” vol. iii. p. 525. (The power to dissolve Parliament is still theoretically in the hands of the Sovereign; practically it is in those of the Cabinet. Parliament has only been dissolved once by the Sovereign since the beginning of the eighteenth century.)

7 Oldfield’s “History of Great Britain and Ireland,” vol. i. p. 280.

8 May’s “A Breviary of the History of Parliament” (1680), p. 21.

9 Burnet’s “History of His Own Times,” vol. iii. p. 92 n.

10 E.g., “Sir Edward Turner, who for a secret service had lately a bribe of £4000, as in the Exchequer may be seen, and about £2000 before; and made Lord Chief Baron.
“Sir Stephen Fox—once a link boy; then a singing boy at Salisbury; then a serving man; and permitting his wife to be common beyond sea, at the Restoration was made Paymaster of the Guards, where he has cheated £100,000, and is one of the Green Cloth.” “Flagellum Parliamentarium,” pp. 10 and 24.

11 Forster’s “Life of Sir John Eliot,” vol. i. p. 529.

12 See “Journal of the Protectorate House of Lords, from the original MS. in the possession of Lady Tangye, January 20, 1657, to April 22, 1659.” House of Lords MSS. vol. iv. new series, p. 503.

13 Burnet’s “History of His Own Time,” vol. i. p. 184.

14 “Public affairs vex no man,” said Dr. Johnson, when asked whether he were not annoyed by this vote. “I have never slept an hour less, nor eat an ounce less meat. I would have knocked the factious dogs on the head, to be sure; but I was not vexed.”

15 Boswell’s “Life of Johnson,” p. 731. (Cromwell had already stigmatized Scotland as corrupt. He had been told, he said, that it was a poor country inhabited by honest people, but found that the country was not poor and the people anything but honest.)

16 Dr. King’s “Anecdotes of His Own Time,” p. 44.

17 “History of His Own Time,” vol. ii. p. 76.

18 “History,” vol. iii. p. 545.

19 “Correspondence of George III. and Lord North,” vol. ii. p. 425.

20 Bell’s “Life of Canning,” p. 347.

21 Mark Boyd’s “Social Gleanings,” p. 246.

22 Russell’s “Recollections,” p. 35.

23 Oldfield’s “Representative History,” vol. vi., App.

24 “The Black Book,” vol. i. p. 430.

25 “By the same violence that one Parliament, chosen but for Three Years, could prolong their own sitting for Seven, any other may presume to render themselves perpetual.” Ralph’s “Uses and Abuses of Parliament,” vol. ii. p. 716.

26 “Essays and Sketches of Life and Character,” p. 148.

27 For example, one of £7000 for a retired Auditor of the Imprest, and another of £7300 granted to Lord Bute as some slight compensation for his loss of office. See Rose’s “Influence of the Crown.”

28 “Gleanings of Past Years,” vol. i. pp. 134-5.

29 O’Connell showed Pryme an Irish Act of Parliament for the suppression of “Rapparees, Tories, and other Robbers.” Pryme’s “Recollections,” p. 231.

30 A German writer, Herr Bucher, wrote as follows, in 1855:—“It would be difficult to give any other definition of the two parties than that a Whig is a man who is descended from Lord John Russell’s grandmother, a Tory, one who sits behind Disraeli.” “Der Parliamentarismus wie er ist,” p. 152.

31 “I have a maxim,” wrote Horace Walpole to his friend Montague in 1760, “that the extinction of party is the origin of faction.” “Letters,” vol. iii. 370.

32 See Parr’s “Discourse on Education,” p. 51.

33 “Anecdotes and other miscellaneous pieces” left by the Rt. Hon. Arthur Onslow. (From the MS. at Clandon.)

34 This saying has often been wrongly attributed to Lord Randolph Churchill. That statesman’s most famous maxim on the subject of Opposition is given in his son’s “Life” (p. 188-9): “Whenever by an unfortunate occurrence of circumstances an Opposition is compelled to support the Government,” said Lord Randolph, “the support should be given with a kick and not with a caress, and should be withdrawn on the first available moment.”

35 This was evidently a favourite simile of O’Connell’s. He used it again with reference to Mr. Shaw, member for Dublin University, in the debate on the resolution for giving a grant to Maynooth College for the education of Roman Catholics.

36 “English Traits,” p. 46.

37 In a speech delivered at a banquet in Glasgow on January 13, 1837.

38 In the sixteenth century the Prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (near Clerkenwell), whom Selden calls “a kind of an otter, a knight half-spiritual and half-temporal,” had precedence of all the lay barons in Parliament. His priory was suppressed in 1536, but his name continued to appear spasmodically in the Journals of the House of Lords until some time in Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

39 Dr. King’s “Anecdotes,” p. 130. (It was a more modern politician who, on being reproved by an opponent, said, “Consider the case of Balaam’s ass; before it spoke all men regarded it as quite an ordinary quadruped, but after it had spoken they discovered what an extraordinary ass it was!”)

40 In November, 1908, the election of an Irish peer resulted in a tie between Lords Ashtown and Farnham. Such a thing had not happened since the Union. The difficulty was settled in a manner only perhaps possible in an institution as venerable as the House of Lords. In accordance with the provisions of the Act of Union, the Clerk of the Parliaments wrote the names of the candidates on two pieces of paper which he then put into a glass. One of these he drew out at random, and the peer whose name was inscribed thereon was declared to be duly elected.

41 Lord Curzon of Kedleston was so created in 1898.

42 When the last Liberal Government of Queen Victoria came into office the Court officials were discussing the new Administration one day at Windsor. “I wonder what peers they’ll make,” remarked one of the ladies-in-waiting. The Queen turned upon her with uplifted eyebrows. “They!” she exclaimed. An uncomfortable silence ensued. Again, in 1909, a Cabinet Minister’s allusion in a speech to certain newspaper proprietors whom a Conservative Prime Minister had “taken the precaution to make into barons” inspired the King’s private Secretary to write a letter to a correspondent in which he stated that, notwithstanding the Minister’s statement, “the creation of Peers remains a Royal prerogative.”

43 “Letters to Sir H. Mann,” vol. i. p. 380.

44 On the Second Reading of the Corn Importation Bill, May 25, 1846.

45 “Works,” p. 564.

46 The peer in question had not donned a false nose for the occasion, as might be imagined, but was merely wearing the ordinary working nose of aristocratic proportions with which Providence had supplied him.

47 Croker’s “Letters,” vol. i. p. 85.

48 One is reminded of the reply addressed by the Emperor Alexander to Madame de Stael who was complimenting Russia on possessing so able a ruler. “Alas, Madame,” he said, “I am nothing but a happy accident!”

49 At the time of the French Revolution, the country supported the Government so strongly that the Opposition dwindled away to nothing. It was even jestingly asserted that the Whigs could all have been held in one hackney coach. “This is a calumny,” said George Byng; “we should have filled two!” Campbell’s “Lives of the Chancellors,” vol. v. p. 614.

50 It is suggested that the balance of party could be adjusted by the Government persuading the Crown to create a number of peerages sufficient to flood the House with peers of their particular political persuasion. In 1712, Queen Anne was prevailed upon to create twelve peers in a single day, in order to pass a Government measure. “If these twelve had not been enough,” said Bolingbroke, “we could have given them another dozen!” William IV. was prepared to create a hundred new peers to ensure the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832. It remains to be seen whether such an idea is nowadays practicable.

51 “1. That it is expedient that the House of Lords be disabled by Law from rejecting or amending a Money Bill, but that any such limitation by Law shall not be taken to diminish or qualify the existing rights and privileges of the House of Commons.
“For the purpose of this Resolution a Bill shall be considered a Money Bill if, in the opinion of the Speaker, it contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following subjects, namely, the imposition, repeal, remission, alteration, or regulation of taxation; Charges on the Consolidated Funds or the provision of Money by Parliament; Supply; the appropriation, control, or regulation of public money; the raising or guarantee of any loan or the repayment thereof; or matters incidental to those subjects or any of them.”
“2. That it is expedient that the powers of the House of Lords, as respects Bills other than Money Bills, be restricted by Law, so that any such Bill which has passed the House of Commons in three successive Sessions, and, having been sent up to the House of Lords at least one month before the end of the Session, has been rejected by that House in each of those sessions, shall become Law without the consent of the House of Lords on the Royal Assent being declared; Provided that at least two years shall have elapsed between the date of the first introduction of the Bill in the House of Commons and the date on which it passes the House of Commons for the third time.
“For the purposes of this Resolution a Bill shall be treated as rejected by the House of Lords if it has not been passed by the House of Lords either without Amendment or with such Amendments only as may be agreed upon by both Houses.”
“3. That it is expedient to limit the duration of Parliament to five years.”

52 The following further Resolutions stand upon the Notice Paper and still await consideration:—
“(1) That in future the House of Lords shall consist of Lords of Parliament: A. Chosen by the whole body of hereditary peers from among themselves and by nomination by the Crown. B. Sitting by virtue of offices and of qualifications held by them. C. Chosen from outside.
“(2) That the term of tenure for all Lords of Parliament shall be the same, except in the case of those who sit ex-officio, who would sit so long as they held the office for which they sit.”

53 Hayward’s “Essays,” p. 305.

54 Hansard, vol. 289, p. 957 (1884).

55 Durham, both County and City, was not enfranchised until 1673, and Monmouth was regarded as a Welsh County.

56 “The House of Commons is called the Lower House in twenty Acts of Parliament,” says Selden. “But what are twenty Acts of Parliament amongst friends?”—“Table Talk,” p. 36.

57 “Quarterly Review,” vol. xxix. p. 63.

58 Raikes’s “Journal,” vol. i. p. 157.

59 “Pall Mall Gazette,” December 28, 1860.

60 The Irish members were increased to 105 in 1832, but subsequently reduced to 103, fifty years later.

61 Hansard, “Debates,” 18 April, 1864.

62 The General Election of 1880 cost £1,700,000. This expenditure was reduced to about a million pounds after the passing of the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act and the Redistribution Bill of 1883 and 1885. By the former the expenses in boroughs are limited to £350, if the number of electors does not exceed 2000; and to £380 if it does exceed 2000, with an extra £30 for every further 1000 electors. In counties, where the electors do not exceed 2000, the expenses are limited to £650, and to £710 if they exceed 2000, with an extra £60 for every further 1000 electors. These sums do not include personal expenses up to £100 and the charges of the returning officer.

63 Hansard, “Debates,” vol. 288, p. 1563. (5 June, 1884.) (The phrase was first used in a novel entitled, “Friends of Bohemia, or Phases of London Life,” published in 1857, by a Parliamentary writer named E. M. Whitty.)

64 “Parliamentary History,” vol. i. p. 766.

65 Andrew Marvell continued to receive a salary from Hull until his death in 1678 (see his “Works,” vol. ii., xxxv.), and the member for Harwich obtained a writ against that borough for his salary in 1681.

66 “Diary,” 30 March, 1668.

67 Irving’s “Annals of Our Time,” p. 912. (The majority in 1870 was 187.)

68 “Autobiography of Mrs. Delany,” vol. ii. p. 511.

69 Wraxall’s “Posthumous Memoirs.”

70 p. 270.

71 Speech at Bristol in 1774. (“Works and Correspondence of E. Burke,” vol. iii. p. 236). Algernon Sidney anticipated this remark. “It is not therefore for Kent or Sussex, Lewes or Maidstone, but for the whole nation, that the members chosen in those places are sent to serve in Parliament.”—“Discourse Concerning Government,” vol. ii. p. 370.

72 Bell’s “Biographical Sketches,” p. 82.

73 Croker, in 1820, complains of having to attend a three o’clock dinner and dance at Bodmin, when he stood as candidate; the whole affair being, he says, “at once tiresome and foolish.” “Croker Papers,” vol. i. p. 166.

74 “Institute of the Laws of England,” 4th part, p. 3.

75 Sir H. C. Robinson’s “Diary and Reminiscences,” vol. ii. pp. 315-6.

76 Moore wrote to Lady Donegal in 1807: “I begin at last to find out that politics is the only thing minded in this country, and that it is better even to rebel against government than have nothing to do with it.” “Memoirs,” vol. i. p. 225.

77 Prior’s “Life of Burke,” vol. ii. p. 454.

78 Buxton’s “Memoirs,” p. 154.

79 In olden days members used to return from Westminster to London through lanes infested with robbers. This cry enabled them to assemble and leave the House in one another’s company.

80 It is curious to reflect that a man may be a member of Parliament even though he is not entitled to a vote as an elector. The Rt. Hon. Austen Chamberlain was not only a member, but even a Cabinet Minister, at a time when he had no vote.

81 Naunton’s “Fragmenta Regalia,” p. 21.

82 Shaftesbury’s “Life,” vol. i. p. 30 n.

83 Townsend’s “History,” vol. ii. p. 400.

84 Reresby’s “Memoirs,” p. 51.

85 “Sir,” he said in debate, “the atrocious crime of being a young man, which the hon. gentleman (Horace Walpole) has with such decency and spirit charged against me, I shall neither attempt to palliate or deny; but content myself with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies may cease with their youth, and not of that number who are ignorant in spite of experience.”

86 Chesterfield’s “Letters,” vol. ii. p. 339. In order to escape the fine of £500 Chesterfield retired from political life for a short time.

87 Grant’s “Recollections,” p. 62.

88 See Hansard, vol. clxii. p. 1941.

89 When the Lords were temporarily abolished in 1648, peers were elected to the Commons, but only a few seem to have availed themselves of this privilege. Porritt’s “Unreformed House of Commons,” vol. i. p. 123.

90 Horne Tooke was a man of strength and determination. Upon all great public questions, as he once declared, “neither friends nor foes, nor life nor death, nor thunder nor lightning, would ever make him give way the breadth of one hair.” When Lord Temple claimed a superior right to sit in Parliament because he had “a stake in the country,” “So have I,” said Tooke, “but it was not stolen from a public hedge!”

91 In 1558 it was voted by a small majority that one outlawed or guilty of various frauds might sit in the House if duly elected, his crimes being apparently purged by virtue of his election. See Raikes’s “English Constitution,” vol. i. p. 323.

92 See the “Black Book,” p. 61.

93 “Edinburgh Review” (October, 1838), vol. lxviii. p. 114. The two happiest days of a statesman’s life are said to be the day when he accepts high office and the day when he resigns it (Campbell’s “Lives of the Chancellors,” vol. i. p. 561). Lord Rosebery defined the acceptance and resignation of office as “the two supreme pleasures—one ideal, the other real.”

94 Speech made to the farmers at Amersham Market, 1847.

95 Knight’s “London,” vol. vi. p. 135.

96 Stow’s “A Survey of London,” p. 173.

97 The Lord Great Chamberlain, who holds an hereditary freehold office of state, is the custodian of the Palace of Westminster. He was originally an executive officer of the King’s household, appointed to look after the royal residence. In 1133 the office was granted by Henry I. to Aubrey de Vere, father of the first Earl of Oxford, and to his heirs. Henry VIII. gave the post on several occasions for life to different favourites, not necessarily of the De Vere family, but since the time of Elizabeth the Lord Great Chamberlainship has been held without exception by descendants of the Earl of Oxford. To-day the families of Cholmondeley on the one side, and Ancaster and Carrington on the other, share the privileges of the office, a representative of each branch holding the Chamberlainship in turn during the lifetime of alternate sovereigns. The Lord Great Chamberlain retains authority over the buildings of both Houses, even during the session, whenever Parliament is not sitting. Here his official responsibilities end. In former times a considerable part of his duties consisted in attending his sovereign at the Coronation, when he was not only expected to dress the King, to “carry the coif, swords, and gloves, etc.”; but also to undress him, and to wait on him at dinner, “having for his fee the King’s bed and all the furniture of his chamber, the night apparel and the silver basin wherein the King washes, with the towels.” It is traditional that if the King sleeps at Westminster he must occupy the Lord Great Chamberlain’s house. George IV. did so on the eve of his Coronation, the Speaker of the House of Commons handing over his residence for the purpose to the Lord Great Chamberlain for a nominal fee. On this occasion the officials in waiting on His Majesty spent a restless night. Lord Gwydyr, the Deputy Lord Great Chamberlain, and his secretary, took their stand on one side of the King’s chamber, and the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod on the other, and there they remained until morning. (See “The Gentleman’s Magazine.” July, 1821.)

98 Forster’s “Grand Remonstrance,” p. 276, note.

99 Brown’s “Amusements,” pp. 39-40.

100 “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,” “Pepys’ Diary,” 20 January, 1659.

101 “With cedar roof, and stony wall,
Old William Rufus built this hall;
Without a roof, with scarce a wall,
William Unroof-us spoils it all.”

Hawkins’s “Biographical Sketches,” vol. i. p. 341.

102 There is a well-known story of a sentry at the Castle who was accused of sleeping at his post, and secured his acquittal by proving that he had heard “Great Tom” strike thirteen times at midnight—a fact which was corroborated by the evidence of independent witnesses.

103 These bells must have been extremely unpopular, since it was fabled that their ringing “soured all the drink in the town.” Stow’s “Survey of London,” p. 175.

104 Speaker Lenthall once rebuked a youthful member who was sitting perched upon the topmost rung, listening to a debate, and bade him come down and not “sit upon the ladder as though he were going to be hanged.” Forster’s “Historical Sketches,” vol. i. p. 82.

105 “The Rolliad.”

106 Dalling’s “Historical Characters,” vol. ii. p. 175.

107 Knight’s “London,” vol. ii. p. 68.

108 Pinkerton’s “Voyages,” vol. ii. p. 508.

109 Moore’s “Memoirs,” vol. iv. p. 320.

110 Pearson’s “Political Dictionary,” p. 37.

111 “The Rolliad.”

112 A comparatively modern institution which did not exist until the year 1818.

113 Miss Martineau’s “History of the Peace,” vol. iii. p. 147.

114 Barry was assisted in his work by another well-known artist, Augustus Welby Pugin. The latter’s son afterwards claimed for his father the honour of being the real designer of the Houses of Parliament, but his efforts to wrest the laurels from Barry’s brow met with little success.

115 Big Ben was so named after Sir Benjamin Hall, First Commissioner of Works. The light is extinguished by an official in the House of Commons by means of an electric switch, the moment the Speaker’s question “that the House do now adjourn” has been agreed to.

116 Mowbray’s “Seventy Years at Westminster,” p. 90.

117 Francis’ “Orators of the Age,” p. 212, and Grant’s “Random collections,” p. 7.

118 T. P. O’Connor’s “Gladstone’s House of Commons,” p. 88.

119 Pearson’s “Political Dictionary,” p. 19.

120 “25 April, 1822. Eat cold meat at Bellamy’s (introduced by Lambton); and did not leave the House till near two.”—Thomas Moore’s “Memoirs,” vol. iii. p. 346.

121 “Sketches by Boz,” p. 109 (1855).

122 Sheil’s “Sketches of the Irish Bar,” vol. ii. p. 236.

123 “Fragmenta Regalia,” p. 23.

124 It is not absolutely necessary for a Cabinet Minister to sit in either House. Gladstone was a Secretary of State from December 1845, to July, 1846, without a seat in Parliament.

125 Hervey’s “Memoirs of George II.,” vol. ii. p. 551.

126 “Our immemorial Cabinet Dinner was at Lord Lonsdale’s,” writes Lord Malmesbury, on March 17, 1852. “Each of us gives one on a Wednesday.”—“Memoirs of an Ex-Minister,” vol. i. p. 321.

127 Wraxall’s “Memoirs,” vol. i. p. 527.

128 “Granville dined at the Lord Chancellor’s yesterday,” wrote Lady Granville to the Duke of Devonshire, on November 8, 1830, when the question of the postponement of the King’s visit to the city was filling the minds of Ministers. “The Chancellor came in after they were all seated from a Cabinet that had lasted five hours, returned to be at it again till two, and the result you see in the papers.”—Lady Granville’s “Letters,” vol. ii. p. 63.

129 See Speaker Onslow’s “Essay on Opposition,” “Hist. MSS. Commission” (1895), App. ix. p. 460.

130 Coxe’s “Pelham Administration,” vol. i. p. 486.

131 Ashley’s “Life of Palmerston,” vol. ii. p. 233.

132 Walpole was First Lord of the Treasury for more than twenty-one years, but Macaulay says that he cannot be called Prime Minister until some time after he had been First Lord.—“Miscellaneous Writings,” p. 359.

133 Walpole distributed government patronage freely among the members of his own family. His relations held offices worth nearly £15,000 a year, and, two years after he relinquished office, his own places brought him in an annual income of £2000. He made his eldest son Auditor of the Exchequer, and his second son Clerk of the Pells. He gave his son Horace two posts, as Clerk of the Estreats and Comptroller of the Pipe, when the boy was still an infant. Later on he gave him a position in the Customs, and lastly made him Usher of the Exchequer, an office worth about £1000 a year. See “Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole,” vol. i. p. 730; Cunningham’s “Letters of Horace Walpole,” vol. i. pp. lxxxiv. and 314.

134 “My father would be a very able man—if he knew anything,” Lord Stanley is supposed to have said of him. Hutton’s “Studies,” p. 48.

135 “He evidently attempts to imitate Mr. Pitt in his manner and rhetorick; but the clumsy attempts of a heavy domestic fowl to take wing are very different from the vivid and lofty soaring of the lark.” Courtney’s “Characteristics,” p. 42.

136 Grattan’s “Life and Times,” vol. v. p. 417.

137 Hayward’s “Biographical Essays,” vol. ii. p. 39.

138 Butler’s “Reminiscences,” pp. 154-157.

139 Russell’s “Recollections,” p. 263.

140 Among the unpublished manuscripts at Welbeck Abbey are some private notes made by the Duke of Portland, who was Prime Minister in 1783, suggesting methods of treatment suitable for various political allies at the time of the Coalition Ministry. The following extracts are of interest:—
“Lord Salisbury. Irish jobs.
Lord Thanet. Personal attention.
Lord Cornwallis. Should be spoken to: has two members in the
House of Commons.
Lord Clarendon. Anything for himself or Lord Hyde.
Lord Wentworth. Wants something. He voted against.
Duke of Argyle. Great attention. Scotch jobs.
Gen. Luttral. To be sent for next session. Lord Temple should not
be allowed all the merit of the job that we done for him lately.
Gen. Vaughan. Quebec, or a Command anywhere.
Lord Westcote. Distant hopes of a Peerage.
Mr. Gibbon. Will vacate his seat for an employment out of Parliament:
very much wished by Lord Loughborough.”
(N.B.—This Gibbon is the historian.)

141 “Fortnightly Review,” No. I, p. 10.

142 The necessity of pleasing George III. compelled many Prime Ministers to include his friend Addington in their administrations, and inspired Canning to remark that this Minister was like the small-pox, which everybody was obliged to have once in their lives.

143 Campbell’s “Lives of the Chancellors,” vol. v. p. 327.

144 “Life of Eldon,” vol. iii. p. 486.

145 “History of the Political Life of C. J. Fox,” pp. 76-7.

146 “The Chancellor of the Exchequer exists to distribute a certain amount of human misery,” he once remarked, “and he who distributes it most equally is the best Chancellor.”

147 See Bagehot’s “English Constitution,” p. 200.

148 Among the offices in the Royal Household which are filled by the Prime Minister, the most important are those of the Master of the Horse, the Lord Steward, the Lord Chamberlain, the seven Lords in Waiting, and the Mistress of the Robes.

149 A complete list of the salaries and offices of Ministers does not lie within the scope of this volume. It will be sufficient to enumerate briefly the most important members of the administration. First in order of precedence stand the Prime Minister, the Lord High Chancellor, the Lord President of the Council, the Lord Privy Seal (an office to which, like that of the Prime Minister, no salary is attached), and the First Lords of the Treasury and Admiralty. After these come the five Secretaries of State: for Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, the Colonies, War, and India. These are followed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretaries for Scotland and Ireland, the Postmaster-General, the Presidents of the Board of Trade, Local Government Board, Board of Agriculture, and Board of Education, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and the First Commissioner of Works. There are, besides, eight Parliamentary Under-Secretaries, four Junior Lords of the Treasury (one of whom is unpaid), a Patronage Secretary, a Financial Secretary, a Paymaster-General, Attorney-General, and Solicitor-General. Scotland is represented by a Lord-Advocate and a Scottish Solicitor-General; Ireland by a Lord-Lieutenant, a Lord Chancellor, an Attorney-General, and a Solicitor-General.

150 Exceptions are made by Statute in favour of the Secretary of the Treasury and some other officers, or of a Minister who is transferred from one office to another in the same Administration.

151 Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal are very prone to puns. When Lord Campbell replaced Lord Plunket as Chancellor of Ireland he had to cross the Channel in a storm. Plunket’s secretary remarked that if the new Chancellor were not drowned, he would be very sick. “Perhaps,” said Plunket, “he’ll throw up the seals!” Lord Chancellor Westbury once told an eminent counsel that he was getting as fat as a porpoise. “In that case,” replied the other, “I am evidently a fit companion of the great Seal.” Lord Lyndhurst is another Chancellor who made a joke of this sort. There must be something, too, in the atmosphere of a change of Ministry which evokes bad puns. When Disraeli was appointed to Lord Derby’s Cabinet in 1852, more than one eminent politician facetiously remarked that now Benjamin’s mess would be five times as great as that of the others. And, fourteen years later, when the same statesman was bidden to form a Ministry of his own, Lord Chelmsford, whom he had relieved of the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, shamelessly observed that if the old Government was “the Derby,” this new one was certainly “the Hoax” (see Martin’s “Life of Lyndhurst,” p. 481 n., and the “Life of Lord Granville,” vol. i. p. 479, etc.).

152 If Pitt had been dismissed from office “after more than five years of boundless power,” says Macaulay, “he would hardly have carried out with him a sum sufficient to furnish a set of chambers in which, as he cheerfully declared, he meant to resume the practice of the Law.”—“Miscellaneous Writings,” p. 347.

153 Lord Ellesmere observes that in the 8th Chapter of Samuel, Jehoshaphat the son of Abilud, the Chancellor among the Hebrews, was called “Mazur,” which, translated into English, becomes “Sopher,” or Recorder. “Whether the Lord Chancellor of England as now he is, may be properly termed Sopher or Mazur, it may receive some needlesse question, howbeit it cannot be doubted but his office doth participate of both their Functions.”—“Observations concerning the Office of Lord Chancellor,” p. 2.

154 The Seal was stolen from Lord Thurlow by burglars in 1784, and the offer of a reward of £200 failed to retrieve it. When Lord Chancellor Eldon’s house at Encombe caught fire in 1812, he buried the Seal for safety’s sake in the garden, and then forgot where he had buried it. His family spent most of the next day digging for it before it was finally recovered. Eldon seems to have taken the fire very easily. “It really was a very pretty sight,” he wrote, “for all the maids turned out of their beds, and formed a line from the water to the fire-engine, handing the buckets; they looked very pretty, all in their shifts.” Campbell’s “Lives of the Chancellors,” vol. vii. p. 300.

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

“The fayrest Maye in lyfe,
Her name Elinore of gentle nurture,
Beyond the sea there was no such creature.”

156 Naunton’s “Fragmenta Regalia,” p. 38.

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

158 Judicature Act of 1873, section 24.

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

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

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

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

163 H. Crabb Robinson’s “Diary,” vol. iii. p. 453.

164 “Commentaries,” vol. iii. p. 47.

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

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

167 Hawkins’s “Memoirs,” vol. ii. p. 312.

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

169 Page 430.

170 Twiss’s “Life of Eldon,” vol. i. p. 214.

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

172 Bagehot’s “Literary Studies,” vol. i. p. 150.

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

174 These occasionally took the form of lampoons in verse, such as the following:—
The Derivation of Chancellor

“The Chancellor, so says Lord Coke,
His title from Cancello took;
And ev’ry cause before him tried
It was his duty to decide.
Lord Eldon, hesitating ever,
Takes it from Chanceler, to waver,
And thinks, as this may bear him out,
His bounden duty is to doubt.”

    Pryme’s “Recollections,” p. 111.

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

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

177 Russell’s “Recollections,” p. 138.

178 Blackstone’s “Commentaries,” vol. iii. p. 47.

179 Lord Eldon, who dearly loved a joke, wrote as follows to his friend, Dr. Fisher, of the Charter House, who had applied to him for a piece of preferment then vacant—
“Dear Fisher,
“I cannot, to-day, give you the preferment for which you ask.
“I remain, your sincere friend,
“Eldon.
“Turn over.”
(On the other side of the page he added)
“I gave it to you yesterday.”
“Life of Eldon,” vol. ii. p. 612.

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

181 “The Runnymede Letters,” p. 230.

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

183 Phillips’s “Curran and his Contemporaries,” p. 88.

184 July 16, 1610.

185 Palgrave’s “House of Commons,” p. 51.

186 “The Institutes of the Laws of England,” fourth part (1648), p. 8.

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

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

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

190 In 1818, on the election of Manners Sutton.

191 Dr. Johnson’s “Debates in Parliament,” vol. ii. p. 2.

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

193 D’Ewes’ “Journal,” p. 449.

194 “The Rolliad.”

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

196 May’s “Constitutional History,” vol. i. p. 503 n.

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

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

199 Barnes’s “Political Portraits,” p. 218.

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

201 Pellew’s “Life of Sidmouth,” vol. i. p. 368.

202 “Diary of Lord Colchester,” February 2, 1796.

203 Dalling’s “Historical Characters,” vol. ii. p. 181.

204 Townsend’s “History of the House of Commons.”

205 “Croker Papers,” vol. ii. p. 164.

206 Pellew’s “Life of Sidmouth,” vol. i. p. 66.

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

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

209 D’Ewes’ “Journal,” p. 630.

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

211 Grant’s “Random Recollections,” p. 7.

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

213 Hatsell’s “Precedents,” vol. ii. p. 251 n.

214 D’Ewes’ “Journal,” p. 688.

215 “Modus Tenendi Parliamentum,” p. 46.

216 Torrens’ “Life of Graham,” vol. ii. p. 30.

217 Elsynge’s “Parliaments of England,” pp. 160 and 161.

218 D’Ewes’ “Journal,” p. 549.

219 Townsend’s “History of the House of Commons”, vol. i. p. 228.

220 “The Order for Proceeding to the Parliament” (from the MS. at the College of Arms).

221 For a particularly servile speech of this kind see “The Sovereign’s Prerogative,” p. 7.

222 “Observations, Rules and Orders collected out of Divers Journals of the House of Commons,” p. 25.

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

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

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

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

227 Hatsell adds that it was contrary to custom for members so introduced to appear in top-boots. Hatsell’s “Precedents,” vol. ii. p. 85.

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

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

230 O’Connell’s “Experiences,” vol. i. p. 9.

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

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

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

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

235 It was burnt by the hangman in Palace Yard. Waldegrave’s “Memoirs,” p. 89.

236 Twiss’s “Life of Eldon,” vol. ii. p. 359.

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

238 Forster’s “Sir John Eliot,” vol. i. p. 405.

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

240 Pryme’s “Recollections,” p. 220.

241 Scobell’s “Rules and Customs of Parliament,” p. 19.

242 “Orders, Proceedings, Punishments, and Privileges,” etc. (“Harleian Miscellany,” vol. v. p. 259.)

243 Forster’s “Grand Remonstrance,” p. 206 n.

244 Torrens’ “Life of Melbourne,” vol. ii. p. 375.

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

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

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

248 “Orders, Proceedings, Punishments, and Privileges of the Commons” (“Harleian Miscellany,” vol. v. p. 8).

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

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

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

252 Grant’s “Recollections,” p. 53. Nowadays no member can make this motion more than once.

253 Molesworth’s “History of the Reform Bill,” p. 214.

254 See “Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion,” p. 219.

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

256 Pike’s “Constitutional History,” p. 267.

257 Peeresses may also claim this as a right.

258 Townsend’s “History,” vol. i. p. 253.

259 Raikes’s “Journal,” vol. i. p. 320.

260 “Table Talk,” p. 109.

261 Hatsell’s “Precedents,” vol. ii. p. 241 n.

262 Lord Russell’s “Essays and Sketches,” p. 346.

263 Oldfield’s “History of the House of Commons,” vol. i. p. 420.

264 “Diary and Letters of Mme. D’Arblay,” vol. iv.

265 D’Ewes’ “Journal,” p. 341.

266 Ward was expelled for forgery. He is referred to in Pope’s “Dunciad”—
“As thick as eggs at Ward in pillory.”—
Book iii. line 34.

267 “Lex Parliamentaria,” pp. 94, 101.

268 Sir Walter had lodged information of scandalous words spoken by certain individuals. See Lister’s “Life of Clarendon,” vol. iii. p. 125.

269 Petyt’s “Miscellanea Parliamentaria,” p. 64.

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

271 “Rot. Parl;” vol. v. 239-240.

272 Cockburn’s “Life of Jeffrey,” vol. ii. p. 354.

273 Nicholas’s “Proceedings of the Privy Council,” vol. vi. p. lxv.

274 “Modus Tenendi Parliamentum,” p. 28.

275 “Brief Register of Parliamentary Writs,” p. 672.

276 Forster’s “Grand Remonstrance,” p. 316 n.

277 Townsend’s “History,” vol. iii. p. 377.

278 “Letters,” March 7, 1731.

279 The last “call” of the Lords took place in 1901 on the trial of Earl Russell.

280 Grant’s “Recollections,” p. 52.

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

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

283 Forster’s “Sir John Eliot,” vol. i. p. 238.

284 Mountmorris’s “History of the Irish Parliament,” vol. i. p. 77.

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

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

287 “Diary,” December 19, 1666.

288 Reresby’s “Memoirs,” p. 231.

289 “Extracts of the Journals and Correspondence of Miss Berry,” vol. ii. p. 35.

290 Samuel Rogers’ “Recollections,” p. 112.

291 Townsend’s “History,” vol. ii. p. 93.

292 Campbell’s “Lives of the Chancellors.”

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

294 “Quarterly Review,” vol. cxlv. p. 247.

295 “Letters of Runnymede,” p. 6.

296 Trevelyan’s “Life of Macaulay,” vol. ii. p. 76.

297 “La France et L’Angleterre,” par F. de Tassies. (Quoted in O’Connell’s “Recollections,” vol. i. p. 261.)

298 Thomas Moore’s “Memoirs,” vol. ii. p. 296.

299 Miss Martineau’s “History of the Peace,” vol. ii. p. 381.

300 Cockburn’s “Life of Jeffrey,” vol. i. p. 317.

301 Duncombe’s “Life of his Father,” vol. i. p. 115.

302 Brougham’s “Life,” vol. iii. p. 117.

303 Supra, p. 131.

304 Townshend’s “Proceedings of Both Houses,” p. 252.

305 Regulations in the Journals, March 23, 1693.

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

307 Timbs’ “Anecdotal Biography,” vol. i. p. 234.

308 Pryme’s “Recollections,” p. 114.

309 Harford’s “Recollections of Wilberforce,” p. 94.

310 Grant’s “Recollections,” p. 140.

311 Hayward’s “Essays,” pp. 364-5.

312 Bell’s “Life of Canning,” p. 251.

313 Pryme’s “Recollections,” p. 235.

314 Lord Colchester’s “Diary,” vol. i. p. 45.

315 “Quarterly Review,” vol. xxii. p. 496.

316 Moore’s “Life of Byron,” 185.

317 Barnes’ “Reminiscences,” p. 203.

318 Prior’s “Life of Burke,” vol. i. p. 337.

319 Moore’s “Life of Sheridan,” vol. i. p. 523.

320 He never received the promised £1000. (See Harrington’s “Personal Sketches of His Own Times,” vol. i. p. 429.)

321 “Cornwallis Papers,” vol. i. p. 364 n.

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

323 Townsend’s “History of the House of Commons,” vol. ii. p. 427.

324 Forster’s “Biographical Essays,” vol. ii. p. 197.

325 Vol. vii. pp. 339-367.

326 Pryme’s “Recollections,” p. 218 n.

327 O’Flanaghan’s “Lives of the Irish Chancellors,” vol. ii. p. 128.

328 Townsend’s “House of Commons,” vol. ii. p. 394.

329 Morley’s “Life of Gladstone,” vol. i. p. 143.

330 Roper’s “Life of More,” p. 16.

331 MacCullagh’s “Memoirs of Sheil,” vol. ii. p. 99.

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

333 Raikes’s “Journal,” vol. ii. p. 256.

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

335 “Memoirs,” p. 89.

336 Whitty’s “History of the Session” (1852-3), p. 7.

337 “Journal,” vol. i. p. 342.

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

339 D’Ewes’ “Journal,” p. 666.

340 “Life of Sidmouth,” vol. i. p. 119.

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

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

343 Moore’s “Life of Sheridan,” vol. i. p. 348.

344 Forster’s “Biographical Essays,” vol. ii. p. 195.

345 Dr. King’s “Anecdotes of His Own Time,” p. 114.

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

347 Dalling’s “Historical Characters,” vol. ii. p. 175.

348 Barrow’s “Mirror of Parliament” (1830).

349 Sir J. Mackintosh’s “Memoirs,” vol. ii p. 192.

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

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

352 “Lord Colchester’s Diary,” vol. i. p. 23.

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

354 “Memoirs,” vol. i. p. 490.

355 Prior’s “Life of Malone,” p. 361.

356 Samuel Roger’s “Recollections,” p. 80.

357 “Memoirs of Thomas Moore,” vol. iv. p. 215. (Francis Howard compared Pitt’s eloquence to Handel’s music, see “Memoirs of Francis Howard,” vol. i. p. 149.)

358 “Letters to his Son,” vol. ii. p. 329.

359 “Letters,” ii. 121.

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

361 Stapleton’s “Life of Canning,” p. 21.

362 “Men and Manners in Parliament,” pp. 56-59.

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

364 Wraxall’s “Memoirs,” vol. iii. p. 402.

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

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

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

368 Dalling’s “Historical Characters,” vol. ii. p. 39.

369 “Essays,” vol. ii. p. 206.

370 Sir H. Crabb Robinson’s “Diary, Reminiscences and Correspondence,” vol. i. p. 330.

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

372 Forster’s “Grand Remonstrance,” p. 342.

373 Elsynge’s “Ancient Method of Holding Parliaments,” pp. 114-115.

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

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

376 Palgrave’s “House of Commons,” p. 45.

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

378 May, p. 430.

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

380 Lytton’s “Life of Palmerston,” vol. i. p. 115.

381 Pellew’s “Life of Sidmouth,” vol. i. p. 76.

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

383 Pearson’s “Political Dictionary,” pp. 23-4.

384 “The Manner of Holding Parliaments Prior to the Reign of Queen Elizabeth.” “Somers Tract,” p. 12.

385 “Diurnall Occurrences,” p. 8.

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

387 “Parl. Hist.” ii. 1072. Butler refers to them in “Hudibras”:
“The oyster women lock’d their fish up,
And trudg’d away to cry ‘No Bishop!’”

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

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

390 Palgrave’s “House of Commons,” p. 41.

391 Bagehot’s “English Constitution,” p. 181.

392 “Edinburgh Review,” January, 1854, p. 254.

393 Hakewell’s “Modus Tenendi Parliamentum,” p. 142.

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

395 Lord Waldegrave’s “Memoirs,” p. 133.

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

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

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

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

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

401 D’Ewes’ “Journal,” p. 683, and Townshend’s “Proceedings of Parliament,” p. 322.

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

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

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

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

406 “Life of Lord George Bentinck,” p. 314.

407 Ewald’s “Biography of Walpole,” p. 419.

408 “Chambers’ Journal,” December 26, 1886, p. 819.

409 Porritt’s “Unreformed House of Commons,” vol. i. p. 509.

410 Until a few years ago all “whips” were underlined twice and in urgent cases five times.

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

412 House of Commons “Journals,” vol. x. 291.

413 D’Ewes’ “Journal,” p. 334.

414 Pinkerton’s “Voyages,” vol. ii. p. 506.

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

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

417 Ibid., p. 6.

418 “Life of Lord Hardwicke,” vol. i. p. 489.

419 Greville, “Memoirs,” vol. iii. p. 389.

420 Boyd’s “Reminiscences,” p. 49.

421 Doyle’s “Recollections,” p. 174.

422 Grant’s “Recollections,” p. 16.

423 G. W. E. Russell’s “Sir Wilfrid Lawson,” p. 227.

424 “Works,” vol. ii. 327.

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

426 “Observations, Rules, etc.,” p. 162.

427 No. 812, June 2, 1711.

428 Townsend’s “Memoirs,” vol. ii. p. 461.

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

430 “Memoirs,” 4 April, 1829.

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

432 Pearson’s “Political Dictionary,” p. 34.

433 Grantley Berkeley’s “Recollections,” vol. i. p. 369.

434 “Life and Letters,” vol. ii. p. 66.

435 “Posthumous Memoirs.”

436 Grant’s “Recollections,” p. 17.

437 “History of the Peace,” vol. iii. p. 375.

438 Berkeley’s “Recollections,” vol. i. p. 359.

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

440 Forster’s “Grand Remonstrance,” p. 124 n.

441 Cromwell’s “Letters and Speeches,” vol. i. p. 79.

442 Cook’s “History of Party,” vol. i. pp. 357, 582.

443 May’s “Constitutional History,” vol. i. p. 422.

444 Hawkins’ “Life of Johnson,” vol. xii.

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

446 Raikes’s “Journal,” vol. ii. p. 321.

447 Coxe’s Pelham Administration, vol. I. p. 355.

448 Campbell’s “Lives of the Chancellors,” vol. vi. p. 93.

449 “Morning Chronicle,” June 14, 1788.

450 Samuel Rogers’ “Recollections,” p. 67.

451 O’Connell’s “Recollections and Experiences,” vol. i. p. 220.

452 Grant’s “Recollections,” p. 48.

453 Walpole’s “Memoirs of the Reign of George III.,” vol. i. p. 261.

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

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

456 Hansard’s “Debates,” 1st series, vol. xv.