HC Deb 15 December 1806 vol 8 cc3-12

The new parliament met this day, pursuant to his majesty's proclamation. At 12 o'clock the earl of Aylesbury (lord steward of his majesty's household) came down, and, assisted by Mr. Ley, the principal clerk, and the other clerks of the house of commons, proceeded to administer, in one of the antichambers, the usual oaths to such members of the commons as were attending to be sworn. After taking the oaths. the several members repaired to their seats in the house of commons, to wait the summons of the lords commissioners, to attend at the bar of the house of peers, to hear the commission read. About a quarter past two, a message by Mr. Quarme, deputy usher of the black rod, announced, that the lords commissioners, by virtue of his majesty's commission, desired the immediate attendance of that house in the house of peers, to hear the commission read. In consequence, a great number of members attended Mr. Ley, the chief clerk, according to the usual practice, to the upper house, where, after the commission was read in form, the lord chancellor, as one of the commissioners, acquainted both houses that his majesty would defer declaring the cause of calling this present parliament, until the members of both houses should be sworn, and the members of the house of commons should have chosen a Speaker. His lordship accordingly acquainted the gentlemen of the house of commons, that it was his majesty's pleasure that they should retire to the place where they usually sat, and choose a proper person to be their speaker, and that they should present the person so chosen, at 12 o'clock to-morrow for his majesty's royal approbation. The members then returned to their own house, where, as soon as they had taken their seats,

Mr. Bragge Bathurst

rose and address Mr. Ley, the senior clerk, as follows:— I rise, sir, to call upon the house to exercise one of their most ancient, most undoubted, and, in many respects, most important privileges, and without which our functions would be interrupted, and our deliberations embarrassed. The nature of those functions and those deliberations suggests the necessity of selecting some person from among ourselves, properly qualified to be the voice of the representatives of the people, both in their intercourse with the other house of parliament, and in the exercise of their collective authority over individuals; a person whose peculiar duty it will be to watch over their invaluable privileges, to alarm the jealousy of the house against the encroachments of the other orders of the state, and who, by his authority, wisdom, and experience, will contribute to maintain consistency, order, and regularity in their own proceedings. The great increase of parliamentary business, both of a public and private nature, occupying, as it does, so large a portion of the year; the constant and numerous attendance of the members of the house on all important questions, unexampled in modern times at least; the habit of animated, protracted, nd frequent debate, have all tended to render the discharge of the greater part of the duties imposed on the person selected to fill the chair as arduous to himself as they are important to the public. The just application of the various precedents standing upon the recorded authority of our proceedings, as well as of the no less established, though unwritten forms and regulations, which constitute the law of parliamentary usage, is a task difficult in itself, and of the last consequence to the house to have it well executed. With respect to the former, the right hon. gent. whose name I shall presently mention, has been the first to support them. I could allude to many illustrious instances, when high and distinguished characters, unhappily now no more, have shewn that those written records, and parliamentary usages, are the best bulwarks of our rights, and constitute that impartial law, which, like the forms of the constitution itself, conciliates liberty with order, and, from an apparent discordancy of parts, produces an harmony of the whole. The talents requisite for a due discharge of the arduous duties of a speaker of the house of commons are not of an ordinary description. It is necessary that he who is invested with that high office, should possess an impartiality that secures confidence, a dignity that commands respect, and a temper and affability that disarm contention. These qualities are, however, only the concomitants of others equally important; a sound judgment, a cultivated understanding, a knowledge not merely of parliamentary forms, but of mankind and the world, are indispensable to the constitution of the authority of the speaker of this house. To a person possessed of these qualifications the house cannot but be disposed to entrust the full exercise of their power, because they must be assured that they will be exerted for the general good. The object of their choice will derive from that power the means of relaxing, where occasion demands, the severity and strictness of their rules and orders.—Having thus, sir, described, however imperfectly, some of the requisites of the speaker of this house, I am aware of some others which ought to be possessed by the person who should fill that chair, and I should scarcely venture to propose any gentleman to a situation which requires so many qualities to fulfil it, on any impressions, or on any judgment of my own; but I am confident the house will go before me on this occasion. [Hear! hear!] It will be disposed to select for the chair a person rather from experience of the past, than from the recommendation of any individual. If, sir, the sight of that chair reminds me of the duties attached to, and the requisites to fill it, I am persuaded it will call to the recollection of the house the manner in which it has been filled. The difficulty under which I labour, consists not in the apprehension of what will be the collected sense of the house. In detailing the duties of a Speaker, and in proposing Mr. Abbot as a fit person to fulfil them—[a general cry of hear! hear!] the difficulty I feel, consists not in my apprehensions of an uniformity of opinion, but in the recollection of the very superior manner in which that right hon. gent. was proposed and supported in a former instance, by a learned gent. (sir William Scott) whom I do not now see in his place. But, I console myself with the reflection, that the experience of Mr. Abbot's public character, and the general extension of that wisdom and knowledge he has evinced from his first taking his seat, make it less difficult for the house to dispense with ability on the part of the person who again proposes him. I am the less anxious concerning my own deficiency, in the manner I have stated the duties of the situation of speaker, because I am convinced the house will refer to the high character of the gentleman I have proposed, and give me credit for having passed by many topics of eulogium to which he has a just claim. I am not only conscious that the conduct of the right hon. gent. I have named, justifies much higher panegyric than I have passed upon him; but l am free to declare, that Mr. Abbot has exhibited a more perfect model of the office itself, than ever I had formed an idea of in the abstract. There are other topics of praise to which he is equally entitled. In speaking of the general duties of the office, I have passed over, with reference to Mr. Abbot, the facility of private intercourse with, and access to him on matters of business; I have omitted to notice his dignified hospitality, which conforms so well to the wise munificence of parliament. These are qualities which have been well known, and often experienced by those present, who were members of the late parliament. But I might also have adverted to that indefatigable industry, with which he has applied him- self to public business in general, and particularly to that enquiry into the state of the Public Records of this house, which was instituted on his own suggestion. Through this enquiry, the public will have the benefit of those stores of ancient wisdom, which were hitherto confined to private and individual research. The same comprehensive mind, and the same application of great talents, are as peculiarly required for the higher duties he has to discharge, and the success and ability by him displayed upon the subject to which I have alluded, is a pledge of what may be expected from him on every occasion which relates to the proceedings of this house, and the general advantage of the public. It is upon these considerations, as well as upon many others, I feel it my duty to move, "That the right hon. Charles Abbot do take the chair of this house as speaker." [Hear, hear!]

Mr. Wilberforce

said, that in seconding the proposition of his right hon. friend, he felt the embarrassment of the situation in which he placed himself, by venturing to prescribe to the house, in the most remote degree, any course that it was to adopt on so solemn and important an occasion. At the same time he confessed, that he was considerably relieved from this embarrassment, by the manner in which he perceived the proposition, just submitted to them, had been received by the house. It often happened to a member of parliament, that he felt himself obliged painfully to discharge certain duties, from a sense of public principle, though contrary to his private feelings, because there must always be a sacrifice of private considerations to public duties. But he had then the satisfaction to say, that he was about to discharge a duty which, whilst it accorded with every private feeling, was, at the same time, equally consistent with the most scrupulous regard to public duty. His right hon. friend had well pointed out some of the leading qualifications for the office of speaker, as well as the great importance of that high and confidential situation. But he that would calculate all the important duties of the speaker of the house of commons, would undertake a great and difficult task indeed. It was an office commensurate with all the functions of parliament, and consequently identified with the existence of parliament and the freedom and happiness of the people. The qualifications of a speaker were great and numerous, and, perhaps, it was difficult to form an accurate estimate of their real value, on account of the quiet times in which we had lived. It was a common disposition of the public mind to imagine, when matters went on quietly, that they went on of themselves, and without any actuating impulse; but those to whom he was addressing himself knew, that although the principle of action was kept out of view, it was that principle which directed the whole machine, gave it motion, and preserved the order and harmony of all its parts. Undoubtedly it was not to be supposed, that, because we had lived happily in times when the public liberty was secure, and the privileges of this house unendangered, that it was therefore unimportant to choose a man as speaker of the house of commons, who was intimately acquainted with all the parts of the British Constitution. In the exercise of this privilege, they should not shut out from their view, that the happiness of the people, and the interests of the empire, depended in a great degree, on their choice. They should not merely, because they happened to live in quiet times, leave objects of such magnitude to accidental events. They should, by the wisdom of their choice, guard against the possibility of future evils. It was peculiarly necessary that he who was placed in the chair of the house of commons, should be intimately acquainted with the constitution of the country, in order that he might be sensible of those slight deviations, which in the end introduced great and material alterations. It was only by such an intimate acquaintance that any man could estimate the importance of small changes, and know how in the first instance to check and repress them. Therefore, among the qualifications of a speaker a perfect acquaintance with the constitution of the country was a first and indispensable one. Whoever was intimately acquainted with the constitution, could not but become more and more attached to it, and in proportion as he developed its secret springs, contemplate it as the source of public happiness. Unquestionably too, an extensive acquaintance with the history of the country, and a perfect knowledge of its constitutional, or parliamentary history, was requisite. It must also be obvious to every one, that the speaker of the house of commons should be a man who had sagacity and penetration to decide on the instant; that he should be possessed of an uncommon degree of recollection and memory, a soundness of judgment, a temper not to be ruffled, and a suavity of manners, It was unnecessary for him to mention how peculiarly the right hon. gent. who had been proposed was gifted with all these qualities. The recollection of those who had known him during the late sessions would supply abundant instances in which they had been conspicuously exerted. He might mention various other qualifications, but they had been alluded to by his right hon. friend. There was one with respect to which he could not avoid saying a word or two. He referred to those peculiar qualifications which characterized the proposed speaker for what, by rather a misapplication of the term, was called Private Business. Certainly, compared with those great questions which constantly occupied the attention of the house, it might with propriety be denominated private business. The house was always engaged upon subjects of national importance; but there were matters of private business, which, although they did not attract observation, were no less essential to the interests of the public. It was not merely the value of the property at stake, though it would excite astonishment if he were to state the amount of the property decided upon by the committees of the house, but there was something in such decisions even of more importance than any pecuniary sum could give an idea of. It was, that the character of parliament itself was in a considerable degree concerned in the variety of questions that arose concerning the property of individuals. Of those questions he was well persuaded no person was better qualified to judge than the right hon. gent. who had been proposed as speaker. If those questions were decided in a summary way, without a just sense of the importance of adhering to principles of law, he knew nothing that would be more likely to infuse into the public an alienation of mind with regard to the house of commons; therefore it was desirable that the house of commons should be known and acknowledged as a place where the rights of the subject were always safe. It was equally important that the person in the chair should be considered as the guardian of the weak, and the protector of the poor. The opulent and powerful would attend to their own interests, but upon all questions where the private property of individuals was concerned, whatever their situation might be, it was important and requisite that there should be a man to inspect and, watch over them, who would see that precedents were carefully adhered to, and the true principles of legislation not departed from. He had dwelt the more upon this topic, because he had witnessed the many instances in which Mr. Abbot had applied knowledge and experience to this desirable purpose, whereby he had sustained the character of parliament, and endeared the house of commons to the warmest affections of the people of England. It was, therefore, with singular satisfaction he seconded the motion made by his right hon. friend; and, as he had just observed, it was not from the ordinary habits of his life and pursuits that the house was warranted in conceiving he would fill the chair with ability and dignity, but from the experience that he had done so already, and consequently would do it again. It was impossible not to know, that, even before he had been raised to the chair, he had given a pleasing anticipation of the patriotic feeling by which he intended to be governed; that he had rendered services to the country, which must have endeared him to the house; that he had sat at the head of a committee appointed to investigate and examine into all public offices of the kingdom, with a view to the adoption of a system of economy. For his own part, there was no man who considered with more satisfaction than himself the elevation of that right hon gent. to the situation and rank of first commoner of the empire; but he should have contemplated it as a public robbery, if he had been placed there before he had had an opportunity of rendering to his country those services he had performed, and of pointing out to his successor the means by which similar honours were to be attained, and shewing him, that, in order to merit such a distinguished preeminence, he must become, like himself, an upright independent member of parliament, the true friend to the constitution of the country, and the faithful guardian of the liberties of the people. It was for those qualities he had been raised to his situation, that his principles might act with fuller effect.—He begged pardon of the house, for having detained them so long; but it was natural to expatiate upon pleasing theme. He had the satisfaction of knowing that he spoke to those approved of the proposition of his right hon. friend. It was gratifying to him to feel that what was wanting in his expres- sions of admiration and esteem, was more than made up by the universal approbation of the house. This reminded him of another qualification, perhaps the most essential of all, and certainly one that could not be possessed by any person who had not filled the situation of speaker. It was not merely that the house had the experience of past years, but they knew that the right hon. gent. proposed to honour their chair would possess the confidence and attachment of the house, and nothing was of greater importance than that he should possess it. It was an assurance that he would vindicate the rights of parliament on the one hand, and prevent the disposition of members to extend those rights too far, to the prejudice of other branches of the legislature. He had but one word more. There was one quality he possessed in a most eminent degree. It was, that at the same time he had shewn his love of public liberty, true constitutional liberty, he had manifested a due sense and proper regard of the privileges of parliament. He had shewn that true greatness of mind which impelled him to consider it as equally dangerous to the constitution, that the commons should attempt to strain their privileges beyond their due bounds, as that they should not assert them when they were attempted to be violated. It required a great mind to be invested with extensive powers, without being, at the same time, disposed to overstrain them. The house were sensible that the right hon. gent. was possessed of all these qualities. He therefore concluded by saying, that to second the motion of his right hon. friend, gave him the most perfect satisfaction, and the greatest possible pleasure.

Mr. Abbot. —

In rising to address the house this day, it is impossible for me not to feel the deepest sense of gratitude for the general favour and kindness with which this proposition has been received. Many, very many of the commendations which my honourable friends, by their partiality, have been pleased to bestow upon me, I dare not flatter myself with having merited; and although they are pleased to suppose that my former experience in the chair of this house may afford an argument in favour of their choice, yet that same experience has left on my mind a very different impression; for I am persuaded that whoever aspires to understand and execute the duties of that high and important office, will readily acknowledge its various difficulties, as well as his own insufficiency. Nevertheless, custom long established, and a just respect towards the house, forbid any person whose services have been already tried in that office from insisting or dwelling much at large on his own demerits. I do therefore commit myself wholly to the pleasure of the house, with an earnest hope that the event of their choice may not be injurious to its interests, or detrimental to its honour.—Mr. Abbot was then conducted to the chair by Mr. Bragge Bathurst and Mr. Wilberforce; and when seated therein, he again rose and thus proceeded:—Since it has been the pleasure of the house to place me again in this chair, I have to make my most grateful acknowledgements for this proof of its high and distinguished confidence, and to assure the house, that while I have the happiness to possess that confidence, every moment of my life, both within and without these walls, shall be constantly and faithfully devoted to its service.—The speaker having seated himself in the chair,

Mr. T. Grenville

rose and said, that on an occasion so solemn and important as that of selecting a speaker, it had been not unusual to allow some of its members to express those sentiments which he rejoiced to see were so unanimous. He freely stated, that, on the present occasion, he did not feel it necessary to offer any apology for obtruding himself on the attention of the house. If the business they had so happily concluded had been one which required high talents in the person who offered his congratulations, he should have known himself better than to have offered a single observation; but, in presenting himself the first to congratulate the house, he was only expressing those sentiments which were common to all who heard him. To have a strong sense, and to express it, of the benefit the country had derived from the right hon. gent.'s being placed in the chair; to augur happily of the future by the grateful recollection of the past; to anticipate the services the country would receive; to indulge in the memory of those already conferred; to reflect that by his being placed in the situation in which fortunately he was placed, the house would assure to itself the exercise of a steady and temperate authority, an impartiality and integrity not to be shaken, a rich fund of constitutional know- ledge, and a just, dispensation of those wise and enlightened opinions which actuated him—these were topics so pleasing to dwell upon, so natural to expatiate upon, that he was persuaded the house would indulge him in pursuing such themes; but yet from those topics he felt himself reluctantly compelled to abstain. When he recollected that the person who was the object of his eulogium, was the person he was addressing, he was compelled by motives of delicacy not to dwell upon the subject, grateful as it was to him. He should conclude by saying, that he did most heartily congratulate the house, the country, and the right hon. gent. himself, on the choice that had been made.—He en moved, that the house do adjourn, and the house adjourned accordingly.