§ This being the day appointed for the new Parliament to meet for despatch of business, a large number of the Members returned to serve for the Counties, Cities, and Boroughs of the United Kingdom, assembled in the house of the Commons, and the Clerk of the House, Sir Denis Le Marchant, took his seat in front of the table.
§ Presently the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod brought a message from the Lords Commissioners appointed to open the Parliament, desiring the immediate attendance of the House to hear Her Majesty's Commission read.
§ The House went;—and a Commission having been read for opening and holding the Parliament, the Lords Commissioners directed the House to proceed to the Election of a Speaker, and to present him To-morrow at two o'clock in the House of Peers, for the Royal Approbation.
§ And the House being returned, the Clerk of the House, standing up, pointed to
§ MR. ROBERT PALMER,who rose, and, addressing the Clerk of the House, said: Sir, it now devolves upon this House, in obedience to Her Majesty's commands, to perform its first and one of its most important duties, namely, to select from among our own body some hon. Member who shall fill, during the present Parliament, the office of Speaker of the House—an office at all times onerous, and attended with much responsibility, and not the less so on the present occasion, when so many hon. Members are returned for the first time to Parliament, who must necessarily, for that reason, be but partially acquainted with the rules and proceedings of the House. If upon the present occasion it had been my duty to propose to the consideration of the House any untried Member—any hon. Gentleman who, for the first time, might be called upon to discharge the important duties of the chair of this House—although I am well aware that there are many hon. Members present who would fully justify any choice which the House might think proper to make—still for myself, individually, I should have hesitated before undertaking the task of proposing any hon. Gentleman so circumstanced; because I am sure that 4 a considerable degree of personal responsibility attaches to any individual who rises to propose any hon. Member for so high and important an office, on whose ability and efficiency to discharge these duties, so much of the regularity of our proceedings must necessarily depend; for such a task, I am well aware that there are many other hon. Members in the House on whose judgment the House would have much more reason to rely, and it would have been presumptuous in me to put myself into such a position. But on the present occasion, fortunately, I am relieved from any difficulty in this respect; because I rejoice to see among us again, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Hampshire, who has filled the chair of this House during the last thirteen years with so much advantage to the country and so much honour to himself, that the House is left in no doubt, and is relieved from all difficulty, in selecting the hon. Member best qualified among us all to fill that high and distinguished station. Sir, under these circumstances I do not think it is necessary that I should trespass upon the attention of the House by dilating upon the onerous duties that attach to the office of Speaker of this House. They are sufficiently well known to most of the hon. Members who sit in this House. Suffice it, therefore, to say, that in the choice of Speaker we must look to some individual whose intimate acquaintance with the law and practice of Parliament will render him at all times their ready exponent, and will enable him to define and lay down the rules and orders by which our proceedings are regulated, so as to enable us on all occasions immediately and confidently to rely upon his decisions. We must also look for a person who will be ready to uphold and defend the ancient rights and privileges of the House of Commons, if at any time they should become objects of attack from any quarter—privileges, it is well known, which were not granted to this House for individual benefit or for selfish objects, but for the benefit of the community which we are sent here to represent. We must also look for a Gentleman, who, in the heat of the party contests that sometimes occur in our debates, is able to lay aside all party feeling, and who will, while presiding over us, maintain a strict and undeviating impartiality. For all these qualifications which I have enumerated, I am sure that every one who has witnessed the conduct of my right hon. Friend in the chair will agree 5 with me in saying that he has proved himself to be most eminently distinguished. Therefore I think I may add, that in upholding the dignity of the office, in preserving an equal and unruffled equanimity of temper under all circumstances, in courteous demeanour to every Member of the House, my right hon. Friend has not been exceeded by any of his predecessors. I think I have said sufficient to induce all those hon. Members who have before had seats in this House to agree with me in the Motion I am about to make. But if I may be permitted to add one word to the large number of Gentlemen, who, for the first time, have been sent here to take part in our deliberations, I am sure that they will not find themselves deceived when I assure them that in the transaction of that portion of the private business of the House that may devolve upon them, they will always find my right hon. Friend ready to assist them with his advice and experience in any difficulties that may arise in the transaction of the various duties with which they may be entrusted. I am rejoiced to think that on the present occasion it has not been considered necessary to make the question of the choice of a Speaker the test of party feeling or political strength. Such circumstances have before occurred; but I myself feel extremely gratified that I am not restrained by any party considerations, or called upon to surrender those feelings of private friendship and personal regard which I entertain for my right hon. Friend. I am sure that all those who have witnessed his conduct in the chair will agree with me when I say, that the uniform urbanity of my right hon. Friend in his high station has more than proved the wisdom of the choice which this House made in 1839, confirmed as it has been on two subsequent occasions by the unanimous approval of the House. I trust the House on the present occasion is about to exhibit an equal degree of unanimity, and to place my right hon. Friend in the chair without a dissentient voice. In so doing we shall be offering to my right hon. Friend the only reward we have it in our power to bestow for the eminent services he has already rendered to the House—services which I am sure he will continue to render with equal zeal and equal ability in the event of his being again chosen by the House, and, if possible, with increased efficiency from his longer and more matured experience. After the long and eminent services of my right hon. Friend, I shall best consult the feel- 6 ings of the House if I move, without further preface, "That the Right Hon. Charles Shaw Lefevre, do take the chair of this House as Speaker."
§ LORD ROBERT GROSVENORI must claim the kind indulgence of the House for a few minutes while I second the Motion of my hon. Friend the Member for Berkshire. I have done so in accordance with the wishes of the right hon. Gentleman opposite, who considers that my right hon. Friend the Member for North Hampshire having formerly belonged to the party sitting on this side of the House, it would be more agreeable to him, and more expressive of that unanimity of opinion that should prevail in the election of the highest officer in this House, that his nomination should be seconded by a Member of Her Majesty's Opposition. I entirely concur in the propriety of that sentiment. All I regret is, that the right hon. Gentleman did not make application to some hon. Member more calculated than I am to give weight and authority to the recommendation, and who might more fairly stand up on this side of the House as the unofficial organ of that party to whom I have the honour to belong. I say the unofficial organ, because, as is perhaps well known, it is not usual for any Member holding high office, or who has held high office, to propose a candidate for the chair of this House. Be this, however, as it may, it gives me the sincerest satisfaction to have this public opportunity of bearing my testimony to the manner in which my right hon. Friend Mr. Shaw Lefevre has performed the duties of his arduous position. I am quite sure that I give utterance not only to my own sentiments, but also to those of every hon. Gentleman from amongst whom I rose to second this Motion, when I say that not only are we proud of the right hon. Gentleman as having sprung from the ranks of our party, but also, entirely laying aside all party feeling whatever, we are more proud of him as a Member of that Legislature to which we all in common belong. The merits of Mr. Shaw Lefevre as Speaker of the House are so well known not only to those who have had the advantage under his auspices of taking part in the business of the House, but also to the public at large, that it would be a work of supererogation almost either in this House or elsewhere to dilate at any length upon them; and certainly upon this occasion it would be extremely 7 so, after the good taste, good feeling, and ability with which the hon. Member who preceded me has referred to them. But before I sit down, I should like to make one remark which I hope the House will not consider as foreign to the subject now under discussion. It is said to be one of the infirmities of human nature to give an undue prominence, an undeserved importance, to the events passing around us; but if I have any due appreciation of the circumstances of the time in which we are now living, there has rarely been in the history of the world a more remarkable crisis than that at which the Imperial Legislature has been now summoned for the transaction of business. When the liberties of Europe— when the right of full, free, and open discussion—I might almost say the right of public opinion—hang by a thread—at a moment of this sort I am sure it will be acknowledged that the character of this House is deeply involved in the manner in which its proceedings shall be carried on. I think at this moment it becomes us to act with unusual prudence, calmness, and circumspection. I think we should take the utmost pains that the liberty of free thought and free discussion, which we have happily enjoyed for so long a period, should not be abused for any personal party or factious purposes, but that we should guard it as a sacred trust committed to our care—I think I may say without any exaggeration—for the benefit of mankind at large. If, then, this be the position in which we now stand—and that it is such not in my opinion only, I believe I may gather, from the assent with which my remarks have been received by the House, —surely it is a matter of great rejoicing that we can avail ourselves of the services of a man whose nice tact, discriminating judgment, conciliatory demeanour, large and varied experience, and indefatigable attention, so eminently qualify him to be the moderator of our discussions and the president of our debates; at a moment, too, when apart from those disturbing causes to which I have adverted, the nicely-balanced state of parties would render the office of Speaker one of great delicacy and unusual difficulty. I will not now trespass further on the attention of the House, and shall, therefore, conclude by seconding the Resolution of my hon. Friend the Member for Berkshire, which I understand to be, that in the opinion of this assembly, the most fit and proper person 8 to fill the chair of this House is the right hon. Gentleman the Member for North Hampshire — a man who, while for so many years upholding the independence, the honour, and the dignity of this branch of the Legislature, has been enabled so to conduct himself as to conciliate the good will, the respect, and the esteem of every Member of every class and every party amongst us.
§ SIR ROBERT H. INGLISThe ordinary term used in addressing the individual honoured by the choice of the House is to congratulate him. My feeling, Sir, in rising is not merely to congratulate him, but far more the House by whom he is chosen. In your presence, Sir, and in the presence of so many hon. Members of large experience in this House, it is needless to add a single word as to the personal fitness of the right hon. Gentleman; but it is not unfit and not unnecessary perhaps to recall to the recollection of some, and to take the liberty of stating to others, the very different amount of time and labour which is now required of the Speaker of this House. That time and labour have been bestowed most cheerfully and actively, and most beneficially for the public service, by the right hon. Gentleman to whom again those duties are about to be committed. Why, Sir, a hundred years ago the Speaker had not, perhaps, the tenth part of the labours which now devolve upon the occupant of that chair. A hundred years ago but three debates appear in the Parliamentary history of one Session, and but fifteen divisions are recorded in the journals. In the last year we had 242 divisions; and the Speaker, whom I trust again to have the honour of addressing in that capacity, has sat not less than 13,000 hours in the discharge of his duties as Speaker, since first he was elected, in 1839, to that high post of dignity and duty. When I contrast the labour of former Speakers—when I hear of only one Speaker filling the chair during the whole reign of George I., and one other during the whole reign of George II., I must say that the right hon. Gentleman has compressed into the period of his services more labour, more attention, and more successful energy than any one of his predecessors had ever done. Therefore, knowing what he has been, rejoicing that he is still entrusted with such health and energy as will enable him to continue to us his valuable services with the same success, I should not have taken the liberty of adding 9 a single word; but as one hon. Gentleman from the Ministerial side of the House has proposed, and another from the Opposition benches has seconded, the nomination of the right hon. Gentleman, I thought it not unbecoming in me, as an old Member of the House, to endeavour to express, not merely my own opinions, but the feelings of a large majority—and I hope I may say of every Member—in the proposition now before us: for those who have had experience will at once support the right hon. Gentleman, and those who have not had such experience will give their confidence to those who have already enjoyed the benefits of it. Cordially concurring in all that has been said on both sides of the House, I sincerely rejoice that he has been again selected for this position.
MR. CHARLES SHAW LEFEVREthen rose and said: Perhaps, before the Question is put, the House will allow me to make an observation. I trust it is unnecessary for me to assure the hon. Member for Berkshire, and the noble Lord the Member for Middlesex, that I highly value that friendship and regard which alone could have suggested those complimentary terms in which they have done me the honour to introduce my name to the notice of the House. I hope it is equally unnecessary for me to assure the House that I have not only listened to the speeches of my hon. Friends, but I have witnessed the flattering reception which the House has been pleased to give to those speeches, with feelings of unfeigned gratitude. The experience of more than thirteen years has confirmed the opinions I held when first I had the honour of a seat in Parliament, of the value and importance of those privileges which are enjoyed by the House, as the hon. Member for Berkshire has well observed, for the benefit of the community at large; as well as of the sound practical wisdom by which the forms and orders have been framed for the regulation of your proceedings, and the due and proper consideration and despatch of the public business. But that experience has also taught me what an enormous amount of responsibility rests upon that individual to whom the guardianship of those privileges and the enforcement of those forms and orders are entrusted. My hon. Friend the Member for the University of Oxford, who from his long standing, and the respect the House entertains for him, is so well entitled to pronounce an opinion on a subject of this nature, has 10 stated to you the anxious and laborious nature of those duties which are now attached to the office of Speaker of the House of Commons. They are such as, even after the experience to which I have referred, I should almost hesitate to undertake again, were it not that I feel what is due from me to the House for the undeviating kindness I have received from it during the period of my services in the chair; and, above all, that I entertain a strong conviction that an earnest determination on my part faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties imposed upon me, will not only meet with the indulgence but the cordial support and co-operation of the House. With these few observations I bow to the decision of the House, whatever that may be.
§ Question put.
§ Motion carried nemine contradicente.
§ Mr. ROBERT PALMER and Lord ROBERT GROSVENORthen conducted the right hon. Gentleman to the chair.
§ MR. SPEAKERelect, standing on the upper step, said: As it has been the pleasure of the House again to place me in this chair, I trust it will permit me to express the sincere obligations I feel for this additional proof of its confidence and esteem. This renewed mark of its kindness will, if possible, redouble my anxiety to devote every energy of my mind to its service.
§ The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERSir, it now becomes my gracious duty to congratulate you on having again received to-day the highest honour which English Gentlemen can confer on one possessing their confidence and esteem. Those who have preceded me have intimated the eminent qualities necessary to be possessed by him who should fill the chair of this House. It is not requisite for me to dwell upon that part of the subject, since during the four Parliaments in which you have filled this high office all have acknowledged the courage with which you vindicated our privileges—the firmness with which you maintained order in our debates, and the spirit of impartiality which ever guided your judgments. But I may, without presumption, having had the honour of a seat in this House when you were first elected to that chair, and having been a Member of the House during the interval that has since elapsed—I may perhaps notice one trait in your conduct which I have frequently observed, and which, I think, entitles you to the increased confidence of the House; it is this—that in those conjunctures which 11 occasionally occur, when mere routine cannot guide the individual filling the chair —when you have been, as it were, taxed at the moment—your resources have never failed you, and you have always been sustained by the knowledge and self-respect necessary at such a crisis. There is another reason why your re-election should he a subject of congratulation to the House and to the country. I cannot but remember that not only is this a new Parliament, but that the individual who from his position has the principal control over the business of the House, has hardly that experience which is necessary for the post he occupies; and although I feel Confident that, whenever the order and honour of this House are concerned, so long as I sit here I shall never appeal in vain to any Gentleman, on whichever side he may sit, I cannot but feel, under these circumstances, that the selection we have made this day is one upon which the House is much to be congratulated, our choice falling as it does upon an individual who not only possesses the confidence of this House, but on one who has repeatedly received the approbation of our most gracious Sovereign.
§ LORD JOHN RUSSELLMay I be allowed to add one word to what has been said by the right hon. Gentleman? I feel that it is a matter of the greatest importance, and one of the greatest good fortune, that at this particular period, when there are so many Members of the House without experience in its debates, that we should nave to preside over these debates a Gentleman who has already shown his qualification for the eminent post of Speaker, and who, whenever it has been necessary to enforce the orders and rules of the House, has done it with such judgment and firmness, and at the same time with such courtesy, as almost to obtain the willing obedience even of those who seemed most inclined to question his decisions. I shall only add further, that the right hon. Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), having alluded to his short experience in the conduct of the business of the House, I feel persuaded, on the part of hon. Members around me—and I can give him the assurance of my own part—that any assistance in carrying on the public business which this House or the Chair can render the right hon. Gentleman, will be freely accorded; because we all feel that it is of the utmost importance that we should continue to give that ex- 12 ample, which hitherto this House has for more than two centuries given, of being a deliberative assembly which can carry Oil its discussions with the utmost freedom, and, at the same time, with the utmost regard for propriety and decorum.
MR. HUMEshould have been disposed to concur in silence with the proceedings; but he had been asked to prefer a request on behalf of Members of that House. It was very desirable that the Speaker should have better opportunities than he had enjoyed during the last three Parliaments of becoming acquainted with hon. Members of the House; and therefore he was anxious to see the former practice revived, and that the Members would have more frequently the opportunity of paying their respects to the Speaker. He looked upon the Speaker as the first commoner in the land, and he had obtained from the right hon. Gentleman's predecessor the concession which he now sought with regard to the Speaker's levees. Many Members were anxious to pay their respects, who were now precluded by a practice which he believed was not in accordance with the original constitution of these assemblages. When he (Mr. Hume) attended Her Majesty with an Address, he was allowed to be present in his ordinary dress; but of late years he was unable to pay his respects to the Speaker of the House of Commons in his common dress. Mr. Abercromby, when Speaker, had yielded to the applications that were made to him; and he now made that application on the part of a number of Members who were very anxious to pay him their respects—as to dining with the right hon. Gentleman, that was not the question which troubled him. He could assure the right hon. Gentleman they would not trouble him much; but it was with regard to the levees, where he did not like to see a House of 650 Members confined to some 50 or 100 persons. He wished that the major part of those who belonged to the House should be ready and able to pay their respects to the right hon. Gentleman. He was one of those who had highly approved of the conduct of the right hon. Gentleman as their Speaker; and he must be aware that no man was more anxious to support the rules and regulations and orders of the House than he had been. He had given all the humble assistance in his power to their maintenance, as the best means of preserving their character as a deliberative assembly. He was not anxious to detract anything from 13 the power or dignity of the Speaker, but he was anxious to see these levees attended by Members who were desirous of doing honour to him, while it would give great satisfaction to them. The alteration he suggested would give great satisfaction. It rested with the Speaker to make the alteration, as it was a private matter, and he did hope that Members would be admitted attired in the same manner as when they accompanied an Address to the Crown. He asked nothing more than that the right hon. Gentleman should revert to the practice of his predecessor.
§ House adjourned at Three o'clock till To-morrow.