The RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM MONSELL, addressing himself to the Clerk (who, standing up, pointed to him, and then sat down), said:—Gentlemen, it is now our duty to proceed, in obedience to the commands of Her Majesty, to the exercise of our undoubted right and privilege of electing a Speaker. This duty is no trivial or merely formal one, for the dignity of the office is commensurate with the influence and the widely-extended power of the Assembly over which he is to preside; and our ancestors, through many generations, have shown their sense of the importance of the office by the eminent men they have successively placed in that Chair. Yet high and important as 5 were the responsibilities and duties of the men who were elected to the office—in the last century, such men, for instance, as Mr. Onslow and Lord Grenville—the duties and responsibilities of the Speaker in the present day are far greater even then were those which attached to those illustrious men. In one particular, of course, the duties of both are precisely the same. It was the first and most sacred duty in both times to preserve inviolate the privileges of this House, on which the liberties of the people of this country depend; and I think that anybody who has surveyed the history of past years must feel that that duty is one which requires as much watchfulness, as much care, and as much firmness in the Speaker of the present day as it did in the days to which I have alluded. But if we come, for instance, to the question of private business, and if we look back merely to the commencement of the present century, we shall find Mr. Wilberforce insisting more than once on the necessity of electing a Speaker of the highest possible qualifications, on account, he said, of the enormous importance of the private business of the House, and the large amount of money that was involved in the proper discharge of it. But the private business of this House, I need not remark, was in those days very different from what it is now. I believe that the principal private business then was connected with Canal Bills, which, in fifty years, amounted to only £11,000,000 of money; but during the last Session the private Bills presented to this House involved £128,000,000 of money. For the proper discharge of that most important business of the House the assistance of eminent Committees was called into requisition during the last Parliament; but it must be perfectly obvious, I think, to every Gentleman, that it is upon the directing mind of the Speaker— upon his determination to arrange, in every way he can, that the business should be carried on in a cheap and satisfactory way, without sacrificing in the slightest degree the influence and power of this House—it is upon him, I say, that the proper arrangement and discharge of that duty mainly depends. Or, take another instance. At the time to which I have alluded the debates of this House did not penetrate through any portion of the country—indeed, the debates were hardly reported at all. I believe it is well known that Mr. Pitt expressed his desire to see 6 some one oration of Bolingbroke, and no such oration was to be found; and that in the case of Lord Chatham it is to the accidental circumstance of a gentleman of most powerful memory being present on the delivery of one of his greatest orations that we owe its preservation. But now, the debates of the House, by means of a cheap and accurate press, are circulated throughout every part of these kingdoms, and indeed very much beyond their bounds. These debates are the chief means of forming the public opinion, and I may say the political education, of this country. Well, I need hardly remark that it is on the manner in which the Speaker discharges his duty, it is on his firmness and impartiality, that the completeness of these debates depends; it is on the enforcement of those rules which can alone prevent majorities from tyrannizing over minorities, and which can alone make every different shade of political opinions heard in the debates, that the completeness of the political education of the people depends. There is, of course, another most important duty of the Speaker—that of preserving the high standard of order and of regularity in the conduct of our debates, which distinguishes this Assembly from, I believe, every other political assembly in the world. And when I refer to the conduct of our debates I think I only anticipate the feeling of every Gentleman in this House, when I speak of the loss which we have lately sustained. Our difficulties, and the difficulties of the Speaker, are of course increased by the loss of one whose large and generous nature, loyal in friendship, tolerant to opposition, was mellowed by age, and by a Parliamentary experience greater perhaps than that which ever belonged to any former statesman. We all of us, to whatever political party we belong, who had the honour of sitting in this House with Lord Palmerston, all of us recognized in him that unerring instinct which enabled him to stay the rising wave of angry controversy. We felt the mild and softening influence in debate of his genial, kindly, and sympathetic nature, and of a good humour that, under the most difficult circumstances, never failed to exercise upon us the happiest effects. Under these circumstances, I think myself fortunate in being able to submit to you as Speaker no new or untried man, but one who has already discharged the duties with honour to himself, and who has earned the respect of every one in the House. As to those who 7 sat in the last Parliament I need only appeal to their memories. They all know how careful he was in watching over our privileges; they know how attentive he was to the private business of the House, and how, under his direction, its conduct has been improved. Those who had any matters of difficulty to consult him about can bear witness to his kindliness and the manner in which he always received them, thinking nothing of trouble in giving them the benefit of his most sagacious advice. And as to those who did not sit in the last Parliament and are now Members of this House, if they require anything to verify the truth of the assertion which I make— with, I am sure, the concurrence of every Member of the late Parliament—they have only to look to that most valuable addition that has lately been made to Hansard, where they will see collected all the decisions that the Speaker made during each year of the late Parliament. They will there find, I think, a clearness, a decision, and a wisdom which entitled the Gentleman who made those decisions to the confidence of the House over which he presided. If I may be permitted to refer to what I consider an accurate description of the Eight Hon. John Evelyn Denison, I would quote the language applied somewhat more than a hundred years ago to his illustrious predecessor Mr. Speaker Onslow as marking his peculiar qualifications for the office—
A thorough knowledge of the orders and methods of Parliament, a clearness and readiness in delivering opinions in matters of the greatest intricacy, an impartiality in judging on all occasions.These were the qualifications of Mr. Speaker Onslow, and these have been proved to be the qualifications during two Parliaments of the right hon. Gentleman whom I have the honour to propose to you. It would be improper in me, and I am sure it would be painful to him, if in his presence I were to say anything more of those merits and qualifications which we all recognize, and I, therefore, conclude by proposing that the Right honourable John Evelyn Denison do take the Chair of this House as Speaker.
EARL GROSVENORI rise to second the proposal of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for the county of Limerick. Under other circumstances, I should have felt that the task had fallen into somewhat unworthy hands; but as I understand there is no opposition to the election of 8 the right hon. Gentleman, who has already filled the office of Speaker during two Parliaments with great credit, and to the entire satisfaction of the House, it is not necessary that I should add anything to what has been already so well said. I may, however, be allowed to say that I am confident, if the right hon. Gentleman be re-elected, he will not fail in that great ability with which he has hitherto discharged the duties of his office, that there will be no diminution in his watchful vigilance over the public interests, and that he will evince the same strict impartiality that uniformly characterized his presidency over our debates, while holding the office in former Parliaments. The office of Speaker is one which requires peculiar qualifications, and demands a considerable amount of personal sacrifice, while at the same time it has great dignity and no small influence attached to it. I am sure the right hon. Gentleman possesses all the qualifications referred to by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Limerick; and in seconding the Motion which has been made, I am sure the House will agree with me in wishing he may have health and strength, whether this Parliament may be a long or short one, adequately to discharge his peculiar duties, not only with satisfaction to himself, but to every Member of the present House of Commons. I beg to second the Motion of the right hon. Member for Limerick county.
MR. BRIGHTI am well assured the House will not suppose that I rise to make any opposition to the proposition of the right hon. Gentleman behind me. If need were, I could say a good deal in its favour. I was not here at the time when the right hon. Gentleman below me was elected Speaker on the first occasion—I was not in England at the time; but I read of his election with great pleasure, and thought it about the very best choice the House could have made. After eight or nine years' experience, I believe, with the right hon. Member for Limerick, that the course of the right hon. Gentleman has been marked by impartiality, by dignity, and by success. In fact, without impartiality in such a position there could be no dignity, and without dignity there could be no success. I therefore give my hearty support to the proposition which has been made. But I rise for the purpose of making a suggestion with reference to a matter which I believe 9 I am permitted to speak on upon the present occasion; and if any one doubts it, I might refer to a very eminent and very useful Member of this House—the late Mr. Joseph Hume—who introduced the subject on a similar occasion. I may state that I have not mentioned to any Member the question I wish for a moment to bring under the notice of the House, and I only, therefore, am entirely responsible for mentioning it. I refer to the practice which has prevailed for generations, I suppose, and which obtains even to this time, of requiring that Members of the House who accept invitations to the official dinners or evening parties of the Speaker should appear either in court dress or uniform. Many Members of this House may think this is a very trifling matter, and I do not intend to contest it with them; but if anybody does think it trifling, I hope he will not refuse to concede that the matter is one for fair consideration. My own impression is that this custom is a little out of date, especially among the Members of a popular Assembly. There are, I believe, 160 or 170 gentlemen coming to this Parliament who were not here in the last or any preceding Parliament. Well, they have not yet been initiated into these matters; but I think the fact of there being so many new Members here makes it the more proper that I should now mention this subject. The Speaker of this House is only superior to any other Member by reason of our choice; and I cannot see—I believe no man living can see—that, except for this old custom, there is any necessity or advantage in the Speaker being compelled by this practice to require that all Members of this House who accept his invitations should appear in court dress or in military costume. It may be thought mean to speak of cost. In a House where there are so many rich men—and all are supposed to be rich who come here—I do not speak of cost; but I remember an hon. Member holding the rank of a colonel in the army once complaining, and complaining, too, with a seriousness of manner, that it had taken fifty guineas to put him inside a suitable dress in which to appear at the Speaker's table. That may be thought by many to be a small matter, and perhaps it is; but if our Speaker is but the first among equals, and is made what he is in honour and dignity by the choice of the House, I see no necessity why—even if such things be necessary in the circles of Courts—such a practice should be retained 10 among the members of a popular assembly. I will state a case in point. Last year the House sustained a heavy loss—and I a much heavier loss than any other hon. Member—in the removal for evermore of a dear and lamented friend of mine, without whoso presence here I feel myself almost alone. Well, for twenty-four years—from 1841 to 1865—he was a Member of this House, yet during the whole of that period he felt himself restrained from accepting any official invitation either from Viscount Eversley, when he held the office of Speaker, or from the right hon. Gentleman below me (Mr. Denison) while he has occupied the Chair. Now, my lamented friend was not a man of eccentricities; he was a man to whose merit the whole world has borne testimony, and posterity will say that he was one of the most eminent men who ever adorned the Parliament of this country. But so strongly did he feel on this question that he was restrained during the whole of that twenty-four years from dining with the Speaker of this House, or from attending his official evening parties and levees. Well, there have been to my certain knowledge other Members of this House less eminent than he, but not less entitled to be regarded in a matter of this kind, who have entertained the same feeling. I cannot, therefore, see why this point should be thought an absolute trifle, or, if it be a trifle, that even a small minority should be forced to concur with the majority in respect to it. If there be any country gentleman who likes to appear in decorated apparel, or if there be any homely manufacturer from the North who is gratified by figuring in the blazing garments of a deputy-lieutenant, I do not object to it in the least. I should like every man to please himself in this matter. But if there are some of us, as is the case with myself, and, I believe, many more, who would like to make their appearance in a quieter costume, with less that is gorgeous and astounding about them, why should not their taste be gratified also? This is not a subject which I expect the House to debate, nor do I even say that it is worth debating. I throw it out only as a suggestion which I trust my right hon. Friend who is about, with the unanimous consent of the House, to take the Chair, will consider. And if he can abolish this Act of Uniformity and establish an Act of Toleration, so that, provided we appear at the entertainments of 11 the Speaker as we should at the houses of each other if invited to dine there, we should not he thought to transgress the rules of the House, I believe that then some small burden will be removed from the minds of some Members, and that the dignity of the Speaker will in no degree be impaired.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERI do not rise for the purpose of saying anything in addition to the speech of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Limerick, for that is quite unnecessary, but to say a single word, as definitely as the subject will admit of, to the suggestion of the hon. Member for Birmingham. He has incidentally called the attention of the House, as it may have been quite competent for him to do, to a matter which may undoubtedly he connected with the convenience, and probably also with the feelings and opinions, of some hon. Members of this House; but I think the House in general will feel that my right hon. Friend (Mr. Denison), whom it is proposed to elect to a most important office in this House, could not be expected by the House, and could not be expected especially by the hon. Member for Birmingham —I will not say to express off-hand a judgment on a matter of this grave importance, but to commit himself in any way with regard to it without having a very full opportunity for consideration. I would, therefore, only add that I am satisfied that any communication which any hon. Gentleman may have to make, either now or at any future time, to my right hon. Friend touching the dignity or the comfort of any Member of this House will receive the fullest consideration at the hands of the right hon. Gentleman, with his accustomed courtesy and kindness.
§ The House then calling Mr. EVELYN DENISON to the Chair—
§ MR. EVELYN DENISONstood up in his place and said: I offer my respectful thanks to the House for the honour they propose to confer upon me. I am much beholden to my right hon. Friend and my noble Friend for the manner in which they have proposed and seconded my nomination to the Chair. I can hardly venture to assume to myself much of the commendation which they have been pleased to pass upon me. The favour of the House, the gracious manner in which that favour has been bestowed by its choice of me to fill the Chair, for the third time, 12 by a unanimous voice, might unduly elevate me in my own imagination, had I not a strong and abiding sense of many imperfections and shortcomings; and I attribute the favour of the House, to its proper cause—its too indulgent appreciation of my imperfect services. That I have endeavoured to do my duty as a zealous and faithful servant of the House I can truly say. What I have been able to do you know, and it would not become me to enlarge upon it. Neither would you wish me to enter into professions for the future. I will not, therefore, detain you with one unnecessary word, but simply say that I submit myself with all respect to the desire of the House.
The House then unanimously calling Mr. EVELYN DENISON to the Chair, he was taken out of his place by the said Right honourable William Monsell, and the Right honourable Earl Grosvenor, and by them conducted to the Chair.
Then MR. SPEAKER ELECT, standing on the upper step, said: I return my thanks to the House once more from this Chair. On looking round the House I miss—we all miss—one familiar face. The House has sustained a great loss. We have lost him who was the foremost man among us, the leader of this House—who, by his great abilities, his long experience, and a rare combination of qualities, had conciliated to himself in a remarkable degree the confidence of this House. We remember often when, after long sittings, the patience of the House was well-nigh wearied out, how his good temper, his genial spirit, smoothed the ruffled surface, and sent us to our homes at peace with each other and with him. I do not propose to speak an eulogium on Lord Palmerston. The House will permit me these few words of regret, of esteem, and of grateful friendship. Of the great body of the House, my Colleagues in past Parliaments, whom I am happy to see again around me, I ask a renewal of that generous support which they have on former occasions afforded me. There is a large number of Members present who have seats in this House for the first time. They succeed to no ignoble inheritance. I would venture to say to them that the fame of this House, both for the conduct of debates and the transaction of business, depends, in no small degree, on the rules and orders which it has formed for its own government. A study of these rules would be useful to 13 every Member, and the better they are known the more certain I should feel of general co-operation in my endeavour to uphold them. If any difficulty connected with the business of the House should present itself to any Member, I hope he will do me the favour to communicate with me. I shall always be happy to receive him and to confer with him in the spirit of frank and friendly counsel.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERMr. Speaker—I presume, Sir, in my own name, and I am sure I may say in the name of the whole of the Members of this House, to tender to you our most cordial congratulations on your having been for the third time, by the unanimous voice of this House, placed at the head of the Commons of England. Sir, you have succeeded to the Chair amid growing duties and growing responsibilities. The wants of modern society make themselves felt within these walls, both by the increasing amount of public business and by the increasing amount also of what we term the private business of the House. Your duties in the latter respect are in a great degree withdrawn from the observation of the world, and partially withdrawn even from the observation of the Members of this House; but the long experience of those conversant with that important branch of our occupations has convinced them that that department has never been more carefully and more efficiently attended to than during the period while you, Sir, have occupied the Chair. As regards the public business of the House, all those who hear me, and, I may add, the public out of doors, are competent judges of the manner in which you sustained your arduous functions, and which has been borne testimony to with a force far beyond any that can be expressed by words—by the silent and unanimous vote of the House which has now placed you in the Chair. But it is true that in some respects you have difficulties to confront even beyond those arising out of the constantly increasing calls on the time, diligence, and wisdom of the House. We have seen within a generation a great change in the composition of this House, and likewise a great change in the composition of those constituencies by whom it was chosen. At the period of the Reform Act the transition which this House then underwent (the effect of the important alterations of a constitutional character then made), was immensely softened by the continuing presence on the Benches of 14 the House of a number of men who had attained distinction and acquired authority under the old Parliamentary system. From year to year, from Parliament to Parliament, one by one, they have passed away. So lately as on the last occasion when yon, Sir, were chosen to fill that Chair, there were still remaining here three persons who had attained to great Parliamentary distinction, and who had filled high offices before the passing of the Reform Bill. I mean, first, my noble Friend Lord Russell, who has been removed, in acknowledgment of his public services, to the other House of Legislature; secondly, my right hon. Friend Sir James Graham, than whom few, indeed, of the Members of this House made more valuable contributions to the conduct of its public business; and the last person to whom I allude, and the most eminent of them in respect to the place he occupied in the favour and attachment of this House, I need hardly mention—Lord Palmerston. After what has been so well said by my right hon. Friend behind me, and by yourself, Sir, I need hardly dilate on the character of that distinguished man, the more especially as it may be my duty very shortly to make a proposition to the House which will naturally introduce the subject. But one thing I will venture to say. You, Sir, have glanced at the loss which you yourself experienced by the lamented death of so great and experienced a statesman. There is one person at least in the House who may venture to compete with you in the sense of that loss, and that is the humble individual who has the honour now to address you, considering the responsibilities which have devolved on him. Sir, we have, as was to be expected after the lapse of so many years during which the late Parliament existed, an unusual number of Gentlemen chosen for the first time to the high duty of representing the interests of their country within these walls. But there is amazing strength in the traditions of this House, and there is unequalled aptitude among English Gentlemen for conforming to the spirit of those traditions. It is remarkable to observe, from Parliament to Parliament, how little those who watch our proceedings from without, or those who take part in those proceedings within these walls are able to remark any difference in the firmness and regularity and discipline with which the House discharges its high functions, in consequence of the infusion of new Members which constantly 15 follows a dissolution; and, however much we may lament the loss of those distinguished men to whom I have referred, we may still reflect that there remain among us, on both sides of the House, men whose ability, experience, character, and weight will enable them to afford you efficient aid in the discharge of those arduous duties which will devolve, Sir, upon you. We may, Sir, presume to look forward with confidence to the continuance of that vigilant jealousy for the liberties, and that high regard for the honour of this Assembly, which are the two main pillars of the dignity and efficiency of the House. You, Sir, will contribute your share from the elevated position you now occupy to the accomplishment of that task, and we in our several spheres shall be ready to second you to the best of our ability. In conclusion, allow me to express the wish that has already been uttered by my noble Friend behind me, that health and strength may be spared to you for many years to discharge the high functions to which you have been called, in the manner most pleasing to your own mind, and in a way calculated to elevate you to the highest degree in the eyes of the House and of the country.
§ MR. DISRAELII hope, Sir, I may be permitted, on behalf of Gentlemen on this side of the House, to offer you our congratulations on the event, so gratifying to the House, which has just occurred; and the more so, as from the mode in which the business of this morning has been conducted, you might, if I were silent, for a moment suppose that your elevation to the Chair has been a matter of indifference to us. I believe I am expressing a very general feeling on their part when I say that regret is felt here that your nomination to the Chair was not seconded from this side. On the previous occasion that mode was followed. There are, I believe, other precedents for such a course of proceeding under such circumstances; and if precedents did not exist, I think we ought to have made one, because this is an occasion on which the general and cordial feeling of the House could not be shown in too striking and significant a manner. You have to-day, Sir, been re-elected to the Chair for the third time. I have myself always been of opinion that re-election to the Chair is, in fact, a greater distinction than the original choice. Political manœuvres and Parliamentary 16 passion's may contrive to raise an individual to the elevated post you now occupy, but they cannot keep him there, Sir. For that result the possession of great and personal qualities is necessary—natural courtesy, adequate learning, firmness and impartiality, and, above all, that inspiring sense of honour which is our surest guide in the perplexities of public life, and which ever has been, and, I trust, ever will be, the characteristic of English gentlemen. It is because the House sees that you, Sir, possess those qualities that you have been re-elected to the Chair for the third time this day; and it is because we feel on this side of the House that you possess those qualities that I am authorized, on behalf of Gentlemen here, to offer you the tribute of our respect and congratulation. I would not have said more, had it not been for some unexpected allusions made to another subject. The right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer alluded to increased responsibilities falling on him; but I can assure the right hon. Gentleman of that of which he need hardly be reminded; for, though he appears now for the first time as leader of this House, yet he has sat in it for many years, and been one of its most eminent and distinguished Members: his experience, then, must have taught him that on all occasions, when the order and honour of this House are concerned, the leader of the House may appeal for support to those sitting opposite to him with the same confidence as to the Members occupying seats on his own side. Sir, I quite agree with the right hon. Gentleman that there is one cause why on this occasion, in the responsible office which he now occupies, he may feel some distrust. I do not think that it is possible for us to re-assemble under this roof—many of us who have sat in all the Parliaments of the Queen, and some of us who have been Members of the House during three reigns—and not feel emotion when they mark that the familiar form which you, Sir, have referred to can no longer be observed among us—a form connected so intimately with the history of this country, and with the most important transactions of this House of Parliament. It is impossible to deny that the disappearance of such a character from the scene—of so much sagacity, of so much experience, and, I may say, of so much fame—must in some degree, and for some time, derogate from the authority even of the House of Commons. But, 17 Sir, it is not on this occasion that I wish to refer to the character of a great statesman, but rather to the happy disposition of the man, which lent, indeed, a charm to the labours and anxieties of public life. By his good temper and good sense he facilitated the course of public business beyond what it is easy to ascertain, or even, perhaps, to imagine. I am sure it must be the general sentiment among us, that the influence over our debates will not soon cease of his genial experience and his moderating wisdom. But, notwithstanding this loss, I will express my hope that this present Parliament, in intelligence and public spirit, will not be inferior to the preceding Parliaments of this happy reign.
§ House adjourned at a quarter after Three o'clock.