THE ADDRESS IN ANSWER TO THE QUEEN'S SPEECH. (Hansard, 18 February 1869)

MR. GLADSTONE
Sir, I rise for the purpose of proposing a Motion, which I hope and feel convinced will not be unacceptable to the House. It is that the Address to which we have just agreed be presented to Her Majesty by the Whole House. It was a matter of serious concern to Her Majesty that she was precluded from meeting the two Houses—and particularly the House of Commons, chosen under circumstances of such peculiar and special interest—by the ancient method of opening the Session of Parliament in State. But Her Majesty had been suffering more than usual from severe headache, and to a degree which precluded her from making the necessary exertion at the period when the opening of Parliament occurred in the present year. There is another circumstance I will add, and which I think it is desirable the House should be made aware of. It is that at 107 all periods of the life of Her Majesty—at the periods both of its unclouded happiness and her unimpaired strength—this particular effort, with the lengthened ceremony it entailed, did always tax the powers of Her Majesty to the very utmost, although it is a ceremonial which she was and is always desirous to perform at the times when she can venture to undertake it. But there is another mode by which a great portion of the desire of Her Majesty may be attained—that is to say, that she may have the satisfaction of meeting Parliament and of meeting the House of Commons by receiving the Addresses of Parliament in person, should the House enter into her views. My belief is that the House will receive this intimation as another gratifying proof, if indeed proof were wanted, of Her Majesty's great sympathy with Her People in all matters that concern their interests, and especially upon an occasion when a great and important measure for reforming the representation of the people and so largely extending the franchise has, for the first time, come into operation. I am, therefore, to state that Her Majesty will be pleased to come to London for the purpose of receiving the Addresses of both Houses of Parliament, in case the Motion I am about to make that the Address be presented to Her Majesty by the Whole House, shall be agreed to both in this and in the other House of Parliament. It is right that in making this Motion I should advert to the course that has been adopted in presenting former Addresses. It has been the practice when the Speech has been delivered by Royal Commission that the Address in reply has not been usually received by Her Majesty in person; but there was an occasion in the reign of George III., when it happened that the Sovereign was prevented by a domestic sorrow in the death of the Duke of Glocester, and by his failing health, from coming to Parliament for the purpose of solemnly and formally opening the Session, and when, at the same time, it happened there was a public and national occasion of satisfaction, which the House desired to testify at the foot of the Throne by presenting the Address in person. The analogy between that occasion and the present appears to me to be complete, so far as the substance is concerned. The difference is, that at 108 that period the occasion of joy and pleasure was the gaining of a victory by the arms of England at the Battle of Trafalgar—the occasion now is the celebration of a great and peaceful triumph in the passing of a measure which very largely extends the liberty of the people. As on that occasion the two Houses attended the Sovereign with their Addresses and with their congratulations, so it appears to me that now—especially when Her Majesty has been pleased in Her gracious Speech from the Throne to mark her peculiar satisfaction in the passing; of this Act as an occasion of joy and advantage to the public—the House, on its part, will be glad to answer, not with mere words, that expression of satisfaction, but by an act which it will be in their power to perform, by proceeding, headed by you, Sir, and with the attendance of such Members as may choose to constitute a House or may be able to attend, to the Palace, to which Her Majesty will readily come, at a suitable period, from Windsor, for the purpose of receiving the loyal and dutiful Address of Parliament. One word more. I ought to say that no doubt it will be a matter for the consideration of the authorities of the House whether, as the practice has been to attend the Sovereign in person only upon occasions when there was a special cause for the Speech being delivered by Commission, it will be proper or necessary to mark the occasion by some suitable entry in the Journals. That, however, is for the consideration of the authorities, and it is not a matter for me to decide. In these few words I have to move "That the said Address be presented to Her Majesty by the Whole House."

§ MR. DISRAELI
I should be willing that a Motion of this kind should pass without notice, but as the course proposed is an unusual one for the House to adopt, it is better that it should be adopted in a manner which should not lead in the future to misconception and mistake. I am sure the House most sincerely regrets that the state of Her Majesty's health deprived Her Majesty of the gratification she would have felt in meeting the New Parliament, in the peculiar circumstances under which we were chosen. Although I acknowledge that we ought to assent to the proposal of the right hon. Gentleman, being an unusual one, with some caution, I hold 109 it so important and so desirable that some personal relations should be established between Her Majesty and the New Parliament that has been elected, that I think the proposal of the right hon. Gentleman is a wise and judicious one. We shall take a course gratifying to Her Majesty and gratifying to this House, while at the same time it will be adopted, I doubt not, with those precautions which the right hon. Gentleman has hinted at, so that for the future it will be referred to as a course adopted by the House under peculiar circumstances, and not as a ceremonial which is to be followed by the House as the ordinary course, when the peculiar and interesting circumstances which have induced Her Majesty graciously to give us this intimation do not exist.

§ SIR LAWRENCE PALK
expressed his regret that the right hon. Gentleman the Prime Minister had not given notice of the Motion, so that the House might have had an opportunity of considering its terms. He should not, however, have risen if it had not been for an observation that fell from the right hon. Gentleman, to the effect that on a former occasion, when a similar course was pursued, it was for the purpose of offering the congratulations of the House on a great victory having been achieved by the British arms, while the House was at present asked to congratulate Her Majesty on a great political triumph. His object in then addressing the House was to protest against any course being adopted upon the present occasion which would give any colour to the conclusion that the House congratulated the Queen or the country on any political triumph that might or might not have been obtained. That was a question which would be brought under the consideration of the House before long, and it would then be time enough to congratulate the Ministry, or the Crown, or the country on the results of the recent change in our electoral system.