PARLIAMENTARY OATHS (MR. BRADLAUGH). (Hansard, 10 May 1881)

§ MR. PARNELL
rose to put a Question to the Chief Secretary for Ireland, when—

§ MR. BRADLAUGH
, who had been standing below the Bar, advanced again to the Table, and, amid cries of "Order!" from Mr. Speaker and the House, said: I am here, Sir, in order that I may fulfil the duty imposed upon me by Law, as a duly elected Member, and take the Oath required by Law.

§ MR. SPEAKER
The House has already ordered that Mr. Bradlaugh, upon presenting himself to take the Oath, should withdraw below the Bar. Until the House has otherwise ordered, I shall consider that that Order of the House is in force; and I, therefore, in fulfilment of my duty to this House, call upon Mr. Bradlaugh to withdraw.

§ MR. BRADLAUGH
Most respectfully I submit, Sir, that the Order of the House is illegal, and I refuse to obey.

§ MR. SPEAKER
In discharge of the Order of the House, I call upon the Serjeant at Arms to remove Mr. Bradlaugh.

§ MR. BRADLAUGH
, standing at the Bar: It is my intention to refuse to obey the Order of the House, as it is illegal.

§ MR. SPEAKER
The House has been the witness of the course taken by Mr. Bradlaugh, and my powers in this matter being exhausted, I must ask the House for instructions as to the course to be taken, so as to secure the orderly conduct of Business in this House.

§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE
I do not know, Sir, whether I am to conclude from the silence of the Leader of the House and of the Government that it is his intention to pursue upon this occasion the same course which he pursued upon former occasions. When an intimation is given to me that it is the intention of the Leader of the House to make any proposal I shall resume my seat, considering that it is more appropriate for him to take steps to support your authority and the Order of the House than it is for a private Member. But, in the absence of any such intimation, I beg to make a Motion, and the Motion I shall submit to you is this— That the Serjeant at Arms do remove Mr. Bradlaugh from the House, until he shall engage not further to disturb the proceedings of the House. It appears to me that this meets the case. It is necessary that the Order of the House should be preserved. We have no desire to press anything in the shape of penal infliction upon Mr. Bradlaugh; but we think it absolutely essential that we should take steps to preserve the peace and order of the House.

MR. GLADSTONE
I think the right hon. Gentleman has made a Motion which, from his point of view with respect to this question, is perfectly consistent and becoming, and in making that Motion he has used language to which no one can take exception—language of which certainly I do not feel that I am at all entitled to complain. I am, however, desirous that he should distinctly understand the exact nature of the difficulty which leads me, after very full reflection, to consider myself disabled from making such a Motion. On the other hand, I do not hold myself bound to resist the Motion, nor do I encourage resistance on the part of others. On the contrary, I think it is 181 our duty as a minority—I am referring back to a recent occurrence—to tender a respectful submission to the Order of the House. But the right hon. Gentleman will see that it is one thing to respectfully support the Order of the House, and another thing to undertake to guide the House by making a Motion. My belief has been all along, and is still, that Mr. Bradlaugh—whether right or wrong in his own mind—is legally entitled to come into this House and take his seat. With that belief it would not be consistent, it would not be becoming, it would not be dignified, and I do not think it ought to be an acceptable service to the House that I, who entertain that belief, should be the person to move that Mr. Bradlaugh should be taken away from this Table, where I think he has come to discharge the duty which the law requires him to discharge. That is the ground, and not any indisposition to interfere with the proceedings of the House, nor any indisposition to assist and support the authority of the Speaker in the Chair, but a very definite conviction that has led me to see that it is clearly wrong on my part to undertake or to endeavour to guide the House; but it leaves me still fully persuaded that it is right and fit that I should respectfully submit to the House, and that I should tender, as far as I may venture to do so, to those who think with me on the general question, a recommendation that they should pursue a similar course.

§ MR. LABOUCHERE
I have not risen to ask the House to divide against the Resolution. As the Prime Minister has said, this is the logical outcome of the Resolution passed by a majority of the House the other day. It is very evident that we are here to carry on Business, and that it would be impossible to carry it on if Mr. Bradlaugh were to exercise what he considers, and what we consider, his statutory rights, and persistently to come up to that Table to take the Oath. Therefore, I am not going to ask the House to divide against this Resolution; but I would ask the right hon. Gentleman the Member for North Devon to be good enough to explain what is the precise meaning of the Resolution, because I think many Gentlemen here do not quite understand what it is. Is it that Mr. Bradlaugh should be forbidden to enter the pre- 182 cincts of this House; and, if so, perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would tell us what those precincts are? It is simply for information that I ask, and not with any intention of opposing the Resolution.

§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE
I understand that when a Gentleman has been returned as a Member of this House, and from any circumstance is unable to take his seat in the House, or is restrained from doing so—as has been the case in several instances, and among them in that of Baron Rothschild, who was in that position for several years—the Gentleman so returned is regarded as an incomplete Member of this House, and as such is entitled to take his seat below the Bar. That has been the practice which has been followed in these cases, and Mr. Bradlaugh has lately followed that example himself, and even remained there during our divisions. It is obvious that Mr. Bradlaugh, remaining in that position, can at any moment, with great ease, enter the body of the House, which he claims to be legally entitled to do, for the purpose of tendering to take the Oath at this Table. I think it impossible that, so long as Mr. Bradlaugh retains that position, it is impossible for the House to have any security that its proceedings will not be interrupted at a moment's notice, and scenes which we all feel, whatever our opinions, to be deplorable may occur. I therefore by the Motion propose that Mr. Bradlaugh shall be excluded from the House—that is to say, that he shall not come within the door that is kept by the doorkeepers, until or unless he shall undertake to the Speaker that he will not disturb the proceedings of the House, in which case I can see no reason why he should not do that which other Gentlemen who have been returned to this House and have not been able to take their seats have done. In that way we shall have security against disturbance in our proceedings without inflicting any hardship on Mr. Brad-laugh other than that which is inflicted upon him by our objection to his taking the Oath.