§ MR. SPEAKERaddressed the House, announcing his intention of retiring from the Chair, as follows:—
§ As the House has now agreed to the Address, in answer to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech, I have to ask the House for its indulgence for a few minutes.
§ The time has come when I have to discharge a most painful duly, in announcing to the House that I am no longer able to undergo the severe work of the Chair.
§ At the end of last Session 1 suffered much from our long and late sittings, and I was learned that I was not equal to the work of another Session, and I then made up my mind to retire; but it appeared to me that it would not be becoming in me to tender my resignation at the end of the Session, when the attendance of Members was reduced, and the House in an incomplete condition.
§ I have therefore postponed the announcement of my resignation to this day, the Address to the Crown, in answer to Her Majesty's Speech, having been agreed to.
§ No words that I can use will adequately convey my feeling of deep regret at having to descend from this Chair, and to separate myself from a House which has done me so much honour, by choosing me for three Parliaments to preside over its deliberations.
§ If during that period I have done the House any service, it has been due, not to my own merits, but to the constant and generous support which I have uniformly received from the House. 'That support has made my weakness, strength; and has enabled me in trying times to sustain the authority of the House, which, without that support, would have been impossible.
§ For my own part, I should be content to live and die in the service of the House; but that cannot be, consistently with my duty to 1808 the House, for failing strength warns me that I cannot render that full and efficient service to which the House is entitled.
§ I have therefore, very reluctantly, to ask leave to surrender the authority with which you have invested me.
MR. GLADSTONESir, this evening will be one not readily forgotten by any of us. You have spoken, Sir, to us in few words—words of deep meaning—marked by all the grace and all the depth of feeling which has characterized your whole conduct during your tenure of your high Office, and has endeared you to the hearts of us all. I am aware, Sir, that there must be a desire on the part of the House that the words which you have spoken should be fittingly acknowledged by those who may be said, in some degree, to represent the House; but I feel that at this hour of the night, and in the presence of a number of Members exceedingly limited compared with those who would wish to participate in such a manifestation, it would not be desirable that I should enter at length upon the subject. I will, therefore, content myself with giving a Notice—or, rather, two Notices—with which it will be my duty to proceed at the next Sitting of the House, and which will afford a suitable opportunity for the expression of such sentiments as may be fitting to the occasion. On Monday next I propose to move, at half-past 4 o'clock, as follows:—
That the Thanks of this House he given to Mr. Speaker for his distinguished services in the Chair for more than twelve years; that he he assured that this House fully appreciates the zeal and ability with which he has discharged the duties of his high office, through a period of unusual labour, difficulty, and anxiety, and the judgment and firmness with which he has maintained its privileges and dignity; and that this House feels the strongest sense of his unremitting attention to the constantly increasing business of Parliament, and of his uniform urbanity, which have secured for him the respect and esteem of this House.I shall also move, in the event of the adoption of that Motion—That an humble Address he presented to Her Majesty, praying Her Majesty that She will be most graciously pleased to confer some signal mark of Her Royal Favour upon the Right Honourable Sir Henry Bouverie William Brand, G.C.B., Speaker of this House, for his eminent services during the important period in which he has with such distinguished ability 1809 and dignity presided in the Chair of this House, I and to assure Her Majesty that whatever expense Her Majesty shall think proper to he incurred upon that account, this House will make good the same.
§ SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACHSir, this subject will be more fittingly dealt with on Monday, and it would ill become me to add anything to what has fallen from the right hon. Gentleman. But, Sir, in the absence of my right hon. Friend (Sir Stafford Northcote), I may be permitted to say, on behalf of those who sit on this side of the House, how cordially we reciprocate the sentiments which have fallen from the Prime Minister, and how deeply we regret the necessity which has led to your retirement from the Chair.