§ Lord Denman, as Speaker of the House, acquainted their Lordships that he had received a letter from the Earl of Devon which, with the permission of their Lordships, he would read to them. The letter which his Lordship read, was as follows:—
Duke Street, June 22, 1835.
My Lord,—I take the earliest opportunity of informing your Lordship, that the title of Earl of Devon having devolved upon me, by the death of my cousin, the late Earl, I have received his Majesty's Writ of Summons to attend as a Peer of Parliament; and I have to request of your Lordship to communicate to the House this circumstance, in consequence of which the office of Clerk-assistant will become vacant. I cannot retire from that office which I have held for nearly ten years, without being anxious to express through your Lordship, to the House of Lords, the deep sense that I entertain of the uniform kindness and confidence, which I have experienced in the execution of my various duties, from the House, generally, and from the several Speakers of the House, particularly, with whom I have necessarily been brought much in contact; a kindness and confidence which have rendered the performance of those duties easy and agreeable, and of which I shall always retain a grateful recollection.
I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's faithful and obedient servant,
DEVON.
To the Lord Speaker, &c.
§ Agreed to.
§ Viscount Melbournesaid, that he had not been aware, that this letter would be laid before their Lordships this day, otherwise he should have been better prepared as to the course to be adopted on this subject than he was at the present moment. He should, however, now shortly state to their Lordships what he proposed to do. This event would make a vacancy among the Officers at their Table—a vacancy which, when their Lordships considered how the office of Clerk-assistant had been filled, all of them must much regret. At the same time, it was some consolation for them to know, that they should have the assistance of their late Officer as one of the Members of their House. He should advert to the course he intended to propose to their Lordships on this occasion on this subject. The Committee which 976 sat in 1826, upon the subject of public offices, recommended, that whenever a vacancy in one of the offices of their Lordships' House should occur, the whole matter should be reconsidered with respect to the number of Clerks and their salaries. In pursuance of that recommendation, he should move to-morrow for the appointment of a Committee to take the whole subject into consideration. The noble Viscount here read the words of the Committee's Report, which exactly expressed what he had already stated.