§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTON)My Lords, I have at the commencement of business to acquaint your Lordships with the fact, which you have already probably observed, that the Lord Chancellor is prevented by the state of his health, from occupying his usual place on the Woolsack in your Lordships' House. I am sorry to say that he has been suffering for some time from a painful affection which has caused him a good deal of distress, and from which he is only slowly, though I hope surely, recovering. His physicians have informed him that his health is not adequate at the moment to sustain the prolonged exertions that are required by his duties in a judicial capacity in your Lordships' House and also when he takes part in our everyday proceedings, They have recommended a change to a warmer climate, to which he has now gone, and from which we hope he will shortly return in fully re-established health and vigour. I need hardly add that we shall all miss him very much from his customary place, both those who co-operate with him in the discharge of his judicial duties and those who profit by his presence, his counsels, and his active 'and influential participation in our debates. Probably no one will miss him more than myself, because he has been good enough to relieve me during the last session of Parliament of a good deal of the burden that falls on the Leader of the House, and to that co-operation I was eagerly looking in the forth-coming session. It remains for us only to wish him a complete recovery and a speedy return. In the meantime all the ordinary arrangements have been made that are required in the case of the absence of the Lord Chancellor. The Great Seal has been put into Commission, and there will be no pretermission of the duties in any respect that devolve upon him. This arrangement has been approved of by the King, and I thought it only my duty at the commencement of the present sittings to place it, in the 7 few words I have done, before your Lordships' House.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWEMy Lords, may I, as a sequel to what has fallen from the noble Earl, express the deep regret felt by all those for whom I am entitled to speak at the absence of the Lord Chancellor, as I fear, for sonic little time to come. We sympathise most sincerely with him in the distressing malady of which he has been the unlucky victim. Although on this side of the House his absence from debates is not felt by us precisely as it is by the noble Earl and his colleagues, yet we recognise his wide grasp of many subjects and the vivid quality of the speeches by which he illustrates those subjects; and while being tempted to congratulate ourselves at being spared the presence of so formidable an antagonist—we do find ourselves sometimes differing from His Majesty's. Government—we most candidly and honestly regret his absence. I sincerely hope that his absence may not be unduly prolonged; but I feel equally strongly that the noble and learned Lord should not attempt to return and resume his exceedingly arduous duties until his health is thoroughly reestablished. The noble Earl has told us that in his own enforced absence a heavy burden was thrown on the Lord Chancellor in the earlier part of the session, and I am afraid that the noble Earl will find that the absence of the Lord Chancellor may add largely to his own serious duties. But knowing, as we do, that the Government has a strong man on the Front Bench, we feel that the work of the session, even in the untoward absence of the Lord Chancellor, will be satisfactorily carried on.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYMy Lords, I should not like this occasion to pass without adding my tribute to the regret which we all feel at the absence of the noble and learned Lord. I am quite certain that I am only voicing the opinions of all your Lordships when I say that his great ability, courtesy, and industry have done an immense lot to improve the efficiency and success of the legislative work of your Lordships' House. We deeply regret his absence.