§ 11.5 am.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (LORD GARDINER)My Lords, I have to inform the House that I have received from other Legislatures of the Commonwealth Messages of Congratulation upon the Anniversary that we are celebrating to-day. I propose to arrange that these Messages should be placed in the Library and to convey, on behalf of the House, our cordial thanks for these expressions of good will.
May I also, on behalf of all your Lordships, welcome the Presiding Officers of Commonwealth Senates who are present with us to-day, below the Bar. They come from all the five continents of the 452 world, and I shall be proud to lead them in procession to Westminster Hall, there to present, on behalf of the House, our humble Address to Her Majesty The Queen. This is, I believe, the first time that a Lord Chancellor has been accompanied by colleagues to a ceremony of this kind, but I hope that it may not be the last.
On behalf of all your Lordships, may I extend to them a warm welcome. I hope that their stay in this country will be a happy one and that they will have a safe return to their own homeland.
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (THE EARL OF LONGFORD)My Lords, I beg to move, That the House do now proceed to Westminster Hall for the purpose of presenting the humble Address which the House ordered on Wednesday last to be presented to Her Majesty; and that thereafter the House do adjourn during pleasure and do meet again in this Chamber at half-past two o'clock.
§ Moved, That the House do now proceed to Westminster Hall for the purpose of presenting the humble Address which the House ordered on Wednesday last to be presented to Her Majesty; and that thereafter the House do adjourn during pleasure and do meet again in this Chamber at half-past two o'clock.—(The Earl of Longford.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ Whereupon the House proceeded to Westminster Hall, the Lord Chancellor being accompanied by the following Presiding Officers of Commonwealth Senates:
| President of the Senate of Ceylon. | President of the Senate of Australia. |
| President of the Senate of Nigeria. | President of the Senate of Malaysia. |
| President of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago. | President of the Senate of Jamaica. |
| Speaker of the Senate of Kenya. | |
| Speaker of the Senate of. Northern Ireland. | President of the Senate of Bahamas. |
| President of the Senate of British Honduras. | President of the Senate of Basutoland: |
§ And the Lord Chancellor there presented to Her Majesty the humble Address from the House of Lords in accordance with the Resolution of Wednesday last, and Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Commons (also assembled in the Hall), presented to Her Majesty an Address from that House.
453§ The Address from the House of Lords was as follows:
§ "Most Gracious Sovereign,
§ "We, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, welcome this occasion of commemorating and celebrating with Your Majesty and with Members of the House of Commons the seven hundredth anniversary of the Parliament to which were summoned for the first time to our certain knowledge the Citizens and Burgesses, as well as the Knights of the Shire, to join with the Lords in deliberation upon the needs and affairs of the Realm. The Parliament summoned to meet in January 1265 by Your Majesty's forbear, King Henry the Third, at the instance of Sinom de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, thus contained all the essential elements of later Parliaments. With the civil war yet unfinished, it met in the shadow of strife, and was itself conceived as an attempt to end that strife. Then as now, one of the purposes of Parliament was to provide for the settlement of dissension by debate, by discovery of common views, and by agreement rather than by bloodshed.
§ "The Citizens and Burgesses thus summoned added a new representative element to Parliament. The pattern then established has matured into Parliament as we know it to-day. The experience of seven hundred years has shown that it is the Crown in Parliament which endures; in separation, the partners fail. Together they have provided an inspiration and a model to the world. Together they have fostered the liberty of the subject and upheld the rule of law. Those assemblies throughout the world in which men regulate their affairs in freedom have been inspired by the example of our own Parliament at Westminster, of which we recognise the germ in the Parliament of Simon de Montfort seven hundred years ago. In living demonstration of that fact, we welcome at this commemoration many Presiding Officers and Speakers, representing Houses of Parliament from every continent, and all members of the Commonwealth.
§ "It is our hope and wish that our great institution of Parliament may grow and continue to benefit mankind 454 all over the world, but specially this Kingdom; and that under God's providence we, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, may loyally work in Parliament for many years to come under Your Gracious Majesty, to whom we humbly wish a long and happy reign."