services by a grant of a hundred thousand pounds. Before he set out for Ireland, he requested permission to express his gratitude for this magnificent present. A chair was set for him within the bar. He took his seat there with the mace at his right hand, rose, and in a few graceful words returned his thanks, and took his leave. The Speaker replied that the Commons could never forget the obligation under which they already lay to his grace, that they saw him with pleasure at the head of an English army, that they felt entire confidence in his zeal and ability, and that, at whatever distance he might be, he would always be in a peculiar manner an object of their care. The precedent set on this interesting occasion was followed with the utmost minuteness, a hundred and twenty-five years later, on an occasion more interesting still. Exactly on the same spot on which, in July, 1689, Schomberg had acknowledged the liberality of the nation, a chair was set, in July, 1814, for a still more illustrious warrior, who came to return thanks for a still more splendid mark of public gratitude. Few things illustrate more strikingly the peculiar character of the English government and people than the circumstance that the House of Commons, a popular assembly, should, even in a moment of joyous enthusiasm, have adhered to ancient forms with the punctilious accuracy of a College of Heralds; that the sitting and rising, the covering and the uncovering, should have been regulated by exactly the same etiquette in the nineteenth century as in the seventeenth; and that the same mace which had been held at the right hand of Schomberg should have been held in the same position at the right hand of Wellington.

Thanks of the House to General Fairfax.-Speaker Lenthal, in the course of his speech giving the thanks of the House to General Fairfax in 1646, made use of the following high-flown phrases :-" Heretofore, when I read the histories of the acts of famous princes and warriors in this or other nations, it was not without some jealousy that in them there was some mixture and glosses of oratory and art, the more to set off and give lustre to their acts, as arguments of emulation for others to follow the footsteps of their virtues; but the actions of your excellency will add lustre and belief to them, being all verified in you. And, indeed, here considering the swift marches, and the expedition of those grand and difficult attempts, which were prosecuted and effected by your excellency, I may say the Almighty came riding on the wings of the wind; for these were nothing else but the Magnalia Dei, acted in and by you, his instrument."

An Admiral on his Beam-ends.-Vice-Admiral Sir Alan, afterwards Lord Gardner, being at the time member for Plymouth, was to receive the thanks of the House, in his place in Parliament, for his share in the naval victory obtained over the French on the 1st of June, 1794. "On the day appointed, before the commencement of business” (says Dean Pellew in his "Life of Sidmouth "), "he entered the Speaker's private room in great agitation, and expressed his apprehensions that he should fail in properly acknowledging the honour which he was about to receive. I have often been at the cannon's mouth,' he said, "but hang

me if ever I felt as I do now! I have not slept these three nights. Look at my tongue.' The Speaker rang for a bottle of Madeira, and Sir Alan took a glass. After a short time he took a second, and then said he felt somewhat better; but when the moment of trial arrived, and one of the bravest of a gallant profession, whom no personal danger could appal, rose to reply to the Speaker, he could scarcely articulate. He was encouraged by enthusiastic cheers from all part of the House; but, after stammering out with far more than the usual amount of truth that he was overpowered by the honour that had been conferred upon him,' and vainly attempting to add a few more words, he relinquished the idea as hopeless, and abruptly resumed his seat amidst a renewed burst of cheers."

The "Garter" in the Commons.-Horace Walpole writes in 1772" Lord North is likely to have the Duke of Saxe-Gotha's vacant garter, the only one, except my father's, that has shone in the House of Commons since Queen Elizabeth's days." North had the garter, which has since but rarely been bestowed on statesmen sitting in the Lower House. A notable instance was that of Lord Palmerston. It was offered to the younger Pitt and to Sir Robert Peel, but declined by both.

VARIETIES.

Cats and Parliaments.-Charles I. said that Parliaments are like cats; they grow curst [sour-tempered] with age.-Hallam's “ Constitutional History."

How Long will Parliament Keep "Fresh"?-A correspondent of Notes and Queries writes: "In the course of a debate which arose on the Triennial Bill in 1693, a speaker amused the House with the following argument in support of the bill: Parliaments,' he said, ' resembled the manna which God bestowed on the chosen people. They were excellent while they were fresh; but if kept too long they became noisome, and foul worms were engendered by the corruption of that which had been sweeter than honey.' Grave analogical misgivings as to the durability of new parliamentary materials have compressed themselves into the following query: How long will 'Parliament' keep without becoming offensive ?"

A Figurative and a Literal Dissolution.-Lord Chief Justice North dined with the Duke of Lauderdale at Ham (says Roger North in his "Life of Guilford") when "both these counsellors were as blown deer, and would be glad to have the Parliament dissolved; of which, to say the truth, the whole nation was weary. And at this time the frost was very sharp, and the company at dinner complained of cold. The duke turned round, and, looking back towards the window, said, 'There will be a thaw soon.' None at the table but his lordship guessed at his meaning. And so he intended it; for he knew that the Parliament would in a few days be dissolved, but his lordship did not, till he guessed so from that

sentence of the duke's; and it proved accordingly. And so the duke discovered and at the same time kept the grand secret, which was a fine turn of a politician."

Parliamentary Secession.*-At one period, under the Government of Lord North (1777), Fox and his friends, finding themselves unable to take effectual action against the Ministry, seceded from the parliamentary discussion of public measures. "The Opposition," says the Annual Register, "appeared in their places only upon such matters of private bills in which they had some particular concern or interest." On this subject Earl Russell remarks ("Life of Fox "): "The general question of parliamentary secession is one of considerable importance and no slight difficulty. It is sanctioned by the precedents of Pulteney in the time of Sir Robert Walpole, of Burke in the period of which we are treating, and of Fox and Grey during the French revolutionary war. The principle of secession, indeed, is not easily defended; for to what end are men chosen representatives of the people if they refrain from voting on the interests of the people, irrespective of the views of other representatives? On the other hand, it must be admitted that practically a Minister gains strength from the repetition of fruitless attempts to overthrow his policy. The publicity of debate gives appearance of fairness to the contest, and the country is apt to rest satisfied with a verdict pronounced after argument heard, evidence weighed, and authority examined. It may, therefore, be practically expedient to retire for a season from opposition to a policy which is deliberately approved, though in error, by the Crown, the Parliament, and the nation. But, however advisable a total secession may be, there could be no greater mistake than a partial, fitful, and capricious withdrawal from public business. It has the air of a loss of temper rather than the silent reserve of dignity or the calm patience of wisdom. This was, however, the course which the Rockingham Whigs pursued. The suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act being announced, Lord Rockingham held a meeting to consider whether the Whigs should return to oppose it. Lord Rockingham himself, Burke, and the Cavendishes adhered to secession, but Charles Fox would not agree; and he accordingly, on the second reading, attended to oppose the suspension."

Parliamentary Obstruction.-In the House of Commons on the 2nd of July, 1877, the tactics of "obstruction" were developed to their full extent. In committee a vote for the Army Reserve force was met by Mr. O'Connor Power, member for Mayo, with a motion to report progress; and, although only eight voted with the Irish member and 128 against, the motions that progress be reported, and that the chairman do leave the chair, were together repeated seventeen times; after which the House was counted out, at a quarter-past seven in the morning. On the 25th of the same month, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir Stafford Northcote) moved the suspension for two days of Mr. C. S. Parnell, member for Meath, for having "wilfully and persis

* See also page 14, "Secession of Members from the Commons."

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tently obstructed public business;" and on the 27th Sir S. Northcote moved a new rule, that “ When a member has been declared out of order, and is pronounced to be disregarding the authority of the chair, a motion that he be not heard during the remainder of the debate or the committee may be put without debate, after the member complained of has been heard in explanation." This was carried by a large majority, as well as another rule, that no member shall twice move in the same committee that the chairman report progress or leave the chair.-On the 31st of the month, when the longest recorded sitting occurred (p. 449), it was in contemplation between the leaders of both sides of the House to support a proposal for the suspension of certain Irish members from participation in the debates, when they suddenly ceased the opposition they had been pursuing, and the business was finally got through, after a sitting of twenty-six hours.

The "Barricade" of Obstruction.-Speaking at the Cutlers' Feast at Sheffield in September, 1879, Lord George Hamilton (Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education) said: "During the past session we have had exceptional difficulties to contend with. No matter in what direction the Government attempted to move, they were invariably met by a barricade of Parliamentary obstruction. It is quite true that those barricades were only manned by a very few gentlemen; but it is obvious that they were planned and designed by a considerable number more who took very good care to keep in the background. Now, I must do the gentlemen from Ireland the justice to say that they are perfectly frank as to their intentions, and these intentions are to make such a use of the forms of the House of Commons as will enable them to extort something from the majority which they otherwise could not get, and the something which they want to attain is the repeal of the union between England and Ireland. . . I think Parliamentary Government is dear to every Englishman; but it is perfectly clear that if the practices of the past session increase in subsequent sessions, it will be almost impossible to carry on the present system of government. It is, therefore, above all things essential that those returned to Parliament should be perfectly free and capable of dealing with these obstructions if it be necessary."

Statistics of Obstruction.-In a debate on obstruction and its remedies, in February, 1880, Mr. Newdegate put before the House the following statement as to the smallness of the minorities by which business had been retarded in recent sessions. "In 1876 the divisions in which the minority was less than 21 were 40; in 1877, 110; and in 1878 to April 16 they were 20; making a total of such divisions of 170. In those 170 minorities he found the name of the honourable member for Meath (Mr. Parnell), 121 times; the honourable and gallant member for Galway (Major Nolan), 111; the honourable member for Cavan (Mr. Biggar), 107; the honourable and gallant member for Waterford (Major O'Gorman), 75; the honourable member for Dungarvan (Mr. F. H. O'Donnell)-although it was not until late in 1877 that he was returned-73; the honourable member for Mayo (Mr. O'Connor Power), 65 ; and the honourable member for Waterford City (Mr. R. Power), 56. He had carried his

analysis a little further. In the session of 1876 he found that there were 97 divisions in which the minorities did not exceed eleven, tellers included. In those 97 divisions the member for Meath appeared 80 times; the member for Galway, 69; the member for Cavan, 57; the member for Dungarvan, 48; the member for Mayo, 48; the gallant member for Waterford, 46; and the other member for Waterford, 26. He introduced these figures to show how small had been the body of members who had obstructed the proceedings of the House. He thought he could show they had seriously suffered by an abuse in another form of their privileges by some of the same members-a period of cacoethes loquendi. In the last session (1879) he had calculated from the "Index to the Proceedings of the House" that in 100 debates the honourable member for Meath addressed the House 500 times; the honourable and gallant member for Galway, 369 times; the honourable member for Dungarvan, 284 times; the honourable member for Mayo, 135 times.”

Measures Against Obstruction. Further rules designed to check obstruction were passed in February, 1880. The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir S. Northcote) then moved, "That, whenever any member shall have been named by the Speaker, or by the Chairman of a Committee of the whole House, as disregarding the authority of the Chair, or abusing the rules of the House by persistently and wilfully obstructing the business of the House, or otherwise, then, if the offence has been committed in the House, the Speaker shall forthwith put the question, on a motion being made, no amendment, adjournment, or debate being allowed, 'That such member be suspended from the service of the House during the remainder of that day's sitting;' and if the offence has been committed in a Committee of the whole House, the Chairman shall, on a motion being made, put the same question in a similar way, and, if the motion is carried, shall forthwith suspend the proceedings of the Committee and report the circumstance to the House; and the Speaker shall thereupon put the same question, without amendment, adjournment, or debate, as if the offence had been committed in the House itself. If any member be suspended three times in one session under this order, his suspension on the third occasion shall continue for one week, and until a motion has been made, upon which it shall be decided at one sitting by the House whether the suspension shall then cease, or for what longer period it shall continue; and on the occasion of such motion the member may, if he desires it, be heard in his place." After long debate, this was agreed to without a division as a standing order, but the following words were added on the motion of Mr. W. E. Forster: "Provided always that nothing in these resolutions shall be taken to deprive the House of the power of procedure against a member according to its ancient usages.”

A Prediction and a Threat.-Whatever may be thought of the prejudice done to the business of Parliament by the band of Irish members, who have employed their energies in observing what one of them (Mr. Parnell) called the "sacred rite of obstruction," the contribution of Ireland to the Parliament House of the United Kingdom has hitherto fallen far short of Grattan's anticipation. Mr. Lecky, in his