The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-05 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

" Sia,—l have the honour of acknowledging a memo•
rial which you have addressed to me, as agreed upon a
a public meeting of the clergy and lay members of the
Church of England, assembled at Stonehouse on the
12th inst.
The memorial alludes to the introduction of doctrines
and praotices into the Church during the last few years
which cannot be reconciled with the principles of the
Reformation. This is a subject upon which, unhappily,
I have been so often obliged to declare my opinion, that
I need not repeat it now. The memorial, however, pro-
ceeds to complain of a practice originating in these erro-
neous doctrines, which can scarcely be distinguished from
the auricular confession of the Church of Rome.
I agree with the memorialists in believing this prac-
tice to be equally unscriptural in principle and mis-
chievous in effect. But I trust that public opinion is so
uniform in condemning and repudiating it, that the con-
tinuance of such a system, either at Plymouth or else-
where, will be more effectually prevented than it would
be by the voice of authority or by legal enactments, both
which, wo know by experience, it is commonly too ea sy
to evade. t,
"I remain , Sir, your obedient and,llll33lec• lirvTauria.
" Q. W, Scultou,

HOUSE OF COMMONS—YESTERDAY.
ELECTION OF SPEAKER.
After the return of the House from the Lords,
Mr. R. PALMER rose, and addressing Sir D. Le
Merchant, the Chief Clerk of the House, said it now de-
volved en the House of Commune, in obedience to her
Mejesty's commeeda to proceed to the performance of
its tiist, and one of its most important duties, adz.., se
lectieg from am ,ng their own body some Hun. Member
who should fill during the present Parliament the Chair
of the House. Ho did not undertake the task of ad-
dressing the House on such a subject without consider-
able hesitation, for he was well aware of the great per-
sonal responsibility which attached to any person
who ventured to propose au Honourable Mem-
ber for so high and important a post, knowing
that upon his ability, and the efficiency with which he
discharged his duties, all the regularity of their proceed-
ings must depend ; but on the present occasion he was
fortunately relieved from any difficulty in this respect,
for he rejoiced to see among them again his Right Hon.
Friend, the Member for North Hampshire,—(Cheers)—
who had filled the chair of this House during the last 13
years with so tench advantage to the country, and so
much honour to himself—(Cheers)—and who had ren-
dered it a less difficult task to select the best qualified
among them for that high and distinguished situation.
(Hear.) Under these circumstances be did not think it
necessary to trespass on the attention of the House by
any detailed information on the various duties that at-
tached to the Speaker of the House of Commons. (Hear.)
They were sufficiently well known to most hon. members
who had before sat in the House. Suffice it to say, there-
fore, that in the choice of a Speaker they must look for
some individual whose intimate acquaintance with the
law and practice of Parliament would render him at all
times a ready exponent of all those rules and orders by
which their proceedings were regulated, so as to enable
them on all occasions to confidently rely, on his deci-
sions. They must also look for a person who would up-
hold and defend the ancient rights and privileges of the
House of Commons, if they should at any time become
the object of an attack from any quarter—privileges
which were not granted to the House of Commons
for individual benefit, but for the benefit of
the community whom they were sent there to
represent. (Hear.) They must also look for a gentle_
man who in the midst of party contest, and sometimes of
debate, was enabled to lay aside all party feeling, and to
maintain, while presiding over their proceedings, strict
and undeviating impartiality. (Hear.) For all those
qualifications, every one who had witnessed the conduct
of the Right Hon. Gentleman in the chair would agree
with him, that he had proved himself to be most emi-
nently respected. (Cheers.) He thought he might add
that, in upholding the dignity of the office, and in pre-
serving an equal and unruffled equanimity of temper
under all circumstances, his Right Hcn. Friend had not
been surpassed by any of his predecessors. (Loud
cheers.) He thought he had said sufficient to induce all
Hon. Members who had before sat in the House to agree
with him in the motion which ho was about to make ;
but if he were permitted to say one word to that
large number of Honourable Members who had for the
first time been sent there to take part in the deliberations
of that House, he could assure them that they would
always find his Right Hon. Friend ready to assist them
by his advice and experience if any difficulty should arise
in the transaction of the private and other business with
which they might be entrusted. (Hear, hear.) Ile re-
joiced to think that on the present occasion it had not
been considered necessary to make the question of
choice of Speaker the test of party feeling. Such had
occurred before ; but it was to him a matter of extreme
gratification to find that no party:considerations called
upon him on this occasion to surrender those feelings of
private friendship and personal regard which he enter-
tained for the Right Hon. Gentleman. He was sure that
all those who had witnessed his conduct in the
chair would agree that his uniform conduct in his
high position had more than proved the wisdom
of the choice made by the House in the year
1839, confirmed as it had been on two subsequent occa-
sions by the unanimous approval of the House. He
!rusted that the House would now agree with an equal
degree of equanimity, and place his Right Hon. Friend
for the fourth time in the chair without a dissentient
voice. (Cheers.) He thought that by so doing they
would offer to his Right Hon. Friend the only reward
they had in their power to offer, for the eminent services
which he bad already rendered to the House, and which,
he was convinced, he would continuo to render with
equal zeal and ability, only, perhaps, with more effici-
ency in consequence of his increased and mature ex-
perience. Without any further preface, he then moved
that the Right Hon. Shaw Lefevre be elected Speaker of
the House. (Loud cheers.)
Lord R. GROSVENOR seconded the motion. As
the Right Hon. Gentleman had formerly belonged to the
party which sat upon this side of the House, it, no doubt,
would be more agreeable to him, and more pleasing,
that that unanimity which was so desirable should seem
to prevail in his election to the highest office in that
House, end that one at least of his nominators should
be a member of her Majesty's Opposition. (Cheers.)
Ho could have wished that some one more qualified
than himself had been selected to give weight to the
opinion entertained of the Right Hon. Gentleman on
that side of the House, of the qualities of the Right
Hon. Gentleman. He, however, bad been selected as
an unofficial organ of that party, because as it was,
perhaps, well known, it was not usual for a Member
holding high office, or who had held high office, to pro-
pose a candidate for the chair. It gave him, however,
great satisfaction to have this public opportunity afforded
him of bearing witness to the manner in which Mr.
Shaw Lefevre had performed the arduous duties of
that station, and he was quite sure that ho was
giving utterance, not only to his own opinion, but to the
sentiments of every gentleman on that aide of the
House, when he said that not only were they proud of his
Right Hon. Friend as having sprung from that party of
which they were members, but also entirely setting aside
all party feeling—that they were more proud of him as
a member of that legislature to which they all belonged.
(Cheers.) The merits of the Right Hon. Gentleman
were so well known, not only to the members of that
House, but also to the public at large, that it would be
a work of supererogation to dilate upon them at any
length ; and certainly, upon this occasion, it would be
extremely unnecessary, after the good taste and good
feeling evinced by the Hon. Member for Berkshire, in
proposing the Right Hon. Gentleman. Before sitting
down, however, ho would take leave to make one
remark, which he hoped would be found not quite
foreign to the subject. It was said to be one of the in-
firmities of human nature to give undue prominence to
events passing around us at the present moment,
and if we cast our eyes around, it
would be
acknowledged that, if there ever was a time when it
was necessary that the Imperial Legislature now sum-
moned should be presided over by a person of undoubted
ability and talent, it was the present. At a time when
the liberties of Europe, when the right of full and open
divuossivu, and LLic, Elgin of puuito opinion nung ray a
thread—at a moment of this sort he was sure that it
would be acknowledged that the character of that House
was deeply involved by the manner in ;which its pro-
ceedings would be carried on. It became us then to
act with unusual calmness, to take the utmost care that
, that liberty of free thought and free assertion which we
so happily enjoyed should not be abused for any per-
sonal party or factious purposes, but that we should
guard that right committed to us, he might say with-
, out any exaggeration for the benefit of mankind at
large. It this were the position of affairs, as he
thought he could gather, it was from the assent with
which his remarks bad been received by a portion of
the House, assuredly it was a matter of the greatest
urgency that they should have over them a gentleman
whose nice discernment, discriminating judgment,
largo and varied experience, and 7hosek. inde-
fatigable attention so eminently qualify in which,
that position. At a period like the present,
even throwing aside any other disturbances bu
which he had alluded, the nicely-balanced to
esatat difficulty,
ties would render that office one of very gr tintohfospeatro.
-uld have at its
it was most necessary that the
.H 2.;
head one of experience and
he Rouse, but would
pass:longer upon the attention of t
which he understood
.abilityoretteowould not tres-
conclude by seconding the motioin, etrthfoart
to be that the Right Hon. Gentleman
Hampshire was the most prop
series of years, while
invidthuealMtoemfibl
chair, being a man who, for a long
had conciliated the good-
maintaining to the utmostthe independence, honour,
and dignity of that House,every member of ever
will, respect, and esteem of
oments there being no sign of
and of every party of that House.
(Loud cheers) olass,
After a pause of a few m
opposition to the motion,
_
Sir E. 11. said, that he rose not so much to
congratulate his Right Hon. Friend, but far more to
congratulate the ouse upon having a person of so large
an experience proposed to fill the Chair. It would be
needless to add a single word as to the personal fitness of
Eight Hon. Gentleman,—but it was not unfit, nor
the
unnecessary perhaps to recall to the recolleetion of some
and to take the liberty of stating to others, what a very
different amount of time and labour were here
required from the Speaker compared to former
periods, and that time, and that labour had
been bestowed most cheerfully, most actively, most
beneficially fcr the public service by the Right Honour-
able Gentleman. (Cheers.) A hundred years ago, not
perhaps one tenth the labour which now devolved upon
him was required from the occupant of that chair. A
hundred years ago they had but three debates, and
fifteen division:3, but in the last year tkere had been 224
I 40519957 and the speaker in the execution of his duties