The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-02 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF COMMONS.— (YESTERDAY.)
ELECTION OF SPEAKER.
Mr. MONSELL rose and said—lt is now our duty to
proceed, in obedience to the commands of her Majesty's
commissioners, to the exercise of our undoubted right and
privilege of electing a Speaker. This duty is no trifling or
merely formal one, for the dignity of the office is commen-
surate with the influence and widely extended power of the
assembly over which he is to preside. (Hear, hear.) Our
ancestors through many generations have shown their sense
of the importance of this office by the eminent men they
have successively placed in that chair. (Hear, hear.) Yet,
high and important as were the responsibilities and duties
of many—for instance, in the last century, such as Mr.
Onslow and Lord Grenville— still the duties and responsi-
bilities of a. Speaker in the present day are far greater even
than those of those illustrious men. (Bear, hear.) One
peculiarity of tl—ie duties is, of course, precisely the same,
the first and most sacred duty in both times being to pre-
serve inviolate the privileges of this house, on which the
liberties of the people of this country depend ; and I think
that anybody who has observed the history of the few past
years must feel that that duty is one which requires as
much watchfulness and care, and as much firmness, in a
Speaker of the present day as in the day to which I have
alluded. But if, for instance, we come to the question of
private business—if we look back merely to the commence-
ment of the present century, we find Mr. Wilberforce
insisting more than once on the necessity of electing a
Speaker of the highest qualifications, on account of the
enormous importance of the private business, and the large
amount of money involved in the proper discharge of it.
But the private business of this house was, I need not re-
mark, very different in those days to what it is now.
believe that the principal private business was then con-
nected with canal bills, which fifty years ago represented
eleven millions of money ; whilst, during the last session,
the private bills presented to this house involved a capital
of one hundred and twenty-eight millions. To the proper
discharge of that most important duty of the house the as-
sistance of two eminent committees was called during the
last Parliament. But it must be obvious to every gentle-
man that it is on the directing mind of the Speaker—on
his determination in every way he can to arrange that the
business shall be carried. on in a cheap and satisfactory
way, without sacrificing in the slightest degree the influ-
ence or the power of the house —it is to him, I say, that the
proper discharge of that duty and the proper arrangement
of it mainly depend. Or take another instance. At the
time I have alluded to the debates did not penetrate to any
portion of the country. Indeed the debates were hardly
reported at all. I believe it is well known that Mr. Pitt
expressed the desire he had to see some one oration of
Bolingbroke, and that no such oration was to be found ;
and that, in the case of Lord Chatham, to the accidental
circumstance of a gentleman of most powerful memory
being present during the two of his greatest orations we
owe their preservation. But now the debates of this house,
by means of cheap and accurate papers, are circulated
through every part of the three kingdoms, and indeed
much beyond their boundaries. These debates are the
chief means of forming the public opinion of the country,
and the means, I am happy to say, of forming the public
political education of the people. I need hardly remark
that it is upon the manner in which the Speaker discharges
his duty, and on his fitness and impartiality, that the
completeness of these debates depends, as it is by enforcing
those rules which even can prevent majorities tyrannising
over minorities, and cause every shade of public opinion
to be heard in the debates, that the completeness of that
political education depends. (Hear, hear.) Of course
there is another most important duty of a Speaker—that
of preserving that high standaid of order and regularity
in the conduct of our debates which distinguish this as-
sembly, I believe, from every other popular assembly in the
world—(hear, hear)—and when I refer to the conduct of
our debates I think I only anticipate the feeling of every
gentleman in this house when I speak of the loss We
have lately sustained. (Hoar, hear.) Our difficulties, and
the difficulties of the Speaker, arc of course increased by
the loss of one whose largo and generous nature—loyal in
friendship, tolerant to opposition—was mellowed by ago,
and by- a Parliamentary experience greater perhaps than
that which ever belonged to any former statesman.
(Cheers.) We all of us, to whatever political party we
belong, who had the honour of sitting in this house with
Lord Palmerston, recognised in him that unerring instinct
which enabled him to stay the waves of rising controversy,
and we felt the mild and softening influence in our debates
of his generous and kindly sympathetic nature and good
humour, which under the most difficult circumstances
never failed. (Renewed cheers.) Under these circum-
stances I feel fortunate in being able to submit to you as a
Speaker no new or untried man, but one who has always
done those duties with honour to himself, and who has
earned the respect of every one in the house. (Hear,
hear.) As to those who sat in the last Parliament, I need
only appeal to their memories. They all know how care-
ful he was in watching over our privileges, how attentive
he was to the private business of this house, and how
under his direction it has been improved. Those who
have had any matter of difficulty to consult him about can
bear witness to the kindliness with which he often re-
ceived them, thinking nothing of the trouble of giving them
the general benefit of his most sagacious advice. (Hear,
hear.) As to those who are new members of the house not
sitting in the last Parliament, if they require anything to
verify the truth of the assertion I make—with the concur-
reuse I believe of every member of the late Parliament—
(cheers)—they have only to look into that most valuable
addition lately made to "Hansard," and they will see
there collected together all the decisions made by the
Speaker during the late Parliament, and find there, I
think, a clearness, decision, and wisdom, which entitle the
gentleman who made them to the confidence of the house.
(Hear, hear.) If I may be permitted I will refer to what
I consider to be an accurate description of the Right Hon.
John Evelyn Denison—a description given somewhat
more than one hundred years ago of his illustrious prede-s
cessor, Mr. Onslow :—" A thorough knowledge of the
orders and rules of Parliament ; clearness and readiness
in comparing opinions on matters of the greatest intri-
cacy, and impartiality in judging on all occasions."
(Cheers.) Those were the qualifications of Mr. Speaker
Onslow; those are the qualifications, proved during the
last two Parliaments, possessed by the right hon. gentle-
man whom I have the honour to propose to you. (Hear,
hear.) It would be improper in me, and I am sure painful
to him if, in his presence, I were to say anything more of
those merits and qualifications which we all recognise, and
therefore I will conclude by proposing that the Right
Hon. John Evelyn Denison do take the chair of this house
as Speaker. (Cheers.)
Earl GROSVENOR—I feel that the task of seconding
this motion has fallen into unworthy hands, but there is to
be no opposition, I believe, to the re-election as Speaker of
the right hon. gentleman, who has already filled that office
with, I think, credit to the State and satisfaction to the
house. (Hear, hear.) I may, perhaps, be allowed to say
with confidence that if the right hon. gentleman be re-
elected he will not fail in that great ability with which he
has hitherto discharged the duties of his office, or show
any diminution in that vigilance for the public interest
which has hitherto characterised him, particularly in the
strict impartiality with which he has presided over our de-
bates. (Hear, hear.) The office of Speaker is one which
requires the possession of peculiar qualifications and a con-
siderable amount of personal sacrifice, while at the same
time the office isone of great dignity. I feel that the right
hon. gentleman posseises all the qualifications referred to
by the right hon. member for Limerick ; and I am sure the
house will agree with me that whether the future of this
Parliament be long or short, the right hon. gentleman, if
he be spared health and strength, will continue to dis-
charge his duties, not only with satisfaction to himself, but
to the satisfaction of every single member of the present
House of Commons. (Cheers.) In conclusion, I beg to se-
cond the motion. (Hear, hoar.)
Mr. BRIGHT—I am well assured the house will not
suppose that I rise to offer any opposition to the right
hon. gentleman's re-election. If I did say anything on
that subject, I should say a good deal in his favour. I was
not here when the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Denison)
below me was speaker on the first occasion. I was away
from England at that time, but I heard of his election with
great pleasure, and thought it about the very best choice
which the house could have made. (Hear, hear.) After
eight or nine years' experience, I agree with, the right hon.
member for Limerick that the course of the right hon.
gentleman has been marked by impartiality, dignity,
and success, and, in fact, without impartiality there
could be no dignity, and without dignity no success. There-
fore I give my support heartily to the proposition now
made. But I rise for the purpose of making a suggestion
with regard to a subject which I believe I am permitted to
-speak ,On on this occasion, .11 any_ one doubts it, I must
refer to the authority of a late very eminent and very use-
ful member of this house—Mr. Hume—who introduced the

Same subject on a former occasion. I wish to bring under
the notice of the house for one moment a subject which I
may state I have not mentioned to any member, and there-
fore for which I am myself alone responsible, and that is
the practice which has prevailed for generations 1 suppose,
and obtains even to this time, of requiring members of this
house who accept invitations to the official dinners and
evening parties of the Speaker to appear only in court livery--
Many members of the house may think that this is a very
trifling matter, and I do not intend in the least to contest
the point with them ; but even if it be thought to be
trifling, I hope I shall find them willing to concede that
the subject is one deserving of consideration. My own im-
pression is that this custom is a little out of date, especially
among the members of a popular assembly. (Hear, hear.)
There are, I think, 160 or 170 gentlemen coming into this
Parliament who were not here in the last or any preceding
Parliament. Well, they may not yet have been initiated
in these matters, but the fact of there being so many now
members makes it proper that I should mention this sub-
ject on the present occasion. The Speaker is only superior
to any other member of the house by reason of our
choice, and I cannot see, and I do not think any man
living can see, except on account of the old practice, that
there is any necessity or advantage in the Speaker being
compelled to require that all his friends in the house who
accept his invitations should appear in court or military
dress. Now, I would not urge this matter on the ground
of economy in this house, where all men aresupposed tote
rich—(laughter)—although I recollect hearing a member of
this house, who held the rank of. a colonel in the army,
complain, with a certain seriousness of manner, that it
would take him 50 guineas to put himself inside a suitable
dress to appear at the Speaker's table. (Laughter.) No
doubt that may be thought by many a very small matter,
And probably it is, but if the Speaker be the first among
equals, and be made what he is in honour and dignity by
the choice of the house, I see no reason, if such things be
necessary in the circle of courts, why they should continue
among the members of a popular assembly. (Hear, hear.)
Now, I will state a case in point'. Last year the house lost
and I lost mere thanany other member of the house, one of
its members, a dear and lamented friend of mine, whose ab-
sence I greatly deplore, and without whose presence I feel
almost alone. (Hear.) For 24 years he was a member of
this house—from 1841 to 1865—and during the whole of
that time he felt himself restrained from accepting official
invitations, either from Lord Eversley, when he was
Speaker, or the right hon. gentleman who subsequenly oc-
cupied the chair. Now, Mr. Cobden was not a man of
striking eccentricities. He was a man to whose merit the
whole world has borne testimony. (Hear.) Posterity will
say that he was one of the most eminent men that ever
adorned the Parlianient of this country. (Hear.) But for
24 years, so stronglydid ho feel on this subject, that he was
restrained from dining with the Speaker, or attending his
official evening parties or levees. There are othermembers
of the house—there have been several to my certain know-
ledge—less eminent, perhaps, but whose opinions still de-
serve to be regarded in a matter of this kind, who have
entertained similar feelings on the subject. I cannot see,
therefore, why members should consider the matter abso-
lutely trifling, or if they do, why they should force others,
even though they may be in a small minority, to concur
with the majority on the subject. If there be any country
gentleman who likes to appear in decorated apparel, or
if there b 3 any homely manufacturer from the north
who is gratified by coming forth in the blazing gar-
ments of a deputy-lieutenant, for example— (laughter)—l
don't object to it in the least. I would like every man to
please himself in the matter; but I think some of us—l,
for instance, and many others I believe—would like to
make our appearance in a rather quieter costume—in one
that has less that is gorgeous and astounding about it.
(Laughter.) And I do not see any reason why we should
not be gratified also. This is not a question I ask the house
to debate. I throw this out merely by way of suggestion,
in the hope that it is a subject which hon. members will a
little consider, and which the right hon. gentleman who
has just been elected to the chair will take up in such a
way that he will be enabled to abolish the Act of Uni-
formity and to establish the act of toleration—(laughter)
so that it may be provided that a member may appear at
the entertainments of the Speaker as he would do at the
house of any friend. If that could be done I believe some
small burden would be taken from the minds of some hon.
members, while I am sure the dignity of the Speaker would
be in no degree impaired. (Hear, hear.)

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER —I rise in
consequence of the suggestion of my hon. friend to add a
single word to what has been said hy him in calling the
attention of the house to this subject, which is undoubt-
edly connected with the convenience—it may be with the
opinions or feelings--of many members. I think my hon.
friend will agree with me—l almost think the house in
general will feel—that my right hon. friend, „with_mspect
to whom this proposal is made, cannot be exp,.ctecl at ones
to deliver a binding judgment on a matter of such grave
importance. (Laughter.) I think the right hon. gentleman
ought not to be compelled to commit himself without a full
opportunity of considering the question. (Hear.) I am sure
that any communication which any of us may make to my
right hon. friend, either now or at any future time, touch-
ing either the dignity or comfort of any member, will be
considered by him, if he be chosen for the chair, with his
accustomed patience and courtesy. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. DENISON, who spoke from the front bench below
the gangway on the ministerial side of the house, said—l
offer my most grateful thanks to the house for the honour
it has proposed to confer upon me. I am much beholden to
my right hon. friend and to my noble friend for the manner
in which they have proposed and seconded my nomination.
I can hardly venture to assume to myself much of the
commendation they have been pleased to pass upon me.
Such words, the favour of the house, and the gracious way
in which that favour has been conferred by the unanimous
choice, for the third time, of the house, may unduly elevate
me in my own estimation ; but I have a strong and abiding
sense of many imperfections and shortcomiegs, and I attri-
bute the favour of the house to an indulgent appreciation
of imperfect services. That I have endeavoured to do my
duty as a zealous and faithful servant of the house 1 can
truly say. (Cheers.) What I have been enabled to do you
all know, but it would not become me to enlarge upon the
subject, nor would you desire that I should make professions
for the future. I will not occupy the house with one unne-
cessary word ; and I will only say further, that I submit
myself to the house with all possible respect. (Cheers.)
The right hon. gentleman was then led up the house by
the mover and seconder to the chair, Mr. Monsen taking
him by the right hand and Earl Grosvenor by the left.
Having taken his seat amidst cordial cheers, the right hon.
gentleman immediately rose' and addressed the house in
the character of SPEAKER as follows:
I offer my thanks once more to the house from this chair
for the great honour conferred upon me by being called to
it. In looking around the house 1 miss, and we all miss
one familiar face. The house has sustained a great loss.
We have lost him who was the foremost man amongst us—
the leader of this house—one who by his great abilities, by
his long experience, and by a rare combination of qualities
had obtained for himself the confidence of this house. You
remember, often, after long sittings, when the patience of
the house was nearly exhausted, how his good temper and
his genial spirit composed the ruffled surface, and sent us
home at peace with each other and with him. I do not pro-
pose to pass an eulogium upon Lord Palmerston, but I feel
bound to utter these few words of regret, esteem, and grate-
ful recollection. (Cheers.) From the great body of this house
—those who were my colleagues in the
past Parliament—l
ask for a renewal of that generous support which they have
on former occasions accorded to me, There aro a largo
number of members in this house who take their seats here
for the first time. They succeed to no ignoble inheritance.
I will say to them that much of the fame of this house in
the conduct of the debates and in the transaction of busi-
ness depends on the rules and orders which it has framed
for its own government. • A knowledge of these rules will
be useful to every member, and the better they are known
the more sure I shall feel of general co-operation in my
endeavours to uphold them. (Sear, hear') If any diffi-
culty connected with the conduct of business should occur
to any member of the house, I trust he will communicate
with me, and it will give me pleasure at all times to receive
him, and confer with him in a spirit of frank and friendly
. o
counsel. (Hear, hear.) I offer my respectful thanks to
thegr e house.eted
with
general
(The rightche
cheering.)
nng. 10etmen Was here again
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCIEQUER—I
presume
sir, in my own name, and I am sure I may add in the name
of other members of this house, to tender to you the most
cordial congratulations on your having been for the third
time, by the unanimous voice of the house, placed at the
head of the Commons of England. (Cheers.) Sir, you suc-
ceed to a chair encompassed I)Fgrowing duties and growing
responsibilities. The wants of modern society make them-
selves felt within these walls, in the increasing amount both
of public business and what is termed private business.
Your duties in the latter respect are in a great degree with-
drawn from the observation of the world, and they are par-
tially withdrawn even from the observation of members of
the house; but the long experience Of those who are con-
versant with that important branch of our occupations has
convinced them that the whole of that department never
was more carefully, never was more efficiently attended to
than during the period you, sir, have occupied that
chair. (Cheers.) As regards the public business
of the house, all those who hear me, and, I may add,
the public out of doors, are competent judges of the
manner in which you have performed your arduous
functions, as is indicated by the silent but unanimous vote
which has just been passed by the house. But it is true
that in some respects you have difficulties to confront even
-beyond those that arise from-the-constantly increasing calls
upon the time, diligence, and wisdom of the house. We
have seen within a generation a great change in the com-

was immensely softened by the continuing presence on the
benches of this house of numbers of men who had gained
distinction and acquired authority under the old Parlia-
mentary system. From year to year, from Parliament to
Parliament, one by one they have passed away. So lately
as on the last occasion when you were chosen to fill that
chair,there were remaining three persons who had attained
to great Parliamentary distinction and had filled high offi-
ces before the passing of the Reform Bill. The first was
my noble friend Earl Russell, who has been removed, in
acknowledgment of his public services, to the other house
of the legislature. Secondly, there was my right bon.
friend, the late Sir James Graham, than whom few mem-
bers had ever made more valuable contributions to the con-
duct of the business of this house. The last and the most
eminent of them all, from the place he occupied on these
benches and from the favour and attachment of the house,
was Lord Palmerston. (Hear, hear.) It is not necessary,
and it would hardly be seemly for me, after what has been
said by my right hon. friend and also by yourself, to dilate
on the character of that great man, the more especially as
it may be my duty very shortly to make a proposal to the
house which will naturally introduce the subject. But one
thing I will venture to say. You have glanced at the loss
experienced by yourself by the lamented death of Lord
Palmerston ; but there is one other person at least in this
house who may venture to compete even with you, sir, iu
the sense of that loss, and that is the humble person who
has now the honour to address you, considering the re-
sponsibilities which • have devolved upon him.
(Cheers.) We have, as was to be expected after the
lapse of so many years since the last Parliament was
elected, had an unusual number of gentlemen chosen for
the first time to the high duty of representing the interests
of their fellow countrymen within these walls. But there
is amazing strength in the traditions of this house, and I
am happy to say there is equal aptitude in English gentle-
men for conforming to the spirit of those traditions. It
was remarkable to observe, from Parliament toParliament,
how little those who watch the proceedings of this house
from without, or those who take part in its proceedings
within these walls, are able to mark any difference in the
firmness, regularity, and discipline of this house, in con-
sequence of the large infusion of new members, which na-
turally follows a dissolution of P^.tiaameut. Though, how-
ever, wo lament the heavy losses we have sustained, we
may still reflect with pleasure that there aro on both sides
of the house men whose ability, whose experience, whose
chara.eter, and whose great authority will enable them to
afford you efficient aid in the discharge of those arduous
duties which will devolve upon you, sir. Well, we may I
am sure sure look forward with confidence to a continuance
of that vigilant jealousy for liberty and that immovable re-
gard for order which aro the two main pillars of the dig-
nity and efficiency of this house. (Hear, hear.) You, sir,
second
will contribute your full share, from the elevated position
you occupy, to the accomplishment of that task, whileoach
of us in several
o spheres
and,read in ytoco bancelkus no
only echo the words expressed by my noble friend behind
you best our will
ability b
; eaini, will
to the
me, that health ani strength may bo spared to you for
many years to discharge the high functions which you
have been called upon to perform in a manner the most
pleasing toyour own mind and most calculated to elevate
your character in the eyes of the country. (Cheers.)
Mr. DISRAELI—I hope, sir, 1 may be permitted on be-
half of gentlemen on this side of the house to offer their
congratulations to you on an event so gratifying to the
house as that which has occurred, and the more so as,
from the mode in which the business of the morning
has been conducted, if I were silent you might suppose
that your re-election to the chair had been matter of
indifference to us. However, I believe lam expressing
a very general feeling on this side of the house—a general
feeling of regret that your nomination was not seconded
from this side of the house. (Cheers.) On previous occa-
sions that method was followed. There are, I believe,
precedents for such a course under such circumstances, and
even supposing the precedents did not exist, I think that
under the particular circumstances we might have estab-
lished a precedent, because it is an occasion when the gene-
ral and cordial feeling of the house cannot be testified in
too striking and significant a manner. Sir, you have to-day
been re-elected to that chair for the third time. I have
myself always been of opinion that re-election to that chair
is in fact a greater distinction than the original choice.
Political manoeuvres and parliamentary passions may con-
trive to raise an individual to the eminent post which you
now occupy, but they cannot keep him there. For that the
possession of great and personal qualities are requisite—a
natural courtesy, adequate learning, firmness, and impar-
tiality; and above all, that inspiring sense of honour which
is our surest guide in the perplexities ofspublic life, and
which has ever been, and I trust will ever be, characteristic
of English gentlemen. (Hear, hear.) It is, sir, because the
house has experience that you possess those qualities that
you have been re-elected to-day for the second time to the
chair. (Cheers.) It is because we feel on this side of the
house that you possess those qualities that lam authorised
on behalf of gentlemen here to offer to you the tribute of
their respect and congratulation. (Cheers.) I would now
be silent but for an unexpected allusion to another subject.
The right hon. gentleman has referred to the increased re-
sponsibility which has fallen uion him; but I can assure
the right hon. gentleman of what' indeed he need nct be re-
minded, because, though he appears now for the first time
as the leader of this house, he has sat in it inanyyears as one
of the most eminent and distinguished of its members, and

his experience must have told him that on all occasions when
ever the order and honour of the house are concerned, tho
leader of the house may appeal to thesupportof those who sit
opposite him with the same confidence as ho would appeal to
that of his friends who sit on the same benches with himself.
I appeal to the right hon. gentleman whether there is not
ono cause why on this occasion in the responsible office
which he now occupies he may feel some distrust. Sir, I
do not think that it is possible for us to reassemble under
this roof—many of us who Lave sat in all tho Parlia-
ments of the Queen, and some of us who have been
members of this house during three reigns—and not feel
emotion when we mark that that familiar form which
you, sir, have referred to, can no longer be observed
amongst us—a form connected so iutimately with the
history of this country, and the most important trans-
actions of this house of Parliament.. It is impossible to
deny that the disappearance of such a character from
the scene, of so much sagacity and so much experience,
and, I will say, of so much fame, must in some degree and
for some time derogate 'from the authority even of the
House of Commons. But, sir, it is not on this occasion

that I wish to refer to the character of a great statesman,
but rather to the happy disposition of the man, which lent
indeed a cha►m to the struggles and toils of public life.
By his good temper and his good sense he facilitated the
course of public business beyond what perhaps it is easy
to imagine or ascertain, and I am sure that it must be a
general sentiment among us when we express our hope
that the influence over our debates may not soon cease of
his genial spirit, and his mature and moderating wisdom.
But, sir, notwithstanding his loss, I shall express my hope
that the present Parliament, in intelligence and public
spirit, will not be inferior to the preceding Parliaments of
the present happy reign. (Cheers.)
The house then adjourned.

The Cattle Plague Commissioners met yester-
day, at the House of Commons, principal floor, Room 11.
Present—Earl Spencer, Lord Cranborne, Mr. Lowe, Dr.
Bence Jones, Dr. Quain, Dr. Parkes, Mr. M'Clean, Pro-
fessor Spooner, and the secretary.
LORD ONGAR AND HIS BRIDE ELECT.—He was a
little man, on whose behalf it certainly appeared
that the peerage must have told a falsehood ; it seemed so
at least to those who judged of his years from his appear-
ance. The peerage said that he was thirty-six, and that,
no doubt, was in truth his age, but any one would have
declared him to be ten years older. This look was pro-
duced chiefly by the effect of an elaborately dressed jet
black wig which he wore. What misfortune had made
him bald so early—if to be bald early in life be a misfor-
tune—l cannot say ; but he had lost the hair from the
crown of his head, and had preferred wiggery to baldness.
No doubt an effort was made to hide the wiggishness of his
wigs, but what effect in that direction was ever made success-
fully? He was, moreover, weak, thin, and physically poor,
and had, no doubt, increased this weakness and poorness
by hard living. Though others thought him old, time had
gone swiftly with him, and he still thought himself a young
man. He hunted, though he could not ride. He shot, though
he could not walk. And, unfortunately, he drank though
he had no capacity for drinking ! His friends at last had
taught him to believe that his only chance of saving him-
self lay in marriage, and therefore he had engaged himself
to Julia Brabezon, purchasing her at the price of a brilliant
settlement. If Lord Ongar should die before her, Ongar
Park was to be hers for lifo, with thousands a year to
maintain it. Courton Castle, the great family seat,
would of course go to the heir ; but Ongar Park was
supposed to be the most delightful small country-seat
anywhere within thirty miles of London. It lay among
the Surrey hills, and all the world has heard of the
charms of Ongar Park. if Julia were to survive her
lord, Ongar Park was to be hers; and they who saw
them both together had but little doubt that she would
come to the enjoyment of this clause in her settlement.
Lady Clavering had been clover in arranging the match ;
and Sir Hugh, though he might have been unwilling to give
his sister-in-law money out of his own pocket, had per-
formed his duty as a brother-in-law in looking to her future
welfare'. Julia lirabazon had no doubt that she was doing
well. Poor Harry Clavoring ! She had loved him in the days
of her romance. :She, too, had written her sonnets. But sho
had grown old earlier in life than he had done, and had
' taught herself that romance could not bo allowed to a
woman in her position. She was highly born, the daughter
of a peer, without money, and even without a home to
which she had any claim. Of course she had accepted
Lord Ongar, but she had not put out her hand to take all
these good things without resolving that she would do her
duty to her future lord. The duty Woukl be doubtless dis-
„agreeable, but she would do it with all the more diligence
on that account.—Anthony Trollope's new Story of "The
Claverings," begun in the Cornhili Magazine for February.

LONDON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1866.

- - -

Mr. DENISON may be congratulated upon his re-
election to the Chair the second time, and the com-
pliments and congratulations which he received on
all sides must have been very gratifying to him. As
Mr. DISRAELI truly observed, a re-election to the
Chair is a greater distinction than the original
choice. "Political mancouvres and Parliamentary
passions may contrive to raise an individual to the
elevated post, but they cannot keep him there. For
that result the possession of great, general, and
personal qualities are necessary, amiable courtesy,
adequate learning, firmness, impartiality; and, above
all, that inspiring sense of honour which is our
surest guide in the perplexities of public life, and
which ever has been, and, I trust, ever will be, the
characteristic of English gentlemen." Under the
circumstances of the case, the tribute of respect and
congratulation which the leader of the Opposition
offered to the newly-elected Speaker was of more
worth than the compliments he received from the
Ministerial side of the house. Mr. GLADSTONE, in
appropriate terms, congratulated the Speaker on
having been for the third time, by a unanimous vote
of the house, placed at the head of the Commons of
England. As the right hon. gentleman truly
observed, the duties of the Speaker at the
present time are very arduous. " The wants
of modern society make themselves felt within
these walls, both by the increasing amount
of public business, and by the increasing amount
also of what we term private business." Mr.
MoNsELL and Earl GROSVENOR acquitted them.
selves admirably of their several tasks as proposer
and seconder, and the speech of the Speaker himself
was all that could be desired. lie declared that
he had always endeavoured to do his duty as a
zealous and faithful servant of the house. Some
tinge of sadness almost always accompanies all
human ceremonies however great or grand, and it
is not surprising that the Speaker, in looking round
the house from his old position, should miss a
familiar face. " We have lost him who was the
foreino:A man among us, the leader of this house,
hotiti by hia great abilities, his long experience, and
a rare combination of qualities, had conciliated to
himself in a remarkable degree the confidence of
this house. Perhaps no one better than the Speaker
could appreciate the rare tact with which the late
Premier conducted the business of the house, and
conciliated angry or irritated feelings with his
happy and dexterous management.
Notwithstanding the many tributes of respect
and regard which have been paid to Lord PALMER-
STON, it may safely be said that nowhere would he
more earnestly have desired to be held in grateful
thought, and regretful memory, than in that house
where he passed so many long and eventful years.
The house of Commons was his congenial sphere I
and the scene of hid congenial triumph 4. Ixeivos I

Two meetings of considerable importance have
been held during this week, both being in the great
centres of industry, and both dealing principally
with the great topic of the day—Reform. The
Manchester meeting was indeed professedly a Re-
form meeting, and several prominent members of
the Liberal party were among the speakers. The
Leeds assembly took the good old English form of
a dinner, being the third annual festival of the
Leeds Working-Men's Conservative Association.
This lengthy title shows a somewhat unusual com-
bination, since the Liberals generally claim all
1 working-men as their own supporters; but although
Ithe preponderance may very probably be on
the side of those who take up their cause the most
loudly, still it is only reasonable to infer that
among our artisans and mechanics and agricultural
labourers there is the same variety and difference
of opinion that is found in the ranks above them.
So far these two meetings have taken place very
appropriately, since occurring on the very eve of
the meeting of Parliament they serve to represent
the feelings and wishes of our working men. Mr.
BAZLEY, M.P., was one of the princir al speakers at
the Manchester meeting, and he supported Mr.
BeiGia's suggestion, that the Government should
only deal with the extension of the suffrage at present.
Mr. BAZLEY confessed that he should personally
prefer a more comprehensive measure, but that
he thought it would be unwise to refuse any mode-
rate instalment. Mr. POTTER, M.P., in seconding
the resolution which Mr. BAZLEY had proposed,
showed less moderation ; and, after declaring that
any measure less comprehensive than the Bill of
1860 would meet with opposition rather than sup-
port, he went on to discuss the reforms which
claimed attention as soon as the franchise was
settled. Foremost among these he placed the re-
duction of the national expenditure, certainly a most
desirable aim, but one scarcely to be attained by
Mr. POTTER'S suggestion, that England, having pro-
claimed the doctrine of non-intervention, should
show the example of disarmament to the other great
Powers ! It is this sort of theory and random state-
ment which makes the task of Reformers difficult.
In fact, the chief part of the opposition encoun-
tered by those who bring forward the claims
of the working classes is due to their self-
chosen leaders. There is no reason to sup-
pose, from the general conduct of English work-
ing men, that they are dissatisfied with the
forms of the constitution, with the administration
of the laws, or the preservation of property. It
is when moderate men find that those who pro-
fess to be the political leaders of the working
*lasses, those who address them at public meet-
ings and claim the privilege of being the cham-
pions of their rights, and the exponents of their
principles, advocating a policy which is totally
opposed to those traditionary principles of fair-play
and patriotism which have made England what
she is, that they shrink from entrusting too much
power to sulk unwise and intolerant hands. Are
we to take as the principles of the intelligent work-
ing men of Manchester or any other large town
the disarmament of the country and the trial of
Governor EIRE for murder? We should do them
great injustice were we to think so. The fact le that

they may be impressed with the grand theories of
the political economist and " talked down " by the
advocates of a new political creed, but the sym-
pathies of working men were never won by the
non-intervention doctrine, and their English love
of fair play will never be reconciled to the spectacle
of a strong Power dismembering a weak one, while
England, stronger still, wealthy and powerful, looks
on coolly, and contents herself with upholding the
rights of peoples by threatening the aggressor in
well-turned despatches.

If there is one point on which by instinct and
reason all classes of Englishmen are agreed it is in a
hatred of slavery ; but we should be very sorry to
think that the working men of the country were
foolish enough to believe, because slavery in the
abstract is bad, and black men have been
slaves, that, therefore, in every difference between
black and white the coloured man must be in the
right. What has Jamaica to do with the English
Reform Bill ? If the objects which the Radical
leaders propose to themselves are really similar to
the anarchy and confusion, to use the mildest
terms, which the Jamaica malcontents aimed at—
if GORDON were really, as a Manchester speaker
with unconscious satire called him, the Mr. BRIGHT
of Jamaica—then it is high time they should confess
it ; but it is time also that they should
cease to come forward as representatives of any
considerable portion of the English people.
The cry of " murder" and of the ill-usage of the
blacks have been shown to be so grossly unjust, the
statements which have been put forward in this
country by the traducers of Mr. EYRE have been
so completely refuted, that we can only wonder
that any gentleman should stand up and use such
language as Dr. SANDWITII did the other evening.
" In Jamaica a ruling caste, a white aristocracy, by
bad class laws, goaded a mob into a riot. lhe lead-
ing Liberal member of the Opposition, the Mr.
BRIGHT of Jamaica, was put to death on the
evidence of hearsay and contradictory gossip,
which would not have sufficed to hang a
cat on a charge of larceny. He trusted
that the question of murder or no would be some
day submitted to a British jury." Dr. SANDWITII
forgets that the question has already been sub-
mitted to a jury of the accused's peers—the white
men of Jamaica, not to the infuriated blacks, nor
to those gentlemen who, " sitting at home at ease,"
know nothing of rebellion but by " hearsay," and
nothing of the savage races but what they choose to
believe. The unanimous verdict of men of all
professions, trades, and employments, of all shades
of political opinion—many of them bitterly opposed
to the Governor on ordinary questions—ought in
accordance with our English principles of law to
have been accepted as conclusive.
Dr. SANDWITH, however, takes up all the old
party cries used when matters were not quite as
they are now The answers to some of them might
have startled him had they been given. Thus when
he asked, " Coming to modern times, who fattened
on sinecures at the expense of the nation ?" the
income-tax returns of sundry good old Whig fami-
lies might have supplied him with interesting facts.
But it is not in this tone of mutual recrimination and
party virulence that we want to have our political
constitution amended. Happily for all there is a basis
of sound sense and right judgment in every large
mixed class of the English people, which never fails
to carry the body politic through every disturbance
and difficulty. It is this that we want to get repre-
sented, not the views or sentiments of any party or
The two meetings at Leeds and Man-