The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-04 00:00:00

THE SPEAKER.

One result of the Gemsral Elections is already
Certain ; the Parliament now in the process of
formation will contain an unusually large propor-
tion of new members. This circumstance will
necessarily augment the regret that has been so
universally felt and expressed at the resignation of
the office of Speaker by Mr. Lefevre. It is at all
times an arduous task to maintain order, and insure
despatch and accuracy in the transaction of the
bewildering multiplicity of business that comes
before an English House of Commons. And the
difficulty is immensely when a considerable number
of the gentlemen who compose it have had no pre-
vious experience of the forms by which the pro-
ceedings of the House are regulated. The perfect
mastery of the forms of the House possessed by the
late Speaker—his dignified and impressive de-
meanour—his imperturbable suavity and courtesy
—all would have been severely tested by the nu-
merous raw recruits who are about to assemble at
Westminster ; and it will be no easy matter to find
a competent, successor.

The qualifications required in a Speaker are such
as are rarely found combined in an individual. It
is almost unnecessary to remark that he must be
endowediwith Herculean powers of continuous ap-
plication. Tho labour which he has to perform in
public is trifling compared with what devolves upon
him in the intervals between the sittings of the
House. The previous preparation and arrange-
ment of business absorbs him entirely from the
moment he quits the chair until he again resumes
it. Both in the chair and in what may be termed
his "chamber practice," the Speaker must be able
to bring to bear upon every measure or question
submitted to the Legislature an extensive and
diversified acquaintance with the precedents of the
House of Commons. And th's knowledge he must
be able to reo,ll and apply, while the House is
sitting, oa the spur of the moment, amid the dis-
tractions of debate, with question pressing upon
question, and eager speakers ever prone to diverge
from the regular tract of business. Again, amid
the contagious excitement and irritation of party
and personal feuds, and impromptu squabbles, he
must exercise a constant and stern control over his
own temper. Nor is it enough that by natural
sagacity and by a powerful will he should have
brought his temper under complete control. He
requires to .be gifted with that genial immoveable
good humour which operates upon angry masses as
if by a kind of moral contagion. In addition to
these qualities, the man who is to direct and guide
the deliberations of so numerous au assembly of
high-spirited and ambitious men, animated by
intense rivalry, with much to win and much
to lose, must, by the whole tenour of his life, have
impressed upon these discordant elements .a
profound conviction of his perfect integrity and
impartiality. The least shadow of suspicion of
an inclination to chicane or indirect practices
would neutralise all the confidence he might
have won by the highest intellect and the
moat engaging manners. In our sketch of
an ideal Speaker we• may not omit the considera-
tions of personal appearance and demeanour. It is
no exaggeration to say that Washington never
could have accomplished what lie did for his coun-
try had not nature set the seal of command upon
that broad massive chin and erect bearing. And
so with the Speaker of an English House of Com-
mons. His presence ought to fill the eye—his ges-
tures, even his bearing in repose, should leave the
impression of energy and resolution tampered only
by urbanity and the repose of conscious power.
His utterance should be lucid, weighty, and
marked by a sustained dignity. In short, there is
needed in a Speaker an irreproachable previous
character ; extensive and accurate knowledge of
business in general, and of the forms of the House
in particular ; a commanding yet genial and love-
able disposition ; perfectimpartiality,.candour and
fairness in all his dealings ; a quick, instinctive
discernment of the characters of men ; a ready,
distinct, and dignified mode of utterance ; a spirit
that can preserve its equanimity and clearness of
perception amid surrounding clamour and storms
of angry passions ;
a couzage that quails not before
any earthly power ; a personal appearance which
is the visible expression of all these high endow-
ments..

The following is the memorandum lately ad-
dressed by the sublime Porte to the ambassadors
of the allied powers relative to the refusal of certain
subjects to pay the usual military subsidies :
" It results from despatches which have reached
the Minister of Finance and been presented to the
Sublime Porte, that when the authorities lately
commenced the. collection of the military subsidy
at Aleppo, certain individuals who have from father
to son been Ottoman subjects refused to pay
their share on the ground that they are subjects of
your august Government ' • this refusal hawing been
made known to the consuls residing in that city,
M. ALExANDRE they declared that, so long as they were without
Duxis......,The IL Alexandre Burnam orders from their respective legations, they could
announces, m a letter to the Times, published this neither consent to the exaction of the said subsidy
morning by our eontempwary, that he, and not his son, nor withdraw their protection from the parties in
is the correspondent of the Presse in regard to the Eng- question. It' is superfluous to state that the
fish elections. Quoth Alexandre the Great : "Jo me accomplishment of the military service by all with-
anis pas M. Dumas file, teals M. Dumas pZ)re." Adding, ohs e
as well as the non-exemption from
"Jo n' 4crie point it La Presse it la' brine main o
a:inird.
inspected
„ the subsidy, is one of the regulations in forcP, and
The Prince of Wales, attended by Col. the lion. IC)
moo plli,ir."
seteTiltthe
Palmam qui meruit—et cetera !
subjects from father to UM, and possessors of
C.
B.
landedthat the pretensions of these persons, Ottoman
m yesterdayanufa
catfotrcyr afternoon nt
hteo
sEuabs t.
abuetandomriittietesdhab
vyer
therefore,
Sublime Porte.Tlcom competent
Greene proper! in the said city, are such as cannot
IGrheiPenPlaicand,
y been categorically Marine Telegraph.
joined to collect from the said individuals the DIN_
The Princess Royal, attended by Lady Caroline Bar. tary subsidy, as is generally collected, without ex-
rington and the Earl of Caithness, honoured Price's' ception, and in the event of their persisting in their
C.andlo Factory; at Vauxhall, with a visit yesterday. pretensiono, to expel them from the country and

sell their land and other posse3sions. Alt-the lega-
tions have been informed by a note of this measure ;
and in making it known to you, Monsieur le
Ministre, I.beg you to send to. the Sublime Porte
the letter which you wi'l address on the subject to
the Consul of your Government, in order that it
may be at once forwarded to its destination."