The Washington herald., 1910-12-23
MAKEUP OF THE
HOUSE OF COMMONS


members some very remarkable men,
whose presence there is almost as mex
plicabe as that of the Fly in the amber,
and two at least OF whom would. if the
law had had IFS gay. have been numbered
among the dead long before they sat at
Westminster
One OF this singular and romantic
Roseommon, the story of whose adven-
lures before he became "a legislator is
more thrilling than fiction. To give out
few examples: When Mr. Kelly wss
young man he was the correspondent
Of a Cuban paper at the time when that
country was in the throes OF civil war.
He was arrested as a spy, sentenced to
death. and actually vas facing the
rifles OF the firing party when the
United States consul arrived on the
scene and rescued him "A few seconds
before the fatal command was given.
| He fought CALAMITY with the French
against the Prussians. saved the life
OF the Empress Of Brazil had many
harbreadth escape from death In Can
ada. Mexico. and Algiers, and was lost
whole year in the Soudan.
j. +. y O'Brien. the second of this
adventurous pair. was sentenced 10 be
/ hanged. drawn and quartered for the
| part he took in a Fenian rising, and il
was only his gallantry during a fire,
when, at great risk to his life. he res
cued some women and children, that
caused the death sentence to be COM
muted TO one Of penal servituds for life,
which. after years of durance, was re-
mitted.
/ Thrice at least the House OF Commons
+ has included colored men. Of whom Da-
/ dabhai Naorogi was the most notable
/ John Stewart. who sat for the borough
/ OF bennington in four successive ses-
sions. was pure-blooded negro. and
David Ochterlony Dyce-Sombre, who was
/ elected for the Suffolk borough Of Sud
/ bury and who later lost his seat for
| bribery, was a grandson ofsthe Begun Of
Sirdhana, from whom ne inherited for
/ tune OF e500000.
Within recent years Parliament has
/ had at least three blind members. One
/ Of them was Mr. Fawcett. who was post
/ master general in Mr.. Giadstone's second
administration. The second was knighted
/ for his services on the commission on
1 the blind. deaf. and dumb. And the third
/ who represented the Ossory division OF
Queens County, in spite OF his blindness,
/ had won high honors at Trinity College
| in Dublin
/ But probably the most remarkable man
who ever sat in the British Parliament
was Arthur Kavanagh. who. leg
/ less and .armlesg. a mere trunk OF a
man. had TO be carried into the house
/ on the back Of an attendant Mr.. Kav-
anagh was a hard worker an excellent
/ speaker, and made so light Of his physical
/ disqualification as 20 become a daring
/ explorer. who, among other feats, made
/ his way overland through Russia and
/ Persia 70 Bombay.
The House Of Commons has had many
men Of great stature. but the tallest Of
( them all probably was Sir Frederick Mil
ner. of whom the story is told.
When ne and Sir Frank Lockwood once
met al a public dinner, the barOnet warn
ed his hearers that Sir Frank was going
/ TO caricature him.
( 1T is perfectly true" answered Lock
wood, himself a man OF feet and 2
I inches. that I contemplated issuing a
portrait Of my worthy friend, but owing
4 10 his great length it should have TO
come out in parts. and / had my mis-
givings as to getting subscribers.
IL seems almost an impossibility for
man TO be elected TO Parliament with
out having any knowledge Of the honor
that was being done him. But this seem
iingIy Impossible thing has happened
more than once. Capt Suter. elected
as NJ p while fighting 5000 miles away
/ in South Africa; Sir James Ferguson,
while lying at deaths door from wounds
7
while absent in America, and O'DonOYaR
+ Rosa, while imprisoned for treason.
/ were elected 10 Parliament. John
/ DAILY was returned for Limerick while
I IN Portland prison and Michael Davitt
was elected al Meath in 1882, and then
went back 10 prison 10 complete an IN
expired sentence. In the same year Mr.
Powell the Tory member from Mains
/ hurry. assembled in a balloon and van
! ished completely from human ken.
7 Douglass Pyne. member for West Water
ford. made an equally mysterious, and
dramatic exit from the world. He was
/ seen on one Of the steamboats, crossing
/ from Dublin TO Holyhead but when the
/ boat arrived no trace of him was Wis
/ ible beyond a handbag and a few letters.
| It is one OF the incOmpTehensible things
| in political life that a man may undergo
| the worry and expense of a parlia-
mentary election for the privilege Of sit
ting only few hours or days among the
| lawmakers. Take. for instance. Lord
[ George Hamilton, who some years ago.
on his appointment as secretary for India,
was reelected a member from the Ealing
division of MiddleSex. Within two hours
Of his election Parliament was dissolved
Precisely what those two hours
cost the right honorable gentleman
he never told. but it might easily have
been at the rate of a good many hun
dreds of pounds for each hour. The late
c. p Richie once had a similar ex-
perience when he was returned TO Par
iiament for q week END. And Sir Mat
thew White. Ridley actually twice quail
red as NJ. P<foT the BlackpOOl division Of
Lancashire within one week.
Even more remarkable was the case Of
the winning candidate at the bye-election
for the New Forest division a year ago.
for the dissolution followed so quickly on
/ The heels of his election that he never
was able to sit at Westminster at ALL
In the good old days Of Eatansville and
! Old Sarum rulings il was no uncommon
thing for a single voter to return a mem
Der OF Parliament
It was in those luckily departed days
that Sir Mark Wood purchased the
barony of Sutton for elO,Oo0. thus quail
flying as the sole freebooter. There were
| about a dozen other male adults in the
borough, but Sir Mark was the only one
entitled TO the parliamentary vote. To
qualify as a member of Parliament I'M
der such conditions indeed was a very
simple matter. He proposed himself as
a candidate. demanded a poll. registered
his vote, and was duly returned by the
local cOnstable-and there he was.