THE Parliamentary Debates During the First Session of the Sixth Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, appointed to meet at Westminster, the Fourteenth Day of January 1819, in the Fifty-ninth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King GEORGE the Third. [Sess. 1819. HOUSE OF LORDS. missioners, namely, the Lord President of the Council (the earl of Harrowby), the Lord Privy Seal (the earl of WestmorMEETING OF THE NEW PARLIA-land), the duke of Wellington, the earl MENT.] This being the day appointed of Shaftesbury, and the earl of Liverpool, for the meeting of the New Parliament, entered the House in their robes, and several Lords came down to the House, took their seats, the Lord Chief Baron in and the clerks and officers resumed their the meantime retiring behind the throne. respective stations. Soon after two o'clock The Lord President, in the name of the the earl of Liverpool announced, that the Lords Commissioners, ordered the GenPrince Regent had been graciously pleased, tleman Usher of the Black Rod to proacting in the name and on the behalf of ceed to require the attendance of the his Majesty, to cause letters patent to be Commons. The Gentleman Usher of the issued under the Great Seal, appointing Black Rod went forth, and shortly aftersir Richard Richards, Lord Chief Baron wards returned with Mr. Dyson, the of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer, to deputy clerk of the House of Commons, sit in the place of the Lord Chan- accompanied by a great number of memcellor and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, bers. On their coming to the bar, the during the absence of such Lord Chan- Lord President said, "My Lords and cellor and Lord Keeper. The said letters Gentlemen, it not being convenient for patent being read, on the motion of the the Prince Regent to attend here this earl of Liverpool, it was ordered that the day in person, his Royal Highness, acting Lord Chief Baron should have the mace in the name and on the behalf of his Macarried before him, and laid upon the jesty, has been graciously pleased to cause woolsack. Lord Chief Baron Richards a Commission to be issued under the then advanced from towards the centre of Great Seal, to us and other lords directed, the House, with the mace carried before authorizing us to open this Parliament, him to the Woolsack, upon which the which Commission you will now hear mace was laid, according to the accus- read."-The Commission having been tomed form. His lordship stated, that read by the clerk, the Lord President the Prince Regent, acting in the name said," My Lords and Gentlemen, by and on the behalf of his Majesty, had been virtue of the Commission which has been graciously pleased to cause a commission now read, and in pursuance of the comto be issued under the Great Seal, ap-mands of his royal highness the Prince pointing certain Lords therein named to Regent, acting in the name and on the bedeclare the causes for holding this Parlia-half of his Majesty, we have to announce to ment, and put the question of adjourn-you, that as soon as a sufficient number of ment during pleasure, which was agreed members of both Houses shall be sworn, to. Shortly afterwards the Lords Com-the causes for holding this parliament will (VOL. XXXIX. ) (B) HOUSE OF COMMONS. Thursday, January 14. CHOICE OF A SPEAKER.] At eleven o'clock the Lord Steward commenced administering the usual oaths in the Long Gallery, and as the members were sworn they entered the House. By two o'clock above two hundred members were present, and at half after two the gentleman usher of the Black Rod appeared at the bar to announce, that the Lords appointed by Commission to open the parliament required the attendance of that House in the House of Peers, to hear the said Commission read. Mr. Dyson, the deputy clerk, followed by a number of members, accordingly proceeded to the House of Peers. And the House being returned, be declared. In the mean time, it is neces-high and important situation in the state sary that a Speaker of the House of Com- which does not depend on the nomination mons should be chosen. You, Gentle of the crown, but which proceeds enmen of the House of Commons, will tirely from the election of the people. therefore repair to the usual place of your The office of Speaker of the House of sittings, and proceed to elect a fit and Commons is of a character not more reproper person to be your Speaker, which markable for its great antiquity, than on person you will present at this bar to- account of the extent of the trust reposed morrow, at two o'clock, for the purpose in the individual appointed to that high of his receiving the approbation of his situation. Its duties are so many and imroyal highness the Prince Regent, acting portant, and the House is so accustomed in the name and on the behalf of his Ma- to witness their performance, so deeply jesty." Then the Commons withdrew, interested in their due discharge, that it and the House was adjourned during would be superfluous, and indeed prepleasure. sumptuous in me to enter at large into their detail. Every one who now hears me, even those who now attend here for the first time to assist in our deliberations, must be aware of the duties which the Speaker has to perform in this House. To him it belongs to preside over all our proceedings, to deliver his opinion with promptitude and decision on any disputed point referred to his consideration, to preserve order in the discussions of the House, to regulate its forms, to exercise its collective authority, to denounce its censure, and to communicate those testimonies of national approbation and gratitude, which must ever form the strongest excitement and the highest reward to honourable minds. I should be ashamed of enlarging on this topic if I were not enabled to avail myself of the emphatic language of a celebrated personage who filled the chair in the time of Charles the 1st-I mean Mr. Serjeant Glanvillewhich, although it savours somewhat of the quaintness of antiquity, fully described the duties attached to this im portant office. "I am elected," said he, "to be the mouth, indeed the servant of the House of Commons; to steer, watchfully and prudently, in all their weighty consultations and debates; to collect faithfully and readily the genuine sense of a numerous assembly; to propound the same seasonably, and to mould it into apt questions for final resolutions; and so represent them and their conclusions, their declarations and petitions, upon all urgent occasions, with truth, with right, with life, with lustre, and with full advantage to your most excellent. majesty." But those duties of the Speaker which are discharged within our walls, constitute but a small, and not the most important, part of the great func The Right Hon. Robert Peel, addressing himself to Mr. Dyson, deputy to the clerk of the House (who standing up, pointed to him, and then sat down) spoke to the following effect: Sir; I rise to address you in consequence of the message which has just been communicated to us at the bar of the House of Lords, and in conformity with long established custom; by which we are directed to proceed to the performance of a duty, which, although the first in point of time, is certainly inferior to none with respect to its importance. That duty is, the election from amongst our number of a fit and proper person to act in the dignified situation of Speaker. In performing that duty, I need not say that it peculiarly behoves us to select a person duly qualified to discharge the functions of an office so distinguished as almost to be considered a separate branch of the legislature;-an office which has this peculiar character, that it is the only • Parliamentary History, vol. 2, p. 535. could be detected only by the keenest eye. It is not possible to examine the Journals of the House without remarking the scrupulous nicety with which it has. regarded a departure from the most minute forms. Danger it was felt might be connected with an amendment to some private bill, with an alteration in some penalty, with a charge in some appropriation, or with some other matter, equally trivial in appearance, which inattention or neglect might pass over unnoticed, but which in the result might affect, not merely those immediately interested, but even the remotest generations. For the adequate performance of such duties as I have described, it is evident that great and various qualifications are necessary-qualifications not inconsistent or incompatible with each other, but which are rarely associated in a single individual. We require of our Speaker, in the discharge of his duty, unwearied attention, prompt decision, the utmost presence of mind, and the greatest facility in the dispatch of business. With these qualifications we demand others that are not commonly supposed to accompany those faculties which characterize men of high ability. We require a mind capable of taking a comprehensive view of the historical events, the commercial relations, and the high political interests of the country, and yet capable of withdrawing itself from the contemplation of such important and interesting subjects, and of descending to the discussion of some insulated principle-to the investigation of some trifling point of order, some almost obsolete form, or some nearly forgotten privilege. tions committed to him. Not only is he selected for the guardian of our own rights we also select him for the performance of duties in which the people at large are no less interested than ourselves-duties, the execution of which must affect even the remotest posterity. We do not select him merely to make a formal demand of those rights and privileges which were claimed and asserted by our ancestors, which are as much ours as our lives, and general liberties-no, we select him as the centinel to guard against all slight encroachments on our privileges, to detect those trivial departures from established forms which are the more dangerous because, from their apparent want of importance, they are likely to escape attention, and because the danger to be apprehended from them seems to be too remote to demand an immediate interference. The necessity of providing a check against such contingencies is pointed out by reason and history. It has been well remarked, that in all free and of course complicated governments, at some period or other, cases would occur when the interests of the different established orders of the state would clash, and questions would arise on the particular privileges of each. Without the exertion of unremitting vigilance, it is impossible to guard against encroachments pregnant with the most dangerous consequences. It is impossible for any person to take the most imperfect view of the history of this House, it is impossible for any person to throw the most rapid and cursory glance over its increased influence in the state, without perceiving the immense importance of that unrelaxing jealousy with which we have almost invariably resisted the It is, perhaps, necessary for me to slightest encroachment on our privileges. make some apology for thus having atTo nothing are we so much indebted for tempted to detail the various qualificathe enjoyment of that right which the tions and duties of the important office' House has most at heart, which esta- under our consideration. The only exblishes its equality with the other branch cuse I have to offer is, the usage on simiof the legislature-I mean the right of lar occasions, and the great number of originating taxes, of commencing every gentlemen surrounding me who now sit measure in which the public money is for the first time, in this house. I will concerned; that great privilege by which now, however, Sir, proceed to the more we can rebut every attempt from any immediate object for which I rose, namely, other quarter to interfere with the pro-to propose to the House, the selection of perty of the people-to no cause are we so much indebted for the preservation of that right as to the constant and anxious solicitude with which the House of Commons has looked out for and provided against dangers, the approach of which an individual to undertake this honourable, but difficult office. And in doing this, I assure the House, that I would not have suffered myself to be betrayed into the proposition which I am about to make by the partiality of private friendship, if I had not felt a strong conviction that it was in unison with the sentiments of the House, and a confident hope that it would meet with their unanimous concurrence. Itrust, Sir, that in proposing to the House, that he to whom this most important trust was confided by our predecessors, be continued in the possession of it-that the right honorable Charles Manners Sut ton be again placed in our chair-I shall meet with the general support of those whom I have the honor of addressing. The experience we have had of his conduct in that exalted situation, has of course been short. But, such as it has been, I may with confidence appeal to those who hear me, whether it did not fully justify the expectations of his friends, whether it did not bear out all those liberal admissions which were made by those, who, while they recorded their preference of another, gave testimony of the high sense they entertained of his talents and his virtues. Sir, those liberal admissions were drawn forth by the recollection of what his conduct had been in another office, which required for the perfect discharge of its duties, many qualifications similar to those which are necessary for the formation of an efficient Speaker. The office to which I allude demands constant attention, which is, indeed, indispensable for the administration of all justice, but which is peculiarly necessary for the branch of it that was entrusted to his superintendance, from the great extent of the military body over which he presided. Beyond this the situation rerequired great knowledge of mankind, great delicacy (from the nature of the business which was to be transacted, and the rank and habits of those with whom he had to communicate), great patience great vigilance, great equanimity, and deep forethought. The tenor of that office imposed on him the duty of taking a part in the deliberations of this House, when military subjects connected with the functions which he had to discharge, were introduced; and I am sure I can safely say in the presence of those who heard him, and who are immediately interested in those subjects, that while he defended his opinions with warmth and earnest ness, he never lost sight of decorous feeling; that while he exhibited the honourable * From October 1809 to June 1817, Mr. Manners Sutton filled the office of Judge Advocate General. zeal and boldness which are inseparable from conscious innocence, he constantly avoided the use of any expression that could wound the feelings of any man. Such, too, was his deportment during the short time that he was in the chair of this house, that should it again be his lot to fill that distinguished situation, he will commence his new career without the risk of encountering a single foe, and his anxiety to avoid overstepping the bounds of moderation and forbearance on every occasion, so essential to the maintenance of the dignity of the chair, gives the best assurance that he never will make one. Of his other qualities it is unnecessary for me to speak;-his facility of access, his readiness at all times to afford information, his uniformly mild and conciliatory manners; these are well known to all who sat in the late parliament. But, in alluding to the qualifications which I conceive to be necessary in a Speaker, there is one which I wish particularly to notice. Whatever may be his talents and attainments, I consider it absolutely necessary that he should possess the confidence of the House. That confidence, no rank, no talents, no attainments can command, while we bow with ready deference to high integrity and lofty-minded independence. It is upon this principle-on the possession of general confidence, that the individual whom I propose, stands on unassailable ground. He has sought, and he has obtained, the confidence of the House; without which, all the efforts of his authority would be nugatory. It is, Sir, an honorable and perhaps a peculiar destinction of this country, that what is called "private character" is the best foundation for the maintenance of rank and authority; that character commanding the greatest distinction, and shedding lustre on the brightest talents. Now, Sir, if there be any office in the appointment to which it is peculiarly desirable, that purity and excellence of private character should be attended to, it is that of Speaker of the House of Commons-an office, the powers of which are often exercised amidst the warmth of party feeling-exercised in the approbation of honourable actions, and the censure of base onesexercised (it ought never to be forgotten) where the votes of the House are so nearly divided, that we entrust to the Speaker the right of giving force and validity to our resolutions-of imparting the whole weight of law to what would |