The Mother of Parliaments

"Edinburgh Review," January, 1854, p. 254.

393

Hakewell's "Modus Tenendi Parliamentum," p. 142.

394

Bills of the most fantastic kind are from time to time introduced, though they seldom see the light of a Second Reading. In 1597 a member, Walgrave by name, brought in a Bill to prevent the exportation of herrings to Leghorn, "which occasioneth both a very great scarcity of Herrings within the Realm and is a great means of spending much Butter and Cheese, to the great inhancing of the prices thereof by reason of the said scarcity of Herrings." – D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 562.

395

Lord Waldegrave's "Memoirs," p. 133.

396

In June, 1835, however, a Mr. Fox Maule was refused permission to bring in a Bill "for the better protection of tenants' crops in Scotland from the ravages committed on them by several kinds of game." – Grant's "Recollections," p. 38.

397

Our ancestors were not always so well-mannered in their methods. Once when a Bill had been returned to them from the Lords with an amendment to a money clause, they expressed their active disapproval by literally kicking it along the floor of the House, and so out at the door. "Parl. Hist.," vol. xvii. p. 515.

398

It may be observed that among the many traditionary differences of opinion entertained by the two Houses is a divergence as to the proper spelling of the word "seigneurs."

399

A Conference of both Houses has not been held since 1836.

400

The Clerkship of the Parliaments is an ancient office, dating from the commencement of the fourteenth century. It was originally held by an ecclesiastic, to whom were assigned, in times when the two Houses sat together, the clerical work of Parliament. The Clerk of the Parliaments is appointed by the Crown under Letters Patent, and can only be removed by the Crown on an address from the House of Lords. Up to the year 1855, the post was a lucrative sinecure, worth about £7000 a year, the actual duties of the office being performed by the Clerk Assistant. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Clerk of the Parliaments enjoyed the privilege of nominating and appointing all the clerks on the House of Lords establishment, but in 1824 the appointment of the two other Clerks at the Table was transferred to the Lord Chancellor. He still, however, appoints all the other clerks, regulates and controls the duties and promotion of the staff, appoints the Librarian and his assistant, and exercises superintendence over the Library and the Refreshment Department of the House. It is his duty to attend all the sittings of the House, to call on the Orders of the Day, and to invite peers to bring forward their Bills or Motions. He also performs functions analogous to those of the Speaker in the Commons, when he signs Addresses to the sovereign, other Addresses of thanks or condolence, the minutes of the daily proceedings, and all the returns ordered by the House. As registrar of the Court of Final Appeal, he takes the instructions of the judicial authorities upon all questions relating to appeals, and keeps a record of all judgments, etc. Lastly, and this is perhaps not the least important of his duties, he gives the Royal Assent to Bills.

401

D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 683, and Townshend's "Proceedings of Parliament," p. 322.

402

In 1810, another system was temporarily introduced, the members ranging themselves on either side of the House and being counted by the tellers. Croker, when Ministerial teller, once accidentally missed out a whole bench full of Government supporters, thereby reducing the Ministerial majority by about forty. The Opposition teller watched the error with a smile, but did not feel called upon to correct it. See "The Observer," March 11, 1810.

403

In the Session of 1881 the number of divisions was about 400; in 1908, including the autumn Session, the number was 463, and in 1909 the House of Commons divided 918 times.

404

Only fifteen ties are known in the history of Parliament On April 3, 1905, Speaker Gully gave a casting vote on the Embankment Tramways Bill, as did Speaker Lowther, on July 22, 1910, on the Regency Bill.

405

This right of protest recorded in the Journals of the House is still occasionally exercised.

406

"Life of Lord George Bentinck," p. 314.

407

Ewald's "Biography of Walpole," p. 419.

408

"Chambers' Journal," December 26, 1886, p. 819.

409

Porritt's "Unreformed House of Commons," vol. i. p. 509.

410

Until a few years ago all "whips" were underlined twice and in urgent cases five times.

411

"Ode to the Doctor." (Bragge Bathurst, Lord Sidmouth's brother-in-law, and Riley, his brother, were place-hunters who felt bound to applaud their patron.)

412

House of Commons "Journals," vol. x. 291.

413

D'Ewes' "Journal," p. 334.

414

Pinkerton's "Voyages," vol. ii. p. 506.

415

"Report of the Select Committee on the Establishment of the House of Commons" (1833), pp. 84-5. (To-day the messengers and doorkeepers, of whom there are about a score, earn regular salaries ranging from £120 to £300. Except for a share in the fund for messengers and police to which members may or may not contribute, no gratuities of any description are allowed to them.)

416

The familiar way in which Pearson addressed members seems to have been generally condoned on account of his long service. Once when General Grant, who had boasted that he would march victoriously through America with three thousand men, asked the door-keeper how long a certain member would speak, Pearson replied, "As long, General, if he was allowed, as you would be in marching through and conquering America!" Pearson's "Political Dictionary," p. 10.

417