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evil, sacrifice an important permanent interest. What we want is a resolute determination on the part of the great bulk of the House that they will stand no more obstruction. If there is that feeling absent on the part of any considerable number of the members of the House, then we want the feeling to be manifested by the constituencies of the country, by their demanding that their representative shall take a firm stand against that which may otherwise be the ruin of Parliamentary government. But I do not think there is any danger of the House of Commons or of Parliament losing its character. I myself believe that these are but temporary difficulties, which will pass away as other temporary difficulties have passed away.”—The Marquis of Hartington shortly after this complained that Sir Stafford Northcote had treated the matter as one of trivial importance. "Parliamentary obstruction," he observed, "will be dealt with and put down by a Government which presents to Parliament well-considered measures in which it takes an interest itself, and in which the country takes an interest; and when at the same time it manifests determination to set aside any business, however important, however much desired by Parliament and by the country, for the first and paramount object of assuring its own independence and authority."

THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON.

(1833.)

A Leader of the Liberal Party.-The Marquis of Hartington, eldest son of the Duke of Devonshire, was attached to the embassy of Earl Granville to Russia, on the coronation of the Emperor Alexander II. in 1857. He was returned to the House of Commons for North Lancashire in the same year. In March, 1863, he was made a Lord of the Admiralty, but soon removed to the Under-Secretaryship for War, and he became Secretary for War in Lord Russell's Administration of 1866. He filled the office of Postmaster-General from 1868 to 1870, and of Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1870 to 1874. When Mr. Gladstone retired from the leadership of the Opposition in 1875, the Marquis of Hartington was selected by the Liberal party to take his place, and he was consulted by the Queen as to the formation of a Cabinet on the return of the Liberals to power in 1880.

Home Rule and Imperial Rule.-Mr. Butt having brought forward a motion in favour of Home Rule in June, 1874, "That this House resolve itself into a committee of the whole House, to consider the Parliamentary relations between Great Britain and Ireland," the Marquis of Hartington said: "In his judgment the Government [of Mr. Disraeli] had taken a wise line, and the House would do well to support them, in preferring to meet the resolution by a direct negative, rather than by the adoption of the suggested amendment [by Mr. R. Smyth], which, though eminently satisfactory as emanating from an Irish member, did not cover the whole ground. In honour and in honesty, the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain were bound to tell the Irish people that, whatever arguments might be used in reference to this question as it applied

to Ireland, while giving every consideration to the just claims of Ireland, they could only look at it from an Imperial point of view; and that they were convinced that, whatever might be the effect of the proposal upon the internal affairs of that country, they could never give their assent to the proposal of the honourable and learned member for Limerick. It might be said that this was a strong declaration, but at the same time a very safe one on his part, seeing that the party to which he belonged were at present in a hopeless minority in that House, and that they had therefore nothing either to hope or to fear from the support of the Irish members. But he could say for himself—and he thought he might say the same on behalf of those who sat round him-that no motive of personal ambition, no consideration of party advantage, could ever induce them to purchase the support of honourable members representing Irish constituencies by any sacrifice which, in their opinion, would endanger the union between the two countries. He knew it might be said that protestations of this kind were of little avail, and that, when the exigency of the moment demanded it, they might be easily evaded and set aside; and therefore it was of more importance that he should express his firm conviction, that if any honourable members sitting on that side of the House were so reckless as to show a symptom on their part of a disposition to coquet with this question, there would instantly be such a disruption and disorganisation of parties, that they would find that they had lost more support from England and Scotland than they could ever hope to obtain from Ireland." The motion of Mr. Butt was rejected by 458 to 61.

Unrecognised Agents of Government.-The Marquis of Hartington, in addressing the University of Edinburgh on his installation as Lord Rector in 1879, said: "Much governed as we are, centrally and locally, public administration would, in my opinion, utterly break down were it not for the unrecognised forms of government which have grown up among us, created by no legislation nor even inherited from our ancestors. In these days civilised nations are led rather than governed. They are led by their reason, by their feelings, by their passions; but they are led by their necessities and their desires, by their fears, and by their hopes; and the men who lead them, and thus have a share in and render possible the task of government, are the authors and journalists, the members of learned professions, the employers and organisers of labour, and their innumerable subordinates, by whom in regular gradations the armies of industry and of commerce are marshalled. These are amongst the most powerful, if not the most conspicuous, agents of government at the present time. And if the influence of these unrecognised rulers is necessary and powerful at home for the proper working of our social arrangements, how much more necessary are they for the maintenance of that complex system, without precedent in history, which is called the British Empire."

MINOR CELEBRITIES AND ODD CHARACTERS.

"" 66

Price of a City Member.-Sir John Barnard took his seat for the City of London in 1722. The writer of his memoirs remarks that to Walpole's frequent observation, "Every man has his price," it was once triumphantly objected, "What, then, is Sir John Barnard's ? 'Popularity," was the minister's reply. But Walpole once paid Sir J. Barnard a great compliment. Riding out on the same day in two parties, they happened to come where only a narrow close prevented their view of each other. Sir J. Barnard, talking with his company, was overheard. A gentleman of the other party said, "Whose voice is that?" Sir Robert replied, "Do not you know? It is one I shall never forget; I have often felt its power."

"Single-Speech Hamilton."-Lord Halifax was the first LordLieutenant of George III. His secretary was William Gerard Hamilton, known by the name of "Single-Speech Hamilton," having made one splendid speech, which he left unequalled ever after. His first measure was a proposal to raise six regiments of Irish Roman Catholics, amounting to three thousand men, to be officered by Catholics, and to be taken into the pay of an ally (Portugal). He proposed this in a long and excellent speech; but the measure met with so much opposition from the Protestant party that it was ultimately given up by the Government.-Grattan's Life and Times. Hamilton's famous speech was delivered in 1755. “He broke out," said Walpole, "like the Irish rebellion, three-score thousand strong, when nobody was aware or in the least suspected it." Other of his speeches were printed in his posthumous work entitled "Parliamentary Logic." Edmund Burke obtained his initiation into public life under Hamilton, whom he accompanied to Ireland in 1761.

An Irish Celebrity.—Sir Boyle Roche, who was a member of the Irish Parliament in the period preceding the Union, achieved renown by the remark that he could not be, "like a bird, in two places at once." Some other sayings imputed to him are scarcely less celebrated. "I would gladly, Mr. Speaker, sacrifice not only a part of the constitution, but the whole of it, to preserve the remainder." And again, speaking of what might be expected if the leaders of the rebellion gained sway, "Our heads will be thrown upon that table to stare us in the face!" To him also is ascribed that example of mixed metaphor, "I smell a rat, Mr. Speaker; I see him floating in the air; but I will yet nip him in the bud." But on one occasion Sir Boyle gained the victory over Curran in a contest in the Irish House. "Do not speak of my honour," said Curran; "I am the guardian of my own honour." "Faith," replied Sir Boyle Roche, "I knew that at some time or other you would accept a sinecure."

A Seat for Eighteenpence.-John Elwes, the miser, was returned for Berkshire in 1774, by the interest of Lord Craven. His

paternal name was Meggot, but he inherited a large fortune and his later name from a penurious uncle, Sir Harvey Elwes, whom he had assiduously courted. He was a great gambler in his earlier years, although miserly in trifles. He stipulated that he should be at no expense in standing for Berkshire, and is said to have obtained his seat for eighteenpence, laid out in the ordinary at Abingdon. He sat for Berkshire for about twelve years, in three successive Parliaments.

Unwigging a Member.-Elwes, writes Harford, "wore a wig; it looked as if it might have been picked off a hedge or a scare-crow. At that time we used to wear dress swords occasionally at the House; for instance, if going to the opera. One day, Bankes, whose carriage is stiff and lofty, had on his sword, and was seated next to Elwes, who leant his head forward just as Bankes was rising up to leave his place, when the hilt of his sword came in contact with Elwes' wig, which it whisked off and bore away. The House was instantly in a roar of laughter. I never shall forget the scene. There was old Elwes, without his wig, darting forward to reclaim it; and Bankes marching on quite unconscious of the sword-knot which he wore, and wondering what the laugh was about."

Not Heartless.-Lord Brougham in one of his letters (1813) made the following reference to Mr. Ward, at that time a person of some note in the House of Commons, and afterwards Lord Dudley: "I heard a joke of Lord Byron's annoyed him t'other day, though it was a baddish sort of pun. Ward was talking of being 'rewhigged,' and Lord Byron said he fancied he wanted to be rewarded.' They have fired an epigram at him: 'W-d has no heart, they say, but I deny it;

He has a heart, and gets his speeches by it.'”

A Suggestive Speaker.-Dr. Laurence had (says Brougham) "the very worst delivery ever witnessed-a delivery calculated to alienate the mind of the hearer, to beguile him of his attention, but by stealing it away from the speaker, and almost to prevent him from comprehending what was so uncouthly spoken. It was in reference to this unvarying effect of Dr. Laurence's delivery that Mr. Fox once said, a man should attend, if possible, to a speech of his, and then speak it over again himself: it must, he conceived, succeed infallibly, for it was sure to be admirable in itself, and as certain of being new to the audience. But in this saying there was considerably more wit than truth. The doctor's speech was sure to contain materials not for one, but for half-a-dozen speeches; and a person might with great advantage listen to it, in order to use those materials, in part, afterwards; as indeed many did, both in Parliament and at the Bar where he practised, make an effort to attend to him, how difficult soever, in order to hear all that could be said upon every part of the question." Lord Brougham adds that he had repeatedly tried at the Bar the experi ment mentioned by Fox, to a certain extent, and with success.

"Once Bit, Twice Shy."-Dr. Laurence's outward aspect was unwieldy, and almost grotesque. His mouth especially excited observation; and being fancied to resemble a shark's, the House of Commons

jest ran that Alderman Brook Watson, who had lost his leg by that animal's bite, avoided the side where the doctor sat or lay. Alderman Watson and his accident are thus alluded to in "The Rolliad: "

"One moment's time might I presume to beg,'

Cries modest Watson, on his wooden leg;
That leg in which such wondrous art is shown,
It almost seems to serve him as his own.
Oh! had the monster who for breakfast ate
That luckless limb, his nobler noddle met,
The best of workmen and the best of wood

Had scarce supplied him with a head so good."

A Lucid Interval.-Sir Charles Wetherell made a strong speech against the Catholic Relief Bill, brought in by the Government in which he was Attorney-General, and in consequence had to resign. Mr. Greville thus writes respecting him and his speech (March, 1829): "The antiCatholic papers and men lavish the most extravagant encomiums on Wetherell's speech, and call it the finest oration ever delivered in the House of Commons,' the best since the second Philippic.' He was drunk, they say. The Speaker said 'the only lucid interval he had was that between his waistcoat and his breeches.' When he speaks he unbuttons his braces, and in his vehement action his breeches fall down and his waistcoat runs up, so that there is a great interregnum."

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"Chicken Taylor."-Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor, who for several years brought forward a motion in the House of Commons against Lord Eldon, was known (says Lord Campbell) by the sobriquet of “ Chicken Taylor." On some points of law which arose in the House, Taylor had answered the great lawyer, Bearcroft, but not without an apology, "that he himself, who was but a young practitioner, and, as he might phrase it, a chicken in the law, should venture on a fight with the cock of Westminster Hall." He then acquired, and he never lost, the above nick-name.

"Orator Hunt."-Henry Hunt was the accepted leader of the discontented in the pre-Reform era, and his orations were circulated all over the country. He was the Radical of his age. The white hat he wore was regarded as almost as significant as the republican bonnet rouge in the Reign of Terror.-Life of Duncombe. Hunt having been brought before Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough to receive sentence upon a conviction for holding a seditious meeting, he began his address in mitigation of punishment by complaining of certain persons who had accused him of "stirring up the people by dangerous eloquence." Lord Ellenborough (in a very mild tone): "My impartiality as a judge calls upon me to say, sir, that in accusing you of that they do you great injustice."-Campbell's Life of Ellenborough. While addressing the House of Commons in support of the Reform Bill in 1831, Hunt said, "Now, when the honourable member for Calne (Mr. Macaulay) was talking so much of the rabble, he looked very hard at me (laughter). I understand that laugh. But I am only sorry that the honourable member for Calne' has not remained in his place, that I might now have looked in the same way at him.”—On the passing of the Reform Bill, Hunt lost his seat for Preston.

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