now quite evident that everybody was in earnest on this occasion, Mr. Dillon avoided the employment of force by walking out of the House, amid loud shouts of "Shame" from the Irish benches. A short wrangle ensued on the subject, and then "Mr. Gladstone1 attempted to resume his speech, but was interrupted immediately by The O'Donoghue moving the adjournment of the House. No notice was taken of his motion, and Mr. Parnell, in an excited tone, called out, 'I move that Mr. Gladstone be no longer heard.' There were loud cheers from the Irish members at this, and counter-cries of Name him,'" as Mr. Parnell repeated the motion; and The O'Donoghue called out that this was exactly the same motion which Mr. Gladstone himself had made in Mr. O'Donnell's case. The Speaker warned the hon. member that if he persisted he should have no option but to enforce the standing order. Mr. Gladstone was allowed to proceed for a few sentences, but Mr. Parnell having consulted with his friends, rose and again called out, "I insist on my right to move that Mr. Gladstone be no longer heard." The Speaker then "named Mr. Parnell in the prescribed form, Mr. Gladstone moved that he be suspended, and the motion was carried. Like Mr. Dillon, Mr. Parnell declined to withdraw until removed by "superior force," and the same farce of coercion was solemnly gone through. As Mr. Parnell retired from the House, his friends "stood up and waved their hats, cheering vociferously." Mr. Finigan was very shortly got rid of in a similar manner, and as the great body of the Irish members refused to vote on his suspension, twenty-eight of them were suspended en masse for disregarding the authority of the Chair, and removed one by one by "superior force." Two more followed shortly, and then three, and so on, until by 8.30 thirty-six in all had been suspended. The result of all this was that resolutions were carried giving the Speaker special powers to restrict discussion when "urgency' has been voted in debate. This rule moreover was intended to apply not merely to the wilful and obvious obstruction of the Irish members, but also to more subtle forms of over-criticism of which the House had had occasional experience. 1 Ann. Reg., 1881, p. 59. The efficacy of the "urgency" rule may be measured by the fact that, in 1882, an autumn session was specially held to create new regulations of debate. A number of resolutions were passed, enabling the Speaker or Chairman of Committees to terminate the debate when the "evident sense of the House" was against its continuance, to suppress various abuses of the forms of the House which were very prevalent, and to keep the debate strictly to the subject in hand. Grand committees were to be appointed to relieve the House by taking over the consideration of all legal and commercial bills, and preparing them for merely a final third reading as it were in the House itself. Both parties are agreed that the rules of debate are in want of considerable revision in order to render them effective, though the precise amendments requisite are a subject of controversy. Reader, my task is ended. Future parliamentary historians will some day deliver to the world a fitting estimate of the men of the last decade-of Beaconsfield and Gladstone, Salisbury and Churchill, Hartington, Bright and Chamberlain; will find a niche for Parnell and Bradlaugh, perhaps even rise to the sublimest heights of prose in the apotheosis of Biggar. Now, it were a task at which impartiality itself might shudder. The mean between exaggerated admiration and equally exaggerated dispraise can never be strictly attained until the softening hand of time has smoothed down the angry passions which seem the inevitable concomitant of party differences. INDEX. Act of Settlement, 135, 137, 138. Affirmations, 319-321, 330-332. Arundel, case of the Earl of, 69. Attainder, Bill of, 37, 64, 85. Audit of revenue accounts, 15, 113, Aylesbury Case, the, 140, 141. Ballot Act, the, 317. Bishops, exclusion of the (from the Cabinet, 114, 119, 120, 134-138, 144, 183, 205, 208, 209, 214, 215, 250, Chatham, William Pitt, Earl of, 184- Compound householder, the, 300. Corn-Law (repeal of) debate, 287- Corrupt Practices Act, 321. Corruption in Parliament, 119, 136, D'Ewes, Sir Symonds, 83, 84, 87, 95, Declaration of Rights, 129. Eldest sons of Peers, 20, 152, 190. Ferrers, George (case of), 38, 39. Five Members, attempt on the, 94-97. Fox, Charles James, 208, 209, 212, Freedom of speech, 23, 26, 42, 46– Gladstone's (Mr.) Budget speeches, 292. Goodwin, Sir Francis, case of, 58. Hall, Arthur, expulsion of, 51. Ꮓ Hastings, Warren, 171, 230-235. Howard v. Gosset, 324. Impeachment, 16, 64, 65, 68-70, 79, Jews, admission of, 312, 319, 325. Kentish petition, the, 139. Ladies in Parliament, 195, 196. 19, 20; privileges, 23, 69, 314; 179; Scotch representative peers, Lords of the Articles, 149, 150. Palmer, case of Mr., 92. Parliaments-of Oxford, 1258, 6; De Peerage Bill, the, 147, 148. Peers, creation of, 142, 147, 148, 267, 307. Petition of Right, the, 72. Petitioners and Abhorrers, 121. Petitions to Parliament, 110, 208. Pitt, William, (the younger), 146, Placeholders, exclusion of, 136, 137, Premunientes clause, 12, 19. Proctors of the clergy, 19. Property Qualification Acts, 20, 176, Protectionists, the, 289. Protests of the Lords, 23, 92. Radicals, 204, 212, 213, 252, 256, Reform Acts of 1832, 251-269; of Reform, Parliamentary, 100, 208, Repealers, 272, 281. Root and Branch party, 81, 88. Sacheverell, impeachment of Dr., Scotch Parliament, privileges, Act of Secresy of debate, 23, 26, 28, 98, 195, Separation of the two Houses, 19. Shirley, Sir Thomas, case of, 58. Smalley, case of, 49, 50. Speaker, the, 22, 74, 78, 96, 97, 102, Strode, case of Richard, 26, 75, 114. Taxation, Parliamentary control over, Tea-room party, the, 301. Test Acts, 118, 119, 250, 319. Triennial Act, 80, 111, 113, 136. "Undertakers," the, 62. Veto on Legislation, the Royal, 143. Wages of members, 21. Whigs and Tories, 121. Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. |