Kingston, John, Lymington *Knight, Robert, Wotton Basset Lethbridge, T.Buckler, Somerset Lloyd, sir Edward Pryce, bart.; Flint borough *Lloyd, James Martin, Steyning *Lockhart, W. E., Selkirk-shire Loftus, Wm., Tamworth Long, right hon. C., Haslemere Long, Richard, Wilts Longfield, Mountifort, Cork city *Longman, George, Maidstone Lovaine, lord, Beeralston Loveden, Edw. L., Shaftesbury Lowther, James, Westmorland 'Lowther, John, Cumberland, Cockermouth Lubbock, sir John, bart.; Leominster Lushington, sir Stephen, bart.; *Lushington, Stephen, Yar- Lygon, hon. Wm. B.,Worcester Mann, sir Horace, bart.; Sandwich Manners, lord Charles Som,, Cambridge county Manners, lord Robert, Leicester county Manners, Robert, Cambridge town *Manners, Russell, Grantham *Manners, sir William, bart.; Ivelchester Manning, William, Evesham Maule, hon. Wm., Forfarshire Meade, hon. John, Down Mildmay, sir H. P. St. John, bart.; Winchester Milford, lord, Pembroke county *Miller, sir Thomas, bart.; Portsmouth Mills, Chas., Warwick borough Mills, William, Coventry Milner, Sir William, Mordaunt, bart.; York city *Milnes, Robert Pemberton, Pontefract *Milton, lord viscount, Malton *Mingay, James, Thetford Monckton, honourable Edward, Stafford borough *Monson, honourable William, Lincoln city *Montagu, Mat., St. Germans Montgomery, sir James, bart. ; Peebles-shire *Moore, lord Henry, Orford Moore, Peter, Coventry Mordaunt, Charles, Warwick county Morgan, Charles, Monmouth county Morpeth, lord viscount, Cum- Morris, Edw. Newport, Cornwall Flint county *Mozley,sir Oswell,bart.; Portallington Muncaster, lord, Westmorland *Neale, sir Harry, bart.; Lymington *Needhain, hon. Fran., Newry Nepean, right honourable sir Evan, bart.; Bridport Newark, lord viscount, Not- Ord, William, Morpeth Paget, hon. Charles, Carnarvon borough Palk, sir Laurence,bart.; Devon lord viscount, Horsham [dble ret.] Parnell, Henry, Queen's County Parsons,right hon. sir Laurence, bart.; King's County Patteson, John, Norwich Paxton, sir William, Carmar then county Peele, sir Robert, bart.; Tamworth Peirse, Henry, Northallerton Pelham, hon. Charles Andrew, Great Grimsby *Pelham, hon. George Andrew, Great Grimsby Perceval, honourable Spencer, Northampton borough Percy, earl, Launceston *Percy, hon. J., Beeralston *Perring, John, New Romney Petty, lord Henry, Cambridge University *Philipps, R.M.,Staffordborough Phipps, hon. Edm.,Scarborough Piggott, sir Arthur, Arundel Pitt, Wm. Morton, Dorset Plumer, Wm., Hertford county *Plummer, Thomas William, Yarmouth, Hants Pole, sir Charles Morice, bart.; Plymouth Pole,hon.W.W., Queen'sCounty *Ponsonby, hon. Frederick, Kilkenny county Ponsonby, honourable George, Cork county *Popham, sir H., Shaftesbury Porcher, J. D., Blechingly Porchester, lord, Cricklade Porter, George, Stockbridge Portman, Edw. Berk., Dorset *Poulett, hon. V., Bridgwater Powell, John Kynaston, Salop *Power, R., Waterford county Poyntz, W. S., St. Albans Praed, William, Banbury Price, sir Charles, bart.; London Price, Richard, New Radnor Primrose, lord visct., Cashell *Prittie, hon. F. A., Tipperary Proby, lord viscount, Huntingdon county Pulteney, sir J., bart.; Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Pym, Francis, Bedford county Pytches, John, Sudbury *Quin, hon. W., Limerickcounty Raine, Jonathan, Wareham *Ramsay, honourable John, Aberbrothock, &c. Ramsbottom, Ric., Windsor *Rancliffe, lord, Minehead Ridley,sirMatthew White,bart.; Newcastle-upon-Tyne Robarts, Abr., Worcester city *Robinson, hon. Frederick, Catherlogh borough Robinson, John, Bishops Castle Robson, R. B., Oakhampton Rochfort, Gustavus, Westmeath Romilly,sir Sam., Queenborough *Roscoe, William, Liverpool Rose,right hon. G., Christchurch Rose, Geo. Hen., Southampton Ross, sir C., bart.; Lanerk, &c. *Royston, lord viset.; Reigate Russell, Matthew, Saltash Russell, lord William, Surrey Rutherfurd, J., Roxburgh-shire *Ruthven, E. S., Downpatrick Ryder, hon, Richard, Tiverton Salusbury, sir Robert, bart.; Brecon borough Savage, Francis, Down *Saxon, Nathanael, Ive lchester Scott, right hon. sir William, Oxford University Scudamore, R. P., Hereford city Seymour, lord Robert, Orford Shakespeare, Arthur, Richmond *Sharp, Richard, Castle Rising *Shaw, James, London Shaw, Robert, Dublin city Sheldon, Ralph, Wilton Shelley, Henry, Lewes Shelley, Tim, New Shoreham Sheridan, right hon. Richard Brinsley, Westminster *Simeon, John, Reading *Simmons, James, Canterbury Simpson, hon. John, Wenlock *Simson, George, Maidstone *Skene, George, Kintore, &c. Smith, George, Wendover Smith, John, Nottingham town. Midhurst Smith, Joshua, Devizes Stanley, Lord, Preston Stanley, Thos. Lancaster county Steele, Robert, Weobly Steele, right hon. T., Chichester *Stephens, Samuel, St. Ives Steward, Gabriel Tucker,Weym and Melcombe Regis Steward, Richard Tucker, Weym and Melcombe Regis Stewart, hon. Charles William, Londonderry county *Stewart, hon. Edward Richard, Wigtown, &c. Stewart, sir J., bart.; Donegal Stewart, James, Tyrone Stewart, hon. Mo. Gr.J., Stewartry of Kircudbright Stopford, lord viscount, Great Bedwin *Stopford, hon. Robert, Ipswich Strachey,sir Henry, bart.; East Grinsted Strahan, Andrew, Wareham Strutt, Joseph Holden, Malden Stuart, lord William, Cardiff *Sumner, G. H., Guildford *Sutton, C. M., Scarborough *Swann, Henry, Penryn Symonds, T. P., Hereford city Taylor, Charles William, Wells *Taylor, Michael Angelo, Rye *Taylor, William, Barnstaple Temple, earl, Bucks. Templetown, lord, visct.; Bury St. Edmunds *Thistlethwayte, Thos., Hants. Thomas, George, Chichester Thornton, Henry, Southwark Thornton, Robert, Colchester Thoroton, Thomas, Grantham Thynne, lord George, Weobly Thynne, lord John, Bath Tierney, right hon. G., Athlone Tighe, William, Wicklow Titchfield, marquis of, Bucks. Topping, James, Thirsk *Tower, Alexander, Berwickupon-Tweed Townshend, lord John, Knaresborough Townshend, hon. W. Aug., Whitchurch *Tremayne, Jno. H., Cornwall *Trench, F. W., Mitchell Tudway, Clement, Wells *Tuffuell, Wm., Colchester *Turton, sir Thomas, bart.; Southwark Tyrwhitt, Thomas, Plymouth Vaughan, sir R. W., Merioneth *Wentworth, Godfrey,Tregony Wigram, sir Robert, bart.; Wexford town *Wigram, Robert, Fowey Wilberforce, Wm., York county *Wilder, Francis John, Horsham [double ret.] Arundel Wilkins, Walter, Radnor county Williams, Owen, Great Marlow Williams, sir Robert, bart.; Carnarvon county Williams, Rob., Wotton Basset Norfolk. New Romney Wynn, Charles W. Williams, Montgomery county Yarmouth, earl of, Lisburne Yorke,right honourable Charles, Cambridge county Yorke, sir J. S., St. Germans Young, sir William, bart.; Buckingham borough COBBETT's THE Parliamentary Debates During the First Session of the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Kingdom of Great Britain the Twentieth, appointed to meet at Westminster, the Fifteenth Day of December, 1806, in the Forty-seventh Year of the Reign of His Majesty King GEORGE the Third. [Sess. 1806/7. lord chancellor said:"My lords, and gentlemen of the house of commons; We HOUSE OF LORDS. Monday, December 15, 1806. THIS being the day appointed for the have it in command from his majesty to let meeting of the New Parliament, the lord you know, that, as soon as the members of chancellor came to the house about two both houses shall be sworn, the causes of o'clock, and acquainted the house, that his majesty's calling this parliament will be his majesty, not thinking fit to be perso declared to you; and, it being necessary nally present this day, had been pleased to that a speaker of the house of commons cause a commission to be issued under the should be first chosen, it is his majesty's great seal, in order to the opening and pleasure that you, gentlemen of the house holding of the parliament.-Then four of of commons, do repair to the place where the lords commissioners, viz. the arch-you are to sit, and there proceed to the bishop of Canterbury, the lord chancellor, choice of some proper person to be your the earl of Aylesford, and lord Walsing-speaker; and that you present here such perham, being seated on a form placed be- son whom you shall so choose, to-morrow tween the throne and the woolsack; the at twelve o'clock, for his majesty's royal lord chancellor commanded the gentleman approbation."-The commons immediately usher of the black rod to let the commons withdrew, and the lords commissioners know, that the lords commissioners desired retired to unrobe. As soon as prayers their immediate attendance in that house were over, the lord chancellor was first to hear the commission read. In a few sworn singly; and afterwards all the peers minutes the commons appeared at the bar present took the usual oaths and their seats. in great number, preceded by the black rod, and by the senior, and other clerks of the house. The lord chancellor then said,"My lords, and gentlemen of the house of commons; His majesty not thinking fit to be present here this day, in his royal person, has been pleased, in order to the opening and holding of this parliament, to cause letters patent to be passed under his great seal, constituting us and several other Jords, therein named, his commissioners, to do all things in his majesty's name, on his part necessary to be performed in this parliament: this will now fully appear by the letters patent themselves which will now be read."-Then the letters patent were read by the clerk; after which, the VOL. VIII. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Monday, December 15. [CHOICE OF A SPEAKER.] The new parliament met this day, pursuant to his majesty's proclamation. At 12 o'clock the earl of Aylesbury (lord steward of his majesty's household) came down, and, assisted by Mr. Ley, the principal clerk, and the other clerks of the house of commons, proceeded to administer, in one of the antichambers, the usual oaths to such members of the commons as were attending to be sworn. After taking the oaths, the several members repaired to their seats in the house of commons, to wait the sum mons of the lords commissioners, to attend B unexampled in modern times at least; the habit of animated, protracted, and frequent debate, have all tended to render the discharge of the greater part of the duties at the bar of the house of peers, to hear the commission read. About a quarter past two, a message by Mr. Quarme, deputy usher of the black rod, announced, that the lords commissioners, by virtue of his ma-imposed on the person selected to fill the jesty's commission, desired the immediate attendance of that house in the house of peers, to hear the commission read. In consequence, a great number of members attended Mr. Ley, the chief clerk, according to the usual practice, to the upper house, where, after the commission was read in form, the lord chancellor, as one of the commissioners, acquainted both houses that his majesty would defer declaring the cause of calling this present parliament, until the members of both houses should be sworn, and the members of the house of commons should have chosen a Speaker. His lordship accordingly acquainted the gentlemen of the house of commons, that it was his majesty's pleasure that they should retire to the place where they usually sat, and choose a proper person to be their speaker, and that they should present the person so chosen, at 12 o'clock tomorrow for his majesty's royal approbation. The members then returned to their own house, where, as soon as they had taken their seats, chair as arduous to himself as they are important to the public. The just application of the various precedents standing upon the recorded authority of our proceedings, as well as of the no less established, though unwritten forms and regulations, which constitute the law of parliamentary usage, is a task difficult in itself, and of the last consequence to the house to have it well executed. With respect to the former, the right hon. gent. whose name I shall presently mention, has been the first to support them. I could allude to many illustrious instances, when high and distinguished characters,unhappily now no more, have shewn that those written records, and parliamentary usages, are the best bulwarks of our rights, and constitute that impartial law, which, like the forms of the constitution itself, conciliates liberty with order, and, from an apparent discordancy of parts, produces an harmony of the whole. The talents requisite for a due discharge of the arduous duties of a speaker of the house of commons are not of an ordinary description. It is necessary that he who is invested with that high office, should possess an impartiality that secures confidence, a dignity that commands respect, and a temper and affability that disarm contention. These qualities are, however, only the concomitant of others equally important; a sound judgment, a cultivated understanding, a knowledge not merely of parliamentary forms, but of mankind and the world, are indispensable to the constitution of the autho Mr. Bragge Bathurst rose and addressed Mr. Ley, the senior clerk, as follows:I rise, sir, to call upon the house to exercise one of their most ancient, most undoubted, and, in many respects, most important privileges, and without which our functions would be interrupted, and our deliberations embarrassed. The nature of those functions and those deliberations suggests the necessity of selecting some person from among ourselves, properly qualified to be the voice of the represen-rity of the speaker of this house. To a person tatives of the people, both in their inter- possessed of these qualifications the house course with the other house of parliament, cannot but be disposed to entrust the full and in the exercise of their collective au- exercise of their power, because they must thority over individuals; a person whose be assured that they will be exerted for the peculiar duty it will be to watch over general good. The object of their choice their invaluable privileges, to alarm the will derive from that power the means of jealousy of the house against the encroach-relaxing, where occasion demands, the sements of the other orders of the state, and who, by his authority, wisdom, and experience, will contribute to maintain consistency, order, and regularity in their own proceedings. The great increase of parliamentary business, both of a public and private nature, occupying, as it does, so large a portion of the year; the constant and numerous attendance of the members of the house on all important questions, verity and strictness of their rules and orders.-Having thus, sir, described, however imperfectly, some of the requisites of the speaker of this house, I am aware of some others which ought to be possessed by the person who should fill that chair, and I should scarcely venture to propose any gentleman to a situation which requires so many qualities to fulfil it, on any impressions, or on any judgment of my own; |