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less he possessed the confidence and good opinion of that House; nor ought he to hold it one hour after that confidence was withdrawn."

Having been then led to the chair by Sir William Scott who had proposed, and Mr. Lascelles who had seconded the motion, he was seated in due form, after which he again addressed himself to the audience as follows:

"Placed in this chair a second time by the indulgent favour of the House, I beg leave to assure it that I am impressed with the deepest sense of gratitude. But I am persuaded that the House wilk rather judge of my gratitude hereafter, by my sincere endeavours to discharge the duties of this office, than by any language which I could now use, and which must be inadequate to express the extent of my obli gation." Lord Castlereagh then congratulated the right honourable gentleman on receiving the greatest honour that it was in the power of the representatives of the nation to bestow, and at the same time complimented the members on the credit that would accrue from so judicious a choice; after which he moved an adjournment, which accordingly took place.

The Speaker still continues to exercise the functions of his office with his accustomed ability; and it is not a little to his praise, that no member of any party has ever accused him of prejudice or partiality.*

It has always been the practice of those who have presided in the chair of the House of Commons, to maintain the rights and privileges

On the contrary, an occurrence has recently taken place which will reflect eternal honour on the independance of his character. We now allude to, without presuming to enter into the merits of, the case of a member of the other house lately accused of malversation. On this occasion, as is well known, the numbers were exactly equal, and the Speaker was called on to decide.

privileges of that branch of parliament with a salutary vigilance. A proof recently occurred, that Mr. Abbot is not deficient in this point of view. On Wednesday February 6, 1805, the Speaker noticed the amendment lately made by the Peers in the Pensionduty Bill, which consisted of the simple addition of a single word, viz. "that," which appeared to have been omitted, and was now wanting to render the passage grammatical. He observed that "it was his duty to call the attention of the House to this alteration, as when any amendment was made by the Lords in a bill of this kind (it proved to be a money bill), it was customary to exercise the most vigilant jealousy.

"When the amendment attached to the substance of a bill, the Commons on no occasion consented to it; but if it was evidently nothing more than a mere clerical error, it had not been unusual to adopt it. An instance occurred, with regard to the act passed in the 38th of his present Majesty, entitled, An Act for granting an Aid to his Majesty by a Land.' The bill went up to the Lords, and it appearing there was some omission, they filled it up with the word tax. These matters, however slight in appearance, were entitled to a grave and serious consideration; because the House must be aware, that if slight and trivial alterations were overlooked, it would be difficult to say how far subsequent ones might encroach on the privileges of the Commons."

A special entry was accordingly made of this alteration, that pos terity might be made acquainted with the grounds on which it had taken place.

To the credit of the chair, it seems to have been considered as a point of honour on the part of whoever has occupied it of late years, to act on such occasions contrary to the declared wish of the minister of the crown. Sir Fletcher Norton, afterwards Lord Grantley, in a case not exactly similar to the present, excited the indignation of a former premier * by his spirited conduct, in the presence of majesty itself:t and Mr. Pitt, on a former occasion, when the votes of the House were nicely equipoised, found that Mr. Cornwall had spirit enough to make the unpopular cause kick the beam, by throwing the mace into the opposite scale. In the present instance, Mr. Abbot, after expressing his reasons in a short but comprehensive speech, conducted himself in a similar manner, and decided in the first instance on the guilt and prosecution of Viscount Melville.

The Speaker, who has been some years married to Elizabeth, the elder daughter of § Sir Philip

* Lord North.

The administration of that day being notoriously profuse, it was considered as a reflection on it, to entreat the king, at the bar of the House of Peers, "that what his faithful Commons had granted liberally, might be applied wisely and economically."

They were married December 29, 1797.

It may not be altogether inapposite in this place to state the werthy and very landable conduct of the father-in-law of the Speaker of the House of Commons, in the express words of a very able and eloquent member of the British parliament. "I have not the honour," says he, while striving to modify the horrors of the slave-trade, "of knowing the gentleman whose example I am going to appeal to, I mean Sir Philip Gibbs; but I know his character, and what his conduct has been in the management of his

estate

Gibbs, Bart. of Springhead, in the island of Barbadoes, usually resides with his family during the recess, at his seat called Mayfield, at Kidbrook, near East Grinstead it is a charming house, surrounded by extensive grounds, formerly in the possession of the Earl of Abergavenny:

It may at first appear extraordinary, that so grave a character, exchanging the mace for the sword, should accept a commission in the volunteers; but even this is not without precedent during the civil wars, nor without example in the person of one of his predecessors in our own times. Mr. Abbot, reflecting on the propriety of affording a salutary example, as well as evincing the policy of a general armament, some time since accepted of a troop of cavalry in the North Pevensey Legion, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel; and actually commanded the right wing of the Sussex line, under Lord Sheffield, during a late review.

In his official capacity, the Speaker is a trustee of the Bristish Museum, one of the governors of Green

estate in Barbadoes. The former is eminently humane, the latter equally judicious. His virtues are to me a proof of his wisdom. He gives his negroes land and stock, with time to cultivate, He feeds and clothes them well.

"He encourages marriage among them, and allows of no punishment but by a sentence of a jury of negroes. The consequence is, that his slaves do double the work of others, because they are better able, and more willing. The instructions he has given to the managers of his estate are a model for imitation. The success and the profit have corresponded with the benevolent design."

Mr. Addington, now Lord Sidmouth.

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wich Hospital, &c. &c. In his private, he is likewise a Doctor of Law of the university, and Recorder of the city, of Oxford; F. R. S. and A. S.; and Keeper of the Privy Seal in Ireland.

THE MOST REV. FATHER IN GOD, HIS GRACE

CHARLES, LORD ARCHBISHOP OF
CANTERBURY,

METROPOLITAN OF ALL ENGLAND.

IN every stage of society, and in every political body hitherto known to us, an intermixture of something in the shape of religion has always been discernible the histories of barbarians and polished states alike agree in this particular. It is indeed often found to be disfigured by the rude manners of a people, or perverted by the discordant interests of individuals; but it is still visible in the actions, and generally gives a favourable tincture to the character, of a nation.

Our own island was once renowned for a very singular species of worship; into which, notwithstanding the Druids, like the Phenicians of old, introduced the horrid custom of human sacrifice, yet this singular species of ecclesiastical aristocracy at the same time inculcated maxims of high importance, and sentiments not a little favourable to the practice of virtue.

The mighty people who overcame both them and

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