v^:.p-^.^l^^l|Pi>^^l^ ■ . • Ex Librii C. K. OGDEN 1 THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ELD A BLACHHA Sir Benjamin Stones Pictures RECORDS OF NATIONAL LIFE AND HISTORY Reproduced from the Collection of Photographs made by SIR BENJAMIN STONE, M.P. ♦ * PARLIAMENTARY SCENES AND PORTRAITS With Descriptive Notes by Michael MacDoxagii CASSELL AND COMPANY, Limited London, Paris, New York & Melbourne. MCMVI ALL KIGHTS RESERVED College Library 32. 3> INTRODUCTION. PARLIAMENT is an institutim-i of inexhaustiblo human interest. Centuries old. and yet perennially voun,"- — renewing its youth as it does every four or five years, — to pur.iphrase the line and familiar sayin one has been allowed till now to unveil their mysteries from the inside. The same feeling that in earlier times made Parliament a .secret debating society, holding the terrors of the pillory over the head of the newspaper editor that dared to publish a report of its proceedings, induced it in later years rigorously to exclude the camera from its precincts. l>ut, happily. Parliamentary red tape has untied itself, and Parliamentary othcialdom has unlocked all its doors before Sir Bi.x.iamix Shjxe's zeal and enterprise, his intense interest in the Legislature and its wavs ; his affection and admiration for it not only as a .Member, but as a citizen; and his enthusiasm for the liistorical and tiu; anti(iuarian. The most sacred places of the Palace of Westminster; the mo.st intimate ceremonies of i'arliament; the mo.st notable per.s.m- ages of the House of (Commons, stand revealed through his camera. It will l)e noticed that most of the portraits, and most of th(> groups, in this selection of " SfR Hr.N.iAMiN Stone's Pictiiuk.s " have as a background a line gateway. This gives entrance from the 'I'errace to the va.st .subterranean passages of the Houses of Parliam.'iit. Here (m this spot, well lighted and convenient, has stood Sir lii.N.iAMix Stonk's camera, ever ready, Session after Ses.sion, for maii\ ^ears. Members got to be deeply interested in the work of 1020534 ii INTKUDl'rriON. their colleague, as they began to recognise its value from the historical and Parliamentary point of view. They readily acceded to his request to allow themselves to be photographed. A little story may be told in Illustration of this eagerness to assist Sir Benjamin Stone, and at the same time, of the friendlv relations that often exist between Members of the House of Commons as wide apart as the poles in their political opinions. As Mr. Chamber- lain was being photographed Mr. Michael Davitt appeared on the Terrace. " Has Mr. Davitt been taken?" asked Mr. Chamberlain. "No, I have not got him yet," i-cplied Sir Benjamin Stone. "Then, I'll go and ask liini nlyself," said Mr. Chamberlain. In a few minutes tlie Colonial Secretary of the Unionist Government, and the most powerful opponent of Home Rule, led the famous Nationalist leader and agitator, with much joking and laughter, before the camera. It was not a formal " sitting" for a portrait which Members were asked to undergo. It was a pleasant, easeful " standing." Just as Sir Benjamix Stone never retouches his plates, by smoothing out the wrinkles, altering the shape of a nose, rounding off the angles of a chin, so also the preliminar}' operations of the professional photographer, the posing in a chair, the fixing of the head in a clamp, are dispensed with. The subject stands before the camera, and in a flash he is taken. It is the real man, with all his natural perfections crowding thick nj)on him, that we see. With a very few exceptions, the portraits are full length, and not mere busts. Clothing often helps to the realisation of character. In any case, it is just as interesting to see the boots or shoes of a man as his collar and tie. They are also full-faced portraits. The subject looks you straight in the eye, not with tlie evasive glance of ordinary portraiture. In tliese likenesses, therefore, we have visualised for us the real personalities of Parliament, without resort to the transfiguring tricks of the professional photographer. We see the Mem- bers exactly as they appear when going about on their oixlintiry business or addressing the Hou.^^e. There is Mr. Chamberlain, as cool and confident as when he is delivering one of his vivid expositions of fi.scal policy. Mr. Arthur Balfour is shown grasping the lapels of his frock-coat. To those who liave licard the Conservative leader in the House, this picture will recall his favourite attitude as he stands at the table. We see also ]\Ir. T. M. Healy exactly as he is wh, n addressing the Chamber, passing Avithout an effort from the tendercst pathos to the keenest sarcasm, iVoni rollicking humour to solcnni appeal. The great merit of the.se portraits is that thev are all genuine and not retouched ; and they are all the more artistic because of tlmir actuality. We have got not only the wwn, but — with a few exceptions — their signatures. The different t}j)es of handwriting afford as curious a study as the diffei-ent types of pei-.sonality. A few of the Members included in tiie collection are dead. They were all distinguished in different ways, but they are given specially because they help to a realisation of the representative character of the House of (/onnnons in humanity. The collection covers a wide range of Parliamentary incidents as well as of Parlianu-ntary personalities. In illustration of the visitors who come from all the ends of the earth to see the House of (Jonnnons — just like the pilgrims of old to a far-fam(>(l shrine — there are portraits of the Sultan of I'erak, the Katikii'o of Uganda, and of the famous pigmies from INTKODIC'TIOX. iii the forests oi Central Alrica. It has heeii found impossible to pliotu^a-apli the House of Commons in session. But we are enabled to see what the House in Committee of Supply is likt'. IVrliaps the most historic eeremoiiy to be witnessed in i'arli.Miicut is JMaek Rod going to summon the ('omiiions to the House of Lords. We are j)rivih'^-ed to see him, thi'ough Sir JiEN.iAMiN Stone's camera, not only (»n Ids way through the lobbies, l)ut actually knocking for adnussion at the door of the House of Connnons, wliicli, in accordance with immemorial custom, has been shut in his face. It is impossible to exaggerate the value (^f this picture from the histoi'ical point of view. Xor is the man\-sided social life of Parliament forgotten. AVe are introdueeil to the private (puu-ters of legislators; wi' see, too. the famous Terrace in various aspects, as a lounye for Members — its original purpose— and in its later devclopmeut as au exclusive Society resort. In this collection of pictures, for which we are indebted to the enterprise and public spirit of Sir Benjamin Stone, we have, therefore, depicted some of the rarest and most interesting features, incidents, and jjersonages of Parliament. It does not, of course, pretend to be exhaustive. How could it, in view of the inmiensity and variety of the subject ? But it is notably representative of the var\'ing types of the Nation's legislators, of the chief officers of both Houses, of the architectural beauties of the Palace of Westminster, old and new, of the quaint and old-world ceremonies and customs of Parliament, of the strange and notable visitors fi'om far-off lands. Its most marked characteristic is that it is an all-round collection, of compelling and permanent interest, from which it is possible to gain that intimate acquaintance with the life and usages of Parliament which camiot adequately Ije obtained from the newspaper reports. The deeper significance of Sir Benjamin Stone's photographs is that they tend to excite not only a freshened .sense of interest in the human .side of Parliament, but an accession of admiration and affection for it, as the representative assembly of the people, as the supreme authority in the land, as the in.strument by which, taking it all in all, .so nnxch has been done for humanit}-, justice, and freedom. It is, indeed, a place of ahsorbing interest, this hi.storic temple of British liberties, with its sacred memories and heart-.stirring associations ; the scene of glorious achievements in oratory and statesmanship, the place where ([ue>tions affecting the well-being of the comumnity are determined, and the lield upon which the great and excitin<;- duel l)otween Parties is fought at close (piarters. Tims it is that going throujz'h tliis collection of Parliamentary scenes and portraits should prove not a delight only, but a lesson. Michael MacDonagh. CONTENTS. Plate 1. THE CHAPLAIN OF TFT?: HOUSE OF C0MM<. THE PIGMIES. ID. -Mr. l;iCIL\Ri> I'.IILL. 2(1. ST. sri:i'IIENS H.M.I, 21. .Mr. .lolIN \V.VN.\M.\Ki:n. 22. GROUP OF PEEItS .\XD CoM.MoNERS. 23. Lord CHARLES BERESFoKI). 24. LADIES IN POLITICS. ri.ATK 2o. Mr W S CAINE. 21). THE SPEAKERS STATE COACH. 27. Mr. MICHAEL DAY ITT. 28. THE NKiHT FIllE BRICADE. 29. Sir REGINALD PALG1;A\E, K.C.B. 30. THE THRONE IN TIIK HOUSE OF LORDS. 31. Sh- HENRY KIMBER, Bart. 32. STATUE OF CHA'ITIA.M. 3.!. The Right Hon. Sir A. ACL.VXD HOOD, Bart. 34. Tin; KdVAL state CARRIAGE. 35. The Right Hon. LEONARD COURTXEY. 30. THE SULTAN OF PEIiAK. 37. The Bight Hon. .J. S. S.VXDARS. 38. •Till; .11 KCMENT OF DANIEL." 39. Sir HOWARD VINCENT, K.C.M G. 10. THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 4 1 .Mr. SPENCER CHARRINGTON. 42. INNER VIEW OF " BIG BEN'S" DI.VL. 43 Sir EDWIN I )URNING-LAWRENCE, Bart. 41. STATUE OF PITT. 4.-). Sir MICHAEL FOSTER, KC.B. 4tl. IIII-; IKtISE OF COM.MONS IX (( ».M .MIITEE. 17. Tlir Right Hon. JOIIX IUJUNkS. 48. 11 ii; i;n\ \i. (;alli:i!Y. VI CONTENTS. Plate ■19. -Mr. JOHN REDMOND. 50. THE LYJNG-IN-STATE OF WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 5L Chevaliei- GUGLIELIMO .MARCONI. 52. STATUE OF QUEEN VICTORIA. 53. The Right Hon. ST. .JOHN BRODRICK. 54. Sir i:i>\VARD REED, K.C.B., ami Mr. E. T. REED. 55. Sir WILLIAM AKROL 50. THE CLOISTERS OF ST. STEPHEN'S. 57. Sir ARCHIBALD Mi L.MAN, K C.B. 58. FURNITURE CLEANERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 5'.). .Mr. JAMES H. YOXALL. 60 PRESENTING PETIIToNS TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. (il. Sir .1. RLUNDELL :\IAPLE, Bart. fi2. TIHiEE TYPES OF MEMBERS. ()••?. The Right Hon. Sir HENRY H. FOWLER. (>l. Sir J. DICKSON-POYNDER, Bart., and Major SEELY^ 65 A'i.scount GOSCHEN 6>. THE SPEAKERS DINING-ROOM. 67. Sir FP.ANX LOCKWOOD. 6S. THE LII!I:A1;Y OF THE HOUSE OF LORD.^. G'X THE LIBRAIHAN OF THE HOUSE OF LOltDS. 70. STATUE OF CROMWELL. 71. THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF COM- MONS. 72. THE ItOYAL SEAT IN THE KING'S ROBING ROOM. 73. Sir \\'1LLIAM ANSON, Bart. 71. THE KATIKIRO OF UGANDA AND HIS SECRETARY. 75. .Ml-. F. CARRUTHERS GOULD. 76. THE HOUSE OF COMMONS FROM THE BAR. 77 THE BOOTBLACK OF THE HOUSE OF CO:\IMONS. 7S. .Mr. J. F. X. O'BRIEN. 70. THE GRAND COMMITTEE ROOM. SO. Viscount ALTHORP. 81. Lord CURZON. 82. M.P.'s PROCEEDING TO THE JUBILEE SERVICE. 83. THE CLERK OF THE PARLIAMENTS. 8-t. The Right Hon. Sir JOHN GORST. 85. Mr. V^ILLIAM RANDAL CREMER. 86 REPRESENTATIVES OF COMMERCE. 87. Dr. ROBERT WALLACE. 88. INDIAN REPRESENTATIVES AT KING EDWARDS CORONATION. 8!i. Mr. ERNEST GEORGE PRETYMAN. 'JO. BLACK ROD'S KNOCK. 91. Sir RICHARD CLAVERHOUSE JEBB. 02. The i:irl of HALSBUItY' and Admirul LEYCJUE. 03. The Duke of ARGYLL. 91. STATl'E OF 11ICH.\I;D 1. 95. Sir EDGAR VINCENT, K.C.M.G. 96. WESTMINSTER FROM THE CLOCK TOWER. THE CHAPLAIN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. ARCHDEACON WILBERFORCE. Every sitting of the House of Commons opens with prayers for liglit and guidance. The Speaker takes his place at the head of the table. By his side is the Chaplain of the House of Commons, a gracious figm-e in silk gown and muslin bands. The members stand in files along the benches, each party facing the other across the dividing line of the floor. The service begins with Psalm Ixvii., " God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us." The Lord's Prayer is recited, and is followed by prayers for the Eang and Queen and the Royal Family. Then there is an invocation to God on behalf of the House of Commons, at which the Members turn to the wall with bowed heads. " Send down the Heavenly wisdom from above," the Chaplain i^rays, '' to direct and guide us in all our consultations ; and grant that we, having Thy fear always before our eyes, and laying aside all private interests, prejudices, and partial affections, the result of all our counsels may be to the glory of Thy blessed name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the safety, honour and happiness of the King, the public welfare, peace and tranquillity of the realm, and the uniting and knitting together of the hearts of all per- sons and estates within the same, in true Christian love and charity one towards another, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savioiir." It is most impressive to hear in the hushed Chamber the prayers of the Chaplain, and the i-esponses given by the Speaker. i/V^c f /l/i//^e//(/yc^ f Oi(//f/au^ / TEA ON THE TERRACE. The Terrace, so well known in connection with the social side of Parliamentary life, is unique. No other legislative building in the woi'ld is favoured with so fine a possession, at once a thing of beauty and a place of recreation. This splendid lounge and promenade extends the whole length of the river-front of the Palace of West- minster. The waters of the Thames wash its walls. The noble Palace — with its many Gothic windows, its delicate stone carvings, its pinnacles and towers — looks down upon it majestically. Across the broad and fast- flowing river is seen, on the right, the ancient Palace of Lambeth. Far beyond are caught misty glimpses of the Sm-rey hills. On the left are the spii-es of the city, with the dome of St. Paul's looming massively and imjjos. ingly in their midst. Here Members of the House of Commons, escaping from the enervation or boredom of the Chamber, take exercise and enjoy the delicious freshness of the air. On fine summer afternoons, during the season, tables are laid for tea, in the deep, cool shadows of the great Palace. In attendance are smart waitresses in black gowns and white aprons. Crowds of ladies are enjoying the tea and cake and strawberries, and Parlia- mentary small talk of their hosts ; and in turn lending additional charms of colour and animation to the pic- turesque scene. But there are legislators who tliink that ** tea on the Terrace " is a function which lowers the dignity of Par- liament. For their solace, a part of the Terrace is cut off by a post bearing the warning " For Members only," and there they ruminate in glum aloofness, undisturbed by the laughter of Beauty and tlie rustle of her skirts. The Right Hon. ARTHUR J. BALFOUR. Few men have been more fortunate and .successful in public life than Mr. Balfour. Ho was retuinied to the House of Commons at the early age of twenty-five. For some years, as a private member, he made comparatively little mark. This tall, willowy, and fragile )oung Scotsman was regarded as rather indolent, with some keeimess of intellect, but with a bent for the abstractions of metaphysics. Then he was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland in a time of trouble and difficulty. It was generally looked upon as a sort of forlorn hope. But the supposed lounger and trifler very soon showed that he was possessed of remarkable gifts, and displayed a resource in tactics worthy of a veteran. The result was that at the early age of forty-three he attained to the great position of Leader of the House of Commons, and before he was ten years older he was Prime Minister. Here, surely, was success beyond the wildest dreams of ambition. Yet tliis is what Mr. Balfour has to say of public life: " If I could wish for some earthly gift to be given by a fauy to an infant whom I loved, my first wish would be that under no cii-cumstances should the child be under any temptation to become a politician." The right hon. gentleman plays golf, and it is his ambition that he should excel in it. He has, moreover, declared that one of the sore regrets of his life is that he did not take to it in his early years, so that he might have mastered this most difficult, as he said, of all games. It was as much as to say that he would gladly exchange his success in the Senate for glory on the golf links. Still, regret it how he may, Mr. Balfour is destined always to stand forth exalted among politicians. c 6 7^-7. '< ]\ J '-7 J "WAY FOR BLACK ROD!" Black Rod is perhaps the most picturesque function- ary of Parliament. An official of the House of Lords, he controls the admission of strangers to the Upper Chamber. But he is best known as the Parliamentary messenger of the Sovereign, for as such he inlays a historic part frequently during the progress of the Session. When the King appears in the House of Lords, either personally or by Commission, to open Parliament, to give the Royal Assent to Bills which have passed both Houses, or to prorogue Parliament, the i\Iembers of the two Chambers must be present, and it is in his capacity as royal messenger that Black Rod is directed on these occasions to summon the Commons to the House of Peers. The official dress of Black Rod consists of cutaway coat, knee breeches, silk stockings, and silver-buckled shoes, and a sword by his side. In his right hand he can-ies a short ebony stick with a gold knob, from which lie derives his cm'ious title. As he walks through the lobbies between the House of Lords and the House of Commons, tlie usher in evening dress who precedes him hei'alds his approach with cries of " Black Rod ! Way for Black Rod ! "* * The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in the picture is General Sir Michael A. S. Bifldul).h, (!.C.R.; the Tsher, Mr. W. Chandler, one of the doorkeepers of the House of Lords ; und the i)ulice otiicer, Inspector Keurick, of the Housi' of Lords' police. The Right Hon. HERBERT GLADSTONE. Mk. Gladstone has been in the thick of things p(jlitical ever since the day — in January, 1 854 — he was born at the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Downing Street, the very centre of our system of poli- tical administration, the most famous political street in the world. Those who have read the " Life of William Ewart Gladstone," by Mr. John Morley, know that while Mr. Herbert Gladstone was a student at Oxford his father used to write liim long letters on political affairs. Consequently few men have a wider knowledge of politics. There are entries in his father's diary which also si low how often he joined in the lattei-'s favom-ite pastime of felling trees. He is a great athlete, proficient, indeed, in every form of outdoor phj-sical recreation. Hence his abounding vitality and energy. Mr. Gladstone — who became Home Secretary when Sir Henry Camjjbell-Bannennan formed his Cabinet in December, 1905 — filled with success the very diffi- cult and responsible post of Chief Whip of the Liberal party. For such a position his engaging social qualities, as well as his acute political judgment, and the glamour of his name, eminently fitted him. wi 1^ 1^ >i!l^e*4 Ivl . a s^ ^,. v^ ' M «."■: ' ■^ V^/ pC6<:^ THE MEMBERS' SMOKING- ROOM. In the old House of Cornmons, wliich was swept away by the gi-eat fii-e of 1834, there was but one smoking- room. What it was like Slacaulay describes in a letter to his sister, dated Jul}' 23rd, 1832: "I am writing here at eleven o'clock at night," he says, " in the filthiest of all filthy atmospheres, in the vilest of all vile company, and with the smell of tobacco in my nostrils." In the Palace of Westminster there are now half-a- dozen rooms devoted to the enjoyment of tobacco. Into some of them Members may bring theii- friends. But the chief smoking-room, just off the dinmg-room, is sacred from the intrusion of strangers. Is there any reality or sincerity in party conflicts ? The question is suggested by the engaging spectacle to be seen in the Members' smoking-room any night of a Session. Political oj^ponents who, in the Chamber not an hour before, angrily shouted at each other across the floor, exchange their real opinions of questions and policies, with mutual amity and confidence, in free and unrestrained talk, and witli many a hearty out- burst of laughter, over coffee and cigarettes. Thus it is tliat party conflicts in the House of Commons usually end serenely in a cloud of smoke ! In truth, party animosity in the House of Commons rarely goes far or deep. But, however severe may be the political strain in the Chamber at times, in the smoking-room it is always relaxed, and no other rivalry is known there but that of who can say the cheeriest woi'd and tell the funniest story. The Right Hon. GEORGE WYNDHAM. The most attractive figure on the Treasury Bench during tlie Balfour Administration, from the point of view of the Ladies' Gallery, was Mr. George Wyndham. There he was considered the handsomest man in tlie House. About Mr. Wyndham, certainly, there is an air ot poetry and romance. He comes, indeed, of historically picturesque stock. Is he not the du'ect descendant, on his mother's side, of that romantic figure in Irish history. Lord Edward FitzGerald, son of the Duke of Leinster, the leader of the Irish revolutionaries of 1798, who died in prison of wounds received in resisting arrest? But Mr. Wyndham has sterling mental qualities as well as rare personal gi'aces. With a good deal of affec- tion and sentiment for things Irish, as well as with the blood of the mart3rs in his veins, it was fitting that he should be Chief Secretary for Ireland. In this the most difficult of offices to fill, he established his undoubted capacity as a statesman. He introduced and carried through Parliament, with the approval of all parties, the great Land Purchase Act of 1903, for converting the tenant farmers of Ireland into peasant proprietors. This, undoubtedly, will rank among the greatest of Parliamentary achievements. In carrying it through Mv. Wyndham proved that in him there is the unusual combination of an ardent, poetical mind with a tireless industry. He had a complete mastery of the large and complicated scheme of pur- chase. In its exposition he displayed remarkable lucidity and persuasiveness of speech, and always through his statement of its details ran a delightful vein of imagination. G-eo-T-^^e ^-^'T^ CA-AuX-^v^viJ . STATUE OF SIR CHARLES BARRY. Among the immense crowd which witnessed the grand and terrible spectacle of the burning of the old Houses of Parliament on the night of October 16th, 1834, was an architect named Charles Barr}-. He had known and loved the ancient and historic pile from his earliest years, for he was born in Bridge Street, under its very shadow. Parliament decided to have an open competition for plans for the new legislative buildings, and a Royal Commission was appointed to award the prize. There were as many as ninety-seven competitors, and the first prize fell to Charles Barry for his Gothic design. The successful architect was forty years old at the time. From 1837, when the river wall was begun, until 1852, when the Palace of Westminster was opened by Queen Victoria, Barry superintended the erection of the edifice. Its progress was beset with many difii- culties and vexations for the designer. The building was originally expected to be finished in six years, at a cost of £800,000, exclusive of furniture and fittings. Twenty years passed before it was fully completed, and over £2,000,000 was expended upon it. The Treasury fixed BaiTy's renmneration at the lump sum of £25,000, which was £23,000 less tlian he considered he was entitled to if paid by fee. However, he was knighted on the completion of his splendid work. Dying in 1800, his remains were honoured by a grave in Westminster Abbey. His statue, by John Henry Foley, stands at the foot of the great staii'case leading to the connnittee- rooms of the Hou.ses of Parliament. &i^f!^%Kfcg7 MR. T. M. HEALY. A PRiMK fayourite with the House of Commons is Mr. Heal}-. ^Vhen word goes round that " Tim Healy is up,'' Members crowd in from lobby, smoking-room, librarj', and Terrace, deserting the humourist in the middle of his good story, leaving the cigar unsmoked, casting the popular novel aside. Yet he is not an orator, in the common meaning of the temi. His style of speaking is unpolished and rugged. In matter he is often irregular and ex'ratic, for he does all the thinking while he is on his feet, and it consequently suffers from a want of continuity. But his speeches are made up of rhapsody, fancy, fun, anecdote, humour, banter, sarcasm, pathos, that are never forced, that come to him quite natm'ally — even the look on the face of an opponent is sufficient to suggest a brilliant train of ideas — and, being an earnest, sensitive man who feels deeply, there are running through it all strains of marked seriousness and genuine eloquence. He fires in turn the sense of the ridiculous, the heart, the imagination, of his dehghted hearers. He has grown to love Parliament, as Parliament has grown to love him. He once said in the House, years ago, when as a stern and unbending Nationalist he was the bitterest sayer of bitter tilings, "1 do not care a dump whether I am in jail or in the House of Commons," No doubt he tliinks differently now. But occasionally, like the old Irish pagan bard, Ossian, after he had become a Christian, he seems to look back with a heart heavy with grief, and an eye filled with tears, on tlie glorious days of his unregenerate Parliamentary youth. ^Sirliiij. ^^i'^^ %AXi^Ul GROUP OF UNIONIST WHIPS. " DiNG-DiNG-DiNG ! Ding-ding-ding ! " In every part of the Palace of Westminster the electric bells are ring- ing out their summons to Members to hasten to the Chamber for the great division. " Hurr}- up I Hurry- up ! " they seem to cry. Three minutes— the time being taken by a sandglass on the table in front of the Clerk — are allowed before the doors of the House are locked. Members come rushing in from all quarters. Eagerly bustling about in the skm-rying throng are the Government Whips, crying, " Don't be late ! Don't be late ! " in miison with the bells. The debate is over. The arguments have been advanced and disputed, and the political issue at stake is about to be settled by the weight of numbers in the di\dsion lobbies. Oftentimes many of the Members who thus come thronging to the Chamber for the division are ignorant of the matter at issue, and do not know exactly how they are to vote as party men. Just inside the door of the Chamber, where corridors on the right and left lead to the two division lobbies, stand the Government Whips, who shout "Aye!" or "No!" meaning that their men are to go into the "aye" or the "no" lobby. Indeed, not a word may be spoken. The Whips may simply point with their thumb to the right lobby. Such is the force of party discipline in the House of Commons that the sign thus given is compliantly followed by oui- representatives.* * In this group of Unionist Whips, during Mr. Balfour s Administration, the Right Hon. Sir William VValrond (now Lord Waleran', Chief Whip, and the Hon. Ailwyn Fellowes are on the left, standing Kehind the seat. On the seat are Sir Ale.vander Acland-Hood and Mr. Victor Cavendish. Mr. H. T. Anstruther is seen with his elbow on the table ; seated in front of him is Viscount Valeutia ; and on the right stands Mr. W. Ha^ es Fisher. VISCOUNT SELBY. " Mr. Speaker ! " So begins each Member who lises to address the House of Commons. Yet, of all the speakers in the Chamber, "Mr. Speaker" speaks seldomest and the fewest words. He sits in his high- canopied Chair — an imposing and dignified figure in a big wig and flowing silk gown — not to talk, but to listen to other talkers. Hours may pass during which "Order! Order!" are the only words spoken by "Mr. Sjieaker." Yet it is im^iossible to exaggerate the trying and arduous nature of the Speaker's duties, or the strain, mental and physical, involved in their discharge. A man's qualities could be put to no severer test than that of filling the Speaker's Chaii' for ten years, like Viscount Selby — better known as William Court Gully — and at the end of it to be ranked among the gi-eatest, for firm ruling and impartiality, of the long line of Presidents of the House of Commons. The Speaker guides the deliberations of the House. He names the member who is to continue the debate. This is not simply a matter of " catching the Speaker's eye," as it is popularly called. The Speaker does not always name the Member upon whom his eye rests first. It is a careful and deliberate selection. K a Liberal is talking, it is certain that a Conservative will speak next. The object of the Speaker is to secure that as far as possible every phase of opinion shall find expression in the debate. Therefore it is that Members on opposite sides — the opponents and supporters of the ([uestion under discussion — follow each other alternately. /^98 FRENCH NAVAL OFFICERS AT WESTMINSTER. " It was the great hall of William Rufus, tlie hall which had resounded with acclamations at the in- augiu'ation of thirty kings. . . ." So opens that famous passage of Macaulay descriptive of West- minster Hall as it appeared at the trial of Warren Hastings. More remarkable still, on Saturday, August 12th, 1905, the rafters of the Hall rang witli the mingled " Vive" of the French and the "Hurrah" of the British, in a toast of amity between the two nations, so long historically estranged. The most auspicious event of the memorable week of the visit of the French Northern Squadron to this island was certainly the entertainment of Vice-Admiral Caillard, his officers, and their ladies, at a banquet in Westminster Hall by both Houses of Parliament, with the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor, and the Speaker to bid them welcome. The heartiness of theu- reception was probably all the more appreciated by the French sailors o^ving to the traditional belief abroad that the people of this country on such occa- sions are unsympathetic and indifferent. The officers were smart and alert young men, bold and resolute of face, and they had that breezy ex- pansiveness of manner, with something of the smack of salt in it, which the briny, far-spreading sea seems always to impart to those who spend their lives with her in intimate association. After the luncheon the officers and ladies were brought on to the Terrace, and a group photograpliod with M. Paul Cambon, the French Ambassador, in the centre, Vice-Adrairal Caillard on his right, and Kear- Admiral Leygue on his left. DR. T. J. MACNAMARA. It is true that that success in the House of Commons which is represented by early appointment to office still depends largely on aristocratic connections. A man who has the advantages of birth and rank may rapidly I'ise to an official position to which another of equal talent, but of democratic connections, may be years in reaching, or, indeed, may never attain at all. But there is a more en^'iable kind of success in the House, to the achievement of which neither birth nor rank affords any assistance whatever. That is inclusion, not among the office-holders on the Treasury Bench, but among the twenty or thirty members, out of the six hundred and seventy, who have a hold on the assembly, who compel the attention of the House. Such a position is to be reached only by ability and force of character, by force of character especially, for in political life it is temperament more than intellect that tells. Instances of men who have reached to this prominence so rapidly as Dr. Macnamara are rare. His success is due entirely to his own merits. The son of an Tiish soldier, born at Montreal, though reared and educated in England, he had his own way to make in private life. He made it with quick strides. At the age of fifteen he was a school teacher, at thirty- one he was editor of the Schoolmaster, and at thirty-five President of the National Union of Teachers. In public life his individual gift of brisk and invigorating speech — a style entirely his own — was bound to carry him far. Spontaneity, directness, humour, sincerity, are its qualities. Behind the spccili there are clear think- ing, strong convictions, undaunted courage. »3 ^SirlerijBHi/ii Sio/igs/fr^ 1/^7-^ C^^X^^^fi^ "-^^-^ Wc^ iJ^f / //^ THE CHIEF OF THE PARSEE RACE. The Jejeebhoy family of Bombay have for a hundred years and more been the most conspicuous members of the cultured and wealthy and enterprising Parsee com- munity. The head of the family in 1858, Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, celebrated for his boundless philanthropy, was created a baronet ; and since then the holder of the title has also been Chief of the Parsee race, and first citizen of Western India. Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, the fourth baronet, was in the public service, under the Government of Bombay — interesting himself especially, like his predecessors, in social questions — until he succeeded to the title. On the special invitation of the Home Government, he came to England, with Lady Jejeebhoy and their family, for the ceremonies of King Edward's Coro- nation in 1900. He was also photographed on the Terrace, and with him in the group are his son and daughter, and Mr. Jesse Collings, MP. The Right Hon. JAMES BRYCE. Mb. Bryce is an interesting instance of liow a man may be at the same time a learned University don and a successful politician, two characters which are sup- posed to be incompatible. He is eminent as historian and jurist. No one has so comj^lete a knowledge of the world's various forms of government, its social organisations, and political institutions. But besides his scholarship and education he has tlie tenacity, tlu^ physical energy, and the force of will which sustain political causes in the ascendancy. Mr. Bryce is a gi-eat mountaineer. One sees the result of this exercise in his virile and active form, and in the steady, searching gaze of his clear grey eyes from under his heavy eyebrows. As an advanced Liberal he takes in hand forward political questions and ideas with the same unfaltering courage and resolution as he faces the far-off Alpine heiglits. It is an intellectual treat of the highest order to hear him in debate, piling up arguments, instances, reasons, in support of his side, slf)wly, tranciuilly— without passion, without emotion — but vigorously and earnestly, and with deadly effect. "S V/' . 6 x^^<:u2_ ^ .-TA^^J-fc^t?* THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER. The most imposing view of the Palace of Westminster is obtained from the Thames. Standing at the eastei-n end of Westminster Bridge, and looking across the river, especially when the might}- waterway is at a full tide, one realises the beauty and dignity of this great temple of legislation, for which the nation is indebted to the genius of Sir Charles Barry. The stately regularity of the long facade, its uniform symmetry, the lightness and grace of its stone carving, the steeples and pinnacles, terminating with the solid massiveness of the liigh Victoria Tower, form altogether a most impressive architectural triumph. There is not only the grace of line and colour, whicli makes things material beautiful ; there is also the charm of historic association, the glamour of antiquity and tra- dition. It is true that the Houses of the Legislature are not yet mellowed, like the ancient Abbey across the way, by the softening touch of the centuries. But, compara- tively new as they are, the buildings have already caught from the historic site upon which they stand — a Royal Palace having existed there since the time of Edward the Confessor — and from the great traditions of Parlia- ment, which has always sat at Westminster, something of the splendid romance and mystery of tho miglity putit. l6 The Right Hon. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN. The erect and alert figure of Mr. Chamberlain, without a superfluous ounce of material, suggests the trained athlete. As a matter of fact he scorns exercise. Every- thing about his appearance is, indeed, spick and span. That is why so virile and combative a personality — the centre of passionate controversies — always appears cool and spruce and bland. This carefulness in regard to di-ess at once inspires confidence. It implies, to begin with, a thoroughly businesslike and orderly man, who is never sloppy, Avho takes as much pains about his clothes as about tlie most important of public affaii-s. Tlie in- quiring eyeglass — and even that rare and unconventional flower, the orchid, in his buttonhole — emphasises his air of authority and determination that knows no baulking. As a debater he stands supreme in the House of Commons. Lucidity, directness, and force are the chief attributes of his style of speaking. No one can state a case more clearly. There is never any doubt as to his meaning. Conviction and masterfulness are in his crisp and terse sentences. The alertness and resource he dis- plays in seizing and utilising an interru2)tion are wonder- ful. His elocution is perfect. He speaks, calmly and dispassionatel}-, in a penetrating voice ; but when he is deeply moved, or wishes to drive home some fierce thrust, there comes, with the glow of passion in his language, a deej), inspiring swell in his otherwise even and clear utterance. Above all, there is that highest test of oratory — its in.stant effect upon the audience. Mr. Chamberlain has initiative and driving force — the two qualities which make most for success in public life. '/■ THE PIGMIES. Surely extremes met when the little folk from the heart of the Ituri Fox-est, in Central Africa, mixed with the Members on the Terrace of the House of Commons. They are siqjposed to be of the lowest type, mentally, as well as the smallest, physically, of the human race. What did they think of the greatest Legislature of the world ? What dim conception did they fomi of its pur- poses and of its work ? Probably they said it is a good place for honey and lime-juice, the two things of civilisa- tion for which they cultivated the keenest zest. They left their native dress aside — beads, bracelets, earrings, nose-rings, anklets^on the day in the Session of 1905 when they came over from the Hippodi-ome to the House of Commons, and were photog)-aphed on the Ten-ace, with a background of Members of Parliament. They wore the less picturesque raiment of civilisation, the men being in boys' sailor suits. But they were armed to the teeth with theii- weapons of war, tiny bows and arrows and spears. These children of primitive nature were certainly sleek and healthy. They seemed bright and intelligent. What they saw in the Palace of Westminster did not overwhelm them with wonder. They found more attraction in the passing steamboats of tlie London County Council than in the groups of Parliamentary legislators who, with lady friends, thronged the Terrace to see and speak to them.* * Members and others at the back from left to right are :— Sir John Batty Tiike, Mr. C. H.Wilson (now Lord Nunburnholme'), Mr. R. .1. Price, Mr. .1. J. Hiuri.son (Explorer), Sir Charles Cayzer, Mr. King, Mrs. (now Lady) Hutchinson, Sir Walter Foster, Sir Robert liopner, Mr. N. HutVnian (Interpreter), Sir Lees Knowles, and Dr. (now Sir Charles) Hutchinson. i8 MR. RICHARD BELL. The General Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants — perhaps the largest trade union organisation in the kingdom — is one of the best respected of the Labour representatives in the House of Commons. Mr. Bell had been employed in Welsh iron-works for four years before he commenced his railway career at the age of seventeen. He entered the service of the Great Western Railway Company as a porter at Merthyr-Tydvil station. Ten years later he became prominent as a Labour advocate at Swansea. He was transfeiTed to Cambrae, a remote place in Corn- wall, but he soon resigned his position on the railwa}-, and, returning to Swansea, resumed his post of organiser for the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. In 1898 he was appointed General Secretary of the society. At the General Election of 1900 he was retmned to the House of Commons as one of the Members for Derby. In the House of Commons Mr. Bell interests himself chiefly in matters affecting the welfare of railway servants. Noted for moderate and practical views, his representations with regard to excessive hours of labour on railways, and the absence of adequate provision against accidents to the men, have always great weight with the Board of Trade. »9 ST. STEPHEN'S HALL. The "Strangers'" eutrance to the Palace of West- minster is by St. Stephen's Porch, in Old Palace Yard. Immediately to the left extends the wonderful and impressive Westminster Hall, the thiilling associations of which must quicken the pulses of the least imaginative. Straight ahead lies St. Stephen's Hall, leading to the Central Hall of the Houses of Parliament. This fine apartment is traversed daily during the Session by hundreds of the public on their way to or from the Legislative Chambers. How many pay heed to its strange history and vicissitudes? It occupies the site of old St. Stephen's Chapel, originally the Chapel Royal of the ancient Palace of Westminster, and presented to the House of Commons by Edward VI. In that Chapel the Commons sat regularly from the middle of the sixteenth centur}- imtil it was totally destroyed by the fire of 1834. On the building of the new Palace, the Chapel Chamber was reconstructed as a noble hall. The place in the Lobby, just at the door of the old Legislative Chamber, where Spencer Perceval, the Prime Minister, was shot dead in ISl'J by mad Bellingham, a Liverpool broker, is marked by a brass plate. The positions of the Speaker's chair and the table are similarlj- indicated. Its splendid roof is most imposing. Grace and delicacy distinguish its painted windows, its stone and wood carvings. But its most conspicuous and interesting features are the memorials of great I'arliamentary personages of the past. It fittingly contains statues of twelve of tlie greatest and wisest statesmen of former days, whose voices, raised in behalf of patriotism and j^ublic virtue, so often rang through the old Chamber of the House of Commons. MR. JOHN WANAMAKER. The Houses ot Parliament have naturally a great attraction for Americans. Dui-ing the Session hundreds of them come to see the Chambers at work, to walk through the Members' quarters, to have a cup of tea on the Terrace. The ^4sits of the Hon. John Wanamaker, of Philadelphia, will bo long remembei-ed by those who have met him. He is one of those strong and virile personalities of which the United States seem to be so prolific. Those who run may read the chai-acteristics of Mr. Wanamaker in his interesting face. They are unmis- takable. Here, surely, are faith in self, indomitable will, self-control that is absolute and unshakable, and with them the kindliness, the charity, the surrender, which religious fervour imparts. At the age of fom'teen he was an errand boy. He is now one of the richest men in the world. The largest business in America, that of Wanamaker and Brown, retail clothing salesmen — with its headquarters in Philadelphia, and branch stores throughout the States — owes its extent and prosperity to his industry, enterprise, and powers of organisation. He is also an active politician, and from 1881 to 1893 was Postmaster- General of the United States. But Mr. Wanamaker does not confine his energies to the fields of business and politics. He is one of the great lay religious forces of the United States. He founded the largest religious organisation in the comitry, the Bethany Sunday School movement of the Presbyterian Church, and still superintends it. SirJmngiqiiiSboqBstkg f, §m.i ^|%44^ fH^^i iV GROUP OF PEERS AND COMMONERS. In the popular faucy, fed on fabulous novelettes dealing with high-born society, the Peers are glittering beings, always clad in magnificent robes, and each with a golden coronet, flashing with jewels, upon his brow. The Lords attending to their legislative duties wear sober suits of customary black or grey, just like the Commoners; and when a Joint Committee of both Houses sit together for the consideration of a Bill, or a gi-oup of Peers and M.P.'s are photographed on the Ten-ace,* there is nothing to distinguish — not even the strawberry mark or its absence — the hereditary legislators from the elected. But what a contrast there is between the two Chambers in Session. The House of Commons is a responsive, emotional, and boisterous assembly. Party statements are punctuated wdth roars of approbation or vehement dissenting retorts. The atmosphere of the House of Lords, on the other hand, is always calm and serene. Oftentimes the speaker seems like one addressing, in loneliness and isolation, a strange and indifferent company. Rarely does the assembly give any indication of being moved. Debate there is but seldom associated with " Oh, oh," and laughter. * In the picture is shown a group of Peers, M.P.'s and others. Front row from left to right:— Lord Llangattock, Rt. Hon. C. B. Stuart Wortley, the Marquess of Zetland, K.T., Col. H. F. Bowles, the Marquess of Granby (now Duke of Rutland!, Sir Walter Plunimer, the Marquess of Londonderry, K.G., Sir James Bailey. Baron Percy de Worms, Lord Barrymore. Back row from left to right : — Sir Francis Powell, Sir F. W. Lowe, Col. H. W. Gray, Sir Lindsay Wood, Sir Thomas Wrightson, Mr. Imbert Terry, Sir Fredk. DixonHartland, Sir Charles Philipps, Sir Charles Cave, Mr. P. P. Pennant, Mr.'W. J. Marshall, Sir James Rankin, Sir Howard Vincent, Mr. R. N. Sutton- Nelthorpe, Mr. A. E. Southall, Earl of Stradbroke. LORD CHARLES BERESFORD. Lord Charles Bererford was for many years, and at different periods of liis life, a 5[embcr of the House of Commons. But it is as a sailor, rather than as a legislator, that he lives in the hearts of the people. Joining the Navj' when he was onlj^ thii'teen, by sheer hard work, and splendid courage and resource in times of danger, he attained to the distinguished and unique position of being hailed by po^iular acclaim as the typical British sador. He embodies the romance, the endurance, the handiness, the daring, and, when necessary, the "calm, open-eyed rashness" which in all ages have been associated with the sea-faring life. On the benches of the House of Commons Lord Charles Beresford was, in character and temperament, as much the sailor as on board the Condor. A strong, broad-shouldered man, with clean-shaven, mobile face, laughing blue eyes, and a hearty, bluff, and cheery demeanour, as he walked up the floor of the House one noticed in his gait the characteristic roll of " one who names the waves his steeds." Speaking from the benches on such topics as that of physical deterioration in relation to national decay, he also showed the sailor's frank and racy outspokenness and breezy good humour. On subjects connected with the Navy — the efficiency of its viatSriel, the comfort of its j^^^sonnel — he spoke with a deep note of earnestness that was unmistakaljlo, and at times he was unsparing in his criticism of the naval policy of the Unionist Govern- ment, of whicli he was politically a supporter. as LkoxUxx h^iAJuy/ivd. LADIES IN POLITICS. The influence of women in politics has always been enormous. Formerly the political salons of the gi-eat Whig and Tory ladies were most important factors in the struggle between the parties for place and power. These were fashionable assemblages held in the spacious drawing-rooms of Belgravia and Mayfair, where the party allegiance of the Member of ParUament was steadied and strengthened by bringing him, with his wife, into association with the most brilliant and select coteries of gentility, veiy jealous as to who should be admitted within theii- charmed circles. But different times, different methods. Not much is done nowadays in the way of keeping party men steady by the soft and insinuating influence of the drawing-room. The voter has become more important than the representative. If the convictions of the Member of Parliament do not keep him straight as a party man, the danger of losing his scat w\\\. It is, therefore, on the electors that the great ladies of politics now bring to bear the chann of their brillianc}- and attractiveness. The Primrose League — of the E.xecutive Committee of which Lady Louise Loder (eldest daughter of the Duke of St. Albans) is a member — has turned the attention of political ladies to the primary importance of wooing the electorate rather than the representatives. Mr. Gerald Loder (seen beside his wife on the right- hand side of the picture) is also a leading member of the Primrose League ; and on the left side is the Hon. T. Cochrane, M.P. (sou of the Earl of Dundonald), who was Under-Secretary for the Home Department in the Balfour Administration. 24 »4 MR. W. S. CAINE. The typical John Bull. It was thus that Mr. William Sproston Caine was depicted in a hundred caricatui'es. Rough hewn physically, blunt and downnght in manner, he seemed to be the embodiment of the national rude strength and self-confidence. Yet at heart he was a frank and simple philanthro- pist. He was always at war with the evil things of life. An intensely religious man, in private life he was a sort of lay minister, teaching the ignorant, visiting the sick, raising the fallen, conducting services and preaching every Sunday to waifs and strays of society in a chapel at Vauxhall. In Parliament he was the most prominent spokesman of advanced temperance views. The House of Commons has a weakness for giA^g nicknames to its best known Members. Mr. Caine, whose muscularity and abruptness by no means veiled his pitying and generous heai't, was happily known as " the genial ruftian." /irr^. THE SPEAKER'S STATE COACH. The Speaker's State Coach, a vehicle quaintly ])uilt but handsomely decorated, is rarely seen in puljlic. It was used in 1872 when Mr. Speaker Brand di-ove to St. Paul's Cathedral to join in the thanksgiving service for the recovery of the Prince of Wales from his dangerous illness. In 1887, Mr. Speaker Peel, rather than use the coach, prefen-ed to walk on foot to West- minster Abbey for the Queen Victoria Jubilee service. On June 23rd, 1897, the day of the visit of the House of Commons to Buckingham Palace to present an address to Queen Victoria on her Diamond Jubilee, the old coach, after a quarter of a century of retirement, was again brought forth into ceremonial life. On that occasion there was a difficulty in horsing the carriage, weighing, as it does, over four tons. It was only over- come by the provision of two horses of enormous strength from the stables of a well - known firm of brewers. The coach, containing Mr. Speaker Gully, the Ser- jeant-at-Arms, the Chaplain of the House of Commons, the Speakei"'s secretary, and his train-bearer, limibered slowly, with much rocking, to Buckingham Palace. It was accompanied by the Speaker's traditional escort, a solitary mounted Guardsman. Behind it followed the Members of Parliament, on foot, or in horsed vehicles of uU kinds, and motor-cars. t.t 26 MR. MICHAEL DAVITT. The empty sleeve that hung by Mr. Davitt's side told a tale of the hardshijjs and mishaps of his early life. When he was a boy his parents were evicted from their homestead in County Mayo, and, coming to England, settled in the little town of Haslingden, in Lancashire. There in a cotton mill, when he was ten years old, his right arm was torn off by the machinery. All his life Mr. Davitt was connected with the extreme wing of the Irish Nationalist movement. At the age of twenty-five he was convicted in London of treason-felony — the particular offence being the import- ation of arms to Ireland — and sentenced to fifteen years' penal servitude. Released in 1877, he was associated two years later with Charles Stewart Parnell in founding the famous Irish Land League. Mr. Davitt was returned to Parliament at various times b}^ different Irish constituencies. But his appearances in the House were fitful, and he seemed to be a lonely and somewhat pathetic figure. The political atmosphere of the jjlace was to him most uncongenial. He found its complicated cross-currents of thought and feeling be- wildering. A stern stickler for principle, accustomed to frame his actions solely by reference to his conAactions, the opportunism of the House, its sense that the chief obligation of its Members is unquestioning loyalty to Party, its spirit of concession and compromise, of give and take, puzzled and somewhat scandalised him. In the House of Commons more is gained by dodging round difficulties than by desperate and heroic frontal attacks. It has, therefore, always been the despair of political enthusiasts, to whom their cause is a faith, a great creed, a fanaticism. He died in 190G. 87 \ YVJtX.CuJLX^ Cx.^^^J^ THE NIGHT FIRE BRIGADE. Afi'KR tlie destructive fire of 1834 it was dotonninoj to build the new Palace, for the accommodation of the Houses of Parliament, as nearly fire-jjroof as possible. But the Palace of Westminster is the largest Gothic structure in the world. It occupies an area of about eight acres, ^^■it]lin the vast pile there are no fewer than 600 rooms and offices of all kinds. It also houses the principal officials of the Lords and Counnons. The risk of fire in so extensive and intricate a building is, therefore, by no means remote. To meet it the police, who act as watchmen at nijiht, are trained as a Fire Brigade. They are regularly diilled not only on the Terrace, Ijut in coping with imaginary out- breaks of fire through the Palace. 98 ZS SIR REGINALD PALGRAVE,K.C.B. JrsT below the Speaker, at the head of the Table, sit the Clerk of the House of Commons and the two Clerk- Assistants, in wigs and gowns, like barristers in the Courts of Law, busy discharging their multifarious duties, such as sub-editing questions to Ministers, amendments to Bills, notices of motion, handed in by Members, or taking minutes of the proceedings for the Journals of the House. Sir Reginald Palgrave was a wise and extremely able Clerk of the House of Commons. Unpretentious in manner, and most courteous, he readily placed his vast knowledge of Parliamentary history, customs, and tra- ditions at the disposal of anyone to whom it could be of service. He spent half a century in the ser\ace of Parliament. He became a solicitor in 1851, and in the same year accepted a clerkshij) in the Committee Office of the House of Commons. He retired in 1900, and died in 1904. The Clerk of the House of Commons is appointed for life by letters patent. He is tlicrcforo independent of the House, as he cannot be compulsorily retired. Of course, if he proved recalcitrant the House could bring liim to terms by withholding his salary. This is £2,000 a year, plus a residence in the Palace of Westminster. "9 7?c . /897 THE THRONE IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. FoRMKKLY there was but one Chair of State on the Throne in tlie House of Lords. It was designed Ijy Augustus Welby Pugin, the eminent arcliitect, who was employed, under Sir Charles Barry, in the erection and decoration of the new Houses of Parliament. It has been in the House of Lords since the Chamber was first used in 1847, and Queen Victoria sat in it whenever she opened Parliament in person. On these occasions the lower chaii- on the left hand was used by the Prince Consort, and that on the right by the Prince of Wales. But an interesting innovation marked the first opening of Parliament by King Edward \ll. on February 14th, 1901. By command of liis Majesty the Throne was provided with a second State Chair for Queen Alexandra. Perhaps for the first time in English history, a Queen Consort accompanied the King in equal state for the opening of Parliament. The new State Chair— that on the left of the Throne — is almost an exact replica of the old in design and ornamentation, the only distinctive difference being that it is an inch and a half lower. Both chairs, with their fine carvings, gilt with English gold-leaf, anil the rich embroideries of the Royal Arms on their crimson velvet backs, greatly augment the imposing grandeur of the Throne. 30 3° SIR HENRY KIMBER, BART. The name of Sir Henry Kimber is intimately asso- ciated with the question of the reform of ParUamentary representation. His investigations of the subject brought to Kght some curious results of the natural growth and decay, driftings and shiftings, of popu- lation. He foimd, for instance, that over 40,000 electors in one place had only one voice in ParHament, just the same as 1,500 voters in another place ; that one-half of the electors of the whole Kingdom were represented by 206 Members in the House of Commons, while the other half were represented by 404 Jlembers ; that a majority of the House, or 370 Members, were returned by only a little more than one-third of the electors, namely, 2,750,780, as against a minority, or 300 Members, returned by 4,307,922 voters. By the exposure of these anomalies, and the declaration that the only cure for them was a redistribution of seats, Sir Henry Kimber precipitated one of the keenest political controversies of the opening years of the twentieth century. The celebrity which Sir Henry Kimber thu.s attained shows that a sure way to success in Parliament lies tln'ough specialisation. The Member who confines him- self to a single subject, masters it thoroughly, and insists upon advocating it, in season and out of season — in a word, the man of one idea — usually attains to eminence. 3* ^ — ^/Xt — t— i—c-^- -^ ^--'-x^-^-^^'U-e-^ 3' 3» The Right Hon. SIR A. ACLAND HOOD, BART. Think of the responsibilities of the Chief Wliip of the Government ! He does not, it is true, initiate legisla- tion. That is the duty of the Ministers. But once a Government Bill has been laid before the House, the chance of its reaching the Statute Book turns upon the success of the Chief Whip and his assistants in securing the attendance at all hours in the House of a sufficient number of the supporters of the Government to steer the measure safely past the rocks and sand- banks which abound in the division lobbies. Not alone the fate of Government Bills, but jmicti- cally the very existence of the Government itself, is in the hands of the Chief Whip. The object of the Opposition, of course, is to precipitate a General Election by defeating the Government ; and, however remote that chance may seem, considering merely the numerical strength and weakness of the contending parties on paper, any day may bring it forth ; for in no place does the unexpected so often happen as in the House of Commons. To keej) the Government in office, the Chief Whip nmst therefore ever be alert and vigilant. It is required of him always to be in his place. Sir Alexander Acland Hood, as Chi<>f AVliip of the Balfour Administration, was the one occupant of the Treasury liench during its term of office who was never seen in the late hours of the night in evening clothes. At any period of the sitting he might have been observed flitting restlessly about the House and lobbies, counting his followers, or consulting with the Minister in charge of business. aa THE ROYAL STATE CARRIAGE. There is something suggestive of old romance, as -well as appropriate to the ancient glories of Royalty, in the State Carriage in which King Edward and Queen Alexandra rode to the Palace of Westminster for their first opening of Parliament on February 14th, 1901. Towering high in its huge wheels, elaboratel}' carved and gilt, its cream-coloured ponies ridden by 3-ell()W- coated postillions and led by scarlet footmen, and escorted by gallant Guardsmen, it rumbled past, swaying pondei'ously from side to side on its leather springs, while through its glass windows the crowd caught glimpses of the King in his martial uniform, and the Queen with diamonds flashing in her hair. It was like an old coloured picture from ancient history. Impossible to think of is the idea of a King and Queen going in their robes to a State function in a vehicle so modern, and incongruous for such a purpose, as a closed brougham or an upcii landau. Therefore it is that this State glass coach, tiashing in gold and colours, possesses the harmony of all things ancient. The sight of it imparts, too, something of iho joys of fantasy, the thrills of romance. 34 34 The Right Hon. LORD COURTNEY. Lord Courtney — so long known as Mr. Leonard Courtney — is one of those personalities wlio dominate you by an overmastering combination of mental power and physical energy. But there is a soft and gracious side to him, despite his shaggy eyebrows and intense expression. One day he was lounging on the Terrace near where Sir Benjamin Stone was at work with his camera, when a little gu-1, a stranger to him, came and asked him to take her likeness. Learning from the conversation of her friends, who were sitting on a bench near by, that portraits were being taken, she ran to Mr. Courtney, as he then was, with her request to be included. He told her that she had come to the wi'ong person, but he would bring her to the gentleman, and, going up to Sir Benjamin Stone, he said, " Here is a young lady who wants you to take her portrait," and Sir Benjamin answered, " I ^all at once, if you will stand with her." Thus Miss Sheeliy came to be " taken " on the Terrace with the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. As Chairman of Conmiittees during the first Unionist Administration, from 188G to 1S92, Mr. Courtney had a singularly difficult post to fill. He had to preside over the detailed discussion in Connnittee of some hitrlily contentious measures. But many as were his rulings on complicated points, his impartiality was never called into question. He was raised to the peerage iu 190G. 33 ■^ C i/^ i*,c(^ //^U*-''^*-^ THE SULTAN OF PERAK. Coloured potentates and piinces who come to London never fail to visit the Houses of Parliament. Sometimes they are to be seen in all the bai-baric splendour of native costume, sometimes in the full fashionable rig of Picca- dilly, and occasionally with a droll, fantastic blending of the East and the West in their attire. The Sultan of Perak, who came accomjianied by an Indian prince, Raja Chulan, is the ruler of a native State in the Malay Peninsula, under the jjrotection of the British Government. Not long ago it was a savage laud, in the depths of whose primeval fore.sts the native tribes pillaged and slaughtered each otlier. Now life and property are absolutely safe tliere, and the Sultan sits securely on his Throne. Short and frail in .stature, of light brown complexion, with the flat features and high cheek bones of the Mon- golian races, his mild and contemplative expression suggests the religious ascetic rather than the wanior ruler of a primitive and warlike people. 36 The Right Hon, J. S. SANDARS. In one of Hogarth's ironic pictures we see an inmate of a debtor's prison occupying himself with j)lans for the payment of the National Debt. The halls and corridors and lobbies of Whitehall and Westminster are haunted by hapless people, the wrecks of life, eager to transfer to their own shoulders some of the heaviest responsibilities of our statesmen. The man they are most anxious to interview is the Prime Minister. It is to him personally that they desii-e to confide the wonderful schemes and speculations of their distraught minds for making straight aU the crooked twists in the social system. Happy, then, is the Prime Minister who has the protection of so capable a private secretary as Mr. J. S. Sandars. Such were his tact, geniality, and good sense while acting in that cajjacity for Mr. Arthur Balfour, that the crazy old lady who says the Crowni has robbed her of £30,000,000, and the lunatic engineer with a jjlan for uniting Ireland with England by a bridge thrown across the Channel rid the Isle of l\ran, and thus settling tlie Irish problem, went away, after every fruitless attempt to see the First Lord of the Trea- sury, as pleased almost as if the dearest projects of their hearts were about to be accomplished. On the resigna- tion of Mr. Balfour in December, 1905, Mr. Sandars was made a member of the Privy Council. 37 ^7->-->^^-«Jt. advocacy of jircferential trading relations between all parts of the 13ritish Empire. 39 =*!! ^ SifBBi, jqj^fniaf. Cdjc^A^^y^JL SCsiff-^^^^ THE HOUSE OF LORDS. "TiiK Gilded Ciiamiuci; I " Gladstone's descriptive phrase, springs to the mind as one stands at the Bar and surve3's the House of ] iOrds. But, though the Chamber is glow- ing in gold and colours, the effect is not garish, for the hues of the superb decorations are subdued and har- moniously blended with an artistic effect that is a do- light and refreshment to the eye. The solemn stillness and the soft light of a sacred edifice prevail. Tiie figures of the Kings and Queens of England in the lofty stained glass windows look like saints in theii" antique garments. On pedestals, between the windows, are large bronze statues of knights, telling of times when the battle of principles was fought, not with the subtle mind and ready tongue of men in frock coats and silk hats, but with sword and battle-axe by soldiers in armour on prancing steeds. These are the bold and — many of them — wicked ]-5arons who wrested Magna Charta from King John. In the subdued light of the House of Lords they seem like patriarchs and apostles. At the top of the Chamber is the imposing canopied Throne. It is superbly carved ; it glistens with gold ; it sparkles with jjrccious stones. It suggests an altar, flanked as it is, on each side, by magnificent candelabra of wrought brass. The religious spell is broken oid}' when the Lord Chancellor in his big wig and black silk gown takes his seat on the Woolsack — a lounge inside the railin<>: whirh fronts the Throne. Then it is that the illusion that one is in the gorgeous chapel of a great cathedi-al passes away. 40 40 MR. SPENCER CHARRINGTON. In liis eighty-sixth year ]\fr. Spencer Chamngton showed an example of pluck and endurance and devotion to duty as a party man that will long be talked about in the lobbies of Parliament, The House of Commons opened its sitting at 2 o'clock p.m. on Tuesday, July 19th, 190-i, and continued to sit until 3.40 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20th, or for almost 25^ hours. It was the longest sitting for close on a quarter of a century. The busines.'* was the committee stage of the Finance Bill, founded upon the Budget of Mr. Austen Chamberlain, which was stoutly opposed by the Liberals. Throughout that long sitting, all through the dreary night, Mr. Charringtou stuck to his post. There were twenty-one divisions, and in 19 of them the old man voted. He was cheered by his Conservative colleagues as he walked up the floor from the division lobbies, almost bent double with age ; and each time turning up the gangway, climbed to the topmost bench imder the gallery, where he reclined until another division was challenged, and he had again to walk the weaiy round of the lobbies. A few days subsequently the octogenarian member for ]\Iile End division of Tower Hamlets was presented by the Prime Minister, Mr. Arthur Balfour, witli a silver cup, subscribed for by liis colleagues, as a memento of his signal display of loyalty to party. He died in the following December. 41 ^ t*/t. 'WM,a<,'tA.C-C.C^^''U. kZCc/x. ^licJKl •A^-%.§yK^ THREE TYPES OF MEMBERS. Me. Wharton, the centre of the group, who represented the Ripon Division of Yorkshire continuously for twenty years, is a country squire of the highest type. In and out of the House his views, noted for common sense, carry great weight ; and he discharges duties of immense public usefulness. In Durham he is Chairman of Quarter Sessions, and Chairman of the County Council. For his services to county govern- ment, as well as to national, he was called to the Privy Council, that eminent body of prelates, nobles, and commoners nominated by the Sovereign as his advisers in State affairs. Each Privy Councillor enjoys the title of Right Honourable. The Hon. Seymour Ormsby-Gore, who sits to Mr. Wharton's right, and who represented the Gainsborough Division of Lincolnshire for some years, has specially devoted himself to financial questions. The son of the second Lord Harlech, he is a senior partner of the firm of Gore & Co., stockbrokers. In Lord Edmund Talbot, sitting to Mr. Wliarton's left, we have the soldier Member of Parliament. He is a scion of the notably historic family of the Howards, and the brother of the Duke of Norfolk, premier Duke of England. He took the name of Tall)ot, in lieu of Howard, by Royal licence, under the will of the 17th Earl of Shrewsbury. A soldier whose services in the South African War won him the D.S.O., Lord Edmund Talbot is conspicuous in the group of retired Army men in the House of Commons whose influence is felt in the discussion of military affairs. 63 The Right Hon. SIR HENRY H. FOWLER. "HiGH-MiNDEDNESs" bcst expresses Sir Henry Fowler's quality as a Parliamentarian. Though a very busy man — he is an eminent solicitor — he has given a rare devotion and enthusiasm to politics as an engine of human progress. An admirable speaker, deep earnest- ness and seriousness mark all his utterances on public questions. As President of the Local Government Board in the last Gladstone Administration, he carried through Par- liament in 1893 the great Act which established Parish Councils. It was a huge Bill, containing 70 clauses, to which over 800 amendments were put down. He had to find reasons for accepting or rejecting each of these 800 amendments, according as they were moved. How did the Minister carry in his head all the argu- ments as to why he was opposed to this amendment and in favour of that ? The method adopted by Sir Henry Fowler illustrates how a big Bill is steered through the uncertain and perilous stage of Committee. At each sitting he produced from his despatch-box the amendments to be considered, each pasted at the top of a separate slip of paper, and below it, type- WTitten, the reasons for accepting it or rejecting it- These brief speeches were thought out by Sir Henry Fowler in the morning before the House met, dictated to his secretaries, and typed in this convenient form. The Bill was three months in Committee. But no matter how fatigued the Minister might be after hours of close application to work in an enervating Chamber, his replies were always fresh and vigorous. 63 //ut^^^^^^^^^^ ^a^^/^^^^^^^i.^^ 63 SIR J. DICKSON-POYNDER,BART., and MAJOR SEELY. Comrades-in-arms dm-iug the South African "War, through which they passed, covering themselves with glory, Sir John Dickson - PojTider and Major Seely were comrades also in political vicissitudes in the House of Commons. Unionists both, they crossed the floor — which, in its way, requires as much moral courage, grim tenacity, and stern sense of duty as were needed in fording the Tugela river, or mounting Spion Kop — on the adoption of Fiscal Reform by the Unionist Government. The Balfour Administration, like every Government, had among its followers on the back benches many young men, ardent and able, who were disposed to be independent critics of its policy. Of this group Sir John Dickson-Poynder (seen in the motor-car) and Major Seely (standing by the motor's side) were prominent members. But it is one thing for a Member of Parliament to express his disagreement with measiures introduced by the Government of which he has been elected a supporter, and quite a different thing for him to separate himself entii-ely from his own political party, and join the party of its opponents. The floor of the House of Conmions is but a few yards wide ; yet what a revolution in one's political opinions, what a wrench in the associations of a life, is meant by passing from one side of the Chamber to the other ! 64 VISCOUNT GOSCHEN. One of the keenest intellects ever devoted to the ser- vices of the State was enlisted when Georye Joachim Goschen, of the firm of Friihling and Goschen, finan- ciers, was first returned to the House of Commons, in 1863, as Member for the City of London. He filled many high offices in Liberal and Unionist Administrations. He was first Lord of the Admiralty under Mr. Gladstone in the early 'Seventies, and ('lian- cellor of the Exchequer under Lord Salisbury in the late 'Eighties. • He In-ought to the control of these depart- ments, not business experience only, but a thoroughly logical and scientific mind. One of those, permanent officials who, whatever Governments come and go, pla)- a leading, if retiring, part in the management of tlie nation's afFairs, said that most of the Ministers with whom he had anything to do were inclined to be lazy. He made two or three exceptions. Among them was Mr. Goschen, who became Viscount Goschen in 1900. But Mr. Goschen was not only a successful Adminis- trator ; he was also a most gallant fighting politician. When aroused by opposition ihn'e was a fiery toucli in his oratory that was uni(jue. It always set tlie House aflame with party passion, stirring foes and friends to a white heat of furj- or ecstacy. He died iu 1907. 65 ^-tJ^ THE SPEAKER'S DINING-ROOM. The Speaker's House is tliat conspicuous wing of the Palace of Westminster, witli carved stonework and Gothic windows, extending from tlie Clock Tower to the river, clos(> to Westminster 1 {ridge. It is furnislied by the State, and tlie fortunate Speaker enjoys it free of rent, rates, taxes, coal, and light. The Speaker gives several official entertainments during the Parliamentary Session. There are separate dinners to the Ministers, to the leaders of the Oppo- sition, and to private Members. According to long- established custom, a IVfember who accepts the invitation to dine with Mr. Speaker is required to appear either in uniform or Court dress. This rule, which has always been rigidly enforced, cut off such eminent Parliamen- tarians as Josejih Ilumc, Richard Cobden, and John Bright — all of whom objected to wear Court dress — from the pleasure of the hospitality of Mr. Speaker. The host liimself is attired in a dark velvet Court suit, knee breeches, and silk stockings, with dainty lace ruffles and wristbands, and a sword by his side. In the mirroi>-panelled dining-room the long table is magnificently spread with old plate ; the walls are hung with jjortraits of famous Speakers. Only one toast is proposed — that of " The King." The dinners are intended, princijjally, to bring Members together for the interchange of views. But with so many Speakers, severe of aspect, looking down u|)on the diners, how- could these functions be otherwise than sedate and solemn ? 66 THE SPEAKER'S DINING-ROOM. The Speakei''s House is tliat conspicuous win Table, and consult with the Speaker about the business of the Sitting. 71 t THE ROYAL SEAT IN THE KING'S ROBING-ROOM. The King's Robing-rooiu is a magnificent apartment of the House of Lords, in which the King dresses for the ceremony of the opening of Parhament. On tlie walls a splendid series of frescoes by William Dyce, R.A., illustrate the beneficence of chivalry. The subjects, taken from the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, are: Hospitality— " the admission of Sir Tristram to the fellowship of the Round Table " ; Mercy — "Sir Gawaine swearing to be merciful, and to protect all ladies " ; Religion — " the vision of Sir Galahad and his company " ; Generosity — " King Arthur unhorsed is spared by his adversary " ; Courtesy — "Sir Tristram harping to La Bella Isidore." But the object which at once fixes the attention on entering the room is the Royal. Chair. It stands on a dais, beneath a canopy of carved oak. Beliind the chair, and forming the back of the canojjy, is a beautiful jjiece of tapestry with the Royal Anns artistically embroidered in the centre, surrounded by repetitions of Queen Victoria's monogram, " Y.R." The back of the chair is similarly embroidered in velvet. 73 SIR WILLIAM ANSON, BART. The faces on the Treasiiry Bench, whatevei- Party may be in power, tell of energy, masterfulness, tenacity, the qualities in the Member of Parliament that sm'ely lead to office. In the Balfour Administration Sir William Anson, Parliamentary Secretary of the Education De- partment, thin and almost fragile of frame, with clear- cut face, and something of the reserve and aloofness of the scholar, seemed out of place in the row of robust, strenuous and pushful Ministers. Before he entered Parliament, as Member for Oxford University, he was one of the most distinguished Dons at that historic seat of learning. He wrote a classic work on Parliament, " The Law and Custom of the Constitution," which, perhaps, explains how it was that he strayed from the quiet and secluded groves of the University into the glare and turbulence of the House of Commons. As Minister in charge of the great Education Bill of 1902, which ai'oused the bitterest antagonism, his affable interposition in the heated debates alwu) s had the effect of allaying passion and acrimony. It was difficult to resist the soothing influence of his low, serene and even voice, his almost depreciatory manner, and his logical and dispassionate arguments, so closely to the point, so innocent of the faintest trace of party feeling. 73 ''A^^/£^^//-JV*5y THE KATIKIRO OF UGANDA AND HIS SECRETARY. Apolo Kagwa, Katildro of Uganda, and his Secretary, Ham Mukasa, were among King Edward's guests at the Coronation. Uganda, where elephants are still numerous and the banana grows in wild profusion, is under the administration of a British ComuiLssioner. But it has its native King, and the Katikiro is his Chief Minister, being, at once, a sort of Premier and Chief Justice, the maker of laws and the righter of wrongs. These ebony-skinned visitors from Central Africa won the esteem and regard of all who were brought into relations with them by their intelligence and alert- ness, the keen interest they displayed in the wonders of civilisation, their agreeable ways, and, above all, the contagious glint of good humour in their eyes, and the genial expansiveness of their smiles. The Katikiro was the taller of the two, being a couple of inches over six feet, and well built in proportion. He became a Christian at an early age, and to him, mainly, is due the progress of Uganda from a barbarous and unruly to an orderly and industrious community. He was asked what were his impressions of England. " First," he replied, " that you have no mosquitoes ; second, that your roads are all good, and that you have many horses and carriages ; thirdly, that your houses are large and well built ; fourthly, that you live together in great crowds ; and lastly, that you have a splendid police force, which prevents fighting in the streets, and keeps order even when many are gathered together." MR. F. CARRUTHERS GOULD Mr. F. Carruthers Gould—" F. C. G." — has won \A'orld-wide fame by his political cartoons in the Westminster Gazette. He has a wonderful instinct for the idea which best simis up the comedy of the political situation of the hour, and a genius for giving it vivid and mellow expression in drawing. Dm-ing almost every week for many years he has produced some political cartoons. The originahty, hmnour, and force of his work are, in the circumstances, very remarkable. It is interesting to note, too, the varied som'ces from which he obtains his ideas. Folk lore, natm-al histoiy, mythology, fable, ancient history, are turned to excellent account in hitting off the passing httle shams and insincerities of public Hfe. Mr. Goidd is a keen poHtician, with strong Liberal convictions, but his caricatures are absolutely free from personal ill-feeling. The liberties he takes with tlie faces and figures of his subjects are always too good-humom-ed to give offence. Indeed, many a politician owes some of his fame and pojjularity to his success in insijiiing Mr. Gould's sense of fun. People get to love the man at whom they are moved indulgently to laugh. Yet the effectiveness of the cartoons in ridiculing a political situation or a pohtical opponent is in no way impaired by theii- geniality. At* every Parliamentary election reproductions of them on a 'large scale, and printed in colom's, are widely distributed in the con- stituency. They turn every dead wall into an excuse for a hearty, honest laugh, and, at the same time, into a profession of political faith. 75 /'/^^yi\^c/i^ L J y^^-i^^^^ THE HOUSE OF COMMONS FROM THE BAR. The first sight of the House of Commons is, from the ai chitectm-al point of view, usually attended with a feeling of disappointment. It is hardly credible that in this simple Chamber of modest dimensions, of severely businessHke appearance, the destinies of a great Empire are controlled ; that here have been fought so many exciting and momentous battles between the political Parties ; that these wainscotted walls have really echoed to the potent voices of the renowned Parliamentarians of the Victorian Era — Lord John Russell, Palmerston, Cobden, Disraeli, Bright, Parnell, Lord Randolpli Chm-chill, and Gladstone. A Chamber of greater spaciousness and more magnificence was designed for the Commons by the architect, Charles Barry ; but the Royal Commission, to whom the plans were submitted, decided for a plainur and much smaller apartment, in which debate could be carried on without any undue strain upon the voice or ear. It was in 1852 that the House of Commons fu-st met in the Chamber. It seats 360 Members, little more than half the House, and about 100 more can find standing room at the Bar and in the passages or gang- ways of the benches. But if the general aspect of the Chamber be severe, it will be seen, on a closer examination, that artistic taste and labour have been lavished upon its plain decorations. The wood-carving, with whicli its walls are covered, is most delicate. The predominant colour of tlie whole is rich oak, softened by the painted windows, and the decorated panels of the glass ceiling. t6 THE BOOTBLACK OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. The House of Commons has been called, as everyone knows, " the best club in London." The term was lono- regarded as happy and appropriate. But the \iew of Members seems to have changed since the House has more and more become a collection of men difPeriao* in social rank and pursuits, in political and religious opinions. Yet there is no doubt whatever that for at least one of the purposes of a club — ministering to the personal needs and comforts of its Members — ^the House of Commons is far better equipped at our time of day than ever it had been in its socially selectest period, before the great Reform Act of 1832. Formerly, Members were only able to get a steak or a chop or pork pie at " Bellamy's." Now they have an elaborate kitchen and a suite of dining-rooms. In tlie cellars of the House there is, for one thing, " the Valantia vat," which holds 1,000 gallons of Scotch whisky. There are also batli-rooms. A hairdresser is kept on the premises. In the cloisters the services of George Warner, bootblack, are always available. What more can Members require? 77 MR. J. F. X. O'BRIEN. In the House of Commons are to be found men of every kind of experience — in the way even of stirring and romantic adventure — as well as men of every type of character. Mr. James Francis Xavier O'Brien was a conspicuous and interesting figure at Westminster for the twenty years he was a Nationalist Member of Parliament. Yet he rarely took part even in the Irish debates. He used to be pointed out to visitors as a man who had been not only condemned to death, but sentenced, according to the mediasval formula in cases of high treason, to be " hanged, drawn and quartered." It was hard to realise that this gentle-looking and fragile little man, with the long, venerable beard, and the black skull-cap hiding his baldness, had really been engaged in desperate enterprises, and, condemned to die, had cheated the gallows. Yet so it was, for in the days of his hot youth he was convicted of high treason, by bearing arms against the Crown in the Fenian Insui-rection of 1867. Mr. O'Brien was in command of the Fenians of Coi'k. They captured a country police station — or "barracks," as the quarters of the Royal Irish Con- stabulary arc called — which was occupied by a head constable and six men. The insurrection was quickly suppressed. Mr. O'Brien was soon arrested. It came out in evidence at hi-s trial that during the attack on the police bai-racks he had shown great humanity and courage in rescuing from the burning building, before theijolice surrendered, the wife and children of the head constable. The sentence of death was, on the representation of the judge who had pronounced it, immediately commuted. 78 THE GRAND COMMITTEE ROOM. Immediately off Westminster Hall, the scene of many a State trial and political impeachment, is the Grand Committee Eoom. Here it was that on the 16th February, 1897, the Select Committee of the House of Commons opened the historic inquiry into the origin and circumstances of the famous Jameson Raid on the Transvaal, in December, 1895, and also into the administration of the British South Africa Company. It was really a great State trial. Mr. Cecil Ehodes, lately the Prime Minister of Cape Colony, was practically being impeached. The mind inevitably recalled a similar trial, just a century back, in Westminster Hall, when Warren Hastings was impeached of " high crimes and misdemeanours," as Governor-General of India. That scene will live for ever, as painted in glowing colours by the splendidly descriptive pen of JIacaulay. "Neither military nor civil pomp was wanting," says the historian. At the South African Inquiry there was no display of pageantry. The only gleam of colour in the room was a big, painted map of Africa. , The fifteen members of the Committee sat round a horse-shoe table. In the chair was Mr. W. L. Jackson (now Lord AUerton), with Mr. Chamberlain on his right and Sir William Harcourt on his left. At the long table at the base of the horse-shoe were the comisel for the defence, engi-ossed in papers and documents. In the centre of the horse-shoe table sat Mr. Cecil Rhodes during examination. He fortified himself each day for the ordeal with a large tumbler of stout and a plate of sandwiches, which he munched and sipped while giving evidence. 79 VISCOUNT ALTHORP. *' I AM not an agricultm-al laboui-er." It seems a simple tiling to say; yet iu saying it Lord Althorp — then the Hon. Charles Robert Spencer — contributed to the gaiety of Parliamentaiy gossip for all time. The humoiu" of the remark lay in its obviousness and incongruity. One night there was a debate on the unhappy condition of the class that lives closest to the soil. Mr. Sjjencer was fresh to the House of Commons — he was returned for North Noi-thamptonshire in 1880 — and had not long crossed the threshold of man- hood. He was one of the youngest and best-looking men in the assembly, and certainly the best dressed. Rising to take part in the discussion, he declared, with a glint of fun in his eye, that he was not an agricultural labourer. The House looked at the yoimg heir to the historic Spencer earldom, arrayed in all the splendom- of the smartest of evening clothes, and roared with laughter at the humour of the situation. There were cheers, too, later on, for Mr. Spencer made an earnest and appealing speech on behalf of the peasant delvers of the soil. Mr. Spencer at once got a place in the affections and esteem of the House. Ever after he was paid the compliment of being familiarly referred to as "Bobby"; and what the Commons lost the Upper Chamber gained when he became Lord Chamberlain and received a peerage on the formation of Sir Henry Campbell- Bannerman's Administration in December, 1905. /• /Y^Avy ^/y-t^.' /y OIL 'in,^ LORD CURZON. The accidental advantages of birth and station, no doubt, help advancement in the House of Commons. But Lord Cm'zon, when, as Mr. George Nathaniel Curzon, he made his appearance at St. Stephen's in 1886, also possessed qualities which, in the long run, are far more heljjful to tlie }oung politician than aristocratic connections — oratorical abilities of a high order, consciousness of power, faith in one's self, and the force of compelling others to share in that confidence. The youthful scion of an old family obtains easily an Under-Secretaryship. But he rarely gets beyond tlmt minor post if he has little else to rely upon but tlie claims of long descent. Mr. Curzon discharged the duties of Under-Secretary for India, and subsequently, of Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, with enthusiasm and industry. To fit himself the more for the gi-eater career to which his ambition aspired, he travelled much in the Far East, penetrating to remote and perilous spots, for the purjDOse of studying the problems clamouring to statesmanship for settlement in India, Persia, Korea, China, and Japan. Equipped with knowledge and insight into Eastern conditions, he was given an Irish peerage— which, not being a representative one, raised no barrier to his subsequent election to the House of Commons for a British constituency — and appointed to the Viceroyalty of India, a post he resigned in the year 1905. In the discharge of the tremendous duties and responsibilities of that august oftice for over six years he displayed enormous capacity for work, courage in carrying out large reforms, and, withal, a gaiety which no disappointment could ecUpsu. 8l iUi-J^^-r % /t^'S-^^A*^^ t^^^ v^ . Ai/^ ^ r^ M.P.'S PROCEEDING TO THE JUBILEE SERVICE. On the 20tYi June, 1897, there were services in all the churches and chapels of the land in thanksgi\ang for the sixty years of Queen Victoria's rule. The two Houses of Parliament joined, of course, in the popular rejoicings. The Lords worshipped in Westminster Abbey. In St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, which has been for centuries intimately associated with the lower Chamber, the Commons had their service. The procession of the representatives of the people to the Church was very striking. As they emerged from Westminster Hall into New Palace Yard, the Serjeant-at-Arms (Mr. H. D. Erskino), bearing the Mace shoulder high, was at then- head, and he was immediately followed by Mr. Speaker Gully (now Viscount Selby), in his State robe of brocaded silk, with lavish embroideries of gold lace. The Clerks came next in wigs and gowns. Then came the general body of the Members, headed by the Leader of the House, Mr. Arthur J. Balfour, and the Leader of the Opposition, Sir William Harcom't. The representatives of the people had, indeed, solid i-easons for regarding Queen Victoria's reign with thankfulness and gratitude. In it there was a most remarkable development of government by democracy. Parliament attained to its position of unchallenged ascendancy in the State. At the same time, the stability and popularity of the Monarchy were enormously increased. The Crown was lifted absolutely above Party couflicts and political intrigues. 3-2 83 THE CLERK OF THE PARLIAMENTS. Sir Henry John Lowndes Graham, K.C.B., fills the very ancieut aud most important office of Clerk of the Parliaments. Even the title of the office tells of its antiquity. It shows that it must have heen created in that far-off time when Parliament consisted of but one assembly, in which the Lords spiritual and temporal and the Knights of the Shires sat together. The Clerk of the Parliaments is head of the estab- lishment of the Lords, and appoints and controls its clerical stafi. He is also Registrar of the House as the supreme Court of Appeal. When the House of Lords is in session he sits at the table, in wig and gown, and discharges some of tlie duties which fall to the Speaker in the House of Commons. He it is, and not the presiding Lord Chancellor, who calls on the Peers to bring on their Bills and Notices of Motion as set out in the Orders of the Day. He also gives the Royal Assent to Bills which have passed both Houses. At this interesting ceremony in the House of Lords the Sovereign is represented by five Lords Commissioners. But it is the Clerk of the Parliaments wlio utters the quaint old Norman pln-ases which transform Bills into Acts — in the case of general I'ublic Bills, " Le Roy le veult,'" and in the case of Money Bills, " Le Roy remercie ses bons sujets, accepte leur benevolence, et ainsi le veult." The Clerk of the Parliaments also endorses the only authentic copies of the Acts (one for the Rolls Office, the other for the Victoria Tower), and is the custodiau of all the Records of the House of Lords. 83 / <^n ^ /-■ v^^ A-^ri-it,^ ^^i r;7/i (^^^..<^ The Right Hon. SIR JOHN GORST. Sir John Eldon Gorst has won fame for many things in the course of a long and distinguished career — a career in which tlirilling personal experiences have not been absent. At twenty-four, while studying for the Bar, the spirit of unrest took possession of him. He started for New Zealand in a sailing vessel. The Governor of the Colony at the time was Sir George Grey, who appointed him Civil Commissioner to the native district of Waikato. It was a dangerous post, and the adventures which befel him in the few years that he filled it are told in his little known but deeply interesting book, "The Maori King." Entering Parliament in 18G6, lie became a notable figure in the House, and eventually filled with dis- tinction many important offices, including that of Minister of Education between 1895 and 1902. Sir John Gorst has devoted his briUiant and trained faculties more to the solution of social problems than to political questions. He is, indeed, one of the most resourceful and persuasive advocates of social service — of the absolute necessity of providing, above all, for the comfort and happiness of the people. Especially fond of children, his zeal as a reformer is warmest in the interest and welfare of the little ones. Sir John will, perhaps, best be remembered on account of his crusade for the provision of meals to underfed school children who are rendered incapable by hunger of profiting by the education which the State has made compulsory and free. It is appropriate, therefore, that he should be presented hand in hand with two little girls, whose charm and joyousness suggest the end for which he labours — that among the children of the earth there should never be sorrow more. 84 yJ^^ty^i £.A7^/' MR. WILLIAM RANDAL CREMER. Ab Mr. Croiucr sits in the House of Commons among the Liberals he is made conspicuous by the j)iece of red ribbon which he wears in tlie left lajjel of his coat. It is the badge of the Cross of the Legion of Honom-. The President of the French Republic bestowed tliis distinction on Mr. Cremer for havino- initiated and for being the chief organiser of the Inter-Parliamentary Conferenc(", first held in Paris in 1888, and in London in 1890, for the promotion of international peace and progress. The son of a herald painter, Mr. Cremer was apprenticed to the craft of carpentry and joinery. From his earliest years he has been associated witli movements on behalf of the working classes. He was the founder of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. But it is as an advocate of peace, of the settlement of disputes between nations by arbitration, that he is best known. He is the Secretary of the International Arbitration League, and the editor of the Arbitrator^ its official organ. Through hit: exertions every Parliament in Europe has a repre- sentative group of Members pledged to upliold the peace movement. In 1903 Mr. Cremer gave a signal proof of devotion to the great cause with which his name has been so long and so honourably associated. That year he was awarded the famous Nobel (lold ]\Iedal and Peace Prize for his efforts to establisii peaceful relations between the nations of Europe, and he gave the bulk of the prize, £7,000, as an endowment to the Inter- national Ai'bitration League. 85 S'rS^ei^if.- W^^iv}^ REPRESENTATIVES OF COMMERCE. The politicians, or Parliamontarians, ]inro]y and simply, by no means constituto the bulk of the Membership of the House of Commons. By these are meant the men who are more or less conspicuous in the public eye — Ministers, ex-Ministers, and also private Members of independent means and leisure, possessing political abilities, or that engrossing interest in public questions, or that delight in public service, or that love of i)ublic distinction, which induces them to give a good deal of time to Parliamentary work. A far larger class are the commercial men — merchants, bankers, financiers, shipowners, railway directors — who do not take a very active or jirominent share in the work of the House. They are regular in their attendance. They vote in most divisions. They are always in their places when their presence may be required. But not often do their names appear in the newspaper reports. Yet they render very efficient services to the State. They give invaluable aid in the guiding anil controlling of legislation affecting the development of industry. They supply that knowledge, derived from practical experience in business affairs, which is indispen.sable in the Government and Admini- stration of a great commercial nation. In the group here reproduced are representatives of that great class in and out of the Ilou^e of Commons through whose capacity and enterprise BritLsh commerce has been spread to all the ends of the earth.* • The tn-oup consiste of, from left to right at the back, Sir Walter riuinmer (.M.T. for Newca.stle-oii-Tyne, I'jiXMDOO) and Sir Charles Cayzer, F.ait. (.M.I', for Barrow-in-Furne.ss, l.Sit21'.Kifi). Front row, Sir Christopher Furness, JI.P., Sir Walter i'eace, Ageut-General for Natal aud Sir Joba Johnson. 86 86 DR. ROBERT WALLACE. On the floor of the House of Commons a tragedy was enacted tlie 5th of Juno, 1899. Dr. Robert Wallace, tlie Member for East Edinburgh, ]iad begun a speech in opposition to. the grant of public money to Lord Kitchener, proposed by the Government, in recognition of his services in the Egyptian campaign. The hon. gentleman was one of the humorists of the House, having a rare faculty of dry, caustic Scottish sarcasm ; and it was in that vein that he was treatins: the proposal. A note in Hansard's " Debates " thus describes the sequel : " ' The aristocratic official,' said Mr. Wallace, * gets everything, while the poor man who risks his life and does the work gets nothing.' At this point," continues" the official record, " the hon. Member was apparently seized with faintness. His voice faded, he could not read his notes or find his eyeglasses, nor could he drink or even hold in his hands the glass of water that was passed to him from the Front Opposition Bench. He sat down abruptly, and after a painful pause, Mr. Arnold-Forstcr continued the debate." Before the debate was resumed Dr. Wallace, who had fallen to his seat insensible, was carried out of the Chamber and removed to Westminster Hospital. He died there at two o'clock in the morning of tlie 6th of June, within three hours of his rising to address the House of Conmions. 87 INDIAN REPRESENTATIVES AT KING ED\5^ARD'S CORONATION. What an air of adventure and romance the Colonial and Indian representatives at the Coronation of King Edward VII. imparted to the thoroughfares of London during the summer of 1902! As one caught sight of them, even in the roaring Strand, it seemed to need but a tuining down the next by-street to find oneself lost in pathless forests and jungles where there were crocodiles and lions and tigers. Of them all, the Indian contingent was undoubtedly the chief attraction. In their Oriental splendour of attire — their silken, flowing robes, and many-foldod tux-bans of the most varied and exqiusite hues, thcii- lavish display of glittering jewels on hands and breixsts and in their ears — the home-staying Cockney had fascinating, if inscrutable, glimpses of mighty and fantastic India. The Indian military representatives — photographed on the Terrace, with Lord Valentia, one of the Unionist Whii)s, in their midst — were of an unexpectedly fine physique. There was nothing of the Eastern softness and frailty about them. Stalwart and wiry and soldierly men were they, and remarkably good-looking also. 88 MR. ERNEST GEORGE PRETYMAN. The adventurous spirit in England finds an outlet either in the Army or in politics. Mr. Pret}Tiiau, the son of a Canon of Lincoln Cathedral, has in both given vent to his courage and enterprise. He was a Captain in the Royal Artillery when he was left an inheritance by a relative, and quitting the Army he soon after entered the House of Commons. He was not long in the House before he became conspicuous among the younger Members of the Conservative Party below the gangway, as much by his attractive exterior and winning address, as by his clear, cogent, and sincere style of speaking. Soon he was invested with the responsibilities of office. In the BaKour Administration he was, first, Civil Lord of the Admiralty, and then Parliamentary Secretary to that Department. It needs a man of practical common-sense, and an indefatigable worker, to deal promptly and sagaciously with the multiplicity of affairs that come uji for settle- ment in the great department of the Admiralty, and, by general acknowledgment, Mr. Pretyman's sound- ness and sobriety of judgment were never at fault. 89 ^vi^u.^^ .^. yi^-^^* .^JC^^C- BLACK ROD'S KNOCK. The moment the usher's loud cry of "Black Rod" is heard from the lobby by the Serjeant-at-Arms in the House of Commons, he springs from liis chai:-, and hastening to the open door shuts it with an inhospitable clang in the very face of Black Rod, and secm-ely bolts it. Presently three faint knocks are heard. The Serjeant-at-Arms peers out through the grated peep- hole which, with a wooden slot, is fixed in tlie stout oaken door. He finds, with mild surprise, that the knocks were given by the ebony stick of the Lords' messenger. The petitionary appeal of that soft and humble "rat-tat-tat" it would be impossible to resist; and accordingly, at a nod from the Speaker, the door is flung open and in walks Black Rod to deliver his blameless message. What, then, is the meaning of this slamming of the door of the House of Commons in Black Rod's inoffensive face? Why must he wait submissively and humbly knock three times for admission to the Chamber before it is granted? It is a time-honoured and significant demonstration of the right of the representatives of the people to conduct their delibera- tions in secret, should they deem it necessary, and to shut their doors especially against the messengers of sovereigns or peers. These three solemn knocks of Black Rod on th(> door of the House of Commons in truth recall many momentous Parliamentary incidents in the long and bitter struggle for constitutional liberty. We may hear them only in fancy, but they thrill us like a trumpet call, and set the impulses of our ancestors stirring within us still. SIR RICHARD CLAVERHOUSE JEBB. The popular idea of the House of Commons is too often merely that of a body of men of conflicting political opinions. Such a conception of the House falls very far short of its due. It is something greater than that. Anyone who examines the composition of the Member- slaip of the House, as set out in the Parliamentary reference books, will see how representative it is, not only of the political opinions of the Nation, but of the Nation's intellect, learning, science, its practical experience, its business capacity and enterprise. Thus there is at the disposal of the House a vast and varied mass of knowledge and observation to draw upon in the discussion of the concerns of the Empire. High among the representatives of scholarship in the House was Sir Richard Jebb, one of the repre- sentatives of Cambridge University, and its Regius Professor of Greek up to the time of his death in December, 1905. In the consideration of questions of education, esjDecially, his trained intellect and erudite attainments were most valuable. The House always welcomed his' sootliing and persuasive contributions to its debates. 91 THE EARL OF HALSBURY AND ADMIRAL LEYGUE. It would be natural to expect strikingly contrasted types, of personality and of temperament, between an English Lord Chancellor and a French Admiral. How dissimilar are the qualities and characteristics of the two Nations ! How far apart, in circumstances and in thought, are the professions of the Law and the Sea ! Yet when the Earl of Halsbuiy and Rear-Admiral Leygue met at tlie liistoric entertainment of tlie oflicers of the French Navy by the Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall on tlie 12th of August, 1905, it was not so much points of difference as points of comparison that were fm-nished ; it was not a distinction but a harmony in individuality that was apparent, Hardinge Stanley Giffard, Earl of Halsbury, and three times Lord High Chancellor of P]ngland, was eighty years of age on that memorable occasion when the friendship of the two great neighboui-ing peoples was sealed in Westminster Hall. Nevertheless, he was in the fullest vigour, mental and physical. There is an axiom of the English Bar that a practitioner in the criminal courts never reaches the Woolsack. An exception to the rule is Lord Halsbury. While at the Bar he practised chiefly at the assizes, and was a Crown Prosecutor. But such are the virility of character and the powerful and versatile intellect of Lord Halsbury, that he was certain to succeed in any walk of life, no matter what difficulties might be in the way. Indeed, on that 12th of August, 1905, he looked as if he could step from the Bench of the Court of Chancery on to the quarter-deck of the Admiral's flagship, to take command of the Channel Fleet. THE DUKE OF ARGYLL. John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, Duke of Argyll, bearer of the ancient Celtic title, " Mac Cailean Mhor," — from Sii- Colin Campbell who was knighted in 1286 — chief of a great Highland clan, is an author and poet as well as a politician. He is better known as the Marquess of Lome. As such he married in 1871 Princess Louise, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, being at the time the Liberal Member for Argyllshire. For five years — between 1878 and 1883 — he filled the exalted post of Governor- General of Canada. He sat as a Liberal-Unionist in th^ House of Commons from 1895 until he succeeded to the dukedom on the death of his father in 1900. But though he was constant in liis attendance during those five years he never spoke in the House. Yet he is an excellent speaker, with much of the fancy and imagination of the Gael. He is also a thinking, earnest man, desirous of grappling with important questions, such as Imjjerial Federation, in which he is especially interested. But he felt the constraint of his position as son-in-law to Queen Victoria too deeply to go down into the political arena. 93 ^ / £^ /'^z STATUE OF RICHARD I. The memorial to King Richard the First, better known as "Cceur de Lion," in Old Palace Yard, is a striking example of equestrian statuary. It is tlie work of Marochetti, an Italian who lived in Paris, and, ha\'ing to fly for his part in the French Revolution of 1848, settled in London. There was little of the ruler of his people in King Richard. He was more the chivalrous knight-errant, wandering in quest of adventures to show his prowess at arms and his high-souled generosity and self-sacrifice. His darling ambition was to relieve the Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land from the oppressions of the Turk. In 1192 he led his gallant troops to the very walls of Jerusalem, only to be forced to turn home- wards again, so wasted were his followers by fighting and disease. Nevertheless, he was strong enough to be able to conclude a treaty wdth Saladin that for three years, three months, three days, and three hours pilgrims should have free access to the Holy Sepulchre. As he is depicted by the chisel of Marochetti, we see high purpose in his ardent face, and command and resolution which nothing can baulk. 94 SIR EDGAR VINCENT, K.C.M.G. Sir Edgar Vincent, who represented Exeter from 1899 to 190G, is an eminent financier wlio first started on an entirely different career. Like bis elder brother, Sir Howard Vincent, who began life as a soldier and became Director of the Criminal Investigation Depart- ment at Scotland Yard, he too, before finding his definitive and instinctive destiny in the application of the science of pubHc revenue and expenditure, ^pent five years in the Coldstream Guards. '' For six years he was Financial Adviser to the Government of Egypt. It was mainly owing to the reforms which he introduced that Egyptian finance was restored to prosperity, lie subsequently rendered a like service to Turkey. As Governor of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, he lifted Turkey out of its financial difiiculties, and directed it on tlie patli of economic progress. 9S t *