Speaker

Onslow.-The

emoluments of the chair at the close of the 16th century were so small that the natural trend of a lawyer's ambition was towards the better paid offices of his profession, and not until the reign of Charles II., when Sir Edward Seymour, an aristocratic Tory, was called to the chair, did the house revert to the practice of choosing a country gentleman to preside over its deliberations. Thus for more than a century and a half the direct road to the chair led through Westminster hall and not through the gateway of St. James's palace, as Sir Robert Walpole told Arthur Onslow when in early life he expressed a desire to become Speaker. His ambition was realized in 1728 and by com mon consent he is held to have been one of the greatest Speakers the house has ever known. He was the first to realize the supreme importance of the independence and impartiality of the chair, whereas most of his predecessors had been pluralists or expectant office holders. He raised the character of his position in the State by relinquishing the lucrative office of treasurer of the navy and contenting himself with the modest income derived from fees on private bills. His patriotic action contrasts very favourably with that of Speaker Grenville in the next century when, on be coming prime minister of "all the talents," he obtained the sinecure office of auditor of the Exchequer, worth £4,000 a year, for 4o years.

For length of service Arthur Onslow's 33 years in the chair easily holds the record, though Speaker Manners-Sutton remains to this day the only man who has been Speaker in seven successive parliaments, narrowly missing, by only ten votes, being chosen for the eighth time in 1835.

19th Century.-In

modern times one of the most conspicuous successes in the chair was Speaker Shaw-Lefevre (Lord Eversley) with whose appointment in 1839 the evolution of the non-partisan Speaker was all but complete. Nature had marked him out as the fittest representative of an assembly of English gentlemen and from the first he won the approval of all parties. He could call unruly members to order with a smile which disarmed anger, yet, when compelled to exercise a sterner authority, his manner could be both resolute and unbending. Lord John Russell said of him: "He was the best Speaker I ever knew. Where there was not a precedent he made one, adding so as to prevent any further discus sion, according to the well known practice of the House, a formula which pleased everyone." Shaw-Lefevre died in 1888, in his 97th year, at which date Speaker Peel had been twice called to the chair, in 1884 and again in 1886, and Speaker Lowther (Lord Ullswater) was already a member of the house. When Denison was chosen to succeed him and asked Lord Eversley if there was anyone he could call to his assistance in a difficulty he was told : "You must learn to rely entirely upon yourself." During the last year of his tenure of the chair Denison enjoyed the invaluable assistance of Sir Thomas Erskine May (Lord Farnborough), who became clerk of the house in 1871, but in his interesting diary privately printed in 1900, Denison has left it on record that he spent the first few years of his Speakership "like a captain of a steamer on the Thames, standing on the paddle box, ever on the look-out for shocks and collisions. The house is always kind and indulgent, but it expects its Speakers to be right. If he should be

found often tripping, his authority would soon be at an end." A list of Speakers, most of whom are separately noticed, from I600 is appended. The date of election is given in brackets: Sir J. Croke (i6oi). Sir T. Hanmer (1714).

Sir E. Phelips (1604). *Sir S. Compton (1715).

Sir R. Crewe (1614). (Earl of Wilmington).

Sir T. Richardson (162/). *IA. Onslow (1728).

*'Sir T. Crewe (1624). *Sir J. Cust (1761).

Sir H. Finch (1626). *Sir Fletcher Norton (1770).

Sir J. Finch (1628). (Lord Grantley).

Sir J. Glanville (1640). *C. W. Cornwall (1780). *Speaker in more than one parliament.

'Brother of Sir R. Crewe.

'Nephew of Sir R. Onslow, Speaker in 1708, and great-great-great grandson of R. Onslow, Speaker in the second parliament of Elizabeth.

Lenthall (1640). W. W. Grenville (1789).

H. Pelham (1647). (Lord Grenville).

Rev. F. Rous (1653). *41. Addington (1789).

Sir T. Widdrington (1656). (Viscount Sidmouth).

B. Whitelocke (1656. temp. Sir J. Mitford (i8oi).

locum tenens). (Lord Redesdale).

C. Chute (1659). *C. Abbott (5802).

Sir L. Long (1659). (Lord Colchester).

T. Bampfylde (1659). C. M. Sutton (1817).

W. Say (1660). (Viscount Canterbury).

Sir H. Grimston (1660). *J. Abercromby (1835).

Sir E. Tumour (1661). (Lord Dunfermline).

Sir J. Charlton (1673). *C. Shaw Lefevre (5840.

*Sir E. Seymour (1673). (Viscount Eversley).

Sir R. Sawyer (1678). *J. E. Denison (1857).

Sir W. Gregory (1679). (Viscount Ossington).

*Sir W. Williams (1680). *H. B. Brand (1872).

'Sir J. Trevor (1685). (Viscount Hampden).

H. Powle (1689). *A. W. Peel (1884).

P. Foley (1695). (Viscount Peel).

Sir T. Littleton, Bt. (1698). *W. C. Gully (1895).

*R. Harley (1701). (Viscount Selby).

(Earl of Oxford). *J. W. Lowther (1905).

J. Smith (1705). (Viscount Ulleswater).

Sir R. Onslow, Bt. (1708). *J. H. Whitley (ig2r).

W. Bromley (1710). *E. A. Fitzroy (1928).

*Speaker in more than one parliament.

'Speaker of the Long Parliament.

'Convicted of bribery and expelled. 1695.

'Afterwards Prime Minister. Was first Speaker of the Commons of the United Kingdom.

in seven parliaments.

The title of Speaker is also applied to the presiding officer of the various legislative assemblies in the British colonies, that of president being applied to the presiding officer of the upper houses-legislative councils, as they are usually called. In Can ada, however, the presiding officer both of the Senate and the House of Commons is termed Speaker. In the United States the Speaker of the House of Representatives is one of the most im portant officials in the government. For a full description of his powers see UNITED STATES : Constitution and Government. BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Stubbs, Constitutional History; J. A. Manning, Lives of the Speakers (185o) ; E. Lummis, The Speaker's Chair (i900) ; (U. S. A.) Hubert B. Fuller, Speakers of the House (5909). (A. I. D.) SPEARMINT (Mentha viridis), a species of mint (q.v.) used for culinary and other purposes, distinguished by its smooth sessile leaves and tapering flower-spikes. The flowers are pale blue, and appear from July to September. Spearmint has been introduced into the United States where it has become widely naturalized in moist waste grounds. The volatile oil from spear mint is also used as a medicine. See MINT; PEPPERMINT.