A Post of Great Antiquity and Dignity - Invitations that are Commands - "Mrs. Speaker" and Her Privileges - The Importance of Her Position - Some Apt Sayings of the Present Speaker - Some

Quaint Perquisites of the Speaker

Perhaps the best story told of Mr. Lowther is one concerning the time when he was canvassing for election to Parliament. He met a farmer one day, and adopted sweet persuasive measures to the usual end.

"Vote for you?" exclaimed Hodge, who had secretly cast in his lot with the opposing faction. "Vote for you? I would sooner vote for the devil!"

"But supposing your friend doesn't stand," said the candidate suavely, "will you give me your vote in that event?"

The Speaker, however, has admitted, on more than one occasion, that he owes much of his popularity to his wife, the daughter of the late Mr. and Lady Mildred Beresford-hope. She is a woman who takes the keenest interest in liter a t u r e and politics, and who, as s o m eone once said, belongs to that type of kindhearted, serious-minded women to whom one goes when in need of helpful advice. Here is a story which illustrates Mrs. Lowther's kindliness of heart. She is devoted to animals, and at her husband's country house, Hutton John, Penrith, has quite a number of canine pets.

The Speaker: The Hon. J. W. Lowther Copyright, Haines

Some time ago, while she was staying at Biarritz, a dog happened to get into a drain near the seashore. The poor animal was given up for lost, as the hole in which it had been caught was at least ten feet deep. The authorities were appealed to, but they d eclared they could do nothing to save it. But Mrs. Lowt her was bent upon saving the animal's life. Without telling anyone, therefore, she employed two men, who dug throughout the whole afternoon, finally res-cuing the dog, which in another few minutes would have been washed away through the flooding of the drain.

The private dining-room in the Speaker's house Photo, Haines

Mr. Lowther and his wife, who have two sons and one daughter, are as popular in the neighbourhood of Penrith as at St. Stephen's. They take the keenest interest in local affairs, and the greatest pride in their beautiful home. It was while opening a village flower show at Threlkeld that Mr. Lowther confessed that as soon as he got away from London for his holiday he set to work with pencils and water colours to do his best to represent some of the beautiful scenes of nature around his country home.

Reference has already been made to the Speaker's salary; but the fact is not generally known that he is further entitled to 1,000, known as equipment money, 2,000 ounces of plate immediately on his election, two hogshead of claret, and £100 a year for stationery. There are other quaint privileges, too, connected with the office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. One of these is the gift every year, from the Master of the Buckhounds, of a buck and a doe killed in the Royal preserves. The buck duly arrives in September, the doe coyly following in November. Later in the year, the Speaker receives another tribute, the donors on this occasion being the Clothworker's Company of London, who send a present of a generous width of the best broadcloth, which usually becomes ' Mrs. Speaker's" perquisite.

The Speaker and his wife also have a State coach, which is said to have been made in the time of Cromwell. At one period in parliamentary history this carriage was used regularly on the occasion of high public ceremonials in which the ' First Commoner "took part, but in recent times it has rarely been employed-for that purpose.

The last time it was used seems to have been when Mr. Speaker Gully set forth in 1897, on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee, to pay an official visit of congratulation to Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. The Speaker, with his chaplain and private secretary, and the sergeant-at-arms, with the mace poking out of the window, climbed into the creaking and swaying coach, which weighs over five tons, and it was with difficulty that a couple of huge brewers' dray horses could drag the ponderous vehicle out of New Palace Yard. The coach Was repainted in 1887 for the service held in celebration of Queen Victoria's Jubilee, but finally Mr. Speaker Peel decided to go to the Abbey on foot.