The Prime Minister, in his eloquent tribute to Mr. Speaker Lowther's services in the Chair alluded to the fact that for 600 years his family has been connected with the House of Commons.
Hugo de Lowther, Knight of the Shire for Westmoreland in 1905, was the first member of this ancient border family known to have been returned to Westminster. The Parliament in which he sat was the most important constitutional assembly up to that date. The representatives of the people then dealt with many important subjects—amongst others the impending subjugation of Scotland. They leven concerned themselves with the internal affairs of Ireland; two natives of the sister isle actually petitioning the King to be placed under English rale! No presiding j officer can be positively identified as having been chosen to guide over their deliberations, but ig must be remembered that the principal business of Parliament in medieval times was the consideration of petitions, to the exclusion of debate.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.