On Monday the late Speaker, Mr. Peel, announced his resignation
of the Chair with the eloquence and good taste which is habitual with him. No man living knows so well how to be calm, stately, solemn, without being in the least ridiculous. He has to perfection the art of being dignified
and yet not pompons. The last words spoken by Mr. Peel to his " brother-Metubers and comrades" were of special interest: —" I would fain hope that by the co-operation of all its Members this House may continue to be a pattern and a model to foreign nations, and to those great peoples who have left our shores and have carried our blood, our race, our language, our institutions, and our habits of thought to the uttermost parts of the earth. I would fain indulge in the belief and the hope ; and as I speak with the traditions of this House and its glorious memories crowding on my mind, that hope and that belief become stronger and more empha- sised, though with both hope and belief I would couple the earnest but humble prayer that this House may have centuries of honour, of dignity, of usefulness before it ; and that it may continue to hold not a prominent only, but a first and foremost position among the legislative assemblies of the world."
