Prime Ministers and Some Others: A Book of ReminiscencesRussell, George William Erskine
History
Prime Ministers and Some Others: A Book of Reminiscences
Russell, George William Erskine
Great Britain -- Biography
Lord Charles Russell held the Serjeancy till 1875; and at this point
I had better transcribe the record in _Hansard_:
* * * * *
_Monday, April_ 5, 1875:
Mr. Speaker acquainted the House that he had received from Lord
Charles James Fox Russell the following letter:
HOUSE OF COMMONS,
_April_ 5_th_, 1875.
SIR,
I have the honour to make application to you that you will be pleased
to sanction my retirement from my office, by Patent, of Her Majesty's
Serjeant-at-Arms attending the Speaker of the House of Commons.
I have held this honourable office for twenty-seven years, and
I feel that the time is come when it is desirable that I should
no longer retain it.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
CHARLES J. F. RUSSELL,
_Serjeant-at-Arms_.
THE RIGHT HONBLE. THE SPEAKER.
_Thursday, April_ 8, 1875:
Mr. DISRAELI: I beg to move, Sir, that the letter addressed to
you by Lord Charles Russell, the late Serjeant-at-Arms, be read
by the Clerk at the Table.
Letter [5th April] read.
Mr. DISRAELI: Mr. Speaker, we have listened to the resignation of
his office by one who has long and ably served this House. The office
of Serjeant-at-Arms is one which requires no ordinary qualities; for
it requires at the same time patience, firmness, and suavity, and
that is a combination of qualities more rare than one could wish
in this world. The noble Lord who filled the office recently, and
whose resignation has just been read at the Table, has obtained our
confidence by the manner in which he has discharged his duties through
an unusually long period of years; and we should remember, I think,
that occasions like the present are almost the only opportunity we
have of expressing our sense of those qualities, entitled so much
to our respect, which are possessed and exercised by those who fill
offices attached to this House, and upon whose able fulfilment of
their duties much of our convenience depends. Therefore, following
the wise example of those who have preceded me in this office,
I have prepared a Resolution which expresses the feeling of the
House on this occasion, and I now place it, Sir, in your hands.
Mr. Speaker, read the Resolution, as follows: "That Mr. Speaker
be requested to acquaint Lord Charles James Fox Russell that this
House entertains a just sense of the exemplary manner in which he
has uniformly discharged the duties of the Office of Serjeant-at-Arms
during his long attendance on this House."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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