“Order, order!” These are the words that are most frequently heard in the House of Commons. They run like a refrain, appealing, warning, and, at times, even menacing, through the babble and confusion of the Party conflict. “Order, order!” Members shout at each other with bitterness and defiance across the floor. “Order, order!” cries Mr. Speaker, when he observes any breach of decorum or rises to intervene in an altercation. A conspicuous object in the House of Commons is a large armchair of heavy oak, upholstered in dark green leather, at the Bar, raised a few feet above the level of the floor, just inside the swing-doors of the main entrance to the Chamber. It is the Serjeant-at-Arms’ chair. The Serjeant-at-Arms is the chief executive officer of the House of Commons. He it is who is charged with the duty of preserving decorum in the Chamber and its precincts, of executing the warrants of the House against persons it has adjudged guilty of breaches of its privileges or contempt of its dignity; and it is he who backs with force, when force is necessary, the “Order, order!” of Mr. Speaker. He sits in his chair, facing the Speaker, picturesquely clad in a black cutaway coat, open at the breast to show the daintiest of ruffles in the whitest of cambric (of which fops in the times of the Georges were so fond), knee-breeches, black silk stockings, and shoes with silver buckles; and, as the symbol of the power and authority of his office, a rapier in its scabbard is girt to his side. His voice is very rarely heard in the House. It is seldom necessary for the Speaker to give him an order in words, and a reply or explanation from him is scarcely ever needed. The Serjeant-at-Arms is appointed by the King personally. An officer of his Majesty’s Forces—alternately soldier and sailor—usually gets the position. He is styled “Serjeant-at-Arms in Ordinary to his Majesty,” and his duty is, as described in the patent of his appointment, “to attend upon his Majesty when there is no Parliament, and for the time of every Parliament to attend upon the Speaker of the House of Commons.” He has a salary of £1,200 and an official residence in the Palace of Westminster. The Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, who, wearing the same official dress as the Serjeant-at-Arms, takes turns at sitting on guard in the big chair at the Bar, has a salary of £800 a year, and also lives in the Palace rent free. There is also an assistant Serjeant-at-Arms, who usually attends to the administrative work of the office outside the Chamber. He has £500 a year and £150 as an allowance for a house. The department of the Serjeant-at-Arms costs about £14,000 a year, for, in addition to his deputy and assistant, there are also two door-keepers and eighteen messengers (recognized by their brass chains and badges of Mercury), who are his first reserves in the maintenance of order in the House.