TEXT 37: THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR
The English Civil War was a struggle of the Parliamentarians against the Royalists. The Royalists fought bravely, but were eventually outmatched by the Parliamentarians. The latter won several battles, and finally at Naseby 1645, the king's forces were completely defeated.
Cromwell was now leader of the whole Parliamentary forces. Seeing that his cause was lost, the king gave himself up, and was imprisoned in the Isle of Wight. Finally he was brought to trial in London for having made war on his people and for being an enemy of his country. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. At his trial he behaved nobly and firmly, refusing to defend himself before a court which, he said, had no power to try him, and he received the death sentence with a calm courage. He was beheaded outside the Whitehall palace. Whatever may have been his faults in life, he bore himself like a real king in his last moments.
Cromwell now became ruler of England, not as king but as "Protector of the Commonwealth", and for ten years he ruled England firmly but well. He could be merciless — his treatment of Ireland is one of the blots on his character — yet in an age that was bitter with religious intolerance he was nobly tolerant.
It was he who really united England, Scotland and Ireland, who enforced justice and order at home and made England stronger and more respected abroad than ever, and if he at times acted like a tyrant, he did it because in this, as in the execution of Charles, he saw that this was the only means of bringing order and peace in England. His rough nature, like his stern face, did not inspire affection but his strength, his unshakeable honesty and his sincere religion made him respected as one of the greatest Englishmen.
TEXT 38: THE HISTORY OF SPEAKERSHIP IN BRITAIN
The Speaker acts as Chairman during debates, and sees that the rules laid down by the House of Commons for the carrying out of its business are observed. The Speaker must preserve order in the House. It is the Speaker who selects (or calls) Members to speak. And it is the Speaker who acts as the spokesman for the House on ceremonial and formal occasions — as for instance, when an address of congratulation was presented to the Queen on the occasion of her Silver Jubilee in 1977. Nowadays such occasions are usually happy events; but in past centuries a Speaker might have been called upon to deliver to an autocratic and even despotic Sovereign a message which might be much less welcome — as, for instance, when the Commons disagreed to raising a tax for the royal revenues. In fact, nine Speakers in older times are known to have died a violent death.
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The Speakership dates back under its present title to 1377 when Sir Thomas Hungerford was appointed. The Speaker was often, up to the seventeenth century, an agent of the King, though as stated above, some Speakers encountered difficulties when reporting the view of the Commons to the Monarch. During the Civil War, however, the struggle between Crown and Parliament was reflected in the attitude of Speakers to the King. When King Charles I came to the House in order to arrest five Members for treason, the Speaker ordered him to withdraw.
After the Restoration of the Monarchy, Speakers were usually associated politically with Governments and often held an office in the Government. By the mid-nineteenth century, the concept of the Speaker being above any party became the norm.
TEXT 39: THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
It is hard to imagine what the House of Commons would be like if the Speakership had not evolved in something like its present form, so central to the House's whole way of life is the direction and guidance it receives from its chairman.
The Speaker acts as Chairman during debates, and sees that the rules laid down by the House for the carrying on of its business are observed. It is the Speaker who selects (or calls) Members to speak. He or she acts as the House's representative in its corporate relations with outside bodies and the other elements of Parliament, the House of Lords and the Crown. The Speaker is also responsible for protecting the interests of minorities in the House.
It is obviously essential that debates should be conducted in an orderly way, and unlikely that the course of debate would flow smoothly if there were not some way of regulating who was to speak. The selection of those who are to speak is therefore a very important one for the Chair, and one which has to be handled with tact and discretion. In a debate, official spokesmen or women for Government and Opposition must take part, as well possibly as those for the minor parties, those Members with constituency interests, those who specialise in the subject under discussion and those simply with a general interest. The Speaker, therefore, has to balance all these requirements when working out who should be called.
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At the beginning of certain debates, the Speaker may decide to invoke the "short speech" rule, thus limiting individual speeches to a maximum often minutes. The Speaker must preserve order in the House, and ensure that its rules of debate are observed.
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