PRESIDED AT HIS OWN TRIAL

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 54, 1 September 1934, Page 25

PRESIDED AT HIS OWN TRIAL

TO Sir John Trevor, as Speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of William and Mary, belonged the unhappy experience of presiding over a debate which resulted in the passing of a motion, declaring he had been guilty of a "high crime and misdemeanour," says the "Melbourne Age." He had accepted a bribe of 1000 guineas from the Chamberlain of the City of London to assist the passage of a Bill which aimed at redressing a flagrant injustice, by enabling certain orphans to obtain iheir shares of estates of which they had been deprived Cm the confusion caused by the revolution.which resulted in the flight of James 11.

Macaulay makes the following reference lo llie case in his "History of England":—"As soon as the report of the committee (appointed to inquire into the matter) had been read, it was moved that the Speaker had been guilty of a high crime and' misdemeanour. He had to stand up and put the question. There was a loud cry of 'Aye.' Tie called on the 'Noes,' and scarcely a voice was heard. He was forced to declare that the 'Ayes' had it. A man of spirit would have given up the ghost with remorse and shame; and the unutterable ignominy of that moment left its mark even on the callous heart and brazen forehead of Trevor. Had he returned to the House on the following day he would have had to put the. question on a motion for his own expulsion. He; therefore pleaded . illness, and shut himself up in his bedroom. Wharton soon brought down a feoyal messagej authorising the Commons to elect another Speaker." Sir John Trevor suffered from a physical affliction which to some extent disqualified him for the. Speakership. He had a pronounced squint, and members of different parts of the House were often equally confident of having "caught the Speaker's eye."