Lord of Session

“ The first part of our hopes is now almost accomplished, the Parliament are just upon meeting; and never, sure, did ever session open with greater expectation, or with more to do: Every thing is turned topsy-turvy; and the nation, thrown into convulsions, is waiting for the healing hand of its representatives. ”

“ Never was more dignity manifest in any deliberative assembly. A single glance at the council in session, from one of the side galleries, would at once impress the beholder not only with the majesty of the spectacle, but also with the mutual respect which the members exhibit toward each other, and the patient attention with which the speakers are listened to, often under a trying ordeal of several hours' continuous session. ”

“ He descends from a position of transcendent dignity to the obscurity of private life. His ministers are his secretaries, without influence, comparatively, in the halls of Congress,--neither made nor unmade by the legislature, although dependent on the Senate for confirmation, but once appointed, independent of both houses, and responsible only to the irremovable Executive, who can defy even public opinion, unless he aims at re-election, a unique government in the political history of the world. ”

“ You secretly ingross the power, while you decline the title of minister, and though you dare not be Chancellor, you know how to secure the emoluments of the office.—Are the seals to be for ever in commission, that you may enjoy five thousand pounds a year?—I beg pardon, my Lord;—your fears have interposed at last, and forced you to resign.—The odium of continuing speaker of the house of lords, upon such terms, was too formidable to be resisted. What a multitude of bad passions are forced to submit to a constitutional infirmity! ”

“ Let one session come close upon the other, and then we shall exclude every possibility of evil consequences. In France, during the old monarchy, when the king died, the moment the breath was out of his body the reign of his successor began, so that the cry, “The king is dead,” was followed instantly by another cry, “Long live the king!” Now I know not why, when this session expires, we may not at the same time announce its expiration and announce a new session.
The resolution was agreed to, and Congress adjourned accordingly. ”

“ Thank God that thou hast come near unto the Holy Threshold and art dear in the Kingdom of His Glory. Thou art president of an assembly which is a type of the assemblages of the Supreme Concourse and a reflection of the semblances of the Kingdom of God. With heart and soul, with entire devotion, supplication, humbleness and submissiveness, endeavor to promulgate the law of God and strive to diffuse the fragrances of God. Exert yourself to become the real president of assemblies of spiritual ones and a companion of the Kingdom of the Merciful. ”

“ Great are the Advantages which both the King and People may receive by a well-ordered Parliament; there is nothing more expresseth the Majesty and Supream Power of a King, than such an Assembly, wherein all his People acknowledg him for Soveraign Lord, and make all their Addresses to him by humble Petition and Supplication; and by their Consent and Approbation do strengthen all the Laws, which the King, at their Request and by their Advice and Ministry, shall ordain. ”

“ If the decision of any high council—except that of the Traveling, Presiding High Council—is unsatisfactory, an appeal lies to the First Presidency, who take such steps in the case as wisdom and the Spirit of the Lord indicate. ”

“ Laud, who had summoned convocation previous to the meeting of parliament, continued its sitting, after its dissolution, contrary to all custom; and its sitting was employed to pass a series of seventeen new canons of the most offensive and slavish kind. The public excitement was so great against the innovation, that the lord keeper Finch and some of the judges had to furnish a written opinion declaring the right of convocation to sit after the close of parliament, and a new commission was issued with the usual words "during the parliament" altered to "during our pleasure." ”

“ To my mind, the very conception of a Parliament of Religions, an assembly of the representatives of all the world's religions, to be held alongside of the greatest of World's Fairs, the bringing together at one time and in one place of the material and moral needs of mankind, is in itself a sign of the times in which we live, and is worthy of the great nation from which it emanates. ”

“ Under a renewed sense whereof, my spirit is led to acknowledge, that “great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” Even so. Amen.
In the spring of the year 1808, our yearly meeting, from an exercise in observing the many deficiencies, brought up in the reports from the several quarterly meetings, issued an epistle, or minute of advice and caution, to its subordinate meetings. And in order to strengthen and enforce the same, and to make it the more effectual to promote a reformation, appointed a committee to attend therewith. ”

“ The traveller, entranced by the power and eloquence of these leaders, could scarcely have failed to feel that the House of Commons was the most glorious assembly on earth, the incarnation of the highest political wisdom, the theatre and school of the noblest energies, worthy to instruct and guide the English nation, or any other nation in the world. ”

“ Let thy blessings, we beseech Thee, attend the Congress now convened in extraordinary session under extraordinary conditions which call for extraordinary thought, wise counsel, calm and deliberate legislation; that its resolves and all its enactments may spring spontaneously from loyal and patriotic hearts; that our defenders on land and sea may be amply supplied with the things which make for strength and efficiency. ”

“ This is the commission of a king—to be the representative on earth of the Father who is in heaven. Here is exercise for courage, for enterprise, for fortitude, for every virtue which elevates the character of a man, this is the godlike jurisdiction of a sovereign. ”

“ Whoever has taken a careful view of public proceedings, so as to endeavor to ground his speculations on his experience, must have observed how prodigiously greater the power of ministry is in the first and last session of a Parliament, than it is in the intermediate period, when members sit a little firm on their seats. The persons of the greatest Parliamentary experience, with whom I have conversed, did constantly, in canvassing the fate of questions, allow something to the court side, upon account of the elections depending or imminent. ”

“ In resuming your consultations for the general good you can not but derive encouragement from the reflection that the measures of the last session have been as satisfactory to your constituents as the novelty and difficulty of the work allowed you to hope. Still further to realize their expectations and to secure the blessings which a gracious Providence has placed within our reach will in the course of the present important session call for the cool and, deliberate exertion of your patriotism, firmness, and wisdom. ”

“ It is due however to historic truth, to record, that the superior powers of these great men were manifested only in debate. On the floor of the house, and during the first days of the session, while general grievances were the topic, they took the undisputed lead in the assembly, and were confessedly, primi inter pares. ”

“ Sir, the gentleman seems to forget where and what we are. This is a Senate, a Senate of equals, of men of individual honor and personal character, and of absolute independence. We know no masters, we acknowledge no dictators. This is a hall for mutual consultation and discussion; not an arena for the exhibition of champions. I offer myself, Sir, as a match for no man; I throw the challenge of debate at no man's feet. ”

“ From the legislature we follow our traveller to the Church,--the Established Church of course, for non-conformist ministers, whatever their learning and oratorical gifts, ranked scarcely above shopkeepers and farmers, and were viewed by the aristocracy as leaders of sedition rather than preachers of righteousness. ”

“ The great Consul-General, sitting on the chair by the side of the bed, felt as helpless as before, as ignorant as ever of what millions of simple people know—how to talk to those they love when the wings of Death are hovering over them. ”

“ Congress separate in two ways only, to wit: by adjournment, or dissolution by the efflux of their time. What, then, constitutes a session with them? A dissolution certainly closes one session, and the meeting of the new Congress begins another. The Constitution authorizes the President “on extraordinary occasions, to convene both Houses, or either of them.” I, 3. If convened by the President’s proclamation, this must begin a new session, and of course determine the preceding one to have been a session. ”

“ Now, as the Apostles, did not teach all nations, in their own persons, and were not to continue on earth, until the end of the world, it was manifest, that the commission was not to be confined to their persons, but was to be given to their office, that is, to them and their successors in office, who shall continue until the end of the world, to complete the great work of teaching all nations, which the Apostles first began. ”

“ When two ministers are found so humane, so virtuous, so excellent, as to study nothing but the welfare and deliverance of the people; when a king listens to such excellent men; and when a parliament, from the basest, most interested motives, interposes to intercept the blessing, must I not change my opinions, and admire arbitrary power? ”

“ The Master of the Rolls may be the soul of a great party, the head of a great party, the favourite tribune of a stormy democracy, the chief spokesman of a haughty aristocracy. He may do all that declamation and sophistry can do to inflame the passions or mislead the judgment of a senate. ”

“ It is a most common thing to endeavour to obtain for patrons and presidents of these societies, and for chairmen at the public meetings, persons of rank or wealth to attract the public. Never once have I known a case of a POOR, but very devoted, wise, and experienced servant of Christ being invited to fill the chair at such public meetings. ”

“ The Assembly "doth charge every Minister to be diligent in fulfilling his Ministry, to be holy and grave in his Conversation, to be faithful in Preaching, declaring the whole Counsel of God, and, as he hath Occasion from the Text of Scripture, to reprove the Sins and Error, and press the Duties of the Time ”

“ We can imagine when the council rose, that the angel who watched over the youth of our republic, and who had trembled for the result, clapped his hands for joy, and that the exultant sound, taken up by messenger after messenger, passed from hierarch to hierarch, until all heaven rang with the acclaim. ”

“ As the Convenor of such a fate-laden Conference, whose task is to facilitate the execution of the most far-reaching, the most challenging, and the most dramatic of all the enterprises destined to be launched by the followers of the Faith throughout the whole planet, your Assembly assumes a responsibility at once immense, soul-stirring and inescapable. ”

“ The timorous scruples of the monarch, the subtle contrivances of his counsellors, the blind resistance of the privileged classes, no longer presided over the public affairs. A great assembly, the faithful interpreter of general intelligence and conscience, shook off the shackles of the past which had only sustained itself with artificial props, and enunciated principles that must resolve the most important problems of political and social order. ”

“ At every public meeting the chief speaker is always “a jolly good fellow.” The man from Mars, reading our newspapers, would be convinced that every Member of Parliament was a jovial, kindly, high-hearted, generous-souled saint, with just sufficient humanity in him to prevent the angels from carrying him off bodily. ”

“ The keys of authority are conferred by revelation, and by the holy anointing, upon the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of the Church, who is the President over all the Saints throughout the world. In cases where it is inconvenient for him to attend, he has the authority to appoint others to officiate in his stead. ”

“ Assembly; “As for returning an answer, they have no power to write one line to any soul but as the Parliament directs; neither may they importune the Parliament for warrants to keep foreign correspondence. With what art and diligence that general one to all the churches was gotten, I know. You know this is no proper Assembly, but a meeting called by the Parliament to advise them in what things they are asked.” ”

“ Speaker feels like one who treads alone some banquet-hall deserted, whose guests are fled, whose garlands dead, and all but he departed. Only in this case they haven't arrived. Chaplain in his place, ready to say his prayers. Everything here but congregation. House, it is well known, thrilled with excitement over Parnell Commission Report. Throbbing with anxiety to debate it. Manages somehow to dissemble its feelings, smother its aspirations. ”

“ Now therefore, my lords, convened in this present parliament, under the most high and excellent majesty of our dread sovereign, to your honours is our exhortation, that ye would endeavour with all singleness of heart, love and zeal, to advance the building of the house of God, reserving always into the Lord's own hand that glory, which he will communicate neither with man nor angel, viz. ”