MEMBERS AT PRAYER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 787, 9 April 1910, Page 9

MEMBERS AT PRAYER.

OLD CUSTOM IN THE COMMONS. It;is not-generally known that an unconventional prayer meeting, something after the-Methodist ; type, is held m the-House of Commons' every week, what is even ".less /known ia that the meeting has .been held during every Parliamentary; Session for the last-77 years." No one knows' who originated the idea, but tho-records of the proceedings,' which are faithfully noted each week, show that in tho year 1833 the well-known'Quaker,-Mr. T. FdwelL -Buxton, ,';ani'; |V thy Evangelicals,-.",','gife George .Groy and Mr. Za'chary Macau'leys' were in constant attendance. ■ One of. the: attenders in later years was Sir' John Kennaway, whose patriarchal:beard:and massivefig : i uro made him a striking personality in an assembly which-will, unfortunately, see him no more. Ho was invariably accompanied by... Colonel "Williams, a brother Evangelical, who . will .'doubtless bo often found in the quiet room during the present, session. '. ~' The prayer meeting isheld in.a room granted for the purpose . by, tho Ser-jeant-at-Arms, '■ and • is.;.- restricted to twenty miimtcg,.; The proceedings are very simple. At .each weekly meeting a president for the following week is chosen. On the day of assemblingTuesday, at 5 president for the day opens the meeting, reads a'portion of Scripture, and either offers an extempore prayer, or calls on one of tho members to pray; Two or, threo others offer short prayers, and the meetiug closes with the Benediction. During the last Parliament the ings were more numerously attended than in any provious Parliament, owing perhaps to the fact that so many members were Nonconformists. ' Among those-whoso places will, bo vacant are Sir James Duckworth, Mr. G. A. Hardy, Mr, Geo. Nichdlls, and Mr. T; H. Sloan. But there are still left among the Nonconformists..Sir George White, Mr. G. Hay Morgan, Sir 'J. Compton Eickett, Mr. J. Brace, and Mr. Stephen Collins. .Lord Kinnaird will, as heretofore, occasionally attend, and new member's of a religious turn of mind will doubtless join the small company, which rarely exceeds two dozen. Amid the multiplicity of legislative duties a meeting of this character may bo overlooked, and perhaps forgotten. In the quest for information, a "Daily News" representative accosted a member in the- House, one whoso name stands high in the religious and philanthropic world. ','1 bblievo there is such a-.meeting," he replied, ''but really.l don't know anything about it. I havo never been to it."