NO-ONE had a high opinion of William Lenthall; even he didn’t, ordering on his deathbed that his monument should be a plain, stone-engraved vermis sum (I am a worm). Perhaps John Bercow will follow his example, though I hae ma doubts.

As Speaker at the time of the Civil War, Lenthall had it much rougher than Mr Bercow, who is merely facing calls to stand down after declaring that Donald Trump should not address Parliament and announcing that he (Bercow) voted Remain in the EU referendum.

Though Lenthall went down in history as a timid, malleable figure, he is remembered for the moment in January 1642 when Charles I stormed into the Commons looking for five MPs who had been impeding his wishes (and, he thought, had encouraged the successful Scottish invasion of Northumberland and County Durham during the Second Bishops’ War).

The King said, “I see the birds have flown”, before demanding to know where they were. Securing his own place in dictionaries of quotations, Lenthall replied: “I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here.” It’s an admirable summary of the Speaker’s job, and of the case against Mr Bercow.

That the Speaker, formerly a member of the Monday Club, is now thought a dangerous Leftie by Tories is a point in his favour, at least while there’s a Conservative government.

Helping MPs call the executive out on issues the Government finds awkward is the best service the Speaker can provide, and Mr Bercow seems to have been quite good at that.

Nor is he alone amongst MPs in being bumptious or spending a lot of public money on his decor, which will at least still be in his grace-and-favour apartments for the next occupant.

Many of us, no doubt, are glad to be spared a speech by President Trump, since almost everything he says is unintelligible, objectionable and untrue.

Members of the Commons (and the Lords, since Mr Bercow didn’t consult Lord Fowler) may also feel that but they didn’t direct him to say so.

The voters of Buckingham, Mr Bercow’s constituents, having been told by his own website that he must remain impartial, may wonder why he’s happy to give his views on the EU to students at Reading University, but not to them. Whether you agree with his views or not, the fact is that his position is dependent not on his not having any views, but on his not having any that are expressed.

Unlike Speaker Lenthall, Mr Bercow has a sharp eye for those with whom he disagrees and a tongue all too ready to upbraid them.

These are fine qualities when directed against the powers-that-be but, having survived a previous coup, Mr Bercow is in danger of forgetting that he is himself one of those powers.

Mr Trump’s presidency and Brexit are the most divisive and important current issues.

It’s precisely because we expect other politicians to spell out their stance on them that they are those, above all, on which the Speaker should remain silent.