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am indeed a most humble suppliant. I know the great value of the words of wisdom uttered by the mitred occupants of seats in the pleasant Westminster Chamber, and hesitate to pen one unworthy word against the prelatic bench. It was a Bishop of Rochester, I think, who said "that he did not know what the mass of the people had to do with the laws but to obey them;" and we are all aware how ably Archbishops and Bishops are in the habit of vindicating the claims of the labouring classes to political enfranchisement.
There are some Lords who, from their special position, ought not only to listen to the people, but who might fairly be expected to advocate the popular cause. I mean those who have risen from comparatively low estate by means of a most honourable profession to the judicial bench, and so have gained their baron's title; but even here are found a large minority who have eaten party dirt in their path to national dignity. The senate chamber of a nation should be the place of assemblage of the élite of the nation. No hereditary legislators should crowd its narrow limits, but it should be filled by life peers chosen for their manhood, for their intellect, for their courage, for their patriotism, for their devotion to their country's welfare. Our House of Peers should not be a gilt sham, gaudy in its outside pretension and worthless in its intrinsic value; it should be an assembly of men ennobled by their genius; titled by their endeavours to alleviate human misery, and to redress human wrong; of men famous in science, art, and literature, and whose decorations should not be the tinsel of stars, lace, and ribbons, but the more enduring fame which should keep their memories dear long after their bones had rotted in the grave.
My Lords, I pray you stand not any longer between the people and political liberty. Your traditions are of obstinate obstructiveness. Forego your old policy and be just. Abandon your old tactics and be generous. The people desire peace, not strife. Each hour wasted in out-door agitation means less bread earned for the wife and family at home. I entreat you, my Lords, prolong not the conflict till the popular patience is entirely exhausted. Forget that you are lords, and meet your fellows like men, and in such a meeting the wrongs of the past would be forgotten, and the hopes of the future would alone be regarded. In the past
