y had freed themselves from "hereditary bonds." It may be
doubted, however, whether the tone of the committees was materially
deteriorated by their absence. Now, we have a great regard for the
members of the House of Commons collectively; and, were it on no other
account save theirs, we cannot help regarding the enormous
accumulation of railway bills for next session with feelings of
peculiar abhorrence. Last spring every exertion of the whole combined
pitchforks was required to cleanse that Augean stable: can Sir Robert
Peel have the inhumanity next year to request them to buckle to a
tenfold augmented task? In our humble opinion, (and we know something
of the matter,) flesh and blood are unable to stand it. The private
business of this country, if conducted on the ancient plan, must
utterly swamp the consideration of public affairs, and the member of
Parliament dwindle into a mere arbiter between hostile surveyors;
whilst the ministry, delighted at the abstraction of both friend and
foe, have the great game of politics unchecked and unquestioned to
themselves. The surest way to gag a conscientious opponent, or to stop
the mouth of an imprudent ally, is to get him placed upon some such
committee as that before which the cases of the London and York, and
Direct Northern lines were discussed. If, after three days' patient
hearing of the witnesses and lawyers, he has one tangible idea
floating in his head, he is either an Alcibiades or a Bavius--a
heaven-born genius or the mere incarnation of a fool!

Let it be granted that the present system pursued by Parliament, more
especially when its immediate prospects are considered, is an
evil--and we believe there are few who will be bold enough to deny
it--it still remains that we seek out a remedy. This is no easy task.
The detection of an error is always a slight matter compared with its
emendation, and we profess to have neither the aptitude nor the
experience of a Solon. But as we are sanguine that wherever an evil
exists a remedy also may be found, we shall venture to offer our own
crude ideas, in the hope that some better workman, whose appetite for
business has been a little allayed by the copious surfeit of last
year, may elaborate them into shape, and emancipate one of the most
deserving, as well as the worst used, classes of her Majesty's
faithful lieges. And first, we would say this--Do not any longer
degrade the honourable House of Commons, by forcing on its attenti