th of our purse, and our frankness, impudence and dexterity in
laying out the contents of the same. Our theory, written down in all
books and law-books, spouted forth from all barrel-heads, is perfect
purity of Tenpound Franchise, absolute sincerity of question put and
answer given;--and our practice is irremediable bribery; irremediable,
unpunishable, which you will do more harm than good by attempting to
punish! Once more, a very startling conclusion indeed; which, whatever
the soundest practical minds in Parliament may think of it, invites
all British men to meditations of various kinds.

A Parliament, one would say, which proclaims itself elected and
eligible by bribery, tells the Nation that is governed by it a piece
of singular news. Bribery: have we reflected what bribery is? Bribery
means not only length of purse, which is neither qualification nor the
contrary for legislating well; but it means dishonesty, and even
impudent dishonesty;--brazen insensibility to lying and to making
others lie; total oblivion, and flinging overboard, for the nonce, of
any real thing you can call veracity, morality; with dextrous
putting-on the cast-clothes of that real thing, and strutting about in
them! What Legislating can you get out of a man in that fatal
situation? None that will profit much, one would think! A Legislator
who has left his veracity lying on the door-threshold, he, why verily
_he_--ought to be sent out to seek it again!

Heavens, what an improvement, were there once fairly in Downing-street
an Election-Office opened, with a tariff of Boroughs! Such and such a
population, amount of property-tax, ground-rental, extent of trade;
returns two Members, returns one Member, for so much money down:
Ipswich so many thousands, Nottingham so many,--as they happened, one
by one, to fall into this new Downing-street Schedule A! An
incalculable improvement, in comparison: for now at least you have it
fairly by length of purse, and leave the dishonesty, the impudence,
the unveracity all handsomely aside. Length of purse and desire to be
a Legislator ought to get a man into Parliament, not _with_, but if
possible _without_ the unveracity, the impudence and the dishonesty!
Length of purse and desire, these are, as intrinsic qualifications,
correctly equal to zero; but they are not yet _less_ than zero,--as
the smallest addition of that latter sort will make them!

And is it come to this? And does our venerable Parliament annou