, is much more feasible than this. This
might be done by passing an act of parliament by the authority of two
estates of the realm, to declare the house of commons useless. For my
part, I am far from thinking this so bold a step as by some it may be
imagined. Was not Rome a free state, though it had no house of commons?
Has not the British house of commons been incessantly exclaimed upon, as
corrupt and nugatory? Has not a reform respecting them been called for
from all quarters of the kingdom? I am much of opinion in the present
case, that that is the most effectual reform, which goes to the root.
Rome had her hereditary nobility, which composed her senate. She had her
consuls, an ill-imagined substitute for monarchical power. In these, my
lord, was comprehended, in a manner, the whole of her government. I
shall be told indeed that they had occasionally their _comitia_, or
assemblies of the citizens of the metropolis. But this is so far from an
objection to my reasoning, that it furnishes me with a very valuable
hint for the improvement of the English constitution.

Let the present house of commons be cashiered, and let the common
council of the city of London be placed at St. Stephen's chapel in their
room. These your lordship will find a much more worthy and manageable
set of people, than the representatives of the nation at large. And can
any sensible man doubt for a moment, which are the most respectable body
of men? Examine their persons. Among their predecessors I see many poor,
lank, shrivelled, half-starved things, some bald, some with a few
straggling hairs, and some with an enormous bag, pendant from no hair at
all. Turn, my lord, to the other side. There you will see a good,
comely, creditable race of people. They look like brothers. As their
size and figure are the same, so by the fire in their eyes, and the
expression in their countenances, you could scarcely know one of them
from another. Their very gowns are enough to strike terror into the most
inattentive. Each of them covers his _cranium_ with a venerable periwig,
whose flowing curls and voluminous frizure bespeak wealth and
contentment. Their faces are buxom, and their cheeks are florid.

You will also, my lord, find them much more easy and tractable, than the
squeamish, fretful, discontented wretches, with which other ministers
have had to do. There is but one expence that will be requisite. It is
uniform, and capable of an easy calculation. In any