GOLDEN RULES FOR MEMBERS OF THE

BRITISH LEGISLATURE.

I.

THE duties of a legislator demand wisdom, experience, knowledge of human nature, knowledge of the habits and wants of the people, and knowledge of the pre-existing laws in their relative connexions and practical operations. The effectual performance of the duties implies habits of investigation and business; courage and independence to bring forward new laws, or improvements of old ones; and intelligence and eloquence to maintain their propriety and necessity, or to support any opinions relative to subjects of discussion in the House, or its committees.

II.

The Houses of Parliament are arenas on which talent and ambition combat for distinction, power, and rank; consequently, all the passions of human nature are displayed in them. Presumption is repressed,-loquacity is not listened to,-talents excite detraction,activity arouses jealousy,-premature success envy,-low birth the contempt of the aristocracy,-common-sense talents undisciplined by regular education, the sneers of the learned professions and the graduates of Universities. -The old will not be led by the young,-and truth itself, on all subjects, belongs only to a party on one subject. In short, to attain the object of ascendancy,-patience, forbearance, perseverance, courage, self-denial, concession, and government of temper, must be combined with talents natural and acquired, and with an all-conquering industry both in attendance and study. One only in two or three hundred are so moulded as to succeed.

III.

In the commonwealth, the powers of the executive, the aristocracy, and the people, should be independent and in equipoise; the church,

and the law, should serve, and not govern; agriculture should be promoted as the staple, manufactures as the convenience, commerce as the source of wealth and luxury, and the liberty of the press as the fountain of knowledge and truth; while, in all, labour should find its due reward, disease sympathetic support, and old age, as the representative of that past generation from which the advantages of contemporary generations are derived, should be honourably and comfortably sustained. To balance these several portions of society, constitutes the moral, social, and political, duties of every able legislator.

IV.

Although members of parliament' are upon an equality with reference to the public, and to the power of their individual votes, yet parliament itself is a community in which the influence of a member is governed by the same considerations and prejudices as decide the influence of a man in general society. Good manners, winning address, sincerity of character, severity of application, and reputation for wisdom and discretion, are, therefore, essential to the success of every member

within the walls of parliament. Nor is the Lower House exempt from vulgar prejudices in favour of high birth: and Who was, and whois, the man? as well as, What is the man in talent and character? are questions which accelerate or thwart the ambition of a new member, till his standard is admitted, his level settled, and he becomes amalgamated with some party, and integrated with the House.

V.

No member of parliament ought ever to feel discouraged from attempts to do good by apparent difficulties of success. If he scatter good seed, it will in due time produce good fruit. Nothing that passes in parliament is buried under a bushel. The agitation of a sound question, however abortive at the time, sinks deeply into men's minds, and, by degrees, they become converts. Arguments do not at once produce equal conviction; and circumstances must combine, with reiterated attention, to atchieve a victory over self-love and pre-conceived opinions. Wilberforce laboured twenty years before he procured an Act to abolish the atrocious Slave Trade,

VI.

Speakers in the legislature are not wanted so much as honest men who are qualified by energy of character and habits of enquiry, to think for themselves. Not more than one in twenty, in each assembly, should aspire to the reputation of being an orator. The more salutary qualifications are-thinking soundly and independently, and voting honestly, and according to intellectual conviction and logical demonstration. Eloquent leaders of debates on both sides may, to a certain degree, illustrate a subject; but every man of character will, by personal study and sedulous enquiry, become qualified to think for himself, and to decide independently on his own views and examinations. To follow leaders like horses in a team, is to be ignominious in conduct, and contemptible in character.

VII.

Parliamentary friendships are heartless and hollow. Every man is either seeking to serve the interest of himself or his friends, or seeking to magnify himself in the eyes of his constituents and the public. If he is courteous to another man, it is with a view to promote his