Then
Lord Drummond got up and begged that there might be silence. Mr.
Gotobed had come there to tell them his views,--and as they had
come there expressly to listen to him, they could not without
impropriety interrupt him. "That such will be the feeling of the
country before long," continued the Senator, "I think no one can
doubt who has learned how to look to the signs of the times in such
matters. Is it possible that the theory of an hereditary
legislature can be defended with reason? For a legislature you want
the best and wisest of your people." "You don't get them in
America," said a voice which was beginning to be recognised. "We
try at any rate," said the Senator. "Now is it possible that an
accident of birth should give you excellence and wisdom? What is
the result? Not a tenth of your hereditary legislators assemble in
the beautiful hall that you have built for them. And of that tenth
the greater half consists of counsellors of state who have been
placed there in order that the business of the country may not be
brought to a standstill. Your hereditary chamber is a fiction
supplemented by the element of election, the election resting
generally in the very bosom of the House of Commons." On this
subject, although he had promised to be short, he said much more,
which was received for the most part in silence.
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