or intellectual faculties of man.' And he concludes that progress is measured by the opportunity and its

use.

It will be remembered, that the general election of 1857 afforded the advocates of the Chinese war a signal triumph. It was not alone the voice of small constituencies; some of the largest were even more remarkable for the manner in which they received and rewarded peaceful counsels. Whether in the late war with Russia the vital and material treasures of the nation have been vainly spent to sustain upon a throne an effete dynasty, to uphold the symbol of a cruel and intolerant creed, and perpetuate a social condition inimical to civilisation; or whether it was the act of that deep and profound wisdom-that insight which is foresight-that study of history, which is philosophy teaching by example—that long experience of the dealings of nation with nation, which in humbler stations is gathered of the conduct of man to man, and which may enable statesmen of the highest order to gaze almost with prophetic eye into the future, and see to guard against other, perhaps distant, but more fatal evils-are questions which this age will scarcely solve; but there is no doubt that in this country the multitude, so far as they were heard, approved the sacrifice. Whether that sacrifice was made to the balance of power, to national interests, national pride or rivalry, or whether to the genius of war, there is no denying that the holocaust was freely offered, and that the altar was thronged with votive worshippers. The late discourse in which peace and justice were displayed as the true wisdom of nations as of men, * Buckle, History of Civilisation, vol. i. p. 161.

might have been heard with delight and applauded with enthusiasm, but that temporary emotion affords only slender reason for the hope that the lesson is the more deeply engraved on the popular mind.

“Hosanna' now-to-morrow, 'crucify,'

The changeful burden still of their rude lawless cry."

Some misgiving may well be felt even in the mind of the orator and teacher himself, whether there will in electoral majorities be any sure anchorage for the doctrines that lead to peace and tranquillity, when he observes that of the many assemblies which have since met, all ready to grasp the electoral power he would give them, how few have accepted its higher and holier uses.

It is by a concentration of the political strength of the advocates of peace-of all those who believe it to be inconsistent neither with the dignity nor the security of a great people, and that it may be safely built on a policy-open, frank, and just towards all, that they will acquire their due weight. They may rely on that theory which has, "if any theory has-borne the wear of time, and seen empires rise and set, the eternal theory that Truth is better than Falsehood, and that man was made to be upright." This kingdom contains forty thousand ministers of the gospel of peace; perhaps, of all these, not a hundred have had in the existing system any opportunity of giving such votes as expressed their abhorrence of unjust wars,—perhaps, not one has by his vote produced the smallest effect on the result of any election, nor would their votes have any more weight in the most perfect system of geographical divisions which the contemplated Reform Bill may put forward.

*Westminster Review, vol. xiii. N.s. p. 417.

On the other hand, there are many who, rejecting all electoral divisions, desire to preserve some of the small boroughs as the avenues for the representation of special interests. A tabular statement, published some time ago, shews the population of the represented boroughs, beginning at the most, and ending at the least populous. The twelve last places on this list are :-Arundel, Honiton, Ashburton, Lyme Regis, Thetford, Totnes, Harwich, Dartmouth, Evesham, Wells, Reigate, and Richmond, which may be taken as fair examples. What classes, it may be asked, do the electors of these boroughs represent, of what opinions are they the exponents, what interests do they protect? What have these unfortunate voters done, that they should be put forward in so prominent a place as the few men whose judgment in the choice of legislators may be more safely trusted than that of the great body of their countrymen? It is a position which is almost certain to expose their wisdom to doubt, and their virtue to danger. In several of these towns, so far as they appear to have any decided opinions, the majority appear favourable to the ballot, as, perhaps, might naturally be expected. The representatives of those boroughs who are deserving of their high trust, would, no doubt, be elected under a different system. High rank, accompanied by character, talent, industry, and patriotism, is sure to be esteemed and welcomed. People look to the aristocracy for those whom they are ready to regard as their natural leaders.* But it is difficult to see in what respect any particular class or interest in the nation would suffer, if the twelve boroughs above named ceased as such

*Westminster Review, vol. i. N.s. p. 26.

to exist. It would be a curious speculation to take the political history of any of the smaller boroughs, and, following the votes of its representatives for the last half century, to ascertain what distinctive opinions or feelings the action of its electors has been the means of imparting to the legislature.

If it be the object of any party to preserve the small boroughs, either with or without the ballot, for the purpose of securing what they may deem the advantage of reserving some seats which shall be accessible to pecuniary influences, a more honest, and a not less effectual course, would be at once to propose that a certain number of seats should be put up to auction, and that the State should have the benefit of the purchase money.

It is not, however, any part of the system now proposed, to deprive any of these boroughs of their just weight in the political system of the country. On the contrary, as in the case of the contributory boroughs before referred to, every elector they contain will have his electoral privileges for every good purpose largely extended. Like the other electors of the kingdom, instead of being confined within the narrow boundaries of their respective boroughs, they will be enabled to seek for concurrent views and opinions in the kingdom at large. Modern facilities and habits of locomotion have gone far "to remove national and provincial antipathies, and bind together all the branches of the human family. In the seventeenth century, the inhabitants of London were, for almost every practical purpose, farther from Reading than they now are from Edinburgh, and farther from Edinburgh than they now are from

Vienna." But it is probable that many, if not most of the voters, will add their votes to those of their townsmen and neighbours, especially when the chief causes of jealousy and discord are taken away. Contiguity of place produces a tendency to union. It will always assert its influence. It is certain to affect more or less the conduct, and control the ties of social and political life, but it is not, therefore, necessary that it should tyrannize over them. The destruction of a city in China affects us less than a broken limb happening before our eyes. It is a happy provision that our sympathies are most excited where they are most useful. But in the wider relations of national life, it is desirable that we should be governed less by impulse and more by reason, -less by merely proximate, and more by general and universal causes. It is better to trust to the qualities of the person, than to the contiguity of place. Geographical limits, made the sole basis of political action and association, is not the development of a power, but the aggravation of a national incapacity.

* Macaulay, Hist. of England, vol. 1, p. 379.