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.
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