etc. Pause a moment, my
impatient friend, too long accustomed to the reckless haste of our
Republican assemblies. Do not, even in thought, tamper with the
Constitution. "The wisdom of our ancestors" has bequeathed another and
undoubtedly a better mode of arriving at the same result. Some member
quietly intimates to the Speaker that forty members are not present.
That dignified official then rises, and, using his cocked hat as an
index or pointer, deliberately counts the members. Discovering, as the
apparent result of careful examination, that there really is no
quorum, he declares the House adjourned and sits down; whereupon the
Sergeant-at-Arms seizes the mace, shoulders it, and marches out,
followed by the Speaker. Then, and not until then, is the ceremony
complete and the House duly adjourned.

This respect for traditional usage admits of almost endless
illustration. One more example must suffice. When the Speaker discovers
symptoms of disorder in the House, he rises in his place and says with
all suitable solemnity, "Unless Honorable Members preserve order, I
shall name names!" and quiet is instantly restored. What mysterious and
appalling consequences would result from persistent disobedience, nobody
in or out of the House has ever known, or probably ever will know,--at
any rate, no Speaker in Parliamentary annals has been compelled to adopt
the dreaded alternative. Shall I be thought wanting in patriotism, if
I venture to doubt whether so simple an expedient would reduce to
submission an insubordinate House of Representatives at Washington?

Like everything else thoroughly English, speaking in the House of
Commons is eminently practical. "The bias of the nation," says Mr.
Emerson, "is a passion for utility." Conceive of a company of gentlemen
agreeing to devote, gratuitously, a certain portion of each year to the
consideration of any questions which may concern the public welfare, and
you have the theory and the practice of the House of Commons. Of course
there are exceptions to this general statement. There are not wanting
constituencies represented by unfit men; but such members are not
allowed to consume the time which belongs of right to men of capacity
and tried ability. The test is sternly, almost despotically applied. A
fair trial is given to a new member. If he is "up to his work," his
name goes on the list of men whom the House will hear. If, however,
his maiden speech is a failure, "farewell, a long fa