Here and There in London

Here and There in London

Then I saw in my dream, that, when they were got out of the wilderness, they presently saw a town before them, and the name of that town is Vanity; and at the town there is a fair kept, called Vanity Fair. Not far from Westminster Abbey, as most of our readers know well, stands the gorgeous pile which Mr. Barry has designed, and for which, in a pecuniary sense, a patient public has been rather handsomely bled. Few are there who have looked at that pile from the Bridgeor from the numerous steamers which throng the riveror loitered round it on a summers eve, without feeling some little reverence for the spot haunted by noble memories and heroic shadeswhere to this day congregate the talent, the wealth, the learning, the wisdom of the land. It is true, there are menand that amiable cynic, Mr. p. 2Henry Drummond, is one of themwho maintain that the House of Commons is utterly corruptthat there is not a man in that House but has his price; but we instinctively feel that such a general charge is falsethat no institution could exist steeped in the demoralisation Mr. Drummond supposesthat his statement is rather one of those ingenious paradoxes in which eccentric men delight, than a sober exposition of the real truth. Mr. Drummond should know better. A poor penny-a-liner of a bilious temperament, without a rap in his pocket, might be excused such cynicism; but it does not become an elderly religious gentleman, well shavenwith clean linen, and a good estate. The House of Commons is a mixed assembly. It contains the fool of qualitythe Beotian squirethe needy adventurerthe unprincipled charlatan; but these men do not rule itdo not form its opiniondo not have much influence in it. It is an assembly right in the main. Practically it consists of well-endowed, well-informed business menmen with little enthusiasm, but with plenty of common sense, and with more than average intellect, integrity, and wealth. Still more may be said. All that p. 3is great in our land is there. It boasts the brightest names in literature, in eloquence, and in law. Our island-mother has no more distinguished sons than those whose names we see figuring day by day in the division lists. Nowhere can a man see an assembly more honourable, more to be held in honour, for all that men do honour, than the British House of Commons, to which we now propose to introduce the reader. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 32771
Author: Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
Release Date: Jun 11, 2010
Format: eBook
Language: English