WILLIAM AND MART.

151

About the manner in which such a bill should have beenframed there will, in our time, be little difference of opinionamong enlightened Englishmen. They will agree in thinkingthat it would be most pernicious to open the House of Com-mons to all placemen, and not less pernicious to close thatHouse against all placemen. To draw with precision the linebetween those who ought to be admitted and those who oughtto be excluded would be a task requiring much time, thoughtand knowledge of details. But the general principles whichought to guide us are obvious. The multitude of subordinatefunctionaries ought to be excluded. A few functionaries whoare at the head or near the head of the great departments of theadministration ought to be admitted.

The subordinate functionaries ought to be excluded, be-cause their admission w'ould at once lower the character of Par-liament and destroy the efficiency of every public offiee. Theyare now excluded; and the consequence is that the Statepossesses a valuable body of servants who remain unchangedwhile cabinet after cabinet is formed and dissolved, who instructevery successive minister in his duties, and with whom it is themost sacred point of honour to give true information, sincereadvice, and strenuous assistance to their superior for the timebeing. To the experience, the ability and the fidelity of thisclass of men is to be attributed the ease and safety with whichthe direction of affairs has been many times, within our ownmemory, transferred from Tories to Whigs and from Whigs toTories. But no such class would have existed if persons whoreceived salaries from the Crowm had been suffered to sitwithout restriction in the House of Commons. Those commis-sionerships, assistant secretaryships, chief clerkships, whichare now held for life by persons wdio stand aloof from the strifeof parties, would have been bestowed on members of Parlia-ment who were serviceable to the government as voluble

CHAP

xix.

1692 .