The National Register.
London, England, 1808-05-08 00:00:00

MAY S.

bis legs. But a man may attend his duty at the House of Com-
mons, without attending his duty in the House of Commons :
and this desirable object he'effeCts,• by going up stairs to Bel-
lamy's, where he may eat and drink as long as he chases, so be
be but sober enough to get down stairs when the division is
called. A man who did not know the ways of the place; would
be apt to imagine that by not hearing the arguments advanced
in the debate, a Member might chance to be incapacitated for
giving his vote in a proper way : but in order to obviate that
difficulty, those Members who understand their business well,
make up their minds about their vote before the matter is dis-
cu3sed at all. They know that the wisdom of any individual
is weak : that the more heads there are, the greater is likely to
he the sum of good counsel : and therefore, modestly distrusting
their own capacity, they always take care to vote on that side
where the majority of opinions demonstrate- that the truth must
be situate. A man accustomed to the place will also he careful
at what moment he leaves the House. It would not he prudent,
sinless he meant to make an evening of it, and stay away from
the counting of the House till the disison, it would not, I say,
be prudent for him to go up to his wine, while any thing enter-
taining was before the Speaker : hut when a dull doctor or a
country gentleman gets up, and attempts to declaim or to crack
jokes, then, then, the experienced Member will retire to Bel-
lamy's, and make amends by wine for the absence of wit.
What I have been telling you hitherto applies to those Mem-
hers
who go to the House for the mere purpose of voting : but
there are some who have a taste for politics, and they stay
quietly in their places and attend to what goes firward, in order
that they may do some good to their country, and make a re-
spectable figure at the county meetings. And there are others
who follow debating as a trade, and who of course are obliged
to he constantly in the shop. Such are some of the Ministers,
and other ingenious men, lacking advancement: all these.are
constantly on the watch for the faults of their adversaries, in•
order that from those faults they may prove their own superior
Me to the sweets of office. These are the people that protract
.
the debates till three or four o'clock in the morning, and instead.
of showing bow the country might be managed right, show only.-
where their adversaries have managed it wrong.
You will observe, on entering the House, a remarkable par-
tiality which is entertained by many worths, men for that side•
of the building which is the right-hand side of the Speaker.
When I first came to town I thought it seemed very odd 'that so
many more people should sit on that side than on the other,.
when the places did not seem at all warmer, nor the seats at ail
softer. • Nay I heard, that though a set of men, who had once
been Ministers and sate on that side too, were all gone over 'to
the opposite benches, this party that loved the right-hand places,
gave up even the pleasure of associating with their old com-
panions, and unaccountably staid behind. I asked my father
what was the reason of this, and he answered : Those are called
the Treasury Benches. I did not understand his answer at the
time : but when I had lived a little !muter in the world, I ac-
knowledged that it was quite satisfactory. Believe me,
dear R. your's always, C.