Lord Stanley said less than Mr. Disraeli, but perhaps what
he did say meant more. He answered to the toast of "The House of Commons," and claimed for it that in one respect it differed from any other legislative assembly "that ever existed in the world," —it was the only unpaid legislative body. (Surely Lord Stanley said or meant "representative," and not "legislative," and was not quite accurate even then.) Again, it gets through a far greater amount of business than any other legislative assembly, —as Lord Stanley fears, too much. Finally, it shows more justice and fair play to those who address it than any such body that he knows. All these things are true, but the House of Commons should be compared with itself in other times, and not with assem- blies that have never had either its dignity or power. Comparing the House of Commons with former Houses of Commons, there is too little ground for anything like self-congratulation.
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