The Historical Vindication of the House of Lords. By Sir
William T. Charley, Q.C. (Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.) — We should like to see a quite impartial, non-partisan appre- ciation of the House of Lords. Its action in English politics has been very various. It has sometimes served the nation well ; at other times it has exercised a mischievous influence. Sir William Charley makes some undoubted points ; but he writes confessedly from a Conservative point of view, and his temper, pro hue vice anyhow, is not judicial. We may take as an instance the Slavery Question. What was the action of the Lords on this point ? All that we are told here, is that the Lords Spiritual advised its abolition long before that abolition took place. But what did the House do ? The fact is that the action of a Second Chamber, viewed as a whole, must often seem prejudiced and reactionary. The use of a drag is to make the wheels go slower, and very useful it is, but it causes no little friction and jar.
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