628 The Baron Court of Little Brought-inS 



rasa of the subject, by effacing all former knowledge before they 

 begin to work upon it. It often happens that they get hold of a 

 subject which does not need the labour of this preparation, inasmuch 

 as not one of them knows a single word about it, and then they are 

 all in glee and glory and sure to cut a capital figure. After they 

 have purged themselves of all former knowledge of the matter, by 

 nearly the same kind of purgation which clears them of bribery and 

 corruption, the next grand step in their proceeding is to destroy the 

 knowledge that anybody else may have of it. One cannot help 

 being struck with perfect admiration at those preliminary clearances; 

 because they make sure that the subject shall come fairly before 

 the court and the country, without any prejudice arising from former 

 views right or wrong ; and there cannot be a more commendable 

 way of doing business than coming to the study of any matter with 

 minds altogether unwarped by prejudice. 



The manner of bringing a matter before the court is usually whafct 

 is called by " Resolution," which means that they have already re- 

 solved in their own minds either to adopt the said matter and make 

 it their own affair, or to turn it out of doors without ceremony. 

 There is evidently nothing wrong in this; for they have already 

 cleared themselves of all possible knowledge of the subject; and it 

 ought to be held to be good both in law and equity, that they who 

 are in utter ignorance can never be wrong, seeing that wrong is 

 nothing but a departure from the right, and they who have no know- 

 ledge can have no right to depart from. The real resolution of the 

 court does not generally come out on the first blush of any business, 

 because that may be thought a want of courtesy ; but some member 

 reads a paper stating that such and such a matter is to be brought 

 forward, but stating it without argument ; and generally speaking 

 the members present say " aye" to his proposal, and pack him off to 

 see if he can find out some sharp-nosed lawyer who may help him 

 to a glimmering of the words that he is to bring before them. The 

 lawyer takes down from his shelves a great and greasy vocabulary 

 of "adverbs and other expletives, and makes a mess of slices of this 

 and of the common dictionary of the language, just as one would do 

 in making a sea-pie, or a firkin of sour krout, but more like the lat- 

 ter because there is a great deal of cabbage in it. 



This being done, and the lawyer being satisfied, and having re- 

 placed^his vocabulary on the shelf, the member trudges off to the 

 house with the same strut of importance as a goose does when enceinte 

 of a mature egg ; and if he happens to belong to a flock of the 

 genus, if you were in the house, you would hear them cackling in joy- 

 ful concert upon the occasion : and if there happens to be an adverse 

 flock in the house, they cackle too. 



Now comes the first blush of the real resolution ot the court. Up 

 rises the member, and delivers himself of his something, with many 

 sweet words of gloss and cozenage as to how useful and important it 

 would be. There are no limits to the hyperbole and exaggeration, 

 which is not only admissible but customary upon such occasions ; and 

 though there is hardly as much substance in the matter as would 

 serve for a fiddle-stick, you may hear the introducer of it boasting 



