224 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



render it a truly representative Upper Chamber, thus 

 making it acceptable to most Liberals, and even to many 

 Radicals ; while, by preserving its ancient name and 

 prestige, and by giving it both greater dignity and a more 

 important part in legislation than it now possesses, the 

 proposed reform might be upheld as truly conservative, 

 and receive the support of the majority of the Conserva- 

 tive party. 



It is clear that any such fundamental reform of the 

 British Constitution as is now advocated by advanced 

 Liberals should proceed on the lines of evolution rather 

 than on those of revolution. Instead of abolishing the 

 House of Lords we must modify, reform, and elevate it ; 

 and we must do this in such a manner as, on the one 

 hand, to bring it into general and permanent harmony 

 with the House of Commons ; while, on the other hand, it 

 is rendered so select, so dignified, so representative of all 

 that is best in the British Peerage, past, present, and to 

 come, that a seat in the Upper Chamber will become a 

 more coveted honour than the insignia of the Garter, a 

 higher dignity than a ducal coronet. It is, I think, 

 essential to the successful carrying out of any such great 

 reform that it should be initiated in the House of Lords 

 itself, and simply accepted or rejected by the House of 

 Commons. The discussion of its principles and methods 

 should take place in the country at large, rather than in 

 Parliament. The peers must be well informed as to the 

 character and amount of change that will satisfy the 

 people and bring about that substantial harmony between 

 the two branches of the Legislature that is essential to 

 good government ; and it is with the hope of contributing 

 towards the peaceful settlement of this great question 

 that I now propose to set forth what appear to me to be 

 the main principles on which such an important reform 

 should be founded. 



The two great anomalies of the present House of Lords 

 are, first, its hereditary character; and, secondly, the 

 presence in it of the bishops of the Church of England, 

 who thus have a voice, and often a very important influ- 

 ence, in making or rejecting laws which affect the whole 



