xiii A REPRESENTATIVE HOUSE OF LORDS 227 



the component States of the Union as units, each State 

 returning two senators, irrespective of population. In our 

 counties or shires we possess a series of such areas which in 

 many respects correspond to these component States. Each 

 of them has a very ancient individuality ; many of them 

 were British, Celtic, or Saxon kingdoms ; and most of 

 them preserve to this day distinctive peculiarities of speech 

 or of customs. And the feeling of county unity or clan- 

 ship survives, as seen in the friendly rivalry of county 

 cricket and football clubs and of the volunteer forces ; 

 while birth or residence in the same county often consti- 

 tutes a bond of sympathy between strangers who meet 

 abroad. And this individuality of our counties is likely 

 to be increased rather than diminished by the further ex- 

 tension of local self-government, offering fields for social 

 experiment and for healthy rivalry in all matters involving 

 the interests and well-being of their populations. It must 

 always be remembered that our counties are not modern 

 arbitrary divisions, but extremely ancient territories, often 

 differing greatly in physical features, and, to a correspond- 

 ing degree, in the character, interests, and occupations of 

 their inhabitants. There is, therefore, ample reason for 

 treating them as equal units, and giving to each an equality 

 in choosing members of the Upper House. 



The counties of the United Kingdom, reckoning the 

 three ridings of Yorkshire as separate counties, are almost 

 exactly a hundred in number ; and, giving to each two 

 representative peers, we should have a house of about two 

 hundred members amply sufficient for all purposes of 

 legislation, but almost too large to be chosen from the 

 limited number of existing peers, who are a little over six 

 hundred. This difficulty, however, might be easily 

 obviated by making all knights and baronets of the 

 United Kingdom eligible for election to the House of 

 Lords, those elected to be thereupon created life-barons, 

 thus preserving the titular character of the House, while 

 offering a more ample field for the selection of men of 

 real eminence. 



Provision might also be made for the admission of two 

 representatives of each of our self-governing Colonies, 



Q 2 



