Page:Notes on the Anti-Corn Law Struggle.djvu/84

 down with the candidate and secured his election. Shortly after the same Member of Parliament applied to me again. I now applied to a friend of greater age and experience than myself, and he named a man as the "best parliamentary man" he knew. The Member of Parliament opened a correspondence with him. In the negotiation some hitch occurred which put a stop to it. It is instructive to note the result.

The man first referred to became an eminent and formidable parliamentary speaker and debater; but he entered Parliament a poor man, and he died a poor man, after a long parliamentary life. The second man referred to became the most eminent parliamentary counsel ever known and made a large fortune by the exercise of his profession. The extent of his fortune may be partly indicated by the fact that during the last year he practised at the (parliamentary) bar he made £37,000—thirty-seven thousand pounds.

It would appear from this that the ability exercised by this parliamentary counsel fetched a higher price than the ability strictly called parliamentary ability. At the same time in justice to many men who seek a seat in Parliament, it may be said that the money price of parliamentary ability is not