The Libellous Parallel of Augustus Tomlinson.
"We enter our career, Mr. Nabbem, as your embryo ministers enter parliament,—by bribery and corruption. There is this difference, indeed, between the two cases:—we are enticed to enter by the bribery and corruption of others,—they enter spontaneously, by dint of their own. At first, deluded by romantic visions, we like the glory of our career better than the profit, and in our youthful generosity, we profess to attack the rich solely from consideration for the poor? By and by, as we grow more hardened, we laugh at these boyish dreams,—peasant or prince fares equally at our impartial hands; we grasp at the bucket, but we scorn not the thimble-full; we use the word glory only as a trap for proselytes and apprentices: our fingers, like an office-door, are open for all that can possibly come into them: we consider the wealthy as our salary, the poor as our perquisites. What is this, but a picture of your member of parliament ripening into a Minis-
