All who had
filled the office of Commander-in-Chief; and all who, having commanded
an army or a fleet, had been thanked by Parliament for military or
naval successes. All who had held, during ten years, first-class
diplomatic appointments. All who had been Governors-General of India
or British America, and all who had held for ten years any Colonial
Governorships. The permanent civil service should also be represented;
all should be senators who had filled, during ten years, the important
offices of Under-Secretary to the Treasury, permanent
Under-Secretary of State, or any others equally high and
responsible. If, along with the persons thus qualified by practical
experience in the administration of public affairs, any representation
of the speculative class were to be included- a thing in itself
desirable- it would be worth consideration whether certain
professorships, in certain national institutions, after a tenure of
a few years, might confer a seat in the Senate. Mere scientific and
literary eminence are too indefinite and disputable: they imply a
power of selection, whereas the other qualifications speak for
themselves; if the writings by which reputation has been gained are
unconnected with politics, they are no evidence of the special
qualities required, while if political, they would enable successive
Ministries to deluge the House with party tools.
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