cunning  sophiBms  of  demagogues,  and  the  calm  reasoning  of
Btatesmen,  were  heard  by  turns.  Those  whose  patronage  and
whose  mercenary  prospects  of  rising  were  threatened  were
especially  exasperated,  and  insisted  that  their  rights  were
being  invaded.  No  bellicose  woman  at  Billingsgate  ever  de-
fended her  herring-stand  with  greater  lierceness,  or  greater
apparent  faith  in  the  righteousness  of  her  cause,  than  some  of
the  monopolists  of  patronage  brought  to  the  support  of  their
claim  that  justice,  good  poHcy,  and  the  stability  of  the  Eng-
Ush  constitution  itself  required  that  they  should  each  keep
a  toll-gate  to  the  public  service  ever  open  to  favor  and  shut
to  merit.  So  complete  was  the  discussion  that  subsequent
originality  has  not  been  possible ;  and  those  who  now  employ
stale  sarcasm  and  ridicule,  better  uttered  at  that  time,  must  be
pardoned.  Some  denounced  it  as  a  Chinese  system,  because
the  Chinese  were  said  to  have  originated  examinations  ;  not
remembering  that  the  same  reasoning  would  deprive  English-
men of  gunpowder,  the  compass,  and  the  art  of  printing.
