12  lEyperimcntal  XeQisIatton
steam  engine,  of  gas  lighting,  of  electric  telegraphs,
of  submarine  cables,  of  electric  lighting,  or  of  any
other  great  improvement,  we  should  see,  in  like
manner,  that  the  wisdom  of  Parliament  has  had
nothing  to  do  with  planning  it.  From  the  first  to
the  last  the  rule  of  progress  has  been  that  of  the
ancient  nursery  rhyme—try,  try,  try  ;  and  if  at
first  you  don’t  succeed,  try,  try,  try  again.
To  put  the  matter  in  the  strongest  light,  let  the
reader  consider  what  he  would  say  about  a  proposal
that  Parliament  should  decide  arbitrarily,  by  its
own  wisdom,  concerning  any  great  impending
improvement  :  take,  for  instance,  that  of  tramways
and  steam  tramcars.  It  is  quite  conceivable  that
steam  tramcars  will  eventually  succeed  so  well  as
to  replace  horse  conveyance  to  a  great  extent.  All
main  highways  will  then,  of  course,  be  laid  with
tram-rails.  But  what  should  we  think  of  the
wisdom  of  Parliament  if  it  undertook  to  settle  the
question  once  for  all,  and,  after  taking  a  score  of
Blue  Books  full  of  evidence,  to  decide  either  that
there  should  be  no  steam  tramcars,  or  that  steam
tramways  should  be  immediately  laid  down  between
all  the  villages  in  the  kingdom  ?  The  House  of
Lords  did  take  the  former  course  two  seasons  ago,
and  prohibited  the  use  of  steam  on  tramways,
because  it  might  frighten  the  horses.  In  the  next
session  they  felt  the  folly  of  opposing  the  irresistible, ­
  and  expressly  allowed  the  experimental  use
of  steam  on  tramways.