1819 May 15

I Disfranchising II Boroughmongers Apology.

Disfranchisement

§.2[?] […?]disfranchised

3

1. As to the mode /that one to which it confines itself of the two modes/ in which the sinister influence may be and is applied. Such I say is the effect of this inadequate application, that the evil thus complained of is[?] the only one might be thus compleatly eradicated removed and the state of the representation and the condition of the county in consequence instead of being bettered rendered so much the worse

Suppose all Borough-rights /Elections/ extinguished: and for example the faculty of filling the seats transferred to the Hundreds or other Territorial districts in any degree larger, in which those Boroughs are respectively situated. In this case either terrorism would be compleatly substituted to bribery, or in addition to terrorism, bribery to an unlimited amount perhaps to a greater one than Crassus[?] could continue the persons[?] of the individuals by whom the bribes were received being to an extent more or less considerable changed – together with the amount of the money given to each in the way of bribe. As to the power therefore no change would be produced other than a change for the worst.

2 Even admitting that terrorism is not more mischievous than bribery or even that of the two modes of producing unfree and spurious votes, namely terrorism and bribery, bribery is the only one that is pernicious, – even admitting that for the purpose of the argument, still the effect of the term[?] Borough-mongering would be /is/ to produce deception, since it does not place the alledged evil on its true ground.

For the seats in question suppose none of them ever sold: whether possible or no, suppose for the purpose of the argument the matter so arranged, that it were become visible /manifest/ to all men that no seat could ever be sold. Where would be the benefit? Not any. The seats would pass from possessor to possessor like entailed Estates. They would continue in the same families with a degree of permanence equal to that with which landed property at large does so: for I suppose it would not be proposed by any body to give to the /this/ continuance any greater degree of permanence.