1818 Dece r 24

Parl. Reform Bill.

Dialogue

Preliminary View

Evils & Remedies

1 Evils

1

35

16

Inserendum

{Anti-Reformist. Proceed.

Reformist. I obey. Among Election evils such as are characteristic or say

appropriate I divide in the first place /at once/ into 1. Mis-Election. 2.

Non-Election. 3. Null Election.}

Anti-Reformist. Good: now I find myself at home {already}. Not that I remember to

have ever heard of any such Miss /Mis/ as Mis-Election. But I have heard and but too

much of other misses of the bad sort, such as Misconduct, and so forth /the rest of

them/: so that I believe I must allow you this one. But this division of yours how do

you prove that it is an exhaustive one? I thought that for proving a division to be

such, you had found it necessary never to divide the whole into more than two parts

at the same time? +

Reformist. Your /This/ recollection of yours does me honour /honours me/. My wish

was to have saved you trouble. When and where an Election takes place, either you

have an Election or you have none. If you have one either it is the right one or it

is a wrong one. To be /If it is/ the right one, that individual is the person elected

/put /placed/ into the seat/ who of all individuals that could have been placed in it

is the fittest. If so /yes/, there is no evil in the case: if not, here there is an

evil, comparative /comparatively/ at least if not absolutely such. comparatively at

least: absolutely if when in the House he either does nothing or does more mischief

than he does good: comparatively, if there be any other obtainable person that could

have done better.

+ Chrestomathia Part II