+ 1819 Sept. 30

Parl. Reform Bill.

Reasons

§.3. Eligible who

( ) Art. 6. (provisional – Certificates)

Question 1. Why allow of any such provisional Certificates? and eventual selection?

Reasons

1. Avoidance of Miselection.

But for such provision, in the view of excluding this or that person whose election they apprehended, persons of no reputation or of bad reputation might, of themselves, on some party consideration, or by the procurement of some rival Candidate, join and deliver, as it were in favour of the person in question for the very purpose of disgracing him a Recommendatory Certificate with their signatures; and in pursuit of this plan, if no more than one such Certificate were allowed, deliver in such thus insidious instrument this before any other had been delivered in by persons whose object were really, as well as professedly to promote the Election of the person therein mentioned.

Note that the task of selection as above would to the Members by whom the selection were made be obviously of rather an invidious nature: the number being, as above, a limited one, any of the Recommenders who were not included in it might be apt to feel more or less of disappointment and mortification. On this account it would be the interest, and thence naturally the wish, of proposed Members, that the requisite number of Recommenders should be made not by concert among their well wishers. Naturally speaking, Such accordingly would generally, if not universally, be the arrangement that would have place. But, depending altogether on free consent, legal regulation could not be employed to any use in the endeavour to secure the adoption of it.