REPRESENTATION 



REPRODUCTION 



651 



than of repousse. Among the best existing pieces 

 of ancient Greek bronze sculpture some have 

 been beaten up (not cast), and are therefore of 

 the nature of repousse, work. A number of the 

 famous artistic productions notably those of the 

 16th century referred to under the head METAL- 

 WORK are executed in repousse. This art, by 

 which, in the hands of a master, work can be 

 executed with a delicacy, softness, and beauty 

 unattainable by any other process, was revived ( in 

 a true artistic sense) in France about the middle 

 of the 19th century. Some of the finest modern 

 works in repousse have been executed by Antoine 

 Vechte and Morel Ladeuil. One of the largest 

 olivets ever produced in repousse in England is the 

 Elclio Volunteer Challenge Shield. It is of iron, 

 6 feet high, and was designed by F. Watts, R.A. 

 Elaborate work in repousse is necessarily very 

 costly, especially if the metal employed is hard, 

 such as iron, copper, or silver, which is usually the 

 case when important designs are to lie executed. 

 But the process is also applied in Birmingham to 

 decorate comparatively cheap articles in Britannia 

 metal, which is soft and easily worked. 



Representation, in politics, is the function 

 performed by the elected members of legislative 

 and administrative bodies. Ancient democracies 

 were usually constituted on the principle of govern- 

 ment by the whole body of citizens ; at Athens, 

 for example, all important questions were decided 

 by the vote of the Ecclesia. In England, as in 

 many other countries, the freemen of township* 

 and sniall districts elected their own officers and 

 managed their own affairs ; the shiremoot of 

 early times was attended by the reeve and four 

 men from each township ; it was, in fact, a 

 representative assembly, properly so called. When 

 the smaller kingdoms were united under one 

 head the change was not at first favourable to 

 popular government ; it was impossible in those 

 days to bring together representatives from a wide 

 area ; and the conduct of national affairs fell into 

 the hands of the king and his councillors and the 

 great men of the realm. But feudal custom 

 required that a superior should consult his vassals, 

 or some of them, before levying any exceptional 

 aid ; under the influence of this idea courts or 

 assemblies of a more or less representative char- 

 acter were formed throughout western Europe. 

 In England the high court of Parliament (q.v.) 

 was organised on a feudal basis, like the neigh- 

 Imiiring parliament of Scotland ; but the principle 

 of representation was applied as early as the 13th 

 century to the shires and boroughs of England 

 generally. 



In framing or criticising the constitution of a 

 representative body we encounter practical ques- 

 tions of considerable interest. We nave to deter- 

 mine, first, who ought to elect, whether a property 

 qualification should be required, Whether owners 

 of property should have more than one vote, 

 whether manhood suffrage, household suffrage, 

 or a more limited franchise will give the Ix-st 

 n-iilN, and whether women ought to be allowed 

 to vote. We have then to consider how the 

 electors are to be grouped. The scheme of single- 

 menilier districts adopted in 1884-85 in the United 

 Kingdom results in the representation of all local 

 majorities; local minorities are excluded, and votes 

 may lie so distributed that a majority of memliers 

 is returned by a minority of electors. Mr Thomas 

 Hare ( I8(H>-91 ) was the author of a scheme of 

 proportional representation, in which the whole 

 country i treated as one constituency, each elector 

 has one vote, and any candidate obtaining the 

 necessary quota of votes is elected, while provision 

 is made for transferring votes from a candidate 

 who obtains more than the quota by enabling an 



elector to vote for several names in the order of his 

 preference. It is contended that this plan, if 

 adopted, would make the House of Commons a 

 perfect mirror of public opinion ; but the plan has 

 not yet attracted any great amount of popular 

 support. After the lapse of about a century the 

 ' one man, one vote ' shibboleth of Major John 

 Cartwright (1740-1824) has been recently revived. 

 In school board elections the voting for representa- 

 tives is cumulative ; the voter has a right to as 

 man}' votes as there are members to be elected, 

 and may give all his votes or as many as he chooses 

 to one candidate. Passing from election law, we 

 have to consider what are the duties of elected 

 representatives, and what should be their relation to 

 their constituents. Should they be paid ? Should 

 they have a long term of office, that they may 

 learn their business, or a short term, that they 

 may never forget their dependence on the electors ? 

 Are they delegates, bound to act on the instruc- 

 tions of those who appoint them, or is it their 

 duty to act on their own judgment, and to do 

 what is best for the general welfare ? The accepted 

 theory in England is that a member is not a 

 delegate ; his constituents have no power to with- 

 draw their mandate, and the member is bound to 

 act on his own judgment. But the highly organ- 

 ised parties of modern times leave very little 

 freedom to the individual representative ; he can 

 only secure election by pledging himself to vote 

 with his party on certain issues. 



For a full discussion of these and other questions, see 

 J. S. Mill, Rejtresentatire Government (1861; new ed. 

 1884); T. Hare, The Election of Parliamentary Repre- 

 smtatirr* ( 1859 ; new ed. 1865 ) ; Walpole, The Electorate 

 and the Legislature (1881). Many interesting political 

 experiments are described in Bryce's American Common- 

 wealth (1888). For the representative system of the 

 United States, see CONGRESS, PRESIDENT, UMTED 

 STATES. Representation was not the original system 

 even in republics (see REPUBLIC), but direct voting of 

 all citizens ; tins old system is ttill practised in some of 

 the smaller cantons of (Switzerland (q.v.). 



Reprieve (Fr. reprendre, 'to take back') is 

 the suspension of punishment for a crime, and is 

 used chiefly in connection with capital crimes. 

 The power of suspending all sentences at any time 

 is vested in the crown, or chief-magistrate of a 

 republic, at discretion ; and in Britain is exer- 

 cised through the Home Secretary (see SECRETARY 

 OF STATE, PARDON). There are also several 

 grounds on which the judge or a court reprieves a 

 sentence. Where the judge is not satisfied with 

 the verdict, or is doubtful of the validity of the 

 indictment, he reprieves the sentence in order to 

 give time for some application to the crown. When 

 the prisoner is a pregnant woman, and pleads that 

 fact, it is proper to put off the execution of the 

 sentence until after her delivery. When a woman 

 pleads her pregnancy as a reason for reprieve the 

 traditional practice is to empannel a jury of 

 matrons, and, if they bring in a verdict of ' quick 

 with child,' execution is stayed. Another cause of 

 reprieve is the insanity of the prisoner, for, if before 

 execution it appear the prisoner is insane, whethei 

 the insanity supervened after the crime or not, the 

 judge ought to reprieve him. A reprieve is usually 

 followed by remission or commutation of the pun- 

 ishment to which the prisoner has been sentenced. 



Reprisal is the retaking, from an enemy, 

 goods which he has seized, or tne capture from him 

 of other goods, as an equivalent for the damage he 

 has wrought. Letters of Reprisal are the same as 

 Letters of Marque. See LETTER OF MARQUE. 



Reprobation. See PREDESTINATION. 



Reproduction is the term applied to the whole 

 process whereby life is continued from generation 

 to generation. One of the characteristics of life is 



