GOVERNMENT. 



except freehold, for his own life, or for the life of 

 another, or for any lives whatsoever, or for any 

 larger estate of the clear yearly value of not less 

 than $, over and above all rents and charges 

 payable out of or in respect of the same, or who 

 shall be entitled either as lessee or assignee to 

 any lands or tenements of freehold, or any other 

 tenure whatever, for the unexpired residue, what- 

 ever it may be, of any term originally created for 

 a period of not less than sixty years, of the clear 

 yearly value of not less than five pounds, over and 

 above all rents and charges out of, or in respect 

 of, the same. 2. Is on the last day of July in any 

 year, and has during the twelve months imme- 

 diately preceding, been the occupier, as owner, or 

 tenant, of lands or tenements within the county, 

 of the rateable value of 12 or upwards. 3. Has 

 during the time of such occupation been rated, in 

 respect of the premises so occupied by him, to all 

 rates made for the relief of the poor in respect 

 of the said premises. 4. Has before the 2oth 

 day of July in the same year paid all poor-rates 

 that have become payable by him in respect 

 of the said premises up to the preceding 5th of 

 January. 



The Reform Acts for Scotland and Ireland, 

 passed in the session of 1868, differ in some im- 

 portant respects from that of England. By the 

 Scotch act, the borough franchise is conferred 

 upon every male person of full age, and subject 

 to no legal incapacity, who has been for twelve 

 months an occupier, as owner or tenant, of any 

 dwelling, unless at any time during that period 

 he shall have been exempted from poor-rates, or 

 shall have been in receipt of parochial relief within 

 twelve months. The lodger franchise, in Scotland, 

 permits any lodger to vote who has occupied in 

 the same borough separately, and as sole tenant, 

 for twelve months, a lodging of the clear annual 

 value, if let unfurnished, of ^10 or upwards, and 

 has claimed registration. In Scotch counties, the 

 ownership franchise is $, clear of any deduction 

 in the shape of burdens, with a residential quali- 

 fication of not less than six months. The Reform 

 Act for Ireland made no alteration in the county 

 franchise, but reduced that of boroughs to a ^4 

 rating occupation, qualified as in England. It is 

 now (1874) proposed to assimilate the county to 

 the borough qualification by adopting household 

 suffrage. With reference to these enactments, it 

 is ^yorthy of remark that, whilst a property qualifi- 

 cation is to a certain extent retained as the test 

 of fitness for the exercise of the franchise, not 

 only is there no distinction of less and more, 

 but owners and tenants are actually put on the 

 same footing. The provision is intended to 

 gratify the poorer classes, but it really inflicts a 

 very great injury on the more industrious portion 

 of the poorer classes themselves, by leaving the 

 man who, by his honest exertions and praise- 

 worthy self-denial, has succeeded in saving as 

 much as to purchase his house or tenement, in 

 precisely the same position as his idle and drunken 

 neighbour, who has continued to be a tenant. It 

 thus holds out no encouragement to industry and 

 frugality, and were it to cease to be counteracted 

 by the historical influences which are still so 

 powerful in this country, it might land us in a 

 revolution similar to that which has proved so 

 disastrous to continental nations. That the 

 sovereignty rests ultimately with the people, has 



always been the principle of our own, as of every 

 free constitution; but it is a novelty in English 

 politics, and a very unhappy one, borrowed from 

 other countries, which identifies the people with 

 the mere numerical majority, irrespective of 

 means, as a guarantee for industry and frugality, 

 or of education, as a guarantee for intelligence. 



No monarchy on the face of the earth inter- 

 feres so little with private conduct as that of 

 Great Britain. Under its administration, the 

 following important conditions are secured: 

 Liberty of speech within constitutional limits ; a 

 similar liberty of the press in all its departments ; 

 liberty of personal locomotion, no passports being 

 required ; liberty of carrying on almost every 

 branch of trade without inquiry or license ; liberty 

 of meeting in masses to be instructed by lectures 

 on political or other subjects ; liberty of meeting 

 to discuss any political topic, general or local ; 

 liberty of presenting petitions to parliament, and 

 memorials to the crown ; religious toleration, and 

 liberty for the performance of all forms of wor- 

 ship ; liberty of setting up schools to instruct 

 pupils in any branch of learning ; protection from 

 the law to life and property, without respect of 

 person ; privilege of trial by jury, and of forcing 

 on a trial for any alleged offence ; privilege of 

 being held as innocent till proved to be guilty ; 

 incorruptibility of judges, these being no way 

 exposed to intimidation either from power or 

 popular prejudice, an advantage which is lost the 

 moment that they are made elective, as in America, 

 where the taking of bribes has recently prevailed 

 to so fearful an extent as to render the successful 

 litigant too often the litigant who has the longest 

 purse. To these great bulwarks of civil liberty 

 may be added the absence of military conscrip- 

 tion ; the non-existence of fortified or walled 

 towns ; the promptitude with which riotous pro- 

 ceedings are quashed and the peace preserved ; 

 and the absence of any restriction to prevent the 

 most humble individual from rising to the highest 

 rank and consideration. The drawbacks on all 

 these advantages may be comprised in the follow- 

 ing circumstances : The existence of a set of laws 

 so complex as to be unintelligible, and so expen- 

 sive in administration, that legal redress, so far 

 as private interests are concerned, is almost 

 beyond the reach of the lower classes ; the too 

 prevailing treatment of all great questions in 

 parliament with reference to classes instead of to 

 the whole people ; and, till recently, the absence 

 of a thoroughly national system of education, 

 which might in time elevate the minds and morals 

 of the people, and altogether produce a more 

 wholesome social condition. Fortunately, these 

 circumstances are all of a nature which admit of 

 amendment ; and they will, as a matter of course, 

 be amended, as public opinion, enlightened by 

 knowledge, is brought to bear upon them. 



Repuolics. 



A republic or commonwealth is a form, of govern- 

 ment in which the people, or at least a large portion 

 of them, are acknowledgedly the source of power, 

 and have the direct appointment of the officers, not 

 only of the legislature but of the executive. There 

 are few of this class of governments in existence. 

 The oldest republics in the world are those of the 

 Swiss cantons ; each of which is a territory of 

 generally a few square miles in size, and inhabited 



