266 
Gregory—Political Corruption. 
But in 1701, De Foe, dear to all men as the author of Robin¬ 
son Crusoe and his man Friday, complained that stock jobbers 
sold seats in parliament and that the regular price was 1,000 
guineas. In 1716, the Earl of Dorset said it was a notorious 
fact “that a great number of persons have no other livelihood 
than by being employed in bribing corporations.” 
In 1754, thirty-eight years later, Sir J. Barnard moved the 
repeal of the oath against bribery just prior to the elections in 
the interest of public morals, as it was merely the occasion of 
general perjury. In 1766, the borough of Sudbury publicly 
advertised its representation for sale. A year later, that Lord 
Chesterfield, whose most private family letters have been made 
very public and whose admirable public administration of Ire¬ 
land has been made very private, wrote that he had offered 
£2,500 for a seat in the parliament for his son, but the borough 
jobbers (then a well known class) laughed at him and quoted 
rates on safe seats at £3,000 at the lowest, many at £4,000 
and two Gr three that they knew at £5,000, and he adds: “This 
I confess has vexed me a good deal.” Still a year later came 
the famous “Spendthrift Election” where three Earls contested 
for their several candidates the county of Northampton. Lord 
Spencer is said in this election to have expended £100,000 and 
Lords Halifax and Northampton each £150,000. 
The result was a tie decided by toss in favor of Lord Spencer, 
who chose to seat a man from India. 
Lord Halifax was ruined and Lord Northampton cut down 
his trees, sold his furniture at Compton-Wyngate, went abroad 
for life and died in Switzerland. 
In the same year Oxford, that venerable seat of learning, of¬ 
fered to re-elect the sitting members provided they would pay 
some thousands of pounds bonded indebtedness of the corpor¬ 
ation. The members declined and complained to the house, 
and in consquence the mayor and 10 aldermen of Oxford were 
committed to Newgate but finally discharged with a rebuke 
from the speaker. However these indefatigable corruption, 
ists actually closed a bargain while in Newgate walls and sold 
their representation to two neighboring nobleman, his grace of 
Marlborough and Lord Abingdon, and the matter was laughed 
