1800. ] 
will can at much on the reprefentative, and 
through him on the law? Is not the fifth an 
unjuft attempt, to brand with ixfamy hired 
fervants? Finally, may not thefe reftrictions 
become a caufe of inftability to the Conflitu~ 
tion, and excite the excluded claffes to com- 
bine for its fubverfion ? 
To the fyftem of univerfal fuffrage it may, 
however, be objeéted; 3. That it intrufts 
power to the ignorant, who will ufe is un- 
wifely, i e. not conformably to the intereft 
of the greater number: and 2. That it in- 
truits power to the poor, who will ufe it to 
the overthrow of property, i.e. to the op- 
preffion of the few 5 who cught however, to 
be tolerated in their poffeifions, becaufe the 
confifcation of weaith, and its confequent 
non produdtion, can only throw Sill further 
out of reach of the multitude the fimpleft 
comforts. 
In the prefent ftate of fociety thefe objec- 
tions are, perhaps, valid againft Univerlal 
Suffrage, if combined with immediate dele- 
gation, with dire revrefenration; but, if 
combined with intermediary delegations, with 
gradationed reprefentation, they are furely in- 
valid: “becaufe the choofers, the intervening 
body, being the real electors, efficient power 
wil! thus be conferred neither on the unwife, 
‘nor on the uprich. Suppofing it fafe to in- 
truf% the feletion of reprefentatives to houfe- 
holders, paying ten pounds yearly rent, and 
shat there were in Great Britain and Ireland 
tco.oco fuch houfeholders, can it fignify to 
the ftate, whether thefe 100,000 perfons are 
impowered to chovfe by the fuffrage of 
_3,0c0,000 adult males, or by any other 
means ? But it fignifies much to the lower 
clafles to have the privilege of conferring 
this power by their fuftrage. It is of impor- 
tance to the comfort of a poor family that a 
relation, as it were of a client and patron, 
fhou'd fubfift between it and fome perfon fur- 
rounded by the conveniences of life, through 
whofe exertions, in cafe of leifure, difficulty, 
want, or ficknefs, it may obtain work, ad- 
vice, relief, or accommodations. With the 
inciezfe of luxury and taxation, with th¢ 
decay of the ieligious fpirit, charity declines 
and felfifinefs fpreads : fome new means then 
of making themfelves valuable to their fupe- 
riors muft be beftowed on the poor, if they 
are to retain their former Share of notice and 
protection: the law-giver will not eafily find 
a better mean than Univerfally Suffrage, 
Hume is indeed of opinion, that 10,000 
perfons are a bafis large enough for any free 
government: but he has produced in contra- 
diétion the inftance of Poland, whofe nobles 
were more numerous; and he might have 
quoted the conftiiuents of the proteCtorate- 
parliaments, who, from their fewnefs and 
want of fufficient connexion with the people, 
were unable to withitand the inglorious Re- 
fiuration. He might too have quoted the pre- 
fJent fate of this ifland, when many more 
than 10,0c0 perfons are in the adtual receipt 
A Contribution to the Theory of Reprefentation, &e. 935 
Jo 
of falaries from the ftate. Such a bafis ther 
infufficiently fecures ftability ; and may too 
ealily be biaffed ro betray the people. 
Some Englith clubs defire to exclude frona 
fuffrage lunatics and criminals ~-Why even 
thefe reftrictions ? Two or three votes, more 
or lefs, are of no confequence to the even! of 
an election, where fuffrage is almo% univer- 
fal. Jf thefe fhould decide an eledtion, the 
merit of the competitors muft previowfly have 
appeared to the people nearly equal. Bat 
the occurrence of a man’s name confined for 
lunacy in the litt of citizens, tends to pro- 
voke a fcrutiny into the grounds of his com- 
mitment. Wave his relatives (their antago= 
nifts will afc), ia order to feize his DrOPETTY » 
invented Or magnified his difeafe? Or do 
they conceai his recovery? Thefe very in= 
quirics will prevent and refit abufe. Again, 
the occurrence of a prifoner’s name in the lift 
of citizens, if he be confired for*debt, may. 
“ 
recommend him toa patronage that fhall re- 
ftore his labour to the community. His de- 
fence, if he be as yet only accufed; his par~ 
don, if he be condemned; are not unlikel 
to refult from that attention to the fuffzrings 
of citizens, which an ele€tion always brings 
on, Befides the pofitive confent of a culprit 
to laws by which he is about to be tried, or 
has been fentenced, is a fine tribute to the 
juttice of civil inftitution, which ought not 
to be reje€ted. The right of fuffrage- thea 
would prove a real proteétion to the perfonal 
liberty both of lunatics, debtors, and crimi- 
nals, and therefore ought not to be withheld, 
even from them, ; 
When the Rockingham adminiftration rem _ 
ftricted the ele€tive franchife in this country, 
a theoretical principle was advanced in par= 
liament, that no dependents ought to haye 
fuflrage ; that revenue officers, foldiers, fer- 
vants, journeymen, women, on account of 
their neceflury difference for the will of 
others, may juftly be difqualified from voting. 
Can it be equitable to the patron to deprive 
himof the natural political influence which 
would accrue from the voices of his depen- 
dents? Is the manufa@urer, who advances 
weekly the wages of fub@ftence to a hundred 
Journeymen, to be defrauded of the confe- 
quence natural to his utility, and to be le- 
velled on days of eletion, in point of inpor- 
fance and weight, with the man who main- 
tains only himfelf? The fcheme for allow= 
Ing votes to houfeholders exclufively, is no 
doubt more hefile to the ariftecracy of 
wealth, than univerial fuffrage ; but it is not, 
therefore, more expedient. 
LV. Une primary aflemblies: fha!l make 
a lik of the citizens in each handred, and 
year'y on a fixed day fhall infcribe therein 
the names of thofe who have attained the 
age of 24, altce receiving their oath of al- 
legiance. No one may become an elector 
(either a voter or a choofer) at 25 years 
of age, unie’s previoufly inrolled in this 
Lik 
7 Abe We No 
c1VIC 





