Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/323

Rh intent that it should be spent in bribery, or who shall pay money in repayment of any money wholly or in part expended in bribery. Persons so offending are guilty of a misdemeanour (in Scotland, of an offence punishable by fine and imprison ment), and shall be liable to forfeit the sum of 100 to any person who will sue for the same, together with costs. Sect. 3 extends the offence (1) to persons who before or during an election shall receive or contract for any money, Sec., for voting, or refraining, or agreeing to vote or to refrain from voting ; and (2) to persons who, after the election, receive money, &c., on account of any person having voted or refrained, &amp;lt;fec. Such persons shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and forfeit XI 0.

Treating is defined in Sect. 4. Every candidate who gives, procures, or pays for any expenses incurred for meat, drink, or entertainment, or provision to or for any person in order to be elected, or for being elected, or for the purpose of corruptly influencing such person to give or refrain from giving his vote at an election, &c., shall be deemed guilty of treating, and forfeit 50 to any person who shall sue for the same ; and every person corruptly accepting such meat, drink, &amp;lt;fcc., shall be incapable of voting at such election. Persons found guilty of bribery, &c., or from whom penalties as above mentioned have been recovered, shall be struck off the list of voters by the revising barrister. Prosecutions and actions under the Act must be begun within one year. Other sections of the Act prohibit giving cockades to voters at elections, or supply ing them with refreshments on account of their having polled or being about to poll. Any candidate for a county, city, or borough found guilty by an election committee of bribery, treating, or undue influence by himself or his agents shall be incapable of being elected or sitting in Parliament for such county, city, or borough, during the Parliament then in existence. Up to 18G8 disputed elections were dealt with by committees of the House of Commons, but the Parliamentary Elections Act (31 and 32 Viet. c. 125) has transferred the jurisdiction to Her Majesty s judges (see ELECTIONS). The report of the judge is to have the same effect as the report of an election committee under the old law ; and if he reports that corrupt practices have extensively prevailed, a commission of inquiry may be issued under 15 and 16 Viet. c. 57. Candidates reputed by the judge to be guilty of bribery shall be incapable of being elected to the House of Com mons for seven years, and during the same period may not (1) be registered as voters ; or (2) hold office under 5 and G Will. IV. c. 70, or 3 and 4 Viet. c. 108, or any municipal office; or (3) hold any judicial office, or act as justice of the peace. Other persons found guilty of bribery after having had an opportunity of being heard suffer the same disquali fications. Similar provisions against bribery, &c., at munici pal elections are contained in the Act 35 and 3G Viet. c. 60. If the election commissioners, appointed under 15 and 16 Viet. c. 57, report the extensive prevalence of corrupt practices, bills may be brought in for the dis- franchisemerit of the constituency. Bridgewater, Bever- ley, Sligo, and Cash el were so disfranchised in 1870. Four boroughs Totnes, Reigate, Great Yarmouth, and Lancaster were disfranchised by the Representation of the People Act, 1867, for corrupt practices. In the case of a vacancy in a constituency where corrupt practices have prevailed at last election, the House may disfranchise it indefinitely, either by a resolution to that effect or by negativing the motion for a new writ. The judges manifested great repugnance to the new jurisdiction conferred on them by the Elections Act, and vigorously remonstrated against it during the passage of the measure through Parliament. It was feared that the purity of the bench might be sullied by being brought into close connection with political contests. Public opinion, however, had distinctly condemned the House of Commons Election Committees, which where necessarily anything but judicial in character, and were, besides, tainted with the suspicion of being frequently actuated by political motives. Many petitions have now been tried by the judges, and in a manner which has given great satisfaction to the country. One consequence of the new system which might have been anticipated is the introduction of more precise definitions into the phraseology of election law. &quot; Agency,&quot; for example, and &quot; valuable considera tion,&quot; have been treated by the judges according to the ordinary meaning of the words in courts of law, and candidates have been unseated for the acts of persons, technically their &quot;agents,&quot; but personally unknown to them, and for gifts, generally reputed laudable, but legally falling within the definition of bribes. Bribery flourishes most vigorously in the English borough constituencies ; and the secret voting introduced by the Ballot Act seems to have had very little effect on the practice, on account of the fidelity with which the corrupt voters keep their promises. In a recent election inquiry before commis sioners, witnesses declared their belief that a quarter, or even more, of the constituency was permanently corrupt, and held the balance between the two political parties. Extensive bribery under the guise of charitable distribu tions of coal, provisions, &c., seems to prevail in many constituencies, and a still more indirect form is the payment of large subscriptions to public purposes. Recently, it has been observed, constituencies have shown a marked preference for wealthy candidates with some local connection.  FlG - L -Egyptian Brickmakers. BRICK, a kind of artificial stone made of baked clay. The usual form of a brick is a parallelopipedon, about 9 inches long, 4J- inches, broad, and 3 inches thick. The art of brickmaking dates from very early times. We read that burnt brick was used in building the tower of Babel. The walls and various other buildings of ancient Babylon were made of burnt brick ; several varieties of brick figure in Assyrian art, and most of the Assyrian literature was in the form of minute characters in baked clay (see ). Brickmaking formed th,e chief occupa tion of the Israelites during their degrading bondage in Egypt. The bricks were made of clay ^l._ mixed with chop- hz I V7i ped straw, and ^ were probably sun r - dried. We ..read (2 Sam. xii. 31) that David made the children of Am- mon pass through the brick kiln; and while the meaning of the statement is doubtful, it is thought that the in struments mentioned in the context may have been used in preparation of the clay. Pliny informs us of three different kinds of bricks made by the Greeks. In Italy we have abundant evidence that the Romans used bricks largely ; and it was they, probably, who introduced brickmaking into England. By the time of Henry VIII. the art had reached great perfection ; and many fine brick buildings (e.g., the older part of Hampton Court) are extant from that period. Previous to the great fire of 16GG, many of the London houses consisted chiefly of timber framework, filled in with lath and plaster ; but after the fire, brick was used almost exclusively in building. Much of the brickwork remaining from that time is finely 